《Death Scripture》


 Chapter 1

    Chapter 1: Prologue: Two Rules for Killers


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Killing is all about neatness and efficiency. Rarely will you have the same opportunity twice. Seek every chance to catch your target off guard and remember to always strike first. Always try to kill your target with one move and kill everyone present. You can go ahead and forget about crap like having a moral code, dueling on a mountaintop, rules, or even bing a Jianghu legend. Unlike actors, killers don¡¯t need such showy tricks or inted reputations.


    Living as long as you can is the only criteria to be considered a top killer.


    Just as all his predecessors had done, Shangguan Fa, the ¡°Supreme King¡± of his time, taught his sons the way of a killer.


    Rule No. 1 for killers: Avoid being noticed. Be sure of what you want to do before you move! Take advantage of timing and the situation as much as you possibly can. Hiding in the shadows is your greatest advantage.


    Even if your target is a half-paralyzed beggar, you have to treat him as a Peerless Ace; sneak up and kill him from behind without hesitation.


    You feel that it is a bit shameful, don¡¯t you? Well, the beggar didn¡¯t, and he¡¯s already a dead man; and there was one percent chance that he really was a Peerless Ace who just dressed up as a beggar to lure you in.


    All is fair in war. Winning means everything for a general¡ªwho cares what means he has taken? His soldiers, in particr, would appreciate the general¡¯s dirty moves and tricks, which have allowed them to survive and enjoy the fruits of victory.


    A great general always attacks the enemy from the back or the side, only an arrogant idiot yells about fighting to death all the time.


    A killer is not a general, so he must be more cunning, more insidious, and much more ruthless.


    There was once a master who was born into a family of Kung Fu masters. With extraordinary martial arts skills, he had hardly been defeated since he was young. Those who came for a contest had to make an appointment in advance and all his opponents werepletely convinced of his ability and epted him as the ¡°greatest master in the world¡±. They even thought that he deserved a que on the gate.


    So what happened to this master afterward? He was dead before he was 30. His body was found lying in a ditch after more than 10 days had passed and the corpse had rotted beyond imagination. Even the collector could not bear to let his parents see him like that.


    Why did he die? Well, he made the mistake of leaving his home for Jianghu adventures.


    Those who visited him for a contest had to follow the rules. The twopetitors stood face to face, surrounded by the big names in martial arts. Once the order was given, the audience would judge thepetitors ording to their agility, stability, and uracy. No one would like to use any degrading skill as they might getughed at just because their moves were out-of-shape.


    The master, who had been used to the ¡°fair contests¡±, became extremely vulnerable once he left home and entered the dangerous Jianghu world. No one knew who killed him, nor how he was killed. The only thing they knew was that the fatal injury was located on his back.


    Everyone sympathized with the young master¡¯s untimely death. Although they disdained the unknown killer in public, they also discussed in private that the master was not really that great because a real master could certainly stop an attack from behind.


    Even those people who were defeated by the master changed their tone and imed that the only reasons for their own defeat were poor timing and wrong location, and they could have won if they had another encounter with the master.


    What could the master do? He was dead. He had be a pile of bones and they could not give any exnation.


    Finally, the mysterious killer became an idol whose story was spread by everyone. Everyone imed that they once saw the killer make a move. Some even imed that they themselves were the killer.


    This is the truth about the Jianghu legends. No matter what means you have to adopt to get to the top, your admirers will make up an amazing, honest, and magnificent life for you. People only see that you stand on the top and no one cares what tricks you¡¯ve yed and how many people you¡¯ve killed.


    Rule No. 2 for killers: No mercy. Be ruthless and leave no future trouble. Death isn¡¯t the only purpose of killing, but more importantly, the killer must wipe out the family¡¯s ¡°name¡±.


    Once there was a master who had trained very hard for 10 years to avenge his father. He defeated all upon his debut. With full confidence, he found his enemy and wiped out the entire family. However, his heart softened when he was nning on killing a woman and her son. He wanted to be chivalrous and leave himself a reputation of ¡°killing no women or children¡±. This small mercy could be considered the moment that led to his downfall.


    Could the woman and her son take their revenge on the master themselves? Certainly not. Her son was so dumb that he could not even get close to the master even if he trained for a hundred years. And the woman? She knew nothing about Kung Fu and she was such an ordinary looking person that it would be hard for her to sell her body for a living, let alone convince somebody to avenge her family.


    The master¡¯s enemy had been very rich and all his wealth was taken away by the master. The woman and her son, however, did not say so. The woman imed that she would give half of the wealth to anyone who could help avenge her family.


    This weak and vulnerable woman used the illusion ofpensation to lure people in with money she did not have, but can you imagine how many people were attracted by the offer? Too many to count. Since the reward went public, so many people went to the master¡¯s home to kill him. This resulted in him having to sleep with one eye open and, eventually, he was killed by a nobody.


    Did the woman and her son get their money back? Of course not. This nobody just symbolically gave them a small piece ofnd and no money. For his reward, he took all the remaining property, which was worth millions of dors.


    What was important was not the fate of the woman and her son, but the ¡°name¡±. No one had the right to take the wealth back from the master without the woman and her son, but with these two puppets alive, it would be perfectly justifiable for everyone in the world to kill the master.


    This is the ¡°name¡±.


    A ¡°name¡± is the most misleading and detrimental thing in the world. A real killer neither seeks a ¡°name¡± nor does he leave a chance for the enemy to get his ¡°name¡± back.


    ************


    Shangguang Fa, the master of Golden Roc Fort and the seventh Supreme King, was not actually a king. He owned nond, but he could go anywhere in the 36 kingdoms of the Western Region. He had no subjects, but no one, from the nobles to the civilians, could speak his name without trembling.


    He was the king of killers in the Western Region.


    No one knew for certain how powerful he really was as he never participated in any public contest, but those who came both before and after him were all dead.


    The Supreme King almost had no enemies because once he killed someone, even a dog would be beheaded if it witnessed the killing.


    Shanggaun Fa strictly adhered to the two rules of killers. For him, the two rules were more valuable than his life, so we can imagine his anger when he found out that his eighth son had missed a target.


    In over a century, the seven generations of the Supreme King had killed countless people and exterminated even more families. There were enough dead to popte a small kingdom in the Western Region. They never made such a ridiculous mistake like killing the wrong person.


    Several heads were lined up on a long table and the strangers who came to identify the bodies could feel the angering off of the master of Golden Roc Fort. They quickly hid themselves in the shadows on one side of the room.


    Shanggaun Fa picked one head up and threw it to his Eighth Son, whose face was pale. This head humiliated him and destroyed his honor in front of these strangers¡ªthis honor could not be restored.


    ¡°Are you really my son? Really?¡±


    Shangguan Fa had a long, thin, dark face with sunken eyes. The Shangguan¡¯s had lived in the Western Region for quite some time and so, inevitably, their blood somehow got mixed in with the barbarians. When he was angry, his eyes would be as cold and ruthless as the Gobi Desert and a snow mountain.


    His question needed no answer. The Eighth Son looked just like his father, with the only difference being his blushed younger face that looked like two hot iron tes.


    The only way to ease the Supreme King¡¯s anger was killing. He would show no mercy, even to his own son. Killings between fathers and sons and even between brothers were quitemon for the Shangguans because there was only one throne.


    But Shangguan Fa hesitated because he thought of the Eighth Son¡¯s mother. That woman once brought so much happiness to him; her cunning smile and perfect body had been imprinted in Shangguan Fa¡¯s mind for many years. She died of some unknown, incurable disease. She was like all other women in the world, no matter how much energy they spent on men, theirst hope would always be rted to their children.


    The disease developed so rapidly that she was still very beautiful on her deathbed. Her beautiful and grieved face made it impossible for her to be refused or forgotten.


    ¡°Let Nu be a man like you.¡±


    Shangguan Fa believed that he had kept his promise and offered the Eighth Son, who had lost his mother early in his childhood, the best life, the most rigorous training, and the greatest trust.


    ¡°Women are nothing but trouble,¡± Shanggaun Fa thought. His anger was eased a little, but he still looked like a restless beast in a cage looking for an exit. He then drew out the sword around Shangguan Nu¡¯s waist.


    Shanggaun Fa had to do something because his rules had to be obeyed. There could never bepromised for anyone or anything. He resisted his urge of killing him outright and instead cut off his Eighth Son¡¯s right hand, the hand that held the sword.


    That beautiful and grieved face gradually faded away in Shangguan Fa¡¯s mind.


    ¡°I¡¯m giving you seven days. Bring back the right head.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s the poor guy that was missed? What¡¯s his name?¡± Shangguan Fa only had a vague impression that the target would certainly die under a Golden Roc Fort saber. His death was already worthy, for he had made the Supreme King cut off his own son¡¯s hand.


    ************


    Shangguan Nu pushed away his subordinates that came to support him and stumbled out of the lobby. He was as angry as his father. The bleeding from the wound was stopped by arge bag of medicine. However, no medicine could stop the anger and hatred in his heart.


    He hated his father. He had not even given him the chance to exin and determined that he messed up by nothing more than a denial from a stranger. This was the first time he led a team on his own, which was a sign that he could establish his own name like his brothers. But now that he had lost his right hand, he also lost half of his Kung Fu, not to mention his honor.


    He hated his men. They were a bunch of idiots whose negligence caused this mistake and destroyed his future.


    But who he hated most was the young man that he missed. He was a person who should already be dead but remained alive for a few more days. Even if he could kill the young man a hundred times over, he would not get his right hand back.


    Shangguan Nu¡¯s wrath had to be released. He could only bury the hatred toward his father deep in his heart and did not dare say anything. That young man was not here, so the only subjects on whom he could vent his anger on would be the dozens of killers and machetemen of his.


    The killers, elites of Golden Roc Fort, and the machetemen, mercenaries of Golden Roc Fort, had all made vows in public never to betray the Young Master.


    Shangguan Nu drew his sword with his left hand and this clumsy action intensified his anger even more.


    The killers and machetemen, having heard about what happened in the lobby, were likembs waiting to be ughtered. They looked on as their young master rushed in with a pale face.


    Shangguan Nu lifted up his sword again and again, and no one dared to hide. Several hands of his men fell down like leaves in the fall and no one dared to make a sound. These men were destined to sacrifice everything for their master, including their lives, when they were assigned to Shangguan Nu.


    After cutting off several hands, Shangguan Nu finally calmed down. These were all his men and taking away their Kung Fu would only weaken his own strength.


    ¡°Go kill that guy! Get the f**k out of here and kill him! Leave noplete body, bring the head back!¡±


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 Chapter 2

    Chapter 2: Departure


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Wild animals cannot avoid going through the awkward period when they are already strong and independent enough to live on their own but still long for their mother¡¯s breast milk and care. During such times, they naively think that life should always be like this. As a result, they tend to spend their days rolling around and ying with insects, waiting for the asional interesting thing to happen. A leopard,rger than his mother, lies on the grass and enjoys the warm sunshine, waiting patiently for his free lunch. However, the good times neverst. Once the mother starts her second conception, the baby will be relegated from being the favored one to the abandoned one and, from then on, has to rove all over the world alone. Every time he hunts, the old memories of innocence fade bit by bit and in the end, he either dies miserably or grows up to be a ruthless killer.


    14-year-old Gu Shenwei was going through that same exact period. His name might have been a little bit old-fashioned, but he was still as naive as a child and his family worried about him. However, he had his own thoughts on the matter and refused to regard himself as a grown-up until the day that his sister married.


    There were still three months until that day, but his life ns were interrupted by an ident.


    One afternoon, a servant, who was looking around the hill behind the house, came back with a strange message that a knight had stopped by the hillside and was observing their manor.


    Old Master Gu Lun rode over and found that the knight had already gone. He patrolled around for a bit longer but found nothing.


    The family had just moved from the Central ins to the Western Regions two years prior and the manor was located in an oasis at the southern foot of Tianshan Mountain. This was quite an untrodden ce as it was surrounded by the Gobi Desert for hundreds of miles. At the foot of the mountain, there was only a small vige where a few tenant farmers were living. Therefore, no wonder the Old Master was so surprised.


    Gu Lun was very vignt as he used to be a military officer. He asked the servant in detail about the knight¡¯s dress and behavior. In the end, he ordered the manor servants to be more vignt and secretly increased the security level.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s two older brothers thought that their father was overreacting. They just assumed that the knight was simply a herdsman who hade here for water and grass but found people here and left.


    Gu Shenwei would usually make trouble out of nothing, but this time he had the same feeling as his father and took it seriously. He rode his pony, patrolling around prim and proper. If there was any noise, he would dash over to check it out and confirm what it was at full speed, no matter what it was. It was usually a rabbit or a bird.


    A couple of days passed, but there were no more strangers snooping around. Everything was quiet and peaceful and it seemed that the days would continue going on like this. The whole family was busy preparing Miss Gu¡¯s dowry, as it would be a long journey from the Western Region to the Central ins and lots of things needed to be prepared.


    Everyone had things to do and the youngest Master was going to his sister¡¯s room every day, acting like a spoiled child. Such behavior made Miss Gu feel heartbroken and reluctant to leave. Even though she had not left home yet, tears had already gotten a few pieces of clothes wet.


    Gu Shenwei had his own thoughts on the matter. The Central ins and the Western Region were two totally different worlds. After her departure, no one knew when they would meet again. With such ¡°naive¡± behavior, he wanted his sister to remember him.


    However, peace did notst long. 10 days after the knight¡¯s appearance, a few masked men sneaked into their house in the middle of the night and made quite a ruckus.


    No matter what their purpose was, they did not seem to be able to aplish it right away because Old Master Gu Lun had arranged for the manor¡¯s servants to be on night patrol. The vignt old servant, Yang Zheng, noticed the intruders immediately.


    It was a mess and fights broke out in several different ces, but none of the fightssted long. By the time Master Gu Shenwei woke up and had any idea about what was going on, the masked men had already escaped.


    No one had gotten hurt.


    Everyone in the manor had woken up by this point and a dozen of the manor servants happily talked about how they fought with the masked menst night. They made it seem like there were hundreds of intruders, but old servant Yang Zheng was pretty sure that there were no more than five masked men.


    Gu Shenwei was upset about not having witnessed those masked men, so he kept asking his father and brothers about it. It was not until his eldest brother ordered him to shut up did he reluctantly sit himself down in a big armchair and quietly listen to them discussing where those masked men hade from and why they hade here.


    There were quite a few great powers in the Western Region, and the names of those people and ces were alsoplicated. Gu Shenwei got so confused and gradually lost interest in the conversation. Before he finally fell asleep, he heard the word ¡°butcher¡± used frequently. No matter who the ¡°butcher¡± was, there was no need to be scared, as his father was a great general.


    Actually, his father¡¯s title of general was not as great as he thought. Old Master Gu Lun used to be a royal guard in the Central ins. He wasn¡¯t given the title ¡°Brilliant General¡±, a third-ss title, until he had retired.


    Although he had been a guard at the royal court, his name was well-known in the martial arts world of the Central ins because of the style of Kung Fu that had been handed down, generation by generation, in his family. It was also the reason why Yang Zheng hade here. He would be a ve here as long as he could learn the spear technique of Kung Fu. Both the eldest and the second sons of Lord Gu were already Kung Fu masters, but the youngest one barely learned anything even though he was old enough now.


    The youngest Master was good-looking, intelligent, and studious, but not persistent. He always did things in the spur of the moment. In addition, as he was the youngest in the family, he was spoiled by his parents and siblings, which made this bad habit even worse.


    Later on, Gu Shenwei was sent back to his room. When he woke up, he did not go to his sister¡¯s room as usual. Instead, he went around and asked for details aboutst night.


    Those masked men were defeated immediately and everyone in the manor thought it was a victory, ignoring the fact that no intruder was captured. Not even a drop of blood was left after the fight. Despite this, the servants were eloquent and tried to make the scenes pretty thrilling to the young Master.


    After hearing their descriptions of the fight, Gu Shenwei was even more upset and med his young attendant, Ming Xiang, for not waking him up in time.


    Ming Xiang, a boy the same age as Gu Shenwei, was the only one in the family who could be serious with the youngest Master. He threw his hands up in the air while wearing an unconvinced face and said, ¡°Master, you are the one who is learning martial arts. Your eyes and ears are both sharp and keen. I am nothing more than a young attendant who might be killed without even knowing it after I fall asleep, how can I wake you up?¡±


    Being too angry to debate with the young attendant, Gu Shenwei turned around and tried to seekfort from his sister.


    As opposed to the manor servants¡¯ attitudes, Master Gu and Yang Zheng were serious the whole day and supervised the manor servants even more strictly than usual. They also sent servants out to find some information. ording to Gu Lun, it was obviously not the end of the attacks.


    A strong feeling of tension was spreading throughout the whole manor.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s interest about the masked men had already faded after half a day. He had great faith in his father, brothers, and some servants with great mastery of Kung Fu. Even if thousands upon thousands of intruders broke in, they would be blocked outside and he could do nothing but stand aside and watch.


    The current Western Region was totally different from what it used to be decades before. Back then, big kingdoms struggled for supremacy and small ones were tangled in fights. On top of that, various powers and bandit gangs sprang up over arge area. It was often that robbers realized that the people they robbed were their peers and the ordinary people had no choice but to hide in their houses and pray for God¡¯s help. Now, that page of history had been turned and bnce had been reached among the three major kingdoms, the Central ins, Nond, and Shu-lik, throughpromise. More than 30 small kingdoms, both old and new, had settled down while bandit gangs gradually decreased and became faded into legend.


    When Old Master Gu Lun decided to move from the Central ins to the Western Region, he carefully considered that the Western Region was quite peaceful. He swiftly decided that the manor andnd were perfect for his family.


    He was right. The oasis where the manor was located was truly a perfect piece ofnd.


    Gu Shenweipletely believed in his father, so he did not worry at all. He was chatting with his sister, hanging around the manor, and quarreling with Ming Xiang as usual. When it turned dark, his father ordered him to go to bed, and he soon fell asleep.


    In a sleep-filled haze, Gu Shenwei felt someone pushing him hard. He opened his eyes unwillingly and yawned, ¡°What is it? Intruders again?¡±


    Ming Xiang, also yawning like his Master, held a candle and said, ¡°It is the Old Master, not intruders.¡±


    Gu Shenwei got up reluctantly and saw the thin figure of his father standing in the shadow of the doorway.


    ¡°Huan¡¯er, put on your clothes and see your sister off,¡± Lord Gu said.


    ¡°Huan¡¯er¡± was Gu Shenwei¡¯s nickname, only close family members would call him that.


    ¡°Is she leaving now? But the people from brother-inw¡¯s have note yet¡­¡± Gu Shenwei asked in surprise. There should be two more months until his sister had to depart. He was totally unprepared for this.


    ¡°Yes, but things have changed and now she has to leave in advance.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was too sleepy to think, so he simplyplied and put on his clothes and cape with Ming Xiang¡¯s help. Gu Lun tied up some baggage that he had prepared beforehand on his back and inserted a short sword into his waistband.


    The Gu family¡¯s Kung Fu was famous for its skill of use of knives and spears, but not swords. This short sword was specially made for Gu Shenwei. With a narrow body, it was less than two feet long and only weighed about half a kilogram.


    Normally, his father took care of the short sword, Gu Shenwei hardly ever got a chance to use it. Now that he had it, he was delighted and no longer sleepy. He could not wait to pull it out in appreciation, but Gu Lun held up his hands immediately and said in a low voice, ¡°You¡¯re now a man of the family, use this short sword to protect your sister and yourself but don¡¯t show it off.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Gu Shenwei promised seriously. He began to picture a scene in his mind about how he would wield this short sword to protect his sister from those masked men¡¯s attacks.


    Gu Lun took the two kids out with him through the back door. Everything was quiet and peaceful along the way, not even a shadow of a man could be seen. Three people were already waiting for them outside: Miss Gu Cun, the maid Chrysan, and the old servant Yang Zheng.


    Yang Zheng was not only Gu Lun¡¯s servant, but also his friend and apprentice. He tutored Gu Shenwei with some basic Kung Fu skills for a few years, so Gu Shenwei always called him ¡°Master Shifu Yang¡±.


    Gu Lun lifted his youngest son onto the horse. Under the cover of night, he looked even more like an old-fashioned teacher than usual.


    Ming Xiang groggily mounted a horse on his own as he was notpletely awake just yet. He was unhappy to take this unexpected safeguard mission, as he would rather stay in the manor forever than walk into the desert again.


    There were only five horses and five people. Miss Gu Cun covered herself in a cape and had nothing with her. Only one of her four personal maids and a little luggage were with her now.


    ¡°What about mother and my brothers? Dad, aren¡¯t youing with us?¡± Gu Shenwei asked with his eyes wide open. The sleepiness had already gone away. They were more like refugees than people who were going to escort a bride.


    ¡°You go first and we will follow soon,¡± Gu Lun answered easily. Then he pped the horse and urged them to leave.


    Gu Shenwei grabbed the reins lightly and tried to figure the situation out. Yang Zheng passed by and said in a muffled voice, ¡°Keep going.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s horse ran ahead quickly after being pped by Yang Zheng. When Gu Shenwei grabbed the reins again, his father had already disappeared. Gu Lun did not even say goodbye to his daughter, who was about to get married.


    The night was pretty dark with the moon hanging in the western sky. Gu Shenwei was very upset as leaving at midnight was not how he had pictured his sister¡¯s departure for the marriage.

 Chapter 3

    Chapter 3: Pursuers


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The old servant, Yang Zheng, led the way. During the night, the group crossed a meadow, climbed over a hill, then turned to the only road without lush grass near the manor. After taking another step, they entered a totally different world that was full of hard y and rubble. Ming Xiang groaned in fear.


    Gu Shenwei was still only half-awake the entire time. The march in the night, elder sister¡¯s marriage, and the short sword at his waist were all so surreal. It was not until the sky began turning bright that he came to his senses and surprisingly found that the sun wasing up from behind them.


    ¡°Um, are we going west?¡± Cun¡¯s husband¡¯s family lived in the Central ins and the marriage was arranged when they were very young. They should be going straight eastward to get to the Central ins.


    Yang Zheng mumbled a little as if the young Master¡¯s question was not worth a reply. After a while, he said, ¡°We will go to Shu-lik City first where the officers and soldiers will escort us.¡±


    ¡°Shu-lik City!¡± Gu Shenwei eximed with surprise. Shu-lik was thergest kingdom in the Western Region. Strictly speaking, the Gu¡¯s manor was located in the same kingdom. Its capital, broad and densely popted, was one of the most prosperous ces in the Western Region. Gu Shenwei had heard of it before but had never seen it in the two years since they moved here.


    Gu Lun had been a senior officer in the Central ins, so Gu Shenwei did not think it was strange to be escorted by the soldiers of Shu-lik. He only thought that their procession was not majestic enough.


    Miss Cun had been sitting on the horse, seemingly having no objection to this arrangement. Gu Shenwei recovered and kept pace with his elder sister, talking about if there would be something interesting to see in Shu-lik City. He pulled out the short sword and waved it around like a master. Cun kept quiet and only said a few words to asionally remind her brother to be careful.


    Although she was only three years older than him, Cun had been nursing her naughty brother like a mother.


    Because there were two girls, they moved slowly. The midday sun was zing and Yang Zheng did not want to stop to rest. Cun and the maid already felt tired, but they tried to hang on. Caring about his sister and being unable to endure the head-on exposure of the sun any longer, Gu Shenwei yelled out for water and a meal.


    Just then, the faint sound of hooves came from behind them.


    Yang Zheng jumped down from his horse and listened carefully for a moment. He unfastened his frequently usednce from the right side of the horse and stood in the middle of the road, looking majestic with his white hair fluttering in the wind.


    Everyone retreated to the side of the road except for Gu Shenwei, whose eyes twinkled. He pulled out his short sword and stood shoulder to shoulder with Yang Zheng.


    ¡°Sister, don¡¯t be afraid. I¡¯ll fight the bandits!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t stand in my way.¡± Yang Zheng raised thence and put the young Master behind him with thence rod. He had a high status in the Gu family and was unkind to everyone but Old Master Gu Lun. Moreover, Gu Shenwei was technically his apprentice.


    Gu Shenwei waved his short sword around and tried to fight for a chance to kill the enemy. He saw a cloud of dust in the distance and knew that their pursuers had arrived.


    Three men in ck stopped their horses about 20 paces away from Gu Shenwei and pulled out their broadswords together.


    ¡°The Gu¡¯s should go back home,¡± said the man-in-ck in the middle, whose voice was as chilling as rusty iron.


    ¡°Nobody is going back home.¡± Yang Zheng stood up with thence.


    The Gu family were good at both knives and spears, with the knife skills having been practiced before the spear skills. Being especially proficient in spear skills, Yang Zheng was not frightened at all to face three enemies.


    The man-in-ck on the left rode toward Yang Zheng, waving his de.


    Yang Zheng made thence point upward and squatted slightly with his legs apart, just like a farmer holding a pickaxe to fight an evil wolf.


    When the man-in-ck approached with his broadsword high up in the air to chop Yang Zheng to pieces, Yang Zheng stabbed thence out suddenly.


    The stab was simple and smooth with no tricks and seemingly so weak that a child could dodge it, but the man-in-ck was hit right in the chest. He fell down with his broadsword without a sound while his horse kept running for a while and eventually stopped on its own.


    The other two involuntarily urged their horses to take two steps back.


    Gu Shenwei ran forward excitedly. He had never thought his Master Shifu was this powerful and even activelyined about the family¡¯s spear skills. Yang Zheng had been practicing the same movements every day for many years and never practiced any other movements. Gu Shenwei never expected such a simple stab to be so powerful, and now he had a new appreciation of his Master Shifu and the family¡¯s spear skills.


    The remaining two attackers nced at each other, then raised their broadswords and rode toward Yang Zheng, attempting tounch a double-pronged attack.


    Gu Shenwei came forward as he wanted to test the power of his own short sword. In fact, he had never learned swordsmanship and had only practiced some knife forms absent-mindedly. To him, there was no difference between swords and knives.


    Again, Yang Zheng put the young Master behind him with thence rod and squatted slightly with the spear pointing forward as though he only knew this move.


    Sometimes, one move was enough. Yang Zheng had been immersed in the ways of the Gu Spear Form for several decades. No matter if it was raining or snowing, he practiced stabbing at least a thousand times a day and never stopped. Although seemingly to be an ordinary movement in the eyes of others, it could form 10,000 movements in his mind. More practice would only make it more beautiful.


    Old Master Gu Lun was the only one who understood his mindset. After all, Gu Lun taught this spear form to Yang Zheng. Gu Lun often sighed and said that the Gu Spear Form skill could only be inherited by someone with the family name.


    Therefore, Yang Zheng was loyal to the Gu family and would not allow anyone to hurt the young Master and Miss as long as he was alive.


    The two men-in-ck came at him.


    Yang Zheng stabbed two times so quickly that it seemed to have hit the two men at the same time.


    One man silently fell off his horse while the other screeched and shook a few times without falling off the horse. He squeezed his legs and lowered his body to make the horse run westward.


    Yang Zheng turned around and raised thence in one hand, aimed for a moment, and threw the three-meternce. It flew as steady and fast as a javelin.


    30 paces away, the man-in-ck was speared straight through the chest and fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes.


    ¡°Master Shifu Yang!¡± Gu Shenwei eximed both happily and respectfully, ¡°Teach me thosence skills, please!¡±


    ¡°Poke the target 500 times a day and you will get initial sess in three years. Then after that point, do it 1,000 times per day and in 10 years, you will get it.¡±


    ¡°Then it would be better to practice ¡®Yin and Yang Strength¡¯, which will make me stronger in 10 years.¡±


    ¡°Ah, okay.¡± Yang Zheng walked over to the body, pulled out thence, wiped the blood on it with the clothes of the fallen man, rode on his horse, and hurried on with the journey. He would not keep in mind the young Master¡¯s enthusiasm, nor the three dead bodies left on the road.


    Yin and Yang Strength, the Internal Strength technique handed down through the generations of the Gu family, was the foundation for the martial arts of the Gu family. It was not taught to daughters or people outside of the family. Although being deeply trusted by Gu Lun, Yang Zheng had not been entitled to learn it.


    Gu Shenwei had been doing Yin and Yang Strength for about 10 years now, but he was still stuck at the first rudimentaryyer. This made him the slowest among all the descendants of the Gu family.


    As the group moved on, Gu Shenwei grew very interested in the origin of the bandits. Yang Zheng said nothing and so Gu Shenwei could only discuss the topic with Ming Xiang. His sister, Cun, and the maid, Chrysan, slowly recovered from the shock of the attack and chimed in asionally.


    After talking for about two hours, Gu Shenwei¡¯s enthusiasm was running out, but Yang Zheng suddenly said,


    ¡°He was a great Kung Fu master.¡±


    ¡°Who was?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°The one who almost got away.¡±


    ¡°Him? I thought he was pretty average because he was stabbed by you without applying any skills. No, he was strong, but our family¡¯s spear form is more powerful, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Haha.¡±


    Yang Zheng did not argue anymore. Contests between masters often came down to a few tricks. The one beaten by one movement might not be much worse than the winner. The situation might be reversed if the location or the timing was different. It was hard to clearly exin the subtleties of fighting to outsiders. Although Gu Shenwei had the surname Gu and had been studying Kung Fu for a long time, he was still regarded as an ¡°outsider¡±.


    After a long ride, Yang Zheng finally stopped to rest when it was getting dark. There were neither viges nor shops around, so they could only sit on the rocks along the roadside to rest.


    After a hard day¡¯s journey, Gu Shenwei was exhausted and sat down close to his sister. Ming Xiang and Chrysan found some food and water from the packs and served their masters.


    Yang Zheng had a couple of bites and kept looking eastward vigntly.


    Gu Shenwei was a little dismissive of Master Shifu Yang¡¯s excessive caution. Master Shifu Yang not only learned the spear skills from his father, but also his inflexible nature. Who dared to chase them when there were three bodies lying on the road?


    ¡°Master Huan, there is an important task that needs to be done. Would you like to do it?¡± Only Yang Zheng called Gu Shenwei ¡°Master Huan¡±.


    ¡°Sure. Is it rted to the bandits?¡± Gu Shenwei sprang to his feet in excitement.


    ¡°Yes, but this is not an easy thing to do, so you don¡¯t have to.¡±


    ¡°The harder the better,¡± said a proud Gu Shenwei, holding the handle of his sword.


    ¡°I want you to ride to Shu-lik City to get reinforcements.¡±


    ¡°Reinforcements? Aren¡¯t the bandits dead?¡±


    ¡°There may be more bandits.¡±


    ¡°You can kill one with one movement, and I can kill one with¡­ two, and by doing so, we can kill them all.¡±


    ¡°But there may be too many bandits for the two of us to protect the Miss.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nced at his sister, Cun. ¡°Good idea. I¡¯ll go. Who should I look for? The king?¡±


    ¡°No, go to Shu-lik City and find Marshal Yang. Just tell him that Yang Zheng needs his help and he will understand.¡±


    ¡°Ok.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stood up and went to mount his horse, but was stopped when Yang Zheng grabbed him. ¡°Change clothes with Ming Xiang, yours are not suitable for riding.¡±


    The more serious Yang Zheng was about the situation, the more excited Gu Shenwei was. However, Ming Xiang, who was pulled by the young Master and asked to change clothes, seemed somewhat reluctant.


    The only thing that annoyed Gu Shenwei was that Yang Zheng confiscated his short sword and told him that he would not need it on the way. ¡°Ride straight west at top speed and you can arrive in Shu-lik City within one day and night.¡±


    Gu Shenwei jumped onto his horse and all his fatigue disappeared without a trace. He gave his sister a big smile as he said, ¡°I¡¯ll be back!¡±


    He was so excited that he did not ask for any more details. He did not even realize that he carried nothing and would have to solve the problem of eating and drinking along the way.


    The young Master rode as far as he could and became a small ck dot on the horizon. Looking at her brother¡¯s figure, Cun suddenly said with a sigh, ¡°I hope the horse can run fast enough and he won¡¯t turn around.¡±


    Yang Zheng¡¯s face softened slightly. Although the Miss was young and gentle-natured, she also had good insight and was capable of understanding what this meant.


    ¡°Pardon me, Miss. I¡¯ve thought it over and over in my head, and I can only save one of you,¡± Yang Zheng said sadly, getting down on one knee.


    ¡°Uncle Yang, please rise. To save my brother is to save the whole Gu family. How could you feel guilty?¡±


    Ming Xiang and Chrysan did not understand what the Miss was saying, but felt uneasy.

 Chapter 4

    Chapter 4: Family Massacre


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei pinched his leg very hard to expel the drowsiness that he felt. He had been riding his horse for almost a whole night. He was so tired and dizzy that he realized just how hard it was to ride a horse. In the days when they moved from the Central ins to the Western Region, he scarcely felt how severe the Gobi Desert was because he was curled up in his family¡¯s arms.


    He held the horse steady as he saw two roads in front of him, one leading north and the other leading south. Master Shifu Yang had just told him to go west, but he mentioned nothing about north or south¡­


    Fortunately, there were pedestrians on the road. However, no one that he met could speak Central ins Chinese.


    Gu Shenwei was so concerned about the task that Master Shifu Yang handed to him that he could not bear to wait on the road. He just chose to go north. After a while, he finally met a group of herdsmen. One of them, who was fluent in Central ins Chinese, told Gu Shenwei that he had been going the wrong way. When he heard that the boy wanted to find ¡°Marshal Yang¡±, he could not helpughing out loud.


    ¡°There is no Marshal Yang in the capital, nor in the entire Shu-lik.¡±


    ¡°My Master Shifu Yang said there is, so there must be.¡± Gu Shenwei was quite certain, thinking that a herdsman had probably never seen a dignitary.


    ¡°Haha, your Master Shifu must be a good joker. In Shu-lik, we don¡¯t have any marshals. We only have generals andmandants. Even if we needed a marshal, why should we choose someone by the name of Yang from the Central ins?¡±


    Those herdsmenughed and left, leaving Gu Shenwei alone.


    Gu Shenwei was not a fool. He was just a little innocent because he had never been cheated. The biggest setback in his life was being bullied by his two elder brothers, so it was easy for him to believe and ept everything told by his father and his Master Shifu. Once he began to think it over, he immediately found the whole thing strange from beginning to end.


    A sense of foreboding was rising in the boy¡¯s heart.


    Gu Shenwei turned the horse back toward the original road with his face stretching tightly. He realized that he had been left out of his family¡¯s affairs, which made him feel bad. He wondered how his father and Yang Zheng would exin all this to him when they met again.


    Gu Shenwei did not meet his sister and the others until noon. A trade caravan group came from the east and everybody was flustered as if they had just been robbed. One of them kindly yelled to the boy, who was riding alone.


    ¡°Turn back! Turn back!¡±


    Gu Shenwei ignored the kind shout, with a knot of tension in his stomach. His horse was already frothing at the mouth, but he continued to push it past its limits with his whip.


    Half an hourter, he saw ance erected on the side of the road, shaking slightly like a gpole without a g.


    There was a head on the top of thence, with white tousled hair fluttering in the wind.


    As Gu Shenwei approached, he recognized that it was his Master Shifu, Yang Zheng, the old servant of the Gu family, with his eyes wide open, seemingly unconvinced of his own death.


    He once stabbed three men with ance, but only one nightter, he was beheaded. It was highly possible that the man who had killed him wanted to show his strength to passersby by putting Yang Zheng¡¯s head on the top of thence.


    Gu Shenwei then noticed several dead bodies lying on the ground.


    Yang Zheng¡¯s body was lying down by thence without any injuries. The killer took his head off with only one move, which was very impressive. Gu Shenwei could not imagine what a powerful Kung Fu master the killer was.


    There were three more bodies. One of them was the maid, Chrysan. Her breasts and face were full of cuts, and her clothes were dyed red from her blood. She did not have any fighting skill, but it seemed that the killer used a few more moves to torture her.


    Another one of the bodies was Ming Xiang, who was dressed in the young Master¡¯s clothes. Gu Shenwei could only judge the identity of the body by his clothes because Ming Xiang¡¯s head was missing. It was neither on the top of thence, nor in the vicinity.


    Gu Shenwei fell off his horse and fell to his knees. He could not help throwing up until he had nothing to vomit from his stomach. He forced himself to look at thest body because that one was different.


    What made Gu Shenwei slightly reassured was that thest body was not his sister¡¯s. It was a teenager who was as old as Gu Shenwei. He was as scarred and bruised as Chrysan, but looked strange because Gu Shenwei had never seen him before.


    Gu Shenwei jumped on his horse and continued to ride eastward. He wanted to know where his sister was and went home to figure out what was going on.


    To his knowledge, the Gu family had no enemies in neither the Central ins nor the Western Region.


    At dusk, Gu Shenwei returned to the vige at the foot of the manor¡¯s hill, where more than a dozen vigers here were tenant farmers of the Gu family. At ordinary times, there should be a scene of smoke curling up from the kitchen, but today, all the doors were closed with no signs of smoke.


    Looking up at the hill, the manor of the Gu family had been burned to ashes.


    Gu Shenwei arrived at the gate and jumped off his horse, standing still. He was in a daze, looking at the dark ruins as if he were trapped in a strange dream and could not wake up no matter how much he struggled.


    Was the home just gone? Were all these people just dead?


    Gu Shenwei stepped onto the broken tiles and cracked logs, which were still warm, and looked through all the rooms as if the roofs and walls were still there.


    It was a massacre. Every dead body was left in ce, burnt beyond recognition. However, Gu Shenwei could still roughly recognize them ording to their positions.


    His father, Gu Lun,y side by side with his mother, Mrs. Gu, and both of their heads were cut off. Gu Shenwei had to wade through the covered bricks and wooden blocks to see their small bones. How could Gu Lun, a Kung Fu master, a great hero in his son¡¯s eyes, never notice the enemy?


    His two elder brothers alsoy in the same ce, with their heads off as well. They died quietly, without any chance to show their skills, which had been practiced for more than 10 years.


    The manor servants were all dead with full bodies. It seemed that the killers were only interested in the heads of the masters.


    But the elder sister was still missing. There were only the bodies of the three maids in her room. Although they were burnt, Gu Shenwei was still able to recognize that none of them was his sister.


    This young boy, who had a carefree childhood and had been very loved, suddenly faced the destruction of his family. His first feeling was fear. Now that his home was gone, who would protect and guide him in the future?


    He had thought of entering the world of adults after his sister¡¯s marriage, but in an instant, he found himself left alone in a strange world with an uncertain future.


    Gradually, the young man¡¯s heart was overtaken by anger. He wanted to get his sister back, avenge his family, and kill all of his family¡¯s enemies, no matter how many there were and where they came from.


    Once he got the idea of revenge, Gu Shenwei suddenly came to his senses. He could not go at the enemies empty-handed. He needed some money and equipment.


    The manor was piged by the killers and most of the property had been swept away, but there was always a catch.


    Gu Shenwei had never cared about the financial situation of his family, but at this moment, many details of his life shed in his mind, which helped him deduce some small secrets.


    He dug out a small bag of silver coins under his second brother¡¯s bed. When he pushed the body away, he nearly shed tears, but he choked them back. What could tears do? When he was a child, it might have beenforting and helpful, but now it just meant weakness and humiliation.


    The road of vengeance was so long that he did not even have an idea who his enemies were. The most important thing, currently, was to deal with his family members¡¯ bodies.


    No full bodies of the masters were left. There were only ckened skeletons that would break at the slightest touch. Gu Shenwei carefully cradled the remains of his two brothers to his parents¡¯ room and ced them side by side with the bodies of his parents.


    In fact, it could not be called a ¡°room¡± with copsed walls, ashes, bricks, burnt wood, copperware, and a ruined roof. They were everywhere on the ground and it would soon be a grave, with dpidated walls covered by grass.


    Gu Shenwei had seen a vige where the white bones became a den for the reptiles in the grass and were trampled upon by birds and beasts passing by.


    He could not let his family suffer such torment after being without their full bodies.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly steeled himself. He found a wall brick, kneeled on the ground and smashed the skeletons with the brick. He hit them so hard, as if he were hitting his enemies. He did not even notice when his face became covered with tears.


    ¡°God is not fair!¡±


    Gu Shenwei shouted bitterly and scattered the ashes into the air. It was not fair for the Gu family to suffer such a fate. Although his father, Gu Lun, practiced Kung Fu, he had never been involved in any conflict of Jianghu, nor had he offended anyone in the imperial court. He was always tolerant and even weak sometimes.


    ¡°Perhaps my father had some enemies in the dark. But the Gu family had moved thousands of miles to the Western Region. Was there any unresolved hate that made them chase us all the way here?¡±


    Gu Shenwei could not figure it out. He med it all on God. He grabbed a brick and threw it into the air.


    It seemed that God still wanted to ridicule the young Master after treating the Gu family cruelly. The brick only flew a few feet, falling outside of the ¡°door¡± at a mocking angle, and hit a flowerpot outside the ¡°door¡±.


    The pomegranate tree in the flowerpot had turned into ck wood, and the flowerpot had been burned so badly that it cracked into many pieces with a noise.


    Gu Shenwei was already exhausted. After throwing the brick, he involuntarily fell to the ground on his hands and knees, panting, unable to even curse.


    A momentter, the cruelty of God became a manifestation of wonder. Looking up, Gu Shenwei suddenly remembered something after he saw the soil, which was still in the shape of a flowerpot.


    Then he ran out like a madman, with his hands pushing the scorched earth away and throwing the flower¡¯s roots aside. He dug out a small oilskin packet from the bottom of the flowerpot and pinched it slightly to make sure there was a book inside. He breathed a sigh of relief, tucked it carefully into his arms, and hid it behind the small silver parcel.


    He remembered the scene that he had identally witnessed one night after they moved to the Western Region. His father put something in a flowerpot. At the time, he was so sleepy that he just felt puzzled about his father¡¯s behavior but he had made no careful analysis. At this moment, an idea appeared in his mind because he guessed what his father had hidden.


    There was the shortcut manual to master the ¡°Yin and Yang Strength¡± hidden in the book.


    The ¡°Yin and Yang Strength¡± included Nine Levels of Yin Strength and Nine Levels of Yang Strength. Although Gu Lun had been practicing it for the longest time, he could only merely reach the fifth level of Yin Strength and Yang Strength. However, there was a shortcut manual, which could greatly improve a person¡¯s power in a very short time. There was atent danger about it, however, so few of the Gu family¡¯s descendants had practiced it.


    The top level of the ¡°Yin and Yang Strength¡± would supposedly be invincibility and Gu Shenwei deeply believed that. Suddenly, God was no longer the archcriminal for the disaster of the Gu family, for it showed Gu Shenwei a way to get revenge.


    Seeing as how Gu Shenwei had just cursed God, he would like to call this miracle the ¡°Will of the Divine¡±. He was only 14 years old and had been living under the wing of his father and elder brothers. He had never thought that he would one day shoulder the burden of avenging his family. He even vaguely wished that the dead one was himself because he thought either of his brothers would be more suitable to avenge their family.


    He needed the ¡°Will of the Divine¡± to support the idea of revenge.


    But now, the most important thing was to find hisst remaining family member, his elder sister Cun, who had been doting on him. She might still be alive and be suffering somewhere.


    The ¡°Will of the Divine¡± yed another joke at this moment. Suddenly, a sharp whistle sounded outside the manor, which was heart-stopping in the silence of the night.

 Chapter 5

    Chapter 5: The Intersection


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei stood up abruptly. Without really thinking, he wanted to go out and fight his enemies to the death, but his reasoning stopped him. No matter what the background of those killers was, even his father Gu Lun, Master Shifu Yang Zheng, and his two elder brothers were unable to hit back, so he could not withstand a single blow. Even his very survival to this point was a miracle.


    New whistles came from all directions; some were long while others short, and some stopped only to find others start. They were like a flock of noisy predators, vying for food and they soon entered the ruins of the manor. With their noisy hoofbeats, it seemed like thousands of people were rushing in.


    Just as Gu Shenwei lowered his body and hid behind a broken wall, a torch was thrown up into the air, flying over his head.


    Before Gu Shenwei had any idea about what just happened, a big hand grabbed his neck from behind. Gu Shenwei¡¯s feet left the ground against his will after the person that grabbed him jumped on his horse.


    Before the horse¡¯s hoof touched the ground, Gu Shenwei was suddenly released by the big hand and fell to the ground heavily. He cried out in pain and did not even get a chance to stand up before he rolled on the ground for a moment. He found himself surrounded by machetemen on horses. They looked like hungry wolves under the light of the torches, all of them greedily staring at their prey.


    Life is like that. There is always rain after an earthquake, and strong winds follow the rain. Bad luck is like an attacked animal, whose dripping blood will always attract more predators, then scavengers, night walkers, flies, and tinier creatures, until their flesh and bones disappearedpletely.


    The destruction of the Gu family was like a deadly wound. The first batch of killers had finished their tasks and escaped unscathed. After that, a group of wolves and ravens followed.


    They were dirty bandits and thieves, and their number was fewer than what Gu Shenwei had initially thought. In actuality, there were only five people, but the whistles, hooves, and torches seemingly magnified their numbers.


    Gu Shenwei did not know the identities of these people, and he just took them as enemies. He was cornered like a young beast with a low roar in its throat, showing its ws which were not sharp.


    A whip came in through the darkness, bringing Gu Shenwei to the ground again. All of these banditsughed excitedly and one of them leaned over to grab the young man. He put the young man on the back of his horse and searched him without ceremony. Finding a small bag of silver in the young man¡¯s arms, the bandit raised it and shouted, ¡°Hey, this kid is from the same trade. He took it before us!¡±


    Understanding the identities of these people, Gu Shenwei suddenly flew into a rage. ¡°Let me go!¡± he shouted, struggling to grab the parcel.


    The banditughed louder. Not taking the young man seriously, he put the silver into his arms. He pped the boy heavily on the back and pulled out the little oilskin packet.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s back hurt like hell. It felt as if it was broken. But what scared him more was the secret manuscript of Internal Strength that had been taken. It was the most precious relic of his family, even more important than his own life.


    Blowing a whistle, the bandit tore off the oilskin from the packet. He was surprised to find that there was only a thin book inside. After turning a few pages, he did not know any of the words in the book.


    ¡°What the hell is this?¡± The bandit was furious.


    ¡°Give it back to me!¡± Gu Shenwei rose up angrily.


    The bandit punched Gu Shenwei in the face, almost knocking him out. The bandit dropped the book and took out some rope to tie him up, and then jumped down and followed the others into the ruins to look for valuables.


    Since Gu Shenwei¡¯s hands and feet were tied, he could only wriggle like a worm. After struggling desperately for a few seconds, he fell down from the horse to the ground, and then he tried to crawl toward the book.


    As he was about to get to the book, a strong wind blew over the ground. The me of a nearby torch that had been thrown away by a robber was blowing like a snake¡¯s tongue. When the me touched the pages of the book, it instantly caught fire.


    It was painful to see his book burning. What he regretted most was that he did not build a solid foundation of his family¡¯s Kung Fu. Now, he could not even fight an ordinary bandit.


    He rolled over on top of the book to put out the fire, and then hurried to get off the torch beside him. Carrying the book in his mouth, he got further away from the fire. Finally, the family¡¯s secret manuscript was saved, but only parts of it because the first few pages were almost burned out.


    He looked at the book with pity and was surprised at the words in the book. He knew every word in it, but it was an ount book, nothing rted to Internal Strength!


    The book, which was so difficult to find and save from being lost, was not the shortcut manual of ¡°Yin and Yang Strength¡±. Gu Shenwei was very disappointed because the secret manuscript was extremely important to his simple n of revenge. And due to his weak Kung Fu foundation, it would take him at least 30 years to be able to avenge his family without the secret manuscript.


    The shortcut manual to mastering ¡°Yin and Yang Strength¡± had a lot of side-effects, so former masters of the Gu family used to hide it carefully, and no descendants were allowed to read it. It was said that an ancestor had practiced ¡°Yin and Yang Strength¡± ording to the secret manuscript, which made his Internal Strength more powerful and his strength double. With Gu family¡¯s skills with the sword and spear, he became very famous at the time, but three yearster, he suddenly died mysteriously in a very terrible way.


    Gu Shenwei just wanted to avenge his family, so he did not care about the effects after three years. But now, he even had lost all hope in fighting his enemies to the death.


    Those bandits thoroughly plundered the ruins. Within half an hour, they all went back to the courtyard, carrying several packets and blowing their whistles as they were preparing to leave.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s captor came back as well and put two packets on the horse¡¯s back. His plunder was not as good as the others, so he was not in a good mood. He went over to the boy and gave him a good kick.


    Gu Shenwei curled up in pain. The bandit grabbed him by the ropes on his body and tried to carry him back onto his horse.


    Suddenly, Gu Shenwei realized something. The oilskin-wrapped book was thrown into sight, revealing a corner of a white handkerchief. Before it was picked up, he bit at a corner of the white handkerchief. He had taken the entire white handkerchief in his mouth while he was lying on the horse¡¯s back.


    After mounting their horses, the bandits left the manor and went downhill.


    There was another bandit near the vige at the foot of the hill, guarding a dozen captives and more than 30 cattle and sheep. The captives¡¯ arms were tightly tied together. Gu Shenwei was also thrown onto the ground and tied to the back of one of the other captives.


    The six bandits drove the captives and the animals to the east. Gu Shenwei struggled to follow them, having no time to spit out the white handkerchief.


    When the sun was rising, these bandits stopped at a T-junction. Gu Shenwei thought it was not too far from his home. He rarely left the manor, so he had no impression of how far this road was.


    They went through a narrow dirt road running north to south through a mountain. They took a main road that went east to west after negotiating the winding road for a few miles, seeing hundreds of people gathering at the intersection.


    Most people were dressed in scruffy leather coats. Shining in the morning sun, their coats were so oily that they seemed to have never been washed. Everyone was armed and had fierce eyes, they just looked like a herd of animals being forced to gather in a heap.


    There were distinct factions among the bandits. They were divided into several groups, keeping a vignt eye on each other. Their hands were always ced near their weapons, ready to fight each other at any moment.


    What was really weird was that these fierce bandits all squeezed in the western part of the intersection, but none of them went over to the empty area on the opposite side, as if there was a ghost hidden there.


    What was even weirder was that all the bandits were looking at the northern mountain pass, as if they were waiting for someone.


    Four hours before, Gu Shenwei thought he had the ¡°Will of the Divine¡±. Unexpectedly, he became a captive of these bandits, mixed up with a bunch of dirty and panicked men and women.


    Among all the captives, Gu Shenwei was the dirtiest. With sweat, dust, and bone-ashes covering his whole body, he just looked like a y sculpture.


    As these bandits were not paying attention to him, Gu Shenwei spat the white handkerchief out of his mouth. No daring to check it, he slipped it into his pocket secretly. Knowing that he had already been searched once, he hoped he would not be searched again.


    The person the bandits were waiting for had not turned up, so they started to be restless and began to curse. They were not used to being so close to their peers. Two groups of them had fought with each other, and several of them were injured. But fortunately, none of them were killed.


    Gu Shenwei still did not know why he was taken. There were so many bandits gathered near the Gu family¡¯s manor. It was said that such bandits had been wiped out a few years ago. He looked up at the bandit who caught him and tried to get some clue from him.


    This bandit, like all the others, was dressed in a leather coat even on this hot summer day. He was strongly built, with a thick beard on his dirty face, and a scar on his left cheek.


    The scarred bandit felt the re from below. He looked down at the young captive with a relentless gaze and said, ¡°What don¡¯t you run?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was not that stupid. He stood in the midst of all these bandits, surrounded by the endless Gobi Desert. To escape meant certain death. In addition, his hands were tied to a group of captives.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got the money, why not let me go?¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s tone was tough, but he knew that he was just money in the eyes of a bandit, the same as all the other men, women, and animals.


    The scarred bandit spat on the ground, and his thick saliva just brushed across Gu Shenwei¡¯s scalp. He refused to answer the question.


    An old bandit looked at the gang of thieves and their captives with a gloomy face. Suddenly, he said, ¡°Not enough plunder, Eagle.¡±


    The scarred bandit called ¡°Eagle¡± spat again and said, ¡°The tiger has left no food behind.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was shocked, thinking that this ¡°tiger¡± must be the people who killed off his entire family. These bandits obviously knew all the details of the killing. He had been thinking that it would be hard to find these killers, who might hide their whereabouts after taking out the Gu family.


    The old bandit nced at him once more and maybe saw something special in Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes. He said nothing more and turned his head to continue looking across the mountain pass to the north.


    Gu Shenwei waited for a long time but no one mentioned the topic of ¡°tiger¡± again, so he had to ask, ¡°Is the tiger that you are following a big one?¡±


    The bandit named Eagle closed his lips, as if he had not heard him. After a while, he said coldly, ¡°Nonsense, is there any tiger bigger than Supreme King?¡±


    Supreme King.


    There was no one in the Western Region who did not know about Supreme King.


    Suddenly, he became very depressed because the power of his enemy was way beyond his expectations.

 Chapter 6

    Chapter 6: The Swordsman


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei had heard a lot about Golden Roc Fort and the Supreme King two years ago when they had just arrived at the frontier from the Central ins. At that time, he yearned to meet this famous killer organization and see the Supreme King face to face, so much so that his longing became a target for mockery from his second elder brother.


    In the Western Region, the Gu family never had any involvement with Golden Roc Fort, and Gu Shenwei soon forgot the gang and its king. However, Gu Shenwei never could have expected that the gang¡¯s reappearance would lead to the extermination of the entire Gu family.


    As it turned out, the ¡°butcher¡± his father had so frequently discussed with his brothers after the masked men broke in was actually the ¡°Supreme¡± (for these two words sound alike in Chinese). Gu Lun had already known of the ill-intentions that Golden Roc Fort had against his manor, therefore, he purposely ¡°chased away¡± his daughter and youngest son.


    ¡°Golden Roc Fort wanted to exterminate the Gu family, but why?¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought it over and over, but he still could not understand. In the past two years, his family had barely made contact with any outsiders in the Western Region, so how could it offend the Western Region¡¯s ¡°King of the Killers¡±?


    With the clip-clop of hoofbeats approaching, a brown galloping horse came from the northern mountain pass. A knight in a gray cape sat on the back of the horse. The bandits were happy at first, but soon their happiness was reced by disappointment. This was not the man they were waiting for. Someone would have surely gone forward and held up this knight for extortion if there was not a ban on crossing the boundaries.


    Seeing a bunch of people with fierce countenances gathering at the roadside, the gray-caped knight was neither surprised nor rmed. He merely hastened the horse to go keep its pace.


    ¡°Whoosh!¡± Someone hurled a throwing knife in the direction of the knight. People could not cross the boundary, but weapons could.


    The knight¡¯s gray cape floated like a wisp of cloud skimming through the air. He lifted his right arm and caught the throwing knife with his hand. Then he put it inside his leather bag and said, ¡°Received.¡±


    As the cape hovered in the air, a long sword was exposed, hanging on one side of the horse.


    ¡°A swordsman from the Great Snowmountain!¡±


    Someone in the crowd shouted. Nearly 100 bandits backed up on their horses as if a spell had suddenly pushed them simultaneously. The hurler of the throwing knife did not dare to say a word. The captives on the ground, only some of whom understood the situation, were all infected by the same fear and moved back together.


    Gu Shenwei was standing in the back and was almost knocked down by people backing up in front of him, but he still able to peer over on his tiptoes. He had never heard of the ¡°swordsman from the Great Snowmountain¡±, so he had no idea what they were afraid of.


    In front of him, there were two teenagers about his age. They lowered their heads and hid behind the adults. Clearly, they knew the terror of the ¡°the Great Snowmountain¡± as well as the bandits.


    A faint smile appeared on the knight¡¯s face, which was glowing in the wind, snow, and sunshine. He squinted his eyes habitually, as if he was always looking for something.


    ¡°People of the Eagle Gang, step forward.¡±


    His voice was measured and he said no harsh words, but he had an irresistible force. Gu Shenwei saw that the face of the scarred bandit, ¡°Eagle¡±, was turning green.


    The Eagle Gang was a very small gang with only six people; it was hard to even call them a ¡°gang¡±. Nevertheless, as their leader, Eagle could not back off or act cowardly.


    ¡°I¡¯m Eagle. This is Gloden Roc Fort¡¯s territory, how dare you say that?¡±


    The gray-caped knight looked back at the wilderness and said, ¡°Still one step away. And did you ever see a man from the Great Snowmountain who was afraid of the ¡®Butcher¡¯?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was pleased to see that the ¡°Supreme King¡± also had enemies. He had always thought that Golden Roc Fort had no rival in the Western Region. In this case, Gu Shenwei¡¯s hope for revenge seemed much greater. He felt that he should join the Great Snowmountain.


    Eagle¡¯s face turned even greener and his men gripped their hilts nervously. The east side of the road was the territory of Golden Roc Fort. As bandits, none of them could stride over the boundary, otherwise, they would lose protection.


    Eagle clenched his teeth and shouted, ¡°Brothers, why are the 81 gangs of Tianshan so disunited? Shall we remain in silence even in the face of a bully? Will we allow him to humiliate us?¡±


    The other bandits looked at each other without saying a word. As small gangs just scraping out a living, this was the first time they had heard of the ¡°81 gangs of Tianshan¡±. They did not share a bitter hatred of the enemy, nor did they find it necessary to y good Samaritan.


    The knight from the Great Snowmountain sneered. ¡°The ¡¯81 gangs of Tianshan¡¯, what a big name. I¡¯m so scared, but I¡¯m only looking for the ¡®Eagle Gang¡¯ and no one else.¡±


    This sentence reassured the other bandits. No one stepped forward. Instead, they all moved further back to distance themselves from the ¡°Eagle Gang¡±.


    Eagle knew that he faced an impasse. However, he was a battle-scarred bandit who had experienced the ¡°Golden Age¡± of thieves and bandits from 10 years ago. Therefore, stubborn ruthlessness was imprinted in his bones. He had to bite the bullet because begging was useless.


    Eagle spat, and that was thest dirty thing toe out of his mouth.


    He jumped off the horse and drew his sword, and his men did the same. The six of them were lined up, and their shining scimitars made a sharp contrast to their dirty clothes.


    The knight from the Great Snowmountain smiled satisfactorily. He took off his cape and ced it on the saddle. Then he jumped off his horse as well and drew the long and mighty sword from the side of the horse.


    The body of the sword was almost as wide as an adult¡¯s palm. The knight leaned the sword against the ground, and the hilt reached his chest. Obvious cracks and ws could be seen on the edge as if its owner had used it to chop wood.


    ¡°My name is Long Feidu.¡±


    ¡°Your name is none of our business, you are from the Great Snowmountain anyway. So either you kill us or we kill you.¡± Eagle led his five men to step forward slowly to form an arc surrounding Long Feidu.


    ¡°I should let you know who is going to kill you.¡±


    Long Feidu held the sword with two hands, with the tip still against the ground.


    The six members of the ¡°Eagle Gang¡± slowly approached Long Feidu. They did not have a habit of telling the victim their names before killing. The bandits were more inclined to the principle of Golden Roc Fort: Kill the target, regardless of the means.


    However, Gu Shenwei had a very good impression of Long Feidu. He tried to stand on his tiptoes to see further, but the two teenagers in front of him seemed to be cowering and always hid behind the adults. Being tied up with the same rope, Gu Shenwei could not stand up straight, therefore, he could not see what was going on.


    Someone shouted, and nobody could tell who made the sound. Weapons collided, and soon all the sounds faded into silence. The scene had not sounded at all fierce or intense, but like a cksmith idly knocking on ironware.


    Still, the surrounding bandits and captives all cried out in panic.


    Gu Shenwei summoned all his strength and jumped up to look over the heads of the bandits in front of him. He saw that Long Feidu was raising the long sword while five out of the six men from the ¡°Eagle Gang¡± were falling to the ground. Only their ¡°leader¡±, Eagle, stood there nkly, with his scimitar thrown on the ground. He lifted his left arm in front of his face ridiculously, as if he was going to stop the sword with his flesh.


    Although it was only a glimpse, this scene was deeply imprinted in Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind. He would not be able to forget it after many years. What impressed him the most was not Long Feidu, who held the sword like a god, but the trembling Eagle, who had lost all consciousness of defense.


    At that moment, an idea formed in his mind. ¡°It¡¯s so easy to kill someone.¡± Those twists and turns or other skills had not appeared at all, and the fist techniques and desmanship he earnestly learned seemed so juvenile and unpractical now.


    Gu Shenwei only caught a glimpse before he was dragged down by the two teenagers in front of him. The nearest teenager red at him, signaling to him not to make any dumb moves.


    The muffled sounds made by a sharp sword cutting a blunt object and a body falling down were pretty clear to Gu Shenwei this time.


    ¡°I¡¯m Long Feidu from Tanduo Peak of the Great Snowmountain. If anyone wants revenge, they cane for it now orter.¡±


    No one wished to avenge the ¡°Eagle Gang¡±. The bandits only pondered that they would never, ever provoke this man. Eagle must have been crazy to be his enemy.


    There was a turmoil among the captives in the front. Through the gaps, Gu Shenwei saw that Long Feidu was walking toward them, with the long sword dripping blood onto the ground.


    ¡°Will this man kill the captives too?¡± Gu Shenwei was not as scared as the other captives, instead, he was a little excited. He wanted to tell Long Feidu his story and deep hatred, and he even wanted Long Feidu as his master so that he could seek help from the Great Snowmountain.


    He never expected that his wish would be so hard to achieve. He believed that the appearance of the knight from the Great Snowmountain to be part of the ¡°Will of the Divine¡±.


    However, the two teenagers in front of him were stooping down so much that they almost dragged down the people behind and in front of them. Gu Shenwei looked at their shaking bodies with surprise. Suddenly, he understood that Long Feidu wasing for the two teenagers, which was clear because they were more panicked than the others.


    In Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes, Long Feidu was like a legendary hero who curbed the violent and assisted the weak, so he was quite confused why these two teenagers were acting so scared.


    Long Feidu came slowly. Wherever he looked, the surrounding people would bend down immediately. He stopped at the end of the line.


    Beyond Gu Shenwei¡¯s expectation, the two teenagers showed no fear at this moment and drew themselves up, making them even taller than the adults in front of them. They stared at the sword-bearing knight.


    Long Feidu narrowed his eyes into slits, but his facial expression was unchanged. He raised the long sword with both hands.


    From such a short distance, the long sword looked especially wide and heavy. It did not even need an edge because it could easily kill anyone with its weight alone.


    If he wielded the sword, perhaps a dozen heads would touch the ground. The captives were frightened and stayed motionless, like the dead Eagle. They entrusted God with their lives.


    However, Gu Shenwei was not scared at all. He stepped forward and looked at Long Feidu sincerely.


    ¡°You came from the Great Snowmountain, so you must be a real swordsman.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had never heard of the Great Snowmountain, but it did not affect his judgment of Long Feidu.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m just a swordsman.¡±


    ¡°Even a swordsman shouldn¡¯t kill innocent people willfully. Only¡­ Golden Roc Fort does that.¡±


    Long Feidu¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up, he seemed to be moved by Gu Shenwei¡¯s words. However, that weather-beaten face soon turned as cold as a snow mountain once more. He held his breath and gripped his sword even tighter.


    Gu Shenwei was terrified and his heart seemed to stop beating. He was going to die together with these two unknown teenagers just because of some extra words.


    Long Feidu wielded his long sword at a nt. This movement would have chopped down more than one head. Nevertheless, he changed his mind midway through and lifted the de so that it followed the same path back up.


    An arrow was cut in half and fell near his feet.


    ¡°A hidden attack, eh? You must be a flunky of the Supreme King.¡±


    ¡°So audacious. You must be a nobody from the Great Snowmountain.¡±


    A knight in ck walked from the mountain pass in the north, and two knights followed him, each holding arge banner. The banners featured a ck background and red edges, with a golden roc embroidered in the middle.

 Chapter 7

    Chapter 7: The Assassin


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei knew that g.


    It was now two years ago that the entire Gu Family, which included dozens of people, had left the Central ins and traveled through the desert to the unknown Western Region. They had hired many helpers along the way to assist them in their journey. Among these was a helper who carried the Golden Roc g. He was not a guide, though he did always walk in front of the procession. He was not a servant either, for he did not do any chores. He always kept his distance from his employer and made the coachmen and other servants feel uneasy.


    The journey to the Western Region was dull, but Gu Shenwei remembered clearly that the family never suffered any attacks from bandits along the way. Their safe travels seemed to confirm Master Gu Lun¡¯s good judgment in navigating the Western Region. However, in truth, it had been Golden Roc Fort that had protected them.


    Golden Roc Fort was once the protector of the Gu family. This fact added to Gu Shenwei¡¯s confusion as to why, two years after the family¡¯s journey, the gang had be murderous butchers. He even began to doubt whether the bandit known as Eagle had made a mistake.


    The two g-bearers stood firm as the knight in ck approached alone, carried swiftly by his horse. He stopped just over 10 steps away from Long Feidu and dismounted, putting down his longbow without haste, as if he were going to greet an old friend.


    ¡°What a rare visitor to Golden Roc Fort. A swordsman from the Snowmountain!


    ¡°Hey! You even dare to fight alone. This is indeed a rare sight.¡±


    ¡°It seems that I have no choice. But in any case, I¡¯ve undergone several days of training in the art ofbat.


    ¡°I¡¯m Long Feidu from Tanduo Peak of the Great Snowmountain.¡±


    Long Feidu held the sword in both hands, the de nting toward the ground.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard a lot about you. But I¡¯m a nobody in Golden Roc Fort. It¡¯s not even worth mentioning my name.¡±


    The assassin in ck drew out his de, which was starkly different from the typical scimitar used by bandits. This knife was t and narrow, with a de barely two feet long. It would have looked like a needle ced next to Long Feidu¡¯s long sword.


    The twobatants drew closer to each other. The onlookers all held their breath, waiting to witness the result of this duel.


    Gu Shenwei was anxiously hoping for swordsman¡¯s sess. He had already made up his mind that no matter how Long Dufei treated the two teenagers, he would not interfere again.


    The killer and the swordsman came within three steps of each other, but neither made a move. They stared at each other, nodding as if they were merely acquaintances who would pass by.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart was in his mouth. He had witnessed and even had participated in a few fights. Both sides would ready themselves at a distance and continually adjust their positions while they came closer. But he had never seen anything quite like what was happening between these two opponents. It was so much like a casual dance that he felt no sense of murderous feelings waiting at the other side of the fight.


    The two of them were standing shoulder to shoulder with less than a step¡¯s length between them. But they still stood staring at each other. Then, the murderous feeling suddenly burst forth. The long sword and the narrow knife waved simultaneously in the blink of an eye.


    Though the onlookers were prepared and did not dare to avert their eyes, they were all shocked and leaned back unconsciously, as if the weapons were aimed at their own vital parts.


    The sword and the dagger swung like lightning, but did not touch each other. The assassin in ck stepped backward even faster than he wielded his dagger. In the blink of an eye, he already stood five steps away, just at the edge of the long sword¡¯s attacking range.


    Long Feidu withdrew his move just before the strike reached its full power.


    No one seemed to win the first round. Gu Shenwei thought the swordsman had been the stronger contender, but he questioned this assessment as he recalled something that his father had once said.


    Gu Lun had always spoiled his youngest son and had never pushed him too hard to practice Kung Fu. However, once when Gu Shenwei was criticizing others¡¯ martial arts, Gu Lun became unusually serious. He pointed at his own eyes and hands, and said, ¡°Having sharp eyesight is much more difficult than having skillful hands.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had not taken his father¡¯s words seriously then, but now he believed them.


    Long Feidu had killed six ouws with just a few maneuvers. The killers from Golden Roc Fort had noiselessly ughtered dozens of people in the Gu family. Even though the assassin in ck in front of him might not have been one of those killers, his Kung Fu skills could not be underestimated. Both of them were top masters. However, at such a crucial moment, their movements were so simple and even seemed a little rough. Each move was quite simr to the servant Yang Zheng¡¯s unchanged strike of hisnce.


    Gu Shenwei had already learned several sets of fist and sword techniques, and could make reasonablements on the various schools of martial arts of the Central ins. However, he would not be able to fight against even the most ordinary bandits.


    ¡°Superficial.¡± His father onceid thisment on him, smiling and shaking his head.


    The assassin and the swordsman crossed swords once again. This time there was no cautious approach. Instead, they dashed out like forceful arrows, or leopards pouncing their prey. In the blink of an eye, their weapons shed, emitting harsh noises.


    The assassin in ck stepped back first. This time he retreated further than 10 steps away. He was visibly nervous, every inch of his hair standing on end.


    Long Feidu wielded his sword again and stepped forward.


    Gu Shenwei felt a flicker of shock, thinking the swordsman would chase his opponent and strike a fatal blow. He was wrong. Long Feidu immediately stopped after a single step. It was a stalemate.


    The two opposed each other like statues for a long time, confusing the onlookers. No one dared to apud. If they stood for the wrong team, they would pay with their lives.


    ¡°Mercy Powder. I should have thought of it.¡± Long Feidu suddenly knelt on one leg, the hilt gripped in his hands. It was no longer a weapon but a crutch.


    Gu Shenwei had no idea what Mercy Powder was, nor did the other onlookers. However, it was clear to everyone that a scheme had been plotted against the swordsman.


    ¡°You swordsmen always say ¡®I should have thought¡¯, but never prepare for it. Humph.¡± The assassin in ck scorned the loser without mercy.


    ¡°Mercy Powder has no color and no smell, but it¡¯s very harmful. The victim bes weak and feeble. 15 years ago, the Supreme King swore to destroy it and never use it again. Now it appears again. Golden Roc Fort hasn¡¯t changed at all, still as untrustworthy as ever.¡±


    ¡°Well, as knowledgeable as you seem to be, I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re wrong. This is not Mercy Powder, so Lord King hasn¡¯t broken his pledge, and Golden Roc Fort maintains its honor, especially in keeping the rule that we never spare any survivors. You can believe that!¡±


    The assassin in ck walked behind Long Feidu as he spoke, and put the sharp tip of his de against the swordsman¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Gu Shenwei could not believe it, for he was expecting Long Feidu to fight back. However, it was merely a teenager¡¯s wish that good people should win and fairness should defeat trickery. The swordsman ¡°should have thought of it¡±. Nevertheless, ¡°should have¡± could never be reality.


    The assassin in ck slowly stabbed the body with his narrow dagger until only the hilt was left outside. Long Feidu did not resist and died in peace. Only the corpse held the sword and knelt there. Not far from himy the six bandits who he had killed.


    The assassin in ck held the bloody dagger and turned back to look at those bandits.


    He had killed a real swordsman. True, his methods were dirty, but he was still the winner. Everyone knew that they would be able to kill him if they all united. However, in front of a bullying dog, they were like gentle sheep, frightened and submissive, no matter how rude they used to be while stealing other people¡¯s belongings and livestock.


    The assassin looked at them with scorn and wiped the blood off of his dagger with Long Feidu¡¯s body. He slid the dagger into its sheath, walked back, and mounted his horse. After a while, he said grimly, ¡°Finish your business and leave immediately. No one may stay.¡±


    The bandits felt relieved and kept nodding their heads to show agreement.


    The Snowmountain swordsman had disappointed him, but Gu Shenwei was more contemptuous of the bandits. The dawn of revenge had faded away after shining briefly.


    Gu Shenwei could not figure out how to defeat his enemies, the members of Golden Roc Fort. He had originally thought that once he mastered Yin and Yang Strength by practicing the ways taught in the shortcut manual, he would be able to kill all his enemies. Now he realized that it would not be easy.


    He also realized something else. His father, his two elder brothers, and Master Shifu Yang would have been able to fight back if they had not been plotted against like Long Feidu had.


    The assassin in ck rode his horse forward, turned eastward at the intersection and entered the territory of Golden Roc Fort. The two g-bearers followed him closely, like two female lions following after a male lion who had just defeated an intruder. The onlookers at the west of the intersection were merely frightened wild dogs.


    ¡°Finish your business and leave immediately.¡± Gu Shenwei immediately understood the meaning of this sentence, and discovered that he was to be treated as merchandise.


    Soon after the assassins of Golden Roc Fort left, a group of traveling merchants came from the northern mountain pass in a long caravan. Some of them rode horses, and some drove carriages. They wore a variety of different clothing, a misceny of many hundreds of people.


    The merchants and the bandits formed two opposite groups with a clear boundary, but they reached a peaceful agreement on this road. Both sides were waiting for each other. The bandits took out goods and people they had robbed, behaving like new salesmen. They sold all they had to the merchants who walked by. In fact, they could not tell the names of most of their goods.


    Those merchants loved this kind of business as it was cheap. If they were lucky enough, they might even get a rare treasure from those bandits who knew nothing of its true value. Most importantly, the T-junction was safe. Even the most vicious bandits had to hold back their impulses, not daring to touch one finger of the merchants who carried gold and silver.


    They had already paid the protection fee to Golden Roc Fort, thergest gang of bandits in the Western Region. In return, they gained privilege, which protected them from small groups of bandits.


    The trade was in full swing. Soon the bloody smell of the seven corpses washed away. When Gu Shenwei peered through the crowd to view the nearby Snowmountain swordsman, he found that the body had fallen on the ground and the long sword had disappeared. Naturally, the corpses had been robbed and nothing was left.


    With so many feelings welled up, Gu Shenwei became overwhelmed. By contrast, the two teenagers in front of him did not have many thoughts at all. They had just narrowly escaped, and the assassin of Golden Roc Fort was their unexpected ¡°savior¡±. Now they had to save themselves.


    They began to untie the rope using their teeth. The rest of the captives were stupefied for a moment before they all realized that they were now free. Their ¡°masters¡±, the six bandits from the Eagle Gang, were dead.


    Unfortunately, ¡°master¡± was not an umon thing at this T-junction dominated by bandits and merchants. Before the captives untied their ropes, a few merchants had already arrived. Theymanded their ves to cut off the ropes and were ready to take all of the modities¡±.


    Some of the captives submissively followed their new masters while others tried to exin to the merchants.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a ve!¡±


    Gu Shenwei cried out at the Big Beard who wasing for him. The other two teenagers also shouted in anothernguage. No matter whatnguages they used, their cries were only answered withughter.


    The Big Beard put away his short dagger and grabbed one of Gu Shenwei¡¯s arms to drag him to a cart. Gu Shenwei was full of anger. Having no other outlet to vent it, he kicked the Big Beard with all his strength.


    Although Gu Shenwei was young and his Kung Fu was poor, the power of the kick was not at all weak. The Big Beard cried out in pain and angrily punched Gu Shenwei in his lower abdomen.


    This punch was even harder than the kick. Even though Gu Shenwei had thought of how he might defend himself, he was beaten down before he could take any action. The Big Beard hit more heavily than the manor servants of the Gu family.


    The Big Beard intended to continue the beating, but a merchant snapped a few words, which probably meant that he should not beat the ve to death, as he was ¡°purchased¡± goods.


    The Big Beard, who had been kicked, happened to bear grudges. He deliberately knocked the teenager¡¯s head against a wooden fence when opening the cage. Gu Shenwei felt dizzy as he was thrown into the cage.


    Gu Shenwei was not alone in this cage. A person, who was bumped against by him, screamed and kicked him away. Gu Shenwei rolled aside. After a long while, he regained consciousness and found that the trade caravan had started their trip to the east to follow the Golden Roc g.


    There was more than one cage cart, all following in procession. Oxen with great horns were pulling the carts, and ferocious barbarian knights rode by their sides.


    Gu Shenwei looked back inside the cage. A dozen children were huddling in the haystack and all staring at him fearfully. He had no idea who it was that his weight had been thrown upon just now.


    The hope for joining the Great Snowmountain was broken, and he had no choice but to start all over again. He reached his hand to his chest for the white handkerchief in order to check whether there were any of those words that he desperately wanted to read.


    But the white handkerchief was gone.


    Gu Shenwei felt dizzy. He searched his whole body, but could not find it, not even a trace of it in the nearby piles of hay.

 Chapter 8

    Chapter 8: The Pointy Face


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    He must have lost the white handkerchief when fighting with the Big Beard. Gu Shenwei clung to the wooden palisade of the cage and looked back, but he could only see a long string of oxcarts. After quite a while, he was able to get a wider view when it made a turn.


    The T-junction was out of his sight, and the fleet was already off in the distance.


    Gu Shenwei gripped so tightly that his knuckles became pale. He looked back nkly and could not believe that the family¡¯s secret manuscript had gone just like that.


    ¡°Did you guys¡­ see a piece of white cloth?¡±


    With hisst ray of hope, Gu Shenwei turned around and asked the other children in the cage.


    However, no one answered or even looked up at this neer. Gu Shenwei did not know whether it was because of thenguage barrier or simply unwillingness.


    ¡°A piece of white¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei tried to show the size of the white handkerchief with his hands, but he said with less and less confidence. All the children were so skinny in rags. They would not be interested in a piece of cloth at all.


    ¡°They didn¡¯t understand what you said.¡±


    After the oxcart moved some length, a teenager in the corner finally spoke up.


    This teenager was probably the same age as Gu Shenwei. He wasely with a pointy face. Compared to the other children, his clothes were clean. The cage was very small, but he upied an entire corner by himself. ying with a straw stick in his hands, he was staring at the neer inquisitively.


    ¡°The white handkerchief, a piece of white cloth. Have you seen it?¡± Gu Shenwei urgently asked.


    The pointy-faced teenager thought for a while and shook his head. ¡°No. Does it matter much?¡±


    Gu Shenwei sat down, disappointed. His mind was going nk.


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± he asked unconsciously after quite a while.


    ¡°Jade City.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew this city. It was the major city in the Western Region. As a transportation hub, it attracted numerous trade caravans to gather there. It was a paradise for feasting, but hell for living by using daggers and swords. He had stayed there for one night before, and suddenly thought, ¡°Isn¡¯t Golden Roc Fort outside the city?¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked up just in time to meet the pointy-faced teenager¡¯s gaze, as if there was something weird about him that could attract the teenager¡¯s constant attention.


    ¡°Do you know me?¡± Gu Shenwei asked with a hint of anger. Only the two of them in the cage could speak Central ins Chinese. However, Gu Shenwei was in no mood for making friends, as he had be a ve, and had also lost the crucial secret manuscript of the Gu family.


    ¡°A rich kid.¡± The pointy-faced teenager sneered. His tone was frivolous and full of sarcasm.


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± A me of fury sprang to his head, though for the most part, the pointy-faced teenager was not the true source of this anger.


    ¡°Nothing. Once we arrive in Jade City, all of us will be sold, but no one will buy you to be a young Master again. I¡¯m kindly reminding you that it¡¯s not easy to adjust going from a young Master to a ve. The ves have their own rules and ways of living. Do you want my advice?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded, for his words sounded very reasonable.


    ¡°Wash your butt clean.¡±


    The pointy-faced teenager said this solemnly and showed a slight smile. His smile became more and more obvious, and finally turned into crazyughter that carried on and on.


    Gu Shenwei could not understand what he meant for a long time and only felt ufortable with his presumptuousughter. He gradually realized the obscenity of it. However, the best time for taking offense had passed. In his limited, extravagant life experience, he had never learned how to deal with this kind of situation.


    The pointy-faced teenager gained an advantage by his words and became more impudent. After the roaringughter, he pretended to be serious and said,


    ¡°Take it easy. A young Master like you looks quite clean. When we arrive in Jade City, surely there will be people queuing up to buy you. You¡¯ll have a bright future. Haha, your butt will be busy.¡±


    That was undoubtedly an insult.


    Gu Shenwei leaped forward and pounced at the pointy-faced teenager, but he stumbled over the children in the middle. They rolled up into balls and yelled in pain, which aroused a guard¡¯s attention. Without saying a word, he took out a club to randomly thwack at the chaotic scene inside the cage.


    The children quickly separated. Each of them got some hits, as did Gu Shenwei. The pointy-faced teenager in the corner, however, was beyond the reach of the stick.


    The pointy-faced teenager was trying his best not tough. After the guard left, he gave a heartyugh that shook his belly until he was nearly out of breath.


    Gu Shenwei did not expect there to be such an annoying person in the entire world. Besides the assassins in Golden Roc Fort, he had never hated anyone as he hated this pointy-faced teenager.


    Gu Shenwei was not the only target of the pointy-faced teenager¡¯s teasing. He always kept silent for a moment, and then suddenly ttered. He implicitly or explicitly talked about the miserable experience of bing a ve, which provoked or scared the listeners into crying.


    The pointy-faced teenager could speak severalnguages. The children in the cage came from different ces, but he could talk to almost every one of them. He even made an abundance of various expressions and gestures to match his sensational rumors.


    ¡°Some masters even like to eat kids, especially kids at our ages. Every year, these ve traders will pick a group of children with the most tender meat and sell them to the rich who practice such a special hobby. He¡¯ll dere that you are disobedient, and that you talk back to your master and have ns of running away. Then he¡¯ll tie you uptight and wash your butt clean. He¡¯ll torture you while cutting your flesh to eat, slice by slice. He¡¯ll roast it or boil it. There¡¯re all kinds of ways to eat a ve. When the masters eat you, you¡¯ll be still alive, watching helplessly.¡±


    The pointy-faced teenager showed his two rows of white teeth, stuck out his tongue, and licked his teeth. ¡°Wash your butts clean¡± was his favorite pet phrase.


    He would not stop until a child at the age of eight or nine cried out. Then he would take a short breath out of satisfaction.


    Soon after that, Gu Shenwei got ustomed to the pointy-faced teenager¡¯s causticity and chatter. He now felt like a terminal patient. Now that knowing the deadline woulde soon, he had given up the will to survive. If he had any expectation at all, it was that death would soone.


    The trade caravan moved very slowly, day and night. The ves were asionally released to relieve themselves. Gu Shenwei was like a walking corpse without any resistance and did not even try to escape. Hepletely lost his confidence. Even the Will of the Divine had abandoned him, no longer giving him any hints.


    The atmosphere of the trade caravan became more and more cheerful, as Jade City was right in front of them. There would be wealthy buyers, raptured brothels, and fine liquor. It was all waiting for them. Most crucially, they had entered the territory of Golden Roc Fort, which meant no more danger.


    However, this sentiment was broken at noon on the third day. At that time, it would take the caravan only one more day to reach Jade City. The rest of the path was smoother with more green nts, and viges appeared. It did not look like a ce where bandits would show up.


    At that moment though, a gang of bandits appeared in front of the trade caravan. The people at the back could not see the actual situation, but the bad news was passed along one after another.


    ¡°There are some bandits in the way.¡±


    ¡°How can there be bandits here?¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s the killer from Golden Roc Fort? Isn¡¯t he leading the way for us?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We have so many people. There¡¯re only a few dozen bandits.¡±


    ¡°Bighead Kingpin? It¡¯s Bighead Kingpin. Oh my god!¡±


    Gu Shenwei was also somewhat impressed by Bighead Kingpin, who always appeared in horror stories. Those stories were so extraordinary that Gu Shenwei had always regarded him as a mythical figure and did not even expect to find out that he was real.


    ¡°It¡¯s over. Bighead Kingpin loves eating kids the most. No matter whether your butt is clean or not, he¡¯ll eat it anyhow.¡±


    The pointy-faced teenager turned pale and repeated it in four or fivenguages. His expression was not as frivolous as usual and his voice was trembling, which made his remark seem a bit more authentic.


    All the children in the Western Region had heard the story of Bighead Kingpin of Iron Mountain. Once reminded, they all fell into a panic. Some timid children even curled themselves up in the haystack, shivering and not even daring to look up.


    It was not Bighead Kingpin himself that spoke to the trade caravan at first. When the whole caravan was scared to death, a frightening voice came in.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. I¡¯m a friend of the Supreme King. I don¡¯t do business in his territory. I¡¯m noting here to steal. I only want to buy something.¡±


    The merchants felt even more surprised that Bighead Kingpin of Iron Mountain wanted to ¡°buy¡± something. No one dared to answer him, for fear that it was the bandits¡¯ ng. Once one stepped forward to fawn, what he got might be a fast knife.


    After Bighead Kingpin¡¯s underlings threw two big packs of shining silver on the ground, the leader of the trade caravan ventured to ask,


    ¡°What would you like to buy, my lord? We have¡­¡±


    ¡°ves.¡±


    After hearing that, the merchants took three steps back all together. They all huddled together and wondered who had offended this big demon to the extent that he wanted to buy from them.


    It was indeed unexpected that Bighead Kingpin would be an ordinary buyer. A skinny middle-aged woman came out of the bandit caravan and led a small team to check each ve cage. Then she let the team drag out the children that she liked.


    The merchants felt relieved, but the ves, who heard the news, were truly frightened. The pointy-faced teenager was stunned at first. Then he fumbled in the haystack, picked up two handfuls of ash and smeared it on his face.


    His move reminded everyone. Even the despondent Gu Shenwei also joined the group to grab the ash, trying his best to make himself the ugliest and the most inconspicuous that he could be.


    The skinny woman seemed to be capable of seeing through the children¡¯s guise at a nce. It did not matter how thick the ashes were on their faces. She simply nced over the cage and chose two children.


    Gu Shenwei made up his mind and jumped out of the cage by himself. The pointy-faced teenager was paralyzed in the corner, holding onto the hope that he could be safe, but a bandit eventually dragged him out.


    The skinny woman finished her job quickly. In the end, she picked out 10 boys and 10 girls. All of them were around 10 years old. The two teenagers who had been chased by the Snowmountain swordsman, Long Feidu, were also chosen.


    ¡°Virgin boys¡¯ and virgin girls¡¯ flesh is the most tender. We are bound to have our butts washed and wait to be eaten.¡±


    The pointy-faced teenager only spoke in Central in Chinese this time. Then, he disappointedly followed Gu Shenwei, grasped his arm firmly and walked toward their new master.


    Bighead Kingpin was at the forefront of the caravan the entire time. Gu Shenwei only heard his voice, but had never seen him. At this time, he boldly looked up and got a glimpse of him. Though he had already prepared himself emotionally, he was still scared. He wondered how there could be such a horrible person in the world.


    Bighead Kingpin rode a dark horse. His upper body alone was almost as tall as a normal person. His name fitted him well, as his head was as big as a bucket, with loose fluffy hair that made his head look even bigger. He looked like arge ancient vessel carved with a Taotie (a mythical ferocious animal). With his giant eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, he resembled a statue justing out of the temple.


    His naked upper body had tight muscles, shining in the sun.


    His ck horse was also different. It was a circle bigger than an ordinary horse. With dense teeth and fierce eyes, it was like a fierce carnivorous beast.


    Gu Shenwei somewhat believed the legend of Bighead Kingpin eating people. The pointy-faced teenager behind him staggered and almost fell on him.


    Bighead Kingpin¡¯s caravan had many horses. More than a dozen horses were immediately led out. The new boys and girls were forced to mount the horses and ride by themselves or with others.


    The pointy-faced teenager decided to stick with Gu Shenwei. He rode on the same horse as Gu Shenwei and wrapped around his waist from the back. No matter how hard Gu Shenwei struggled to get rid of him, the teenager would not let go.


    The Iron Mountain bandits had bought enough people, so they turned the horses eastward and galloped away. There were nearly 10,000 taels of silver left on the road, enough to buy dozens of ves. The merchants were still in shock. Though Bighead Kingpin had disappeared, no one dared to take the money.

 Chapter 9

    Chapter 9: The Bandit Camp


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The 10 pairs of boys and girls, who were held by about 50 bandits, rode at full speed and arrived at the camp of the bandits that same night.


    Iron Mountain Gang¡¯s camp, instead of being hidden deep in the forest, was built just outside of a major city. It was populous and noisy, with weapons and gs ced everywhere. Seen from afar, the bandit camp looked like an army that was ready to attack a city.


    ¡°We must be outside Jade City now.¡±


    The pointy-faced teenager nervously was specting after dismounting the horse, with one hand grasping Gu Shenwei¡¯s clothes.


    He was right. The members of the Iron Mountain Gang, who came from various regions and could speak several different dialects, kept cheerfully mentioning ¡°Jade City¡± in all of them. They tapped each others¡¯ shoulders as a way of sharing their joy.


    Gu Shenwei was confused. He remembered that in the legends, Bighead Kingpin of Iron Mountain always dwelled in the Gobi Desert. Unexpectedly, he now made his appearance around Jade City, and did not seem inclined to sack it.


    The teenagers were driven forward. There were almost no female bandits in the camp. The men in the camp were very curious about those children. They pointed at the children andughed rudely, making those little ves even more scared.


    The tents were crowded in the camp. The tallest one in the middle was obviously Bighead Kingpin¡¯s main tent.


    Bighead Kingpin went directly into his tent and the 10 pairs of boys and girls were also brought inside.


    It was spacious inside his camp and it could amodate around 100 people. The ground was covered with thick nkets. Frightened, the newly purchased little ves stood near the door, waiting for their unknown fate.


    Dozens of sub-chiefs followed their ringleader. Before taking his seat, Bighead Kingpin waved his big hand and shouted his order.


    ¡°Bring the meat.¡±


    The little ves were frightened by his gesture. Two girls fainted and two boys were scared to tears. The pointy-faced teenager was so scared that his body became soft, leaning on Gu Shenwei¡¯s back and whispering fearfully,


    ¡°I was just kidding. They won¡¯t eat people, right?¡±


    A bunch of underlings filed into the tent, bringingrge amounts of meat and wine. The little ves in the corner were also served with food.


    The meat and wine were casually piled on the carpet. Sitting on the floor, the bandits ate and drank without ceremony.


    The smallest piece of meat must have been five or six pounds. Half cooked, the meat oozed a trickle of blood after a bite.


    ¡°What, what meat is this?¡±


    The pointy-faced teenager whispered. Hearing his words, several teenagers who wanted to eat put down the meat.


    Gu Shenwei had not eaten anything for quite a few days and was very hungry. Without paying any attention to the pointy-faced teenager¡¯s words, he grabbed arge piece of meat and took a bite. It did kill his hunger despite being hard and smelly. Furthermore, it did not taste like human flesh.


    Gu Shenwei was taking the lead, and the other teenagers began to eat the meat, but they were wondering what Bighead Kingpin had bought them for. It was definitely not to invite them to eat meat.


    In the tent, even the sub-chiefs showed their ferocity, not to mention Bighead Kingpin. The normally dressed one showed his one arm, covered in scars and tattoos, while some of the drunken ones even stripped stark-naked.


    They were energetic men, and the food and wine made them even more energetic. Without any other outlet to consume their energy, they chose to fight with each other. There had already been several fights in the 15 minutes since the banquet had started. Instead of stopping those fights, the bystanders cheered them on. Wine goblets were thrown everywhere.


    After eating half a piece of meat, Gu Shenwei was full. Looking at those bandits, especially the strong and valiant Bighead Kingpin, Gu Shenwei suddenly thought of how nice it would be to get the help from Iron Mountain.


    However, the Supreme King was Bighead Kingpin¡¯s friend. Gu Shenwei could only entertain this idea in his mind.


    When the banquet was halfway finished, the passion of the bandits was running high. They took turns to toast Bighead Kingpin. He took all those toasts without discrimination. A big bowl full of liquor in the hands of an ordinary man was just a small cup in his hand.


    One sub-chief was so drunk that he stood up unsteadily and began shouting loudly.


    ¡°In a few days, our Miss of Iron Mountain will get married. With the 10 pairs of girls and boys being bought, her dowry isplete. I thereby wish ourdy to have a son early, and wish Bighead Kingpin to have a grandson!¡±


    The Iron Mountain Gang did not care about etiquette. Even though they called their ringleader by his nickname, Bighead Kingpin did not take offense at that. He smiled and drank his bowl of liquor in a single draught. Obviously, he was happy with this toast.


    The little ves were relieved. They were to be used as the dowry of the Miss, and no longer needed to stay with Bighead Kingpin.


    The pointy-faced teenager breathed a sigh of relief, and nervously whispered,


    ¡°Our Miss¡¯s father-inw will not be a bandit, right?¡±


    No one answered his question, and no one was concerned about it, because the sub-chief, after gaining the favor of Bighead Kingpin, spoke one more sentence.


    ¡°Bighead Kingpin, our Miss is reputed for her great beauty. Now she¡¯s getting married. I guess that it¡¯s time for us to take a look at her.¡±


    The proposal was cheered by many bandits, but the voices of approval died down as everyone saw that Bighead Kingpin¡¯s face had changed.


    ¡°You want to see my daughter?¡±


    ¡°No, no.¡± The sub-chief knew he had made a mistake, and was scared, with his face turning green and his bowl falling to the ground. He murmured, ¡°I don¡¯t want to, I, I¡­¡±


    Bighead Kingpin suddenly stood up, picking up an iron spearying beside him.


    The iron spear was long and thick. Compared to it, the old servant Yang Zheng¡¯snce was just like a toy for children.


    The sub-chief knew that he had made a serious mistake and stepped back in fear. He forced a smile, but his expression became more twisted and rigid.


    Bighead Kingpin angrily shouted, like a thunderbolt. Despite his bulky body, he nimbly jumped over the heads of more than 10 people. Before he hadnded on the ground, his spear had pierced through the chest of the sub-chief.


    Bighead Kingpin raised his spear, with the dying sub-chief hanging from it. The sub-chief held the spear, fearfully looking at Bighead Kingpin. He said with his remaining strength, ¡°Please¡­ please forgive me.¡±


    ¡°With exception of my worthy son-inw, no second man can see Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter. No man in the world. My worthy son-inw is the son of the Supreme King, not you, bastard.¡±


    ¡°Bighead Kingpin and the Supreme King are inws!¡±


    Gu Shenwei was disappointed. There was no possibility of using Bighead Kingpin to kill the Supreme King¡¯s family.


    There still was a silver lining. He could follow Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter into Golden Roc Fort. The Will of the Divine had made its appearance after abandoning him for a few days.


    At once, Gu Shenwei settled his mind, as a clear path appeared ahead of him. He would make his way into Golden Roc Fort, search for the whereabouts of his sister, and assassinate at least one of his enemies.


    The death of the sub-chief did not ruin the atmosphere of the banquet. His body was quickly removed, and the crowd continued eating and drinking.


    After the banquet, the 10 girls were sent to the Miss¡¯s tent to wait on her, and the boys were taken to the smaller tent next to hers. Their daily work was to scrub the utensils and prepare her dowry.


    When his sister, Gu Cun, was ready to marry, Gu Shenwei was just a young master who lived a carefree life. He only needed tomand and his servants would carry out his orders. But now, he was carrying out the orders of a bandit¡¯s daughter, who he had never seen before. It was no easy feat for him to ept this.


    The skinny woman, who had selected ves for Bighead Kingpin, was the Miss¡¯s close servant. Naturally, the teenage ves were under her charge.


    The skinny woman ordered them to call her ¡°Mama Xue¡±. They were the first two words of Central ins Chinese that the barbarian teenagers learned how to say.


    Mama Xue¡¯s appearance was a far cry from snow. Her face was yellow, her cheeks were hollow, and her whole body looked like a stick. Knowing that most of those youths could not speak Central ins Chinese, she spoke little to them. When there was an order, shemanded them by pointing her finger.


    Her fingers were slender and hard, like 10, thin iron rods. If someone could not understand her orders at once, he would be poked by those fingers, which often left his body with bruisessting two or three days.


    The 10 teenagers all suffered her finger-poking, and even the pointy-faced teenager, who imed to be the best at pleasing his master, was no exception. Each time he saw Mama Xuee in, the pointy-faced teenager immediately snatched his own share of the job and did it enthusiastically.


    Gu Shenwei was poked several times in the chest and thought that Mama Xue had to be good at Kung Fu, as his little Internal Strength provided him with no protection.


    Bighead Kingpin often led his bandits out of the camp. Sometimes they came back empty-handed. Sometimes they brought back many items. It was hard to say what kind of business he was in.


    The exact date of his daughter¡¯s marriage had not been fixed. They kept saying ¡°soon¡±. But there was a rumor the marriage might be ill-fated.


    Gu Shenwei had a hard time in this camp.


    The pointy-faced teenager brought back rumors and reminded hispany. ¡°If our Miss cannot be married off, we¡¯re out of luck. This is a bandit gang. Today they stay here, but nobody knows where they¡¯ll go. Will Bighead Kingpin bring a bunch of kids with him? Are there any kids in this camp except us? I don¡¯t think Bighead Kingpin will sell us. Instead, he¡¯ll pierce us all together with his spear like a kabob.¡±


    The pointy-faced teenager imitated Bighead Kingpin¡¯s posture of piercing a person with a spear. Three children were so scared that they dropped the bronze wares to the ground.


    On the fifth day after they entered the camp, Bighead Kingpin led his men out of the camp and did note back at night.


    After a tiring day, Gu Shenweiy on a straw mat, but could not fall to sleep.


    He was used to sleeping in a soft bed. For him, the straw mat was no different from naked ground. He also felt ufortable sharing a tent with others, as he used to sleep in his room apanied only by the young attendant, Ming Xiang. Ming Xiang never snored, nor did he grind his teeth or twist and turn.


    Gu Shenwei had epted the fact that his entire family had been killed. His will to seek revenge became firmer day by day, but he could not easily adapt to such a life.


    Someone was walking in the tent. A ray of moonlight found its way in through a hole in the roof. Gu Shenwei saw two teenagers sneaking toward the door.


    It was the two teenagers who had been chased by the Snowmountain swordsman.


    Gu Shenwei had once spoken for them on impulse. However, they did not seem to appreciate it at all. Of course, they could not speak Central ins Chinese, but they had never expressed their gratitude.


    Gu Shenwei did not care, for he had too many other things to deal with.


    The two teenagers looked alike. Apparently, they were brothers. They looked around as they walked. In no time, the elder brother¡¯s eyes met Gu Shenwei¡¯s.


    At that moment, Gu Shenwei suddenly realized that the two brothers wanted to run away.


    The elder brother was stunned for a moment. He pointed outside and made a few simple gestures. His eyes were darker than the night and glimmering, like the vignt eyes of a cat.


    The other children were fast asleep. Gu Shenwei rose up, staring at the pair of eyes close at hand. He understood their meaning. The brothers were inviting him to escape together.


    It seemed to be a good time to run away. Bighead Kingpin had taken away a lot of his underlings, and most of the servants that were left did not know any Kung Fu. The bandits never arranged for any guards to look after the 10 boys. Jade City was miles away from the camp and was a good ce to evade the bandits¡¯ hunt.


    Gu Shenwei slowly shook his head, but gently waved at them to wish them good luck.


    He could not waste this good opportunity to enter Golden Roc Fort. Unless he followed Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter, who would marry into Golden Roc Fort, he could not enter Golden Roc Fort by any other means with his ordinary Kung Fu skills.


    His sister might be in the fort, but his enemies were also there.


    The brothers were a bit surprised, but did not persuade Gu Shenwei any longer. Waving at him, the elder brother turned around, took his brother¡¯s hand, and carefully walked outside of the tent.


    Gu Shenweiy down again and thought that the brothers must have had the same unusual experience as him, but they could notmunicate.


    ¡°Someone is running away! Come and catch them!¡±


    Just as the two brothers had lifted a corner of the tent, the pointy-faced teenager suddenly raised the rm. No one knew when he had woken up.


    The brothers were taken aback. Hesitating for a moment, they turned around and rushed at the pointy-faced teenager, who had been sleeping inside the tent.


    However, as the two of them were taking their first steps, they were picked up by someone, holding one in each hand.


    It was Mama Xue. Dressed in daytime clothes, her response was incredibly quick, as if she had been waiting just outside the tent.

 Chapter 10

    Chapter 10: Sworn Brothers


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    ¡°They were attempting to run away when I caught them, and that boy meant to join them.¡±


    The pointy-faced teenager reported excitedly as he pointed at Gu Shenwei.


    Hearing themotion, other bandits rushed in, torches in their hands. However, seeing that Mama Xue had already gotten the situation under control, they did not take further action.


    Gu Shenwei was resolved to seek revenge, by hook or by crook, but now he was not sure what to do exactly.


    Therefore, being confronted with the pointy-faced teenager¡¯s false usation, he hesitated momentarily, but he did not defend himself since he did not want to betray the brothers.


    In a huff, Mama Xue flung the brothers upward, and then simultaneously pped them on their backs without saying a word. The two teenagers fell into a dead faint, as theynded on the straw mat.


    When the pointy-faced teenager saw that, he became so excited that his eyes glittered. He enjoyed watching others being punished and did not care who the executor was.


    Mama Xue silently strode toward Gu Shenwei, and quick as a sh, she poked him in the shoulder with two of her fingers.


    Gu Shenwei had been originally sitting on the straw mat, but after the attack, he was lying t on his back. Feeling the pain prate to his marrow, he immediately lost control of his arms and beads of sweat glistened on his forehead. He could not help letting out a painful cry, however, he instantly stifled the following groan.


    The pointy-faced teenager flushed with excitement, and was on the verge of shouting ¡°bravo¡±.


    Mama Xue turned and approached the pointy-faced teenager. The boy knelt on the straw mat, and with great expectation, he eagerly said, ¡°Mama Xue, please rest assured, I¡­¡±


    ¡­


    Mama Xue rose one of her arms and pped him across the face. The smack was so powerful that the pointy-faced teenager tumbled, falling heavily onto the mat, instantly unconscious.


    ¡°Damn you, little snitch.¡±


    Mama Xue cursed as she turned around to leave. As much as she hated informers, she still arranged for an underling to keep an eye on the tent.


    Neither of the brothers nor the pointy-faced teenager died, and they woke up just before dawn. As for Gu Shenwei, he could move now despite being in immense pain.


    The other teenagers tried their best to avoid them since they did not know what had happened. They wanted to keep their distance from the entire affair.


    With a clear handprint on his face, the pointy-faced teenager buried his cheek against his hand in utter confusion. Seeing the brothers and Gu Shenwei walking toward him, he immediately sat up.


    ¡°Easy now. I did that for your own good. You wouldn¡¯t have escaped. You would have been caught and killed.


    ¡°I had no choice. We¡¯re ves bought by them. It¡¯s our duty to remain loyal to our master. You can also use me if I do anything wrong.¡± The boy tried hard to make excuses for himself.


    Ignoring him, the brothers uttered a few sentences in their nativenguage. With a furious and scared face, the pointy-faced teenager snapped back. Just then, Mama Xue entered the room.


    Since the boys dreaded the skinny woman¡¯s fingers, none of them dared to risk getting into trouble in her presence, so they retreated.


    Throughout the morning, the 10 teenagers cleaned incense burners outside the tent. Shortly before noon, something happened that almost made Gu Shenwei forget his hatred for the pointy-faced teenager.


    Bighead Kingpin came back suddenly and strode toward his daughter¡¯s tent. His face looked pale and ghastly, and he wore an expression that only appeared when he wanted to kill someone.


    Obviously, the rule that men were forbidden from seeing his daughter did not apply to him.


    Everyone felt nervous, as if a storm were brewing. They wiped the brassware harder as they tried to eavesdrop on the people inside. It was on that day, the sixth day since they were made dowry, that they first heard the Miss¡¯s voice.


    ¡°No. I won¡¯t marry him!¡±


    Her voice sounded mellifluous and as soothing as cool water on a hot summer¡¯s day, quite different from her father¡¯s rough timbre. However, she spoke in a firm and aggressive tone, which no one else would ever dare to use in front of Bighead Kingpin.


    Bighead Kingpin lowered his voice, trying his best to persuade his daughter, but he was thwarted by an angrier protest,


    ¡°I won¡¯t marry a crippled man. Father, break off the engagement.¡±


    They could hear neither Bighead Kingpin nor his daughter. Suddenly, an almighty roar came from the tent. The enormous bandit chieftain had finally lost his patience and revealed his true nature.


    ¡°Whatever happens, you must marry him! That¡¯s an order! Motherfucker!¡±


    Feeling threatened by her own father, the Miss burst into tears.


    Bighead Kingpin sagged his upper body as he walked out of the tent. Standing at the entrance, he let out another roar into the sky before returning to his main tent, his footsteps heavy. On the way, leaders of varying levels and handymen avoided encountering him. No one dared tofort him.


    Holding his spear in hand, Bighead Kingpin looked to find someone to vent his anger on. However, he did not see anyone. So, instead, he raised his spear and shouted with rage.


    ¡°Go to hell Shangguan Fa! Even if my son-inw killed the wrong person, you should have just asked him to kill the right one. Why did you have to cut off his hand? I, I¡­¡±


    Even though he was an influential bandit chieftain in the Western Region, he could do nothing directly to the Supreme King, other than make verbal threats.


    ¡°Who the hell is Gu Shenwei? Bring him to me! I¡¯ll tear him to shreds!¡±


    Bighead Kingpin¡¯s eyes were red and bloodshot.


    Upon hearing his name, Gu Shenwei became shocked and scared. He felt a warm airflow rise up to his head so fast that he almost fainted. Suddenly, he knew who his enemy was.


    Eagle had been right. It was Golden Roc Fort that had exterminated the entire Gu family, and the one who had led the ughter was none other than Bighead Kingpin¡¯s future son-inw!


    Thank goodness! He had been bought by Bighead Kingpin as a ve, and together with his enemy¡¯s fianc¨¦e, he would be sent to the enemy¡¯s home.


    Ultimately, Bighead Kingpin did not find anyone to kill in order to vent his anger. The leader¡¯s and daughter¡¯s rage continued to pervade the entire camp and everyone felt insecure. Eventually, a ve girl was the one to suffer.


    Bighead Kingpin¡¯s surname was Luo and so was his daughter¡¯s. Her name was Ningcha, which sounded quite strange. Bighead Kingpin forbade men from seeing his daughter, but he did not mind if they mentioned her name throughout their daily lives.


    However, Miss Luo Ningcha personally hated that, especially when she was unhappy.


    The ve girl got into trouble just because of that. Since she hade from a mountainous area, her dialect made her hard to understand. The girl struggled to adapt to her new environment and worked hard to learn themonnguage. One of the first expressions she learned had been ¡°Ningcha¡±. It was a pity that she did not know its meaning or the Miss¡¯s taboo.


    Two days after Bighead Kingpin had quarreled with his daughter, the ve girl had been reciting the few expressions that she knew in Central in Chinese. When she mentioned ¡°Ningcha¡±, she sighed and just so happened to be overheard by Miss Luo.


    Few knew what exactly happened next. Like the other teenagers, Gu Shenwei had been working outside the tent when he heard a miserable shriek.


    The screamssted for some time before the punished girl was brought out, her face bloody and beaten beyond recognition.


    From that day on, she lost her eyes and tongue.


    Gu Shenwei did not know what the others thought about it, but it filled him with a righteous indignation. He thought Luo Ningcha was just as brutal as her father, who indiscriminately ughtered innocent people.


    Indignant as he was, he would do nothing about it. Even if he had still been the young Master of the Gu family and did not have to avenge his family¡¯s murder, he would not have had the guts to defend the poor girl.


    However, the ve girl did not die and after only two days, she returned to the Miss¡¯s tent. Even though she could neither speak nor see, she still had to serve the vicious mistress with her ears.


    No one, other than Luo Ningcha herself, knew why she had kept the ve girl.


    Every time he saw the blind girl, without her tongue and groping her way in and out of the tent, Gu Shenwei felt a cold shiver of fear run through him. He was sorry, terrified, and he believed that the other teenagers shared his emotions.


    Maybe the ve girl¡¯s miserable suffering reminded the teenagers of their need for solidarity. The third day after the incident, the pointy-faced teenager unexpectedly took the initiative to make peace with Gu Shenwei and the brothers who had previously attempted to escape.


    ¡°I came to apologize. I hope you can forgive me for my behavior that night. Since we live, eat, and serve the same master together, we should help each other like brothers.¡±


    While saying this, the pointy-faced teenager touched the faint handprint on his cheek and appeared rather sincere. He was apparently capable of changing his attitude so fast that others would mistakenly think they were facing two different people.


    He apologized in twonguages. Gu Shenwei and the two brothers exchanged knowing nces before they nodded, implying they forgave the pointy-faced teenager for his betrayal.


    They had more important secrets to keep, so they did not care much about the pointy-faced teenager¡¯s trick.


    But, the pointy-faced teenager wanted more than just peace. That evening, he coughed to draw everyone¡¯s attention and spoke in a formal tone as the others were about to rest.


    He spoke in two barbaric tongues of the Western Region before he finally said in Central ins Chinese, ¡°Now that you agree with me, let¡¯s hold a ceremony to be sworn brothers and swear that we¡¯ll share happiness and sorrow in the future.¡±


    He cast a seemingly serious nce over all of the boys that were present. Seeing that nobody objected, he then continued in threenguages, ¡°I, Lin Yang, will treat all of the people in this tent as my blood brothers. I¡¯ll share my food and clothes with you. If I seed one day, I¡¯ll definitely help you to seed, too.¡±


    It was not because they treasured the ties of brotherhood that none of them raised any objection, it was rather they did not know the others¡¯ true thoughts due to thenguage barrier. Therefore, they all kept silent. Moreover, nobody wanted to cause a stir in Bighead Kingpin¡¯s camp since both the chieftain and his daughter were in a bad mood and might kill someone at any time.


    After a brief silence, one teenager was the first to speak. He stammered out something in his ownnguage, which, judging from Lin Yang¡¯s satisfied look, must have been a vow.


    The teenagers swore their oaths one after the other, some reluctantly and others passionately. The two brothers, who had been betrayed by Lin Yang, followed suit, though their oaths sounded brief and not very sincere.


    As the eight teenagers spoke in the barbaric tongues of the Western Region, Gu Shenwei was not able to understand a word of their vows, not even their names. When it came to his turn, he hesitated for a moment before coldly saying, ¡°I, Yang Huan, will be your sworn brother. May Heaven strike dead whoever ys dirty tricks.¡±


    He had not made a solemn vow because Gu Shenwei had not used his real name.


    If the same thing happened a few days ago, the young Master of the Gu family would have taken great interest in participating in the ceremony and would have taken everyone¡¯s words seriously. Now, however, he made a promise with a lie and was sure that none of the 10 vows had been true.


    Lin Yang was also aware of this, but he was satisfied since he knew that he could not expect great changes in such a short time. Once they had entered Golden Roc Fort, he would gradually take control of the small group and be the real leader despite the fact that Miss Luo owned them.


    On the fifth day after the ceremony, Miss Luo Ningcha was made to dress for the wedding, and it was on that day that Gu Shenwei saw his enemy Shangguan Nu for the first time.

 Chapter 11

    Chapter 11: The Groom


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Although they became sworn brothers against their will, the 10 teenagers felt closer to each other after that night, as if they had found a long-lost sense of belonging.


    Gu Shenwei also thought it was a good idea. Without any backer or the Kung Fu secret manuscript, it was impossible for him to openly seek revenge, so he could only resort to insidious means. Therefore, it was not a bad thing to have a bunch of brothers after all.


    Of course, he would not tell his secret to anyone, nor would the other teenagers. In the small group where trust and sincerity did not exist, no one would risk telling the truth.


    Over the next few days, the 10 brothers bonded even more. They helped one another and learned each other¡¯snguage. asionally, they made a joke. No one foresaw their future after entering Golden Roc Fort.


    On the morning of Miss Luo getting married, the entire camp waspletely renovated. All the people, including Bighead Kingpin and his underlings, dressed up and looked neat for the first time.


    Regardless of their status, thousands of gangsters stood on both sides of the road, hoping to see the groom. As Supreme King¡¯s son, he always considered himself superior and could rarely be seen even by thergest bandit gang of the Western Region.


    Gu Shenwei was especially eager to see him.


    The news that Golden Roc Fort had ughtered the Gu family from the Central ins had been spread everywhere. The Shangguans did not try to hide it. Therefore, more and more details of the tragedy became avable to Gu Shenwei.


    Shangguan Nu, the Supreme King¡¯s eighth son, led the business. The Iron Mountain Gang regarded killing people as ¡°a business¡±. All he took were 20 killers, 70 machetemen, and probably a ck-masked assassin.


    Machetemen, killers, and assassins varied in status in Golden Roc Fort. Machetemen were mostly people hired from different ces in the Western Region and junior members of Golden Roc Fort. Killers were men cultivated by the fort, therefore, were much stronger and the core of Golden Roc Fort. Assassins were the most mysterious group of people, whose existence had been disputed. Anyway, they were said to be the strongest and had their identities hidden by wearing ck masks. Therefore, they were also called ¡°ck-masked assassins¡±.


    Some thought Golden Roc Fort used a steam-hammer to crack nuts by sending 27 killers and 70 machetemen to an assassination.


    Golden Roc Fort made it a rule that machetemen were responsible for reconnaissance, vignce, and other matters, and participated in killing people only when necessary, while killers should execute the most important assassination tasks.


    It was exactly those machetemen who spied on the manor from the hill behind the house, andter broke into it to ascertain the circumstances. Eventually, they were killed by the old servant, Yang Zheng, while chasing the five people who managed to escape from the manor.


    After everything was ready, 20 killers, perhaps together with Young Master Shangguan Nu and a mysterious ck-masked assassin, entered the Gu¡¯s manor in the middle of the night. They stealthily killed the servants patrolling the manor first, and then the masters of the estate, andstly, the servants that were sleeping.


    Since they were well-prepared, they executed the entire operation without resistance. ording to the standards of Golden Roc Fort, a head-on crash was thest means that they would resort to, so no resistance was the best result they could achieve.


    The bandits plundered all the gold, silver, and precious things in the manor, and then set the manor on fire, which was the standard procedure of Golden Roc Fort. They abandoned any objects that were hard to move and left them to well-informed bandits.


    If all went well, the action would win a bright future for the Eighth Young Master, Shangguan Nu.


    It was his first time to carry out a task by himself. If he seeded, he would be qualified to set up his house and develop his own forces. Additionally, he would marry the daughter of the chieftain of the biggest bandit gang in the Western Region to consolidate the family power and his own status.


    His dream was shattered by the 14-year-old boy¡¯s escape.


    People made different guesses as to how the teenager named Gu Shenwei got away. The rumor was that the master of the manor, Gu Lun, was a crafty old scoundrel. He sent out a few teams that night to divert the machetemen¡¯s attention before arranging his daughter and youngest son¡¯s escape.


    Shangguan Nu made a wrong judgment and only sent out a few machetemen to chase after them. As a result, the three machetemen were killed by Yang Zheng. They did not notice that two young masters were missing until they ughtered all the people in the Gu¡¯s manor. To make up for it, Shangguan Nu sent out the killer in time, who took back the head he wanted.


    It turned out to be the wrong head!


    It did not belong to the young Master of the Gu family, but to some unknown person.


    Because of that unforgivable mistake, the Supreme King cut off his Eighth Son¡¯s hand, and out of rage, Shangguan Nu did the same to several machetemen and killers.


    Shangguan Nu¡¯s future was ruined from the very beginning. Although the Supreme King had not made any formal announcement yet or in the future, everyone was certain that Shangguan Nu would not be qualified to keep house for a long time. His engagement to Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter was still valid, but it was no more his marriage than a purely family marriage. The Supreme King and Bighead Kingpin needed to establish a connection through marriage, and neither of them had any other children at the right age.


    What disappointed Gu Shenwei the most was that the rumors rarely mentioned what happened to Miss Gu Cun. People either assumed that she was dead, or did not mention her at all.


    As for the reason why Golden Roc Fort ughtered the Gus, there were so many versions that Gu Shenwei could hardly tell which one was true. For money? For treasure? For fame? For hatred? Or for revenge? After all, it was not the first time that Golden Roc Fort exterminated an entire family. For the fort, it was just an ordinary action. The Iron Mountain Gang had taken interest in it only because it was rted to their chieftain¡¯s daughter.


    No one had expected such a weird ending to the entire event. It was said that the Supreme King gave clear orders and told Shangguan Nu to bring the right head back in seven days.


    Shangguan Nu angrily agreed to do so, but everyone yed down the details. How far could a 14-year-old child flee in the desert of the Western Region? There was no doubt that he would eventually be caught by the Golden Roc Fort pursuers.


    Gu Shenwei alone knew that he was still alive.


    As for his surprising survival, Gu Shenwei guessed the reasons were probably that Yang Zheng yed a trick by disguising Ming Xiang as himself, and then found another child to dress up as the young attendant. On top of that, a series of idents happened to Gu Shenwei, like him losing his way. After returning to the manor, he was caught by bandits who did not know him and who wereter killed by the swordsman. In the end, Bighead Kingpin personally picked him out of all the ves.


    All those idents prevented Shangguan Nu from tracking down the escaped boy, and left him no choice but to hand over a substitute¡¯s head.


    There was no doubt that Shangguan Nu brought the wrong head back to Golden Roc Fort, but why did no one notice it?


    Gu Shenwei racked his brains, but could not find an answer.


    The groom¡¯s procession arrived.


    Dozens of knights dressed in bright uniforms led the procession on well-trained vermilion horses walking at the same pace. The dignified knights and horses overwhelmed the spectators around.


    Behind the knights was a bridal chair carried by eight people, and right by the chair, the groom, Shangguan Nu, followed the procession on a horse.


    Though dressed in standard groom attire, Shangguan Nu did not look happy at all. He remained as cold-blooded as usual, and turned a blind eye to the onlookers¡¯ discussions and admiration.


    He behaved as if he was a newly-appointed general inspecting his unpromising army.


    He wore a saber that was in a dark sheath and it was out of tune with the whole procession and very unpleasant to the eyes.


    It was said that the men of the Shangguan family would never leave their sabers until death. Therefore, the crowd understood and forgave the new groom¡¯s rudeness.


    In fact, the spectators were more interest in the groom¡¯s right hand that had already been cut off by the Supreme King.


    Without the hand to hold a sword, he was less threatening. It was like a fierce tiger whose teeth and paws had been extracted.


    Shangguan Nu hid his entire right arm in a long sleeve. No one knew what was holding the halter, as part of it was also covered by the sleeve. The groom seemed no different from a normal person.


    People with even a little knowledge of proper etiquette would not deliberately stare at others¡¯ physiological defects. It was a pity that courtesy was rarer than benevolence in the camp of the Iron Mountain Gang. After looking at the groom¡¯s procession and dress, thousands of people fixed their eyes on the hidden hand.


    Shangguan Nu¡¯s facial expression turned stiffer, as if he himself had be a part of the ¡°Iron Mountain¡±.


    Seeing Shangguan Nu from afar, Bighead Kingpin smiled broadly. He forgot all the unhappy things, and whole-heartedly waited for the Supreme King¡¯s son. ¡°Who can tell that he¡¯s handicapped? He¡¯s a perfect match for my daughter.¡± With this in mind, he opened his arms to embrace his son-inw.


    Gu Shenwei stood right behind Bighead Kingpin together with the other ve boys and girls as well as the bandit leaders. He could clearly see the groom get down from his horse and kneel to greet his father-inw. He even caught a glimpse of an iron hook in the groom¡¯s sleeve when Bighead Kingpin supported his son-inw and gave him a passionate hug.


    The hook shed before Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes.


    He found himself extremely calm, and was not as nervous as expected.


    This was the enemy of the Gu family. There was a good chance that he was the one who killed and beheaded Gu Shenwei¡¯s mother and father.


    Gu Shenwei was only a few steps away from Shangguan Nu, holding a red gift box in his hands. Suddenly, an impulse to throw himself at Shangguan Nu arose in his mind, and his body involuntarily leaned forward.


    A piercing gaze swept over him.


    With her eyes, Mama Xue was warning him not to make a show in front of the groom.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly awoke from his daze, and immediately resumed his standing posture. He thought, ¡°My father endeavored to save me, and Master Shifu Yang Zheng and my elder sister sacrificed themselves for me. I can¡¯t waste my life like this.¡±


    He would take revenge, but his target was not Shangguan Nu alone, but the entire Shangguan family.


    Blessed by the Will of the Divine, he believed he would seed.


    The groom stood up, his eyes sweeping randomly across the crowd behind his father-inw. Though many were blocked by Bighead Kingpin¡¯s tall and bulky body, he still managed to see a group of silly bandits, who giggled and seemed vulgar despite their brand-new clothes.


    Shangguan Nu felt a little disappointed, thinking, ¡°Do I have to seek an alliance with them? How can father choose to build a connection with such a mob?¡±


    Gu Shenwei bravely met the nce, but he did not attract Shangguan Nu¡¯s attention.


    As soon as he decided to enter Golden Roc Fort, he made up his mind to take a huge risk: Someone in Golden Roc Fort surely had to know him. Perhaps Shangguan Nu had long ago heard about his appearance.


    Now, Shangguan Nu did not recognize him, so he passed the first test. But how long could he hide his identity in the fort?


    Gu Shenwei knew that the Will of the Divine had not left him much time to seek revenge. He had to take action as soon as possible.

 Chapter 12

    Chapter 12: Names


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Thergest killer organization and the number one bandit gang in the Western Region were connected by a marriage. This was destined to cause a sensation in Jade City and be remembered for a long time.


    Riding a horse among the bride-escorting procession, Gu Shenwei might have been the only person who was not interested in the wedding. He had been to Jade City once before. Now revisiting it, he was in a quite different mood.


    Two years ago, the Gu family had marchedboriously in the desert for nearly a month. They initially had seen a densely popted ce, Jade City. Parched, the first sip of water was like drinking bejeweled nectar. In the travelers¡¯ eyes, Jade City wasparable to an earthly paradise.


    There were arge number of shops and taverns spread throughout the exterior of this city. All sorts of people from various ces walked along the streets. It was the first time they had seen so many different races. They could not stop staring with wild abandon.


    Master Gu Lun did not like this ce, however. After staying for a while, he went to the yamen to exchange their passports. Once morning came about, they had to travel west. They were heading for an oasis manor that had been bought with the help of a bailee. The manor itself was hundreds of miles away.


    ¡°It¡¯s such a pity,¡± thought both Gu Shenwei and his two elder brothers. His eldest brother had scolded his second brother for wanting to buy an exotic beauty, but he himself had stared fixedly at those beautiful women on the street, nearly falling off his horse.


    Hoping to revisit Jade City to purchase a big-eyed, fair beauty someday, his second brother had kept quite a few private savings. He had hidden them under his bed.


    The bride-escorting procession entered the city through the western gate and marched on the street with great fanfare. Both sides of the street were congested with onlookers. Everyone bowed, showing their respect and strewing flowers on the ground. It was a win-win marriage received like royalty.


    In Jade City, the sword ruled all.


    Golden Roc Fort was situated on the top of the mountain outside Jade City. The only ess to it was a zigzagging mountain road, starting from the northern gate of Jade City. Seen from afar, the fort in the mountain looked like an imperial pce. The city at the foot of the mountain became its portal and its first line of defense.


    Houses stood along the mountain road. Although it was not as popted as the city, it was not bleak. All the houses¡¯ doors and walls were decorated festively for the wedding in Golden Roc Fort. In fact, most of these households were associated with Golden Roc Fort in various aspects. By depending on the Supreme King, they could enjoy a good living.


    The temperature gradually decreased with the rise in altitude, which brought a bit of briskness in the midsummer.


    Approaching Golden Roc Fort for the first time, people would be astounded by the precipitous terrain. Under the mountain, no one would notice that the fort was built on an isted summit surrounded by an unfathomable abyss. There was only a roughly 10-foot-wide stone bridge that connected the mountain road to the fort.


    If someone were to walk on the bridge and look down, they would feel dizzy. There was no protection on both sides of the stone bridge. Clouds and mist drifted around and nothing could be heard.


    As they passed over the bridge, everyone dismounted and began to walk. No one dared to risk the horses being frightened, lest they fall and break into pieces.


    Cautiously and anxiously, they walked over the narrow stone bridge while holding onto the fort in awe.


    It was an antique fort. In front of its gate was a vast, vacant piece ofnd, paved with bluestones, which was partially damaged.


    The wall of the fort had huge rocks stacked up, varying in height. They were well-arranged with the lowest wall being 30 or 35 feet in height. On top of the wall, there were watchtowers spread with an infinite amount of piles of arrows. Countless gs rose up into the clouds.


    If there were enough provisions, one man could defend against 10,000 enemies. No one would be able to break through the fort from the outside.


    Gu Shenwei believed in the existence of the Will of the Divine more than ever. Because of that, he was able to enter Golden Roc Fort.


    Opening the fort gate, the crowd stood at the entrance to greet the bride.


    Gu Shenwei thought he could see Shangguan Fa, the legendary Supreme King. However, he was disappointed that he neither saw any other members of the Shangguan family except Shangguan Nu, nor got a chance to witness the scene of making ceremonial obeisance.


    The 10 pairs of teenage boys and girls became the Shangguan family¡¯s property along with innumerable other dowries. They were taken over in Golden Roc Fort.


    Appointed as the young mistress¡¯s personal servants, the girls were sent to Shangguan Nu¡¯s residence, while the boys were assigned to a small courtyard. ¡°Firewood Yard¡± was engraved on the lintel, so Gu Shenwei presumed that their duty from now on was chopping firewood.


    For these neers, the wedding banquet consisted only of ethereal music and faintughter.


    It was a peaceful, endless first night in Golden Roc Fort for them. Apart from someone bringing them dinner, no one cared about the new property. The 10 teenagers slept in one room, sharing arge, heated brick bed that could barely fit them all.


    The pointy-faced teenager, Lin Yang, was the first to recover from the shock. The handprint on his face had already disappeared and his confidence had almost recovered. He was the one that thought of making a pact with everyone. Proiming himself as ¡°big brother¡±, they were now sworn brothers.


    ¡°This is Golden Roc Fort, you know? All of the major royal families in the Western Region have to respect the Shangguan family. We¡¯re lucky¡­ no, I¡¯m lucky. I can seed in winning the Supreme King¡¯s favor. If you gain favor in Golden Roc Fort, you gain favor in the entire Jade City. As for you guys, if you follow me honestly and learn how to deal with people, you may be sessful someday as well. Don¡¯t me me for not warning you that at least one person will get killed every day in Golden Roc Fort. You¡¯d better watch out!¡±


    Lin Yang liked to frighten people but he liked to be ttered even more. Therefore, several scared, pale teenagers catered to hismands, begging him for special care.


    After babbling for almost two hours, Lin Yang slept with satisfaction. The other teenagers also fell asleep one by one. Gu Shenwei could not fall asleep. Closing his eyes and then opening them, he could not remember thest time he had slept well.


    He had already entered Golden Roc Fort. His sister might be locked up in here somewhere. He could even imagine her crying. Although it was quite risky to probe the fort, he could not tolerate giving up.


    Despite the possibility of Lin Yang waking up and the traps spread outside, Gu Shenwei still quietly crawled up and sneaked out of the room, barefoot.


    In the small yard, there were doors on the east and west sides. Outside the eastern doory a long and deep alley, which Gu Shenwei and the others had passed through to enter the yard. Knowing that there were guards during the day, he decided to go from the western door to check out the surroundings outside.


    The door was unlocked, which was a good sign. It was totally dark outside, however. It took Gu Shenwei some time to make out the surroundings. There was a t, muddy ground with lots of gravel and vague shapes ofrge trees not far away.


    The ce looked like the outside, rather than a part of Golden Roc Fort.


    Gu Shenwei was surprised at how easily he was able to leave the fort. He gingerly felt his way forward. After taking 30 or 40 steps, he felt a stone fall and heard a strange sound. He stopped walking and looked down. He was startled.


    He was already standing on the edge of a cliff. If he had taken one more step, he would have fallen into the abyss. No wonder there was no guards here. In fact, there was no need for guards.


    The sound of a pebble hitting the precipice below made a strange, weak sound on such a silent night. It sounded like a sort of shrill whistle, like an echo from theherworld.


    Gu Shenwei was tense as he slowly backed away two steps and ran back into the yard.


    Back in the yard, Gu Shenwei calmed down and carefully walked to the eastern door. After pushing against it, he found that the door was locked. He walked back a few steps to observe where he could climb over. He suddenly collided with something, however. Turning around, he saw a man looking down at him.


    The man in all ck wore a mask, camouged in the night. His right hand was ced near the left side of his waist. If one looked closely, one would recognize that the man¡¯s hand was holding a hilt. He was as quiet as a ghost.


    ¡°Is there someone who is also here to pay Golden Roc Fort a nighttime visit like me?¡± Gu Shenwei thought.


    Gu Shenwei was astonished and delighted. He remained motionless and silent because of what had happened on the cliff edge. He was more vignt than usual.


    They stared at each other for quite a while. Eventually, the man-in-ck spoke first.


    ¡°You are viting the curfew order.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was disappointed that the man-in-ck was actually a night watchman of Golden Roc Fort instead of an aplice. Golden Roc Fort was impregnable from the outside and inside.


    ¡°I am new here, I did not know. I, I need to pee.¡±


    ¡°You belong to the Eighth Young Mistress?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded desperately.


    The man-in-ck hesitated, loosening the hilt that he was tightly holding.


    ¡°There is a chamber pot in the room.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew that he had just narrowly escaped. He quickly nodded and ran back to the bedroom, finding the chamber pot. He was so nervous and afraid that the night watchman might still be spying on him outside, therefore, it took him a while to be able to urinate a little.


    Lying on the brick bed, he still felt his heart beating wildly.


    ¡°No more risks.¡± He warned himself secretly.


    The other teenagers were sleeping soundly, snoring unceasingly.


    Gu Shenwei had not thought about how to exact revenge yet. Worse still, the next day, he found it was quite hard to see Shangguan Nu.


    Firewood Yard was not a ce for firewood storage. It was a ce for the dead.


    Without a high status, anyone who was injured or sick would be sent to this small yard to await their death. In Golden Roc Fort, there were many who had a low status and could not receive any medical treatment. As Lin Yang had said, ¡°At least one person dies every day.¡±


    Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter was enjoying her honeymoon while the 10 teenagers she had brought here were assigned to look after these dying people. They fell into ¡°hell¡± when they woke up.


    It was more painful to touch the dead and watch the wounds bleed and fester than to watch people being in by swords. After one day¡¯s work, these teenagers looked decades older, silent and depressed. A rotten scent lingered in their noses. Even Lin Yang became dull, not saying a word.


    The man in charge of Firewood Yard was in his 20s. He was thin and weak, with a little e dotted on his pale face. It seemed like he had fallen ill and was sent here to wait for death, but after a long time, he became ¡°the master¡± here. He had kept on living.


    With a surname of Han, the man in charge was called ¡°ve Ji¡±. He gnashed his teeth as he introduced his own name, as if ming his terrible name on the teenagers.


    He always held a roughly 3-foot-long rosewood stick and liked to say, ¡°Hitting softens your bones, and teaching makes you good ves.¡±


    The rules in Golden Roc Fort were stricter than in the Iron Mountain Gang. The first thing ve Ji did after taking over the new servants was to give them new names. The naming was quite easy. He picked Chinese characters in sequence from the Thousand Character ssic and added one character, ¡°ve¡±, to it. Excluding some taboo-breaking andplicated characters, there were 700 or 800 characters left, used by sessive servants.


    This was how ve Ji had gotten his name.


    He took out the name booklet, which was filled with all different kinds of signs, finding which characters were still avable.


    ¡°San, Lv, Xiao, Yao, Xin, Zou, Lei, Qian, Qi, Xie, Huan, and Zhao. Well, Lv and Zou are used already, there are still 10 characters left, just enough.¡±


    The ce for naming was in a yard next door. An old man with white hair and particrly loose skin was in charge of the naming. ve Ji would confirm the character while the old man would find the matching iron mold and heat it up in the fire, turning the mold red.


    Even though the teenagers were unable to understand Central in Chinese, they knew what would happen next. They nced at each other. No one wanted to be the first.


    ¡°Hurry up! There are a lot of things to get done.¡± ve Ji urged them impatiently.


    Lin Yang, with the new name of ve Yao, pushed Gu Shenwei, who was beside him. Gu Shenwei became the first one to have his new name branded on his right arm.


    ve Huan.


    His new name unexpectedly shared the same character with his nickname.


    For the brother pair, the elder one and the younger one were called ve Qi and ve Xie, respectively.


    On the teenagers¡¯ arms, two ugly characters and a flying bird were imprinted. The flying bird was the symbol of Golden Roc Fort.


    Watching his new underlings with beads of sweat on their foreheads, ve Ji felt quite content. He even showed his characters on his arm for everyone to look at. He pulled down his sleeves and said,


    ¡°Now, you¡¯re men of Golden Roc Fort. Whether you¡¯re alive or dead, you¡¯re now Lord King¡¯s servants. Right now, your lives are in my hands.¡±

 Chapter 13

    Chapter 13: Oaths


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s new name was ve Huan, and the first dying man he cared for was in his 20s. The young man had three deep cuts on his chest, and he seemed to have lost all sense of sensation as he quietlyy on the brick bed without a groan or any requests. Except for his faint breathing, he appeared to be dead.


    Gu Shenwei was not really looking after the man, but rather watching the man¡¯s life fading away because the only assistance ve Huan provided was to give him a bowl of water.


    The only generosity Golden Roc Fort bestowed upon the injured was to not bury them while they were still alive.


    The teenagers, who had just spent their first night in the fort and were still not familiar with their names, were sent here to take care of the dying people. With the strong smell of blood, they began their new life at their new ¡°home¡±.


    Usually, a dying person only needed one caretaker. However, this was the offseason so he was the only patient in the yard. Therefore, ve Ji asked all the teenagers toe over and get used to it, while he himself stood far away from the door with his nose covered.


    ¡°Now you see the fate of killers,¡± ve Ji said.


    ve Ji seemed to gloat over the man¡¯s misfortune, while thetter gave no response.


    ¡°He¡¯s ve Jie, and he entered the fort on the same day as I did. Now look at him, he¡¯s lying there waiting for death, while I¡¯m standing here watching him die. Haha, if you want to be a killer, strive for it in your next life.¡±


    ve Jie did not refute the ims; perhaps he had not even heard ve Ji¡¯s words. However, ve Yao (Lin Yang) dared to look up and say, ¡°But, one can be somebody once bing a real killer, right?¡±


    That provoked ve Ji. ¡°Yeah, be somebody. All of you go be killers. If anyone of you lives longer than me in East Castle, I¡¯ll kowtow to him. Look at yourself, you would dare to be a killer? Humph.¡±


    ve Ji waved his rosewood stick menacingly, but he did not want to get too close to the dead, so he walked away. In his mind, ve Jie was already dead.


    ve Jie died at dusk, and the teenagers were quite reluctant to touch the dead body. However, under the threat of that rosewood stick, they were forced to carry the body to the western door and threw it into the abyss.


    ¡°It¡¯s the final destination for all the servants in Golden Roc Fort. It¡¯s called Ghost Cliff. Listen carefully, there¡¯s a strange sound, isn¡¯t there? It¡¯s like a dying person groaning.¡±


    ve Yao scared them, and the other teenagers ran back as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, ve Ji stood by the West Yard and snorted. No one knew whether he thought it wasughable or contemptible.


    Gu Shenwei then followed the crowd. The night before, he hade to the cliff and heard the scream.


    Later on, the teenagers learned from ve Ji that the cliff outside the West Yard was named Ghost Cliff and that ve Yao had not made up the story. However, nobody knew how he knew about the cliff.


    Ghost Cliff was a triangle tform, in the middle of which there were the remains of a stone table. It was said that the dead had been previously cremated with a heap of firewood on it. That was the origin of the name Firewood Yard. Since Golden Roc Fort changed its customs, the stone table had gradually been demolished, leaving nothing behind but a little rubble and charred burn marks.


    Over the next few days, the teenagers were tasked with waiting for somebody to die and then throwing the corpse off Ghost Cliff. Most of the dead were young people who had dreamed of being killers, entered East Castle to be apprentices, but had been ruthlessly kicked out.


    Golden Roc Fort was divided into several rtively independent districts. East Castle was used to train killers, while West Castle consisted of various types of yards, such as Firewood Yard, specializing in the disposal of the dead.


    Even while knowing that more people died than survived, people still wanted to enter East Castle, which was difficult for those teenagers to understand. Most of them agreed with ve Ji¡ªthey preferred to be an alive, obedient ve in West Yard rather than a dead killer.


    However, the ambitious ve Yao seemed to think differently and repeatedly suggested that he had the potential to be a killer. Nobody took his words seriously because he was incapable of Kung Fu, and his constitution was not better than anyone else¡¯s.


    Gu Shenwei used to think about whether he should strive to get into East Castle. Golden Roc Fort¡¯s killers had ughtered the Gu family, and he thought being trained to be a killer and using it for revenge was a considerably attractive idea and a perfect n in his mind. However, it would not be easy to make ite true.


    First, he was pressed for time. Being the young Master of the Gu family, he could be recognized at any moment, so he had to get his revenge as soon as possible.


    Second, the training in East Castle would be cruel and bloody, and few seeded in surviving. He was afraid that he might die there without getting his revenge.


    Third, the real problem was that an inferior family servant like him was not qualified to enter East Castle without a rmendation.


    Gu Shenwei expected the enlightenment of the Will of the Divine again, but nothing happened.


    Since he had entered Golden Roc Fort, it seemed as if the Will of the Divine had be blocked and kept out. He had no method for finding his sister or taking revenge. Now, not to mention exterminating the Shangguan family, he could not even see the edge of a piece of clothing belonging to Shangguan Nu.


    He was genuinely afraid of bing stuck in Firewood Yard and being forced to carry the dead for the rest of his life.


    Not just him either, all of the teenagers had the worrying feeling about being forgotten. Golden Roc Fort did not seem to intend to treat the 10 children seriously. Like those dying people, they thought they would waste their lives in such an ominous yard until the arrival of their death.


    The fifth day since arriving at the fort, those teenagers saw their first glimmer of hope.


    Mama Xue, serving Miss Luo Ningcha, arrived.


    Although the teenagers had never been treated in a friendly manner by Mama Xue, they had, in fact, suffered a lot of pain from her Iron Finger. Still, they felt as if they saw their kin, for only she could save them out of the abyss of misery.


    That afternoon, Mama Xue opened the door, entered, and as usual spoke briefly. ¡°Follow me.¡±


    The teenagers that had been cleaning the dead¡¯s room nearly gave out a cheer. However, ve Ji stood by the door. Under the threat of his rosewood stick, no one dared to show any obvious pleasure.


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ve Ji looked at the unknown middle-aged woman in surprise. The woman walked so quietly that he had not heard her footsteps, which displeased him.


    ¡°I¡¯m Miss Ningcha¡¯s wet nurse.¡±


    ve Ji frowned, for he had never heard of Miss Ningcha in the fort, and the woman, t as a coffin, did not look like anyone¡¯s wet nurse.


    ¡°What Miss?¡±


    Mama Xue poked ve Ji with one finger, and with a trace of a blush, ve Ji grunted and fell down in the threshold.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Mama Xue turned around and walked through the yard door, and the teenagers hurried to follow her. With a crafty mind, only ve Yao helped ve Ji pick himself up and whispered the woman¡¯s identity to him.


    Passing through the eastern door, the alley, and then after several turns, Mama Xue led the 10 teenagers to the Eighth Young Master Shangguan Nu¡¯s residence. All of Golden Roc Fort¡¯s masters¡¯ residences were gathered in North Castle, far away from Firewood Yard. Faced with numerous crossroads along the way, Gu Shenwei observed carefully, but was able to only memorize 60 or 70 percent. It was surprising that Mama Xue could find them easily, despite the fact that she was a neer.


    The Eighth Young Master¡¯s residence faced south and consisted of inner and outer yards. Though it was not quiterge, it looked fairly chic and quiet. It was hard to imagine that the master of this ce was a killer.


    Mama Xue pointed to the empty area in front of the main hall and gave the order: ¡°Kneel down.¡±


    Except for Gu Shenwei, who hesitated, everyone did as Mama Xue said.


    He thought about how he had made up his mind to take revenge by all means and that he could bear anything. Therefore, he quickly bent his knees and knelt on the ground simultaneously with the others.


    Mama Xue still nced at him, but it was not his hesitation that had caught her attention, but rather his upright back.


    Along with the teenagers, there were 10 girls and several close maids that were already kneeling there with a restless look, indicating that something big had happened.


    At the open door, there was a translucent screen, revealing a slender silhouette.


    ¡°Are they all here?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Miss.¡±


    Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter did not like the title of Mistress, so her close maids still called her Miss. Because of this, all of the servants that hade along with her were required to call her Miss.


    ¡°Let them make vows, one by one.¡±


    It was the voice of Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter from his memory, the one whose tone had been void of the shyness or happiness of a bride, but full of uncontroble anger.


    ¡°I, Mama Xue, swear to the heavens that I¡¯ll be loyal only to Miss Luo Ningcha, daughter of Bighead Kingpin of Iron Mountain. I¡¯ll follow my lord¡¯s surname Luo and never change it. If I break my oath, I¡¯ll be punished with lightning and thunder and fall into the bottom of hell with no chance for reincarnation.¡±


    Using sincere words, ve Yao followed Mama Xue and swore an oath first. If Gu Shenwei had not known ve Yao well, he would have thought that ve Yao had been serving the Miss for many years.


    ve Yao could inquire about some news. For example, he knew of Ghost Cliff, which proved that his way of dealing with people would be helpful in Golden Roc Fort.


    Gu Shenwei still needed to get to know the enemies¡¯ir, so he followed ve Yao and he was the second one to take an oath. With the new first name and surname, he opened his mouth to swear. Meanwhile, he repeated in his mind, ¡°I¡¯m Gu Shenwei.¡±


    It was not easy for the teenagers who could not speak Central ins Chinese well to swear an oath, so ve Yao volunteered to be their trantor. Although they stuttered while repeating ve Yao¡¯s words, the teenagers unexpectedly finished their oaths.


    However, no one knew why Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter suddenly made them do so.


    After the oath-taking ritual, the Miss behind the screen asked, ¡°Mama Xue, who do you think is well-suited?¡±


    ¡°The other things are unimportant. The key point is that the person must be clever, so I think he¡¯s suited.¡±


    The person she pointed to was ve Yao, and he instantly moved forward two steps on his knees. He kowtowed as he said, ¡°I¡¯ll go through raging fire and boiling water for Miss.¡±


    The Miss did notment on what he was suited for, saying only, ¡°That¡¯s him.¡± With that, the impromptu show of swearing allegiance thus ended.


    Later, the teenagers were sent back to Firewood Yard by a maid, except for ve Yao, who was left alone and did not return until nightfall.


    ve Ji grumbled in a low voice while he locked the yard door. Now that he was aware of Mama Xue¡¯s identity, he would not dare to directly challenge her. Therefore, the only thing he could do was to give a torrent of oblique abuse. In his eyes, the 10 teenagers ¡°belonged¡± to him, and Mama Xue and the Eighth Young Mistress¡¯s interference broke his control and challenged his benefit.


    ve Yao did not mind ve Ji¡¯s verbal abuse. Back in themunal room, he kicked off his shoes and jumped onto the brick bed. Lying on his back, he let out a rxing sigh, after which he kept silent for quite a while.


    Everyone knew his temperament and understood that he would brag about the special treatment from the Miss sooner orter.


    Eventually, ve Yao said casually, ¡°From tomorrow on, I won¡¯t be looking after the dead with you.¡± He said this as if he had suddenly thought of something unimportant.


    ¡°Why? Will you leave here?¡± someone asked curiously. In Golden Roc Fort, Central ins Chinese was themonnguage, and several northern barbarian teenagers had learned a few words so they could kind ofmunicate.


    ¡°Mama Xue¡¯s going to teach me Kung Fu. I¡¯ll be a killer soon.¡±


    Everyone was startled by his words. ve Yao had shown his interest in being a killer previously, however, it was unexpected that good fortune would fall on him so fast.


    ¡°Can you?¡± ve Qi said in his ponderous Central ins Chinese. Although he and his brother, ve Xie, had participated in the sworn brother ceremony, they had never forgotten ve Yao¡¯s betrayal.


    In fact, everyone had simr doubts about whether ve Yao could be a killer. The first dead man they saw had been a killer apprentice that had been kicked out of East Castle. With such a weak body, ve Yao probably would not stick to it for one day and would be carried back to Firewood Yard.


    ¡°You know nothing,¡± ve Yao said disdainfully. ¡°Killers are still human beings. They have different ranks, and also follow the social rules. An ordinary person that entered would die, but the Eighth Young Master and the Eighth Young Mistress rmended me. Who would dare to kill me?¡±


    No one could refute his words. They knew nothing about the real situation in Golden Roc Fort.


    However, Gu Shenwei had been moved by his words.


    He did not want to waste time bing a killer, but if he could gain the masters¡¯ favor and rmendation, it would be possible for him to get close to Shangguan Nu.

 Chapter 14

    Chapter 14: ve Xiao


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    It was pretty normal for Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter to summon the 10 teen servants. They were led by a maid to the Eighth Young Master¡¯s yard. After swearing allegiance, every morning the teenagers would pay their respects to the female master.


    After a few days, Gu Shenwei realized how difficult it was to get close to the Miss.


    Despite trying to imitate ve Yao, Gu Shenwei did not win the Miss¡¯s favor.


    As the young Master of the Gu family, he never had this sort of difficulty before. Everyone liked him. It had never crossed his mind how difficult it was to gain someone¡¯s favor. Now as a low-ranked ve in charge of taking care of dead bodies, who would like him? Even strangers would try their best to avoid him.


    Whenever the teenagers paid their respects to the Miss, they would kneel at the very edge of the yard. They would remain motionless with their heads bowed. They could not stand up until the Miss hadpletely entered the backyard. Then they would take the same route back to Firewood Yard, where ve Ji¡¯s stony face would await them.


    The Miss with the surname Luo was not a youngdy of the Shangguan family. As a daughter-inw, she had to fulfill her duties every morning. She would go bow to her mother-inw with other daughters-inw. It was in those moments she would have such horrendous moods. Somewhat simr to her husband Shangguan Nu, she would vent her anger by torturing her own ves.


    ve Yao warned the teens, scaring them. ¡°I wonder who will be the first to piss off the Miss. Whoever does, don¡¯te ask me for help. We may be brothers, but I need to take care of myself first.¡±


    ve Yao often intimidated them with such lies. This time, something actually did happen, matching his prediction. The poor and hapless teenager was named ve Xiao.


    As the tallest and oldest, ve Xiao was strong and always liked to smile with a genial round face. He often appeared more childish than even the youngest, ve Xie. ve Xiao was also very intimidated by ve Yao to the point of crying. However, ve Xiao became exceedingly bold when they bowed to the Miss again.


    He raised his head and nced at the Miss.


    The Miss was striding in the yard hurriedly. Angrier than usual, she asked, ¡°Why does Little Ru have to change her name? Does the Shangguan family have all of the characters copyrighted? This is absurd!¡±


    Except for Mama Xue, the Miss¡¯s four maids were named Little Chen, Little Xin, Little Ru, and Little Yi. This was ording to the Chinese idiom ¡°Chen Xin Ru Yi¡±. The teenagers privately thought that these names sounded awful. The Miss¡¯s preference for them was not affected by how they sounded.


    Perhaps the Miss cared about neither the actual four maids themselves nor their names. She was reluctant to change her maid¡¯s name because she was forced to do it. She could not fight against it, however. This was her mother-inw, Mistress of the Shangguan family, who made the request.


    ve Yao had exined all of this to them afterward. The teens at the moment could not think clearly as they became frightened by another voice.


    ¡°Why did you raise your head?¡±


    The scream resounded throughout the whole yard. The maid, Little Ru, who had yet to change her name, angrily red at the teenager kneeling at the edge of the yard. ve Xiao was trampled underfoot by Mama Xue before he could exin himself. His face mmed into the yard¡¯s bluestone. He did not dare to move.


    The teenagers had been kneeling with their heads on the ground. At that moment, no one dared to even roll their eyes.


    The Miss abruptly stopped her continuousints and rushed into the hall. Once the screen was set down, she asked,


    ¡°This man saw me?¡±


    ve Xiao, only a silly teenager, became a ¡°man¡± due to his offensive action.


    ¡°No, he shouldn¡¯t have.¡±


    Although she had cruelly kicked him, Mama Xue tried to help ve Xiao with an excuse. ve Yao wanted to say something when Mama Xue red at him, but he choked back his words.


    ¡°I saw nothing.¡± ve Xiao muttered while on his stomach, which proved that he had raised his head.


    ¡°Kill him,¡± the Miss ordered behind the screen.


    ¡°Miss¡­ we¡¯d better not,¡± Mama Xue said hesitantly.


    The Miss was now in Golden Roc Fort, not the Iron Mountain Gang. She no longer had the supreme power to decide life and death. Although she resented her new status, she could not do anything about it.


    ¡°Gouge out his eyes and cut off his tongue.¡±


    This was the same punishment the unlucky girl standing next to the Miss had suffered. Each time the teenagers bowed to the Miss, they saw her.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see, I didn¡¯t see.¡±


    ve Xiao was so terrified, his body trembled like a sifter as hey t on the ground.


    The Miss¡¯s four maids approached him together. It was their duty to gouge out people¡¯s eyes and cut off their tongues. The maid, Little Ru, was especially eager as she needed an outlet for her anger. She was as angry as the Miss.


    Though Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter might not be able to act as she acted before, it was still inevitable. No one could restrict her from punishing her own servants.


    No one begged for ve Xiao.


    Gu Shenwei did not want to admit it, but he was scared stiff. He even wished for a moment that he was deaf so that he was not able to hear ve Xiao screaming.


    The maids acted quickly and professionally. They even gave ve Xiao some medicine to staunch the blood afterward.


    The teenagers quietly carried ve Xiao back to Firewood Yard. Even though no one was sincere when they swore to be pack brothers, everyone currently felt like they owed ve Xiao, who had barely survived.


    ve Ji was astonished by ve Xiao¡¯s bloody face. He jumped back a step and waved his rosewood stick as if driving away invisible evil spirits. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ve Yao briefly exined the whole story. ¡°Idiot, why did you raise your head?¡± ve Ji asked, appearing strained and afraid.


    ve Xiao could still hear even after losing his eyes and tongue. He disengaged himself suddenly from the crowd¡¯s hold, cried out, and rushed toward the ce that he thought ve Ji was standing.


    It happened so abruptly that no one could stop him. ve Xiao almost ran past his target. ve Ji initially froze up, but then he became irritated and swung his rosewood stick at ve Xiao.


    ¡°Heartless idiot, are you mad? How dare you peep at the Eighth Young Mistress! Do you want to be killed?¡±


    It seemed unnatural for ve Ji to get angry.


    From ve Xiao¡¯s facial expression, Gu Shenwei suddenly realized that it was ve Ji who incited ve Xiao to secretly peep at the Miss.


    What really happened was that while ve Ji was chatting with the servants from the other yards, he showed his curiosity about the Eighth Young Mistress¡¯s appearance multiple times. The bandit¡¯s daughter from the Western Region was known for her peerless beauty, but no man had ever seen her face. The men in Golden Roc Fort had never experienced Bighead Kingpin¡¯s might and were naturally eager to know whether the rumor was true or not.


    The 10 teenagers, on the other hand, had already ingrained in them the notion to never look at the Miss. Not even the most ordinary curiosity could affect them. Only ve Xiao, who was the most well-behaved and a people-pleaser, had been unexpectedly persuaded by ve Ji.


    Everyone figured out the truth, but no one spoke up. ve Yao hurriedly led them to grab ahold of ve Xiao and carry him to their bedroom. Hit by the rosewood stick, ve Xiao was not able to resist and had already lost consciousness.


    ve Xiaoy on the brick bed, bleeding everywhere. ve Ji had refused to get a doctor, so the other teenagers could only wipe the blood off of him. It was simr to what they did in their daily routine with dying people.


    During the night, ve Xiao kept groaning and puffing for breath. asionally, he cried out in his ownnguage. Gu Shenwei did not know what he yelled, as no one tranted it for him.


    No one could fall asleep under such circumstances. ve Yao jumped out of the brick bed and patted ve Xiao¡¯s head, saying something in an imperative tone. The dying teenager eventually became quiet.


    That night, Gu Shenwei basically did not sleep.


    The next morning, when he opened his eyes groggily, he knew that ve Xiao had passed away.


    The sworn brothers, without any genuine emotional bonds,pletely fell apart. Everyone knew that as servants, they were not qualified to protect each other. To survive, they had to find other backers.


    Three of them turned to ve Ji. Certainly, they had all learned a lesson through ve Xiao and would never peep at the Miss for ve Ji.


    The other two teenagers curried to ve Yao¡¯s favor more than usual. ve Yao, appreciated by Mama Xue, soon seemed to have a bright future as a killer apprentice.


    The pair of brothers, ve Qi and ve Xie, remained independent and rarely associated with others. They were always whispering something in their ownnguage.


    Gu Shenwei did not care about these connections in their social circle. He was focused on the way to get revenge.


    The day after ve Xiao died, Mama Xue came again and directly burst into ve Ji¡¯s room with a re.


    ¡°You killed our Miss¡¯s servant.¡±


    ve Ji was scared of Mama Xue¡¯s imposing attitude. He took two steps back and muttered,


    ¡°Don¡¯t use me. You murdered ve Xiao yourself by gouging out his eyes and cutting off his tongue. This has nothing to do with me!¡±


    Mama Xue was ineloquent, but adept in Iron Finger. With no words, she poked ve Ji in the chest twice. The experienced teenagers knew that the skinny woman¡¯s finger was harder than the overseer¡¯s rosewood stick.


    ve Ji¡¯s face abruptly turned beet red. Crying out, he fell and curled up on the ground. It was the second time he had gotten stabbed by her. The strength this time was quite more powerful thanst time.


    Mama Xue punished ve Ji, which concluded the death of ve Xiao.


    In order to avoid being despised by the teenagers, the next day, ve Ji invited his backer. It was due to this man that he was able to be the overseer of Firewood Yard.


    At dusk, when the nine teenagers were getting ready for bed, ve Ji called for them in his room and ordered them toe in. It seemed that he was emboldened and wanted to show his ¡°power¡±.


    ve Ji became confident because of the person in the room. The many on his back in a deck chair, while ve Ji sat on a small stool, massaging the man¡¯s legs.


    The man was a killer of Golden Roc Fort. He had a ck robe with a golden bird embroidered on the shoulder, a dark red waistband, and a narrow de.


    The teenagers could only recognize his identity from his clothing, but Gu Shenwei actually knew the man.


    Gu Shenwei thought that he looked familiar just by seeing his profile. He must have met him somewhere before.


    ¡°Bastards, did the Miss not cut off your tongues today?¡±


    ve Ji looked mean, so no one dared to respond.


    ¡°Hey, watch out! That¡¯s the Eighth Young Mistress you¡¯re dealing with, don¡¯t lose your manners,¡± the assassin in ck said casually with his eyes closed.


    ¡°Third Brother, I¡¯m serious. It was just a ve that died. In our fort, I¡¯ve always taught the servants in this way. No master has everined. The new Mistress asked that skinny bitch to stab me twice, but it was them who gouged out his eyes and cut off his tongue. They were the ones who caused him to die. Third Brother, you are not aware of this, but the bitch¡¯s finger is so pointy. There are two bruises on my chest from her.¡±


    ve Ji took the killer¡¯s right hand and used it to massage his own chest.


    His tone and behavior werepletely different from the usual cruel overseer.


    ¡°That bitch has a background. It was very kind of her to not stab you to death. What do you want me to do? I¡¯m an underling of the Eighth Young Master. How can I go against the Eighth Young Mistress?¡±


    ¡°Hmph, I think the Mistress must be very ugly, or she doesn¡¯t know how to be cordial. Why doesn¡¯t she allow others to look at her? She has just gotten married a few days ago, and the Eighth Young Master has traveled far from home. s, Third Brother, you yourself had left for several months and just came back a few days ago. Soon you¡¯ll leave again. Third Brother, you should speak to the Eighth Young Master about Mama Xue. She has just entered the fort, but she¡¯s so arrogant. What will be of her in the future?¡±


    Gu Shenwei suddenly remembered who the man was.


    About three months ago, a man called Han Shiqi from the Western Region came to the manor of the Gu family with a letter. Master Gu Lun had epted him as a manor servant.


    Gu Shenwei found himself fearfully looking down at the edge of the cliff again. If Han Shiqi were to sit up and open his eyes, he would immediately recognize the young Master of the Gu family.

 Chapter 15

    Chapter 15: Acquaintance


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Who wrote the rmendation letter for Han Shiqi? That person had to be closely associated with the massacre of the Gu family.


    However, Gu Shenwei did not have any clue because he was still a naive young Master at that time and did not care about it. If he had not been in the study when Han Shiqi met Gu Lun, he would not have remembered the manor servant.


    Han Shiqi must have known the previous ¡°young Master¡±, as one of his main purposes for working in the manor had to be to recognize their faces.


    The first head that they had taken was incorrect, and so was the second. No one could be more certain about it than Han Shiqi.


    What Gu Shenwei had been worried about hade to pass.


    At this critical moment, he could do nothing. He could not rashly leave because it would only arouse the others¡¯ attention, neither could he wait like this because Han Shiqi would open his eyes sooner orter.


    Gu Shenwei could only pray silently and let the Will of the Divine decide his fate.


    Hisplexion slightly exposed his mood. ve Yao, adept at observing people, curiously nced at him and opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it.


    Over there, Han Shiqi, whoy on the deck chair, turned over and beckoned ve Ji to massage his waist while drowsily saying, ¡°Less talk. I¡¯m already very lucky to keep this hand. Every time I see the Eighth Young Master, my heart pounds heavily. How dare I speak more? Let¡¯s talk about itter.¡±


    ve Ji was not satisfied, especially in front of the new servants. He then pushed Han Shiqi¡¯s waist like a little woman while saying in a seductive tone, ¡°Third Brother, I don¡¯t understand. They killed the wrong kid before letting you double-check. It wasn¡¯t your fault. You deserve a medal for finding the kid. Why are you scared?¡±


    Gu Shenwei also wanted to know what happened to the second child.


    Han Shiqi gave two shortughs and stretched, but did not answer. Turning to face the nine teenagers, he opened his eyes.


    Gu Shenwei had his heart in his mouth and almost turned around to escape, as he would rather jump off the cliff than fall into the enemy¡¯s hands.


    Han Shiqi closed his eyes again.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be away for about a month. Get some entertainment for me.¡±


    ve Ji understood tacitly that he had to use various means to win his backer over.


    ¡°ve Qi and ve Xie, stay. The rest of you, go back to your room.¡± Then he whispered into Han Shiqi¡¯s ear, ¡°A pair of brothers¡­¡±


    The pair of brothers froze up as they knew that he was talking about them.


    The elder brother, ve Qi, had big eyes and bushy eyebrows, but his younger brother, ve Xie, was delicate with bright eyes and shapely eyebrows. ve Xie was so timid that he always hid half of his body behind his brother. In Gu Shenwei¡¯s view, ve Xie always kept silent.


    ve Yao looked bad as if he suffered tremendous grievance. He immediately flew into a rage after going back to the bedroom.


    ¡°In what way are they better than me? Just a pair of brothers. Poor taste. I¡¯m certain that they don¡¯t clean up their butts. Hmph, ve Ji thought I snitched on him to Mama Xue. He should have thought that everyone knows that he had hit ve Xiao.¡±


    Gu Shenwei roughly guessed what the pair of brothers would suffer.


    Although he was only 14, he had indistinctly heard of catamites in the Central ins. He had not understood the exact meaning of this word, but he knew that it was an extremely sordid evil deed.


    He sympathized with the pair of brothers but could do nothing. They had run into trouble while he had escaped it. Han Shiqi would leave tomorrow ande back a monthter. Perhaps during that period, the Will of the Divine would help him find his sister. They could escape together and then seek revenge.


    ve Yao was irritated at losing the chance to tter Han Shiqi. As ¡°lucky¡± ve Qi and ve Xie were not here, he started to vent his anger on others.


    ¡°ve Huan, it may be your turn next time. Look at you, with your self-righteous, noble look. You¡¯ll win the favor of Master Han. Oh, I forgot to remind you. Those men like to be rough to such a littlemb like you. When it happens, you may not be able to walk for a few days. Haha, they¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei really wanted to punch ve Yao in the face. However, he kept his temper in check and repeatedly warned himself not to mess things up. Han Shiqi was in the opposite room, therefore, Gu Shenwei had better not arouse his attention.


    However, he eventually could not control himself anymore and finally rushed at ve Yao on impulse.


    ve Yao was prepared for it and kept standing behind the other teenagers. The five teenagers who had not learned Central ins Chinese well could not fully understand his words, so they did not know why ve Huan suddenly lost his temper and caught hold of him.


    With his bit of family-inherited skills, Gu Shenwei could not fight with killers or bandits, but it was possible for him to defeat several peers. While looking at ve Yao¡¯s proud pointy face, Gu Shenwei suddenly came to his senses, choked back his anger, and stepped aside.


    The pair of brothers, ve Qi and ve Xie, did note back until midnight.


    The elder brother, ve Qi, mped his lips shut and lowered his head so as to not look at anyone while his younger brother, ve Xie, sobbed behind him.


    The two teenagersy on the brick bed while the others pretended to hear nothing. However, there was one who had not fully vented his anger.


    ¡°Hey, your butts must feel pretty good, right? Don¡¯t think you¡¯re higher than me after gaining a killer¡¯s favor. I¡¯m the Miss¡¯s henchman now, and in the future, I¡¯ll be¡­¡±


    Before ve Yao could finish his words, ve Qi had stridden over and punched him in the face. While the two of them fought with each other, the nearby teenagers tried to stop them but ended up joining the battle.


    Eventually, all nine teenagers in the room either willingly joined or were forced into the fight, but no one knew whom he fought with because of the darkness. Though Gu Shenwei knew Kung Fu, he still received a lot of hits.


    No one noticed that someone hade in with antern due to the fight still being in full swing.


    ve Ji said with a sneer, ¡°Third Brother, they are fighting for you.¡±


    .


    While resting in ve Ji¡¯s room, Han Shiqi heard the teenagers fighting fiercely. At midnight, such a fight would arouse the night watchmen¡¯s attention. Han Shiqi felt irritated but amused, and shouted, ¡°Stop,¡± while rushing to separate the crowd.


    Gu Shenwei hadpletely lost control. The indignation that he had been repressing for several days flowed out. Every punch he gave was with all his strength. Suddenly, he felt someone pinch his right arm. Without hesitation, he took the chance to turn around, his head crossing under the arm and his left fist punching toward the other¡¯s face.


    Han Shiqi was surprised that a little master hid among the group of children. He did not show his move to block it but grabbed the teenager¡¯s right arm with more strength to push outward. The fearless teenager was instantly thrown into a corner.


    A red circr print was left where Gu Shenwei¡¯s new name was branded. His bones felt like they were broken. It was true that there was arge gap between him and a killer of Golden Roc Fort.


    The two people stared at each other.


    One was once a spy who had entered the manor of the Gu family and was now a faithful killer serving the Eighth Young Master, Shangguan Nu; the other was once the young Master of the Gu family, but was now a ve, with a humiliating brand on his arm.


    At this moment, Gu Shenwei was quite calm for there was no way to escape. He would rather die gloriously in a fight than beg for mercy, disgracing the Gu family of the Central ins.


    The nine teenagers scattered throughout the room. All of them kept silent as they knew that they had caused trouble. ve Yao turned his head to face the other way as if it had nothing to do with him.


    Han Shiqi swung his hands with a surprised smile.


    Gu Shenwei knew he had been recognized. With the idea of fighting to the death in his mind, he red back.


    ¡°ve Ji, you hide a treasure here.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk rubbish. Show your moves!¡±


    Gu Shenwei slowly stood up. His body was full of the first level of Yang Strength, like an overflowing brook. Facing the well-known killer of Golden Roc Fort, he was determined to fight to the death, neither shivering nor flinching.


    All the teenagers were surprised that ve Huan, who looked well-behaved, abruptly dared to fight with such reckless abandon. It was also an unexpected surprise for ve Ji, who trained this servant. If the servant behaved like this in front of the masters, ve Ji would be med for negligence.


    ¡°You brat! Do you want to die? How dare you speak to the boss like this! What have I taught you?¡±


    Immediately, he took out the rosewood stick on his waist and was ready to enforce the ¡°familyw¡±.


    Han Shiqi, unexpectedly, raised his arm to stop ve Ji with the same smile.


    ¡°No, keep his wildness. Don¡¯t let anyone touch him. Wait for my return.¡±


    Han Shiqi and ve Ji left with antern, leaving the nine teenagers in the darkness. All of them breathed heavily and then sessively got into the brick bed. No one won this fight and no one benefited.


    Gu Shenwei also crawled into bed. He was exhausted and it felt as if his skeleton copsed, too weak to hold up his whole body.


    ¡°What did Han Shiqi mean? Didn¡¯t he recognize me?


    ¡°But how is that possible? One of Han Shiqi¡¯s main purposes for getting into the Gu¡¯s manor was to recognize us. Or maybe that was not Han Shiqi, but just someone who looked like him.¡±


    ve Ji always called him ¡°Third Brother¡±, but never mentioned his real name.


    ¡°One more butt is going to bloom¡­¡± ve Yao muttered before falling asleep. He was indignant about why he was not the lucky one.


    Gu Shenwei did not know why he was not recognized until he washed his face the next morning. His face was ck and blue and swelled up to the point that no one could recognize it.


    He had been so absorbed in his worries that he did not feel any pain. The moment he touched the cold water, he felt unbearable aches and pains.


    The others were all seriously injured and some of them limped in pain.


    When they paid their respects to the Miss as usual, Mama Xue saw the pathetic teenagers and just snorted without saying a word.


    After they returned to Firewood Yard, ve Ji used his rosewood stick to tell the teenagers that he was the master of this yard and only he was qualified to hit others.


    However, ve Yao, who started that fight, escaped the overseer¡¯s torture because he received individual training at Mama Xue¡¯s ce after they paid their respects to the Miss. To be a killer in Golden Roc Fort, it was not enough to only win the master¡¯s favor; one should have a little martial arts foundation.


    But ve Yao suffered a lot at Mama Xue¡¯s ce. While the other teenagers recovered, only he continued to suffer injuries to his face. Before going to sleep, he still imagined what would happen if he became a killer, but at the moment, he was not full of confidence.


    Gu Shenwei believed that it would not take more than a few months for ve Yao to die by Mama Xue¡¯s hand.


    The 11th day after he entered Golden Roc Fort, Gu Shenwei was still annoyed that he had not heard any news about his sister, and was also upset about how to deal with Han Shiqi¡¯s return. ve Yao, who had not learned Kung Fu very well, came to find him.


    Gu Shenwei was surprised to see him, as the two of them did not speak with each other over the past few days. While he was mopping the floor in ve Ji¡¯s room, ve Yao walked in, returning earlier than usual.


    ¡°You know Kung Fu?¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not answer and kept cleaning the floor.


    ¡°Teach me.¡±


    ¡°Dream on,¡± Gu Shenwei secretly said, still ignoring him.


    ¡°Teach me Yin and Yang Strength and I¡¯ll give the cloth back to you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei suddenly stood up.

 Chapter 16

    Chapter 16: Teaching Kung Fu


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei was extremely restless about the lost white handkerchief, and was astounded to hear about its whereabouts from ve Yao.


    He immediately realized two things.


    One: ve Yao must have stolen the white handkerchief from Gu Shenwei when he fainted. Although ve Yao was a distance away, he could have still snatched it because of his high ¡°status¡± in the ve carriage.


    And two: ve Yao did not know martial arts. Otherwise, the first thing he would have done after entering Golden Roc Fort was to report Gu Shenwei, because Yin and Yang Strength was the unique skill from the Gu family of the Central ins. Even though he had stolen the white handkerchief and even read the shortcut manual of Yin and Yang Strength, he did not know how to practice it.


    Gu Shenwei quickly stood up. Although ve Yao had been mentally prepared, he was startled, took a step back, and showed his new move.


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t move. I¡¯ve also learned Kung Fu. I¡¯m not weaker than you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew him well after being around him for a while. He squatted down to mop the floor again and said, ¡°If that¡¯s so, then what can I teach you? Keep the handkerchief.¡±


    .


    ¡°Hey, hey. You can¡¯t fool me. Who do you think I am? I¡¯ve been living in deceit since I was a kid. You¡¯re still too naive.¡±


    Gu Shenwei washed the rag in the basin and wrung it, saying, ¡°Believe it or not, Mama Xue¡¯s Kung Fu is 100 times better than mine. Anything she can¡¯t teach you, neither can I.¡±


    .


    ve Yao frowned and carefully observed ve Huan, trying to read his mind.


    ¡°Mama Xue is indeed powerful, but she said she has no time to teach me her ultimate skill. If Yin and Yang Strength is really as powerful as is written on the cloth and can be acquired in a short amount of time, then I want to learn it.¡±


    ¡°You really believe such casually written things? You know, I haven¡¯t been able to grasp it either.¡±


    ¡°Hey, hey, you can¡¯t deceive me. You just haven¡¯t had time to practice it yet, otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t have been so nervous before. Let¡¯s get this straight. You teach me Yin and Yang Strength and help me be a killer. Only then will I give the white handkerchief back to you. Do we have a deal?¡±


    The word ¡°give¡± made Gu Shenwei furious. He suppressed his anger after thinking a bit. ¡°If you give me the white handkerchief now, I can teach you a few moves.¡±


    ve Yao shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t make bad bargains. You will get it back after I be a killer, or at least until I enter East Castle.¡±


    While Gu Shenwei was thinking up a response, ve Ji came in and grouchily shooed ve Yao away. Since ve Yao followed Mama Xue to learn Kung Fu, ve Ji had a terrible impression of ve Yao. Even if ve Ji treated him coldly, ve Yao did not care because he had a stronger benefactor supporting him.


    For the rest of the day, Gu Shenwei thought about how to reply to ve Yao. He focused on two things he had to do¡ªtake back the white handkerchief and prevent ve Yao from knowing the secret.


    He could not trust ve Yao to keep the secret just like he could not count on all his enemies dying of illness.


    ve Yao was a dirty dog that did not deserve any trust.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s thoughts wandered wildly. Suddenly, he thought of something. His only choice might be to murder ve Yao.


    ¡°Murder ve Yao?¡±


    He had many reasons for making such a decision. ve Yao was a disgusting, even hateful guy. He did not know what Yin and Yang Strength meant. Once he did, he would either divulge the secret or unintentionally do so. Then, Mama Xue and the experienced killers of Golden Roc Fort might know the origin of this Internal Strength set. If that happened, Gu Shenwei would without a doubt be killed.


    Gu Shenwei did not want to die yet; he had to get his revenge. The Will of the Divine had supported him so far to get him where he was. Therefore, the Will of the Divine had to want ve Yao, who got in his way, to die.


    While having supper, Gu Shenwei made up his mind. He would tell ve Yao that he epted his proposal. He had yet to n his murder, however.


    He was not ve Ji nor Mama Xue, so he did not have the power to order anyone to be murdered. He was also not a Peerless Ace, who could kill people imperceptibly.


    That night, while everyone was getting ready to sleep, ve Yao waved at Gu Shenwei. ¡°Let¡¯s get started tonight.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t go out now because of curfew orders.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ve asked Mama Xue to notify the watchmen in advance. I can go out to practice Kung Fu at night as long as I stay in the yard. You can be myckey.¡±


    The word ckey¡± provoked Gu Shenwei. However, after being in a dangerous situation, Gu Shenwei could substantially control his wrath. He gave ve Yao a cool nce and stepped outside. The other teenagers were all surprised that he was so obedient.


    In the courtyard, ve Yao warmed up by stretching out his arms, kicking his legs, and letting out several shouts. ve Ji, living in the opposite room, opened the door and yelled.


    ¡°It¡¯s midnight. Why are you shouting? If you want to practice Kung Fu, go to Ghost Cliff.¡±


    Although ve Yao had received special permission, he still did not dare to disobey ve Ji. ¡°Okay,¡± he replied with a smile and turned his head to look at the small western door. His face was turning green. Unless it was absolutely necessary, nobody would ever willingly go to Ghost Cliff during the day, let alone at night when it was totally dark.


    Taking a deep breath, ve Yao led the way to the western door.


    After stepping outside, he stood against the wall of Golden Roc Fort and kept himself as far away from the cliff as possible. ve Yao mentally calmed himself and spoke. ¡°Let¡¯s get started.¡±


    ¡°Give me the white handkerchief.¡±


    ¡°Why? Did we not make a deal¡­¡±


    ¡°I have to read what is on the white handkerchief in order to teach you Yin and Yang Strength.¡±


    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s not right. We made a deal. You can not mislead me again. I¡¯ve read the white handkerchief carefully. It said that when learning the shortcut manual, it required at least mastering of the first level of Yin and Yang Strength. I want you to teach me themon Yin and Yang Strength. Regarding the shortcut manual, I can practice it by myself. Who needs you to teach me that?¡±


    Currently, Gu Shenwei waspletely certain that the shortcut manual was on the white handkerchief.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t read the white handkerchief. How would I have known that? If you want to learn Yin and Yang Strength, I¡¯ll teach you. Listen, if Yin and Yang were tobine, nothing could transcend it, no one could predict it, and no god nor ghost could respond¡­¡±


    Although Gu Shenweicked in his studies and spent almost 10 years reaching only the first level of Yang Strength, he still had the family¡¯s Internal Strength manual in mind and was reciting those sentences one by one.


    ve Yao frowned in concentration while memorizing those words. After ve Huan finished reciting the manual of the first level of Yang Strength, ve Yao rolled his eyes and said, ¡°Repeat them again. I don¡¯t remember.¡±


    Gu Shenwei recited it again. At times, ve Yao told him to stop and exin the meaning of some words or phrases. Gu Shenwei finally finished teaching the manual after reciting the several hundred characters four or five times. Then he began to teach the footwork and posture of training. Yin and Yang Strength focused on strength practice. Without needing to practice meditation, Yin and Yang Strength was different frommon Internal Strength.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look down on me even though I don¡¯t know Kung Fu. That¡¯s right, I¡¯m still smart and can tell if you are lying. I¡¯m not boasting. I¡¯ll be the strongest killer of Golden Roc Fort sooner orter and the Supreme King¡¯s right-hand man. ve Huan, you¡¯re not an idiot. Don¡¯t follow the pair of brothers. They¡¯re vulgar, barbaric, and simple-minded wolf pups. Follow me! I¡¯ll find a way to help you enter East Castle and be a killer too.¡±


    ve Yao appeared to be excited. He stretched out his right hand and waited for ve Huan¡¯s response, as if he was already the famous killer of Golden Roc Fort, and was condescendingly trying to woo a loyal partner.


    Gu Shenwei thought for a while. He left ve Yao¡¯s hand hanging, but grasped ve Yao¡¯s forearm.


    He established rtions with ve Yao like a barbarian of the Western Region.


    From that day on, they went to Ghost Cliff to practice Yin and Yang Strength every night. No one disturbed them there; the night watchman also did not patrol there.


    The other teenagers were puzzled with ve Yao and ve Huan¡¯s rtionship. Even the lofty ve Huan was close to ve Yao. Therefore, the others did not have any reason to keep their distance from ve Yao. ve Yao further enhanced his status because of this. A few teenagers who had previously followed ve Ji began to tter ve Yao in their clumsy Central ins Chinese. They wanted to have a backup n and ve Yao enjoyed the attention.


    ve Qi and ve Xie behaved oppositely. They not only ignored ve Yao but also treated ve Huan coldly. Previously when they met, the brothers would nod at ve Huan. Now, they ignored him on purpose.


    Although ve Yao liked to brag, he was actually very clever. On the third day after practicing Yin and Yang Strength, he felt feverishly warm in his Dantian. He pressed his belly like an excited pregnant woman.¡±So this is Yin and Yang Strength? I can feel it.¡±


    ¡°This is the first level of Yang Strength.¡±


    ¡°Hah, I have Internal Strength! Heh, it¡¯s not easy to control.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s very normal. Yang is for the straightest, hardest,rgest, and fiercest. The stronger the feeling, the better.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re absolutely right. I feel so much more powerful.¡±


    ve Yao demonstrated a set of punching techniques that he had learned from Mama Xue. It looked impressive, vigorous like a tiger. Although he had not practiced well enough yet, it had an aggressive momentum.


    It was easy to learn the foundation of Yin and Yang Strength. However, it was quite difficult to actually sessfully apply it. Once it was mastered though, even the Supreme King could not be his opponent.


    Gu Shenwei believed in his family¡¯s unique skill.


    The next evening, after ve Yao came back from Mama Xue¡¯s ce, he cheerfully whispered to ve Huan.


    ¡°Hey, Mama Xue praised me today. Yin and Yang Strength is really helpful.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was shocked because Mama Xue was a dangerous person. Albeit she belonged to the martial arts circles of the Western Region, it was possible that she had heard of Yin and Yang Strength. Gu Shenwei smiled and said, ¡°You mentioned me to Mama Xue? Can you ask her to teach me Kung Fu sometime? We can enter East Castle together.¡±


    .


    ve Yao immediately stopped grinning and vigntly said, ¡°I will. Take it easy. It¡¯s not easy to enter East Castle. They only choose one person at a time. You can wait for the next chance.¡±


    Gu Shenwei slightly sighed with relief. For now, ve Yao would not mention Yin and Yang Strength to Mama Xue.


    That evening, ve Yao was quieter than usual. When they were ready to go at midnight, he suddenly asked, ¡°ve Huan, what are your thoughts about me?¡±


    .


    Gu Shenwei was not expecting this question. He spoke frankly as he thought that at this point, it was okay to be honest and not disguise his feelings.


    ¡°You¡¯re very shameless.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am.¡±


    ve Yao smiled. It was not a fake smirk but a sincere smile.


    ¡°Why do you think I¡¯m shameless? This is a shameless world. If you want to survive here, you have to be shameless. If you want to seed, you have to be even more so. If you want to be invincible, you have to take advantage of your opponent and be shameless even before they are. This is the only truth I have told. Think about it. This is as profound as your Yin and Yang Strength.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought that what ve Yao said made sense.


    In this shameless world, one could only survive by bing more shameless themselves. Therefore, he had to be more vicious than his enemies if he wanted his get revenge in the killers¡¯ fort.


    He observed ve Yao¡¯s pointy and thin face, the guilt in his heart gradually fading away.


    This self-imed ¡°shameless¡± teenager, would suffer from Qigong Deviation in a few days because of his Kung Fu practice.

 Chapter 17

    Chapter 17: Qigong Deviation


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Yin Strength and Yang Strength needed to be practiced together. The higher level one reached, the more powerful he would be. Though it was safe to start from Yin Strength, it would take longer to master it. If one wanted to improve faster, he had to practice Yang Strength first with a top martial artist¡¯s guidance and help.


    There were two sides to everything¡ªa positive and a negative. If either strength went beyond their limit, it would be more harmful than beneficial. Therefore, Yang Strength practice had to be apanied by Yin Strength practice for protection and vice versa.


    If a practitioner started with the first level of Yang Strength and did not have Yin Strength to neutralize it, he would need to turn to an external force for help. The ¡°external force¡± had to have reached at least the second level of Yin Strength.


    When he practiced the first level of Yang Strength, Gu Shenwei was guided by his father, who had reached the fifth level of Yin Strength. While teaching the manual to his son, Gu Lun had been careful and reminded him that, to be safe,ying down a solid foundation was more important than anything else.


    Gu Shenwei had used this as his primary excuse and had not practiced hard over the years. Therefore, he had not moved forward after mastering the first level of Yang Strength and had postponed reaching the first level of Yin Strength.


    Gu Shenwei had intentionally not told this key point to ve Yao. Instead, he had encouraged ve Yao to study harder so that he could improve faster.


    The faster ve Yao practiced Yang Strength, the deeper he would suffer from Qigong Deviation.


    It was the only way he could inconspicuously remove ve Yao, who had two masters, Mama Xue and ve Huan. If ve Yao died because of practicing Kung Fu, the first suspect would be Mama Xue.


    The n seemed wless, but the only problem was that Qigong Deviation was uncontroble.


    Gu Shenwei had learned a little about Qigong Deviation from his father, but he had no idea when ve Yao would suffer from Qigong Deviation.


    It would be useless for Gu Shenwei if ve Yao were to suffer from Qigong Deviation several months in the future. Once ve Yao entered East Castle, he would encounter many masters who would be able to identify their new apprentice¡¯s Yin and Yang Strength sooner orter.


    Besides, Han Shiqi woulde back in half a month and he had already chosen Gu Shenwei to serve him during the night.


    Gu Shenwei felt the danger as if a sword was hanging over his head.


    Gu Shenwei did not have a reason to be softhearted, but he was not a cold-blooded killer. When watching a still-living teenager walk toward death because of his plot, he unconsciously fell into self-reproaching from time to time.


    ¡°Should ve Yao die? Must he really die?¡±


    Since Gu Shenwei taught him Yin and Yang Strength, ve Yao seemed to treat him as his friend. Certainly, in ve Yao¡¯s eyes, ¡°friends¡± were ssified hierarchically. He never forgot to remind ve Huan that he had a higher status and was stronger so he could provide wisdom and power and that ve Huan should return his loyalty and appreciation.


    He often instilled his philosophy of life into ve Huan.


    ¡°You must have heard of the two rules for killers of Golden Roc Fort: First, no exposure¡ªHide in the dark as much as you possibly can. Second, show no mercy¡ªLeave no further trouble.


    ¡°You know, being a ve is the same as being a killer. Masters have a higher status; servants have a lower status. If you want to climb up, you should throw all your rules and dignity away first. Do what they want you to do and show them you¡¯re happy about it. As I often say, ¡®wash your butt clean¡¯. Is washing it clean enough? No, you should take the initiative to y up to them. Make something new to make them like you. Then, sometime you¡¯ll have a chance to see your new master by treading on the old master. Don¡¯t hesitate at that time.


    ¡°Friends? Are servants qualified to make friends? Everyone is like a rung of adder trod on by one another. Today, I step on you, but tomorrow, you may tread on me.¡±


    Hearing such a ¡°heart-to-heart¡± talk, Gu Shenwei only listened to it and spoke to himself secretly, ¡°He¡¯s right, so you can kill him without feeling guilty.¡±


    ve Yao¡¯s Internal Strength advanced at a miraculous pace, and his power became stronger and stronger. The Tiger-taming Fist set that he had learned from Mama Xue was also quite fierce. Theybined with each other and became increasingly more powerful.


    The two of them often fought with each other. Gu Shenwei only knew the Baguazhang Technique. Though he had notpletely mastered it, he was stronger than the new practitioner, ve Yao. Especially during the first few days, Gu Shenwei totally gained the upper hand. However, with the uncontroble growth of Yang Strength in ve Yao¡¯s body, Gu Shenwei gradually could not handle it.


    ve Yao had only practiced Yin and Yang Strength for just over 10 days, unexpectedly more effectively than Gu Shenwei, who had half-heartedly practiced it for nearly 10 years.


    Gu Shenwei even suspected that his father was wrong and that Qigong Deviation did not exist at all. ve Yao was brimming with energy. There were no life-threatening signs.


    The 14th day after ve Yao had felt hot in his Dantian, something happened. After practicing the Tiger-taming Fist set, he was sweating profusely, as if he had just taken a shower. It had never happened before.


    ¡°You look a little tired.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. I have sweat a lot since I was a kid. I feel inexhaustible strength. Yin and Yang Strength is so helpful. How did you learn it? It seems that you¡¯re weaker than me.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t study hard, otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have been caught and sold by them.¡±


    ¡°Hehe.¡±


    ve Yao did not ask anything further, for the teenagers had an unwritten rule that no one inquired about the other¡¯s origin. Even the most-talkative ve Yao had never mentioned his past.


    ve Yao practiced Yin and Yang Strength one more time, stepping on 64 hexagrams, carrying the strength of Yin and Yang and taking a deep breath. After finishing it, he sweated more heavily and pressed on his chest, as if it was a little painful.


    ¡°Are you ufortable?¡± Gu Shenwei asked, trying his best not to let his voice appear that he cared too much about it.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m fine. Mmm, I feel a little pain here. Just a little. Maybe I practiced it too hard.¡±


    Gu Shenwei immediately realized that the first sign of Qigong Deviation had shown up. Obviously, ve Yao felt pain in the Tianchi acupoint, which was the same as what Gu Shenwei¡¯s father had warned him about before.


    The Tianchi acupoint belonged to the Pericardium Meridian. Next, he would feel pain on each of the acupoints in his arms. When both his arms entirely shook uncontrobly, he would die shortly afterward.


    ¡°Maybe you¡¯re practicing Internal Strength too fast. You should slow down,¡± Gu Shenwei sincerely said, though he had wished that ve Yao could improve faster.


    He did not expect ve Yao to frown. It was the first time that he was angry with ve Huan over the past few days.


    ¡°What do you know? Mama Xue puts a lot of pressure on me. She said that I have a long way to go and would get killed on the first day after entering East Castle. F**k, it¡¯s a real fight. No matter how clean you wash your butt, it won¡¯t help. I still want to enjoy my life. Practice it¡­ though I have to suffer more pain, I¡¯ll practice it. I¡¯ll master the first level of Yang Strength, and practice the first level of Yin Strength. Then I can practice the shortcut manual.¡±


    Gu Shenwei somehow admired ve Yao because the pointy-faced teenager, who was not ustomed to enduring hardships, now seemed persistent.


    ¡°I¡¯ll kill the bastard as soon as I be a killer.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not ask whether the bastard was in the fort or was someone that ve Yao knew before, nor did ve Yao mention it.


    ¡°It would be meaningless for me toe to Golden Roc Fort if I weren¡¯t the most highly respected killer. ve Huan, I¡¯m not such a person who will always repay someone for his help. But I¡¯ll remember your help from this time. Don¡¯t worry. I know that you have a secret. I won¡¯t tell anyone. I want you to be my right-hand man.¡±


    ve Yao blinked his eyes. Though he was under the moon, his little, thin face looked red and his two eyes shone, as if he had just taken a huge gulp of mellow wine.


    From his words, Gu Shenwei did not know whether he should be moved, or resentful, or both. He was the young Master of the Gu family, not a right-hand man for a servant. However, in the ruthless Golden Roc Fort, he desperately wished that there was a ¡°friend-like¡± person by his side.


    Gu Shenwei squeezed out a smile and said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m not qualified for that.¡±


    ve Yao held his head high as he patted Gu Shenwei¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Whether you¡¯re qualified or not is up to me.¡±


    At night, lying on the brick bed, Gu Shenwei prayed to the unnamed Will of the Divine in private and strengthened his resolve for revenge.


    He was like an evil-minded doctor, who beheld his patient got an incurable disease. He not only held his tongue at this point, but also offered his patient sweet poisons.


    However, Gu Shenwei would not have finally made up his mind if one thing had not happenedter.


    Gu Shenwei had been gingerly inquiring about where the jail of Golden Roc Fort was. He believed that his older sister, Cun, had to be having a rough time in such a ce.


    However, it was not easy. As a new ve in training, he only had a small chance to get out of the little yard. Each time they went out, they were led by someone and were not allowed to look around at will, let alone chat with others.


    There were no residents in the small yard. People who went there were generally the dying and were not talkative at all.


    However, one heavily injured man still revealed some important information. The man was beyond recognition. Different from former killer apprentices, he was smelly and immediately breathed hisst breath after being carried into the room. The ones who were carrying him turned around and ran to the western door.


    ve Ji, who was supervising the teenagers to wash clothes, covered his nose and said,


    ¡°People from Ghost Yard are so smelly. I don¡¯t know how those guards can bear it.¡±


    A teenager, who had just learned how to tter his superior, looked puzzled and interested in it. ¡°Boss, what¡¯s Ghost Yard?¡±


    ¡°Obviously, one is a human being outside the yard, but bes a ghost after going inside. You little bastards, if any one of you is naughty, I¡¯ll send you to Ghost Yard. You¡¯ll half-rot first before you¡¯re dead. Humph, I think ve Yao isn¡¯t far away from Ghost Yard¡­¡±


    ve Yao was learning fist techniques in Mama Xue¡¯s ce, so he could not hear the threat. However, he would know at night. Except for the brothers ve Qi and ve Xie, the other teenagers would scramble to tell ve Yao everything.


    ve Ji rambled on. Gu Shenwei knew that Ghost Yard was just a dozen steps away from here. Its real name was Heart Cleansing Yard.


    Ghost Yard and Ghost Cliff must have been neighbors.


    That night, after practicing Yin and Yang Strength with ve Yao, Gu Shenwei could not fall asleep. While the other teenagers were snoring, he sat up and quietly got out of the brick bed. It was the second time that he stealthily left the room. He kept his eyes open in the dark and was able to get used to the dim moonlight outside.


    He went to ve Ji¡¯s room. ve Ji seldom locked the door while sleeping, as if he was waiting for someone all the time. Of course, the person he waited for could not have been ve Huan.


    Gu Shenwei quietly opened the door. He often cleaned the room, so he was quite familiar with itsyout.


    ve Ji was sleeping deeply with a rosewood stick by his hand.


    Behind the door hung three keys, one of which could open the eastern door. What ve Ji did was open it in the morning and close it at night.


    Gu Shenwei took off that key and retreated from the room. Closing the door, he walked toward the eastern door.


    Last time, he had just pushed the door, which aroused the night watchman¡¯s attention. He thought that it might have been a coincidence that the night watchman happened to be patrolling nearby. This time, no one would notice him if he had a bit of luck.


    In order to find his older sister, he was willing to take any risk.


    Listening for a while at the door, Gu Shenwei opened it and stepped outside. Then, he squatted down to listen carefully. After ensuring no one was hiding nearby, he stood up and walked toward the narrow alley against the wall.


    Every morning, he would pass through the alley and pay his respects to the Eighth Young Mistress. However, he had never expected that behind the tall, in door he had once passed by there was a jail.

 Chapter 18

    Chapter 18: True Words


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei tiptoed along the wall. Even though it was only around 300 feet from the small yard to Ghost Yard, he cautiously observed his surroundings before every move, as if walking along the edge of a cliff.


    Though well-prepared, Gu Shenwei underrated Golden Roc Fort¡¯s security system. He had only taken a dozen steps when someone caught him by the cor and lifted him up.


    Like ghosts, night watchmen lurked around, and they always showed up at an unpredictable moment, no matter how cautious one was.


    Captured t-footed, Gu Shenwei calmed himself and he spoke in a low voice. ¡°Let me go.¡±


    The night watchman was not the same one that Gu Shenwei had met previously, and he was a little astonished by Gu Shenwei¡¯s calmness. Even though his face was covered by a ck veil, the night watchman¡¯s killing intent lessened.


    ¡°You¡¯ve vited the curfew order.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m on duty.¡±


    ¡°For what?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Gu Shenwei was not able to make up a good excuse immediately.


    Suddenly, ve Yao¡¯s voice rang out. ¡°I did. I arranged for him to go out.¡± Gu Shenwei had thought that no one had noticed his actions, however, he had been spied on for a while.


    The night watchman had not realized that there was a man behind him either. ve Yao¡¯s appearance surprised him, so he threw Gu Shenwei to the side. His right hand held the hilt and left hand pressed on his scabbard¡¯s sheath.


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°ve Yao, serving the Eighth Young Master.¡± ve Yaoported himself better than Gu Shenwei, adding a bit of impatience and anger.


    ¡°You¡¯ve vited the curfew order, too.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care what the curfew order says, I left something in the Eighth Young Master¡¯s yard, so I asked ve Huan to get it back. What¡¯s wrong with that?¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not expect ve Yao to be here helping him to cover up his lie, and he was a little touched. However, it was not easy for ve Yao to pack up the night watchman and send him off because he also held a low position.


    As expected, the night watchman did not take his words seriously and said grimly, ¡°You two follow me to see the on-duty demaster.¡±


    demasters were the core leaders of Golden Roc Fort. If someone was sent to meet a demaster, it meant his or her improper behavior would be recorded, and then harsh punishment would follow.


    It would not be a big deal if Gu Shenwei had only snuck from the yard, however, the key he had stolen made things worse. Gu Shenwei would probably be imprisoned in Ghost Yard.


    In fact, Gu Shenwei was now half-expecting to be imprisoned, where he would likely get the chance to find out about his elder sister. However, ve Yao did not think so.


    ¡°You must be Killer Liu Xuan. Right? We are both ves that belong to the Eighth Young Master, so we should work together. In other words, the Eighth Young Mistress has been in bad mood recently. If you send us to the demaster, it wouldn¡¯t benefit either side.¡±


    ¡°How did ve Yao know the night watchman¡¯s name?¡± Both Gu Shenwei and Liu Xuan were surprised. The night watchmen always wore ck clothes and covered their faces in order to hide their identities.


    ¡°How¡­ how did you recognize me?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ take it easy, dude. A while ago, you took the job as a guard in the Eighth Young Master¡¯s yard. I¡¯ve met you a lot of times while learning martial arts from Mama Xue. You know, we serve the same master so we should work with each other.¡±


    Rolling his eyes, the night watchman Liu Xuan hesitated in taking them to the demaster. The night watchman hid their identities so that they could enforce discipline impartially. However, he had been recognized by ve Yao and it was now hard to be ¡°impartial¡± in this situation. Furthermore, viting the curfew order was not a big deal, and catching them would not further his career.


    ¡°Go back right now! Never break the curfew again.¡±


    ¡°But, I need that thing that I left right away.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t. Go back now. You serve the Eighth Young Master in his yard every day. There will be plenty of chances to get that thing back. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­¡± ve Yao shrugged his shoulders with displeasure. ¡°I¡¯ll get it back tomorrow.¡± Then he reprimanded ve Huan. ¡°Go back now. It¡¯s really troublesome letting you do something for me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei answered him vaguely. Then he rushed back to the small yard¡­ The night watchman Liu Xuan had totally nked because his identity had been recognized. Eventually, he would figure out that ve Yao was swindling him. But, he had freed them, therefore, it would be unnecessary to pay the two young ves back.


    ve Yao snatched the key from Gu Shenwei and locked the gate. Later, he would put the key back into ve Ji¡¯s room. He then came over and pulled Gu Shenwei toward the western gate where they always practiced martial arts. It was the quietest ce.


    ¡°How dare you? You shouldn¡¯t have snuck out.¡± ve Yao sighed and spoke in a gentle voice.


    ¡°Thank you. It was fortunate that you recognized the killer.¡±


    ¡°Hush! That was just a lucky guess. At first, I didn¡¯t know who he was until I saw how he held his sword. Everyone has their own characteristics when they hold a sword. This guy, Liu Xuan, doesn¡¯t do Kung Fu very well. But, he does like to show off so he always swings his right hand before holding his sword. Hopefully, he has nine lives. If Liu Xuan ever meets a master, he will be killed while he swings his hand.¡±


    ve Yao had only been practicing martial arts for two weeks, and he did not have any real fighting experience. However, Gu Shenwei had been astonished by his observation skills and ability to deduce. Later he figured it out. ¡°Mama Xue must have told him and he just repeated it to others. If the person was not familiar with him, they would likely mistakenly regard him as an expert.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thanked ve Yao sincerely.


    Gu Shenwei now had a much better impression of ve Yao. Moreover, he wanted to be honest with ve Yao and rely on his assistance for revenge.


    Born in the purple, Gu Shenwei had owned many ves and thought he got along well with them. After bing a ve, he found out that it had been an illusion. In fact, he had not learned how to survive among ves, let alone how to build a good rtionship with them.


    It had been almost a month since Gu Shenwei had entered Golden Roc Fort, and he had only acquired a little information. These young barbarians still could not speak in Central ins Chinese fluently, and they knew more of the gossip in Golden Roc Fort than him. As for ve Yao, he was an expert on searching out news and was even more familiar with Golden Roc Fort than an old ve that had been here a decade.


    If Gu Shenwei could have such an assistant, it would be much easier for him to seek out his sister and take revenge.


    ¡°ve Yao, I want to tell you something. You¡¯re in danger, but I can help you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei decided to tell ve Yao the truth, that he had Qigong Deviation. What he said was totally credible¡ªGu Shenwei definitely could help him, because he had already reached the First Level of Yin Strength.


    Although he did not devote himself to martial art training during the 10 years he had been under the professional guidance of his father Gu Lun, he did have a profound foundation in Kung Fu. If he took training himself seriously, Gu Shenwei could make great progress in a short time.


    Yin Strength did not improve a practitioner¡¯s Internal Strength. However, it helped the practitioner control their Yang Strength easily. If someonepared Yang Strength to a gateway for entry into their power, ordingly Yin Strength would be the key to controlling it.


    Gu Shenwei thought he was capable of rescuing ve Yao from Qigong Deviation and helping him control it when his Yang Strength arrived once he had achieved the First Level of Yin Strength.


    Tutting with his mouth, ve Yao shook his head and smiled at Gu Shenwei, as if he were a little child talking naively.


    ¡°I¡¯m not kidding. You practiced your Yin and Yang Strength too fast and it might cause Qigong Deviation.¡± Finally, Gu Shenwei told him the truth.


    If he had not been afraid of waking people in the yard, ve Yao would haveughed at him loudly. Even so, he still could not helpughing as he put his right hand on ve Huan¡¯s shoulder. After a time, he stopped making fun of Gu Shenwei, who was staring at him angrily.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make me look down on you. You are not a person who can y tricks. Every time you tell lies, I really want tough at you. Telling a lie isn¡¯t your forte. Remember, sometimes being innocent makes you more loveable.¡±


    Gu Shenwei bristled and temporarily gave up the idea of ??helping ve Yao with suppressing his Yang Strength. ¡°Well, you helped me. I think it¡¯s better to pay you back. What do you want?¡±


    ve Yao¡¯s hand was still on his shoulder. ¡°I know you have a secret.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you that.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I don¡¯t want to know. However, once I tell someone else you have Internal Strength and a secret manuscript, your secret would be exposed to everyone.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shoved ve Yao¡¯s hand away, feeling rmed.


    It wasmon for a ve to know Kung Fu in Golden Roc Fort. However, it would make a difference if a ve knew how to practice Internal Strength. Many people in this world could do some Kung Fu by moving their fists and feet. But, few people knew of Internal Strength. This method of practicing Inner Strength was a core secret of the martial arts schools, and it was inherited by their members exclusively, which represented a schools¡¯ uniqueness.


    In the view of a martial arts expert, Yin and Yang Strength represented the Gu family from the Central ins, more reliably than hisst name.


    ¡°What do you want exactly?¡±


    ve Yao, who was shorter than him, took a step forward, smiling viciously like a grown man. ¡°I like you very much, all the time.¡±


    ¡°Well.¡± Gu Shenwei was not fond of him, however.


    ¡°I hope you love me back.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Gu Shenwei stepped back, feeling strange about ve Yao¡¯s words.


    ¡°You still don¡¯t understand?¡±


    ¡°What should I understand?¡±


    ¡°Well, I won¡¯t force you. After you serve ve Ji¡¯s killer, you¡¯ll realize what I¡¯m saying. Just do the same thing for me. I¡¯m, at least, better than him.¡±


    Hearing these words, Gu Shenwei understood the implied meaning. Han Shiqi was one of his most hated enemies and, to him, the most disgusting person in the world. He knew what ve Qi and ve Xie had experienced. Even though dozens of days had passed, the two brothers still carefully concealed their experience, and ve Xie sometimes woke up screaming in the night.


    Gu Shenwei could not imagine what Han Shiqi had done to them. However, one thing was clear¡ªit had been horrendous. ve Yao now was asking him to do the same thing.


    His good impression of ve Yao and his trust in him quickly dissipated.


    Being offended but unable to fight back, full of anger but unable to unleash it, Gu Shenwei deeply felt the pain and weakness of being a ve. During his 14 years of life, all the humiliation he had suffered, added together, could not even be a patch on today¡¯s suffering.


    Gu Shenwei totally gave up the idea of saving ve Yao.


    ¡°Damn you,¡± he said, and then went back to the small yard.


    Leaning against the wall, ve Yao watched the young man¡¯s shadow as it faded. He knew ve Huan¡¯s life-threatening secret, so the only thing he needed to do was wait.


    ¡°You¡¯lle back and beg me one day,¡± ve Yao mumbled.


    Suddenly, a cold wind blew and a piercing, mournful wail, like the cry of a beast or the shout of a ghost, came from Death Cliff. ve Yao rushed back to the small yard in a hurry, and locked the door, thinking, ¡°Why don¡¯t people in Golden Roc Fort close this damn gate?¡±

 Chapter 19

    Chapter 19: Outbreak


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    ¡°Third Brother¡¯sing back.¡± ve Ji excitedly announced the news like a young wife waiting for her husband¡¯s return. His face was full of expectation. Simultaneously, the way he looked at ve Huan changed.


    ve Huan was the treasure he would like to consecrate to Han Shiqi. It was very difficult to find a benefactor in Golden Roc Fort, so he could not be jealous of anyone.


    Gu Shenwei, who was forcibly named ¡°ve Huan¡±, was freed from all his chores. He had nothing to do every day. He just rested and waited for the killer Han Shiqi¡¯s ¡°kind¡± visit.


    ¡°Smile more. How many times have I told you! Don¡¯t look so lifeless.¡± ve Ji often lectured ve Huan. He also wanted to find an opportunity to pass on some ¡°skills¡± to ve Huan.


    Gu Shenwei could only try to avoid seeing him as much as possible. Han Shiqi and ve Yao had no direct connection at first. Things started to intertwine when ve Yao made the same request as Han Shiqi. Moreover, Gu Shenwei¡¯s solution was rted to both of them.


    In conclusion, ve Yao had to die and Gu Shenwei needed to take the white handkerchief back. He had mastered the Yin and Yang energy. He could begin to practice the shortcut manual. If the power of Yin and Yang Strength was as immense as Gu Shenwei¡¯s father said, he would be able to take revenge soon.


    It was risky for people to practice the shortcut manual, as Qigong Deviation would break out in two or three years, but Gu Shenwei did not care. He would pay any price to save his missing sister and kill all his enemies.


    Gu Shenwei no longer cared about his own life. Sometimes he even thought that death was better than living, especially when he saw the ve mark on his right arm.


    It became more and more obvious that ve Yao had entered into Qigong Deviation. The indications were the sharp pains that radiated from his Tianchi acupoint to his Tianquan, Quze, and Neiguan acupoints. asionally, his arms would tremble uncontrobly.


    Gu Shenwei hypocritically advised him not to practice too fast. The more frequently he reminded ve Yao, the harder ve Yao practiced. ve Yao did not take the shaking of his arm seriously and thought that the symptoms would naturally alleviate once he achieved a higher level.


    Gu Shenwei was almost done reciting the whole practice of Yin and Yang Strength to him. The description of the Yang Strength after the third level attracted ve Yao so much that he was even more reluctant to slow down in his practicing.


    It was difficult toy a solid foundation for practicing Yin and Yang Strength. In the beginning, the force might not be as powerful as the other martial arts to some extent. Therefore, practitioners would not be able to remold themselves until reaching both the second levels of Yin Strength and Yang Strength.


    Gu Shenwei had been secretly searching for the white handkerchief the whole time. He would stealthily search ve Yao while helping him correct his posture, but the white handkerchief was too light and thin to be felt from his clothes. Sometimes when ve Yao was not there, Gu Shenwei would check his luggage. Unfortunately, he found nothing.


    ve Yao had hidden the white handkerchief very well.


    Seeing that Han Shiqi was returning soon, Gu Shenwei was out of patience. He had once wanted to ask Mama Xue for help. However, he felt shameful that a killer would fancy a catamite. Besides, Mama Xue might not willingly interfere. Also, she could not solve the key issue, which was that Han Shiqi could recognize Gu Shenwei.


    That was unless Gu Shenwei got into a fight like a month ago when his face was badly beaten, then Han Shiqi would not recognize or even have the slightest interest in him.


    However, this simple n was not easy to implement. In fact, the rtionships among these nine young ves had changed from when they had just arrived at Golden Roc Fort in the beginning. ve Yao¡¯s status improved every day. He fully controlled the five young ves. Even ve Huan was unanimously considered to be his follower. Only ve Qi and ve Xie, the two brothers, stood out as a separate group.


    Gu Shenwei would rather ally with these two brothers if he neededpanions in Golden Roc Fort, even if they viewed Gu Shenwei only as a passer-by and barely spoke to him. Gu Shenwei thought it over. He decided to look for a fight with them.


    ve Qi did not seem to know any Kung Fu but he was burly and had strength. Gu Shenwei hoped that he would not displease ve Qi too much or he could get seriously injured.


    Gu Shenwei needed to wait patiently now. When Han Shiqi came back to Golden Roc Fort, he would fight with ve Qi.


    When Gu Shenwei was free, he would usually sit on the edge of Ghost Cliff. Here, ve Ji would not bother him. No matter how desperately he wanted to teach Gun Shenwei his ¡°skills¡±, he would never set foot in this ce.


    Gu Shenwei often wondered how many bodies were thrown into Ghost Cliff. ¡°Do the bodies slowly dpose or are they directly eaten by beasts? Perhaps there are tigers and wolves wandering underneath, waiting for food to fall from the sky.¡±


    It suddenly dawned on him. Was he thinking about his own fate, to be or not to be? To hopelessly live for revenge or to end his life by jumping off the cliff?


    In his mind, Gu Shenwei hated a life filled with responsibility, revenge, humiliation, etc. He should have lived apletely different lifestyle that would suit him better.


    ¡°It¡¯s the Will of the Divine,¡± he thought.


    Every time he pondered his fate and future, Gu Shenwei came to the same conclusion. God supported him, an orphan who knew little Kung Fu, retaliating against the most dominating killer organization in the Western Region.


    Like a humble follower on hisst breath, Gu Shenwei survived because he believed in the nameless Will of the Divine. He had to and could only have faith in it.


    The Will of the Divine manifested again just as he expected.


    On the 30th day after entering Golden Roc Fort, ve Yao died. For the rest of his life, Gu Shenwei would never forget how ve Yao looked as he died. Although Gu Shenwei did not personally kill ve Yao, he was the first person to die because of him.


    That morning, the nine teenagers routinely visited the Eighth Young Master¡¯s yard to show courtesy to the Eighth Young Mistress. Miss Luo began toin about the Meng family as soon as she stepped into the yard. ¡°What¡¯s the Meng family so proud of? Her ancestors were just humble tradesmen and porters. Now the Meng family lends money for interest and gathers people to gamble. How many people have died because of that! How can their business continue to run without my father¡¯s help?¡±


    ¡°Miss, don¡¯t be angry. You¡¯re Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter and should not be bothered by such trifles from a snobbish person.¡± Maid Little Sui, once named Little Ru,forted her. Miss Luo had four maids and their names were previously ¡°Chen, Xin, Ru, and Yi¡±¡ªwhich means happiness. Now they were changed to ¡°Chen, Xin, Sui, and Yi¡± because the Supreme King¡¯s daughter was called Shangguan Ru.


    The Supreme King¡¯s wife was Lady Meng, who came from one of the richest families in Jade City in the Western Region.


    ¡°Humph, the Shangguan family are murderers and arsonists like my family. Lady Meng is so precious. Why did she marry the Supreme King of Stone Castle?¡±


    Mama Xue stopped Miss Luo in time. After all, they currently lived in Golden Roc Fort. They had better not reveal the story of the Shangguan family.


    Miss Luo entered the main hall and sat behind a folding screen. Only then were the ves allowed to raise their heads while kneeling down.


    ¡°Swear to me.¡± Miss Luo arrogantly ordered just like all the other self-conceited nobles. She gained satisfaction from these meaningless and insincere oaths.


    The ves repeated the oath one by one. They were often interrupted by Miss Luo when she felt like someone¡¯s tone was not sincere enough. If so, she wouldmand Mama Xue to prod him until she was satisfied.


    Everyone¡¯s oath was simr to what they had vowed on the first day. Every time Miss Luo felt upset, they would swear to her repeatedly.


    This was by no means a good start to the day, but it was the same every day. After finishing the vows, the ves would escape from Miss¡¯s and Mama Xue¡¯s supervision and spend the rest of the day normally. Though he never mentioned it, Gu Shenwei assumed that ve Yao sometimes probably had a hard time learning martial arts from Mama Xue.


    The swearing ritual came to an end that day. Only a fumbling old woman was left. She could never clearly vow to Miss Luo. If Mama Xue reminded her of the vows, she would be able to finish quickly, but then next time she would still forget the oath.


    Miss Luo constantly used the old woman of disloyalty. This time, she added her anger and censure on the Meng and Shangguan families. To everyone¡¯s surprise, at that moment, ve Yao startedughing.


    This was not an ordinaryugh, but a hugeugh. Heughed hysterically. Finally, he was out of breath. It seemed like he was taunting everyone in this yard as if they were clowns, and the most ridiculous one among them was Miss Luo, who sat behind the screen.


    ve Yaoughed so strangely that no one knew how to stop him. Mama Xue rushed at him and kicked his side until he was rolling on the ground.


    ¡°You¡¯re crazy! Why are youughing?¡±


    The ce she kicked was an important acupoint of the human body, but it had no effect on ve Yao. He continuedughing with his belly pressed and pointed at Mama Xue¡¯s face.


    As sober and steady Mama Xue was, she became confused and puzzled. Mama Xue could not help rubbing her face. Then, she burst out in anger and shame, kicking ve Yao and hitting his vital acupoints.


    ve Yao no longer rolled on the ground. His bodyy as still as a fallen statue, but hisughter never ceased. It became more and more shrill, sounding like a beast was inside him.


    Everyone in the yard was frightened and retreated away from ve Yao. Sitting behind the folding screen, Miss Luo asked in horror, ¡°Is he bewitched?¡±


    Mama Xue did not believe in the possession of evil spirits at all. She kicked his Taiyang acupoint again. Atst, he stoppedughing. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, Miss. He is justcking Internal Breath.¡±


    Only Gu Shenwei knew the truth among the crowd. ve Yao¡¯s Qigong Deviation had broken out but it was beyond what he had imagined. The consequences of practicing incorrectly were actually very miserable and painful. He had thought that there would only be spitting of blood and then death.


    Mama Xue ordered the other young ves to carry ve Yao back to their yard.


    There were rooms in the small yard for dying ves. These young men carried ve Yao quickly into one of the rooms and then all ran away at once. Only Gu Shenwei remained.


    ve Ji nced at ve Yao and gloated after hearing theme in. However, he hated to stay with a dying man, so ve Ji left hastily after telling Gu Shenwei to guard him.


    ve Yao was barely alive, breathing shallowly. Gu Shenwei checked that there was no one else in the room. He rapidly climbed on the bed and searched ve Yao for the white handkerchief. He then pressed ve Yao¡¯s Tianchi acupoint on his chest, raising his Yin Strength. He passed Internal Breath into ve Yao.


    ve Yao screamed suddenly and awoke a few minutester, staring nkly in silence.


    ¡°Where is the white handkerchief? Give it back to me!¡±


    Gu Shenwei, who had ced all his hope on the white handkerchief, eagerly yelled. He could not let ve Yao die without saying anything.

 Chapter 20

    Chapter 20: Invitation


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    ve Yao stared at ve Huan for a while in confusion. He was looking at him, but he no longer knew him. It was like ve Yao had turned a blind eye and no longer saw him. Suddenly, a deep flush rose on ve Yao¡¯s face as he reached out and clutched ve Huan¡¯s arm.


    ¡°What happened to me? You know. You can save me, can¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± said Gu Shenwei, while he pulled away his arm stiffly, ¡°but, first I want my white handkerchief back.¡±


    ¡°The handkerchief, handkerchief¡­¡±


    ve Yao muttered, almost as if he had never heard those words before. Then his blush receded and his chest heaved rapidly. His arms twitched violently and he aggressively knocked on the brick bed. ve Yaoughed again hoarsely.


    Gu Shenwei anxiously reapplied pressure to ve Yao¡¯s Tianchi acupoint. He was trying to put Internal Breath into ve Yao¡¯s body through Yin Strength. Unfortunately, his Internal Strength was too weak to subdue the forceful and flood-like Yang Strength inside ve Yao¡¯s body. Although ve Huan exhausted himself trying, ve Yao did not get any better.


    Only powerful superiors, such as Mama Xue, could stop his Qigong Deviation with Internal Breath.


    Gu Shenwei gave up rescuing him and tried to avoid his iling arms. Then he searched ve Yao¡¯s body thoroughly, even between his legs, yet he found nothing. ve Yao must have hidden the handkerchief elsewhere.


    After struggling for nearly an hour, ve Yao had exhausted his energy and finally calmed down. He moved his arms once in a while and grunted like a someone drowning, struggling to get hisst breath.


    ¡°The handkerchief! Give it to me!¡±


    Gu Shenwei exerted all his strength while shaking ve Yao¡¯s body, intending to squeeze thest of his vitality out of him.


    ve Yao fell into a confused state, the blush came and went, again and again. Sometimes, he would regain consciousness and chatter and babble nonsensically.


    He could not recognize ve Huan or the others. All that he said was nonsense¡ªboasting this, cursing that, and sometimes begging as if he were a solo yer, acting out several figures simultaneously.


    Gu Shenwei was desperate. He had onlypleted half of his n with the help of the Will of the Divine. Now, ve Yao was dying and he did not know where to find the white handkerchief.


    ve Yao¡¯s situation was quite unstable. From early morning to sunset, neither a doctor nor Mama Xue came to treat him. This trivial thing was not worthy of notice in their eyes.


    Gu Shenweiy down, resting his head against the brick bed. It was impossible to get a clue about the handkerchief from the wheezing and nonsensical words that burst out of ve Yao¡¯s mouth, who hadpletely forgotten about the handkerchief thing as well as Golden Roc Fort. All that he mentioned was past experiences.


    What Gu Shenwei got from the misceneous murmurs was that ve Yao¡¯s former master had been a very mean and despicable person, filling ve Yao¡¯s heart with hatred toward the world.


    However, it was strange that Gu Shenwei felt no fear sitting beside a person who was going to die soon. He focused all his attention toward his ns for the future. He would not be able to protect his life better than ve Yao had. Sooner orter, he might be sharing the same fate.


    How would he exin that to ve Yao when they met in hell?


    ¡°Hey, it was me who led you to experience Qigong Deviation, but you also killed me by stealing that white handkerchief, so we¡¯re even.¡±


    How would ve Yao respond? Maybe he would have found a new boss in hell, giving no concern to his soul¡¯s existence. Yet, if ve Yao still had inordinate ambitions, Gu Shenwei made up his mind to kill him again.


    ¡°ve Huan.¡±


    ve Yao suddenly and calmly called his name, as if nothing had happened. Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart began to pound despite the fact he had remained calm the entire time. He turned his head and gazed at ve Yao.


    ve Yao¡¯s eyeballs were terribly bright, almost as if they were burning. The mysterious light of a man who had returned to consciousness just before death.


    ¡°You will never be able to run away. I¡¯ll be waiting for you in hell.¡±


    Those were thest words that ve Yao spoke. As if he had the capability to read people¡¯s minds, he read ve Huan¡¯s. After these minacious, or maybe prophetic words, ve Yao exhaled hisst breath as his head tilted down and settled on his chest.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart pounded again. He knew ve Yao was dead after he checked for his breath.


    Gu Shenwei asked no one for help. Carrying the corpse, he walked out of the western gate and threw it off the end of Ghost Cliff. He felt a great relief and yet he knew there was another burden on his mind, one which he might not ever be able to cast off.


    After he arrived back in the bedroom, the boys inside tried to avoid him for fear that they would be contaminated by the evil spirit of ve Yao. So, they kept at least three feet away from him.


    Gu Shenwei was too tired to care. He was too exhausted to even worry about the arrival of Han Shiqi, who would soon be arriving. So, he closed his eyes and fell asleep quickly.


    Things did not go as people wished. The next day, ve Ji woke the boys with a rosewood stick by knocking it on the edge of brick bed. He announced that they did not have to pay respects to the Eighth Young Mistress because she believed that they had acquired evil spirits. They were left to clean up Firewood Yard, since ¡°Third Brother¡± woulde and rest here tonight.


    This surprised Gu Shenwei and he was not sure how to handle it. He thought he might need another fight.


    However, ve Ji solved this problem for him temporarily. Even though his eyes were full of hatred, the target had been another boy. He asked ve Huan, ¡°Is that guy dead?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    ¡°Clean?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded again.


    ¡°Take off your clothes, let the others burn them. You¡¯re not allowed to cross the threshold for three days.¡±


    Gu Shenwei finally felt at ease. He did not care about being possessed by an evil spirit. Instead, he thought that Han Shiqi would not trouble himself to look for him for a while.


    He had dodged getting the rap for the disaster, but someone had to be his whipping boy. ve Ji pointed to ve Qi and ve Xie and ordered them. ¡°Come here.¡±


    The other boys left the room in a hurry as nobody wanted to be in the same room with ve Huan.


    Gu Shenwei took off his clothes and tossed them out of the room. Soon afterward, someone took them away and then a new set was thrown into the room.


    Gu Shenwei dressed himself neatly and then searched the whole room carefully. He looked in corners and behind the stone bricks that could be moved.


    ve Yao had hidden the handkerchief very well and Gu Shenwei could not seem to find it anywhere. He doubted that it had been destroyed by ve Yao. However, since he had already memorized every word, there had been no need for him to keep it.


    The boys would not dare to return, except for the brothers ve Qi and ve Xie. They had been exempted from thebor and were waiting for Han Shiqi¡¯s ¡°favor¡±.


    The three boys awkwardly kept silent in the room.


    They would have be friends if they were not ignoring each other over a misunderstanding that Gu Shenwei just could not exin.


    In the past, the brothers had been ashamed of being ¡°favored¡±. However, they had calmed down. Even the young one, ve Xie, did not weep or wail endlessly like he used to.


    After a while, ve Qi asked straightforwardly, ¡°Did you kill ve Yao?¡±


    ve Qi could not speak Central in Chinese very well, but he was sure about what he had asked. However, Gu Shenwei failed to understand his intention, so he remained silent.


    ¡°We need you to kill another.¡±


    He sounded certain and Gu Shenwei could tell that ve Qi was looking for his help.


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°That man.¡±


    Gu Shenwei understood who he was talking about. Out of the three boys, only he knew the name ¡°Han Shiqi¡±, while ve Ji called the man ¡°Third Brother¡±. He was not sure whether that was the killer¡¯s real name or not.


    Gu Shenwei did not doubt the brother¡¯s determination to kill Han Shiqi, but he decided not to answer immediately since they were not actually friends.


    ¡°We want our humiliation wiped out. I know you don¡¯t want it either. Would you like to join us?¡±


    Speaking in a non-native tongue, ve Qi¡¯s tone sounded crude. However, amidst his eyes, right under his thick eyebrows, Gu Shenwei could see his honesty and sincerity, which was rare among the ves of Golden Roc Fort.


    ¡°I¡¯m in,¡± Gu Shenwei replied.


    There was no need to refuse their help and he had no reason to y a trick on ve Qi.


    ve Xie stepped forward as well. The three boys held each other¡¯s arms to express their trust. They had observed each other for so long that they could treat each other sincerely.


    ve Qi was tall, half a head higher than Gu Shenwei, and had a wild and prideful temperament. He acted like an animal cub that stood in the bustling world of humankind, ipatible and despised.


    The younger one, ve Xie, was more like a reticent child that had not outgrown their childhood yet. He followed his brother all the time everywhere. He could not seem to adjust to his current position or to his life as a ve. He acted more like a child from a wealthy family than Gu Shenwei did.


    Obviously, these two brothers could not win anyone¡¯s heart with such characters. They were treated like toys by Han Shiqi, gifts andpetitors by ve Ji, and disobedient boys by Mama Xue. Anyway, they were punished far more often than the others, especially ve Qi.


    After several months living as a ve, there had been a visible change to him. No trace of immaturity could be found on his face. There was only a pair of vignt eyes and a tight-lipped mouth, which was far from pleasing.


    Gu Shenwei was the exception. He saw the same anger, hatred, and fright in the brothers. That killer from the faraway snow mountain also had the same bitter experience as they had.


    Neither of them mentioned their past since there was no point in doing so. The pain would not be reduced or released. Instead, the weakness and fragility of the survivors would be revealed.


    Now they were faced with the same predicament, the same danger, and the same enemy. Violence had to be met with violence, so they decided to seek revenge. But Han Shiqi was not ve Yao, who knew nothing about martial arts. He was a killer of Golden Roc Fort, and even if he was not the strongest, he could destroy these three boys easily.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a n,¡± ve Qi said.


    He had been waiting for this moment for ages and was willing to take any risk to defeat the viin.

 Chapter 21

    Chapter 21: The Sharp Knife


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Here was ve Qi¡¯s n:


    ¡°That man¡±, or Han Shiqi, knew Kung Fu well. When he first ¡°patronized¡± the brothers, they had learned through their resistance that Han Shiqi could not be defeated even by thebined effort of eight ve boys. Therefore, they had resolved to kill him by assassination.


    The thought of assassinating Han Shiqi came naturally to ve Qi, given that they were in Golden Roc Fort. The key was the method. After all, the one they were going to assassinate was an experienced killer.


    As it was impossible to kill him bare-handed, they had to equip themselves with a sharp weapon. ve Xie solved this problem by stealing a rarely used knife meant for meat cutting while he was fetching food from the kitchen. It was about four inches long, rather small but razor-sharp.


    Next, they needed someone to divert Han Shiqi¡¯s attention. Since the brothers were chosen again, they had to make yet another sacrifice.


    ¡°I want to see him die with my own eyes,¡± ve Xie cursed. He seldom spoke, but now he was acting like an angry lion, grinding his teeth.


    Thest and most critical thing was that someone had to deliver the final stab. That was the most important reason why the brothers sought ve Huan¡¯s help.


    ¡°You¡¯re the best in Kung Fu. You can kill him silently.¡±


    Gu Shenwei blushed after hearing this praise from ve Qi.


    When he was the young Master of the Gu family, though he did not project a semnce of superiority, he secretly believed that he could defeat most people in martial arts circles. His recent experiences these days had been ruthless in revealing the truth¡ªeven the manor servants who had failed to beat him were actually just pretending. He could not even take down amon bandit.


    But Gu Shenwei was still willing to take on this task, for Han Shiqi was not only the viin whom he coveted but also the hidden traitor who had caused the extermination of his entire family. It had been a month since that incident, and as a mean ve, he was eager to put a sharp knife into his enemy¡¯s body andfort the restless and vengeful beast inside his mind.


    ¡°What would they do after the killing?¡±


    They did not mention that. When Gu Shenwei thought about it afterward, he found the whole matter inconceivable. They were so anxious to kill Han Shiqi that they had no time to think about the result.


    Gu Shenwei had just seen a man die in front of him the previous day, and he felt that his heart was still hardened. He immediately agreed and took possession of the sharp knife, which was smaller than a dagger, from ve Xie.


    Thest time Han Shiqi had ¡°patronized¡± the brothers, it was in ve Ji¡¯s room, where he might do the same thing this time. Since this room was the mostfortable one in Firewood Yard, ve Ji would be judicious to sleep in another room.


    Gu Shenwei needed to sneak into the room in advance, which could be easy or difficult, depending on when ve Ji would call roll and when he left the room. If Gu Shenwei could not find an opportunity, he would have to give up, leaving the brothers to suffer the humiliation.


    Gu Shenwei used to clean ve Ji¡¯s room, so he knew itsyout well. It was a raised bed instead of a brick bed there, which was good, for he could hide under the bed and wait for the moment that Han Shiqi reposed himself, and then he would stab him from beneath the bed.


    The sharp knife was so short that they decided to wear down the wooden handle down to reveal the three-inch-long tongue of the knife. Then they bounded two ts to the tip of the tongue, which made the whole knife about six inches long, sufficient to strike clean through the nk of the bed before stabbing into the body lying on it.


    The timing was significant. They made an arrangement in which ve Qi and ve Xie would lead their target to an appropriate position and voice the secret signal, which was ¡°brother¡±. Upon hearing that, ve Huan lying under the bed would immediately stab upward.


    There was another problem: the assassin lying under the bed could not be discovered in advance, so he had to be very, very quiet. Han Shiqi might sense his presence even by the slightest gasp. After all, he himself was a killer with sharp ears and keen senses.


    If Gu Shenwei had not entered into the First Level of Yin Strength, he would not be capable of lying soundless and still. Now that he could control his Internal Breath, he could also control his breathing.


    They had a rehearsal. Gu Shenweiy down on the brick bed, trying hard to breathe silently and continuously. The brothers came close from the doorway while listening attentively, and then gave their judgment.


    In the beginning, Gu Shenwei could not control his timing very well, but after a bit of practice, he could control his breathing for a longer time, and atst, he managed to keep it steady for a quarter of an hour.


    A boy happened toe in during the rehearsal. He nced at ve Huan lying on the bed, and his face suddenly changed. He turned around to run out at once, almost falling down.


    Though it made for a hrious scene, it also reminded them of the importance of avoiding the eyes and ears of the five other boys.


    ve San, ve Xin, ve Lei, ve Qian, and ve Zhao were all of a timid temperament, as they had been influenced so deeply by ve Yao that they had epted their fate as ves quickly after they entered the fort, which meant they would be happy to betray theirpanions in exchange for a fortune.


    Taking some time to discuss this problem, ve Xie thought for a while. Finally, he said nothing about it except, ¡°I¡¯ll handle it.¡± He left alone, and returned with their lunch, saying, ¡°It¡¯s over.¡±


    ve Xie wandered around the yard and secretly talked with every boy inside. Finally, these five boys went to ve Ji and imed that they would even rather live in the shabbiest house than share a room with ve Huan.


    Since no oney dying in Firewood Yard recently, there were sufficient empty rooms. Not to mention that ve Ji was d to do them a special favor for their brown-nosing. Therefore, he gave his order¡ªve Huan was not allowed to take a single step out of the room.


    ¡°I told them that you were bewitched and my brother and I are trying to drive the evil spirit out of you.¡± ve Xie grinned and exined to ve Huan. He was more talkative and intimate with ve Huan than before.


    ¡°Haha. Well, I¡¯ve got many evil spirits to drive out of my body.¡±


    ¡°Did you really kill ve Yao using sorcery?¡± ve Xie asked curiously, who had obviously been holding onto this question for a long time.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be rude, it¡¯s none of your business.¡± ve Qi pulled his younger brother behind to stop him from snooping on privacy.


    ¡°I¡¯m less skillful in sorcery than you.¡± Gu Shenwei smiled and said that he would rather not mention ve Yao.


    ve Xie failed to notice that ve Huan was prevaricating and thought ve Huan was denying it. He gave a confused look, a bit disappointed.


    Yet, ve Qi felt it was worth exploring, though he would not question it because he knew that everyone had their own secrets.


    In the afternoon, the brothers went to learn the ¡°techniques¡± taught by ve Ji, while Gu Shenwei practiced holding his breath alone and pressing the transformed knife against the bottom of the bed before jabbing upward quickly and forcefully.


    In his imagination, blood would pump out en masse, and he would have to roll aside quickly to avoid it.


    ¡°He is the enemy,¡± Gu Shenwei told himself. Han Shiqi was the key target in his path of vengeance. Killing him would be revengepleted, and any other enemies who died by his hand in the future would be a bonus.


    ¡°When will the vengeance end?¡± Gu Shenwei asked himself again in silence.


    ¡°Pay them back by killing their entire families.¡±


    He did not feel it strange to even think about this. Though he was just a ve and the only thing he could do was practice his skills on the brick bed, he remained ambitious.


    However, the most difficult task was not killing, but waiting.


    Sometimes he could hear the other boys¡¯ conversations from outside, which represented another world¡ªreality, simplicity, and oblivion.


    Gu Shenwei even envied them for a while, but he quickly reminded himself that even if without the burden of revenge, he should not act like those ves. What he had lost was far greater than what the other ves in Golden Roc Fort had lost put together.


    He did not know how many times he had practiced the simple action of jabbing. As the sun went westward, he felt it was all in his mind. He stopped and hopped off of the bed to exercise a little.


    That stab had to end a life, otherwise, three lives would be ended. Yet, he had no fear or doubt, as if he was an experienced killer doing something normal.


    He thought of his father, Gu Lun, who would shake his head while talking about his son. He had been worried that Gu Shenwei would not achieve anything, be it in civilization, military, agriculture, ormerce. Gu Shenwei was good for almost nothing.


    ¡°Maybe I am a born killer,¡± Gu Shenwei thought. He grinned without noticing.


    When calling roll, ve Ji neither mentioned ve Huan nor went to his room, which was a good sign.


    ve Xie brought the dinner, with the news that everything was good and that nobody had predicted that a plot was being brewed. He and his brother would think of an idea to attract ve Ji and the others, while ve Huan would take the opportunity to sneak into ve Ji¡¯s room.


    ve Ji always ate with the boys in the same room, though of course, not at the same table. He enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded by people, as their ttery was the real feast.


    Gu Shenwei was not hungry at all, but he still tried to swallow some of his meal because he did not want his stomach growling when he was under the bed.


    After dinner, he listened behind the door. There came cheers andughter from the east side. Waiting for the noisiest moment, he arched his back and trotted through the yard and entered into ve Ji¡¯s bedroom. He knew it very well, so without even checking, he crawled beneath the bed.


    The headboard was about three feet above his head. Gu Shenweiy down on the cold ground, stretching his arms and holding the knife, and then aimed at the point that was three feet down from the headboard and 17 inches in from the side of the bed. Luckily, there was a gap between those two nks, which saved him a lot of trouble.


    He and the brothers had chosen the position in advance. If all went as nned, the middle of Han Shiqi¡¯s back should be exactly there.


    There would be only one stab and no more. That was all the chance he would get.


    They knew how ferocious this killer of Golden Roc Fort could be. It would not take much time for Han Shiqi to kill these three boys, even if he was hurt badly, let alone ve Ji and the night watchmen resting outside. Any abnormal sound could get all three of them killed.


    The sky was getting darker, and it was even darker beneath the bed. Gu Shenwei kept the knife aimed at the same point the entire time to make sure he would not miss.


    Finally, he heard footsteps from outside. Someone coughed, walked inside, lit the candle, dumped his shoes, and jumped onto the bed heavily, shaking ayer of dust off. Gu Shenwei waspletely unprepared for this and released a hearty sneeze.

 Chapter 22

    Chapter 22: Under the Bed


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei tried to suppress his sneeze. The sound had been rtively quiet, but all the same, it almost destroyed their n. Fortunately, someone outside shouted just as he was sneezing.


    ¡°Boss, will Third Brothere tonight?¡±


    It was ve Ji who was lying on the bed. Gu Shenwei suddenly felt fortunate it was not his target, the killer, who had arrived. If it had been Han Shiqi who hadin on the bed, he undoubtedly would have perceived that someone was hiding under the bed, even with someone speaking outside.


    ve Ji sat up and said impatiently, ¡°I told you, I don¡¯t know. If hees, I¡¯ll tell you. Go back to your room!¡±


    It was ve Qi who spoke outside. He had spoken loud on purpose to let ve Huan know that the target would probably note after all.


    ve Qi followed the order and left. ve Jiy down again and muttered to himself. ¡°Ambitious little bastard, you were still crying two days ago, but now you¡¯re so eager for it. I have to be careful. You¡¯re still too tender topete with me.¡±


    ve Ji talked to himself for a while and hummed a tuneless melody. After tossing and turning for an hour, he went to blow out the light and got ready to sleep.


    Gu Shenwei remained motionless and did not dare to deepen his breathing. He put his hands over his nose to prevent himself from inhaling more dust and waited for almost an hour. After ve Ji snored louder and louder, Gu Shenwei quietly crawled out and gingerly escaped from the room. Then he ran back to his bedroom.


    The pair of brothers were waiting for him inside. It was safe for them to stay here, as the other five teenagers were sleeping in the other room.


    The man did not arrive. ve Qi heard a rumor that the Eighth Young Master, Shangguan Nu, had not adequately finished his task. Though they had seeded in killing the target, they had lost a killer.


    ording to Golden Roc Fort¡¯s standards, a killer should strike the moment his target was unable to resist. If the target were to manage resistance, it would then be proven that the killer has made a mistake in taking the action.


    Shangguan Nu was having a rough year. There were two tasks that he had failed toplete with perfection, which had lowered his position in his father¡¯s mind. As a result, he gradually became angrier and vented his anger on his subordinate killers and macheteman. It was said that someone had been hurt yet again under the de of the Eighth Young Master.


    In this case, Han Shiqi would not dare to fool around as soon as he came back, lest he aggravate the Young Master and suffer his de for no reason.


    However, it was a sort of torture for the three teenagers, who were eager for vengeance.


    That night, Gu Shenwei hid under ve Ji¡¯s bed for the third time. The previous two times, he had achieved nothing more than sweeping the dust from under the bed to prepare a rtivelyfortable position for himself.


    Han Shiqi arrived a bitte, but ve Ji did not fall asleep. With only one knock at the door, ve Ji, like a dog smelling out bones, jumped out of the bed suddenly, picked up the key behind the door, and opened the yard door with delight.


    Han Shiqi either did not care about the curfew order or had managed to avoid the night watchmen so that he coulde to Firewood Yardte at night.


    ¡°Third Brother, I missed you so much. Look, I¡¯ve gotten thinner.¡±


    ve Ji¡¯s feminine voice made Gu Shenwei¡¯s scalp tingle, causing goosebumps. Then ve Jiughed and acted coy,pletely different from the overseer with the rosewood stick in his hands.


    Gu Shenwei felt sick.


    He had deeppassion for ve Qi and ve Xie, and understood why they persisted in assassinating this killer of Golden Roc Fort.


    After the two guys outside lit a candle and sat together on the bed, Gu Shenwei held his breath and hoped that they would not stay long. If he had known Han Shiqi¡¯s exact position on the bed, he would have killed him immediately.


    Han Shiqi spoke few words, for his purpose was to enjoy himself, not to cultivate emotion. After a while, he said, ¡°Where¡¯s the scrappy kid? Call him in.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was startled. ¡°Does ¡®the scrappy kid¡¯ refer to me?¡±


    ¡°ve Huan? He¡¯s got an evil spirit. Don¡¯t call him tonight. The pair of brothers¡­¡±


    ¡°What evil spirit?¡±


    ¡°Well! There was a kid in the yard who went mad in front of the Eighth Young Mistress. Ah! The servant brought back by the bandit¡¯s daughter was no good. ve Huan saw him off, so he got an evil spirit from him. I asked him to stay in the room and note out.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk about the business of the eighth yard. How unlucky the Eighth Young Master is! He¡¯s had so many problems from inside and out. It¡¯s got me on edge all the time. I¡¯m afraid that he¡¯ll stab me someday just because he¡¯s in a bad mood.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. The Eighth Young Mistress¡¯s business is her own problem. I feel pity for the Eighth Young Master with that striking appearance and excellent skill at Kung Fu¡­¡±


    ¡°Hey, let¡¯s not talk about evil spirits. I heard what happened to the kid. He practiced Kung Fu and suffered from Qigong Deviation. It has nothing to do with any evil spirit. The woman called Mama Xue has already admitted that she was anxious to teach him Internal Strength. As a result, it killed him.¡±


    ¡°Right, right.¡± ve Ji¡¯s mouth agreed with him, but his heart was not convinced. He himself was still inclined to believe that an evil spirit was responsible.


    Hearing all this from under the bed, Gu Shenwei was startled. ¡°Undoubtedly, ve Yao learned Internal Strength by himself, and I intentionally made him suffer Qigong Deviation. Why did Mama Xue confess that it was her fault? Did she want to protect the Miss from the event of an evil spirit?¡±


    Gu Shenwei could not figure out the reason.


    ¡°Go call the kid in. I¡¯ll drive the evil spirit out of him.¡±


    As he spoke, Han Shiqi¡¯s voice was somewhat indecent. ve Ji smiled knowingly. Meanwhile, Gu Shenwei under the bed was terribly frightened. Their assassination n had appeared to be wless, but they neglected that the killer would not believe in the evil spirit.


    Once they found that ve Huan was not in the room, all of their nning would be in vain.


    ve Ji grinned as he rose from the bed. Gu Shenwei moved the little sharp knife slightly and intended to take immediate action as soon as ve Ji was far enough away. However, the problem was that he did not know Han Shiqi¡¯s exact position, therefore, he could only rely on his best guess.


    This tactic had the lowest probability of hitting Han Shiqi in any vital area of his body, but it seemed that he had no choice left.


    On the bed, Han Shiqi spoke suddenly. ¡°Who is that? Who¡¯s sneaking around?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was startled again. As he was about to make his move, a voice came from outside.


    ¡°Is Third Brother here?¡±


    ¡°I said I would call both of you. Piss off,¡± ve Ji angrily shouted.


    The person outside was ve Xie. ve Ji had already been vignt and impatient toward the liveliness of the brothers.


    ¡°Yes, boss. Eh, isn¡¯t Third Brother in the room? I¡¯ll go ask my elder brother toe together.¡±


    ¡°Who says you guys are going to serve tonight? Go to sleep!¡±


    ¡°But boss, you taught us that we should¡­¡±


    ¡°Little bastard, you¡¯ve really got some nerve to talk back.¡±


    ve Ji patted his rosewood stick in his palm, intending to teach the naughty ve Xie a lesson.


    But it seemed that Han Shiqi¡¯s interest was piqued by ve Xie. ¡°Wait a second. Just let the pair of brotherse in. I want to know what you¡¯ve taught them.¡±


    ¡°Hehe! Third Brother, you¡¯ve seen what tricks I have up my sleeve.¡±


    Once ve Ji went to call ve Qi, Gu Shenwei felt relieved and quietly move the sharp knife back to its previous position. He could find the position in the darkness, as he was so familiar with it.


    But now there was another problem. Han Shiqi and ve Ji had wasted too much time chatting on the bed. Almost 15 minutes had passed. Gu Shenwei slowed down his breath for a long time and was already feeling suffocated. He desperately needed a breath of fresh air.


    ve Qi came in and closed the door. ve Ji did not follow him, which seemed to be the only part of the n so far that had gone without a hitch.


    Han Shiqi jumped out of bed. As his feetnded on the ground, Gu Shenwei took a deep breath.


    ¡°So, you¡¯ve improved sincest time, hmm? Come here, I feel tired today. Let me see your tricks. Don¡¯t disappoint me, or you¡¯ll learn the way of my fist yet again.¡±


    ¡°I assure you, you will be satisfied.¡± It was ve Qi¡¯s voice. ve Qi still could not call him Third Brother. Gu Shenwei could sense that he was a little nervous.


    ¡°Satisfied¡­¡± Han Shiqi repeated in an ambiguous way.


    ¡°Third Brother, let¡¯s sit on the bed.¡± ve Xie was not normally talkative, and he appeared to be calmer than his brother.


    ¡°Take it easy.¡±


    What happened next, Gu Shenwei could not understand. The voices and groans that he heard sounded quite strange and ugly as if something filthy was invading his ears. Initially, he blushed and nearly could not control his breath. But soon, the power of vengeance and anger allowed him to recover and focus on the point just above his head.


    The brothers employed all their skills. However, this time Han Shiqi preferred to stand up rather than to get on the bed, no matter how hard they tried.


    Another 15 minutes passed. It was the longest 15 minutes in the three teenagers¡¯ lifetimes. Suddenly, Han Shiqi gently let out a cry, followed by the sound of someone being hit.


    ¡°Little bastard, I knew that you had evil desires. You want to plot against my penis. How dare you!¡±


    ¡°You killed me. I want to kill you in revenge,¡± ve Qi said.


    Gu Shenwei was surprised and did not know if ve Qi could not bear such humiliation and had taken action in advance. He wondered whether he should get up help them or stay under the bed.


    ¡°Thwack, thwack!¡± It was the sound of someone being beaten, followed by a cry from Han Shiqi that grew more and more excited.


    ¡°Hah! My methods are more fun. I¡¯ll give you a taste of something new.¡±


    ¡°Let my brother go!¡± ve Xie shouted.


    The pair of brothers in Han Shiqi¡¯s hands looked like weakmbs, whose screams and struggles only stimted the former¡¯s evil desires.


    Then someone jumped onto the bed. ¡°Come and get me, bastard.¡±


    It was ve Xie, who had held mastery of Central ins Chinese for less than a month, but could shout abuse as well as ve Ji.


    With a bang, another personnded on the bed. Judging from thending sound, Gu Shenwei guessed that it had to be ve Qi being thrown on the bed by Han Shiqi.


    ¡°Haha, a couple of fledglings. Let me join your little game. Now that you can understand my words, it¡¯ll be more fun.¡±


    Gu Shenwei understood the brothers¡¯ intention. They were using Han Shiqi¡¯s enjoyment of a challenge to entice him onto the bed.


    Gu Shenwei cleared all the thoughts in his mind and quietly waited for the signal to make his move.


    The bed was almost turned upside down as continuous cries filled the room, but Gu Shenwei blocked all themotion from his mind.


    ¡°Brother!¡±


    Finally, the signal hade. Gu Shenwei even could not recognize who said it. Blood was flowing to his head. He wanted to exert all his strength, but had no strength at all. He wanted to move swiftly, but acted slowly as if he was frozen.


    The sharp knife passed smoothly through the seam of the bed, as if moving through the air.


    Then it encountered a hard obstacle and could not be pushed any further.

 Chapter 23

    Chapter 23: Dumping the Corpse


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    After the knife was plunged into the bed, Gu Shenwei immediately turned his body to dodge.


    Gu Shenwei had practiced this action numerous times. At thest moment, though he maintained his feeling of urgency, all his muscles became stiff, as if his mind was upied by an evil spirit. He moved slowly, like in a nightmare.


    His blood flowed uncontrobly into his head, and his limbs were much weaker than he had expected.


    Eventually, Gu Shenwei got out from under the bed and saw ve Xie huddle on the ground with his face buried in his arms, his thin naked body shivering.


    The sight of ve Xie looking so terrified made Gu Shenwei calm down. Gu Shenwei disentangled himself from his nightmare. Immediately, he stood up and jumped onto the bed. His moves were agile, as if he were an experienced master in Lightness Skills.


    He used all his strength to press down on the pillow. The man under it seemed to be both struggling and, at the same time, totally unresponsive.


    After quite a while, Gu Shenwei found that another person was pressing on the pillow with him.


    ve Qi was also naked. As he exerted his strength with every muscle, his face was distorted, his eyes bulged out, almost falling to the point of popping out, and his teeth clenched his lower lip, which was starting to bleed.


    Suddenly, Gu Shenwei felt frightened and gently pushed ve Qi. ¡°Alright, he¡¯s dead.¡±


    ve Qi had used up all his strength. He was not as tough and firm as he looked. With the gentle touch, he instantly sat on the bed and open his mouth nkly, saying a word in his ownnguage. It sounded meaningless to Gu Shenwei.


    Han Shiqi was dead.


    Gu Shenwei removed the pillow. His enemy was staring at them, but could hardly recognize him.


    Han Shiqi was stark naked as well. The ugly thing between his legs had turned impotently to the side. ve Xie held a dagger and rushed over to chop it off.


    Gu Shenwei hastily jumped off of the bed and stopped the impulsive ve Xie just in time. ¡°Watch out, no more blood.¡±


    Gu Shenwei crawled under the bed again to dismantled the hilt. ve Qi and ve Xie had settled their minds and slowly lifted up the corpse together until the sharp knife waspletely taken out from the seam of the bed, and then they turned the corpse around.


    Though many unforeseen incidents had urred, this assassination had gone more perfectly than they had imagined.


    That sharp knife had pierced precisely into Han Shiqi¡¯s heart. He had died with hardly a struggle. He had even lost little blood, leaving only a tiny stain on the covers.


    In the flicker of the candlelight, the three teenagers beheld the dead in silence, as if they were offering their condolences or appreciating a masterpiece.


    After a while, they began to do their own tasks as pre-arranged in the n.


    ve Qi and ve Xie put on their clothes. One of them went to check the situation outside while the other left to pack up Han Shiqi¡¯s belongings with Gu Shenwei, including several pieces of clothes, a dagger, a stiletto knife, a killer waist token, several small bottles, a handkerchief, and other sundries.


    The killer waist token was an oval vescent jade stone, imprinted with a simple bird and the character ¡°Jue¡±.


    With this waist token, one could visit lots of ces in Golden Roc Fort. Gu Shenwei wanted to keep it, but gave that up after hesitating for a while. As he was just a teenager, attempting to show the killer waist token would bring more trouble than it was worth.


    ¡°You can take it. It¡¯s your trophy.¡±


    ve Qi pulled the stiletto knife and small bottles close to his chest. ording to the tradition of their n, all of the dead¡¯s possessions belonged to the one who had done the killing.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head, put the waist token with the rest of the belongings, and rolled them into a ball. ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous. We¡¯d better not keep his things.¡±


    ¡°If we stay here with them, it¡¯ll be dangerous. But it won¡¯t be if we run away.¡±


    ve Qi spoke confidently and seemed to have a n, which he had never mentioned before. While Gu Shenwei was about to ask him, ve Xie came back and nodded to them, indicating that everything was alright outside and they should carry the corpse away.


    The three teenagers carried the corpse together. The brothers each held one foot of the corpse while Gu Shenwei held the head. They quietly walked to Ghost Cliff outside the western door with the belongings ced on top of the corpse.


    ve Xie had already opened the yard door to ensure they could get out smoothly.


    Gu Shenwei was mostly worried about the mysterious night watchman, but they were lucky tonight. No night watchmen showed themselves the entire way that they carried the corpse to the gate. Ghost Cliff was a precipice. There was no need for guards, and therefore, they were safe for the time being.


    The teenagers of Firewood Yard had all carried corpses, but Han Shiqi was quite heavier than any of those. Still a dozen steps away from the edge of the cliff, ve Xie was already worn out and could not help stooping down.


    ve Qi and Gu Shenwei nced at each other and slowly put down the corpse together. They felt exhausted. No matter how hard they tried, they could not bring themselves to finish thest few steps.


    The sharp knife still remained in the back of the corpse with only a sliver exposed that could barely be seen in the moonlight.


    Gu Shenwei thought that it was a mistake to take a rest and they should dispose of the corpse as soon as possible. When he stooped to pick up the corpse, it suddenly grasped his ankle!


    The strength of the grip was as strong as an iron hoop.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s blood boiled and then directly froze into ice. At that moment, he felt that his spirit was outside of his body.


    ve Qi and ve Xie were stupefied at first, but then pounced on Han Shiqi together. The elder brother pulled out the sharp knife and haphazardly stabbed with all his strength.


    The corpse gave no response.


    Gu Shenwei pushed ve Qi away, disentangled himself from Han Shiqi¡¯s grip, and turned over the corpse to observe carefully.


    This was still a corpse, just with a little effusion of blood around the corners of his mouth. Nevertheless, Gu Shenwei did not know why it had grasped the ankle of its murderer and whether it had been alive while grasping.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s spirit came back to him. It seemed to have been purified while it was absent. While it was gone, he had been cool-headed, like a coroner performing an autopsy.


    He checked Han Shiqi¡¯s breath and touched his chest for a while. Part of him wished that Han Shiqi would still be alive, so that he could ask about his sister¡¯s whereabouts as well as the reason why Golden Roc Fort had ughtered the Gu family.


    ¡°Is he really dead?¡± ve Xie whispered. His face paled, whiter than the moonlight.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    The three teenagers no longer had the strength to carry the corpse, whereupon they rolled it together to finish thest dozen steps and pushed it off the cliff with its belongings.


    No matter if Han Shiqi was dead or alive, he would not being back.


    ¡°What next?¡±


    Gu Shenwei asked. ve Qi and ve Xie obviously had thought it through much more than he had and already had a n to cope with the aftermath.


    ve Qi, whose hands were stained with blood, appeared panicked and irritable, as if he would blow up if someone provoked him even slightly.


    ¡°Hmm? Next? Next, we¡¯ll run away. You¡¯lle with us.¡±


    ¡°Run away? How? This is Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    ve Qi took a deep breath to cool down and looked much better. ¡°You know, every morning we have to carry water. There are lots of wooden barrels. Water is sent from the outside. If there¡¯s a chance, we can hide in the wooden barrels to escape.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had also done this job, so he immediately understood what ve Qi meant. Golden Roc Fort was located at the peak of the mountain, without a source of water. Daily water was carried from the foot of the mountain. The men that delivered the water were not allowed to enter the fort. The water would be poured into a stone pool. Then, the servants inside the fort would carry it to their own yards. By the pool, lots of empty wooden barrels were left, which might be taken away the next day by the men who delivered the water.


    There was an overseer by the pool, but that did not mean that they did not have any chance. Sometimes, when there were too many servants who carried water, the overseer could not keep his eye on all of them, so one could crawl into the barrels and wait for the arrival of the men who delivered water.


    It sounded like a feasible n.


    But Gu Shenwei still shook his head. It was the second time that he had refused to escape with them. ve Qi gave him a strange look.


    ¡°I¡¯ll stay. I have my enemies here. I want my revenge.¡±


    That¡¯s all Gu Shenwei could tell them. Even though they had murdered the man together, he could not expose all his thoughts because he was cautious and also insecure. He would take revenge for his parents and brothers by killing the entire Shangguan family. It might be a whimsical goal that nobody else could understand.


    However, ve Qi and ve Xie epted his reason. In their eyes, vengeance was more important than anything. They had postponed escaping because they wanted to kill the man who had humiliated them.


    The three teenagers returned to Firewood Yard. Gu Shenwei returned to his room alone. ve Qi and ve Xie went to clean ve Ji¡¯s bed, and tried to make the small stain as inconspicuous as they possibly could. Then they went back to sleep. The other five teenagers were sleeping soundly and no one envied the pair of brothers.


    Gu Shenwei closed his eyes. As the first enemy had been killed, the small piece of the huge stone blocking up his heart had fallen and a sliver of light shone inside. He had lots of things to do, but now felt sleepy. Without clearing away all of his thoughts, he fell deeply asleep.


    It was a sweet sleep like Gu Shenwei had never known before.


    Waking up in the morning, Gu Shenwei almost forgot everything that had happened the night before. After a while, he was infused with the joy of having tasted revenge. Even the sunshine outside appeared to be more radiant than usual.


    He had enjoyed the three-day holiday for getting rid of the evil spirit and had to pay his respects to the Miss with the other teenagers. He had been wondering why Mama Xue admitted to teaching ve Yao Internal Strength.


    However, Mama Xue seemed to have forgotten all about it. He did not see any clue from her cold, stiff face.


    When they returned to Firewood Yard, ve Ji appeared slightly restless and kept asking ve Qi and ve Xie where Third Brother was and why he had left without saying a word.


    ve Qi and ve Xie were quite wellposed, which Gu Shenwei admired. The brothers casually exined that Third Brother had left that night, and they had opened and then locked the yard door because the overseer had already fallen asleep and they did not want to bother him.


    ve Ji believed their words, as Han Shiqi did not spend every night there. However, ve Ji did not know why he was so restless and kept thinking of it all day long.


    In the afternoon, ve Ji felt more distracted. Overseeing the teenagers at work, he waspletely absent-minded. At dusk, he even did not call roll, and he locked the yard doorter than usual. After going back to his own room, he kept the candle lit and fell asleep after midnight.


    Due to his absent-mindedness, ve Ji did not find that ve Qi and ve Xie were missing. The brothers went to carry water in the afternoon. They came back once, but did not return the second time, owing to the overseer¡¯s serious negligence of duty.


    Gu Shenwei felt relieved for ve Qi and ve Xie, as the first step of their n to run away had gone smoothly.


    The other five teenagers found it unusual, but no one else cared about it. As new servants, they did not know how to deal with things like that, nor did they dare to remind ve Ji, as the overseer was already in a bad mood.


    Gu Shenwei privately prayed that the two brothers would seed in escaping.


    As for Golden Roc Fort, it was a peaceful night, but the next morning, when everything was exposed, a storm was raised.

 Chapter 24

    Chapter 24: Torture Chamber


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    When the teenagers paid their respects to the Miss, there were no signs showing that Han Shiqi¡¯s death was known. The Miss did not notice that two servants had disappeared. Only Mama Xue frowned and inquired about it. The six teenagers looked at each other and gave no response. She discontentedly shook her head, but did not ask anything further.


    After they went back to Firewood Yard, ve Ji still had not noticed that two people were missing. He eventually found that there were only six teenagers left in the yard when he wanted to ask ve Qi and ve Xie for more details.


    ¡°Where are they?¡±


    ve Ji was quite astonished and could not imagine that someone had disappeared in Golden Roc Fort, as it was impossible in his eyes.


    The teenagers looked at each other and gave no response.


    ve Ji became furious and swung his rosewood stick at the teenagers without any particr reason. ¡°How dare you! How dare you y tricks behind my back! You¡¯re all in this together. Did the other two brats leave with Third Brother?¡±


    The teenagers ran away from him while they yelled that they did not know.


    While the yard was in disarray, the eastern door opened. It was not the servants bringing dying people, but a group of men in ck who entered. They looked slightly different from killers with their belts not red, but green or yellow, and they were also not equipped with des.


    Upon looking at those people, ve Ji appeared more scared than he would upon meeting with killers. His rosewood stick fell to the ground. He opened his mouth without saying a word and could not help bending his knees. No one knew whether he would bow to them or fall down.


    The men in ck silently dashed over and rapidly carried ve Ji away, who was paralyzed with fright. Someone locked the western door, which had never been locked before. The eastern door was also locked from the outside when they left.


    No one exined anything to those terrified teenagers. Now they felt as if they were imprisoned in Firewood Yard. Except for Gu Shenwei, the others knew nothing about what they were guilty of.


    Two injured men had been sent to the yard two days ago. Usually, the teenagers would avoid stepping into the room of those two men. But now, all of them ran into the room to look after the injured, because they wanted to prove that they were still useful in Golden Roc Fort.


    At noon, no one brought them lunch, which was an ominous sign.


    The two injured men died before it had gotten dark. The western door, which was used to ess Ghost Cliff, was locked, therefore, the corpses could only be left on the brick bed to be stiff little by little.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything. We didn¡¯t, right? Only ve Ji got into trouble. He won¡¯t get us involved, will he?¡±


    The teenager, ve Zhao, suddenly spoke. Everyone had been silent for a long time. They just felt restless because they did not know what exactly had happened. Only Gu Shenwei could roughly guess most of it, but he would not say a word.


    ¡°Mama Xue will save us. We¡¯re underlings of the Miss, and we¡¯ve taken oaths.¡± Another teenager, ve Lei, looked hopefully at hispanions, wanting to gain some confidence from them.


    The other teenagers desperately nodded and suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.


    Gu Shenwei nodded, but thought that the Miss and Mama Xue would not save them. If they had such thoughts or abilities, they would not have let them stay in Firewood Yard to serve the dead. The Eighth Young Master¡¯s yard also needed servants, but they had not been asked to go there.


    Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter, who had supreme power in the bandit camp, had ended her previous life since she had gotten in the bridal sedan.


    At dusk, only two of the men in ck with the yellow belts returned again. One of them gave a brief order to the six panic-stricken teenagers.


    ¡°Follow us.¡±


    Though they were worried, the teenagers did not dare to inquire about it and honestly followed the two men in ck to leave Firewood Yard. It had been a ce that they desperately wanted to leave, but now, it was like home for them.


    Gu Shenwei kept calm and was even a little optimistic. The men with the yellow belts did not tie anyone up. Maybe they only wanted to make an inquiry. Regarding the facts that a killer was missing and two servants had suddenly disappeared, everyone would link those two things together and would not suspect those who remained.


    But Gu Shenwei¡¯s thoughts were notpletely correct.


    The men with the yellow belts were torturers from Heart Cleansing Yard. All of the teenagers were brought there. A formal interrogation was waiting for them.


    Heart Cleansing Yard was not far from Firewood Yard, with there being only a small yard between them. It was also called Ghost Yard and it was used for punishment.


    Gu Shenwei had always wanted to enter Ghost Yard to look for his sister. Now he knew that it was useless to go there. All the cells for the prisoners were underground and heavily guarded, so no one could see into them from outside.


    Gu Shenwei thought it was ironic that there were ¡°prisoners¡± in a killer organization.


    The teenagers were brought to an underground torture chamber. It seemed to be frequently used, for the floor was filled with greasy mud. The teenagers had looked after several dying people who came from Heart Cleansing Yard, and their bodies were stained with this sort of mud. ve Yao once said that the mud was mixed with flesh. Having seen the broken limbs of the dying people, they knew his judgment was nearly correct.


    Numerous strange implements for punishment were ced inside the room, with iron chains here and there. In a corner, a prisoner was tied up to a wooden stand. His skin and flesh were torn so much that his original appearance could not be recognized. When he let out a groan, all the teenagers cried out.


    That man was ve Ji.


    He had been the overseer of Firewood Yard in the morning, but now, he was only qualified to return to the yard to await his death.


    A teenager immediately fainted and another two teenagers were so stupefied that they could not move a single step as some liquid dripped from their pants.


    More than 10 people stood inside the room. Besides the torturers with the yellow belts, there were other people, some of whom even did not wear ck. They did not care about the teenagers¡¯ fears. If someone were to remain calm upon entering Heart Cleansing Yard, that would make them surprised.


    Gu Shenwei felt his leg shivering and he had the impulse to run away.


    He was the descendant of the Gu family of the Central ins. As the son of a government official, he used to y with the generals¡¯ and courtiers¡¯ sons. For them, excruciating torture, like a ghost or a god, was just a tale.


    ¡°How did I fall to such a ce? Isn¡¯t it enough that I have lost my entire family? Must I also have to experience a humiliating way to die?¡±


    No one expected that one of the teenagers was the young Master of the Gu family, nor could they understand how he felt. The torturers deftly tied the six teenagers to different stands and began to flog them without saying a word. After a single whip, the fainted ve Lei cried out horribly. Then, the chamber was full of screams.


    No one dared to resist.


    That was the rule of Heart Cleansing Yard¡ªwhether one did something or not, one had to ept punishment first. Among those punishments, flogging was the lightest one.


    After the flogging, the torturers ordered the teenagers to speak, but they did not say what the torturers wanted to hear.


    The teenagers scrambled to tell them anything that they knew, even their experiences of pouring tea for ve Ji. They still thought the overseer of the yard had run into trouble.


    Then the torturers asked the teenagers to talk about ve Qi and ve Xie, which brought about more details.


    It was all nonsense, but the poker-faced torturers wanted to discover a hole in the nonsense and find the real insider.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s legs went limp, but his fear disappeared after the flogging. Compared to the hidden agony in his heart, the physical pain became insignificant.


    He also cried out and spoke nonsense. Although it was his first time entering a torture chamber and facing a torturer, he was quite clear about those tricks. He pretended to be an ordinary teenager while he observed them in private.


    The inquirers were all underlings. The two men in charge stood far away and appeared indifferent.


    One of them wore ck and a yellow belt. He was a tall, thin man with a gloomy expression. Obviously, he was in charge of Heart Cleansing Yard. The other one wore a grey robe. Like a schr, he was short and thin and had a meditative look about him.


    They did not have sabers, which were symbolic of a killer.


    After the interrogation, the torturers stepped aside. Then the two men began to make their judgment.


    ¡°They cannot say anything useful. The two servants did it alone,¡± the man wearing the yellow belt said first. The teenagers felt relieved.


    ¡°Humph. That seems to be the case, but we should be careful. These kids are sinister, especially when they¡¯ve had adults to teach them,¡± the man wearing the grey robe said casually with a courteous smile, as if he was pointing out amon truth.


    ¡°Maybe. These kids haven¡¯t been in the fort for long. As they have only met a few adults, it would be easy to find out the person who is behind them. Right, Mister Guo?¡±


    The man in the grey robe, called Mister Guo, looked surprised. ¡°demaster Shen, you¡¯ve misunderstood my words. I just feel that we shouldn¡¯t easily believe these kids. Han Shiqi was a killer. It seems impossible that these kids could have plotted against him.¡±


    Han Shiqi was his real name. Most of the killers in Golden Roc Fort were not famous, therefore, it was not necessary for them to use fake names while performing tasks.


    demaster Shen and Mister Guo held different opinions; the former wanted to minimize the effects of the issue, but thetter wanted to dig up more information.


    Gu Shenwei reminded himself that if he could survive in Ghost Yard, he would inquire about every conflict in Golden Roc Fort, which might be helpful to aid him in his vengeance.


    The interrogation fitfully went on without any focus. The torturers seemed to ramble a bit. Gu Shenwei felt that the interrogation had been arranged on purpose. Every time the teenagers mentioned Mama Xue or the Eighth Young Mistress, the torturer would not ask anything further. The clever teenagers understood and no longer mentioned anything about the Eighth Young Master¡¯s yard.


    demaster Shen and Mister Guo left and returned several times. They really did not speak much. There were no signs shown that they had had a dispute, but they did not look at each other.


    The Eighth Young Master, Shangguan Nu, also arrived once. It was the second time that Gu Shenwei had seen his enemy who had ughtered his entire family. Shangguan Nu stood farther away than he had before, so it was even more hopeless for Gu Shenwei to get his revenge.


    Shangguan Nu just took a look and left without saying a word. He nodded at demaster Shen, but ignored Mister Guo. Instead, Mister Guo paid his respects to the Young Master.


    At midnight, several men in ck rushed in, threw something on the ground, and retreated after bowing to demaster Shen and Mister Guo.


    That thing was a living person. As he raised his head, the first person that he saw was Gu Shenwei.


    ve Qi had been caught.

 Chapter 25

    Chapter 25: The Emergence of the White Handkerchief


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    They soon discovered the real cause of Han Shiqi¡¯s death. However, for many people, dealing with the individuals involved in it was a difficult problem.


    The Eighth Young Master, Shangguan Nu, had bad luck this year. Bad things kept happening one after another. The deceased Han Shiqi was his underling and the two murderers were discovered to be servants brought by his new wife.


    Gu Shenwei could specte about what had happened over the past three stifling days by piecing together the information that he had heard through the grapevine.


    After ve Qi was caught, the other six teenagers were immediately sent back to Firewood Yard. They were imprisoned again and werepletely isted; the only exception was that someone brought them only one meal every day. No one had taken care of the two corpses, which had started to decay. The smell gradually wafted through the whole yard and into the room where the teenagers lived.


    They had been in great distress during the past three days. After scabs formed, they helped each other peel them off and waited for the final verdict. This was thest time that the sworn brothers would trust and support each other.


    Gu Shenwei felt very nervous because he did not know what ve Qi would confess.


    Gu Shenwei already had an awful fright when ve Qi nced at him at the underground torture chamber in Heart Cleansing Yard. Most people who were older and more strong-willed than ve Qi would have made a full confession under various cruel tortures.


    At noon on the fourth day, the western door was eventually opened and a new overseer arrived.


    The first thing he did was open the eastern door and dispose of the two corpses.


    The corpses were rotten and infested with maggots. Although the corpses looked disgusting, the teenagers were cheerful when they carried them away. They resumed their jobs and it seemed as though they had been forgiven.


    After the teenagers cleaned up the room with the corpses, the new overseer announced that nothing would change. Firewood Yard had reopened and the teenagers should continue to carry out their duties.


    But actually, everything had changed.


    The new overseer did not live in Firewood Yard. He came at dawn and left at night. He would lock the yard door while he was away. As a result, the teenagers led a more restricted lifestyle. They no longer paid their respects to the Miss. More guards were arranged around the water-carrying ce in the fort. All the empty barrels that were not used at the moment were moved away.


    They epted the first patients after Firewood Yard reopened and one of them was the ex-overseer, ve Ji. He had suffered crueler torture than the others but he managed to survive. While the other patients were thrown off Ghost Cliff one after another, unexpectedly, only he had recovered.


    However, ve Ji became quiet and often remained silent all day long. After losing his backer and his position, he had an uncertain future. One night, when he just managed to walk by himself, hemitted suicide by using his own belt. The corpse was found the next morning, dangling on the doorframe of the western door.


    No one was surprised at his death and no one cared about it. The teenagers threw his corpse off the cliff. Someone evenined about how inconsiderate the ex-overseer was. ¡°Since you wanted tomit suicide, why didn¡¯t you directly jump off the cliff?¡±


    One day, the teenagers saw ve Qi¡¯s corpse, which was beheaded, being carried directly to Ghost Cliff by two men in ck.


    Although he was ustomed to seeing corpses, Gu Shenwei could not bear it and began to vomit. The other teenagers averted their eyes with a pale look. They lost their appetite for the rest of the day.


    ve Xie was caught less than two dayster. He resisted so fiercely that the attackers had to directly kill him. His body was thrown into the wild because they no longer needed to have his confession.


    ve Qi had borne through everything in Heart Cleansing Yard. He did not mention anyone except for his younger brother.


    He confessed that he made the n to murder Han Shiqi. He had nailed the sharp knife under the bed. Then he crawled under the bed and killed the enemy who was enjoying himself while ve Xie held down Han Shiqi.


    Everything matched his confession. Han Shiqi¡¯s belongings were found in ve Qi¡¯s luggage.


    It turned out that ve Qi and ve Xie were orphans of the Great Snowmountain. They were sold as ves because their parents had died in a fight between several mountains. The pair of brothers and Long Feidu, who had ughtered the Eagle Gang at the T-junction, belonged to the same tribe, but they were from different mountains.


    The Great Snowmountain and Golden Roc Fort were bitter enemies.


    Gu Shenwei did not understand people from the Great Snowmountain, who fought among themselves even when faced with a strong enemy.


    The origin of the pair of brothers provided an element of conspiracy to Han Shiqi¡¯s death. The six teenagers of Firewood Yard were interrogated again and were asked about their personal history.


    This time they were not sent to Heart Cleansing Yard, but all the teenagers were greatly intimidated. Once they were questioned, they revealed all their life experiences starting from the day they were born.


    Gu Shenwei did not tell the truth, but it was too hard for him to make up his origin. Therefore, he stole ve Yao¡¯s origin as a servant of a businessman from the Western Region. He said he was grabbed and made into a ve by bandits while he was apanying his master on a trip.


    What ve Yao said before his death was incoherent. Therefore, Gu Shenwei had to polish what he had said once again. It turned out to be so convincing that even he himself almost believed that he had experienced these events.


    The only problem was that his words could not withstand scrutiny because he looked quite different from the pointy-faced ve Yao.


    However, no one would put in the effort to find the merchant of the Western Region, who was so far away from here, only for the purpose of verifying Gu Shenwei¡¯s statement. Gu Shenwei was secretly worried about it before he confirmed that he had sessfully deceived them.


    The case gradually faded into the background. No one suspected that there was another aplice. There were some people who wanted to end the case as soon as possible in order to minimize the impact of the case.


    Gu Shenwei was aware of the contradiction between the two sides in the torture chamber. The thin and tall demaster Shen, named Shen Liang, was the chief in Heart Cleansing Yard, and he was also the Eighth Young Master Shangguan Nu¡¯s uncle. He represented his nephew¡¯s interests and used his power to minimize the effect of the case.


    The thin and short Mister Guo came from Whiterobe Academy in East Castle. Although he was not any Young Master¡¯s rtive, it was known that he was close to the Fifth Young Master. Mister Guo was eager to maximize the effect of the case so he could damage the Eighth Young Master¡¯s power.


    Almost everyone in Golden Roc Fort knew that the Eighth Young Master was on bad terms with the Fifth Young Master. It was said that the two young masters¡¯ mothers had not gotten along well with each other and had passed their enmities onto their sons.


    As the Supreme King, Shangguan Fa, did not want the case to get out of control, the Eighth Young Master, Shangguan Nu, had seemingly won this round. It would be a major scandal if the news that a killer was assassinated by two teenagers in Golden Roc Fort were to spread outside the fort.


    The lord of Golden Roc Fort was unwilling to hold his son ountable for the case, therefore no one dared to stir things up.


    Nevertheless, Shangguan Nu fell into the lowest position in his father¡¯s mind, as he was not capable of taking the leadership of a group of killers and he could not even handle the internal affairs of his yard, which made the Supreme King disappointed.


    It was not helpful for Gu Shenwei to know that Golden Roc Fort was not united. He was stuck in Firewood Yard now, dealing with the dead every day. Though he had five acquaintances, they barely spoke with each other, as the five acquaintances were afraid to speak.


    There had been 10 teenagers who followed the Miss into Golden Roc Fort. After a little more than one month, four of them were dead. Even though ¡°at least one person gets killed every day¡± in Golden Roc Fort, it was still a scarily high proportion. All the teenagers were pessimistic about their future.


    Gu Shenwei found himself being isted in such circumstances.


    The other five teenagers often avoided him or whispered behind him. They showed a flicker of fear toward ve Huan.


    Gu Shenwei felt confused about their behavior. He had not bullied or betrayed anyone. He lived at the bottom of Golden Roc Fort and did the humblest work with them. He could not figure out why he became unusual in their eyes.


    After several days, he finally realized why he looked different from them.


    Although his behavior was disguised, he was still different from that of the other teenagers from the mountain areas. He did not randomly sit on the ground. He frequently washed his hands, was able to read, and always walked with his back straight.


    He knew Kung Fu. Although he was notparable to the killers in the fort, none of the teenagers were his match.


    He was not afraid of Ghost Cliff and often went there by himself. Sometimes he practiced Kung Fu there; sometimes he just nkly sat there. The others would not go to that ce, except for when they needed to dispose of the dead.


    When ve Yao was possessed by the evil spirit, Gu Shenwei stayed with him. ve Qi and ve Xie once attempted to help Gu Shenwei drive the evil spirit away, but instead, the brothers ¡°had been possessed by the evil spirit¡± and had made an assassination. ve Xiao, who had died early on, also seemed rted to ve Huan, as they used to stay together.


    Those were the five teenagers¡¯ thoughts. Though Gu Shenwei was initially irritated by it, he began to feel at ease as no one woulde to disturb his Kung Fu practice.


    Gu Shenwei had practiced Kung Fu the hardest for over a month since he entered Golden Roc Fort. Now that he did not know the whereabouts of the shortcut manual, he had to put all his hopes on regr Kung Fu practice.


    It would never be toote to get his revenge. He had already given up on the idea of taking revenge as soon as possible.


    As long as no one recognized him, he could patiently wait until he mastered Yin and Yang Strength. No matter how long it would take, regardless of whether it took 10 or 20 years, he would have a chance to get his revenge, as his enemy Shangguan Nu was still young and would still be alive at that time.


    On the 10th day after Firewood Yard was reopened, the teenagers, who became more and more frightened of ve Huan, ¡°gave¡± him a surprise.


    On that day, there was no patient in the yard. After the new overseer locked the eastern door and left, Gu Shenwei took the opportunity to practice Kung Fu on Ghost Cliff. He returned to the yard to have lunch at noon.


    The other teenagers avoided him, so he usually went back to his room and ate alone. It was the same on that day, except that there was one more thing on his bedding.


    It was a piece of white handkerchief with some words on it.


    Gu Shenwei almost dropped the bowl onto the ground.


    He rushed forward, put down the bowl, and picked up the white handkerchief. After reading the first line of the writing, he knew it was the shortcut manual of Yin and Yang Strength.


    He greedily read, ignoring his meal. He had no time to be curious about the origin of the white handkerchief.


    Gu Shenwei felt disappointed after reading it through.


    It was indeed the real shortcut manual. However, it was not a shortcut as he had imagined. If he practiced Yin and Yang Strength at normal speed, he would finish the all forces merger when he reached the ninth level of Yin Strength and Yang Strength. If he practiced the shortcut manual, he couldbine the two kinds of strength at any level, but the power could not beparable to the normal practice method.


    The words on the white handkerchief made it clear. If one reached the third level of Yin Strength and Yang Strength, it would be powerful afterbination; if one reached the fifth level, it would be very powerful; if one wanted to be invincible, he had to reach at least the seventh level.


    Although it was called a shortcut, it had its limits.


    His father, Gu Lun, had practiced it hard for dozens of years and had just reached the fifth level of Yin Strength and Yang Strength. Inparison, Gu Shenwei had just reached the first level of it and did not know when he would master Yin and Yang Strength.


    Gu Shenwei tucked the white handkerchief away. After thinking for a while, he took it out and spent that afternoon thoroughly memorizing the manual. Then he tore up the white handkerchief and threw it off the cliff.


    From now on, the unique skill of the Gu family had no written records and only existed in the sole descendant¡¯s mind.


    Gu Shenwei now had the time to consider just who had given the white handkerchief back to him.


    It had to be one of the other five teenagers. He had kept the important articles for ve Yao and did not divulge the secret, even if he suffered a lot in Heart Cleansing Yard.


    Gu Shenwei had to find that person.


    However, Gu Shenwei could not decide whether he should thank him or remove him for now.

 Chapter 26

    Chapter 26: Exposure


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    It was not easy for Gu Shenwei to find out who had returned the white handkerchief. He had lessmunication with the other five young ves. Therefore, Gu Shenwei could not directly ask them, so he just warily observed and analyzed the entire matter.


    To start with, he removed ve Lei, ve Zhao, and ve San from the suspect list. They had once followed ve Ji for a while, andter they had built a closer rtionship with ve Yao. It seemed impossible that ve Yao would have let those three fence-sitters safekeep such an important handkerchief for him.


    After his precise deduction, only ve Xin and ve Qian might have had the chance to do so. They were ve Yao¡¯s devoted followers when he was alive. He carefully analyzed the situation. ¡°ve Xin is so timid. He once wet his pants when being tortured in Heart Cleansing Yard. If he was holding onto the white handkerchief, he would have told the truth to the others.¡±


    Hence, ve Qian became the prime suspect.


    ve Qian and Gu Shenwei were the same age. He was an early-maturing and introverted young man. When ttering someone, not only did he please people, but he also did not grovel too much.


    The more Gu Shenwei thought about it, the more firmly he believed that ve Qian was the person who had given the white handkerchief back. However, he could not prove it, so he had to keep silent for the moment because there was no benefit in verifying it now. Moreover, Gu Shenwei would not like to and could not kill anyone. Knowing that ve Qian had not exposed the secret to the others, he should wait and see what he would do next.


    However, he was still very anxious. ve Qian was illiterate, so he did not know what was written on the white handkerchief and perhaps ve Yao did not tell him the details either. But how long this secret would be kept was unknown to everyone.


    Gu Shenwei had continued to spy on ve Qian until something unexpected interrupted his n.


    It had been almost a month since Firewood Yard had been reopened. Perhaps Miss Luo thought that the tumult had subsided, so she requested for the young ves to greet her again every morning.


    The six ves were taken away by Mama Xu as usual. The newly inaugurated overseer was a well-polished person. He did not stop Mama Xue from taking all of them, and he also spoke humbly with her.


    These young ves brought by Miss Luo, as well as the other ves, had suffered overwhelming curses, usations, and tearfulints in the Eighth Young Master¡¯s yard.


    Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter was also affected by the murder scandal. She had brought ve Qi and ve Xie, so she had to take the responsibility of oversight. People mistakenly believed that Miss Luo had sacrificed her ves to cater to the Eighth Young Mater¡¯s killers.


    That was certainly not true, but it did not stop the rumors.


    Miss Luo thought she had been totally wronged. Her husband, Shangguan Nu, particrly kept away from her because he thought that the bandit¡¯s daughter brought bad luck.


    From behind the folding screen, the Eighth Young Mistress used all the ves of being ungrateful. She imed that she was going to go back to Iron Mountain tomorrow, and by then, Bighead Kingpin would punish everyone here.


    Mama Xue and her maidservants patiently persuaded Miss Luo for a while.


    Gu Shenwei stared at the ground and thought disapprovingly, ¡°It¡¯s been a month since the murder happened. She didn¡¯t leave this ce at that moment, let alone now. This is Golden Roc Fort. Even though she is Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter, she can¡¯te and go freely.


    ¡°Such a stupid and pretentious woman. She isn¡¯t a patch on my sister, Gu Cun.¡± Gu Shenwei made this conclusion in his mind.


    That day, after repeating the oath hundreds and thousands of times, all the ves were allowed to leave, except for Gu Shenwei.


    Mama Xue had asked him to stay behind.


    Gu Shenwei had foreseen this situation. To be honest, he had been looking forward to it for a long time. Mama Xue had once lied about passing Internal Strength on to ve Yao and had shouldered the responsibility of ve Yao¡¯s Qigong Deviation for a reason.


    After the other ves had left, Gu Shenwei followed Mama Xue into the backyard. It was the first time that he had entered the room.


    In a wing-room, Miss Luo was sitting behind a thick folding screen. All the maidservants had been asked to leave, except for a blind and mute young girl who could only hear people talking. She was the best keeper of secrets.


    Miss Luo once cruelly punished this maidservant by having her eyes gouged out and her tongue cut out. Now, she took her as a trusted subordinate. Luo Ningcha did not think that it was a paradoxical thing.


    Mama Xue ordered him to kneel down and said to Miss Luo behind the screen, ¡°He¡¯s the ve that we want.¡±


    Miss Luo remained silent for a while, as if she was carefully sizing him up. And although they were separated by the thick screen, she could see a looming figure.


    ¡°Did he really kill the madman?¡± Miss Luo could no longer remember the boy who had practiced Kung Fu in the yard. She only had an impression of his madughter.


    Although he was well-prepared, Gu Shenwei was surprised by Miss Luo¡¯s straight way of speaking. ¡°It wasn¡¯t me, I¡­¡±


    Mama Xue kicked him in his side. Her toes were as hard as her fingers. Gu Shenwei suddenly felt his Internal Breath stagnate and he could not say anything more.


    ¡°Shut up,¡± Mama Xuemanded in an indifferent tone. Then she softened her voice and said to Miss Luo behind the screen, ¡°Yes, he did it. It can¡¯t be wrong.¡±


    ¡°Did he fake ve Yao¡¯s death to look like an ident?¡± Miss Luo was not angry, but rather a little curious.


    ¡°He¡¯s kinda smart.¡±


    ¡°Sinister and ruthless,¡± the Eighth Young Master Mistress said verbatim without any emotion, as if the ve kneeling down outside was a dog that was fed and controlled by her.


    ¡°Right. He¡¯s sinister and ruthless. He¡¯s the ve that Miss wants.¡±


    For a while, no one spoke in the main hall. Gu Shenwei thought fast, ¡°What kind of ve does Miss Luo want? Why does she need a ¡®treacherous¡¯ ve? What benefit could I gain?¡±


    ¡°All right, that¡¯s him,¡± Miss said, ¡°but make sure he¡¯s loyal to me.¡±


    Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter was not so foolish. The ves¡¯ daily vows were only able to please her, but they were not enough to gain her trust.


    ¡°That¡¯s easy,¡± Mama Xue said confidently. She turned to Gu Shenwei and started to question him.


    ¡°ve Huan, tell me your real name.¡±


    ¡°Yang Huan.¡±


    ¡°Humph! Your name is Yang Huan. After entering Golden Roc Fort, your nickname is ve Huan. What a coincidence!¡±


    ¡°I know that it sounds ridiculous, but it¡¯s indeed my real name.¡±


    ¡°Where did you live before working in Golden Roc Fort?¡±


    ¡°I once lived in Shu-lik City. My former master was surnamed Lin.¡±


    Mama Xue kicked him in his side again. ¡°You¡¯re lying. How dare you? What¡¯s the rtionship between you and the Gu family from the Central ins?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was shocked that Mama Xue had realized that he was lying.


    It had to be the Yin and Yang Strength. What he had taught to ve Yao revealed his identity. Although Mama Xue was aware that he was rted to the Gu family, she did not inform on him to Shangguan Nu¡­


    Many things sprang to his mind, just like the ever-changing clouds covering this world. Gu Shenwei had to make up his mind quickly and bravely.


    ¡°Forgive me, my Miss. Forgive me, Mama Xue. I¡¯m sorry to¡­¡±


    ¡°Enough meaningless talk. Tell me your whole life story.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m indeed Yang Huan. My father¡¯s Yang Zheng, a martial arts manager of the Gu family.¡±


    ¡°A martial arts manager¡¯s son? How could you learn Kung Fu that was exclusive to the Gu family members?¡±


    ¡°My¡­¡± Although Gu Shenwei had been aware that his speech and acting should be like a ve¡¯s son and had quickly changed his persona, he almost blurted out: ¡°My father, Gu Lun¡±. Then he cautiously continued, ¡°My father, Yang Zheng, had a close rtionship with Master Gu Lun, so I had the chance to learn the family-inherited Kung Fu. Nominally, they were master and ve, but in fact, they were sworn brothers. Therefore, the master broke the traditional rules and allowed me to practice the Gu family¡¯s Kung Fu¡ªInternal Strength and demanship. Father also had passed it on to me in private, just a little. But I didn¡¯t learn it very well.¡±


    ¡°It sounds convincing. Let me check out how much you¡¯ve learned.¡±


    The moment Mama Xue pushed her hard palms on Gu Shenwei¡¯s neck, he felt a strong and fierce Internal Breathe into him, ripping and tearing him and rushing into the Dantian acupoint in his belly.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s Internal Strength was very frail. He had just reached the first level of Yin Strength and Yang Strength. He was a very long way away from mastering Yin and Yang Strength. Abruptly being pressed by external power, Gu Shenwei did not have much time to raise his Qigong and it spontaneously resisted Mama Xue¡¯s Qigong. This action exposed his weak Kung Fu foundation.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s Qigong power was very weak in contrast to Mama Xue¡¯s, like using a cup of water to put out a big fire.


    Gu Shenwei only felt that his body waspletely shaken. His Dantian acupoint seemed to burst in an instant. Being not ready for any of that, he fainted.


    When he woke up, Gu Shenwei heard Miss Luo curiously ask,


    ¡°Is he alive?¡±


    ¡°Yes. He didn¡¯t deceive us this time. ve Huan only learned some superficial Kung Fu. ve Yao, you moron! He found such an ipetent teacher to learn Internal Strength from.¡±


    Gu Shenwei rxed a bit and blushed.


    ¡°What¡¯s your purpose ofing to Golden Roc Fort?¡±


    ¡°I made up my mind to avenge my father,¡± Gu Shenwei said and straightened his back in order to make his voice sound more sorrowful. They thought that he was talking about Yang Zheng. But in fact, he mourned his father, Gu Lun.


    ¡°The Eighth Young Master is who killed your father,¡±


    Mama Xue said to Gu Shenwei frigidly. On hearing her words, Miss Luo giggled behind the screen, as if she had heard a joke just now but was too shy tough.


    ¡°Not exactly. My father was killed outside the vige. A professional killer murdered him. Well¡­ The murderer is the Eighth Young Master¡¯s subordinate.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better for you to take revenge on my husband, so that I can return to Iron Mountain,¡± the Miss said slowly.


    ¡°Miss! Take back your words. Now you belong to the Shangguan family. Nothing can change that. Never mention it again.¡±


    Mama Xue warned Miss Luo in a severe tone, as if she were lecturing a naive little girl. She did not look like the humble and prudent maidservant that she usually acted like. There were not many outsiders, so Mama Xue did not care about the discrepancy of the master-ve identity too much.


    Miss Luo also did not treat Mama Xue as an ordinary maidservant, either. Therefore, she just snorted discontentedly, rather than scold Mama Xue. Miss Luo said in a low voice,


    ¡°Of course, I know.¡±


    Mama Xue turned to ve Huan and said, ¡°If you dare to spread this gossip, I¡¯ll throw you off the cliff.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t tell anyone because I didn¡¯t hear anything. Heaven and earth can prove my loyalty to Miss and Mama Xue.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had totally destroyed his self-esteem with those begging words. From now on, he would never ever have any connection with the title ¡°Young Master of the Gu Family¡±.


    He had no choice. If Gu Shenwei still had the identity of a young Master, he could not find his sister, let alone take revenge for his family.


    ¡°Humph. You? Even if you practiced for 100 years, you couldn¡¯t even hurt one of the Eighth Young Master¡¯s little fingers. Who killed your father? Killer Han Shiqi?¡±


    ¡°No. I still don¡¯t know who the murderer is.¡±


    Mama Xue walked around Gu Shenwei twice, observing him carefully, just like a calcting merchant who was about to buy some goods.


    ¡°You want to take revenge, right? It¡¯s possible. But you should stop taking any actions without my permission and end your secret investigation. Miss will reward you if you perform very well. Do you understand?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I do. I won¡¯t hesitate toy down my life if Miss and Mama Xue need it.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s start from today. You¡¯ll rece ve Yao now and learn Kung Fu from me. In one month, I¡¯ll send you to East Castle as a killer apprentice candidate, so you¡¯ll have the chance to be a killer in Golden Roc Fort. If you don¡¯t achieve it, then just end your life. You know what I mean, right? If you betray me, you¡¯ll die just like your father. Remember, young man, I¡¯ll kill anyone without ying tricks or informing on him if he¡¯s supposed to die.¡±

 Chapter 27

    Chapter 27: Kung Fu Practice


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei stayed behind and started to learn Kung Fu from Mama Xue the same day.


    Although their rtionship could not be called friendship, nor was it as simple as teacher and student, one intently taught Kung Fu and the other diligently learned it.


    Gu Shenwei knew that Mama Xue and Miss Luo did not only desire to provide a killer apprentice for Golden Roc Fort. They helped him keep the secret for other reasons. However, he would be temporarily safe until they made their final demand.


    This was such a strange team. Using the alias Yang Huan, the target of Gu Shenwei¡¯s revenge was very likely to be the Eighth Young Master, Shangguan Nu, while the Eighth Young Mistress, Luo Ningcha, did not even care about it, and neither did Mama Xue. She also readily believed his words. As for Gu Shenwei, the young man with killing intent, he now had to ensure his safety with the help of two calcting women.


    There was another thing that Gu Shenwei did not expect¡ªhe was not the only person learning Kung Fu from Mama Xue.


    The method of naming maidservants in Golden Roc Fort was simr to that of naming male ves. People picked up one word from the Thousand Character ssic as a part of their nicknames, and the only difference was that they added ¡°maid¡± before their names.


    It was Maid Lotus who practiced Kung Fu with Gu Shenwei. She was one of the 10 ve girls bought by Bighead Kingpin.


    Maid Lotus was a girl of few words. If she was not so overly serious, one might even call her beautiful. She always seemed to be meditating upon something, and she was alert to everything around her. She paid special attention to every word Mama Xue said and observed every movement Mama Xue made.


    In Mama Xue¡¯s opinion, Maid Lotus was an excellent apprentice.


    Gu Shenwei had never heard Mama Xue mention her before.


    The pointy-faced teenager, who had talked so much about the ve girls, had neglected to mention Maid Lotus as well. This was very strange for such a talkative cutup.


    Mama Xue¡¯s way of teaching Kung Fu waspletely different from the Gu family¡¯s. On the first day, she did not demonstrate any Kung Fu movements. Mama Xue only asked the two ¡°apprentices¡± to fight with each other. It was not a simple Kung Fu training but a real fight.


    Gu Shenwei was kicked down by the first strike and he realized that Maid Lotus was taking this seriously. At that time, he also realized why ve Yao had often been wounded.


    Although Maid Lotus did not have any Kung Fu foundation, with her good understanding of Kung Fu and great courage, she had managed to master some boxing skills taught by Mama Xue over dozens of daily lessons.


    In the beginning, Gu Shenwei wanted to hide his real strength, but he soon realized he would have to spare no effort to beat her and he even used the power of the first level of Yin and Yang Strength. Even so, his fight with Maid Lotus ended in a draw.


    Maid Lotus had never practiced Internal Strength before, but she had much more fighting experience than Gu Shenwei.


    Just fighting for less than half an hour, Gu Shenwei was sweating profusely. He felt his breath bing turbulent in his Dantian and found it nearly unendurable.


    Mama Xue often guided Maid Lotus on how to move while watching their fight from the side. As for the new trainee, ve Huan, she gave some advice or ordered him around only after the fight had ended.


    ¡°Forget the stupid movements you¡¯ve learned and practice your Internal Strength. If you want to enter East Castle and be a killer, you should practice Kung Fu anew.¡±


    That afternoon, Mama Xue went to serve Miss Luo, so she asked Maid Lotus to teach ve Huan Tiger-taming Fist.


    Gu Shenwei already felt disgraced for being beaten by a girl of the same age. Now he was even more embarrassed as he had to learn Tiger-taming Fist from her, who treated him indifferently. She did not say anything else unless she was exining Kung Fu movements to him, seeming very reluctant to teach him.


    However, Gu Shenwei had a totally different experience when he went back to Firewood Yard.


    The newly appointed overseer took the initiative to speak to ve Huan for the first time. Furthermore, he encouraged him and told him that he did not need to look after the injured in the yard.


    The other five young ves also awkwardly smiled at him and weed their ¡°sworn brother¡± back. ve Lei even helped him brush the dust off his clothes. Their change in their attitudes was quick and obvious, which was difficult for Gu Shenwei to adapt to immediately.


    Nevertheless, his focus was still on ve Qian.


    ve Qian behaved himself as usual. Although he also showed his kindness to ve Huan like the others, he did not talk too much. In an awkward silence, ve Qian would start to speak. It seemed that he was the leader of this small group.


    Gu Shenwei decided to temporarily put the white handkerchief issue away. He had to be devoted to Kung Fu practice in order to be a killer apprentice in East Castle and also to deal with the two women.


    Golden Roc Fort was like a huge and indestructible mountain when people saw it at a distance. But there were noticeable small cracks when observing it closely. Luckily, Gu Shen had already found a few cracks. However, it was not enough for his revenge. He needed to continue to observe and find the junction of all cracks.


    Gu Shenwei could practice Kung Fu aboveboard now. He spent all his time practicing Kung Fu, except for eating and sleeping. After he got back from Mama Xue¡¯s ce, Gu Shenwei still went to Ghost Cliff to practice Yin and Yang Strength. He wanted to make up for the time that he had wasted over thest 10 years.


    Mama Xue hoped the two teenagers she had rmended would be outstanding in East Castle. Therefore, she strictly supervised them as they practiced Kung Fu and even intervened in ve Huan¡¯s Internal Strength training, out of fear that he would lose his life due to Qigong Deviation like ve Yao.


    Mama Xue used a forceful method to help ve Huan improve his Internal Strength, unlike his father Gu Lun, who had taught Internal Strength step by step.


    Gu Shenwei needed to practice Yin and Yang Strength in front of Mama Xue every day. While he was practicing, she sometimes poked him with her iron fingers on different acupoints. And each time, she passed the inner force into his body to help him break through his meridians.


    This would benefit his Internal Strength practice a lot, but it meant that Gu Shenwei would suffer great pain. He became ck and blue all over and could not even find afortable posture to sleep at night.


    The daily Kung Fu practice with Maid Lotus increased his agony. The silent young maid had been inexplicably jealous of him from the very beginning. Later on, she regarded him as an enemy since Mama Xue was privately helping him improve Internal Strength.


    Gu Shenwei had never been hated so much by anyone.


    He had no idea about how to deal with it. Angry and ashamed, he eagerly wanted to surpass Maid Lotus in Kung Fu practice.


    It was not an easy goal to achieve when studying Tiger-taming Fist. On one hand, he was not good at boxing; on the other hand, he had practiced it two months longer than Maid Lotus. However, the situation changed 10 dayster when Mama Xue started to teach them how to move the saber.


    The date of new killer-apprentices¡¯ admission was approaching. In order to speed up the training, Mama Xue needed to teach as many Kung Fu movements as possible in a short time.


    Mama Xue reminded ve Huan and Maid Lotus often, saying, ¡°A Kung Fu practitioner needs to build their foundation with boxing training, which makes their movements quick and agile. Hence, you¡¯ll feel morefortable when learning how to use other weaponster on. However, don¡¯t rely on boxing when fighting with people because it¡¯s just a basic skill. No matter how skilled you are at boxing, holding a sharp dagger makes you stronger. If someone with bare hands defeats an armed man, it must be due to an enormous difference between the two sides¡¯ Kung Fu strength. In other words, it doesn¡¯t prove that fists and feet are better than weapons. Remember, once you be a killer and live by killing, your boss will choose the opponents for you, not yourself. Therefore, never dream of beating armed people with your bare fists. You should use a saber to beat both armed and bare-handed men.¡±


    Mama Xue herself practiced Iron Finger. Obviously, she did not match her deeds to her words. But, Mama Xue was not a killer. Moreover, it was unnecessary for her to practice swordsmanship, as she had served Miss Luo for a long time and worked in the back yard.


    Although he had carefully memorized his family¡¯s swordsmanship, Gu Shenwei needed to conceal the truth because he lied to Mama Xue, saying that he had not learned it very well.


    Fortunately, Mama Xue did not care. She taught them the swordsmanship for real fighting, including 18 basic saber movements and no fixed actionbinations. Each basic movement was very simple, for example, cutting, stabbing, or piercing, which were very simr. But once they could practice each with proficiency, Mama Xue asked them to randomlybine the 18 basic saber movements, so they could create other numerous movements.


    Mama Xue said that the series of saber movements was Iron Mountain Knife Form, one of the martial arts that helped Iron Mountain Gang dominate the desert area.


    Gu Shenwei felt that Iron Mountain Knife Form was not as skillful as the Gu family¡¯s swordsmanship. However, it was easy to understand and flexible. When performing the 18 basic saber movements, he could asionally add one or two moves from his family¡¯s swordsmanship. Gu Shenwei found the connection between the movements was also very smooth, which sometimes brought unexpected effects.


    However, it was an obstacle for Maid Lotus. Before the training, she had never touched a real saber. It took a few days for her to learn how to control her strength and hold it. Therefore, during fighting, she often fell behind. Sometimes, the gap between their power was so wide that Mama Xue reced Maid Lotus and fought with ve Huan herself.


    Consequently, Maid Lotus became more silent and gloomy. Every time Gu Shenwei arrived at the yard, he saw Maid Lotus practicing the sword movements. After he left, she continued her training.


    Gu Shenwei also made rapid progress on Yin and Yang Strength. Within a month, he separately arrived at the second level of Yin Strength and Yang Strength.


    It was the first time Gu Shenwei had felt very good since he entered Golden Roc Fort. The improvement of Kung Fu also boosted his confidence in taking revenge. Although there was a long way to go, slowly but surely, he was walking toward the finish line.


    He wanted to be the most powerful killer and then retaliate on the killers.


    When Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter felt bored, she would go to watch Mama Xue teach them Kung Fu. Of course, Miss Luo still sat behind the folding screen. She had been forced to quit a lot of habits since she married the Eighth Young Master. But she insisted on one habit more firmly¡ªshe would not allow males to see her face except for her husband, and females could not see her real face, either.


    It was said that Miss Luo wore several veils when greeting her mother-inw every morning. This was quite understandable however, as the tension between them was palpable.


    When Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus practiced Iron Mountain Knife Form, Miss Luo sometimesmented on their performance. Simultaneously, her four maidservants would seize the opportunity to recall the happy days in the past with Miss Luo.


    From their chatting, Gu Shenwei learned that Miss Luo did not know Kung Fu at all. Besides, Iron Mountain was not a real ce and it referred to the site where the bandit gang camped. They also talked about Mama Xue, who was not actually Miss¡¯s wet nurse. She had joined the bandit gang after Miss Luo was born a few yearster.


    It was the beginning of autumn in the lunar calendar when people in East Castle began to recruit killer apprentices. Although the sky was gloomy, the air at the peaks was fresh due to the first frost the night before.


    Mama Xue brought ve Huan and Maid Lotus to East Castle.


    There were so many buildings in East Castle. Walking through the countless alleys andnes felt like navigating a maze. If not led by someone familiar with theyout, outsiders could easily lose their way. Even though Mama Xue had not been in Golden Roc Fort for a long time, she knew theplicated paths in East Castle well, which was no surprise to Gu Shenwei.


    Just like West Castle, there were numerous yards located in East Castle. Mama Xue guided them into a small one, which looked a little shabby, like other ces in Golden Roc Fort after more 100 years of wind and rain. However, the registrar, sitting behind the long table in the wing-room, was very serious and respectable. It seemed that Golden Roc Fort manifested its real strength through its people, not its magnificent buildings.


    The registrar nced at the first group of visitors who wanted to sign up. He had not written anything down yet.


    ¡°Which yard?¡±


    ¡°The Eighth Young Master¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s her name?¡±


    ¡°Maid Lotus.¡±


    ¡­


    The registrar began to ask lots of questions, for example, what kind of Kung Fu they had learned and so on. He recorded the answers verbatim. Mama Xue offered detailed answers for ve Huan and Mama Xue, who just stood aside and listened.


    Everything went well and Maid Lotus became the first recorded killer apprentice that year.


    At this time, two or three groups of apprentices arrived. The small courtyard seemed a bit crowded.


    Next, it was Gu Shenwei¡¯s turn. At first, everything went well also. The registrar had written ve Huan¡¯s name down, and he would quickly finish the inquiry after thest few questions. But, when the registrar asked Gu Shenwei¡¯s Kung Fu foundation, a problem arose.


    ¡°He has learned Internal Strength?¡±


    ¡°Em¡­ Just a little.¡± It was still Mama Xue who answered, and she frowned.


    The registrar lowered his head and crossed out the name ¡°ve Huan¡±.


    He looked up and said, ¡°This ve can¡¯t enter East Castle.¡±

 Chapter 28

    Chapter 28: Hostility


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    ¡°A little more, just a little bit more.¡± Gu Shenwei was close to taking the perfect step on his path of revenge. He had prepared well, but failed at thest moment, falling down from the light of the right path into the darkness of a sewer.


    Someone in the yard had recognized Mama Xue and knew she was a maidservant serving the Eighth Young Mistress. People started to discuss them in hushed whispers and sneered at them in a ¡°proper¡± way. They gossiped loudly enough to hear each other, but quietly enough that when Mama Xue turned around, she could not tell who had been talking.


    Mama Xue¡¯s sallow face was slightly flushed. She did not say anything else and left Maid Lotus alone. Then, she hastily returned to the Eighth Young Master¡¯s yard with ve Huan.


    Gu Shenwei was asked to stay behind in the front yard, and Mama Xue went to visit Miss Luo. For a while, he faintly heard the Miss rebuking someone in the back yard.


    As he was waiting, several ves passed by. They were surprised by ve Huan¡¯s appearance and then they were rmed upon hearing the Miss¡¯s voice and left quickly without daring to ask what had happened.


    Mama Xue walked out from the back yard in a hush after a quarter-hour. She passed Gu Shenwei without a nce, as if he did not exist.


    Anxious and afraid, Gu Shenwei stood in the empty yard alone. Not only had he lost the opportunity to enter East Castle, but he also lost his value to Miss Luo and Mama Xue. How would they deal with him? Send him to the Eighth Young Master directly, or let him go and avenge his father?


    If they decided on the former, he would have to try to kill the Eighth Young Master, Shangguan Nu. This was the crux of his path to revenge. Shangguan Nu had murdered his parents and siblings with his own hand. He was the number one viin in Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind.


    When Mama Xue came back two hourster, Gu Shenwei still could note up with a good n. She stared at the panic-stricken ve for a while, as if nning something herself. But Gu Shenwei could not figure out what by her facial expression. Finally, she said, ¡°Pack your luggage and bring it here. From now on, you work in this yard.¡±


    This was at least better than the worst possible oue. Gu Shenwei thanked and bowed to Mama Xue. Later, he returned to Firewood Yard. His footsteps were so heavy, as if he were carrying a big stone on his back. But he became optimistic again halfway through. Despite his failure to enter East Castle, he would work in the Eighth Young Master¡¯s yard. This meant he would have the chance to get close to Shangguan Nu and take his revenge.


    When learning Kung Fu from Mama Xue in the daytime, Gu Shenwei had never met the master of this yard, Shangguan Nu, who always went out very early and returnedte. He never liked staying at home.


    Rumors had spread widely in Firewood Yard. ves became flurried. Seeing ve Huane back alone, they flocked to him and asked lots of questions.


    Gu Shenwei told them the truth that he had been rejected. On hearing the news, the young ves contorted their faces in disappointment. However, after learning that Gu Shenwei would work in the Eighth Young Master¡¯s yard, most of them envied him, in that no matter how hard and tiring the work was in master¡¯s yard, it would be much better than staying in Firewood Yard and serving dying people.


    One of the five ves was missing as they listened to Gu Shenwei¡¯s unfortunate story. When he finished the tale, ve Lei told him another unlucky thing¡ªve Qian had been taken away by Mama Xue. It was said that she might rmend him to enter East Castle.


    Miss Luo and Mama Xue, who were the outsiders in Golden Roc Fort, had made a simple mistake. They knew little about the killer system, so they naively thought a killer-apprentice would be weed provided that he showed proficiency in Kung Fu. Also, the Miss fished the information from her husband, Shangguan Nu, who was the son of the Supreme King. From the moment he was born, his name was on the list of killers. Obviously, he had not attended any killer-selection activities. Hence, Shangguan Nu was not familiar with the system of selecting killer-apprentices, either.


    Thus, Mama Xue diligently helped them practice Kung Fu, but had missed an important rule of killer-apprentice recruitment in East Castle¡ªone could not be allowed to practice Internal Strength before entering East Castle.


    It was widely said that killers in Golden Roc Fort had their own method of practicing Internal Strength, which differed from any other martial arts school.


    No matter what the reason was, Yin and Yang Strength, which Gu Shenwei had practiced around the clock, was now a stumbling block for him, preventing him to enter East Castle.


    When Mama Xue realized her mistake, she immediately discussed the issue with Miss Luo, and also called in yard-safeguarding killers to help them better understand all of the specific rules. She found that there was still a chance to correct the mistake.


    In fact, the training for the apprentices in East Castle was identical, regardless of their Kung Fu foundations. Even if the apprentices did not know anything about Kung Fu, it did not matter. Killer-apprentices, the killers of the fort believed, should start anew in their practice of Kung Fu after entering East Castle.


    Therefore, Mama Xue had gone to Firewood Yard and picked up another person to enter East Castle among the five young ves. ve Qian tasted the manna from heaven in surprise. He dropped the menial work that he was doing and became a killer-apprentice.


    Before Gu Shenwei had returned, the remaining four ves had gained the information from others. News was spreading that Mama Xue had lost face in East Castle. Even people working in the remote Firewood Yard had heard about it, while Gu Shenwei still did not know.


    It proved perfectly just how isted and unpopr the Eighth Young Mistress was in Golden Roc Fort. No one had told her the rules of killer-apprentice recruitment.


    This was the so-called Will of the Divine. Gu Shenwei could not ept it. Neither did the other four ves. They would rather believe the intelligent ve Yao could be a killer and that ve Huan, student of Kung Fu, could enter East Castle. But ve Qian had nothing special. He was an everyman. For God¡¯s sake, how could luck have treated him so kindly? It was so unfair.


    ¡°He won¡¯t be able to get through it. Within a month, he¡¯ll be carried back,¡± ve Lei said with great confidence. Although killer-apprentices were not asked to have a Kung Fu foundation from the very beginning, ording to tradition, it was better to have learned it before.


    There was nothing more to say. When ve Qian returned and had sessfully be a killer, the young ves, including ve Lei, would be licking his boots.


    Gu Shenwei visited the new overseer again and told him he wanted to pack his luggage and leave. But he was met with trouble, as Mama Xue could not decide by herself which yard the ves should work in, especially Gu Shenwei, who belonged to Firewood Yard, where serviceable ves were bing fewer and fewer, making it very hard to find someone to rece him.


    However, the problem was resolved quickly. Thoughtful as Mama Xue was, she had arranged everything. In the name of the Eighth Young Master, she took ve Huan away.


    Later, Gu Shenwei moved into a small stone house with his bedroll in the afternoon, next to the Eighth Young Master¡¯s back yard. He was to live with a housemate called ¡°Elderly Zhang¡±. Their responsibility was to take care of horses and stables.


    People in Golden Roc Fort put the prefix ¡°ve¡± before the names of the male ves, including the groom living with Gu Shenwei. But everyone called him Elderly Zhang all the same. His nickname was quite unique among ves, who were generally called ¡°ve so-and-so¡±.


    Elderly Zhang was considered a working model for all ves. He was loyal, hard-working, and earnest. As soon as he finished his work, he went directly to bed and never gossiped. Gu Shenwei had lived with him for several days, but they had few conversations.


    Gu Shenwei was familiar with horses. When he was a young Master, people took care of his horses for him. The only thing he cared about was if his own horse ate well or not, and if its fur was bright. Now he was feeding horses for his enemy.


    He tried not to recall the past, afraid of revealing his true emotion. Gu Shenwei was in a dangerous ce now, so he had to be extremely cautious when taking actions. Even though Han Shiqi had died, no one could guarantee that there was not a second subordinate working for Shangguan Nu who knew he was the Master of the Gu family.


    Besides, ve Qian had entered East Castle and was out of Gu Shenwei¡¯s reach. What if he unintentionally told others the story about the white handkerchief?


    Mama Xue was also a potential threat to him. Gu Shenwei understood why she asked him to stay in Shangguan Nu¡¯s yard. It was easier for her to oversee him. After all, Miss Luo and Mama Xue had discussed too many secrets in front of him.


    However, Mama Xue rarely appeared. Except for the routine of paying his respects every morning, he met with her very few times.


    Elderly Zhang was a ve of Golden Roc Fort, so he did not need to show his loyalty to Miss Luo every morning. Gu Shenwei guessed that this was the reason that Elderly Zhang never chatted with him¡ªthey were in different camps, serving different masters.


    Gu Shenwei had witnessed the contradictions among the masters in Golden Roc Fort and also heard a lot of rumors about it. But his status was too slow and his power was too weak to pry open the cracks in the mountain that was Golden Roc Fort.


    The only thing he could do was spare no effort in practicing Kung Fu.


    It was known to all that Gu Shenwei knew how to practice Internal Strength. People knew Mama Xue taught him, so it was unnecessary to practice it secretly. Once he finished feeding and cleaning the Eighth Young Master¡¯s horses, Gu Shenwei would go somewhere to practice Kung Fu. Yin and Yang Strength, Tiger-taming Fist, Iron Mountain Knife Form¡­ He practiced them all at least once.


    Elderly Zhang was neither for nor against Gu Shenwei¡¯s Kung Fu practice. He only looked upon him coldly as a disinterested bystander. He only had one ¡°privilege¡±¡ªleading horses and waiting for his master respectfully at the front door at night. Every afternoon, he would lead the horses back to the stables.


    Gu Shenwei had no chance of meeting Shangguan Nu. But during these days, he had learned of Shangguan Nu¡¯s living habits.


    The Eighth Young Master kept a stable schedule. He went out early and came back at night no matter if it was rainy or windy. Every five to 10 days, he would bring one more horse with him. He woulde back in three to five days. At that time, the horses totally changed in appearance, bing thin and dirty, and sometimes one of the horses was missing.


    Only then did the indifferent Elderly Zhang show his pity. No matter howte the horses came back, he would wake up ve Huan, and they would feed and clean the horses together. Elderly Zhang would hug these exhausted horses and murmur to them, like a mother anticipating her sons¡¯ return.


    Gu Shenwei founded himself stuck in his path of revenge. He could not move forward or step back. He was wasting time with an old man who loved horses more than human beings. But his enemy just behind the wall was living and killing people as usual.


    Gu Shenwei, the 14-year-old young man, cultivated patience that he had never before possessed. He knew he had to wait because the Will of the Divine would guide him.


    It had been two months since he became a groom¡¯s assistant. Fall went by, and winter arrived. A freshyer of snow covered Golden Roc Fort. Finally, Gu Shenwei had a chance to see Shangguan Nu.


    That afternoon, he was practicing Iron Mountain Knife Form, taught by Mama Xue with a wooden stick. To hide his identity, Gu Shenwei had to forget the familiar Gu family¡¯s sword movements. But he still did not understand Iron Mountain Knife Form very well.


    The practice of Iron Mountain Knife Form focused on the practical application in fighting. There were 18 ways to move, which were easy to practice. However, thebinations of these movements were flexible. Gu Shenwei practiced them without a training partner, which was like practicing shooting without a target. He still could not understand the quintessence of Iron Mountain Knife Form, no matter how hard he practiced.


    He also inadvertently added some sword movements from the Gu family, which he was very familiar with and could not entirely abandon.


    Gu Shenwei devoted himself to sword training. One day as he was deep in study, he suddenly detected that someone was observing him from a few miles away, who seemingly had been against the wall for a while. This person did not hide intentionally, but nevertheless had gone unnoticed. This reflected an essential quality that a professional killer should have.


    For an instant, Gu Shenwei froze. He had looked forward to approaching his enemy for a long time. Unexpectedly, his enemy wasing for him now.


    It was Shangguan Nu.


    Hate and anger were like a mmable catkin, which burned out instantly. All that remained were the seeds of fear.


    ¡°Did the Eighth Young Master find out my true identity?¡± His legs were trembling. Their meeting was not like what he had expected and he was not yet ready for it.


    Shangguan Nu red at the young man in front of him, who seemed a little depressed with eyes that expressedplicated emotions. He was a little shocked. His remaining left hand could not help holding onto the handle of his sword.

 Chapter 29

    Chapter 29: Changing Masters


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Shangguan Nu felt strong hostility from the young man¡¯s eyes. Intuitively, he held the hilt tightly. But the ve¡¯s hostility had gone fleetingly and now he looked dull and fearful like most ves.


    An unmatured thought came into Shangguan Nu¡¯s mind so quickly that he could not catch up.


    Shangguan Nu returned to his senses. He realized the young man in front him was the ve brought by his wife¡¯s bandit family, who became panicked because of meeting the master in Golden Roc Fort. He decided to forgive the innocent young man this time. Shangguan Nu also felt a little pity. This ve, who would make a good enough killer-apprentice, was well-studied in swordsmanship and was also full of courage, but East Castle had rejected him.


    ¡°You¡¯re ve Huan, the one rejected by East Castle?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am.¡±


    Gu Shenweipletely lost his strength due to the involuntary muscle rxation that could ur after experiencing fear. He kneeled down on one knee and said reverently, ¡°I didn¡¯t know that Master had arrived. Please forgive me.¡±


    Shangguan Nu still had no expression. He was thinking over the young ve¡¯s value. For a while, he nodded at him and then said, ¡°I see¡­¡± Shangguan Nu then left, leaving the confused ve alone.


    Over the next few days, Gu Shenwei was afraid because he did not know what Shangguan Nu would do next. Obviously, this meeting with Shangguan Nu had not been by chance.


    Finally, Mama Xue exined everything to him and took him to meet Miss Luo.


    ¡°Master Nu has sent you away. Tomorrow, you shall go to Star Picking Academy and serve the young master.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s beating heart was finally calm. Shangguan Nu had not recognized him. He did not say anything, but Miss Luo behind the screen unleashed her anger. ¡°Crash!¡± She threw something on the ground.


    ¡°Ridiculous. The Meng family has so many servants. Why should my servants serve them?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had a sudden realization. The Supreme King¡¯s wife was Lady Meng, from the richest family in Jade City. From the first day that Luo Ningcha had married into Golden Roc Fort, she did not get along with her mother-inw, Lady Meng. This fact was well-known to all in Golden Roc Fort. Even people living at the foot of the mountain had heard about their feud.


    Lady Meng had given birth to fraternal twins for the Supreme King. The elder son was Shangguan Fei and the little girl was Shangguan Ru. That was the reason that Miss Luo¡¯s maidservant, Little Ru, had to be renamed. It was disrespectful for a maidservant to have the same name as the masters. People said that the Supreme King showed partiality to them and everyone in Golden Roc Fort loved the two young masters. Even Shangguan Nu also wanted to please his younger brother and sister.


    They ordered Gu Shenwei to be an attendant for a young master. He guessed that the master he would serve might be Master Fei and, suddenly, he became a little sad. Master Fei¡¯s position in Golden Roc Fort perhaps was like the Young Master in the Gu family. A few months ago, Gu Shenwei was an innocent young Master, but now he had be a servant. Fate was too hard to predict.


    Gu Shenwei kneeled on the ground in silence. Mama Xue went to Miss Luo andforted her.


    She said, ¡°Master must have his own reason. If he stays here, ve Huan will be idle. Miss, you¡¯re a wife now, better be patient.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ I can¡¯t stand it. Thesedies will feign carelessness and talk about it just to embarrass me.¡±


    ¡°What goes aroundes around. We¡¯re isted and helpless here at present. When Bighead Kingpines, all the problems will be solved.¡±


    ¡°When will my father visit me? It has been such a long time since I married the Eight Young Master. He doesn¡¯t remember me.¡±


    Miss Luo continued to release her grievances into the room, and then she broke something again. The blind maid squatted and swept up the fragments on the floor. For no reason, Miss Luo kicked her as she cleaned. ¡°Ow!¡± She made a sound, but quickly swallowed it down.


    This was strange. It seemed the more Miss Luo abused Maid Cui, the more she gained the Miss¡¯s trust. Now, she had now served Miss Luo for more time than the four maidservants ¡°Chen, Xin, Sui, and Yi¡±.


    Mama Xue continued tofort the Miss in a soft voice. But she could not shake the shame that she had suffered, so shemanded ve Huan, who was kneeling down outside, ¡°You must swear to me that I alone will be your master, no matter who you serve.¡±


    .


    Gu Shenwei said firmly, ¡°ve Huan swears to God. Today, I¡¯m the ve serving Miss Luo and Mama Xue. I¡¯ll never betray them. If Miss needs me, I¡¯ll appear immediately. If someday I break my vow, I shall be punished by heaven and go to hell in the afterlife.¡±


    If Miss Luo wanted to hear more vows, he could swear to them in thousands of ways without any hesitation. She always demanded that ves pledge their allegiance to her every four or five days. He had be ustomed to it.


    Miss Luo snorted, seemingly dissatisfied with his vow. She added, ¡°If I hear that you are supporting the masters from the Meng family, you will be punished by my husband. You know that he¡¯s willing to kill the son of Yang-whoever from the Gu family.¡±


    Miss Luo still remembered ve Huan¡¯s secret. She was not so stupid.


    Then, Gu Shenwei put forth three different versions of his vow to show his ¡°loyalty¡±. Finally, Miss Luo was a little satisfied, but she made another unexpected request.


    ¡°ve Huan, as you enter in Star Picking Academy, I ask you to take the opportunity to kill Shangguan Fei. I¡¯ll make Lady Meng suffer for the rest of her lifetime.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was suddenly stunned. Of course, it was not because of his kindness. People surnamed Shangguan in Golden Roc Fort were all on his revenge list. However, if he murdered the Supreme King¡¯s son, he would certainly head to his doom.


    ¡°Miss!¡± Mama Xue shouted. Apparently, she did not approve of her n.


    However, Miss Luo was very excited about her n. She paced behind the screen and ignored Mama Xue¡¯s words. She continued, ¡°To start with, you need to win his trust. Later, murder him stealthily. I believe you can seed due to your good Kung Fu and intelligence. Most of all, you must do it secretly. Once you seed, my father will give bountiful rewards to you. Additionally, I¡¯ll help you find out who murdered your father, and let you carry out your sentence on him.¡±


    The more he heard, the more surprised he was. This woman was totally insane. Her decision would kill him and also risked her own life. Once Gu Shenwei murdered Shangguan Yu and Shangguan Fei, even though she was Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter, she could not survive.


    Gu Shenwei did not dare to say anything. Miss Luo suddenly stopped her pacing and said harshly, ¡°Why don¡¯t you speak? How dare you vite my order!¡±


    Gu Shenwei said, ¡°I¡¯ll do as you¡¯ve ordered.¡±


    ¡°Go and do it within three days.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try my best.¡±


    Mama Xue persuaded Miss Luo in a low voice. After a while, the Miss raised her tone and spoke loudly, ¡°I have made up my mind. I¡¯m not worried about it and I won¡¯t regret my decision.¡±


    Mama Xue came out from behind the screen and said, ¡°Follow me.¡± Usually, her face did not betray her true feelings, but now Mama Xue seemed a little angry. After taking ve Huan out of the room, she stopped in the front yard and turned to look at him.


    ¡°You know what you should do, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯m loyal to Miss Luo. But I¡¯ll also listen to Mama Xue¡¯s instruction because all the things that Mama Xue nned are good for Miss Luo.¡±


    Mama Xue said, ¡°Humph. You¡¯ve learned the skills necessary to deal with people from ve Yao. Very good. I don¡¯t know what your n is. But you should spare no effort in pleasing Shangguan Fei from tomorrow on, and let him like you and trust you. It¡¯s more important than bing a killer in East Castle. I¡¯ll exin to Miss. Don¡¯t worry. Even though you¡¯re Shangguan Fei¡¯s servant now, you still should live here, understand?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I will try my best to cater to Shangguan Fei.¡±


    ¡°You must seed. If Shangguan Fei likes you, your status in Golden Roc Fort will be improved. If not, I¡¯ll personally deliver you to your dead father.¡±


    Mama Xue seemed serious, she was not the sort of person to tell jokes. Then Gu Shenwei returned to his room, wondering about what benefits Mama Xue could gain by pleasing Master Fei. She seemed to have a n that could make him be a killer and also help him gain Master Fei¡¯s trust.


    No matter what her purpose was, her n coincided with Gu Shenwei¡¯s revenge. He should please Shangguan Fei, which was like catching a sheep in a flock. Perhaps he could take advantage of him. At least, once they painted him into a corner, Gu Shenwei could kill Master Fei, adding an important character to his list ofpleted revenge.


    After he made up his mind, Gu Shenwei slept very tight. Even Elderly Zhang¡¯s snoring did not bother him this night.


    The next morning, before the greeting ceremony to Miss Luo started, Mama Xue brought Gu Shenwei to Star Picking Academy.


    Situated in West Castle, Star Picking Academy was the learning hall in Gold Roc Fort, close to the Inner Residence and far from Heart Cleansing Yard and Firewood Yard. All the Shangguan family¡¯s children studied here. On the way to Star Picking Academy, there were three gates guarded by people to check the passersby¡¯s waist tokens. If not introduced by Mama Xue, Gu Shenwei could not even enter the first gate.


    Outside of the learning hall, ves were waiting for their masters, who had already gone in to study. They stamped their feet and blew on their fingers to keep warm in the cold wind while chatting with each other.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s leader-servant was a middle-aged man in his 30s who was the eldest servant among them, called ve Qing. He looked kind and smart. Once meeting Mama Xue, he recognized her and politely epted ve Huan. Also, he gave ve Huan a waist token. But after Mama Xue left, his smile disappeared immediately.


    He said coldly, ¡°Come here early tomorrow. Don¡¯t let your master wait for you. Go and stand there.¡±


    ve Qing pointed to the end of the ves¡¯ line. Some young ves had already waited there, huddled up with swollen, bruised faces. They were likely beaten recently.


    No one talked to ve Huan, the neer, so he just stood and heard them gossiping about their masters.


    There were a dozen masters studying in the learning hall. Except for the Supreme King¡¯s children, the descendants of their rtives also were educated here. People could tell the master¡¯s status from their servant¡¯s behavior. ve Qing did not have a high position, but he stood closest to the door and raised topics of conversation. The other servants also tried to please him.


    The topics were always about the rumors of their masters. The most frequent master mentioned by them was the Ninth Young Master. It was said that the master was very naughty and always screwed things up. But from their gossip, people showed their preference for this young master. They were even proud of meeting or talking to the ninth child of the Supreme King.


    An hourter, a loud noise came from the school. It seemed that people were fighting in the room, while ve Qing and other ves did not care at all. They exchanged a knowing look with each other.


    ¡°The masters are taking a break. But the Ninth Young Master is ying games again,¡± someone said.


    Gu Shenwei suspected the word ¡°ying¡± here might have a different meaning because he heard someone was screaming in the hall.


    He was trying to ustom himself to the new environment. Just then, the gate opened and someone was pushed outside as a voice bellowed out, ¡°Next one.¡±


    The young ve was probably 14 or 15 years old. He staggered and fell directly into ve Qing¡¯s arms. ve Qing frowned and pushed him away, waved to the other ves standing farthest away, and said, ¡°Come here!¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not understand what was going on. The other servants around him pushed him into the room together.


    The ves¡¯ numerous arms were like the feet of a giant centipede, sending Gu Shenwei into the room as if they were sending prey to their hungry masters. ve Qing looked at him hesitantly, but the masters inside the room urged him again. He had to seize the neer¡¯s shoulders and cram him through the crack of the door, saying quickly, ¡°Be cautious¡­¡±

 Chapter 30

    Chapter 30: Ten Movements


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Dozens of people were huddled in the school, including ves and masters. They formed a circle, which seemed crowded in this small yard.


    As he came in, Guo Shenwei was pushed into the circle. The pupils said excitedly, ¡°Here hees!¡± and, ¡°How many rounds can he hold on?¡±


    As they let go of him, he was finally freed. He stood alone and gazed in confusion at the boy on the other side. His heart was beating heavily.


    When he had seen Bighead Kingpin¡¯s face, he was shocked that someone could look so frightening. Now a simr idea crossed his mind, ¡°How can someone look so delicate and beautiful?¡±


    He seemed to be around 10 years old. His skin was bright white, as if he had been carved out of a piece of precious jade. His face was pink because of too much exercise, resembling two drops of blood in clear water. His jet-ck eyes wererge like an infant¡¯s, curious, and desired to control everything. He appeared to disdain the crowd and the new opponent with his nose up.


    Gu Shenwei was sensible. He had met many children of the nobles in the Central ins before, but now he was transfixed there, acting like a rustic boy who happened to get an opportunity to enter into the pce. He did note to his senses until the crowd burst intoughter, and then he immediately knelt down and drooped his head with a flushed face.


    ¡°ve Huan wishes you peace, young master.¡±


    They stoppedughing abruptly. ¡°I¡¯m not young.¡± The voice spoke clearly and furiously and stressed the word ¡°young¡±.


    Gu Shenwei looked up in surprise. He had assumed that the youth in men¡¯s wear surrounded by people had to be the ninth child of the Shangguan family, Shangguan Fei. Now he realized that such a gorgeous creature could not be a boy.


    His mind was racing. If this was not Shangguan Fei, then it must be Shangguan Ru. ¡°How should I address her? Mydy? She may not like that title as she is in men¡¯s wear.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was in a daze again. Apparently, there were some subtle rules in the school, but he had been here less than half a day, so nobody had told him yet.


    Shangguan Ru raised her eyebrows and theughter came again. The audience was d to watch the fun.


    Gu Shenwei looked around for help. Then he got the sign from a girl behind Shangguan Ru, who was also in men¡¯s wear. She was the same age as him with a skinny figure, but very tall, almost the tallest one in the hall. She mouthed the words incessantly: ¡°Ninth Young Master!¡±


    ¡°Ninth Young Master! ve Huan wishes you peace, my Ninth Young Master.¡±


    Shangguan Ru grinned, yet another boy standing beside the tall girl said angrily, ¡°Look what a ve my eighth brother brought me! He can¡¯t even recognize his own master.¡±


    This child looked very simr to Shangguan Ru, but more heroic. There was no doubt that he was Shangguan Fei, ve Huan¡¯s real master.


    ¡°Shangguan Fei is the elder brother of the twins, so Shangguan Ru must be the younger one, who is the Tenth Young Master. Why did the girl tell me to address her as Ninth Young Master?¡±


    Gu Shenwei could not make sense of it. He had received orders to tter the ninth child, but unfortunately, he had offended both of them at the very first meeting.


    The tall girl probably also came from the fort, because Shangguan Ru and she were the only two girls in this group of boys. Actually, she held the highest position. She opened her arms, keeping Shangguan Fei behind her, shouting, ¡°Come on! This is a new round. 10 moves. I bet this boy will definitely fall down within 10 moves.¡±


    The pupils ced their bets one after another. Some ced their bets on Shangguan Ru, some on the new ve.


    Gu Shenwei understood now that he was going topete with Shangguan Ru. Needless to say, he had to lose. Furthermore, he should lose the game clumsily, because she was a cute little girl.


    However, it was not quite as simple as that. Shangguan Fei did not bet on his sister. Instead, he ran over to Gu Shenwei¡¯s side and said, ¡°You can¡¯t fall in 10 moves, or I will call my eighth brother to teach you a lesson.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was in a bind. ve Qing surely knew how to deal with this dilemma, but he could not help ve Huan from outside the door.


    Shangguan Ru was bing impatient. She squared up and roared, ¡°Get out of the way!¡±


    The crowd stepped aside. While Gu Shenwei was not even ready, Shangguan Ru sprang from the opposite side, flying at him with a kick toward his face.


    This was not a move one would expect from a 10-year-old girl. The power and the action were both threatening. It appeared that the girl was on a level that even an experienced adult could not easily reach.


    Gu Shenwei was thinking of hiding his strength before this move. Now he knew he had to employ all his skills to evade her foot.


    Shangguan Ru kept her movesing continuously, each one just as decisive and brave, in contrast to what her appearance would suggest.


    Gu Shenwei had no time to think, as he was busy protecting himself by twisting and turning. Hand and footbat was not his strong point; the Tiger-taming Fist he had learned was hard-edged, which was not well-suited to block the girl¡¯s attacks. He dared not use the hard moves, so he continued to appear weak and vulnerable.


    After five or six moves, the sounds of chanting became louder,ing from all sides. The tall girl and Shangguan Fei shouted themselves hoarse.


    Right at the 10th move, Shangguan Ru was at her most ruthless. She yed a trick, pretending to turn back to keep her distance and then suddenly bending backward tond a kick.


    This was unexpected. Though Gu Shenwei could have avoided it, he hesitated for a second whether he should or not. His task was to win Shangguan Fei¡¯s favor, yet this girl seemed more like the winner of all the favor.


    At this very second, Shangguan Ru¡¯s feet kicked him solidly. Gu Shenwei¡¯s body flew backward, bumping into a pupil who was cheering aloud.


    The pupil was unprepared, but luckily, he was strong. Yelling and retreating several steps, he was held up by others. Gu Shenwei took the chance to bounce up and then staggered in another direction, but he was pushed yet again.


    ¡°It was still in 10 moves and he did not fall. We win!¡±


    Shangguan Fei shouted aloud, stepping out from behind Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so shameless. He almost fell down. You pushed him up.¡±


    The tall girl stepped forward, hands on her hips, and mored. She had to be the Supreme King¡¯s daughter because she would not yield an inch.


    The two groups began to quarrel. Shangguan Ru pointed at Gu Shenwei, who had said nothing up to this point. ¡°Admit that you were pushed up by others.¡±


    Shangguan Fei gave his order loudly near Gu Shenwei¡¯s ear, ¡°You managed to stand firm on your own, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    Going around in a circle, Gu Shenwei was once again in a bind. All he could do was equivocate.


    Shangguan Ru pushed the people aside and faced Gu Shenwei directly. ¡°What, you¡¯re not giving up?¡± Her face was red with anger.


    They were so close that Gu Shenwei could feel her breathing. He thought it was best not to contradict her. ¡°I¡­¡±


    At that moment, someone finally spoke, saving him from his dilemma.


    ¡°Everyone go back to the school.¡±


    It was a majestic teacher, hands held at his back, gazing coldly at the pupils.


    It worked. Dozens of pupils, including Shangguang Fei, along with their studypanions were so frightened that they immediately shut up and turned back, trotting back to the school.


    Shangguan Ru stayed, staring angrily at the insensitive ve Huan and thinking, ¡°How dare you? You lost!¡±


    ¡°Go back!¡± the teacher repeated. A man could not be a teacher in Golden Roc Fort if he had no influence.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s face was getting more and more red, like a jade cup filled with wine. But she could not disobey the order. So she went back, but suddenly she turned around and grabbed the ear of ve Huan, twisting it brutally.


    In this way, the Supreme King¡¯s most beloved daughter left a mark on Gu Shenwei¡¯s body. The shadow in his mind stayed as the pain receded.


    The moment ve Huan walked out of the hall, he was immediately rebuked by ve Qing, who had been listening outside the entire time. He found ve Huan to be utterly incapable, having offended both of the children. ¡°You could have just called them master, why did you call her young master? The ¡®young master¡¯ we mentioned in private was the youngdy, Shangguan Ru. When in the Ninth Young Master¡¯s presence, it means Shangguan Fei. The young master would surely take offense hearing you call thedy ¡®Ninth Young Master¡¯.¡±


    ve Qing went on talking about a series of things, which no one could understand except himself. ¡°It¡¯s just a name, why bother so much?¡± Gu Shenwei despised him.


    As ve Qing exined, Shangguan Ru was raised up as if she were a son, and became more ambitious and more like a boy than her elder brother, Shangguan Fei. She always wanted to rank higher than him, so she denied that she was a younger sister, making their titles confusing.


    The tall girl was not the Supreme King¡¯s own daughter, either. She was the twins¡¯ cousin, and she was named Shangguan Yushi. She was Shangguan Ru¡¯s best friend and also had a boy¡¯s temperament.


    ¡°You should call her ¡®Master Yu¡¯ instead of ¡®Miss¡¯, or you may lose your life, instead of just a single ear.¡±


    ¡°The truth that she¡¯s a Miss cannot be changed, even if I call her ¡®Master¡¯. She¡¯s cruel enough to kill someone because of this tiny mistake.¡± Gu Shenwei felt contempt for the discipline again.


    The children of the Shangguan family read in the morning and learned martial arts in the afternoon. At noon, they dispersed. The Misses¡¯panions were numerous, so ve Qing stayed with some of them and let the others leave.


    Gu Shenwei was not chosen, so he went back to Mama Xue¡¯s alone.


    After hearing about the first day¡¯s experience, Mama Xue rebuked him again that he had failed to tter the master. But she avoided the most important question, just as ve Qing had¡ªIf the twins had conflicting opinions, who should ve Huan side with?


    Gu Shenwei had to figure that out on his own.


    Hey down in the stone house to think about the problem when Elderly Zhang went to feed the horses. It had always been a difficult task for him, for he was unlike ve Yao, who was a born ve and had the instinct to tter. Though he was not the master of the Gu family, he could not ept that he was ¡°ve Huan¡±.


    He had known nothing about ttery since he was born, except for being ttered.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly sat up. It was true that he did not know the rules of ves, but he knew the master¡¯s thoughts. He knew what kind of ves could make the master happy. He was experienced in this part.


    He made a bold decision.

 Chapter 31

    Chapter 31: Sparring


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Early in the morning on the next day, Gu Shenwei ran to the gate of the school. Since he had an attendant-level waist token, he did not need Mama Xue to lead him. He thought Mama Xue would exin his absence when the ves gave their regards to the Miss.


    Gu Shenwei was the first to arrive. ve Qing nodded to him, showing his satisfaction.


    ve Qing and the others were members of the outside attendants, who could not enter the Inner Residence. They were primarily responsible for holding various objects and only bringing them inside when the masters called for them. Otherwise, they stayed outside, as the twins had other personal servants to stay near them.


    The twins came into the hall with Shangguan Yushi, apanied by a retinue. Gu Shenwei could not see as he was pushed from behind.


    Two children came much earlier than usual that day, which surprised ve Qing. He soon heard the ordere from the hall. ¡°Send the guy from yesterday in here!¡±


    ve Qing shook his head. He grabbed ve Huan from the crowd and pushed him into the school. ¡°You asked for this.¡±


    There were already some pupils out there, circled up as they had been the previous day. They formed a gap to let ¡°the guy from yesterday¡± in.


    The twins stood shoulder to shoulder, ignoring each other. Shangguan Yushi, who was wearing clothing that was too short for her, spoke to Gu Shenwei. ¡°Yield to Master Ru, or fight again. Make a decision.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s mouth was shut by his sister as soon as he opened it to speak.


    More and more pupils began making their way toward the scene, many of whom could not even enter through the gate, so they stayed to watch from the yard.


    ¡°I will not yield,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    The pupils were frozen, all of them staring in surprise at the new ve. ¡°Doesn¡¯t he see the sparring boys out there? Doesn¡¯t he see their shivering, bruised bodies?¡±


    ¡°You, you won¡¯t yield? You want another fight? You¡­¡± Shangguan Yushi, astonished, seemed at a loss for words.


    Shangguan Fei pushed away his sister¡¯s hand, shouting dly, ¡°What a good ve!¡±


    Shangguan Ru raised her hand proudly, ¡°So what? 10 moves again. And this time, you won¡¯t be able to get up afterward!¡±


    Gu Shenwei decided not to employ his humble tactics this time. He would not use the methods of a ve. Rather, he would do exactly the opposite and win the respect and trust of the twins with his toughness.


    He knew all too well the inner thoughts of those children. When he had been the master, his favorite game had been topete with people. Which manor servant would win his heart? It had always been the ones who would put forth their full effort, never those who yielded immediately and kowtowed.


    He used to have many attendants, but in the end, he had only kept Ming Xiang, who was the worst tempered of all of them and loved to quarrel with him. Actually, when a man already had plenty of ves, what he needed most was a friend that he could call his equal.


    Yet, even that equality had been fake.


    This mindset, which once belonged to Gu Shenwei, was now the weakness of the twins.


    Gu Shenwei posed and said, ¡°Please enlighten me.¡±


    He had not attacked her at all the day before. Now, it was the time to show them what he was really capable of.


    The pupils were excited about the show. A ve dared to speak to Shangguan Ru with a Jianghu tone? ve Qing heard it clearly from outside and grew anxious, regretting that he could not pull him out and beat him at once. Shangguan Yushi was more confused and did not even react; Shangguan Fei was feeling proud of the new ve¡¯s behavior.


    Shangguan Ru blushed at first, and then raised her head even higher and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be so certain. We¡¯ll have to see what happens in the arena.¡±


    In this second battle, the two exchanged more than a hundred moves. The sound of support for each side could be heard in almost half the fort. There was no more mention of ¡°10 moves¡±. Now they only wanted to know who was better¡ªthe arrogant and domineering Shangguan Ru, or the recklessly bold ve.


    Indeed, this fight was quite unlike the half-real pseudopetition from before, Shangguan Ru was cruel, yet the ve was not timid, bravely using the Tiger-taming Fist. The pupils close to them had to dodge quickly to avoid bing an unintentional victim of a foot or fist.


    ve Qing stood totally astonished, watching from the gate. ¡°Does this ve know he will court disaster for himself and many others?¡± Finally, he concluded that anyone brought by a bandit¡¯s daughter was simply uncultivated.


    Gu Shenwei did try his utmost in fists and feet, even in the Baguazhang Technique he had learned at home. But he still conserved his efforts, using half the Yin and Yang Strength, the ¡°equality¡± was limited. He was still not supposed to hurt this false ¡°master¡±.


    But Shangguan Ru was no ordinarypetitor, even as a girl who was three or four years younger, she was a skilled fighter, and more practiced in Chinese boxing than him. After more than a hundred moves, she had shown no less than five kinds of Kung Fu, which made Gu Shenwei have to defend instead of attack. He could barely hold it up, even after bringing out all of his Yin and Yang Strength.


    Once again, the fight was put to a stop by the majestic teacher, saving Gu Shenwei from the predicament.


    Those two were fighting so intensely and the crowd was watching so intently that no one heard the teacher speak. He blushed deeply and waved his ruler, heavily smacking the necks of several students to drag them back to reality. Embarrassed, they ran to the school rapidly.


    Gu Shenwei waspletely exhausted. He had not been so tired even after carrying the corpses.


    Shangguan Ru was the same, sweat running down her face, her hair a mess. She tried to utter some Jianghu jargon, but was only able to grunt heavily.


    Finally, Shangguan Yushi managed to say, ¡°We¡¯ll see.¡± Then she took a hold of Shangguan Ru, and they walked into the school.


    Shangguan Fei was much timider than her. He had run immediately after seeing the teacher lose his temper, giving no regard to the ve who had made him proud.


    Gu Shenwei held his knees and grunted heavily. His sweat dropped to the ground and formed many tiny craters in the snow, and then his neck was abruptly smacked without warning.


    ¡°Get out!¡±


    The teacher wore his anger on his face. This was his domain, the veryst territory where gentility was kept, yet it had been destroyed by an unknown ve.


    The furious ve Qing was waiting for him as well. He took two full hours to exin to Gu Shenwei just how outrageous his actions had been, and how he had kicked up a breeze not only for himself but also for those pupils who would be punished.


    ¡°Tearing you into pieces is not enough payment for a single hair dropped from the tiny Miss¡¯s body.¡±


    In his hurried disposition, ve Qing had called Shangguan Ru ¡°the tiny Miss¡±, which was her true identity in people¡¯s eyes.


    Gu Shenwei said nothing except, ¡°Yes.¡± Shangguan Ru had surely dropped countless hairs in this fight, but he knew that she was not injured at all. On the contrary, she had shown no mercy. His face was covered with bruises, and even more, spotted his body.


    ve Qing made the decision to send ve Huan back, even though he might offend the Eighth Young Master.


    But he wavered in his resolution after the pupils were dismissed at noon, suddenly seeing something shocking.


    Just as usual, the twins and Shangguan Yushi walked out of the gate at the head. Shangguan Ru stood in the middle with her hair fixed and breathing calmed. She stopped and pointed to ve Huan and said, ¡°He will attend me from now on.¡±


    ve Qing was too shocked to say anything. Shangguan Fei said in an astonished tone, ¡°Well, Eighth Brother gave him to me.¡±


    ¡°Yes. But now I want him, so he is mine.¡±


    And then Shangguan Ru left proudly with her confidant, with Shangguan Fei following, nagging about his ownership of ve Huan. But everyone knew that he would lose the argument to his sister in the end.


    Though he had no idea what to say, ve Qing had to make something up. He reminded ve Huan that this was unexpected, and that this kind of situation could end even more badly. He told ve Huan that he should find an opportunity to admit defeat, or he would face a terrible fate.


    Once Gu Shenwei got rid of him, the twins had already gone far away.


    The n did not go as he wished. Gu Shenwei had wanted to impress Young Master Shangguan Fei, yet Shangguan Ru had incorporated him.


    To add to his uneasiness, when Mama Xue heard his reports, she only sneered, nothing more.


    Gu Shenwei soon found out how tough it was to goof around with the ninth child. She treated him like an equivalent opponent and fought with him at least once a day¡ªin the hall, on the road, outside the yard, whenever she wanted. Shangguan Yushi and Shangguan Fei sometimes fought with him as well.


    Shangguan Ru was the daughter of the Supreme King and had been trained by many famous teachers, not to mention that she was a smart and ambitious girl. After only a few days, Gu Shenwei found that he had to pull out all of his strength to keep up with her.


    Shangguan Yushi was a shrewd girl, and she appeared to be of about equal skill as Shangguan Ru, but after some fights with Gu Shenwei, her hidden power revealed itself, and Gu Shenwei was certain that she was the stronger fighter.


    Though Shangguan Fei was a boy, his Kung Fu skills were middling and he had a bad temper. Gu Shenwei could only deal with him patiently, trying not to fight with him.


    But Gu Shenwei did not have an opportunity to tter them further. In their eyes, Gu Shenwei was nobody but a ve who could hold his own in a fight. There was no ¡°equality¡±.


    Gu Shenwei knew only two fist skills, so he was limited even if he trained hard. He wanted to progress but he did not want to beg. Of course, he could beg nothing from Mama Xue. So he reported to her every day about how rapid Shangguan Ru progressed and how she loved fighting, and after a month, Mama Xue was finally convinced to teach him ¡°Ruyi Palm¡±.


    Mama Xue said that fists and feet were the foundation, while des and swords were the marks of a killer. But ve Huan¡¯s opponent was the daughter of the Supreme King, and therefore Mama Xue would only strengthen his foundation instead of teaching him skills of the de or improving his Internal Strength by external force.


    The Ruyi Palmbined both attack and defense. It was moreplex and profound than the Tiger-taming Fist. Gu Shenwei took 10 days to learn it, and then learned another Grappling Technique and leg skill. He had actually be the apprentice of Mama Xue now, yet they kept a cold rtionship like before. Mama Xue told nothing about her real motivation.


    As Gu Shenwei¡¯s Kung Fu was growing stronger, Shangguan Ru kept it up. Those two chasing each other, from the autumn to the winter. It was not until the Spring Festival was about to arrive that Gu Shenwei was finally able to get some time to rest, for the twins seldom went to the school.


    Gu Shenwei thought he could go on in this way. He was gradually getting ahold of the twins and using them to go deeper into the fort. But what happened in December caused him to reflect on being a killer.


    In recent days, Golden Roc Fort, where people made a job of killing, was decorated withnterns and streamers, and those killers were ready to celebrate the New Year like ordinary people. No one suspected that someone would be so arrogant as to cross Jade City openly, walk uphill, go through the stone bridge connecting the natural moat, erect his g, arrange his des and swords, and challenge the Supreme King.

 Chapter 32

    Chapter 32: The Challenge


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The New Year holiday was less than a month away and the ground waspletely covered with a thickyer of snow, while the snowkes were flying in the sky slowly and gently. It seemed as if it might never end.


    Irregr sounds of reading out loud came from school. ve Qing and others waited outside the doors, covered their ears, and stamped about to keep warm.


    ¡°The two masters won¡¯te here today, it¡¯s too cold,¡± ve Qing said hopefully. Normally, if they missed the early ss, they would note, so they could go out and found a ce to drink wine.


    But today was not a normal day. A bunch of kids ran over rapidly, no doubt they had to be led by the twins, for there would be no one else so bold in Golden Roc Fort.


    As expected, Shangguan Ru was in the lead, followed by Shangguan Yushi and Shangguan Fei, and then the young personal attendants.


    ¡°Follow me.¡±


    Shangguan Ru ordered loudly and did not stop. She did not want to be scolded by the teacher who was ruthless toward anyone.


    More than half of the attendants belonged to the twins, who were bored and freezing, so they followed her immediately under her order. Only the steady-going ve Qing hesitated, and asked, ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°There are peopleing to challenge. You don¡¯t want to see?¡±


    Shangguan Ru said and ran away. The listeners were all shocked and picked up their pace without hesitation. Golden Roc Fort was not an ordinary ce and challenges did note often. And they could run to the gate to see what happened if they were with the twins.


    ve Qing also followed even though he did not believe it. ¡°It might be another trick by the two girls.¡± He was born in the fort, yet he had not heard of a challenge from the outside in all his years.


    The other ves did not dare to leave without their masters¡¯ permission, so they decided to convince their masters after the ss to watch the fun afterward.


    Gu Shenwei was fast, and he followed them very closely. After several months of experience, he was now much more mature than his peers and much more thoughtful. ¡°People challenging the fort is very unusual as it is extremely difficult for an outsider to even cross the entire Jade City and climb to the supreme peak, not to mention challenge Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    There were already several men outside the gate. The twins learned of the news from the Inner Residence, so they arrived on time, just before the fight.


    Three challengers, a tall, robust old man and two young monks, stood on the opposite of the gate. They were less than a hundred strides from the crowd, with the stone bridge right behind them.


    The old man must have been verymanding and majestic when he was young. He was a head taller than the monks, with broad shoulders and scraggly hair. He looked like a silent lion. But he was old now, leaving only a skeleton of the man he once was. No matter how giant the skeleton was, it could not offer endless strength as it once did.


    The two monks were humble. They kept their fingers interlocked and lowered their eyebrows. They looked more like a couple of irresponsible practitionersing here to meditate, instead of the old man¡¯s servants or friends.


    The old man held a nearly-20-foot-high g lengthwise, where a line was written: ¡°The de won¡¯t beid down unless the hatred is paid off.¡± In his right hand, there was a weapon rack, with ance and a de on it.


    ¡°What? An old man and two monks? How did the ves let them get up here?¡±


    Shangguan Fei and the attendants were disappointed upon seeing these challengers. They thought the challenger had to being with great momentum, yet they were only threemon people, who would be beaten down if they rushed forward together.


    Shangguan Ru observed them thoroughly. She sneered and said, ¡°Are you a fool? Are you the real son of the Lord? Look at the g.¡±


    Shangguan Fei flushed with shame for being mocked and satirized by his cousin. He mumbled and observed the g, as well as others, and theughter died away. ¡°Whoa¡­¡±


    The gpole was made ofmon wood and could stand upright in the ground without anyone holding it. As the cold wind blew, it stood still as the pole¡¯s end was deeply inserted into the ground.


    The empty ground was paved with giant stones. It was to the point that no dirt or earth existed. The g holder had to be not only robust but also have a strong Internal Strength to insert it over a foot in the stone.


    ¡°So what? Amon killer in our fort could finish them.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was still being stubborn. Shangguan Yushi ignored him as she held Shangguan Ru¡¯s hand and looked around the fort. As the challengers had already prepared, Golden Roc Fort should now send someone to clear the ce.


    Meanwhile, Gu Shenwei was standing behind them. He turned around at this moment, so no one could see the tears shed from his eyes.


    The tears were both unrted to the wind and the challengers. They were toward thence and the de as they were clearly the style of the Gu family. No doubt the old man was closely connected to the Gu family.


    Almost every country¡¯s army was equipped with standardized des andnces. However, things were different in Wulin. Every family or school had their own unique arms, so it was a way to identify the family or school. The Gu family¡¯snce was 16 feet in length and this might be the longestnce. Its de was three feet long, shorter than most of the des.


    Though Gu Shenwei gave only a nce at the weapons, he could still identify that the old man was using his family¡¯s arms. He had not learned the martial arts very well, but he was all too familiar with those two weapons to make any mistake.


    It nearly destroyed his mind, which had struggled and suffered for several months. He used to think he was the only survivor of the Gu family, with all the burden of revenge on his shoulders. Now he saw a maning to avenge his rtives, how could he calm down with such excitement happening before him? He almost lost control.


    What was lucky was that no one noticed him. They were all looking around, watching either the challengers or the road that led to the fort. They wanted to know who woulde out and kill these three.


    Gloden Roc Fort had not been intruded upon for a hundred years, as the killers of the fort had not been challenged by anyone all over the world. Though the masters and the ves were only teenagers, they never doubted that, mysterious or not, this old man was dead.


    People walked out of the fort endlessly. But they were merely the audience, instead of the killers. It appeared that the Supreme King did not care about the challengers, and he neither treated them seriously nor did he close the entrances or exits.


    ¡°Who dares to challenge?¡± Everyone questioned that in the first ce.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t those two monks the mages of the Four Truths Temple? We usually donated more than any other families. Why can¡¯t they be satisfied, and go on stealing?¡±


    Gu Shenwei never heard of the ¡°Four Truths Temple¡± so he could not care less. The only thing he wanted to know was the identity of the old man.


    The fort did not send its killer until 15 minutester. Even through the noise and excitement of the crowd, the identity of the old man was revealed.


    ¡°Marshal Yang. He¡¯s Marshal Yang.¡±


    ¡°A marshal of what? An army of two monks? Then I must be the grand marshal.¡±


    The teenagers wereughing at the strange name while Gu Shenwei was once again shocked. ¡°So there actually is a ¡®Marshal Yang¡¯.¡±


    On the day his whole family was murdered, Gu Lun asked the loyal old servant, Yang Zheng, to take his son and daughter away. And after Yang Zheng defeated the chasing enemies on the road, he knew it would not end well, so he let the little master wear the young personal attendant¡¯s clothes, and told him to find ¡°Marshal Yang¡± in Shu-lik City to ask for reinforcement.


    Gu Shenwei thought ¡°Marshal Yang¡± was someone Yang Zheng made up, so he returned when he was only halfway. However, a series of idents happened that led him to Gloden Roc Fort.


    If he had ridden his horse into Shu-lik City, maybe he would now be standing together with Marshal Yang facing Golden Roc Fort.


    Gu Shenwei could not be more remorseful. He had suffered so much humiliation that he never thought he would have, and in the end, he had chosen the wrong path.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    Shangguan Ru asked curiously, as she noticed the strange expression on ve Huan¡¯s face.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s just the wind.¡± Gu Shenwei wiped his tears hastily. He could not reveal his identity now. Even if Marshal Yang could defeat the Supreme King, he should use another identity and find another opportunity to meet him, instead of a ve¡¯s.


    ¡°He¡¯s frightened,¡± Shangguan Yushi nced at ve Huan and said. She did not like ve Huan at all. It could be said that she did not like anyone except for Shangguan Ru.


    A team of killers with ck clothes and red belts finally came from Golden Roc Fort. They walked along the noisy teenagers, serious and cold, not bowing to the masters as usual.


    ¡°So many killers!¡± someone cried out. The killers were the elite and backbone of Golden Roc Fort. People could barely see a group of three to five killers, however, this groupbined more than 20 killers. Even the toughest task could be finished by this amount of strength.


    ¡°The old man and the monks are dead.¡±


    ¡°So it seems.¡±


    The crowd thought these killers would attack the challengers altogether, as they were ustomed to the fact that the majority was greater than the minority. After all, they lived in Golden Roc Fort.


    Unfortunately, they were wrong this time. The killers stopped 20 strides away from Marshal Yang and half-circled around him. After that, a killer went forward, pulled out his narrow saber and asked for a solo fight.


    This was surely not from the ¡°rules¡± of Golden Roc Fort and yet it made the crowd even more excited. No matter what they learned when they were young, or what belief they would hold in the future, at this moment, they worshipped the strongest force.


    ¡°That¡¯s Ye Sheng. He belongs to the Fifth Young Master.¡±


    Someone recognized the first killer.


    Gu Shenwei actually knew the killer. He was the one who finished the swordsman from the Great Snowmountain, Long Feidu, in the T-junction, but the killer had refused to reveal his name.


    Gu Shenwei wanted to warn Martial Yang that Ye Sheng was good with hidden weapons. Long Feidu died because of his use of knockout powder or a simr weapon.


    But he could not and did not dare to speak. He could only expect that Martial Yang was better and smarter than Long Feidu and knew such brazen methods and had already prepared for them.

 Chapter 33

    Chapter 33: One move


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Marshal Yang was so old that he had no need to further hisprehension of the mortal world and stood aloof. He hade to the Western Region from the Central ins many years ago to live as a hermit. He was caught in a state of grievance that he could not rid himself of.


    His younger brother, Yang Zheng, died under the narrow de, and his close friends, the Gu family, were murdered brutally. He had to avenge them.


    He had learned his skills from the Gu family and now it was the time to repay them.


    He took a long time to look for aides. Unfortunately, no one in the Western Region wanted to rebel against the Supreme King. As a result, he had to challenge the Supreme King alone with a single de andnce, otherwise, thest of his strength would be wasted while he just waited.


    It was only because he threatened to wreak havoc in Jade City that the monks of the Four Truths Temple finally agreed to walk him to the peak, and only so far, for this saved them from the carnage, but they still would not enter Golden Roc Fort. He arrived at the gate of the fort and waited quite a while but still could not see the Supreme King. What awaited him was a team of assassins in ck and some ignorant teenagers who stayed away.


    ¡°How many killers like you do I have to kill to meet the Supreme King?¡±


    Marshal Yang asked. He sounded old and exhausted, which made this query not so arrogant or disparaging.


    ¡°You have no right to meet Lord King.¡± The killer, Ye Sheng, answered with contempt on his face and a narrow knife in his hand. He treated all the so-called martial artists this way.


    ¡°Is that it? Or is it just that you don¡¯t have the right to answer my question?¡± Martial Yang was also aggressive. Despite the words he used, his voice was faint and weak. It sounded like a cowish old man reciting another¡¯s words.


    Before he had finished speaking, they both moved. Martial Yang only wanted to shift Ye Sheng¡¯s attention, regardless of his reaction.


    Contrary to his old voice, Martial Yang was quick. When they met in the air, the distant teenagers could not figure out who had made the first move. Some onlookers even saw nothing before the battle was over.


    The superiors always fought rapidly, Gu Shenwei already knew. But it was so quick that before he started to worry about Martial Yang, the old man had retreated to his original position. He coughed for a while, seeming too weak to attack twice.


    Ye Sheng held his narrow knife in his right hand, half-brandished it and stopped near the scalp of Martial Yang. The gesture of his left hand was strange as well. It did not look like a fist or a palm. He might have been wanting to eject something from it, but changed his idea and did not retreat in time.


    The battle scene was not at all intense. The teenagers looked at each other speechlessly, hoping someone could answer. ¡°Did they fight? Who was the winner?¡±


    The answer was revealed momentarily¡ªYe Sheng fell down loudly, with the same gesture he had held when he first moved. Apparently, he was already dead.


    An old man had defeated a Golden Roc killer bare-handed with one move. The pupils¡¯ confidence was broken and now they were no longer excited. Shangguan Fei whispered, ¡°Idiot, why not fight with the others?¡±


    Shangguan Ru frowned as she looked at Shangguan Yushi, who could usually answer her questions. This time, she was disappointed because her cousin also seemed confused.


    The teenagers grew up with the legends of their killers. It was hard for them to ept that a killer would be killed at the first blow.


    As the others were frustrated, Gu Shenwei was almost choked up with emotion. He was eager to stand out and to speak to everyone proudly: ¡°Look, that was my family¡¯s unique skill¡ªYin and Yang Strength.¡±


    Though he did not see it clearly before, now he had figured it out. Martial Yang must have learned Yin and Yang Strength, and he was quite proficient at it.


    Gu Lun once told his son about the traits of the family¡¯s inherited Internal Strength¡ªNormally, an internal strength was either hard, which made the opponent incapable of bearing it and forced them to retreat; or soft, which injured the enemy invisibly such that the enemy would only sense it after a long time. However, Yin and Yang Strength was both hard and soft. One could not learn it quickly, but it embodied many traits of other schools, for the Yang Strength could kill the enemy at once, while the Yin Strength could defuse the rebounding strength, meaning that if the enemy stood, he would be hurt more seriously.


    Gu Lun demonstrated its function by attacking a stump. When he attacked the stump with Yang Strength, the stump was crushed and the fragments flew off; and when he did that with Yang Strength, the stump did not move at all, yet after Gu Lun cut it open, all of its veins were broken. When he used both strengths, the stump was smashed but all of the fragments dropped to the ground instead of flying off.


    Gu Shenwei thought it was just for fun at that time. He had apuded and eximed and took it for granted. When he thought of that now, he was both grieved and proud because this was the forceful Yin and Yang Strength of the Gu family!


    If this had been a formalpetition, the Golden Roc killer could not have beaten Martial Yang. Gu Shenwei had already memorized the entire strength manual. Sooner orter, he would be as powerful as Martial Yang.


    The assassins in ck at the front remained nonchnt. They were not pupils and had seen death countless times and would not be affected by Ye Sheng¡¯s death so easily. Another three killers stepped forward and pulled out their narrow knives, approaching their enemy from three directions.


    Martial Yang did not even nce at them. He pivoted back and grabbed the single de on the weapon rack. He would confront them with his back.


    The killer on the left could not endure the ¡°seduction¡±, so he stepped a little faster, and a hint of disorder appeared in the orderly three-man formation.


    The w was transient but fatal. Just before an assassin in ck witnessing the battle spoke to warn him, Martial Yang seized the opportunity, drew out his de, and jumped backward. With his backhand, he stabbed the lower abdomen of his enemy on the left.


    The remaining two killers made the second mistake¡ªthey changed their attack route, wanting to seize the chance and attack.


    However, once Martial Yangpleted his attack, he jumped forward and returned to his original position so that he could not only avoid their bodies, but keep himself in the nk of the enemy on the right.


    The three-on-one had now be a duel. During the short time that the teenagers blinked, Martial Yang had enough time to kill another one.


    Mistakes were made one after another. When the third killer found that he was now the only one, he hesitated for a moment. What could he do while this killing machine was in front, and hispanions were in back? What if¡­


    The second that he hesitated in fear sent him to the hand of death.


    In the blink of an eye, Martial Yang already killed three men. People now were looking up at him, even though he returned to his form as an old man who could barely hold his de when the enemies fell down.


    The teenagers were anxious. This was not the scene they had pictured. They thought the Golden Roc killers would win without the slightest effort.


    However, Gu Shenwei was frightened and worried. Every move of Martial Yang was truly from the Gu Knife Form, though it was different from what he had learned in his childhood. It seemed like Martial Yang was not even using any skill. He attacked ording to the ws and weak points that his enemies had suddenly exposed; a forehand could turn into a backhand, a shing could be a splitting. Even the most proficient user of the Gu Knife Form could not defend against it.


    ¡°Where did Marshal Yang learn that from? This man who I had never heard of is actually more powerful than my father.¡±


    Gu Shenwei carefully memorized the moments Martial Yang killed his enemies. He now understood not only his inherited Kung Fu much better, but also all the Kung Fu he had learned in these recent months.


    Another five assassins in ck came out. Behind Martial Yang were two monks and a stone bridge, the attackers could only half-enclose him, for any single killer could be the hindrance. The killers knew this well.


    Five killers approached with the utmost caution, as they could sense the enemy was near at hand. Martial Yang turned back again, dropped the de, and grabbed thence, but no one advanced rashly. They had been learned their lesson.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s Master Shifu, Yang Zheng, used to hold hisnce upright and wait for the enemy seriously. Contrary to his brother, Martial Yang held it casually, like a walking stick.


    However, no one looked down on him and his weapon now.


    The killers moved more and more slowly and stopped at about seven or eight strides away from Martial Yang. They were now close to the attacking range of hisnce. They could either strike him at full speed with all their strength, or let him assault one killer while the rest waited for the best moment to kill him. Either way, they should not use a short knife against the longnce.


    The snow had stopped without anyone noticing because they all held their breath, especially the pupils in front of the gate. Compared to the real superior, the strongest man among them was no one but a showy and impractical martial artist. But they all sensed the intense killing intent at this moment, even the ves who knew nothing about Kung Fu.


    It was just that they did not know where the killing intent came from. Was it from Martial Yang, or from the five killers whose muscles were tensed?


    ¡°As father said, a real superior could create a w within his enemy instead of waiting for the w to be exposed,¡± Gu Shenwei thought. He did not care about such advice then, but it had all been seared into his consciousness.


    What Martial Yang had learned was the inherited Kung Fu of the Gu family, different from Gu Lun¡¯s in details but simr in tactics. He was the real superior.


    Martial Yang abruptly let out a roar without any warning. It was as loud as several lions roaring together, and every pupil¡¯s body shook, leaving the sound tingling in his ear.


    The weakest one among the five killers flustered, stepped forward involuntarily, looking like he was being dragged by a giant force.


    The w had arisen.


    Hence, thence jabbed forward.


    The same jab by Martial Yang¡¯s hand was quite different from one from Yang Zheng¡¯s, who was the old servant of the Gu family and had used hisnce like a strict craftsman¡ªevery jab was measured, people could see it, yet they could not avoid it. But Martial Yang made thence appear to be a ghost or a dragon, moving too swift to predict its position and jabbing too fiercely to be defended.


    One jab, two jabs¡­


    Martial Yang made five jabs seem like one, and every jab ended a life. He returned to his original position at once, grunting. He seemed to have almost exhausted all his strength after these simple moves.


    In others¡¯ eyes, the old man might be pretending to swindle the enemies. But Gu Shenwei knew it was real because he had been reminded repeatedly by Yang Zheng that if one did not use 80 percent of his strength on each jab, his jabbing was useless.


    Yang Zheng practiced the jabbing skill and practiced it arduously for many years. Even still, he had to rest for a while every time after he finished four or five pokes. Martial Yang had battled for three rounds, and though he killed each enemy with a single move, he could not be as energetic as before.


    But the others did not know that. The exhausted old man was already a high mountain that they could not climb. At least more than 10 killers were still alive now, but they had already lost their will to fight.


    After Martial Yang recovered his breath, he raised up his head and acted like a stubborn teacher teaching slow-witted students. He said slowly,


    ¡°You need the killing desire first, before you can kill a man.¡±


    That was exactly the problem. As the killers lost their killing desire, Golden Roc Fort needed to send someone better if they wanted to win.

 Chapter 34

    Chapter 34: Xuanji


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    This was a disappointing and embarrassing moment for the Shangguan twins. As children of the Supreme King, they seemed to be the ¡°face¡± of Golden Roc Fort and yet they stood there without their father and brothers present.


    Shangguan Fei looked nervous and Shangguan Ru bit her lips. Her cheeks blushed as red as precious rubies and an irresistible me of anger burned in her wide ck eyes.


    Gu Shenwei even momentarily thought that she would rush forward to rebuke the killers and fight Marshal Yang, who had just killed nine people in session.


    The sound of drum beats kepting from the fort, alternating between fast and slow.


    Normally, this would sound like the signal of an attack, but for the Golden Roc Fort killers, it had a different meaning.


    The dozen or so killers in the front kept backing away cautiously. They did not turn around to move toward Golden Roc Fort until they were over 20 steps away from Marshal Yang.


    The killers were about to retreat.


    Marshal Yang just looked at them with no intention to stop them. Such pawns had never been his target, instead, the nine dead bodies lying before him were his name card to be shown to the Supreme King.


    Golden Roc Fort had its ¡°Two Rules for Killers¡±, and Marshal Yang also had his own rules.


    The killers moved steadily and unflustered. This, however, would notfort the frustrated teenagers. The twins just watched in astonishment as their killers backed off. They looked back at the fort, expecting more powerful reinforcements to rece these disappointing killers. They still had the demasters, young masters, and ck-masked assassins. Golden Roc Fort had not shown its full strength.


    But only one more person appeared while the regr drumbeats continued to order everyone to retreat.


    ve Qing sighed silently and stepped forward, ¡°Masters, let¡¯s go back and leave it to the Young Masters.¡±


    The twins were still too young to be called ¡°Young Masters¡±.


    Shangguan Ru ignored him and stubbornly stared at Marshal Yang in the distance. She looked as if she could kill him with her eyes. Shangguan Fei turned halfway and saw his younger sister standing still, so he turned back, also refusing to leave.


    ve Qing produced a forced smile and shook his head. The killers were about to enter the fort¡¯s castle, which was dangerous for the group of children, who could not help. So, he looked to Shangguan Yushi for help.


    Normally, Shangguan Yushi was the most audacious one, who often egged the twins on to be mischievous. But, at this critical moment, she matured. She put her hands gently on her cousin¡¯s shoulders and whispered into her ear.


    Whatever she said was very effective and Shangguan Ru¡¯s anger slightly cooled as she turned around to walk into the fort.


    Now that the ¡°Ninth Young Master¡± no longer insisted on staying, all of the other teenagers felt relieved and hurried back to Stone Castle. They hade to see the fun, but the situation turned out to be a bit dangerous.


    The killers sprinted in behind them and the thick wooden door slowly closed.


    ¡°Cough, cough!¡± ve Qing wanted to say something tofort the twins. They walked on in a dead silence and no one said a word along the way.


    Shangguan Ru, however, had no interest in the nonsense of ves, so she suddenly ran toward the Inner Residence. She wanted to ask her father why, as the Supreme King and the one who made everyone in the Western Region tremble at hearing his name, he would suffer such shame instead of sending his strongest subordinate to kill the challenger with one blow.


    Shangguan Yushi, Shangguan Fei, and their young personal attendants followed her closely. ve Qing could not do anything but shake his head and dismiss the rest, who likely would not work for the rest of the day.


    Gu Shenwei managed to control his inner joy and excitement with the greatest perseverance, but he could not control his steps. Unconsciously, he had already started running.


    Elderly Zhang was not there. He seldom went back to the stone house except for when he would be going to sleep. That weird old man would rather stay with horses thanmunicate with people.


    Gu Shenwei had been pacing back and forth, alone in the house, too excited to sit still. His emotions, which had been hidden for too long, poured out now.


    He practiced his family¡¯s unique knife and spear skills and attempted to practice his Yin and Yang Strength, neither of whichsted for very long. Various ideas swarmed into his mind, preventing him from thinking clearly.


    From Marshal Yang, he vaguelyprehended many subtleties of the Gu family¡¯s Kung Fu as well as a vision of his revenge. He wanted to verify the power of the unique knife and spear skills of the Gu family immediately. Then he could n a perfect escape to join Marshal Yang.


    The Kung Fu master, Marshal Yang, continued standing outside the fort apparently waiting to enter.


    However, he did not attempt anything since he was inside Golden Roc Fort, where he had to be particrly careful. Even minor negligence could cause him to die before meeting with Marshal Yang.


    He had to hide his true emotions as soon as he possibly could, but what he could not understand was why the people around him were not panicking. Marshal Yang, who had killed nine of their killers in a row continued standing outside the fort, shouldn¡¯t the people in the fort feel a sense of urgency?


    Elderly Zhang had devoted himself to taking care of the horses and acted as if he had never heard of the challenger. Gu Shenwei could not help mentioning the battle outside during dinner, to which Elderly Zhang just replied with a grunt and continued eating as if the death of several killers was not as important to him as the few pieces of meat in his bowl.


    After dinner, Gu Shenwei went to Mama Xue to report the situation of the day as usual. She already knew about the details of the challenge and even knew Marshal Yang. ¡°That old guy hasn¡¯t been around for a long time.¡±


    This was the onlyment Mama Xue made about the challenger. As usual, she was more concerned about the behavior of the twins. She was dissatisfied with Gu Shenwei since he failed to garner more favor from the twins.


    ¡°You have to work even harder. Didn¡¯t you learn any tricks about ttery from ve Yao? Use them all! The Miss has great expectations for you.¡±


    The Miss again. Gu Shenwei knew well that her trick was to be ¡°the fox assuming the majesty of a tiger¡±. He had not seen the Miss in months. He wondered whether Luo Ningcha still remembered a man named ve Huan.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been working very hard.¡± Gu Shenwei argued in a low voice. He could not control his temperament because of the arrival of Marshal Yang.


    Mama Xue looked at him in surprise and then suddenly understood. ¡°I almost forgot, Marshal Yang seems to be Yang Zheng¡¯s brother. I wonder why you didn¡¯t go out to him, or¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s heartbeat raced suddenly. He had forgotten that he had to be Yang Zheng¡¯s son since he told Mama Xue and the Miss that that was his background. So how could he exin that he had never heard of Marshal Yang before the extermination of his family?


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ve never heard my father mention my uncle.¡±


    Gu Shenwei decided to tell the truth. Mama Xue doubted his words, and she would be more suspicious if he kept piling up the lies.


    ¡°How did the brothers get on with each other? Since they had littlemunication, why did Marshal Yang seek revenge for his brother?¡±


    ¡°Marshal¡­ Uncle probably wants revenge for the Gu family instead of my father. He saw him fighting and he used only the traditional Kung Fu of the Gu family, which he was more adept at than my father.¡±


    Mama Xue stared at ve Huan, hoping to find the trace of a lie on his face. Soon afterward, she changed her mind. The real identity of the teenager was not important. As long as she could control him for her own purposes, it did not matter even if he had been an illegitimate son of the Supreme King.


    ¡°How is your practice of Internal Strength?¡±


    Mama Xue suddenly changed the subject, catching Gu Shenwei off guard. Mama Xue had been teaching him boxing and kicking skills and had not asked him about his Yin and Yang Strength for a long time.


    ¡°Just¡­ not bad.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything wrong with it?¡±


    ¡°No, nothing. Why?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to fall into Qigong Deviation like ve Yao.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m fine. I think I won¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure? Press on the Xuanji acupoint in your chest, do you feel anything?¡±


    Mama Xue asked him this strange question in an easy way and Gu Shenwei pressed on his Xuanji acupoint with his right thumb.


    A hot current ran straight from Gu Shenwei¡¯s Xuanji acupoint to his Dantian. He felt like he had inadvertently swallowed a mouthful of extremely hot pepper, making him feel hot from his throat all the way into his stomach.


    The feeling came on suddenly. Gu Shenwei recalled a situation from a few months ago when Mama Xue pricked major acupoints on his body with her iron-like fingers to help him improve his Internal Strength.


    He cried out and almost fell down. However, he managed to keep his legs, but his face had turned pale. ¡°What, what have you done to me?¡±


    There was no expression on the sallow face of Mama Xue. ¡°Well, it¡¯s about time.¡±


    ¡°What? About time?¡± asked Gu Shenwei, voice trembling. He thought he had cheated Mama Xue, but it turned out that he had unconsciously fallen into her trap.


    ¡°Did you think that you were the only one that could push others into Qigong Deviation?¡±


    Mama Xue¡¯s words hit Gu Shenwei like a pot of cold water. He directed his strength secretly and found nothing abnormal. However, the hot current that seemed toe from nowhere had been real. Mama Xue¡¯s words were not an empty threat.


    ¡°Mama Xue, I¡­ I have always been loyal and obedient. Also, the twins trust me very much.¡±


    Gu Shenwei said these words naturally as he dropped to his knees, which was a response that ve Yao used. That pointy-faced teenager had died from ignorance about Internal Strength, but he could have been a master to Gu Shenwei in other respects.


    ¡°Far from enough. You have to be as close to the two children as possible until they trust that they can say anything to you.¡±


    ¡°But, but¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not know how to exin the fact that he was a low-level attendant who did not even have ess to the Inner Residence. This would make it impossible for the twins to treat him like a friend even if he was strong in Kung Fu.


    ¡°There are always ways as long as you try.¡±


    Mama Xue said coldly, waving her hand, indicating it was time for ve Huan to leave. When he moved back toward the door, she said casually, ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about Qigong Deviation. It won¡¯t happen for a few months.¡±


    ¡°Yes, thank you, Mama Xue.¡±


    The excitement caused by the arrival of Marshal Yang had almost disappearedpletely. However, things were not dire. Marshal Yang¡¯s Yin and Yang Strength seemed to be stronger than his father Gu Lun¡¯s. As long as he could manage to meet with Marshal Yang, he should be able to redirect his Internal Strength in the right way.


    ¡°Marshal Yang¡­


    ¡°Why isn¡¯t there a tense atmosphere in the fort, except for the dozens of teenagers who had watched the battle?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had just learned about a bad thing and he really did not want to be entangled with bad luck, so he suppressed the ominous premonition.


    However, he could not sleep that night. He kept running his Internal Breath to find signs of Qigong Deviation and kept thinking about Marshal Yang outside the fort. Sometimes he heard screams and he even thought that Marshal Yang had fought his way into the fort. He listened carefully but everything would fall silent again.

 Chapter 35

    Chapter 35: Fairness


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    At dawn, Gu Shenwei woke up and quietly walked out of the room. The rough and fresh air outside was refreshing.


    Golden Roc Fort was like a camouged beast hidden in the grass. Its killing intent disappeared while it slumbered, which made Gu Shenwei feel like he owned Stone Castle.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head to remove the illusion. Although he could not see or hear anything, he knew that a vignt night watchman would be hidden somewhere in the vicinity, and if he went off the deep end, he might be exposed to the beast¡¯s ws.


    He ran to the school. As an attendant of Shangguan Ru, he had ess to this path. Although it was somewhat early, the night watchman who would see him might consider him a servitor who was eager to please his master.


    There was no one at the entrance.


    Gu Shenwei listened in all directions, thinking that there might be some reaction in the fort if something important had happened outside the fort.


    Everything was so normal that he felt uneasy. Then, footsteps were heard.


    It was Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi, no Shangguan Fei or other young personal attendants. It was still too early for them to get up from their warm beds.


    Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi looked very serious and seemed to have been sleepless all night, just as Gu Shenwei was. They ran by Gu Shenwei without taking notice of or greeting him.


    Gu Shenwei ran after Shangguan Ru, following whom allowed him to move freely in the fort. Shangguan Yushi turned her head and red at him, but she did not forbid the attendant to follow them.


    Gu Shenwei saw the gate closed in the distance, but when the three came closer, the gate slowly opened. This further confirmed Gu Shenwei¡¯s conjecture that there were many invisible guards in the fort, so the twins could not escape from their watching eyes whatever they tried.


    The gate of the fort opened wider and wider, gradually revealing the square outside.


    Gu Shenwei saw the banner carried by Marshal Yang, drooping coldly and hanging as if frozen.


    Then he saw a second gpole.


    The sun was rising, but the world was dark in front of him. He seemed to be returning to the night of his family¡¯s massacre. As in a dream, his legs swung involuntarily and he had to run toward the monster that had swallowed most of his life.


    Marshal Yang¡¯s head was on the tip of his ownnce, the same way that his younger brother, Yang Zheng, had died.


    There were no corpses on the ground. The two monks had disappeared and no one knew whether they were dead or alive. The snowfall yesterday has frozen into hard snowballs, and there was no trace of fighting, as if thence with a head on its tip had been there ever since the founding of Golden Roc Fort.


    The three teenagers stopped on the stone steps in front of the gate, not daring to go any further. The heavy breath that followed running had reced all words.


    It was strange that the two young girls were as shocked and lost as Gu Shenwei, as if the dead had fought to the death for them.


    As an attendant who was eager to please the masters, Gu Shenwei thought he should say something tofort Shangguan Ru. However, he could not say a word and even felt a fierce hatred for the two standing in front of him.


    The Shangguans were his enemies, and no Shangguan was an exception.


    After a while, Shangguan Fei followed with ve Qing and other attendants.


    ¡°Well, there is nothing to worry about now. This is the end which I expected. What can a mad old man expect if he dares to challenge Golden Roc Fort?¡± said ve Qing, pping his hands.


    Shangguan Fei had been in such a hurry that he was now gasping with his hand on his knees before getting up. ¡°That¡¯s all? I thought I could see the ck-masked assassin.¡±


    The ck-masked assassin was a legend of Golden Roc Fort. Even the Supreme King¡¯s own sons could not verify its authenticity before being entitled to be called Young Masters.


    No one, except for the first three teenagers, was disappointed with the death of Marshal Yang. The only thing they were not satisfied with was that they had missed the killing.


    While the teenagers were makingments, Shangguan Ru suddenly turned around, rudely pushed away the crowd behind her, and strode toward the fort. Shangguan Yushi followed her and Gu Shenwei hesitated for a moment and was left far behind. He could only join the other attendants.


    Although Shangguan Fei had notmented enough, he absentmindedly glimpsed at the inside and outside of the fort and turned around to chase Shangguan Ru, as following this younger sister had be a habit of his.


    The attendants, feeling that their masters were in a bad mood, became silent and even feared getting too close to the masters. Shangguan Fei was rtively kind, but Shangguan Ru might do anything to the attendants.


    The teenagers walked past nearly half of Stone Castle and stopped at Moonhold Academy, where the children of the Shangguan Family learned Kung Fu, instead of the school.


    Moonhold Academy was located in East Castle, which was opposite Star Picking Academy, the school, but it was a standalone academy unconnected with any other academy in East Castle. Only the Shangguans had ess to it, so their training mode was naturally different from that of the selected killer-apprentices.


    At this point, most of the attendants could only stay outside. Everyone was relieved because Shangguan Ru could only find someone else to vent her anger on.


    But Shangguan Ru turned around with one foot already stepping on the stage. Looking angrily at the attendants, she said, ¡°Can our familypete with people on fair ground? Is a raid the only way we can kill him?¡±


    No one dared to answer this question, and most people felt it unnecessary to answer it. This was Golden Roc Fort, where there had never been ¡°fairness¡±.


    ¡°Anyway, he was killed. Is there anything different about the process?¡± said Shangguan Fei, shrugging his shoulders and feeling puzzled by her sister¡¯s anger.


    Shangguan Ru was obviously dissatisfied with the answer. Then the veteran ve Qing coughed and said, ¡°It was fair, in fact.¡±


    ¡°How was it fair?¡± Shangguan Ru said in an aggressive voice as if she would hit ve Qing once his answer inevitably disappointed her.


    ¡°This is Golden Roc Fort, where we train killers skilled at assassination. Everyone knows this well, including this Marshal Yang. He hade to challenge, so he must have been ready to deal with various means of assassination. That¡¯s why I said it was fair. Golden Roc Fort doesn¡¯t pretend to be decent while ying tricks in the background. Instead, we¡¯re straightforward killers. If hees for an open challenge, we ept, and if hees secretly, we also ept. It¡¯s all about his own choice. Now that he is dead, he is proven inferior to our assassination skills. So everything was fair.¡±


    For ve Qing, this was nothing but a clich¨¦ of Golden Roc Fort. He just modified it a little. However, for those unsophisticated teenagers, it was just like a wonderful and profound lesson of life, especially for some of them whose minds were heavily burdened.


    Gu Shenwei had been in a low mood, feeling desperate again when walking in the crowd. But these words of ve Qing suddenly enlightened and awakened him.


    He had heard simr words when he was captured as a ve at the T-junction. He remembered that the killer, Ye Sheng, scoffed at the swordsman from the Great Snowmountain who was trapped by him, saying, ¡°You¡¯re always like this, saying you ¡®should have thought of this¡¯, but fail to prepare yourself.¡±


    The words of ve Qing and Ye Sheng did make sense. A new world emerged before Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes. Although the Gu family¡¯s Kung Fu was powerful, it had failed to thwart the assassination from Golden Roc Fort. To avenge his family, he needed to learn everything about killers in addition to high skills of Kung Fu.


    ¡°Know the enemy and know yourself well, and you can fight a hundred battles without defeat.¡± The Gu family had suffered a massacre simply because they had failed to know their enemy.


    When Mama Xue trained him to be a killer-apprentice, Gu Shenwei was thinking of essing the upper level of Golden Roc Fort. Now he was trying to please the twins for the same reason.


    Suddenly, he found another possibility¡ªhe could only kill a couple of people even if he could get closer to the owner of the fort and sooner orter he would give himself away. But if he could get an insight into the operation of Golden Roc Fort as well as all tricks of the killers, he would not be afraid even if his true identity was exposed, and he could still avenge his family from the outside.


    It was not only Gu Shenwei who was persuaded by ve Qing. Shangguan Ru slightly raised her head and was also thinking. Even though she was the daughter of the Supreme King, she still had to ept the truth that ¡°assassination is fair¡±. She turned to her cousin, Shangguan Yushi.


    Shangguan Yushi also looked at her younger cousin. The cousins had a consonance and understood each other from their eyes.


    Shangguan Yushi suddenly smiled slyly. ¡°I want to be that.¡±


    ¡°Me too.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go now.¡±


    Shangguan Ru nodded firmly and held her cousin¡¯s hand, and then the cousins ran toward East Castle.


    ve Qing was confused by their words. After they had run away for a while, he suddenly understood that the two Misses were nning to break into East Castle and learn to be killers.


    East Castle, as a ce of strategic importance, had the strictest of guards, second only to the Inner Residence. Only killers and killer-apprentices had ess to it, so ve Qing called out in a hurry, ¡°Stop, masters.¡±


    Before his voice had died away, three or four people jumped out to chase after Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi.


    The death of Marshal Yang and the words of ve Qing rekindled the teenagers¡¯ illusions about killers. Only the targets had changed from killers like Ye Sheng, who could often be seen in the fort and were easily killed by challengers, to those legendary killers who never revealed their identities.


    ve Qing was flustered and exasperated. Although he was only about 30 years old, he did not know Kung Fu, so he could not catch those energetic teenagers. Even worse, he could not scold them because Shangguan Fei was among them.


    And Gu Shenwei was also among them. Once Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi started to talk, he had guessed their idea because it was exactly the same as his. In order to find out the true colors of the killers, he was willing to pay all costs.


    The portal to East Castle was always closed, but it could not stop Shangguan Ru. She started to knock on the door heavily before she stopped running. The knocks were so heavy and urgent as if someone hade to challenge again.


    The gate was still closed, but a small door on the gate opened a crack, and a deep voice was heard. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°The Lord has orders.¡±


    Shangguan Ru told an off-hand lie immediately as her frustration had been swept away.


    ¡°Lord¡± was the honorific for the Supreme King, so the man inside was obviously taken aback when hearing it. He seemed to be in doubt and hesitated for a moment.


    Using such a moment, Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi had already pushed the door together, trying to force an entry, and then Shangguan Fei, Gu Shenwei, and two young personal attendants followed.


    ve Qing was still anxiously trying to persuade them behind them. He never expected that his exnation for Golden Roc killers could lead to such a consequence.


    Finding it unusual, the man inside immediately closed the door by force. The two girls outside were not as powerful as him, so Shangguan Yushi cried out, ¡°This is Master Ru. You don¡¯t dare hurt her!¡±


    The watchman certainly knew who Master Ru was, so he reduced his force to avoid hurting the cherished daughter of the Lord.


    While he was worrying, the people outside were making concerted efforts. Four teenagers joined the two girls in time to push the door by force together.


    The crack became bigger. Shangguan Ru snuck in and the watchman yelled. He was a bit distracted and the other five teenagers also managed to go inside just a moment after.


    When ve Qing arrived with other attendants, the small door had been closed again. ve Qing could do nothing but sigh and pray that the two masters would not stir up further trouble or get hurt inside.

 Chapter 36

    Chapter 36: Apprentices


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Inside East Castle, there were still alleys that led in all directions to different courtyards. Gu Shenwei had once entered a small courtyard for recruiting apprentices. This time, the pair of doors stood closed in an uninviting stance toward outsiders.


    The twins had not been here before either, so they ran around aimlessly. In order to shake off the pursuer, they made a sharp turn at every corner. After passing a number of courtyards, the six teenagers finally became too tired to run further. They looked back and saw no one. The watchman had been either shaken off or was not chasing them at all.


    Anyway, they were now at the core area of East Castle. Thinking that true killers might be learning assassination techniques on the other side of the wall, they could not help smiling at each other.


    With Shangguan Ru as their leader, the six teenagers searched one courtyard after another. But every door was tightly closed. There was no response to their knocks, nor was there any sound on the other sides of the walls. It seemed that every courtyard was empty.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s brows were growing more knitted and she was about to lose her temper again. Fortunately, Shangguan Fei finally found something behind a door and waved excitedly to the others.


    The six people huddled together and stuck their ears to the door. Sure enough, they heard a quick ¡°Bang, bang!¡± inside. There were people inside, and a lot of them.


    However, there was not even a crack in the door. They were soon tired of listening to the sound, so Shangguan Ru stepped back and checked the surroundings. When she reached a short wall, she pointed at the corner of the wall and said to her young personal attendant, ¡°Stand against here.¡±


    The young personal attendant hurriedly stood straight and patted his shoulders, saying, ¡°Ninth Young Master,e on.¡±


    However, the wall was so tall that Shangguan Ru could not climb over it even from the shoulders of the attendant. She pointed at ve Huan and said, ¡°You try it.¡±


    Though a bit unhappy, the attendant could only follow the order and bend down. Gu Shenwei stood on his shoulders and faced the alley. He could almost reach the top of the wall.


    Shangguan Ru rubbed her hands excitedly and said to her brother and cousin, ¡°Come on, throw me up there.¡±


    The other attendant was startled, ¡°Master Ru, isn¡¯t it too dangerous?¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± said Shangguan Ru. The attendant dared not say another word after that.


    The sense of danger was exciting to Shangguan Yushi. Shangguan Fei was a bit nervous but afraid of being scorned. He hesitated for a moment and then went over to help for fear of his cousin¡¯s staring eyes. ¡°This is your idea,¡± he murmured.


    The two boys each held one of Shangguan Ru¡¯s feet and pushed her up into the air.


    Just like an agile bird, Shangguan Ru flew up and stood firmly on the shoulders of Gu Shenwei after several somersaults. Gu Shenwei did not feel much more weight and hurriedly grasped her ankles.


    Shangguan Ru peered inside from the top of the wall, leaving the others looking up at her anxiously.


    ¡°What do you see?¡±


    ¡°Well, a lot of people.¡±


    ¡°What are they practicing?¡±


    ¡°The same as us, just wooden sabers. Even the moves are the same, nothing special.¡±


    ¡°I see. This is Carvewood Academy, which is dedicated to training junior apprentices.¡±


    The young personal attendant on the ground ran straight to the door and stood staring at it for a while. ¡°Master Yu is right. It is Carvewood Academy. Wait, there are some small characters below. Wow¡­¡±


    The attendant cried out suddenly, which was followed by a sedate and harsh voice. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±


    All of the teenagers were caught off guard by the voice. The attendant on the bottom went weak at the knees, and then the two people above him fell to the ground.


    Although Shangguan Ru had been the highest up, she had learned Lightness Skills, and besides, there were two people below to catch her, so she was totally unharmed. Nevertheless, she was frightened by the fall and did not stand up from her cousin¡¯s arms until after a long moment.


    Gu Shenwei, standing in the middle of the tower of three, was not so lucky. There was no one holding him and he thought of protecting the one on his shoulders, so he fell down heavily to the ground. When he stood up and touched his face, he found that his forehead and nose were bleeding.


    The voice hade from a training tutor who was walking out of Carvewood Academy. He recognized Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Fei at a nce and was surprised to see them. He walked over and stretched out his hand, saying, ¡°Are you hurt?¡±


    Shangguan Ru, who had regained herposure, stood up immediately, and Shangguan Yushi stopped the training tutor¡¯s hand from touching her.


    ¡°Of course not. This is none of your business. We¡­ we¡¯re here for a challenge.¡±


    Feeling herself losing face for having been so frightened, Shangguan Ru came up with this idea on a whim. She wanted to challenge Carvewood Academy like Marshal Yang had.


    The training tutor, a sturdy middle-aged man of average height, was somewhat shocked at her words. Carvewood Academy, as part of Golden Roc Fort, belonged to the Shangguan family, so why would the ninth child of the Supreme King want to challenge her own family? But being a quick-witted man, he immediately realized that the intrusion of these teenagers into East Castle, which had not been stopped by anyone, must have been upon the tacit permission of some higher-level figures. Now that everyone was ying this game with the young masters, why should he take it so seriously?


    ¡°So, you are expertsing to grant us your instruction here. Would you mind telling me your school?¡±


    Shangguan Ru had only blurted out her challenge and did not expect it to be treated seriously, so she could not help smiling. ¡°We¡¯re ttered to be called experts. We are the¡­ Moonhold School, and I¡¯m the head.¡±


    The children of the Shangguan family all practiced martial arts in Moonhold Academy, so Shangguan Ru used this name ordingly.


    ¡°And I¡¯m the deputy head,¡± Shangguan Fei said in a hurry but was immediately met with his cousin¡¯s re.


    ¡°Heads of the Moonhold School, wee. I¡¯m Hu Shining, training tutor of Carvewood Academy. Pleasee inside for a littlepetition.¡±


    The twins were used to the tter of the people in the fort, so they epted Hu Shining¡¯spliment naturally and stepped inside with their heads high. Following them were the four ¡°experts¡±, among whom Gu Shenwei was the least to be regarded as an ¡°expert¡±. There was still blood on his face that refused to be wiped away. Fortunately, no one took notice of him.


    Carvewood Academy covered arge area and had numerous houses. Furthermore, the courtyard was muchrger than ordinary ones, so it was not crowded with hundreds of killer-apprentices. With weapon racks ced on all sides, it looked no different from any other martial arts training field.


    Other training tutors had already heard the conversation outside. They all had the same idea as Hu Shining, to do everything possible to please the two masters. So they ordered the apprentices to line up in the east to wee the challengers from the Moonhold School.


    It was natural that Shangguan Ru would be eager to participate in apetition. After saying just a few words, she was the first to step forward for the challenge. In all apparent seriousness, Hu Shining designated some apprentices to receive the challenge. ording to him, those were all ¡°best of the best¡± or the ¡°top apprentices¡±.


    However, after only two matches, Shangguan Ru¡¯s interest was waning. These killer-apprentices, mostly teenagers, had already been reminded that they could note at the child with any genuine fight. With this in mind, they acted more gutlessly than they would have in their normal training and were defeated in just a few moves. When Shangguan Ru pushed them further, they would rather suffer her beating and defeat than show their true strength.


    Shangguan Fei, however, was very happy for having won three matches in a row. He asked them to bring him a wooden saber for more matches. As expected, he won all of them again, which made him very proud. Waving the wooden saber, he shouted at his sister, ¡°Why not let me be the head?¡±


    Shangguan Ru ignored him. She was wondering how she might make these killer apprentices show their real strength. Shangguan Yushi whispered to her, which made her eyes brighten up. She said in a loud voice, ¡°Come back, deputy head, let¡¯s change the rules.¡±


    Shangguan Fei exited the arena reluctantly. He took the towel from his young personal attendant and said, ¡°Carvewood Academy is no match for our Moonhold Academy, is it?¡±


    Shangguan Ru turned to Hu Shining. ¡°It¡¯s so boring topete this way. I know that you dare not disy your true skills. Well, I¡¯ll send a disciple to challenge you. I need real matches. Cheating is not something for heroes, and it¡¯s not for killers either.¡±


    Hu Shining felt relieved. As long as the challenger did not bear the surname Shangguan, it did not matter if he got hurt. So he said with a smile, ¡°Prating insight, you are truly a worthy head of the Moonhold School. But the fact is, our disciples are not capable enough so it is natural that they felt nervous before the head of a school.¡±


    Tired of such ttery, Shangguan Ru turned around and pointed to Gu Shenwei. But before saying anything, she stopped and furrowed her brow. She found that ve Huan was injured and looking like a drowned mouse, not a sign of a disciple from a famous school.


    Gu Shenwei walked up and whispered, ¡°Master, just let me try.¡±


    Gu Shenwei could not miss the opportunity to please Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Ru had no other choice. The other two young personal attendants were poor in Kung Fu, and if Shangguan Yushi took the challenge, the killer-apprentices still would not show their real skills. So she said, ¡°You must win. If you disappoint me, I will drive you out.¡±


    Gu Shenwei then joined the contest and someone handed him a wooden saber.


    However, Hu Shining found it difficult to select the right representative for Carvewood Academy. To please Shangguan Ru, they needed a real match, but this ¡°top disciple of the Moonhold School¡± looked badly battered, obviously just having been beaten, so he had to be fairly weak. It was not easy to find an even match for him among the killer-apprentices.


    His eyes ranged over the killer-apprentices and finally stopped at one of them. He asked the disciple toe over and whispered to him, ¡°Defeat him after 10 moves.¡±


    The apprentice nodded, took a wooden saber, and walked to a location several steps away from Gu Shenwei.


    Gu Shenwei was surprised¡ªhe knew this fellow.


    It was ve Qian, one of the ¡°dowry¡± ves of Miss Luo Ningcha. He used to know nothing about Kung Fu, and he had entered East Castle in ce of ve Huan by a series of idents. His foundation was worse than anyone else¡¯s, and after several months of training, he was still the weakest among the apprentices.


    ve Qian lived in the courtyard of the Eighth Young Master and followed a different schedule from that of ve Huan, so they seldom met each other. The career as a killer-apprentice had left a clear mark on him. He used to be a clever and calm person, who knew when and how to speak and seldom showed his true feelings on his face. But now, he was much thinner, his calmness had be dullness, his true feelings were hidden much deeper, and there were often signs of vignce in his eyes.


    He must have suffered a lot of hardships.


    The same was true of Gu Shenwei, who had endured even more sufferings. On the outside of the fort, Marshal Yang¡¯s head was still on the tip of hisnce, but he needed to pretend to be happy and please the children of his enemy.


    They faced each other silently, each pretending that the face before them was that of a stranger.


    Gu Shenwei needed a victory to please Shangguan Ru. With the wooden saber held tightly in his hand, he had already made up his mind. Although Marshal Yang had died, his words were still in his mind: ¡°To kill someone, you need the heart of a real killer.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not want to kill anyone, neither could he by using a wooden saber, but he still attempted to arouse the hatred from the very depths of his heart to stimte the killing desire.


    Tightly holding his wooden saber, ve Qian also needed a victory to prove that he himself was not one sent by Mama Xue merely to fill the numbers and that his training in these months as a killer-apprentice was better than the years of practice of ve Huan.


    Hu Shining¡¯s words were thrown to the back of his head, and neither of the boys considered this match to be a game.


    Hu Shining sensed that something was going on. Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi, on the other hand, were full of joy and held each other¡¯s hands, waiting for a wonderful, real contest.

 Chapter 37

    Chapter 37: Reincarnation Cliff


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    To avenge his family, Gu Shenwei felt like he had possessed the killing desire for a long time. He had just been trying to keep it hidden and avoid stirring it up.


    But he found it hard to convert his killing desire into killing intent, especially when he had to use a wooden saber against his opponent. He could not even treat the twins of the Shangguan family as his enemies, let alone ve Qian, who had once lived together with him.


    However, the feeling of hatred was on call at any time. It mercilessly devoured its owner¡¯s viscera, hurting its owner, but it was unwilling to work on its owner¡¯s enemy.


    Gripping the wooden saber with both hands, Gu Shenwei realized that he had to regard ve Qian as the person he hated the most before stirring up the killing desire.


    Shangguan Fa was the one who ordered the ughter of the Gu family. Unfortunately, Gu Shenwei could not imagine what he looked like because he had never seen the Supreme King.


    Shangguan Nu, the principal viin who killed his parents and elder brothers, was the enemy he had seen and approached. Nevertheless, regardless of whether Gu Shenwei wanted to admit it or not, his fear of the Eighth Young Master¡¯s figure had overwhelmed his hatred.


    As for Han Shiqi, the traitor that lurked in the Gu¡¯s manor, Gu Shenwei had already stabbed him to death. His heart had no fear as it only held hatred for the dead man.


    A strange feeling arose in Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart. Suddenly, he felt as if the wooden saber was turning into a part of his body. Although it was the first time he used it, he was very confident of his victory. In his eyes, ve Qian became ¡°Han Shiqi¡±, who moved stiffly and could easily be defeated.


    A drifting voice said, ¡°Start.¡± He felt that the order was like a hand releasing a fully-bent bow and he was the sharp arrow that was notched on the string.


    The two teenagers simultaneouslyunched their strikes. Compared to their speed, their movements were rather nd. One approached by cutting down from above and the other chopped at the opponent¡¯s lower abdomen with a t cut.


    The contest ended after only one strike. If they were two famous people or adults, the onlookers would have regarded it as a typical duel between masters. However, they were teenagers. One was a heavily injured ve and the other was the weakest apprentice in his own sect. Therefore, the scene seemed quite ridiculous.


    ¡°Oh, what happened? Why did they stop fighting? Who¡¯s the winner?¡± Shangguan Fei shouted. He was confused like the majority of the people.


    In the arena, Gu Shenwei was kneeling on one knee, his wooden saber was resting horizontally on ve Qian¡¯s lower abdomen. ve Qian was standing with a bent back, his weapon was pressing on ve Huan¡¯s left shoulder.


    If those were real sabers, one of them would have his abdomen cut through and the other would have his body cleaved in half. Both were fatal blows, so the key was who had been hit first. The one who was struck first would not have been able to move and, of course, would be the loser.


    The two separated and retreated. Since neither of them was arrogant, they would not im the victory for themselves. Therefore, everyone turned their eyes to Hu Shining. As the training tutor, he was experienced and had a sharp eye, so he would not misjudge the result.


    Hu Shining kept a poker face, as if the two teenagers had made a big mistake. He walked toward ve Qian, grabbed his wooden saber, and raised it high without saying a word. Suddenly, he forcibly broke the wooden saber with his bare hands.


    Then, under everyone¡¯s surprised gaze, he approached Gu Shenwei with the two pieces of the wooden saber in both hands, silently presenting them to him.


    Now that his killing desire had already disappeared, Gu Shenwei felt unsure of what was happening. Under Hu Shining¡¯s persistent gaze, he felt pressured into having to take the broken saber. He nced at his opponent, ve Qian.


    ve Qian flushed with shame. He stared at his own toes, as if he were naked under the watchful eyes of everyone but not daring to cover himself.


    ¡°Moonhold School wins.¡±


    As Hu Shining announced the result, Shangguan Ru and her fellows jumped with joy.


    ¡°One more round, one more round.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi urged, but Hu Shining declined while shaking his head. ¡°There¡¯s no need for one more round. No apprentice in Carvewood Academy is a match for him.¡±


    The crowd was confused as to why the training tutor thought so highly of a ve. The twins had fought with ve Huan once, and they felt that he was almost on par with them. They had never heard of such apliment from Hu Shining.


    ¡°Humph! Never mind, let¡¯s go.¡± Shangguan Ru thought the training tutor was just making excuses, so she turned to leave.


    Gu Shenwei gripped his own wooden saber in one hand while the other two broken saber pieces were in his other hand. Since he did not know where to put them, he walked over to Hu Shining and, with great respect, handed them back to him.


    Hu Shining casually took them back, and could not help asking, ¡°What¡¯s your name? Why aren¡¯t you in East Castle?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ve Huan, I practice Internal Strength.¡±


    Hu Shining shook his head in regret. From the killing intent he felt within him, he had thought that Gu Shenwei was a natural killer. It was a pity that he was not a killer in East Castle.


    Gu Shenwei turned to catch up with his masters. Hu Shining stared at his back with regret. Suddenly, he thought that it might be risky for the two young masters to keep being around such a special teenager.


    The idea just now shed across his mind but he could not prove that the boy was dangerous. He had better not ask for trouble.


    Behind him, the defeated ve Qian suddenly held his abdomen and began to vomit violently.


    When she saw ve Huaning out of Carvewood Academy, Shangguan Ru stepped forward and gave him a punch. She said with a smile, ¡°You¡¯re good at sabery, you¡¯ve been hiding your strength from us.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew she did not really mean anything by the punch, so he epted the hit with a smile. Suddenly, he knelt down and said with inspiration, ¡°Master Shifu, my Kung Fu isn¡¯t worth mentioningpared to yours.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s your Master Shifu?¡± Shangguan Ru asked in a loud voice, but her smiling face was as beautiful as a flower. Obviously, she did not hate that title.


    ¡°When I stepped onto the arena, you recognized me as your apprentice on behalf of our Moonhold School.¡±


    With a serious expression on her face, Shangguan Ru sized ve Huan up with her head tilted to one side. Suddenly, she burst intoughter and said, ¡°Well, since you did quite well today, I¡¯ll take you as my apprentice. But remember, I¡¯m strict. If you aren¡¯t obedient or don¡¯t work hard, I¡¯ll punish you.¡±


    ¡°Of course. A strict teacher is as important as a father. My humble life is in your hands.¡±


    A few months ago, Gu Shenwei would have felt embarrassed just by watching others use such ttery. But now, he could do the same without any difficulty.


    This was exactly how hardships and hatred would transform a person.


    Shangguan Fei became unhappy about Shangguan Ru having an apprentice. He interjected, ¡°Since I¡¯m the deputy head of our school, I should be ve Huan¡¯s mentor, too.¡±


    ¡°Every apprentice should only have one mentor. If you really want to be a mentor, you could find other students to be your apprentice. Well, you two, pay respects to your Master Shifu.¡±


    The two young personal attendants were clever. On hearing Shangguan Ru¡¯s order, they immediately knelt in front of Shangguan Fei, calling him Master Shifu. They sounded even more sincere and friendlier than Gu Shenwei, so Shangguan Fei became proud and happy again.


    Shangguan Yushi had been watching with a critical eye, and she could not bear it anymore. ¡°Humph! They deliberately let you win. What makes you so proud?¡±


    Originally, she was happy when Gu Shenwei won in the arena, but when she saw that he was taking the initiative and sparing no effort to please Shangguan Ru, she felt ufortable.


    Shangguan Ru was in high spirits. She pulled her cousin¡¯s hand and said to Gu Shenwei, ¡°Come and meet your Master Uncle Yu.¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned to Shangguan Yushi and said, ¡°Nice to meet you, Master Uncle Yu.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi wanted to turn away, but she was firmly held tight by Shangguan Ru and had to receive Gu Shenwei¡¯s respects.


    In the morning, Shangguan Ru was depressed about Marshal Yang¡¯s death. However, now she was cheerful because she had just set up a new sect and had received an apprentice. ¡°s. This ceremony is too simple. Since Carvewood Academy has their own base, we should also have a base of our own. Where should we go?¡±


    Everyone offered advice. Some proposed Moonhold Academy, some rmended Star Picking Academy, and some suggested a vacant house in Golden Roc Fort. However, Shangguan Ru did not like any of them, since they were not special enough to be a ¡°base¡±.


    In the end, the smart Shangguan Yushi came up with a brilliant idea. She whispered in Shangguan Ru¡¯s ear, and thetter blurted out with excitement, ¡°That¡¯s great! Let¡¯s go there.¡±


    With these words, she ran into the depths of East Castle with her cousin, followed by the other four teenagers, who were at a loss. Shangguan Fei asked while running, ¡°Where are you going? Where are we going?¡±


    It seemed that Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi did not know exactly where that ce was either. They ran around in the alleys and frequently returned to the starting point. They ignored Shangguan Fei¡¯s questions, which made him so anxious that he jumped up and down and kicked his two ¡°disciples¡± several times so that he could vent his anger.


    As the six teenagers ran further and further, the yards they passed on both sides became less numerous. Finally, they saw a cliff at the end of an alley.


    Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi felt refreshed. They kept running forward, while Shangguan Fei stopped chasing them, the color of his face paling. ¡°I know where you¡¯re going. I¡¯m not going.¡±


    The two young personal attendants were still running, but they suddenly realized something upon hearing Shangguan Fei¡¯s slightly changed voice. They immediately stopped and rushed back to their master¡¯s side.


    Being the only one who was totally ignorant about the ce, Gu Shenwei ran to the twodies¡¯ side.


    Shangguan Ru nced back at Shangguan Fei and said disdainfully, ¡°What a coward! You¡¯re not qualified to be a killer.¡± Then she sped up. Shortly, the three of them arrived at the end of the alley.


    It turned out the cliff was not there. A stone staircase nted down until it reached arge fan-shaped tform dozens of feet down. The real cliff was situated right at its end, where there was no protection against falling.


    ¡°It must be here,¡± Shangguan Yushi said mysteriously.


    Gu Shenwei did not see anything special about that ce except thendform. What surprised him was the familiar smell in the air, but he could not, at that moment, figure out what it was exactly.


    ¡°Hey,e back! That¡¯s Reincarnation Cliff. Let¡¯s go y somewhere else.¡±


    Shangguan Fei shouted from behind. The twodies shrugged off his warning and smiled at each other. Shangguan Yushi turned to look at ve Huan and asked, ¡°Do you know about Reincarnation Cliff?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    ¡°This is where killers of Golden Roc Fort go up to heaven. The dead are dropped here.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi was waiting to see ve Huan be panicked. To her disappointment, he only replied, ¡°Ah,¡± to show he finally knew what the ce was, and he looked around out of curiosity instead of fear.


    Gu Shenwei used to care for the wounded in Firewood Yard, and he had dropped many corpses off Ghost Cliff. He once wondered, now that the severely wounded were sent to Firewood Yard, what happened to those that had already died? Now he finally understood.


    There was a simr ce to Reincarnation Cliff in West Castle, and Gu Shenwei was cautious not to mention it. After all, his experience in Firewood Yard was not a good one.


    Shangguan Yushi was astounded by ve Huan¡¯s fearlessness. Even Shangguan Ru admired him a bit, since she had to pluck up her courage toe here.


    Suddenly, they heard a sound of nking metaling from far away, like a bell that sounded in a weing ceremony. Next, they saw two men in ck silently walk out of the alley carrying a corpse and heading for Reincarnation Cliff.


    Shangguan Fei and the two young personal attendants turned pale. They hurriedly gave way to the men and pressed themselves against the wall.


    The men carrying the corpse did not salute Shangguan Fei and continued moving forward with their heads down.


    Shangguan Yushi¡¯s and Shangguan Ru¡¯s faces were a bit pale as well. But they only retreated a few steps and stood by the road. They watched the two men pass by and walk down the stone stairs.


    The two men kept reciting some words. Gu Shenwei had also heard others mumbling them after Marshal Yang had killed several killers in a row. He did not listen carefully back then, but he finally heard them clearly this time.


    ¡°The soul rises to the Ninth Heaven, and the spirit falls to the Ninth Abyss.


    ¡°The living suffer in grief, and the dead settle in peace.¡±


    There were merely 16 Chinese characters, and the two kept reciting them in a low voice, as if it was a mantra to drive away evil spirits.


    Gu Shenwei was so deeply touched that he could not help asking, ¡°What are they reciting?¡±


    Shangguan Yushi continued reciting the words, while Shangguan Ru, as if she was afraid of disturbing someone, whispered,


    ¡°Death Scripture.¡±

 Chapter 38

    Chapter 38: A Lesson


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    From Shangguan Ru, Gu Shenwei learned that ¡°Death Scripture¡± was a rebirth mantra passed on from generation to generation in Golden Roc Fort. As time went by, most of it had been forgotten, and only these two sentences were left.


    Gu Shenwei meditated upon the words: ¡°The living suffer in grief, and the dead settle in peace¡± and felt as if a knife were being twisted in his heart. It urred to him that he was the ¡°living¡± one, who was suffering in grief, but had the ¡°dead¡±, the members of his family, really ¡°settled in peace¡±? If he could know their afterlife, maybe he would not need to bear the heavy burden of revenge.


    Perhaps ignorance was the root of ¡°the living suffer in grief¡±.


    The two men who had carried the corpse returned empty-handed. They bowed to salute the young masters as they went by before silently advancing with pale faces. Soon afterward, they disappeared into the depths of the alley, as if they had been affected by the ghostly atmosphere.


    Shangguan Fei refused to y any longer. The twodies also felt uneasy and did not insist either. Thus, the adventure was over, and the newly started ceremony of the ¡°Moonhold School¡± to recruit new disciples came to an eventual end.


    Gu Shenwei wanted to continue ying the ¡°game¡±, as it would be helpful for him in pleasing Shangguan Ru. However, Shangguan Yushi seemed to be wary of him. She requested to go back to the Inner Residence right after they left East Castle. Shangguan Fei, who was frightened, naturally agreed with her. Since Shangguan Ru was not able to dissuade them, she had no choice but to follow them.


    Gu Shenwei and the other attendants were unqualified to enter the Inner Residence, so they were left behind. After the young masters left, ve Qing bitterly scolded ve Huan in front of everyone before their dismissal.


    Hearing Gu Shenwei¡¯s report in the evening, Mama Xue was interested in the little game of the ¡°Moonhold School¡± very much. She asked him to encourage Shangguan Ru to continue ying it. ¡°You see. As long as you work hard, you can always make it. You should beg Master Ru to teach you Kung Fu. You¡¯ll benefit a lot if she, as the Lord¡¯s daughter, agrees to teach you a few maneuvers.¡±


    Although he knew it was not Mama Xue¡¯s real intention, Gu Shenwei eagerly said yes. He became more and more curious about this woman. ¡°Does she want to learn Golden Roc Fort¡¯s Kung Fu secretly? But she¡¯s already powerful enough, especially with her Iron Fingers. Since she doesn¡¯t want to be a killer, what could be in Golden Roc Fort that is so attractive to her?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good that you beat ve Qian. He may not be happy, but it doesn¡¯t matter. He needs to be prodded a little to teach him a few lessons,¡± Mama Xue continued.


    Gu Shenwei agreed while his heart sank. He had offended many people today just to please Shangguan Ru.


    After bidding farewell to Mama Xue, Gu Shenwei returned to the stone house and quietly recalled what had happened that day.


    He did not expect to be able to defeat ve Qian with just one strike. He was also surprised by the fact that ¡°the killing desire¡± could improve his Kung Fu so much.


    Lying on the brick bed, Gu Shenwei tried to summon his ¡°killing desire¡± again.


    It was easier said than done. The killing desire was unlike a servant who came at his beckon. Gu Shenwei first tried facing the air and then the wall, but there was no change in his inner state. How could he have the killing desire toward a lifeless object?


    He assumed he had to find a living person to practice it on.


    Elderly Zhang was sleeping soundly at the end of the brick bed, opposite Gu Shenwei. They were more than three feet away from each other, which was almost the same distance as two opponents would be in a Kung Fupetition.


    Gu Shenwei tried to imagine Elderly Zhang as Han Shiqi, and it worked. His killing desire gradually rose, and even without any weapon in hand, he believed he could kill the man with a finger, since there were so many weak but vital parts of a body, such as the eyes, throat, or genitalia.


    His killing intent became stronger, and Gu Shenwei could hardly resist his urge to kill. All of a sudden, he realized where his killing desire came from.


    The so-called killing desire was actually hatred without fear.


    When he hated a person, it often meant he feared that person. Only by conquering fear could he transfrom his hatred into the killing desire and even power.


    Gu Shenwei had already practiced this when hepeted with ve Qian during the day, but he only understood it now.


    He suddenly saw the light as a brand-new world of martial arts loomed a few feet away from him.


    However, the light disappeared in the blink of an eye. He only saw two frightened and raging eyes.


    ¡°What, what the hell are you doing?¡±


    Elderly Zhang was sleeping tight before he was suddenly woken up by an indefinable panic and sense of crisis. He opened his eyes and happened to see the murderous ve Huan.


    Gu Shenwei was suddenly awakened. His killing desire, like a little shy beast, immediately hid in the darkness after being scolded and refused to show itself anymore.


    ¡°Nothing. I, I can¡¯t fall asleep.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t fall asleep? Go out to stare at the moon if you can¡¯t fall asleep. Why are you staring at me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Elderly Zhang. I didn¡¯t mean it.¡±


    Elderly Zhang seemed shaken. He turned over while cursing and tried to fall back asleep with his back toward ve Huan. But he did not dare to close his eyes anymore, so he swore again, rolled out of bed, and went outside after putting on his clothes. He was in no mood to look at the moon, so he went to the stable to attend to his treasured horses.


    ¡°A man isn¡¯t as reliable as an animal,¡± Elderly Zhang murmured.


    As a result, Gu Shenwei had offended one more person by the end of the day. However, Elderly Zhang¡¯s reaction reminded him that he had better not practice summoning the killing desire at random, as it could easily catch the eyes of bystanders. Even an ordinary man like Elderly Zhang could sense it, let alone others who knew martial arts. That training tutor of Carvewood Academy, who had suddenly changed his attitude during the day, further proved this.


    It would be undesirable for him to make such a conspicuous disy if he wanted to hide his identity and seek revenge in secret.


    The next day, Gu Shenwei failed to please Shangguan Ru, since the twins simply did not show up. ve Qing was not surprised about this. He yawned and said, ¡°The new year ising. Madam will surely keep them around. Perhaps we¡¯ll be free for some time.¡±


    However, Shangguan Yushi dide to school. It was the first time that Gu Shenwei had seen her attend the school all by herself.


    Without Shangguan Ru around, she looked colder and prouder than ever before. She pushed over a student, who was standing at the entrance and talking with his fellows, and went straight in without even casting a nce at him.


    Blue in the face, the student clenched his fist and was about to curse. But on seeing that it was Master Yu that had pushed him, he swallowed his words. Although both of them were descendants of the Shangguan family, they held vastly different statuses.


    Gu Shenwei knew he would invite a snub if he went over and called her ¡°Uncle Master Yu¡±, so he stood far away, not wanting to provoke the little devil.


    But trouble was always like this¡ªthe more one tried to avoid it, the closer it followed.


    Since the twins did note to school, ording to rules, their attendants could be dismissed. When disordered reading was heard from the school, ve Qing allowed most people to leave and only kept seven or eight teenagers who were normally fighting partners.


    ve Qing went to chat with the other attendants, while these fighting partners stood in the corner of two walls. Suddenly, someone said in a low voice,


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have done that.¡±


    It took a while before Gu Shenwei finally realized that this person was talking to him, as the speaker did not mention his name or look at him.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have called Master Ru ¡®Master Shifu¡¯,¡± another teenager said.


    Gu Shenwei was quite at a loss. When he saluted Shangguan Ru as his Master Shifu, she was quite pleased. Besides, he did not understand why the news had spread so fast.


    ¡°Well.¡± Gu Shenwei casually replied, not taking it seriously since he became inured to the servants¡¯ jealousy andpetition. Just because he had not taken ve Qing¡¯s advice and won the two young masters¡¯ favor, ve Qing had turned a cold shoulder to him. As a result, none of the attendants at the entrance were friendly toward him.


    ¡°You still don¡¯t understand?¡± a third teenager asked.


    Gu Shenwei was confused. It seemed that these teenagers were warning him not out of jealousy, but out of kindness.


    ¡°What should I understand?¡±


    On the other side, ve Qing was chatting happily andughing loudly, while all the teenagers kept silent. Among the attendants, the fighting partners had rtively low statuses, and they dreaded ve Qing the most.


    But to some extent, ve Huan was their ¡°savior¡±. Since the ve who was Master Ru¡¯s match hade, they had lived a much better life. A few of them were even lucky enough to remain uninjured for several months, so they did not want to see ve Huan run out of luck.


    As ve Qing¡¯sughter faded, the teenager who stood closest to Gu Shenwei said in a low voice, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t get too close to Master Ru, or Master Yu will be unhappy.¡±


    Gu Shenwei suddenly realized what was happening. No wonder Shangguan Yushi had been behaving so oddly since he called Shangguan Ru ¡°Master Shifu¡± in Moonhold Academy yesterday. It turned out that she had kept trying to shake him off because she was jealous of him.


    While it was understandable for a servant to be jealous of another servant, it was difficult to understand why a master would be jealous of a servant. Gu Shenwei could not help shaking his head with a bitter smile.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t know!¡± a teenager shouted in surprise, but he immediately covered his own mouth.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know what?¡± Gu Shenwei was a bit annoyed, thinking, ¡°If you really want to help, why not make it clear to me?¡±


    ¡°Master Yu¡­ killed someone.¡±


    After a long silence, a teenager exined in a low voice, and then nobody said anything.


    Gu Shenwei did not understand why the teenagers dreaded a girl who had killed someone so much, since Golden Roc Fort was full of killers who hadmitted innumerable murders. Even he had killed people, one of whom he had personally stabbed.


    But anyway, he had seen Shangguan Yushi¡¯s brutality with his own eyes. Once, she had stepped on a fighting partner¡¯s arm and broken it in public. Right now, the poor teenager was standing next to Gu Shenwei, his face ghastly pale.


    At ss break, Shangguan Yushi did not summon anyone to fight with her. It was not until all the students and the old teacher had left at noon that a student came out and ordered the eight fighting teenagers waiting outside to go into the school together.


    Strictly speaking, these teenagers had been assigned to the twins and did not belong to Shangguan Yushi. However, Master Yu¡¯s order was no different from Master Ru¡¯s, so nobody dared to disobey.


    ve Qing did not go in, but continued waiting at the gate.


    There was not a soul in the school yard. The young personal attendants led them to one of the rooms in the eastern wing.


    In the room, the writing desks had been moved to the corners, leaving an empty area in the middle. Shangguan Yushi sat on a chair, her personal attendants standing behind her and several children of the Shangguan family on both sides.


    It did not seem as if they were going to have apetition. Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart skipped a beat, realizing this game targeted him.


    Shangguan Yushi hated people winning too much of Shangguan Ru¡¯s favor, especially when that person was just a servant.


    ¡°You little imp, why don¡¯t you call me Uncle Master now?¡± Shangguan Yushi asked.


    ¡°Your humble servant would not dare.¡± Gu Shenwei knelt down.


    To take his revenge, he had to degrade himself and tried his best to behave like a ve. When humiliated by his master, he first thought what ve Yao would do in the same situation.


    The pointy-faced teenager, whom he had murdered, was still influencing him from the unseen world.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t dare? I saw that you were very bold yesterday. Is this the first day for you as a ve? How dare you flout the rules after serving the new master for only a few days! How dare you call her Master Shifu. Do you think you have that privilege?¡±


    ¡°He was brought by the Eighth Young Mistress from the bandit camp.¡±


    A young attendant whispered to Shangguan Yushi, which intensified thetter¡¯s hatred toward Gu Shenwei. Since the Eighth Young Mistress was on bad terms with Madam, who happened to be the twins¡¯ biological mother, naturally the people around Madam disliked Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter and anyone brought here by her.


    ¡°The Eighth Young Master sent me to¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei was trying to defend himself when Shangguan Yushi suddenly stood up in a rage and kicked him. ¡°What a bold mongrel! You¡¯re as much of a nuisance as your cheap master. You don¡¯t deserve to live in Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    Gu Shenwei only hesitated a bit, and was suddenly kicked in the chest. Although he had made some achievements in practicing Yin and Yang Strength, he could not bear the youngdy¡¯s kick. He rolled backward and felt spasms of pain in his ribs when he knelt down again.


    Shangguan Yushi had not vented all her anger, so she turned to the other seven fighting teenagers and ordered coldly, ¡°p him in the face, and teach him how to be a ve.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt the blood surging in his body. No matter how hard he tried to imitate ve Yao, he was not a real ve after all. For him, humiliation was more unbearable than death. The killing desire hidden in the depths of his heart became restless and itching for action.

 Chapter 39

    Chapter 39: Bribery


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei hoped that justice would prevail at this moment. He thought that God owed him an exnation and wondered, ¡°Why am I abused like this now? Was I an evildoer in my previous life? If I was and I¡¯m doomed to be punished in this life, why did God let me enjoy a carefree life for 14 years?¡±


    Seven sparring boys took turns pping him in the face. If anyone of them did not hit him hard enough, Shangguan Yushi would beat that boy.


    Reality was cruel. Shangguan Yushi was a young master, while Gu Shenwei was just a ve boy. The sparring boys had no choice at all.


    Gu Shenwei had to suppress his killing desire, and every time he got a p in his face, he would beg for mercy. ¡°Master Yu, Please forgive me. I¡¯ll never dare to do that again.¡±


    God seemed to neglect his prayer for help. During the whole process, no one stood up to put an end to this abuse. Shangguan Yushi easily achieved her goal of punishing an obnoxious ve. She cast a disdainful look at ve Huan and said, ¡°Well, I will spare your life this time.¡±


    With these words, she left with herpanions.


    The sparring boys were left behind. They seemed at a loss for words. A boy took a step forward, wanting to help ve Huan up, but he quickly moved back since he saw everyone else was just standing by.


    ve Qing came over and nced at them as if nothing had happened. ¡°Get out. What are you doing here?¡±


    Gu Shenwei stood up and walked toward the gate. When he walked past ve Qing, the ve caught him with one hand.


    ¡°I knew from the beginning that you would get into trouble. Your eyes are different. No ve has this kind of look in their eyes. You behave as if you are the owner of the fort. You might have been a prince of a small country before, but you are a ve in the fort now and you¡¯ll remain a ve until you die. If you want to survive here, you¡¯d better behave yourself. Stop striving for a position by pleasing the young masters. You are just a toy. Don¡¯t be so ambitious.¡±


    Gu Shenwei humbly expressed his thanks to ve Qing and hurriedly returned to the stone house. He grabbed a rag to wipe the blood stains off his face. He did not mind the physical pain but he found it hard to endure the emotional torture. He felt as if his heart was stabbed by numerous sharp knives and each knife caused him endless pain. He was overwhelmed by the burning desire to kill all his enemies and, at the same time, tried his best to remain calm.


    Elderly Zhang came home with lunch in hand. Since being frightened by ve Huanst night, he had been vignt of the ve boy. The fact that ve Huan came back heavily wounded further strengthened his belief¡ªpeople were not as reliable as cattle.


    Elderly Zhang ced a big bowl of rice topped with meat and vegetables on the edge of the brick bed and pushed it to ve Huan. After a while, he picked out a few pieces of meat from his own bowl and put it in the ve boy¡¯s bowl.


    Gu Shenwei looked at the silent horsekeeper in amazement.


    Elderly Zhang hunched over his bowl to eat without looking at ve Huan at all.


    Gu Shenwei did not know what to say. He held his bowl and began to gobble down his food.


    Mama Xue was not as kind as Elderly Zhang. When Gu Shenwei went to report to her in the evening, she looked exceptionally grave. She already knew what had happened to ve Huan through her own channels. The sparring boys did not think it was necessary to conceal ve Huan¡¯s public humiliation and shame.


    ¡°If it was ve Yao, things like that would never happen,¡± Mama Xueined.


    That being said, she actually knew very little about the pointy-faced teenager and had never shown any appreciation for him when he had been alive.


    ¡°You managed to kill him, so you should do better than him. Don¡¯t forget about your little secret and the hidden danger in your Xuanji acupoint. I¡¯ll never cure a useless ve, let alone help him avenge his father.¡±


    Mama Xue was a rigorous person but she seldom gave out a threat. Hearing what she said, Gu Shenwei was clear that she was very dissatisfied with his current progress.


    He knelt down on the ground and decided to tell her what he had thought about the whole afternoon. ¡°Mama Xue, please forgive my stupidity. I promise I¡¯ll fix it. I¡¯ve got a n already.¡±


    Mama Xue remained silent. Gu Shenwei continued.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to give Shangguan Yushi a lesson in front of Master Ru. It¡¯s the thing she fears the most and it will be totally beyond her expectations.¡±


    ¡°You seem to forget that you are just a ve and she¡¯s a master.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what makes it a terrible shame for her. Master Ru only likes strong fighters. In the past, Shangguan Yushi was the best fighter in the school. I¡¯m going to prove to her that Shangguan Yushi isn¡¯t as powerful as she thinks.¡±


    ¡°Will this childish game work?¡±


    Gu Shenwei exined after a while, ¡°For Master Ru, everything is a game.¡±


    Mama Xue frowned. She poked the arm of the chair with her iron-like fingers, making a rat-a-tat sound.


    She was too old to understand adolescents and did not remember that she had liked to y games in her childhood. She was not satisfied with ve Huan¡¯s n, but at the same time, she somehow felt that it might work.


    ¡°If you get into trouble again, you should make sure that Miss Luo won¡¯t be affected.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I promise. It¡¯s just a little game between children. Adults will never care about such trivial things. Besides, Shangguan Yushi is very disrespectful to Miss Luo. She deserves this punishment.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to drive a wedge between us and Shangguan Yushi. I already know that she¡¯s Lady Meng¡¯s minion. Of course she likes to speak ill of Miss Luo.¡±


    Mama Xue sounded a little agitated all of a sudden. Gu Shenwei knew that what he had said was right.


    ¡°Yes. Mama Xue knows everything.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you can defeat her? I¡¯ve heard that the little girl is a good fighter and she¡¯s probably even stronger than Master Ru.¡±


    ¡°As for this problem, please forgive me for being blunt, I need your help, Mama Xue.¡±


    ¡°Aha, you little brat. Do you dare to ask me to y this childish game together with you?¡±


    ¡°No. I just want Mama Xue to teach me more about Kung Fu so that I can defeat Shangguan Yushi with a single strike.¡±


    ording to his observation, Shangguan Yushi was a strong opponent. He believed that in a martialpetition, she would stand a good chance to win but in a life-and-death situation, he would defeat her after he evoked his killing desire. This was because the girl had not yet learned the trick of killing, though she was extremely cruel and merciless.


    Unlike his peers, Gu Shenwei had already realized the subtle difference between a martialpetition and a killing through the fight between the killers and Marshal Yang.


    Mama Xue still had some concerns. She stared at the daring boy for a long time without saying a word, as if she wanted to see through his mind.


    Gu Shenwei did not get a definite promise from Mama Xue, but he would carry out his n anyway.


    The next day, he rushed to the gate of the school early and stayed there, waiting for an opportunity.


    He had stayed with the young masters¡¯ attendants at the gate for many days. Everyone just ignored the silent ve boy, but he had heard many things from them.


    There were nearly 20 students in the school. Except for the twins, they were just rtives of the Supreme King¡¯s family and most of them were surnamed Shangguan. They were seven- or eight-year-old children or adolescents aged 15 or 16, and there were only two girls among them¡ªShangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi.


    Although they were in the same ss, they were different in status. The Supreme King¡¯s son and daughter were the most venerated young masters and all the other pupils tried their best to please the twins. As for the young masters in the low positions, they did not receive more respect than ve Qing.


    Gu Shenwei had very little contact with the students, but he could judge their status based on the attitude of the servants at the gate.


    He noticed a pupil named Shangguan Hongye. ¡°Hongye¡± was a good name since it meant great achievement. His father was a younger brother of the Supreme King, but unfortunately, he had died a long time ago. Shangguan Hongye had no brothers. He and his mother depended on each other in the fort. They relied on the Supreme King¡¯s financial support to make ends meet.


    When Shangguan Yushi had entered the school yesterday, she had shoved Shangguan Hongye to the ground. When being bullied in public, he did not even have the courage to say a word.


    Gu Shenwei had noticed that he had looked angry at that time.


    Given that, he thought he should try to find a chance to talk to Shangguan Hongye.


    Shangguan Yushi was arrogant but she was, actually, just a distant rtive of the Supreme King. This was her greatest weakness.


    Unlike Shangguan Hongye, a nephew of the Supreme King, she and the king were just of the same n. They descended from onemon ancestor who lived about a hundred years ago.


    Today, the twins and Shangguan Yushi did note to school since they had already begun to celebrate the new year.


    Not long after the ss started, ve Qing allowed the twins¡¯ attendants to leave. He himself chatted at the gate for a moment and then left to have a drink.


    After that, only half of the servants still stood at the gate. They envied the twins¡¯ attendants for now as they did not have to stand outside in cold weather while holding some small items that their masters might not use for the entire day.


    In such an atmosphere, no one cared about ve Huan, who huddled in a corner.


    At noon, when ss was over, the students rushed out of the gate and headed for home with their servants. Shangguan Hongye was not eligible to live in the Inner Residence. His home was a small courtyard in West Castle. Given that, Gu Shenwei and he were going the same way now.


    Gu Shenwei followed Shangguan Hongye and his young attendant. After they walked through two gates, he found no one else was around and called out, ¡°Master Hongye.¡±


    It was a good ce for a private conversation. The guards at the gate in front of them and at the gate behind them would never pay attention to a group of children who were chatting together. Neither would the killers hiding in the shadows.


    Shangguan Hongye stopped walking and cast a doubtful look at ve Huan.


    Gu Shenwei had not yet recovered from his injuries. His eyes were swollen and his face was bruised. It took Shangguan Hongye a long time to recognize the ve boy. After that, he twitched his mouth and turned away. Though he was not a popr young master in the school, he disdained to chat with a ve, especially an unpopr ve.


    ¡°Master Hongye, you dropped something.¡±


    ve Huan showed Shangguan Hongye something like a rag ball. Shangguan Hongye knew it was not his but before he refused, ve Huan had already forced the thing into his hands.


    He felt irritated and offended since he felt that ve Huan had overstepped his bounds. When he was about to say something to express his dissatisfaction, he felt the weight of the rag ball and shut his mouth. He opened a corner of the rag and saw some silver inside. It was not much but was attractive enough for Shangguan Hongye.


    The young master was confused. Without saying anything, ve Huan smirked at him and quickly left. The ve¡¯s bruised face made a weird expression. Shangguan Hongye stood agape for a moment and then swiftly put away the silver.


    The young attendant did not understand what had happened just now. He shouted out excitedly, ¡°Master, how did you get the silver? Thank goodness someone picked it up and returned it to you. Now we can pay off some debt before the spring festival.¡±


    Gu Shenwei walked forward quickly, feeling uncertain about what he had done. If Shangguan Hongye thought the silver was too little or refused to receive a ve¡¯s help, his n would be ruined.


    Fortunately, the young master seemed to have epted the silver. Gu Shenwei did not hear a thing when he walked out of the third gate and turned into an alley.


    The students were a group of fools and got obsessed with gambling. Gu Shenwei had heard Shangguan Hongye¡¯s young attendantin about his master¡¯s towering gambling debts many times. He had even said that his master had pocketed a portion of his wages to pay the debts.


    Under such circumstances, Shangguan Hongye, a young master of inferior status, would treasure every penny.


    For Gu Shenwei, bribing Shangguan Hongye was just the first step of his n. He still needed Mama Xue¡¯s help.

 Chapter 40

    Chapter 40: Unexpected Tricky Moves


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    While Mama Xue was still hesitating whether to teach ve Huan more Kung Fu tricks, the ve boy came to her and made another request¡ªsome money to bribe Shangguan Hongye.


    Gu Shenwei had given all his savings, which were less than two taels of silver, to that young masterst time.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need a lot. 20 taels of silver is enough. Shangguan Hongye owes a dozen taels of silver. With this money, he can pay off his debts and get back into the gambling game again. When that happens, he¡¯ll take the initiative to ask me for help.¡±


    ¡°How are you going to exin the origin of the money? You are just a ve boy, but you seem to be more well-off than a young master.¡±


    ¡°Mama Xue, please excuse me for being bold. You can give me some gold or silver utensils and I¡¯ll tell Shangguan Hongye that I stole them from Miss Luo. He¡¯s well into debt now, so he¡¯ll definitely keep the secret.¡±


    Hearing such a childish n, Mama Xue shook her head. She had to think it over since it might cause trouble for Miss Luo and her.


    In the fort, Mama Xue was the only person Gu Shenwei could depend on. Her support was the only advantage he had whenpeting with the other ve boys. Without Mama Xue, he would achieve nothing.


    Fortunately, the next morning, Mama Xue came to him with a small parcel in her hand.


    Elderly Zhang had gotten up early. By the time Mama Xue came, he had already gone to look after the horses. She threw the parcel on the brick bed and turned to ve Huan, who had just finished dressing.


    ¡°I hope your n works.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was just a boy who had begun to understand the real world. He was not confident about his n either, but he gave absolute assurance to Mama Xue while carefully concealing his restless mood.


    At noon, when school was over, he did it again. He told Shangguan Hongye that he had dropped something and handed a tiny silver cup to him. It was pressed t and a little bit of it had already been broken off, but it was still silver that weighed three taels.


    Shangguan Hongye grunted his assent and quickly put it away, as if he had indeed dropped a silver cup. His young attendant started to doubt it but he knew he had better shut up at this moment.


    Over the next five days, Gu Shenwei gave many different little things to Shangguan Hongye like this and the young master received each of them calmly. He even sent his attendant away on purpose and always walked home alone. Gu Shenwei was content with this progress.


    The parcel sent by Mama Xue was filled with all kinds of gold and silver utensils, which were enough for Gu Shenwei to bribe Shangguan Hongye every day for a long time. More importantly, the things that Miss Luo had brought from the Iron Mountain Gang had no marks, so no one would be able to know where they came from.


    The next few days were the New Year holidays. sses were suspended and so was Gu Shenwei¡¯s bribery n.


    Mama Xue had thought for several days before she finally agreed to teach ve Huan Kung Fu.


    Gu Shenwei was aware that even if he kept practicing Kung Fu for 10 more years, he would not be able to defeat Shangguan Yushi with one or two moves in a martialpetition. He did not n to surpass her in a short time. He just wanted to defeat her with some tricky moves that were totally beyond her expectation.


    Since Shangguan Yushi and the twins learned Kung Fu together, their moves were quite simr. Gu Shenwei did not know much about Shangguan Yushi¡¯s fighting style, but he was familiar with Shangguan Ru¡¯s fighting skills. During his previous daily reports, he had already demonstrated all her moves to Mama Xue.


    Mama Xue was also very familiar with Golden Roc Fort¡¯s Kung Fu and had been reflecting on an effective tactic to defeat Shangguan Yushi.


    ¡°You can¡¯t kill her but you have to defeat her. That¡¯s a little bit tricky. Golden Roc Fort¡¯s Kung Fu isplicated. There are more than a dozen unarmedbat routines. It¡¯s impossible to crack every move in the routines in such a short time.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had to admit that Mama Xue had a point, but he had already thought of a solution.


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask Shangguan Yushi to fight me in a game of speed. I believe she¡¯ll adopt her best fighting moves in such apetition. I guess not all the moves in Golden Roc Fort¡¯s unarmedbat routines are among the best Kung Fu tricks, so I only need to¡­¡±


    Mama Xue sneered and shook her head. She knew that there were only a few marvelous tricks in Golden Roc Fort¡¯s Kung Fu, but none of them were easy to crack.


    Mama Xue herself could easily kill Shangguan Yushi with just one move, but ve Huan could not learn such a move since his Internal Strength was not strong enough. Besides, this kind of move could never be used on a young master.


    A few dayster, when the spring festival ended withughter and happiness, Mama Xue finally figured out a tactic. She asked Maid Lotus to serve as ve Huan¡¯s sparring partner.


    Maid Lotus and ve Qian had been killer-apprentices for months, but unlike the other apprentices who lived in East Castle, they still lived in the Eighth Young Master¡¯s residence. This arrangement further increased criticisms against the wayward Eighth Young Mistress, but Gu Shenwei somehow felt that it must have been Mama Xue¡¯s decision.


    As the most suitable substitute for Shangguan Yushi, Maid Lotus came here to practice with him.


    She apparently had benefited a lot from the training, which made Gu Shenwei envious. He believed that if he could be a killer-apprentice, he would progress much faster than anyone else. But now, this girl of his own age who had been learning Kung Fu for less than a year was already an equal to him, and she even surpassed him in unarmed fighting.


    Mama Xue asked ve Huan to demonstrate Shangguan Ru¡¯s best Kung Fu tricks again. Based on what she saw, she picked out five moves from Golden Roc Fort¡¯s unarmedbat routines and focused on cracking them.


    ¡°Remember, the tricks that one is most familiar with are his or her best moves, so the five moves I chose may not be the best Kung Fu tricks in the routines or what Shangguan Yushi is best at. I can¡¯t guarantee that she¡¯ll use these moves.¡±


    Gu Shenwei listened to Mama Xue respectfully. He trusted her judgment. Though he was sure that she was just using him to achieve her own goals, he could not deny that she taught him well. Sometimes, he thought she taught even better than his father, Gu Lun, and his family¡¯s loyal servant, Yang Zheng.


    ¡°These five moves are more offensive than defensive and attack the vital parts of the body, which makes them ideal moves in a quick battle. If she promises to defeat you in a limited number of moves, she¡¯ll probably use them.¡±


    These five moves were picked out from three different unarmedbat routines. Maid Lotus had only mastered three of them. She had started her training in East Castle a few months ago, but Shangguan Yushi had practiced Kung Fu for a dozen years. Fortunately, Maid Lotus was a devoted and diligent apprentice and quickly made up the difference.


    Knowing that various moves could be evolved from one ssical form, Mama Xue thought of three or four evolved moves for each ssical move that she picked out and cracked them one by one. In the end, she decided on 15 strikes to defeat Shangguan Yushi. Actually, she could think of more tricks, but since the girl was not a Peerless Ace, she believed these 15 moves were enough.


    She created most of them based on her own Kung Fu tricks. They were not marvelous moves in a conventional martialpetition, but they would be effective in fighting Shangguan Yushi.


    It took Gu Shenwei three days to master these 15 tricks, but this was just the beginning. Knowing how to crack Shangguan Yushi¡¯s moves was not enough. He had to learn how to predict which move she was going to use.


    For example, when she lowered her shoulders, he had to know which move she was about to use. Otherwise, it would be toote for him to react when she attacked, even if he knew the way to counter.


    That was why Mama Xue brought Maid Lotus here. She would never tell ve Huan which move she was going to use, and sometimes, she would use some other tricks besides the five moves. Gu Shenwei thus could enhance his ability of observing and reacting.


    Maid Lotus treated ve Huan as mercilessly as Mama Xue did. She gave him a sound beating as if she held a grudge against him, which made her more like Shangguan Yushi.


    Gu Shenwei had a really hard time practicing these 15 moves in actualbat. On the fifth day of the first lunar month, when the school reopened after the New Year holidays, he had already received a lot of bruises on his body, but he still could not use the moves flexibly in a fight.


    Fortunately, most of the students did not attend school that early. It was said that the twins and Shangguan Yushi would note to school until the 15th day of the first lunar month. Gu Shenwei felt lucky to get more time practicing his moves. Actually, he had never expected that this would take him so much time.


    To be a good Kung Fu fighter, one had to endure lots of boring exercises first and then grab the tricks from these repeated practices. Gu Shenwei now knew that he still had a long way to go.


    Among the students who came to school early, he spotted Shangguan Hongye. This was good news for him. More importantly, ve Qing had not yete to work. He sent a servant to tell the twins¡¯ attendants that they had toe to school every day but did not have to stay at the gate all day long.


    After the attendants happily dispersed, there were only five or six teenagers at the gate of the school. Gu Shenwei could not find a reason to stay, so he left for his stone house.


    When he estimated that it was the time that school ended, he went around to the alley in front of the front yard and slowly walked toward the school. Soon afterward, he bumped into Shangguan Hongye.


    The young master was walking alone without his young attendant being around. He acted as if he did not see ve Huan at all.


    Gu Shenwei approached him and bowed. ¡°Master Hongye.¡±


    Shangguan Hongye hummed indifferently while slowing down his steps in anticipation.


    Gu Shenwei took out a silver bowl. ¡°Is this the thing you dropped?¡±


    This bowl wasrger than any of the previous utensils. Shangguan Hongye¡¯s eyes shone with excitement, but he did not take it immediately. He looked around and then pushed ve Huan into a corner. He seemed confused and irritated.


    ¡°What¡¯s your purpose?¡±


    ¡°What purpose? I¡¯m just returning the things you dropped.¡±


    ¡°Save it. You are just a dogshit ve boy. Where did you get those gold and silver things? You must have stolen them from¡­ Tell me. What do you want from me? Otherwise, I¡¯ll send you to Heart Cleansing Yard.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pushed Shangguan Hongye¡¯s arm away without saying a word. It was not a good ce for such a talk since the guards in the shadows might be hiding somewhere nearby, overhearing their conversation. However, Gu Shenwei had no better options. He pressed the bowl into Shangguan Hongye and stared at his face.


    The arrogant look in his eyes gradually changed into a greedy one.


    ¡°I just happened to see these things and I couldn¡¯t stop myself from picking them up. As for Heart Cleansing Yard, I¡¯ve been there once,¡± Gu Shenwei said coldly.


    He had been thrown into Heart Cleansing Yard, which was nicknamed Ghost Yard, and had been tortured there. This experience clearly stunned Shangguan Hongye. The young master took a step back and did not look so aggressive.


    ¡°If it¡¯s not yours, I¡¯ll ask someone else.¡±


    Gu Shenwei said while pretending to leave. Seeing this, Shangguan Hongye swiftly gave up hismanding position as a young master and grabbed the ve boy¡¯s arm.


    After a little hesitation, he said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to ask anyone else. It¡¯s mine.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took out the silver bowl again and handed it to Shangguan Hongye, but this time, he did not immediately loosen his grip on the bowl. ¡°As for these things that I picked up, I can give them to anyone whoes to me. If you have a good friend, you can tell him this.¡±


    Shangguan Hongye pulled the bowl out of ve Huan¡¯s hand and said with certainty, ¡°No, I don¡¯t have any friends.¡±


    This bribery continued for a few days. No matter what ve Huan brought, Shangguan Hongye would take it away without a word.


    Gu Shenwei felt it was the time for him to make a request of Shangguan Hongye.

 Chapter 41

    Chapter 41: Gamble


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei learned quickly in his study of the cracking movements. Now he could guess the moves correctly about seven or eight times for every 10 moves that Maid Lotus made.


    Still, he was unsatisfied with himself because he sometimes made mistakes, especially when Maid Lotus made a move other than the five basic moves, which he could not predict, not least because he had only prepared the 15 moves Mama Xue had created. As a result, his mind became muddled in confusion, and he was incapable of fighting back.


    Mama Xue, however, praised him unexpectedly, ¡°It¡¯s a pity that you cannot enter East Castle. With your perceptiveness, you could finish your apprenticeship and be a real killer within few years. It is truly a pity.¡±


    But she became more and more worried about ve Huan¡¯s n. ¡°What are the chances of the girl using these five moves first?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was worried about this as well. If his opponent were Shangguan Ru, he was 60 to 70 percent sure that he could predict the moves correctly, but when facing Shangguan Yushi¡¯s Kung Fu, he could not. He could only presume that she had learned the same things as the Ninth Young Master had, including herst resort.


    ¡°She will use them. I know she wants me to make a fool of myself in public, possibly even kill me. She will choose the strongest move to begin with.¡±


    Every time Mama Xue asked, Gu Shenwei was just as certain. He acted like a gambler now, throwing it all-in on one hand. This way, he would not only force himself to believe that he would win, but those who watched would believe it as well.


    On the 13th day of the first month of the lunar year, Gu Shenwei made it clear to Shangguan Hongye.


    He might have guessed ve Huan¡¯s purpose, so when he took up an ote silver piece, instead of leaving, he waited for him to speak with his arms crossed.


    ¡°Master Hong, do you like to gamble?¡±


    ¡°What? Do you want to win these pieces back? Actually, they do not even belong to me anymore.¡±


    ¡°No, I want you to organize a gambling event.¡±


    Shangguan Hongye was silent. Not just anyone could be the banker for a gambling event. Normally, Shangguan Yushi was the banker in the hall.


    ¡°I could find others, too. But I must say, it seems that the two of us have a lot inmon.¡±


    Shangguan Hongye did not speak at first, until suddenly his face warped and he blurted out, ¡°Watch your mouth. ve Qing said you don¡¯t know the rules. Remember, I¡¯m a master, and you¡¯re a ve. What could we possibly have inmon?¡±


    ¡°We share a burning hatred for the same person.¡±


    Shangguan Hongye knew who was he talking about. It was well-known in the hall that Shangguan Yushi had been teaching an impervious ve, not to mention that ve Huan¡¯s scarred face was still recovering.


    ¡°How dare you hate a master? You bold, nasty ve.¡±


    ¡°Of course I don¡¯t have the right. But she is not my real master. My true master is the Eighth Young Master.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stopped, letting this sink in for Shangguan Hongye.


    Shangguan Hongye thought for a while, and his hatred toward Master Yu won out. ¡°Your gambling event is rted to her?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I want you to incite her topete with me. You can be the banker, and together, we¡¯ll rip her off.¡±


    ¡°Haha, first of all, you might not win. It would be easier to ride up into the sky on a cloud than to take a single coin from her.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. I have my ways, all you need to do is organize it.¡±


    ¡°What do you want to gamble for anyway? Just to see who wins?¡±


    ¡°No, I want you to bet on me taking her down in three moves.¡±


    Shangguan Hongye held his mouth open for a while. He was bing more confused by the minute about this ve. ¡°Are you serious? I¡¯d bet she can beat you in three moves.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. ¡°She knows how capable I am, she won¡¯t bet you on it. Just bet on me.¡±


    Now Shangguan Hongye was shaking his head. ¡°Impossible. I don¡¯t know if you can beat her or what, but I don¡¯t want to risk it. You may have run out of silver pieces, but I want to keep some.¡±


    ¡°That I can assure you. Just organize it. You win, you take all the money; you lose, you can get it back from me.¡±


    This was a deal that he could not lose. Shangguan Hongye was very interested, but he still could not make up his mind. Though he hated Shangguan Yushi deeply, he feared her as well.


    Gu Shenwei did not want to push him too hard. ¡°Think about it. I¡¯m always ready.¡±


    The next three days were holidays again. Gu Shenwei focused on practicing Kung Fu, acting very confident before Mama Xue. Yet when he went back to the stone house, his mind was still perturbed. All of his information came from the gossip of the ve boys. How could he know which part was true?


    But he had to clear the hinderance that Shangguan Yushi had brought upon him. He had been unprepared for the humiliation before the spring festival, but now it was his turn to choose his formation and let the little devil take it.


    On the 17th day of the first lunar month, sses started again. The twins and Shangguan Yushi finally showed themselves.


    After nearly a month¡¯s separation, Shangguan Ru seemed to have forgotten her ¡°apprentice¡± as sheughed and talked with her cousin. At the door of the hall, the teenagers arrived and sent their regards to the twins. As the eight sparring-ves kneeled, she did not even give a nce toward ve Huan.


    Her New Year had been colorful. Shangguan Yushi thought of the many tricks they had pulled. They nearly overturned the roof of the Inner Residence. The ¡°Moonhold School¡± killers and apprenticeship was beginning to feel quite old and she lost all interest.


    Shangguan Hongye sent his regards as well, and then he went to the hall, following Shangguan Fei without ncing at ve Huan, seemingly having already forgotten his suggestion.


    Gu Shenwei looked calm and collected, while in fact, he was quite anxious. As time crept slowly by, in the interval between sses, the masters asked for some sparring, and ve Qing did not pick ve Huan.


    Near noontime, the pupils dispersed. Gu Shenwei wasted his time waiting for a reply.


    Even Shangguan Hongye dodged Gu Shenwei, leading the young attendant and running so fast that Gu Shenwei could not even catch up with him.


    It happened again on the second day. Mama Xue started to demand information about the progress, but he could only answer her with, ¡°It¡¯s underway,¡± while he was actually less confident now. If Shangguan Hongye was afraid to manage it, it would all be impossible.


    For three days, things remained the same. Just as Gu Shenwei decided that he would intercept Shangguan Hongye, regardless of the results, what he had been looking forward to finally arrived.


    In the interval between lessons when the masters in the school asked for another sparring, and after ve Qing selected a boy, another order came: ¡°Send ve Huan in.¡±


    ve Qing was astonished. Reluctantly, he pointed to ve Huan. ¡°You, go.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pretended that he was surprised, lowered his head, and went to the hall. He heard ve Qing whispering to him as he passed by, ¡°Don¡¯t risk your neck.¡±


    Gu Shenwei said nothing.


    Now the hall was more crowded than anytime before. As expected, his opponent was Shangguan Yushi, who was surrounded by a visiblyrger audience. Shangguan Ru was their leader.


    However, on the other side, Shangguan Fei, instead of Shangguan Hongye, was the leader.


    Shangguan Hongye must have been too chicken-livered to organize the gambling event, so he had to incite the little master to do it.


    ¡°Well, isn¡¯t he my apprentice?¡±


    Shangguan Yushi suddenly thought of the game she had yedst month as ve Huan was walking into the crowd to face her.


    ¡°That was a joke, please forgive ve Huan for being so loose-lipped, my Ninth Master,¡± Gu Shenwei said after he bowed. Shangguan Yushi sneered inconspicuously.


    Every young pupil had heard of her punishing ve Huan except Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Ru contorted her mouth, ¡°Hmph, you think you¡¯re so great? Teach him a lesson for me, Master Yu.¡±


    ¡°Well, your brother thought the ve could beat me within 10 moves,¡± Shangguan Yushi said with contempt.


    ¡°10 moves?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was astonished at first, but he understood very soon. Shangguan Hongye and Shangguan Fei were too conservative to believe he could do it in three moves, so they added seven moves, which could destroy his n now. If Shangguan Yushi was not infuriated enough, she would reserve herst resort, hence the cracking moves that he had learned from arduous practice would be useless.


    ¡°10 moves are still too many!¡± Shangguan Fei shouted. Though he was a yesman with Shangguan Ru, he wanted to show that he too was great.


    Gu Shenwei spoke in advance before the twins started to quarrel,


    ¡°I yield, we don¡¯t need to fight.¡±


    Hearing this sentence, the pupils were shocked. A ve, whose main responsibility was sparing, refused to spar with the masters? Where did he get his courage?


    Shangguan Fei was more agitated now. ¡°How do you know you will lose even before your fight? I¡¯ve bet plenty of silver on you, don¡¯t you yield now!¡±


    Shangguan Hongye hid himself behind the young master and flushed with anger, shouting, ¡°Are you kidding? You want to rebel?¡±


    Shangguan Yushi did not care and stayed silent with her arms akimbo. But Shangguan Ru was disappointed. ¡°Your Kung Fu is good, you might win!¡± She was worried that she had forgotten on which side she stood.


    Gu Shenwei waited for their voices to settle down and said, ¡°10 moves are too many, I¡¯d like to yield directly. If it were fewer moves, it might be worthwhile topete.¡±


    The pupils were even more shocked. After a brief silence, they all burst intoughter together.


    ¡°This nasty ve is mad,¡± they thought.


    Shangguan Fei turned his head to look at Shangguan Hongye, confused. ¡°What?¡±


    Shangguan Hongye¡¯s face was turning purple now. ¡°ve Huan, will you fight or not? Get out if you can¡¯t.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi was notughing. With her eyebrows raised, she stopped Shangguan Ru from speaking and said, ¡°Well then, you¡¯re keeping your own counsel. In that case, in how many moves do you expect to beat me in?¡±


    ¡°Master Yu is excellent, ve Huan respects that. But I¡¯ve heard someone exining martial arts¡­¡±


    ¡°Save your nonsense. How many moves?¡±


    ¡°Three moves. No more, no less.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi was angry. Before, she had been ready to ept, but now Shangguan Fei was unwilling. ¡°No. I won¡¯t bet three moves. It should be 10.¡±


    Hearing their leader¡¯s words, the pupils behind him wanted out as well. Just before the whole event began to fall apart, someone stepped forward.


    ¡°I¡¯ll bet on ve Huan.¡±


    It was Shangguan Ru who made the deration. Seeing her cousin¡¯s face, she added, ¡°I don¡¯t trust him, I just want to see what tricks he¡¯s ying.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was more influential than Shangguan Fei. Some pupils immediately ¡°betrayed¡± Shangguan Yushi, and so did Shangguan Fei. After a while, the bets were reorganized.


    Shangguan Yushi smiled once her anger had boiled over. Warming up her legs, she said, ¡°Come on, you bastard. Let me see your three moves.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had made it happen. He had infuriated Shangguan Yushi and aroused Shangguan Ru¡¯s interest. Altogether, it was going better than he had predicted.


    Now, it depended on whether his and Mama Xue¡¯s judgment was right.

 Chapter 42

    Chapter 42: Winning and losing


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Though the bet was ¡°ve Huan will beat Master Yu in three moves¡±, Shangguan Yushi rushed to advance her first move, which was not what Gu Shenwei was expecting.


    She lowered her left shoulder. Gu Shenwei thought her move would be ¡°Fierce Thunder¡±, in which she would disguise her two fists while her real attack used her foot. Gu Shenwei chose to break it by leaning his body backward and catching her foot in his hands to throw her back.


    It turned out that Shangguan Yushi was using ¡°Epass the left, brush the right¡±. Both elements of this attack were genuine offences and fast as lightning. Gu Shenwei¡¯s skills were slightly inferior to hers, which almost caused him to lose immediately.


    Thanks to the days he had spent with Maid Lotus, learning to read her moves on the fly, he reacted much faster than before. He waited for the moment and retreated immediately. Though he did not receive her kick, he was totally embarrassed.


    After this, the audience was confused rather than shocked. ve Huan was so presumptuous that they thought he must be keeping his strength under wrap. In fact, he was too weak. The more quick witted among them perhaps thought that ve Huan had tried intentionally to ingratiate Shangguan Yushi after he had been humiliated.


    Shangguan Fei turned his head and red at Shangguan Hongye angrily. Shangguan Hongye was confused, too. His face flushed, he clenched his fists. He wasn¡¯t sure if he wanted to cheer for ve Huan, or just smash him.


    Shangguan Yushi did not give her opponent the chance to have a break. She was wrathful now, deciding to defeat, or even kill the nasty ve in three moves. Before her fists finished, she suddenly jumped up, turned around in the air and tread her feet.


    This move was what Mama Xue expected from the five moves¡ªthe ¡°Heaven Spinning Stroke¡±. Gu Shenwei had already memorized the counter move by heart. The only problem was that after losing the first move, he could not even stand steady. It would be hard for him to deal with it leisurely.


    He should have squatted in the bow stance, letting her fly over, and then borrowed her force to push her away.


    If this move was used correctly, Shangguan Yushi would have flown into the crowd and fell down. But Gu Shenwei moved a split second toote, with an iplete gesture that did not even allow him to touch her. Instead, she was able to grab his arm when she turned around.


    The audience was astonished, thinking ve Huan was out of luck. Shangguan Yushi was always vicious, leaving her opponent without any face. This time she would surely use the move ¡°Splitting Bones And Muscles¡±.


    From there, the scene changed rapidly. It appeared as though ve Huan¡¯s pace was scattered, with his hands waving in the air, and he would fall down at any moment. However, in the next second, it was Master Yu who fell off.


    Gu Shenwei pressed on her arm, and before the master gave his order, he left her, retreating three steps backward, and stood. It meant the fight was over.


    Shangguan Fei and his fellows jumped up excitedly. ¡°We win, we win!¡±


    Though Shangguan Yushi had fallen down, she was not hurt. She pressed her hands down on the floor and sprang up abruptly. She shouted resentfully with her face so red that it seemed it might bleed. ¡°You cheated, three moves again.¡±


    Before Gu Shenwei could speak, Shangguan Fei rushed up to say, ¡°All¡¯s fair in war. Winning is winning, don¡¯t make a scene.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi was furious and stepped forward, waving her fists, wanting to fight with Shangguan Fei. Shangguan Ru rushed between them quickly, splitting them apart, saying, ¡°Wait a minute, it¡¯s still undecided who the winner is!¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? Didn¡¯t she fall down?¡±


    ¡°But in which move?¡±


    This question silenced the people. The fight had unravelled so quickly that no one had seen exactly how many moves ured.


    Shangguan Fei pulled out ve Huan from behind. ¡°Was it the third move? Tell me, was it?¡±


    ¡°No, I beat Master Yu in the fourth move. I lost.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was telling the truth.


    When Shangguan Yushi had grabbed his arms, she used the ¡°Gold-breaking Hand¡±, with both of her hands wringing and winding his arms. Once she finished, Gu Shenwei¡¯s arm would be broken.


    The ¡°Gold-breaking Hand¡± was a vicious move, yet it was included in the five moves Mama Xue selected. Gu Shenwei did not even think, he lowered his head and submerged it beneath his arms, resolving her catenated strength. Afterward, he stood in front of her, using his other hand to grab her chest.


    It was not easy to decypher Golden Roc Fort¡¯s kung fu. But Shangguan Yushi was a girl, and no matter how much her character and clothes looked like a boy, she thought in a girl¡¯s way. Therefore Mama Xue thought of some ¡°vicious moves¡± with this in mind.


    This ¡°chest grabbing¡± caused Maid Lotus to give up and retreat in a muddle during their practice. Gu Shenwei always used just half of this move. Mama Xue scolded them even for this.


    But Shangguan Ru was not Maid Lotus, she knew nothing about it. She was unaware of what was happening as Gu Shenwei turned around and resolved her ¡°Gold-breaking Hand¡±, not to mention this ¡°chest grabbing¡±. She did not even jump backward like Maid Lotus.


    This time Gu Shenwei was unprepared. He had to draw his hand back at the exact moment. But Shangguan Yushi was stunned, so he grabbed her arm from behind his back.


    Shangguan Yushi almost got humiliated because of her mistake. She was so angry that once she reacted, she took a step forward, and used her hand-to-handbat skill, ¡°Ladder Breaking Feet¡±.


    This skill regarded the opponent¡¯s body as adder, grasping the wrist of the opponent, and borrowed his force, kicking him from the head to the feet with enough strength that it could break a bone with every kick.


    Though it was indeed vicious, it was not usable in too many conditions. Mama Xue thought for a long time before listing it in the five moves she had prepared.


    When Shangguan Yushi borrowed the force that had been predicated by Gu Shenwei, he seized the opportunity and chose not to be humble. Before her first kick was finished, with her lower body swaying, he pulled her back and brushed past her. Just before Shangguan Yushi was able to gain a steady stance, Gu Shenwei turned around and pressed her to the ground.


    These moves were so fast and the two fighters were so close that in other¡¯s eyes, it was only one move, while in truth, they had performed a fourth move. Shangguan Ru had seen it clearly.


    The winner became the loser, which brought much controversy. But Gu Shenwei was just a ve, so his yielding would satisfy the crowd. Shangguan Fei red at him, and pushed him away, ¡°No, since they didn¡¯t separate, it was only one move.¡±


    ¡°It was four moves! And it had nothing to do with the separation!¡±


    The twins each stood for opposing sides, arguing with each other even though they had no stake in the matter. Shangguan Ru forgot she was actually in the same gang as her brother as she concentrated on arguing for Shangguan Yushi.


    The twopetitors were separated by a group of noisy puipils. They stood staring at each other, one giving a wooden, inflexible re, while the other was trying hard to calm her own anger.


    Gu Shenwei had reached his aim. It did not matter who won or lost, taking down Shangguan Yushi had surely impressed everyone. Now Shangguan Ru stood at her cousin¡¯s side, but ve Huan would be forced deep into her memory after this.


    There was no end to the arguement between the two groups of pupils. Atst the teacher came, waving his ruler to drive them away into the yard or back to the hall. Finally, the scene settled down.


    ve Qing¡¯s face was ck as he said, ¡°You¡¯re not afraid to die, are you? Since you¡¯re so tough boned, and Master Yu spared youst time, let¡¯s see if you¡¯re so lucky now.¡±


    Gu Shenwei put his head down and kept silent. There was not much fun in being serious with ve Qing. This man did not rank high on his revenge list.


    ¡°Get out! Go to your bandit den!¡±


    ve Qing was so mad that he even treated the Eighth Young Mistress impolitely.


    Gu Shenwei departed, feigning submission. Shangguan Yushi and ve Qing did not want him too close to the Ninth Young Master, but now he was sure that Shangguan Ru would call him back sometime.


    He went to the stone cabin, lying on the Kang, and thought back on what had happened that morning. He had taken a little revenge toward Shangguan Yushi, but it was not enough. Something bigger was hidden inside his mind. Someday, someday he must kill the little devil, and the twins as well.


    Then he thought of killing Shangguan Ru, and he hesitated for moment. But he cooled down at once. His heart was so full of hatred that there was no room for mercy or sympathy.


    The fight brought other issues to deal with. The first one to be mad was Shangguan Hongye, who, before they had a break, ran to the stone cabin because he had not only lost the bet, but also offended Shangguan Fei. He would surely wreak on ve Huan to vent his frustrations.


    ¡°You nasty ve, you cheap boy! You dare to lie to me? I¡¯m going to kill you!¡±


    Shangguan Hongye rolled up his sleeves. Reagardless of how strong this ve¡¯s kung fu might be, a ve was a ve, and the master could beat him whenever he wanted.


    Gu Shenwei did not need Mama Xue to teach him breaking moves in order to deal with Shangguan Hongye, or someone like him. He did not even need to predict the opponent¡¯s moves in advance. He could press and hold him, with his face on the edge of the Kang.


    Shangguan Hongye did not bring his young attendant when he came, which proved to be huge mistake.


    ¡°You, you, you, let go of me!¡±


    Gu Shenwei released his hands and retreated, but kept his cold stare aimed at this bully-looking coward. He had figured out a way to deal with Shangguan Hongye.


    ¡°You dare to beat me?¡± Shangguan Hongye half-squated and half-stood, with his arms on the Kang, and his face full of fright.


    Gu Shenwei fished out a package from his quilt and threw it to Shangguan Hongye. ¡°How much money did you lose? I¡¯ll pay.¡±


    Shangguan Hongye opened the package, giving it a nce. The white and yellow pieces were sparkling inside. It was much more than what he had lost in the bet, but still, a ve paying money to him? He did not know how to respond.


    ¡°This, this was not about the money. The young master said that he would punish me hard, and so did you. He wouldn¡¯t just let it go.¡± Shangguan Hongye held the package tight, speaking in a less angry tone than before.


    Gu Shenwei did not care about the young master. It would not take more than three days before Shangguan Fei forgot about this matter.


    ¡°The yard knew something was lost. They are searching and investigating rigorously.¡±


    Shangguan Hongye was astonished. He was the Supreme King¡¯s own nephew. If it was known that he took the silver pieces from the ves, which were stolen, he would be embarrassed to death.


    He was regretting having ever gotten involved the little intrigue of ve Huan, but he could not bring himself to drop the package.


    ¡°You can have what¡¯s in there and use it as you wish, but remember to save some for me.¡±


    Shangguan Hongye pocketed the package, though it was full to the point of bulging. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± he said. ¡°After I pay the debt, we¡¯ll split the rest fifty-fifty.¡±


    Since he decided that taking care of the money was the first priority, Shangguan Hongye was not so angry toward ve Huan any more. Fearing that he might pull back his words, even before ve Huan asked, he went out of the room so totteringly that he nearly knocked down Elderly Zhang, who wasing inside.


    Elderly Zhang watched the teenager stumble out, shocked. ¡°Isn¡¯t this, isn¡¯t that¡­¡± But many years¡¯ experience of being prudent and cautious made him stop immediately. Heid down the lunch box, and, taking his part, went out of the stone cabin speechless to go eat with his favorite horses in the stable.


    Having fixed one problem did not allow Gu Shenwei to rx. Shangguan Yushi would not leave the matter at that. Sooner orter, she woulde and punish him.

 Chapter 43

    Chapter 43: The truth


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    It was Shangguan Hongye who had encouraged the little master to organize the betting, and Gu Shenwei was very humble during the fight with Shangguan Yushi, even yeilding by himself. This could make Shangguan Yushi feel contempt toward him, thinking he must still be the ve who was humiliated before the Spring Festival and dared not to fight back.


    Gu Shenwei hoped that this was the case.


    If Master Yu asked her attendants to avenge her, it could leave him no choice but to submit himself as he had a month ago. If their contradiction was open to the public, the master would only lose her face, while the ve could lose his life.


    Shangguan Yushi came in the afternoon. She had to be apanied by Shangguan Ru at all times, so it was a little difficult to get out without anyone noticing.


    She did note in aggressively as Shangguan Hongye did. Instead, she ducked into the room like a ghost. She stood silently at the door alone, practically invisible, gazing at ve Huan, who was sitting on the Kang.


    ve Huan, who was waiting for her, was shocked when he looked up.


    No one would doubt Shangguan Yushi¡¯s anger. Her face was so rigid that it looked almost like the stone cabin, and a furious devil seemed hidden in her long, narrow eyes, ready to rush out and attack at any moment.


    Gu Shenwei thought she might say something, so he kept silent and concentrated, not expecting her to fight without saying anything.


    Shangguan Yushi¡¯s eyesight exposed the path of her feet before she made her move. Gu Shenwei rose up, jumped off of the Kang,nding to meet her first move.


    Master Yu was a clever girl, who was smarter than most of the teenagers in the fort. But she had the same weakness as they did: She learned the best Kung Fu, butcked any real fighting experience.


    She used ¡°Fierce Thunder¡±, the move Gu Shenwei had misjudged in the hall, but had no trouble with this time.


    He had already seized the optimal position. He caught her foot lightly in his right hand, and threw Shangguan Yushi backward by the borrowed force.


    Mama Xue had thought of a great way to break the move, and in fact she overestimated Shangguan Yushi. This girl, who was a year younger than Gu Shenwei, did not learn the ever-changing character of the martial arts. She did use her moves correctly, but did not adjust the moves ording to the condition.


    Shangguan Yushi hit the wall, falling down. And then she stumbled to stand up.


    Gu Shenwei had not used too much strength, and she was not hurt. But this could not cover up her failure. Though it seemed like she had won the bet, the truth that she lost after four moves was far more concerning.


    She was not someone who could admit failure easily. As soon as she stood up, she attacked immediately. Move after a move, she swung swiftly and violently. But this time she learned the lesson: swiftness and violence were not ends unto themselves. She attacked steadily and surely, and the next several moves were not in the five moves.


    Gu Shenwei dealt with her cautiously, not wanting to finish it quickly either.


    The two teenagers crossed fist and foot in this narrowly cabined room. They kept silent, neither wanting to admit to being the weaker opponent.


    Gu Shenwei did not have so many breaking moves, and he gradually became the weaker one. Fists and feet were always not the strong points of Gu family¡¯s Kung Fu. During the first dozen years of his life, he did not practice it well, either. Hence he was less forceful than Shangguan Yushi who trained herself hard in the Moonhold Academy.


    And so the saying was right that Master Yu¡¯s Kung Fu was even better than Shangguan Ru, which normally she hid very well. But now she showed them off, trying her utmost to kick the nasty ve down.


    Holding the advantage, Shangguan Yushi was growing fiercer by the moment, which increased the odds that she used one of the five moves. As expected, she exerted ¡°Heaven Spinning Stroke¡± after about thirty moves, but Gu Shenwei did not get the chance to resolve it.


    After several moves more, Shangguan Yushi used ¡°Intensifying Billows and Waves¡±, which was also one of the chosen five moves.


    Among several of those who practice Kung Fu in Golden Roc Fort, this move was trivial. Using two palms to push forward, it came and went straightly. Bur Mama Xue had underlined it, and exined its profoundness to ve Huan and Maid Lotus.


    ¡°Why does one be the superior and another remains amoner, even if they have learned the same move? The difference is that one uses it ¡®flexibly¡¯, while another uses it ¡®mechanically¡¯. Every move in Kung Fu has its own settled pattern, which suggests the enemy is in a specific position. For example, if you use ¡®ck Tiger Heart Prising Movement¡¯, you suggest the enemy is on the opposite side, with his weakness exposed and without any defense. What if the enemy is not there? It will be useless. That¡¯s what using it ¡®mechanically¡¯ means. No matter where the enemy is, or how he defends himself, one only moves continuously without thinking effectively. It¡¯s the same as using a treasured sword to cut the beef, sooner orter, the sword will be broken. However, if you use it flexibly, which means focusing on the momentum, taking the advantage, seducing the enemy to step into the position where you want him to be, and kill him instantly. If you want to use the ¡®Intensifying Billows and Waves¡¯ well, you shall disturb the enemy by a series of tricks, and take the chance when she is in a muddle and cannot keep her lower body steady, to kick her with all your effort. Golden Roc Fort¡¯s Kung Fu is both offensive and defensive. This move is the only one which has no defense, and for this reason you shall make every effort.


    Therefore, when Shangguan Yushi showed a series of tricks, Gu Shenwei guessed she would use the ¡°Intensifying Billows and Waves¡±, which could be divided into two parts, the lower part focusing on the enemy¡¯s body, while the upper one attacking the important acupoint in the breast. No matter which part it was, if Gu Shenwei predicted it correctly, the breaking move was the same.


    If Shangguan Yushi was an experienced superior, then Gu Shenwei could appear as though he were unsteady and fall down, and then she should know there must be something afoot. But she could only see Gu Shenwei attack faintly, which orded with the timing of using the ¡°Intensifying Billows and Waves¡±, so she kicked at once.


    This move meant exerting all her strength, which Shangguan Yushi did. Therefore she could not change in half way through.


    By the time her palms¡¯ gesture had formed, Gu Shenwei had already gotten down on one knee, waiting for her. After she pulled out her palms and found out he had gone, Gu Shenwei¡¯s right elbow was in the middle of pressing into her underbelly.


    There was no need to show mercy. If they kept brawling in this way, he might lose.


    Shangguan Yushi¡¯s body bent like an arch and flew backward, hitting the wall again and dropping down. This time she failed to keep herself steady, and suddenly sat down.


    Gu Shenwei was shocked. He thought he had kicked her too hard, so he stepped up, wanting to check it out. But he retreated back immediately, knowing he must make hay while the sun shines and not appear bby.


    ¡°You want topete again?¡±


    He deliberately made his voice cold and tough, causing Shangguan Yushi to sit on the ground and stare at him with fright in her eyes. She wiped her mouth and immediately put on a ruthless face. ¡°The Eighth Brother will tear you into pieces.¡±


    In this final moment, Shangguan Yushi showed her nature as a prima donna. She would find a more powerful and more influential people to defeat him.


    Gu Shenwei squatted, and gazed into her in the eye. He was going to tell her the ¡°truth¡±, which mostly came from the rumors among the ves of the learning hall, and a little from his own spection. The answer would reveal itself as to whether the little devil could be awed.


    ¡°Of course the Eighth Brother will tear me into pieces, but before that, he may want to know one thing¡ªsomething that is bad for our two masters.¡±


    ¡°What are you driveling on about?¡±


    ¡°Someone in school organized the gambling event to defraud the Shangguan family¡¯s children, in the name of the Ninth Master.¡±


    ¡°That was simply for fun, and no one was defrauding anyone!¡±


    Gu Shenwei ignored Shangguan Yushi¡¯s disputation and carried on. Hereafter, all that came from his lips was all his spection.


    ¡°This person obtains her money, but shares it with no one. The Ninth Childe is so kind and pure that she is unaffected by this. What she doesn¡¯t know is that this person is not gambling for fun, but for her family.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stared at the girl opposite him, unblinking, and observed every tiny change in her face.


    Shangguan Yushi kept silent at first, her cheeks blushing and her shoulders lowered. She seemed ready to attack at anytime. But after keeping this posture for a long time, she suddenly broke.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t me, it was my brother¡­ my mother forced me to get the money¡­ I had no choice¡­¡±


    She spread her feet and cried aloud.


    Gu Shenwei felt shamed. He had relied on his superior, Mama Xue, to help him mercilessly bully a girl who was a year younger than him. Right now this girl did not look like ¡°Master Yu¡± after all.


    ¡°I understand. We¡¯re all in between a rock and hard ce.¡±


    Gu Shenwei used a gentle tone while Shangguan Yushi raised her head up stubbornly, trying to stare at him furiously. She felt tears forcing themselves up behind her eyes, so she lowered her head and suppressed her crying, but found it was no use. All she could do was sobbing, without saying anything.


    ¡°I¡¯m just a ve who was trying to please my master, and I¡¯ll always be a ve however hard I work. It¡¯s my destiny. And your family name is Shangguan, which is also your fate. We won¡¯t interfere with each other¡¯s business. Isn¡¯t that right?¡±


    Gu Shenwei spoke cautiously. Shangguan Yushi¡¯s character was just like her name. Her name, ¡°Yushi,¡± meant ¡°Time of the rain¡±, but no one knew just when that time woulde, and when it did, whether it would sprinkle or storm.


    The crying girl stood up and forcefully wiped her face, concealing her inappropriate emotion atst. ¡°I¡¯lle back.¡±


    Hearing these threatening words, Gu Shenwei was actually rxed. Such an empty threat usually meant an armistice, at least temporarily.


    ¡°ve Huan¡¯s life is in your hand,¡± Gu Shenwei answered humbly. He could never achieve a clear contract with Shangguan Yushi, but this was enough.


    Shangguan Yushi grunted and left the room. Then she turned around at the door and said, ¡°What happened today¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­will remain a secret. If I leak a single word, may I be struck by lightning, and never reincarnate.¡±


    Gu Shenweipleted her thought before she could. There was nothing easier than making a pledge.


    Shangguan Yushi was not very satisfied. Things had not ended her way. But still, she left, saying nothing.


    Gu Shenwei exhaled deeply. It was too tiring dealing with this little devil. Compared to her, Shangguan Hongye was truly an idiot.


    He had won in this round, but he knew it was clear that this would not be the final round. He had to prepare for her revenge, which would certainly be more vicious next time.


    But during this armistice, he could make Shangguan Ru fall in love with being a killer again. Only when he hid behind this energetic girl could he reach the core secret of Golden Roc Fort.

 Chapter 44

    Chapter 44: Practice


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The rtionship between Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Yushi became very subtle. As it appeared, one of them was a master, while another was a ve; one stood high, the other kept a low profile. But when no one was paying attention, they looked at each other with deep hatred.


    They did not fight publicly anymore, as their battle was now fought through the Ninth Young Master, Shangguan Ru. After all, they had the same purpose: ttering Supreme King¡¯s favorite girl.


    Gu Shenwen became the most weed sparring boy again. Every morning he followed the twins, ying everywhere and using every chance he could speak to try to imbue the idea to Shangguan Ru that one had to be a killer first so that she could learn the best Kung Fu of Gloden Roc Fort.


    The idea was just what Shangguan Ru thought. She was only twelve after the festival, not qualified to take part in the family issues, so she was curious about the killer as well as others.


    Gu Shenwei thought everything was going ording to his n, but he was toote, because it was Shangguan Yushi instead of him whopleted the task of encouragement.


    After the first lunar month, the atmosphere of the new year had been wiped out. In the next morning, as soon as they came to the learning hall, Shangguan Ru stood on the step and called on all the attendants who belonged to her, her brother and Shangguan Yushi. Altogether they were about twenty-five people, and then she dered,


    ¡°Follow me, boys and girls, let¡¯s y a game.¡±


    Gu Shenwei saw Shangguan Yushi smilingly pat her cousin on the shoulder to show her support and approvement. He knew then it must be her idea.


    Though Gu Shenwei was surprised, he wanted to see the result. Yet ve Qing, as the leader of these attendants, felt troublesome. Because the Ninth Master¡¯s ¡°game¡± was always dangerous, and most of them were unavable to him.


    But this time, he thought it was out of the line for three masters to bring the attendants to the East Castle. ¡°Was thest time¡¯s expedition not enough? And they were going to break through?¡± ve Qing ran to the front of the team, trying to find Shangguan Yushi to ask her to persuade Shangguan Ru to stop this. Yet when he reached the front, he saw the Eastern Castle open its gate widely, seeming to wee this team.


    ve Qing was frozen. He was only in his thirties and despite a few masters he had served, he had seen no one being spoiled like the twins. They could even get adder-holder when they wanted to grab the star.


    If other Young Masters did this when they were young, the ves would scold them and told them to focus on practicing Kung Fu. The teachers of the Moonhold Academy were absolutely stronger than the training tutors of the Eastern Castle. When his Kung Fu was superior to a normal killer, and qualified to be named as Young Master, then he could enter into the Eastern Castle. He could choose his own subordinates as a master there instead of being an apprentice.


    The twins were terribly spoiled.


    ve Qing shook his head ceaselessly, like a wringing dog, without hearing the sneer of the pupils from behind.


    Most of the young attendants went to the Eastern Castle for the first time. They were exciting and nervous, hoping to find something exotic, which they could boast of after they went back.


    But they disappointed this time. The Eastern Castle was not different from any other ce: the same crisscrossed alleys, countless yards. The only difference was that no one was here. A long time had passed, yet they saw no one. They seemed to be walking in a deserted town.


    But this ¡°town¡± was very clean. No snow could be found in the path, and the door was closed tightly. The high door head was carved with ancient characters, like pairs of cold eyes, surveilling the intruders.


    When the excitement fell away, the horror spread among the attendants, especially as the two young masters were leading them to go farther and farther. Someone even started a rumor that the destination was Reincarnation Cliff.


    In Golden Roc Fort, Reincarnation Cliff had much more of a reputation than the Ghost Cliff. The ves who grew up in the fort never hearing of Firewood Yard knew Reincarnation Cliff, because they thought all of the killers would be thrown to the abyss in this cliff, and blessed Gloden Roc Fort with another life form in another world. It was said that even in the daytime, there were ghosts wandering around Reincarnation Cliff.


    Seeing the cliff at the end of the alley, ve Qing was frightened, his legs twitching and shivering. He could only move with the teenagers next to him. He quavered, ¡°My masters, you should not go on, it¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°Reincarnation Cliff, why shall we stop?¡±


    Shangguan Ru spoke peacefully as she turned around.


    The ominous rumor had been proved true. This bunch of people acted the same as ve Qing. They huddled together, not intending to go step further.


    ¡°This is an experiment.¡± Shangguan Ru predicated their reaction, ¡°Those who are brave enough,e with me. Other cowards, go out of the East Castle.¡±


    Most of them proved to be cowards. They exhaled with relief. But Shangguan Ru had not finished. ¡°Go out of the Eastern Castle, and don¡¯t im yourselves as our attendants. Find yourselves a new master.¡±


    Shangguan Fei, who was too timid to be close to Reincarnation Cliff before the festival, now was feeling bold, too. He stood on his sister¡¯s side, and spoke loudly,


    ¡°The people who were buried in Reincarnation Cliff were the elites of Golden Roc Fort. The killers, including my father and I, will be buried here. Does anyone loathe this ce?¡±


    After these words, those who had drawn back now went a step forward. Bearing a name of ¡°deserter¡± in Golden Roc Fort? They could hardly get on with life, let alone find a new master. The two masters had the temper of children, and heavy hands, though, they were beloved by Lord, they would have a boundless future. Since serving them was leisure and sometimes could have some reward, it would be foolish to leave them.


    Especially ve Qing, Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Fei might be thest two masters he could serve. He would have to work doubly as hard to earn a prestigious upation after the masters grew up.


    No one turned back. They ventured to walk into Reincarnation Cliff, wearing the formidable faces.


    The oue they were all most frightened of did not happen. Shangguan Ru did not aim at Reincarnation Cliff.


    At the end of the alley, there was a giant stone on the southern part, which was about a 34 centimeter distance from the wall, allowing only one person to pass through once at a time. But when entered, the ce revealed itself as an extensive semicircr space.


    The west of this area was a high wall of a yard, with the stone in the north and the cambered cliff in the west, which straighten suddenly in the south.


    Though this cliff was close to Reincarnation Cliff, they were separated by the giant stone. Alongside the cliff, there was an iron chain around the border, which made it much safer. The attendants were less frightened. They were amazed and wondered how their two masters found this ce.


    Gu Shenwei was puzzled, too. Last time they hade here, no one found this ce. After observing it carefully, he found the iron chains and the stone pirs were still new. Apparently, they were installed in recent days, and the floor was cleaned, with no macadam here, as if were polished.


    It must have been the Supreme King who gave the order to clear this ce and give it to the twins.


    Gu Shenwei used to be spoiled in his own home, but not like this. The twins were free to do anything, and got whatever they wanted.


    Gu Shenwei felt somehow jealous. The spoilt twins reminded him how great his life could have been. Meanwhile, it strengthened his conviction, making him indulge in his thoughts. He contemted on the emense pain the Supreme King would feel be when he killed the twins.


    But he restrained himself quickly, acted like the others, and sighed with admiration.


    The twins and Shangguan Yushi looked at their ves proudly. As they settled down, Shangguan Ru told them the content of their new game.


    ¡°Look, I want to choose some potential candidates among you, and raise one as killer.¡±


    Shangguan Fei interrupted, ¡°And me, I will raise a killer, too.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and so will master Yu. We three will be the demasters, and the best of you will be our killers¡±


    The public was relieved. It was just a game of ¡°fake killer¡±. As they were protected by the twins, they could do whatever they wanted in the fort, and there would be no danger. Besides, if these masters were so excited, maybe some of them could be rewarded a real killer¡¯s name, which was a fantastic bargain. So the attendants rushed up to enroll. Even ve Qing, who pushed and shoved in the throng, imed he was keeping order while in fact he was standing in the front of the line.


    But some of them tittered in private, ¡°The twins will be the ¡®Young Master¡¯, yet they lower themselves to be a so-called ¡® demaster ¡®, how childish!¡±


    Actually, the three ¡°demasters¡± were happy, and began to vie for their own ¡°killers¡±.


    Gu Shenwei set his heart at rest. It was just a game, but, if he guessed it right, the twins must have learned many killing skills in the Moonhold Academy, which could help him anyhow. In addition, Shangguan Ru would be fond of him in the game. No one could bepared with him among these teenagers.


    He began to think it could y out quite nicely. The only thing he neglected was that Shangguan Yushi could never let him contact Shangguan Ru very frequently.


    At the beginning of picking up ¡°killers¡±, Shangguan Yushi asked for ve Huan, saying, ¡°We¡¯ve agreed, whoever asks for someone first gets him. No shameless tricks!¡±


    The twins professed their vexation effusively. ve Huan, it was clear, was the best of the attendants. Once he was snatched up, Shangguan Fei reacted quickly and asked for another teenager who skilled in Kung Fu. Shangguan Ru was left no choice. She gazed around and chose her ¡°killers¡± atst.


    Gu Shenwei had to hide his vexation deeply. He was still fighting with Shangguan Yushi, and he lost another round.


    They finished very quickly. Three ¡°demasters¡± chose three ¡°killers¡± for their own, and let ve Qing take away the others.


    ve Qing brought the others back, sighing and groaning, for he was not chosen. However, he knew no Kung Fu at all. He even dared not to see someone be killed.


    The three teams of ¡°killers¡± each selected a ce to train. Shangguan Yushi upied the north area near the giant stone, while Shangguan Ru was in the middle area, and Shangguan Fei in the south.


    Shangguan Yushi stared coldly at her three men. She gave her order as the training: carrying the wooden weapon back.


    Gu Shenwei understood it.


    Shangguan Ru was not even thinking about raising a ¡°killer¡±. She just asked them to do countless tasks: carrying the wooden swords or sabers, taking the Kung Fu books, bringing back the tea and towels, anything that could keep them away from her for a while.


    In this way, Gu Shenwei could learn nothing, but worse, he lost the opportunity to get close to Shangguan Ru.


    The other boys were d to do it. They were meant to y with their masters, and their jobs were doing these chores, while practicing and enduring hardship would be too tough for them. So they dallied over these things deliberately. If possible, they would avoid being there the whole day.


    The twins treated this game seriously, having learned many killers¡¯ stunts recently, so they forced the subordinate teenagers to practice them hard. Theints could be heard everywhere. They envied Shangguan Yushi¡¯s subordinates.


    After several days, things were getting worse.


    When there was no chore to be arranged, Shangguan Yushi asked them to guard outside, calling it ¡°secret post¡±, which was the requisite skill of a killer.


    Gu Shenwei had met with the inevitable obstacles. This jealous girl was much more stubborn than the giant stone.

 Chapter 45

    Chapter 45: Wall Climbing


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Shangguan Yushi tried everything to prevent ve Huan from getting close to the twins. The ve boy could not solve this problem with his powerful kung fu. He had to think of another way to get closer to the twins.


    Fortunately, the twins¡¯ enthusiasm for the killer training game did not diminish over time. Shangguan Ru announced that she would hold a contest for the three killer teams after a month from now.


    Gu Shenwei thought this was a chance for him to regain Shangguan Ru¡¯s favor.


    To achieve that goal, he needed to know in advance about what kind of program that the young masters would choose for the contest and to make preparations for it. He felt that he had to be extra careful about this matter because Shangguan Yushi was also involved in making decisions about the contents of thepetition.


    The day after when Shangguan Ru had dered that she would hold a contest, Gu Shenwei seized an opportunity to meet Shangguan Hongye again.


    The moment Shangguan Hongye noticed ve Huan from afar, he sent his young attendant away. He walked to the ve boy alone and greeted him with a nod.


    ¡°Do me a favor,¡± Gu Shenwei said straight away.


    Shangguan Hongye was rather disappointed that the ve boy did not bring him anything valuable this time. ¡°Do you want me to organize a gambling game again? I can¡¯t do that again. Master Yu nearly discovered that it was me who organized the gambling gamest time. I can¡¯t afford to offend her,¡± Master Hongye grumbled.


    ¡°No. It¡¯s easy this time. You just need to inquire about whatpetition program Master Ru chooses for the contest that will be held in a month.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, I almost forgot that you¡¯re selected as a ¡®killer¡¯ now. Are you feeling anxious about the contest? I¡¯m sorry, I can¡¯t help you. Master Ru won¡¯t talk to me.¡±


    ¡°Master Fei must know something about it.¡±


    ¡°Come on, I made him lose moneyst time. He hates my guts.¡±


    ¡°Okay, never mind. Return the package to me. I¡¯ll ask someone else for help.¡±


    Shangguan Hongye¡¯s face changed as he looked around. He dragged ve Huan to a secluded spot against a wall. ¡°Are you insane? All right. I promise to help you one more time. We had agreed to a 50/50 split of the money, but now I want it all.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, okay. It¡¯s not a big deal. I can do it again.¡±


    Upon hearing that, Shangguan Hongye immediately approached the ve boy and whispered next to his ear, ¡°If you obtain some valuable goods again, I can help you exchange them for silver and keep hold of it for you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei smiled without giving an answer. He turned around to walk away, and within a few steps, he stopped and looked back to remind Shangguan Hongye. ¡°Quickly inquire about the matter. I want to know as soon as possible.¡±


    After that, he went to visit Mama Xue to ask for her help.


    ¡°Master Ru will hold a contest after a month. If I can win thepetition, the twins will think highly of me. They¡¯ll probably ask Shangguan Yushi to give me back to them. Or they¡¯ll consider me their strongest ¡®opponent¡¯. As long as I can win the game, they¡¯ll favor me again. However, I¡¯m not confident in myself because I haven¡¯t made any progress in my Internal Strength recently¡­¡±


    Mama Xue sat in a chair as she examined the humble teenager in front of her. ¡°You¡¯re smart. Sometimes I think that you¡¯re even smarter than ve Yao. Maybe you¡¯re too smart. I have to keep an eye on you.¡±


    ¡°I wholeheartedly work for Mama Xue and Miss Luo. I only hope that one day, Mama Xue and Miss Luo will help me avenge my father¡¯s death. Most importantly, Mama Xue, you have the ability to kill me at any time.¡±


    He had told Mama Xue that his father was Yang Zheng, who was actually an old servant of his family.


    He had secretly pressed on his Xuanji acupoint in his chest several times and felt a burning sensation there, which kept growing stronger over time. Since Mama Xue had stopped helping him improve his internal strength, he had been stuck at the second level of his Yin and Yang Strength. At first, he had thought that he only needed more practice, but gradually he came to realize that it was Mama Xue¡¯s interference that stopped him from making any progress in his Internal Strength.


    ¡°So you know your ce. That¡¯s good, that¡¯s good.¡± Mama Xue said repeatedly, without giving him an answer.


    The next night, Mama Xue came up with a solution to the ve boy¡¯s problem. She ordered Maid Lotus to spend two hours each night training ve Huan. The girl who had practiced kung fu with him in the past now became his teacher.


    Although Maid Lotus appeared unfriendly to the ve boy, she still followed Mama Xue¡¯s order to teach him everything she had learned during the day, such as fist fighting techniques, saber skills, Lightness Skill and hidden weapons. Gu Shenwei found out that he could master all these kung fu skills except for the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s Internal Strength. It was true that anyone who had learned another kind of Internal Strength would be unable to practice Golden Roc Fort¡¯s Internal Strength.


    Gu Shenwei received his killer training from Maid Lotus at night and continued to serve Shangguan Yushi during daytime. As an unfavored servant of the young master, he followed her orders toplete many small and trivial tasks.


    He anxiously waited for Shangguan Hongye¡¯s reply. He was eager to know what Shangguan Yushi thought his greatest weakness was.


    Half a month passed. Shangguan Hongye had not acquired any information. It was not his fault, as Shangguan Ru herself had not yet decided on thepetition program.


    When another six or seven days had passed, Shangguan Hongye hastily gave ve Huan a slip of paper. He had finished his task.


    Two words were written on the paper: wall climbing.


    Gu Shenwei was confused about it. ¡°Wall climbing?¡± However, the next moment, he quickly realized that it was a Lightness Skill match.


    Shangguan Yushi had discovered that ve Huan¡¯s weakest point was his Lightness Skill.


    The Gu family¡¯s kung fu featured firm steps and steady moves. The family¡¯s Lightness Skill was only just so-so, and thus Lightness Skill became Gu Shenwei¡¯s weakest point. Shangguan Yushi had easily noticed this shoring of the ve boy since she had watched him fight on many asions.


    There were only seven or eight days left before the contest. Gu Shenwei exined the situation to Mama Xue and spent all the remaining days practicing Lightness Skill and wall climbing skills, hoping to make up for his shoring during these few days.


    As a beginner in Lightness Skill, he could not rapidly improve his Lightness Skill without a strong Internal Strength. Given that, Mama Xue finally agreed to help him practice Yin and Yang Strength again.


    During the month, the twins abandoned their studies and concentrated on training their ¡°killers¡±. Gu Shenwei and the other eight teenagers were authorized to enter the restricted area of Golden Roc Fort and had to go to Giant Rock Cliff in East Castle every morning to check in. However, every morning after the check-in, Shangguan Yushi would send her three ¡°killers¡± away on some ¡°sentry duties¡±.


    Finally, it was the day of the contest. All the students skipped school to watch the match. For most students, this was their first time entering East Castle. They were thrilled in the beginning but then felt a little bit disappointed after entering the ce. They all became restless while approaching Reincarnation Cliff, but when they arrived at Giant Rock Cliff, they all felt excited again and simultaneously praised that it was such a nice ce.


    Thepetition program was wall climbing, just as Shangguan Hongye had informed ve Huan.


    There was a stone wall in the west of the cliff, which was more than 10 meters high. No one understood why Golden Roc Fort built such a high wall near a cliff.


    Nine red silk flowers were ced on the top of the wall. The contestants were asked to climb up the wall as fast as possible to snatch the flowers. The one who picked the most flowers would be the winner.


    This contest did not look like a match between killers, but it was visually pleasing and easy to understand for the audience.


    The three ¡°demasters¡± were not included among the contestants. Only their nine ¡°killers¡± would climb the wall to snatch the flowers.


    It was Shangguan Fei¡¯s idea. The young master would never want to be defeated by his sister and cousin in front of the public, and he would feel even more humiliated if some servants also outshone him.


    However, some children of the Shangguan family, who had received training in the Moonhold Academy, were not satisfied with this arrangement and demanded to join thepetition. At their urging, five more contestants were added to the game. Now there were 14 contestants preparing to scramble for the nine red flowers.


    The three ¡°demasters¡± were the judges, and ve Qing was responsible for keeping order. As long as the twins were safe, he would be willing to take part in any game together with them.


    Among Shangguan Yushi¡¯s three ¡°killers¡±, only ve Huan could climb up the wall. The other two teenagers, who had learned nothing during the past month, dug their fingers into some cracks of the wall but still failed to lift their feet off the ground. Shortly after the beginning of the contest, they admitted defeat embarrassedly and went back to their ¡°demaster¡± with red faces to ept the punishment. Shangguan Yushi immediately sent them out on ¡°sentry duties¡±. The audience found this scene very funny and burst intoughter.


    Shangguan Yushi did not mind the crowd¡¯s mockery. Her eyes remained fixed on ve Huan.


    Gu Shenwei jumped much higher than all the other contestants in the beginning. He worried that the five children surnamed Shuangguan would be his strong rivals since they might have learned some advanced kung fu skills in the Moonhold Academy. However, soon he found out that his worry waspletely unnecessary. These five children probably just joined this game for fun. They could not evenpete with Shangguan Fei¡¯s ¡°killers¡±. All of the five children became scared and started to cry after climbing up less than seven meters. Three of them fell down and the other two climbed down by themselves, which prompted another round ofughter.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s ¡°killers¡± outshone Shangguan Ru¡¯s ¡°killers¡± in kung fu, but Shangguan Ru had trained her teenagers well over the past month. Now, the six teenagers closely followed Gu Shenwei as they crawled toward the flowers like nimble geckos.


    Gu Shenwei snatched the first red flower. A great cheer went up from the crowd. He felt that a hand was trying to grasp his ankle and kicked it off without mercy. The next moment, someone fell down while screaming.


    After that, the remaining six teenagers all made to the top of the wall. They drew out their wooden sabers to fight each other.


    Gu Shenwei was adept at saber skills. He did not need to resort to using his killing desire this time and easily defeated all his opponents. During the fight, the teenagers fell off the wall one after another. Two of them even fell into the ce on the other side of the wall and spent quite a while limping back to Giant Rock Cliff.


    Gu Shenwei discovered that the six teenagers had not improved very much after having trained for one month. He felt lucky that he had overestimated them and for taking this chance to ask Mama Xue to help him improve his Yin and Yang Strength.


    He obtained seven red flowers in the end. While he was fighting with the others, another teenager grabbed two red flowers and hastily jumped off the wall. He was not injured, since some of the audience managed to catch him in time.


    Gu Shenwei stuck his wooden saber back into his belt and slowly climbed down the wall with the red flowers. His Lightness Skill was not good enough to ensure his safety when he jumped from somewhere more than 10 meters high.


    The first person he looked at when hended was Shangguan Ru.


    Master Ru was also staring at him. Although her ¡°killers¡± failed to gain any flowers, she did not seem angry at all. Normally, she would lose her temper from only a little frustration.


    Gu Shenwei turned to Shangguan Yushi and gave the flowers to her, his ¡°demaster¡±.


    ¡°Master Yu, my demaster, I picked them for you.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi was extremely disappointed and furious at this moment, but she masked her feelings very well. She did not ept the red flowers.


    ¡°Keep them. They¡¯re yours,¡± she said coolly, with both hands behind her back.


    Shangguan Yushi seemed to admit defeat and gave up on trying to drive ve Huan away, which made Gu Shenwei be more vignt against her.


    The ¡°killer training¡± was over. Shangguan Ru fired the useless ¡°killers¡± and only kept ve Huan and another two teenagers. She told the three teenagers that the ¡°demasters¡± were going to form an elite team together with them.


    ¡°They think I only did this for fun. I¡¯ll give them a big surprise.¡±


    Today was the first day of this elite killer team. Now only the six members of the team remained at Giant Rock Cliff.


    ¡°We¡¯re the strongest children in Golden Roc Fort. Compared to us, those apprentices in Carvewood Academy are just rubbish,¡± Shangguan Ru said solemnly and mystically.


    She paused a moment to look at Shangguan Fei. She felt that he could not meet her criteria but she could not drive her brother away.


    ¡°Killers can¡¯t just y games. We should carry out our duty.¡±


    Her tone became more mysterious. She was not influenced by anyone this time. It was all her idea.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to organize an assassination,¡± she announced.

 Chapter 46

    Chapter 46: Assassination


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Shangguan Ru wanted to hold an ¡°assassination¡± in Golden Roc Fort, but she had not decided on the target.


    The n sounded childish and impractical. Except for Shangguan Yushi, who supported Shangguan Ru without reservation, the others were somewhat inclined to give up on her n.


    Shangguan Ru widened her eyes and said aggressively, ¡°No retreat for killers. If they don¡¯t move forward, they die.¡±


    It sounded scary. Though everyone knew that Shangguan Ru would not kill anyone, they also knew that great suffering woulde if they disobeyed her. Therefore, they all pretended to be cheerful and began to discuss the first target for assassination.


    Gu Shenwei kept silent, as he did not want to aggravate Shangguan Yushi. The jealous girl would not easily forgive him. Therefore, the only thing he could do was to not offer her any excuse.


    The first victim of the ¡°assassination¡± game was ve Qing. Nobody knew who originated the proposal, but all of them agreed with it. Shangguan Yushi intentionally warned her three ¡°killers¡±. ¡°If you dare to report our n, you¡¯ll bebeled a traitor. How shall we punish the traitor?¡±


    ¡°Expel them from the fort and hack their body with 100 des.¡± Shangguan Fei scrambled to answer. It was the family motto of Golden Roc Fort, and he was quite familiar with it.


    ¡°Right. Don¡¯t show mercy to the traitors.¡± Shangguan Ru stressed her tone.


    They were not afraid that their bodies would be ¡°hacked with 100 des¡±. It would be more miserable for them simply to be banished from the fort. The three ¡°killers¡± immediately swore to heaven that they would not divulge the secret. Gu Shenwei was good at making such pledges, as he only needed to slightly change the pledge he had made to Luo Ningcha.


    By dawn on the fourth day, it was proved that no one had divulged the secret.


    ve Qing lived on the periphery of West Castle, where most of the adult servants¡¯ houses were gathered. He would go out at dawn, walk through a deep alley, and meet his twockeys at the alley entrance to head for the school together.


    The six people were divided into three teams, led by the twins and Shangguan Yushi respectively. They had tailed ve Qing for three days and learned his daily routine.


    Gu Shenwei still followed Shangguan Yushi.


    Though Master Yu was absent-minded in training others, she did not neglect her own kung fu practice. With the great improvement in her lightness skill, she intended topete with ve Huan. Gu Shenwei had to maintain his mindfulness at all times so that he could catch up with her in the chaos of the curving alleys.


    ve Qing did not find himself being ¡°spied on¡±. As a family servant of Golden Roc Fort, he had lived in this ce full of killers since he was a child. The advantage of living in Golden Roc Fort was that he did not need to be worried about the assassination, because attacking sneakily in Golden Roc Fort was like showing off ipetence before experts. It was impossible no matter how they nned.


    Shangguan Ruposed the n for the ¡°assassination¡±. Shangguan Fei would lead the three ¡°killers¡± to ambush at the entrance to the alley, lest ve Qing¡¯s twockeys ruin their n. Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi would be responsible for the assassination.


    Although it was just a game, the teenagers felt nervous and excited from the bottoms of their hearts. Shangguan Fei almost ruined the n by chirping with excitement.


    The ¡°assassination¡± went smoothly. The four of them at the entrance could not see the situation inside, but heard a heartrending cry. The twockeys, who came to meet with ve Qing every morning, also heard it. The twockeys trembled with fear and almost fell to the ground. Then they ran towards the alley, but just ran two or three steps before they looked at each other and changed their minds. They eventually ran back to their homes in panic and no longer showed up for the rest of the day.


    The two girls, having seeded in the ¡°assassination¡±, jumped and rushed out of the alley, like two little deer who had just learned how to run. They glowed with joy, with the corners of their mouths jiggling, as if they were suppressing crazyughter with all their strength.


    The others retreated at full speed and returned to their own identity.


    ve Qing was frightened indeed. Though the saberin on his neck was wooden, he felt as though he was standing before the gates of hell. His face was green for the next three days and, he became paranoid. If he heard a voice behind his back, he would jump in fright.


    ve Qing became aughingstock in the fort. However, three dayster, when things went back to normal, he was even proud of himself, as it seemed an honor for him to be the first target of the assassination. He thought it was a miracle that he could survive.


    ve Qing vividly described the sneak attack, as if he had kept hisposure at that moment and had watched the whole process from the back. ¡°She made a deft move, like a celestial being who showed up. When the saber shed down, I froze up. I had felt that something was wrong, but I was still stunned when I saw the saber. You can¡¯t imagine such swordsmanship could be disyed by a child of little more than 10 years old.¡±


    ve Qing severely punished his twockeys who had note to save him. He intended to dispatch the twockeys to do the most unpleasant work, such as looking after the dead in Firewood Yard. However, he was persuaded by the teenager¡¯s parents to forgive them.


    The twins became famous for their assassination. They expanded the range of their ¡°assassination¡± targets, including even demasters and young masters of Golden Roc Fort.


    Only the first ¡°assassination¡± caused an unexpected effect. Later operations were like games in which the two sides cooperated with each other. Their targets, who had their ways of knowing the twins¡¯ n in advance, would pretend to have no idea of it. Some of them would intentionally walk alone to give them the chance.


    Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi spected there was a hidden traitor in their team, but they could not find the evidence. Gu Shenwei knew that Master Yu was eager to frame him for betrayal. Therefore, he became more careful. He just reported what had already happened and would not speak more, even to Mama Xue.


    Mama Xue, of course, did not care about the children¡¯s game and even showed a little contempt. Nevertheless, she was satisfied that ve Huan had be the core of the organization built by the twins, so she continued to help him improve his Internal Strength.


    Mama Xue¡¯s Iron Finger was still stiff. Gu Shenwei understood clearly that every Internal Breath she transferred was not only a good medicine for improving Internal Strength, but was also a poison that caused qigong deviation. Nevertheless, he enjoyed it, as his Internal Strength increased rapidly.


    The next ¡°assassination¡± was in full swing. With Supreme King¡¯s acquiescence, no one dared to call the game off. But not every target was as kind as ve Qing. The twins were chased by the old teacher at school for a dozen days, and after that, they did not dare to go to school for a long time.


    Several demasters with high status would not behave like humble servants. They could find those teenagers¡¯ tricks without any warning. Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi were almost caught several times, while Shangguan Fei and the other two ¡°killers¡± were not spared from capture. Gu Shenwei did not get caught, with the help of the kung fu Mama Xue had taught him. Even so, there were two times that he barely escaped.


    Though they hardly realized it, the six teenagers¡¯ kung fu was improving substantially. The ¡°assassination¡± game seemed more effective than the traditional teaching.


    However, Shangguan Ru became increasingly demanding. After a month, she ¡°fired¡± the two ¡°killers¡± who always dragged their feet. Now four people were left, with Gu Shenwei as the only servant.


    Shangguan Fei could not meet Shangguan Ru¡¯s requirements, but it was difficult for Shuangguan Ru to ¡°fire¡± her elder brother. Each time Shangguan Fei used their mother as the shield, Shangguan Ru could onlypromise with him.


    Nevertheless, Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi began to add a new part to the game. They tried their best to shake off Shangguan Fei, as they became more confident and no longer needed helpers.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s kung fu was weaker than the two of them, so they could easily shake him off. Gu Shenwei had lost their tracks several times. He even suspected that it was Shangguan Yushi who came up with this idea to deal with him.


    In fact, this was an opportunity for Gu Shenwei to obtain Shangguan Fei¡¯s trust by using theirmon experience, but he made up his mind to follow the two girls.


    Gu Shenwei made this decision because of hispetitive mentality. The more tricks Shangguan Yushi yed, the more he wanted to defeat her. The decision also had a utilitarian purpose. Obviously, Shangguan Ru had higher status than Shangguan Fei, so to gain her favor would be helpful, not only for Mama Xue¡¯s mysterious n, but also for his future revenge.


    Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi always shook the other two off unexpectedly. They had their own way ofmunicating, which the others could not understand. One moment, they would be walking and then suddenly take to their heels. It was hard for the other two to catch up with them, because the two girls were adept at lightness skills.


    Gu Shenwei treated it as a test and kept his eye on the two girl¡¯s every movement. After several attempts, he had a basic grasp on the two girls¡¯ non-verbal code. An eye contact, a flick of a finger or a random pause would be the signs for ¡°shaking their partners off¡±.


    Gu Shenwei practiced lightness skills day and night. After several embarrassing failures, he finally could catch up with the two girls, and entered their firm coterie. No matter how hard Shangguan Yushi tried, she could not shake him off.


    Shangguan Ru was d for his participation. Shangguan Yushi was her close friend, sister, and adviser, but the distinctive servant was her opponent. With herpetitive personality, she liked to have an equal opponent.


    The three of them spent lots of time visiting almost half of Golden Roc Fort, searching for the best ces for ¡°assassinations¡±. Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi knew quite a few killer skills. Half in practice and half showing off, they taught them all to the sticky little servant.


    Gu Shenwei took this chance to probe into every cranny of the fort. Finally, he ascertained that his missing elder sister was not within those walls.


    They became bolder and bolder. One time, they even tried to ¡°assassinate¡± the Eighth Young Master, Shangguan Nu.


    At that time, Gu Shenwei was roughly familiar with his enemy¡¯s kung fu. Shangguan Nu was able to detect the intentions of the three tricksters, but he did not show it until they made the first move. Then he captured all of them.


    This was a crushing defeat. It was the first time that none of the three ¡°killers¡± had escaped since the assassination game started.


    As the Eighth Young Master¡¯s servant, Gu Shenwei had to kneel down and kowtow for mercy, while the two girls behaved in a spoiled manner and asked their target to apologize to them instead.


    Shangguan Nu sincerely seemed to like his youngest sister and even showed a different side. He not only apologized to his sister, but even offered a rare smile while disying his iron hook to please the two girls.


    The severed right hand was Shangguan Nu¡¯s greatest shame. Usually, if someone so much as casts it a nce, they might be killed by him.


    Gu Shenwei became a bit anxious. He wanted to maintain his hatred for Shangguan Nu. In his mind, this man with one hand was the most evil creature in the world. Therefore, he did not want to see the Eighth Young Master¡¯s softhearted side.


    After they failed to ¡°assassinate¡± Shangguan Nu, Shangguan Ru called the game off for a while and went back to school.


    Several dayster, after the ¡°assassination¡± restarted, Gu Shenwei unexpectedly found himself as the ¡°target¡±. This time, however, they did not just y for fun.

 Chapter 47

    Chapter 47: Mine


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The twins began getting weary of the ¡°assassination¡± game. When they returned to school, it was early summer. Lush green moss came out from the crevice of the rocks and the rich fragrance of unknown flowers permeated the air in Golden Roc Fort.


    Gu Shenwei did not know why Mama Xue became so impatient. She kept forcing ve Huan to try his best to tter Shangguan Ru until he could follow her into Inner Residence. This was the first time Mama Xue had put forward a definite aim.


    Gu Shenwei could only promise that he would do as she said. As an attendant, he knew it was quite difficult for him to enter Inner Residence. Most of time Shangguan Ru led him to y for fun, and treated him like her ordinary friend. However, when she was tired, she would return to being the young master and enter the red door, which divided their status. Masters of Golden Roc Fort and their henchman were inside while their reliable servant could only stay outside.


    Gu Shenwei was tasked with cleaning Giant Rock Cliff every day.


    Giant Rock Cliff now became a base for the twins. As the time passed, the interstices of the stone wall and the hidden caves under the boulder were full of various gadgets. The items, such as wooden weapons, small target butts, ropes, gs, and books were thrown everywhere. Gu Shenwei had to put them away and remember their exact positions so that he could immediately find them when the two masters needed them.


    He was supposed to do the cleaning with other attendants, but since the twins returned to school, the other attendants had bezy. They would only show up at noon, lest their masterse.


    Gu Shenwei enjoyed it. He no longer needed to wait by the entrance to the school every morning, as ve Qing did not like him and the other attendants excluded him. He came directly to Giant Rock Cliff. The little door of East Castle was always open for him. After putting those sundries away, he could concentrate on practicing kung fu without worrying that someone would disturb him.


    The twins usually came to y for a while in the afternoon. Besides Shangguan Yushi, they sometimes brought other children of the Shangguan family, who were proud of this priority they enjoyed. In fact, the teenagers in the fort judged their status ording to the number of times they had gone to Giant Rock Cliff.


    A kung fupetition between Shangguan Ru and ve Huan was always on the agenda. Now they no longerpeted with fist techniques, but turned to the wooden saber. Their desmanship was much stronger than that of the others, so no one else dared to challenge ve Huan. Even Shangguan Fei refused to fight with him in contempt.


    Shangguan Yushi might have been the only one who was able to fight with these two, but she also refused to hold a contest with ve Huan for no reason. Everyone knew she detested this servant.


    There was some gossip among the teenagers about the three of them. Gu Shenwei did not take it seriously, but he remained vignt at all times and was afraid that Shangguan Yushi would y more dirty tricks.


    That morning, Gu Shenwei went to Giant Rock Cliff as usual. East Castle was as silent as it always was. He could sense that some guards were hiding near several of the crossroads as he passed. As he was close to Reincarnation Cliff, this feeling disappeared. The cliff was always the ce with lightest guards in Golden Roc Fort.


    However, as soon as he entered Giant Rock Cliff, Gu Shenwei immediately perceived an ambush on both sides of him. Though he tried his best to hold his breath, his stealth was nothingpared to the experience of the guards.


    Gu Shenwei thought it was the twins, skipping sses to hang out near the cliff and wanting to y a joke on him, so like the previous targets, he also pretended that he did not know they were there and put the sundries away as usual.


    The ambusher was obviously impatient, andunched a sneak attack as soon as Gu Shenwei stooped down for the first time.


    Gu Shenwei decided he would sustain the blow to please the attacker, but the moment the weapon touched his body, Gu Shenwei suddenly changed his mind. However, it was toote to strike back. He could only roll forward to avoid the fatal blow, but he still got hurt and felt a burst of pain in his back.


    When Gu Shenwei stood up, what he saw was not one of the twins but the cold-faced Shangguan Yushi, holding a shiny steel dagger.


    He suddenly realized that Shangguan Yushi was not ying a trick. She really wanted to kill him.


    Gu Shenwei was still astounded, though he had prepared for an attack. Shangguan Yushi was only fourteen, younger than him by a year. She had restrained herself for several months. Gu Shenwei had not expected that she would carry out a real assassination as a reprisal. There was no sign that her hate was reaching its limits.


    He immediately understood, as he had participated in two murder cases, one for ve Yao and the other for Han Shiqi.


    Gu Shenwei thought she must be insane. Her desire to have someone all to herself could bepared to his will to get his revenge.


    Shangguan Yushi was not insane. She was moreposed than she had ever been. ve Huan thought he had entered their coterie, adding an extra person to their two-person world. In her eyes, such a conceited servant deserved death.


    Shangguan Yushi had failed with the first strike. She immediately pounced on him and pressed down hard, not giving him any chance to breathe.


    Gu Shenwei stepped back repeatedly until he reached the edge of the cliff, with his heel already against the iron-chain fence.


    He had been forbearing, but suddenly he became furious. In order to take revenge, he had paid many high prices. He had changed his name and had been sold as a ve to serve others and tter them. He had never imagined that he would do those things, but now he had done it all and would keep doing it.


    He would not be softhearted in his path to revenge. Shangguan Yushi wanted him to die, so he would return the favor.


    Shangguan Yushi¡¯s kung fu was not much weaker than his. Moreover, she had a sharp dagger in her hands. Mama Xue was right. Fist and foot could not fight against saber and sword.


    The only advantage Gu Shenwei had was his real killing desire. He did not even care about his own life, so long as he got his revenge.


    Shangguan Yushi wanted to kill him, but she did not have the faintest understanding of ¡°the killing desire¡±. She did not have the will to kill people at any cost.


    She was also somewhatcking in experience, which was essential for killers. Once one held the upper hand, one must not stop the attack. She, however, did stop, as she believed she had already driven her opponent into frustration. ve Huan was injured on his back. If he took a step back, he would fall off the cliff.


    She, like most who seek revenge, wanted to say something before her enemy died.


    People rarely realized thatnguage and swords are of equal importance for revenge. Sometimes,nguage was much more important, as a torrent of abuse could express the feeling of sessful vengeance. As he was killing Han Shiqi, Gu Shenwei felt regretful that he did not show his real identity and did not ask about his sister¡¯s whereabouts.


    ¡°She¡¯s mine.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi uttered the words ruthlessly. The malevolence implied in her words made him tremble with fear. She was no longer a 14-year-old girl at that moment. She had strode across a delicate borderline and entered the adult world. In this world, possession meant everything.


    Gu Shenwei did not answer, becausenguage could not stop the crazy woman. He took the opportunity to hold his body and catch his breath, thinking how to save himself.


    ¡°You smelly servant, how dare youpete with me?¡±


    Gu Shenwei considered that the situation could be resolved if Shangguan Yushi would just speak to Shangguan Ru. After all, he did not pose any real threat to her. No matter how hard ve Huan had tried, he was just a servant in Shangguan Ru¡¯s mind. Shuangguan Ru¡¯s only friend was Shangguan Yushi.


    ve Huan had at worst hung around on the edge of the coterie, which Shangguan Yushi had delimited. Nevertheless, she was like a king of lion proudly responding to a challenge. She could only vent her hatred by killing him.


    ¡°Go to hell!¡±


    Before she finished speaking, she had stabbed Gu Shenwei with the dagger. Still, Gu Shenwei did not retreat. He just leaned to other side to avoid a blow to his vital parts and took the strike with his left shoulder. At the same time, he jumped forward and held Shangguan Yushi, making her fall heavily to the ground.


    He had no choice but to self-destruct if he wanted to save himself.


    This was Grappling Technique Mama Xue taught him. Once a move was made sessfully, this murderous maneuver followed it. The two of them fought so closely that they could notplete a full move. The fight to death eventually becamepetition for strength.


    Gu Shenwei finally regained the upper hand. Since Mama Xue had helped him improve his Internal Strength, his Yin and Yang Strength had improved quickly and was close to the third level of Yang Strength. As a boy, he himself was naturally stronger. After several moves, he seized Shangguan Yushi on her neck.


    The dagger was still sticking out of his left shoulder, blood dripping, but Gu Shenwei did not feel any pain, because he had an urge to kill. All his strength was concentrated in his hands.


    Shangguan Yushi tried to fight back, her face turning red fromck of air and her eyes full of terror. She was terrified, as the boy was bing cruel as a beast, emitting an endless murderous aura. It was his killing intent that defeated herpletely.


    ¡°Let go of each other. What¡¯re you two doing?¡±


    Gu Shenwei raised his head and saw the panic-stricken Shangguan Ru standing beside the huge rock. Petrified, she had cried out but did note to stop them.


    In the blink of an eye, Gu Shenwei even wanted to kill Shangguan Ru as well. Her kung fu was almost a perfect match with his, or maybe stronger for some moves, but she was a little girl like Shuangguan Yushi, without a real killing desire. The ¡°assassination¡± game just trained her skill, but did not instill in her a will to kill.


    Reason came back to him at the critical moment. He was dragged back from the edge of the breakdown.


    He began to carry out his n for revenge. If he killed Shangguan Ru right now, he would ruin his own n, as he could not cover up the murder. Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi were neither ordinary servants nor unqualified killers. If the two of them died on Giant Rock Cliff, he had no choice but to die with them.


    Gu Shenwei loosened his hands and stood up nkly. He did not know how to exin this matter. It was Shangguan Yushi who had picked a fight with him. The dagger in his shoulder could prove everything.


    Shangguan Yushi also jumped up. Before ve Huan could exin, she pressed her cyanotic neck with one hand while pointing at her enemy with the other and crying. ¡°He wanted to kill me!¡±


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei opened his mouth hastily to defend himself. However, he made the same mistake that Shangguan Yushi had. He hesitated when he held the upper hand. Worse still, he forgot that he was standing on the edge of the cliff.


    Shangguan Yushi looked exhausted, but it was just illusion. She unexpectedlyunched a sneak attack again with a kick under the Shangguan Ru¡¯s stare. It hit him exactly in his lower abdomen.


    She tried to remove her opponent at any risk.


    Gu Shenwei could not dodge it and could only take it. Shangguan Yushi gave the kick with all her Internal Strength. Even an adult could not bear it. He staggered, took a step back and was blocked by the iron chain that stood at half his height.


    Even so, he could barely stand. Nevertheless, Shangguan Yushi did not show any mercy, giving the second kick in spite of Shangguan Ru¡¯s scream.


    Gu Shenwei turned over and fell off the cliff. Though he waved his hands, he could not reach the iron chain, which was far away from him in the blink of an eye.


    ¡°How ironic.¡± The first thought that came to Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind as he tumbled through the air was self-mockery, ¡°I¡¯m the only one dying in the series of ¡®assassinations¡¯ in the Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s scream came faintly, but soon could not be heard.

 Chapter 48

    Chapter 48: A Bird¡¯s Nest


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei was plummeting at high speed, but he still held onto his will to survive, iling about and trying to find a purchase to break his fall. Though he could not see anything, he could feel himself bump into some trees or half-decayed stones.


    He was unsure how much time had passed. Gu Shenwei finallynded on something. He felt as if his bones had fallen apart, but he immediately fainted and did not feel the sharp pain, which went deep into his marrow.


    He was alive. The obstacles along the way had slowed down his falling speed and the ce hended happened to be full of twigs and soft grass.


    He immediately regained consciousness. The full body-epassing pain swallowed up him. For a while, he was not able to think, see or hear anything.


    When he eventually regained control of his body, he tried to sit up to observe his surroundings. The first thing he saw was a mass of cloudy mist, which indicated that he did notnd at the bottom of the cliff, but on the side of the mountain.


    Then he saw something unbelievable and uneptable to his mind. He had not noticed it because it was so strange that he refused to admit that it could exist.


    Not far away from him, there was a giant python, which was as thick as an adult¡¯s thigh. It did not attack the invader that fell from the sky, as its mouth was filled with a huge egg. The egg looked like a smooth grey stone, which was asrge as Bighead Kingpin¡¯s head.


    The python¡¯s mouth was fully open so that its yellow eyes could only look up at the sky, which interrupted its view. This was one of the reasons why Gu Shenwei was still alive.


    It looked so strange and ipatible with the real world that Gu Shenwei thought that he must be in theherworld. He felt like he had drunk Meng Po¡¯s soup and had forgotten his previous life, his revenge, and the girl who killed him. He just nkly watched the python and remained motionless.


    His strong will to survive stimted all his potential. Ignoring the great pain, Gu Shenwei stood up and drew out the dagger from his left shoulder. The weapon had not fallen out during his tumble.


    He wanted to take a few steps back to keep a safe distance, but after only half a step, he found there was no more space for him to move.


    The ce he hadnded was arge nest. It looked like a gigantic bowl made of twigs and hay. If it were turned upside down, the nest would be the size of a small human house. Now he was standing on the edge of the nest, the twigs teetering under his feet.


    The python was trying to swallow the bird egg. With its muscle contracting, the python swallowed a little bit more, leaving little still exposed.


    Gu Shenwei did not realize that it was a good time to kill the python until itpletely swallowed the egg. If he waited, the python would push the egg into its belly and twist its body to crush it. Then it might be willing to eat a human teenager.


    Half of its body was left outside the nest. In order to swallow the egg, the python wriggled its body and moved forward about a third of a meter. Now it was closer to Gu Shenwei.


    Gu Shenwei took several steps toward the python¡¯s head and stabbed between its two yellow eyes. Then he stooped and gingerly moved forward, the tip of the dagger moving along the python¡¯s body. The cuts left were deep in some ces but shallow in others because of its bones.


    As soon as he reached its tail end, Gu Shenwei turned around to lean against precipice. The rock behind him gave him tremendous power and confidence.


    The python¡¯s back had been sliced from head to tail, but it seemed insensible, neither feeling any pain nor resisting with any fercoity. It continued to swallow the egg and wriggle its bloody body.


    After a while, the python gradually stopped moving. The bird egg waspetely exposed. The python lost all its blood and showed its white flesh. Hundreds of nematodes swarmed out between the skin and the flesh. Every nematode was about half a meter long. Shaking their head, they seemed to want to find a new home.


    As the terror changed into disgust, Gu Shenwei leaned against the precipice more closely, wishing he could turn to stone and mix with the precipice. He originally thought he could kick the python off the nest when it died, but now he did not want to take even half a step forward.


    The bird egg on the python¡¯s head suddenly cracked. Gu Shenwei did not consider the bird egg¡¯s safety while cutting the python. The tip of the dagger had left a scratch on it, which allowed the shell crack.


    Gu Shenwei would not have been surprised even if immortals and ghosts appeared at the moment. He stared at the egg, which joggled slightly and then shook fiercely, with an urgent cracking sound. Eventually, a nestling came out.


    The nestling was so ugly; even a ghost was notparable to it.


    It was a third of a meter tall and much bigger than ordinary birds. Without any feathers, it looked emaciated, as if its skeleton were covered by ayer of pink skin. Its yellow eyes were a small replica of the python¡¯s.


    The nestling had a long beak. It did not cry or run around. It held its head high and did not know that it had been a dish for the python just moments before.


    It seemed to suffer from starvation in the egg, because the first thing it did was to eat the mucus left in the egg after looking around. After a few bites, it was attracted by the python and stepped forward. It pecked at the yellow eyeballs with two bites and then began to eat the squirming nematodes. The nestling enjoyed its meal and ate them all from the python¡¯s head to tail.


    It seemed it was still not full. After swallowing several pieces of the python flesh, it finally finished its dinner. It raised its head and stared at the human being standing against the precipice with its yellow eyes, as if it was trying its best to recognize whether Gu Shenwei was its food, enemy, or friend.


    Gu Shenwei had been watching while the nestling was eating. With the dagger in his hand, he was eager to stab the monster to death several times. However, he was blocked by the disgusting corpse of the python. He could not move an inch, as if his feet were rooted in the ground.


    The nestling did not reach his knees, but its eyes was evil as if it was the reincarnation of a demon. Gu Shenwei felt shocked and had no confidence to defeat it.


    The nestling suddenly spread his bare wings and dashed at the human being. Before Gu Shenwei realized, the nestling had begun pecking his two legs with its sharp beak.


    It was painful. Gu Shenwei kept moving his leg, but he could not avoid the rain-like barrage of its pecks in such a small ce. It did not seem to have any vicious intentions though, because it just pecked, but never bit him. If it had snapped at him with the strength it had used while eating the python flesh, the nestling would have bitten off arge piece of his flesh.


    Even so, Gu Shenwei still could not bear it, whereupon he lifted his dagger and tried to frighten it off. ¡°Go. Go away. I have a dagger.¡±


    Gu Shenwei waved the dagger while kicking it off. The nestling did not seem to mind. It thought that this was a game after its meal, so it enjoyed ying with him. Its eyes were so keen that it was able to hit the foot he stuck out.


    If it went on like this, Gu Shenwei knew his legs and feet would be broken. He decided that he could not show any mercy to it and held the dagger high. When he was about to stab it, he felt that the sky suddenly became dark.


    There were clouds and mist over the nest, with sunshine nting through them, but the darkness, like a massive ck cloud, blocked all the sunshine.


    Gu Shenwei could not help looking up and immediately felt lucky that he had not killed the nestling. He should have thought that the nestling should have huger parents, since the egg was huge.


    A giant bird was one head taller than an adult human. It almost covered up half of the sky, when it spread its wings.


    The giant bird quicklynded on the nest. It was covered entirely in ck feathers, with a pinch of golden feathers standing on the head, like a small crown. Its long iron-gray beak was like two sharp desbined together. Its eyeballs were as yellow as the nestling¡¯s. They looked less vicious, but more proud, thoughtful and perseverant.


    The giant bird loosened its ws to release a small living beast whilending. The small beast curled up, groaning in a low voice. It did not intend to run away.


    Gu Shenwei was petrified. He waspletely sure that he was not the giant bird¡¯s match.


    The giant bird looked at the nestling, and then nced at the human being. Finally, it noticed the dagger lifted in the air.


    Gu Shenwei hurriedly lowered his hand. He subconsciously wanted to cast the dagger away, but immediately thought it would be so intentional that the giant would see through his trick. He did not know why he believed this bird could perceive human emotion.


    He pulled the dagger close to his chest, and said with one hand pointing to the python corpse and the other hand pointing to the nestling, as if to say, ¡°I killed that and saved it.¡±


    The giant bird was hesitating. The nesting did not seem to be interested in its kindred and kept pecking the human being¡¯s legs and feet. Gu Shenwei did not dare to dodge it and could only bear the pain.


    The giant bird took a step forward. Its eyes suddenly became fierce.


    When Gu Shenwei thought the giant bird would attack him, the sky became dark again. The second giant bird came back.


    This giant bird was bigger than the previous one, and the golden feathers on its head were more striking. Gu Shenwei had to raise his head high enough to see it clearly. He spected that thetter was male and the former was female.


    The male bird also caught a small beast. After it put it down, the male bird kept its wings unfolded and immediately pounced upon the invader.


    The female bird spread its wings, but did not attack with the male bird. She hopped in front of him to block his attack, with her beak pointing at the eggshell in the head of the python. She turned out to have no vicious intent either. Gu Shenwei had misunderstood the viciousness in her eyes.


    The two giant birds touched each other using their beaks, which was their way ofmunication. It seemed that the birds here were unable to chirp.


    Gu Shenwei waited in fear.


    The two giant birds reached an agreement soon. They folded their wings and nodded at the human being.


    Gu Shenwei breathed a sigh of relief. It was the first time that he had felt a little safe since the moment Shangguan Yushi stabbed him with a dagger. He had been worried for long and almost could not calm himself down.


    The nestling had not received any response from Gu Shenwei, which made it finally notice the two giant birds behind it. It tilted its head and looked confused.


    The female bird lowered her head and pecked the head of the small beast caught by it. The small beast gave a cry of misery and soon died. The female bird did not care about it. It held a bloody eyeball and looked expectantly at the nestling.


    Gu Shenwei just knew that it was not a small beast but a grown grey wolf. The grey wolf¡¯s cry before it died sounded like the strange sound he had heard on Ghost Cliff.


    The nestling immediately understood who its real parents were and rushed to them. It first received the eyeball from its mother¡¯s mouth, raised its head to swallow it, and cheerfully pecked the giant bird¡¯s w.


    The giant bird¡¯s w was covered with crusted skin and thick calluses, so it not only could bear the nestling¡¯s sharp beak, but also gain more pleasure.


    Gu Shenwei seemed to be obtuse from having fallen off the cliff. After quite a while, he finally realized that what he saw were the giant rocs. Golden Roc Fort was named after them.

 Chapter 49

    Chapter 49: Miracle


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The experience of escaping from the hand of death was like a ridiculous dream for Gu Shenwei. He still felt that he was dreaming after safelynding on the clifftop. Stone Castle seemingly became small, as if he could crush the castle just by stepping on it.


    The two giant rocs admitted that this human being was their son¡¯s savior, so their hostility toward him had gone. Meanwhile, the male roc pecked out the other wolf¡¯s eyeball and kindly gave it to Gu Shenwei, hoping that he could taste the delicious food.


    The little roc had been tyrannical since it was born, and it stretched out its neck like a floating balloon. It wanted to snatch the food from its father¡¯s ws.


    Gu Shenwei made series ofplex gestures to show his gratitude and declined this ¡°good¡± gift. If the giant rocs misunderstood him, then he would possibly lose his life instantly. But in any case, he could never eat that wolf¡¯s bloody eyeball.


    The male roc was very smart. It understood his gestures and fed the eyeball to the little bird.


    Gu Shenwei gesticted wildly to show that he loved the beautiful roost, but he hade from the top of the cliff and eagerly wanted to go back.


    The giant rocs were intelligent and soon they understood the man¡¯s intention. The female bird first flew high, seeming to scout the way. Then, the male roc grabbed Gu Shenwei by the shoulders with its sharp ws and flew below its partner.


    The little roc seemed to be a little attached to him. Once Gu Shenwei was in the air, it came over to him and pecked at his feet continuously.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s feet hurt, and so did his shoulders, but the wonderful feeling of flying relieved his pain. Like a kitten in a cat¡¯s mouth, he did not dare to move or use his strength. The clouds and mist swept past him. For a moment, Gu Shenwei felt like he was not rising, but falling down.


    Finally, hended on the clifftop. The two giant rocs nodded to him majestically and quickly flew away. They seemed to dislike this Stone Castle.


    Gu Shenwei was totally paralyzed with fatigue and fear. There was no one on the Giant Rock Cliff. Shangguan Yushi and Shangguan Ru had left, and the scattered stuff on the ground still remained where it was.


    Gu Shenwei rested about half an hour on the Giant Rock Cliff. Then, he took a deep breath and struggled up to his feet. He hobbled across the giant rock and headed toward the gate of the East Castle while leaning against the wall.


    As he was walking closer to the castle, the world became more and more real to him. His hatred of this ce, which had been temporarily covered up by the adventure, now appeared again. He was still the young teenager who carried revenge. Nothing had changed, except that he needed to kill Shangguan Yushi as soon as possible.


    After a long hesitation, Gu Shenwei arrived back at the stone house. He immediately fell asleep on the brick bed. Under his current circumstances, it was too difficult for him to scheme to kill someone right now.


    When he woke up, it was pitch-ck in the room, already midnight. But he had not reported about what had happened today to Mama Xue.


    ¡°Mama Xue must be angry,¡± he thought. But then he turned over and quickly fell asleep again.


    Gu Shenwei got up on time the next morning. Someone had clumsily bandaged him from head to toe. Of course, it was not a doctor¡¯s technique. As he abruptly sat up, the pain was still not relieved, but he now had a clear mind, so he could think and n something as usual.


    Obviously, the man who had bandaged his wounds was Elderly Zhang. This reticent groom had gone to feed the horses, but had put a bowl of rice covered with meat on ve Huan¡¯s bedside.


    Gu Shenwei forced himself to eat all of it, and then directly went to the Giant Rock Cliff as usual. Since he was still in Golden Roc Fort, Gu Shenwei would continue to fulfill his duty as ve Huan.


    Standing outside the door, he looked at the stable in the distance. The root of the tree of hostility buried in his heart had been loosening. However, he was immersed in hostility again upon thinking of Shangguan Yushi.


    The Giant Rock Cliff still looked like what it was. After picking up several things, Gu Shenwei, who was still seriously wounded, felt exhausted. He just wanted to sit down against the wall and take a rest. When he came back to his mind, it was already noon.


    He could not and did not want to see a doctor in Golden Roc Fort. If the doctor were to say that he could not be cured, then he might be sent to Firewood Yard to just wait for death.


    However, the nature of sitting here was almost the same.


    As he was randomly thinking about his future, three teenagers walked in from outside of the giant rock, chatting andughing.


    They were the attendants who belonged to the twins. Their duty was as same as ve Huan¡¯s¡ªcleaning the tform on the Giant Rock Cliff. They often camete when working, and they did so today.


    Seeing ve Huan sitting in the corner, the smile on their faces instantly disappeared. They surprisingly opened their mouths and stood still like stones, as if they had been rooted in the narrow entrance.


    ¡°Oh my God!¡± Someone cried out loudly. The three teenagers quickly turned and ran away. They huddled together in the narrow entrance and then fell down.


    Gu Shenwei felt confused. Then he realized that in the eyes of the others, he had ¡°died¡± from falling off of the cliff.


    Gu Shenwei always thought that the guards were everywhere in Golden Roc Fort, so he should have been found a long time ago when walking to the stone house. So, why did those attendants know nothing about it?


    Maybe they were ill-informed, he guessed. The guards probably did not tell them what they had known.


    Before long, Gu Shenwei heard many people running from outside. He had just stood up against the wall when Shangguan Ru rushed in.


    Just like the three attendants, Shangguan Ru froze as soon as she saw ve Huan. She stopped running and seemingly was prepared to fight or escape. Many people were looking at from him behind her, however, no one dared toe in.


    ¡°You¡­ Are you a man or a ghost?¡±


    Shangguan Ru sternly questioned him but could not conceal her fear from him very well.


    ¡°If I were a ghost, I would not need to bandage these wounds.¡±


    Gu Shenwei chuckled, feeling that it was hrious.


    ¡°He does have a shadow!¡± Master Fei cried from outside and squeezed in the crowd. Standing behind his sister, he continuously looked over ve Huan, as if just seeing him for the first time.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you die?¡± Shangguan Ru said. She still did not believe that he was alive.


    ¡°A tree stopped my fall and I was unconscious for a while. When I climbed back to the ground, you and Master Yu had left.¡±


    Gu Shenwei concealed the part about meeting the giant rocs.


    Shangguan Ru calmed down and ran over to him with a big smile. She held his hand and said, ¡°Follow me.¡±


    They ran outside and the young masters standing at the entrance made way for them. They had not truly believed that ve Huan was a living man, so they followed Shangguan Ru and ve Huan far away.


    It was anguish for Gu Shenwei to run with Shangguan Ru. He felt that his wounds were rupturing open, but he did not stop and tried to figure out where the Ninth Young Master would go.


    Outside the gate of the East Castle, five or six servants, including ve Qing, were anxiously pacing back and forth. ve Qing could not persuade the two masters to see the ¡°ghost¡±, ve Huan. But he did not dare to follow them, so he had ants in his pants.


    Shangguan Ru held ve Huan¡¯s hand and jumped over the threshold. They met ve Qing on the way. On seeing ve Huan, though he was more than 30 years old, he also cried out, ¡°Oh my God!¡±. His legs gave out and then he copsed into another ve¡¯s arms behind him.


    Shangguan Ruughed loudly without stopping her running. She did not run to the school or the Moonhold Academy, but took ve Huan into a yard located in a remote corner, which he had never been to.


    This small and obsolete yard was situated on the median line of Golden Roc Fort.


    Shangguan Ru opened the door and yelled, ¡°Master Yu! Master Yu! Come out. He hasn¡¯t died.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had wondered why he did not see Shangguan Yushi. In fact, she was hiding here in case the ¡°ghost¡± would take revenge.


    Shangguan Ru shouted three times. A trembling voice came from the east wing room. ¡°Well¡­ Is it true?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Yes, he¡¯s still alive. Look! He has a shadow! How could he be a ghost?¡±


    ¡°Creak!¡± The door slowly opened. Shangguan Yushi cautiously craned forward. Now she looked like an ordinary young, 14-year-old girl who was frightened. Her pride and indifference had disappearedpletely.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± She pretended to be tough, but her voice showed her anxiety.


    ¡°I¡¯m ve Huan. Don¡¯t you remember me, Master Yu?¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    ¡°What happened? How are you still alive?¡±


    ¡°I fell off the cliff yesterday and was caught by a tree. Later, I felt dizzy for a while. When I woke up, a few people were around me and talked to me, saying that Master Yu was just ying a joke, so I shouldn¡¯t take it seriously.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi screamed and closed the door before Gu Shenwei finished telling his experience.


    Shangguan discontentedly threw aside ve Huan¡¯s hand. ¡°I¡¯m very happy that you¡¯re OK. But why do you scare her?¡±


    ¡°Master Ru, what I said is true. I don¡¯t dare to frighten Master Yu. Maybe that was just my hallucination because of a serious brain injury.¡±


    Shangguan Ru seemed to believe his words and pushed ve Huan out. She yelled toward the east wing room. ¡°Come out, Master Yu. Otherwise, we¡¯lle in.¡±


    Shangguan Yu opened the door and came out. She looked calmer than before. She thought if she must talk to a ¡°ghost¡±, it was safer to stand under the sun rather than stay in a room.


    ¡°What do you want?¡±


    Obviously, Gu Shenwei could do nothing in this situation. He took out the knife and respectfully handed it to Shangguan Yushi. ¡°Luckily, I¡¯m still alive. I¡¯ll devote the rest of my life to serve Master Fei, Master Ru, and Master Yu. Here you are.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi slowly took the knife. Her confusion disappeared the moment that she touched ve Huan. She now believed that he was a living person rather than a ghost.


    ¡°I¡­ Actually¡­ I wouldn¡¯t hurt you if the Ninth Childe didn¡¯t say¡­¡± Master Yu murmured.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. Don¡¯t tell him. ve Huan is alive now, so nothing has changed.¡± Shangguan Ru jumped from ve Huan¡¯s side and held her cousin¡¯s arm. She interrupted their talking.


    Gu Shenwei did not think so. Actually, things had changed. He was a badly injured ve now. In his mind, his hatred, like a torch burning fiercely, was stronger than ever. If there was something that was unchangeable, it had to be his determination to kill all of the Shangguan family members.


    But he was still curious about what Shangguan Ru had said. These words made Shangguan Yushi so jealous and she even wanted to kill him.


    However, he did not ask. Superficially, he needed to be a kind servant, who should thank his masters thousands of times for their forgiveness, even though they wanted to kill him. A master apologizing to a ve? That was a daydream.


    Shangguan Ru pulled her cousin¡¯s arm with one hand and held ve Huan with the other. She said seriously, ¡°We¡¯re in the same assassination team. It¡¯s called a team because the three of us are in it. Therefore, we must trust, help, love, and never betray each another. If anyone were to vite the oath, I¡­ I wouldn¡¯t talk to him or her forever.¡±


    What a childish oath! Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Yushi ostensibly took it seriously and repeated her vow. When speaking to ¡°love each other devotedly¡±, ve Huan and Shangguan Yu both revealed the feeling that he or she would definitely take revenge on each other. But Shangguan Ru was very pleased, so she did not notice how unreliable her team was.


    ¡°An oath?¡± Gu Shenwei snorted at it in his mind. Over thest year, he had vowed so many times. Only the first oath was true¡ªto kill all of the Shangguan family members.


    The miracle of ve Huan¡¯s narrow escape created quite a stir among the youth in Golden Roc Fort. Regardless of ve Qing¡¯s anger, many people came to talk to him on purpose and even touched him by chance to make sure that it was a human body.


    But upon meeting Mama Xue, he received a totally different treatment.


    Mama Xue did not believe in the ghost story. She was dissatisfied with ve Huan¡¯s offensive action to Shangguan Yushi, as if he should take the whole responsibility for this assassination.


    She punished ve Huan with her Iron Finger, which made his internal injury even more serious.


    Hence, the next morning, Gu Shenwei went to the Giant Rock Cliff alone. Now he could do nothing because of his serious injury. Thus, he justy down under the warm sunshine, wondering how he could secretly pay Shangguan Yushi back for this.


    He had never anticipated that one day he would also experience the pain of Qigong Deviation. Thus he felt a little guilty for ve Yao.

 Chapter 50

    Chapter 50: Saber Manual


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s Internal Strength waspletely controlled by Mama Xue. He could only improve his kung fu with the help of her Iron Finger. Meanwhile, the inner force passing by her was gathering in his Xuanji acupoint, like a dormant parasite in his body, which could wake up at any time and eat its master¡¯s flesh.


    Mama Xue had punished himst night by her Iron Finger. The punishment was a powerful incentive for his kung fu practice. The next day, Gu Shenwei felt that a surge of hot qi breaking out in his Xuanji acupoint and rushed to Dantian. He had not prepared for it yet.


    The sunshine in early summer was so bright and warm while Gu Shenwei was seriously wounded. He was immersed in the feeling of escaping from the hand of Death under the protection of the Will of the Divine. Suddenly, he lost control and sat up in great pain. Gu Shenwei felt his chest tighten. He wanted to cry out but could not utter a word.


    If someone was watching him from aside, he would think that ve Huan definitely was a ghost.


    Nobody watched and nobody helped him. In a moment, he fell down on the ground, groaning with pain, his body convulsing.


    The situationsted about a quarter-hour. But Gu Shenwei felt like he had bathed in a hot tub for a whole day and became sweaty and fatigued. He was too weak to move his little finger.


    He once thought Mama Xue was his protector. But now, he realized that both of them had their own ns. Their cooperation woulde to an end soon.


    Still lying on the ground, he thought about Mama Xue and Shangguan Yushi. For a while, unconsciously, his body could move again and he sat up straight. At this moment, he saw the two giant rocsnd in front of him.


    The two beasts perhaps thought that they had not fully paid back what they owed to their son¡¯s savior. Since Gu Shenwei did not like eating the wolve¡¯s eyes, they brought more ¡°delicious¡± food for him¡ªtwo fresh beasts¡¯ hearts, which were still beating.


    Gu Shenwei was too delighted to see the giant rocs again. Their appearanceforted him a lot, and even the pain did not seem so unbearable to him.


    It was the first time he had felt the unconditional love from others, but he also felt sick because of the disgusting beasts¡¯ hearts. Therefore, he had to gesture for them in aplex way, not only to show his gratitude, but also to tactfully refuse the ¡°fine cuisine¡±.


    The two giant rocs were a little surprised and looked down at the picky human boy. All of a sudden, they picked up the two fresh hearts and flew away.


    Gu Shenwei now felt regretful because he did not want to offend them. Staying in this cold stone fort, he still felt he must always disguise his true self, even when facing a dog. Luckily, he did not need to wear the mask when getting along with the two living creatures.


    The giant rocs might have felt as though they were treated rudely. They did not show up again this day.


    During next days, everything was, as Shangguan Ru had said, ¡°back on track¡±. They practiced kung fu together and nned who would be the next target of their ¡°assassination¡±. In order to show she had ¡°forgiven¡± ve Huan, Shangguan Yushi performed more actively than before and made numerous proposals.


    But Gu Shenwei understood clearly: although her fear of ghosts had disappeared, Shangguan Yushi¡¯s hostility to him never faded. He could tell from her eyes.


    Gu Shenwei never mentioned his qigong deviation to anyone, including Mama Xue.


    To his surprise, the giant rocs did not hate him for his rude behavior. They appeared again the next morning, bringing two kinds of food¡ªan unknown fruit in the female giant roc¡¯s mouth and a colorful serpent under the male giant roc¡¯s w.


    Gu Shenwei chose the fruit without hesitation. He did not care if it was poisonous or not, in any case it was better than a snake. He ate it and showed his ¡°satisfaction¡± by with his face at the same time.


    The female roc pecked at its partner as if to say ¡°I told you so,¡± while the male roc regally turned his head away. It picked up the snake and swallowed it quickly in three bites.


    Gu Shenwei felt very happy to see them again. He cautiously walked towards them and tried to pat their ink-ck feathers.


    The giant rocs evidently did not like being touched by a human. Last time, they had to fly with him, in order to bring Gu Shenwei to the cliff top. Hence, this time they firmly refused the intimate behavior¡ªthe two giant rocs just flew away.


    Now Gu Shenwei had another secret in his mind. It was between him and the two giant rocs, which was not rted to darkness and depression, but happiness and brightness. He gained a sort of family-like love from the two birds. He also had a fuzzy hope¡ªif the two giant rocs could help him take his revenge¡­


    But the giant rocs may not be interested in revenge, because they intentionally hid from human beings. Every time they visited Gu Shenwei, the two birds would first look around and made sure there were no strangers around them.


    Due to the two giant rocs, Gu Shenwei even dyed the revenge n, and actually, he had not perfected the n yet anyway. After half of a month, he recovered slowly. Shangguan Yushi stopped challenging him in public, so Gu Shenwei had to pretend that he had let bygones be bygones.


    The giant rocs seemed to think that no matter how many things they gave him, they remained indebted forever to their son¡¯s savior. They brought all sorts of things in order to reward him. After learning about his preference, the two giant rocs abandoned fresh and bloody ¡°food¡±, but brought more colorful and unknown flowers and fruit instead.


    The way that he expressed his gratitude was to gorge on the fruit and flowers they brought him. Sometimes, he thought the flowers were too beautiful to eat, so he kept them to admire their beauty. But the rocs began to think he disliked the flowers, and was going to throw them away. Gu Shenwei had to snatch the flowers from their ws and swallow them quickly.


    Luckily, in most cases, the aromatic flowers were tolerable.


    Once, the flower brought by the two rocs had a heavy fragrance. After swallowing it, the smell still lingered. That afternoon, when Gu Shenwei was practicing kung fu with the twins, Shangguan Ru sniffed at him and asked, ¡°Are you wearing rouge?¡±


    Gu Shenwei blushed and repeatedly denied it, but all people around him start tough at him. ¡°ve Huan secretly powdered his face.¡± It became a hot topic during the next days among the youth in Gold Roc Fort, though no one took it seriously. People just slowly forgot about it.


    One monthter, the two giant rocs felt it was not enough to bring food to him only, so they started trying to find something that may be useless to them but valuable to human beings.


    Not only the killers in Golden Roc Fort fell off the cliff, but other people too. The Stone Castle had been built a century ago. It had witnessed so many historical changes. Every time a new lord came to power, people would throw the former lord¡¯s posessions off the cliff.


    The giant rocs picked up their presents for Gu Shenwei from the items scattered at the bottom of the steep cliff.


    These presents included rusty armor, fragmentary des, scattered jewelry and half-rotted clothes. Most of them were useless, but Gu Shenwei always epted the presents in front of the giant rocs and hid all things in the hole under the giant stone. Later, he would find a chance to cast most of them back down, keeping some of the jewelry that was beautiful and perhaps valuable.


    asionally, the giant rocs carried something amazing to him, for example, a long and sharp saber. He did not know how long the saber had been lying at the bottom of the cliff, but it was still extremely dazzling, as if it were only just forged.


    Gu Shenwei took the present and yed with it for a few days. Eventually though, he decided to abandon it reluctantly. In Giant Rock Cliff, all the twin¡¯s weapons were wooden, so this iron saber was out of ce. Once it was found, he would not be able to exin where it was from. Besides, Shangguan Yushi now was now eager to niggle him at him at any time.


    Shangguan Yushi returned to her normal attitude, though she was still jealous of ve Huan. But she concealed her emotion very well in front of Shangguan Ru. She insisted the Ninth Young Master belonged to herself and that no one had the right to be close to her. If Shangguan Ru did not look down upon Master Fei, she would also envy him.


    Gu Shenwei gingerly maintained the peaceful rtionship with Shangguan Yushi. He would not take the risk to avenge his family until he had formed a perfect n.


    With time going by, the giant rocs trusted in him more and more. Gu Shenwei now could gently stroke their feathers with their permission. Some of the feathers were soft but others were very tough, especially the feathers on the tips of their wings that would re up when they were angry, making them lookrger.


    The giant rocs felt totally safe. Once, they brought the squab little roc with them. It still did not have too many feathers and was rather diminutive. On arriving at Gaint Rock Cliff, it continued looking for food, as if it had never eaten anything since it was born.


    Maybe its parents hunted quite easily. Although it was almost two months old, this little roc was still the size of a hatchling.


    At least this little roc remembered Gu Shenwei who had saved it and continuously chased after him. Later, the female giant roc caught it and took it away within minutes.


    The giant rocs probably thought the little roc was too naughty and impolite, so they did not bring it to meet Gu Shenwei from then on. In fact, he sometimes missed the ugly little beast.


    When midsummer came, it had almost been a year since the Gu family members were ughtered. On one day, the two rocs brought a special gift for Gu Shenwei, which was neither food nor containers, but a book.


    Perhaps they had hesitated for a while to give this book to him. At the same time, they brought lots of ptable fruits topensate for the ¡°unimportance¡± of this gift.


    This book was made of sheepskin. However, it was bound in a volume like the most books in the Central in. Perhaps it had dropped into the stone crack, so the wind and rain did not ruin it.


    There was a simple sketch on every page. Some might have obscure poems or sentences written beneath. In the margin, someone had scribbled some notes in a different style of handwriting.


    After the giant rocs left, Gu Shenwei skimmed over this book. He almost could not understand a single phrase, but the pictures were clear and easily understood, which indicated this was an anonymous saber manual.


    Before the twins arrived here, Gu Shenwei had hidden the book in the stone crack.


    The Giant Rock Cliff was the twins¡¯ stronghold, and nobody was more familiar with it than Gu Shenwei. Unless there was an inch-by-inch search, no one would find the book he hid.


    Gu Shenwei spent three days reading and generally understood it. He thought the sword manual was ridiculous and frightening. He almost abandoned it.


    On the first page of this book, some puzzling words were written: ¡°If one wants to kill others, he must die first. His body should be like the skeleton. His heart should be like the ashes. His mind should be self-forgetting. If one eliminates both life and death, one shall live forever; if one keeps one¡¯s persistence, one shall perish sooner.¡±


    Some sentences in this book cited the context from Zhuangzi , most of which he could notpletely understand when he had studied it. Even the exnations in the margins were perplexing, but all of it seemed to be saying ¡°deathes and goes.¡±


    The sketches were very simple. One showed a saber stuck in a person¡¯s neck. People in these pictures mostly looked fierce, like devils running from hell.


    Every picture had this simrity: The saber stuck a neck. The only difference was the angle they were sticking.


    ¡°What kind of manual is it? Stabbing-neck manual?¡± Gu Shenwei was beginning to think the book was aplete farce. Someone must have written it for fun. If these movements really existed in this world and were practiced by kung fu learners, then the way to defend against the movements would be easy, simply protect one¡¯s neck with a hard camail. Then he would be invulnerable, no matter how skillful the saber manual demonstrated the movements.


    Gu Shenwei stood on the edge of the cliff. Several times, he wanted to discard it, but he felt that a few sentences in this book made some sense. Meanwhile, it was very thin, so he decided to hide it again.


    But for a long time, he did not reread the saber manual. When a heartbreaking ident happened, he nearly forgot the book altogether.

 Chapter 51

    Chapter 51: The Giant Rocs¡¯ Death


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei felt he was a lonely warrior, swimming in the boundless sea. Exhausted, he saw an ind by chance andnded on it. Even though he clearly knew that his destination was over the horizon and he had to continue his swimming, Gu Shenwei lingered on the ind and made excuses to postpone swimming again.


    The giant rocs were his ind. He liked these strange creatures and even revered them.


    During the past two months, unless it rained cats and dogs, he met the giant rocs every day and ate the fruit and flowers they brought. Sometimes, he chatted with them. When they were in a good mood, Gu Shenwei even could stroke their beautiful ck feathers.


    The giant rocs looked like imperatorial elders. They liked this unusual young man and constantly brought gifts for him. But they still behaved elegantly and only asionally allowed Gu Shenwei to break the boundary and y with them for a while.


    Before the horrible moment came, Gu Shenwei had no sense of its approach. Although Mama Xue became more and more impatient and urged him to speed up the progress of his practice, and although Shangguan Yushi often gave attitude to him because of her increasingly unconcealed hate, generally speaking, he peacefully spent the two months in Golden Roc Fort. Shangguan Ru started to trust in him. Besides, his qigong deviation did not break out. It was the most rxing time since he had entered Golden Roc Fort.


    It was too rxing for Gu Shenwei, as such was not supposed to be the life of an avenger. If he had to find the omen of the miserable event would follow, this rxed state could possibly have been it.


    That afternoon, Gu Shenwei came to Giant Rock Cliff as usual. He tidied up and practiced Kung Fu for a while as usual. Later, the giant rocs arrived on time. They brought some big and ck fruit this time. Gu Shenwei still did not know what it was, but he took a bite. To his suprise, its taste was delicious and sulent. He quickly ate it all and threw the pits away.


    He chatted with two rocs about the trifles that had happenedtely: Master Ru lost her favourite wooden saber. The servants did not know whether it had dropped down the cliff or not. If the rocs saw it, it would be nice if they could pick it up and bring it to him. That could be very helpful indeed.


    The giant rocs could not understand human beings¡¯ words, so he just spoke thoughtlessly and did not take it seriously.


    They did not stay with him too long, but today they were much more eager to leave than before. After giving the fruit to Gu Shenwei, they wanted to fly away. But they reluctantly stayed behind because of the young man¡¯s disappointed look.


    They were a little bit nervous though, and kept looking and observing surroundings. The tense atmosphere became apparent and even Gu Shenwei began to get nervous. He had not realized what was going on, but waved rocs away. He said, ¡°Just go. Come to see me tomorrow.¡±


    The giant rocs nodded. They always kept silent and never chirped. The male gaint roc spread its wings, while the female giant roc kept her eyes pointed at the young man, which seemed to show its kindness before leaving.


    At this time, someone cast two enormous birds and ended their goodbye.


    One fell from the high western wall and the other raised from the bottom of the eastern cliff. One from the sky, one from the earth, there was no ce for them to escape. Thes were approaching the giant rocs and Gu Shenwei.


    The male roc had spread its wings and promptly flew up. Using its sharp beak and ws, it tore down the from the bottom in a sh.


    But the female roc hesitated. It strengthened its leg and pushed the young man away. Unfortunately, it was captured by the descending from the eastern wall.


    Gu Shenwei hit the giant stone and fell. The female roc had not pushed him fiercely, so he was not injured. At the same time, the male roc came back to the ground and helped the female roc tear the big.


    Even in such an emergent moment, they did not make a sound.


    Thes lost their functionality. But the giant rocs had wasted their best chance of escaping. Nets began dropping one after another. In total fives were capturing them. They were hemmed densely.


    Gu Shenwei felt his blood rushing up, as if he were witnessing his own family being ughtered. He let out a wild cry and rushed to the giant rocs, ripping thes. However, what Gu Shenwei had done was just a drop in the bucket, because his Inner Strength was too weak.


    The two giant rocs were struggling with all their strength. Their mighty power and the sharpness of beaks were beyond the ambushers¡¯ imagination. Within minutes, the male roc tore a hole on the top of thes. But it did not fly away directly. Instead, it stayed to finish ripping the gap to free the female roc first.


    At this moment, many ambushers jumped out from the walls and the cliff side. Everyone was in grey, which was as the same color as the stones. They also covered their faces and showed only their cold and merciless eyes.


    More than a dozen people pulled down on the vast birds and other six ambushers ran towards the giant rocs.


    Gu Shenwei tried to stop the ambusher closest to him, but the man did not even give a nce at him and kicked Gu Shenwei in his belly with his right foot as fast as lightning. Gu Shenwei flew away and hit the high wall with force, as if he had never practiced Kung Fu.


    The female roc headed out from thes but its wings were still trapped by them. The six ambushers threw ropes, separately entangling their necks.


    The more dangerous it was, the more calm the giant rocs became. They circled around on the spot all of a sudden. The ambushers pulling them lost their bnce and had to circle with them.


    Noticing their enemies could hardly stand, two giant rocs rapidly pecked the ropes with their sharp beaks. The rapid speed and urate attack could bepared to the first-ss Kung Fu learner. The six ambushers nearby them hastily dodged the pecks. One of them was toote, and his eyeballs were pecked out.


    Even this man was unyielding. After attacked by the rocs, regardless of the blood squirting from his eye sockets, the ambusher kept tightly holding the ropes.


    While pecking the ambushers with their sharp beaks, they used their ws to rip thes at the same time. Every time scratching thes, they tore down arge piece. The firm and tenaciouss were as tender as weeds under their attacks.


    Gu Shenwei was knocked down and watched the battle between people and rocs in horror. He could do nothing, but just silently prayed in his mind. If the giant rocs could safely fly away, he would sacrifice anything, and even was willing to stop his revenge.


    However, since the day his family was broken up and the members died, his prayer had nevere true. The Will of the Divine always yed tricks on him, giving him hope and then mercilessly taking it away.


    The giant rocs were extremely powerful, even a dozen of ambushers could not easily control them. Seeing the hole bing bigger and bigger, it would not take a long time before the rocs could fly away. If they did, the six ambushers would either release them or be dragged into the sky.


    The big birds could not bear the rocs¡¯ scratching and finally were destroyed. The male giant roc immediately used its beak and ws to force the six ambushers to step back. Now the female roc spread its wings and prepared to leave.


    Gu Shenwei had his heart in his mouth. He looked up and saw the female giant roc, its mountain-like body, wind-like wings and phoenix-like golden crest, and he yelled ¡°Go! Go!¡±.


    The female giant roc left the ground and raised its head to the sky. Then the beautiful and unique head was suddenly cut down. Its body still maintained its flying posture. Red blood sprayed out, as if the sunset glow had tinted the sky red.


    A dark shadow appeared behind the female giant roc. He was like an invisible devil and seemed to materialize out of thin air, holding a narrow and shineless grey saber, which could freeze steel into powder. Even though he killed the most beautiful and elegant creature in this world, the killer would have no regrets.


    ¡°No!¡±


    Gu Shenwei shouted in despair. The scene seemed to take him back to the night a year ago. That night, he was forced to watch his family members as they were ughtered and beheaded.


    ¡°No!¡±


    At the same time, another angry shout rang out. A figure flew out from the northern giant stone. He was a man but moving like a swift bird, as if he had wings on his back.


    The moment the man flew over, the female roc¡¯s body fell down. While the killer wasnding, he hit the killer¡¯s chest with his palm.


    The masked killer who had just killed the giant roc, had made the worst mistake in his life. His saber was useless in front of this man. After attacked by the man, he spat out blood and flew off the cliff, falling into the bottomless abyss.


    The killer did not scream, because the power of that palm had already killed him.


    The female giant roc fell down. Its head was chopped off by the killer and rolled on the ground, a dozen steps away from Gu Shenwei. Its yellow eyes were still open but had lost their radiance.


    But the male roc¡¯s eyes, like burning mes, were emitting scorching light. It swayed its body wildly and blew violent whirlwinds with its wings. Every beak attack would peck off a killer¡¯s eyes. Every wing would grab a piece of a killer¡¯s flesh.


    People trembled with fear once they heard the killersing. But these killers were as fragile as little children in front of the giant roc.


    In an instant, the six ambushers nearest to the roc lost their lives. The man, who had jumped off from the giant rocks, had already quickly stood back. He said harshly, ¡°I want it alive. Don¡¯t hurt it!¡±


    More ambushers flocked in from the high walls outside the giant rocks. There were forty or fifty people in all.


    The male roc stood proudly. Its feathers on the wing tip shook like sharp swords. For a moment, no one dared to challenge it.


    It lowered its head and pathatically nced at its dead lover. All of a sudden, it raised its head, its chest full of air, and the roc looked as though it had expanded its size two-fold.


    Every ambusher standing here had killed millions of people. But this time, they were freaked out. No matter how the master scolded them, they just slowly and cautiously moved towards the male roc. No one wanted to be the next sacrifice.


    The male roc despised these little tiny human beings. It gathered all its energy and strength. Then the roc let out its first andst chirp since it was born.


    The voice, like the thunder, resounded through the sky and spread across the whole of Golden Roc Fort, and even passed further to Jade City at the foot of the mountain. People in the city were also frightened.


    The sound was still lingering around the crowds for a long time after it had fallen down.


    The great raven giant died. It chose tomit suicide.


    All people on Giant Rock Cliff were too shocked to move. ¡°No chirping in its lifetime. With one chirp, it would die. It¡¯s a real Golden Roc. What a pity. One had been wounded.¡±


    The man, who yelled ¡°no¡± at the same time with Gu Shenwei was also dressed in grey clothes. He was of medium build with a long and slender face and sunken eyes, and was in-looking. But his killing intent and royal demeanor could not be ignored. The killers around him could not help but lower their heads, even if stone-made Golden Roc Fort behind him seemed shorter.


    Gu Shenwei once felt the strong killing intent when seeing Marshal Yang. Butpared with the man, Marshal Yang¡¯s killing intent was not worth mentioning, as if a river flowed to the sea.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s sorrow and anger was suddenly reced by the horror that came from the depth of his heart.


    A masked killer walked to Gu Shenwei and knelt on the ground, one hand squeezing Gu Shenwei¡¯s neck and the other hand holding the dagger tied on his waist. He humbly asked the man in grey,


    ¡°My lord, how should we deal with this ve?¡±

 Chapter 52

    Chapter 52: Night Visit


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Supreme King, Shangguan Fa, stood with his hands across behind his back. In front of him, a dozen of killers carefully held up the two giant roc bodies, and one killer held the female roc¡¯s head.


    He appreciated his prey with pride.


    Golden Roc Fort, Golden Roc Fort, such had been the name of this fort for more than 100 years. But who had ever seen a real Golden Roc? Who had captured the Golden Roc? Only he, the Seventh Supreme King had done it and brought the greatest glory to this stone castle.


    It was a symbol, representing that Golden Roc Fort would have its heyday. Also, the dreams, which the former Supreme Kings had not realized, would soone true with his efforts.


    Shangguan Fa was immersed in great satisfaction and pleasure. But a fly in the ointment was that one roc¡¯s head was severed. He could hire the best craftsman in the world to stick the head back and renew the perfect specimen, so that no one could notice it had been destroyed, but Shangguan Nu could not shake the feeling that it was an annoying imperfection.


    Holding their breath, a dense hoard of killers stood on Giant Rock Cliff and waited calmly. The one who had overpowered Gu Shenwei carefully observed Lord King¡¯s every gesture. Once Supreme King gave him the hint, he would kill this ve without any hesitation.


    ¡°Did you catch it?¡±


    A clear voice asked. In the world dominated by Supreme King, she was the one only who dared to intrude.


    Shangguan Ru squeezed in from the back of the giant rock, pushed the statue-like killers away and rushed toward his father.


    ¡°How did they die?¡± Her voice sounded full of surprise and dissatisfaction.


    ¡°The giant roc isn¡¯t an ordinary bird. It would rather die than surrender to others, so no one can catch them alive.¡± Shangguan Fa lowered his head and patiently exined to his daughter. Instantly, the most powerful king of killers in Western Region turned into a benign father.


    ¡°Just the same as the rocs, the Shangguan family is also extraordinary, right?¡±


    Shangguan Fa was very pleased and answered, ¡°That¡¯s right. The Shangguan family is far from the ordinary. We¡¯re the dominators, the destroyers, and the almighty leaders. But we aren¡¯t as same as the rocs either, because nobody can force us tomit suicide.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt his heart would blow up the next minute. It was Shangguan Ru that divulged the secret to Shangguan Fa.


    The Ninth Master must have gone to Giant Rock Cliff furtively. She was going to surprise ve Huan but identally saw the giant rocs. Later, she left stealthily and told her father.


    Gu Shenwei had once thought that he was more mature than other youth of the same age. But now, he realized how ridiculous he had been. A 12-year-old young girl could fool him and trick him without much effort.


    ¡°Dear Ru, it¡¯s you who found the Golden Roc, so you contributed to it most. Say it. Whatever you want, I¡¯ll give it to you. You can have anything in this world.¡±


    ¡°Well, my dearest father, you¡¯ve given me the best things from around the world. What else could I ask? Em¡­ How about rewarding this ve? Without him, none of us could have seen the Golden Roc, so we should reward him appropriately. ¡±


    Unexpectedly, Shangguan Ru was asking rewards for Gu Shenwei, who was surprised and did not understand the reason. Actually, everybody present knew this ve had not informed the masters of the Golden Rocs¡¯ appearance in time, so he hadmitted a capital crime. However, he was only a ve and no one took his life seriously enough to care that he would disobey the Ninth Master¡¯s will, so nobody disagreed with her.


    Even Supreme King, Shangguan Fa, was too happy to forgive a low-status ve. He had never let off any traitor since the first time he held a saber at the age of five.


    ¡°What do you want, kid?¡±


    Shangguan Fa cuddled his daughter, still proudly watching the dead Golden Rocs. He did not look at the shivering ve behind him.


    Gu Shenwei could not control the fear that quickly spread from head to toe. He was afraid of this man whomanded the ughter of the Gu family. The fear came from the depth of his mind, which spread more quickly than his sorrow and hatred through his body. Gu Shenwei despised his cowardice, but he could do nothing to stop it.


    ¡°I¡­ ¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s throat was extremely dry, as if hot molten iron were being poured down into it. ¡°I want to be a killer!¡±


    The killer squeezed his neck and jerked his arm, as if he could not helpughing.


    Shangguan Fa looked back at the ve crawling on the ground and he could only see the ve¡¯s back. This was the superiority of Supreme King, who stood high above the masses. People in front of him could only expose their backs, which was less-intimidating. However, it was also a disadvantage for the dominator, in that he could not see people¡¯s faces, which revealed their true emotion.


    ¡°To be a killer?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve practiced kung fu before. The only thing I want is to enter East Castle and be a killer apprentice. If I didn¡¯t practice kung fu very well, I would still be able to die without any regret.¡±


    Disasters had unceasingly honed this young man. Gu Shenwei had proficiently buried the sorrow in the depth of his mind. He wanted to take advantage of this chance and strived for his benefit.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Shangguan Fa turned back to see the two Golden Rocs. For him, this low-status ve no longer existed in his world.


    People in Giant Rock Cliff had left and Gu Shenwei was thest one to walk away. He lost his soul and could not get rid of the idea: he, himself, caused the death of giant rocs, however, the chief criminal was Shangguan Ru.


    Although his dream of bing a killer apprentice hade true, it could notfort his great sorrow of losing all his family members.


    Soon, thefort appeared to be more insignificant.


    Gu Shenwei returned to the stone room. Within minutes, Mama Xue ordered a servant to call him to her room.


    There were only Mama Xue and Gu Shenwei in the room. Her face looked quite pale with anger.


    ¡°You stupid and ungrateful dog! How dare you conceal the rocs¡¯ appearance from me?¡±


    Gu Shenwei hastily kneeled down. He had forgotten that the information that Supreme King was so fond of the giant roc would be important to Mama Xue.


    ve Huan¡¯s silence made Mama Xue angrier. In order to enter Golden Roc Fort, she had waited for many years. In order to achieve the ultimate goal, she would have to wait for many more.


    ¡°It seems I was wrong. Once I believed you, but you¡¯ve betrayed me. I¡¯ve been too nice to you. Raise your head, kid.¡±


    Mama Xue spoke harshly to him and bent down, showing her iron-like finger. She poked ve Huan¡¯s Xuanji acupoint on his chest.


    She only poked once, but the power was unprecedentedly strong. A hot stream of inner strength was passed into Gu Shenwei¡¯s body, as if a wild fall wind swept the fallen leaves, and rushed to his Dantian.


    A fire was burning in Gu Shenwei¡¯s body. Every inch of his skin, every part of his organs seemed to be reduced to ashes. Gu Shenwei fell down heavily. Like a fish out of water, he twisted and turned while his mouth opened and closed repeatedly but could not make any sound.


    Two months ago, Gu Shenwei had experienced the qigong deviation. But it could notpare with what he was experiencing now. He wanted to die but he could not. He wanted to live, but he would not. The burning sensation inside even drove out the sorrow and hatred in his mind. The only thing Gu Shenwei would like to do was to beg before her, but he could not say any words suffering the great pain.


    A stream of hot air spewed out from his throat, as if he had vomited all his organs.


    Mama Xue sat back in the chair. ve Huan¡¯s pain did wonders to assuage her anger. She tasted her tea and thought about her n, regardless of ve Huan¡¯s rolling and twisting.


    After the two hours torture, Gu Shenwei felt he had gone to the hell and then returned to the world.


    ¡°How did you feel? My Iron Finger kung fu was not worse than Supreme King, right?¡± Mama Xue said sneeringly.


    ¡°I won¡¯t betray you ever again. Please forgive me, Mama Xue,¡± Gu Shenwei begged in a hoarse voice.


    ¡°Get out!¡± Mama Xue shouted.


    Gu Shenwei dragged himself back to the stone house andy weakly on the brick bed.


    Fire could burn anything, but it also could cast steel. Gu Shenwei grinned silently. The pain had gone and his heart became harder. Since that moment, all people in Golden Rock Fort were his enemies and they deserved to die.


    Suddenly, some sentences in the Nameless Swordbook ran through his head. Gu Shenwei felt these words became suitable to describe his situation¡ªonly the heartless could kill people. Perhaps the content in this book was not just a joke.


    Gu Shenwei jumped off the brick bed and practiced Yin and Yang Strength. He smiled again.


    Mama Xue¡¯s finger power could not only bring pain, but also could bring the benefit of his Internal Strength practice. The power, passed by Mama Xue in order to punish him, conversely, helped him improve to the third level of Yang Strength.


    But how could it happen? Mama Xue absolutely would not help him.


    Gu Shenwei had gained some clues on the bed. Now, he finally understood the reason he was able to improve his Inner Strength. It was the Nameless Swordbook.


    Gu Shenwei once spent three days reading it carefully. Even though he still did not understand it very well, he had memorized many of its sentences. When being tortured in Mama Xue¡¯s room, he unconsciously recited these words. Although the content did not help him relieve the pain, these words helped him turn Mama¡¯s energy into driving force.


    Due to the great pain at that time, he did not realize it. Now, the whole thing clicked.


    ¡°What kind of book is it?¡±


    Gu Shenwei became confused. It was not a simple sword manual superficially. The notes seemed to describe a way of practicing Internal Strength.


    Gu Shenwei was so excited. He even wanted toe to Giant Rock Cliff and immediately find the book to read it. But he gave up the idea, because, in the afternoon, he could not enter East Castle without following the twin masters. He had to wait until the next morning and then would be able to read it.


    That day was seemingly a blessing day in disguise: The giant rocs were murdered, but Gu Shenwei became a killer apprentice; Mama Xue induced qigong deviation in him, but he started to understand the essence of Nameless Swordbook.


    Yet the situation seemed somehow iplete. That night, as Gu Shenwei and Elderly Zhang slept tightly, someone knocked the door.


    They sat up simultaneously. The person had entered the room and was standing at the entrance.


    ¡°I have something to tell you.¡±


    It was Shangguan Ru. Although it was too dark to see theer clearly, Gu Shenwei could clearly distinguish her voice.


    Elderly Zhang even felt sleepy, but was still a loyal servant. He pretended to hear nothing andid down again. The devoted servant began to snore, as if he had only been sleepwalking.


    Gu Shenwei was surprised. The girl, who he hated now, came to visit him at midnight.


    ¡°Does she want to y a new game with me? Or is it a new conspiracy secretly supported by Shangguan Yushi?¡±


    Gu Shenwei dressed quickly under the nket and said in a low voice, ¡°What can I do for you, Master Ru?¡±


    ¡°Am I your Master Shifu ?¡±


    ¡°Of course. What¡¯s your order, Master Shifu?¡±


    Shangguan Ru stepped out of the stone house and waved at Gu Shenwei to follow. He stuck closely behind her, but secretly took precautions.


    ¡°Do you seriously take me as your master?¡± Shangguan Ru asked again.


    Outside, the moon cast its velvety light on everything. Gu Shenwei clearly saw Shangguan Ru¡¯s serious face. She was not as happy as she had been during the daytime and carried a big parcel on her back. Besides, there were two sabers under her right arm, the real iron saber, not wooden ones that they used daily.


    Gu Shenwei said humbly, ¡°Yes, Shifu. Once my Master Shifu, always my Master Shifu, I¡¯ll¡­ What I said is true.¡±


    ¡°Well then, flee from the castle with me. Right now.¡±

 Chapter 53

    Chapter 53: Escape


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Among all things that happened that day, the most confusing was Shangguan Ru¡¯s words.


    She was only twelve, and Supreme King¡¯s favorite girl, not to mention she had just made great contributions. She ranked high in her father¡¯s mind. How could she think of escaping?


    ¡°Is that ironic? Or there¡¯s some sort of conspiracy?¡± But she could kill him with no difficulty. In fact, if not for her pleading at the Giant Rock Cliff, Gu Shenwei could not flee for his life, let alone get the opportunity to be a killer apprentice.


    Gu Shenwei was scratching his head, yet his hesitation annoyed Shangguan Ru.


    ¡°What? You dare to disobey my order? You¡¯re just like her!¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew what ¡°her¡± meant, hence he made the decision quickly: He would give quite the opposite answer of Shangguan Yushi.


    ¡°Your apprentice will always apany you, my master. I¡¯ll go wherever you go, and I¡¯ll never leave you, not by one step, but¡­¡±


    Shangguan Ru smiled. Her smile shined so bright and beautiful under the moonlight.


    ¡°That¡¯ll be enough, we¡¯ll talk about it after we get out of the fort.¡±


    Shangguan Ru handed a saber over to Gu Shenwei, and held his hand, walking toward to the foot of the wall. She raised a finger to her lips, asking him to be quiet.


    Gu Shenwei held his dagger, following her, confused. This was just a game. Before they walked too far, they would be stopped by the night watchman.


    Gu Shenwei had been intercepted by the night watchmen twice before, so he understood that they were everywhere in the fort.


    But he was wrong. Shangguan Ru knew the fort much better than him. She reached the foot of the wall,ying her ears on it and listened for a while, and went on after she made sure there was no problem. She would listen through it at certain intervals, and sometimes she made detours, seemingly to avoid the guards.


    Gu Shenwei watched her for a while as she listened against the wall, and then he understood the situation.


    He had overestimated Golden Roc Fort¡¯s guarding level. The night watchmen were not everywhere, and they were moving, searching all the ce. But they did not walk inside the alleys, instead, they stopped at the foot of the wall. Once they finished the patrol of an interval, they would knock at the fixed point as a way of reporting to thework of watchmen.


    Gu Shenwei could not hear these knocking sounds very well, but Shangguan Ru did. She knew how to avoid the night watchmen who were passing by and the safest path to go.


    They went farther and farther, gradually drawing closer to the gate. Gu Shenwei was now facing a choice: following Shangguan Ru to ¡°escape¡±, or calling on someone to stop the game. The former could make the Ninth Young Master happy, while thetter was what a ve should do.


    Gu Shenwei chose the former.


    Shangguan Ru led him to a high wall andid her ear on it, listening for a while. She unwrapped the package, and took out a wall-hooking grapnel. She had prepared adequately.


    Shangguan Ru threw the grapnel upward, but it dropped down immediately when it reached the head of the wall. She hastened to catch it, yet it had already made a noise.


    They remained silent for a moment. No guard wasing, she picked a great time.


    Gu Shenwei took over the grapnel from Shangguan Ru. His Yin and Yang Strength had just reached the third level of Yang Strength, promoting his Internal Strength immensely. He threw it and easily made it across the wall, sticking fast to the wall on another side when it dropped.


    Shangguan Ru smiled and grabbed the rope to climb the wall.


    Gu Shenwei wrapped his arm around the package, wrapped the narrow dagger, and followed her up.


    No one was on the wall. Shangguan Ru slipped down from the other side quickly. She did better in Lightness Skill, so she fell to the ground rapidly, while it took him a while to find a suitable foothold.


    No one was in the clearing. Half a year ago, Martial Young, who came to challenge, died here, with ance plug in his skull. No trace could be found now.


    They arched their backs and marched quickly, after they ran through the stone bridge, and took the downhill path and heaved a sigh of relief together.


    Gu Shenwei thought their escape was unbelievably easy, while Shangguan Ru thought it resulted from her well-nned scheme, about which she felt triumphant. As they rounded some corners and could not see the fort anymore, she became bold, and could not help but tough heartily.


    ¡°Aha, finally I made it. My father wouldn¡¯t allow me to adventure in Jiang Hu, neither would my mother or Master Yu. But now I¡¯m here! Hum, I won¡¯t be back until I acquire my reputation. ve Huan, you¡¯re the most loyal one, you can rest assured, we¡¯ll be sessful. I¡¯ll teach you all my Kung Fu.¡±


    ¡°Your apprentice will be very d to adventure in Jiang Hu. It¡¯s not that important to learn your Kung Fu. And why should I worry since I have such a formidable master?¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re a nice one, and you have good Kung Fu. But you talk like a ve too much. I don¡¯t like it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei held back his sneer. He was an actual ve in Golden Roc Fort. Once he showed his colors, he would be killed immediately.


    ¡°You¡¯re my master. Taking a look at any apprentice of a school, they all talk to their master in this way.¡±


    ¡°Really? Then I do need to take a look. Anyway, I don¡¯t treat my master in this way.¡±


    The walked downhill as they continued to talk. Shangguan Ru was so excited that she could not shut her mouth. She was extremely curious about the outside world.


    ¡°ve Huan, you weren¡¯t born in the fort, were you?¡±


    ¡°No. This is my second year at the fort.¡±


    ¡°Then you must know many things about Jiang Hu.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Gu Shenwei actually had no experience in Jiang Hu. He used to live an extravagant life, with a very limited social circle. When he moved to the Western Region, he was even more isted than Shangguan Ru. But his training master, Yang Zheng, was an old traveler. Yang Zheng would tell some anecdotes when he was in good humor.


    Gu Shenwei polished these anecdotes, and told Shangguan Ru. She listened with keen pleasure, especially the so-called Jiang Hu rules.


    ¡°Does thispetition have rules? Like how Martial Yang does?¡±


    ¡°Jiang Hu outside is different from Golden Roc Fort. They¡¯re restrained. We can do whatever we want, so we¡¯re more capable. That¡¯s why Martial Yang died.¡±


    ¡°But I think the outside rules are better. If people assassinate each other whenever they want, the result is countless stone castles. No one is safe, they cannot even walk out. They¡¯re better off knowing nothing about Kung Fu.¡±


    ¡°One can hardly do whatever he wants. There was only one Golden Roc Fort in the world. Others can only beg to learn the art of assassination.¡±


    This was a strange conversation: Supreme King¡¯s daughter envied the Jiang Hu rules, while the foe of the Shangguan family defended Golden Roc Fort.


    The downhill path was long, and Shangguan Ru was already tired halfway down. She yawned all the time, saying, ¡°How far? We should have bought two horses along.¡±


    ¡°When we reach the mountain foot, we can buy horses.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. ve Huan, take me upon your back.¡±


    Gu Shenwei moved the package to his front and took over Shangguan Ru¡¯s dagger, putting it in his belt. He got on one knee to let her climb onto is back.


    Shangguan Ru was light. Gu Shenwei carried her and went on. They did not talk for even a minute.


    ¡°Say something, don¡¯t let me fall asleep. Or you can ask me something, your master can answer you.¡±


    She sounded light, too. After the nervousness during the first half of the night, she was drowsed.


    Gu Shenwei thought for a while, and a question crossed his mind.


    ¡°Do you remember when I survived after I had been thrown off of the cliff?¡±


    ¡°Of course. You lied to me, saying you climbed up by yourself, while you rode the Golden Roc to fly up, didn¡¯t you? I remember, you naughty apprentice, you dare to hide it from me that you¡¯re Golden Roc¡¯s friend!¡±


    ¡°Ouch!¡±


    Gu Shenwei shouted out. Shangguan Ru had bitten him on his neck.


    ¡°Well, I¡­ eh¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei really did not know how to exin, especially how to tell Shangguan Ru that for the sake of those two giant rocs, he had to kill her one day.


    ¡°Hee hee, forget about it. You proved your loyalty when you followed me downhill. I forgive you. Father is going to make the specimen of them. I¡¯ll take you to watch it.¡±


    Shangguan Ru felt no regret. She was Supreme King¡¯s daughter, and no matter how she envied the Jiang Hu rules, she stuck to the principles of Golden Roc Fort. In her view, possessing two rocs would be more important than leaving them alive.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s could scarcely control his anger. He clenched his teeth, trying his utmost not to kill the girl on his back.


    ¡°Go on. I¡¯m falling asleep again.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I haven¡¯t finished my question. What have you told Master Yu that she wants me dead by any means?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had always been curious about this question. But during these two months, he found no trace of an answer. Both Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi kept it a secret.


    Shangguan Ruughed, and Gu Shenwei could feel her breath. But she did not answer immediately, after a while. She seemed to have fallen asleep, but then she answered indistinctly,


    ¡°Master Yu told me that everyone has a chance to trust someone in their lives, regardless of the results. She said she would give this chance to me, and I said I would give this chance to you. Then she was angry,ining that you were a ve with evil intentions. But don¡¯t me her, she¡¯s a good person. She just doesn¡¯t know what I mean. Whether or not she believes me, she is always my best friend¡­¡±


    Shangguan Ru was still murmuring, and Gu Shenwei could not hear her clearly anymore. She failed to resist the drowsiness and went to her dreams.


    He carried her down the mountain, regretting asking this question.


    One¡¯s enemies should be furious and brutal, so there would be no hesitation or sympathy when they were ughtered. Why would she say that after she turned her back on the Golden Roc?


    The path was long, though not long as he expected. Crossing several corners, it would meet the end. The Jade City could be seen indistinctly, with some vague lights shining.


    Gu Shenwei sighed, turned around and walked uphill.


    The water-like moonlight was shimmering. Shangguan Ru slumbered soundly, not knowing the direction had been changed.


    Gu Shenwei could still feel the heavy weight of the girl and the package and dagger, though he was on the third level of Yang Strength.


    He returned to Golden Roc Fort, and he would face the stone bridge. What a great opportunity to drop all of his burden and throw himself after her. That way, the girl would never know her ¡°chance¡± was given to the wrong person.


    Gu Shenwei crossed the bridge. He could see a group of people standing in front of the gate from far away, and numerous guard appeared behind him, like ghosts, in case he retreated.


    After all, it was just a game, though everyone cooperated with the Ninth Young Master to y it.


    Some women ran to him, cautiously taking Shangguan Ru over from his back. Andid her down on another¡¯s back to send her into the fort.


    Nobody made a sound. Shangguan Ru was still sleeping. She trusted him very much.


    Gu Shenwei took out the package and the daggers. A woman walked to him, and said softly,


    ¡°The madam tells you, you¡¯re doing well.¡±

 Chapter 54

    Chapter 54: Mama Xue


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    They rewarded Gu Shenwei with nothing more than some good words, even if he had walked with Shangguan Ru for a half night.


    When Gu Shenwei returned to the stone cabin, he found Elderly Zhang had gone to feed the horses even before the sunrise. Hey down on the Kang without taking off his clothes, and his mind was chaotic. Quickly, he fell into sleep and had many dreams.


    In his dream, two giant rocs spread their wings widely, and stretched their necks, but they could not fly. This was exactly what they looked like when they die. Not far away, Shangguan Ru pointed to ve Huan, and her face was full of anger, but then sheughed, thrillingly and creepily. The ugly squab was furiously pecking him at his feet.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart was torn up with anxiety. He tried hard to wake up, but he was sleeping deeply. He asked the help of a person with a vague face, but when he gradually came to see her clearly, he found she was Mama Xue. This woman sat in a chair, as she always did, cold and silent.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly sat up, finally he got the dream out of his mind. There was nothing terrifying in the dream, but he was totally frightened into a cold sweat, with his heart beating heavily.


    He looked up, and saw Mama Xue sitting on the edge of the Kang, whose expression was almost the same as she had in the dream. Now he could not differentiate between reality and the illusion, and his heartbeat nearly stopped.


    ¡°You had a nightmare?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. The nightmare is no different from the reality.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was stunned. It was hard to figure out if Mama Xue, who held her breath all the time, was just talking or meant something else. But he recognized that she was real, hence this was reality.


    ¡°You¡¯re doing good, very good.¡± Mama Xue smiled, which was rarely seen. She seldom came to the stone cabin. Normally, it was Gu Shenwei, who went to the yard to see her. Apparently, her smile seemed unreal in this dark cabin.


    ¡°What? You tter me.¡± Gu Shenwei did not understand her intention.


    ¡°The girl has a crush on you?¡±


    This sentence was even more confusing. He was Shangguan Ru¡¯s intimate ve, which was a fact known by everyone. But obviously, Mama Xue meant something more.


    ¡°Ah! No, Mama Xue, you misunderstand.¡±


    He finally recognized her meaning. This was ridiculous, for Shangguan Ru was only twelve years old. He exined hastily what had happened the night before.


    That was simply a game. He knew it from the very start, therefore he yed with the Ninth Young Master as always. The only reason she chose him was that Shangguan Yushi refused her.


    Yet Mama Xue kept her smile. Finally she sighed. ¡°So you¡¯re right that your Ninth Young Master trusts you more than anyone else.¡±


    The word ¡°trust¡± shocked Gu Shenwei. He chose not to tell Mama Xue every word Shangguan Ru had said, and he was not going to tell her in the future.


    ¡°I guess so.¡±


    Mama Xue became cold again. She said, ¡°ve Huan, will you do anything for me?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll go through raging fire and boiling water for¡­¡±


    Mama Xue waved to stop him. ¡°That¡¯s enough. I know you¡¯re a clever boy, so let¡¯s talk frankly. You know that I can disclose your secret to the Eighth Young Master anytime, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know.¡± Gu Shenwei knelt on the Kang, and answered her carefully. He felt that she was going to tell him something important.


    ¡°And you know that without my help, you can never improve your Internal Strength after you were imnted with my Peripheral Force, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know.¡± Gu Shenwei answered more carefully. What Mama Xue did not know was that he used the words written on the Nameless Swordbook to break through the third level of Yang Strength.


    ¡°And you already had a qigong deviation beforest night?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was surprised that Mama Xue still knew that he had the qigong deviation on the Giant Rock Cliff two months ago, though he had told no one.


    ¡°Yes, that was two months ago.¡±


    ¡°And from that day, you have three years to live.¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked at the grim-looking Mama Xue in amazement.


    ¡°In these three years, you¡¯ll have the qigong deviation once a while. Every time it will be sustained a little longer, and it will be more painful. After three years, the evil spirit stays in your heart. And no one can rescue you, not even the immortal Buddha.¡±


    ¡°Have mercy, Mama Xue, have mercy!¡± Gu Shenwei pretended to be shaking.


    ¡°I will, as long as you do one thing for me. I¡¯ll not only erase the force in your Xuanji acupoint, but also teach you the real formidable Kung Fu, and then you can kill your enemies as you like, no matter who they are.¡±


    She stressed thest few words. Gu Shenwei now understood that she never believed in him when he named himself ¡°Yang Huan¡±, and lied about other things.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it. I¡¯ll do anything if it serves you, no matter how hard it is.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not that hard. In the Six Kills Temple inside the fort, there was a wooden saber. You shall find it for me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew the Six Kills Temple. It was the ce where the Shangguan family worship their ancestors, which was located in the northernmost area. To go there, one had to cross through the Inner Residence. ¡°I, I¡¯ll find a way.¡±


    He said so, but he knew it was impossible.


    ¡°What way can you find? Ask the Ninth Young Master to help you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was suddenly enlightened. That was why Mama Xue asked him to tter the twins. This was her ultimate purpose.


    ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡±


    Gu Shenwei could not be sure. The wooden saber Mama Xue wanted must be very significant or kept some secret that Golden Roc Fort would protect it so well. Whether Shangguan Ru was willing to help, or after her help, whether he could take the saber, were all unsure. Once the thing was exposed, the Ninth Young Master could be scorned at most, yet he might die.


    ¡°You should not ¡®try¡¯. If people find out, you¡¯ll definitely die.¡± Mama Xue seeming to have guessed what ve Huan was thinking, she said coolly.


    ¡°Mama Xue, please show me the right path.¡±


    ¡°Now that the Ninth Young Master likes you, you should let her know when you have qigong deviation.¡±


    Mama Xue said calmly, while her words surprised Gu Shenwei. She drank the tea, and continued, ¡°It¡¯s said there was a medical secret hidden inside the wooden saber, which can bring the dead back to life. You need it to save yourself.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± He understood her n.


    ¡°If she says the fort has countless physicians and she can find someone to cure you, what should you say?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll say¡­ the manual I learn is from the other school. Golden Roc Fort¡¯s Internal Strength will make me deviate much more from the righteous path.¡±


    ¡°Fine, that¡¯ll work. And you don¡¯t need to be afraid. Once I have the saber, I¡¯ll do some research, and you can return it. No one will find anything wrong.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Mama Xue stood up, and said, ¡°Tomorrow I¡¯ll send you into the Inner Residence to serve the Ninth Young Master.¡±


    ¡°But Lord had promised me to be a killer apprentice¡­¡±


    ¡°What? Are you saying you want to be a killer apprentice?¡± Her voice cooled down.


    ¡°Uh, no. I¡¯ll get you the wooden saber.¡±


    Mama Xue went to the door, and said, ¡°These killers aren¡¯t formidable. I¡¯ll teach you a much stronger form of Kung Fu.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Thank you, Mama Xue.¡±


    She was gone. Gu Shenwei sat on the Kang, and thought carefully about the task. After a while, he walked out of the cabin and went to the East Castle. He had to look up in the Nameless Swordbook, maybe he had found a method to read it.


    The gate was closed, including the little gate. He tried to knock, but there was no one answer. He was surprised because for several months he could get in there easily with no impediment.


    Gu Shenwei then walked into the school.


    There was still a crowd of attendants standing at the school¡¯s gate. However, this time they stared at ve Huan directly, as if he were a condemned prisoner, waiting to be executed.


    He slowed down, gazing at these ves warily. Had he offended someone unconsciously again?


    ve Qing walked out. His expression was indecipherable, and one could find envy, hatred, confusion and timidness on his face. Then he said drily, ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Gu Shenwei had lost his tongue. Indeed, it had been a long time since he had stopped waiting at the gate, ¡°Have¡­ have the two masters arrived?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business. Don¡¯t ask around. You know the rules.¡±


    ve Qing answered stiffly, and Gu Shenwei had to leave. The crowds¡¯ noise was up, ¡°Master Ru¡­¡± ¡°How could that be possible¡­¡± He could only hear clearly for several words.


    Now he did not know what to do. He had to wait for Mama Xue to send him to the Internal Residence.


    That night, he went to greet Mama Xue as usual. She had nothing to say this time, so she dispatched him quickly.


    He met with Maid Cui in the yard.


    Her eyes were gouged and her tongue was cut out, but after that, she was specially trusted by Miss. Gu Shenwei sympathized with her, especially when her name reminded him of his sister, Gu Cun. But he nevermunicated with her.


    He stepped aside to let her pass.


    She smiled at him. This was her magic: She could identify a person simply by his steps, and sometimes she was even more urate than a normal person.


    She walked by, and slipped him a strip of paper smoothly.


    Gu Shenwei went back to the cabin, and lit the oilmp. He opened the note, which read ¡°Nine thirty-sixth, south-east wall.¡±


    Elderly Zhang was still in the stable. He would note to the cabin until he wanted to sleep.


    Gu Shenwei burned the note.


    He trusted no one. He had lost the chance to trust others. But when it was close to nine o¡¯clock, he still went to the wall. He stood at the corner and faced his cabin. If anyone found out, he would say he got sands in his boots.


    Maid Jade seemed to have no ability to hurt him.


    After the sound of the gong¨Cwhich indicated the time¨Cdied away, he heard a voice say, ¡°ve Huan, are you there?¡±


    It shocked him cause the voice came from the wall. He answered and looked around at the wall, and then he found a hole this size of a thumb, through which a person was speaking to him. The voice sounded familiar.


    ¡°Is that you, ve Qian?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Why him?¡± Gu Shenwei could not understand. After thepetitionst year, ve Qian treated him coldly, even with contempt.


    ¡°What do you¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no time for details. I want to tell you one thing. You should find an excuse to dy whatever Mama Xue wants you to do.¡±


    ¡°What do you know?¡±


    He answered vigntly. Maybe this was the test of loyalty from Mama Xue.


    ¡°You fool, think about it. Once she has it, she¡¯ll certainly kill all three of us.¡±


    ve Qian sounded frightened and anxious, and he plugged up the hole when he finished talking.


    Gu Shenwei walked to the cabin rapidly, wondering what ¡°all three of us¡± meant.

 Chapter 55

    Chapter 55: Inner Residence


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei had already thought it through, regardless of ve Qian¡¯s warning.


    Mama Xue must have been aiming for something big, or she had a powerful benefactor, and for that reason she dared to frame a plot in Golden Roc Fort. Gu Shenwei thought they should form a union, or even tell her his real identity.


    He had considered all of the possibilities, and decided to abandon this n. The main reason was the non-equivalence of their strength. Telling her the truth would give him nothing more but another handle in Mama Xue¡¯s hand to control him by.


    He was only a fifteen-year-old boy, with mediocre Kung Fu, who wanted to ughter the Shangguan family. Who would ¡°form a union¡± with him?


    Once he lost the value in use, Mama Xue would surely morganize him.


    But he had no choice now, and he was eager to know the secrets inside the wooden saber. It might be the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s unique manuscript of their martial arts, or a great fortune. Anyway, it could be helpful for his revenge.


    Now he was a man walking on a tightrope. Whether he moved forward or backward, once he took a false step it was all over.


    The next afternoon, ve Huan was sent to the Internal Residence. But it was two women, unknown middle-aged servants, who brought him in instead of Mama Xue.


    The servants looked him over on the road, making him feel awkward. He felt relieved when they finally asked him to stay alone in a room.


    The Inner Residence was the only one that had a red gate among all the residences inside Golden Roc Fort. Its inside decoration was simr to the outside, except that more nts were on disy and it was incredibly furbished. Luxurious ornaments and new furniture made it much better than the dpidated Western and Eastern Castles.


    Gu Shenwei felt strange the whole time he was there. He did not understand this feeling until he realized this residence¡¯s style: It did not look like a ce for the ¡°king of killers¡±, instead, it was more like and of warmth and tenderness, where a merchant prince and his concubines enjoyed their extravagant life.


    Compared to this, the Eastern and Western Castle was more suitable for killers: they had broken stone walls and countless growing weeds that created an atmosphere suitable for killers.


    He waited for a long time. He kept standing and dared not sit down. Every time someone walked by, he would bow to them. Finally, two young maids came to him when the evening lights were lit.


    The maids acted like the former servants, looking him over directly when they came in as if he were an exotic animal imported from another country.


    One of them smiled and said, ¡°Look at him¡­ no wonder the ninth child¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei blushed. People thought Shangguan Ru liked him, which waspletely wrong. Shangguan Ru was not only too young, but also a girl who thought herself a boy. She wanted to join Jiang Hu, fighting and killing there. She acted more like a real boy than her brother.


    The maids led him to cross a series of paths and verandas before entering arger room, where the floor was covered with thick carpet and the aroma was floating all over the house. Giant candles were burning, luminating the whole house. Crowds of women wereughing presumptuously.


    Gu Shenwei recognized who he was going to meet. Therefore he lowered his head, cast his eyes down and moved several steps forward. Before the maid called him, he kneeled down.


    ¡°My Lady, this is the ve.¡±


    ¡°ve Huan bows before Your Lady. May Your Lady be young and healthy forever.¡±


    Howls ofughter erupted around the room. A woman opposite him said,


    ¡°Look at this kid. He knows what people want. Now raise up your head.¡±


    Gu Shenwei straightened up, still casting his eyes down. He did so for he saw Supreme King¡¯sdy, the twins¡¯ mother, from the moment he entered.


    Thisdy, who came from Meng family, was only in her 30s and looked very young and gorgeous. The twins resembled her. The customs of Western Region were different from the Central in, so thedy needed not to wear a veil before the male servants. Now Gu Shenwei understood why Miss Luo Ningcha, who was too stubborn to unveil herself, could not win her mother-inw¡¯s favor.


    ¡°You look handsome. I assume that¡¯s why Ru wants you to join her adventure in Jiang Hu.¡±


    She was trying to tease him, the group of womenughed again. Gu Shenwei had never seen so many women crowded together. He felt ufortable, and dared not to move an inch.


    ¡°A traitor! I don¡¯t want him toe.¡±


    It was Shangguan Ru¡¯s voice. She was sitting next to her mother, holding her arms. She appeared angry and turned her head away to avoid seeing him.


    On the other side next to thedy was Shangguan Fei. He had a goodugh and made ghostly face at his sister.


    ¡°You shall not me others so casually. Your little escapade was already discovered before your left of the Inner Residence, but we just kept silent. He¡¯s just a kid, and he proved his loyalty by keeping youpany. What else do you want?¡±


    ¡°Traitor!¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright. At least he carried you for a half night. He¡¯s good enough. Don¡¯t me him anymore.¡±


    ¡°Traitor!¡±


    No matter how tenderly thedy tried tofort her, Shangguan Ru kept a straight face, and spoke out only one word. The ¡°apprentice¡± refused his ¡°master¡¯s¡± order? This drove her crazy.


    Gu Shenwei kneeled there and said nothing. He thought the twins had grown sowless under their father¡¯s influence, but now he knew it was because their mother spoiled them. As it was said, whether the offspring were noble depended on their mother, and thisdy must be the most beloved one of Supreme King.


    Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter, Miss Luo Ningcha, wanting topete with her was like using an egg to strike a stone. Gu Shenwei now felt the Miss was truly foolish.


    ¡°Do you want him to be your ve or not? If you don¡¯t, I¡¯ll drive him out now.¡±


    ¡°No. He is a traitor.¡± Shangguan Ru said without any hesitation.


    ¡°If she doesn¡¯t want him, I¡¯ll take him,¡± Shangguan Fei interrupted. ¡°ve Huan is good at Kung Fu. He can be my trusted follower.¡± ve Huan was supposedly a gift from his eighth brother, Shangguan Nu, but was robbed from him. Now he wanted the gift back.


    However, after Shangguan Fei¡¯s words, the sister showed reluctance. She grasped her mother¡¯s hands. ¡°No, I¡­ Well, I¡¯ll keep him, so I can punish this nasty ve.¡±


    ¡°Alright. You can punish your ve as you like.¡±


    As the mother and daughter talked, theypletely ignored ve Huan, as if he was a pet, knowing nothing about humannguage.


    He was dismissed and was apanied by two maids who wereughing as they carelessly took him to a small room.


    As a ve who made a contribution, he was rewarded some tes of pastries. The maids poured the pastries down on the Kang and took the tes away.


    There was another boy, 14 or 15, who bowed to the maids when they came in and continued to pack up when they gone, turning his back on ve Huan.


    Gu Shenwei recognized him as ve Ling, one of the young personal attendants of the twins. Gu Shenwei once stepped on his shoulder and held Shangguan Ru¡¯s foot, letting her peep at the killer¡¯s regr practice.


    Gu Shenwei also remained silent. He had seen countless open and secret strife between the ves, so he had to act carefully. When he was the Gu family¡¯s little master, he never knew such things. He used to think ves were just ves. Except for their faces, they had the same temperament and character.


    After ve Ling finished his work, he sat on the edge of the Kang and hung his head, as if he were thinking of something. After a while, he turned back to ve Huan. ¡°I¡¯m d you came.¡±


    Gu Shenwei grunted assent. He could see there was no dness in ve Ling¡¯s face.


    ¡°Since you¡¯vee, I can go. From now on, I¡¯ll not need to fight with others or practice Kung Fu so hard. I can find a normal master, tter him and take his beating. Everything has its order. Ah, I¡¯ve been so tired these past years.


    ¡°A normal master?¡± Gu Shenwei repeated the words. He had been a master for 14 years, yet he did not know what ¡°a normal master¡± meant.


    ve Ling¡¯s face changed. ¡°I don¡¯t mean that. I was just speaking without thinking. I¡¯ll never treat my master¡­¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t gossip.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I know you¡¯re different from others. You¡¯re¡­ you¡¯re¡­ you know, different.¡±


    Gu Shenwei smiled. They always said he was different, and most of the time it meant the negative way. If they really knew how different he was, they would be frightened to death.


    ¡°Before I leave, I have some rules to tell you.¡±


    ¡°Please.¡±


    ¡°First, don¡¯t walk around casually. If you don¡¯t know where you can go, then stay where you are. But keep yourself busy. Whenever the master calls you, you¡¯ll run to him like a dog chasing a rabbit.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Gu Shenwei thought he had been running much faster than a dog these past months.


    ¡°Second, don¡¯t look around so much. You shall use your eyes to serve the master instead of satisfying your own self. You shall watch what your master is saying and doing, and don¡¯t let them say too much.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Gu Shenwei already had stricter demands for himself. He must imnt a brand new idea in his master¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Third, don¡¯t talk casually. You should have pped me immediately for what I said at that moment, and reported to your master.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, now I know. And I¡¯ll do it next time.¡±


    ¡°Heh, heh, so many rules. Memorize these three first.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Someone was calling ve Ling¡¯s name from outside. He held his package and prepared to leave. But he thought for a while, and said, ¡°Sometimes I think you¡¯re crazy. But I have to warn you not to mess with Master Yu.¡±


    He had gone. Gu Shenwei now owned this cabin. He was thinking of the task Mama Xue gave him, forgetting about Shangguan Yushi, who was so jealous that she must be thinking of how to settle with him.¡±


    As he was alone, the first thing he would do was break one of the three rules by ¡°walking around casually.¡±


    He lived in a corner of the garden. There were a dozen cabins like his where a bunch of animal trainers and some personal attendants of the twins all lived.


    Gu Shenwei had met with those attendants, but they ignored each other as though they were strangers. There were more than 20 trainers, with sturdy frames and naked arms, who kept walking around, scoffing at the attendants.


    The air smelled of animal urine, and the thunder-like roar came time and again.


    Gu Shenwei ignored the beasts. He walked along the path, crossing many corners, and found the garden was truly not a ce for a Lord: not too many exotic flowers, one could only see jagged rockery, withered pines and cypresses, and wrecked toys. The grasnd was a total mess, it seemed the beasts had trampled on it.


    The Inner Residence had left Gu Shenwei with an effeminate impression. He did not know the garden was so messy that it was almost a northern meadow, a meadow that was devastated.


    Before he went too far in the northwest direction, Gu Shenwei found a yard with a low wall built by broken rocks that seemed like a shabby rockery. Behind it were several stone cabins, with little decoration, ipatible with the aesthetic of the whole residence. They were more like the cold structures outside.


    A teenager Gu Shenwei had never met before jumped out from the tree alongside the path, with his palms outward, soundlessly forbidding the intruder to go forward.


    Gu Shenwei understood and receded. The boy held a dagger. A real dagger.


    Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi were always in men¡¯s wear. Gu Shenwei originally thought it was for the sake of the school, but now he had a different idea: In order to make these two girls masculine, people in the fort had been working tirelessly.

 Chapter 56

    Chapter 56: The Encouragement


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    It was a cloudy and bright night. Summer flowers gave off an unnerving smell of conspiracy.


    When it was about the third watch, Gu Shenwei snuck out of his house. He went off the main road, heading for the yard he saw in the day.


    ve Ling had warned him not to wander, or to mess with Master Yu. However, on his first night in Inner Residence, he decided to break these two rules.


    The sky was starless. Gu Shenwei held his breath. He almost ran into the night watchman twice, but he managed to make it outside the garden.


    He climbed over the low wall, waiting patiently. After making sure no one was in the dark, he snuck under the crab apple tree, picked up a pebble, and flipped it at the windows of the central house.


    Although the architecture style was different from that of the Central in, it was easy to tell the owner¡¯s house. The only uncertainty was which twin lived here.


    There was no response.


    Gu Shenwei picked up a second pebble. This time he threw it harder, making a loud noise.


    Still, there was no response, as if it was unupied. But, someone outside the house reacted.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s hair stood on end. It felt like Shangguan Yushi¡¯s assassination again. He then darted forward, while swiftly turning around. It was the armed boy he saw by day who was ready for a second attack.


    The boy looked serious, even murderous. It was not a game.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s position was unfavorable. There was not much room for his maneuvers. However, the armed boy was even better than Shangguan Yushi in kung fu.


    Aiming the edge of his dagger at the intruder¡¯s chest, the boy was determined to end the fight in one split. It was his duty and his honor.


    A window was opened with a squeak. Then the boy hopped backward like a ghost under a spell, vanishing into the air.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s blood froze. He could not understand the mysterious boy.


    ¡°Who is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s me. Well, I¡¯m supposed to see Master Shifu under orders.¡±


    ¡°Whose orders were that?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re yours, Master Shifu.¡±


    ¡°Mine?¡±


    ¡°In the daytime, didn¡¯t you sh three fingers at me to meet you at the third watch?¡±


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t! You¡¯re a traitor. I¡¯ll punish you tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Master Shifu, I know I¡¯m guilty, so I came to receive my punishment today.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knelt under the window, while Shangguan Ru only showed her head and yawned.


    Lights were on in rooms on both sides. Shangguan Ru snapped. ¡°Go to sleep, nobody gets up!¡±. Then the lights went out.


    ¡°You came too early. I haven¡¯t decided how to punish you yet,¡± Shangguan Ru said sulkily.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got an idea: We¡¯ll drive him ¡®out of Stone Castle, covered with a hundred daggers¡¯. This is our practice.¡± Shangguan Yushi also showed her head.


    Gu Shenwei actually wanted to say Shangguan Yushi failed to run away with Master Rust night, which was a greater betrayal. But instead, he said, ¡°It¡¯s not the practice in our ¡®Moonhold School¡¯, Master Shifu.¡±


    ¡°Well, I haven¡¯t worked out the practice, either.¡±


    ¡°It must be different from any other school¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Of course it is.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi broke in again. ¡°I say throw him straight off Reincarnation Cliff. It¡¯s easier.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to kill me again, Uncle Master?¡±


    Shangguan Yushi raised her eyebrows in fury. The failed assassination made her livid. She could control the feeling when Shangguan Ru was present. But hearing the servant talking about it, she wanted to fight back.


    ¡°No quarreling!¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll listen to Master Shifu,¡± Gu Shenwei immediately said.


    Shangguan Yushi snorted and turned around, showing ve Huan only the back side of her head.


    ¡°If you want to return to our school, get me out of here and venture into the world with me.¡±


    ¡°We can also venture into the Stone Castle. There¡¯re so many aces in our castle. It¡¯s possible you won¡¯t run into many aces like them even you venture for a decade outside.¡±


    ¡°What a brown nose,¡± Shangguan Yushi murmured.


    ¡°It¡¯s different. In the Castle, they all treat me like a child.¡±


    ¡°Oh, actually, I have an idea. A way they¡¯ll take you seriously.¡±


    ¡°Tell me!¡± Shangguan Ru¡¯s eyes shed.


    ¡°Liar,¡± Shangguan Yushi said without turning her head.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you a story first.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d better be interesting, because I¡¯m tired.¡± Shangguan Ru¡¯s chin was on her elbow. She liked stories, especially stories in the middle of the night.


    It was pitch dark, only insects chirping. No one, not even the armed boy, would interrupt them. Thus, Gu Shenwei directly sat on the ground, slowly telling the story that he just remembered.


    ¡°That night, I told you many jianghu rules, but in fact, not all people follow the rules. Some people are bound to break those rules.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re talking about killers. Killers have rules too, and only our rules are different from others,¡± Shangguan Yushi said scornfully, without a look at him.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not talking about killers. In the Central in, we don¡¯t have schools like Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    ¡°What kind of people are they?¡± Shangguan Ru became a little curious.


    ¡°They¡¯re burrs.¡±


    ¡°Ah, you mean the Bighead Kingpin lot. You must hear it from your Mistress.¡± Shangguan Yushi deliberately interrupted again.


    ¡°Not entirely the same. Bighead Kingpin is a bandit who robs publicly, while the burrs attack at night and disappear. Everyone knows them, but no one sees them. Well, this may describe the top killers. However, they¡¯re not interested in people, but only priceless treasures.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi could not think of any famous burr at the moment, so she just grunted.


    ¡°The one I¡¯m talking about was the famous top burr in the Central in, known as ¡®Dexterous Dragon¡¯. He had a habit of bragging about his doings, embarrassing the owner. He was also very bold. He stole from prominent families, officials, and even Heaven.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re exaggerating.¡± Shangguan Yushi could not help but criticize him.


    ¡°I¡¯m not exaggerating. The Dexterous Dragon pulled off a dozen of big heists. But he was still not satisfied. Then he went to the imperial pce to rob the ce. You may know the emperor in the Central in imed to be the son of God. The Dexterous Dragon stole from the son of God. Isn¡¯t that stealing from Heaven?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so great about the imperial pce? The guards could neverpete with Golden Roc Fort¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Hush. Let him finish. What did he steal?¡±


    Shangguan Ru became interested. Although she was from the Western Region, she knew emperors were different from kings. Golden Roc Fort could notpete with them.


    ¡°The Dexterous Dragon stole more than 30,000 kilograms of gold and silver from the Great Treasury. It¡¯d take a lot of effort even by cart. But no one discovered it until several dayster when the gold and silver appeared in civil markets. Rumors flew. The guards knew it. Many people lost their jobs and lives because of this.¡±


    ¡°The burr loved money,¡± Shangguan Ru said.


    ¡°Yes, the Dexterous Dragon did. But he also spent a lot. More than 30,000 kilograms of gold and silver were spent in less than a month. But money was nothingpared to the missing jade seal, which greatly disturbed the imperial court.¡±


    ¡°He stole the jade seal? Why did he want that?¡± Shangguan Ruughed.


    ¡°It took several days to find that the jade seal was missing? Was the emperor justzy?¡± Even Shangguan Yushi became interested.


    ¡°They found out on the second morning. But they all thought it was stolen by someone in the pce. They didn¡¯t realize it was a burr. After stealing the jade seal, the Dexterous Dragon issued about 100 imperial edicts in a row, releasing many felons. He even announced an Imperial Confession saying ¡®I myself was low in virtue and acted unkingly¡¯.¡±


    Shangguan Ru chortled. She was starting to like the burry profession.


    ¡°You can imagine how chaotic the imperial court became. Nobody knew which edicts were real. They were reluctant to ept the edicts, and also reluctant to disobey them. Therefore, the Dexterous Dragon earned another alias¡ªEmperor¡¯s Student. He was even called ¡®the Overlord¡¯ among the people.¡±


    ¡°He really misbehaved and knew how to have fun. What happened then? What did he steal next?¡± Shangguan Ru¡¯s eyes shone with admiration.


    ¡°Then the Dexterous Dragon died.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The two girls cried in doubt. Finally, Shangguan Yushi turned her head around. ¡°What a storyteller! The hero dies at the climax!¡±


    ¡°The guards were so anxious that they spent five months in pursuit and arrested tens of thousands of people. Finally, they found out Dexterous Dragon¡¯s whereabouts. 300 imperial aces were sent to capture him, and 10,000 soldiers were on standby.¡±


    Gu Shenwei paused for a moment.


    ¡°Was he killed?¡± Shangguan Ru asked.


    ¡°No. The Dexterous Dragon killed himself. He didn¡¯t leave any confession. Thus many people thought the real burr was still alive, hiding. People even gave him another nickname¡ªRed Bat Lady.¡±


    ¡°Ha, you¡¯re lying. Everyone knows Lady with Red Sleeves is one of the ¡®Three Heroes of Wind and Dust¡¯. She¡¯s not even a burr.¡± Shangguan Yushi had spotted a hole in the story and yelled out immediately.


    ¡°Not the same person. She¡¯s the batdy because the Dexterous Dragon hid by day and came out by night like a bat. She also died in a red dress. That¡¯s why she was called Red Bat Lady.¡±


    ¡°The Dexterous Dragon was a woman?¡± Shangguan Ru asked in surprise.


    ¡°Yes, she was.¡±


    ¡°I bet you made this up. It¡¯s such a bad story,¡± Shangguan Yushi said and pouted. She always disbelieved ve Huan.


    ¡°It¡¯s true. You can ask those who¡¯ve been to the Central in. They must all know it. I heard it from the one who had seen Red Bat Lady¡¯s body.¡±


    The theft in the imperial pce was thest and biggest case before Gu Lun resigned. He managed to retrieve the jade seal himself. Gu Shenwei remembered it well. But he also added some details to the story to impress the two audiences.


    This was not aplicated or happy-ending story. But the two girls liked it. They leaned on the ledge, thinking about the story.


    ¡°At first, you said we could do something fun in the Castle. You were talking about this.¡± ve Huan¡¯s promise crossed Shangguan Ru¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t really kill people, but we can steal things.¡± Shangguan Yushi also realized that.


    ¡°Steal something special. We can surprise them.¡± Gu Shenwei encouraged them. He thought they would better steal something from Six Kills Temple.

 Chapter 57

    Chapter 57: Intuition


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s half-true story moved the two young girls. Even though they did not make up their mind to steal anything instantly, he knew he had sessfully taken the first step.


    However, it was only a small step. Gu Shenwei could not control Shangguan Ru¡¯s thoughts, so he just waited and saw what this bossy girl would do next.


    The next morning, after the twins went to school, Gu Shenwei had the chance to sneak into the Eighth Young Master¡¯s yard for reporting to Mama Xue. He did not take the methods that Mama Xue had taught him, because she obviously overrated ve Huan¡¯s influence on Master Ru. A ve¡¯s life and death were not enough to draw her attention.


    Gu Shenwei saw some people carrying a big basket from the gate. He recognized one of them was ve San, one of the ten male ves bought by Miss Luo.


    Some of them had died and others had left. Only four still worked in Firewood Yard, however, Miss Luo had forgotten them. Hence, other people in Golden Roc Fort had no reason to remember them.


    Expressionless and ssy-eyed, ve San did not seem to notice ve Huan. Carrying the basket, he looked down and hurriedly left with the others.


    Gu Shenwei was very sensitive to these trivial matters for no reason. He wanted to know what had been put into this basket.


    Even if there was a dead person inside, such was amon urrence in Golden Roc Fort. But Gu Shenwei could not control his curiosity and the faint uneasiness. He had not stopped thinking about it, until he entered Mama Xue¡¯s room.


    Unexpectedly, Mama Xue was kind to Gu Shenwei. She not only expressed her satisfaction with the progress of the n, but also showed her appreciation for ve Huan¡¯s wisdom. Additionally, she rewarded him a cup of tea.


    As he drank the tea, Mama Xue said, ¡°You¡¯ll know how hard it is to find a trustworthy person in the world. Even a master of kung fu can be easily hurt by people¡¯s betrayal. However, you¡¯re a trustworthy man to me. Now, we¡¯re ¡®master and apprentice¡¯. Although I know a lot of kung fu skills, what I¡¯ve taught you only ounts for about 20% of them. After you gain the thing I want, I¡¯ll teach you more powerful kung fu, which isn¡¯t showty, you know, but practical. Ah! You want to avenge the person who murdered your father. After learning my kung fu, you can kill anyone you want.¡±


    This was not the first time that Mama Xue had said ¡°kill anyone you want¡±. Gu Shenwei though she probably had learned his real identity.


    Gu Shenwei cautiously thanked Mama Xue, appearing to be neither cold nor enthusiastic. He mentioned nothing about the secret of the wooden saber. In fact, he wanted to know some clues about the saber, but now he felt it was better to y the fool.


    Since the twins may be calling ve Huan to attend the kung fupetition at any moment. Gu Shenwei used this as an excuse and left.


    After he walked out the door, Gu Shenwei reflected that he had been too nervous, and even he could not walk normally, due to the muscle tension.


    After he ensured no one was around him, Gu Shenwei walked outside to the southeastern corner, where he had talked to ve Qianst night.


    The hole was sealed up by mud.


    Gu Shenwei rushed back to the school gate.


    As the sun was shining gloriously, all of the servants hid under the wall shadow and still kept using their sleeves fan themselves. But Gu Shenwei felt chilly.


    ve Qian died. Obviously, Mama Xue killed him. Her words about ¡°trust¡±, in fact, were a warning: She had known the two little ves¡¯ conspiracy.


    Gu Shenwei hoped to find the more convincing evidence of ve Qian¡¯s death, so he carefully listened to people¡¯s chatting. But ve Qian was just a killer apprentice in East Castle. The apprentices like him could die one or two every day on average in East Castle. Who else would be interested in his death?


    Gu Shenwei also wondered if he was overwrought. Even if it was a dead man in the bucket, it might not be Salve Qian. But he soon insisted the original guess and even believed it. The intuition could not be wrong.


    The young man, who had the overwhelming desire to take revenge, the woman, who had the overwhelming desire to steal the saber, they once walked on the same road, but now the road fork was in front of them.


    Once she did not gain the wooden saber, Mama Xue would kill him. Gu Shenwei knew that ve Qian¡¯s warning was right, while if he could not take the wooden saber to Mama Xue, he would be killed as well.


    Gu Shenwei began to conceive the killing n again. However, he did not find an assistant this time and also did not have the convenience of hiding behind the screen. The right ce, the good time, the close allies, he had none of them.


    Gu Shenwei was considering theplicated killing n. Onceing up with a new one, he quickly denied it andpletely did not hear someone calling him.


    ¡°ve Huan!¡±


    The voice became harsh. Gu Shenwei suddenly sobered up and raised his head. He saw ve Qing¡¯s extremely unsatisfied face.


    ve Qing felt surprised and angry that ve Huan could enter Inner Residence and became Shangguan Ru¡¯s attendant, therefore, ve Huan¡¯s indifference made him angrier.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter with you? Now you can¡¯t hear ves speak after serving the master?¡±


    ¡°Sorry. I¡­ I¡¯m a little sleepy.¡±


    Gu Shenwei tried to find excuses. He had offended so many people in Golden Roc Fort, so he did not want to annoy one more person.


    ¡°Take some ves to clean up Kun Yard. Master Fei wants to use it,¡± ve Qing ordered.


    Shangguan Ru often gave some weird orders, so Gu Shenwei did not ask why and left for Kun Yard with other five or six ves.


    Since Gu Shenwei did not know where it was, a young ve led him into the yard. When arriving there, he found he had been Kun Yard once.


    Last time, when Gu Shenwei had a narrow escape after falling down the cliff, Shangguan Yushi thought he was a ghost and then hid in this yard.


    This small yard had been empty for a long time and dust umted so much. These young ves took almost two days to clean it up.


    The next day, Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi did not go to school. They came to Kun Yard and asked the ves carry a lot of items into it, most of which were taken from the garden in Inner Residence.


    Initially, Gu Shenwei thought Shangguan Ru wanted to live alone, so she moved to many objects and tools. Butter he found she actually was designing a field to practice kung fu.


    That afternoon, Master Ru and Master Yu drove all attendants away, except ve Huan. ve Qing tried to stay, but Master Yu kicked him out.


    Naturally, he med on ve Huan.


    Shangguan Ru was touched by the story of Dexterous Dragon, so she decided to be a great thief who could fly over the eaves and run on the walls. At first, Shangguan Yushi did not want the Ninth Young Master to be influenced by Gu Shenwei. However, she changed her attitude soon and supported him. Gu Shenwei was astonished by her behavior.


    But he quickly realized she supported them because she wanted to gain the power of control.


    As for Shangguan Ru¡¯s attitude, she did not hate thepetition between her cousin and the ve, and even a little liked it.


    Gu Shenwei had not seen himself as a child for almost a year and started to learn a lot of things, so he could clearly see the essence of the game.


    ¡°Even a kid isn¡¯t naive.¡± He thought.


    The 15-year-old girl, Shangguan Yushi, had understood the principle¡ªA man leaning against the big tree could enjoy the shade it provided. Hence, she had to rely on ¡°the big tree¡±¡ªMaster Ru and was trying to ¡°tie¡± herself firmly with her. Besides, the 12-year-old girl, Shangguan Ru, knew that she should bnce the two sides by natural intuition.


    The truth was always ugly. When he recalled his past as a young master, Gu Shenwei also yed these tricks unconsciously. Now he still needed to y the tricks. However,pared with the tricks he had yed before, he had a more specific and bloodier goal.


    Shangguan Fei also ran over. He was the ¡°attendant¡± that the two young girls could not get rid of. Having tried to the way of begging and even threatening, he was permitted to join them. But the girls drove away his attendants as usual.


    The Four Great Thieves in Golden Roc Fort was formed.


    Except Gu Shenwei, the rest of them did not know the real purpose of this game, but he could not tell them. Hence, at the first three days, they only devoted themselves to practicing Qing Gong, because it was a basic skill for the great thieves.


    The twins also invited a training tutor from Moonhold Academy. He was a small and in man with the ugly mustache, but his Qing Gong was great.


    The tutor taught the three masters diligently and seriously, however, he looked down upon the low-status servant, who had gained the priority to join the team.


    Gu Shenwei had to stand behind the masters and followed their movements. His Qing Gong was not good, so he did not learn it very fast and could barely catch up with the two girls.


    Probably the training tutor thought the servant was too stupid to teach. He checked Gu Shenwei¡¯s Internal Strength by pressing the vital acupoints on his chest. After a while, the tutor made his conclusion and impatiently said,


    ¡°You can¡¯t learn the profound kung fu in Golden Roc Fort, because you¡¯ve studied a totally different one. Now you can catch up the training progress, butter you won¡¯t, so give up.¡±


    Then the tutor did not exin more. But Gu Shenwei thought his words made sense. He knew that Yin and Yang Strength, which was exclusive for the Gu family, required the learner should practice kung fu steadily and slowly. In his memory, his father Gu Lun had not paid much attention to practicing Qing Gong.


    However, Gu Shenwei believed the man¡¯s efforts was the decisive factor, so he did not give up. Especially, Shangguan Yushi¡¯s attitude spurred on him. Since she had heard the tutor¡¯s talk to Gu Shenwei, she practiced Qing Gong harder. If she could surpass Gu Shenwei on one kind of kung fu, Shangguan Yushi would be very delighted.


    The masters only spent three days on practicing. They did not want to practice kung fu day by day in order to be a great thief, so they started to discuss the things that they wanted to steal.


    For Gu Shenwei, it was the most difficult part of his n. If he did not lead Shangguan Ru¡¯s interest to Six Kills Temple, the whole n would be a real game. Then all his efforts would be in vain.


    Therefore, he cautiously chipped in and tried not to expose his purpose. For example, when Shangguan Fei mentioned stealing his father¡¯s token, he would point out that was improper, because the game was for fun and could not embarrass the parents. When Shangguan Ru nned to steal a good saber in East Castle, he would suggest that people in there always did not guard against the twins. Even if they seed, people must help them secretly.


    Some of the other goals were too easy. Before Gu Shenwei made his disagreement, others denied them quickly.


    The four teenagers secretly discussed for the whole afternoon, but still did note up with a good idea. They became anxious. Atst, Shangguan Yushi said the ce that Gu Shenwei had expected to hear for a long time.


    ¡°Six Kills Temple. It¡¯s a good ce and hides a lot of treasures. Also, it¡¯s heavily guarded. Remember once we wanted to y inside but people drove us away? They can¡¯t intentionally help us steal the items.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not say anything and silently waited for the approvement of the two masters.


    No matter what other¡¯s goal was, Gu Shenwei wanted to steal the wooden saber. After that, he still needed to find a way to deal with Mama Xue. Hence, Gu Shenwei now hesitated whether to fasten the stealing n.

 Chapter 58

    Chapter 58: The n


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Among the four, only Shangguan Fei had entered Six Kills Temple, where the people in Golden Roc Fort had offered sacrifices to their ancestors. One of its rules was that no woman was allowed, which offended both Shangguan Fei and Shangguan Yushi, and they solidified their resolve to steal something from the temple.


    Shangguan Fei sketched the outline of the temple in ordance with his memory. The main hallid north near the cliff, sitting on a grand groundmass, and people could see it from many locations in Golden Roc Fort. At a hundred feet away from the hall, there was an arc stone wall which was high and wide enough to separate the hall and the Inner Residence.


    The north-south rectangr main hall was different from ordinary temples. Its north side as well as half of the east and west sides hugged the cliff, and its windows were three meters high from the ground so that the sun could shed light on the ancestors¡¯ paintings on the opposite wall.


    Six Kills Temple kept a lot of priests, who were called Sacred Master, in Golden Roc Fort. Rumor has it that they were once master-like killers, yet they gave up killing for a variety of reasons. They swore to protect the temple and have never stepped beyond the stone wall for their whole life.


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen them. They¡¯re just some weak old men. There¡¯s nothing to fear.¡±


    Shangguan Fei said lightly. He did not take the rumors seriously, while the other three thought the opposite, especially Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi. Although they had never entered Six Kills Temple, they had more knowledge than Shangguan Fei.


    ¡°Nonsense, they¡¯re kung fu masters. Master Liu¡¯s killer mentor is a Sacred Master. His mentor is one of the fort¡¯s best killers of this century. Only several killers can surpass him in the number of kills,¡± Shangguan Yushi refuted.


    Shangguan Fei could not deny that. Master Liu, who had a mustache, was their training tutor in the Moonhold Academy, and his words were trustworthy.


    In Golden Roc Fort, a killer was judged by the number of his kills. Master Liu¡¯s killer mentor, who was among the top ten killers of this century, was apparently not a ¡°weak old man¡±. Even though he was old now, he could easily defeat a few teenagers.


    ¡°The Red Bat Lady, how did she sneak into the pce? Apparently, her kung fu wasn¡¯t the best because she was forced tomit suicide in the end,¡± Shangguan Ru asked.


    Unfortunately, Gu Shenwei did not know the answer. Back then the Gu family cared more about Gu Lun¡¯s future, so they did not know much about the details. He pondered for a while and said, ¡°It¡¯s knockout powder I guess. It¡¯s said that every time she sneaked into the pce the people there slept more soundly than usual.¡±


    ¡°Knockout powder!¡±


    Three youngsters of the Shangguan family eximed simultaneously, and their eyes gleamed. Knockout powder was a unique art in Golden Roc Fort, and they had been familiar with it since childhood.


    This reminded Gu Shenwei of that swordsman named Long Feidu from the Great Snowmountain. A Golden Roc Fort killer had used some knockout powder on the swordsman and killed him easily. ¡°That unlucky man thought the killer used some Mercy Powder on him, but the killer denied it. ording to the killer, Golden Roc Fort has stopped using Mercy Powder now, so what kind of knockout powder do the killers use now?¡±


    ¡°We really could use some Mercy Powder,¡± Gu Shenwei suggested.


    Hearing that, the other three teenagers looked confused. ¡°What kind of stuff is it?¡± Shangguan Fei asked.


    Gu Shenwei did not know what Mercy Powder was either. He assumed that it used to be an exclusive knockout powder of Golden Roc Fort, but it was banned for some reason. Seeing their reaction, he was surprised and thought, ¡°It seems that Golden Roc Fort did ban it. The fort really kept its promise. That¡¯s not its style at all.¡±


    ¡°Uh, it¡¯s a kind of knockout powder. It¡¯s said to be very effective.¡±


    ¡°We might not have Mercy Powder, but we could get some of ¡®that¡¯,¡± Shangguan Yushi said as she narrowed her eyes.


    Somebody in Golden Roc Fort had produced a recement of Mercy Powder, yet nobody talked about it. And Gu Shenwei just nodded his head without asking further as he pretended to be aware of the truth.


    They sent Shangguan Fei to ¡°get some of that¡±. He was assigned to simple jobs because his kung fu was the worst among the four.


    Using only knockout powder was far from enough. The gate of Six Kills Temple was usually closed, and nobody could go inside without a Sacred Master. Therefore, the biggest problem was figuring out how they could obtain the key. After a long discussion, the four could note up with a solution so they moved on to talk about what they were going to steal.


    Shangguan Fei described all the treasures in Six Kills Temple to the other three teenagers, but he had never mentioned a wooden saber. Gu Shenwei could not ask him directly. He guessed that Mama Xue might have known about some secrets that even the Shangguan family had not known.


    Toward evening, Shangguan Ru finally decided on the target of their action: a palm carved out of a piece of pure dark jade.


    There was no specific reason to choose the enshrined ck Jade Palm, of which Shangguan Ru had heard about a long time ago. She wanted to see it in spite of being a woman.


    Atst, Shangguan Ru made everyone swore an oath: Never tell anyone a word about this task.


    She wanted this mission to be carried out. She did not want another false ¡°assassination¡±. That was a method which the adults had used to keep the children happy.


    Gu Shenwei swore like this, ¡°If I talked, cursed be my family, and I shall be condemned to hell where I¡¯ll meet a violent end.¡±


    The Gu family had their ¡°violent ends¡± already. As for Gu Shenwei himself, he did not care about how he would meet his end. He only wanted revenge.


    When the four were about to leave Kun Yard after the discussion, Shangguan Yushi suddenly thought of something. ¡°Ah, I almost forgot. That burden of yours, it¡¯s not easy for you to get rid of that guy. You need to go through the Inner Residence to get inside Six Kills Temple.¡±


    ¡°That ¡®Shadow Guard¡¯.¡±


    Shangguan Ru gnashed her teeth as if she had the same degree of hatred as Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°For me and my brother, father had arranged a bodyguard who¡¯s at your age. He always hides in the dark and never shows up easily. He knows all about what we did, and then reports every small detail to father. Thest time when we failed to escape was because of him reporting our secrets. I hate him so much,¡± Shangguan Ru exined.


    Gu Shenwei now knew. The Shadow Guard was the one who forbade him from entering Shangguan Ru¡¯s residence during the day, and was also the armed teenager that attacked him at night. He had also found out the reason why Shangguan Ru easily forgave his ¡°betrayal¡± because she found a scapegoat, the Shadow Guard.


    ¡°Maybe now he¡¯s hiding nearby,¡± Shangguan Fei whispered.


    ¡°No, I told mum to ask him to keep a hundred paces away from me, otherwise I¡¯ll kill him. He can¡¯t be in this yard now.¡±


    Judging by Shangguan Ru¡¯s countenance, she was not kidding.


    Shangguan Yushi pulled Shangguan Ru¡¯s hand and said, ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it. Trust me.¡±


    The meeting was over before she could tell everyone about the solution.


    In two consecutive days, the four were discussing the details of the n. It was not as easy as it looked. The only advantage was that the three masters were born in Stone Castle, which saved them the effort of conducting a preliminary investigation.


    Shangguan Ru did not like this and thought that the n was not practical enough. ¡°How did the Red Bat Lady get the info about the pce? She couldn¡¯t have asked around inside.¡±


    ¡°No, of course not. Uh, there must¡¯ve been a spouse who helped her.¡±


    ¡°Ha, then you¡¯re our hidden traitor!¡± Shangguan Ru eximed while pointing at her brother.


    Shangguan Fei flushed and quickly denied it, his arm wavered between the two girls, then he finally pointed at ve Huan and said, ¡°He¡¯s the hidden traitor. Let him y the hidden traitor.¡±


    Thereafter, ve Huan, who knew the least about Golden Roc Fort among them, became the ¡°hidden traitor¡±.


    In the following day, the twin finally went to school, leaving Gu Shenwei some time to meet Mama Xue.


    Mama Xue had her cold and stiff look again, and there was no way to tell her feelings. Somehow Gu Shenwei thought she was a little too hasty. After he had reported thetest developments, she offered some advice.


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty easy actually. The twins can lightly sneak into Stone Castle because they¡¯re familiar with the guards. Even if they were recognized, those guards might not utter a single word. The key though, is how you can enter Six Kills Temple. Hmm¡ªlook, you¡­¡±


    It seemed like Mama Xue knew more about Six Kills Temple than Shangguan Fei did. The tricky part was, ording to the rules, Mama Xue was a woman and would not have an opportunity to go anywhere near the main hall.


    Gu Shenwei thought that it was too risky. However, he could not think of a better idea. They nned to use knockout powder to steal the gate key, but they did not know who had the key, and it was impossible for them to knock out dozens of Sacred Masters at the same time.


    In the afternoon, Gu Shenwei told the other three Mama Xue¡¯s idea, and it was well-received, especially by Shangguan Ru. She praised ve Huan and wondered why she had never thought of this idea.


    There was a prominent outthrust with a sharp angle near the east side of Six Kills Temple, which was opposite to the windows on the east wall. If a piece of rope could connect both ends, those with good lightness skill could climb over the rope and reach the windows.


    Gu Shenwei gave the credit of ¡°remembering the outthrust¡± to Shangguan Fei, and no one suspected Gu Shenwei.


    The twins had somebody transport the tools here, including two flying ws and ropes that were 10 meters long. To ensure that the rope was long enough, they tied it together with another piece of rope.


    ve Huan spent the whole afternoon practicing on how to precisely throw the flying ws at a distant target.


    Shangguan Ru suggested moving at that night, yetpromised to wait for another night.


    Back at his residence, Gu Shenwei thought about the n over and over again. With the twins, this n could work out just fine. Even in the worst case scenario, they would not be killed if they were caught. He was not worried about how to steal the wooden saber, but rather what to do after obtaining it.


    ¡°Mama Xue. Mama Xue,¡± Gu Shenwei repeated her name in his mind. He wanted both her head and the secret inside it. If the wooden saber did matter that much to her, it might also be helpful with the overall course of vengeance.


    But the truth was, either killing her or getting the secret was impossible to achieve.


    On the following day, the four discussed the details incessantly until they nailed down everything.


    ¡°Have you found out that being a thief is quite the same as being a killer?¡±


    Shangguan Yushi asked while they were taking a rest.


    ¡°Yep, simr in every part, except for the final target. One is for the object, the other is for human lives.¡±


    Shangguan Ru felt the same way, and thought this game became more meaningful than before.


    At midnight, ording to the appointed time, Gu Shenwei slunk to Shangguan Ru¡¯s yard and gently knocked on the window, which was then instantly pushed open. The other three, all wearing ck suits and masks, filed out.


    Shangguan Yushi, who was the tallest, frowned because they forgot to prepare a suit for ve Huan, leaving him still looking like a ve.


    Gu Shenwei assigned several wooden sabers to the others, making this game look as realistic as they had wanted it to be. Besides, he took this saber for a particr reason: to rece his targeted wooden saber in Six Kills Temple with this one.


    Furthermore, he came up with an idea to use this opportunity to uncover the secrets of Mama Xue. This could be a perilous game and it was 100 times more real than the three masters¡¯ game. Once things went south, he could not expect mercy from any of them.

 Chapter 59

    Chapter 59: In the Air


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    When Shangguan Yushi was about to close the window, Gu Shenwei looked inside inadvertently and saw how Shangguan Ru had ¡°taken care¡± of the Shadow Guard. The teenager with a knife was lying on the floor, motionless, tightly tied up, with his mouth stuffed.


    Shangguan Yushi closed the window quickly, and his gaze from behind the ck cloth was clearly a warning for ve Huan that it was none of his business, but a ¡°private matter¡± of the two young girls.


    The four people were divided into two groups, with Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi in the front, and Shangguan Fei and Gu Shenwei behind them at a distance of more than 10 steps. In the hazy moonlight, they could barely see each other.


    The Inner Residence was not as strictly guarded as the two castles, so they easily made it to the outer wall of the Six Kills Temple. Two young girls had already jumped on top of the wall and slid down a thin rope. They had made great progress in Qing Gong and the walls here were not as tall as those outside.


    The ¡°thieves¡± had entered the territory of the Six Kills Temple. Here, they needed to be careful at every step. The girls were still exploring the way in front and would signal the two teenagers behind them to follow when they were sure that it was safe ahead.


    There were many torches outside the temple, which from time to time reflected a distorted figure, dimming the light of the stars and the moon.


    The dozens of Sacred Masters, who were guarding the sacred temples of the Shangguan family day and night, could never expect that such ¡°unworthy descendants¡± of the family woulde here to steal something.


    Under the red steps leading to the temple, there were many stone houses where the Sacred Masters lived, so it was almost impossible to pass through without being noticed. The only way to enter the temple was to climb up the steps.


    The four teenagers quickly ran up without meeting anyone. It was far less strictly guarded here than expected.


    On the left of the red steps, there was a several-foot-tall stone tablet, beside which there was a column with a string ofnterns hanging from top to bottom, making the words on the tablet very clear:


    ¡°Six rounds of reincarnation, no extermination.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was shocked with just a quick nce at it. These words made him realize the true meaning of the name Six Kills Temple and triggered some ideas in his mind. But he had no time to think it over as Shangguan Fei was already leading the way to the sharp corner in the east of the temple.


    That corner was narrow and was upied by a huge bronze tripod, where they barely found a ce to stand. Now it was time for ve Huan, who was the most powerful, toe in handy.


    Gu Shenwei took the extended flying w from Shangguan Fei and focused his eyes on the east wall of the Six Kills Temple.


    Having never been here before, he did not know the exact location of the window except for some rough descriptions by Shangguan Fei, who was not attentive at all and could hardly tell the exact size or ground clearance of the window. He could only rely on his intuition as he made a darker location the target.


    Shangguan Yushi kept nudging him on the waist, urging him to move quickly. He almost suspected that the girl wanted to make some trouble and ce the me for failure onto him.


    Gu Shenwei threw the flying w with Yang Strength, and just before the w had left his hand, he attached some Yin Strength to it so that it couldnd lightly without making too much noise.


    Although his Internal Strength was controlled by Mama Xue and could hardly be improved, he had been more and more skillful in the application of Yin Strength and Yang Strength.


    The thin rope slipped quickly from Gu Shenwei¡¯s hands like a slippery snake. Their n, which had taken them several days of preparation, was still full of holes. If the windows of the Six Kills Temple were closed in the evening, the flying w could not hook onto anything and they could do nothing but gaze at the temple and sigh.


    Finally, with a low click, the flying wnded. The window was open.


    They listened carefully without moving for quite a while. If that sound were to be noticed by the Sacred Masters, their entire n to steal would be a total failure.


    There were only the wind and the strange sounds that asionally came from the abyss, sounding like a giant roc pecking at the eyeballs of a monster.


    ¡°Maybe there were people like us here,¡± thought Gu Shenwei. He pulled the rope harder until it could not be pulled back anymore.


    And the other three firmly tied the other end of the rope to the legs of the tripod.


    Shangguan Yushi pulled the rope hard again. Making sure that it was firm enough, she nodded at Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Ru took a deep breath and grasped the rope from mid-air at first. She firmly held the rope with both hands and both legs, just like a monkey, and climbed toward the Six Kills Temple.


    This was no joke. Although the cliff was the most powerful ¡°guard¡± of Golden Roc Fort, it was different from humans. It would treat everybody equally and would not show mercy just because the challenger was a daughter of the Supreme King. Shangguan Ru would fall down and be smashed into pieces due to a touch of carelessness or if the flying w was not firmly secured.


    If such a tragedy took ce, ve Huan would have to pay for it with his own life, and even Shangguan Yushi would probably be unable to escape punishment. Therefore, these two kids were really haunted with fear.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s petite figure rushed into the darkness of the night and finally faded into the darkest shadow.


    Following a flutter of tremors, the three teenagers at the corner finally rxed as apparently Shangguan Ru had arrived safely.


    Shangguan Yushi was next. Clutching the rope with one hand, she pointed at Shangguan Fei with the other hand, waved it, and then pointed to the distance, indicating that he should leave for observation.


    During their practicing, Shangguan Fei had been very active. However, the rope was only a few feet above the ground then, but now, they were on a cliff with an abyss below them. He was extremely frightened and had to nod immediately to agree with his cousin¡¯s arrangement. He even felt that this arrangement was totally right.


    Shangguan Yushi then turned to ve Huan and waved her hand again.


    Gu Shenwei was surprised. He could not stay. If he could not enter the Six Kills Temple, he would not be able to steal the wooden saber that Mama Xue wanted, and then his deliberate n to make the twins ¡°thieves¡± would simply be a game.


    He shook his head.


    But he had to nod at the firm eyes of Shangguan Yushi. After all, this was not the ce for arguing.


    He knew very well what Master Yu was thinking. Could anything else enhance friendship better than being ¡°criminal partners¡±? She wanted to steal the ck Jade Palm with only two people and downgrade ve Huan to a peripheral coborator.


    Shangguan Yushi climbed over along the rope. She was taller and her Qing Gong was much better, so there was almost no additional swing on the rope.


    Gu Shenwei was pressing the rope with one hand. He only needed to shake it with a little ¡°Yin and Yang Strength¡± and Shangguan Yushi would definitely fall, which would look like an ident, and he could get rid of a huge problem.


    Gu Shenwei had never forgotten that this very girl had tried to assassinate him.


    But the timing was not ideal. His most urgent task now was to steal the wooden saber.


    He let go of the rope with regret, wondering when the next perfect opportunity would present itself.


    Shangguan Fei looked at the torches in the distance with due diligence, not noticing the subtle movements of ve Huan.


    After Shangguan Yushi had also entered the temple, Gu Shenwei waited for a while and climbed onto the rope. He had already offended Master Yu anyway, and the grudges between them could never be resolved, so he did not care to offend her once more.


    Shangguan Fei did not discover this until Gu Shenwei had climbed a few yards, and he stamped his feet anxiously. Not daring to stand between the cliff and shout, he could only watch the disobedient ve disappear into the darkness of the night.


    Gu Shenwei had already climbed more than half of the way and was only a few feet away from the window. Suddenly, the rope loosened and he fell at once.


    Gu Shenwei broke out in a cold sweat. However, after falling down for about a foot, the rope became stable again. Not daring to move rashly, he remained suspended in mid-air on the rope. Underneath him, there was an abyss that seemed to be able to swallow the entire world, and the rope was swaying in the mountain wind.


    The idea of releasing the rope and ending everything was tempting to the young boy in danger, but he threw away the remaining idea of escape only for a short moment. He kept up his spirit and finished the final distance quickly.


    The flying w had moved from its original position and Gu Shenwei would have definitely died if there was not a small depression on the windowsill that had retained one hook of the w.


    Gu Shenwei immediately thought of Shangguan Yushi. It was definitely she who had loosened the flying w to create an ¡°ident¡±.


    Gu Shenwei grasped the flying w again by force and fixed it in a firm position. Then, he turned to the inside of the Six Kills Temple.


    The Six Kills Temple was extremely long and narrow, with long rows of pirs supporting the roof on both sides. A small silver te was hung between every two pirs. On each te there was a candle, illuminating the murals between the windows.


    The murals were life-like portraits of knife-wielding men who were ancestors of the Shangguan family. There were many other ces that were left nk, reserved for the descendants.


    In the depths of the temple, however, there was not an ancestral tablet, but a huge, sheathless saber, which was even longer than an ordinarynce. Under the light of the row of candles, the snow-white de was shining intimidatingly.


    On the floor in front of the giant saber, two masked girls were tying up a gray-haired old man. The old man with his mouth stuffed was not resisting, obviously stricken by Shangguan Ru¡¯s overpowering drug. He did not faint but just lost his strength. Surprisingly, he even looked calm.


    The girls looked up at ve Huan and continued what they were doing. The lights were dim and came from a distance, so Gu Shenwei failed to clearly see Shangguan Yushi¡¯s expression.


    This was not the right time for revenge. He looked around for traces of the wooden saber.


    The hall was empty and the only objects inside were ced under the giant saber. Gu Shenwei went forward and saw the ck Jade Palm along with the altar, incense burners, porcin vases, and various sacrifices. There were also some unique things that could never be seen in the ancestral halls of ordinary people, such as a pile of skeletons, real or not, and a few damaged armors. But there was no a sign of a wooden saber, which could be seen everywhere outside of Golden Roc Fort.


    The giant saber was the only saber, but it was certainly not wooden.


    Mama Xue clearly said that there was ¡°a wooden saber¡±. Gu Shenwei regretted not asking Mama Xue for more details, like for instance, if it was hidden somewhere.


    Shangguan Ru jumped onto the altar and carefully appreciated the giant saber and the skeletons. This was the first time for her, probably also the first time for any female member of the Shangguan family, to enter the Six Kills Temple, so she was very curious about everything.


    Shangguan Yushi waited by the altar for orders. Gu Shenwei looked around the hall again, but he could not find any ce that seemed a possible location for the wooden saber to be hidden.


    Shangguan Ru picked up the ck Jade Palm, which was just the size of a real palm, and put it into a bag that had been prepared beforehand. Then, she carried the bag and jumped off of the altar. She nodded at the other two and signaled them to leave.


    Shangguan Yushi nced at Gu Shenwei when passing by. But Gu Shenwei did not care at all. This was his only chance. If he could not find the wooden knife, he would probably suffer what ve Qian had suffered.


    The tied-up old man was lying on the ground and looking at the roof with a peaceful gaze, not caring at all about the three thieves who had intruded the hall.


    Gu Shenwei also looked up at the roof. No, there was nothing there. Even if the wooden saber really was hidden there, he could not jump onto it.


    Shangguan Ru called Gu Shenwei to leave immediately with a shush as she and Shangguan Yushi had already reached the window from which they hade in.


    Gu Shenwei had no choice so he ran over quickly.


    Shangguan Ru was still the first one to go out, leaving the pair of enemies, who ignored each other.


    Shangguan Yushi suddenly turned to Gu Shenwei and said in a low voice, ¡°Why do I always think you are nning some conspiracy?¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not reply as he suddenly thought of a possible ce where the wooden saber might be hidden.

 Chapter 60

    Chapter 60: Failure


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Shangguan Yushi did not expect a clear answer from ve Huan. She just wanted to show that she was not foolish and kept watching him. Hence, after achieving her goal, she humphed and climbed out of the window.


    Gu Shenwei was all alone with an old man, who was still tied with a rope under the giant saber. Thetter seemed obedient and did not care about anything in the world.


    Gu Shenwei instantly looked forward against the wall. Soon his heart jumped because he had seen the wooden saber by chance. ¡°God helps those who help themselves,¡± Gu Shenwei thought. The wooden saber was iid on the wall near to him. A slender and tall man-in-ck pictured in the mural held it, so it was slightly more prominent than the wall. Without purposefully and cautiously looking for it, the saber was hard to be found.


    Gu Shenwei rushed to the wall. He quickly drew out the wooden saber tied on his waist and reced the one in the mural.


    Wooden sabers made in Golden Roc Fort looked basically the same. Even their owners had difficulty distinguishing one saber from the other.


    Gu Shenwei stuck the fake saber in the mural and hastily nced at the old man. Thetter still stared at the ceiling and ignored what had happened around him.


    ¡°Perhaps the old man is a hidden kung fu master.¡± This strange idea came to his mind. But he immediately ran back to the window. Now he could not think too much, because the most urgent thing was to fulfill the task ordered by Mama Xue.


    He climbed out of the window and crawled along the rope. Staying with Shangguan Ru, Shangguan Yushi would likely be unable to move the rope in order to murder him again.


    Back on the ground, Gu Shenwei untied the rope and let it hang outside of the Six Kills Temple¡¯s wall. The flying w would stay there forever.


    Four ¡°great thieves¡± retreated to the roads from which they came and Gu Shenwei was thest one to jump out of the wall. They had never thought their heist would bepleted so sessfully, so they were excited but also worried.


    After all, Golden Roc Fort was the masters¡¯ home. Once they exited Six Kills Temple, Shangguan Fei became brave again. Several times, he pestered his sister Shangguan Ru and wanted to see ck Jade Palm. However, Shangguan Ru rejected him. In her mind, their mission was still going on and they should continuously pretend to be the ¡°great thieves¡±.


    However, Shangguan Ru was less steadfast, because she suspected that someone had known their n and secretly helped them. Perhaps, it was another game arranged by others. Particrly, the old man in the temple was too vulnerable. He almost seemed willing to be tied up by them. The whole thing was doubtful.


    Her doubts were quickly confirmed.


    When they arrived back to Shangguan Ru¡¯s residence, someone was already waiting there.


    In fact, there should have been a man in the room¡ªthe armed teenager, who they had captured. But now, the person in her room was not the tied-up young man.


    This man, wearing a long and grey robe, was very thin and short. He was standing in the dark. As soon as the four ¡°thieves¡± walked into the room, he lighted up the little candle on the table. The light lit up his face with a humble and well-prepared smile.


    ¡°I wish, Master Fei and Master Ru, everything goes well.¡±


    The man spoke in an over-pleased voice and bowed to the twins, which made his smile more hypocritical. But he did not greet to Shangguan Yushi.


    ¡°How could you be here? Who let you in?¡± It was Shangguan Ru¡¯s sharp reprimand.


    When seeing this man, the four of them were astonished. But Shangguan Ru still behaved tyrannically. She ripped off the ck veil and harshly questioned him, while looking for the armed teenager. Sure enough, he had disappeared.


    Gu Shenwei was more surprised than the others, since he had met the man in grey once.


    The person wearing the grey robe was surnamed Guo. People in Golden Roc Fort called him Mister Guo. In the murder case of Han Shiqi, he had suggested that all ves in Firewood Yard were suspicious and insisted on erging the range of investigation, so they could find out the man behind the murder.


    Gu Shenwei also heard the rumor that Mister Guo was the confidant of the Fifth Young Master. People said he did not get along very well with the Eighth Young Master Shangguan Nu.


    Mister Guo worked in Whiterobe Academy of East Castle. Gu Shenwei had not figured out what exactly people in Whiterobe Academy did, so he doubted he could enter Shangguan Ru¡¯s residence.


    ¡°Miss, I¡¯m ordered to bring two items back.¡±


    ¡°Whose order ?¡± Shangguan Ru said angrily.


    Shangguan Ru was still tough and upromising. But Gu Shenwei was shocked again¡­ ¡°Two things? That means they might know I¡¯ve stolen the wooden saber from the temple.¡±


    ¡°The order that the Seventh Supreme King set down: Anyone trespassing in the Six Kills Temple will be beheaded. I follow it.¡± Mister Guo answered calmly.


    Shangguan Ru suddenly flushed. No one had threatened her with ¡°death¡± since she was born. ¡°Alright. You wanna kill me? Then do it.¡±


    After finishing her words, she untied the baggage and took the ck Jade Palm out. However, Shangguan Ru did not give it to Mister Guo, but held it tightly to her chest. She felt uneasy, not only because of Mister Guo¡¯s offensive behavior, but also the failure of their stealing. Standing behind her, Shangguan Fei was embarrassed and restless, while Shangguan Yushi had already clenched the wooden saber with a cold face.


    Mister Guo¡¯s humble smile still remained. ¡°Of course I won¡¯t dare to hurt Miss. I just want to take the two things back. Then Lord will personally deal with the rest.¡±


    Although he did not criticize them directly, his words revealed that Mister Guo thought they were treasonous. Shangguan Yushi could not help but raise her head and said scornfully, ¡°Two items? Are you sure?¡±


    Gu Shenwei took out the wooden saber and held it with both hands. He just stepped forward and did not know how to exin it.


    ¡°Humph! It¡¯s you. I knew it¡­ ¡±


    Shangguan Yushi goggled and yelled at him. At this time, Shangguan Ru grabbed the wooden saber from ve Huan. She quickly said, ¡°I let him take it. Now both things are in my hand. But you don¡¯t deserve to bring them back.¡±


    Gu Shenwei lowered his head and dared not to say anything. Shangguan Ru had saved him again.


    Although Shangguan Yushi did not believe Master Ru¡¯s exnation, she kept silent.


    Mister Guo would not be annoyed by these teenagers¡¯ words. He just bowed again and gently said, ¡°Miss is right. Now I¡¯ll invite someone qualified toe here.¡±


    When Mister Guo was going to leave, Shangguan Ru suddenly brandished the wooden saber toward his neck. The ¡°Miss¡± from Mister Guo¡¯s mouth felt piercingly ironic to her.


    Mister Guo suddenly stepped forward and narrowly avoided her attack. Then he went out of the room, as if nothing had happened.


    Mister Guo seemed like a in schr, but surprisingly, he was a kung fu master.


    ¡°You won¡¯t be tricked by Miss, right?¡± Mister Guo spoke to the armed teenager.


    ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± Standing outside the door, he answered in a low and muffled voice and then shed into the room.


    He was Shangguan Ru¡¯s Shadow Guard, who looked ashen from shame.


    As a special group in Golden Roc Fort, Shadow Guards protected their masters, but they could not show their face.


    Their responsibility required them to make no mistakes.


    The armed teenager was tied up like a dumpling after he identally had smelled the knockout powder. It was not only a burning shame for him, but also meant his Shadow Guard career was over. Now Mister Guo ordered him to guard the four teenagers in the room, which clearly proved he could not be a Shadow Guard forever, because he had shown his face in front of his master.


    The armed teenager stood at the door, right hand taking the saber. His finger became white, because he held the saber too tight. The young guard gazed at the corner and studiously avoided people¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°The two masters are very stubborn. You can take this opportunity to prove you¡¯re serious.¡±


    Mister Guo ordered from outside and then it became quiet again. He left without making any sound.


    Shangguan Ru passed the ck Jade Palm and the wooden saber to ve Huan. She raised her head up proudly and walked toward her Shadow Guard. ¡°Are you serious? So am I.¡±


    Withoutpleting her words, Shangguan Ru hit the guard with her right hand and obstructed his view. Simultaneously, she flicked the colorless and tasteless knockout powder with her left hand.


    This was the second time she had yed this trick. Of course, the guard would not be yed like a fool again. He shed quickly and dodged her right-hand attack, while using his left sleeve to ward off the knockout powder and rebounded off it.


    Shangguan Ru herself breathed in the knockout powder. She could not stand steadily and fell backward into Shangguan Yushi¡¯s arms. Shangguan Yushi said harshly, ¡°How dare you!¡±


    The guard did not say anything but just drew out the saber. Shangguan Fei abruptly jumped behind the two girls. He yelled, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    The guard wanted to prove he was definitely serious. His attack target was not the masters, but the only present ve.


    Since being attacked by this guard, Gu Shenwei had known the armed teenager¡¯s kung-fu level was higher than his own. Now he held the wooden saber and ck Jade Palm in his hands, so he became more anxious. At this critical moment, Gu Shenwei suddenly took a deep breath and fell backward as he faced the saber.


    He was wounded. The tip of the saber had cut his clothes and left a long and shallow mark on his chest.


    The guard did not kill Gu Shenwei at the first movement, but he gave up attacking again. He put the saber back into the sheath and turned over, as if everything had been solved.


    Now, the four ¡°great thieves¡± knew the guard was ¡°serious¡±.


    Gu Shenwei stood up unsteadily. His legs trembled from of the unexpected attack. If the armed teenager¡¯s kung fu were any better, he would have died in Golden Roc Fort, though nobody knew his true identity and purpose.


    Luckily, Gu Shenwei¡¯s wound was not severe, so he did not need to bind it. Besides, no one tried to offer him help.


    The knockout powder did not have an antidote, but recovery was quick. Carrying Shangguan Ru, Shangguan Yushi helped her sit on the edge of the bed and rubbed her forehead gently for a while. Soon Shangguan Ru could sit straight by herself. Her face flushed with anger. Gu Shenwei had seen it several times.


    ¡°Let the old rascal tell my father. No one dares to hurt you,¡± Shangguan Ru said with great anger.


    Shangguan Ru just humphed as Shangguan Yushiforted her. She was nning how to ¡°take revenge¡±. In her eyes, Mister Guo and the armed teenager hadmitted the most heinous crimes.


    ¡°We¡¯re just ying a game with them, right? Later, we¡¯ll return the stuff.¡±


    Shangguan Fei murmured. He was a little frightened now.


    Gu Shenwei knew he was not qualified to talk, so he remained silent and took the opportunity to observe Shangguan Ru¡¯s room.


    The room was only a little bigger than the servants¡¯, so its decoration was also very simple. There was some stuff, like tables, chairs, and stoves. Curiously, he did not find anything special for a girl. Although Shangguan Ru was arrogant and owned lots of ves in the castle, to his surprise, she lived in quite a simple room. Gu Shenwei realized that Supreme King spared no efforts making his daughter look like a boy.


    After she could stand up, Shangguan Ru waved to ve Huan and took the ck Jade Palm and the wooden saber back. Holding them now in each of her hand, she said stubbornly, ¡°Unless Lordes here, no one can take them away from me.¡±


    Shangguan Fei drew back his neck and kept silent, but Shangguan Yushi tightly held the Ninth Young Master¡¯s shoulder and showed a firm look, as did Shangguagn Ru. ¡°Right, people in Six Kills Temple didn¡¯t stop us. Now they want to take the items. No way!¡±


    Gu Shenwei expected the whole thing would soon pass, but also hoped Shangguan Ru could draw all people¡¯s attention, because he had brought two fake wooden sabers. One was iid in the mural, the other was held by Shangguan Ru. Actually, the real one had been concealed by him.


    This trick was originally going to deal with Mama Xue, but he had used it because of the ident. Once somebody found the saber was fake, even Supreme King¡¯s daughter could not save the audacious servant¡¯s life.

 Chapter 61

    Chapter 61: The Hostage


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Shangguan Yushi was the twins¡¯ cousin and best friend, and her father was one of Supreme King¡¯ste distant rtives and capable assistants. But none of these could save her from being beheaded as a sacrifice since, by Lord¡¯s order, she was as low as a servant.


    She had expected that. Although she was only 15, Shangguan Yushi knew Stone Castle¡¯s rules better than most of the people. A disgraced master was no better than a favored servant. Shangguan Ru, whom she had been relying on, had not fully grown up. Though she was Supreme King¡¯s favorite child, she did not have power. This was the essential difference between the ninth child and the eldest child.


    From this moment on, whether Shangguan Yushi and ve Huan could live or not all depended on Shangguan Ru¡¯s will.


    Shangguan Ru seized the dagger from her cousin, stood in front of them, and said to her elder brother, ¡°No.¡±


    Shangguan Chui, Supreme King¡¯s eldest son, slowly shook his head. He always thought that his father should not spoil the twins. No such folly would have happened if his father had listened to him. ¡°Enough, my little sister, don¡¯t be such a child.¡±


    Supreme King had nine sons and eight daughters, among whom Shangguan Ru was the youngest child. However, she had long been iming to be a boy and older than Shangguan Fei, therefore, she was not happy with the address ¡°little sister¡±.


    She held the dagger tightly, and her head high. ¡°I said no.¡±


    With a look of disapproval on their faces, the two men at the door looked at the stubborn little girl. Unlike the Shadow Guard, they were experienced, so the dagger was as ridiculous as a baby¡¯s stick in their eyes.


    Mister Guo took a step.


    But Shangguan Ru put the saber against her own neck. ¡°Stop. One more step, I¡¯ll kill myself.¡±


    There were about 10 steps between them. Mister Guo felt that he would be able to take Miss Ru¡¯s dagger, yet he still stopped and looked at his Young Master, with no intention of taking the risk.


    ¡°It¡¯s a mistake to let you wear men¡¯s clothes and learn Kung Fu. When do women in the Shangguan family start to disobey their father and elder brother?¡±


    Shangguan Chui¡¯s words showed his attitude, thus Mister Guo took another step and measured his distance from Miss Ru. He only had to take two more steps to seize the dagger without hurting her.


    Shangguan Ru suddenly put down her dagger, but she did not give up. She rushed to the bed, grabbed Shangguan Fei by her right hand, twisted it behind him, and then put the dagger against his brother¡¯s neck.


    She had risked it all. She still remembered what Master Shifu had taught her, fixing her eyes at the de and watching her enemies only from the corners of her eyes. ¡°Since women in our family don¡¯t matter, then I¡¯ll kill a man.¡±


    No one expected that, including Shangguan Yushi, who dared not speak in front of Shangguan Chui but stood still in the corner with ve Huan, letting the family drama decide whether she would live or not.


    Shangguan Fei was undoubtedly the most surprised. From the moment his elder brother came in, he had been standing by the bedside with his head down, only too anxious to confess and end everything. Thest thing he wanted was to be the center of attention. It never urred to him that he would be taken hostage.


    ¡°Hey¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s voice trembled. The dagger had just been used and was still stained with blood which seemed to be dripping onto his skin. Since they were born of the same parents and were always by each other¡¯s side. He believed the threat was real.


    Shangguan Ru whispered ¡°shut up¡±, as she gripped his hand hard.


    Mister Guo stopped again. He had learned about the group¡¯s scheme earlier, therefore he did not show up until he could catch them red-handed. Everything went as expected. The only thing he did not seeing was that Miss Ru could be so stubborn.


    ¡°Stop it!¡± Shangguan Chui uttered a scream of anger and wanted to seize the dagger himself as he stepped forward.


    Shangguan Ru resolutely pressed the de into Shangguan Fei¡¯s neck a little. Feeling a pain in his neck, Shangguan Fei immediately cried. ¡°Spare me, my sister. Save me, my elder brother!¡±


    Shangguan Chui had to pause. He only wanted to take advantage of this to suppress Lady Meng, a woman who was younger than him, yet increasingly favored by Lord, much more than anydy. This upset him a lot. Golden Roc Fort was a man¡¯s world, where women had no say, let alone power. All of this changed because of Lady Meng¡¯s marriage.


    He did not like Shangguan Fei either, but he could not take the consequences.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s killer instinct was set off by the sight of her brother¡¯s blood. Finally, she could join a real battle, instead of a yful game. ¡°I don¡¯t care about the ¡®The Draconic Ascent of the Ten Sons¡¯. I¡¯ll kill one son first, then only eight will be left. Then we¡¯ll see how you exin it to father.¡±


    Shangguan Fei could do nothing but cry. He had always been weaker than his sister in Kung Fu. At this moment, he was more vulnerable than ever.


    Gu Shenwei did not understand what ¡°The Draconic Ascent of the Ten Sons¡± meant, for there was an unwritten rule in Stone Castle: The servants could gossip, but they were not allowed to talk about Lord and his descendants. Therefore, he did not have an answer to this untilter. For now, he could only specte that it was a prophecy that involved Supreme King having ten sons.


    It was obvious that the Shuangguan family believed the prophecy and took it seriously because suddenly Shangguan Chui¡¯s countenance changed, and he stood back with eyebrows raised in fury.


    If Shangguan Ru seized Lord¡¯s lifeline, she seized the Young Master¡¯s lifeline.


    ¡°What the hell do you want?¡± Shangguan Chui asked irritably.


    ¡°I want to see my father. I don¡¯t believe a single word of yours. I don¡¯t think my father will punish me.¡±


    She actually did believe so, but only in front of her father would she have the opportunity to act like a spoiled child, saving her two favorite people¡¯s lives.


    Shangguan Chui hesitated a little, looking at Mister Guo. Mister Guo shook his head. They wanted to make Lady Meng ashamed. He must not give the little girl any chance to win. He did not believe she would kill her own brother, either.


    The room was quiet and everyone¡¯s thoughts were like a snake¡¯s tongue, moving and sniffing around for the prey, ready for the next move.


    Soon someone took action. It was hard to tell who was the first attacker, but all the same, the situation suddenly became chaotic. Everyone wanted to solve it in their own way.


    Shangguan Chui and Mister Guo dashed like moving ghosts. One grabbed Shangguan Ru¡¯s dagger, and the other rescued the crying Shangguan Fei.


    Shangguan Ru was so determined. Since she did not have the heart to hurt her own brother, she could only turn the dagger against herself.


    Meanwhile, or even earlier, Shangguan Yushi rushed toward the twins and held the two of them. Although she was slower than the two adults, she was nearer to them, so the three of them reached their targets almost at the same time.


    Suddenly, the light went out and the room was dark.


    Gu Shenwei had knocked over themp.


    He did not know how long Shangguan Ru could protect him and whether she could protect him or not. So he decided to trigger chaos. He would not die in peace if he had not killed anyone from the Shangguan family at the end of his life.


    There were noises of fallen tables and chairs, shing daggers, wooden sabers and swinging fists. Some shouted, and some screamed. Finally, someone snapped and said, ¡°Stop, all of you. I¡¯ll go for Lord.¡±


    Finally, Shangguan Chui gave up. Supreme King had left the matter to him. He would be very embarrassed if something happened to the twins.


    Everyone stopped. Gu Shenwei did not hit anyone, but stumbled over a body on the ground, stained with blood.


    ¡°Now¡­¡±


    It was Shangguan Ru¡¯s voice. She made a mistake.


    Shangguan Chui had received strict killer training, among which telling the sound in the dark was one of the required skills. He could not tell where they were at the beginning because of the chaos. Now that everyone had stopped, he quickly gained the advantage.


    Before she could finish her words, Shangguan Ru screamed for she had already been seized on both sides by her brother. The dagger had been taken away as well.


    Hearing Shangguan Fei¡¯s crying, Mister Guo darted to pick him up.


    ¡°Light it up.¡± Shangguan Chui ordered.


    Finding no serious injury on Shangguan Fei, Mister Guo released him and struck a match to find themp that was left with some oil in the dim light.


    In such a short time, the room had be aplete mess.


    Shangguan Chui frowned. He would lose face if people knew Supreme King¡¯s eldest son had been forced upon by his little sister.


    ¡°Cut off their heads, and bring these two scourges to Six Kills Temple.¡±


    Shangguan Chui wanted nothing now but to solve the problem as soon as possible.


    ¡°You said¡­¡±


    ¡°I said that after your conviction outside Six Kills Temple, I¡¯d bring you to father.¡±


    Shangguan Chui tossed the dagger away, turning to Shangguan Fei and said, ¡°What about you? You also want to see father?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡­ I¡¯ll listen to you, my brother.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was still in shock, and did not dare to see his father at all. He went to the bed, picking up ck Jade Palm and the wooden saber and said, ¡°We could also bring these two back.¡±


    Shangguan Chui nodded. ¡°So many quarrels would have been spared if Lady Meng and his little sister behaved.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi sat on the ground, pale-faced and hair scattered. The Shangguan surname could not protect her, neither could the unusual friendship with Shangguan Ru.


    On the other side, Gu Shenwei was still sitting in the blood, and the dagger thrown away by Shangguan Chui was at his feet.


    ¡°Wait for a miracle, or pick up the dagger and take the risk?¡±


    ¡°As long as I could kill one Shangguan¡¯s descendant,¡± he thought. ¡°I won¡¯t have gone through the humiliation and grief in vain.¡± He chose Shangguan Fei as his target.


    Just as he moved his finger, there came the ¡°miracle¡±, but not for him. A woman yelled outside. ¡°Lord¡¯s order, Lord¡¯s order!¡±


    Aunt Tong rushed in breathlessly. She did not practice Kung Fu and running around burdened her.


    ¡°Young Master, Lord¡¯s order, he¡¯lle to settle this up in person.¡±


    Shangguan Chui¡¯s face became sullen. ¡°I haven¡¯t received such an order.¡±


    Aunt Tong was slightly surprised as she nced over the mess in the room, but she turned to her Young Master immediately. ¡°I got the token.¡±


    Then she took out a small white jade knife from inside her sleeve, holding it up high.

 Chapter 62

    Chapter 62: Victory


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Shangguan Ru disentangled herself from her elder brother¡¯s arms and grabbed the ck Jade Palm and the wooden saber from Shangguan Fei. She angrily red at Shangguan Chui without saying a word. Although she did not win by herself, she could enjoy her victory for now.


    Bypassing the overturned chairs and tables, Aunt Tong held Shangguan Fei in her arms and asked, ¡°Ah, why is your neck bleeding? Who did this?¡±


    She turned her gaze towards Shangguan Chui.


    ¡°Sister,¡±


    Shangguan Fei said with his face full of tears. He had suffered a lot tonight.


    Aunt Tong was stunned and thought that Shangguan Fei must have been frightened.


    Shangguan Ru said seriously, ¡°I did. My eldest brother thought I wasn¡¯t qualified to be a man of the Shangguan family. I want to show him that I am qualified.¡±


    Shangguan Chui snorted. He would not lower himself to argue with a child.


    Aunt Tong did not know how to reply. She took out her handkerchief and carefully bandaged the wound for Shangguan Fei.


    Gu Shenwei crawled up from the ground and wanted to stand behind Shangguan Ru. After Aunt Tong shot him an unfriendly nce, he could only retreat to stand next to the wall.


    Shangguan Yushi also stood up. She discreetly tidied clothes and hair for Shangguan Ru while being careful to not draw Aunt Tong¡¯s attention to her.


    No one spoke in the room.


    After a while, the Lord still did not show up. Shangguan Chui kept holding the dagger around his waist, with his expression blocked by his two big eye bags. He suddenly said, ¡°Let me kill the two ves who incited their master to cause trouble.¡±


    In the young master¡¯s eyes, his sister Shangguan Yushi was the same as the ves.


    Shangguan Ru stretched out her hand to protect Shangguan Yushi and said, ¡°I said. No.¡±


    Shangguan Chui gave no response, but drew out his saber. He could urately kill the target with only one sh, even if there were 100 Shangguan Ru protecting Shangguan Yushi.


    Mister Guo did not have a saber, but he hid his hands within his sleeves. He could kill anyone even if he did not have a weapon, especially that little child with poor kung fu.


    Gu Shenwei knew that he was the short man¡¯s target and immediately became vignt. However, he took precautions not for self-protection, but for strangling Shangguan Fei to death. Gu Shenwei regretted that he had not picked up the saber on the ground just now.


    ¡°If you kill my people, you¡¯re my enemy. I won¡¯t ept your apologies and won¡¯t reconcile with you. I won¡¯t treat you as my eldest brother, let alone treating you as the Supreme King¡¯s eldest son. I¡¯ll pester you for the rest of my life, until the time when I¡¯ll personally kill you.¡±


    Shangguan Ru could only issue a threat, as she knew she was not capable of protecting those she cared about. Her voice was cool as if it was not a 12-year-old child¡¯s voice.


    Shangguan Chui was surprised that there was something worth paying attention to in his sisters¡¯ words, but he could not show weakness because he was a killer and the eldest son of the Shuangguan family, and he would most likely be the next Supreme King.


    The faint candlelight was flickering on the saber de.


    ¡°If you cannot kill her, you should respect what she said.¡±


    A voice came from the door.


    The Supreme King arrived, but no one noticed it.


    All the people in the room knelt down, except for Shangguan Ru. She ran to stuff the ck Jade Palm and the wooden saber into her father¡¯s hands. ¡°Father, this is the first trophy I gained as a thief. I offer them to you.¡±


    Shangguan Fa could not help giving a slight smile. ¡°They originally belonged to me.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯ve stolen them. They¡¯re mine for now. They could only belong to you after I have given them to you.¡±


    Shangguan Fa snorted heavily and nced at the corpse on the ground. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°He betrayed me, so I killed him.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not yet 13 years old, and you¡¯ve already started killing people.¡±


    If a boy of the Shuangguan family was 13 years old, he would be considered as an adult. Then he would be qualified to be called ¡°Young Master¡± and would begin to build his own team. From Shangguan Fa¡¯s words, they knew that Shangguan Fa had treated his youngest daughter as a man.


    Shangguan Chui and Mister Guo looked at each other and thought. ¡°That¡¯s bad.¡±


    ¡°Regardless of whether we¡¯re one or 100 years old, we¡¯re not allowed to betray the Shuangguan family,¡± Shangguan Ru said.


    ¡°Well said.¡±


    The Supreme King rarely gave praise to someone. Shangguan Chui could not allow the situation to deteriorate, so he said, ¡°Father, Six Kills Temple is a ce for our ancestors. Women are forbidden to enter. Seventeenth sister¡­¡±


    ¡°From now on, don¡¯t call her seventeenth sister,¡± Shangguan Fa said coldly. The big change in his attitude scared Shangguan Chui. ¡°Not long ago, father was furious at his daughter¡¯s bad behavior. Why has he suddenly vented his anger on his eldest son?¡±


    ¡°Mister Guo, choose a good time. I¡¯ll bring my daughter to Six Kills Temple and dere to my ancestors that my youngest daughter will be my tenth son. You should call her Master Ru. Next year, she¡¯ll be the Tenth Young Master.¡±


    Mister Guo prostrated on the ground and answered ¡°Yes¡± in a quavering voice. He originally nned to humiliate Lady Meng, but he did not expect that he would fail like this. He disgraced himself.


    Gu Shenwei knelt in the corner. It was the second time that he had met the Supreme King. He felt less fear than thest time and could think normally. He admired Lady Meng, the twins¡¯ mother who he had just met once before.


    Gu Shenwei initially thought that Lady Meng was an ordinary mother who spoiled her children, and that the Supreme King had encouraged Lady Meng to raise their daughter like a boy. Now he knew that he waspletely wrong. It was Lady Meng who nurtured her daughter as a boy. She kept instilling the concept into the Supreme King for those years: as long as she had the proper personality, a daughter could be treated as a son.


    Eventually, with the help of an unforeseen crisis, she persuaded her husband to openly admit that Shangguan Ru would be his tenth son.


    Gu Shenwei admired her from the bottom of his heart. He was also curious about what trick Lady Meng had used to be able to manipte the killer king of the Western Region.


    Gu Shenwei had thought that Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter was too stupid to win the fight against her mother-inw.


    At dawn, the long night was finally over.


    Shangguan Ru was extremely excited as the crisis was more real than all the games she had ever yed. She thought she had failed miserably at one point, but she managed to win in the end.


    She even pushed Mister Guo into confessing the identity of the informer.


    It turned out to be Shangguan Fei. On the day before they took action, he bragged with several nsmen and unconsciously revealed their n. Whiterobe Academy paid more attention to the gossip of the fort. They immediately made preparations for it. They did not n to prevent them from entering Six Kills Temple, but rather they prepared to catch them with the stolen goods.


    Family feuds were always a part of Golden Roc Fort. The Supreme King chose not to hold anyone responsible for the incident. No one made further inquiries; even the overbearing Shangguan Ru also understood the rule and did not me her eldest brother.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s little trick was temporarily covered up by the internal conflict of the Shangguan family. The real wooden saber of Six Kills Temple was hidden in a ce that only he knew about.


    He was not sure how long he could keep the secret. Someone would find that the returned wooden saber was a fake sooner orter. When it would happen, even Shangguan Ru could not protect him. Worse still, she would treat him as a ¡°traitor¡±.


    Gu Shenwei was pressed for time. He had to find a way out for himself, but first, he needed to know what the secret of the wooden saber was from Mama Xue.


    Golden Roc Fort was like a great golden mountain. If one wanted to pull it down, he must patiently look for both visible and invisible cracks. Gu Shenwei had already found a few, but he was too weak to fight back, even when faced with those ws. Therefore, he just observed and collected information. He believed that someday these cracks would merge into a fatal ravine in front of him.


    The internal conflicts of the Shuangguan family, such as Lady Meng¡¯s ambition and the secret of the wooden saber, were the cracks of Golden Roc Fort. There were several less tiny and covert cracks, like Shangguan Yushi¡¯s implicit position and Shangguan Nu who lost his father¡¯s favor. Gu Shenwei had kept all of them in mind.


    Gu Shenwei knew there were many wooden sabers around Shangguan Ru¡¯s residence, so he randomly took a wooden saber before returning to his room. After sleeping for two hours, he immediately got up and left Inner Residence to meet Mama Xue with the wooden saber.


    If there were guards blocking him, he would say that ¡°the Tenth Young Master¡± asked him to sweep Kun Yard. No one would disturb Shangguan Ru, as she was sleeping soundly right now.


    In fact, he was too anxious. He bumped into lots of people, but no one blocked him and several unknown people even smiled at him.


    The gossip always spread at an unexpected speed. Shangguan Ru would be the Tenth Young Maste and even her close servant¡¯s status was immediately elevated.


    Gu Shenwei offered the wooden saber to Mama Xue, but she was not happy because she had already heard about what had happened in Inner Residence. She ced the wooden saber on the table and said, ¡°You¡¯ve caused a big trouble.¡±


    ¡°I did not expect to cause that.¡±


    ¡°What happened to the wooden saber? I heard that it was returned.¡±


    ¡°I brought two wooden sabers. One was used to swap ces with the wooden saber in Six Kills Temple; the other was returned. This is the real one. No one knew that I hid it at the bottom of the wall of Six Kills Temple. I retrieved it afterwards.¡±


    Most of what Gu Shenwei said was true, except that he did not go back to take the real saber.


    Mama Xue finally smiled and took the wooden saber. After ncing at it, she became angry and broke the wooden saber. ¡°You¡¯re too daring. How dare you y a trick in front of me?¡±


    Mama Xue stabbed Gu Shenwei with her Iron Finger. He fell down and felt a st of heat flow into his Dantian, feeling as if his body was roasted in a fire. ¡°Mama, Mama Xue, I didn¡¯t¡­ lie to you. It, It¡¯s true.¡±


    Mama Xue kicked ve Huan, which slightly relieved his pain, and said, ¡°Do you think I can¡¯t recognize the wooden saber in Six Kills Temple?¡±


    Gu Shenwei could breathe now, but he could not stand up. ¡°There might be more than one wooden saber in the temple.¡±


    ¡°More than one?¡±


    ¡°I did not have time to check all the ce at that time. The wooden saber was inset into the wall and camouged by the character in the painting. It was closest to me. I thought it was the one you wanted. Now that I think about it again, I feel that the wooden sabers might be inset in other ces.¡±


    Mama Xue sat down again. She seemed to be convinced by the detail of the wooden saber being inset into the wall. The information she had received was not clear. She had never entered Six Kills Temple, so she did not know the details in the temple.


    ¡°Can you enter Six Kills Temple again?¡±


    ¡°I can go there with the Tenth Young Maste.¡±


    Mama Xue somewhat believed in his words, but she was still skeptical. ¡°Don¡¯t y tricks with me. Remember, both your secrets and your life are in my hands.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare to forget.¡±


    Gu Shenwei dragged his heavy body and left Mama Xue¡¯s room. He had found out where the secret of wooden saber was hidden from Mama Xue¡¯s eyesight. He would disobey Mama Xue¡¯s order and y another trick.

 Chapter 63

    Chapter 63: Informer


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei trotted to the stone house where he used to live. He wanted to find Elderly Zhang, as the old man was able to help him carry out the plot that he had nned beforehand.


    Elderly Zhang was not in the room, but he was in the stable instead. He was looking after the Eighth Young Master¡¯s horses. He rarely spoke when he was living with ve Huan, but now he was chatting with the horses as if he was talking with some old friends, and he even did not notice that ve Huan wasing over.


    When he saw the old man being more intimate with the animals than with human beings, Gu Shenwei felt that the man was out of ce in Golden Roc Fort.


    ¡°Ahem.¡±


    Elderly Zhang quickly turned around. His serene face immediately fell, as if he changed a mask in the blink of an eye.


    ¡°Do me a favor,¡± Gu Shenwei directly said.


    Elderly Zhang kept silent and did not even greet him, so Gu Shenwei had to speak first.


    ¡°I cannot help you.¡±


    Elderly Zhang refused straightforwardly and began to do his work. His behavior seemed to indicate that the conversation was over.


    Gu Shenwei did not leave, because he did not have a real friend in the fort and could not find another person who could help him. He waited. After Elderly Zhang added the fodder, washed the horses, swept the horse dung, and when he could no longer pretend to have something to do, Gu Shenwei tried again. ¡°I want to meet the Eighth Young Master.¡±


    ¡°The master is not here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to report a plot to the Eighth Young Master. It will ur next to him.¡±


    Elderly Zhang suddenly stood up and took two steps towards ve Huan. ¡°I don¡¯t know about the plot and I¡¯m not interested in it. If you want to meet the master, you can go ahead. Don¡¯t talk to me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stared at Elderly Zhang. He knew that the old man, despite his cold appearance, was a warmhearted and verypassionate person, so he pleaded, ¡°I can¡¯t survive this night without your help.¡±


    Gu Shenwei exaggerated a little bit, but he did not lie to the old man. He spected that Six Kills Temple would discover that the wooden saber was fake and then he would be the prime suspect.


    ¡°Everyone will die. It¡¯s quite normal to die early in the fort,¡± Elderly Zhang retorted angrily.


    He turned around and picked up a bunch of horse fodder, but he had to put the fodder back after seeing that the stable was still full. He turned back again and saw ve Huan still standing there. He could not help but be angrier. ¡°Piss off. I¡¯m only responsible for feeding my horse. I don¡¯t interfere in other people¡¯s business. If you want to meet the master, you can go south to the academy. It¡¯s just by the fort gate.¡±


    ¡°I cannot let others know about my meeting with the Eighth Young Master.¡±


    Elderly Zhang sneered. He had talked too much to the teenager. He could not help it and sarcastically said, ¡°You mean you want the master to meet you?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    He wanted to stealthily meet the master, but he did not intend to hide it from Mama Xue. It might be difficult for Mama Xue to bribe the people in the fort, because of her surly Miss. He needed to do this so his n would not be ruined by the Eighth Young Master¡¯s enemies, such as Mister Guo.


    This was important.


    Elderly Zhang was astonished, but became increasingly furious as he thought the teenager was making fun of him. ¡°You can wait patiently. There are too many servants in the fort. The master doesn¡¯t have the time to meet all of us. I¡¯ll tell him when hees to ¡®meet¡¯ me.¡±


    ¡°The conspiracy that I want to disclose is about the Eighth Young Master himself.¡±


    Gu Shenwei lied a little bit, but it was also important for him to let Shangguan Nu think that Mama Xue was his enemy.


    ve Huan looked serious. He did not appear as if he was being possessed by an evil spirit or was being drunk. Elderly Zhang had remained loyal to the master, therefore, he took the teenager¡¯s words somewhat seriously. ¡°The master will be back for supper. I¡¯ll find a chance to tell him when I am leading the horse.¡±


    ¡°I cannot wait until tonight. I need to tell him now. Maybe it¡¯s a bitte now.¡±


    Gu Shenwei imagined that Six Kills Temple would fall into a state of panic after discovering that the wooden saber was fake, and the killers would search for the daring servant.


    Elderly Zhang was quite ambivalent. He was faithful to his master, but he was reluctant to take part in a conspiracy. Even if he could further his career, he was also unwilling to step in, not to mention that he did notpletely believe in ve Huan.


    In his eyes, ve Huan was a weird teenager who looked preupied and sometimes showed scary eyes. Elderly Zhang thought ve Huan was both pitiful and disgusting and he would never be a good servant.


    Elderly Zhang seemed to make up his mind. Going back to his stable, he picked up the bunch of fodder he just threw back. Nevertheless, after turning around, he threw it again, walked to ve Huan and said angrily, ¡°You¡¯d better not lie to me, or I¡¯ll use you to feed the horses. They¡¯ll eat you until nothing is left.¡±


    At this moment, the six horses inside the stable sneezed together.


    Gu Shenwei returned to the stone cottage to wait. He spected that Elderly Zhang had a special rtionship with the Eighth Young Master, beyond that of a rtionship between an ordinary servant and a master. The posture of Elderly Zhang stepping away after he agreed had confirmed his thought. While he waited, Gu Shenwei used the time to think about his whole n over again.


    He could not be Mama Xue¡¯s match by himself. To snitch on Mama Xue was his only way out, but it was a delicate matter to choose the person whom he should report to.


    Normally, the people who were told about the conspiracy would catch Mama Xue as soon as possible, subject her to cruel torture and force her to confess about her leader. The first thing Mama Xue would confess was ve Huan¡¯s origin.


    Only one person might directly kill Mama Xue without interrogation. That was the Eighth Young Master, Shangguan Nu. He was at a low ebb of his life and desperately hoped to change his father¡¯s impression of him, so he hoped that something bad would never happen in his yard again. Han Shiqi¡¯s death had already embarrassed him. If the people brought by his wife caused a problem again, he would again be med for ipetence.


    Gu Shenwei considered the whole thing from the Eighth Young Master¡¯s perspective, and believed that the Eighth Young Master would immediately kill Mama Xue in an imperceptible way.


    There were quite a few loopholes in his n. Shangguan Nu might be eager to further his career and persist in interrogating Mama Xue; he might kill the informer after killing Mama Xue.


    Gu Shenwei thought, ¡°There¡¯s no n without any risk. This is the only way in such hopeless situation. There¡¯s heavy fog ahead, but it¡¯s better than the alternative which is death.¡±


    In this fight with Mama Xue, his only advantage was that he was not afraid of death as well as his qigong deviation, which Mama Xue could probably never understand.


    The Eighth Young Master Shangguan Nu quietly stood by the door, as if he had stayed here for a long time. He disyed a killer¡¯s essential quality. He did not look displeased for having to ¡°meet¡± a servant personally, nor did he appear anxious to hear about the details of a plot.


    After oveing the lingering fear for the enemy who had ughtered his whole family, Gu Shenwei knelt down and told him everything. He divulged Mama Xue¡¯s plot and the hidden ce of the wooden saber of Six Kills Temple, without mentioning his secret that was in Mama Xue¡¯s hands.


    Shangguan Nu still did not reveal his thoughts. He stared at the servant for a long time and it seemed that he was more interested in the servant. ¡°You didn¡¯t snitch on Mama Xue at the beginning, but now you betrayed her.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew that his answer was of great importance so he had to carefully consider his words. ¡°I beg for mercy, Eighth Young Master. I¡¯m scared at the beginning. Mama Xue had powerful kung fu and threatened to kill me. I thought again and again, and finally realized that though I was brought by the Mistress, my real master was you. I certainly should consider my master¡¯s interests, so I don¡¯t think that I betrayed Mama Xue because she wants to hurt you. Eighth Young Master, she¡¯s the traitor.¡±


    Shangguan Nu sneered, as this servant wascking in his efforts to tter his master. However, there were a few words that matched up with his concerns. ¡°My interests?¡±


    ¡°Mama Xue was the Eighth Young Master¡¯s servant, but she didn¡¯t care about the effects on the Eighth Young Master.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was aware that he did not need to speak any more, otherwise, it would arouse Shangguan Nu¡¯s suspicions and grievances.


    Shangguan Nu¡¯s left hand was ustomed to pressing on the hilt. Ever since his father had cut off his right hand, he had cherished his only knife-holding hand. Whenever he met the unknown teenager, he had a strange feeling, a sense of tension and hostility. The slight feeling was enough to stimte his desire for killing.


    One of the essential qualities for killers was to employ reason and abandon emotions. Shangguan Nu suppressed his indistinct, immature desire. He had once cut off several underlings¡¯ palms in a rage. Afterwards, when he thought about it, he felt it was more stupid than killing the wrong person. His impulsive behavior wasparable to breaking the other hand by himself.


    ¡°Wait here.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stayed in the stone cottage for a long time, but Elderly Zhang did not show up once, as the old man made up his mind to stay as far away from the ¡°conspiracy¡± as possible.


    Gu Shenwei even wondered whether his n had failed. He originally thought that he would carry out his n sessfully, but now he felt his n was childish andughable. Shangguan Nu could interrogate Mama Xue in private and kill her after getting to the bottom of it.


    At dusk, Shangguan Nu came back. Gu Shenwei had been worried for long so that his heart did not seem to beat. He felt like his chest and belly was dropping so that he did not feel hungry even though he had not eaten anything for a whole day.


    Shangguan Nu brought back the wooden saber, threw it at the servant and only said, ¡°Bring it with you when you go to meet Mama Xue at nine o¡¯clock.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was left in the stone cottage again, with the wooden saber in his hands. He ascertained that this was the wooden saber of Six Kills Temple that he had stolen.


    Walking to the door, he looked outside through the seam of the door and stuck his ear against the wall to listen carefully, ensuring that no one was nearby. Then he lit themp and looked at the wooden saber carefully.


    The wooden saber looked ordinary. Without the de, it was almost the same as the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s saber. It was around 72 centimeters long, shorter than the broadsword of the Gu family; it was extremely narrow, about three centimeters wide. The saber¡¯s body was t and straight, like an extended dagger or a shortened sword.


    The saber¡¯s hilt was covered with silk red string that looked new. This was probably the only difference.


    Normally, the silk string would look somewhat ckened, if it was often held by people and was infused with sweat, but this wooden saber which contained a secret did not seem to be used.


    Shangguan Nu wanted to use the saber as bait, which was in Gu Shenwei¡¯s n. However, it offered him a great opportunity to probe the secret.


    When Mama Xue had glimpsed at the fake saber, Gu Shenwei had known that the secret was on the hilt.


    Gu Shenwei carefully untied the knot and slowly took off the silk while thinking that the secret had better be worth the risk.

 Chapter 64

    Chapter 64: The Trap


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei was disappointed because the secret on the handle was not worth the risk.


    There were only a few inconspicuous dents below the thread on the handle. There were seven dents on one side, and three dents on the other side. Even if they signified something, Gu Shenwei could not understand at all.


    He carefully re-tied the silk thread and quietly waited for the gong sound that indicated the second watch. Elder Zhang seemed to be avoiding him as he never returned even after dark.


    Matron Xue probably would not survive tonight. Gu Shenwei waspletely reliant on Shangguan Nu¡¯s next actions. He even thought of turning to Shangguan Ru for help because she was about to be the 10th master and would have a justification to protect other people. But he quickly gave up on the idea, because he knew Shangguan Ru would think that he was taking advantage of and would betray her. With Shangguan Yushi fanning the mes, she might personally kill him in an instant.


    Gu Shenwei went out of the stone house on the second watch.


    From the moment when his entire family was killed, he took a narrow path that was full of traps. It was a miracle for him to have survived each day. Today was no exception.


    For a long time, he had not remembered the Will of the Divine that helped him live through the first few days. Now he refreshed his memory.


    The mansion gatekeeper was surprised to see ve Huan because few people walked around Stone Castle thiste at night. Gu Shenwei had to im to be called by Matron Xue. The keeper reluctantly let him in.


    Matron Xue seemed to have expected it as the room was lit. Before he could speak, Matron Xue ordered him toe in.


    Gu Shenwei presented the wooden saber to Matron Xue. ¡°How lucky! Just when I returned to Inner Residence, the 10th master went to Six Kills Temple. Indeed, there was another saber on the other wall of the temple. I¡¯ve searched the interior of the temple and this was the right one. I thought Matron Xue might worry, so I am offering it right away.¡±


    Matron Xue merely nodded as she looked at the saber in her hand. After a while, she said, ¡°Turn around.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did so. He knew that Matron Xue would strip down the thread to check. Since she had never seen a Six Kills Temple saber before, she would not notice the difference of the thread.


    Bang, and another bang.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart began to beat rapidly. ¡°Why did she break the saber again? Isn¡¯t this the right saber? Did Shangguan Nu trick me?¡± As numerous doubts crossed his mind, Matron Xue said, ¡°Follow me, I¡¯ll take you to a ce.¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned around and saw the broken saber. Obviously, Matron Xue did not want anyone else to know the secret.


    ¡°But why won¡¯t Shangguan Nu or the watchdog he sent stop her? Her scheme has been confirmed. What are they waiting for? Is the secret of no value to Golden Roc Fort at all?¡±


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s voice cracked despite his attempts to stay calm.


    ¡°I¡¯ve promised to teach you the masterpiece kung fu, but it¡¯s not suitable here.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Matron Xue. Thank you, Matron Xue.¡±


    Normally ve Huan should say a few more words of gratitude, but now he could not bring himself to do so. Matron Xue promised him not only the masterpiece kung fu, but also the timely return of the saber. Despite her promise, she broke it into pieces. This did not bode well.


    Matron Xue left the room and Gu Shenwei had to follow her. Shangguan Nu did not reveal his n to him. Both the servant and the saber were probably used as baits.


    Gu Shenwei had never before felt so worried and hesitant. Following Matron Xue, he resolutely made up his mind. ¡°If I can survive to continue my revenge, I¡¯ll never ever be a pawn anymore. I must be the maniptor.¡±


    The gatekeeper looked reluctant. ¡°I¡¯m sending him back,¡± Matron Xue said lightly as she walked out of the mansion. The keeper did not dare to stop her.


    It waste at night and there was not a soul in sight. As soon as she crossed the alley, she leaned onto the wall to listen. She was knowledgeable about the security arrangements of Golden Roc Fort¡¯s guards.


    She took ve Huan farther and farther, but not to the Inner Residence in the north. They were heading all the way to the southeast. The walls surrounding them gradually became deserted. Although it also belonged to East Castle, it was uninhabited and was not used so therefore it was abandoned.


    Gu Shenwei remembered that he and Shangguan Ru had been here ying the assassination game. He even wandered the ruins.


    ¡°It¡¯s haunted.¡± Shangguan Yushi simply exined. However, Shangguan Ru was so scared that she never came afterwards.


    There were several asions where he wanted to shout for help to attract the night watchmen¡¯s attention so that they would arrest Matron Xue. But he resisted this urge because he knew it would be futile when they went deep into the ruins.


    They walked into a weed-lined alley where its walls on both sides had fallen down and its tes had been scattered. The wind sounded like ghosts in the pale moonlight.


    Matron Xue can hear a lot by ear. Her hearing was much more capable than Shangguan Ru. If she did not hear something suspicious, she really was not followed. Gu Shenwei became increasingly restless, for he could not expect Shangguan Nu to care about a servant.


    Matron Xue suddenly stopped. Gu Shenwei almost bumped into her.


    She pointed at his ribs and said, ¡°Wait here.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt weakened. He slowly sat on the ground as he lost all his strength. He knew that he had been attacked on the acupoint.


    As Matron Xue went deeper into the alley, Gu Shenwei observed the dpidated surroundings.


    The alley was long and narrow. Yet it shrank to about one meter wide where Gu Shenwei sat, allowing only two people to walk through side by side. Starting from here, the stone walls on both sides were reced by stone men, which looked simr to the stone sculptures that were ced at the entrance of tombs.


    Gu Shenwei could not ascertain more things in the deep night, but he suddenly understood the secret.


    The alley was like the saber, and the narrow way lined with stone men was the handle.


    Looking back, he remembered the dents were all on the back of the de, which meant south in the alley. Since Matron Xue went far, he guessed she had been looking for the seventh stone man in the south. As for the three dents on the other side, there must have been corresponding markings.


    Now that Gu Shenwei knew about the secret, he became more confused. ¡± Why doesn¡¯t Shangguan Nu take any action? Doesn¡¯t he care about this at all?¡±


    Matron Xue silently emerged from the dark, emotionless and empty-handed.


    Gu Shenwei was trying to stand up. But Matron Xue picked him up by the throat and lifted him up easily. This gaunt woman possessed strength that did not match her thin shape at all.


    ¡°In another life, I¡¯ll teach the masterpiece kung fu to you.¡±


    She got what she wanted. There was no reason to leave him alive for any longer.


    Gu Shenwei desperately struggled, trying to pull Matron Xue¡¯s arm by using both hands. Her arm was as hard as dead trees, unlike a human arm at all.


    ¡°I¡­ have something¡­¡±


    He spat three words. Matron Xue hesitated and loosened her grip a little, letting a breath of life-saving air into his chest.


    ¡°The saber is fake,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    Matron Xue smiled ironically, like a ghost in the moonlight. ¡°I always said that you¡¯re smart, but sometimes you¡¯re too smart. I know you¡¯ve checked my saber, but the stone men are geared up. I wouldn¡¯t have been here if I were wrong.¡±


    Matron Xue pointed at ve Huan¡¯s Xuanji acupoint, putting into an unprecedentedly strong burst of energy. She taught the youngster most of his kung fu, however, now she would destroy it.


    His Dantian seemed to have exploded, tearing his body into a million pieces. Gu Shenwei wondered why he could still think, feel, and can even utter a full sentence. ¡°It¡¯s a trap.¡±


    Matron Xue¡¯s lips moved with a hint of a smile. But then her countenance changed dramatically. At the same time, she tossed away ve Huan and turned around.


    ¡°Who is it?¡±


    Gu Shenwei could not hear anything. Matron Xue did not need to do anything as the hot burning energy alone could kill him. He used to unintentionally memorize Nameless Swordbook to turn the power into his own. But he could not do the same due to the exceptionally strong power. The more he recalled the obscure words, the more his thoughts became muddled. Now he could not even tell if he was alive or dead.


    He thought he had gone through countless reincarnations. Actually, it was just after a short time when he regained consciousness, despite the burning pain inside him. He saw Shangguan Nu holding a dagger, standing 10 steps away from Matron Xue.


    ¡°How amazing! ¡®Bone-piercing Ace¡¯ Kang Wenmei of the Barren Sect should be a servant in our family. I¡¯m really impressed by your brilliant skill.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was surprised that Shangguan Nu knew about Matron Xue¡¯s secrets. He never knew who she was. Those sects from the Western Region were foreign to him, let alone the Barren Sect.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re not a family man. You know too little about your family¡¯s affairs.¡±


    Shangguan Nu remained calm. He slowly stepped forward. ¡°Too little, but I¡¯m not toote.¡±


    Matron Xue took out a scroll and sighed. ¡°It took a lot of effort to acquire, but it¡¯s a fake.¡±


    In the next moment, she threw the scroll to Shangguan Nu and leaped forward with a kick. She was not heading for the Eighth Young Master, but ve Huan, who was paralyzed on the ground. She knew she had been betrayed. She needed to exact retribution on him.


    Gu Shenwei did not expect that. He could not dodge it even if he was alert. Therefore, he could only exert a Yin and Yang Strength on his chest to prepare for the kick.


    With a bang, Matron Xue kicked him on his chest. Then, due to the resisting force, she bounced over a broken wall to escape.


    The scroll unfolded in the air, falling onto Shangguan Nu. He drew his dagger with his left hand and used it to slice apart the scroll. He looked up at the flying woman in the moonlight but he did not pursue her.


    The kick seemed to break Gu Shenwei¡¯s bones. He spat out a mouthful of sweet blood, but he survived. He could not understand why, but the hot burning pain inside had greatly subsided. He also looked up at the bird-like Matron Xue.


    Suddenly, the two dead giant rocs crossed his mind. Matron Xue looked so simr to the soaring female roc.


    Then a more simr scene appeared. A ghost-like head emerged behind Matron Xue¡¯s shoulder, and she was not aware of it.


    It was not a ghost, it was a masked face instead. Like the men-in-ck that killed the female bird, he also emerged straight from the void and made a fatal blow from behind the target.


    It was like a nightmareing back to him, but the protagonist was a woman rather than a bird. Since then, Gu Shenwei had always been dreaming about the scene. He could not tell it was a woman or a bird. Every time he woke from the dream, he was soaked in sweat.


    Matron Xue¡¯s head left her body like a fallen fruit. The blood seemed to drain in one moment, the body frozen in the air. Yet, from his point of view, the masked head was positioned at where Matron Xue¡¯s head was a moment ago.


    Gu Shenwei looked at the strange scene. He could no longer tolerate the fear and cramps, and he vomited.


    It was the first time he had seen a ck-masked Assassin, who was no longer just a tale to him.

 Chapter 65

    Chapter 65: Family Affair


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Shangguan Nu nted the saber in his left hand to the ground, wielded the hook on his right hand, and impaled Mama Xue¡¯s head. He then raised it high, appreciating it carefully.


    Due to the excessive loss of blood and the pale moonlight, Mama Xue¡¯s originally sallow face seemed as stiff and lifeless as the stonemen¡¯s nearby.


    The headless corpse copsed, while the ck-masked assassin vanished in mid-air, just as fast and mysteriously as he had appeared.


    Gu Shenwei shivered several times in a row. With all the pores on his body fully opened, bursts of hot and cold air were emitted in waves, as if something that had been living in his body for a long time was frantically escaping.


    He had never been soberer and calmer than he was now.


    It turned out that the wooden saber and the stonemen were a trap that Golden Roc Fort had set for the Barren Sect. It was exactly through this that Shangguan Nu managed to find out Mama Xue¡¯s origin.


    Next, how would the Eighth Young Master deal with the ve who had snitched on Mama Xue? Gu Shenwei struggled to stand up and rubbed off the blood and filth around the corner of his mouth, waiting patiently.


    Although the burning pain had disappeared, the Internal Qi inside his Dantian was still unstable like billowing water. However, he had no time to attend to it.


    Shangguan Nu sheathed his saber, used his left hand to pull Mama Xue¡¯s head off, and then said to the teenager hiding in the corner, ¡°Throw it off.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was momentarily puzzled by themand, but he soon realized that ¡°it¡± referred to the headless body and ¡°off¡± the cliff at the end of the alley.


    Since dumping corpses had been his old job in Firewood Yard after he entered Golden Roc Fort, Gu Shenwei was familiar with it. He gripped the corpse by one foot and dragged it deeper into the alley,pletely ignoring the blood left on the ground.


    At the end of the stone figures was a pile of rubble, and behind it was indeed a cliff. After throwing the corpse off of it, Gu Shenwei suddenly felt rxed, and the fear entangled in his heart also disappeared. In his eyes, the Eighth Young Master became an ordinary person, amon killer, and an average son of Supreme King.


    Shangguan Nu had been following the teenager a few steps away, his left hand pressing his saber hilt. He was surprised by ve Huan¡¯s change. A moment ago, he was vomiting violently because of Mama Xue¡¯s death, but now he wasposed, as if what he had thrown off was merely junk.


    Only those without fear toward death could qualify as real killers. Therefore, Shangguan Nu loosened his saber-wielding hand a bit.


    Over the past year, Gu Shenwei had witnessed so many killings and deaths, but fear had never subsided in his heart until tonight. The ck-masked assassin¡¯s one, clean, and swift cut had pushed his fear to the limit, and then it had faded away.


    On the Giant Rock Cliff, he did not have such feelings when Supreme King¡¯s subordinates killed the giant rocs in a simr way. At that time, he was immersed in grief and neglected his own life-and-death situation.


    Shangguan Nu stared at ve Huan standing at the edge of the cliff. With a simple movement, he could kill the ve, and he could even avoid the trouble of dumping the corpse. What a great temptation.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Shangguan Nu turned around with Mama Xue¡¯s head in hand and walked toward the alley¡¯s exit.


    Gu Shenwei closely followed him. He felt the Eighth Young Master¡¯s killing intent gradually fade away as they walked on. Shangguan Nu had restored his inconspicuous state before they had walked out of the ¡°hilt¡± part of the alley. Only the head that he carried indicated his identity as a killer.


    A killer with ck clothes and a red belt was waiting at the alley entrance. He immediately knelt on one knee upon seeing Shangguan Nu, holding a red wooden box high with both hands.


    Shangguan Nu put Mama Xue¡¯s head into the box. He drew out a handkerchief, wiped the iron hook of his right hand carefully, and then cleaned his left hand skillfully. With a year of practice, his left hand was even more flexible than his right hand was before.


    Shangguan Nu looked back, and ve Huan immediately realized what he should do. Therefore, he stepped forth to take the red box from the killer and carried it as his master moved on while the assassin in ck quietly retreated.


    The two returned to the Eighth Young Master¡¯s ce. Shangguan Nu seemed to have a well-thought-out n. After they entered the courtyard, he directly walked toward the small hall in the backyard. Upon seeing the master, a killer guarding the hall bowed and left the yard right away.


    Lights were on in the small hall. Obviously, someone was expecting the Eighth Young Master.


    Shangguan Nu pushed the door open and went inside while Gu Shenwei hesitated a bit before following him in.


    A half-transparent screen was ced inside, behind which the Eighth Young Mistress and Maid Cui¡¯s figures could vaguely be seen. The four maids, Chen, Xin, Ru, and Yi, stood beside the screen, panicking and seeming to wait for an imminent disaster.


    Someone was kneeling on the floor. Gu Shenwei recognized that it was Maid Lotus, despite her being prostrated and her hidden expression.


    Gu Shenwei knelt by Maid Lotus¡¯ side right away, understanding that Shangguan Nu meant to attend to his family affairs.


    Since he rode into the Iron Mountain bandit camp and saw the ragtag group, Shangguan Nu had been disappointed with the marriage. The performance of Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter in Golden Roc Fort further justified his initial judgment.


    Speaking of the people that she had brought, they turned out to have been bought on the spur of the moment. She had not even checked their backgrounds. In the end, two kids assassinated one of his killers and made him aughingstock.


    Speaking of her, she apparently knew that her husband and her mother-inw, Lady Meng, were in the same league, but she still acted in an arbitrary and reckless way and almost offended everyone in the castle, weakening her husband¡¯s power and influence.


    Finally, her wet nurse turned out to be a spy sent by Golden Roc Fort¡¯s enemy, which almost brought him big disgrace again in front of his father.


    ¡°She¡¯s a jinx with a fairly useless good appearance,¡± Shangguan Nu thought bitterly. He had never wanted to be the only man that could see her face.


    ¡°My husband¡­¡±


    Miss greeted him, her voice trembling. No matter how peremptory she was ordinarily, she had long sensed that the atmosphere was stifling, different from normal times. The strangest thing was that Mama Xue was nowhere to be found.


    ¡°Get out,¡± Shangguan Nu ordered coldly.


    The four maids near the screen all left, lowering their heads and holding their breath. The blind, tongueless Maid Cui only hesitated a short while, and then also walked around the screen and left the room. She was so panicked that she almost hit the door frame.


    As all the maids had left, Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter felt much lonelier and asked, ¡°My husband, what exactly has happened?¡±


    ¡°Show her.¡± Shangguan Nu¡¯s voice could barely hide his fury.


    .


    Gu Shenwei moved on his knees to the edge of the screen and held the red wooden box high. He tried his best to keep his head low and not see the slightest bit of Miss Luo.


    After a long, depressing silence, Miss finally spoke. Her tone sounded calm and even revealed a trace of self-mockery. ¡°I have finally gotten rid of her. My husband, is this a gift from you?¡±


    Neither Shangguan Nu nor Gu Shenwei had expected such a response from Luo Ningcha. For the first time, Gu Shenwei thought that maybe Miss was not as stupid as he had thought.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to know why I killed her?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s humble concubine¡¯s ve and also yours. My Lord doesn¡¯t need a reason to kill a ve.¡±


    ¡°Humph, what a good wife. Mama Xue was Golden Roc Fort¡¯s enemy. She sneaked here under a false name to steal something. It¡¯s a pity that the two helpers she selected snitched on her on the same day.¡±


    Gu Shenwei suddenly came to understand what ve Qian said before his death, ¡°Mama Xue will kill the three of us.¡± Back then, he suspected that the third person could not be Maid Cui, who had delivered the message for them. ¡°But Maid Lotus had seemed very loyal to Mama Xue, so why did she also snitch on Mama Xue? Has she also been nted with the finger energy that caused Qi Deviation? Most importantly, has she already revealed this to the Eighth Young Master?¡±


    Gu Shenwei became uneasy again, but what Miss said next made him uneasier.


    ¡°Although Mama Xue imed to be my wet nurse, in fact, she had never nurtured me. She came to Iron Mountain a few years ago. She dared to cheat my father. My husband, thanks to your keen observation, you¡¯ve found out her true identity. I¡¯ll write to tell my father all this, and he¡¯ll be grateful to you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been years and you don¡¯t know the origins of the people around you. Which one is trustworthy among the ves that you¡¯ve brought?¡±


    ¡°Easy, my husband. These ves always create trouble for you and me. There¡¯s no need to keep them, kill them all if you like.¡±


    Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter had never spoken to please another like this before. When she first entered the castle, she was mad for a long time just due to the matter of changing her maid Little Ru¡¯s name, but now she readily suggested killing all the ves.


    The advice was so vicious that even Shangguan Nu frowned. Mama Xue¡¯s death would inevitably cause some rumors, and if he killed a dozen ves, it would probably be well-known to the people of Jade City at the foot of the mountain.


    ¡°Leave this alone. From now on, I forbid your father from sending more people here. It¡¯d be better for those thieves and swindlers to stay at the bandit camp.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Your humble concubine obeys your order.¡±


    It was unprecedented for Miss to speak in such a humble manner. Gu Shenwei even doubted that the person behind the screen was Luo Ningcha. Later, he heard her sobbing, and could not help sympathizing with her.


    His wife¡¯s humility greatly alleviated Shangguan Nu¡¯s indignation. After all, she was Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter, and even Supreme King could not punish her casually.


    ¡°Somebody.¡±


    Hearing Shangguan Nu¡¯s call, a killer in ck appeared from nowhere.


    ¡°Lock up these two ves and wait for my order,¡± Shangguan Nu said.


    Gu Shenwei moved back on his knees, put down the red wooden box, stood up, and left the room with Maid Lotus. Since neither of them had gained the Eighth Young Master¡¯splete trust yet, he was still considering how to deal with these two snitches.


    The assassin in ck strictly executed the master¡¯s order and shut the teenage boy and girl into the same room located in the front yard.


    The room was rather small. Even though they stayed in different corners, they were still just a few steps away from each other.


    It was past midnight. The assassin locked the door and went to rest. Since there were guards everywhere in the castle, he bet that the two ves would not dare to escape.


    Neither Gu Shenwei nor Maid Lotusy down to sleep, nor did they speak to each other.


    Gu Shenwei was haunted by considerable doubts, which kept arising before he could figure any of them out. It so happened that he was wondering why he had survived Mama Xue¡¯sst kick when the hot Qi in his Xuanji acupoint lost control again and rushed to his Dantian.


    What a coincidence! Mama Xue predicted that he would frequently suffer Qigong Deviations and definitely die within three years. More than two months ago, he had already experienced it on the Giant Rock Cliff once, and now, he had to undergo it again.


    However,pared with the powerful finger energy that Mama Xue used several hours ago, this Qigong Deviation came in a gentle and mild way. Gu Shenwei could even endure it without falling down, and only ayer of sweat appeared on his forehead.


    He thought about the Chinese characters in the ¡°Nameless Swordbook¡± and tried to turn the hot Qi into his own Internal Strength. This might have been the most painful cultivation method in the world. However, he had no alternative. He could not improve his Yin and Yang Strength without doing this.


    The symptoms of Qigong Deviation gradually disappeared at dawn. Gu Shenwei heaved a long sigh and surprisingly found that he had reached the third level of Yin Strength. He had practiced hard but had gotten nowhere, today he achieved his goal because of thetent danger that his enemy had imposed on him. Thinking of this, he could not help smiling bitterly.


    Maid Lotus, who had not looked at ve Huan throughout the night, suddenly turned her head and asked, ¡°You have Qigong Deviation, too?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve suffered it twice.¡±


    ¡°I experienced my first a month ago,¡± Maid Lotus said.


    The fact that both of them had been nted with Peripheral Force by Mama Xue quickly bound them together.


    ¡°I think Miss will kill both of us,¡± Maid Lotus said with a heavy heart.


    Gu Shenwei was shocked by Maid Lotus¡¯ obtrusive remark, because he felt the same way.

 Chapter 66

    Chapter 66: The Secret


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei was worried that Shangguan Nu would dispose of him, but he never expected that Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter would plot against him.


    Oddly enough, Gu Shenwei had a sharper mind than usual although the qigong deviation was unbearably painful. When he was reciting the sword manual, many thoughts automatically gathered together to offer new insight into some details which he had neglected to consider earlier on.


    ¡°Miss wants to kill both of us.¡±


    On hearing Maid Lotus¡¯ words, Gu Shenwei immediately understood what she meant.


    ¡°She¡¯s afraid we¡¯ve heard some information regarding her secret from Mama Xue.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve finally got rid of her.¡± Miss¡¯ words still lingered in Gu Shenwei¡¯s ears. Looking back on Mama Xue¡¯s rtionship with Miss and Mama Xue¡¯s style of dealing with things, he knew Miss must have some controversial secret that may have been divulged by Mama Xue.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus fell silent again. Mama Xue was always tight-lipped and she had never spilled the beans in this respect.


    But Miss would not believe this. She would rather kill them to remove this possibility once and for all.


    Gu Shenwei secretly regted his Internal Breath, during which he could sense the might of the third level of Yin and Yang Strength. He felt that his Internal Strength had increased several fold, so it was very handy to use. If he was given a few days in a quiet ce, he would be able to make all the forces merge together by using the sped-up technique so that it would greatly enhance his Internal Strength.


    By then, even if he could not be an expert, he would have been stronger than ordinary people and he would be capable of assassinating several enemies from the Shangguan family.


    He pressed his Xuanji acupoint again and felt that the burning sensation was still there. Even the third level of Yin Strength could not remove the energy from Mama Xue¡¯s finger.


    While Gu Shenwei was trying to figure out how to gain more time, Maid Lotus took a seat on his opposite side seemingly said to herself, ¡°I asked her, but she wouldn¡¯t tell me.¡±


    ¡°She?¡±


    ¡°Maid Cui.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was startled, but he soon understood. Since Maid Cui did not have a tongue or eyes, she was the Miss¡¯ most trusted maid. She might have had a chance to eavesdrop on Miss¡¯ secret. However, it was hard for her to reveal anything. She could not speak or write, therefore, she could onlymunicate with gestures. No one would understand her except those closest to her.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly recalled something and blurted out, ¡°You betrayed ve Qian!¡±


    That evening, Gu Shenwei talked to ve Qian, who was on the other side of the wall. It was Maid Cui that delivered the message for them. He had been wondering why Maid Cui would do ve Qian such a favor. Now he realized the one behind her was actually Maid Lotus.


    Maid Lotus snorted softly and scorned ve Huan¡¯s overreaction. She said, ¡°I asked him to remind you, but he freaked out and wanted to report everything, including the Peripheral Force imnted in us. I had no choice but to silence him with Mama Xue¡¯s help.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was surprised at Maid Lotus¡¯ maturity and sophistication, since she was merely 14 or 15 years old. Indeed, it was inappropriate to reveal that Mama Xue had controlled their Internal Breaths and Golden Roc Fort would not spend much time and energy treating them, because they were mere servants. On the contrary, killing them would be the simplest and most effective way to deal with them, so that they would not be controlled by Mama Xue¡¯s sectmates.


    Gu Shenwei had once learned kung fu from Maid Lotus and they had stayed together from morning to night, but he did not know much about her. At some point, he even felt a connection to his enemy Shangguan Yushi, but he had to take a guess about what this girl was thinking.


    ¡°Fine. Have you found a way to crack the Peripheral Force?¡± Gu Shenwei asked as he pretended to not care about the answer.


    ¡°No,¡± Maid Lotus answered emotionlessly.


    They remained silent again. A moment ago, they became closer, as they shared the same fate, but now they became estranged again. Eventually, Gu Shenwei thought it was better to speak frankly.


    ¡°I have a suggestion.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s try to find the solution together. No matter who finds it first, he or she should share it with the other,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because when one person is going to die, he or she will make this widely known to the people of the castle, who would probably not like it.¡±


    Maid Lotus¡¯ indifferent expression was surprisingly simr to Mama Xue¡¯s. She looked at ve Huan and pondered for a while before saying, ¡°Okay. Fair enough.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t snitch on or plot against each other in secret, right?¡± Having learned his lesson from ve Qian¡¯s death, Gu Shenwei had to ask Maid Lotus to make a promise, even if it was just a verbal one.


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll count on you to find the solution first.¡±


    They were aplices now. Although this could notpletely remove their wariness, it definitely alleviated the tense atmosphere.


    It was broad daylight. They heard the sound of the door being unlocked and a man saying, ¡°Just for a moment. Don¡¯t stay too long.¡±


    The door was opened and Maid Cui came in. It seemed that she came to deliver food, as she was carrying a meal box.


    The killer closed the door and stood guard outside.


    With her incredibly sharp senses, Maid Cui urately found the small table against the wall and put the meal box on it. She then approached Maid Lotus and made a series of strange gestures. She looked extremely anxious.


    Maid Lotus held Maid Cui¡¯s hands and whispered. ¡°I know.¡± Subsequently, she turned to ve Huan and said in an even quieter voice, ¡°The Eighth Young Master has gone out. Miss will see us soon.¡±


    Miss was short-tempered, and she was determined to immediately eliminate the servants regardless of her husband¡¯s stance on the matter.


    Maid Lotus whispered something in Maid Cui¡¯s ears, but thetter seemed terrified, as she kept shaking her head.


    The guard waiting outside became impatient and started urging Maid Cui to leave. Gu Shenwei could not wait either, since Maid Lotus and he were in a life or death situation, he had no choice but to grasp every opportunity to save their lives.


    ¡°Maid Cui, listen to me. ve Qian died because of you. Do you want Maid Lotus and I to die in the same way?¡± Gu Shenwei asked in a quiet voice.


    His usation was unfair, because Maid Cui had only delivered a message to ve Qian, but she did not snitch on him.


    On hearing that, Maid Cui suddenly became blue in the face. Then, she seemed to make a great determination and made a string of gestures. Hastily, she turned and escaped the room before Maid Lotus could ask for any more information.


    The killer outside relocked the door and left.


    Maid Lotus pondered with her head lowered, as if she was not sure about the information that Maid Cui had revealed to her. After a long while, she said in a low voice, ¡°Miss has killed someone. That¡¯s all Maid Cui knows. Mama Xue didn¡¯t talk about this very often.¡±


    The issue of that Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter killing someone did not sound like a big deal for Miss. The two discussed for a while and came up with several possibilities, for example, that Miss had killed Bighead Kingpin¡¯s favored woman or subordinate. But they could not find any solid evidence, because they had stayed at the Iron Mountain camp for only a few days.


    At that moment, the door was opened again and the killer said in a restrained tone, ¡°If the Eighth Young Master asks about this, don¡¯t pin the me on me.¡±


    Two maids stepped inside, and Little Sui said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Miss will exin everything.¡±


    However, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus became worried.


    ¡°Miss wants to see you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus exchanged worried nces and walked to the door. Suddenly, Little Sui stopped one of them and said, ¡°You go first.¡±


    She was talking to Gu Shenwei. It seemed that Miss wanted crush on them one by one.


    Little Sui led ve Huan to the backyard while the other maidservant stayed behind.


    Miss was already seated behind the screen. Maid Cui was not around and there were only two maidservants guarding the door.


    The four women wanted to murder the servant, but they did not know that he was no longer the untrained teenager he was a year ago. Miss did not know kung fu and those maidservants only had average kung fu skills, so Gu Shenwei was confident that he could defeat or even kill them all. However, this kind of killing was meaningless since his enemy was surnamed Shangguan, not Luo.


    ¡°ve Huan, do you know of your guilt?¡± Asked Little Sui.


    Meanwhile, Miss only listened from behind the screen.


    Gu Shenwei kneeled down and said, ¡°Humble servant doesn¡¯t know of my guilt.¡±


    ¡°You swore an oath with the surname of Luo, but you informed the Eighth Young Master behind Miss¡¯ back and put her in an unfavorable position. You deserve a myriad of deaths.¡±


    ¡°Mama Xue was the real traitor. She was always around Miss and prevented humble servant from meeting with Miss. I had no choice but to report to the Eighth Young Master.¡±


    Not all of what Gu Shenwei said was a lie, for he had not ¡°seen¡± Miss for almost half a year.


    ¡°Humph, it¡¯s just an excuse. Dig his heart out, and I want to see if it¡¯s ck or not.¡±


    It was not the humble and timid Miss, but the arrogant and vicious Luo Ningcha that was speaking.


    The three maidservants said yes in unison and each drew out various tools like rope and knives.


    Gu Shenwei pressed his head against the ground and pleaded. ¡°Humble servant admits his guilt and he¡¯s willing to ept any kind of punishment. After he dies, he¡¯ll tell Mama Xue that the secret is still a secret when he meets her there.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡±


    Miss harshly shouted from behind the screen and quickly stood up.


    ¡°Humble servant said ¡®a secret is still a secret¡¯.¡±


    ¡°How dare you mongrel. Cut off his tongue first and then his heart.¡±


    ¡°Even if humble servant loses his tongue, there are others who still have theirs. But rest assured, Miss, even if humble servant dies, the others will still keep the secret.¡±


    Miss sat down again. ¡°You¡¯ve told it to others?¡±


    ¡°Over the past year, humble servant has made friends with several people in the castle. We talked about everything with each other. They¡¯re all willing to keep the secret for Miss.¡±


    It was quiet behind the screen for a long time. The three maidservants looked at each other, not knowing whether or not they should continue to cut his tongue and heart.


    ¡°All of you, go stand guard outside,¡± Miss said.


    All the maidservants were shocked, but they still obediently exited the room.


    Only Miss and the servant were in the room. Gu Shenwei really wished all of his enemies were as stupid as her.


    ¡°I remember you. Mama Xue once thought highly of you. She said you¡¯re cunning, but¡­ You infiltrated the castle for a revenge, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    Miss had long forgotten ve Huan, now she recalled him only because of his threat. She was lucky enough to remember ve Huan¡¯s weakness.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. If Miss reveals a single word about it, humble servant will die without a burial ce. Humble servant will keep that secret for Miss forever and won¡¯t let anyone else know it.¡±


    ¡°Who have you told? Tell me and I¡¯ll spare your life.¡±


    ¡°Humble servant is more than willing to tell Miss their names. The problem is that they¡¯re in awe of Miss. Once they hear Miss is looking for them, they may shoot off their mouth, so humble servant would better not say who they are.¡±


    Miss remained silent, as she was wondering how reliable the servant¡¯s words were. Nevertheless, she was more used to making a lightning decision than thinking over carefully. She had tried to be patient talking to ve Huan, but she could not bear it anymore.


    A teacup flew toward Gu Shenwei from behind the screen, fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. ¡°Secret, secret, what secret do you know exactly? I¡¯ll tear you into pieces if you can¡¯t say it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not know what Miss¡¯ secret was about exactly, but he was sure about one thing. In this room, he was the only one who had the power to kill. The worst case scenario would be to kill Miss and trigger a fight between Golden Roc Fort and Bighead Kingpin of Iron Mountain.

 Chapter 67

    Chapter 67: The Apprentice


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Everyone had their own worries. Once others mentioned something rted to it, it would arouse their suspicions, as if they could imagine the whole big tree through a green leaf.


    So did Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter.


    Gu Shenwei only answered Miss Luo with one sentence, when facing her threaten. Then his life was spared, at least, temporarily.


    ¡°I don¡¯t dare to tell Miss¡¯ secret, unless standing in front of Bighead Kingpin.¡±


    Miss Luo was irritated again when she heard Gu Shenwei mention Bighead Kingpin. After a moment of silence, she rushed out from behind the screen and picked up things around her to hit ve Huan while cursing him.


    Kneeling on the ground, Gu Shenwei easily dodged most of the things that Miss Luo threw at him. asionally, one of the things Miss Luo threw out would hit him, but it did not hurt. He paid more attention to Miss Luo¡¯s words, because he wanted to find some clues about her secret.


    This may be regarded as their first ¡°meeting¡±. Gu Shenwei only saw a furious woman in a ck veil. Although she was in an extreme anger, Miss Luo still protected her face, which only her husband could see.


    Under the most vicious curse, ve Huan was driven out. Also, Maid Lotus was not called in by Miss Luo. Hence, they concluded that Luo Ningcha would not kill them temporarily.


    After experiencing an extremely stressful day yesterday, Gu Shenwei thought today¡¯s event was more like a farce.


    ¡°If Miss Luo asked me how to get rid of us, I would suggest her to show her face to me to get an excuse for executing me. Although the people in the fort oftenugh at this habit of her, they won¡¯t object it if she wants to kill me for this reason. As for Maid Lotus, she can use this ve girl of discussing her appearance in public. It¡¯s easy for Miss Luo. She just needs to find a ¡®witness¡¯ to frame Maid Lotus.¡± Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    Gu Shenwei just thought about it for a second. He would not give the advice to Miss Luo. This woman only became wise, due to her husband¡¯s hidden fury. In most cases, she was a stupid and vicious woman. Thanks to Bighead Kingpin¡¯s prestige, she could survive in Golden Roc Fort.


    Actually, the person that Gu Shenwei worried about was Maid Lotus. She seemed to believe ve Huan knew about Miss Luo¡¯s secret, but wouldn¡¯t share it with her, so she treated him indifferently again.


    They probably would never be partners, let alone good friends, who could have a heart-to-heart talk. Some people may be wary of others at their first meeting, but they distrusted each other from the get-go even if they did not know why.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had been imprisoned for more than three days. Finally, Gu Shenwei could not stand and fell to sleep on a brick bed. But Maid Lotus did not even close her eyes. Except that her face became paler with each passing day, despite that she did not seem sleepy at all.


    She only sneakingly used the potty when during Gu Shenwei¡¯s thunder-like snores. Gu Shenwei knew this and always made his snore louder on purpose.


    On the fourth day, Shangguan Nu came to the jail, since he had decided how to deal with the two ves. On seeing them in the same room, he was surprised, because he never thought to imprison the young male servant and the maidservant together.


    ¡°Follow me.¡±


    Hemanded them without any emotion as usual.


    The two exhausted ves obediently followed their master and finally arrived at a detached yard in West Castle.


    Six or seven men in ck had already been waiting here. Some of them were red-belt killers and others were yellow-belt servants. As soon as seeing the Eighth Young Master, they all bowed to him.


    In the west of the yard, a pir was erected. A strong man with a full beard was tied on it. His eyes widened and his muscles strong and toned. Near him was a long sword stabbed into the ground.


    Shangguan Nu ordered a servant to give them two Golden Roc Fort sabers. He looked at the confused ves and said, ¡°Kill him.¡±


    Maid Lotus picked up a saber without any hesitation. Gu Shenwei took the other one.


    A killer ran over to untie the bearded man, and then quickly retreated to his original position.


    After the bearded man got rid of the chain, the first thing he did was to grab the giant sword, inserted in the ground. He roared and staggeringly rushed to the ten enemies in front of him. He ran with a limp indicating that one of his legs was broken.


    This was the first time that Gu Shenwei held a saber made in Golden Roc Fort. He could feel the unmatched weight,pared with its slender body. His killing desire raised all of a sudden.


    Simultaneously, the young boy and girl moved and stabbed the curly-bearded man in totally different movements. ve Huan directly attacked the enemy¡¯s vital part in the abdomen, while Maid Lotus swiftly jumped, skimmed over the man, and stuck his heart from the back. Although she moved at the further distance than Gu Shenwei, Maid Luo killed the man with him at the same time.


    The curly-bearded man apparently had consumed all his energy in yelling. During the fight with two teenagers, he was too weak to exchange any moves with them. He kneeled down and died with both hands ced on the shaft of the giant sword.


    Another swordsman from the Great Snowmountain died. This time Gu Shenwei even did not care about his name. Compared with killers in Golden Roc Fort, they were like clumsy bears and were driven into a corner by wasps.


    The two young ves, who would be killers in the future, not only killed their enemy with one strike, but also retreated safely. The frozen looks on their faces were telling the others that they were ustomed to the smell of blood and death.


    This was a test. Shangguan Nu did not intend to examine their kung fu skills. He just wanted to know whether they have the basic quality of a killer¡ªcold blood.


    Many people were highly skilled at kung fu. They even could easily beat 10 enemies by themselves, however, at the crucial moment, they would hesitate to kill enemies. Contrarily, others came to the other extreme. They were crazy about blood and killed people just for fun, regardless of the bad oues of ughtering people.


    The assassins nodded together, who were satisfied with the two teenagers¡¯ performance. But Shangguan Nu did not say anything yet or made any suggestion.


    However, ve Huan and Maid Lotus were freed. That afternoon, they were sent to Carvewood Academy in East Castle. Maid Lotus gained her identity as a killer apprentice again, while Gu Shenwei, who had made great efforts over thest year, finally realized his dream.


    Shangguan Nu let them off for some reason. He said, ¡°Someone told me that you¡¯ll be excellent killers, so I forgive you. Go to East Castle and thene to visit me alive as killers.¡±


    However, the Eighth Young Master did not tell ve Huan and Maid Lotus who had spoken for them. Gu Shenwei first precluded Luo Ningcha. It was kind of her to spare his life, let alone to help him.


    This time, Shangguan Nu did not ask them to return to his residence every night. He permitted them to stay in East Castle, like other apprentices.


    Before Gu Shenwei left, he wanted to say goodbye to Shangguan Ru. He recently heard that she had officially entered Six Kills Temple and had been acknowledged as the tenth ¡°son¡± of the Supreme King.


    Shangguan Nu denied it. ¡°You don¡¯t need to do it,¡± he said.


    Gu Shenwei had entered East Castle hundreds of times, when he apanied with Shangguan Ru. But this time, he felt it was the very first time he hade to the mysterious castle and became very excited and anxious, unlike a calm apprentice. One day, he would be the most excellent killer and obtain the confidential information of Golden Roc Fort. At present, the ck-masked assassins were his most valued opponents. Only when he was more powerful than them, Gu Shenwei could call himself the Shangguan family¡¯s enemy.


    Maid Lotus directly went back to Carvewood Academy. But ve Huan needed to register again. The registrar, who he had metst time, unpleasantly wrote down his name. Only bing a killer in the future, Gu Shenwei could be called Yang Huan. Now, as an apprentice, his name was still ve Huan.


    To the left of his name on the pamphlet, the note ¡°The one had learned Internal Strength from other schools¡± was circled. Gu Shenwei did not expect this sentence would bring him a lot of trouble and even almost destroy his killer career.


    It was not a good time when Gu Shenwei entered East Castle, since the ten-month killer apprentice training would end soon. Then, all the apprentices woulde to Pyrowork Academy and continued studying more advanced kung fu skills. Also, they would have their own Master Shifu, who lived with them and taught them more practical skills. Most importantly, apprentices would have a fightpetition every month. During the fight, they could bring the real saber and kill their opponents. It was said that over a half of the killer apprentices would lose their lives in thepetition.


    Most apprentices felt very excited about the cruel fight.


    Gu Shenwei soon found that Maid Lotus and he were exceptions, because most of the young apprentices were not the ves serving in Golden Roc Fort. Some of them, who did not speak Central ins Chinese fluently, came from different counties in Western Region. They were willing to be a killer and even risked their lives.


    Hu Shining, who worked in Carvewood Academy as the training tutor, had met ve Huan once. He seemed to have a good impression on this ve. On the second day that Gu Shenwei had entered the yard, Hu Shining once talked to him and suggested he should stay in Carvewood Academy for the next 10-month training with the new apprentices. He said, ¡°You should stay here, because you have some fatal shorings in kung fu. It¡¯s a better choice for you, instead of staying in Pyrowork Academy.¡±


    Gu Shenwei coldly refused him. Although he had not been trained over thest 10 months, Gu Shenwei did not think he had any fatal shorings. Now, his Yin and Yang Strength had arrived at the third level, so his Internal Strength was higher than the most apprentices in Carvewood Academy. It was enough to make up for the weakness in kung fu skills.


    Hu Shining left disappointedly. Gu Shenwei would regret his rude behavior someday. Perhaps since having been in Golden Roc Fort for a long time, he instinctively misunderstood people¡¯s kindness as evil intentions.


    Hu Shining was right. Compared with the apprentices, who had been strictly trained, ve Huan¡¯s kung fu had a serious defect. Especially, in the killer mentors¡¯ eyes, his Internal Strength from other schools was an irretrievable mistake.


    A few dayster, the killer apprentices came to Pyrowork Academy in the eastern East Castle, which was smaller than Carvewood Academy. Almost 100 killer mentors waited there and prepared to select their apprentices. After finishing the selection, they would bring the new apprentices to their yard ande back to attend the fight-until-the-endpetition every month.


    Gu Shenwei soon realized what the training tutor Hu Shining had said was true. The killer mentors had learned the basic information about the apprentices, so the selection ended very quickly in the morning.


    Atst, more than 30 apprentices remained for some reasons. Gu Shenwei was one of them.


    The fate had yed a joke with him and then a bigger one. A yellow-belt overseer in Pyrowork Academy took the responsibility to govern these killer apprentices, who were on the edge of elimination.


    He said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Some killer mentors still didn¡¯te to choose their apprentices yet. They¡¯ll take you away in the next few days.¡±


    He firstforted them and then added, ¡°Anyway, you have nothing to do now. Just stay here and work, like carrying the dead bodies¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei found he had wasted too much time and energy, because now he started to do the same thing that he did, when he arrived at the Golden Roc Fort. The fate yed a cruel trick on him.

 Chapter 68

    Chapter 68: Feed the Roc


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    For Gu Shenwei, staying in Pyrowork Academy for half of the first month was a nightmarish experience. Gu Shenwei doubted whether he had made the right choice. Ever since most of the over 30 remaining apprentices were taken away by their killer mentors, a few of them gave up on their dream of being killers and volunteered to be servants in West Castle.


    The only sce for him was that he had an opportunity to return to Giant Rock Cliff, where Nameless Swordbook was hidden.


    There were numerous killer apprentices in East Castle. As it was impossible to let them have contests on the same day, Pyrowork Academy held several martial arts contests almost every day.


    The martial arts contest was held in an unusual form. All the apprentices had to wear masks. The overseer would randomly choose a room which simted various environments, such as an alley, the wilderness, a bedroom, and a tavern. Two apprentices would enter the room from different doors. Without any rules, they would immediately start to fight until one of them fell.


    There were rules for apprentices¡¯ advancement: If one defeated his opponents in 12 consecutive months, he would be a probationary killer. If one killed his opponents with a strike in 6 sessive tests, he would be qualified to be a real killer.


    This was an endless and cruel killing game. Few apprentices could be a real killer. It was not because the teenagers were soft-hearted. If they were allowed to attack once more, they would kill their opponents without any hesitation, regardless of whether their opponents were their friends or not. However, it was difficult for them to kill their opponents with a single strike. Those apprentices, who held the desire to kill while entering the room, often found that they were always a step away from instantly killing their opponents when they struck a blow with all their strength.


    Those who were slightly injured could continue the game while the seriously injured would be carried to Firewood Yard in West Castle. To Gu Shenwei¡¯s shock, lots of apprentices believed that the injured would receive medical treatment in Firewood Yard. He really wanted to tell them the truth. ¡°Firewood Yard wasn¡¯t a clinic, but a ce for the dead.¡±


    No one would listen to him. He still had no friends, just like the time when he was in West Castle.


    The apprentices who were killed with a single strike not only became a stepping stone for other killer apprentices, but they also received a sort of strange honor of being thrown off Reincarnation Cliff.


    This was the task Gu Shenwei was assigned to do in Pyrowork Academy.


    Usually, the overseers with the yellow-belt were responsible for this work. Now that they had the remaining apprentices, they willingly assigned them to do it.


    The first person Gu Shenwei carried out was a 12-year-old child. The boy might be be a scary killer after several years, but now he was just a corpse. His only wound was a gash from his forehead to his shoulder, with his mask split in half. His skull could be seen.


    The corpse was carried by Gu Shenwei and his partner. When they were close to Reincarnation Cliff, Gu Shenwei spoke to his partner behind him. ¡°I can do it alone. It¡¯s inconvenient for us to walk on these steps together. You can just take the stretcher back.¡±


    The fearful teenager nodded. He carried the stretcher under his arm and immediately ran away without expressing his gratitude.


    Gu Shenwei carried the corpse on his shoulder, but he did not follow the path to Reincarnation Cliff. He walked to the nearby Giant Rock Cliff.


    The ce was once the twin¡¯s territory, but now it was discarded by them. It maintained the previous look as the day the two giant rocs were killed. The filthy, broken was spread out here and there, mixed with the books and wooden sabers.


    Gu Shenwei put down the corpse and found Nameless Swordbook which he had looked forward to reading.


    He had already be familiar with the word and drawings in the swordbook, but he still greedily browsed through it one more time. Then he pulled it close to his chest and intended to carefully study it when he was alone in Pyrowork Academy. He thought he had already known something from it.


    He held the corpse and wanted to throw it off Giant Rock Cliff. At this moment, he heard a faint tweet from the cliff.


    ¡°It might be the skinny nestling who¡¯s fond of eating and pecking.¡±


    It had been almost one month. Gu Shenwei had never thought about what happened to the helpless nestling without its parents. He immediately felt ashamed because he was the one who had caused the death of giant rocs and he had let the nestling survive alone under the cliff. The nestling could not understand what had happened.


    Gu Shenwei immediately realized that he must have heard wrongly. The voice could not be that of the nestling. Supreme King once said that the giant roc would not sing because they would die of it. The sound might be a figment of his imagination.


    However, Gu Shenwei could not get rid of the sense of guilt. He held the corpse to the ce where he had fallen off. After confirming the position, he threw the corpse down and let it fell as close as possible to the precipice.


    The moment he let go of the corpse, he recalled some of the words in Death Scripture, whereupon he recited it in a low voice.


    ¡°The soul rises to the Ninth Heaven, and the spirit falls to the Ninth Abyss. The living suffer in grief, and the dead settle in peace.¡±


    Was the nestling alive? He did not know.


    Would the corpse urately fall into the nest? He did not know.


    Could the giant roc eat the dead? He did not know.


    He harbored the sense of guilt and hoped that, by doing so, he would make up the damage that he had caused.


    From that day on, whenever he had an opportunity, he would throw killer apprentices off Giant Rock Cliff. Sometimes he would do that in sessive days; sometimes he had to feed the nestling once every seven or eight days. He could not find any signs showing that the nestling was alive, but he insisted on feeding the nestling. The little one became the only thing he felt responsible for in this world.


    As the number of failed apprentices became fewer and fewer, Gu Shenwei could finally live alone. The first thing he did was to practice Yin and Yang Strength ording to the sped-up technique. As a result, he almost killed himself.


    The Peripheral Force that Mama Xue had imnted in ve Huan¡¯s Xuanji acupoint was extremely powerful. It prevented him from improving his Internal Strength and from practicing the sped-up technique of Yin and Yang Strength.


    Gu Shenwei felt Internal Breath was in disorder after practicing the half of the manual. He fainted after a while. At dawn, he woke up. Fortunately, he had fainted in time. Otherwise, he would not have to wait the three years before he would die from qigong deviation.


    Since the sped-up technique did not work, he started to concentrate on studying Nameless Swordbook.


    He knew some knowhow about how to read this book. In the book, most of the text about ¡°death¡± was not concerned about how to kill others, but how to kill oneself.


    ¡°Devoting oneself to Tao, one would harm oneself and be weaker and weaker; after one dies, one would find the truth.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stared at the words from Tao Te Ching and thought about it for long. He finally understood what they roughly meant: Only by making oneself die could one make others die.


    However, he found it hard to practice. It was extremely difficult to have the desire to ¡°kill others¡±, let alone to ¡°kill oneself¡±.


    In order to get revenge, Gu Shenwei did not care about his life, but it was hard to be resolute in his desire to kill himself.


    Gu Shenwei thought the words might be some sort of metaphor, as it was impossible for him to kill others after he was dead.


    He began to secretly practice the 29 movements in the swordbook, but he became more confused after several times of practice.


    Each movement of them was used to stab at the enemy¡¯s neck, but they were from different angles. There was a movement where one needed to stab from above. Because of his poor lightness skill, Gu Shenwei could not finish it after trying several times.


    The verses written below the sword movements were obscure. Even with the notes beside them, Gu Shenwei could only understand a small part of it.


    The clearest sentence was that the faster one made a move, the better it would be. However, the book did not mention how to improve the speed.


    It mentioned that one needed to stab urately. Gu Shenwei just understood parts of it, because the object one spotted was not the enemy¡¯s neck, but his ¡°Qi¡±. He did know what ¡°Qi¡± meant, and he was not sure whether it was rted to Internal Breath or if it was practiced by practitioners in the martial arts circles.


    What Gu Shenwei could not ept the most was that all the 29 movements were used to attack with full strength, which was worthy of a swordbook being about how tomit suicide.


    As a child, Gu Shenwei had not studied hard, but his father was a kung fu master who knew several martial arts from different schools. Therefore, Gu Shenwei knew that all the kung fu areprised of both offense and defense. There were several offensive movements in a set of kung fu, but they must be bnced with defensive movements. He had never heard of a set of kung fu like Nameless Swordbook which gave up on the defense.


    After he learned all the 29 movements, Gu Shenwei lost his confidence. This set of swordsmanship was full of loopholes. Once one failed with the first move, his opponent would take the chance to fight back and that he would not be able to block it.


    If thest three or four pages of the Internal Strength manual were not helpful, Gu Shenwei would have given up on studying the swordbook.


    There were over 4,000 characters written on thest few pages. The font was so small that he could only recognize them up close. Every time he suffered from qigong deviation, or Iron Finger from Mama Xue, Gu Shenwei recited those words to turn the power into his own Internal Strength.


    He did not understand the meaning of those words at all. He did not know how it worked because he only memorized them.


    Gu Shenwei tried to recite those words at normal times but it did not work. It seemed that it could only strengthen Internal Strength when it was under the pressure of Peripheral Force.


    Gu Shenwei had spent more than 10 days on studying the Nameless Swordbook, but he gained nothing except that he memorized the words well. He was dyed in his kung fu practice, so he had made up his mind to hide the swordbook on Giant Rock Cliff again.


    The second day after Gu Shenwei hid Nameless Swordbook, a person that would have a great impact on him came to Pyrowork Academy.


    The man was named Tie Hanfeng, but he was neither cold nor sharp.


    Tie Hanfeng walked with a limp and his face appeared as if it was glowing red. He bowed to every overseer with the yellow-belt in Alchemy Academy. This made his gait stranger, as if he was a scwag begging for money.


    Therefore, when an overseer said he was a killer, the five remaining apprentices could not believe it.


    Tie Hanfeng was not only a killer, but also a Master Shifu who was qualified to ept the apprentice. This year, it was his first time that he epted an apprentice. No one knew why he came over half a monthter after missing the day for formally selecting apprentices.


    Those overseers ignored him and lied to him, telling him that there was no apprentice left. Tie Hanfeng went into the room where they carried corpses while saying, ¡°Aren¡¯t there some left? I¡¯m not greedy. Only one is enough.¡±


    The teenagers pretended to be busy. They would like to be a servant in West Castle rather than follow a killer mentor like a scwag. It was not as important if they could not learn anything. They were afraid that they would be killed in the first monthly test if the Master Shifu taught them irresponsibly.


    The overseer shook his head and said perfunctorily, ¡°Well, whoever wants to follow you, you can take him away.¡±


    Among the five of them, only Gu Shenwei wanted to be Tie Hanfeng¡¯s apprentice. He was willing to take the risk of following a wrong Master Shifu because, at one moment, he felt a scary killing intent emanating from the crippled man.

 Chapter 69

    Chapter 69: Master Shifu


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Tie Hanfeng¡¯s face had be redder and redder when he was less than 20 years old. Originally, it made him look easygoing. However, as his face developed an increasingly darker shade of red and when the wrinkles on his face became clearly visible, the middle-aged Tie Hanfeng¡¯s normal face had a seemingly irritated look, as if he would suddenly draw his saber and fight to the death at any time. From then on, he intentionally wore a pleasing smile to cover his real look.


    How could a man be a killer if he made others raise their guard on the first sight? This was the reason why Tie Hanfeng had ¡°changed his look¡±.


    The smile was already fixed on his face after 20 years, as if it was a mask that merged with his skin.


    Everyone was already ustomed to his look. If one observed closely, one would find that the killing intent behind the ¡°smiling mask¡± became denser and denser. A cunning gleam in his eyes leaked out his killing desire with an uncontroble sign.


    Gu Shenwei observed carefully. He could not see the uncontroble sign, but just a crippled old man with his eager killing desire which was simr to Marshal Yang who died in front of the Golden Roc Fort gate. Gu Shenwei thought he would not disrespect or easily offend this man if he were an supervisor with the yellow-belt.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to be his apprentice.¡±


    When Gu Shenwei spoke, Tie Hanfengughed in a more ttering manner. After ncing at his apprentice, he approached the yellow-belted supervisor. ¡°Look, someone chose me. I think he¡¯s good.¡±


    The supervisor frowned. He did not mind giving Cripple Tie an apprentice, but he did not want to release his right-hand man who dared to carry corpses alone. He thought it would be a waste if this apprentice followed an unqualified Master Shifu.


    Tie Hanfeng faced the supervisor with a wide smile, trying to appeal the supervisor in this way. Gu Shenwei saw through the supervisor¡¯s intention. Since he had his own purpose, he said, ¡°I¡¯lle back to carry corpses after following him.¡±


    ¡°Right, right. My apprentice looks like a good helper for carrying corpses.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng patted on the back of ve Huan¡¯s head. The strength he used almost knocked ve Huan down.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have toe every day, just every three days. You don¡¯t have toe once we have enough helpers.¡± The supervisor finally agreed to let ve Huan go.


    After he officially introduced them to each other, the supervisor called a scribe to keep a record of everything. Then the ceremony of epting the apprentice was over. Golden Roc Fort stuck to practical rules, so there were noplicated rituals for those matters.


    Tie Hanfeng took his new disciple back to his residence. It was a shabby small yard that was located in the south of East Castle, not far from Woodensaber Alley where Mama Xue died.


    There were lots of small and dpidated houses in this area, where the various Master Shifu of Pyrowork Academy would teach their apprentices. Each yard had six or seven rooms, with different sizes of courtyards; the bigger courtyards were about a dozen steps wide while the small ones were only several steps wide. The yard wall was so tall that, when he looked up, Gu Shenwei felt as if he was living in a deep well .


    The yard was in a mess, as if a group of people had fought here and thrown up all over the ce while they were drunk.


    A small table and a deck chair were ced near the door of the room. There were leftover dishes and dumped liquor which had been set on the table. A broken weapon rack stood by the yard wall, without any weapon in it. Six or seven sabers without sheaths allid on the ground.


    It was not like a residence for killers. Gu Shenwei could not help but doubt whether he made a wrong judgment. ¡°Tie Hanfeng isn¡¯t a real killer. The overseers¡¯ attitude shows that they don¡¯t believe the crippled man was qualified to teach an apprentice.¡±


    He soon got an answer.


    As soon as he walked into the yard, Tie Hanfeng rushed to the deck chair and fell onto it as if he a traveler who had finally returned home and just wanted to sleep after travelling for a long time.


    Tie Hanfeng did not sleep. He grabbed a wine pot to pour it, but found that it was empty. With a bang, he put it down, smacked his lips, and then swallowed his saliva to satisfy his craving for liquor. Suddenly, he looked at his apprentice with a cold face as if it was his first time seeing him. ¡°Little bastard, you want to be a killer?¡±


    When Tie Hanfeng had a foul temper, he did not look like a bloody killer at all.


    ¡°Yes, Master Shifu.¡±


    ¡°Your throat has been bunged up with shit? Holding back like this? Talk to me in a full sentence.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng liked speaking with foul words. When he was faced with people who did not deserve his ttering, his mouth would be filled with profanities, as if he could not express himself without them.


    ¡°Yes, I want to be a killer, Master Shifu.¡±


    ¡°Hmm,e to kill me. There is a saber over there.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had seen indifferent people, gitious people, and viperous people. However, he had never previously seen someone like the red-faced man who could change his facial expression in an instant.


    Tie Hanfeng grabbed a wine cup and threw it at his apprentice after seeing that his apprentice did not know how to react. He was not like Luo Ningcha. The wine cup precisely hit Gu Shenwei¡¯s forehead, immediately causing blood to flow out.


    ¡°I want you to kill me, understand? Were your ears on your butt or were they eaten by a dog?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was so furious that he could not think of a word to respond. He silently walked to the wall, picked up a saber which looked the sharpest, and turned toward his Master Shifu. When he was five steps away from him, Gu Shenwei suddenly struck a blow with his full strength.


    in a scary speed Tie Hanfengid on the chairfortably. He suddenly drew a simr saber from under the deck chair at a scary speed, and waited until Gu Shenwei¡¯s saber almost reached his head.


    The shining de light suddenly reached out and disappeared in the blink of an eye. The red face behind the light looked like that of Death who came to hunt spirits in the mortal world.


    Gu Shenwei fell down like a bunch of rags, motionless. After a while, the scarlet blood flowed out from his lower body.


    ¡°Idiot.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng spat out a word and then ced his saber across his knees. He took the empty wine pot again and angrily threw it away. The wine pot rebounded to the ground after hitting the stone wall. Another piece of trash was added to the yard.


    It was unknown how much time had passed. Gu Shenwei woke up in the dark, and felt a lot of pain in his chest with a numbness in his mind. ¡°He wanted to kill me.¡± This was the first thought that popped up in his mind. Then he was curious about why he did not die.


    He let out a groan and then suddenly stood up, as if he was a dummy with mechanical buttons.


    The clothes on his chest was dyed red. The rough, ugly wound went across from his left shoulder to his right rib, and was more than one foot long.


    Tie Hanfeng was still lying on the chair with a cup of mellow liquor in his hand.


    ¡°Are you dead?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    Gu Shenwei ground out.


    ¡°Bandage your wound. You have too much f**king blood.¡±


    Courtesy was useless in this yard. Gu Shenwei did not answer him. He went straight into the room to find the styptic powder and bandages. He even did not try to cover his wound tightly and let his blood drip. He did not feel much pain, because he was focused on concocting a n to kill his Master Shifu.


    The room inside was tidier than the outside, as it had been uninhabited for a long time. The quilt was folded up neatly but it was covered with dust. Tie Hanfeng slept on the deck chair day and night.


    The medicine kit and bandages were ced in a conspicuous ce, which indicated that their owner lived on the edge of a knife indeed.


    At that time, he was not skilled at dealing with the wound, so he spent a lot of time cleaning, applying medicine, and bandaging the wound. His first permanent scar was left because of it.


    Soon, he would be ustomed to various wounds and could bandage them at full speed.


    Gu Shenwei walked out of the room. Looking at the nape of Tie Hanfeng¡¯s neck, he wanted to sneakily attack him from his back.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a good time for assassination,¡±


    Tie Hanfeng said, without turning his head. He lifted the wine cup and drank all of it. His voice was gentle and confused, as if he was a sage who was lost in thought.


    Gu Shenwei got to know another side of his Master Shifu¡¯s personalities. The more the others drank, the worse their temper became. In contrast, his Master Shifu was foul-mouthed when he was sober, as if everyone was his deadly enemy. After several drinks, he would be reasonable and talk in a gentle voice, like an innocent child.


    Gu Shenwei finally knew why the supervisors of Pyrowork Academy had not thought that Tie Hanfeng could teach apprentices well. Tie Hanfeng was a heavy drinker. Every drop of liquor would extinguish a little bit of his killing intent. Andstly, he was a drunken slob with a powerless body. He was not capable of protecting himself, let alone killing people.


    It was difficult for a Master Shifu like that to teach his disciple about how to be a good killer.


    ¡°Old Hu said you¡¯re a good candidate. It¡¯s a pity no one appreciates you.¡±


    It was the second time that someone said ve Huan was good candidate over the half a month. Gu Shenwei realized that Hu Shining, the training tutor in Carvewood Academy, turned to be the person that saved Maid Lotus¡¯s and his lives. But he had treated Hu Shining coldly.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t clearly see how you made your move.¡±


    Gu Shenwei said in a grave voice. He thought he had the ability topete with a killer after reaching the third level of Yin and Yang Strength. But the result was that he still could not withstand a strike.


    ¡°You¡¯ll know how to kill people if you keep attacking. Come, do it again.¡±


    This was the way of Tie Hanfeng would teach his apprentice, without any oral guidance or disy of skills. In his opinion, it was enough for his apprentice to master two or three sets of sabermanship; the only remaining thing for him was to enrich his experience and enlighten himself.


    His first requirement for ve Huan was simple. ¡°Force me out of the chair in 10 days. If you can do it, I¡¯m your Master Shifu. If you fail, I¡¯ll kill you.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng was half drunk while speaking, so his tone was not hard enough. However, Gu Shenwei believed his threat was real. He immediately picked up the saber and tried to ¡°kill¡± his Master Shifu with his full strength, no matter how painful his chest was.


    The reason why Tie Hanfeng set the 10-day deadline was that ve Huan would took part in the first monthly test in 10 days.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to lose or win. I want you to kill your opponent. It doesn¡¯t matter how many moves you made. Just kill your opponent with one strike. What is this pitiful killing intent of yours? Don¡¯t hide it. Show all of it. Use all your strength like your mother when she was giving birth to you.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng taught his disciple like that when he was sober. Gu Shenwei knew his Master Shifu was trying to stimte his will to fight, but he still simmered with anger. All the people he had met was courteous before he was 14 years old. Since the Gu family was ughtered, he had never seen a person like this foul-mouthed cripple.


    Gu Shenwei imagined his Master Shifu as Han Shiqi, Shangguan Yushi, and Shangguan Nu, and madly evoked the killing intent hidden deep inside his heart. On the ninth day after following his Master Shifu, he sessfully forced Tie Hanfeng to jump out of the chair, and split in half the deck chair which his Master Shifu had cherished.

 Chapter 70

    Chapter 70: The First Monthly Test


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Today, Gu Shenwei was going to take his first monthly test in the Pyrowork Academy. It had rained a little early in the morning, but now it stopped and the sky cleared up. It was cool and breezy.


    Not wanting to affect his apprentice¡¯s mood, Tie Hanfeng decided to stay sober this morning, so he did not drink any liquor at breakfast. As they walked out of their small yard, he took a deep breath of the fresh air and said to his apprentice, ¡°It¡¯s such a nice day for killing. The smell of blood will soon fade and drift away in the wind. Come on, my apprentice, go ahead and kill them all. ughtering them like pigs.¡±


    He limped ahead, leading the way for his apprentice. Today, Gu Shenwei was dressed in ck from head to toe and covered his face with a ck cloth. This was the standard outfit for all the killer apprentices who went to take the monthly tests. Golden Roc Fort made this rule to protect the apprentices¡¯ identities. ording to the fort¡¯s tradition, a real professional killer should remain anonymous throughout his life.


    It was not easy for the killers to adhere strictly to that tradition. When they were young, they could still manage to keep things low-key, but once they entered middle age and became semi-retired, they would start to find enjoyment in bragging about their achievements. Tie Hanfeng was such a semi-retired killer. In the past ten days, he had told Gu Shenwei many incredible stories. ording to him, the people he had killed lined up could span the whole gobi desert.


    Boastful as he was, he would never reveal who he had killed, as this was one of the key principles of Golden Roc Fort. Even though now it was widely known as a gang of ruthless killers, its current leader, the seventh Supreme King, still pretended that killer gang business was a secret of the fort, as all his predecessors had done.


    After entering the Pyrowork Academy, Tie Hanfeng greeted every yellow-belt and killer mentor with a big grin on his red face, as if he hade to attend a wedding party.


    Just like him, most of the killer mentors here had just passed their prime time. They were over forty or even fifty, and by courtesy of their masters¡¯ kindness, they could now make a living by teaching instead of killing.


    Besides Tie Hanfeng, there were seven or eight killer mentors. They all appeared to be on high alert and behaved in a highly professional manner. They dispersed in the yard and remained silent almost all the time. Every one of them had piercing eyes and habitually ced one hand on the handle of his saber. No one allowed even his own apprentices to stand within three steps from him.


    Tie Hanfeng was the only exception. He left his apprentice behind and chatted excitedly with all his friends here and there. Surprisingly, unlike the yellow-belts who reacted coolly toward him, all the serious-looking killer mentors seemed to get along with him and even permitted him to stand close to them.


    As Tie Hanfeng had only one apprentice, everyone immediately recognized ve Huan, even though he wore the all-ck outfit.


    A yellow-belt came to him and said, ¡°s, ve Huan, what a pity! You¡¯re such a useful ve boy. I hope you can carry yourself to Reincarnation Cliff.¡± With these words, the man guffawed loudly.


    Since Gu Shenwei had toe here to help with carrying corpses every three days, he was very familiar with this yellow-belt. Heughed together with him and then said, ¡°No matter who gets killed today, I¡¯ll carry him to Reincarnation Cliff.¡±


    He knew his words were a little bit muffled by his ck cloth mask, but he was still surprised by the yellow-belt¡¯s reaction. That man kept shaking his head, as if he hadn¡¯t heard what ve Huan had just said. After a moment, he walked away while murmuring to himself repeatedly, ¡°It¡¯s such a pity.¡±


    Apparently, he firmly believed that ve Huan would die today, which struck him as odd. The monthly tests were brutal, but most of the time, the losers would just get injured and only very few killer apprentices would be killed on the spot. Gu Shenwei began to wonder why the yellow-belt was so certain about it.


    Tie Hanfeng limped back to him, still looking happy. He waved to a thin killer mentor, who stood far away from them, and then turned around to whisper beside his apprentice¡¯s ear, ¡°Did you offend someone in the fort?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Gu Shenwei lied to his mentor without any hesitation. He had offended quite a lot of people in the fort and some of them did want to kill him.


    ¡°Your opponent today is determined to kill you.¡±


    ¡°So am I.¡±


    This time, Gu Shenwei was telling the truth. He even started to doubt that his mentor was just trying to arouse his fighting spirit by saying that. He thought it was such an unnecessary move. He had got the trick of killing. The scars on his body could prove it.


    ¡°Huh, you little bastard. What a bold apprentice you are! You dare to cheat your mentor. Look, that son of a b*tch over there is your opponent today. His master said that he wanted to fight you since he had some personal grudge against you. He also said that this fight was between you guys and no one would interfere.¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked at the boy his mentor was talking about. He was of medium height and sturdily built, standing more than three steps away from the thin killer mentor. Even though the boy was in a ck outfit now, Gu Shenwei was still sure that he had never offended any killer apprentice like him. He had stayed in the Carvewood Academy for only five or six days. He had not even gotten many chances to meet anyone at all there.


    ¡°No matter what, I¡¯ll kill him anyway.¡±


    Gu Shenwei grabbed his saber handle tightly to focus himself, without feeling guilty or nervous about his decision to kill a stranger.


    ¡°F*ck the personal grudges. I haven¡¯t heard this phrase for years. Well, go to kill him. Remember, no matter how many moves you exchange with him, you need to kill him with only one strike,¡± Tie Hanfeng sneered and said.


    A yellow-belt waved his hand to Gu Shenwei, summoning him to the test.


    Gu Shenwei opened the door assigned to him and walked into the test room. It was shaped like a narrowne, which could only allow two people to walk side by side and was dimly-lit by a tiny oilmp hanging from the ceiling. The stocky boy was already inside the room, standing about 10 steps away from him.


    The yellow-belts closed the doors, leaving the two apprentices inside.


    Both of them were full of fighting spirit now. As they had no ce to hide inside this ne¡±, they started to walk toward each other step by step. For a moment, Gu Shenwei felt an urge to ask the boy what kind of grudge he had against him, but he quickly threw this thought away. He guessed that the boy might just have made up this story to arouse his own killing intent. No matter what, he had already decided to kill this boy.


    When they were only five steps away from each other, Gu Shenwei was about to attack, but his opponent moved faster than him. He leaped forward, pointing his saber at Gu Shenwei¡¯s chest. Gu Shenwei instantly detected the deception in this movement. His opponent was just trying to get behind him.


    Evidently, this boy stuck to Golden Roc Fort¡¯s fighting style. No matter how narrow the space was, he still tried to kill his opponent from the back.


    While the boy was jumping about, Gu Shenwei just kept low and steadily rotated his body to avoid exposing his back to his opponent. For quite a long time, the stocky boy had failed to spot any chance tounch an attack, and they had not really exchanged any moves.


    Soon, Gu Shenwei found that there was definitely something off about the stocky boy, who was preparing to jump up for the tenth time. The boy¡¯s shoulders had already started to sink, but his feet still on the ground, which perhaps was induced by tiredness.


    Given that, Gu Shenwei easily predicted the boy¡¯s movement and struck at him.


    In the next minute, the boy threw his saber away and used both of his hands to cover the wound in his chest. Blood kept spouting out from between his fingers, but he still struggled, trying to remain upright. After a moment, he could not control his body anymore. He involuntarily staggered backward and then fell onto the ground. Gu Shenwei clearly saw the boy¡¯s legs twitch a few times before he died.


    Gu Shenwei had thought he had already got used to killing, but now when he ended someone¡¯s life in a fighting contest for the first time, he could not help but feel like he wanted to vomit. He had not felt this way for a long time, since he had thrown Mama Xue¡¯s dead body off the cliff.


    To avoid the boy¡¯s blood, which was flowing on the ground toward him, he kept stepping backward until he suddenly felt a wall against his back. The impact woke him up from the shock instantly. He swiftly turned around and knocked three times on the door, telling the yellow-belt outside that the fight was over.


    He put on a straight face to mask his unpleasant sensation and then walked out of the room. The yellow-belt outside was greatly surprised. Even those cool killer mentors also could not help casting their eyes on him.


    During this monthly test, he was the only one who had killed his opponent with just one strike. There were a few unlucky killer apprentices who were seriously injured and sent to the Firewood Yard in the West Castle.


    Gu Shenwei kept his promise. He himself carried the boy¡¯s dead body to the Giant Rock Cliff, chanted the ¡°Death Scripture¡± three times and then threw the corpse off, hoping that the nestling could get this food.


    The thin killer mentor did not care about his apprentice¡¯s death at all. As a seasoned killer, he had already be ustomed to such things. He had not evene to see his apprentice for thest time.


    But Tie Hanfeng hade to see the dead boy. He had checked his wound carefully, without saying anything. When Gu Shenwei returned to the yard after throwing the boy¡¯s dead body away, his mentor got revealed his anger at him.


    ¡°You son of a b*tch. You¡¯ve killed someone in the test. Are you proud of yourself now? What? Did someone tell you that you¡¯re not a real killer?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Gu Shenwei answered. He still remembered that Hu Shining, the training tutor of the Carvewood Academy, had told him that his kung fu had a ¡°fatal w¡±.


    ¡°Huh, you¡¯re really proud that you killed someone with only one strike in your first monthly test, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was confused now. He thought he had done very well in the test.


    ¡°Are you f*cking stupid? You cut into his chest. What the f*ck were you thinking? Haven¡¯t you learned anything from those idiots in the Carvewood Academy?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve not been trained in the Carvewood Academy.¡±


    Gu Shenwei blurted, while holding his saber handle tightly.


    Tie Hanfeng was stunned. He realized that he could not reproach ve Huan for not knowing the basics, since he was the only killer apprentice who had not been trained in the Carvewood Academy in all these years. Tie Hanfeng had listened to Hu Shining¡¯s rmendation and had decided to take this boy as his apprentice even before he had met him in the Pyrowork Academy. Now he found he could only me himself for underestimating the importance of basic killer training, but this could not stop him from spilling his rage at his apprentice.


    ¡°F*ck you and all your ancestors and rtives! Did youe to frame me? You don¡¯t even know the basics. How can you be a killer? I¡¯ll kill you now, you jerk. I¡¯ll chop you up and feed you to a dog, and then chop up the dog and feed it to a pig, and then chop up the pig and feed it to the rats. I¡¯ll kill all the rats and throw some of them in the mountains and the others into a river. After that, you may be reincarnated, but you¡¯ll always be missing some body parts.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng cursed while dashing toward Gu Shenwei with a saber in hand. He gged his apprentice off for striking at the stocky boy¡¯s chest, but now he was also nning to attack ve Huan from the front. He thought he was much stronger and experienced than the ve boy and did not need to use any advanced techniques to kill him.


    Gu Shenwei was always on guard against his mentor. Seeing the malevolent look on Tie Hanfeng¡¯s face, he understood that his mentor did mean it when he said that he would kill him.


    Tie Hanfeng kept rushing forward without raising his saber. He did not need to do so. He moved much faster than most people. He believed that the ve boy could never determine his moves, not to mention counter them.


    Gu Shenwei did not raise his saber either. He was clear that he could notpete with his mentor in speed. If he raised his saber now, he would just give his mentor a chance to predict his movement and spot his weakness.


    He took a step back and felt nauseous again. What Tie Hanfeng said sickened him. Although he was well aware that he talked like this all the time, he still could not endure such verbal abuse. Being brought up in a traditional Chinese family, he could hardly get used to this kind of filthy speech.


    All the knife fighting skills and routines he had learned shed across his mind, from the Gu family style to the the Iron Mountain style and Golden Roc Fort style. Nevertheless, Gu Shenwei was not satisfied with any of these moves. Suddenly, he thought of a move and raised his saber to stab Tie Hanfeng¡¯s neck.

 Chapter 71

    Chapter 71: Go Down the Hill


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Tie Hanfeng was lying on a new wicker deck chair. Every now and then he would stretch out his hand to touch the injury on his neck. This wound was so small that it did not even need any medical treatment. However, he still felt somewhat frightened every time he thought of ve Huan¡¯s strange move.


    Gu Shenwei was standing a few steps away from his mentor, holding his bandage-swathed right wrist with his left palm. The cut in his wrist was quite deep. If Tie Hanfeng had not let him off at thest minute, he would¡¯ve ended up like the Eighth Young Master and would¡¯ve needed to learn saber skills with his left hand from the beginning.


    ¡°What¡¯s this sh*t you used just now?¡± Tie Hanfeng took a swig of his liquor and asked. He was a little drunk, but not drunk enough to say something nice.


    ¡°I¡¯ve learned a few sword skills, and this move just came to me all of a sudden in the moment.¡±


    ¡°What? Sword skills? Aha!¡± Tie Hanfeng said mockingly, as if he had heard a joke or an obvious lie. ¡°There¡¯re only two kinds of people using swords: the idiots and the gods. Are you a god?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re not qualified to use a sword. If I find you using a sword skill again, I¡¯ll insert a sword into you as*hole and let it stick out of your mouth. Even gods don¡¯t know this skill.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    Gu Shenwei decided not to use the technique in the Nameless Swordbook anymore, not because of what Tie Hanfeng said, but because of itsck of defense. Just as he had suspected, this sword skill was a nice move for a surprise attack, but if he failed to kill his opponent with one stab, he would expose all his weak points to his opponent. It was just too risky to use this kind of move in a fight.


    Compared to the influence of sword skills, Tie Hanfeng was more worried about ve Huan¡¯s mode of attack.


    During the past 10 days, when he had been practicing Golden Roc Fort saber skills with his apprentice, he had not spotted this bad habit of his at all. This was because during that period of time, Gu Shenwei had also been trying his best to practice attacking from the back. However, practice was different from a real fight. At that moment of life and death, when Gu Shenwei had spotted his opponent¡¯s weak point, he just had struck at it instinctively.


    He had never received the 10-month-long basic killer training of the Carvewood Academy, so hecked many essential qualities of a professional killer.


    Tie Hanfeng was determined to help his apprentice make up the lessons he had missed. He started with step training and urged ve Huan to get behind his opponent all the time. Several dayster, he finally lost his patience and got furious once again. ¡°What the f*ck is wrong with you? Did your mum squeeze your legs too hard when she gave birth to you? You¡¯re even slower than me, an old cripple. Run light on your feet! Light on your feet! Don¡¯t stick to the ground like a piece of sh*t.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had never been so savagely reviled by any of his kung fu teachers. His father had always called him his brightest son, and Mama Xue had also praised him as a fast learner. He had even greatly surprised the training tutor of the Carvewood Academy. However, Tie Hanfeng usually described him as absolute rubbish.


    For the first few days, Gu Shen had thought this might be the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s teaching tradition, but one day when he went to help carry corpses in the Pyrowork Academy, a yellow-belt told him that no killer mentor would insult and abuse his apprentices like Tie Hanfeng.


    ¡°You¡¯re his first apprentice,¡± the yellow-belt said sympathetically. ¡°In fact, he doesn¡¯t really want to train a killer. He became a killer mentor just for the title. You know, this title is very useful.¡±


    The yellow-belt did not exin the use of the title, and Gu Shenwei did not ask either. He was too depressed to pry into this matter at the moment.


    During his second monthly test, Gu Shenwei killed his opponent, a tall boy, with only one strike again. The boy tried to exchange moves with him directly, but got killed even faster than the stocky boy in the previous monthly test.


    Gu Shenwei won the fights easily, not because he had excellent lightness skills or saber skills, but because at present, no killer apprentice couldpete with him in internal strength. He had already reached the third level of Yin and Yang Strength, while the other apprentices were just beginners, who had practiced internal strength for only one year.


    Tie Hanfeng went to check the dead body and was disappointed again, since the mortal wound was in the tall boy¡¯s chest.


    Gu Shenwei exined that it was a waste of time to get behind the boy and end him from the back, for the boy had obviously left his chest unprotected at that time.


    Tie Hanfeng looked gloomy, but he did not re up this time. After thinking for a while, he said, ¡°F*ck it. As long as you can survive this year, I won¡¯t care about your mode of attack anymore. Maybe you¡¯ll be an unusual killer, one of a kind. Do what you¡¯re good at. You¡¯ve a strong killing intent. I like it, but you can make it even stronger in the future.¡±


    In order to arouse his apprentice¡¯s killing intent, Tie Hanfeng resorted to his unique teaching technique again.


    ¡°Come on, brat. Imagine that I¡¯m your father¡¯s murderer. I killed him and chopped up him to feed a fat dog, and then I ate that dog. Come here brat, and kill me to avenge your father, otherwise how can you call yourself a man¡­¡±


    Tie Hanfeng talked on and on, making up stories about how he had barbarously murdered ve Huan¡¯s mother, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts and all his ancestors. He enjoyed bragging about everything, even imaginary things.


    Those extremely outrageous stories deeply stung Gu Shenwei.


    All his family had been brutally murdered. This memory was almost intolerable to him. Hearing Tie Hanfeng use abusivenguage to insult his family, he felt that his blood began to boil with indignation.


    He hated his mentor and wished to kill him. One day, when Tie Hanfeng was heavily drunk, he eventually got a chance to hold a saber to his mentor¡¯s throat. He imagined again and again that he would cut this vicious man¡¯s throat, turning him into a fountain of blood, but in the end, he still gave up.


    After all, Tie Hanfeng was not his family¡¯s murder.


    During the third monthly test, Gu Shenwei, who had put up with his mentor¡¯s emotional abuse for a whole month, gave full vent to his anger and hatred. He cut his opponent in half as soon as they met. After that, he felt much better.


    Among all the killer apprentices, only a few had killed every opponent in the tests with only one strike three times in a row. Gu Shenwei was such an apprentice and thus won many people¡¯s recognition. The yellow-belt started to treat him as a real killer apprentice and told him that he did not have toe to the Firewood Yard to carry corpses anymore.


    ¡°No, I want toe. I need to get used to the smell of dead bodies.¡±


    Gu Shenwei refused the yellow-belt¡¯s suggestion because he wanted to throw food to feed the nestling. But beyond his expectations, the yellow-belt was deeply impressed by what he said and spread his words to everyone. As a result, more and more killer apprentices began to copy this behavior. Once an apprentice killed his or her opponent in a monthly test with only one strike, he or she would personally carry the dead body to the Reincarnation Cliff. Everyone now took this thing as a mysterious ceremony and a symbol of strength.


    The Pyrowork Academy was happy with this new trend among the apprentices, for it greatly reduced the yellow-belts¡¯ workload. However, it made Gu Shenwei a little worried, since he could not find that much food for the nestling anymore. He had thrown corpses to the birdie every three days in the past, but now he could only find food to feed it every six or even nine days.


    Tie Hanfeng was not pleased with ve Huan¡¯s performance. He felt pissed off and also confused. He checked the wound on the dead body carefully, and asked ve Huan for details about the fight and went to many different people to ask for information. Sometimes, he would stay out all night.


    On the fifth day after the third monthly test, he asked ve Huan again.


    ¡°Did you offend someone in the fort?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    Gu Shenwei replied with finality, but he felt a jolt in his heart. He wondered if his mentor had already heard some rumors about him.


    ¡°Why did all your opponents want to kill you so badly?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Doesn¡¯t everyone want to kill his opponent in a monthly test?¡± Gu Shenwei said. He had killed all the three opponents easily and had not found anything special about them.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I¡¯m talking about. All the three boys exchanged positions with others to fight you in the tests.¡±


    ¡°The one who arranged this thing was so stupid. Every apprentice he chose was weak,¡± Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been here for just one year. I don¡¯t know many people in the fort,¡± he further exined this matter to his mentor.


    He had some suspects in mind, but he would never tell his mentor. Tie Hanfeng seemed to believe his apprentice this time. He thought for a moment and said to himself, ¡°Well f*ck, was this directed against me?¡±


    Tie Fengfeng became even more concerned about this matter and spent three more days investigating it secretly. One day, at noon, he suddenly stood up from his chair and said, ¡°Apprentice, let¡¯s go down the hill.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was practicing saber skills at the moment. He was really surprised to hear this suggestion, since Golden Roc Fort did not allow killer apprentices to go down the hill freely.


    Tie Fengfeng was not a punctilious fellow and did not care about those unimportant rules at all. He ordered his apprentice to leave with him immediately and then murmured to himself, ¡°I¡¯ve stayed here for over three months. I feel so horny.¡± When he turned around, he found that his apprentice was watching him with a puzzled look on his face. ¡°Why do you stare at me? If you dare to look at me like that again, I¡¯ll f*ck your ass. That¡¯s how the apprentices in the fort repay their mentors,¡± Tie Hanfeng shouted.


    Gu Shenwei finally understood what his mentor was talking about. He felt so offended that he nearly threw his saber at him.


    Tie Fengfeng did not mean it. He did not like men at all.


    Knowing that besides drinking and swearing, Tie Hanfeng had another hobby, prostitutes, Gu Shenwei disdained him even more.


    Since they had left the fort, Tie Hanfeng had been bragging about his sex experiences to his apprentice, a 15-year-old inexperienced boy.


    Like all the other stories he had told, his sex stories were full of falsehoods and exaggerations, such as sleeping with ten women at one night or waking up in a bed inside a pce.


    Their journey was quite smooth. Gu Shenwei was amazed to discover Tie Hanfeng had lots of friends outside the fort.


    Before they entered North City through the north gate of Jade City, their sabers were taken away by the gate guards. When they walking together on a wide and clean street, Tie Hanfeng said triumphantly, ¡°This is the safest ce in the whole Western Region. Even a dog can live safely andfortably throughout its whole life at this ce.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had been here twice. Once when his family had just moved to the Western Region and once when he had escorted his sister to her wedding. He had never carefully observed this ce, but he had a good impression of its exquisite buildings and elegant pedestrians.


    Protected by thergest killer organization, North City, the northern half of Jade City, thrived and flourished.


    But this ce was not Tie Hanfeng¡¯s destination. He led his apprentice across North City and into South City, which was the most famous¨Cor infamous¨Cpart of Jade City.


    The streets here were muddy and twisty. Many weird-looking pedestrians were hustling and bustling around. The buildings along the streets were quite shabby and looked as if they were about to fall apart at any minute. Compared to the paradise-like North City, South City looked like hell.


    However, Tie Hanfeng felt at home at this hell-like ce. He squinted his eyes and took a deep breath of the turbid air, enjoying himself for a moment.


    After that, he said, ¡°Let¡¯s go to kill a jerk. He plotted against me, trying to kill my only apprentice.¡±

 Chapter 72

    Chapter 72: Southwall


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Jade City was divided naturally into two parts by a river. On the north bank of the river stood a high city wall, which was built to prevent South City¡¯s residents from sneaking into North City.


    Since Tie Hanfeng had a killer waist token issued by Golden Roc Fort, he had free ess to North City. After he had managed to smuggle ve Huan in and out of North City, he warned him, ¡°Follow me closely, otherwise, you¡¯ll have to rot in South City. Without me, you can never return to the fort.¡±


    ¡°North City is the safest ce in the Western Region, and South City is¡­¡±


    After a long time, Gu Shenwei finally thought of a proper word. ¡°South City is the most profligate ce.¡±


    After crossing a pontoon bridge, which was the only ess connecting North City to South City, they saw a shabby building that was a brothel. A hooker was drearily standing at the gate. In the light of the setting sun, Gu Shenwei could clearly see the wrinkles around her eyes under her heavy makeup. He guessed that she would look good only after night had fallen.


    But Tie Hanfeng was so excited to see her. He cheerfully went over to her and held her by the waist. When they were about to walk into the house, Tie Hanfeng thought of his apprentice. ¡°Do you want to try?¡± he asked coldly.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head.


    ¡°Wait for me outside. Don¡¯t go far.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not want to be mistaken for a pimp or a doorkeeper, so he turned away and walked down the street. He walked past three brothels and four taverns and then he finally found a ce to stop.


    It was getting dark. All the buildings along the street were brilliantly illuminated and had their doors open for business. The muddy street reflected the light and looked as if it were glowing. At this moment, this hell-like city became a ce of dazzling colors.


    Gu Shenwei now understood why his father had declined to stay any longer in Jade City. He had been avoiding this dissolute ce for the benefit of his three sons.


    Gu Shenwei stood on a street corner, observing the pedestrians. He believed that many of them came from North City because they were nicely dressed and were followed by a group of servants. They were strutting in the streets like they owned the ce.


    He also spotted quite a few killers from the Stone Castle. They looked different from all the other pedestrians. They always kept a straight face and often looked down as they walked. Once someone approached such a killer, he would intuitively cast a murderous eye on that person.


    All killers remained low-key as Golden Roc Fort required, but their cool attitude and some upational habits still made them easily recognizable.


    Gu Shenwei thought of Tie Hanfeng, who did not look like a professional killer at all and, thus, fit in naturally with the crowd here. He believed that no one would discover that his mentor was a killer.


    Gu Shenwei felt awkward standing here. He did not like that ce at all. In fact, he would rather stay inside the Stone Castle. Things here were so strange and so inconsistent with his traditional Chinese upbringing.


    Most people in the street avoided him, for everyone could tell at a nce that this cool and vignt boy was a killer.


    But there was always an exception. A young man wearing a cloak walked past him and suddenly turned around. He leaned over and whispered beside Gu Shenwei¡¯s ear, ¡°Do you need a knife? It¡¯s the sharpest in the world. It¡¯ll never get blunt, even after killing hundreds of people.¡±


    Like all the other killers, Gu Shenwei did not like to be approached by strangers. He held his head back and stretched out his right hand to grab his saber shaft but failed. After a few seconds, he remembered that he had already given his saber to the guards at the northern gate of Jade City.


    ¡°No.¡±


    Such a stiff refusal did not discourage that young man at all. He continued to ask, ¡°What about poisons? Antiaris and gelsemine, they leave no trace on dead bodies.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any money.¡±


    Gu Shenwei hoped to send him away by saying that, but the young man just paused for a moment and said with a smile, ¡°Hey, bro. You¡¯ve never bought anything in South City, have you? You muste from the Stone Castle. No matter what you want, you can tell me. All you need to do is¡­¡±


    Then the young man made a throat-cutting gesture. Gu Shenwei now realized that what the man wanted was not his money, but his services.


    When the young man was looking hopefully at Gu Shenwei, waiting for a reply, another man suddenly rushed over and pushed him several steps away and said with a threatening tone, ¡°Piss off.¡±


    Seeing the young man hurriedly run away, Tie Hanfeng smiled. To Gu Shenwei¡¯s great surprise, his mentor was sober and at the same time in a very agreeable mood. He even patted his shoulder and spoke to him kindly. ¡°Don¡¯t give a damn about those guys. They can¡¯t even be sure if they themselves can live through the night or not. If you want to make a lot of money, you just need to listen to me. Even if you can¡¯t be a killer in the future, you¡¯ll live much better than most of the people here.¡±


    ¡°No, I want to be a killer.¡±


    Gu Shenwei replied with finality, but Tie Hanfeng did not take it seriously. He tugged on his apprentice¡¯s arm and dragged him forward, saying, ¡°Come with me. I¡¯ll take you to a nice ce. Let¡¯s see if you still want to be a killer when you get there.¡±


    Gu Shenwei worried that his mentor had already abandoned the assassination n. He wanted to urge him to carry out the n, but had continually not gotten a chance to do so. Tie Hanfeng had told him that someone wanted to kill him. He did not quite believe it, but he really wanted to see what a real assassination looked like.


    A section of the city wall situated in the southwest of Jade City had copsed years ago and had not been rebuilt in time. Since then, many businessmen had begun to open up shops outside the broken wall. This area had developed into a prosperous ce now, and the nice ce that Tie Hanfeng had mentioned was located there. The back of it was up against a section of the dpidated city wall, and its name was Southwall.


    ¡°There¡¯s an old saying, ¡®You¡¯ll never turn back until you hit the southern wall¡¯, which means that it often takes a very rude awakening for a person to change. But do you know what the next line is? ¡®You¡¯ll never turn back after you enter Southwall.¡¯ Hahaha.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng was cheerful like a child. He seemed to have already forgotten about his assassination n before he had even drunk anything. Gu Shenwei now reckoned that he might just have used the n as an excuse to go down the hill to have some fun.


    Different from the shops in the street, Southwall tavern¡¯s entrance was very dimly lit. Most people, except for familiar customers, would easily miss its entrance in the darkness.


    There were two fat guys standing at the entrance: one was tall and the other was short. They would search every person before they entered the tavern. No one could bring a weapon inside of it. After taking away someone¡¯s weapon, they would coldly say, ¡°You can get it back when you leave.¡±


    Evidently, Tie Hanfeng must have visited here pretty often. He just opened his arms, showing the guys that he did not have any weapons, and directly walked into the tavern. The fat guys bowed to him with a smile and then stopped Gu Shenwei and carefully searched him before pushing him inside.


    Just like South City, Southwall did not give Gu Shenwei a good first impression. He hated this ce and was instantly on alert here. He never expected that in the future he would consider this ce his second home. He had lost his entire family, so this ce actually was going to be his only home.


    To his great surprise, he found out that Tie Hanfeng seemed to be a big shot here.


    He had seen how humbly this cripple behaved in Golden Roc Fort. With that image stuck in his mind, he thought that the waiters and customers must have mistaken him for somebody else because they all warmly greeted Tie Hanfeng when he entered the tavern. Some of them even bought him drinks.


    The tavern was quite spacious and well-lit inside. There were many tables of different sizes. About a dozen waiters were swiftly moving around, serving the customers. Unlike Gu Shenwei, all of them were running so light on their feet, meeting Tie Hanfeng¡¯s requirements about stepping.


    Southwall was famous for good drinks. It offered all kinds of famous wine and liquor. In this ce, a customer who came from the Central in could drink famous liquor from his hometown, such as Fen liquor or Diao liquor. He could also try some new drinks, such as wine or ale. A beginner here would order lots of different drinks and try as many new drinks as he could. A real lush would just order his favorite drink and keep drinking it until he got drunk.


    It took Gu Shenwei quite a long time to locate Tie Hanfeng, who was sitting in a corner and waving to him.


    Many different drinks had been ced on his table. He had a craving for alcohol but he was not yet a lush. Like the beginners in Southwall, he preferred to try various kinds of drinks.


    He gave his apprentice a cup of wine and screeched, ¡°Drink it!¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head and refused to take the wine, but Tie Hanfeng still thrust it into his hand while saying, ¡°Every killer drinks. That¡¯s a skill you have to master.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not believe what Tie Hanfeng said, but he could not resist any longer. The wine was red and looked like blood, which made him feel nauseous. He had killed three people in the monthly tests, but still failed to ovee this difort. In order to conceal such a restless mood, he followed the example of his mentor and chugged the wine down.


    He found that it tasted surprisingly good. It was sweet, tart and zesty, dispelling his nausea and exhaustion.


    He started to drink one cup after another just like his mentor. During this period of time, many people came to their table to drink and talk with Tie Hanfeng, who could manage to drink while talking. He even drank much more than his silent apprentice.


    After a while, Gu Shenwei began to realize that his mentor came here not for fun, but for information.


    ¡°A fat guy from Shu-lik was killed in Haitang Lane,¡± a gangly man told Tie Hanfeng, and then he left their table but remained nearby. After that, a one-eyed man came and whispered to Tie Hanfeng, ¡°I want to hire someone to send some goods to the Central in safely.¡± After hearing what they said, Tie Hanfeng summoned a poorly dressed middle-aged man and told him that there was a good case that they could ept now. He asked the man to charge a high price for it since it was not a regr case. The man bowed to Tie Hanfeng and then went back into the crowd, searching for the one-eyed man. Seeing that, Tie Hanfeng beckoned the gangly man back over and gave him a small packet of silver.


    While doing all of those things, Tie Hanfeng still continued to drink.


    It was gettingte, but the tavern somehow became even more crowded. People just kepting in, and it seemed that no one wanted to leave. Tie Hanfeng¡¯s business was doing quite well. He spent quite a lot of money here, but at the same time earned more. When no one came to him to talk about business, he started to drink and chat with his friends.


    He had quite a lot of friends here. Gu Shenwei could tell that none of them were Golden Roc Fort killers.


    The one that he remembered most clearly was an old friend of his mentor. He secretly nicknamed him the horse-faced man, since this man had a really long face and a peculiarly small mouth. Among all these people, he and Tie Hanfeng had talked for the longest time. They had talked about their youth, their dead friends, and the beautiful women that they had seen. They had even talked about their enemies in the past while shedding tears.


    After midnight, the customers started to leave. After hugging Tie Hanfeng, the horse-faced man also staggered out of the tavern.


    Tie Hanfeng had a really good time. He touched his belly with satisfaction and then he turned to look at his apprentice and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go kill that guy.¡±

 Chapter 73

    Chapter 73: Murder in the Night


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei had not sensed the slightest hint of murder in the conversation between those two. This was why he did not expect Master Shifu to decide to kill the horse-faced man, not to mention that Master Shifu had sent his apprentice to execute it.


    ¡°Why?¡± Gu Shenwei asked bluntly. Tie Hanfeng sternly stared at him, while Gu Shenwei realized that he had stupidly misspoken.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t brought my de,¡± Gu Shenwei said, realizing that he had made another mistake.


    Nobody liked a talkative killer, nor would people hire a killer who could not kill without a de. Gu Shenwei was ashamed for his stupid mistakes. Therefore, he took a chopstick from the table, hid it in his sleeve, stepped over a sleeping drunkard, and started to track down the horse-faced man.


    Because there was no more business, the two fat servants in the doorway were putting bundles of weapons into arge wooden case. More than half of the customers left so unconsciously that they forgot to retrieve their stored des and swords, nor would they being back to get themter.


    Although Gu Shenwei did want a de, he gave up the idea very quickly because he had decided to execute the task with just a chopstick.


    Outside the ce, a cool wind blew the smell of alcohol mixed with filth. As Gu Shenwei had never drunk so much wine, he stumbled along and almost fell over. Strangely, although his body was out of control, he did not feel very drunk and was conscious enough.


    Standing in the doorway, he was able to spot the horse-faced man¡¯s silhouette right away.


    The horse-faced man entered the city from a gap in the city wall and sneaked deep into the chaotic downtown buildings through winding streetnes.


    Gu Shenwei quickly followed him. He leaned against the wall to throw up the wine after reaching a street corner. Then he felt much better because his hands and feet came back under his full control.


    Although Shangguan Ru¡¯s ¡°Assassination¡± was merely a game, Gu Shenwei had learned a lot from it. For example, when tracking he had to stay away from lights and straight streets, and stay close to dark shadows or intersections.


    About 15 minutester, they reached a ce where the rooms shed dimmer lights than other ces. Gu Shenwei thought that it was time to kill.


    The horse-faced man was too drunk to notice anyone following him as he staggered forth in bright and dark mazelikenes, yelling something from time to time.


    There was a turn up ahead and Gu Shenwei picked up his pace and sharpened the chopstick by breaking it into a shorter one.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart was beating faster. An assassination in real life was so different from the one in the firehouse¡¯s monthly tests because a volunteered killer apprentice was prepared for killing from the start, and he took carrying off souls for granted. But when it came to this horse-faced man, this killer apprentice seemed to be struck by an inexplicable power and felt weak from head to toe. That was because Gu Shenwei thought that the horse-faced man was so real after seeing him drink, speak, and cry for his lost friend like a child.


    After he turned the street corner,plete darkness descended. It was the ideal ce for assassination, but unfortunately, he had lost the target.


    The entire alley was silent, without any people or footsteps.


    There was always something that could never be learned from schools. Nobody had ever taught Gu Shenwei how to discover and utilize his intuition, but in that instant, his intuition told him that the enemy was right beside him.


    The horse-faced man silently thrust his weapon at Gu Shenwei. Apparently, he did not forget his dagger stored in that doorway.


    Gu Shenwei lowered his head and narrowly avoided the stabbing de. He could even feel the coldness of the metal as the steel dagger swept past his right cheek.


    The two grappled and neither shrank back or called for help. Wee to Southern Jade City. Death was the only solution here.


    Although the horse-faced man¡¯s Kung Fu was average, he was so experienced inbat that he could wield the dagger like a master. After having survived three dangers and wasted two lethal attacks, Gu Shenwei finally mastered the horse-faced man¡¯s rhythm on his 15th stroke, and then stabbed the chopstick deeply into his shoulder.


    They both attacked swiftly and thebat did notst long. Gu Shenwei felt exhausted after he had stabbed him, which pushed his opponent three steps backward. All of a sudden, he started to miss the Southwall Tavern¡¯s wine and became thirsty.


    Lethally wounded, the horse-faced man still struggled to survive. He tossed the dagger away and stumbled toward the end of an alley with one hand covering his shoulder and the other stretching straight out as if there was some life-saving elixir lying ahead.


    Gu Shenwei stood still, counting the horse-faced man¡¯s steps. When it got to the ninth, he could not help picking up the dagger from the ground and chasing after him.


    That man¡¯s will to survive was unexpectedly strong.


    Gu Shenwei grabbed the horse-faced man¡¯s hair from the back, thus forcing the man to raise his head, and then severed his throat with the dagger.


    He failed to kill the enemy with one chopstick in one stroke. Were Pyrowork Academy¡¯s supervisor here, ve Huan would have been judged as a failure.


    Watching the corpse drop to the ground, Gu Shenwei was suddenly struck by panic. Although he had no sympathy for this man, he felt as upset as he had been when he was med by his father for his misbehavior in his childhood. Still holding the weapon, he hesitated whether or not to throw it away over and over again, and finally threw it off to the side in the street.


    After all of that, he noticed some ck eyes, which shone like cats¡¯ eyes in the darkness.


    A boy sat on a short wall, holding a half-eaten melon¡ªhe had seen the entire scene of murder. He was nervous, excited, and obsessed about this. It was a surprise that he did not run away.


    He seemed to be 11 or 12 years old, which was confusing, however, because his eyes looked as mature as those of an adult.


    Gu Shenwei had not spotted this witness during the entire time because he had been focused on the horse-faced man.


    How should he deal with the witness? Kill him or just ignore him? Gu Shenwei was not sure about the solution, which surely had been taught in Carvewood Academy. He was the only one who hesitated about that among hundreds of killer apprentices.


    The boy finally swallowed the food that had been in his mouth for quite a while and carefully said, ¡°I just came outside to eat some melon.¡±


    It waste at night, when even the drunks that sought hangovers had gone home to sleep. This kid¡¯s statement could not have been any weirder.


    It only took one step for him to jump toward the wall so that he could drag the boy off. However, Gu Shenwei lost the desire and will to murder again, so he stepped back and decided to leave.


    The boy apparently misunderstood this juvenile killer¡¯s movements and immediately said, ¡°Let me help you throw the corpse away. Do you know where to dump it?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had no idea, and taking care of the corpse had never even urred to him. Just after hearing the boy¡¯s words, he thought that it was necessary.


    ¡°Get down here and take the body.¡±


    Gu Shenweimanded the boy, trying to sound cool and tough.


    The boy swiftly threw his melon away,nded on the ground, and ran over to the corpse. Then, he struggled to carry the corpse on his back and staggered forth. But unfortunately, he fell harshly to the ground only after two steps.


    ¡°I¡¯m not lying, it¡¯s way too heavy.¡±


    The boy again struggled to crane his head out from underneath the corpse. He looked innocent, yet not scared.


    Despite the fact that he was unsure whether the boy was pretending or not, Gu Shenwei carried the corpse on his shoulder. He was adept at it.


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you the way,¡± the boy said, starting to run fast.


    Gu Shenwei followed him closely and found out the boy could not do Kung Fu.


    The boy took a shortcut so that they reached the city¡¯s edge very quickly. As they marched on, they saw fewer and fewer houses around them, and an infinite darkness that looked like countlessyers of ck veils enveloped Jade City off in the distance.


    ¡°The wastnd is ahead. People dump corpses there.¡±


    The boy sounded like an expert. While the young killer was looking off into the distance, he sneaked into the alley beside them and desperately ran away. He was afraid that the killer might murder him to silence a potential informant and dump his body right on the spot.


    Gu Shenwei did not go after that boy because one kill was enough for this night. He continued to go ahead for a while, and then tossed the corpse into the bushes. He stood still, staring into the gloomy and stagnant night sky and listening to the hollow howl of a wolf. He agreed with the boy that this ce must have consumed many of the corpses in Jade City.


    He almost got lost in the winding alleys, and it took him a long time to find his way back. Once he returned to the Southwall Tavern, it was almost dawn.


    There were only a few people left inside the tavern. They were sound asleep, either lying on the ground or on a table. Gone were the manager, servants, and the two fat doormen.


    Tie Hanfeng sat on a chair, with his face upward and mouth wide open, sleeping deeply just as usual.


    Gu Shenwei seated himself in front of Master Shifu. The wine that remained on the table did not attract him at all.


    After a sudden shudder, Tie Hanfeng woke up and ground his teeth. He looked at his apprentice coldly, indicating that he became sober.


    ¡°Master Shifu, it¡¯s done.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s the head?¡±


    ¡°¡­I dumped the corpse in a wastnd.¡±


    ¡°A leopard just can¡¯t change its spots. There are more than enough corpses in this city for you to carry. Maybe you can count on this business to make a fortune, you dimwit. Bring the head back to me, and leave the rest for the dogs next time.¡±


    ¡°Aye, Master Shifu.¡±


    This murder was thus ended. Except for adding some field experience for a killer apprentice, it did not create much of a stir in Jade City.


    This trip away from the mountain had a decent impact on Tie Hanfeng because he gave up the life he had already been ustomed to. He had lived an indigent life for three months, only to train a killer who could never attack from behind. After that feast of wine in his revisit to the Southwall Tavern, he realized what mattered the most, hence, he left his apprentice alone.


    ¡°If nobody can beat you in Pyrowork Academy within one year, it means that you¡¯ve been trained enough. Who can foresee the future?¡±


    After that, Tie Hanfeng left his apprentice to take care of his own ¡°business¡±. He frequently went downhill and spent the night outside.


    Tie Hanfeng thought that he hadpletely solved the plot against ve Huan. He figured out that the horse-faced man, as his ¡°business¡± partner, tried to remove his name of killer mentor by bribing people inside the fort to kill his only apprentice, only to force the iron cripple to ept unfair terms of splitting money.


    This name was so vital to Tie Hanfeng that without it, he was only a half-retired old killer in Golden Roc Fort that could not even find a low-paying escorting job.


    Now that the horse-faced man was dead, his apprentice was safe. But that was only the thought of Tie Hanfeng, Gu Shenwei still had a suspicious mind.


    The first that one he suspected was Miss Luo Ningcha, a stupid woman with poor social rtionships. He excluded her from his list shortly after because it might be tough for her to bribe a killer apprentice.


    The second one was Shangguan Yushi, who had never truly dropped her guard against ve Huan. Killing ve Huan in Pyrowork Academy was in her best interest.


    There were about 10 days left until the fourth monthly test. Since Gu Shenwei had sensed that there was someone following him every time he went to dump corpses, he chose to throw corpses from Reincarnation Cliff instead of Giant Rock Cliff, which he did not dare to go anymore.


    Rather than telling this to Master Shifu, Gu Shenwei decided to conduct this investigation himself.

 Chapter 74

    Chapter 74: Cloud Panther


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Near Woodensaber Alley was a deserted courtyard, in which overgrown weeds, halfway-tilted houses, and scattered rocks and wood were everywhere. However, it was the busiest ce in Golden Roc Fort after sunset.


    Stone Castle was popted with seven or eight thousand of people with a variety of needs. However, only the owners could fully satisfy their needs. Those killers, knowing the fact that they might be killed at any time, desperately wanted to spend their money. Therefore, a small ck market took shape.


    Every day after sunset, groups of men in ck pushed aside the weeds, struggled to go through the cracks in the wall, and then looked for the things they wanted: the so-called fair Southwall wine, fresh North City delicacies, and groceries that apparently came from nowhere.


    All buyers and sellers were masked, which ¡°ckened¡± the ck market.


    The Shangguan family acquiesced to the existence of the ck market on the condition that no business was allowed to take ce in those 17 uninhabited courtyards or beyond, and the business must cease by two o¡¯clock.


    Gu Shenwei visited this ck market every three or four days for the sole purpose of buying wine for his Master Shifu. He became so familiar with this ce that he could recognize some of the regr businessmen, such as Shangguan Hongye.


    Shangguan Hongye was the Supreme King¡¯s nephew. The fact that his father died early had demoted him to the lowest rank in the masters¡¯ circle. He lived a life worse than those master-favored ves, and he was even inferior to those killers who spent money like water.


    To please this ¡°master¡± who he could take advantage of, Gu Shenwei had asked for plenty of gold and silver utensils from Mama Xue, then squashed them and presented them to Shangguan Hongye as gifts. This child of the Shangguan family imed that he had already worn them out, but the truth was that he restored those utensils carefully, and then sold them in the ck market.


    But this business was not good. After a few months, there were still a few golden cups and silver pots left on his stall.


    Gu Shenwei squatted down, pretending to choose something.


    Shangguan Hongye, in servant clothing and with ragged cotton mask, was telling an extravagant ount of his merchandise in a rather low voice, as if his dirty stuff were all second-hand king¡¯s utensils.


    Here came the other rule of the ck market: Do not make loud noises.


    Gu Shenwei took out a few silver coins, which was the ¡°wage¡± that Tie Hanfeng gave Gu Shenwei after when he had killed the horse-faced man. Shangguan Hongye¡¯s eyes gleamed thrillingly.


    ¡°What would you like? Take a look at this bedpan. It¡¯s pure gold.¡±


    ¡°I want nothing but your favor.¡± Gu Shenwei pulled off the ck cover on his face so that Shangguan Hongye could recognize him.


    ¡°Get away from me. I¡­ I came here for fun, not for business.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took out some silver coins again, because he was very sure that this guy would yield to the temptation of money, regardless of his violent appearance.


    Shangguan Hongye stopped packing up his stall. He hated his impoverished status more than his own weakness. Seeing Gu Shenwei taking back the coins, he stepped up, pressed Gu Shenwei¡¯s hands, and said, ¡°What favor are you asking? I pray it¡¯s not another gamble.¡±


    ¡°No it isn¡¯t. Do you know if Master Yu is still studying in school?¡±


    ¡°She seldom goes to school.¡± Shangguan Hongye withdrew his hands, because he did not want to offend Shangguan Yushi anymore.


    ¡°Help me find out if Master Yu knows somebody in Pyrowork Academy.¡±


    ¡°Ha, I know the answer already. Her elder brother stays there every day.¡±


    The moment Shangguan Hongye said this, he regretted, ¡°Why should I give him the information before he pays?¡± Gu Shenwei asked a few more questions and then paid all the silver coins to Shangguan Hongye.


    He knew it by then.


    Shangguan Yuxing was an infamous loser in his family. He was good at eating, drinking, f*cking, and gambling, anything except reading and martial arts. He worked as a man in charge in East Castle for a while, and was familiar with the rules and markets in each yard of East Castle. After being fired, he managed to acquire a title called ¡°counselor¡±, and started his underground career of solving people¡¯s ¡°personal issue¡±.


    ¡°Counselor¡± was not a formal title as ¡°demaster¡±, ¡°overseer¡±, or ¡°supervisor¡±, and was not on the register. These people did not get paid, and their only privilege was a free passage to some specific ces.


    In fact, Gu Shenwei had seen Shangguan Yuxing at a time when he did not know about the man¡¯s identity.


    Shangguan Yuxing was a young man in his 20s who resembled his younger sister in some aspects. Unlike Shangguan Yushi who had long arms and legs, he was slim and was of average height.


    Just like Tie Hanfeng, he was active in every corner of Pyrowork Academy and mingled with every yellow-belt steward. However, he had never approached ve Huan, who had thought that he was a servant. It never came to Gu Shenwei that he was the enemy¡¯s brother.


    Gu Shenwei quickly confirmed that the one who followed him every time he dumped corpses was Shangguan Yuxing.


    After a few days of observation, he decided to meet the follower. The stewards treated Shangguan Yuxing worse than Iron Cripple, because he had no influence within the fort. Therefore Gu Shenwei felt that he could beat Shangguan Yuxing in order to send a message to that little she-devil.


    ¡°A killer only uses his own knife.¡± Gu Shen had prepared his message which he will send to Shangguan Yushi.


    When there were three days left until the fourth monthly test, Gu Shenwei went to Pyrowork Academy alone and picked a corpse. As usual, he left alone with the corpse.


    It did not take long for him to notice someone stalking him, because Shangguan Yuxing was not skilled at tracking people.


    But Gu Shenwei did not go to Reincarnation Cliff this time. Instead, he turned to Giant Rock Cliff. When he arrived, he immediatelyid down the corpse, hid behind the giant rock entrance, drew out his saber, and held breath to wait for his stalker.


    Very soon, there was a faint gasping sounding from the other side of the giant rock.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly moved to the other side, grabbed the follower¡¯s clothes in the front with his left hand, and with his right hand he positioned the saber on the other¡¯s neck. He was about to speak when he felt his heart tremble, and then together with the prey, he leaped back to dodge this sudden attack.


    Someone else was following Shangguan Yuxing!


    The other youngster with a valiant countenance was also around 14 years old, short but sturdy, in a ck suit without a mask, and holding a saber as well. At a nce, Gu Shenwei knew that he was a killer apprentice.


    Judging by his ability to control his breath at will, Gu Shenwei knew his kung fu was not weak.


    Gu Shenwei pushed Shangguan Yuxing away, focusing on this unexpected expert.


    It took Shangguan Yuxing a few spins to hold his feet. With a bodyguard beside him, he said in an intense tone, ¡°Easy, asshole.¡±


    ¡°Why are you following me?¡±


    ¡°Just to find out what you¡¯re doing.¡±


    ¡°Leave me alone. Tell your sister that she can approach me herself.¡±


    ¡°My sister? It has nothing to do with her! Sh*t, you must be f*cking swearing. Cloud Panther, go!¡±


    The youngster named Cloud Panther had been waiting for this all along. He lifted up the saber to show his stance, and his hardy muscles were evident through his clothes.


    It surprised Gu Shenwei once again. ¡°Who¡¯s behind Shangguan Yuxing, if he didn¡¯t do this for her younger sister?¡± There was no time for him to dig out the truth, and he took out his saber to prepare for the battle. This apprentice was stronger than all his opponents in the previous monthly tests, thus he could not afford to be distracted.


    ¡°Hey, you two are supposed to meet in three days. Why bother waiting? Just do it now.¡± Shangguan Yuxing said, and stayed back as he waited for the show to start.


    The two remained facing each other for a long time, neitherunching an attack. They were both outstanding among the 600 apprentices, and they both could discern the killing intent from each other. Unless one could find a w from the other, he would not waste the first move.


    Shangguan Yuxing was unaware of the tension. What he saw was just two slow and somber youngsters, and he was very disappointed. ¡°Move! What are you waiting for?¡±


    Cloud Panther finally attacked. His movement was not very fast, but steady and fierce. Like Gu Shenwei, he was adept at frontal attacks.


    Gu Shenwei could choose to counter him by moving faster, but the ¡°slow movement¡± could often be a trap set by those who attacked relentlessly. Therefore, Gu Shenwei directly took the strike. When the two sabers met, his arm became slightly numb from the impact.


    His Internal Strength was even more potent than some adult killers¡¯ because his Yin and Yang Strength was at the third level. It surprised him that there was another youngster who had more power than him.


    This irritated Gu Shenwei, and he struck back with his saber, trading blow for blow with Cloud Panther. The two shed with their sabers harder and harder, faster and faster by taking advantage of each other¡¯s force, while Shangguan Yuxing had to step back due to the shockwaves caused by the shing sabers.


    ¡°What the f*ck. Motherf*cker¡­¡± Shangguan Yuxing cursed non-stop. Apparently, he did not know of a way to express how astounded he was.


    After having traded over 50 blows, the two youngsters stepped back at the same time because they both needed to gasp for breath.


    It was the very first time Gu Shenwei had met his match, and that killer apprentice was also adept at frontal attacks. Therefore, a sense of fellowship arose in Gu Shenwei. On the contrary, his opponent did not feel the same. The short youngster had killing eyes, as if he would not be satisfied until he ughtered the enemy.


    ¡°Have I offended you?¡±


    Gu Shenwei asked Shangguan Yuxing, while staring at Cloud Panther.


    ¡°Ask yourself. Somebody did hate you though, and wanted your head.¡±


    If it was not Shangguan Yushi who wanted to kill him, then Gu Shenwei thought about Miss Luo Ningcha. After all, he had seen how the children of the Shangguan family were obsessed with money. ¡°What did Bighead Kingpin promise you?¡±


    ¡°Bighead Kingpin? Howe?¡± Shangguan Yuxing frowned and felt weirder.


    Gu Shenwei was bing more confused. He could not think of anyone other than those two women who would have wanted to kill an apprentice . ¡°Did that man aim to remove the ¡®killer mentor¡¯ title of Tie Hanfeng? No, it can¡¯t be, I had just killed his enemy in some South City alley.¡±


    Cloud Panther attacked again, with quick strokes. Gu Shenwei vigorously met the attacks head on. After trading another 10 blows, the two split up again. No one won.


    Shangguan Yuxing panicked, he had never seen Cloud Panther¡¯s enemy survive after two rounds. ¡°What are you waiting for? Use your ultimate skill! I didn¡¯t pay you for nothing.¡±


    The reticent Cloud Panther heard themand. His eyes glowed with more ferociousness, and he tightened his whole body like a sharp arrow.


    Seeing this, Gu Shenwei felt sorry for him. Cloud Panther was strong, and his desmenship was swift and fierce. He might even triumph if he continued to attack at his pace. But now he became so impatient that he wanted to take pre-emptive move before adjusting his breath, which definitely would leave weakness. Therefore, Gu Shenwei was most certain to win the next round.


    Even a loser like Shangguan Yuxing had smelled blood, and he crossed his hands in excitement.


    They were just about to attack, when they were interrupted by a strange and harsh roar.


    The sound came from underneath the cliff and it sounded as if countless rocks were rolling down. It was earthshakingly noisy and it seemed as if the whole Giant Rock Cliff would copse in no time.


    The tension between the two vanished, and they all stared at the cliff in surprise. After a moment, they were dumbstruck when a monster jumped up to the cliff.

 Chapter 75

    Chapter 75: The Ugly Bird


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    There was no demon like that in Buddhist paintings of hell, nor was there a monster like that in people¡¯s nightmares.


    It was a giant bird with a narrow neck and without any hair above its chest. Its crinkled skin was covered with countless ck dots. The five long crimson feathers on its head were like the tassels that were hung on a general¡¯s helmet. Its elongated iron-gray beak was like a steel scissor with rusty spots.


    Its eyes were blood red like burning rubies.


    The roc did not have many feathers. What few feathers it had were curled and sparsely scattered across its body. The feathers stuck to the body in disorderly manner, which made it look like a spirited but drenched chicken. Only on its wings were there thick feathers, and saber-like quills stuck up from the tip of its wings.


    The fledgling had grown up. But in contrast, except for the unbelievably giant body, it looked like a mad ugly old man in ck rags with ferocious eyes. Its appearance was vastly different to that of its proud and upright parents.


    It spread its wings on the edge of the cliff like a wall, casting a shadow that almost covered the three people.


    It was hungry because no food had fallen from the sky for many days. Finally, it smelled something familiar. Then, it climbed up by clinging recklessly to the twigs and rocks on the cliff ¡ª it could not fly yet.


    All three people were so scared that they couldn¡¯t speak. Gu Shenwei did not expect that he would feed a monster like this with all the killer apprentices¡¯ bodies.


    The giant red-crowned roc ignored the three people. It paused on the cliffside for a while then it approached the rock. It first pecked out the eyeballs of the corpse that Gu Shenwei carried here, which were its favorite, then it pierced through the chest and swallowed its heart. It did not take long for the giant red-crowned roc to eat less than half of the body.


    The three living people next to it were still motionless, as if they were under a vicious spell.


    Among them, Shangguan Yuxing was the nearest to the giant red-crowned roc. He was already trembling with fear and felt sick at the same time when it first pecked at the eyeballs. At the moment he could not bear it anymore, knelt on the ground, and threw up. Then, he looked up with a shiver. ¡°What the hell is that? Kill it, Cloud Panther!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mess with it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei warned in a whisper. He had seen the two giant rocs violently kill many aces of the Golden Roc Fort. Although the giant red-crowned roc was still a fledgling, it didn¡¯t appear to be much weaker than its parents.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s warning did not work. Cloud Panther seemed to be both ashamed and angry for his panic. To save face, he lifted up his saber, ran a few steps, leapt forward and chopped at its neck.


    Gu Shenwei also jumped to ward off Cloud Panther¡¯s saber. He wanted to both protect the ugly giant roc, and to prevent Cloud Panther from dying in vain.


    Although the giant red-crowned roc was leisurely eating, it was still a natural killer. Just when the attack was behind it, it ferociously stood up and turned around to resist. Its wings stirred up sts of wind which blew down Shangguan Yuxing to the ground, and then it pecked at the bold intruders with lightning fast speed.


    As a result, Cloud Panther lost grip of his saber and fell from up high in the air. Just as he touched the ground, he immediately bounced back. He covered his eyes with his hands and twisted his body wildly. His mouth was open, letting out a terrified squeak as he had lost his sense of direction in the midst of his anguish. He did not make it far as he tripped over the chains on the cliff and fell into the abyss.


    He was dumb.


    Gu Shenwei promptly withdrew next to the wall since he was not sure if the fledgling recognized him or not.


    Shangguan Yuxing was paralyzed with fear. He tremblingly crawled on all fours toward the exit and didn¡¯t even take notice of what had happened to Cloud Panther.


    Having sensed the eyes of the living as delicious as those of the corpse, the giant red-crowned roc had a voracious appetite. It rose up about three meters high andnded urately on the vulnerable human being, with ws prating into his flesh and its beak pecking at him twice. Shangguan Yuxing did not make a sound. It was not because he could bear it, but rather he had already been scared to death ever since when the roc first rose up to the sky.


    The giant red-crowned roc turned to the only human left, and forced Gu Shenwei to the corner, with quills stuck up to induce terror.


    Gu Shenwei could have shouted for help to attract the killers of East Castle to besiege the flightless bird. However, he said nothing and expected that it would recognize him. He tossed his saber and slowly walked towards it.


    The giant red-crowned roc became a little puzzled at the human being¡¯s face. It did not recognize his face, but it recognized his smell. It was the smell it remembered from the moment when it came out of its eggshell, and it was also the smell which lingered on each serving of food that had fallen from high above the cliff.


    It stopped and slowly folded its wings. It tilted its head and observed the strange creature, just like when they had first met in the nest.


    Gu Shenwei held out his hands to touch the scattered feathers on its chest, making the giant red-crowned roc flinch on guard and slightly spread its wings. However, the human¡¯s touch brought back its memory, making it let down its guard and let out a satisfied hup-sounded noise in its throat.


    Gu Shenwei could no longer hold back his tears, as if he found a long-lost family member. He reached his arms around the giant red-crowned roc, and held it tightly.


    The giant red-crowned roc was not used to this way of expression. It first resisted it, then reluctantly epted the human being. In the end, it even patted him with its wings, and pecked at him on his shoulder with its sharp beak.


    Suffering from the pain in the shoulder, Gu Shenwei eventually let go of the roc and smiled, ¡°You¡¯re still as ugly as usual. When will you be powerful like your parents?¡±


    The giant red-crowned roc shook his head, stirring the feathers on its head.


    Yet, it suddenly urred to Gu Shenwei that the giant red-crowned roc was greatly imperiled. Because once somebody raised the rm, the Supreme King would be desperate to catch it, even if he needed to send people to go down under the cliff.


    ¡°Go, go!¡±


    Pushing away the giant red-crowned roc, Gu Shenwei urged in anxiety.


    Whereas, apparently the roc could not understand the human¡¯s action. It was still ted at this reunion after a long time, and it was also not quite full, so it was not willing to leave now.


    ¡°You have to learn to fly. Go down there to find food. Don¡¯te up again! Never!¡±


    Gu Shenwei pushed the giant red-crowned roc to the edge of the cliff and helped it spread its wings. ¡°Go there, once you go down, you¡¯ll fly high above with winds under your wings. Fly, bear your parents in mind. Don¡¯t peck at the dead, go peck at the fresh eyes of the wolves, because they¡¯re your favorite. Fly away from human beings, and don¡¯t you evere back to Stone Castle. Spread your wings and fly!¡±


    The giant red-crowned roc could not fully understand his words. It still wanted to bypass the human it knew to move toward its unfinished food.


    Gu Shenwei pushed with all his strength. Ugly as the giant red-crowned roc was, but what was ugliest was Stone Castle behind him. He would never allow the only family he cared for in the world to get hurt anymore.


    The giant red-crowned roc fell into the abyss as well, scraping blocks and blocks of rocks off the cliff.


    Gu Shenwei knelt on the ground and listened tensely, praying to the nameless Will of the Divine to not let the giant roc fall, nor let the sound attract the killers in the castle.


    After a seemingly endless wait, Gu Shenwei was greeted with a sudden gust of wind, causing his kneeling posture to be unstable. Then, a mass of ck cloud tore through the sky and dissipating the mist. After whirling around the human, the ck cloud faded out of sight.


    Finally, Gu Shenwei copsed onto the ground and let out a deep sigh, but then he discovered that he was also in danger. A skillful killer apprentice fell off the cliff, and a son of the Shuangguansy dead at the cliffside. How was he supposed to exin that without exposing the roc?


    On the other hand, what was the most important right now was to destroy the evidence. He grabbed Shangguan Yuxing in the feet, nning to throw him off the cliff.


    ¡°Do you need help?¡±


    Gu Shenwei quickly raised his head, and saw a grassy-eyed Maid Lotus.


    There were indeed two sabers nearby, but both were out of reach. At that moment, Gu Shenwei was petrified.


    ¡°Get rid of his clothes.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t understand her words. He wasn¡¯t even sure if she was with or against him, because the reserved girl was always secretive.


    ¡°If you throw him off like that, you¡¯ll be the prime suspect. We¡¯re out of time. Take off his clothes.¡±


    It seemed that Maid Lotus was really helping him, hence, Gu Shenwei put away his thoughts for now and quickly stripped down Shangguan Yuxing.


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch the blood, and also strip the clothes from the other body.¡±


    Maid Lotus turned around to give out more orders, just like a master giving orders to her servant.


    At that moment Gu Shenwei started to understand her intentions, thus he quickly stripped down the body that he carried here. There was too much blood on the shirt so he could only take off the trousers.


    Gu Shenwei quickly handled the cleaning-up. He first dumped the two naked bodies off the cliff, then folded the one and a half set of clothes andid them under the rock. Next, he fetched the spare broom to sweep the floor to be as clean as possible. Bloodstains that could not be wiped clean were covered with dust, making it look like old bloodstains.


    While the clothes of the apprentices were all the same, Shangguan Yuxing was wearing essories that would have otherwise revealed his identity.


    After the setup, it looked like two men were caught up in illegal affairs and fell off the cliff identally. The credibility of the crime scene all depended on Shangguan Yuxing¡¯s ce in the Castle, because this trick wouldn¡¯t stand up long under Golden Roc Fort¡¯s meticulous investigation.


    Even so, Gu Shenwei still appreciated Maid Lotus¡¯s help very much, since it at least earned him precious time.


    While Gu Shenwei was falsifying the scene, Maid Lotus stood with her back to him. Now she turned back and said, ¡°Go back and ask for your Master to pull some strings. Pyrowork Academy wouldn¡¯t care too much about these two people.¡±


    Though Gu Shenwei wanted to say ¡°thanks¡± to her, he soon sensed something wrong and said, ¡°Did you follow me too?¡±


    When Maid Lotus said ¡°two people¡±, it certainly didn¡¯t include the body that ve Huan had carried here. Since she knew that Cloud Panther had fallen off the cliff, she must have watched long, and she might know about the giant red-crowned roc¡¯s existence as well.


    ¡°I have tests today. Now everybody dumps the corpses at Reincarnation Cliff like you.¡±


    Maid Lotus¡¯s exnation seemed legitimate, for the fledging had made such loud noise at Reincarnation Cliff. It was natural that she woulde from the nearby Giant Rock Cliff to check. Yet, Gu Shenwei did not know why he would be on guard against her. They had nothing against each other and both of them used to be Mama Xue¡¯s pawns. Nowadays they both faced the destiny of dying from qigong deviation within three years. They really should trust each other instead.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± atst Gu Shenwei said these two words.


    Still, Maid Lotus did not show any reaction to it. She was as emotionless as ever. Gu Shenwei could not help but think about it again. ¡°Maid Lotus looks more and more like the dead Mama Xue, and without the disguise, she would be a rare beauty.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to thank me, but, when do you n to tell me that you¡¯ve found the cure to qigong deviation?¡±


    Maid Lotus still sounded calm, but Gu Shenwei was greatly shocked to hear that.

 Chapter 76

    Chapter 76: The Alliance


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Having suffered two qigong deviation attacks in recent months, Gu Shenwei was surprised that Maid Lotus now thought he had already cured his qigong deviation. It took him a moment to realize why she had such question.


    Maid Lotus had practiced kung fu with him, and at that time, his Internal Strength had been just ordinary. However, monthster, he was able to kill his every opponent with one strike in the tests for three consecutive months. Such a huge progress aroused Maid Lotus¡¯ attention and made her believe that he had already gotten rid of the lurking threat in the Xuanji acupoint.


    ¡°No, you¡¯ve mistaken me. I have reasons¡­¡±


    ¡°I thought that we¡¯re friends. We¡¯ve promised each other that we¡¯ll help each other get rid of the qigong deviation.¡±


    Apparently, Maid Lotus was not convinced. Gu Shenwei expected that, but he was not sure what he should do at this moment.


    He was not as naive as he used to be. Since his family¡¯s disintegration, he had be even more skeptical than the most sophisticated elderly man in the world. He instinctively distrusted anyone and thus had not made any friend in the fort.


    However, he really wanted to have some friends here. He needed the help of other people to have his revenge on Golden Roc Fort. He was well aware that he could not destroy the fort who had thousands of killers by himself even if he became a peerless kung fu master.


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you something.¡±


    Gu Shenwei made up his mind and took out the Nameless Swordbook that he had hidden under a rock nearby. He solemnly handed it to Maid Lotus, ¡°Read thest few pages.¡±


    Maid Lotus took the dog-eared book, simply nced over the pages, and closed the book.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I got it by chance. Remember the words on thest few pages and recite them when you have a qigong deviation attack. It cannot help you get rid of it, but it can strengthen your Internal Strength. You can give it a try.¡±


    Maid Lotus was as skeptical as ve Huan. She found it hard to believe that a book filled with so many dreadful pictures was about Internal Strength. She opened the book again to read thest few pages.


    ¡°You can take it. It does no harm to memorize the words.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll return it to you.¡±


    ¡°Well, I need to remind you that you¡¯d better not learn the sword skill depicted in the first few pages. I¡¯ve used it once. My opponent nearly chopped my hand off.¡±


    Maid Lotus nodded. ¡°Well, I see. Goodbye.¡±


    ¡°Goodbye, and regarding the bird¡­ ¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t tell anyone.¡±


    Maid Lotus left with the Nameless Swordbook. Gu Shenwei faltered for a moment before leaving the Giant Rock Cliff. He did not know if he had made a right decision to tell Maid Lotus his secret.


    As Maid Lotus had expected, Golden Roc Fort did not care much about what had happened to an apprentice and an unimportant rtive of the Shangguan family, although this incident caused lots of gossips. Based on the clothes they had left near the edge of the cliff, the fort quickly determined that their deaths were idental without a more thorough investigation.


    However, this incident did not end there. It led to a string of assassinations. To Gu Shenwei¡¯s great surprise, it was not Shangguan Yushi who wanted to seek revenge on him for her brother¡¯s death but a bunch of teenagers who wanted to avenge Cloud Panther¡¯s death.


    Gu Shenwei performed well in the fourth monthly test. His original adversary died before the test, and the recement for the dead apprentice was just ordinary. After exchanging several moves with him, Gu Shenwei quickly spotted a chance to knife him in the waist and nearly cut him into two pieces.


    On the evening of the same day, Gu Shenwei went to the Woodensaber Alley ruins, as usual, to buy liquor for his killer mentor and nearly got assassinated.


    The liquor stall was the most crowded ce in the whole market. Huddled together with a dozen of killers and killer apprentices, Gu Shenwei wondered, ¡°This is like putting tigers and lions into the same cage. It¡¯s indeed a miracle that nothing has happened all these years.¡±


    As it was already mid-autumn, it was delightedly cool now.


    The people were closely packed together in front of the liquor stall, and Gu Shenwei happened to be in the middle of the crowd. He had no room to dodge when someone stabbed him with a dagger. At that critical moment, his Yin and Yang Strength saved him.


    His Yang Strength stretched and Yin Strength contracted. That was how he moved his lower back muscle six centimeters forward to dodge the fatal blow. He pushed his way through the crowd to get into the liquor stall and knocked over themp during the process, leaving chaos behind him.


    He did not discover the attacker. Nor did he find out what led to the outbreak of violence which started from the moment he got stabbed. Many attackers who were hidden in the market simultaneouslyunched their attacks.


    The chaos in the ck market continued for a quarter, until night watchmen arrived to quickly disperse the crowd.


    Ten people died. Three of whom were killer apprentices. The rest seven were just servants selling goods here.


    Gu Shenwei fled the scene under the cover of the night instead of staying there and searching for the attackers. A momentter, he was just thankful that he had acted in such a rational way. If he had stayed inside the chaotic market, he would have probably been killed now, let alone finding out any clues about the attackers.


    The dagger did not hit his vitals but left a prating hole in his waist. He already had many scars left by Tie Hanfeng, but this was the first wound an assassin inflicted on him.


    He ran back home breathlessly, his waist bleeding. Tie Hanfeng who was waiting for his liquor quickly bound up the wound for his apprentice. After listening to the whole story, he smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s no big deal. It¡¯s the same every year. After several fights and killing about a few dozens of guys, apprentices will calm down. Take it easy.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng did not take this incident seriously, and went downhill the next morning for his private ¡°business¡± again.


    Likewise, Golden Roc Fort did not pay much attention to this incident either and did not conduct any investigation into it. However, beyond everyone¡¯s expectations, this thing did not end after a few fights. It developed into a ughter. Golden Roc Fort had never seen such a ughter among apprentices over the past few decades.


    The apprentices had a peaceful day after the turmoil in the ck market, but when the evening fell, they started to fight again and conducted a new string of assassinations. This fight ended right after the midnight, and by that time, 30 or 40 had alreadyin dead in the southeast corner of Golden Roc Fort.


    Gu Shenwei suffered another assassination. Two masked men seemed to know that his killer mentor was away. They directly leaped over the wall and came into the yard where he lived. One of them stood sentry outside the house, and the other went in to assassinate him.


    Fortunately, he did not entirely believe what Tie Hanfeng had said. Hey awake with saber in hand, clothed and on guard. When the assassin walked to the bed and raised his knife, he stabbed him in the heart with one stroke.


    The assassin died silently inside the house, but his partner outside still sensed something wrong and fled at once.


    Gu Shenwei removed the assassin¡¯s mask and saw an unfamiliar face. He carried the corpse out, dumped it beside the wall, and went back to sleep.


    The next day, his killer mentor was still away. Surprisingly, Maid Lotus came to visit him early in the morning. She brought him the Nameless Swordbook and another 10 apprentices, who wanted to ally with ve Huan.


    Although Maid Lotus said nothing when she entered the house alone to return the swordbook, Gu Shenwei still knew for sure that she had already tried to recite those magical words during her recent qigong deviation.


    ¡°We need to unite,¡± she said.


    ¡°We?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we, and many more people. Only when we unite can we resist the Snow Mountain Gang.¡±


    ¡°It seems like we have to.¡±


    Maid Lotus asked the 10 apprentices toe in. When they saw the dead body in the corner of the yard, they gained more confidence in the alliance.


    An apprentice aged about seventeen or eighteen, who was the oldest among the crowd, exined the whole thing to ve Huan.


    Killer apprentices in Golden Roc Fort came from various ces. Only a small number of them were ves of the fort. Most of them were small children bought or looted from different areas in the Western Region. These children were all under 10, and before they came to East Castle, they needed to be trained outside the fort for a few years until theypletely forgot about their own origins.


    During that training period, these children forgot their names, parents, and hometowns, and their minds were filled with killing techniques and loyalty to Golden Roc Fort. The most capable killers often came from this group of apprentices.


    However, these children lived together for too long and inevitably had their own friends and even small groups. Conflicts among these groups often ured, and these conflicts gradually developed into gang wars among the apprentices in East Castle.


    This year, a few dozens of teenagers united to form a gang, which attracted wide attention and hatred from the apprentices right after they got into the Pyrowork Academy. They were extremely cruel and exceptionally good at kung fu. To abide by the killers¡¯ silence principle, they all voluntarily cut off their own tongues.


    In the Western Region, people generally took such tough and silent people as residents of the Great Snowmountain, so the apprentices referred to this group of teenagers as the Snow Mountain Gang. Some of them were indeed looted from the snow mountain by Golden Roc Fort, but none of them could remember this thing now. Now they were the fort¡¯s loyal servants and would mercilessly ughter the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain for the fort.


    Snow Mountain Gang was a bunch of bullies, who had provoked manyints among their peers.


    They did not believe in Cloud Panther¡¯s and Shangguan Yuxing¡¯s scandal and suspected that ve Huan and Maid Lotus, who had gone to the Giant Rock Cliff to throw corpses on that day, had something to do with Cloud Panther¡¯s death. As Cloud Panther was an important member of the Snow Mountain Gang, the gang members were determined to seek revenge for his death. Meanwhile, they also took this chance to assassinate a huge number of their enemies.


    ¡°We¡¯re all ves of Golden Roc Fort. Although we belong to different masters, apprentices in East Castle still consider us a gang. They call us the Tattooed Arm Gang.¡±


    All ves of Golden Roc Fort had their ve names tattooed on their arms. Gu Shenwei had never expected that this feature would have made the other apprentices think the ve apprentices as a gang.


    ¡°It looks like I¡¯m also a member of this Tattooed Arm Gang now. It seems that I did miss a lot of lessons for not having been trained in the Carvewood Academy.¡±


    ¡°Some other gangs are dissatisfied with the Snow Mountain Gang. They¡¯re all willing to work with us to fight against those mutes.¡±


    The teenage apprentices all looked at ve Huan with expectant looks on their faces. ve Huan was the top dog of the ve apprentices. He had killed his every opponent with only one strike for four straight months. Only a few members of the Snow Mountain Gang couldpete with him in the monthly tests.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s fight.¡±


    A dozen of hands piled up together. ve Huan¡¯s hand was at the bottom, while Maid Lotus¡¯s was on top. She also was the only female killer apprentice in the room.


    ¡°What about killer mentors? And supervisors? What do they think?¡±


    ¡°Nobody will interfere.¡± Maid Lotus answered. ¡°It¡¯s a good way to knock out weak apprentices. We¡¯re on our own now. People who survive and kill the most won¡¯t be punished. Rather, they¡¯ll probably finish their apprenticeship sooner.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was excited to hear that. ¡°Wow, there¡¯s such a rule in East Castle. In that case, why hesitate?¡±


    He was ready to kill.

 Chapter 77

    Chapter 77: The ughter


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Just as Maid Lotus said, no one interfered with the ughter between apprentices. Golden Roc Fort was d to see future killers go through real and harsh training. They had only set a small number of rules.


    Firstly, the ughter could only take ce in East Castle, specifically the eastern and southern area of Pyrowork Academy, reaching Reincarnation Cliff to the east and Woodensaber Alley to the south. Any killer apprentice going beyond the set area would be in by concealed guards.


    Secondly, the ughter could only take ce among the apprentices. Anyone who murdered a servant would also be killed. Anyhow, the servants dared not to enter East Castle in spite of this rule, hence the ckmarket no longer existed, and servants who brought meals or cleaners would only enter in groups and then leave in a rush. During the ughter, East Castle was chaotic, filthy, and no different than the ruins in Woodensaber Alley.


    Killer mentors did not interfere with the rules. They left their ces soon after the ughter began. Anyway, life in the castle was no longer convenient without the ckmarket. Most of them went to South City to enjoy the fair wine and women there, treating themselves a rare vacation for a month.


    A few remaining killer mentors also left after a sessful assassination by the Tattooed Arm Gang, leaving the site to those killing spree apprentices.


    This assassination was Gu Shenwei¡¯s vengeance, and its target was named ¡°Aardwolf¡±.


    Most of the members of the Snow Mountain Gang deserted their original names, and nicknamed themselves with beasts. Aardwolf was one of them, a swift young man with remarkable machete skills and expertise in close rangebat.


    ¡°He was the one that attempted to assassinate you in the ckmarket.¡±


    One Tattooed Arm Gang member pledged, without any evidence backing it. But all the crew agreed to choose Aardwolf as their first target. They also needed to save the gang¡¯s reputation and status, because seven of its members were in during the first two days of the ughter, which was the highest casualty among the gangs.


    In fact, contrary to the oldest apprentice¡¯s assertion, there were no other gangs willing to ally with Tattooed Arm Gang, which was hated as much as Snow Mountain Gang. The members of Tattooed Arm Gang used to be ves in the castle, and were connected with every academy in every way. Their old friends regrly paid visits to the gang, such as Maid Lotus and ve Qian. Plus, they did not even have to live in East Castle. As all the facts mentioned above, the gap between Tattooed Arm Gang and the other apprentices were deepened.


    This was the very first time Gu Shenwei had joined an organization. Although his kung fu was universally recognized as the best, he was not selected as their leader. Everybody was waiting for him to earn their respects by demonstrating more charisma.


    That afternoon, more members of the Tattooed Arm Gang came, totaling a number of 58 eventually. The Shangguan family¡¯s conflicts were revealed here, because they had served different Shangguan masters. Therefore, quite a few apprentices wanted that leadership.


    Hence this assassination meant two things now, vengeance and leadership, and Gu Shenwei was determined to take hold of this game.


    The fact that Aardwolf¡¯s Master Shifu had not left East Castle was the most significant hindrance in this assassination.


    Based on the intelligence Maid Lotus had collected, Gu Shenwei schemed a bold n involving only three members.


    Aardwolf¡¯s Master Shifu had six apprentices. The third day of the ughter, one of them would attend the monthly test, which was the only activity survived in Pyrowork Academy and required every living apprentice¡¯s attendance.


    By coincidence, one member of this assassin group was attending the monthly test the same day. Hence he was responsible for monitoring and sending a signal to Maid Lotus who would stay at the doorway right after he saw Aardwolf¡¯s junior fellow apprentices go into the room.


    Dressed in killer apprentice¡¯s standard ck suit with a mask, Gu Shenwei started the ambush near Aardwolf¡¯s residence from the previous night.


    Maid Lotus now came to change shifts, and her task was to stall or kill Aardwolf¡¯s junior apprentice if he came back early.


    Gu Shenwei took his saber and started walking aboveboard into Aardwolf¡¯s yard.


    The ce where Aardwolf lived was muchrger than Tie Hanfeng¡¯s. Their killer mentor was resting inside, while Aardwolf was practicing machete skills with his fellow apprentices. Gu Shenwei nodded to them, pretending to be frustrated, and then went straight into ¡°his¡± room without a word.


    The ughter had just begun for a few days, and everyone¡¯s vignce had not reached its highest level. Plus Gu Shenwei looked simr to their fellow apprentice who went to attend the monthly test in figure, nobody suspected it, even though it seemed weird to wear a mask after the monthly test. After all, who would have thought an apprentice could murder somebody under a killer mentor¡¯s eyes?


    Aardwolf had a good rtionship with this junior fellow apprentice, therefore, he wanted to ask him the result after having practiced a little longer. ¡°It seemed as if he had failed again. It¡¯s already lucky enough for him to walk back home.¡±


    Just as he once hid under a bed and waited for Han Shiqi¡¯s arrival, Gu Shenwei hid behind the door, holding his breath. He felt uneasy, and again he thought his n sucked. ¡°What if Aardwolf doesn¡¯te into the room? What if hees in with the others? What if Maid Lotus¡¯s intelligence was wrong? Life is full of uncertainties.¡±


    It turned out easier than he had expected, Gu Shenwei finally killed an enemy from the back. He stabbed Aardwolf¡¯s heart, grabbed his hair before he fell, and cut off the head, following Master Shifu¡¯s lead.


    Once it was done, his anxiety vanished. He orderly cleansed the blood stains on his saber, found a ck suit to cover the head, and then walked out of the yard easily, without looking sideways.


    The other four apprentices looked surprised. They did not realize that they should have checked on Aardwolf until that masked man in ck disappeared.


    The killer mentor was so furious that he almost slew all of the five apprentices left. After he cooled down, he admired the killer¡¯s nerve a lot. On ount of his status, he could not revenge for an apprentice by himself. Therefore, he left East Castle right away, and said to his five apprentices, ¡°Kill the assassinator, or I¡¯ll kill you all.¡±


    In order to prevent such disgraceful event from happening again, thest few killer mentors also left, unveiling another massive wave of assassinations.


    As to this assassination, it spread quickly, and soon everyone knew it was ve Huan that did this. He then acquired the allegiance from Tattooed Arm Gang¡¯s members, as well as series of assassinations against him.


    For the entire month before winter came, Gu Shenwei was homeless. He had stayed at every member¡¯s yard, even the ruins of Woodensaber Alley.


    There was never a safe ce for him. The only way to survive was to kill before being killed.


    Gu Shenwei divided 58 members into several groups with three to five members each, and assigned them with different regions and targets, while he grouped with Maid Lotus and a youngster named ve Liu. He sometimes even participated in the scheming of an assassination.


    The killer talent of Maid Lotus was revealed very soon, while ve Liu was more of a hindrance. However, as his owner was the third Young Master, who was very close to the eighth, Gu Shenwei had to keeppany with him. After all, the other ves who had served the other masters were even less trustworthy.


    Assassinations were like tides, they rose and ebbed. The highest record of casualties was around 40, and there were also days that every party chose to cease fire.


    The way to attend the monthly test became the way to death. Unlucky apprentices got killed even before they reached the gate of Pyrowork Academy, while the lucky ones just found out that their opponents were gone after they entered the contest house.


    Moreover, nobody dared to dump corpses on Reincarnation Cliff anymore, because that almost meant to throw themselves off the cliff too.


    If the apprentices wanted to take actions in public, they had to move in threes or fours, with several hidden protectors.


    Assassinations became more and more challenging. In the meantime, some highly skilled apprentices¡¯ reputation grew, with their phenomenal oues. People had developed a skill that could tell the assassinator by the way they killed, so that they could record the score and rank of the perpetrators.


    Although Gu Shenwei had taken part in most of the assassinations he schemed, his rank was not on top, and lingered between three and four in the overall ranking.


    Many people found out that survivors might not have a bettermand of kung fu. Many talented apprentices from Carvewood Academy, who had killed their opponents with one saber stroke in monthly tests, got killed during the first few days of the ughter, while some unknown apprentices survived and kept increasing their number of kills.


    A youngster named ¡°Liuhua¡± was the best of those unknown apprentices, he ranked ahead of ve Huan in the overall ranking.


    The surname of Liuhua was Zhi. He was born in the west of the Land of Riversand, feeble and short, with an ordinary look. The only thing that caught everyone¡¯s attention in Carvewood Academy was his weird name. He had never killed with one saber stroke in monthly tests after he transposed to Pyrowork Academy, and even got injured once.


    This ¡°sick¡± looking youngster did not attend any gang, have any helper, and always acted on his own. He assassinated 11 apprentices during the first three days like a ghost. In the beginning, people attributed his kills to the other killers, until someone found out his unique killing method.


    It turned out that Liuhua was an archer. He made a special shortbow, which was much less than a longbow in shooting range but easier for him to hide. He only fired within a distance of 20 steps, and was able to shoot one to three arrows dependent on how quickly the enemy responded.


    He only killed with arrows and always fetched them afterward, and he had never left an arrow on the corpses. No matter how many arrows he fired, one of them had to prate from the enemy¡¯s mouth to hindbrain.


    Thus he was given the nickname of ¡°Mouth Seal¡±, and ¡°Liuhua the Silencer¡± had once been apprentices¡¯ nightmare, especially those who had already humiliated him. They all kept their mouth shut since then.


    Liuhua¡¯s appearance had strikingly raised archers¡¯ status in Golden Roc Fort. In the past, apprentices who studied archery and hidden weapons were in a weak position, because of the saying among killers, ¡°Close fight was always better than ranged attack, because the closer you get to the enemy, the easier you could tell whether he¡¯s alive or not.¡±


    Anyhow, Liuhua was a lone survivor who killed only for personal issues, unable to create a stir in East Castle. The one who ranked way ahead of the others was said to be the only one Liuhua dared not challenge.


    ¡°Wildhorse¡±, a youngster who kept a record of one assassination each day, had murdered 69 people in a month which was enough to form a medium-sized gang. On a whim, he dered to hold an open contest between him and ve Huan to end this ridiculous ughter.

 Chapter 78

    Chapter 78: The Duel


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Aardwolf, the former leader of the Snow Mountain Gang, had been murdered by another gang on the fifth day of the apprentice ughter. Gu Shenwei had already devised a detailed n to wipe out the Snow Mountain Gang, but time was not on his side.


    Without a leader, the Snow Mountain Gang became engulfed in chaos for the next three days. There was internal strife which resulted in the death of one-third of the gang members. This went on until Wildhorse suddenly showed up.


    Gu Shenwei met this young man with a strange appearance once. As a martial arts practitioner, his body was well built. The only thing that stood out about him was his looks which always attracted unwanted attention from other people. He has eyes that were quite far apart and a t nose, which made his eyes look even further apart. Overall, he looks like someone dimwitted.


    However, this superficial impression was a serious mistake.


    Wildhorse was a profound martial arts practitioner. Even though he was not the most powerful person in the gang, he had great patience and a calm personality, which made up for hisck of skills in wielding the machete.


    Liuhua the Silencer often work alone, while the Tattooed Arm Gang members often carried out assassinations in small teams. But Wildhorse was different from them. Like a smart assassin in Golden Roc Fort, he had always gathered a few people before carrying out the assassination. A lot of small gangs had been wiped out by him.


    He also had a mystical ability that made all his subordinates regard him as if he was a god. Even after his followers seeded in cornering the target gang, they would still leave the honor of killing thest person to him. They insisted every time. So, even the young masters envied him.


    The ughtersted over a month. About 600 apprentices of the current year and several hundreds more fromst year joined the battle. There were over 1,000 young men between the age of 10 to 18 years old. In the end, the remaining 200 survivors became exhausted and tired of the killing. The Shangguan family members, who secretly incited the battle between the apprentices, were also agitated, as the ughter was unexpectedly bloody this time.


    Just as the war wasing to a halt, Wildhorse informed the apprentices that he wanted to confront ve Huan publicly. No matter which side won, their gangs would stop assassinating each other and neither side would retaliate.


    Currently, the Snow Mountain Gang and the Tattooed Arm Gang were the two biggest gangs. Both gangs were left with about 30 to 40 core members. Most apprentices who were affiliated with neither gang chose to join one of the two gangs, except for people who work alone like Liuhua. Some apprentices even joined both gangs at the same time, which made it very convenient to pass along messages.


    Gu Shenwei was faced with a difficult decision.


    If he refused the duel with Wildhorse, he would be charged with the crime of ¡°murder¡±. Everyone had hoped to stop the fighting. Even his supporters hoped that he would ept the challenge.


    Even if he epted it, he did not have the confidence to win against Wildhorse. If he failed, it would mean certain death. He had only killed someone insignificant from the Shangguan family ¡ªShangguan Yuxing, in his entire life. His revenge would end before it even started.


    Maid Lotus was the only person that had publicly stated that she does not support the duel. She said, ¡°We¡¯re killers, who have never tried to kill our enemies in a duel. It could be a trap.¡±


    Over thest month, ve Huan and Maid Lotus could probably call each other ¡°friends¡±. ve Huan has been recognized as the leader of the Tattooed Arm Gang by its members and Maid Lotus happened to be his most important and helpful assistant.


    Gu Shenwei was surprised to see that the silent girl, Maid Lotus, being this popr among the apprentices. In fact, she was more like the anchor than Gu Shenwei to the gang members. Without her help, the Tattooed Arm Gang would have disbanded, because the members had served different masters when they were ves.


    Instead of relying on her beauty, Maid Lotus convinced people that she is capable of using her good observational skills and analysis skills. She could often persuade the members to work together with a few words. She also told them to put aside their differences and work together, if they wanted to survive the ughter.


    Therefore, her attitude had a considerable amount of influence on the gang member¡¯s morale.


    This was the first time that Gu Shenwei had to assume the role of a ¡°leader¡±. Before the age of 14, he had been protected by his father and brothers who had good kung fu. He had always yed the role of the innocent and naughty young master. He did not have the experience of managing others, outside of lecturing his own disobedient servants. Gu Shenwei knew, that once he gained enough power and fame, he would have to bear an unshrinkable responsibility.


    Unfortunately, both the rival¡ªSnow Mountain Gang, and his gang¡ª the Tattooed Arm Gang, would be his enemies in the future if he continued down the path of revenge.


    Gu Shenwei epted the battle.


    Being safe meant being timid. Considering that every step that is taken down the path of revenge was going to be dangerous anyway, why shouldn¡¯t he risk his life this time?


    The duel would be held in three days at the ruins of Woodensaber Alley.


    After the date of the battle was decided, the number of assassinations in East Castle reduced rapidly. There were only a few cases that ured within these 3 days. One ident came close to cancelling the battle, though.


    No one knew why Liuhua the Silencer decided to show up at this moment. A few days ago, he had rarely murdered anyone. When the two biggest gangs decided on a temporary truce, he attempted to assassinate one of the leading members in the Tattooed Arm Gang.


    His target, Maid Lotus.


    It was widely spected that Liuhua did not want the assassinations toe to a halt. He was once a nobody, but gained fame through his skill with arrows and the bodies that he left in his wake. Liu Hua enjoyed killing people while hiding in the shadows, which was why he wanted to disrupt the peace talks between the two gangs.


    ve Huan and Wildhorse were the leaders of their respective gangs. If Liu Hua killed both of them, it would have been easy to spark a war. However, they were very well protected, so the n would be difficult to carry out. Therefore, he decided to murder Maid Lotus, the spiritual leader of the Tattooed Arm Gang, whose kung fu was weaker.


    This was another stereotype in the East Castle. Just like how people thought that the bow and arrow were weaker than the saber, it was widely believed that females would be inadequate killers.


    There were less than 100 female apprentices in the beginning in East Castle. Over the one-month ughter, only a dozen of them survived. Their death rate was much higher than that of male apprentices.


    Liuhua had been lurking on the yard wall, wearing a grey cape which was covered in ayer of dust. It seemed as if he had merged into the surroundings. He waited for an indiscriminate amount of time, starving. He drank some water only when he was thirsty. Finally, his target appeared alone.


    Maid Lotus¡¯ yard had been closely guarded. On that night, she came out of her room and was going to meet the Snow Mountain Gang members, in order to discuss the details of the duel. She would have met the gang members waiting outside the yard just by taking a dozen steps more.


    Liuhua strictly adhered to his own assassination principles. He waited for Maid Lotus patiently. When she was within 20 steps of him, Liuhua instantly shot two arrows at her. Both arrows sessfully hit her, but he was unable to end her life with another arrow. Seven or eight guards rushed towards her to protect her. Seeing this, Liuhua made a tactical retreat using a pre-selected route.


    This was the only time that Liuhua wasn¡¯t able to leave a mark in his victim¡¯s mouth.


    The members of the Tattooed Arm Gang were furious. Gu Shenwei swore to avenge her. He then assassinated an important Snow Mountain Gang member after midnight.


    Even though everyone knew that Liuhua was the one responsible for this, they still regard this as a sign of his loyalty towards the Snow Mountain Gang.


    Even though it would be quite hard for a leader to keep a clear mind in this critical moment, Wildhorse still managed to show his unusual ability to control every detail of the situation. Not only did he quell the voice of revenge, but also sent all of his subordinates to capture Liuhua, in order to prove that he was not the mastermind behind the attempted murder.


    Gu Shenwei was ashamed of his inability to do anything. The battle had not started yet, but he had lost to Wildhorse in terms of leadership and decisiveness.


    Before things spiral more out of control, Maid Lotus woke up. She was shot twice, one close to her heart and the other her left arm. Her reaction time was faster than what the assassin had anticipated which allowed her to avoid getting shot in her vital body parts.


    People in the East Castle only had the mostmon medicine for wounds, much less being able to visit a doctor. After being injured by Liuhua, Maid Lotus was unconscious for a day. However, she was able to wake up miraculously. The first thing she said after opening her eyes was, ¡°Don¡¯t be fooled. This has nothing to do with the Snow Mountain Gang. This war should stop.¡±


    It was this incident that made Gu Shenwei trust Maid Lotuspletely. Before this, he had always suspected and disliked her. But now, those feelings hadpletely vanished.


    When they first met, Maid Lotus¡¯ indifferent attitude had made an impression in Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind. He had been threatened, humiliated, but never had he been disregarded like this. When both of them worked as ves, they met each other every day. Her indifference towards him had deeply hurt his self-esteem.


    Now, it all disappeared.


    The duel between ve Huan and Wildhorse was held on time. Maid Lotus insisted that she attend their duel despite her injuries. She was the most important assistant to the gang leader, so she had a responsibility to protect him from all the traps that were deployed by their enemies.


    Everything went well. All members of the two gangs turned up. No one was allowed to ask for a leave. Everyone wore ck clothes and ck veils and brought no weapons. Each gang had a head count to make sure that there were no hidden killers. The Snow Mountain Gang had 108 members and the Tattooed Arm Gang had 89 people. Except for the missing Liuhua, there were 193 apprentices who survived in the East Castle.


    Liuhua still hadn¡¯t been found yet. The two gangs searched the whole East Castle twice, but they were still unable to track him down. The only thing that the people could believe was that he had jumped off of Reincarnation Cliff. This was a verymon urence. In thest month, a dozen of apprentices who were unable to withstand the pressure,mitted suicide.


    The killer apprentices gathered in Woodensaber Alley. Tension, vignce, and joy permeated the air. The one-month nightmare woulde to the end regardless of who wins.


    The battle between killers did not naturally consist of face-to-face saber moves. ve Huan and Wildhorse would enter the ruins which consisted of 17 dpidated yards. They would attempt to assassinate each other using the cover of debris, weeds, and deadwood. There was no time limit. It could take a few minutes or even a few days.


    Gu Shenwei had already formted a n. After Maid Lotus woke up, they discussed it with each other. Both of them thought it was possible.


    Wildhorse was a hunter. When there were a lot of people around, he would always encircle and wipe out his enemies. He would patiently track the enemy and set up traps in advance, when he was acting alone. Maid Lotus remembered Wildhorse¡¯s every assassination attempt. Thus, she drew a conclusion, which happened to coincide with Gu Shenwei¡¯s n.


    After entering the ruins, Gu Shenwei would consciously search for the traps that had been set by Wildhorse. He could not use any skills and had to rely on his experience and intuition. After this, he would set up his own traps, in order to attract Wildhorse¡¯s attention. Then, he would move back along the road, so that he could ambush Wildhorse at a predetermined spot.


    Maid Lotus and he agreed that the whole ughter would end with several cuts. To live or die, it depended solely on who would be fooled first.

 Chapter 79

    Chapter 79: Survival


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    In the morning, there was a thickyer of frost on the ground and thin ice had formed on the surface of puddles. At noon, the frost and ice had melted, and the temperature had be as hot as if it was in the middle of summer. Gu Shenwei and Wildhorse entered the battlefield at the same time. Even though it was not a good time for assassination, the conditions were equally fair for both of them.


    The killer apprentices in ck, who wore ck veils, were waiting in Woodensaber Alley. They could not see what was happening inside, but the members of both of the two gang stood quietly, like two packs of loyal dogs. Once one of their leaders died, they would instantly smell the scent of the killer¡¯s blood.


    Even if the duel continued for one more month, they would wait patiently. It looked like a sacrificial ceremony. Even if some were not interested in it, they were surrounded by the fanatics and also became one of them, who did not dare to leave or do anything that would disrespect thepetition.


    Gu Shenwei only took a saber with him. After entering the ruins, he carefully walked along the wall. When there were bricks and rubble, he went around it by taking other paths; when there was dense vegetation, he would rather than walk. For him, it was not the time to leave traces and draw the opponent¡¯s attention on purpose.


    The circle that Gu Shenwei walked became smaller and smaller. Before the duel started, he had already identified the nine best spots for setting a trap, now he found five more spots. However, it seemed that no one had arrived. Gu Shenwei thought Wildhorse was very smart and that he would not choose an ambush spot that killers already knew about.


    As time passed by, the warmth brought by the noonday sun had gone and the coldness ofte autumn rose from the ground, which quickly upied the whole world by dusk.


    Almost 200 killer apprentices stood side by side in the narrow Woodensaber Alley. The ruins were dead silent. Gradually, darkness shrouded the whole world. But they seemed to be enjoying a fascinating drama, watching and listening attentively as if they werepletely enraptured by the drama. Every rustle of the leaves in the wind was like a sensational turning point which charmed the audience.


    What Gu Shenwei had learned over thest month was much more than what the apprentices had studied over the past 10 months in Carvewood Academy. He was proficient in tracking his enemies and hiding his own tracks. But, his opponent was Wildhorse this time, the rising star during the apprentice fight who had great kung fu skills and a keen intuition.


    When night fell, it became easier to hide, but harder to search for a person. Gu Shenwei had searched the ruins twice, but he still did not find any signs of the other person. He felt he was like a madman who was fighting with himself as he was circling around in a derelict ce. asionally, he thought that he had heard Wildhorse¡¯s heartbeat. However, when he quietly approached, he didn¡¯t find anything. Sometimes, he suddenly felt very nervous for no reason, feeling as if he was in an unfavorable location. So he fled, just in case the opponent sneaked up on him.


    In this game, saber and kung fu skills were the secondary factors. Endurance and willpower were the first. Whoever had the least patience would be the first to expose his location.


    Night had passed and the frost temporarily reformed. Even the best killer, who was good at Lightness Skill, would either leave his footprints on the thinyer of ice or his footsteps would crush it.


    Hence, the safest choice for Gu Shenwei was to remain where he was. But he still searched along the roads and lurked at a fixed ce. This trick could only work very well when facing an inexperienced opponent, however, for a well-prepared killer apprentice, Wildhorse would not be fooled. He could not directly follow Gu Shenwei¡¯s footprints, because it meant to bite the hook of a trap. Therefore, he would circle around and attack Gu Shenwei from his back instead.


    Gu Shenwei found three footprints and two ice-broken ces. Meanwhile, he also identally left the same traces. Later, he narrowed down the scope of his search and firmly believed that he was very close to Wildhorse.


    There were four dpidated yards around the crossroads. The ce was the center of the ck market a long time ago. Now, there remained a lot of debris with only a little nt cover.


    It was nowte morning and the battle had continued for almost a day. At this moment, Gu Shenwei found that a broken brick had been moved, so he carefully searched nearby and ensured it was Wildhorse¡¯s mistake. It was the time to take the initiative.


    Gu Shenwei moved a piece of wood in the yard, which was located in the southeastern direction from the crossroad, and chose to ambush Wildhorse behind the broken wall in the northwestern yard, which he would pass by as he was circling around.


    The next thing that Gu Shenwei needed to do was to lie on his stomach and to wait patiently.


    After waiting for almost two hours, he finally heard the sound of slight footsteps.


    Wildhorse was approaching. Although he was dressed in the same manner as the other killer apprentices, Gu Shenwei knew it was him. His back was arched as he crept forward with a saber in his right hand. Before he moved on, he would cautiously observe the surroundings like a thief.


    Gu Shenwei would notugh at him because he acted the same way. Killers did not like the showy movements but preferred the practical methods.


    Wildhorse only took two steps, and then he stopped. No one knew what had attracted his attention and made him alert. Whatever it was, he halted and crouched lower than before and strengthened the hold on his saber. Then, he looked at the ce where Gu Shenwei was lying in wait.


    Gu Shenwei, hiding among the stone fragments, revealed an eye to observe his opponent. He justy on his stomach, with his back to the sun. Even a hawk with sharp eyes would not find him.


    However, Wildhorse still stared at the ruins where Gu Shenwei was waiting in ambush. Perhaps he did not find anything and just intuitively felt danger.


    Gu Shenwei still waited without blinking his eyes. Among the killers, it was widely believed that people¡¯s mood swings could alert the vignt enemies. Hence, if they wanted to hide stay well hidden, their mind should be as calm as still water.


    At this time, Wildhorse looked away and stepped forwards. Suddenly Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart palpitated, even though it might have alerted Wildhorse, because he changed his direction. It seemed that Wildhorse was going to circle around the giant stone. If he did so, Gu Shenwei¡¯s position would be exposed and he would lose his advantage.


    People would never know what Wildhorse would do next, because when he was moving, someone yelled outside, ¡°Lordmanded all people to stop the private fight. Lordmanded all people to stop the private fight¡­¡±


    The sound was like a raging wind that blew through Woodensaber Alley. The daydream of the 200 youths had ended. All of a sudden, the apprentices, who were drunk in the mysterious atmosphere, woke up.


    Over thest month, East Castle was like an ind forgotten by the gods. Residents on this ind always thought they were gods and masters. The word ¡°Lord¡± reminded the apprentices that the real god was looking down at the smallnd. Now, he came to dere his sovereignty.


    Every survivor belonged to the Supreme King.


    A team of red-belt killers on horseback had passed the message. On seeing them, the apprentices woke up and left quickly. In their eyes, the two people, who were still in the ruins, had lost their halos and becamemon folk.


    Wildhorse stepped away quietly and Gu Shenwei also retreated from the other direction. Both of them thought they, themselves, had the initiative and would have killed the opponent in the next minute. Therefore, they felt very regretful.


    When Gu Shenwei came back to Woodensaber Alley, most of the apprentices had gone. Only some of his loyal members had stayed behind. They nodded to him and also left quickly.


    The killers on horseback went back. They even ignored the leader of Tattooed Arm Gang on the roadside.


    The nightmare of ughter was over, but Gu Shenwei still was a lowly young ve, who had a long way to go to achieve his goal of revenge.


    A small group of people stood at the entrance of Woodensaber Alley and were also dressed in ck like the apprentices. But Gu Shenwei knew that none of them came from East Castle.


    They looked at the lone ve Huan, as if they were merciless aristocrats who were appreciating a lion cub with great interest.


    Gu Shenwei had deduced who they were and he even thought some of them were familiar to him. He should have known that this real and exciting game would arouse the Tenth Young Master, Shangguan Ru¡¯s, interest.


    Shangguan Ru stood with others. Perhaps she was the small one in the middle.


    A skinny person among them walked toward ve Huan, who stood still.


    ¡°Master Yu.¡± Gu Shenwei said respectfully.


    On seeing the person approaching him, Gu Shenwei bowed slightly and recognized who she was.


    ¡°You killed my brother.¡± Shangguan Yushi spoke to him straightforwardly. She was as elegant and proud as Gu Shenwei remembered. ¡°Our family is very grateful to you.¡± She even nodded at him and said, ¡°But I still will avenge him. You better be careful! That¡¯s all.¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked at the tall girl. Several months ago, she was his toughest opponent, but now she was just a proud and innocent little girl. She came here with Shangguan Ru just for fun. She had never tasted real hatred and blood.


    ¡°How could she know the meaning of hatred and revenge?¡±


    ¡°Wee to the paradise of hatred. That¡¯s all,¡± Gu Shenwei said proudly.


    All of a sudden, the lowly Gu Shenwei became as calm and elegant as a king. However, Master Yu, surnamed Shangguan fell into a panic. She held her saber with her right hand, but she lost the strength and will to draw out the saber. She stepped backward and then turned to flee.


    The small group of men in ck left. Gu Shenwei watched the figure, which he thought was Shangguan Ru, and his killing desire disappearedpletely.


    Gu Shenwei first visited Maid Lotus. She was still recovering from her injury so she had to leave early.


    ¡°Tattooed Arm Gang still exists,¡± Maid Lotus firmly said.


    Gu Shenwei did not refute her, but he knew what remained was just its shadow. When the sun came out, it would disappear, like the frost in the morning.


    Killer mentors came back to the fort and counted their apprentices. Some of them lost all their apprentices, so they had to leave Golden Roc Fort and live in the small and cold house, expecting to recruit some good apprentices next year.


    Those mentors, who still had survived apprentices, were excited, even though some of them were only left with one apprentice. They asked for every detail of the assassination and then taught their apprentice all their killing experience.


    In fact, more than one killer mentor had openly announced that many of them, who was involved in the fighting, would be top-level killers.


    But no one was rewarded by the Shangguan family. It seemed that they thought the apprentices still needed more training.


    Tie Hanfeng also came back. This time, he did not drink, so he was in a bad temper and did not show any joy on his apprentice¡¯s survival.


    ¡°I heard that you formed a ¡®female gang¡¯, let a girl manage the team and relied on her to protect you? Your mom has turned into ash long ago, but you¡¯re still as naive as a new baby. Why are you so popr among women? Are you gonna hook up with them?¡±


    If it happened one month ago, Gu Shenwei would be irritated. But now his mind was as calm as still water.


    ¡°She¡¯s a qualified killer. She isn¡¯t worse than anyone else,¡± he replied calmly.


    Tie Hanfeng seemed angry at his apprentice¡¯s indifference and stared at him for a while. Then, he changed the topic and said, ¡°How many times do you still need to attend the monthly test?¡±


    ¡°Once.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s fifth month-test would be held at thest days at the climax of the assassination. His opponent had died. Hence, he would be a killer in Golden Roc Fort if he gained one more chance to kill an apprentice in a single saber strike.


    ¡°Very good. Next time, you shouldn¡¯t kill your opponent, because you need more kung fu training.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng coldly dered, but his words, like a saber, struck deep into Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart. He could not control his emotions anymore and he suddenly burst into fury.

 Chapter 80

    Chapter 80: Savage Beatings


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Tie Hanfeng needed a killer mentor title to continue his private business in South City. To maintain his current title, he intended to postpone his apprentice¡¯s departure.


    ording to the rules of Golden Roc Fort, if a killer apprentice could kill every opponent in the tests with only one strike for six consecutive months or wound every opponent for 12 straight months, then he or she would be a red-belt killer.


    Gu Shenwei had killed every one of his opponents with just one strike in the past five monthly tests. If he listened to his mentor and purposely lost the game in his sixth monthly test, he would have to start all over again, which meant that he would have to spend at least another six months to be a red-belt killer. He was irritated by his mentor¡¯s request, but he still pretended to agree with him. He secretly made up his mind to kill his opponent with only one strike in the uing monthly test. He wished to get rid of this old cripple as soon as possible because he thought that he did not need this teacher anymore.


    After the month-long massacre, the East Castle gradually returned to normal. So did the ck market. A few dayster, Liuhua the Silencer suddenly popped out, which greatly surprised everyone including his mentor.


    This lone-wolf killer became even more seclusive than before and refused to make friends with anyone. His mentor strongly supported his decision and openly praised him as a real professional killer.


    Although the two major gangs had been dismissed, the core members of the gangs still stuck together. Some Tattooed Arm Gang members wanted revenge for Maid Lotus and asked ve Huan to assassinate Liuhua.


    Gu Shenwei vetoed their suggestion immediately. He exined that since Supreme King had already banned gang wars, they could not resort to assassination to avenge Maid Lotus now. To appease his former gang members, he promised that he would try his best to make Liuhua his opponent in the impending monthly test.


    Everyone agreed to this n. They believed that ve Huan could easily kill Liuhua in a test room, since Liuhua could notpete with ve Huan in saber skills and could not find any ce to hide and shoot in the narrow test room.


    To carry out this n, the Tattooed Arm Gang members and even some Snow Mountain Gang members all donated money to bribe a yellow-belt, who promised that he would put Liuhua and ve Huan in the same test room in the uing monthly test.


    This was normal business in East Castle. Shangguan Yuxing had engaged in this business when he had been alive. Now he was dead, but the business still thrived.


    Gu Shenwei practiced hard for the test and at the same time, sent his reliable friends to monitor Shangguan Yushi. She had gotten cold feet and fled in their previous confrontation, but he still worried that she was secretly plotting against him.


    So far, she had not made any move to set him up in East Castle. He was not sure whether it was because she was frightened or because she really hated her brother and did not want to avenge him.


    Three days before the monthly test, Maid Lotus¡¯ wound recovered. She took the money to find the yellow-belt and arranged everything for ve Huan.


    Tie Hanfeng had rarely gone downhilltely. In recent days, he had urged his apprentice to practice and begun to really exchange moves with him. Now, he could not remain in his chair throughout a fight against his apprentice anymore. ve Huan was much stronger now, although he stillcked experiences and sophisticated skills.


    On the day of the test, they got up early in the morning and went to Pyrowork Academy together. Before they entered the academy, Tie Hanfeng grabbed ve Huan¡¯s arm and asked, ¡°Do you remember what I said?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Take care of it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded, but at the same time, he was thinking about how he was going to end Liuhua with one strike. He felt thrilled because after winning this fight, he would officially be a killer and be rid of his mentor.


    ording to Golden Roc Fort¡¯s tradition, when he became a killer, he would return to serve his master, Shangguan Nu. When that happened, he would be able to see what his master¡¯s ck-masked assassin could do and then figure out a way to kill the Eighth Young Master.


    He was pretty sure that he would have enough time to realize this n before his Qigong Deviation killed him.


    Inside the yard of the academy, all the killer apprentices were in ck outfits, but Gu Shenwei still recognized Liuhua at just a nce. With a knife stuck in his belt and a shortbow on his back, he was standing alone by a wall, far away from everyone else including his own mentor.


    ¡°You¡¯ll die today unless you¡¯ve managed to make huge progress in your saber skills in the past month,¡± Gu Shenwei looked at Liuhua and thought.


    A building inside the yard was divided into a row of test rooms. Before the test, the apprentices were arranged into two lines on opposite sides of the building. A yellow-belt led ve Huan to a test room and whispered to him at the door, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Someone paid a higher price. You cane to me to get your money back after the test.¡±


    With these words, the yellow-belt hurried off. Gu Shenwei believed it must have been Tie Hanfeng who had ruined his n.


    He pushed the door open and stormed into the room. To his great surprise, he discovered that his opponent was Maid Lotus.


    They knew each other very well, so they immediately recognized each other, even though they both had their faces covered by ck cloths.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Maid Lotus asked.


    ¡°The old cripple paid the yellow-belt a higher price to put us in the same test room,¡± Gu Shenwei replied.


    They fell into silence, feeling lost.


    For a moment, Gu Shenwei really wanted to kill Maid Lotus, since he wished to carry out his revenge n as soon as possible. However, he still gave up on that idea in the end. He worried that treating Maid Lotus so cruel-heartedly would make the other killer apprentices iste him. To realize his n for revenge, he needed their help, although he would never tell them about his n.


    ¡°What should we do now?¡± Maid Lotus asked.


    ¡°Come over here and cut me. I¡¯ll let you win this match.¡±


    Gu Shenwei decided to let Maid Lotus owe him a favor. He could not brutally kill her with one strike, so he decided to take another six months to be a red-belt killer.


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    Maid Lotus agreed without any hesitation. She went over to ve Huan and cut a shallow wound on his left arm.


    This incident made Gu Shenwei believe that Maid Lotus was a girl without pretense. He trusted her even more.


    ¡°I¡¯ll kill Liuhua for you,¡± he said.


    ¡°No, I¡¯ll kill him by myself,¡± she replied.


    Gu Shenwei managed to calm himself down and walked out of the room to report the result to the yellow-belt. But when he returned to the yard with his mentor, he could not hold his anger back anymore. ¡°You old cripple, why did you do this to me?¡± he shouted.


    Tie Hanfeng reacted coolly to his apprentice¡¯s anger. Hey on his deck chair and said, ¡°I did that for your own good.¡±


    ¡°You did that to keep your title, so you can continue your private business.¡±


    ¡°And still for your own good.¡±


    Gu Shenwei got so furious that he began to feel as if he was burning with anger. He gave full vent to his frustration and his hatred toward Golden Roc Fort and started scapegoating his mentor. ¡°From now on, you¡¯re my enemy.¡±


    ¡°Huh, it really took you long enough to see this point, dumb*ss. We¡¯ve been enemies from the very beginning. Look, here¡¯s my belt. If you can kill me and hang this thing on the gate of the yard, you¡¯ll immediately be a red-belt killer. How about it? Kill me and you won¡¯t need to take the monthly tests anymore. You little bastard, do you want to try?¡±


    Tie Hanfeng gave his apprentice a provocative look, feeling no shame at all.


    Gu Shenwei regretted that he had not killed Master Shifu when he had gottenpletely drunk thest time. He decided to find an opportunity to assassinate him within six months.


    This decision still failed to appease his anger. He had only two years and a few months to live and to get his revenge, but now he had to waste probably six months on a semi-retired killer.


    Tie Hanfeng noticed ve Huan¡¯s anger and thought it was time for the lesson he had been preparing for a long time. ¡°Training killers is like training dogs. First, you let them bite each other and fight against each other to fill their hearts with anger and hatred. When they be fierce dogs that want to swallow the whole world and bite everyone they meet, they can move on to the next step. Do you know what the next step is?¡±


    Gu Shenwei shut his mouth tightly, refusing to respond to such nonsense.


    ¡°The next step is to keep every dog on a leash to prevent it from biting its owner. A disobedient dog is a useless, crazy dog, like a piece of sh*t.¡±


    Although Gu Shenwei was extremely angry now, he still understood his mentor¡¯s meaning. A killer relied on hatred and anger to maintain a strong killing desire, but once he failed to control his own emotions, he would end up destroying himself.


    At this moment, Gu Shenwei was not sure whether he should suppress his anger or give full vent to it. Suddenly, he felt tightness in his chest and passed out.


    His Qigong Deviation caused by Mama Xue had struck him again. This time, it was much more severe.


    However, Gu Shenwei did not suffer a lot because he fainted and became unconscious. His only regret was that he did not get the chance to repeat the words in the Nameless Swordbook in his mind to turn the hot energy into his own Internal Strength.


    When he woke up, he found himself lying in his mentor¡¯s chair. This was the first time that he enjoyed this privilege. He had never touched this chair even when his mentor had been away.


    Tie Hanfeng was standing with his left leg three steps away from ve Huan and looking at the ve boy with gloomy eyes.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He had sessfully concealed three Qigong Deviation attacks since he had be Tie Hanfeng¡¯s apprentice. But now, he could not hide this from his mentor anymore.


    ¡°Hey, there¡¯s my little apprentice, who¡¯s bent on bing a killer. What¡¯s going on? Did you faint with excitement? Or, do you have some f*cking secret?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business.¡±


    This time, the Qigong Deviation struck suddenly and also ended abruptly. Gu Shenwei jumped out of the chair and began to consider how he would kill his mentor before he gave his secret away.


    In the next moment, Tie Hanfeng approached Gu Shenwei and punched him all of a sudden. Gu Shenwei was on high alert but still failed to stop the punch to his lower abdomen.


    It hurt a lot, but he still swiftly drew out his saber to attack Tie Hanfeng¡¯s back. As they were too close to each other now, he nned to use a backhand attack, a new technique that he had mastered during real fights.


    He had never told his mentor that he had already gotten used to attacking from behind.


    Beyond all his expectations, his killer mentor, a semi-retired killer, turned out to be a really tough opponent.


    Tie Hanfeng did not dodge aside. Nor did he adopt any defensive move to block Gu Shenwei¡¯s saber. He just took one step forward and used his head to hit Gu Shenwei¡¯s nose hard. Gu Shenwei had never expected his mentor to use such amon street fighting trick to beat him.


    Now, with a dizzy head and blurry vision, he could not steadily hold onto his saber, not to mention use it to kill someone.


    Tie Hanfeng carried the momentum into his next rounds of attacks. He grabbed his apprentice by the neck and kept battering him from his head to his waist until he cked out again.


    When Gu Shenwei woke up again, he found himself lying in the yard with his hands and feet tightly tied by leather cords.


    A month ago, he had been the leader of a gang, but today, he ended up lying in a pile of rubbish, with a mass of bruises all over his body and face. He thought that up until now god had yed many jokes on him, but this one was definitely the cruelest.


    Now, Tie Hanfeng was a little tipsy but not in a good mood. He was lying in his chair, saying, ¡°I¡¯ll kill you unless you get killed by some absurd Qigong Deviation someday. I can¡¯t let you disgrace me.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng cast a cold eye on Gu Shenwei, who remained silent but continued to struggle on the ground all the while. After that, he just kept drinking his liquor until he finally fell asleep in his chair.


    Gu Shenwei tried everything he knew but still failed to untie himself. In the end, he got exhausted and could only sleep on the cold ground. It was winter now, so he shivered all night long and nearly froze to death.


    Tie Hanfeng was not afraid of the cold. He had a sound sleep in his chair in the open yard and woke upte the next day. The moment that he woke up, he poured all the remaining liquor into his mouth. After that, he turned to look at his apprentice, who was blue in the face because of the cold weather. ¡°You little bastard, you¡¯re still alive? Go down the hill with me. If I can¡¯t find someone to heal you, I¡¯ll chop off my only good leg to feed a f*cking dog.¡±

 Chapter 81

    Chapter 81: Assassination Plots


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    In the following 15 days, Tie Hanfeng often went alone on separate asions to the city, alwaysing back on the same day and looking gloomy.


    During those days, Gu Shenwei just focused himself on one thing, assassinating his mentor.


    In the 15 days, he tried as many as 28 different assassination ns. Some of them were carefully considered and the others were just risky schemes he cooked up on the spur of the moment.


    Tie Hanfeng reacted calmly to all the attacks. Every time after he sessfully escaped an assassination attempt, he would beat his apprentice heavily. Sometimes, he would evenment on his apprentice¡¯s assassination ns.


    ¡°Idiot, you used knockout powder on a professional killer like me. Ha, I was taking them to numb my pain at a time when your mum was still a mere baby.¡±


    When Tie Hanfeng said this, Gu Shenwei was lying on the ground, paralysed by the knockout powder which backfired on him.


    ¡°What a dumb*ss you are. You nced at the ce where you hid the dagger before youunched the attack. You might as well have told me directly that there was a dagger under the tray. I can see right through you. Do you still dare to y such tricks on me?¡±


    While saying this, Tie Hanfeng knocked the tray away, throwing food all over the ground. After that, he mercilessly punched his apprentice and knocked him down.


    In order to achieve his ambition of killing his mentor, Gu Shenwei utilized all avable resources. He turned to the core members of the former Tattooed Arm Gang. They gave him advice and provided him with rare poisons, specially crafted short weapons and various types of hidden weapons. They even secretly followed and watched Tie Hanfeng for him.


    Gu Shenwei forbade his loyal friends from attacking his mentor for fear that Tie Hanfeng would kill them mercilessly. He carried out all the assassin missions by himself, since he was clear that his mentor would not kill his only apprentice.


    Having failed more than 20 times, Gu Shenwei nearly seeded one day.


    He found out that his mentor never took the initiative to attack him. Based on this finding, he made a very sophisticated n.


    On this day, when Tie Hanfeng was lying in his chair, drinking and grumbling that his apprentice was such a burden, Gu Shenwei kept pacing back and forth in front of his mentor. He put on a worried look on his face, cing his right hand several centimeters away from the saber handle and his left hand behind his back hidden in a sleeve.


    After a while, Tie Hanfeng finally got pissed off. ¡°You bast*rd, what¡¯re you waiting for? What¡¯s the assassination method you¡¯re going to use today? Save it, dumb*ss. I¡¯ve told you that I¡¯m familiar with all those tricks. How about you kill yourself and rot in this yard? Maybe, you can stink me to death.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit, old cripple! Your rotten leg smells much worse than my dead body. How can you put up with that piece of sh*t?¡± Gu Shenwei sharply retorted.


    This pair of mentor and apprentice became increasingly rude to each other. Tie Hanfeng rapidly hurled countless insults at his apprentice, and Gu Shenwei tried his best to revile in return. However, he still did notunch an attack.


    Tie Hanfeng was thrilled. He was d to see his apprentice finally bing his match at swearing and began to salivate uncontrobly. He made mean jokes about ve Huan¡¯s body parts, cursed his ancestors, rtives and friends, and even made up a dozen dirty stories about his birth. He talked on and on, and at the same time still managed to keep drinking.


    Gu Shenwei was clearly at a disadvantage in the beginning. He felt awkward to speak out such badnguage and thus could not react quickly to his mentor¡¯snguage abuses. As time went by, he began to change and gradually master a trick. He started to take the initiative to abuse his mentor, calling him old cripple or kiss-ass, no matter what his mentor said. In the end, Gu Shenwei finally broke his bottom line and made a long speech, contending that his mentor was a direct descendant of grotesque human beings and abination of some filthy animals.


    Gu Shenwei found out that swearing was not any simpler than killing. He had to be quick and flexible in this process, and once he used a sentence repeatedly, he would get ridiculed by his mentor. However, when he got the hang of it, he began to feel delighted. He realized that swearing was a good way to relieve the stress caused by killing people. The more he cursed, the more rxed he felt.


    This unprecedented quarrel between the mentor and the apprenticested nearly four hours until Tie Hanfeng suddenly passed out.


    Gu Shenwei did not use hidden weapons or poison. Nor did he add any knockout powder to his mentor¡¯s liquor. He merely bought more liquor than usual for his mentor today. After long-time observation, he found out that his mentor enjoyed swearing while drinking. Given that, he gave his mentor this long-time quarrel as a delicious dish that went with his liquor. The n worked. Now, Tie Hanfeng was totally drunk and unconscious.


    Gu Shenwei stopped swearing. Instantly, the feeling of relief brought about by the quarrel was reced by a strong desire for vengeance and blood.


    He drew out his saber and held it against Tie Hanfeng¡¯s chest, feeling excited that he was about to end his mentor¡¯s life and be a red-belt killer.


    He applied some pressure to his saber. It quickly pierced Tie Hanfeng¡¯s clothes and skin, and some blood began to ooze out of the wound. Curiously, in the next moment, he felt that his saber got stuck in something.


    When he was about to push harder to thrust the saber into his mentor¡¯ chest, Tie Hanfeng opened his eyes abruptly. He swiftly drew out a saber from somewhere under his chair to stab Gu Shenwei in the chest.


    If Gu Shenwei had continued to thrust his saber into his mentor¡¯s chest, he would have gotten stabbed by Tie Hanfeng¡¯s saber. He did not want to die together with the old cripple now. He had to avenge his family¡¯s deaths.


    He jumped backwards to dodge his mentor¡¯s saber, and then raised his own, preparing to defend himself against Tie Hanfeng¡¯s attack.


    However, Tie Hanfeng did not rise from the chair to beat him or open his mouth to curse him. He still widely opened his eyes and tightly held his saber while snoring. He did not wake up at all.


    Seeing that, Gu Shenwei stood agape and felt quite ashamed of himself. He found out that he was not his mentor¡¯ rival even when his mentor was asleep.


    In the next moment, Tie Hanfeng slowly closed his eyes, but still held his saber tightly.


    Gu Shenwei hesitated for a long time before hepletely gave up on this assassination n. He did not have the courage to approach his mentor again, for he could tell that his mentor still harbored a killing intent for anyone who dared to approach him. He was amazed to see that Tie Hanfeng still somehow maintained his killer instinct when he was heavily drunk and soundly asleep.


    He thought of Han Shiqi, a killer he had murdered a long time ago. That man was far weaker than Tie Hanfeng. Gu Shenwei could not understand why Han Shiqi had also been able to be a killer. He began to doubt the credibility of Golden Roc Fort¡¯s selection criteria for killers. He even wondered if Han Shiqi had really gotten the killer title through a special connection to some big shot in the fort.


    Before this day, Gu Shenwei had often regretted that he had missed a chance to kill his mentor when he was drunk, but now he had no such regrets. He concluded from this failed assassin attempt that it was impossible to kill him even when he was drunk and asleep.


    He had to admit that Tie Hanfeng was an outstanding killer and he himself still had much to learn from him. He thought that if he did not have the qigong deviation and had more years to live, he would love to stay with his mentor for a few more years.


    The next morning, when Tie Hanfeng woke up at the first sight to see a saber in his hand, he frowned. After that, he saw a small scar on his chest and revealed an understanding smile. He stretched out his hand to grab his gons only to find that all of them were empty. At this moment, he finally realized what had happened and red up. He searched for his apprentice everywhere, wanting to beat him up.


    Gu Shenwei hid for two days before he went back to his mentor¡¯s yard. He still wanted to assassinate his mentor. He tried a few more times but still failed. Like before, after each failed assassin attempt, he would get pummeled by his mentor. On a snowy day, when Tie Hanfeng brought him to see a doctor, he still had a bloody nose and a swollen, bruised face and looked stupid and funny.


    Tie Hanfeng kept nagging that he had spent lots of money and asked help from lots of people in the past 15 days to get a chance for ve Huan to meet the doctor. He warned his apprentice that he should behave himself and be extra polite to the venerated doctor.


    Gu Shenwei, however, did not want to see the doctor at all. He worried that the doctor would discover that he was practicing Gu family¡¯s unique qigong technique, Yin and Yang Strength.


    Tie Hanfeng discovered his qigong deviation. This was one of the reasons why he wanted to kill his mentor as soon as possible.


    The doctor they were going to see was the famous Doctor Sun, who had been able to travel extensively and learn widely from dozens of well-known doctors in the Western Region and the Central in in his youth.


    Doctor Sun now lived in a very grand house in North City and received all his patients in his study. All his patients had to make appointments in advance and would usually wait for several or even a dozen days before they met the Dr. Sun. The doctor refused to treat several kinds of illnesses, which included emergencies and traumas. He exined that he had never learned how to deal with these problems.


    As soon as Tie Hanfeng and Gu Shenwei arrived at Dr. Sun¡¯s residence, the doctor¡¯s steward led them to the study.


    This was the first time for Tie Hanfeng to meet the famous doctor. He behaved courteously. He revealed a ttering smile and bowed deeply to the doctor like an old bumpkin. After that, he pressed ve Huan¡¯s head, forcing him to make a bow, and said softly, ¡°Doctor Sun, we need your help.¡±


    The doctor was a tall, serious-looking old man, dressed in a blue gown. He did not have much hair on his head but had a waist-long, ck and white beard. As he was so engrossed in reading a book in his hand now, he just grunted assent without looking at them at all. He continued to read two more pages and finally put down his book. After that, he looked at them and said, ¡°It¡¯s liver and stomach damages caused by excessive drinking. You must be ill-tempered, cunning and guile. Such a disposition tends to drive your Qi and blood to your upper body. Look at your red face. That¡¯s a sign. You don¡¯t need any medicine. As long as you can give up drinking, you¡¯ll be able to get five more years to live. If you can¡¯t, you¡¯ll lose ten years.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng was stunned to hear that, but he would never quit drinking even if the doctor informed him that he would die tomorrow because of alcohol. ¡°Doctor Sun, I¡¯m not the patient. He is,¡± Tie Hanfeng said.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say it earlier? You guys always waste my time,¡± the doctor said impatiently.


    He shook his head and turned to look at Gu Shenwei. ¡°Why do you bring him here? Don¡¯t beat him so hard next time, and he won¡¯t look so ugly.¡±


    Hearing that, Gu Shenwei felt much relieved. He thought that this doctor did not look like a man of real learning and would never be able to discover his qigong secret.


    Tie Hanfeng pushed his apprentice toward the doctor and said, ¡°Doctor Sun, we didn¡¯te for the traumatic injuries. He has an internal one.¡±


    The doctor shook his head helplessly, clearly unhappy about the fact that this pair was wasting his time again. He stretched out three fingers to feel Gu Shenwei¡¯s pulse. All three fingers had very long nails. Doctor Sun ced them on Gu Shenwei¡¯s left wrist and then his right wrist. As time went by, the doctor¡¯s eyebrows knitted more and more tightly together.


    After the pulse diagnosis, the doctor still frowned. He flicked his fingers, sending out many hair-thin strands of Qi. These strands hit the acupoints in Gu Shenwei¡¯s governing vessel precisely, which gave Gu Shenwei a fearful shock.


    Beyond his expectations, this old bookworm turned out to be a qigong master. When he started to worry about his secret, a strand of Qi sent by Doctor Sun happened to hit his Xuanji acupoint. The Internal Strength left by Mama Xue instantly responded to the stimtion and went down to attack Gu Shenwei¡¯s Dantian.


    Gu Shenwei cried out and tumbled backward. Doctor Sun grabbed his arm and shouted to Tie Hanfeng, ¡°Red-faced cripple, you got screwed. He¡¯s a spy!¡±

 Chapter 82

    Chapter 82: For Hire


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    When Doctor Sun found out about his secrets, Gu Shenwei was shocked and tried to escape out of instinct. However, Doctor Sun was gripping his hand so tightly that he could hardly move.


    Tie Hanfeng looked puzzled. ¡°Doctor, he¡¯s my apprentice, not a spy.¡±


    ¡°Is he? Why does he have the inner force of the Barren Sect then? Are the two sects friends now, instead of enemies? If so, this will be a blessing for the Western Region.¡±


    Even after learning the secret, Tie Hanfeng kept smiling and exined. ¡°Oh, you can trust me on this, doctor. The force was forcefully infused into him by a traitor. That¡¯s exactly why we¡¯re here asking for your help.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was taken aback. The question, ¡°Why did he cover for me? Is he nning to kill meter when we¡¯re alone?¡±, appeared at the forefront of his mind.


    Doctor Sun was suspicious of the excuse. ¡°So, you believe him?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I do.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng replied with such certainty that Gu Shenwei began suspecting him of plotting something. It had happened before. When Mama Xue admitted to teaching ve Yao internal strength, it certainly saved him from being questioned, but he had to pay it back with a lot of hard work.


    ¡°Whatever, this happens to be your problem,¡± said the doctor. ¡°As for his inner force, it¡¯s no big deal. It is just incurable. So, all he can do now is return to his quarters and await his death.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng and Gu Shenwei were both in a daze after hearing this. They couldn¡¯t understand the doctor¡¯s words. ¡°Doctor, we don¡¯t understand. If it¡¯s not serious, it could be easily healed, isn¡¯t it?¡± Asked Tie Hanfeng.


    The doctor got angry out of the blue. ¡°Is it? Look at my head. It¡¯s almost bald. Can you tell me how to make my hair grow back?¡±


    Tie Hanfeng did not dare utter a single word to rebuke his argument and kept apologizing. His humble words calmed the doctor down. ¡°Doctor Sun, my miracle-working man. There isn¡¯t any internal injury that you can¡¯t cure.¡±


    ¡°Only liars would im to be capable of healing anything and everything. A great doctor never does so. You¡¯re insulting me.¡± Though the doctor was not mad anymore, his words were still spiteful.


    Tie Hanfeng apologized once again. The doctor stared at the silent young man. The young man¡¯s expression was even gloomier than that of the countless killers he had met. ¡°There¡¯re thousands of his kind of people in your fort. They die sooner than an insect. What would be the point of saving him?¡±


    ¡°I have no other apprentices but him, doctor. I just hope that he can live longer.¡±


    Doctor Sun seemed to have been convinced, but he did not make any further diagnosis. He was deep in thought before saying. ¡°To be frank, there¡¯s nothing I can do about his injuries. Umm¡­ do you believe in Buddhism?¡±


    The question was directed towards Gu Shenwei, who was still thinking about Tie Hanfeng¡¯s odd behaviour. He was confused and asked, ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Buddhism.¡±


    ¡°No, doctor.¡±


    He answered after a moment of thought. Buddhism was widely epted in the Central in and the Western Region. His mother used to be a devotee and there had been many scriptures and statues in their house as well. Though he had been influenced by them from a young age, he was not a believer.


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s no other way then. It¡¯s said that there¡¯s a set of exorcism scriptures in the Four Truths Temple. It may have a magical effect on your injuries. You don¡¯t have such a faith, so I guess it won¡¯t work on you. Forget about it.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng and Gu Shenwei remained indifferent to the subject matter. None of them believed in Buddhism, let alone the magical effects of it.


    ¡°Doctor, there has to be other treatments, right?¡± Tie Hanfeng persisted. Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t bring himself to care about it anymore.


    ¡°There are, but it¡¯s not in the Jade City. There¡¯s a country among the mountains, called the Land of Fragrance, 2,800 km towards the southwest from here. There¡¯re many extraordinary men with medical skills much better than mine. Besides the traitor, they¡¯re your only hope for healing his injuries. Since he still has two or three more years to live, there¡¯s enough time for him to go there and receive treatment.¡±


    Having told them everything that he knew, the doctor went back to his desk, picked up his book, and continued his reading.


    The two visitors left the clinic and came out onto the street. Gu Shenwei was anticipating his Shifu to show his true feelings about Gu Shenwei¡¯s secret. Tie Hanfeng led him across the bridge and into the Southwall Tavern without a word.


    There were very few guests in the tavern in the evening. They both sat down face to face by a table against the wall. Tie Hanfeng ordered various kinds of wine as usual. Strangely, he did not even take a sip and just stared sternly at his apprentice. ¡°Tell me everything.¡±


    ¡°About what?¡±


    Gu Shenwei answered reluctantly. He did not want to give in so quickly. If Tie Hanfeng knew about his secret, Tie Hanfeng could take advantage of it if he wanted.


    Tie Hanfeng¡¯s re was as sharp as a sword. He looked the same as the time when he ordered his apprentice to kill someone for the first time. At this moment he was neither the red-faced groveler nor the incoherent drunkard. He was a real, creepy killer.


    Gu Shenwei managed to stall by staring at Tie Hanfeng for about 15 minutes. He gave in first, just as he did in his previous assassination attempt. He then told Tie Hanfeng everything that had happened between Mama Xue and him. The details in his stories were exactly the same as what he had told the Eighth Young Master. The only difference was that he included how he got the Peripheral Force this time.


    ¡°You¡¯re afraid that the Eighth Young Master will kill you after knowing your secret, right?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    Tie Hanfeng snorted. His apprentice was not that dumb after all. There were numerous killers in Golden Roc Fort. No one would be willing to take in an apprentice with a limited lifespan and who could be controlled by the enemy.


    ¡°Stay here,¡±


    Tie Hanfeng said, standing up.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    ¡°Speak less and drink more.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng left alone, leaving his apprentice with a table full of fine wine.


    It was getting dark. The tavern was getting crowded with an increasing number of guests. The smell of wine wafted in the air. His mind was numb from theughter and the loud noise.


    He was seriously considering whether to escape or not.


    ¡°What should I do after escaping? Spend myst two years in hiding and never see my foes again?¡±


    He stifled the idea and thought that he should stay. Since Tie Hanfeng had not brought him back to East Castle to see the Eighth Young Master yet, it meant that he still had some value. He should take advantage of that to survive. Perhaps he could even find a good time to avenge himself.


    It was nearly midnight when Tie Hanfeng rushed back. He seemed more rxed than before. Seeing that the wine was untouched, he was confused. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you drink?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve decided not to drink anymore.¡±


    Gu Shenwei told the truth. Drinking felt wonderful, but it would make him feel numbter. He longed to be the best killer. Therefore, he would never drink alcohol.


    Even though Tie Hanfeng did not agree with him, but he did not try to change Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind either. He drank as much as he could by himself. As none of his acquaintances were there, he called the tavern keeper and the counterjumpers over to join him. The drinking did not end until the fourth watch. The tavern keeper would not bring them more wine as there were only drunkards left.


    From this moment onwards, he would never mention anything about his apprentice¡¯s internal injury.


    Gu Shenwei became increasingly confused as he waited. Just when Tie Hanfeng was about to be totally hammered, he finally asked, ¡°What on earth do you want me to do?¡±


    ¡°I want you to drink,¡± Tie Hanfeng said with a grin, obviously enjoying drinking for past few hours.


    ¡°Not that. You already know my secret. You could order me do anything.¡±


    ¡°Well then, take off your pants. Will you?¡±


    Gu Shenwei reached out for his saber, but he found nothing. He had always forgotten that he had handed over the weapon outside the North Gate. Moreover, carrying weapons in the tavern was not allowed.


    ¡°Haha, just kidding. I¡¯m not interested in you at all. Don¡¯t always remain indifferent. A killer shouldn¡¯t be too isted from others. How would you know the ways to kill, if you don¡¯t know the ways of the world?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was bing more aware of the fact that Tie Hanfeng was a very sinister man and thought that his final request must be very harsh.


    Tie Hanfeng staggered to his feet. ¡°You¡¯re so proud that you don¡¯t look like a killer. What I want you to do? Ha-ha, you should ask yourself what you can do for me. You¡¯re nothing to me, young man. Sit here and wait. I¡¯m going to find a warm woman to sleep with.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng left his apprentice by himself again and went away by himself.


    Sitting by the table full of leftovers, Gu Shenwei was quite puzzled. ¡°Is this over? That¡¯s it? He really wants nothing from me?¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not want to admit it, but he did gradually rx. Soon, he fell asleep, with his headid on the table.


    He did not sleep well as Tie Hanfeng¡¯s ever changing face kept emerging before his eyes. He drew closer and even tried to touch his hair. Gu Shenwei angrily grabbed his wrist and tried to break it with all of his strength.


    A suppressed squeal reached his ears.


    He woke up and sat up straight. He found himself pinching a boy¡¯s wrist. The boy nched with pain, but he did not yell loudly as he was afraid that he would draw others¡¯ attention.


    Gu Shenwei released his wrist and asked, ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    He had seen this boy once. When he killed the horse-faced man under his Shifu¡¯s order, the boy was the only witness and had even ¡®instructed¡¯ Gu Shenwei to throw the corpse into the wilds.


    The boy rubbed his wrist with an ingratiating smile. Once again, Gu Shenwei noticed that though the boy was small in stature, his eyes were mature and very cunning which wereparable to adults


    ¡°Are you a killer from Golden Roc Fort?¡±


    Gu Shenwei ignored his question.


    ¡°I know who you are. I was so stunned when I saw you killing someonest time.¡±


    ¡°Get straight to the point.¡±


    ¡°I saw you yesterday and waited all night just to tell you that you¡¯re great. We¡¯re peers, but you¡¯re a hundred times stronger than me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stared at the boy coldly. He hated his roundabout manner of speaking.


    ¡°By the way, I¡¯m Xu Yi and I¡¯m 14 years old. You can call me Xu Xiaoyi or Xiaoyi. What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to know my name.¡±


    ¡°Wow, you¡¯re indeed a killer! A killer is nameless and leaves no traces. One kills per shot and disappears immediately after. Unlike me who was born in South City, I could hardly disappear and blend in as everybody here knows me.¡±


    ¡°Go away.¡± Gu Shenwei ordered.


    There was really no point in dealing with such a punk.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t told you why I¡¯vee to meet you yet!¡±


    The boy¡¯s words hit Gu Shenwei. He doubted that this boy was sent by Tie Hanfeng to test him. ¡°Tell me then.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi looked around. Seeing that they were the only two sober men among the sleeping drunkards, he then said in a low voice, ¡°I want you to kill someone, and I¡¯ll pay you.¡±

 Chapter 83

    Chapter 83: Prostitute


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei reminded himself that this was South Jade City, and it might be verymon here for a 14-year-old teenager to hire a killer for murder. He did not want to show his ignorance, so he kept quiet. But he was also unwilling to be hired because earning money was absolutely not his reason for being a killer.


    ¡°You¡¯re asking the wrong man. I¡¯m not a killer.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi had been staring at him full of hope, yet now he was disappointed, which made him appear less mature. He said, ¡°Give me a price, I can pay it. I have enough money, really. I can pay the first half right now.¡±


    ¡°I said I¡¯m not a killer.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi was so upset that he looked like a child who did not receive his New Year¡¯s present. ¡°I thought that you could help. You know, this is ourst chance to get me and my sister out of here.¡±


    ¡°You have a sister?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Truth be told, I¡¯m a thief. And my sister, she is a¡­ a prostitute. We didn¡¯t volunteer to do this, of course. It was him who coerced us. Anytime we can¡¯t pay him the money, he beats us. If I ever had the choice, I would learn literature or martial arts. My sister should be ady in a rich family, living in North City, learning some needlework at most. I don¡¯t me myself for being a thief, but at least she should marry a good man, some sort of exiled noble. She is so nice, gentle, and beautiful. Why has she been treated this way?¡±


    Gu Shenwei recalled his sister, Gu Cun. She was treated much worse.


    ¡°How much money have you got?¡±


    ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve never hired a killer before. How much is it normally?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had experienced the cruelest killing contest among the apprentices, so he could detect an ambush from the movement of a single de of grass. And he had been scheming against adults with evil intentions, therefore he was suspicious about everything. But he never dealt with any street hoodlum, especially a poor hoodlum begging for his help.


    ¡°A hundred taels of silver.¡±


    When Maid Lotus bribed the steward of the Pyrowork Academy to arrange for Liuhua to be ve Huan¡¯s opponent, she gave him a hundred taels. Thus, Gu Shenwei thought this was the price of a life.


    The price made Xu Xiaoyi feel awkward, but he did not bargain. ¡°Alright, I can pay you the first 50 taels now, and when it¡¯s done, you can have the rest.¡±


    ¡°Tell me about that man.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°The man who coerced you and your sister.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t a good ce for our conversation. Follow me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not know why should he do this killing ¡°business¡±. The issue between him and his Master Shifu had not yet finished, so he should not make any more trouble under any condition. Besides, this boy was so weirdly smart and untrustworthy.


    The only thing that touched Gu Shenwei might have been his emotions when he talked about his sister.


    He stood up, following the boy to leave the tavern, and wondered what Tie Hanfeng would think about this. Since his Master Shifu would not show him what he really wanted, irritating him was worth a shot.


    It was not too far from daybreak, there was barely anyone walking on the street. Xu Xiaoyi led him to go through the city wall, crossing different corners in a valley, as if he was a mouse living in the maze that he had built. He understood every shortcut and corner and avoided others¡¯ eyes and ears.


    Their destination was a small building near the street without a yard. On the first floor was the reception room; the second floor had the bedrooms. Although it was not very big, the decorations were luxurious: a thick carpet, countless jades, pearls, golds, and silvers, and some silks and satins were left everywhere and nobody knew what were they used for. Clearly, a feast had just been finished.


    It was a small brothel. Gu Shenwei became a little nervous, so he doubted the boy again, thinking that this could be another joke of his Master Shifu. Maybe he would see that same old bright-red face soon.


    But he was proven wrong. Xu Xiaoyi went upstairs and led a fragile girl out, which was his sister. Though her cheeks were covered with rouge, she still looked frightened and childlike.


    She, called Xu Yanwei, was 17 years old, and the first prostitute that Gu Shenwei had ever met.


    If Gu Lun was still alive, watching his son at this age already associating with a prostitute, he might have moved his house much farther away.


    Xu Yanwei, as her brother had said, was truly gentle. She remained silent and let Xu Xiaoyi introduce her. With her head lowered, she yed with her handkerchief in her fingers and seemed to be extremely terrified about this killing business. Any sound outside the door would shock her.


    It was an old rogue who had coerced them. He lived in South City and no one knew his real name. They just called him ¡°Pot-bellied Buddha¡±, and his boys and girls called him ¡°Father¡±.


    ¡°Father bought children from all over the world, raised and enved them. The boys would be thieves and the girls would do¡­ this.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi spoke with a hot temper; clearly, he hated this Father very much. ¡°As long as the customers can pay, he¡¯ll kill someone in public for fun. Not to mention the beatings. Look, the wounds on my sister¡¯s body are never healed.¡±


    He rolled up his sister¡¯s sleeves to expose a skinny arm, where her white skin was covered with several shocking bloody scars.


    Xu Yanwei quickly loosened his hands, turned around, and wept soundlessly.


    Gu Shenwei was touched by their performances. The chivalrous spirit that his father had instilled in him during his childhood revived, so he ignored many things. For example, since this ¡°Pot-bellied Buddha¡± could control many children and did business with prostitutes and thieves, he had to be a powerful man, or was even connected to Golden Roc Fort. Hence, killing him might be something dangerous.


    Gu Shenwei had entered into a world that was entirely different from any aristocratic family or any fort. Lies and truth, illusions and reality did not exist here; everything was only the hallucinatory image of gold and silver.


    Those who knew how essential money was could see through this mist. But Gu Shenwei did not know that now.


    ¡°Give me the silver and a dagger,¡±


    said Gu Shenwei after thinking about Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s words for a while.


    Assassination had its protocol. Thus, Gu Shenwei checked the surrounding environment, decided on where could he retreat to, and asked about Pot-bellied Buddha¡¯s personal information.


    Pot-bellied Buddha was actually an expert dating back to his youth. He had made his career by killing people in the valleys of South City. Unfortunately, as he gained more money, he became weaker. Now he had to stop several times to gasp when he went upstairs.


    He also kept a bodyguard with him at all times. The person selected was not the same every time, but he certainly had to be a macheteman and was someone who could be found in any tavern in South City.


    In two hours, he woulde and ask Xu Yanwei for the ¡°tax¡±, which meant taking all the money that she earnedst night. Normally, he woulde upstairs and do the business in the bedroom.


    Xu Yanwei had already gotten rid of the old woman servant who was usually with her.


    This seemed like a simple action. The only thing inappropriate would be the dagger that Xu Xiaoyi had found.


    The scabbard was brand new, covered with bright darkcquer, and inside was an imitation Golden Roc Fort dagger that was very rough, a little lighter than a real one. The dagger¡¯s edge curved backward.


    Gu Shenwei returned the scabbard to Xu Xiaoyi, asked him to leave, and kept the fake dagger, then he followed Xu Yanwei to enter the bedroom.


    This room looked familiar; it had the sameplicated decorations as downstairs and a curtain hung above the door. Gu Shenwei tightened the curtain and hid himself behind it. That bodyguard should stand right in that entrance, so he would kill him first.


    After the preparations, both of them felt the awkwardness at once.


    Though Gu Shenwei was only 15 years old, he had a serious and gloomy expression all the time, which made him appear three or four years older. Xu Yanwei had never dealt with anyone who was not her customer before, except for her brother. She was anxious, ncing at him sometimes, and dropped her head immediately, pretending to smooth out the extremely tidy hemline of her skirt.


    Gu Shenwei was also embarrassed. He did not know how a prostitute should act, but in his imagination, she should be bolder and tougher. Xu Yanwei¡¯s eyes were constantly full of tears and she kept avoiding his nces, which made her looked less like a ¡°prostitute¡±.


    ¡°You should act like I don¡¯t exist, otherwise, they¡¯ll doubt you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei reminded her. He had to hide in this ce for a while, but he could not stand her inquisitive nces anymore.


    Xu Yanwei grunted assent, almost silently. Then, she did what she would have done if no one else was in the bedroom¡ªshe took off her clothes.


    Actually, all she wore was a luxuriant robe with nothing else underneath it.


    Although Gu Shenwei could not see anything but a vague figure through the curtains, he turned his head back immediately and his heart was beating fast. It was the first time he felt that Xu Yanwei might not be so shy and timid.


    When he turned around again, Xu Yanwei had already fallen asleep. The daytime was her rest time.


    He cleaned ayer of sweat from his palm and grabbed his dagger tightly. He gazed at a nk space on the door to calm himself down.


    Xu Yanwei was breathing gently and smoothly, as if she had truly fallen asleep and would not be disturbed even if there were 100 men hiding in this room.


    Pot-bellied Buddha came upstairs, treading loudly, and his sounds arrived earlier than he did. ¡°My precious daughter, what have you brought me today?¡±


    He came in like a giant ball. He wiped his perspiration often, as if it were summer. Behind him was a middle-aged man, tall and slovenly, who seemingly had not washed his face for a long time. The bodyguard looked like a bandit to Gu Shenwei.


    Pot-bellied Buddha walked toward the bed, and his bodyguard stood alongside the door. All that separated him from a real killer was a curtain. He lustily stared at the woman on the bed.


    Xu Yanwei woke up the moment that she heard his steps, sat up on the bed and pulled the quilt to cover up her body. She looked pale as she tried hard to smile. ¡°Father, the customerst night gave a thousand taels. It¡¯s all up there.¡±


    There was a low table with red silk covering it. Pot-bellied Buddha unveiled it, and upon seeing the silver was piled up, he was satisfied.


    Gu Shenwei was shocked, what kind of customer could give a thousand taels? He could only get a hundred by killing a man. He felt that he lost a lot.


    But now, he could not bargain anymore. He held his breath and waited for the best moment. The bodyguard seemed to not be like an expert. Yet, ording to the protocol of a killer, Gu Shenwei had to pull out all his strength and never disregard the enemy.


    The guard greedily looked at the woman¡¯s snow-white shoulder and, hence, he leaned forward, pressing on the curtain. He was less than three centimeters away from the dagger.

 Chapter 84

    Chapter 84: Three Bodies


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The Pot-bellied Buddha seemed to be satisfied after getting the one thousand liang of silver, he patted his round belly and said, ¡°Oh, my good girl, you are really my money tree. You¡¯ve earned more silver than the other daughters earningsbined. How can I reward you?¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Father. I¡¯m happy as long as you are happy, so I need no reward,¡± Xu Yanwei¡¯s voice was trembling.


    ¡°Why not? I haven¡¯t made out with you for days. Let me make it up this time.¡±


    ¡°I, I¡¯m a bit tired, fromst night¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, women would never be tired for such things. It is men who would feel exhausted. I would like you to be on top so I could see your progress.¡±


    Xu Yanwei was still thinking of wriggling out of it when Pot-bellied Buddha grabbed her hair, pulled her out from the quilt and throw her onto the floor, ¡°Did you treat your guests in the same way? Then one thousand liang is far from enough. We should double the amount.¡±


    The bodyguard in front of the door already became goggle-eyed and leaned forward a little. He was so concentrated that he failed to feel the knifepoint behind the curtain that had already touched him.


    Gu Shenwei held the handle with his left hand and kept the counterfeited saber slightly upward. His right hand pressed on the end of the handle and pushed it by force. When the counterfeited saber moved smoothly forward by about a foot, Gu Shenwei immediately left the curtain and pulled out the knife so as to avoid being entangled due to the curtain being torn by the dying bodyguard.


    A perfect thrust right into the heart. The guard was spitting a lot more bloodpared to the blood flowing from his wound. The bodyguard died without any struggle.


    Blood was dripping from the knife.


    Knife in hand and keeping an eye on the stripped bby man, Gu Shenwei took a circuitous route to check the breath of the bodyguard, making sure that he was really dead.


    Pot-bellied Buddha had a belly really worthy of his name. The fat even dropped below the crotch, just like a thickyer of greasy leather armor.


    ¡°He had served for only 3 days, and I had nothing to do with him!¡±


    Pot-bellied Buddha exined earnestly to Gu Shenwei, thinking that the killer¡¯s only target was the bodyguard. He was not scared because he had a backing, who could protect him from being murdered in the South City.


    When Gu Shenwei stepped forward, Pot-bellied Buddha became rmed and took a step backward to sit on the bed. With his fat breast palpitating, Pot-bellied Buddha breathed heavily and said, ¡°You can take the one thousand liang over there. I¡¯m a member of the Meng Family, young man¡­¡±


    With a heavy horizontal chop, Gu Shenwei cut apart the thick fat of Pot-bellied Buddha and his throat. He knew little about the ¡°Meng Family¡± and didn¡¯t realize that the mistress of the Golden Roc Fort was surnamed Meng after a long time.


    With his eyes wide open, Pot-bellied Buddha failed to evade and could just see a sh of light from the knife before his stiff body fell down heavily onto the floor.


    Xu Yanwei, was hiding at the corner of the bed. She screamed and bit a corner of the quilt hard due to fear. Looking at the ce where the dead body was bleeding, she trembled like being bewitched, unable to turn around or close her eyes.


    The assassination was so sessful that Gu Shenwei even felt his previous preparations unnecessary. ¡°Do you want the head?¡± Asked Gu Shenwei ording to the rules of the Golden Roc Fort. If he were the guest, he would cut the head of the fat man off and take it away.


    It was not until Gu Shenwei asked her again that Xu Yanwei heard it. She suddenly turned to the killer without a blink, seeming to be bewitched again. After quite a while, she understood what Gu Shenwei had said and replied, ¡°No, No.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took the silver of about fifty liang from the short desk. This was the rest of the reward for a sessful assassination agreed on before.


    ¡°I¡¯m leaving now.¡± He said while throwing the knife away, then he left from the back door following the nned route. There were still very few people on the street, so he returned to the Southwall Tavern soon.


    The sister and brother were no fools. They would deal with the odds and ends, maybe hide away or escape, they would find a way. In short, they didn¡¯t need to be cared for by other people.


    It was before noon and thest drunkards in the tavern had been driven away. The workers were cleaning up the mess to prepare for another messy evening.


    Being the first guest, Gu Shenwei did not drink, which made the workers very unhappy. They called the manager and wanted to send the unpopr teenager away.


    Gu Shenwei put one hundred liang of silver on the table and said, ¡°I only want one cup of wine, the reddest.¡±


    This could settle any possible disputes. The workers immediately cleaned up the table used by Tie Hanfengst evening and served a cup of the best wine in the tavern.


    Looking at the red liquid, Gu Shenwei tried to ovee the vomiting feeling deep inside his stomach. Although he had been ustomed to the killing of others with him participating the ughter of apprentices and death of various folk, he would still feel like this. It¡¯s only that he covered it so well that others couldn¡¯t see it. However, this part of him ashamed him.


    After a short while, Tie Hanfeng came back with his face lit up with joy and waved at his apprentice at the door.


    Gu Shenwei went up to Master Shifu and left the cup of wine on the table without even touching it.


    They went back together to the Stone Castle on the mountain. Tie Hanfeng was in such a good mood that he kept talking along the way, but he did not mention the internal injury of his apprentice.


    Gu Shenwei had thought of bringing up the assassination jobs he had undertaken by himself to Master Shifu, but he hesitated at thest moment. This assassination was so easy that even the weakest apprentice in the East Castle could easily seed, so it was not worth boasting about.


    In his heart, Pot-bellied Buddha and the horse-faced man had been put in forgotten corners. What he was always vignt against was his master.


    However, after a whole day, Tie Hanfeng had never shown any sign of threatening or using his apprentice, and everything went on as usual: bragging, swearing, drinking, bragging harder and sleeping.


    ¡°It¡¯s not the right time,¡± thought Gu Shenwei. Even Mama Xue had waited for several days to throw out the evidence, so he could only wait. He went to bed and fell asleepfortably until he was woken up.


    Gu Shenwei sat up immediately and saw in the darkness the vague figures of three men standing in front of the bed.


    He was ashamed and astonished. As a killer, he slept like a dead man and did not even notice that someone had broken into the room.


    ¡°Follow us,¡± said a man in a low voice, which was as calm as the voice of Gu Lun who had asked his little son to leave the manor more than a year ago.


    Gu Shenwei quickly put up his clothes and obediently followed the three men out of the room. He knew where these people came from and guessed that Master Shifu would finally take action, in an unexpected manner.


    They were all torturers of the Heart Cleansing Yard.


    Gu Shenwei had a terrible memory in the Heart Cleansing Yard. However, at least he would not be killed for no reason there. Therefore, he did not worry too much as he believed that he was still useful for Tie Hanfeng.


    It was required to pass around almost half of the Stone to go to the Heart Cleansing Yard from the East Castle, so it was already daybreak when they arrived. The three men locked Gu Shenwei up in a small dark room in the east wing without saying anything.


    It was not the underground torture chamber, which seemed to indicate that things were not too bad.


    After about one hour, the door opened, and four men came in. They stood in the doorway and with their backs to the sun, Gu Shenwei saw clearly their faces after a good while.


    Tie Hanfeng was on the far left, beside him was Shen Liang, demaster of the Heart Cleansing Yard. Gu Shenwei knew him and remembered that he was Eighth Young Master¡¯s uncle. And the others were ordinary torturers who he did not know.


    ¡°You killed someone in South City yesterday.¡±


    A torturer went straight to the point, which made Gu Shenwei a little surprised. He did not expect that the Heart Cleansing Yard was questioning him about it.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because someone paid me to do it.¡±


    The torturer paused for a while, surprised about the apprentice¡¯s frankness. The demaster Shen Liang said, ¡°Tell us all about this. Don¡¯t miss any detail.¡±


    Gu Shenwei confessed everything, from Xu Xiaoyi having seen him killing people to him leaving the building of Xu Yanwei after putting down the bloody counterfeited saber.


    ¡°The Xu siblings hired you to kill people?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯ve killed two people. Pot-bellied Buddha and his bodyguard?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    After getting affirmative answers for the two questions, Shen Liang bursted into a shortughter as if he had heard a stupid and perfunctory joke.


    ¡°Do you believe him?¡± Shen Liang asked Tie Hanfeng.


    Without a smile, Tie Hanfeng¡¯s red face seemed serious and cruel, ¡°Yes,¡± he said. There was something about resolution and anger in his voice.


    Shen Liang shook his head helplessly and said, ¡°I still have to hand him over. Brother Tie, You can¡¯t afford the responsibility.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was even more amazed as he found things were different from what he had understood. He also felt iprehensible to Shen Liang¡¯s calling Tie Hanfeng ¡°Brother Tie¡±. How could Tie Hanfeng, who used to be so ttering as a beggar to the supervisor of the Pyrowork Academy, be so informal in the face of the demaster whose position was much higher?


    ¡°Just give me some time.¡±


    Shen Liang looked over the puzzled apprentice, failing to recognize that he was one of the teenagers epting interrogation here one year ago. ¡°I¡¯ll hand him over before noon. In addition to the time for going downhill, you have two hours.¡±


    The four men left without saying anything more. Gu Shenwei wondered what had gone wrong.


    Pot-bellied Buddha called himself ¡°member of the Meng Family¡±, and the Mistress was also surnamed Meng. The Meng Family was the richest family in the Jade City. This was the only clue he could find.


    After two hours, Tie Hanfeng returned alone. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    They left the Heart Cleansing Yard, and instead of returning to the East Castle, they led two horses and rode on them to go downhill.


    On the way, Tie Hanfeng was in such a silence that was rarely seen on him usually. Finally, Gu Shenwei could not hold it and asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Tie Hanfeng looked at his apprentice and said after a while, ¡°You¡¯ve killed two people?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°But there were three bodies there.¡±


    ¡°What? But¡­¡± He had thought that the third body may belong to one of the sister and brother, but he realized soon that they would not draw the attention of the Heart Cleansing Yard, ¡°Who was it?¡±


    ¡°The exiled prince of the Stone Kingdom, who was a major guest of the Stone Castle and would have returned to his kingdom to be king in a couple of days.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng said easily but Gu Shenwei was too astonished to say a word. He had not killed the prince, nor had he seen anyone like a prince before, ¡°But I hadn¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°I know. I said I believe you.¡±


    ¡°Will the Fort hand me over?¡±


    Gu Shenwei foreboded something terrible waiting for him during their way downhill.


    ¡°Not for now. We have three days to find out the murderer.¡±


    ¡°We?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt it more and more difficult to find out Master Shifu¡¯s real goal.

 Chapter 85

    Chapter 85: Finding the Murderer


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei waspletely dazed. He, a killer apprentice who had not finished his apprenticeship, had privately undertaken an assassination job, and now he had to find another murderer to prove his innocence.


    Tie Hanfeng took on this task, which must cost a lot of silver and assistance from his connections that could not be repaid by a killer apprentice.


    In aplicated mood, Gu Shenwei did not say a word until the North City Gate.


    Someone was waiting for them there.


    With a protective smile on his red face, Tie Hanfeng warmly exchanged greetings with the man and introduced his apprentice to the City-patrol Commandant.


    The City-patrol Commandant, an officer of the Jade City, was responsible for arresting criminals. Although having about 100 subordinates, he in fact controlled a very small area. The South City had a mixture of various people and was not bound by anyone, while no one dared to be in charge of the area from outside of the North City Gate to the Golden Roc Fort. Even inside the North City, there were numerous big shots and nobles who never thought much of the City-patrol Commandant.


    Surnamed Zhong and named Heng, the present Commandant was a native of the Central in. Tie Hanfeng called him ¡°Commandant Zhong¡± or ¡°Mr. Zhong¡±.


    In a casual suit of an officer, Commandant Zhong Heng was tall and courtly-looking. He worn a sparse beard and carried a broadsword with the style of the Central in, which was broader than a saber of the Golden Roc Fort and slightly curved.


    A cordial feeling arose spontaneously from Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart. He was so familiar with such kind of people. When they were in the Central in, various officials and military officers kepting in and going out of their family. There was no such a title of ¡°Commandant¡± in the Central in, but judging from his apparel, he must be an officer at level 5 or level 6.


    Without caring a lot about the teenager with suspicion of a felony, Zhong Heng chatted a lot with Tie Hanfeng before turning to the point, ¡°So what do you n to do?¡±


    ¡°Is there anyone in the city who is better at finding the murderer than you? We just gonna follow you until we learn something, well, and be hostages for three days, haha.¡±


    And then they started chatting again, seemingly just beating about the bush. Half a day had passed and they had yet to pass the city gate. Gu Shenwei would have scolded them if he were not at a lower position.


    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t guarantee to solve the case, but we must go through the formality. Let¡¯s exin at the Ju¡¯s Residence first.¡±


    The Stone Kingdom was a small kingdom in the Western Region. Its royal family was surnamed Ju. 10 years ago, a pce coup caused two princes to go into exile with several family members here. They wanted to seek military support so as to regain their throne, but they failed to raise enough money for it. Unexpectedly, there were pennies from heaven. The usurper died suddenly without leaving a descendent, so the two factions of ministers vied with each other until they decided to ask the sons of the former king toe back.


    Ju Gaotai, the first prince died in the home of a prostitute in the South City only 10 days after receipt of the message to regain the throne.


    The so called Ju¡¯s Residence was just a small house, which seemed to be a little crowded for the two princes and their family members and attendants.


    The second prince declined the interview for some excuse and a minister who came to take the princes back to their kingdom and a bodyguard of the first prince received them.


    The minister was quite a talker who kept talking with Zhong Heng and Tie Hanfeng about things that were not relevant. Gu Shenwei suddenly felt himself back to the Central in and among his father and his fellow officials.


    Although the minister had appropriately grieved at the prince¡¯s death, anyone could see that he had not a deep sentimental attachment to the prince, which was understandable because he had just stayed with the future king for several days, and 10 years ago, the prince was just a kid.


    The bodyguard was the one who was really in sorrow. He, holding a scimitar of the Western Region, was also surnamed Ju and was born in a branch of the noble family. Perhaps he thought it was his negligence of duty that caused the death of the prince, so he always looked at Gu Shenwei coldly as if he would draw the scimitar at anytime to revenge his master.


    After about two hours of chat, only one thing was made clear: Ju Gaotai left the residence alone the night beforest. He would return to his kingdom in three days, so he wanted a farewell to the ten years of exile. But the bad news camest noon.


    ¡°Mr. Xu really got a good personal rtionship with his highness, what a pity.¡±


    The minister moaned and groaned, and delivered a passionate speech ording to this topic, recalling their friendship and the connection between the Stone Kingdom and the Meng family as if he had always been with the prince.


    Gu Shenwei realized that ¡°Mr. Xu¡± was just Pot-bellied Buddha after a good while.


    Tie Hanfeng seized the opportunity to request an inspection of the body, which made the minister really embarrassed. Although not ascending the throne yet, the deceased prince was still future king of a kingdom, furthermore, he was already put in the coffin and it was not good to open it again. Finally, Zhong Heng guaranteed with this official position that he had inspected the body in person, finding that the prince was killed with one chop, and the wound, which was very small, was on the right side of the neck, likely to be caused by a saber of the Golden Roc Fort.


    Tie Hanfeng did not insist, which, ording to Gu Shenwei, might be an error of the Lame Man Tie. He thought it was highly necessary to check the body personally, but he was not allowed to talk here.


    When the three were going to leave, the grieved bodyguard suddenly said, ¡°Mr. Zhong, do you really believe the kid? The Golden Roc Fort said it has nothing to do with them, which I believe, but they are to exonerate him. Something that we won¡¯t agree too, we may be a small kingdom but we are still able to gather thousands of soldiers.¡±


    Zhong Hengughed awkwardly, and Tie Hanfeng said first, ¡°Haha, if the Golden Roc Fort really wants to exonerate him, they don¡¯t need to bother Mr. Zhong. You may have thousands of soldiers, but ask yourself how many of them are not holding the Golden Roc g?¡±


    As a killer organization, the Golden Roc Fort also maintained a number of mercenaries, who often served the kingdoms of the Western Region, so Tie Hanfeng¡¯s words were not merely a blusterous threat.


    The face of bodyguard Ju turned as red as Tie Hanfeng, and the minister hurried to dissuade him to resolve the tension.


    When the three left the Ju¡¯s Residence, the atmosphere was not as good as when they came.


    Zhong Heng invited Tie Hanfeng and Gu Shenwei to the department office for some tea and snacks. When the evening was approaching, they finally turned to the point. Gu Shenwei could not wait to put forth his own point of view, ¡°Those two people killed the prince. The minister wanted to kill the prince in the disguise of escorting him back to the kingdom. The bodyguard was the one who killed the prince. I threw the counterfeited saber in the house and anyone could have picked it up and used it.¡±


    Commandant Zhong Heng looked over the kid carefully for the first time without despising him for his low position, ¡°That was a bold idea, but why? Why did the minister want to kill the prince with the bodyguard? You know, the prince was to be king in several days. They should have ttered him instead.¡±


    ¡°Because of the second prince,¡± Gu Shenwei had been thinking it over for a long time and believed his guest more and more firmly, ¡°If the elder brother is dead, the younger brother will be king. So he wanted to buy over the minister and the guard, who also agreed on this idea because escorting a prince back to the kingdom to be king was far less meritorious than assisting a prince to usurp the throne.¡±


    Analyzing this murder with what he¡¯d learned during the training at the Golden Roc Fort, Gu Shenwei thought everything was so clear.


    Tie Hanfeng sniffed at him and didn¡¯t take it seriously. However, Zhong Heng was highly interested in it. He began to treat the kid with ¡°full of killing intent¡± seriously. ¡°Taking the matter on its own merits, your analysis is reasonable, but you¡¯re wrong about one thing. ording to the custom of the Stone Kingdom, a guard of the noble family cannot change his master during his whole life, so now than the first prince has died, that guard Ju must spend his whole life guarding the first prince¡¯s tomb and is never allowed to return to the pce.¡±


    ¡°The rules can be changed, if the second prince bes king¡­¡±


    Zhong Heng shook his head and said, ¡°No, you don¡¯t know their custom. The power of the king isn¡¯t as great as you think. Difference from the emperor in the Central in who has full sovereignty, their king cannot even protect himself if he dares to destroy the custom.¡±


    During years of life in the Western Region, Gu Shenwei has heard his father tell him some local customs, so he believed that Zhong Heng was not exaggerating. Tie Hanfeng also nodded for consent.


    ¡°Then maybe the second prince colluded with the minister and hired someone else for the murder.¡± Gu Shenwei adjusted his idea rapidly.


    This time, it was Tie Hanfeng who refuted him, ¡°Idiot, isn¡¯t your mind clear yet? We¡¯re not here to find out the real murderer, but to prove that you weren¡¯t the one who did it.¡±


    Finding the real murderer seemed to be the same to freeing him from suspicion, but Gu Shenwei understood Master Shifu.¡± The sister and brother can prove that I only killed two people,¡± he said.


    ¡°They¡¯re missing.¡± Said Zhong Heng with a frown, looking puzzled, too, ¡°I¡¯ve sent people searching around the South City, but just could not find find them, neither dead or alive.¡±


    ¡°No one has even seen them since Xu Xiaoyi brought you from the tavern, which I can promise.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng also made a promise, which made Gu Shenwei very surprised. He knew well the connection of Tie Hanfeng in South City, but he never thought that he had investigated this quietly.


    The case came to a dead end. Gu Shenwei had no substantial evidence although he got objects of suspicion.


    ¡°Come on, it¡¯s about time. Let¡¯s search around for favourable turns, preferably meeting the two kids. If the fact is just like what you guess, they¡¯re the best witnesses.¡±


    Zhong Heng called two captors to lead the way ahead withnterns. Leaving the department office, they went straight to the South City and reached the famous ¡°Pleasure Alley¡±.


    There a two-storied or three-storied buildings, more than one hundred of them, along the two sides of the Pleasure Alley. The best prostitutes of the Jade City, including Xu Yanwei, were gathered here.


    Tie Hanfeng¡¯s eyes brightened, and even he had seldome here. ¡°Don¡¯t you see? Xiao Fengchai is in this building. An incredible woman whose price is as high as to make you suicide. I¡¯ve had an affair with her, but can¡¯t you see the ugly old woman at the door, she looks as if she doesn¡¯t even know me.¡±


    Zhong Heng smiled and said nothing, and Gu Shenwei pretended to be deaf.


    The building of Xu Yanwei was as messy as it was yesterday. The bodies were removed but the blood was still there. Gu Shenwei could identify the locations of Pot-bellied Buddha and his bodyguard, and the third location with blood was on the bed, where Xu Yanwei was sitting when Gu Shenwei was killing the two people.


    ¡°There used to be one thousand liang of silver here.¡±


    Gu Shenwei said, pointing at the empty low table.


    ¡°It had gone when the captors came. Maybe they were brought away by the sister and brother or the murderer.¡±


    ¡°And maybe the captors who came here earlier had taken it,¡± thought Gu Shenwei.


    Pot-bellied Buddha was in charge of five prostitutes, who all lived nearby. The two captors were sent to take the other four here. But they were reluctant to go upstairs, so they had to interrogate them downstairs.


    ¡°It¡¯s not the right time to call us here now. We¡¯re just getting more guests, any dy will be a loss,¡± said a prostitute, looking vixenish, and in a rush. While the body of Pot-bellied Buddha was not yet stiff, they had found new guests to continue with their business.


    Zhong Heng asked their names, just things about birds, gold or jade. Gu Shenwei noticed that they were not surnamed Xu as Pot-bellied Buddha.


    The whole investigation was a mess. The elderly women and servants kept urging them to leave, saying some ¡°prince¡± wasing or some ¡°marquis¡± was leaving, making their answers disorderly.


    Prince of the Stone Kingdom? Yes, Ju Gaotai often came here, but he had not shown up for days. Aboutst morning? Everyone was sleeping and the servants were also resting. There was no one on the street when it was that early; the Xu siblings? Who knows, maybe they were killed and thrown in the wild.


    Neither Zhong Heng nor Tie Hanfeng had gotten some valuable clues in such a mess. Suddenly, a prostitute, who pretended to be unable to stand firm, ran into Gu Shenwei and whispered to him, ¡°One person, during Si Geng.¡±


    This prostitute, named Shen Yanshi, just lived opposite to Xu Yanwei.

 Chapter 86

    Chapter 86: Solve the Problem


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Shen Yanshi seemed to know something about the murder case and was nning to tell Gu Shenwei alone. The teenager was bewildered, wondering why she wanted to talk to him instead of the two adult men. At this moment, he began to miss his life in East Castle, where killing was merely a skill or a mission.


    After meeting with Pot-bellied Buddha¡¯s prostitutes, Zhong Heng returned to his office in North City, and Tie Hanfeng took his apprentice to Southwall Tavern. Gu Shenwei discovered that today his mentor drank and talked with more people than he usually did¡ªhe even attentively listened to all of their conversations.


    Xu Xiaoyi had imed that everyone in South City knew him. This point was confirmed by the people who came to talk to Tie Hanfeng. Most of them seemed to know the boy very well and habitually referred to him as ¡°the smart kid¡±, ¡°the smart boy¡± or ¡°little pea¡±. Unfortunately, none of them knew where he and his sister presently were, and no one had found any corpses that resembled them within 5 kilometers around the city.


    ¡°It¡¯s strange: they¡¯re the best-informed people in South City. Even two ants can¡¯t disappear from the city without being noticed by them,¡± Tie Hanfeng grumbled.


    As it was gettingte, fewer and fewer people came to deliver information to him. At midnight, only he and his apprentice were still sat at the table. He began to rub his cup, looking confused.


    ¡°Maybe they¡¯re hiding in North City,¡± Gu Shenwei suggested; he thought this was the only possibility.


    ¡°I¡¯ve thought about it, and it¡¯s unlikely. The boy is a thief, and his sister is a prostitute. They¡¯re not eligible to enter North City. I¡¯ve already checked the records of all the gates, yet there¡¯re no suspicious people among the recent visitors to the city,¡± Tie Hanfeng replied.


    Gu Shenwei could not refute his mentor¡¯s view. All visitors to North City, including Golden Roc Fort¡¯s killers, had to report their names and give their weapons to the gate guards. It was not a simple task for the boy and his sister to sneak into the city.


    ¡°Unless they¡¯re burned to ashes, we¡¯ll find them sooner orter.¡±


    With these words, Tie Hanfeng took a swig of his liquor, leaned back and fell asleep in his chair. To this day, Gu Shenwei had never seen his mentor sleep on a bed.


    In South City, there was no night watchman who announced the time every two hours. Given that, Gu Shenwei had been counting the passing of time using heart-throbs all the while. He sat alone while seeing the guests of the tavern stagger out of the gate one after another. When it was around 1 am, he stood up, nning to visit Shen Yanshi.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Tie Hanfeng suddenly stopped snorting and asked with his eyes closed.


    ¡°To get some fresh air.¡±


    Gu Shenwei walked out of the tavern and took a detour around it before entering the city through another breach in the old city wall. He casually walked down a few streets to make sure he was not being followed. After that, he went straight to Pleasure Alley.


    Since most of the guests in the taverns had already left, Gu Shenwei only saw some whoremasters in the alley. Some of them openly swaggered out of the brothels with satisfied looks on their faces. Some appeared to be sneaky and hurriedly headed for North City, hoping to arrive at their homes before dawn to avoid being caught by their families.


    Gu Shenwei stretched out his hand to his waist in an attempt to hold his saber shaft, but he failed to grab anything there, causing him to feel restless and unsettled.


    After those whoremasters left, Pleasure Alley gradually fell into silence. Some prostitutes¡¯ clients stayed for the night, as Gu Shenwei saw the lights in their buildings go out one by one.


    He hid behind a wall to observe Xu Yanwei¡¯s and Shen Yanshi¡¯s houses from a few buildings away. There was neither light inside nor outside Xu Yanwei¡¯s house. Shen Yanshi¡¯s house was also dark, but there was a litntern hanging at the gate of her yard.


    He carefully observed every detail of the houses for 15 minutes and then swiftly scurried to Shen Yanshi¡¯s door. It was utched; someone had purposely left the door open for him.


    He gently opened the door and entered the yard, discovering that this brother had the sameyout as Xu Yanwei¡¯s one across the street. He quickly found the back gate of the yard and utched it before stealthily exploring the second floor of the house.


    He thought Shen Yanshi must have already sent all of her servants away since he did not find any one of them in the house.


    The door of her bedroom was also unbolted. He listened attentively outside the door for a while but could not hear anyone breathing inside.


    Pushing the door half-open, he quickly slipped into the room. Momentster, he saw two dead bodies and quietly walked over to check on them. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that they were Shen Yanshi and her elderly woman servant. Shen Yanshi¡¯s fatal wound was located in her lower abdomen, whereas the elderly woman¡¯s was in her neck.


    Due to the dtion of the pupils after death, Shen Yanshi¡¯s eyes looked bigger than before, which made her look fake but somehow sharpened Gu Shenwei¡¯s sixth sense.


    Suddenly, he felt a chill creep into his bones and he turned around. He saw a man sitting in the corner behind him, silently breathing.


    ¡°I was just wondering if the murderer would return,¡± the man said.


    ¡°Or, perhaps the murderer was waiting for a scapegoat.¡±


    Upon recognizing this man, Gu Shenwei decided to stay. He was amazed to discover that the man also knew kung fu and could control his breath so masterfully.


    ¡°Or, perhaps the murderer was waiting for our encounter.¡±


    Zhong Heng stood up and walked to the corpse. ¡°They were wounded by a saber, and this murderer¡¯s style resembles that of Golden Roc Fort killers¡¯.¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not Golden Roc Fort¡¯s style.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°Golden Roc Fort killers always move fast and kill their every target with only one strike. The wounds they leave on dead bodies are always narrower than the saber¡¯s width, but Shen Yanshi¡¯s wound is obviously wider than a saber. The murderer must have slowly thrust a saber into her body and waited for a while before pulling it out. As for the elderly woman, she was not killed on the spot due to her shallow wound, and in truth, she died from massive blood loss.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was surprised by himself today. He had seen countless bodies in East Castle but had never paid much attention to their wounds. Now it was the first time he realized that he already had such a deep understanding of wounds that he could easily distinguish them.


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±


    Zhong Heng squatted down to touch the wounds and said, ¡°When Shen Yanshi was killed, the murderer was very close to her. He probably used one hand to stab her with a saber while holding her with the other hand. When the murderer killed the elderly woman, he used a t-chop¡ªobviously not one of his usual moves.¡±


    ¡°Well then, do you believe me now?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    This was the second time he asked someone this question.


    ¡°Not really. It¡¯s not easy for someone who moves slowly to speed up, but it¡¯s simple for a fast person to slow down. Besides, you identified the ws of the murderer so quickly.¡±


    ¡°So what do you want?¡±


    Zhong Heng returned to the corner to sit in a soft chair and said after a thought, ¡°I want to solve the problem.¡±


    ¡°I thought you wanted to find the real murderer,¡± Gu Shenwei said mockingly.


    ¡°No. I just want to solve the problem.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve caught me here. Is your problem solved now?¡±


    ¡°No, Golden Roc Fort gave you three days. I won¡¯t take a minute from you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt anxious. He really wished to find a knife from his surroundings and end Zhong Heng¡¯s life right now.


    After a profound silence, Zhong Heng suddenly asked, ¡°You don¡¯t understand what I mean, do you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not good at riddles.¡±


    Zhong Heng chuckled warmly and exined, ¡°¡®Looking for the truth¡¯ and ¡®solving the problem¡¯ arepletely different concepts. Allow me to give you an example. Let us say that someone in a room lost 100 taels of silver. The one looking for the truth wants to know three things: Did that someone really has 100 taels of silver? Did he really lose the silver? Who¡¯s the thief? However, the one looking for a solution only wants to find 100 taels of silver in order to make everybody happy, no matter who¡¯ll provide it.¡±


    For Gu Shenwei, Zhong Heng¡¯s words sounded as confusing as Tie Hanfeng¡¯s suggestion to just prove that he did not kill the third person. He felt that he began to understand what they meant but still had a few questions.


    ¡°What¡¯s the problem you want to solve in this case?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I want to find out who the real murderer is and bring him to justice.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was stunned and then realized that Zhong Heng was just joking. He felt annoyed by these riddle-like talks. Once again, he began to miss his life in East Castle and the simple world of killers. Compared to Zhong Heng, even Mama Xue looked like an honest and straightforward person.


    They spoke in many riddles beside the corpse but still did not ask each other: why did youe to this murder scene?


    As the day began to dawn, Zhong Heng stood up again. This time he was nning to leave. ¡°I¡¯ll ask around for information. What about you?¡±


    ¡°So will I.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    The remaining three prostitutes, who originally belonged to Pot-bellied Buddha, lived close to each other in the north end of Pleasure Alley. Zhong Heng came to inform them of Shen Yanshi¡¯s death.


    The first prostitute they visited suddenly sat up in her bed upon hearing the news and murmured, ¡°Another one of us is dead now. s, we¡¯re just like falling flowers. No one will care about us. Let¡¯s die one by one. I¡¯m dead. I¡¯m dead.¡± With these words, she fell back into her bed.


    The second prostitute they met received them on the first floor of her brothel since her client was sleeping upstairs. ¡°I knew she wouldn¡¯t end well. We prostitutes only work for money, but she was different. She wanted too much, just like Xu Yanwei. Aren¡¯t you investigating that murder case now? She and Xu Yanwei were the dead prince¡¯s favorite prostitutes. They were business rivals. At first, I even believed that it was Shen Yanshi who hired someone to kill Xu Yanwei and her little brother.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell us about this yesterday?¡±


    ¡°Yesterday? Come on, officer. I didn¡¯t have time to speak to you. I had to take care of my ¡®prince¡¯ at that time. As for the dead prince, he wasn¡¯t a nice client at all. I know that I¡¯m a whore and shouldn¡¯tin about whoremasters behind their backs, but that prince was never my client. Given that, it should be alright for me to gossip about him, shouldn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you can talk about him.¡±


    ¡°He was way too abusive. Only an extremely cruel man like Pot-bellied Buddha would send his real daughter to serve him. As for Shen Yanshi, that bitch was willing to do anything for money. If it was me, I would never receive such a client, no matter how much he paid me.¡±


    When they entered the third prostitute¡¯s house, they saw her burning incense on the first floor for her dead sisters. She somehow had already heard about the news. ¡°Everyone wanted to squeeze into North City, but still ended up in the wilderness. Yesterday, sister Yanshi said she felt tired and closed her door early. She didn¡¯t receive any guests. s, you won¡¯t care about her things since I know you just came to ask me about the dead prince. I don¡¯t know much about him, but I heard that many people wanted to kill him.¡±


    Gu Shenwei wanted to find Xu Yanwei¡¯s elderly woman servant, but none of the prostitutes knew where she was. In the end, an elderly woman servant here reminded him, ¡°You can ask Lady Xiao. She¡¯s the kindestdy in the alley and often helps the elderly and the weak. She probably received her out ofpassion.¡±


    After returning to the street, Gu Shenwei could not help but ask, ¡°Are the siblings really Pot-bellied Buddha¡¯s children?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Everyone knew what Pot-bellied Buddha did to them. Hearing that they hired a killer to assassinate their father, no one was surprised. Actually, they expected this to happen.¡±


    Disgusted by Pot-bellied Buddha¡¯s behavior, Gu Shenwei leaned against a wall and started to vomit. After a while, he stood up and asked, ¡°Did you say that everyone knew what he did to his own children?¡±


    ¡°This is Jade City. All kinds of incredible things happen here. You¡¯ll gradually get used to it.¡±


    Zhong Heng replied calmly, which made Gu Shenwei felt somewhat irritated. He forced himself to calm down by recalling that he did note to save this world and that it would destroy itself sooner orter.


    Xiao Fengchai¡¯s house was the most spacious and luxurious one in Pleasure Alley. In fact, it was three buildingsbined into one.


    Sincedy Xiao was sleeping upstairs, Zhong Heng and Gu Shenwei did not get the chance to meet her, but they found Xu Yanwei¡¯s elderly woman servant here. Unfortunately, she did not know much about the murder case, for she had been sent away by Xu Yanwei the day before the crime. ording to her, Ju Gaotai was Xu Yanwei¡¯s frequent guest but not her only guest. Given that, she had no idea who her guest had been at that night or who had left the 1,000 taels of silver in her room.


    ¡°One thousand taels of silver for one night? I¡¯ve never seen such a generous guest in my whole life,¡± the elderly woman servant eximed.


    When they were about to leave, she suddenly thought of something and added, ¡°Recently, a young man has frequently beening to visit her. She called him Mister Mi. He seemed to be an extravagant, rich young master; I guess only someone like him could afford to spend 1,000 taels of silver on one night.¡±


    ording to the elderly woman, Mister Mi acted mysteriously and always wore a long robe or a cape. No one had seen his face except Xu Yanwei. However, since there were many guests in Pleasure Alley behaving like that, the elderly woman had not paid any special attention to him.


    Gu Shenwei felt that the appearance of Mister Mi cast some light on the murder case.

 Chapter 87

    Chapter 87: Identify the Murderer


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei and Zhong Heng came to Southwall Tavern to meet Tie Hanfeng. In front of Commandant Zhong, Tie Hanfeng did notin too much about how his apprentice had gone into action without his permission. He only stretched and said, ¡°Huh, I¡¯m lucky to have such a capable apprentice. Look, he cracked the case all by himself.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not respond to his mentor¡¯s remarks. He simply told Tie Hanfeng all of his findings.


    The tavern did not serve alcoholic beverages in the morning, Tie Hanfeng could only lick his lips repeatedly during the conversation. ¡°So, the siblings weren¡¯t the witnesses to the murder, but they¡¯re actually the murderers? Such cruelty!¡±


    Hearing that, Gu Shenwei felt upset and nearly opened his mouth to retort. In his view, the siblings did the right thing, but his mentor seemed to disagree. He could not understand why his mentor showed eptance instead of contempt for Pot-bellied Buddha¡¯s deeds.


    Zhong Heng did not mind the attitude Tie Hanfeng held toward the siblings. The two began to chat, sharing lots ofmon topics, such as drinks, the weather, and beautiful women. After that, they began to talk about Golden Roc Fort and the Meng family in North City. Gu Shenwei heard a scheme in their seemingly trivial and superficial small talk and was filled with righteous indignation.


    ¡°So, that¡¯s it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s It.¡±


    After ending his conversation with Tie Hanfeng, Zhong Heng left the tavern.


    Tie Hanfeng picked up an empty cup to check if there was any liquor left and then threw it to the ground disappointedly.


    The waiters on the day shift came to their table one after another, politely asking them to leave. Tie Hanfeng had to take his apprentice to find another ce to stay. Not long after they left the tavern, he took his apprentice to a shabby brothel.


    Everyone inside the brothel was sleeping, but Tie Hanfeng just went directly into a bedroom without a care, as if he owned this ce. He picked up the sleeping prostitute from her bed and threw her out together with her quilt. The prostitute shrilled and cursed him for a while before finding another ce to sleep.


    This was the first time Gu Shenwei saw his mentor lie down on a bed. Tie Hanfeng said to his apprentice, ¡°Get some rest. Just help yourself.¡±


    Gu Shenwei, who had just begun to have respect for his mentor yesterday, got disgusted by him again. He would never want to touch anything there, so he just stood in the room and asked querulously, ¡°Is the problem solved?¡±


    ¡°You little bast*rd have really grown up. Come on, tell me what you¡¯ve heard.¡±


    ¡°It sounded like you¡¯re going to use the siblings as scapegoats.¡±


    ¡°Scapegoats? They have a motive to kill Pot-bellied Buddha and Ju Gaotai, and now they¡¯ve fled in fear of being punished. They hired you to kill their father and at the same time, took the chance to set you up to be identified as the prince¡¯s murderer. That¡¯s the whole story, but don¡¯t get too excited about that. We must find the siblings and send them to the Jus¡¯ residence, dead or alive.¡±


    Evidently, Tie Hanfeng just wanted to give the Stone Kingdom a reasonable exnation and did not care about who the real murderer was. Hearing what he said, Gu Shenwei began to realize what Zhong Heng meant by ¡°solving the problem¡±.


    ve Huan, an ordinary killer apprentice, had been Zhong Heng¡¯s first choice for the prince¡¯s murder.


    Nevertheless, Tie Hanfeng seemed to have figured out a way to ensure his apprentice¡¯s safety. Given that, Zhong Heng had to find another murderer to appease the Stone Kingdom within three days.


    Fortunately, now he had enough evidence to use Xu Yanwei and her brother of killing Pot-bellied Buddha and Ju Gaotai. No one would doubt Xu Yanwei¡¯s motive to kill her terrible father and her whoremaster who had often sexually abused her. Besides, no one would care much about a prostitute and a thief or stand out to speak for them; which made them an even better choice as the perpetrators.


    Zhong Heng just wished to close this case as soon as possible without offending any powerful people in Jade City. Compared to the truth, he cared more about both his career and his future.


    He needed to solve this case properly, since it was not a simple case at all and, many local powers had gotten involved in it. Zhong Heng and Tie Hanfeng believed that they had already found a solution to make every party satisfied, but Gu Shenwei still refused to ept it.


    ¡°No, I can¡¯t agree,¡± he blurted. Even he himself could not tell whether he was demanding justice or simply enjoyed refuting his mentor. He intuitively felt that he did not want to frame the siblings.


    ¡°Do you really believe that they¡¯re innocent?¡± Tie Hanfeng asked curiously.


    Gu Shenwei was speechless. He realized that he had focused too much on condemning Tie Hanfeng and Zhong Heng¡¯s sneaky scheme and hical behaviors all this time and neglected a simple fact, which was Xu Yanwei did have the motive to kill Ju Gaotai.


    ¡°Do you know that Ju Gaotai borrowed arge sum of money from the Meng family? Now, no one knows where the money had gone. It must be the siblings who stole the money.¡±


    ¡°We still have time. We can find the real murderer.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng finally lost his patience. He jumped off the bed andnded beside his apprentice, shouting, ¡°F*ck! Who do you think you are? I fulfill my duty to figure out a way to save your f*cking life, and you want to y the hero? If you fail to find the siblings before tomorrow night, you¡¯ll be dead. I¡¯ll cut your head off and give it to the Stone Kingdom, contending that you killed the prince, the prostitute named Shen Yanshi, and all the b*tches that died recently in Pleasure Alley. Don¡¯t me me for that!¡±


    Surprisingly, Tie Hanfeng¡¯s words did not irritate Gu Shenwei. Instead, it somehow calmed him down. He was unable to refute his mentor and was well aware that he was just a nobody in Jade City, who could not ensure his own safety, let alone protect someone else.


    ¡°No matter what, we have to find the siblings first.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng thought his apprentice finally gave in. He snorted loudly and returned to his bed.


    At noon on the next day, Zhong Heng invited them to lunch. During the meal, he kept apologizing that he should have invited them to a better restaurant in North City.


    After spending a quiet afternoon, Tie Hanfeng invited Zhong Heng to dinner in a simr restaurant in South City.


    Zhong Heng brought three officers with him, and Tie Hanfeng also invited another friend to the dinner. During the dinner, they chatted casually about many things except for the murder case and the missing siblings.


    For them, everything had already been settled beforehand. They just needed to wait for the siblings to fall into the trap to solve the case.


    After the dinner, Tie Hanfeng did not return to Southwall Tavern to spend the night. He brought his apprentice to a mid-priced brothel. Since South City had no hotels, they had no other choice.


    Gu Shenwei had to put up with really loud sex noises most of the night and could not fall asleep until after midnight. In his sleep, he dreamed about many weird scenes that he was too ashamed to mention to anyone.


    The next morning, they still did not receive any news of the siblings.


    Tie Hanfeng was unusually quiet and often looked at his apprentice profoundly. Gu Shenwei had no doubts of what his mentor had said. He believed that Tie Hanfeng would kill him without any hesitation, if he could not find the scapegoat today.


    ¡°I want to go to the Jus¡¯ residence again,¡± Gu Shenwei said to his mentor.


    ¡°What for?¡±


    ¡°Since you have to hand me over to them today, dead or alive, I decided to go there myself.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng felt suspicious, but he still agreed, for he reckoned that his apprentice would not y any new tricks on him.


    They invited Zhong Heng to be their witness and came to the Jus¡¯ residence together in the afternoon.


    This time, only the minister came out to receive them. He looked worried, since he was faced with many troublesome problems; such as how to send Prince Ju Gaotai¡¯s body back to the Stone Kingdom, how to help the younger prince get everyone¡¯s support, and how to pay off the princes¡¯ debts in Jade City. The debts were the most problematic. In recent days, many people hade to him asking for money. The Stone Kingdom was a small country, it was no easy job for the minister to raise money in order to pay the princes¡¯ debts.


    He keptining to them about these problems, without mentioning anything rted to the murder case. He even treated ve Huan, the main suspect very politely.


    Everybody was waiting for night to fall.


    Soon, evening came. Seeing the guests meet only one messenger in the whole afternoon, the minister knew, without asking, that the siblings were still nowhere to be found.


    ¡°Ahem, well¡­¡± he said reluctantly.


    In that moment, he saw Tie Hanfeng and immediately swallowed back his words. The killer put on a smiling expression but still failed to mask his grumpiness, which scared the minister a lot.


    ¡°It¡¯s almost time, we have to surrender the murderer,¡± the killer apprentice, who had remained quiet almost the entire time, suddenly stood up and said calmly.


    Tie Hanfeng was shocked. Zhong Heng looked at the teenager sympathetically. The minister was greatly surprised and said, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s almost time, but we still have some time left before the deadline¡­¡±


    ¡°Minister, I hope that you can invite the prince toe out. He should meet the one who killed his elder brother.¡±


    The minister stood agape. He had never expected this to happen. Just at this moment, Tie Hanfeng abruptly stood up and shouted, ¡°Yes, he muste out to see the murderer of his elder brother.¡±


    The minister trembled and looked to Zhong Heng. Unfortunately, Commandant Zhong declined to give him any response. He forced a smile and said, ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right, but I have to ask His Highness first. He¡¯s not yet fully recovered from the grievance of his elder brother¡¯s death.¡±


    After a while, the prince came out, followed by a group of servants and guards. Among them, Gu Shenwei spotted the dead prince¡¯s guard, who was also surnamed Ju. He red at ve Huan the moment he saw this teenager.


    The prince was a young man in his early 20s and looked thin and sad. After he took a seat, he slightly nodded to the guests to greet them and then snuggled down in his seat like a patient.


    ¡°So, you¡¯ve already caught the murderer, have you?¡± The minister stood beside the prince and asked.


    Gu Shenwei turned to bow to Zhong Heng while deliberately avoiding his mentors¡¯ eyes. ¡°Commandant Zhong, please allow me to surrender the murderer right here.¡±


    Zhong Heng exchanged a nce with Tie Hanfeng as he nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s a good idea.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nced around and saw some people walking about near the door. ¡°The murderer is among us. I hope we can close the door and all the windows to prevent him from escaping,¡± he required.


    ¡°Huh? I think there¡¯s no need to¡­¡±


    Looking at Tie Hanfeng and Zhong Heng, the minister felt awkward and decided to remain silent on this matter. He did not understand why they had suddenly changed their n.


    ¡°Close the door and the windows. Ask everyone outside to stay clear of this ce.¡±


    The prince became intrigued and gave the order. He straightened his back and looked at the killer apprentice with interest.


    When the servants left their position to shut the door and windows, Tie Hanfeng pulled his apprentice¡¯s sleeve. ¡°Rx, Shifu. I¡¯ll take care of this matter,¡± Gu Shenwei whispered.


    This was the first time Tie Hanfeng heard ve Huan call him Shifu, after he had adopted him as his apprentice. He seemed to feel somewhat touched and sat in his seat again silently. He stopped faking his smile and decided to leave the matter to his apprentice.


    After that, Gu Shenwei nodded to Zhong Heng. He reckoned that themandant had probably already guessed what he was nning to do. After all, it was this man who inspired him to think of this solution.


    Now he intended to solve the problem instead of revealing the truth.


    The servants hurriedly returned to their positions. Everybody was curious and could not wait to see what the main suspect in the murder case was going to do.


    ¡°He¡¯s the murderer. Disarm him right now to ensure His Highness¡¯ safety.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pointed at the guard surnamed Ju.

 Chapter 88

    Chapter 88: Kill the Scapegoat


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei had been suspicious of Guard Ju for murdering the prince when he had first met Guard Ju. Due to ack of evidence, he had maintained his silence at that time. Now, he was using the guard of murder, which disappointed Tie Hanfeng very much. He was worried that his apprentice might not be able to solve this matter as he had just promised.


    ¡°How dare you?¡± The guard took a step forward and unsheathed half of his scimitar.


    The minister stopped the guard in a hurried manner and turned to face Zhong Heng. He asked, ¡°Commandant Zhong, what¡¯s going on? using the prince¡¯s own guard of killing the prince! This is an insult to the Stone Kingdom. I hope¡­¡±


    ¡°I have evidence,¡± Gu Shenwei announced loudly, drawing everyone¡¯s attention back to him.


    Zhong Heng was the only person whose facial expression remained unchanged. ¡°Let him finish,¡± he suggested.


    Gu Shenwei did not pay any attention to the angry guard. He nced around and had his eyes fixed on the prince.


    He had a guess as to what had actually happened, but there were a lot of uncertainties. Given that, he had no way of urately predicting what had happened down to every detail, he had to observe the prince¡¯s reactions carefully to confirm his suspicions.


    ¡°I know where Xu Yanwei and her brother are. They can prove that I¡¯m telling the truth.¡±


    Hearing that, the crowd was startled. They all knew that Tie Hanfeng and themandant had mobilized many people to search for the two siblings but still failed to do so. They wondered why the killer apprentice did not look for them earlier to prove his innocence if he really knew where the siblings were hiding.


    ¡°You know where they are?¡± Asked Tie Hanfeng, who was perhaps the most confounded person here. He had sent his men to search for the siblings a few days ago when he had still been in the fort. He could not understand why his apprentice, who was unfamiliar with the city, suddenly imed that he knew the location of the siblings.


    Gu Shenwei fixed his eyes on the prince¡¯s movements and facial expressions and said, ¡°Commandant Zhong, please send someone to the east and west gates of the city to check if there were two nobles of Stone Kingdom, who came to the city on the day before yesterday and imed that they would live near or even inside Ju¡¯s Residence.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense! Your Highness, please allow me to kill him right now and avenge the death of His Highness Prince Ju Gaotai.¡±


    Guard Ju whipped out his scimitar. The minister was frightened and immediately leapt aside. ¡°Calm down. It shouldn¡¯t be resolved like this,¡± he waved his hands as he tried to persuade the guard.


    Gu Shenwei stared at the prince, firmly believing that if his assumptions were right, the prince would react before Zhong Heng sent people to the city gates.


    Zhong Heng felt a little anxious. He had a rough idea as to what the killer apprentice was going to do, but felt reluctant to get involved. ¡°Well, now it¡¯s toote to¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll send someone,¡± Tie Hanfeng suddenly stood up and interrupted. ¡°Give me an hour. If my apprentice lied, I¡¯ll behead him myself.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng limped towards the gate. Gu Shenwei did not turn around to look at his mentor. He still had his gaze fixed on the prince.


    ¡°Wait.¡±


    The prince finally spoke. Gu Shenwei felt relieved, but still managed to keep a straight face.


    ¡°Your Highness!¡± The guard looked at the prince, surprised and lowered his scimitar.


    ¡°Let him finish his story first. If it sounds reasonable, we can send someone to find the siblingster,¡± the prince said.


    Hearing that, Tie Hanfeng limped back to stand behind his apprentice, ready to draw the siblings out from Ju¡¯s Residence at any minute.


    Gu Shenwei felt a little nervous. He needed to tell a reasonable story with certainty and make it sound irrefutable. He thought long and hard but was not entirely sure that he would be able to convince everyone.


    ¡°Here¡¯s the thing. Guard Ju wants to stay in Jade City instead of returning to the Stone Kingdom. After killing Prince Ju Gaotai, he ns to ask the kingdom to allow him to stay in Jade City to guard the prince¡¯s grave.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Guard Ju lifted up his scimitar again.


    Tie Hanfeng stepped forward, prepareding to protect his apprentice. At this moment, the prince suddenly raised his hand to stop the guard. ¡°Let him finish.¡±


    ¡°Forgive me for being blunt. Prince Ju Gaotai used to frequently visit two prostitutes in Pleasure Alley. Therefore, Guard Ju often saw both of them. He liked one of the prostitutes, Xu Yanwei, so he became her client under the name of Mister Mi.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense,¡± Guard Ju retorted in a low voice again. This time, no one stopped him.


    ¡°Xu Yanwei and her brother hated their abusive father so much that they wanted to kill him. They asked Guard Ju for help, but he refused to get involved and advised them to hire a killer. That was why Xu Xiaoyi hired me. However, Guard Ju was brewing another plot at that time. He knew that Prince Ju Gaotai had just borrowed arge sum of money from Pot-bellied Buddha and nned to pocket the money and at the same time take Xu Yanwei for himself. After I killed Pot-bellied Buddha and his bodyguard, Guard Ju killed Prince Ju Gaotai, took all the money and used a forged Stone Kingdom document to get the siblings into North City. Unfortunately, the other prostitute, Shen Yanshi happened to be aware of this. Therefore, Guard Ju went to Pleasure Alley to kill her yesterday morning. Your Highness, I think you should remember that Guard Ju wasn¡¯t around you both yesterday morning and the morning your brother was murdered. And if you check the minister¡¯s seal carefully, you¡¯ll find out that it¡¯s been used recently.¡±


    There was dead silence inside the hall. The killer apprentice told a usible story but only the missing siblings would be able to confirm what he said.


    The minister walked towards the prince and whispered, ¡°Your Highness, you don¡¯t have to¡­¡±


    The prince ordered the minister to stop talking and then turned towards Guard Ju, ¡°Ju Zhan, how dare you! Have you ever thought of your family? Your wife and your children? You did this for a prostitute. It¡¯s really not worth the risk.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness¡­¡± Guard Ju looked down at his scimitar and said with a trembling voice. ¡°Your Highness, please spare my family. They¡¯re innocent.¡±


    Under such circumstances, Guard Ju admitted to the crime and raised his scimitar. Everyone thought that he was about to kill himself, but instead he leaped up, eyes widened with anger and shed the defenseless killer apprentice with his scimitar.


    Gu Shenwei was about to dodge the attack when his mentor, Tie Hanfeng, jumped in front of him to confront Guard Ju. His mentor and Guard Ju brushed past each other in the air and thennded on the ground. Tie Hanfeng managed to get hold of the scimitar while Guard Ju was left empty-handed. The next moment, the guard¡¯s head fell to the ground, rolling towards the minister.


    Having seen such a sight, the minister nearly passed out. If the prince¡¯s servants had note to hold him, he would have fallen right then and there.


    Tie Hanfeng put the scimitar down and bowed to the prince. ¡°Your Highness, please forgive me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s alright. I¡¯m sorry that such a rebellious guard of Stone Kingdom caused you so much trouble.¡±


    The prince remained indifferent as if he was not affected by the blood or the tragedy. He stood up and walked towards the gate. When he walked past the killer apprentice, he asked, ¡°What about the siblings? Are they Guard Ju¡¯s aplice?¡±


    ¡°No, they only wanted to kill Pot-bellied Buddha. They were being used by Guard Ju.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so they¡¯re still not innocent.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, they¡¯re not guilty. Pot-bellied Buddha deserved it, and it was me who killed him, not the siblings.¡±


    Suddenly, the prince appeared somewhat angry and said, ¡°Well, as you wish.¡± After that, he stormed out with his servants and guards.


    As there were too many idents today, the minister looked tired, but he still fulfilled his responsibilities. He expressed his gratitude to the three guests and politely sent them away.


    Zhong Heng apanied Tie Hanfeng and his apprentice to the north gate of the city andplimented the semi-retired killer, ¡°Mister Tie, you have such a brilliant apprentice. He solved the case brilliantly, and I might say even better than me. Now that it hase to this, Stone Kingdom will never want to mention anything rted to this scandal again in the future, which saves me lots of trouble.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng grinned. This time, his smile was genuine. ¡°Hah-hah, Commandant Zhong, you¡¯re being too modest. Without your help, a boy like him could achieve nothing.¡±


    Zhong Heng turned to the killer apprentice and asked, ¡°You¡¯re from the Central in, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but I was sold to a merchant in the Western Region when I was little, and then ended up in Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    ¡°What a promising boy. I hope we can meet again in the future.¡±


    After Zhong Heng said goodbye and was about to leave, Gu Shenwei stopped him. ¡°Commandant Zhong.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°The siblings are innocent, aren¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhong Heng replied smilingly.


    Tie Hanfeng and Gu Shenwei retrieved their sabers and horses at the north gate of the city. It was dark, so they decided to set out on foot. While they were walking up the hill with their horses, Tie Hanfeng stopped smiling andined, ¡°You¡¯re so secretive. Why didn¡¯t you tell me your n earlier? I was really worried.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Master Shifu. I just didn¡¯t want to drag you down, since I wasn¡¯t fully confident of my n.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you drag the siblings out?¡±


    ¡°I was afraid that they might talk too much, which would probably ruin my n. So I decided to leave them alone.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng was stunned. He then shook his head while smiling vaguely. He cursed and then asked solemnly, ¡°You do know that the guard couldn¡¯t be rich enough to be Xu Yanwei¡¯s client, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but he did kill the prince.¡±


    ¡°How did you figure the whole thing out? I knew who killed the prince, but I still can¡¯t straighten out some details.¡±


    ¡°When I regarded the whole thing as a problem that needed to be solved, it became much simpler. The details weren¡¯t important. Neither was the truth.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng stared at his apprentice in surprise for quite some time and then said, ¡°From now on, I should take you seriously.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was very grateful towards themandant. Although Zhong Heng never really meant to help him out, he did teach him an important lesson, which would benefit him for all his life.


    In Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind, there was another version of the story regarding Ju Gaotai¡¯s death.


    In this version, Mister Mi was not Guard Ju but the younger prince, who wanted the throne and his brother¡¯s woman. He might really like Xu Yanwei, but the moment he realized that the killer apprentice was on to him, he wanted to kill her and her brother immediately to keep it a secret. Gu Shenwei thought that this cold, decisive prince would make a more suitable ruler.


    In his view, Guard Ju, who worked to death for the two princes, might not have wanted to return to the Stone Kingdom as a humble guard. He probably wished to stay with his family in Jade City, but in the end he had to be a scapegoat for the younger prince for the sake of his family.


    Gu Shenwei had found Guard Ju¡¯s excessively angry expressions very suspicious during their first visit to Ju¡¯s Residence. He thought that the younger prince should have never let the guard meet them.


    He reckoned that the minister might not have known anything about the younger prince¡¯s plot during their first meeting. After knowing the truth, the minister was left with no choice but to ept that fact. He guessed that the minister was perhaps even quite pleased with the death of the dissolute and ipetent prince.


    Now that the case was solved, Gu Shenwei did not want to think about it anymore. His only hope is that the siblings would survive.


    Stepping into the stone castle, he felt very relieved, but this was not over yet. He had given Stone Kingdom a reasonable story, but had not yet done anything to appease the Meng family, Pot-bellied Buddha¡¯s real boss.


    Fortunately, themandant found the siblings and the money in the end. There were two loan contracts, which showed that Pot-bellied Buddha had yed a trick to pocket a lot of money during the process. This lightened the Meng family¡¯s anger towards at the killer apprentice.


    Gu Shenwei was punished by the fort. He would serve a 10-day confinement in East Castle and then work as a servant in the Whiterobe Academy. A monthter, when he returned to South City, he found out that this incident has not been resolved yet.

 Chapter 89

    Chapter 89: The Document Library


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    ve Huan was recognized by his peers as the top dog of the killer apprentices again, since he was the first one to find a client outside the fort by himself.


    Before assassinating Pot-bellied Buddha, he had killed the horse-faced man with his mentor outside the fort. However, it was his mentor¡¯s secret n and merely used his apprentice as a weapon, and no one in the fort knew it.


    Unlike the secret assassination of the horse-faced man, the prince murder case drew everyone¡¯s attention. The apprentices did not care about the prince or Pot-bellied Buddha at all. They just wondered how ve Huan, who had visited the city only twice, had found a client for himself without his mentor¡¯s help.


    During his 10-day confinement, many killer apprentices, his friends and even some casual acquaintances, sneaked to his door to visit him. After warm greetings, they all asked him the same question through the door. ¡°How did you find the client?¡±


    Gu Shenwei told all of them that it was just a coincidence. He said that he had spared Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s life before and this boy just had suddenly appeared in front of him, asking him to kill a person.


    Gu Shenwei told the truth all the time, but this could not stop the rumours about him from getting more and more exaggerated. Atst, ve Huan was widely perceived as a know-it-all, who had many connections and resources in South City. No matter how many times he denied this rumor, the apprentices still firmly believed that he could introduce clients to them. Once they had chances to go to the city with their mentors, they woulde to ve Huan, asking him to introduce clients to them. They even told him that they just wanted to umte experience and did not mind how much they would earn.


    After turning down a dozen of apprentices, Gu Shenwei finally dampened their enthusiasm.


    On thest day of his confinement, Maid Lotus came to see him with two other apprentices. After a while, the two apprentices left, letting Maid Lotus and ve Huan have a private conversation.


    Gu Shenwei kept his promise and told Maid Lotus what Doctor Sun had said about the qigong deviation. ording to the doctor, there were only two ways to cure this deviation, one was bing Buddhist to read the Exorcism Manuscript in Four Truths Temple, and the other was going to thend of fragrance about 2,500 kilometers away to seek for treatment.


    In his view, neither of these methods were feasible. Maid Lotus did not make anyments after hearing the doctor¡¯s suggestion. She could not stay here for a very long time, so she briefly informed ve Huan of an important finding.


    ¡°We¡¯ve found out who was behind Shangguan Yuxing.¡±


    Shangguan Yuxing had hired some killer apprentices to kill ve Huan during the monthly tests, but none of them had seeded. After that, he had followed ve Huan for many days and hired Cloud Panther, an important member of the Snow Mountain Gang to assassinate ve Huan at the Giant Rock Cliff. Unfortunately, the giant red-crowned roc had suddenly appeared and killed both Shangguan Yuxing and Cloud Panther, and thetter¡¯s death had caused a series of assassinations afterwards.


    ¡°Who?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    He had assumed that the person behind Shangguan Yuxing must have been Shangguan Yushi or Luo Ningcha, but Maid Lotus said something that was totally beyond his expectations.


    ¡°Someone in the Whiterobe Academy. His surname is Guo. Do you know who he is?¡±


    ¡°Mister Guo?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was stunned and at the same time, very puzzled. He had met Mister Guo only twice, once in the torture chamber of Heart Cleansing Yard and once when he had been caught with Shangguan Ru in a room after they had stolen ck Jade Palm. Gu Shenwei was pretty sure that Mister Guo did not remember the ve boy in the torture chamber. As for the theft case, Mister Guo still had no reason to me a young attendant who had just followed his master¡¯s order and had not even said a word during the whole process. He could not figure out why Mister Guo wanted him to die.


    ¡°Wildhorse has heard Shangguan Yuxing brag about how easy it is for the Whiterobe Academy to kill a killer apprentice.¡±


    Given Maid Lotus¡¯ good people skills, Gu Shenwei was not surprised at all when hearing that she had contacted Wildhorse, their former enemy, to investigate the matter. He was justpletely bewildered by the fact that it was Mister Guo who wanted to kill him.


    ¡°I heard that you¡¯re going to be sent to the Whiterobe Academy. Be careful.¡±


    With these words, Maid Lotus left. Gu Shenwei racked his brain, but still failed to get the answer. He knew Mister Guo did not like Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi, but that could not exin why he took so much trouble to take his revenge on a humble ve boy.


    That evening, Gu Shenwei was released from the confinement and returned to his mentor¡¯s yard. Tomorrow, he was going to work at the Whiterobe Academy. He felt unsettled and turned to his mentor for help.


    Tie Hangfeng and his apprentice were not close, but after the murder case, the rtionship between them improved a lot.


    Gu Shenwei told his mentor the whole thing about Mister Guo and asked for his advice. Tie Hanfeng, who knew ve Huan had helped Mama Xue stealing the wooden saber in Six Kill Temple, had some idea about this matter but he did not reply to his apprentice immediately. He went out to ask information from some of his friends in East Castle and returned at midnight.


    ¡°Mister Guo can¡¯t publicly announce that he wants to kill you, since the fort will never allow such private rivalries. That was why he took so much trouble to hire other apprentices to kill you in the monthly tests,¡± Tie Hanfeng exined.


    Seeing the puzzled look on ve Huan¡¯s face, he added, ¡°Do you remember the dog training theory I taught you? To pick out the fierce dogs and eliminate the weak ones, you have to encourage all the dogs to fight each other and bite each other when they¡¯re little. However, once you pick out the ones you want, you have to keep every dog on a leash and make them learn rules. Killer apprentices were just like those puppies. Now that the fort has already picked out the good ones, it¡¯ll ask you to follow the rules. Mister Guo knows the rules well, so he won¡¯t kill you directly in the mission. Likewise, you can¡¯t openly kill him. In this fort, you¡¯re only allowed to kill me to take my red belt and my waist token. If you seed, it¡¯ll be a great honor for you. If you seed of course, hah-hah.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not want to try it anymore. He knew he was no match for his mentor.


    ¡°As for the reason why he hates you so much, ording to my survey, it¡¯s because of the wooden saber. At that time, he concentrated too much on ck Jade Palm and failed to notice that you gave him a fake wooden saber. You made him lose the lord¡¯s respect. That¡¯s why he wants to kill you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei finally understood why Mister Guo hated him so much. He guessed that Shangguan Nu must have made up a story to exin to his father why the wooden saber had been broken. Given the bad rtionship between Shangguan Nu and Mister Guo, he believed Shangguan Nu had not said any good words for Mister Guo.


    The Whiterobe Academy was situated in the northmost part of East Castle, but was not part of the castle. Inside the academy, there were 36 seperate houses, and each house had a very specific role. It was a horizontal organization. The leaders of all the houses, who were referred to as chiefs, directly reported to the Supreme King.


    Mister Guo was a chief of a house. Gu Shenwei did not know what exactly Mister Guo was in charge of since it was a secret, but he guessed his responsibility might have something to do with the security of the fort.


    Serving in the Whiterobe Academy was part of Gu Shenwei¡¯s punishment, but Tie Hanfeng told him that it was more a reward than a punishment. ¡°The Whiterobe Academy is an important organ of the fort. You can learn lots of things there, which you can never learn from East Castle and me. R. You¡¯ll get out of it soon.¡±


    When Gu Shenwei came to the academy, he sighed that his mentor had been too optimistic. He was asked to help in the Archives Library, a ce preserving the historical records of the fort. There were only around 10 servants working in this library, and all they needed to do everyday was dusting, killing pests and rats to protect the books. Some of the archives were more than 100 years old. Gu Shenwei believed no one had read these detailed and boring records except their own authors.


    He thought that he was not going to learn anything in this library and worried that he might even forget his saber moves during these days.


    Tie Hanfeng knew his apprentice¡¯s temper and had repeatedly reminded him not to act against Mister Guo or take revenge on such a powerful person. He strongly advised ve Huan to keep a low profile and let Mister Guo cool down and forget about this thing.


    Gu Shenwei did not want to further irritate Mister Guo either, but Mister Guo was secretly plotting against him.


    Soon he noticed a sign but he failed to realize what it meant during the moment.


    Servants of the Whiterobe Academy all ate together in arge cafeteria. Although they seldom talked to each other, they still had their own ways to deliver information.


    One day, when Gu Shenwei was having lunch in the cafeteria, a boy beside him suddenly touched him and whispered, ¡°Are you Yang Huan from East Castle?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was surprised to hear someone call him by this name here. It took him a few minutes to recover from the shock. He nodded to the boy and then the boy nodded back to him.


    When he went to fetch some food for himself, he found a group of teenagers pointing at him while whispering to each other. He had never met anyone of them in the library, so he guessed that they were from some other house.


    He did not consider it an unusual thing, since many ves had heard his name and were interested in the leader of the former Tattooed Arm Gang, a gang of ves.


    The next day, which was the 15th day of his service in the Whiterobe Academy, he went back to his mentor¡¯s ce.


    Later on that day, he went to meet with the core members of the former Tattooed Arm Gang. ording to his agreement with them, the 15 core gang members would meet every three days to stay in touch. Although the gang wars among the apprentices were over now, they still needed to stay alert. The meeting ce was not fixed. Maid Lotus would choose a ce and inform everyone before each meeting.


    Likewise, the Snow Mountain Gang still existed and had even more members. It was said that they still had more than 20 or 30 people.


    During the meeting on that day, Maid Lotus told everyone thetest rumor that the Pyrowork Academy was about to organize a real assassination and the target was someone outside the fort.


    This was an unusual thing. Normally, only red-belt killers could join a real assassin mission, but by now, none of the apprentices had gotten a red-belt. Among all the killer apprentices who had killed their every opponent with one strike during the first five monthly tests, only ve Huan had survived the gang wars. However, ve Huan had willingly lost to Maid Lotus during his sixth monthly test and thus had failed to get a red belt.


    This year¡¯s apprentices were considered to be the best batch of apprentices in the fort¡¯s history. Only 20 or 30 percent of them had survived the ughter, and thus all the remaining apprentices were strong. Given that, East Castle decided to break the tradition and let the apprentices join a real assassin mission, but it had not published any detail about the mission.


    The apprentices were excited to hear this news and every one of them wanted to be selected. They were eager to prove themselves and thus their killing desire was extremely strong. They would rather be killed in battle than wince in fear.


    The killer mentors also heard about this thing, but none of them knew any detail about it.


    The next morning, Gu Shenwei found out that the teenagers who had pointed at him yesterday were servants of the Document Library.


    There was not just one-word difference between the Document Library and the Archives Library. The former one was in charge of handling all the documents for the Supreme King and its staff could often meet the lord in person. Thetter would never be able to see any of those documents until the lord died.


    Just like the yellow-belts in East Castle, servants in the Whiterobe Academy would also sell information secretly, as long as it was not a top secret.


    Gu Shenwei had raised 100 taels of silver, hoping to bribe a yellow-belt to put him and Liuhua in the same test room. His n had failed, but Maid Lotus still kept the money. As the n for the killer apprentices¡¯ assassin mission was not the most confidential document, Gu Shenwei managed to buy a copy from a servant of the Document Library.


    ording to the copy, 20 apprentices were chosen for the mission. He saw many familiar names on it, such as Maid Lotus, Wildhorse and Liuhua, but he did not see ve Huan. This copy still did not mention any details about the mission either, such as the target, the time and the location.


    Although he was quite disappointed not to be selected, he still felt happy to see some of his friends get this chance. However, the text of the document somehow made him feel uneasy. He read it again and again, but still failed to figure out the reason for his anxiety.


    He spotted Mister Guo¡¯s seal among the seven or eight seals at the end of the document and wondered, ¡°Is this mission a trap set by Mister Guo?¡± On second thought, he believed he was just being too suspicious. After all, he was the one Mister Guo wanted to kill, but he was not chosen to join the mission. He tore the copy into pieces and then went to bed.


    Somehow, he still dreamed about the contents of the document at night. In that dream, they were all written in blood.

 Chapter 90

    Chapter 90: y a Traitor


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The copy of a document which cost Gu Shenwei 100 taels of silver turned out to be of little value. The worker of the Document Library had tricked him. The moment he gave the copy to ve Huan, the assassination mission would shortly be announced. Given that, Gu Shenwei only knew the details about the mission several hours earlier than the 20 chosen apprentices.


    To maintain secrecy, that night, all of the 20 apprentices were taken to a secret location outside the fort, where they would receive special training. Because of this, Gu Shenwei did not get a chance to discuss his concerns with Maid Lotus or his other friends.


    He still had some negative feelings about this mission and thought of many reasons to prove that his fears were reasonable. After a while, he felt that he could not bear his nervousness anymore and decided to ask his mentor for advice again.


    As he had expected, Tie Hanfeng scoffed at his worries. ¡°Hah-hah, you¡¯re way too suspicious. You always see a tiger in the way, even when there¡¯s only a rat. You saw Mister Guo¡¯s seal on the document. That means he¡¯s one of the masterminds. He¡¯ll be held ountable if any killer dies during the mission,¡± he said while holding a pot with one hand and brandishing a cup with the other hand.


    ording to Golden Roc Fort¡¯s principles, the best assassinations were the ones with the least resistance. The fort saw the killer apprentices within the East Castle as disposable trash, but once they became killers on a mission, their lives would be extremely valuable. Any killer¡¯s death would cause great trouble for the masterminds of assassinations.


    Gu Shenwei also knew this tradition, so he had to agree with his mentor that Mister Guo would never want any killer to perish during the mission.


    With that thought in mind, he finally felt relieved. Beyond his expectations, three dayster, he was notified that he also needed to take part in that assassination mission.


    It was not a very difficult mission, but to help the killer apprentices get more experience, the masterminds did not omit any steps. Now, they needed to choose a spy among the killer apprentices. The one they chose was ve Huan.


    About a year and a half ago, Han Shiqi had worked as a spy in the assassination of the Gu family.


    Gu Shenwei did not like this task at all, and at the same time he felt very bewildered. As his punishment was not over, strictly speaking, he was not a killer apprentice and was not eligible to partake in any assassination missions. However, as a humble servant, he could only follow orders without question.


    A yellow-belt supervisor came to read out the orders to him, and a red-belt killer gave him specific instructions and a parcel which contained some ordinary clothes, some silver and a waist token for him to leave the fort.


    Gu Shenwei had to leave right after epting the order, so he did not have time to return to his mentor¡¯s ce to ask for his advice. He put down a stack of dusty documents, changed his clothes and then headed for the city.


    He hated traitors and thought they were despicable. Although Golden Roc Fort usually called these people spies and considered their involvement an indispensable part of all assassination missions, he still felt disgusted that he had to y such a role in this mission.


    He went by Xu Yanwei¡¯s brothel in Pleasure Alley on his way to find his informant in South City. He discovered that the brothel had already been taken over by a new owner. An elderly woman was standing in front of it, enthusiastically introducing the new girl to the pedestrians.


    The ce where he was going to meet with the informant was a small and dark tavern. He saw only a few guests in its narrow lobby after entering this ce. Without a waiter leading the way for him, he walked directly into a passageway. He saw many small rooms on both sides. They were all partitioned by solid walls, and thergest one among them could only allow five or six people to sit down and chat. It was a nice ce for private conversations.


    ording to the instructions he had received, he was to walk into the 7th room on his right-hand side. An informant should be waiting for him in this room at that moment. This person was going to help him infiltrate a new gang.


    To his great surprise, he saw a familiar face here.


    ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± They cried out simultaneously.


    Xu Xiaoyi spat on the ground resentfully and said, ¡°If I knew it was you, I would¡¯ve never taken this job.¡±


    Gu Shenwei sat opposite to him and said, ¡°No matter who the informant is, I wasn¡¯t willing to do this job anyway.¡±


    After an awkward silence, Xu Xiaoyiined, ¡°You really forced my sister and me to suffer.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t die to help you guys out,¡± Gu Shenwei said sarcastically. If he had not insisted that the siblings were innocent, they would have been executed a long time ago.


    Xu Xiaoyi snorted and then cowered in his seat. After a while, he straightened his back and said, ¡°To tell the truth, we never thought of killing Prince Ju Gaotai. He was not a good person, but none of my sister¡¯s clients were good. No matter what, we never intended to frame you. The officer told us that it was you who said that we¡¯re innocent and saved our lives.¡±


    ¡°You think that I could¡¯ve done better?¡±


    ¡°No, we¡¯re not ungrateful people, but¡­ you know¡­ we nearly seeded in leaving this terrible ce. The younger prince promised us that he would make my sister his queen and me, his minister when I grow up.¡±


    ¡°You believed that?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ those customers¡­ They¡¯ll even promise us to kill their own mothers as long as we kept them happy. However, it was still a chance for us. If we just leave this ce, my sister will be able to find other rich fools.¡±


    Gu Shenwei snorted and asked, ¡°Where¡¯s the silver left by the prince and Pot-bellied Buddha?¡±


    ¡°The prince¡¯s debt collectors came to us one after another, iming it was all their money. They¡¯ve taken it all away, and now my sister and I are penniless and heavily in debt. Given that, she continues to work as a prostitute and me? D*mn it, I work for you now.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the way life is.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not want to y the hero anymore. He did not feel sorry for the siblings. They had no other options, just like himself who could only be a killer now.


    ¡°No¡­¡± Xu Xiaoyi wanted to retort but quickly changed his mind. He thought of his job and said, ¡°I¡¯ll take you to their ce tonight. It¡¯s easy. They¡¯ll ept you immediately after you pay the enrollment fee.¡±


    Jade City attracted lots of exiled nobles as well as wandering hoodlums. These hoodlums mostly lived in South City. Some of them sought opportunities in the city, hoping to get employed by crime lords. Some chose to take bolder actions to establish their own gangs and start their own business.


    Most of the time, Golden Roc Fort would not pay any special attention to these small gangs and sometimes, they would even hire them toplete some tasks. However, every now and then, some gangs would get overambitious and even dare to challenge the Supreme King. When that happened, the fort would take action against them immediately to ensure its own status and at the same time, give the other gangs a warning.


    The target of the 20 killer apprentices was of such a small gang. It had been around for less than one year, and its name was Tianshan Sect. It was also known as the Ten-Dragon Gang since it was founded by 10 wandering machetemen.


    The gang¡¯s regr meeting ce was a courtyard outside the city. It was located near the wilderness and looked more like a nameless tavern since there were obviously much more liquor jars than weapons in the yard. At night, the seven or eight thatched cottages in the courtyard became even livelier than Southwall Tavern. Gu Shenwei could often see some people get kicked out of the cottages or scuffled all the way from the cottages to the yard.


    It was indeed very simple to join the Ten-Dragon Gang. With Xu Xiaoyi as his sponsor, Gu Shenwei paid only 10 taels of silver to get a rough iron sheet as the admission voucher. He did not even need to give a kowtow to anyone or go through any other kind of ceremony to join the gang.


    Compared to the drinks offered by Southwall Tavern, the liquor here tasted like vinegar. Gu Shenwei did not drink it since he had to stay sober to observe everyone here and obtain information.


    The Ten-Dragon Gang seemed to have lots of members. Gu Shenwei roughly counted the people who visited this ce tonight and found out that there were about 200 of them. Most of them were dressed in worn-out felt jackets and carried machetes like bandits. They came here to drink, brag and fight. Gu Shenwei could not help thinking of his mentor. He believed Tie Hanfeng would get along with these people very well.


    In his view, this group of people looked more like some a disorderly mob than a gang. They did not seem to share amon goal or work on amon n.


    When Elderly Dragon came to the courtyard one or two hours before midnight, these people finally acted like proper gang members.


    Elderly Dragon, one of the founders of the Ten-Dragon Gang, was in his 60s. He had protruding eyes, which made him look as if he was always staring at someone. The moment he entered the room he took off his short jacket and threw it to his followers, revealing his tattoos, which were ten fierce-looking dragons.


    ¡°Is everybody here?¡± Elderly Dragon shouted. His voice boomed out above all the other sounds in the room. Hearing his voice, the people in the other cottages all hurriedly rushed over.


    ¡°Elderly Dragon! Elderly Dragon¡­¡± the gang members chanted their leader¡¯s name enthusiastically. They appeared intoxicated as if they had just drunk the best wine in Jade City.


    ¡°With a thousand members, Tianshan Sect will soon be the biggest gang in the whole Western Region!¡±


    The crowd burst into cheers.


    ¡°Who¡¯re we going to defeat?¡±


    ¡°Golden Roc Fort, Golden Roc Fort¡­¡± the members, as if possessed, shouted repeatedly. The loud sounds shook the cottage.


    ¡°Who¡¯re we going to rob?¡±


    ¡°Meng Yuzun, Meng Yuzun¡­¡± the gang members got even louder this time, calling the head of the Meng family by his full name. Meng Yuzun was one of the richest men in the Western Region.


    This Q&Asted for nearly an hour. Elderly Dragon guided the gang members to yell out answers to a series of questions, describing how Tianshan Sect was going to crush Golden Roc Fort and ransack North City. After that, Elderly Dragon put on his jacket and left. The gang members, intoxicated and thrilled, also began to leave the courtyard after Elderly Dragon¡¯s departure. They walked into the boundless wind and snow with shining eyes. It seemed that this daydreaming could encourage them to endure a few more days of hard life.


    Gu Shenwei found the whole situation very absurd. He could hardly describe this group of people as a gang. From his point of view, the Tianshan Sect was probably just organized by some con artists with no real victims except for its members that paid to join.


    Despite that, he still strictly carried out his mission and stayed there until no one else was left. He pretended to be drunk and slept at his table, letting Xu Xiaoyi carry him away in the end.


    It was snowing hard. The footprints left by hundreds of people were already nowhere to be found. Without Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s help, Gu Shenwei could not even tell which direction the city was.


    After they returned to the city, Xu Xiaoyi brought the killer apprentice to his home. The two shook off the snow on their bodies at the door. Gu Shenwei felt extremely cold even though he practiced Internal Strength, he looked at Xu Xiaoyi. That boy was unable to utter a word now. His lips were purple because of the cold.


    Fortunately, there was a burning brazier in the room. Xu Xiaoyi went to start up the fire, and Gu Shenwei came to sit opposite to him. They sat quietly by the fire to warm themselves. No one wanted to speak.


    ¡°Xiaoyi, you came back?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned around and saw Xu Yanwei standing upstairs. She was dressed in a silk robe and looking at him curiously. The next moment, she recognized him and her face changed. ¡°Why did you bring him here?¡± She shouted.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have a choice. The fort sent him to contact me,¡± Xu Xiaoyi murmured while shivering.


    Gu Shenwei turned away to avoid Xu Yanwei. He did not want to speak with anyone at this moment.


    Xu Yanwei went back to her bedroom and locked herself in.


    ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind. She nearly became a queen, but now she¡¯s still just a prostitute. She¡¯s not in a good mood,¡± Xu Xiaoyi said to ve Huan.


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Gu Shenwei replied reluctantly. He was still thinking about the Ten-Dragon Gang. The gang members were no threats at all except for Elderly Dragon and a few of his followers, which made him wonder why Golden Roc Fort wanted to attack such a group of people.


    ¡°We need to go to the courtyard again tomorrow night, but I need to get myself a saber first.¡±


    ¡°What for?¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not answer. He just needed a saber. Without it, he could not fall asleep.

 Chapter 91

    Chapter 91: A New Interpretation


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    A saber was a must for Gu Shenwei now.


    He carried one everyday in Golden Roc Fort and became ustomed to having the extra weight on him all the time. Without it, he would feel as if he waspletely naked and unprotected, especially when he was in a dangerous ce like South City.


    The next day, he left Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s ce at noon and walked toward Southwall Tavern through the deep snow. Among all the ces he knew in South City, that ce had the most weapons.


    The tall fat guy at the gate of Southwall looked at him coldly and refused his request directly, ¡°Southwall is a tavern, not a weapon shop.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll pay you to get one,¡± Gu Shenwei insisted, unwilling to take no for an answer. He blocked the doorway, knowing that no one woulde to the tavern at this time.


    The tall fat guy exchanged a nce with the short fat guy, and then they went into the tavern. After a while, they came out, threw a weapon to the killer apprentice and said, ¡°For the sake of your mentor, we give you this one for free.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was surprised to hear that the fat guys still remembered that he was Tie Hanfeng¡¯s apprentice. He picked up the weapon and said, ¡°It¡¯s a sword. I said that I want a saber.¡±


    The fat guys got a little bit irritated and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be so picky. Am I your ve or something? Get out of here.¡±


    With their arms crossed, the fat guys approached the stubborn teenager step by step to drive him away.


    Gu Shenwei returned to Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s ce and drew out the sword to have a look. He thought it must have been left behind by a con man who masqueraded as a nobleman. Both the shaft and the scabbard of the sword were ornately decorated, but the gems embedded in them were apparently fake. The sword was light and thin, with no cutting edge.


    Holding it, he could not feel as secure as he did when he held a saber in hand.


    ¡°You don¡¯t like it?¡± Xu Xiaoyi came over and asked. He was obviously more interested in the fake gems.


    ¡°I¡¯m just not used to using a sword.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be a problem. No one in the Ten-Dragon Gang canpete with you in kung fu. You can defeat them no matter what weapon you use.¡±


    What Xu Xiaoyi said reminded Gu Shenwei of the sword technique in the nameless sword manual, which was a move without defense and was suitable for surprise attacks. He had used it to fight his mentor. At that time, he had almost beaten Tie Hanfeng, but also had nearly gotten killed. That was because his mentor¡¯s kung fu was much better than his. As for the gang members who were definitely much weaker than him, Gu Shenwei believed that he could easily kill them all using these sword techniques.


    With that thought in mind, he felt eager to try the sword techniques again during the mission, although such bold actions were clearly against Golden Roc Fort¡¯s principles. He had strongly advised Maid Lotus not to practice the sword techniques from the manual, but somehow he himself was still obsessed with it.


    He lifted the sword, stabbed and pulled it back.


    Xu Xiaoyi fell backward on the floor in surprise. ¡°What¡¯re you doing? Are you going to kill me because I know too much?¡± The boy asked while touching his neck with his hand.


    ¡°No. I just wanted to try this sword out.¡±


    ¡°Try that sword out? Try that sword out on a living person? Are you kidding me? You might have identally killed me just now,¡± Xu Xiaoyiined as his face turned red.


    ¡°No. I controlled it precisely,¡± Gu Shenwei said, while putting the sword back into its scabbard. He felt that he began to get familiarized with this weapon.


    Xu Xiaoyi could not believe what the killer apprentice said. He had clearly felt the point of the sword touch his neck just now. If the killer apprentice had stabbed several centimeters further, he would have been dead. In his view, everyone can make mistakes, but he did not want to argue with the killer apprentice in case that he would feel challenged and want to try again to prove himself.


    Xu Xiaoyi gradually calmed himself down and thought back on the sword technique. He discovered that it was extremely fast and unpredictable, and believed that it was the best sword technique he had ever seen. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s the name of the sword technique you used just now? Your sword skills seem even better than your saber skills.¡±


    As Xu Xiaoyi did not know kung fu, Gu Shenwei could not exin to him that such a nice sword technique might not be as practical as the saber techniques in real fights. He simply told him, ¡°Stab-neck sword skill.¡±


    ¡°Half-naked? You use this sword skill after taking your clothes off?¡±


    ¡°No, I said stab-neck. It¡¯s a skill of stabbing necks.¡±


    Upon hearing that, Xu Xiaoyi immediately covered his neck with both hands, and his mouth twitched. ¡°It seems to be a nice move. Howe it has such a weird name?¡± He grumbled.


    A customer came for Xu Yanwei in the afternoon. Gu Shenwei and Xu Xiaoyi had to leave the house. The siblings did not have enough money to rent a house in Pleasure Alley. They only had enough for a ce at the edge of the city. There was nowhere for them to go, and Gu Shenwei refused to go to brothels. Given that, they just went to Southwall Tavern again.


    At the entrance of the tavern, Gu Shenwei gave his sword to the fat guys and said, ¡°I would like to get a saber when I leave.¡±


    The fat guys searched them carefully and then reluctantly allowed them to enter the tavern.


    Gu Shenwei bade Xu Xiaoyi to keep a low-profile inside the tavern and deliberately chose a table in a corner to avoid attention.


    As it was still early in the afternoon, there were not many guests inside the tavern. Gu Shenwei looked around, searching for familiar faces. Tie Hanfeng was not here, but there was another elderly man who caught his attention.


    The man was drinking alone and there was only one kind of alcoholic drink on his table, which indicated that he was a real toper.


    Gu Shenwei recognized that he was Zhang Ji, the teacher in the family school of Golden Roc Fort. Mister Zhang was a strict teacher and had whipped him in the neck back in his school days. Since new year wasing, Gu Shenwei reckoned that the school must have been on vacation.


    Zhang Ji also had a job at the Archives Library. He was the only person interested in those archives and often read them by the light of a candle at night. It suddenly urred to Gu Shenwei that Mister Zhang might be able to help him understand the document he had.


    He took out all his money, around 30 or 40 taels of silver, and gave it to Xu Xiaoyi, who was hastily gobbling down the food on the table. ¡°Go to the counter and pay the bill,¡± he said.


    ¡°What, I¡¯ve not finished yet,¡± Xu Xiaoyi goggled at the killer apprentice and said with his mouth full.


    ¡°Pay the bill for the elderly man over there.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi was surprised. He nced at Zhang Ji and asked, ¡°Is he your father?¡±


    ¡°Oh man, what a nosy little informant. I¡¯ll return to report to East Castle tomorrow. It seems that I need to also tell them of your performance,¡± Gu Shenwei said affectedly.


    Hearing that, Xu Xiaoyi jumped off his chair and hurriedly walked toward the counter with the silver in his hands. ¡°Stop throwing the fort¡¯s weight around to bully us,¡± he grumbled.


    After a while, the boy came back and looked embarrassed. ¡°That man owes a lot to the tavern. He¡¯se here to drink for several days in a row and only ordered the best drinks. Your money isn¡¯t enough to pay for his bills.¡±


    ¡°Well then, put it on my tab.¡±


    ¡°Whose tab?¡±


    ¡°Tie Hanfeng.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi reluctantly walked to the counter again and came back even faster than thest time. The manager of the tavern followed him to tell the killer apprentice, ¡°We never kept a tab for Tie Hanfeng¡¯s spendings here.¡±


    ¡°You can start keeping a tab for him as of today.¡±


    Gu Shenwei learned an important thing from his mentor, which was one should always act boldly and steadfastly to achieve his goal in South City. Since once he winced or appeared hesitant, he would be trampled on by others.


    The manager looked the teenager up and down and asked, ¡°Are you his apprentice?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am.¡±


    ¡°What if your mentor refuses to pay for your tab?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll pay with heads.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pressed one hand on the table and replied calmly like a seasoned killer. During his first visit to South City, a young man had told him that heads, namely his killing service, could also be used as currency in the city.


    Seeing the teenager make an empty show of strength, the manager was displeased and looked quite grim. For a moment, Gu Shenwei thought he was going to re-up. Nevertheless, after a while, the manager said, ¡°142 taels of silver. Put it on Tie Hanfeng¡¯s ount.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi was so impressed. He sat in a chair on the killer apprentice¡¯s left side and looked at him with shining eyes. ¡°Wow, that was really awesome. You¡¯re so¡­ By the way, what¡¯s your name?¡±


    They had known each other for a long time, but the teenager had never mentioned his name and Xu Xiaoyi had never asked about it until now.


    ¡°Yang Huan.¡± Gu Shenwei told the boy his fake name. Now that he was sent by the fort to carry out a task, he did not have to use his ve name anymore.


    ¡°Can I call you Brother Huan? Is it alright? You¡¯re probably only one or two years older than me. Tut, tut¡­¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi kept shaking his head. It was very difficult for him to believe that the fierce killer apprentice was that young.


    Gu Shenwei did not pay much attention to the boy. He still fixed his eyes on Zhang Ji. Soon, Mister Zhang invited the teenager to join him.


    ¡°I¡¯ve taught many students in the fort, but only you, a ve boy, know how to show respect for a teacher.¡±


    Beyond Gu Shenwei¡¯s expectations, Zhang Ji still remembered the ve boy who had once disturbed his ss. They both worked in the Archives Library in recent days, but they had never spoken to each other.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a small courtesy. Please kindly ept it, Mister Zhang.¡±


    ¡°Someone is willing to pay for my tab. I¡¯ve no reason to refuse such kindness. Take a seat. If you¡¯ve anything to say, say it. Don¡¯t beat about the bush. However, I need to remind you first that I won¡¯t pay you back the money. As for the thing you¡¯re going to ask, I can¡¯t promise that I¡¯ll help you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. I may need your advice for some other things in the future,¡± Gu Shenwei said smilingly.


    Gu Shenwei recited all the contents of the document except the names to Zhang Ji in a low voice, and then he asked, ¡°Mister Zhang, did you notice anything unusual in this document?¡±


    Zhang Ji picked up his cup and shook it gently and slowly. ¡°I can¡¯t help you with that. I¡¯m too old and never want to get involved in the things of the fort too much.¡±


    ¡°Thank you then, Mister Zhang.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not ask any other questions. He had already gotten the answer from Zhang Ji¡¯s attitude. Besides, given theplicated rtionships between the people in the fort, Gu Shenwei was not sure whether Zhang Ji was reliable.


    He returned to his seat, closed his ears to Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s nagging and immersed in thought. Evidently, Mister Zhang had spotted something unusual in the document, which confirmed his suspicion that this mission might be a plot against him.


    Gradually, the tavern got more and more noisy and crowded. Some guests sat near him and began to chat. They all talked in a roundabout way like Tie Hanfeng and Zhong Heng.


    Hearing their conversations, Gu Shenwei suddenly realized that Mister Guo might have also put such word games in the document. To know what he really meant, he needed to crack the riddles and read between the lines.


    Gu Shenwei asked Xu Xiaoyi to get him a brush and a piece of paper. He wrote the document down and read it carefully from beginning to end. Now he understood why this document made him feel so uneasy.


    In this carefully worded document, the masterminds expressed implications that this n might not seed and that this failure might be a good thing for the overproud apprentices.


    Gu Shenwei tore the paper into pieces and walked toward the gate of the tavern. When he walked past Zhang Ji¡¯s table, he said, ¡°Thank you, Mister Zhang.¡±


    ¡°If you want to thank me, stay far away from me.¡±


    Not wanting to be spotted by some spies hiding in the crowd, Zhang Ji replied coldly. He did not even lift up his eyes to look at ve Huan.


    Gu Shenwei did not stop near Mister Zhang¡¯s table either. He kept walking toward the gate when many guests swarmed into the tavern. Xu Xiaoyi swallowed the food in his mouth, took a swig of a drink and hurriedly caught up with him.


    At the gate, the tall fat guy gave the killer apprentice a new weapon before he asked. It was a sword again and was even shorter and lighter than the previous one. It looked like a children¡¯s toy.


    The fat guy smiled mockingly at the teenager, but Gu Shenwei just received it peacefully and smiled back at him while saying, ¡°You could¡¯ve done better.¡±


    It was getting dark and the snow was still quite deep. They crunched all the way to the courtyard of the Ten-Dragon Gang. This time, Gu Shenwei did not need to pay the enrollment fee, but he was asked to pay for the drinks. Since Gu Shenwei had no money now, Xu Xiaoyi took out 10 taels of silver to pay and repeatedly reminded the killer apprentice that he just borrowed this money to him.


    Gu Shenwei held the short sword, with his eyes fixed on a rowdy man in the crowd. He was nning to provoke the man into a fight.

 Chapter 92

    Chapter 92: Scars


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    While swigging liquor and talking loudly, the rowdy man asionally waved a long, sheathed machete with his left hand to frighten the people around him.


    Some of the gang members walked away from him. Some approached him and greeted him smilingly.


    Like Elderly Dragon, this rowdy man was one of the founders of the Ten-Dragon Gang and nicknamed himself Dragon Tooth.


    ording to Gu Shenwei¡¯s observations, most of the gang members could not even hold their weapons steadily, whereas both Elderly Dragon and Dragon Tooth were endowed with superb kung fu skills.


    Actually, Golden Roc Fort had not ordered ve Huan to investigate the gang members¡¯ kung fu, but he did so anyway in order to discover Mister Guo¡¯s true intentions.


    A momentter, Dragon Tooth staggered out of the crowd.


    Gu Shenwei stared at him in an effort to cause irritation; this was how gang members provoked fights.


    As he had expected, Dragon Tooth quickly red up and shouted at him, ¡°Brat, why do you keep staring at me? Do you want to f*ck or something? Look, here¡¯s my machete. Is it big enough for you?¡±


    The surrounding gang members burst intoughter. Gu Shenwei shook his head and retorted immediately, ¡°No, your machete is stained with your own sh*t. Use it yourself.¡±


    After quarreling with his mentor many times, Gu Shenwei was not ashamed of uttering such filthynguage anymore.


    The gang membersughed even louder as Dragon Tooth¡¯s face suddenly changed. Gu Shenwei could easily tell that Dragon Tooth was the kind of person who always imed that he was just joking when hurling insults at others, but would never tolerate being verbally abused himself. Only a real master of dirtynguage like Tie Hanfeng could remain calm throughout a quarrel while also quickly retorting.


    Dragon Tooth unsheathed his long machete and threw the scabbard away. He held the machete shaft with both hands, ready to attack. Drinking and shouting, the gang members swiftly stepped aside to make room for the fight. They were delighted to see such an exciting scene with liquor in their hands.


    Xu Xiaoyi joined the crowd, urging the gang members to bet with him. ¡°I bet the guy with the sword will win.¡±


    Before anyone agreed to bet with him, the fight had already begun. Thanks to this, Xu Xiaoyi was able to keep hisst few taels of silver.


    When Dragon Tooth lifted up his long machete, the people beside him became scared and instinctively moved back as far as possible in order to distance themselves from the weapon. Meanwhile, Gu Shenwei quickly unsheathed his short sword, stabbed forward, and then drew it back. The next moment, everyone saw a shallow wound appear on the teenager¡¯s shoulder, blood quickly staining his cotton-padded jacket.


    The gang members simultaneously cheered for Dragon Tooth while Xu Xiaoyi stood agape, unable to believe his eyes.


    ¡°Wait for me, if you dare. I¡¯ll bring my people here momentarily.¡±


    With these words, Gu Shenwei turned around to leave. This was the gang members¡¯ typical way of admitting defeat.


    Xu Xiaoyi quickly caught up with him and repeatedly questioned what happened.


    Gu Shenwei just kept walking without saying a word; he knew that Xu Xiaoyi would never understand what he was thinking.


    Firstly, he discovered that Dragon Tooth¡¯s machete skills were subpar; his moves were far too slow. The time he used to lift up his machete was enough for a professional killer tond three fatal blows on him. Given that, Gu Shenwei concluded that Elderly Dragon and the other founders of the gang might not be very good at kung fu either. Thus, he was confused as to why Mister Guo implied in the document that the apprentices might fail in this mission to crush such a weak gang.


    Secondly, Gu Shenwei realized that the sword skill in the nameless sword book was exclusively a killing move and could never be used to deceive the opponent. In the fight, he had already touched Dragon Tooth¡¯s throat with his sword before he withdrew it, but neither the gang members nor even Dragon Tooth himself had noticed this swift move. That was why Dragon Tooth had not retracted his machete to block the sword and managed to wound Gu Shenwei¡¯s shoulder.


    Xu Xiaoyi forgot that it was still early in the night and took the killer apprentice back to his home again. When they opened the door, they heard Xu Yanwei groaning upstairs as she endured a whipping.


    Xu Xiaoyi turned pale and stood dumbfounded. He wanted to walk out of the house, but it was freezing cold outside. After a while, he entered the house and sat by the fire quietly. A momentter, he covered his ears with his hands and buried his face in his knees.


    Gu Shenwei stood opposite Xu Xiaoyi, telling himself that this was none of his business and that he should remain a cold-hearted killer. Despite only being 15, the number of people he killed had already outnumbered the number of dead people an old man would have seen in his whole life. He was familiar with how cruel and unfair this world was and had decided not to y the hero anymore.


    However, he just could not stand idle at this moment.


    He unsheathed his sword, threw the scabbard away, and ran upstairs. When Xu Xiaoyi raised his head, he saw the killer apprentice standing at the door of the bedroom. The boy was confused and opened his mouth, wanting to say something. In the end, he failed to utter anything and closed his mouth.


    The door was utched so Gu Shenwei pushed it open. His eyes were greeted with the back of a naked man. Due to the many candles in the room, the man¡¯s body was shimmering in the light, making it seem as though the ck tattoos on his body were alive.


    With a cup of liquor in his left hand and a whip in his right hand, the man whispered excitedly, ¡°Scream b*tch. Scream louder¡­¡± Just as he was about to flog Xu Yanwei once again, Gu Shenwei caught his wrist.


    He threw the naked man out of the room and immediately turned around, averting his eyesight from Xu Yanwei, who was tied to the bed.


    ¡°What¡¯re you doing?¡±


    Before the naked man realized what had happened, Xu Yanwei was ovee with anger and shame.


    Gu Shenwei pretended not to hear what she said and fixed his eyes on the man outside the room.


    The naked man staggered to his feet and looked around. After a while, he finally saw the teenager who had ruined his night and shouted at him, ¡°Who the hell are you?¡±


    ¡°Piss off.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took a step forward with the sword in his hand.


    The man was tipsy and had no idea what kind of person he was currently confronting. He roared and rushed back into the bedroom with a whip in hand. Nevertheless, when he saw the teenager¡¯s face in the light, he stopped all of a sudden and winced in fear like a dog meeting a wild wolf.


    He had some jianghu experience and immediately recognized the teenager¡¯s murderous countenance. The grim look frightened him. He put down the whip and turned his eyes to the clothes on the chair. Gu Shenwei knew that there was a machete on the chair since he could clearly discern a machete shaft stick out from under the clothes.


    ¡°You can take your clothes away,¡± he said.


    Terrified by the strong killing intent, the man did not dare to move.


    ¡°You b*stard, what the hell are you doing?¡± Xu Yanwei shouted at the killer apprentice. She had never experienced a killing intent and was thusly not afraid of the teenager who had once killed two people in front of her.


    Gu Shenwei ignored her again. This house was wide enough for a killer tounch an attack on his opponent from behind. Gu Shenwei believed that when the man realized this point, he would immediately leave this ce as quickly as possible with only his clothes.


    As he had expected, when the man sobered up, he took small quick steps to the chair to get his clothes. During the process, he identally touched the machete shaft, but immediately withdrew his hand from it. He hurriedly left the room, sweating. When he got to the first floor, he finally stopped to put on his clothes.


    ¡°B*tch, you attempt to fool me? Wait here if you dare. I¡¯ll bring my people here shortly,¡± the man shouted out the typical words gang members would use when admitting defeat, and then fled as fast as he could.


    Now, Gu Shenwei found himself in an awkward situation. Xu Yanwei was still fastened on the bed, there was no woman servant here, and he could not ask Xu Xiaoyi to help.


    ¡°Untie the rope,¡± said Xu Yanwei, grumpily.


    Gu Shenwei threw his sword away and picked up a quilt, before swiftly turning around and putting it on Xu Yanwei. During that moment, he got a glimpse of the countless welts on her white skin. He quickly untied her and then ran downstairs.


    When he left, he heard Xu Yanwei shout, ¡°Get out of here.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi turned pale. He sat by the fire and said to the killer apprentice, ¡°Do you know who he is? He¡¯s Elderly Dragon¡¯s son.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not want to exin since Xu Xiaoyi did not know much about the assassination mission.


    After a while, Xu Yanwei stormed downstairs and stood before the boys.


    She looked furious and aggressive,pletely different from the shy, delicate girl Gu Shenwei remembered.


    Thinking back to his first encounter with the siblings, he concluded that both of them were amazingly good at acting.


    ¡°Why? Why did you drive my client away?¡± Xu Yanwei growled like a tigress.


    Gu Shenwei was not sure why he did this, so he just looked at Xu Yanwei quietly.


    ¡°He saved our lives,¡± Xu Xiaoyi murmured.


    ¡°Aha,¡± Xu Yanweiughed as if she had just heard a joke. ¡°You saved my life, so you think you have the right to judge me and to interfere in my private affairs? What do you want me to do now? To feel embarrassed and ashamed? And then I¡¯ll beg for your mercy and ask you to forgive me and help me? You believe that I¡¯m deeply grateful for what you¡¯ve done and can¡¯t thank you enough for that, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°No, I never meant to point fingers at you.¡±


    ¡°So you must want me to repay you by sleeping with you. Come on. Let¡¯s go upstairs right now. You can have whatever you want. I can y a bashful girl or a slut, and you can beat me with your de and treat me as roughly and abusively as you want. No matter what you do, I¡¯ll treat you like a king.¡±


    Xu Yanwei red at the killer apprentice, her breast heaving.


    ¡°I just want you to be a good sister,¡± Gu Shenwei pointed at Xu Xiaoyi and said.


    When he uttered the word ¡°sister¡±, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Having buried his feelings deeply for a long time, he had never expected to have such an emotional outburst. After a while, he managed to calm himself down and buried his feelings once again.


    After an awkward silence, Xu Xiaoyi lowered his head and whispered, ¡°She¡¯s a good sister¡­¡±


    Xu Yanwei stood agape for a while and then went upstairs.


    ¡°Wow, I¡¯ve never seen her so angry,¡± Xu Xiaoyi said smilingly, trying to resolve the ufortable, embarrassing situation


    Gu Shenwei kept his mouth shut; he realized that he had made a mistake. The act of sessively involving himself in the siblings¡¯ lives clearly vited a killer¡¯s principles. Fortunately, he would soon say goodbye to them, since his mission was about toe to an end.


    Xu Yanwei walked downstairs again, with scissors and gauze in hand. She arrived before the killer apprentice and coldly said, ¡°Take off your shirt.¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked down and saw the wound on his shoulder. The blood was congealed and he did not mind the pain; however, he still took off his shirt due to Xu Yanwei¡¯s assertion.


    The siblings gasped at what they saw on the teenage killer¡¯s body.


    There were countless scars of different lengths between his neck and waist. In the firelight, these ovepping and intecing scars looked like ferocious tattoos. Compared to his scars, Xu Yanwei¡¯s welts looked like mere dabs of rouge.


    Some of these scars were left by Tie Hanfeng and some, by his opponents. There were so many scars that even Gu Shenwei himself had already forgotten how he had received them.


    As Xu Yanwei had no other client on that night, they all went to bed early. Xu Xiaoyi had worried for more than two hours that the Ten-Dragon Gang mighte back to seek revenge, before finally slipping unawares into sleep.


    The next morning, Gu Shenwei woke up early. He needed to go somewhere else to report to the killer leader, themander of the mission. A killer leader was just a temporary title. The leader would automatically be dismissed from the position when the mission ended. Taking the machete left by the guestst night, Gu Shenwei set off.


    He still could not understand why the n makers thought the apprentices might have failed in this mission. Elderly Dragon and the gang were so weak, that he believed he could destroy them by himself.


    Hoping that he could find someone to discuss his concerns with, he continued on to the scheduled site. When he arrived, however, he discovered that the killer leader of this mission was thest person he wanted to meet in the whole world.

 Chapter 93

    Chapter 93: An Unexpected Guest


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    In the east of South City, there was a small area, which was quite different from the rest of the city. Its streets were narrow and tortuous and its buildings were old and shabby, but it had no brothels or taverns. Most of its residents ran their own small business in Jade City. They were hardworking people who woke up early and never moved around with weapons.


    While walking through the streets, Gu Shenwei kept his machete down against his thigh to avoid attention. He was going to meet the killer leader in a private house deep in an alley. It was a quiet ce standing against the city wall.


    Twenty killer apprentices stayed inside the house, waiting for the spy.


    The first person Gu Shenwei encountered upon entering the house was Wildhorse, who stayed with his friends and slightly nodded to ve Huan, like a king greeting an unimportant official.


    Maid Lotus and some other friends of ve Huan were sitting together on the other side of the room, wiping their sabers. They all stood up and nodded to ve Huan the moment they saw him.


    None of them were qualified to freely speak here, except for the killer leader of this mission: Shangguan Yushi.


    Noticing her, Gu Shenwei knew that he had to be extra careful during this mission. ¡°Master Yu,¡± he said.


    ¡°Call me killer leader,¡± Shangguan Yushi corrected.


    ¡°Killer leader.¡±


    Gu Shenwei said as he deeply bowed to her.


    After that, he reported to her the basic information of the Ten-Dragon Gang, such as the leaders of the gang, the total number of its members, and the number of the members who knew kung fu. He also told her all the details about the gang members¡¯ regr meetings, such as when and where they met, when they would leave, and who would remain in their meeting ce after the meetings concluded. Shangguan Yushi had known that ve Huan would work as a spy during this mission a long time ago and had been waiting for this moment.


    After hearing ve Huan¡¯s report, Shangguan Yushi asked mockingly, ¡°Is that everything? That¡¯s all you¡¯ve found out during the past three days?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Gu Shenwei replied. In fact, he only had two days to investigate, but he did not want to argue with Shangguan Yushi.


    Shangguan Yushi took out a piece of paper and read it aloud, ¡°Tianshan Sect has seven leaders. They gather regrly on the 15th day of each month. None of the sect¡¯s ordinary members are allowed to join their meetings. During each of their previous meetings, there were twelve guards that worked in three shifts to ensure their safety. The guards were usually divided into three teams and the best time tounch an attack would be around or shortly after midnight.¡± She folded the paper and added, ¡°It seems to me that you didn¡¯t collect any valuable information.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Gu Shenwei replied while bottling up his anger. He had never been trained to work as a spy before and no one had given him any specific instruction as to what kind of information he needed to collect during this mission.


    ¡°Tomorrow is the 15th day of the month. You¡¯ll stay here to guard our belongings. When we seed, we¡¯ll give you no credit, but we¡¯ll thank you for your hard work.¡±


    Some apprentices chuckled. Clearly, not all of them were Gu Shenwei¡¯s friends.


    ¡°Yes, but killer leader, please allow me to go to their meeting ce tonight.¡±


    ¡°What for? You¡¯re nning to discover a peerless ace among the members of the Tianshan Sect?¡±


    ¡°I feel that something is wrong.¡±


    Gu Shenwei found it extremely difficult to voice his concerns now, for he had no solid evidence to prove that this mission was a trap set up by Mister Guo. Even he himself had not figured out how Mister Guo was going to frame him when he was not even among the 20 apprentices chosen for the assassination mission.


    However, the ambiguous text in the document still made him feel uneasy. Unfortunately, he believed in his sixth sense but was not confident enough to convince the others to trust his judgment.


    ¡°Well, alright, you can go. Thank you for your hard work again. However, no matter what you n to do tonight, you have toe back here early tomorrow morning to clean the room. Oh, I remember: that¡¯s your old job. You must be good at it.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Gu Shenwei calmly replied, swallowing the insult.


    Shangguan Yushi curled her lips into a smile and thought, ¡°This arrogant ve boy thought he could scare me off because he had killed many people, but I¡¯ll let him know that a ve can neverpete with its master.¡± Shangguan Yushi still wanted to take revenge on ve Huan, not for her useless brother¡¯s death but for the fact that he had outshone her in front of Shangguan Ru.


    Gu Shenwei did not have time to think about Shangguan Yushi; he had been contemting what the Ten-Dragon Gang would do topletely defeat the apprentices. Maid Lotus and some other friends of his would participate in the action so did not want to lose any one of them.


    He went to Xu Yanwei¡¯s house and the moment he opened the door, he saw an elderly man inside, sitting by the fire.


    Gu Shenwei immediately recognized that the man was Elderly Dragon ¨C even though he did not see his dragon tattoos ¨C due to the cotton-patted clothes he wore.


    ¡°They¡¯re upstairs, very safe,¡± Elderly Dragon took the initiative to speak.


    Gu Shenwei looked up, then he put the machete by the door and went to sit by the fire.


    ¡°You beat my sonst night.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I did.¡±


    ¡°He deserved it.¡±


    ¡°Well.¡±


    ¡°If you dare toe to the courtyard again, I¡¯ll kill you.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Their conversation ended, but Elderly Dragon showed no inclination to leave.


    ¡°Are you ready?¡± Gu Shenwei asked, feeling that something was wrong.


    Hearing that, Elderly Dragon tensed up all of a sudden. His widened eyes looked even more prominent now. He stared at the killer apprentice and asked, ¡°What¡¯re you talking about?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m talking about the liquor. I discovered that you prepare lots of it, every night, in the courtyard.¡±


    A murderous glint flickered in the elderly man¡¯s eyes as he stretched out his hand to the teenager.


    Gu Shenwei took out the ck iron sheet and put it in Elderly Dragon¡¯s hand. A momentter, the elderly man turned his hand, throwing the iron sheet into the fire.


    After that, he ambled to the door, nced at his son¡¯s machete without touching it, pushed the door open, and walked into the snow.


    Xu Xiaoyi walked downstairs softly and asked, ¡°Are you going to that ce again tonight?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°And this time¡­ you don¡¯t need me to go with you, do you?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s great. You know, I don¡¯t know kung fu. It¡¯ll be alright if you ask me to steal something for you, but I can¡¯t fight those guys.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need you to steal anything for me.¡±


    ¡°Hah-hah, how about we go out to eat now? You know sometimes my sister¡¯s clientse here during the day.¡±


    ¡°You go by yourself. I¡¯ll leave very soon; I have something to do.¡±


    ¡°Well, I can stay with you for a while; it¡¯s freezing cold outside so I don¡¯t want to go out right now.¡±


    Fifteen minutester, Gu Shenwei walked out of the house with the machete, but he did notpletely leave the area. He hid in a street corner, observing the house. Half an hourter, he saw a tall man walk out of it, wearing a cape and a hood to cover his face. He looked left and right before hurriedly leaving.


    In South City, especially in the brothels, there were many sneaky men like him.


    Gu Shenwei waited for a while longer. When the cold weather became too unbearable, he left for Southwall Tavern.


    The fat guys searched him and asked him to leave his machete at the gate.


    After entering the tavern, Gu Shenwei was greatly disappointed; he did not find Tie Hanfeng or Zhang Ji here. Sitting at his mentor¡¯s favorite table, he ordered a cup of wine and asked the manager to put his spendings on Tie Hanfeng¡¯s tab again.


    He stared at the red liquid in the white cup and waited for his mentor, but Tie Hanfeng did not show up for the entire afternoon.


    When the sun began to set, he knew that he had to leave for the courtyard. He walked out of the tavern and picked up his machete at the gate. This time, the fat guys did not y any trick to try and change his weapon.


    A light snow was falling when he left the tavern, but when he arrived at the courtyard, it snowed so heavily that his vision became limited to 10 steps around him.


    Evidently, there were not as many gang members as usual. When Gu Shenwei walked around the courtyard several times and even leaped into it, no one came out to stop him.


    The cottages were lit up and noisy. He could clearly hear people drinking and shouting inside the warm room, but he still hid outside in the snow, despite the cold weather. Gu Shenwei was not scared by Elderly Dragon; he just wanted to find out what the gang was plotting.


    This time, he needed to discover the truth to solve the problem.


    In front of the cottages, there were piles of liquor jars. They were covered by the snow and looked like small hills. Gu Shenwei wiped the snow off of them and knocked on them one by one, discovering that they were all empty.


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    Someone spotted the sneaky teenager. Gu Shenwei turned around and saw Dragon Tooth run at him, long machete in hand. Elderly Dragon¡¯s son and several machete-men followed behind.


    ¡°Do you still remember what Elderly Dragon told you?¡±


    ¡°He said that he wanted to invite me here for a drink to thank me for beating his son, but I refused. The liquor here is of poor quality and you mix it with water. I don¡¯t want such drinks,¡± Gu Shenwei said, gripping his machete shaft tightly. Although the machete was quite different from a saber, he still thought it was better than a short sword.


    The machete-men mored as Dragon Tooth brandished his long machete and said, ¡°You only get one chance. Piss off.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stared at Dragon Tooth for a moment and then retreated. Soon, he could not see them anymore in the snow but he could still hear themughing at his cowardice.


    They were the 20 killer apprentices¡¯ targets, thus he could not kill them before theyunched an attack ¨C especially since Shangguan Yushi was their killer leader.


    He returned to Southwall Tavern to find Tie Hanfeng, but his mentor was not there so he could only return the siblings¡¯ dwelling.


    When Gu Shenwei entered the house, Xu Yanwei was sleeping upstairs and Xu Xiaoyi was also lying in his makeshift bed on the first floor. The moment the boy saw the killer apprentice, he mumbled, ¡°Latch the door.¡±


    Gu Shenwei sat by the fire alone. He closed his eyes to imagine a piece of white paper. After that, he began to write down the contents of the document on that paper in his mind. While writing the 20 apprentices¡¯ names, he matched them with the faces he had seen in the house this morning. When it came to Liuhua, he suddenly realized that he did not see him earlier.


    He saw the light.


    He pushed Xu Xiaoyi and asked, ¡°Who hired you to do this job?¡±


    ¡°Ah? What? Bigmouth Liu. Do you know him?¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not know Bigmouth Liu. He grabbed Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s shoulders and shook him harder until the boy finally woke up, sitting up in his bed grumpily.


    ¡°What¡¯re you doing?¡±


    ¡°Who came here in the morning?¡±


    ¡°Elderly Dragon.¡±


    ¡°Not him. I mean the man hiding upstairs.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi smiled embarrassedly. He turned his eyes, seemingly wanting to refute, but then he changed his mind and said, ¡°You found out?¡±


    ¡°Who is he?¡±


    ¡°A client of my sister¡¯s. A normal person. Elderly Dragon came here right after he entered the house, so he could only hide upstairs. I didn¡¯t mean to lie to you, but you¡¯ve already driven one of my sister¡¯s clients away. We were just a little worried.¡±


    Knowing that Xu Xiaoyi was lying and acting again, Gu Shenwei said, ¡°Don¡¯t y tricks. You and your sister can¡¯t afford it. Watch out for your own heads.¡±


    Hearing that, Xu Xiaoyi immediately touched his head to make sure that it was alright. ¡°Rx, who am I? I ran about in South City long before you knew the ce.¡±


    Gu Shenwei returned to sit by the fire. He was sure that the siblings would be killed the day after tomorrow if they did participate in this plot, and at that time, he would not be able to protect them. Xu Xiaoyi refused to tell him the truth, which made him feel quite relieved; it did not make him feel obliged to save the siblings.


    Xu Xiaoyi sat on his bed, looking at the killer apprentice profoundly. He wanted to say something, but after a while, he swallowed his words and fell back into his bed, snorting loudly.


    Gu Shenwei gripped the machete shaft tightly. Part of him longed for killing, and the other part was always sickened by the color and the smell of blood. He was not sure which one was his true self¡­

 Chapter 94

    Chapter 94: The Mistake


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Tha assassination mission was scheduled at midnight. The apprentices started to prepare for it early: putting on their night suits, wiping their sabers, and testing the use of their knockout powder drugs.


    The killer leader Shangguan Yushi simply treated ve Huan as a humble handyman and ordered him to do all sorts of drudgery. For example, she made him clean the snow in the yard, and wash the utensils in all the rooms. She would take every opportunity to mock at his unfruitful return.


    Gu Shenwei did not say anything about his suspicions, because his suggestion would only bring about an adverse effect in front of Shangguan Yushi. He was wiping a closet in one of the rooms at around noon when Maid Lotus finally found a chance toe inside alone.


    ¡°Listen, tonight¡¯s assassination is a trap.¡±


    Since time was pressing, Gu Shenwei came straight to the point on seeing Maid Lotus. She did not seem surprised at all. As she did during the ughter of apprentices, she was willing to be the leader¡¯s assistant and adviser. She nodded, implying she knew what ve Huan meant.


    ¡°The Ten-Dragon Gang will send out not only seven leaders and twelve guardsmen, but also arge group of archers who¡¯ll hide in the empty wine jars outside the house and crawl out as soon as you go inside. The house¡¯s very simple and crude with thatched roofs. I guess they will set fire to the house first and then shoot from the outside.¡±


    ¡°Is there a mole in the castle?¡± Although Maid Lotus always stayed calm and collected, she could not help feeling surprised. Golden Roc Fort was the biggest killer organization in the Western Region or possibly even the world. Who would risk working as a mole for a small gang?


    ¡°If you all die there, I¡¯ll be condemned as the mole.¡± Gu Shenwei had figured out the whole thing except thest bit. ¡°By then, someone will prove I have talked to Elderly Dragon. Moreover, there¡¯ll be a sum of money under my name in some ce unknown to everyone. The trap¡¯s perfect.¡±


    ¡°Is it Mister Guo? He still wants to kill you even at the expense of twenty killer apprentices and Master Yu?¡± Maid Lotus asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s him, but you¡¯re not the expense, I am. Look at the survivors in the Tattooed Arm Gang. Most of them are servants belonging to the Second Young Master, the Sixth Young Master, and the Eighth Young Master. Since Mister Guo is the First Young Master¡¯s trusted follower, he must believe that we deliberately eradicated apprentices on his side and want to take revenge.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense. It was said that Wildhorse intended to pledge allegiance to the Second Young Master, and Liuhua also seems to have been drawn to the Sixth Young Master¡¯s side.¡±


    Someone walked by the room, so Gu Shenwei waited until there was no sound outside before he added, ¡°Try to remind Master Yu and don¡¯t tell her it¡¯s my guess.¡±


    Gu Shenwei breathed a sigh of relief as Maid Lotus left, who was hoping Shangguan Yushi would not be too stupid. Gu Shenwei could not help eximing over the unpredictability of life. He had long wished that he could get rid of the little devil, but now he was trying to save her life when a great opportunity was lying ahead.


    The man who walked out of the Xu¡¯s must be a guard of Golden Roc Fort. He would prove that ve Huan had secretly talked with Elderly Dragon. The fact that Elderly Dragon¡¯s son spent the night with Xu Yanwei was merely a show. Even if ve Huan had not interfered, he would still find an excuse to fight with ve Huan before leaving. Thus, Elderly Dragon would have a reason toe for ve Huan.


    They, the siblings of the Xu family, Elderly Dragon, and Dragon Tooth were all pretending.


    Gu Shenwei had already wiped the cab surface and made it as smooth as a mirror, but he still subconsciously kept cleaning it as he was thinking over the matter.


    As the night fell, Shangguan Yushi summoned everyone. With a rag in hand, Gu Shenwei watched her earnestly checking every apprentice¡¯s outfit. He also noticed Liuhua who stayed in the corner. With his night suit on, the marksman appeared to be thinner and smaller than anyone else. The shortbow he held in his hand seemed to be a harmless toy.


    Liuhua had once attempted to assassinate Maid Lotus but had failed. Gu Shenwei then looked at Maid Lotus, who happened to look back. Judging from her calm expression, Gu Shenwei knew she had already instilled the necessary information into Shangguan Yushi since that was her strength. She would make those thoughts appear to be Master Yu¡¯s.


    The assassination team set off, leaving Gu Shenwei alone in the yard. He had to clear the remaining weapons and all the sundries away, wait for the 21 people to return in triumph, and then go back to the castle together.


    After finishing the work, Gu Shenwei stepped into the yard. It was a quiet winter night, cold enough to freeze the most excited and boiling blood, and also quiet enough to hear your own heartbeat.


    Suddenly, an idea appeared in his mind. His heart thumped violently making his chest almost pump blood out of his body.


    Holy crap!


    Gu Shenwei regretfully threw the frozen rag onto the ground, dashed back into the room to grab a saber, and ran frantically out of the yard, hoping to catch up with the assassination team.


    South City was full of winding streets and alleys. Gu Shenwei, who was worried, became increasingly annoyed as he chased the assassination team. He walked briskly with his back against the wall to avoid those guests who came for wine and women.


    Looking into the distance, he could see there was no light at the gathering point of the Ten-Dragon Gang yet, so he still had time to correct his mistake.


    Gu Shenwei did not head for the destination directly, which was a killer¡¯s instinct trained by East Castle. No matter how urgent the situation was, he had to take a detour to check the surroundings.


    Located on the fringes of the city, the yard of the Ten-Dragon Gang was far from the city wall; with the wilds in the back and the nearest house about 100 steps away. It was a good ce for an arson murder indeed.


    Every 15th day of each lunar month was a day for all the leaders to meet. No taverns were open today, therefore, there were less and less pedestrians as Gu Shenwei moved on.


    Gu Shenwei detoured to a slightly roundabout alley and climbed several short walls on the way. Unfortunately, he did not find any signs of the assassination team.


    He arrived at a dead end at the end of the alley and had to climb over another wall before he could return to the route leading to the gathering ce of the Ten-Dragon Gang. As he was about to jump over the said wall, he was attacked.


    His intuition had reminded him of hidden dangers many times, but this time it failed to do so. Gu Shenwei was unprepared for the attack, so he could only roll on the ground and escape the strike awkwardly.


    Luckily, the attacker showed mercy.


    ¡°What happened?¡± a man in the dark asked.


    ¡°He¡¯s from the castle,¡± the attacker in ck said in a low voice under the short wall, a saber in his hand.


    He was not a killer apprentice, but a regr killer. Gu Shenweiy on the ground and did not dare to move. All of a sudden, he realized thest missing part of this conspiracy: How to silence people after the mission.


    There were two assassination teams. A killer apprentice team was the vanguard, and a professional killer team was secretly following them. If the apprentices were trapped or wiped out, the killers would execute the backup n and kill all the insiders of the Ten-Dragon Gang.


    Killers of Golden Roc Fort never let their enemies stay alive, so Mister Guo did not even need to make any special arrangement. The killers did not know they were the tool of a conspiracy, and they thought they were just carrying out a normal task.


    ¡°Kill him,¡± the man in the dark said. They had received a very clear order and they did not care whether the intruder was a killer apprentice or not.


    ¡°Wait. I¡¯m a member of the assassination team,¡± Gu Shenwei hastily said.


    If Mister Guo had arranged someone among the killers, he would kill ve Huan without hesitation. No one moved, including the killer under the wall. He just gripped the dagger and showed no intention to move forward.


    ¡°Why were you left behind?¡± Apparently, the killer hidden in the dark was the leader as he did almost all the talking.


    ¡°I¡­ have a task. It¡¯s part of the n, so I can¡¯t tell you the details. You must be backup killers, why do youe here so early? It¡¯s your turn only when we fail.¡±


    Gu Shenwei became more confident as he said more. In the end, he stood up and patted off the snow on his body.


    There was a long silence in the dark. The killer sounded impatient when he spoke again. ¡°Go.¡±


    No one knew who he was ordering. The killer under the wall climbed over the wall and disappeared. Gu Shenwei also jumped over the wall and turned to the path to the gathering ce of the Ten-Dragon Gang.


    The yard encircled by mud walls was not far away. Gu Shenwei was able to see a bean-sized light in the yard.


    He paused to calm down. Since he had organized many assassinations with small teams in East Castle and also carefully learned the skills Wildhorse used inrge-scale assassinations, he assumed that Shangguan Yushi must have gained a lot of help from Wildhorse.


    Therefore, he guessed most of the apprentices must be hidden in the wildness behind the gathering ce and stay very close to the yard, or they could even be right under the wall. There was at least one person on each side of yard prying the guard¡¯s condition and another one watching the road they came from.


    Gu Shenwei roughly figured out Shangguan Yushi¡¯s action n, so he turned right, avoided small paths, and moved forward with a bent back in the snow. There was a row of suspicious footprints on the snow ground, which seemed to have been left by the killer apprentices.


    A few dozens of steps away stood several dead trees. Gu Shenwei detoured to the back of the trees and observed the situation carefully. It was the 15th day of the lunar month, so the moonlight looked extremely cold and bright. There was a ck object on a dead tree, which seemed to be a big nest. Gu Shenwei knew it was an apprentice on the watch.


    Since the person was unimportant, Gu Shenwei did not want to disturb him. He continued to make a lengthy detour to the yard. Bending his body more and slowing down, he seemed to be a small beast searching for food in the snow ground.


    He did not intend to remind the apprentices of the trap unless necessary because he would be used of sabotaging the mission for doing so.


    There was a bump in the snow ground ahead which did not show any abnormality, but one could observe the situation in the yard if staying there. Gu Shenwei crouched and watched for a while until he made sure it was an apprentice and there was nopanion around.


    Gu Shenwei moved closer and found the apprentice was still motionless. Maybe he was a bit nervous, so he put all his attention to the yard and ignored his back.


    Gu Shenwei approached him a bit more, picked up a snowball, and threw it at the apprentice. The snow drift suddenly moved slightly.


    ¡°It¡¯s me,¡± Gu Shenwei said in a low voice and briefly looked up so that the other could recognize him.


    The apprentice used to be a member of the Tattooed Arm Gang, now he was one of the zealots. He was surprised to see ve Huan.


    Gu Shenwei crawled toward him and whispered something in the apprentice¡¯s ears. Thetter nodded and believed his former leader¡¯s judgment. Meanwhile, he reminded ve Huan in a low voice, ¡°Watch out. Liuhua the Silencer was over there.¡±


    It was not Liuhua that worried Gu Shenwei, but that he did not know how to exin to Shangguan Yushi.


    He made a fundamental mistake. There would be no archers hidden in the wine jars. The killers would neglect the breathing in the jars only in special weather conditions, and Mister Guo would naturally think of this. A counselor of his level would never allow such uncontroble factor to exist in his n.


    The empty wine jars ofst night must have been filled with alcohol tonight. It was not going to be cheap wine like sour vinegar, but spirits that could be easily lit up with fire. They would be ced along the wall forming a circle and probably there would be some dry wood nearby. Once the 21 assassins entered the yard, the ambushers would set fire and capture them all at once.

 Chapter 95

    Chapter 95: A Big Fire


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Liuhua the Silencer concealed himself well. Gu Shenwei had not noticed any suspicious signs like a bump in the snow until he suddenly felt a shiver down his spine. He immediately looked back and saw that Liuhua was lying on his stomach in the snow, camouged in his snow-white clothing and aiming a short bow at Gu Shenwei.


    He was only 20 steps away, which was within Liuhua¡¯s shooting range. At such a distance, Liuhua would not miss any target.


    Gu Shenwei knelt on the snowy ground and kept his upper body low, his left hand propping himself against the ground and his right hand gripping a saber. He stared at Liuhua for a while. Although they belonged to the same side, Gu Shenwei could still feel the intense killing intent radiating from Liuhua. He suddenly felt much pressured, which was even more ufortable than when he was having a duel with Wildhorse in the ruins of Woodensaber Alley.


    ¡°It¡¯s a trap. Don¡¯t move!¡± Gu Shenwei mouthed the message. However, he still clenched the saber in his right hand and did not dare to rx for even a moment.


    Liuhua remained silent, so Gu Shenwei did not know whether he understood him or not.


    In Gu Shenwei¡¯s memory, the apprentice never spoke. He was not a member of the Snow Mountain Gang and had not cut off his tongue like Wildhorse and the others. He was more like a loner who had lost his ability to speak long ago.


    Gu Shenwei slowly unclenched the hilt and crawled toward Liuhua.


    Opposite him, Liuhua did not loosen the bowstring, neither did his hostility increase. However, he seemed to be irritated by something when Gu Shenwei was 10 steps away. His killing intent suddenly rose, and he took a shot and was ready for the second.


    Luckily, 10 steps were not the best shooting range for an archer. Since he had been prepared for it, Gu Shenwei narrowly dodged the deadly arrow.


    The moment he sensed Liuhua¡¯s killing intent surge, Gu Shenwei sprang to the right to avoid the attack. He then leaped forward again like a nimble cat and pounced at Liuhua.


    Liuhua had no chance to fire the second shot, and close quartersbat had always been his weakness.


    Gu Shenwei raised his hilt and forcibly hit Liuhua on his head. Liuhua shook his head, yet, the killing intent in his eyes did not fade. Gu Shenwei punched him and finally knocked him out.


    If he had a choice, Gu Shenwei would like to kill the guy right on the spot because he hated the archer¡¯s eyes and arrows. He acted like an unsociable child, who always spoiled everyone¡¯s mood at the most inappropriate moment.


    But Gu Shenwei did not kill him. Their fight had already drawn the others¡¯ attention. Several spots in the distance were quickly approaching him from the wilderness behind the gathering ce of the Ten-Dragon Gang.


    Gu Shenwei waved his hand, signaling he was not an enemy. He did not care whether someone from the Ten-Dragon Gang noticed him or not. After all, it was a trap, and they knew long ago that killers were waiting in ambush for them.


    Like a little angry lioness, Shangguan Yushi red at him from under the crack of the ck mask. She stood in front of ve Huan with her hand holding an unsheathed narrow saber and said coldly, ¡°It¡¯s not that I intended to kill you. Now you¡¯re courting death by yourself.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a trap in the yard,¡± said Gu Shenwei as he rose to his feet. Meanwhile, he kept his right hand close to the saber hilt, since he did not want to be killed by Shangguan Yushi like this.


    ¡°I know¡­ ¡±


    ¡°No, that was a wrong message. Nobody is hiding in the wine jars. They are all filled with strong liquor and can be ignited right away. It¡¯s the Ten-Dragon Gang that wants to attack with fire.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi nced back at a slim apprentice in ck suit. It was Maid Lotus.


    ¡°It was my fault. I gave the wrong information, but there¡¯s still time to correct it,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Shangguan Yushi said with a sneer, ¡°Well, ve Huan. You¡¯re really trying hard to take all the credits.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not refute her, as he did not care about Master Yu¡¯s thoughts and believed Maid Lotus would not be instigated that easily.


    ¡°Go and check,¡± Shangguan Yushi ordered.


    Behind her, Wildhorse followed the order and moved out. His physique was as perfect as a leopard¡¯s, enabling Gu Shenwei to recognize him even when he was wearing night suits.


    Wildhorse crouched down and quickly approached the yard as if he was gliding on the snow.


    ¡°He¡¯s made great progress in kung fu,¡± Gu Shenwei thought.


    When Shangguan Yushi realized she was standing upright and could easily expose herself, she anxiously knelt on one knee and stared at ve Huan, thinking the ve was trying his best to mess with her first mission.


    Gu Shenwei also went down on one knee. He ignored Master Yu but stared at the Ten-Dragon Gang¡¯s gathering ce. Again he felt the weakness of his spection. That was definitely a trap, but it might be more covert and sophisticated than he had imagined.


    Wildhorse disappeared into the night, and no more sound came from the gathering ce. The killer apprentices knelt on the snow like a group of stone pirs.


    Suddenly, the yard was engulfed in mes, which danced like red des and shot high into the air. No matter how capable the people in it were, they would not be able to survive.


    ¡°Besiege it. Kill them all,¡± Shangguan Yushi instantly issued an order and then shot a harsh re at ve Huan.


    That Gu Shenwei came forward to expose the trap at the eleventh hour annoyed her. She thought he did it on purpose to make hermand of the first assassination imperfect. Now that the assassination had turned into an encirclement, he should be much satisfied.


    Gu Shenwei did not have time to figure out Master Yu¡¯s thoughts. He also unsheathed his saber and dashed toward the burning yard. He was a future killer, so he did not want to stand by once the killing began.


    The apprentices immediately moved out, scattering to upy advantageous positions and rying the siege order to the others.


    A few people managed to ran out of the yard. They were in the dark about the trap and were doomed to be the sacrifices. Several insiders had hidden under the yard wall and immediately ran toward the direction of the city after lighting the fire.


    But they made a grave mistake.


    Wildhorse was not trapped in the big fire. Instead, he intercepted and killed the escapees one after another. Only two were alive when the other apprentices arrived.


    ¡°Spare one! Spare one!¡± Gu Shenwei shouted. He wanted to keep one alive to bring down Mister Guo.


    Shangguan Yushi misunderstood ve Huan. She did not expect a spy in Golden Roc Fort was behind all this, and Maid Lotus had not mentioned it either when instilling the message to her. Therefore, she thought ve Huan was meddling again and insisted the order. ¡°Kill them all!¡±


    It was already a failure that they had not wiped out all the enemies quietly, how could they keep one alive? Leaving no survivors was an assassination principle of Golden Roc Fort, and Shangguan Yushi decided to adhere to it.


    ¡°What an idiot!¡± Gu Shenwei could not help cursing.


    In the blink of an eye, thest two escapees were killed by hidden guards on the trees and snowy ground. The two attackers initially thought they might not have a chance to make a move during the assassination, but now the prey was running to them, and they had also heard the leader¡¯s order, so they naturally would not let them go.


    There were still people in the yard. Several unwitting ¡°leaders¡± and 12 guards turned into burning men. Their piercing shrieks sounded particrly shocking in the quiet winter. The apprentices were equipped with bows and arrows, and although they were not as skillful as Liuhua, it was still effortless for them to shoot down the dying, burning men from afar.


    Six corpses wereid outside the yard. Gu Shenwei went to check them one by one. He found Dragon Tooth and Elderly Dragon¡¯s son, but Elderly Dragon was not there. As one of the insiders, he would definitely not stay in the yard and wait for death.


    The assassination ended in less than a quarter of an hour. Not a single target had escaped, but the results were not satisfactory.


    The Ten-Dragon Gang was small and weak and exterminating its leaders was regarded as nothing difficult. The primary purpose of the mission was to teach the apprentices how to perform a perfect assassination. However, it had to be hastily finished due to the big fire.


    The apprentices retreated in order, and even the most picky killer mentor would not be able to find a problem, so the backup killers did not show up.


    After they returned to the temporary hideout in the city, the first order Shangguan Yushi issued was to kill ve Huan. ¡°Kill him now!¡± She had held back her anger all along, and now she could finally vent her malice.


    Gu Shenwei stood in the doorway and had long prepared for Master Yu¡¯s fury. Holding his saber hilt, he said, ¡°I saved all of your lives.¡±


    Several apprentices followed her order and were ready to take action, but they put away their sabers when seeing Wildhorse did not intend to make a move. Meanwhile, Maid Lotus and others just gripped their sabers with no intention to kill at all.


    Shangguan Yushi tore the ck veil off her face, revealing her countenance as cold as the chilly winter outside. ¡°You¡¯re the investigator. You should have known all of this a long time ago. Why didn¡¯t you tell us until thest moment? Did you think everyone would feel more grateful to you this way?¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t figure everything out in advance. Don¡¯t you understand that it¡¯s just my own guesswork? There¡¯s a spy in the castle. He revealed the action n and wanted all of us to die!¡±


    Shangguan Yushi was just too mad with ve Huan, but she was not stupid. She understood the rough idea right away after hearing what he said. However, she continued, ¡°Even if there is a spy, it must be you. You want to y both sides.¡±


    Gripping his saber tight, Gu Shenwei said slowly, ¡°You know the spy can¡¯t be me.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi stared at the person she hated the most, the person whopeted against her for Shangguan Ru, the person who had killed her elder brother, and hesitated whether she should take this chance to kill him or not. Although it was not entirely justifiable, she could still find an excuse. She nced at the people on both sides and eventually changed her mind. Apparently, these apprentices had been convinced by ve Huan, so they probably would not kill him for her, which increased her resentment toward ve Huan.


    ¡°Someone will find out if you were the spy or not. But you imed there¡¯s a spy in the castle. Do you have any evidence?¡±


    ¡°Elderly Dragon¡¯s still alive. He was definitely not in the yard. Find him, and the truth wille to light. The morning is about to dawn, so we have to find him before others do.¡±


    The apprentices brought back six heads, all of which appeared to be young, so none of them could be the over-60-year-old Elderly Dragon. As the most crucial insider, the schemer might also be looking for him.


    Shangguan Yushi almost blurted out, ¡°Where should we go?¡± But she immediately swallowed her doubts as she did not want to expose her weakness in front of the apprentices.


    Luckily, South City was not new to Shangguan Yushi. She ordered the apprentices to dress like ordinary people and sent them to contact the spies that Golden Roc Fort had stationed in several spots of the city. These people were all local bullies and good at finding people.


    She left ve Huan behind without assigning any task to him.


    Gu Shenwei requested to join them. ¡°Let me go with you. I know some people there and can help you find him.¡±


    He exaggerated it a little bit. Actually, the only person he knew was his Master Shifu.


    Shangguan Yushi thought for a while and agreed.


    Shortly after he left the hideout, Gu Shenwei noticed an apprentice was tracking him. He thought Master Yu had underestimated him, as he had experienced the cruelest ughter among apprentices and getting rid of the stalkers was one of the fundamental skills he had to acquire.


    Gu Shenwei broke away from the stalker after randomly making a detour in five streets. But he did not go to look for his Master Shifu in Southwall Tavern right away. Instead, he needed to look for Xu Xiaoyi and his elder sister and ask them about the truth. He had helped them a lot, and now it was time for them to pay him back.

 Chapter 96

    Chapter 96: The Rescue


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    When he entered the house, Gu Shenwei felt that something was wrong. When he did not find any signs of living people both upstairs and downstairs, he was panicking as he rapidly searched the whole ce again.


    The Xu siblings had escaped, and all of the valuable items were taken away. There was only the saber which he had used before and it was ced on the extinguished stove.


    Gu Shenwei sat down in disppointment, wondering where the sister and brother could have escaped to. They would be easily discovered in the city and there were either high mountains or the Gobi desert around the city. In this season, leaving the city would be suicidal, and the nearest popted ce was several days¡¯ walk away.


    Then he realized that he was wrong again. The one in the cape was not a sentry of the Golden Roc Fort.


    Gu Shenwei sprung to his feet and ran out of the house. He wanted to find someone to rify one thing and to find a horse. He ran towards the Southwall Tavern, where he could ask the manager even if Tie Hanfeng was absent.


    As soon as he passed the gap in the city wall, Gu Shenwei saw his Master Shifu walking out of the tavern.


    Tie Hanfeng came to his apprentice and asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Everything is a mess out here.¡±


    The fire outside the city and the fact that the killer apprentices were searching for Elderly Dragon everywhere had been spread throughout the city. It was natural for such a well-informed person like Tie Hanfeng to hear of such things.


    ¡°It¡¯s an emergency, I need a horse.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng believed his apprentice and turn to the tavern. He came back after a while, followed by two sleepy counterjumpers who was leading two horses.


    ¡°Will you go with me?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    Thinking that it might be better, Gu Shenwei mounted the horse and asked, ¡°Which way leads to Stone Kingdom?¡±


    ¡°There are only two ways from Jade City, one eastward, the other westward. Stone Kingdom is in the south, so they could have gone either way.¡±


    Gu Shenwei contemted for a while, then he suddenly had an inspiration, ¡°Let¡¯s go west.¡±


    He remembered that short sword. The handle had fallen into the stove and the sword tip was pointed towards the west, which must have been a message that Xu Xiaoyi had left behind for him.


    They rode straight to the road on the west. Tie Hanfeng finally had the chance to ask Gu Shenwei, ¡°What are you going to do?¡±


    ¡°I will rescue them,¡± Gu Shenwei answered and spurred on the horse harder.


    Tie Hanfeng frowned. He did not like to ¡°rescue¡± because he thought the duty of a killer was to kill.


    Any moving object would be easily found in the vast expanse of wild grasnds. When the sun was high in the sky, Gu Shenwei saw a slow-moving carriage that was apanied by a knight. The knight was wearing a ck cape and it stood out even though the cape was supposed to be inconspicious.


    Hearing the clip ¨C clop of the two horses, the carriage stopped by the road side with the knight standing guard in front of it. Gu Shenwei and Tie Hanfeng approached the carriage and, when the curtain on the carriage was raised, they saw the Xun sister and brother.


    Xu Xiaoyi lowered his head with a slightly flushed expression. Xu Yanwei was surprised and angry, ¡°Why is it always you? Do we owe you money?¡±


    Upon seeing them, Tie Hanfeng frowned a little. But he paid more attention to the knight, who¡¯s obviously hiding a sharp scimitar underneath the cape.


    ¡°You owe me your two lives,¡± said Gu Shenwei coldly, ¡°so I can¡¯t let them be taken away by others.¡±


    ¡°It was your decision to save us. We didn¡¯t ask you.¡± Xu Yan replied rigidly.


    ¡°So what about this time? The second prince wants to kill you, and I¡¯ll never help you unless you ask for it.¡±


    While Xu Yanwei was bewildered, Xu Xiaoyi spoke first, ¡°Brother Huan, the second prince is taking us to Stone Kingdom, not killing us.¡±


    The knight, who had kept his silence until now, said, ¡°My mission is to escort Miss Xu and Mr. Xu to Stone Kingdom and I never had the intention of killing them.¡±


    Gu Shenwei simply ignored his words. Although the Xu sister and brother had been making a living in South City and knew more about the ways of the world, they were far less perceptive than him in front of a real conspiracy.


    ¡°Just think about it. The second prince had killed his brother, which we all know, and so do the insiders of Golden Roc Fort, the Meng Family and themandant. But you two are different because you are not only insiders, but also living proofs. Of all the insiders, you are the only ones who have seen Guard Jumit murder and know that ¡°Master Mi¡± is the second prince. Think about it. It is neither necessary nor useful for the second prince to kill me, but will he keep both of you alive? As soon as you leave the territory of the Golden Roc Fort, this guard who imed to ¡®have no intention of killing¡¯ will surely destroy the proofs.¡±


    The coachman carefully looked back. He took this job because of the generousness of the employer, but he did not want to be killed.


    Looking puzzled, the Xu sister and brother turned toward the knight together. The knight raised his hood and revealed his firm face of a fourty-year old man, ¡°His Majesty missed Miss Xu very much and just wants to meet you soon. I can guarantee your safety, Miss Xu, please don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned his horse around and said, ¡°I¡¯ve said enough. The choice is up to you.¡±


    Xu Yan bowed her head in silence, and Xu Xiaoyi shouted, ¡°Turn around, turn around, we¡¯re not going to Stone Kingdom.¡±


    The coachman had been waiting for such words, however, he had to wait for the knight¡¯s instruction.


    ¡°How about you, Miss Xu?¡± asked the knight.


    Feeling perplexed and rmed, Xu Yanwei thought hard about her decision. Finally, she sighed and said, ¡°Let¡¯s return to South City first, we¡¯re not in a hurry to go to Stone Kingdom.¡±


    After a moment of silence, the knight took off his cape and drew out his scimitar. ¡°So I have no choice.¡±


    ¡°Are you really killing us!¡± Xu Xiaoyi eximed. Both the sister and the brother wanted to temporarily return to the city and they just wanted to see the knight¡¯s reaction. They just didn¡¯t expect that he would really do it.


    ¡°I had to aplish my mission. I won¡¯t ask about your background, and you need not say anything. Just bring it on.¡±


    Thest sentence was for Gu Shenwei and Tie Hanfeng. The knight had guessed where they were from and did not want to bear the me of killing the killers of the Golden Roc Fort.


    Gu Shenwei had no intention of epting the challenge, instead, he rode back to keep a distance away from the knight, ¡°We don¡¯t need to fight because no one asked me this time. I won¡¯t interfere in someone else¡¯s matter.¡±


    The scimitar knight paused for a moment. He thought that the siblings would not let go of their only saviors unless they really wanted to die.


    Xu Xiaoyi was the first one to speak. ¡°Brother Huan, help us, please, I¡¯m begging you! Why did I leave behind the saber? I wanted you to catch up with us.¡± He had been suspicious of leaving Jade City to go to Stone Kingdom, but he had to follow his sister, who had insisted on leaving.


    Gu Shenwei looked at Xu Yanwei and waited for her reply.


    Xu Yanwei¡¯s face changed so fast that she looked as if she was possessed by ve Yao. Her sudden obsequious smile could even fascinate a 15-year-old teenager, ¡°What else can I do in such a situation? Please help us, my good brother, our lives and everything else will be yours from now on.¡±


    The scimitar knight snorted and dismounted his horse, ¡°Well, no more nonsense. Let¡¯s see who can save and who can kill.¡±


    Gu Shenwei also dismounted his horse and drew out his saber. From the side, Tie Hanfeng rushed forward at a speed that was even faster than a horse¡¯s gallop. He snatched Gu Shenwei¡¯s saber and said to him, ¡°Come on, brat, you are no match for him.¡±


    He turned to the siblings in the carriage and said, ¡°It¡¯s my apprentice who rescued you. I¡¯m just helping him, not you.¡± Then he approached the scimitar knight, limping with the saber in hand, looking more like a desperate gangster than a Kung Fu master.


    Just one move of the scimitar knight was enough for Gu Shenwei to see that he was no match for the knight. The knight moved and shed at such a fast speed that Gu Shenwei could hardly see a sign of his attacks. He perfectly concealed his killing intent until thest moment.


    Gu Shenwei was shocked, thinking that it was fortunate to have Master Shifue along for the rescue.


    Gu Shenwei had only seen Master Shifu kill a person once. That time was when the opponent was just a guard with an ordinary Kung Fu foundation. But this time, the opponent was a real master.


    While Gu Shenwei was talking to the sister and brother, the scimitar knight and Tie Hanfeng had already probed each other in secret. Now they both showed no mercy.


    A real master will usually kill someone with only one move, which Gu Shenwei had seen in person. Now that his Fung Fu had improved, he was even more astonished at the moves. Just like an opera fan watching the performance of a famous actor or a monk listening to the preachings of a dignitary, every slight turn of the toes or every slight movement of the shoulder would lead to an epiphany.


    However, in the eyes of the Xu siblings, there was nothing more than cruelty in this fight. The scimitar came from above and shed down. The cripple responded by leaning his body in a manner that seemed as if he was falling down, shing horizontally with a seemingly weak strike, and then immediately backed up awkwardly. It looked very ridiculous.


    Of course, Tie Hanfeng had shed with a lot of force, but that the force was heavily concentrated on the enemy which left only a little momentum remaining after the sh, making his move seem weak.


    This is the ultimate realm for the master of a saber. Tie Hanfeng had not been hiding anything from the apprentice, but it could not be shown unless he encountered a powerful opponent.


    Gu Shenwei was both surprised and delighted. Even ame killer of Golden Roc Fort had such amazing saber skills. When could he be powerful enough to take revenge for his family?


    The knight dropped his scimitar and put his left hand on his right ribs. There was not much bleeding, but the saber had deeply prated his body and had destroyed the important organs that were vital for his life.


    ¡°Great skill.¡±


    After saying these words, the knight sat on the snow with his body swaying slightly as if he was going to fall down, but in the end, he only bowed his head and died like an old monk in the middle of meditation.


    Tie Hanfeng went behind the knight, cut off his head and showed it to the Xu sister and brother, whose faces turned as white as snow. When she recalled the scene of killing that she had personally seenst time, Xu Yanwei immediately said, ¡°No.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng threw away the head and returned the saber to his apprentice, ¡°This is the result of an idiot who picked a ce for killing. Remember, kill your target wherever and whenever possible. Never waste a chance.¡±


    ¡°Yes, master¡±


    Gu Shenwei responded respectfully. He felt that it was bing more and more necessary to learn all that he can from his Master Shifu.


    Gu Shenwei and Tie Hanfeng led the way, and the carriage, which had turned around, followed them at quite a distance. The coachman had decided to stay as far as possible away from the cripple.


    ¡°The little whore looks pretty, but pay attention, a price should be paid for a good deed,¡± said Tie Hanfeng after a while, still feeling puzzled by his apprentice¡¯s motivation for rescuing the siblings.


    ¡°Good deeds are like business, there will be a return from your investment only when you are paid.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng looked at his apprentice with a subtle expression, ¡°Yes, just like business. You need to be capable of taking both the capital and the interest, otherwise, you will suffer a total loss.¡±


    Gu Shenwei smiled knowingly, ¡°No, I won¡¯t, I promise.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng had also done good deeds to this apprentice, and Gu Shenwei knew that he must agree when Tie Hanfeng asked for the return from his investments.


    Although Jade City seemed to be close enough that they would arrive by noon, it was actually still far away. Tie Hanfeng suddenly thought of something and asked, ¡°Are you looking for Elderly Dragon?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°He was killed this morning, his corpse is still warm and fresh!¡±


    Gu Shenwei had guessed that this might be the case, but he was still a little disappointed. He could have taken this opportunity to retaliate against Mr. Guo. He looked back at the carriage and suddenly had an idea that might draw the snake out of its hole, and, possibly, make the Xu sister and brother repay some of their ¡°debt¡±.

 Chapter 97

    Chapter 97: Alley Fighting


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    They separated at the southern border of South City. Tie Hanfeng took two horses to Southwall Tavern, while Gu Shenwei took the carriage to the apprentices¡¯ hideout.


    Meanwhile, Shangguan Yushi was waiting for him angrily.


    ording to the n, the assassination team should have returned to Golden Roc Fort by now. However, they were dyed by a servant for half a day.


    ¡°I thought that you had run away. If so, it would save a lot of trouble,¡± Shangguan Yushi coldly said sarcastically. She pointed to the body in the middle of the hall. ¡°Nobody will testify for you. Elderly Dragon is dead. How timely!¡±


    The fatal blow to the body was on its chest and head, which was obviously not the style of a Golden Roc Fort killer.


    ¡°That¡¯s alright, I found another insider.¡± Gu Shenwei turned toward the carriage in the yard. ¡°He was trying to escape, but I got him.¡±


    ¡°Did he confess?¡±


    ¡°No, he was trying to resist. So I knocked him out.¡±


    Someone went behind Shangguan Yushi, whose eyes shed a more furious light than the killer leader. It was Liuhua, holding his shortbow in his left hand. He had already put his right hand on the quiver on his waist because he was so sensitive to the phrase ¡°knock out¡±.


    ¡°Bring him out and wake him up. I¡¯ll interrogate him myself.¡± Shangguan Yushi ordered because she wanted to know who the hidden traitor was. ¡°He should dare to plot against me. How bold!¡±


    ¡°I thought it best to take him to Heart Cleansing Yard on the mountain, in case a long night invites bad dreams.¡± Gu Shenwei suggested, and stared at Liuhua, who survivedst night purely out of East Castle¡¯s ¡°no-kill order¡±.


    Shangguan Yushi was reluctant to take even one piece of the servant¡¯s advice. But not this time because she knew clearly that the hidden traitor being important in the castle meant that an interrogation by herself would not be safe, even she would get herself burned. It seemed to be best to let Heart Cleansing Yard handle it.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go now. Wait¡­ wait till it¡¯s dark.¡± Shangguan Yushi changed her mind as she shot a nce outside. Two dozen killer apprentices walking in the street in broad daylight would hurt their image. Moreover, it soon would be getting dark.


    This fit in with Gu Shenwei¡¯s n. ¡°We need to protect the passenger. Elderly Dragon was killed, so our exposed hidden traitor obviously is also on the hit list.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi arranged apprentices to guard both sides of the carriage. She lifted up the curtain and swiftly turned back toward him.


    Gu Shenwei, who was shadowing behind, whispered, ¡°Someone must being, we¡¯d better capture him alive.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi tilted away a little in disgust to keep her distance from him. She saw through his n. ¡°Has word gotten out?¡±


    ¡°Already to the entire South City.¡±


    Because Gu Shenwei had firmly believed in his Master Shifu¡¯s ¡°spreading¡± capability, he now had to be in the tavern, ¡°identally¡± leaking the news with his drunken talk.


    ¡°I hope you wouldn¡¯t be too smart this time again.¡±


    ¡°My killer leader, I¡¯m not the only one that he wanted to get rid of.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi snorted, but he said what was on her mind. In her increasingly close friendship with Shangguan Ru, she saw cruel fights in the castle, with both open and secret methods. Compared to that, this servant¡¯s threat was next to nothing.


    Shangguan Yushi adjusted her orders. Five apprentices guarded the carriage, while the others hid in respective ces in the yard. Besides, some traps were set up to attract the hunters.


    A group of killer apprentices set ups and snares to capture another killer alive.


    The night hadpletely fallen on them. Still, with no attacker, the carriage would look suspicious if they continued to wait. Thus, Shangguan Yushi had to head back uphill to Stone Castle and carefully rearrange the details. She and four apprentices guarded the carriage and the other 16 hid in ambush. ve Huan still filled in as the coachman.


    It was cold. The rugged South City streets saw snowy water freeze at dusk and coaches move slowly. Apprentices held their sabers tightly and walked cautiously.


    In the evening, it was rush hour in South City. Even severe weather could not stop visitors from emerging in all directions. Nevertheless, this gang of teenagers appeared out of the ordinary. Some avoided them, while some feared nothing and scrutinized them closely instead.


    A drunk man appeared out of the blue from a lightless house and seized the shaft, vomiting on the ground. The carriage apprentices were caught off guard and had failed to stop him.


    Shangguan Yushi did not hesitate to hack at him. Master Yu was fluent in Kung Fu, while the drunkard practiced Kung Fu as well. He was dexterous and crouched under the coach while cursing.


    The nearby apprentices all scrambled and shed under the carriage. The man hid from ce to ce safely. Moreover, he found the chance to jumped onto the carriage. Then he lifted up the curtain, and yelled ¡°good dexterity¡±. In the end, he jumped onto the nearby rooftops.


    Gu Shenwei bore the saber under his thighs. He prepared himself as the drunkard showed up. As the man rolled over, he almost simultaneously struck with his saber.


    The man was indeed dexterous, but he underestimated the coachman¡¯s skill. When he nced into the carriage, he was hit on the left arm.


    The ambushing apprentices reacted. Once the man had lost his chance, he was besieged from then on. Before he could say another ¡°good dexterity¡±, two more ¡°good dexterities¡± headed toward him.


    The drunkard could not make a sound but fell back. He was stretching his arms as if he was on ice. Then, he fell hard. One of the apprentices went to check it out and nodded at Shangguan Yushi. The troublemaker was dead.


    He had bad luck. The rooftop that he jumped onto was where Wildhorse and another apprentice were.


    Gu Shenwei was a bit disappointed not to capture him alive. Nevertheless, the man was obviously a spy, and more dexterous killers would follow.


    The apprentices all became excited because fighting against unknown enemies was much more interesting than eliminating a tiny gang.


    They were attacked on Pleasure Alley.


    Pleasure Alley sat at a junction and was necessary to pass to return to North City. It also saw arge passenger flow, but few people could pay the price. Most of them just passed by and broke their necks hoping to get a sneak peek of some famous prostitute.


    The carriage was besieged by the crowd. It was now even harder to keep pedestrians away. Hence, Gu Shenwei just drove regardless of the cursing people. He held both the reins and the whip with his left hand, while his right hand always held onto his saber because he knew it was about to be thest moment.


    Windows were open on both sides. Many people leaned forward to view the scene and some were even famous prostitutes. It became more chaotic on the street.


    An old woman shouted in a hoarse voice, ¡°Hey you, girl in men¡¯s clothes,e here, I¡¯ll teach you some tricks to make men die for you.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi became furious and darted out a hidden weapon. Though the old woman was prepared for this, she still got hit in the shoulder. She then shrank back, barking like a mad dog. ¡°Herees the killer! Herees the killer!¡±


    The shouts were like signals. Those rowdy people on both sides all disappeared at once. In their ce, a dozen arrows were shot simultaneously at the carriage.


    The Dragon Year apprentices were well-known in Golden Roc Fort, while a few had heard of them here in Jade City. Ordinary people were bound to take these teenagers lightly.


    There were more than 20 rival killers. But they could only shoot 14 arrows because the others were brutally eliminated just as they showed their faces. After one round of shooting, eight or nine bodies fell from the windows.


    The prostitutes and elderly women all cried out in fear. This time, they were genuinely frightened, no longer bluffing.


    The people on the streets did not figure out what was going on and took it as a new trick of the prostitutes. Some even cheered. After some were hit by stray arrows, the streets finally went into turmoil.


    Four of the 14 arrows went astray, hurting the pedestrians. Seven were blocked by the apprentices. Still, three went inside the carriage.


    With the reins in hand, Gu Shenwei turned around to block another arrow. He lifted up the curtain to check.


    One arrow was nailed to the coach, the other two shot the real coachman. The siblings of the Xu family were shivering under the coachman¡¯s body.


    ¡°You drive!¡± Gu Shenwei shouted and snatched out Xu Xiaoyi. He passed over the reins and the whip. ¡°Hold it tight, don¡¯t lose control.¡± Then, he jumped onto the top of the carriage.


    Xu Xiaoyi was even too scared to refuse. He shrank himself and held the reins tightly, as if his life was on the verge of death.


    Fights broke out in every direction. In the houses, on the rooftops, and in the streets, the shing of weapons lingered on. The teenage apprentices were silent, while the attackers shouted spiritedly. But the shouts gradually died out over time.


    Last night¡¯s imperfect assassination had pushed their umted killing desire to the breaking point. They needed a release. Thus, the head-on attackers were like sheep into a wolf¡¯s den. They were shredded to pieces in an instant.


    Gu Shenwei was kneeling on the top of the carriage with a single leg, looking around nervously. Suddenly, he discovered that the four apprentices and Shangguan Yushi were all gone. They had been lured by blood, all of them chasing on the rooftops after thest attackers.


    The formation broke down in an instant and the fighting spread over to the other streets. No one was on Pleasure Alley, except for the single carriage and its only defender.


    A group of people rode from the opening of the street. They smashed everyntern they met. It was like a flying cloud that was about to shroud the streets.


    ¡°Run!¡± Gu Shenweimanded, but the carriage was still motionless in its spot. Xu Xiaoyi was scared stiff like a wooden saber. He just could not loosen his hand on the reins.


    So, Gu Shenwei patted his head with the back of the knife. Xu Xiaoyi screamed, then fainted and fell over.


    The two riding horses had been restrained for a long time. They ran like hell once they were released, almost making Gu Shenwei on the top of the carriage trip over.


    Gu Shenwei held on to the edge tightly, cursing the useless Xu Xiaoyi in his head.


    The carriage ran wildly for dozens of steps before it suddenly became smooth again. He took a look and discovered that it was Xu Yanwei who was holding the reins. She looked weak, but faced with a crisis, she was stronger than her brother.


    ¡°Don¡¯t drive too fast.¡±


    Gu Shenwei ordered her. The apprentices were high on killing. It was unlikely that they would leave any attackers alive, so he had to capture somebody himself.


    Those people on the horses rode faster and faster. Now he could recognize that there were 11 people, judging by their figures. They all had the normal des of a bandit gang and were not masked.


    ¡°That¡¯s him,¡± somebody in the chase shouted.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart beat faster. Apparently, that ¡°him¡± meant himself. ¡°Why would they switch their target from ¡®the insider¡¯ to me?¡±

 Chapter 98

    Chapter 98: The Capture


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The first horse was in pursuit and was aligned with the carriage. The knight raised his de to hack at the teenager on top of it.


    Gu Shenwei did not have time to think about why, as his left hand still clung to the edge. His body was then swung into the air. He circled around and finally fell back onto the top of the carriage.


    The knight raised his arm, but then stopped moving. The horse rode on, but his sword fell to the ground. Then, he fell over as well with his feet tangled up in the saddle. He was dragged to some distance by the horse.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, don¡¯t get left behind,¡± the attackers shouted. Then, the four horses caught up.


    Pleasure Alley was the only straight street in South City, but it was not very long. After Gu Shenwei had killed the first attacker, Xu Yanwei had already ridden out of the alley and turned into the maze-like small alleys.


    Four horses could not ride aligned. He managed to kill one attacker at a sharp turn. Another two were standing on their horses and jumped onto the top of the carriage. Then, thest one followed suit.


    The knights were ordinary machete-men, who were ruthless butcked techniques. Thus, they would stand to attack, even on top of the carriage. Gu Shenwei held on to the edge left-handed and crouched like a cat. He swung his knife first, shing one¡¯s heel, and then pierced another¡¯s thigh.


    The two knights fell off screaming. Seeing this, the fourth knight ceased his pursuit and slowed down to join hispanions.


    Gu Shenwei sessively defeated two groups of attackers, but did not capture anybody alive. He was taught to kill, not to capture while he was being hunted down.


    Another knight caught up. He snuck behind the carriage and rose up suddenly in the air. He flew over Gu Shenwei into the coachman¡¯s seat.


    The knight looked resolute but his age was hard to discern. He was about 30 to 50 years old. He had a pair of cold eyes. And just like Gu Shenwei, as hended on the top of the carriage, he clung to the edge and swung his sword.


    ¡°This man is a master,¡± Gu Shenwei thought. In the meantime, he had swung his saber toward his enemy¡¯s leg.


    Fortunately, this man was not a master like the knight of Stone Kingdom. The sword and the saber collided. They were both at the same level.


    Golden Roc Fort¡¯s machete skills were for assassination. Killers were supposed to kill in one move. In a duel, their skills would stretch thin. Although the two people were fighting fiercely on top, neither of them could fully perform their skills. They could only quickly and ferociously attack. In an instant, they had already performed a dozen moves. des were tangled, but neither had gained the upper hand.


    The rest of the attackers caught up. One of them fell from the top of the carriage when he tried to climb up. Thus, the other five knights stayed on their horses. They followed the carriage and struck out a knife from time to time. This flustered Gu Shenwei and soon left him in a bad position.


    As the carriage turned into another alley, Gu Shenwei had two wounds in his legs. The wounds were not fatal, but they limited him more.


    The knight on top probably thought this was the time. Thus, he shouted, ¡°It¡¯s your death¡±, and struck at Gu Shenwei fiercely, who could only defend himself without any resistance.


    Moreover, a knight sped up to the front of the carriage. He wanted to kill the driver. Gu Shenwei was far from that seat and unable to save her.


    It seemed that they were losing, whereas, opportunities arrived.


    The driving Xu Yanwei let out a scream, but was free from the attack. It was the knight who was shot by an arrow. He immediately fell to the ground like a falling sack.


    From the rooftops on both sides, people jumped down. As theynded and shed, four knights were hit and fell off their horses.


    Seeing this, the knight on top of the carriage became flustered and he screeched. An arrow came from inside the carriage and pierced through his feet.


    Gu Shenwei took the opportunity to jump on him and knock him unconscious with the saber handle.


    The carriage slowed down and stopped. It turned out that Xu Yanwei had taken them back to Pleasure Alley again. It was at the same time that the apprentices had returned from capturing the attackers.


    It also turned out that Xu Xiaoyi in the carriage had already woken up. After his careful scrutiny, he finally took the opportunity to pierce an arrow through the knight¡¯s feet.


    Gu Shenwei sat on the top sweating. He originally thought there were only one or two assassins. He did not expect that there would a group of machete-men. Moreover, they did not target the bait that he had set up, but himself.


    Something still went wrong, which he could not understand.


    The apprentices gathered around; some carried a body, another held a wounded captive. Moreover, Shangguan Yushi wore a long face.


    The dead man was ve Liu, one of the killer apprentices. He had been on their team. He used to be smart, but not that proficient at machete skills.


    In Golden Roc Fort, losing your members in action was a mistake. Thus, killer leader Shangguan Yushi would have to justify herself. No wonder she was in a bad mood.


    ¡°Stupid. We shouldn¡¯t have chosen him.¡±


    She meant ve Huan. The apprentices stayed silent. They were survivors of the ughter in East Castle. They did not share the same side as Master Yu of the Inner Residence.


    ¡°They¡¯d better have something to justify you, otherwise you¡¯ll take the entire me. You came up with this action without even consulting me,¡± Shangguan Yushi snapped at him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the me.¡± Gu Shenwei fetched a rope and tied up the fainted knight. He then jumped off of the carriage. With another two apprentices, he squeezed the two captives into the coach.


    As the coach stopped, the Xu siblings jumped off, away from all the apprentices. Although about the same age, killer apprentices werepletely different people in their eyes, even scarier than the rude machete-men.


    ¡°What about them?¡± one apprentice asked.


    Before Shangguan Yushi could speak, Gu Shenwei broke in. ¡°They¡¯ll work for the fort.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi hesitated. As a killer leader, she had every right to have these two used as bait killed. It was also a principle of the killers in Golden Roc Fort.


    Gu Shenwei pushed the siblings and whispered, ¡°Go to Southwall. Look for the cripple, Tie Hanfeng.¡±


    South City was now dangerous. The siblings were reluctant to move alone. However, they knew that staying with the killer apprentices would be more dangerous. Thus, they nodded and ran away in a panic. Only when Pleasure Alley was out of sight again did they feel a little relieved.


    The apprentices got into formation again and set off. Two bodies and two captives were squeezed into the coach.


    The attackers did not show up again. The teenager¡¯s capability seemed to have frightened the mastermind behind them.


    They met with some trouble crossing the bridge. The North City guards declined to amodate them and insisted on checking everyone¡¯s waist tokens. The two captives were not allowed inside.


    The apprentices had just been killing in the street. Therefore, they found it hard to follow strict rules now. If Shangguan Yushi ced an order to kill, they would not have hesitated a second to kill all the guards.


    But Shangguan Yushi did not. She knew the boundaries between North and South City. The guards came from different powerhouses in Jade City. Some even served masters from Golden Roc Fort, whom she could not afford to offend.


    North City was necessary to pass through to get into Golden Roc Fort. There was no other way.


    ¡°Throw the corpses away, kill one captive, and the other one will use ve Liu¡¯s token,¡± Shangguan Yushi ordered.


    Two apprentices were starting to throw the corpses on South City street. The two captives were awake, and the wounded one was terrified. He begged and cried, ¡°Let me go, I know nothing.¡±


    The utterance of ¡°I know nothing¡± sent him to hell. An apprentice stabbed him to death and threw his body on South City street as well.


    Seeing this, the experienced North City guards could not help fearing as they opened the gate.


    Thus, an ordinary assassination by the apprentices had made quite a stir in South City. If they were to enter South City again, they would have discovered that ¡°teenager killers¡± was already a household name.


    The captive was handed over to Heart Cleansing Yard. Moreover, what happened next surprised them again.


    The assassination was not smooth or perfect. They had even lost one member. However, Shangguan Yushi was not med, but praised because of her timely reactions in the face of a crisis.


    On the long lists of awards, ve Huan was absent. He was buried in heaps of words. Soon, even the apprentices in action forgot how he had saved them all. Only a few insiders like Maid Lotus knew about it, thus, they respected him even more.


    Nobody could keet a secret in Heart Cleansing Yard and the captive finally started to talk. He confessed that he was not rted to anyone in the fort, but a leader of a group of tramp machete-men. The one who hired him was another obscure machete-man.


    That ended the investigation.


    A few dayster, rumor had it that the real mastermind was Meng Mingshi, the fifth young master of the Meng family in North City.


    Gu Shenwei took his time to understand his feud with this Fifth Young Master Meng.


    It started from the Xu sibling¡¯s father, Pot-bellied Buddha. When he was alive, he imed to be ¡°Meng¡¯s people¡±. Indeed, he was Meng Mingshi¡¯s follower. He also led his master to a luxurious life. Thus, his death was a great loss for Fifth Young Master Meng, who had just tasted the sweetness of South City.


    Fifth Young Master Meng was known for his bad temper. He used to get a lot of money from the siblings. Thus, he would look after them and kept an eye on who had intervened. Golden Roc Fort¡¯s light penalty of ve Huan dissatisfied him so much that he personally plotted against ve Huan.


    The Meng family was Golden Roc Fort¡¯s biggest benefactor and ally. Since the killer apprentices first started the assassination, Supreme King decided not to pursue. But how they solved it was not known to others.


    Once again, Gu Shenwei learned the difference between ¡°solving the problem¡± and ¡°seeking the truth¡±.


    He did not believe that Mister Guo was innocent in this matter. The implicit document was not something that Fifth Young Master Meng could write. Theplicated conflicts in the Shangguan family also baffled him. Young Master and Mister Guo did not get along well with Lady Meng. But they were secretly rted to the Meng family disciples.


    He bore the suspects deep in his mind, only sharing that with Maid Lotus. She agreed that Fifth Young Master Meng was Mister Guo¡¯s pawn. Thus, the two secretly contacted some apprentices to n revenge.


    But the action was aborted. Tie Hanfeng found out the disciple¡¯s little tricks. He immediately stopped him and taught him an important lesson.


    Throughout his lifetime, Gu Shenwei would always remember Master Shifu¡¯s teachings. In every attack and every scheme, he would strictly follow the rules.

 Chapter 99

    Chapter 99: Education


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Tie Hanfeng had lived a long and glorious life as a killer. When he was immersed inside the world of blood and sabers, he had learned on his own about how to survive.


    ve Huan was his first apprentice, and will most likely be his only apprentice. From the beginning, he intended to teach ve Huan his life experiences at a suitable time. Now he thought the time hade.


    He did not drink today, nor did he say anything uncooth.


    ¡°Do you remember the one I made you kill?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. Of course he did. The horse-faced man had been talking to Tie Hangfeng a second before, but then he became the killing target.


    ¡°He used to be a famous man in the South City, and have countless ties with both Stone Castle and Meng¡¯s residence. But killing him did not cause any problems for us.¡±


    Gu Shenwei remembered that, the horse-faced man seemed as if he had never existed before. No one wanted to take revenge for him.


    ¡°But when you killed Pot-bellied Buddha, you made a problem. What¡¯s the difference? Think about it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. Even though he thought of something, he was too shy to say it.


    ¡°This is what I¡¯m gonna tell you: killing a man is different from killing a man safely. Killing a man is easy, you can do that with your bare hands. But killing a man safely? Making him bleed is not the first concern, you should first cut off his rtions.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng talked excitedly. Although Gu Shenwei could not remember the other things he was taught, he was enlighted by this theory.


    He thought of his Master Shifu¡¯s conversation with quite a few men before he killed the horse-faced man. At that moment, he thought those were nonsense. Now he knew what was Tie Hanfeng up to: the promise he made was an exchange for making those men withdraw their protection of the horse-faced man.


    Before Tie Hanfeng had even given themand, the killing target was already dead.


    Pot-bellied Buddha was no more important than the horse-faced man. If given enough money, Fifth Elder Meng would also abandon this subordinate. But Gu Shenwei broke the rule. He killed the man before his rtions were cut off and he did not offer anypensation. This made Meng Mingshi want to take revenge for his lost face.


    Although the Xu siblings were the ones who started this issue, they were forgiven because they gave a bunch of taels and had taken on a lot of debts.


    Tie Hanfeng also mentioned Mister Guo, ¡°Now do you understand why you can¡¯t challenge Mister Guo? He has a strong rtionship with the Lord. Before you can even cause any trouble, trouble wille to you at the moment when you show up.¡±


    ¡°So what should I do? Wait for him to kill me?¡±


    Tie Hanfeng smiledcently, like a child who finally had a chance to share his secret. ¡°This is another side of ¡®rtion¡¯. The more rtion one has, the harder he is to kill. So increasing the number of rtions will surely make you safer.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was stumped. He still did not know what to do. The only two rtions he had were his Master Shifu, who was popr inside the South City, but back in the fort, he was only a pickthank; another one was Shangguan Ru, but between them was Shangguan Yushi, who saw him as an enemy.


    Tie Hanfeng seemed to have already prepared a solution, but he kept silent. One monthter, Gu Shenwei had finished his affairs in the Archives Library and returned to Pyrowork Academy. Tie Hanfeng led him toplete thest task of a killer: to pledge allegiance toward a Young Master.


    This was not the joke-like pledge Luo Ningcha came up with. It was the blood oath, which could never be broken. In the history of Golden Roc Fort, things happened like a bother killing his sibling, but a killer can never betray his master. Because regardless of whether the killer was loyal or not, once his master lost their power, every subordinate killer will be ughtered and buried with him.


    Gu Shenwei figured out his Master Shifu¡¯s intention. During this month, the surviving apprentices of the East Castle had pledged their allegiance towards different Young Masters, because the Young Masters had begun their scramble a year ago. The best chosen apprentices had already established rtions with their masters.


    Tattooed Arm Gang skipped this step. They had their master before they entered into the East Castle. No one scrambled for them, because thier master had the unalterable right.


    Maid Lotus made her oath to Eighth Young Master already, and Gu Shenwei would do the same thing she did on the first day upon his return to Pyrowork Academy.


    Pledging allegiance toward the enemy who ughtered Gu Shenwei¡¯s family. It took him a whole night tofort hisplex emotions before he could make the oath.


    Among all the sons of the Supreme King, the only two adult sons who stayed in the fort were the eldest son, Shangguan Chui who, following the usual customs, stayed behind to take care of things; the Eighth Son, Shangguan Nu, who had not built his own family for numerous reasons, stayed in the fort to assist his father, and took control of the External Affair Academy.


    Gu Shenweipleted his task in the External Affair Academy. He learned the whole process from Maid Lotus, so everything went well.


    The master of Tie Hanfeng was Third Young Master, hence he stopped his apprentice outside the gate, and stayed there.


    The ceremony was simple: Gu Shenwei kneeled outside the Council Chamber and kowtowed for nine times, spoke out his name and ve name loudly, and spoke ording to the conventions, ¡°This killer has no root, he follows the master¡± and other sorts of stuff. Andstly, he begged for his master to keep him as a retainer.


    Someone took out a bowl half-filled with water, and a pointed cone. Gu Shenwei used thetter one to stick his ten fingers, letting his blood drop into the bowl, which indicated the ¡°blood connection¡±. Afterward, the bowl was sent out, and there was less water than before, which meant the master had drank from the bowl and had dripped his blood inside it.


    Gu Shenwei drank it all. Now he became the ¡°loyal¡± subordinate of Shangguan Nu. Anyone who wanted to kill him had to cut off Gu Shenwei¡¯s rtion with Shangguan Nu first, othewise, one had to kill him in a very secretive manner.


    After a hundred years, the blood oath ceremony had been simplified a lot. A first, the killer and the master had to kill an enemy together and swore by the enemy¡¯s blood. The more powerful their enemy was, the stronger their oath would be. After that, a series ofplicated ceremonial rites was needed. Recruiting a new killer would take several days or even months.


    However, as there were more and more killers, the blood oath had be a formality which was used by the Young Masters to expand their forces.


    The reason Gu Shenwei knew this was because he spent nearly a month on reading the books that were covered with a thickyer of dust.


    One could never read through all the books in Archives Library, there were way too much. One had to be selective. The one who taught Gu Shenwei on what to select was Zhang Ji, who was teaching at school.


    What impressed Zhang Ji was Gu Shenwei¡¯s talent of reading and indentifying the problem in a single file. Besides, when Gu Shenwei went back to the Archives Library, he took the initiative to ask Zhang Ji for advice. At first, Zhang Ji refused him, yet after their conversation, he was so impressed that he not only taught him what he had learnt in all these years, but also gave him tasks to do,pelling this pseudo-disciple of his to read the necessary materials.


    What Zhang Ji always said was, ¡°History told us everything, and one of them was that no one learns from history.¡± He had taught the children of the Shangguan family on how to write and read and told them the fort¡¯s history, thus he deeply understood this sentence.


    During this boring and dull month, Gu Shenwei learned the history of Golden Roc Fort, and found out Zhang Ji was right: Most of the numerous failed killing action attempts had shared the same reason for their failure; every Supreme King had once made a simr mistake and had tried to correct it by using a simr method.


    The killer¡¯s funeral was also simplified. In the past, they had to hold the ceremony in Reincarnation Cliff for three days, and only dropped the body at the end of the third day. The whole process disyed the people¡¯s ultimate respect toward the dead. Unfortunately, the ceremony today was almost humiliating.


    Killing actions were much easier too, which came about as the result of the stronger power of Golden Roc Fort. In the whole Western Region, there were not many factions who could stand against the sabers of Golden Roc Fort¡¯s killers. Hence there was little need for reconnaissance or bribery. The only custom left was to send one spy.


    ¡°Bribing the traitor¡± was Zhang Ji¡¯s favorite part. Every time he asked Gu Shenwei to read the material about this part, he stroked the book¡¯s cover and sighed, ¡°People¡¯s heart, ah, it¡¯s all in here.¡±


    Sometimes bribing a traitor can be very expensive. Thus during the reign of thest Supreme King, the cost of this part was severely reduced. Moreover, in the King¡¯s final few years, he even made a rule that unless there was a major killing action inside the fort, they would never engage in ¡°bribery¡±.


    Zhang Ji talked about this with bitter hatred every time. ¡°Gold was the sharpest dagger in the past, and the cousellor was the best killer. Now everything changed, the only thing left was some butchers. A real killer doesn¡¯t exist anymore.¡±


    Zhang Ji did a thorough research of the outdated ¡°bribery¡± skill, and even summarized a theory. ¡°The master always takes the ve¡¯s obedience for granted, but the ve doesn¡¯t. Every insult received, every ttery given, he¡¯ll memorize it as a debt and will wait for a suitable moment for his master to repay it all. If his master doesn¡¯t repay, or refuses to, the seeds of betrayal will be nted. Pay attention, this kind of man is who you should bribe. I¡¯ve seen many instances of loyalty and betrayal. One thing you should learn is that the master is always stupid. He thinks he can do anything he want, ignoring that everything has its price. So in every situation you can always find the ideal betrayer, and this man is usually the most loyal, obsequious and dedicated man.¡±


    Gu Shenwei listened to him with admiration and some shock. Because he was indeed the ideal betrayer. If he asked for his repayment, Golden Roc Fort could not afford to repay him.


    This experience had greatly affected Gu Shenwei. The history, and what Tie Hanfeng taught him, were thergest braces for him before hepleted his vengeance.


    The only regretful thing was that no information about the current Supreme King was stored in the Archives Library. Gu Shenwei could not find any details about the ughter of the Gu family.


    But this was the first time Gu Shenwei felt, psychologically, that he was not that weak. During their expansion, the Shangguan family had abandoned many things that they thought were trivial. Now behind their unprecedented power, there were also some ces that were unexpectedly fragile.


    Gu Shenwei could not make a n for now. But the path before him was no longer a mist, nor did Golden Roc Fort¡¯s power seem to be invincible. It was only amon stone fort which was located on the peak.


    While Gu Shenwei¡¯s thoughts werergely enlighted, his kung fu had been left behind. The evil consequence that Mama Xue brought to him had be apparent. He experienced another qigong deviation, and hepletely passed out this time, too. This time the meditation of Nameless Swordbook was not helpful. Furthermore, his Internal Strength did not grow.


    He had stagnated in the third level of Yin Strength for more than half a year. In the past, the other apprentices¡¯s Internal Strength were all weaker than him but now some of them had surpassed him.


    On the third day after the pledge, Gu Shenwei took part in the seventh monthly test, but this time he failed and nearly died, which made Tie Hanfeng very annoyed. As a result, Gu Shenwei took out the Nameless Swordbook again.

 Chapter 100

    Chapter 100: Comprehension of Sword


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei had suffered a crushing defeat in the dyed seventh monthly test.


    Wildhorse and ve Huan were both the bestpetitors among this year¡¯s apprentices. No one knew why they were matched up against each other. Nevertheless, everyone was looking forward to it.


    Everyone had clearly remembered the battle in the ruins of Woodensaber Alley, which hadsted for an entire day and a night. Eventually, this battle was stopped by Lord, making these boys feel like they had been kicked in the stomach.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s Internal Strength had stopped improving long ago. He put more effort into practicing his saber skills and reviewing his battle experiences after every practice session, as he hoped that this wouldpensate for his shorings. He made that happen, at least during his first few months at the East Castle. His kung fu was several levels stronger than before.


    But now, hisck of Internal Strength was bing more and more apparent, which could not be counterbnced by any saber skill or experience.


    Gu Shenwei had battled with Wildhorse for more than thirty movements in the training room. If anyone had witnessed that, he could hardly conclude that ve Huan was actually the weaker one. They appeared to be of equal strength, and it looked as if anyone could win.


    But Wildhorse was thest one standing, and Gu Shenwei knew his fate the moment when they had made their first movement.


    Wildhorse was steadily improving. He had no defect: saber skill, Lightness skill and Internal Strength, he could manage all of them well. He was much better than the man he was at the time of the ruins¡¯ battle.


    Gu Shenwei was stabbed in his left chest, close to his heart. This was one of the deepest wounds in his body, which had nearly killed him.


    It is said that Wildhorse had showed him mercy so he could repay ve Huan for saving him from being killed in the South City. Now he did not owe anything to ve Huan.


    But Gu Shenwei knew this was not true. Wildhorse might be thankful, but he was still a killer, he would never repay him by using this method.


    Wildhorse tried his utmost, he could almost finish ve Huan¡¯s life. He failed only because his strength was still developing. If he was given another month, ve Huan would not be able to resist him after ten movements.


    A deeply wounded apprentice had two choices: either he could choose to be throw off the Reincarnation Cliff, thus he could be honored as a warrior, however, it meant nothing nowadays; or could choose to be sent to the Firewood Yard. Gu Shenwei would rather stab himself than be forced to go back to that gloomy ce.


    Thus he chose the third way. He held in his most recent breath and asked an acquaintance to send him back to where his Master Shifu lived. He kept his eyes open all the time, so that the apprentice would not see him as a dead man and carry him to the Reincarnation Cliff.


    He passed out as soon as he was put on the bed, and he did not open his eyes until the next night.


    When he woke up, he could smell the intense herbal aromas, and then he discovered that his wound was covered with thick bandages. Gu Shenwei felt ashamed. Before the battle, he was thinking of overthrowing Golden Roc Fort, and now what? He could hardly protect himself.


    One should learn both strategy and skill.


    Tie Hanfeng¡¯s reaction made him much more ashamed. It felt like a knife was stabbing his internal organs.


    ¡°You woke up?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master Shifu.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t assist Eighth Young Master in this way.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Nor can you assist me.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­Shifu.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng tried hard to suppress his temper, but it had still burst out when he red at ve Huan coldly: ¡°What the heck? What do you think you¡¯re doing? I asked you to learn something in the Whiterobe Academy, and you learned to be stabbed? What about your killing intent? Your hatred? If I were you, I would kill myself immediately. Being stabbed by a dummy? You deserve death.¡±


    Gu Shenwei could not refute it. Now they both had a red face.


    Tie Hanfeng paced to and fro, his shoulders heaved up and down, making him look like a unsteady flying bird. ¡°You fool, you¡¯ve made a lot of schemes in this fort, needless to say about the other craps in the South City. Why do you think you are alive now? You dared to hide your internal trauma of Barren Sect, why I don¡¯t kill you? Why?¡±


    Gu Shenwei still could not refute it.


    ¡°Because you killed the stupid enemy in every monthly test! Because you can summon up a stupid ¡®Tattooed Arm Gang¡¯, because you can survive in the carnage, and made everyone think you are the best apprentice! That¡¯s why Eighth Young Master protects you all the time, and that¡¯s why I allowed you to do so many foolish things. If you are trash, I would have never spent so much money on you!¡±


    Gu Shenwei could not be more ashamed. It turned out that Shifu knew ve Huan¡¯s secret long time ago, and he had reported it. If so, Gu Shenwei should tell him frankly. But then again, he was just a trivial ve at that time, the master might not want the trouble.


    And it was his enemy Shangguan Nu, instead of Tie Hanfeng, who had asked for three more days for the assassination of Stone Kingdom¡¯s prince.


    This was extemely ironic. The shame he felt could never be wiped out.


    ¡°Remember, son.¡± Tie Hanfeng seemed prepared to show his real face. ¡°Your life does not belong to you. You better make it count. Although Golden Roc Fort is gigantic, it only feeds the most vicious dogs. As for my ce, it¡¯s much smaller, there¡¯s no ce for trash.¡±


    What could Gu Shenwei say? He was silent. After another day¡¯s rest, he began his work. He took out the Nameless Swordbook and read it all day long, betting everything on it.


    Tie Hanfeng left him alone. He had other things to worry about in the City. Gu Shenwei had enough time to study the obscure and profound letters and paintings.


    Thest few recondite words of the book had proved its value. The first 29 sword moves also seemed to have some mystical effects. But they all seemed too wed. He originally thought it was the book¡¯s problem, now he would rather believe that he had notprehended it.


    It was too hard to understand its profound meanings. He needed assistance.


    On this night, Tattooed Arm Gang¡¯s former members held their regr meeting. The number of people had decreased, only less than ten apprentices were left. Since they had pledged alliegiance toward different masters, this gang had already dissolved, no need to mention the blow that ve Huan¡¯s fiasco had brought them.


    The meeting finished quickly. They deliberately did not mention the test, which made the atmosphere more awkward.


    Gu Shenwei asked Maid Lotus to stay, who had the same problem as him. Their Internal Strength had stagnated for a long time.


    ¡°That book is useful.¡±


    Maid Lotus spoke Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind, they were thinking the same thoughts. Maid Lotus had not followed ve Huan¡¯s suggestion. She was secretly learning the sword skills, but she also could notprehend it.


    From that moment on, they sought the solution together by studying the book, especially in thest few pages, hoping that they could find the method to avoid qigong deviation.


    After several days, they made no progress. Hence they had to admit their failure, and instead they studied the first 29 sword moves.


    In the beginning, with inspiration from each other, they had rapidly improved. But soon a divergence appeared, and became so big that they could not maintain the harmony anymore.


    ¡± ¡®The one who kills does not die¡¯, this was the leading phrase, and ¡®kill¡¯ was the core, so this sword art should be used in the most ferocious and ruthless way.¡±


    This was Maid Lotus¡¯s point. And she insisted on it even after their argument.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, but look at this, ¡®He devotes himself to the Tao from day to day to suffer harm; he is harmed again and again till he dies; then he would reborn from ash.¡¯ It¡¯s saying that the killing target was ourselves. Before killing others, we have to kill ourselves first.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought hisprehension of the words were better, yet he did not persuade Maid Lotus.


    These two teenagers ced all their hopes on this alien and exotic book, thus they chewed every letter whenever they were eating or sleeping, and once any thought came across their mind, they would share it with each other.


    Because they met each other so frequently, rumors about them had sprung up, but Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus did not care about it. Until one day, Gu Shenwei was blocked by a team of apprentices. And since that, Gu Shenwei recognized that even killers had their secret passions.


    Those apprentices all came from the former ¡®Tattooed Arm Gang¡¯, and they treated Gu Shenwei with respect Yet they all had a gloomy expression and a rigid tone. They could not tolerate it anymore.


    ¡°ve Huan, lets find a ce, we want to talk with you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei lifted his right hand, so that he could pull out his saber at any time. His kungfu was surpassed by Wildhorse, but these guys? They were much weaker. ¡°Talk with me right here.¡±


    Those apprentices looked at each other, checked that no unrted people were around, then their leader tentatively asked, ¡°What¡¯s¡­what¡¯s going on between you and Maid Lotus?¡±


    Gu Shenwei almostughed out loud. He did not see thating. ¡°She is my friend and my helper. We have some important issues to discuss, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°Is that all?¡±


    ¡°That is all.¡±


    Gu Shenwei acted very natually. In addition, he had his right hand on his saber, which was more persuasive than his words. Hence they apologized and left.


    Soon another rumor came: ve Huan and Maid Lotus was nning against Wildhorse. Some people believed it, and some people did not.


    Improving their kung fu was the priority. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus ignored all the rumors and continued to study the sword arts. But their progress was getting slower and slower. The vocabry in the book was too profound, they could only identify which letters they were reading.


    Gu Shenwei came up with an idea. He asked Zhang Ji for help.


    The killers could not casually leave the East Castle, thus Gu Shenwei wrote down his confusion on the paper, and requested the ves to deliver it. He wrote excessively everytime, including more than a hundred question concerning kung fu, history, ssics. He concealed his real question among it, in case anyone peeped at it.


    Zhang Ji did not know any kung fu, but he would read any book he had seen. After so many readings of the secret manuscripts, he could at least write something. Thus he answered every question Gu Shenwei asked, sometimes he even sent some books and wrote instructions for this pseudo-disciple to read.


    At first, Gu Shenwei was worried about whether his behavior was suspicious, yet it proved he was wrong. Zhang Ji was a hired expert, without any power or influence. There was no danger inmunicating with him.


    However, his Master Shifu was the biggest hindrance. He did not understand why his apprentice ignored the proper duties, so he threatened ve Huan¡¯s life everytime they met. He asked ve Huan to stick to the saber¡¯s practice and ignore the ¡°profund meaning¡± of Zhuang Zi or Lao Zi.


    Gu Shenwei tried to exin. Now that hepletely knew about his Shifu, no matter how malevolent Tie Hanfeng was, he would never kill Gu Shenwei for real.


    Maid Lotus failed in the eighth monthly test as well, but her wound was not deep. After that, Gu Shenwei failed again. Luckily, his opponent was not that strong, so his wound was light.


    But these two failures taught them an important thing.


    Unlike normal sword arts or saber arts, the 29 sword moves in the Nameless Swordbook was unable to be learnt by a single person or two. Due to theck of an atmosphere where people had to face the threat of death, practising the skill in normal conditions would not do them any good. On the contrary, they would deviate more from the path of ¡°killing others¡± or ¡°killing their own selves¡±.


    They made an agreement on this matter. They had to kill others to learn the quintessence of the sword art.

 Chapter 101

    Chapter 101: Swordcraft Practicing


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    To kill and to prevent being killed were once the apprentices¡¯ daily routines. However, the former had be very hard after the announcement of the ¡°ban on killing¡±. The only chance to kill without being punished was the monthly test.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus were eager to practice the new swordcraft more often. Thus, it was not only rare, but also too risky for them to have an opportunity to test it in a duel.


    Every day numerous wandering swordsmen rushed into South City. As they had no significant rtions, they were the best targets for practicing the skills by the standards of Tie Hanfeng. But since thest fiasco, he had not taken his apprentice down the mountain even once.


    Maid Lotus¡¯ Master Shifu was a typical killer. He loved nothing except for his sword and would definitely not take his apprentice into the town.


    As a result, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had to look for their targets inside the Fort.


    Just then, strange things sessively happened in the Fort, providing them with an opportunity to practice their killing skills.


    One day inte February, an apprentice, the winner of his monthly test, carried a corpse to Reincarnation Cliff, which was a precedent that was created by ve Huan and had now be a ¡°tradition¡±.


    Nobody in East Castle knew exactly what had happened. They only heard a shrill scream from Reincarnation Cliff. The guards followed the sound and found two corpses with four deep bloody holes in their eyes, and the eyeballs were gone. Even the cruellest killer would also feel frightened at the scene.


    There were several extremely deep wounds on each body. It looked like they had been stabbed by a row of daggers.


    At first, the guards thought that it was done by external enemies. Soon, someone recognized that the murderer was a long-haired, wed animal instead of human beings.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus were the only two that knew what it exactly was.


    The giant red-crowned roc had reappeared. Being an expert flyer in the sky, it took a risk and hadnded in a ce inhabited by humans. Perhaps it was for the purpose of finding familiar food, avenging its parents, or to find someone who was special.


    Its appearance shocked the entire Golden Roc Fort and drew the Supreme King¡¯s attention. Shangguan Fa led a team to search for it and set many traps there. He evenmanded Lightness Skill masters to climb down the cliff to seek its nest.


    But none of the masters came back, and except for their dying screams, no valuable information was heard. At the steep cliffside, no one could beat a giant flying bird, not even the most powerful man.


    The Supreme King had to change his tactics. In order to catch the swift giant roc in a smarter way, heid many traps beside the cliff and sent out the bait.


    ve Huan was the first one chosen for the bait, for he had previously encountered the giant roc. He stayed at the cliff all night and all day, worrying that the roc would suddenly appear and fall into the traps. Being surrounded by top killers, he would have no chance to save it.


    The giant red-crowned roc turned out to be smarter than they all had expected. Not falling into the trap, it hovered over the peak to seek the weakest part of the defense and attacked them abruptly. No matter who it was, its first step was pecking at their eyes. None had survived the attacks, and many of them were even thrown down into the abyss from the sky.


    The giant roc turned the Fort upside down. No one would go outside the wall except for the bravest killers who wanted to achieve great merits. Even when they went there, they went in groups. They did not want to fight the ¡°flying killer¡± alone.


    The Supreme King issued an order. The one who could catch the giant roc alive would be awarded thousands of silver as well as a treasured sword of the Shangguan family.


    During the first few days, Gu Shenwei was extremely worried about the giant roc¡¯s fate. After finding out that the roc was safe, Gu Shenwei came up with the idea of taking this good chance to practice swordcraft.


    He and Maid Lotus targeted those men who were by themselves after the ck market had disbanded. After killing them, they threw the bodies down from the cliff to make people believe that they were killed by the giant roc.


    The first man killed by Maid Lotus was a ve, who knew nothing about martial arts. He came to the ck market to buy some stuff and had died there for unknown reasons.


    Maid Lotus stabbed the unlucky guy in the heart. As they could not find a sword, they used a saber.


    One of the swordcraft disputes between the two teenagers was that Gu Shenwei thought they should strictly follow the instruction in the book to attack the neck. However, Maid Lotus believed that ¡°neck¡± was just an analogy of any crucial body part. Otherwise, there would be no need for the Chinese characters to emphasize the significance of Qi.


    The Nameless Swordbook attached great importance to the existence of Qi. With Zhang Ji¡¯s help, they finally confirmed that Qi was the energy flowing through all living things, rather than Internal Breath. Qi had nodal points, and by cutting off the points, they could make an instant killing. As for where the points were, they could not tell, and neither could Zhang Ji.


    Every time they attacked someone, they would check his condition immediately. If the target did not die instantly, it meant they had not performed the swordcraft correctly.


    For the first few times, they were too nervous to meet the requirement of killing someone by one strike, and another strike was always needed. Gradually, they became ustomed to practising the moves and performed better and better.


    When one of them was attacking, another one would hide nearby to observe. They would offer theirments on the gesture, move, and speed of the attack to help each other make progress.


    They found out many problems as they were practicing, and the first one was the difference between the sword and the saber.


    In a letter, Zhang Ji borated the characteristics of the two weapons. The saber was heavier than the sword, and it could slice as well as stab, while the sword only specialized in stabbing targets. Besides, the way people stabbed with them was also different. When stabbing, a saberman would concentrate his strength on the de, but a swordsman would distribute his strength all over his body. Therefore, saber skills were fierce and swordcrafts were agile. While there were both normal sabers and treasured sabers, there were only treasured swords.


    In Zhang Ji¡¯s view, those ¡°steel sheets¡± used as decorations and in juggling and dancing could not be called swords.


    The sabers in Golden Roc Fort were lighter than ordinary sabers, but still heavier than swords. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus respectively whet a saber, thinning the back part and sharpening the point. They hid them away and never showed them to others unless during a killing.


    After several assassinations, the two mastered the method of improving their speed in the swordbook. They also discovered that the method of transforming energy into strength could be applied to machete skills. To avoid being found, they applied the swordcraft to machete skills. Though the force would be weakened correspondingly, it could protect them from being suspected and help them deal with the next few monthly tests.


    After each assassination, they did not touch the belongings of the corpses and just moved the bodies to the cliff. By leaving the boots and the socks of the dead there, they made the cliff a scene of a roc attack.


    Those were real assassinations. They took great care in covering their tracks, attacked every other week, found good reasons to leave their Master Shifu, and often met the apprentices they were familiar with so that they could get alibis from them when necessary.


    During nearly three months from the winter to the spring, they killed 12 people in total, six for each. Among the dead, there were servants with no martial arts, apprentices shopping for their masters, and even one real killer. But not even once had they been suspected of being involved. The ck market ran as usual with the location moved inwards.


    In his thirties, that killer was still serving his masters. Like the other people, he wore a night suit while he was hanging around the ck market. The two teenagers thought he was an apprentice due to his short height.


    Maid Lotus killed him with one stab. They did not realize that the man was a killer until they carried the body to the cliff and found his killer waist token when they were disguising the scene.


    By that point, the two teenagers understood that they had made achievements in their swordcraft practice and there was no further need for them to practice inside the Fort.


    When they were practicing, they were friends as well as teachers to each other. As for Zhang Ji, who helped them a lot, he would never know what kind of killers they had be under his guidance.


    Focusing on ¡°killing¡±, Maid Lotus¡¯ killing intent became more obvious. Gu Shenwei saw an apprentice being scared stiff while talking to her. She changed so much that someone evenpared her to Wildhorse.


    Meanwhile, focusing on ¡°self-deconstruction¡±, Gu Shenwei¡¯s killing intent became weaker and weaker. Tie Hanfeng was confused and furious about his change. He criticized him as he usually did, hoping he could reignite Gu Shenwei¡¯s killing intent. It was not until Gu Shenwei sessively killed his opponents with one stab in the monthly tests that Tie Hanfeng grudgingly epted Gu Shenwei¡¯s change. After all, none of those opponents was weak.


    ¡°What happened to you? You were a natural killer who was as vicious as a dangerous dog. Sometimes even I was scared of you. But now, you¡¯re as spineless as a pug. s, I prefer to see the man you used to be.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng repeated these again and again. He missed the apprentice in his memory.


    After Maid Lotus had sessfully killed a real killer, Gu Shenwei had thought about turning his aim to Tie Hanfeng. By killing Tie Hanfeng, he would be given the title of killer. But after several times of preparation, he eventually gave up because Tie Hanfeng was much better at kung fu than ordinary killers.


    Gu Shenwei was anxious. He was eager to challenge a real killer to prove that his swordcraft was as good as Maid Lotus¡¯, and maybe even better than hers.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus decided to carry out thest assassination in the Fort.


    They waited another seven days before they discovered a man who seemed to be a killer in the ck market. This killer camete. After drinking several gulps of wine that he had bought, he peed at a wasted yard. When he came out, there was nobody around.


    The killing went very well. Gu Shenwei stabbed the killer at the neck with his special ¡°sword¡±. Then the killer felt a mosquito bite, raising his hand to his neck, but he stopped dead in mid-motion. As he was falling down to the ground, Gu Shenwei caught his wine-gourd.


    They finally mastered the swordcraft, but they had not reached the point of perfection. When they did, they would be able to kill before the victim had noticed anything.


    As shown by a killer waist token on his body, the dead man was a real killer.


    The ident urred on the cliff at the end of Woodensaber Alley, where Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus were going to dump the dead killer.


    What they did not know was that Golden Roc Fort had changed its tactics as the roc had not been caught during thest three months. Having analyzed the ce and the time of the roc¡¯s attacks, someone had found out where the roc visited the most frequently and had set their traps there.


    The cliff was an important ce to set up traps because 12 people had been killed there by the roc. A few killers were hiding there, ready for the prey.

 Chapter 102

    Chapter 102: Roc¡¯s Coming


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The killers felt no sense offort in this deep, dark night.


    The two threw the body down the cliff then, just as they prepared to depart, they both sensed danger in the air. The sensitivity to traps was in the killers¡¯ nature, which made them consider everything as hostile, including the snecks and the trees.


    However, luckily for them, they were not the target. Moreover, this was also not the most intense hunting ground, but they still caused rm through their behavior.


    Like a puff of smoke, an assassin in ck stood up in the snecks. ¡°Tell me your name.¡±


    This was the critical moment. These two teenagers had be colder and colder as they studied the Nameless Swordbook, and they reached tacit cooperation during many assassinations. When this moment arrived, they quickly reacted together. It looked like they had practiced it before as they instinctively leaped into the trap.


    Maid Lotus stabbed the speaker to death and moved swiftly ¨C like a bat chasing its food.


    Gu Shenwei rushed to the nearby thickets, slightlyter than Maid Lotus, and managed to stab another killer.


    The two apprentices¡¯ ruthlessness surprised the others. They all appeared at once, drawing their sabers.


    The killers were used to finishing their tasks without a single battle or making any sound. They waved their sabers silently.


    In this horrible dark night, one could neither see any man ¨C except a few moving ghosts ¨C nor hear the sound of weapons crashing or peoples¡¯ steps. Just a thud indicated a man falling.


    Their battles finished soon after.


    There were only ten assassins in ck remaining; six were killed. They formed a line to block the exit of Woodensaber Alley.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus were trapped.


    Maid Lotus¡¯ saber was broken, with only half of it left. She did not foresee that one of the assassins wore a breastte, which protected him from being stabbed in the heart.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s hands were empty. Due to the fact that he scratched his wrist when cutting an enemy¡¯s neck, he was forced to abandon the saber.


    Now they could not alter the situation. The ten assassins were terribly annoyed and shocked. Where did these two apprentices with such weird saber skillsing from? As a result, they stopped in case they killed some of the Shangguan family¡¯s offspring ¨C those who were raised painstakingly and secretly by Supreme King.


    After a while, a killer asked, ¡°Who really are you?¡±


    The two stayed silent. Not far from them, there were two bodies with sabers in their hands. If they could grab them, then they might be able to fight back.


    ¡°Kill them all.¡±


    ¡°Arrest them.¡±


    As the assassins discorded, theypletely ignored Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus. Seizing this opportunity, the surrounded teenagers abruptly rushed toward the dagger on the floor.


    The assassins moved almost at the same time, with each teenager having two assassins sent after them. With six assassins remaining, they stayed behind as backup just in case the former ones failed.


    Gu Shenwei grasped his saber, but he could not execute any techniques. All he could do was avoid the attacks by tumbling. If this kept up, he would reach the end of the cliff in a few steps.


    Maid Lotus performed her lightness skill better than him. She reached the saber earlier but facing two enemy sabers, she could not do anything but retreat, moving closer to the cliff.


    Gu Shenwei prepared to endure one cut so that he could stand up and fight back when suddenly, the ¡°Will of the Divine¡± appeared and interfered with this incident ¨C something he had forgotten from a long time ago.


    A cloud darker than the night flew above and covered the sky.


    A giant bodynded in front of them, its sickle-like beak waving above everyone¡¯s head, searching for and harvesting its favorite food.


    The scream could be heard from Woodensaber Alley in the depths of the Inner Residence. Supreme King, who was lying next to his lover, woke up in fright.


    The giant red-crowned roc appeared and before itpletelynded on the ground, it already killed two of the killers who were surrounding Gu Shenwei.


    The other killers were stunned; they were waiting for the beast all this time, but when it finally arrived they could not find any hunting or rope nearby.


    Maid Lotus finally saw an opportunity to counterattack, so she struck one killer and moved closer to Gu Shenwei, standing with him. She knew that the roc was his friend.


    Gu Shenwei regained his footing. Astonished, he looked at the fledgling that he had been missing all this time.


    In its childhood, it was brous and wrinkled, devouring food like a tiger. When it grew up, it became ferocious with its neck shrunk and its shoulders shrugged all the time. Now it was two heads higher than Gu Shenwei. It stood with its shoulders back and chest out, and its crimson feathers bristled like a solid wall. It was truly a roc now.


    The giant, red-crowned roc stepped toward the rest of the killers with its back facing the teenagers.


    The killers were frightened, yet for the fame of Golden Roc Fort, they did not retreat.


    The roc did not give them chance to retreat, either. It spread its wings and flew up about six meters high, hovering above them. After several screams, the killers lost their eyes. They dropped their daggers, covered their faces with both hands, and screamed. From another angle, they looked like strays who had slowly been trekking for a long time, or tipplers who had drunk so much that they could barely control their bodies and staggered forward. They were seemed summoned by the fate, which led them to the abyss.


    The two teenagers had toughened their hearts through many killings, yet witnessing this scene, they stood transfixed with fright,pletely forgetting to react.


    In the blink of an eye, the roc finished its ughter. It folded its wings and faced the boy whose life it had just saved.


    It looked even stronger than its parents: those golden-crowned rocs. It stretched its spindly neck freely, seemingly showing how nutritious those corpses were that Gu Shenwei threw out in these past months.


    The only thing unusual was the feathers on its head and eyeballs. They were all crimson, sparkling even in the deep dark night. If the golden-crowned roc was the prideful king, then this one must be the devil descending to earth.


    It only restrained its murderous intent when it sat next to this familiar boy. Tilting its head and sizing up Gu Shenwei, like the squab it used to be, it wanted to peck at his insteps again.


    ¡°We have to move quickly.¡±


    Maid Lotus reminded Gu Shenwei, who was almost deaf now. He looked up and observed the roc, unable to restrain himself with wild joy. ¡°Is this really the squab that I raised up?¡±


    The roc jumped by his side and sniffed him with its beak rubbing his body.


    Maid Lotus stepped backward and reminded him again. ¡°If you stay here a second longer, then the roc will also be in danger.¡±


    Her words drew Gu Shenwei¡¯s senses back from the excitement of reunion. He hugged the roc hurriedly and pushed it to the edge of the cliff. ¡°Go, leave this ce and nevere back.¡±


    The roc understood how serious the situation was. It jumped at full tilt and flew upward again. Like a gust of wind, it dashed into the cloud and disappeared.


    The two teenagers hastily dropped the corpses down the cliff; the wounds and cuts, which were not caused by the roc, would raise doubts. They quickly hid in the Woodensaber Alley.


    This was a remote location as anyone who heard the scream would take some time to find this ce. The moment they found the shelter, countless men arrived and reached the cliff. Thus, they grabbed the opportunity and left soon after, missing theter scene.


    The next day, they heard a rumor. Supreme King thought this incident was unbelievable, for the killers there barely used the tool they prepared. In addition, they were foolish enough to fight with the roc openly. Shangguan Fa was so annoyed that he arrested the counselors who organized this mission, sent them into the Heart Cleansing Yard, and interrogated them with torture.


    These counselors included Mister Guo, more or lessforting Gu Shenwei. This was the prelude to his vengeance.


    This incident dwarfed the influence of the dead killer in the ck market. The investigators even med the dead one for this failed mission. They thought he over drank and ran to the cliff, which shocked the roc.


    Supreme King felt disgraced. He forbade anyone from mentioning the roc anymore. Yet he still arranged men on the tower and equipped them with the strong bows and crossbows, which should be operated by several men. The arrows were connected with the ropes, so once anyone saw the roc they could shoot it down immediately.


    Shangguan Fa now changed his mind: he wanted the roc, dead or alive.


    The number of guards patrolling the border of the fort was increased. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had to abandon the assassinations. The magical thing was, the giant red-crowned roc seemed had vanished without any trace. In these three months, after iming so many lives, it seemed to only have wanted to see its old acquaintance.


    The battle with the killers proved the effectiveness of swordy, but it exposed another problem as well. When Maid Lotus stabbed the chest of her opponent, who at that time was wearing a breastte, her strength failed to pierce through, thusly breaking the dagger. She almost died.


    This led them to the w of this swordy which Gu Shenwei originally considered. What if the enemies were wearing an entire set of armor, and were invulnerable? ording to the sword book, when the practicer reached a level of Internal Strength, with the help of a unique method, they could break through anything. However, Internal Strength was precisely these two¡¯s weakness.


    Finally, they both agreed that an extremely sharp sword was necessary if they wanted to inherit this art.


    But in Golden Roc Fort the dagger-users could hardly find a chance to forge a sword.


    After several days, when the summer came, Gu Shenwei discovered that he was sixteen years old. It left him with less than two years to the day of his doom. The approaching death terrified him. He used to think he did not care about his own life, not to mention the direction of ¡°self-deconstruction¡± in the book. Yet he still imagined often what would he do if he could live a longer, and more normal life.


    In this period, he thought that he had achieved the highest level of the swordcraft. Considered his short life, he thought of many assassination ns, with targets including Shangguan Nu, Shangguan Fa, Shangguan Chui, Shangguan Yushi, Shangguan Fei, and Mister Guo. Thest one was Shangguan Ru.


    He considered these ns every day. But even if he had nned them well, the image of the ghost-like ck-masked assassin would appear in his mind.


    He could not ensure his victory once he faced this assassin. This was a heavy blow to his mind.


    However, the mixture of the swordcraft and saber skills was useful and made Gu Shenwei¡¯s life much easier. His victory in the next monthly test was remarkable, making him the outstanding one again. He was looking forward to the secondpetition with Wildhorse, but normallypetitors would not be arranged in the same team again.


    As for what Tie Hanfeng did when he found out ve Huan¡¯s weak point in the counterattack in the rear of the nk, this time, he lost his temper in a period, and ept his apprentice¡¯s change again. He did not ask ve Huan to increase the killing intent anymore, yet he was still unsatisfied with the drifting skills.


    After several tests, Tie Hanfeng had to admit that this saber skill his apprentice prehended on his own¡± was effective, so did Gu Shenwei. His kung fu was still significantly weaker than his Master Shifu since he could not beat him down even with pure swordcraft.


    Internal Strength was the most important thing to worry about. If one had issues in this area, no matter how fierce the skill was, one would reach their limitation soon.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus were eager to practice the new swordcraft they invented, to ensure that their weakness would be neutralized. Luckily, after the roc vanished, a fresh batch of apprentices came to the Pyrowork Academy a monthter. Hundreds of teenagers with murderous hearts appeared in their vision.

 Chapter 103

    Chapter 103: Exposure


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    After training for ten months in the Carvewood Academy, the fresh batch of apprentices came to the Pyrowork Academy. In the same day they honoured their masters, they broke the ¡°no-kill order¡±, and began a new round of ughter.


    In order to differentiate these two batches, the manager of the East Castle named them the Dragon Year apprentices and Snake Year apprentices, ording to the year when they came in.


    After the ughterst year and the uing monthly tests, the remaining Dragon Year apprentices now numbered more than one hundred and thirty. This batch was universally acknowledged as the fiercest batch in recent years, yet so far no one had earned the name of ¡°killer¡±.


    It was too difficult to exterminate the enemy six times in session, thus in the previous years when the apprentices were not so ferocious, they might have been able to more easily earn the badge of the ¡°killer¡±. However, these weaker ¡°killers¡± were rtively more inclined to suffer from the bloody carnage outside the fort.


    The reputation of the Dragon Year apprentices attracted the Snake Year apprentices forparison. Those men in the Snake Year considered themselves superior, disparaging even the killers ¨C not to mention the elder apprentices.


    Thus this ughter¡¯s theme was the stronger batch instead of the stronger gang.


    Even though, the ughter did note from anywhere.


    The Dragon Year apprentices still remembered the ¡°no-kill order¡±, hence they acted carefully. Even though the Snake Year apprentices challenged them for two or three times, no one died and they only suffered light injuries. This was until a few annoyed elder apprentices found their Shifu and hinted that this order would not be canceled openly. Anytime a new batch came in, the ughter would not be limited.


    Because of this, the elder batch began to brew their plots. Before that, however, an ident urred.


    A Snake Year apprentice attended the monthly test on the fifth day when he entered the academy and killed the opponent. He inherited the custom of the former ones by taking the corpse to the cliff, where, unfortunately, he was shot dead by an arrow.


    For the sake of hunting down the roc, the fort established several towers and sent men to guard them. Due to theck of soldiers on patrol, some apprentices were sent to the arrow tower of the East Castle.


    On that day, twelve Dragon Year apprentices stayed at the tower, where they saw the boy throwing the body. Simply for pleasure, an apprentice aimed at the boy and the others helped to install the heavy arrows.


    But no one wanted the poor boy to die; they only tried to scare this year¡¯s arrogant apprentices. When they yelled at him, the boy waved his dagger to show his contempt. This agitated the man who controlled the crossbow, causing him to loosen it.


    The iron arrow flew over with surprising uracy. It broke through the boy¡¯s chest but did not stop there as it pulled and dragged the boy to hit the precipice. When they finally pulled back the rope which connected the arrow, they found the boy¡¯s body ¨C only half of it remained.


    The Dragon Year apprentices apparently dealt with those things better. Someone recalled a hint from their Shifu: ¡°Once the new batches, the prohibition no longer exists.¡± As a result, they unanimously decided that they should act first.


    On that night, while the Snake Year apprentices burned with rage were talking about vengeance, the Dragon Year apprentices had already separated themselves into numerous parties and began their killing. In that night, 68 people were murdered.


    The new apprentices¡¯ Shifu, who had predicted it, left the castle quickly the next day. The only thing they told their apprentices was: ¡°Live, and you¡¯ll be the winner.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng did not recruit anyone. He was satisfied with ve Huan¡¯s behavior in these days so he used this incident as an excuse, went downhill, drank wines, slept with women, and dealt with his business.


    Obviously, Gu Shenwei would not miss this opportunity to practice his skills. He partnered with Maid Lotus, killing six men in one night. After that, they checked the corpse and evaluated the effectiveness of their movements. In the end, they dropped the bodies down the cliff.


    This ughtersted for many days. The two teenagers killed many more menpared tost year. As a result, they became more proficient. Through their experience, they concluded that the 29 sword moves actually did not exist. Since it said one should kill the enemy with a single move, only one move existed.


    The 29 sword moves were simply the exnation of a single move. As theyprehended the book at this level, they made further progress. They also knew, however, that they had walked on the path where there was no exit. Once they missed a step and let the enemy avoid their sword, they would be the ughtered one.


    At this time, their progress was interrupted by a boy called ¡°ve Zi¡±.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had the impression that ve Zi was also the apprentice the Eighth Young Master rmended. He was smart and bold, and learned kung fu when he was in the master¡¯s yard ¨C earlier than the two teenagers. Yet Mama Xue ignored him; he barelymunicated with Gu Shenwei or Maid Lotus.


    In order to save his life in the ughter, especially when the best Snake Year apprentices almost diedpletely, the border between the new batch and the elder batch disappeared. Countless new apprentices found the elder ones and hoped to be sheltered.


    ve Zi came to Gu Shenwei almost the moment he entered the academy. Even if Gu Shenwei refused, he still badgered him. These two teenagers thought about whether they should kill him, but atst, they let him live in case they caused any trouble with Shangguan Nu. They did not predict that it was just this boy who caused them troubles.


    Unknowingly, ve Zi became their shadow who followed them everywhere and served them. He was pretty clear that only by following these two ruthless devils could he find a safe ce to avoid the thuggery.


    Due to the vast number of dead lives in their hands, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus never left any corpse at the scene. They gradually acquired stronger influence, which even surpassed that of Wildhorse and Liuhua. Some former members of the Tattooed Arm Gang were surprised by their change. This reminded the teenagers to restrict their behavior and reduced the frequency of assassinations.


    ¡°Deadly Duo¡± became one of their nicknames.


    After their blood oath every ten days, the Dragon Year apprentices needed to pay respects to their masters ¨C even in ughter period. However, they were not allowed to take their saber out of the East Castle.


    When the master was gone, they would kowtow in the yard to indicate thepletion of the task.


    Shangguan Nu always went outside for affairs. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus were asked to kowtow toward an appointed killer, who would normally be Liu Xuan.


    Gu Shenwei remembered him. When he just entered the castle and walked around casually in the valley, it was Liu Xuan who blocked him. If not for ve Yao¡¯s help, he would not have been able to ovee the predicament.


    ve Yaomented on this killer with a phrase Mama Xue used, ¡°Liu Xuan¡¯s kung fu is mediocre yet he wants to show off. When he raises his saber, he always swings his right hand.¡±


    After several meetings, Liu Xuan seemed to grow an interest in Maid Lotus.


    When they built the gang, by studying the swordbook and killing people to practice the swordcraft, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus formed a solid union. They trusted each other more than lovers, rtives, and friends. Gu Shenwei always neglected that hispany was a beautiful girl.


    Due to her calmness, keenness, and sense of propriety, Maid Lotus could win others¡¯ trust easily. She had friends almost everywhere, even among her enemies ¨C but her appearance also helped her.


    There were not too many female apprentices in Golden Roc Fort; they consisted of only one-fifth of the total poption, not to mention their numbers after the ughter. Few of them could be called a beauty since Maid Lotus was the absolute best. She would not be ashamed even when she entered the Inner Residence.


    Maid Lotus¡¯ beauty brought her many benefits as well as problems.


    At the end of this year¡¯s ughter, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus came to pay their respects, while Shangguan Nu was still absent. After Liu Xuan epted their respects, he uttered an odd phrase, ¡°I heard you have two special sabers, so why don¡¯t you bring them to me someday?¡±


    The teenagers knew they had caused trouble.


    They took the normal saber to attend the test and rarely showed their thinned sabers in public, so who discovered the anomaly and reported to Liu Xuan? They suspected ve Zi at first.


    Maid Lotus had a great rtionship with the maid of Luo Ningcha, thus, through the inquiry, she was certain about their suspicion. ve Zi was acquainted with Liu Xuan because Liu Xuan could be considered a half Shifu of ve Zi.


    The teenagers regretted that they had missed the chance to kill this shadow boy. Finishing his life now would result in vengeance from Liu Xuan. What they worried more about was how much Liu Xuan knew.


    Neither Gu Shenwei nor Maid Lotus wanted to hand the Nameless Swordbook over, even though it would be considered a great contribution. As theyprehended the profoundness, they were hooked. The more people they killed, the fiercer they were, thus they became more obsessed with it. Now they kept the book in turn, and considered it much more significant than their lives.


    This evening, Liu Xuan came in without an invitation. He let ve Zi ask Maid Lotus out and meet in a remote yard in the south of the Woodensaber Alley; this yard was not in the allowed ughter region. Liu Xuan did not think that these apprentices were better than him but considering the others mighte together, he would not be able to handle it. He was cautious.


    When ve Zi sent Liu Xuan¡¯s message, he appeared reluctant. ¡°You just saw him this morning, why didn¡¯t he tell you directly? Hey, isn¡¯t it nonsense?¡±


    Gu Shenwei suggested that they killed Liu Xuan and ve ZI this time. Once they moved their bodies to the north of the Woodensaber Alley and entered into the ughter region, their crime would be forgiven.


    Maid Lotus did not agree. They knew nothing about the information Liu Xuan held, or how wide this information was spread. Killing them prematurely would alert the others.


    The next day, Maid Lotus brought the bad news: Liu Xuan once supported the action of hunting down the roc by the cliff. Though atst, they med a drunken killer, yet they still noticed the strange sabers on the scene. The masters of these sabers had not been identified. But, for a quicker closure of this case, no one spread out this news.


    ve Zi unintentionally found their unique sabers, and he reported to Liu Xuan as a joke. In Liu Xuan¡¯s deduction, the ones who sabotaged the action also included those two apprentices.


    Liu Xuan was not quite right, but he was close to the truth.

 Chapter 104

    Chapter 104: The League of Crimes


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    There was no need for Gu Shenwei to ask Maid Lotus what had happened that night. It had been a long time since he was that ignorant youngster. He had also heard about the misery that good-looking young apprentices suffered at the hands of training tutors and killing mentors. Inparison, Tie Hanfeng, who merely swore and hit apprentices, was as kind as a saint.


    How could Maid Lotus, in possession of such beauty, possibly survive? In the beginning, when her kung fu was rather weak, it was not just luck that saved her; Liu Xuan had just been one of coveters whoid hands on her.


    Gu Shenwei said nothing, but deep down, his emotions were roiling. He could not tell whether he was indignant at Liu Xuan or jealous of him. All he knew was that he had to kill Liu Xuan and all insiders. This was not only to wipe them out but also as an obligation to Maid Lotus.


    When the giant red-crowned rocs messed around, people could me their killing on it. When apprentices ughtered, they could kill at will within designated boundaries. But now, the rocs were gone, and Liu Xuan was so cautious that he would not cross north of Woodensaber Alley, which meant that Liu Xuan had to be killed by some other way.


    Gu Shenwei conducted a follow-up solo investigation, and discovered that ve Zi also had several good friends who were potential insiders.


    He had gathered that Liu Xuan was an ordinary killer and not particrly favored by Eighth Young Master. He was rarely taken out of the fort for missions and hadter be purely a guardian of the yard.


    Liu Xuan had once imed that his direct protector was a demaster, but the credibility of his words was suspect.


    Maid Lotus was again summoned by Liu Xuan. Afterward, Gu Shenwei went to find her to discuss the ¡°solution¡±.


    Her calmness impressed and also shamed Gu Shenwei, because he could not serve justice immediately when she, as his assistant, counselor, and friend, was bullied by another man.


    Maid Lotus agreed to assassinate Liu Xuan because he was indeed a scourge. He did not know what the clues meant yet, but he would understand when the two apprentices¡¯ machete skills caught the attention of the Golden Roc Fort.


    They figured out several ns, such as using ve Zi to seduce Liu Xuan out of Woodensaber Alley and then killing them both, setting up the murder scene as a surreptitious meeting between a killer and a male apprentice. Or, simply ying Liu Xuan and dumping his corpse into the killing zone, and so forth. All their ns had one thing inmon, Maid Lotus would be exposed no matter what.


    It was not umon for killers to flirt with female apprentices and it was not Liu Xuan¡¯s wont to keep secrets ¡ª more likely that he would be extremely public about the details. Therefore, if he died suspiciously in East Castle, Maid Lotus, and even ve Huan, would be major suspects. Also, even if Heart Cleansing Yard would not investigate, Shangguan Nu would be incensed.


    As for the secrets of grinding weapons, Maid Lotus had ascertained that Liu Xuan would not disclose the secret of how he had been controlling her until he got sick of her. Even ve Zi did not realize how important the message he had inadvertently said was.


    Up till now, every man Gu Shenwei assassinated had been a scapegoat, or Gu had recieved additional support. He was opportunistic in some ways. In this case, there was none, and he had to kill Liu Xuan the old-fashioned way.


    As Master Shifu, Tie Hanfeng, said, ¡°A saber kills, so does a mouth.¡± Sometimes, it was safer to cut off those ¡°rtionships¡± of Liu Xuan.


    Gu Shenwei came up with a bold n, which Maid Lotus disagreed with at first. After listening to his detailed exnation, she thought it excellent, and helped him perfect the n, correcting many potential loopholes.


    The key figure in this n was Miss Luo Ningcha.


    Just as Maid Lotus was leaving after paying respects to her master again, ve Huan was summoned by Miss.


    It went as Maid Lotus nned. She was close to many of the maids, and they were willing to help deliver messages to the Miss.


    The four maids named ¡°Chen Xin Sui Yi¡± stood at both sides of the screen, while the blind and tongueless Maid Cui stood beside Miss Luo Ningcha, who was waiting for another ve to pledge loyalty. This was Gu Shenwei¡¯s explicit reason for seeing her. The Miss had not done this for a long time, and was thus curious about it.


    What Tie Hanfeng termed ¡°rtionships¡± were preferably called ¡°backers¡± in the fort. Since it was a general rule that the more ¡°backers¡± the better, ve Huan¡¯s actions were to be expected, especially considering that he was one of the Miss¡¯s ve dowries.


    The pledging process was based on the blood oath, except that the Miss did not puncture her finger. She would also not share the bowl of blood with a ve. Gu Shenwei yed his part faithfully, stressing in his oath that he was first a killer for Eighth Young Master before a faithful servant of the Miss whereas Maid Cui acted on behalf of the Miss.


    The Miss was not as arrogant as before, or at least so it seemed. She spokenguidly, like a resigned woman who had already grudgingly given in, yet her words sounded uninterested and bitterly sarcastic, barely containing the anger and pride deep inside her.


    After the pledging, Gu Shenwei, still kneeling on the ground, asked for a few words in private with his new master. He imagined that the Miss would agree.


    In this peculiar rtionship, both the master and servant held secrets that the other could use. Gu Shenwei imed himself to be Yang Huan, the son of the servant Yang Lan from the Gu family, and had maneuvered himself into Golden Roc Fort to seek vengeance for his father. Despite not knowing the details of her past murders, he fooled her into thinking he did.


    This bnce was delicate and fragile. Even a small tug on either side might spell disaster. Nevertheless, Gu Shenwei decided not only to tug the string, but to tie them together into a ¡°league¡±, implicating her in the coborative crime.


    Miss, who was behind the screen, chuckled with sarcasm and sourness. ¡°Look, even a vees to discuss ¡®business¡¯ with me, as if I still have a say in this family. He who calls himself a ¡®faithful servant¡¯ will soon be a killer. At that time, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have to talk to him about ¡®business¡¯ by myself.¡±


    ¡°Dead or alive, ve Huan is and will be the ve Miss brought into Golden Roc Fort. As I¡¯ve vowed, I shall live with my new surname Luo for the rest of my life.¡± Gu Shenwei still remembered the sayings that would please a master.


    ¡°Mama Xue gave her oath as well, yet she betrayed me and kept me in the dark. I was resented by my husband and scorned by the crowd.¡± The tone of the Miss suddenly became cold, before she gave a small sigh. ¡°Off you go. I want to plot a few ¡®schemes¡¯ with this ve. Who knows if I can regain the status of master back in this castle.¡±


    Unlike Mama Xue, none of these maids dared to advise Miss, and they departed obediently without a single word.


    ¡°You¡¯ve grown up. If we were at Iron Mountain camp, my father would have castrated you. Still, you have no right to be alone with me in a room,¡± said Miss, filled with memory and longing.


    This was one of which Gu Shen had always wanted to figure out. Vulgar and ill-mannered, Bighead Kingpin was the bandit chieftain. Despite being in the Western Region with loose customs, he had raised his daughter under the strictest etiquette standards. Even the real princess and queen did not make as much fuss as the Miss did.


    ¡°It¡¯s because Miss trust ve Huan. You know that ve Huan meant every word in his oath.¡±


    ¡°Meant every word? If I were to send you to recruit all the insiders, then kill you all to bury that secret, would you still follow my order?¡±


    ¡°I would, as long as Miss says the word. Moreover, it would only be between us. ve Huan had lied before. I¡¯m the only one who knows your secret.¡±


    ¡°I knew it, but it doesn¡¯t matter now. Now, even if I want to kill a fly, I have to consult your true master. He¡¯s more of my jailer than my husband. Go rat out your newly sworn master to him. Tell him everything. I don¡¯t care. One who has already hit rock bottom doesn¡¯t care about any other trap you dig beneath him.¡±


    In that instant, Gu Shenwei suddenly realized that he could understand the Miss¡¯s thoughts. And it was in this moment that Luo Ningcha lost the power she had never had, while he had lost his loved ones and the whole world.


    ¡°Miss, please trust my oath. I pledged loyalty to you, neither for your status in Golden Roc Fort, which you have virtually none to speak of, nor for your identity. Bighead Kingpin means nothing to me.¡±


    ¡°Ha, are you finally beginning to tell me the truth? This topic has long been stamped out in Stone Castle as it¡¯s hard to hear. But, I¡¯d still like to know your true purpose here.¡±


    ¡°ve Huan pleads Miss to avenge me. For vengeance, ve Huan degraded himself to a ve willingly. For vengeance, ve Huan is willing to do anything. Eighth Young Master may be the owner of ve Huan indeed, but Miss is the life savior.¡±


    There was a moment of silence behind the screen. Miss still remembered what ve Huan had confessed. ¡°You¡¯ve found the one who killed your father?¡± She asked finally. It sounded like she had lost interest.


    ¡°Miss is cleverer than before.¡± Gu Shenwei thought. ¡°Yes, it is the Liu Xuan from Hu Yard.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not know whether Liu Xuan had participated in the assassination of the Gu family but he figured that Miss did not either, because she would not have cared about an insignificant murder.


    ¡°Liu Xuan? I know him. Do you want me to kill him for you?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t even kill a ve like you, let alone a killer? You should entreat my husband, the Eighth Young Master, lick his toes, and repeat those vows. Maybe then he¡¯ll avenge you with a flick of his hand.¡±


    ¡°Eighth Young Master would want something in return, which I cannot provide. But I can provide Miss with the assistance you desperately require.¡±


    ¡°s, though I¡¯m trivial in Golden Roc Fort, I considered myself at least a master. It turns out that I debased myself by asking for help from a ve. I¡¯m not even a master now.¡±


    ¡°It is the water that carries boats, and it is the wind that flies the birds. It¡¯ll be the lowborn to help aplish the greatest course of Miss.¡±


    There was another silence behind the screen. ¡°I¡¯ve heard a lot of sweet-talk, any of those maids are better than you. Let¡¯s not talk about the revenge first. Tell me what you got, and how you can ¡®help¡¯ me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll help Miss destroy Lady Meng¡¯s prestige, and avenge all the humiliations Miss had suffered. Let those whoughed at you beg, and let those who despised you kneel.¡±


    There was no biting sarcasm or even any answer at all. But Gu Shenwei could hear the clothes rustling behind the screen, and felt her restlessness. Thus, he began the speech he had thoughtfully prepared. If he could just persuade Miss, not only could he get Liu Xuan killed, but also create a massive crack in Stone Castle.


    ¡°Miss, please think about it carefully. In this castle, the status of a man depends on his bloodline and machete skills, while a woman her husband and her house. Why did he marry you? Because you¡¯re Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter. Why is Madam Meng dominating the Inner Residence? Because she is the daughter of the Meng family in North City. Why does Madam Meng look down on you? It¡¯s not that the Meng family is more powerful than Bighead Kingpin, it¡¯s because of distance. Your father¡¯s mighty name is too far to be heard here. To change your circumstances, all attempts made here would be in vain. So, in my opinion, Miss should start with Bighead Kingpin.¡±


    Gu Shenwei waited for her reply. Although Luo Ningcha was not that wise, he did not wish for her to miss out on fullyprehending his speech.

 Chapter 105

    Chapter 105: The Setup


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s world had changed since she married into Golden Roc Fort.


    Her manners, and her rules of seeing exclusively her husband, suddenly became people¡¯sughing stocks. The power of arbitrarily taking and killing she used to take for granted was no longer avable. She could not even control her own life and death.


    She remembered every insult she received in the Inner Residence. The desire for revenge devoured her and made her sleepless at night. She was not stupid though, and was much more clever than Gu Shenwei had thought. What shecked in her education were vision and strategy.


    ¡°Go on.¡±


    Luo Ningcha ordered. While Gu Shenwei detected her eagerness.


    ¡°The foundation of Meng business was the worldwide tradingwork. It was by Golden Roc Forts protection that thework could run smoothly, leading to the Meng family earning a lot. Bighead Kingpin abode by the rules, never messing with caravans that have the Golden Roc g. Even so, his only daughter has been bullied by a Mrs. Meng all because they don¡¯t know about Bighead Kingpin in Golden Roc Fort. We¡¯ll teach them a lesson, and show them how capable Iron Mountain is.¡±


    ¡°Stop!¡± Miss¡¯s voice suddenly cracked, as if ve Huan had said something wrong. But Gu Shenwei knew he had impressed her.


    ¡°Sinister,¡± Miss added. The word sounded unreal as if they came out on their own with no recipient.


    ¡°Exactly what Miss wanted,¡± Gu Shenwei added. Both of them remembered Mama Xue¡¯s judgment on ve Huan.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare say such things anymore.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Miss.¡± Gu Shenwei understood It was time for him to shut up. Miss¡¯sprehension was better than he thought.


    ¡°That Liu Xuan you were talking about, I can¡¯t kill him.¡±


    ¡°But I have an idea.¡± Gu Shenwei had been waiting, and then he revealed how he and Maid Lotus had nned.


    ¡°Sinister,¡± Miss repeated without a derogatory tone. Rather, she seemed to have realized something. ¡°Wait for my news.¡±


    Before leaving, Gu Shenwei asked Miss to inform Eighth Young Master of his allegiance. Sooner orter, Shangguan Nu would learn. He might as well tell her beforehand.


    Then, Gu Shenwei returned to East Castle, with an appreciation for Zhang Ji. During the one month in Archives Library, he had learned a lot; An armed killer might kill one person at a time, but a rich counselor could kill many more.


    While waiting, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus were restless with the thought that Miss would screw things up if she lost her temper.


    Maid Lotus¡¯s midnight dates with an East Castle killer were spreading. She lost many friends and received some judgment because of this. Gu Shenwei was partly relieved, for there were no longer rumors of him and Maid Lotus. However, his on-and-off ¡°leadership¡± was again in jeopardy.


    When the news finally came, Gu Shenwei was so desperate that he acted as soon as night fell. First, he kidnapped clueless ve Zi and cut off his fingers to interrogate him. He wanted to confirm that ve Zi knew nothing and that he learned the saber sharpening identally.


    Gu Shenwei then murdered ve Zi and dumped his body. He also killed three Snake Year apprentices who used to be close to ve Zi.


    At the same time, some Dragon Year apprentices were encouraged to conduct thest ughter of this year, killing dozens of people. This, in turn, covered ve Huan¡¯s murders.


    Yet, Golden Roc Fort stopped this pointless ughter, since there had been no one capable among Snake Year Apprentices. They sent most of Snake Year apprentices to Western Region as mercenaries, spies, and servants.


    Compared with the strong Dragon Year apprentices, Snake Year apprentices were considered the weakest in history.


    Liu Xuan¡¯s flogging to death was spread dayster. Nobody connected it with the two apprentices, except a few insiders.


    Rumor has it Liu Xuan was so bold that he tried to rape Eighth Young Mistress¡¯s maid. Being caught red-handed by maids, he had rashly taken off his clothes, pulled off Miss¡¯s veil, and almost degraded her in front of them. The maids then resisted desperately to protect their Miss.


    Hearing this, Eighth Young Master immediately returned home and had Liu Xuan flogged to death. Liu Xuan was first flogged from the toes. Then after 300 floggings, he had had his lower body battered to pieces and finally had his head crushed.


    Moreover, it was said his eyes and tongue had been cut out, as by the rules of Iron Mountain.


    Liu Xuan¡¯s confession did not matter, since the maids, Eighth Young Mistress, and guarding killers all testified Liu Xuan was inappropriately naked at the scene.


    Eighth Young Mistress¡¯s reputation became worse, but she threatened to kill herself for several days, which gained her back some of her good name. In addition, she no longer entered the Inner Residence. Shangguan Nu became both ashamed and angry, allocating two female killers on guard, and prohibiting male killers from entering the backyard.


    The maid was arranged by Maid Lotus, who was one of Miss¡¯s 10 maidens. The maid had seduced Liu Xuan into the room and only started screaming after he pulled off his pants. She and Miss were the only insiders in the yard.


    While Miss acted exceptionally good, Gu Shenwei started to consider how to help her beat Lady Meng. If he should seed, it would not only be Luo Ningcha¡¯s triumph, but would also help destroy one of Golden Roc Fort¡¯s revenue sources.


    Three days after Liu Xuan¡¯s death and two days after East Castle¡¯s ughter, ve Huan and Maid Lotus were summoned urgently by Eighth Young Master.


    They were summoned to the front yard hall.


    Eighth Young Master seemed worried. Though the master of all killers, he had always been caught up in family affairs. Yet, he never knew the two respectful teenagers killed Liu Xuan. He summoned them for other reasons.


    ¡°She only trusts people who came with her.¡±


    ¡°She¡± referred to Eighth Young Mistress. Shangguan Nu appeared helplessly angry. His eyes shed. If it were not for her identity and looks, he would have buried her for good.


    ¡°In the future, you two will take turns guarding, changing every 10 days. you can ask for leave during the monthly tests.¡±


    Though not part of Gu Shenwei¡¯s n, the two undertook it at once and expressed appreciation towards master and Mistress.


    Shangguan Nu paid attention to ve Huan, for he did not trust any male now, not even a 16 boy. Besides, ve Huan was tall and handsome, not like a teenager at all.


    ¡°You took the oath to Mistress?¡±


    ¡°Yes, my master. I received grace in Iron Mountain, and vowed to Bighead Kingpin to protect Miss.¡±


    Shangguan Nu did not know about the servants in Iron Mountain. Thus, he could only trust them for now. Difficult as his wife was, she would not in a million years try to seduce a man.


    ¡°Behave yourselves, you two have promising futures.¡±


    At first, the two youngsters thought Eighth Young Master was merely talking cliches. Whereas, when midsummer arrived, they knew Shangguan Nu¡¯s ns: Dragon Year apprentices were bound to be extraordinary. Golden Roc Fort had had their destinies arranged.


    Shangguan Nu asked solely ve Huan to stay and revealed that on future guard, he needed to report anything suspicious. ¡°Whoever you have or will pledge to, remember your true master is me.¡±


    Then Gu Shenwei crept, pledged his allegiance in tears, and said he knew everything from Master Shifu. But if not for the owner¡¯s help, he would never survive. His life belonged to his master, hence he would do everything in master¡¯s benefit. Furthermore, he would report on his doings.


    This acting was highly difficult. Gu Shenwei dressed up his emotion to where even he could not recognize himself. Only when he said these words against his will did really appreciate those days spent with ve Yao.


    Shangguan Nu received the second allegiance, honestly cold and sincerely graceful. This was part of his education, and he had strengthened it following his father and elder brother.


    Afterward, he believed he had controlled the teenager. With so many killers in the fort, only a few were worthy of attention, among whom was ve Huan.


    Gu Shenwei had made a big progress in his revenge. Now he needed time, which Mama Xue had left little for him.


    When Gu Shenwei took the turn to watch, he at the same time acted as a ¡°conspiracy teacher¡±.


    Shangguan Nu had a room renovated, within which was a solid hollowed-out wooden wall. Behind that, there was another door to the side room. This way, Miss waspletely separated, free of rumors.


    Moreover, Gu Shenwei taught Miss everything he learned from Tie Hanfeng and Zhang Ji, helping analyze wars among women in the Inner Residence.


    ¡°My Miss needs alliances. Keep note of those objected by Lady Meng, especially whose status is lower than their identity. They must have held grudges. Also, pay attention to those favored, they¡¯ll pay prices for favors. These people tend to betray once there is no reward. Remember to be discreet and only observe. Only when Bighead Kingpin acts is when Miss is able to make alliances.¡±


    Miss told a lot of stories of the Inner Residence, leaving Gu Shenwei heavy-headed. The struggle between Women was not any easier to understand than Jianghu in South City.


    Nevertheless, master and servant could not always hold private talk; Luo Ningcha usually had reliant maids present. When the maids managed to make up excuses, Gu Shenwei would report the same exact lies.


    Shangguan Nu never doubted it. He believed in his wife¡¯s fidelity. The report was merely routine, and an instinct of his to collect information.


    Fortunately, Gu Shenwei¡¯s only served 10 days of guarding, and Maid Lotus¡¯s 20 days watching. After that one month, both of them had escaped from Miss, joining a new society to obtain the title ¡°brown-belt assassin¡±.


    Furthermore, Gu Shenwei had been secretly inciting antagonism between Iron Mountain and Meng family. Yet little did he expect, before he nted the hatred through Miss to Bighead Kingpin, he himself would first confront the Meng family.

 Chapter 106

    Chapter 106: A Private Conversation


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    As the Dragon Year apprentices were the best batch of apprentices in Golden Roc Fort¡¯s history, the fort was not willing to waste their lives in monthly tests anymore. It chose 50 teenagers from them to form a new organization called Little g Battalion, whose base was located in the south of Woodensaber Alley. Five experienced killer mentors were selected to manage this new organization. Tie Hangeng was one of them.


    Teenagers in Little g Battalion were not killer apprentices anymore, but they were not red-belt killers either. They were brown-belt assassins, who were eligible to wear ck outfits embroidered with golden rocs, though they could only wear brown belts and not red belts yet. Their basic monthly sry was 100 taels of silver, and they would be able to get bonuses when theypleted their missions sessfully.


    Once their trial period was over, they would be able to get their red belts.


    The selected apprentices were thrilled, but soon their excitement was over. During their first few days of working in Little g Battalion, they only got some trivial jobs, such as delivering mails or standing on guard. They thought their lives now were even more boring than their old lives in the Pyrowork Academy.


    Finally, they got an important task which was working as guards at a party.


    The Meng family had a garden named Bodhi Garden in North City which boasted beautiful lotuses in four colors.


    As the lotuses bloomed exceptionally well this year, the Meng family held a big flower viewing party and invited many friends and rtives to enjoy the beautiful scenery in the garden. Lady Meng, who had seldom visited the Meng family after getting married to the Supreme King decided to go to the party. Not wanting to go to a party with a group of fierce-looking killers, she chose the teenagers of Little g Battalion as her guards.


    Working as guards in North City was not a challenging task at all. Golden Roc Fort only equipped the teenagers with wooden sabers. For the brown-belt assassins, the only benefit of this task was that they could go to the city to see the rare lotuses.


    This outing of Lady Mengsted for days. Besides the Meng family, all the other big families in the city also invited thedy to their banquets. Every time before she came to a ce, the killer mentors would lead the teenagers to thoroughly check the ce and keep irrelevant personnel away. When everything was alright, they would hide behind trees or rocks and continue to work as invisible guards.


    Gu Shenwei did not get any chance to see the lotuses in those days. When they were in Bodhi Garden, he was sent to patrol an area far away from the flowers. Once his shift was over, he had to return to a small, dark room immediately to sit silently with a bunch of teenagers who hated one another. asionally he could meet some of his friends in this room and chat with them quietly.


    The influence of the gang wars still existed. The brown-belt assassins still regarded one another as enemies. They worked together just because the fort forced them to do so.


    On the seventh day of Lady Meng¡¯s outing, she held a banquet in Bodhi Garden to entertain the Meng family and thedies of the other big families.


    That day, Gu Shenwei was stationed at a guard post on an artificial hill, which was a secluded ce situated on the edge of the garden. He was pretty sure that he would not get a chance to see the lotuses or meet anybody in this ce for the whole day. As various kinds of flowers were blooming on that hill, he chose to hide inside a flowering shrub. He predicted that he would spend another boring day guarding against Golde Roc Fort¡¯s enemies, who would never show up in this ce.


    This was North City, one of the safest ces in the whole world.


    However, something unexpected happened.


    Two girls who had gotten bored with the endless banquets sneaked out. They walked up the artificial hill and sat on a stone bench, which was about three meters away from the flowering shrub where Gu Shenwei hid.


    He held his breath and kept still to avoid disturbing the girls whom he thought were probably two young misses. Actually, ording to the killers¡¯ rules, he should find a chance to retreat from this ce to stay away from them. However, when he recognized their voices, he chose to stay here without knowing why he did this.


    He had known that Shangguan Ru woulde with her mother long before, but he had never anticipated that she would have appeared somewhere so close to him.


    Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi sounded a little tipsy. They chatted andughed cheerfully without noticing that someone was hiding right behind them. Compared to killer apprentices in East Castle, they had received killer training for a much longer time. Nevertheless, they did not have the killers¡¯ sharp six senses, since they had never been through any life-and-death battles.


    Their voices sounded sweet and soft. Gu Shenwei remembered that these two bossy girls had never talked like this before. He even started to wonder if they were still dressed like boys now.


    The girls shared various topics, such as the nts in the garden and some trivial things in Golden Roc Fort. Gradually, they started to talk about some private things, which made Gu Shenwei feel awkward. He was faced with a dilemma now. He felt that he should leave as soon as possible, but at the same time, he worried that once he moved, they would notice him and get furious.


    ¡°Yushi, the Fifth Young Master Meng kept peeping at you.¡±


    ¡°No. I think you might¡¯ve misunderstood. He was peeping at you. I just sat beside you.¡±


    The next moment, the girls chuckled merrily. They sounded as if they were tickling each other now. ¡°I don¡¯t like that guy. Yushi, let¡¯s ignore him. Don¡¯t you agree?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I dislike him as well. It makes me sick to see such a young man like him still behaving like a baby in front of his grandmother.¡±


    ¡°Hee hee, his grandma adores him. Given that, even my mother has to treat him differently.¡±


    ¡°Huh, if he dares to act so shamelessly in front of me, I¡¯ll¡­¡±


    ¡°What will you do?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll spank his butt with my scabbard and send him crying all the way to his grandma.¡±


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t dare do so. You won¡¯t.¡± Shangguan Ru was panting heavily afterughing.


    ¡°I promise I will. I dare to do anything.¡±


    Hearing that, Gu Shenwei could not help but snort in his heart. ¡°Shangguan Yushi, stop bragging. When we were caught by Mister Guo in the same room after we stole ck Jade Palm, you didn¡¯t dare to say anything.¡±


    ¡°Oh, look at you. What a daring girl you are. You can¡¯t act like this anymore when you get married.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll never get married.¡±


    ¡°I heard that the seventh aunt has already hired matchmakers to find a suitable husband for you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was overjoyed to hear that and thought, ¡°I remember that Shangguan Yushi is only one year younger than me. Given that, she¡¯s already reached marriageable age. If she gets married and leaves the fort, I¡¯ll feel much relieved.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a groundless rumor. I won¡¯t get married. Master Ru, do you want me to get married?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not my call. My mother said that all girls have to get married when they grow up.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not true. I knew some girls who remained unmarried throughout their lives. I¡¯ll listen to you. If you don¡¯t want me to get married, I¡¯ll spend my whole life apanying you. If you get married, I¡¯ll follow you to your husband¡¯s family. Once your husband makes you sad, I¡¯ll hunt him down to kill him. Even his grandma wouldn¡¯t be able to save him.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous. I¡¯m still too young to get married,¡± Shangguan Ru said andughed even louder.


    ¡°Come on, it¡¯ll happen soon. You¡¯re 13 now. After a couple of years, you¡¯ll reach marriageable age.¡±


    ¡°Shush! Stop talking nonsense. I¡¯ll be the Tenth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort and lead my own killer team. If someone dares to marry me, I¡¯ll kill him and his entire family.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good. When you have your own killer team, I¡¯ll be your military counselor to help you lead your killers. I¡¯ll help you be the next Supreme King.¡±


    The ambitious girls talked on and on about their distant future and got increasingly excited. Suddenly, Shangguan Ru felt that theycked something at this moment. ¡°I think we should drink at such a good moment. We should drink while enjoying this beautiful scenery,¡± she said.


    ¡°Do you still want to drink? Your face is red now.¡±


    ¡°I want that sweet liquor. We¡¯ll never get drunk with it.¡±


    ¡°All right, you wait for me here. I¡¯ll get us some sweet liquor.¡±


    ¡°No, no, I just said it casually. Let¡¯s stay here together to have some rest.¡±


    They remained quiet for a moment, and then Shangguan Ru started to giggle. Gu Shenwei did not know what Shangguan Yushi did to persuade her. The next moment, he heard Shangguan Yushi rapidly walk down the artificial hill while Shangguan Ru was humming a tuneless song. Gradually, the girl¡¯s voice got lower and lower. After a while, Gu Shenwei could only hear her soft breath sounds. It seemed that she had fallen asleep.


    Gu Shenwei breathed out a sigh of relief and decided to leave this ce as soon as possible. ¡°Once the girls find out that I overheard their conversation, they¡¯ll definitely re up.¡± With this thought in his mind, he sneaked out of the flowering shrub and headed downhill quietly.


    He was a little bit disappointed since he had never heard them mention ve Huan in their conversation. However, this was not totally beyond his expectations. He believed that Shangguan Yushi must have tried everything to make Shangguan Ru forget about the ve boy who had yed with her during her childhood.


    Before he arrived at the foot of the artificial hill, he saw a young master, who was about 17 or 18, walking toward the hill together with a group of young attendants.


    ¡°They walked this way. I saw them.¡±


    ¡°Over there, over there. See, one of them is lying on the stone bench.¡±


    The artificial hill was not very high. The teenagers spotted Shangguan Ru easily through the flowering bushes.


    ¡°That¡¯s the Tenth Young Master. She¡¯s dressed in ck, and the other girl, in blue.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. All the people in Golden Roc Fort like the color ck. I heard that only big shots in the fort are eligible to wear ck clothes.¡±


    When the young attendants were whispering among themselves, their master said scornfully, ¡°The Tenth Young Master? Come on, she¡¯s a little girl. She dared tough at me in front of all the guests. I¡¯ll go to teach her a lesson.¡±


    ¡°Master, forget about it. You¡¯d better leave her alone. All the people from Golden Roc Fort are cold-blooded killers.¡±


    ¡°She can scare the others away, but she can never scare me. You¡¯re such a coward. Piss off. I don¡¯t want to see you anymore.¡±


    Seeing the ¡°coward¡± withdraw embarrassedly, all the other young attendants disyed a positive attitude to their master¡¯s decision but none of them dared to follow the young master to the artificial hill. In the end, a young attendant suggested, ¡°Master, we admire your boldness, but you don¡¯t need to do much to give her a lesson. You just need to go up there and kiss her. Let¡¯s see how this tomboy would react.¡±


    The young master moved his arms to warm up. ¡°You just have to wait and see,¡± he said to his attendants and then walked toward the hill.


    Gu Shenwei sneaked back into the flowering shrub and hid again. ¡°This young master is probably a child of the Meng family, so he¡¯s the girls¡¯ cousin. I¡¯d better not get involved in this thing. After all, Shangguan Yushi wille back soon. Shangguan Ru will also wake up when she hears his steps.¡±


    However, things did not turn out as he had expected.


    The young master seemed to know some kung fu and walked very quietly. Shangguan Ru was fast asleep after drinking and did not seem to hear a thing. Shangguan Yushi seemed to really take her time and did not show up at this crucial moment.


    Gu Shenwei held his wooden saber and kept reminding himself in his heart that he had every reason to stay out of this thing. ¡°This is just a joke between cousins. If I step out, I¡¯ll get into trouble. I¡¯ve had enough troubles in my life.¡±


    Despite that, he still walked out of the flowering shrub to stand behind Shangguan Ru with his wooden saber in hand.


    When the young master was stooping down to kiss the girl, he suddenly felt a shiver and lifted up his head. He saw a teenager standing in front of him with a saber in his hand. That teenager¡¯s face was as cold as ice.


    The young master was terrified by the murderous look on the teenager¡¯s face. He knew that he needed to not feel scared since he was in his family¡¯s garden. However, he was still petrified with fear. He turned pale and started to sweat. Droplets of sweat welled up on his temples and then fell down his face.


    At this moment, Shangguan Ru suddenly opened her eyes and saw a fear-distorted face. She was shocked and raised her hand to p the guy in front of her with all her strength.


    The young master fell down the hill.

 Chapter 107

    Chapter 107: A New Mission


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    If Gu Shenwei had known that the young man was the Fifth Young Master Meng, who wanted to avenge Pot-bellied Buddha¡¯s death, he would have nevere out of the flowering shrub.


    The scuffle between the tenth child of the Shangguan family and the fifth child of the Meng family ruined thest day of the flower viewing party. Residents of Jade City kept talking about andughing over this incident for days. Many yearster, they still remembered it.


    pping Meng Mengshi seemed to not be enough to appease Shangguan Ru¡¯s anger over the guy¡¯s mischief. She chased him down the hill and continued to beat him. At this moment, Shangguan Yushi, who went to fetch some sweet liquor, happened toe back with a gon in her hand. Seeing Shangguan Ru fighting Meng Mingshi, she immediately threw the gon aside and joined the fight. She beat all the young attendants away and then joined Shangguan Ru.


    Meng Mingshi had learned a little kung fu, but all the moves he knew were impractical in a real fight. He felt dizzy after falling from the hill and was clearly no match for the girls, but he still talked big at the beginning of the fight. After a while, he could not hold on any longer and admitted defeat while crying like a baby.


    His attendants, who had run away to avoid Shangguan Yushi, all returned now. They kowtowed to the girls and said, ¡°Miss Ru and Miss Yushi, please kindly forgive us.¡± Hearing the boys call them miss, the girls red up and beat them even harder. They drove them to the middle of Bodhi Garden and made them stand beside a pond. After that, they kicked them into the pond one by one and kept throwing stones at them to prevent them from getting out of the water.


    Thedies across the pond thought it was a show. Theyughed at the scene and even apuded it. Suddenly, they saw Meng Mingshi struggling in the water and panicked.


    The girls became excited and refused to let the boys off until Lady Meng came out to stop them. The servants of the Meng family hurriedly fished out their young master. After getting out of the pond, Meng Mingshi snuggled up in her grandmother¡¯s arms, bawling. After that, he rolled on the ground, crying that someone was going to kill him with a saber and Golden Roc Fort was plotting against him. His grandma thought that he was possessed by some evil spirit and also burst into tears.


    The banquet ended in acrimony. Lady Meng led all the members of the Shangguan family back to Golden Roc Fort that night and did not pay any visits to the Meng family in the following years.


    That night, no one found out what ve Huan had done. The moment Shangguan Ru had woken up, he had swiftly retreated back into the flowering shrub. He did not know what happened after the teenagers left the artificial hill, and Shangguan Ru was unaware that a teenager hade out to protect her.


    Meng Mingshi kept yelling that a teenager had appeared behind Shangguan Ru and wanted to kill him with a saber, but nobody believed him that evening; everybody thought that he was just having a panic attack.


    A few dayster, when Meng Mingshi recovered from the shock and looked sober, he finally convinced his family that a teenager wearing a brown belt had threatened him with a wooden saber.


    Unfortunately, he had missed the best time to seek revenge on that brown-belt assassin. The Supreme King had sent an envoy to Meng Yuzun to make peace with the Meng family right after Lady Meng had returned to the fort. Now neither of the two parties wanted to mention this incident again.


    Despite that, this thing still became a hot topic in the fort. Gu Shenwei heard many ridiculous rumors about the incident. Meanwhile, he also heard quite a lot of valuable information, and much of it was about Lady Meng.


    Lady Meng, the mother of the twins, was just a distant rtive of Meng Yuzun. In fact, she was Meng Mingshi¡¯s cousin. Her parents died during her childhood and thus she had been brought up in Meng Yuzun¡¯s family.


    When she had grown up to be a beautiful youngdy, she had been picked out from all the unmarried youngdies of the Meng family by Shangguan Fa, who had just lost his wife and nned to marry another one. It was said that she had not been favored by Meng Yuzun¡¯s family when she had been little. That was why she seldom visited the Meng family after she married.


    As for the fight during the flower viewing party, Lady Meng was firmly on her daughter¡¯s side and resolutely refused to apologize to Meng Mingshi. The Meng family could only suppress their anger and ept the Supreme King¡¯s suggestion to downy the whole incident.


    Gradually, words about ¡°the teenager with a saber¡± appeared around. Gu Shenwei believed that no one would discover that he was the teenager, until, one day, when Tie Hanfeng asked him about this incident. He admitted to his mentor that he was the one who hade out to threaten Meng Mingshi.


    Hearing that, Tie Hanfeng did not know whether tough or get mad. Because of that, his facial expression looked quite weird. ¡°You dumb*ss. You¡¯re such a troublemaker. You¡¯ll die for this sooner orter,¡± he scolded his apprentice.


    The next day, he came to his apprentice again. This time, he looked solemn. ¡°You have a new mission. You¡¯ll take a long journey .¡±


    ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± Gu Shenwei discovered that his mentor looked a little worried and asked.


    ¡°F*ck it, you dumb*ss. Don¡¯t you know that he¡¯s the Fifth Young Master Meng?¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head, wanting to exin that he had never met Meng Mingshi before, but after a thought, he decided to remain silent to avoid further irritating Tie Hanfeng. He knew that his mentor would hurl countless insults at him when he was in a fit of anger.


    ¡°He wanted to kill you to avenge Pot-bellied Buddha¡¯s death. It took a great deal of effort to appease the young master. Why did you have to stick your head out to scare him? Is your stupid turtle shell too small for you? Keep your head inside the shell. Don¡¯t stick it out anymore. Just mind your own business and hold your saber tightly, understand?¡± Tie Hanfeng spluttered.


    ¡°Yes, Master Shifu,¡± Gu Shenwei replied while tightly holding his saber shaft in his right hand.


    Tie Hanfeng panted for a while and then said, ¡°It¡¯s good for you to leave this city to avoid the young master. Wealthy kids are forgetful. He¡¯ll forget about you after enjoying a few days in South City. This isn¡¯t escaping; this mission was scheduled a long time ago. If you guys do the job well, you¡¯ll receive immense rewards when you return.¡±


    ¡°Who else is going with me?¡±


    ¡°Maid Lotus, Wildhorse, Liuhua, and Snowcamel.¡±


    Hearing the names, Gu Shenwei was thrilled. Just like himself, these people were also widely recognized as the standouts of the Dragon Year apprentices. ¡°This mission must be quite challenging,¡± he thought.


    However, when he knew what they were going to do, he was greatly disappointed.


    This mission had nothing to do with assassination again. They were asked to escort some goods.


    Bighead Kingpin missed his daughter and needed to maintain a good rtionship with the Supreme King. Given that, he would send a great number of gifts to Golden Roc Fort every winter. In return, the Supreme King would send gifts to Bighead Kingpin every summer. In the past, Golden Roc Fort had always sent red-belt killers to escort the gifts, but this year, it assigned the task to Little g Battalion.


    It was an easy job. Seeing Golden Roc gs and Iron Mountain gs fluttering over the goods, even the boldest roving bandits would run away as soon as possible, let alone be covetous of the goods.


    Meanwhile, it was also a very lucrative job. Golden Roc Fort would give the escort team members arge sum as a bonus, and Bighead Kingpin, who was famous for his generosity, would gift the team members with vast numbers of gifts too.


    Seeing five brown-belt assassins receive this job, many red-belt killers felt jealous. Gu Shenwei guessed that the one who had helped to bring about such a sudden change of tradition must have been Luo Ningcha.


    Just as he had expected, three days before the escort team¡¯s departure, Luo Ningcha summoned him and Maid Lotus to the Eighth Young Master¡¯s residence. She asked them to deliver a few messages and a girl to her father.


    The girl was Little Sui: one of Luo Ningcha maids.


    Gu Shenwei believed that only someone from the Iron Mountain Gang would think that it was normal for a daughter to send a concubine to her own father.


    Luo Ningcha had written a letter to her father. She required ve Huan to hand it to her father in person. After a while, she sent all her servants away except ve Huan.


    In the room Shangguan Nu had specially reconstructed for his wife, Luo Ningcha said to her ¡°conspiracy teacher¡± through the hollowed-out wooden wall. ¡°I pleaded with my husband to let you guys escort the gifts this year. I think you know what I want.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had guessed what Luo Ningcha wanted, but he still shook his head, while saying, ¡°Miss, please tell me what you want. I dare not to read your mind.¡±


    ¡°You told me that a woman can only depend on her father and her husband. Did you forget it? My husband is unreliable, so I can only ask my father for help. You must try everything to persuade my father to attack the Meng family¡¯s caravans and make them lose all their money.¡± Luo Ningcha sounded peaceful. After learning some conspiracies from ve Huan, she could control her emotions better now.


    Gu Shenwei was excited to hear Luo Ningcha¡¯s n since it would ruin the rtions between Golden Roc Fort¡¯s two major allies. He thought it was worth a try and believed that Lady Meng, who was on bad terms with the Meng family, would never interfere in this issue. As Lady Meng did not seem to rely on the Meng family to win the lord¡¯s affection, Gu Shenwei guessed that the lord probably loved thedy for another reason.


    ¡°I see, but Miss, I¡¯m just a humble ve boy. Bighead Kingpin probably won¡¯t believe my words.¡±


    ¡°Take this with you as a token. My father will believe everything you say.¡±


    Luo Ningcha raised her hand to put something in the hollowed-out wooden wall. Gu Shenwei walked to the wall and saw a green jade ring there. He put it in his hand carefully and caught a glimpse of Luo Ningsha at that moment. She still wore a veil even when she was behind the wall.


    After hearing Luo Ningcha¡¯s n, Gu Shenwei began to look forward to the mission. He sincerely hoped that Bighead Kingpin would follow her daughter¡¯s advice to attack the Meng family¡¯s caravans. He thought it would be a heavy blow to Golden Roc Fort.


    This escort mission was moreplicated than he had expected. The five chosen brown-belts assassins had a lot to prepare. The day before their departure, the killer mentors appointed ve Huan as the chief of the brown-belt assassins. This appointment nearly caused another gang war in Little g Battalion. However, being strictly monitored by the five killer mentors, the teenagers finally gave up their assassination attempts.


    The killer mentors took turns to lecture the chosen brown-belt assassins, repeatedly emphasizing that now they were not apprentices anymore and should forget about their gang wars. All of the mentors required them to trust each other and work together as a team. In Tie Hanfeng¡¯s words: now was the time for the puppies to obey rules. He said, ¡°Stop biting each other inside the fort. You have to work together to fight against wolves outside the fort now.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not expect much of his team and he thought that the mentors must have purposely chosen these five brown-belt assassins. ve Huan and Maid Lotus were members of the former Tattooed Arm Gang. Wildhorse and Snowcamel were from the former Snow Mountain Gang. Liuhua was a lone wolf and had never joined in any gang.


    ve Huan could never forget that it was Wildhorse who had left a deep wound in his chest, and Maid Lotus always wanted to take revenge on Liuhua who had shot two arrows at her. Liuhua also still held a grudge against ve Huan since the ve boy had battered him unconscious during a missionst winter.


    As the chief of the brown-belt assassins, Gu Shenwei only hoped that they would be able to work peacefully together during the trip. To achieve that goal, he needed to deal with these problems in advance.


    The night before their departure, he went to meet Wildhorse and made a deal with him. They promised each other that they would temporarily put aside all of their resentment and work together toplete this mission.


    Although Wildhorse had cut his own tongue, it was still quite easy tomunicate with this leader of the former Snow Mountain Gang, who was reasonable and understanding. The real headache for Gu Shenwei was Liuhua.


    Liuhua was more secretive now. Teenagers of Little g Battalion seldom saw him even though he was also a member of the battalion. He liked to hide in the darkness like a poisonous snake, preparing tounch an attack at any minute.


    Nobody liked Liuhua. No one trusted him. He had absolutely no friends. Given that, Gu Shenwei could not find him or ask anyone to deliver a message to him before their departure.


    He began to wonder , ¡°It¡¯ll be a good thing if I can find a chance to kill this poisonous snake during the trip.¡± This thought made him feel excited.

 Chapter 108

    Chapter 108: The Escort Team


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei was just the chief of the brown-belt assassins, who worked as guards in the escort team. Golden Roc Fort appointed another one as the chief of the whole escort team. This chief would send the gifts to Bighead Kingpin on behalf of the Supreme King, the Eighth Young Master and the Eighth Young Mistress. All the five brown-belt assassins should also follow this chief¡¯s orders.


    This chief was ve Qing, who had once worked as the twins¡¯ attendant in the school. He had served under five or six children of the lord, and now he was finally promoted to a butler of Inner Residence.


    Back in the school, ve Qing had been ve Huan¡¯s superior and had disliked this troublesome ve boy very much. However, he was just a cowardly bully. When he met ve Huan again, who was a brown-belt assassin now, he behaved very politely to him. He intimately patted the boy¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°ve Huan. What a promising boy. We can be good friends. When wee back, I¡¯ll buy you a drink. Hah-hah.¡±


    Golden Roc Fort prepared 20 boxes of gifts for Bighead Kingpin and sent 10 camels to carry these gift boxes. The escort team spent only two hours going down the hill, but then they spent a whole day in the city.


    At the north gate, they handed in all their weapons to the guards, including the brown-belt assassins¡¯ weapons and the weapons in the gift boxes. After entering Jade City, ve Qing went directly to South City with some of the team members to hire camel drivers, porters and cooks. As the Iron Mountain Gang had no fixed headquarter, he also needed to go to a betting arena to contact the gang¡¯s secret agent to get the current location of the gang.


    The other members of the team traveled through North City and exited the city through the east gate. After that, they went to stay in an inn outside the gate as they waited for the gate guards to return the weapons back to them.


    The Iron Mountain Gang frequently moved about all year round. It was impossible to find them without a guide.


    ve Qing brought a guide named Jiang Chenghai to the inn to join the team. This man had a weather-beaten face and looked quite reliable. Some people in the inn seemed to know him well and called him Brother Dao San or Dao San. Soon, the team members also began to call him by his nicknames.


    At night, the team finally got everything ready. The brown-belt assassins got their weapons back. They all took sabers and daggers with them, except Liuhua, who only brought a longbow, a shortbow, a crossbow and many arrows.


    That night, Gu Shenwei secretly ordered Maid Lotus to keep an eye on Liuhua. Although the killer mentors had repeatedly emphasized the importance of teamwork and forbad them to plot against each other, he still could notpletely trust that lone wolf.


    The next morning, the team left the inn for the camp of the Iron Mountain Gang.


    Although Dao San was the guide, he was not riding at the forefront of the team. Snowcamel was at the head of the procession, carrying two gs on his back, which were a Golden Roc g and a g of Little g Battalion. The Golden Roc g was ck with red edge, and Little g Battalion¡¯s g was brown with yellow edge. Both of these gs were embroidered with Golden Rocs. Behind Snowcamel and Dao San were the ten camels carrying the gift boxes and the gs of the Iron Mountain Gang.


    The ten camels were tied together by a rope to form a queue. Five camel drivers worked together to drive them. One of the camel drivers was from the fort and the others were hired to do this job. They spent a whole night learning how to get along with these stubborn animals.


    Behind the ten camels, twenty handymen walked with several other camels that carried food, water and tents for the team. ve Qing and Little Sui traveled along with them. The former rode a horse, and thetter rode a camel, weeping all the way. Every time she thought of Bighead Kingpin, the man she was going to serve for the rest of her life, she would shudder in fear.


    ve Huan, Maid Lotus and Liuhua rode behind them. Wildhorse rode at the rear of the procession.


    Gu Shenwei felt relieved to leave the fort and was quite pleased to take such an easy and rewarding mission. Even Liuhua seemed to behave himself properly now. Gu Shenwei had never expected that they would soon get into trouble.


    At noon, a handyman ran up to him and reported that there were two riders in front of them at the roadside and they seemed to be waiting for the escort team.


    As they were still inside Golden Roc Fort¡¯s territory, Gu Shenwei believed that the riders did not dare to covet the fort¡¯s goods, but as the chief of guards, he still needed to go to check the situation. He quickened his horse and galloped to the forefront of the team.


    He observed the two riders from a distance. They were dressed in ck, just like Golden Roc Fort killers, but they had slender figures like girls.


    He continued to ride toward the riders, and soon he recognized them and sighed to himself, ¡°That¡¯s a real trouble, a big trouble.¡±


    The riders were Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi.


    He had not seen Shangguan Ru for a long time and discovered that she was much taller than before. However, she was still obviously shorter than Shangguan Yushi.


    Shangguan Yushi put on a straight face and looked away. Shangguan Ru looked at ve Huan smilingly. Her eyes were still big and ck, just like before. ¡°Hey, we¡¯re the best machetemen in the whole Western Region. Do you want to hire us?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not the boss here,¡± Gu Shenwei looked at them and replied with an expressionless face.


    ¡°Well then, ask you boss to meet me,¡± Shangguan Ru stopped smiling and said, adopting an authoritative tone. This time, she sounded just like the bossy little girl Gu Shenwei remembered.


    ve Qing also recognized the girls and hurriedly rode to them. He got off his horse in a flurry and said, ¡°s, Master Ru, why did you leave the fort? Did the lord and thedy know about this? Why did youe out by yourselves? Take care. Let me help you get off your horse. s, what should we do now? ve Huan, how about we turn around to go home now?¡± While saying this, ve Qing stretched out his hands to Shangguan Ru, wanting to help her get off her horse.


    Hearing what ve Qing said, Shangguan Ru became annoyed. She swished her whip to drive ve Qing¡¯s hands away and shouted, ¡°I won¡¯t let you go back. If you don¡¯t let us join you, we¡¯ll kill you and take all your goods away. I¡¯ll send the gifts to Bighead Kingpin by myself.¡±


    ve Qing did not know what to do. He was so anxious that he kept stamping the ground. Suddenly, he saw ve Huan wave to him. The brown-belt assassin trotted his horse to him and bent forward to discuss with him in a soft voice. After that, the ve boy galloped to the girls and said, ¡°My boss agreed to hire you. Each one of you can earn 10 taels of silver a day, but we can only pay you after the trip. We offer free tents and free meals to you, but we won¡¯t guarantee your safety.¡±


    ¡°Good, that¡¯s a good offer. We ept it.¡± Shangguan Ru nodded solemnly and agreed.


    ¡°Ten taels of silver a day? Do you think we¡¯re beggars?¡± Shangguan Yushi waved her whip and grumbled.


    ¡°The pay is quite high for inexperienced young machetemen. I¡¯m the chief of guards in this team, so you¡¯ll have to follow my orders in the following days. Regardless of your past achievements or how good your machete skills are, you must listen to me in this team.¡± Gu Shenwei knew Shangguan Ru very well. He was clear that he needed to make this game seem as real as possible to please her.


    Shangguan Ru was delighted to hear that. She smiled and said, ¡°Of course, chief. We¡¯ll follow your orders.¡± Shangguan Yushi, however, was even angrier now. Last winter, she had been ve Huan¡¯s killer leader and bossed him around. She found it hard to ept the fact that now she should listen to this ve boy.


    ve Qing mounted his horse and watched ve Huan act out the whole thing. He could not help shaking his head and thought of how this troublesome ve boy had used his own ways to please the young masters back in the school.


    Gu Shenwei asked the girls to join Maid Lotus and Liuhua and sent ve Qing to chat with them in case they discovered that the team was traveling much slower now.


    This was ve Huan¡¯s idea.


    He suggested that ve Qing should ept the girls and, in the meantime, ask the whole team to slow down. He told ve Qing that Golden Roc Fort might have already discovered that the girls were missing and had sent people to find them. When someone from the fort caught up with the team to fetch the girls, they would be able to get rid of them without offending them.


    ve Qing agreed with ve Huan¡¯s opinion and epted his idea. Nevertheless, beyond their expectations, no one showed up to fetch the girls even when the sun began to set.


    ve Qing ordered the whole team to stop traveling and put up tents to camp beside the road. After that, he dragged ve Huan out of the camp. He kept looking in the direction of Jade City and said, ¡°ve Huan, this is your idea. You have to be responsible.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t need to wait anymore. The fort won¡¯t send anyone to chase us.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± ve Qing was shocked.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that the lord and thedy hoped that we will take the girls with us and then bring them back to the fort safely.¡±


    ¡°This must be another move the lord anddy had taken to make Shangguan Ru more like a boy. Actually, the fort could tell this n to ve Qing in advance. If it did, he wouldn¡¯t be so worried now, but the tenth child would be displeased,¡± Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± ve Qing still felt uncertain.


    Gu Shenwei nodded and then went back to the camp. When he arrived, the cooks had already served the dishes for dinner.


    Gu Shenwei was pleased to notice that there were some delicate dishes specially prepared for the girls. He thought that the cooks were quite smart. However, the girls did not notice this at all. They were too excited and kept chatting all the time.


    Gu Shenwei deliberately kept a distance from the girls. For the time being, he did not need Shangguan Ru¡¯s help nor did he want to irritate Shangguan Yushi. He feared that the girl would do something insane during the trip if she became mad.


    Besides, he also suspected that she might still want to take revenge on him for her brother¡¯s death. After all, Shangguan Yuxing did die because of him.


    As it was getting dark, everybody had packed their belongings and was preparing to go to sleep. Suddenly, ve Qing stumbled all the way to ve Huan. He grabbed the teenager¡¯s arm and whispered, ¡°Some people came right after us.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was greatly surprised, ¡°Why did the fort take such a long time to catch up with us?¡±


    He turned around and galloped toward the people behind the escort team. Beyond his expectations, he quickly discovered that they were not a team of killers but a caravan.


    A momentter, the guards of the escort team caught up with their chief. ¡°Are they bandits? Chief, do we need to eliminate them right now?¡± Shangguan Ru asked while tightly holding her saber shaft.


    ¡°No, they¡¯re not bandits.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was 100 percent sure that the people after them were not bandits since they were still inside Golden Roc Fort¡¯s territory.


    Gradually, the caravan approached them bit by bit. They saw several riders gallop out to greet them. ¡°Hello, friends in the front. Where are you going?¡± one rider asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business. We¡¯ll let you go first. Come on. Hurry up,¡± ve Qing urged impatiently. He did not want to meet any stranger during this trip since Shangguan Ru was still in his team.


    ¡°You look familiar, friend. You must havee from Stone Castle,¡± another rider from the caravan said.


    A momentter, a young rider galloped to them and his attendant lifted up a torch to light up his face.


    ve Qing hurriedly got off his horse and ran to the young man. ¡°s, Mister Meng Mingshi. You still remember me? I¡¯m ve Qing. I apanied Lady Meng to the flower viewing party,¡± ve Qing bowed and said.


    Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi immediately tensed up and simultaneously drew out their sabers. ¡°What¡¯s he doing here?¡±


    ¡°Sheathe your sabers. We¡¯re guards and should only care about the safety of the goods on the camels¡¯ backs.¡±


    The girls exchanged a look. After that, Shangguan Ru grumpily put her saber back into the scabbard and then Shangguan Yushi also sheathed her saber. They returned to their tent without saying a word.


    Gu Shenwei summoned the brown-belt assassins to assign night duties. Although they were still inside the fort¡¯s territory, they still needed to fulfill their duties as guards of the escort team.


    ¡°The Fifth Young Master Meng also travels along this road. This is not a coincidence,¡± Gu Shenwei thought to himself.

 Chapter 109

    Chapter 109: Traveling Together


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Meng Mingshi¡¯s caravan had camped across the road. On the next morning, they set out together with the escort team.


    The Fifth Young Master Meng led arge team. He had 50 or 60 camels and a simr number of horses. There were more than 100 people in his caravan, 30 of whom were guards.


    The brown-belt assassins discovered that all the 30 guards were just hired machetemen, but the rider at the forefront of the caravan, who carried a Golden Roc g, was obviously a professional killer from Stone Castle. None of them had met this red-belt killer before, and the killer did not show any interest in this group of brown-belt assassins either.


    Meng Mingshi looked like apletely different person. He seemed very amiable and chatted cheerfully with ve Qing all the way. He did not disturb the girls or show even the slightest hatred toward ve Huan. It seemed that he did not recognize this brown-belt assassin who had threatened him with a wooden saber at all.


    Gu Shenwei observed Meng Mingshi¡¯s machetemen carefully and discovered that only two or three of them appeared to be good at kung fu. However, he still ordered his brown-belt assassins to stay alert, since the caravan¡¯s guards still significantly outnumbered the guards of the escort team.


    At first, the girls followed their chief¡¯s order to stay away from the caravan, but after a while, they began to approach the Fifth Young Master Meng to make fun of him through ridicule and satire. Surprisingly, Meng Mingshi reacted very calmly and seemed to regret his deeds very much. Seeing this, ve Qing was a little embarrassed. He apologized to Meng Mingshi again and again while dissuading his young masters from mocking him.


    After quite a long time, Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi finally felt that they had said enough and returned to their own team, leaving Meng Mingshi alone.


    The two teams traveled together peacefully for three days. On the third night of their trip, they camped near a mountain pass, which was located at the border of Golden Roc Fort¡¯s territory. To the northy a vast grasnd, which was Nond¡¯s domain in name, but in fact, it was awless ce. There were many bandits on this grasnd, but they usually would not rob a team with a Golden Roc g.


    After spending another two peaceful days on this seemingly endless grasnd, Shangguan Ru got bored. There were few inhabitants along the road, and the vegetation became increasingly sparse. On many asions, she wanted to provoke Meng Mingshi¡¯s machetemen, but ve Qing and ve Huan managed to dissuade her every time.


    At a fork in the road, the two teams were divided on which way they should take.


    The road to the north was safer, since it was guarded by Nond¡¯s cavalrymen. If they took this way, they would be able to see a vige every few days. The only disadvantage was that it would take them around 20 days to get to the camp of the Iron Mountain Gang.


    The other road directly led to the capital of a small country in the northwest of the Western Region, which was the caravan¡¯s final destination. At the same time, this road was also a shortcut to the camp of the Iron Mountain Gang. If they took this way, they would need only 10 days to arrive at their destinations. However, this road was rough and risky.


    Meng Mingshi had decided to take the way to the northeast a long time ago. With 30 machetemen protecting him and a Golden Roc Fort killer leading the way for him, he was not afraid at all. He formally bid farewell to the girls and said, ¡°There are many bandits along this road. We can never let them scare you. Master Ru, take your time. It¡¯s not a big deal. I¡¯m willing to stay in the city for 10 more days to wait for you.¡±


    Everybody could tell that Meng Mingshi was just goading Shangguan Ru into taking the shortcut except the girl herself. She fell into his trap immediately and urged the escort team to take the shortcut regardless of her chief¡¯s objection.


    Gu Shenwei and the guide, Dao San, suggested the team take the safer road, which was also their scheduled route. Gu Shenwei worried that Meng Mingshi might have been secretly plotting against him, but he could not tell this to Shangguan Ru.


    In the end, ve Qing, the chief of the whole escort team made a decision. ¡°Let¡¯s travel together with Mister Meng. We can take care of each other along the way. He¡¯s so many machetemen. Bandits won¡¯t dare to approach us, will they? ¡±


    ve Qing did not want to act against Meng Mingshi. He had had such a good time with this nice young master during the past few days. He would have felt excited to serve the Fifth Young Master Meng if the fort had sent him to the Meng family now.


    The escort team had to obey ve Qing¡¯s order, so they followed the caravan to travel along the road to the northeast. Shangguan Ru insisted that the team should stay away from the caravan. Given that, the escort team camped early in the night and nned to set offter the next morning to distance themselves from the caravan. That night, Shangguan Ru earnestly hoped that some bandits woulde to the camp to give her a chance to show her excellent saber skills.


    Gu Shenwei secretly ordered his brown-belt assassins to stay alert and appointed Maid Lotus to protect Shangguan Ru. He was clear that now the most valuable thing in this team was not the gifts but Master Ru.


    He found it quite ridiculous that now he had to try his best to protect this girl whom he had nned to kill in the future.


    The following two days and nights were still quite peaceful. The biggest ident during this period of time was the sudden appearance of a wolf. It had abruptly approached the camp and then was shot dead by Liuhua. Shangguan Ru was excited about this incident for a long time.


    Early in the third morning, when Gu Shenwei was preparing his horse, Shangguan Ru came to talk to him with her left hand on the hilt of her saber. Her eyes looked even darker since she now stood with her back to the sun. ¡°Why do you treat me so coldly?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a macheteman, and I¡¯m your chief. That¡¯s the way it¡¯s supposed to be.¡±


    ¡°No, I saw you chatting merrily with the brown-belt assassins.¡±


    Gu Shenwei clearly remembered that he had never chatted merrily with anyone during the past days, but he did not want to continue this childish conversation. ¡°Now, we¡¯re chatting merrily,¡± he smiled and said.


    Shangguan Ru bit her lips and put on a straight face. She paced beside ve Huan for a while and asked, ¡°Why did youe out to protect me on that day in Bodhi Garden?¡±


    ¡°She knew that it was me.¡± Gu Shenwei thought. He regretted what he had done on that day even more. He stopped preparing his horse and said, ¡°That¡¯s my fault. You didn¡¯t sleep. You heard that someone was approaching, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    Gu Shenwei believed that apetitive person like Shangguan Ru would answer ¡°yes¡± to his question. However, the girl said, ¡°No, I was stoned. I heard nothing.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was speechless. After a moment, he replied, ¡°I came out to protect you because I¡¯m your ve Huan, your apprentice and your killer.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was about to turn 13 in a few months. At that time, she would officially be the Tenth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort and own a killer team. Like all the other young masters of the fort, she had received a series of training and learned the skills of guessing the needs and intentions of others, but she still failed to discover the bitterness hidden in ve Huan¡¯s reply.


    ¡°Good, you still remember it. I¡¯ll fight you in the future to check your progress on your saber techniques,¡± Shangguan Ru smiled triumphantly and said.


    Gu Shenwei bowed to her slightly. ¡°No matter how hard I practice, I can never surpass my Master Shifu in saber skills. However, please remember that I¡¯m your chief now.¡±


    Hearing that, Shangguan Ru slightly bowed back to ve Huan, saying, ¡°It¡¯s really not easy to earn 10 taels of silver a day.¡± After that, she cheerfully left.


    Gu Shenwei had mixed feelings after Shangguan Ru¡¯s departure. He began to long for killing, hoping to see blood gushing out of someone¡¯s neck. This scene would make him feel sick in his stomach and, at the same time, feel peaceful in his heart.


    In the afternoon, an ident ured, which happened to partially satisfy his craving for blood.


    Meng Mingshi¡¯s caravan suddenly stopped at the roadside, waiting for them.


    Seeing that, ve Qing, ve Huan and Dao San quickened their horses to check the situation in the front, while the other members of the escort team stopped and waited.


    The caravan members all looked frightened. Seeing that, ve Qing turned pale. He speeded up further to ride at the forefront.


    ¡°What¡­¡± ve Qing said in a hoarse whisper when he saw a corpse lying in the middle of the road.


    The dead man was a macheteman hired by Meng Mingshi. Hey on his back with an arrow shot into his chest, his machete unsheathed.


    ¡°Someone wants our goods,¡± the banner-carrying killer of the caravan said as he nced at the dead body.


    ve Qing looked around nervously and asked, ¡°Who dares to rob us? Where are they? How about we return to the fork to take the safer road?¡±


    ¡°No, we can¡¯t,¡± the banner-carrying killer blurted out while shaking his head. ve Qing was stunned. Since he had be a butler, he had never been denied by any ordinary killer so harshly.


    Dao San was an experienced guide. He exined to ve Qing, ¡°This is the bandits¡¯ typical way of telling their peers that they want a caravan¡¯s goods, We can¡¯t turn around now since they must have already blocked the way behind us.¡±


    ¡°What? Peers? Are you saying that there are more than one group of bandits here? Howe¡­ we have Golden Roc gs.¡±


    ¡°Bandits with names won¡¯t dare to rob us, but nameless roving bandits will never care about our gs,¡± the banner-carrying killer said inly, seemingly not surprised at all.


    ¡°Roving bandits? It must be easy for us to defeat some roving bandits, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll kill them all if they dare to show up.¡±


    The banner-carrying killer said assertively, which greatly raised everyone¡¯s spirits. They were confident that their killers and machetemen would defeat those sneaky bandits who only dared to shoot arrows at them while hiding in the darkness.


    ¡°Let¡¯s camp here,¡± the banner-carrying killer said to the Fifth Young Master Meng in amanding tone.


    Meng Mingshi looked as pale as ve Qing and kept nodding to the killer. His attendant hurriedly went to deliver the order to everyone in the caravan.


    ¡°You¡¯d better camp together with us,¡± the banner-carrying killer said to ve Qing. ve Qing could not agree more and nodded violently.


    The escort team and the caravan stayed together again. Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi refused to trust Meng Mingshi¡¯s judgement and went to check the dead body by themselves. When they came back, they looked solemn and volunteered to keep watch at night.


    Gu Shenwei put them on the first shift and then went to implement his own n.


    Every time he sensed danger, he would be much calmer than usual. He focused on analyzing the incident because he did not believe in coincidences. ¡°The death of the macheteman is not an ident.¡±


    He thought he had already seen through Meng Mingshi¡¯s plot against him.


    It was getting dark. He walked around the camp to make sure that everything was alright and then he went to visit the camel drivers.


    The five camel drivers were sitting around a fire, chatting and drinking. He joined them, and soon the four hired camel drivers left, saying that they wanted to sleep early.


    They purposely left the chief of the guards and the fort¡¯s camel driver alone.


    Gu Shenwei stared at the camel driver. He did not know his name, but he believed that he did not need to know that.


    The camel driver kept his head down and remained silent for a long time. When he looked up, Gu Shenwei saw his piercing eyes. Only killers had this kind of look in the eyes. ¡°You take care of your things, and I¡¯ll take care of mine,¡± the camel driver said.


    Gu Shenwei nodded to him and left. His guess was right. This camel driver was sent by Golden Roc Fort to protect Shangguan Ru. It seemed that the girls¡¯ n had been leaked long before they had sneaked out of the fort. Gu Shenwei was sure that the girls would be safe with this camel driver around.


    The girls were still standing on sentry. Gu Shenwei took this chance to wake up the other four brown-belt assassins. He ordered Snowcamel to stay in the camp and the other three to leave with him on a mission.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to find the bandits. If I guessed correctly, they¡¯re not very far away from us.¡±


    Four brown-belt assassins scuttled away from the girls and walked out of the camp with their horses. After that, they mounted their horses and galloped to the northeast.

 Chapter 110

    Chapter 110: Splitting


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Four brown-belt assassins galloped rapidly on the narrow road in the wilderness. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus were in the front. Twenty steps away from them were Wildhorse and Liuhua. They had stayed in this formation all along the way. Although some parts of the road were broken, they could still determine the route in the moonlight.


    After traveling for more than a dozen kilometers, they finally saw a wisp of smoke rising from one side of the road at dawn.


    They got off their horses and headed for the smoke. They spontaneously walked in a formation. Maid Lotus was at the forefront. Behind her and to her left and right, were ve Huan and Wildhorse, who were guarding against nk attacks. Liuhua followed at the rear with a crossbow in hand.


    It seemed that all the people in this camp were fast asleep. They did not see anyone on sentry duty.


    Gu Shenwei recognized a familiar smell. He had thrown so many dead bodies off the cliff in Golden Roc Fort that he could never forget this smell.


    They walked into the camp and saw that the campfire was about to go out. They found more than 50 dead bodies inside and outside the tents. The blood on the corpses had just coagted.


    Gu Shenwei had expected that some bandits were waiting for them, but he had never expected that they would be dead when he found them.


    Soon, the campfire died out, and the sun began to rise.


    ¡°Wildhorse, Maid Lotus, you go back to warn everybody. Liuhua and I will stay here,¡± Gu Shenwei ordered. He had no time to consider the matter carefully now.


    Wildhorse and Maid Lotus immediately went to get their horses and galloped away.


    ¡°You stay within ten steps of me,¡± Gu Shenwei said to Liuhua. Within this distance, they were able to coordinate with each other in action, and Liuhua could not shoot him with an arrow within such a short range.


    Liuhua nodded and put his crossbow down. After that, he looked away with a straight face.


    An hourter, Wildhorse rode back and seemed to get some bad news.


    He waved to ve Huan and Liuhua, inviting them to leave with him right now.


    Gu Shenwei trusted Wildhorse¡¯s judgment. He and Liuhua immediately mounted their horses and rode after Wildhorse.


    Gu Shenwei thought that this whole thing was probably a plot against him, but somehow this plot went wrong. He racked his brain but still could not figure out what went wrong. Given that, he decided to stop thinking about thisplicated issue for now. He looked at Wildhorse¡¯s back and began to wonder. ¡°These strange guys. What¡¯s the point of cutting off your own tongues?¡±


    After traveling one or two kilometers, he saw three corpses on the road. The dead people¡¯s horses were grazing on the grasnd nearby.


    He went to check the dead bodies. They were Meng Mingshi¡¯s machetemen. He remembered thatpared to the other machetemen, these three were quite good at kung fu. He thought that they must have followed them to leave the campst night and gotten ambushed here. A significant amount of blood had spouted from their wounds in the chests and stomachs, and the blood had not yet wholly coagted.


    Gu Shenwei stood up and looked into the direction where they came from, feeling worried. He was not sure who the murder was and where this murder came from.


    When it was near noon, the two teams behind finally caught up with the brown-belt assassins. The moment they arrived, they immediately gathered around the dead bodies. ve Qing nearly passed out at the sight. He leaned himself against a handyman and said, ¡°This is, this is¡­¡±


    ¡°They were not killed by some ordinary bandits,¡± Gu Shenwei said to everyone. He was sure that bandits would never take the trouble to cut every victim¡¯s chest and stomach open.


    ¡°It¡¯s you¡­ You killed them. You, You¡¯ve been¡­¡± Meng Mingshi pointed at ve Huan and grumbled while hiding behind two machetemen. His eyes were full of fear and hatred, which indicated that he had recognized the ve boy a long time ago.


    ¡°If you believe you can frame me by saying that, you¡¯re foolish,¡± Gu Shenwei looked at Meng Mingshi and thought. After a moment, he replied peacefully, ¡°No, I didn¡¯t kill them, but they did want to kill me.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense! This is nder! No one wants to kill you. You, You want to kill me. Yes. You surely want to assassinate me.¡±


    Meng Mingshi¡¯s speech became increasingly incoherent, but this did not prevent his machetemen from reacting swiftly. They quickly unsheathed their machetes of different size, waiting for their boss¡¯ order. At the same time, the teenagers in the escort team also drew out their sabers. ¡°We want to kill you. What¡¯s the big deal? Do you think no one dares to cut your throat?¡± said Shangguan Ru provocatively.


    Hearing that, Meng Mingshi immediately covered his neck with both hands and rapidly stepped back while shouting, ¡°This is a conspiracy! This is an assassination! You think your family is invincible, but my family won¡¯t give in easily.¡±


    A conflict might break out at any moment. Suddenly the caravan¡¯s banner-carrying killer, who had squatted to check the dead bodies, stood up and said, ¡°Sheath your weapons. Golden Roc Fort had nothing to do with the three machetemen¡¯s deaths. Look at their wounds. That¡¯s not our style. More importantly, they don¡¯t look like knife wounds at all.¡±


    Meng Mingshi could not discern wounds, but he trusted the banner-carrying killer¡¯s judgment. ¡°What kind of weapon did the murder use? Their wounds are deep. Even their bowels and intestines fell out,¡± Meng Mingshi said while staring at Shangguan Ru warily.


    All the three dead men¡¯s chests and stomachs were cut open. The team members did not dare to look at them carefully, except the killers from Golden Roc Fort.


    Gu Shenwei agreed with the banner-carrying killer that the wounds were not caused by any kind of knife. He thought that the murder must have used something blunter than a knife, but he could not determine what it was. The banner-carrying killer did not seem to have any idea about the murder¡¯s weapon either.


    ¡°Let¡¯s travel together. We must hurry up now. If anyone of you leaves the team without permission, you¡¯ll have to face the consequences on your own,¡± the banner-carrying killer said with a cold face, with his eyes fixed on ve Huan.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I can¡¯t agree. We¡¯re two different teams. I¡¯m chief of guards in this escort team. I suggested that we take actions separately without interfering in each other¡¯s affairs.¡±


    The banner-carrying killer was livid with anger. ¡°No, I¡¯m chief of the whole escort team. I say we should go together with the caravan. The more people, the better,¡± ve Qing shouted outside the crowd.


    Gu Shenwei held his saber tightly and lifted his head up, while saying, ¡°You can leave with the Meng family¡¯s caravan with all the goods, but all the guards must follow me. We never unite with the people who act suspiciously.¡±


    Hearing that, the other six teenage guards simultaneously stood behind their chief.


    ¡°Who? Who acted suspiciously?¡± Meng Mingshi shouted while hiding behind several machetemen.


    Gu Shenwei pointed to the front and said, ¡°There¡¯s a camp not very far away from here. There are 50 bandits in the camp waiting to rob us. However, now they¡¯re all dead, just like these three machetemen. Mister Meng Mingshi, how are you going to exin this matter to everyone?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re all dead now?¡± Meng Mingshi murmured, looking confused. After a while, he recovered from the shock and retorted, ¡°What do the deaths of some bandits have to do with me?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s stop beating about the bush. Can you tell us what goods your camels are carrying?¡±


    Gu Shenwei intended to expose Meng Mingshi¡¯s plot. ¡°This young master must have hired some bandits to kill me in this way. That¡¯s why he goaded Shangguan Ru into taking this shortcut. He probably also nned to scare the girl with those bandits. To make this incident seem real, he must have told the bandits to rob both teams. He¡¯s sure that Golden Roc Fort won¡¯t me the Meng family for the death of a brown-belt assassin during such a robbery.¡±


    Gu Shenwei believed that the machetemen who had been shot dead yesterday were also part of the show Meng Mingshi had arranged.


    However, some unknown enemies suddenly appearedst night and killed all the bandits Meng Mingshi hired. Gu Shenwei thought these unknown enemies were probably not the young master¡¯s friends.


    Meng Mingshi was apparently not the kind of person who could take in a situation at a nce. ¡°That¡¯s none of your business. You¡¯re not eligible to talk to me like that,¡± Meng Mingshi continued to shout at ve Huan.


    As a ve boy, Gu Shenwei was not qualified to question the young master, but some of his guards were able to do so. Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi rushed to the caravan¡¯s camels to cut the ropes on the wooden boxes. The next moment, the boxes opened, and many stones fell out. They continued to open many other boxes and found out that all of them contained only stones.


    After that, the girls came back to their team with their sabers. The murderous light flickered in their eyes. ¡°The Meng family is so smart. You can sell such useless stones to make money,¡± Shangguan Ru said mockingly.


    Meng Mingshi¡¯s face changed. He had hired a group of machetemen to fake a robbery and had not wanted to suffer any loss during this show, so he had filled all the boxes with stones.


    Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi began to brandish their sabers. Since they had been trained by the top killers, they seemed to have even better saber skillspared to the brown-belt assassins. Seeing that, Meng Mingshi¡¯s machetemen tightly surrounded their young master, ready to fight.


    ¡°Wait,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He did not want to see the teams fight against each other now. ¡°Mister Meng just wanted to y a joke on us. We don¡¯t need to take it seriously.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Meng Mingshi shouted while hiding among the machetemen. The teenagers could only hear his trembling voice but could not see where he was. ¡°It¡¯s a joke. Master Ru. I never meant to kill you. If I dare to harm you, my parents won¡¯t let me off easily.¡±


    ¡°Now, what¡¯re you nning to do? Chief of guards,¡± the banner-carrying killer asked ve Huan. This time, the killer did not look that arrogant.


    ¡°We travel together. You give all your machetemen to me,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    ¡°I¡¯m just a banner-carrier,¡± the banner-carrying killer stepped aside and refused to get involved in this thing anymore.


    Now Meng Mingshi had to make a decision by himself. He looked at ve Huan with distrust while hiding behind many machetemen.


    ¡°If I dare to hurt you, Stone Castle will never let me off easily,¡± Gu Shenwei said with his handsid out in a shrug.


    The ve boy was telling the truth, but Meng Mingshi still felt uncertain. ¡°Alright, I give you my machetemen, but you have to swear that you¡¯ll ensure my safety.¡±


    ¡°I swear to gods, I¡¯ll ensure the Fifth Young Master Meng¡¯s safety.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was adept at swearing allegiance now.


    After that, Gu Shenwei integrated the two teams into one. He asked the team members to throw away those boxes of stones. By doing so, they got more camels for the gift boxes and the team members.


    He also ordered the team to camp in the ce and sent machetemen to explore the way. He posted five machetemen to investigate the road in the front and five to the road behind them. The machetemen would return before dark. If they found out that the way behind them was safe, he would lead the team to return to the fork to take the more reliable route.


    Since Meng Mingshi admitted that the macheteman who had been shot dead yesterday was a show he had arranged, Gu Shenwei thought that they might still be able to turn back.


    Shangguan Ru was eager to meet some bandits, but she still epted her chief¡¯s decision in the end.


    Gu Shenwei did not like the current situation. He had no idea who the enemy was and what the enemy wanted to do. He also suspected that this might be another show arranged by Meng Mingshi. After all, the deaths of several dozen bandits were not a big deal for the wealthy Meng family.


    He preferred to take the initiative tounch an attack, but now he had no choice but to wait. Shangguan Ru was in his team. He had to be extra careful and tried his best to ensure her safety.


    Although the camel driver sent by Golden Roc Fort looked like a good killer, he still worried that it was not enough to rely on just one person to ensure Shangguan Ru¡¯s safety. Given that, he ordered Maid Lotus to protect Shangguan Ru.


    As for Meng Mingshi, he was sure his machetemen would take care of him.


    He sincerely hoped that the bandits only wanted their goods. He could give up those gift boxes to ensure the young masters¡¯ safety.


    The machetemen who went to the front came back in time and reported to the teenager chief that everything looked alright in the front. They had seen the camp mentioned by the chief and behaved very politely to the boy when they came back.


    The other five machetemen werete. Everybody in the camp was nervous and could not sleep.


    At midnight, a horse galloped back from the road behind them. A macheteman went out to take it into the camp. ve Qing and Meng Mingshi came out to check it and nearly passed out again.


    A macheteman¡¯s head was tied to the horseback, and his feet were stuck in the stirrups. The other parts of his body were gone.


    ¡°The unknown enemies want us to move forward,¡± Gu Shenwei thought and felt hesitant.

 Chapter 111

    Chapter 111: A ck Bird


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    As the leader of the team, Gu Shenwei now was faced with an embarrassing dilemma. The more he knew, the harder it was for him to make a decision. He worried that they would fall into the unknown enemies¡¯ trap if they continued to travel forward. Meanwhile, he was not sure that it was safe for them to retreat.


    He did not know where the enemies were. In the meantime, he was afraid that they might have already been prepared for all the actions he might take.


    Under such circumstances, making a choice was like gambling. One could never know the result when he threw the dice. If he were lucky, he would win and be widely regarded as a hero.


    As the leader of the former Tattooed Arm Gang, Gu Shenwei had made many decisions back in East Castle during the gang wars. However, at that time, it had been easy for him to predict his enemies¡¯ actions since they were all trained by the same academies and tended to use simr techniques and tactics. Now, his enemies wereplete strangers so he could not be so sure about his judgment.


    ¡°Should we go forward or turn back?¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt anxious but still managed to keep a straight face. He could not tell his concerns to too many people in case his uneasy feeling disturbed the machetemen. He summoned Dao San and asked him several questions. The next morning, he made a n.


    As they were already a third of the way now, if they continued to travel on this road, in 4 or 5 days, they would be able to meet an outpost of the Iron Mountain Gang.


    Given that, Gu Shenwei decided to continue to travel in this way, but he did not want to wait passively for another attack to arrive.


    He chose three brown-belt assassins and five machetemen to form a spearhead group with himself. They would travel to the front to explore the way. After that, he asked Shangguan Ru to lead all the rest machetemen to protect the team. He also appointed Maid Lotus and Shangguan Yushi to assist Master Ru.


    In fact, Shangguan Ru preferred to join the spearhead group, but she was also quite pleased to lead more than 20 machetemen.


    What Gu Shenwei nned to do was not just exploring the way. He ordered the members of the spearhead group to ride as fast as they could and paid no attention to the situation along the way at all. Once, the machetemen noticed something unusual on the roadside, but he just asked them to neglect it and keep on going forward.


    They traveled like this for two days and a night. During this period of time, they only took a few breaks to drink and eat and feed their horses. The machetemen were exhausted. They were surprised that the teenagers still looked alright.


    For the brown-belt assassins, this was not a big deal. They had simr experiences during their gang wars. Back then, once they had closed their eyes to sleep, they would have been killed. All of them had once stayed awake for days without eating or drinking anything.


    Finally, they saw a camp again. There were six dead roving bandits in the field. Gu Shenwei was pretty sure that they were not machetemen hired by Meng Mingshi.


    The six corpses were arranged in a circle. They ally on their backs with their soles toward an extinguished fire in the center. The blood spouting out from their chests and stomachs dyed the soil red. Seen from a distance, they appeared like a big blooming six-petal flower.


    It seemed that the murderer had assassinated them without meeting any resistance, and this murder had cut every dead man¡¯s chest and stomach open again.


    Seeing the dead bodies, the five machetemen turned pale and looked at their chief nervously.


    Their young chief, who had seen countless dead bodies and murder scenes, was not disturbed by the dreadful scene at all. He despised the murder¡¯s act very much.


    In his view, it was meaningless to create such wounds on dead bodies unless the murderer wanted to hide some clues in the corpses.


    He got off his horse to carefully examine the bodies. He found a sharp piece of stone inside the stomach of a corpse. He was pretty sure that the murderer must have used this thing to cut the dead bandits¡¯ chests and stomachs, but he could not figure out what the murder tried to hide. After all, there were many kinds of kung fu in this world, which he had never seen.


    The spearhead group left a mark in this camp to inform the team behind them that they hade to this ce. After that, they continued to gallop forward.


    Gu Shenwei had no idea how the murderer had killed the bandits, but he knew for sure that they did not die very long ago. That meant, now they were not very far away from their enemies.


    On the second night of the spearhead group¡¯s journey, they saw a campfire again.


    Gu Shenwei ordered the five machetemen to hide in the thick grass nearby with all their horses. He took the three brown-belt assassins to check the situation.


    He discovered that even Liuhua was more reliable than Meng Mingshi¡¯s machetemen. He would instead ask them to hide and wait than assign them an important task.


    The four brown-belt assassins made a detour around the camp to make sure that there was nobody else hiding around it. After that, they moved toward the campfire slowly, and then they stopped and disappeared in the grass about 20 steps away from the fire.


    Gu Shenwei was disappointed since the people in the camp were apparently not the unknown enemies they were searching for.


    Eight shabbily clothed men were sitting around the campfire quietly with their heads down. They all leaned their upper bodies against their unsheathed machetes. Every now and then, one of them would throw a piece of wood to the fire. They looked tired and dejected, like a group of hopeless ghosts.


    Apparently, they were a group of poor and hungry roving bandits, who could only eat chunks of meat and drink bowls of wine in their dreams.


    Gu Shenwei guessed that they might have already surpassed their enemies.


    He prayed that the unknown enemies would not take this chance to attack the team behind them.


    On second thought, he reckoned that the enemies who had carried out a series of carefully-nned assassinations probably would not attack the team so hastily.


    Gu Shenwei began to assign tasks to the brown-belt assassins, which was an easy job. They had received the same training and could quickly understand ve Huan¡¯s orders.


    Gu Shenwei sent Liuhua to deliver his orders to the machetemen.


    Soon the eight roving bandits were wakened up by the galloping horses. They hurriedly rushed to the road with machetes in their hands, wanting to rob the travelers. However, they could not stop the horses at all. Nine horses sped past them and nearly knocked one of them down.


    The eight men vented their anger and frustration by shouting and brandishing their machetes for a while, and then they returned to sit around the campfire again. They angrily chatted for a moment and then fell silent. As time went by, they fell asleep one by one with nobody keeping watch at night.


    ording to Gu Shenwei¡¯s n, the five machetemen would keep galloping forward for some time and then return to join the brown-belt assassins before dawn. He intended to confuse the unknown enemies by doing so.


    As for the eight roving bandits, he just nned to use them as a decoy to lure the enemies out.


    He had a strong feeling that there were perhaps only two to three people ughtering the roving bandits along the way.


    All the brown-belt assassins waited in their positions patiently. They saw the crescent moon gradually rise up high in the sky and then slowly set in the west. They knew that the night was about to be over. At this moment, the campfire was about to go out, and all the bandits were sound asleep. They could hear nothing except the bandits¡¯ snorting noise and the cries of insects and frogs.


    Just before dawn, they finally saw the unknown enemy they were waiting for.


    It looked like a dark shadow. They saw it jump up and down all the way to the camp, making absolutely no noise, like a big ck bird looking for food in the grass.


    If this ck bird had not moved directly toward the bandits, the teenagers would have never paid particr attention to it.


    The ckbird jumped around the bandits to check and then quickly decided tounch an attack. Its weapon seemed to be a dagger. Every time, the weapon touched a bandit, he would immediately stop snorting.


    This looked more like a devil¡¯s life-sucking trick than a regr dagger skill.


    Nevertheless, the teenagers were still determined to catch the ckbird alive even if it was indeed a monster.


    When the ckbird killed all the bandits and was about to cut their chests and stomachs open, Liuhua shot out an arrow from the dense grass.


    The ckbird swiftly turned around and used its wide sleeves to catch the arrow.


    Before the ckbird realized what had happened, another arrow was flying toward it.


    Liuhua the Silencer was the fastest bowman among all the Dragon Year apprentices.


    The second arrow he shot nearly hit the ckbird. It was furious and began to jump toward the ce where Liuhua hid. This time it jumped side to side to confuse the bowman, which made it look like a clumsy bird.


    Liuhua kept shooting, but none of his arrows could hit the ckbird now.


    When the ckbird was only ten steps away from Liuhua, Wildhorse suddenly leaped out of the thick grass, striking his saber at the back of the ckbird.


    They exchanged only a few moves, and then the ckbird suddenly fell into the grass. Wildhorse immediately jumped on it. Seeing that, Gu Shenwei came out from the other side of the camp. He knew that Snowcamel who had been hiding in the dark had already sessfully knocked the ckbird down.


    In this action, Liuhua, Wildhorse, and Snowcamel were in charge of catching the mysterious murderer alive, and Gu Shenwei was responsible for killing all the murderer¡¯s followers. However, since the murder came here alone, Gu Shenwei had nothing to do during this fight.


    When he ran to the three brown-belt assassins, he saw that the ckbird was already tied up with ropes, but it still kept struggling. Wildhorse was holding his saber shaft tightly, with a murderous look on his face. He saw some blood on Wildhorse¡¯s shoulder and realized that he was wounded by the ckbird during the fight.


    As the day began to dawn, they could see the ckbird clearly now. It was lying face down, with its hands tied behind its back. The brown-belt assassins discovered that there was a steel needle fixed on each of its fingers and came to realize that these things were its weapons.


    They surrounded the ckbird. Gu Shenwei drew out his dagger and knelt on the ground to turn it over. He took off its hood and was surprised to find out that it was a woman.


    She was around 40 and looked crazy and evil. Her lips were so red as if she had just drunk some blood. She opened her mouth, revealing her white teeth.


    No matter it was a monster or a woman, for killers, a captive was just a captive.


    Gu Shenwei had been tortured in Heart Cleansing Yard before. He was well aware that fear could make a person tell the truth. He knew that now he had to abuse this woman a little to make her confess.


    He turned her around and used his dagger to chop off her thumbs.


    The woman buried her head in the soil, wailing.


    When he turned her around again, her face was pale and dirty, and her lips were not so red as before.


    With the dagger in one hand and the woman¡¯s thumbs in the other hand, Gu Shenwei said, ¡°I¡¯ve enough time to torture you. I can make you live and suffer until our team behind catches up with us.¡±


    The woman¡¯s face was distorted by pain, but she did not look panicked at all. She seemed even more crazier and had a threatening look in her eyes. She scanned the teenager up and down for a while and said, ¡°Kill me now. I won¡¯t tell you anything. We don¡¯t want your goods, We just want the person.¡±


    Her voice was hoarse. She sounded as if she had not opened her mouth to speak to anyone for a long time.


    ¡°Who do you want?¡±


    ¡°Kill me now. You can only outlive me by several days. You¡¯ll die very soon, so will all the people in Golden Roc Fort. You¡¯re doomed since we¡¯re back. We¡¯ll take our things back.¡±


    The woman seemed so possessed. Sheughed wildly as if the things she wanted were right in front of her now.


    Gu Shenwei realized that the crazy woman was not afraid of torture. He was pretty sure that he would not be able to get any valuable information out of her.


    He held his dagger against her chest and looked into her eyes for thest time, hoping to capture a sign of weakness or hesitation.


    However, this woman remained firm and unshakable all the time. A momentter, he thrust the dagger into her heart.

 Chapter 112

    Chapter 112: A Counselor


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    As this time the murderer did not have time to cut the eight bandits¡¯ chests and stomachs open after killing them, the brown-belt assassins finally got a chance to determine the real cause of the bandits¡¯ death. They discovered a long and narrow wound inside every dead body, which started from the throat and ended in the lower abdomen.


    After checking the dead bodies, Gu Shenwei sent Snowcamel away on sentry duty. He and the other two teenagers stood beside the extinguished campfire together, waiting for the machetemen toe back.


    The machetemen werete, which made Gu Shenwei feel anxious. ¡°The machetemen probably have already run away or gotten killed by that crazy woman¡¯s partners. That woman doesn¡¯t look like an ordinary bandit at all. She¡¯s so possessed with something and clearly against Golden Roc Fort. Given that, these unknown enemies probably came here for Shangguan Ru.¡±


    He felt very frustrated. All this time, he had been longing to join the fort¡¯s enemies to have his revenge on the fort, but now when he finally met them, he had no choice but to act against them.


    He wondered if he should give up his own n and went to join them now.


    On second thought, he decided not to do so, since he believed that no one was trustworthy except himself. His revenge n had just begun, and he was determined to continue it.


    After restoring his confidence, he tightly held his saber shaft and considered how to defeat the unknown enemies. ¡°That crazy woman is good at kung fu, but I¡¯m able to kill her with one strike. The unknown enemies have never seen anyone of us fighting. They don¡¯t know what we can do. That¡¯s a good thing for us.¡±


    Wildhorse and Liuhua stood beside their chief, one on the chief¡¯s left side and the other on his right side. They reminded silent all the time. Wildhorse was unable to speak. Liuhua did not like to talk. Both of them were quite displeased with the fact that ve Huan was their chief now.


    Gu Shenwei turned his head to look at them, guessing what they were thinking now. ¡°After traveling for days, we finally caught a captive. However, I killed her before getting any valuable information out of her. They must disapprove of my performance very much.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s take a rest for now. The enemies aren¡¯t very far away from us. I n tounch a pre-emptive attack on them.¡±


    With these words, Gu Shenwei kicked two corpses away to sit on a rock beneath them. Shortly after he took a seat, he stood up abruptly and drew out his saber.


    He found another person beside the rock, who was still alive.


    That person had somehow rolled himself into a ball and hidden under the two dead bodies¡¯ legs. He was dressed in a color which was simr to that of the rock beside him and camouged himself well. The teenagers thought that all the people in the camp were already dead and rxed their vignce. Given that, they did not hear this man¡¯s breathing sound when they were standing near him.


    When they took a closer look at the man, they found out that he looked like a schr even though now he was even dirtier than the roving bandits.


    The man was thin and dressed in a shabby long robe. He was tightly tied up with a rope, and now his body was as stiff as the rock beside him. He appeared scared, and his eyes widened in fear. This unlucky guy had been caught and brought to this camp by the bandits. Last night, he had seen a demon-like ck birde to kill the bandits and then he had seen some fierce teenagers with sabers pop out to catch the bird. He had not slept the whole time, but he felt as if he had a nightmare whichsted throughout the night.


    Gu Shenwei lifted up his saber, pointing it at the man. The man knew that he could no longer pretend to be a rock and began to cry for mercy. ¡°Don¡¯t kill me. I¡¯m not a robber.¡±


    Gu Shenwei severed his rope and asked, ¡°Who are you? Why are you here?¡±


    The man tried to get on his feet while shivering. However, he was too weak to stand up right now. In the end, he failed to straighten his legs and slumped down on the rock. ¡°My surname is Fang and myst name is Wenshi. This name stems from the opening sentence of all the Buddhist ssics, ¡®Ru Shi Wo Wen¡¯ (I heard it from Sakyamuni). I just wanted to take a shortcut, but these brothers caught me on the road and asked me to pay a ransom. s, look at me. I¡¯m just a poor schr with no money in my pocket. Oh, no, I did have some money in my pocket at that time. They took it away and still asked me to pay the ransom. How could I get that much money? That¡¯s why I¡¯m in this camp. I was frightened to deathst night seeing the cruel female devil ughter them all. Fortunately, I met you, a group of teenage heroes. You killed the devil and saved my life. I can¡¯t thank you enough.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was well aware that the man was just trying to tter them by calling them ¡®teenage heroes.¡¯ He clearly remembered that this man had not made a sound or appealed for help when the ¡®heroes¡¯ hade out to fight the woman. He snorted and sheathed his saber, thinking that it was unnecessary to be suspicious of such a poor schr. ¡°You can leave now,¡± he said to the man.


    Fang Wenshi was startled. He could not believe his ears. He looked at the three ¡°teenage heroes¡± one by one and suddenly bowed deeply to them. After that, he turned around and ran away. After only a few steps, he stumbled and fell to the ground. He quickly staggered up and continued to run. It seemed that he would get exhausted very soon.


    ¡°We should kill him.¡±


    Liuhua the Silencer suddenly spoke. Gu Shenwei was surprised to discover that this thin and small boy had such a deep voice.


    ¡°No, let him explore the way for us.¡±


    Gu Shenwei replied while looking at Fang Wenshi. He thought that this man would probably be able to help them lure the unknown enemies out.


    When Fang Wenshi distanced himself enough from them, they began to stroll after him.


    After traveling for about 500 meters, Fang Wenshi saw several horses galloping toward him. He tried to stop one for himself but failed and fell to the ground again.


    A momentter, the horses met the teenagers and stopped. There were only six horses now, and one of them carried a dead macheteman.


    The moment the horse stopped, the dead body flipped over and fell down from the saddle, revealing an arrow shot into his chest.


    Liuhua came to the corpse and knelt beside it. He fingered the arrow shaft and carefully checked the wound, with a grim face.


    Their enemies were not far away.


    The four teenagers mounted their horses and gently pulled the reins to ride slowly behind the schr.


    Just like the other killers, these brown-belt assassins were not good at frontal attacks. Given that, they nned to find their enemies out and then assassinate them.


    Fang Wenshi ran to the top of a slope and then turned his head to look at the teenagers behind him. Suddenly, he flopped onto the ground and did not get up again.


    When the teenagers galloped to the man, he raised up his head and asked, ¡°Are you from Golden Roc Fort?¡±


    He had run only a short distance, but he was sweating profusely now. His face was as red as blood.


    ¡°How do you know?¡± Gu Shenwei was a little surprised that such a weak and poor schr could recognize them.


    ¡°You¡¯re dressed in ck, and there are birds patterns on your shoulders. Your weapons look different from the ordinary machetes. However, I¡¯ve never seen any Golden Roc Fort killer wear a brown belt. Are you a killer apprentice?¡±


    ¡°Why did you stop running?¡± Gu Shenwei asked without answering the man¡¯s question.


    ¡°I can¡¯t run any longer. I¡¯m starving and exhausted. Could you lend me a horse?¡±


    The teenagers had two extra horses. Snowcamel had dragged them here.


    ¡°No, Golden Roc Fort never lends things.¡± Gu Shenwei replied assertively, but in fact, he did not know whether there was such a custom in the fort.


    ¡°I see. How about you take me with you? You can introduce me to the Supreme King. I¡¯ll only need two or three sentences to please the lord. I promise that he¡¯ll be delighted to meet me and reward you generously for taking me to him. When I get a high position in the fort, I¡¯ll never forget you.¡±


    What Fang Wenshi said struck the teenagers as ridiculous. If they had never been strictly trained in the fort, they would have burst intoughter now.


    They thought this schr must have been crazy or shameless since he had apparently failed to talk himself out of trouble when he had run into the eight bandits. Despite that, the teenagers still managed to hold back theirughter and remained silent while hearing the schr boast about his eloquence.


    ¡°How about you tell me two or three sentences now? If you can please me, I¡¯ll send you a horse,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    ¡°No, you won¡¯t understand it. Oh, no, no, I mean you won¡¯t be interested in the political situation and the strategies of the states. You teen heroes are brilliant enough to understand everything, but you¡¯re killers who only care about your killing business, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    Gu Shenwei realized that this poor schr was a counselor, but no matter what, he just wanted to use him as a bait to lure his enemies out. Now that this bait refused to cooperate, he had no other choice but to kill him.


    Fang Wenshi looked at the shining saber with a bemused expression. He did not seem to notice the murderous look on the teenager¡¯s face at all. The next moment, he said something, which not only saved his life but also marked the beginning of the friendship between him and the teenager.


    Yearster, when Gu Shenwei mentioned this incident to Fang Wenshi, the counselor could not remember these words anymore and insisted that he had saved himself with an eloquent speech.


    ¡°You kill people with sabers. We, counselors, kill with tactics, and most of the time, we can kill more people than you do.¡±


    Like a bolt of lightning, Zhang Ji¡¯s words shed across Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind. ¡°In the past, the sharpest saber was money, and the best killers were counselors.¡±


    He had given up many of his old beliefs but still firmly believed in Mister Zhang¡¯s teachings. He considered them as guidelines for his revenge campaign against Golden Roc Fort. In his view, these guidelines were even more critical than kung fu.


    He had never expected that such a shabbily-clothed schr would have said something simr to Mister Zhang¡¯s teachings and thus started to take the schr seriously.


    For a moment, he even forgot about the unknown enemies nearby and focused on imagining the distant future.


    Fang Wenshi was still young, probably in his early 20s. Although he looked dirty and poor, Gu Shenwei again spotted a fearless look on his face after careful observation. This was the typical look of a counselor, but it would always make the ordinary people think a counselor as an arrogant twit.


    ¡°Give him a horse.¡±


    Snowcamel was stunned, but after a moment, he still obeyed the order and threw the reins of a horse to the schr.


    Fang Wenshi was even more stunned than Snowcamel. Someone was touched by his words. This kind of thing had seldom happened to him during the past few years when he had been working as a counselor.


    ¡°Are you going to introduce me to the Supreme King?¡±


    ¡°No, I just want you to move faster.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had learned his lesson. Compared to the distant future, he cared more about solving the current problems. He still wanted to use the schr as a bait.


    Fang Wenshi reluctantly mounted the horse. When he turned his head back, wanting to say something, Gu Shenwei patted the horse with his saber. The horse immediately galloped forward with the schr on its back. After traveling across a few gentle slopes, they vanished into the horizon.


    The four brown-belt assassins trotted their horses forward while carefully observing everything along their way.


    The road was getting increasingly rough. When they saw a high hill in the front, Fang Wenshi galloped back, his face extremely pale. ording to Dan San, a day after traveling past the high hill, they would be able to meet an outpost of the Iron Mountain Gang. To the south of the steep hilly some low barren hills. To the south of the small hillsy a vast desert.


    When the schr came to Gu Shenwei, he said, ¡°They told us to turn back as soon as possible and to travel southward with all the other people.¡±


    ¡°They?¡±


    ¡°Three ferocious-looking people, just like those bandits,¡± Fang Wenshi said with stooped shoulders. It seemed that he had not yet fully recovered from the shock.


    Gu Shenwei was a little disappointed by the counselor¡¯s cowardly performance.


    The brown-belt assassins galloped forward without any hesitation. Fang Wenshi trotted his horse in a circle and then reluctantly followed the teenagers.


    After traveling for one or two kilometers, the teenagers stopped on the top of a slope. They saw three riders in the front blocking the way. The riders wore felt clothes, revealing one shoulder. Every one of them carried a long machete on his back and held a longbow in his hand.


    Gu Shenwei looked to the south, wondering what the riders intended to do by driving all these people into the desert.

 Chapter 113

    Chapter 113: Guests


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The teenagers stopped at the top of the slope and paused for a while so they could observe the situation in front of them. After that, they galloped toward the three riders.


    When they were about 100 steps away from the riders, one rider suddenly shot an arrow into the ground ahead of them to warn them not to approach anymore.


    Gu Shenwei took Liuhua¡¯s longbow and shot an arrow into the air.


    He had received some training in archery. Although he was not a very good archer, he could still use an arrow to deliver something to the riders.


    He had chopped off four fingers of the woman dressed in a ck robe and carried all those fingers with him. He tied one of the fingers to the arrowhead and shot it out with the arrow.


    A rider raised his hand to catch the arrow. He was shocked when he saw the finger on it. Affected by his mood, his horse began to neigh and bolt. The other two horses were also startled. The three riders immediately pulled their reins, trying to calm down their horses.


    Right at this moment, an arrow suddenly flew out from a shrub on their left side and shot a rider down.


    The two remaining riders hurriedly took out their arrows. However, before they could nock them, they were already hit by arrows and fell off their horses.


    The next moment, Liuhua came out of the shrub and shot an arrow into each dead rider¡¯s mouth. This was the mark he left on everyone that he killed.


    Killers onlyunched attacks from the side or the back of their enemies. Before the other three teenagers had appeared on the top of the slope to attract the riders¡¯ attention, Liuhua had dismounted from his horse and had sneaked all the way up to the riders. Although this ce did not have any lush and tall vegetation, the dense grass and bushes still screened his movements very well.


    The three riders had apparently underestimated these teenagers and thus had forgotten to guard against nking and rear attacks.


    Now, the four brown-belt assassins went to check the three dead bodies. Unfortunately, they did not find anything which could determine the riders¡¯ identities.


    Gu Shenwei started to miss Tie Hanfeng. ¡°That old cripple has extensive experience. He must have some knowledge of who they are.¡±


    Fang Wenshi finally caught up with the brown-belt assassins. He looked at the teenagers and the dead riders on the ground, nodding vigorously. ¡°That¡¯s awesome. You really impressed me.¡±


    ¡°You should keep going forward,¡± Gu Shenwei mounted his horse and said to the schr.


    ¡°No, you want to use me as bait. I won¡¯t go first,¡± Fang Wenshi replied while shaking his head vigorously.


    ¡°You should be d that you¡¯re still useful to us,¡± Gu Shenwei said while holding his saber shaft.


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s face suddenly changed. ¡°I¡¯m a very useful person. I¡¯m excellent at astronomy and geography. I know the political situation in the Western Region and the tensions between the countries very well. I even know the local specialties of all the ces in this region clearly. I¡¯m an excellent counselor. It¡¯s a waste to use me as bait.¡±


    When the schr was talking on and on, boasting of his talents and expertise, a troop was rapidly approaching them. It seemed to be arge troop. They could see the dust rising to the clouds in the distance.


    ¡°Counselor, what should we do now?¡± Gu Shenwei asked sarcastically.


    Fang Wenshi did not seem to notice the teenager¡¯s ironic tone and replied seriously, ¡°I¡¯ve never learned Guiguzi and Sun Zi¡¯s military tactics. What I¡¯ve learned is the strategies of Su Qin and Zhang Yi. Despite that, I can still give you a suggestion on the current situation. Look, there are probably nearly a thousand soldiersing toward us, but we had only four killers. If we don¡¯t run away as soon as possible, we¡¯ll be dead when they start to shoot arrows at us.¡±


    With these words, the schr turned his horse around and galloped away. When he arrived at the top of another slope, he stopped and looked back. He found out that the teenagers did not move at all and felt very confused.


    When the troop came near, the teenagers discovered that it was not arge troop at all. There were only about 30 people in the troop. Their leaders were five people dressed in ck robes just like the woman they had encounteredst night.


    ¡°Go south!¡± A rider galloped ahead of the troop and shouted to the teenagers.


    Gu Shenwei was determined to go forward. He refused to turn around or turn to the south, for he was sure that he would never get what he wanted in the desert.


    He waved to Liuhua.


    Liuhua drew his longbow and shot an arrow.


    The rider reacted quickly and drew his bow almost at the same time to aim and shoot. His arrow precisely blocked Liuhua¡¯s arrow, but he still fell off his saddle with a cry.


    Liuhua had shot two arrows at a time, but the rider had only seeded in blocking one of them.


    The troop now realized that these four teenagers were not ordinary travelers, but they did not attack the boys when they significantly outnumbered them. Instead, the troop started to retreat in an orderly manner.


    The brown-belt assassins followed the troop from a distance. Soon they saw another troop consisting of about 70 people one or two kilometers ahead of them. That troop had set some antler railings over there to block the road. This roadblock was located right between two high hills. If they wanted to move forward, they had no choice but to break through this block.


    Behind the antler railings stood three rows of bowman.


    Gu Shenwei led his brown-belt assassins to retreat a few kilometers. When they stopped, he ordered his assassins to arrange the horses into a circle for them to sit inside and take turns to have some sleep. He also shared some of their water and dried food with the horses.


    Killers usuallyunched their attacks at night, so Liuhua, Snowcamel and Wildhorse all considered it quite normal to have some rest now so they took turns to sleep. They were waiting for the night to fall.


    Gu Shenwei could not sleep. He thought about the woman¡¯s words again and again. ¡°We don¡¯t want your goods. We want the person.¡±


    ¡°It seems that the unknown enemies don¡¯t want to kill all of us. They just intend to drive us into the desert. That¡¯s good. I don¡¯t n to eliminate all of them either. After all, they¡¯re Golden Roc Fort¡¯s enemies,¡± Gu Shenwei thought to himself. Now he only hoped that he could send the gifts to Bighead Kingpin as soon as possible and then send Shangguan Ru safely back to Golden Roc Fort. That little girl had never expected that her identity would have caused so much trouble to the escort team.


    At evening, when Wildhorse, Liuhua and Snowcamel were busy preparing themselves for assassination tasks at night, Gu Shenwei said, ¡°Rx, we don¡¯t need to go out tonight. Let¡¯s wait here for the team behind us.¡±


    Hearing such a highly unusual decision, all the three teenagers looked at their chief in disbelief. However, as it was a taboo for killers to act against their leader, they still chose to ept ve Huan¡¯s decision without saying a word.


    At this moment, the brown-belt assassins suddenly heard the schr¡¯s voice that came from outside the circle. ¡°Young Heroes, could you please give me some water? I haven¡¯t drunk a drop of water for nearly two days.¡± The next moment, they saw Fang Wenshi crawl into the circle from under a horse¡¯s belly.


    ve Huan¡¯s attitude toward the poor schr also confused the other three teenagers.


    They saw him give his own water sack to Fang Wenshi and let the schr drink a mouthful of water. ¡°Now we¡¯ve around 100 people and many horses and camels, but only less than half of our people can fight. How can we defeat 100 enemies?¡± Gu Shenwei asked Fang Wenshi.


    Fang Wenshi looked left and right, wondering where the teenager¡¯s 100 people were. After that, he took another mouthful of water, wiped his mouth and said, ¡°l have to remind you first that I¡¯m not a military professional. I¡¯ve read only a few books on battles.¡±


    Gu Shenwei raised his hand to encourage the schr to continue talking.


    ¡°Well then, if you don¡¯t mind. Are our enemies well trained soldiers?¡±


    ¡°No, they¡¯re just a group of bandits with bows and arrows.¡±


    ¡°And we¡¯ve only 50 people who can barely fight in a battle?¡±


    ¡°Yes, pretty much. Most of them are hired machetemen, but we¡¯ve about 10 professional killers.¡±


    ¡°Killers aren¡¯t good at confronting their enemies head-on. Well, if you want me to, I can still give you a suggestion.¡± Fang Wenshi drank another mouthful of water and patted his stomach before asking, ¡°Do you still have some dried food?¡±


    Gu Shenwei gave all the remaining dried food to the schr. Fang Wenshi quickly gobbled all of it. His mouth was so full that he had to take quite a lot of water to swallow the food down. After that, he breathed out a sigh of relief and said, ¡°Here¡¯s my suggestion. Let the machetemen lead the charge on the battlefield to attract the enemies¡¯ arrows, and you killers charge right behind them to protect yourselves. Only in this way can you get close enough to your enemies to kill them. This method may work, but I¡¯m not sure. I really don¡¯t know much about battle tactics. When you grow up, oh, no, I mean when you be strong enough to annex countries and contend for hegemony, you cane to me and ask for my advice.¡±


    Fang Wenshi believed that a killer apprentice would never get a chance to hire a counselor like him in the future. Given that, after he had drunk enough water and eaten half full, he began to lose patience as he talked to the teenager.


    Despite that, Gu Shenwei was still deeply inspired by the schr. He thought of a n, but he was clear that their top priority now was to survive this night.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get ready. We¡¯ll have some guests tonight.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had discovered that most people in the enemies¡¯ troop were ordinary roving bandits and only the people in ck robes seemed to be good at kung fu. He believed that these ck-robed people were also killers who liked tounchte-night attacks on their enemies. He decided to wait for them to appear.


    It was getting dark, but Gu Shenwei did not make a fire for the night. He sat beside Fang Wenshi under the starry sky. At his feety three things wrapped in cloths. When seen from a distance, it looked like three sleeping people.


    Fang Wenshi tightly held his own right arm, trying to stop it from trembling. He had asked the teenager to let him leave, but the teenager turned down his request. He began toin in his heart, ¡°This is the worst trip in my whole life. I failed to meet any big shots who I hoped to talk with and kept wasting my time on a bunch of bandits or killers, who¡¯ll never give a da*n about my expertise.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to protect me?¡± he asked the teenager.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill them, so they won¡¯t get a chance to kill you.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was stunned. What the teenager said did not sound like a promise to him at all. After a while, he forced augh to end the conversation and felt that his right arm was trembling even more violently.


    ¡°You said that you know the political situation in the Western Region. How about you tell it to me now.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was stunned again. After a moment, he began to talk, not for the killer apprentice but for the fact that talking could help himself rx.


    ¡°The 36 countries in the Western Region have enjoyed peace for a long time, which makes them drop their guard and neglect the political tensions between the great powers. Thirty years ago, when the Central in and Nond were at war and didn¡¯t have time to manage the Western Region, this region went through a quite long warring period. During this period, Shu-lik and Golden Roc Fort rapidly rose to power. When the Central in and Nond made peace and got involved in the political affairs of the Western Region again, Shu-lik had already gained a firm foothold in the region. That¡¯s how today¡¯s tripr situation came into being. In this stable tripr world, the 36 countries choose to depend on different great powers to ensure their own safety and thus coexist peacefully with one another. However, now the three biggest countries are dissatisfied with the current situation. They all demand more. At the same time, new powers such as Golden Roc Fort and Iron Mountain are getting increasingly strong and ambitious. Now, the situation is veryplicated. Once, one of them stirs up political tensions¡­¡±


    Suddenly, Gu Shenwei could not hear Fang Wenshi¡¯s voice clearly. He felt a strange heavy feeling in his stomach. This feeling, which was mixed with his tension and excitement, seemed to slow down his heartbeat and cool his blood.


    At this moment, he really hoped that he could have a good sword at hand.


    Fang Wenshi talked on and on, as if he was sitting with a king in the Western Region, who had 100,000 soldiers and just needed a counselor to tell him how to survive the turmoil in the future. He was so absorbed in talking that he did not notice the impending danger at all.


    Suddenly, he felt that a gust of wind blew over his head. He stretched out his hand to touch his head and felt even more confused, since he discovered that his hat was gone and some of his hair fell off. Right at this moment, he saw the horse in front of him somehow split into two parts. A huge amount of blood gushed out of it and rained on him.


    He was frightened to death and sincerely hoped that he could pass out at this moment. However, he was perfectly sober and saw everything clearly.


    The fight between the brown-belt assassins and their ¡°guests¡± ended quickly. During this fight, two people died and another two were wounded. The teenagers lost one of their horses, and the other five horses had already fled in fear.


    Gu Shenwei did not get a chance to fight again, which made him feel very uneasy. The Qi inside his Xuanji acupoint became hot and started to swell. He felt as if his blood was boiling now. He knew that another qigong deviation attack wasing soon.

 Chapter 114

    Chapter 114: Blockade


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei suddenly sat up and drew out his saber. But there were not any enemies in front of him.


    One night had passed and the morning sunshine cast on the two bodies in the ck robes. Their hoods had been removed. He identified that they were women. One had been shot by an arrow in her mouth, with her eyes still open wide. The other was hit by a saber on her left and the scarlet blood flooded everywhere.


    Wildhorse and Snowcamel were wounded on their chests. But someone had helped them bandage the wounds. Standing in front of ve Huan, they were staring at him coldly. Well, Liuhua did not get injured and stood at a distance with his back toward others. He was holding the longbow, while keeping watch.


    On the other side, Fang Wenshi squatted with his hand pressing his belly, as if he was pooping or suffered from stomachache. Upon seeing the young killer wake up, he squeezed a smile and wondered this killer seemed very reliable but timider than him.


    Gu Shenwei was extremely embarrassed. He unexpectedly fainted at the most crucial moment.


    Gu Shenwei silently put the saber into the scabbard. He damaged his reputation within the other three killer¡¯s hearts, since he had fainted at the crucial moment. It may cause a lot of troubles in the future. Hence, he had to prove himself in front of others as soon as possible.


    The ck-robed assassins did not have better assassination skills than the brown-belt killers. This was the only useful information for Gu Shenwei.


    The team that followed them caught up, as the sun rose up. They had not been ambushed, but all of them felt very anxious, because they had seen many dead bodies along the road. Thus, the team sped up day and night and were not left too far behind.


    But the machetemen in the team brought the news that arge group of bandits, about 200 people, were following them. They might catch up with the team within one day.


    Although Shangguan Ru seemed exhausted, upon hearing there were bandits following them closely behind and some assassin waiting for them ahead, shemanded every one should be ready to fight. However, most of them were too tired to fight against the bandits. She had to gather some core members in the tent to have a discussion.


    Gu Shenwei said that it was better to have a rest. ve Qing only asked what to do next, one by one with nk eyes, but did not offer any suggestions. However, the banner-carrying killer did not say anything. As soon as Meng Mingshi came in, he firmly ordered that all the machetemen, belonging to the Meng family, must protect him.


    Gu Shenwei first told everyone the information that the killers had gained over the past two days. Atst, he said, ¡°They¡¯re hunting for a person within this team, not for the money.¡±


    Upon hearing that, the Fifth Young Master Meng¡¯s face became pale. He pointed at Shangguan Ru and horribly said, ¡°The bandits must want us.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. ¡°The Ninth Master secretly ran out from Golden Roc Fort, and few people knew about it. Who they want is you, the most favored master of the Mengs. If they kidnap you, the bandits can ckmail your family.¡±


    Gu Shenwei lied. The person he wanted to protect was Shangguan Ru. If she safely returned to Golden Roc Fort, the rest of them could be sacrificed. But the Meng family members perhaps could abandon them and run away without any hesitation once they knew the truth.


    Meng Mingshi became angry. ¡°You must protect me. People in Golden Roc Fort call themselves the leader of the bandits in Western Region. ¡®Golden Roc ging, other bandits running,¡¯ why isn¡¯t the slogan working now?¡±


    The phrase ¡°leader of the bandits¡± gave great offense to other people present. Shangguan Ru held her saber with a poker face and pointed at Meng Mingshi. ¡°What did you say? We¡¯re the leader of bandits? Well, how about sending you to the bandits and we can share the ransom money.¡±


    Meng Mingshi hid behind ve Qing and did not dare to say anything else. The banner-carrying killer said, ¡°Of course not, Golden Roc Fort isn¡¯t the head of them. But the whole thing is too strange. It¡¯s the first time that so many people have challenged the authority of the Golden Roc g in public.¡±


    ¡°Someone ordered these roving bandits to do so. I think their backer is the women wearing ck robes,¡± Gu Shenwei answered.


    The banner-carrying killer meditated for a while. He said, ¡°ck robes, female assassins, iron steel needles¡­ I¡¯ve never heard any schools rted to these items. I believe the bandits don¡¯t know them, either.¡±


    The core members could not figure out their enemies¡¯ background, but they still tried toe up with an escape n. Gu Shenwei would like to lead them to break the barrier forcibly. However, the Fifth Young Master Meng and ve Qing immediately opposed him. They would rather walk to the desert than face hundreds of bandits. Especially when hearing Gu Shenwei hoping that the machetemen of the Mengs charge in front of the team, Meng Mingshi firmly refused. But Shangguan Ru supported ve Huan since she was eager to fight. Then, the girl drew her saber and forced others to agree with him.


    Dao San was called in to introduce the terrain of the mountain that they would pass. After breaking through Antler Railings, the team would cross the gradual ascent of 300-meter long and then a steep slope. Later, they would soon arrive at the foot of the hill on horseback and cross the broad ins. If they elerated their speed, within one day, they could enter the area guarded by Iron Mountain.


    Gu Shenwei suggested abandoning the gifts, so that they could move on faster. But ve Qing refused, since he had to take the responsibility of the treasures and did not want to leave them for the bandits.


    When they almost settled on their n, the banner-carrying killer made a mistake. He suggested that Shangguan Ru, ve Qing, and the Fifth Young Master Meng should stay behind the team, rather than lead the rush.


    Perhaps the banner-carrying killer had more experience on killing, but he did not understand the masters who were eager to show their strength, like Shangguan Ru. Gu Shenwei was going to exaggerate the importance of the maid, Little Sui, so that Shangguan Ru would willingly follow the team. But now, the ¡°ignorant¡± banner-carrying killer made a mistake with good intentions. Shangguan Ru now insisted to do the same job as the brown-belt assassins. No one could stop her.


    At dusk, the ck g killer exined the breakthrough n to everyone. This was the n: 25 machetemen of the Meng family and the 14 strong handymen would be first to start the assault. Before arriving at the ins, they should not stop riding. Additionally, five brown-belt assassins and Shangguan family¡¯s two young masters will follow them to engage the enemies so the others and the camels carrying the goods behind could pass.


    .


    The banner-carrying killer himself with the other two machetemen protected the Fifth Young Master Meng, ve Qing, and maid Little Sui.


    Dao San and other camel drivers protected the camels.


    The handymen also abandoned their belongings and rode horses. Now, they only had to protect themselves.


    They would break through the barrier at 4.00 am. If they dyed the n, assassins from behind them would catch up.


    Killers were not good at charging, but it would take longer time to assassinate. If their enemies merged, the several killers could not deal with it.


    Gu Shenwei asked the camel driver, who had the responsibility to protect Shangguan Ru, join killers¡¯ team, dering that the driver was a spy sent by Golden Roc Fort to help him. To Shangguan Ru¡¯s surprise, this everyday driver was to protect her. On seeing his strange way of holding the saber, she giggled.


    The scene was out of control. The machetemen was hired because they wanted money, but they did not like to risk their lives. Hence, they were unwilling to charge. Atst, the Fifth Young Master Meng personally told them that he would double their sry, so they stayed.


    The handymen fought with cries across the battlefield, seemingly fighting like wild animals.


    Gu Shenwei hoped that this n could be kept a little more quiet, but failed. Fang Wenshi thought them to be a ¡°mob,¡± which he was right.


    Fang Wenshi led the horse that Gu Shenwei gave him and walked through the crowd. He looked at Gu Shenwei with high expectation. ¡°My dear hero, how about appointing a macheteman to protect me? Eh? Anyone. I¡¯ll give you some good advice. You should also protect the counselor, right?¡±


    ¡°Just follow me,¡± said Gu Shenwei. He still wanted to ask Fang Wenshi something, but he did not. ¡°I kill them, so they won¡¯t kill you.¡±


    Fang Wenshi forced a fake smile. He had heard the same words once, but the young man fainted at that time. Therefore, he did not believe Gu Shenwei. However, he still decided to follow him, because he thought hispanions were all masters.


    Gu Shenwei finally found a chance to talk with Maid Lotus privately, before they made the breakthrough. After his qigong deviation broke outst night, he understood something. He told Maid Lotus, ¡°Do not repress your killing desires. Once drawing out the saber, you must kill someone. Otherwise, you could faint.¡±


    Maid Lotus understood the meaning of ¡°faint¡±. She said, ¡°Recently, I also don¡¯t feel very well these days. Looks like I can¡¯t keep up this concealed tonight.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded in agreement. It would be a melee tonight, so they did not worry about exposing the sword movements. But it was a little pity because they threw the two sabers, which were horned by themselves and more like a sword after killer Liu Xuan noticed that. Now, they only had the regr sabers, which was powerless. Since the anonymous swordcraft taught them to kill people within one movement, they would be in danger, if they did not seed. Even a powerless saber could affect the results between of life and death.


    The n was perfect, but the team members carried it out poorly. As soon as the charge started, seven or eight of the Meng family¡¯s machetemen abandoned their positions and ray away, riding off to the desert and were not aware that there was a bigger trap waiting for them.


    Half of the rest of the machetemen had either been killed or wounded. Tragically, those who had broken through were trapped in the enemies¡¯ camp and could not get rid of them. The situation became favorable to the team until the assassins from behind caught up.


    Gu Shenwei had alreadymanded, so the eight killers were focusing on attacking the dark robe women. Other enemies were roving bandits, so they prepared to run away, after seeing what was happening.


    No one could help each other at night. They only cared about killing their own enemies. Hence, Gu Shenwei could unleash his killing intent. In front of him, enemies were just the ck figures, and he could find where their necks were urately, which even surprised himself.


    Gu Shenwei did not know how many people he had killed, until someone urged him to leave. Then, he found a horse in enemies¡¯ camp and rushed to the hill.


    There were very few people nearby. Gu Shenwei now started to worry if they had a significant loss. If Shangguan Ru died in the enemies¡¯ camp, he had to drop his saber to give up fighting and may even join the team of dark robe woman.


    Before he arrived at the hilltop, Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart sank, because he saw the red light shing in the distance. A lot of people gathered at the top, and he could clearly hear the Fifth Young Master Meng crying.


    The enemies had made aplete and thorough n.


    At the foot of the hill, roaring fire was still aze blocking their exit, while enemies behind them were gathering together and blocking the entrance.


    The first thing Gu Shenwei did was to search for Shangguan Ru. After assuring she was okay, he did a quick head count and found they really did suffer a significant loss. They only had less than ten machetemen and few handymen. ve Qing and Meng Mingshi were not harmed, but they were utterly frightened to the point that they were plopped to the ground and unable to stand up.


    Dao San miraculously drove ten camels to the top of the hill by himself.


    Fang Wenshi was also very smart. He did not follow ¡°the young hero¡±, Gu Shenwei, to kill people, but ran to the hilltop quickly and wasforting the terrified maid Little Sui.


    Very few of Meng Mingshi¡¯s machetemen were left, and his attitude changed fast. Pulling ve Huan¡¯s arm, he cried out, ¡°You need to protect me.¡±


    If there were more enemies on the other side of the fire, Gu Shenwei would not know what to do next. Although he had experienced a lot of life-and-death crises, he had ever been so passive. Now, there was no other choice but to charge forward.


    Gu Shenwei ordered Dao San to open one of the wooden boxes, which contained a lot of excellent weapons that were gifts for Bighead Kingpin. He was preparing to face the enemies¡¯ assault.

 Chapter 115

    Chapter 115: The Pouring Golds


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    A three-story soil-built pagoda was on the top of the hill. The soldiers, who were previously stationed here to guard the mountain pass, were now gone.


    Gu Shenwei hid the women and elders who could not use kung fu inside the tower. The rest of the crew, about 30 men, picked up their bows and arrows, and prepared for a defensive battle.


    There were plenty of gorgeously decorated weapons that were gifted to ¡°Bighead Kingpin¡±. Even the arrows were decorated with gold. The machetemen caressed the gilded arrows in their hands, and they were reluctant to shoot them.


    There were also innumerable sabers and swords. Gu Shenwei tried serval swords, but none of them were easy to wield. Now he seemed to understand why Zhang Ji used to say that ¡°There were no ordinary swords.¡± These jewels-iid pieces of steel should be decorations on the wall, instead of being used to y enemies. They were not swords at all.


    The crew held their golden longbows, nervously watching over the enemies downhill.


    Unexpectedly, the enemy stayed put until dawn. On the contrary, they were cleaning the battlefield. They tore apart the antler railings, and moved the fortifications to the north side of the mountain pass, clearing a path for the uphill people to ¡°invite¡± them to escape southwards.


    The fire on the other exit had been put out. More than 200 bandits showed up.


    Gu Shenwei intended tounch another breakthrough before dawn. However, under the terror of the first breakthrough, ve Qing, Meng Mingshi and the others vehemently disagreed. Plus the weakened strength of the crew, they just wanted to rest in this soil-made pagoda for a moment of peace.


    Gu Shenwei was agitated. The longer they stayed here, the more dangerous the situation became. Upon seeing his enemies steadily growing in number, he even wanted to order the killers who were escorting Shangguan Ru to escape and to leave behind the other irrelevant members.


    It turned out Gu Shenwei did not have to make this reluctant choice because Dao San had volunteered to break through the enemy¡¯s camps, so that they could ask for reinforcements from Iron Mountain. Other than this, he only requested for some wine to warm up.


    There were wine sacs carried by the surviving machetemen. Dao San took one, readily poured wine into his mouth, and then cried out, ¡°It¡¯s my turn,¡± while falling backward to the ground. The crew was scared and they looked at each other. After a while, someonemented, ¡°He¡¯s drunk.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was so incensed that he nearly killed Dao San. He now understood the meaning of Jiang Chenghai¡¯s nickname, which was ¡°drunk after three cups of wine¡±.


    However quickly Dao San had gotten drunk, he became sober shortly afterwards. In less than half an hour, he agilely got up like nothing had happened, found a suit of silver armor, put it on, picked up a vast circr shield, and said farewell to the crowd. ¡°Give me three days. When Iron Mountain¡¯s army arrives, it will be the time for those little thieves to flee.¡±


    More than 30 men fired arrows downhill to harass the enemies. It worked. The enemies were starting to collect the gilded arrows when Dao San charged on a horse with a loud roar.


    Dozens of eyes were watching him. He broke into enemy¡¯s camp valiantly like a hero, but then he was surrounded. Finally, after serval roars, it quieted down.


    This was a showdown with all weapons in sight, not an assassination. Killers were helpless in such a situation.


    When the sky became much brighter, dozens of bandits downhill shouted in unison. ¡°Only those from Golden Roc Fort are wanted, the others can get lost, now.¡±


    After having repeatedly shouted for a dozen times, all the people uphill had now clearly heard these words.


    In the meantime, Meng Mingshi poked his head out of the pagoda, and listened. Upon hearing the truth, he leaped to ve Huan, clutched the front clothes, and in a fury he said, ¡°You lied, you f*cking lied to me. It¡¯s you Golden Roc Fort people that messed up. We have nothing to do with this.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pushed Fifth Young Master Meng away, in calmness he said, ¡°This is their scheme of sowing dissent among us. When you go down there, they will kill you all.¡±


    Meng Mingshi paused to consider, and hesitated.


    When it rains, it pours. Around 30 men arrived at the gentle slope on the other side of the mountain. They were not bandits, but the captives who fell to the enemy during yesterday¡¯s breakthrough. Some of them were machetemen of the Meng family.


    Meng Mingshi made up his mind, raised his hand up high, and yelled. ¡°I give in. Members of the Meng family, follow me. We don¡¯t have to die with those Golden Roc Fort people.¡±


    It never came to Gu Shenwei that there would be such a moronic person in the world. He warned, ¡°Don¡¯t fall into their trap. You will all get killed down there.¡±


    The Meng family¡¯s people did not trust ve Huan anymore. Machetemen dropped their longbow, and handymen walked out of the pagoda, approached their little master and said something in support of the decision to surrender.


    Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi took out their sabers, using the Meng family of betrayal.


    Gu Shenwei knew he could not convince Meng Mingshi. Hence he summoned the banner-carrying killer.


    The banner-carrying killer muttered for a while, and then he surprisingly did not support ve Huan. ¡°I¡¯m from Golden Roc Fort, I will stay. The others will decide for themselves.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was astonished. He thought that killers in Golden Roc Fort were all as good as Tie Hanfeng, who could always see through the enemy¡¯s plots. However, he now had realized that, among killers, there were excellent and poor insightfulness, just like the range of proficiency in machete skills.


    Gu Shenwei barred the two Shangguan masters¡¯ sabers, and said to the traitors, ¡°You can leave. But remember this, they will kill you all. This isn¡¯t an ordinary robbery, and those bandits won¡¯t leave survivors.¡±


    Who cared about the words of a 16-year-old juvenile killer? The Meng family¡¯s people followed their little master down the gentle slope. ve Qing watched them in tears, regretting that he had not turned to other families earlier.


    There was only one Meng family member who stayed. Fang Wenshi followed the surrendering group for a few steps, but then turned around, shook his head and sighed. Nobody knew what was in his mind.


    There were 15 men left on the hilltop, and more than 30 horses and camels.


    A voice came from the camp downhill. ¡°It¡¯s her, the shorty dressed in men¡¯s clothing, Shangguan Ru of the Shangguan family. And those five youngsters are apprentices. They are the ones you want.¡±


    It was Meng Mingshi, pointing to the crowd on the hilltop and yelling. Not only had he surrendered, but also wanted to win some merit.


    Shangguan Yushi turned livid. She shot a gilded arrow, which was caught in front of the Fifth Young Master Meng, by the hand of a woman in a dark robe.


    ¡°F*cking traitor!¡± Shangguan Ru yelled in rage.


    The women in dark robe spoke in a voice that sounded like the screeching of metal pieces being scraped against each other, which was so harsh that everyone on hilltop heard it loud and clear. ¡°Go south. People from Golden Roc Fort, go south. Or, go to hell by sunset.¡±


    ve Qing sat on the ground, and muttered, ¡°Why go south? Why go south?¡±


    The banner-carrying killer sighed, and said, ¡°Seems like we will have to go south and see what we can do.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head, and said, ¡°No, we¡¯re not heading south. Get ready my friends, we have to break through them before sunset.¡±


    ¡°With these people? There¡¯s hundreds of them down there.¡± The banner-carrying killer could not believe what the young leader just said.


    Gu Shenwei did not know what was right. It was his intuition that told him that breaking through was the only right option.


    ¡°Bandits love treasures. Throw them away. And when the enemies were fighting for them, we will break through.¡±


    ¡°What if we fail?¡± ve Qing was shivering as he asked. He did not even care about those treasures now.


    ¡°Then you will die here,¡± Gu Shenwei answered. He did not understand why they could not figure out such a simple thing.


    He didn¡¯t want to die, he wanted vengeance. However, the killer training had unconsciously reformed his thinking. He saw death as an ordinary and random affair. And by practicing through the Nameless Swordbook, this thought was pushed to the extreme.


    ve Qing was struck with panic, for he was not a killer.


    Maid Little Sui, who had not said much on the trip, came up with an idea. ¡°I was given to ¡®Bighead Kingpin¡¯, does this mean that I¡¯m not a Golden Roc Fort¡¯s people?¡±


    The crowd turned their head around to look at her. For the first time, Little Sui demonstrated her bravery and firmness, meeting dozens of eyes without fear. She was getting more and more convinced that it made sense. Although she was not yet in Bighead Kingpin¡¯s ce, she was an Iron Mountain¡¯s people the moment she went out of Golden Roc Fort. Besides, these killers only cared for the Tenth Young Master, and none of them would care about protecting a maid.


    Gu Shenwei had no intention of keeping Little Sui. It was even better to lose a burden. All he wanted was to keep Shangguan Ru alive so that he could stand a chance of killing the Tenth Young Master.


    However, those bandits downhill had made their move before Gu Shenwei could make his reply.


    One after another, the heads of the Meng family¡¯s people were thrown to the hilltop. They rolled around on the ground.


    The enemy was making a demonstration in Golden Roc Fort¡¯s fashion.


    The face of Little Sui turned from pale to flush with red, and back from flushed to pale. She could not help it as she gasped with fear, and copsed into Fang Wenshi¡¯s arms.


    ¡°Good point, little hero. Breaking through in the chaos created by golds and silvers, bravo.¡± Fang Wenshi looked over the steep slope, held Little Sui tightly, and was not interested in the heads scattered on the ground.


    Gu Shenwei checked every head, and said, ¡°Fifth Young Master Meng is alive.¡±


    ¡°What a shame.¡± Shangguan Ru sounded calm, perhaps too calm to hide her panic.


    Gu Shenwei used to think that the Shangguan family trained their children in an advanced and stricter method. Now it seemed he had overrated them.


    This day passed extremely slowly. More and more roving bandits gathered on both sides of the mountain pass. The dark robed woman had either in the bandits nearby, or forced them here to besiege the people from Golden Roc Fort.


    The group of 15 was preparing stealthily. ve Qing and the other three handymen armored up, and kept asking for blessings from Buddha. Little Sui had not talked about her ¡°identity¡± anymore. The armor was too weighty for her to put on, so Fang Wenshi volunteered to help. He mounted on the horse after getting armored, and Little Sui sat behind him with a shield on her back.


    The killers though, were lightly armed, and only took round shields, which would be dumped after reaching the enemy¡¯s camps.


    At high noon, theyunched the breakthrough.


    Gu Shenwei had made countless decisions in his life. This was definitely not the best one, but it did work.


    Numerous golds, silvers, and jewels rolled downhill, and coins were pouring down like rain. The moment those bandits saw this dream-like scene, they immediately dropped their bows and arrows and scrambled toward it like maniacs.


    More than 20 dark robed women yelled to berate them, but these frenzied men were unstoppable.


    There were always two sides of a coin. Although the bandits gave up their defenses, they also congested the narrow mountain passage.


    The stormtroopers hit the wall of people, and the killers dismounted and stepped onto the backs of the enemies. Several armored men fell into the crowd, and the bandits started to snatch their golden helmets and silver armors.


    The dark robed women brought out their shiny steel needles onto their fingertips, and started to chase after their prey.


    Gu Shenwei had told the five brown-belt assassins that their life was dependent not only on their sabers, but also on the safety of the Tenth Young Master. However, things quickly went out of control, and they were too focused on killing enemies and couldn¡¯t spare any effort to protect someone else.


    Even Gu Shenwei himself had lost sight of his protection target. Hisst glimpse of Shangguan Ru was the camel driver leaping over Shangguan Ru¡¯s head as he adeptly chopped off a dark robed woman¡¯s head.

 Chapter 116

    Chapter 116: The Reinforcements


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei did not like being in the middle of a chaotic bloodbath. When he was in the street fight against the assassins of Meng Mingshi in South City, he had not felt confident in his strength.


    Although he had escaped from the encirclement, he decided to make up for this weakness in the future.


    Only four managed to break through. ve Huan, Maid Lotus, Wildhorse, and Liuhua. All of them were wounded.


    They looked back and saw the camel driver was still jumping around, and every jump would kill one enemy. Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi must be behind him, being surrounded by those bandits who were not able to snatch the treasures.


    Gu Shenwei charged back toward the enemies, cutting open an escape route, and rescued the two masters.


    The two masters were both bathed in blood. It appeared that they had been on a total killing spree because their eyes looked ssy yet frenzied. If it were not for the brown-belt assassins that pushed them, they would almost forget to run forward.


    After that, the seven that survived rushed forth at full speed. Since the treasure snatching frenzy was about to end, those bandits will be chasing after them soon.


    The wide prairie became a nightmare that kept haunting them.


    They had run about 1500 meters when the bandits gradually caught up with them. Liuhua drew the bow, turned around and shot the leading enemy, which slowed down the pursuit temporarily. Be that as it may, he only had less than 10 arrows, which could not buy much more time.


    More than 10 dark robed women branched out into two columns, ready to outnk the escapees.


    The camel driver suddenly sped up, changed direction toward a dark robed woman, jumped onto her horse¡¯s back and slew her. After dumping the corpse, he rode back to the team, picked up Shangguan Ru, and continued elerating without a word.


    Shangguan Ru was unprepared, and harshly shouted, ¡°Let go of me!¡± While she struggled, she fell off the horse. After several rolls on the ground, she ran back to those young killers, and said, ¡°I¡¯m with you.¡±


    The brown-belt assassins were touched by herraderie, but also thought her stupid because they had a bigger chance to survive without her. However, none dared to say this. Shangguan Yushi said, ¡°You little dummy, get on the horse and run, now. They want you, not us.¡±


    Shangguan Ru kept her mouth shut, clenched her saber, and followed Shangguan Yushi closely. Her pupil stretched wider. Gu Shenwei was so familiar with her countenance that he knew it meant that she would not change her mind.


    The best chance to escape was gone. The dark robed women had already ridden ahead of them. All they needed to do was to stall them for a little while so that a throng of bandits behind would catch up and surround the seven escapees. By then, even a killer with the best kung fu could not escape.


    Several teenagers had the same thought as they simultaneously used Qing Gong and flew toward the dark robed woman. Due to Gu Shenwei¡¯s weak Qing Gong, he brought up the rear.


    The camel driver was already engaging with the other dark robed women. He leaped from one horse to another, with every strike hitting a target. The dark robed women leaped around as well, seizing the best opportunity to attack with their steel needles, which left stripes of wounds on the camel driver.


    The youngsters joined the battle, killing enemies and robbing horses, while the camel driver no longer jumped around as he disappeared among the group of horses.


    Shangguan Ru and the others mounted the horses and continued to escape. Meanwhile, Gu Shenwei found himself all alone. The enemies only wanted Shangguan Ru alive, and they did not care about a brown-belt assassin. Clouds of arrows fell and, although Gu Shenwei blocked a few, he got shot in his left arm.


    ¡°Get on the horse,¡± someone told him.


    Gu Shenwei dumped his saber, grasped the person¡¯s hand and mounted the horse.


    It was Maid Lotus.


    Gu Shenwei pulled out the arrow on his arm. Losing a saber was almost equivalent to losing an arm.


    The wind was roaring in his ears. The remaining dark robed women followed at the sides like gigantic bats, and the sound of horse hoofs behind was thundering.


    ¡°The six great divisions in the wheel of karma, there¡¯s never enough to kill.¡± The stele in front of Six Kills Temple of Golden Roc Fort came to his mind for no reason. He then thought about the other saying, ¡°Immortal be those who kills.¡±


    ¡°Gimme the saber.¡± Gu Shenwei yelled. With the wounded left arm holding Maid Lotus¡¯ waist, he grabbed the saber from her with his right hand.


    Two dark robed women rode up to them and abruptly jumped up together. Like two ravens, they threw themselves at the two youngsters on the horse.


    Then, the two women suddenly lost control and crashed into each other, and they fell to the ground, dead.


    Nobody saw what had exactly happened at this moment, and it seemed like the youngster on horseback had not moved at all.


    ¡°The swordsmanship! The prototype of machete skills in Golden Roc Fort.¡± Gu Shenwei said in Maid Lotus¡¯ ears. His finding was so important that he had to tell her immediately.


    ¡°What?¡± Maid Lotus did not understand.


    ¡°We were not using the right method of practicing the Nameless Swordsmanship. The machete skills of Golden Roc Fort was just aplicated derivative of it. We always knew how to raise the speed, but we didn¡¯t apply the method on swordcraft.¡±


    Although Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus did not practice swordcraft in the same way, their methods had many things inmon. Nevertheless, they had both long been confused about how to swing the sword fast enough to ensure that it will hit the enemy.


    It was just in this moment between life and death that Gu Shenwei came to a realization. It was not an ident that the Nameless Swordbook had fallen to the bottom of Reincarnation Cliff. Nameless Swordbook had everything to do with Golden Roc Fort. And its method of raising speed was a more profound and effective version of the machete skills of Golden Roc Fort.


    The fact that the two smoothly applied swordcraft into machete skills, had revealed the connections between them. However, pitifully, the two had been too shallow in their knowledge of kung fu toprehend this all along.


    What had happened just now, was that Gu Shenwei swung twice with a saber, and killed two enemies. If it were a sword with the correct weight, he would have swung faster.


    Maid Lotus did not spoke until the horse had run more than a hundred steps, then she loudly said, ¡°Got it.¡±


    The two youngsters had just learned one of the most important secrets of the swordcraft, however it would not help them defeat those pursuing enemies.


    To make matters worse, there was anotherrge army ahead.


    Banners and pennons were fluttering in the wind. It was an army of hundreds, and they were deployed in attack formation and they are ready to shoot arrows.


    Several youngsters in the front-line halted, uncertain about what to do.


    ¡°Charge forth!¡± Gu Shenwei yelled. It was the only choice. He had been insistent on charging forth all this way, leaving no room for him to change his mind.


    Four brown-belt assassins took the lead, following Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi. If they were just ordinary teens who practiced kung fu, they would scream in this situation. However, they were a group of reticent killers, and there was only the sound of rushing hoofs, demonstrating their upromising will.


    The interceptors ahead shot the arrows.


    Hundreds of arrows flew over them like locusts covering the sky, and showered on those pursuing bandits.


    ¡°Iron Mountain! The banner of Iron Mountain!¡± Shangguan Yushi shouted, her voice shaking with excitement.


    The youngsters slowed down. Watching over the reinforcements ahead, they felt lost as if they were dreaming.


    Unlike those temporarily summoned gangs of bandits, Iron Mountain Gang was well-trained in battle. All the more, the Iron Mountain banner was extremely feared all throughout the Western Region. After two rounds of arrow rain, all the bandits had fled, leaving dozens of corpses. Even a man 10 times stronger than the dark robed women could not take this.


    Teams of Iron Mountain soldiers passed by the youngsters to pursue the remnants. With sessive deafening roars, they charged, nked, and drove the remnants, dispersed yet acted in an orderly manner. Gu Shenwei used to think Iron Mountain was a bandit gang inrger scale, which was inurate.


    They turned around and beheld the scene. The sunset was glowing blood red, and only six youngsters out of the hundreds in the crew had made it.


    What followed next, bedazzled the youngsters who had just escaped danger, making them feel as if they suddenly entered into a strange world.


    One of the heads of Iron Mountain came to the Tenth Young Master to admit his guilt, and sent them into the tent. Meantime, messengers were sent to tell Bighead Kingpin to control the mountain pass ahead, in order to save the other survivors.


    It was the fire lighted by the enemy that had saved them.


    Bighead Kingpin had sent hundreds of soldiers on both passages to receive the gift-giving team from Golden Roc Fort. The outpost of this team, which was assigned to the shortcut passage, had found the big fire on the mountain pass and had reported back immediately. However, this head of Iron Mountain had not thought that it was the gift-giving team which was in danger, hence hemanded the troops to march on carefully, until finallying across the escaping Tenth Young Master.


    Gu Shenwei, who had been worrying about his decision of charging forth, now felt relieved. If they stayed at the mountain pass and the reinforcements had not arrived, they had to escape into the southern desert.


    Nevertheless, he took it as a coincidence that they were saved. He did not deserve much credit for it.


    Good news kepting. The roving bandits were in fear of Iron Mountain and Bighead Kingpin. They scattered to escape in spite of their advantage in numbers, and left more than half of the snatched treasures and captives behind.


    At midnight, the surviving captives came to the camp one after another. ve Qing kneeled in front of his little master and burst into tears, while Little Sui was still in shock and was sent into a tent to rest.


    It was hard to tell the countenance of Fang Wenshi. Maybe it was thrill followed by fear. He drew Gu Shenwei aside, and said, ¡°You¡¯re the guests of Iron Mountain? Why don¡¯t you tell me earlier? Truth be told, thest one I want to see on this trip of mine, was the Master of Iron Mountain. Little hero, do some favor to rmend me. If I rise to a position of authority, then you¡¯re my savior.¡±


    Fang Wenshi had his gleaming eyes again, which was not favored by Gu Shenwei. He thought that counselors should be like Zhang Ji, who knew everything about the world yet wanted nothing from it. Gu Shenwei said, ¡°Let¡¯s see, even I may not have a chance to see Bighead Kingpin.¡±


    Fang Wenshi took this as a yes, nodded solemnly, and started to walk back and forth while muttering something, probably rehearsing a speech to persuade Bighead Kingpin.


    Snowcamel, banner-carrying killers, and the camel driver were dead. They were encircled so deeply, and in the end, they were not as lucky as a bare-handed handyman.


    Iron Mountainmanded his men to pursue to the mountain pass. He dared not to go too far due to his currentck of numbers. Therefore, they did not find the Fifth Young Master Meng.


    Three dayster, Bighead Kingpin arrived at the mountain pass personally, and set his banner and camps there. He swore to kill all of the roving bandits throughout the desert, and to take revenge for both the Golden Roc g and Iron Mountain g.


    Another three dayster, thousands of Iron Mountain troops surrounded the roving bandits in a circumference of 31 miles, killed and injured half of the bandits, and took more than 200 captives.


    Bighead Kingpin had men nt one g embroidered with golden roc, and the other with ck iron spearhead on the mountain pass. The captives kneeled beneath these two gs and confessed their sins. After that, they were beheaded, and their corpses were piled up around the gsticks, withyers of heads on top of the pile of corpses.


    Bighead Kingpin was busy greeting the Tenth Young Master, and met Gu Shenwei alone after several days.


    Gu Shenwei had already handed over the jade ring of Miss Luo Ningcha to Bighead Kingpin through someone. To send the secret message to Bighead Kingpin, and to sow discord between Iron Mountain and the Meng family, was the primary purpose of this trip.

 Chapter 117

    Chapter 117: The State of Affairs


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    A few dayster, That ¡°The Tenth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort fought against thousands of bandits¡± became the only statement everyone made about the survivors of the journey.


    Since detaching themselves from fame is one of the principles of the killers, they were willing to be her nameless killers.


    In the beginning, Shangguan Ru patiently exined to others that she was not the mainmander. But it only brought her a reputation of ¡°modesty¡±. Gradually, she onlyughed without trying to exin anymore as she had epted the whole thing. Being the Tenth Young Master of the Shangguan family, having led dozens of machetemen and arger number of handymen forward throughout an entire day and night, having personally killed countless enemies, and the blood on her body when she was rescued, all of this made her deserve the overwhelming praise.


    She had never known, and would never know that the camel driver, who seemed to be an ordinary man, was a top killer arranged by her father. The man was finally killed by several ck-robed women in his line of duty.


    After calming down, ve Qing began to make many friends in Iron Mountain¡¯s bandit camp. He kept telling everyone how perfectly his master performed in the ¡°assassination¡± of him, and how brave she was when she beat back the roving bandits. His words were so vivid and full of excitement as if he had followed his master in every killing.


    As a result, Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi found themselves extremely popr in the camps. From Bighead Kingpin to ordinary troops, they all regarded the two girls as heroes and top killers, and the girls loved all these. They went to parties all the day, drank with vulgar men, and mingled around, finding it a worthy trip.


    On the evening of the ughter of the roving bandits as the sacrifice for an offering to their gs, Bighead Kingpin invited all the survivors to a grand banquet. Even the handymen were also invited to the main camp to enjoy the feast. When they saw Bighead Kingpin¡¯s underlings heavily drinking and quarreling, they were so amazed.


    No matter who they were and how much they could drink, all the brown-belt assassins had to drink bowl after bowl with the chiefs of Iron Mountain. But halfway through the banquet, the four assassins were all copsed in a drunken stupor. Hence, the fact that those killers were not good at drinking became a joke in the camp.


    However, the two masters were enthusiastic about drinking and did not refuse the wine. In terms of alcohol tolerance, they seemed to be no weaker than the bandits of Iron Mountain, and this had redeemed the honor of Golden Roc Fort. Bighead Kingpin praised them greatly and rather envied the Supreme King. ¡°If I had one more daughter, I would let her enter the service of the Tenth Young Master anyway, even if she were to be a maid.¡±


    Before Gu Shenwei waspletely drunk, he heard Bighead Kingpin announced that the roving bandits in the desert had dared to attack the Tenth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort, subjecting Iron Mountain to great humiliation, thus he would search every patch of sand and send all his men to y those loathsome bandits and get revenge for Shangguan Ru.


    Being inspired, the chiefs vowed, sprinkled wines, and shouted: revenge, revenge. They almost turned the camp over.


    Early the next morning, Gu Shenwei woke up in dizziness. He felt bad about the hangover.


    An underling brought him a breakfast and a letter.


    The letter was from Fang Wenshi. In few lines, it said that Fang Wenshi appreciated the ¡°hero¡± for saving his life, and he needed to continue on his way, h, h¡­


    Gu Shenwei almost forgot about the in schr and he suddenly thought up that he still had some questions to ask. After borrowing a horse and finding out where the schr had gone, he started his pursuit.


    Fang Wenshi had expected that he could get close to Bighead Kingpin and changing his life from that point onward, but he was quite disappointed. He did not know kung fu, could not drink much and was not even from Golden Roc Fort. He could not make himself fit in the camp. Even the underlings also made fun of him, let alone allow him to meet Bighead Kingpin.


    He attended the banquetst night and made it to the main table. As he was ready to give his spectacr speech in a toast, he stepped on arge piece of meat, slipped and fell down. He got a bruise on his head, which invited moreughter.


    Fang Wenshi felt disgraced at behaving like a clown. Even worse, as soon as he stood up, the sub-chiefs immediately pulled him to the wine before he could speak. The next morning, he woke up to find himself lying on a pile of filth and surrounded by smelly feet.


    Fang Wenshi was so depressed. For the first time in his life, he began to doubt whether what he had learned with difficulty over the past 10 years was of any value. Wide as the world was, there was still no stage for him. He scribbled a letter and had it sent to the ¡°hero¡±. Packing up his stuff, he left the camp alone. Along the way, he was full of remorse and was even thinking ofmitting suicide.


    When Gu Shenwei caught up with him, he was drowning in sorrow. Standing on the road, he uttered a long loud cry in tears and even did not notice the sound of hoofs behind him.


    ¡°Mr. Fang, why did you leave without saying goodbye?¡±


    Fang Wenshi was startled. Turning around, he saw Gu Shenwei. As it would be a shame for a man to be seen crying, Fang Wenshi wiped his tears away, sped his hands and said, ¡°Hero, don¡¯t persuade me. I¡¯m not going back to see Bighead Kingpin anyway. Iron Mountain is full of boorish fellows and there is no ce for a counselor, like me.¡±


    ¡°Bighead Kingpin isn¡¯t going to see you; he doesn¡¯t even know who you are.¡±


    Fang Wenshi let out a long sigh and felt he had no strength to even take another step.


    Looking at the man who was rather sad, Gu Shenwei began to doubt whether his judgment about this man was correct. Killing him seemed to be beneficial to both sides. ¡°Mr. Fang, I have a present for you. Please take it as your traveling expenses.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took out a small bag of gold and jewelry, which was a gift awarded to him by Bighead Kingpin.


    Fang Wenshi was greatly surprised and studied the boy in front of him with his eyes. He had seen many people over the years, both famous and anonymous, but none of them had ever been interested in him. ¡°You¡­ think I¡¯m talented?¡±


    ¡°Uh, yes¡­ as we¡¯ve been through a lot together¡­¡±


    ¡°Ha!¡± Fang Wenshi grabbed the bag andughed out loud. ¡°Dad, mom, my studies were useful after all! This is the first reward for my efforts!¡±


    Heughed and cried, jumping up and down. Until Fang Wenshi felt exhausted, Gu Shenwei finally said, ¡°Mr. Fang, I came here for two reasons. One is to give you the gift, the other is to consult with you regarding some questions.¡±


    Fang Wenshi put the bag away and tidied his clothes. ¡°Go ahead, I¡¯ll tell you all I know without any reservation.¡±


    ¡°You once said ¡®Three decades ago, Golden Roc rose up.¡¯ What does this mean?¡±


    Fang Wenshi never thought that the boy would be interested in this. Again, he looked at the boy up and down. ¡°Are you a killer apprentice from Golden Roc Fort?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    ¡°No wonder. When you were born, Golden Roc Fort had already ruled over the Western Region and imed to have been ruling for centuries up till the reign of the seventh Supreme King. In fact, 30 years ago, Golden Roc Fort was only one of the killer gangs. The first and second Supreme Kings were given subsequent recognition, and the third, fourth, and fifth Supreme King were just nicknames used in Jianghu. But the sixth Supreme King rose up in troubled times. He got his killers involved in disputes between countries and he also wiped out the other gangs. In the five or six years after that, Golden Roc Fort became a new force and one of the most important forces when the conflicts in the Western Region had settled down.¡±


    ¡°So it rose up in only five or six years?¡±


    ¡°Opportunity makes the hero. Had it not been for the opportunity in those troubled times of the Western Region, Golden Roc Fort might still be a small gang. By the way, Golden Roc Fort was called Golden Roc Hall in the past. That Hall had a history of hundreds of years and was taken over by the Shangguan family 30 years ago.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had not ever heard of this from Zhang Ji, who was very knowledgeable about the history of the Fort. Even as he was reminiscing about the past while grumbling about the present, Zhang Ji was still loyal to current Golden Roc Fort and was even more loyal than most of the people. He did not want to talk about the humble past of Golden Roc Fort, because in his eyes the Fort had been the king since its birth.


    Obviously, such past history would definitely not be recorded in the books that Gu Shenwei had read.


    Gu Shenwei listened carefully to Fang Wenshi while both of them were sitting on the ground. Fang Wenshi poured out everything he had recited in thest few days in return for the ¡°present¡±.


    Fang Wenshi analyzed the forces in the Western Region. And when it finally came to Iron Mountain Gang, he said, ¡°The others think Bighead Kingpin a cruel and thuggish guy, but I believe that he had great foresight. Looking back over the past few years, there has been no other bandit gang of over a thousand members except for Iron Mountain. The others werepletely wiped out whereas Bighead Kingpin became stronger and stronger. Small countries do not dare to provoke him at all. He is very smart, isn¡¯t he?¡±


    Not so long ago, Fang Wenshi just said that Iron Mountain was full of boorish fellows, but now he changed his mind. Gu Shenwei nodded, but he did not seem to be convinced.


    Fang Wenshi spotted Gu Shenwei¡¯s disbelief. ¡°Hey, you should believe my words about Bighead Kingpin.¡± He blurted out. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about what¡¯s happening now. The people of Golden Roc Fort were robbed by the roving bandits. Although the gifts were for him, he could not have started the war to take revenge for them. But under the excuse of taking revenge, he positioned his camp at the mountain pass. Iron Mountain has promised the other countries in the Western Region not to encamp anywhere for more than six months, but now, for the purpose of vengeance, he can upy that ce as long as he wants. It is likely that Golden Roc Fort will support him.¡±


    Upon hearing this, Gu Shenwei was suddenly realized he was coldly sweating. He thought he was clever and could take advantage of Bighead Kingpin with Miss¡¯ support. But now, he came to understand that, as they were able to survive and extend their power in aplexnd like the Western Region, none of those leaders should be underestimated.


    Only mutual interests could leverage an alliance. The affection between father and daughter could not delude a man like Bighead Kingpin.


    Gu Shenwei and Fang Wenshi departed in the afternoon. Before Fang Wenshi left for his hometown, he told the ¡°hero¡± his address. ¡°Several yearster, when you gather more than 5,000 followers,e to find me and I can be your counselor.¡±


    Gu Shenwei gave Fang Wenshi his horse. He did not know if he would have a chance to seek help from the counselor in his lifetime.


    Fang Wenshi walked forward and after a few steps, he suddenly turned around and asked, ¡°What¡¯s your name, hero?¡±


    ¡°Yang Huan .¡±


    Fang Wenshi nodded and repeated the name several times as he was riding away. Butter on, he totally forgot the name within three days.


    Gu Shenwei walked back to the camp, thinking about all the forces that were rted to Golden Roc Fort along the way. He thought maybe someday he could utilize these forces.


    As soon as he arrived at the camp, a sub-chief came and asked him to see Bighead Kingpin.

 Chapter 118

    Chapter 118: Threats


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Bighead Kingpin was sitting on the bed and his enormous body seemed to have upied the entire tent. The room was so cramped that Gu Shenwei almost could not find a foothold.


    The giant yed with the token from Luo Ningcha for a while before asking, ¡°Tell me, what does Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter want?¡±


    ¡°Miss has hard times in the Fort. The rtionship between her and Lady Meng is bumpy. Miss is bullied and she hopes you¡­¡± Thinking that the giant preferred to be called Bighead Kingpin, which was also what he called himself, Gu Shenwei quickly corrected himself. ¡°Hopes Bighead Kingpin can support her, frustrating the trade caravans of the Meng family to let them lose everything and demonstrate the power of the Luo family.¡± Gu Shenwei kneeled down and spoke out the ideas he had instilled into Miss.


    ¡°Ha.¡± Bighead Kingpinughed. After a moment of silence, he asked, ¡°Is ve Huan your name?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Bighead Kingpin. I followed Miss to the Fort.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I got it. You¡¯re one of the 10 pairs of teenage boys and girls. Very soon you¡¯re going to get the title of the killer. Actually, I heard a lot about you from the Tenth Young Master. It seems that you¡¯ve done a lot along the way.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was still kneeling on the ground. Thinking of what Fang Wenshi had told him, he carefully said, ¡°I just did what I should have done.¡±


    ¡°Did what you should do. Well, you seem to have done many things that you should do as a killer apprentice. Tell me, what do you think of her idea?¡±


    Bighead Kingpin showed his majestic manner and Gu Shenwei immediately felt the pressure as if there was a huge rock hovering over his head. ¡°I¡¯m just delivering the message from the Miss and dared not change a single word. As a vulgar ve, I dare not judge the master¡¯s intention.¡±


    ¡°Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter is grumpy and disliked by her husband¡¯s family. Since you respect her as your master, you should serve her wholeheartedly and do your best for her. There is no need to be afraid. Just say it, Bighead Kingpin wants you to say it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei forced himself to calm down and thought hard. ¡°In my opinion, it would be better for Iron Mountain to ally with the Meng family than start a lose-lose fight. Freeing the Fifth Young Master Meng from the roving bandit and escorting him to Jade City will make the Meng family owe Iron Mountain a lot. Iron Mountain has talents, the Meng family has money, and the Shangguan family has power. If you three can ally together, the benefit will flow to each of you. As for Miss, persuade her to set aside herpetitive nature, and win the people in the Fort over so that she can help Bighead Kingpin in a way. If Bighead Kingpin bes the great benefactor of the Meng family, Miss would naturally rise to a higher status.¡±


    Upon hearing this, Bighead Kingpin suddenly sat up from the backrest and stared at the kneeling boy in front of him. ¡°You indeed know what to do, kid. Tell you what, the Fifth Young Master Meng was already rescued and I arranged 200 people to escort him home under the Iron Mountain g. Now he is on the way back. ¡±


    ¡°I shouldn¡¯t be so talkative.¡± Gu Shenwei began to admire the schr even more. Bighead Kingpin was indeed a clever man. As soon as he learned of the kidnapping, he quickly took an action which was most favorable for him.


    Bighead Kingpin pped his hands. ¡°I have a gift for you.¡±


    It was another jade ring. Gu Shenwei held it in his hands, not daring to say a single word. He did not quite understand what the ¡°gift¡± meant, but he had a sense of foreboding.


    Sure enough, Bighead Kingpin gave out an obscureughter. ¡°That maid also brought Bighead Kingpin a token from Miss and Bighead Kingpin was told to kill you at once when you finished your speech.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart started pounding. Miss was not as stupid as he thought and she quite understood how to burn the bridge after crossing it. She ordered Little Sui to bring her father another token and another message so as to kill him with the help of her father. Gu Shenwei almost blurted out the secret of Miss. Though he did not know the details, Bighead Kingpin would surely be able to figure it out.


    On second thought, Gu Shenwei changed his mind. Turning Bighead Kingpin against his daughter did no good to him. Winning their trust was more important. ¡°Have I done anything that offended Miss?¡±


    ¡°She just fears that you¡¯d leak out the message.¡±


    ¡°I dare not. If Bighead Kingpin and Miss still couldn¡¯t trust me, I¡¯d like to cut my throat to prove my innocence.¡±


    ¡°Get up.¡±


    Gu Shenwei kotowed before standing up. He had a saber by his waist. if Bighead Kingpin had an evil intent, he would desperately fight against him. But he did not feel any killing intent in the tent.


    Bighead Kingpin stood up and his head nearly touched the top of the tent. Then he stretched out his fat arm and patted Gu Shenwei¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Take it easy, you work for my son-inw, so Bighead Kingpin thinks greatly of you and would not kill you for no reason.¡±


    Bighead Kingpin acted so intimately that Gu Shenwei could not think of a thing to say.


    Bighead Kingpin was much better at winning others¡¯ support than the Young Masters of the Shangguan family. He talked to Gu Shenwei heart to heart as a father who deeply loved his daughter instead of as the Chief of Iron Mountain. This made Gu Shenwei feel that he was highly regarded.


    Bighead Kingpin seemed to have a magical effect when treating people in a friendly manner. He made them feel that they were cared for and wanted to devote everything to him, just as what the disciples would feel when they were favored by a god.


    As they were talking, a sub-chief came in and reported a message. ¡°A spy reported that they¡¯ve found a stronghold of ck Lizard in the desert. It is a three-day walk to the south of the mountain pass. Five people of ck Lizard are hiding where there are three dead trees.¡±


    What confused Gu Shenwei was that the sub-chief reported the findings atrge in his presence, but Bighead Kingpin did not stop that.


    After the sub-chief left, Bighead Kingpin patted Gu Shenwei on the shoulder and Gu Shenwei had to use his Internal Strength to keep himself from falling down. ¡°As you just heard, there are many ck Lizards in the desert. If we don¡¯t wipe them off in time, troubles wille one after another.¡±


    ¡°It can¡¯t be more right, Bighead Kingpin. I¡¯m wondering where they came from.¡±


    ¡°Ha, God knows. Possibly those crazy women slept with you killers of Golden Roc Fort, but you killers abandoned them. Haha, don¡¯t worry. Bighead Kingpin and the Supreme King are sworn friends. Iron Mountain will handle this, but¡­¡±


    Bighead Kingpin turned the boy over and seemed worried.


    ¡°But you couldn¡¯t tell this to anyone, especially to the Tenth Young Master. She is just a kid and suffered a lot along the way. Once she hears the news of ck Lizard, she would certainly risk her life to take revenge. We should keep her safe, shouldn¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we should keep the news from her,¡± Gu Shenwei answered in a low voice. He was not sure whether he did see Bighead Kingpin wink at him as if they had reached an agreement.


    Bighead Kingpin took the jade ring back from Gu Shenwei. ¡°Let Bighead Kingpin keep this. By the time you want to leave, you can take it back. When you get back to the Fort, please remember to teach Miss a lesson for Bighead Kingpin.¡±


    After Gu Shenwei left the tent, it took him a long while to get rid of Bighead Kingpin¡¯s influence on him and to think clearly.


    The previous conversation was all a performance for buying over people and allegiance pledging or something simr. Unlike Bighead Kingpin¡¯s, Golden Roc Fort¡¯s methods for gathering followers and pledging allegiances were more rigid and ritualized, therefore it wascking in emotion but they were substantially the same.


    The important point was about the Bighead Kingpin¡¯sst act in that performance. The manner of speaking and his expressions all suggested that he meant something else. Gu Shenwei went back to his residence and thought, again and again. Then he found himself stuck in a dangerous dilemma.


    Bighead Kingpin did not mean what he said. Actually, he wanted ve Huan to tell Shangguan Ru where ck Lizard was and to encourage her to go deeply into the desert for revenge.


    If ve Huan did not get the point and took no action, he would be killed.


    Bighead Kingpin¡¯s taking back the jade ring was telling that he might satisfy his daughter¡¯s demand to kill ve Huan. After that, what he needed was just an excuse to deflect Shangguan Nu¡¯s anger.


    The more Gu Shenwei thought about the situation, the more he felt that maybe Iron Mountain and the ck-robed women had coborated so that Bighead Kingpin could possess a vast area ofnd.


    There was no truth or trust, Gu Shenwei warned himself again. He managed to analyze the whole thing from Bighead Kingpin¡¯s perspective, and finally, he realized that even if he did what Bighead Kingpin wanted, he would still be killed, but this time with the excuse of leading his master into danger.


    The matter was moreplicated. Gu Shenwei felt as if he was walking on thin ice, and he could not think of a way to break free. Heid himself down and fell asleep. In his dream, he saw Bighead Kingpin and ck-robed women drinking and chatting happily.


    He woke up at midnight and found that only Wildhorse and himself were in the tent. Liuhua was not there, his whereabouts unknown.


    This could be a potential danger. Gu Shenwei walked out the tent on tip-toe. Before he had gotten far, he spotted Liuhua hiding in the dark, holding a short bow and spying on Maid Lotus¡¯ tent in the distance.


    Gu Shenwei fixedly stared at him. After a while, out of a killer¡¯s intuition, Liuhua turned around and saw ve Huan as well. With the killing intent in eyes, Liuhua, however, did not attack but put the short bow away, and he took a detour to his tent.


    Liuhua the Silencer was very narrow-minded. Gu Shenwei guessed that Maid Lotus might have offended him unintentionally, therefore he kept trying to take revenge on her.


    Gu Shenwei did not tell Maid Lotus his spection. He pondered over how to safely remove the potential danger. But before that, he must figure out a way to deal with Bighead Kingpin.


    Next morning, Gu Shenwei called the brown-belt assassins together to discuss about going back. Theoretically, he was still the chief of the guards, but Wildhorse and Liuhua were more and more unwilling to obey him. They did not forget that Gu Shenwei had fainted at a crucial moment.


    Gu Shenwei said a lot of misceneous things. When he finally mentioned that he heard someone talk about the ck-robed women¡¯s whereabouts, he asked the brown-belt assassins to guard Shangguan Ru in turn and prevent her from hearing about it. ¡°The Tenth Young Master loves adventure. Our mission is to escort her safely back to Golden Roc Fort, so don¡¯t make trouble.¡±


    The other three nodded and said they got it.


    As early asst winter, in the assassination of the Ten-Dragon Gang, Gu Shenwei had discovered Shangguan Yushi¡¯s intention of roping in killer apprentices. As Wildhorse and Liuhua definitely were the apprentices Master Yu cared about the most, Gu Shenwei expected that one of them would tell Shangguan Yushi the news. That girl did not know about Bighead Kingpin¡¯s conspiracy and would take action ording to her personality.


    Gu Shenwei could imagine that Master Yu would excitedly encourage the Tenth Young Master to go on an adventure.

 Chapter 119

    Chapter 119: The Mud Hut


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Only a whistleblower was not enough, the ck-robed women¡¯s whereabouts needed to be revealed. Gu Shenwei passed this task to Maid Lotus.


    Although Maid Lotus was close to ve Huan, Shangguan Yushi still tried to win her over. Actually, other than ve Huan, Shangguan Yushi was her greatest ambition of all the Dragon Year apprentices.


    The trick indeed worked. At the third watch that night, two Shangguan masters came unexpectedly. Maid Lotus woke up the three youngsters from outside the tent.


    Gu Shenwei was pretending to sleep, so he immediately rose up when Maid Lotus¡¯s voice came. Then he got dressed while watching the two others. As usual, Liuhua was clothed during sleep, so he jumped straight out of bed already holding his bow in hand; Wildhorse took his time getting dressed, and shot a nce at ve Huan, his wide apart eyes showing a trace of nkness.


    The whistleblower was Wildhorse.


    Gu Shenwei was a bit disappointed. Though they used to be mortal enemies, and there were even scars left by Wildhorse¡¯s saber on his chest, this sensible boy held excellent machete skills and natural charisma. Gu Shenwei was originally nning to turn him into an ally.


    Shangguan Ru was dressed in all ck with a piece of ck cloth mask hanging around her neck. She was gripping her saber hilt as she mysteriously announced she had a mission. She requested all brown-belt assassins, wearing a look as of to say that he who declined was a traitor.


    Nobody objected, not even Gu Shenwei. He knew Shangguan Ru hated so-called discretion. In the meantime, Shangguan Yushi, who was more mature than six months ago, had been watching ve Huan. Now she could read emotions hidden in the eyes.


    The six youngsters set off before dawn.


    In addition, Shangguan Ru had left a letter for Bighead Kingpin, thanking him for his warm hospitality, and asking him to have ve Qing and others safely returned to Golden Roc Fort. Furthermore, they had ¡°borrowed¡± six camels, along with plenty of supplies.


    Nevertheless, Gu Shenwei doubled the water sack. He originally nned to have Shangguan Yushi charged with ¡°luring the master to risks¡±. But in distrust of Bighead Kingpin, he then decided to urge Shangguan Ru back to Jade City when they set foot in the desert.


    It was quiet in the Iron Mountain camp, and the guard minions bowed in amazement to the Tenth Young Master. The bandits were straight, so they asked, ¡°Tenth Young Master, where are you going?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going hunting,¡± Shangguan Ru answered with a smile. It was the moment she had been waiting for: To hunt down evil ck-robed women inmand of formidable killers. It was once an assassination game, now it finally came true.


    Shangguan Ru could not hold her excitement. She held the rein with her left hand, and her right hand held the saber. She looked serious, but a smile shed on her face. She reacted to even the slightest blow of wind. But for the principle of silence, she should have been jabbering all time.


    Gu Shenwei looked at her from behind, and was reminded of himself two years ago: He was just like Shangguan Ru at 14, seeing the whole world like a yground. He would only care about his own happiness, and his father and elder brothers would solve every problem for him.


    But on the road to kill, nostalgia felt so out of ce. Gu Shenwei soon cleared his mind.


    The six of them had entered the desert that evening. To keep away from spies from Iron Mountain, they had moved toward the east for some time, and then turned south.


    The ck-robed women had once tried to force them into the southern desert. Now that ¡°the guests¡± had arrived, ¡°the hosts¡± had to hide from being discovered.


    Finally, Shangguan Ru¡¯s facade failed. She put up tents with the teenagers, and helped prepare the banquet on the ground. They drank half the wine they brought in one meal, and theirughter drifted miles away.


    In the end, she listened to Shangguan Yushi advice of not starting a campfire. Actually, drinking in the moonlight added much to the passion of drinking.


    The next day, the desert showed its hot burning power, and the pleasure of the assassination gradually abated. Even Shangguan Ru grew discouraged. By afternoon, she even stopped holding onto her saber hilt.


    Gu Shenwei once suspected that Bighead Kingpin was in some way connected to ck-robed women. His suspicion lessened now since they hadn¡¯t been following or set up all this time. Probably no one except Bighead Kingpin himself knew that the tenth young master was in danger.


    On the third day, the six-person squad met with such a sandstorm that they began to stray. Not to mention the direction, they couldn¡¯t even see each other clearly. Yet, they had to keep going in case the overwhelming dust buried them. The storm was so intense, it could have buried a camel in an instant.


    It had been a fateful sandstorm. It finally abated at dusk and stopped embarrassing the six pale-faced teenagers.


    They had lost their way. For they were supposed to see the ¡°three dead trees¡±, a sign of where the women resided. However, they were merely looking at the boundless dunes. There was nothing in sight except endless yellow sand.


    Moreover, only Gu Shenwei noticed another consequence of the sandstorm, that was they werepletely traceless now. If Bighead Kingpin had had them followed, by now he must have lost them.


    They also ran out of wine. Thus, Shangguan Ru had a few mouthfuls of nd water, and soon went to bed.


    Shangguan Yushi sent four brown-belt assassins to explore in different directions, also without sess.


    On the fourth day, the six of them continued toward the south. They couldn¡¯t see the pass where they came from, and they were clueless about how far they had gone astray. They only knew that if they went south, they would reach another mountain, then if they went along the foothill in the west, they would reach the Jade City border.


    It fit well with Gu Shenwei¡¯s n,pared with Bighead Kingpin, he was more keen to get rid of the ck-robed women now.


    Shangguan Ru refused to return empty-handed for her first assassination mission. Her name would be crippled if she left without a few heads. Hence, she insisted on searching while moving forward, which heavily slowed their speed. Finally, when food was almost gone, she had to admit her failure, and quickened their march to the south.


    On the 10th day in the desert, nobody had breakfast except Shangguan Ru. Fortunately, Gu Shenwei had the foresight to bring extra water, otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t even have water to drink now.


    On this very day, the seemingly doomed assassination took a turn for the better.


    This part of the desert jutted out of the main part, thus it was not very broad. The assassination team had already reached the edge of the desert after 10 days of walking. Though mountains in the south were not yet seen, there went an oasis.


    Actually, you would hardly call it an oasis; it was more like a sparsely vegetated gobi desert. The area was notrge, and in the middle of it stood several mud huts, even without fences.


    Liuhua stood on a sand dune and was the first to see the oasis. While the others hid their camels, and crept on the ground waiting. After a long while, they finally spotted someoneing in and out of mud huts. It was too far for them to see the face clearly, but the person seemed to be dressed in ck.


    Shangguan Yushi got excited first. ¡°We found it, it must be another hideout of ck Lizard.¡±


    ¡°Or a few herdsmen.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t mean to throw cold water on them, but there were some white spots around the mud huts that looked like grass-gnawing sheep.


    Shangguan Yushi stared at him. ¡°You just want this mission to fail.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t bicker, we must cooperate.¡± Shangguan Ru quietly dissuaded, as if they were back when the three of them yed the ¡°assassination¡± game in the castle.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go check.¡± Gu Shenwei volunteered, and left before Shangguan Yushi approved.


    d in the yellow cape he took from the Iron Mountain camp, he zigzagged to the oasis. 100 steps away from the mud hut, he hid behind a rock mound where he smelled a familiar odor before he even saw any living thing.


    Thend reeked of death. Even a Golden Roc Fort killer who was used to corpses would think it was pungent in all of a sudden. Not far away, there was a deep pit, where vultures asionally rose and fell.


    When it was getting dark, a woman in yellow walked out the mud hut. Although she was not in a ck robe, her sleepwalking steps and the madness which lingered from her head to toe proved that she was in league with the ck-robed women. Not to mention that she was dragging a corpse, which was definitely not herdsmen¡¯s routine.


    The woman in yellow dumped the corpse randomly, disturbing seven or eight vultures, whereas, she herself was not disturbed at all. She turned back to the mud hut. On the way, she shook and nodded her head, jabbering.


    After seeing the women enter the house, Gu Shenwei then crept to the edge of the pit, and waved away the hungry scavengers.


    Corpses were in a heap. The body that was dragged here was beside the edge of the pit. He was a young male, and was covered in various scars. You could hardly see any intact skin on him.


    ¡°The corpse¡± suddenly came alive, shaking for a moment. Blood came out of his mouth like a fountain. Soon, he went quiet.


    Gu Shenwei quietly stepped back, the hungry vultures rushed to the delicacies morously.


    Gu Shenwei brought back ¡°good news¡±. Then, Shangguan Ru was eager to arrange the details and rules. In fact, the teenagers had been familiar with the rules: No matter how much they disagreed, they were united as one in action.


    It was a bright full moon that night. The moonlight fell on the smooth dunes and rocks like ayer of thin snow.


    The six teenagers took turns to rest, and waited until the moon was down for their operation. This was when people fell into the deepest sleep.


    Gu Shenwei was in the front, leading them to bypass the corpse pit. He intended to slowly approach the mud hut from behind. Although he did not see any guards in the daytime, he dared not to rx, and still zigzagged his way to observe.


    Being discreet was rewarding, because they actually found out something strange in the nearby tree. It was a shadow in the tree, too big to be a nest.


    He was the only guard. It seemed that people in the mud but didn¡¯t worry too much about raids. Anyway, they weren¡¯t alert enough.


    Liuhua used the crossbow. The arrow went straight to the target. The shadow in the tree suddenly rose up, and died without a sound or move.


    In a perfect assassination, one would sneak to the bedside, and kill the target while he was sleeping. However, their information was not enough. They did not know how many people were there, nor the roomyouts. Hence they had to be conservative.


    Liuhua hid 20 steps away from the mud hut. As the longbow, shortbow, and crossbow were all set up, Wildhorse, ve Huan, and Maid Lotus guarded one room respectively. In addition, Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi went on top of the roof and waited in ambush.


    Gu Shenwei was in the middle and the first to act. He simply knocked on the door lightly, and there came an obscure response. After a short while, somebody came out.


    (Please keep and give suggestions)

 Chapter 120

    Chapter 120: The Tracking


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei raised his saber, and chopped off one head.


    The chaos expected did note. It was quiet in the three mud huts, like there was no more enemies.


    The moonlight shone on six statue-like teenagers, who was in their spot motionless waiting for the counterattack after the silence.


    The counterattack arrived unexpectedly. The oasis was like being taken out of a trance. The formerly immobile all became alive. People in the shadow all dashed through doors, windows, and rooftops.


    Then the killing began.


    Saber went, and figures dashed. They all attacked quickly, and stood three steps back afterward. He who fell did not make a sound as if he were mute.


    The killing began in silence, and also ended quietly. The spell was cast again. They all again stood or squat motionless, as if they were a bunch of puppets. It was like they had been released by the master, after a brief and violent performance.


    In total, there were eight bodies. The teenagers triumphed, without anyone hurt.


    Because in a killing, someone had to take the advantage, thus it was usually much easier than a duel. People in the mud huts couldn¡¯t even show off their kung fu before they died.


    Thest step was to check if there was anyone alive, hiding.


    Three teenagers went respectively into three rooms, except Liuhua. Gu Shenwei was responsible for the middle room. As soon as he went in, he saw a people standing in between. Hence he dashed to attack, however, he fell under the floor.


    Unexpected assassinations were easy to conduct, but simrly, unexpected traps were equally hard to guard against.


    Because of a sudden storm, six teenagers broke into the enemy¡¯s weak defense area. Before they raised their sabers to chop off heads, it hadn¡¯t been visited by others.


    Gu Shenwei was the first victim of the underground trap.


    He could not see what was going on in the room up there, because the trap door closed as he hit the ground.


    It was pitch dark.


    Suddenly a finger pierced at his chest like a steel stick. Gu Shenwei was cast to the wall, he then swiftly rolled over to the other side, in case of another possible follow-up strike.


    ¡°What?¡± Somebody in the dark cried in surprise. Thus Gu Shenwei thrust his saber in the direction of the sound, but missed it. The enemy was experienced too, so that he shifted his ce after letting out sounds identally.


    In the pitch dark underground, the two people were waiting for the opportunity to attack. Nobody dared to move, holding their breath, and knew that their life depended on it.


    Gu Shenwei was in the unfavorable position, for he did not know the size and shape of the trap. Besides, he also did not know if there was another aplice. Moreover, his Xuanji acupoint was filled with hot burning energy. He was on the brink of qigong deviation.


    If he hadn¡¯t seen Mama Xue beheaded by a ck-masked Assassin, he would think that was her in the dark, with the fingers piercing at him.


    He suddenly knew that the dark-robed women¡¯s back around, that they were all disciples of Barren Sect, like Mama Xue. Mama Xue¡¯s real name was Kang Wenmei, also known as ¡°Bone-piercing Ace¡±. He should have thought about that earlier.


    Those ck-robed women were weaker than her in kung fu, for they even wear steel thorns on their fingers. While the person in the chamber was equal to Mama Xue, she did not need the help of an instrument.


    In fact, it was the ¡°Peripheral Force¡± Mama Xue nted in him that saved him. The force in the Xuanji acupoint would cause qigong deviation, but equally, it could neutralize the same Internal Strength.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t have the time to think. He held the saber as he ced his feet and left hand on the ground, like a crouching cat. It took him a long while to prepare.


    Certainly it must have been a long while, because everything, even the time seemed to stagnate in the dark. He felt breathless in the chest, knowing that he held his breath too long.


    The turtle breath technique required a lot of Internal Strength, which was Gu Shenwei¡¯s weak point. He couldn¡¯tpete with the invisible opponent in this aspect.


    Once again, he turned to the words of Nameless Swordbook. So far, the swordbook had helped him survived many crises.


    ¡°Why open your eyes when it¡¯s all dark?¡±


    So Gu Shenwei closed his eyes, trying to find the ¡°Qi¡± written in the swordbook. It was ¡°the energy flowing through all living things¡±, prevailing but insightful or unhearable, only to be sensed by the mind. He and Maid Lotus still failed to acquire the ¡°mysterious energy¡± after countless practices.


    He was nearly dying. Just as he was about to give up, Gu Shenwei felt something extremely special in the chamber. Something that he could not describe, norprehend, suddenly struck.


    Then, something fell down, and so did Gu Shenwei, his head nk. He was feeling like in a strange dream, where he saw his imminent death, and urged himself to breathe. But, he couldn¡¯t breathe, as if there was a giant rock on his chest.


    Finally, Gu Shenwei inhaled, then he suddenly rose up. He breathed in and out, like a ferocious animal hungry for three days.


    The first thing he did was try to remember the thing he felt just now, trying to find the door to ¡°Qi¡±, but failed.


    All movements and methods in Nameless Swordbook could not be acquired through practice. They were only to be reached by killing people. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus found out long ago that only by killing could they make progress. Otherwise, the practice would be meaningless.


    Now that the enemy had died, Gu Shenwei could not retrieve the feeling. Thus, he could only wait for the next crisis.


    It was the most difficult sword practice in the world. It only took one failure to get you killed.


    Gu Shenwei then explored in the dark step by step. Finally, he found the corpse. He also found a match in her pocket, and lit a small fire, but, he still couldn¡¯t see anything.


    Hence he lit up the corpse¡¯s clothes. The fire burned brightly.


    It was a small chamber, on one side there was a passage at half height of a person, like a monster¡¯s mouth. Also, there was a wooden door that was 30 centimeters over his head.


    The corpse was female, and the fatal blow was at her throat. She did not bleed much, almost died in an instant. It was more close to perfect than Gu Shenwei¡¯s previous murders.


    Then, Gu Shenwei jumped to push the wooden door several times, only to find that the door waspletely solid, impossible to open.


    The fire was swallowing the women¡¯s skin. The light became dimmer and dimmer.


    No one hade to rescue him, thus it would be useless to cry for help. Gu Shenwei crouched into the dark passage holding his saber in the front, and carefully made his way out.


    To his relief, the passage was not long. Soon, he pushed open another wooden door, and went back to the desert. He then turned his head, found that he was not far away from the oasis.


    He came back to the three mud huts. Therey the eight dead corpses. However, the killers were all gone.


    Gu Shenwei checked the other two mud huts, and knocked on all floors. He did not find any other traps.


    Was he abandoned? Gu Shenwei could not believe it.


    It was near daybreak. Gu Shenwei carefully searched around the mud huts. He first discovered Liuhua¡¯s three sets of crossbows. The crossbows were stretched but unreleased. He then picked them up all.


    Next, he found strange footsteps, shallow and messy. Two footprints were a dozen of steps away, as if there had been long-legged giants with tiny feet walking.


    Unless those people were jumping forward.


    Gu Shenwei at once remember those ck-robed women. They would strangely jump like this when they were approaching their targets.


    Following these footprints, Gu Shen went back to the ce where they hid in the daytime.


    The camels were all dead. The few remaining solid foods were immersed in blood and covered with sand. Water sacks were pierced through, and the clean water was all lost.


    Gu Shenwei packed a few pieces of eatable solid foods, and collected some clean water with argely intact water sack. Then, he started his tracking.


    The footprints were discontinuous. Sometimes he needed to go round and round to find the next footprint, which wasted much time. He went deep into the desert. After one day¡¯s walking, he took a turn to the south into the wilderness. From then on, the footprints became normal and continuous. Moreover, there were several other people¡¯s footprints.


    The others were alive. There were only three hijackers. Gu Shenwei sped up his pace.


    ¡± The three people were all masters.¡± Gu Shenwei thought. He had eaten thest bit of solid foods, with a little water left. Thus, thinking was to defend against hunger. ¡°If even Maid Lotus and Wildhorse have been captured without the chance to fight, he wouldn¡¯t bear a chance either. The thing is, how did the three hijackers leave without trying to find thest teenager?¡±


    Judging from Zhang Ji and Fang Wenshi¡¯s words, and his knowledge, Gu Shenwei was positive that Barren Sect and Golden Roc Fort used to be connected. Even their kung fu was simr in some ways. ck-robed women¡¯s jumping Qing Gong was almost the same with that of ck-masked Assassins.


    On drinking up thest drop of clean water, Gu Shenwei suddenly realized that the three hijackers may not be masters in kung fu. They could have used knockout powders, like people in Golden Roc Fort would do.


    Gu Shenwei walked day and night. On the fourth morning, he walked across a stream, where he had plenty of water. Then he climbed to a hillside, seeing the mountains in the south. They were branches of Tianshan Mountain. Walking along the mountains in the west, he could return to Jade City. Nevertheless, the footprints deviated more and more to the east.


    At that evening, he finally caught up with the abductors.


    His targets resided in a yard. It was like Barren Sect¡¯s another stronghold. But the house was bigger, and the guard was much better. There were guards hid in ambush several miles away.


    Gu Shenwei did not act rashly and alert the enemy, rather, he hid and thought how he could save them.


    Doing it the hard way was impossible, for his sword craft could only deal with one or two people. It was dangerous to deal with more.


    The assassination did not work either. One killer was not capable enough, not to mention that his opponents were great at assassination too. They wouldn¡¯t let him leave alive.


    The moon hung over the trees. Gu Shenwei detoured through the Barren Sect stronghold. He snuck to get in front of the abductors.


    This was not the hijackers¡¯ final destination. In four days¡¯ tracking, he figured out the opponents¡¯ courses. He guessed that they probably would go deep in the mountains.


    At the fourth watch, he came across a small and narrow but fast river. He soon found a perfect spot where he could walk across the river. Moreover, a path lined with green grass led to the spot.


    It was the hijackers¡¯ must pass to move forward.


    Gu Shenwei started to set up the traps. What he had were one saber, a dagger, and three sets of crossbows. He spent two hours working out how to skillfully use the crossbow. Then, he spent some time on erasing his traces.


    The next was to wait. A killer had to wait. Gu Shenwei still remembered how much he hated that.


    He had to kill three Barren Sect¡¯s aces at one time.

 Chapter 121

    Chapter 121: The Dream


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei picked a leaf and chewed it. The bitter taste kept him from weariness.


    The sun rose high. Surrounded by chirping hypnotic and tiresome whoosh, Gu Shenwei felt at a loss, just as what he felt before every action in the past. His being suspicious always led him to an extreme that he thought his ns wereme and impossible to work out.


    But there was no turning back. Gu Shenwei even felt his hunger was submerged by the tension in his abdomen.


    This was what he had to do. Without Shangguan Ru, he could never return to Golden Roc Fort. Thus his chance for revenge would be even slimmer. What¡¯s more, Maid Lotus, his principal ally, was one of the abducted people.


    Shortly after noon, the people Gu Shenwei had been waiting for finally came, though veryte.


    They were three women in red robes instead of ck and five captives, who were under those women¡¯s control. From far, Gu Shenwei saw them riding on horses.


    Gu Shenwei had not expected the horses. He had followed their footprints for four days, so he was quite sure they were on foot. It never urred to him that the strongholds of the Barren Sect might have horses there.


    There was no time to change the trap, and the original n must go on.


    Two red-robed women road ahead, five captives walking behind with another woman after them.


    About a hundred steps from the river bank, thend fell steeply and rose again. The lush grass on both sides covered a path over, and the passengers had to walk through them.


    The first red-robed woman passed by with her horse entirely hidden in the grass, only half her body being seen. The second woman followed her close.


    The arrow flew out from the grass and shot right at the second woman¡¯s crus. It pierced through the muscles and stuck into the horse. Neighing in extreme pain, the horse suddenly leaped forward, knocking the front horse aside.


    The arrow was supposed to be shot into the heart.


    In the grass, the crossbow was set up with a branch attached to it and a stick attached to the end of the branch. 10 steps away from it, Gu Shenwei controlled the timing of theunch. For this, he had practiced for two hours, but it merely injured the enemy¡¯s crus.


    Gu Shenwei had rehearsed the whole n countless times. As soon as heunched the crossbow, he stood up quickly, picked up the short bow and arrows, and then shot at the first red-robed woman.


    The first woman rose to the bait. She jumped toward the crossbow and got shot when she nearly touched the ground. Screaming, she fell down but did not die. ve Huan was far fromparable to Liuhua in the shooting.


    Thest woman leaped in a row and was only a few steps away from Gu Shenwei. She tried to scratch at Gu Shenwei with her bony fingers like ws.


    Gu Shenwei threw away the short bow. His saber was stuck into the grass, unsheathed.


    He tipped up the saber and stabbed at the women so fast that it seemed as if the women dived at the saber by herself.


    This was the only perfect attack in his n. Thest red-robed woman was hit in the neck, falling to the ground.


    In the same time, Gu Shenwei got five bloody scratches on his chest. The woman was so strong that sheunched her final attack before dying.


    With her leg stuck to the horse, the second red-robed woman urged the horse on and disappeared in a little while.


    ¡°ve Huan!¡±


    All things happened so suddenly that the five captives did not react until Gu Shenwei killed the women. Shangguan Yushi was the first one to cry out in horror.


    ¡°You¡¯re not dead!¡± Shangguan Ru continued, more delighted than surprised.


    ¡°I¡¯m not dead.¡± Gu Shenwei responded. He walked to the first woman, who was shot but not dead. She got the shot in the abdomen, lying on her back and panting. She was unable to resist.


    Then, he untied the five teenagers.


    Compared with the five captives, ve Huan was the one who seemed to have suffered more. His clothes tattered, his face covered with dust, and his hair matted with grass, he even lost his shoes.


    The five captives were all well clothed, but they were slightly sluggish and seemed to have lost their Internal Strength.


    After the joy of being rescued, the teenagers became angry at the injured woman. Shangguan Yushi grabbed the saber from ve Huan and wanted to kill the woman.


    ¡°Keep her alive.¡± Gu Shenwei stopped her.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°We need to ask her about their background.¡±


    ¡°Hum. No need to ask. I know it clearly.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi killed the injured woman and cut off the two corpse¡¯s heads. Those were her essential trophies, and she wanted to take them back.


    Besides the spoken one, Gu Shenwei got another unspeakable reason to keep the woman alive. He thought she was from the Barren Sect and might know how to remove the Peripheral Force. But even if she were still alive, he would not get the chance to ask her alone.


    The five teenagers were captured purely by chance.


    The three huts in the Oasis were the ces where Barren Sect trained their Primary disciples. There were eight disciples of ordinary martial arts and one Master Shifu. All the disciples were killed by the teenagers from Golden Roc Fort while the Shifu was murdered by Gu Shenwei in the underground chamber.


    That three red-robed women were there for routine inspections. One day earlier orter the teenagers went there, they wouldn¡¯t have run into them.


    As Gu Shenwei had expected, the knockout powder those women used was the Mercy Powder, which Golden Roc Fort had agreed not to use anymore. Compared with the effect of the ordinary knockout powder in the Fort, the effects of Mercy Powdersted longer. The red-robed women mixed the powder with the food and forced the captives to eat it every meal. Were it not for Gu Shenwei¡¯s timely rescue, the teenagers would gradually lose their Internal Strength within 10 days.


    The Barren Sect and the Golden Roc Fort had been into a feud for many years. Shangguan Ru knew a little about the origins of this sect. It was said that the Barren Sect was once a subordinate of the Golden Roc Fort and betrayed the Fort when the fifth Supreme King was in charge. Then it set up its own sect but finally was wiped out by the sixth Supreme King.


    However, a few yearster, the Barren Sect risen from the ashes and from the sect came several masters. The feud between the two killer gangs significantly affected the stability of the entire Western Region. Finally, several mighty kings came forward and called for both sides to end the fighting.


    In the Four Truths Temple outside Jade City, the Golden Roc Fort entered into an invible agreement with the Barren Sect. The Golden Roc Fort promised not to use the means like Mercy Powder to kill others since then, making it able to stay in Jade City. The Barren Sect voluntarily retreated into the desert.


    Few people remembered the details of that event. All in all, the Barren Sect vanished in Jianghu and did not show up again for decades.


    As for the reason why they left the desert to reappear in Jianghu and why they forced the people of Golden Roc Fort walked southward into the desert, none of the teenagers knew it.


    When the three red-robed women found out that Supreme King¡¯s daughter was one of the captives, they immediately took the five prisoners away with delight. As for the boy who had fallen into their trap, they took it for granted that the Master Shifu could kill him, so they ignored him.


    ¡°Since the Barren Sect broke the agreement, my father will definitely kill them all,¡± Shangguan Ru growled. She recalled the Barren Sect when being questioned. Before that, She never associated the ck-robed women with that long-disappeared sect.


    Only Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus knew that it was not the first time for the disciples of the Barren Sect to leave the desert, as Mama Xue had even gotten into Golden Roc Fort.


    The five teenagers were naturally unable to take revenge, and the escaped women put them in danger even more.


    Both horses running away, the teenagers could only walk forward. They drank a lot of water by the riverside, which was one of the best ways to weaken the effect of the Mercy Powder. After crossing the river, they walked westward along the bank for a while before turning toward the southwest, hoping they could make their way to Jade City by feet.


    No one knew how long the tramp would be.


    Gu Shenwei was the only one that equipped with a saber among the six. Liuhua took back his favorite short bow without saying a grateful word. The crossbow was handed over to Shangguan Ru while the longbow was given to Shangguan Yushi, with less than 20 arrows left.


    Gu Shenwei gave his dagger to Maid Lotus and Wildhorse could only be unarmed.


    They marched forward the same night without rest, identifying their direction from the ck mountains in the south. They did not stop until next noon. Gu Shenwei felt like he had just closed his eyes before he was awakened. Liuhua hunted several birds, and everyone shared a part of the raw meat and fresh blood, temporarily covering up their hunger.


    Their Internal Strength had recovered, but it helped them little in walking.


    In the third night, Shangguan Ru was the first one to break down. For she was so young and never suffered like this, she could not withstand the march nor walk any farther. The others took turns carrying her forward. After a long walk when Shangguan Ru decided to rest in any case, everyone was relieved.


    Starting with Wildhorse, the four brown-belt assassins kept watch in turns.


    Gu Shenwei was thest one. He sat in the grass on the high ground, enduring the lingering sleepiness and mosquito bites. When he looked at the crescent moon, he felt as if his mind was solidified that he could think about nothing, even the most straightforward idea.


    He fell asleep, but the sight before his eyes remained the same only that he was not sleepy anymore. He was at peace and in delight as if he was floating in the cloud. With the noise of flying insects became obliterating, he could hear the wind whispering through the grass and the ethereal sound of the flute.


    He was confused that he did not like the instruments such as the flute, but why he heard the music in his dream?


    Straightening up, he tried to wave away the illusory scene before his eyes several times, but he failed. Atst, he had to push his eyes open with his fingers.


    It was still the same scene, but the crescent moon faded, and the morning came.


    A tall woman came over to him and bent down, smiling.


    Although Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know her, he began to let his guard down seeing her smile which was as warm as the spring breeze. He then smiled weakly at her, watching her poke at his chest with one finger.


    Gu Shenwei closed his eyes and fell into sleep again, unburdened and dreamless.


    When he woke up, the sun hade up. Shangguan Yushiined about his neglecting his duty, even though everyone was in a sound sleep and nobody woke up in time.


    ¡°There was a woman who camest night¡­¡± Gu Shenwei said. But while speaking, he thought it might be a dream. He stopped saying to avoid beingughed at.


    Sure enough, Shangguan Yushi snorted dismissively. Three days were long enough for her to forget that the ve boy had saved her life. ¡°What woman? You might have a nightmare for you fears the Barren Sect so much.¡±


    The others shook their heads as well, indicating that they saw nothing. Refreshed a bit, Shangguan Ru asked with a smile, ¡°Tell me, Who did you dream of?¡±


    Gu Shenwei forced a smile. ¡°I can¡¯t remember.¡±


    Actually, he distinctly remembered that woman¡¯s face, a face of fantastic beauty and clear-cut facial features that on no ount could he see her just in the dream.

 Chapter 122

    Chapter 122: Training the Women


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The Tenth Young Master had gone into the desert and disappeared for 23 days. When she reappeared in front of the others, she was so gaunt and travel-stained that she was almost beyond recognition. She looked more like a boy now. Shangguan Yushi, who stood next to her, held up two skulls to the cheering of the crowd.


    The six teenagers had finally arrived at the mountain pass, which was located on the border of the Jade City. The allied forces of Golden Roc Fort and Iron Mountain were stationed there. Their forces had surrounded the east and south side of the desert, ready for arge-scale attack. A few squads of killers had already prated the enemy¡¯s camp and continuously reported back the news of their confrontations.


    The Eighth Young Master, Shangguan Nu, who was stationed at the north side, was discussing the strategy with his father-inw. He came into this camp that very night and was overjoyed to see his sister had returned. After a day¡¯s rest, he sent a team of killers to escort her home and promised her that he would not return home until he had ughtered the whole Barren Sect.


    The Bighead Kingpin had assumedmand in the north-east side. He did note personally. Instead, he sent someone to apologize and took responsibility for the incident. The gifts he sent were so numerous that they piled up at the border, and for a month after Shangguan Ru¡¯s safe arrival, the carriages of Iron Mountain continued to arrive.


    The other teenage guards were also rewarded ordingly. But the reward was so generous that it drew the envy of the former year¡¯s guards.


    The Bighead Kingpin sent a messenger to inform ve Huan publicly that would recieve a gift ranked only second to Shangguan Ru¡¯s, which included a jade ring and a delicate bronze mirror.


    ¡°Bighead Kingpin has said¡­¡± The messenger piped up his voice, rying the message, ¡°ve Huan is a capable subordinate and a loyal servant. Since the Eighth Young Mistress is young and has a bad temper, he can hold this mirror and restrain the mistress in ce of the Bighead Kingpin.¡±


    The messenger gave ve Huan a wooden box, which contained the skull of the maid, Little Sui. He said, ¡°The Bighead Kingpin asked you to tell the Eighth Young Mistress his words, ¡®I¡¯ve raised you for many years, and I gave you anything you wanted. I assume it¡¯s enough. From now on, you shall pay respects to your elders and be considerate to them. Be a good wife in Shangguan family, don¡¯t cause any trouble.''¡±


    The Bighead Kingpin would let a teenage killer restrain his daughter? This raised questions in the camp and embarrassed Shangguan Nu. He angrily confronted ve Huan and questioned him about what had happened.


    Gu Shenwei had not expected that. He thought he could stir up the troubles between Iron Mountain and Meng family, or even if he failed, he would still sow dissension between Bighead Kingpin and his master.


    Gu Shenwei could only take out the skull of Little Sui and exin that the Mistress had asked him to pass on the message to Bighead Kingpin. Little Sui was her second secret messenger and had been silenced. The Bighead Kingpin knew ve Huan was a loyal subordinate of Eighth Young Master, so had kept him alive, but he was annoyed with his daughter¡¯s behavior.


    When Shangguan Nu heard that his wife wanted ve Huan dead, he was perplexed but also d to be relieved of an annoyance.


    Once back to the fort, Shangguan Ru stayed in the Inner Residence and did note out for a long time. Four brown-belt assassins were the focus of ¡°Little g Battalion¡± now, including Liuhua, who was good at avoiding crowds, but was now constantly followed by several admirers. This annoyed him, and he almost wanted to hold another ughter again.


    As usual, ve Huan¡¯s deeds were downyed, and credit was given to Shangguan Ru. Only some former members of ¡°Tattooed Arm Gang¡± knew the truth and they admired their leader all the more.


    Several dayster, even Tie Hanfeng asked about ve Huan what had happened when he passed out in front of the assassins. He considered taking his apprentice to the doctor again. ¡°You shall make every possible effort. We will go to the Four Truths Temple first, if they fail, we will go to the Land of Fragrance. They is always a way.¡±


    A month ago, Gu Shenwei would have thought Liuhua had caused all of this, but now he put Wildhorse as the primary culprit.


    Wildhorse had sought refuge with Shangguan Yushi, putting Gu Shenwei on high alert.


    However, his biggest headache with the vicious and wicked Miss, instead of Wildhorse.


    In the room with the hollowed-out wooden wall, ve Huan held up the bronze mirror and conveyed Bighead Kingpin¡¯s reprimand. Before he had finished his first word, Luo Ningcha flew into a rage and smashed everything around her. She beat her closest maids and ordered the maid outside to take ve Huan¡¯s mirror, shouting that his eyes and tongue would be cut off.


    The maids took the mirror, but no one dared to punish ve Huan. He was no longer the dowry ve, he was trusted by the Eighth Young Master and the Bighead Kingpin.


    Luo Ningcha took more than three days for her rage to dissipate, and only then did she understand the situation. Now she was indeed a recluse in the fort. If she offended the protector her father had appointed, it would only make things worse. Thus she summoned ve Huan again, this time only with Maid Jade present.


    This was a meeting that was equally candid and hypocritical.


    Luo Ningcha was the daughter of the Bighead Kingpin, born knowing how to win people¡¯s support, but she just seldom used that skill. For the first time, she apologized to ve Huan, but soon she defended herself, ¡°It¡¯s all your fault, you taught me to intrigue. So I followed what you taught, to kill you to silence you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re learning fast.¡± Gu Shenwei praised her insincerely.


    ¡°But I¡¯ve thought it through, I can¡¯t do my work alone. I need an assistant, and those useless maids won¡¯t help me. Besides, they¡¯re women, they won¡¯t achieve anything in this fort. You¡¯ll be my henchman.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thanked her for her appreciation. But he was perturbed since Bighead Kingpin did not value his daughter very much. He was not that enthusiastic to help the Miss. How would it help his n of reveng if he was involved in a war between the women of the Inner Residence?


    ¡°This bronze mirror was left by my mother, and my father treasured it all his life.¡± Miss changed topic, the sadness in her voice seemingly sincere.


    She asked ve Huan to convey her father¡¯s words again.


    Hearing the whole rebuke, Luo Ningcha¡¯s tears coursed down her cheeks. She had ced all her hope of redeeming herself in Stone Castle on her father, only to get this answer.


    ¡°Am I the one making trouble? I was bullied all the time! How can I respect him, how can I be considerate?¡± Luo Ningcha¡¯s personality remained unchanged, and now she was furious again. ¡°This was all your idea, you asked me to beg my father, now what? I was humiliated!¡±


    Gu Shenwei could only sigh. He recognized how deep and shrewd the Master of Iron Mountain was throughout this journey, he even admired him a little. But how could he have such a foolish daughter? Yet he also knew, once this mistress had a sh of insight, she could also be influential. It would not go for Gu Shenwei to look down on her.


    ¡°Mistress.¡± Gu Shenwei was initially not intending to answer her questions, but after the consideration, he did. Luo Ningcha was the wife of Shangguan Nu. Thus, she could be helpful in some time. ¡°I think you misunderstand the Bighead Kingpin.¡±


    ¡°What? How? Tell me.¡±


    ¡°My idea was notpletely wrong. Women¡¯s positiones from the position of her father and husband, but when ites to the men, the origin of power is moreplicated. The Bighead Kingpin asked Mistress to be considerate toward him. This is his way of showing his unsatisfaction, not his betrayal. He wants more power so that he can protect you.¡±


    Miss thought for a while. ¡°You¡¯re saying, my father, can help me only when he is more powerful, but needs my assistance?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°But he is my father, how can he bargain with me?¡± Luo Ningcha was starting to be angry again.


    ¡°Everyone is fully upied with their material gain. The Bighead Kingpin was the hero in Western Region, you don¡¯t know how many people envy you for the fact that you can ¡®bargain¡¯ with him. I met a schr on the road, who was highly intelligent and knew almost everything, and he was willing agree to anything to get a meeting with the Bighead Kingpin. But he was not qualified to talk with the king, and he left soon after a hasty meeting. I can only say that this is his destiny.¡±


    ¡°His destiny.¡± Luo Ningcha chewed on Gu Shenwei¡¯s words and found she was apprehensive. ¡°How can I help him, then?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s simple. Several days ago, the Bighead Kingpin saved the life of the Fifth Master of Meng family, so that he could build the connection with this family and even form an alliance. Your Mistress can take the initiative to send someone to ask after him, for example. After you enter the Inner Residence, mention this to thedy. First you¡¯ll know how she thinks; second, you can show your superiority. Thus you¡¯ll kill two birds with one stone.¡±


    ¡°You giving me another silly idea.¡± Miss seemed unsatisfied. ¡°You¡¯ve removed yourself entirely from this situation. Why don¡¯t you go to the Meng family?¡±


    ¡°Your Mistress, Fifth Young Master Meng hates my guts. If I go, it will defeat the purpose.¡±


    ¡°Hey, so you¡¯re not so perfect.¡±


    This meeting ended. Gu Shenwei thought he could rid himself of the Miss from now on, and did not expect her to summon him the third time and in good humor.


    ¡°Your idea is good. Thedy pretended she did not know the incident until I mentioned it, and then she faked gratefullness. Hrious. I did not see the discord between her and her family before. It appears the Lord does not patronize her simply because of her family. There must be other reasons, you and I will find out.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Mistress. I¡¯ll try my best.¡± Of course, Gu Shenwei would not. From what he had experienced in the fort, it was a taboo to ask about Lord¡¯s private life, he could easily cause a disaster. ¡°Your Mistress has enough money, why not use them? You can start with those who have high positions but do not livefortably, such as¡­ the Lord¡¯s nephew, Shangguan Hongye, whose father died early, so he lives with his mother in the West Castle. He can be bought over quickly.¡±


    Shangguan Hongye was Shangguan Ru¡¯s ssmate and he had once received ve Huan¡¯s money to handle his affairs. Gu Shenwei the Miss about this boy, hoping this could satisfy her request. He did not intend to be involved in her affairs any longer.


    He still remembered the mysterious woman who had appeared during his escape, and was still confused. He was sure that it was not a dream. That woman had smiled at him and pointed to his chest with a finger.


    After he returned to the fort, he asked Maid Lotus about this, but she never recalled it. Yet she felt that something was amiss too. They had all slept soundly, which was unlikely for killers. Maid Lotus had never slept so soundly, eevn when she was exhausted.


    Gu Shenwei could not figure it out, so he could only give it up. He did not understand the woman¡¯s behavior until Shangguan Ru, and several other teenagers became ¡°possessed.¡±

 Chapter 123

    Chapter 123: Weal and Woe


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    During the journey from Iron Mountain, Gu Shenwei prepared many questions for Zhang Ji. He was the first one Gu Shenwei wished to consult.


    He was now considered as a wealthy man thanks to all the gold and silver he received. He had talked to a ck-market businessman in East Castle, and had bought several bottles of expensive wine, sending them directly to Zhang Ji.


    A few dayster, with the excuse of paying respect to the Miss, Gu Shenwei went to the school and coincidentally bumped into Zhang Ji.


    Zhang Ji had dismissed the pupils early and when he tasted the excellent wine, willingly answered every question Gu Shenwei asked. Zhang Ji was familiar with the history of the fort, except for the top secret information which exceeded his clearance level, but he presume to know any information. Rather, he strove to preserve the image of the fort.


    Zhang Ji corrected the many mistakes in Shangguan Ru¡¯s memory. It had not been the Barren Sect who had wrestled with Golden Roc Fort and made the deal in the Four Truths Temple, but the another ¡°Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    ¡°The New Moon Hall was originally the subsection of the fort, which specialised in training female killers. Butter they became too ambitious and dared to usurp Lord¡¯s power. This is what I want to tell you, never trust a woman. They seem weak and fragile, helpless without the men but they are actually cruel and merciless. Once they have a chance, they¡¯ll seize your power, and everything you own.¡±


    Zhang Ji wet on and on about women. He was even full of indignation, and could not calm down even after several cups of wine.


    The New Moon Hall called itself Golden Roc Fort, too, for they wished to im supremacy for themselves. But their female killers¡¯ ways were deviant, focusing the Mercy powder and other herbs and potions. Zhang Ji said, ¡°The fort chose to never use the Mercy Powder, which was an absolutely correct decision. Teal killers never need to rely on powder.¡±


    Though there was no one else in the school, Zhang Ji still hesitated before he telling Gu Shenwei the secret, ¡°The killers in the fort love a nameless powder, which was actually a less effective variation of the Mercy Powder, which can be easily neutralized.¡±


    The way to neutralize it was straightforward. Add traces of the powder to one¡¯s food every day, and slowly increase the quantity. After three months, the knockout-powder would no longer be ineffective.


    Gu Shenwei told Maid Lotus afterward, and they both began to use this powder. By wintertime, they were both immune to it.


    The female killers were not only good at the powder arts but also other unspeakable sorcery. Zhang Ji knew a little about them but despised them, thinking they were just meant to scare, and entirely not something a real kille should use. ¡°If they only use killers, they will be doomed. Moreover, their methods are entirely not alighned with others. If they try to take down the fort, defeat is inevitable.¡±


    The war between these two forces was so dreadful that even the troops in the Western Region felt the shockwaves. Thus the other families interfered and forced them to sign the agreement in the Four Truths Temple. ¡°At that time, Golden Roc Fort, was not strong as we are today. We had to sign. But if we were given just one or two years more, those women would not exist anymore. Such a pity.¡±


    The content of the agreement was not ssified, and Zhang Ji remembered it well. By authority and fairness, the Lord possessed the fort, but he had to promise that he would never use sorcery methods in assassination. The New Moon Hall reserved the right to use these methods, but they had to live in the desert and nevere out.


    They drew a line between them and agreed not to cross it.


    From then on, the Golden Roc Fort stopped differentiating male and female killers. Maid Lotus, for example, learned whatever any male killer learned.


    After several years, the Barren Sect appeared once again in Jianghu.


    The New Moon Hall had taken advantage of a loophole in the agreement to form another school, which only recruited female apprentices. They also created some new kung fu, using iron knuckles and ws as weapons. The war with Golden Roc Fort continued.


    Yet, this school did not inherit the sorcery methods, which was unfortunate. The Barren Sect was defeated quickly. Though they ceased activites and appeared to give up, never showing their face publicly again, they would attempt an assassination every few years. Of course, they failed every time.


    ¡°The Tenth Young Master was lured into the desert, meaning that the women from New Moon Hall are nning something in Jianghu. They will surely me this on Golden Roc Fort. If you ask me, these women were too foolish. Maybe ite from being in the desert too long, their minds are no longer as sharp. Golden Roc Fort is at its peak condition, challenging us is suicide!¡±


    Gu Shenwei now truly understood. The dark robe woman belonged to the Barren Sect, and the red-robed woman must be the apprentice of the New Moon Hall. Only, he was still confused about why New Moon Hall wanted everyone to me Golden Roc Fort for restarting the war. Since treachery was the habit of both sides, why did it matter?


    ¡°No one is free, not even the Supreme King. Their agreement was made in Four Truths Temple and is sacred.¡± Zhang Ji felt that he had said enough, and raising up his cup, drank deeply.


    After their gathering, Gu Shenweimissioned a man in the ck market to send the best wine to Zhang Ji every ten days. Zhang Ji did not refuse. More importantly, he liked that Gu Shenwei had consulted him. The best tasting wine for him was passing on his 10-year cultivated understanding of history to a good student.


    Gu Shenwei was disturbed by the information. The mysterious woman in his dreams must be part of some conspiracy. Some part of New Moon Hall¡¯s sorcery. Gu Shenwei was afraid he might be an unknowing sacrifice.


    Ten days are returning to the fort, he obtained the proof he sought. But, it was not him who was ¡°possessed¡±. It was Shangguan Ru and some other youth.


    The incident happened in bright daylight, which only made it more unbelievable and terrifying.


    Shangguan Ru had been staying with her mother and talking about about the family affairs. It would be the Tenth Young Master¡¯s birthday in less than a month, and she was making demands one after the other, when suddenly, she became quiet, turned and left the room.


    The women there were dumfounded, wondering what kind of trick she was ying.


    Shangguan Yushi stood up almost simultaneously, following her. People thought she wanted to stop Tenth Young Master. Instead, they fell down together at the doorstep, convulsing violently.


    Everyone was scared speechless.


    Seeing her daughter convulsing, Lady Meng became frantic. She immediately sent for the doctor, the Taoist, and monk. The Inner Residence was thrown into an uproar.


    At the same time, the same thing was happening in the ¡°Little g Battalion.¡±


    While Wildhorse was silently exchanging views with his mute followers, his expression abruptly changed, and pushing out of the crowd, seemed to see something strange. After taking ten steps, he fell down and began convulsing, just the like the two Young Masters.


    Liuhua, who was good at hiding his tracks, fell from a tree andy on the ground, until he was finally discovered.


    News of this incident dwarfed the rumor that ve Huan once passed out.


    This four events of ¡°being possessed¡± were not connected until close to midnight. The strange news had finally been circted and someone had realised that those two killers in Little g Battalion had once followed the Tenth Master to the desert.


    Doctor Sun of the Jade City came uphill specially to see the two masters. Four brown-belt assassins, however, were taken into custody and investigated. Several rounds of investigators came and asked almost the same questions. It seemed like they had seldome into contact.


    The forces surrounding the fort were numerous andplicated. Each of them tried to take advantage in the chaos and got hold of the information so that they could profit from it.


    The Eighth Young Master, Shangguan Nu, was not in the fort, thus his uncle, demaster Shen Liang of Heart Cleansing Yard, took the four killers, and imprisoned each of them in different rooms, telling ve Huan and Maid Lotus to keep quiet about it.


    ve Huan and Maid Lotus were suspicious because they were not ¡°possessed¡±. Gu Shenwei told Shen Liang about the mysterious woman and described in detail about how she looked. He knew that he could only survive the crisis by Eight Young Master¡¯s protection.


    However, the four brown-belt assassins escapade was moreplicated than Gu Shenwei could imagine.


    After Doctor Sun¡¯s diagnosis, he confirmed this hade from the New Moon Hall. The doctor was extremely knowledgable, but still have to consult with the public, who did not even recall the name until the doctor introduct it alonside the Barren Sect.


    Doctor Sun also found something strange with the Internal Strength in the bodies of Wildhorse and Liuhua, whereas in the bodies of ve Huan and Maid Lotus, he could only detect Peripheral Force. ¡°Both of these men¡¯s Internal Strength are simr but also different. These two youths are fine, but they won¡¯t live long.¡± The doctor exined. He still remembered ve Huan, and tried to persuade him to get a diagnosis. ¡°You don¡¯t much time now.¡±


    Doctor¡¯s exnation proved Wildhorse and Liuhua¡¯s innocence. However, ve Huan and Maid Lotus had to stay until they could exin how the Peripheral Force hade to be in their Xuanji acupoints.


    Shangguan Nu came to the fort immediately when he heard the news. He guaranteed the innocence of his subordinates, iming that the one who nted the force had already died.


    But things were still not finished though it was confirmed that ve Huan and Maid Lotus were not involved. Other Young Masters also came home to visit their sisters, at least that was their exnation. However, this became a hidden reason for feuds to start. They argued about the two killers, the Barren Sect and the New Moon Hall. They even poked holes in Tenth Young Master¡¯s journey in the desert. They imed this journey meant that the fort had broken the treaty. Not to mention the daughter of the Supreme King now was possessed by New Moon Hall. She could be a hidden danger.


    People began to spread rumours which only existed in the ancient stories, like how the New Moon Hall used sorcery to control people¡¯s mind. They imed the controlled person might even kill his or her parents without any consciousness.


    The battlefield was not ideal either. Golden Roc Fort and Iron Mountain were in the midst of ammassing stocks and provisions and could only send small forces into the desert, with little result and much loss. Shangguan Nu¡¯s capability was under suspicion again.


    The fierce arguments actually saved the life of ve Huan and Maid Lotus.


    When Lady Meng realised that her daughter had be a mere tool and the target of criticism, she flew into a rage. She tore into the White Robe Academy and rebuked the Young Masters for their heaertlessness. Seeing her great anger and ceaseless tears, these masters stopped arguing and dared not even defend themselves.


    The eighth day after the incident, the two masters and four brown-belt assassins went to the Four Truths Temple and seek the help of the Buddha. As Tie Hanfeng said, ¡°My apprentice, you profit in adversity.¡±

 Chapter 124

    Chapter 124: The Scripture


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Jade City was the capital of sins and conspiracies within the whole Western Region. As a result, every resident believed in The Gods. All sorts of templesy inside and outside the city, and people consecrated all kinds of aboriginal gods from every corner of the world there.


    Those hazy Gods, who set themselves high above the masses, were like cinereous vultures feasting on a colossal rotten corpse. The residents of Jade City had a saying, ¡°The more misdeeds hemitted, therger statues he donates,¡± which led to another conclusion, ¡°No sin, no belief.¡± To those monks¡¯ and Taoist priests¡¯fort, there were no sinless people in this city.


    Among numerous temples, Four Truths Temple deserved to be their leader. It had to be located outside the city due to its vast coverage area. Thousands of statues of Buddha and over 3,000 monks were there. Without surprise, the major benefactors were Golden Roc Fort and the Meng family in North City.


    Four Truths Temple was beyond the mundane affairs and seldom involved in mortal trifles. The reason why Gu Shenwei remembered it was that it once made an exception and sent monks to escort an Avenger onto the mountain.


    When Marshal Yang was avenging the Gu family, two monks followed him all the way and disappeared after Marshal Yang died. Gu Shenwei once thought there was animosity between Four Truths Temple and Golden Roc Fort. However, heter realized that this move was to sentence Marshal Yang to death rather than ¡°save¡± him.


    In Four Truths Temple, Marshal Yang took an oath that if he could not go up the mountain to seek vengeance, he would bathe the Jade City in blood. To protect the innocent and rid the fiends, the monks agreed to escort him onto the mountain armed with weapons.


    In Gu Shenwei¡¯s point of view, this was an extremely sophisticated move to ¡°take care of it.¡±


    The fussing affair of ¡°possessed¡± had eventuallye to an end. Lady Meng not only managed to shift the focus of Stone Castle onto her daughter¡¯s treatment but also saved the four brown-belt assassins. ¡°They have shared joys and sorrows with my daughter. Thus, they¡¯re not guilty and deserve to be rewarded.¡±


    Lady Meng personally went to Four Truths Temple in the name of praying. Her team was too vast and mighty to stay in the temple. Therefore, they camped outside.


    ording to Doctor Sun, he could not cure the Tenth Young Master whereas the Exorcism Manuscript might have an extraordinary efficacy. Tie Hanfeng had always been fighting for a treatment for his apprentice, and it turned out he could do nothing when the opportunity came.


    The six youngsters were summoned to the gloomy main hall. Facing many monks and civilians and vague Buddhist statues, Mister Guo from the Whiterobe Academy started pouring out words, proving Shangguan Ru and the others were not killers from Golden Roc Fort, and their entrance did not vite The Agreement.


    ¡°These two are the Misses from the Shangguan family. The four teenagers in Daizi Pavilion are still apprentices and have not achieved the killer title yet. ording to The Agreement¡ª¡± Mister Guo showed a piece of white paper with the words printed from the inscriptions on it, ¡®Killers from Golden Roc Fort shall never enter the desert.¡¯ Take a look at ¡®killers,¡¯ which means the others from Golden Roc Fort can enter at will. However, it was New Moon Hall that raided the two Misses, and this apprentice named ve Huan thought they had to engage in this battle since New Moon Hall were the first to vite the agreement of peace¡­¡±


    When Mister Guo vehemently spoke, the two masters¡ªnow Misses¡ªfrom the Shangguan family did not feel right, because for the first time they don women¡¯s clothes for this affair today. They were uneasy and irritated under the crowds¡¯ eyes.


    They had to be the Miss as the result of a multi-party consideration. Golden Roc Fort needed outside supports in this war among the killers.


    The other four youngsters had prominent brown belts, showing that they were not formal killers.


    ve Huan even had a chance to speak. He described the hazily mysterious woman he had seen and observed the audience, hoping to figure out theplicated rtionships among the forces in the Western Region. However, he was asked to leave before he found out anything.


    The six youngsters quicklypleted their tasks and left the main hall. They heardter that Mister Guo acquired remarkable supports from the crowd. Hence the Supreme King favored him quite a lot.


    While the counselors of Golden Roc Fort were arguing strongly on just grounds to convince the crowd, the youngsters were climbing the mountain to visit a key witness.


    Master Tiger Monk was famous for the vegetarian tiger that always followed him and was called ¡°Tiger Monk.¡± His religious name was Lianxin, which on the contrary was seldom mentioned.


    Also, he kept the Exorcism Manuscript. The most important mission of their trip was to visit this legendary monk.


    Master Tiger Monk did not live in the temple. He built several thatched cottages called ¡°Leftslope Vihara¡± on the left slope and practiced Buddhism there all the time. He wanted peace and quiet. Therefore, a receptionist led them to the cottages on foot.


    Shangguan Ru kept pulling her clothes all along. She was distraught due to her ridiculous female dress and her uing possibly-ruined 13th birthday. To tell the public that the ¡°Tenth Young Master¡± was only a joke, she could not acquire the ¡°Young Master¡± title, not to mention setting up an academy to raise killers.


    Seeing her brother Shangguan Fei having all these, she became even more upset and began to smash trees and grasses, killing all those innocent insects. Shangguan Yushi could not make her happy either until she thought about seeing the vegetarian tiger.


    The youngsters thought that this eminent monk had to be an old one with a solemn face and a withering body. After meeting him, they found him a handsome middle-aged monk. The only mark left by his penance was his almost transparent pale skin. He modestly treated people neither pedantically nor arrogantly, as if he had small talks with them, regarding every person equally. Usually, he personally handed over six bowls of fresh water to his guests and amiably talked about thetest news.


    Master Tiger Monk was quite interested in the giant roc which troubled Stone Castle months ago and seemingly wanted to tame it. Gu Shenwei doubted that the giant red-crowned roc would be into him.


    The youngsters saw the well-known tiger lying on its stomach beside the monk. It breathed through a big scary mouth, with the ups and downs of its belly like a bellow, and it seemed bored.


    ¡°A vegetarian tiger almost equals to a killer without his saber,¡± Gu Shenwei thought. There was no saber on him, and he suddenly felt agitated and struggled to keep calm.


    After 60 minutes of chitchat, they got down to business. Master Tiger Monk turned around, took out a t cloth-wrapper, and opened it. A y b filled with small and closely-written characters came into sight. Clear signs showed that a half of the piece seemed to have been missing.


    Shangguan Ru shifted her eyes from the tiger to the y b. ¡°Is this the Exorcism Manuscript?¡±


    Master Tiger Monk caressed the y b and said, ¡°Exactly. This scripture was written by an unrivaled master. As time flew, the master died along with hisnguage. It was not until 300 yearster that some expert decrypted its words and tranted it into the Central innguage. However, this expert decided to keep the pronunciation instead of meaning. Therefore, although the scripture looks like sentences, its actual meaning has been long gone.¡±


    Shangguan Ru stared at the y b in confusion. ¡°Without meaning, is it still able to exorcise?¡±


    The monkughed while shaking his head. ¡°This is exactly the profound meaning of the scripture. The expert was concerned that if people were too focused on the literal meanings and mistook false for true, they would eventually be possessed instead of exorcising. So, he intentionally hid the true meanings. Still, some original words have passed down. Since you are from Golden Roc Fort, you must be familiar with them.¡±


    The monk reversed the y b and pointed at the first line, which was printed as ¡°ÔÆÄàÎÞ·Ö±ðÁú»¢ÎÞ·½µÈÓÐÇéÇé²»ÓÐÄϿ·¥ÀâÒ¶.¡± However, the monk said, ¡°The soul rises to the Ninth Heaven, and the spirit falls to the Ninth Abysse. The living suffer in grief, and the dead settle in peace.¡±


    ¡°Death Scripture!¡± Almost simultaneously, these youngsters blurted out in unison. These specific words were said when people died in Golden Roc Fort.


    ¡°Right, the scripture is named Nanke Goes Woodchopping, which means the dead reborn in Purnd and would be blessed. There¡¯s nothing wrong to call it Death Scripture. ¡±


    Shangguan Ru scratched her hair on the temples and said, ¡°I see. Those wordse from Death Scripture. All these years saying the words, I don¡¯t even know the meaning.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. It¡¯s not one of those Buddhist books and records, and few know of this book.¡±


    Subsequently, Master Tiger Monk started to impart the scripture. There were only more than 1,000 words on the y b, but all words were transliterated and looked profound, inducing readers to explore their meanings, hence forgetting to recite the scripture. Plus, some pronunciations were extremely bizarre, such as ¡°ren¡± instead of ¡°yun.¡± One would only make further mistakes without a teacher.


    Master Tiger Monk taught them word by word, while the youngsters memorized the pronunciations, and the mute Wildhorse was told to read in mind.


    The six youngsters had stayed in Leftslope Vihara for a full seven days until they could recite the scripture fluently.


    Shangguan Ru did not care much about her being ¡°possessed,¡± and she only wanted to y with the tiger. After three days of making acquaintance with it, she finally stroked its head along with its beard on the following day. She was thrilled and thought this was far more interesting than those ghost exorcising scriptures.


    Shangguan Yushi stayed close to Shangguan Ru. She dared to approach it but not to touch it.


    Wildhorse spent more time practicing his kung fu. The rule did not allow weapons onto the mountain. As a result, he broke a handy tree branch and stroke and cut the air with it himself.


    As to Liuhua, as usual, he disappeared soon after they arrived, and he only showed up during meals and at bedtime.


    Only Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had been earnestly reciting Death Scripture and asking every pronunciation repeatedly. Until the end, Master Tiger Monk spent more than half of his time teaching the two.


    In fact, the two were not only interested in the scriptures on the y b but also astounded.


    The moment the monk disyed the y b, they both found out that they had already thoroughly memorized the scripture, which was on thest few pages of the Nameless Swordbook. There were 4,000 or 5,000 words on the book, yet only about 1,000 were on this half y b.


    Since then, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus called Nameless Swordbook the Death Scripture. Too many questions arose in their hearts. ¡°Is the scripture¡¯s true meaning a cultivation method of Internal Strength? What is the story among it, Golden Roc Fort, and Master Tiger Monk? How did it fall into the abyss and why was it kept by two giant golden-crowned rocs?¡±


    The two privately discussed these for a long time, yet ended up with nothing. Anyhow, they knew the scripture was amazingly effective. Even when they wrongly pronounced their ¡°Peripheral Force¡± in the Xuanji acupoint was turned into the Internal Strength in Dantian. Would it be even better if they could pronounce the scripture correctly?


    The two youngsters had to ask a favor from Master Tiger Monk, which led to him to his death.

 Chapter 125

    Chapter 125: The Protectors


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Master Tiger Monk had half his body bitten off by the vegetarian tiger he kept. This incident caused a considerable stir in Jade City. What was worse, it happened on thest day when the six ¡°possessed¡± youngsters¡¯ were studying the Exorcism Manuscript from the monk, ushering in a train of thoughts among people.


    ording to the words of the acolyte who served meals every day, Shangguan Ru liked to tease the tiger and feed it everything. He once saw the little girl stuffing insects into its mouth, thus forcing it to break its vegetarian habit.


    Hearing this, Shangguan Ru felt herself being wronged, flushed with fury, and almost breaking into tears in front of the others. Since then, she had poor impressions of the monks in Four Truths Temple.


    She felt sorrowful for the Master¡¯s death. The monk was different. He had never sermonized or pressed on her. Even when she was teasing and ying with the tiger he did not say anything.


    She missed the vegetarian tiger even more. She spent so much time in getting along with it, yet it acted upon its instincts and ran away in the end. However, she was the only one who thought the tiger was innocent.


    Lady Meng on the other hand, thought that her daughter was frightened, andined in private that those monks of Four Truths Temple were too careless to let the Tenth Young Master stay with an untamed beast for seven days. Therefore, she took her daughter back to the castle and was determined to keep her close for some time.


    The tiger escaped deep into the mountains after eating its master. Many people tried to search the mountains and revenge the monk but none of these searches beared fruit.


    However, the eminent monks in Four Truths Temple did not me this on anyone. What they believed was that this was Master Tiger Monk¡¯s predestined fate, and that he had merely harvested the fruit that his previous life sowed.


    Only Gu Shenwei knew that Maid Lotus was behind the whole incident.


    The Death Scripture that Master Tiger Monk taught did have effects. Even the mute Wildhorse felt calmness inside while reciting it. Although his Internal Strength had not increased, his ability to resist the devil inside seemed to have improved considerably.


    Nheless, nobody was able to tell if it could crack the evil secrets of New Moon Hall until next time somebody passed out.


    Gu Shenwei had wanted to learn the entire correct pronunciation of the scripture from Master Tiger Monk. However, he lived in the same room with the other two youngsters, making histe night egress suspicious.


    Maid Lotus lived in her cottage alone, hence only she could conduct the mission.


    It was not until they got back to Jade City that Maid Lotus had a chance to tell ve Huan the whole story.


    Maid Lotus wrote down thest few pages of Death Scripture and handed over a part of her writings to Tiger Monk in the secondte night.


    With a quick nce, Master Tiger Monk was astounded. He knew that this was the remaining parts of Death Scripture, because he had already thoroughly recited the quarter of the scripture he kept.


    Maid Lotus then made a deal with Master Tiger Monk¡ªhe would teach her the right pronunciation, while she would hand over theplete Death Scripture on the premise of him keeping it secret. As to the swordcraft in the scripture, she did not mention it.


    Master Tiger Monk had been studying the words on the y b for years, and it took him several days to figure out the correct pronunciation of the entire scripture. Later, he taught all of them to Maid Lotus, yet vited the promise of keeping it secret.


    The monk had his thoughts on theplete Death Scripture through his study of it, however, he could not thoroughlyprehend the whole picture of it. He finally decided to hand over theplete scripture to the elder masters in Four Truths Temple, yet told Maid Lotus in advance.


    ¡°I had to kill him.¡± Maid Lotus exined to ve Huan. ¡°Four Truths Temple is closely rted to Stone Castle. If the scripture leaks, we will be exposed for sure.¡±


    When they were on the mountain, Maid Lotus caught a rabbit and fed it to the tiger, and she found out the tiger was able to eat meat.


    In thest night of their stay, Maid Lotus stabbed the monk to death, took theplete scripture, and induced the tiger to eat half of his corpse in order to destroy the sign of a stab wound.


    The tiger ran away, and Shangguan Ru became the major suspect, making Maid Lotus¡¯ n wless.


    Gu Shenwei agreed with her n. It was the only choice and also the way killers acted.


    Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi were taken back to Stone Castle, while the four brown-belt assassins stayed at South City, waiting for another mission.


    They were assigned to several formal killers as their assistants to inquire intelligence and eliminate hidden troubles. On appearance, this arrangement was only to prove the four were not ¡°killers¡±, and therefore they were upied with nothing every day.


    They stayed in South City as bait.


    New Moon Hall came back to jianghu with a deration of war. However, they disappeared after the mysterious women nted the ¡°evil spirit¡± into the youngsters. Moreover, both killers from Golden Roc Fort and Iron Mountain troops had in some Barren Sect members in the desert, yet had not seen a single trace of New Moon Hall members.


    Whiterobe Academy was the think tank of Golden Roc Fort. Counselors discussed and resulted in a consensus that the New Moon Hall members had already mingled into Jade City. Therefore, they nned to let the inferior brown-belt assassins induce the enemy to show up.


    The ¡°evil spirit¡± inside the four brown-belt assassins had not been fully exorcised yet, making them the ideal bait.


    None told the youngsters the truth, yet the moment Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus heard that they were to stay at South City, they guessed their purpose. They only had a short conversation before they were brought away by the killers. The youngsters had to stay at different ces to attract the enemy in a broader area.


    The killer assigned to Gu Shenwei was his Master Shifu Tie Hanfeng, who verified Gu Shenwei¡¯s guess and was not concerned at all. ¡°This is our chance. We are the killers from Golden Roc Fort. We¡¯re not afraid of some weaklings. Come as they may, I¡¯ll kill ¡¯em all. When ites to taking care of women, I¡¯ve got my ways. I¡¯ll teach you when you get old enough. Haha.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng also wanted to train his apprentice as a business partner, thus he took this chance to get Gu Shenwei to familiarize with the rules and surroundings in South City. He lodged in a brothel at Pleasure Alley, and went to different taverns, betting arenas, and brothels, letting ve Huan make acquaintances with various kinds of people.


    Although these people might not be kung fu experts, they had a major influence in Jade City. Their influences wove an intricate web of connections, which was tenacious and concealed. Without an acquaintance, an outsider barely stood a chance to get into the web.


    To ¡°kill safely¡± and make some money, one had to locate himself on this web first.


    Most of them were brokers or safeguards of a certain business and were called ¡°Protectors¡± by those insiders. These businesses were insanely tricky, and they often surprised Gu Shenwei. For example, the Protector of the rice and flour trade was a skinny old man, said to be one of the most powerful people in South City. He had not run any business, only collected ¡°protection fees¡± monthly, and guaranteed thriving business and no customer credits. Anyone who wanted to safely sell rice or flour in South City had to pay a visit to him before the business opened.


    Any necessities in Jade City were sold three or four times the prices of that in the other ces. Hence, a lot of wholesalers came here, leading to the rise of the Protectors¡¯ power.


    Gu Shenwei had always thought that swords and sabers dominated South City, and this Master Shifu mocked. ¡°You stupid little boy. You¡¯re just like those machetemen who have crawled to South City with mud all over their clothes, hoping to have good wines and women only because of your good machete skills. The truth is, even the well beings are just a bunch of hitmen, and the rest of them are just some rabbits for us to kill for fun.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng introduced Gu Shenwei to almost half of the Protectors, only to tell Gu Shenwei one fact. ¡°Jade City is no different from the other ces. Gold and silver dominate everything. Ah, f*ck, the perfect death for me is to be drowned in gold or die beside a woman on the softest bed, either of those two and not under a sword or saber.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng was of great attainments regarding kung fu. Gu Shenwei was uncertain whether he could kill him even after practicing Death Scripture . However, this cripple was also a killer who cared the least about machete skills. He was typically more negative towards thingspared to Wildhorse and Liuhua.


    However, these days were beneficial to Gu Shenwei. He knew much better about Jade City and found out Golden Roc Fort and the Meng family did not have full control in here. With the rise of their status and ambition, the two powers sprang up to the clouds, far away from the muddy streets in South City, giving small powers the opportunity to get in and grow. Although those small powers had numerous connections with Stone Castle, they maintained their independence.


    Tie Hanfeng himself was sort of a Protector. He served several big Protectors, hiring bodyguards, clearing checkpoints, collecting bills, punishing rascals, and sometimes killing people.


    ¡°You must be very careful when you walk in South City, because you may offend someone heedlessly. Some patient who has trouble breathing may be a major Protector. If you stared at him, on the next day, his subordinates wille to cut you with sabers. There are always some idiots who believe the bullsh*t tales that they can kill at will here. In the end, they don¡¯t even know the name of the one they have offended when they die.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was a bit flushed. He used to be such an ¡°idiot¡± and had not settled those troubles he had caused yet.


    There were many Protectors like Tie Hanfeng. People could hang around in their ces, but had to trade lives for doing businesses there. Tie Hanfeng¡¯s central ce was Southwall Tavern, of which the manager was a Protector and also one of his biggest patrons.


    Tie Hanfeng had been carefully expanding his business. A few months ago, he managed to buy a streetside storied building in Pleasure Alley, and solicited a prostitute named Xu Yanwei in it.


    Gu Shenwei remembered that he had saved the Xu siblings twicest year. Anyhow, he had not expected that they would fall into Cripple Tie¡¯s ¡°devilish hands¡± in the name of ve Huan.


    ¡°The owner of this building is Yang Huan.¡± Tie Hanfeng stood at the doorway and proudly introduced it to his apprentice.


    It had never urred to Gu Shenwei that he would own a brothel out of nowhere. He dreamed to be a killer, and the dream would be a joke sooner orter, as long as he stayed with his Master Shifu.


    He had also a vague picture about Tie Hanfeng¡¯s intention. The cripple might be ¡°buying over¡± him, and let him take charge of his business after hepletely retired, hoping Gu Shenwei would support himter in life.


    Gu Shenwei thought, ¡°I may fail Master Shifu again.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had not seen the experts from New Moon Hall or Barren Sect until the eighth day of acting as bait, when he went to kill people with Master Shifu and found the enemy¡¯s trace.

 Chapter 126

    Chapter 126: The Mission


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    A South City noodle vendor had broken his leg. As a result, a master and his disciple were paid to hunt down a macheteman.


    Neither the master or the disciple knew the vendor. They did not know who he was, or what kind of person he was. Neither did the vendor know them; he requested simply the machetemen¡¯s one finger. In the end, he received a head.


    Only the broker, a major Protector knew how the ident happened. In fact, the prostitute he frequented was having an affair with a handsome machetemen. She had been wasting his money on another man. This irritated the major Protector a lot. However, the handsome machetemen had powerful connections. So the Protector transferred his anger on another machetemen that had no connection to this incident whatsoever.


    The unlucky machetemen lived in a vige on the fringe of town. It was full of tramp machetemen from different ces. They were either hunted, or were as poor as Job. They only had their own lives and chipped machetes, in search of opportunities in this ¡°Land of Sword and Saber¡±.


    The machetemen Nie Qing was new here for less than two months. He asionally acted as temporary bodyguards for wealthy merchants. Therefore, he did not have powerful connections yet. In Tie Hanfeng¡¯s eyes, he was an easy target.


    On the day, it was raining for thest time this autumn. It poured in the morning, and drizzled in the evening. The temperature dropped at dusk, and few pedestrians were on the street.


    A dirty kid ran to Southwall Tavern in the rain. He whispered to Tie Hanfeng, and ran away with some taels of silver.


    Tie Hanfeng sipped a drink. ¡°He¡¯d be home all day. Don¡¯t worry, wait till the rain stops.¡±


    But it did not stop even at noon. Tie Hanfeng sighed. ¡°God just won¡¯t let you go forth smoothly. Come on, we¡¯ll finish the bastard today anyway.¡±


    They borrowed rain capes from the tavern, and picked up two sabers stored in a small room.


    The sabers were impable products from Golden Roc Fort, left by some unknown killers.


    On the way, Tie Hanfeng first started toin about the weather. Then, he described his wonderful retirement life: To live in big North City residences, to sleep with Pleasure Alley prostitutes, to drink Southwall liquor, and never touch a saber again. He would probably have a son or whatever.


    Tie Hanfeng had grown interested in washing his handstely. He cited several sessful and failed examples. Not all Golden Roc Fort killers died by the sword, many of them died a natural death. But he had to prepare early. Most of them were penniless when they were deprived of the killer title. In the end, they could only live in small houses on a hillside, and depended on Stone Castle¡¯s little sries. They could barely make ends meet, even couldn¡¯t drink in town.


    Some killers had to resume their work as killers, but never as a ¡°Golden Roc Fort killer¡±. Hence they had to join the tramp machetemen. That way, they could never tell if someday they would die by the sword of the new generation of killers.


    ¡°I will never live such a life.¡± Tie Hanfeng vowed. The rain fell on his face. He did not take notice of that.


    Some sessful killers had saved enough money before retirement. Some went out of the town. Some bought houses in North City and enjoyed the safety that was given living under Golden Roc Fort. That way, they would live their remaining years in peace.


    Hearing this, Gu Shenwei became restless. ¡°If the killer is such an ordinary profession, am I driven away from my revenge now?¡±


    He had been worried these days. He feared that he would listen to Master Shifu¡¯s teaching, that he would die as a killer in North City. What top killers, what revenge? He feared that he might leave it all behind.


    When they were two blocks away from Nie Qing¡¯s home, Tie Hanfeng kept his mouth shut. He looked around, holding on his saber handle. In an instant, he turned from a weary old man to a ruthless killer.


    They didn¡¯t need to converse too much. Tie Hanfeng led the way, and Gu Shenwei followed him 10 steps away. On the cold cement road, after two turns, they finally arrived in front of a small yard.


    It was a simple yard. Its walls were low. Thus, Tie Hanfeng jumped over. Gu Shenwei looked around, and also jumped into the yard.


    Due to the pouring rain, the yard had turned into a pond. Listening in front of the door for a while, Tie Hanfeng walked in.


    The two people looked at the strangers in amazement.


    ¡°Who are you? How did you get in?¡± A woman in her 30s coldly asked. She put down the dough. Then, she seemed to realize something, and added, ¡°He¡¯s gone out to drink.¡± She resumed with the dough.


    Gu Shenwei stood at the door, watching for the outside. He only nced at the boy in the room.


    The boy was skinny and dark, and looked like he had practiced kung fu. He was in front of his mother protecting her, wordless.


    Tie Hanfeng looked into the back room and grunted. ¡°The bastard gave me wrong intelligence again.¡±


    The woman dropped the dough and pushed her son away. ¡°You guys work out on your own. Don¡¯t drag me and my son into this. We can¡¯t help, and we don¡¯t want to.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng nodded but didn¡¯t answer. Instead, he asked the boy behind, ¡°How old are you?¡±


    ¡°14.¡± The boy coldly replied.


    ¡°14, it¡¯s time for you to take on the sense of revenge due to your father.¡±


    The woman¡¯s countenance changed. The boy still didn¡¯t know what would happen. He took a stand and proudly said, ¡°You can¡¯t beat my dad. If you kill him, I¡¯ll revenge¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± The woman snapped. ¡°Your dad is a macheteman, he risks his life. He¡¯ll die someday. What revenge?¡±


    The boy blushed. ¡°I am also a macheteman. I will protect him.¡±


    ¡°Fetch your machete.¡± Tie Hanfeng ordered.


    As the boy turned to the back room, Tie Hanfeng rushed to him and hit the boy in the neck. The boy fell to the ground, lying motionless.


    The woman grabbed her kitchen knife, rushing to the killer screaming.


    Tie Hanfeng casually dropped her knife. Then held her neck and covered her mouth. ¡°Finish the kid, I have other things to do.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was familiar with Tie Hanfeng¡¯s countenance now. However, he was uglier than ever. ¡°Is it necessary?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    The disciple¡¯s challenge surprised him. ¡°Of course it is. It saves me dozens of taels. You know how expensive they are. Besides, this woman is dying, wouldn¡¯t it be a waste?¡±


    ¡°I think we¡¯re killers.¡± Gu Shenwei epted battered bodies, but found it hard to ept his Master Shifu¡¯s action now.


    ¡°Damn you, don¡¯t y the good guy. Save it. If someone interrupts me, or the boy is still alive afterward, you can call it a day. I¡¯ll show you how a good guy ends up.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng took the woman into the back room. Quickly, there came struggling, crying and panting.


    The boy on the ground gained consciousness. Then, he wiped off the blood on his forehead. He shouted ¡°Mom¡± and dashed toward the back room. However, as soon as he took one step, he was knocked down again. Gu Shenwei was pointing the saber towards the teens heart.


    Gu Shenwei tried to focus on his saber. He told himself. ¡°I can¡¯t help him. Even if I were to free him, Cripple Tie will hunt him down. The only thing I can do now is spare him the torture.¡±


    The boy got up and was knocked down again. The kung fu he learned from his dad was defenseless in front of a killer.


    Hearing the sound from the back room, the boy on the ground raised his head. He ced his neck against the saber and said, ¡°Kill me, my aunt will avenge.¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked at him and stabbed the saber in.


    Tie Hanfeng walked out of the back room, his cape missing. He wiped his hands with the dishcloth on the shelf. Sitting on the kitchen range, he looked at the boy¡¯s body and said, ¡°Wait for a moment, he¡¯lle home.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stood beside the door. He murmured a ¡°yes¡± and looked at the dough.


    It was pouring outside, yet it was eerily silent inside.


    ¡°People are flesh and bones.¡± Tie Hanfeng spoke up, lecturing like he used to. ¡°People are no different than stocks. The saber goes in, the person dies. Every man, every woman and child, you, and me, we all die someday. People are born to kill each other.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t say a word. Before he could defeat his Master Shifu, he would never argue. In his eyes, people led a different life, a life he used to live but was ruined by Golden Roc Fort overnight. He would never see his dead loved ones as flesh and bones. Without the love for the family, the endeavors now would be meaningless, the hardships and disgrace he used to bear would crush him in a second.


    Tie Hanfeng stared at his disciple, his cheeks slightly working. He had finally cheered up from the drizzle, now it was ruined by this boy. He said, ¡°I have ways to fix you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had learned Master Shifu¡¯s sticks and stones, thus he did not care too much.


    It got dark early, and the rain slowly stopped. Silence fell both inside and outside of the room. The two killers waited patiently for their target.


    Someone pushed the courtyard door open and stumbled in. The water sshed like it was being walked on by a bear. The ¡°bear¡± shouted. ¡°Where¡¯s mydy? I¡¯m back, don¡¯t y dumb. Little brat, where are you? I may as well raise a dog. Dogs wee me every day¡­¡±


    Nie Qing was drunk as he pushed the door open. He staggered at the door, adapting to the dark. He became furious when he first saw an unfamiliar old man on the kitchen range. Then, he saw the body on the ground. Immediately he knew what had happened. He yelled and drew out his machete.


    Before he could draw the machete, a saber from behind pierced him in the waist. He was pierced through, and he could even see the de itself in front of him.


    Nie Qing opened his mouth and couldn¡¯t think straight. He started to stagger backwards, and his hands scrambled to grab the de that pierced through him, but in vain.


    Gu Shenwei pulled out the saber, and the body fell forward. At the same time, Tie Hanfeng darted to grab at the hair and cut his head. He didn¡¯t even interrupt the body¡¯s falling.


    He put the saber away and drew a ck cloth to wrap up the head. He handed it over to his disciple.


    The two people looked around in front of the yard. Then, they left after confirming no one was watching.


    On the road, a sneaky young man fetched the head. The task was finished.


    They returned to Xu Yanwei¡¯s loft. Xu Xiaoyi opened the door. Seeing their long faces, he did not greet them cheekily like he used to.


    ¡°Where¡¯s your sister?¡± asked Tie Hanfeng.


    ¡°She¡¯s upstairs.¡±


    ¡°Any customer?¡±


    ¡°Not yet, they¡¯lle soon.¡±


    ¡°Well, send my disciple up. Let her teach him how to be a man.¡±


    This was Tie Hanfeng¡¯s idea of ¡°fixing¡± his disciple.

 Chapter 127

    Chapter 127: Suspicion


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The Xu sister and brother knew very well who was the real master and backer.


    Xu Xiaoyi had already heard of the title Cripple Tie, so he and his sister tried their best to please the half-protector at Southwall Tavern during thest winter. Since the hope to be noblemen in the Stone Kingdom had gone, they had to find a protector to survive in South City.


    Tie Hanfeng had personally verified Xu Yanwei¡¯s ability and felt that she was worth making use of. Therefore, he rented a small building at Pleasure Alley for her to continue to work. He also helped the sister and brother to repay all debts to Golden Roc Fort and the Meng family.


    All these had been done in the name of ¡°Yang Huan.¡± Nominally, most of the money earned by the Xu siblings had to be handed over to ve Huan, but actually, it was under the custody of Tie Hanfeng.


    Therefore, during these days when Gu Shenwei lived in the brothel, not only was Xu Xiaoyi too hospitable to ¡°Brother Huan,¡± but also Xu Yanwei changed her attitude, behaving as delicately as she was when they met her and not talking in a clear-cut way.


    asionally, she would reveal her true features and told ¡°Mr. Huan¡± that the guests liked shy prostitutes. Although she had been doing this for five years, every time when a stranger came, he would take her as a new girl and pay her much more money.


    The only change in Xu Yanwei was that she no longer received guests with special hobbies. She was now a ¡°normal¡± prostitute. Tie Hanfeng introduced some guests at the beginning, but soon more guests kepting for her reputation. Although she was not the hottest prostitute of Pleasure Alley, she was already very popr.


    Xu Xiaoyi quit stealing and served as an attendant to his sister¡¯s guests or did some legwork for Tie Hanfeng. He didn¡¯t care that ¡°Brother Huan¡± is going to sleep with his sister, in fact, he was even happy about it because it showed that they had been ¡°closer.¡±


    ¡°Sister, don¡¯t receive guests tonight!¡± Xu Xiaoyi shouted loud.


    ¡°The old goat wants it again? He still has to pay me.¡± Xu Yanwei said unhappiness when walking out of the room.


    Xu Yanwei always slept until the afternoon and then got up for prinking herself up. At such time, she was often in a lousy mood and tended to tell the truth. Tie Hanfeng¡¯sment for her was, ¡°you are only a step away from being a first-ss whore of Pleasure Alley.¡±


    The ¡°old goat¡± and his apprentice were ring at each other angrily and ignored Xu Yanwei upstairs. Xu Xiaoyi found it abnormal and said with a smile, ¡°It¡¯s not Mr. Tie, it¡¯s Mr. Huan.¡±


    Xu Yanwei went nk for a while and then said with a smile, ¡°This is interesting. It¡¯s OK without payment.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s anger kept escting. What he could not ept was not losing his virginity, but that Tie Hanfeng still took him as a child and wanted to control everything, including his ideas.


    The machete was just at his waist, and the power of the swordcraft in Death Scripture will be significantly reduced when the mood was unstable. So Gu Shenwei constrained his anger and stabilized his mind so as tounch a decisive hit.


    Feeling the imminent murderous atmosphere, the siblings dared not speak. Xu Xiaoyi retreated to the wall and stood there. Rich experience of making a living in the streets had taught him a truth: when people with machetes were about to fight, he must never try to open his mouth to mediate, just looking on was the best choice.


    There was nothing that a killer should owe his master, with such an idea in mind, Gu Shenwei reached for the handle.


    However, he still underestimated Tie Hanfeng¡¯s strength.


    When his chin was punched, Gu Shenwei¡¯s right hand was still an inch away from the machete handle. The cripple¡¯s boxing skills were as good as his machete skills. There was hardly any routine, just one punch after another, seemingly slow but just unavoidable.


    Gu Shenwei has a wealth of experience in being beaten, so he did not hide and just took on his master¡¯s attack. They both tried their utmost to attack without any defense. After only a while, their faces were both seriously injured, with blood sttered. The Xu siblings looked frightened and dared not say anything even if they wanted to stop them.


    They stopped almost at the same time, and each took a step back, gasping but still ring at each other angrily.


    Trying to break the awkward silence, Xu Xiaoyi pped his hands and crying out, ¡°The fight was just¡­wonderful.¡±


    Coming back to earth, Xu Yanwei, standing upstairs, said with a sneer, ¡°I¡¯ve seen a lot of men fighting for me, but it¡¯s the first time in my life that two men were fighting to avoid sleeping with me.¡±


    Someone was knocking on the door, Xu Xiaoyi looked at ¡°Mr. Tie¡± and ¡°Mr. Gu,¡± not knowing what to do.


    ¡°Open the door,¡± ordered Tie Hanfeng, kind of allowing Xu Yanwei to receive the guest. The apprentice¡¯s virginity was temporarily preserved.


    The master and the apprentice then hid in the bedroom downstairs, where they usually stayed. After finding gauze to wipe the blood, the two people, one standing and one sitting, did not talk to each other for quite a while.


    ¡°You¡¯re just too¡­what the hell are you thinking about?¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s bemused look made Tie Hanfeng puzzled, wondering whether he had fought so hard that his pupil¡¯s brain had been damaged.


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking¡­how many machetewomen are there in the city?¡± Gu Shenwei took a long breath, seemingly not joking.


    Why machetewomen? Why not prostitutes? Listen, there¡¯s no difference between prostitutes and machetewomen except that thetter may have scars on the bodies.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head and said, ¡°No, I was thinking about what the child said, ¡®aunt will revenge us.''¡±


    Although he was no older than the teenager, he regarded him as a child.


    Tie Hanfeng was a bit stunned, he didn¡¯t expect that his disciple could think of this, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, children always talk big to scare people. Anyway, if he does have an aunt, I¡¯ll take care of her unless she was too ugly.¡±


    ¡°No, I mean few women are practicing Kung Fu, right?¡± ording to the knowledge of Gu Shenwei, few women practiced Fung Ku, except those in the Golden Roc Fort.


    ¡°Not many, even in the whole Western Region, and most of them are in the Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    ¡°There are more female killers in the New Moon Hall and the Barren Sect than in the Stone Castle.¡±


    It was until then that Tie Hanfeng understood what his disciple meant. Heughed and said, ¡°Do you think his aunt is a female killer just for a few words of a child?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    Tie Hanfeng looked at his disciple in astonishment, bing more skeptical that his brain had been damaged. ¡°Sometimes you are quite smart, but sometimes you are ¡­ too smart. You are too serious about what the Stone Castle had taught you and have be so suspicious. So tell me, is there someone hiding in the bed? Is the guest upstairs an assassin from the Stone Kingdom? Has Xu Xiaoyi been bribed to poison us? By the way, I heard people talking about the ¡®iron shop¡¯ yesterday, does this mean someone wants to plot against me?¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t answer. His being suspicious was not taught by the Golden Roc Fort, but was intended to deal with the Golden Roc Fort, ¡°When I held the saber, the child¡¯s eyes ¡­ he knew it was a saber of the Golden Roc Fort, but he still said confidently, ¡®aunt will revenge us.¡¯ There have been no people from the New Moon Hall for several days, so I think why not take the initiative to find them, which is better than do nothing as a bait.¡±


    ¡°Just do whatever you want for the investigation.¡± Tie Hanfeng was very unhappy because he failed to convince his disciple on several matters in a row. After a short period of silence, he said, ¡°You are really a troublemaker. How many troubles have you made and how many people have you offended since you entered the Stone Castle? There are so many apprentices like you, but none of them have so more enemies than you, Do you know why? Your problem is that you are too suspicious and ambitious. You always refuse to settle for being a ve or a killer. You¡¯ve been running too fast and standing in the way of the others, which will make you die sooner orter.¡±


    Gu Shenwei also knew this, but as a teenager who wanted to take revenge on the whole Golden Roc Fort that had destroyed his family, how could there be any possibility if he was not so suspicious and ambitious enough?


    ¡°I need your help,¡± said Gu Shenwei. In the South City, he could not get any clue without the guidance of Cripple Tie, and he was tired of waiting passively for the enemy toe. Because he had a painful experience of losing the initiative, he always thought about taking it back.


    Tie Hanfeng frowned. He was more willing to take this opportunity to consolidate his private business, ¡°All right, don¡¯t waste too much of my time.¡±


    ¡°I would not. I want to ask Nie Qing¡¯s friends first. He must have some acquaintances here since he had brought his whole family to the Jade City.¡±


    In order to kill Nie Qing, the macheteman, Tie Hanfeng had gotten enough information about him, ¡°Nie Qing came from the Northeastern Soldiers Camp, where there are many poor people and stupid machetemen, who had swarmed into the South City like rats. Piles of people dying before their eyes cannot wake them up. He must have acquaintances who are so familiar with him that they can even betray him. Let¡¯s go to the Toad Tavern, where there are a lot of such people.¡±


    When the master and disciple left the brothel, they were so kind to each other and even made way for each other at the door, which made Xu Xiaoyi speechless with surprise. He just kept shaking and nodding his head after closing the door, even failing to hear the shouts of the guests upstairs.


    The Toad Tavern was located at the edge of the city, not far from the vige. Tie Hanfeng was very familiar with the shopkeeper although it was not a ce under his control.


    It was alreadyte at night when they arrived at the tavern, where there were so busy and noise as it was just at the peak hours.


    Tie Hanfeng greeted the shopkeeper warmly, andter, he pulled the disciple aside and said. ¡°He can¡¯t reveal any information because it is a rule. You have to find it out by yourself.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng pushed on his disciple¡¯s shoulder, wondering what this suspicious disciple could find out by himself.


    Small as it is, the tavern has so many guests. Dozens of rough machetemen were spending the best time of the day here,peting with drinking and machete skills, bragging and talking about women, as if everything in their dreams had been realized.


    Gu Shenwei knew none of them, and without the introduction by Tie Hanfeng, no one care such gloomy-looking teenager at all.


    ¡°Nie Qing!¡± Gu Shenwei shouted so loudly that even the noise in the tavern was drowned out. He had been standing here for quite a while, and he had to do something.


    After a period of silence, all guests turned to the teenager without a word, and then they suddenly turned back to continue chatting, as if the teenager was transparent and nothing had happened.


    Tie Hanfeng stood in the distance, shaking his head but with a smile on his face. He thought that someone should teach the stupid disciple a lesson so that he could understand the rules for living in the South City.


    Two guests called the waiter to check out, but Gu Shenwei suddenly went over to sit before them. He took off the saber and put it on the table, ¡°There¡¯s so much wine left, wouldn¡¯t you finish it before leaving?¡±


    Tie Hanfeng scolded in his mind. He didn¡¯t expect that his disciple could really find the two guys, who could hardly retain theirposure and revealed themselves when attempting to leave after hearing the name ¡°Nie Qing.¡±


    (Seeking for collection and rmendation)

 Chapter 128

    Chapter 128: Disheartened


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    To an assassin, it was a mistake to know too much about his victim¡¯s life.


    All it took for the two machetemen, who had lived dubiously in South City for many years, to reveal everything was a good sk of wine and a saber of the Golden Roc Fort. Although Gu Shenwei¡¯s face was badly scarred from all the fighting he had done, it seemed to conceal his age and made him appear a lot older than he was.


    The two of them were from the same vige as Nie Qing ¨C Soldiers Camp in the northeast.


    Many years ago, when the power of the Central in was at its peak, it set up many garrisons in the Western Region for its troops, which totaled more than a hundred thousand men. This gave it hegemony over nearly all countries at that time. When it returned to the Western Region after thirty years in Hedong and another thirty in Hexi, its troops had been reduced to only a few thousand, and Soldiers Camp, one of its garrisons, had been almost entirely abandoned.


    Soldiers Camp had turned into an ordinary vige. Putting away their armor, the remaining soldiers had be farmers, married and had children with the locals. Over time, in convergence with the locals, their manner of dress and way of life became increasingly unsophisticated. The only thing which did not falter was their military spirit. Most families kept weapons, such that the first piece of iron that a male baby touched upon entering the world was either a knife or a spear.


    Nie Qing was one such child born in a Soldiers Camp. His parents died early, leaving him behind to his elder brother and sister, and a younger sister. Adhering to the traditions of Soldiers Camp, he practiced martial arts from a young age and became a farmer when he grew up. He never showed a hint of jealousy, at least not publicly, when he saw his youth¡¯spanions venture out into the world, return to the vige rich, or pass away in a foreign ce.


    This continued until he was in his thirties, when one day, he put down his farming hoe and said to a few neighbors, ¡°If this thing can be dug out, then so can swords and more.¡±


    His wife, having silently watched him for many years, had long known that the day woulde when his adventurous spirit would get the better of him. Instead of opposing, she raised a single request. ¡°I won¡¯t wait for you. Either our son and I follow you, or you break up with me now, and allow me to remarry and change our son¡¯s surname.¡±


    Nie Qing decided to bring his wife and son along. Treading along the same path that had been taken by many vigers, they soon arrived in Jade City. Exactly sixty days would eventually pass before the whole family was killed.


    In the meantime, Nie Qing seemed to have acquired a sum of money from somewhere, or perhaps received some donations. In any case, his life was not as shabby as that of other wandering assassins. Although he could not find a wealthy patron who appreciated him, he remained able to support his small family.


    His elder brother was a humble and earnest farmer, and was the only man in the vige who did not like swords. His elder sister had married to a distant vige and had long not been in touch.


    These, however, were not the things that Gu Shenwei wanted to know, and hearing them only made him feel irritated. Only one matter caught his attention ¨C Nie Qing¡¯s younger sister was taken away, at an early age, by an immortal, and this incident had caused a huge uproar even in distant viges.


    But not much was known. The two machetemen could not tell where she was taken to or who she was taken by, and even expressed doubts that it was the act of an immortal. ¡°Maybe she just died and this was all a fabrication.¡±


    After spilling everything they knew about their fellow viger, the two of them downed a final cup of wine and hurriedly scampered.


    Gu Shenwei simply sat where he was and pondered over a few things before someone came up to him.


    It was another macheteman. Tall and burly, he had round eyes and raised eyebrows, and possessed a dignified air about him. pping his palm on the table, he asked, ¡°Was it you who killed Nie Qing and his family?¡±


    ¡°Go away.¡± Gu Shenwei grasped the saber that was on the table.


    ¡°You could have just killed the man. Why thedy and child as well?¡± The macheteman did not relent and instead raised his voice, causing the tavern to fall into silence.


    Gu Shenwei raised his head and looked at the macheteman. He had regained the impulse of killing someone upon feeling as though he was being judged. ¡°Because he¡¯d bonded their lives to his own when he decided to bring them with him.¡±


    But Gu Shenwei did not draw his saber and attack, and even he himself did not know why. There was no need to exin anything in words, particrly to an unfamiliar macheteman.


    The macheteman cringed his face and spat a viscid lump of phlegm on to the saber¡¯s scabbard, before he turned and departed.


    The noise in the tavern returned, albeit a little softer than usual.


    Tie Hanfeng watched in surprise as the macheteman walked out of the tavern. He then took leave of the manager and signaled to his apprentice to follow him.


    Outside, without saying a word, he jabbed the apprentice on his lower abdomen. ¡°What the hell was wrong with you? Where was the anger you have when fighting with me? Go kill that fe and disy his head back in the tavern.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel like killing right now,¡± Gu Shenwei replied stubbornly and turned to walk into a dark alley.


    Tie Hanwei followed behind his apprentice, with his eyebrows deeply trenched. He had always felt that thetter was worthy of being trained, but that confidence was now slightly swayed.


    The two of them followed the audacious macheteman into a vige on the edge of the city, where they had killed a family of three a few hours earlier.


    The macheteman entered into his own house through the main door. His head swirling with anger, he utterly failed to notice that he was being followed.


    After hiding and waiting beneath a wall for a good amount of time, Gu Shenwei climbed over the wall and entered the house.


    Tie Hanfeng kept watching outside while expecting his apprentice to emerge with a few human heads shortly. Eventually, however, he would be not only disappointed but bewildered. When ve Huan came out of the house, he was holding a long and huge iron nail in his hand.


    The nail was of seven or eight inches in length. It could possibly be used as a weapon because of its square head, which allowed it to be firmly clutched, and pointed end.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Tie Hanfeng asked when they reached a secluded spot.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but there¡¯re many of them inside the house.¡±


    The duo turned a corner and reached the door of Nie Qing¡¯s house. Tie Hanfeng was not amused. ¡°You know it¡¯s the rule that a killer shouldn¡¯t return to the scene of his deed.¡±


    But Gu Shenwei climbed over the wall and entered the house. He discovered that the bodies had already been taken away, while the bloodstains remained. Underneath the firewood in the hearth, he found iron nails identical to the one he had.


    When walking back through the dark alleyway, the teacher and apprentice began to discuss the iron nails whisperingly. Although Tie Hanfeng found them a little odd, he came up with a suitable exnation. ¡°As machetemen, the iron nails are probably goods that they have to safeguard.¡±


    ¡°But, what use are they? They¡¯re too thick for building houses, and aren¡¯t handy enough to be weapons.¡±


    ¡°Go ask the fe who spat at you. I¡¯m sure he can spit something else out.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s not alert the snake for now.¡±


    ¡°You seem a lot more cautious this time. Wasn¡¯t it your idea to find those women?¡±


    ¡°Indeed, and that¡¯s why these male machetemen aren¡¯t important. Hasn¡¯t the Whiterobe Academy secretly deployed many people in South City? Can¡¯t they be asked to monitor these guys?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know. You were supposed to be the bait while I kept watch ¨C that¡¯s all I care about.¡±


    There was a lot of anger in Tie Hanfeng¡¯s words, and Gu Shenwei was aware that he had struck his teacher¡¯s raw nerve. In South City, Cripple Tie would be considered half of a Protector, but within the fort, he did not have much status.


    They only managed to return to Xu Yanwei¡¯s ce after midnight, when Xu Xiaoyi immediately told them a piece of bad news.


    A Golden Roc Fort killer had just been assassinated.


    The two of them hurried to the scene of the incident. It was a low-ss brothel which also served as a guesthouse.


    Members of the Golden Roc Fort had already sealed off the brothel and were interrogating the prostitutes and guests one-by-one. Tie Hanfeng disyed his waist token to gain ess together with his apprentice, and quickly found out the details of the matter.


    The killer, Wu Ling, was staying over in the brothel and having a good time with a prostitute when he was murdered by an assassin in a single strike.


    He was somewhat famous within the fort and his swordsmanship was said to be exquisite. Although he was already rather old, he was still way above the average killer. Like Tie Hanfeng, he formerly served Third Young Master before he became a killer mentor.


    While inspecting the body, the duo discovered that there was only a single wound. A sharp weapon had pierced through his left eye and out of the back of his head. Heid naked with his mouth gaped and half of his face covered in blood. His saber was left on the bed unsheathed, showing that he waspletely unaware that he was being plotted against.


    The prostitute who was on the bed with Wu Ling had yet to calm down, and was crying and screaming, ¡°It was a ghost, a long-haired ghost! It killed him instantly with a sword!¡± She provided this answer to every question that was asked.


    The assassination was of great difort to all of the killers present. Wu Ling was one of their best, and many of them were lying in ambush in the brothel¡¯s surroundings. This was a clear case of a trap to draw the snake out of its hole, yet the snake had been allowed to appear and slip away.


    Gu Shenwei recognized Wu Ling as the mentor of Maid Lotus.


    The killer mentor had, in total, taken in ten Dragon Year apprentices, but after a process of elimination, only two remained, one of which was Maid Lotus.


    Four brown-belt assassins were left in South City as bait, apanied by their respective mentors. Wu Ling brought Maid Lotus to live in the brothel. In Golden Roc Fort, there was no difference between male and female ¨C to be a killer, one had to get rid of gender distinctions.


    Tie Hanfeng gathered together and chatted with the other killers while waiting for people from the fort to arrive before they could decide on their next step.


    Meanwhile, Gu Shenwei found Maid Lotus in a small room.


    She appeared very calm, and had not looked at her mentor¡¯s body. ¡°I bumped into the assassin in the courtyard but had no time to draw my weapon. Her qinggong was excellent, and the killers waiting outside were also unable to stop her.¡±


    ¡°Something¡¯s not right.¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡±


    They talked in a highly illogical way which an outsider would not be able toprehend ¨C and it was deliberate.


    To a person who had practiced the swordcraft in Death Scripture , ¡°no time to draw my weapon¡± was an euphemism for nearly getting killed and that something was wrong with one¡¯s self.


    Gu Shenwei had already felt that something was not right when he followed his mentor to kill Nie Qing and subsequently his family.


    In Golden Roc Fort, he had killed even younger apprentices, while for the sake of practicing his swordcraft, he had killed many people he did not know. However, as he faced the fourteen-year-old boy, his heart wavered and his hands turned a little soft.


    At Xu Yanwei¡¯s ce, it was also because he was caught between two minds that he was struck by his mentor even before his hand could touch the hilt of his weapon.


    And in the tavern, he let off the provocative macheteman because of a moment of indecision. Even though he trailed the man and discovered the weird iron nails after the fact, it was not the idea he had in the first ce.


    He was only able to kill Nie Qing and son because their skills were weak and they were unable to exert their swordcraft.


    He was, in fact, no longer a killer in the eyes of his mentor Tie Hanfeng.


    The Death Scripture ¡®s swordcraft demanded speed, uracy, and ruthlessness. A moment of indecision was contrary to its very essence.


    Maid Lotus and Gu Shenwei had the same feeling ¨C it was only when they came across an assassin that they realized they were unable to draw their swords in ordance with the Death Scripture ¡®s teachings.


    ¡°A monk is ying tricks on us.¡±


    They had the same suspect in mind ¨C Master Tiger Monk had passed to them an Exorcism Manuscript set which he imed was the correct reading of the Death Scripture. Only now did they realize it had a big problem.


    What they could not confirm was whether the four other youths who studied the scripture with them were simrly affected.


    ¡°Have you seen the body?¡± Gu Shenwei asked. He had an even bigger question which he wanted to ask, or perhaps even interrogate, her about.


    Maid Lotus shook her head.


    ¡°The person who killed your mentor used the Death Scripture ¡®s swordcraft.¡±


    From just one look at the body, Gu Shenwei could tell that the swordcraft used was what he himself was familiar with ¨C a single, fatal strike through the eye. However, he did not know anyone except Maid Lotus and himself who had practiced this technique.

 Chapter 129

    Chapter 129: Nails


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Maid Lotus had been quickly taken off the suspect list. The prostitute had seen a ¡°long-haired ghost¡± who was very likely female, while several other people had seen Maid Lotus bumping into and nearly fighting against said ¡°ghost¡±. Therefore it was impossible for her to have been Wu Ling¡¯s murderer.


    As a matter of fact, the killers waiting outside had initially suspected Maid Lotus when they were unable to catch the assassin. They quickly realized though, that this was false.


    In Golden Roc Fort, most apprentices would not grieve when their mentors were killed.


    Mentors, in general, did not treat their apprentices as humans. During times of rtive peace and little carnage, those with many apprentices would force them to engage in fights to the death, so as to quickly eliminate the weaker ones. Cases of torturing or raping their apprentices were even moremon. The mentors not only received no punishment but would brag about their deeds among themselves.


    An important step in developing cold-blooded killers was to incite hatred in their hearts.


    Not only were there witnesses that verified Maid Lotus did not kill Wu Ling, but she had no need to deny it if she did. Rather, she would have tantly publicized it, for she could then inherit her mentor¡¯s red belt and officially be a killer.


    Gu Shenwei had another doubt: Maid Lotus secretly passed the Death Scripture to other people.


    This idea was also swiftly debunked. Only four Dragon Year apprentices had remained in South City. Liuhua had attempted to assassinate Maid Lotus before, during the time Wildhorse was the leader of the rival side, and hence Maid Lotus was irreconcble enemies with them. Even if she did divulge the Death Scripture , it would not have been to them.


    Maid Lotus had the same suspicion against Gu Shenwei, and had also debunked it by the same reasoning.


    They calmed down and began to search for hidden traces and clues together. This rare alone time allowed them to revert to a past when they helped and inspired each other.


    It was possible that a portion of the Death Scripture ¡®s swordcraft remained in New Moon Hall ¨C the New Moon Hall was formerly a part of Golden Roc Fort, which the scripture was closely connected with.


    As the Four Truths Temple possessed fragments of the Death Scripture , it could also have kept a portion of the swordcraft. Furthermore, since the scripture imparted by Master Tiger Monk could diminish a person¡¯s desire to kill, it suggested that he had a deep understanding of swordcraft.


    While Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus were mulling over the conspiracy of the monk and the swordcraft, the killers in the other room were thinking about how to cover up this humiliating fiasco.


    The Golden Roc Fort sent people to continue the interrogations overnight. In the early hours of the morning, Mister Guo of the Whiterobe Academy appeared with an order from the lord to gather all of South City¡¯s strength to hunt down the disciples of New Moon Hall and Barren Sect. The cautious n of luring the snakes out of their holes was abandoned; Golden Roc Fort was ready to take a lot of lives.


    Wu Ling¡¯s death was only one of many assassinations that took ce on the same night. While the killers were gathered in the brothel searching for clues regarding the assassin, more assassinations were taking ce elsewhere.


    Seven spies of the Golden Roc Fort were assassinated, while four killers, including Wu Ling, met their end. There were also several plots that failed. Wildhorse was able to turn on his assassin, thus bing the fort¡¯s only victory of the night. This also revealed to Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus that they were the only two whose killing desires were weakened after studying the Exorcism Manuscript.


    As more and more news arrived, everyone finally understood that this was not an isted case. New Moon Hall and Barren Sect were dering war on Golden Roc Fort by this method ¨C the battle between them now extended from the desert to Jade City.


    As soon as the sun rose, the streets of South City became unusually crowded. A countless number of machete-wielding men were hired to search for suspicious women. Brothels, big and small, were the worst hit ¨C those which had little connections or weak backing were immediately destroyed.


    By that evening, the Golden Roc Fort killers and hired machetemen had killed over a hundred people. Although some of the victims had concealed steel needles and demonstrated remarkable skill in their resistance, the majority were innocent souls.


    The subsequent investigation showed that the results of the machetemen were extremely poor even though they were thergest group and killed the most people. They ughtered indiscriminately and purposelessly, and some even used the opportunity to settle personal grudges. By contrast, the Golden Roc Fort killers were adequately prepared and had a clear purpose.


    Once the mass retaliation began, the four brown-belt assassins who served as bait werepletely forgotten. They had be of little value because the enemies had shown no interest in them.


    The four youths were ced in an obscure yard and left to themselves while their mentors were taken away to participate in the hunt. Although Tie Hanfeng was heavily displeased by his apprentice¡¯s form over the past two days, he warned thetter not to act presumptuously. The matter had already escted into a battle between tworge factions, and was not something which a young and alias-less killer could solve on his own.


    Gu Shenwei waited conscientiously for two days, but subsequently decided to resume the investigation when he could no longer endure the torment of waiting. He had a different idea ¨C if New Moon Hall was indeed a strong force, he could secretly assist them. The fiercer the fight between the two factions, the better it would be for the revenge.


    The four youths publicly broke up over this matter.


    Wildhorse and Liuhua haughtily rejected ve Huan¡¯s request. Liuhua¡¯s reason was simple and frank, ¡°You aren¡¯t the leader now.¡± Wildhorse simply stared grimly at him with contempt-filled eyes.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s only aplice was Maid Lotus.


    The first clue was the audacious macheteman. Gu Shenwei did not want to alert the snake, but now that the snakes were dancing manically, it was no longer important to be covert.


    However, he soon discovered that the macheteman had disappeared. Thetter¡¯s residence had a new upant who had just moved in and did not know anything about the previous upant.


    The second clue was the long iron nail, which Gu Shenwei had kept even though Tie Hanfeng paid no attention to it. The only thing he could do now was to bring it to a cksmith.


    It was already noon, but there were few people on the streets. Not many dared to seek fun in South City during these terrible times. The only people around were machetemen whose expressions gave away their ill intent. They leered at Maid Lotus and only moved away resentfully when they saw the saber below her waist.


    The peak of the massacre had already passed. Reverting to the primary nature of killers, Golden Roc Fort, New Moon Hall, and Barren Sect only carried out activities during nighttime. Over the past two nights, the opposing sides had caused damage to each other, with Golden Roc Fort taking a slight upper hand.


    There were almost as many cksmiths who came to Jade City to a seek a living as there were machetemen. Most of them were gathered in the southeastern suburbs, where they had formed their own vige. Earthen walls were built around it so that the knocking noises which continued round the clock would not disturb their neighbors too much.


    Since the war began, there were only a few trades in Jade City which continued to flourish, one of which was cksmithing. Long before the duo reached the vige, the nking noises could already be heard ceaselessly.


    Gu Shenwei soon realized that it would not be easy to find out the origin of the nail here. The two sides of the street were filled with cksmith shops big and small, totaling, by estimation, sixty or seventy shops. Once the cksmiths heard that the two youths, who looked mature beyond their ages, were not here for business but to ask for information, they became unwilling to talk.


    In the end, the duo found and entered what seemed to be thergest shop. Instead of saying anything, they stood guard at the door and shed their sabers, causing other visitors to keep away.


    The cksmiths in the shop stopped their work and looked at the youths who came with seemingly bad intent. One of them ced his hammer down, wiped his hands on his apron, and sized up the two iers while measuring some weights. ¡°Please wait a second.¡±


    He shouldered past the duo and left the shop, but shortly returned with a burly man dressed in a robe.


    Gu Shenwei was able to guess the identity of the man even though he did not know his name and Tie Hanfeng had not introduced him. This was, in all likelihood, the Protector of the cksmith trade.


    ¡°I¡¯m Du Qi. May I know what business the two of you are here for?¡± The Protector gave a fist salute before he swept a nce at the sabers attached to the duo¡¯s waists.


    ¡°We¡¯re here to ask about something, but nobody seems to speak much.¡±


    Du Qiughed scornfully for a second. ¡°You two are apprentices from the fort, right? Didn¡¯t you learn the rules beforeing out?¡±


    He took off his robe to reveal ck clothes and a red belt. It turned out that he, like Tie Hanfeng, was a Golden Roc Fort killer. Judging from appearance, he was in the prime of his life, and was probably still working for a Young Master.


    Gu Shenwei realized he had got into trouble once again. There was surely a reason why Tie Hanfeng, who was hostile with eight or nine out of every ten people, had never introduced the Protector to him.


    ¡°We¡¯re carrying out orders.¡± He maintained hisposure and replied. From his experience, he knew to remain firm and not cower in this kind of situation.


    Du Qi revealed an expression of doubt. ¡°Do you have a waist token for this engagement?¡±


    Anyone sent out to do work on behalf of the Golden Roc Fort would have a special waist token which was unmistakable.


    Gu Shenwei had a brown-belt assassin¡¯s waist token which he could use to deceive most people, but which a genuine killer would easily discern. Therefore, instead of reaching his hand into his pocket, he held his sword firmly and replied ¡°No¡±.


    In the past few days, Gu Shenwei had been hesitant while killing people and his saber skills had greatly weakened, but he had not reached a state where he waspletely unable to wield his weapon. And judging from Du Qi¡¯s walking posture, he was certainly not a fighter on the level of Tie Hanfeng.


    Du Qi kept a straight face before he suddenly startedughing. ¡°The two of you serve the Tenth Young Master, right?¡±


    Gu Shenwei gave an indefinite answer.


    ¡°What do you want to ask?¡±


    ¡°Who made this nail?¡± Gu Shenwei took out therge iron nail that resembled a spearhead.


    Du Qi frowned as he looked at the object, before he told one of the cksmiths, ¡°Go ask.¡±


    The cksmith took a trip outside and soon brought back an answer, ¡°Mr. Hong¡±.


    Thetter¡¯s shop was pitifully small, and was sandwiched between the two adjacent shops to the extent that it had barely enough space to turn one¡¯s body. It was very difficult for visitors to find the shop without getting directions.


    Mr. Hong was a short and stout old man with a slightly hunched back. He had an expressionless and stubborn look, andpletely ignored the Protector Du Qi and the people apanying him.


    ¡°He might be difficult to deal with, but his craftsmanship is first ss,¡± Du Qi reminded the duo. Instead of going inside or leaving the scene, he simply remained outside the shop.


    ¡°Is this nail your creation?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    ¡°No idea.¡± Mr. Hong shouted in a coarse and frighteningly loud voice, as if the enquirer was a young brat who came to cause trouble.


    Even the Protector Du Qi¡¯s attitude was not as odious as this. Gu Shenwei flinched for a moment and grasped his sword handle.


    Maid Lotus, who had remained silent, began to speak. ¡°We want to make two swords.¡±


    It was only now that Mr. Hong stopped what he was busy with, and passed the unfinished hammer to an apprentice who was standing nervously by his side. ¡°What kind of sword?¡±


    Maid Lotus drew her saber. ¡°I want something as long as this but a little slimmer, made using the best iron.¡±


    Mr. Hong took a glimpse at the saber. ¡°Got it. Two swords will be a hundred taels of silver. Pay now, and collect the swords in half a month.¡±


    A hundred taels of silver were enough to buy an entire rack of normal swords. Gu Shenwei did not understand Maid Lotus¡¯ intention, but nevertheless, he fished out a piece of gold that was equivalent to the price.


    Maid Lotus took the gold piece but did not hand it immediately to Mr. Hong. ¡°Carve the sword shafts with the names ¡®Huan¡¯ and ¡®Yun¡¯.¡±


    Maid Lotus was her ve name, while her real name was Huo Yun.


    Gu Shenwei was astonished and dumbstruck by her bold and sudden manner of speaking.


    However, she remained poker-faced. ¡°Now, tell me who made the nail, and what is it used for?¡±


    Mr. Hong took a look at the shiny gold piece and licked his lips. ¡°It¡¯s the rule that I cannot reveal who I made it for. Neither do I know what it¡¯s used for. However, if I were to guess ording to the client¡¯s demands, it¡¯s probably used to build a very tall frame or to climb mountains. You know, a nail in the ground every few steps.¡±


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 Chapter 130

    Chapter 130: Investigation


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Mr. Hong estimated that there were more than a thousand of these pitons in existence, since several cksmiths in this vige were hired to produce these pitons.


    Gu Shenwei was surprised by Mr. Hong¡¯s conclusion and thought, ¡°More than a thousand rock-climbing pitons. Is New Moon Hall nning to climb all the way up to Golden Roc Fort with these things? That¡¯s unbelievable. The hill is more than 3,000 meters high and is surrounded by a river which is very deep. Are they really capable of doing that?¡±


    After they left cksmith Vige, Maid Lotus told ve Huan the reason that she had Mr. Hong make a pair of swords for them.


    ¡°This is the only way we can carry swords with us without arousing any suspicion. After all, everybody thinks that we¡¯re a couple. Isn¡¯t it the perfect excuse for us to carry this pair of swords with us? I¡¯ve a feeling that we are going to need them very soon.¡±


    Maid Lotus said this without any embarrassment at all. She was a natural born killer. She was cold, rational, and did not care much about the fact that she is a girl.


    Gu Shenwei was relieved to hear that and approved of her idea. In East Castle, when two apprentices get romantically involved with each other, they would show their affection to each other by sharing a pair of items. Most of the time, they would choose to share a pair of swords or sabers.


    Gu Shenwei was happy that he would soon be able to carry a sword around with him everywhere, but at the same time, he was a little worried that he would irritate Maid Lotus¡¯ admirers by doing so.


    They made little progress with their investigation after they left cksmith Vige. They might be able to find some clues if they went down to the foot of the hill and check. However, they did not have enough time to do that. In the end, they gave up tracking down the pitons and returned to the yard where they lived now.


    As soon as they arrived at the yard, Liuhua came to tell them that Mister Guo wanted to meet all the brown-belt assassins.


    Liuhua, Wildhorse, ve Huan and Maid Lotus went to a private house in South City to meet Mister Guo. Last winter, when they had left Golden Roc Fort to eliminate the Ten-Dragon Gang, they had lived in this ce, which also happened to be Mister Guo¡¯s base camp currently. The moment they arrived at the house, the street in front of it was packed with people, but its front yard was empty. They waited in the yard for Mister Guo¡¯s order.


    A momentter, they were allowed to enter the house. Upon entering the hall, they found out that beside Mister Guo and his killers, there were several dozen teenagers present. They were Shangguan Yushi and her brown-belt assassins from the Little g Battalion.


    Mister Guo looked grumpy. In his eyes, it¡¯s outrageous that Golden Roc Fort would permit such a group of teenagers to join the action against New Moon Hall and the Barren Sect. However, he had no choice but to ept this ridiculous decision, since the fort told him that it was the Supreme King¡¯s order.


    ¡°Little g Battalion is in charge of the southeastern area of South City. Shangguan Yushi, you¡¯re the killer leader of the brown-belt assassins and you have to send someone to report to me every morning. If you encounter any difficulties, you can contact us at anytime.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Commander,¡± Shangguan Yushi replied indifferently, without even the slightest nod towards Mister Guo at all. She still held a grudge against him, because he had treated her like a servant when he had caught the ck Jade Palm thieves.


    Just like ¡°killer leader¡±, ¡°Commander¡± was also a temporary title granted to a team leader during a mission. Once the mission wasplete, these titles would be revoked.


    Mister Guo waved the teenagers away impatiently. He always had a weing smile on his face in Golden Roc Fort, but now his face was cold as stone.


    When the teenagers were about to leave, Mister Guo singled out two of them and asked, ¡°Why did you go to cksmith Vige today? Who sent you there?¡±


    Upon hearing that question, Gu Shenwei quickly realized that Mister Guo was Du Qi¡¯s protector.


    ¡°I was¡­¡±


    Before he finished his sentence, Shangguan Yushi suddenly interrupted. ¡°They were conducting an investigation. It¡¯s the Tenth Young Master¡¯s order.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was shocked to hear that Shangguan Yushi, who hated him so much, make an excuse for him. He had nned to tell Mister Guo that he had been ordered to track down some enemies, but now Shangguan Yushi gave him a much more reasonable exnation.


    ¡°You can leave now,¡± Mister Guomanded. ¡°Let¡¯s wait and see what a bunch of children can do,¡± Mister Guo thought to himself.


    Shangguan Yushi and the brown-belt assassins went to a private house in the southeastern area of South City. She sent most of the teenage assassins out to perform different tasks, and selected the best assassins to work with her. ve Huan was one of these assassins, but he was pretty sure that Shangguan Yushi would never give him an important and rewarding task.


    ¡°The Tenth Young Master said that her followers can be killed but can never be humiliated.¡± Shangguan Yushi said this to remind ve Huan that she had just fulfilled her duty by answering Mister Guo¡¯s question for him. She continued to say, ¡°Let¡¯s kill as many enemies as we can to attain glory for Master Ru. Maid Lotus, what did you discover today in cksmith Vige?¡±


    Maid Lotus told Shangguan Yushi about the pitons. ¡°Do you really believe that those women from New Moon Hall and Barren Sect can climb up to Golden Roc Fort with those pitons?¡± Shangguan Yushi sneered and asked ve Huan.


    ¡°There¡¯s a possibility that it could happen,¡± Gu Shenwei replied.


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible. Firstly, you don¡¯t know who bought these pitons. Secondly, why would those women waste their energy trying to climb up the Stone Castle? Do you think that there are no killers inside Golden Roc Fort now? Even if all the killers have left the fort, the Supreme King can still kill all the crazy women by himself.¡±


    Although what Shangguan Yushi said was a little exaggerated, Gu Shenwei still had to admit that she had a point. Stone Castle was guarded by many kung fu masters. He believed that a few ck-masked assassins would be enough to kill some crazy women trying to climb up to the hill.


    ¡°I think it may be a macheteman named Nie Qing who bought these pitons. His sister is probably a disciple of New Moon Hall or the Barren Sect. As for the pitons, I think they¡¯re some kind of tools.¡±


    ¡°Where is this Nie Qing?¡±


    ¡°I killed him.¡±


    ¡°Huh, ve Huan. You still like making stories up to cause a stir. Well, from now on, you don¡¯t have to take part in the assassination task. Go chase the lead on the pitons. We expect great things from you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei ignored Master Yu¡¯s sarcastic remarks. He bowed to her and epted this arrangement.


    ¡°Mater Yu, allow me to work with ve Huan,¡± Maid Lotus said. This was the first time a brown-belt assassin had chosen to openly support ve Huan in front of Shangguan Yushi.


    Everyone, including Gu Shenwei himself, was surprised.


    Shangguan Yushi was speechless for a moment. She had heard about the rtionship between Maid Lotus and ve Huan, but she was still very determined to draw Maid Lotus into her inner circle. Maid Lotus¡¯ attitude displeased her very much, so she blurted out, ¡°No, you have to stay here. I¡¯ll give you another task.¡±


    After a moment, she changed her mind. ¡°I¡¯d better not force her to stay with me. I should let her realize her mistake ande back begging for my help.¡± With this thought in mind, she said to Maid Lotus, ¡°Well, if that¡¯s what you want. You can work with ve Huan. You have toe back and report to me around 5 to 7pm every day.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi firmly believed that after this mission, ve Huan would be removed from the Master Ru¡¯s circle forever.


    After ve Huan and Maid Lotus left the house, he asked her why she wanted to work with him. ¡°Did you forget? My desire to kill has somehow abated just like yours. I can¡¯t move as fast as before. It¡¯s too risky for me to take part in the assassination task,¡± Maid Lotus shrugged and said.


    Hearing that, Gu Shenwei was very relieved. He liked Maid Lotus as a friend and trusted her more than anyone. After all, they had gone through thick and thin together and had even studied Death Scripture together. However, he still felt that there was a void between them. He still remembered how harshly the girl had treated him when they first met.


    The next day, a brown-belt assassin, who was a former Tattooed Arm Gang member, told ve Huan privately that Shangguan Yushi had probably excluded him from the assassination task on purpose. ording to that brown-belt assassin, 20 brown-belt assassins, who outshone their peers in the assassination task and contributed the most, would get their red belts on the twins¡¯ birthday and be core members of the twins¡¯ killer teams. The twins were going to turn 13 in about two weeks. At that time, Shangguan Fei would officially be the Ninth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort and have his own killer team. Shangguan Ru, who had to appear in public as a Miss for now and not as a young master, would also select her own team of killers.


    The brown-belt assassins of Little g Battalion performed very well at their jobs, and some of them were even perceived to be morepetent than ordinary red-belt killers. Nevertheless, Golden Roc Fort had not yet given anyone of them a red belt. The fort wanted to keep them for the twins, although most of them had already taken blood oaths to their young masters.


    .


    In keeping with the fort¡¯s traditions, all the other young masters had already agreed to send some of their brown-belt assassins to their little brother and little sister to help them build their teams.


    Shangguan Yushi had known of the fort¡¯s n beforehand and had deliberately asked ve Huan to continue his investigation into the pitons. Golden Roc Fort usually judged a killer¡¯s sess by how many enemies he or she could eliminate during a mission. Given that, Shangguan Yushi believed that she could deprive ve Huan of his chance to be a killer on the twins¡¯ birthday by preventing him from joining the assassination task.


    Gu Shenwei was frustrated. He had been longing to be a red-belt killer for a long time. This would be the only way for him to get closer to the masters of the fort to exact revenge on them. He began considering a n to assassinate Shangguan Yushi, who stood in the way of his revenge. However, after some thought, he decided to give up on this n.


    ¡°Shangguan Ru isn¡¯t stupid. She clearly knows that both Shangguan Yushi and I arepeting for her favor. She knows that we want to get rid of each other. Once Shangguan Yushi is assassinated, she¡¯ll suspect that her murderer is me and vice versa.¡±


    Now, Gu Shenwei had no choice but to solve the mystery as to what New Moon Hall was nning to do with those pitons. If he could figure it out and ruined those women¡¯s n, Golden Roc Fort would also recognize his contribution and make him a red-belt killer.


    However, it was not an easy thing to do, as he had absolutely no clue as to what he should do at this moment.


    Maid Lotus had other ideas and suggested that they should find a way to eliminate the false Death Scripture¡¯s influence on them as soon as possible. She considered this thing their top priority right now since killers without strong killing desires could never survive.


    Gu Shenwei agreed to apany her to Leftslope Vihara, where Master Tiger Monk used to reside to look for answers. This is the least he could do to return the favor. If Maid Lotus had not chosen to openly support him in front of Shangguan Yushi, she would have been able to partake in the assassination task.


    He had felt kind of sorry for Master Tiger Monk¡¯s death. However, after he discovered that his killing desire was abated by the monk¡¯s fake scripture, he did not feel sad for the monk anymore.


    On the same day, the other brown-belt assassins that were led by Shangguan Yushi sessfully killed two disciples of the Barren Sect, who were armed with steel needles which were typical weapons of the sect.


    In the evening, ve Huan and Maid Lotus went back to report to Shangguan Yushi. Hearing that they had not yet made any progress in their investigation, Shangguan Yushi poked fun at ve Huan again. That night, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus sneaked out and rode to the Four Truths Temple. They had to look back several times to ensure that they were not followed.


    When they reached the hill beside the Four Truths Temple, they hid their horses at the foot of the hill and walked up the hill along a small path. They finally arrived at Leftslope Vihara at midnight.


    As the autumn season approached, the trees had lost most of their leaves. They could clearly see that there was a light in one of the rooms in Leftslope Vihara.


    Both of them began to wonder. ¡°Didn¡¯t Master Tiger Monk lived in this vihara alone, and Four Truth temple only sent a young monk to bring him meals every day. Now that the master is dead, who would stay in that room at such ate hour?¡±


    Gu Shenwei unsheathed his saber and sneaked to the vihara. Maid Lotus stayed behind to cover him. When he came to the door of the vihara, he discovered that the door was barely opened. He peeped through the crack and saw a monk sitting inside the room. That monk was as pale as a ghost and was smiling towards the door. He looked exactly like Master Tiger Monk.

 Chapter 131

    Chapter 131: Breaking Obsession


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei stood petrified with shock. He did not believe in the existence of ghosts. However, there was something in the monk¡¯s smile, which made him feel somewhat nervous.


    ¡°You finally came. Did the girle with you? How about youe in and have a chat with me?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not Tiger Monk. His voice is deeper, and he also looks older than the dead monk. They may be brothers,¡± Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    A skeptical person like Gu Shenwei seldom epted a stranger¡¯s invitation. However, at this moment, he was somehow convinced of the monk¡¯s sincerity. He did not feel threatened by the monk, so he pushed the door open and went in to kneel on a meditation cushion on the ground with his unsheathed saber ced right beside him.


    After a moment, Maid Lotus, the murderer of Tiger Monk, came in. She looked even more shocked than Gu Shenwei. It seemed that she was terrified to see this monk who looked strikingly simr to Tiger Monk. However, she still chose to trust the monk and walked into this house to sit on a meditation cushion.


    All the three people kept silent and still. During this moment, everything was stationary except the dancing me on top of the candle.


    Suddenly, the monk stopped smiling and dropped his head down, but his lips kept moving. It seemed that he was silently reciting a sad incantation. After a long time, he raised his head up and said smilingly, ¡°Lianxin has already entered the realm of Nirvana.¡±


    Upon hearing his voice, Maid Lotus immediately discovered that this monk was not Tiger Monk. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that Buddha won¡¯t allow a liar to enter Nirvana,¡± she said coldly.


    The monk was not disturbed by what she said and went into a lengthy exnation of the whole thing.


    .


    This monk, whose name was Lianhua, was Lianxin¡¯s brother. He had studied Death Scripture y b together with Lianxin for years. During the course of their research, they discovered that this scripture resembled Buddhist mantras a lot. Chanting or hearing someone recite this scripture could vibrate one¡¯s tendons and meridians, which would create asting and positive change in the person.


    Lianhua and Lianxin were excited by their discovery. They swore to Buddha Sakyamuni that they were going to invent a Buddhist incantation based on this scripture and use it to eliminate people¡¯s killing desire and make every butcher be a Buddha. The people that they wanted most to convert were killers from Golden Roc Fort.


    After years of hard work, the brothers sessfully created such a Buddhist incantation and named it Breaking Obsession. Shortly after they invented this incantation, Golden Roc Fort came to Four Truths Temple asking for the Exorcism Manuscript. Tiger Monk believed that Buddha Sakyamuni must have heard his prayers and thus gave him this great opportunity to persuade six teenage killers to learn Breaking Obsession. Beyond his expectations, on the second night of the teenagers¡¯ stay in Leftslope Vihara, Maid Lotus went to visit him privately and showed him a page of Death Scripture, which he had never read before.


    Tiger Monk was shocked to discover that the ve girl seemed to have aplete copy of Death Scripture. At the same time, he also decided to take this chance to try Breaking Obsession out on her. He made a deal with Maid Lotus. The girl promised to give him aplete copy of Death Scripture in exchange for him teaching her the correct pronunciation of the Chinese characters in the scripture, and he promised the girl not to tell anyone about theplete copy of Death Scripture. After he taught Maid Lotus the correct pronunciation of the characters on the y b, which was the beginning part of Death Scripture, he taught her the first chapter of Breaking Obsession, which was called ¡°Changing Misfortune for All Living Creatures Sutra.¡± He did not tell Maid Lotus that this chapter was not from Death Scripture, and Maid Lotus did not find anything wrong with this part. She epted it without question and taught ve Huan all she had learned from Tiger Monk.


    Tiger Monk did not think that he was lying to the teenagers since most of the characters in Breaking Obsession were from Death Scripture. He had only put those characters in a different order to create Breaking Obsession.


    Tiger Monk kept his promise to Maid Lotus and did not tell anyone else about theplete copy of Death Scripture. However, he could hardly control his excitement and wrote a letter to his brother Monk Lianhua. He told his brother how he had sessfully ¡°persuaded¡± two teenage killers to learn Breaking Obsession in the letter.


    When Monk Lianhua came to Leftslope Vihara to collect his brothers¡¯ belongings after his brother¡¯s death, he found several pages of notes left by his brother. After reading the notes, he guessed that the teenagers mentioned by his brother in the letter might have aplete copy of Death Scripture. He was also pretty sure that his brother had deluded the teenagers into learning Breaking Obsession.


    Given that, Monk Lianhua insisted that the teenagers should not be held ountable for Lianxin¡¯s death. That was the reason why Four Truths Temple stopped investigating the death of Tiger Monk.


    After exining the whole thing to the teenagers, Monk Lianhua eximed, ¡°Lianxin worked hard to create Breaking Obsession, but he failed to break his own obsession. He was so thrilled to get the chance to teach the incantation to you that he never noticed that he himself got too obsessed with it. It was his obsession that led to his death. That¡¯s Karma.¡±


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus were speechless. They had never expected that such an eminent monk would have lied to them. Meanwhile, they felt relieved, since they discovered that Monk Lianhua did not know that it was Maid Lotus who murdered Tiger Monk.


    Compared to Tiger Monk, Monk Lianhua was such an annoying person. He talked for hours, wanting to persuade the teenagers to give up their killer careers. Nevertheless, most of the things that he talked about were hard for the teenagers to understand. He went on and on even after the candle burnt out. ¡°We¡¯re destined to meet the people we meet. Lianxin has taught you a chapter of Breaking Obsession. That¡¯s Buddha Sakyamuni¡¯s arrangement. I guess that you¡¯ve already noticed the positive change the incantation created in you. I would love to teach you the full text of Breaking Obsession. If you recite it every day, you¡¯ll¡­¡±


    ¡°No, we won¡¯t be Buddhists,¡± Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus finally lost their patience and interrupted.


    Now, they only cared about one thing. ¡°Tell us how to eliminate the influence of Breaking Obsession.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s easy. You just need to forget about it.¡± This time, Monk Lianhua¡¯s answer was very simple and clear.


    However, his answer was not helpful for the teenagers. They had taken painstaking efforts to imprint those 5,000 Chinese characters, which did not make much sense to them, in their brains. Those characters would sh across their mind now and then. It was not easy to forget them.


    ¡°Is there any other way?¡±


    ¡°No. I mean I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s any other way. You¡¯re the first ones learning Breaking Obsession. To be frank, I¡¯ve never expected it to be so effective, and I¡¯ve never expected you toe back so soon,¡± Monk Lianhua said while shaking his head slowly.


    Gu Shenwei red up. He picked up his saber and pointed it to the monk while saying, ¡°It¡¯s not as effective as you think. I¡¯m still able to kill you.¡±


    Monk Lianhua did not dodge at all. ¡°You can try,¡± he said smilingly.


    Hearing that, Gu Shenwei was even more furious. He pulled his saber back, ready to impale the monk. ¡°Wait, he must know the correct pronunciation of those Chinese characters in Death Scripture. Ask him to give us the correct version of the scripture,¡± Maid Lotus stopped him and said.


    ¡°Oh, yeah. Maid Lotus is right. This monk said that he and his brother just changed the orders of the Chinese characters in Death Scripture to create Breaking Obsession. That means the monks have already cracked the coding system of Death Scripture. Given that, the fastest way to get rid of Breaking Obsession¡¯s influence is to learn the correct order of those characters,¡± Gu Shenwei thought while feeling ashamed of himself for forgetting such an important thing.


    Lianhua remained calm and peaceful. ¡°I¡¯m delighted to know that you¡¯re also interested in Death Scripture. When you be Buddhists, we can discuss it together. With the help of the notes left by Lianxin, we can quickly decode the rest of the scripture.¡±


    The teenagers did not want to be a monk and a nun, so they tried every means avable to force the monk to tell them the real Death Scripture. However, no matter what they did, the monk still insisted that he would only teach them the authentic scripture after they became Buddhists.


    Monk Lianhua firmly believed that Breaking Obsession had already subdued the teenagers¡¯ killing desires and made them feel hesitant about murdering a person. Given that, he did not fear their intimidation at all. He just kept telling the teenagers the benefits of being Buddhists, no matter what the teenagers said or did to threaten him.


    Gradually, the day began to dawn, but the monk still refused to tell the teenagers the correct version of Death Scripture. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus felt exhausted and decided to kidnap Monk Lianhua and take him into the city to interrogate him with torture. They took out a rope to tie the monk up and stuffed a rag into his mouth.


    Monk Lianhua did notin during the whole process.


    When they were about to leave, a monk, who was more than two meters tall, suddenly crashed into the room through a mud wall while roaring.


    ¡°Release Monk Lianhua! Murderers, you killed Tiger Monk and refused to repent. I want revenge!¡±


    Monks in Four Truths Temple always suspected that Tiger Monk¡¯s death was not an ident but a nned murder. Lianhua just did not mention it to the teenagers.


    The sudden appearance of the tall monk stunned Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus. It seemed that the monk had been hiding in the next room all this time and had heard the conversations they had with Monk Lianhua. However, these two well-trained killers had not noticed that there was such a big man behind a thin interior wall at all.


    They stood agape for a while and then simultaneously raised their sabers to attack the tall monk. Both of them used their best move, which was the sword technique in Death Scripture.


    After mastering this swordcraft, they had never been defeated by anyone when they used this skill in real fights.


    The tall monk was unarmed, but he reacted with ease. He simply stepped forward to snatch the sabers from the teenagers¡¯ hands and then he easily broke those sabers with his bare hands like breaking twigs. He threw the broken sabers aside and went directly to Monk Lianhua, paying absolutely no attention to the teenagers.


    The tall monk ripped the rope apart to release Monk Lianhua and then took the rag out of Lianhua¡¯s mouth. ¡°Amitabha. I¡¯m very sorry. Sometimes, Lianye just can¡¯t control his emotions. I hope you don¡¯t mind. He didn¡¯t mean to hurt anyone,¡± Lianhua exined.


    .


    After that, Monk Lianhua continued to persuade them to be Buddhists. Monk Lianye paced back and forth beside Lianhua, struggling to control his own emotions. Sometimes, he would chant, ¡°Amitabha.¡± Sometimes, he would shout, ¡°I want revenge!¡± He seemed to be crazy.


    Seeing that, Gu Shenwei realized that Monk Lianhua had also tamed a ¡°tiger,¡± which was Monk Lianye. This tall monk¡¯s kung fu was superb. Such a powerful man was even more dangerous than the tiger that Lianxin had tamed.


    Gu Shenwei exchanged a look with Maid Lotus. They both realized that they could not get the real Death Scripture or kidnap Monk Lianhua today. Lianhua refused to teach them the actual scripture unless they became Buddhists. Lianye was a kung fu master whom they could not defeat. Under such circumstances, they had only one choice.


    They simultaneously turned back and dashed out of the vihara, and then they ran down the hill as fast as they could to find their horses. They galloped rapidly to flee this ce. After a long time, they still felt that Lianhua¡¯s naggings and Lianye¡¯s roars were reverberating around their skulls.


    In broad daylight, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus slouched over their horses. They were so listless that they were unable to say anything tofort each other. They had no idea that their troubles were far from over.

 Chapter 132

    Chapter 132: Three Days


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    ve Huan and Maid Lotus felt so defeated. They not only failed to regain their desires to kill but also lost their weapons during the previous fight. This was the biggest setback they had experienced since bing killer apprentices.


    In the past, they had been able to remain calm and emotionless no matter what had happened, but at this moment, they could not help feeling depressed. They reckoned that this change was perhaps also caused by Breaking Obsession.


    After riding a couple of kilometers, they finally calmed themselves down and began to discuss what they were going to do to arouse their desires to kill.


    ording to Lianhua, they just needed to forget about Breaking Obsession to eliminate its influence on them. They tried to mess up their memories by having one of them recite the incantation loudly while the other would frequently interrupt. However, this method did not work at all. By doing so, they even remembered the incantation better than before.


    They were so preupied with their own concerns that they were not vignt enough during their trip.


    In front of ve Huan and Maid Lotus were two women, riding sideways on their trotting donkeys. They looked slender and thin, seeming to not know kung fu. However, when they were about to brush past, they suddenly jumped up from their saddles and leapt toward the teenagers. They were fast and agile, just like kung fu masters.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus instinctively stretched out their hands to their waists in an attempt to draw their sabers to counter-attack, but they only grabbed empty scabbards.


    They immediately remembered that their sabers had already been broken by Monk Lianye, but it was already toote for them to adopt any other move to defend themselves. The two women had already taken the opportunity to poke the Xuanji acupoints on their chests.


    The hot Qi in their Xuanji acupoints swiftly ran down to attack their Dantians and then rushed up into their heads to knock them out.


    Evidently, these women were also from the Barren Sect like Mama Xue.


    When Gu Shenwei woke up, he found out that he was lying on awn and Maid Lotus was lying peacefully beside him. He sat up to check himself and was surprised to discover that there was no hot Qi wandering inside his body now.


    ¡°Did the women cure my qigong deviation. How is this possible?¡± he wondered.


    Just at this moment, Maid Lotus also woke up from hera. They heard that someone was approaching and turned around. Ten steps behind them stood two masked women: one was tall while the other was short. They were dressedpletely in ck like killers from Golden Roc Fort, except for the mark of a Golden Roc on their shoulder, which was reced by a white crescent moon embroidered on the strip of ck cloth tied around their foreheads.


    Neither Gu Shenwei nor Maid Lotus sensed anything wrong with their Internal Breath, and the women did not tie them up or adopt any other measure to restrict their movement. However, they still felt somewhat cautious without their sabers. After all, they were not good at unarmed fighting. They stood up but did notunch an attack.


    ¡°You killed Nie Qing and his wife and son?¡± the short women asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Yes. Are you his sister?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I have to thank you for killing them. Otherwise, it would be quite troublesome to find you,¡± the short woman sneered and said.


    As killers had to be cruel even to their own families, Gu Shenwei was pretty sure that the woman was not joking.


    Since meeting the mysterious woman in the desert, he had been waiting for this day without fear. He knew that the Barren Sect would not easily squander its connection to him and Maid Lotus. The sect could not find anyone else in Golden Roc Fort, whom they could easily control with Peripheral Force.


    ¡°Now that we finally meet, let¡¯s get straight down to business,¡± the tall woman said. She sounded older than the short woman.


    ¡°You¡¯re Kang Wenmei¡¯s disciples, so you¡¯re also the Barren Sect¡¯s disciples. You have to work for us.¡±


    ¡°No. Mama Xue never formally acknowledged us as her disciples, so I¡¯m afraid that we cannot be considered as such,¡± Gu Shenwei retorted.


    He still habitually referred to Kang Wenmei as Mama Xue.


    ¡°You¡¯ve her Peripheral Force inside your bodies, therefore you¡¯re already considered as our disciples.¡±


    ¡°I can never thank you enough, if you could take it out of me,¡± Gu Shenwei said mockingly. Because of this force inside his Xuanji acupoint, he had only one year to live now.


    The tall woman found it hard to persuade the teenager by talking, so she decided to do it by action. She dashed to Gu Shenwei and patted his chest to inject a strong current of Qi into him.


    The hot Qi mixed with Mama Xue¡¯s Peripheral Force in his Xuanji acupoint, and quickly traveled along his eight extra meridians. It did not hurt, but Gu Shenwei suddenly lost his bnce and fell backward.


    He tried to strike back but he was too feeble to do so at this moment. He started to stagger like a drunk man, while the tall woman circled around him like a phantom, striking asionally either with her palm or by wing at him.


    Maid Lotus tried to save him, but the tall woman easily struck her down with one strike of her palm. It seemed that her kung fu was much better than Mama Xue¡¯s.


    Without their weapons, the teenagers¡¯ kung fu seemed mediocre.


    Half an hourter, the tall woman finally stopped striking Gu Shenwei and went back to stand with the short woman.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s face changed, as he heard his joints cracking and popping for quite a long time after the beating. ¡°What did you do to me?¡± he asked the tall woman.


    ¡°You never knew what Peripheral Force was, did you?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was speechless. For him, Peripheral Force only meant one thing: qigong deviation.


    ¡°You should feel honored. In the Barren Sect, all masters used this force to help their disciples improve their Internal Strength. We seldom give a boy such a chance.¡±


    ¡°Huh, I see. It looks like all your disciples will die young.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not true. If your master keeps injecting Peripheral Force into you, you can live as long as you can.¡±


    Upon hearing that, Gu Shenwei realized what the woman had done to him just now. ¡°Did you¡­¡±


    ¡°I removed Kang Wenmei¡¯s force from your body,¡± the tall woman interrupted.


    ¡°And then you injected your own force into me,¡± Gu Shenwei added. He was 100-percent sure that this woman was not helping him out.


    ¡°Of course,¡± the tall woman replied. ¡°My Internal Strength is stronger than hers, so congrattions, now you have more Peripheral Force in your body. It doesn¡¯t only dwell inside your Xuanji acupoint now. You also have my force inside your Baihui acupoint on top of your head and your Yongquan acupoints on the soles of your feet. You will be able to increase your Internal Strength rapidly as long as I keep injecting Peripheral Force into you. However, you still have to thank Kang Wenmei. Without her force leading the way, I can never inject my force into you.¡±


    When she was talking, Gu Shenwei secretly channelled his Internal Breath and discovered that the Qi in his Dantian was much stronger than before. Restricted by Mama Xue¡¯s Peripheral Force, he had not made any progress in his Internal Strength for a long time. He was really impressed that this tall woman could enhance it in such a short time.


    ¡°Mama Xue gave me three years to live. How much time do you give me?¡±


    The woman raised three fingers and said, ¡°Three days.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was speechless andined in his heart, ¡°Why do I always get used by others? How can I get rid of such bad luck?¡± A momentter, he thought of Tie Hanfeng¡¯s remark that an ambitious person like himself would cause obstruction to some, while gaining ¡®recognition¡¯ and getting used by others. He had to admit that his Master Shifu was right. If he had never thought of bing a killer and murdered ve Yao, Mama Xue would have never sent him to East Castle.


    ¡°You have three days to prove your loyalty to the Barren Sect.¡±


    ¡°What do you want me to do?¡± Gu Shenwei asked, feeling a little diffident. He guessed that it would be a difficult task.


    ¡°Return to Golden Roc Fort, and cast a rope down for me.¡±


    ¡°Are you really going to climb all the way up to Golden Roc Fort?¡± Gu Shenwei blurted out.


    The tall woman turned to the short woman and whispered, ¡°I told you those pitons would divulge the secret.¡± After that, she continued to talk to the youth, ¡°That¡¯s none of your business. You just need to fasten a rope to the top of the cliff outside Firewood Yard before midnight the day after tomorrow. Remember to tie the knot as tightly as you can. You¡¯ll meet me again on that night, and if everything goes well, l¡¯ll officially acknowledge you as my disciple.¡±


    The Barren Sect used Peripheral Force to control their disciples and prevent them from betraying the sect. If Gu Shenwei declined to cooperate with her, she would refuse to inject any of her force into him.


    She handed a specially-made rope to the teenager. The rope was more than 200 meters long and very strong. One end of it was tied to a ck thing, which looked like a piece of iron. It was small in size but very heavy.


    Gu Shenwei had no other options. Besides, he was not particrly loyal to Golden Roc Fort. If he found that through this battle the Barren Sect was powerful enough to resist Golden Roc Fort, he would not mind openly betraying the Fort to join the sect.


    He received the rope.


    The two masked women held Maid Lotus behind as hostage and the tall woman threatened Gu Shenwei, ¡°If you fail, you¡¯ll die after three days. So will she.¡±


    ¡°Killers don¡¯t care about anyone else. You must know that. Let her leave with me ¨C she can help meplete the task.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± the tall woman shook her head and said smilingly. ¡°All people in the world, including killers, won¡¯t know what they really care about unless it¡¯s in a life-and-death situation.¡±


    Gu Shenwei rode back to Jade City alone. He felt bewildered. ¡°These two women talked and behaved like normal people. They did not look like those crazy women I met during my trip to the Iron Mountain Gang¡¯s camp. What do they intend to do after climbing up to the fort at midnight? It seems that they don¡¯t n to assassinate anyone in the fort.¡±


    Gu Shenwei racked his brain but still could not figure out the true intention of the sect. Given that, he decided to focus onpleting the task that the tall woman had given him.


    However, he quickly ran into trouble again.


    Shangguan Hongye found him in the city and gave him a letter, which was from the Eighth Young Mistress. In the letter, Luo Ningcha ordered ve Huan to make up with Meng Mingshi as soon as possible.


    Although Shangguan Hongye was a young master and the Supreme King¡¯s nephew, his status in the Shangguan family was very low. Back in the school, he used to work for ve Huan in exchange for some silver and gold. He had quitted school recently and now he decided to work for the Eighth Young Mistress before he could get a post in the fort.


    Before leaving the fort, Gu Shenwei had mentioned to Luo Ningcha that she could try to bribe Shangguan Hongye and his mother to win their support, since they were leading a hard life in the fort. He had never anticipated that she would have taken this suggestion seriously.


    ¡°ve Huan, wow, look at you. You¡¯re wearing a brown belt now. I¡¯m sure that you¡¯ll get your red belt very soon,¡± Shangguan Hongye tried to tter the ve boy.


    ¡°And you have such a good taste, ve Huan. That woman is amazing.¡± Upon hearing this, Gu Shenwei knew that Shangguan Hongye had already visited his brothel in Pleasure Alley.


    Not long ago, Shangguan Hongye had been to Xu Yanwei¡¯s ce to deliver the Eighth Young Mistress¡¯ order to Tie Hanfeng.


    When Gu Shenwei entered Xu Yanwei¡¯s brothel, Tie Hanfeng greeted him warmly. ¡°The Eighth Young Mistress is right. You have to apologize to Mr. Meng Mingshi. It¡¯s no good to offend such a wealthy young master. I¡¯ve arranged everything for you. Mr. Meng has already promised to dine with us here tomorrow,¡± said Tie Hanfeng, beaming.


    Gu Shenwei felt overwhelmed. He had lots of things to do, but he had only three days.


    He decided to attend to the most urgent matter first, so he immediately ran out of the brothel, mounted his horse and chased after Shangguan Hongye. Gu Shenwei gave him an ingot of gold and passed a mission on to him.

 Chapter 133

    Chapter 133: The Dinner


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei was sure that the Barren Sect was nning to climb up to Golden Roc Fort, but the fort had not yet discovered the sect¡¯s real intention. Those women had already sessfully misled the fort by assassinating killers in South City. In the past two days, Golden Roc Fort hadunched a citywide hunt for members of New Moon Hall and the Barren Sect but had only killed some ordinary disciples of the Barren Sect and even some innocent women.


    Tie Hanfeng did not care much about those crazy women. He was d that he could help his apprentice to make up with Meng Mingshi after two days of hard word. He himself was also excited to get this chance to meet such a wealthy young master.


    Usually, Meng Mingshi would never ept an invitation from a humble ve boy.


    However, he epted ve Huan¡¯s invitation this time. He did not want to offend Bighead Kingpin and he also kind of missed Xu Yanwei.


    Meng Mingshi had begun to hang out in South City at the age of 15, with Pot-bellied Buddha as his guide.


    The first prostitute Pot-bellied Buddha introduced to Meng Mingshi was his own daughter Xu Yanwei. It was Meng Mingshi¡¯s first time sleeping with a girl, but Xu Yanwei, a 15-year-old girl, was already a very experienced prostitute. She taught him many things that he could never forget.


    Hearing that Meng Mingshi had agreed to attend the dinner, Xu Xiaoyi told Tie Hanfeng and Gu Shenwei many interesting things about this young master. ¡°There¡¯s a saying in this business that a man will always fall in love with the first girl he¡¯s slept with. The Fifth Young Master Meng¡¯s first girl is my sister. He did fall in love with her at that time and gave her countless silvers. Unfortunately, all those money was taken away by the old jerk.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi still sounded bitter whenever he mentioned his own father.


    What Xu Xiaoyi said reminded Tie Hanfeng of the first girl he had slept with. He smiled meaningfully and nodded. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s true.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was the only guy who looked grim at this moment. He was confronted with a raft of problems, but none of the people here could offer him any advice.


    Xu Xiaoyi raised his head up and beamed just like Tie Hanfeng. ¡°Given that, a man has to be prudent to choose his first girl. Look at me. I¡¯m still searching for a suitable girl.¡±


    ¡°Stop ttering yourself. You just don¡¯t have enough money to sleep with a prostitute,¡± Tie Hanfeng blurted out. ¡°Before you go out to sleep with a prostitute, you¡¯ll have to exin to me where you get the money.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi smiled embarrassedly and changed the subject. ¡°There¡¯s another saying in this business: A prostitute should never fall in love with her first man.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Tie Hanfeng asked surprisingly. Although he was a frequent visitor to brothels, he had never heard of such a saying. ¡°I¡¯m always wondering why that woman suddenly began to treat me so coldly.¡±


    ¡°I just heard it from my seniors in this business.¡± Xu Xiaoyi took a sip of his drink and continued to exin. ¡°A young man usually has lots of fantasies about women and tends to imagine his first girl to be perfect. In the beginning, he¡¯s willing to do anything for the girl. However, once he gets bored with her and goes to sleep with the other prostitutes, he¡¯ll realize that there¡¯s nothing special about the first girl and will desert her for a better girl. If a prostitute falls in love with her client, she¡¯ll not only lose business but also look like a fool when her client abandons her. For example, Mr. Meng Mingshi, he loved my sister so much, but he didn¡¯t give a d*mn about my sister and I when we were in troublest year.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was not interested in this business at all, but Tie Hanfeng was deeply touched by what Xu Xiaoyi said. He kept drinking his liquor and sadly eximed, ¡°Oh, I see. That¡¯s why she acted like that.¡±


    That night, Tie Hanfeng kept murmuring in his sleep, but the next morning, when he woke up, he quickly recovered from his depression.


    Meng Ming came to Xu Yanwei¡¯s brothel at noon, apanied by a group of servants. Upon entering the house, he wept and poured out his heart to Xu Yanwei while neglecting all the other people in the house. After that, he put a smile on his face to greet Tie Hanfeng. He only nodded to ve Huan to greet this ve boy, before they went upstairs to dine together.


    Gu Shenwei was well aware that this banquet would never decrease Meng Mingshi¡¯s hatred toward him. After all, he had threatened the young master with a wooden saber and witnessed the young master¡¯s difiture during the trip to the Iron Mountain Gang¡¯s camp.


    However, this dinner was still meaningful for Luo Ningcha and Tie Hanfeng. The former took this opportunity to demonstrate that she had total control over her ve boy, and thetter was thrilled to make friends with the Fifth Young Master Meng.


    During the meal, Gu Shenwei formally apologized to Meng Mingshi and Meng Mingshi reluctantly epted the apology. After that, no one talked to the brown-belt assassin anymore.


    Meng Mingshi spent most of the time flirting with Xu Yanwei. All the good memories about the girl came back to him again and made him think that she was very attractive again.


    Fifth Young Master Meng brought three men to the meal. One of them was in charge of telling jokes to liven things up. Another one remained quiet most of the time but fixed his eyes on Meng Mingshi. Once the young master got stuck for words, he would help him out. Thest one came to drink with Tie Hanfeng. These two guys chatted and drank merrily together like old friends.


    Xu Xiaoyi led a group of servants to cater a dinner for the people on the second floor. He ran up and down inside the house to serve dishes and drinks.


    No one seemed to notice Gu Shenwei leave the table during the meal.


    The teenager walked to the window alone to get some fresh air. As it was autumn now, the wind was very cool and refreshing.


    At this moment, all the other brothels in Pleasure Alley were closed. This alley got few visitors in the day, so he did not see anybody in the street. The only person he could see was a maid making the bed in the brothel across the street.


    Suddenly, he saw a brown-belt assassin walking quietly on the roof of the brothel. That assassin also noticed ve Huan, but he did not appear to mind it.


    He continued to walk forward with an unsheathed saber in hand, and then he jumped into the house through a window and killed the maid with only one strike. He came over to hold the maid after killing her and gentlyid her on the ground to avoid making any noise.


    A momentter, another two brown-belt assassins jumped into the room to join him. They quickly dispersed to find the other targets in the house.


    They all knew that ve Huan was watching, but none of them minded it.


    They were also from Little g Battalion, and one of them was a former Tattooed Arm Gang member and ve Huan¡¯s loyal friend. Despite the fact that all of them wore masks, Gu Shenwei still easily recognized them.


    ¡°Why do they assassinate their targets in broad daylight? This is not Golden Roc Fort¡¯s style at all.¡± Gu Shenwei could not help but wonder. On second thought, he realized why they did this. Pleasure Alley was quiet during the daytime but crowded at night, so it was better to take action here during the day.


    Soon, the assassinspleted their task, but they did not retreat quietly. To Gu Shenwei¡¯s great surprise, they opened the door and sent out a frightened servant. ¡°Help, help, it¡¯s a murder,¡± the elderly woman screamed.


    All the people on the banquet were dumbfounded.


    Tie Hanfeng darted to the window to see what happened outside. ¡°Liu Yin¡¯er was killed.¡±


    Upon hearing that the prostitute living across the street was murdered, Xu Yanwei shrilled and threw herself into Meng Mingshi¡¯s arms. ¡°Liu Yin¡¯er is one of Mr. Meng¡¯s favorite whores. Who dares to kill her? Did she deliberately send the elderly woman out to attract Mr. Meng¡¯s attention?¡± One of Meng Mingshi¡¯s servants said.


    Liu Yin¡¯er was not only one of Meng Mingshi¡¯s favorite prostitutes but also a prostitute working for the Meng family. Besides her, many other prostitutes in Pleasure Alley also had very powerful bosses. To avoid offending those prostitutes¡¯ bosses, Golden Roc Fort¡¯s killers and machetemen, who had turned all the brothels in South City upside down during the past several days, never dared toe to Pleasure Alley to search for members of New Moon Hall and the Barren Sect.


    Meng Mingshi rubbed Xu Yanwei¡¯s shoulder with one hand tofort her while holding a cup of liquor with the other hand. ¡°What an annoying bitch. Tell her to wait for a moment. I¡¯ll go over to kill her very soon,¡± Meng Mingshi grumbled.


    In the next moment, the elderly woman got rid of Xu Xiaoyi and stumbled all the way up to find Meng Mingshi.


    ¡°Mr. Meng, my kind master, someone suddenly broke into our house. Oh, my goodness. They murdered the girl. They killed Miss¡­¡±


    The woman¡¯s speech became increasingly incoherent, but her blood-smeared dress had already convinced everyone that Liu Yin¡¯er was murdered.


    ¡°Master Yu wille here very soon,¡± Gu Shenwei realized something and reminded everyone.


    Just as he expected, a momentter, Shangguan Yushi and 10 brown-belt assassins galloped to the brothel. An assassin came out to report to her.


    The elderly woman¡¯s screams had already woken up all the people in the alley. They simultaneously stuck their heads out of their windows to see what was going on outside.


    Meng Mingshi turned pale because of anger. He threw his cup aside and ran to the window. ¡°You¡­ Shangguan Yushi¡­ What¡¯re you doing here? Why did you kill my girl?¡±


    Shangguan Yushi remained silent. She just raised up her head to give Meng Mingshi a nce and then walked into Xu Yanwei¡¯s brothel. When she came to the second floor, she still did not say a word to Meng Mingshi. ¡°ve Huan, you seemed to forget that you¡¯re a member of Little g Battalion.


    Gu Shenwei had had a lot of trouble to deal with yesterday and thus hadpletely forgot to report to his killer leader yesterday afternoon. ¡°We were too busy toe back to report.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s Maid Lotus?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s watching the suspects.¡±


    Meng Mingshi felt a little embarrassed, and his face became red now. ¡°Stop, stop. You have to give me an exnation first. Why did you kill my girl?¡±


    ¡°Your girl? She¡¯s New Moon Hall¡¯s disciple. Mr. Meng Mingshi, are you close to Golden Roc Fort¡¯s enemies?¡± Shangguan Yushi asked.


    ¡°What are you talking about? That¡¯s impossible. She¡¯s not a¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve solid evidence.¡±


    ¡°No, you must have forged the evidence to frame me. I demand a reasonable exnation for this. Let¡¯s go to Golden Roc Fort together.¡±


    The two young masters began to quarrel. No one in this room dared to stop them.


    Evidently, Shangguan Yushi did not juste here for Liu Yin¡¯er. While arguing with Meng Mingshi, she often turned to ve Huan, condemning the brown-belt assassin for dining together with Master Ru¡¯s foe.


    Gu Shenwei was not sure if Liu Yin¡¯er was a member of New Moon Hall, but he was 100-percent sure what Shangguan Yushi was trying to do here. She intended to make a big deal out of this dinner and wanted everyone to know that ve Huan had openly betrayed Master Ru and dined with her enemy Meng Mingshi. She was pretty confident that Shangguan Ru would hear about this incident very soon.


    ording to Tie Hafeng¡¯s theory about ¡°rtions¡±, Shangguan Yushi, who wanted to kill ve Huan without stirring up Shangguan Ru¡¯s temper, was now trying to sever the ve boy¡¯s rtions with Master Ru,


    Somehow, Mister Guo, the Commander of the action against New Moon Hall and the Barren Sect, also came here to question Shangguan Yushi on the assassination of Liu Yin¡¯er. ording to Commander Guo¡¯s order, Little g Battalion should stay within the southeastern area of South City and should nevere to Pleasure Alley without permission.


    Now that there were lots of people packed inside this room, Gu Shenwei was pinned up against the window by the crowd. When he heard someone chanting Amitabha, he could only turn his head a little to have a look. To his great surprise, he saw two monks in Pleasure Alley: one was pale as a ghost and the other was tall and strong like Vajra Dharma.

 Chapter 134

    Chapter 134: A Restless Day


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei felt overwhelmed. A new problem had alreadye to his door, when the old problem inside the room remained unsolved.


    Surprisingly, under such pressure, his true potential was somehow unleashed. He suddenly thought of a n to solve these problems.


    He guessed that people just could not bring their potentialities into full y unless they were cornered. He reckoned that it was because of such potential outbursts that a coward could pluck up his courage to stand out at a crucial moment and a young mother could lift a very heavy thing to save her baby.


    The quarrel between Shangguan Yushi and Meng Mingshi was not over yet.


    Shangguan Yushi showed everyone the evidence that she had found in the brothel across the street: ten steel needles and some ck clothes embroidered with white crescents. ¡°Liu Yin¡¯er must be a disciple of New Moon Hall. We found these things in Liu Yin¡¯er¡¯s brothel, and we also found out that she knew kung fu,¡± she told everyone.


    ¡°How can you prove that these things are hers? Who else can prove that she knows kung fu? She¡¯s dead now. You can say whatever you want,¡± Meng Mingshi retorted.


    Mister Guo and Fifth Young Master Meng were old friends, but they had to pretend to be unfamiliar with each other in front of everyone else. Given that, Mister Guo did not openly support Fifth Young Master Meng. He just condemned Shangguan Yushi for leaving the southeastern part of South City without permission.


    Shangguan Yushi was not a little girl anymore. She did not fear Mister Guo now and contended that she and her assassins were just chasing a lead that they discovered in the southeastern area of South City.


    Gu Shenwei knew Master Yu¡¯s true intention and decided to give her what she wanted. ¡°Regardless of whether Liu Yin¡¯er is a disciple of New Moon Hall or not, we should never condemn the Meng family. The Meng family is such a close ally of Golden Roc Fort, and its interests are aligned with that of the fort. Given that, Little g Battalion shouldn¡¯t assassinate Liu Yin¡¯er without informing the Meng family beforehand. If you had told the Meng family what you had found about Liu Yin¡¯er and let the Meng family take care of this thing, the family would¡¯ve solved this problem better. Maybe they could¡¯ve found out more disciples of New Moon Hall for us.¡±


    Meng Mingshi thought that ve Huan was speaking for himself, so he echoed the ve boy¡¯s view without any hesitation. When Mister Guo noticed ve Huan¡¯s trick, it was already toote to stop the young master.


    Shangguan Yushi was furious and stormed out of the house while calling ve Huan a traitor. Even Commander Guo could not stop her from leaving.


    .


    After Shangguan Yushi¡¯s departure, Gu Shenwei went to Mister Guo. ¡°Commander Guo, I want to talk with you, privately. I¡¯ve something important to say.¡± Just as he had expected, Mister Guo turned down his request at once. Despite that, he still whispered beside Mister Guo¡¯s ear. ¡°The Barren Sect is going to climb all the way up to Golden Roc Fort with those pitons.¡±


    Mister Guo disliked the ve boy very much and was fed up with this piton thing, which he thought was absurd and groundless. He red up and scolded the boy before leaving. This result also met Gu Shenwei¡¯s expectations.


    After leaving the brothel, Meng Mingshi¡¯s servants reminded their young master that ve Huan was not trustworthy. ¡°That ve boy just pretended to speak for you, but in fact, he was implying that the Meng family did have something to do with New Moon Hall and the Barren Sect.¡± Upon hearing that, Meng Mingshi gnashed his teeth in anger and hated the ve boy¡¯s guts.


    Tie Hanfeng was confused. In his view, ve Huan should stand aside quietly to avoid offending anyone instead of getting involved in the quarrel between Shangguan Yushi and Meng Mingshi.


    Gu Shenwei did not have time to argue with his Master Shifu. He had to leave this ce as soon as possible, but before that, he needed to meet the monks to get some information. He had asked Xu Xiaoyi to invite Lianhua and Lianye into the bedroom downstairs not long after he had spotted the monks in the street.


    Xu Xiaoyi, who had never met any monk from Four Truths Temple before, was excited to meet Lianhua and Lianye. He had a good time with Monk Lianhua, who told him many interesting things about Buddhism and even taught him several paragraphs of Breaking Obsession .


    When he concentrated himself on memorizing the incantation, Gu Shenwei suddenly came in and threw him out. The little boy was shocked and forgot most of the words he had just learned from the monk.


    After throwing Xu Xiaoyi out, Gu Shenwei bowed deeply to the monks.


    It was the first time Monk Lianhua had left Four Truths Temple during recent years. He came directly to Pleasure Alley, nning to persuade the two teenagers to continue to learn Breaking Obsession.


    Monk Lianhua was a little pedantic but he was not stupid. He could tell that the teenager did note to him for Breaking Obsession , but he still took this chance to tell the teenager the benefits of bing a Buddhist.


    Gu Shenwei patiently listened to the monk for some time, and then he began to ask questions about the origin of Tiger Monk¡¯s y b.


    Unfortunately, Monk Lianhua did not know much about it except that it had something to do with the agreement between Golden Roc Fort and New Moon Hall.


    Gu Shenwei asked a few more questions about the y b, but still failed to get any urate answers. Right at this moment, Monk Lianye interrupted, ¡°Brother Lianhua, this boy will die within a few days. You¡¯d better not waste your time on him anymore.¡±


    Monk Lianhua was shocked to hear that and anxiously asked Lianye, ¡°Is there anything wrong with this boy?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was surprised that Lianye was able to sense his qigong deviation without feeling his pulse. ¡°Monk Lianye must be a qigong master and might be able to cure my qigong deviation.¡± With this thought in his mind, he knelt down in front of Monk Lianhua and said, ¡°Monk Lianhua, Monk Lianye is right. I really wish to give up my saber to be a Buddhist, but I¡¯m afraid that I won¡¯t get such a chance.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew that Lianye did not like him, so he only implored Monk Lianhua for mercy.


    The merciful monk was moved and said to Lianye, ¡°Brother Lianye, please help this poor boy.¡±


    Lianye felt reluctant to help the boy, but he could not deny Monk Lianhua¡¯s request. He turned to face west and repeatedly chanted, ¡°Amitabha, to save a person is better than building a 7-story pagoda.¡± After a while, he finally calmed himself down and went to treat the brown-belt assassin. He grabbed the teenager¡¯s wrist with his left hand to inject some cool energy into the boy, and in the meantime he sent out strands of Qi with his right hand to help the cool energy flowing inside the boy¡¯s meridians.


    The hot Qi inside Gu Shenwei¡¯s Baihui, Xuanji and Yongquan acupoints felt threatened and started shivering.


    Soon, with the help of the strands of Qi, the cool energy began to attack the hot Qi and drive it out of the boy¡¯s body.


    Feeling that the hot Qi was defeated by the cool energy, Gu Shenwei was overwhelmed with joy, although this remedial process made him suffer a lot physically.


    An hourter, Lianye was soaked in sweats and was too exhausted to continue the treatment. Gu Shenwei also felt tired and weak. The moment the monk released his wrist, he immediately fell to the ground.


    Tie Hanfeng went to check out the situation inside the room. When he discovered that the monks were treating his apprentice, he decided to leave them alone and asked Xu Yanwei and Xu Xiaoyi to stay away from this room.


    ¡°How¡¯s he?¡± Lianhua asked solicitously. Breaking Obsession was the brainchild of him and his brother, so he really cared about this ve boy, who was one of the first learners of the incantation.


    Lianye was panting heavily. He spent some time stabilizing his internal breath and then said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Brother Lianhua. My internal strength isn¡¯t strong enough to erase the evil force inside his body. I¡¯ve tried my best but I¡¯m afraid that I can only give him a few more days to live by doing that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s probably the boy¡¯s fate. You¡¯ve done your best. That¡¯s enough. You don¡¯t have to be sorry. Let¡¯s go to find the girl,¡± said Monk Lianhua, decisively.


    Now that the monks knew that the ve boy would die soon, they decided to find Maid Lotus, the other learner of Breaking Obsession .


    Gu Shenwei was quite pleased to send the monks away now. ¡°Goodbye, Monk Lianhua and Monk Lianye. The girl was taken away by someone else. I¡¯ll appreciate it very much, if you can find her.¡±


    Seeing the monks leave the house, Tie Hanfeng came to ve Huan and said, ¡°Shangguan Hongye came here. He asked me to tell you that the Eighth Young Mistress wants to see you. He said that it¡¯s something important.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had been waiting for this order from Luo Ningcha all this time. He had paid Shangguan Hongye an ingot of gold for this. He needed a reasonable excuse for his return to Golden Roc Fort.


    ¡°I see. I¡¯ll set out right away.¡± With these words, Gu Shenwei staggered up and headed for the gate of the house.


    Tie Hanfeng thought that ve Huan behaved abnormally today, so he grabbed the boy and asked, ¡°Do you know what you¡¯re doing?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Gu Shenwei nodded and replied assertively. Faced with so many tricky problems, he really wished that he was as confident as he sounded.


    At night, after he returned to Golden Roc Fort, he went to report to Luo Ningcha. He told her how he had fawned over the Fifth Young Master Meng during the dinner.


    Miss Luo quickly lost her patience and got tired of hearing the trivial details about the dinner. She felt a little disappointed, since Shangguan Hongye had told her that ve Huan had something important to say. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough. You don¡¯t have to report such a trivial matter to me. Now that you¡¯vee back, l give you another task. Go to have dinner tomorrow with Shangguan Hongye and his mother,¡± she said to ve Huan.


    Luo Ningcha was much more prudent than before. Although Shangguan Hongye and Madam Yang had already epted her money and promised to support her, she still doubted their loyalty. She decided to send her conspiracy teacher to feel them out.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s top priority now was toplete the task given by the tall woman from the Barren Sect. He did not want to waste his time on Shangguan Hongye and his mother, however, he had no choice but to ept Miss Luo¡¯s order. Before he left, he asked Miss Luo to do him a favour. ¡°Miss Luo, please find a chance to go to Inner Residence to tell Shangguan Ru that I want to meet her.¡±


    Luo Ningcha refused to deliver the message for him in the beginning, since she hated Lady Meng and all thedy¡¯s children. Gu Shenwei told her the benefits of keeping a low profile and maintaining friendly rtions with Lady Meng to persuade her, but she still insisted that ve Huan should tell her the reason for this meeting.


    ¡°The twins are going to select their own killers on their birthday. Only Master Ru can make me a red-belt killer now,¡± Gu Shenwei said to Miss Luo.


    ¡°If she makes you a red-belt killer, you¡¯ll be her and her mother¡¯s loyal servant, won¡¯t you?¡± Luo Ningcha asked suspiciously.


    ¡°Miss Luo, I¡¯ll never betray you and the Eighth Young Master. I¡¯ve taken a blood oath to you and sworn to be your loyal servant forever. Now, all the other young masters have promised to send their best brown-belt assassins to the twins. If I get kicked out of the election, it¡¯ll be a disgrace to the Eighth Young Master.¡±


    After convincing Miss Luo to deliver the message for him, he hurriedly went back to Tie Hanfeng¡¯s yard in East Castle before curfew to read Death Scripture. He hoped that he could find some clues to his trouble in this scripture and read the book for hours. As a result, he only took a nap during the early hours of the morning.


    When he woke up, he felt dizzy. Today, he had lots of things to do. He had to meet Shangguan Ru to carry out his n and dine with Shangguan Hongye and his mother at noon on behalf of Luo Ningcha. He also needed to sneak into Firewood Yard to fasten the rope for the Barren Sect before midnight.


    Today would be a very busy day.

 Chapter 135

    Chapter 135: Friendship


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    After daybreak, Gu Shenwei went to greet Miss Luo Ningcha. Miss Luo told him that Shangguan Ru had promised to meet him after 9pm in Kun Yard.


    Kun Yard was reserved for Shangguan Ru. When she bes the Tenth Young Master, she would move to this yard from the Inner Residence. Gu Shenwei knew its location since he had been there before. He was a little worried about the time. 9pm was ratherte as he would have less than two hours before 11pm.


    Subsequently, he went to West Castle to visit Shangguan Hongye and his mother.


    Luo Ningcha arranged this meeting on a sudden whim, and both parties of this meeting felt slightly awkward in the beginning. It was inappropriate to send a boy ve to feast with a young master like Shangguan Hongye, who was a nephew of the Supreme King. However, Shangguan Hongye and his mother epted this arrangement. They found it hard to reject Luo Ningcha¡¯s money. Although the Eighth Young Mistress was ruthless and inhumane, she was filthy rich and generous. With so much money, she could aplish anything.


    Shangguan Hongye¡¯s mother was in her thirties and surnamed Yang. She had lost her youthful charms and now, she¡¯s struggling to survive. Her house was shabbily decorated, and all her servants, which consisted of a boy ve and a maid, were sent by the fort. Both of the servants were underpaid and hated working there. They would fake their obedience to Madam Yang and Shangguan Hongye in front of the guests.


    Seeing Shangguan Hongye and Madam Yang living in such conditions, Gu Shenwei thought to himself, ¡°Shangguan Fa treats his own brother¡¯s widow and son in such a cold way. He¡¯s indeed much more merciless than the most ruthless killer.¡±


    He found out that it was forbidden to talk about the Supreme King in this house. It seemed that Madam Yang and Shangguan Hongye abided by this rule much more strictly than all the other people in the fort, but this attitude also showed their dissatisfaction towards the lord.


    After they got rid of the initial awkwardness, Madam Yang and Shangguan Hongye showed more enthusiasm. Gu Shenwei thought that they were a little too enthusiastic and felt slightly ufortable.


    Shangguan Hongye spoke very little, but Madam Yang spoke endlessly. She talked about her family, praised ve Huan for his capabilities and sighed that her son was not good at studying nor fighting. This made Shangguan Hongye very unhappy. Next, they talked about the Eighth Young Mistress and Lady Meng.


    Gu Shenwei was a little absent minded and gave perfunctory replies to Madam Yang until she asked him an unusual question.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried that the Eighth Young Mistress might be unhappy after seeing you work for Master Ru?¡± Madam Yang asked curiously with a tinge of reproach, while trying to act like a friend of the Eighth Young Mistress.


    Gu Shenwei was still absent minded. Firstly, he stated that he was an underling of the Eighth Young Master and serving Tenth Young Master was Eighth Young Master¡¯s idea. Also, as a ve, he should do his best to bring both of them together, since they were a family.


    Gu Shenwei left immediately after answering this difficult question.


    After he left Madam Yang and Shangguan Hongye¡¯s residence, he went to the school to visit Zhang Ji. However, he did not obtain any useful information from Mister Zhang. Although Zhang Ji knew lots about strategies and history, he knew little about kung fu. He knew nothing about the origin of the Death Scripture.


    After leaving the school, Gu Shenwei went straight to Eighth Young Master¡¯s house.


    Luo Ningcha was pleased that she could get Madam Yang to openly support her. This was the first time that she won ady¡¯s support in the fort, and thisdy was a sister-inw of Lady Meng and an aunt of the Eighth Young Mistress. Luo Ningcha could not wait to hear ve Huan¡¯s judgement of thisdy.


    ¡°How is it? Can she be trusted?¡± She asked impatiently.


    Luo Ningcha only had one servant, namely Maid Cui. Luo Ningcha became more and more paranoid as time goes on and she couldn¡¯t bring herself to trust any other servant.


    Separated by a wooden square wall, Gu Shenwei could only hear the voice of Miss Luo. He hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°You can¡¯t believe her.¡±


    ¡°How could that be? She offered her assistance when we were in the Inner Residence,¡± said Miss Luo, with a sense of disappointment.


    ¡°This is where the problem lies. As Lady Meng was the head of the inner residence, no one dared to sympathize with you openly. Madam Yang¡¯s exaggerated actions proved that she was under Lady Meng¡¯s orders to investigate you.¡±


    Luo Ningcha suddenly sighed. She started to throw a tantrum by smashing tea cups and hitting the maid as she berated ve Huan, ¡°You spout all kinds of nonsense. Initially, you said Madam Yang could be easily bribed and now you say that she was a spy for that old woman. Bighead Kingpin wanted you to help me. This is ridiculous. How can I believe you? Mama Xue always said to never let my guard down around you¡­¡±.


    Gu Shenwei looked down while kneeling on the ground as he waited for Miss Luo to cool down. He said, ¡°Now that the enemy is stronger than us, it¡¯s naturally more difficult to bribe them¡±.


    ¡°Then what do you think we can do? Are you saying that I had given out so much money for nothing? I¡¯ll deal with Madam Yang sooner orter.¡±


    Luo Ningcha was not good at earning the trust of people nor was she good at creating ns to further her own interests. Even though Gu Shenwei had to educate her patiently, he had decided to distance himself from this woman as to not be betrayed by her.


    ¡°There is a way, which couldn¡¯t only punish Madam Yang, but can also make her stand on your side.¡±


    ¡°You should have said this earlier¡±, Luo Ningcha said as she forgot about the fact that she was the one who was constantly nagging.


    ¡°Since Madam Yang was investigating you on behalf of Lady Meng, you should speak kindly of Lady Meng in front of her as to show a hint of regret, but don¡¯t be too histrionic¡­¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±, Luo Ningcha asked while smashing another tea cup, ¡°Do you want me to beg?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was losing his patience and said, ¡°Of course not. By letting Madam Yang pass along your message to Lady Meng, Lady Meng would never believe her. If you gave Madam Yang more items such as gold, some clothes for Madam Yang, so she could wear them in the inner residence for everyone to see¡­¡±


    Luo Ningcha had a sudden realisation and eximed, ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re trying to sow discord?¡±


    Gu Shenwei heaved a sigh of relief and said, ¡°Indeed. As Madam Yang and Lady Meng aren¡¯t close to each other, this trick can be very useful. After Madam Yang gets humiliated in front of Lady Meng¡¯s, the bribe will be sessful.¡±.


    Gu Shenwei thought that Lady Meng and Madam Yang might collude and inflict harm to themselves to deceive her. However, there was no need to overplicate the fight in the inner residence. Since Luo Ningcha could notprehend the n, he did not voice out his thoughts.


    After dealing with Miss Luo Ningcha, Gu Shenwei went to Kun Yard. As the door was locked, he jumped over the wall to get in. He sat on the steps in front of the gallery while he waited for Shangguan Ru.


    He went through the n once more and made some minor adjustments. There were several major loopholes that he was unable to amend. As a humble boy ve, he could not control the whole situation. A decision made by a big shot could easily jeopardize the whole n and put his life at risk.


    He had no choice but to follow through with his n.


    Shangguan Ru, who was dressed in all ck and had her face covered, arrived before the stipted time. She wondered if ve Huan hade up with some new games.


    This dialog yed an important role in Gu Shenwei¡¯s life. Not only did he solve numerous problems with the assistance of Shangguan Ru, but he had also gained her trust.


    Gu Shenwei had nearly be one of Shangguan Ru¡¯s closest allies once, but they had a falling out due to various reasons. Although both of them had met on the journey towards Iron Mountain camp before, they could not find that initial chemistry they once had together. Subsequently, even though they had gone through thick and thin and ve Huan had managed to save the lives of several young men, their rtionship did not be closer.


    Friendship is a mysterious thing. It can be moreplex than love sometimes. Your favourite person might not be the one who helped or cherished you the most. Instead, it could be someone who opened up their hearts to you and allowed themselves to be vulnerable in front of you, but you had subsequently forgotten about all of it.


    Gu Shenwei told Shangguan Ru everything that he knew about the Barren Sect. He said, ¡°Mama Xue used the Peripheral Force on me and Maid Lotus. Both of us have less than two years to live. We were captured by two women from the Barren Sect and Maid Lotus had be their hostage. I had to take up more responsibilities andplete the mission by tonight.¡±.


    Gu Shenwei took out a thin long rope with a piece of ck iron tied to one end and ced it in front of Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Ru removed the ck cloth covering her face. As she listened, she became more and more surprised. She asked, ¡°Will you die due to qigong deviation by noon of tomorrow?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    ¡°Is Barren Sect going to climb up the cliff and siege the Stone Castle tonight?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded again and said, ¡°My guess is that they didn¡¯t want to attack discreetly and they have an ulterior motive.¡±.


    ¡°Oh, no matter what motive they have, I¡¯ll tell my father and let him send people to kill those women.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll also die. Barren Sect is the only one who can dispel the Peripheral Force.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was worried for ve Huan. She said, while scratching her head, ¡°What should we do? Capture them alive so they can heal you?¡±.


    ¡°They¡¯re resistant to torture. No one can force those women to do anything.¡±


    Shangguan Ru paced back and forth in front of ve Huan. She was only thirteen and she couldn¡¯t think of any good ideas in such a short amount of time. She asked, ¡°This¡­ Have you ever said this to someone else?¡±.


    ¡°Mister Guo. He didn¡¯t believe that Barren Sect could climb the Stone Castle and he didn¡¯t believe me.¡±


    ¡°Mister Guo? How can you count on him? Did you forget that he wanted to kill you in the first ce? I hate that hypocrite the most.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like him either. However, he is themander of South City, so I have to tell him what I know.¡±


    ¡°How about Master Yu? You should be under hermand.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t tell her. This is an important matter. Once this gets out, both Maid Lotus and I will die and it will alert the enemy.¡±


    This sticky situation is beyond the scope of Shangguan Ru¡¯s capabilities. Looking at the young man before her, he seemed taller and looked more distressed. He had that same troubled look on his face. Strangely enough, she did not notice it when they were travelling to Iron Mountain. She said, ¡°You have a solution, don¡¯t you? You made me worried on purpose.¡±.


    Even though Shangguan Ru¡¯s eyes was darker than the night sky, it was shimmering like the brightest star in the sky. Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help butughed, as though this was a trivial game.


    Shangguan Ru was unhappy. She said, ¡°What¡¯re youughing at? Is it funny,ing up with a story to trick me? I am an adult and will have a team of assassins in a few days time.¡±.


    Gu Shenwei stopped smiling and said, ¡°No, this is the truth. Barren Sect will climb the Stone Castle tonight. I have a guess as to what their intentions are and I havee up with a solution. However, I need your help. No one else can help or save me except you.


    Shangguan Ru liked to hear this. She was satisfied. She smirked while she stretched her hand out. She said, ¡°Count on me. I won¡¯t let you die.¡±.


    Gu Shenwei held Shangguan Ru¡¯s hand and told her his n. Shangguan Ru frowned and said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, you¡¯ll still be in a dangerous position.¡±.


    ¡°Danger is lurking everywhere. I only need your promise.¡±


    Shangguan Ru had her lips tightly pursed and her nose moved slightly. Then, she pped and said, ¡°Sure.¡±.

 Chapter 136

    Chapter 136: Smuggling


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    It was gettingte, and Gu Shenwei secretly headed for the Firewood Yard.


    He was no longer that ignorant boy who had just entered the Stone Castle, making mistakes where ever he went. He knew how to listen to the footsteps and signals of the guards, and advanced forward between the patrol intervals.


    Ever since he left, Gu Shenwei has never returned here, and even as he was lethally wounded, he loatheding to this ce to risk his life.


    This time, he was also not ready to visit any old friends.


    He leaned against the wall and mbered up onto the roof. Hands and feettching upon the tiles, body stered parallel to the ridge, like a nimble civet cat, he quietly went forth. There were very few masters residing in Firewood Yard. A little disturbance would not rm the people below.


    Outside Firewood Yard, there was a triangr piece of t ground with several pine trees and a cliff at the far end.


    Gu Shenwei tied one end of the thin rope to a tree, and with the other end of the rope slowly dropping off the cliff, tried not to make any noise. This was also the most important reason that Barren Sect needed him. Because iron nails notched into the stone cliff made such a cacophonous noise that traveled very far, they could only climb to a certain height and needed someone to assist from above for thest stretch.


    The surface area of the Ghost Cliff, situated outside the Firewood Yard, was massive, and Gu Shenwei was very perplexed, wondering if the disciples of the Barren Sect could find the drooped thin rope in the dark. But this issue needed no worry.


    This was a pitch-dark night with a darkened moon and sparsely lit stars. The Barren Sect had chosen a fine day.


    Gu Shenwei waited for a long time under a tree. In the beginning, he was still wondering how Shangguan Ru was progressing. And the more he thought about it, the more his heart sank. He decided to simply let go of things and not think about it. What¡¯s done has already been done, and it would be useless to regret it now or attempt toe up with a better n.


    He remembered how it was when he first entered Golden Roc Fort. He would often be sitting there thinking about his loved ones, desiring to follow them with the leap of his entire being. Even now, as his grand ns for revenge had revealed a glimmer of hope, he still found the path ahead of them swathed in a mist of uncertainty, as if there was no possibility of reaching the end. Death seemed to be the most alluring option.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind surfaced many texts from the Death Scriptures . They were not words that looked puzzlingly like a spell from thest pages of the scriptures, but swordcraft from its first few pages.


    Someone who had the power to determine his life or death could well be climbing up the cliff along the rope. The n he had devised with Shangguan Ru might not work sessfully. With his back leaning against an ancient pine tree even older than the Stone Castle, Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart experienced an unparalleled stillness, and at that moment, those mboyant words seemed beckoning, waiting for him to enter.


    However, just like being in the underground chamber in the desert, Gu Shenwei obtained what he needed in a moment of life and death. After ying an enemy in the dark, he scarcely knew how he found his target. At this very moment, unlocking the Death Scripture¡¯s final door of secretsy right in front of him, but he could not find the keys to open that door.


    Someone jumped out from below the cliff. One, two¡­ seven men in ck were on the ground, propped up on one knee and surrounding the young man under the tree as if he were a seated mystical divine wraith.


    ¡°I did it,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    A person in ck spoke up. Gu Shenwei listened to this voice, which seemed to belong to the woman who nted a greater finger force in him. ¡°Very well, wait here.¡±


    Gu Shenwei all the more desired to follow them, but he still followed that figure¡¯s order.


    Six men in ck reached the bottom of the wall, leaped up the roof, and blended into the darkness. Their Lightness Power was much better than Gu Shenwei¡¯s, and one could scarcely see their silhouettes.


    There was, however, one man in ck who sat kneeled opposite Gu Shenwei. From afar, he looked like a piece of tilted stone.


    ¡°What does it feel like to rape women and kill children?¡± The man in ck suddenly asked, his voice light,ced with clear animosity.


    This was the younger sister of macheteman Nie Qing.


    ¡°Nothing special.¡± Gu Shenwei said, still sitting under the tree. With not even a saber by his side, he would not be able to resist if the other wanted revenge.


    ¡°When you¡¯re dead, what you feel would definitely be very special.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had long experienced near-death several times, but he decided not to argue and stayed silent. Afterward, he asked in reply, ¡°How many years of life did your master give you?¡±


    The way that Barren Sect imparted its Internal Strength is exceptionally singr. Peripheral Force could be toxic and led one into qigong deviation on a regr basis. But it could also be medicine for good, promoting the bearer¡¯s Internal Strength. With such means, the Barren Sect could firmly control its disciples.


    ¡°You¡¯d better worry about your own life. If tonight goes wrong, you¡¯ll die tomorrow afternoon. Want to know how painful it is to die? I¡¯ve seen it. I tell you, at first you¡¯ll lose all strength, and then your skin will start to itch, like getting bitten by countless ants. But it isn¡¯t painful, not painful at all, and afterward, you¡¯ll feel that itching sensation slowly seeping into your blood and bones, and you¡¯ll wish to tear your whole body asunder, only you¡¯ll feel bereft of energy. You could only oh so gently, scratch, and even when you¡¯re bleeding profusely, you¡¯ll still be unable to die. That itchiness will never go away. Eventually, you might need only an hour, or several days, depending on your fate. You¡¯ll die of the itch rather than the pain. And at that moment, you¡¯ll only be scratching, with not a single piece of well-formed skin on your body. No pain, only the itch.¡±


    Nie Qing¡¯s sister¡¯s voice was not loud, but it was filled with venom, and every single word was like a dagger that could kill.


    Gu Shenwei could understand her hatred, but he waved it away. Strangely, as he heard Tie Hanfeng insult Nie Qing¡¯s wife, and when he himself killed Nie Qing¡¯s son with his saber, he did not have any regrets. For long, he tried vainly to exin this, but now, he had be indifferent. The Breaking Obsession words invented by the monks had seemed to lose its effect.


    ¡°I do prefer to kill with the single sh of my de, no regrets.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s your Golden Roc Hall. When we capture the Stone Castle, the rules of the killer will change.¡±


    Nie Qing¡¯s sister named the Golden Roc Fort the ¡°Golden Roc Hall¡±. Gu Shenwei tried to guess who its owner was, and who the subordinate. There must be different opinions for both.


    The two did not speak to each other for some time. After an hour, the six ck men returned, and what struck Gu Shenwei was, they brought neither manuals nor treasure, but a person.


    That person appeared to have been attacked on the acupoints, and he wasid in the ck cloth bag, immobile.


    Gu Shenwei had guessed the agenda to intrude the Stone Castle, but he had never imagined that the ¡°agenda¡± was hidden in this person. After that, he was thoroughly shocked and even had a hint of admiration for the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s methods of hiding its secrets.


    The logic of Shangguan Ru¡¯s n would not have anticipated this person to be so important.


    ¡°You have achieved your goal.¡± Gu Shenwei said, standing up.


    This was the first danger in the entire n. If the other side did not trust him or take the spy seriously, he might die here.


    The leading woman in ck ordered their disciples to bring their captives with them as they went down, with her being thest one. ¡°Do you still remember the ce where you were captured? Meet me there tomorrow at the noon. If you want to be a disciple of Barren Sect, you¡¯d still have to be tested. Remember to keep your rope, just throw it down.¡±


    And so saying, the woman in ck jumped down the cliff.


    Before long, the ropes wavered and wavered. Gu Shenwei untied the knot and flung it off the cliff.


    It would take another while, which was about what he predicted.


    The disciples of Barren Sect did not attract any attention when they infiltrated into Golden Roc Fort in the night. Gu Shenwei did not ask to see anyone else. Waiting till dawn at the Ghost Cliff, he mbered off the wall before Firewood Yard was open, and borrowing a horse from Eight Young Master, he left Stone Castle hurriedly down the mountain.


    The next threat was the Supreme King himself. If he were eager to start hostilities, ve Huan would have had no choice to dispel the Peripheral Force within himself.


    Gu Shenwei rode through the North City on his horse, and sometime before noon, he reached the level ground in the mountains where he and Maid Lotus were captured.


    He unbridled his horse, letting it graze freely on the grass. He sat cross-legged on the floor, waiting silently, asionally touching his belt girded around his waist where he would put his saber. He missed that feeling, and without it, he felt like a giant roc that has lost its wings, or a tiger that did not eat meat. He felt greatly irritated and powerless.


    However, that which could save him was not a saber.


    As noon arrived, Gu Shenwei suddenly realized that his body seemed to ache, and he started to scratch involuntarily. There were several ants on his arms.


    Four masked women in ck suddenly emerged from different directions. One of them sprung out before Gu Shenwei and kicked him viciously in the chest.


    Gu Shenwei dropped to the ground, and his whole body itched, spreading from his hair to his toes.


    ¡°Why?¡± That tickling did not reach intolerable proportions, and Gu Shenwei jumped up, asking so. However, immediately, he felt his whole body weaken and even standing up became very difficult.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare try to fool me!¡± The woman who had attacked him asked stridently. She was the one who had nted the Peripheral Force in the body of the young man.


    ¡°What do you mean? I did everything ording to your instructions.¡±


    ¡°You revealed the secret.¡±


    ¡°If I had done so, would I have dared toe to see you?¡±


    ¡®Hey, do you still want to coax me to dispel the Peripheral Force? What a pity, that person did not hold on long, he had let the cat out of the bag in a few words.¡±


    This was the third danger in the n. Life or death, it all depended on whether Gu Shenwei could swindle the trust out of this woman.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know who ¡®that person¡¯ is that you¡¯re talking about. If it¡¯s that person whom we¡¯ve captured yesterday, it has nothing to do with me. You¡¯ve never mentioned your own motives, and even if I wanted to, I couldn¡¯t have known.¡±


    The itching sensation intensified. Nie Qing¡¯s sister had described it urately. Gu Shenwei gritted his teeth and kept himself from scratching. He had to preserve his willpower to deal with this crisis before him.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to know. As long as you have divulged the secret, someone in the house of Shangguan would naturally have guessed it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s face was of all innocence. This expression was faked with practiced familiarity. ¡°Okay, I had divulged the secret. The house of Shangguan had tampered somewhat with ¡®that person¡¯s¡¯ body. And what after that? Just let you go off? Laugh it all off, and the matter would just end? Supreme King would hardly ever bother himself over the life of an apprentice killer like me.¡±


    This was precisely what the woman in ck couldn¡¯t understand. If ve Huan had spilled the beans, Golden Roc Fort would have sent men to follow them. And upon finding the hideout at Jade City, the killers would have immediately killed them. However, they searched this tnd in the mountains and the vicinity, and had definitely not found men in ambush.


    ¡°Cut the crap, throw him here to die.¡±


    Gu Shenwei could hardly bear the torment of the itchiness anymore, and his body trembled. With a wavering voice, he said, ¡°Tell me what it is you want, maybe I can help.¡±


    ¡°You?¡± The woman in ck asked condescendingly. ¡°That¡¯s the most heavily guarded secret of Stone Castle. How would you know?¡±


    ¡°Mama Xue has once asked me to gather information on many things. I didn¡¯t know why, but she was pretty satisfied. So what I¡¯d gathered might have been useful to her, and it may be of use to you too.¡±


    ¡°Speak.¡± The woman in ck said hesitatingly.


    ¡°First make my itch go away. Damn, I can¡¯t bear it anymore.¡±


    Finally, Gu Shenwei could begin his bargain.

 Chapter 137

    Chapter 137: Managing Master


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The only way to find out Barren Sect¡¯s motive for climbing the Stone Castle was from Mama Xue.


    Gu Shenwei finally came up with a conclusion after thinking, several times, through Mama Xue¡¯s behavior. Since the beginning, Barren Sect¡¯s target was a secret kungfu manuscript. By following false information, Mama Xue had obtained a fake copy of the manuscript. Barren Sect¡¯s renewed efforts, which expended a hundred times more mental and physical energy than Mama Xue had, showed that they were extremely sure where the real manuscript was hidden.


    Golden Roc Fort, which received the information beforehand, could thus deceive Barren Sect once more by recing the real manuscript with another fake.


    What Gu Shenwei did not expect was that the ¡°secret manuscript¡± was actually a person. He had thought that it was hidden within an object in the Six Kills Temple, such as the ck Jade Palm which was previously stolen by Shangguan Ru. Instead, it was hidden on the body of the Sacred Master who guarded the temple.


    A human heart was perhaps the safest ce to hide the manuscript in. What Golden Roc Fort needed to do was to protect this person.


    At present, Gu Shenwei¡¯s life depended on Shangguan Ru¡¯s ability to persuade her father. If the Supreme King urgently wanted to destroy Barren Sect, he would naturally act without hesitation, and would undoubtedly be apathetic to the life of a brown-belt assassin.


    Thedy in ck fixed her eyes on the youth who was beginning to tremble slightly. ¡°You seem quite clever. Did Kang Wenmei die at your hands?¡±


    Gu Shenwei resisted his bodily itch and shook his head. ¡°Why would I want to harm her? She¡¯s the only one who can purge the Peripheral Force from my body.¡±


    Nie Qing could sense that thedy was wavering, and thus interrupted, ¡°Master, you mustn¡¯t believe this little one. He¡¯s trying to coax you into removing the force.¡±


    Thedy in ck turned her head and red momentarily at her disciple. Nie Qing knew she had spoken too much and backed away embarrassedly.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t wrong.¡± Thedy turned towards the youth. ¡°But Kang Wenmei is dead. I can purge the force which I¡¯d imnted, and can also teach you a set of techniques for you to slowly purge Kang Wenmei¡¯s force on your own.¡±


    ¡°On what conditions?¡± There was a quaver in Gu Shenwei¡¯s voice, not because he was excited, but because, right then, an itch traveled from his skin into his body.


    ¡°We¡¯re finding a person, or perhaps a book, a scroll, or a wooden nk. Whatever it is, it¡¯s the secret manuscript which the New Moon Hall has passed down over many generations, and was stolen by Golden Roc Hall. Did Kang Wenmei mention this?¡±


    If Gu Shenwei wanted his act to be a little more believable, he would have tensed himself up a little longer. However, he did not want to waste any more time while his viscera were itching badly. Thus, he babbled a sequence of words and started rolling on the ground witlessly.


    ¡°Yunniwufenbielonghuwufangdengyouqingqingbuyounankefalengye.¡±


    These were the opening words of the strange passage in Death Scripture. Gu Shenwei had read it out by its literal pronunciation¨Cits real meaning was ¡°The soul rises to the Ninth Heaven, the spirit falls to the Ninth Abysse, the living suffer in grief, and the dead settle in peace.¡±


    He no longer cared if the words actually had any effect. Nie Qing was right, the feeling of itching to death was truly special. So much that he wished he could reach his arm down his throat and mash his intestines into bits.


    Thedy¡¯s face changed color almost entirely, and she began to speak in an almost-howling voice. ¡°What else do you know?¡±


    But the youth, who was rolling about and scratching himself on the ground, could no longer hear her shouting. Thedy bent down and lifted him up before she started patting him repeatedly around his body.


    The itch began to dissipate. Gu Shenwei sat on the floor with his hands still trembling. He was right once again, Barren Sect¡¯s search for the secret manuscript indeed had something to do with the Death Scripture, or perhaps, it was the Death Scripture itself. Thetter¡¯s fall to the bottom of a cliff was, beyond a doubt, inextricably linked to Golden Roc Fort, and thus to New Moon Hall as well.


    Although Nie Qing already felt displeased while thedy was saving his life, she did not dare to voice out then. But now, she felt emboldened. ¡°Everyone knows those words. He¡¯s deceiving you, Master.¡±


    Gu Shenwei adjusted his internal breath while simultaneously reciting the strange passage in the Death Scripture in its original pronunciation. After more than a hundred words, he paused and pretended to think.


    Even Nie Qing was speechless this time. The four females had be like wide-eyed disciples who were listening attentively to the teachings of a knowledgeable schr sitting on the grass.


    ¡°Whates next?¡± Thedy in ck urged.


    ¡°Is this the secret manuscript you¡¯re searching for?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Nope.¡±


    The two responses were voiced almost at the same time.


    Thedy in ck, who had answered in the affirmative, took a look at her disciple andmented, ¡°You have a lot more to say today than usual.¡±


    A terrified look appeared on Nie Qing, who immediately knelt down. ¡°Your disciple knows her mistake. Please forgive me, Master.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind began to spin. There was bound to be a reason for their contradicting responses. He knew that the chances of being exposed would increase if he continued to recite.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter either way. However, that¡¯s all I know. I¡¯d gone around looking for information, but when I learned of Mama Xue¡¯s death, I didn¡¯t dare to inquire anymore and had to stop.¡±


    Thedy in ck was heavily skeptical. Though she was astounded by the youth¡¯s recitation of the passage, she was undecided about the extent to which she could trust him.


    ¡°My name¡¯s Kang Wenhui.¡± Thedy in ck said as she took off the ck cloth that masked her beautiful face, on which the only signs of her age were a few fine lines at the canthi. ¡°I¡¯m the Managing Master of Barren Sect. Kang Wenmei is my subordinate.¡±


    Gu Shenwei promptly got on one knee and bowed his head. ¡°Disciple Yang Huan pays his respects to the Managing Master.¡±


    ¡°Rise. Now tell me how you came by this scripture¡¯s passage.¡±


    ¡°I shall report everything truthfully to Managing Master. Under orders from Mama Xue, I became close with Golden Roc Fort¡¯s Tenth Young Master and sessfully obtained her trust. It was she who taught me this passage. But after Mama Xue died, I entered the East Castle and no longer had much contact with Tenth Young Master, and therefore didn¡¯t learn the rest.¡±


    ¡°Is everything you said true?¡±


    ¡°Not a single false word. I gave up halfway back then because Mama Xue didn¡¯t exin the true state of affairs to me. If I return and ask Tenth Young Master once more, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll be able to obtain the entire scripture.¡±


    His heart thumped hard. The entire n would be considered sessful if he was able to trick Kang Wenhui into releasing him.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what you should fret about.¡± Kang Wenhui somehow managed to calm down. ¡°I¡¯ve removed the force from two acupoints, Yongquan and Xuanji, leaving only the Baihui acupoint untouched. Do you know how long you¡¯ll be able to put up with it?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s entirely up to Managing Master.¡± Gu Shenwei replied unfrankly. This was, in actual fact, the question he was most concerned about but did not dare to inquire.


    ¡°Well, your current condition is quite special.¡± Kang Wenhui revealed a little smile, as though she was a child hiding a secret. ¡°I¡¯d initially suppressed Kang Wenmei¡¯s force, but have now released it once more such that it¡¯ll return to its original form within the Xuanji acupoint very soon. There¡¯ll thus be two Peripheral Forces in your body, one in the Xuanji and the other in the Baihui. Each of them can cause qigong deviation at any time. If only one triggers, you may be able to live up to two years yet. But if they happen to trigger at the same time, you¡¯ll soon be on your way to see Kang Wenmei.¡±


    ¡°I beg Managing Master to show mercy.¡±


    But Kang Wenhui had already sobered up from her initial shock, and increasingly perceived the holes in the youth¡¯s ount. Involuntarily, she let out a grim and continuousughter. ¡°You still want to return to Golden Roc Fort to ask about the scripture? Better that you remain with me and tell me theplete truth.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart sank. His n hade unstuck at the final step. He felt that it must have been an incorrect line in the passage he memorized which aroused thetter¡¯s suspicions. He had consulted Monk Lianhua and Mister Zhang Ji many times to figure out the Death Scripture¡¯s exact rtionship with Golden Roc Fort and Barren Sect but was not able to obtain much information.


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t understand Managing Master¡¯s meaning.¡±


    ¡°Think about it slowly,¡± Kang Wenhui repliedposedly. ¡°You¡¯re a male, and so have to put in more effort than a female if you wish to join Barren Sect. First of all, you must bepletely truthful. It¡¯s best if you stop ying tricks of holding back a few sentences here and there.¡±


    Gu Shenwei could feel the cold sweat pouring down his back. Even if he had a saber in hand now, he was uncertain about matching up against four disciples of Barren Sect, let alone when he was empty-handed. The entire n would be aplete failure if he were unable to make Kang Wenhui let him go. He even thought about revealing the deepest secret, that ¡°Yang Huan¡± was, in fact, a son of the Gu Family, which had a sworn enmity against Golden Roc Fort and was willing to join hands with Barren Sect and New Moon Hall.


    But this idea shed by and was quickly discarded. On what basis could he, a powerless and average-skilled youth, join hands with them? And why would they believe him?


    There was only one way left to go about things. Gu Shenwei suddenly came up with an idea, albeit he had absolutely no clue how far it could bring him.


    ¡°There¡¯s something else which I felt wasn¡¯t important and hence didn¡¯t say earlier. It might be useful, now that I think of it.¡±


    Kang Wenhui stared coldly at the youth and waited for him to continue.


    ¡°Tenth Young Master said that those texts were not passed down through generations in the fort, but were what she learned from the Four Truths Temple, and furthermore¡­¡±


    ¡°Furthermore what?¡±


    ¡°The scripture has another way of reading.¡±


    Gu Shenwei began to recite, once more, the passage he had memorized, this time using the pronunciation which Master Tiger Monk had taught him.


    Kang Wenhui listened ever more attentively. ¡°You¡¯re a little more reliable this time. The Four Truths Temple? Isn¡¯t that where you went with that girl two days ago?¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s Maid Lotus now?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, she¡¯s very well.¡±


    Maid Lotus was indeed the least of his concerns. If Shangguan Ru acted ording to n, Golden Roc Fort would have done what they had to do in the city by now, and Maid Lotus would have been rescued as long as she had not died earlier. It was on him to find a way to get away with these four demonesses and certainly not return to the city with them.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve been to the Four Truths Temple. Together with Tenth Young Master and others, I was ambushed by Barren Sect, and I¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be mistaken. It was New Moon Hall, and not Barren Sect, which ambushed you.¡±


    There was an obvious dissatisfaction in Kang Wenhui¡¯s voice. This caused Gu Shenwei some surprise. From what he had heard, New Moon Hall founded Barren Sect in order to get around the armistice ¨C the two of them were actually the same entity.


    ¡°Alright, we were ambushed by New Moon Hall and¡­ something strange was imnted in our bodies.¡± He did not know what attitude he should take towards the secret arts of New Moon Hall.


    Kang Wenhui curled her lips. ¡°It¡¯s best to stay away from New Moon Hall¡¯s things. But you¡¯re alright. Your body contains the Peripheral Force, which is a mark of this sect. They wouldn¡¯t dare to touch you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei heaved a sigh of relief. The fact that Shangguan Ru and others were ¡°possessed¡± while he and Maid Lotus were fine already indicated that the mysterious woman did noty hands on either of them, but it was always good to receive confirmation.


    ¡°In order to dispel the evil, we made our way to the Four Truths Temple to study the scripture. But because of my low status, I was only given the correct pronunciation for these hundred or so words, while only Tenth Young Master was taught the entire scripture. However, if I ask¡­¡±


    ¡°Forget about Tenth Young Master.¡± Kang Wenhui interrupted. ¡°We shall go to Four Truths Temple to visit this eminent monk.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s new n was able to get past the first step. He started to wonder how he could keep the lie going when they reached the temple, and whether Monk Lianye was able to defeat four female killers of Barren Sect.

 Chapter 138

    Chapter 138: Competition


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei had a constant feeling that Golden Roc Fort killers were hiding in the vicinity. It was only right that Supreme King would send personnel to keep an eye on a figure as important in Barren Sect as Kang Wenhui. However, not a single killer appeared as they made their way to the foot of the mountain on which Four Truths Temple was situated.


    The four Barren Sect disciples took extreme caution. Kang Wenhui walked alongside the youth while the other three maintained at least ten steps¡¯ distance away from each other to keep guard. If anything unexpected urred, Gu Shenwei would be the first one to be killed.


    It was already evening by the time they reached Leftslope Vihara. Gu Shenwei had been worried that the monks remained in the city to look for Maid Lotus, but he began to feel at ease when he saw two bald heads in the distance.


    Kang Wenhui seemed to have some apprehension towards the temple, so she ordered her three disciples to hide nearby while she and the youth walked towards the huts.


    Lianhua and Lianye were sitting facing each other on the grass outside the hut, with a huge dog crouched between them. Lianhua could be heard speaking rapidly, as though chanting a scripture. Lianye ced both palms together, while asionally reaching a hand out to keep the dog still.


    There was something bizarre about the scene. Upon closer observation, the two realized something even odder: the crouching dog was actually a gray wolf.


    It was certainly not small in size. Whining, it scratched its front paws on the grass nervously and revealed its fiendish white teeth every now and then. However, it did not dare to sit up, and every time it turned its head back to look at Lianye, thetter would turn it back again.


    Gu Shenwei could clearly hear the content of Lianhua¡¯s chanting when he approached. It was, unquestionably, the more-than-ten-thousand-word-long Breaking Obsession .


    The monks were, most surprisingly, trying to influence a wild wolf. Presumably, they were trying to emte Master Tiger Monk¡¯s taming of a tiger.


    But ording to what Gu Shenwei had heard, Master Tiger Monk had raised the tiger since it was young, whereas this wolf was a genuine wild beast.


    When Lianye noticed that people were approaching, he simply ignored them and instead concentrated on restraining the gray wolf for his senior brother.


    Kang Wenhui felt bewildered. She had never heard of monks trying to influence a wolf. Even more unexpectedly, the scripture which the monk was chanting seemed simr to ¨C but contained a lot more content than ¨C the secret manuscript she was after.


    Kang Wenhui had imagined that there would be a bitter fight once they reached Four Truths Temple in order to obtain the entire scripture. On the contrary, anyone could listen freely to the chanting. The only problem was that the chanted scripture contained many differences with the scripture she was familiar with, and she could not ascertain which version was correct. Regardless, she became more trusting of ve Huan¡¯s words.


    Gu Shenwei had no intention of letting Kang Wenhui listen to the entire scripture. Thus, he coughed a few times and spoke, ¡°Master, Yang Huan is here to visit you.¡±


    He had to repeat himself three times before Lianhua turned his head and smiled slightly. ¡°Ah, the little benefactor is alive.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m indeed not dead, thanks to this senior who rescued me and gave me a few more years of life.¡±


    Lianye turned his head and surveyed Kang Wenhui. ¡°Gee, as a woman, your Internal Strength is stronger than mine? You were able to purge the evil force which I couldn¡¯t?¡± He had previously attempted to heal Gu Shenwei without sess, thereby exining his current doubts.


    While the two monks were distracted, the gray wolf found an opportunity to leap off the ground and run into the bushes with its tail between its legs.


    Lianye was about to chase after it when Lianhua raised his hands to stop him. ¡°Let it go. We don¡¯t need a wild wolf now that we have this young benefactor.¡±


    ¡°What were you doing?¡± Kang Wenhui asked without responding to Lianye¡¯s inquiry.


    ¡°Oh, we humble monks were enlightening a wild wolf, and have been chanting scripture to it for the whole day. The effect isn¡¯t bad; the wolf¡¯s killing desire has weakened a lot, a heart of goodness has been born in it, and it¡¯s much more well-behaved than before. A pity you¡¯ve scared it off.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt that the wolf¡¯s improved behavior had, in all likelihood, nothing to do with the scripture but instead was a result of Lianye¡¯s handling of it.


    ¡°I meant, what scripture were you chanting?¡± Despite many years of training as a killer, Kang Wenhui¡¯s heart began to beat faster at this time.


    Monk Lianhua¡¯s eyes glimmered. ¡°Lady benefactor has interest in Breaking Obsession as well? Your energetic spirit and murderous exterior tell me you¡¯re most suitable to practice this scripture.¡±


    Gu Shenwei hurriedly stepped forward, worried that the conversation between them would soon expose the truth. ¡°Master, this senior¡¯s purpose for being here is to listen to the full Exorcism Manuscript.¡±


    Lianhua shook his head. ¡°I only have a portion of, and not theplete, Exorcism Manuscript. However, if you¡¯re willing to be a monk as well as my student, I can help you to distinguish the sounds, while Junior Brother Lianxin can share his notes with you. This won¡¯t be difficult.¡±


    Monk Lianhua was telling the truth. Master Tiger Monk had carefully observed the agreement with Maid Lotus and did not divulge the Death Scripture beyond a thousand words. But how could Kang Wenhui believe him when she had clearly heard him chanting the strange passage? As a killer, she naturally looked upon everyone with the eyes of one and suspected that the monk was lying.


    Gu Shenwei turned and spoke softly to Kang Wenhui. ¡°This particr monk yields only to a forceful approach. I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s time for Managing Master to show her hand. However, he doesn¡¯t know any kungfu. It¡¯s that big and tall monk who¡¯ll be difficult to handle.¡±


    Kang Wenhui humphed grimly and spoke toward the two monks. ¡°Master, I feel that you¡¯re unwilling to recite the entire scripture?¡±


    ¡°Lady benefactor wishes to listen to Breaking Obsession , right? Shanzai shanzai, we humble monks are only d to help. Why would we be unwilling?¡±


    Breaking Obsession was a more-than-ten-thousand-word long mantra created based on Death Scripture ¡®s sybic system. Kang Wenhui would certainly make no sense of theplex rtionship between the two without the monk providing an exnation. Unfortunately, she simply felt that the monk was unwilling to tell the truth. ¡°Breaking what? I want to listen to Wayless Book .¡±


    The monks became deeply puzzled the instant she said that. Even Gu Shenwei was baffled; he had never heard of Wayless Book and wondered if this was another name for Death Scripture .


    ¡°We humble monks are practitioners of the way. Why would we have a book that teaches to abstain from the way? Lady benefactor must be kidding.¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t it you who taught this little fe the passage that he knows?¡±


    Gu Shenwei hastily offered his exnation. ¡°Before he died, Master Tiger Monk taught me a small section of the scripture but didn¡¯t impart the rest. The only person in the world right now who has the ability to review this scripture is Monk Lianhua.¡±


    ¡± ¡®Only¡¯ is stretching it. In this temple, there are several senior and junior brothers who have also studied Nanke Goes Woodchopping .¡±


    Kang Wenhui became ever more confused the more she listened, but she had no doubt that the monk was well-versed in the scripture which was vital to her. As a killer, she certainly did not know what fair y was and thought that if she nted the peripheral force in the monk¡¯s body and made him feel a little pain, he would give her anything she wanted. Thus, with a sway of her figure, she appeared in front of Monk Lianhua.


    Her pointed finger was only an inch away from Lianhua¡¯s front chest when she felt a strong sense of danger from behind and quickly dodged away. It was Lianye who hade to the rescue.


    Thedy and thetter monk fought around Monk Lianhua. Kang Wenhui¡¯s fingers were bing increasingly red and made a hissing noise as they swept through the air. Although Lianye seemed clumsy and his movements were simple and in, he was able to not only protect his senior brother but also strike back at her.


    Within a short span of time, the two had already exchanged more than ten different movements between themselves. Monk Lianhua, who stood in between them, only began to open his mouth after their exchange. ¡°Stop it, junior brother. You¡¯ve broken precept once more.¡±


    Lianye¡¯s face changed color when he heard that. Repeating the phrase ¡°no more fighting¡± to himself, he held on to his senior brother and fled.


    Gu Shenwei, who was carefully observing from the side, felt that Kang Wenhui¡¯s kungfu was not as good as he had imagined, and was, in fact, slightly inferior to Lianye¡¯s. This gave him some much-needed assurance.


    But thedy did not think she was losing. ¡°It¡¯s not up to you to decide whether or not to fight,¡± she shouted as she demonstrated her Lightness Skill, chasing behind the monks.


    Seeing that their master had begun to fight, the other three Barren Sect disciples joined in. Like Golden Roc Fort, they understood that teamwork was more important than singlebat. Taking up different positions, they helped Kang Wenhui to trap the monks.


    Although Lianye was big and tall, his Lightness Skill was not weak. With his senior brother in his arms, he ran around several huts in such a manner that the four females were unable to hem them in.


    This was a good opportunity for Gu Shenwei to escape, but knowing that his own Lightness Skill was merely average, he felt worried that he would be foiled the moment he was noticed. The safer way was still to incite the two parties into a fierce battle. It would not do for them to just be chasing and running like this.


    ¡°Stop it, all of you! I¡¯ve got something to say!¡±


    The two parties ran another two rounds around the huts before they stopped. Kang Wenhui was the first to do so, followed by her three disciples. At a safe distance away from the four females, Lianye ced his senior brother down, then stood with his palms together and silently chanted in confession.


    ¡°Aye, the four female benefactors will need to practice Breaking Obsession now.¡±


    Kang Wenhui paid no attention to the pedantic monk and asked Gu Shenwei, ¡°What did you want to say?¡±


    He walked up to her before he replied, ¡°I¡¯ll persuade the monk to read out the scripture.¡± He then moved over to Monk Lianhua and said, ¡°Master, I have a suggestion which I¡¯m not sure how you¡¯ll receive: allow Monk Lianye to engage in a fight with thedy benefactors. If he loses, I¡¯ll have to trouble you to teach them the correct pronunciation of the entire scripture. But if they lose, I shall volunteer to shave my head, be a monk, and learn Breaking Obsession . I vow never to reincarnate if I don¡¯t get rid of my killing desire.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s n was that, if Kang Wenhui lost, he would im that his killing desire was too great while he still had many secr matters to settle, and therefore that he needed a period of time before he could be a monk. As for how long this period continued for would be up to him to decide. In any case, with the two peripheral forces residing in his body, he would be near death by the time he acknowledged the monk as his teacher.


    These calctions were certainly not bad, but unfortunately, Monk Lianhua shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s inappropriate. Whenever there¡¯s a fight, there¡¯s killing. Junior Brother Lianye¡¯s concentration isn¡¯t deep. If he identally kills ady benefactor, his killing desire would subsequently be reignited, and his efforts over the past decade would be wiped out just like that. That certainly won¡¯t do.¡±


    As the two were speaking at a normal volume, Kang Wenhui was able to hear them clearly, and in response, she snorted contemptuously. She had yet to reveal her best move and was entirely sure that she would not be killed. She suddenly thought of an idea and raised it in a loud voice. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I have a method for us topete and decide a winner without killing each other.¡±


    But Lianxin continued to shake his head. ¡°How¡¯s that possible? Whenever there¡¯s fighting, there¡¯s death.¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily. I just heard a while ago Monk Lianhe saying that his Internal Strength is a lot stronger than mine. We canpete about that without exchanging blows. We¡¯llpete to see who can purge the peripheral forces from Yang Huan¡¯s body. This way, we¡¯ll be saving a life instead of harming one.¡±


    Lianhua did not know a lot about kungfu, but because the female benefactor had spoken well, he could not help but nod his head. ¡°Have the things in the little one¡¯s body not been cleansed yet?¡±


    ¡°To do so won¡¯t be easy,¡± Kang Wenhui quickly responded.


    Lianhua lowered his head and pondered, but Lianye was already eager to get going. Before he became a monk, kungfu was his life, and he rarely met anyone who was his match. The few moves he exchanged with Kang Wenhui earlier had made him itchy and restless. He had treated a disease for Gu Shenwei before and understood the strengths and weaknesses of the evil forces in thetter¡¯s body. He believed that even if he was unable topletely remove the forces, he would still do better than thedy.


    Only Gu Shenwei knew that thepetition was unfair. Peripheral Forces were the trademark skill of Barren Sect. Although Kang Wenhui might not be able topletely remove the force imnted in his Xuanji acupoint by Mama Xue, she would certainly be able to remove the force in his Baihui acupoint, and therefore should defeat the monk in one aspect.


    If Kang Wenhui was to win, Gu Shenwei would have to recite the entire scripture for Monk Lianhua to assess his pronunciation, and his lies would bepletely exposed. However, with the force removed from his Baihui acupoint, he would at least not have to worry about two qigong deviations ovepping.


    Gu Shenwei found himself in a dilemma.

 Chapter 139

    Chapter 139: Yin and Yang


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    When Kang Wenhui suggested that thepetition of Internal Strength would take ce using Gu Shenwei¡¯s body, thetter was still considering his personal gains, but Lianhua had already made up his mind. ¡°Young benefactor, you must keep your promise and worship me as your master.¡±


    These words indicated that he agreed to thepetition and was confident that his junior brother would win.


    Lianye, who was anxious from all the waiting, immediately jumped up and eximed, ¡°Who goes first?¡±


    ¡°We shall go at the same time. Surely you can recognize your own Internal Strength?¡± Kang Wenhui walked up to him and replied.


    ¡°Wait.¡± Gu Shenwei knew he had to be careful with his body set to be a battlefield. ¡°Both of you are experts in Internal Strength and much stronger than me. But what if one of you blunder and identally kill me?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, I hadn¡¯t considered that. Maybe we shouldn¡¯tpete.¡± Monk Lianhua changed his tone immediately.


    ¡°A true expert wouldn¡¯t blunder. Whoever kills you will be considered to have lost.¡±


    As soon as she spoke, she reached a palm out toward the youth. Lianye, who was no longer able to resist the temptation, pretended that he did not hear his senior brother¡¯s words, and grabbed Gu Shenwei¡¯s wrist with his left hand to transmit his Internal Strength while tapping with his right hand to guide the flow.


    Gu Shenwei found himself in a precarious and inextricable position. Nobody would be able to make either of the two stop before a winner was decided.


    The talk of purging the Peripheral Force was aplete lie. The two Internal Strength masters simply wanted to get the better of the other. Although Kang Wenhui did not say it directly, Monk Lianye knew it as well. Only Monk Lianhua truly believed that this was a life-savingpetition which had no risk of death.


    Two streams of vital force, one hot and the other cold, entered Gu Shenwei¡¯s body. He knew instantly that this was not about saving a life, butplete torture instead.


    The hot stream was Kang Wenhui¡¯s. It excited thetent forces in the Baihui and Xuanji acupoints, and thus became a coalition of three forces which attacked in the direction of the cold stream transmitted by Lianye. Although thetter was only a singr force, it was certainly not weak. The level of the monk¡¯s Internal Strength had exceeded his opponent¡¯s imagination, and he was not at a disadvantage despite it being a one versus three showdown.


    The only person who was not enjoying this was Gu Shenwei. The battle between the hot and cold forces, with each upying one side of his body, was akin to the Chu-Han Contention where thousands of horses and soldiers swept in different directions across the territorial boundaries. The pitiful amount of Internal Strength in his dantian was only sufficient to protect the beating of his heart and keep him intact. His meridians would break if either side became aggressive, let alone if there was a mass brawl.


    The two experts continuously tapped on and patted Gu Shenwei¡¯s body. Like a puppet being pulled, or a small boat traveling in raging waves, he had absolutely no autonomy over himself. If he was able to speak, the first thing he would do would be to beg Monk Lianhua to call off thepetition.


    But the monk could not see that the youth was suffering, and thought that thetter¡¯s expression was simply that of tiredness. Thus, he began to recite Breaking Obsession .


    Although a recitation of Breaking Obsession was supposed to weaken killing desire, it had no effect on the listeners. Both Kang Wenhui and Lianye, who were facing a formidable enemy in each other, spared no effort in their fight and were not distracted at all. Only Gu Shenwei, who was unable to speak but considerably more sharp-eared than usual, mentally absorbed every word of Monk Lianhua¡¯s recitation and waspelled to recite it in his head.


    ¡°Stop chanting!¡± Gu Shenwei yelled internally, but his mouth remained unable to make even the slightest noise. What he needed to do at present was to put all effort into keeping himself alive ¨C the weakening of his killing desire instead made him dithery.


    Unfortunately, the things one most wants to forget are often remembered best. The thousand-plus-word-long Death Scripture and the four-thousand-plus-word-long Breaking Obsession flickered in front of his eyes like swarms of flies which were impossible to chase away, and their intense buzzing almost caused his head to explode.


    It was unclear whose, but one of the vital forces suddenly went the wrong direction and charged straight at Gu Shenwei¡¯s dantian. However, with his head drowning in words, he waspletely unaware of it. The little bit of Internal Strength in his body served like a disorderly mob trying to defend against troops sent from Heaven, and was wiped out in a sh.


    Lianye staggered a few steps and muttered, ¡°You¡¯re ying tricks.¡± His left hand remained clutching the youth¡¯s wrist, not because he was using his strength, but because he was unable to let go.


    ¡°Are tricks not allowed?¡± Kang Wenhuiughed grimly. Instead of stopping, she patted ever faster on the youth¡¯s body.


    With his head lowered, Gu Shenwei resembled a walking corpse. Only the monk¡¯s pulling and Kang Wenhui¡¯s patting kept him standing up. His legs seemed to be floating, while his body swayed left and right.


    Monk Lianhua, deeply focused on his chanting, remained in a state of oblivious serenity and did not even hear his junior brother speak.


    The other three Barren Sect disciples drew nearer and their crooked fingers began to turn red; they knew that their master was about to win.


    Kang Wenhui had yed tricks once again. She never believed in keeping promises or leaving a fight to chance. In her view, only people who were imnted with Peripheral Forces were worth believing. While the three forces she was controlling were fighting neck-to-neck with the monk¡¯s force, she unexpectedly sent one of them to attack the youth¡¯s dantian. The monk did not understand the former¡¯s intent and swiftly followed it. This allowed another hot stream to find an opening into his body, in which it quickly imnted a Peripheral Force.


    It was not a particrly strong force, and thus Lianye was more than capable of purging it on his own by adjusting his internal breath. However, during such an intense battle, how could he find room to send his ¡°troops¡± back into his own body?


    By separating his force in order to heal himself, Lianye promptly fell into a disadvantage in the battle taking ce in the youth¡¯s body.


    Gu Shenwei was not sure whether he himself had fainted or not. He could only feel that his body had shredded into many pieces ¨C just like thousands of falling leaves, or a thousand fluttering butterflies. Familiar scenes began to appear in front of his eyes: times of him happily reuniting with his family members, ying with his friends, and locking horns with his enemies.


    Subsequently, all of the words he had memorized, as well as their pronunciations, began to jump about in his mind like countless mischievous monkeys. Death Scripture , which had two ways of reading; the abstruse 29 Styles of Swordsmanship ; and Yin and Yang Strength , which he was the only person in the world to memorize¡­ these books split into sentence-less fragments that raced to the front of his mind, only to be pushed away by the fragments chasing from behind and disappear.


    After Monk Lianhua hadpleted a full recitation of Breaking Obsession , he raised his head only to see that the youth¡¯s face was red and pale in different spots. His junior brother was holding on desperately with a hateful expression on his face and his eyebrows erect, while thedy in ck was the only person who remained poised. Though he did not know anything about kungfu, he could easily see who held the upper hand.


    ¡°Amitabha, the result has been decided. May the two of you stop fighting.¡±


    Kang Wenhui was still channeling her internal breath to drive the Peripheral Force into the monk¡¯s body and was unwilling to stop upon being instructed. On the other hand, Lianye wished to end the fight, but had no control over the situation and could only continue to hold on.


    Lianhua, oblivious to the danger, bowed and unexpectedly walked up to pull his junior brother away. The moment his finger made contact with Lianye¡¯s sleeve, he felt as if he just crashed into an inted balloon. With a sharp cry, he was sent flying through the air and fell heavily on the ground. Only now did he realize that thepetition was never about saving life, but was a life and death battle instead.


    Noticing the dumbstruck expression on Lianhua¡¯s face, the three Barren Sect disciples¡¯ eyes revealed a sense of amusement.


    In the blink of an eye, however, Lianhua became even more bewildered, while the disciples¡¯ expressions froze. Nobody could believe what was happening.


    The bystanders would not have been shocked if Kang Wenhui secured victory or even if Lianye turned the tide and snatched the win. Instead, the situationpletely blew everyone¡¯s mind. They could only watch as thedy and the monk flew backward through the air and spewed liters of blood as they hit the ground. Nobody went up to offer assistance.


    The only person who remained standing was the youth. Hisplexion had turned blood red, his clothing had puffed up, and his hair was a disheveled mess. He seemed as though he could spit fire by opening his mouth.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s internal breath was surging furiously like the tide of the Qiantang river. At its current pace, it was able toplete a grand cirction in no time at all. Each grand cirction caused a portion of his Internal Strength to enter his dantian, like water silently flowing into a bottomless pit.


    That Gu Shenwei was able to protect his life was not because of Death Scripture but instead because of the Yin and Yang Strength that his family had passed down.


    Yin and Yang Strength consisted of two methods. The first was a step-by-step and time-consuming method of transferring yin and yang strength that would eventually generate the most power. The second was a sped up technique which allowed the forces to merge and greatly increased Internal Strength when the yin and yang strengths had merely reached the third level and above ¨C the downside was that the power was not as strong as the first¡¯s.


    With the Peripheral Forces imnted in his body, Gu Shenwei¡¯s Internal Strength had been paralyzed and he could not even utilize the sped up technique. It was only during the battle between Kang Wenhui and Lianye that his bodily restrictions were removed.


    Amidst his horror, Gu Shenwei tried every method he knew to get rid of the pain and managed not only tobine his yin and yang strengths but also seize the two experts¡¯ Internal Strength as his own. As luck would have it, the nature of their Internal Strengths was different from each other¡¯s while having many simrities with the Gu family¡¯s yin and yang strengths. Or else, Gu Shenwei would have found it very difficult to subdue these two giant streams of Internal Breath.


    The Way of Internal Strength demanded a continuous input of vital force, and the slightest of interruptions would result in a disaster. While engaged in a life and death battle with each other, the two experts¡¯ strengths abruptly disappeared into what seemed like a bottomless ocean, and their Internal Breaths immediately turned back on them. They were not sent flying by the youth, but rather, in order to dissolve their own strengths, they werepelled to leap backward on their own. Unfortunately, they were only able to dissolve a portion of their strengths, resulting in damage to their viscera and the spewing of fresh blood from their mouths.


    To the bystanders, everything that just happened seemed highly confusing, and the two experts themselves were ineffably horrified. Only Gu Shenwei roughly understood what had gone on, but because his mind was in a mess, he was not able to reason it out clearly in a short amount of time.


    Lianhua ran over to lift his junior brother up. Thetterughed despondently. ¡°I¡¯ve lost, Senior Brother.¡±


    ¡°A good loss it was. Your killing desire was already extinguished, but the desire to win remained. That particr knot in your heart has now been undone. Although you lost thepetition, your disposition has triumphed greatly.¡±


    In an instant, Lianye felt enlightened. He ced his palms together and chanted, while his facial expressions became calm once again.


    Kang Wenhui, on the other hand, was not able to see things so philosophically. She pushed the monk away, who hade forth to assist his brother, then wiped off the blood around her mouth and pointed at the youth standing in the middle of the scene. ¡°Kill him.¡± She knew that things had gone wrong because of him, but did not know that his Internal Strength was presently way above what it used to be.


    Just as the three Barren Sect disciples were about to act, Lianhua stepped forth. ¡°Hold it, there¡¯s no need to kill. Junior Brother Lianye is the loser of this contest. I shall keep my promise and teach you the correct way of reading Death Scripture .¡±


    ¡± Death Scripture ? I want Wayless Book ,¡± Kang Wenhui stated once more in a manner that suggested she had never heard of the former.


    Lianhua was at a loss what to do when Gu Shenwei, who had regained his senses, intervened. ¡°Wait a minute. Though the monk lost, thedy didn¡¯t win either. Both of them lost to me. So, Monk Lianhua, I don¡¯t have to call you master, and neither do you have to impart any scripture.¡±


    This left Lianhua more perplexed than ever. Just then, Kang Wenhui spun and leaped toward the youth. Turning her fingers into ws, she aimed them toward his skull. Though her Internal Strength was impaired, she remained confident in killing him easily.


    Gu Shenwei had only learned a few punching skills, and his kungfu with his hands and legs was certainly no match for Kang Wenhui¡¯s, but his Internal Strength, which had increased by several times in a short span of time, enabled his movements to be much more agile than before. Rather than avoiding the enemy¡¯s ws, he simply met them with a fist of his own.


    The fist skill he used was not derived from the teachings of the Gu family nor Mama Xue¡¯s kungfu, and instead was an instinctive reaction he had developed over countless close fights with his master Tie Hanfeng. In the past, he often made ns to assassinate Cripple Tie, and each time he failed, he would have to brawl with his master. Like a street rogue, he never paid much attention to the method.


    This exined why the skill he used was blunt and styleless. Unexpectedly, Kang Wenhui, who was an aplished kungfu master, did not evade it and suffered a blow to the nose ¨C immediately bing bloody.


    A further principle of the rogue style of fighting was that once the first move came off smoothly, there was no stopping.

 Chapter 140

    Chapter 140: Bloodied Body


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Every punch Gu Shenwei exerted possessed mountain-breaking strength. He stuck close in front of his enemy, without a trace of pity or hesitation in his heart.


    Kang Wenhui twisted and turned as much as she could, but was unable to evade the youth¡¯s fists. She thus released all of her power, including from her ten bloody fingers, to strike at every part of the youth¡¯s body.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s clothes were torn as a result, and countless more channels of blood were added to his already scarred skin, yet he seemed to not mind at all ¨C as if his body did not truly belong to him. Keeping a straight face, he exerted punch after punch mercilessly. At this moment, it would not have mattered to him if his enemy was male or female, old or young.


    Kang Wenhui¡¯s facial expression changed before her facial shape followed suit. Her entire head, covered in blood, had turned even redder than her ten fingers. She had never encountered a fighting style like this, which was as adhesive and impossible to shake off as the most shameless of scoundrels. It did not have any pattern or style, yet its strength was sufficient to beat a bull to death.


    The Managing Master of Barren Sect would, in time, be beaten to death by the fists of a youth. Her skull was pulverized and an eyeball was sent flying out.


    Though Gu Shenwei panted heavily, he was not tired at all. On the contrary, he felt more energetic than ever. If a mountain was standing in front of him, he just might have crushed it into stones using his fists.


    The three Barren Sect disciples simply watched in astonishment and were unable to help their master in time. However, they then took a quick look at each other and proceeded to nk the youth from three directions, with Nie Qing taking the lead.


    As killers, they often resorted to unscrupulous tactics, but would never run away from a fight. In any case, their bodies had been imnted with Peripheral Forces by Kang Wenhui, and thus even if they did not avenge their master, death would be inevitable when they returned to Barren Sect.


    Gu Shenwei bent his body slightly and leaped powerfully off the ground. Every step he took was equivalent to seven or eight steps of a normal person. Like a leopard charging after its prey, he knocked down the enemy on his left side in two quick steps and then rolled several times on the ground while holding on to her.


    When he stood up again, the female was already dead, with her ribs entirely fractured.


    He proceeded on to the next nearest enemy, and after allowing her to add several more scratch marks to his body with her sharp ws, he knocked her down with a single punch. Kneeling on the ground, he proceeded to wallop her until her flesh and blood could not be differentiated from the grass and soil beneath.


    Thest of the disciples lunged at the youth and sunk her ten fingers into his pectorals. However, after only an inch in, they could go no further nor be pulled out.


    With a backhand, Gu Shenwei grabbed the wrists of the female behind him, then jumped up andnded on the ground face up. Consequently, although he felt some heat in his neck area, the enemy¡¯s strength had already petered out, and she had spat blood and died.


    After pulling her ten fingers out of his pectorals, Gu Shenwei stood up with his upper body naked. The bloodstains on his body were like meandering brooks that flowed down along his skin. When he clenched his fists, his muscles became taut as if they were iron cast.


    The two monks had been standing stupefied by the side all this time, watching the brutal and bloody massacre y out. They had even forgotten to open their mouths and call off the fight. In their minds, they were a thousand percent sure that the youth was the Devil Emperor¡¯s reincarnation.


    ¡°A¡­ mitabha.¡± Monk Lianhua was finally able to speak.


    Although the cirction of his Internal Breath was gradually slowing down, Gu Shenwei¡¯s killing desire was still raging. ¡°Monks are also people, what¡¯s the point of keeping them alive?¡± he thought, and thus advanced toward them.


    ¡°Why is this¡­ Buddhist incantation no longer effective?¡± Lianhua muttered puzzledly, not realizing that danger was drawing near.


    Gu Shenwei was startled. He knew now that he had indeed been tricked by Master Tiger Monk into learning the thousands-of-words-long Buddhist incantation that was Breaking Obsession , which had the effect of weakening his killing desire. However, at this moment, he could feel that his killing desire was more intense than at any time before and he did not have the slightest hesitation that he usually had.


    The brief moment of self-awareness allowed Gu Shenwei to regain his sense of reason. ¡°This monk mustn¡¯t die. I think there¡¯s something important I need him to solve.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s something rted to Death Scripture ?¡± Gu Shenwei tried searching his memory. The pronunciations found in Breaking Obsession were mostly referenced from the former, which originally did not have the effect of reducing killing desire. As the saying went, ¡°Water holds up a boat, but can also sink it.¡± Not long after he was able to ovee the restrictions of his Internal Strength, he also made a huge psychological breakthrough, which exined why his killing desire increased instead of reducing.


    Monk Lianhua also thought simrly. His face ashen pale, he involuntarily let out a long sigh. He and Master Tiger Monk had dedicated their lives to this. If it was ineffective, it would not only mean that thetter had died for nothing, but also that the vows they had made in front of the Buddha statue were false and could never be fulfilled.


    ¡°Everything stems from Death Scripture and shall be resolved by it. Back then, when youposed Breaking Obsession together with Master Tiger Monk, you did so only with fragments of Death Scripture . Master Tiger Monk was able to read the entire scripture but passed away too early. I¡¯m willing to rewrite the scripture and hand it to you, hoping that you can use it to amend Breaking Obsession , and thereby dispel all killing desire in the world as you have long wished.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Lianhua¡¯s sorrow turned into joy, such that he was no longer much distressed by the four corpses lying on the ground. ¡°Little benefactor¡¯s virtuous deed will be greatly appreciated.¡±


    ¡°Bring me pen and paper.¡±


    Lianye, who was still able to move about despite his internal injuries, hurried into a hut and brought out a brush, ink, paper, an inkstone, as well as a short stool. Heid out the paper and was about to grind the ink when Gu Shenwei grasped the brush and said, ¡°No need.¡± He repeatedly dipped the brush in the spots of fresh blood on his body while writing, and when he had used up his own blood, he began to use that of the corpses next to him.


    He had long memorized Death Scripture , which was of more than five thousand words, until he knew it backwards. As such, hepleted the writing in a short time. Tossing the brush down and standing up, he handed the blood-written stack of paper to Monk Lianhua.


    Thetter did not know what to say upon receiving the blood-written scripture. There were certainly precedents of Buddhist practitioners writing in blood, but they were always in the person¡¯s own blood. He had never killed a living thing in his life, yet the scripture he was holding was written in the blood of both living and dead people ¨C certainly worthy of the name ¡°Death Scripture¡±.


    ¡°I need Master to agree to two conditions.¡±


    ¡°Speak, little benefactor.¡±


    ¡°Firstly, I hope that you¡¯ll teach your students the correct pronunciation of the entire scripture instead of imparting a fake version. And secondly, I hope that you¡¯ll try to decipher its real meaning.¡±


    As pedantic as Monk Lianhua was, he was not a foolish man. While holding up the papers and revealing an expression of reluctance, he said, ¡°The killing desire of little benefactor is already inordinate. Are you still looking to use the scripture to increase your killing desire further?¡±


    ¡°After deciphering it, you can decide not to impart it if it¡¯s about kungfu.¡±


    Only now did Monk Lianhua nod his head and agree. He then turned to look at the four corpses on the ground and chanted a few lines of scripture. With that, he and his junior brother swiftly descended the mountain. Having be a ce of killing, Leftslope Vihara was no longer a suitable ce for their practice.


    Gu Shenwei unsheathed his saber and cut off the heads of the four disciples. He then found his way downhill to where his horse was and rode it back towards the city. Though Death Scripture was by no means a secret kungfu manuscript, it had a definite connection with Wayless Book , which Barren Sect was preupied with.


    By the time it was evening, there were very few people out on the roads. As he neared Jade City, he ran into ambushers.


    The ambushers emerged one-by-one and peered silently at the bloodied ve Huan.


    They were brown-belt assassins of Little g Battalion. The archer Liuhua and the saber-wielding Wildhorse were both present. Shangguan Yushi was thest to appear, and with some surprise and disappointment in his voice, he said, ¡°You¡¯ve returnedte.¡±


    While Gu Shenwei was engaged in a life and death struggle with the four Barren Sect disciples, a huge battle was also taking ce in Jade City.


    Shangguan Ru had managed to convince her father, the Supreme King, to rece the Sacred Master guarding Six Kills Temple. The most capable ¡°ck-masked¡± assassin was dispatched overnight to keep watch at the exit of the valley and follow the Barren Sect disciples back to Jade City. At the same time, another killer was sent to follow ve Huan from a distance.


    The area below the Peak was surrounded byrge rivers. As such, there was only one exit which everyone had to pass through to get in or out.


    Barren Sect¡¯s hiding spots within the city were thereby sessfully found out. There were three of them ¨C two in South City and one in North City.


    Past noon, the assassination campaign in the two cities began. 31 disciples of Barren Sect were discovered and no one was spared. Every one of them was a top-level expert, and as such, the campaign reduced the strength of Golden Roc Fort¡¯s old enemy by more than half. For many years thereafter, it would not be able to mount aeback.


    The assassination campaign was personallymanded by the Supreme King. It did not attract any attention in either city, and rumors only began to spread several dayster.


    Shangguan Ru had remembered her promise to protect ve Huan¡¯s life. She pestered her father not to intervene before ve Huan negotiated with Barren Sect, and informed him that she would personally protect the ve.


    As she had made great contributions, the Supreme King was agreeable to anything she wanted. However, he forbade her from leaving Stone Castle. She thus had to entrust the job of protecting the ve to Shangguan Yushi. Overnight, a messenger was sent to inform Master Yu to contact the killer following ve Huan.


    The dozens of brown-belt assassins from Little g Battalion were sent out in nearly full force. They had thought that no matter the oue of the negotiation, ve Huan would return to Jade City together with the Barren Sect disciples. Nobody imagined that ve Huan would returnte in the evening, covered in blood and carrying four human heads.


    It was only for show that Shangguan Yushi had brought out so many men. She had hoped that ve Huan would be killed and she could thus ambush the Barren Sect disciples to ¡°avenge¡± him. Unfortunately, things did not y out the way that she wanted.


    Maid Lotus was found locked up in a stronghold in North City and was subsequently rescued unharmed.


    The ws in Stone Castle¡¯s defenses were also discovered. A semi-circr tform had been dug out at an unknown time in the walls of Firewood Yard¡¯s Ghost Cliff. Dozens of deity figures were also carved into the walls. Barren Sect had formed adder out of iron nails to get on to the tform and then forced ve Huan to abseil down a rope.


    It was unlucky that the one ce where Golden Roc Fort had not set up an arrow tower was Ghost Cliff.


    Subsequently, more arrow towers were built to guard Stone Castle. They now had two purposes: one was to shoot down giant rocs, and the other was to prevent foreign enemies from entering.


    In the following days, Golden Roc Fort made use of clues and confessions to track down the remaining disciples of Barren Sect. It became widely believed that there were no more lurking enemies within Jade City and that once Eighth Young Master Shangguan Nu wiped out the survivors in the desert, Barren Sect would be no more.


    The only thing that caused Supreme King some consternation was that the arrestees were only Barren Sect disciples. New Moon Hall, meanwhile, had revealed itself fleetingly but then seemed to disappear entirely.


    No matter how one looked at it, this was overall a huge victory, and Supreme King Shangguan Fa was ted. His own daughter, Shangguan Ru, was considered the top contributor to the cause, and rumor even had it that he praised her as ¡°the ¡®son¡¯ he was most proud of¡± in front of many people.


    Eldest Young Master Shangguan Chui lost all face. He had personally directed Commander Guo of South City, yet after a few days of struggle, they knew nothing about the final decisive battle. By the time they heard about it, Barren Sect was already destroyed, and they were left with the task of wrapping up the victory.


    Shangguan Ru evenined about Commander Guo to her father, iming that out of prejudice he deliberately did not heed the intelligence gathered by his subordinates, and thus nearly held up the matter.


    On the surface, he received neither admonishment nor punishment. However, after the manhunt ended, he was appointed as chief of the document library in Whiterobe Academy. As such, although he seemed to retain his power and influence, he was, in fact, kept far away from Golden Roc Fort¡¯s core circle.


    Gu Shenwei thereby seeded in puncturing a huge hole in Commander Guo¡¯s web of rtions, and furthermore, deepened the conflict between himself and thetter. Soon, he would have to find a way to eliminate this particr counselor of the Golden Roc Fort, and in doing so, be heavily drawn into the Shangguan family¡¯s infighting.

 Chapter 141

    Chapter 141: Captive breeding


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The brown-belt assassins of the Little g Battalion did not go back to the fort immediately. Instead, they stayed in the South City for a while. They obviously had nothing to do, except for counting how many people they killed during their mission, and how much honor they earned. These things concerned the final question: who was the most qualified to be the real killer at the end of this month?


    The twins¡¯ thirteenth birthday was on the 29th day of October. On this day, they would choose ten teenagers respectively, and formed their own team of killers. Those who were chosen, of course, became the formal killers.


    However, this mission ended too fast, even before many of them drew out their daggers, not to mention earning any honor. They ¡°med¡± this on ve Huan, for he exposed the conspiracy of the Barren Sect and disintegrated their forces quickly. He killed four enemies on his own, while the others did not have any opportunity.


    Gu Shenwei found himself isted again. In most of the people¡¯s eyes, he was a sign of disaster. ve Huan could have told Master Yu the intelligence to make the whole battalion honorable, yet he refused. He went to the fort and reported to the Tenth Young Master personally.


    Though people knew the discord between ve Huan and Shangguan Yushi, they did not recognize how fierce and extreme it was.


    Shangguan Yushi, of course, was the most unsatisfied one. ve Huan dared to cross her to take the credits? This was a hidden stab toward her. However, she showed no indiscretion. Gu Shenwei seldom met her even when he returned to the fort.


    In the former days, Gu Shenwei concentrated on the progress of Maid Lotus.


    She did not suffer, but she also could not eliminate the effects of the Breaking Obsession , which weakened the power of her machete skillsrgely.


    Besides, she did not kill anyone or take any credit in this mission, which left her no chance of being a killer after the test. She might not be a killer in the future either, for her capabilities were still deteriorating.


    They had tried many ways, such as reading the letters in the book backward and in disorganized order, or killing a new machetemen of the Jade City in the dark. But none of them worked. Maid Lotus¡¯s speed was obviously slower, though she could still kill a man.


    Based on his own experience, Gu Shenwei thought only when real danger came upon her that Maid Lotus could break through this barrier and regain the killing desire.


    Both of them had not heard the Wayless Book which Kang Wenhui mentioned, and they decided not to mention this to anyone, in case this book happened to be one of the secrets of Golden Roc Fort.


    Tie Hanfeng lived leisurely in thest few days in the South City. He found something to do for his apprentice.


    Before this, Gu Shenwei had already sensed the change of Tie Hanfeng¡¯s attitude. His Master Shifu rarely lost his temper these days except for the time he assassinated the family of Nie Qing. Hence, Gu Shenwei deducted it was the time he ¡°repaid¡± the debt of Tie Hanfeng¡¯s gratitude. He would undoubtedly be the formal killer for what he contributed, which meant he would no longer be controlled by Tie Hanfeng, this Cripple Tie must find a way to harvest.


    Gu Shenwei was right.


    Tie Hanfeng gave him a simple mission: robbing a man together. This was a robbery that Tie Hanfeng had been preparing for ten years.


    It started from Tie Hanfeng¡¯s recognition ten years ago that a killer actually meant nothing. The killers always imed that they did not need any profit or fame, yet after every mission, they could see someone gained profits and fame which should belong to them. Thus he made a decision, he would live well, and he would die in peace in the North Jade City.


    This purpose appeared vulgar and ridiculous,pared to the oath those killers made at first, such as ¡°killing thousands of men.¡± However, his dream would be harder to achieve. It was expensive to live under the protection of the Jade City, Tie Hanfeng needed to prepare at least ten thousand silver to even settle down.


    The killers could not make so much money of course. Besides, Tie Hanfeng could not endure the poverty before he had umted enough. He also could not get rid of his indulgence of alcohol and sex. He thought about robbing the wealthy, yet they all had backers behind them whom Tie Hanfeng dared not to mess with. Taking this into consideration, he devised aplicated and safe n to profit from.


    He could be named a half-protector of the bodyguard career in the South City. He introduced many reliable machetemen to those wealthy businessmen. One of his permanent clients was called Zhou Lan, or Sack Zhou.


    Sack Zhou was the Protector of the rice and flour trade, he oncemissioned Tie Hanfeng to kill Nie Qing.


    Moreover, Sack Zhou¡¯s fortune actually came from Tie Hanfeng, who introduced him to many protectors in the city and motivated him to stand at the top, taking control of the whole street. Without Tie Hanfeng, Sack Zhou would still be an ordinary shopkeeper.


    Sack Zhou was very ambitious and smart. With Tie Hanfeng¡¯s help, he started his own career. He knew how to spend his money to associate with more powerful men so that his position could be more stable. Now his social circle was far beyond Cripple Tie could fathom.


    But they kept a good rtionship. Sack Zhou still believed in Tie Hanfeng and asked him to be his guard.


    Two or three years ago, Tie Hanfeng imbued an idea in Sack Zhou: Big or small, the protector would not live a good life in the Jade City. The content was happiness. One should return to his home with his fortune and fame. However, he should keep a low profile, in case he causes any disasters.


    Sack Zhou was perturbed because of the money he earned. Not to mention Tie Hanfeng¡¯s silent transforming influence. Thus he figured out a method which could make him not so ¡°wealthy.¡±


    Suddenly Sack Zhou became an old dissolute, having love affairs with numerous prostitutes, those prostitutes were all expensive and famous. Hence, he spent countless silvers. Those who knew him all imed that Sack Zhou would end up with the worst fate if he kept this way.


    Yet Sack Zhou was not foolish, he did not involve Tie Hanfeng in this process. Tie Hanfeng also pretended he did not know, he even kept persuading Sack Zhou to save his money.


    Now Sack Zhou had grown a ready source for Tie Hanfeng after ten-years¡¯ rearing. After Sack Zhou seemingly spent thest penny of him, he decided to transmit his business to others and use the payment to live out his life in retirement. In others¡¯ eyes, he was just another failed man in the South City.


    But Tie Hanfeng knew, incalcble golds and silvers were covered by the trash on Sack Zhou¡¯s carriages when he went back home.


    ¡°At least 20 thousand taels!¡± Cripple Tie told his apprentice excitingly. ¡°Before I die, I¡¯ll live in heaven. Damn. Though I won¡¯t be a king, I¡¯ll at least be a lord. For the rest of my life, I won¡¯t need this de.¡±


    As for the way Sack Zhou transported his money, Tie Hanfeng told Gu Shenwei too. He also reminded Gu Shenwei that it was a barely known secret.


    The secret is the prostitute, the most expensive prostitute. ¡°You remember Xiao Fengchai, the woman who lives next door to Xu Yanwei? She¡¯s the most popr one in the Pleasure Alley, but she¡¯s beyond that. She keeps the fortune for those wealthy men. You can cry out how much tips you tip her in the her courtyard, but after that, you¡¯ll have it back. All she asked was a tenth of it as her interest. Her backer was Golden Roc Fort by the way, but you didn¡¯t need to know who this backer is. That¡¯s the reason she can remain rich and safe. Hey, hey, Sack Zhou thought I don¡¯t know his secret. I saw through him the moment he entered into Xiao Fengchai¡¯s courtyard.¡±


    Now everything seemed ready, Sack Zhou would leave tomorrow ¡°in gloom¡± back to his home, Shu-lik. This was also the moment Tie Hanfeng decided to harvest.


    It was not a difficult task. Since Sack Zhou left as a failed businessman, he would not hire expensive guards or lift up the Golden Roc g.


    Tie Hanfeng, however, knew he had to conceal himself until Sack Zhou went out of the fort, for if not so, he should turn over half of his profit to the fort, which would cost him too much. Besides, he should not wait for too long, because this secret could be revealed by some gangster.


    ¡°Walk west for five days from Jade City, or ride for two days, there¡¯s a T-junction, and the north-south road is the western border of Golden Roc Fort. Cross it a step further, you¡¯ll no longer be protected by the fort. You go first, clean up that district, I heard it was chaotic in these two years. Don¡¯t let any nameless gangster ruined my n. I need to follow the old bastard and escort him to the border. Though Xiao Fengchai is trustworthy, we can¡¯tpletely trust her.¡±


    This was the final purpose of Tie Hanfeng¡¯s recruiting an apprentice. He needed a helper, who would not ask too much.


    Gu Shenwei actually did not want anything in return. Tie Hanfeng taught him kung fu, saved his life and managed a brothel in his name. He was happy to pay all of his debt with this robbery. Tie Hanfeng¡¯s request was a piece of cake.


    ¡°Not so much people don¡¯t value the gold, you¡¯re one of them.¡± This was ament from Tie Hanfeng, which wasbined with some sort of expectation. ¡°I won¡¯t treat you shabbily, and all of my clients will be yours. You can prepare it earlier, and raise up a ¡®Sack Zhou¡¯ in this way you can retire anytime you want, instead of struggling in life like me.¡±


    The only way Gu Shenwei retired would be through his death. But he remained silent and started the preparations. As for Shangguan Yushi¡¯s side, she won¡¯t even meet ve Huan. Thus Gu Shenwei chose not to ask for her permission.


    The T-junction Tie Hanfeng mentioned was familiar to Gu Shenwei. It was only half a day¡¯s ride from his home. It was the ce he was enved and started his journey in Golden Roc Fort.


    Sack Zhou left the next day in a cheap and slow bullock-cart. Gu Shenwei arrived three or four days ahead of him. He had enough time to investigate the valley and mountains all around, and he indeed found some gangsters there: a dozen of people, staying at the ce over the night and left in the morning. Gu Shenwei remained silent.


    But during sunrise, he could not resist his impulse anymore and rode back to the Gu family¡¯s manor.


    The vige downhill was empty, and no family lived there anymore.


    The manor was also full of weeds. After two years, no one could find any trace of that fire. The nts covered the entire ruins, which now were a cozy nest for the insects and snakes.


    Gu Shenwei could not recall anything. He stood in the tall grasses, trying to revive his memory, his family affection, his happiness, and sadness, yet he still got nothing. Moreover, he even found his hatred toward the fort was no longer that strong.


    All he possessed now was his irresistible will to kill.

 Chapter 142

    Chapter 142: Killing the Master


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Tie Hanfeng had a good dream: he lived in a vi of the North City and was surrounded by countless gorgeous beauties. One bloke who looked like ve Huan called him ¡°dad¡±.


    As he was still immersed in his dream at the moment when he opened his eyes, he did not immediately recognize where he was.


    ¡°It really wasn¡¯t my house¡­¡±


    Tie Hanfeng rubbed his eyes and observed his house thoroughly. This was the exact same stone cabin in the East Castle, and he was lying in his recliner, but everything was so¡­ so clean.


    Everything, including gons, cups, spitballs, broken daggers and fallen chairs were all gone. It seemed like a hurricane just swept over this ce.


    The beddings were neat and the closet was sparkling.


    Tie Hanfeng could recall a servant cleaning his residence in his dream. But who would do that in reality? He only had one apprentice, who was once a servant but knew nothing about cleaning.


    He stood up and walked out his room.


    The yard was neat. There was a weapon rack standing by the wall, with some sabers ced on it.


    The whole yard seemed to be two or three times bigger than before, which surprised Tie Hanfeng. He gave his arm a pinch to ensure he was not still living in his dream and then asked his apprentice, who stood in the center of the yard. ¡°What¡¯s the hell is going on? You don¡¯t need to drive me away like this!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have a duel.¡± Gu Shenwei said coldly. He clutched his saber with one hand and held a ck mask with the other hand.


    ¡°What? Are you mad? Or do you want to die?¡±


    Tie Hanfeng thought his apprentice was kidding, but soon his instinct told him it was not a joke.


    Gu Shenwei could kill him when he slept deeply, which was also in line with the protocol of a killer. Though Tie Hanfeng could defend himself during his dream, he would be much weaker than when he was awake. Besides, Gu Shenwei had progressed a lot.


    This was a ceremony. By killing Tie Hanfeng face to face, Gu Shenwei could pay all his debts. Also, it would be a test of his swordcraft of the Death Scripture . If he was even unable to cut off Tie Hanfeng¡¯s head, then his quest of vengeance against the whole Shangguan family would be ridiculous. In that case, it might have been better to die from his master¡¯s saber.


    ¡°I¡¯m not Yang Huan or ve Huan. My family name is Gu, and I¡¯m Gu Shenwei. The woman you raped is my sister if you still remember.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng¡¯s face twitched, seemingly wanting to frown and mock at the same time. ¡°Gu Shenwei? You¡¯ve already died. I¡¯ve seen the skull.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a wrong skull. The Eighth Young Master brought the wrong skull both times. He had fooled the Supreme King as well as everyone else.¡±


    Finally, the mist around the truth cleared up. As Tie Hanfeng now understood what had really happened, he became a hard-hearted killer again. ¡°Well, you¡¯re bold, and I¡¯ll give you that. But you¡¯re too stupid. You gave up your best opportunity to kill me and then you challenged me to a duel, like those ridiculous machetemen.¡±


    Gu Shenwei unfolded the ck veil, and covered his eyes with it by tying a knot behind his head. ¡°There¡¯re always some exceptions.¡± He pulled out the saber and threw the scabbard to the ground.


    Tie Hanfeng limped away to his house, grabbed his saber beneath the recliner, and went back to the yard. He was ready to kill his apprentice with one stab. He was not even thinking about how to stab, but how to deal with this the aftermath of this incident.


    He was not prepared to publicly reveal Gu Shenwei¡¯s identity, for it would not only cause troubles for Shangguan Nu, but also pull him into the vortex that surrounded the Shangguan family. Now he was a man ready to enjoy his remaining years, so there was no need to have a loose tongue.


    Killing this bloke would put an end to all of this.


    He carried the saber and watched the teenager ten steps away from him, who held his saber while blindfold. His apprentice must have been driven mad by the hatred, otherwise, why would he strike such a pose? Killers should act like a craftsman, being serious and cautious at all times.


    But he could not attack.


    There was not even a hint of the killing intent in the youth.


    The killing intent was not stable. It could change slightly with one¡¯s breathing, Internal Breath and strength of will. The experts could always sense this slight change and found a loophole. This kind of kung fu was hard to teach to others, and one had to learn it by himself.


    But Gu Shenwei had no killing intent. Tie Hanfeng could not find any weakness in him.


    Some superiors did know about how to hide the intent and would not unveil it until he moved. But would his apprentice be a superior? Tie Hanfeng doubted that, yet soon he confirmed it. During these several days, something inside this teenager was totally different. He should have noticed that earlier if he was not blinded by that robbery.


    Gu Shenwei could only see darkness, and he felt like he was staying at an underground crypt.


    This was the first time that he was using a sword to kill a man. He learned from Death Scripture that one could not predict the process of killing, nor could he practice the killing skill. One should put all his trust on this swordcraft.


    The swordcraft was beyond a kung fu. It was a belief. Gu Shenwei would notprehend it until he believed in it.


    Now he was more convinced, more than any time in the past, that his insights about the scripture were right. Only by going through ¡°self-destruction¡± could he entrust himself to the sword, which could reveal the flow of the ¡°living energy¡±.


    ¡°Qi¡± was flowing all the time, like a revolving mist. People could not see it but feel it. In the end, it would form an ever-changing picture.


    Gu Shenwei had ¡°seen¡± it.


    He saw a bundle of ¡°Qi¡±ing for him, and quickly found the weakness in it. He stabbed that point almost automatically and withdrew. Everything was so natural and simple.


    Gu Shenwei ripped the veil off and saw Tie Hanfeng¡¯s saber on his neck, plunging half an inch inside.


    Tie Hanfeng¡¯s eyes widened, and he could not believe what had just happened to him. The biggest wish of him was not to die under a saber. But it was obvious that he had just died under a sword.


    Tie Hanfeng let go of the saber, and tried to walk back to the room. It felt really absurd and ridiculous watching him limping over with heavy steps.


    The saber fell down from Gu Shenwei¡¯s neck. He wiped out the bloodstain with the ck veil. He could still find the imperfections in his swordcraft, because he failed to finish his master¡¯s life with one stab.


    He slipped his sword back to its scabbard and picked up the saber. When he walked to the room, he found his Master Shifu lying down on the recliner, with his mouth feebly open. Tie Hanfeng¡¯s fragility could be seen from his eyes. ¡°Damn, what was I bustling about?¡±


    It was hisst words.


    Gu Shenwei got on one knee and observed Tie Hanfeng¡¯s chest turning from crimson to white. He seemed to be another person, whom Gu Shenwei not care and knew nothing about. Maybe the prostitute, Zi Linglong would recognize who he was right now.


    As Tie Hanfeng¡¯s fatal wound was on his neck, which barely bled, it would be difficult for other people to detect it.


    Gu Shenwei held the saber against the neck of his master, and cut deeply through the wound. No one would ever know the real cause of death.


    The blood gradually stained the recliner and dripped onto the ground. Gu Shenwei untied Tie Hanfeng¡¯s red belt and held it in one of his hands, while the other held his head, and then walked out.


    The belt was nailed on the gate of the academy, which indicated that someone had finished his apprenticeship. On this day, which was only three days before the birthday of the twins, ve Huan became the first formal killer among all of the Dragon Year Apprentices.


    But this behavior was hard for all of them to understand.


    The supervisor of the Pyrowork Academy was so shocked by the head Gu Shenwei brought, that he could hardly speak. After quite a while, he finally reacted and brought the new killer to the Whiterobe Academy for registration. Gu Shenwei obtained a brand new red belt and the killer¡¯s waist token. From now on, he should be called ¡°Yang Huan¡±, instead of ¡°ve Huan¡±, though the scar on his arm was unable to be removed.


    The brown-belt assassins were the most confused. Yang Huan was destined to be a formal killer after three days, why would he still kill his master? Whenpared with the others, Tie Hanfeng was a rtively nice teacher. Yang Huan would not obtain any benefit from killing him, furthermore he would lose a backer.


    Every year, there would be students who tried to kill their masters. But no one had acted like Yang Huan, who seemed to have no reason tomit the act.


    Thus people came up with a purpose for his inexplicable behavior. A new rumor was spreading around that the Cripple Tie had recently made a fortune, which his apprentice wanted ardently. Considering that it would be a crime for a formal killer to kill a master, Yang Huan did it before his promotion so it wouldn¡¯t be considered a crime.


    Tie Hanfeng¡¯s death didn¡¯t cause any unrest. He had almost cut off all his rtions in the fort so he could live in peace in the North City. Hence no one came out to avenge his death.


    Gu Shenwei only exined his behavior to Maid Lotus. ¡°Using the swordcraft would be more difficult if the enemy was more powerful. But you¡¯ll progress faster.¡±


    Maid Lotus discovered the sudden and strange change in herpanion. ¡°Your skill is getting stronger. Will you kill me one day, just for practice? But I¡¯m not so powerful for you to want to kill¡­¡±


    Though Gu Shenwei could not expose his biggest secret, he still told her his insights. ¡°You still don¡¯t get it? You and I will put an end to ourselves sooner orter if we continue to practice this swordcraft.¡±


    This was the quintessence of the Death Scripture . The apprentices of the Barren Sect never heard of it, and the fort only knew the first sentences of this book. They did not consider it to be of any value. Who would use a kung fu, whose final destination was self-destruction?


    Only the one who carried a blood feud and did not care about their own life would use it.


    Not to mention, the Peripheral Force in Gu Shenwei¡¯s body did not disappear at all. He blended his Internal Strength by the sped-up technique of the Yin and Yang Strength and thought he could eradicate the hidden danger, yet he found the burning Qi in the Xuanji acupoint and the Baihui acupoint was only suppressed for a time. It was restored after several days.


    Those who nted the force into his body were all dead. No one could eliminate that for him. He did not count on the remaining apprentices of the Barren Sect to teach him their unique Internal Strength, either.


    Maid Lotus was surprised yet sheprehended it quickly. She smiled. This was the first time Gu Shenwei saw her smile, which was as pure as a child. ¡°Well, killing yourself is better than being killed by others.¡±


    Gu Shenwei told everything he recognized in the scripture to Maid Lotus. Because they viewed this book in different ways at first, Maid Lotus did not ept itpletely. But hisprehension did answer many questions for her.


    Now all she needed was toplete a perfect ughter, by which she could rebuild her killing desire, and experience the subtleties contained in this book.


    This ughter came much earlier than these two had expected.

 Chapter 143

    Chapter 143: Love Story


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Tie Hanfeng had spent ten years preparing for this robbery, but only used about half an hour to carry out this n.


    Sack Zhou had a long face and a hooked nose and usually looked quite somber. Upon seeing a young macheteman block his way, he was slightly startled but not at all worried. As he fixed his gaze on the macheteman, he found him somewhat familiar. ¡°Have I met this young man before? Is he¡­¡± Sack Zhou thought and then turned his head back toward Tie Hanfeng, hoping to get an answer from his friend. Tie Hanfeng remained Sack Zhou¡¯s best friend for all these years and apanied him all the way along his journey. While traveling, they repeatedly expressed how much they loathed being torn away from each other. Even real brothers were not as close as they appeared.


    Beyond Sack Zhou¡¯s expectation, when he spotted his ¡°best friend¡± Tie Hanfeng, the crippled man was busy ughtering his servants and guards with a saber.


    Sack Zhou had 14 servants, 10 oxcarts and several horses.


    Like two big fish besieging and devouring a school of small fish, Tie Hanfeng and ve Huan worked together to kill Sack Zhou¡¯s servants. One of them drove the people around, and the other cut them down as easily as reaping wheat.


    As for Sack Zhou, he was left to Tie Hanfeng. The cripple behaved very professionally throughout the whole process. Although he did not like his profession as a killer, he had already gotten used to all the codes of this profession and thus would never hesitate to kill any target even if that person was one of his best friends. ¡°Without me, you¡¯ll end up like an ordinary man. It¡¯s lucky for you to have enjoyed your life as a wealthy man during the past 10 years.¡± Tie Hanfeng said this to Sack Zhou before killing him as a way of showing his concern for his friend.


    After the deed was done, Tie Hanfeng steered the oxcarts around and headed for the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s territory together with ve Huan. Shortly after they entering the territory, they met a caravan of camels. Tie Hanfeng gave his loot to the boss of the caravan and exchanged some whispers with him before riding back to Jade City at top speed together with his disciple.


    For Gu Shenwei, this robbery action ended here. He just did this to return his Master Shifu¡¯s favors. He did not even ask for a share of the loot. Nor did he enquire about how much money Sack Zhou had or where the money would go.


    They came back to their ce in the city in time. The moment they arrived, the other members of the Little g Battalion were preparing to return to Golden Roc Fort. Six days from now, the twins would celebrate their birthday.


    Among all the apprentices in the Little g Battalion, only Maid Lotus knew where ve Huan had been these days. After fetching the two swords from cksmith Vige, she came to visit him and gave him a sword with the character ¡°Yun¡± carved on its hilt, while she kept the other one carrying the character ¡°Huan¡±. This incident sparked off numerous rumors of their romance among the other teenagers. The others kept on discussing about them until they entered the Stone Castle. From that moment on, they cared more about who would get red belts.


    The quality of the sword made by Mr. Hong exceeded Gu Shenwei¡¯s expectations. The first time he gripped its shaft, he was thrilled and at the same time, he felt sick as it somehow reminded him of the smell of blood.


    That elderly cksmith seemed to have guessed their real intention and thus had produced sharp weapons instead of tokens of love for them. The de of the sword was stainless, looking as shiny as the surface of a pool of clear water, while the less brave would not even dare to look directly at its mirror-like surface. When he weighed it in hand, he felt that its weight was very ideal and it would be easy to use during a fight.


    He had to admit that this idea of Maid Lotus was brilliant. He repeatedly unsheathed his sword to examine it with appreciative eyes. As for his saber, now he considered it a piece of scrap metal.


    Tie Hanfeng did not hide his scorn for ve Huan¡¯s behavior at all. There was only one time when he made an exception; he hugged his disciple around his shoulders while saying solemnly, ¡°Be careful. Just like you, women in East Castle have scars all over their bodies. You may feel that it can be a little¡­ rough, when rubbing against each other, hum, but maybe you¡¯ll like it.¡±


    As one of the managers of the Little g Battalion, Tie Hanfeng had to return to Stone Castle to hand over his duties to his sessor. Once his disciple became a red-belt killer, he would break off his saber and retire. When that happened, he would be able to move into his house in North City and live a happy life during his old age.


    Thinking about the matter provided him with much pleasure and turned him into a chatterbox. He talked about nothing but how he imagined his life would be after retirement.


    ¡°The first thing I want is liquor. I¡¯ll drink as much as I want until I die. The second thing is women. I¡¯ll drink myself to death while being on top of a woman. That woman will inherit half of my assets, and I¡¯ll leave the other half for you,¡± Tie Hanfeng said to ve Huan.


    Gu Shenwei endured Tie Hanfeng¡¯s endless nagging day after day and even bought him some liquor to please him. He saw this as a way of showing his gratitude to his Master Shifu.


    On the third day after their return to the Stone Castle, Tie Hanfeng drank a lot of liquor during lunch, but he did not take a nap. He was suddenly silent and remained speechless untilte afternoon. When he spoke again, he got somewhat sentimental like a poet.


    Gu Shenwei guessed that it was probably the weather that affected the elderly killer¡¯s mood. The sky had been covered by dark clouds for the entire morning, and it began to snow in the afternoon. He moved Tie Hanfeng¡¯s chair into the house but opened all the windows and the door, as his Master Shifu did not like any enclosed space. As long as he could stand the cold, he would rather sleep in the open air. Seeing the snowkes hit the ground and melt, Tie Hanfeng started to recall his own life story.


    ¡°My Master Shifu was a bad guy. I hope that he¡¯ll be tortured in hell. I¡¯m not a good person, either. I¡¯ll have to go to hell after I die. Given that, I have to enjoy my life as much as I can, so that I¡¯ll have good memories of my glory days to help me endure the torments of hell.¡±


    .


    After a pause, Tie Hanfeng continued, ¡°Everything in our lives is illusionary. A monk told me that our lives are nothing but dreams. They¡¯re transitory, just like bubbles, drops of dew or lightning bolts. That¡¯s why the Six Kills Temple in the fort erected that stone tablet with the words ¡®Six rounds of reincarnation, no extermination¡¯. We¡¯ll die sooner orter, and after we die, we¡¯ll be reincarnated in either human or animal form. In this sense, we can never kill all the people in the world. Never.¡±


    Gu Shenwei found it quite funny to hear Tie Hanfeng, a non-religious killer, talking about Buddhist doctrines. ¡°This old cripple was never a serious killer, but now he¡¯smenting that he can never kill all the people in the world. This is really ridiculous,¡± thought Gu Shenwei. He was confident that he himself would never think about something like this, as he only wanted to kill a certain number of people.


    To his immense surprise, Tie Hanfeng abruptly changed the topic. ¡°Her skin was white as snow, and her fingers were warm and soft. When she touched me, I felt as if being kissed by the breeze, and all my scars seemed to be melting in that breeze.¡±


    While saying this, Tie Hanfeng had a dreamy look in his eyes and even forgot to take a sip of his wine. ¡°That brat surnamed Xu was right. A man will always fall in love with the first woman he¡¯s slept with. I can¡¯t forget about her, no matter how many women I¡¯ve slept with after our separation. Every woman after her seems to resemble her in some way. In my eyes, they¡¯re just parts of her.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng went on to tell Gu Shenwei his most unforgettable love story, which had happened before he got crippled and red-faced.


    Tie Hanfeng had never gotten intimate with a woman until he was 13. Before that, he was an outstanding apprentice immersed in violence and then a merciless killer who was loyal only to his master.


    His first time was far from perfect. As a killer, his saber was like an extension of his hands and he could kill a person within seconds, but he appeared rather awkward and clumsy in bed. He was so stiff that he found it difficult to roll over on that bed. He felt that his whole body was as hard as a stone except for one spot. That spot, much to his disappointment, just could not stay hard long enough. She tried every trick she knew but still failed to make him feel at ease.


    They kept on trying almost the whole night. In the beginning, they chatted with each other once in a while, but gradually, they both lost patience and considered this thing a boring chore. They stopped chatting and focused on trying to make that little thing stay hard for a longer time.


    She was so devoted and carefully tried all the tricks that she had learned or heard of on him again and again, like a weaver applied herself diligently to her weaving task.


    In the meantime, he was lying on his back like a sheep waiting to be prodded by its shepherd, sincerely hoping that this would end soon and in a satisfactory way.


    After a candle being burnt out, she breathed out a sigh and stopped trying. She put her head on his arm and touched every wound on his chest with her soft, warm fingers, while saying, ¡°Let¡¯s sleep.¡± This short sentence somehow was forever enshrined in his heart.


    After hearing this sentence, he was totally relieved from anxiety and fell asleep even before hepletely closed his eyes. He had never slept so soundly before.


    When he woke up on the afternoon of the next day, he smelt something sweet and felt waves after waves of that sweetness emanated from the pillows, the bed curtains, the city outside the room and the sea, which he had heard of but had never seen before, rushing toward him. He was overwhelmed by them and suddenly fell in love with the woman lying beside him.


    He threw himself on top of her and without any guidance, he aplished the thing that they always wanted to do. Once, twice¡­ he kept repeating it until he was exhausted.


    In the following three days, the lovebirds continued to caress each other and make love to each other. Both of them refused to get out of bed and had food delivered to them directly.


    Tie Hanfeng¡¯s love story sounded quite strange and thrilling in the beginning, but just like the other love stories of prostitutes and their clients, it had a rather conventional ending.


    Tie Hanfeng could no longer tolerate the pain of separation from her and the fact that she was a prostitute after they had been together for a month, so he bought back her freedom and rented a house to live together with her. She promised that she would never again receive a client, and he promised to quit drinking and focus on his job as a killer.


    They lived happily together for a year before it all ended.


    For Tie Hanfeng, it was hard to give up drinking. He was attracted not only by the alcohol but also by the atmosphere inside the taverns of South City. He enjoyed himself most when sitting quietly in a noisy tavern. When he was confined to his home, he felt like a fish out of water. He could not breathe, and a voice kept buzzing in his head, urging him to return to the water.


    The prostitute got bored, too. The killer, whose body was covered in scars, quickly lost his mystique and turned into an ordinary man who was sour, deceitful and alcoholic.


    Tie Hanfeng forgot which one of them had suggested to break up. He only remembered that after leaving that ¡°home¡±, he immediately returned to his old life. Since then, his face had be redder year by year and his saber skills had gotten better with each passing day. As for the prostitute, she left Jade City with another man, seeking a new life.


    After finishing this story, Tie Hanfeng drunk up the liquor in his cup without a pause for breath. ¡°Even I myself didn¡¯t know that I still clearly remember her. You may feel that I¡¯m not quite myself today, don¡¯t you? Hur, Hur, that¡¯s alright. The more burden we shake off, the freer we¡¯ll be. Every killer has to go through such a process. It¡¯s not necessarily about a woman. It may be something else.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng¡¯ honesty and frankness made Gu Shenwei feel uneasy. He did not know how to respond to his Master Shifu, as he could neither throw off his burden nor tell it to his Master Shifu.


    Even so, he still felt that he had to say something and decided to share a little secret with Tie Hanfeng. ¡°I hate blood. I feel nausea every time I see it. How can I ditch this burden? ¡±


    Beyond Gu Shenwei¡¯s expectations, Tie Hanfeng did not scoff at him at all. ¡°You can¡¯t just simply discard your hatred. You have to get used to it. Once you do, you won¡¯t call it a burden anymore. Tell you another secret. Making love to a woman always stresses me out, but the more nervous I feel, the more sex I want to have. Hahaha, gradually I get used to it and turn it into a driving force in my sex life.¡±


    Gu Shenwei and Tie Hanfeng had never been so close before. During this magical moment, they felt that they understood each others¡¯ pain for the first time.


    ¡°Her name is Zi Linglong, and she went to Shu-lik. Now, she¡¯s probably dead or ugly. If you happen to meet her someday, kill her and never tell me how she looks now,¡± said Tie Hanfeng.


    They beganughing. Gu Shenwei even poured himself a fresh drink and then made a toast to Tie Hanfeng. ¡°How did you get crippled? Because of some woman again?¡± Gu Shenwei asked in a friendly tone. He had never mentioned this before, since it was almost a taboo to discuss with a killer about his or her physical imperfections.


    Tie Hanfeng burst intoughter and replied, ¡°Yeah, kind of. Two years ago, I was on a mission to kill several people, and then, you know, as a matter of routine, we raped a woman. None of us discovered that we had killed a wrong person during the mission, and when we returned to the fort, the Eighth Young Master red up. As I¡¯m the Third Young Master¡¯s killer and was on secondment from my master¡¯s killer team. I only got knifed in my leg. I was very luckypared to the young master¡¯s own killers. Their right hands got chopped off by their master.¡±


    Upon hearing this, Gu Shenwei felt all his blood pumping into his head strongly, which caused him to nearly pass out.


    ¡°But, to be frank with you, that woman was amazing. I still feel excited when thinking about her. It¡¯s such a pity she got killed,¡± Tie Hanfeng eximed.


    He was deeply absorbed in happy reminiscences andpletely oblivious of his disciple¡¯s sudden change in facial expression.

 Chapter 144

    Chapter 144: Eavesdropping


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei chastised himself harshly.


    His family hasid dead for about two years, and he has stolen into Golden Roc Fort with the purpose of ying the whole of the Supreme King¡¯s family. However, he has not killed a single master.


    Amnesia quietly unleashed its prowess, as Gu Shenwei realized that he has gradually gotten used to the life of a killer. Kowtowing to his master, pandering to his master¡¯s interests, he has naturally ced the interests of Stone Castle first and just as Tie Hanfeng had said, ¡°once you¡¯ve gotten used to it, it no longer feels like a responsibility.¡± However, a young man needs such a burden, for it is the sole purpose behind his existence.


    He could not wait any longer for Peripheral Force, and the Death Scriptures reminded him of his impending death, and they left him less and less time.


    Looking at the entire Gu family¡¯s demise from the perspective of a killer, the matter was definitely fishy.


    For one, a problemy with Golden Roc Fort. Gu Shenwei has stayed in the fort for slightly more than two years and has witnessed and heard of few assassinations. Most of them took ce at Jade City, mainly for his own safety. Golden Roc Fort had an august reputation and was too prominent, while the killer¡¯s signatures were also too distinctive. Assassination could only be a trifling means, and could hardly pull the wool over people¡¯s eyes.


    Golden Roc Fort was being transformed from an organization of killers into a local power and in the camp of New Moon Hall, Shangguan Nu seemed to be leading an army.


    Gu Shenwei could not find the reason behind why Golden Roc Fort had in the Central in¡¯s Gu family. From an outsider¡¯s perspective, this seemed like a trifling matter. However, Gu Shenwei had read so many materials, and he was well aware that over ten years ago this might have seemed like any run-of-the-mill assassination. However, to the Golden Roc Fort of today, this was definitely amiss.


    And also, as for the Gu family, the more Gu Shenwei thought about it, the more he felt that his father Gu Lun¡¯s decision to travel for miles from the Central in to the Western region had not made sense. This was akin to sundering the many ¡°ties¡± of the Gu family, which ced the family in mortal danger.


    The facts had also proven that after the Gu Family¡¯s death, the only person who could right the injustice was Marshal Yang.


    There was only one way to clear these doubts. Examining relevant books from two years ago, one might be able to find out who were the killers who joined in the operation, and what their motives were.


    The historical data of the incumbent Supreme King have been stored in the Document Library of the Whiterobe Academy. Mister Guo is the chief of the Document Library, and it would be impossible for Gu Shenwei to gain any help from him.


    Gu Shenwei devised a few ns which all revolved around bribing the handyman of the Document Library to smuggle a hand-copied manual out from the library. However, he quickly abandoned them as the motive behind this move would have been all too clear. Anyone would have suspected. He could also specify the months he wanted of the manuals, but a theft without any overall direction would also arise suspicion.


    He decided to take a risk by taking things into his own hands.


    Gu Shenwei had once worked at the Whiterobe Library¡¯s Archive Academy for a month as a handyman. So he knows the internal happenings of the academy and the rough location of the Document Library.


    On the night of the assassination, Gu Shenwei explored the academy in the night. That thirst for revenge grew in him, and he could not wait a day any longer.


    Long before his Internal Strength had leveled up, Gu Shenwei had been able to evade the night watchmen of the fort. Not forgetting how Whiterobe Academy¡¯s defenses are more strict than anywhere else, Gu Shenwei spent the first half of the night eavesdropping on the wall. After getting a clear sense of the watchmen¡¯s surveince route, he flipped himself over the wall and entered.


    The Document Library was one of the Whiterobe Academy¡¯s most important organizations, and it roughly upied one whole row in the East wing room. However, its defenses are not strong. Behind locked doors, the window is only equipped with an inner partition, and Gu Shenwei could easily pry it open with a dagger.


    Prying open the window was simple yet extremely dangerous. Gu Shenwei waited till the gongs sounded in the wee hour and took his chance. He fished out his dagger and entered the room through the window. It happened in the blink of an eye, and unless someone stared in this direction, no one would have discerned the silhouette of this thief.


    The room that Gu Shenwei entered was the depository of the Document Library. The objective of his search was the paperwork of June in the Gui Mao year.


    The rules for cing documents here were simr to those of the Archives library, which saved Gu Shenwei much trouble. With one hand holding threeyers of ck clothes and the other a small candle, he tried to prevent the candlelight from permeating out of the room. He found the words ¡°Gui Mao¡± on the fourth shelf.


    The titles were stored by date. Gu Shenwei ced the candle on the shelf and quickly flipped the manual, and just as he had reached May, he heard footsteps outside the door.


    He quickly snuffed the candle and kneeled on the ground.


    Twontern-carrying handymen entered the room, yawning andining at the same time.


    ¡°It¡¯s too rushed.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s already the fifth day.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like finding a needle in a haystack.¡±


    ¡°Who said it isn¡¯t going to be?¡±


    ¡°Hush, just continue flipping. If we can¡¯t find it again tonight, Mister Guo will scold us again.¡±


    ¡°Mister Guo.¡± These words aroused Gu Shenwei¡¯s interest. Since he was the chief of the Document Library, the object that he is looking for must be exceedingly important.


    One of the handymen twitched his nose, saying, ¡°did you smell candle oil?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s your nose that is blocked. Hurry and get to work.¡±


    The two extinguished thenterns and lit themps on the table at the door. Together, they lifted a big box from the corner of the room and took out volumes of tightly-bound papers. The servants began to read them book by book, page by page, intently.


    There was silence, interrupted only by the rustling of flipped pages.


    Gu Shenwei squatted in between the bookshelves, holding his breath. He was afraid of being discovered. He feared that they might take too long and that he would not be able to escape before dawn.


    His fears were not unfounded. Even when it gonged at four, those two servants seemed to reveal no intentions of ending their search. Gu Shenwei began to consider how he might hide in the room for the whole day. He also thought about how he might ount for his ¡°disappearance¡± to outsiders.


    ¡°Found it!¡± One of the handymen eximed excitedly. Gu Shenwei was almost as happy as he was.


    ¡°Let me see.¡±


    ¡°This is correct. The dates and everything are correct.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. I¡¯ll read it. You copy it down.¡±


    One of the handymen started to read intermittently, ¡°Year of Mao Zi¡­ residing in Kun Yard¡­ Guo Chun, finished.¡±


    It took several days of work just to find a piece of paper with these few words. Gu Shenwei was extremely confused, and he only understood ¡°Guo Chun¡± to be Mister Guo, and the other words were utterly meaningless.


    The two handymen hurriedly cleaned the table and put the box back into its position, left the room, carrying theirnterns.


    Daybreak wasing soon. Gu Shenwei had no time to deliberate over that strange incident. He fished out a match immediately, and lighting his own candle,bed through the manuals of the June of Gui Mao year.


    But there was nothing at all. None of the books mentioned about the ughter of the Gu family.


    Gu Shenwei flipped once again and even scanned the documents of May and July, but still did not find any clues.


    There was no more time, he could only blow out the candles and leave the Whiterobe Academy.


    Just as Gu Shenwei¡¯s ambitions for revenge had been rekindled, he was dealt with a setback.


    No matter how big or small the operation to ughter the Gu family was, there should have been records of it in the books-not one, but perhaps at least seven from its start to the finish. These would have been reported to the Supreme King. Gu Shenwei did not understand why there were no records at all of the Gu family in the piles of paper.


    He decided to look for Mr. Zhang Jian, a teacher, to fish for information. However, before he had left the house, Miss Luo Ningcha had sent men to summon him.


    Gu Shenwei was heavily bothered. Because Bighead Kingpin was not easily manipted, Gu Shenwei had lost interest in the youngdy. But Luo Ningcha still took him as her confidante and would ask him for ideas on everything.


    Gu Shenwei needed to exercise caution for if he got too close to the Eighth Young Mistress, he might incite Lady Meng¡¯s disgust. This would affect his rtionship with Shangguan Ru and consequently, his position in Stone Castle.


    He needed to get as close to his enemies as possible.


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s first words after seeing the ¡°faithful servant¡± was: ¡°I heard you had Master Shifu killed. This is wanton indeed. When are you going to help me kill someone?¡±


    ¡°As long as Miss would keep your word.¡± Gu Shenwei thought, he would rather not kill anyone for this woman. She would botch everything, and before soon, news of the matter would spread to one and all.


    ¡°Oh, words of deceit are sweet. No one has wanted to lie to me as ofte.¡±


    The Miss¡¯ words wereden with sarcasm, and Gu Shenwei knew the best way to deal with her would be to keep quiet.


    And sure enough, Luo Ningcha suddenly became happy again. ¡°You taught me well.¡±


    ¡°Ah.¡± Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t remember at that moment, what tactic he had taught her.


    Lady Meng berated Madam Yang in front of everyone. She said that she didn¡¯t know her ce and was good at nothing except for embarrassing the Shangguan family. Also, she said that her son was a wastrel. Lady Meng thought that these words would embarrass me, but actually, my heart was about to die ofughter.


    Gu Shenwei only remembered at this moment that he had once suggested letting the Miss use the tactic of strategic dy against Shangguan Hongye¡¯s mother, Madam Yang, and Lady Meng. She had faithfully carried it out and ¡°Madam Yang should be unerringly loyal to the Miss this time.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps. She secretly came to me crying, and I even coaxed her to put up with it. Who knows whether those two women were trying to deceive us with their sorrows?¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt a faint flutter in his heart. Miss didn¡¯t seem to be too stupid after all. She could even think of this aspect.


    ¡°Well, Madam Yang has been won over. Who do you think I should win over next?¡±


    But how would Gu Shenwei know? He was clueless about the people around Madam Yang. He had selected Madam Yang only because of her son, Shangguan Hongye. ¡°Hey, there¡¯re always peoplepeting for favor around the high and mighty. You can win over some of these particr people.¡±


    The Miss muttered a long note of assent. After a moment of consideration, sheughed suddenly, her mind upied with thoughts of her recent victory. ¡°Madam Yang is a foolish woman indeed. Do you know what she told me? She said she would exact revenge soon and that she would make Lady Meng suffer from pain and wished that she had never been born. She wanted to trick me into saying bad things about Lady Meng so that she could use it against me. I would never fall for that trick.¡±


    Gu Shenwei wanted to praise the Miss whole heartily. However, as he left the central courtyard of Eight Young Master, he changed his mind.


    Many people are fighting for Lady Meng¡¯s favor. Luo Ningcha could not think of who to target at the moment. She thus let ve Huan leave to return the next day.


    Gu Shenwei did not remind the Miss that tomorrow was the birthday of the twins and the saber awarding ceremony. He had no way of seeing her.


    Gu Shenwei stopped by the school on the way. Thinking of his meeting with Shangguan Hongye and his mother thest time, he was unable, somehow, to put a rage-filled Madam Yang and a crafty Madam Yang together. The Miss appeared to be overly calm, and if it were him, he would have seduced Madam Yang to spill the beans before deciding whether her words were simply empty, or that she truly had any cards up her sleeve.


    At the door of the school, his thoughts turned again to the words that he heardst night. He calcted silently, the year of the Mao would be about sixteen or seventeen years ago, and why would Mister Guo want to trace an affair that happened so long ago? Gu Shenwei resolved to clear this doubt.

 Chapter 145

    Chapter 145: Midnight


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    There were subtle changes in the attitude the teacher Zhang Ji disyed towards this ¡°Outsider Student¡±.


    After the teacher-killing incident, Gu Shenwei garnered mostly suspicion and respect from the Golden Roc Fort, yet when he was with Zhang Ji, he could not help but feel a hint of disgust and watchfulnessing from Zhang. This was rightfully the reaction to be expected from normal people, yet it was different at the Stone Castle.


    The two of them chatted idly, and there were many gaps in their conversation. The words did not flow out from Zhang Ji like before, and Gu Shenwei could not directly speak about what he had eavesdropped. After a fruitless discussion in which both were beating around the bush for half of the day and from which he did not get much information. Thus, Gu could only bid his farewell.


    As to why the texts could have gone missing, Zhang Ji felt that this was amon urrence. ¡°It wasn¡¯t very important as to whether the texts were kept separately. I estimate that 20 to 30 percent of the texts were lost over the passage of time because they were misced or destroyed for whatever reasons,¡± said Zhang.


    However, something which Zhang Ji said piqued the wild imagination of Gu Shenwei. Zhang Ji himself did not know the importance of these words of his, ¡°Ten years ago, Mister Guo was the steward of the Ceremonial Department, having about the same responsibility as a chambein of the royal pce. He was by the side of his Lordship every day, recording all his words and movements. This was how he started his career.¡±


    As Gu Shenwei¡¯s father was a pce guard before at the Central ins, he heard stories of the pce since young and knew a little of the inner workings of the pce. He immediately knew what kind or role Mister Guo had 10 years ago. His heart stirred a little and felt a little enlightened.


    Back at the East Castle, he found Maid Lotus and told her to gather information. She came back quickly with this news, ¡°Kun Yard used to be the manor of the previous Third Young Master, and he was his Lord¡¯s brother. He had already died many years ago.¡±


    While Gu Shenwei¡¯s guesses were confirmed to be true, it still came as a great shock to him as never would he had known that during his secret trip to the Whiterobe Academy, his search for the documents on the extermination of the Gu family woulde to naught but instead he would have eavesdropped about a greater conspiracy.


    Going through all the details again, Gu Shenwei felt that his deductions could not be too far off from the actual events. What was going to happen next would be how he was going to handle the situation; would he watch how the events unfolded from afar or would he throw himself into the mix?


    Strictly speaking, this conspiracy had utterly nothing to do with him, but he did not intend to let Mister Guo have his way. It would not bode well for Gu in the long run once Mister Guo regained the trust of his Lord again.


    Gu Shenwei passed on all the information he knew and all the deductions he made to Maid Lotus. He told her, ¡°This is a chance for you to contribute The risks won¡¯t be small, and if you¡¯re willing to do it, you have to act immediately. We could be out of time tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to do it yourself?¡± She asked. Of course, Maid Lotus would have wanted to grab the chance to achieve glory, and this was no small aplishment if she managed to finish the task.


    ¡°I need help. Therefore it¡¯s better for you to be a killer as well.¡± In truth, as this task involved getting into the inner manor, Maid Lotus would be better suited for it than Gu Shenwei.


    Miss He bowed to him, and Gu Shenwei felt shocked. This was decorum reserved for superiors, and even when he was made the chief of the Tattooed Arm Gang, she did not show such respect for him.


    Gu Shenwei nodded slightly, calmly epting this show of loyalty. He had already made it clear that he needed an ¡®assistant¡¯ and not a ¡®friend¡¯.


    Maid Lotus took her leave; she was definitely different from the simple-minded Luo Ningcha, and Gu Shenwei did not have to instruct her what to do.


    After the task waspleted, Maid Lotus still told him about how it all went down.


    There was a female disciple in the Little g Battalion who was friends with Maid Lotus. The master of this female disciple was the Sixth Young Master whose wife was from the Meng n and the niece of his Lord¡¯s wife. Although Lady Meng had some veiled criticism of her own family, she was very close to this niece and daughter-inw of hers.


    Using her influence over manyyers of contacts, Maid Lotus managed to get Lady Meng to summon her for a visit that very evening.


    Lady Meng first expressed her gratitude to Maid Lotus for dutifully taking care of Shangguan Ru on the way to the Iron Mountain Battalion in the past. Even though it was a few months ago, Lady Meng had not forgotten about it and gave Maid Lotus many precious pearls and food. She even asked Maid Lotus a little about the training of a female killer out of curiosity.


    A handmaiden led Maid Lotus to the annex to collect her gifts and told her in a soft voice not to leave first.


    After thedies in the hall made them leave, Maid Lotus was summoned again. This time, Lady Meng¡¯s expression changed from one of an approachable matron of arge household to that of an interrogator who looked straight into the depths of someone¡¯s heart.


    Maid Lotus first swore that even though she was brought into the Fort by Eighth Young Mistress as her bridal maiden, she had never served any of thedies from the Luo Household; she was a ve purchased by the Bighead Kingpin at the spur of a moment during one of his journeys. After which, she told Lady Meng about some of the information she had gathered.


    This was the hard part as she could not divulge all the deductions of ve Huan, as it would cause her to be a suspicious insider. Therefore, she directed everything towards the path of Mister Guo.


    Mister Guo had worked secretly in the past to arrest all of the elite Dragon Year apprentices. Even though the conspiracy was never openly attributed to Mister Guo, all of the brown-belt assassins in the Little g Batlion hated him.


    Maid Lotus hated him as well, which exined why she was especially interested in the movements of Mister Guo. Once she heard that Mister Guo abused his position as the chief of the Document Library to search for information from 15 to 16 years ago and nned to use it against the Tenth Young Master, she decided to pass this secret on to Lady Meng.


    Lady Meng was not a gullible person, but that night Maid Lotus seeded in convincing her. Lady Meng was not totally clueless as to Mister Guo¡¯s conspiracy, and her expression changed once Maid Lotus mentioned ¡°information from 15 to 16 years ago¡±, thus confirming that Gu Shenwei¡¯s deductions were very close to actual events.


    Lady Meng calmed down quickly and indifferently praised Maid Lotus, instructing her not to bring this matter up to anyone else and then got the help to send her off from the Inner Residence.


    Once Maid Lotus got back to the East Castle, she found ve Huan and described everything to him. Both felt that tomorrow¡¯s adulthood initiation ceremony for the twins would be interesting.


    Little would they know that they had underestimated Lady Meng and that the action had already begun prematurely that night.


    Lady Meng was not the na?ve type of person who was willing to be a sitting duck. Earlier on at the Supreme King¡¯svish wedding ceremony, she had already noticed the inner conflict amongst this household and knew that she would be an object of public criticism. From that day onwards, she continuously consolidated her power and meticulously gathered information that could be used against her opponents.


    Lady Meng seldom used this information as she knew full well that if she could not manage topletely destroy her opponents, moving too soon would only result in achieving the opposite from what she wanted. Therefore, she had always bid her time.


    With what Maid Lotus confided in her, Lady Meng came to see that the enemy was already hiding under in sight and waiting to strike the fatal blow; she had to act first.


    That evening was absolutely normal to most people inside the Stone Castle as only a select few were kept busy. The next morning, the huge changes inside the Golden Roc Fort shocked everyone, and the ripples of the shockwave could be felt even outside Jade City.


    Lady Meng¡¯s decisiveness and ruthlessness far exceeded Gu Shenwei¡¯s expectations, and he never thought that one sentence of which he eavesdropped could create such a bigmotion. This made him reconsider the infighting in the Inner Residence, and he felt that maybe he could still leverage on Luo Ningcha.


    At midnight, a handmaiden from the Inner Residence knocked on the door of ve Huan¡¯s residence and passed on the order from the Tenth Young Master Shangguan Ru, who requested his immediate presence at the Inner Residence.


    Initially, Gu Shenwei wanted to give all credit to Maid Lotus while staying behind the scenes himself but now he had to get involved himself albeit reluctantly. He was suspicious as to why Shangguan Ru would be involved in this matter.


    When he entered the Inner Residence, he secretly admired Lady Meng¡¯s discreetness.


    Shangguan Ru was not aware of what had transpired at all and was half lying in her mother¡¯s arms with a nk look on her face. Lady Meng was only using her daughter¡¯s name to act.


    Maid Lotus was also summoned at the same time, and she too did not expect that the reaction to her secret information would be so swift.


    Lady Meng sat upright on a mat, wearing a gorgeous looking formal dress. This outfit was worn only once a year during the sacrificial ceremony and portrayed her as the rightful wife of the Lord. She hugged the twins tightly with both her arms with a stern look across her face. It felt as though her children would die once she let go of them.


    There were only four handmaidens in the hall, and the dim rays of lighting from the solitary candle burning hid Lady Meng and the twins partially in the light and partially in the darkness.


    ¡°I need both of you to do something for me, and Ru¡¯er has rmended you two.¡±


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus kneeled on one knee and nted their left palm on the floor, keeping silent. This was the pose struck by a killer willing to ept the mission given.


    ¡°Even though both of you were brought into the Stone Castle by that woman, I have seen your loyalty towards Ru¡¯er with my own eyes. Therefore I trust you two.¡±


    Lady Meng got off the mat and turned to caress the cheeks of the twins, showing a smile expressing constion to them. She then walked in front of the two youths and the handmaiden went forward to ve Huan and Maid Lotus to signal them to get up.


    ¡°Now the lives of my two children and I are in grave danger, and I have to act first. I want you both to kill Mister Guo.¡±


    The two youths lifted their heads in shock, both feeling that this was not the best idea.


    Lady Meng knew fully well what effect her words would produce and pulled out a folded piece of paper from her sleeve. She said, ¡°This is his Lord¡¯s personal handwritten order, and both of you can feel free to act ordingly.¡±


    Gu Shenwei received the paper with both hands, and saw the following lines once he opened it: ¡°Guo Chun of the Whiterobe Academy has intentions of rebellion and disobedience, and can be assassinated.¡± There was a stamp of a Golden Roc spreading its wings on the bottom left corner and in the entire Jade City, only the stamp ink of the Supreme King was gold.


    Gu Shenwei folded the handwritten order back, and Lady Meng collected it back when she deemed it the right moment.


    The two youths had no other choice left; whether the handwritten order was forged or not, they had to act ording to their orders.


    ¡°Receive your orders.¡± They kneeled on one knee again.


    ¡°Bring his head back to me right now.¡±


    They took two waist tokens made with white jade and engraved with the words ¡°Wang¡± from the maid, for use when traveling in the night, and left hurriedly. They noticed that other assassins in ck were waiting in the house next door and understood that killing Mister Guo was only part of Lady Meng¡¯s n.


    Mister Guo was staying at the West Castle and both Gu, and Maid Lotus had to return to the East Castle to get their sabers. Gu Shenwei managed to keep his wits about him amidst the cloud of heavy conspiracy around them. He had to have an escape n for both Maid Lotus and himself.


    ¡°You go get the weapons, after which meet me at the entrance to the main yard of the Eighth Young Master.¡±


    This was a peculiar night; no night sentry came to stop the youths sprinting about within the Fort.


    Even so, Gu Shenwei still kept carefully observing while he walked and after making sure that no one was tailing him, and leapt directly into the main yard of the Eighth Young Master without announcing himself. He stealthily walked to the backyard and knocked on the door of the middle bedroom.


    ¡°Who goes there?¡±


    After knocking a few times, a maid¡¯s voice rang out from within the room.


    ¡°There¡¯s an urgent message from the Eighth Young Master¡±, Gu Shenwei lied.


    As someone in the house started to strike a flint to light up thentern, Gu Shenwei hurriedly stopped the person, ¡°Please do not make any light.¡±


    The person stopped trying to light thentern, and after a while, Miss Luo Ningcha¡¯s voice came from the side of the door, ¡°I know it¡¯s you. The maid¡¯s ears are sealed. Now tell me what you have to say.¡±


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s calmness surprised Gu Shenwei. He said, ¡°Send someone to Madam Yang with a message to let Shangguan Hongye leave the Stone Castle immediately, and to hide outside its walls.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Madam Yang has done something foolish, somehow she wanted to conspire with Mister Guo to take down Lady Meng. His Lord had ever shown affections towards Madam Yang, and Shangguan Hongye could very likely be his illegitimate son. Now Lady Meng has begun to remove all that is deemed as a threat to her and if Shangguan Hongye does not leave he will surely be dead tomorrow morning.¡±


    Gu Shenwei hoped that Shangguan Hongye would survive not out of pity but because he wanted to have a backup n for himself. If Lady Meng should decide to sever all connections, he would have the ability to react.


    Only Lady Meng had acted too quickly, and he did not know if his n would still be able to work in time.

 Chapter 146

    Chapter 146: Chess piece


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    As Mister Guo was Lady Meng¡¯s first target, chaos had not yet broken out in the castle when Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus arrived to carry out their mission.


    Both of them had arrived at precisely the right moment. They had only been hiding for fifteen minutes when Mister Guo left his house hurriedly with four of his men. Like a wily fox, he had been alerted to the strange activity in the inner residence.


    However, just like any other person, Mister Guo had underestimated the abilities and determination of Lady Meng.


    Mister Guo was not worried about his own safety but of the safety of an important person, one who was to y a key role in his schemes.


    Upon seeing Mister Guo head in the direction of Shangguan Hongye¡¯s residence, Gu Shenwei could finally confirm his hunch.


    To the Shangguan family, this would be a fierce family fight. To the two young adults on their assassination mission, this would be a rare opportunity to practice their swordsmanship.


    Gu Shenwei decided to give Maid Lotus the chance to kill off Mister Guo and his four guards.


    Gu Shenwei had seen Mister Guo¡¯s skills before and his kung fu skills were as good as that of a first-ss killer.


    As Maid Lotus had yet to fully remove the influence of the Breaking Obsession , the only way to rekindle the strong killing desire within her was through a brutal massacre.


    Due to different interpretations of the Death Scripture , the weakening of Maid Lotus¡¯ killing desire had a great impact on her killing intent, which had originally been extremely potent.


    Gu Shenwei had no intention to help her. If Maid Lotus was unable to ovee this obstacle, she would not be able to survive in the fort, let alone to be ve Huan¡¯s assistant.


    At the crossroads, Maid Lotus raised her ¡°Huan¡± sword and began her attack.


    Her first move was hesitant. But even before the first guard had fallen, she delivered her second move, fluid and natural like running water. Gu Shenwei, who had hidden himself, apuded her silently.


    It was an enjoyment to watch the swordcraft of the Death Scripture . Those who used such swordcraft lived as if they were always in danger. Every move was desperate and every counterattack struck down an enemy. To those who did not understand such swordcraft, they would fear for the safety of the user, but to those who understood, it was truly a sight to behold.


    Only those with the desire to die and the will to kill had the courage to practice such swordcraft.


    The four guards were killed in an instant. Even though Mister Guo had been smart up till now, hisst moments saw himmit a mistake. ¡°I had served the Lord for over ten¡­¡±


    He only made it through half a sentence before he was struck down by Maid Lotus. What he had not understood was that it was precise because of his close friendship with the Supreme King that he was fated to die on this night.


    The process of alleviating the Breaking Obsession in Maid Lotus had gone much smoother than that of Gu Shenwei. Even as Gu Shenwei helped her to clear the mess, he could feel the remnant of some killing intent within her.


    Compared to Gu Shenwei, Maid Lotus was the more natural killer. Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help but think, ¡°She was already disying cold-blooded killer instincts when I first met her and at that time. She hadn¡¯t even held a real knife before.¡±


    Both of them took out their sabers and made extra cuts around each wound, in attempts to cover up the small and unique wounds. Then, they cut off Mister Guo¡¯s head and went into the inner residence.


    At that moment, the three o¡¯clock drumbeats sounded. In two hours, the early risers would discover corpses in many parts of the fort. Those who were older and wiser would turn a blind eye but the young who had never seen such a spectacle before would be shocked. Themotion would only die down when their elders had warned them and byte morning, all of the corpses would have disappeared.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus were the first toplete their mission and Lady Meng was very pleased with them. She left them in the hall as temporary Shadow Guards. One of them would hide up in the rafters while the other would hide in the shadows behind the pir.


    More and more people gathered in the Inner Residence.


    Shangguan Yushi arrived, bringing a knife and standing at Lady Meng¡¯s side as a personal guard.


    A senior maid who served as a scribe was hidden in the penthouse. A few cases, which were covered with papers,y in front of her. Two junior maids were in charge of serving her. Whenever Lady Meng gave her order, the scribe would write it down immediately before handing the paper to Lady Meng for checking. The paper would then be passed on to another maid to receive the stamp of the Lord¡¯s golden seal.


    This was how the assassination order of Mister Guo hade about. But without the Supreme King¡¯s acknowledgment of these missions, all involved parties would find it difficult to evade punishment. Yet, Lady Meng¡¯s increasingly reckless movements made Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus very uneasy.


    The Sixth Mistress of the Meng family stood in the doorway and led several women who were in charge of passing messages.


    Shangguan Ru had started helping her mother out much earlier than her brother, Shangguan Fei. She had even begun helping her mother make ns and distribute manpower, shuttling between the main hall and the penthouse to deliver the paper.


    As more and more people heard the news, more and more people gathered around the main hall. For those who had returned from their missions, Lady Meng didn¡¯t give them the next assignment, but bade them stay in the rooms located around the main hall. When the rooms ran out, those who returned from their missionster were made to stand in the courtyard. In clusters, they looked at one another silently. No one made a sound.


    ve Huan and Maid Lotus were not the only youth being exploited. In fact, some of the first batch of assassins hade from the Little g Battalion. They too, had shared the same fate as the twins.


    While guarding the main hall, Gu Shenwei gradually began to understand Lady Meng¡¯s entire n.


    Although Mister Guo had viewed Shangguan Hongye and his mother as pawns, he himself was also being controlled by others and was not worthy of Lady Meng¡¯s regard. This time, she wanted to eliminate the problem at its root. Her target was First Young Master, Shangguan Chui.


    The discord between Shangguan Chui and Lady Meng was deeply rooted in a long history.


    The status of Shangguan Chui had once been very stable, and everyone thought that he was the natural sessor. But things began to change after the Meng familydies entered the fort.


    Lady Meng knew Supreme King inside out and Shangguan Fa eded to all her requests without ever once denying her. When the twins were born, she became greatly favored. This gradually undermined the status of Shangguan Cui, who realized that even his own younger brothers, who once gave him the utmost respect, had betrayed him and had sided with the new wife.


    Just like any wealthy and capable heir, Shangguan Chui became jealous and anxious.


    Lady Meng gained the support of the Second, Sixth and Eighth Young Masters, who were all dissatisfied with their big brother. She made use of her unique authority in the Inner Residence to buy arge number of ves and handymen.


    In the end, Shangguan Chui had been defeated by several humble handymen.


    In order to eliminate his anxiety, he secretly resorted to witchcraft. Even though he thought his actions had gone undiscovered, an unsuspecting cleaner took notice.


    Despite having the knowledge for several years, Lady Meng made no move to act upon it. Instead, she forked outrge sums of money to the cleaner to gather more incriminating information.


    Of all the information she had gathered, this was merely one of the secrets. She was simply waiting for the right moment to act.


    However, it was the information provided by Maid Lotus that prompted Lady Meng to act in advance.


    Supreme King, Shangguan Fa believed in a long-standing superstition, that he would have ten sons ¡ª an auspicious sign. In order to make up for this number, he regarded his youngest daughter as a son. This was likely the reason why Shangguan Ru was favored.


    If the twins became Young Masters, Lady Meng would gain stature while the First Young Master would have less influence. At this critical juncture, Madam Yang, who was regarded as a humiliation in the Inner Residence, decided to make a desperate attempt to fight back.


    She had once had an affair with her husband¡¯s brother and bore him a child. This child was Shangguan Hongye. When her husband was alive, she kept the secret to herself but when her husband passed and Lady Meng be the head of the Inner Residence, she did not dare to disclose the secret. Hence, Shangguan Fa never knew that he had an illegitimate son.


    Madam Yang told First Young Master this secret, hoping that she could gain his support. She hoped that Shangguan Hongye¡¯s status could be acknowledged and that she could consequently live a better life.


    Shangguan Cui and Mister Guo quickly realized that this was a great opportunity. As Shangguan Hongye posed no real threat to First Young Master, grooming Shangguan Hongye in exchange for his allegiance would give Shangguan Fa his ¡°ten¡± sons while supnting Shangguan Ru. Thus, the power bnce would be restored.


    Upon hearing the Maid Lotus¡¯ information, Lady Meng understood the enemy¡¯s plot and knew she had to act decisively.


    There was just one thing that Gu Shenwei, and all others in the pce, did not understand. Where was Supreme King? Why was the Lord¡¯s seal in the hands of Lady Meng?


    At dawn, the important people who were in the fort woke to a shock and immediately went searching for their true masters. In the chaos, some rushed to First Young Master¡¯s residence and some went to the Inner Residence. In that split second, their fates were decided. Those who were loyal to Shangguan Cui, had decided to pay allegiance to Lady Meng. Those who had received money from Lady Meng before, were paying allegiance to Shangguan Chui.


    The guards stationed around the fort were of no help. Most killers had hidden themselves so as to remain neutral. Only a few of them started attacking and the youth from the Little g Battalion prevailed.


    It was advantageous for Lady Meng to keep her supporters by her side. In the first few hours of chaos, there was no clear winner. Any minor reason could lead to a major betrayal. Even at the seven-fold threat to their lives, and as more and more cases of assassination erupted, Lady Meng¡¯s supporters remained unswayed.


    The first of Lady Meng¡¯s ¡°supporters¡± were all female, but as more and more supporters joined, the majority became male. Heart Cleansing Yard¡¯s demaster, Shen Liang was the uncle of Eighth Young Master, Shangguan Nu. He, representing both himself and his nephew, came to support Lady Meng and became one of her closest allies.


    Heart Cleansing Yard was in charge of discipline in the Golden Roc Fort. It had the clearest understanding of the situation in the fort so as to could collect information more efficiently. In no time, it brought back good news: ¡°Lady Meng¡¯s preemptive strategy had won arge victory. First Young Master had incurred many casualties and deaths. Mister Guo¡¯s death had dealt a big blow to Shangguan Cui, who had panicked and gave contradictory orders, causing his men to lose faith in him. While Heart Cleansing Yard was doing reconnaissance, many people rushed to Inner Residence to bring about retribution for Lady Meng.¡±


    Lady Meng had not yet delivered her final offensive order and her family members were getting anxious given their public opposition of First Young Master. Were they not topletely defeat the enemy and Shangguan Chui was to regain his influence, he would surely take revenge on them.


    But Lady Meng still needed the support of one important person. Out of all the orders, this was the only mission that had not gone as she nned and she was extremely disappointed.


    At a quarter to six in the morning, the sky was bright. Most people in the fort were awake and had discovered the great turn of events that urred in one night. Most of them were ambivalent about which party to side with, but could not do so. They could only wait uneasily.


    Meanwhile, the ¡°pawn¡± that Lady Meng had been waiting for finally arrived.


    Several brown-belt assassins ran into the main hall of the Inner Residence carrying a man over his shoulder. The man was scared stiff and when the assassins released him, he fell to the ground, shivering.


    Gu Shenwei snuck a nce from behind the pir. He recognised the person. It was Shangguan Hongye.


    Supreme King¡¯s illegitimate son had not been able to escape.

 Chapter 147

    Chapter 147: Killing the Master


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Shangguan Hongye fell for the trap, but you couldn¡¯t me Miss Luo Ningcha for not trying her best to remedy the situation.


    She spared no effort to discourage Lady Meng. The moment ve Huan left, she immediately sent her maid to Shangguan Hongye¡¯s house to lead Shangguan Hongye and his mother to her own residence. At the same time, she ordered men to prepare gold and silver jewelry. Once Shangguan Hongye arrived, she would give him some money to flee the fort and make way to Bighead Kingpin.


    Shangguan Hongye knew nothing about Madam Yang¡¯s scheming plot. But as soon as he¡¯d heard that his life was in danger, his legs turned into jelly. Elderly Zhang had to help him onto his horse and escort him out of Stone Castle.


    Fortunately, Stone Castle¡¯s defenses failed that night, and Shangguan Hongye snuck out sessfully. However, he was still far too afraid, and he vacited between staying and leaving as he descended the mountain alone. When dawn came, he had not traveled very far at all.


    It was only when the brown-belt assassins arrived, their expressions stone-cold, that Shangguan Hongye realised that something was wrong. But it was toote to escape.


    Shangguan Hongye¡¯s defection made Gu Shenwei anxious. If Lady Meng discovered that it was ve Huan who had leaked the information, she would not spare him.


    But even before Lady Meng spoke a single word, Shangguan Hongye petitioned for mercy. He knew neither his real personal identity nor ve Huan¡¯s role in the whole matter. At the crucial moment, Luo Ningcha was tight-lipped. All was well.


    Lady Meng¡¯s way of dealing with Shangguan Hongye took everyone by surprise, especially Gu Shenwei. He had never looked down upon Lady Meng but it was now that he realised how he had underestimated this woman. Thebined efforts of the Supreme King and his sons might not even be enough to defeat her.


    Lady Meng did not kill Shangguan Hongye. Instead, she personally apanied him, just as she would her own son, took him by the hand and announced to everyone in the hall: ¡°This is the Lord¡¯s biological son who has been drifting purposelessly in the world. He would have almost fallen in into the hands of traitors, but now he is safe with me and I say, as long as I live, I won¡¯t allow anyone toy their hands on him. From now onwards, he¡¯ll be called Shangguan Hong.¡±


    The people in the hall had heard about the disharmony between Lady Meng and Young Master, as well as their illegitimate child, so they were not perplexed by Lady Meng¡¯s strange attitude. But being shrewd people, they all swarmed around her, congratting her on how the Lord had found his biological son, and praising the Lady¡¯s magnanimity.


    Shangguan Hong waspletely clueless about what had just happened to him. He felt likeughing, but couldn¡¯t muster a cough, only a dazed, dizzy sensation. All that came out of his mouth was a series of meaningless utterances- ¡°oh oh¡±.


    Lady Meng proffered a scroll from one of her sleeves, written on it was a long-prepared order from the Lord. Taking a red-scabbard saber from Shangguan Hong¡¯s hands, and brought both items to Shen Liang, the demaster of the Heart Cleansing Yard. ¡°Go, I want to start the two masters¡¯ saber awarding ceremony at noon, sharp.¡±


    This was thest killing order issued by Lady Meng. She carefully selected a few trusted confidantes to guard the twins, and followed Shen Liang to execute the mission together, bringing along ve Huan and Maid Lotus.


    Until then, observers had only begun to understand Lady Meng¡¯s intentions in raising up Supreme King¡¯s illegitimate son. Shangguan Chui and Mister Guo wanted to use Shangguan Hong to create a force of ten sons to oust Shangguan Ru. Lady Meng had deployed the same strategy against them, but now it was Young Master who would be ousted instead.


    Gu Shenwei had made an erroneous judgment at the start. Lady Meng had no intentions of killing Shangguan Hong at all. She wanted to wrest this unexpected ¡°Young Master¡± firmly within her control to strengthen her power. This was surely more advantageous than killing him.


    Gu Shenwei was wholly in awe of her n. He was relieved that Lady Meng had turned her animosity to Luo Ningcha, thus allowing him to escape.


    Yet, Lady Meng did not care about Luo Ningcha at all. She had only been jealous of Bighead Kingpin¡¯s influence upon the Supreme King. She did not want toplicate the issue of Shangguan Hong but past wounds between the wife and the mother-inw had begun to fester.


    Before leaving, Lady Meng pulled ve Huan aside and softly instructed: ¡°Let Ninth Young Master do the work.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was sure that Lady Meng¡¯s trust in him was due to his part in killing the master. Lady Meng hoped that ve Huan¡¯s cruelty could influence herparatively weak-willed son.


    demaster Shen Liang, with his contingent of forty assassins in ck, ten yellow-belted torturers, ten young killers, surrounded the twins and left the Inner Residence, heading for the main courtyard of the Young Master to perform their final task.


    Shangguan Chui had undergone harsh training to be a killer. However, in the midst of the crisis, he broke down, furiously brandishing his knife and dispatching his subordinates to secretly assassinate Lady Meng and her twins. Hence, when the execution squad arrived, Shangguan Chui had little more than ten over guards beside him and they too were distracted and confused.


    ¡°No one can kill me!¡± With a saber in his hand, Shangguan Chui pointed wildly at the sky and the earth, and his heavy eyebags growing deep red from the flush of blood. ¡°I¡¯m the eldest son of the Supreme King and apart from Father. No one can kill me!¡±


    Shen Yang sympathised with the Young Master¡¯s plight but despised how he had panicked in the face of danger. Raising his red-scabbard saber high in the air, he said: ¡°The Supreme King¡¯s Six-Kill Saber is right there, and by the order of the Lord, I will kill this unfilial child.¡±


    The guards around Shangguan Chui put down their sabers hesitantly. They were not killers and did not have to die with their master.


    Shangguan Chui raised his saber and lobbed off the head of the man nearest to him. The other guards to fled in fright. ¡°This is all fake! It¡¯s the plot of that wretched person, demaster Shen. Why don¡¯t you all catch her? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve fallen for the charms of that old woman?¡±


    Shangguan Ru stepped out, saying: ¡°Big Brother, don¡¯t forget, my mother is also your mother.¡±


    Shangguan Chui pointed at the twinsughing loudly, as if seeing the most entertaining characters. ¡°Looks like the Tenth Young Master truly carries the legacy of the Shangguan family. You certainly live up to your name. Come on then, kill me. Children of the Shangguan family are destined to murder each other. Didn¡¯t the Lord kill several of his brothers? Let me be the first in this generation. Come, when you kill me, my father will shower you with much more affection. Ha, but leave me my eyes. I want to see which of you will be killed after me.¡±


    Shangguan Chui still brandished his saber, not intending to be killed without a fight. Shen Liang motioned to the assassins in ck and two killers drew their des and stepped forward.


    Despite being in charge of the killers for over ten years, Shangguan Chui still hadn¡¯t a clue about their natures. Loosing a howl, he rushed forwards to attack,pletely missing the two other killers had already moved to stand behind him. They unsheathed their des and struck the Young Master¡¯s legs.


    Gu Shenwei had held on to his saber, waiting intently just for this very moment. He had prepared for a very long time and wanted to test how good his ¡°machete skill¡± truly was.


    Behind every Young Master was a ¡°green-masked¡± assassin who existed for the sole purpose of protecting his master. No matter if his master was dered an unfaithful son, a traitor, or a usurper of his own father, he would follow his master left and right, hiding in deserted ces, only to emerge, suddenly, out of nowhere.


    But in the eyes of Gu Shenwei, the ¡°green mask¡± was no longer a creature who appeared out of thin air. Instead, a bright, cold light momentary shed from among the guards, and the ¡°green mask¡± jumped out from behind the killers, beheading one with a single swing of his knife. Shangguan Chui did not even notice.


    Shen Liang had prepared for this. The remaining killers unsheathed their swords one by one. They nned to win by sheer strength of numbers.


    But they were too slow.


    The green-masked assassin had only killed one assassin. Before falling to the ground, his four limbs syed, and fist still clenched tightly around his saber.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus emerged at the same time, one stabbing his neck, the other, the heart.


    The swordsmanship of the Death Scriptures had always meanting in just a littlete. This little dy was barely perceptible and only the most skilled could discern this ¡ª how, within a single breath, so much could be aplished.


    The green-masked assassin¡¯s de slid down Gu Shenwei¡¯s neck, albeit ineffectually, and with two swords already plunged in his body, he died with his master.


    Gu Shenwei was a little shocked. He had actually killed green-mask together with Maid Lotus. Yet, he was acutely aware of the fact that his victory had been sheer luck. Had the green-mask not kept his eyes on the killer behind Shangguan Chui, it would have been difficult to predict whether it was he or green-face who would have died.


    His neck still bled profusely, and Shangguan Ru bandaged his wound expertly with a silken scarf.


    demaster Shen Liang gaped at the two youths before him. He of all people was cognizant of the unparalled skills of the green-masked assassin yet these two youths had managed to ambush the assassin sessfully! This was beyondprehension. From that day onwards, he made sure to keep an eye on ve Huan and Maid Lotus. However, at this very point in time, he was more concerned about Shangguan Chui¡¯s condition.


    Shangguan Chui¡¯s thigh was struck by a killer from behind and he stumbled forwards several steps before falling onto the ground. He turned his head and saw the green-masked assassin¡¯s corpse. The fight was over and he knew he had lost. ¡°Who¡¯se to kill me?¡± He asked.


    Suddenly, a miraculous calm descended upon the eldest son of Supreme King. Despite having fallen, his held his head high and was a picture of royalty, one that still retained all his pride.


    No one breathed a single word.


    Shen Liang pulled out his Six Kill Saber from its red scabbard. The saber was the red colour its scabbard. It looked like it had been pulled from a pool of blood.


    Shangguan Fei had learnt his lesson from his mother and from Shen Liang. He took the Six Kill Saber, and went up to his big brother.


    Shangguan Chui¡¯s gaze swept over his youngest brother, and looking at Shen Liang, he said: ¡°I have a wife, and two sons and a daughter.¡±


    ¡°They will live well.¡± Shen Liang said. This was the tradition of Golden Roc Fort, that the hatred of a generation would not pass on to the next. But in reality, for hundreds of years, revenge between brothers had yed on and on, and there was not a single incidence in which sons had not sought to avenge their fathers. The victor took great power, and while the vanquished still lived, he lost all means to resist.


    Shangguan Chui now looked at Shangguan Fei, a smile appearing on his face. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be fitting for me to be Supreme King if I hadn¡¯t sunk a de into the body of a brother. So you see, I¡¯m not worthy. Come, ninth brother, wash yourself with my blood, and just like that saber, you¡¯ll be able to win over the Lord¡¯s heart. Remember, be careful of women. If you muster the same cruelty as that which resides in their hearts, then do not provoke them. Ah, you might never know, the people that your mother was killed, the scores of people you¡¯ve never seen.¡±


    The knife in Shangguan Fei¡¯s hands trembled.


    Gu Shenwei had not seen this little master for a long time. He had grown taller and looked discernably different from his twin sister. His eyes had sunken in, and his face grew longer, looking like a proper child of the Shangguan family.


    Yet, his expressioncked the resolve and coldness of a killer.


    Gu Shenwei knew why Lady Meng wanted Shangguan Fei to kill his big brother with his own hands. Shangguan Ru was after all, still a daughter, and while she might assume the identity of Young Master, she would never be Supreme King. Only Shangguan Fei could inherit his father¡¯s position.


    And what Shangguan Chui had said was absolutely right. In every generation, Supreme Kings had appeared to have killed their own brothers, and even their own fathers. If Shangguan Fei truly wanted to get into his father¡¯s good books, he would have to ovee this ¡°test¡±.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s de pierced his big brother¡¯s chest but it only went in an inch. Fresh blood spurted out and he shook even more violently. His hands tried driving it in further but the de would not move.


    Shangguan Chui groaned, and opened his mouth as if to say something.


    Gu Shenwei, who has been standing beside Shangguan Fei, approached him. He grasped Shangguan Fei¡¯s hands and thrust the de in.


    And in this way, the eldest son of the Supreme King died.

 Chapter 148

    Chapter 148: The Master


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Shangguan Chui¡¯s death brought on a series of repercussions.


    Second Young Master Shangguan Tian was hurriedly called for by Stone Castle. He was asked to assist his father in the stead of the big brother. He was, after all, someone of Lady Meng¡¯s camp and his objective of returning home was to pay homage to the ¡°highly esteemed Mother¡±. He had also asked his wife to take home the message that he had absolutely no intentions of vying for the position of ¡°King¡±.


    The fourth, fifth and seventh Young Master, who were loyal to their big brother Shangguan Chui were highly anxious at this point in time. To alleviate their anxieties, Supreme King increased the subordinate killers and assassins assigned to protect his sons. They were sent separately to Nond and Shu-lik, the two main camps. He specially treated the kings of these two countries to ensure their safety.


    Other several Young Masters again expressed their sincerity towards Lady Meng, and even Eighth Young Mistress Luo Ningcha could not refrain from giving gifts of atonement to her mother-inw. She admitted that she was nosy and had misunderstood Lady Meng¡¯s good intentions. After the incident, in private, she summoned ve Huan and snapped at him.


    Gu Shenwei had to persuade Miss that Lady Meng was only using Shangguan Hong and his mother, and actually had no real feelings towards them. Madam Yang was aware of this and would thank Miss for her timely help. Since now she gained a higher position because of his son, she would still be useful to Miss.


    On the day of the ughter, the saber awarding ceremony of the twins went on as usual. Shangguan Ru followed his brother, stepping into the Six Kills Temple formally for the first time. They paid their respects to the ancestors.


    Even if Lady Meng won aplete victory, Shangguan Ru would fail to obtain the title of Young Master. Though the Barren Sect was extinguished, the war with New Moon Hall would still have to go on. Supreme King did not want to give the world any cause for gossip at this point in time.


    A total of 20 brown-belt assassins were awarded the red-belt, bing official assassins. With ve Huan who finished his apprenticeship earlier, there were a total of 21 people. One more person, however, was added to the original crew, and that was Maid Lotus. Just as Gu Shenwei predicted, Maid Lotus¡¯ efforts in the final moment were decisive and won Lady Meng¡¯s favor, earning a ce for herself as a killer.


    When the killers were assigned, Shangguan Ru customarily took the ten best assassins for herself, including ve Huan, Maid Lotus, Wildhorse, and Liuhua. Shangguan Fei was left with 11 killers, and she only had advantages by the number of the killers.


    After the saber-awarding ceremony of the twins, on the seventh day, Golden Roc Fort organized a reincarnation ritual. Almost every killer who remained in the fort witnessed the ceremony. For many young killers, this was the first time that they had seen the Lord in person.


    Supreme King had been missing in the grudge between his wife and son. This had aroused much gossip behind his back. Going public at this time squashed much of the gossips. However, no one knew how Lady Meng obtained the full support of the Lord, to the extent of gaining the Golden Roc seal and the Six Kill Saber.


    There were 11 killers under Shangguan Chui. One held the head, ten held his corpse, and they sent their master to the Reincarnation Cliff. Putting the corpse on a pre-arranged pile of wood, they formed a circle, kneeling on the ground. One flung a torch into the woodpile and it turned into a raging fire.


    ¡°The soul rises to the Ninth Heaven, and the spirit falls to the Ninth Abyss. The living suffer in grief, and the dead settle in peace.¡± The 11 killers chanted scriptures of the afterlife repeatedly.


    Around the Reincarnation Cliff, hundreds of killers, forming a huddled mass of ck, solemnly stood together chanting in low voices. Their voices enjoined with each other producing a sorrowfulment.


    The cremation of the corpse had been done. The vestiges of firewood, bone, and ashes were thrown off the cliff.


    11 killers unsheathed their sabers. They broke the des, and flung the broken des and scabbards away together. Then, other 11 killers walked to chop their heads off and threw them off the cliff. The ceremony ended.


    Gu Shenwei stood in the crowds, watching an expressionless Supreme King in the distance. He wished he could transform into a little bug and fly into the heart of the Lord to see what that man, the man who struck terror in the whole Western Region, was thinking about. Did he really kill his own brother for the sake of winning the title of king? Did he really not care about the death of his eldest son at all?


    Shangguan Hong, with his newly gained status, stood behind Shangguan Fa. He twitched uneasily. He was older than the twins by several years, but had to wait for some time before he could gain the title of ¡°Young Master¡±. Because of this, his heart was filled with trepidation for he had not the least confidence in his new position.


    Gu Shenwei thought that Shangguan Hong would not be the favorite son of the Supreme King. This could, however, save his life.


    The internal feud in the Shangguan family would soon be forgotten by everyone. And even for those who remembered, their memories would soon be forced into oblivion by time, everything would proceed as nned as if even a single drop of blood had not been shed in Stone Castle.


    On the day of the reincarnation ritual, Shangguan Ru summoned his own ten killers in Kun Yard for the first time.


    Apart from the title of ¡°Young Master¡±, this small organization was akin to that of Shangguan Fei. Shangguan Yushi was appointed as the military counselor. This title was selected by Shangguan Ru and did not exist in Stone Castle. Master Ru grasped his sword, standing beside the Tenth Young Master. She was d in masculine garments and wore a stone-cold expression. She would never go back to a life of being a woman and never would she get married.


    Killers were the core personnel around Young Master. But that was not all. Usually, more machetemen were summoned to Jade City so as to establish an outer organization. This task fell to ve Huan¡¯s hands and for this; he gained the sinecure post of the Manager of the Outer Hall. This was also a title that Shangguan Ru came up temporarily with.


    In fact, there were early signs. During the assassination of the Ten-Dragon gang, Gu Shenwei had been assigned the role of covering the bases for intelligence. He entered the city the most number of times and had learned the most from Tie Hanfeng. It was almost as if someone had already nned well a year ago.


    Gu Shenwei could not help but doubt Shangguan Yushi. His separation from the Tenth Young Master would be in line with her wishes.


    Actually, this too coincided with Gu Shenwei¡¯s intentions. The conflict between Shangguan Chui and Lady Meng made him understand that a person who was highly skilled in kung fu might not be the most powerful party. A woman who had not any skill at all could also win over the hearts of people in a masterstroke.


    Sooner orter, Gu Shenwei would break off openly with Golden Roc Fort. As he could not single-handedly confront the world¡¯srgest killer organization, he had to start establishing his own strength now.


    Of course, such a matter cannot be executed in public, but helping the Tenth Young Master build a team of machetemen was a great opportunity.


    Almost as if to test the abilities of ve Huan, Shangguan Yushi sent him into the city alone. Although there was someone to take the baton from him in the city, all responsibilitiesy on ve Huan alone.


    Gu Shenwei brought a de and a knife down the mountain with him. In his arms was the waist token of a killer.


    He first went to the South City to look for someone called Bigmouth Liu. After waiting for a day, someone finally brought the weapons that he had left at North City to the South City. The aura of the ¡°Manager of the Outer Hall¡± had yet to shine beyond Golden Roc Fort.


    Bigmouth Liu¡¯s mouth was anything but crooked. At 30 over years of age, he could be considered handsome. Only, his gaze looked somehow off; one eye was almost always closed, carrying an off-handed nonchnce.


    Bigmouth Liu was highly interested in the internal feud that has just died down in Stone Castle. He pursued this young master of the hall relentlessly, hoping to tease some information out of him. But he failed. And after which, he relentlessly exined the situation.


    Forming the organization of the machetemen required money. Machetemen killed for money so the more the money was, the better the machetemen. This was not a problem at all, since Gu Shenwei had collected a slip of note. He was able to collect 20,000 taels of silver in one of the betting arenas. This would be enough for a while. ording to Bigmouth Liu¡¯s estimation, the money would suffice for 50 to 100 machetemen.


    Second, there must be a vision. Machetemen from the South City were a lot, and one could get a macheteman from any muddy ditch. However, a good macheteman was not easily distinguishable from an ordinary one. Hence, whether the silver was spent worthily on one would depend on the recruiter¡¯s capabilities. On this point, Bigmouth Liu kept silent but a look of obvious suspicion appeared on his face.


    Indeed, Gu Shenwei was only a boy of 16 years. Nobody has heard of the things he had done in the Stone Fort. Even though the brown-belt assassin had raised a storm in the South City, it was almostpletely forgotten by now.


    Following such, there must be a house dedicated to raising machetemen. The house would notck in ountants, clerks, servants, and et cetera.


    Gu Shenwei remembered that Zhang Ji had once said these things were first managed by Young Master himself to hone his leadership abilities. Later, it became a formality and was passed to a subordinate.


    Hence, Gu Shenwei did not despise the tediousness of these matters. Spending three full days, he had Bigmouth Liu apanied to have withdrawn the taels of silvers to rent a house and look for servants. Soon, other misceneous matters other than the hiring of machetemen werepleted in advance.


    The house was located in the southwest of South City. It was not far from the Southwall Tavern and Pleasure Alley. It had three entrances, ten over rooms, and was situated in a rather hidden and easily defensible location.


    Bigmouth Liu naturally became the butler. This was a great opportunity that he had clinched. However, he would be happier if he could do things for the Ninth Master Shangguan Fei.


    Afterward, Gu Shenwei did not go hiring machetemen immediately. He had his private affairs to attend to first.


    On the fourth afternoon after entering the city, Gu Shenwei brought a knife and sword. On horseback, he went to the Pleasure Alley to visit the siblings of the Xu.


    Xu Xiaoyi looked awkward when he opened the door. Gu Shenwei did not say anything. He walked into the building and Xu Xiaoyi called her sister.


    Yu Yanwei was sleeping and was very unhappy to be awakened by her brother. Hearing that the ¡°Mr. Huan¡± hade, her mood soured further. And after dragging her feet for a long while, she walked out of the bedroom and stood upstairs. ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t this the master of my house? You must havee to collect money. But too bad, someone took them away. Don¡¯t me us. You weren¡¯t here, and we couldn¡¯t offend those people.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s face deepened with embarrassment. After muttering a long time, he said: ¡°It¡¯s Shopkeeper Lyu of the Southwall Tavern. Brother Huan, you know after Old Master Tie¡¯s death, his business has gone into Shopkeeper Lyu¡¯s hands.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s purpose ining here was to know more about whom Master Shifu¡¯s inheritance went to, and thus he nodded, saying, ¡°Follow me.¡±


    ¡°What for?¡± Xiaoyi asked, widening his eyes.


    ¡°To take back the money.¡±


    ¡°This, this¡­ I can¡¯t help.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s fist clenched around the hilt of his knife and Xu Xiaoyi immediately changed his mind. ¡°Yes, yes, we can¡¯t let Brother Huan go alone. You¡¯re now a killer and you must need a servant, right?¡±


    Upstairs, Xu Yanwei snorted, and said, ¡°If my younger brother so loses a piece of flesh¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei raised his head, and said ndly, ¡°No matter how many parts your brother is chopped into, I will bring every single piece of him back.¡±


    Xu Yanwei¡¯s face turned ashen pale, and she ran back into the room and never came out again.


    Xu Xiaoyi interjected. ¡°She¡¯s just that. Just like a prostitute, she pleases whoever¡¯s a real master. It won¡¯t end in violence, right? Shopkeeper Lyu¡¯s someone from Golden Roc Fort too. You¡¯re family.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not reply. He was thankful to Master Tiefeng. Theme man brought him to know the South City and its many ins and outs, and know many big or small Protectors. So he knew that the Lyu Shopkeeper was not someone from the Golden Roc Fort. He owned a tavern and a bank of money and paid money to Golden Roc Fort and the Meng n every month. It was purely for business.


    Gu Shenwei had to get money back for the Xu Shi siblings. This was his brothel now. Additionally, he would take back Tie Hanfeng¡¯s money, which was obtained by the master and the disciple together, and amounted to 100,000 taels. That was almost enough to form a small army.

 Chapter 149

    Chapter 149: Demanding money


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The Southwall Tavern was the most famous tavern in the South City of Daiyu. Manager Lyu Qiying had been overseeing the ce for many years. He used the profits earned from selling liquor tounch a money lending business. And after earning even more, he started to save money for others, and established his own underground bank.


    People who save money only believe in people who have more money. Shopkeeper Lyu was impable in this respect. The rare and precious wines in his taven were the best guarantee of this.


    Wealth begets power. Shopkeeper Lyu obtained the favor of both Golden Roc Fort and the Meng family. He kept scores of first-rate machetemen, many of whom were carefully selected by Cripple Tie before his death. Each of these men was excellent value for money.


    So, for many years, this was the first time, someone had brought a sword into the tavern.


    At the entrance, two fatsos, one tall and short, sought to disarm the intruder¡¯s weapons. However, with just a shake of the young man¡¯s de, the two gave up, and immediately ran to find the manager upstairs.


    To the watchmen, kung fu skills were not as important as the keenness of the eyes. The two fat men saw the killing intent and resolve in the young man¡¯s eyes. ¡°This person needs to be taken seriously,¡± they told Shopkeeper Lyu.


    Hence, for the moment, Shopkeeper Lyu put up with the young man¡¯s offensive behavior. He invited him to a table at the corner. Where there were no special guests, this was Shopkeeper Lyu¡¯s old seat, which was not far from where Tie Hanfeng usually sat.


    Shopkeeper Lyu looked up and saw Xu Xiaoyi standing behind ve Huan. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi wished that he was invisible, or that he could dive into the seams in the bricks. ¡°Hey hey, I¡­ err¡­¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s my servant. I think Tie Hanfeng should have told you.¡± Gu Shenwei spoke. His hand still didn¡¯t leave the hilt of his sword, and this made him look a little nervous.


    Shopkeeper Lyuughed coldly. So thisckey came to wrest the brothel away. ¡°Or let¡¯s say, I didn¡¯t have any impression at all. In the past, it used to be the cripple who put his money here. Now that he is dead, I will take it over from him.¡±


    ¡°From now on, I¡¯ll collect the money myself. The money handed down by the sister and brother of the Xu family must also be taken away.¡±


    Shopkeeper Lyu sized up the youngsters. After a while, he said: ¡°It¡¯s a total of 7,900 taels. You can take them away. We¡¯ll call it even after this.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s still the money Tie Hanfeng had saved here over the years, and the ten cartload of goods.¡±


    Shopkeeper Lyu blinked, finger rapping on the table¡¯s surface. ¡°You killed Cripple Tie?¡±


    The young man did not speak.


    ¡°So you¡¯re an official killer?¡±


    Gu Shenwei shed his killer waist token.


    Shopkeeper Lyu¡¯s eyes widened. This young man had actually be a killer in just a few days. He still remembered ve Huan staring at the red wine, Tie Hanfeng¡¯s cold expression when he introduced him, and could not however, link these memories with this aggressive teen standing before him.


    ¡°Under which master?¡±


    ¡°The Tenth Young Master.¡±


    ¡°Ha.¡± Shopkeeper Lyuughed uncontrobly. His heart calmed down. He thought that this kid was putting on a fake show. He probably killed his master while the master was drunk. Alternatively, it would not be a surprise if the cripple had died from an overdose of liquor.


    ¡°I still haven¡¯t seen the silver.¡± Gu Shenwei did not think it was funny, and pressed for the money.


    Shopkeeper Lyu inched his body forwards and tried to persuade the teen in a tone of earnestness. ¡°You can¡¯t start with such a big appetite. Hasn¡¯t Tie Hanfeng taught you this? You killed him in Stone Castle. This could mean that you could inherit all of the cripple¡¯s possessions. However, here, in South City, in the entire Western Region, the rules are different. You cannot simply take away the possessions of the person that you¡¯ve killed. The brothel is yours, but the rest aren¡¯t. Listen to my advice, kid. Killers aren¡¯t as powerful in Stone Castle as you think. You still have a long way to go.¡±


    An unsheathed sword. A swift downward stroke. A sheathing of the de.


    Shopkeeper Lyu knew a little kung fu. He wasn¡¯t skilled, but was not a simpleton either. Even so, he looked at the severed finger on the table and for a long while, he did not understand what had just happened.


    A terrible blood-curdling scream. Seven or eight machetemen jumped out at the same time, drawing their swords to attack the two teens.


    Xu Xiaoyi immediately kneeled on the ground, cradling his head. He did not see anything. He only heard the sounds of people falling down. There was no sh of weapons nor any screaming and shouting.


    Very soon, the surroundings resumed their peacefulness. Xu Xiaoyi rxed his hands and raised his head. Three machetemeny dead with wounds on their neck. The flowing blood was not even enough to feed ants, but they were dead for sure. Their dim eyes proved everything.


    Xu Xiaoyi was so shocked dumb that he forgot to stand up.


    The remaining machetemen stayed put. They worked for money, but they did not want to lose their lives.


    Shopkeeper Lyu clutched his missing stump, a face full of disbelief. Who did this kid actually have as a backer. He had actually dared to kill so brazenly and unscrupulously.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go find the Supreme King at Golden Roc Fort to judge the situation!¡± Shopkeeper Lyu was furious.


    ¡°I¡¯m doing things ording to the rules of Stone Castle.¡± Gu Shenwei reminded the other that ording to the tradition of Golden Roc Fort, he had the right to inherit everything from Master Shifu.


    With a finger bleeding still, Shopkeeper Lyu¡¯s body trembled uncontrobly. But he quickly calmed down and sat down on his chair. An agile counterjumper came over to bandage his wound.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk calmly about it.¡± Shopkeeper Lyu said, with his usual cid expression, as though he had everything under control. However, his face was still slightly pale. He had underestimated this teen. It was a major mistake and he had to make up for it as soon as possible.


    Hence, the two ¡°talked¡±. Counterjumpers delivered Tie Hanfeng¡¯s preserved receipt. Cripple Tie had no precious jewelry but only silver taels, and there was a total of 316,000 taels.


    ¡°Want to change it to your name?¡±


    ¡°No need for that. As long as you know that Tie Hanfeng¡¯s things are mine.¡±


    Shopkeeper Lyu¡¯s heart ached. With this 316,000 taels, he could make so much profit. Then the young boy surprised him again.


    ¡°The silver will be kept here.¡±


    In the blink of an eye, this teen was no longer a ¡°robber¡±, but had be a big patron. Shopkeeper Lyu immediately stood upright, nodded his head slightly and told him customarily, as he did to all of his customers. ¡°You can keep the silver here. You may be rest assured. However, I have to inform you in advance that I don¡¯t ept people collecting on behalf of customers or memos of consent. I only recognise this face before me. So if you happen to ruin your face identally, it¡¯s best toe let me see immediately.¡±


    And like that the matter was settled. Gu Shenwei took half of the near eight thousand taels collected by the siblings from the Xu family. The other half was given to the injured Shopkeeper Lyu and the three machetemen, that is, if these three had rtives to collect the money.


    In return, Shopkeeper Lyu provided a message free of charge: Tie Hanfeng had purchased a house in the North City.


    The teens left. Among the scores of customers in the tavern, their heads buried in alcohol, this story would soon be spread throughout the South City. This proved to be the biggest headache for Shopkeeper Lyu. He only had to look at his missing finger, and the corpse on the ground, and the anger in his heart became difficult to contain.


    This matter won¡¯t rest so easily. If the youth had thought that money could erase the shame he had suffered, that would be a huge mistake.


    Gu Shenwei did not have such illusions. He needed to act quickly. The search for the target documents in the Document Library had ended in failure. This caused a setback to the n of revenge he had crafted in the Fort. He needed to take the initiative to do something to satisfy the agitation in his heart.


    Hatred is a messy woodpile and with enough umted, there could be a ze engulfing the entire of South City and spreading to Stone Castle. Gu Shenwei hoped that this fire could be as big as possible. It didn¡¯t matter if it burnt himself. After all, he would cling on tightly to Shangguan Ru, making the Supreme King¡¯s most favored daughter burn with him.


    The two teens returned to Pleasure Alley. Counterjumpers from the South City¡¯s tavern delivered the 4,000 pieces of silver.


    Along the way, Xu Xiaoyi kept looking up at Brother Huan. Standing in front of a pile of money, his mouth hung open. Even though this money was earned by his sister, it was taken away again and again and he had not the chance to see it stocked together in a pile. After a long while did he manage to call his sister in a hoarse voice.


    Xu Yanwei was upstairs busy with the business and hearing shouting from below, put on some clothes and walked out of the room. She looked unhappy. But then, she was stunned.


    A customer shouted harshly from inside: ¡°Who is it? Make him go away.¡±


    ¡°Someone sent money.¡± Xu Yanwei did not turn her head. Her voice shook slightly.


    The guest walked out half-naked, his whitish body fluttering out with pomp. ¡°Do you leave things half-done? How much is it? I¡¯ll add¡­¡±


    The fat guest looked down the pile of silver downstairs. He creased his eyebrows. Just several thousand taels. Not too much, but it¡¯s too much to spend on a prostitute.


    The guest turned back into the house. He dressed quickly, walked down the stairs and left without a word.


    The siblings stood side by side, staring at the silver. They did not speak for a long time. The guest¡¯s departure wentpletely unnoticed.


    Xu Xiaoyi raised his head. He understood that no matter how good the silver looked, it still belonged to Mr. Huan.


    This is the money for you both. In the end, Mr. Huan actually said something like this. The siblings raised their heads, bewildered and shocked. They look like two kids who, upon seeing a distant and kind rtive, did not know whether to be thankful or vignt.


    Xu Yanwei¡¯s mind turned faster than her brothers. In a quivering voice, she said: ¡°Let¡¯s go upstairs to talk?¡± Probably because she saw that the expressions in both younger brother and Mr. Huan¡¯s eyes were not quite right. She quickly added: ¡°You¡¯re the real master. This is your prerogative.¡±


    Xu Yanwei walked slowly up the stairs. After thinking for a while, Gu Shenwei followed. The Pot-bellied Buddha did this, Tie Hanfeng too. This was probably a time-tested rule.


    Xu Xiaoyi watched the two go upstairs. A smile appeared on his face. He then looked intently at the neatly packed piles of silver. He spread his arms, and jumped onto the silver. There could not be any woman in the world who would feel morefortable to the touch than these cold hard silvers.


    Gu Shenwei trailed a few steps behind Xu Yanwei. When he reached the bed chamber, Xu Yanwei had strippedpletely on the bed, an elbow propping herself up, and the other arm stretching out in front of her. Her cheeks blushed coyly. It was as if the teen could devour her with his eyes.


    This was a performance that Xu Yanwei was best at, Gu Shenwei thought. He unbuckled his weapons and threw them onto the ground.

 Chapter 150

    Chapter 150: The Pact


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    With the sword and the scabbard thrown onto the ground, Gu Shenwei was holding on to his saber. His look was cold. It was as though the person lying on the bed was a human-figured target.


    Although Xu Yanwei had seen all kinds of clients before, a chill still ran down her spine. Her body curled up like a baby. She begged fearfully, ¡°Please have mercy.¡±.


    He walked to the front of the bed. He used his saber to lift the quilt that was covering Xu Yanwei. He could use blood to control Shopkeeper Lyu and bribe Xu Xiaoyi with money. Towards these fickle-mindeddies, he had to use different approaches. Sometimes, he even wanted to kill her.


    The only person Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t dare to attack was Pot-bellied Buddha. Every time he thought of what that fat ugly man had done to his daughter, he felt extremely disgusted. In his opinion, even though this woman was sometimes filthier than a beggar crawling in the gutter, this filth stirred up hisst bit of sympathy for her.


    Gu Shenwei could notprehend his emotions, but he did not want to inquire further. He only knew one thing. If he was unable to make Xu Yanwei surrender now, he would have to kill her.


    His sympathy for her stopped here.


    Xu Yanwei finally understood his gaze. Instead of the usual feelings of cruelty, abreaction, and desire, it disyed the strong will of a killer.


    ¡°Next time, you will earn enough money to escape from Jade City.¡±


    Xu Yanwei looked at the knife in Gu Shenwei¡¯s hand and suddenly became shy for no particr reason. She nodded while pulling the quilt up unknowingly.


    ¡°However, you have to return your life, which you owed, back to me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had rescued the siblings twice before, but Xu Yanwei was unaware of this. To her, she never owed anyone anything. She would only obey and be controlled by her master. Hence, she nodded again.


    ¡°You have to work for me for three years. Then you and your brother will be free.¡±


    This was an offer from a killer. Xu Yanwei nodded again. As she was good at acting, sometimes she couldn¡¯t even tell which roles were real. This time she was ying a new role, which was a businesswoman who didn¡¯t know the value of her goods.


    She liked this role. All this while, she was being passed around like a wine jug. She never had a chance to make a deal.


    ¡°Speak up.¡±, Gu Shenwei ordered as he was slightly dissatisfied with Xu Yanwei¡¯s constant nodding.


    ¡°For three years, Xiaoyi and I will work for you. We¡¯ll do anything.¡±, she said with an emphasis on thest sentence.


    There was a table, which was filled with the mess left behind by the previous customers, in the bedroom. Gu Shenwei poured away the wine in a ss and refilled it. He made a cut on his left wrist using his saber and dripped his blood into the ss. He turned and looked at her, who was on the bed.


    Xu Yanwei dressed as quickly as she undressed. While she was getting off the bed, she draped her clothes over her. By the time she was off, she was neatly dressed. No one could do better than her in such a scenario.


    ¡°Give me your hand.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it myself.¡±


    Xu Yanwei was filled with excitement and deeply fascinated by this strange yet mannish pact. She devoted herself wholeheartedly. She picked up the sword on the carpet and drew the sword out. She was shocked by the light, which was reflected off the sword. She brought the sword to the side of the table with both hands, as though she was holding a holy object.


    By gently cutting herself, blood was oozing out from her smooth skin, as though it was a piece ofpressed cotton. It was simr to a small blooming flower, whereby it bloomed and withered in a sh. Blood trickled down the delicate wrist.


    Xu Yanwei turned her body after cutting herself. She felt giddy. She threw the sword away and grabbed onto the table. She stared at the blood fuse in the wine and smiled. She lifted the cup, drank a big mouthful and licked off the blood stain on her wrist.


    Gu Shenwei took the ss and drank the remaining half.


    His judgment was right. The seemingly delicate Xu Yanwei had a strong heart, which was stronger than most men.


    Xu Yanwei called for her younger brother so that they could listen to the new master¡¯s orders.


    Xu Xiaoyi locked the door. He could then leave his money reluctantly and headed upstairs.


    The look of Mr. Huan surprised him. As he was familiar with all sorts of appearances that a satisfied client would have, he did not expect such a cold expression. His sister seemed weird as well. Her eyes were beaming as though she wanted to share a big secret.


    Gu Shenwei repeated the deal to Xu Xiaoyi, as he didn¡¯t want to make Xu Xiaoyi perform the blood oath. Gu Shenwei began to make specific requests. He chose them to work for him after thoughtful considerations.


    ¡°Help me collect all the information rted to the Stone Castle. I want to know all kinds of information, be it what kind of drinks the customers like or whose toes are shorter. I want to know all of this information, regardless how trivial or uncanny.¡±


    The Xu siblings were born and grew up in the South City. They knew the ce inside out, hence they were the best people to help Gu Shenwei collect information.


    However, after listening to Mr. Huan¡¯s words, both of them became afraid and started finding excuses.


    ¡°Ah, I understand now. Stone Castle wanted to catch the spies so they wanted to hear what everyone is talking about. They would kill anyone who spoke ill about them.¡±, Xu Xiaoyi said while making a killer pose.


    ¡°You wanted to rise up the ranks. You wanted to know what kind of things your superiors like so that you could cater to their tastes.¡±, Xu Yanwei guessed. Her guess was more urate.


    ¡°Almost there. However, I don¡¯t want both of you to ¡°ask¡± around. Just listen to them. You, make the customers talk more. You, go to the streets, taverns, batting arenas and listen to their conversations. As a reward, both of you don¡¯t have to pay every month.¡±


    The two siblings nodded solemnly. Xu Yanwei earned thousands of taels monthly. She would be able to earn more if she worked harder. In terms of mary value, Mr. Huan¡¯s task was rtively easier.


    Having money and spies, Gu Shenwei had to create his own escape ns. Next morning, he brought Xu Xiaoyi to the North City, to visit themandant, Zhong Heng. Both of them had met several times before.


    Zhong Heng had a deep impression of Gu Shenwei. He personally greeted them and treated them well as though they were very important people.


    Themandant had heard about how ve Huan killed his mentor. However, he didn¡¯t bring this matter up. He just congratted Gu Shenwei on his promotion on bing a killer.


    Tie Hanfeng bought a house in the North City. Zhong Heng sent his men to inquire from the relevant ministries and received the confirmation in no time. With Zhong Heng¡¯s enthusiastic assistance, Gu Shenwei was able to obtain the house deed and entered the house that was ¡°left¡± behind by Master Shifu by this afternoon.


    Even though the name on the deed was ¡°Xu Yi¡±, which was Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s full name, he could only stare at it as he knew who was the real owner.


    The house was small and had only one door. However, the location was good as it was situated near the North City checkpoint, towards South City. Tie Hanfeng originally intended to go to Southwall Tavern to kill time.


    Gu Shenwei invited Zhong Heng to drink at South City. That night, the Commandant and his two followers were drunk and Zhong Heng had to stay overnight at Xu Yanwei¡¯s inn. When they left the next morning, they left behind a five thousand taels banknote. Gu Shenwei withdrew this amount of money from Shopkeeper Lyu, over at the Southwall Tavern. This banknote could be redeemed at any banks in the North and South City.


    Gu Shenwei was busy with his own affairs for several days. On the other side, Bigmouth Liu was in a hurry. He personally visited the ¡°master¡±. While stammering, he reminded the young superior that everything was ready, except the most important aspect. They hadn¡¯t hired any machetemen.


    Gu Shenwei was in no hurry and rested for a day. On the seventh day after he left the mountains, he brought Bigmouth Lin to the Rogue Forest.


    Rogue Forest had a red glow during winter, and that was the reason behind its name. During winter, the trees were slightly bleak, but the crowd didn¡¯t subside.


    The Rogue Forest was located in a valley in the east of the city. There was a river cutting through it and there were tall canopies. However, the visitors could not see the Stone Castle thaty above.


    There was where the jobless machetemen gathered. If one wanted to hire these machetemen, one would have to bring enough money and give a shoutout. If one wanted to find a good assistant, one would have to be discerning.


    It was in the Rogue Forest where Gu Shenwei first heard of the Horned Dragon Society.


    There was a Machete God Contest in the forest and the organizers were the Horned Dragon Society, who had just gained poprity in Jade City.


    Horned Dragon Society was established by a group of people from the rich and noble families in North City. It would mean that many of them were descendants of the royal family.


    The biggest feature of Horned Dragon Society was that it was wealthy. After establishing for a short amount of time, it organized the Machete God Contest. It wanted to select the best macheteman in Jade City and the prize was ten thousand taels. The winner could get to work for Horned Dragon Society and could receive arge amount of remuneration. Those, who excelled in machete skills could also join the society and was given mary rewards.


    Even in their prime, many machetemen were unable to earn as much as ten thousand taels. Even though most of the leaves of Rogue Forest had fallen, more people had gathered at the forest.


    In the Central in of the forest, there were numerous open spaces that were connected by trails. All of them became sparring grounds. There were arge number of spectators, even those who didn¡¯t know kung fu came to spectate as well.


    It was surprising that Gu Shenwei had not heard of such big event in advance. He was disappointed with Bigmouth Liu.


    Bigmouth Liu didn¡¯t notice the dissatisfaction of his young superior, and said, ¡°Wow. All the machetemen in the city were crazy over the money. This is a good thing. We can select some good yet unselected machetemen after Horned Dragon Society are done with their selection.¡±.


    ¡°Tenth Young Master only wants the best macheteman.¡±


    ¡°Stop joking. The winner can get ten thousand taels. We only have twenty thousand. We can only hire two machetemen.¡±


    ¡°Heh¡±, Gu Shenwei sneered. He didn¡¯t argue with Bigmouth Liu. Just like the masters of the Horned Dragon Society, Bigmouth Liu knew nothing about machete skills. The winner of thepetition might not be the best macheteman.


    Two years ago, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t understand this rationale as well. However, the experience at East Castle had allowed him to understand this logic. Out of six hundred odd good students of the Carvewood Academy, few could survive the massacre. Contests and assassination were twopletely different things.


    While Bigmouth Liu was engrossed in the sparring, Gu Shenwei was more concerned about the machetemen who were scattered in the forest. They were disinterested in the contest and the best macheteman might be within them.


    Gu Shenwei went around and finally spotted one macheteman. He was in his forties and had small yet bright and piercing eyes. He seemed slightly exhausted and was probably at the end of his prime. However, Gu Shenwei noticed that several machetemen would whisper to him before entering the contest.


    Gu Shenwei pulled Bigmouth Liu out of the crowd and asked him whether he recognized the macheteman.


    ¡°Boss Tuo is a great helper, but you can¡¯t hire him.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°He used to be¡­ under¡­ someone. He lost his job not long ago.¡±


    Gu Shenwei immediately realized that ¡°he¡± was referring to First Young Master Shangguan Chui.


    (Seeking for collection and rmendation)

 Chapter 151

    Chapter 151: Machete of Blood


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Unlike killers, machetemen were employed to perform tasks for their master, thus, they had to be loyal to their master. Because of this, while killers had tomit suicide when their master was killed, however, machetemen could be relieved of their obligations and look for another master.


    Tuo Nengya was a barbarian. His machete skills werergely different from those who came from the Central ins and he often fought with two scimitars. He came to Jade City when he was in his twenties and he was famous in his early years. It was rumored that Golden Roc Fort had wanted to ept him as an official killer, but he declined the offer because he wanted to enjoy more freedom as a macheteman.


    In thest few years, he had been serving under Shangguan Chui as the leader of the group of machetemen. Many called him Boss Tuo.


    After hearing this information from Bigmouth Liu, Gu Shenwei did not make a decision immediately. Instead, he went around to observe again and heard many rumors about the Horned Dragon Society.


    As Horned Dragon Society was established by the children of many wealthy families in North City, Gu Shenwei immediately thought of Fifth Young Master Meng. Fifth Young Master Meng should have been involved in this matter, but there was little information about the founders of the society. Hence, no one knew who was part of this society. Even for the Machete God Contest, it was organized by several protectors from South City and Horned Dragon Society only offered mary support.


    Gu Shenwei did not heed Bigmouth Liu¡¯s advice and went up to Tuo Nengya.


    As soon as he was standing in front of Tuo Nengya, Gu Shenwei could feel many eyes were staring at him. Those machetemen were scattered everywhere and were leaning against trees, as though they were unfamiliar with one another. However, once someone entered their territories, they would immediately grab hold of the hilt of their weapons.


    ¡°I recognize you,¡± Tuo Nengya spoke. His voice was slow yet powerful as though his words had some magical power which could materialize into reality.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°Killer Yang Huan. I heard that you were involved in thest stabbing of First Young Master.¡±


    ¡°You want to take revenge.¡±


    Tuo Nengya shook his head. His movements were slow as well. ¡°If I am able to find First Young Master, I hope he can give the sry for thest few months to me and these brothers.¡±, he said while raising his hand to point at the nearby machetemen.


    ¡°When the master dies, the debt will no longer exist. However, there is a new job. I wonder whether you¡¯re interested in it.¡±


    Tuo Nengya was obviously interested. Initially, he was leaning against the tree, but now, he stood up straight. He grabbed on to the hilts of his scimitars while judging the youth standing in front of him. He asked, ¡°Do you fight with a sword?¡±


    ¡°The sword is a souvenir. I fight with a de,¡± Gu Shenwei answered. As swordcraft was a secret shared only between him and Maid Lotus, both of them did not n to let anyone else know.


    Tuo Nengya lost his interest. He let go of his grip and crossed his arms. While using his chin to point at the nearby open space, he said, ¡°Go there. There will be many people who will be interested in the job.¡±


    ¡°I want a genuine macheteman.¡±


    ¡°A genuine macheteman not only considers the rewards, but also considers the ability of their master. No one will want to risk their lives due to their master¡¯s poormand.¡±


    ¡°The new master will also join in the fight.¡±


    ¡°That will have to depend on the machete skills of the new master.¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned and looked at the sparring arena. The onlookers were cheering, which probably meaned that someone managed to pull off a stunning victory. Gu Shenwei asked, ¡°Would you care for a match?¡±


    Tuo Nengya raised his chest high, and then ttened his chest like a wind box. He said, ¡°At night. Come after 9 pm. Young people y around during daytime. Old people will only fight at night.¡±


    As Gu Shenwei left, the cheers around several sparring arenas became louder. In several days¡¯ time, the victor would be announced and those who won today¡¯s match stood a chance to win that lucrative job.


    Gu Shenwei sent Bigmouth Liu back to the city. Gu Shenwei then ate at a stall, which was situated outside of the Rogue Forest, as he waited for nightfall.


    Bigmouth Liu was slightly dissatisfied with his young superior as Yang Huan rarely asked for his opinion even though he was more familiar with the situation in South City. Luckily, in a few days¡¯ time, Tenth Young Master would visit the city from the mountains. He would rather please Tenth Young Master rather than this so-called master.


    In the evening, today¡¯s Machete God Contest came to an end. Most of the machetemen left. Hundreds of machetemen stayed behind and were wandering around in the forest.


    Around 9 pm, a bonfire was lit at the open space, which was situated at the deepest part of the forest. Everyone gathered around and formed a circle around it to keep warm.


    An old man, who was in his fifties, went up empty-handed. There was a scattered round of apuse. He asked, ¡°Does anyone here wants to be the Machete God?¡±


    The crowdughed as they were not interested in the title of ¡°Machete God¡±. Someone in crowd shouted, ¡°I want to be Machete of Blood God!¡±. Theughter became louder.


    Tuo Nengya came to the young man and said, ¡°Machete of Blood Contest will ur every night as long as it is not raining. Participants will fight with real weapons and this contest has had a long history, which is simr to that of Jade City.¡±.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t heard of it,¡± Gu Shenwei said. Gu Shenwei became interested. Even though Tie Hanfeng had mentioned Rouge Forest before his death, he did not talk about the Machete of Blood Contest. As he would pick machetemen from among his acquaintances, he did note to such ces.


    ¡°This is a game between the machetemen. Few masters will participate.¡±


    Gu Shenwei understood what Boss Tuo meant. He held onto the handle of his de and asked, ¡°Why don¡¯t you participate in the Machete God Contest?¡±


    ¡°As I said before, genuine machetemen will consider the ability of their master. Since we don¡¯t know who is the head of Horned Dragon Society, we won¡¯t want to risk our lives for that ten thousand silver taels.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was ustomed to the thinking of a Golden Roc killer, so he could not understand the intention of this group of machetemen. In his opinion, he would rather work for the ten thousand silver taels than fight secretly at night.


    Two machetemen went up.


    ¡°Each person pays a hundred silver taels. The loser loses all, the winner takes a hundred and eighty and the organiser takes ten percent of the pot.¡±, Tuo Nengya exined.


    Gu Shenwei took out a small amount of gold. Tuo Nengya took the gold and passed it to a macheteman. The gold was passed around. As Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know who received his gold, he was unable to find out who was the organiser of this contest.


    After three rounds, one died and two were injured. Gu Shenwei felt that one of the machetemen had decent skills, who was slightly better than those machetemen who were sparring during daytime. However, the macheteman was still considered to be mediocre, since he felt that sparring could not prove anything. He wanted a macheteman that can kill people, instead of a person who liked to show off.


    ¡°Next pair!¡± eximed the old man on the court. ¡°It¡¯s your turn,¡± Tuo Nengya spoke gently to the young man.


    Gu Shenwei went forward. Since most machetemen at the gathering were middle-aged, Gu Shenwei was one of the only few young people around. Someone in the crowdughed, ¡°Who is the one that is so lucky?¡±


    The ¡°lucky¡± person was a tall, strong macheteman who had bushy beard. He resembled Bighead Kingpin, but was smaller in size. He was holding on a big special machete. As the machete was heavy, he dragged it on the ground and it created a deep mark.


    Someone shouted the macheteman¡¯s name and Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t bother to listen. Gu Shenwei pulled out his de, while waiting for the opponent toe closer.


    The bearded man shouted, raised his machete and rushed towards his skinny opponent. It would be an easy victory for Gu Shenwei.


    Gu Shenwei had learnt a few machete skills, but heplied with Golden Roc Fort killer¡¯s motto, which was not to underestimate his opponent and to defeat the enemy in one blow.


    The big machete slid past the young man¡¯s shoulder. For a moment, it seemed like the young man was hit. The machetended heavily on the ground. The bearded man lost his bnce, took a few steps forward andnded directly on top of the bonfire. He almost extinguished the fire. In a short while, his beard was burning.


    Several people went up and pulled the man out from the fire. Needless to say, the man was burnt. He was already dead before he fell.


    Not many could clearly see how the young man attacked. He was like a monster that came out during nighttime, which killed people using evil secrets rather than machete skills.


    The bonfire was reignited. Hundreds of spectators were speechless until the old man gave the young man a hundred and eighty silver taels. The old man then shouted, ¡°Next pair¡±. Then, the spectators started to talk among themselves.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly became the center of attention and everyone was asking about this mysterious young man.


    In the next few rounds, the fight became a showcase of machete skills. Everyone was trying to their best so to leave the young employer a good impression. However, most of the machetemen who went up to fight had died.


    The Machete of Blood Contest ended at 11 pm. Tuo Nengya asked the young man to stay behind. This time, Gu Shenwei requested, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you fight.¡±


    There were twenty odd people following Tuo Nengya and Tuo Nengya spoke on behalf of them all. ¡°We can participate and kill people, but that is not our strength nor is that the reason why you should hire us.¡±


    ¡°We?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m not alone. There¡¯re a total of 23 people. Either you employ all of us or not a single one.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know whether other machetemen would behave in such a way, where they would make bold requests to their potential employers before the deal was concluded.


    ¡°What are your strengths?¡±


    Tuo Nengya pulled out a machete and issued amand with a loud voice. His tone was not slow, as though he was an enthusiastic general. Hemanded, ¡°Gather. Charge forward. Turn left. Defend. Attack. ¡­ ¡°.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s father was a court guard, hence he knew little about battle formation. When he was young, he was curious so he entered the training grounds with his like-minded friends to watch the troops train. Hence, he could somewhat understand the various formations. Tuo Nengya and his group of machetemen were rather disciplined and possessed a certain aura. However, there were too few people, hence the effect was rather insignificant.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand¡­¡±


    ¡°We are not good at fighting solo, but we can beat twenty people with ten machetemen and fifty people with twenty machetemen. Allow me to pick a few more machetemen until we have fifty machetemen. We will be invincible in South City by then. Other than Golden Roc Fort, we are unrivaled.¡±


    This style waspletely different than that of a killer. As Gu Shenwei was skeptical, he asked, ¡°Did First Young Master employ all of you because of your formations?¡±


    There was a change in the Tuo Nengya¡¯s expression as though the young man had just asked a very rude question. But in the next instant, his expression returned to normal as he replied, ¡°No. He was uninterested in our battle formations. I owed him a favor.¡±


    This was exactly what Gu Shenwei was worried about. However, he wanted to make use of this sentiment, because he wanted to employ machetemen who were dissatisfied with Golden Roc Fort. The most important part was how to control them without telling them the truth.


    ¡°How much are you willing to sacrifice for this favor?¡±


    ¡°He is dead, so the favor is gone. We are machetemen, not patriots nor chevaliers.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± Gu Shenwei said while extending his hands as he nned to employ this group of machetemen. They had a lot of details to discuss about, such as the most important aspect, the sry.


    ¡°Hey, does anyone want to make a lot of money? Come over here. Take the money before you work!¡±


    Many disruptors came over as though the arrangement was pre-nned. Fifth Young Master Meng led a group of followers and machetemen and came over. Some were carrying heavy boxes. They ced the boxes down and opened it. Under the light of the bonfire, boxes of silver glittered with a warm light as though it could bringfort to people and soothe them from the harsh coldness of winter.

 Chapter 152

    Chapter 152: The Quarrel Over the Machetemen


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    On the surface, Gu Shenwei had made peace with Meng Mingshi by offering a drink to him, while in fact, their hatred for each other had increased.


    Gu Shenwei came forward to pay his respects and Fifth Young Master Meng seemed to know that he was also here to hire machetemen. Fifth Young Master Meng feigned surprise and said, ¡°Oh, this is so coincidental. Isn¡¯t this ve Huan? Are you running errands for the Tenth Young Master? This young chap really doesn¡¯t know how to take care of his men, running errands in the middle of the night¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt certain that Meng Mingshi¡¯sing ¡°in the middle of the night¡± to hire machetemen was definitely not coincidental. He said, ¡°These men have already decided to work for me.¡±


    ¡°Has the payment been agreed upon? Has the contract been signed?¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head.


    Meng Mingshi nodded empathetically. He hade prepared, therefore he was able to keep his emotions and attitude under control. He hugged ve Huan across the shoulders and walked him over to a less crowded ce. ¡°Give me some face and let me hire these men, there are many machetemen for hire, why don¡¯t you keep looking? Let¡¯s not keep arguing and let these poor fools be happy. If you need money, feel free to let me know. I don¡¯t want to promise too much but I¡¯m still able to fork out a few thousand taels, um, say 20 thousand taels?¡±


    Twenty thousand taels were exactly the amount of money Gu Shenwei took from the Golden Roc Fort. ¡°Say, Fifth Master aren¡¯t you looking for the Machete God? Why are you taking an interest in these guys?¡±


    Meng Mingshi patted the shoulder of ve Huan and said, ¡°The Machete God is meant to maintain a stable society while these men are hired to grind, it¡¯s different. Hey, are you looking to join the Horned Dragon Society? I can introduce you into it. If the Tenth Young Master or Master Yu are interested, we would wee them as well. There¡¯s no greater thing than having people from the Stone Castle to join.¡±


    The hypocrisy of Fifth Young Master Meng made Gu Shenwei vignt. The Meng family had close rtions with the Golden Roc Fort and if the Horned Dragon Society was looking to induct the Tenth Young Master, it was not the ce of an ordinary killer to bring the matter up to him. ¡°Fifth Master is too kind, but I can¡¯t give up hiring these men. Why don¡¯t we let them pick who to work for?¡±


    The quickness at which Meng Mingshi changed his expressions made Gu Shenwei feel as though a new person was suddenly switched to his side.


    The Fifth Master swiftly lifted his arm away from ve Huan¡¯s shoulder, as if he had by ident touched something ugly and dirty. ¡°So, you want to go against me?¡± He said. He lifted his voice and it was a little sharp.


    ¡°I don¡¯t dare to.¡± Gu Shenwei maintained the basic level of formality but took a step back and reached his hand towards the hilt of his knife but after a moment¡¯s thought, let it drop down again.


    ¡°Ha!¡± Meng Mingshi spread out his arms with a look of someone who had been publicly shamed and felt angry and unjustified. He spun around so as to let everyone see himself, then talked loudly in the direction of the men he brought along, ¡°Everyone heard it! I had forgiven this ve from the Golden Roc Fort who had offended me in the past and even offered him support and treated him as a brother. Now I wish for a little favor from him, yet he is putting on airs and acting as if he really is my equal. Today, I have to fight back for my honor¡¯s sake. Is there any wrong in doing so?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no wrong in it, Fifth Young Master Meng has a great heart and tolerated enough.¡± The crowd started to chime in and many looked even angrier than Fifth Young Master Meng.


    This was not the arrogant and foolish Meng Mingshi that Gu Shenwei remembered, perhaps he had received the secret guidance of somebody else. Gu Shenwei retreated a few steps and waited for themotion caused by the crowd to die down a little. Then he said, ¡°If it is a personal matter of yours truly, I would never have dared to contest with Fifth Young Master Meng. However, I am selecting machetemen for the Tenth Master, therefore I humbly seek the understanding of Fifth Young Master Meng.¡±


    ¡°Do you seek to pressure me by using the name of a little chap? You ve, I want these men. Let¡¯s see who can snatch them away from me.¡±


    Meng Mingshi struck an aggressive pose with his hand on his hips as a man dressed as a servant came forward. He first bowed to his master, then cleared his throat and said in a clear, loud voice, ¡°Five hundred taels every month for each person as payment for your services and the minimum term of the contract is three years. Sign the contract now using your palm print and you shall receive one thousand taels as upfront payment for the first two months of your service!¡±


    The monthly ie of an average machetemen does not go above a hundred taels and one with a little reputation could earn up to two or three hundred taels per month. The fee offered by the Horned Dragon Society could get them top ss machetemen.


    The taels of silver from the opened trunks shone brightly and the crowd who stood behind let out sounds of appreciation. Everyone seemed to want to pick up a machete and endorse the contract on the spot.


    It just so happened that the 20 over machetemen standing opposite remained silent, as if none of them had witnessed these temptations.


    Fifth Young Master Meng was a little shocked and looked dissatisfyingly at the servant at his side. The servant also started to feel a little anxious and walked to the front of the machetemen. ¡°Boss Tuo, these are your men. Let us hear whether you agree to these terms or not.¡±


    Tuo Nengya tilted his body and shifted all of his body weight onto his left leg. He said unhurriedly, ¡°There¡¯s still one more hirer. Let¡¯s see what his offer is like.¡±


    ¡°Hey, Boss Tuo, you best not be too cocky. This here is Fifth Young Master Meng, not andlord from the South City. You don¡¯t get to bargain.¡±


    Meng Mingshi stepped in, ¡°No hurry, let¡¯s follow what Boss Tuo says. ve Huan, how much do you n to offer?¡±


    Gu Shenwei did a quick mental calction: Five hundred taels per person for each month for 23 machetemen, that would amount to over 10 thousand taels a month and over four hundred thousand taels of silver over three years. Even if he used that bit of inheritance from Tie Hanfeng, he would still not have enough. The 20 thousand taels of silver from the Golden Roc Fort was an inadequate measure. Furthermore, he had already spent a substantial amount of it.


    However, there was always a way to get some money in the South City. Once the team of machetemen was formed up under the banner of the Golden Roc Fort, the money would start to flow in sessfully.


    ¡°The same conditions,¡± said Gu Shenwei, while noticing that there were peopleing in from the outside of the forest and gathering around. They seemed to be following themotion but this was after midnight and only someone with a motive would have gone to the Rouge Forest for a walk.


    Fifth Young Master Meng hade prepared and Gu Shenwei knew he had been caught unawares and fallen into a trap. He made it seem as if he was loosening his stiff legs and walked forward by two steps, getting closer to Meng Mingshi, getting ready to hold him hostage.


    ¡°I¡¯ll double it to a thousand taels of silver!¡± Shouted Meng Mingshi emotionally while lifting his head high, as ifpeting with Heaven. He did not notice the actions of the young ve.


    The manyckeys who hade along with Fifth Young Master Meng were shocked when they heard his offer. The retainer for the uing Machete God was 10 thousand taels of silver, yet these normal machetemen who were not getting any younger could earn a thousand taels of silver every month. Comparatively, they stood to earn even more than the Machete God annually.


    There was silence throughout the forest and it was only after a while that people started to shout their approval, followed by cheers from the crowd at the same time. It was as if Fifth Young Master Meng had won the Machete God Contest.


    The servant turned his palms to the sky and looked as if he had nothing to say. With this offer, any other type of persuasion would seem like a cheap deal.


    Tuo Nengya did not change his expression. He did not even blink once. He turned his sight to the young killer from the Golden Roc Fort.


    ¡°Five hundred taels, no more.¡± Gu Shenwei nned to wind it up in this manner. He ced no importance on face and could let the Meng family get all the glory. All he wanted was practical benefits.


    After winning so easily, Meng Mingshi felt lost. If he had known that it would be so easy, he would not have increased the offer by so much. ¡°Tell your master, she wins in a knife fight, but if she wants to enter into a contest of riches with the Meng Family, we have never lost before¡­¡±


    Fifth Young Master Meng had prepared a huge victory speech to humiliate ve Huan. After saying a few lines of it, he was interrupted by the insensible servant. ¡°Fifth Master, Fifth Master¡­¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Meng Mingshi roared while turning to face the servant. The servant nearly fell onto the floor and looked like a dog in trouble with its master, his knees shaking. ¡°He shook his head¡±, the servant said.


    ¡°Who?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    The servant pointed reluctantly and looked as if he had many questions left unanswered and that he was indignant as a result.


    Tuo Nengya met Fifth Young Master Meng¡¯s gaze and shook his head slowly. ¡°Apologies, Fifth Master, we choose killer Yang Huan.¡±


    Meng Mingshi was like most children from rich families ¨C being pampered from young, they were not ustomed to rejection. To counter ve Huan he has nned beforehand, but now he faced unexpected mishappenings and did not know how to react all of a sudden. He started to rage and showed his true colors. ¡°You dare to go against me, you bunch of old fools? If you wish to call this dog-like ve as your master, then go face your death along with him!¡±


    Meng Mingshi turned and looked to leave. A row of men came out from the crowd and drew their machetes. Theckeys left the scene. It was time for them to earn glory for Fifth Young Master Meng.


    Tuo Nengya held his machete with both hands. The over twenty machetemen behind him stood in four rows and looked solemnly in preparation for what was about to happen.


    Gu Shenwei shifted his body slightly to the front and let his Internal Breath fill his entire body, getting ready to capture Fifth Young Master Meng alive. Whatever Tuo Nengya¡¯s motivation for his choice was, they were now in the same boat.


    Just as the bloodshed was about to start, a shout of ¡°Halt¡± came from the crowd. A youthful master d entirely in white came out of the crowd, holding a paper fan even on that cold day. He did not look to be from the Meng¡¯s residence but a master with some significant background.


    ¡°Everyone is here to do business, not to make enemies or kill. I have an idea to satisfy both parties.¡±


    Meng Mingshi was slightly more courteous towards the master in white. He made a symbol of respect by wrapping one palm over the other fist and said, ¡°Since Marquis Gao has an idea, it¡¯s all for the best. I don¡¯t wish to be demanding but these machetemen are obviously in cahoots with that ve, they n to make me lose face in front of everyone.¡±


    White-d Marquis Gao grinned and opened his fan, waving it twice by habit, then closing it. ¡°I heard that skilled machetemen bargain and choose their master, Boss Tuo would rather earn less than ept the invitation from the Horned Dragon Society, perhaps because he feels that the Society doesn¡¯t have any skilled martial artist and that would result in many dangers toe in the future. What I have in mind is, why don¡¯t we send someone from the Horned Dragon Society out for a round ofpetition with Yang Huan? The winner has the right to be Boss Tuo¡¯s master. Don¡¯t you think?¡±


    Meng Mingshi osted himself silently. How could he have thrown all this earlier ns to the wind? He changed to an expression of big-heartedness. ¡°Yes, yes, what¡¯s the point in having everyone involved in a mass fight, isn¡¯t there a Machete of Blood Contest? Since the bonfire is still burning, let¡¯s continue the Contest!¡±


    No one asked for the opinion of the young killer and Boss Tuo.


    Marquis Gao stepped aside and a youth wearing a purple cape came forward from behind his back.


    This youth was very tall and stood above everyone. His body was well-proportioned and did not look bulky in the least bit. His steps were steady and he generated the power for each step from the hips, keeping the upper torso still.


    ¡°Ye Sng!¡± Someone shouted this name out.


    ¡°Sword Sacrificer Ye Sng!¡± Someone added another two words in front of the name.


    Ye Sng removed his cape and threw it to one of his followers.


    The youth wore leather pants and was naked from the waist up. His muscles looked shiny like metal tools that had been ground before. There was not a single scar on him. A sword hung from his waist and its length was proportional to his body. Inparison, Gu Shenwei¡¯s sword was a long dagger.


    Gu Shenwei had seen the swordsman from the Great Snowmountain before and knew that those people wielded a sword like a machete. Ye Sng was a true swordsman, the first swordsman Gu Shenwei had met.


    He recalled what his Master Shifu Tie Hanfeng had said before, ¡°One who wields a sword is either a brainless idiot or a deity.¡±


    Ye Sng looked like a god, a wless god.

 Chapter 153

    Chapter 153: The Swordsman


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei unconsciously held on to his sword shaft. He had two types of weapons on his waist sash ¨C a machete and a sword. The machete was used for cover and the sword was the most suitable as a killer¡¯s de. Due to the sudden appearance of a highly skilled opponent, he had forgotten his role as a killer of the Golden Roc Fort and as such should be better versed in the arts of using a machete instead.


    Most existing sword crafts could be considered as fanciful and were pleasing to the eye but of no practical use. Therefore, in the merciless and real jianghu, swordsmen were never the mainstream but they were nevercking of skill. There were always some of them who possessed god-like swordsmanship and ranked high above other martial artists. Ye Sng was one of them.


    Ye Siling never liked to speak and had dedicated his life to his sword, hence he was known as the ¡°Sacrificial Sword¡±.


    He was just like those who were obssessed with a certain art or skill and were in a world of their own and were only willing to spend the least amount of effort to handle ¡®disturbances¡¯ outside of their focus. To Ye Sng, other than swords and opponents, any other individuals or concerns were nothing in his eyes.


    The killing intent he gave out was different from others and Gu Shenwei could feel the slight difference of it. This was someone who was getting tired of his own life and would give no second thought to killing others, without the usual apanying fear or excitement ¨C just killing as it is.


    Gu Shenwei held on to his sword shaft tightly. He did not know if it was because there were too many people that had caused disturbances resulting in him being unable to sense his opponents ¡®energy flowing through all living things¡¯. That was the point of attack as mentioned in the Death Scripture .


    Ye Siling was not as calm as he appeared on the surface. He held on to his sword shaft as well and studied this youthful killer from where he stood amongst the crowd. The youth seemed as normal as any other macheteman, weak and foolish, yet when he was about to draw his sword, his aura changed suddenly into that of another person.


    Where was his killing intent? Ye Siling could not understand it. When the youth was in the entaglement with Fifth Young Master Meng, he asionally let off some killing intent, yet now there was none ¨C only steady, continuous breaths. The youth¡¯s Internal Breath had spread across all nerves and tendons across his body and was one with this sword. This was obviously a stance from which he could kill in a blow, yet there was no killing intent from him.


    The two of them had yet to draw their swords but only a sense of trepidation grew in each of them. Both viewed of this idental duel as the first tough fight of their lives.


    The time taken as they faced off was not considered long and Meng Mingshi was just pulled aside by Marquis Gao away from the danger. The onlookers also just jostled for the best positions, ready to watch the deadly spectacle.


    Should he kill? Would his sword craft be exposed? It did not matter to Gu Shenwei anymore, his will was all concentrated on the youthful swordsman.


    Tuo Nengya still yed the role of the disruptor. On this night, he seemed to have wanted not for Fifth Young Master Meng to have his fun. He came forward again, walked to the middle of where the two swordsmen were facing off and shook his head, ¡°I have not agreed, what are the two of you fighting for?¡±


    This time, the person who felt his position was undermined was Marquis Gao. He kept his paper fan in a flurry and said, ¡°Boss Tuo, you are also someone of experience in the jianghu, do you really not know the rules?¡±


    Tuo Nengya sighed, and twenty over machetemen formed ranks and marched forward, blocking the path of the youthful killer.


    ¡°Boss Tuo is old and only wishes to find a dependable master. Fifth Young Master Meng and Marquis Gao, it¡¯s not that I do not like riches, but the Horned Dragon Society has just been set up and is highly ambitious. Why do you need to hire machetemen with one foot in the grave like us lot? I do not wish to hold both of you masters up and we dare not take on your offer. Thanks for the love from both masters and please let us old men off.¡±


    The machetemen from Tuo Nengya¡¯s gang were about forty or so years old, and were not young but could not be considered as too old either. By de-valuing himself, he wished to settle the crisis happening in front of him peacefully.


    Meng Mingshi and Marquis Gao had brought many machetemen with them along with the master swordsman Ye Sng, therefore they were naturally unafraid of Tuo Nengya. However, their objective was ve Huan and did not wish to be involved in a mass brawl.


    While the two of them were hesitating, Ye Sng suddenly let go of his sword shaft and walked to Marquis Gao¡¯s side, saying a few words closely into his ear. Marquis Gao¡¯s immediately smiled slightly after his face twitched a little. He said, ¡°The ways of the world have changed, even piles of silver cannot hire a bunch of old men. Since Boss Tuo has made his choice of a better master, we can only know our position and desist.¡±


    A confrontation was thus reduced to nothing and both Tuo Nengya and Gu Shenwei were deeply shocked. Meng Mingshi and the men he brought were also clueless, but since Marquis Gao had already spoken, none dared to oppose him. They could only leave the Rouge Forest, feeling let down after all the excitement. Fifth Young Master Meng ran up to the side of Marquis Gao and Ye Sng and breathlessly fished for the reason in a soft voice.


    Only when the old machetemen and youthful killer were left in the forest, Tuo Nengya turned to face his new master and bowed in respect. The twenty over machetemen also did likewise.


    Gu Shenwei epted the gesture serenely and brought the machetemen back to the South City. When it was just before dawn, he brought them in the manor he had rented for the Tenth Young Master.


    Bigmouth Liu woke early and had a shock when he saw Tuo Nengya and the gang. He hurriedly pulled his youthful superior to a side and asked what was going on ¨C these machetemen were originally hired by the eldest Young Master, how could they work for the Tenth Young Master now?


    Gu Shenwei stuck to his views and ordered Bigmouth Liu to bring the ountant and documentation officer. A contract was drawn up and endorsed and all procedures werepleted.


    23 armed men were hired and within the Golden Roc Fort they were known as machetemen. Yang Huan was only their chief but their real master was the Tenth Young Master who had yet to return.


    After everything was done, Gu Shenwei requested for Bigmouth Liu to summon all the employees in the manor.


    ¡°Take him.¡± After everyone was present, Gu Shenwei gave the order.


    The machetemen who had just signed their contract were eager to contribute and straight away two of them came forward and pressed Bigmouth Liu, who was fast turning green, into a kneeling position on the floor.


    Bigmouth Liu could not control his shock and disbelief, ¡± Y-you, what are you doing? ve Huan, Yang Huan, you do not call the shots here.¡±


    ¡°As the Tenth Young Master is not around, I make the decisions here,¡± Gu Shenwei said in a cold manner.


    ¡°Even so, you cannot act heedlessly, what are you arresting me for?¡±


    ¡°Formunicating with the enemy, passing information to them in secret and for betraying the Tenth Young Master.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t, don¡¯t you make false usations about me.¡± Bigmouth Liu was still adamantly sticking to his side of the story.


    Gu Shenwei signaled to the machetemen to let Bigmouth Liu go and spoke more peacefully, ¡°I know, in your eyes, the Meng family and the Stone Castle are allies, therefore how could they be enemies to you? You divulged my whereabouts to others mindlessly and without malice.¡±


    Bigmouth Liu¡¯s face was totally red. ¡°It wasn¡¯t me, you were walking about in the forest, so many saw that, how could you say it was me?¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked at the butler without saying a word. Bigmouth Liu knew that he had slipped his tongue ¨C Gu had not mentioned the Rouge Forest but he himself said ¡°in the forest¡±. His face turned white as a sheet again and hung his head down. ¡°I could have said a little casually, which was passed on the Meng n. However, I did not meet the Fifth Young Master or betray you.¡±


    Once ¡°Fifth Young Master¡± came out of his mouth, everything was proved true. Gu Shenwei drew his saber and said, ¡°How could somebody as talkative as you be fit to work as a butler for a killer?¡±


    Bigmouth Liu turned green again but did not believe ve Huan would dare to kill him ¨C he was a butler designated by the Stone Castle and not some nobody hired from the streets hired to do menial work by this ve. ¡°Only the Tenth Young Master can sentence me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pushed his saber into Bigmouth Liu¡¯s chest right up to the hilt. ¡°This is the sentence of the Tenth Young Master.¡± He then watched till no more blood spurted out from Bigmouth Liu¡¯s mouth, drew out the saber from his body and returned it to its scabbard after wiping it clean. He then said to the servants, ¡°Throw it outside of the castle walls.¡±


    The servants hurriedly came forward and clumsily removed the corpse. After this incident they all knew that if they wished to work in this manor, they had to keep their mouth shut as if they were mute.


    Gu Shenwei summoned Tuo Nengya alone to one of the houses and questioned him about the background of Marquis Gao and Ye Sng.


    Marquis Gao¡¯s real name was Gao Zhen. He was a true Marquis and it was just that he had left his homnd for the Jade City many years ago, bringing with him uncountable treasures and wealth which were enough tost for many years toe. He had a vastwork and was one of the notable young masters of the South City. Tuo Nengya believed that there was an eighty or ny percent chance that the mastermind of the Horned Dragon Society was Marquis Gao, or at least he was one of the masterminds behind it. As for Fifth Young Master Meng, he was young and incapable and most likely just a moneybag.


    Ye Sng came from a moreplicated background. He seemed to have royal blood but the rumor was never confirmed. Many years ago he had be the disciple of many famous martial artists and even entered the Golden Roc Fort to learn machete techniques. In the end, he switched to learning swordsmanship seven years ago and when he returned to the Jade City three years ago he was already an aplished top level martial artist. Many machetemen who hade to challenge him had fallen under his sword.


    ¡°No one has been able to defeat him in a duel,¡± Tuo Nengya said as he swept his eyes across the sword hanging at the waist of his chief. Ye Sng had unexpectedly cowered because of this sword, something weird which was unheard of. Yet this youth still lied to say that he did not know sword craft.


    Gu Shenwei did not intend to provide any exnation for this matter. In fact, he needed the other party¡¯s exnation to a greater extent.


    ¡°You wish to take revenge for the eldest Young Master.¡± Gu Shenwei changed the topic of conversation suddenly and went straight to the point. He was very clear that only a certain type of person would forego one thousand taels for five hundred of silver a month: a person bent on taking revenge.


    ¡°If a killer does not take revenge for his master, why would a macheteman bother?¡± Tuo Nengya looked unmoved.


    ¡°A killer does not have feelings, but a macheteman always repays kindness with kindness and a grievance with revenge.¡±


    Tuo Nengya mentioned before that he served the eldest Yong Master Shangguan Chui because he owed him a favor. He said thoughtfully, ¡°10 over years ago, I had juste to the Jade City and a killer from the Stone Castle raped my wife and even killed her. I found him after a year and killed him in revenge. This killer was hired by the eldest Young Master. He did not kill me over this incident and even offered me to take over the killer¡¯s ce. I rejected his offer and the eldest Young Master did not get angry. Just like this, after 10 years, he was hiring machetemen and I brought my brothers to work under him. Therefore, I owe him a favor and hate him to the core. Because of him, I can never get my revenge on Stone Castle.¡±


    The youth looked at the old macheteman. There was the same form of hatred in them but they were two different people, walking two different paths to seek their revenge. There was no gratitude in the youth¡¯s heart and he would not stop killing for anyone.


    ¡°No matter what, without me, you and your men are not allowed toe near the Tenth Young Master alone. I always strike early and never wait till after things are over to take revenge.¡±


    ¡°Hey, ¡±ughed Tuo Nengya. ¡°Seems you are not an easy chief to handle.¡±


    That afternoon, Gu Shenwei and Tuo Nengya returned to the Rouge Forest and hired another 28 machetemen at a monthly rate of two hundred taels of silver. There were now a total of 51 men gathered and enough to form what Tuo Nengya describes as ¡°the Invincible Machete Formation¡±.


    Gu Shenwei purposely selected men not familiar to Boss Tuo to prevent the old macheteman from consolidating his own power. Tuo Nengya took it all in stride and never said a word in opposition.


    The next morning, Gu Shenwei returned to the Stone Castle and invited the Tenth Young Master toe down the mountain.


    This tiny killer organisation had to make money fast as the 20 thousand taels of silver left would scarcely be able to pay for a month of expenses and sries. Gu Shenwei did not wish to make use of his Master Shifu¡¯s inheritance at such an early stage.

 Chapter 154

    Chapter 154: Starting Gang Wars


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gradually, residents of Jade City began to refer to Shangguan Ru and her killers as the ¡°Kun Society¡±. Even Master Ru herself did not know who invented this name, however, as this name was already widely known, she had no choice but to ept it.


    Everyone in the city was looking forward to seeing how the Tenth Young Master of the Golden Roc Fort wouldpete with the Fifth Young Master of the Meng n. Many thought at first that it would be a good show.


    As the animosity between Shangguan Ru and Meng Mingshi had built up to a very high level, everyone believed that the Kun Society and the Horned Dragon Society would start a gang war very soon. Gu Shenwei did not spare any effort to make matters worse.


    Once he was back at the Stone Castle, he gave a detailed debrief to the Tenth Young Master about the incident over the hiring of machetemen in the Rouge Forest. Shangguan Ru expectedly was furious and wished that she was present at the scene, so that she could personally teach a lesson to that devious scoundrel from the Meng n who had betrayed her. She felt that under these circumstances, the killing of Bigmouth Liu was justified.


    However, because of Lady Meng¡¯s objection, Shangguan Ru could not even leave Golden Roc Fort now. The Lady was still worried about the ¡®evil spirit¡¯ in her daughter¡¯s body and forbade her from entering South City. Although Shangguan Ru had not had any outbreaks recently, no one was able to confirm that the spirit had been totally removed.


    Shangguan Ru had waited for many years to bepletely independent and naturally did not want to be restricted. Mother and daughter had a quarrel over this issue.


    In the end, Gu Shenwei came up with a solution. He offered Shangguan Ru Tie Hanfeng¡¯s residence at North City as her base camp. It was close to South City and was a convenientmand center for her to direct her killers and machetemen.


    The level of safety at the North City was only slightly lower than that at the Golden Roc Fort and many times higher than that of the South City. Eventually Lady Meng agreed.


    Shangguan Yushi kept finding faults with ve Huan¡¯s work. Firstly, sheined that it took too long to hire the machetemen and that Shangguan Fei¡¯s team had already long been formed up. Then it was criticism directed at Huan ve that he only managed to hire old machetemen who were previous of the eldest Young Master. Lastly she devalued the manor at the North City, saying that it was too small and unfit for someone of the Tenth Young Master¡¯s stature.


    Shangguan Ru was not so fussy and was satisfied with everything. On the first day after leaving the mountain, she summoned all of the machetemen.


    51 machetemen entered the North City empty handed and presented themselves in the yard (which was not too wide), for their new master¡¯s inspection. They demonstrated a few formations.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s performance proved that she was indeed the Supreme King¡¯s daughter. She had an air of authority yet meanwhile still appeared to be approachable. Her time at the Iron Mountain camp taught her numerous techniques of socialising with adult men. Hence, after a contest of machete skills, drinking a round of good wine and ying two rounds of dice with them, even those machetemen who despised women the most were impressed and pledged their lifelong allegiance to the Tenth Young Master in a drunken stupor.


    After partying for three days, the machetemen returned to the South City along with five killers. Only five remained at the North City, and the Tenth Young Master now had to consider the real problem of survival.


    ording to the rules of the Golden Roc Fort, a young master would only receive 20,000 taels of silver during his or her first year of independence. If they wanted to earn more money, they had to expand their business in South City. They would have to start from the ground up, but there were tried-and-tested ways to do it.


    The first method was to collect protection money. There were many merchants in the South City and everyone of them had to look for one or multiple protectors. The only problem was that most merchants in the city already had people protecting them and there were not many new merchants. If the Kun Society wished for a share of the pie, it would not be easy.


    The second was to provide bodyguard and armed escort services. This was a field facing intensepetition, and the main rival would be the Golden Roc Fort. Fortunately, there were many cargo owners who were keen on cost savings. Besides, as Tie Hanfeng¡¯s disciple, Gu Shenwei could easily get some orders from the merchants in the southwestern area of South City.


    The third choice was entering the assassination business, which had once been Golden Roc Fort¡¯s main source of ie, but now hit jobs were few and far between. Take Shangguan Ru for instance, even she herself did not understand the inner workings of how the business was run.


    Shangguan Yushi spent all of her effort on the Tenth Young Master and naturally left the lowly task of earning money to ve Huan.


    Gu Shenwei requested for Maid Lotus, three other killers and the 51 machetemen to follow him. Thus, he began the tough task of setting up business.


    There was now a good opportunity up for grabs in the South City. After Shangguan Chui was killed, his Outer Hall organization was disbanded and those merchants under the protection of the Young Master were looking everywhere for new protectors.


    These merchants were from all types of industries and spread out across the South City.


    The Kun Society entered this market a littlete as most of the merchants had already found new protectors. Gu Shenwei did not give up because of this. He got a list of merchants from Tuo Nengya and found out about the standard rates for protection money from the Xu siblings. After he was sure of how to do it, he began bringing his men to visit each merchant to establish contact.


    Some of the merchants wanted to maintain the peace. They were willing to pay for extra protection but demanded a significant discount. Others refused to ept the Kun Society¡¯s protection and asked them to talk with their new backing.


    Most of the time, these new protectors were the Horned Dragon Society.


    Gu Shenwei delined to offer the merchants any discount. He only told all the merchants peacefully that Shangguan Chui¡¯s business should be given back to Golden Roc Fort and the only people who were eligible to take these business over were the Ninth Young Master and the Tenth Young Master.


    He was waiting for a suitable opportunity to showcase his ability.


    The chance came soon and the location was at the cksmith Vige at the side of the city.


    The shops in the cksmith Vige were the most important assets of the eldest Young Master. After Shangguan Chui¡¯s death, the cksmiths did not immediately look for new protectors, and as a result both of the twins came here looking for opportunities.


    This was the first direct confrontation between the Kun Society and the Horned Dragon Society. At first, the machetemen from each side egged each on the tested each other. When they realized that neither side would back down, they started fighting and there were multiple injuries as a result.


    This caused the cksmiths to be displeased as these small confrontations greatly affected their business. They grouped together and elected a few representatives who presented themselves to the leaders of both groups, requesting to set a time for both groups to face off in a duel, the winner of which would be the recipient of the protection money from the cksmith Vige.


    This seemed to be a reasonable suggestion and therefore on an afternoon where snowkes floated all over the air, the decisive duel of over a hundred machetemen begun.


    Gu Shenwei and the other killers listened to the advice of Tuo Nengya and looked from the outside without intefering. This was the first duel consisting purely of machetemen which they saw and they realized it was of a different vorpared to that of killers.


    Tuo Nengya brought only over 30 machetemen with him and the opponent had an obvious numerical advantage ¨C they had over 70 men.


    They did not act like killers who concealed their true skills while looking to kill in a single blow but rather like two groups of theatrical performers ¨C there were people calling out their opponents and making loud noises, people throwing things and people making various taunts and humiliating gestures. From early morning till mid-day, both sides only sent out three to four pairs to duel with win and loss for each round. There was no one dead from the duels.


    When it came to meal time, both groups dispersed to eat and the more experienced hawkers had already carried their dumplings and noodles over for sale, waiting outside the cksmith Vige. The machetemen ate with glee and there were even men from opposing sides sitting together chatting happily. This scene did not seem toe from a duel but rather a temple fair.


    In the afternoon, as the snow started to fall heavily, machetemen from both sides gathered again and re-enacted the scene from earlier in the morning. Finally, just as dusk approached, the duel began.


    The fightsted for an hour and spotches of red were left behind on the snow covered ground. The sounds of kiling shook the heavens and the cksmiths put down their tools and watched at their doorsteps, pointing out intermittently which weapon in which brave macheteman¡¯s hand were crafted from their shops.


    Tuo Nengya proved his worth and his thirty over machetemen formed ranks and attacked or retreated with discipline, proving more than a match for the oppenent who were fighting without any form of cohesion. After a few rounds of fighting, the machetemen from the Horned Dragon Society were routed and fled.


    What left the biggest impression on Gu Shenwei was that although a substantial amount of blood was spilled by both sides, not one person was dead.


    The entire thing was like a farce but Tuo Nengya exined to his youthful chief afterwards, ¡°Machetemen are out to make a living, if they can manage to not make enemies they would, today¡¯s enemy could be yesterday¡¯s neighbour, tomorrow they could serve the same master, so why should they put their lives on the line? But we also have our basic rules, that is wins are won by ability alone and the winner normally would spare the loser¡¯s life, while the loser would know his ce and leave the scene of the fight.¡±


    Kun Society¡¯s reputation grew greatly after they secured the cksmith Vige. Many merchants that originally belonged to the eldest Young Master now were willing to switch allegiance to the Tenth Young Master. Gu Shenwei immediately faced another problem which had nothing to do with the Horned Dragon Society but caused by the elder twin brother of the Tenth Young Master, Shangguan Fei.


    As the twins had set up their killer teams at the same time, something which was unprecendented in the history of the Golden Roc Fort, a fight over their elder brother¡¯s interitance could not be avoided.


    This matter was settled personally by Shangguan Ru. She invited her elder brother to the North City manor and negotiated seriously with him. As usual, she won hands down and Shangguan Fei was so angry that he nearly cried. After throwing a useless tantrum, he flung his hands and left. The result was still giving away much of the benefits to his sister.


    At the end of the month, Gu Shenwei had gathered enough taels of silver to pay the sries of his employees but the capital of 20 thousand taels of silver he originally held was still reduced. Of the merchants who originally were under the protection of the eldest Young Master, only 20 to 30 percent switched their allegiance to the Tenth Young Master and they also found all sorts of excuses to reduce the protection fee given. After some calction, Gu Shenwei found that he could only collect 10 thousand taels of silver or so each month, which was not enough to cover his costs.


    As the end of the year drew near, an atmosphere of peace came over the Jade City. The confrontation between the Kun Society and Horned Dragon Society were all small fights and arguments so far and residents within and outside the city treated it as a show. Gu Shenwei had always wanted to stir up a huge fight but there was never a suitable excuse for it.


    Entering the twelve month of the lunar calendar, the excuse presented itself.


    The Xu siblings had loyally carried out their duties of listening out for information and although most of it were of no value, they kept at it happily. Gu Shenwei had also offered them encouragement all along. Finally, there was one day where Xu Xiaoyi brought a piece of news to Gu Shenwei which stirred his interest: There was a change of manager at the Southwall Tavern.


    The new manager did not look like he came from the South City and the siblings had never heard of him. However many who kept money with Shopkeeper Lyu had received advance notice and went to meet the new manager to fix the amount. It was said that Shopkeeper Lyu would from now on take on a role behind the scenes and move to the North City to live a life of luxury.


    Xu Xiaoyi had especially sharp ears and had heard of this news three days earlier. Gu Shenwei knew immediately that something was amiss. He knew that this show of changing managers was most likely aimed at him and while at first he wanted to bring his machetemen and killers over as a show of force, he had a new idea suddenly.


    The next day morning, he went to the North City to see the Tenth Young Master. Firstly he gave a clear report on the financial situation and stated that they were still making a loss every month. As a solution, he wanted to contribute his Master Shifu¡¯s inheritance to the funds.


    Shangguan Ru was shocked and Shangguan Yushi was skeptical, but in the end still epted this offer of goodwill and loyalty from ve Huan and insisted on calling it as a loan.


    Ten dayster, after the new manager of the Southwall Tavern had taken over his post for a few days but Gu Shenwei had not received any notice to ratify his funds, he decided to go to get his money.


    Because of these 300 over thousand taels of silver, the Kun Society and the Horned Dragon Society had their first confrontation which resulted in many deaths. The citizens of the Jade City who were preparing to wee the New Year suddenly realized that the game was now turning into a tragedy.

 Chapter 155

    Chapter 155: To Yield


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei went to the Southwall Tavern three times in a row before holding Master Shifu¡¯s money firmly in his hands. He thus added arge source of ie to the Kun Society.


    This time, Gu Shenwei went alone. The new shopkeeper received the teen warmly and after some pleasantries, expressed that he wasn¡¯t familiar yet with the shop¡¯s operations. About the money of Tie Hanfeng, he had to consult the old shopkeeper and ask Gu Shenwei toe again another evening to resolve this matter when there weren¡¯t so many guests in the shop.


    The second time, Gu Shenwei went alone again. However, Maid Lotus and four other killers followed him in the dark. Machetemen gathered in the streets outside the tavern, awaiting their orders while drinking.


    The new shopkeeper was even more polite than before. However, after much toasting and pandering which went on for about half an hour, he admitted sheepishly that the old shopkeeper had left the tavern to tend to urgent matters. He had not seen him, and implored Master Yang to wait another day.


    Gu Shenwei epted this exnation. He left the tavern but did not retrieve his sword. That two watchmen was also not in sight. The streets were covered with a pall of darkness, and in the distance, there were sounds of a drunkard¡¯s wretching. When he turned around, the door of the tavern had already been locked firmly from the inside.


    The next moment, one couldn¡¯t say for sure how many youths jumped out from different directions. They were all masked, carrying weapons of different varieties. They spoke not a word and rushed at the teen standing at the door. Their murderous postures towards a fellow killer showed that this was not a friendly battle at all.


    A fist was also a weapon. Gu Shenwei did not stay put at the door. He rushed into the thickness of the action instead, using his fists to strike out at any person or thing he bumped into.


    He liked to fight. After doing so many tasks for the money, and demanding, collecting and counting money, he¡¯s finally gotten to chance to vent his anger. But the price for venting his anger was high, and after he¡¯d smashed the jaws of two machetemen, he was struck by a knife in the back.


    As a killer, defence has always been his weakness. After honing his swordcraft skills using the Death Scriptures , attacking without defense had even be his prowess and signature trait.


    Hence, if it weren¡¯t for the timely rescue of Maid Lotus and the others, Gu Shenwei might have died with his enemies.


    That blow from the killer¡¯s knife altered the situation in their favor. And they certainly expected help to arrive on Gu Shenwei¡¯s side. More machetemen emerged from the darkness. Their footsteps melted the snow on the ground.


    The five killers fought, retreating as they did at the same time. At the gap in the city¡¯s walls, they were wholly surrounded.


    Gu Shenwei took out a cow¡¯s horn from his bosom. He blew a signal of distress. The cow¡¯s horn was one of the necessary items of Tuo Nengya and he had taught the teenage chief how to use it.


    The 50 machetemen put down their wine cups. In the blink of an eye, they had lined up neatly on the city streets. In small running steps, they reached the gap in the city wall in no time, and shouting in unison, joined the battle group.


    Tuo Nengya had once imed that the formation of 50 machetemen was simply unparalleled in Golden Roc Fort. He wasn¡¯t bragging. Rows of sabers shed, and fresh blood spewed everywhere. Limbs were iling in the air and terrible screams punctuated the night sky continuously, spreading all the way to North City.


    As long as someone gave the green light, machetemen could too, kill.


    The killing spree was like a barrel of fine wine and all the people who gathered nearby were drunk in the scene. The injured machetemen did not retreat as a result, but be more fired up to kill. This was a battle wherein it was difficult to distinguish who was friend or foe. Participants only had a single thought- to cut down anything that was moving.


    Before rushing to the opening in the city wall, the formation had been cut to half, and almost 200 people had been thrown into disorder.


    The massacre aroused the fearlessness of the groups, which left as fast as it came. Many realized at the same time how senseless it was to fight so hard. They threw their knives and ran, cursing their enemies and master in their hearts at the same time.


    Gu Shenwei was carried back to his residence. In the scuffle of the crowd, there was no ce even for the most powerful macheteskills. Morning the next day, Gu Shenwei was however, already able to walk. Apart from a minor scar on his face, there was no visible injury on his body.


    Maid Lotus and four other killers were also wounded, but not seriously. There were seven killers who were killed, and 30 others who were injured. Casualties on the enemy¡¯s side were even greater. About twenty were dead and countless others injured.


    Tuo Nengya visited the young chief on his own. He solemnly made his request: ¡°If fights in the future are going to be like this, I¡¯ll need to increase manpower. A defence of knives isn¡¯t everything. To protect the merchants all over in the South City, this measure is wholly inadequate.¡±


    Tuo Nengya was an old fox, he was keenly aware that this ambush could only be the beginning of a more cruel fight. Once you¡¯ve entered into the thick of a zero-sum war, stakeholders armed with the financial resources would be the most crucial battlefield.


    Just as residents of the South City were busying with stocking on goods for the new year, Kun Society and the Horned Dragon Society had begun their fight for territory. The rules of goodwill between machetemen had been broken and the dead became a daily sight. But even if corpses became a sight people got used to, fear never failed to strike their hearts still. No one could be assured that they would not see a street devoid of carnage when they pushed open their doors in the morning.


    You could only hire machetemen when you¡¯ve got money. More machetemen meant higher chances of winning. On this point, the Kun Society was at a clear disadvantage. Hence, Tie Hanfeng¡¯s hundreds of thousands of taels became crucial at this time.


    Gu Shenwei went to the Southwall Tavern the third time. The shopkeeper and his counterjumpers were all missing. Gu Shenwei first went to the house that stored weapons to look for his own sword. Later, he ordered machetemen to seal up all the articles in the store, especially the most precious wines.


    He treated the tavern as his base camp. And he scheduled for a public auction three dayster of all the fine wines. He let this news be spread, and if Shopkeeper Lyu did not tend to his matter, this would well be South City¡¯sst batch of fine wine in a few years. This news caused the prices of wine to skyrocket and many came to buy the precious wines in advance.


    On the night before the auction, Shopkeeper Lyu, who was enjoying himself in the North City showed up. His customary expression of calmness had vanished. In tears, heined that he had been cheated. The new shopkeeper was a viin and had used the Southwall Tavern to harm its most important customer.


    Gu Shenwei felt there was no need to call Shopkeeper Lyu¡¯s bluff. He thus came up with conditions promptly. Shopkeeper Lyu agreed to each and everyone of them. Thereafter, Southwall Tavern would only ept the protection of Kun Society. All of its possessions would also be guarded by the Tenth Young Master. Whereas in the past it would pay Stone Castle and the Meng family, from now on it would only pay a single party.


    Southwall Tavern was forced to choose between two powerful parties. This brought a series of repercussions. Merchants in the South City had always paid several parties at once. They were unhappy with Kun Society¡¯s adamant attitude. Hence, they imitated cksmith Vige by sending a representative to exert pressure on all protectors of the city, no matter how big or small. The protectors in turn selected their own representative, and expressed concerns towards the several powerful merchants of Jade City. South City was in disarray that¡¯s for sure, but it was still a fertile ground for business. If merchants felt their safetypromised, the reputation of Jade City could be severely affected.


    Less than two months after his independence, the Tenth Young Master had caused such a big stir in the South City. Whether the Supreme King was happy or angry about this, no one knew. He sent for Second Young Master and the Meng family, as well as several influential men, and had a private discussion. Later, he announced that Second Young Master was just a child ying and no one needed to get worried, as long as no one was killed in the process.


    It was precisely these words that caused the machetemen of South City to die, their blood flowing like a river. That¡¯s because the ¡°lives¡± in the words of these powerful men did not include that of the machetemen who were wandering here.


    Golden Roc Fort and the Meng family still established several unwritten regtions. The key members of Kun Society and the Horned Dragon Society remained at the North City. They did not engage in the killings down in the South City. The killing was only limited to men who carried knives, and nobody was allowed to harass the merchants. The merchants themselves chose their own guards, and could not, at the same time, engage in the ongoing struggle between the two societies. As for the tragedy that happened with an attempted assassination of a killer in Southwall Tavern, they could only have themselves to me.


    Tuo Nengya was right. The war quickly turned into a fight in the favor of the merchants.


    The enormous value of the old machetemen had been brought into full y. In terms of gaining the trust of the merchants, Tuo Nengya, who always carried two scimitars under his belt, was more professional than anyone else. No matter how fast Gu Shenwei and his group of young killers killed, their young faces still failed to reassure the old merchants.


    Under the banner of the Golden Roc Fort, Tuo Nengya patiently exined to the merchants thus: ¡°Kun Society was an organisation of the Tenth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort. It will exist today and will continue to exist in the future. This was the bread-and-butter of Golden Roc Fort, but what about the Horned Dragon Society? It was just a ything that a group of yboys came up with. Even if it had won this time, no one knows when it might dissipate when the boys are tired of it. And as stakeholders who are prepared to stay in the South City for the long haul, which party would you choose to be your protector?¡±


    With this reasoning, the Ninth Young Master Shangguan Fei was deliberately left out. It seemed that the only representative of Golden Roc Fort was Shangguan Ru.


    Tuo Nengya persuaded many people but words were not enough. Gu Shenwei hired many more machetemen. Shangguan Ru sent all his killers to South City, and even let Shangguan Yushi to helm the force. Together with ve Huan, they took care of the killers and the machetemen. When they shed with Horned Dragon Society, there were bloody incidents almost everyday. This reminded the young killers of the ughters they engaged in as apprentices and many were excited.


    Together with Master Yu, there was a total of 21 killers. They formed five small teams and went hunting for a famous macheteman from the Horned Dragon Society. Very soon, the machetemen of the South City passed the title of the ¡°Machete of Blood¡± to the young killers.


    Gu Shenwei lived a double life. In the morning, he oversaw the machetemen. In the night, he became a killer. He preferred thetter and hence gradually, handed most of the machetemen¡¯s affairs to Tuo Nengya.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus were a team. They made use of this rare opportunity to practice their sword craft. Even though they argued more and more over the intricacies of details in the Death Scriptures, this did not affect their own progress at all.


    Gu Shenwei grew increasingly familiar with finding the enemy¡¯s inner flowing energy (qi). From being blindfolded at the start to deliberately obscuring his sight, he could rise up seeing others in this vision. The key thing was that he was no longer at the stage of the ¡°merging of all forces¡± or at the bottleneck in training his Internal Strength. He felt his swordscraft could be limitless and everytime he killed someone, he could improve one step further.


    Lotus Maid had reached her limit in increasing her killing intent. It reached a point where she had to train to hide such intent. Before her opponents felt the piercing of an electrifying amber sword, they have felt a swelling killing intent hit them into submission. This happened almost instantaneously after she drew her sword. They neither cried nor resisted.


    The two young killers grew up quietly. Every time after they¡¯ve killed people, they had to learn how to hide their wounds. In this way, when everyone¡¯s attention was focused on the great Kun Qiu war, only a few noticed the pair¡¯s transformation.


    Finally, one day, Gu Shenwei and Lotus Maid realized that killing normal machetemen had be meaningless. They needed stronger opponents.


    This opportunity presented itself unexpectedly after a strange case of murder. In fact, one of the Western region¡¯s most famous swordsman, Sword Sacrificer Ye Sng issued an open challenge to the killer Yang Huan.

 Chapter 156

    Chapter 156: Finding the Murderer


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The way in which Gao Zhen, Marquis Gao had died was rather strange. He was secretly sneaking into the South City at the height of an intense battle between the two societies. That was like courting his own death.


    Everyone said that the parents of both sides had requested the leaders of the two societies to not enter the South City. This rule put the Horned Dragon Society at a disadvantage.


    Shangguan Ru was a teenage girl, and was only curious about South City¡¯s tavern, betting arenas and brothels. She had no desire for them. Hence, it was easier to deal with her. For the young masters of the other party, the story was different. To them, hiding in the North City felt like imprisonment. Before long, they had begun to miss the South City¡¯s allure and its hustle and bustle. They became highly agitated, like deers in heat.


    The first person who couldn¡¯t bear it any longer was Marquis Gao. He probably thought that the end of the year would be more peaceful and that the two opposing sides would not arrange any killings. Hence, he only brought with him a servant. He left the city by heading for the eastern gate. After going around in a huge circle, from an opening in the city wall, he entered the South City. He headed straight for a prostitute whom he was familiar with in Pleasure Alley to have fun.


    Eventually, the two individuals died together, realising their dreams of staying together for eternity. A few experts came to examine the scene of the event, and agreed that the murder weapon was a sword.


    There were few masters who used swords in the whole of Jade City. There were even fewer who had a feud with Marquis Gao. Hence, his best friend, Sword Sacrificer Ye Sng announced on New Year¡¯s eve that the culprit for the murder must have been the killer from Kun Society, Yang Huan. He demanded for a duel on the ninth of the first month of the Lunar Year. It would be in Rouge Forest.


    Marquis Gao was not an ordinary macheteman. As soon as news of his death spread, Stone Castle sent men to the South City to investigate; and even the 11 young machetemen, Shangguan Yushi included, had to exin where they were at the time of the crime.


    All the five assassination teams were outside searching for information, and partners of the same team confirmed this, apart from Liuhua. He went about on his own as always. However, he was only skilled in the longbow arrow. He knew not how to use the sword, and was only mediocre in his machete skills. Hence, the biggest suspects were ve Huan and Maid Lotus.


    Both of them had swords. Because of how close they were, their mutual testimonies could not be believed. At the same time however, there was no other evidence that could prove that Yang Huan was the killer. Especially on the topic of whether he knew how to use the sword, no one in Stone Castle believed that he was really capable of sword skills. If he was really skilled, he would have appeared at the East Castle long ago. And also, he would not have been forced into a corner thrice, and been almost killed by Wildhorse in a monthly killing test.


    Ye Sng dered that Yang Huan must be a swordsman from the way he held his sword. But this saying became highly controversial. Many felt that Yang Huan had only held his sword hilt that way in Rouge Forest in a fit of panic. After all, when swords and daggers were mixed together, any confusion was possible.


    However, Horned Dragon Society would not dismiss this case of murder so easily. The strategist of the society believed that the murderer must havee from Kun Society. As Kun Society only had two men with swords, the murderer could only be one of them.


    After a heated exchange of two days, Shangguan Ru was incensed. This was war. Killing people was a usual affair. Since Marquis Gao had entered South City, killing him would not be flouting the rules. Hence, she agreed to Ye Sng¡¯s challenge.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly fell into a dilemma.


    He hoped to meet a master to practice his sword skills. However, he wished even more to do this in private. He had already lied to people in the Fort that he didn¡¯t know how to perform sword craft. And if he wanted to do so now, his lie would be exposed.


    Another option would be to use des in a duel. The Death Scripture sword skills and the Golden Fort¡¯s machete skills were simr in some instances. The techniques of using swords could bepletely transferrable to the saber. He usually did this with Maid Lotus. However, Ye Sng was an expert. In a duel between masters, there was little margin for error and any could mean death.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s speed in using his saber alwaysgged a little. This scarcely perceptible difference could cost him his life.


    Shangguan Ru was highly confident of ve Huan¡¯s abilities. She had already epted the challenge on his behalf. Gu Shenwei had no choice. He could only go to the North City and cautiously exin to the Tenth Young Master that he was the killer. But battling in an arena was not his forte.


    Just like before, Shangguan Ru was highly enthusiastic about the duel. ¡°Be rest assured, ¡± she consoled. ¡°I¡¯ve already thought through this. At the time of the duel, he¡¯ll choose the time but I¡¯ll choose the way of the battle. I have a n. You won¡¯t duel openly but will use the whole of Rouge Forest as your terrain, just like the duel between you and Wildhorse.¡±


    During those years of killing when the apprentices were in training, ve Huan and Wildhorse had a single duel. They had hunted each other down in the midst of the ruins of a house. At the veryst moment, the Lord called the duel to a halt.


    Gu Shenwei could only ept such terms. He would not use the sword. This was also to show how his own sword was only for decorative purpose. Before entering the Rouge Forest he had to leave his sword outside. With a duel in this manner, he could at least regain some advantage to make up for deficiencies in his machete skills.


    Maid Lotus brainstormed various means ofpeting such as hiding the sword in the forest in advance and hiding it with a saber after killing Ye Sng.


    Gu Shenwei did not agree. First, he felt that this would be discovered too easily. Second, he did not want the n to be an emotional crutch. Once he thought of wanting to get that sword, his will to kill might bepletely diminished.


    Dueling be inevitable. Not only the societies, but even all of the residents of Jade City strongly supported the duel. This fight became a spectacle for their enjoyment. They also wished however, that the duel taking ce outside the city would end the bloodshed in the city once and for all.


    However, suddenly, Ye Sng¡¯s revenge became a contest between two parties. One was a swordsman, and the other a killer who did not admit that he was a swordsman ¨C they will decide which society was the stronger force in South City.


    The situation developed so rapidly that most people¡¯s attention were turned to the duel on the ninth of the Lunar Year. Even the festivity of the New Year vanished, let alone the cause of the duel ¨C the death of Marquis Gao.


    Gu Shenwei was alsopletely wrapped up in his thoughts. He only thought about how to conceal his swordcraft. Only until the third day did he suddenly realize that this duel was absurd. Both parties should instead, be focusing their efforts on finding the real murderer.


    With such a thought, he immediately thought that Ye Sng was highly suspicious. Marquis Gao had just died and he was already bent on revenge. It was as though he wanted to hide something.


    Hence, he went to ask around. His findings were puzzling. Ye Sng and Marquis Gao were as close as brothers. They knew each other for years. One was skilled in the martial arts, the other in literature. It was clear in Jade City that there were no conflicts between them. Ye Sng was not lustful. He was not greedy for money either. He did note from the same country as Marquis Gao and so would not have been involved in the same court struggles. No matter which perspective it was, Ye Sng had no reason to kill. This was also the very reason why when Marquis Gao died of a sword wound, no one had suspected Ye Sng.


    The logic behind this suspicion was defeated as soon as it had arisen. Gu Shenwei decided to conduct further investigations.


    Shangguan Ru did not understand. ¡°If it¡¯s a duel, it¡¯s a duel. Why do you need to help the enemy investigate? To me, it doesn¡¯t matter who gets killed. Just use this opportunity topletely quash the influence of the Horned Dragon Society.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. But we need to know who is creating such mischief. This person wants to fish in troubled waters. We can¡¯t let him get away so easily.¡± Gu Shenwei was an expert in ¡°fishing in troubled waters¡± and was thus very alert to this.


    Just like that, the duel on the ninth of the first month did not change. Gu Shenwei attempted to spend the remaining six days finding out the real murderer and squeezing out time to practise his machete skills, and familiarizing the terrain of Rouge Forest on top of that. He could hardly understand why he was so interested to find the truth, but he just couldn¡¯t let the enemy get away scot-free. This was possibly the basic instincts of a killer. He regarded being in the shadows as his privilege.


    In the afternoon of the third day, Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Ru both went to seek themandant Zhong Heng. Because the corpse was already in the coffin, one could only find the reputable sheriff of Jade City to understand how Marquis Gao was killed.


    Zhong Heng was enthusiastic as usual. Especially towards the Tenth Young Master, he was even more genteel. He treated her as a master of the Golden Roc Fort and not as a little girl. This delighted Shangguan Ru and she became more interested in tracking down the real murderer.


    Zhong Heng saw the corpse at the scene of the murder. ¡°The wound is in the front. The sword pierced the heart. It must have been a sword wound. It¡¯s like this for both victims. The murderer must have been an expert. I¡¯d say that this isn¡¯t the style of Stone Castle.¡±


    The two teenagers knew what Commandant Zhong meant. If the culprit was a killer from Golden Roc Fort, the wound would have been at the back. However, Gu Shenwei knew that there was a killer from Golden Roc Fort who pierced the heart out of habit. That was Maid Lotus. But on the day of the murder, Maid Lotus was with him so she could not have been the culprit.


    The doors at the scene of the murder were closely locked. The servants, maids and elderly woman have not heard anything.


    No piece of particrly valuable evidence emerged. When he was about to leave, Zhong Heng mentioned something that no one noticed. He thought it wasn¡¯t worth mentioning and so left it until now. ¡°Yes, there¡¯s something. It might ¨C or not ¨C be useful. I found a few grains of rice on the bed. The maid and old woman said they didn¡¯t know where it came from. The kitchen is below. By right the grains could not havee upstairs. But, you know, they could be¡­ ying games.¡±


    The two thanked themandant. Coming to the broad city streets of the South City, Shangguan Ru suddenly asked: ¡°What games were they up to?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know either. This adult is always so vague.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s face turned red. He did not know what these ¡°games¡± were but he could take a guess.


    Shangguan Ru was confused. Gu Shenwei was worried that she would ask everyone about it so he only said, ¡°That¡¯s a brothel. It¡¯s not something good. It doesn¡¯t matter.¡±


    Shangguan Ru nodded her head solemnly like someone who was experienced. But then she walked on and said: ¡°I hear you also have a brothel.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s face turned red and he seemed flustered. He feared someone would raise this matter. Moreover, Shangguan Ru was only a girl ten over years old of age. ¡°This is a joke my master came up with in the past.¡±


    ¡°South City has so many brothels. There¡¯re so many of them even from only counting those that are under our protection. So it¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s just a business.¡±


    But Gu Shenwei came to his senses. Shangguan Ru was not an ordinary girl. She was raised by the Supreme King as a boy. He had made a fool of himself. ¡°Yes, and we can collect much intelligence from the brothels.¡±


    Gu Shenwei warned himself sternly. He had to treat Shangguan Ru as a Tenth Young Master.


    Eventually, the Tenth Young Master surprised Gu Shenwei and caused him much rm. ¡°Have you yed any games in a brothel?¡±


    ¡°No, not at all.¡±


    Gu Shenwei waved his hands back and forth so desperately that he didn¡¯t seem like a killer at all. Shangguan Ru burst outughing.


    Gu Shenwei was enraged. He so desperately desired to find out who the killer was. It was the only thing on his mind. But here he was gettingughed at by a little girl.


    ¡°Marquis Gao died in a brothel. To find out the truth, we have to make a trip there.¡±


    Shenwei breathed a sigh of relief as the conversation made a turn to his matter. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll go tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go together.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stopped in his tracks, looking at Shangguan Ru in astonishment. It turned out that bringing the Tenth Young Master to the South City was a very bad idea.


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 Chapter 157

    Chapter 157: The Rice Shop


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Shangguan Yushi strongly objected to Tenth Young Master heading to South City. The death of Marquis Gao was a good example; she would not allow any chance for Horned Dragon Society to achieve revenge by killing Shangguan Yushi. Also, she med ve Huan for his instigation.


    However, she knew the temper of Shangguan Yushi ¨C strong objection would not do her well. Hence she asked to go together, along with Wildhorse and Liuhua.


    Gu Shenwei was not happy about this. Although the two Masters saw themselves as men, they were just girls in people¡¯s eyes. Thinking about it, it was a bit odd for two girls to go investigate in a brothel with three young killers.


    Shangguan Ru refused Yushi and asked her to disguise into a boy by putting on some make-up.


    Early next morning, ve Huan and the Tenth Young Master set out, while Shangguan Yushi looked somber.


    Walking on the narrow frosty streets in South City, Shangguan Ru took a deep inhale and said, ¡°s, We¡¯ve finally arrived. Why are there so few people here? I heard that South City is the busiest city in the realm.¡±


    ¡°At night,¡± Gu Shenwei said, looking around vigntly. They chose toe here in daylight only to avoid the noisy crowd.


    Two machetemen were already waiting outside. They handed Shangguanru her weapon and the other saber and left.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Shangguan Ru tied the saber on her waist, and pointed at the cabin diagonally across and said, ¡°Is that the brothel?¡±


    ¡°Yup, but not the one we¡¯re going to.¡±


    On the way to Pleasure Alley, Shangguan Ru was in high spirits and kept asking questions about almost everything, especially which forces were behind different businesses. ve Huan answered as he could because he did not know everything.


    Approaching Pleasure Alley, Shangguan Ru frowned and said, ¡°It turns out that my Kun Society runs little business here.¡±


    The businesses Kun Society had upied used to be roughly about 40 to 50 percent of elder Young Master¡¯s businesses, and dozens of men were killed in the takeover. 40 to 50 percent was a rather good oue for them, but was still poorpared to the other powers in South City.


    ¡°It¡¯s always the first step that is troublesome.¡± Gu Shenwei tried tofort her, and he also hoped Kun Society would expand, the quicker the better.


    The buildings in Pleasure Alley were much more sumptuous than other ces¡¯. Shangguan Ru was interested in this ce, especially for hearing the fact that most of the famed prostitutes in Western Region were here. She started to ask about the various brothels and their owners, but Gu Shenwei imed that he knew little about this. Shangguanru did not buy it. Judging by her expression, she might think that he was just too ashamed to admit it.


    Every inch ofnd was expensive in Pleasure Alley. Marquis Gao died in a brothel on the east side of the street. Two youth detectives were toote, as they found out a new prostitute moved in as soon as the corpse was cleared. The brothel runner even turned the homicide case into a selling point¡ªpay 100 more taels to recur the ¡°bloody¡± murder scene of that night.


    The brothel also had reced the maids and procuress. The procuress opened the door while yawning. When she heard that the two visitors were not here to pay for sex, she mmed the door shut.


    It was pointless for them to enter anyway since the people involved in the homicide were not there. Failed was the first attempt ever in Tenth Young Master¡¯s life to enter a brothel. She almost told her real identity when ve Huan drew her away.


    In the morning, Pleasure Alley was the quietest ce in South City, and they were the only two on the street. Shangguan Ru was disappointed and said, ¡°Which is our ce?¡±


    ¡°Only one.¡± Gu Shenwei saved the cruel truth for himself, that he was the owner of her only brothel here. He did not correct Shangguan Ru that Kun Society did not ¡°own¡± these businesses, they just collect money and protect the businesses.


    The eldest Young Master Shangguan Chui majored in regr businesses, and the few small whorehouses he owned were outside Pleasure Alley. The Meng family owned more than half of the businesses in Pleasure Alley, and also had rtionships with the rest. However, Horned Dragon Society did not take advantage of the Meng family, that was why they shared equal influence with Kun Society in Pleasure Alley.


    To satisfy the curiosity of the Tenth Young Master, Gu Shenwei had to take her to the ¡°only one¡± brothel.


    Xu¡¯s siblings were still sleeping. A newly hired maid opened the door with heavy eyes. When she saw her master at the door she smiled immediately.


    Xu Xiaoyi was quite clever. After greeting Brother Huan, he sized up the short young man for a while and suddenly kneeled to greet the Tenth Young Master with all respect.


    Shangguan Ru felt both happy and disappointed. She asked how he saw through her. Master Yu disguised her into a sallow-faced sick youth by putting makeups, and even she did not recognize herself in the mirror.


    ¡°Umm, rich people can never hide their wealth I guess. Even if Tenth Young Master yed as a beggar, there¡¯s a¡­how do I say¡­domineering aura around you.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was ttered by the sweet talk. She beamed and immediately felt good about Xu Xiaoyi.


    Gu Shenwei though was well aware that the kid was bullsh*tting. He must have recognized her by the attitude of ¡°Brother Huan¡±, not due to some ¡°rich people¡± or ¡°domineering aura¡±.


    Since her excellency the Tenth Young Master had arrived, Xu Xiaoyi hurried upstairs and knocked on his sister¡¯s door.


    Gu Shenwei was quite worried about the moody Xu Yanwei, and he was not sure about which mood would she meet with Shangguan Ru today. However, in a minute, he was surprised. When Shangguan Ru had just taken a seat, Xu Yanwei had gotten well-dressed and went downstairs. She was beaming and buoyant in spirits as if she had never slept that night.


    It was hard to tell which girl had more curiosity. At first, they sounded each other out carefully. Soon they were like close friends that had grown up together, talked about everything, and cared little about trifles.


    The four had lunch together. When they spoke of the death of Marquis Gao, the siblings almost wept. He was once Xu Yanwei¡¯s customer and left a good impression on her. Xu Yanwei said, ¡°I was young, and he took good care of me, willing to spend money on me.¡±


    She realized that this kind of things were not appropriate for the Tenth Young Master, and shut her mouth.


    There were many rumors about this homicide. The siblings had not heard about the grain of rice on the bed, so when Shangguan Ru spoke of it, they got excited and asked for more details. The lunch finally turned into a heated discussion.


    ¡°A grain of rice, it may be implying something. Isn¡¯t there a saying like ¡®raw rice can turn into cooked rice¡¯? What does it mean?¡± Xu Xiaoyi said and started to meditate as nobody answered.


    ¡°Maybe they were ying some tricks on the bed. When Marquis Gao was with me, he was very¡­¡± Xu Yanwei stopped again. She had the same thoughts as themandant.


    Shangguan Ru was waiting for her words when Gu Shenwei hurried to change the topic.


    After a while, Xu Xiaoyi stopped his meditation to raise his head and said, ¡°Maybe we should check on the rice and flour trade. Maybe¡­ouch!¡±


    Gu Shenwei kicked him under the table, but it was toote.


    ¡°What are you going to check on the rice and flour trade? There¡¯s rice in every house, what do they know?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi looked at Brother Huan timidly, after seeing him nodding his head, Xu Xiaoyi continued in high spirits. ¡°There¡¯s a Protector in every business, while every Protector keeps serval hitmen. Sometimes the hitmen leave a mark at the scene to show the trait of their business. For example, hitmen in the cloth business leave a piece of red silk fabric at the scene¡­¡±


    ¡°So the rice and flour business leaves a grain of rice?¡± Shangguan Ru interrupted.


    ¡°Not that I¡¯ve heard of, but it¡¯s worth a try.¡±


    Shangguan Ru nodded and said, ¡°Yes indeed. Why haven¡¯t Commandant Zhong and you thought of this?¡±


    She asked ve Huan.


    ¡°We are not familiar with South City. Not like Xu Xiaoyi, he grew up here.¡±


    The truth was Gu Shenwei had thought of this, and he was sure that Zhong Heng had too. That sly officeholder deliberately saved the key information and had said it very casually, trying to shirk his responsibility. The reason why Gu Shenwei did not mention this idea to Shangguan Ru was that he nned to mingle with her for the day and send her back to North City. However, Xu Xiaoyi ruined his n.


    Gu Shenwei had no choice now. He took the Tenth Young Master to meet the Proctor of the rice and flour trade in the afternoon.


    Thest Protector of the rice and flour trade, Sack Zhou, was ¡°reaped¡± by Tie Hanfeng and his apprentice. The current Protector had surnamed Mi and did not like people calling him ¡°Sack Mi¡±. Therefore, he was called ¡°Shopkeeper Mi¡±.


    Shopkeeper Mi had been a hitman of Sack Zhou for years, yet he had to spend money to save his position. That¡¯s why he had no feelings for his predecessor, even some glee at Sack Zhou¡¯s death. In the war between Horned Dragon Society and Kun Society, he along with his rice and flour trade was the first to seek protection from Kun Society. There was no resentment between him and killer Yang Huan.


    Shopkeeper Mi was short, had a patchy beard, and looked nothing like a Proctor but anguish bookkeeper. Many bags of rice and flour stacked in his house which was messy and almost had no room for guests to walk.


    Shopkeeper Mi greeted the Tenth Young Master, cleared a space for the two and sent maids to serve some tea, murmuring ¡°luster lent to my humble house.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nned toe himself, and now he found apany with the Tenth Young Master was also convenient¡ªas a ¡°son¡± of the Supreme King, it was easier to make Shopkeeper Mi talk truthfully.


    As expected, Shopkeeper Mi dared not to refuse Shangguan Ru. He thought all his hitmen through and in sincerity he said, ¡°No way, they¡¯re just ordinary machetemen and they are not good at swords, let alone experts.¡±


    ¡°¡®not good at swords,¡¯ are you to say that they have swords?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°No no no, I was just talking without thinking. Look, except for your master, who uses swords nowadays? Swordsman like Ye Sng, there¡¯s so few of them, how could they be the hitmen of a rice and flour trade?¡±


    Shopkeeper Mi looked sincere, and he also had no need to lie. Hence the two youngsters left, along with this clue.


    ¡°Seems like the major suspect is still Ye Sng. The other swordsmen had little rtionship with Marquis Gao I guess,¡± said Shangguan Ru.


    Gu Shenwei thought the same and recalled Commandant Zhong¡¯s theory about ¡°taking care of it¡±, which could not apply in this case. Getting rid of suspects was not what he wanted because he would have a duel with Ye Sng anyway. What he only wanted was to find out the murderer. Even if he could not reveal the murderer¡¯s identity, he had to know the enemy lurking around.


    If the enemy was Ye Sng, he had to know the reason.


    The sky darkened, and there were more people on the street. The shops which did business at night had lighted up and opened. Shangguan Ru¡¯s attention was drawn by the shops again.


    ¡°She could stroll along this street for the whole night. I need some machetemen here to protect her.¡± Gu Shenwei thought.


    Suddenly, a 10-year-old boy thrust into Shangguan Ru, clumsily stuffed a note into her hand, turned around and ran away. Gu Shenwei almost took out his saber and killed the boy.


    However, he grabbed the boy¡¯s arm and said, ¡°Who sent you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know him, it¡¯s the man in the coat over there.¡±


    ¡°Look!¡± Shangguan Ru handed over the note to ve Huan, sounding surprised and excited.


    Gu Shenwei loosed his hand, and the boy ran away desperately.


    There was only one line on the note. ¡°The swordsman is in the cksmith Vige. Now.¡±

 Chapter 158

    Chapter 158: Splitting the Ground


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    After more than two years as a professional killer, Gu Shenwei had developed a highly mistrusting heart. In particr, he did not believe that good things would be delivered on a golden te, and thus did not think much of the slip of paper.


    ¡°This is a trap.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we have a look? How if someone really wants to divulge the secret?¡±


    ¡°If so, he¡¯lle to us.¡±


    Gu Shenwei recalled the time when he epted an invitation to a prostitute¡¯s house, only to discover a corpse when he got there.


    ¡°We¡¯ll just have a peek without showing our faces, and then act ording to circumstances.¡±


    Shangguan Ru, who loved risky adventures, was intrigued by the mysterious slip of paper, and Gu Shenwei was forced to relent. Fortunately, cksmith Vige was part of Kun Society¡¯s territory, and hence there were machetemen stationed there who could offer assistance in case of an emergency.


    Riceflour Alley was not far from cksmith Vige, but between them was a deste abandoned vige which had be the home of many otherwise homeless people and stray cats and dogs. Gu Shenwei maintained his vignce while passing through it, and indeed, the trap which he had thought would be set within cksmith Vige would actually take ce here in the form of a surprise attack that came from above a courtyard wall.


    The wall was quite high, and his first impression told him that it belonged to the house of a rich and influential family.


    The assants fired three arrows at them, two of which were aimed at Gu Shenwei and one at Shangguan Ru.


    Thetter two drew their sabers at the same time and deflected the arrows. Gu Shenwei predicted, from experience, that the enemies would shoot two or three rounds of arrows, but he was wrong this time. The assants on top of the wall shot only one round of arrows before leaping off the wall on the side away from the duo.


    ¡°Hold it there!¡±, Shangguan Ru shouted and leaped off the ground. Her toes only needed to touch the wall once before she was already on top of the wall. Her Lightness Skill, which had all along been great, was even more outstanding at this time.


    ¡°Don¡¯t give chase!¡± Gu Shenwei could not hold her back in time nor dissuade her. He calcted that he would not be able to jump high enough to get on the wall, and thus could only run forward as fast as he possibly could in hopes that there would be a lower wall for him to jump across.


    He found a break in the wall a few dozen steps ahead. Crossing through the break, he found nothing.


    There was virtually nothing ¨C no Shangguan Ru, no assants, no trees, and no buildings.


    The ce, covered in a thickyer of snow, was apparently a garden which was abandoned during winter. A few dpidated huts could be seen in the distance, and there was no sign of human life at all.


    He wondered if Shangguan Ru had leaped on to the wall again and exited the ce, but immediately disproved this idea. Although the sky was dark, it was not yetpletely ck, and he had not run very far. If Shangguan Ru had changed her route, she would have called out and informed him.


    The garden appeared to be rather well-frequented, judging from the footprints of differing depths that were nearly everywhere. He found, at the foot of the wall, two shallow footprints which appeared to be left behind by Shangguan Ru. She, or the rightful owner of these footprints, subsequently leaped forward andnded in another person¡¯s footprints, and thus could not be tracked any further.


    There were, in actual fact, no swordsmen nor traps in cksmith Vige. This ce was where the enemy had set up a nice trap.


    Gu Shenwei was getting tricked by a simple gimmick. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for Tenth Young Master¡­¡±, he began to think somewhat involuntarily, ¡°No matter how strong Shang Guanru¡¯s kung fu or how forthright her personality is, she has experienced too few things and thuscks a killer¡¯s instincts.¡±


    If the ambushers were from Horned Dragon Society, they would not dare to kill Shangguan Ru. But he would not be able to bear the responsibility if she was even slightly injured or went missing for one or two days.


    Relying on thest ray of sunlight, he searched the snow carefully until he was brought into a jumbled maze by the mess of footprints and was forced to give up.


    ¡°She couldn¡¯t have disappeared into thin air,¡± Gu Shenwei thought. ¡°Either she has been abducted by a few quick hands¡­ or she¡¯s hiding underground.¡±


    He began to stomp in circles around the spot where Shangguan Ru had left footprints to test if it was hollow beneath. However, the garden was simply too big. The sun had set, and his legs had turned numb. Though he was able to detect a small hollow space, he did not find any clues.


    He ran into the small huts in the garden but found nothing except spider webs and cotton fragments, proof that nobody had lived there for a long time.


    He thought about enlisting the help of a few machetemen to investigate, but was afraid that if he left for a while and came back, Shangguan Ru would have been brought far away by then.


    There were infinite possibilities. Gu Shenwei could only wait while stomping aimlessly on the ground. What frightened him most was if Shangguan Ru was not actually underground or in some secret underground tunnel; perhaps she had already been brought out of the garden, and what he was currently doing was not only foolish but wasting precious time which he could use tomand his subordinates to seek out information in South City.


    The sky became ever cker. Shangguan Ru had already been missing for two hours. Gu Shenwei jumped up and down like a madman before he finally stopped. Kneeling on one leg, he sheathed his dagger and pulled out his sword. He then closed his eyes to allow himself to enterbat mode.


    He was trying to seek out whether there was ¡°living energy¡± nearby.


    Death Scripture was a type of kung fu which could not be practiced. Gu Shenwei had to imagine that there were enemies in front of him for it to work.


    ¡°There¡¯s a super-powerful enemy standing tall right in front of me. It casts a long shadow and is holding a sword¡­¡±


    After half an hour, Gu Shenwei could finally detect a vague bundle of scents. The scents were as weak as the twilight musk, probably because they had crossed through a thick barrier. They were transient and unclear in shape, and were coalesced into a ball such that they were impossible to differentiate.


    Gu Shenwei was about to take an uncalcted risk, but having already entered a state of killing in which there was neither thought nor mercy, he had no secondary consideration. He caught hold of one of the scents and discovered its weak points. Subsequently, he focused his mind and energy entirely upon his sword, such that he did not even notice the barrier in between him and the source of the scent.


    He thrust his sword forward to hit his target without any apprehension or hesitation.


    Anyone watching from the side would have been astonished. The youth suddenly sprang high into the air, flipped his body upside down, then sank his sword with one hand into the snow. He was like a puppet tethered to his sword ¨C as if the sword was initiating the movements while he had no choice but to follow.


    Stab the target.


    ¡°Someone¡¯s attacking me.¡± He jabbed his sword twice more without thinking and ended the battle. He then raised his head and peered out in bewilderment at the night sky.


    He had, to his own surprise, punctured a half foot wide round hole in the snow several meters away from the spot where he knelt, and entered an underground cave. The ceiling of the cave was nearly a foot thick, and its floor was piled with a simr density of snow. Though he had mastered the sped-up Yin and Yang Strength, it was still impossible to perforate a hole like this under normal circumstances.


    He used to think that the weakness of Death Scripture ¡®s sword technique was that it could not pierce through neck armor. He only now realized that this was apletely unnecessary concern. The sword technique itself was all-powerful; the condition was that one had to have full faith in the sword one wielded and entrust oneself wholeheartedly to it. This was called the state of ¡°self-deconstruction¡±.


    If Maid Lotus was by his side, he would have immediately and excitedly exined to her that his interpretation of the scripture was the correct one.


    Next to himy three corpses which were carrying knives. Their necks had been slit by a sword and their eyes were wide open. Evidently, they had died unappeasedly. They were constantly guarding in the direction of the tunnel, and did not expect to be attacked from overhead. Nor was there any form of warning, and so they were killed in a single strike.


    Beside the corpses, Shangguan Ru sat against the wall. She was in aatose state with her head tilted to one side.


    They were in a crypt that was several square meters big. Its height was slightly taller than an average adult male, while there was a narrow horizontal tunnel barely wide enough for one person. Shangguan Ru had fallen into a trap on the other side of the tunnel and was dragged over by the ambushers, thereby exining the dirt all over her body.


    Gu Shenwei did not understand how he was able to pass through the hole andnd standing up. It now seemed to him like something beyondprehension. Not only was the hole too small for him to pass through, but the cave itself seemed a little too short.


    ¡°This sword technique has a certain evil about it,¡± Gu Shenwei thought from the perspective of a normal human. But he had no misgivings that he would be most willing should Death Scripture really want to transform him into a living dead or an evil demon.


    He kept his sword and took out his dagger to deform the sword wounds on the corpses. He then did what he could to erge the hole in the ceiling. However, because the frozen soil was extremely rigid, he was only able to erge the hole by a few inches before his dagger broke.


    He raised his head to take a look outside before he lifted Shangguan Ru and carefully pushed her up on to the ground above, making sure he did not hit her head on to anything during the process. When he was done, he climbed out through the hole himself.


    Although she remained unconscious, her breathing was stable, and there was not much of an issue.


    Back above ground, Gu Shenwei followed in the direction of the underground tunnel and searched carefully. Eventually, he found a mechanism several meters ahead. It was a movable wooden door which was frozen in thick ice on both sides. It was concealed by snow and was parallel to the ground, and was thus imperceptible.


    The trap was probably set up btedly and hence a further tunnel for escaping could not be dug in time. The designers likely counted on Gu Shenwei leaving the scene to seek reinforcements, thereby allowing the ambushers to bring their hostage away.


    Gu Shenwei carried Shangguan Ru and hastily left the garden. It was highly probable that enemies remained in the vicinity ¨C this was certainly not the time to search for them.


    Halfway on the road, Shangguan Ru woke up. She had been sedated by amon knockout powder which effectiveness subsided naturally, and thus no antidote was needed. She was, however, livid to say the least; the knockout powder was one of Golden Roc Fort¡¯s Ultimate Arts, and it was ordingly an embarrassment to fall so easily to it.


    She remainedid upon ve Huan¡¯s back, disgruntedly vowing that she would take revenge on Horned Dragon Society and Meng Mingshi. She was certain that the person who set the trap was the Fifth Young Master.


    It was already 9:30 p.m. by the time they returned to the residence in the Outer Hall of South City, where Shangguan Yushi had been waiting anxiously for a long time. The instant she saw Tenth Young Master, covered in dirt, being carried by ve Huan, she became overexcited and wanted to take hold of her. However, Shangguan Ru got to her feet while stretching her legs, and proimed that she waspletely alright.


    The attack was discussed by the family deep into the night. Everyone eventually agreed that it was a plot by Horned Dragon Society, and thereupon the discussion turned to how and against whom the revenge should be enacted.


    The stickiest problem was that Meng Mingshi holed himself up in North City. If not for everyone persuading her against it, Shangguan Ru would have made up her mind to bring the mes of war there.


    Gu Shenwei spoke very little so as to quietly observe who could be a hidden traitor.


    The trap was a very well thought out one. Its designer seemed to know that Shangguan Ru¡¯s Lightness Skill was terrific whereas ve Huan¡¯s was merely average. Had Gu Shenwei not persisted and remained in the area, the enemies¡¯ ns would have seeded ¨C Kun Society¡¯s leader would have be their hostage.


    This type of information was not what just any person could divulge.


    Gu Shenwei had no clue who it could be but simply trusted nobody.


    In the end, the discussion produced several schemes for revenge. Each of them required a lot of time and thus had to be delegated downwards to be carried out.


    Gu Shenwei secretly ordered Tuo Nengya to step up guard, while he personally kept watch outside Shangguan Ru¡¯s room. He presumed that he would escort her back to North City once day broke.


    However, an unexpected guest showed up past midnight.


    Xu Xiaoyi came running while gasping his breath. He banged as loudly as he could on the door, not only alerting Brother Huan but also waking Tenth Young Master up.


    He brought a piece of news which he personally felt was very important. ¡°Shopkeeper Mi¡¯s about to escape! I knew this fe had a problem.¡±


    A big Protector, who had only recently taken over the job, was on the run the same night that Tenth Young Master was attacked¡­ anyone who heard the news would have quickly put two and two together.


    (Please keep and provide rmendations)

 Chapter 159

    Chapter 159: Debts


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Xu Xiaoyi was fifteen or sixteen years old, but his childish features and short stature made him appear only eleven or twelve. He was smaller in size than even Shangguan Ru. Most people tended to ignore a child like that, but despite being small, he was capable of great mischief and was highly astute in South City affairs. He was third-rate as a servant in a brothel, second-rate at stealing things, but most importantly, first-rate at obtaining information.


    Ever since it was mentioned at a dining table that rice grains were found on Marquis Gao¡¯s bed after his death, the matter had constantly weighed on his mind, and he was able to hear a lot of news regarding it by hanging out in different parts of town.


    Marquis Gao was on the verge of bankruptcy before his death. Many people thought he had money to burn, but that was just a false front which the marquis maintained through constant borrowing. There was even a rumor that he had founded the Horned Dragon Society, and managed to fool Fifth Young Master Meng to pay for its operations while he secretly used the money to settle his debts.


    It seemed that this n proceeded not very smoothly. After his death, many of his creditors werepletely dumbfounded; those who acted fast took all of his possessions away, while those who were slow could only curse their own bad luck.


    Shopkeeper Mi was one of the unluckiest creditors. The taels of silver he lent to the marquis were taken from the taxes turned over by the merchants of the rice and flour trade, and a portion of them was protection money. In other words, the money he had lent to Horned Dragon Society was supposed to be handed in to Kun Society. This matter would surely be exposed by the end of the month, and that was why he had to run.


    But in truth, the escape was, as of yet, merely Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s spection. ¡°His family servants went and bought several Hedong horses today¡­ you know, it¡¯s the breed that¡¯s short and has long fur. Don¡¯t you think this is an indication that he wants to run far, far away?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a traitor!¡± Shangguan Ru gnashed her teeth. ¡°Let¡¯s get him.¡±


    As soon as Tenth Young Master gave the order, the machetemen and killers responded in unison. Gu Shenwei was a little more cautious, however. He felt that Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s information based on hearsay was not fully reliable, and suggested to find out more information before taking action.


    He did not disclose his other reason ¨C this could very well be yet another trap, and he was unwilling for Tenth Young Master to run into danger once more.


    Shangguan Yushi was able to understand ve Huan¡¯s rationales, and thus made an exception to agree with his opinion.


    Gu Shenwei was thereby granted permission to lead four killers to conduct a nighttime investigation of Shopkeeper Mi¡¯s old haunt. If thetter was truly thinking about escaping, Gu Shenwei would arrest him and bring him back to the Shangguan residence where everyone was waiting.


    On this chilly winter night, the cold wind was bone-piercing. The five young killers hid in the surroundings of Shopkeeper Mi¡¯s house, with some of them crouching against a wall and some lying prone on the rooftop. Braving the bitter cold that could freeze a person to death, they monitored every movement in the Mi residence.


    Maid Lotus jumped into the yard to investigate, and when she came out reported her sighting of two horse carriages inside. One of them was loaded with boxes while the other was empty. The drivers were drinking liquor to keep warm, and the saddles were ready ¨C it seemed that they were to depart shortly.


    Xu Xiaoyi had guessed correctly indeed.


    Shopkeeper Mi was stricken with grief. He had spent arge sum of money to take over the position as the big Protector of the rice and flour trade from Sack Zhou, and thought he could recoup some of it from Marquis Gao. He never imagined that he would lose all of his investments, which amounted to more than several hundred thousand taels of silver. Not only were his savings wiped out, but he had no means of ounting to the merchants of the rice and flour trade and the merciless Kun Society.


    Knowing that Tenth Young Master and Yang Huan would be paying him a visit in the morning, he was afraid of being found out and thus decided to escape from Jade City as fast as he could.


    He was waiting for 5:00 a.m., when South City was at its quietest, to set off. He had not even thought about how far he could run.


    Eventually, just as the carriages were all ready to set off, but had not taken a step out of the gate, Shopkeeper Mi, together with his wife, concubine, and three sons, was prevented from escaping.


    Five masked men in ck clothes, wielding sabers in their hands, descended from above, as if they were messengers from hell.


    The two drivers exchanged looks before they squatted beside the carriages while holding their heads, so as to indicate that they knew nothing and were not prepared to look at what was about to happen.


    The parcel which Shopkeeper Mi was holding under his arm fell on the ground. He gaped his mouth and inhaled the chilly air, but was unable to say a single word. His spouses and children stood behind him shivering.


    Gu Shenwei beckoned to the man, who walked over dispiritedly. His nose could be heard convulsing with every step he took, as if he was about to cry, or otherwise to express his disdain.


    ¡°Shopkeeper Mi, you¡¯re heading out?¡±


    Thetter recognized the killer Yang Huan¡¯s voice, and could finally close his mouth. After swallowing arge gulp of saliva mixed in with cold air, he turned his head to look at his family before he replied, ¡°Master Yang, I beg you to spare their lives even if you must kill me. The items on these carriages will be enough for this month¡¯s fees.¡±


    ¡°Even if they live today, they¡¯ll die tomorrow.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s tone contained little emotion. He was speaking the truth; if Shopkeeper Mi died and the remaining debt could not be repaid, his wives and children would be made to pay. Furthermore, many of the subordinates employed by Gu Shenwei were killers from Kun Society.


    Shopkeeper Mi could not understand this reasoning at all. He lowered his head and let out a dejected sigh, and when he raised his head once again, he revealed a look of insanity that was only seen during one¡¯s final and most desperate struggle. ¡°How if I divulge a highly valuable piece of information?¡±


    ¡°A killer can never offer guarantees. I have to listen to what you say first.¡± Gu Shenwei remained poker-faced. This was the interrogation technique he had learned from Golden Roc Fort¡¯s Heart Cleansing Yard ¨C let the guilty party pour his heart out, and never allow him an opportunity to hide a secret.


    ¡°I know who killed Marquis Gao.¡± Shopkeeper Mi¡¯s eyes glimmered in anticipation of an eagerpliance from the young killer. However, when he did not get such a response, his eyes returned to their usual dullness.


    ¡°Speak.¡±


    ¡°Zhou Huan. It¡¯s definitely him.¡±


    The name ¡°Zhou Huan¡± was somewhere within Gu Shenwei¡¯s memory, but he could not recall where it was from at the moment.


    Shopkeeper Mi seized the opportunity to reveal everything he knew about the matter. ¡°Zhou Huan, known as young Sack Zhou, is the godson of old Sack Zhou. Master Yang may not have seen him before. This fe used to be an associate of my rice shop, but he has since moved on to ¡®better things¡¯. He is Marquis Gao¡¯s¡­ male prostitute.¡±


    Gu Shenwei finally recalled how he knew the name. It was when he followed his master Tie Hanfeng, while thetter was still alive, to visit the Protectors of South City. He could remember that standing next to Sack Zhou was a young and handsome teenager, who, despite his good looks, did not have a self-conscious attitude. Nobody would have thought, at least based on first impression, that he was someone¡¯s male prostitute.


    ¡°Does Zhou Huan know any swordcraft?¡± From Gu Shenwei¡¯s memory, the teenager did not carry any weapons.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Shopkeeper Mi became spirited as soon as he saw that the other party was interested. ¡°And he¡¯s not bad at it, even if he seldom shows off his skill. After all, he doesn¡¯t rely on kungfu to make a living, and that¡¯s why not many people know. I knew it was him the instant I heard that Marquis Gao died of a sword wound. They recently had some differences and their rtionship wasn¡¯t in a good state.¡±


    ¡°You should have spoken up earlier.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ didn¡¯t want to cause trouble.¡±


    Gu Shenwei humphed callously to express his skepticism towards this exnation. If Zhou Huan had truly killed Marquis Gao, it would only be appropriate for Shopkeeper Mi to hate him to the core ¨C it was because of this sword that the money he lent out turned to ashes.


    Shopkeeper Mi¡¯s face turned red. ¡°Actually, it was only when you brought up the rice grain issue yesterday that I began to suspect him. Zhou Huan loves to eat uncooked rice and would always carry some wherever he went. Aye, this is all meaningless to me now. Even if the true murderer is caught, those silvers cannot be brought back.¡±


    ¡°Who have you mentioned Tenth Young Master to?¡±


    ¡°Nobody. After the two of you left, I was busy packing my things and didn¡¯t see anyone else.¡± An expression of shock appeared on his face.


    ¡°Where does Zhou Huan live?¡±


    ¡°At Heng Sheng Riceshop on the corner of the street. He was an associate there and is now its owner.¡±


    Gu Shenwei swept a nce at hispanions and raised his saber.


    Shopkeeper Mi waved his hands non-stop in front of his body, as if this was sufficient to block a sharp de. ¡°Master Yang, Master Yang, please spare my life. I¡¯ve told you everything I know. I¡¯ll hand in the silvers at the end of the month with not a single cent less.¡±


    ¡°It would have been better if you spoke up earlier.¡±


    One of Shopkeeper Mi¡¯s fingers fell on to the ground as Gu Shenwei flicked his de.


    There was no need to kill a Protector who owed money; it was the more appropriate choice to keep him alive and make him continue to pay up ¨C or at least this was what Gu Shenwei thought, and how he would exin things to Tenth Young Master when he got back.


    Shangguan Ru was much more interested in Zhou Huan than she was about the money issue. ¡°What¡¯s a ¡®male prostitute¡¯?¡±


    ¡°A male who¡¯s the pet of another male.¡± Gu Shenwei exined frankly. He had reasoned to himself that since this youngdy was willing to be treated as a male, there was no need for him to be indirect about the matter.


    ¡°How¡¯s that possible? Can a female be the pet of another female?¡± Shangguan Ru enquired without end.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s possible¡­ anything is possible.¡± Gu Shenwei suddenly felt a jolt in his heart and recalled what he had eavesdropped in the garden of the Meng family. Suspecting that there was a hidden meaning to the question, he acted even more unperturbed.


    ¡°Oh my, the two of you! One¡¯s asking audacious questions while the other isn¡¯t even embarrassed. Instead of talking drivel, why don¡¯t you go arrest that Zhou Huan fe?¡± Shangguan Yushi could not go on listening to them.


    ¡°The person who should be red-faced is you,¡± Gu Shenwei thought. However, he was happy that she changed the subject. ¡°In a while, I shall go keep an eye on him, to see if anyone is giving him instructions.¡±


    Shangguan Ru wanted to join in the fun until Gu Shenwei exined to her the monotony of a surveince task; one could not move about or speak a word for at least half a day. With Shangguan Yushi echoing the same sentiments, Tenth Young Master¡¯s enthusiasm was finally dispelled.


    This was no longer the first time Gu Shenwei thought the same way as Master Yu. The former reckoned that this was because they had simr objectives; while ¡°climbing the big tree¡± provided by Tenth Young Master, they were enemies but also two of a kind.


    Gu Shenwei wanted to monitor the suspect because he still had an inner doubt. ¡°If Zhou Huan is truly a male prostitute and the real murderer, why did Ye Sng find trouble with me? Given the rtionship between Ye Sng and Marquis Gao, the former should have understood Zhou Huan¡¯s situation and suspected him first.¡±


    Having spoken unfavorably about surveince tasks, Gu Shenwei, in fact, did not want to spend an entire day observing a rice shop. He nned to cut straight to the point and walk right into the enemy¡¯s camp.


    But he was still a stepte. Byte morning, the shops on the street were all already open for business, save for Heng Sheng Riceshop, which doors were tightly shut. When Gu Shenwei broke the doors down and entered, he discovered that there was nobody inside. The shelves were neatly stacked while the barrels of rice were filled to the brim ¨C Zhou Huan had run away in a hurry.


    A macheteman went to the nearby shops to make enquiries, and learned that the rice shop had not been open for three days.


    The investigation was carried out way toote. Gu Shenwei had already wasted the precious time in the days following Marquis Gao¡¯s death.


    After searching carefully through the shop, a few machetemen were finally able to find an important ¡°clue¡± in a rice barrel: there was a corpse of a young man inside, covered up by the rice.


    One of the machetemen confidently imed that the man had been dead for at least three days.


    Gu Shenwei took a look at the corpse and could vaguely tell it was Zhou Huan. There was a sword in its hand, while its neck was half snapped and its head was tilted to one side. The neck wound was shaped like aughing mouth, and the bloodstains from it turned the rice grains red as well.


    It appeared that Zhou Huan had slit his own throat. Gu Shenwei had gotten into trouble once again.

 Chapter 160

    Chapter 160: A Dull Show


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    If Tie Hanfeng was still alive, he would surely have given his disciple a harsh lesson for notplying with the rules, always trying to get to the bottom of a matter, and ultimately inviting trouble to himself.


    Zhou Huan might not have been an important figure, but his death was even more influential upon Kun Society than Marquis Gao¡¯s assassination. Thetter¡¯s death was glorified by Kun Society, whereas Zhou Huan was a merchant in the rice and flour trade and had paid protection fees to Kun Society. Tenth Young Master Shangguan Ru was therefore responsible to find out who the real murderer was and take revenge on Zhou Huan¡¯s behalf.


    The reputation which Kun Society had only recently built up would go down the drain if it was unable to provide a reasonable exnation for the case.


    As he looked at the corpse, Gu Shenwei finally understood themandant Zhong Heng¡¯s intentions. Perhaps, that wily old fox had secretly investigated the rice shop earlier, and did not know who to hand the corpse over to. Fortunately for him, Shangguan Ru and Yang Huan came of their own ord, and were the ideal people to take up the matter.


    The near hundred merchants of the rice and flour trade were in a state of jittery anxiety. Shopkeeper Mi, who had just lost a finger, hurried over to salvage the situation. Beating his chest, he assured the crowd, on his family members¡¯ lives, that Kun Society would handle the matter properly, and that everyone else would be safe.


    Zhou Huan¡¯s death also attracted attention from Stone Castle. If it was a homicide, it would mean that one of the two societies, Kun and Horned Dragon, had vited the regtion not to interfere with the merchants¡¯ dealings.


    This was a time when a ¡°problem¡± needed to be ¡°solved¡±. The simplest and most expedient thing to do would be to announce that Zhou Huan hadmitted suicide. After all, based on the observations at the scene, he indeed appeared to have slit his own neck. As for his motive, the ready-made exnation was that he had done so out of love for Marquis Gao.


    The pressure trickled down the chain ofmand. Gu Shenwei was merely an ordinary killer whose opinions were insignificant and would never reach the ears of the administrators in Stone Castle.


    That evening, Shangguan Yushi appeared in public on behalf of Tenth Young Master to invite representatives from the rice and flour trade to watch a reenactment of the death scene. Most people, after taking a glimpse, would run out of the shop without having observed the scene carefully. Despite not speaking much, Master Yu was able to make the entire street believe that Zhou Huan hadmitted suicide out of love.


    However, what followed at the same time was a new exnation for Marquis Gao¡¯s death. Many people made their own inferences and came to the same conclusion ¨C the true murderer was Zhou Huan, whomitted a crime of passion, with the rice grains left on the female prostitute¡¯s bed serving as proof.


    Rumors surged in Jade City regarding the emotional entanglement between two males and a female prostitute, upon hearing which some sneered while othersmented. But few people made the connection that since the real murderer was identified, the duel between Ye Sng and the killer Yang Huan was no longer necessary.


    Kun Society and Horned Dragon Society reached a tacit agreement that they would not make irresponsible remarks regarding Marquis Gao¡¯s deaths. Both societies continued to assume that Yang Huan was the killer, and consequently, the duel would have to proceed on time.


    The duel was no longer about seeking truth, and was instead a contest for superiority between two emerging powerhouses.


    The matter was bing simpler ¨C Gu Shenwei simply needed to focus his attention and get ready to kill. However, he was unable to get his head together for some reason.


    He could ept the ¡°problem-solving¡± exnation which was that Zhou Huan hadmitted suicide, but he would not have an easy conscience in doing so. He knew that someone was making use of the battle between the two societies to seek personal gain, and wanted to find out who it was and whether the person was a friend or foe.


    Therefore, he gave a secret order to Maid Lotus and the Xu siblings to continue looking for clues regarding Marquis Gao¡¯s and Zhou Huan¡¯s deaths. He stipted that they could only operate in secret and must not let anyone know that Kun Society was still searching for the true murderer.


    At this point in time, he needed to start making preparations for the duel. Ye Sng was a real master through and through. Although they had never wielded a sword in front of each other before, there had already been a contest of willpower and killing intent between them, and thus the mutual impressions were deep.


    The person most excited about the duel was Shangguan Ru. She attached multiple meanings to this life-and-death fight; it would not only showcase Kun Society¡¯s strength, but also serve to take revenge for her kidnapping.


    However, ve Huan¡¯s recent behavior deeply confounded her and many other people. He did not focus on practicing his machete skills, nor visit Rouge Forest to familiarize himself with its terrain. Instead, he spent arge part of each day sitting down in deep contemtion, as if he could rely solely on willpower to defeat a swordsman.


    In actual fact, Gu Shenwei valued the duel greatly. Under normal circumstances, Death Scripture could not be practiced. He, together with Maid Lotus, had killed too many people, and their swordsmanship and machete skills had reached a point of stagnation. Ordinary kills had be meaningless to him, and only a master like Ye Sng could stimte his potential to develop further.


    Ye Sng was like a conundrum ced in front of a genius ¨C it was not easy to solve, but solving it would entail stepping up to a higher level.


    ¡°If only swords were allowed,¡± Gu Shenwei could not help thinking. This thought was, however, fatal to himself and not his opponent. Death Scripture required its practitioners to reach a state where there werepletely no distracting thoughts. The tiniest bit of doubt or inquietude would cause a massive reduction of power.


    Kungfu was not like the growth of a tree, which could only increase and not decrease, and was easily measurable. Instead, kungfu was like climbing stairs; one could ascend but also fall off, and the determinants of victory, defeat, survival, or death included not just one¡¯s weapon skills but also which side the environment was more favorable to, who had the greater willpower and killing desire, etc. The slightest of changes to these factors could result in a disastrous defeat for a kungfu master, let alone an ordinarybatant.


    Since his machete skills could no longer be improved, what Gu Shenwei needed to do was to clear the distracting thoughts and temper his willpower.


    ¡°If only swords were allowed.¡± He was unable to banish this thought up until the morning of the ninth day of the first lunar month.


    Rouge Forest was already prepared. Many people had gathered outside the woond, with the rich arriving by carriage, while the poor made the journey on foot. This sort of excitement was not seen every year, and nobody wanted to miss out on it.


    Almost none of the spectators had brought des, and even the machetemen left their weapons at home or concealed them safely. Nobody wanted to be seen as ill-intentioned, and furthermore, Golden Roc Fort and the Meng family of North City had spread the word that anyone carrying des would have no grounds toin if they were attacked without an explicit reason.


    Kun Society¡¯s men were first to arrive. Its band of machetemen had expanded by several times to reach more than a hundred in numbers. They brandished their des deliberately, and under Tuo Nengya¡¯smand, neatly arranged themselves to guard the Tenth Young Master.


    Horned Dragon Society¡¯s men would follow behind. Its recruitment of machetemen was evenrger at approximately three hundred men. However, they were disorderly and clustered around a few noble masters. They constantly hollered as they walked, as if to impose themselves on the venue. Among them was a youth in his twenties who was said to be the chosen Machete God. His appearance attracted a great deal of attention, causing crowds of people to swarm towards the moving contingent. This practically resembled a case of a guest stealing the limelight from the host.


    It was no longer a secret who the leaders of Horned Dragon Society were. There were, in total, five of them, but with Marquis Gao¡¯s death, four remained. Fifth Young Master merited the title of society owner by virtue of ouying the most amount of money, while the other three masters were each of royal blood. Behind them followed 23ter-enlisted members who were also well-known figures in North City.


    Far away from the crowds, Sword Sacrificer Ye Sng was shielded by a group of machetemen. He was wrapped in a purple cape, and hid his face in a hood so that nobody could see his expressions.


    The machetemen created a passageway for Fifth Young Master to move towards the side of Kun Society. At first, he cheerfully exchanged a few courteous words with Tenth Young Master, but the exchange quickly descended into a quarrel. Shangguan Yushi held back Shangguan Ru and dered loudly, ¡°Talk is cheap. Let¡¯s see who¡¯s the real deal by way of de!¡±


    The duel did not begin immediately. Both sides dispatched a team of machetemen to search the forest and make sure there were no ambushes.


    The crowds outside the forest were bing restless. It was freezing out there, and many people stamped their feet on the ground in order to keep as warm as possible. They could not help but urge loudly and kick up a huge fuss. The machetemen punished a few of the noisiest spectators, leaving a little bit of red on the snow. This, perhaps, satisfied a few people¡¯s desire for some excitement.


    Amidst the chaotic moring, the two duelists entered the forest and quickly disappeared out of sight. This caused the spectators to regret their behavior, and they began to exchange updates on what was going on.


    ¡°Did Kun Society¡¯s killer bring a sword?¡±


    ¡°No, I personally saw only a knife. It seems like Ye Sng was wrong; how could a killer be a swordsman?¡±


    The name ¡°Yang Huan¡± was, as of yet, foreign to most residents of Jade City. They instead referred to him with the more general ¡°Kun Society killer¡±.


    The betting arenas of South City certainly did not want to let slip of such a good opportunity, and thus colluded to organize a huge betting event. Judging from the odds, Ye Sng was more favored. He was, after all, a long-renowned swordsman. Conversely, who knew what the ¡°Kun Society killer¡± had done before?


    After the duel ended, many people who self-professed to be far-sighted would im that, from the start of the duel, there were signs that it would be dull and boring, except that nobody could tell it would be dull and boring for such a long time and yet conclude in such a dramatic fashion. The organizers of the betting event were outraged and ran into conflict with many of the gamblers.


    After entering the forest, Gu Shenwei quickly distanced himself from Ye Sng. Of the two of them, thetter was the one who wanted the battle to be decided quickly.


    The messy trails of footprints in the forest was a source of advantage to the killer by helping him to hide his tracks. He had devised a tactic to dy time as much as possible, and only show his hand when Ye Sng became impatient and careless.


    The killer was skilled at this waiting game. Instead, the swordsman did not have this sort of patience.


    Rouge Forest was not very big, and its widest part was no more than two or three miles across. Wearing a set of white clothes, Gu Shenweiid prone under a tree holding his breath. He endured the biting cold and tried his best not to think about whether he was holding a sword or a knife.


    Once, Ye Sng shed by, with his purple cape fluttering in the cold wind like a flower which had bloomed in the wrong season, only a dozen steps away from Gu Shenwei¡¯s position, and vanished in an instant. Thetter self-admitted that his Lightness Skill was way inferior to the former¡¯s.


    Seeing that the swordsman was vigorous and inspirited, Gu Shenwei knew he had to wait a little longer.


    The audience outside the forest was increasingly agitated. The duel, which had been publicized for several days, was not supposed to be this boring. Two hours had passed and they had not heard any loud screams or seen any fresh blood spilled. The only thing they saw was the assional and brief appearance of the purple cape. Meanwhile, not a shadow was seen from the ¡°Kun Society killer¡±.


    If the result was decided by poprity, Kun Society would be overwhelmingly crushed.


    Shangguan Ru, disdainful of the crowd¡¯s ignorance, dispatched several machetemen to exin the differences between a killer and a swordsman to everyone. ¡°A killer seeks to deliver a surprising one-hit kill. Ye Sng may be moving about vigorously for now, but he¡¯ll certainly lose not only the contest but also his life. The killer will carry his head out of the forest.¡±


    The image of a human head being carried out of the forest reinvigorated the crowd, but they remained concerned as to how long it would take. ¡°We haven¡¯t been able to eat and the weather¡¯s cold. Can¡¯t the killer act sooner?¡±


    The dramatic ending took ce six hours after the duel had begun. The sky had turned slightly dark and a significant portion of the audience had left. When they heard the cry from the forest, some of those who were leaving turned back.


    Thousands of people stretched their necks to see ¡°Kun Society killer¡± carrying Ye Sng out of the forest. However, they were puzzled and disappointed that it was not thetter¡¯s head ¨C Ye Sng was still alive.


    ¡°There was an ambush.¡±


    In a low voice, Gu Shenwei informed Shangguan Ru that his second duel with Sword Sacrificer Ye Sng was once again interrupted.

 Chapter 161

    Chapter 161: ve Yuan


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The story that Sword Sacrificer Ye Sng was ambushed in Rouge Forest gave rise to twopletely different responses from Jade City¡¯s residents.


    Some people stood on Horned Dragon Society¡¯s side and imed that Kun Society used an underhand tactic to double up on Ye Sng, thereby causing a fair duel to degenerate into a dirty and ugly plot.


    But Kun Society had nock of supporters itself. These people believed that this was a ssic tale of killer versus swordsman, where thetter became haughty and eventually sumbed to the former¡¯s plot, and it was insignificant whether or not it was two-versus-one. A killer was unscrupulous by nature, and surely Ye Sng, who lived in Jade City, should have known this would be the case.


    Only a handful of people cared about the truth.


    The plot was enacted at the very instant Ye Sng noticed the trail of his enemy. Gu Shenwei knew he had no way to escape and that his Lightness Skill was no match for the former¡¯s, and his only choice was to fight face-to-face. This meant that the advantage he waited painstakingly for had been for naught. Ye Sng did not look overeager at all ¨C his patience was much better than what Gu Shenwei thought.


    Clutching his sword, Ye Sng initiated an attack on his enemy hiding under a tree. He believed that victory was close at hand and a matter of time.


    However, he never imagined there would be another person hiding in the forest. This person hid on a tree, and his patience was even better than the two duelists below him. He sprang into action just as Ye Sng ced his full attention on his opponent¡¯s body.


    The person was also a sword user.


    He was unbelievably quick, just like the ck-masked assassin of Golden Roc Fort. By the time he appeared from the air, his sword had already struck his target.


    If the sword was aimed at him, Gu Shenwei had no confidence he would be able to avoid it. In fact, he waspletely stunned at the moment it happened.


    Ye Sng, however, was able to prevent his vital parts from being struck, and even managed to retaliate with a strike.


    The assassination attempt was over in a split second. The assassin, draped in a white cape, did not evennd on the ground. With a thrust of his sword, he was able to generate momentum to leap back on to the trees, and quickly disappeared in a few leaps. His Lightness Skill seemed even better than Ye Sng¡¯s.


    Thetter, having suffered a sword blow to the chest,id down on the snow. He would probably be dead by now if his counterblow did not manage to impale the assassin¡¯s arm.


    Gu Shenwei ran forth to Ye Sng. Pulling out his knife, he peered at the swordsman whoid face up.


    ¡°You¡¯ve won.¡± Ye Sng was still clutching his sword, but knew he was powerless and no longer a match for the youth.


    Gu Shenwei was indeed the winner, and if only he sank his knife into the opponent and walked out of Rouge Forest with his sliced head, nobody would have suspected that the victory was undeserved. ¡°I didn¡¯t win.¡±


    He carried thetter out of the forest, to the surprise of everyone.


    The first person who could not understand the situation was Shangguan Ru. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you kill him? How can you even think about saving him?¡±


    ¡°I want to find out who the assassin is. Having fought against him, Ye Sng will be of use in the future.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was even more mystified. ¡°Who cares who he is? He was helping us anyway.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m worried about.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s oversuspicious mind was growing. He did not believe that someone would help him without reason, and thus he needed to find out the truth. ¡°We are the killers. The ones who should be hiding in the dark are you and me. This assassin¡­¡±


    ¡°Could he be sent from the castle?¡± Shangguan Ru frowned. The thing she hated most was her parents secretly sending people to aid her ¨C she wanted to make it entirely on her own.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head assertively. If it was someone from Stone Castle, it would be Tenth Young Master who was protected. The assassin would certainly not have interfered in the duel between a killer and a swordsman.


    There was another reason why he did not kill Ye Sng, which he only revealed to Maid Lotus. ¡°It would have been a waste to kill an exceptional master like him.¡±


    Maid Lotus was the only person who could understand the meaning of this sentence anyway. Death Scripture relied on sessive battles to be advanced to a higher level ¨C a master like Ye Sng was of the greatest use to the killer¡¯s sword practice.


    Above all, because he was still alive, the duel was postponed for an indefinite period.


    The people who thought the duel would end the war between the two societies would quickly be disappointed. Because of the ceaseless quarrels regarding who won, who lost, who yed fair, and who yed dirty, the war resumed on the morrow of the duel. The machetemen fought brazenly on the streets in broad daylight, and when evening arrived, both sides dispatched assassins to assassinate each other¡¯s members.


    Shangguan Ru remained dissatisfied that Gu Shenwei did not take the opportunity to kill Ye Sng. To appease her and regain her trust, he made ns for an important assassination.


    The target was the Machete God, known as the team¡¯s treasure, who Horned Dragon Society had spent half a month to handpick.


    His real name was Huang Shi¡¯an, and he was part of the bright young generation which emerged from Soldiers Camp. After more than half a year in Jade City, he remained a nobody and could not even find someone who appreciated him. All this changed when he made his mark in the Machete God Contest.


    His machete technique was unconventional but not particrly aesthetic. Defense was his specialty; at the start of a contest, he often concealed his strength and took backward steps until he figured out his opponent, at which time he would deliver a single winning blow.


    Gu Shenwei had seen this Machete God¡¯s performance in a tournament and felt that his reputation was certainly deserved. However, Tuo Nengya, who watched the performance beside him, had a different opinion. ¡°There¡¯s no problem with his machete skills, but something¡¯s wrong with his personality.¡±


    Huang Shi¡¯an¡¯s weakness was that his heart was not ruthless enough. Throughout thepetition to be the Machete God, he did not kill a single person, and would stop fighting upon making contact with the opponent. Several times, he merely knocked off his opponent¡¯s weapon.


    He was a handsome-looking and good-natured young man, and his amiable and cheerful personality made him more popr than Sword Sacrificer Ye Sng. Prior to entering Stone Castle, Gu Shenwei would have, like the majority of people, regarded Huang Shi¡¯an as an idol. However, thetter was only an assassination target to him at present.


    Huang Shi¡¯an was considered a team¡¯s treasure and rarely participated in fights between the two societies. Initially, he was kept safe in North City, but after Marquis Gao¡¯s assassination, Horned Dragon Society assigned him to South City, where he carried out garrison activities at the society¡¯s machetemen stronghold.


    As he was the symbol of Horned Dragon Society, killing him would naturally be a heavy blow to the society.


    Horned Dragon Society¡¯s stronghold in South City was located in the east, close to the river which flowed through Jade City. From its rooftop, one could see North City, with its neat and clean streets, across the river. More than a hundred machetemen were stationed here, while many more of them resided in the surrounding streets andnes. The guard was watertight; nobody from Kun Society had ever been able to step foot inside alive.


    As this was an assassination rather than an open fight, Gu Shenwei selected only five killers to be part of the squad. These people were Maid Lotus, Liuhua, two other people, and himself. Liuhua was a reluctant choice ¨C he was the most proficient at crossbows, and the squad happened to need someone like that.


    This was a quintessential assassination campaign by Golden Roc Fort. Before everything else, Tuo Nengya first sent a macheteman to tap on his hometown connections to bribe a macheteman from Horned Dragon Society for information regarding theyout of the residence, the situation of the guards, and Huang Shi¡¯an¡¯s daily routine.


    Next, the bribed macheteman was assigned a further task ¨C he would attempt to bribe the chef and make thetter add poison to the target¡¯s food.


    There were too many variables involved in a poisoning attempt, and that was why it was not Stone Castle¡¯s preferred means for an assassination. Gu Shenwei¡¯s rationale for this move was to confuse the opponent. If Horned Dragon Society discovered the presence of a mole, it would falsely believe that the assassination was still being prepared.


    Two days after the abortion of the duel, in the evening of the eleventh day of the first lunar month, the poisoning n was carried out. The five killers set off in their full outfits and gear, unbeknownst to anyone else.


    Their journey began slightly past 9:30 p.m., and it would be nearly five hourster when they entered Horned Dragon Society¡¯s stronghold. They did not attract attention from a single person along the way. The two anonymous killers would keep watch while Maid Lotus performed the main task, Liuhua made up for any slight errors, and Gu Shenwei coordinated the overall situation.


    Dark clouds covered the sky and obscured the moonlight. This was a killer¡¯s favorite sort of night. There was not the slightest hint of failure in the cold air.


    Maid Lotus was about to jump off the roof and sneak her way into Huang Shi¡¯an¡¯s room when Gu Shenwei, almost deliberately, had a bad feeling at this time.


    Some areas seemed a little odd. The courtyard was too quiet ¨C there was not a single guard on duty, and it had been very well cleaned up. Although he could not see everything clearly, he could confirm that there was hardly any junk in the courtyard.


    Gu Shenwei recalled his impression of the Machete God Huang Shi¡¯an. The teenager was apanied by a gang of machetemen whenever he went. He was chatty and humorous, and never seemed like someone who enjoyed quietude. The owner of this courtyard, however, seemed to be a monk who had little earthly desires.


    This was not the first time Gu Shenwei worked on intuition. He believed in its uracy, and so, with a gentle shake of his head, called off the assassination.


    Though Maid Lotus was surprised, she obeyed the order and retreated towards him. Liuhua remained at his spot and only followed behind when the two of them had walked past him.


    The first killer on lookout was called ve Jing. He was keeping guard on a rooftop, and also followed behind after the prior three had walked past.


    The second killer on lookout was ve Yuan, and he hid on a courtyard wall. These two killers were former members of the Tattooed Arm Gang, and were people whom Gu Shenwei trusted.


    ve Yuan was dead.


    Heid on top of the wall in the same way he would if he was alive. The moment Gu Shenwei past by the body, he knew thetter was dead.


    The fatal wound was at the back of his head. It was extremely small and did not bleed much. ve Yuan did not feel any pain.


    The four killers took turns to carry the body back to the stronghold. Lighting a few candles, they stood round the corpse silently, while bouts of uncertainty and fear arose in their hearts.


    It was a sword wound once again.


    It seemed as if, overnight, all of Jade City¡¯s assassins had switched to learning swordcraft instead.


    ve Huan was certainly not a mediocre killer. Otherwise, he would not have survived the mutual killings during the apprentice years, and furthermore, would not be chosen by Shangguan Ru.


    The person who killed him had to be an elite master adept at assassination. The scariest thing was that ve Yuan did not know, up to his death, that someone had got close to him.


    Gu Shenwei was still wearing a mask on his face, and so did the other three killers. Nobody said a word.


    Someone had ¡°helped¡± Yang Huan to stab Ye Sng, and yet this time, someone else had turned around and ¡°helped¡± Horned Dragon Society to eliminate a killer. These matters were bing increasinglyplicated.


    ve Yuan¡¯s death was kept private such that few people in South City knew about it. However, in the morning after the assassination campaign, a human head was disyed on the gate of Kun Society¡¯s messuage. It belonged to the hidden traitor whom Tuo Nengya had bribed.


    The image which Gu Shenwei had painstakingly built up was destroyed overnight. Within Golden Roc Fort, the life of a killer was considered cheaper than an ant¡¯s, but outside of the stone walls, it was more valuable than that of a hundred machetemen. The campaign which ve Huan had nned not only yielded anything, but also cost the life of apanion. This was an extremely severe offense.


    Gu Shenwei went alone to North City to admit his guilt.


    Shangguan Yushi intended to punish ve Huan ording to Stone Castle¡¯s rules by chopping off one of his fingers, but was stopped by Shangguan Ru.


    She was also displeased ¨C she only had ten killers under hermand, and with one dead, she was left with nine. This was two less than her brother Shangguan Fei. However, instead of ming ve Huan, she ejected everyone else from the room and kept him back for a one-to-one talk.


    On the way out, Shangguan Yushi revealed a spiteful look, and when she reached the door even turned back andmented, ¡°Tenth Young Master, please consider carefully. If your heart is soft now, it¡¯ll ache in the future.¡±


    Shangguan Ru nodded in response. When the room was left with only two people, she peered at ve Huan with her jet ck eyes. ¡°For some time now, you¡¯ve been speaking in half sentences. I¡¯ll like to know what you were thinking.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a mole among us.¡± Gu Shenwei had not nned to say this because he knew it sounded like he was deflecting responsibility, but Shangguan Ru had read his mind and thus he could only speak frankly. ¡°And that person is one of Tenth Young Master¡¯s killers.¡±


    Subsequently, however, Gu Shenwei did not know how to prove to Shangguan Ru that he believed the mole was Shangguan Yushi.

 Chapter 162

    Chapter 162: An Unexpected Teacher


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    There were many signs which pointed to the presence of a traitor within Kun Society, and furthermore that he or she was of an important position.


    Gu Shenwei had already reached this conclusion after Shangguan Ru was abducted in the deserted vige. The mole had to be very familiar with Tenth Young Master and ve Huan to know that there was a great disparity in their Lightness Skills.


    Subsequently, during the duel in Rouge Forest, the assant apparently understood ve Huan¡¯s tactics and waited patiently nearby.


    Even fewer people knew about the campaign to assassinate the Machete God Huang Shi¡¯an, yet the squad still fell into the enemy¡¯s trap. Had Gu Shenwei not called off the mission at thest possible moment, the casualties would perhaps not have been limited to one killer.


    The first person whom Gu Shenwei suspected was Shangguan Yushi.


    Master Yu naturally would not think about harming or kidnapping Tenth Young Master; her motive was to lead ve Huan tomit an unforgivable mistake, and thereupon use Stone Castle¡¯s power to get rid of him or cause him topletely lose Shangguan Ru¡¯s trust.


    In the middle of all this, however, there was something which Gu Shenwei could not make sense of, and that was the question of why the assassin wanted to kill Ye Sng in Rouge Forest.


    There seemed to be a connection between these matters when they were understood together, yet there also appeared to be contrasting motives. Gu Shenwei was unable toe up with a holistic exnation, and so he did not reveal all of his suspicions to Tenth Young Master.


    ¡°Allow me to find out who the mole is.¡±


    Moles and traitors were the types of people whom Shangguan Ru hated the most. However, she was somewhat hesitant this time. Gu Shenwei could tell that, in Tenth Young Master¡¯s eyes, the status of ¡°ve Huan¡± was currently declining.


    ¡°Alright, but keep it a secret. I don¡¯t want everyone to be suspicious of each other.¡±


    Gu Shenwei bowed and epted the instructions. ¡°I¡¯ll conduct the investigation alone.¡±


    When he returned to South City, Gu Shenwei thought through everything several times. He realized that he had very few clues at hand, and did not even know where to begin from.


    Maid Lotus and the Xu siblings had kept up the covert investigation of the deaths of Marquis Gao and Zhou Huan, and although they found out a fair bit of information, there was nothing useful to identify the true murderer or even ascertain the existence of one.


    Male prostitutes were very popr in Jade City. Most of the rich sons in North City owned such a ything or two. Zhou Huan was a little different from the others; he was already in his twenties, which was slightly old for a male prostitute, yet his rtionship with Marquis Gao remained strong and stable. Thetter had even helped him to buy Heng Sheng Riceshop.


    Shopkeeper Mi¡¯s im that contradictions arose between them was indeed true. Like most ordinary couples, they often bickered. The main contradiction was Marquis Gao¡¯s phndering heart ¨C he was attracted to both males and females. Thest quarrel between them was more intense than usual, and it happened on thest day of the twelveth lunar month, when Marquis Gao secretly entered South City.


    On that day, Marquis Gao came to visit Zhou Huan, but after a quarrel, he went to find a female prostitute.


    Nobody had witnessed the quarrel, but a few people who entered Heng Sheng Riceshop after the fact discovered that the whole shop appeared to have been ransacked by robbers, and there were debris and rice grains scattered all over the floor. Zhou Huan was seen sitting on a rice barrel giggling foolishly, and when he noticed the visitors, he flew into a rage and drove all of them out.


    Based on these ounts, it seemed likely that Zhou Huan had indeedmitted homicide and suicide in a heat of passion.


    But Gu Shenwei remained skeptical. He had seen Zhou Huan¡¯s body with his own eyes; the wound on the neck was very deep, and did not seem possible to be inflicted upon oneself. However, because he had not seen the corpses of other suicide cases, he dared not confirm the uracy of his judgment.


    He had to do a little something.


    When themandant Zhong Heng received the killer Yang Huan¡¯s invitation to visit Xu Yanwei¡¯s house in the afternoon the next day, he, as usual, agreed and brought along two junior officers.


    They were already ¡°old friends¡±, and always had interesting conversations. The banquet swiftly began. Because Gu Shenwei was a terrible drinker, he enlisted Tuo Nengya, together with the Xu siblings, to make sure that the guests drank to their hearts¡¯ content.


    During the dinner, Gu Shenwei thanked Commandant Zhong for his support towards Kun Society, then gradually changed the topic to Marquis Gao¡¯s death. Having drunk a little too much, Xu Xiaoyi was not his usual cautious and meticulous self. He unexpectedly thumped the table and stood up. ¡°I simply don¡¯t believe that Marquis Gao was murdered by Zhou Huan. It¡¯s not as if they hadn¡¯t quarreled before. How could things escte to the extent of murder this time?¡±


    Zhong Heng ced his ss down. ¡°I¡¯m also not convinced.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was slightly surprised. ¡°Ah, what w has Commandant Zhong noticed in the evidence?¡±


    Stroking his thin beard, Zhong Heng appeared hesitant about whether or not to speak the truth. ¡°Arge part of it is based on my experience. I¡¯ve been involved in many homicide cases in which the murderersmitted suicide out of guilt or fear of punishment. However, I¡¯ve rarely seen a case like Zhou Huan¡¯s where the murderer only takes his own life a few days after his crime. Suicide is a very difficult thing to do for most people, and is either done when emotions are at their most intense or not at all.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt that this exnation was very reasonable. He had discovered the corpse on the fifth day of the first lunar month, and many experienced machetemen surmised that Zhou Huan had died two or three days prior, which meant his death took ce on the second or third day of the first lunar month. This was three or four days removed from Marquis Gao¡¯s death.


    Xu Yanwei held on to her robe horrifiedly. ¡°This means a murderer killed both of them. That¡¯s terrible! And to think Marquis Gao was such a nice person.¡±


    The female prostitutes were never much bothered by their clients¡¯ keeping of male prostitutes ¨C there was no directpetition between them anyway.


    ¡°Marquis Gao was too careless with money.¡± These words of Zhong Heng ended the discussion. An officer promptly changed the subject to something more trivial, and the banquet resumed an atmosphere of jocosity.


    The two officers were first to take their leave. Conversely, Commandant Zhong was adamant not to leave this soon having stepped foot into a brothel. What¡¯s more, Xu Yanwei had given him several hints throughout the banquet. She eventually sumbed to the liquor and was staggering about. Had themandant not held her up in time, she might even have fallen on the floor. He carried her into her bedroom, and when he reemerged, everyone knew it was time to end the banquet.


    Zhong Heng was done with a perfect day, and he was beginning to feel as if his bones were dissolving. He finally realized why the bunch of yboys from North City loveding to South City. It was not only the cleanest and safest city but also had the filthiest of ces where people coulde to unwind.


    ¡°Beauty and ugliness go hand in hand.¡± ¡°The ce where the most beautiful things exist is also where the ugliest things are found.¡± In his half-asleep state, themandant came up with several such abstruse thoughts, and felt that he was beginning to think like Laozi himself. With that, he calmly drifted off to sleep.


    One can, therefore, imagine the horror when Zhong Heng woke up and realized his hands were tied behind his back.


    Heid on the bed with his back resting against several pillows. The beauties who spent the night with him were gone. The room was pitch-dark, and the only thing he could sense clearly was the numbing pain from the ropes pressing against his skin. He struggled a few times tryingly and quickly sobered up. ¡°Manager Yang, what are you up to?¡±, he cried.


    In reality, of course, the title of ¡°manager¡± was not the killer Yang Huan¡¯s true identity. Thismandant was the only person who took it seriously and used it regrly.


    Gu Shenwei sat in a corner observing the captive on the bed.


    The present scene was somewhat simr to a previous scene in another brothel, except that the positions were changed and one of the bodies was now tied up in ropes.


    ¡°Please forgive me, Commandant,¡± Gu Shenwei said unemotionally, without a sense of repentance in his voice.


    ¡°Forgive? Forgive what? Faster release me!¡± Zhong Heng burst into rage. From his perspective, the youth was failing to recognize his greatness. He had treated thetter with kindness, yet was requited with such indignity.


    There was nothing but silence from the corner.


    ¡°Hey, young hero, this is something that even Golden Roc Fort wouldn¡¯t dare to do, yet a killer like yourself has done. Since you want to kidnap me, you shouldn¡¯t have allowed the two junior officers to leave. Amandant may not be considered a high-ranking official, but I can sit at the same table as people from the Stone Castle. What you¡¯re doing is a huge mistake.¡±


    ¡°I often make mistakes,¡± Gu Shenwei remained unmoved. ¡°No harm making one more.¡±


    Zhong Heng was full of lines he used whenever he dealt with official affairs, but not one of them proved to be useful this time. He ruminated for a while and suddenly understood. Rxing his body and resting against the pillows, he said, ¡°Killers and prostitutes are the two most untrustworthy types of people in the world. I can¡¯t believe I¡¯ve trusted them and even drank with them. Alright, I¡¯ve lost this time. Tell me what your demands are.¡±


    The person in the corner blinked his eyes and shed a piercing nce at themandant. ¡°Let me ask you, Commandant Zhong, what problem did you intend to solve when you killed Zhou Huan?¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding? I didn¡¯t kill Zhou Huan.¡±


    ¡°Commandant, do you remember that when I visited you on the 3rd day of the month, you offered me a few rice grains as a clue? It was this clue that allowed me to find Zhou Huan¡¯s body.¡±


    ¡°What does this exin? Is it wrong of me to give you clues with good intent?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t exin anything, but it¡¯s too coincidental. Zhou Huan hadn¡¯t died very long when you offered me the clue, it was as if you knew in advance. What¡¯s more, even the people in South City who¡¯re the best at digging for information hadn¡¯t heard of such an important clue. It just seems very odd.¡±


    ¡°Hah, how old are you this year? Eighteen? Why are you as suspecting as an eighty-something old man?¡±


    ¡°Commandant Zhong is an expert at ¡®solving problems¡¯. I just don¡¯t believe you would casually offer a clue like this.¡±


    Zhong Heng remained silent for some time, busy assessing the severity of the situation. ¡°You¡­ you aren¡¯t serious, right?¡±


    ¡°How different are the offenses of kidnapping amandant and killing one?''¡±


    Zhong Heng strenuously swallowed a gulp of saliva. ¡°This youth is mad, but¡­ a mad child is sometimes scarier than a mad adult. Especially when he¡¯s a killer.¡± ¡°Will you let me go?¡±


    ¡°I will once I hear the truth.¡±


    ¡°Are you not afraid I¡¯ll take revenge?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll offer you apensation proposal which I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be highly satisfied with, and you won¡¯t want me to die early then.¡±


    ¡°Hurr.¡± Zhong Heng cackled, beginning to suspect if the youth in the corner was truly in his teens. ¡°You¡¯re right, I already knew about Zhou Huan¡¯s death by the third day of the month. I purposely led you and Tenth Young Master to discover the body. I came up with the story about the rice grains myself.¡±


    This was the first true sentence. Gu Shenwei nodded his head and awaited even more truth.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t kill Zhou Huan, and Marquis Gao¡¯s death had even less to do with me. Though I may often only think about ¡®solving problems¡¯, I remain interested in the truth. Because I knew about Zhou Huan¡¯s rtionship with Marquis Gao, I went to find him shortly after thetter¡¯s death. Zhou Huan was very animated. He said he knew who killed Marquis Gao, but tly refused to say the name. Like most people, he didn¡¯t trust amandant, and wanted to take revenge by himself. When I went to find him again on the second day of the month, he was already dead. This is what happened.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you have already made a reasonable guess who it was.¡±


    ¡°Conjectures are worthless.¡±


    ¡°Not always. Listening to you has taught me a lot. The weight of your guesses is naturally different from other people¡¯s.¡±


    A wry smile appeared on Zhong Heng¡¯s face. He quietly felt that the price of teaching this killer had already been too great. ¡°My guess is Fifth Young Master Meng. Marquis Gao had cheated him of a fair bit of money, and he was very angry when he found out. Aye, I now know how it¡¯s like when a young man is angry. In the days before Marquis Gao¡¯s death, the Meng family demanded arge portion of the debt be repaid. I believe it¡¯s no coincidence that they are the creditors who¡¯ve suffered the least losses.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s guess was the same, but he wanted to find out even more.

 Chapter 163

    Chapter 163: Seeking Protection


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The youthfull killer really gave themandant a recement suggestion which he could not refuse.


    ¡°Two thousand taels as a basic monthly sry and as long as I¡¯m alive, this source of ie will always be there.¡±


    Zhong Heng was trying to move his cramped up legs and stopped when he heard this statement. 24 thousand taels of silver annually were just about the right amount topensate for a shaming that no one saw ¨C not too much and not too little. He really was reluctant for this child to die too soon. He said, ¡°Are you aware that the positions of Commandant and Governor change every three years, and after a few more months my term of office will end?¡±


    There was a Governor of the Jade City who existed only in name and his poprity was not even on par with that of a small protector in the South City. Gu Shenwei had heard a little of him but did not pay too much attention to it. ¡°As long as you, Sir, are in the Western Region, this amount of money will be delivered to you on time.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know if I should believe you.¡±


    ¡°Please, believe me, Sir, for you did not earn this sum of money because of your official post but due to your experience and insight. I¡¯ll be back to learn from you again.¡±


    This sounded a little audacious but also like an ingenious way of ttering the Commandant. Zhong Heng thought for a little but settled for thetter impression. He said mirthfully, ¡°Whoever knew that a mediocre official like me would be looked upon so highly by others? Hey, I believe you.¡±


    It was just dawn as Gu Shenwei escorted Zhong Heng downstairs and themandant hurriedly left. At the entrance, he turned around and said, ¡°I did not further investigate this case at that time, but if I were looking for leads, I would put in a lot of effort to find Marquis Gao¡¯s personal servant.¡±


    The Xu siblings were also on their way downstairs from their sleeping quarters and had quite a shock ¨C to kidnap themandant was not in the n they heard before.


    ¡°You are alright, correct?¡± Xu Xiaoyi tried to look as if he had nothing to fear, but his voice did not feel bold in any way.


    ¡°Everything¡¯s fine.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s voice portrayed serenity, but even he did not have full confidence in receiving Zhong Heng¡¯s forgiveness. He did not know how much of an effect the silver would have nor did he know how high ranking the position ofmandant in the Jade City was, and it was a rash action he took this time.


    ¡°Mister Zhong is a good man¡­¡± said Xu Yanwei timidly, as if implying that all of the customers she had were good men.


    ¡°Marquis Gao had a personal servant when he came to the South City. Xiaoyi, go gather information and find out where he is, but do not rm him.¡±


    Zhong Heng¡¯s reminder was valuable as Gu Shenwei had overlooked this lead. Even though he had been enved for over two years, his thoughts and habits still had the mark of Master Gu. Servants were an unfamiliar group of people to him and he rarely gave consideration to them ¨C just the same way the masters in the Stone Castle treated him.


    Xu Xiaoyi was out gathering information for the entire day but surprisingly, no one knew his whereabouts. Logically, he would not have the financial capability to stay in the North City after his master¡¯s death and definitely would have been lodging at the South City. However, he had vanished, and it felt as if he did not care about his master¡¯s death or put in effort to look for his next master.


    ¡°Or he could have had backing and defected to a new master at the North City,¡± deduced Xu Xiaoyi.


    Gu Shenwei thought that this was possible and was even more convinced that this servant had secrets to hide, thus he went into hiding. He requested for Xu Xiaoyi to continue gathering information while he returned to the stronghold of the Kun Society to handle the day to day tasks with Tuo Nengya.


    The war was still going on and the Kun Society still had strong momentum. Only a few noticed that they were starting to show signs of losing, and Tuo Nengya was one of them. He said, ¡°For three days consecutively there have been no new merchants defecting to us and all avable resources have already been depleted. If this continues, I¡¯m afraid we will not have much spending money left.¡±


    The monthly expenditure for the over 100 machetemen hired at a high rate was over 20 thousand taels of silver. There were also various expenditures which amounted to about 30 thousand taels of silver. On the other hand, the Kun Society had only managed to gather 20 thousand taels for funds through various channels. Gu Shenwei was using Tie Hanfeng¡¯s inheritance to top up the difference now but it would not be viable in the long term.


    ¡°We have to give a thought to the cessation of hostilities,¡± suggested Tuo Nengya. ¡°If we manage to do that, we can move on to legitimate armed escorting andrgely reduce the number of machetemen hired.¡±


    ¡°This is a decision to be made by the Tenth Young Master.¡± Gu Shenwei did not care about money and wished that this war would continue on forever. He wished for it to growrger in scale too; therger the better ¨C if the mole could be found, it would greatly stir up the fighting spirit of Shangguan Ru.


    After the matter of the machetemen was settled, Maid Lotus brought an unexpected piece of news which made Gu Shenwei simultaneously both excited and puzzled.


    ¡°ve Jing wants to meet you; he has words for you.¡±


    Among the 10 killer youths selected by the Tenth Young Master, Wildhorse had formed his own gang with five others. Liuhua was alone and the former ¡°Tattooed Arm Gang¡±, which could be considered as another faction, had four members. With the death of ve Yuan, there were only three of them left.


    ve Jing waited until between nine to eleven o¡¯clock in the night before sneaking in to meet ve Huan. There were only the two of them in the room and, as a huge sign of respect, he immediately went down on one knee upon meeting ve Huan ¨C as if the person standing in front of him was a Young Master of the Shangguan n.


    One had to be careful when dealing with killers, even more so when they were from your own faction. You had to show that you were unfazed when receiving ttery or humiliation. Gu Shenwei nodded and uttered an ¡®Um¡¯ sound as a sign that he had epted the other party¡¯s show of respect. However, he made a side step and gave up his position to show that he did not have the authority to ept such formalities.


    ¡°ve Huan, you have to save me.¡± ve Jing rose and was awfully anxious, even to the point that he did not seem to resemble a killer.


    ¡°Tell me, what happened?¡± Gu Shenwei asked. Maid Lotus was only responsible for passing the message and ve Jing did not divulge the details to her.


    ¡°Someone killed ve Yuan and wants to kill me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei wrinkled his eyebrows slightly. A killer kills as a profession and naturally would be in the predicament of being assassinated many a time. If one was not clear on this, he or she was not fit to be a killer. He wished his followers to be strong and not pitiful beings being scared of death.


    ¡°I will protect you as long as you tell the truth.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Master Yu.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt sudden shock but his expression did not betray his feelings. He waited for ve Jing to continue speaking.


    ¡°One night the year before, I was with ve Yuan carrying out a mission. When we came back, we saw¡­ heard that there were people speaking in the alley outside. It was veryte then and we were a little suspicious, so we eavesdropped a little of their conversation. One of them was Master Yu ¨C I could recognize her voice ¨C and the other was male, someone who I could not identify. At first, the two of them spoke softly but they ended up arguing. Shortly after they started arguing, Master Yu sensed that there were other people in the vicinity and asked the other man to stop talking. Me and ve Yuan then began to scurry away.¡±


    ¡°What was Master Yu and that man arguing about?¡± This was the question that Gu Shenwei was most concerned about.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, they were speaking too fast and I couldn¡¯t really understand them. It seemed to have been about money.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so the two of you ran. What next?¡±


    ¡°I thought that Master Yu had not seen the both of us; however, on the second day, she came looking for us and fervently praised us, requesting for us to monitor your movements.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not make his thoughts known; it was right to not trust anyone. ve Jing and ve Huan used to be core members of the ¡®Tattooed Arm Gang¡¯ and after the massacre of the apprentices, they still disyed great loyalty. However, under the influence of Master Yu, they could still have turned into renegades.


    ve Jing did not mention how they had replied to Master Yu, and Gu Shenwei did not pursue the matter further.


    ¡°Continue speaking.¡±


    ¡°After that was the assassination operation of the past few days, we¡­ told Master Yu and who knew she wanted to kill off everyone. If it were not for you deciding in the spur of the moment to cancel the operation, the second person to die would have been me.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t suspect Master Yu without evidence.¡± Gu Shenwei said indifferently, knowing that a big gift had been delivered to his doorstep.


    ¡°I did not make wild guesses based off of random spection. It was after ve Yuan had died when Master Yu came looking for me again, saying hypocritically that it was such a shame to lose ve Yuan and even credited it to your ipetence in direction, saying that the nning for the entire operation was done too hastily and was full of loopholes. ve Huan, we are both killers and we know how to spot false friendship. Once she spoke, I understood that she wanted to temporarily calm me down and was looking for the right opportunity to strike.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not remind ve Jing that the first time Master Yu applied false friendship, she tricked two people into trusting her.


    ¡°What do you want me to do? Help you to pass this message to the Tenth Young Master? But you don¡¯t have any evidence.¡±


    ¡°No, no, I don¡¯t wish for the Tenth Young Master to know about this matter. She and Master Yu are so close that they could be the same person. I only wish to seek your protection.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have such capability.¡±


    ¡°You do.¡± ve Jing went down on one knee again and lifted his head to look at ve Huan, an expression of warmness emanating from his eyes. It was as if a faithful worshipper had received a reply from the gods. ¡°ve Huan, the things that you did may not be known to others, but they are known to us. It is you that Master Yu had wanted to kill but was unable to. It was you that could earn the trust of the Tenth Young Master. I am willing to pledge my service to you, and I am willing to put my life in your hands rather than being covertly assassinated by Master Yu.¡±


    A killer would have never pledged loyalty to another killer. This was not in tune with the rules of the Stone Castle and if the masters of the Shangguan Family found out, such an action was punishable by death.


    Gu Shenwei side-stepped again and evaded ve Jing¡¯s show of respect. He had not made up his mind as to whether to trust the other party yet.


    ¡°I can protect you.¡±


    ve Jing wanted to kneel again in a fit of happiness and Gu Shenwei prevented him just in time. ¡°But you have to understand, this is akin to openly challenging Master Yu and she would be all the more keen to strike. Furthermore, you have passed on your danger to me and Maid Lotus.¡±


    ¡°Then there¡¯s only one way, isn¡¯t there?¡±


    There was something in ve Jing¡¯s expression that Gu Shenwei disliked ¨C a craziness that did not care about anything. This craziness was so strong that it could destroy one and cause harm to others.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have toe up with ideas; the only thing you have to do is to follow me. From now on, you will be a killer in my small team. Other than Maid Lotus and myself, do not trust anyone else. If anyone says that the Tenth Young Master has called for you, let that person see me. If anyone says some Young Master has summoned you back to the Castle, let that person see me too. If you are to be under my protection, you have to listen to me. Also, do not act until I give you the approval to do so, do you understand?¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± ve Jing finally calmed down. The nature of a killer took effect, and now that there was someone willing to be responsible for his life, he could go back to killing without a worry again.


    ve Jing had brought a crucial piece of information which he himself did not fully know the importance of. Gu Shenwei had not managed to decipher the message in such a short period of time as well. He knew he had a lead which would allow him to uncover all the hidden mysteries, and the key was how to make use of this lead to let Master Yu show her true colors.


    ve Jing¡¯s defection was akin to openly cutting all ties with Master Yu and ve Huan¡¯s eptance of his defection was even more intensely taunting. The bnce which Gu Shenwei had maintained so carefully was shattered just like this.


    Master Yu had already shown her hand and it was now time for ve Huan to counter-attack. He did not have too many chances to try, therefore he had to make sure to hit his target in one strike.


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 Chapter 164

    Chapter 164: The Teahouse


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    It did not matter that whether ve Huan wanted to kill Master Yu or whether it was the other way around. The important question was not about how to carry out the killing, it was how to avoid Shangguan Ru¡¯s suspicions. The two of them had sworn an oath in the presence of the Tenth Young Master to never fight again. Both had kept their word superficially over a long period of time ¨C no one wished for it to end with losses on both sides.


    Gu Shenwei had always remembered the words of his Master Shifu Tie Hanfeng ¨C if you wished to ¡®safely kill somebody¡¯, then before you kill that person you have to cut off the target¡¯s ¡®rtionships¡¯. Another way of looking at this statement was that if you could not cut off the target¡¯s ¡®rtionships¡¯, then you had to remove ¡®suspicions¡¯ rted to yourself, to not let anyone have any doubts about you.


    Shangguan Yushi managed to aplish this. If she seeded in her ns, everyone would have thought that ve Huan had died in the struggle between the Kun and Horned Dragon Societies, and that his death had nothing to do with her at all.


    Gu Shenwei decided to use a more traditional method. If only he could present evidence to Shangguan Ru showing that Master Yu had secretly conspired with the Horned Dragon Society and had broken the seemingly unbreakable bond between the two young women, his problem would be solved.


    The stronger the love, the deeper the hatred.


    Gu Shenwei forced ve Yuan to recount the situation during the eavesdropping again and again, hoping to find the tiniest clues from his re-enactment. In the end he came up with the conclusion that the man who was arguing with Master Yu was not of high rank; he seemed to listen more than he spoke, and Gu Shenwei felt as though the man was a little afraid of the demoness.


    Arguments and money; these two words danced around in his mind. Shangguan Yushi¡¯s family was of average wealth; when she was in school, she came up with all sorts of methods to get money from her ssmates.


    Could it be that she had borrowed money from the Meng Family? Or were they debts owed by her brother when he was alive? If Meng Mingshi had used this fact to humiliate Shangguan Yushi, Gu Shenwei did not feel surprised at all. But it did not seem likely that Meng could have used this to ckmail her into betraying the Tenth Young Master. Furthermore, Master Yu seemed to be reprimanding the other party at that time, and this did not seem like the sort of attitude a debtor would disy towards a creditor.


    Money ¨C Marquis Gao¡¯s death was rted to debts and the Meng Family as well. Gu Shenwei naturally linked both cases together, and what delighted him was that Xu Xiaoyi had managed to inquire about another important lead.


    ¡°The servant who apanied Marquis Gao into the South City was called Qi Tian, which was pretty scary name, but in actual fact he was a honest man. He did not have a choice and had to be called whatever his master had chosen for him as his name. Everyone knew him as Qi Da, hey, which was just removing a stroke from the character ¡®Tian¡¯¡­¡±, Xu Xiaoyi beat around the bush beforeing back to the main point. ¡°He was hiding in Hope Alley, and other than me, who could have found out about his whereabouts? Even for someone like me, I had to expend so much effort¡­¡±


    On the afternoon of the 15th day of the first month of the Lunar Calendar, Gu Shenwei brought Xu Xiaoyi along with him to Hope Alley, while ve Jing was never far from his side. The three of them walked around in a big circle before going to their destination.


    Xu Xiaoyi harbored deep seated fear about this deserted alley. Many years ago, he had travelled all around the South City and this was the only ce he had not explored. At first, he looked for all sorts of reasons not to enter the alley and when his efforts were futile, he began to be anxious and afraid. He said, ¡°Brother Huan, I think you should not let me go further. I do not know kung fu, and would be a burden if I went. Furthermore, wouldn¡¯t a beautiful youth like me, who looks handsome, be swallowed alive upon entering the Hope Alley?¡±


    Hope Alley was situated due south of the South City and was the ce of ¡®men¡¯. Men who were castrated amounted to the thousands there and dealt in all sorts of business. It was a small town in its own right.


    Gu Shenwei had heard of this ce before. At the very beginning, when the Kun Society tried to rope in merchants to get protection money, Tuo Nengya had warned him to not waste his efforts on Hope Alley. ¡°That is the dirtiest ce in the entire Jade City and no one wishes to go near it. It is also the only alley with no affiliation with the Stone Castle or the Meng Family, everyone who lives in that alley are all evil in nature. It would firstly be very difficult and secondly a joke in the eyes of others if you tried to collect protection money from them,¡± said Tuo.


    Tuo Nengya was not entirely correct. There were still people who willingly went nearby and even entered Hope Alley. What Xu Xiaoyi was afraid of was the preferences of some of these people.


    Even though Hope Alleycked nothing, the trade which had supported its continual growth was the same as Pleasure Alley.


    ¡°I heard that the people here have evil secrets, and specifically kidnap beautiful young boys. Some castrate the boys with one stroke of the knife to be the same as themselves, while other boys suffer an even worse fate and are eaten alive, in the belief that doing so would grant eternal youth and beauty to one¡­¡±.


    Upon entering Hope Alley, Xu Xiaoyi clung onto the elbow of Brother Huan as if his life depended on it. He was afraid to let go because the horror stories that he had heard during his childhood was now upying his entire thoughts.


    ve Jing did not look quite right either; once the fear of death had sunk in its hooks, it was hard to shake it off. He felt like a frightened bird fleeing from an archer, and the crowded Hope Alley with its mix of the good and the bad seemed like the perfect ce for Master Yu to send people to assassinate him.


    Gu Shenwei did not believe all these baseless rumors. Furthermore, the residents of Hope Alley did not seem any different, some of them even grew facial hair and did not look like eunuchs in the slightest bit. The only difference was the expression in their eyes; they seemed to possess a certain special ability to recognise an outsider in one nce. As soon as Gu Shenwei¡¯s party of three stepped into Hope Alley, they started drawing the attention of many.


    Xu Xiaoyi grew more afraid and was literally hanging on to Brother Huan¡¯s elbow as he walked. Gu Shenwei had to bring him along as only this child could recognise the personal servant of thete Marquis Gao, Qi Da.


    Hope Alley stretched a long distance with many twists in between. As one entered deeper into it, its uniqueness started to be more apparent. The number of shops became fewer and the houses lining the streets were mostly without any signboards but there were one or two men outside of their doors. To call them men would be a stretch, as the amount of make up they applied was even more than that of the prostitutes of Pleasure Alley. Amongst them were a few who were so beautiful without any equal, and no one would ever suspect a thing if they were to be identified as women.


    The two killers and the youth hung their heads down as they walked and did not respond to the suggestive or open advances that were made towards them.


    Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s intelligence had pointed out that Qi Da was hiding in the Joy Pavilion, situated at the heart of the Hope Alley. All they had to do was to continue walking in the same direction towards it.


    ¡°Keep alert and do not let Qi Da slip away from you,¡± reminded Gu Shenwei.


    Xu Xiaoyi lifted his head and swept his eyes around after taking a few steps. He quickly grew nervous and afraid, and he muttered, ¡°I¡¯m the ugliest, please don¡¯t take a fancy to me¡­¡±.


    There were three stories to the Joy Pavilion, and it was a mix of various weird establishments in one ce: on the first story was a teahouse, which was not entirely unheard of in the South Jade City, but rarely seen, on the second story was an area to wait before being called for, while a bunch of fortune tellers was living on the third story.


    A signboard with fourrge words which meant ¡®Be pleased till you are at a loss for words¡¯ hung on the building.


    ¡°It is said that the fortune tellers here are the most urate. There is a living immortal who can describe your entire life clearly to you. Let¡¯s give it a tryter.¡±


    They did not encounter any form of danger on their way and Xu Xiaoyi began to feel more confident and he started to feel concerned about his own future.


    ¡°You do not have to go for any fortune telling, as you will be serving prostitutes and killers for your entire life.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi retorted earnestly, ¡°Who knows, no one says that my sister cannot turn over a new leaf and stop being a prostitute.¡±


    The teahouse was filled with customers and the three neers managed to find an empty table after some effort. After they sat down, they started observing the guests.


    The guests consisted of the weird and the grotesque. There was old folk so wrinkled that you could not guess their age, grotesque creatures who had facial birth defects and looked frightening and many cripples with amputations. Themon characteristic of all of them was that they seemed generally uninterested and without a care for the world, focusing all their attention on drinking the tea that was ced in front of them.


    The counterjumpers were normal looking though, but they purposely overlooked serving the new guests, keeping a distance away from them.


    ¡°Where is Qi Da?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It is said that he hides here, but no one said whether he was drinking tea on the first story or having his fortune told on the third story.¡±


    ¡°Call the counterjumper toe over here.¡±


    The reluctant Xu Xiaoyi stood up, and after a while, managed to call a reluctant counterjumper over to their table.


    ¡°What is it?¡± From the tone of the counterjumper, it was as if he was a supervisor in the Stone Castle with real authority.


    Gu Shenwei ced a gold nugget on the table and said, ¡°I¡¯m looking for Qi Da.¡±


    The counterjumper nced at the gold nugget and said, ¡°Wait a moment.¡± He turned and left them, as if the guest had just told him the name of a dish.


    Gu Shenwei was a little taken aback that things would be so easy.


    The counterjumper was gone for a while before appearing again with a man who was over thirty years old. The man had applied a thickyer of powder on his face and had a pair of naturally worrisome eyes which seemed filled with rage at this moment.


    Xu Xiaoyi shook his head, indicating that this was not Qi Da.


    ¡°Get out, you lot are not wee here,¡± said the man with make up loudly. The other guests acted as if they had not heard a thing and did not even bother to avert their gazes from themotion.


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for Qi Da.¡± Gu Shenwei repeated his request while cing a gold nugget on the table again.


    ¡°He is not here, search for him somewhere else.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought in his heart that someone else had already came looking for Qi Da. He ced his saber beside the gold nugget and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you think again, perhaps he is in this very building.¡±


    The man with makeup took two steps back and pursed his lips tightly shut. Three guests sitting nearby suddenly stood up and stared at the youthful killer in silence.


    The three guests had each lost their entire right arm and one of even them had a slight limp. They drew their short knives as if they were performing a magic trick. The short knives were wide and sharp.


    Xu Xiaoyi sensibly shut his eyes and lied t on the table. He was experienced in such situations and knew that Brother Huan¡¯s machete skills were first ss; after lying still for a while, he would see three corpses when he opened his eyes.


    But Xu Xiaoyi had thought wrong, and there was not a sound from the surroundings. He sat up straight and noticed that the three one-armed machetemen were still silently facing off against the two youthful killers, as if no one had any intention to make the first move.


    Gu Shenwei knew that he had been careless. As no one had mentioned that there were kung fu masters in Hope Alley, he had treated the ce like a Pleasure Alley that was reced with men, and never would he have thought that he would meet masters here.


    The three one-armed men were highly skilled, and not thosemon machetemen who were only good at fighting, but experts in killing.


    ve Jing drew his machete first, and as his hands made its first movements, Gu Shenwei drew his as well. From the view of an onlooker, the two youths had made their moves at the same time.


    As so it was that both of them were suppressed at the same time as well.


    Their machetes were only drawn out of their scabbards for a few inches before being returned back in.


    Gu Shenwei and ve Jing had channelled their Internal Breaths while drawing their machetes, and felt as if a massive rising tide ofke water had faced obstructions and gushed back immediately. Their bodies shook a little and they nearly fell over, a red glow starting to appear on their faces. They only managed to return back to their original state after channelling their Internal Breaths for a few cycles.


    A youth who was of over twenty years of age stood in front of the two youthful killers. He was decked entirely in pale purple, and looked handsome, ssy and demure. He had female-like features but did not apply any makeup on his face. The killers stayed fully alert, entirely unaware of when he had made his appearance.


    The youth withdrew his hands and took a step back, giving a slight bow. ¡°Tonight an unlucky constetion is in the skies, and it is not suitable for violence.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had never met anyone with such a high level of kung fu and felt feelings stirring up inside him. He could not find his tongue for a long while.


    The man with makeup applied and the three one-armed men treated the youth with the utmost respect, and showed their respects with a deep bow behind his back. They kept their machetes and retreated at the same time.


    The youth looked at the faces of the three guests one by one and studied them for a while before saying, ¡°Immortal Peng wanted to call for one of you, but did not mention whom, I guess ¨C it is you.¡±


    (Please keep and give suggestions)

 Chapter 165

    Chapter 165: Dressed in Purple


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Doctor Sun of the North City and Immortal Peng of the South City were famous within the walls of the Jade City, and while one needed fame and riches before being able to pay a visit to the Doctor, one could only rely on fate to meet Immortal Peng.


    There were not many who were destined to meet him, and most who had such an opportunity would be extremely delighted. It was unheard of for one to be so afraid, like Xu Xiaoyi who nearly wet his pants.


    ¡°Me?¡±


    ¡°Um, you.¡±


    ¡°No, no, you¡¯ve got it wrong. I, I am just a follower. He is the master.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi lifted his hand halfway and brought it back down, ncing quickly at Brother Huan.


    The youth was very certain and said, ¡°It¡¯s definitely you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded, implying that Xu Xiaoyi could see Immortal Peng; as Xu did not know kung fu, he did not have to worry about any incident that could happen.


    Xu Xiaoyi got up nervously, and walked up the stairs at the youth¡¯s gesture.


    The youth stayed behind and lowered his gaze, turning from a kung fu master into an obedient ve in an instant.


    The peaceful atmospherested for half an hour. While Xu Xiaoyi had note back downstairs, a magical mutual understanding was established between the two killers, who had not even exchanged nces.


    ve Jing suddenly made a move again, and was suppressed by the youth once more when his saber was drawn halfway.


    Gu Shenwei waited for the optimal moment to make his move, and that was when the youth had finished making his move and had not yet turned his attention toward him.


    The saber opened a shallow wound in a line across the youth¡¯s neck. Gu Shenwei felt regretful, as if he had used a sword, he could have killed this kung fu expert and brought his swordsmanship up to the next level.


    The youth staggered thrice, and this time everyone in the teahouse felt shocked turning in sync to face the killer. Many of them reached under their tables.


    There were 29 different variations recorded in the Death Scripture but there¡¯s only one move. If the opponent was of an average skill level in kung fu, Gu Shenwei could keep striking repeatedly without considering about defence, but his opponent was an expert, and he could only wait for the next opportunity.


    ¡°Good machete technique,¡± praised the youth. He did not even bother about the wound on his neck and the female-like demure expression did not change. The other guests turned back to their tea once more.


    Gu Shenweiid the drawn saber across his knees and said, ¡°It¡¯s still a bitcking.¡±


    ¡°I am Chu Yangjun, and I have yet to get your esteemed name yet, Sir.¡± The youth spoke presented himself as if they had just met, and gave his name. His attitude had turned more cordial as well.


    ¡°I havee to look for someone, and only wish to ask a few questions.¡± Killers did not have the habit of announcing their names or affiliations. Gu Shenwei still stuck to this initial request.


    The man who had applied makeup came close and whispered a few words into Chu Yangjun¡¯s ear.


    ¡°So you are Yang Huan, the killer from the Kun Society. I have long admired your great fame.¡±


    ¡°You tter me. I am not here to look for trouble, but only wish to ask a few simple questions. If he wishes to answer me he can, if he does not wish to it¡¯s also fine. I do not wish to force him.¡±


    Chu Yangjun lowered his head and thought for a moment before saying, ¡°Fine, but I have one condition.¡±


    ¡°Pray tell.¡±


    ¡°The person you are looking for is sitting right here, Manager Yang can look for him and question him, but you only have one chance, is that all right?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded, still holding on to his saber and sitting at the same spot. After a while, he got up and walked up to a hunched back old man who had white hair, wrinkly and coarse skin and a lump growing on his head. He said to the old man,¡±If I were you, I would not go too heavy on the disguise, nor would I keep looking around.¡±


    The old man helplessly looked at Chu Yangjun once and sighed as he straightened his back. ¡°I know what you wish to ask, but I really do not have anything to say, Marquis Gao¡¯s death has nothing to do with me. I really did not witness anything, and when Zhou Huan died I was already back here. All the more, it does not have anything to do with me.¡±


    ¡°Can we speak in private?¡±


    Chu Yangjun cut in to refute before the disguised Qi Da had a chance to speak. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s not possible. If others knew that he spoke in private with you, it would bring more trouble.¡±


    ¡°Then we shall talk here. I believe your words, that you have nothing to do with Marquis Gao¡¯s death.¡± Gu Shenwei paused for a while before throwing out the question that was bugging him, ¡°How did Marquis Gao get into trouble with that special master, and cause you to get yelled at?¡±


    While Qi Da¡¯s face was covered in manyyers of disguise and no one could detect any change in his facial expression, his mouth was agape and he was speechless. Gu Shenwei knew that he had guessed correctly, and that Qi Da was the man arguing with and getting an earful from Master Yu from the conversation that ve Jing had overheard.


    ¡°I-I¡­¡±


    ¡°I said I would not force anyone. If you do not wish to speak, that¡¯s fine, but you have to consider whether other people would believe you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not know which of his words had provoked Qi Da, and thetter suddenly became steadfast. ¡°I do not know anything, nor do I understand what you are talking about. If you know the rules, do not ask another question,¡± said Qi Da.


    Gu Shenwei retreated back to his original position, and said to Chu Yangjun, ¡°And just like this, I have finished my questioning.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s for the best.¡± Chu Yangjun seemed to be more curious about this killer, as he stared at him without breaking his gaze. ¡°Do you use a sword?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t, the sword was a gift from somebody else.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, Ye Sng said you were a swordsman, but during your duel with him you did not use a sword, and neither did you today.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi walked down the stairs with a strange expression on his face, looking like the survivor of some great disaster, as he felt a mixture of happiness and grief. It was as if the way the entire world looked had changed in his eyes.


    As soon as they stepped out of the Joy Pavilion, Xu Xiaoyi could not wait to share his life¡¯s fortune with the others. ¡°Immortal Peng is a real, living deity, he¡­¡±


    To his disappointment, Brother Huan was not even a little bit interested in this matter and dragged him to be on their way. ¡°You can speak of itter,¡± he said.


    What surprised and frightened him was that Brother Huan made a sudden change of direction and unexpectedly ran straight towards the path of a gorgeously dressed man. The man was leaning against his door and was seemingly taken aback by this business opportunity. He said, ¡°I only receive one customer at a time, if there are three of you¡­¡±


    Without waiting for him to finish, Gu Shenwei pushed the man and dragged Xu Xiaoyi into the room.


    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t have to be so hasty,¡± said the man who was a little unhappy.


    ¡°The two of you stay here, no one is supposed to go outside.¡±


    Gu Shenwei gave his instructions, pushed the back window open and leapt out.


    Xu Xiaoyi and the man were shocked speachless and looked at each other. When they were about to voice out their questions at the same time, ve Jing drew out his saber, and there was immediate silence in the room.


    There was a stretch of high wall a few feet away from the back of the room, separating Hope Alley from the other ces. The ground around it was strewn with refuse and even an entire winter¡¯s snowfall could not hide it.


    Gu Shenwei walked quickly forward against the wall, all the way till he reached the back of the Joy Pavilion. No one noticed him in the end.


    Thest sentence Qi Da spoke seemed to point towards some clue, and Gu Shenwei felt that he had not guessed wrongly. Therefore he walked once around while looking carefully and found what he was looking for at a spot located at the foot of the wall.


    Someone had used water from the snow to write a few lines, and it was very written very lightly. If Gu Shenwei hade slightlyter, he estimated that the words would have been gone.


    ¡°Marquis Gao wanted money from the master, the master said it had been given before and asked for Marquis Gao to know his limits. Nothing further.¡±


    This was what Qi Da wanted to tell the killer Yang Huan, and it was the content of his argument with Master Yu on that night.


    Gu Shenwei was a little surprised, he had thought that the person asking for money would have been Shangguan Yushi. He was perplexed as to where did Shangguan Yushi get the money to give Marquis Gao, and also why she wanted to give it to him.


    He picked up a handful of snow, wiped off the words and retraced his steps. After walking for a short distance, he noticed that the path in front of him was blocked.


    The purple-d Chu Yangjun stood on a small snowpack, and it looked as if his feet were not touching the ground and had avoided the huge amount of refuse. He held a sword in his hand.


    Yet another swordsman.


    ¡°A swordsman is like a chess yer; if two of them meet and did not y a round together, it would lead to eternal regret for them. Please enlighten me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei grasped the hilt of his machete.


    ¡°There is no other person here, would you not want to use a sword, Sir?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had his own set of principles, and against a challenger who came looking for him on his own ord, he did not wish to show his real kung fu.


    ¡°The sword is a useless piece of equipment.¡±


    Chu Yangjun was unmoved by this taunt and did not again request for the killer to use a sword. His sleeves pped in the wind and it seemed as if he would levitate at any moment.


    Both of them were surprised. They could not detect any killing intent from the other party, and it was as if neither was ready to make the first move.


    Gu Shenwei was looking for the living energy from this opponent, but Chu Yangjin was different from the others. his ¡®Qi¡¯ was clearer yet flowed faster, and any w that presented itself quickly disappeared in a sh. Gu Shenwei could not actually find the right moment to strike.


    This duel ended abruptly. It was not certain why Chu Yangjin changed his mind. He only said, ¡®I¡¯m taking my leave¡¯, before leaping up onto the roof and vanishing.


    Gu Shenwei turned his head and saw that a window on the third story of the Joy Pavilion was open. He was very certain that the window had been closed.


    Gu Shenwei felt that his Internal Breath was not running smoothly. Upon using the Death Scripture sword craft, one had to focus all of their concentration, and once this state reached its peak but was not released, it would cause great harm to one¡¯s body. He had faced qigong deviation because of this before, andtely he had been in situations where he should have struck but did not make his move.


    In between his Baihui and Xuanji pressure points, there were still two portions of Peripheral Force which were not broken through over these few months. Gu Shenwei hoped that they would notplicate matters at this juncture.


    Gu Shenwei left the man in heavy makeup a silver ingot, and left Hope Alley with ve Jing and Xu Xiaoyi in tow. He had gotten important information, but, instead of answering his questions, the doubts in his heart had increased.


    To think that a Marquis would have requested for money from a female master from the Stone Castle, and even got what he wished for once. Gu Shenwei could not fathom the logic behind it, and even suspected thatmandant Zhong Heng had made use of him again. The leads given by that old fox were all given for a reason.


    The leads that he could chase down had be much fewer, but he was only a small half step away from the truth.


    Gu Shenwei was full of deep thoughts, and even two incidents of machetemen fights which he encountered on the way back did not manage to draw his attention. It was until when they were near the stronghold of the Kun Society, and the shouts and screams came in from afar, that he reacted, dismissing Xu Xiaoyi and sprinting with ve Jing back towards the residence.


    The battle of thergest scale between both the Kun and Horned Dragon Societies was in progress.


    The battle took ce in an unnamed alley, and the attacking party was the Horned Dragon Society. Hundreds of machetemen swarmed forth, wave upon wave pushing forward. Fifth Young Master Meng must have made a tempting offer of reward to be able to cause his men to willingly sacrifice their lives and be undaunted by danger. When every enemy was struck down, they had to follow the practice of the Stone Castle and decapitate the opponent.


    The path back to the stronghold was blocked, and both killers leapt up onto the roof to join the fray.


    Unless one¡¯s hand was forced, experienced killers and machetemen would never willingly jump into the heart of a battle, it was too crowded in there, and no matter how good one¡¯s kung fu was, there would be no space to unleash it. They ran around the surroundings and only picked off the stragglers, acting as if they were predators hunting arge pack of prey. They retreated once they had seeded, and killed far more using this method than those unproficient machetemen who were shouting until they had be hoarse.


    This was a mass melee that no one could control, and there were only a few machetemen left who were struggling to maintain the machete formation that Tuo Nengya had trained them in. The others were trapped and surrounded.


    The battle continuedte into the night. But none of thenterns were lit in the South City because it was the 15th day of the first month of the Lunar Calendar, when there was a full moon.


    More than a hundred corpses were left strewn on the streets. The merchants of the South City did not open their stores for business for three consecutive days, and every family had shut and locked their doors. No matter whether it was night or day, there was hardly anyone to be found on the street and, all of a sudden, the bustling South City had turned into a ghost town.


    Gu Shenwei had released his long pent up killing desire, making a few ghosts out of his saber, but he had also lost an importantpanion. What he gained could not offset what he had lost.


    ve Jing was dead.


    (Please keep and give suggestions)

 Chapter 166

    Chapter 166: Sword Injuries


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    ve Jing had died due to a flurry of blows. There were wounds all over his body, but his head was left intact miraculously.


    He should have stayed with ve Huan. It was unknown to him where they lost contact with each other. There was murder everywhere, be it the roof or the ground. Enemies kept popping up out of nowhere. When Gu Shenwei noticed that ve Jing was missing, it was already dark and there was no way to look for him again.


    ve Jing became the second killer to die while under the Tenth Young Master¡¯smand.


    On the surface, it seemed like the Horned Dragon Society had suffered greater losses, as they had over a hundred casualties. However, that was only a quarter of their total strength. Even though the Kun Society had only 50 or so dead, it was about half of all their machetemen.


    After this cruel battle, both parties found it difficult to hire any more machetemen. There were even some that left without a word, even though they had been hired. Some of them didn¡¯t even want to receive their sry for that month before they left.


    Their lives were more important than money.


    This time, everyone could predict the final winner. Even though it was difficult to hire new machetemen, the Horned Dragon Society could still make up for their shortfall with the riches of the Meng family. The Kun Society, however, was running out of silver. Even if Tie Hanfeng¡¯s entire inheritance was used, there was no way topete with the enemy.


    This was the first time Gu Shenwei felt truly alienated.


    Although the oue of this huge battle was not something that ve Huan could change, he, as the leader of the society, went missing and was nowhere to be seen at such a crucial time. He joined the battle halfway through and the killer he led into battle was also killed, all of which would be imperfections in his record that he could not hide.


    The killers maintained their distance from him. The machetemen no longer trusted him. Even the Xu siblings panicked when they heard the news. They remained respectful on the surface but had started to secretly umte their silver. If the Kun Society suffered a crushing defeat in the end, they had to spend money to look for new backing.


    Maid Lotus was the only who remained unaffected by outside forces. She even expressed her concern that there might be a plot leading to ve Jing¡¯s death, even before ve Huan could say anything, saying, ¡°ve Jing wasn¡¯t known to be rash, how could he have jumped into the fray just to be cut down by so many blows?¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew more than anyone else that the circumstances leading to ve Jing¡¯s death were unclear, but he still held himself ountable. He had known that ve Jing¡¯s life was hanging by a thread. ve Jing was a key figure in uncovering the truth, yet he had not stuck around closely to guard ve Jing.


    The most difficult hurdle to ovee was to visit the North City and meet Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Yushi stood beside the Tenth Young Master. She took part in the battle and knew what went down. However, she did not criticise ve Huan¡¯s performance, which was a very rare urence. She was smart. She knew what to say and what not to say.


    ¡°Why was there not a hint of information before? We were caughtpletely unaware.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had no exnation to Shangguan Ru¡¯s query. Even though there was no clear segregation of duties, intelligence had always been his responsibility. By being unaware of such arge scale attack by the Horned Dragon Society, he had failed to carry out his duty.


    ¡°It¡¯s my fault. Your subject knows that he is guilty. Please punish me as you see fit, Tenth Young Master.¡±


    Gu Shenwei could only admit to his mistake. This made him extremely frustrated, as he knew that there was a conspiracy behind all these incidents. However, he could not produce any evidence nor bring the matter up, as Shangguan Ru would have felt that he was trying to frame Master Yu.


    This situation brought back memories of the Giant Rock Cliff from a few years back, when Shangguan Yushi tried to assassinate ve Huan. Her methods had be more matured and thoughtful as time passed. She was now more careful of leaving behind any evidence that would indict her for the crime. ve Huan¡¯s opportunities to counter-attack were reducing.


    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. I was too simple-minded. How could I have thought of everything while being in the North City, separated from the situation by a wall and a river?¡±


    Shangguan Ru treated this statement as something a master with a responsible attitude would say, but it felt like utter humiliation to Gu Shenwei.


    Gu Shenwei stayed behind in the North City. He imed that he wanted to meditate on his wrongdoings behind closed doors, but he sneaked out secretly that evening. He went to pay Ye Sng a visit. He had nowhere else to go, and could only try looking for answers from every outlet that he knows of.


    Ye Sng¡¯s residence was situated at a small alley in the North City. Compared to his neighbours, it looked a little shabby. He was a swordsman with no other means of living. He depended entirely upon the financial assistance of his admirers. Therefore, his ie fluctuates with their moods. Luckily, he did not have any special demands nor did he have any peculiar tastes, therefore he managed to stay in the North City for this long.


    Ye Sng sat on a soft couch and the front of his chest was still covered in bandages. His upper body was naked and he ced his long sword beside him. He was one of the few people in the North CIty with the permission to carry a sword.


    Perhaps it was due to the influence of Hope Alley, Gu Shenwei started thinking about Ye Sng¡¯s perfect physique unconsciously. Even someone with no interest in men had to be in awe as well. Even though he was still recovering from his injuries, he looked like he is full of energy. Theyers of bandages seemed like it was only an essory.


    The only old ve of the Ye Family served tea and left in a hurry. It was only then that Ye Sng spoke, ¡°You saved me.¡± There was not a hint of gratitude in his voice. It felt more like sarcasm and indignation.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to repay me. I have my own motives, and I wish to know who it was that tried to kill you.¡±


    It was as though Ye Sng had not heard what the killer said. Ye Sng stared at him without moving, and said, ¡°I¡¯m a swordsman, not a killer. No matter what you think, I have to pay you back with a life.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had lived in the Stone Castle for far too long. He had nearly forgotten that there were another set of rules which were different from that of killers¡¯. ¡°There¡¯s no need to pay me back with a life. I have no use for that. Tell me who wished to kill you, and we¡¯ll be even.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my business. What does it have to do with you?¡±


    ¡°Whether or not it has anything to do with me, say it and we¡¯ll know.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve heard much about you. You like to stick your nose up the affairs of others, and this isn¡¯t what a Golden Roc killer should be like. I¡¯ll repay the favor of you saving my life, but how I repay it is up to me.¡±


    As the master had made an order to chase away the visitor, Gu Shenwei took his leave. He circled around the outside, and returned to the entrance of the alley. After waiting for a while, he saw the old servant of the Ye Residence walking out, carrying antern and limping into a grand mansion through the side gate.


    The grand mansion was the Meng¡¯s residence. In the spur of the moment, Gu Shenwei wanted to sneak into the mansion to check it out. After some consideration, he gave up. He was not carrying a weapon with him and could not extricate himself from any trap. Furthermore, it was not a good idea to break into houses in the North City. Once this was discovered, the Golden Roc Fort would not spare him from any punishment.


    Gu Shenwei turned around and returned to the Ye Residence. The door to the yard had only been partially closed, and he went in uninvited.


    Ye Sng was practising his swordy in the yard. When the cold moonlight shone on his wless skin, it looked as though an aura of a young deity was emanating from him. It seemed like the aura had grown three heads and six arms, and was wielding countless long swords.


    Gu Shenwei watched silently; this was not a sword that has been crafted to kill, yet one would still be enraptured by it.


    Ye Sng sheathed his long sword and removed the bandages from his chest, saying, ¡°This isn¡¯t the first time that I¡¯ve been injured.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it sooner orter.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s body bore countless scars of various sizes. Every one of them was more ghastly than those on the swordsman.


    ¡°I have a lot of things to get used to. This world has already been turned upside down. My most loyal servant reports my every action to some rich person, yet a killer is trying his hardest to find out who tried to kill me. Do you know? All of this disgusts me, you and my servant.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see your purple cape.¡± Gu Shenwei said casually, with no intention of entering into a debate about what the world was supposed to be like with the swordsman.


    ¡°Cape?¡±


    ¡°Yes, cape. I saw someone in the South City, who loves the color purple just like you. I think¡­¡±


    Ye Sng demonstrated another type of swordsmanship. Without seemingly moving his body, he came face to face with the killer. The long sword pierced into the killer¡¯s chest by about an inch. With just a little more force, he could have killed this irritating youth. ¡°Shut up!¡± The swordsman¡¯s face was malevolent and had lost all its god-like lustre from earlier.


    Gu Shenwei looked down upon the sword which had pierced his chest and said, ¡°This isn¡¯t the first time that I¡¯ve been injured.¡±


    Ye Sng retracted his sword, and said with a face full of scorn and disgust, ¡°You should count yourself lucky that I¡¯m a swordsman, and that this is the North City. Sooner orter I¡¯ll repay you with a life, and then kill you myself.¡±


    ¡°Just like killing Marquis Gao?¡±


    Once he spoke, Gu Shenwei knew that he had made a very incorrect guess. Ye Sng lifted his head, which made his already tall stature to grow taller. The youth in front of him seemed like a primary school student who was guilty of something. He said, ¡°You¡¯re a killer right to the bone, and will never understand what it means to be a swordsman. A swordsman may kill, and may even kill for profit, but will never kill someone behind their backs.¡±


    How could Gu Shenwei have understood what it meant to be a swordsman? He had only known a few swordsmen, and even so they all appeared within these few days. He said, ¡°Lately, I¡¯ve seen many who have died under a sword, and every single case was an assassination.¡±


    As long as there was no mention of the purple-d man from the South City, Ye Sng could keep his emotions under better control. He lowered his long sword, and there was even a faint smile appearing across his lips. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen his wounds, but I know that Marquis Gao wasn¡¯t killed by a swordsman.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not immediately catch the hidden meaning of this statement, and said, ¡°Many have confirmed that the wounds on Marquis Gao¡¯s body were caused by a sword, and you said it yourself before.¡±


    ¡°They were sword wounds, but not the doing of a swordsman.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was enlightened all of a sudden. The type of kung fu that he was most well versed in was sword craft, but he knew very little about the sword craft which exists in the world. Even though Zhang Ji had loaned him many swordbooks, they were all useless. He had never studied them in detail. Therefore, his knowledge was far more shallowpared to this famous swordsman, Ye Sng.


    That¡¯s right, someone who kills with a sword does not necessarily need to be a swordsman. Gu Shenwei now understands where his error in deduction came from. Many issues now made sense to him, but there were still a few details that remained unclear to him.


    ¡°So was that why you identified me as the murderer?¡±


    ¡°Not entirely. Marquis Go was a good friend of mine. I have a duty to avenge his death. As for seeking you out for a duel, it was because someone wanted your head. I¡¯ve said that a swordsman would also kill for money.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was very sure that he knew who was it that wanted ve Huan¡¯s head. ¡°What about the assassin in the Rouge Forest? Was he not a true swordsman as well?¡±


    ¡°You still refuse to let go of this matter. That man is a swordsman, and an expert who is hard to find. However, he is no match for me, and I¡¯ll seek my own revenge. This has nothing to do with you.¡±


    The old servant of the Ye Residence pushed the door open and entered the yard. He was shocked to see his master standing at the yard with his sword. He immediately bowed down and said, ¡°Fourth Master, you¡¯re not asleep yet?¡±.


    Ye Sng nodded, while looking at the old servant who was quivering as he entered the house. His heart was filled with hatred for the entire Jade City.


    Gu Shenwei returned to the residence in the North City. Shangguan Ru was still awake, and she asked him about his day¡¯s progress.


    ¡°I have some leads. I think everything will be made known in a few days¡¯ time.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not wish to divulge all of the information to the Tenth Young Master. The next day, he returned to the South City. Firstly, he ordered the Xu siblings to gather information on Chu Yangjun from the Hope Alley. After that, he called for Maid Lotus. This was the onlypanion that he could trust, and he had to remind her that danger was near.


    ¡°Be aware of Wildhorse. Marquis Gao, Zhou Huan, ve Yuan and ve Jing were all killed by him. His next target would either be you or me.¡±


    (Please keep and give suggestions)

 Chapter 167

    Chapter 167: The Praying Mantis


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Marquis Gao, Zhou Huan, ve Jing, and ve Yuan were all murdered by a killer. This was a pretty obvious fact. But because of their sword wounds, this fact was ignored.


    Swords and daggers were simr, and a top-rate macheteman would not be weaker by using a sword. Moreover, there was not a single master among the four who were dead.


    Wildhorse had already thrown in with Shangguan Yushi. His hatred for the ¡°Tattooed Arm Gang¡± had never diminished.


    Gu Shenwei gradually understood Master Yu¡¯s entire n. Unless ve Huan and Maid Lotus all died under the sword, all the suspicions would fall on Ye Sng. Moreover, there was also Chu Yangjun to consider. Who would believe that a swordsman would not also like assassination? The Golden Roc Fort¡¯s Shangguan Ru would definitely not believe this.


    But Gu Shenwei still had a few unresolved issues. For instance, who was the assassin of Rouge Forest? That person¡¯s swordcraft was excellent, and it couldn¡¯t have been faked by Wildhorse. Also, how did Master Yu actually contact the Horned Dragon Society? Why did he need to give Marquis Gao money?


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t have a lot of time to decipher these matters. Master Yu and Wildhorse¡¯s ns were to begin.


    This n was indeed of ingenious design. On the surface, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus seemed to be ¡°walking into the devil¡¯sir¡± on their own ord.


    A macheteman received the news that Horned Dragon Society¡¯s Machete God Huang Shi¡¯an was still a gambler. Every two or three days, he would visit the casino called ¡°Thousand Eyes¡± for a bout.


    Gu Shenwei was still responsible for collecting intelligence. Hence, such news was automatically reported to him. He then had to journey to North City to pass valuable information to Shangguan Ru.


    The first assassination attempt of Huang Shi¡¯an had been organised by ve Huan. Because of his failure, he had to fight to secure the second operation.


    ve Huan and Master Yu had a small dispute before the Tenth Young Master. In the end, Shangguan Ru still gave the task to ve Huan. This was because ve Huan needed tond a perfect operation to restore his reputation and status in Kun Society.


    To outsiders, ve Huan¡¯s suspiciousness seemed to reach the level of paranoia. Apart from Maid Lotus, he refused any other helpers. Even the preliminary reconnaissance had been done by two people following in secret. In other words, no one was allowed to know the details of this assassination.


    Even so, Gu Shenwei was a hundred percent certain that he and Maid Lotus were walking into a wellid trap. Killers understood killers, and their assassination ns were sure to be anticipated by Wildhorse.


    This time though, he wanted to be prepared for battle.


    On the third day of intelligence gathering, everything was going as nned. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus entered the North City in the evening. After visiting the Tenth Young Master, he expressed his doubts. ¡°This is a trap and I suspect that Maid Lotus is the target.¡±


    Shangguan Ru sat cross-legged on the soft couch, an expression of serious contemtion. Gu Shenwei could not help but think that this expression did not suit the young girl before him. She was too young, and was used to being pampered. She had no experience in living through the cruelties of war. She would not know about how to handle such aplicated situation properly.


    But Shangguan Ru used the oldest trick in the book to end the bitter rivalry between Master Yu and ve Huan. However, she did not know that any civility on the surface had already been shattered. Their struggle had not only destabilized their masters¡¯ position, but also destroyed the very foundation of Kun Society from the inside.


    Unless one of them died.


    ¡°Do you still believe Kun Society has a hidden traitor?¡±


    ¡°Yes. This night, the person who will attack Maid Lotus is a hidden traitor.¡±


    ¡°Who do you suspect? I know you have someone in mind.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I believe it¡¯s one of the killers. Someone held on to their grudge since the apprenticeship days.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was very careful not to mention Master Yu. He believed it was the same for Shangguan Yushi as well. The rivalry between the two was intense, even as they looked amicable on the outside.


    Shangguan Ru breathed a sigh of relief. She had been afraid that ve Huan would suspect Master Yu. This way, no matter whether the suspicion was true or false, she would have to make a choice between the two. If it was a case of hatred between killers, she could uphold justice without the slightest hesitation.


    As such, the matter was settled. ve Huan and Maid Lotus went on their assassination operation as nned. At the same time, they were to catch the hidden traitor.


    The two, dressed in ck and wearing ck masks, left straight from North City. They did not travel the usual route but jumped over the high walls. Then, they crossed the frozen river, walking towards South City. Meanwhile, the killer, grasping a sword and dagger in each hands, readied himself, having waited in anticipation for so long.


    Judging from the sole act of assassination itself, the operation seemed simple.


    Huang Shi¡¯an was a gambler through and through. The intelligence that Gu Shenwei had collected from various channels all suggested that before Machete God had be famous, he was already fond of gambling. This was why he had not received the favour of his patrons in the past.


    Thousand Eyes was located in Chengdong. This was a casino protected by the Horned Dragon Society. It was not far from the base camp and was very safe.


    Huang Shi¡¯an often went to this betting arena, bringing seven to eight machetemen. He liked the bustle, and liked to cheer on the crowds.


    Gu Shenwei knew that this trap wasn¡¯t entirely mere spection. From Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s intelligence, he knew that the Machete God had been going to the Thousand Eyes almost everyday. He had even be bolder in cing his bets. ¡°In less than ten days, this betting arena would collect tens of thousands of silver. Tens of thousands! My God, these people arepletely immersed in the game.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought immediately of the ¡°rice and flour trade¡± game which the great Protector Sack Zhou yed. This was a game when the silver was transferred from the left to the right hand. Horned Dragon Society used this method to attract the attention of Kun Society without spending a single cent.


    There was a small alley opposite Thousand Eyes and Huang Shi¡¯an would travel down this particr street after betting, heading for home. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had watched for three consecutive days, and both agreed that this was the best spot for an ambush.


    The n was this: Gu Shenwei would perch on the rooftop of a house in the alley and would use his advantage of higher ground to ambush the people below using bow and arrow. Once spotted by the enemy he was to escape immediately. The men of Horned Dragon Society would definitely jump atop the roof to give chase and Huang Shi¡¯an¡¯s kung fu greatly surpassed all the others. About eight or nine would run to the front where Maid Lotus would ambush them in the middle of the road. When Huang Shi¡¯an passed by, she would kill him with one blow of the sword without intercepting the others.


    However, this method of assassination was not foolproof. Its sess depended highly upon the enemy¡¯s reaction. However, it allowed them to avoid traps on the ground.


    Maid Lotus set up her ambush. Gu Shenwei went alone to the alleyway, watching the main door of the Thousand Eyes from the rooftop, crouched on all fours.


    After a quarter of an hour, Huang Shi¡¯an and seven machetemen appeared together. From their expressions, one could hardly tell the odds of victory. Machete God looked happy as always. Even if he¡¯d just lost an entire month¡¯s worth of sry, he would not be scowling.


    Gu Shenwei was going to go ahead with his second n. Assassination was secondary. Catching the hidden traitor was the key objective tonight.


    He used the snow on the roof to build a figure of a man crouching on fours. He covered it with a ck coat and left his bow and arrow there. In the darkness, bending as low as he could, he circled back to where Maid Lotus was supposed toy her ambush.


    This was what the two agreed on. From Gu Shenwei¡¯s current position, it didn¡¯t matter if the enemy¡¯s target was ve Huan or Maid Lotus, he would be able to find out.


    The praying mantis catches the cicada but the yellow finch lies in wait behind it. Only now, a praying mantis had run to the back of the yellow finch.


    The machetemen of the Horned Dragon Society¡¯s heartyughter floated through the silent night, and Huang Shi¡¯an¡¯s throatyughter could be heard from afar.


    If Gu Shenwei was that finch, he would have chosen to strike the moment the assassination operation of Machete God was in y. That was the moment when ve Huan and Maid Lotus were concentrating intently and neglecting their backs.


    The killer appeared. Approaching Maid Lotus from the other direction, it appeared as a vague dark silhouette, but Gu Shenwei could still recognise the distinct traits of the killer from the Golden Roc Fort. In the East Castle, he had observed the apprentices¡¯ movements in the countless dark times and was extremely familiar with their actions.


    This killer did not hide his tracks deliberately but moved quickly. Gu Shenwei sized this person up quickly: he was dressed in all ck, masked, and carried a knife and a sword under his waist.


    It was exactly the same as ve Huan¡¯s.


    It was he who had killed ve Yuan and ve Jing, having dressed up as one of their most trusted men. Even if the resemnce was notplete, it was still hidden by the darkness.


    There was no time to wait. Gu Shenwei¡¯s priority was Maid Lotus¡¯ safety.


    Two ¡°ve Huan¡± stood facing each other. No one moved. They were stupefied by this incident.


    In the alley below, Machete God and hispanions could be heard, their voices getting louder and louder. They were probably wondering why the expected assassination had not happened.


    ¡°That¡¯s him?¡± Maid Lotus asked from her position.


    The two ¡°ve Huan¡± nodded at the same time. Immediately, as one of them made an attack, the other pulled out his sword, someone who did not know machete skills would have found these two killers exceedingly weak. They kept trading straight blows. These moves were too simple and unsophisticated.


    However, in this match, the oue had already been decided. One of the men¡¯s hands was severed and it fell with his saber onto the ground. With a moan, he turned to the east and ran.


    Machetemen in the alley pricked up their ears at the sound. Someone shouted, ¡°There¡¯s an assassin!¡± Numerous shadows quickly jumped onto the rooftop, chasing after the man in ck.


    The plot to assassinate Huang Shi¡¯an had lost its meaning. Gu Shenwei nodded his head, and with Maid Lotus, ran West, in the opposite direction of fake ve. The two had nned their escape route way in advance and quickly ditched their pursuers.


    ¡°Are you not going to chase him?¡± Maid Lotus was a little surprised.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. If he is truly a killer, there¡¯s only one ce he can go.¡±


    The killers of the Tenth Young Master all lived in the stronghold of the Kun Society in the South City. Fake ve Huan had lost a hand and it was only natural that he sought help from his master. Running east was only a trick to hide his true destination.


    Gu Shenwei believed it must have been Shangguan Yushi who had given the order, and the person who had lost his hand must be Wildhorse.


    Even though ve Huan¡¯s machete skills had improved greatly with the help of the ¡°Death Scripture¡±, Wildhorse¡¯s machete skills wereparable. He had only slipped in that unexpected encounter, losing his momentum.


    The two men in ck returned to theKun Society stronghold. They did not enter immediately, but waited on a roof in the South. One monitored what was above, and the other watched the ground.


    The entrance and exits of the Kun Society¡¯s stronghold were in the East, but the killers never took that route in the night. They would always circle around to the south.


    Almost four more days had passed when a dark shadow stumbled out.


    The two watchmen waited until the target entered the courtyard. They waited for a little more before entering and quickly made for the bedroom of Master Yu.


    Shangguan Yushi might have been wide awake or might have just been extremely alert. The two men in ck had only just arrived at the door when it flew open, a saber in hand. She asked loudly: ¡°You two. Where is the Machete God¡¯s head?¡±


    Maid Lotus tore off her mask, saying: ¡°It¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°Tenth Young Master!¡± Shangguan Yushi cried out hoarsely, and loosened her grip on the saber.


    ¡°There really is a mole. He¡¯s injured and has just returned. Let¡¯s ferret him out now.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stood silently in the corner, waiting to see how Master Yu would reply. It would be strange if Wildhorse was not hiding in her house.


    And it really was strange.

 Chapter 168

    Chapter 168: An Appointment


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Shangguan Ru insisted on catching the traitor by herself. After two had been killed, she only had a total of ten subordinates left. She needed to know exactly who was responsible for this. Was it due to ve Huan¡¯s ineffectiveness, or did one of her men do it?


    She had note to doubt Master Yu. She only wished to root out the traitor with her best friend.


    ¡°Yes?¡± Shangguan Yushi¡¯s answered, voice wavering. He went out of the room, turning and closing the door behind him. ¡°Who is it?¡±


    When Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Ru had entered the house, they had deliberately not hidden their tracks. Soon enough, patrolling machetemen discovered them. Tuo Nengya ran over immediately. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a hidden traitor in the house. He has lost a hand and sealed all the exits, until¡­¡± Gu Shenwei rushed to give orders. He had to ensure that the man in Master Yu¡¯s house would not escape. But the words died on his lips when Wildhorse himself appeared.


    Wildhorse. His towering forehead and eyes spread so widely apart. Traits so distinctive that no one else could pretend to be him. Once Tuo Nengya had appeared, even if he only had half a tongue left, his hands and feet were still intact.


    Gu Shenwei felt bewildered for the moment.


    But he was not entirely wrong. Especially for Shangguan Ru, she had only heard a part of the guess. It turned out that ve Huan had guessed most urately.


    Wildhorse brought in a man dressed in ck. His palm was severed, and his mask was lifted, revealing a visage of pain.


    ¡°ck snake!¡± The Tenth Young Master and Master Yu cried in unison.


    Gu Shenwei quickly realized where he had gone wrong.


    ck Snake was not always been called ck Snake. During the apprenticeship killings, he had stood with the ¡°Snow Mountain Gang¡± led by Wildhorse. In order to express his loyalty, he had cut off half of his tongue voluntarily, changed his name, and kept in line with other members.


    ck Snake was a master but for reasons unknown, he had never earned Wildhorse¡¯splete trust. Gu Shenwei believed this to be Wildhorse¡¯s trick. Keeping his men at an arm¡¯s length, he could ensure that men like ck Snake would be more loyal and hardworking.


    The connection that had been clear at first now became blurred. Gu Shenwei thought that Master Yu must be the mastermind, but the evidence he had collected had suddenly be useless.


    Wildhorse went down on one knee and made a series of gestures.


    Shangguan Ru did not understand this signnguage. Master Yu exined, ¡°ck Snake confessed. He had liked Maid Lotus but was rebuffed. So, he wanted to kill her to exact revenge. ve Huan probably heard of this matter?¡±


    With a casually said a word, Shangguan Yushi reversed the situation and put Gu Shenwei in an awkward spot.


    This had originally a ploy to trap the traitor, but turned out to be a decoy used by ve Huan to get rid of his rival in love.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. He said nothing and epted this failure.


    ck Snake knelt down, first kowtowing to Wildhorse. Wildhorse ignored him. He then made a kowtow to the Tenth Young Master, andter pulled out the saber he always carried. Plunging it into his heart, he ended his own life.


    No one stopped him. No matter the reason behind assassinating Maid Lotus, his actions had warranted the death penalty.


    ck Snake had been willing to die for Wildhorse. Gu Shenwei was even slightly jealous. He was not able to find someone like that. Even if it was for Maid Lotus, he would not have been able to make such a sacrifice so easily.


    ¡°Perhaps these things did not have any meaning,¡± Gu Shenwei thought. ¡°ck Snakehad was loyal, but he still died. To him, Wildhorse no longer meant anything.¡±


    After the operation to find the traitor had hastily been tied up, Gu Shenwei felt that the Tenth Young Master was almost reluctant to expand the scope of looking for the spy.


    Shangguan Ru stayed in Master Yu¡¯s house for the night. Early the next morning, under the protection of about ten machetemen, she returned to the North City. Before leaving, she summoned ve Huan privately. Because of that, Gu Shenwei knew that the n to find the mole was still on.


    ¡°Continue to pursue the matter. Keep a watch on Wildhorse.¡±


    Shangguan Ru had notpletely believed ck Snake¡¯s confession. Thisforted Gu Shenwei a little. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°I was at the scene. We all know that the Horned Dragon Society had made ns for this assassination. ck Snake and Wildhorse did not exin this matter clearly.¡±


    This was a secret order. Shangguan Ru forbid ve Huan from revealing this secret to any outsiders. ¡°Perhaps you could ask Maid Lotus to let her help you.¡± Shangguan Ru winked, smiling slyly.


    Even as they had gained the trust of the Tenth Young Master , the events that followed were extremely puzzling. The operation to hunt down the ve had already revealed ve Huan¡¯s vignce. Gu Shenwei believed that for a short period of time, Master Yu would not be making any moves.


    Gu Shenwei did not have any evidence. People close to him were dying off one by one. Unless Master Yu and Wildhorse exposed themselves voluntarily, he had no means of uncovering their plot.


    He told Maid Lotus everything. After discussing it amongst themselves, they ultimately decided to wait patiently. Master Yu¡¯s hatred for ve Huan, and Wildhorse¡¯s hatred for the Tattooed Arm Gang would not be so easily extinguished. The two will definitely take action again.


    At present, the two were more worried about the situation in the South City.


    The Kun Society was now in shambles. Merchants who were not loyal had gradually distanced themselves from Kun Society and started to betray the society. They presented their protection fees to the Horned Dragon Society, and under the Tenth Young Master¡¯s name, the territory began to shrink day by day. In the end, only a small territory in the West remained. The whole territory in the East only had the cksmith Vige and the rice and flour noodle shop that had not publicly admitted the protectors¡¯ failure.


    The number of fleeing machetemen increased. Their numbers dwindled to below thirty. Most of the devoted members were the machetemen led by Tuo Nengya.


    To make matters worse, one day, near the end of the month, Ye Sng entered the South City.


    Ye Sng had recovered from his injury long ago. It was told that he had shut his door for days and repeatedly asked himself why he had not been able to avoid the surprise attack. After everything had be clear, he crossed the checkpoint between the North and South cities, carrying his sword. He had not set off for the base camp of the Horned Dragon Society but had rented a little house here. He lived alone without his servants.


    Then, he challenged killer Yang Huan to a match that would take ce in the South City. There would be no time limit, which meant killing could take ce as soon as they met.


    Everyone regarded this challenge as the Horned Dragon Society¡¯sst deration of a general attack. The death of the killer Yang Huan would spell the tragic failure of the Kun Society.


    But Ye Sng would spare Yang Huan in order to repay his opponent sparing his life at Rouge Forest. ¡°I¡¯ll give him a chance to kill me. He can use any means and I¡¯ll spare his life.¡±


    Killer Yang Huan did not respond. He seemed to be struck with fear. The machetemen hiding behind him did not dare to engage the fight and did not show his face for several days.


    Gu Shenwei could only tell Maid Lotus the truth. ¡°I¡¯m not his opponent.¡±


    Both he and Ye Sng had three opportunities for attack. Each time, however, it eroded his confidence. Ye Sng¡¯s swordcraft and ¡°Death Scripture¡± was different. It was not as lethal, not as borate but equally wless. Gu Shenwei had tried seeking out the ¡°energy flowing through all living things¡± in his enemies but this time, it was useless. Ye Sng had too few ws, and they disappeared too quickly. He could not catch them.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t consider yourself his opponent, then you truly aren¡¯t.¡±


    Having practised the same kung fu, Maid Lotus understood ve Huan¡¯s weakness. The swordcraft of Death Scripture required the swordman¡¯splete confidence in his skills. As long as his heart was not strong, his power would diminish greatly. The perfect scenario was achieved when the one wieldning the sword did not even know what he had done when he was killing. Just as Gu Shenwei had unwittingly dug the big hole in the snow, he could not even reduplicate such a feat.


    If they were to start attacking the instant they met, winning would have toe without any preparation. The Death Scripture and the world¡¯s kung fu were pr opposites. For the Death Scripture, ironically, the less you understood your enemy, the greater the chances you had of winning.


    ¡°He must have a weak point.¡± Gu Shenwei tried to persuade himself. ¡°The assassins of Rouge Forest once managed to attack him when he was distracted.¡±


    However, Ye Sng imed that he had already thought of how to deal with any sudden attacks. Gu Shenwei could not feign ignorance.


    ¡°Then there¡¯s only one way. You get his attention. I¡¯ll attack.¡±


    Apart from Gu Shenwei, no one had seen Lotus Maid use her sword. No one knew how advanced her kung fu was or believed she could use her swordcraft. Her attack would hence be devastatingly unexpected.


    But Gu Shenwei was also struck with a thought. ¡°Your swordcraft is slightlycking. What if he has truly found a way to deal with the opponent?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t undermine my confidence.¡± Maid Lotus smiled. ¡°How do Ipare with the assassin in Rouge Forest?¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought carefully. ¡°You¡¯re stronger than him. Actually,e to think about it, that assassin¡¯s swordcraft was truly simr to ours.¡±


    ¡°Then it¡¯s fine! The assassin will use a surprise attack to ambush Ye Sng, and I¡¯ll be able to kill him.¡±


    But Gu Shenwei was still reassured. ¡°No, I¡¯ve thought of how Ye Sng might stop the attack.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a master who protects him in secret.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was bothered that he had not thought about Chu Yangjun earlier. That swordsman who liked the colour purple. He was definitely the one secretly protecting Ye Sng from attacks.


    ¡°Even still, its worth taking a risk. Anyway, you have a ¡®chance¡¯.¡±


    ¡°But you don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°If you die, I would die too.¡±


    ¡°Gu Shenwei never understood the meaning in Maid Lotus¡¯ words. It was as though she was expressing her love, but her tone was as nd as water. Perhaps she was pointing out an obvious fact: Wildhorse would act quickly after ve Huan¡¯s death, swiftly removing the second top figure of the former ¡°Tattooed Arm Gang¡±.


    ¡°No, none of us will die.¡± Gu Shenwei was suddenly filled with confidence even though he could not tell why. He had faith in the ¡°Divine Will¡± that had brought him thus far.


    Xu Xiaoyi brought the message of Chu Yangjun, an illustrious swordsman. Since the age of ten, he had served Peng Xianren at Joy Pavilion. Until now, he seldom left Hope Alley, where people respected him, not for his kung fu but because of his proximity to Immortal Peng.


    That was all most knew about Chu Yangjun.


    Xu Xiaoyi had never heard about the meeting between Chu Yangjun and Ye Sng. Neither had Gu Shenwei asked him to specifically inquire about it.


    But Xu Xiaoyi had heard of Ye Sng¡¯s challenge and this time, unlike the others, he was confident in Brother Huan. ¡°Ye Sng¡¯s here to die. Too bad there¡¯s no one here to gamble with me. I would ce all my bets on you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s rare for you to put your trust in me.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget. You know how to use the sword.¡± Xu Xiaoyi whispered mysteriously. Gu Shenwei had forgotten that he had once tested his sword skills on Xu Xiaoyi. ¡°But I will not tell anyone. But I assure you, if this gets out, everyone will bet on you.¡±


    ¡°Tell me. I¡¯m most in need of assurance at this juncture.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi held her smile. She peered into the distance, blinking her eyes, as if these very words would reduce ten years of her life. ¡°Immortal Peng once told my fortune but he talked about you. He said that you would win.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi nodded solemnly, as if that fate were already set in stone. Brother Huan¡¯s skills didn¡¯t matter because Gu Shenwei would win anyway.

 Chapter 169

    Chapter 169: Dressed in Red


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei would rather believe in the illusory meaning of the ¡°Will of the Divine¡± than pin his hopes on the fortune teller.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to listen to everything? Immortal Peng said a lot; I¡¯ve written everything down.¡± Brother Huan had an expression of indifference. Xu Xiaoyi became anxious.


    ¡°Next time.¡± Gu Shenwei was not really interested. ¡°Don¡¯t go out and wander about these days. Don¡¯t ask anyone for any information wherever you go. Stay at home.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Xu Xiaoyi jumped off her chair, walking out dejectedly. With a foot out of the door, she turned around and said, ¡°Your sword skills aren¡¯t better than his, but you¡¯ll win the kill.¡±


    This definitely did not sound like something that Xu Xiaoyi cane up with. Immortal Peng might just be a trickster, but he definitely made some sense.


    Gu Shenwei thought for a long time, his confidence gradually being restored. He found Lotus Maid and expressed his own thoughts. ¡°ording to your n, I¡¯ll attract Ye Sng¡¯s attention. You will kill him, but first, you have to kill another person.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°Machete God.¡±


    The sword craft of Death Scripture could only be elevated through countless killings. The higher the skill, the harder it was to find targets. Machete God Huang Shi¡¯an was an ideal target. His skills were high-level, but did notpare with Ye Sng¡¯s. This was like climbing steps- if you could step onto the corpse of the men before you, you¡¯d have a greater chance of killing the men behind you.


    ¡°You could also do it yourself.¡± Maid Lotus understood ve Huan¡¯s intentions so she urged him to take on this rare opportunity.


    ¡°No, my heart isn¡¯t ready. I¡¯ll think of other ways to solve it.¡±


    This was the fifth day when Ye Sng entered the South City to issue his challenge. The two killers made ns to kill Machete God Huang Shi¡¯an for the third time.


    After several hours, Shuang Shi¡¯an sat opposite the Zhuang family. His face revealed a smile. But deep inside, he grew increasingly uncertain. He forgot how much money he had lost. He¡¯d already fallen into the bottomless pit of the Meng family. No amount of loyalty will be able to fill this void. Only life alone can repay all his debts.


    He still remembered his mother¡¯s words to him when he left home. ¡°You only have two items of worth on your body; Your life and your machete skills. So you should never incur debts, especially those that you¡¯ll never be able to return even with your machete skills.¡±


    This was the fate of every macheteman.


    At the throw of every dice, he loses not just his money, but also his life.


    ¡°Earn it back, earn it all back.¡± Machete God prayed in his heart, a smile of indifference painted on his face. He yelled and had a great time with his brothers around him. Boasting became his only source offort. ¡°Come on, flush! Damn, that broken hand. If I weren¡¯t using that to wield my knife, I¡¯d be cutting it down.¡±


    The casino was severely overcrowded. But it was safe. Everyone was screened and Huang Shi¡¯an need not worry about the killers of Kun Society. He was even slightly sorry that he hadn¡¯t even had the time to rue any sess. And the war would soon be over. If he could only carry with him a string of severed heads to meet the Fifth Young Master, he probably wouldn¡¯t have to repay his debts with his life.


    No one gave him this opportunity. Huang Shi¡¯an thought angrily. Even as the Machete God of Jade City, he had not joined many battles. Sitting in arge house surrounded by machetemen every day, his only pleasure came from gambling at Thousand Eyes. asionally, he would be used to attract killers as bait. He felt that all was unfair and unreasonable. He was clearly capable of leading a group of men to storm the Kun Society with pride and kill everyone entirely.


    He was never afraid of any killer.


    Huang Shi¡¯an threw his dice forcefully, cursing Sword Sacrificer Ye Sng under his breath. That shy empty vessel whose skills were just mediocre. How could he have had the guts to go shouting, running into the South City. It was as though no one was a worthy rival of killer Yang Huan and had to wait for him to make the first move. However, even after shouting for a few days, no one saw him approaching Kun Society a single step.


    The smile on Machete God¡¯s face vanished like a deted balloon. He leaned on his chair, closed his eyes, and let darkness engulf him. His brothers were shouting excitedly, but not even these deafening sounds could excite him.


    He then opened his eyes and saw the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life.


    There had never been ack of women in the betting arena. Machete God was somewhat famous. Ten thousand taels, and the Horned Dragon Society¡¯s rich reward had made him the object of many women¡¯s attention.


    He was a normal man. In good spirits after winning big bets, he would spend themvishly on women he liked. Though, this was the first time that he could be moved by a woman after losing a bet.


    The woman was dressed in red, like a piece of gleaming jade in a fiery furnace. Her face was covered with beautiful makeup. Strangely, the same makeup would have appeared gaudy on another woman. On her, it was extraordinary, and even held a whiff of authority.


    That woman in red had just walked into the betting arena, and she had caught everyone¡¯s attention. Men forgot to throw their dices, and the women- they raised their eyebrows, hoping thispetitor would choose her target quickly.


    ¡°Who is she?¡± Many asked softly in unison, shaking their heads in confusion.


    ¡°Old Mrs. Li¡¯s new girl.¡± Someone in the crowd recognized her, but no one knew her name.


    Many brothels in the vicinity woulde to the casino for a gamble- a publicity stunt for their services.


    The shock from the mesmerizing woman was only momentary. This was a betting arena. Everyone knew that no one could be as attractive or mesmerizing as pure gold and silver.


    Even so, the Machete God could not take his eyes off her. Thatdy in red was also looking at him, smiling shyly.


    Other women were relieved. These two were a perfect match. Machete God had better bring her upstairs. That way the rest could continue doing their business.


    Machete God had lost badly tonight. And he lost his usual attractiveness.


    Thatdy in red did not seem to understand her work very well. She stood at the door hesitating. But then she stepped forward, and the next instant, a tipsy brute who has made some winnings for the night rushed out, grabbed her by the waist, and kissed her roughly on the face. He pulled her into his arms, and with a voice that reached everyone in the betting arena, called: ¡°Wine! Money! Woman! I¡¯m going to get all tonight!¡±


    That woman in red was frail and helpless. She could hardly be able to move a single finger of the brute even if she¡¯d wanted to. Clearly, she did not like this customer very much, but she could not refuse. She looked secretly at Machete God, showing him a look of quiet desperation.


    Huang Shi¡¯an turned his head. Machetemen beside him urged him. ¡°Brother. That¡¯s a beautiful flower. Don¡¯t let anyone take that away from you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel lucky tonight. I don¡¯t want to touch any woman.¡± Huang Shi¡¯an said gloomily. He shook his dice in the air for a long before throwing them.


    When he looked up again, that brute and thedy in red had disappeared.


    Machete God felt deted. His luck did not improve.


    Business at the betting arena continued.


    Not long, a strange voice came down from upstairs. Someone was curious and ran up to listen. He came down with a coy smile, and the women in the betting arena smiled in schadenfreude. ¡°She¡¯s just unlucky to have gotten her first customer like Elder Song the Third. I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll be able to stand up properly for several days.¡±


    The sounds grew louder, a booming deep masculine voice apanied with pping sounds. asionally, it was punctuated by a woman¡¯s pleas, and for the people downstairs in the betting arena, such was divine entertainment. Spirits of the gamblers soared, and they ced bigger debts and threw smaller points.


    Huang Shi¡¯an could no longer see the count of the dices. His mind was no longer at the gambling arena, and anger grew in his heart. Finally, it exploded.


    Machete God stood up. He took great strides and plodded up the stairs. ¡°Damn, what¡¯s the noise? How are people going to y like this?¡±


    Everyone stopped. They raised their heads to look at Machete God, waiting for an exciting scene. Machetemen looked at him expectantly, saying, ¡°Beat him up! Throw him out of the window!¡±


    No one thought of helping or protecting Machete God.


    Huang Shi¡¯an raised his legs to kick the door of the room open. He barged in, and in the next moment, there was silence. Fighting sounds erupted and thereafter, one figure flew out from the room, dropping heavily onto the floor down below. The people around him avoided him, only by rolling and crawling away.


    The women shrieked. It was a dead body. Elder Song the Third was covered all over in blood. His eyes were wide-open. Beer, money, women. He did notck anything, but what he had achieved at the end of everything was death.


    ¡°Don¡¯t shout. What¡¯s killing a person to Machete God? If you want revenge, get it from Horned Dragon Society!¡± Machetemen pulled out their daggers, shouting at the crowds. No one dared to breathe a word. The two machetemen lifted the dead body, threw it outside, and the matter was thus ended.


    Elder Song the Third was not any big shot. He was lucky to be dying in Machete God¡¯s hands.


    The betting arena regained normalcy. Dice throwing and flirting continued among the men and women. After half an hour has passed, someone thought of Machete God. ¡°Hey, Machete God is really great tonight. He persisted for such a long time. Usually, he wouldn¡¯t evenst a single minute.¡±


    The machetemen were indifferent at first. Later, he appeared a little puzzled. Someone bold crept up the stairs lightly. A couple walked out of the adjacent room at the same moment. ¡°Go and look at what¡¯s happening inside. It has been quiet for quite a while.¡±


    ¡°Brother God¡­¡± The machetemen knocked on the door. The door was ajar and opened with a single push. Machetemen poked their heads in, and after a single nce, went downstairs immediately. They whispered a few words to theirpanions.


    Four machetemen ran upstairs. They pulled their knives and waited outside the door. They did not let anyone do any snooping and did not answer any questions. The other few men ran out of the betting arena and not long after, brought in more machetemen.


    The curious customers had not even found out what was going on before they were all told to get out of the betting arena. However, in the morning the next day, the customers in betting arena in the night; and even all the residents of Jade City had heard about the assassination of Machete God Huang Shi¡¯an.


    Machete God had died under the de. The assassin was a woman. This embarrassed the Horned Dragon Society and made him aughingstock. Their hard-earned reputation had vanishedpletely in an instant.


    The next unlucky victim was the brothel¡¯s madam, Old Mrs. Li. She kneeled on the ground and swore weakly to a group of sinister machetemen that she had never received any woman dressed in red. She had never seen her, no, absolutely not.


    Machetemen turned the brothel upside down. Several prostitutes were stripped bare and shivered in the winter cold. And after everything returned to peace, Old Mrs. Li fell greatly ill. After her recovery, she joined the Kun Society.


    That night, only two people knew about the details of the assassination. Gu Shenwei looked at a scarcely recognizable Maid Lotus and asked: ¡°Was he a good macheteman?¡±


    Maid Lotus nodded.


    Through the assassination of Machete God Huang Shi¡¯an, Maid Lotus¡¯ swordcraft leveled up. Now, ve Huan needs to improve his skills.

 Chapter 170

    Chapter 170: Last Words


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Maid Lotus demonstrated the numerous assassination techniques she had learned in Carvewood Academy. These were things which Gu Shenwei would never be able to learn, having missed out the first time.


    In addition to kungfu, Carvewood Academy taught ten special arts, including disguise, tracking, interrogation, vocal imitation, etc. The apprentices could choose several of these to practice based on their personal preferences and abilities. Nobody was able to learn every one of them, but neither was there anyone so stupid as to not learn a single skill.


    Though Maid Lotus was not masked, she was practically unrecognizable by virtue of her thick makeup. Gu Shenwei could not believe his eyes, this being the first time he saw her in red clothing.


    It was not only her appearance but also her temperament which had changed. Maid Lotus was a different person in and out; her nce was smooth and her demeanor was as gentle as water. She did not resemble a killer in the least bit.


    ¡°Could this be another of Carvewood Academy¡¯s special arts?¡± Gu Shenwei had to admit that this was a very useful skill. Who would guess that ady of such elegance and beauty would have a lethal de concealed under her skirt?


    Elder Song the Third¡¯s insensibility had nearly ruined the entire assassination n, but it also increased the believability of Maid Lotus¡¯ disguise as a prostitute.


    Once she entered the small room upstairs, Maid Lotus pulled a dagger out from her sleeve and killed the burly man. The subsequent noises would be solely of her doing.


    There was something in the Machete God Huang Shi¡¯an¡¯s eyes which convinced Maid Lotus that he woulde to the rescue of the damsel in distress. That thing was perhaps called ¡°chivalry¡± or ¡°dignity¡±. Or it could purely be his desire to prove his masculinity, just as seen in the fights to the death which male animals would engage in over females.


    Maid Lotus was putting on a one-person show in hopes that her prey would take the bait. If the hero who came forth was not Huang Shi¡¯an but another man, she would be forced to kill yet another innocent person and quickly flee the scene.


    It was the longest fifteen minutes which Maid Lotus ever experienced. She, like ve Huan, was a greenhorn killer. Though she knew she possessed immense strength, she had no idea how thispared to her opponents. As of yet, each sessful battle served to consolidate her self-confidence.


    The Machete God Huang Shi¡¯an came upstairs and pushed open the door. He was taken aback when he discovered the room was not lit.


    ¡°Close the door.¡± A soft female voice ordered from across the room.


    Huang Shi¡¯an closed the door but immediately pulled out his weapon. As an elite macheteman, he was able to perceive danger quickly and urately. His arrogance meant he was unafraid of killers, and certainly not a female one.


    ¡°I hope, in a while, you¡¯ll still have energy for something else.¡±


    These were the final words of the Machete God of Horned Dragon Society. A tide-like mass of killing intent surged from the darkness, choking him and causing his limbs to turn weak.


    However, he was still able to strike out with his machete at the killing intent, which bore down on him like an avnche, so as to cut open a breathing vent for himself.


    Soon, he no longer needed to breathe.


    Knowing that death was imminent after he felt a mild prick that left no wound on his chest, two thoughts shed across his mind: ¡°I don¡¯t even know who this woman is; the debts I owe no longer have to be repaid.¡±


    Maid Lotus was just that little faster than the Machete God. Thetter¡¯s weapon was approximately an inch away from hitting her when her own sword struck him, causing his strength to dissipate in a split second. Pressing against her arm, he copsed on the floor.


    She had not exercised aprehensive means of assassination. After all, she needed the Machete God to attain his best form so that she could make good use of his assassination to elevate her swordcraft.


    Turning her clothing inside out, she became an unidentifiable person wearing a hood and a ck cape. After slicing off his head, she walked out of the room, slowly made her way downstairs while nobody was noticing, and calmly exited the building.


    She did not arouse any suspicions, being dressed in a stylemonly seen in South City. The few drops of blood she dripped were only discovered muchter.


    The story of the female killer in red spread rapidly, yet suspicions never fell on Maid Lotus. Few people in Jade City even knew of her existence. It was the two female masters of the Shangguan family whom everyone suspected instead.


    Shangguan Yushi was first to be suspected of being the iparably beautiful and elegant female killer. However, because she was significantly taller than the killer was described to be, many people¡¯s suspicions shifted towards Shangguan Ru.


    Thetter did not mind being suspected and was even highly intrigued by the affair. Conversely, the former was a little offended. ¡°Would I disguise myself as that sort of woman? I¡­¡±


    She was unable toplete her sentence and express her dissatisfaction further. This was because the methods employed by Maid Lotus were entirely learned from Golden Roc Fort, of which one of the precepts for killers was to use unscrupulous tactics. A person who cared too much about things like dignity and appearance could never be an outstanding killer.


    Without meaning to, the female master of the Shangguan family had let slip that she was not a real killer.


    Many people could smell the storm that was brewing. However, the expected battle between the Kun and Horned Dragon societies did not immediately arise.


    Horned Dragon Society regretted designating the Machete God as a ¡°team¡¯s treasure¡±, and swallowed the bitter pill which was of their own creation. Despite not participating in many battles, Huang Shi¡¯an was the psychological pir of every macheteman of the society. His death struck fear into their hearts such that, for some time, they dared not step outdoors in groups of less than five.


    Although Ye Sng refused to go to war in the name of Horned Dragon Society, he went several times, apanied only by his sword and arge group of tailing busybodies, to Kun Society. Each time, however, he was told that the killer Yang Huan was not around.


    Horned Dragon Society expended a significant amount of effort to find out the whereabouts of ve Huan, through means such as investigation work and bribery. As such, many people who barely had connections with the ve acquired a small fortune overnight, or otherwise were subjected to intimidation by knives and swords. However, the only information which could be certified was that ve Huan was neither in Kun Society nor North City.


    Gu Shenwei, together with Maid Lotus, was actively evading battle and hiding somewhere apart from Kun Society. The Protector of the rice and flour trade, Shopkeeper Mi, had used someone else¡¯s name to rent, for the two killers, a small house on the edge of the city. It was here where they hid while plotting their next step.


    Gu Shenwei had made up his mind. No matter what others thought, he would continue to operate in the dark and would never ept a public challenge. There was no glory attached to the battle with Ye Sng anyway. He was merely a mercenary engaged to remove the thorn in the flesh of Fifth Young Master Meng.


    The reputation of the killer Yang Huan had plummeted to rock bottom. He was, at present, seen as nothing but a dastardly and ipetent weakling who could only preserve his disgraceful existence in a dark corner.


    Gu Shenwei did not exin matters to anyone, or even go to North City to meet Tenth Young Master. He spent his days discussing swordcraft with Maid Lotus, while at night, the two killers took turns to monitor Ye Sng¡¯s residence.


    Gu Shenwei guessed that a Protector was hiding by Ye Sng¡¯s side. This conjecture was confirmed after a few sessive days of observation.


    ¡°His Lightness Skill is great.¡± Maid Lotus made this assessment of Chu Yangjun upon noticing his traces for the first time.


    ¡°You would lose at a contest of swords, but win at a contest of killing.¡± Gu Shenwei repeated this line in a low voice several times. He was already interested in Immortal Peng despite having not met.


    Engaging Chu Yangjun to secretly protect him was the biggest concession which Ye Siling, as a conceited swordsman, had ever made in exchange for his personal security. If no assassins showed up, Chu Yangjun would not reveal himself. The two men considered themselves to be above underhand tricks, and therefore would certainly disapprove of Horned Dragon Society making use of Ye Sng to set a trap.


    Gu Shenwei felt that he himself, along with Maid Lotus, had already won.


    The imminent war between the two societies, which was still taking its time to transpire, had already unnerved the entire South City before it began. Every day in every tavern, there would be gossip based on ¡°conclusive¡± evidence predicting that war would begin as soon as night arrived.


    One of these taverns was only half a street¡¯s distance from Ye Sng¡¯s residence. Squeezed in the middle of a heap of grand-looking brothels and betting arenas, it was inconspicuously squalid and small. There were never many patrons, and it was even emptier during the day. However, in recent days, a return patron had arrived.


    This particr patron would appear in the morning every day. The manager would personally serve him a sk of homebrewed rice wine, a small te of braised peanuts, and a te of cooked beef, always prepared in the same style. Although the portions were notrge, the patron would spend a long time to finish them before returning to his rented room for a short nap. The room was exceptionally tidy and contained nothing save for a bed. The patron would depart in the evening and not return throughout the night, and, on asion, would also disappear for a period of time during the day.


    He was always dressed in a drooping ck robe and kept his face hidden in his hood even when he was eating. He never conversed with anyone, and even the manager did not actively interact with him except for serving up wine and food.


    This person was Chu Yangjun. He would keep guard near Ye Sng every night, and if thetter went outdoors during the day, he would blend in with the following crowd and take note of every slight movement in the vicinity so as to prevent assassins from seeding for the second time.


    He never thought that he himself would be the target of an assassination.


    On the evening of the fifth day of the second lunar month, the streets were packed with people. South City was like a revived giant beast stretching its body and emitting a continuous roar. Chu Yangjun walked towards Ye Sng¡¯s residence, ready to carry out the task which he was most willing and almost too happy to take on.


    As they say, everyone has a face which can change into a totally different one based on how the wind blows, whether from indifferent to warm, joyous to irate, or tender to abhorrent. A particr face was, without warning, about to change into that of a killer.


    A steel dart was shot out from amidst a crowd, tearing a hole in a man¡¯s clothes and brushing past the raised arm of a woman. Both people proceeded on their way as if they did not feel anything.


    Because Chu Yangjun¡¯s body was turned slightly sideways, the dart flew past his cape and struck his scabbard.


    He quickly caught sight of the assassin, who was wearing a simr ck cape. He knew it was a woman because, at the moment when she swung her arm to throw the dart, she revealed a section of her scarlet clothes.


    Chu Yangjun deftly squeezed his way through the crowd and tailed the woman in red from a ten steps¡¯ distance. He was not about to casually admit defeat if someone wanted a contest of Lightness Skill.


    The woman in red skedaddled in varying directions and exhausted every possible means but was not able to shake off her chaser. Thus, she took a few sessive bends and entered an alley which was nearly deserted.


    This was exactly what Chu Yangjun hoped for. He picked up speed and nned to capture the assassin alive within twenty steps.


    The woman in red appeared as if she had unwittingly beenpelled to trap herself in a dead end. Just as it seemed she had nowhere left to hide, she nimbly leaped on to the roof and prepared to scamper off. Chu Yangjun followed her and leaped upwards, but was swiftly met by a sword that came out of nowhere.


    With his soles three feet off the ground, Chu Yangjun knew he had been set up. Remaining calm and undaunted, he leaped up a further three feet and pulled out his long sword. By the time half of his body was above the roof, he had already thrust his sword towards his target. Anyone who thought Chu Yangjun could not strike with his sword at any time would be gravely mistaken.


    When his sword struck its target, he could feel, traveling from its tip, a tremor caused by muscle contractions. It was like thest withered leaf ofte autumnnding on the surface of a calmke ¨C the ripple it caused was barely visible but could continue to travel until it reached the opposite bank.


    The swordsman would not allow the sword he was holding to remain in the enemy¡¯s body. The keeping of his sword was just as important as the thrusting.


    Chu Yangjun¡¯s heart soured, as if the rich red color of a flower he fancied hadpletely faded and brought with it a momentary sense of loss and grief. He rxed his grip on the sword shaft, and, without keeping his sword, he plunged downwards and fell on the dirty snow, which was one of the things he hated most.


    He looked up and saw that the assassin in ck was stood on the rooftop looking back at him. His long sword continued to vacite up and down on the assassin¡¯s chest. Upon identifying thetter as a killer, he revealed a final smile. There was not a trace of resentment on his face, which had be as demure as a housewife¡¯s.


    ¡°Tell Sng to bury me under a peach blossom tree.¡±


    Gu Shenwei heard the swordsman¡¯s dying words but did not see his smile and facial expression.

 Chapter 171

    Chapter 171: Fights of Vengeance


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Chu Yangjun was considerably better at kungfu than the Machete God Huang Shi¡¯an. It was for this reason that Gu Shenwei could only kill him by means of assassination. Even so, the killer was unable to avert a counterblow from the swordsman.


    Thetter¡¯s long sword had sunk deep into the killer¡¯s chest. It would have proved fatal if it went just a little bit deeper.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s swordcraft was elevated in a way he could not describe in words. In essence, his confidence steeply increased and he began to believe himself capable of killing Ye Sng.


    The best time to kill Ye Sng was right now while he was still unaware of his Protector¡¯s death.


    Gu Shenwei wanted to pull the sword out of his chest. However, not only were his arms strengthless, but the sword was too long for him to reach its shaft.


    Maid Lotus ran over, pulled the sword out, and tossed it on the ground. She then tore a little cloth from her skirt to dress the wound. Thanks to her deftness, Gu Shenwei did not lose much blood, albeit his face turned pale. He sat downnguidly, and had no more energy to carry out the second assassination.


    Maid Lotus leaped on to the ground and pulled out her knife, ready to slice off Chu Yangjun¡¯s head.


    ¡°Keep his head intact.¡±


    ve Huan ordered from above. Surprised, Maid Lotus raised her head and took a quick look at the former, but did not challenge his words. Using her saber, she swiftly stabbed the neck of the corpse to erge the tiny yet fatal wound so that nobody could tell that Chu Yangjun died by a sword.


    The two killers made their way back to their hiding ce. Gu Shenweiid down on his bed as soon as he got back, unable to bear the pain any longer. The cloth covering his wound was visibly soaked with blood.


    This was not the most severe injury Gu Shenwei had ever suffered. As such, he was able to maintain consciousness and rationality, and could even smile to express his gratitude while Maid Lotus cleaned his body, applied medication, and redressed his wound. The world in front of his eyes gradually underwent a strange transformation. It felt as though he had been struggling to remain sober under the influence of liquor but eventually yielded to it. Something seemed to click in his brain, causing him to ease his inner tensions and enter an ethereal and ephemeral fantasy world.


    The scenes which Gu Shenwei could remember were few. Some of them were the expected scenes of things, family members, and his old house in the Central in. He could not recall the names of his childhood ymates and other things which he never took much notice of. Thest scene he remembered was a boundless sea of pink and white flowers that glistened under the sun. He guessed that the flowers were peach blossoms.


    Opening his eyes once again, he felt exhausted like never before, as if his Internal Strength and viscera had been entirely hollowed, and all that was left of him was his outer shell.


    Maid Lotus was sat beside him, wiping the sweat from his forehead. Her expressionless face suggested that she had been repeating the same task on a daily basis.


    ¡°What day and time is it?¡±


    ¡°The seventh day of the second lunar month, afternoon.¡±


    He had been unconscious for two days and two nights.


    ¡°What did I say and do while in the unbounded fantasy realm? Did I identally divulge the most important secret?¡± Gu Shenwei felt a sense of anxiety and unconsciously reached his hand to his waist. It was his habit to grasp his knife or sword whenever he was nervous.


    But there was nothing; no knife, sword, or even clothes. The only thing covering his body was ayer of bedding. He felt embarrassed at once. This was not something a killer should mind, but even so, there remained certain things which a killer could not control. From this point of view, the person most suited to being a killer was Tie Hanfeng, for he saw everything as child¡¯s y.


    Maid Lotus, remaining expressionless, ced the towel down. ¡°It¡¯s time for you to get up. Many people are expecting you.¡±


    These frosty words were, in fact, what Gu Shenwei needed to calm down. ¡°I must have said many things which were out of order.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but the only person who would understand what you said is yourself.¡± Maid Lotus gave a dubious response before she stood up while keeping her eyes on ve Huan lying on the bed. ¡°Deep inside, every killer hates Stone Castle. There¡¯s nothing to hide since everyone¡¯s the same.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt bewildered, and could not discern the real meaning of Maid Lotus¡¯ words. Perhaps every killer indeed hated Golden Roc Fort bitterly, but he was the only one who harbored sinister motives and transformed his hate into concrete action.


    ¡°Should I trust the girl in front of me?¡± After a brief period of inner struggle, Gu Shenwei finally replied, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Come, our troubles haven¡¯t all been resolved.¡±


    There was a load of troubles awaiting the two of them.


    Chu Yangjun¡¯s death did not cause as much as a ripple in South City. Few people even knew his formal name, while those who were more familiar with him simply wondered how one of the best-looking men in Hope Alley could run into a fatal mishap in the ditches. Even fewer people connected the discovered corpse to Kun Society. Most people guessed it was a crime of passion, and lost their curiosity in the matter after just half a day.


    What attracted the attention of Jade City¡¯s residents more so than Chu Yangjun¡¯s death was the disappearance of Sword Sacrificer Ye Sng.


    The renowned swordsman could not be found anywhere ¨C not in North City, South City, or his abode, nor in the countless betting arenas, taverns, or brothels.


    Horned Dragon Society was dealt yet another huge blow. Although Ye Sng professed that he was not a member of said society, the person he wanted to kill was its archenemy, and naturally, he was regarded as its ally. Now that he had suddenly gone missing and could possibly even be dead, Kun Society, which had retreated into a corner, could bare its powerful and sharp fangs once again.


    Consequently, therge battle between the Kun and Horned Dragon societies, which everyone had long awaited yet feared, finally began.


    Overnight, Tuo Nengya was able to recruit more than a hundred machetemen, most of whom came forth and offered their services on their own ord. This allowed him to once again build an invincible formation.


    However, the formation still needed more time to take shape. Because the matter had escted way too suddenly, neither society was able to draw up a thorough scheme of attack, and thus the war which fell upon the entire South City was a messy one.


    It was unclear which side first started a particr trend which rapidly caught on ¨C the machetemen of Kun Society wore a yellow band around their arms, while those of Horned Dragon Society wore a red band on their foreheads. A ferocious battle would erupt every time yellow met red.


    In South City, machetemen were asmon as cowhair, and the grievances among them were highlyplicated. Every one of them believed that this round of battle between the two societies would be the final and decisive one, and thus, they hastily seized this opportunity to settle personal scores. Many imed to be a member of a particr society when, in fact, their names had never been registered in the society¡¯s books and they were not paid. They might wear a yellow band on one day to kill a foe, and the next day change to a red band to attack someone else. Switching societies was as casual and easy as having a meal.


    Therge battle was unrestrained from the very start. It was not only the merchants who were adversely affected and thus voiced their discontents everywhere; the leaders of the two societies immediately realized that they were being made use of, and that if the situation continued to develop unchecked, both sides would fall at the hands of machetemen settling personal scores.


    Therefore, by the second day of therge battle, both sides began striving to end this meaningless conflict as quickly as possible.


    It was under these circumstances which Shangguan Ru dispatched people to look for the killer Yang Huan everywhere.


    Upon receiving the news, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus headed directly to North City. Shangguan Ru was pacing back and forth excitedly in the entrance hall. ¡°You two killed Ye Sng?¡± These were her first words when she saw the most capable killer under her charge.


    ¡°No, only Huang Shi¡¯an,¡± Gu Shenwei replied. His omission of Chu Yangjun was not deliberate, but rather because the swordsman was not of much significance to the Tenth Young Master.


    Shangguan Ru exhaled a sigh of disappointment, but quickly snapped out of it. ¡°I¡¯ve agreed to negotiate with the little rascal of the Meng family. I mean, why not? The first round of negotiations will take ce on the day after tomorrow. ve Huan, you shall be attending. But I want tounch arge-scale counteroffensive before the negotiations, so as to let Horned Dragon Society know we aren¡¯t the ones suing for peace. Master Yu, you shall be in charge of this.¡±


    Shangguan Ru issued her orders rapidly with a clear and distinct train of thought that seemed beyond a girl who just turned fourteen. She only asked about ve Huan¡¯s whereabouts in the past few days after making sure that everything had been properly arranged.


    Gu Shenwei gave a brief ount of the two assassinations while ying down the injury he sustained during the process.


    Shangguan Ru clenched her right fist and thumped it on her left palm when she heard that Chu Yangjun was Ye Sng¡¯s guard. ¡°I see. Ye Sng must be too afraid to show his face, hah! You shall continue to search for him together with Maid Lotus. It¡¯ll be wonderful if his head can be disyed during the negotiations, haha.¡±


    These were but Shangguan Ru¡¯s own fantasy thoughts.


    Gu Shenwei had not reminded the Tenth Young Master that Ye Sng¡¯s disappearance was not because he was afraid. The swordsman was, presumably, at this moment searching maniacally for the killer Yang Huan to avenge Chu Yangjun.


    It was Gu Shenwei¡¯s intention not to participate in the counteroffensive organized by Master Yu. What he wanted was to see which side the young demoness would choose between the two societies.


    After dismissing everyone else from the hall, Shangguan Ru conversed alone with ve Huan. ¡°I intend to separate you and Maid Lotus from Wildhorse. Has he done anything recently?¡±


    ¡°No. I think he¡¯s more prudent nowadays.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. I shall task Master Yu to keep watch on him. This counteroffensive is just a test. Master Yu willy down two sets of ns, of which Wildhorse will only know one. If there¡¯s even the slightest hint that Wildhorse has colluded with the enemy and divulged confidential information, his head shall also be disyed in front of Little Meng tomorrow night.¡±


    ¡°This is truly a good n.¡± Gu Shenweiplimented insincerely. Wildhorse would certainly not be exposed with Shangguan Yushi around. Furthermore, he was simply not the person colluding with Horned Dragon Society.


    Shangguan Ru reached out her fist and thumped softly on ve Huan¡¯s arm. With a shadow of a smile on her face, she held her head high and proimed, ¡°I want Ye Sng¡¯s head.¡±


    ¡°Tenth Young Master shall see it by midnight tomorrow.¡±


    Gu Shenwei abruptly felt a little frustrated. Shangguan Ru was increasingly treating him like a homekept killer. Undoubtedly, she still thought highly of ve Huan and regarded him as her right-hand man, but the rtionship was no longer that of childhood ymates. Those somewhat naive methods to ensnare people¡¯s hearts were evidence that the girl had grown up. Her spotless innocence had been reced by the leadership traits passed down the generations of the Shangguan family.


    Gu Shenwei snorted in his heart and haughtily tossed his inner disappointment aside. ¡°Shangguan Ru was never my ymate or even a friend. In fact, she¡¯s among the top of my hit list.¡±


    The young killer felt an upsurge of emotion as he visualized the scene of him stabbing the the Tenth Young Master¡¯s neck with a sharp sword.


    The n to assassinate Ye Sng had been crafted long ago by Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus. Though they missed out on a golden opportunity, they had already seeded in enraging the swordsman and thus possessed a definite advantage.


    They decided to simply wait for him to show up. Gu Shenwei would invite Ye Sng¡¯s long sword while Maid Lotus delivered a fatal strike from the darkness. This method was identical to that of Chu Yangjun¡¯s assassination, albeit their roles were swapped.


    Only mutually trusting killers could employ such an assassination method whereby they entrusted their lives to each other.


    They returned, as usual, to their small rented abode in South City. Having taken a trip to North City, their whereabouts were already exposed, and there was no doubt that, at this moment, Ye Sng knew where to find his foe. Therefore, they did not have to deliberately spread information.


    Eventually, however, the night passed peacefully. Ye Sng did not appear, and no machetemen from Horned Dragon Society came to snoop around.


    It seemed as though the swordsman was truly missing, to the great surprise of the killers.

 Chapter 172

    Chapter 172: Peach Forest


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    There was a garden on the outskirts of South City. Its earliest owner was surnamed Gui, and therefore it was known as Gui Garden.


    The garden took up more than six hectares and was grown full of peach trees. With the cold winter still going on, the garden remained covered in thick snow, and there was still some time before flowers blossomed once again.


    There was a newly-built small grave deep among the peach trees. A swordsman draped in a purple cape had stayed by here for three days and nights thus far. After all, the person in the grave used to guard him day and night.


    After catching wind of it, Gu Shenwei arrived at the peach garden early in the morning and saw his target from afar.


    ¡°The pain brought about by death can only be ended by death¡± , Gu Shenwei thought. He had felt sorry for Chu Yangjun¡¯s death for a moment but had cast it to the back of his mind by now.


    ¡°If I have two hearts, I¡¯ll use one to remember him and the other to figure out how to kill you. But I only have one, and can¡¯t afford to waste it on you.¡± Leaning against a tree, Ye Sng spoke facing the grave and did not look back at the killer behind him.


    ¡°Killing this affectionate yet foolish swordsman may be easier than I thought.¡± Gu Shenwei, standing at a distance of more than twenty steps from the swordsman, loosened his right-hand grip on the sword shaft. ¡°That would be great for you. I wouldn¡¯t know how to kill you if you have two hearts.¡±


    As if not hearing the killer¡¯s gibe, Ye Sng continued to speak without looking back. It seemed, perhaps, that he had been talking to himself all along, and the killer¡¯s presence was simply a coincidence. ¡°We learnt swordcraft together. Before that, I had already trained under different teachers while he had never learnt kung fu, and so I made him suffer quite a bit. This peach forest was his favorite ce, and he would secretlye here to cry each time he lost a fight. As his swordcraft improved, there were asions when even I became no match for him. But we made it a point toe here to y whenever it was the season the peach blossoms were in full bloom. Our days were spent with a lot of other people, while at night, only the two of us would sneak here. Even if we couldn¡¯t see anything, we could at least smell the fragrance of the flowers.¡±


    ¡°Now¡¯s a good time to act.¡± Gu Shenwei clutched his sword shaft once again and knew that Maid Lotus, who was dressed in white and hiding on a different tree, probably thought the same. But he was unable to strike, as if something was impeding him and causing him not to focus all of his attention on his sword.


    ¡°That shameless person, Gao Zhen, actually conceived evil thoughts towards him, and in doing sotled and often quarreled with the little fe in the rice shop. Well, I would have killed that wretch if no one else did it.¡±


    ¡°But because you were using Marquis Gao¡¯s money, you were a little reluctant to kill him.¡± Gu Shenwei deliberately provoked the swordsman, hoping thetter would attack first.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, money, it¡¯s all because of money. All kinds of fascinating realms can be seen by learning swordcraft, but the one thingcking about it is money. Though Gao Zhen was killed, he did me a great service. Someone offered me a hundred thousand taels to kill you and frame you for his murder, and I agreed. With this sum of money, we could have left Jade City, bought a piece ofnd, grow a few peach trees, and never get involved in jianghu conflicts ever again.¡±


    Ye Sng¡¯s thoughts remained fixed upon the person in the grave, and there was no malice in his tone.


    ¡°You¡¯re the most valuable killer I¡¯ve ever seen. Fifth Young Master Meng must really think too highly of me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a killer and neither is he. We are swordsmen who may have killed for money, but would never act behind the back.¡± Ye Sng¡¯s voice suddenly became serious and his posture became straight.


    ¡°I¡¯m a killer, and not a swordsman. I may kill for any reason, and absolutely not by standing in front of an expert and waiting for him to attack.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was fully prepared. He had previously sensed a killing intent which was filled with weariness on Ye Sng¡¯s body, but it now became aroused and fervent like a volcano which had been dormant for too long and could erupt at any time.


    ¡°But why did you want to kill him? He wasn¡¯t a threat to you.¡±


    When Ye Sng turned his body, Gu Shenwei was slightly shocked. He looked apletely different man; his face was haggard and no longer had that godlike radiance. The only distinctive features were his red eyes that exuded a fierce re, upon seeing which even the most ferocious of wild beasts would retreat in fear.


    But Gu Shenwei was a killer and not a wild beast. He had practiced Death Scripture, which taught that killing was one¡¯s purpose, and had walked the way of ¡°self-deconstruction¡±.


    ¡°Because of you. With him around, I wouldn¡¯t be able to kill you, while you would be able to kill me. You shouldn¡¯t have made him obstruct me, and shouldn¡¯t be surprised by his death after allowing him to engage in a life-and-death battle, in which all was fair and it was either me or him.¡±


    Gu Shenwei imagined that the opportunity he was waiting for was about to arrive. He would strike back mercilessly at the swordsman when thetter attacked with his full might, but the real yer would be Maid Lotus atop a tree.


    The three swords would fly at an unbelievable pace, and the fight would end in a briefer period of time than it took for a peach blossom to fall off a branch. Someone would live and someone would die. The only differential depended on who was that tiny, imperceptible bit faster than the other.


    But he was wrong once again. Ye Sng did not attack, his hand not even reaching for his sword shaft. ¡°I said I would return you a life, and today¡¯s the day for that. I¡¯ll spare you this time, but we¡¯ll meet again very soon.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not respond to this ¡°kind gesture¡±. He maintained a firm grip on his sword shaft while Internal Breath spread throughout his whole body, and began to feel an upsurge in killing desire. The greedy monster in him would only be satisfied after seeing fresh blood.


    A vignce grew in Ye Sng¡¯s heart. Without touching his sword, he moved his fingers a little and took a step back. ¡°I see that you¡¯re well-prepared. I shall have to find another time to return you a life. You may attack now. The person on the tree and you have one chance to kill me, and there¡¯ll be no second chancee tomorrow.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had full confidence of killing the swordsman standing opposite him. Although he might once again be wounded, there was no chance that two killers who had learned the swordcraft of Death Scripture would lose to a haughty swordsman.


    But he simply could not attack. There was something elusive and unidentifiable which was exerting a weak blocking effect on him. He suddenly understood that he was hesitating, and it was because Chu Yangjun¡¯s pre-death facial expression had quietly popped up in his mind and disturbed his thoughts.


    It was all the weirder because he did not get a good look at Chu Yangjun¡¯s expression at that time. He only heard a line ofst words which needed no passing on.


    This would be a fatal error rather than a golden opportunity to kill. The minor disturbance was sufficient to cause his movements to be a tad slower than usual, which could spell the difference between life and death. While he wished to kill the swordsman, he did not want to suffer the same fate at this time.


    ¡°Tomorrow.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took a step back as well.


    ¡°Tomorrow.¡±


    Ye Sng remained stood on the same spot. He had cleared his ¡°debt¡± by giving the killer a chance to escape, and if thetter refused to take it, the sword in his hand would not be at fault.


    Gu Shenwei, together with Maid Lotus, ran out of the peach forest. Neither of them spoke a word until they reached their lodging, when the former finally offered an exnation. ¡°I had a minor problem.¡±


    Maid Lotus simply nodded her head without questioning or consoling him. The problem was ve Huan¡¯s inner demons which he needed to conquer by himself. All she had to do was wait.


    It was around noon when Gu Shenwei arrived in North City. He subsequently confessed to Tenth Young Master that he was unable to bring Ye Sng¡¯s head back by night time. ¡°I¡¯ve decided to act tomorrow instead.¡±


    ¡°Tomorrow? You have to attend the negotiations with Horned Dragon Society tomorrow.¡±


    The negotiations between the two societies were split into two rounds. Gu Shenwei¡¯s task was to reach an agreement for a short truce and confirm the time and venue of the next round of negotiation. The final peace treaty would be left to the two masters of the Shangguan and Meng family to resolve.


    ¡°Tomorrow¡¯s negotiations shall be my life-and-death battle with Ye Sng.¡±


    Shangguan Ru suddenly had a realization. ¡°To think the little b*stard still wants to cause trouble. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll do something on the way.¡±


    Ye Sng had revealed a little conspiracy to the killer to repay thetter¡¯s ¡°mercy¡±. Meng Mingshi¡¯s n was really smart. By professing himself not a member of Horned Dragon Society, Ye Sng would not be breaking any rules if he killed Yang Huan either before or after the negotiations.


    ¡°So, I¡¯ll bring his head back tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Shangguan Ru had reason to be suspicious. Her confidence was affected by the fact that ve Huan had already held back when facing Ye Sng on several asions.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    There was a thoughtful look in Shangguan Ru¡¯s jet ck eyes before she revealed a smile. ¡°I believe you, but surely you aren¡¯t thinking of handling him alone? Just tell me how many people you need. There¡¯s no problem even if you want to take all of the machetemen, as well as the killers, with you. We shall know if Wildhorse is a traitor after tonight.¡±


    Kun Society¡¯s counteroffensive was set to begin that night. If it was sessful, it would serve as a significant bargaining chip at the next day¡¯s negotiations. This was simr to the Meng family¡¯s ¡°little b*stard¡± n, albeit the targets were different.


    ¡°I may need a few people, but first, I need to know who brought about these negotiations.¡±


    ¡°Themandant Zhong Heng. Do you suspect him of being a part of the conspiracy too?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ll have to go investigate.¡±


    Gu Shenwei could not determine whether Zhong Heng was a friend or foe. Thetter used to provide critical advice to the young killers, but had also often shifted responsibility for difficult problems on to them. Futhermore, Gu Shenwei had bribed and kidnapped him before, and thereby the rtionship between them had beplicated.


    Zhong Heng¡¯s schrly face made him look simple and pure. Themandant, as in the past, warmly received the young killer and exchanged pleasantries for some time before they got down to the point. ¡°It¡¯s time for it to end. The young masters of Stone Castle have all grown up and shall have to disy their abilities in South City. The amount of activity this time has been the biggest thus far, ho ho. Tenth Young Master has truly excelled her master. I hope tomorrow¡¯s negotiations will proceedpletely smoothly. Everything else should be left to the leaders of the two societies to discuss, while we get to sheathe our knives. Speaking of which, Stone Castle and the Meng family are actually one family¡­¡±


    Hoping to dig out some clues from within, Gu Shenwei listened with patience as Commandant Zhong spoke in his bureaucratic tone. However, his efforts failed in the face of a tactful old fox. He was therebypelled to cut right to the chase andunch a verbal attack when thetter stopped talking. He had sessfully pulled off such a trick many times before.


    ¡°How much is the Meng family willing to paymandant Sir?¡±


    ¡°Come again?¡± The shock on Zhong Heng¡¯s face seemed genuine. ¡°You¡­ what¡­ do you mean? Does Manager Yang suspect I was bribed?¡±


    Zhong Heng was filled with righteous indignation.


    ¡°Commandant, please forgive lowly me for my moment of disrespect.¡± Gu Shenwei immediately apologized.


    ¡°There¡¯s no crime in that. A little caution is always good.¡± Zhong Heng¡¯s attitude rapidly changed and returned to its former amiability.


    ¡°Commandant, your basic sry will be doubled from two thousand taels to four thousand taels starting next month.¡±


    This was a private conversation between an officer and a killer. Zhong Heng, who had only received a sry once before, seemed a little perplexed that it was going to be doubled. ¡°Manager Yang, it¡¯s not good to be rewarded for nothing¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve said that I¡¯ll keep asking you for advice. Commandant, your every advice has benefited lowly me a great deal.¡±


    Zhong Hengughed knowingly while leaning back on his chair. As he nudged his beard, a vacant expression appeared on his face, indicating that he was about to order the guest to leave. He then began to speak, with his eyes looking diagonally upwards, as if he was conversing with an invisible guest. ¡°Though I know little, I do know that a person who grows flowers will steal flowers, a person who harvests rice will steal rice, and a person who provides protection from danger is often a dangerous person himself.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took his leave and returned to meet Tenth Young Master. He waited until he was alone with her before he asked, ¡°Whose territory will tomorrow¡¯s negotiations be held on?¡±


    ¡°Ninth Young Master¡¯s. You don¡¯t have to worry. I¡¯ll never forgive him if he dares to do something.¡±


    Gu Shenwei revealed an expression of relief, but in his heart, he understood everything: his life would be in the hands of Shangguan Fei tomorrow.

 Chapter 173

    Chapter 173: mes


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The Shangguan family had two grown-up masters, one of whom was conferred the title ¡°Young Master¡±. However, their situations were as different as heaven and earth. As the Kun-Horned Dragon war raged on, the Ninth Young Master Shangguan Fei was nearly forgotten.


    He controlled the least territory and had recruited barely a few machetemen. The only constion was that his eleven killers were all alive and kicking, whereas three of his younger sister Shangguan Ru¡¯s killers had perished.


    The decision to hold the negotiations on Shangguan Fei¡¯s territory received the approval of both sides. Shangguan Ru trusted her elder brother while Meng Mingshi had a rather good opinion of the Ninth Young Master.


    During the negotiations, each side would send forth one person who was not allowed to carry weapons. The other machetemen could only keep guard at both ends of thene. Shangguan Fei would also dispatch three killers to guarantee the negotiators¡¯ safety.


    Gu Shenwei should have thought about this sooner, but he had been preupied with thinking about how to kill the swordsman Ye Sng that he overlooked the most obvious fact. It was only when themandant reminded him that he finally understood.


    Fifth Young Master wanted this assassination to proceed seamlessly, and thus would not only send forth his best swordsman but also make sure that the three overlooking killers stood by and did nothing.


    Shangguan Ru thought that the assassination would take ce on the way to the negotiations because she overly trusted her elder brother and never imagined he would ¡°betray¡± her.


    This was the first time Gu Shenwei conscientiously examined the rtionship between the twins. He discovered that while they remained friendly on the outside, they had long be divided at heart. The animosity between them had been growing since the game of ¡°stealing¡± the ck Jade Palm a year back.


    At that time, four ¡°raiders¡± were trapped in a house by Mister Guo. To save ve Huan and Master Yu, Shangguan Ru falsely ced a knife at her elder brother¡¯s throat. Though she did not go through with it, Shangguan Fei was nheless scared out of his wits.


    Since then, Shangguan Fei no longer clung on to his younger sister and Master Yu. Shangguan Ru was not only unaware of it but felt pleased.


    But nobody imagined that Shangguan Fei¡¯s resentment would continue to grow in the dark to the extent that he viewed his younger sister as an enemy.


    This was like an intricate spider web in which the tug of any thread would shake the entire situation. Gu Shenwei was merely a tiny insect stuck on it, but his position just so happened to be in the way of the masters, and as a result, his life and death became pivotal to the whole affair.


    No matter how many people would die, this was all a game to the Shangguan family. The Supreme King was using this method to train his children; the principle behind it was the same as having the apprentices kill each other, except that this time, the yers themselves were not at risk, and instead it would be a bunch of nobodies who paid with their lives.


    Gu Shenwei pondered alone for some time toprehend the rules of this game. The names of and rtionships among Shangguan Fei, Shangguan Ru, Meng Mingshi, and Shangguan Yushi flew about in his mind.


    When he heard a noise from outside, he opened the door and went out to take a look. Tenth Young Master was standing in the middle of the courtyard, surrounded by fourntern-carrying servants, while a continuous stream of messengers entered through the gate to report the circumstances to her.


    ¡°It has begun!¡± Shangguan Ru lifted her head high and spoke excitedly to ve Huan. ¡°Let¡¯s go and watch the fun together.¡±


    Thentern-carrying ves walked in front while Gu Shenwei walked alongside Shangguan Ru, further escorted by a dozen or so attendants. The Tenth Young Master had not deliberately increased her number of servants, but people from the Inner Residence of Stone Castle had unknowinglye to North City in quick session. She had be ustomed to seeing them whenever she opened her eyes.


    The group arrived at a tower next to a border wall of North City. ve Huan followed Shangguan Ru upstairs while the attendants kept guard below.


    There were many people gathered upstairs already. With the south-facing windows left wide open, many peopleined of the cold and instructed their servants to bring them thicker coats and hand warmers.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s arrival caused a minor stir. Her acquaintances came over to offer greetings, while several strangers asked others to help introduce. Gu Shenwei saw Shangguan Fei walk over to his younger sister and whisper a few sentences to her ear, and theyughed at the same time in a manner no different from regr siblings. Fifth Young Master Meng was also present, but with a grim face, he pretended not to see her and did note forth to greet.


    The ce was filled with the noble children of North City, or otherwise their personal servants, who carriednterns, kept watching on their masters¡¯ actions, and performed errands for them.


    ¡°Look, there¡¯s movement!¡± Someone shouted. Everyone hastily clustered by the window and peered towards South City, which was across a river.


    It was Horned Dragon Society¡¯s stronghold on the other side. There was a faint flickering of mes in the surrounding streets, and suddenly, yelling noises that became increasingly high-pitched, loud, and confusing were heard. They were followed by noises of weapons colliding, curses,mands, and strange cries.


    Kun Society¡¯s great counteroffensive at the eleventh hour was taking ce under the eyes of the many nobles.


    ¡°It sounds intense but we can¡¯t see anything,¡± someone grumbled.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be able to see clearly in a while,¡± Shangguan Ru replied brusquely.


    The first stage of the battle was disadvantageous to Kun Society. There was practically no movement within Horned Dragon Society¡¯s stronghold as all of the fighting took ce outside its perimeters. This meant that the offensive was not going well, thereby exining the Tenth Young Master¡¯s irritation.


    Fifth Young Master Meng was chatting andughing together with several Horned Dragon Society members. They were discussing some licentious topics and deliberately speaking loudly, as if they were not concerned about the life-and-death brawl in South City.


    From across the river, a small group of people ran on to the frozen riverway, raised their heads, and shouted up towards the tower. ¡°The enemy has been defeated. We pursued them and destroyed fourteen of their units!¡±


    Fifth Young Master Meng¡¯s attendants stuck their heads out of the window and waved theirnterns at the people below, who quickly retreated.


    This slightly shook the spirits of the watching crowd. Somebody who had no regard for the Tenth Young Master¡¯s feelingsmented loudly in disappointment, ¡°Surely it can¡¯t end so soon? All that waiting seems a little not worth it now.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t me Horned Dragon Society. Weplied with the rules and half of our machetemen didn¡¯t even get involved,¡± Meng Mingshi replied in a surprisingly dejected tone, drawing the ¡°coordinated¡±ughs of many people.


    Gu Shenwei, carrying antern, stood behind Shangguan Ru. He could see that she remained calm, perhaps predicting that the machetemen of Horned Dragon Society were about to fall into the trap.


    Indeed, less than fifteen minutester, the shouting noises from below began to abate. The attention of the people in the tower had turned towards their discussions before someone suddenly pointed out of the window and eximed, ¡°Eek, there¡¯s a fire! Look, where¡¯s that?¡±


    It was Horned Dragon Society¡¯s stronghold. The fire was premeditated and had been set off simultaneously from a dozen or so ces surrounding the camp. The fiery zes quickly joined together and lit up the entire street as bright as day.


    ¡°Now, everyone can see clearly,¡± Shangguan Ru saidnguidly in a tone Gu Shenwei had never heard her use before.


    The observers stared with their mouths open. The design of the fire was totally ingenious. Horned Dragon Society was trapped on three sides, leaving only a narrow opening for them to escape. The machetemen of Kun Society had long regrouped and arranged themselves neatly into apact formation to massacre the panic-stricken machetemen of Horned Dragon Society as they fled.


    The neat rows of glimmers from the machetes could be distinctly seen even from up in the tower. Not to mention the motionless corpses, the trails of gushing blood, and the flying heads.


    As they witnessed this hell-like scene, everyone in the room lost their wits, yet were too fascinated to take their eyes off it. Some were even so afraid of missing out on small details that they tried to wrench the window bars out. More people simply uttered meaningless noises, unable to verbalize their shock and excitement.


    Shangguan Ru revealed a smile on her face as she shot a nce across the room at the ghastly pale-faced Meng Mingshi. As a child of the Shangguan family, she had witnessed murder scenes since young, and thus looked down upon these noble masters who were fussing over nothing much at all.


    She turned and said softly to ve Huan, ¡°The old macheteman you recruited has been truly worth the money. This was his n after all. I guess Wildhorse is alright.¡±


    Gu Shenwei bowed to express his admiration and did not reveal any doubt regarding Wildhorse¡¯s matter. Things had gone as he expected. There was only one thing he could not understand ¨C how did Shangguan Yushi organize the counteroffensive without any information of it leaking out? Looking at Fifth Young Master Meng, he seemed to be caughtpletely unaware, thereby allowing Kun Society¡¯s fire offensive to disarray his forcespletely.


    Gu Shenwei had long be uninterested in killing scenes and thus did not look across the river. Instead, he spent the time observing the Ninth Young Master Shangguan Fei.


    Thetter was astutely positioned between Fifth Young Master Meng and Shangguan Ru, while slightly closer to his younger sister. Appearing perfectly calm and collected, he would smile at his younger sister and also nod indicatively at Meng Mingshi every so often.


    Although Gu Shenwei could only observe from the back, he was able to gauge that the Ninth Young Master was very different from a few months ago. At that time, thetter required ve Huan¡¯s assistance to stab a saber into his elder brother¡¯s body. But now, he even seemed bored by the zing massacre.


    This affirmed Gu Shenwei¡¯s belief that the Ninth Young Master was siding with Horned Dragon Society, and that Ye Sng would make an appearance at the negotiation venue.


    As the massacre continued for an extensive period of time, it became insipid even to the most curious onlookers. Horned Dragon Society¡¯s defeat was inevitable. By daybreak, their stronghold in South City would be reduced to ruins, and few of their expensively-recruited machetemen would survive.


    Shangguan Ru bade her elder brother farewell and was the first person to go downstairs. She did not need to watch the oue y out, having achieved her objective already.


    As she walked on the wide and tidy streets of North City, she began to contemte other matters. ¡°Maybe there isn¡¯t a mole. No information leaked out during the assassination of the Machete God either. Horned Dragon Society was using him as a bait and kept waiting for us to make a move.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense, Tenth Young Master,¡± Gu Shenwei replied without attempting to convince Shangguan Ru. He had no evidence at hand, and baseless conjectures would only make him seem overly suspicious and jealous.


    After thinking for a little longer, Shangguan Ru too began to feel that there remained some things she could not exin. She put on a smiling face and discarded her worries. ¡°In any case, things are about to end. I¡¯ll properly deal with the little fe of the Meng family during the second round of negotiations. Hmph, let¡¯s see how Horned Dragon Society goes around ¡®begging¡¯ for help.¡±


    ¡°Tenth Young Master, tell me what instructions you have for the second round of negotiations so that I may propose the demands tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Mm, it¡¯s simple actually. The negotiation venue will remain the same, while the time is up to you all to decide. When the timees, I¡¯ll go to South City, and so will my elder brother. This is all that old macheteman¡¯s n. He says I should pull my brother towards Kun Society to pressure Horned Dragon Society together, and only afterward settle our differences in private. I feel that this idea is quite brilliant. With age doeses rich experience indeed. Although he formerly served my elder brother, he has been rather loyal to me.¡±


    Amidst her enthusiasm, Shangguan Ru spoke on and on, and even began to predict the future of Kun Society. ¡°After Eighth Brother wipes out the evil women in the desert, Mother will no longer have to worry about my safety. When the timees, we¡¯ll be able to expand our power outwards. The world is so big, yet how few ces have I visited?¡±


    Gu Shenwei would asionally put in a word to make Shangguan Ru feel even happier. His thoughts were, however, preupied with the next day¡¯s affairs, which he was determined not to ask her for help upon.


    He conceived of another way to help himself. It was simr to the n sometime back in which he followed a rope and climbed towards Six Kills Temple. He would fall into a bottomless abyss if he showed the least bit of carelessness or if the wind blew a little too strongly.

 Chapter 174

    Chapter 174: Night Talks


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Shangguan Fei had never been to the South City. He was not interested in that ce at all. Itsnes were messy and narrow, and the crowds were boorish. One looked at it was enough. He¡¯d rather stay at Stone Castle. Staying at North City gave him a feeling of abandonment.


    The rivalry with his sister left him exceedingly embarrassed. If he were to win, people might say that since the Ninth Young Master a boy, it was natural for him to win. If he were to lose though, people might start to question his masculinity or make some other humiliating remark.


    In short, no one respected him. In the eyes of his father, mother, brothers, sisters, and even the servants; there was only the Tenth Young Master.


    Midnight has passed. Shangguan Fei had not entered the house to sleep. He stayed in the courtyard trading blows with two killers with wooden sabers. Seeing the scene of massacre upstairs earlier caused him a great deal of rm. His sister¡¯sughter, light and unencumbered, left him feeling even greater jealousy and hatred.


    He poured out his feelings on the wooden saber, waving it forcefully. The two killers on the receiving end stepped backwards. Suddenly, he grew dejected again and the killers pretended to be unable to resist.


    Shangguan Fei threw the wooden saber away. Feelings of frustration grew in his chest. He wanted to raise his head to the skies and let off a long shout, but was afraid that others wouldugh at him.


    The two killers maintained their vignce. Before their master had sensed any danger, the two had rushed before him with wooden sabers aimed at him. The killers could kill with any weapon.


    Shangguan Fei turned his head and saw a masked man dressed fully in ck.


    The uninvited guest kneeled on the floor, not speaking.


    ¡°You two, retreat.¡±


    Shangguan Fei coldly gave the order. The killer nodded his head slightly and retreated out of the courtyard. They were responsible for protecting their master but would not interfere in their master¡¯s personal affairs.


    ¡°The killer Yang Huan pays his respects to the Ninth Young Master.¡±


    ¡°The Tenth Young Master made youe? Is there anything that she can¡¯t say in person? Why did she send you to throw a nce at me?¡±


    Shangguan Fei had been waiting for the ve for a long time. In reality, he was looking forward to meeting ve Huan. ve Huan held a trump card that could kill anyone in this conspiracy that was Shangguan Fei¡¯s very first. Moreover, he was someone important; seeing an unsuspecting prey, he trembled with excitement.


    ¡°Your servant¡¯s visit has nothing to do with the Tenth Young Master.¡±


    ¡°Ha, you¡¯re a killer, not a ve. You¡¯re not allowed to call yourself a ve.¡± Shangguan Fei was enjoying issuing orders from a position of authority, especially to his sister¡¯s servant who once belonged to him. She had snatched him away.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    ¡°Well, are you here of your own ord?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s for myself. It¡¯s also for the Ninth Young Master¡¯s safety.¡±


    Shangguan Fei could hardly stifle hisughter. This ve sure has a way with words. This must be how he won his sister over in the past. ¡°What does the Tenth Young Master want to steal from me? Thest few betting arenas? Or are her killers are not enough for her?¡±


    When Gu Shenwei was signaling his goodwill to Shangguan Fei from upstairs, he had not thought of how to gain the Ninth Young Master¡¯s trust. Shangguan Ru¡¯s words gave him an idea, even if that would implicate another person. ¡°No, it has nothing to do with the Tenth Young Master. Someone wants to kill the Ninth Young Master, and this n is underway.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was shaken. ve Huan might be Janus-faced, but he wouldn¡¯t dare to lie. ¡°Go on.¡±


    ¡°Great Young Master left some machetemen. The leader is named Tuo Nengya. This person has ns for revenge with his target being you, Ninth Young Master.¡±


    ¡°Haha.¡± Shangguan Feiughed wryly. ¡°You say a macheteman? Impossible. Machetemen kill for money. You must have seen for yourself. They are not loyal. Killings happen all the time in Stone Castle and I¡¯ve never heard of any macheteman killing someone to avenge their master. Rushing to support a new master is more like it.¡±


    This was another of Gu Shenwei¡¯s weaknesses. He had only spection and no evidence. But he believed that persuading the Ninth Young Master shouldn¡¯t be too difficult. ¡°I received verifiable intelligence that the machetemen led by Tuo Nengya will attack in the second negotiation. Once Ninth Young Master appears at South City, you will be at risk.¡±


    ¡°They are not afraid of death?¡± Shangguan Fei seemed to be convinced. ve Huan¡¯s serious tone made him treat this matter seriously. The machetemen trained by Tuo Nengya was also a force to be reckoned with, which struck fear in Shangguan Ru¡¯s heart.


    ¡°There would always be a few machetemen who are different from the rest.¡±


    Someone who killed the son of the Supreme King will be driven to the ends of the Earth. Tuo Nengya naturally understood this but Gu Shenwei had once seen the helplessness in the eyes of the old macheteman.


    ¡°So you say that my sister¡¯s macheteman wants to assassinate me?¡± Shangguan Fei found it hard to believe.


    ¡°This has nothing to do with the Tenth Young Master. Tuo Nengya was only using the Tenth Young Master for shelter, and to get closer to the Ninth Young Master.¡±


    Shangguan Fei hung his head in silence. He was expecting the ve to shower him with praises. But he had not expected to hear such an important news. Later, he thought of something. ¡°That Tuo Nengya and machetemen, aren¡¯t they employed personally by you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was alert. He regretted sending away his killers. He only had to open his mouth, and the killers would jump out. But he had seen ve Huan¡¯s kung fu too¡­


    Shangguan Fei squashed thoughts of wanting to flee. He said, ¡°You have seen that the machetemen had ns of their own?¡±


    ¡°Yes, hence I had the thought that instead of letting the enemy hide in the dark, let¡¯s keep them under our nose. That way we can notice them at all times.¡±


    Shangguan Fei opened his eyes wide. He remembered how he¡¯d once heard of something simr. He forgot whether it came from his father or a teacher. ¡°In the end, you discovered that they wanted to kill me?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    ¡°Just because I nted a knife in my big brother¡¯s back?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    ¡°Then I should kill you too. Many people saw how you added a bit of strength to that knife.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had been looking down. This time he raised his head, looking at a furious Ninth Young Master. ¡°They¡¯ll kill me because I belong to the Ninth Young Master.¡±


    Shangguan Fei wanted tough but felt that he should remain calm. In the face of such absurdity, he didn¡¯t know how he should react. Those old killers and the old man had taught much useless knowledge. But they had not taught him how to refute nonsense from a bold ve. ¡°You say you belong to me?¡±


    Shangguan Fei had been asking questions the whole night. This deeply annoyed him, but he still had grave doubts.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m a ve of the Ninth Young Master. I¡¯ve never forgotten how the Eighth Young Master had first gifted me to you.¡±


    This was something that made Shangguan Fei angry. He didn¡¯t care about a ve. He was angry with his sister¡¯s insolence.


    As long as it¡¯s something worthwhile, she would steal it away. Shangguan Fei was almost exploding with anger. He cocked his head looking at ve Huan. He thought of the past. Indeed, that ve had always seemed polite in front of him. asionally he would be so bold and full of himself but he had never looked down on him. Who he hated was his sister and Master Yu, especially Master Yu, who with the help of his sister even dared to treat the Supreme King¡¯s son rudely.


    ve Huan had once plunged a saber into the chest of his Big Brother. ording to the tradition of Stone Castle, this was a highly symbolic act.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t youe back earlier to serve me?¡±


    Shangguan Fei sounded indignant. Gu Shenwei rxed. He was reaching his goal.


    ¡°Because I¡¯m still on the side of the Tenth Young Master. If it weren¡¯t for something so urgent, I probably wouldn¡¯t be seeing the Ninth Young Master tonight.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯ll still be with her. Do you dare to leave her? She¡¯ll treat you as a traitor.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯re some things that I shouldn¡¯t say.¡±


    ¡°Say. Since you¡¯re already my man. There¡¯s nothing that you can¡¯t say to me.¡±


    ¡°The Tenth Young Master¡­ She¡¯s a woman.¡±


    Shangguan Fei could just hug ve Huan this very moment. Why can¡¯t anyone see this simple fact? Be it the Supreme King or the beggar in the streets, everyone treated her as a boy. It was as if she could inherit the throne. But she was a girl nheless. ¡°So what if she¡¯s a woman? Now women have authority in the Stone Castle.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was even angry with his own mother.


    ¡°But women will eventually remarry and leave Stone Castle. And I¡¯m a killer of Golden Fort. I¡¯ll never leave Stone Castle.¡±


    Shangguan Fei suddenly realized that this ve was only trying to n for himself. He¡¯s smart. The Ninth Young Master¡¯s anger dissipated a little. ¡°True, just wait for a few more years. Many like ve Huan will see the situation as it is between the twins, and recognize who the real son of Supreme King is.¡±


    ¡°I see. Keep quiet and leave now.¡± Shangguan Fei said stridently. He thought of erroneous political ways. He could not let the ve see through the master¡¯s true thoughts. Let them guess among themselves, and use such torture to mold their loyalty.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    Gu Shenwei rose and walked slowly towards the end of the wall. His heart beat wildly. He did note here to pledge his allegiance.


    ¡°Wait.¡± Shangguan Fei called out. He had important things that he hadn¡¯t told this new loyal ve.


    Shangguan Fei would only leave the Ninth Young Master four dayster. Without waiting for the gate to open, he climbed over the boundary wall, crossed the river and entered the South City. He found Maid Lotus, assigned tasks to her andter left the gate to return to North City. He took leave from Shangguan Ru and prepared to participate in the negotiations.


    The Kun Society was filled with a happy atmosphere. The machetemen were all ted. They had earned their victories; The war was going to be over. The living will have a chance to enjoy a rich reward.


    In the great war thest night, the Horned Dragon Society had killed close to 200 people. Kun Society had only lost 30 men. The victory was considered perfect. Shangguan Yu could hardly conceal her tion. She was even kinder to ve Huan. When he said he wanted to take most of the machetemen, she wasn¡¯t even against it.


    Gu Shenwei summoned Tuo Nengya to let him organize the machetemen and prepare to participate in the talks.


    Tuo Nengya was effective as usual. He was the only person who seemed indifferent to the victory ofst night. Gu Shenwei carefully scrutinized his behavior, hoping to add a little more evidence to his spections.


    Tuo Nengya had no ws. Only something arrested the teen killer¡¯s attention. He realized that the over 20 machetemen led by Tuo Nengya in Rouge Forest had been through many cruel blood battles. Not a single one died and no one had ever escaped. They were loyal towards the old macheteman, just like how the Golden Fort killers were loyal to the Shangguan family. After bing a loyal backbone of the Kun Society, they never asked for a single reward.


    People who had no love for money usually harbored some deep desire for revenge. Gu Shenwei spected based on his own experience.

 Chapter 175

    Chapter 175: Negotiations


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    One could still feel the heat emanating from the house that burned downst night. The corpses scattered all over the ground had not been dealt with. The two societies were preparing to negotiate for peace. To the people of the North City, this was a nned affair. The people of the South City were however, worried. They didn¡¯t understand what these machetemen were up to.


    The casino was selected as the location for the negotiations. The master¡¯s was surnamed Sa, and the ce was thus called Sa Casino. Since the wee hours of the morning, there had been machetemen gathering around here. They were all vagabonds and all wanted different things. Some were here to watch themotion while others were here hoping to find a job. Still, some did not believe that peace could be easily achieved, and wanted to fish in troubled waters.


    Half an hour before noon, people from the two societies started arriving at about the same time. One side was enthusiastic, while the other looked gloomy. The Horned Dragon Society suffered grave losses and the surviving machetemen¡¯s hatred could not be easily quelled. From the looks of it, it seemed possible that they were not here for negotiations. They looked like they were here taking ast stand.


    Shangguan Fei sent out all 50 of his machetemen which were led by seven killers. They separated the two groups of rivals and blocked off a long alley so that no one could enter. Both the merchants and the upants had been removed from their homes that morning. The machetemen guarded both ends of the narrow alley and forbade anyone from entering.


    Both sides sent a number of swordsmen without any weapons to check on the security of the Sa Casino and its surroundings. When all was clear, the representatives entered the casino.


    Gu Shenwei did not bring any weapons. He walked into the alley alone. He was being watched by the crowd that was present. Both Gu Shenwei and the Horned Dragon Society¡¯s representative arrived at the same time.


    Gu Shenwei did not recognize this macheteman. The other person did not introduce himself either. Both men¡¯s tasks were simple. They sat down on opposite sides of the table. Three killers stood at the door and two secretaries presided over the negotiations.


    Gu Shenwei had thought that the negotiations would be simple. However, it turned out that the other person was serious. He was extremely particr about the time, location and names. He nitpicked on every little detail. Gu Shenwei was really worried that he would be trapped.


    The negotiations went on for over an hour. Both sides finally agreed that a temporary truce would start at three this afternoon and willst for 36 hours. The second round of negotiations would take ce the next day. The leaders of both societies would take part and the negotiations would be hosted by the Ninth Young Master of the Golden Roc Fort, Shangguan Fei. The location would be at Sa Casino.


    The negotiations had finally ended. There was still 15 minutes before the temporary truce took effect. The representative of the Horned Dragon Society let out a sigh of relief. He then carried a scroll with the written agreement and ran out of the casino without saying a word.


    The two secretaries had also ran outside, leaving only the three killers to watch over ve Huan. They left and closed the doors to the casino from the outside.


    Gu Shenwei moved to the end of the table. He took out a hidden sword from under the table. He turned around to face Ye Sng, who was just exiting the inner room.


    Both men had been waiting for this moment. After staying silent in several standoffs, the two men were exhausted. No one spoke. What¡¯s said has already been said. To someone who was about to get killed, words not only seemed unnecessary, they were an insult.


    Both of them pulled out their swords and took a step forward at the same time. There was not a hint of hatred present in this encounter. Their only goal was to kill the other party. That was all.


    Ye Sng¡¯s took a glimpse at one of the beams in the room, where Maid Lotus was hiding, lying in wait to carry out an ambush.


    Ninth Young Master Shangguan Fei had satisfied both Fifth Young Master and ve Huan¡¯s requests. He allowed two people to enter. Those machetemen would not be able to find them while the three killers received an order to ignore them.


    Two killers would face one swordsman.


    The swordsman took a step forward. They calcted each oing blow with precision. If the enemy thought that moves in the Rouge Forest were being used again, they would regret it.


    Gu Shenwei stood firmly, looked down and closed his eyes. He looked like a coward who was awaiting his death.


    Ye Sng stabbed. He was clearly over ten steps away from the killer, but the killer had suddenly closed in on him. His body was bent like a new moon and the sword in his hands gleamed like the moon.


    The moment he unsheathed his sword, the swordsman swivelled to the right. With a swift move, he would be able to kill the first killer in a single blow. The sword would then swing upwards to block a blow that came from the top.


    That was only if everything was as he expected.


    Gu Shenwei leaned forward. He held a backhanded sword in his right hand and kept his arms close to his body. The tip of the sword was only a few inches above his head. It seemed like he wanted to deflect the swordsman¡¯s deadly attack with his head.


    The tip of both swords shed. They parted just as quickly as they came into contact. Gu Shenwei felt like he took a huge blow to his head. He took a few steps back to maintain his frontward-leaning posture.


    Gu Shenwei did not die, but his sword had broken into pieces.


    Ye Sng¡¯s sword was intact, but he died. He died due to the sword that came down from above. He thought that he would be able to fend it off sessfully, but s.


    As a result, his sword did not pierce into the flesh of his opponent. It shed with another sword instead.


    The two masters engaged each other in this duel. They advanced and retreated, advanced and retreated. When their weapons hit their target, they retreated, not allowing the opponent tosh out as he struggled. Ye Sng was nning to pierce his opponent¡¯s neck with his sword, and then turning it upwards towards his head. But when the two swords collide, the force that came was greater than what the swordsman was ready for.


    Everything had been thought out. The amount of force used to attack, to change up the moves and to defend. Ye Sng¡¯s calctions were precise but because of how his sword shed with the other sword, his n was botched.


    The long sword broke the killer¡¯s sword. He then immediately changed its direction to confront the assassin, but it was a little slower.


    What Maid Lotus needed was this little bit of time. Her sword gently hit the head of the macheteman and repelled him backwards by ten steps.


    The duel had finally ended. There was no audience. Only two killers and one swordsman were present.


    Gu Shenwei held the broken sword in his hand. He maintained an inurate squatting posture which looked ridiculous, but he looked serious.


    Maid Lotus stood in a corner, masked and dressed in ck. The tip of her sword was pointing towards the ground. The de was smooth and gleamed. It had not been tainted with even a single drop of blood.


    Ye Sng lifted his long sword which made him look like a statue that was directing the sword towards the sky. It looked like he was going to punch a hole in the roof with just a little more effort.


    The swordsmen moved slightly and fell forward. There was not a single trace of love or hate in his empty eyes.


    Gu Shenwei rushed over, and grabbed the swordsman¡¯s hair. With the remaining half of his sword, he beheaded the swordsman. The corpse fell to the ground. Gu Shenwei¡¯s moves were smooth and experienced. Even if the dead Tie Hanfeng was here, he would not be able to find any mistakes.


    Swordsman, peach blossoms, affection, ruthlessness- the killer abandoned them all. He no longer cared for any of them.


    Gu Shenwei threw the broken sword to Maid Lotus. He took out a piece of ck cloth and wrapped the head in it. He took out a saber from under the table and nodded towards Maid Lotus.


    Maid Lotus picked up several pieces of the broken sword that were lying on the ground. She then leaped back onto the beam of the house.


    Gu Shenwei carried the head that was wrapped in ck cloth and picked up the agreement of the truce. He walked towards the door of the casino and knocked on the door.


    The three killers opened the door. They bowed and made way for Gu Shenwei. It was as if they had already expected him. They were not surprised at all. They too were Dragon Year apprentices and were familiar with ve Huan. No matter what their master came up with, they all believed that ve Huan would win.


    It was now three. The truce was now in effect.


    On the streets, the representative of the Horned Dragon Society peered into the distance. Seeing the killer approach, he hopped onto his horse immediately and galloped away. He did not care about the oue. His only task was to deliver the news of the oue on time.


    The situation outside seemed a little tensed. The crowds of machetemen had now dwindled to half. The remaining people were talking among themselves with excitement. It looked as though something big had happened.


    Most of Tuo Nengya¡¯s machetemen from the Kun Society had left. Only five of them remained. One of them came up to Gu Shenwei to deliver a piece of bad news. ¡°Kun Society is under siege. Master Yu had been gravely injured.¡±


    Shangguan Ru had made a move to counter attacks on the first night of the negotiations. Kun Society was nning to give him a taste of his medicine. 15 minutes before the truce, theyunched a surprise attack. No one would have thought that their target would be Shangguan Yushi.


    There were about 50 machetemen that had a red sash tied around their foreheads. They wore masks that children usually y with to cover their faces. They were holding longbows and sharp arrows. They had suddenly appeared at the meeting point of the Kun Society. They stood on rooftops and walls. They fired upon Master Yu and the few killers who were there.


    This happened just as the representative of the Horned Dragon Society was leaving the casino.


    The machetemen fired three rounds of arrows and retreated immediately. There was no scuffle and no one was injured either.


    Wildhorse and several other killers tried their best to protect Master Yu but there was still one arrow that managed to hit her chest.


    After rushing back to Kun Society, Gu Shenwei saw that the alley outside of the courtyard was packed with people. Someone recognised killer Yang Huan and shouted at him, ¡°Revenge? Count me in. 500 taels for the head of one enemy!¡±


    This caused amotion in the crowd. Many machetemen had the same idea. They smelled blood and like moths drawn to fire, they were not afraid of death at all.


    Gu Shenwei squeezed through the crowd. There were dozens of machetemen lining the courtyard of the Kun Society. Tuo Nengya guarded the entrance of the grand courtyard. As Gu Shenwei passed him, he bowed meekly and said in a soft voice: ¡°I¡¯ve sent men to inform the Tenth Young Master. There¡¯re 50 people protecting her.¡±


    Shangguan Ru would definitely rush to the South City without a moment¡¯s hesitation. So, Tuo Nengya¡¯s ns were very well thought out. Gu Shenwei nodded and walked into the grand courtyard. He ced the severed head and truce agreement on a chair.


    Wildhorse and three other killers lined up. They knelt before a couch and ced their sabers close to them. They heard a voice from behind and turned around at the same time. Wildhorse grabbed his saber and his wide-spread eyes filled with rage.


    The leaders of the two teenage killers stared at each other. For a while, no one moved. Wildhorse seemed to get the hint. He put down his saber and moved to the side to make room.


    Gu Shenwei knelt before the couch on one knee, looking at the teenage girl lying on the couch.


    The arrow was still in her body and her chest heaved weakly. Shangguan Yushi, dressed in men¡¯s attire, was pale. She was showing an unexpected unique charm of a girl. There was no hint of rebelliousness and arrogance at all.


    She stared at ve Huan for a while as if she had trouble recognizing him. Her expressions changed rapidly. Memories of anger, hurt, joy, mncholy, and other emotions flooded her mind. These memories all seemed to be leaving her just as quickly.


    She had so little time left and she didn¡¯t know whether she should spend it reminiscing her friendship, or vent the hatred in her heart.


    Shangguan Yushi raised her hand and grasped ve Huan¡¯s hand tightly. He was herst source of strength. The two did not say a word but they understood what the other was thinking.


    The two were like partners who fell into the water together. They had clutched onto a piece of wood, drifting and bobbing on the water surface. They had both desired to monopolize that piece of wood and to kick the other down the water.


    Gu Shenwei was sure that Master Yu had nned all kinds of schemes so that Gu Shenwei could die. And to achieve that, she had no qualms supporting the Horned Dragon Society either.


    Shangguan Yushi finally understood everything. The ambushid by the Horned Dragon Society was too coincidental. It was this ve, this wretched ve, who nted the arrow in her chest.


    ¡°You¡¯ve won.¡±


    Shangguan Yushi spoke in a scarcely audible whisper. Only Gu Shenwei himself could understand what she said by reading her lips.


    (Please keep and provide rmendations)

 Chapter 176

    Chapter 176: Leaving


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The whole Jade City was shocked by the death of Sword Sacrificer Ye Sng. Even the Kun Society had won; it was immersed in an atmosphere of grief.


    ¡°She was waiting for you.¡± Gu Shenwei told Shangguan Ru, who had just rushed here. His hand was still being held by the deceased. He needed Shangguan Ru to gently pry off the fingers one by one to get rid of the corpse.


    Shangguan Ru was trying to act stoic. She did not cry but sat cross-legged before the bed instead. Both of her hands held on to Shangguan Yushi¡¯s hand. The hand used to tightly cling to ve Huan so as to drag him down into hell with it.


    The killers had all reached the hall. Maid Lotus had also arrived and Liuhua who was normally absent was also seen in a corner. All of the machetemen stayed in the courtyard, outside the hall while holding onto the handle of their swords tightly.


    Before nighttime arrived, no one dared to utter even a single word. Shangguan Ru took a deep breath, just like someone who had just woken up. She rose, turned her head and with a calm expression on her face, said, ¡°I want Meng Mingshi¡¯s head.¡±


    To everyone, Meng Mingshi seemed like the most obvious culprit, but Gu Shenwei had his reservations.


    Before Shangguan Yushi died, she had put all the me on ve Huan because she recognized the hatred and desire to kill in him.


    Gu Shenwei had always wanted to kill Master Yu, but he had nothing to do with this circumstance.


    Shangguan Fei had indeed supported the Horned Dragon Society. He revealed how Meng Mingshi had employed Ye Sng and agreed to let ve Huan bring one more person into the betting arena. Gu Shenwei knew he was walking on a tightrope, so he was being extra careful. He did not make any more requests to the Ninth Young Master.


    The Horned Dragon Society had chosen Shangguan Yushi as their target. Gu Shenwei was as shocked as everyone else.


    Perhaps the counterattackst night had finally riled up the Fifth Young Master. He was very suspicious of Shangguan Yushi¡¯s loyalty. Perhaps the surviving machetemen of the Horned Dragon Society wanted to exact revenge on their own ord. Or it could be that Shangguan Fei wanted to use the chaos to his advantage.


    Gu Shenwei had so many doubts in his heart. Answers would be difficult to obtain with Master Yu¡¯s death.


    The killers bowed down to the Tenth Young Master, indicating that they have epted the order. Gu Shenwei felt the need to remind them that they had a ceasefire agreement.


    Shangguan Ru stared at ve Huan. Her eyes were as dark as charcoal and sparkled with faint sparks before finally dimming. ¡°The South City is under a truce but the North City is not.¡±


    Meng Mingshi hid in his house. If anyone wanted to kill him, they could only do so by waging a war in the North City. However, this would vite the unspoken rules of the two societies and Golden Roc Fort¡¯s desire to keep the North City death free.


    Therefore, Gu Shenwei felt that the only way to deal with this difficult situation was to ept it. He pulled out his saber and drew a line on the ground. This was the killer¡¯s way of saying that they would not give up before achieving their goal. The other killers followed suit and drew the same line on the ground.


    The death of the closest friend brought forth the will and intelligence of the Tenth Young Master. She was not consumed with anger and did not leave all matters in her subordinate¡¯s hands, simply waiting for the oue. She was in deep thought for a long while. She considered all the risks and difficulty of the entire n.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do it tonight. Since everyone has assumed that the armistice hase into effect, let¡¯s surprise them. We¡¯ll drag Meng Mingshi to the South City. I want to behead him myself and present it to Master Yu.¡±


    Seven killers gathered together. They set aside their grudges and personal interests temporarily. Wildhorse was extremely concerned about the death of Master Yu. His desire for revenge was just as strong as the Tenth Young Master¡¯s. He came up with a n quickly and used his fingers to signal it. Everyone understood his intentions.


    Shangguan Ru led five killers and returned to the North City. ve Huan and Maid Lotus would stay in the South City.


    During the third watch of the night, two killers from South City sneaked under the wall that divided the two cities. Above their heads was the tower that overlooked the South City. On the opposite side of the tower was the base camp of the Horned Dragon Society. It was now a pile of rubble.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus wore outfits befitting killers. They hid in the shadows under the walls. Their task was simple. They only had to wait for their prey to hang from above.


    Kidnapping a person in the North City was very difficult. Moreover, this person was the master of the Meng Family. This made things difficult. Gu Shenwei felt that Shangguan Ru¡¯s n was too reckless, but he had no control over this matter. Wildhorse had promised to shoulder all the responsibilities and seemed to be hell-bent on making this work.


    Everyone had a best friend. At this train of thought, Gu Shenwei suddenly thought of Maid Lotus and felt a strong bond of friendship with her. He wanted to open up and confide such feelings to Maid Lotus. He was sure that she would understand him and help him.


    But he was a killer and he learned the Death Scripture. As such intense feelings wash over him, he would not be moved. The desire for revenge was still strong, and the look in his eyes did not sway even a single bit from his goal of revenge.


    Maid Lotus, who was standing so close to Gu Shenwei, would never have imagined that there was a moment when the teen was so close to her in mind and spirit.


    It was still very dark nearly at the fifth watch. Something dangled down from above the wall. Shangguan Ru and Wildhorse had actually seeded. Gu Shenwei was speechless. Was the North City not as well guarded as he thought, or was the Fifth Young Master so foolish that he did not guard himself adequately? The victim should knew too well of the rtionship between the two masters.


    Wrapped within multipleyers of cloth was the body of a person. It was soft to the touch. Gu Shenwei slung it over his shoulders and left without a word with Maid Lotus. They did not return to Kun Society, but instead sped towards Pleasure Alley.


    At Pleasure Alley, Xu Xiaoyi opened the door of the house. It was dark but he could vaguely see the silhouettes of the people inside.


    ¡°Got it?¡± Tuo Nengya asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Gu Shenwei responded, putting the captured victim on the ground.


    ¡°Mr. Huan, would you care to exin why these men are here when they are not here to sleep or to pay? Do they think that this is a brothel?¡± Xu Yanweiined from upstairs.


    ¡°Return to your room.¡± Gu Shenwei ordered. Xu Yanwei felt a little intimidated by him now. She snorted and quickly returned to her bedroom.


    About 2 dozen machetemen took action. Before long, they had put together a makeshift mourning hall. The corpse of Master Yu was ced in the middle. Candles and incense paper were prepared but they were not lit.


    Xu Xiaoyi sensed that something was amiss. But he did not dare to say anything. He crept silently up the stairs and went into his sister¡¯s room. Both siblings understood the gravity of the situation and looked at each other. They were too afraid to think of the oue.


    Downstairs, the machetemen swarmed out of the house. They guarded the entrance and the back of the house. Some even climbed onto the roof. One could say that the brothel has now been hermetically sealed.


    As dawn approaches, Shangguan Ru led the machetemen to the ce. They had passed by through the checkpoints and seemingly had nothing to do with Fifth Young Master¡¯s disappearance.


    Maid Lotus lit candles and Gu Shenwei opened the wrapped package. He doused water on the person inside to wake him up.


    The Fifth Young Master was simply too careless. On the night when he killed Master Yu, he did not stay in his house. Instead, he went out drinking. There were only a few taverns in the North City. There was only one that had a much more elegant atmospherepared to the rest and Meng Mingshi had been there. He did not notice that he had been followed the moment he stepped out of his house.


    It seemed like Shangguan Ru and Wildhorse had no use for such aplicated n that they came up with. Shangguan Ru put his hands together, thanking Master Yu¡¯s spirit for blessing them from Heaven.


    Wildhorse and Shangguan Ru jumped onto the roof of the tavern. Fifth Young Master was actually drinking alone, to their amusement. Even his servants had been taken outside and no one dared enter.


    Meng Mingshi was so drunk that the two kidnappers only had to put some knockout powder in his mouth before carrying him out through the window. No one was disturbed and they did not have to kill anyone. This went unexpectedly well. When they reached downstairs, Shangguan Ru pulled Meng Mingshi by the hair and looked at his face. She was making sure that she had not caught the wrong person.


    When the servants realized that their master was missing, the unconscious Meng Mingshi was already in South City. The anxious servants ran back to Meng¡¯s residence, shivering with fear, contemting whether they should awaken the great master. But in South City, Shangguan Ru was already standing before the Fifth Young Master¡¯s body, his hands holding a de. He was prepared to behead the said person.


    After this incident, exnations would be given out as followed: Fifth Young Master had assumed that the South City had entered a truce. Hence, he had secretly run to a familiar brothel in Pleasure Alley but he ended up falling into Shangguan Ru¡¯s hands.


    As for the agreement of the truce, Shangguan Ru also had a set of exnations. She was not afraid of the fact that the Meng family might resent her. Nobody would dare to touch her if a usible exnation was provided. Moreover, the Horned Dragon Society had once kidnapped the Tenth Young Master and had thought of killing her. However, they did not seed.


    Meng Mingshi opened his eyes. He was hungover. It felt like all his bones had been broken and somehow reattached again. He did not realize where he was for a long time. When he could clearly see the sword in Shangguan Ru¡¯s hands, he was startled and immediately sat up. He quickly sobered up too.


    ¡°You¡­ who are you? Where is this ce? What are you doing? Don¡¯t do anything stupid. I will call for help¡­¡± There were only masked killers in the house. One thing that he knew for sure was that this was Pleasure Alley. Meng Mingshi could not be more familiar with theyout of the house. However, he did not know whose house this was. ¡°We¡­ we¡¯re currently in a truce.¡±


    Shangguan Ru knew that Meng Mingshi would say this. She yelled at the door. ¡°Who¡¯s outside?¡±


    ¡°Machetemen of the Kun Society.¡± Tuo Nengya replied loudly.


    ¡°Who is the leader of the Kun Society?¡±


    ¡°Tuo Nengya.¡±


    ¡°What about Shangguan Ru?¡±


    ¡°Has been removed from the member¡¯s list.¡±


    ¡°Yang Huan?¡±


    ¡­


    Shangguan Ru repeated every single one of the killers¡¯ names. The only reply that he got was: ¡°They have been removed from the members¡¯ list.¡±


    ¡°Kun Society and the Horned Dragon Society may have agreed to a ceasefire, but we¡¯re no longer members of Kun Society.¡±


    Meng Mingshi felt that Shangguan Ru was obviously insisting on something absurd. But he could not think of anything to refute him. ¡°You¡­ I¡¯ll go back and tell my grandmother. The Meng Family is not done with Stone Castle yet.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t go back. Grandmother¡¯s good grandson will be leaving her first.¡±


    Meng Mingshi had only just understood what Shangguan Ru meant now. He turned pale. ¡°No, no. You can¡¯t kill me. I¡­¡±


    The anger that Shangguan Ru had been suppressing for a long time finally exploded. ¡°I can¡¯t kill you? I can¡¯t kill you! How dare you! If you wanted that, you shouldn¡¯t have killed Master Yu.¡±


    ¡°Master Yu?¡± Meng Mingshi came to his senses. When he saw the corpse of Shangguan Yushi, his face changed. He mbered towards the body with an unexpected energy and lifted one of her hands, as if to ascertain if she was really dead.


    ¡°Let go of her!¡± Shangguan Ru was both astonished and angry at the same time.


    Meng Mingshi turned his head. The grief on his face stunned Shangguan Ru.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know already? It was not me that sent men to kill her. How could I have killed her? I love her, and she loves me. Tenth Young Master, we have both been in love for a very long time.¡±

 Chapter 177

    Chapter 177: Brother


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Meng Mingshi and Shangguan Yushi were actually lovers. This fact was extremely shocking.


    Gu Shenwei was shocked. Many doubts were finally resolved. He felt that he was really dense as he could not figure out their rtionship earlier. However, it wasn¡¯t Gu Shenwei¡¯s fault as he hadn¡¯t been in such a rtionship before so he couldn¡¯t understand such a subtle feeling.


    Meng Mingshi and Shangguan Ru were like water and fire as they would quarrel whenever they met. However, Meng Mingshi was always courteous to Shangguan Yushi. Fifth Young Master Meng liked Master Yu ever since their first meeting. Thus, he would assist her discreetly. This was why Shangguan Yushi dared to kill the machetemen from the Horned Dragon Society without fear of revenge.


    The lives of the machetemen were insignificant to the nobles in North City. It would be all worthwhile if they could make a beautiful woman smile.


    As for the death of Marquis Gao, Gu Shenwei finally understood the reason behind it. The poor Marquis had known about their rtionship, so he used that fact to extort money. Even though Shangguan Yushi gave him the money, the money didn¡¯t belong to her. Instead, it belonged to the Mengs. Hence, Marquis Gao was killed when he extorted money for the second time.


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t think so much. She held onto her saber. Her face was red and her ck pupils dted. She paused for a long time and finally said, ¡°You¡¯re lying.¡±


    Meng Mingshi fished out a jade pendant and showed it to Shangguan Ru.


    The pendant was carved into a shape of a deer. Apart from its green eyes, the pendant was white in color. However, it didn¡¯t seem particrly precious.


    Shangguan Ru flinched as though she was struck by a sledgehammer. She stared at the pendant for a long time before taking out her own pendent.


    The two jade pendants appeared to be almost exactly the same.


    For a moment, tears welled up in her eyes and she was about to cry. Then, she withdrew her emotions, kept the pendant, raised her saber and said, ¡°Impossible. You must have stolen it. If not, you must have made one. Master Yu couldn¡¯t ¡­¡±


    Meng Mingshi dropped his arms and stared at Shangguan Yushi¡¯s corpse. His deep emotions could even be felt by the most ruthless killer.


    ¡°Nothing is impossible. All of you, who lived in the Stone Castle, always thought that she should be Tenth Young Master¡¯s follower since her birth. However, she was much smarter than you and was more qualified to be the Young Master. We had set up a perfect n and we almost seeded.¡±


    ¡°n?¡± Shangguan Ru repeated and her hand, which held her saber, started to tremble.


    ¡°Horned Dragon Society was established because of her, so that we could y a realistic game with you. Meanwhile, we can get rid of those whom we disliked such as ve Huan. Then, we would think of a way to send you back to Stone Castle. I will control Horned Dragon Society and she will control Kun Society. Both of us will start our career. By then, no one will im that I¡¯m a useless wastrel and she has a lowly status¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Shangguan Ru shouted. Her tears dropped uncontrobly. She said, ¡°Master Yu won¡¯t betray me.¡±


    ¡°She certainly won¡¯t betray you. She needs you but she feels that you are still too young and not suitable for the job. Hence, she wants to expand the society on your behalf. She¡¯ll return a powerful Kun society, which could terrorize the Western Region back to you when she got married into the Meng family.¡±


    Shangguan Ru couldn¡¯t believe his words and her mind was in a whirl. She was reminded of Master Yu¡¯s sweet nothings, ¡°She said that she didn¡¯t want to get married.¡±


    Meng Mingshi looked at the lifeless face of Shangguan Yushi with affection and replied, ¡°She said she regretted making such an oath.¡±


    Shangguan Ru stumbled back into a chair and sat down powerlessly. She dropped her saber and curled up, behaving as though she was a little girl who was abandoned by her parents. She mumbled, ¡°Impossible.¡± Suddenly, she jumped up and shouted, ¡°If it isn¡¯t you, then who killed Master Yu?¡±


    Meng Mingshi seemed to have just thought about this issue. His eyes looked hesitant. He then pointed at ve Huan and said, ¡°It is him. It must have been his doing.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was totally confused. She asked without much thinking, ¡°Is it you? Did you kill her because of the deep hatred between both of you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not me. I can¡¯tmand that many machetemen.¡±


    Gu Shen could already guess who was the mastermind but he didn¡¯t have the power to reveal the truth.


    Shangguan Ru finally realized that Meng Mingshi¡¯s allegations were too far-fetched. As there was no way an ordinary killer would be able tomand dozens of machetemen, she said, ¡°Those machetemen were from the Horned Dragon Society.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t figure it out. There is a chance that they¡¯re members of the society, but I hadn¡¯t given out any order and no macheteman had admitted to it. I have sent some men to check it out and there hasn¡¯t been any news as of now. If I can¡¯t find out what has happened, I¡¯ll kill all of them.¡±


    Meng Mingshi was not a qualified master. When Shangguan Yushi died, he would only drink to his sorrow and didn¡¯t formte a n for revenge.


    Both of them were deep in thought and were thinking hard about this matter.


    Shangguan Ru knew nothing so it was eptable if she couldn¡¯t understand. However, Meng Mingshi had plenty of clues. Gu Shenwei wanted to crack open his skull and put the idea straight into his brain.


    ¡°I get it,¡± Meng Mingshi said as he had finally gotten rid of the influence of drunkenness and sadness. Meng Mingshi finally understood what was going on. He eximed, ¡°It¡¯s your brother. Shangguan Fei¡¯s order!¡±


    Shangguan Ru stared at Meng Mingshi like a fool. Just when she was about to rebut, Tuo Nengya¡¯s voice was heard from outside, ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Golden Roc Fort,¡± a cold voice replied.


    Tuo Nengya must have believed his ims. Hence, instead of blocking off all outsiders as per Shangguan Ru¡¯s order, he pushed the door open and allowed dozens of men in ck clothing toe in.


    They were indeed Golden Roc killers. They were dressed in ck and each of them wore a red belt. They weren¡¯t inexperienced youths, but rather, they were experienced strong man. After entering the house, they immediately dispersed to every corner of the house.


    No one could act rashly.


    Meng Mingshi did not know what those people were up to and was trembling in fear. Shangguan Ru was stunned and asked, ¡°Who do these rude killers belong to?¡±


    A short man, who was dressed in ck, was standing by the door. He lifted his hood and answered, ¡°Sister, you have blown this matter up. Stone Castle had to send their men here to clear up the mess.¡±


    It was Shangguan Fei.


    Shangguan Ru looked at her brother in surprise. Both Shangguan Ru and Meng Mingshi asked almost at the same time, ¡°Have you sent someone to kill her?¡±


    Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t answer the question. He had waited for this moment for a long time, but he was willing to wait for a little while longer. He moved a few steps forward, grabbed onto Fifth Young Master Meng and said, ¡°Fifth Young Master, you have suffered a lot. Come and send Fifth Young Master back home.¡±


    Two ck killers grabbed onto Meng Mingshi and brought him out of the house. Meng Mingshi was grief-stricken and furious. He didn¡¯t have the strength to do anything and was easily manipted. Upon reaching the door, he straightened his body and used, ¡°You. It must have been you. How could I ¡­¡±


    The killers didn¡¯t hesitate. They grabbed onto Fifth Young Master Meng and quickly departed.


    Shangguan Fei smiled as he watched Meng Mingshi leave. Now, both the Mengs and Horned Dragon Society had owed him a big favor. Next, he would deal with Kun Society.


    In a swift action, Shangguan Ru swung her saber and held it in front of Shangguan Fei¡¯s chest. Shangguan Ru was like an angry cat. She arched her back and her pupil became dted.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    A killer came over to save his master but Shangguan Fei sent him off with a shake of his hand. He previously cried in fear because of his sister¡¯s saber, but not anymore. He replied, ¡°Do you want to kill me again? Sister, you always forget that I¡¯m not your ve.¡±


    ¡°Because of this? You killed Master Yu just because you hated me?¡± Shangguan Ru couldn¡¯t believe that the youth standing in front of her was her twin brother. Her hand, which was holding onto the saber, started trembling again.


    ¡°I don¡¯t hate you. I admire you,¡± Shangguan Fei replied. He was extremely calm and he didn¡¯t seem as ipetent and weak as people thought he would be. He said, ¡°Both mother and father like you. Father treats you far better than all of your brothers. But I hate Shangguan Yushi. Who is she? How could she be so disrespectful towards me?¡±


    Shangguan Fei became angry. His eyes were burning with anger as he leaned forward. Shangguan Ru unconsciously moved back while moving her saber away from her brother¡¯s chest. He shouted, ¡°I am the son of the Supreme King! She is just a poor rtive thates from nowhere. Her status is only slightly higher than that of a ve. Why should I endure her wrath?¡±


    ¡°She didn¡¯t¡­ We didn¡¯t¡­¡± Shangguan Ru cried. She couldn¡¯t control her emotions. She couldn¡¯t handle all of the many unexpected events that had urred.


    ¡°Oh. Indeed, all of you didn¡¯t bully me. What do you treat me as? Followers and ves. Sometimes, I feel like I am worse than a ve. How does teasing constitute to ¡®bullying¡¯ as you give face to ves by teasing them. Do you know that? Sister, I feel that all ves hate their master.¡±


    Shangguan Fei looked at Shangguan Yushi¡¯s corpse and sneered, ¡°Master Yu is rather ambitious. She wants to take your position by removing you so that she can control Kun Society all by herself. Look, sister. This is your best friend. She found herself a man. Then, she betrays you faster than a ve betraying his master.¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡±


    Shangguan Ru ced her saber at her brother¡¯s chest as she was no longer trembling.


    ¡°Come on. Haven¡¯t you ever ced your saber at my neck in order to save the two ves? Now that Master Yu is dead,e and take your revenge. It¡¯s a tradition of Stone Castle for family members to kill each other. I have killed Big Brother, and you can kill me, your elder brother. Father will like you more.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was slightly deranged. No killer in the house dared to step forward to dissuade him.


    The saber in Shangguan Ru¡¯s hand felt heavy as she couldn¡¯t decide whether she should stab her brother or retract her saber back.


    Shangguan Fei took over the saber and tossed it on the floor. He said coldly, ¡°Is it so difficult to kill someone? You weren¡¯t like this when you were killing machetemen from the Horned Dragon Society two nights ago. Could you remember? You wereposed and nonchnt as if they were just ants. Don¡¯t they have siblings? Don¡¯t they have someone they love? No, everyone has. Sister, do you understand the rules of Stone Castle? If you¡¯re unable to kill your older brother, how will you be able to kill the person you loved, respected and hated?¡±


    Shangguan Fei looked at his sister cruelly as his cheeks flushed with excitement. This current moment of revenge was even better than what he imagined. If he could, he wanted to stay at this moment forever.


    Shangguan Ru stood still in a dazed manner. Her small body resembled a baby leopard which had just left its mother. She looked confused and guarded against everyone who was in the house. She said, ¡°You¡¯re not my brother. Both of you and she had betrayed me.¡±


    ¡°You have never once treated me like an older brother,¡± Shangguan Fei said, as he held onto a de. He was piercing his de into Shangguan Ru¡¯s body. Instead of piercing her in a quick motion, he slowly sliced her skin, cut her flesh up and stirred her internal organs.


    Loud noises could be heard from the outside as though a fierce fight was taking ce there. Shangguan Fei let out a smile and looked at ve Huan, who was standing at the side. While delivering his final stab, he said, ¡°Sister. Open your eyes. Everyone around you is betraying you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was shocked. He had been interacting with the masters of Stone Castle cautiously, but he still underestimated the capability of the Ninth Young Master. Although he was prepared to betray, he had not thought of how to deal with Shangguan Ru¡¯s grief and indignation.

 Chapter 178

    Chapter 178: Synergy


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    It turned out to be a false rm for Gu Shenwei. Shangguan Fei had be clever and had not exposed ve Huan. His gaze flitted away from ve Huan and said, ¡°Your killers have ulterior motives. That Tuo Nengya wanted to kill me.¡±


    Shangguan Ru remained as still as a statue, looking dejected as though she had not heard what her brother had said.


    Shangguan Fei stopped talking and pricked up his ears to listen. The fight outside had ended very quickly. Suddenly, the door swung open revealing a young killer kneeling on one leg at the doorstep. He said, ¡°Ninth Young Master, we have killed sixteen people but seven ran away. We are in pursuit.¡±


    There was a small w in this tremendous victory. Shangguan Fei¡¯s face sank and he unsheathed his saber. He asked, ¡°Where is Tuo Nengya?¡±


    ¡°He¡­ He escaped.¡±


    Tuo Nengya was an old and experienced old macheteman. Once he saw killers in ck robe, he knew that something was not right. He had secretly set up a formation to counter them. However, the killers were more capable than the machetemen. After the first attack, the formation had crumbled. In order to preserve time, six machetemen protected Boss Tuo by escaping into the maze of nearby streets andnes. As they were familiar with the streets of South City and the young killers could not catch up with them.


    Shangguan Fei chopped off the young killer¡¯s left hand using his saber. Lifting his head, hemanded coldly, ¡°I want to see Tuo Nengya¡¯s head before dusk. If not, I will kill you.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡±, the young killer replied as he retreated in pain.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s good mood was ruined. His sister had be lifeless like a zombie. He was uninterested in torturing her any further. ¡°Bring Tenth Young Master to North City. If she is hurt, all of you will die.¡± He instructed.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s seven killers knelt on one leg and epted Ninth Young Master¡¯s orders respectfully. Then, they got up. Maid Lotus supported Shangguan Ru and two other killers carried Master Yu¡¯s corpse as they left.


    This was the sorrow of Tenth Young Master and the young killers¡¯ bitter defeat.


    When Gu Shenwei brushed past Shangguan Fei, both of them looked into each other¡¯s eyes and understood each other¡¯s mind. Since Ninth Young Master had gotten ahold of incriminating information against ve Huan, it would not do to be duplicitous. This was one of the reasons why Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t betray him immediately.


    Gu Shenwei could not remember how many masters he had vowed to, but none of them had been sincere. He firmly remembered what Mister Zhang Ji had taught him: The ve is the most ideal betrayer.


    Shangguan Fei always thought that he knew what ves were thinking about, but it was merely indulging the delusion he had whenever he suffered a setback.


    Shangguan Fei was delighted to see the other ck-robed killers retreating. He was alone in the house, enjoying his victory when he raised his head and saw a young woman standing at the top of the stairs. She eyes were round and fearful. She trembled as if quivering under Shangguan Fei¡¯s intense gaze.


    Xu Yanwei, who had been standing upstairs, heard everything. She was attracted to the cruelty and ruthlessness of the youth. He was younger than her brother but it was inconsequential to her. The capability of a man was not rted to his age.


    Xu Yanwei beckoned Shangguan Fei invitingly. Dazed yet excited, he hesitated for a second before climbing up the stairs. Xu Xiaoyi leaped like a rabbit past Ninth Young Master and escaped the building.


    The war which hadsted for many days and had caused hundreds of deaths finally ended in an unexpected manner.


    Tenth Young Master Shangguan Ru was depressed. By participating in the kidnapping in North City, it had directly involved Stone Castle and she was ced under house arrest in the North City residence.


    Meng Mingshi had not only lost his money, his machetemen and his lover, but also had to ¡°thank¡± Golden Roc Fort Ninth Young Master for saving his life. He was also simrly depressed and fell seriously ill resulting in him being bedridden for months.


    The undistinguished Ninth Young Master suddenly became the biggest winner. The Kun Society disintegrated and became an empty shell. Shangguan Fei kept its name so as to control the terrorities and merchants that Kun Society once owned. Horned Dragon Society came under the same master. Till now, it was the first time that most people realized Shangguan Fei was one of the founders of Horned Dragon Society.


    Since then, Shangguan Fei made use of Horned Dragon Society to attract children of wealthy families from the North City and recruited many protectors and merchants into Kun Society. He controlled those machetemen and killers with a firm hand and he became a formidable force in Jade City. This was beyond the expectations of Lady Meng and the Supreme King, attracting the attention of his brothers.


    It was a sweeping victory except for one w. Old macheteman Tuo Nengya remained missing. He had blended into South City like a piece of mud and had yet to reveal himself.


    Shangguan Fei personally killed the killer but it was a futile effort. Even though those six machetemen who apanied Boss Tuo during his escape had gotten captured, the person that Shangguan Fei wanted to catch still remained missing. Because of this, Shangguan Fei was furious and did not dare to visit South City for a long time.


    Not only had two leaders of the societies been defeated by Shangguan Fei, one young killer had also been defeated by Shangguan Fei. This fact had remained unknown to everyone. Gu Shenwei¡¯s efforts to build a strong independent force were in vain. Not only had he spent arge amount of Tie Hanfeng¡¯s inheritance, he had also be Ninth Young Master¡¯s pawn.


    His only achievement was that his swordcraft had been improved, but his sword was broken into several pieces. Tofool others, he kept up a pretence by leaving his broken sword in its scabbard.


    The members of Shangguan family always exceed his expectations, Gu Shenwei reflected deeply. On many asions, he had paid a price because he had underestimated his enemies.


    The only reliable thing he had was his sword; it had never once failed him.


    Shangguan Ru seemed unable to return back to her old self. She hid herself in the room and refused to meet anyone. She would asionally regain her energy and summon her seven killers. She often talked about regrouping but could not produce any concrete and detailed ns.


    Taking advantage of Shangguan Ru¡¯s fleeting enthusiasm, Gu Shenwei requested to return to South City to gather some information. When he was permitted to return, he went and took Maid Lotus with him.


    Shangguan Ru was absent-minded, but Wildhorse and the others understood that ve Huan and Maid Lotus intended to abandon Tenth Young Master. It was tantamount to betrayal.


    The fact is, Gu Shenwei had paid a discreet visit to Shangguan Fei and proved his loyalty to Shangguan Fei. Shangguan Ru might have risen again, but Gu Shenwei did not want to ce his bets on one person.


    Betrayal wasmon in Golden Roc Fort so Gu Shenwei was not ashamed of his behavior. On the other hand, the Shangguan family required all of their killers to be loyal to them percisely because loyalty was extremely rare to find.


    ording to the principles of Golden Roc Fort, if the ves did not pledge their loyalty to their masters on their own ord, they would be forced to do so.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus returned back to South City. First, they went to cksmith Vige to fix their sword. Then, they rented two apartments at the backyard of Southwall Tavern. Although Shopkeeper Lyu had pledged his allegiance to Shangguan Fei, he did not dare to offend the two young killers. He had already made up his mind to never participate in a fight between killers.


    The Xu siblings were the only brothel owners in South City that didn¡¯t side with any party. Both of them still relied on the protection of ve Huan and Shangguan Fei acquiesced to it.


    Five dayster, the new sword was sent back. Xu Xiaoyi had also returned with the information that Brother Huan requested.


    Gu Shenwei had not returned to South City to rebuild Kun Society nor to serve Ninth and Tenth Young Master. He had another motive.


    Even after the war between the two societies, a few doubts remained. Although others had seemed to bury them at the back of their minds, Gu Shenwei could not forget them. The assassin that assasinated Ye Siliang at Rogue Forest had not been found and the mystery of how Immortal Peng had Xu Xiaoyi to ry the message had yet to be exined.


    Both Ye Siliang and Chu Yangjun had been apprentices of Immortal Peng, but they had not received any assistance from their master.


    ording to Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s information, Immortal Peng was an entric person. Everyone in South City knew about him, but no one knew about his background exactly. The information seemed contradictory. Just in his age alone, there was no consensus; it ranged from sixty to two hundred.


    Hope Alley had been established around the same time as the birth of Immortal Peng. Ever since he was born, he had never left that ce. Some said that Immortal Peng was a foreigner. He hade to Jade City and established Hope Alley.


    Immortal Peng¡¯s upation was fortune telling, but he seldom showed up in person. Joy Pavilion had numerous bizarre characters. Every day, there were countless people who received the guidance of Immortal Peng and miraculously gained the ability to fortune tell. They would then ascend to the third level and serve those who came to have their fortune told. However, their words did note from them. It came from Immortal Peng. Once that day ended, their temporary powers were lost and a new batch of people would gain this fleeting power.


    Few knew that Immortal Peng knew kung fu, and fewer knew that he was the master of Ye Siliang and Chu Yangjun. Gu Shenwei had suspected but ultimately made the wrong guess.


    Xu Xiaoyi had gone upstairs, but he had not seen Immortal Peng in person. However, just like other people, he was awed by the fortune-telling experience. He said, ¡°Immortal Peng is a living immortal as he knows everything. He could even remind you of events that you havepletely forgotten.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? What did he say about my past?¡±, Gu Shenwei asked in disbelief. Gu Shenwei would only be impressed if Immortal Peng knew his real identity.


    ¡°Er¡­ Immortal Peng didn¡¯t talk about your past. He mentioned about my past and your future.¡±


    ¡°Did he say if I would kill those two swordsmen?¡±


    ¡°Immortal Peng would not have been so explicit. He said, ¡®In terms of swordscraft, you will lose. However, in terms of killing, you will win.¡¯ He even said, ¡®Relentlessness beats sentimentality. With emotions, you can learn faster but take a longer time to master. Without emotions ¡­¡¯ ¡±


    Because of the dy, Xu Xiaoyi could not recall the original words. He said, ¡°But he was very urate when he mentioned about my past. He said that I was born with an ability to subdue and end an elder¡¯s life.¡±


    Gu Shenwei sent Xu Xiaoyi away and started to discuss Immortal Peng with Maid Lotus, who had emerged out from nowhere.


    ¡°Is Immortal Peng the assasin in Rogue Forest? He doesn¡¯t seem to care about the lives of his apprentices and seems to be counting on me to kill them off.¡±


    Gu Shenwei raised his spection. As swordcraft was his most reliable method of taking revenge, he would need to know more details about the other swordcraft master.


    ¡°I feel that he wants you to pay him to visit.¡±


    Maid Lotus felt that something was amiss and ve Huan was going to fall into yet another trap.


    Gu Shenwei could have ignored Immortal Pengpletely. At his present level of swordcraft, it was impossible for him to kill off all his enemies. However, it was possible to kill off some key enemies secretly.


    Immortal Peng did not interfere with the youths¡¯ n for revenge. In fact, this mysterious fortune teller was likely using the war to meet his own ends. Once both of his apprentices died, the matter would be over.


    There was no need for Gu Shenwei to seek trouble. That night, he put on a ck coat and covered his face. As he proceeded to Hope Alley, his mind was upied by one thought.

 Chapter 179

    Chapter 179: Immortal Peng


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    There was a pile of dirty snow remaining from thete winter at the corner of a wall. Under the bright moonlight, the snow mounds looked like severely decayed corpses that would nourish new life at springtime.


    A teenager was sitting upright on the top of a wall in Hope Alley. He finally realized why he felt that he had toe and see Immortal Peng.


    He cradled the newly-forged sword in his arms as if he was embracing a long-lost lover. Although he did not know how to love people, he already had feelings of affection for his sword. He felt that the sword had meant everything to him.


    He was like a child who had just learned to speak. He liked to speak on every asion just to prove that he could.


    He suddenly woke up. What Immortal Peng had wanted Xu Xiaoyi to convey was not a prophecy, but was actually a challenge from one swordman to another.


    Gu Shenwei stood up again and he jumped from one wall to another like a hunting wildcat. Soon, he arrived at the back of Joy Pavilion. From there, he could vaguely see the peach forest in Gui Garden which was not far away outside the wall.


    All the lights on the first and second floor had been extinguished. The only thing that could be seen was the flickering light of amp on the third floor.


    Just when the young killer was wondering about how to climb up, someone came and opened a small window on the third floor. It had once prevented Chu Yangjun frompeting with Gu Shenwei in swordsmanship.


    A man stuck his head out of the window. His face was pockmarked, his eyelids were folded outward, and one of his nostrils was missing. It made him appear as if he had been burnt in hot water. He was so ugly that even the moonlight was shocked.


    ¡°Why did youe sote?¡± the ugly man asked before he jumped out and deftlynded onto the top of the wall. He slightly bent his legs and stretched out his arms to reveal two short swords.


    Gu Shenwei knew that there were many strange people in Joy Pavilion, so he asked, ¡°Are you Immortal Peng?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    To Gu Shenwei¡¯s surprise, Immortal Peng did not look like a sage at all. On the contrary, he turned out to be an ugly man who had no demeanor.


    Since they met for a sword fight, they did not waste any time to talk nonsense. They focused all their attention on their swords. He was Ye Sng and Chu Yangjun¡¯s Master Shifu. If Gu Shenwei wanted to kill him and improve his swordsmanship then Immortal Peng had to be taken seriously.


    Like a spider, Maid Lotus was attached to the wall and was waiting for an opportunity to take action. She had agreed with ve Huan that they would, at the same time, both openly and secretly hunt for the top martial artist.


    As killers, they would do whatever they can to kill their opponent and to improve their own swordsmanship.


    ¡°You¡¯re no match for him,¡± someone else on the third floor said while showing his face, which was just as ugly as his partner.


    The second ugly man jumped out of the window andnded behind Gu Shenwei. He also held two short swords. It was exactly the same as the first ugly man¡¯s.


    ¡°Who¡¯re you?¡± Gu Shenwei was a bit confused and became vignt. If this was a trap, then he and Maid Lotus would execute the backup n¡ªfleeing to the peach forest.


    ¡°Immortal Peng,¡± the second ugly man answered in an impatient tone. It was as if he med Gu Shenwei for having asked the question despite knowing the answer.


    Gu Shenwei became more confused. ¡± Is he ying tricks on me? What¡¯s the point of doing so? Is the fortune teller ying a game?¡±


    A series of thoughts had shed through Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind before he suddenly realized that it was stupid of him to obsess about these when he was confronted with an enemy. Therefore, he decided to adopt the simplest solution.


    He unsheathed his de and tried to stab the first ugly man since his living energy was clearly visible and more obvious than Ye Sng¡¯s and Chu Yangjun¡¯s. Gu Shenwei was confident that he could defeat the man in one strike, and he felt that he did not even need Maid Lotus¡¯ assistance.


    He nned to jump over the first ugly man, stab him in the back, and then use his corpse as a shield against the second ugly man so that he could buy some time for breathing and for preparing the next strike.


    Everything happened as he had expected. Like a crow, he flew above the first ugly man andnded precisely behind the enemies, however, the de in his hand was gone. The first ugly man did not die, and he turned around. His arms were hanging down with short swords in his hands and his fierce eyes were filled with a hint of admiration. He looked as if he had watched a monkey perform movements that only human beings could make.


    Someone had snatched his sword. Gu Shenwei was so stunned that he took a few steps back.


    The two ugly men were not the ones who had taken his sword away, but rather it was a third person who had appeared at the window on the third floor. Dressed in a white robe, the man had a square face, thick dagger-shaped eyebrows, and a long whisker reaching his chest. He held a white rope in the right hand and the killer¡¯s sword in the left.


    ¡°Come upstairs,¡± the white-robed man said in amanding tone.


    Although he did not intend to threaten anybody, he made it difficult for Gu Shenwei to refuse.


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    Gu Shenwei made up his mind to escape at the moment when the white-robed man was distracted while answering his question. It turned out that he was too reckless on this visit because the situation in Joy Pavilion was much moreplex than he had imagined. However, what the white-robed man said next made him stay.


    ¡°Immortal Peng.¡±


    The young killer no longer treated it as a game. He felt peeved, but he could not sense the danger.


    The two ugly men jumped off the high wall, pushed the back door open, and entered the first floor.


    They left the door open for the killer.


    Gu Shenwei had always been a skeptical person, but somehow, he trusted ¡°Immortal Peng¡±. Like an obsessed person who had solved half of a puzzle, he felt like continuing on regardless of what the price might be.


    Gu Shenwei stamped his foot and also leaped down from the high wall before entering Joy Pavilion. After receiving the hint, Maid Lotus would secretly leave. It would be wiser to let Gu Shenwei go inside alone just in case there was a trap in there.


    There was no one on the first floor, where the tea utensils were neatly arranged. The second floor was simrly empty, there was only a circle of chairs that were ced near the wall. The third floor, however, was crowded with people.


    It was arge room. In the middle stood a slender bronze statue, which vaguely resembled a flying female celestial. One of the statue¡¯s arms was raised high while holding a smallmp.


    All of the light in the entirety of Joy Pavilion came from it.


    There were about 30 or 40 people either sitting or standing around. Most of them were ugly and physically handicapped. Gu Shenwei had seen several of them on the first floor of the teahouse before. There were four or five other people who were particrly handsome. For example, the demeanor of the white-robed man with a long whisker and a white rope wasparable to Ye Sng and Chu Yangjun.


    In other words, there was not a single ordinary-looking man on the third floor. They were either extremely ugly or extremely handsome.


    At the far end of the room, there was a huge screen full of Chinese characters, but Gu Shenwei could not clearly read any of them. This reminded him of Luo Ningcha who had never shown her true face.


    The white-robed man came forward, bowed slightly while holding the sword with both hands, and returned it to its owner.


    Gu Shenwei took the sword, hesitated for a moment before putting it back into his scabbard. No one spoke, and he did not speak either. But in his heart, he began to doubt whether his decision was right or not.


    ¡°Your swordsmanship is quite good. Who did you learn it from?¡± asked a one-legged man.


    ¡°My swordsmanship is not good enough, otherwise my sword would not have been snatched away,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°No, no. Your swordsmanship is good. It¡¯s a pity that you¡¯re not learning it right and you don¡¯t have a strong will. That¡¯s why you lost your sword,¡± a cman said.


    ¡°Who, who are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve told you many times. I¡¯m Immortal Peng.¡± This time the speaker was a handsome young man.


    Gu Shenwei felt as if there was a disgusting and creepy reptile crawling around in his heart. He had seen mutted corpses and mounds of dead people, but he had never felt as uneasy as he was now.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes scanned the faces of dozens of people and finally fell on the screen. The real Immortal Peng was behind it and the others were just his mouthpieces. As he realized this, he was no longer as afraid as he had been previously, although he still felt that it was a little weird.


    ¡°Hey, Your Excellency is really good at fooling people,¡± Gu Shenwei said so while he was actually thinking about Xu Xiaoyi. That boy was here before and had been making inquiries for several days, but he did not report such an important piece of information.


    ¡°Those who knew me said I was sad at heart. Those who didn¡¯t know me said I was seeking for something.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stared at the screen and ignored whichever strange person was talking this time. He replied, ¡°You seem to have expected me toe.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I thought you¡¯d be here a long time ago, but you were too skeptical and had wasted a lot of time.¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you told your own fortune?¡±


    ¡°If you believe in fortune-telling, then it¡¯s true. If you don¡¯t believe in it, then it¡¯s nothing. Others believe in it when I tell their fortune. I don¡¯t believe in it, so I never tell my own fortune.¡±


    Immortal Peng was frank. Gu Shenwei realized that his alertness was constantly diminishing. As long as he rxed a bit, he would unwittingly feel at ease. Although he was surrounded by dozens of people, all of whom seemed to be top-notch experts, he did not feel nervous at all. He was very certain that no one would hurt him.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m here. What do you want from me?¡±


    ¡°You killed Ye Sng and Chu Yangjun.¡±


    ¡°Humph, were they your disciples?¡±


    ¡°No, they¡¯re just people who learned swordsmanship from me and then left me.¡±


    In Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes, Immortal Peng was deliberately mystifying things again. However, he soon understood that he had learnt a lot of martial arts skills from Mama Xue, but they were not master and disciple.


    ¡°So you had used me to kill them.¡± Gu Shenwei was not afraid to think of others in a most unkind way and he was rarely wrong.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to kill them or to use you. It was just apetition between two styles of swordsmanship. I just wanted to know the result.¡±


    It was a creepy conversation. Each time Immortal Peng spoke, he used a different voice which coulde from any direction. Gu Shenwei stared at the screen and imagined that the other side to be a top-notch ventriloquist so that he could feel a little bit more normal. He said, ¡°The murderous sword defeated the dueling sword.¡±


    ¡°To me, the Emotionless Sword has surpassed the Affectionate Sword.¡±


    ¡°Haha.¡± Gu Shenwei raised his head andughed. Suddenly, before hisughter ceased, he dashed toward the screen in an attempt to see Immortal Peng¡¯s true face.


    A man appeared from nowhere to block his way.


    Gu Shenwei immediately retreated. He should have changed his direction and rushed forward again, but he was startled by the look of the person in his way. His Internal Breath stalled for a bit, and he missed a good opportunity to attack.


    The one that came out from behind the screen was a teenager whose face appeared to be immature, but his eyebrows and eyes strongly resembled Chu Yangjun¡¯s. It made him appear as gentle and tranquil as a woman.


    ¡°You are¡­ Chu Yangjun¡¯s younger brother?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Immortal Peng.¡± The teenager still repeated the same answer.


    Gu Shenwei was startled and puzzled. Before he even knew it, he was gripped by the teenager on one wrist. Their hands seemed to stick together, regardless of how hard he struggled to free himself. He attempted to draw his saber with the other hand, but it was also held by another person.


    The men who were gripping his wrists were holding hands with the others. Thus, they were connected to each other as they formed a circle.


    Again, the killer lost his ability to detect the danger. It was as if he knew that everyone had no intentions to harm to him and that Immortal Peng was helping him.


    A pitch-ck cane, which seemed to be made from either iron or wood, slowly protruded from behind the screen, and was gentlyid on the teenager¡¯s shoulder.


    A current of gentle Internal Breath entered his left arm and exited his right three times before everyone loosened their grip. Someone retracted the crutch and the teenager drew back behind the screen.


    ¡°So that¡¯s why. Now I see,¡± Immortal Peng said again using someone¡¯s mouth. ¡°That¡¯s quite something. You¡¯ve mastered such a swordsmanship despite having to keep the Peripheral Force suppressed.¡±


    ¡°Can you remove it?¡± Gu Shenwei blurt out with a trembling voice. The Peripheral Force was both an internal injury and his sore spot. He tried not to think about it, but the three-year period set by Mama Xue was drawing to an end and he was looking forward to a miracle.


    ¡°Yes, I can.¡± An old voice full of authority rang out. Gu Shenwei was startled by it even though he had no reason to be startled.

 Chapter 180

    Chapter 180: Back to the Fort


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    ¡°This is so unlike me,¡± the young killer¡¯s inner voice reminded himself. He had never been so careless that he had broken into an unknown ce, without even knowing whether the people within were his friends or foes. Neither had he been so gullible that he had regarded every word that others had said as goodwill.


    After Immortal Peng had said, ¡°I can,¡± Gu Shenwei immediately asked, ¡°But, do you have some conditions?¡±


    ¡°There is no condition. I can dispel the Peripheral Force and guide you on your swordcraft in order to develop and promote Emotionless Swords, Murderous Swords and Fatal Swords. I only want to see the results.¡±


    Although Gu Shenwei heard a young man¡¯s voice, he somehow pictured a greedy old man in his mind. The old man seemed to be dazed yet passionate and his saliva was dripping out from his mouth. His long bony hand was slowly stretching out ¡­


    Gu Shenwei retreated to the window. Between thirty to forty grotesque people turned to look at him, but no one stopped him.


    Fear surged like spring water. The killer shouted as he jumped out of the small window. He fell onto a pile of residual snow, rolled over and got up. Then, he ran for his life.


    ¡°He will be back,¡± a white-robed elder said coldly.


    ¡°He will be back,¡± the Uglies repeated. Then, everyone in the room coldly repeated these words, but inpletely different tones.


    Gu Shenwei jumped onto the wall of Hope Alley. He met Maid Lotus soon afterwards. Both of them didn¡¯t say anything and continued to run together until they returned to the apartment, which they had rented from Southwall Tavern. Gu Shenwei took off his ck mask, gasped for breath and shook his head hard. It seemed that he finally got rid of the dirty things that were attached to him. He then said, ¡°That guy, that Immortal Peng, seemed to know about the Death Scripture.¡±


    The Death Scripture was said to be brought up from a deep abyss by a golden-crowned roc, but the disciples of Barren Sect had never heard of this story. Gu Shenwei always believed that this was a secret that would never be revealed, however Immortal Peng had seen through the killer¡¯s swordcraft.


    At the moment when Gu Shenwei had thrown himself at the screen, but was blocked, he had seen something behind the screen. He didn¡¯t pay attention to it back then. He finally realized that it was a head with its hair that loosely hung down. The crown of the head could be seen.


    If he didn¡¯t recognize it wrongly, it looked like Ye Sng.


    He had brought Ye Sng¡¯s skull back to Kun Society, but he didn¡¯t pay attention to it. He didn¡¯t realize that Immortal Peng had gotten hold of it.


    There was a fatal sword wound that had been left behind by Maid Lotus. At that time, both of them were careless as they had not followed their usual practice of destroying the wound. Hence, Immortal Peng must have detected something.


    Immortal Peng sacrificed two disciples because he probably wanted to find out about what type of swordcraft that the killer was using. Gu Shenwei shuddered at the thought of it and was in a daze for some time before recovering.


    ¡°You are a little strange.¡± Maid Lotus observed ve Huan for a while and was surprised by ve Huan¡¯s expression.


    ¡°It¡¯s not me, it¡¯s Joy Pavilion and those people.¡±


    Gu Shenwei narrated his experience, especially the strange feeling at that time, ¡°I seemed ¡­ to be under some sort of control and I involuntarily rxed my vignce.


    ¡°It sounds like some kind of evil secrets. Is New Moon Hall behind this?¡±


    The women in New Moon Hall specialized in evil secrets and Gu Shenwei had experienced it before. However, Immortal Peng didn¡¯t seem to specialize in such arts. Gu Shenwei replied, ¡°It is highly unlikely. Immortal Peng lived in Jade City for many years and was reputable. if he was from New Moon Hall, then the Stone Castle would know about it.¡±


    This was something that both of them didn¡¯t know. Gu Shenwei decided not to go to Hope Alley again. Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s initial reminder about the strange people there was right. Although Immortal Peng knew about the Death Scripture, it seemed that he wouldn¡¯t leak it out easily.


    Both of them returned to North City at dawn. Shangguan Ru hadn¡¯t recovered from the shock and didn¡¯t evene out from the house to listen to ve Huan¡¯s report.


    Gu Shenwei spent a few days doing nothing. On one hand, he was pondering about Immortal Peng¡¯s intentions while on the other hand, he was thinking about how to pull Shangguan Ru together without arousing Shangguan Fei¡¯s antipathy. He could not afford to lose his backer.


    Towards the end of February, the Stone Castle sent men to summon ve Huan back. This gave him an opportunity to change the situation.


    The siege campaign by the coalition of Eighth Young Master Shangguan Nu and Bighead Kingpin had proceeded smoothly. After a long period of nning and reconnaissance, they had sent many troops into Gobi Desert and had finally found several important strongholds of New Moon Hall after the new year. They had killed many enemies and had captured some alive. The prisoners of war were brought back to Golden Roc Fort.


    One of the prisoners looked simr to a mysterious woman, just like the one that ve Huan had described. Hence, ve Huan was summoned back to the Castle to identify her.


    Tenth Young Master Shangguan Ru and other killers¡¯ chests were once secretly fingered by a mysterious woman from New Moon Hall, thus causing all of them to ck out. Although they sought treatment at Four Truths Temple and there was no rpse, no one was sure that they hadpletely recovered. They needed to find her as she was the one who couldpletely cure them. It would be very useful if this prisoner was the mysterious woman.


    There were twenty female prisoners and they were imprisoned at Heart Cleansing Yard. They were of different ages, mostly naked and scarred. It was obvious that they had been tortured and their gazes seemed lifeless. They didn¡¯t look like human beings. However, some tried to hold their heads high and looked at those people who were alive with a strong gaze, as though they were hungry wolves.


    These women were indeed disciples of New Moon Hall. Gu Shenwei could recognize them when he saw their gaze. Although they learnt from the same master, the disciples of Barren Sect seemed more normal. The disciples of New Moon Hall were like strange creatures who had never interacted with other human beings from a young age and their gazes were different from those of ordinary people.


    The torturer in Heart Cleansing Yard didn¡¯t give any hints. Gu Shenwei soon found the woman he wanted to identify.


    The woman was of a tall build. Her clothes were intact whenpared to that of other prisoners and there was not much blood on her face. Hence, one could clearly see her face.


    She wasn¡¯t the mysterious woman. Although it was a surreal glimpse, Gu Shenwei had a deep impression of her. This woman had a simr build, but was uglier than the mysterious woman. Most importantly, her gaze was full of madness, which was unique to that of New Moon Hall¡¯s disciples. However, the gaze of the mysterious woman appeared normal and she looked gentle when she smiled.


    ¡°Very simr.¡± Gu Shenwei stood in front of the prisoner and stared at her without blinking. He said, ¡°It has been some time and I couldn¡¯t remember clearly. However, she looked very simr.¡±


    ¡°Let Golden Roc Fort make this careless mistake,¡± Gu Shenwei thought to himself. This matter had nothing to do with him. It was better to let Shangguan Nu im the credit, so that he would stop sieging New Moon Hall.


    ¡°Take a closer look.¡± The torturer hoped to get a confirmation.


    ¡°I think she is the one, but I¡¯ve only seen the mysterious woman once so I can¡¯t remember clearly.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was sent out of the execution room. Before the door was closed, he could hear them groaning in pain.


    ve Huan¡¯s mission was over, but there were several people who wanted to see him. The first person was the mother of the twins, Lady Meng.


    ording to tradition, when a mature child of the Supreme King left home for a year, he was considered to be independent and would seldom return home. Shangguan Ru initially wanted to leave the mountain at all costs because she didn¡¯t want to be ridiculed by others. Shangguan Fei missed the life in the Inner Residence but he couldn¡¯t return casually.


    Lady Meng couldn¡¯t easily break this tradition, hence ve Huan had a worthy trip back to the Fort.


    Gu Shenwei felt somewhat uneasy. He was Shangguan Ru¡¯s most trusted killer and had to bear unshirkable responsibility for the fiasco of the Tenth Young Master. Lady Meng had high expectations for her daughter and was unhappy about the current situation.


    To his surprise, Lady Meng showed no sign of anger. She was as kind as a mother of a close friend. Not only did she offer him a seat, but she also asked the maid to offer him drinks and cakes. Gu Shenwei¡¯s hands were upied, and he wasn¡¯t able to take another item.


    Lady Meng was totally different from her resolute self at the moment when she had killed the First Young Master a few months ago. She was now a mother of the twins and was deeply concerned with their lives. She asked about every detail. However, Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t answer some of the questions, hence he tried to answer them in a positive way.


    After talking for an hour, Lady Meng came to the main topic. She first sighed, and said, ¡°Yushi had a pitiful death. Her mother invited me everyday, but she didn¡¯t say anything. She was probably resenting Fei¡¯er.¡±


    ¡°Master Yu volunteered to guard South City. The Ninth Young Master had predicted everything. Thus, no one couldy the me on anyone. Please forgive my straightforwardness. I knew this day woulde when I had decided to be a killer.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s what it should be. After all, I watched them grow up. They will be affected by Master Yu¡¯s death. Ru¡¯er will be greatly affected as Ru¡¯er and Yushi were close friends.¡±


    ¡°The Tenth Young Master is strong. She will ovee this difficulty.¡±


    ¡°I know about her temperament. Even the highest mountain is supported by earth and stone. It worries me as she doesn¡¯t have any support¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew Lady Meng¡¯s intention, and immediately knelt down on one leg. He then ced the item in his hand on the stool, and said, ¡°Madam, please rest assured. Since I am a killer under the Tenth Young Master and I am in gratitude of Madam, I will do whatever I can to repay you.¡±


    ¡°It is good that you have such an intention. Please help me take care of Ru¡¯er. She is my lifeblood, as well as Fei¡¯er. I can¡¯t take it if something happens to them.¡±


    This ended the conversation. Lady Meng had not made a specific request. A maid then brought ve Huan to the penthouse and wrapped up the cakes and jewelry that were given by Lady Meng, for ve Huan to take away.


    While working, the maid said without lifting her head, ¡°Do you understand Madam¡¯s intention?¡±


    ¡°Sister, please enlighten me.¡±


    ¡°Madam hoped that the Tenth Young Master would live well, but she didn¡¯t want the Ninth Young Master to feel sad. As both of them are twins, they are unlike other siblings and must not kill each other. The world, even Jade City is big. Why should they fight over the First Young Master¡¯s territory? The young one has grown up and need some opportunites to train. So the elder brother has to give in. In short, no one will starve to death. Madam has never said this before, but even with my stupidity, I know that the young masters will have their own territories. They wont¡¯t be bothered by the small businesses in South City, especially the Eighth Young Master, who is busy sieging New Moon Hall. She should follow Bighead Kingpin as the future is bright. Why bother about the little interest in South City? You were originally under the Eighth Young Master. Why don¡¯t you help your master?¡±


    Gu Shenwei now understood. Eighth Young Master Shangguan Nu was Lady Meng¡¯s ally but now he was getting closer to Bighead Kingpin. This aroused Madam¡¯s suspicion. She wanted to use this method to test Shangguan Nu¡¯s reaction and also to give her daughter a chance to make aeback.


    Kill two birds with one stone.


    Gu Shenwei thanked the maid for her reminder. He left the jewelry behind and took the useless cakes with him.


    As soon as he left the Inner Residence, a ve who was guarding the door called ve Huan to head over to the Eight Young Master¡¯s residence. The ve said that the Eighth Young Master had a message for him.


    Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t surprised. This was obviously Luo Ningcha¡¯s idea.

 Chapter 181

    Chapter 181: Foresee


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Shangguan Nu had built a special conference room for his wife. The hostess and guests were separated by a square-hollowed wooden wall.


    Three killers were waiting to pass on the orders. It was nothing more than performing his duty and to support Shangguan Ru well. Of course, Gu Shenwei epted the orders at once, while thinking that now that Eighth Young Master was a fat sheep to Lady Meng, the best he could do was put him on a butcher¡¯s block.


    The killers soon left ve Huan alone with Luo Ningcha behind the wall.


    Just as they stepped out the door, she broke the silence by smashing some cups, prompting Maid Cui to gasp painfully.


    As always, Miss was angry again.


    ¡°You foul, nasty bastard. Your nasty n got me into big trouble. Do you think you can walk away?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had to set aside all his contempts ever since Shangguan Fei¡¯s rise to power, including his contempt of Luo Ningcha. Maybe someday she would achieve something, although unlikely, but it may be worth the wait. Thus he patiently exined himself. ¡°I¡¯ve been loyal and running around for Your Grace¡¯s well-being.¡±


    ¡°How moving! Do you want me to bestow you with this blind maid? Well, tell me, what have you done for me?¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t Your Grace heard that the two masters are tangled in a fight in South City? Her Majesty is very hurt.¡±


    ¡°This is credited to you?¡±


    ¡°Your humble servant wouldn¡¯t take the full credit. But, s, I did get some work done.¡±


    He was notpletely lying. He did drive the wedge, just not for her.


    Luo Ningcha fell into silence behind the wall, reflected on the servant¡¯s loyalty and asked, ¡°Even if you did something right, why don¡¯t you report to me? I have to bring it up in front of the wicked one.¡±


    ¡°The wicked one¡± was another name for Lady Meng. Every time she mentioned her mother-inw, Luo Ningcha would beining about how she had been bullied. Here she went again, snapping. ¡°It¡¯s all your fault. Why did you have to save that trash, Shangguan Hong? I¡¯m over my head now. Besides, Madam Yang hates me and she won¡¯t talk to me. She¡¯s too busy running around sucking up to that wicked one.¡±


    ¡°In my humble opinion, Your Grace, she¡¯s secretly grateful to you, definitely not hateful.¡±


    ¡°So what? Now she bes a pet of that wicked one. She¡¯s no longer loyal to me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei decided to assign a task to distract her so she wouldn¡¯t be concerned about this issue. Thu he persuaded. ¡°The more loyal she acts, the more likely she¡¯s going to betray. No matter how hard she tries, Madam Yang wouldn¡¯t be pardoned. If given an opportunity, she will fall away from their group.¡±


    ¡°How will she fall away? Anyone can act like that. I won¡¯t worry about that.¡±


    ¡°Well, the Sixth Mistress can help us.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know that the Sixth Mistress alsoes from Meng Family? She¡¯s also the wicked one¡¯s pet.¡±


    ¡°Maybe not.¡±


    Luo Ningcha seemed to realize, stopped Gu Shenwei and then signaled him to continue. ¡°I¡¯ve covered the maid¡¯s ears. You can say it now.¡±


    ¡°It hasn¡¯t happened yet, but as long as Your Grace wishes, I will try to make it happen.¡±


    ¡°I will do anything to make that wicked one weep.¡±


    ¡°Here is the situation. The twins picked up a fight in South City, it turned out the Ninth Young Master won, and thus, the Tenth Young Master badly needed revenge. So I encouraged her to trash Sixth Young Master¡¯s ce in South City, in order to drive a wedge between the Sixth Mistress and Her Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Can you do it?¡± Luo Ningcha was not that stupid, instead, she was skeptical of ve Huan.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already made her trust me, she listens to me.¡±


    ¡°Perfect!¡± Luo Ningcha raised her voice, even startling Gu Shenwei. She continued, ¡°Do it now. I¡¯ll see how close they are.¡±


    ¡°But I still need Your Grace¡¯s help.¡±


    ¡°Just say it, money or people?¡±


    ¡°I cannot be too obvious on this, in case Her Majesty suspects us. Hence, I¡¯d have her rob from both Sixth Young Master and Eighth Young Master. But I am, after all, Eighth Young Master¡¯s servant; I just don¡¯t know what the Eighth Young Master would think about the n.¡±


    ¡°Simple, no matter how much gold my husband lost in South City, I¡¯ll have Bighead Kingpin make it up to him. Don¡¯t worry, I have you covered.¡±


    This was what Gu Shenwei had been waiting for, and next, he would encourage her to do another thing. He opened his mouth, but no words were uttered. He fainted.


    After a few months, he had a qigong deviation attack again.


    Since he achieved Yin and Yang Strength by sped-up technique in Leftslope Vihara, Gu Shenwei had never fainted again. Until today, his Dantian Internal Breath was strong enough to suppress the lurking Force in Baihui and Xuanji acupoints. He even had dreamed that the Force was under control and it would be as irrelevant as a wart on the skin.


    But without any warning, he was woken up to reality. The Qigong deviation never went away, it stood out to dere its existence.


    The duration was short because he came around hearing Miss¡¯s voice. ¡°¡­Get up, I order you. Don¡¯t you dare scare me like that.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Grace.¡± Gu Shenwei rose up, his heart wildly beating. He now had a desperate desire to fight and draw blood.


    ¡°What¡­ what game are you ying at?¡± Miss spoke with fear, but only because of the fear that she might be infected.


    ¡°It was that my Internal Breath went into disorder. There¡¯s no need to worry.¡±


    Miss knew nothing about kung fu, and also doubted ve Huan¡¯s words. But as long as he looked normal, she would give out orders. ¡°I see. But still, be decent, don¡¯t do that again in front of me. Go call a physician to cure it. I don¡¯t want my business to be dyed.¡±


    Gu Shenwei expressed his gratitude for Miss¡¯s concern while he suppressed his anger. Then, he brought up another topic. ¡°You Grace should ally with the Eighth Young Master¡¯s three killers.¡±


    ¡°Why? Do I even have to suck up to my husband, who leaves me alone at home for months? I hate him, just as much as I hate the bad, ungrateful Bighead Kingpin.¡±


    Luo Ningcha was about to lose it again. Thus, Gu Shenwei had to again preach that a woman relied on her father and husband, and etc. Yet, he was interrupted by Miss. ¡°I know, I know. Stop it. Just tell me, why do I have to ally with them?¡±


    ¡°Bighead Kingpin once revealed he wanted to build a permanent camp at the border of Jade City, which needed support from Golden Roc Fort. I thought it was hard for Bighead Kingpin to bring it up, thus we could make the three killers suggest it to Eighth Young Master, and then the Master brings it up to Supreme King. This would be a big favor. Wouldn¡¯t it be good for Your Grace if Bighead Kingpin is camped near Jade City?¡±


    ¡°He has such ns? Let me think.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not worry about it. Miss would do as she said afterward. Actually, he simply asked a counselor to predict Bighead Kingpin¡¯s moves. If the three killers mentioned such suggestions in front of their master, they would get into trouble.


    Gu Shenwei had to do something about the three killers because the hands of two of them had been chopped off.


    During the Gu Family ughter, a child target had slipped through their. It resulted in Shangguan Nu¡¯ hand being chopped off by his father, thus, the enraged Shangguan Nu did the same to his subordinates.


    Those who bore only one hand was the Gu Family¡¯s archenemy.


    Gu Shenwei had always known that they survived. But after seeing them, he decided to make them suffer.


    If Gu Shenwei did not guess wrongly, Golden Roc Fort would never be willing to be neighbors with Bighead Kingpin of Iron Mountain.


    Since most killers loved money and did not care about the situation in Western Region, they would be persuaded. Miss was not eloquent enough, yet she had enough money.


    At the moment, it never urred to him that his words would bring about a storm that would drag in so many people, including himself.


    ve Qing was the third person that came to ve Huan. ve Qing¡¯s rank was low among the hundreds of butlers in Stone Castle. He used to be an attendant during Young Master¡¯s childhood, and had apanied Shangguan Ru in Iron Mountain camps. He had endured hardships but had not gained any credit.


    ve Qing thought back and forth and asked many seniors where he went wrong. Finally, he knew that being an attendant, he never really ¡°yed¡± with masters. In master¡¯s eyes, he was an ordinary servant who would restrict them.


    Thus, ve Qing managed to get out of Stone Castle to serve Shangguan Fei via his connections. But it was toote, by the time he arrived downhill, the Ninth Young Master had already risen to power. Thus, ve Qing had again failed to grasp an opportunity.


    Thus, in ve Qing¡¯s eyes, ve Huan was no longer an annoying attendant, a sparring partner, but rather a well-experienced opportunist artist. They both started as a servant, moreover, ve Huan was lower than ve Qing in the beginning. But now ve Huan managed to seed on his own. ve Qing desperately needed to learn some tricks from ve Huan.


    Therefore, something happened that Gu Shenwei had never expected: He would bask in ttery from ve Qing, which was unsettling.


    Gu Shenwei detailed the situation and mentioned some things to be aware of in South City, and then paused deliberately. As ve Qing was still very good at analyzing the circumstances, he fetched 500 taels silvers he prepared earlier, and reluctantly handed them to ve Huan.


    Gu Shenwei snatched the silvers. It was not that he wanted the money, but only by doing this could he make ve Qing take his words seriously. Gu Shenwei said, ¡°The Ninth Young Master had grown up, he doesn¡¯t need that children stuff anymore. South City has the busiest streets in Western Region with so many streets and alleys. His Highness just need a guide.¡±


    ve Qing finally realized the hint and thanked ve Huan many times. Gu Shenwei casually mentioned Xu Yanwei¡¯s name and left ve Qing guessing.


    It hasn¡¯t been three days since Gu Shenwei had returned to Stone Castle, but he foresaw before anyone else that the recently restored peace was about to break down.

 Chapter 182

    Chapter 182: Tactics


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Merchants in Jade City sought protection from different forces.


    Only a few of them were directly protected by the Golden Roc Fort and the Meng family. These merchants had to pay the two powerful families at least tens of thousands of taels of silver a month in exchange for their protection.


    The majority of merchants in Jade City sought protection from young masters of Golden Roc Fort and several other gangs, which were affiliated with the Shangguan or Meng families.


    As for remaining small vendors and business owners in the city, they all had their own protectors on the streets as well. Most of these protectors could only be considered as middlemen. They collected money from various small vendors and business owners and used it in turn to pay for the protection of the gangs or the young masters of Golden Roc Fort.


    Some protectors, such as Tie Hanfeng and Tuo Nengya, worked independently. These independent protectors did not have their own gangs, but they were in close touch with the Shangguan or Meng family. Sometimes, such an independent protector with connections could be called upon to solve a sticky problem rather than an ordinary gang.


    Gu Shenwei spent quite a few days probing into the current situation of South City. Xu Yanwei and Xu Xiaoyi helped him a lot during this process. This investigation revealed that gaining a firm footing and collecting protection money in South City was not an easy job at all.


    Traditionally, young masters of Golden Roc Fort had to undergo a one-year probationary period when they turned 13. During this probationary period, they would establish their own gangs and expand their own business in South City. They would return to work in the Stone Castle after finishing their probation. After which, they would assist their father in managing the Golden Roc Fort and partake in the assassination tasks. If a young master performed well at his job, after working two to three years inside the fort, he would be permitted by the Supreme King to strike out on his own outside the fort. As for the young masters who failed to gain their father¡¯ recognition within this period of time, they would have to work inside the fort for a longer while, or possibly even spend their whole life inside it.


    Usually, the Supreme King would send a young master who had won his approval to another kingdom in the Western Region. The young master and his killers would be stationed in the capital of this kingdom, providing armed escort and mercenary services for the country. One of the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s main sources of ie was from such activities.


    In many kingdoms of Western Region, the nobles and the people in power liked to hire these professional killers to work as their body guards, for fear of being assassinated. They were unable to sleep well at night without some Golden Roc Fort killers standing guard outside their bedrooms.


    The young masters could earn a lot of money from their activities in the foreign countries. Compared to that, their business in South City was nothing. However, none of them would easily abandon their gangs andworks in the city.


    All the young masters were well aware that their power came from their father, the Supreme King. They needed to nt some loyal servants in the city, who could keep tabs on the Supreme King and update them with thetest news from the city and the fort.


    ¡°Lady Meng just sent a maid to give me this task, as if upying territory and collecting protection money in South City were just a piece of cake for us. Maybe she has no idea how important this city is for the other young masters. Or maybe she just wants to test my ability,¡± Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    Anyhow, he was determined to wage war against the other young masters inside South City. He could not wait to create more conflicts within the Shangguan family.


    To achieve that goal, firstly, he had to cheer Shangguan Ru up. Shangguan Yushi¡¯s betrayal broke her heart and made her lose interest in gaining control over South City. She still behaved like a child and considered the gang wars as games. She had enjoyed ying this game with her best friend in the past, but now she did not want any part in it after her friend was gone.


    Gu Shenwei was a little disappointed. He had once firmly believed that he himself would have be Master Ru¡¯s best friend after the death of Master Yu. Beyond his expectations, Master Ru treated him coldly after Master Yu¡¯s death. Gu Shenwei was a bright boy, but he really had no idea what Shangguan Ru was thinking now.


    Given that, he sent Maid Lotus to help Shangguan Ru ovee her sadness. Shangguan Ru already trusted Maid Lotus very much, and as Maid Lotus was now spending a lot of time apanying her, she began gradually to treat her like a friend. Soon enough, they began to live and eat together.


    Gu Shenwei was amazed by that and could not help wondering, ¡°Will Maid Lotus be another Master Yu?¡±


    Maid Lotus dispelled his doubts by exining Master Ru¡¯s thoughts to him. ¡°What hurt Master Ru most wasn¡¯t the copse of the Kun Society or the fact that Master Yu fell in love with Fifth Young Master Meng. She was particrly saddened by the fact that Master Yu lied to her.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that she feels hurt because Master Yu betrayed her?¡±


    Maid Lotus smiled and shook her head helplessly. She was a little surprised that even a clever boy like ve Huan could not understand a girl¡¯s heart. ¡°No, I¡¯m saying that Master Ru felt hurt because Master Yu lied to her about Mr. Meng Mingshi. Master Ru never despised Master Yu on ount of her humble origin. She respected her wholeheartedly and looked upon her as her best friend. She hoped that Master Yu could treat her in the same way. If Master Yu hadpletely trusted Master Ru and told her the truth in the beginning, Master Ru would¡¯ve been very happy. She would¡¯ve even tried her best to help get them married.¡±


    Upon hearing that, Gu Shenwei thought of the night when he hade to ask Shangguan Ru for help before casting the rope down the cliff for the Barren Sect. ¡°I had no choice but to trust Master Ru at that time, and she did take my request seriously. After that incident, she seemed to trust me even more. I guess that Maid Lotus does have a point there,¡± Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    He was greatly surprised that Maid Lotus knew Shangguan Ru this well and asked her what she did to figure Master Ru out.


    ¡°Only a girl can truly understand another girl,¡± she replied.


    Her exnation made Gu Shenwei confused, but after a moment of thought, he came to understand the reason for his bewilderment. He had thought that all girls were like Xu Yanwei and had never looked upon Maid Lotus and Shangguan Ru as girls.


    After discovering the cause of Shangguan Ru¡¯s depression, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus still could not figure out a way to help the girl stop feeling sad. When they believed that they had no choice except to let Master Ru recover from her sadness by herself, Wildhorse suddenly volunteered to help Master Ru.


    This mute killer had treated Shangguan Yushi as his real master and had done many things for her. No one else in this killer team knew the girl better than him. Gu Shenwei believed that Wildhorse might really know how to help Shangguan Ru make a clean break with the past.


    As Shangguan Ru was unable to understand the Snow Mountain Gang¡¯s signnguage, Wildhorse asked Maid Lotus to work as his interpreter. He sincerely apologized to her for having sent ck Snake to assassinate her. He told Maid Lotus that it was nothing personal but that he was acting on Master Yu¡¯s orders.


    Maid Lotus epted his apology and promised to work as his interpreter.


    Wildhorse had heard of Maid Lotus and ve Huan¡¯s rtionship. He was pretty sure that she would tell ve Huan everything that he said during his conversation with Master Ru, so he did not ask her to keep the content of the conversation confidential.


    At the beginning of the conversation, Wildhorse confessed to Master Ru that Master Yu had gotten in touch with him and some other apprentices long before the gang wars in East Castle and had worked hard to win his loyalty after his duel with ve Huan. He contended that although he had sworn an oath of allegiance to Master Yu after the duel, he had not done anything for her until joining Master Ru¡¯s killer team.


    He did not exin why he had chosen to serve Shangguan Yushi at that time. He simply told Master Ru that it was his hatred toward the Tattooed Arm Gang that gradually brought him closer to Master Yu. He admitted that he had assassinated Marquis Gao and had sent some other killers to kill Zhou Huan and ve Yuan. He also confessed that he had lured ve Jing into the trap.


    After that, Wildhorse risked his life to tell Master Ru that it was Master Yu who had ordered Meng Mingshi to kidnap her. ¡°Master Ru, Master Yu just wanted to frame ve Huan by doing that. She made Meng Mingshi swear to the gods that he would never harm you before the action began.¡±


    Upon hearing that, Shangguan Ru was not irritated. Instead, she was impressed by the mute killer¡¯s frankness and believed what he said even more.


    Wildhorse went on to exin Shangguan Yushi and Meng Mingshi¡¯s rtionship to Shangguan Ru. ¡°The Fifth Young Master Meng fell in love with Master Yu a long time ago. He had never seen any girl like her before and was determined to win her affection. He hoped to get close to her by traveling together with us to the camp of the Iron Mountain Gang, however, he ended up losing her respect. Master Yu would never fall in love with a coward like him. She just wanted to use this wealthy young master to actualize her secret n.¡±


    Wildhorse contended that Shangguan Yushi had secretly nned to kill ve Huan and use Meng Mingshi to swindle arge sum of money out of the Meng family. ording to him, she intended to invest the money in the Kun Society to help it be thergest gang in the whole of South City.


    ¡°Meng Mingshi never discovered that Master Yu had been lying to him all this time, but Master Yu didn¡¯t feel ashamed of her behavior since she believed that a professional killer should try all means to achieve his or her goal. Unfortunately, she never paid any attention to Master Fei and got assassinated by him before she could fulfill her n. That¡¯s why Meng Mingshi still believes that Master Yu loves him.¡±


    Wildhorse was also 100-percent sure that Master Yu had never nned to marry Meng Mingshi. He told Shangguan Ru that she had already made a n to get rid of Meng Mingshi after she got the money. ¡°Meng Mingshi is a faithless man and a frequent visitor to the brothels. Master Yu intended to hire a beautiful prostitute to seduce him after she got the money. She would find a chance to go to the prostitute¡¯s ce to catch him cheating and break up with him. After that, she would give you the money and tell you her entire n. Master Ru, Master Yu was only loyal to you. Meng Mingshi said that Master Yu wanted to make you her puppet. That¡¯s not true. Master Yu just tricked him into believing that. She just wanted to protect you. In her eyes, you¡¯re the only good person in Golden Roc Fort. She hoped to keep you away from this kind of filth forever. That¡¯s why she didn¡¯t tell you her n beforehand.¡±


    Afterwards Maid Lotus told ve Huan what Wildhorse had said during the conversation. Both of them reckoned that the mute killer¡¯s story was imusible. However, Shangguan Ru believed it and even forgave the mute killer for murdering the members of the Kun Society.


    Gu Shenwei was never a close friend to Shangguan Yushi, but he believed thatpared to Shangguan Ru, he had more insight into the psychology of Master Yu.


    ¡°Shangguan Yushi was a social climber and always felt insecure about her future. She probably did not love the Fifth Young Master Meng, but she was not absolutely loyal to Shangguan Ru either. Wildhorse imed that Shangguan Yushi just wanted to keep Shangguan Ru away from filth, but all the deals of a gang are quite dirty. Given that, it¡¯s just another way of saying she wanted Shangguan Ru to be a puppet.¡± Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    Neither Gu Shenwei nor Maid Lotus believed Wildhorse¡¯s story, but they had no chance to dig out the truth now, since Shangguan Yushi was dead already. They guessed that Shangguan Yushi might have lied to Wildhorse. They reckoned that she might have just told everyone what they wanted to hear to safeguard her own interests.


    Gradually, Shangguan Ru recovered from her sadness. Gu Shenwei was delighted to see that since he could not wait to return to South City. He had already made a n to help the Kun Society regain its standing.

 Chapter 183

    Chapter 183: Return to South City


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Wildhorse¡¯s story made Gu Shenwei realize that truth was illusory and people just believed what they wished to believe.


    In the meantime, he also had a suspicion that Wildhorse might have just made up a story to cheer Shangguan Ru up. ¡°That mute teenager is a natural born killer and has a strong desire for blood. He wants a capable leader, so he can¡¯t stand by watching Master Ru slide into a depression,¡± Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    Although Shangguan Ru lived in North City now, her killers still worked on a shift basis to keep watch at night. One night, Gu Shenwei was on the first shift. He wore a ck cape and hid himself in a tree in the middle of the yard. When seen from a distance, he looked like a bulge in the trunk or an empty nest in the tree.


    As this residence was not veryrge, he was able to see everything inside it while staying up in the tree. That night, he could even keep an eye on the situation in the streets nearby, for the moon was exceptionally bright.


    Compared to South City, North City was much quieter at night. He could not see any pedestrian on the streets or hear anyone shouting or ying music after 9 pm. During this hour, the city looked as if it was empty.


    Despite that, he still strictly carried out his mission and focused on observing everything around him. He was a professional killer, who knew when to think, observe or kill.


    To his great surprise, Shangguan Ru quietly walked out of her room all of a sudden.


    She was dressed in a long white robe, her long hair tied into a ponytail. In the moonlight, she looked like a wandering fairy.


    Upon seeing her, Gu Shenwei immediately tensed up. He thought that she was going to sneak out of the residence. He decided to follow her to keep her safe and also to prevent her from doing something foolish in North City.


    However, beyond all his expectations, Shangguan Ru did not go anywhere. She took off her robe in the yard, revealing a ck outfit, and then she drew out her wooden saber and began to practice a saber routine beside the tree where Gu Shenwei hid.


    She moved very fast, making her saber whistle. However, this routine still looked more like a workout routine than abat routine.


    Gu Shenwei had never seen this workout routine before. He considered that it was probably due to the fact that children of the Shangguan family were taught more kung fu skills in the Golden Roc Fort.


    After watching her practicing for some time, he gradually realized that she was practicing saber skills with an imaginary partner, Shangguan Yushi.


    A momentter, Shangguan Ru stopped practicing and went over to lean against the tree trunk. She looked up at the starry sky and asked, ¡°Can you identify constetions in the sky?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Gu Shenwei blurted out. After a while, he added, ¡°I can only identify the seven bright stars of the Big Dipper.¡±


    ¡°The saber routine that I practiced just now is called Seven Stars, since it has seven variations. My favorite move in this routine is the one named Ursae Majoris. I like its name. I also like another one called Alkaid.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, nice names.¡±


    Shangguan Ru continued to talk about many other things, and Gu Shenwei just kept listening.


    ¡°Does Master Ru just want to talk about Master Yu? Or, does she want me to pledge my eternal loyalty to her again?¡± Gu Shenwei wondered.


    ¡°Do you know any other stories of burrs? I mean those cool burrs who always work alone.¡± Shangguan Ru suddenly changed the subject.


    Gu Shenwei was surprised that she still remembered the story of Red Bat Lady, which he had told her years ago. Back then, he had just wanted to goad her into breaking into Six Kills Temple by telling her this story.


    ¡°There are not many such burrs. A burr usually works for an organization behind the scene and is backed by a secret power. Even a top burr like Red Bat Lady was unable work on her own and always go her own way.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was no longer a child. He did not believe that the Red Bat Lady could sneak into the pce without relying on anyone else to help her.


    ¡°Not many, but there are still some of them, aren¡¯t there?¡±


    ¡°Yes, there are.¡± Gu Shenwei racked his brain and finally thought of a jianghu tale that he had heard during his childhood. ¡°Many years ago, there was a renowned burr named Hairless Specter.¡±


    ¡°Hairless Specter? What a weird name,¡± Shangguan Ru interrupted.


    ¡°Yes, this name is very weird, but this burr is legendary. No one was able to catch Hairless Specter. No one knew if the burr was a man or a woman.¡±


    ¡°Are you suggesting that this Hairless Specter is even more legendary than the Red Bat Lady?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible topare Hairless Specter to Red Bat Lady, although Hairless Specter¡¯s kung fu was also quite good. Hairless Specter just worked for himself and only stole items which were more peculiar. The officials didn¡¯t work very hard to hunt him down.¡±


    ¡°What did Hairless Specter steal?¡±


    ¡°Hair.¡±


    ¡°Hair? Are you saying that the burr stole hairs on a human head?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Hairless Specter liked to sneak into the homes of others in the night to cut hair, regardless of sex. Many people¡¯s hair was cut by the burr.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, that¡¯s nonsense. You must be kidding.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true. I knew a guy whose hair was cut off by the Hairless Specter. He wore a hat to cover his head for days.¡±


    ¡­


    Shangguan Ru returned to her bedroom after midnight, feeling much better.


    Gu Shenwei was still up in the tree. He looked into the distance and felt lost. He discovered that he was only able to recollect little about his life in the Central in.


    A momentter, Maid Lotus came out for her shift. When she jumped up to the tree, Gu Shenwei told her, ¡°Let¡¯s get ready. We¡¯ll return to South City very soon.¡±


    The next morning, Shangguan Ru summoned a meeting. She ordered all the servants to return to Golden Roc Fort immediately and never to leave it again.


    When a few servants insisted that they should stay, Shangguan Ru asked her killers to step out and drive them away.


    The seven young killers were dressed in ck and looked grim. Although they were not equipped with real sabers, they still sessfully frightened the servants off.


    After the servants¡¯ departure, the residence looked much more spacious. ¡°Let¡¯s return to South City and avenge Master Yu¡¯s death,¡± Shangguan Ru looked at her killers and said.


    The seven teenagers drew out their wooden sabers to draw a line on the ground and then knelt down in front of Shangguan Ru. They had been waiting for this day for a long time. As killers, they wanted to fight, not to guard a residence.


    Shangguan Ru wanted to break into Shangguan Fei¡¯s residence in North City and force him to give the Kun Society back to her.


    Gu Shenwei decided to stop Shangguan Ru from carrying out this n, since he had promised Lady Meng to prevent the twins from hurting each other and had secretly sworn an oath of loyalty to Shangguan Fei. ¡°It¡¯s useless to take back the Kun Society now. It¡¯s just a name. We¡¯d better get back our territory and business in South City first.¡± After that, he told Master Ru what he had recently found out about the gangs and the other forces in South City.


    ¡°How much money do we have now?¡±


    ¡°About 130,000 taels of silver.¡±


    This money was left by Tie Hanfeng. Shangguan Ru¡¯s team had not spent much of it recently since most of Tuo Nengya¡¯s machetemen had been killed during the previous fight against the Horned Dragon Society.


    ¡°It seems that we can only ask my brothers to lend me some money, if we fail to restart our business.¡±


    In the following days, the seven young killers worked hard to restart their business. They rented a house in South City again and hired new employees. They also went to visit their old customers and the other gangs.


    Gu Shenwei was eagerly anticipating gangs wars and conflicts to break out amongst the young masters of the Shangguan family, however, things did not turn out as he had expected.


    The third day after Shangguan Ru¡¯s announcement of her return to South City, Shangguan Nu divided his territory in South City into two parts, and gave them to the twins.


    Soon, the other young masters also followed Shangguan Nu¡¯s example and gave their territories to the twins. As a result, the twins quickly expanded their territories and got lots of protection money within several days. What they had upied in these days was way more than what they had earned in the past few months.


    The whole Jade City was stunned. Residents of the city had never seen any generation of the Shangguan family act in such a friendly way.


    Gu Shenwei was bitterly disappointed, since now he could not find an excuse to start gang wars and kill more young masters of the Shanguan family. He was also confused by the other young masters¡¯ decisions at first, but gradually, he realized why they did that.


    ¡°During the past few months, Shangguan Fei showed his true potential as a leader, but Shangguan Ru revealed her weaknesses. Lady Meng must be nning a conspiracy now to help her daughter prove herself. As she doesn¡¯t want to see the twins fighting each other, she¡¯s probably nning to ask Shangguan Ru to fight against or even kill another young master of Golden Roc Fort. The other young masters still remember how Lady Meng plotted against the eldest Young Master in the past, so this time, none of them want to be a victim of her scheming. Given that, they decide to pacify Lady Meng by giving the twins all their territories in South City.¡±


    .


    In order to reward their brothers¡¯ kindness, the twins decided to ept all their brothers¡¯ gangs. They let them continue to manage their old territories. The gangs gave the twins protection money but refused to let the twins or their killers get involved in their internal affairs. As a result, the actual controllers of those gangs were still the other young masters of Golden Roc Fort. The twins were dissatisfied with such an arrangement, but they had no choice except to ept it, for they themselves did not have enough manpower to take over all the territories from the gangs.


    Shangguan Ru easily achieved her goal of expanding her business and building up strength in South City, but the gangs did not consider her as their real boss.


    Fortunately, Master Ru did not need to worry about money anymore. The first month after she epted her brothers¡¯ territories and gangs she received nearly 100,000 taels of silver. In the future, she would receive 70,000 to 80,000 taels of silver every month from the gangs.


    Now that Shangguan Ru¡¯s problems about territory and money were settled, Gu Shenwei began to worry that she would sneak out someday to attack Shangguan Fei to avenge Master Yu¡¯s death. He decided to pay close attention to her in theing days.


    It was mid-March now. The wind became warm and the streets of South City became caked with mush from melted snow, but North City was still as tidy as always.


    One morning, Shangguan Ru took a walk with ve Huan and Maid Lotus in North City, chatting merrily with them all along the way. It appeared that she had totally recovered from her sadness. Nevertheless, when they had lunch together in a restaurant, Gu Shenwei noticed that Shangguan Ru was a little absent-minded. He suggested going home after lunch, and Shangguan Ru agreed.


    However, right after they stepped out of the restaurant, Shangguan Ru resolutely headed for Shangguan Fei¡¯s residence.


    Gu Shenwei exchanged a look with Maid Lotus. None of them were sure that they could stop Master Ru at this moment, so they decided to let her do what she wanted.


    Shangguan Fei had lots of servants. Most of them were from Inner Residence of Golden Roc Fort and knew the twins very well. When the servants at the gate of Shangguan Fei¡¯s residence spotted Shangguan Ru in the distance, they immediately sent a servant into the house to report to their supervisor.


    ¡°s, Master Ru. Master Fei is out. Do you want toe in to wait for him or let me pass your message to him?¡± ve Qing hurriedly came to the gate and said to Shangguan Ru, his face covered in sweat. He still acted obsequiously toward Master Ru, although he was already Master Fei¡¯s butler now.


    Shangguan Ru carefully looked at Shangguan Fei¡¯s residence. This ce was much moremodious than the residence offered by ve Huan. It was also very clean and well kept.


    ¡°I¡¯ll stay here and wait for him,¡± Shangguan Ru replied and then entered the front yard of Shangguan Fei¡¯s residence.


    Upon hearing that, ve Qing perspired even more heavily. He winked at ve Huan, hoping that the young killer could help him out. However, ve Huan and Maid Lotus just followed Master Ru into the front yard without saying a word.


    Shangguan Ru strutted around as if she owned this ce. No one dared to stop her. However, when she was about to step into the back yard, ve Qing hastily went over to block her way. ¡°Master Ru, you can¡¯t go into the back yard,¡± he said.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ A bunch of machetemen live in the back yard now. You know, they¡¯re smelly and dirty.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see,¡± Shangguan Ru turned around and said. Upon hearing that, ve Qing heaved a long sigh of relief. However, in the next moment, Shangguan Ru turned back again and rushed into the back yard.


    ¡°Shangguan Fei, get out!¡± she shouted in the yard.


    ¡°What? Do you have another girl here?¡± A female voice came out of a room in the east wing of the house.


    Gu Shenwei recognized that voice. He felt really awkward now.

 Chapter 184

    Chapter 184: Military Counsellor


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Weapons as well as prostitution were banned in the North City. Strictly speaking, prostitutes were prohibited from entering North City, but asionally, the guards at the city gates would not mind letting one or two of them get into the city. In the eyes of the guards, these girls posed no danger to public safety.


    Recently, ve Qing had acted upon ve Huan¡¯s advice and tried to be Shangguan Fei¡¯s guide in South City. However, Master Fei worried that Tuo Nengya was waiting for a chance to assassinate him in South City and refused to go there. Every time someone invited him to go to South City, he would be suspicious of that person¡¯s intentions.


    Fortunately, sometimes he would tell ve Qing that he wanted to meet Xu Yanwei. Every time he made such a request, ve Qing would hurriedly go out to bribe the guards to get the girl into North City.


    After breaking into the back yard of Shangguan Fei¡¯s residence, Shangguan Ru happened to stand just outside Shangguan Fei¡¯s bedroom.


    As Xu Yanwei and Shangguan Ru had only met once before, they failed to recognize each other¡¯s voice. Master Ru frowned upon hearing a woman in her brother¡¯s room questioning him.


    Without knowing what her brother was doing in his room, Shangguan Ru dashed to the door and kicked it open.


    ¡°What¡¯re you doing here? Who allowed you toe in?¡± Shangguan Fei shouted grumpily as he hastily put on his clothes and walked out to block her entry into the room.


    He soundedbative. His recent victory had greatly boosted his confidence.


    ¡°Who else is inside your room?¡± Shangguan Ru sounded aggressive as well.


    ¡°There¡¯s no one else inside my room¡­ and it¡¯s none of your business.¡±


    Shangguan Ru suddenly realized something. She turned around and walked out of the room, letting Shangguan Fei finish dressing. A momentter, she turned back and said, ¡°The Kun Society is mine. I forbid you to use that name.¡±


    Shangguan Fei stepped out of the room and then closed the door behind him. He deliberately paused for a moment and then said to Shangguan Ru smilingly, ¡°My little sister, I can¡¯t agree to do that. This is like gambling; I won and you lost. Now the Kun Society is mine. You can¡¯t me anyone for that matter.¡±


    Shangguan Ru came to her brother¡¯s ce more or less on a whim. She had not prepared herself for such a situation beforehand. Although she knew that she was being unreasonable at this moment, she still refused to back down. She suddenly stretched out her hand to tweak Shangguan Fei¡¯s ear.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s kung fu was quite good but weaker than his sister. He raised his hands to block Shangguan Ru¡¯s attack but failed. He then instinctively turned his head away, trying to dodge the attack. Unfortunately, he only managed to bump his head into the other hand of Shangguan Ru.


    ¡°Who told you that I¡¯m gambling with you?¡± Shangguan Ru asked and twisted her brother¡¯s ear with much force, making him scream. ¡°Youunched a surprise attack on me and seeded. That¡¯s a nice move, but the issue is far from over. I haven¡¯t struck back.¡±


    ¡°Let me go! Can someonee here and help me?¡± Shangguan Fei was ovee with anger and shame.


    ve Qing came to the twins but had no idea what to do. He kept walking around them anxiously, while repeatedly imploring Master Ru to release Master Fei.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s killers also came out. They wanted to assist Master Fei, but they were afraid that once they came to blows they would identally hurt Master Ru. As a result, they just stood around the twins, not sure what to do.


    ¡°What an embarrassing situation,¡± Gu Shenwei thought to himself while shaking his head. He walked forward to the twins with Maid Lotus, nning to dissuade Master Ru from tweaking her brother¡¯s ear. However, before they said anything, Shangguan Ru suddenly released Shangguan Fei and said, ¡°Well, I shall let you go now. I¡¯vee here today to challenge you to a duel. I¡¯ll win my Kun Society back. Are you going to fight against me by yourself or send one of your killers to duel with me?¡±


    Shangguan Fei was flushed with shame and anger. He rubbed his ear and screeched, ¡°I won¡¯t duel with you. I¡­ I¡¯m a leader. I¡¯ll only engage you in a battle of wits, not of physical might. The Kun Society is mine. You can¡¯t wrench it out of my hands. Shangguan Yushi is dead and no one will help you now.¡±


    Upon hearing Master Yu¡¯s name, Shangguan Ru felt a sharp pain in her chest. She rushed back to Shangguan Fei, trying to tweak his ear again.


    Shangguan Fei was prepared for that. He swiftly dodged behind ve Qing. When Shangguan Ru went over to ve Qing, he quickly rushed to hide behind the killers. Both ve Qing and the killers stood still in the yard, observing the twins running about.


    After Shangguan Fei escaped from Shangguan Ru¡¯s grasp several times in a row, Master Ru red up and decided to y rough. She directly shoved two killlers who stood between her and her brother to the ground. Just as she was about to catch her brother, she bumped into a very tall and strong man who stood in her way.


    Shangguan Ru felt as if she had run into a wall. She quickly took several steps backward and finally could see the man¡¯s face. He was in his early 20s and had thick eyebrows with narrow eyes. Although he was young, he looked very masculine and mature. ¡°Piss off,¡± Shangguan Ru shouted to the man.


    The man bowed to Shangguan Ru and replied peacefully, ¡°Master Ru, nice to meet you. I¡¯m Guan Houlin. ¡®Hou¡¯ as in profundity, and ¡®Lin¡¯ as in a legendary unicorn¡­¡±


    ¡°Who cares if you¡¯re a unicorn or a bug. Just get out of my way,¡± said Shangguan Ru, grumpily.


    Shangguan Fei felt very secure hiding behind this tall and strong man. He grabbed the man¡¯s belt to stop him from leaving the ce and then stuck his head out to say, ¡°He¡¯s my military counsellor and only takes orders from me.¡±


    Upon hearing the words ¡°military counsellor¡±, Shangguan Ru thought of her own military counsellor, Shangguan Yushi. She felt heartache again, her face grim. She rushed to Guan Houlin, pretending tounch an attack. Deceived by the feint, the young man raised his right arm to block her. In the blink of an eye, Shangguan Ru caught hold of the meridian points in his right hand and got behind him.


    She raised his right hand up high, forcing the man to bend down.


    Upon seeing that, Shangguan Fei instantly ran to the front of the man and squatted under him as cover.


    ¡°Look at your military counsellor. He¡¯s stupid, and his kung fu sucks,¡± Shangguan Ru said.


    Guan Houlin¡¯s face turned red upon hearing her taunts. He groaned and suddenly stood up, dislocating his right shoulder in the process.


    Shangguan Ru was stunned and immediately released the man¡¯s hand. She had never expected him to be so tough. ¡°Why did you do that?¡± she eximed.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Master Ru. I can¡¯t back down. I have to protect my master.¡±


    Deeply moved by Guan Houlin¡¯s words, Shangguan Fei finally plucked up his courage. He stood up, pointed at his killers and shouted, ¡°Are you dead? Why did you just stand by and watch me being chased around?¡±


    Upon hearing that, the killers quickly ran to stand between the twins. They lined up in front of Shangguan Fei to protect him.


    However, Shangguan Ru had little interest in this fight now. She turned around and headed for the front yard. At the gate, she turned back and announced, ¡°Shangguan Fei, You thought you¡¯ve won, but Iet me tell you, this game isn¡¯t over. I¡¯ll get my Kun Society back sooner orter.¡±


    After sessfully assassinating Shangguan Yushi and taking over the Kun Society, Shangguan Fei was much more confident than before, but he had gotten used to giving in to his twin sister¡¯s demands for all these years. When he was about to open his mouth to promise her that he would give the Kun Society back to her, Guan Houlin suddenly said, ¡°Goodbye, Master Ru. We¡¯re ready to ept any challenge.¡±


    This man suffered a dislocated shoulder, but he still sounded calm and assertive.


    Shangguan Ru stared at him for a while and then left without saying a word. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus followed closely after her.


    When they came out of Shangguan Fei¡¯s residence, Shangguan Ru seemed a little preupied with thoughts of her own. After walking on the street for some time, she suddenly said, ¡°That Guan Houlin, I¡¯ve never heard of him. Do you think that it was his idea?¡±


    Gu Shenwei immediately realized what Shangguan Ru was talking about. He did not believe that Shangguan Fei was able to think of such a sophisticated n to assassinate Shangguan Yushi either, but in the meantime, he also thought that Guan Houlin did not look like a military counsellor.


    ¡°Shangguan Ru can¡¯t kill her brother to avenge Master Yu¡¯s death, but if it¡¯s really Guan Houlin¡¯s idea to assassinate Master Yu, Master Ru can do anything she wants to have her revenge.¡±


    With that in mind, he replied, ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of him either. His kung fu seems ordinary. I¡¯ll find out more about him.¡±


    ¡°Uhm,¡± Shangguan Ru said, and then she dropped her head down and remained silent. When they came back to their own ce, she suddenly raised her head up and said, ¡°When Shangguan Fei opened his door, I saw a girl in his room. She looks like that girl named Xu¡­¡±


    ¡°Xu Yanwei,¡± Gu Shenwei added.


    ¡°Did you know that she was there?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I did.¡±


    Shangguan Ru looked at him with reproach. Gu Shenwei did not evade her gaze and went on to exin. ¡°It¡¯s within her own right to conduct business, and it¡¯s not for me to interfere.¡±


    Shangguan Ru did not seem to totally believe what he said, but when they entered the yard, she somehow decided to let it go. ¡°You¡¯re right. My brother is just one of her clients. I thought too much into it just now. I hope you won¡¯t mind it.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was eager to win back the Kun Society. She nned to hire more machetemen so that she could openly challenge Shangguan Fei. This time, she would lead the team personally to defeat her brother.


    Upon hearing Shangguan Ru¡¯s n, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus immediately worked together to stop her from making such an impulsive decision.


    They rmended Master Ru to take it slow. They had learnt their lesson and decided that it was wiser to strike with a single, decisive blow after they found out the weak point of their enemies.


    Gu Shenwei asked around, but no one in North City knew much about Guan Houlin. Most people in South City were also unfamiliar with this name. Even Xu Yanwei, who had been to Shangguan Fei¡¯s residence many times, had never seen the tall, strong man before.


    In the end, it was Xu Xiaoyi who found out something about Guan Houlin.


    ording to the little boy, Guan Houlin hade to South City several years ago and tried to work as a macheteman. ¡°At first, many bosses in the city wanted to hire this strong young man, but gradually, they found out that his kung fu was not good and refused to offer him any work. He had to support himself in the city, so he made a decision which surprised everyone. He went to work in Hope Alley,¡± Xu Xiaoyi told the killer.


    .


    The boy said that Guan Houlin had spent about a year inside Hope Alley, but he did not know what exactly the man had done for a living during the year. ¡°He wasn¡¯t hired to work as a male prostitute there; I bet few clients in Hope Alley would like him. He wasn¡¯t hired as a macheteman either. However, when he left the alley, he somehow became a go-between for the alley and other clients who couldn¡¯t go there for whatsoever reason. He made a living by working as a middleman until he joined the Ninth Young Master¡¯s team as a machetemanst winter. He got that job because his sry requirement was low, demanding only 50 taels of silver per month. During the previous fight between the Horned Dragon Society and the Kun Society, all the machetemen demanded for higher pay, except him.¡±


    .


    .


    Upon hearing that, Gu Shenwei was more confident about his judgment of Guan Houlin¡¯s ability. ¡°Before you and Master Ru broke into Master Fei¡¯s residence, he was a nobody in the Ninth Young Master¡¯s team. The Ninth Young Master probably just called him military counsellor on a whim,¡± said Xu Xiaoyi.


    Gu Shenwei concluded from his investigation that Guan Houlin was not worth paying special attention to, but something unexpected happened, which made him decide to return to Hope Alley again.


    He had another qigong deviation attack. Fortunately, only Maid Lotus was present when it happened. When he woke up from hisa, she told him that she passed out more frequently than him, but as she managed to keep it a secret, no one knew anything about it.


    Gu Shenwei was frightened, as he had just had a qigong deviation attack only less than 20 days ago.


    Such frequent qigong deviation attacks meant that Mama Xue¡¯s Peripheral Force was going to kill him soon.


    Gu Shenwei was faced with only two choices now. One was taking a risk to act now and assassinate Shangguan Nu with a few other young masters of the Shangguan family. The other was going back to Joy Pavilion to ask Immortal Peng for help. He was not very confident about his ability to execute the first option sessfully, so he guessed that he had better pay Immortal Peng another visit.


    ¡°Immortal Peng must have some ulterior motive for offering to help me, but anyhow, he said assuredly that he could cure my qigong deviation,¡± Gu Shenwei thought to himself.

 Chapter 185

    Chapter 185: Secrets of Love


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei was pretty sure that youths his age would most likely consider death a remote possibility and some of them would even be able topose beautiful poems about it. Unfortunately, he could not see the poetic side of it at all, as his death was just around the corner. Every time he thought about it, he would tremble with fear as if he was going to fall off the cliff and into the dark abyss of death any minute.


    In Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes, the core concept of Death Scripture was self-deconstruction. In the past, he had constantly applied this concept when practicing his kung fu and believed that he could possibly be throwing his life away at any time. However, the two recent qigong deviation attacks reminded him how dreadfully frightened he was of dying. Mama Xue¡¯s dull and sallow face kept sneaking back into his mind, making him restless.


    He did not want to die, especially when all his enemies were still alive and well. He considered assassinating them now, but he quickly realized that he could at most manage to only kill the twins at this moment. Shangguan Nu, the man who had ughtered his entire family, was far away and surrounded by numerous killers and bandits. Shangguan Fa, the Supreme King and a superb kung fu master, now lived inside the Inner Residence and was protected by ck-masked assassins.


    Deep inside his heart, Gu Shenwei did not want to perish together with his enemies. He wished that he would live in peace after killing all of them. Although it was just a dim and distant dream, he still enjoyed imagining iting true, since it would make him feel better.


    After a long period of indecision, Gu Shenwei finally made up his mind to visit Immortal Peng again. Although the immortal seemed really weird, he was still willing to give the immortal Death Scripture in exchange for saving his life.


    Before leaving, he needed to give each of the twins a proper exnation for his visit to South City. He went to meet Shangguan Ru first. In front of Master Ru, he exaggerated Guan Houlin¡¯s importance and described the young man as cunning and sinister. He asked her to allow him to investigate the man carefully in South City. ¡°We can deliver a knockout blow to Master Fei by defeating Guan Houlin,¡± he said to Master Ru.


    After that, he went to visit Shangguan Fei privately. Upon seeing the killer, Master Fei gave him a good tongueshing. When he finally calmed down, Gu Shenwei told him that Shangguan Ru was secretly nning some conspiracy against him. Gu Shenwei asked Master Fei to give him some time to figure the whole thing out.


    After both of the twins agreed to his requests, he went to discuss with Maid Lotus and finalized all the details in his n: ve Huan would go to deal with Immortal Peng, and Maid Lotus would cover him from the shadows. He promised her that once he discovered that Immortal Peng was really capable of removing the Peripheral Force from him, he would let Maid Lotus receive the same treatment.


    Gu Shenwei went to Joy Pavilion at night. Thest time he had visited this ce was one month ago.


    He threw a stone at the window on the third floor of the pavilion while standing on the top of a wall nearby.


    Soon, the window was opened, and the old man who was always dressed in a white robe stuck his head out of it. He stared at the young killer for a while and then cast down a long chain. Gu Shenwei grabbed it and easily jumped up into the room through the window, as the old man was helping him by pulling on the chain at the other end.


    Tonight, this ce did not look as crowded as before, since there were only several people inside the room.


    ¡°Have you decided?¡±


    Gu Shenwei deliberately ignored the speaker and walked directly to the screen inside the room. He stopped a few steps away from the screen, put his saber and sword on the ground and said, ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve made up my mind, but I must speak to you in person. Otherwise, I won¡¯t give you anything.¡±


    Upon hearing his request, everybody inside the room fell silent, which made Gu Shenwei feel uneasy. ¡°Should I take my words back? Immortal Peng is not an ordinary person. He¡¯ll probably refuse to talk personally to a mortal man like me.¡± He hesitated for a while, but then he still decided to remain persistent in his demand.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll talk to you in person.¡±


    In the next moment, Immortal Peng¡¯s disciples went downstairs one after another, and the screen slid to one side, revealing the immortal.


    Gu Shenwei was speechless. Immortal Peng turned out to be a dwarf, who was less than one meter tall. His chubby legs and arms made him look like a baby, but the wrinkles on his forehead indicated that he was indeed an old man. The immortal was almost bald and had no facial hair, but his eyes were bright. This made his visage look exceptionally weird. He held a crutch in his left hand, which was about three times higher than himself. Beside him stood the child who looked like Chu Yangjun.


    ¡°No wonder Immortal Peng refuses to meet anyone. He looks like a cheaply made, ugly doll,¡± Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    Despite that, he still bowed deeply to the immortal.


    ¡°If you want to talk with me, you must let this boy stay here,¡± Immortal Peng put his right hand on his throat and talked through the child beside him.


    ¡°Can you cure my qigong deviation?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I can.¡±


    ¡°What do you want from me?¡±


    ¡°I want your swordcraft.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt much relieved after knowing that Immortal Peng did want Death Scripture, as his scripture was his only bargaining chip during this negotiation. ¡°Have you heard of my swordcraft?¡±


    ¡°Maha Bodhi, Dajue Book of Swordcraft. I heard about it a long time ago,¡± Immortal Peng replied assertedly.


    Gu Shenwei could tell that Immortal Peng told him the truth. He guessed that Maha Bodhi, Dajue Book of Swordcraft might be the original name of Death Scripture. ¡°I¡¯ll give you the scripture after you cure my qigong deviation,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    Immortal Peng lifted up his crutch and turned one of its ends toward the killer. Upon seeing that, Gu Shenwei automatically walked forward until he suddenly felt the end of the crutch against his chest. He was startled and thought, ¡°Why did I act so credulously.¡±


    ¡°Your problem will be solved once you master my secret skills.¡± With these words, Immortal Peng took back his crutch and closed his eyes.


    Gu Shenwei was confused. ¡°What does that mean? Did he agree to my terms?¡±


    The child who stood beside Immortal Peng stretched out his hand, inviting the killer to go downstairs. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the second floor. The immortal needs to get some rest now.¡±


    This time, the child spoke for himself. This was the first time Gu Shenwei had heard the boy¡¯s own voice. It took him a moment to react. He stared at Immortal Peng for a while, then picked up his sword and saber and went downstairs.


    The child pushed the screen back to its original ce and followed the killer to the second floor.


    As usual, nobody was there on the second floor despite that the many empty chairs.


    The child went to open the window to allow the moonlight in. He then turned to face the killer and said, ¡°You killed my brother.¡±


    ¡°Is Chu Yangjun your brother?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°Chu Nanping.¡±


    ¡°Well, Chu Nanping, if you want to avenge your brother¡¯s death¡­¡±


    ¡°Why should I avenge his death?¡± asked Chu Nanping, surprisedly.


    Gu Shenwei was stunned, as it was evident that Chu Nanping was not kidding. ¡°Are you saying that you don¡¯t want to kill me to avenge your brother¡¯s death?¡¯ he asked in surprise.


    ¡°He left Joy Pavilion before he mastered the swordcraft. It¡¯s not surprising that he got killed by you or someone else,¡± Chu Nanping exined.


    ¡°What a cold, unfeeling child. I bet the Golden Roc Fort will like him very much,¡± Gu Shenwei thought to himself. ¡°Alright. Do youe to negotiate with me on behalf of Immortal Peng?¡± he asked the boy.


    ¡°Yes, the immortal wants your Dajue Book of Swordcraft. He¡¯ll teach you Secrets of Love in exchange for you giving him the book,¡± replied Chu Nanping.


    ¡°Wait, wait. Ie here to remove the Peripheral Force from my body, not to learn some secrets.¡±


    ¡°The immortal had already mentioned that your problem will be solved once you master the Secrets of Love.¡±


    ¡°Secrets of Love¡­ What¡¯s it?¡± Gu Shenwei asked while feeling really worried about himself. He noticed that nearly everybody inside Joy Pavilion had no facial hair, except for the white-robed old man and a few other guys. ¡°Secrets of Love sounds like a term referring to some weird tricks of the castrated in Hope Alley. I don¡¯t want to learn such a kind of skill.¡±


    ¡°Secrets of Love is a set of advanced kung fu skills.¡±


    Upon hearing that, Gu Shenwei was much relieved.


    ¡°Love doesn¡¯t only refer to the affection between lovers, friends or rtives. It¡¯s a broad concept. From a Buddhist perspective, human beings and all the other sentient beings in the world are full of love. Secrets of Love can also be seen as secrets of the mysterious energy that follows through all the sentient beings,¡± Chu Nanping exined.


    Gu Shenwei was not interested in the doctrines of Buddha, but he was intrigued when Chu Naning came to the part about how to learn Secrets of Love. The boy told him that as Secrets of Love could be interpreted in many different ways, there were 64 different ways to master Secrets of Love and all the ways lead to mastery of a simr level of kung fu uponpletion.


    This reminded Gu Shenwei how he and Maid Lotus practiced the swordcraft in Death Scripture. They had very different opinions on the text of the book and had no idea who was right and who was wrong. However, that did not prevent them from improving their sword skills.


    Gu Shenwei began to understand why Immortal Peng was interested in Death Scripture.


    What made Secrets of Love different aspared to Death Scripture, which focused on swordcraft, was that it included various types of kung fu such as swordcraft, machete skills, unarmedbat techniques, Internal Strength skills, Lightness Skills and even hidden weapon techniques.


    Chu Nanping went on to exin that no matter which kind of kung fu skill one chose to learn to master Secrets of Love, he had to practice it with a partner.


    Upon hearing that, Gu Shenwei immediately realized that Ye Sng and Chu Yangjun were practice partners and they had been practicing the Heartful Swords skill to master Secrets of Love.


    Thinking of those two young men, Gu Shenwei began to worry again. He felt really ufortable picturing himself practicing ¡°Heartful Swords¡± with another man.


    When Chu Nanping told him that Immortal Peng did not n to ask him to practice ¡°Heartful Swords¡± since his brother and Ye Sng had already tried it out, he felt greatly relieved.


    ording to the boy, Immortal Peng intended to try out all the 64 ways and had found suitable ones to practice nearly all the kung ku skills depicted in Secrets of Love except for ¡°Emotionless Swords¡±. ¡°The reason that Immortal Peng hasn¡¯t tried out ¡®Emotionless Swords¡¯ is that he couldn¡¯t find two qualified people to practice this sword skill in the past. He got his eyes on you because of your cold-heartedness,¡± said Chu Nanping.


    .


    ¡°If I promise to learn ¡®Emotionless Swords¡±, whom I¡¯m going to practice this technique with?¡± Gu Shenwei asked when he had already guessed the answer.


    ¡°Me,¡± replied Chu Nanping.


    ¡°How long will it take?¡±


    ¡°That depends. Some people can master it in a few months while others just can¡¯t get it in their whole lives.¡±


    ¡°How many years have you practised sword skills?¡± Gu Shenwei asked Chu Nanping with an incredulous look on his face. He looked at the boy and said in his heart, ¡°When I was your age, I only mastered a few workout-type kung fu routines, which weren¡¯t practical in real fights. I don¡¯t think that you¡¯re eligible to be my practice partner.¡±


    ¡°Three years. You have to learn the basics before practicing ¡®Emotionless Swords¡¯ with me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei snorted in contempt. He was sure that he could defeat any of the disciples of Immortal Peng during one-on-onebat. He was even confident to kill the white-robed old man, who had once sessfully snatched his sword from his hand, not to mention this little boy who looked like a girl.


    ¡°You have to enhance your Internal Strength and Lightness Skills first,¡± Chu Nanping added.


    Gu Shenwei was struck speechless by what the boy had just said. He could not deny that Internal Strength and Lightness Skills were his weaknesses.


    After introducing Secrets of Love to the killer, Chu Nanping told the killer that Immortal Peng wanted him to write down a part of Dajue Book of Swordcraft every day and to finish the whole book within 30 days.


    Upon hearing that, Gu Shenwei shook his head and said, ¡°I need one year to write down all the content of the book. Besides, who knows how long it¡¯ll take to master ¡®Emotionless Swords¡¯.¡±


    After bargaining with each other for a long time, the boy and the killer finally reached an agreement. ording to it, Gu Shenwei had to finish writing the book within 100 days. He was dissatisfied with the oue of the negotiation, since deep inside his heart, he did not want to share Death Scripture with anyone. The longer he practiced the sword technique in the book, the more he wished to keep it to himself. Sometimes, he even regretted that he had shown Maid Lotus this book.


    Nevertheless, he had no choice but to give Immortal Peng Death Scripture, since his top priority now was to save his own life.


    That night, Gu Shenwei wrote down about several hundred characters for Immortal Peng, which were thest part of Death Scripture. This part did not make sense at all, so he decided to give the immortal this part first.


    After writing down those characters, he followed Chu Nanping to the room on the third floor. When they entered the room, Immortal Peng was gone. Gu Shenwei went over to push the screen closer to the oilmp so that he and Chu Nanping could read the characters written on it. They contained the text of Secrets of Love and a series of exnatory notes.


    Compared to Death Scripture, the text of Secrets of Love was much shorter but much more archaic and abstruse. The notes were the 64 ways to master Secrets of Love. Gu Shenwei did not have time to read all of them carefully, so he decided to focus on the part about Emotionless Swords. He asked many questions about Secrets of Love and Emotionless Swords, and Chu Nanping answered each of them patiently.


    Hearful Swords was entirely opposite to Emotionless Swords. The practice partners who mastered the former would be able to closely cooperate with each other during a fight and be an invincible team. However, to master thetter, the practice partners had to fight each other until one of them was killed.


    ¡°Immortal Peng is right to choose Emotionless Swords technique for Chu Nanping. To master this swordcraft, he¡¯ll have to kill me someday. By doing so, he¡¯ll also avenge his brother¡¯s death.¡± With that thought in mind, Gu Shenwei somehow felt much better being around Chu Nanping.

 Chapter 186

    Chapter 186: Drinking Tea


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Searching for two people who would be willing to learn the Emotionless Swordsmanship was very hard. Chu Nanping had already turned 11 years old. Three years ago, she became a servant for the Immortal Peng in her brother¡¯s stead. Since then she had been learning the basics of the Secrets of Love . After passing many tests, she was then able to be the first candidate for the Emotionless Swordsmanship.


    It took a year to meet the killer Yang Huan.


    Stone Castle had many cruel and cold-blooded killers, and South City was also full of machetemen who killed without batting an eye. However, none of them were qualified as ¡°heartless.¡±


    ¡°Heartless killers kill without bloodlust.¡± A youth, younger than the teenager Gu Shenwei by many years, named Chu Nanping, was exining seriously, ¡°Being heartless, it¡¯s natural to kill without mercy, but there is also no feeling of excitement or joy. To be heartless is to be emotionless.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had killed many people due to various reasons, but he had never be addicted to killing and he even hated the sight of freshly spilled blood. This ¡°w¡± had never been corrected, but he had never imed himself to be ¡°emotionless.¡± He could still feel anger and grief; especially when it came to the vengeance of his loved ones. This was theplete opposite for Chu Nanping ¨C this child was even indifferent to the death of his brother.


    ¡°You¡¯re just a baby who still needs to learn the ropes.¡± Chu Nanping said while appearing to be a little saint who had been cultivating in the path of immortality.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s first step to ¡°learning the ropes¡± was how to drink tea properly.


    Joy Pavillion was a teahouse but it was not open to the public. Gu Shenwei was sitting with 30 other hideous people of the ¡°same sect¡± and in front of each person was a cup of tea, with a very strong color, being sipped on so slowly that it would take about an hour just to finish one cup. These cups would immediately be refilled by the waiters, and they would drink about 3 to 6 cups a day.


    The tea was very bitter, causing Gu Shenwei to almost throw up after his first sip. However, this was also a part of practicing martial arts; it had to be drunk with nothing left in the cup. In fact, every mouthful of the tea had to sit in his mouth until the bitterness receded before he could swallow it.


    Everything became different after getting used to the taste of bitterness.


    It was as though a bucket of warm water had been poured down from the top of his head: making his whole body feel light and soft; allowing him to peacefully breathe; he felt as though he was floating in the air, and his nervous heart was putpletely at ease. At this moment, even if someone was shouting and cursing from across the room, Gu Shenwei would just react with a smile.


    He was prepared to ept any sorts of teachings, without question and without fear ¨C he would believe whatever people told him. Suddenly, he heard a heavenly melody.


    The sound wasing from the floor above. It was monotonously weak, so one had to listen very attentively. The rhythm was quite unique: every hour would either have intervals as little as a dozen or as many as a few hundred.


    Hearing this melody for the first time, Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart began to beat violently and his face flushed blood red. He almost fell off his chair. Chu Nanping had once informed him of a special method within the ¡°Secrets of Love,¡± and showed him a unique practice. Though Gu Shenwei did not understand it at all, he still followed along. To his surprise, his heartbeat returned to normal.


    Gu Shenwei drank a total of three days worth of tea before he managed to touch the tip of the iceberg that was the path of Drinking Tea kung fu. The melody wasing from Immortal Peng¡¯s walking stick up on the third floor. To ordinary people, these sounds were just sounds, but to those practicing Drinking Tea kung fu, these very natural sounds would cause their acupuncture points to suddenly pulsate.


    After his heartbeat was able to keep up with the rhythm of the melody, Gu Shenwei entered a trance.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s first time feeling a pulsation was at the Shaochong acupoint on his finger. After beating 10 times, it started moving upward in ordance with the Heart¡¯s Meridian along the hands and arms. The number of beatings at each acupuncture point was different; some beat as little as three or four times, others as many as a few dozens. After the pulsation ended, he began to feel his pores open and blood circte all over his body ¨C as if his acupoints transformed from ponds tokes, and his meridians expanded from small creeks to rivers.


    Gu Shenwei had never heard of this practice method for internal strength. He was feeling curious and uneasy; he felt as if there was a vine from the third floor crawling down the walls, entangling everyone¡¯s legs, wrapping around the legs of every table, andstly reaching out its tentacles ¨C drilling into the hearts of the tea drinkers.


    Since his face to face conversation with Immortal Peng, Gu Shenwei had not seen him. However, with the progress of practicing the Secrets of Love, he felt some connection with the dwarf. As the vine grew thicker and thicker, cutting it off would be harder and harder.


    Whenever anxiety arose within, the bitter tea would spread pleasant sensations and cleanse the body of any agitations.


    Gu Shenwei was like a disheartened pessimist who would walk step by step into the deep water,pletely aware of the imminent danger, and not stop himself.


    Gu Shenwei spent five days opening the acupoints within the Heart¡¯s Meridian. ording to Chu Nanping, this was rtively fast. Next was the Meridian of the Large Intestines, which only took three days. Atst, the Kidney Meridian took the longest eight days. After one month, he was able to open all Twelve Primary Meridians.


    This was followed by the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, starting from the Yang Heel Vessel to the Governing Vessel, in which he spent half a month¡¯s time.


    When the Eight Extraordinary Meridiansmunicates with the Twelve Primary Meridians, the results would then achieve grand cirction. Internal breathing would flow through all the acupoints without obstructions. Only two acupoints were the exceptions: the Hundred Meetings and the Jade Rotator. These two acupoints were upied by the Peripheral Force and were not affected by Immortal Peng¡¯s melody. There was no response at all. With basic skills, one could not remove the hidden dangers yet.


    As time passed day by day, Gu Shenwei indulged in the bittersweet taste of the tea. As if addicted, he would feel unpleasant if he did not drink it every day.


    In fact, this practice method was not very important to him. The Peripheral Force had been limiting his internal energy, and he had already achieved harmony between the forces within very quickly. He was still able to increase all of his powers, but the flow of the meridians greatly helped to maintain internal cirction ¨C just like a horse that runs faster on a t and wide road with zero obstructions. Gu Shenwei felt that his reaction time was much faster than ever before.


    The feeling of a light pulsation from the acupoints was wonderful. Gu Shenwei was experiencing a kind of rebirth. Even if it was useless, he did not want the feeling to stop.


    There was no end to the kung fu of Tea Drinking. After all of the acupoints open, it would keep repeating until the ¡°path¡± had been further widened.


    Tea Drinking was only one of the basic skills. For the rest of the time, Gu Shenwei was learning the Lightness Skills from Chu Nanping.


    Emotionless Swordsmanship from the ¡°Secrets of Love¡± had seven different realms. The first being ¡°Lighter than the Sword,¡± lightness skills were the most important here and Chu Nanping already aplished this step. He was able to run a full circle around the peace trees behind the Joy Pavilion without his feet ever touching the ground.


    Practicing the art of harmony was not very suitable to learn the lightness skills. Gu Shenwei¡¯s progress was very slow. In the first month, he was like a big clumsy bear chasing a swift little rabbit, thus he was often disdained by Chu Nanping.


    Gu Shenwei felt that it was unfair; his internal strength was far stronger than this heartless little kid. With such deep roots, how did the leaves on the branches not flourish?


    Only until he directed the blood flow of his lower limbs to the Yang Heel Vessel to open up this acupoint, was he able to advance by leaps and bounds. He quickly made his progress and was even able to slightly pass Chu Nanping.


    Heartless Swordsmanship¡¯s second realm was ¡°Sword Heavier than Mountains.¡± Ordinary kung fu teachings usually were ¡°from heavy to buoyant¡±, but this swordsmanship was theplete opposite, to achieve ¡°from buoyant to heavy.¡± Chu Nanping was also starting to grasp his stage. These two ¡°heartless people¡± finally converged and were able to jointly study this swordsmanship together.


    As time went by, Gu Shenwei was nearing an emotionless state. He had forgotten the internal struggle between the twins and the Shangguan family, and he had even forgotten to meet Maid Lotus. He didn¡¯t even notice that the strange words of the Death Scriptures had finished being written, because he was pouring his heart out practicing the most important part of the sword book.


    He often reminded himself that this was a mutual transaction, remembering the other purpose of being here. He would asionally keep a state of peace in his mind and observed Joy Pavilion, discovering many hidden secrets.


    The person in charge of the teahouse was a 30-year-old man, his face was often covered with a thickyer of powdered makeup, and he had a pair of naturally dreary eyes. Gu Shenwei had seen him the first time he came to Joy Pavilion, though he had only recently discovered that his name was Tang Ji.


    Tang Ji and the other workers were not kung fu practitioners. Their only duty was to serve tea, refill tea, and to serve the guests that came to this location for fortune-telling.


    Immortal Peng¡¯s fame was not due to his kung fu, but it was due to his amazing fortune-telling. He would predict 15 people¡¯s fortunes every single day. Appointments had to be made in advance for those who sought their fortunes to be told. Unfortunately, those who had made appointments would still have to wait on the second floor that very same day ¨C waiting to be consulted immediately or even having to wait until night.


    The fortune teller was Immortal Peng, but the one who always spoke were the puppets. Many people did not know this; they all thought that the one speaking to them was the living God himself. After leaving Hope Valley, these people vowed to describe the Immortal¡¯s appearance to outsiders. As a result, Joy Pavilion gained a reputation of mysteriousness.


    During the process of fortune-telling, Gu Shenwei had gradually figured out the background of Immortal Peng: he was a top-ss master who specialized in hypnosis. He could not only use his disciples¡¯ mouths to speak for him, but he could also even force those who hade to him to seek their fortunes, to willingly speak of their past as well as their future wishes. This was how the reputation of the ¡°Living God¡± came to pass.


    Tea drinking to increase your internal energy was also rted to hypnotism. Those bitter teas can make anyone fall into a state of excitement and confusion, in which they are more likely to ept the control of Immortal Peng.


    After discovering this, Gu Shenwei became vignt and feared that, in the end, he would also unknowingly fall under the control of Immortal Peng and be one of his puppets.


    These concerns werepletely unnecessary. Although Gu Shenwei was drinking his tea in the Joy Pavilion, he was never called to the third floor to speak for Immortal Peng like one of his puppets. The disciples in the building were in facting and going freely, like Ye Sng who had already left much earlier. He pretended to have returned from conquering the world and his name became famous all over Jade City. Joy Pavilion had never actually provided him help when he was in danger, but they have also never revealed the truth.


    Of the bizarre and disoriented disciples, some were disfigured. Gu Shenwei did not know their real identities even at the end.


    Gu Shenweipletely trusted this transaction; he felt that it was a good bargain. He also believed that sooner orter, the Baihui and the Xuanji acupoints would also follow along with the melody and pulsate, and the two acupoints would be freed of Peripheral Force¡¯s influence. As the practitioners of the Emotionless Swordsmanship had to have one die, in the end, he did not think about this at all.


    Gu Shenwei was already caught deep in the web and gave up all struggles. This had been his n since the very beginning. Now, he just needed a powerful awakening.

 Chapter 187

    Chapter 187: The Solitary Light


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    It was impossible for a killer of Golden Roc Fort to ¡®live in seclusion¡¯ in Joy Pavilion. Just as Gu Shenwei was concentrating on getting his Internal Energy to flow through all of his meridians for a second time, people and trouble away from Hope Alley came looking for him.


    First, unwee visitors who he knew, but had no direct connection to him, came uninvited to the Pavilion.


    They did not recognize him as he had followed the example of those around him, and disguised himself by drawing many ¡®wounds¡¯ across his face.


    They were led by Shangguan Fei¡¯s ¡®military counsellor¡¯, Guan Houlin. He chatted with Tang Ji, the supervisor of the teahouse, for a while, and both parties ended the conversation on bad terms.


    Upon seeing Guan Houlin, Gu Shenwei abruptly remembered that the reason he had given Shangguan Ru foring to this ce was to investigate Guan Houlin¡¯s background. Fortunately, he quickly got the information he wanted from the disciples of Immortal Peng. He was familiar with them now, and they were no different from ordinary people once they were not under Immortal Peng¡¯s control.


    ording to the disciples, Guan Houlin had wanted to be a disciple of Immortal Peng when he had been a broke macheteman, but he had been rejected by the immortal due to his inaptitude. Now, Guan Houlin came back to Joy Pavilion again as the military counsellor for Shangguan Fei who owned thergest gang in South City, asking for protection money.


    Hope Alley was never any gang¡¯s territory. Residents of the alley never epted any outsider¡¯s protection or pay protection money to anyone. Thus, Guan Houlin¡¯s request was immediately being rejected.


    Everyone in Joy Pavilion remained calm and thought of the incident as trivial. Gu Shenwei felt a little pity for Shangguan Fei. There were many skilled kung fu masters in the pavilion and Hope Alley, and the Ninth Young Master would surely lose badly if he came looking for trouble. There was a reason why the Alley was not under the control of any power in the City.


    On an evening in the fourth month of the year, not long after Guan Houlin¡¯s visit to Hope Alley, Gu Shenwei encountered another group of people as he was practicing kung fu in the peach forest. This time, they came looking for him specifically.


    Gu Shenwei was alone at that time, as Chu Nanping was Immortal Peng¡¯s servant and could only leave when the immortal was resting.


    Around eight people dressed in ck leapt down from the peach trees in session and they each took up different positions around Yang Huan, surrounding him closely.


    Gu Shenwei felt irritated as he looked coldly at these familiar faces, with his long sword in his hand. He was immersed in the world of sword craft now, and did not like to be disturbed.


    Shangguan Ru walked in a semi-circle around her own subordinate, asking, ¡°Are you practising swordcraft?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am,¡± he replied bluntly.


    Shangguan Ru had not expected such a reply from him, and was stunned for a moment. Gu Shenwei was also amazed by his own tone and quickly came to his senses. He immediately went down onto one knee, released his grip on his sword, and asked for forgiveness with his head down, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Master Ru¡­¡±


    ¡°How should I exin all of this? ¡± Gu Shenwei thought. He could not think of any reasonable excuse.


    Instead of bing angry, a look of pity came across Shangguan Ru¡¯s face as she said, ¡°I should have gotten you out sooner, you¡¯ve fallen for the ¡®Immortal¡¯s Rope¡¯.¡±


    ¡°I what?¡± Gu Shenwei lifted his head in bewilderment.


    ¡°The Immortal¡¯s Rope is a form of Immortal Peng¡¯s sorcery, once you¡¯ve fallen for it, you woulde to believe anything he says and stay by his side willingly, never leaving him. Luckily, you haven¡¯t been under its influence for too long, and still can be saved. Leave with me now.¡±


    ¡°No, no, I did not fall for the Immortal¡¯s Rope, I can leave anytime, but I¡¯m already so close to¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei stopped talking but looked like that he had something to tell the Tenth Young Master in private. Shangguan Ru waved off the other killers and got him to stand up and continue talking.


    ¡°Immortal Peng can remove the Peripheral Force from my body, and is close to seeding.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still not cured of it yet?¡± It was Shangguan Ru¡¯s turn to be amazed. She thought that ve Huan had been fully cured of the force after the Barren Sect was destroyed.


    ¡°I thought I was, at that time. It came back again.¡±


    ¡°You kept it from me all along.¡±


    ¡°There are many things for you to worry about, and I don¡¯t wish to add to your troubles. I thought I could be cured in a few days, and never knew I would be dyed here for so long.¡±


    ¡°I have to remind you that Immortal Peng is highly skilled, but is also very dangerous. You should be wary of him.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was surprised that the Tenth Young Master was not mad at him for being ¡®missing in action¡¯ for the past two months. He replied, ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll leave Joy Pavilion soon. No one is holding me back. In fact, Ye Sng walked out of here of his own will too.¡±


    Shangguan Ru nodded. She looked as if to be wrestling with her emotions before sighing and saying to Gu Shenwei, ¡°Fine, stay here for the moment, but remember what I told you. Once you fall under the influence of the Immortal¡¯s Rope, you¡¯ll find a reason to stay here. I believe that what you told me is true.¡±


    Gu Shenwei kneeled again before his master. His reason for staying in Joy Pavilion was of course genuine. He did not have much time to cure his qigong deviation now, so he had to stay here to save his own life.


    When he lifted his head again, Shangguan Ru had already left.


    That day¡¯s sword craft practice did not go down smoothly. Gu Shenwei and Chu Nanping were practicing the second stage of the ¡®Sword is Heavier than Mountain¡¯ condition, and had each ced a piece of heavy metal t on their swords. Not only did they have to channel their Internal Breaths to ensure that their swords would not break under the pressure, but they had to prevent the metal pieces from flying off when they brandishing their swords quickly. Gu Shenwei was not concentrating properly and his sword y was uncertain. As a result, the metal piece came off his sword continuously.


    Although Chu Nanping was younger, he was blunt and did not hold back in criticising his practice partner. He sheathed his own sword, turned around and left, while saying, ¡°You¡¯re getting emotional. It¡¯s a waste of time.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was seized by a sudden rage upon being reprimanded by an 11-year-old child. Without thinking, he picked his sword up and chased after Chu Nanping. He struck at Chu¡¯s neck when he was close behind.


    He was not using the Emotionless Sword technique but rather sword craft from the Death Scripture. It was the kung fu that Gu Shenwei was most familiar with, and he could always kill his target with it.


    This time though, he would be disappointed.


    While the tip of Gu¡¯s sword was still one foot away from its target, Chu Nanping had already turned around, and struck out with his own sword. Gu Shenwei was forced to retreat, and was left standing against the trunk of a tree, with the young child¡¯s sword held against his chest.


    The Death Scripture taught to strike with only a blow, and if it failed, the opponent would have the upper hand.


    ¡°Rage is also an emotion, therefore to be emotionless you cannot be angry. What¡¯s the matter with you today?¡±


    Gu Shenwei pushed Chu Nanping¡¯s sword away and walked out of the peach forest without saying a word. He needed time to think alone.


    He had only begun to notice after so long that Secrets of Love and Death Scripture were twopletely different types of kung fu. The former was grand and epassed many variations, while thetter was subtle and taught to strike with only one blow. Without him noticing, his original kung fu had been weaker after he had begun to practice the Emotionless Swordsmanship.


    Gu Shenwei was walking aimlessly towards the outskirts of Hope Alley, and started feeling frustrated after a short while. As he looked back, he saw a solitary light in the room on the third floor of Joy Pavilion. He felt a sudden impulse to look for Immortal Peng directly. He wanted to know why the immortal was interested in the Death Scripture when the scripture was obviously the direct opposite of Secrets of Love.


    Gu Shenwei continued walking forward. Even though his sword craft had be weaker, his Lightness Skill had improved and his walking speed had greatly increased. Soon enough, he was already out of Hope Alley, and it was the first time he had entered a different region of South City after learning Secrets of Love.


    There seemed to be no change to the streets, except that the snow had already melted off and they had be dirtier.


    He met Maid Lotus in a room at the backyard of the Southwall Tavern. She hade to the peach forest with the Tenth Young Master to see him previously, but did not have a chance to speak to him then.


    ¡°What went wrong?¡±


    Maid Lotus¡¯ tone was always calm as still water, but this time, a hint of concern came from her voice. ve Huan was supposed to meet up with her once every three days, ording to the original n, but this was the first time they had met at the pre-determined location in two months. She had watched him from afar while silently in hiding many times, but had never shown herself before.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s restlessness was more evident the farther he was away from Joy Pavilion. It was as if there were a murder of crows nesting in his heart and were flying in all directions as they sensed impending doom. He wanted to return to his ce of quiet and peace.


    He slumped down, surprised at and despising his own weakness.


    Maid Lotus came towards him and ced a palm on his shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ll help you,¡± she said gently.


    Gu Shenwei lifted his head to look at the teenage woman whom he was most familiar with. He was surprised that her voice could sound so sweet. Even though he did not drink, he felt intoxicated by these four simple words she said.


    Before being aware of his actions, he had already wrapped his arms around her waist and ced his face on her t lower abdomen, keeping silent.


    Maid Lotus was surprised and lifted her hand, seeming to want to push Gu Shenwei away. Atst, however, she rested her hand on his head, lightly caressing it. After a while, she said to him, ¡°Tell me everything.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt much calmer when he made his return to Joy Pavilion. He had also felt a tinge of guilt, as he was never so intimate with a woman before. This made him question himself as to whether he was still a killer.


    Maid Lotus had recorded with brush and paper as he dictated to her the detailed process of his training, and also what he remembered of Secrets of Love. However, he did not haveplete memory of it, as out of all 64 different techniques, he had only scrutinised the Heartless Swords technique.


    Gu Shenwei felt that he had gained a new form of strength, and that he could use it to counter Immortal Peng¡¯s sorcery, no matter whether it was called hypnosis or the Immortal¡¯s Rope.


    He did not return to his room which was near Joy Pavilion to rest, but went to the empty Pavilion, walking up the stairs with big steps.


    The solitary light on the third level was still burning brightly. He drew the screen closer to the light and read every word on it carefully.


    There was no doubt about the fact that 64 different methods of practicing the Secrets of Love meant that itprised of 64 different kung fu techniques. If Death Scripture was just different to practioners of different ways of interpretation and different skill levels, the Secrets of Love was like a huge melting potprising of everything.


    Unknowingly, he was fascinated again with the Heartless Swords technique portion.


    The technique consisted of seven different states: Bing Lighter than the Sword, the Sword is Heavier than the Mountain, Bing One with the Sword, Intention Follows the Movement of the Sword, Heart and Intent are One, Containing Emotion in the Heart and Not Allowing Emotions in the Heart. Each state dealt with a different type of kung fu, targeting the practioner¡¯s Lightness Skill, strength, speed, concentration, reaction, killing intent and determination. In the end, one would be an extension of one¡¯s sword when striking.


    Gu Shenwei never considered the final stage of practising this sword craft technique. He was a ¡®heartless person¡¯, and had to be decisive and firm.


    ¡°Do not control your feelings, unleash them. Those are a redundant part of your heart, therefore expose it and then remove it. To be heartless you need to love first, by killing off the love in your heart, is to be heartless,¡± Gu Shenwei muttered to himself.


    He was aware that he had said these words involuntarily without any thought.


    Gu Shenwei had not noticed that the short Immortal was not more than 10 steps away from him, tall crutch in hand.


    ¡°How did Ye Sng leave Joy Pavilion?¡± croaked Gu Shenwei. It was as if he had lost control of his vocal chords and had to expend much effort to use them.


    He then answered his own question in a voice that was slightly stiff. However, he spoke fluently, telling a story that he himself had never heard before.


    (Please keep and provide rmendations)

 Chapter 188

    Chapter 188: Trembling


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Ye Sng had escaped from the clutches of Immortal Peng, not because he possessed extraordinary willpower, but because he quitted beforepleting his training.


    Both the Heartful and Emotionless Sword techniquesprised of seven stages, and both Ye Sng and Chu Yangjun had stopped learning after mastering the fourth stage. Therefore, even though their sword craft was very good, it was still far from the very best. They would not have fallen under the killer¡¯s sword if they had mastered all seven stages of their training.


    As with Gu Shenwei, Ye Sng had already been trained in other forms of kung fu beforeing under Immortal Peng¡¯s tutge. Ye Sng had always been tied down by worldly concerns and had left the pavilion once he felt that his sword craft was good enough for him to survive in jianghu, on the pretext that he would return after his travels. Instead, he had returned to North City.


    Immortal Peng did not agree that he had made any of his disciples stay behind against their own will. ¡°What influenced them to stay was their love for kung fu and not me. The scope of Secrets of Love is so wide that anyone who starts learning it would be obsessed. Ye Sng¡¯sck of willpower ruined himself and Chu Yangjun as well. Without his practice partner, Chu Yangjun¡¯s sword craft could not improve further. They could well have finished mastering the seventh stage before leaving the pavilion; if they did, no one would have been able to kill them.¡±


    ¡°Did anyone finish mastering the seventh stage?¡±


    ¡°Yes, there was more than one person who did, and all of them have left the Joy Pavilion.¡±


    ¡°So, I can leave any time I want to?¡±


    ¡°Of course, no one is stopping you.¡±


    ¡°I can do anything I want?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re free to do so.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m free to do so,¡± said Gu Shenwei to himself.


    As Gu Shenwei felt more doubtful, he decided to test Immortal Peng¡¯s credibility.


    He drew his sword and came at the immortal with the Death Scripture technique.


    Gu Shenwei was confident that his stroke embodied the highest standard of sword craft he could produce. He was truly emotionless and there was nothing holding him back ¨C he only thought of killing his opponent. However, he would be surprised at what came next. There were many other types of kung fu which exceeded his imagination existed in the world, and he was too confident of his own abilities.


    The thrust should have struck the immortal on his neck, but it was blocked by the huge metal dragon head on his crutch; Gu Shenwei was unable to move his sword forward by the least bit. He swore that he had not taken his eyes off the immortal, yet he could not catch thetter¡¯s movements.


    Death Scripture taught to strike only with one blow, and as it was Gu Shenwei¡¯s second unsessful attempt to hit his opponent, the damage done to his body was much more serious. The Internal Breath which was channelled onto his sword flowed back into his body. He felt as if a huge tide hade gushing back into him.


    It froze him to his spot for a moment, with his sword in hand. Then, he began staggering backwards, feeling nauseous with each step. Luckily, there was no vomitusing out of his mouth. He could only stabilise himself upon leaning against the walls. His insides were churning and he could not straighten himself up for a long while.


    ¡°This is the seventh stage.¡±


    As Gu Shenwei¡¯s Internal Breath finally stabilised, Immortal Peng started to speak through him again.


    Gu Shenwei was speechless. Previously, he had only learnt sword craft meant for killing, and this was the first time that he saw kung fu that granted the practitioner a wider range of skills ¨C Immortal Peng seemed to be able to do whatever he wished.


    He was still a little indignant, so he shut his eyes and made a second thrust at the immortal.


    He could sense Immortal Peng¡¯s living energy very clearly, it was like an unmoving mass in front of him. The ws in his stance were also very obvious to Gu Shenwei, even more so than a normal opponent. He seemed to have given up resistance and was waiting for the fatal blow to be struck.


    Still, Gu Shenwei missed.


    It was unbelievable to him. The distance between him and the immortal remained at around 10 steps, no matter what he did. It was just the right distance for his blows to miss their target; it negated the many ws in the immortal¡¯s stance. The weird thing was that he did not feel that the immortal was dodging him, it seemed as if he himself was retreating.


    Gu Shenwei gave up and drew down his sword. He opened his eyes and spoke hoarsely, ¡°I want to master the technique up till its seventh stage.¡±


    Immortal Peng reached his crutch out and touched the killer¡¯s shoulder with it. He had demonstrated a level of kung fu that was so great it could grant its practitioner the ability to kill as he or she wished as well and to tackle multiple opponents at once.


    Gu Shenwei felt like a blind man who was, with external aid, able to see for an instant; he could never go back to live in the dark anymore and would give anything for the ability to see again.


    Hypnotism yed only a minor part in influencing Gu Shenwei to make up his mind to stay behind and master all seven stages of the Emotionless Swords technique. To him now, it was a hundred times better than the sword craft from Death Scripture. With it, he would no longer need to plot behind the scenes to get his revenge. Once he had mastered the technique, all of the Shangguan Family would be sitting ducks for him to strike down at ease.


    After Immortal Peng left, Gu Shenwei stood in front of the screen and studied the words of the Emotionless Swords technique with unbridled passion. It was only when dawn came that he could collect himself.


    Even though he had previously promised Maid Lotus that he would memorise all the content of Secrets of Love, he had been enthralled by the Emotionless Swords technique all night, and did not have the mind to memorise any other content other than that.


    After his meeting with the immortal, he was spurred on to train even harder than Chu Nanping. Finally, there was camaraderie between both ¡®Heartless Men¡¯ and they pushed each other on. Their skill in sword craft increased swiftly, and it was not long before they had progressed from the second to the fourth stage ¨C ¡®The Sword Moves as Intended¡¯. Their concentration had also increased tremendously, and they cared for nothing other than their swords.


    At the end of the 100th day, Gu Shenwei had alreadypleted inscribing Death Scripture, but there were still remnants of the Peripheral Force left in his body. However, he did not think much about it. He was pre-upied with improving his sword craft and to master all seven stages of the Emotionless Swords technique. He wanted to reach the immortal¡¯s level of kung fu.


    That said, both he and Chu Nanping were unable to break through to the fifth stage, no matter how hard they tried. One night during the end of Spring, they decided to seek the advice of the immortal.


    Immortal Peng only gave them a few words of advice. ¡°The first four stages of Secrets of Love train your body, while the rest trains your heart. The reason both of you haven¡¯t made any breakthrough is that there are still obstacles in your heart holding you back. The only way is to kill it off.¡±


    He left the two practice partners to think it over. Chu Nanping seemed to know that they would be facing such a problem sooner orter, and it was as though he was waiting for this moment to tell his partner, ¡°We have to kill someone whom we do not wish to.¡±


    Gu Shenwei also came to the same conclusion about the immortal¡¯s advice. It was stated very clearly in the text of the Emotionless Swords technique, and they had avoided the inevitable until now.


    ¡°Who is the person I don¡¯t wish to kill the most?¡± thought Gu Shenwei. The first person that came to his mind was Shangguan Ru, but he quickly pushed that thought aside. As a member of the Shangguan family, she was on his kill list. Finally, he came to the conclusion that there was only one person he did not wish to kill ¨C Maid Lotus.


    Just the thought of killing her personally gave him goosebumps. She was his only loyal supporter, and by killing her, it would mean he would forever be alone, without anyone he could trust.


    However, this was the essence of the Emotionless Swords technique.


    Still, he made up his mind to do it. Chu Nanping seemed to have decided earlier than him that he would also follow through with the n. The both of them parted ways in the peach forest, each looking to kill someone dear to them.


    Gu Shenwei felt a little curious as to who his practice partner would kill. Chu Nanping had been conditioned to be emotionless at a young age and did not seem to have any feelings for anyone.


    The moment of curiosity soon passed, and he re-focused on his own n.


    Maid Lotus was no easy target. She was also skilled in the swordcraft from Death Scripture, and would be sure to not hesitate when striking, what with her strong killing intent. As for himself, he was stuck in the learning stage of the Emotionless Swords technique and his original skills had diminished. It was an embarrassing situation for him, and he was not sure whether he would be Maid Lotus¡¯ match.


    Thus, he decided that he could only leverage on her trust in him and assassinate her.


    Gu Shenwei walked determinedly to his rendezvous point. He paid no attention to the sounds of the street around him. Themotion from the taverns, theughter from the brothels and the noise from the gambling dens all did not affect him in the least bit.


    He saw the lighting from her room in the backyard of Southwall Tavern as he approached.


    Gu Shenwei observed from the roof of the opposite room, going through his n for assassination again mentally.


    ¡°It¡¯s my own choice,¡± he said to himself in his heart without any reason. He leapt down the roof and approached her door, knocking twice.


    Maid Lotus was examining what he had written down of Secrets of Love from hisst visit. Since that time, he did not meet up with her once every three days ording to n, and it made her increasingly worried. She had thus wished to discover the loopholes in Immortal Peng¡¯s sorcery from the manual.


    She was surprised by his visit out of the blue, and could sense a slight difference in him. She could not describe it but felt that he looked a little off color even though he did not seem to be under anyone¡¯s control.


    She went straight to the point as usual. ¡°Immortal Peng¡¯s kung fu seems to be a little weird.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± replied ve Huan indifferently. It seemed as if he was pre-upied with other thoughts and was not interested in the statement made by Maid Lotus.


    She turned and stared at him. The feeling of peculiarity he brought with him grew by the minute. Physically, he looked unchanged, yet she felt he had be a different person. His reply made him seem like a stranger, and the rapport which they had was not present today. It made her seem as though she was being overly close to him.


    ¡°Have youe to kill me?¡±


    Her words came like a sharp arrow and pierced through all his thoughts. He trembled slightly and shifted his right hand to the shaft of his sword. This was the prime opportunity to strike, but instead he spoke. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know.¡±


    Maid Lotus turned her gaze back to the manual. She had already found a big w in Secrets of Love and hoped it would help ve Huan snap back to reality. He had been over confident of his ability to resist the immortal¡¯s charms and had fallen under his influence. She would show him the truth about that dwarf.


    ¡°Consider it carefully.¡±


    Her calmness was an antidote to his enchantment and made hime back to his senses. He shook even harder, and his hand could not even hold on to the sword shaft. He sat down on the chair and held his head in his arms. He wished that he coulde up with something, anything, but at that moment he could only feel his head hurting.


    The light flickered in the room, as the sounds of enjoyment from the tavern slowly came to nothing. They did not speak to each other for a long while.


    ¡°I won¡¯t kill you,¡± he finally said, his voice steady but his mind still undecided. Part of him still wanted to kill this teenage girl in front of him to master the Emotionless Sword technique, which he now believed was the best sword craft in the entire world. He did not notice that he was unconsciously clenching and unclenching his fist. His sword shaft not one feet away seemed to calling for his grasp.


    Maid Lotus turned to face him, the manual in her hands. ¡°Immortal Peng is a chatan, and you fell for his lies.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°There are no 64 methods of training. Although both Secrets of Love and the Emotionless Swords techniques are real, they are not connected with each other. Do you understand? What he means by 64 different methods of training just means 64 different types of kung fu. These different types of kung fu are not simr at all. The Secrets of Love is just an Internal Strength technique and the other kung fu skills don¡¯t serve as a way of interpreting it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei went from a state of nkness to confusion. ¡°But the seven stages¡­¡±


    The Emotionless Swords technique is indeed a good kung fu technique, but how can it bepared to Death Scripture? You¡¯ve been tricked. The immortal has offered the least he could in exchange for your most prized skill.¡±


    She suddenly struck at ve Huan with her sword, and her killing intent enveloped the entire room.

 Chapter 189

    Chapter 189: The Killing of the Immortal


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei did not expect Maid Lotus to make the first move. He instinctively drew his sword to counter-attack, but he was already stabbed in the chest before he couldplete his move.


    Her sword entered his chest by a few inches, and was close to his heart.


    ¡°Now, do you understand?¡± Maid Lotus asked as she kept her sword. She had examined the Secrets of Love thoroughly but had only touched on the Heartless Swords technique out of the 64 types of kung fu. As such, she was notpletely sure of her deduction, but she had to look confident as it was the only chance for her to let ve Huan see the truth.


    Gu Shenwei sheathed his sword as well. He looked pale as a ghost, and felt as though a worm was crawling inside his heart, trying to burrow out of its cocoon. ¡°Why? Why did I not see it before?¡±


    ¡°You cannot be med, the Immortal¡¯s Rope has enchanted more than a few people. Not many can escape from the Immortal¡¯s clutches once he has talked about his visionary theories. Even somebody like me, who has never met him, had to spend a long time before I could spot any loopholes in it.¡±


    ¡°So there aren¡¯t 64 methods of training?¡±


    ¡°Of course not, it¡¯s just a wild theory thrown around by him. Even if there are different methods of training in a type of kung fu, they would end up serving the same purpose. There could never be a mix of sword craft, machete technique and boxing skills in just one type of kung fu.¡±


    Maid Lotus¡¯ exnation was very easy to understand, yet Gu Shenwei was at a loss. He was starting to see the truth.


    The Immortal was indeed a great hypnotist. His words and teachings were mainly true, but a small part of the key points were not. It had convinced Gu Shenwei to go against his better judgement and unknowingly, he had fallen into the Immortal¡¯s trap.


    ¡°The Heartless Swords technique¡­ is not invincible?¡±


    Maid Lotusughed coldly. She knew that she could not make him snap out of his funk just by talking. She drew her sword again and pointed it at his chest, saying sternly, ¡°I did not use all of my skills just now. Look at you, thinking that your sword craft has improved by leaps and bounds. Now, you are just a pawn to the Immortal. Think about Ye Sng, if there was indeed a set of sword craft that would make its practitioner undefeatable, would he have given up halfway?¡±


    Gu Shenwei got up abruptly. ¡°I¡¯m leaving,¡± he said.


    ¡°Are you up to it?,¡± Maid Lotus asked.


    He nodded his head, opened the door and stepped out into the night.


    She sheathed her sword again. It was useless to try to make him stay. He would have toe to his senses on his own anyway.


    Gu Shenwei returned to the third storey of the Joy Pavilion. He noticed that there was someone there, reading the texts on the screen.


    It was Chu Nanping. He was staring at the screen fixatedly, while mumbling to himself and drawing in the air with his fingers.


    So, he did not kill someone that he ¡®did not want to kill¡¯ too, thought Gu Shenwei.


    He felt a little sympathy for the child, but nothing beyond that. Even though they were practice partners, they seldom interacted beyond their practice sessions. They had not reached the stage where they were able to trust each other yet.


    Gu Shenwei stood behind Chu Nanping as he quickly gave the entire Secrets of Love a look once again. He could not control himself and let out a chuckle as he thought about how true Maid Lotus was. Also, the text containing the so-called 64 different methods of training were badly grafted onto the main body of the Secrets of Love. He was sure that he would have spotted it if he had studied the content on the screens without any ¡®guidance¡¯ from the Immortal.


    In truth, there were more than ten types of different kung fu techniques and each of them was top notch. If he had not already learned the Death Scripture, he was sure that he would have been drawn to them. He realised that he had made a grave error in giving away the Death Scripture so easily to the Immortal.


    However, he kept some of its contents secret from Immortal Peng ¨C the 29 diagrams. He had memorised them by heart, but did not draw them out for the Immortal. This was done as he could not draw, and it was also a strategy that he and Maid Lotus hade up with together. They wanted to beat the Immortal at his own game.


    Gu Shenwei chuckled again. As he tilted his head towards his practice partner, he realised that Chu Nanping was staring at him angrily. He was extremely unhappy with Gu Shenwei for breaking his concentration, and showed hostility towards him. He had forgotten that to be emotionless, one could not be angry.


    ¡°I am going to rest, continue studying and train at your own pace,¡± said Gu Shenwei flippantly.


    He turned and walked down the stairs, returning to his room to sleep.


    Chu Nanping sensed that there was something not right with the mocking and sarcastic tone of his practice partner. However, he was soon drawn back towards the contents on the screen, and resumed studying the words carefully. He did not know what had gone wrong, and why he was unable to strike.


    As Gu Shenwei fell asleep, it was very clear that he only wanted one thing. I cannot let the Immortal get the Death Scripture so easily. I¡¯ll make that dwarf pay, he thought to himself.


    However, when dawn arrived, he soon became unsure again. He had indeed got some benefits from listening to the Immortal. The meridians across his entire body were now functioning better than before, and the most obvious improvement was to his Lightness Skill. He had even circumvented the inherent vice of his family¡¯s Internal Strength technique, and was able to scale the walls easily now.


    Even though the Immortal¡¯s theory of the 64 different training methods was a lie, the techniques by themselves were truly top notch. There was also no question about Ye Sng and Chu Yangjun¡¯s high level of sword craft ¨C if Maid Lotus had not worked with him, he would not have been their match.


    He was also sure that he was no match for many skilled denizens in the Joy Pavilion, even before he had fallen under the influence of the Immortal. And he did not even have to consider the skill level of the Immortal himself. The dwarf had achieved perfection with his kung fu, and Gu Shenwei did not even notice when he had moved during their previous encounter.


    Who could say that the seventh stage of the Heartless Swords technique would not be equal to the Death Scripture? He thought.


    Gu Shenwei stuck to his routine of waking up early to practice sword craft in the peach forest with Chu Nanping. Neither of them mentioned their failure to kill the previous night. After the practice session had concluded, they had their breakfast, and the boy went up to serve Immortal Peng while the youth remained on the first storey, sipping his tea.


    I have to wait for a better opportunity, if I make my move on Immortal Peng now, it will be to my disadvantage. It wasn¡¯t an illusion when he showed me that his level of kung fu was much higher than mine, he thought.


    However, Maid Lotus¡¯ admonishment that he had been tricked kept reying in his mind. He now has an image of her as a stern teacher nagging at him continuously. Gradually, he grew angrier as he thought about her. He began considering how he would kill his only trustworthypanion again.


    After making up his mind, he returned to sipping his tea and enjoyed the pleasure of having his acupoints beating along with the percussion instruments.


    He had fallen into the Immortal¡¯s trap again. It was not until it was nearly evening when he changed his mind again.


    His Baihui and Xuanji acupoints had beat at the same time, something which had not happened before.


    In the past, when he channelled his Internal Breath throughout his meridians while drinking tea, there was no reaction from these two acupoints. He had also never experienced two acupoints beating at the same time before.


    As the sounds from the percussion instruments stopped, the two acupoints kept beating as if they were two miniature drums. They belonged to the Ren and Du meridians and soon enough, all acupoints along these two meridians were beating. Before the next round of sounds came from the percussion instruments, all of the acupoints along Gu Shenwei¡¯s twelve meridians and eight extra meridians were beating as if they were insects jumping in a hot wok.


    As the acupoints on his body kept beating, the Internal Breath in his Dantian circted so quickly as if it were a wild horse which had just broken free from its reins. It hadpleted a grand cirction in no time.


    Gu Shenwei tried to stabilise himself with great effort, cing all of his weight on his right palm which was on the table. He could see about 10 or so denizens looking rmingly at him. He knew that something extraordinary must have happened to his appearance.


    He was unaware that he was shaking so violently that the fake scars that he had pasted onto his face came falling off, and he had reverted to his original appearance. His face turned red and pale alternatively. It was no wonder that the others were looking at him.


    The sounds of the percussion instruments began again after half an hour, and all but his Baihui and Xuanju acupoints stopped beating with it. However, the speed at which they were beating at was slowing down atst.


    Gu Shenwei had broke out a sweat and soaked severalyers of his clothing. He stood up and began walking up the stairs briskly. No one was sure what he nned on doing.


    The second storey of the Pavilion was already empty, and thest visitor who hade to have his fortune told was already heading downstairs. He was shaking his head and muttering to himself, ¡°This is amazing. Things are going to get better.¡±


    Gu Shenwei made way for the visitor and continued up towards the third storey. The eight puppets who usually spoke on behalf of the Immortal were seated at different positions and were unmoved by the sudden appearance of the youth. They looked like life-like wax figures.


    At this moment, the screen was pushed away and the real Immortal Peng appeared.


    Chu Nanping acted as the Immortal¡¯s mouthpiece and spoke, ¡°You¡¯re courting your own death.¡±


    The dwarf had already sensed the youth¡¯s killing intent, even though others who were present had no idea what the youth was nning to do.


    The Immortal¡¯s disciples who were drinking tea at the first storey realised something was amiss when thest few percussive sounds did note. They swarmed up the stairs and formed a semi-circle in front of the Immortal. They looked at the youth in horror. There were always people who came and went from the Pavilion, but no one has ever dared to challenge the Immortal.


    Gu Shenwei remained silent. He never liked talking too much when he was on a killing mission.


    The beatings of his Baihui and Xuanji acupoints were gradually slowing down, and the moment to strike was slipping away from him.


    His blow was simple and ungrand. No one would have thought that it would manage to hit a top notch martial arts master like the Immortal himself.


    Yet, it hit its intended target. The Immortal threw his crutch away and pressed his fat and tender hands against his neck. There was no blood that was gushing out yet, but his hands would turn red very soon.


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible!¡± eximed Chu Nanping. He spoke of his own ord, startled by what he had just seen. He kneeled down and supported the dwarf, who was going to fall.


    More than ten disciples were stunned and looked as if they had just seen the sky fall down. Some of them sat lifelessly on the floor while the others wiped off their disguises. As Gu Shenwei saw their true faces for the first time, he realised that most of them were not as ugly as they made themselves up to be. There were even familiar faces amongst them.


    The Immortal was still alive, but had lost his ability of ventriloquism. He looks like he is full of rage and bewilderment. He could not understand why he was defeated by the youth.


    ¡°I have forgotten all of the kung fu that you have taught me.¡±


    Even Chu Nanping, who was fully aware of the deal that the youth made with Immortal Peng, could not understand the real meaning behind Gu Shenwei¡¯s words.


    Only Immortal Peng understood what he meant. His eyeballs looked as if they would have leapt out of their sockets. He released his bloodied hand from his neck and tried to grasp at the youth. However, his body failed him and he sagged down on his servant¡¯s arm. Soon, he stopped moving.


    As Gu Shenwei looked at the dwarf¡¯s corpse, he felt relieved. His Baihui and Xuanji acupoints were not beating anymore. The Peripheral Force in his body used to carry the danger of qigong deviation, but it had saved him at his most dire moment.


    The evil secrets of the Barren Sect was so potent that it had prevented another force from controlling its host.


    Immortal Peng died as a result of his own treachery.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s level of kung fu had diminished greatly when he started practicing the Secrets of Love and the Heartless Swords techniques; likewise, the Immortal¡¯s skills had be much lower when he began practicing the Death Scripture. He had not noticed this change in himself, and it led to his own death at the hands of the youth.


    As Gu Shenwei turned to face the panic-stricken disciples, he noticed that a number of them showed an obvious desire to kill him.


    The youth had rid himself of all distracting thoughts, and was back to being a killer again.

 Chapter 190

    Chapter 190: Drawing the Snake Out


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The first to react was an old man with a long beard that was in a white robe. He took out his long chain as he shouted at Gu Shenwei, looking agitated. ¡°You killed the Immortal!¡±


    Gu Shenwei convinced himself that he was mostly right to have wanted to stay at the Pavilion. He had note out empty-handed from his deal with the Immortal. His ability to channel the Internal Breath and the Lightness Skill had both increased greatly, further increasing his confidence in the sword craft that he learned from the Death Scripture.


    Self-confidence was the the most important pre-requisite to kill in one blow.


    ¡°He is a fake immortal,¡± said Gu Shenwei as he walked up to the screen, looking at its contents. ¡°These so-called 64 methods of training are not even the equal of a single supreme technique.¡±


    He knocked the screen down with force, smashing it into pieces.


    This act enraged the other disciples and soon enough, they drew out their weapons. Although the Immortal was dead, they were still living under the illusion that everything he said was the truth.


    Gu Shenwei stood tall and faced all of them with his sword drawn. Even though he hade up with a n to kill the Immortal, he was not sure as to how he would deal with all these highly skilled disciples.


    At this point in time, he had only thought about killing. He had been caught in the Immortal¡¯s web of deceit for more than a hundred days. Now that he had snapped out of his funk, he wanted to kill to satiate his anger.


    ¡°He is right,¡± said someone from the crowd. It turned out that the youth had his own supporters.


    It was none other than Tuo Nengya. There were still some remnants of his disguise on his face. He stepped forward and spoke up for Gu Shenwei, ¡°The Immortal was deceiving all of us all this while. We do not need his advice to learn all these kung fu.¡±


    ¡°Both of you know nothing,¡± said the old man in the white robe. He was even more agitated than before. ¡°So what if he deceived us? It was his way of getting us to concentrate on our training. Without his aid, how could we have learned moreplex kung fu techniques?¡±


    Everyone who fell for the Immortal¡¯s hypnosis had their own reasons to believe him, and they would not be swayed easily.


    Tuo Nengya had left his signature twin scimitars behind when he went undercover in the Joy Pavilion. He drew his machete and prompted Gu Shenwei to escape. ¡°Leave, what are you still staying behind for?¡± he said to the youth.


    Gu Shenwei walked towards the edge of the window. He did not understand why Tuo Nengya wanted to help him, but it was the right moment for him to escape. The disciples were still in a state of shock and disarray. If he continued to stay, he could have to deal with all of them at the same time.


    The old man¡¯s long chain flew towards Gu Shenwei. It was the same exact move which the old man had used to snatch his sword away before. However, he was no longer the killer that came a few months ago. Even though the level of his sword craft had not improved much, his reaction time and agility was much better. Furthermore, his action of walking towards the window was just a feint.


    He could not leave the Pavilion before destroying the copy of the Death Scripture that he had given to the Immortal.


    Gu Shenwei did not jump out of the window as the long chain drew nearer to him. Instead, he took a huge step back andnded on the soft couch. He snatched the dwarf¡¯s body away from Chu Nanping and lifted it up, shouting, ¡°No one is toe near me!¡±


    Even though the Immortal was dead, his sacred standing in their hearts was not diminished. They gave off cries of rm and were unsure of the youth¡¯s intentions. They took one step forward and two steps backwards in unison, worried that the youth would desecrate the Immortal¡¯s corpse.


    Gu Shenwei shifted towards the window again, throwing a nce at Tuo Nengya, hinting at him that they should leave together.


    Tuo Nengya moved towards the window as well.


    ¡°Leave the Immortal¡¯s body behind!¡± someone shouted in grief and indignation.


    As he lifted the corpse with one hand, his other hand was already searching the body. Soon, he found what he was looking for. The Death Scripture was too important to the Immortal and it did not take a genius to guess that he would have carried it with himself.


    ¡°You can have it back,¡± said Gu Shenwei as he tossed the corpse towards the disciples.


    He then leapt out of the window along with Tuo Nengya. Theynded on the high wall, and went over it into the peach forest. They only stopped after running for several miles, leaving the peach forest behind them.


    They were surrounded by the wilderness now. They had to make a big cirle around before they could return to Jade City.


    All the denizens of the Joy Pavilion were mourning the passing of the Immortal, with the exception of one person. He remained in close pursuit of Gu Shenwei.


    Gu Shenwei was a little surprised to see Chu Nanping. He told the boy, ¡°You are a ¡®heartless person¡¯, therefore there is no need for you to exact revenge on the behalf of the Immortal.¡±


    Chu Nanping looked as callous as usual. He replied, ¡°I¡¯m not here for revenge.¡±


    ¡°What are you here for then?¡±


    ¡°We have notpleted our mastery of the Heartless Swords technique.¡±


    To Gu Shenwei who is now free from the Immortal¡¯s influence, Chu Nanping is now just a child and had no right to rebuke him. He unsheathed his sword and looked coldly at Chu Nanping¡¯s short figure. ¡°I already have my own set of sword craft. It allows me to kill, and I do not have the need to continue learning whatever heartless or emotional sword craft. Find your own private ce to continue practicing. If you have yet to free yourself from the Immortal¡¯s lies after a few years,e find me to take revenge on his behalf. Better yet, if you are already of clear mind, you can also look for me to seek justice for your brother¡¯s death. I¡¯ll be ready for you.¡±


    Chu Nanping remained silent and looked at Gu Shenwei without flinching. It was as if he could not understand the words of an adult. When he finally spoke, he stuck to the same topic. ¡°We¡¯ll soon be learning the fifth stage ¨C within three days, I¡¯ll be sure to kill someone that ¡®I do not wish to kill¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Then go, and return after you have done so.¡±


    Chu Nanping nodded solemnly and walked back towards the peach forest.


    Gu Shenwei did not care who the boy wanted to kill. He only wanted to get rid of Chu Nanping.


    He turned his attention to Tuo Nengya. ¡°You saved my life, but I have nothing to repay you with,¡± said Gu Shenwei bluntly to the old macheteman. He was a killer, and did not know how to show his gratitude.


    ¡°Hey, even if I had not stepped out, you would have been able to escape on your own. That lot would havee to their senses after a while. I followed you out for another reason.¡± Tuo Nengya understood the mentality of a killer and yed down his role in the escape.


    ¡°You still wish to take revenge for the Eldest Young Master.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my duty. I was so close to paying off my debt to him, but then he was found murdered. I don¡¯t have any another choice, other than to avenge him.¡±


    ¡°Are you aware that I also contributed to his death?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll pick someone my own size. You are just a killer, a knife for hire if you will. Why would I seek revenge from a mercenary?¡±


    ¡°The Ninth Young Master is no ¡®soft target¡¯ as well.¡±


    ¡°Who I get my revenge from is my own business. Tell the Tenth Young Master that I mean her no harm. If she wishes to revive the Kun Society, I can help her. My contacts with machetemen do not amount to only the 20 or so which I brought previously.¡±


    ¡°You do not need get involved in the matters of the Ninth and Tenth Young Master.¡± Gu Shenwei held onto his sword shaft as he retreated. He had many reasons to wish for the twins to not fight amongst themselves.


    ¡°You don¡¯tmand me. If you wish to stop me, now is the time to do so.¡± The old macheteman replied, his hand on the hilt of his machete as well.


    Gu Shenwei continued retreating. He left Tuo Nengya with a few parting words as he turned and returned to Jade City. ¡°Next time then. You better have more men with you.¡±


    When he was sure that he was alone, Gu Shenwei took out the stack of paper that he had retrieved from the Immortal¡¯s corpse. It was indeed his copy of the Death Scripture Just as he was about to tear it into pieces, he noticed that there were some tiny scribblings on the white spaces of the notes.


    It seemed that Immortal Peng had made his own notations on some parts of the Scripture.


    It was getting darker and harder for him to read. Reluctantly, Gu Shenwei kept the notes again.


    As he walked down the dirty streets of the South City, Gu Shenwei felt that it was ages ago since he first went to the Pavilion. He had wasted a few months of his precious time and was not any closer to getting his revenge. However, he bizarrely ended up with a dead ¡®immortal¡¯ on his hands. He had once thought highly of his own willpower, and would never have thought that he had to rely on the Peripheral Force in his body to keep him from acting under the influence of the Immortal¡¯s hypnosis.


    As the time limit of three years draws closer, he realised that his n of exterminating the entire Golden Roc Fort was impossible now. He should have killed off a few masters of the Shangguan Family before he would die from qigong deviation. Top on his list was Shangguan Nu, the Eighth Young Master who was still at the border of the desert, busy plotting the fall of the New Moon Hall.


    He did not find Maid Lotus in her room at the backyard of the Southwall Tavern. It was not their rendezvous day, so she must have remained by Shangguan Ru¡¯s side.


    As he could not get to Maid Lotus, he went into the tavern to look for the manager. Shopkeeper Lyu was extremely surprised to see Yang Huan, and hid his hand with the missing finger behind his back while he weed this harbinger of doom awkwardly.


    Gu Shenwei managed to get the news from the past few months from the manager.


    He came to know that Shangguan Ru had requested for the reins of Kun Society back from her brother.


    Not long after ve Huan had left for Hope Alley, Shangguan Ru paid a visit to her twin brother along with six killers. Shangguan Fei was prepared for it, and mobilised all of his killers, along with 50 or so machetemen from the South City. Even though no one present was armed, Shangguan Fei had made a bigger show of force.


    Everyone in the City thought that another mass brawl would break out. Themandant stood guard outside the residence of the Ninth Young Master, along with about a hundred of his soldiers and guards from the Stone Castle, to maintain order in case anything happened.


    To everyone¡¯s surprise, Shangguan Ru did not lose her temper. She treated her brother with respect, as she would to a true power in the City. She requested for the Kun Society in exchange for all the territories she held.


    Even though the territories were only hers in name, as they were bequeathed to her by their elder brothers, the ie generated from them was substantial. It was many times more than the money that was given by the merchants under the protection of the Kun Society.


    Shangguan Fei agreed, and a deal was struck.


    Shangguan Ru entered the South City that very day, and spent the next few days visiting the merchants under the Kun Society¡¯s protection. Amongst them was the Southwall Tavern.


    ¡°The Tenth Young Master is a good person who understands the issues of us businessmen. She was extremely courteous to me and even suggested that I contribute less every month, as long as I keep businessing her way. Of course, I agreed. She is a far-sighted person and the Kun Society¡¯s territory will definitely grow under hermand,¡± he told Yang Huan.


    This was just wishful thinking on his part. In reality, the Kun Society¡¯s territory was diminishing everyday. This happened as the Ninth Young Master had directed all profitable ventures towards the Horned Dragon Society, cannibalising his sister¡¯s share of the spoils.


    ¡°The Horned Dragon Society is growing stronger. As businessmen, we cannot afford to not partner up with them. Honestly speaking, I have frequently received advice to switch sides¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei hurried to the stronghold of the Kun Society upon hearing this.


    Shangguan Ru was dictating something to two secretaries in the hall as he entered. She broke out into a grin upon seeing ve Huan. It was as if he was by her side all along for these few months, and had came back to report to her afterpleting a mission.


    She had changed a little since theirst meeting in the forest. A lot of the childishness was gone from her face, and those jet ck pupils of hers contained neither innocence nor curiosity. They were reced by a scrutinizing look.


    She had also seemed to have be less trusting.


    After she sent the secretaries away, she spoke to him. ¡°Are you cured of your sickness now?¡±


    ¡°More or less,¡± he replied. The two Peripheral Forces still remained in his body and he was not sure what condition he was in.


    ¡°Can you start working again?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Are you aware of Kun Society¡¯s present situation?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m aware of it, yes.¡±


    ¡°How do you envision our future to be like?¡±


    ¡°We need to draw the snake out of its hiding ce.¡±


    Shangguan Ru brightened up and broke into a smile as she heard his reply. ¡°I know that waiting for you to return was the right decision.¡±


    Gu Shenwei understood what Shangguan Ru¡¯s was thinking. She did not forget about Master Yu¡¯s death, and was willing to present herself as weak to the public to draw Shangguan Fei to the South City.


    The end of the was between the twins was still nowhere in sight. Gu Shenwei came up with an idea on his way to see Shangguan Ru. Rather than allowing Shangguan Fei to ckmail him, he thought it would be a better idea to get rid of him first. ¡°Have you made up your mind?¡± he asked Shangguan Ru.


    She nodded, and it was the first time he had seen the desire to kill in her eyes.

 Chapter 191

    Chapter 191: The Murder of an Immortal


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    In fact, Shangguan Ru had made her move before ve Huan¡¯s return, and she had already tried all sorts of methods to entice her twin brother to enter the South City.


    Her first option was to make use of Xu Yanwei, who Shangguan Fei was very fond of. As she was also under the protection of ve Huan, she would be the perfect person to serve as a bridge between both camps and for convincing him to enter the South City.


    However, she quickly killed off the idea because Xu Yanwei had informed her that the Ninth Young Master had already reced her with another woman. Xu Yanwei was devastated as she had, yet again, failed in her lifelong mission to marry into a rich family.


    Next, Shangguan Ru hade up with the idea of bribing ve Qing, who was always by her brother¡¯s side. This also came to naught because ve Qing had also lost the trust of Shangguan Fei and she sounded even more resentful than Xu Yanwei. Shangguan Ru came to understand that ve Qing had not even seen her master for as much as five days.


    It seemed that the only person who the Ninth Young Master really trusted now was Guan Houlin, his huge military counselor. However, Shangguan Ru doubted that he could be bribed as he had just been promoted and was now in his master¡¯s good books.


    She had considered kidnapping him as he could be frequently seen unting his authority at the South City, and his kung fu was ordinary. After some consideration, she decided against carrying out this n because she was worried that it would scare off Shangguan Fei and drive him deeper into hiding.


    Shangguan Fei was no fool and he did not let his guard down, even when his twin sister continued to disy her weakness in public after her return to the Kun Society. He was not only worried about her, but also had to contend with the missing Tuo Nengya. He would never be able to rest in peace as long as the old macheteman was still alive.


    Thest n she had thought about was exactly the same as the kidnapping of Meng Mingshi. She considered striking directly at her brother in the North City. However, the level of precautions he took was much more than Meng Mingshi. His residence was crawling with security, and the city guards were also keeping a close eye on her. They would openly monitor her movements whenever she entered the North City.


    Shangguan Ru was bing impatient. The death of Master Yu and the terrible losses inflicted upon the Kun Society had greatly impacted her. She wanted, not only to get her revenge, but also to deal a fatal blow to her brother.


    ¡°What about Fifth Young Master Meng? Perhaps we could join forces with him. Doesn¡¯t he want revenge as well?¡± Gu Shenwei suggested.


    Although he had not considered the animosity between Meng Mingshi and Master Ru, to his surprise, she was not angry that he had harbored such a thought. In truth, she had also considered it. ¡°It won¡¯t work, as the Meng Family has forbidden him¡­ from getting involved in the matters of my family anymore.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought that the Meng Family were right to issue the order to their Fifth Young Master because Meng Mingshi would have ended up as a pawn regardless of which side he joined. Such a situation would not be beneficial to the Meng Family, regardless of which of the twins was the final victor.


    At the moment, all the paths avable to them seemed to be filled with roadblocks.


    Gu Shenwei changed the subject by passing a message to his master. ¡°Tuo Nengya said that he remains loyal to you.¡±


    She did not show any expression upon receiving this piece of news. Gu Shenwei knew that she had learnt how to hide her real feelings from others. ¡°It¡¯s pointless talk. He would have been better to the Kun Society if he was dead.¡±


    Shangguan Fei would let his guard down at least a little if he knew that Tuo Nengya was dead, thought Gu Shenwei as he observed her eyes. He wanted to know if she was joking or hinting for him to act. ¡°It¡¯s not impossible for him to be dead,¡± he said.


    ¡°Do you know where he is hiding?¡±


    ¡°When west met, he was hiding in the Joy Pavilion. Now that his cover has been blown, he can only be hiding amongst the machetemen.¡±


    Shangguan Ru gave a faint smile as she heard what he said. She replied, ¡°Then let him remain in hiding. He might be useful, but let¡¯s not get him involved unless if it is necessary.¡±


    She was concerned about Tuo Nengya¡¯s motives. He wanted to avenge the Eldest Young Master¡¯s death, and the act of her joining forces with him would be bigger than her conflict with her twin brother. It would arouse the displeasure of many within the Stone Castle, including her own mother.


    Finally, he came to the part about how he had killed the Immortal. The Kun Society had ears everywhere, and Shangguan Ru had already knew about it. She advised ve Huan, ¡°You should also go into hiding. I heard that many people are looking to avenge the Immortal¡¯s death. It¡¯s funny. I had always thought of the Immortal as an extraordinary existence, but to think that he was actually so mediocre.¡±


    That night, as Gu Shenwei was sleeping peacefully at the base of the Kun Society, the news of his exploits had spread across much of Jade City. He had made history, and everyone was talking about how an ordinary killer like Yang Huan had done the impossible.


    Fame was the bane of killers, and Gu Shenwei felt that he had be too famous overnight.


    On the morning of the next day, he began to examine Immortal Peng¡¯s notations on the Death Scripture manual. After he had finished doing so, he kept a few pages which he thought were worthy of further examination in his clothes and burnt the rest.


    From his notes, it seemed that the Immortal was well aware of the presence of the Death Scripture, as he had called it the Maha Bodhi scripture or the Dajue Book of Swordcraft. He seemed to have a thorough understanding of its contents as well.


    There were many ways of learning the Death Scripture, which had been proven by both Maid Lotus and Gu Shenwei. After when he finished his reading of the Death Scripture, Immortal Peng was inspired by it toe up with his lies on the 64 different training methods for the Secrets of Love.


    From his notes, he seemed to be extremely excited as he had written down much of his personal insights of the Scripture on the manual. He was so consumed by it that he even wrote down his feelings, such as: How do you exin the fact that there seems to be ws in the technique? How?


    Gu Shenwei knew that no matter what method that a practitioner of the Death Scripture chose to train in, he or she needed to improve his or her skill by killing. It was no wonder that the Immortal had not understood this secret of the technique, as he did not have the time to practice as much as Gu Shenwei did. The youth had spotted this ¡®w¡¯ in the Scripture as well, but he was proven wrong with time.


    The Immortal had be a meaningless memory to Gu Shenwei, and he was sure that the people of the Joy Pavilion would soone to their senses about having been living under a lie for all this time, and that they would thank him for saving them.


    Now, the only thought on his mind was about how to deal with Shangguan Fei. He could feel that the Tenth Young Master was serious about getting her revenge. He decided to risk Lady Meng¡¯s wrath and began to plot Shangguan Fei¡¯s death. He did not like the fact that the Ninth Young Master could ckmail him if he wanted to. After his experience with Mama Xue, he did not want something simr to happen again.


    Gu Shenwei felt that he knew what Shangguan Ru was really thinking about, so he decided to act before she had issued any orders to her killers.


    First, he went to visit Maid Lotus at her room at the Southwall Tavern. She was waiting for him. She had been monitoring the movements of the Horned Dragon Society since the night before, and had just concluded her surveince.


    They did not talk much. She warned him that there were still bound to be admirers of Immortal Peng in the South City, despite the fact that the denizens of the Hope Alley had little contact with the outside world. This was because Immortal Peng was not a hermit who lived inplete seclusion. She told him that he had a new nickname ¨C the ¡®Immortal¡¯s Murderer¡¯, and it did not bode well for his safety.


    Everyone in the tavern recognised him as he entered. They all looked at him strangely, either with fright, vengefulness or admiration. Those from thest group had apparently transferred their admiration for the Immortal onto him.


    Gu Shenwei admitted to himself that he had killed the Immortal out of a moment of impulse. Before the fateful encounter at the Pavilion, he had nned to kill the Immortal in secret, without anyone noticing.


    Shopkeeper Lyu actions betrayed the fact that he already knew of the Immortal¡¯s death. He spoke nervously to Yang Huan, ¡°Manager Yang, Mr. Huan, let¡¯s talk in private.¡±


    He led Yang Huan into a room full of weapons and brought out a te stacked with about 400 taels of silver, saying, ¡°This is with thepliments of the house.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not receive the gift. Shopkeeper Lyu¡¯s face turned more pale under his re, and could not speak properly. It was only after a while, and with some effort, that Shopkeeper Lyu managed to exin the reason for this gift. ¡°Or how about a drink in the backyard? Since you have a room there, I can send some counterjumpers to serve you.¡±


    ¡°Speak your mind. Are you afraid that someone will damage your tavern while looking for me to avenge the Immortal¡¯s death?¡±


    The shopkeeper scratched his ears nervously andughed, trying to cajole the killer. ¡°No, no, who would have dared to seek revenge from you in the South City? But, but¡­¡±


    ¡°But what?¡±


    ¡°But the citizens of South City had put considerable faith in the Immortal, not including me of course. Now that you have killed him¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei understood what the shopkeeper was getting at. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll not disrupt your business. Just make sure you keep an eye on my money.¡± There was still over 10 thousand taels of silver from Tie Hanfeng¡¯s inheritance that was being kept in the Tavern.


    Shopkeeper Lyu felt as though a heavy burden was lifted from his chest. He kept saying ¡°No problem¡± to the killer.


    Gu Shenwei felt that it would be more prudent to take precautions for a sneak attack rather than regretting about his own actions. Now that he needed to behave cautiously, he obtained a cape from the room in the backyard and put it on before leaving the Tavern.


    He circled the streets and arrived at Pleasure Alley.


    As he walked into the brothel, Xu Xiaoyi thought at first that it was just another customer. When he realised it has Brother Huan who had been gone for such a long while, he felt taken aback and pleasantly surprised at the same time. He hurriedly came towards Yang Huan and shut the door behind them. It looked like he was not epting any more visitors for his sister.


    ¡°Did you really kill the Immortal?¡±


    ¡°He isn¡¯t immortal.¡±


    ¡°But his fortune telling¡­ is really pretty urate.¡±


    ¡°Well, he could not fortell his own death at my hands.¡±


    ¡°This, this¡­ was because immortals never tell their own fortune. Or perhaps, he did, and since he was immortal, he could have used his ¡®death¡¯ at your hands to take his rightful ce in the heavens.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew withplete certainty that the Immortal had not faced his death as calmly as the child suggested. ¡°Never mind him. Get your sister toe down.¡±


    Xu Yanwei was already stretchingzily upstairs. Ever since she knew that her new master did not lust for her, she stopped pretending to be demure in front of him. She ocassionally behaved as if nobody was watching her, showing behavior that would not be eptable in front of a customer.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m toozy to walk down the stairs. Speak if you have anything to say, I can hear you just fine.¡±


    There was no one else in the building because the siblings had not kept any maids or elderly servants in their service. They had made a decision to not unnecessarily spend money. Before their deal of three years with the killer expired, they wanted to save up enough money so that they could leave this undesirable ce for good afterwards.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on between you and the Ninth Young Master?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t me me, I have used all of the tricks at my disposal. Even so, he has given me up for someone else, what can I possibly do about it?¡±


    ¡°So, who is his new favorite girl?¡±


    Xu Yanwei rested her elbows on the raling and it was hard to discern whether she was smiling or not. She sighed deeply and replied, ¡°I do not know who she is, but I did keep something from the Tenth Young Master. I felt that, as a young woman, she should not hear about such things. The Ninth Young Master-¡±


    She dragged thest word, without continuing further. She had wanted to add some theatrical quality to her speech, but after noticing that the killer was unmoved, she kept talking. ¡°He¡¯s changed his tastes, and does not favor women anymore. He likes¡­ well, you know what I mean.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Gu Shenwei was a little shocked. The first possible person he thought of was the military counselor, Guan Houlin, but quickly decided that it was unlikely as he did not seem to be into such things.


    ¡°What haven¡¯t I seen before? I knew it the first time I had slept with him. Hey, hey, he has me to thank for teaching him about the joys of intercourse. If I had not let him feelpletely rxed during our sessions, he would never have realised his true inclinations. You don¡¯t have to be pertubed. Eight or nine out of ten men whoe from rich families in the North City have such a liking. Sigh, now you know about how hard my job is. Not only do I have topete with women, but with men as well.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was sure that Lady Meng would not have thanked Xu Yanwei if she had known about this.

 Chapter 192

    Chapter 192: Friends


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei was still thinking about what this piece of information could be used for when Xu Yanwei spoke again. ¡°Don¡¯t only be thinking about your own master. You should take care of my little brother from time to time as well.¡±


    Xu Yanwei had long lost interest in Shangguan Fei. The only man that truly mattered to her now was her brother.


    ¡°I¡¯m alright, I don¡¯t need looking after,¡± interrupted Xu Xiaoyi. He was peach red.


    ¡°He has also fallen under the spell of a man,¡± said Xu Yanwei disapprovingly. When she spoke of the Ninth Young Master¡¯s fetish earlier, she did not seem to care as much as she did now.


    Xu Xiaoyi was of small built and did have some qualities of a male prostitute. As Gu Shenwei had personally seen many of such men in South City, he did not really mind if the boy had indeed be one. ¡°Have you presented him to the Ninth Young Master yet?¡± he asked Xu Yanwei.


    ¡°What do you treat us as?¡± She replied vehemently, smacking the railing hard as she spoke.


    Before Gu Shenwei could reply, Xu Xiaoyi hurriedly exined, ¡°She doesn¡¯t mean that I¡¯ve intimate rtions with another man. Instead, I¡¯ve found a friend.¡±


    As he spoke of making a new friend, he straightened his back and spoke in a very formal tone. This made Gu Shenwei believe that Xu Xiaoyi was indeed not intimate with this ¡®new friend¡¯ of his. ¡°Isn¡¯t that good, with a friend to support you, you don¡¯t need my backing anymore.¡±


    Now, both sister and brother wanted to speak. Xu Yanwei was faster than her brother. ¡°But his friend is weird. Just the night before, he came running here in the middle of the night, saying that he had to kill Xiaoyi. He looked as if he was about to do it, but he ended up just talking about it and ran off by himself in the end. From what I saw, he¡¯s not normal, and Xiaoyi would be better off staying away from him.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s first thought was, ¡°It cannot be so coincidental¡± , but in the next moment, he remembered that Xu Xiaoyi had been summoned to have his fortune told when they went to Joy Pavilion together several months ago. He knew then that this could not be a coincidence. ¡°What did the boy look like?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Um, he looked like¡ª¡± Xu Xiaoyi was interrupted by his sister before he could find proper adjectives to describe his friend. ¡°He looked like a girl, and the first time I saw him, I thought that Xiaoyi had finally became a man.¡±


    ¡°His name is Chu Nanping, and he¡¯s from Joy Pavilion,¡± added Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Eeh, how did you know? Could he have informed others when he told me to keep it a secret?¡± eximed Xu Xiaoyi in a tone of surprise.


    Xu Yanwei startedughing so hard that she was doubling over. ¡°So, it¡¯s a boy from Hope Alley. No wonder. Treat him well, my brother. Sigh, at the rate this is going, we prostitutes are going to lose our jobs.¡±


    Of all three present, only Gu Shenwei did not find it funny. The siblings were taken aback by his stern expression. ¡°That boy is no ordinary person,¡± he said.


    ¡°Oh yes, his kung fu is very good. He¡¯s a particr way¡­ of speaking as well. He¡¯s different from anyone I¡¯ve ever met,¡± replied Xu Xiaoyi happily, not knowing that he was in danger.


    ¡°He¡¯s Immortal Peng¡¯s servant.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi became nk for a while. He had been to the third storey of Joy Pavilion, but he had never seen the faces of Immortal Peng and his servant before, as they were behind the screen. He had thought that his friend was a son of a smith from Hope Alley all along.


    ¡°He wasn¡¯t joking about killing you either.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyiughed. ¡°You must be joking¡­¡± But after realising that Brother Huan never joked, he continued, ¡°Are you for real?¡±


    ¡°He wants to kill you toplete his mastery of a certain kung fu technique.¡±


    ¡°Kill me to master his technique? I¡¯m no stronger than a rat, what technique does he hope to master by killing me?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only natural that his learning method is not normal, as he¡¯s a disciple of an ¡®immortal¡¯.¡±


    The Xu siblings believed him now as they realised what he said was entirely possible, their mouths agape from their shock. Xu Yanwei could not think of any solution, and let off a sound of indignation before turning to her room. Soon, she came running back out of it and pointed at the killer as she spoke, ¡°The two of us have done so much for you. You have to protect us.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head and replied, ¡°I¡¯m a killer, not a bodyguard.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi was already scared speechless. His sister quickly changed tack and started giggling demurely. ¡°Mr. Huan, there¡¯s negligible difference between a killer and a bodyguard. Don¡¯t they both use machetes? Even though Xiaoyi can be hard to control, he¡¯s still at least a little useful. Isn¡¯t it better to have him continue bringing you information?¡±


    ¡°I said that I¡¯m a killer, but I didn¡¯t say I wouldn¡¯t protect him.¡±


    Xu Yanwei reverted back to her original self. She was frowning and stamping her feet in protest as she replied, ¡°Making a fool of us.¡±


    ¡°If I kill Chu Nanping, in turn, he cannot kill Xiaoyi.¡±


    Such was his n, and it was simple and direct. Even though Chu Nanping was a child, Gu Shenwei knew that he would be a thorn in his side sooner orter. It was best to get rid of him at an early stage.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to result in you killing him,¡± rebutted Xu Xiaoyi bravely.


    ¡°It¡¯s either him or you.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi cast his head down dejectedly. He had never got to make friends with anyone, and even Brother Huan was just a better master to him; Chu Nanping was different. He could still remember how bashful Chu Nanping had been the first time he tried to make conversation. However, when the boy spoke, he was blunt, and it made him seem as if hecked social interaction.


    After their first encounter, Chu Nanping came frequently to look for him to y together. Xu Xiaoyi was the elder by a few years, but as their height was the same, and they both looked immature, they seemed to be of the same age to bystanders.


    Xu Xiaoyi knew the South City like the back of his hand, and was the chief instigator for their adventures. As Chu Nanping was not wise in the ways of the city, everything was new to him. He never rejected any of Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s ideas, which included stealing from the tavern, fighting with unruly children and eavesdropping on the sounds of pleasure from the roof of the brothel.


    The past two months spent with Chu Nanping had been the best time of Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s life.


    While he was still basking in his wonderful memories, Gu Shenwei was already thinking of how he would go about killing Chu Nanping. ¡°Don¡¯t ept any customer these two days, and stay indoors as well,¡± he ordered the siblings.


    ¡°Don¡¯t ept any business? I¡¯ve just managed to hook a rich regr with much effort, and he¡¯sing back tonight.¡±


    ¡°Let your brother die then.¡±


    She stamped her feet indignantly again, and agreed after pondering for a while. ¡°Alright, I shall listen to you. Sigh, he would have brought me a few hundred taels of silver. I¡¯m sure now he¡¯ll be spending it on some other woman.¡±


    As she returned to her room, she realized she was at a loss. She did not know what to do for the next two days. Her routine would be disrupted if she was not going to receive any customer.


    Toward evening, several dishes were delivered to Xu Yanwei¡¯s brothel, as the Xu siblings had nned to receive a guest tonight and ordered a meal from chefs in Pleasure Alley. Xu Xiaoyi did not reject the food. Instead, he ate them together with his Brother Huan.


    Night time was the peak period for brothels in Pleasure Alley. Upon hearing someone knocking on the door, Gu Shenwei immediately hid beside the door, saber in hand. Xu Xiaoyi opened the door slightly and repeatedly apologised to the customer outside. The customer was extremely unhappy at being turned away. ¡°Is she looking down on me? What sort of illness does she have that she can¡¯t even meet me? I want to see for myself. I think it¡¯s more likely that she¡¯s serving some other rich customer.¡±


    ¡°No, no, you should know, Sir, it¡¯s the usual sickness. I don¡¯t wish for you to waste your silver as well, Sir.¡±


    It took much effort to convince the customer to leave. Xu Xiaoyi let out arge sigh of relief.


    ¡°So, the regr your sister mentioned just now is Guan Houlin?¡± Gu Shenwei asked as he returned to the table.


    Xu Xiaoyi rubbed his ear, trying to re-collect his memories. His sister received a regr once every few days, and they came and went quickly. He could never remember all of them.


    ¡°That¡¯s him indeed.¡± Xu Yanwei had re-appeared above the stairs and seemed to have made up her mind not to walk down to her brother and Gu Shenwei. She was chewing on melon seeds and had ced their husks carefully on the railing in a row. ¡°All ves covet the women their masters have slept with before. Especially the ves with a little money.¡±


    ¡°When hees back again¡ª¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve offended him. Now he may or may not being back to me again.¡±


    ¡°He will. When hees back, ask him who¡­ the Ninth Young Master favors now.¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, so is the ¡®person he favors¡¯ a new term for a male prostitute? Fine, I¡¯ll ask him for you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t let him know why you¡¯re asking.¡±


    ¡°Tsk, do you believe that I have the ability to make him tell me all his secrets and not remember afterwards?¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not answer. He only wanted results from her, and was not concerned what sort of method she used to get the information he wanted.


    As it gotter, Xu Yanwei picked up the seed husks and wrapped them in her handkerchief. She muttered to herself as she returned to her room, ¡°How can I fall asleep so early? I have two men with me, but one is useless while I can¡¯t use the other. Sigh, what a night¡­¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi kept himself pre-upied by tidying up, never stopping once to rest. Gu Shenwei knew that he was afraid and said to him, ¡°Soon, it¡¯ll be over. He said that he would kill you within three days, and thetest this would drag on would be till tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Can I try to convince him to stop learning such an unhealthy technique? Who knows whether he would change his mind. He listened to me all this while.¡±


    ¡°He could, or maybe he could kill you too. If you should try to reason with him, there¡¯s no way I can guarantee your safety.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi sighed as he thought, ¡°There¡¯s indeed something wrong with everyone in Hope Alley. The first time I went there, I was worried that anyone there would take a fancy to me. Who knows, someone really did. However, he only wants to kill me, and it¡¯s really weird that he has to make friends with me before killing me.¡±


    The streets were starting to be less crowded as it reached midnight. Xu Xiaoyi dozed off a number of times as he sat on the stool. Gu Shenwei remained still as he hid in a dark spot at the corner of the walls.


    Suddenly, they heard Xu Yanwei screaming.


    As Xu Xiaoyi lifted his head, he noticed that Yang Huan was gone from his spot. He forgot about his fear and shouted at the top of his voice, ¡°Run, Litte Chu! There¡¯s a killer!¡±


    Gu Shenwei had leapt up to the second storey and dashed into Xu Yanwei¡¯s room immediately after he heard her scream.


    He saw a ck figure standing beside her bed, saber in hand.


    Before her scream had stopped, and immediately after Xu Xiaoyi started shouting, Gu Shenwei¡¯s sword had already pierced the neck of the assant.


    When the body of the assant fell to the side of the bed, Xu Yanwei finally controlled herself from screaming. She trembled as she asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t hee for Xiaoyi? Why was his target me instead?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not Chu Nanping.¡±


    The assant was obviously an adult, and not a boy about to enter his teens.


    As Gu Shenwei lit the oilmp for a better look, he noticed Xu Yanwei was nude. ¡°Why are you not dressed?¡±


    She pulled up her sheets to cover herself up, replying, ¡°Of course I¡¯m not dressed, I¡¯m sleeping.¡±


    Gu Shenwei brought themp closer to the corpse. It was nobody he knew, and seemed to be an ordinary macheteman for hire.


    He dragged the body out of her room and tossed it near the entrance of the brothel. He then used his saber to hack at the wound, to disguise the fact that it was made by a sword. He then extinguished the me of themp and returned to wait at the corner of the wall.


    ¡°It¡¯s not him?¡± asked a pale Xu Xiaoyi.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Hey, hey, i just¡­ I couldn¡¯t control myself.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. I could¡¯ve killed him even with your warning.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was even more confident in Death Scripture after his adventure in Joy Pavilion. To him, Chu Nanping was just a child and could not even be considered as a kung fu master.


    After taking a while to dress, Xu Yanwei also came down the stairs. ¡°What¡¯s going on now, who¡¯s this man, and why does he want to kill me?¡±


    No one answered her. Gu Shenwei could roughly understand what had just happened but could note up with a concrete exnation.


    Someone was knocking on the door again. It could not be a customer or another assassin. Xu Xiaoyi grew pale again as he remembered that Chu Nanping frequently came looking for him at this hour.


    Gu Shenwei rushed to open the door, and it turned out to be Maid Lotus. Xu Xiaoyi could calm down again upon seeing that it was not Chu Nanping. He did not know how much more fright he could take in one night.


    ¡°Someone came to kill you,¡± Maid Lotus observed. She had nced upstairs upon entering the brothel. She was a killer with sharp instincts, and could sense a dead body when she was near one. ¡°It¡¯s rumored that you¡¯ve stolen Immortal Peng¡¯s treasure, and now everybody ising for their share.¡±

 Chapter 193

    Chapter 193: Stealing the treasure


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Nobody would have expected the consequences of Immortal Peng¡¯s death. Perhaps no one wanted to avenge him but everyone wanted to know about the truth behind his death. Everyone did not believe that this was a spontaneous decision of the killers, and they suspected that his death had something to do with the treasure of the Xian family.


    Words spread from mouth to mouth like wildfire. Like wildfire, it¡¯s path was unpredictable and in this process, spections turned into gossip, and gossip became rumors. In the end, everyone believed what was said.


    ¡°Immortal¡¯s treasure?¡± Eyes of the Hsu siblings brightened.


    ¡°Yes, I grabbed the immortal¡¯s treasure. Killing people is now easier than before.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not speak in a kind tone. The siblings became silent immediately and dared not speak a word.


    Gu Shenwei did not like this situation. Because of some absurd reason danger seemed to be lurking everywhere. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t even know who the enemy was. He thought again of Master Shifu Tie Hanfeng¡¯s teachings. Because he knew little about Immortal Peng¡¯s rtions, killing him would be a grave mistake.


    ¡°The Tenth Young Master would be going to Stone Castle to exin things. She said this was her own idea.¡± Maid Lotus felt that her news was received too favorably. ¡°Only fools would believe in such a rumor though. We have to kill more people.¡±


    Maid Lotus¡¯ words came true. That night, there were 11 people who died in the brothel. Only the first was killed by Gu Shenwei.


    At the time when several people spoke, a dull thump rang from upstairs. It sounded as if something had fallen.


    Xu Yanwei clutched her chest and looked up at her bedroom in terror. She was relieved that she was not upstairs.


    Gu Shenwei nodded to Maid Lotus. She pulled out her saber and guarded the floor downstairs. Gu Shenwei crept upstairs stealthily.


    Just halfway through, a dead body was thrown out from the bedroom. It leant weakly on the railing. Xu Yanwei fainted in shock. She turned and held her brother¡¯s shoulders tightly. Xu Xiaoyi was afraid but he also wanted to know who the dead person was. The dead body was curled up but its eyes were wide open.


    Gu Shenwei returned from the path that he traveled just now. ¡°Someone is standing on guard upstairs.¡±


    ¡°Did the Tenth Young Master send someone?¡± Xu Yanwei asked expectantly but did not get a reply.


    The two killers were each assigned different tasks. Gu Shenwei sat on a chair, his saber bnced across his knees. A sharp sword leant against his leg. He could use his swordcraft openly now. He only had to exin that it was imparted to him by Immortal Peng. But he was still used to bringing two types of weapons with him.


    Maid Lotus hid in the shadows. The Hsu siblings turned their eyes. When they looked again, they did not see the female killer anymore.


    The person upstairs was a master. He willingly worked for killers and was a man of few words. Before dawn came, he flung out ten corpses from inside, and the pile of corpses became higher than the railings.


    Most of the dead did not utter a word. One called out before he died: ¡°Ah, it¡¯s you!¡±


    Xu Yanwei was reaching her limits. She was used to seeing happy men walking out of her bedroom. This time, seeing theme out inert was a total humiliation to her. ¡°Come out. You people upstairs!¡±


    No one came out and no one answered.


    Knock, knock. The door rang again. Xu Yanwei was deeply moved by the fact that there was someone who still remembered toe in by the main door. Immediately however, the attitude of the person outside the brothel dampened her spirits.


    ¡°Open the door. Damn, I saw that wild man upstairs. Want to lie to me? I¡¯ll crush you with my silver, you bitch.¡±


    ¡°Why did hee back?¡± Xu Yanwei had really hoped that this was a nightmare and that all her problems would vanish when she opened her eyes.


    The two siblings did not dare to open the door. Gu Shenwei rose and walked to the door. He held a sword in his hands and after listening for a moment, pulled the door open.


    The door was immediately knocked open and a group of people swarmed in. All of them stumbled as they came in; obviously they had drunk too much.


    ¡°Not receiving a customer? But isn¡¯t that a customer? Why is it you?¡± Guan Houlin wanted to straighten his body but he ended up bending backwards. He cocked his head like a stone figure that was about to copse.


    ¡°I¡¯m the master of this ce.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes, I¡¯ve heard. This¡­ your prostitute is atrocious. She didn¡¯t want to ept this grand master¡¯s money. And those wild men keeping up one by one. You- do you look down on me or the Ninth Young Master?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no wild man here.¡±


    ¡°Stop fooling me.¡±


    ¡°I saw it with my own eyes. It can¡¯t be fake.¡± The machetemen swarming the entrance of the door joined in.


    Guan Houlin pushed Gu Shenwei away. He did not see Xu Yanwei who was standing at a corner of the wall. He wanted to run up the steps to catch the adulterers. His massive body shook the entire building slightly.


    ¡°Come out, you stinking prostitute. I¡¯ll show you who is master today. Today¡­¡± Upstairs, Guan Houlin had only finished half of his sentence before he froze. It was as if master Shangguan Fei had suddenly appeared before him.


    ¡°Big Brother Huan, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Machetemen swarmed into the building. They looked up, trying to see what that ck lump on the railing was.


    Guan Houlin only went up a step. He stretched his neck to make sure that he hadn¡¯t seen wrongly. He was immediately shaken from his stupor. This was a brothel run by a killer. He immediatelyposed himself as he just realized that the teen downstairs was a cold-blooded killer.


    Guan Houlin turned around and walked slowly down the stairs. His steps were heavy and his body did not shake. He walked in front of the killer and cleared his throat. ¡°I¡¯ve drunk a little too much. Please forgive me and send my respects to the Tenth Young Master.¡±


    Guan Houlin opened his arms and pushed the machetemen out of the brothel like they were a bunch of chicks. He closed the door himself and even bowed slightly to the teen who was standing inside.


    The twins of the Shangguan family had always maintained a calm facade. However, in these few months, Guan Houlin felt afraid of the killers of Kun Society.


    It was almost daybreak. Gu Shenwei shouted upstairs. ¡°Come out, let¡¯s get things done.¡±


    The man who was upstairs hesitated for a while before walking out of the bedroom. He stood beside the pile of corpses, holding a sword in his hand.


    ¡°Little Chu, it¡¯s you!¡± Xu Xiaoyi jumped up excitedly. ¡°You¡¯re not here to kill me but to protect me right?¡±


    This was all nothing more than Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s imagination. If it were true, he would have burst into tears of joy.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m here to kill you. I¡¯m protecting him. I can¡¯t let anyone kill him.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi was greatly disappointed and felt extremely confused. Pointing to Gu Shenwei, he said: ¡°He¡¯s a killer and he wants to kill you.¡±


    ¡°That would be the best. Swordcraft is practised this way. But it¡¯s a bit too early now.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi was confused. He did not understand a single word of what Chu Nanping said. He only wanted to make friends with him. Why had things turned out this way? He couldn¡¯t help but be ovee with sorrow. He sat on the ground and cried loudly.


    ¡°This can¡¯t be true. Why would you want to kill me? I was so good to you. I¡¯ve never offended you. Aren¡¯t we good friends?¡±


    Chu Nanping creased his eyebrows slightly and exined patiently. ¡°We¡¯re friends. That¡¯s why I have to kill you to destroy all ties of friendship. This would allow me to enter the fifth realm. That¡¯s how the Heartless Swords technique is trained.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi cried even louder.


    Among the disciples of Immortal Peng, Chu Nanping was the youngest and the most innocent. Thus, the effects of training in the ways of the Death Scriptures were greatest on him.


    Gu Shenwei had no experience in persuading others. However, he was more skilled at scheming and murder. He felt thetter would be most effective in dealing with Chu Nanping.


    ¡°I can¡¯t let you kill him. So I have to kill you now.¡±


    Chu Nanping shook his head just like before. He tried to be patient and exined to his practice partner. ¡°There¡¯s no use in killing me. To reach the seventh realm, we only have one battle of life and death.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m backing out. Like Ye Sng, I don¡¯t want to practice the Heartless Sword technique anymore.¡±


    Chu Nanping pursed his lips like an unloved child. This was his real identity. ¡°You¡¯ill change your mind.¡±


    Gu Shenwei held onto the shaft of his sword. He did not want to kill this child. There was no feud between them even though Chu Nanping had killed Chu Yangjun and Immortal Peng. However, Chu Nanping was a ruthless person without feelings ¨C there was not even hatred in him.


    But Chu Nanping was perhaps not as ruthless as Gu Shenwei had thought. He thought for a while and smiled, as if he had cast off all his burdens. ¡°Fine. Then I won¡¯t have to kill Xu Xiaoyi for now. Xiaoyi, I¡¯lle to find you tonight.¡±


    Chu Nanping returned to his bedroom and left quietly.


    Xu Xiaoyi stopped crying. There was even more confusion in his heart. ¡°What does he want to do?¡±


    Gu Shenwei wondered if he was doing the right thing by letting Chu Nanping go. ¡°He wants to be friends with you again.¡±


    ¡°Damn, if I were to be friends with him again, I¡¯d be the biggest fool in the world.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a fool in the first ce.¡± Xu Yanwei said. The night was finallying to an end and her brother was not in any danger for the time being. She had to think of a way to send those two killers away as soon as possible. ¡°Mr. Huan, you¡¯re tired already. You should go home for some rest. I¡¯ll look after Xiaoyi and not let him see that child again.¡±


    Gu Shenwei draped a cloak over his shoulders and looked upstairs. Maid Lotus walked out from behind the pile of corpses. She was guarding Chu Nanping closely and could have killed him with only a single strike of her sword. That ruthless child did not know how closely he had stood from the edge of death.


    The corpses were left in the care of the Hsu family. There were plenty of corpse bearers in the Jade City. As long as they were paid, they would take care of matters with no questions asked. Such matters would never affect the business of the brothel. Gu Shenwei was not worried about it.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± Maid Lotus asked while walking on the cold streets.


    ¡°I have to take a trip to Hope Alley.¡± That was the ce that Gu Shenwei hated to return to. ¡°Only Joy Pavilion can prove that I did not steal any treasure. That ce will let me know who the Ninth Young Master¡¯s new lover is.¡±


    Hope Alley was not the only ce in South City where there were male prostitutes. However, it was the most crowded. Gu Shenwei decided to start from here. This was the best way to fool Shangguan Fei into moving out of the North City.


    Maid Lotus went with him. The two went around the peach trees and jumped onto the high wall behind Joy Pavilion. They guarded each other on both the left and right sides.


    Joy Pavilion did not change much. Through the window, Gu Shenwei could even see some unsightly people drinking tea. It was business as usual.


    The person who came to steal the treasure was not a disciple from Joy Pavilion. Gu Shenwei thought that they had probablye to their senses.


    A window on the third floor opened, revealing a savage face. ¡°You¡¯re here.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had a feeling of amorousness. Immortal Peng was already dead. However, these weird creatures were speaking in gibberish, as if they, like Chu Nanping, were still immersed in the 64 practices of the Secrets of Love .


    ¡°I¡¯m here.¡±


    ¡°Immortal Peng invites you to go upstairs.¡± The ferocious face said in a calm tone. After saying so, he disappeared and withdrew from the window.

 Chapter 194

    Chapter 194: A Bargain


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The dwarf¡¯s death remained vivid in Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind. Gu Shenwei was not intimidated by that terrifying visage¡¯s deceiving words. He was also unmoved by Immortal Peng¡¯s enrapturing influence. ¡°Let hime to the window.¡±


    Gu Shenwei would not walk into the trap.


    There was no responseing from the window on the third floor. The disciples who were drinking tea on the first floor had just walked out. Some of them carried weapons in their hands. They looked up and saw the two killers on the wall.


    Gu Shenwei decided not to confront the group alone. He nced at Maid Lotus and the two were prepared to escape into the peach forest.


    The window on the third floor revealed another face. It was that white-robed elderly man with a long beard. He had once tried to take revenge for Immortal Peng. ¡°Leave.¡±


    This order was uttered for his own people. The disciples obeyed and returned to the teahouse. After a while, one hunched disciple with a heavily pitted face walked out. He dragged a tray that was carrying tea and leaped up the wall. He did not spill the tea. Later, he retreated and turned to face Joy Pavilion. He raised his two hands high and was about ten steps away from the killer.


    The white-robed elder jumped out from the window on the third floor. Hended beside the hunched disciple. His qing gong was very good. However, what surprised everyone was that he was very slow and did not seem to have ¡°jumped¡± but rather he had ¡°floated¡±. His entire body seemed to be as light as a feather.


    ¡°Please drink some tea.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. He was wary of the elder. In his heart, he made ns to escape. He was here to negotiate but he had to prepare for the worst.


    The elder did not seem to have noticed the killer¡¯s movements. He raised his hand to tap lightly on one teacup. The teacup flew out and drew a beautiful arc in the air. It bypassed Gu Shenwei and arrived beside Maid Lotus.


    Maid Lotus reached out to catch the cup. Her body shook a little.


    The elder flicked a second cup and it flew directly towards Gu Shenwei.


    Like Maid Lotus, Gu Shenwei reached out to catch the tea cup. His body did not shake but his heart was pounding fiercely. The elder¡¯s Internal Strength was very deep. He was a rival to be reckoned with.


    ¡°There aren¡¯t many cups left of this fine Tianshan snow tea. Please have some.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not here to drink tea.¡± Gu Shenwei did not know the kung fu of flying teacups. He loosed his grip immediately and the teacup dropped to the floor. It was still inches from the top of the wall when Gu Shenwei raised the tip of his feet to catch it gently. The teacup dropped to the ground. The tea was still in it.


    ¡°You are a fine tea master.¡± The white-robed elder smiled faintly and took a sip of his tea.


    ¡°You know why I came.¡±


    ¡°I was waiting for you.¡±


    The white-robed elder had the killing desire. However, this time, he seemed to have thought things through.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk then. I don¡¯t want anybody to suspect me of stealing any ¡®treasure¡¯ from Immortal Peng.¡± Gu Shenwei did not believe in coincidences. Rumors must have originated from someone. Joy Pavilion could not be innocent in this matter.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want anyone to im that an Immortal was killed. Immortals never die.¡± The elder looked at Gu Shenwei andid out his request pointedly.


    In order to stop one lie, another lie had to be said. Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help but cleared his throat. ¡°So you got yourself another Immortal Peng?¡±


    ¡°No. Immortal soul-delivering. This means they will abandon their flesh and enter into a new body.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re the new Immortal Peng.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no old or new. I¡¯m Immortal Peng.¡±


    The white-robed elder¡¯s expression was serious when he said this. Gu Shenwei even felt a tinge of admiration for him. This was whatmandant Zhong Heng meant by ¡°solving the problem¡±. ¡°So, I¡¯m just a small fry who was used by Immortal Peng- I mean you- toplete your soul transfer?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°So, it¡¯s impossible for me to steal your treasure?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡±


    It seemed that this was a deal that would benefit both sides. Gu Shenwei smiled. ¡°Immortal Peng has made a great calction. I¡¯m humbled.¡±


    ¡°Your Excellency¡¯s swordcraft is divine. This immortal is also humbled.¡±


    ¡°Joy Pavilion is still Joy Pavilion.¡±


    The new Peng Immortal nodded his head. ¡°Tomorrow noon the immortal will rise to heaven in his flesh. Sir, please refrain froming to the scene.¡±


    ¡°Definitely.¡±


    The white-robed Immortal Peng did not do anything. The hunched man rose up and walked beside Gu Shenwei. He raised his teacup and with a shake of his body, bypassed the killer and arrived beside Maid Lotus.


    Maid Lotus didn¡¯t know how to unt her kung fu. She ced her teacup in the tray honestly.


    The white-robed Immortal Peng ¡°floated¡± to the third floor. Gu Shenwei saw clearly that there was a long and almost transparent long chain in the immortal¡¯s hand.


    ¡°See you tomorrow.¡±


    Since there was no mortal danger and Gu Shenwei did not want to leave so quickly, he said. ¡°I want to meet Tang Ji.¡±


    Tang Ji was the supervisor of the first floor of the teahouse. His kung fu was lowly. In Joy Pavilion, he was only a servant. The white-robed Immortal Peng certainly did not anticipate this killer¡¯s request. He blinked and did not say anything. He turned and vanished. Not long after, Tang Ji walked out from the back door.


    Compared to the disciples of Joy Pavilion, Tang Ji, whose face was smeared with rouge, seemed rtively sadder towards the death of Immortal Peng. The scars made by the tears streaming down his face were visible. His animosity towards the killer on the top of the wall was also clear. They looked at each other in anguish and did not say a word.


    ¡°I want to ask you about something.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t tell you anything.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t very good.¡± Gu Shenwei said. However, that person had already jumped down from the top of the wall ande up to Tang Ji. ¡°I had just spoken to Immortal Peng about a transaction. I don¡¯t want to talk about the conditions so quickly.¡±


    Tang Ji understood what the killer meant. Joy Pavilion had just changed its owner. He didn¡¯t want to get into trouble and after thinking for a moment, said stiffly: ¡°You can ask me about it but I might not know.¡±


    ¡°Are there people in Hope Alley who are particrly familiar with the Ninth Young Master from Stone Castle?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Tang Ji¡¯s expression changed. ¡°What do you take me for?¡±


    ¡°Someone who is very familiar with Hope Alley.¡±


    ¡°Go ask the Ninth Young Master himself.¡±


    ¡°A ve won¡¯t try to find out anything from his master.¡±


    ¡°Oh, are you a ve too?¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not reply and Tang Ji did not speak again. The two looked at each other for a while.


    Maid Lotus also jumped down while holding the hilt of her saber in her right hand. Suddenly, Tang Ji shuddered and shrunk his body instinctively. His body was nted to a side and he came up close to Gu Shenwei, almost as if he wanted to seek his protection. ¡°No, there¡¯s no one who is familiar with the Ninth Young Master in Hope Alley. The Ninth Young Master won¡¯t like people like us.¡±


    Tang Ji¡¯s kung fu was not advanced but one could feel its murderous feeling. That beautiful woman who had a calm expression on her face actually revealed an aura that shocked him. After speaking, he turned to run back to the house and grabbed a cup of bitter tea. He tipped his head, downed it and did not regain his energy until after half a day had passed.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was meticulous. He will not let his scandals leak out so easily. Gu Shenwei believed that Tang Ji was speaking the truth.


    The two traversed through the peach forest. Maid Lotus, who had just threatened her rival with her murderous feeling,mented: ¡°Look, the flowers have fallen.¡±


    The pink flower blossoms fell and scattered all over the floor. Gu Shenwei looked at them nkly. He hadn¡¯t noticed the flowers blossoming. He also felt nothing when the flowers fell.


    He saw a little figure standing between two piles of dirt.


    That was the tomb of Ye Sng and Chu Yangjun.


    Gu Shenwei was a bit surprised. In the past few months, he had been practising with Chu Nanping in the peach forest nearly every day. He had never seen this child show any interest in his brother¡¯s tomb. He passed by asionally but ignored it.


    Chu Nanping was holding swords of disproportionate lengths in his hands. He turned his head to look at the killer, who looked as simrly dazed as him. ¡°Someone wants to kill you.¡±


    A faint breeze stirred, scattering peach blossoms all over the ground. The naive assassins were not fearful of an assassination. They walked out from behind the tree and blocked the way of the two killers.


    With a face full of marks, bulging eyes, and disfigured noses, the two uglies who looked almost identical held four short daggers in their four short hands.


    ¡°Immortal Peng asked you toe?¡± Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus held onto their sword shafts. The person in front of them was an expert and was a suitable target for their sword practice.


    ¡°He isn¡¯t Immortal.¡±


    ¡°Immortal was killed by you.¡±


    ¡°You even took a scroll from Immortal.¡±


    ¡°We want to avenge his death and reim his treasure.¡±


    The two uglies took turns to speak. Their meaning was clear.


    Joy Pavilion was split up. One was ready to ept the new Immortal Peng and to continue the fantasy of life as before; the others wanted to choose their own destinies.


    There was nothing left to be said. What¡¯s left was only to kill and be killed.


    Chu Nanping walked over and stood in between the two rivals. He pulled out his long sword and faced the uglies. ¡°You can¡¯t kill him.¡±


    The Uglies¡¯ shocked expressions made them look even more hideous.


    ¡°Chu Nanping, what are you doing? You said you wanted to kill Yang Huan.¡±


    ¡°I want to kill him. You can¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense. Get out of the way!¡±


    Chu Nanping used his long sword in reply. He did not understand the word ¡°nonsense¡±.


    The 64 types of training methods in the ¡°Secrets of Love¡± are aplete nonsense but the kung fu itself was real and isn¡¯t weak at all. Once the four swords are taken out, Chu Nanping would be immediately defeated. If the two uglies hadn¡¯t shown any mercy, he would have no means of looking for Xu Xiaoyi to ¡°y¡±.


    Gu Shenwei rushed over and one ugly immediately gave up on Chu Nanping to face this killer¡¯s challenge.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s advance was as quick as his retreat. The two uglies did not let him go at all. They had barely pursued five steps before they seemed to trip over a stone. They fell forwards heavily and never rose again.


    Maid Lotus appeared beside Gu Shenwei.


    The other ugly man roared loudly as he pressed his swords strongly against Chu Nanping. He swept his sword at the female killer.


    Maid Lotus also retreated and the second ugly man also fell forwards like the first.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s sword had also tasted fresh blood.


    From how Chu Nanping saw it, the sword skills of the two killers were incredibly high and they killed with ease. The ugly man looked like a brute who didn¡¯t know any kung fu and who fell on his own sword.


    He was supposed to be a ¡°heartless man¡± who wouldn¡¯t reveal his emotions easily. This time he gaped in astonishment too. In his mind, the sword craft of killer Yang Huan was close to his and he would often go to seek advice from him.


    The Death Scripture was not an easy form of sword craft. Gu Shenwei gave it his all for Maid Lotus. Were it not for Chu Nanping who disturbed the two uglies and threw them into disarray, they could have left several wounds on the killers. These wounds might have been fatal.


    The gap between the masters was very small but the oue was a matter of life and death.


    This was the first time an outsider had seen Maid Lotus use her sword craft. She looked towards ve Huan and wanted to know what he thought.


    ¡°My sword craft is better than yours.¡± Gu Shenwei looked at Chu Nanping and had an idea in his mind.


    ¡°This is strange. It¡¯s not like Heartless Swords at all.¡± Chu Nanping was obsessed with his own kung fu.


    ¡°So, do you still want to block the assassin for me?¡±


    Chu Nanping nodded his head solemnly. ¡°Immortal Peng will die and you will also die. I have to guarantee that the person who will kill you is me.¡±


    ¡°Well, then just follow me. There¡¯re many people who want to kill me. When you¡¯re willing, you can try to kill me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had Maid Lotus by his side but did not mind having another person protecting him.


    Chu Nanping was not an expert but he would grow into one eventually.


    The two killers broke the wounds as usual and headed toward the outside the forest. Chu Nanping did not respond to the killer¡¯s words but hesitantly followed behind him as if he was not clear of his own role.


    When they had reached the edge of the peach forest, he found that he had been surrounded. Scores of machetemen were lined in small groups and they walked neatly into the peach forest, des gleaming and brimming with murderous intentions.

 Chapter 195

    Chapter 195: A Battle in the Forest


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    As the sun set, the peach trees weed another lively night.


    Groups of machetemen ran past the two killers and a small swordsman but did not seem to take notice of them. They continued to advance while brandishing their swords.


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Someone asked in a quiet voice. Hisrge physique seemed to have blocked thest rays of sunlight.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to collect information,¡± Gu Shenwei answered as he recognized that this person was Guan Houlin.


    ¡°That¡¯s not necessary. Joy Pavilion will turn into ashes immediately. Hope Alley will no longer be a paradise and, from now on, it will have to pay every month.¡±


    Guan Houlin still did not forget how he was looked down at in Joy Pavilion. The only person he was jealous of was Immortal Peng. He wanted to use this opportunity to exact revenge.


    Gu Shenwei led the way and did not say what was on his mind. If he could ce his bets on this ambush, he would stake them on Hope Alley. Joy Pavilion might be divided with only thirty over disciples left. However, every single one of them was a martial arts expert. Those more than 200 machetemen were here only for the money and probably wouldn¡¯t be their match.


    Guan Houlin couldn¡¯t think of these. He only saw one group of customers from the teahouse who were here to die. He never knew that they were learners of martial arts. He was sure that this was a battle that he would win and that he would score a victory for the Ninth Young Master.


    ¡°If you want to watch the show, you are wee. Tuo Nengya couldn ¡®t escape again this time.¡±


    Gu Shenwei would not tell the other party that the old macheteman had already left Joy Pavilion. ¡°Congrattions to you for all of your wonderful work. The Ninth Young Master would be relying on you in the future.¡±


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m not bragging. The Ninth Young Master relies on me for many things. Oh yes, how did you manage to kill Immortal Peng?¡±


    ¡°He was terribly old. People couldn¡¯t see this. I just took my chance.¡±


    ¡°Just as I thought.¡± Guan Houlin did not believe the killer¡¯s words entirely. He regretted not being bolder because even he could be capable of killing that elusive old fellow. ¡°What a pity. A killer can¡¯t change his master. If not for this, I would have asked the Ninth Young Master to keep all of you. I don¡¯t look down on her but, I mean, a woman is still a woman. Kun Society might still be fine without her?¡±


    Gu Shenwei smiled slightly and did not argue with him. Maid Lotus and Chu Nanping did not respond at all. One was indifferent and the other was heartless. They did not care about what others said at all. Chu Nanping did not even care about the safety of Joy Pavilion. He was still considering the killer¡¯s suggestion.


    As the machetemen had all entered the peach forest, Guan Houlin was preparing for battle. ¡°Hey, we¡¯re visiting thess at Xu family tomorrow. You won¡¯t put a dead person in her house again, will you?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good. A brothel is still a brothel. Don¡¯t turn it into a coffin shop.¡±


    Guan Houlin treated his killers as his subordinates. He had over 200 machetemen and there was nothing that he was afraid of.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s ¡°military counsellor¡±manded the offense. Gu Shenwei followed him from afar.


    This was a battle that began with a sneak attack. Guan Houlin was notpletely ignorant. The 50 machetemen carried their bows and with at themand of the militarymander, lit their arrows and fired together.


    The arrows left their bows with a whizz and subsequently their sounds became fainter like a group of meteors. They flew high and fell in the direction of Joy Pavilion.


    Inside Joy Pavilion, there was a lone burningmp, as if it knew nothing about the ambush.


    ¡°Prepare thedder.¡±


    The burning arrows were still in its trajectory in midair when Guan Houlin issued the second order. It¡¯s time to start the massacre and to take care of the mess.


    However, things turned out slightly differently from what he¡¯d expected. The 50 burning arrows had just flown over the top of the wall before hitting arge invisible. They promptly fell onto the ground.


    One group of grotesque looking men leapt up onto the top of the wall, carrying all sorts of weapons in their hands. Without hesitation, they moved towards thedder to kill the machetemen who were ready to attack.


    This was indeed a massacre. However, the target seemed to have changed. After a few terrible cries, the machetemen seemed to be thrown into disarray. They were told that this was going to be an easy ambush and so they were not prepared for a difficult fight. Moreover, they did not want to lose their lives for no reason. The battle had only just started when Joy Pavilion showed its teeth and the machetemen began to flee for their lives.


    Guan Houlin was stunned by the counter-attack of Joy Pavilion. After a long moment, he roared in anger and pulled out the dagger on his waist. He blocked the machetemen who were attempting to flee in all directions. ¡°Stop, you fools. They¡¯re few in numbers, and we¡¯re¡­¡±


    The military counselor¡¯s voice was overwhelmed by the terrible screaming that did not end.


    In less than the time it took for an incense stick to burn down, the neat formation of machetemen had be disarrayed. It was no longer apetition of machete skills, it was about who could run away the fastest.


    Guan Houlin¡¯s defeat was soplete that he was dumbfounded. Upon recovering his senses, the first thing he wanted to do was to run away. He took big strides and even threw away the knives in his hands.


    This was Joy Pavilion¡¯s first killing frenzy in so many years. Its disciples were like alcohol addicts who had not drunk wine for many years. Now, tasting the fragrance of wine again, they seemed to enter into a state of frenzy. This was the real rebirth of Immortal Peng. Even the strongest hypnotism might not be able to stop these people now.


    The peach forest became a ughterhouse. Only the lucky and the quick-footed could escape out of it.


    Guan Houlin was obviously not thetter kind of person. However, he was lucky because there were two killers who were watching this ambush that had started spectacrly but ended in failure.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus rushed to Guan Houlin¡¯s side. With each one supporting either side of his arms, they dragged him out of the forest.


    The machetemen were either ughtered or had escaped from the forest alone. Not a single one of them followed the military counselor.


    The exhuberance of Joy Pavilion¡¯s disciples was calmed down at the fringes of the peach forest. They were not killers and did not follow the principle ofpletely exterminating their enemy.


    Guan Houlin kneeled onto the ground, looking at the ink-dark peach trees. This should have been his ce of victory. He muttered repeatedly, ¡°How could this be?¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not reveal an expression of glee but he reminded Guan Houlin of a most important matter. ¡°The Ninth Young Master might not be happy.¡±


    Guan Houlin was most afraid of hearing this. He hadpletely forgotten that the killer was his savior. He straightened his back and spoke authoritatively, chastising: ¡°It was all your fault. You knew this would have happened, didn¡¯t you? I¡¯m going to tell Ninth Young Master that you caused this.¡±


    ¡°Do you take the Ninth Young Master for a fool?¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s tone turned cold.


    Guan Houlin was definitely clear about this. This time, the reason why the attack on Joy Pavilion had failed was because the disciples of Joy Pavilion were all experts. However one looked at it, Gu Shenwei could not be med. No one knew this better than the astute Shangguan Fei.


    ¡°He¡¯ll kill me!¡± Guan Houlin covered his face and sobbed like a child.


    ¡°Someone can protect you.¡± Gu Shenwei had spent all this time observing that battle and waiting for its predetermined oue, just for the sake of this very opportunity.


    Guan Houlin lowered both of his hands and raised his thick eyebrows. He expression appeared to be slightly angry but also confounded at the same time. He seemed to understand things after a while and said, ¡°You want to bribe me? Forget it. I, Guan Houlin, am not a macheteman who will betray his master.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had learnt something from Immortal Peng. Everyone would find reasons to persuade themselves and there was no need for too much persuasion. Hence, he did not argue, exin or refute him but only stared coldly at the strong and tall macheteman.


    ¡°I won¡¯t betray him!¡± Guan Houlin said with every step that he took backwards. His voice faded and became smaller and grew less confident. There were few loyal machetemen like Tuo Nengya. They were as few as outdated antiques.


    ¡°Can the Tenth Young Master really protect me?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mention the Tenth Young Master.¡±


    Guan Houlin was shocked. He looked at the killer and then at the female killer beside him and the child behind her who was carrying a long sword. Somehow, he thought of how these three looked ridiculous standing beside each other. His mind immediately focused on himself again. ¡°The Ninth Young Master has treated me with much grace. I¡¯ll never turn against him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a killer of Stone Castle and I won¡¯t ever attack my master. The Tenth Young Master wouldn¡¯t do that too. They¡¯re biological siblings and twins. Any conflict between them is just a game.¡±


    Guan Houlin shifted his eyes. Thinking about the killer¡¯s words, his expression turned serious, as if he had understood everything. ¡°I won¡¯t betray him. I want to seek forgiveness from the Ninth Young Master. He¡¯ll forgive me. I¡¯m different from the rest; he¡¯ll forgive me.¡±


    Guan Houlin didn¡¯t want to stay together with a killer belonging to the Tenth Young Master. He ambled around and ran towards the South City. Not long afterward, he vanished into the dark night.


    ¡°He¡¯llin about you to the Ninth Young Master,¡± Maid Lotus wanted to silence Guan Houlin.


    Gu Shenwei had other ns. ¡°The Ninth Young Master isn¡¯t a simpleton. I¡¯ll meet him personally.¡±


    It turned out that the person who gave Shangguan Fei ideas wasn¡¯t Guan Houlin but the little master who had once followed behind his sister. That person had truly grown into a sinister Young Master of Golden Roc Fort.


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t bear to have his weakness fall into the hands of Shangguan Fei. If he wasn¡¯t able to kill this person of the Shangguan family immediately, he needed to take countermeasures.


    It was toote to go to the North City. On the second day in the afternoon, Gu Shenwei went alone to visit the Ninth Young Master. Maid Lotus returned to Kun Society to report to Shangguan Ru. Chu Nanping decided not to return to Joy Pavilion. He hadn¡¯t decided if he should be a ¡°protector¡± of the killer. Hence, he went to visit his ¡°friend¡±, hoping to get some advice. Gu Shenwei was extremely curious. He wondered if the shocked Xu Xiaoyi would still dare to meet this strange child again.


    The defeat of the Horned Dragon Society in the hands of the Joy Pavilion was news that had spread all over Jade City. Many people came to understand that there was actually a martial arts expert in Hope Alley. Immortal Peng instantly became even more ¡°divine¡± and his death became increasingly mysterious.


    Under such circumstances, the white-robed Immortal Peng¡¯s ¡°rebirth¡± gained widespread recognition.


    Gu Shenwei entered Hope Alley in the afternoon openly and took part in Immortal Peng¡¯s flesh ascension ceremony. The dwarf¡¯s corpse was ced on the pile of firewood in front of Joy Pavilion and set alight by fire.


    Many residents outside of Hope Alley participated in this ceremony and even joined the ranks of those who werepeting for the possessions of the dead Immortal.


    The killer and the white-robed Immortal Peng were known to be friends. People who saw this scene swore and assured their close friends that the killer had never killed Immortal Peng. He had only helped the Immortal in his soul-delivery. They then exined the term ¡°soul-delivery¡± to those who did not understand. ¡°Soul-delivery¡­ hmm¡­ you¡¯d think he was dead but in reality he isn¡¯t dead. He has be immortal. Immortal Peng couldn¡¯t bear to leave Jade City and so he borrowed a fleshly body. In fact, he hadn¡¯t died. He didn¡¯t mean to die and he hasn¡¯t died.¡±


    Joy Pavilion became famous. However, the Horned Dragon Society was unlucky and they became the fools who proved the existence of the immortal. They deserved to die by being the grasshopper that tried to block the horse cart.


    Hence, that afternoon when Gu Shenwei went to see Shangguan Fei, he knew that the Ninth Young Master would definitely not be happy. If he had killed the military counselor over this, Gu Shenwei would not be surprised.


    The military counselor would definitely push all of the responsibility to someone else, especially the killer Yang Huan who had appeared fortuitously and who persuaded him to rebel.


    ¡°You wretched two-faced ve!¡± Indeed, upon seeing ve Huan, Shangguan Fei blew up and his face turned red in anger. ¡°I¡¯ll let everyone know your true colors. My sister wouldn¡¯t kill you but Stone Castle definitely will.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knelt down on one knee ording to tradition. He wondered if the message that he had received would be able to suppress the Ninth Young Master who looked fierce on the outside but who was actually weak on the inside.


    (Please keep and give rmendations.)

 Chapter 196

    Chapter 196: Breach


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    There were only three people inside the room: Shangguan Fei, Guan Houlin, and the killer Yang Huan.


    Shangguan Fei was a coward who did not even dare to go to South City. However, being so ustomed to living in the Stone Castle, even for a coward like him did not fear the killers who were also servants of his household. Never would he ever fathom the thought that ve Huan concealed murderous intent within his heart.


    ¡°You dare?¡± Shangguan Fei stood beside a big and tall military counselor, who had to bend over to look at ve Huan. It looked like he was towering over a dwarf.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand Ninth Young Master¡¯s intentions,¡± said Gu Shenwei with a peaceful expression. After hurrying through the formality of half kneeling, he was standing still, almost irreverently.


    Shangguan Fei was not mentally prepared for ve Huan¡¯s impudence, and he flushed angrily. He did not even have words to use to express his outrage and thunderous fury. Instead, he took a step back and pushed Guan Houlin with one hand; as if preparing himself to hide behind his body. ¡°You deliberately watched the downfall of the Horned Dragon Society and even bribed my military counselor. Do you deny it?¡±


    ¡°It was just doing him a good turn, and counselor Guan seemed so scared at the time.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Guan Houlin boomed, making Shangguan Fei to knit his brows. However, he showed his fawning self. He needed such a ve, not a kung fu expert and feebleminded, to have the boldness and courage that he himselfcked. Guan Houlin took a step forward as if he had been greatly insulted. Full of righteous indignation, he scowled, ¡°You scumbag! I have never been scared of anything before. It was your wishful thinking, thinking that you could bribe me.¡±


    ¡°You daree and meet me?¡± Shangguan Fei drew courage from the giant and followed suit by taking a step forward. ¡°You are a traitor yourself, so you want everyone to be just like you. I want to punish you and tell my sister the truth. Hey hey, I have to thank you. If it weren¡¯t for youing to me and begging for mercy, I would never have thought that the best opportunity to kill Master Yu hade. A ¡®sh of genius,¡¯ this is what a ¡®sh of genius¡¯ is. My sister will definitely love this.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s eyes glimmered with excitement as he imagined himself once again tormenting his sister and making her suffer. He felt as if he was flying he was so happy.


    ¡°It¡¯s better not to do this.¡± Gu Shenwei said calmly. The kind of calmness that was easily mistaken for weakness or timidity.


    ¡°Ha, did you hear that?¡± Did you say ¡®It¡¯s better not to do this¡¯? This f*cking ve is actually threatening me.¡± Shangguan Feiughed out loud as if he heard a joke. Guan Houlin solemnly nodded his head, responding to his master¡¯s reaction with approval and admiration. ¡°I spared my sister¡¯s life once before at a brothel. When she entered South City, she didn¡¯t even eliminate the Leviathan Society. I have already fulfilled my brotherly duties, but still she wouldn¡¯t give up. Now she¡¯s digging into my little corner too? It¡¯s time for me to teach her a lesson!¡±


    But Shangguan Fei had exaggerated his kindness. In Xu Yanwei¡¯s home, the person apanying him to save the Meng¡¯s Fifth Young Master was a killer from the Stone Castle. No one would dare toy their hands on the Tenth Young Master right under their noses. Waiting for Shangguan Ru to assumemand of the Leviathan Society in South City before killing her would be a high-priced victory with no guarantee of sess. Shangguan Ru could escape back to North City any time.


    Shangguan Fei was always waiting for the ideal opportunity to strike. These days the most obvious target was Tuo Nengya. Shangguan Ru and her Leviathan Society had better get in the back of the line.


    ¡°Ninth Young Master, you have really disappointed me. If you continue to fool around like this, I will have to file a formalin to the Missus.¡±


    Shangguan Feiughed so hard, he ran out of breath. It was a pity that the Ninth Young Master was no longer a child. ve Huan put on a straight-face and spoke in a grave tone, ¡°You fool, Mother hoped that the two of us would be ruthless to each other, the more ruthless the better. She¡¯s said before that every person in the Stone Castle are enemies. Every member of the Shangguan household relies on killing each other in order to achieve the highest kung fu and the crafty mind. Of course, she also hoped that my sister and I would unify against outsiders. As the Missus, this is at odds with her benevolence. Go file the formalint, ve. Let¡¯s see who¡¯s still capable of keeping me in check.¡±


    Gu Shenwei patiently listened to the Ninth Young Master¡¯s ¡°deration¡±. ¡°The Missus was hoping for you to be as ruthless as possible is in the hopes that you would be a real man; not for you to ¡®love¡¯ men.¡±


    Shangguan Fei did not think ve Huan would use this against him and he flushed scarlet. Rage instantly burned away all caution. He pulled a wooden saber and levelled it at ve Huan, ¡°Son of a b*tch, you¡¯ve crossed the line this time. Some affairs are not for a ve to speak of, or even think of.¡±


    ¡°What living ves dare not say, dying ves dare to.¡±


    ve Huan¡¯s attitude had crossed the fundamental boundaries of master and ve. Not even Guan Houlin could ept that. He stood in front of his master, hulking figure over the disrespectful ve as he cracked his knuckles loudly to intimidate him. ¡°A dead ve can¡¯t do anything, and certainly can¡¯t run back to the Missus to spout nonsense.¡±


    Meanwhile, Shangguan Fei seemed to have figured something out. He stuck his head out from behind the military counselor and said, ¡°Go file theint, you f*cking ve, I¡¯m not scared. I¡¯m a young master of Golden Roc Fort. I can like whoever I want. Even if I¡¯m going to sponsor a few male prostitutes, so what? Which young masters from North City hasn¡¯t sponsored one or two themselves? Meng household members are no strangers to kind of matter. You want to catch fish with a broken? Keep dreaming. Once you die, no one else will be able to harm even a single strand of hair on my body.


    Gu Shenwei sighed. He knew that he had poked a hos¡¯ nest, but he didn¡¯t care. He would be happy when swarms of hos covered the entire Jade City. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with sponsoring a few male prostitutes? The problem is bing one. The young masters of North City don¡¯t seem to have this preference.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had used a lethal move. It had been the teahouse supervisor from Joy Pavilion who had reminded him that ¡°the Ninth Young Master won¡¯t like our kind.¡± These may just have been words that Tang Ji said in passing, but it helped Gu Shenwei look the issue from a different angle.


    He had made an educated guess and spected that this was the only possibility and wanted immediate confirmation. Shangguan Fei may have been smart, but he would never go to the extent of putting himself in the face of danger.


    ¡°You have betrayed me?!¡± Shangguan Fei¡¯s voice was filled with grief and indignation. His eyes were not staring at ve Huan, but at the military counselor, Guan Houlin.


    Guan Houlin gre even more flustered than his master. He seemed to shrink to the same height as Shangguan Fei¡¯s as he reached out with both his hands and pleaded, ¡°No, no, no, It wasn¡¯t me. It was someone else. I have always kept my mouth shut.¡±


    The Ninth Young Master and the military counselor appeared to be performing a short scene from a tragedy, one filled with usations, heartbreak, despair, and suffering. Gu Shenwei did not intend to keep watching, so he turned away and left.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you!¡± Shangguan Fei¡¯s howl could be heard all the way from the main gate of the city. No one knew whether this ¡°you¡± referred to ve Huan or the military counselor.


    Gu Shenwei had publicly severed ties with one of the masters of the Shangguan household. But both sides mutually held on to each other and any brief harmonious cooperation between them was more fragile than cobwebs in a rainstorm.


    Returning to the Leviathan Society, Gu Shenwei requested to see Shangguan Ru in private to exin his ns in detail.


    The crisis caused by Immortal Peng¡¯s death had been quickly dealt with. Shangguan Ru was thrilled hearing this news, and now her concernsy with ve Huan¡¯s ns. ¡°Are you certain? If you act rashly and alert the enemy, you¡¯ll no longer be able to fool them.¡±


    ¡°Nothing good will happen if we keep waiting, it is better to take the risk.¡±


    As Shangguan Ru stared at ve Huan, a wave of strange feelings rose from within her heart. It was as if she was watching a cute pet from childhood suddenly grown and now a fierce predator with sharp teeth and ws.


    When she had been determined to take revenge for Master Yu, not one killer or ve dared to support her idea openly. Everyone avoided her like the gue, for fear of bing the sacrificialmb to the twins. Even Wildhorse, who had been loyal to Master Yu, was apathetic. It seemed as if they had just wanted to quickly forget about the past sorrows.


    Only ve Huan had enthusiastically joined in. Within a few days, he had drawn up a n to lure the snake out of its hole.


    A scene of herself as a child, sprinting across the walls of the Stone Castle appeared in Shangguan Ru¡¯s mind and she sat down slowly. It was as if she had realised the truth for the first time: At fourteen-years-old, she had entered the world of adults. In the past, she had practiced killing in games, now killing was the game.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. Let¡¯s end this.¡±


    Gu Shenwei retreated. He was in a hurry to exact his revenge and could not stay in hiding any longer. The deadline for the Qi Deviation was this year. He had to act as quickly as possible.


    He bought Maid Lotus and even called upon Chu Nanping from the brothel. From this day on, he decided never to act alone.


    Xu Xiaoyi forgave his ¡°good friend.¡± In fact, he was delighted about the arrival of Chu Nanping. He brought out all sorts of delicious food, and inquired in great detail about the contents of the Heartless Swordsmanship. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that to break through the Fourth Realm, one must kill a ¡°person who does not want to kill¡±,¡± he questioned.


    Xu Xiaoyi did not practice kung fu, so his questions were naturally all over the ce. However, Chu Nanping answered sincerely, wanting to prove necessity of sacrificing good friends, ¡°I¡¯m just waiting for Yang Huan, as long as he changes his mind and returns to practice the swordsmanship, I will kill you.¡±


    When Gu Shenwei arrived, the debate between the two was still unresolved. Xu Xiaoyu¡¯s face was dripping with sweat, but still he refused to acknowledge his defeat. ¡°No, no, that¡¯s not right,¡± he said. ¡°The person you don¡¯t want to kill the most is definitely yourself. Unlessmitting suicide would help you reach an ungodly level? That won¡¯t happen if youmit suicide, and it definitely won¡¯t happen if you killed me.¡±


    For a moment, Chu Nanping could not think of any retort. He stuffed his mouth with desserts, and grabbing his sword, readied himself to ¡°protect¡± his practice partner. ¡°You said something very reasonable, I will think it over. However, the sword is never wrong. I guarantee it.¡±


    As he left the brothel, Chu Nanping extended a hand. ¡°I agree,¡± he said.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to be your protector.¡±


    Gu Shenwei gripped of his wrist, but did not seem as serious as the other person. ¡°There is no force binding you to this exchange, and you can leave at any time.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not leaving until I am able to kill you.¡±


    Gu Shenweiughed, his life had been paid in advance to Mama Xue in advance. There were also many others fiercely eyeing them. He was afraid that this little swordsman would never get a chance to act.


    The three came to the Rouge Forest after dark, with Maid Lotus concealing their trail. Chu Nanping followed her ten steps behind while holding his sword, and he scrutinized at the passing machetemen warily.


    Even at night, the Rogue Forest was not deserted, and crackling sounds came from nearby campfires. The Blood Saber Contest was ongoing as per usual, with homeless machetemen betting on theirpanions hoping to double their money.


    Gu Shenwei circled the forest, observing a group of machetemen battling but did not ce any bets. He was tired, and walked deep into the woods and sat under a big tree to rest.


    After midnight, the Blood Saber Contest came to an end. A ck-robed machetemen walked by and stood under the tree opposite of Gu Shenwei. ¡°Did the Tenth Young Master send you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you and her have amon enemy. You both want to lure them out.¡±


    The old machetemen, Tuo Nengya, was silent for a moment. ¡°Is she determined to kill her brother?¡±


    ¡°She is someone from the Shangguan Family.¡± Gu Shenwei felt like that was exnation enough.


    ¡°What suggestions do you have?¡±


    ¡°To lure the snake out of its hole, we need your head as bait.¡±


    Gu Shenwei unsheathed his sword.

 Chapter 197

    Chapter 197: Interlocking


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei returned to the backyard of the Southwall Tavern at midnight. There was already an anxious guest waiting inside the room.


    He had covered himself in a cape in the same way as those who wanted to hide their identity. But he was too big for this cape. He said, ¡°You have to rescue me.¡±


    The decoration in Gu Shenwei¡¯s room was simple. Only a bed, a desk, and two chairs. He sat down and wearily sighed. ¡°Well, what happened?¡±


    Guan Houlin glimpsed at the child who was sitting at the corner. He looked handsome and held a sword in his hands, but, his tilted head made him look listless, cold and uninterested in anything. He was more like a ghost, and this disturbed Guan Houlin. ¡°I want to talk in private.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not necessary. He doesn¡¯t have a big mouth.¡±


    With some hesitation, Guan Houlin said, ¡°The Ninth Young Master wants me dead.¡± He was cornered and had nowhere else to go.


    ¡°You escaped. That¡¯s incredible.¡±


    ¡°No, the Ninth Young Master hasn¡¯t decided to kill me. But I know him better than anyone. He¡¯ll first kill me, and then you. We share the same fate.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t save myself, nor can I save you.¡±


    ¡°You can, you¡¯re the only one who can do that. I saw your bravery. Those killers in the fort, including the subordinates of the Ninth Young Master, they¡¯re weak. But you, you have the killing desire, you¡¯ll fight against them instead of waiting for death. Is that right? You¡¯ll fight.¡±


    Gu Houlin¡¯s words sounded chaotic and full of expectation. If Yang Huan was not the guy he expected, then he would be greatly disappointed.


    ¡°How should I save you? Should I help you hide or escape?¡±


    These two beat around the bush for a while. Finally, Guan Houlin spoke out, ¡°Those will not work. This will only end in either his death or my death.¡± But his words did not surprise Yang Huan, so he had to make it clearer. ¡°We¡¯ll never be safe unless we kill the Ninth Young Master.¡±


    ¡°First of all, it¡¯s impossible to kill him; secondly, killing him will put us in even more danger. He is the son of the Supreme King!¡±


    Guan Houlin anxiously pushed forward. ¡°Yes! So we have to borrow the power of the Tenth Young Master. She wants to take revenge, doesn¡¯t she? This will be an internal strife, and we won¡¯t be involved.¡±


    Gu Shenwei grasped his sword and remained silent and cold. Guan Houlin stopped as he felt that he might have said something wrong. ¡°Go on, what do you think?¡±


    His words relieved Gu Houlin. ¡°Well, the Ninth Young Master feared Tuo Nengya the most. He had failed to murder him several times. If he can find Tuo Nengya¡¯s trail, he¡¯ll personally lead his team to kill him. We can seize the opportunity and¡­¡±


    ¡°Okay, then where should I find Tuo Nengya? You had wasted several months trying to track him down.¡±


    ¡°We know he hides in Hope Alley. When Immortal Peng was still alive, those machetemen did not dare to enter inside. We have to work quickly. This time, we can¡¯t let the Ninth Young Master take the lead.¡±


    Gu Shenwei considered his sincerity for a moment, then he said, ¡°Tuo Nengya is no longer in Hope Alley.¡±


    ¡°Have you already found him?¡± Gu Houlin was surprised.


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°Then how about my n?¡±


    ¡°Wait for my instruction, I have to discuss it with the Tenth Young Master.¡±


    ¡°Alright, but please tell me soon. I don¡¯t even know if I can survive today.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s time for you to take the risk. Go back to your master and meet me at nine o¡¯clock tonight. Then send the message to him afterwards.¡±


    Gu Houlin was not so confident about his future. Even so, he stopped trying to persuade further. He cloaked himself and bid farewell to the killer. ¡°Be vignt, you¡¯re the Ninth Young Master¡¯s most hated person.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded and watched him leave.


    ¡°He is frightened,¡± said Chu Nanping, who had been standing in the corner. This child could also see theplicated emotions of other people.


    ¡°He is frightened indeed because if he can¡¯t fool me, he will surely die.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stood up, and paced to and fro. Now he had to take Gu Houlin into his consideration. He then called out to Maid Lotus and they went to see the Tenth Young Master together.


    Shangguan Ru also thought that Guan Houlin was using the ruse of self-injury. ¡°He wants to use us to find Tuo Nengya and then humiliate me afterwards.¡± She could clearly see her brother¡¯s plots when she calmly pondered over the problem.


    ¡°We can make use of his ruse.¡±


    After their meeting, Gu Shenwei left the Kun Society to go to the Southwall Tavern. Since Immortal Peng came back again, Shopkeeper Lyu would not be troubled by Gu Shenwei¡¯s appearance anymore. In order to make up for his previous attitude, he personally held a ss of wine and chatted with him.


    Gu Shenwei did not drink. He epted the wine only because he could calm his mind by staring at the blood-like liquid.


    Shopkeeper Lyu introduced some customers to the killer. Gu Shenwei bought them several cups of wine and tried to collect some information from them.


    The macheteman of the Horned Dragon Society went to mop up the Rouge Forest, had a few quarrels with the people out there, and eventually made those people leave. Meanwhile, the Horned Dragon Society expanded the enrolment of the machetemen. This time they were generous, and they seemed to be trying to attract all the machetemen with the high sry.


    But strangely, those machetemen who had always sought money were now holding themselves aloof. Many of them refused the invitation of the Ninth Young Master. As for those who were lured, they were continuously threatened. After some fights among them, though blood had not been shed for now, the atmosphere in the South City became tense.


    Xu Xiaoyi also came after the brothel was harassed. A bunch of the machetemen had broken into the house and they searched everywhere. They had just left.


    Xu Xiaoyi took Chu Nanping with him and left. Of course, it was under the permission of Brother Huan. He wanted this little swordman to see his intelligence gathering abilities.


    Many people felt that the war between the two societies had restarted.


    Gu Shenwei went to see the Tenth Young Maste. There was one thing he had not figured out. ¡°Who is discouraging those machetemen?¡±


    ¡°Wild Horse.¡± Shangguan Ru only said a name and did not borate. Wild Horse¡¯s rtionship with ve Huan was bad, he had even tried to murder ve Huan. Thus she gave them different tasks and working environments.


    Gu Shenwei could understand her intentions. Wild Horse, who was a naturally born leader, was the best candidate for this task. He had proven it during the guhter. During these months, he must have earned the respect of the machetemen in the South City, and now all he needed was a smart interpreter.


    What made Gu Shenwei wary was that Shangguan Ru did not show him all of her ns. Everyone had their own interests and wanted to make use of the others. Gu Shenwei himself was not an exception.


    When he returned to the Southwall Tavern, Gu Shenwei asked about Wild Horse. But there was barely anyone who had heard of him, nor did anyone saw a teenager with strange eyes. Xu Xiaoyi also could not find anything about Wild Horse.


    He has hidden himself so well.


    But Xu Xiaoyi acquired some other piece of information. ¡°The Horned Dragon Society bought a house near the checkpoint. Nominally, it was to provide a gathering ce for businessmen, however the real tenants there were the machetemen.¡±


    ¡°Is this information urate?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely.¡± Xu Xiaoyi kept his eyes open and it seemed as if he had been humiliated. ¡°I checked that ce with Little Chu. We messed around with some children out there, and had a fight with them. After the adults came and drove us off, Little Chu had traded blows with one of them.¡±


    Chu Nanping nodded, with his face flushed. ¡°There were 15 people, and they all knew some kung fu. Some of them looked like you.¡±


    ¡°Looked like me?¡±


    ¡°They were young and were like the killers in the fort.¡±


    Guan Houlin arrived at nine in the evening. He looked even more anxious than he wasst night. His body shook around like a bear in a cage, and it seemed as if he intended to knock down all the things in the house.


    ¡°Now what? I can¡¯t wait any longer. Soon they¡¯ll split me in two!¡±


    ¡°Okay, then we¡¯ll stick to your n. Use Tuo Nengya to lure the Ninth Young Master. But there¡¯s one more thing.¡±


    ¡°And what¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Tuo Nengya had already died.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took a wooden box from the floor and ced it on the desk.¡±


    Guan Houlin approached close to it and observe it carefully. That was indeed the head of Boss Tuo. He had met Boss Tuo several times when he was only an ordinary macheteman, so he wouldn¡¯t be mistaken about it.


    ¡°How could that be?¡±


    ¡°I killed him two nights ago, so that I can cheat on our target. But your n is better.¡±


    ¡°But since he is dead, how can we implement the n?¡±


    ¡°Use a fake one. Now you go back and tell the master, that after two days, at three o¡¯clock in the middle of the night, at the wastnd outside the peach forests of Gui Garden, the Tenth Young Master will negotiate with Tuo Nengya about their union. They won¡¯t take many servants. Your people could only hide in the forests. Try to persuade your master to bring his men. Leave the other things to me.¡±


    ¡°What about the source of my intelligence?¡±


    ¡°Just say the information was provided by me.¡±


    ¡°You?¡±


    ¡°I serve the Tenth Young Master, but I also don¡¯t want to be the enemy of the Ninth Young Master because I bear some responsibility to the both of them. Beside, there is always someone who can take notice of our meeting.¡±


    Guan Houlin nodded his head. ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡±


    In the next room, Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus were waiting for Gu Shenwei¡¯s reply.


    ¡°Will he swallow the bait?¡±


    Shangguan Ru was not that sure now. ¡°It¡¯s hard to say. My brother may know that this negotiation is a trap, and that Tuo Nengya¡¯s head is a fake. He may use this opportunity to eliminate all of us in a single sweep.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took some time to fake Boss Tuo¡¯s head. This was the reason for why he asked Guan Houlin toe at night. This trick will make the Ninth Young Master truly believe in the information about the union of Tuo Nengya and the Tenth Young Master.


    ¡°So he¡¯ll set up an ambush in the peach forest?¡±


    ¡°No, he knows that Guan Houolin can¡¯t fool me, so that ambush will be a fake. The house, however, will be the real one.¡±


    Shangguan Ru frowned, but then she smiled. ¡°The game between you two is always veryplicated. You set a trap, and he set another one based on yours. In this way, maybe the house was the third trap, while the real one was at somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s possible.¡± But Gu Shenwei was also a little confused. This intrigue was a hurricane, and the upper parts were far bigger than the lower ones.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about the traps. All I need to know is the location of his shelter.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not that bold to show up on the battlefield. But he wants to solve all the problems at the same time, so he¡¯ll definitely lead this action personally.¡±


    Finally Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes grew wide. The Ninth Young Master was clever, but it was also his biggest disadvantage. Now he had exposed his whereabouts.

 Chapter 198

    Chapter 198: Surrounded


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The two each thought that they had seen through the other¡¯s schemes. All this time, they believed that they were several steps ahead of the other, while also assuming that their own ns hadn¡¯t been seen through.


    As Shangguan Ru had returned to the Kun Society, Gu Shenwei was still in deep thought while going over the whole n to check for any ws. Maid Lotus had been standing there the entire time, quietly spectating. She then felt that it was necessary for her to remind ve Huan about some of the most fundamental problems.


    ¡°I can¡¯t figure out what the Ninth Young Master is thinking; I don¡¯t understand. He clearly knows that you didn¡¯t set any traps, why does he want you to entertain him? Why must hee to South City? He has always been very cautious.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. Many things that appeared normal to him were things that other people aren¡¯t able to evenprehend. He pondered for a while before answering Maid Lotus¡¯ query, ¡°Although the Ninth Young Master is very sinister and cunning, he¡¯s a very cowardly person. He says he¡¯s not scared of his mother or his sister, but he¡¯s probably scared to death. He wouldn¡¯t dare take the initiative to strike the Tenth Young Master either and has most likely been waiting for an opportunity. Likely waiting for the Tenth Young Master to make the first move so that his counter-attack would seem to be perfectly logical and reasonable. He is definitely trying to be the victim here. Hmm, he¡¯s probably already thought of an excuse to exin his sister¡¯s death to his mother. Something like, ¡°it was dear sister who is trying to kill me. I had no choice but to defend myself.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s imitation of the Ninth Young Master¡¯s voice was indistinguishable from the original. Acting shamelessly while in a dignified manner at the same time, he seemed like apletely different person. Maid Lotus could not help but giggle, but Chu Nanping looked utterly puzzled as he reached for the handle of his sword.


    ¡°The Ninth Young Master has always felt that he was a victim and that his sister betrayed him.¡± Gu Shenwei continued so that he could straighten out his ideas, ¡°Just like the way Master Yu died, he likes solutions that no one would expect. Through this game, he¡¯s hoping that the Tenth Young Master, Tuo Nengya, and I, all killed. So¡­ ¡±


    As Gu Shenwei continued to speak, he felt that the more he did, the more he saw through Shangguan Fei¡¯s intentions.


    During the following day, Horned Dragon Society continued to recruit more machetemen. Gold coins eventually reveal itssting and enormous power, even sounds of troublemakers were getting weaker and weaker. Wildhorse¡¯s efforts to prevent the Horned Dragon Society¡¯s growing influence seemed to have failed.


    Gu Shenwei had been sitting in the tavern for a while since early morning, before heading to the Kun Society under Shangguan Ru¡¯s orders.


    The Kun Society consisted of seven killers, 50 machetemen, and about two dozen servants. Their forces were pitifully weakerpared to the Horned Dragon Society. Four of the killers, including Wildhorse, did not show up, leaving only ve Huan, Maid Lotus, Liuhua, and the machetemen, who were mostly old and weak. They were confused because they heard about the rumors of an impending war between the two sides.


    The whole n was this: the meeting outside the peach forest was a ¡°trap¡± set by the Kun Society. The trap would probably be three servants wearing cloaks and pretending to be the Tenth Young Master, killer Yang Huan, and Maid Lotus, another three machetemen disguising as Tuo Nengya and his servants. Inside the peach forest was an ambush set up by the Ninth Young Master, which will have ten machetemen leading ten servants to ¡°fall into the trap.¡± There was no real danger at the two sites; it was all purely acting.


    The real ¡°trap¡± and the checkpoint was located at the courtyard that was recently purchased by the Horned Dragon Society. There, the Tenth Young Master would personally lead her team to challenge her brother.


    Machetemen only epts missions and never asked about the details, but they all understood that a decisive battle was about to begin.


    That afternoon, Wildhorse, who hadn¡¯t been seen for a long time, came back and with him was one hundred strong and powerful machetemen. This lifted the spirits of the members of the Kun Society, and confidence returned to those who were terrified and changed their minds about running away.


    Every person was dressed like a killer, ck masked with a red band tied to their heads.


    At midnight, the Kun Society¡¯s members set out one-by-one to their designated positions to be on standby.


    Dusk was the quietest and most deste time in South City. The night was thick, noisy guests were now exhausted and casually looking for a ce to sleep. Groups of ck masks hid behind many dark street corners, as if they were one with the night, while quietly waiting for the signal.


    There were no night watchmen in South City, but that night was not like any other night because there was a sound of banging gongs.


    Near the checkpoint, there was a secluded residence surrounded by rundown brothels and small casinos near the riverbank.


    From the sounds of gongs, many shadows appeared on the rooftops of the brothels and casinos. There were roughly 50 people, each holding sabers, traveling with soft footsteps that made little to no sounds. Those asleep would assume any noise were mice running around.


    Groups of ten machetemen jumped into the residence and left some people outside to keep watch.


    Slight noises wereing from the courtyard as if someone was cutting fabric with a pair of scissors.


    Soon, the machetemen jumped out from the yard; many were holding human heads in their hands.


    ¡°Nothing.¡±


    ¡°Nothing.¡±


    ¡­


    This word came from every member. The men in ck inquired each other and seemed to be at a loss. As they were preparing to leave, they found that the roads had been blocked. Arge number of ambushers were on the streets and rooftops; they were dressed the same as the other men in ck except the red belts weren¡¯t tied to their heads, but tied to their arms.


    The ambushers had been hiding inside the brothels and casinos, waiting for the enemies to fall into their trap. They were higher in number, over 200, four times that of their opponents.


    All of the ambushers held their bows, and with a single order, the fifty machetemen in ck were dead or wounded. Those who survived would not escape the second round of arrows.


    ¡°Wait, wait.¡± A machetemen in ck in the middle of the ambushed group spoke as he removed his mask. Some recognized this to be Kun Society¡¯s killer Yang Huan. ¡°Golden Roc Fort¡¯s Tenth Young Master is here. Don¡¯t be rash.¡±


    A tall figure appeared on the rooftop said in a condescending and low voice, ¡°Put down your sabers and surrender. If even one person has a saber in their hands, we¡¯ll immediately release the arrows.¡±


    ¡°You really are a liar.¡±


    ¡°Hey hey, same as you. If you believed me earlier, you would¡¯ve been at the peach forest. Whye here?¡± Guan Houlin was delighted and did not forget this was to the credit of his master. ¡°Ninth Young Master¡¯s foresight is beyond anyone else¡¯s. ve Huan, you¡¯re no match for him. Lay down your weapons!¡±


    There was nothing on the streets that could block the rain of arrows; surrendering was the only option. Without waiting for Gu Shenwei¡¯s orders, the machetemen hadid down their weapons. The machetemen that were holding heads in their hands were especially nervous as they ced the heads down and kicked them far away.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Boss Tuo, and the Tenth Young Master? Come out and meet me.¡±


    ¡°Mind your words. You don¡¯t have the rights to speak to the Tenth Young Master.¡±


    In the silent night, miserable screams came one after another; it was clear and distant, but quickly subsided. Guan Houlinughed and did not give his orders for his men to put down their bows and arrows.


    ¡°Hey, you knew that the Ninth Young Master might not be hiding here, so you must¡¯veunched attacks at several other locations. It¡¯s a pity, the ces you predicted are all wrong. The Ninth Young Master is hiding somewhere you would never think of. Admit defeat, and prepare¨C¡±


    Guan Houlin¡¯s words were long-winded. The machetemen below him became flustered.


    ¡°You dare to touch the Tenth Young Master?¡±


    ¡°Who doesn¡¯t dare? The Tenth Young Master wants to kill my Ninth Young Master, and we would naturally fight back.¡±


    ¡°I advise you to wait a little while.¡±


    Guan Houlin was taken aback; killer Yang Huan was not expressing the fear that he led on. Moreover, he still has not seen the Tenth Young Master. ¡°Bring the Tenth Young Master out here!¡±


    From within the group of machetemen, one person walked out. Her body was slender, and she took off her mask, it was a middle-aged machetewoman.


    ¡°It¡¯s not her.¡± Guan Houlin became furious. He was in control of this whole ordeal, and yet Yang Huan dared to y tricks in front of him.


    The machetewoman turned and pulled someone else from their ranks; a shorter person, and took off their mask. It was still not Shangguan Ru, but a maid scared out of her wits.


    Guan Houlinmanded his men to monitor this group of ambushers. He definitely saw at least two women among them, surely one of them must be the Tenth Young Master. He did not expect to be deceived and were furious. ¡°Sly kid, without the Tenth Young Master, you¡¯ll die faster. Release the¨C¡±


    Before the word ¡°arrows¡± came out of his mouth, suddenly a sharp whistle came from the distance. The sound pierced through the sky, and could be heard throughout South City.


    The whistle seemed to being from Hope Alley. Guan Houlin¡¯s face paled because this was not the signal he was waiting for.


    ¡°I did advise you to wait for a while.¡±


    ¡°You, you¡­ ¡±


    ¡°I know where the Ninth Young Master is, he¡¯s in the hands of the Tenth Young Master. So, you¡¯d better not release those arrows. If we die, the Tenth Young Master will surely avenge us.¡±


    Guan Houlin¡¯s body trembled. ¡°You don¡¯t know. You¡¯re lying to me.¡±


    ¡°Ninth Young Master was hiding inside the peach forest, am I right?¡±


    As soon as the whistle was heard, Gu Shenwei knew that he did not guess wrong.


    Shangguan Fei wanted to take everyone by surprise. He spected that both sides would believe that the peach forest was an insignificant stage. Swallowing his usual cowardly demeanor, he led a few men to hide within the peach forest. After this ordeal, he could proudly promote his new found bravery.


    Shangguan Ru assigned the mission to Kun Society, deliberately concealing it, letting any spies believe that the Tenth Young Master had been fooled and was preparing to leave with the main forces to the checkpoint to attack the Ninth Young Master. In actuality, the real Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus had secretly swapped out of the team and headed toward the peach forest.


    Guan Houlin did not stand firm. His foot slipped and he almost fell. A tile fell to the floor, making a clear shattering sound.


    ¡°Put down the bows and arrows.¡± Gu Shenwei slowed his speech. Although the Ninth Young Master should have already fallen into their trap, he and dozens of machetemen were still in the middle of danger. ¡°You should think about the future.¡±


    The archers were confused by the exchange of words between the two. They stared at the military counselor, awaiting his orders.


    Guan Houlin was not good at dealing with theseplex and unexpected situations. He needed the Ninth Young Master¡¯s instructions. However, the Ninth Young Master had fallen into their trap, and his life was now in someone else¡¯s hands.


    ¡°I, I don¡¯t want to die.¡±


    The words spoken by the military counselor made the archers feel deeply ashamed. They did not wait for his orders and lowered their bows. Some with foreboding feelings about the situation had secretly slipped away.


    Gu Shenwei slowing bent down and picked up his saber, the other machetemen followed suit and also rearmed themselves.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t youe with me to see the Ninth Young Master?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just going to kill me.¡±


    ¡°No, the Tenth Young Master has promised that she wouldn¡¯t kill you, because you¡¯re still of use to her.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still of use to her?¡±


    ¡°En, you can prove that the Ninth Young Master¡¯s death wasn¡¯t unjustified.¡±


    Guan Houlin only understood these words. He looked around, the archers began to retreat under his gaze. Those under their employers never had deep loyalties, the general trend was that no one was willing to die in vain.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you, but I don¡¯t want to see the Ninth Young Master.¡±


    Hisst remaining self-esteem had made him unwilling to face his old master.


    Gu Shenwei nodded and waited for Guan Houlin to jump dow to lead the machetemen to return to Gui Garden¡¯s peach forest.


    At this moment, at the edge of the peach forest, a group of people stood indistinctly in a circle. In the middle, a saber was ced on the neck of the Ninth Young Master and a coffin was ced beside him.


    ¡°Apologize to Master Yu,¡± the person holding the saber ordered.

 Chapter 199

    Chapter 199: The Twins


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Shangguan Fei did not understand how things turned out this way.


    The six men outside the peach forest should have been unimportant characters. In the peach forest, the soldiers of the Horned Dragon Society were split into two teams. The first team was pawns, and only after when the Kun Society had sent the same pawns to encircle their rivals would Shangguan Fei send the second team of machetemen to appear suddenly. Thetter would have encircled the enemy easily. Only after when everything was over would he be able to brag that he had appeared on the battlefield himself. Who would have dared to say that he didn¡¯t have any courage?


    His younger sister, ve Huan, and Tuo Nengya; these three people should have been far away on the corner of the South City. They should have fallen into the trap and been killed by that fool, Guan Houlin. If his mother had chided him, he would be able to put all me on the military counselor, or have brought the head of the military counselor to ask his mother for forgiveness. The big man might have been good in the past. Though he had been able to give Shangguan Fei the security that Shangguan Fei needed most;tely, Guan Houlin revealed more and more of his stupidity and could not be trusted anymore.


    This was actually a perfect n. It was as perfect as the ns of assassinating Master Yu and usurping the authority of the two societies. However, he had fallen into a trap.


    Of the six negotiators, there were his sister Shangguan Ru and the old macheteman Tuo Nengya. Those people were not pawns either. They were the skilled experts of Kun Society led by Wildhorse and there was also the elite machetemen whom Tuo Nengya had hidden deep in the peach forest.


    Shangguan Fei and the small number of machetemen that he led were not their match. They surrendered almost immediately at the moment when both sides shed.


    Shangguan Fei was shocked when he saw the coffin.


    ¡°I apologize to Master Yu.¡± Shangguan Ru¡¯s saber was ced on her brother¡¯s neck. She did not know the feeling in her heart. There was no joy of revenge and neither was there the slightest mercy.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Shangguan Fei¡¯s head was inplete chaos. He did not know how he had been seen through and neither could he foresee how his sister was going to deal with him. ¡°I didn¡¯t think of killing her. We were just ying. As always, I would never have thought that anyone would die. It¡¯s those machetemen who didn¡¯t take my advice. My sister, please spare me. I¡¯m your twin brother. Mother will be angry. Please don¡¯t kill me¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei pleaded while bursting into tears.


    Shangguan Ru raised her head and looked at the people crowded around them. The masked Wildhorse had a glimmer of the desire to kill in his eyes. The old macheteman Tuo Nengya¡¯s eyes were sharp and he nodded encouragingly.


    They were all waiting for her to kill Shangguan Fei. Only she had the qualifications to kill a son of the Supreme King.


    Shangguan Ru raised her dagger but did not let it fall. Instead, she took several steps backwards and took another saber from Maid Lotus¡¯ hands. She threw it to her brother. ¡°Don¡¯t say that I didn¡¯t give you a chance. Let¡¯s duel. The loser will die and the winner will live.¡±


    The circle of onlookers widened and made space for the twins.


    Shangguan Fei looked at the de on the floor. His body shivered, as if that de was a poisonous snake at his feet. He rushed to the side of the coffin and clung tightly onto one corner. ¡°I won¡¯t duel. I won¡¯t duel. Spare me, my sister. I¡¯ll not fight with you. Master Yu, my sister wants to kill me. Please talk to her¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei rested his head on the coffin and buried his head in his arms. Before, in the Stone Castle, although Shangguan Yushi and his sister had often bullied him, when the bullying went overboard, it was Yushi who had always persuaded his sister.


    Shangguan Fei was so flustered that he sobbed out the words: ¡°Master Yu¡±. This did not arouse sympathy in his sister but instead it angered her even further.


    Shangguan Ru waved her knife the second time, and spoke sharply. ¡°Shangguan Fei, go ask Master Yu for help in Hell!¡±


    The saber swung downwards and Shangguan Fei fell.


    Wildhorse appeared very shocked. Tuo Nengya sighed softly. Maid Lotus held the Tenth Young Master and wished that ve Huan could arrive as soon as possible. Without him, no one could calm down Shangguan Ru¡¯s killing desire.


    Shangguan Fei did not die. He only fainted in shock. When he opened his eyes, he saw that his sister was in tears.


    ¡°Oh, did you know? I¡¯d never kill you! You actually hate me because of such a matter?¡± Shangguan Ru¡¯s tears flowed more rapidly.


    The hatred between the two siblings had naturally umted over a very long time. It only exploded because of how Shangguan Ru had once held the de of her saber against her brother¡¯s neck, threatening Mister Guo in order to protect ve Huan and Master Yu.


    Shangguan Fei was unaware of whether he was alive or dead. The words of his sister that entered his ears were as meaningless as the leaves on the trees that blew in the wind. ¡°Sister, you¡¯ve killed me. I ¡®m going to tell mother. She¡¯ll avenge me. Sister, you¡¯re always bullying me. This time, you won¡¯t be able to do that.¡±


    Shangguan Ru cried even louder. She wanted to appear stronger and people who watched her included not only the killers of Stone Castle, it was also the machetemen of Kun Society, and outsiders like Tuo Nengya. All the education that she had received told her that she had to appear cold and heartless at this moment. Any moment of weakness would have encouraged her enemies and would bring misfortune upon herself. However, she could not bear it any longer. She didn¡¯t have the heart to kill her own brother with her saber either.


    At this moment, Shangguan Fei finally realised that he hadn¡¯t died. There was also not a single wound on his body.


    ¡°Sister,¡± he simply couldn¡¯t stand up. He hugged the leg of his sister and cried loudly in tears. He was also so tongue-tied that he couldn¡¯t even plead for mercy.


    Maid Lotus supported the Tenth Young Master and cast a nce at Wildhorse. Wildhorse¡¯s eyes were burning with fire and he loosened and unloosened his grip on the handle of his saber. After repeating the action thrice, he finally hung his head to avoid the gaze of Maid Lotus.


    The second person who she looked at was Tuo Nengya. ve Huan anticipated that the Tenth Young Master might not be hardened enough to kill her brother. Thus, he insisted on letting Tuo Nengya join in this action in the peach forest. Within this circle of people, only this old macheteman would dare to kill the son of the Supreme King.


    Tuo Nengya¡¯s expression was rigid. He gripped his saber tightly.


    Gu Shenwei was advancing extremely rapidly. However, as he was leading a group of machetemen while also carrying Guan Houlin who was as inert as a zombie, he simply could not quicken his pace.


    Guan Houlin felt that he was definitely going to die and in the other moment, he felt that ve Huan was deceiving him. After traveling for two streets, he copsed onto the ground and did not stand up. ¡°I¡¯m not going. Let me go. I¡¯m going to a ce far away and I¡¯m nevering back.¡±


    Gu Shenwei only ordered the few machetemen to take turns carrying the strong brute and continued to move forwards.


    He did not sense a killer¡¯s resolve from Shangguan Ru. After the death of Master Yu, the youngdy had been changing everyday. She seemed more and more unlike a master of Stone Castle. The killers who saw her on a regr basis did not seem to have noticed such changes. However, Gu Shenwei, who had not seen her for months, was very aware of these changes.


    However, he could not appear in the peach forest. This would have aroused the suspicion of the enemy and brought on the bad reputation of a ¡°killer leader¡±. Regarding this point, he could not appear at the scene of the murder. Both he and Shangguan Fei had thought about this point.


    Their only hope was pinned on Tuo Nengya. That old macheteman was a man of principle. He would do anything for revenge. Golden Roc Fort could not scare him.


    Just as Gu Shenwei was deep in thought, Maid Lotus knew that he had miscalcted. They were all killers of Stone Castle. They had be used to seeing everyone from a killer¡¯s perspective. However, Tuo Nengya was a macheteman and had his own set of rules.


    Tuo Nengya was moved by the Tenth Young Master. Maid Lotus did not understand why but she could tell that the old macheteman was truly moved. He would not kill Shangguan Fei in front of the Tenth Young Master even if this was this only chance for revenge despite knowing that Shangguan Fei would kill him after the day was over.


    When Gu Shenwei finally arrived, he only saw the end.


    Wildhorse lifted Master Yu¡¯s casket in despair. After several months, it was ready for the burial.


    Shangguan Ru stopped her tears and looked at Gu Shenwei who had just arrived. Her tears were about to fall again and Gu Shenwei felt the disappointment in his chest. He walked over and spoke softly. ¡°Everything has gone smoothly. We¡¯ve fought a victorious battle.¡±


    Shangguan Ru smiled apologetically. She had let many people down, especially ve Huan.


    The men of Kun Society had left. Gu Shenwei let the machetemen protect the Tenth Young Master. He stayed to take care of the aftermath but he did not let Guan Houlin go.


    ¡°You won¡¯t have to return the Young Master¡¯s favor,¡± Gu Shenwei said coldly.


    Tuo Nengya raised his head and was not moved by the teenager¡¯s sarcasm. ¡°I kill wild beasts and not rabbits. I kill men and not weaklings. I¡¯ll still take revenge for my hatred of the great Young Master. However, only the Supreme Master is worthy of being the target for my revenge.¡±


    From how the old macheteman saw it, Shangguan Fei was only a child who was terrified. He was not a man at all.


    Gu Shenweiughed coldly. He thought about how foolish he was. This macheteman was as stupid and stubborn as the swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain. Despite knowing how killers were unscrupulous, he still wished to fight honorably and openly. Tuo Nengya created a goal that he would never be able to achieve in order to make himself look great and righteous. From the eyes of a killer, he was simply shirking his responsibility.


    ¡°When do you n to attack Stone Castle?¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s hatred burned in his chest and his words became sharper.


    Tuo Nengya was still quiet. ¡°You¡¯ll see it. As long as you don¡¯t go around stirring trouble, you¡¯ll see it in ten years.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not even know if he lived beyond this year. He had the impulse to vent his anger by killing the person in front of him but eventually, he controlled himself. ¡°You want to leave the Jade City?¡±


    ¡°Well, I want to roam the Western Region and gather a team that will be able to defeat the troops of the Golden Roc Fort. Not everyone is afraid of the Supreme King.¡±


    ¡°Bring him away.¡±


    Guan Houlin had not met the Ninth Young Master. However, he suspected that he had been deceived. That old macheteman who had said that he wanted to roam the ends of the earth and to escape was now quitting. ¡°No, no. I¡¯m not leaving. I¡¯m going to ask for forgiveness from the Ninth Young Master. He¡¯ll forgive me. You lied to me. You won¡¯t lie to me for a second time.¡±


    This was perhaps the most foolish military counselor in the whole world, Gu Shenwei thought. ¡°The Ninth Young Master did not kill you. He only used you to make me fall for the trap. Now you¡¯re worthless. The first thing he¡¯d do would be to kill you. That¡¯s even faster than killing me.¡±


    A weird smile appeared on Guan Houlin¡¯s face as if the killer was a good friend. Deliberately, he teased him with harsh words: ¡°Haha, I¡¯m not going to fall for the trap. The Ninth Young Master wouldn¡¯t kill me on ount of our rtionship¡­ You know, he wouldn¡¯t kill me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pulled out his saber and, before the smile on the tall and big teen had vanished, he plunged his saber into his chest and pulled it out immediately. The huge body crashed down onto the floor.


    ¡°I want to let people see that he had escaped out of Jade City alive.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± Tuo Nengya readily agreed.


    Gu Shenwei returned to Kun Society by himself, thinking of the current situation in his mind.


    Now, Shangguan Ru would never be a master. Everyone became all too aware that the vulnerability she had shown was a great taboo of the Golden Roc Fort. By allowing herself to assume the role of a weak character, she was encouraging wolves from both within and outside Stone Castle to tear her into bits sooner orter.


    Her usefulness was diminishing. Gu Shenwei was no longer able to carry out his revenge through her.


    Perhaps he should kill her now.

 Chapter 200

    Chapter 200: Night Travels


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Dawn was arriving and the residents of Jade City who had arisen early realised that the battle between the twins- the great battle of the two societies- had not taken ce. Indeed, more than ten machetemen had died, a military counselor had defected and the location of Boss Tuo remained a mystery. Even so, there was neither bloodshed nor a raging fire.


    Many people were deeply disappointed. They remembered thest time a war was fought- fighting was the style of the Stone Castle. The several Young Masters had also been fighting among themselves. Previously, when the current Supreme Master was 13 or 14 years old, the situation was truly like a vtile inferno- the wandering machetemen in South City had quickly dwindled to half of their numbers and the shops had not opened for business for a month.


    The twins of the Golden Roc Fort actually cared about their kinship. In the tavern, everyone talked about this.


    Shangguan Fei fled into the North City. He brought in scores of machetemen and did not give out any orders. It seemed as if he was overwhelmed by shock. However, it was actually because he had forgiven his sister.


    Shangguan Ru hid in her room for the whole day. She seemed to be hurt as much as her brother.


    The killers who were subordinates of the twins were at a loss. They were used to heeding orders and killing people. They were not used to figuring out what their masters were thinking about.


    They had originally belonged to other masters and were only sent to the twins to help the two build up their careers. Now however, many of them were considering about re-investing in their former owners.


    ording to the usual practice, after the first year of the master¡¯s trials, killers had a choice. Most of them would stay by the side of their little masters. After all, they had gone through hardships and danger together. By then, there would be closer bonds of trust between them and their masters. As for this group of young killers, they had lost confidence in their current masters.


    Gu Shenwei was safe for now. Shangguan Fei had lost his bearings and did not retaliate immediately. However, no one knew how long this situation wouldst.


    The seven subordinate killers of Shangguan Ru discussed their present predicament collectively. Even the elusive Liuhua turned up. Wildhorse nodded frankly to ve Huan and made a hand gesture of peace and reconciliation.


    Gu Shenwei had once believed in this distinctive looking killer and thought that he was a trustworthy man. However, he had fallen into his plot. He nodded his head and smiled brightly to show how he didn¡¯t seem to mind.


    A killer would be a killer. They were different from a macheteman. Aside from killing unscrupulously, they had no other goals in life.


    This gathering was initiated by Wildhorse. His motive was very simple. He hoped that ve Huan would be able to fan the ambitions of the Tenth Young Master. After the death of Master Yu, ve Huan was now the only person in her heart.


    ¡°The Tenth Young Master needs fresh blood. We will find fresh blood for her. The crux is for her to toughen up. Kun Society is still very weak and small. The Horned Dragon Society is in the midst of such a mess and it is a rare opportunity. We have to strike as soon as possible.¡±


    Wildhorse¡¯s gestures were tooplicated and had to be tranted by Maid Lotus.


    Gu Shenwei did not agree immediately. Instead, he tried to use this opportunity to ask about where Wildhorse had been in the past few months.


    Wildhorse had led three killers to head for the viges where the machetemen were gathered. He went here to find influential machetemen like Tuo Nengya. Most of them were low-key and rarely participated in the fights in the South City. However, they were greatly admired by many young machetemen.


    The visits usually took ce in secret. Many refused to see the killers of Stone Castle. However, some of them were young at heart and reciprocated Wildhorse¡¯s enthusiasm.


    In short, after several months of hard work, Wildhorse has established extensive contacts among the veteran machetemen of the South City. As long as he could raise enough money, he would be able to quickly gather a team of machetemen that wasrger than the Horned Dragon Society¡¯s. Moreover, the loyalty of these men would surpass a team that was hastily formed.


    ¡°He was able to form between ten to fifty teams. Each one of them would be the same as that was initially formed by Tuo Nengya. Every team would be led by one or two veteran machetemen. There would be between 20 to 100 in each team and the loyalties of the men would be assured by the veteran machetemen. The veteran machetemen¡¯s family assets are in the South City so they¡¯re unlikely to betray us.¡± Maid Lotus continued to act as an interpreter.


    Wildhorse had invested a great amount of effort into developing this grand n. He would have hated to give up halfway. The Tenth Young Master was highly interested in this n but now her spirits had sunk to the bottom. Kun Societycked money. This was a problem that caused Wildhorse much anxiety.


    In order to obtain ve Huan¡¯s support, Wildhorse came up with a suggestion. No matter how many teams of machetemen he would establish, he would divide the number of machetemen equally into seven. Each team would be led by one killer.


    There were four members in Wildhorse¡¯s ¡°Snow Mountain Gang¡±. There were only two members left in the ¡°Tattooed Arm Gang¡±. Hence, Wildhorse still had the upper hand. As for the neutral Liuhua, he would not change the bnce of power no matter who he supported.


    Gu Shenwei was entirely capable of achieving the same wealth and power as Wildhorse. However, he nodded and agreed readily. This not only threw Wildhorse off his feet but also shocked Maid Lotus.


    Afterwards, Gu Shenwei exined his motives to Maid Lotus. Wildhorse wanted manpower but he himself wanted money. The loyalty of the men that the veteran machetemen had introduced was not in question. Even so, these machetemen ultimately wanted money.


    That night, Gu Shenwei, shouldering the hopes of the other six killers, went to visit the Tenth Young Master.


    Hearing a knock on the door, Shangguan Ru said immediately: ¡°Come in.¡±


    Lunch and dinner were still set on the table untouched. Shangguan Ru¡¯s face had regained her normal expression. There was no pain or vulnerability on her face. Instead, there was a mischevious smile on her face that Gu Shenwei was so familiar with.


    ¡°Are you here to be an advocate?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was initially teasing and she was waiting for ve Huan to deny it. Unexpectedly, ve Huan admitted it. Hence, she sighed and said: ¡°You can speak now. I¡¯m listening.¡±


    ¡°I have nothing to say.¡±


    Shangguan Ru raised her head in bewilderment.


    ¡°After all, it¡¯s your own decision. If I could sway you with my words, it won¡¯t be befitting of a son of the Supreme King.¡±


    ¡°Son of the Supreme King.¡± Shangguan Ru repeated these words softly.


    ¡°It¡¯s dark,¡± Gu Shenwei said casually.


    ¡°Hm.¡±


    ¡°When the South City¡¯s most bustling, do you want to go shopping? We won¡¯t take any guards with us.¡±


    ¡°Ah, this is the best opportunity for our enemies to kill us.¡± Even with these words, Shangguan Ru was already too eager to try.


    ¡°Give them a chance then. The odds of killing others and being killed should always be equal.¡±


    However, they didn¡¯t go shopping like normal people. Like two years ago, when they yed the assassination game, they disyed their qing gong skills by jumping from one roof to the next. They hid in every dark corner, wandering all over the ce without any purpose. To them, South City was like an erged Stone Castle.


    Listen.


    The tavern was booming with cacophonous sounds of pleasure and entertainment. Under the influence of alcohol, people were letting loose all their emotions that were both genuine and for show. They were bursting into tears or getting into arguments with each other.


    The cacophony in the tavern was filled with rhythm, silence, the shaking of the dice, and terrible screams. They died down and repeated again. asionally, there were gamblers who walked into the streets, their faces were as pale as ghosts. They wandered aimlessly in the streets andter joined the teams of gamblers.


    The sounds in the brothel were even more peculiar. Shangguan Ru wanted to know why. Gu Shenwei mustered all his strength to pull her away from the ce.


    Most areas in the South City had already been shrouded in darkness and these three ces were not the only ces of entertainment for the depraved. After toiling for a day, ordinary residents went quietly to sleep. The depraved came to the South City not for pleasure but to make money.


    On the rooftops of the few houses that were lit by smallmps, the two teenagers heard the sounds of jingling coins and the nking of silver. A couple excitedly counted their earnings for the day. If things kept up, they would be able to leave Jade City forever, return home and live a life of bliss.


    The fire was raging in cksmith Vige. The disciples who struggled to open their eyes pulled the bellows with all their might while being admonished by their Master Shifu.


    The two youths walked around in a big circle and, under the strong urging of Shangguan Ru, they came to Hope Alley. That ce of great taboo was of interest to everyone. Shangguan Ru had only seen its walls from the peach forest.


    There were no women in Hope Alley, but instead there were men dressed in luxuriant costumes conversing with those customers with capes on their shoulders. Shangguan Ru could hardly control herughter. She found that this world was simply too strange. Eventually, they entered the peach forest and she finally burst intoughter.


    The sounds ofughter gradually ceased and she felt as if she was immersed in a dream and everything she heard of was bizzare. ¡°Someone told me that sword skills were everything. But you see, there¡¯re so many people who have nothing to do with these weapons in a Jade City as small as this. The city out there is so big; how muchnd can the sword hold power over?¡±


    ¡°The cksmith beats the iron and the tavern sells wine. Iron and beer are everything to them. Hence, to a killer, the sword is everything.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m a killer.¡± Shangguan Ru¡¯s voice fell as if she had just awoken from a dream.


    Gu Shenwei stood silently by her side. This world was equal, he thought, and he had to be equally cruel to everyone.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± Gu Shenwei asked in a whisper as he pulled out his sword.


    Shangguan Ru pulled out her sword at the same time.


    Something approached them quickly and approached their side in the blink of an eye. The teenagers shed their swords and sabers at a lightning fast speed.


    It was a soft cord that came and retreated like a nimble poisonous snake.


    On the trees and on the ground, there were people everywhere. They separated and surrounded Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Ru.


    ¡°Joy Pavilion,¡± Gu Shenwei whispered softly.


    ¡°I¡¯m Shangguan Ru from the Golden Roc Fort. Let Immortal Peng speak.¡± Shangguan Ru hollered. She wanted to know why the newly minted Immortal Peng wanted to attack her for no reason.


    ¡°It was her indeed,¡± a hoarse voice spoke with hatred.


    ¡°Kill!¡±


    The encirclement shrunk. Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Ru were standing with their backs leaning against each other as they prepared to face a ferocious battle. People in Joy Pavilion were experts and were not easy to deal with.


    At this instant, the clear and cloudless night was suddenly filled with the pitter patter of rain.


    The two opposing sides looked around them. No one seemed to understand, for a moment, where these sounds wereing from.


    A gust of wild wind, swirling countless broken branches instantly rushed towards the crowd and broke through the encirclement. It surrounded the two teenagers who were encircled and attacked the men of Joy Pavilion.


    More than ten experts had lost their bearings. ¡°Madman Wu, are you crazy?¡± The person who had spoken probably realised that he had said something wrong. He muttered, hastily blocking a pile of leaves.


    ¡°Let her go,¡± said a pleading voice from behind the trees not far away. The voice was shaking with fear.


    ¡°They had just killed Tang Ji. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to let them off just like that?¡± The men of Joy Pavilion asked angrily. Tang Ji was the supervisor of the teahouse. Although his kung fu was inferior, it was a pity for him to die.


    ¡°Nonsense. We haven¡¯t been here for a long time. How can we be killing people?¡±


    ¡°Not you but the killer who you had sent.¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned and met Shangguan Ru¡¯s eyes. He didn¡¯t know how this misunderstanding urred.

 Chapter 201

    Chapter 201: Betrayal


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    There were a series of misfortunate events. Joy Pavilion imed that the Tenth Young Master had killed someone without rhyme or reason. They had no idea who the rescuer was. He was highly skilled but he was so timid that he dared not show up.


    ¡°I have no grudges against Joy Pavilion. Why would I want to kill Tang Ji?¡± Shangguan Ru asked angrily. She hated being framed. It was second only to being betrayed.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you the Tenth Young Master? When the killer ran away, he said, ¡®Get your revenge from the Tenth Young Master.''¡±


    ¡°You people from Kun Society want to upy Hope Alley. So you¡¯re attacking Joy Pavilion first, isn¡¯t that right?¡±


    ¡°We could, but we would never do that for fear of the consequences.¡±


    ¡­


    Many people huddled together in Joy Pavilion, criticizing Shangguan Ru. Gu Shenwei felt that with the dwarf Immortal Peng¡¯s death, the personalities of the disciples seemed to have changed. The white-robed Immortal Peng seemed to have lost the ability to control their minds.


    Shangguan Ru blushed and waved her saber. ¡°So what if it¡¯s me? If you want revenge,e and get it from me.¡±


    The disciples of Joy Pavilion eagerly prepared for attack again. That Madman Wu who had once attacked spoke from behind the tree again. ¡°They didn¡¯t kill anyone. I saw everything. I¡¯ve been following them. Let them go.¡± That voice was pleading.


    Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Ru looked at each other again. Both of them were experts in light work kung fu and like killers, were vignt. Yet, they had not realised that they had been followed.


    ¡°Madman Wu, don¡¯t you understand? The Tenth Young Master had sent men to assassinate Tang Ji. These two had definitelye to check out the situation.¡±


    Madman Wu did not seem to understand. He kept repeating: ¡°Let them go.¡±


    The people of Joy Pavilion were befuddled. They simply had to convince Madman Wu. If not, they could simply argue indefinitely.


    Gu Shenwei did not intend to listen to this nonsense in such times of danger. He grasped Shangguan Ru¡¯s hand firmly and jumped onto the nearest peach tree with his light work kung fu, out through the hole created by Madman Wu.


    Shangguan Ru threw a tantrum and wanted to argue her ground. However, she was pulled away from the scene quickly by ve Huan.


    Behind them, the voices of the disciples of Joy Pavilion rose and fell in anguish. After a while, the two had run out far and stepped onto firm ground again. They left the peach trees like a whisp of smoke.


    ¡°What on earth went on back there?¡± Shangguan Ru asked, panting.


    ¡°A bunch of madmen.¡±


    ¡°Haha.¡±


    ¡°That could have been a trapid by someone.¡±


    Shangguan Ru did notugh. Someone had posed as one of the Tenth Young Master¡¯s killers and assassinated Tang Ji. That person did this to provoke a fight between the Tenth Young Master and Joy Pavilion. Clearly, whoever did this wanted to use Joy Pavilion for his agenda.


    Shangguan Ru knew clearly in her heart who the culprit was.


    ¡°So it seems someone must have been following us all this while.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    If this hadn¡¯t been a trap but simply a misunderstanding, then that fight would have been humorous. Shangguan Ru tried to force aughter, wanting to express how she was not afraid of anything.


    Something however, was approaching them speedily, counterattacking with sword and dagger at the same time.


    It was two leaves in the scattered moonlight. The two could faintly see the silhouette of the leaves.


    Someone walked out from behind the tree. He walked up to the youth without the sound of footsteps. It was as if he was floating on grass.


    The two leaves that had been hit flew up again and returned to this person¡¯s hands.


    ¡°Those machete skills aren¡¯t bad. Your sword craft is first-rate.¡± That sounded like Madman Wu. His voice still sounded a little timid.


    One leaf was almost cleaved into half and the other was entirely intact. Gu Shenwei had struck too quickly. The force of his weapon had retracted from one of the leaves too quickly and thus did not cause any damage.


    This person was above 30 years of age. He was dressed in white overalls and looked slightly simr to the new Immortal Peng of Joy Pavilion. Only, he had no facial hair on his chin and his face was ghostly pale as if it had not seen the sunlight before. Even the moonlight seemed dimmer inparison. His white robes were dirty and it appeared as though they had not been washed in a very long time.


    Madman Wu did not give off dangerous vibes. However, Gu Shenwei still maintained his vignce. ¡°Mister, are you also a disciple of Joy Pavilion?¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not remember seeing this person. However, even if the disciples of Joy Pavilion had described him, Gu Shenwei would not be able to recognize him.


    ¡°Perhaps.¡± The white-robed man answered absent-mindedly as if he had not understood a single word of what the other party was saying. He kept staring at Shangguan Ru. ¡°Are you a master of the Shangguan family?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Who are you?¡± Shangguan Ru was not as wary as Gu Shenwei. She had good feelings about this strange man who had just appeared. After all, this person had once spoken up for her.


    ¡°Then you know Master Yun?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I do.¡±


    ¡°Then can you help me ask him if Parro is still alive? I won¡¯t be alive much longer. I want to see him before I die.¡±


    ¡°Parro? Like the bird? Who on earth are you?¡±


    Shangguan Ru threw forth a series of questions but that man in white had already turned around and left. He looked as ethereal as when he had appeared.


    Gu Shenwei did not let Shangguan Ru catch up with him. There had to be a limit to risk taking. It¡¯s best to keep a distance with the men of Joy Pavilion.


    ¡°Who is Master Yun?¡± The Shangguan family had so many disciples. Gu Shenwei had not heard of many of them.


    ¡°That¡¯s my Third Brother.¡± Shangguan Gu¡¯s voice became as weak as the white-robed man¡¯s. ¡°He was locked up by my father for many years.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had discovered long ago that there was a strange master in the Shangguan family. That had to be the third Young Master Shangguan Yun. The Shangguan Family revolved around Lady Meng and was divided into two major factions. Only this Third Young Master did not belong to any faction. He was also the least known.


    Tie Hanfeng was the subordinate killer of the Third Young Master. However, that he was ¡°borrowed¡± caused the Eighth Young Master much anger. Tie Hanfeng never spoke about his former master.


    Shangguan Yun was only an unremarkable name on the hit list. Apart from this, he was of no interest to Gu Shenwei. It was rather, Madman Wu who sparked his interest.


    Afterwards, he asked to learn more about this person from Chu Nanping.


    Madman Wu was originally named Wu Shengqing. He was in his thirties and was once a disciple of Immortal Peng. He had turned half mad very long ago. From morning till night he had been roaming about in Hope Alley. His mind would turn from rity in one moment to confusion the other. He had only survived until now on the food given to him by kind souls.


    Chu Nanping knew all this. However, he was never a curious person and he had never cared about Madman Wu¡¯s background.


    Now that matters have gone so far, Gu Shenwei did not n to investigate further. He did not have the time.


    The men of Joy Pavilion did note to take revenge. They did not wish to leave Hope Alley.


    That night, he escorted Shangguan Ru back to Kun Society. On the way, the two scarcely mentioned Joy Pavilion. Shangguan Ru realised that it was her brother¡¯s scheming plot and thus she did not want to discuss it anymore.


    Gu Shenwei returned to his own room. There were several killers waiting for him. Only one had not returned from his vigil.


    ¡°Someone is causing trouble. Our n has failed and we must think of a new one.¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    In this very evening, Shangguan Ru should have died before his eyes.


    This was Wildhorse¡¯s idea. ve Huan would lead the Tenth Young Master to Hope Alley. He and Liuhua would kill a random person from Joy Pavilion. Tang Ji¡¯s kung fu was the lousiest and he was unlucky. This would anger the disciples of Immortal Peng and provoke them into killing Shangguan Ru.


    Thereafter, the killers would seek ¡°revenge¡± for their master. Later, they would get the chance to return to their former master.


    Under usual circumstances, killers have to die for their masters. However, Shangguan Ru had not attained the title of ¡°master¡±. Thus, she did not have such a privilege.


    However, this was still a dangerous n and even if it seeded, the killers could be killed by Lady Meng¡¯s wrath. Even so, they did not wish to continue serving a weak master. Kun Society was weak and Shangguan Ru did not have the will to fight at all. She would be killed by the Ninth Young Master and the killers under her authority would still be dead when that happened.


    After thinking coldly and dispassionately through their options, they decided to take a risk.


    The person who was most at risk was ve Huan. If his master had died, he would have had to assume responsibility that he could not escape from because he was always by her side. In reality, Gu Shenwei epted this role with the only caveat being Wildhorse and the other men would have to assassinate Shangguan Fei next.


    Wildhorse had agreed. As long as he did not have to be the one killing, he was willing to cooperate. This was a form of revenge for Master Yu.


    After the death of the twins, Gu Shenwei could escape to his former master, Shangguan Nu, to seek shelter and protection.


    Gu Shenwei was willing to walk this tightrope for revenge. However, the incident that happened next made him think of a better n. Coming to think of it, he realised that he had been a little impatient and had lost his level-headedness.


    The killers hadnded themselves in a quandary. If they had wanted to continue to assassinate their master, they could lose their footing. Hence, they wished to give up. However, no one dared to be the first to raise this up for fear of being suspected of wanting to tell the secret.


    In the end, Liuhua broke the stalemate. ¡°Wait. There must be an opportunity. Everyone must swear to keep this a secret. There¡¯re seven of us here. Whoever tells the secret would be the mastermind and the other six would have to concede.¡±


    Liuhua¡¯s suggestion was epted.


    After the gathering had ended, Maid Lotus returned alone. ¡°Wildhorse suspects you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew that of course. He was regarded as Shangguan Ru¡¯s confidante and he was always with her. It would seem as if he had wished to sabotage the killers¡¯ n. ¡°Even if this n seeds, he would doubt me.¡±


    Killers were not credible. This was the conclusion that Gu Shenwei drew after bing a killer. They had learnt too many dirty tricks and unscrupulous theories in Stone Castle. One day, they could be using it on their masters. Golden Roc Fort had thuse up with a strict rule: killers had to be loyal to their masters on the pain of death.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start now? I¡¯m confident of pulling Liuhua over to our side.¡±


    Liuhua had once tried to assassinate Maid Lotus but Gu Shenwei firmly believed still in Maid Lotus¡¯ abilities. The current problem did not lie in Wildhorse alone. They had to kill all four men in Wildhorse¡¯s faction at the same time.


    ¡°It¡¯s the only way.¡±


    That could be the only way for now. The two were very clear that at this moment, Wildhorse was executing his ns to eliminate his enemies. He might also be contemting getting Liuhua over to his side.


    This was the principle of the killers. Even if the n to kill Tenth Young Master had seeded tonight, both parties would still have had to think of a way to silence those who knew about the n.


    This could not be what Tie Hanfeng meant by ¡°safe killing¡±. Not a single word could be leaked about the matter before it happened and not a single suspicion raised after it had transpired. Hence, both sides would have wanted to wait for the best opportunity to direct the suspicion to someone else.


    In the morning of the second day, the Tenth Young Master got out of bed. She had no idea that the trouble of yesterday was an act of betrayal by all of her own killers. On the contrary, she felt that she had already escaped from her troubles and sadness and was ready to rally her house again for another fight.


    ¡°You must destroy Kun Society and let Shangguan Fei go running back to Stone Castle toin to Mother,¡± she said to herself.


    As usual, the killers prepared their scheme. However, they no longer believed that this little girl could be a ruthlessmander-in-chief.


    If themander-in-chief showed any mercy, her subordinate killers would be in danger.


    Very quickly, the killers would get a great opportunity. This would allow them to kill their master and their aplices at the same time.


    (Please keep and provide rmendations)

 Chapter 202

    Chapter 202: Bribery


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Everything started from an unexpected invitation that the twins received.


    On the first day of May, in the Fairnd Pavilion of the North City,mandant Zhong Heng invited the master of the Horned Dragon Society, Shangguan Fei, and the master of Kun Society, Shangguan Ru, to a gathering.


    There was an unspoken rule on the invitation: the master of the society could only bring one servant. This was verbally delivered by the officer who sent the invitation.


    This invitation was unexpected because themandant upied a sinecure post. He had never interfered in the battles of South City. Moreover, on the surface, the twins had looked like they had reconciled. They wouldn¡¯t need an authoritative figure like him to resolve their rivalry.


    Surprisingly, the twins rejected the invitation unanimously. The Stone Castle soon sent men to remind the Ninth Young Master and the Tenth Young Master that it would be better to go to the gathering at Fairnd Pavilion.


    Out of everyone who knew about the invitation, Gu Shenwei was the most surprised. He had talked to Zhong Heng several times. He had also been sending the basic sry of several thousand taels in his own name to Zhong Heng. Hence, he knew very clearly the nature of thismandant. Thismandant would always avoid conflict and would not hesitate to direct his responsibilities to others. Getting involved in the twins¡¯ conflict was very unlike him.


    That evening, the two twins arrived at the venue on the invitation. This was the first time they met each other after the battle in the Peach Forest. They were both awkward and kept giving way to each other. They were so polite that they didn¡¯t seem like family members at all. Later, they both sat in separate corners and never looked at each other again. Both maintained vignce and were scared that the other would be up to something.


    Gu Shenwei happens to be Shangguan Ru¡¯s servant but in front of his master, he had no right to take a seat. Zhong Heng hid his smile and nodded at him. He then started his long speech.


    Gu Shenwei had seen Zhong Heng¡¯s ability to beat about the bush and speak nonsense. However, his speech was exceptionally long this time. After holding out for two hours, Gu Shenwei finally fainted. He did not understand what themandant had in mind.


    The twins had already lost interest. There was an expression of tolerance on their faces. If it hadn¡¯t been for the Stone Castle¡¯s hint on the importance of this meeting, the two would have left the gathering long ago.


    ¡°Ah, Lord Zhong, please be direct. Was it the Governor who sent you?¡± Due to his rtions with the Horned Dragon Society, Shangguan Fei knew a little more about what was going on.


    ¡°Yes, yes.¡± Zhong Hengughed and expressed his agreement. His ¡°being direct¡± still took 15 minutes. However, what he arrived at finally was a simple message.


    Jade City had a high ranked sinecure administrative official- the Governor. A new Governer was appointed every three years. The Central in, Nond and Shu-lik took turns appointing the new governer.


    The current Governor was someone from the Central ins. His term was about to end. ording to the usual practice, all the forces of Jade City had to send a ¡°Protective Talisman¡± to him, which is just gold and silver.


    It was called the ¡°Protective Talisman¡± because after receiving the money and relinquishing his duties, the Governor would write a memorandum of praise when he returned to his country. He would praise Jade City for its peacefulness. This way, the big powers won¡¯t interfere in the matters of this city directly.


    ¡°So this is how it is. How much do you need? Commandant, just say the word.¡±


    Shangguan Fei had plenty of money and would not take this ¡°bribery¡± to heart. However, the sum that Zhong Heng said startled him.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s like this. In such matters, you have to be willing to donate and it depends on how much you are able to give. Of course, there are precedents. Take the Tenth Young Master¡¯s Kun Society for instance, donating 150,000 would be enough. The Ninth Young Master¡¯s Horned Dragon Society has more power. I expect it to be perhaps more generous. If you don¡¯t have a problem, donating a million would be sufficient.¡±


    ¡°What!¡± The twins stood up immediately. Shangguan Ru still owed ve Huan money and after much trouble, Shangguan Fei had managed to rue hundreds of thousand taels. To think that it was still not enough! The two decided to use that money to expand their influence and strength. However, they did not wish to waste it on the Governor. They didn¡¯t even know the Governor¡¯s name or what he looked like.


    ¡°Why does the Horned Dragon Society need to give that much?¡±


    ¡°Currently, the territories of several masters from Stone Castle have all been merged with the Horned Dragon Society¡¯s territory. Hence¡­ if the territories were to be split, more could be donated.¡±


    The twins finally understood what their brother meant. On the surface, he seemed to be relinquishing his power in the South City. In reality, he was exchanging it for a hot potato. Shangguan Ru used all of her territory to exchange for Kun Society. It turned out to be a blessing due to a misfortune.


    ¡°No.¡± Shangguan Ru t out refused.


    ¡°I¡¯m not giving either.¡± Shangguan Fei was not very bold but he was not afraid of the officials in the Jade City.


    Zhong Heng was not angry and his face did not turn red either. He took his time and after much coaxing, he saw that the gathering could possibly end on a sour note. He took out his trump card. ¡°Ninth Young Master and Tenth Young Master, let¡¯s not sour our rtions. I¡¯m only a messenger and to be honest, I won¡¯t be enjoying any of the silver so why am I so concerned? I¡¯ve spent much of my youth in the Western Region. My kung fu and aplishments aren¡¯t worth mentioning. However, I have rued enough experience over the years. So, here¡¯s a piece of advice: don¡¯t be too hasty in your refusals. Ask around when you¡¯re back and solicit the opinions of others, especially the elders under your authority. If you don¡¯t trust me, you can always trust them.¡±


    The twins did not trust anyone. Those ¡°elders¡± handed over their money but not their authority. In name, they seemed to be subordinates of the Ninth Young Master but in reality, they were still loyal to their former masters.


    The two muttered their retreat hastily. They scolded the Governor as they went downstairs, regardless of whether he could hear them or not.


    After exiting the restaurant, the two siblings remembered that they were now enemies. They looked at each other coldly and left without saying goodbye.


    Less than three dayster, the twins realised that things were not that simple. This ¡°Protective Talisman¡± had to be paid and it should not even be a single tael short.


    Lady Meng had never interfered in the twins¡¯ matters directly. This time, she sent their confidantes to visit the twins to tell them the importance of the bribe.


    In Jade City, Golden Roc Fort and the Meng family were indisputable rulers. In the Western Region, they also had considerable might and influence. However, there were several other higher powers in the world. Jade City had never belonged to any country for many years. It relied not only on killers and weapons, but also arge amount gold and silver.


    This a test for the twins. They had to raise enough taels for the Governor. If they failed, Golden Roc Fort would help raise the remainder but the twins¡¯ abilities would be questioned.


    No one told the twins in advance that such a thing existed. Even to Lady Meng, this was something new. She vented her anger on the several masters. She questioned why the Second, Sixth and Eighth Young Master had not reminded her of the bribe. Lady Meng forgot that it was her who had forced the Young Masters to give up their territory.


    The Stone Castle had its fair share of rivalries. This gave the twins another chance to prove themselves against each other.


    Kun Society was very poor. The fees that it received every month could only barely meet its expenditures. If ve Huan allowed it, the hundreds of thousands left behind by Tie Hanfeng could fill in the gap. In contrast, the Horned Dragon Society, even with its many men, was still short of two to three hundred thousand taels from their goal of a million.


    Shangguan Fei wanted to collect the protection fees for this month in advance. However, he was opposed by most of his subordinates. These people were originally the subordinates of other masters. They were still loyal to their former masters and came up with several reasons to oppose the Ninth Young Master¡¯s ns.


    Shangguan Fei flew into a rage. The only thing he could do would be to fire arge group of machetemen to save money.


    Both sides needed arge sum of money. Suddenly, victory no longer depended on who had the most men but in the party who could still expand after forking out the bribe for the Governor.


    In this context, a great opportunity to make money presented itself.


    Xu Xiaoyi had been gathering intelligence for Gu Shenwei for a long time. Even though Xu Yanwei made a promise with the killers, she quickly lost her initial enthusiasm and now ces her focus receiving guests to earn money. This time, she was meritorious.


    ¡°This is a generous customer. I have to hold onto him tightly. No girl from Pleasure Alley should even think about snatching him away.¡±


    As usual, Xu Yanwei talked about her own business andter alluded to what Gu Shenwei was interested in. ¡°Once, he drank too much and had too much fun. He started speaking nonsense andpletely forgot about it after that. He wanted to buy a grand mansion in the North City and even asked me to live there with him in the future. He didn¡¯t seem like royalty so I asked him where he got his money from. Heughed for half a day and finally said he was a robber. He retired and wanted to spend the rest of his life in safety.¡±


    The robber who paid a visit to the wrong prostitute couldn¡¯t keep his mouth and. He wrapped his arm around Xu Yanwei and divulged all his secrets to her.


    A group of lucky robbers, about 30 of them, did not do away with the silver that they had robbed immediately. They hid the money which had amounted to half a million taels. The leader and several of his associates killed all of theirpanions, leaving only five behind. They had decided to retire in Jade City.


    Sending the untraceable silver to Jade City was too dangerous. They were very cautious of their peers and decided to send one person to the South City. That person¡¯s task was to find a reliable bank and negotiate the fees for depositing the silver.


    The bank had several branches throughout the Western Region. The robbers only had to deposit their silver at the nearest branch. They could go to the South City empty-handed and withdraw their money anytime they wanted.


    Half a million taels of white silver would be a godsent to the cash-strapped Kun Society. With this money, not only would the ¡°Protective Talisman¡± not be a problem, even Wildhorse¡¯s n of gathering a team of macheteman could be achieved partially.


    A boastful robber would probably not stop at only showing off in front of prostitutes. Gu Shenwei spent a whole day gathering intelligence, which had almost cost a thousand taels. There were also several other gangs trying to get their hands on these 500,000 silver taels, including the Horned Dragon Society.


    Shangguan Ru expressed strong interest in this. This sum of money could not only resolve the cash-strapped situation of Kun Society but also deal a huge blow to the Horned Dragon Society. This was because Shangguan Fei had already regarded this money as her own treasure and had decided to use it to pay for the ¡°Protective Talisman¡±.


    It was impossible topete with the Horned Dragon Society directly. Shangguan Ru thought of an idea. The whole Kun Society would pretend to be unaware of the money and the robbers. Xu Yanwei received an order and had been arguing with a bunch of boisterous customers. She sent a piece ofmb to other prostitutes, getting a gift from Kun Society in return.


    Unexpectedly, the robber was immediately taken away by a famous prostitute sent by the Horned Dragon Society.


    In the following days, the Horned Dragon Societyunched a series of operations, be it obvious or covert, to scare off other forces. Shangguan Fei wanted to obtain half a million taels all by himself.


    Gu Shenwei spent every ounce of energy to collect information. He wanted to know where the loot of the robbers was kept hidden and where it would be shipped to.


    This was definitely information that Kun Society did not know about. That robber had told Xu Yanwei everything but kept the most important piece of information a secret.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s n was to follow the Horned Dragon Society and intercept the silver.


    The killer¡¯s n was to take advantage of the fight between the twins in order to find out which master they should eliminate.


    ve Huan and Wildhorse¡¯s n was to eliminate their aplices who were insiders while they killed their masters at the same time. Silencing the witnesses would bring peace.


    (Please keep and give rmendations.)

 Chapter 203

    Chapter 203: The Vige


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    ve Qing was drowning his sorrows in the wine cup,ining about the unfairness in life. He had paid a steep price ¨C money, time, ttery, face ¨C but in the end, gotten nothing.


    Master Shangguan Fei did not hate him or like him; neither did he trust him nor suspect him either. In any case, he had be an easily-overlooked butler doing the most trivial things. From the looks of it, he would never achieve big things in life.


    Hence, when the Tenth Young Master approached him, he leaped at the chance of a new master immediately. He was not a killer and did not have to stay loyal for life. Moreover, he needed money.


    However, ve Qing was not entitled to partake in the secrets but Shangguan Ru¡¯s request was also uplicated, precisely so that he could focus on the killers under the Ninth Young Master. This was to let their movements be as conspicuous as possible.


    Shangguan Fei would not mobilize his forces in person, but he would surely designate his most trusted killer to perform the robbery mission.


    On the fifth day of the fifth month, an important message came from ve Qing: Nine killers had prepared 18 horses to set off at three o¡¯clock in the morning. Their destination was the west of Jade City.


    ve Qing knew all these. However, he did not dare fish for more information. If Shangguan Fei discovered something amiss, he would kill him.


    Before two o¡¯clock in the morning, Shangguan Ru set out with seven killers. They had made a series of disguises before departing, in order to fool outsiders into thinking that the main forces of Kun Society were still within the city. Chu Nanping walked around in circles outside an empty hut, pretending he was protecting his own practice partner. The little swordsman had not wished to do this but he was d to have Xu Xiaoyi, once again, apany him during surveince.


    No matter who it was, it was impossible to rob the Golden Roc Fort from within. The five robbers had huge caches of money and were not prepared to bring their silver into Jade City. Hence, the target of the Horned Dragon Society killer must be outside the boundary.


    Gu Shenwei remembered that path along the boundary of Golden Roc Fort. He had been robbed at precisely that spot and turned into a ve. In addition, he had once followed Tie Hanfeng and robbed a rich master in a spot not far from there.


    Thend to the West of the path belonged to Shu-lik in name but they did not station troops there. In reality, it had be an ungoverned territory and after the Gu Family of the Central in had been ughtered, the number of roving bandits in that area had increased. To use this path to travel to Shu-lik City short in distance but posed a great risk. Gu Shenwei guessed that the robbers¡¯ treasure would not be buried here. Shangguan Fei would also not choose to carry out his n here.


    All the way to the North, past the mountain pass, it was fertilend as far as the eye could see. As one continued North, they met the unending grasnds that belonged to Nond and the Xiaowan Kingdom wedged at the foot of the mountain.


    The Xiaowan kingdom was weak prosperous. Lady Meng owned a bank there and it was possible that the robbers kept their money there.


    Shangguan Ru, together with seven killers, split into four teams. The first team would hide in the vicinity of the mountain pass to survey the Ninth Young Master killers¡¯ movements. If they had actually entered Shu-lik, they would send one person to report to Shangguan Ru immediately and the other person would continue to observe them discreetly.


    Shangguan Ru and Liuhua were both in the second team stationed by the small road to the north of the mountain. If everything went smoothly, the two of them would see the nine killers but would let them go on their way.


    Wildhorse and another killer were in the third team. Theyy the ambush in a road leading up to the cliff. That ce was one of the best locations to spring an attack. However, they were to wait to see the silver before making their attack.


    ve Huan and Maid Lotus acted as roving forces for the operation, shuttling back and forth between the three teams. They were to prepare for any unexpected emergencies that arose.


    Three dayster, the first target that appeared was the big-mouthed robber. He had finished his task but had been held back by prostitutes for another two days. Eventually, he reluctantly left his warm hometown to return to his chief, saying how the glitter and riches of Jade City were alluring. He had to send the silver to Xiaowan City quickly before he could start living an honest life.


    He had kept his lips sealed and had not spoken about the silver to anyone. But being rxed, he failed to notice anything curious about the palm imprint on the iron saddle of his horse. Yet, the hoofprints he left behind would reveal his whereabouts to his enemies.


    The two killers under Shangguan Fei followed closely behind while the other seven followed from a distance.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus were sandwiched between these two groups of killers.


    The robber did not enter the deep mountains but into a small vige.


    The small vige had over 30 houses who had constructed an earthen wall circling it. This was a courier station that stood exactly a day¡¯s journey on horseback away from Xiaowan City. The robbers had used this ce to hide their money. Indeed, it was a clever choice. No one would have thought that this poor vige would harbor half a million taels of silver.


    That night, the vige was calm as always. The two groups of killers had hidden in their respective ces, waiting for the cover of night to start their operations.


    Shangguan Ru, to make up for the weakness she had previously shown, made a cold-blooded decision: When Shangguan Fei¡¯s killers had stolen back the silver, she would kill all of them.


    Even though the eight men of Kun Society were outnumbered by one, Kun Society¡¯s killers were much more highly skilled.


    The ce of ambush was the cliff that Wildhorse had chosen. It was up to ve Huan and Maid Lotus to mark the nine killers.


    Even when everything had been arranged to perfection, the oue still came as surprise.


    The sky was very dark as Gu Shenwei crept quietly to the side of the vige¡¯s earthen walls. He watched the movements of the nine killers, with Maid Lotus close by his side. He understood the men¡¯s tactics could guess their general n of action.


    A killer first entered the vige. In the day, he had disguised himself as a normal passersby, entering the vige asking for a bowl of water. In so doing, he gathered some intelligence and when night fell, he wanted to confirm what his suspicions.


    When the killer came out of the vige, the two other killers entered the vige from two different directions. Their target was the small mud hut in the heart of the vige. They were in charge of surrounding the mud hut and preventing anyone from escaping.


    Five other killers entered the vige to deal with the five robbers. As long as this part of the n seded, half of the operation would have beenpleted.


    The remaining two killers would wait outside the vige walls to keep a lookout. These men were only ten paces away and Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus quieted their breaths, covering their tracks.


    From the looks of it, the operation would be simple and quick. Thest step was for the killers to move the silver.


    The five killers entered the hut and not longter, there were muffled sounds of a de slicing some cloth. It was faint, and only a person who was listening intently and was familiar with such sounds would have heard it.


    The two killers standing watch outside the vige shifted slightly, as if breathing sighs of relief.


    ¡°Ahhhh-¡± A heart-rending scream pierced the night sky and the chirping of insects fell silent at that moment, but quickly resumed. However, those killers froze in their ce, without moving.


    The whole vige heard the screams and a few houses lit up, but the lights were put out shortly after. However, someone ran out, boldly shouting: ¡°What on earth is happening? Who was shouting?¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked at those two killers who were on watch, thinking how if he had been in their ce, he would have run away long ago.


    The men on watch finally came to their senses. They prepared to retreat but it was toote.


    That viger who had run out to investigate the scream was carrying an assortment of weapons in his hands. And as he shouted at the top of his lungs as he ran to catch up with the killers. From two neighboring houses, men rushed out and blocked the killers¡¯ escape path. Three of the killers had escaped.


    ¡°Catch them alive.¡± Someone ordered.


    The killers pulled out their sabers without a word, preparing to defend themselves to the end.


    The two killers who were responsible for intercepting the vigers had already been cut off. Weapons shed and not longter, someone yelled: ¡°They are down!¡±


    The two killers on watch pulled out their knives preparing to attack. They wanted to clear a path to escape but only after trading three blows, the two began to stumble like a pair of drunkards. They fell down onto the floor helplessly.


    ¡°How many have you caught?¡±


    ¡°Four. I killed five.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Get ready to depart immediately. We will use them in the sacrificial ritual to Long Feidu.¡±


    This was a well-designed trap. The robbers had not numbered only five but ten. They brought out horses from the houses and prepared to leave the vige.


    However, as the robbers were tending to their horses, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus returned quickly to report the Tenth Young Master: ¡°Kun Society and the Horned Dragon Society have been deceived. There were no 500,000 taels of silver at all. That robber pretended to leak the ¡°secret¡± in order to bait us.¡±


    ¡°Who could it be?¡± Shangguan Ru was a little surprised. Her biggest rival was her brother Shangguan Fei but the person who set this trap could not possibly be him.


    Gu Shenwei thought for a moment. He had seen something that prompted him to make a guess. ¡°It must be the swordsman from the Great Snow Mountain.¡±


    Those robbers were equipped with long and broad big swords. Gu Shenwei had seen them before and knew that they were the signature of the Great Snow Mountain tribe, especially ¡°Long Feidu¡± whom the robbers had talked about. He was the swordsman who had previously died in the T-junction.


    ¡°Snow Mountain?¡± Shangguan Ru was even more surprised. Those boorish and arrogant swordsmen had never been good at conspiracy. Designing such an ingenious trap truly exceeded her expectations.


    There was not much time left. Gu Shenwei knew the destination that the swordsmen had in mind. They were headed for the T-junction to worship Long Feidu. They would soon be riding by on their horses, towards the ce of ambush prepared for them.


    ¡°What should I do? They areing. They areing straight away.¡± Gu Shenwei knew what the Tenth Young Master meant. Should he save the nine killers? They the core of Shangguan Fei¡¯s power.


    Shangguan Ru made a decisive choice. ¡°The Great Snow Mountain is Golden Roc Fort¡¯s enemy. We cannot let them seed in their conspiracy. How many people do they have? How strong are they?¡±


    ¡°About 25. Their strength is unknown.¡± Gu Shenwei recalled meeting the swordsman from the Great Snow Mountain, Long Feidu, two years ago and remembered feeling that something was not quite right. ¡°They have knockout powder. We must be careful.¡±


    The whole thing appeared very strange to Gu Shenwei. The swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain not only crafted an borate n but they also used knockout powder. These were two things that they thought beneath them.


    But Shangguan Ru did not have time to consider these things. She ordered them to prepare the ambush immediately. Her target was about over 20 men. To the eight killers, this proved a challenge.


    The galloping sounds approached. The swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain, holding their captive, reached the destination. At about four o¡¯clock in the morning, they entered the ce of ambush. The horses trotted onwards, their riders oblivious to the ambush awaiting them.


    With a loud crash, several huge boulders fell from the sky. The team of machetemen was thrown into disarray. Horses neighed and men screamed. These sounds of distress were punctuated by a sharp cry of pain. Someone had been hit by a boulder.


    Only one killer was on the cliff monitoring the ambush. The other eight were hidden below the cliff.


    Liuhua was the first to attack. She fired three shots in session and three men fell.


    The swordsmen reacted surprisingly quickly and quickly regrouped into their formation. They pped their horses and retreated from onught of arrows. However, merely ten over steps away, they were hit by an attack from the side.


    Two killers rushed out and jumped over the head of the swordsman leading the charge. Two heads rolled.


    The killers continued running, their legs pumping furiously. The swordsmen were consumed with rage and they turned their horses to chase after the killers.


    This was the killers¡¯ strategy all along: to overwhelm the enemy even though they were outnumbered. They would kill and then withdraw in order to provoke the remaining machetemen to chase after them. Thus, they would lure the machetemen to the next ce of ambush.


    The killers¡¯ n was unfolding without a hitch when they heard a intive voice muttering weakly from the rubble. ¡°Please save me; I am the Ninth Young Master, Shangguan Fei.¡±


    (Please keep and provide rmendations)

 Chapter 204

    Chapter 204: A Second Duel


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Shangguan Ru did not understand how this could have happened.


    She had seen countless bloody scenes in Stone Castle and had never felt afraid. She even felt some enthusiasm towards violence. Before she had even learnt how to speak, she had already been in her mother¡¯s arms pping andughing at the killers. This pleased her father greatly. He had joked that this must be the real child of the Supreme King.


    She had killed people. She would stand on the stairs and watch as the mes engulfed the Horned Dragon Society. She had witnessed people getting their heads cut off and had felt nothing in her heart.


    However, she couldn¡¯t even bring herself to kill a swordsman from the Great Snow Mountain that she didn¡¯t even know.


    Every single one of her blows missed the vital areas of her victims. She couldn¡¯t bear to see a living creature lose its vitality and life force.


    When Master Yu had died, he had taken not only the friendship between them but also her ruthlessness with him .


    Now that her brother, Shangguan Fei, had appeared amidst the rubble, she felt extremely flustered. He was thest person she had wanted to see, especially since they were engaged in a life-and-death battle. She could feel the killers¡¯ expectations of her and she didn¡¯t know if she could meet those expectations.


    The stones that fell from the cliff hurt several people and the remaining swordsmen were in disarray after their team was diminished by half. They stopped running after the killers. The remaining five to six swordsmen fled on their horses and the killers stopped chasing after them.


    The sky was brightening and Shangguan Fei¡¯s desperate pleas continued. ¡°Sister, is that you? Come and save me! I am buried by the rubble. My legs¡­¡±


    Shangguan Ru kept her sword. She felt very conflicted. She had to decide whether she was going to kill him. She felt a great irritation in her heart. If it weren¡¯t for her emotional turmoil, she would have discovered the danger behind her.


    She felt that something was amiss. Holding her de, she turned around and saw one of her killersing after her with a saber.


    This killer was one of her most trusted subordinates and he currently wanted to kill this unworthy master.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s heart was like a heavy stone that dragged her down into the abyss. Although she still had time to block with her sword, her hands were frozen.


    At that very moment, she didn¡¯t think of her parents, Master Yu, ve Huan, and those people who were close to her. She didn¡¯t even think of the good or bad times. The only thing on her mind was that death would be so terrible.


    Death had passed her like it did the swordsman.


    The killer who was determined to kill his master raised his saber high. However, his waist suddenly shuddered and he fell sharply. An arrow had plunged through his back and came out his chest.


    Liuhua came over from afar. He still carried a bow.


    Her brother¡¯s cries for help still rang in her ears but, she heard nothing. What had happened waspletely iprehensible. She could only watch.


    ve Huan rushed forward and whispered something that she was not able to understand. ¡°Wildhorse wants to kill you.¡±


    Had Wildhorse really betrayed her? Shangguan Ru turned her head to look at the odd-looking killer. He had once been loyal to Master Yu and had been forgiven by Shangguan Ru for killing other killers. Was he really going to kill his master?


    Wildhorse pulled off his mask. There was anger and confusion evident across his face. He gripped his sword and nced at Liuhua and Shangguan Ru.


    He was angry that he had been betrayed by ve Huan. The original n was to use this opportunity to kill Shangguan Ru and send the loot to the swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain. Because of this, they had let several people go so they could kill them afterwards as targets of ¡°revenge¡±. As for Shangguan Fei, he was an unexpected prize. Yes, they had ns of dealing with ve Huan after everything was over but never had they expected that ve Huan would have acted first.


    What he didn¡¯t understand was why Liuhua had chosen to support ve Huan. Wildhorse himself was the real leader of the killers. He was also much more powerful than his opponents. Liuhua had personally promised him that he would support him at thest moment, however, that turned out to be a lie. He had never been betrayed before so this act of betrayal caused him much pain.


    He could have pretended that he knew nothing about what was going on but his expression betrayed his thoughts.


    In this moment of indecision, Maid Lotus had already killed another killer and only one killer remained. He prepared to escape but was shot by Liuhua. He fell amongst the corpses.


    Wildhorse was left to ve Huan. They had an unfinished duel to settle.


    Wildhorse raised his head. He would not flinch nor escape and he wouldn¡¯t feel guilty about the plot. He had never regarded anyone as his master in his heart and Master Yu was no exception.


    Even if he could speak, he would not expose ve Huan¡¯s motives at this time. It was this ve who had betrayed everybody and what Wildhorse wanted to do now was kill ve Huan.


    He had his chance. In the monthly test, he had dealt ve Huan a blow with his dagger. If he had delivered a more powerful blow, he would have been able to save himself from this duel, however, Wildhorse was not exactly regretful. He gripped his dagger and walked towards his enemy.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had talked and decided that Wildhorse was a greater threat than Shangguan Ru. The Snow Mountain Gang¡¯s n to exterminate the Tattooed Arm Gang had never changed and no matter how much Wildhorse apologized, they felt that he would strike and sabotage their interests eventually.


    On the surface, the two seemed nonchnt about Wildhorse¡¯s actions but secretly, they had already decided to strike before he did.


    Liuhua was a wildcard. This marksman would be a great ally to whoever whom he had decided to support. The reason that Maid Lotus had been able to win him over was simple. Because the Snow Mountain Gang was already very powerful, Liuhua would not have made a discernible impact even if he had joined the gang. However, things would be different if he were to join the weak Tattooed Arm Gang. He would be seen as a prized ally.


    Gu Shenwei also pulled his mask down. There was no need for him to hide his kung fu skills any longer. Though Wildhorse was not his sworn enemy, Gu Shenwei desired to have this duel. The scar that Wildhorse had left on him was still on his chest abd it was a deep wound that would never fully heal.


    Shangguan Ru looked at her two most skilled killers approach each other coldly. A deathly shadow passed over her face as she lost all capability to make a decision. Strangely, both of them seemed to walk towards each other casually. It was almost as though they did not know each other at all. Even more strangely, killing each other did not seem to be on their minds.


    Time seemed to pass in the blink of an eye from the moment the first assassin fell. Shangguan Fei waspletely unaware of everything that had happened around him. Buried under the rubble, he kept calling ¡°sister¡± over and over again.


    Shangguan Ru came to with a start. She had to save her brother now. Just as this idea hade into her mind, ve Huan and Wildhorse attacked at the same time.


    Even though they were both schooled in the kung fu of the Golden Roc Fort, Wildhorse¡¯s machete skills put the Tenth Young Master¡¯s to shame.


    Practitioners like humans were flexible and creative, unlike kung fu techniques, which were inherently rigid. From one practitioner to the other, there were a hundred variations and levels. Wildhorse apparently belonged to the most elite. There were no major variations in his kung fu but he was incredibly quick.


    ve Huan¡¯s sword skills left Shangguan Ru gaping in astonishment. It was as if none of his moves even appeared in the textbooks and every blow seemed to echo a missing memory. The two most fleeting moments that were captured was ve Huan gripping his sword and piercing his enemy.


    The two killers traded a blow and distanced themselves from each other immediately.


    Shangguan Ru did not see their moves clearly, but she knew who won.


    ve Huan looked at the wound on his shoulder. Blood flowed out from the wound butpared to the gash dealt by Wildhorse earlier, it was nothing of note.


    Wildhorse patted his neck. He wasn¡¯t dead, but he felt something sting him. There was no blood but he felt very strange. It was as though there had been something very important in him, something strung by a line, that had snapped.


    Wildhorse staggered backwards and huffed. Suddenly, a portion of his Internal Breath in his Dantian left his body. He started to panic inside. How could ve Huan have dissipated his Internal Strength? What kind of terrible wicked sword craft was this?


    Gu Shenwei was also panicking as he only had a set of sword craft. He hadn¡¯t been able to kill Wildhorse with a single blow. That only meant that in the next blow, he could die under Wildhorse¡¯s dagger. All of his opponents had died after a single blow. He had no idea whether he had destroyed Wildhorse¡¯s Internal Strength.


    Shangguan Ru ignored her brother¡¯s pleas for the moment. She walked toward the killers and stood between them. She faced Wildhorse and stared him in the eye. ¡°You can go now.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Liuhua shouted. His hand still held a bow. He was confident of killing the most elite of the Dragon Year apprentices. Wiping his enemy out at its roots was a principle that had been deeply instilled in him.


    Shangguan Ru stared at Wildhorse. ¡°Let me decide. Let this traitor go. I don¡¯t want to kill anyone anymore.¡±


    She was just like a child who had grown tired of a game. She had decided to withdraw, no matter how enthusiastic the others had been and there was no turning back.


    She was just a child.


    Gu Shenwei looked at her and secretly sighed a breath of relief. They were both 14 years of age, however, unlike the disciples of Stone Castle, Shangguan Ru could still return to being a child. This was different from how killers of Stone Castle could only run single-mindedly toward their death.


    Wildhorse couldn¡¯t say anything. Even if he had been able to speak, he would not thank the Tenth Young Master. He was a traitor but he was also betrayed. This master was weak and stupid. She had failed to see how all her followers had ulterior motives. Not telling her anything would be the greatest form of punishment for her. As for ve Huan, their duel had not ended.


    Wildhorse turned around toward the grasnds of the North. He put his saber into his scabbard and did not put up his guard. His Internal Strength became weaker with every breath he took. If someone had caught up with him, he would not have had the strength to resist.


    Wildhorse walked further and further into the distance.


    Maid Lotus looked at Gu Shenwei. This was a great opportunity. They could kill the twins and Wildhorse now while it was not toote. Then they could go support Shangguan Nu. The Eighth Young Master would likely protect them. He had long since lost trust in his former ally, Lady Meng.


    Gu Shenwei nodded his head. With the twins dead, they could have a firmer grip on things. They could prove themselves through this incident and continue climbing upward. Perhaps they could get closer to the Supreme King through Lady Meng. The Supreme King was the mastermind behind the Gu Family¡¯s death.


    Neither of the twins smelt betrayal in the air.


    Shangguan Fei was almost shouting himself hoarse. Shangguan Ru finally came up to him. ¡°Sister, my dear sister, please save me, I will give everything to you and I will not fight with you over anything anymore.¡±


    A huge boulder hadnded upon Shangguan Fei¡¯s right leg and at that moment, he had no chance of living.


    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Shangguan Ru knew that she should be saving her brother but in her heart, she hesitated.


    ¡°I¡­I want to achieve something so that no one would look down on me and say that I am a weakling. Even the killers themselves were secretly saying this among themselves. Sister, they are all wolves- all of them. If the master wasn¡¯t like a tiger, they would devour you. I am afraid, sister, I want to return to Stone Castle¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei had only cared about his wound but did not realize that at that moment, Shangguan Ru was actually convinced. She had trusted Wildhorse so much, but he had betrayed her.


    Killers were all wolves. They woulde attacking the instant their masters revealed some form of weakness. Shangguan Ru could hardly bear to look at the three remaining killers. At that instant, she could hardly tell whether they were human beings or wolves.


    Shangguan Fei held his own leg and wanted to pull it out under the rock, however, he was afraid of the pain and his tears kept flowing down his cheeks. ¡°Sister, quick, save me. Let¡¯s get out here immediately. The person who set the trap was fourth brother. He is still in that vige. He¡¯ll being for us soon.¡±

 Chapter 205

    Chapter 205: Fraud


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The stone on Shangguan Fei¡¯s legs wasn¡¯t heavy. He could have pushed it away if he was calmer and had a higher pain threshold.


    Three killers removed the stone and Shangguan Ru helped to sloppily bandage her brother¡¯s wound. Liuhua went to fetch the horse which was hidden in the nearby valley and supported Ninth Young Master up onto the horse.


    ¡°I¡¯ll stay. All of you should go,¡± Gu Shenwei said. They needed one person to stop the possible pursuit by the soldiers.


    ¡°No, we shall all go together,¡± Shangguan Ru replied. She was even more determined than ve Huan.


    ¡°Hurry up. We can¡¯t stay here as Fourth Brother will catch up to us anytime,¡± Shangguan Fei said. He was more anxious than anyone else as he wanted to rush back to Stone Castle.


    Maid Lotus looked at ve Huan and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go. He knows what he is doing. He¡¯ll be fine.¡± Both Maid Lotus and Liuhua headed to the east while protecting the twins.


    Gu Shenwei looked to the west and saw a Young Master. He could kill him and he would likely not receive any punishment.


    After waiting for such a long time, he could finally take revenge!


    He left the horse to graze the field and stained himself with some blood from a corpse. Then, hey beside another corpse and covered his face. He was holding onto his sword and stared at the sky. His mind was nk until he heard rapid ttering of horses.


    Dozens of well-dressed people arrived at the scene. Some of them hadrge swords. The rest not only hadrge swords with them, they were also equipped with a saber.


    A man jumped off the horse and said gruffly, ¡°Shangguan Ru. Please exin what¡¯s going on. The Great Snowmountain isn¡¯t easily deceived.¡±


    A cold voice spoke disdainfully. He felt that it was easy to fool the Great Snowmountain. He said, ¡°Can¡¯t all of you see that I¡¯ve lost a few men? This is done by a top killer. If it wasn¡¯t for your mistake, Stone Castle won¡¯t have been alerted. If all of you had listened to me, there won¡¯t have been an ident.¡±


    ¡°No¡±, another voice retorted. He said,¡±Even though the killers had their faces covered, I feel that they¡¯re very young and there¡¯s another girl with them. They¡¯re as young as Shangguan Fei¡¯s killers.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s killers had died among a heap of rocks and they were the four masked ¡°corpses¡±. A swordsman walked over, pulled off a mask and said, ¡°All of them are children. What happened? How did they die?¡±


    A swordsman who had fled back to the vige made some strange noises in surprise and said, ¡°This is weird. When I left, none of them were dead.¡±


    ¡°When you fled,¡± the gruff voice said while emphasizing on the correction. It was shameful for a swordsman of Great Snowmountain to flee for his life.


    Shangguan Ruo scorned coldly. Even though their n was almost wiped out, they were still bickering over such trivial matter. They might even start a brawl among themselves and some might just lose their life. The enemies need not lift their fingers to kill them off.


    He urged his horse closer to check on these corpses. Indeed, these killers had died not long ago. He said, ¡°These¡¯re Shangguan Fei¡¯s killers.¡± He finally understood. ¡°The twins came here before and they managed to catch¡­¡±


    The ¡°corpse¡± was alive.


    The horse let out a warm damp breath. Gu Shenwei seemed dazed, but he wasn¡¯t using his eyes to locate the most important enemy.


    The key of 29 Styles of Swordsmanship was to stab at the same target from different angles. Even though Gu Shenwei was lying on the ground and his target was far from him, it didn¡¯t affect his attack manoeuvre.


    He attacked quickly. He couldn¡¯t even get a good look at Fourth Young Master Shangguan Ruo.


    After the attack, Gu Shenwei headed straight for his horse. Just when he was making his escape, he felt that someone was chasing him.


    Gu Shenwei was guarded against this assasin as every Young Master of the Shangguan Family had one ck-masked assasin protecting him.


    Gu Shenwei needed more time. This was one of the minor holes in the swordscraft of Death Scripture . After one attack, he had to regain his Internal Breath. If his next opponent was weak, there wouldn¡¯t be any problem. If his opponent was strong, he had to let his Internal Breathplete one grand cirction before attacking again.


    He didn¡¯t continue running forward. When he jumped, he left behind some space. He returned back to his original position just when his toes made contact with the ground.


    Gu Shenwei brushed past the ck-masked assassin. That emotionless mask resembled the Grim Reaper.


    No one had the time to attack.


    Shangguan Ruo was sitting on his horse motionlessly. He looked indifferent and it seemed as if he was detached from the world. He seemed uninterested the fight happening before him.


    Several killers and swordsmen had yet to recover from that ¡°fake corpse¡± incident. They held on to their weapons but they had yet to pull it out.


    The fight happened too fast. In the still background, they were the only ones moving around. They exchanged blows but no one could get a good look at it.


    The youth leapt forward, then one drop of blood fell to the ground. A momentter, the killers and swordsmen had just pulled out their weapons.


    The youth leapt forward again and there were two more drops of blood on the ground. The killers¡¯ and swordsmen¡¯s horses raised their front foot.


    The youth jumped onto the horse, which was grazing. There were three drops of blood on the ground. The ck-masked assassin fell forward just like an unstable wooden stick. The Great Snowmountain swordsmen shouted. Those who were nimble had thrown out their throwing knives at Gu Shenwei.


    Gu Shenwei lied t on the horse¡¯s back and galloped away.


    Both the killers and the swordsmen looked at Shangguan Ruo and waited for his instructions. It was after when the youth made his escape that they realised the motionless Golden Roc Fort Fourth Young Master was dead.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s only regret was that he didn¡¯t cut off his head.


    He caught up to Shangguan Ru and the others at the mountain pass.


    ¡°Is it sessful?¡± Shangguan Ru asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Gu Shenwei nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯ll exin everything to Stone Castle.¡±


    ¡°Ok!¡±


    Gu Shenwei had personally killed a Young Master. Tenth Young Master was the only one who could resolve this matter. Even though the killers had lost their respect for Tenth Young Master, she was still the favorite child of Supreme King.


    The four of them travelled for days and they returned back to Jade City after two days. They realized that there were rumors spreading all around Jade City.


    The whole city heard that the twins of Stone Castle were ambushed by Great Snowmountain swordsmen and were killed. The Supreme King was furious and was gathering all his killers to attack Great Snowmountain.


    The twins survived. Many people were shocked and some were greatly disappointed.


    Lady Meng immediately sent her men down the mountain to inquire about the situation. She sent Doctor Sun from North City to treat Shangguan Fei¡¯s legs. She rejected her son¡¯s request to return back to the castle because it was a crucial period. Even if he broke both of his legs, he couldn¡¯t return home before the end of his trial period.


    The loyal servants wouldn¡¯t deliver the bad news hence Lady Meng wasn¡¯t able to learn about the real status of the twins, let alone knowing that her son had lost his fighting spirit.


    Shangguan Fei isted himself in his North City residence. The first thing he did when he recovered was to send ve Qing to make peace with his younger sister. He was willing to give up all his terrority and join Kun Society. In return, he wanted his sister to protect him.


    Shangguan Fei had lost eight killers. The only surviving killer was the one who guarded Jade City. He was worried that he would be assassinated as his ruthless brothers were capable of doing anything. He would rather give up everything as this would prove that he had given up on the contest for power.


    On the surface, Shangguan Ru¡¯s state seemed to be better as she did not look frightened. However, the daughter of Supreme King had be sick of killing people. Only three killers knew about it and they would not reveal this secret.


    She stayed in South City and sent envoys to Stone Castle. She bore all responsibilities including the killing of Fourth Young Master.


    Her intention was to protect ve Huan. As a result, she had built up an unprecedented reputation.


    ¡°¡®The battle for the throne¡¯ has begun,¡± the residents of Jade City whispered excitedly. Everyone wanted to converse with older citizens as they wanted to know the details of the previous war.


    The incumbent Supreme King was a tough character when he was young. All those who went through the previous war supported this ruthless Young Master. In order to be the Supreme King, he had to be cruel towards his family. Tenth Young Master had a good start and she could be the first female ruler of the Fort.


    Those who were insightful disdained these ignorantments. They shared their views to those who were genuinely interested. They said, ¡°It¡¯s too early to start the war. The incumbent king is wealthy and young. Who dares to challenge him? Who has the capability to fight for the throne? It¡¯s even more ridiculous for a female to be the Supreme King. Even if the Supreme King will allow it, thousands of killers won¡¯t agree to it. Look, this idental event won¡¯t lead to a war. Fourth Young Master had died in vain.¡±


    This minority was certainly correct. The so-called ¡°battle for the throne¡± didn¡¯t ur. As Fourth Young Master was Lady Meng¡¯s rival, his death would greatly weaken First Young Master¡¯s influence and he would not be able to counterattack.


    Lady Meng hoped that the twins couldunch arge-scale revenge. However, Shangguan Fei isted himself in his room and no one could fathom Shangguan Ru¡¯s thoughts.


    Tenth Young Master took over her brother¡¯s terrority. Kun Society and Horned Dragon Society merged once again, however, it didn¡¯t seem as impressive as it looked. This meant that she had to look after 1.15 million taels.


    The three killers helped her carry out her duties. Gu Shenwei leveraged on Tenth Young Master ¡°remaining authority¡± and brought twenty of the best machetemen with him to cover all of the strongholds in South City that belonged to the Young Masters.


    Even though these strongholds technically belonged to the twins, they were controlled by the other Young Masters. They not only refused to hand over their control of the strongholds, but they also refused to pay the monthly sry in advance.


    On every asion, Gu Shenwei would bring an extra de and would ce it on the supervisor¡¯s table. He patiently exined Tenth Young Master¡¯s order to the supervisor, ¡°Either you die or you hand the stronghold over to me.¡±


    The first to surrender was the stronghold of Fourth Young Master. As their master had died, those who survived did not need to stay any longer. After withdrawing from the stronghold, they joined Kun Society and the remaining taels were handed over to Gu Shenwei.


    The strongholds of the other Young Masters took a tougher stance and they resisted fiercely. Things went smoothly when Gu Shenwei killed a supervisor.


    Before anyone could detect the change in Tenth Young Master, Gu Shenwei wanted to make use of the opportunity to expand his influence by using Kun Society as leverage. He remembered Wildhorse¡¯s n, which was to build a team of machetemen and he nned to execute it. Once Kun Society managed to umte 1.15 million taels, he had formted some ideas on how to spend the money.


    He was ready to confront the money collector.

 Chapter 206

    Chapter 206: Wei Family


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Shangguan Ru allowed her killers to act freely by leveraging on her authority.


    Gu Shenwei realized that he made a wise move of not killing Shangguan Ru at that point in time as this was the best opportunity to act freely without the need to bear much responsibility.


    In the eyes of outsiders, Stone Castle¡¯s Tenth Young Master seemed to be stranger, tougher and more ruthless as though she wanted to take over the entire South City. However, only three killers knew the truth. Shangguan Ru became fearful and she was unable to ovee this ordeal. On some asions, she wanted to stay away from killing people. On other asions, she became ovee with ambition and wanted to do something extraordinary. This was the main reason why she stayed in South City even though she did not do much there.


    The killers knew what they needed to do. Maid Lotus stood by Shangguan Ru¡¯s side so as to prevent other machetemen and servants from learning about Shangguan Ru¡¯s emotions. Liuhua yed the role of a Shadow Guard and protected her master secretly. ve Huan focused on expanding the influence and power of Kun Society.


    The three of them reached a consensus. Even though their master was depressed, they would want to build a strong front. Although Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t really trust Liuhua, both he and Maid Lotus became more vignt so to prevent furtherplications.


    Wildhorse¡¯s strategy was useful. Gu Shenwei revisited those influential old swordsmen, especially those who were more reputable. He recruited the best machetemen through their rmendation and they ensured Gu Shenwei of the machetemen¡¯s loyalty. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t hire stragglers. Through this method, it not only ensured the stability of the society, but also built up multiple forces within the society. This prevented any party from dominating in the society.


    After Gu Shenwei gathered ten teams, which was approximately three hundred machetemen, the behavior Kun Society caught the attention of many. Some praised its actions, some became alerted and still others were baffled. The first who visited them was Commandant Zhong Heng.


    As usual, Zhong Heng made merry. He then hinted that Kun Society had to hand over the Protective Talisman, which was 1.15 million taels, in a few days time. However, he felt that Kun Society had been spending much money recently and it might not have much left.


    ¡°Please be assured, Lord Zhong. Please assure Lord Governor when you get back. I¡¯ll ensure that everyone is happy.¡±


    Zhong Heng left without worry. He visited again once every two or three days. He woulde for a chat. On some asions, he would head to Xu Yanwei¡¯s ce to stay for the night as if he was an evasive supervisor.


    Gu Shenwei investigated the origin of the Governor. However, not many people in South City knew about the Governor. He could only obtain some information from North City.


    The incumbent Governor came from the Central in. His surname was Wei and his name was Song. He came to the Western Region to broaden his horizon. Unlike Zhong Heng who stayed in Western Region after he stepped down, Lord Wei would return back to Central in after three years. He would then likely be promoted to Duke.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t care much about it initially. After a few days, he suddenly felt that the name Wei Song sounded familiar.


    He lived in the Central in for twelve years. As he was too young then, he could only remember a few good friends¡¯ surnames, but none of them surnamed Wei. He thought, since Wei Song was the emperor, he might have known his father Gu Lun. It was normal to have a little impression.


    He did not have a good impression of the Governor. When Wei Song was in power, it was one or two months after the annihtion of the Gu family. He had never heard of Master Wei seeking redress for the citizens of Central in. Master Wei was not as righteous as Marshal Yang.


    He had to rely on himself especially when it came to taking revenge. He regarded the governorship as a form of influence and he could use this influence to suppress Golden Roc Fort.


    It was less than ten days till the return of the ¡°Protective Talisman¡± when a famous man visited Jade City. He caused much trouble for Gu Shenwei, but he reminded Gu Shenwei of his past.


    This man was Governor Wei Song¡¯s son, Wei Lingmiao. His name sounded feminine, but he was very handsome.


    He was more famous than his father, especially in South City.


    The first time Gu Shenwei heard about him was through Xu Yanwei.


    Xu Yanwei became excited when Wei Lingmiao was mentioned as though both of them were old friends. However, neither of them had met before. She said, ¡°I was little when he visited Jade City. I knew nothing. Pot-bellied Buddha wanted to marry me off but he couldn¡¯t find any way to do so. Sigh. That was my only regret. If Master Wei wanted to marry me, I would now be living at the Central in.¡±


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help but snort. As Wei Lingmiao was a lustful person, his love for Xu Yanwei would be short-lived. Heughed, ¡°You would probably live in one of the brothels in Central ins.¡±


    ¡°What about it? I¡¯m a prostitute. I would be better off staying anywhere else instead of this city.¡±


    Upon mentioning about South City, Xu Yanwei¡¯ anger began to boil. She continued speaking after she vented her frustration. She said, ¡°By the way, Master Wei is rumored to be young, handsome, humorous, romantic, rich and generous. Compared to him, those poor machetemen are nothing.¡±


    Gu Shenwei snorted again. The Weis was obviously rich. Their bribes amounted to millions and the entire Jade City had to umte four to five million taels so to bribe the Governor.


    ¡°If you have the ability, you should make Master Wei spend a million taels on you.¡±


    ¡°Hmph. Do you think that I¡¯m incapable and not worth a million taels? Your crippled master said that if I could control my temper I¡¯ll be the best prostitute in Pleasure Alley. I can control myself in front of a gentle master.¡± She heaved a sigh. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I have a chance to see him.¡±


    ¡°I may be able to send you to him.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Xu Yanwei replied. Her eyes glittered and jumped up as she almost embraced her master.


    ¡°However, I¡¯m afraid that you will follow him back to Central in. Our three-year pact has yet to expire.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a small matter. I canpensate you. Furthermore, Xiaoyi can stay behind.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi was engrossed in the conversation. Upon hearing this sentence, he frowned with his brows and said, ¡°Sister, you¡¯re too heartless. You¡¯re deserting me here if you leave Jade City.¡±


    ¡°You can find me at Central in after three years. By then, I would have bought you a house and chosen a few wives for you.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyiughed, ¡°I would only want the house. I would rather choose my own wife as I don¡¯t trust your judgment.¡±


    The siblings got happier just by thinking of it. Xu Xiaoyi hadn¡¯t forgotten of his good friend and said, ¡°Little Chu, you shoulde with me when time is ripe. You have no reason to stay here.¡±


    Chu Nanping listened intently. He appeared indifferent as though he couldn¡¯t manage to understand. He said, ¡°No, I want to stay with Gu Shenwei to practice Heartless Swords.¡±


    ¡°What if I go?¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t go. I¡¯ll kill you first.¡±


    The conversation was getting off topic. Gu Shenwei interrupted, ¡°I didn¡¯t say that I¡¯ll definitely send you over.¡±


    Xu Yanwei frowned and was about to throw a tantrum. She then let out a sweet smile and said, ¡°Mr. Huan, please don¡¯t y with me. I know you have certain conditions. Say it and I¡¯ll agree to all of them.¡±


    In fact, Xu Yanwei was already chosen. Even though Wei Lingmiao hadn¡¯t arrived at the city, the person who was responsible for receiving him had started making preparations by finding the best prostitute in South City. Xu Yanwei was highly rmendated especially by Fifth Young Master Meng and Commandant Zhong Heng. They all had praise for her.


    ¡°It¡¯s very simple. I want to know all kinds of information about Master Wei, such as his temper, hobby and schedule.¡±


    Xu Yanwei blushed and tilted her head slightly. Her big eyes nced to one side as though she didn¡¯t want to answer the question. She appeared slightly embarrassed. This was how she seduced men. She whispered, ¡°Do I have to tell you what he does? What do you think he does when he is with me?¡±


    Gu Shenwei took Chu Nanping with him and left immediately. He was uninterested in Wei Lingmiao and knew that Wei Lingmiao was finding a way not to pay bribes. Simr to the most conservative killers, Gu Shenwei hated lustful people. Killers like Tie Hanfeng were of a special kind and they were not respected by other killers.


    One of the influential people from North City who was in charge of receiving Wei Lingmiao was Fifth Young Master Meng Mingshi. He finally recovered from his grief of losing Master Yu. Half a month ago, he resumed making merry at South City.


    Gu Shenwei visited this enemy who always wanted to kill him and agreed to let Xu Yanwei serve Master Wei.


    Meng Mingshi changed slightly. He became more tactful and less arrogant. He had also lost his infatuation. He said, ¡°Ah. Master Wei is an interesting person. The person who received him during hisst visit was my older brother as I was too young then¡­¡±


    This was the second time Gu Shenwei heard such a story. He couldn¡¯t help but be curious. He wondered what kind of person Master Wei was as he was so well-liked.


    ¡°It was two or three years ago when Master Wei was ying a lot tricks in the city. Do you still remember the marriage of Stone Castle¡¯s Eighth Young Master? He came just before that. I heard that both Master Wei and Eighth Young Master had nned to take a good look at the daughter of Bighead Kingpin. They wanted to know if she was as beautiful as what the rumors said. I¡¯m not sure if they have seeded. It was a pity that Marquis Gao died. Both of them are best friends.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was able to guarantee that Master Wei didn¡¯t seed as the daughter of Bighead Kingpin would have screamed so loudly that the entire Golden Roc Fort could hear if someone saw her.


    Meng Mingshi received ve Huan politely and enthusiastically. He even personally sent Gu Shenwei him out. It was as though he wanted to end the rivalry between both of them. He said, ¡°ve Huan, we¡¯re old friends. I hope you won¡¯t linger on the past?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare. Fifth Young Master thinks so highly of me.¡±


    Mingshi chuckled. ¡°We became friends after we exchanged blows. Now that you¡¯re owner of half of South City, both of us should n and prepare well for the reception of Master Wei.¡±


    Fifth Young Master Meng treated a ve as his brother. Gu Shenwei was ttered and replied, ¡°Fifth Young Master Meng should call the shots. I¡¯ll listen to your orders and serve you.¡±


    The meeting should havee to an end, but Gu Shenwei felt that he had overlooked something very important. He then remembered and asked, ¡°Oh yes. As the Governor hadn¡¯t stepped up to his position when Eighth Young Master got married, why did Master Wei visit Jade City then?¡±


    The question seemed slightly abrupt. Meng Mingshi was stunned momentarily and thought about it. He said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. He probably helped his father to manage the outpost. Oh, I had an impression. It was rumored that he came to fetch the bride, but he didn¡¯t take the bride with him when he left. He brought back many concubines though.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had a goodugh with Mingshi over this, then he left. He realized why he had an impression of Wei Song and Wei Lingmiao. Wei Lingmiao was supposed to be his brother-inw and the Weis family was supposed to his inws.

 Chapter 207

    Chapter 207: Heart of the Lake


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Memory was like a dog eager to please its owner. As long as you something to chew on, it woulde back with something in its mouth.


    Gu Shenwei had a strong feeling that he had met the Weis before, but he couldn¡¯t remember the exact details. He doubted his memory. To him, even though he spent nearly three years working in Stone Castle, it seemed longer than a lifetime. Recollecting the events that urred three years ago was harder than crossing the widest river alone.


    But he still believed that he would get a few basic facts right.


    He had only been six or seven years old when his sister Cun got married. He knew nothing, only to blindly address him ¡°brother-inw¡±. Until he realized that his sister had married into the Wei family rather than his brother-inw joining the Gu family, he had little impression of his ¡°brother-inw¡± and had no intention to get to know him.


    Gu Shenwei was unfamiliar with the name ¡°Wei Lingmiao¡±. However, he was convinced that his prospective inws were the Weis.


    He had a niggling sense of familiarity towards ¡°Wei Song¡±. Someone had once mentioned this name and he even felt that he had seen this name before.


    The reception for Wei Lingmiao would be a gathering for the upper ss of Jade City. Fifth Young Master Meng had overestimated ve Huan¡¯s status. Kun Society had to attend this gathering but Fifth Young Master Meng would never allow a ve-born killer to stand in the same room with the other noblemen. Shangguan Ru was uninterested in such gatherings and asked her brother to take her ce.


    Shangguan Fei was willing to do his sister a turn but he had a small wish. He hoped that through this gathering, his brothers¡¯ would no longer hate him anymore. If that worked out, he would swear that he would not vie for the position of Supreme King.


    The gathering was held in the early summer of mid-May at the Bodhi Garden in the Meng Residence, North City. Gu Shenwei attended the gathering as the bodyguard of Ninth Young Master. This was the first time he met Master Wei Lingmiao, who was supposed to be his brother-inw.


    There was a benefit of being a bodyguard ¨C he did not need to socialise or drink with the guests.


    Shangguan Fei was the youngest among the noblemen, however his gloomy expression and flustered actions made others feel like he was aged and that something was wrong with him.


    There was definitely something wrong with Shangguan Fei. His leg, which had been crushed by a rock before being cured by a doctor, was still slightly disabled. No one could detect anything when Shangguan Fei walked slowly but when he walked faster, he seemed unbnced. From then onwards, he had developed a habit of looking at people from the corner of his eye.


    Unlike other noblemen, Shangguan Fei remained behind the table at all times and did not greet any far-away visitors. He was uninterested in the guests, be it the Governor¡¯s son or those ambassadors who were only interested in having fun. He cared only about his personal safety and he suspected that his sister had sent ve Huan to monitor him instead of protecting him.


    After hearing so many rumors, Gu Shenwei was disappointed when he saw Wei Lingmiao.


    Master Wei was only about twenty four or twenty five years old. He was tall and handsome, but other than that, he did not seem to have other talents. He was not as wanton and unrestrained as the others had described. Instead, he was gentle and elegant. He greeted everyone coolly and even stopped momentarily at Ninth Young Master¡¯s table and greeted him.


    The banquet began in the evening. Apart from the fact that several noblemen were drunk, everything seemed normal. It appeared that this would be like every other boring and insipid party.


    Around nine o¡¯clock at night, several older noblemen left and Wei Lingmiao dismissed his followers. Then, the real party began.


    ¡°Marquis Gao was a womanizer and died for love. We are saddened yet envious. Everyone, let us toast him on this special asion.¡±


    This was the first toast made by Wei Lingmiao this evening. Everyone stood up. The atmosphere seemed heavy when they paid tribute to the Marquis, who had died young. Master Wei led everyone in the toast and all of them smashed their cups on the floor.


    ¡°Lao Si, bring out all the prostitutes! It¡¯s so boring.¡±


    Master Wei¡¯s words swept away any vestiges of the gloomy mood and everyone cheered. The noblemen had not attended the gathering because they wanted to please the Governor, but because they wanted to see what kind of tricks the flirtatious Master would bring from the Central in.


    ¡°Lao Si¡± was Fourth Young Master Meng, who was the older brother of Meng Mingshi. Both of them were old friends. He mmed the table and said, ¡°Damn it. Dy any longer and those prostitutes would have be old maids.¡±


    In the blink of an eye, the gentlemanly Master transformed into a crude lecher.


    Pairs of strong men, each carried gigantic tes with a naked woman on lying atop of every te. There were neen of them, one for each of the remaining neen guests.


    After the gigantic tes were ced in the middle of the hall, the strong men retreated.


    Apart from woman, there were also wine jugs and cups on the te. The women smiled invitingly, in all sorts of seductive poses to attract the attention of the noblemen, especially Wei Lingmiao. To win his favor, each woman tried her best to stand out from the rest.


    Everyone was staring at the women. Then, another batch of women entered the hall and danced among the tes. They slowly took off their clothes and remained with the other women.


    Crash! A cup from one of the noblemen¡¯ hands fell onto the floor. There was then a round of apuse. No one was interested in the food in front of them.


    Even Shangguan Fei, who was uninterested in women, wore a lustful expression and could not help grunting.


    Gu Shenwei suspected that Ninth Young Master was trying to blend in with the others. He had no business in the hall so he quietly left. He headed to theke and stood silently by the fence.


    The moonlight was bright. The famous colorful lotuses of Bodhi Garden closed up during night time and they looked like little unlitmps swaying peacefully on the surface of theke. There was a huge contrast between the noisy hall and the peacefulke.


    ¡°It was fortunate that Sister didn¡¯t marry him, if not I would have had to kill him¡±, Gu Shenwei thought. His heart felt as tranquil as theke.


    Meanwhile, the performance in the hall was still going on. Once a batch of women exited another would enter. It looked like many noblemen had prepared some entertainment. It looked to be a wild night of debauchery.


    A group of women chattered as they walked past, excitedly discussing the nobles whose attention they had caught. Gu Shenwei had nowhere to hide so he just stood at his original position and pretended to guard the Meng¡¯ residence. He gazed the little boats floating at the centre of theke.


    ¡°Hey, Yang Huan, why are you here?¡±


    Someone had recognized him. Gu Shen turned his head, saying, ¡°Oh, nothing. It¡¯s chaos inside and I¡¯m technically not a guest.¡±


    Xu Yanwei was covered in a piece of thin clothing. Her face seemed redder than usual, which could be because of too much powder or from performing too hard. She replied, ¡°That¡¯s true. You must have felt ufortable watching the others choosing women. If you want, I can y with you.¡±


    Xu Yanwei batted her eyshes andughed. She was in a good mood and did not care about the killer¡¯s gloomy appearance. She asked, ¡°Did you see me just now?¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. He really had not seen her and all the women looked simr. It was difficult to distinguish each of them. Although admittedly, he was a man just like any other and it was difficult to pay attention to only the face.


    ¡°Master Wei had taken a fancy to me. I dare say that he will sleep with me tonight. Yang Huan, lets meet again at Central in.¡±


    Xu Yanwei spun around, not caring that her body was bare under the moonlight. Laughing, she left. She was one step closer to reaching her goal and had even dared to call Mr. Huan by name.


    This prostitute with the tragic backstory was certainly optimistic. Gu Shenwei looked at her retreating back and couldn¡¯t help butugh. However, he didn¡¯t believe that Wei Lingmiao would take her with him when he returned to Central in. That Master was a womanizer and he surely would not be enamoured by a prostitute


    The ruckus from the hall became louder, as though some noblemen¡¯s lusts could no longer be contained. The sound was simr to what one heard along Pleasure Alley.


    The sounds of animals in the heat. Servants rushing around. The chilld of the moonlit air. The ethereal beauty of holy lotus flowers. Gu Shenwei felt like he was standing between the two contrasting worlds. He missed his de and sword. It was forbidden to bring weapons into the Bodhi Garden and he crouched, rubbing des of grass between his finger, as if trying to conjure something out of nothing.


    ¡°A bunch of fools¡±, azy voice said. This man leaned against the fence as he sized up the young killer.


    Gu Shenwei was taken by surprise and did not know how to respond to Master Wei. He hesitated for a moment, dipped his head and said, ¡°Master Wei, why did youe out alone?¡±


    ¡°No reason¡±, Wei Lingmiao replied as he pursed his lips and whistled, signalling the little boat in the centre of theke. He said, ¡°It had been years since I came here. I thought there would be new people in Jade City but it looks like nothing has changed. Even though the people are different, they still use the same old tricks. Prostitutes nowadays are not as hardworking as those in the past.¡±


    ¡°Master Wei had seen much. Surely you would obviously not be attracted to these cheap tricks¡±, Gu Shenwei said. He thought Xu Yanwei would feel disappointed.


    ¡°Cheap tricks can be alluring but only in moderation. Few women knew this and even fewer men. Everyone is just wasting their live, just like pigs and dogs.¡±


    Gu Shenwei found that he could not maintain a conversation with Master Wei. They were on different wavelengths. Fortunately, the boat docked so he need not reply to Master Wei.


    The captain was a young woman dressed in rags. Despite being casually dressed, her familiar smile revealed her true identity. She, too, was from South City.


    Wei Lingmiao went to the pier and boarded the boat with the help of the woman. Then he turned back, ¡°Come with me to and watch the moon. Let us stay far away from them.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± Gu Shenwei replied. Gu Shenwei was only a bodyguard but had had a fortuitous chance of speaking to Master Wei. He felt that he was not worthy to even be invited onto the boat, let alone y on it.


    ¡°Yes, why not? A killer is also a person. Are you not drawn by this beautiful scenery?¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart skipped a beat. There were numerous bodyguards in Bodhi Garden but he was the only killer. Wei Lingmiao must have known his identity when he said that.


    Then, Gu Shenwei remembered the 1.15 million taels and thought that this invitation could be rted to that. Hence, he boarded the boat, preparing to fight it out with Master Wei.


    The young woman pushed the boat from shore and Wei Lingmiao entered the cabin. He then took out a bottle of wine and two ceramic bowls. Half sitting at the bow, he closed his eyes and hummed a little tune.


    Gu Shenwei instinctively took up the bottle and poured the wine into the two bowls. He knelt at the side while waiting for Master Wei to ask him about the money.


    Suddenly, flute sounds could be heard from the stern of the boat. It was in harmony with Master Wei¡¯s humming. Evidently, there was a songstress onboard.


    The boat circled around the reflection of the moon at the heart of theke, disturbing the lilies. They seemed to be shaking their head in dissatisfaction. The music stopped.


    Wei Lingmiao opened his eyes and smiled at the killer. He asked, ¡°How is your owner?¡±


    Gu Shenwei almost punched Wei Lingmiao¡¯s handsome, arrogant face. Master Wei, who came from Central in, had almost became his brother-inw. He had gotten tired of ying with all the prosititutes in Jade City and he was now interested in Golden Roc Fort Tenth Young Master. To him, the name Gu Cun had probably never existed before.

 Chapter 208

    Chapter 208: Roping in


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Wei Lingmiao had heard of the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s Tenth Young Master. Thest time he visited Jade City, Shangguan Ru had been a teenager, and hence, he had been uninterested. Now that he was back in Jade City, he had heard many stories about Tenth Young Master. He was unconcerned about who would be the Supreme King, but wanted to get to know more about this extraordinary fourteen-year-old ruler of South City.


    ¡°She¡¯s alright¡±, Gu Shenwei replied indifferently. He had worked out a n on how to mention the money, but was not expecting to talk about the Tenth Young Master.


    Wei Lingmiao quirked his lips and smiled. The smile was gentle but mboyant, attracting the nce of the female captain.


    ¡°I have met your master before. During Eighth Young Master¡¯s wedding, she was running around in boys¡¯ clothes because she wanted to see how the bride looked. I wanted to as well and both of us worked together to flip over the bride¡¯s veil before Eight Young Master. However, we failed. Who would have thought that there was another thick veil underneath? Haha.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had not expected Wei Lingmiao to know Shangguan Ru. He replied, ¡°The Eighth Young Master must not have been very happy.¡±


    ¡°Who knows? At that time, the Eight Young Master was socializing with all the big shots from the Western Region and he probably did not even notice us. The Eighth Young Mistress probably didn¡¯t know who we were. Ah, it¡¯s funny to think about it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was fuming. The marriage of Shangguan Nu and the massacre of the Gu family had only been approximately one month apart. The Wei family must have heard of this tragedy but Wei Lingmiao still had the mood to tease the bride.


    ¡°The Eighth Young Mistress still wears a veil¡±, Gu Shenwei replied casually, as if making a side point.


    ¡°I guess her good reputation was overstated. If not, why would the Eighth Young Master rather stay in the desert and not go home? I heard that Shangguan Ru was growing more and more beautiful.¡±


    Hisments seemed lustful. Gu Shenwei was quiet and did not reply. He felt that Shangguan Ru had not changed much. Apart from the fact that she had grown slightly taller, her appearance remained the same.


    Wei Lingmiao smiled again as he picked up the wine jug. He said, ¡°You are a loyal killer.¡±


    ¡°All killers are loyal.¡± Gu Shenwei replied. Even as he spoke those words, he felt hypocritical. Several of them had discussed how to kill the twins not long ago.


    Wei Lingmiao shook his head and did not say a word. The conversation was still about Shangguan Ru. Wei Lingmiao said, ¡°I saw the Ninth Young Master just now. Both of them are twins but the Tenth Young Master must look different from him by now.¡±


    ¡°Not quite the same.¡±


    Wei Lingmiao looked relieved. ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± He muttered.


    Several small boats approached them. The noblemen in the hall who have discovered that their main guest was missing had caught up.


    ¡°Miao¡¯er, why did you abandon us? The girls are crying.¡± Meng Mingshi said. Meng Mingshi and Wei Lingmiao were like old friends when they first met each other. Meng Mingshi learned from his older brother quickly and called Wei Lingmiao by his nickname.


    ¡°If we were to talk about tears, I believe thiske is filled with women¡¯s tears.¡±


    ¡°Women¡¯s tears? This is a good idea. Let mee back with a whip and I¡¯ll increase the size of theke.¡±


    ¡°Lao Wu, I thought you would be faithful. Weren¡¯t you once deeply in love with a female killer? I have said before, that if there¡¯s a Fifth Young Master in the Meng family, the women will feel blessed. I never thought that you would be so ruthless.¡±


    Meng Mingshi shouted at Shangguan Fei, who was on another boat. ¡°Master, can¡¯t you see? Miao¡¯er is interested in your killer. Give Master Wei your killer as soon as possible.¡±


    Before the arrival of Wei Lingmiao, Gu Shenwei was observing the expressions of the two siblings. Meng Mingshi might have either forgotten about Master Yu or be more mature as he did not show any trace of hatred but instead, acted affectionately to Shangguan Fei.


    Shangguan Fei was afraid of water and held onto the handrail of the boat tightly. He grumbled. ¡°What¡¯s good about a killer? His body is full of scars. Your hands might get hurt touching them.¡±


    Everyone became quiet. No one could tell if the Ninth Young Master was joking or being sarcastic, but everyone startedughing when Wei Lingmiaoughed. The atmosphere eased up.


    At dawn, the party ended. Gu Shenwei did not know which women had got picked to serve Wei Lingmiao. Both he and Shangguan Fei left early.


    Once they reached home, Shangguan Fei sent away all other ves and questioned ve Huan. ¡°Why did hee to you?¡±


    ¡°We were talking casually. We hadn¡¯t talked about much before all of you arrived.¡±


    Shangguan Fei did not really believe ve Huan. Both of them knew each other¡¯s secrets after all and both of them were cautious of the other. He said, ¡°You are a killer. It¡¯s fine if you y sides within these walls, but collude with an outsider, it guarantees your death.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve always been loyal to Golden Roc Fort. My guess is that Master Wei just wanted that ¡®Protective Talisman¡¯.¡±


    Shangguan Fei stopped asking. The one million taels of silver troubled him greatly, as though it was a mountain that was constantly pressing onto him. It was not easy to have got rid of them; he did not want anything to do with them anymore.


    The banquet for receiving Master Weisted for three days and each night was simr. Wei Lingmiao seemed to be uninterested in the money. Instead, he was always looking for opportunities to ask about the Tenth Young Master. However, Gu Shenwei always gave perfunctory responses.


    Wei Lingmiao would probably know that, in order to get close to Shangguan Ru, he would have to get past ve Huan. Thus he was not bothered by the killer¡¯s cold attitude. Instead, he responded with sincerity. On thest day at Bodhi Garden, Master Wei treated Gu Shenwei extremely well.


    After horsing around for three days, Master Wei finally got down to business. Commandant Zhong Heng, who was in charge of the meeting, invited the Ninth Young Master over to discuss a private matter. The Ninth Young Master naturally understood what this private matter was. He calmly admitted the merger of the Horned Dragon Society and Kun Society and mentioned that the Tenth Young Master was calling the shots. Should there be a need to discuss any further, the best person to speak to was killer Yang Huan.


    Just like that, Gu Shenwei had a private meeting with Wei Lingmiao and Zhong Heng in a study in Bodhi Garden.


    ¡°Manager Yang, the day after tomorrow is d-day. I believe the Tenth Young Master has prepared the money.¡± Zhong Heng said frankly.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head and said, ¡°No, you will have to wait for another month.¡±


    Zhong Heng was not easily ruffled and continued smiling. He looked at Wei Lingmiao. That flirtatious master appeared indifferent and was rifling through the books that no one had read before. He did not say a word.


    Zhong Heng shook his head. ¡°Manager Yang, this is not what we have agreed on.¡±


    Gu Shenwei wanted to push the Governor¡¯s boundaries and said, ¡°Well, you can¡¯t say that. At this juncture, I have no other choice. I don¡¯t have enough money and I can¡¯t produce money out of nowhere.¡±


    Zhong Heng¡¯s smile was almost gone. He had made a few deals with the young killer previously, and had even received his monthly basic sry. He felt that Yang Huan was sensible, but he had never thought that Yang Huan would breach a contract. He said, ¡°If the Tenth Young Master has difficulties, we can¡¯t help her either. However, she could ask Stone Castle for help.¡±


    This seemed like a threat. Gu Shenwei yed dumb and replied, ¡°The Tenth Young Master will never ask anyone for help. Either you reduce the amount, or you wait for another month. There¡¯s no other way.¡±


    ¡°Does the Tenth Young Master want this?¡± Zhong Heng asked. He was surprised and angry as Yang Huan had embarrassed him in front of Master Wei.


    ¡°This is all her idea,¡± Gu Shenwei said with certainty. In fact, Shangguan Ru did not even care about this matter at all. ve Huan had been given free rein to handle this issue.


    The atmosphere became still. Gu Shenwei had nned to aggravate the Governor and then observe the reaction of Stone Castle, so that he could find out how the two partiesmunicated. He wanted to know how much influence this obscure Governor had. When the massacre of Gu family had urred, Wei Song had not appeared concerned. There must either have been unforeseen circumstances or some other reason.


    Golden Roc Fort was an organization of killers. In the Gu family massacre, the client that requested the massacre remained unknown. Gu Shenwei felt that the rtionship between Governor, Wei Song, and his family was a major clue.


    Wei Lingmiao suddenly turned around and absently said, ¡°It is usible to wait for another month.¡±


    ¡°Master¡­¡± Zhong Heng said. Even though Zhong Heng would not pocket the bribe, he was subject to the Governor and did not want to bore the me of eding to Gu Shenwei.


    Wei Lingmiao waved his hands as though he knew what he was doing. He said, ¡°But, there are some conditions.¡±


    ¡°What conditions?¡± Gu Shenwei asked coldly.


    Wei Lingmiao coughed sharply and Zhong Heng immediately retreated.


    ¡°You should know what I¡¯m thinking about.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew what he meant but Gu Shenwei did not want to help. Gu Shenwei said, ¡°I¡¯m just a killer. I know nothing except for killing people.¡±


    Wei Lingmiaoughed. He was not as easily provoked as Zhong Heng. ¡°Alright,¡± he said, ¡°we can dy the transaction if you help me kill a person.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± Gu Shenwei asked casually. He had not expected Master Wei to actuallye to him with such a request.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never considered that. Let me think about it. I¡¯ll let you know in two days. I believe that killing people is easy for you, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready all the time.¡± Gu Shenwei said. Though nodding his head slightly, he wished he had a knife with him so that he could have threatened Master Wei for the truth.


    Gu Shenwei returned back to South City, but Xu Yanwei remained at Bodhi Garden. She might have stood a chance of serving Master Wei, but thepetition was fierce. There would be many prostitutes left behind and no one dared to boast that she had captured Master Wei¡¯s full attention.


    Gu Shenwei noticed a carriage in front of the entrance of Kun Society. Several servants were moving presents which were wrapped in silk to the courtyard.


    Apanied by Maid Lotus, Shangguan Ru was practicing her writing in the study. She saw ve Huan entering and asked, ¡°What is going on? Wei Lingmiao has been sending items over everyday. Isn¡¯t he here to ask for money? Why is he being so generous?¡±


    ¡°He likes you, Master.¡± Gu Shenwei answered honestly.


    Shangguan Ru was shocked. Maid Lotus withdrew backward, as if she could blend into the wall and disappear.


    ¡°Bold and shameless fe. Aren¡¯t all the women in Jade City enough for him?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had expected Shangguan Ru to react with such vehemence. Then, an idea sprang up in his mind. ¡°Master Wei will not give up so easily,¡± he said.


    Even though Shangguan Ru had lost her will as a killer, it hardly meant that she was a weak or easily deceived woman. Shemented. ¡°Oh really? Then let¡¯s do something ¡®difficult¡¯ so that he will give up.¡±


    ¡°He is the son of the Governor.¡±


    ¡°So what? I didn¡¯t even want to hand out the ¡®Protective Talisman¡¯. It¡¯s time to teach the father and his son a lesson.¡±


    ¡°It surely is.¡± Gu Shenwei thought. But Gu Shenwei wondered that to what extent the lesson should be.

 Chapter 209 - Seeking an Audience

    Chapter 209: Seeking an Audience


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s threat about teaching the Wei father and son a lesson was merely due to a slip of her tongue. Although the Governor was an insignificant figure, the Central ins that he represented was colossal. This piece of information was undoubtedly known to the Tenth Young Master.


    If it were not for Wei Lingmiao doing something so outrageous, she would have lost her patience.


    The phndering Young Master Wei Lingmiao came to the Stone Castle from tens of thousands of miles away. He did not fancy any of the famous prostitutes in South City; instead, he had fallen for the Tenth Young Master. As if he was obsessed, he had sent presents every day to ask her to grant him an audience. This matter was somehow leaked and was quickly spread throughout the city.


    ¡°You mean the Stone Castle¡¯s Tenth Young Master? The leader of the Leviathan Society? That little devil that kills people without blinking an eye? The Overlord that owns half of the businesses in South City? Please stop joking around.¡±


    This would had been people¡¯s initial reaction.


    ¡°It can¡¯t be wrong. Why don¡¯t you go to to the front gate of the Leviathan Society and see for yourself? Boxes upon boxes of gifts, all the treasures are from the Central ins. It¡¯s a shower of gold, you know? A shower of gold! Even if you gather all of the famous prostitutes in South City together, they wouldn¡¯t even be worth this price.¡±


    The person who spoke these words one day had their tongues cut off. Since then, no one dared topare the Tenth Young Master to prostitutes.


    That day when Wei Lingmiao personally came to visit the Tenth Young Master in South City, many onlookers followed him and were blocking the entire street. Everyone praised in their hearts that this Young Master Wei was truly one of a kind in this world. He had a daring passion and a unique taste. He actually fell in love with not just a female killer, but also the leader of killers.


    The people still remembered thest person who had fallen in love with the female killer. What happened to the Meng¡¯s Fifth Young Master wasn¡¯t worth anyone¡¯s envy. Not only did the women who loved him all died, but also arge sum of money had been squandered away. The money even somehow ended up paying for the wedding dress for the Shangguan family¡¯s twins.


    Young Master Wei¡¯s appearance and demeanor were many levels higher than that of Meng Mingshi; therefore as he arrived on horseback, he was greeted with amotion of praise.


    The guards held the people back and pushed the dense crowd apart to form a narrow passage.


    Wei Lingmiao did not care about the crowd¡¯s gazes and indications. With a pensive smile on his face, he behaved as if he was strolling through the courtyard of his own home. His dismount from his horse was as smooth as floating clouds and as natural as flowing water, prompting cheers from the crowd.


    A personal servant entered to announce his arrival.


    The gatekeepers were shocked by Young Master Wei¡¯s demeanor as they stared at each other uneasily and their smiles became strained.


    Soon, the personal servant was kicked out.


    His whole body was forcibly rushing towards Wei Lingmiao at the gate, one of the gatekeepers reached out and pushed the concealed human figure away, allowing the servant tond safely and then immediately withdrew.


    Wei Lingmiao knocked the fan into the palm of his hand with a sigh before raising his voice and shouted, ¡°Tenth Young Master, an old friend hase for a visit, why note out and meet me?¡±


    Shangguan Ru held a saber with a dissatisfied expression. Under the deterrence of Maid Lotus, she did not charge out to y him. This Young Master Wei was indeed a scoundrel. Brazenly arriving without prior notice, it was as if she was the one waiting for his arrival.


    Gu Shenwei went out to order the machetemen to drive the onlookers away and to persuade Wei Lingmiao to leave. ¡°The Tenth Young Master can¡¯t meet with any guests today. Young Master Wei, please pardon us.¡±


    A small setback could not sway Young Master Wei. ¡°Report this to the Tenth Young Master: From now on, I¡¯lle tomorrow and every day after.¡± Then he vigorous winked at the killer, as if there were some tacit secret.


    Young Master Wei left, but Shangguan Ru¡¯s rage did not diminish. She finally made the resolution to punish this womanizer.


    The next day, Wei Lingmiao came again. This time, the front gate was tightly shut; even servants were refused entry.


    Leaving his gifts at the door, Wei Lingmiao left with a sigh.


    For five consecutive days, Young Master Wei came every single day. Although there were fewer and fewer onlookers, he became more and more spirited; and even his gifts were bing more and more unique. One evening, he also hired a fireworks performance; even those who were located at the top of the Golden Roc Fort towers could see it.


    On the sixth day, Young Master Wei did not show a disheartened expression, but he felt that his life was bing somewhat tedious and some adjustments needed to be made.


    Aside from the Tenth Young Master, which other women in South City were worthy enough for Wei Lingmiao to visit them in person.


    There was only one.


    Not anyone could just summon South City¡¯s top prostitute and treated her like smoke in the air.


    Pleasure Alley has never forced anyone to stay. The prostitutes were regrly rotated in and out; even those who became famous were forgotten. Only Xiao Fengchai had been standing firm as the most famous for the longest time. She also became the leader of the cosmeticmunity within Jade City.


    Those who never had the chance to see Xiao Fengchai would often say, ¡°that prostitute was just ordinary, and she isn¡¯t very young anymore. If it wasn¡¯t for the Meng family¡¯s investments, who would line up for her services? Fame is hard to achieve alone.¡±


    After hearing such words, those who had seen Xiao Fengchai always sneered with a sense of superiority and held their heads high as they took their leave; behaving in an aloof manner in front of their peers.


    Wei Lingmiao had met with Xiao Fengchai before. Thest time he visited the Jade City, he had stayed at Xiao Fengchai¡¯s home for ten days, bing the man who stayed with her the longest. You should know that Xiao Fengchai picked her guests. If she disliked you, even if you offered a fortune, you could only sit with her for a chat and to drink tea; wanting to stay any longer was dependent on one¡¯s nature.


    Therefore, Wei Lingmiao felt thating here would give him greatfort.


    He became unhappy when a maid had made such a distinguished guest like him wait.


    However, Wei Lingmiao quickly rxed because Xiao Fengchai was Xiao Fengchai after all. It was worth the wait. When he first came to visit, he was also not brought upstairs immediately. Like everyone else, he had to go through three trials.


    The first trial was money. Xiao Fengchai picks people, not money. If you want to see her, the mary gift can¡¯t be less than a thousand taels. Adding a few fashionable trinkets would increase your chances. Wei Lingmiao had already prepared a mary donation of three thousand taels with a dozen or so gifts that were rejected by the Leviathan Society as his offering for the first trial.


    The second trial was the person. After drinking tea downstairs for a quarter of an hour, Wei Lingmiao was finally invited to the living area of the second floor. The decoration here was extremely luxurious; rugs from the Western Region, calligraphy paintings from the Central ins, Buddha statues from the Fourth Truths Temple, sandalwood from the Ocean Country¨Ceverything one could wish for was on disy¨Cthere were even a few maids that were national beauties strolling around. If the guests, upon arriving on this floor, revealed even a hint of being dazzled by these things, then they could forget about seeing Xiao Fengchai herself.


    What had Wei Lingmiao not seen before? The decor on this floor was of no interest to him, except for a calligraphy painting. He stood in front of this masterpiece, knowing full well that Xiao Fengchai was watching him closely.


    The third trial was patience. Wei Lingmiao drank tea for another half an hour on the second floor, reluctantly suppressing his frustration. Being treated like any other first-time guest was tolerable, but this was his second time visiting¨Cdid their tender affection from his previous visit mean nothing?


    Wei Lingmiao thought in this heart that a prostitute was just a prostitute after all; forever using the same know-how.


    The wait was finally over when two stunning maids rolled up the beaded curtains, and Wei Lingmiao knew that he could enter.


    The woman sitting by the window was the Xiao Fengchai from his memory. It had almost been three years since he hadst seen her. Even without makeup, her beauty had barely faded. She was wearing an elegant light yellow dress, stilling looking out the window as if she hadn¡¯t heard anyoneing in.


    After smelling the refreshing fragrance in the room, all of Wei Lingmiao¡¯s dissatisfaction immediately vanished, and his heart swayed. ¡°Fengchai¡­ ¡±


    Bang! Wei Lingmiao felt pain from the back of his head before everything went dark. Hisst thoughts were, ¡°Prostitutes are heartless.¡±


    Capturing Wei Lingmiao was no easy task. Coming to a ce such as South City, he had dozens of guards by his side with quite a few experts among them. Without blood sttering the streets, forget about even getting close to this Noble Young Master.


    Since Xiao Fengchai has seen many things in her life, she turned with an apathetic expression on her face. The three young killers did not even phase her. Even during the times of Leviathan Society¡¯s fiercest war, no one dared to run amok at her ce¨Cuntil today.


    ¡°Which one of you is the Tenth Young Master?¡±


    ¡°I am.¡± Shangguan Ru took a step forward. Since the other side has already guessed her identity, there was no need to hide it any longer. She pulled down her mask to show her aggressive appearance. ¡°En, you¡¯re quite a beauty. The rumors were true.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai smiled. ¡°You¡¯re also very beautiful, no wonder Miao¡¯er has been infatuated with you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just his wishful thinking,¡± Shangguan Ru said bitterly.


    The other two killers were still covering their faces; one of them was a woman, and the other was a man. Xiao Fengchai stopped smiling. ¡°Men aren¡¯t allowed in here.¡±


    These words being said by a prostitute was somewhat ironic and hypocritical. However, what Xiao Fengchai said was the truth. These three killers snuck in here from the neighboring Xu Yanwei¡¯s home, which frightened her. At this time, she wanted to end this game.


    Gu Shenwei heard of many rumors from Tie Hanfeng involving Xiao Fengchai. In particr, incidents of her helping the wealthy hide their golds and silvers and could not help suspect that Wei Lingmiao was here for that very purpose.


    ¡°You don¡¯t mind us stealing away your customer, right?¡± Shangguan Ru took a liking to this prostitute, because of her being so cooperative and saving her a lot of trouble.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind, and I don¡¯t want to see him today. I have no taste for insincere guests. Want me to humor him while his heart is somewhere else? I don¡¯t do such things; therefore he¡¯s not my guest. Also, don¡¯t use the word ¡®steal¡¯ because others will misunderstand.¡±


    A naughty smile shed on Xiao Fengchai¡¯s face as if a big sister was having a conversation with her younger sister. Shangguan Ru did not get angry. She also had a smile on her face as she left with the killers and the captive.


    Although Xu Yanwei was still in North City, her bedroom was empty. The distance between Xiao Fengchai¡¯s window and the rear window next door was about ten feet apart. Naturally, this distance was not tricky for killers from the Golden Roc Fort. They used grappling hooks to hook onto the awnings, and with a slight swing, they were inside Xu Yanwei¡¯s home. The security guards on duty were unaware of these events, still envying their master¡¯s luck with women.


    Wei Lingmiao made a few noises as Gu Shenwei put him down on the floor, and was about to wake up.


    This was nned by Gu Shenwei after bribing one of Young Master Wei¡¯s followers and inquired about his hobbies. He concluded that Wei Lingmiao was definitely going to visit Xiao Fengchai.


    Shangguan Ru, Maid Lotus, and ve Huan had waited in Xu Yanwei¡¯s home for three days, just for this opportunity.


    ¡°What now?¡± Gu Shenwei asked as he and Maid Lotus stared at Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Ru was holding her saber, but she did not want to kill anyone, and she had no ns to kill anyone. ¡°This person is filthy, so he really needs a good wash.¡±


    Wei Lingmiao woke up and groaned. He opened his eyes but discovered that a ck cloth was covering them, and his mouth was stuffed with a rag. He became very frightened, thinking that he hade to Jade City in pursuit of ambitious ns but he would only end up being killed for no apparent reason while in a brothel?

 Chapter 210 - Picking Lotuses

    Chapter 210: Picking Lotuses


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Wei Lingmiao had been thoroughly washed, but it was unclear if he was cleaner than before.


    Tied to a log, and floating down the river. His eyes covered, and mouth stuffed; unable to see nor call out for help. He didn¡¯t know where he was, and could only to feel water all around him. It seemed as if he would be washed off the cliff at any moment. The guards finally discovered the Governor¡¯s son in the river and anxiously jumped in to save him.


    Wei Lingmiao had suffered quite an ordeal and luckily returned to North City safe and sound. After calming his nerves, he dered the adventure to be a mere lovers¡¯ quarrel. ¡°¡®The falling flowers are yearning for love, but the heartless brook ripples on.¡¯ This old line isn¡¯t untrue at all.¡±


    Those who wanted tough at him were thoroughly impressed. They thought that Young Master Wei was indeed one of a kind, and Stone Castle¡¯s Tenth Young Master was merely spoiling the fun.


    Even if Young Master Wei never saw the real abductors with his own eyes, and also as Xiao Fenchai imed she had no rtions with the culprits that broke into her home, every resident of Jade City knew the truth full well.


    Wei Lingmiao forgave the Tenth Young Master, but he severely punished his guards. For dozens of guards to not notice their master abducted was of the highest negligence of their duties.


    Now he had a new n: to protect his own safety and to get closer to the Tenth Young Master, Wei Lingmiao used his deep connections and influence within the Roc Fort to put in a request for a killer to join his security detail¨Cprecisely the killer, Yang Huan.


    Of course, Shangguan Ru refused the request. ¡°He knows that you participated in his abduction, he must be using this ploy to exact his revenge.¡±


    ¡°Before the one million or so taels of silver arrive, he wouldn¡¯t do anything to me.¡± Gu Shenwei was willing to ept the request because he knew that there was some valuable information he could get out of Young Master Wei.


    The first thing Wei Lingmiao said after seeing the killer was, ¡°Who else better to protect me from killers than a killer?¡±


    ¡°One¡¯s status is more useful than a killer,¡± Gu Shenwei replied indifferently. If Wei Lingmiao were not the son of the Governor, his corpse would have sunk to the bottom of that river by now.


    Wei Lingmiao did not mind the killer¡¯s retort, for he had a purpose of his own: ¡°With the Tenth Young Master¡¯s most trusted killer by my side, the littledy would not dare to y any more tricks on me,¡± he thought.


    Gu Shenwei became Wei Lingmiao¡¯s temporary personal bodyguard. His first task was to escort Young Master Wei to pay a visit to all the big shots all over North City. During the day, Young Master Wei was refined and courteous with an elegant demeanor; while in the evening, he went to South City to fool around¨Ccharging through the brothels and forcing himself on the prostitutes, even those who were already entertaining other guests. Furthermore, he persistently brought gifts to the Leviathan Society every day to woo the Ten Young Master.


    Gu Shenwei only understood one thing: Wei Lingmiao didn¡¯t have any specific preferences in women. He was merely an enthusiastic collector, in search of all the unique treasures he could find; ranging from their height to their sizes, even from their beauty to their wealth. He wanted to explore them all.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s hatred grew deeper and deeper for this person who had almost be his brother-inw.


    Although he never had a chance to bring up the past, he never thought that Wei Lingmiao would take the initiative to do so.


    After not being able to see the Tenth Young Master for a while, a few days before deciding to leave Jade City, Wei Lingmiao decided to pay a visit to the Four Truths Temple; to burn incense and pray to Buddha for a spiritual wish. He disappeared for the entire day; he did not drink alcohol, or sleep with any women. After bathing in several incense baths, his whole temperament had gone through a transformation; seemingly spiritless, gaining solemnity, and even had a trace of extraordinary refinement.


    That evening in the Bodhi Garden, Wei Lingmiao sat quietly under the pavilion admiring the moon. The only person with him was the killer, Yang Huan. He had not spoken for a while, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he asked a very unexpected question, ¡°Rumor has it that you have a sword, and on its hilt is engraved a woman¡¯s name.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s of no significance.¡± Gu Shenwei slightly bowed. There was indeed the character ¡°Yun¡± carved on the hilt of his sword, and it was the name Maid Lotus had before she became a ve. The two used this method to avert the eyes and ears of others, discreetly.


    ¡°Hey, whatever reason it may be, even if you admit to it or not, maybe you haven¡¯t discovered it yet; it¡¯s still significant.¡± Young Master Wei was seemingly more energetic discussing love and woman. ¡°For example: for the person you think you love; you¡¯re willing to go through innumerable trials and hardships for them, to loseplete interest after. And the person you¡¯ve been trying your hardest to forget is always showing up in your sights, even in your dreams, and unable to tell if she is there or not.¡±


    Gu Shenwen could not understand Wei Lingmiao¡¯s feelings at all. He felt that he had no such conflicting emotions. Love is love, and hate is hate; they arepletely distinct. <em>¡°The Tenth Young Master is probably not fond of these words.¡±</em>


    <em></em>


    ¡°Haha, you¡¯re indeed loyal. I wasn¡¯t talking about her, but thinking how the current The Young Master is quite cute, but also fierce. Maybe like other women after marriage, she¡¯ll be ¡®like a little bird that rests on a man.''¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not answer and gazed upon theke.


    Wei Lingmiao kept staring at him, ¡°You know, I should hate you.¡±


    ¡°I was only following orders.¡± Gu Shenwei thought that Young Master Wei was holding a grudge for the abduction.


    ¡°No, that was just a harmless joke. Don¡¯t worry about it. Were you born in the Golden Roc Fort?¡±


    ¡°No, I entered the Roc Fort only a few years ago.¡±


    ¡°Then you must know that the Golden Roc Fort killed a family named Gu.¡±


    ¡°Sounds familiar.¡± Gu Shenwei nearly choked as he answered.


    ¡°The Gu family¡¯s daughter was my fiancee, and we were supposed to wed in a few months. I¡¯ve always thought that if she were still alive, I¡¯d be apletely different person than I am now. I¡¯m not saying I wouldn¡¯t like other women anymore, just that I¡¯d be more responsible and know what I want. She was a good girl; dignified and sincere since her youth, and also kind-hearted. I¡¯ve never met anyone like her since.¡±


    Wei Lingmiao confided in an unfamiliar person, who was also a killer, with these words that seemed to have been lying within his heart for a very long time. Seemingly disheartened with a bit of anger, his gaze on the killer sharpened. ¡°Golden Roc Fort killed my woman; not only do I not seek revenge, I cozy up with them. Don¡¯t you think I¡¯m a joke? Must killers take revenge as well?¡±


    ¡°Killers do not take revenge, only kill.¡± Gu Shenwei forced himself to calm down with an old saying of the Stone Castle . Like any other old saying, you can deceive anyyman.


    Wei Lingmiao recited the sentence twice, appearing to have yielded sentiment. He then smiled, ¡°Revenge is to have your enemy feel pain, but to be killed without pain, isn¡¯t that right?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s agitation within the depths of his heart was bing more and more violent. If not for the many years of suspicion within the Stone Castle, he would¡¯ve confessed everything.


    The Wei family had intentions of revenge. Gu Shenwei understood this through Wei Lingmiao¡¯s implications. However, he did not understand the reason why the man had said all of this for him to hear. He was a killer of the Golden Roc Fort and was one of Young Master Wei¡¯s ¡°targets¡± for revenge.


    ¡°You¡¯re a special killer.¡± Wei Lingmiao seemed to be roping in the killer, and gradually nearing the real topic of interest. ¡°Commander Zhong has said many things of you.¡±


    ¡°Commander Zhong overpraised, I can¡¯t even assemble a ¡®Protective Talisman.''¡±


    ¡°A trivial matter.¡± Wei Lingmiao shook his head, ¡°You have your own beliefs, unwilling to be strung along by others. Moreover, you¡¯re always thinking on your feet; this is true ability. A person like you ought to be exercising your talents on a much bigger stage.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly realized that Young Master Wei¡¯s whole purpose was not to get close to the Tenth Young Master but to convince and recruit killers to rebel against the Stone Castle. Had the Wei family really been quietly preparing to take revenge for the Gu family? ¡°The Stone Castle is big enough for me, as a killer.¡±


    Gu Shenwei decided to feign ignorance, and Wei Lingmiao did not attempt to dig any deeper. Instead, he changed the topic with some misceneous small talk, even speaking of the next day¡¯s trip to the Four Truths Temple. ¡°Killer, pick some lotus flowers on my behalf. I want to give them to myte fiancee; her ashes rest within the temple. This is the only thing I can do for her at this time.¡±


    There was a hint of ridicule in Wei Lingmiao¡¯s tone, and Gu Shenwei did not like it. However, hearing the whereabouts of her sister¡¯s ashes caused his heart to skip a beat. ¡°You should bring her back to the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°Then she wouldn¡¯t be able to see the things I¡¯ll do in Jade City.¡±


    The conversation came to an end. Gu Shenwei no longer inquired, and Wei Lingmiao no longer exined.


    Young Master Wei and the killer¡¯s thoughts were not so different from the beginning; this man still loved his sister and had never forgotten in these three years, continuing to plot his revenge.


    The influence of the Central ins was powerful, but it was beyond the reach of Jade City. There were only a hundred garrison troops stationed in the city, symbolically meaningless, and not a single soldier more for thousands of miles. Gu Shenwei understood the difficulties of the Wei¡¯s father and son at the time. Wei Song was the Governor, so he naturally could not act on his personal feelings, just like Gu Shenwei himself, who had to change his name and live in shame before he¡¯s gained any strength to exact revenge.


    <em>¡°What methods will Wei Lingmiao use for revenge? He doesn¡¯t know kung fu, so he could only rely on the Central ins. If only the Central ins would send their soldiers.¡± </em>Gu Shenwei contemted more and more until he felt waves of emotions surging within; deciding to clear up this matter before Young Master Wei left.


    The next day, Wei Lingmiao led an immense force out of the city toward the Fourth Truths Temple, followed by Commandant Zhong Heng. He was probably ordered to purposely approach the killer and strongly suggesting that they have a chat in private.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s suspicions had doused his enthusiasm. Governor Wei Song was retiring from office and Young Master Wei wanted to use this sudden turn of events to try and bribe the killers from Stone Castle. However, this was no easy task. He must be careful with his family¡¯s ns for revenge and not risk any chance of exposing himself.


    Only a handful of people could enter the Four Truths Temple. Gu Shenwei took out a four-colored lotus flower he picked and stayed outside the mountain gate with the other guards. He kept thinking of the words that Young Master Wei said over and over.


    ¡°Amitabha, benefactor, you havee.¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned around in surprise and saw a lofty monk. Heter recognized that this was Monk Lianye, who was highly skilled in kung fu. Usually, he did not separate from his senior, Lianhua, so seeing him alone was a rare asion.


    ¡°Monk, how are you?¡±


    ¡°Not good, not good. Senior brother is bed-ridden, how can I be good?¡±


    ¡°Master Lianhua is sick?¡± Gu Shenwei had entrusted the great monk to trante the <em>Death Scriptures </em>, however he had forgotten about this matter. He did not expect the monk¡¯s death to near so soon. Unfortunately, there was no one else in this world that could read the scriptures except for him.


    ¡°Yes, benefactor, follow me. If you ept senior brother as your master, you can practice the <em>Breaking Obsession </em>and remove your killing desire; fulfilling these two masters¡¯ wishes.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I have matters to attend to and cannot leave.¡±


    Lianye roared and frightened all the guards around; causing everyone to think that he was an eminent monk of the temple. No one dared to step forward to calm him.


    ¡°He¡¯s almost dead, what else is more important? Follow me.¡±


    Lianye suddenly took action; Gu Shenwei had prepared for it. However, he did not carry his usual saber this time. The saber he borrowed temporarily took a bit of getting used to and was slow. The monk¡¯s kung fu still surpassed his imagination. With one finger, he sessfully blocked his acupoint.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s body slumped and was already on the monk¡¯s shoulders. Lianye pushed the crowd away, and with giant strides, he ran towards the top of the hillside of the temple.


    All of the guards were dumbfounded, and no one stepped forward to intervene. Instead, they all whispered to each other and felt that killers of the Golden Rock Fort were nothing more than this.

 Chapter 212 - Decoding the Scripture

    Chapter 212: Decoding the Scripture


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Killing someone in a real-lifebat was very different from fighting against someone during a kung fu contest. For example, in a real fight, an ordinary guy motivated by a strong desire to kill would probably seed in assassinating an unprepared kung fu master.


    On the contrary, without a killing intent, even a seasoned killer would appear mediocre during kung fu techniquepetition. Gu Shenwei did not intend to kill Lianye and thus easily got caught by the monk.


    The monk carried the killer on his shoulder and ran toward Leftslope Vihara. Gu Shenwei looked at the ground with a wry smile on his face. He knew that it was useless to reason with Lianye since this monk was a little bit insane. He was confident that once he met Lianhua, he would be able to find a way to talk himself out of trouble.


    After Tiger Monk¡¯s death, the monks of Four Truths Temple had worked hard to purify this vihara and appease Tiger Monk¡¯s soul.


    However, when Gu Shenwei reopened his meridian pointed by Lianye and got into Lianhua¡¯s meditation room, he was greatly surprised to see that the tiger, which had eaten half of Tiger Monk¡¯s body, returned to this ce.


    At this moment, it was lying on its stomach like a cat, with its mouth open and its tongue hanging out.


    Beside the tiger sat a dried-up corpse.


    It seemed to be Lianhua¡¯s corpse. Gu Shenwei was pretty sure that this man had died a long time ago.


    He ced his hand on his saber shaft and thought, <em>¡°Lianye forced me to take a dead man as my teacher. He must be crazy. It¡¯s useless to talk to such a lunatic. It looks like I can only kill him to get out of here.¡±</em>


    Lianye did not notice what the young killer was doing. He directly went over to kneel in front of Lianhua and said respectfully, ¡°Brother Lianhua, I bring the boy to you. He¡¯s willing to be a monk and take you as his teacher. We can fulfill Lianxin¡¯s wish now.¡±


    Gu Shenwei inhaled shallowly and tightly held his saber shaft. When he was about tounch an attack, the dried-up corpse suddenly opened his eyes and eximed, ¡°It¡¯s so difficult. Why do I get stuck? What goes wrong with this method?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was stunned at the sight. He had seen countless dead bodies but had never seen anyone like this monk before. He found it hard to believe that someone that skinny was still alive.


    Upon hearing Lianhua¡¯s reply, Lianye, who was a very tall and strong man, began crying like a baby. Lianhua remained unmoved. He picked up a paper beside him and meditatively looked at the red characters on it.


    Gu Shenwei pulled Lianye up from the floor and signaled the monk to talk with him outside the vihara.


    Lianye followed the young killer outside and told the killer what had happened to Lianhua.


    ¡°Not long after you wrote down Death Scripture with blood and gave it to Brother Lianhua, he decoded it with the help of the notes left by Tiger Monk, but the first decoded version didn¡¯t make much sense. He continued to work on it for some time and sessfully decoded the first 1,000 characters of the scripture. However, the remaining part of it was difficult, especially thest 1,000 characters. Master Lianhua got stuck there and then he read Lianxin¡¯s notes again and again and often missed meals and sleep,¡± said Lianye.


    ¡°One day, he suddenly told me that it was a sin for a monk to be so obsessed with a non-Buddhist scripture. He asked me to stay away from him and recited Breaking Obsession and some other Buddhist scriptures all night long. At that time, I thought he decided to give up studying Death Scripture, but the next day, I saw that he picked up the scripture again while calling it Nanke Goes Woodchopping. Since that day, he¡¯s been studying the scripture at daytime and repenting his sin at night. Gradually, he bes thinner and thinner from overwork andck of rest.¡±


    <em>¡°Lianhua is such a doctrinaire person. Why does he have to torture himself like that? If he wants to study Death Scripture, he can focus on studying it. If he thinks it¡¯s wrong to do so, he can give up,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei said in his heart.


    Right at this moment, Commandant Zhong came to Leftslope Vihara. He heard that the killer had been carried away by a monk and came here to check the situation.


    He greeted Lianye politely and then chatted casually with the monk for a moment. After ensuring that the killer did not get into trouble, he said goodbye to them and left the ce.


    Lianye had never met Commandant Zhong. He thought that this man was just an ordinary pilgrim and hurriedly sent the man away. After that, he continued to force the young killer to be a monk.


    ¡°I want to read the decoded scripture first,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Come on, boy. You won¡¯t understand it. Even brother Lianhua can¡¯t decipher the meaning of it,¡± said Lianye.


    Despite that, the monk still went back into Lianhua¡¯s meditation room and took out several papers, which were filled with small, closely-written characters. Gu Shenwei received the papers and then sat on the ground to read them.


    He was very familiar with the openning sentences in the scripture: ¡°The soul rises to the Ninth Heaven, and the spirit falls to the Ninth Abysse. The living suffer in grief, and the dead settle in peace.¡± The following 300 to 400 characters were simr verses about death. After these verses came a part borating the sword technique.


    Gu Shenwei was very surprised to discover that both his and Maid Lotus¡¯ understanding of the swordcraft were correct. ording to the scripture, there were altogether 29 different ways to interpret and master the Death Scripture. Unlike Immortal Peng¡¯s Secrets of Love, which was different types of kung fu patched together, all the 29 ways mentioned in Death Scripture focused on swordcraft.


    The scripture required the practitioners of the sword craft to improve their skills by killing opponents who were at least as strong as themselves. It also warned that if a practitioner failed to kill a person as strong as himself within a year, he would be harmed by his own killing intent, and that if he failed to so do for a longer time, he would lose his mind andmit suicide.


    The way to ¡°invincibility¡± was also the way to ¡°self-destruction¡±. A practitioner of this sword craft might sooner orter reach a state where he had to kill an opponent who was strong as himself to prevent his own killing intent from hurting himself but was unable to find such a rival.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus were far from reaching such an invincible state, but they were killers who had lots of opportunities to kill people and improve their sword skills. ording to the scripture, such rapid progress would do them more harm than good.


    The scripture suggested the practitioners gradually improve their sword technique by killing one person a year. In this way, the practitioners needed 50 or even 60 years to master the technique, but once they seeded, their killing intent would never be able to do much harm to their bodies anymore.


    After reading this part, Gu Shenwei sneered and thought, <em>¡°No wonder that book was thrown off the cliff. The one who invented this swordcraft and wrote this book probably had some sinister motives. If he put his suggestion and the side effect of this sword craft in the beginning part of the book, no one would be interested in practicing it. Everyone who learns kung fu wants to improve his skills rapidly. Otherwise, how can he protect himself and kill his enemies during real fights? If he can only slowly upgrade his skill year by year, he¡¯ll probably get killed within a few years. What a ridiculous suggestion.¡±</em>


    In the meantime, Gu Shenwei also felt a little sad. He found out that besides the Peripheral Force inside his body, the swordcraft that he practiced could also lead to early death.


    He guessed that he might be doomed to perish together with his enemies. <em>¡°s, that¡¯s perhaps the ¡®Will of the Divine¡¯,¡± </em>he sighed in his heart.


    Gu Shenwei continued to read the remaining part of the decoded scripture, but thest part had so many errors that it did not make any sense. Given that, he stopped reading and began to meditate, with each of his hands grabbing a few pages of the scripture.


    Towards evening, he suddenly stood up and walked back into Lianhua¡¯s meditation room, leaving Lianye standing dumbfounded outside.


    Lianhua and the young killer talked for a long time inside the room. Inspired by the notes left by Immortal Peng, Lianhua finally found a way to decipher thest part of the scripture.


    Surprisingly,pared to Lianhua and Lianxin, who had studied Death Scripture for years, the dead immortal seemed to have a much deeper understanding of the scripture. Although Immortal Peng had not deciphered the whole scripture, he had written down some notes exining how to decode it.


    Gu Shenwei felt so lucky that he had kept these notes left by Immortal Peng and always carried them with himself.


    These notes, which were above the killer¡¯sprehension, enlightened Lianhua.


    The young killer was pretty sure that he could not offer any help other than giving Lianhua Immortal Peng¡¯s notes, so he left the meditation room to avoid disturbing the monk. He prayed that in thest part of the scripture, he would find another method which could be used to prevent the side effect of practicing the swordcraft.


    Seeing Lianhua engrossed in decoding the scripture again, Lianye felt worried. He knew it was impossible to persuade Lianhua to give up the job, so he put all the me on the killer.


    Gu Shenwei gave no response to Lianye. He just paced back and forth, absorbed in thought. <em>¡°Is this sword craft really that powerful? Is it true that the one who masters it will find no match for himself in the entire world and thus can only kill himself? All the authors of kung fu manuals like to brag. Maybe the description of the swordcraft in Death Scripture is also exaggerated.¡±</em>


    After a while, the tiger walked out of the meditation room and yawned. Lianye took out some buns from his pocket in the front of his shirt and threw them to it. It chewed and swallowed down the buns listlessly, evidently getting bored with this a kind of food.


    ¡°Wow, there¡¯s really a tiger in here.¡±


    Wei Lingmiao said while standing at a distance and being followed by seven or eight armed guards who were on full alert.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make any noise here. Master Lianhua is meditating,¡± Lianye shouted at Wei Lingmiao. He did not know or care if the young man was the Governor¡¯s son.


    Wei Lingmiao did not want to make a fuss over such a trifle with a monk. He beckoned the killer toe over and said, ¡°You¡¯ve been absent from work for quite a long time.¡±


    ¡°Master Wei, please forgive me. I was¡­¡±


    ¡°I was kidding. Don¡¯t take it seriously. I¡¯ll go back to Jade City tomorrow morning. I have to get ready to leave this city. Do you still remember what you¡¯ve promised me?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Wei Lingmiao had permitted the Kun Society to turn in its ¡°Protective Talisman¡±te in exchange for Yang Huan assassinating a person for him, but he never said who he was nning to kill.


    ¡°Good. Come to find me when you return to the city. You know, you¡¯ve another option.¡± With these words, Wei Lingmiao winked at the killer and went down the hill smilingly. Gu Shenwei knew that the other option mentioned by Master Wei was helping him meet Shangguan Ru.


    Gu Shenwei felt that he had better leave together with Master Wei to show his loyalty. Besides, he also wished to figure out what Master Wei was thinking. Nevertheless, after a moment¡¯s hesitation, he still decided to stay, since his top priority now was to discover the true meaning of Death Scripture.


    When it was getting dark, Lianye shooed the tiger back into the room as if shooing a chicken. ¡°Go back into the room. It¡¯s dark now. You coward, even a bird scares you so much. Who says that you¡¯re the king of animals.¡±


    ¡°What bird?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    ¡°The big bird from Golden Roc Fort. It appeared again and killed many animals. It also ate two monks. It¡¯s such a pity that I never got a chance to fight it,¡± Lianye snorted and said.


    Upon hearing that, Gu Shenwei looked up into the night sky searching for the giant red-crowned roc. He really missed his old friend.


    To his disappointment, the bird did not show up that night, but the next morning, he received good news from Lianhua. The monk had corrected all the errors in thest part of the scripturest night. When the monk asked Lianye to bring him some porridge while holding the doorframe with shivering hands, Gu Shenwei started to read thest part which had more than 5,000 characters.


    After reading that part, Gu Shenwei understood why Kang Wenhui had mistaken Death Scripture for Wayless Book when she heard thest lines of the scripture at Leftslope Vihara. Those lines turned out to be the opening lines of the Wayless Book. He also discovered that besides improving their skills too fast, he and Maid Lotus had made another big mistake in practicing the swordcraft. It turned out that they had started to practice it too early.


    Thest part of the scripture exined that besides improving the sword skill year by year, there was another way for practitioners of the sword technique to avoid being harmed by their own killing intent. This way was mastering Wayless Qigong, an Internal Strength technique recorded in Wayless Book. Wayless Qigong was the basis of the swordcraft. It would not do a practitioner any harm if he only practiced Wayless Qigong, but it would be really dangerous if he practiced the sword craft before mastering the Internal Strength technique.


    Gu Shenwei felt great. Thanks to the Barren Sect, he had already known where Wayless Book was.

 Chapter 213 - Trust

    Chapter 213: Trust


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei had lots of things to do today. He could only handle them one by one.


    He rapidly rode back to Jade City and went directly to the Kun Society to report to Shangguan Ru. After that, he had a private conversation with Maid Lotus.


    When he told her everything about the side effect of practicing the swordcraft recorded in the Death Scripture, Maid Lotus was shocked, but still optimistic. ¡°Wayless Book, Wayless Book, we can save ourselves, if we manage to get the book. Wayless Qigong may even help us get rid of Mama Xue¡¯s Peripheral Force,¡± she said excitedly.


    ¡°Oh, yes! Why hadn¡¯t I thought of it?¡± Gu Shenwei eximed, when he remembered that Mama Xue had also injected Peripheral Force into Maid Lotus and given her only three years to live.


    The Internal Strength technique depicted in Wayless Book was the basis for the swordcraft recorded in Death Scripture. In the meantime, it also seemed to be of great importance to the other kung fu skills.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus guessed that the Barren Sect¡¯s qigong and the qigong technique that the Golden Roc Fort taught its killers were both derived from Wayless Qigong, but the Barren Sect did not have aplete copy of Wayless Book. They believed that this was why the sect was so keen on stealing the book.


    Kang Wenhui, Managing Master of the Barren Sect, had once told them that there were only two ways to remove Mama Xue¡¯s Peripheral Force from their bodies. The first one was that Mama Xue herself removed the force from them, which was impossible since she was dead. The second one was mastering the Barren Sect¡¯s qigong. Once their own Internal Strength was stronger that Mama Xue¡¯s, they would be able to drive Mama Xue¡¯s Peripheral Force out of their bodies.


    They thought that if they guessed right, by mastering Wayless Qigong, they would be able to get rid of the Peripheral Force, which put heavy pressure on them. This thought thrilled them.


    They knew where Wayless Book was. In fact, it was not a written text. It was stored in a man¡¯s brain, and the man was the temple guard of Six Kills Temple. Gu Shenwei had met him once. If they want to get Wayless Book, they had to find a way to make the temple guard recite the book to them.


    The teenagers were eager to return to the fort to get Wayless Book, but as Master Ru¡¯s killers, they could not return to the fort before Master Ru¡¯s one-year probationary period concluded. They felt anxious since they would be killed by the Peripheral Force inside their bodies before Master Ru¡¯s trial period was over.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus forced themselves to calm down. They kept telling themselves that they still had enough time to figure out a solution. After a while, Gu Shenwei decided to leave for Bodhi Garden, and Maid Lotus promised him that she would try to persuade Master Ru toe back to Golden Roc Fort once she got a chance.


    Upon realizing that Wayless Qigong might be able to cure his qigong deviation, Gu Shenwei was overjoyed. A few months ago, he had thought that he could at most kill a few young masters of the Shangguan family, but now he believed that he would have ample time to totally destroy the Golden Roc Fort.


    <em>¡°Golden Roc Fort murdered my entire family, so I have to make the whole Shangguan family pay with their lives. I¡¯ll kill them all.¡± </em> Gu Shenwei walked out of the gate, deeply absorbed in thought. Xu Xiaoyi, who had waited outside the Kun Society for the killer for a long time, hurriedly came to him.


    ¡°Brother Huan, help me. I¡¯m worried to death,¡± the boy said anxiously.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m worried about my sister. Since she entered Bodhi Garden, she¡¯s never contacted me.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Perhaps she¡¯s just too busy,¡± Gu Shenwei replied. He had met Xu Yanwei on the first night of the weing party for Master Wei.


    ¡°No, no, I don¡¯t feel quite right. Brother Huan, didn¡¯t you ask her to collect information for you? She promised me that she woulde to the city gate to give me a letter or tell me some information every three days. However, she¡¯s never showed up or sent anyone to deliver a letter to me in the past 10 days.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not know what Xu Yanwei had been doing recently, but he could hear the sounds of revelry inside Bodhi Garden every night. He thought that she might be alright, so he promised Xu Xiaoyi. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll go to Bodhi Garden to look for her.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi still looked nervous, which aroused Gu Shenwei¡¯ suspicion. <em>¡°Xu Xiaoyi and his sister are very crafty. Are they plotting something behind me again?¡± </em>Gu Shenwei wondered. ¡°Xiaoyi, what¡¯re you worrying about?¡± he asked.


    ¡°s, it¡¯s my fault. I failed to dissuade her from doing that. Brother Huan, you know it. My sister is best at¡­ that thing,¡± Xu Xiaoyi said, his hands trembling.


    Upon hearing that, Gu Shenwei realized what made Xu Xiaoyi feel so uneasy. Xu Yanwei was good at ying a masochist. She had been forced by Pot-bellied Buddha to sleep with some sadists to make money. This was the main reason behind the siblings¡¯ decision to kill their own father.


    ¡°She wants to leave with Master Wei so badly. She said she would get the opportunity to go to the Central in at all costs. I¡¯m afraid that she¡­ tried too hard. Or, some young master got excessively abusive when he got drunk. Such idents happened before. Most prostitutes of Pot-bellied Buddha died because of these idents. You know, there are many weird guys in Jade City, and the young masters in North City love to try all kinds of new tricks¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll find your sister. I promise,¡± Gu Shenwei interrupted Xu Xiaoyi. He had asionally heard women screaming during the past days in Bodhi Garden, but he had not heard of any ident yet.


    After saying goodbye to Xu Xiaoyi, Gu Shenwei rode to Bodhi Garden. Before he went to find Xu Yanwei, he had to pay Wei Lingmiao a visit.


    When Gu Shenwei saw Master Wei, the young master and several of his friends were talking about the political situation in Western Region. They ally down on couches, and each of them was apanied by two beautiful maids. A young master could rest his head on thep of a maid while asking the other one to feed him food and drinks. When Wei Lingmiao and his friends sat up and spoke in turn, Gu Shenwei quickly scanned across the scene. He found out that Meng Mingshi was not here. He guessed that was probably because the Fifth Young Master Meng was not interested in such aplicated and boring topic. He also looked at the maids carefully but did not find Xu Yanwei.


    The moment Wei Lingmiao spotted the killer, he just smiled at him while lying on the couch. When it was Master Wei¡¯s turn to speak, he sat up and said, ¡°The kingdoms in the Western Region will never unite together. They can only depend on big countries to ensure their own safety. Now that Nond splits, the Central in will be the greatest power in Western Region.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had once heard a professional counselor analyse the political situation in Weastern Region. He was amazed to discover that the young masters here had simr views. <em>¡°Maybe these young masters aren¡¯t as stupid as I thought,¡± </em>he thought to himself.


    After Wei Lingmiao¡¯s friends departed in thete afternoon, Master Wei ordered all the servants to leave the room and then invited the killer in. ¡°I hope you¡¯re not sickened after hearing such a long and boring conversation. Those guys were nobles exiled from their own kingdoms. They¡¯re eager to reim their domains. I can¡¯t refuse to talk to them,¡± Wei Lingmiao said after a big yawn.


    Upon hearing that, Gu Shenwei just bowed to Master Wei slightly without saying a word. He was well aware that a professional killer should never pry into his client¡¯s personal affairs.


    ¡°How are things going with you and that monk?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡±


    ¡°What did I want you to do? Erm, let me think. Oh, yes, I want you to assassinate a person for me.¡±


    ¡°Master Wei, please tell me who you want to kill. I¡¯m always ready.¡±


    ¡°Um, good. And I don¡¯t want anyone to suspect that the person is murdered.¡±


    ¡°I see. I¡¯ll make the person¡¯s death look like an ident.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡±


    With these words, Wei Lingmiao bent his right leg and then rested his right arm on his right knee. He gently shook a gon in his hand and looked at the killer smilingly for a long time without saying a word.


    Gu Shenwei stood beside him with his head down, waiting patiently for his order.


    ¡°Before you go to kill that person, I want you to do something else for me.¡±


    ¡°Please tell me what it is.¡±


    ¡°Go to talk with Commandant Zhong. You can believe his words. It¡¯s not only his idea, but also what my father and I want you to do.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s sixth sense told him that Wei Lingmiao was brewing a plot, but he still promised to meet Zhong Heng without asking a question.


    ¡°Then you can create an ¡®ident¡¯ to kill him,¡± Wei Lingmiao said casually, as if he was joking.


    ¡°I see,¡± Gu Shenwei replied calmly. He was suspicious about Wei Lingmiao, but as a professional killer, he had to hide all his emotions and thoughts from others.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to ask why I want to kill him?¡± Wei Lingmiao was a little bit surprised by the killer¡¯s reaction.


    ¡°A killer will never ask his client such a question.¡±


    ¡°Do you think that it¡¯s reasonable to kill him in exchange for a month¡¯s dy in turning in the ¡®Protective Talisman¡¯?¡±


    ¡°I can also win your trust, so it¡¯s a reasonable deal.¡±


    Upon hearing that, Wei Lingmiaoughed and sat up on his couch. He slipped his feet into his shoes and scuffed to the killer to pat his shoulder. ¡°You¡¯ll get more trust. It¡¯s not from me, but from a person who¡¯s much more powerful than me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was bewildered by Wei Lingmiao excessively friendly attitude.<em>¡°What does Wei Lingmiao want from me? Evidently, he doesn¡¯t just intend to get close to Shangguan Ru through me. He seems to expect much more than that. Maybe Zhong Heng can tell me what this young master wants. Why does he send Commandant Zhong to talk with me on his behalf when he ns to kill themandant? What did that cunning man do to offend Wei Lingmiao?¡±</em>


    After epting the assassination task, Gu Shenwei told Wei Lingmiao that he wanted to meet Xu Yanwei. Upon hearing this request, Master Wei knitted his eyebrows. He thought for a long time and finally remembered who Xu Yanwei was. After knowing that the killer was the prostitute¡¯s boss, heughed again and walked out of the room while repeatedly saying, ¡°What a perfect match!¡±


    Not long after Wei Lingmiao¡¯s departure, Xu Yanwei came into the room. She was unhurt but looked grumpy. ¡°Why did youe here to find me? Now that Master Wei knows that you¡¯re my boss, he probably won¡¯t bring me to the Central in. All the prostitutes here work hard for the opportunity. Don¡¯t hinder me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never agreed to let you go.¡±


    Upon hearing such a direct refusal, Xu Yanwei regretted being so rude. She always forgot that the youth was a ruthless killer who had mercilessly murdered his own Master Shifu. After realizing that she could not butt heads with this tough young killer, she immediately began to act in a gentle manner. ¡°Mr. Huan, please let me go. What¡¯s the point of keeping me here in South City? Xiaoyi can collect information for you in the city by himself. I¡¯ve earned more than 10,000 taels of silver. I¡¯ll leave all my money to you when I leave the city,¡± she approached the killer and said softly.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want your money. I need your information now.¡±


    ¡°What do you want to know about Master Wei? Don¡¯t tell me that you are interested in all his daily doings.¡±


    ¡°About three years ago, Golden Roc Fort assassinated a family whose surname was Gu. A young woman in the family was Wei Lingmiao¡¯s fianc¨¦e. He was here in Jade City when his fianc¨¦e and her family got ughtered. I want to know why he came here at that time.¡±


    Xu Yanwei nodded and then repeated what the killer had just said to ensure that she got everything right. ¡°Trust me. I¡¯m sure that I can figure it out.¡±


    ¡°Be careful. Don¡¯t arouse his suspicion.¡±


    ¡°Tut, who am I? Please rest assured.¡±


    ¡°Your brother is really worried about you.¡±


    ¡°s, what an impatient boy. Tell him to meet me at the city gate tomorrow.¡±


    After talking with Xu Yanwei, Gu Shenwei went to say goodbye to Wei Lingmiao and then left Bodhi Garden. At night, he went to South City to make some arrangement. It was not an easy job to create a perfect ident to kill someone. People in this city enjoyed gossip and had a sharp nose for conspiracy. He had to make sure that every detail in the ident would withstand close analysis.


    Gu Shenwei believed that the Governor of Jade City, namely Commandant Zhong¡¯s direct supervisor and Wei Lingmiao¡¯s father, would never make trouble for him because of Zhong Heng¡¯s death, since Wei Lingmiao had implied that it was his father¡¯s decision to kill Zhong Heng.


    Personally, he felt reluctant to kill Commandant Zhong, as this shrewd man had taught him many useful things. Compared to Zhong Heng, he distrusted Wei Lingmiao and the Governor even more. He had a strong feeling that they must have something to do with his family¡¯s death.

 Chapter 214 - Cooperation

    Chapter 214: Cooperation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Flowery Pavilion was a low-end brothel. Different from its high-ss counterparts in Pleasure Alley, it kept many cheap prostitutes in the house. Low prices and a wide variety of choices here attracted lots of customers.


    When Zhong Heng came to this ce to meet the killer, Yang Huan, he was also quite satisfied with the services here. Although the prostitutes here were not as good-looking as the ones in Pleasure Alley, he still felt great to have several girls serving him at the same time.


    Commandant Zhong and the two junior officers who followed him spent the whole day drinking and ying inside the brothel. They were leaving Jade City within a few months, so they decided to enjoy themselves in South City as much as possible before leaving their posts.


    In the evening, Zhong Heng sent his officers and prostitutes away and went to have a private conversation with the killer. Commandant Zhong, who always talked in a roundabout way, seem to be pretty straightforward today. ¡°Brother Yang, can I call you like that?¡±


    Zhong Heng had a red face after drinking. He appeared to be slightly drunk and talked to the killer in a warm, friendly tone.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Gu Shenwei replied.


    ¡°When we first met, I knew that you would be a good killer. You¡¯re smart, knowledgeable, and¡­ ambitious.¡±


    ¡°Commandant Zhong, you¡¯re ttering me. I¡¯m just an ordinary killer,¡± Gu Shenwei said smilingly. Everybody in Jade City admired ambitious people, but no one in this city knew this young killer¡¯s true ambition.


    ¡°I told the truth. You¡¯re being too modest.¡± Zhong Heng paused for a moment and then he asked, ¡°Brother Yang, have you ever thought for yourself?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t quite understand your question. Commandant Zhong,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    Zhong Heng approached the killer to whisper beside his ear, ¡°You¡¯ve killed two sons of the Supreme King.¡± Commandant Zhong had already known that it was Yang Huan who had assassinated Shangguan Ruo and helped Shangguan Fei kill Shangguan Chui.


    ¡°It¡¯s not my call. I just carried out my masters¡¯mands.¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    ¡°Huh, brother Yang, you¡¯re a clever person. You should know an old saying: ¡®After the cunning hare dies, the hounds are boiled.¡¯ You do all the dirty jobs for your masters and let them reap all the benefits. However, they¡¯ll probably kill you someday to whitewash their own names,¡± Zhong Heng exined.


    Gu Shenwei knew what Zhong Heng was talking about, but he continued to y dumb. ¡°Fortunately, Golden Roc Fort hasn¡¯t attached any me to me for the death of the two young masters.¡± In fact, Gu Shenwei had to thank the twins for this result. As they were young and immature, it was easy to manipte them. In the Stone Castle, he could not find any other young master like the twins. That was why he felt hesitant to kill them.


    Upon hearing what the killer said, Zhong Heng chuckled to himself for a while, and then he picked up his teacup and took a sip of his tea. ¡°Have you ever noticed anything unusual within Golden Roc Fort during the past few months?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Gu Shenwei felt intrigued and asked.


    ¡°Lady Meng dictates in the fort, the New Moon Hall resurges in the desert and the young masters of the fort have started to kill each other. However, the Supreme King remains aloof from these things. Why?¡± said Zhong Heng.


    When Lady Meng had stricken back at the eldest young master months ago, Gu Shenwei had had the same question in mind. However, as time went by, he gradually got used to the Supreme King¡¯s absence. Zhong Heng¡¯s question aroused his curiosity again. ¡°Commandant Zhong, if you trust me, please tell me what you¡¯ve discovered directly.¡±


    Before telling the killer what he had founded out about the Supreme King, Zhong Heng asked the youth another question. ¡°Brother Yang, can you tell me who your real boss is in the Stone Castle?¡±


    Although Gu Shenwei had worked for many people in the fort in the past, he had never considered anyone of them his real boss. At first, he wanted to make up a story to deceive Commandant Zhong, but after a moment of thought, he gave up on that idea. He was pretty sure that this well-informed man had already known quite a lot about himself. Besides, he thought it was unnecessary to lie to a man who was going to die very soon. ¡°To be frank, I¡¯ve no boss now. It¡¯s not easy for a killer to survive in the fort. I have to find a reliable master for myself,¡± Gu Shenwei said to Zhong Heng.


    ¡°Haha.¡± Zhong Hengughed with satisfaction and then he said with a solemn face, ¡°It¡¯s very wise to choose a master by yourself. However, there are only a few powerful masters. When everyone rushes to seek protection from a great power, you¡¯ve already missed the best chance to pledge loyalty to this power.¡±


    Although this idea was not new to Gu Shenwei, he still thanked Commandant Zhong for this piece of advice.


    ¡°To ensure a bright future for yourself, you have to pay close attention to your current boss. Once he shows a sign of weakness, you¡¯ll have to get ready to find another boss,¡± Zhong Heng said, implying that the Supreme King was not well.


    In Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes, information from Zhong Heng should never be taken lightly. This man was not just amon officer in Jade City. He also gathered intelligence on Western Region for the Central in. ¡°Commandant Zhong, are you saying that¡ª¡±


    ¡°The Supreme King is sick for a long time. He¡¯s stopped managing the Golden Roc Fort sincest winter,¡± Zhong Heng interrupted.


    Gu Shenwei had seen the Supreme King only twice: the first time at the Giant Rock Cliff, and the second time at Shangguan Chui¡¯s funeral. At the cliff, the Supreme King had easily pped a ck-masked assassin to death when he had failed to catch the giant golden-crowned rocs alive. When he had appeared on the funeral surrounded by many killers, he still looked alright.


    ¡°Really?¡± Gu Shenwei asked in surprise. He searched his memory but failed to find any sign that the Supreme King was ill.


    ¡°I need you to verify this information. By doing this thing, you can also help yourself,¡± Zhong Heng said assertively.


    <em>¡°Zhong Heng is a crafty man. He never makes amitment and always gives others dubious replies. Nevertheless, this time he directly said that it was he who needed my help. He sounded so assertive. He must have been speaking on behalf of the Governor,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought to himself. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that I can¡¯t help you. We¡¯re not allowed to gossip about the Supreme King inside the Stone Castle. More importantly, I can¡¯t return to the fort without permission during the Tenth Young Master¡¯s probationary year,¡± he said to Commandant Zhong.


    Zhong Heng lowered his head to blow his tea. ¡°The Tenth Young Master is the Supreme King¡¯s favorite child. Now that her father seems to be ill, she should return to the fort to pay him a visit,¡± Commandant Zhong said casually without looking up.


    <em>¡°Shangguan Ru, again. Obviously, I¡¯m not the only one who ns to use her. She¡¯s fed up with killing and scheming, but as the Supreme King¡¯s daughter, she can never stay away from those things. She probably has never expected that her identity will bring her so much trouble,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought for a while and then said to Commandant Zhong, ¡°That¡¯s not a good idea. It¡¯ll kill me instead of doing me any good.¡±


    Zhong Heng could tell that the killer had already been intrigued, so he continued to persuade him. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about your own safety. Now the political situation in Western Region is different. Golden Roc Fort¡¯s influence on this region is already past its peak, and the Central in will return to Jade City sooner orter. Thirty years ago, this city was our military base, and 10,000 soldiers were stationed here. Now our emperor intends to send an army here to reim this city. Backed by such a great power, you¡¯ve nothing to worry about.¡±


    In Zhong Heng¡¯s view, Yang Huan was the best person for this job. He believed that this killer, who had killed two young masters of the Shangguan family, was eager to seek protection from a power that could resist the Golden Roc Fort. He thought all he needed to do now was to make the killer believe that it was a wise choice to work as a spy for the Central in.


    Gu Shenwei did not mind betraying the Golden Roc Fort at all. He just wanted to make sure that this thing was not a trap. He wanted to see Zhong Heng¡¯s sincerity and also nned to charge more for his service. Given that, he pretended to be hesitant, waiting for Zhong Heng to raise his offer bit by bit.


    After negotiating for an hour, the killer and themandant finally agreed on all the details of the deal. The killer promised to pry into the Supreme King¡¯s health situation, and Zhong Heng assured the killer that he would protect him and give him half of the ¡®Protective Talisman¡¯ that the Kun Society turned in.


    The reason that Gu Shenwei spent so much time talking with Zhong Heng, whom he was going to kill tonight, was that Commandant Zhong¡¯s final offer was the Governor¡¯s final offer. Knowing this, he would be able to further his own interests when he went to negotiate with Wei Lingmiao again.


    He was willing to help all the foes of Golden Roc Fort, but he did not want to passively submit to them. He had to gain the initiative to ensure his own interests.


    After he said goodbye to Zhong Heng at around 9 pm, he deliberately went to talk with the owner of the brothel at the gate and then took a walk on a bustling street, letting many people see him in the street. As he was in charge of the Kun Society¡¯s Outer Hall, many shop owners on the street knew him.


    Toward midnight, he masked his face, jumped onto the roof of a house and sneaked back to the roof top of Flowery Pavilion. He did not tell Shangguan Ru this assassination task, so he had to n and carry it out all by himself.


    As Zhong Heng¡¯s kung fu was just mediocre, Gu Shenwei was confident that he could easily kill him with his bare hands after using some knockout powder on him.


    However, he did not want to kill Commandant Zhong that fast. He wanted to find out what themandant had done to offend Wei Lingmiao.


    The brothel was full of customers at this moment. After waiting on the roof for quite a long time, Gu Shenwei finally identified an opportunity to get down to the ground. As he had already paid the prostitute inside Zhong Heng¡¯s room for leaving the door utched tonight, he easily pushed the door half-open and quickly slipped into the room.


    Everything went as smoothly as he had expected except one thing: Zhong Heng was sitting on the bed instead of lying in it.


    As this room was only dimly lit by light filtering in from the windows, Gu Shenwei could only vaguely see the things inside it.


    ¡°Do youe back to kill me?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°How will I die?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll die from too much sex.¡±


    ¡°Haha, that¡¯s ridiculous. This prostitute is so bad looking. I¡¯ve killed her already.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was pretty sure that Zhong Heng did not lie, for he could see a woman lying deathly still on the bed. Commandant Zhong had seen through his trick, but he still had a n B. He could stab Zhong Heng¡¯s neck to kill him now, and then the three machetemen next door would break into this room at an agreed signal. They would chop themandant¡¯s dead body into pieces to cover up the fact that he was killed by a sword. After that, they would contend that this fight was caused by a prostitute. People in South City were ustomed to seeing a brothel¡¯s clients fighting one another for a prostitute.


    Gu Shenwei decided to talk with Commandant Zhong before carrying out his n B. ¡°How did you know that I nned to kill you?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Your eyes betrayed you. During our previous conversation, you kept looking me up and down in a subconscious attempt to search for my vulnerable points, so I guess that you¡¯re nning to kill me. Your favorite point is the neck, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was deeply impressed by Zhong Heng¡¯s agile mind. He liked Commandant Zhong, although this man was slippery as a snake. ¡°This is a problem. We have to solve it,¡± the killer went over to sit in a chair and said smilingly.


    Zhong Heng had taught the killer to solve a problem instead of looking for the truth before. Now it was his turn to solve a problem.


    ¡°Yes. After the cunning hare dies, the hounds are boiled. I just never expected that Master Wei would want to boil me first. What did he promise you?¡± asked Zhong Heng.


    ¡°One-month dy in turning in the ¡®Protective Talisman¡¯. It means nothing to me,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Huh, that¡¯s not a good deal at all.¡±


    ¡°Erm, I believe you can give me a better price for your own life. Commandant Zhong.¡±


    Zhong Heng was well aware that he could never rely on his kung fu to survive in Jade City. He had never nned to fight against the young killer and thus had left his weapon at the door of the room before the killering back. He intended to talk himself out of trouble.


    ¡°If you want others to cooperate with you, you must give them what they want or have something on them. I¡¯m telling you this from my own experience,¡± said Zhong Heng.


    Gu Shenwei had simr experiences. He had sessfully manipted Luo Ningcha and Shangguan Fei because he knew their secrets. Given that, he immediately realized what Zhong Heng was talking about and asked themandant. ¡°Are you saying that you have something on Master Wei?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t tell it to you. You¡¯ll kill me after you get the secret.¡±


    ¡°Well, if you don¡¯t tell me I¡¯ll kill you right now. I can¡¯t sit here for the whole night.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I can tell it to you. Please remember that I¡¯ve more than one secret. Don¡¯t kill me right after you get Master Wei¡¯s secret.¡±


    ¡°Rx, I¡¯ll let you know before I kill you.¡±


    Zhong Heng swallowed hard and did not feel as confident as before. This was the first time he had seen the merciless side of the young killer. ¡°Master Wei has a guilty conscience. He killed his fianc¨¦e,¡± Zhong Heng cleared his throat and said.

 Chapter 215 - Rumor

    Chapter 215: Rumor


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Zhong Heng told Gu Shenwei the whole story:


    Wei Lingmiao came to Jade City three years ago, before his father, the current governor, had taken office. He hanged out with a group of dandies in the city and showed great interest in killers and their business. As he repeatedly expressed his desire to witness the process of an assassination, one of his friends, the Fourth Young Master Meng, decided to help him fulfill his wish and introduced him to the Eighth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort, Shangguan Nu. The details of their rtionship were unclear, but what was known was that Wei Lingmiao partook in an assassination mission. Shangguan Nu intended to impress Master Wei with his perfect assassination skills, so he deliberately slowed down the process. Unfortunately, this decision allowed some of his targets to flee. Master Wei chased them along with Shangguan Nu, as the Eight Young Master promised to let him kill his own fianc¨¦e, Gu Cun.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if Master Wei knew beforehand that Shangguan Nu¡¯s targets were his fianc¨¦e and her family, but I¡¯m pretty sure that he didn¡¯t do anything to save them. Gu Cun recognized Master Wei and cursed him viciously before her death, and her curse haunted him. After killing her, he had trouble falling asleep and kept having nightmares,¡± Zhong Heng told Gu Shenwei.


    Three years ago, when Zhong Heng had arrived in Jade City with the Governor, Wei Lingmiao had not yet recovered from the incident. Commandant Zhong managed to piece the whole story together from the incoherent ramblings of the young master, which he overheard during the countless number of times spent trying to soothe Wei Lingmiao¡¯s frayed nerves.


    Since then, Zhong Heng had kept this secret buried in his heart.


    Shortly after Wei Lingmiao came to Jade City again to help his father collect the ¡°Protective Talisman¡±, an informant who worked for Commandant Zhong came to him with good news: Master Wei was in Jade City for another important purpose, which was going to Four Truths Temple to appease Gu Cun¡¯s vengeful spirit.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure that Master Wei hasn¡¯tpletely gotten over that incident. He wants to keep it secret forever to protect his reputation. I asked him to pay me 100,000 taels of silver as hush money. Compared to the ¡®Protective Talisman¡¯ and the money he gives to prostitutes, that¡¯s nothing. I never expected that he would want to kill me for ckmailing him,¡± said Zhong Heng.


    Gu Shenwei knew Wei Lingmiao¡¯s secret now, but feigned surprise to hide his real emotions from Commandant Zhong. In the meantime, he thought, <em>¡°I should count myself lucky for not telling Wei Lingmiao who I really am. However, why did he tell me that he still missed his fianc¨¦e? Did he think that I would tell it to Shangguan Ru and she would be moved by his love story? Or, perhaps, he just makes up this story to deceive himself and make himself feel less guilty about what he did.¡±</em> A momentter, Gu Shenwei said to Commandant Zhong, ¡°I see, that¡¯s his secret, but the truth isn¡¯t important. I guess I still have to kill you to solve my problem.¡±


    Upon hearing that, Zhong Heng smiled ruefully at the killer, regretting that he had taught the killer to focus on solving a problem instead of digging out the truth. ¡°Wait, that secret is just a gift for you. Now you also have something on Master Wei. Myst bit of information is much more valuable than that,¡± he said.


    Gu Shenwei waited for themandant to continue telling him thest secret, with his saber in hand. Nevertheless, Commandant Zhong just shook his head and said, ¡°That¡¯s privileged information. I won¡¯t tell it to you unless my safety is guaranteed. Even if you torture me, you still won¡¯t get this information out of me. If you don¡¯t believe, you can try.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I agree to let you go, but where should I find you to get that privileged information?¡± Gu Shenwei released his grip on his saber shaft and said.


    ¡°Go to find the Eighth Young Master of the Golden Roc Fort. I¡¯ll stay with him, waiting for you,¡± Zhong Heng replied.


    Upon hearing that Zhong Heng had already gotten in touch with Shangguan Nu, Gu Shenwei was stunned. ¡°It looks like you¡¯ve prepared yourself for such a situation, Commandant Zhong.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just a minor official. My superiors always think that they have aplete control over me, but just like you, I don¡¯t consider anyone my real boss. I have to rely on myself to survive,¡± said Zhong Heng.


    Gu Shenwei stood up and went to knock three times on a wall. A momentter, three machetemen pushed the door opened and entered the room. Two of them carried something contained in arge cloth bag into the room, and the other one walked in with a small cloth bag in hand.


    Commandant Zhang looked on as the machetemen emptied the contents of the bags. When he saw what was in them, he was so frightened that he nearly fell off the bed. The object in therge cloth bag turned out to be a headless body, while a human head was in the small bag. Under the dim light, he could see that the dead man looked just like himself. The cadaver seemed to be ring at him with its mouth open, but its eyes were already dull and ssy. After a moment, Zhong Heng came back to his senses and said, ¡°Brother Yang, it looks like you¡¯ve prepared for such a situation too.¡±


    ¡°I give you thousands of taels of silver every month. I want to get my money¡¯s worth, so I can¡¯t let you die that easily,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Zhong Heng and the killer looked at each other smilingly. They did not trust each other, but that did not prevent them from cooperating with each other.


    In fact, Gu Shenwei had never nned to strictly carry out Master Wei¡¯s orders. After he had gotten the young master¡¯s order to assassinate Zhong Heng, he immediately hired a craftsman to make a human head with wax. When Zhong Heng drank in the brothel during the day, the craftsman was observing his features as he sat nearby.


    Gu Shenwei knew that this wax head could not withstand close observation, but he was sure that Master Wei would never want toe close to a dead body.


    Gu Shenwei decided to spare Zhong Heng¡¯s life for the time being, but he would not hesitate to kill themandant if he found out that he had been lied to.


    After changing his official uniform for civilian attire made from blue cloth, Zhong Heng sneaked out of the brothel with the killer. The three machetemen chopped the headless body into pieces and then made some wounds on the dead prostitute¡¯s body, turning the room into a scene of a crime of passion.


    As Zhong Heng had to flee Jade City as soon as possible, Gu Shenwei provided him some money and a horse. Before leaving, Commandant Zhong stood on the avenue, looked back at the city and sighed. ¡°I left nothing behind. Brother Yang, when Master Wei leaves the city, you should escort him.¡±


    ¡°I will.¡±


    Even if Zhong Heng did not say that, Gu Shenwei would still find a chance to follow Master Wei when he left Jade City. As the young master and his entourage had to travel through the Iron Mountain Gang¡¯s territory to return to the Central in, Gu Shenwei decided to take this chance to find Zhong Heng at Shangguan Nu¡¯s camp to obtain thest bit of ¡®privileged information¡¯.


    ¡°Xu Yanwei is a good girl. Tell her not to follow Master Wei back to the Central in.¡±


    With these words, Commandant Zhong mounted the horse and galloped away.


    As Gu Shenwei had expected, the discovery of the mandant¡¯s¡¯ corpse in a brothel gave rise to many rumors. Residents of Jade City believed that the one behind the assassination of themandant must have been the Kun Society or the Meng family. No one suspected that it was Master Wei who wanted to kill Zhong Heng. However, after two days, public interest died down, and no one talked about the incident again.


    Master Wei had no informants in South City and never got to examine Zhong Heng¡¯s dead body. As a result, Gu Shenwei sessfully fooled him with a wax head.


    Compared to Master Wei, Gu Shenwei was much better informed about the things that happened inside Jade City. He quickly knew that three junior officers in the Governor¡¯s Mansion were arrested after Zhong Heng¡¯s death. Those three officers were used of corruption and flogged to death.


    Gu Shenwei was pretty sure that these unlucky officers had once worked together with Zhong Heng to ckmail Wei Lingmiao.


    Wei Lingmiao, who had been brought up in a powerful family, always took his servants¡¯ obedience as a natural thing. He had never expected that the killer would have colluded with themandant to deceive him. When the killer returned to Bodhi Garden, he received him in a study and continued their negotiation.


    ¡°I¡¯ll figure out what¡¯s wrong with the Supreme King, but I want all of the one and a half million taels of silver,¡± Gu Shenwei told Wei Lingmiao.


    He knew that the Governor was eager to know about the Supreme King¡¯s current state of health and believed that the more greedy he appeared to be, the more Wei Lingmiao would trust him.


    Master Wei agreed to the killer¡¯s request. He then informed the killer that one of his trusted subordinates would be the killer¡¯s future point of contact, as he was leaving Jade City. He also told the killer that his father, the Governor, would never want to meet him. This was so obvious that the killer could never have solid evidence as to who the mastermind of the entire plot was.


    Everything went smoothly for the young killer, except for his conversation with Xu Yanwei. He met her again in Bodhi Garden and ordered her to stay. He knew that he could not tell her the truth.


    Xu Yanwei was determined to leave with Master Wei. ¡°I¡¯ve worked so hard to get the opportunity to go to the Central in. I¡¯ll never give it up.¡± She begged the killer, while bawling unabashedly and pitifully.


    Gu Shenwei had no choice but to let her leave. He thought that by persuading her to stay, he had already fulfilled his duty as Xu Yanwei¡¯s boss. <em>¡°Even if you end up getting killed, you can¡¯t me me. It¡¯s your own choice,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei said in his heart.


    Xu Yanwei was not the only prostitute that Wei Lingmiao brought back to the Central in.


    It was rumored that Master Wei had bought hundreds of pretty women in Jade City with several million taels of silver, including prostitutes and even maidens who had yet to start working as prostitutes. People in the city believed that Master Wei would bring the women back to the Central in to distribute as gifts.


    All the men in the city felt bitter at the mass exodus of workingdies, andined that there would not be anymore left for theing three years. For them, the only constion was that Xiao Fengchai, the icon of Pleasure Alley, would not leave with Master Wei. Apart from spending one night with her, Master Wei had not received any special treatment from Lady Xiao during his stay in Jade City.


    After investigation, Gu Shenwei discovered that the rumor waspletely false. There were only 50 prostitutes, who volunteered to leave with Master Wei. Just like Xu Yanwei, most of them had bought their own freedom with personal savings. They were tired of their lives in South City and wished to seek for other opportunities in the Central in. In their eyes, serving Master Wei, a handsome and considerate gentleman, was much better than serving the abusive young masters that came from North City.


    The Governor¡¯s Mansion supplied Wei Lingmiao with 50 carriages to transport the women, and they were parked at an inn outside of the east city gate for all to see. The design of the carriages was exquisite and of high craftsmanship. It was said that craftsmen from South City had worked day and night to build them, and they had cost at least tens of thousands of taels of silver.


    As residents of Jade City were focused on the spectacle of Master Wei¡¯s return to his homnd, the news about a demonic giant roc appearing within the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s territory quickly got buried. It was only when thest carriages carrying the women werepletely out of their sight, the terror wrought by the roc started to spread among them.


    The giant roc had been very active. It was first found in the wilderness attacking wild animals and eating their eyeballs. Soon, people discovered that the bird had a weird habit of exhuming graves and consuming corpses. This habit earned it the title of the ¡°Demon Bird¡±.


    Gradually, the Demon Bird started to attack living people, and thus Four Truths Temple sent out monks who knew kung fu to subdue it. However, they could not track it down, and news of the roc killing people started to spread to even more ces. Someone recorded the time and ce of each appearance of the bird and found out that it seemed to be circling Jade City, gradually drawing closer to its walls.


    When most people in Jade City considered the news about the Demon Bird as a fictitious horror story, Master Wei showed a keen interest in the bird. ¡°It¡¯ll be great if I can catch the bird and give it to the emperor. I heard that the Stone Castle has two giant roc specimens. Is it true?¡± he asked the killer.


    ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± Gu Shenwei replied. He had been on the scene when the two giant golden-crowned rocs got caught. Back then, the Supreme King had made every effort to catch the rocs, but now when another giant roc appeared, he seemed to have no interest in it. Gu Shenwei took this as a sign that the Supreme King was ill.


    He wished that he could return to Stone Castle as soon as possible to get Wayless Book for himself, and also to figure out what had happened to the Supreme King. Nevertheless, before that, he had to find a chance to follow Wei Lingmiao to the camp of the Iron Mountain Gang, for Zhong Heng had hinted that he should go there to obtain the piece of valuable secret.


    Out of courtesy to the family of the Governor, the Kun Society and the Meng family were required to send representatives to apany the young master as he passed through the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s territory on his way home. Meng Mingshi was chosen to represent the Meng family, but none of the young masters of the Kun Society wanted to take up the task. Shangguan Ru refused to meet Wei Lingmiao and Shangguan Fei declined to leave North City. As a result, Gu Shenwei got this chance to escort Master Wei without even having to request for it.


    Apart from meeting Zhong Heng, he had another important reason to be apanying Wei Lingmiao.


    He hated Wei Lingmiao even more than he did Tie Hanfeng, who had raped his sister. He could not get over the fact that Wei Lingmiao had killed his own fianc¨¦e. He was determined to avenge his sister¡¯s death at all costs. He did not care even when there was a possibility that his cover could be blown.

 Chapter 216 - Business

    Chapter 216: Business


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    In the end, Wei Lingmiao never got to see Shangguan Ru. All that was left was an image he had of an 11-year-old maiden, and it was refined by the descriptions of her beauty from other people. Master Wei considered it a great pity, and even traveling together with 50 pretty women could not make up for that.


    Compared to Master Wei, Gu Shenwei was much luckier, since he would soon get a chance to meet his old friend, the giant red-crowned roc, again.


    After traveling for two days, Wei Lingmiao and his entourage came to a ce, which was said to be the haunt of the Demon Bird. This legendary bird intrigued Master Wei and a few other young masters, who came to apany Wei Lingmiao on the trip. They ordered the whole team to camp by the roadside at evening and waited until it was pitch dark, hoping to catch a glimpse of the bird. To their disappointment, the bird did not appear at all.


    When all the people in the camp were fast asleep, Gu Shenwei sneaked out and wandered around the surrounding area. He had a strong feeling that the giant red-crowned roc woulde to find him.


    As he had expected, the bird came to him that night. As it flew down to the ground, the pping of its wings stirred up the air, producing gusts of dust. Gu Shenwei could not see its ck feathers clearly in the darkness, and the red feather on its head also looked dim at night. However, its red eyes were glowing under the moonlight, and one could see them even at a distance.


    Gu Shenwei went over to hug the bird. Although he was not sure if the bird could understand him, he still told it what he had been through all these years, while facing away from the camp. The bird had spent a lot of time searching for Gu Shenwei, but it did not appear very excited after finding him. It just pecked at the killer while listening. Before the bird flew away, Gu Shenwei warned it to stay as far away as possible from humans in the future.


    Master Wei had arge entourage. Apart from anything else, there were as many as 50 horse-drawn carriages for the prostitutes. As those women habitually went to bedte at night and got upte in the morning, the team could not travel as fast as nned. Master Wei did not mind it at all. He was in no hurry and partied with his friends every night during the trip. As a result, the time they spent traveling from Jade City to the eastern border of Golden Roc Fort¡¯s territory was twice as much as expected. After that, the team spent another 10 days to get to Bighead Kingpin and Shangguan Nu¡¯s base camp.


    This camp was located near the mountain pass in the northeast. At this ce, Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Ru had once been besieged by the Barren Sect and nearly gotten killed.


    The Bighead Kingpin and Shangguan Nu knew beforehand that Wei Lingmiao would pass their camp on his way back to the Central in and prepared a grand reception for him. Overwhelmed by the warm wee, Master Wei decided to spend three days in the camp. By doing so, he could also party with his friends for a few more days before they going back to Jade City. To repay the Bighead Kingpin and Shangguan Nu¡¯s hospitality, Wei Lingmiao sent the 50 prostitutes who were traveling with him to entertain the men in the camp. These men spent the next three days chasing the prostitutes around inside the camp and fought with each other over the women on various asions, behaving like stags in heat.


    The Bighead Kingpin was in favor of Wei Lingmiao¡¯s arrangement, as he valued strength and aggressiveness.


    As for Shangguan Nu, he was supposedly the other leader of the camp but in reality it was different. The Bighead Kingpin was tall and strong and always cast a shade on Shangguan Nu when they stood beside each other. On the day when Wei Lingmiao and his entourage had first met with the Bighead Kingpin and Shangguan Nu, no one noticed Shangguan Nu until his father-inw dragged him out as if he were a small chick. He had been standing beside the Bighead Kingpin all the while but was obscured from the view of the guests by the huge arm of his father-inw. Anyone who was observant could tell from that meeting that the Bighead Kingpin was the real leader of the camp.


    Shangguan Nu had been hoping to strike out on his own outside Golden Roc Fort all these years. Unfortunately, when he finally got such a chance, he ended up being controlled by a man who was even more tyrannical than the Supreme King.


    The Bighead Kingpin did not want to share his power with anyone. In his eyes, Shangguan Nu, his son-inw, should always obey him without question.


    Shangguan Nu had brought 100 killers and 500 macheteman along with him when he came to the Bighead Kingpin¡¯s camp. Compared to the several thousand warriors of the Iron Mountain Gang, Shangguan Nu¡¯s troops were small in number, thus they ended up being assimted into the Bighead Kingpin¡¯s forces without Shangguan Nu¡¯s prior approval.


    Every time Shangguan Nu expressed his dissatisfaction with the fact that he was never consulted before his men were taking orders from the Bighead Kingpin, his father-inw would bang his fist on Shangguan Nu¡¯s shoulder and say while breaking out into guffaws, ¡°Don¡¯t say that. We¡¯re family. What¡¯s mine is yours and vice versa. That¡¯s why the Supreme King sent you here to work together with me. Once we eliminate the New Moon Hall, the credit will be all yours. If you¡¯re not my son-inw, do you think that I¡¯ll give a da*n about those crazy women in the desert?¡±


    After several failed attempts tomunicate with the Bighead Kingpin, Shangguan Nu gave up on trying to get back his men, but he still held a grudge against his father-inw. In fact, Shangguan Nu was a little afraid of Bighead Kingpin, and so were his killers and machetemen. No one dared to act against the will of the giant.


    Shangguan Nu could not turn to the Supreme King for help even when faced with such a problem. In his eyes, this action against the New Moon Hall was a test for him and it would not do him any good if his father knew that he failed to wrest over control from the Bighead Kingpin.


    Gu Shenwei had a different perspective on the action taken against the New Moon Hall. He thought that Bighead Kingpin just nned to use it as an excuse to permanently station his troops in this ce. He knew that Bighead Kingpin would never be satisfied with just leading a gang of bandits. He was certain that the giant wanted a domain of his own and wished to be recognised as a real lord, just like the Supreme King did.


    The first time Gu Shenwei hade to this region in the northeast, it had been a barren,wless ce, but this time, to his great surprise, he spotted many small viges along the way. He heard that Bighead Kingpin had driven the roving bandits out of this district and strictly prohibited his warriors from robbing the residents. By doing so, Bighead Kingpin turned this region into a safe area and thus attracted many refugees to settle down in this ce.


    Gu Shenwei was delighted to see the rise and expansion of another major power right at the eastern border of the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s territory, but at this moment, he was more concerned about another person.


    He had gone to visit the Eighth Young Master privately shortly after arriving, but he did not get a chance to meet with Zhong Heng until thest day of Master Wei¡¯s stay in the camp.


    ¡°Brother Yang, are you interested in doing a major business deal?¡± Zhong Heng asked right after he sneaked into the killer¡¯s tent at midnight.


    Seeing Zhong Heng dressed like a Golden Roc Fort killer, Gu Shenwei asked nonchntly, ¡°Commandant Zhong, do you miss your officer¡¯s uniform?¡± He was cold to Zhong Heng on purpose, as he knew that this man was never so straightforward, and that themandant was also good at manipting others to do his dirty work.


    ¡°Hee-hee, I don¡¯t care much about what I wear.¡±


    After chatting for a while, Zhong Heng asked the killer if he wanted to do a major business deal again.


    ¡°Let the big business wait for a moment. Commandant Zhong, I came for the secret.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the same thing. The secret is the big business opportunity I mentioned earlier.¡±


    Every governor of Jade City would get a ¡°Protective Talisman¡±, namely a substantial sum of money, when hepleted his term and returned home. Wei Song was exceptionally greedy and had umted a huge sum of money in the city as his ¡®Protective Talisman¡¯. ording to Zhong Heng, although this money was an open secret in Jade City, it would get Wei Song impeached in the Central in.


    ¡°Wei Song can¡¯t openly carry that much money back to the Central in. Nor can heunder the money through banks like bandits. There are altogether millions of taels of silver. The banks are unable to handle such arge transaction. Besides, there¡¯s the problem of confidentiality. For all these reasons, Wei Song figured out another way to take the money back home. He asked his son toe to Jade City to y, but in fact Wei Lingmiao came here to help his father transport the money,¡± Zhong Heng told the killer.


    ¡°Wait, I don¡¯t understand. The Kun Society hasn¡¯t given its one and a half million taels of silver to the Governor yet,¡± said Gu Shenwei, bewildered.


    ¡°This fact proves their intelligence. Wei Song and his son deliberately let the whole city know that they¡¯ve not finished collecting all the money for the ¡®Protective Talisman¡¯, so no one expected that Wei Lingmiao would be transporting millions of taels of silver back to the Central in.¡±


    ¡°But where¡¯s the silver?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    He had been traveling together with Wei Lingmiao¡¯s team all these days. This team had many horse-drawn carriages, but more than half of them were taken up by the prostitutes. Gu Shenwei remembered clearly that Wei Lingmiao did not have much luggage.


    ¡°That¡¯s myst secret. They changed the silver into gold, and now the women are sitting right on top of the gold.¡±


    Upon hearing that, Gu Shenwei suddenly realized that the bottom tes of the carriages were gold tes wrapped in thin wooden coverings. ¡°I bet none of the prostitutes have expected that their carriages would be so expensive, not even in their wildest dreams.¡± Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t Master Wei feel that it¡¯s too conspicuous to be traveling back to the Central in with 50 prostitutes?¡±


    ¡°The Central in is far away from Jade City. No one there knows what Master Wei did here, and before entering the Central in¡¯s domain, Master Wei will¡­¡±


    Zhong Heng made a throat-cutting gesture.


    Even a seasoned killer like Gu Shenwei, who had engaged in murders and schemes for years, was shocked by the viciousness of this n. ¡°Commandant Zhong, I guess this is why they want to kill you. Am I right?¡±


    ¡°s, you¡¯re right. At that time, I was clear that the Governor was just using me to do all his dirty jobs, and I had no choice but to obey my superior officer. I knew he wanted to keep this a secret, so I tried to ckmail him into paying me 100,000 taels of silver as hush money. I nned to retire and live in seclusion in Western Region after I got the money. However, the Governor doesn¡¯t want to give me such a chance.¡±


    ¡°It looks like Commandant Zhong is interested in the gold.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with robbing them of their ill-gotten gains.¡± Zhong Heng, who had been a slick politician a month ago, was now talking like the bandits from the Iron Mountain Gang. ¡°Brother Yang, aren¡¯t you interested in it? You spared my life, and now Ie to repay you with this bit of information,¡± Zhong Heng asked with a subtle smile on his face.


    Gu Shenwei knew that Zhong Heng was nning to use him to kill Wei Lingmiao and this was exactly what he intended to do during this trip. Nevertheless, he still did not promise Zhong Heng anything. He was suspicious of Zhong Heng¡¯s intention, for he was not acting like himself today. ¡°I¡¯m still young and not that ambitious. I don¡¯t know how to handle that much money. Besides, the Eighth Young Master is here. Why don¡¯t you ask him to do this business?¡±


    Zhong Heng had expected the killer to ask such a question and decided to be frank with the youth. ¡°The Eighth Young Master wants to do this business but he can¡¯t, since the Bighead Kingpin always keeps a close watch on him and his killers.¡±


    Thinking of the way Bighead Kingpin treated Shangguan Nu in public, Gu Shenwei was pretty sure that Zhong Heng told the truth, but he was still a little suspicious. ¡°Commandant Zhong, you can do it by yourself, can¡¯t you?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Me? No, I can¡¯t. Master Wei is protected by several kung fu masters. They¡¯ll kill me before I even get close to the young master,¡± Zhong Heng replied.


    ¡°I see. Well, I¡¯ll do it.¡±


    Zhong Heng was a little surprised. He thought before that he would have spent a long time persuading the young killer, however, the killer quickly agreed to do this business with unexpected readiness. ¡°How many people do you need? The Eighth Young Master can¡¯t send his killers out, but he can give you as many machetemen as you want. The Bighead Kingpin doesn¡¯t pay much attention to the machetemen,¡± he asked the killer.


    ¡°No, thanks. I¡¯ve prepared for such a situation.¡±


    Gu Shenwei sounded as if he had secretly brought a team here, which deeply impressed Zhong Heng. While nodding admiringly at the young killer, Zhong Heng said, ¡°Five dayster, Master Wei will arrive at a courier station of the Central in. If you ride at a fast speed, you¡¯ll get there within two days. Master Wei will kill the prostitutes before arriving at that courier station. You¡¯d best take action before he gets there.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded to show that he understood and then he asked, ¡°Commandant Zhong, how much money do you want? I should thank you for giving me such a good opportunity.¡±


    ¡°I want 20% of the gold. I¡¯m broke now. To be honest, I don¡¯t like this feeling I have now. Besides, the Eighth Young Master also wants in. He¡¯ll protect and support you in exchange for 40% of the gold. The remaining 40% will be all yours, Brother Yang.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was amazed by this offer. He doubted that his original master Shangguan Nu was content with receiving a reward which was the same amount for a servant for such an operation. Despite that, he still agreed to do this business. He was determined to take this chance to kill Wei Lingmiao.


    He could not wait to kill Master Wei and to question the young master about the reason for the murder of the entire Gu family. This thought had kept him wide awake every night during this trip.


    Zhong Heng had once told Gu Shenwei that Master Wei had gotten involved in the assassination by pure chance, but the young killer did not believe it.

 Chapter 217 - Interrogation

    Chapter 217: Interrogation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Seeing as Bighead Kingpin had once again prepared a huge bundle of gifts for his daughter, Shangguan Nu knew he had to offer some form of gesture to his family as well. Hence, after Meng Mingshi and the rest of the sendoff crowd left, Gu Shenwei stayed behind to take charge of convoying the gifts.


    Led by Master Wei, the fifty beauties began their journey. Xu Yanwei, surprisingly, felt teary that she was about to leave her hometown forever. She had hated the ce where she grew up and never thought she would have strong feelings for it.


    On the road, she sought every opportunity to talk to Gu Shenwei. While her initial joy turned into mncholy and subsequently into tears, she was determined never to turn back.


    ¡°Take care of Xiaoyi. I can rest easy knowing he¡¯s with a good person like you.¡±


    This was the first time Gu Shenwei was called a ¡°good person¡± and thus he felt a little awkward. As a killer, the phrase even sounded like a mockery. But because he was more of a listener than a talker, he simply nodded in response.


    ¡°Since you¡¯re no longer my master, I can tell you that you¡¯re the best person I¡¯ve ever met.¡±


    As per habit, Gu Shenwei tried to rationalize these words. It was probably for her younger brother¡¯s sake that Xu Yanwei was licking his boots right now. Therefore, he replied bluntly, ¡°I¡¯ll protect Xu Xiaoyi so long as he continues to find out information for me.¡±


    Straightening her body, Xu Yanwei seemed as though she was going to lose her temper, but instead, she simply muttered, ¡°You don¡¯t know who you are.¡±


    Gu Shenweiughed inside. He was no more than someone who wanted revenge. He felt that Xu Yanwei would be of some use to him for the moment, but would not force her to serve him, let alone repeatedly seek her allegiance.


    When Gu Shenwei saw Xu Yanwei at the sendoff the day after Zhong Heng revealed the secret, he waspletely indifferent to her unrestrained wailing. He simply felt she was unlucky that none of the men she chose were trustworthy and her road wasing to an end. For better or worse, she had, atst, fulfilled her biggest wish by leaving Jade City.


    Gu Shenwei remained in the big camp for two days to examine the pile of gifts together with a registrar. The second day afternoon, a couple of machetemen he was not too familiar with invited him for a drink, and he ended up getting into a drunken mess and vomiting everywhere, thereby bing theughingstock of the entire camp.


    That night, he quietly left the camp and went to the arranged location where two steeds were tied. One would be used for riding while the other fetched water, food, and weapons.


    Gu Shenwei had left his saber and sword back in the camp. If necessary, someone would impersonate him in ck clothes and a mask so that the bandits of Iron Mountain would not suspect he had gone anywhere.


    Not long after he set off, a giant red-crowned roc flew towards him, bringing with it a gale which frightened his two horses so much that he nearly fell off the one he was riding. He had no choice but to signal with his hands for the roc to fly slightly higher.


    All of a sudden, he conceived a strange idea: would it not be faster to ride on the roc? Thus, he tied the two horses to a small tree and found two pieces of ck cloth to cover their eyes with. He subsequently had to run a mile or so ahead before he could call the giant roc to fly down.


    Gu Shen tried several methods to get on the roc¡¯s back, including sneaking on, entreating, ordering, and threatening. On his most sessful attempt, he was able to grab the feathers on the roc¡¯s back, but was immediately tossed on to the ground once again. It was only then when he came to the realization that the roc would not allow anyone or anything to ride on it.


    It certainly liked him, and on his human body was a scent it had known since young, but that was all. It was not a pet like a cat or a dog, nor was it an animal like a bull or a horse which epted being ridden on and dominated by humans.


    Furthermore, it did not have an owner, and would not recognize one.


    ¡°Alright, you shall be free. But are you willing to go kill with me?¡±


    In an habitual manner, the giant roc tilted its head to look at the human before it suddenly soared high.


    Killing was its favorite activity, and it did not need to be taught how.


    Gu Shenwei scooted on horseback for several nights and days. He discovered a camp by the roadside, three days after Wei Lingmiao¡¯s journey had begun.


    Thetter had chosen a deste ce, where there was no trace of human life within a hundred miles in every direction, to set up camp.


    Gu Shenwei immediately hid himself and waited for nighttime before he made a move. At around 9 pm, he snuck up near to the camp and inspected its perimeters, discovering two sentry posts in the process. Without alerting them, he weaved his way between them to close in on the camp so as to observe the situation inside.


    Apart from the fifty beauties, Wei Lingmiao¡¯s contingentprised of forty-two people, of which twenty were guards while the rest were handymen.


    There was a bonfire burning in the middle of the camp. More than thirty men were digging a huge pit under the supervision of several guards. Though Gu Shenwei did not actually see them, he could see dozens of shovels flinging soil outwards.


    There were about ten women standing by the side and makingughing noises every so often. They were yet to find out who the pit was dug for.


    Not longter, the people in the pit leaped out, tossed their iron shovels down, and joked with the women, pretending as if the pit was just a trifle which Master Wei decided to build on a whim.


    Soon, the other women were also called over. It was time for the massacre to begin.


    The vast majority of the women had no time to scream or even alter their facial expressions before they were beheaded and fell on the ground.


    Gu Shenwei watched the entire scene from a far distance. He thought about waiting for the guards to return to their tents, where they would let their vignce down, before he acted one-versus-forty two without sparing a single one of them. As far as he was concerned, the only way was to assassinate them in silence.


    Having observed them carefully before, he knew exactly how to deal with them.


    However, his n would be disrupted by the giant roc. The strong smell of blood was irresistible to it, and so it swooped down from the sky without being called.


    As wind began to sweep up the sand, the people on the ground looked in all directions to search for its source. Nobody raised their heads until the first human shrill was heard. Only then did the rest respond by hastily pulling out their sabers to fight back.


    Gu Shenwei acted immediately. He returned stealthily to where the two sentry posts were and killed all four guards stationed there. They werepletely unaware of the killer¡¯s approach because they were busy observing the disturbance within the camp.


    Instead of dashing into the camp andpeting with the roc for work, he hid near the manger, knowing that the guards would run here provided they had not lost their wits.


    As expected, after the roc killed more than ten people, the survivors finally understood that human strength was no match for a demon bird¡¯s, and so they scattered in all directions, with the majority running towards the horses.


    Gu Shenwei drew his saber and began to act, but not before letting three people off.


    The crowd was in extreme panic. Nobody reacted at first when the killer suddenly appeared as they mistook him for just anotherpanion. They only realized that the giant roc had an aplice after he had downed five people, forcing them to turn and run once again. Though some of the guards were decent at kung fu, they could only think of fleeing rather than fighting after fear sank in.


    The three people he let off mounted a horse each, but in their hysteria, they actually forgot to unhitch the horses, which had suffered more shock than the humans as a result of the roc¡¯s arrival. Prancing and neighing, the animals flung the men off their backs. Before Gu Shenwei could act, dozens of horses had trampled the three into minced meat.


    The second massacre of the night would end half an hourter. The few people who were able to run rtively far away were also caught up by the giant roc and killed.


    While this was not the silent assassination Gu Shenwei had hoped for, the time it took was less than he had nned. He did a quick count of the corpses. There were forty of them excluding the women, meaning that two people survived, and one of them was Wei Lingmiao. The governor¡¯s son had not shown up at all.


    On the other hand, the giant roc was very contented and happy. It spread its wings and frisked about, looking like a clumsy barbarian performing aical war dance, or a youth barely out of childhood expending his excess energy.


    Gu Shenwei walked up to the main tent and listened through the drape. All of a sudden, he jabbed a knife through the door and took three quick steps backward.


    The tip of another knife prodded out from inside the tent. It slid downwards and cut a huge opening in the door, through which the knife holder fell out. This person had also tried to kill Gu Shenwei through the drape but was just a split second too slow.


    Gu Shenwei slit the neck of the corpse before he stepped across it and entered the tent. He could see the conditions inside clearly as the bonfire outside was still zing.


    Wei Lingmiao was sitting on a couch and could still smile faintly at the masked killer. ¡°That¡¯s a truly formidable bird. Your Excellency deserves admiration for being able to tame such a fine beast.¡±


    When Gu Shenwei tore off his mask, Wei Lingmiao¡¯s expression changed a little but quickly returned to normal. ¡°Is it Golden Roc Fort or Kun Society?¡±


    ¡°Neither.¡±


    ¡°Then it must be a personal grudge.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    ¡°Why, Zhong Heng is indeed a crafty old scoundrel to have harmed me.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not dead.¡±


    Wei Lingmiao raised his head andughed loudly as if he was a poet who hade up with a gem of a sentence after many days of deep rumination. ¡°Ay, looks like I truly belittled themandant. Do you know it was him who strongly rmended you to me by telling me how much of an inborn badass you are, and that you deserve to be roped in? I didn¡¯t expect him to have thrust a sharp knife at me. Alright, tell me, how has the Wei family offended you? I hope it wasn¡¯t because I snatched your woman.¡±


    He was trying to bait the killer into speaking too much. He knew that if there was one thing which could defuse hatred, it was money, and thankfully, that was something he was notcking in.


    ¡°I am surnamed Gu, and called Gu Shenwei.¡±


    Wei Lingmiao¡¯s face turned ghastly pale at once. This time, it did not return to normal. ¡°You¡­ that¡¯s impossible.¡±


    ¡°I have a few questions to ask.¡±


    ¡°No, no, though it was my fault not to save your elder sister back then, I¡¯ve always wanted to avenge her, and so did my father, who wanted to avenge your entire family. Once I return to the Central in, I¡¯ll urge the emperor to send out the troops and conquer Golden Roc Fort within a year. I¡¯ve brought a lot of gold and silver to bribe the dynastic officials¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei allowed Wei Lingmiao to speak on until his patience wore thin. He had thought that seeing his enemy in such a panicked state would provide him with some vengeful delight, but this was not the case. Instead, his killer instincts told him that this was a waste of time.


    ¡°What did youe to do in Jade City three years ago?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I came to escort my bride.¡±


    Wei Lingmiao was lying. Gu Shenwei vividly remembered that, at that time, the Gu family intended to send their girl all the way to the Central in, and never mentioned that their future son-inw would being to escort his bride.


    He raised his knife and chopped off one of Wei Lingmiao¡¯s fingers.


    Wei Lingmiao only felt a sharp pain after seeing the knife shing past and his finger falling lightly on to the floor. A real fear was incited in him. ¡°If you kill me, the Central in wouldn¡¯t send out any troops. Do you intend to avenge your family on your own?¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s face became malevolent yet miserable without him knowing. ¡°Why did you kill my elder sister? She was your wife-to-be.¡±


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t. Don¡¯t listen to Zhong Heng¡¯s nonsense¡­¡± Wei Lingmiao¡¯s first reaction was to deny the allegation, but his words practically confirmed that Zhong Heng had spoken the truth. ¡°I¡­ I really didn¡¯t know she was your elder sister all this time.¡±


    He began to cry, unable to find another reason to calm down.


    ¡°You even allowed other men to rape her. I guess after you yourself did so?¡±


    ¡°No, no, I didn¡¯t¡­ they were killers just like you, and I couldn¡¯t do anything when they didn¡¯t listen to me. Really, believe me, let me avenge your elder sister. I can bring therge army of the Central in.¡±


    Gu Shenwei raised his knife. For the first time, he did not want to kill his enemy in a single strike, and instead he wanted to slowly torture the man in front of him.


    ¡°Spare me, Shenwei. The Central in truly intends to wipe out Golden Roc Fort! First will be Bighead Kingpin, followed by the Supreme King.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, sparing you would be even more unnecessary.¡±


    Gu Shenwei slowly stabbed his knife across.

 Chapter 218 - Eavesdropping

    Chapter 218: Eavesdropping


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Wei Lingmiao became an experiment into how strong a human¡¯s endurance was. Using as much time as he usually took to kill forty people, Gu Shenwei extracted everything through the former¡¯s mouth.


    Three years ago, Wei Lingmiao came to break off the engagement.


    There was originally already some marriage ipatibility between the Wei and Gu families, which was greatly exacerbated when Gu Lun retired to the Western Region. Both father and son of the Wei family wanted to call off the marriage.


    Though it was true that Wei Lingmiao did not know initially that the target of the assassination campaign he took part in was his future father-inw¡¯s family, he quickly found out yet did nothing to stop it. Instead, he merely raised a request to enjoy his woman, Gu Cun, before she died.


    After cutting open Wei Lingmiao¡¯s stomach, Gu Shenwei sliced the flesh off the former¡¯s body piece by piece, and was finally able to ascertain that the former was not the person who recruited the killers of Golden Roc Fort.


    ¡°Nobody else knew, including Shangguan Nu. It was only the Supreme King who knew everything, while my father might have known a little. Kill me, I beg of you.¡± At this point in time, Wei Lingmiao was wishing for death and was even willing to betray his father.


    Gu Shenwei turned around and summoned the giant roc. Over the past few days of interaction, he had discovered that the roc could understand whistles, and so he opted to use this means ofmunication with it.


    The giant red-crowned roc leaped into the air and tore the tent canvas with both ws beforending in front of Wei Lingmiao and staring into his eyes with a look of covetousness.


    Despite wanting death, Wei Lingmiao was seized by an uncontroble fear. Using thest bit of energy in his body, he raised his right arm to defend himself. All that remained of this hand, which had fondled the bodies of countless women, were a few dense white bones and traces of flesh and blood.


    Before the giant roc could peck at him with its sharp beak, Wei Lingmiao was already dead.


    Outside the tent, dozens of chariots were lined up in a row. Without chopping open the wooden boards to check their insides, Gu Shenwei simply figured from their weight that these chariots were uniquely designed. With the giant roc¡¯s assistance, he pushed the chariots one by one into the pit.


    After pushing in more than thirty chariots, he unexpectedly saw a person inside the pit. In response, he immediately pulled out his saber, while at the same time regretted being negligent. He had counted forty-two people at the start of the expedition and seen forty-two people when he reached this camp, but there was yet a possibility that someone hade to meet Master Wei.


    However, the person was not a man.


    All this while, Xu Yanwei did not realize that the devil who wrecked the camp was an acquaintance, and she was even more horrified by the giant roc. Holding her head and cuddling herself into a heap, she knew only to scream ¡°Don¡¯t kill me!¡±.


    Gu Shenwei recognized her through her voice. ¡°How are you not dead?¡±


    Xu Yanwei raised her head and was stunned for a moment. She then burst out weeping as she jumped onto her feet and ran over to hug Mr. Huan. With her crying became even more intense, she rubbed her tears and snivel on his body and did not say a single word.


    Gu Shenwei had to push her away before he once again asked her why she was not dead.


    ¡°I¡­ I slept with a guard, and he told me that t¡­ tonight would be t¡­ the end.¡±


    Xu Yanwei offered her exnation sobbingly. Many years of living in South City had given her an instinctive presentiment towards danger. A single loose sentence let slip by a guard had aroused her suspicions. During the digging, she found a chariot to hide under and subsequently watched as her unsuspecting sisters were brutally massacred.


    ¡°I should have listened to you earlier. You came to save me, right?¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not reply. There was still plenty of work for him to do.


    Xu Yanwei wished she could cling on to Mr. Huan forever. However, she was terrified to death of the giant bird and had to keep a far distance from it. Nheless, she could not stop talking about how good a person Mr. Huan and how silly herself was.


    After all of the chariots were pushed into the pit, where they broke into different parts, it was time to cover them with the near-hundred corpses. The job was made considerably easier with the assistance of the giant roc, who treated it as a game, and would peck every corpse several times before tossing them into the pit. Xu Yanwei took several more steps back and continued to chastise herself, albeit her voice was no longer audible.


    It was day by the time the ground was leveled. Gu Shenwei released therge team of horses and train of camels, knowing that if anyone came to search for clues, they would follow the hoofprints and be led far away.


    Next, he smashed the wine jars and set them on fire.


    He had to leave immediately but still did not know what to do with Xu Yanwei.


    He had not thought about rescuing anyone ining here. It was aplete ident that Xu Yanwei was able to live. Had the giant roc showed up a momentter than it did, the guards would have realized that the female corpses did not add up, and would have quickly found and killed her.


    While she saw everything take ce, the one thing she did not know was that the chariots were loaded with gold.


    Gu Shenwei walked over to her with his saber in hand. As her sense of danger had already subsided, she scampered towards him joyfully while making a series of pledges that she would never act on her own ord ever again. ¡°I¡¯ll listen to you,pletely listen to you.¡±


    What saved Xu Yanwei¡¯s life was not her tears or promises, but a n which Gu Shenwei suddenly thought of in which she could be of use.


    The two people got on horses and traveled day and night on the same route they came from. While Gu Shenwei was ustomed to such a physically demanding course, Xu Yanwei had never suffered such heavy bumps before, yet strangely enough, she gritted her teeth and persisted withoutining or even asking for a rest.


    When there was still a half day¡¯s journey back to the big camp in Iron Mountain, Gu Shenwei made a turn into the wilderness, where he bade farewell to the giant roc and allowed it to fly high and away.


    The giant red-crowned roc had long be fed up of following the sluggish pace of human beings. Before Gu Shenwei could say anything, and had only waved his hands, it had already disappeared into the clouds.


    Gu Shenwei felt that the bird was a little callous. Conversely, Xu Yanwei admired him almost to the point of worship. ¡°Gee, to think you raised it! You¡¯re truly¡­ a deity on earth.¡±


    There was a slight change in the way Xu Yanwei looked at him. She had always felt an unspeakable attraction towards macho tough guys. But Gu Shenwei dispelled her fantasy. ¡°Stay here. The food and water should be enough for two days. Don¡¯t go anywhere or light a fire to get people¡¯s attention.¡±


    They were in the middle of nowhere, and the surroundings were full of bushes and weeds, while there could even be wild beasts nearby. In the past, Xu Yanwei would definitely have rified, ¡°Why should I remain here? Who shall protect me? When will someonee to fetch me?¡± This time, however, she simply nodded her head several times to indicate that she would absolutely not contravene the orders.


    At night, Gu Shenwei slipped back into the big camp but did not return to his own tent. Instead, he cautiously made his way to the outside of Shangguan Nu¡¯s tent. He could not afford to waste a golden opportunity to kill one of his biggest enemies and frame either Bighead Kingpin or New Moon Hall.


    This was a n which he hade up with long ago. Killing the Fourth Young Master Shangguan Ruo and the ck-masked assassin had given him tremendous confidence that he was ready to take revenge.


    It would not be easy to evade the attention of a head killer and a ck-masked assassin at the same time. Gu Shenwei had not slept for several days, but the fervent desire for revenge kept him going. Moving in circles, he approached the tent slowly and searched for the assassin¡¯s hiding spot.


    The hiding spot was slightly unexpected. Instead of guarding on the roof of the Eighth Young Master¡¯s tent, the ck-masked assassin was lying prone on top of an adjacent and bigger tent. He was wearing a cloak which was the exact same color as the tent, and was able to wrap himselfpletely in it.


    Gu Shenwei discovered the assassin because when a gust of wind blew past, the roofs of the tents rose and fell with regrity, whereas only the hiding spot did not correspond.


    ¡°What is the assassin doing on the roof of Bighead Kingpin¡¯s tent? Could Shangguan Nu be thinking of harming his father-inw?¡± Gu Shenwei thought, but promptly realized that his conjecture was false. The assassin was not guarding by his master¡¯s side because Shangguan Nu was discussing a private matter which he did not want anyone to hear.


    Everyone had the potential to betray him, and even the ck-masked assassin, who had to die before he could leave his master, was no exception.


    Gu Shenwei first thought about killing the assassin but changed his mind. Instead, he moved round to the blind angle of the assassin¡¯s line of sight and carefully made his way to the back of Shangguan Nu¡¯s tent. Lying prone on the ground, he used his dagger to puncture a hole in the tent, on which he ced an ear and listened in on the conversation attentively.


    There were two people inside ¨C Shangguan Nu and Zhong Heng. Gu Shenwei was only able to hear a few broken lines as they were speaking very softly. Subsequently, he returned to his own tent, where a macheteman was waiting for his return. Without saying anything, the macheteman nodded at him and left at once.


    Gu Shenwei felt asleep as soon as he shut his eyes. He only had a few hours to eliminate the fatigue of the past few days.


    He had changed his mind and not killed Shangguan Nu because the words he heard made him conceive an even greater n which could allow him to kill even more members of the Shangguan family.


    Early in the morning the next day, the killer Yang Huan, who had been ¡°plied with wine¡± by the machetemen in his own tent for several consecutive days, finally sobered up. The gifts to be delivered to Stone Castle were also adequately prepared and ready to be sent out at any time.


    While Shangguan Nu never came by to visit, Zhong Heng did so once. Gu Shenwei informed him that the gold was already well-kept and could be divided after the limelight had faded, to which themandant did not object.


    Master Wei and his entourage had died in the most deste of ces, and thus it would take several days before the news reached the big camp. All things considered, Gu Shenwei had managed to get ahead of the rumors.


    The gifts which Bighead Kingpin prepared for his daughter included not just rare treasures but also twenty female ves which he had specially purchased ording to his daughter¡¯s request. Allegedly, Luo Ningcha was feeling lonely in the Stone Castle and wanted more people to apany her.


    The evening before setting off, Gu Shenwei went to have a look at the twenty female ves and chose one of them to follow him. The registrar and guards understood tacitly what was going on and authorized her release, while the ve herself was also verypliant. Once out of the tent, she clung on to the killer and asked him many questions in her unpolished Central ins Chinese.


    Gu Shenwei requested two horses, one for the ve and one for himself, and left the camp under the cover of night. Though this appeared a little strange, nobody asked too many questions. The two of them were not from Iron Mountain, and nobody felt it was necessary to be a busybody.


    Xu Yanwei had suffered a fair bit hiding in the wilderness for two days. The rustling of leaves in the wind terrified her, and so she had eaten only a few mouthfuls of the food and had not dared to sleep much. When she heard the ttering of the galloping horses, she quickly hid herself in the tall grass and only climbed out after hearing Mr. Huan¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Who is this?¡± Xu Yanwei questioned in surprise.


    The female ve was also very surprised. ¡°Go, let¡¯s go back to the big camp.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pulled out his knife and cleanly stabbed it into the female ve, who fell on the ground practically without bleeding.


    Xu Yanwei¡¯s eyes stared wide open, yet she did not dare to scream, and almost stuck her entire fist into her mouth.


    ¡°Put on the clothes.¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned his back. Although Xu Yanwei was bing increasingly aware that things were odd, she had made up her mind not to ask any questions and instead leave everything to Mr. Huan to decide.


    After midnight, the killer Yang Huan returned to the camp with his ¡°female ve¡± and kept her in his own tent. He only ¡°returned¡± her the next morning when the gift-sending contingent was about to set off.


    The apanying female ves felt that she had changed slightly, but because every one of them was purchased from different ces, nobody would fuss over a trifle like this.


    By sending Xu Yanwei to Golden Roc Fort, Gu Shenwei intended not only to keep a survivor with first-hand information alive but also for her to do something for him.


    Gu Shenwei felt that it should be a simple task because he had overheard two important pieces of information from Shangguan Nu:


    The Central in was indeed nning to act against Bighead Kingpin, and it would be within a few months¡¯ time.


    Eighth Youth Master had already betrayed his father and Golden Roc Fort.

 Chapter 219 - Back to the City

    Chapter 219: Back to the City


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei guessed that the seeds of betrayal were probably nted when Shangguan Fa sliced off one of his Eighth Son¡¯s palms.


    In the Western Region, there was a one-legged king but not a ¡°one-handed king¡±. After losing his palm, Shangguan Nu was doomed to be unqualified for the highest position in the castle. There seemed to be only two roads ahead of him: die in an internal struggle or find an alternative way out.


    History often operated in cycles. Shangguan Fa had cruelly eliminated all of hispetitors yet was unable to be equally merciless with his own son. Perhaps, he knew that his Eighth Son¡¯s future had hit a dead end, and keeping thetter alive was merely so that his stronger sons would have someone to target.


    Based on the snippets of private conversation he overheard from within the tent, Gu Shenwei could confirm that Shangguan Nu had long been acquainted with Zhong Heng, and had decided to cross over to the Central in¡¯s side through themandant. This was one of the matters which the young killer was extremely puzzled by. The position of governor was higher, and Zhong Heng even had to feign death in order to evade the manhunt. Why would the Eighth Young Master choose such a fallen officer to be his backer?


    Everyone in Jade City had their secrets, and so Gu Shenwei was not overly concerned. All he needed to know was that Golden Roc Fort was going to suffer a heavy blow, and that the knives of the Central in would begin with one of the Supreme King¡¯s arms.


    Bighead Kingpin was an important ally of Shangguan Fa, and, like the Meng family of North City, was one of the Stone Castle¡¯s pirs. His death would cause an upheaval throughout the entire Western Region.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s opportunity for revenge was right here.


    When in the big camp of Iron Mountain, he always took precaution against Zhong Heng and Shangguan Nu. It was only until he convoyed the fleet to Golden Roc Fort that he was able to rx slightly. For the time being, the two men had no intention of killing any witnesses.


    Gu Shenwei was, however, slower than the spread of rumors this time. The news of Master Wei¡¯s murder had already disseminated to every corner of Jade City.


    Before the Iron Mountain g entered the city gate, a stir had already started. Hundreds of people flocked to have a look because, ording to the rumors, the prime suspect was no other than Bighead Kingpin.


    ¡°It took ce in the territory of Iron Mountain.¡±


    ¡°The governor was on bad terms with Bighead Kingpin.¡±


    ¡°It was all because of money.¡±


    ¡­


    Because of the vicious spread of rumors, the Iron Mountain underlings practically beseeched the killer Yang Huan to deliver the gifts to Golden Roc Fort on their behalf. Without even entering the city, they swiftly hurried back to the big camp to report the situation to Bighead Kingpin.


    The closer it was to Jade City, the more exaggerated the rumors were. Naturally, Golden Roc Fort itself could not escape suspicion.


    ¡°Who¡¯s Bighead Kingpin? He¡¯s just a pawn in the mountains. Who do you think instructed him to do something like this?¡±


    ¡°It must be the Tenth Young Master. She¡¯s certainly very cruel, and even more powerful than her previous generation. It¡¯s just that people like her and find her useful¡­ Forget it, I shan¡¯t say anymore.¡±


    After analyzing all of the possibilities, everyone would add the same finalment, ¡°Those fifty beauties are such a pity. This is Jade City¡¯s loss. Bighead Kingpin is too ruthless.¡±


    The gifts were left at the eastern city gate, where they awaited inspection before being delivered by the guards to the northern city gate. Gu Shenwei had not dismounted his horse when Xu Xiaoyi squeezed his way out of the crowd and came forth. Hisst hope was shattered when he saw that Brother Huan was alone, and thus he could not help but burst into loud sobbing. He had imagined that his elder sister might have changed her mind and returned.


    Chu Nanping rarely had a chance like this to feel the sentiments of a good friend. He shifted close to Gu Shenwei and muttered, ¡°He¡¯s very sad.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not reveal the truth, nor did he allow Xu Yanwei to show her face. This was a matter which had to be kept strictly confidential. He had repeatedly exined to Xu Yanwei that because she was the only survivor with first-hand information, she would certainly be killed if she was found out.


    He did not tell her, however, that the first person who wanted to silence her was himself.


    He returned to Kun Society, where, upon seeing him, the first thing Shangguan Ru said was, ¡°He deserved to die.¡± She did not have the resolve to kill, and thus was d that someone else had done the job on her behalf.


    However, because she had been busy assigning tasks, she did not pay close attention to the matter and heard few rumors about it. ¡°Our business has been plentiful,¡± Shangguan Ru proudly boasted, ¡°Everyone is terrified and wants to hire a bodyguard. This has been good for us. I¡¯ll be able to return the taels of silver to you in less than a year if this goes on.¡±


    Shangguan Ru seemed as though she was gradually reverting to her personality of bygone days. Gu Shenwei only found out that this was a false front after he met in private with Maid Lotus. ¡°Tenth Young Master would often sit in a daze alone at night as if she was considering some issue. Sometimes, she would ask me, ¡°There¡¯ll always be someone sad when a person dies, right?¡±


    However, this was an advantage as far as encouraging Tenth Young Master to return to Stone Castle in advance was concerned. All that Maid Lotus needed was a suitable opportunity.


    Gu Shenwei hade back this time with many new secrets albeit he did not tell any one of them to Maid Lotus. It was not because he did not trust her, but because he felt that these matters had nothing to do with her and thus there was no need to drag her into them.


    After convoying the gifts up the mountain, Gu Shenwei remained for less than a day in the Stone Castle and immediately descended the mountain after paying respects to Luo Ningcha. He was afraid that Lady Meng would summon him while there remained many things which he would not be able to exin clearly.


    Gu Shenwei rmended a female ve to Luo Ningcha and asked thetter to take good care of the ve. Luo Ningcha had a stomachful of concerns she wanted to confide in the ¡°conspiracy teacher¡±, and was very displeased when she could not do so. ¡°Where did Bighead Kingpin purchase this little goblin from? She doesn¡¯t look like a proper person at all, and you want to me take care of her? Hmph, fine, I shall take very good care of her.¡±


    What needed to be said had already been said. It would be up to Xu Yanwei¡¯s own ability whether she could win the favor of the mistress. The blind and tongueless maid standing beside Luo Ningcha could perhaps offer her some inspiration.


    Gu Shenwei signaled to Xu Yanwei to exit the room. Luo Ningcha understood this tacitly and also ordered her maids to leave, while covering up Maid Cui¡¯s ears.


    ¡°Honestly, was that girl your¡­ lover?¡±


    Luo Ningcha sounded very harsh, causing Gu Shenwei to be a little shocked. It was, in principle, not right for her to ask this kind of question, and furthermore, it had nothing to do with her even if the girl was his lover. ¡°No, I brought her to the castle so that it¡¯ll be easier for me to send word in the future.¡±


    Luo Ningcha seemed not quite convinced. However, because she had something significant to brag about, she put off the interrogation temporarily. ¡°You know, I¡¯ve done many things in recent times¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei was in no mood to hear her out as he had to descend the mountain as soon as possible. ¡°Listen, there¡¯s an important matter which I¡¯ll need you to investigate for me.¡±


    ¡°What can be more important than what I was going to say?¡± Luo Ningcha raised her voice even higher.


    ¡°It concerns the lord,¡± Gu Shenwei replied in a low tone.


    There was no sound behind the wooden walls for a moment. When Luo Ningcha resumed speaking, her voice was noticeably lowered, ¡°What happened to the lord?¡±


    ¡°Rumor has it that he¡¯s fallen ill, and quite seriously so for a long time already.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Luo Ningcha cried but quickly broke off. ¡°No wonder that wench surnamed Meng has been able to stay as she pleases in the Inner Residence, and nobody bothers about her agony. I finally understand.¡±


    She used to call Lady Meng ¡°bitch¡± but had switched to ¡°wench¡± this time.


    ¡°This is just a rumor and so don¡¯t tell anyone about it, not even to the men sent by Bighead Kingpin.¡±


    ¡°Certainly. Do you think I don¡¯t know the importance of keeping secrets? Let me tell you, I¡¯m hiding a lot of things in my heart right now which will shock you if I spoke of them¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei decided that he would leave this ¡°shock¡± to be felt at ater time, and immediately cut short the mistress. ¡°Find a way to rify this rumor. Is the lord truly sick? What sort of sickness? What¡¯s his condition? This will be important information both to yourself and Bighead Kingpin.¡±


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s sole backer, Bighead Kingpin, would be toppled before long. Gu Shenwei knew he had to make use of her value while she still had some. Although the Wei family wanted to find out information through Tenth Young Master, Gu Shenwei did not think it was a good idea. He had other ns for Shangguan Ru.


    He hurriedly took his leave and descended the mountain. Angry that she did not get the chance to brag, Luo Ningcha smashed several porcins. Fortunately, Bighead Kingpin had sent more new items.


    Gu Shenwei encountered a thorny problem once he returned to Kun Society. The Governor¡¯s Mansion had sent men to collect the ¡°Protective Talisman¡± again.


    The newly-appointedmandant was not as tactful as Zhong Heng, and demanded the money right away. His insolence nearly reignited Shangguan Ru¡¯s killing desire. Gu Shenwei verbally held her back and offered to visit the governor himself to exin the situation.


    He knew clearly that the demand for payment was just an excuse. In actual fact, the sum of money had already been used to purchase the killer Yang Huan. The governor finally wanted to meet him.


    Though the Governor¡¯s Mansion was not the biggest and most magnificent building in North City, it was situated in the city center, and the streets in front of it were wider than everywhere else, giving it a special feel.


    Governor Wei Song was a short man with a fairplexion and a trimmed beard. His posture was perfectly straight, and despite being dressed in official clothing, he had the manner of a general about him. He was totally different from his romantic-to-a-fault son.


    After offering a bow, Gu Shenwei kept his head down. For a long while, Wei Song did not speak either, and continued to stare at the young man as if sizing him up. ¡°Two people had rmended you, and both of them are dead.¡±


    Zhong Heng and Wei Lingmiao. Gu Shenwei was unsure how to reply, but he was not here to ¡°pay respects¡±, and instead came to negotiate on an equal footing. This was the study, where there no one except the governor and him. ¡°Being close to a killer is always a dangerous thing. People have told me that I have an infectious evil spirit on me.¡±


    Wei Songughed in a seemingly forced manner. ¡°My son didn¡¯t die of any evil spirit but a conspiracy. I want to take revenge and thus hope you can tell me who the enemy is.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that it¡¯s Bighead Kingpin, but nobody appears to have any evidence.¡±


    ¡°Ah, evidence. Only people who aren¡¯t able to exact revenge would go around finding evidence to justify their own ipetence.¡±


    ¡°Governor, you know who the enemy is already?¡±


    Wei Song stared at the killer who stared back. The two men were searching for clues on each other¡¯s face to ascertain the extent to which they could trust the other.


    ¡°Lingmiao told me that you aren¡¯t a talkative person.¡±


    ¡°As a killer, I never ask more than I need to.¡±


    ¡°Alright, you¡¯re a killer right now, and I want to hire you to kill someone.¡±


    ¡°I shall obey yourmand.¡±


    ¡°My request is very fair. There¡¯s nothing more painful on earth than the fact that my favorite son is dead. I want my enemy to suffer the same pain as I am.¡±


    Gu Shenwei patiently waited as Wei Song paused for a moment.


    ¡°Meng Yuzun has five sons. Go kill one of them, anyone will do.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Gu Shenwei replied curtly. He did not expect Wei Song to name the Meng family and not Bighead Kingpin as his enemy.


    While the killer indeed did not ask much, Wei Song could not resist offering a line of exnation. ¡°The Meng family wants to collect back its money and believes it can ce the me on others.¡±


    This sentence would sound confusing to someone who was uninformed, but Gu Shenwei understood it very well. The Meng family definitely had a hand in producing those chariots of gold. However, he expressed an appropriate amount of doubt and waited until Wei Song¡¯s expression returned to a calm state before he said, ¡°The members of the Meng family aren¡¯t easy to kill. What price are you offering?¡±


    ¡°Do you prefer the Central in or Western Region?¡±


    ¡°Western Region.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Since you¡¯re already very rich, I shall offer you an official position in any country which the Central in controls. Prime Minister or General, whichever you like.¡±


    As the Wei family¡¯s fortunes had all been stolen, the governor was trying to use empty titles to recruit a killer. Gu Shenwei knew he had to express some unwillingness.


    ¡°Believe me, you won¡¯t be able to stay much longer in Jade City. There¡¯s a major change on the way that¡¯ll affect everyone, and you¡¯ll need a safe ce to go. My promise will be worth a million gold pieces then.¡±


    Gu Shenwei acquiesced while making his reluctance apparent.


    As he left the Governor¡¯s Mansion, Gu Shenwei was not as much interested in the Meng family as he was in the governor himself. When he looked at Wei Song, he had not only felt a sudden sense of familiarity but also recalled something even more important.


    During the campaign to massacre the Gu family of the Central in, a detective named Han Shiqi, sent by Golden Roc Fort, sneaked into the Gu manor with a reference letter. Gu Shenwei had not been able to recall who authored the letter, but now, the author¡¯s name appeared unmistakably in front of his eyes.

 Chapter 220 - Lifesaver

    Chapter 220: Lifesaver


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The ve market of South City became busy and lively as summer arrived.


    Though it was called a market, there was in fact not a single proper street in it. Myriad vans were parked in two rows facing each other on a stretch of barrennd, leaving a narrow and bending channel in between where ves and livestock were mixed together for the convenience of customers to choose.


    Many people had been waiting for this annual market. The rich required dexterous servants, the brothels needed good-looking girls, the shops needed capable hands and bodies, while Golden Roc Fort¡¯s requirements were even more particr.


    The killer apprentices in the Stone Castle came from very diverse sources, of which one of the most important was the ve market. Every year, the young masters would send men here to select and purchase young children, who would then be trained for several years outside before entering the Stone Castle when they were slightly older. As this was one of the key steps in developing future power, nobody would miss out on it, and fights often arose among them because of it.


    This year was much more peaceful than usual. The Tenth Young Master appeared to be on a roll and had gained control of half of South City, causing the other masters to avoid her knowingly. Gu Shenwei practically did note across any fights when he went to make purchases.


    He visited the market for five sessive days and bought a varying number of ves each time. All of the traffickers knew who he was, and would rmend to him the most robust and brutal children, as they had done in previous years.


    Another person, like the killer, who arrived every day was a master of the Meng family.


    Mingxian was the name of Fourth Young Master Meng. Had it not been for the many troubles caused by his younger brother, Meng Mingshi, over the past two years that overshadowed his own deeds, he would have been Jade City¡¯s number one yboy.


    Gu Shenwei had met the Fourth Young Master in the Bodhi Garden, and thetter had even joked about him before. In the killer¡¯s impression, this was a warm, cheerful, and banterous master.


    Gu Shenwei would bow and give way every time they ran into each other at the market. Conversely, Meng Mingxian would ride his horse straight past the former with such a nk look that even his eyelids did not move. Most of the time, the master¡¯s servants would also not acknowledge the killer, save for a few asions when a servant woulde up to offer a perfunctory line or two.


    Meng Mingxian did not care about his younger brother Meng Mingshi¡¯s grievances and did not hate the killer Yang Huan. It was rather that he truly did not see the killer paying respects. He did not give a hoot about the entire South City, let alone an ordinary killer from Stone Castle.


    Governor Wei Song firmly believed that the Meng family was the enemy who killed his son. He wanted the killer to kill a master of the Meng family on his behalf before the forces of the Central in returned to Jade City.


    Gu Shenwei had two choices, namely Meng Mingxian and Meng Mingshi, who both loved to seek fun in South City. After weighing the choices, the killer decided upon the former.


    Killing Meng Mingshi would have prompted suspicions toward Kun Society. Gu Shenwei¡¯s goal was to instead cause outsiders, or at least the Meng family, to suspect the governor.


    As a result of this messy reasoning, Meng Mingxian became the target of an assassination plot he had absolutely no idea about.


    Fourth Young Master Meng¡¯s purchases at the ve market were mostly young girls of around ten years old. The Meng family possessed many concubines and preferred to foster them from young, much like the killers in Stone Castle. However, there was a saying in the market that the Meng family¡¯s vicious methods caused the deaths of many of the girls they bought. Therefore, every time the master arrived at the market, the traffickers would swarm up to him while the ves would try to look as unkempt as possible and hid at the back.


    The ¡°good stuff¡± sold in the market were running out by the fifth day, but Meng Mingxian came once again and picked even more stringently than before. Those who were familiar with his practices in previous years knew he was buying for himself.


    The moment of Meng Mingxian¡¯s assassination took ce during the period when the market was most crowded. The dozens of servants and guards who apanied him could only manage to cordon off a small space around which they stood shoulder to shoulder and faced outwards to prevent other people from getting near to their master.


    More than a hundred steps away, the killer was busy bargaining with a trafficker. The ten or so machetemen who apanied him traded nces with the master¡¯s contingent.


    With no concern for the huge crowd of people around, Meng Mingxian¡¯s eyes lit up as he took a fancy to a young boy, and he grumbled at the trafficker for notying out this sort of quality earlier.


    The trafficker was anxious to quickly conclude this transaction. He put on a smile to hide his inner doubts as to why the ve had appeared, and replied, ¡°I was keeping him especially for you, Fourth Young Master.¡±


    The more Meng Mingxian looked at the boy, the greater his adoration grew. He fished out a handkerchief to gently wipe away the dirt on the ve¡¯s face, revealing ayer of fine white skin which he wished he could take a bite out of right there and then.


    The ve seemed very afraid and suddenly jumped off the van, bumping into the Fourth Young Master in the process, before he deftly slipped underneath the van. He had appeared very well-behaved initially, and thus nobody was prepared for this abrupt turn of events.


    The trafficker tried methods of persuasion and then intimidation to get the ve toe out. Finally, he knelt down to drag the disobedient ve out by himself.


    But there was nothing underneath the van. The child had run away without making a sound or shadow.


    The trafficker was extremely shocked and felt that the matter had exceeded the limits of hisprehension. He stood upboriously, but before he could think of a way to exin to the Fourth Young Master, the forced smile on his face froze at once.


    There was a dagger stabbed into Meng Mingxian¡¯s heart. The master stood still, already dead.


    Gu Shenwei had, with a lot of difficulties, persuaded Chu Nanping to do this for him. The obstinate young swordsman tly refused to perform the role of the killer. ¡°I shall only protect your safety and nothing more.¡±


    ¡°What if I practice Emotionless Swordsmanship with you?¡±


    ¡°Oh, then alright.¡±


    Chu Nanping was as obstinate as a mule, and thus Gu Shenwei had to fully consider the consequences which his demands would bring. ¡°We¡¯ll begin the practice after you¡¯ve helped me to do ten things.¡±


    ¡°Ten? That¡¯s a deal. Tell me what they are.¡±


    Gu Shenwei only spoke of one, and that was for Chu Nanping to disguise himself as a filthy ve and blend into the market where he would await an opportunity to kill Meng Mingxian.


    After spending several days at the market, Gu Shenwei had acquired aplete understanding of Fourth Young Master Meng¡¯s habits.


    When the market was in a great confusion, Gu Shenwei squeezed his way through the crowd to have a look. Chu Nanping had thrust the dagger so precisely that Meng Mingxian died on the spot. The killer helped to search for the assassin and found nothing. The ve trafficker crumpled to the ground and swore by the heavens that the young ve was not his, but nobody believed him. The master¡¯s attendants, who were eager to find a scapegoat, beat the trafficker until he was half dead, and carried him back together with the corpse to report in.


    Gu Shenwei returned to Kun Society where he waited for Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s news.


    Xu Xiaoyi had already freed himself from the grief of his elder sister¡¯s death and was once again roaming the streets. ¡°Everyone¡¯s saying that Fourth Young Master Meng died too strangely. His murderes not long after Master Wei¡¯s departure, as if he couldn¡¯t bear to part with his good friend.¡±


    This was sufficient for Gu Shenwei. Although nobody had openly suspected that the assassination was ordered by the governor, it would not be long before everyone guessed in this direction.


    Xu Xiaoyi, who did not know that Chu Nanping was the assassin,ughinglymented, ¡°People are saying that the master was killed by a young child. I¡¯m guessing it could be you.¡±


    Chu Nanping was a bad liar and thus did not dare open his mouth. Gu Shenwei reminded the two of them, ¡°Now that a member of the Meng family has died, it may not be safe for children outside. It¡¯s best if both of you remain at home and not go out for the time being.¡±


    As ifprehending something, Xu Xiaoyi blinked his eyes and replied, ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll take care of Little Chu too.¡±


    Now that his sister was gone, the little building in Pleasure Alley naturally lost its purpose. Xu Xiaoyi had rented a cheaper house which was very out-of-the-way.


    It had not been a wless assassination. Sooner orter, someone would suspect the little swordsman from Joy Pavilion. Thus, Gu Shenwei decided to act upon Governor Wei Song as soon as possible so that everyone¡¯s attention would be diverted towards the vendetta between the Wei and Meng families.


    In the evening on the day after Meng Mingxian¡¯s death, Gu Shenwei, equipped with a grappling hook and a short-sabermonly used by machetemen, swam across the border river and scaled the high border wall so as to sneak into North City. He reckoned that he would be able to kill Wei Song with an ordinary knife because the governor seemed to not know any kung fu.


    While North City was usually quiet, there was an apparent increase in the number of patrols on this night. The shock caused upon North City by Fourth Young Master Meng¡¯s death greatly exceeded that caused by Wei Lingmiao¡¯s. The former had been someone close whereas thetter had always been a distant figure. Aside from being sad at the loss of one of their kind, the rich families also became worried for their own safety.


    Conversely, there were no changes at the Governor¡¯s Mansion. Gu Shenwei did not discover any hidden sentries after observing many locations around it.


    This was going to be a reckless assassination for which Gu Shenwei had not done much homework beforehand. He had only been to the mansion once and did not have much of an understanding of its internal conditions.


    Although Gu Shenwei¡¯s Lightness Skill was considerably better than before, he still slowly climbed up the wall by digging his fingers into its cracks, knowing that he had to keep a close watch on every move he made while inside thepound. As long as he could capture someone alive to extract information from, it should be easy to find out which room in the backcourt was the governor currently resting in.


    In the end, however, Gu Shenwei would suffer a surprise attack in the forecourt. The assant¡¯s machete technique had a distinct Golden Roc Fort style. He attacked swiftly and effectively from the back, making absolutely no noise.


    Gu Shenwei was unable to ward off the attack, but managed to leap forward and rolled several rounds on the floor. When he stood back up, he was finally able to face the assant, but a knife was already right before his eyes.


    The failure of one of his movements caused his subsequent movements to be constantly a step behind his opponent¡¯s. Unable to exert his true strength, he could only take steps backward as the danger against him grew.


    After the assant had struck out nine times with his saber, a second saber appeared.


    Gu Shenwei, who had been barely able to evade the first assant, was struck on his back by the second one.


    To be cautious was a principle which one could not refrain from viting once after abiding a hundred times. Gu Shenwei hadmitted many mistakes, and each time it was only when the lesson was hard enough that the relevant principle would be etched in his mind forever.


    At present, he did not have the time or energy to consider all these. There was only one thought in his mind: <em>avoid the next blow </em>.


    One of the assants suddenly turned away, as if he had been struck, and his steps became a little clumsy. As he turned his back, he revealed an arrow on his shoulder, upon seeing which the other assant slowed down his attack.


    This was Gu Shenwei¡¯s only chance. Swinging his knife, he warded off the blow from the second assant, caught his breath, jumped on to a wall, and fled towards the east.


    Strangely enough, the assants did note chasing out of the Governor¡¯s Mansion.


    Gu Shenwei ran into a secluded alley and leaned firmly against a wall. Hiding in the shadows, he did not allow the moonlight to shine upon him. It was only at this time that hisposure suddenly disappeared and his heart began to pound rapidly.


    The two assants were true-blue killers from Golden Roc Fort. Their machete techniques were first-rate, such that if the fight had continued for just a little longer, Gu Shenwei would have died to them without being able to exert even half of his own kung fu.


    The person who had saved him in the dark was even more unexpected. Although the person did so from a position of various advantages, he still needed to be a terrific marksman to be able to hit a killer from Golden Roc Fort.


    Gu Shenwei returned to Kun Society in South City as quickly as he could. After changing into his night suit, he equipped his saber and sword and headed out once again. This time, he came to Liuhua¡¯s residence and knocked on the door.


    Liuhua emerged from the unlit house, wearing a full set of attire. He looked aloof and did not say a word.


    This was not a clue. Killers often did not take off their attire before they slept.


    ¡°Do I have to thank you?¡±


    ¡°You should make your words clear.¡±


    Liuhua expressed a trace of displeasure and abhorrence. At this point, even if he was indeed Gu Shenwei¡¯s lifesaver, thetter would not quite believe it.


    ¡°Did you go out tonight?¡±


    ¡°Tenth Young Master sent you to ask?¡±


    Liuhua¡¯s meaning was very clear. As they were equally-ranked killers, he would not answer any of ve Huan¡¯s questions unless there were orders from Shangguan Ru.


    For no apparent reason, his expressions suddenly became extremely angry and his entire face turned distorted and blood-red, as if he was about to devour the ve facing him.


    Gu Shenwei immediately clutched his sword shaft but released it almost as quickly. He would not have a chance to utilize his skills on this night.


    With his body as stiff as a piece of te, Liuhua copsed on the floor, spurting a white foam from his mouth.


    Not far away, a dull thud was heard from Shangguan Ru¡¯s room, as if something had dropped on the floor.

 Chapter 221 - Dark Secret

    Chapter 221: Dark Secret


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The assassination attempt in the Governor¡¯s Mansion practically did not set off any rm bells. The fight between Gu Shenwei and the two assantssted for a very short time and did not attract attention from the patrolling soldiers.


    But at the first glimmer of dawn, five assassins in ck turned up at Kun Society.


    With Maid Lotus and ve Huan standing behind her, a pale-faced and tired-looking Shangguan Ru was leaning by her bedroom door. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a small matter we¡¯ll like to verify with Liuhua and ve Huan.¡±


    ¡°Since it¡¯s a small matter, there¡¯s no need to disturb me.¡±


    The speaking killer appeared a little awkward. ¡°It¡¯s not that small a matter. Someone tried to assassinate an important person in North Cityst night. We want to¡­¡±


    ¡°Now it sounds serious. I¡¯m certain it has nothing to do with my people.¡±


    ¡°About this¡­ we¡¯re merely acting under orders.¡±


    ¡°It was certainly not ordered by me.¡±


    ¡°Uh, did Liuhua and ve Huan not leave Kun Societyst night?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    With an extremely unrelenting attitude, Shangguan Ru dismissed the Golden Roc Fort killers, but immediately after, her body turned soft and copsed into Maid Lotus¡¯ arms.


    This was the second time Shangguan Ru and Liuhua were ¡°possessed¡±, which few people understood. Furthermore, the symptoms this time were different from that of the previous time, and the conditionsted for a much longer duration. For three consecutive days, both of them could onlyy in their beds weak all over, and could not stand up without assistance.


    Neither Gu Shenwei nor Maid Lotus could do anything to help regarding this matter. As they did not want to bring in a physician who probably knew as much about the condition as them, they could only wait it out. On the other hand, an opportunity, perhaps the only opportunity there was ever going to be, to return to the Stone Castle and steal the Wayless Book arose. After the end of winter, their three-year deadline would not be far away.


    Gu Shenwei still wanted to assassinate Wei Song, but not before questioning him why he assisted in the massacre of the entire Gu family. The killer also wanted to find out whether the person who saved him was Liuhua. However, for the time being, these objectives had to be put on hold. The Governor¡¯s Mansion was being heavily guarded, and crashing his way in would not do any good.


    Shangguan Ru was sent back secretly to Stone Castle, such that even her elder brother Shangguan Fei was unaware.


    Gu Shenwei falsely imed that Bighead Kingpin had sent gifts once more. Riding a chariot together with Maid Lotus, he fetched the Tenth Young Master to the court of the Eighth Young Master. For a subsequent period of time, Shangguan Ru stayed together with Luo Ningcha.


    This was a difficultpromise which Gu Shenwei expended a great deal of effort in order to achieve.


    The first sticking point was Shangguan Ru herself, who would rather have died than agree to return in advance to Stone Castle and be aughingstock. However, Gu Shenwei had already passed information to the Inner Residence, and as a result, Lady Meng dispatched her most trusted maid to beseech her daughter to return to the castle or else thedy herself would personally descend the mountain to invite her daughter back. Shangguan Ru had to relent.


    Lady Meng subsequently approved Gu Shenwei¡¯s n for the secret return when he followed the maid up the mountain and met her.


    The most difficult person to persuade was Miss Luo Ningcha. She did not have a good opinion of either Lady Meng or the twins, and naturally refused to help. Gu Shenwei spent an entire afternoon exining to her the principle of being adaptable to circumstances, and the benefits she would gain from thispromise. ¡°You can¡¯t always allow your enemy to be guarded against you. The best time to attack your enemy is when they have let their guard down.¡±


    ¡°Why do I feel that the things you ask me to do always benefit you but not always me?¡± Luo Ningcha was a little irresolute, but she was considerably smarter than before and could see that there were a few hidden things involved.


    ¡°Miss Luo, please think. If I openly stand on your side, I will, in fact, be useless to you. I have to protect myself first before I can serve you.¡±


    ¡°Humph. In any case, you¡¯re making use of me. Mama Xue was right. You¡¯re a sinister and cunning fe. Alright, I shall agree, but you¡¯ll have to give me a chance to make use of you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready to carry out your orders at any time. I¡¯m like a saber in your hands.¡±


    Nobody would have guessed that Shangguan Ru was hiding by the Eighth Young Mistress¡¯ side. In fact, not many among Lady Meng¡¯s personal maids knew about it.


    In the name of preparing gifts for her father and husband, Luo Ningcha recalled Maid Lotus and ve Huan. The former would attend to Shangguan Ru while thetter served as the killer protecting the court.


    Although Liuhua had been simrly ¡°possessed¡±, his importance was much less. He was the only one of the three killers to remain in Kun Society of South City, where he continued to ¡°protect¡± the absent Tenth Young Master and handled daily affairs on her behalf.


    On the first night after returning to the castle, Maid Lotus apanied Shangguan Ru secretly into the Inner Residence to meet Lady Meng.


    Luo Ningcha summoned ve Huan to the court of the Eighth Young Master, and upon seeing him, ordered her maids to torture him. ¡°Pull his ears, and don¡¯t you dare be soft.¡±


    Xu Yanwei, who was one of the maids, seemed to have be very familiar with the mistress. She came forth and tugged the Gu Shenwei¡¯s ears a few times before asking to be pardoned. ¡°Miss Luo, ve Huan is a killer. I¡¯m a bit scared.¡±


    After the uninvolved people left the room, Luo Ningcha habitually threw a few teacups and appeared to be in a foul mood. ¡°Audacious ve, what do you take me for to order me like that?¡±


    Gu Shenwei could not tell where the mistress¡¯ anger came from. To wee Shangguan Ru was something which they had agreed upon. Could she be going back on her word already? ¡°Miss Luo, nobody on Earth dares to order you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s you who keeps asking me to do this and that, and after I¡¯ve done what you said, you don¡¯t even listen to me and I have to wait for your next idea.¡±


    Gu Shenwei finally realized that the mistress¡¯ grievance had nothing to do with Shangguan Ru. ¡°Miss Luo, you¡¯ve got something on Lady Meng?¡±


    ¡°Hee, that ogress thinks I¡¯m stupid. I want her to suffer a shock.¡±


    Luo Ningcha once more had a new name for Lady Meng. Gu Shenwei listened quietly and did not interrupt her, but she became unhappy again. ¡°You have to ask me questions, otherwise how would I have the interest to speak on?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Miss Luo, what have you discovered that can cause Lady Meng a shock?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t fret, I shall tell you all about it.¡± Luo Ningcha was pleased. She took a sip of her tea and prepared to narrate the most intriguing part of the story. By her side were ced several tea sets which Maid Cui would rece as soon as a sound was heard.


    ¡°Miss Luo, say it now. I can¡¯t wait,¡± Gu Shenwei replied, although his mind was actually preupied with thinking of how to pry the Wayless Book secret manuscript from the temple guards.


    ¡°The ogress has a woman surnamed Tong by her side. Do you know her?¡±


    ¡°I might have met her.¡±


    ¡°Well, she has voluntarily pledged allegiance to me and now does as Imand.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was truly astonished. Serving Lady Meng were several people she had brought with her from her parents¡¯ home and thus favored and trusted. One of the twins was called ¡°Aunt Tong¡±. It was this woman who ran back and forth and attempted to rescue Shanggu Ru and the other people. when they were trapped in the house by Mister Guo. She was apparently a highly trusted subordinate.


    ¡°She¡¯s the¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯s her. There¡¯s only one person serving the ogress whose surname is Tong. There can¡¯t be a mistake.¡±


    ¡°How can it be?¡± Gu Shenwei shuffled through his mind rapidly. He suddenly recalled that during the process of killing Eldest Young Master Shangguan Chui, it was indeed strange that Aunt Tong never appeared beside thedy.


    Luo Ningcha had seeded in piquing ve Huan¡¯s curiosity and became even more pleased. She wished she could pull ve Huan over to her side and tell him everything softly and in the most mysterious tone. ¡°When that Tong-surnamed woman was pregnant, the ogress got rid of the child and even asked her to sweep the floor. She hates the ogress to death, and said that she¡¯s willing to pledge loyalty to me because I¡¯m the only person in all of Stone Castle who can stand up to the ogress.¡±


    ¡°Could it be a ploy?¡±


    ¡°You think I haven¡¯t thought of that? I¡¯ve inquired about it already. The story of the child is definitely true. Many people saw her pregnant belly.¡±


    This Aunt Tong certainly had enough nerve that she dared to do this sort of thing in the Stone Castle. Gu Shenwei even felt that Lady Meng¡¯s anger was justified. ¡°Whose child was it?¡±


    ¡°Haha, it seems that you also have times when your mind is a little slow. Who else could it be? Unless someone wanted to die?¡±


    ¡°The lord!¡± Gu Shenwei eximed in a low voice.


    This was exactly the reaction that Luo Ningcha hoped for. She had, on several asions, wanted to talk about this issue, but had been unable to do so. The satisfaction and relief in her heart were difficult to describe in words. Finally, she could not refrain from standing up and walking over to a wooden wall. ¡°Come over here.¡±


    Gu Shenwei walked over and sniffed a delicate fragrance. He immediately held his breath and turned his body sideways.


    Luo Ningcha was about to resume speaking when she turned her body and plugged the ears of Maid Cui. She had forgotten to do this earlier due to carelessness. She then continued in a very soft voice, ¡°The lord is a dirty old man. In order to preserve her status, the ogress offered him all of her maids, and even asked her parents to choose beautiful women to send over periodically. But if anyone became pregnant, she would force them to abort the baby, and sometimes would kill the mother along with the child.¡±


    There was an irrepressible excitement in Luo Ningcha¡¯s voice which enabled her to narrate such a tragic story in a high spirited manner.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly understood why the Meng family purchased young female ves every year, and also why there were rumors that the ves did not live long. They were actually all sent to the Stone Castle. Lady Meng could certainly be said to spare no efforts in order to ensure that her twins were the Supreme King¡¯s final children.


    But the killer was not really excited. This matter was not of much use to the revenge. Even if it was spread, the Supreme King¡¯s reputation would not be affected a whole lot. Shangguan Fa was one of the overlords of Western Region, and thus nobody would dare to do anything even if he was openly lecherous.


    ¡°So¡­ that¡¯s why you asked Bighead Kingpin to send those female ves?¡±


    There were twenty female ves among the gifts sent by Big Head Kingpin, and Xu Yanwei was one of them.


    ¡°You finally understand. If the ogress can send women, why can¡¯t I? The ogress doesn¡¯t want the lord to have any more kids. I¡¯ll absolutely make sure that these women give birth to a whole generation of them.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was both shocked and amused. The information which Luo Ningcha had uncovered certainly surprised him. However, the idea she came up with was simply too childish. Even if she raised the most beautiful girls in Western Region, they would nevere into contact with the Supreme King when Lady Meng was around, let alone bear the lord¡¯s children.


    ¡°Miss Luo, you can¡¯t be reckless about this matter.¡±


    Luo Ningcha thumped heavily on the wooden wall. ¡°Cautious, cautious, cautious, when do I have to be cautious until? I have to make good use of this opportunity while the ogress¡¯ daughter is in my hands.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not try to persuade her further. From her perspective, there were indeed not many opportunities left. Bighead Kingpin was currently facing the betrayal of his son-inw and a conspiracy from the Central in. Once he toppled, Luo Ningcha would immediately fall from the clouds into the mud, and might not even preserve her life.


    Gu Shenwei decided that he would distance himself from this woman as much as possible so that he would not be connected to her n of offering beauties.


    ¡°By the way, that Maid Wan whom you sent has indeed been a great help. What did she do originally? She seems to be adept at ttering men.¡±


    Maid Wan was Xu Yanwei¡¯s new name in the castle. Though Luo Ningcha had called her not a ¡°proper person¡± the first time they met, it was actually just a casualment not based on any genuine ws in her appearance.


    ¡°Prostitute.¡± Gu Shenwei had no intention to hide the truth.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Luo Ningcha did not get angry. Instead, her response could be taken to mean ¡°So that¡¯s how a prostitute looks like.¡±


    ¡°Have you found out anything about the Lord¡¯s illness?¡± After listening to the mistress for half a day, this was actually the only question Gu Shenwei was concerned of.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s too soon. However, the Lord has indeed be more reclusive than before. Few people have seen him over the past few months.¡±


    As if someone had recited a curse, a maid cried out from outside as soon as Luo Ningcha finished speaking. ¡°The Inner Residence has sent men to see ve Huan.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Luo Ningcha was displeased at being interrupted while she was still waiting for ve Huan¡¯s advice.


    ¡°The lord wants to meet him.¡±


    In Gu Shenwei¡¯s impression, the Supreme King summoning an ordinary killer to meet him was something which had never happened before.

 Chapter 222 - Dungeon

    Chapter 222: Dungeon


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The room was dimly candlelit. Even though it was midsummer, the windows, as well as the door, were covered using cotton quilts. Four huge copper furnaces were ced in different corners of the room and were burning hot. The moment Gu Shenwei entered the room, he felt an onrushing wave of heat which nearly choked him.


    The killer knelt down on one leg and lowered his head to pay respects. He had concealed a dagger in his thigh area to give himself a fighting chance if circumstances became desperate.


    ¡°Killer Yang Huan pays respects to the lord.¡±


    The Supreme King was wearing a baggy white robe. He stood more than ten steps away from the killer and was making panting noises as if he was a male lion which had just chased after a prey.


    The panting continued for some time before the Supreme King began to talk. His voice sounded soft and weak, causing him to lose arge part of his dignity of former days and to seem rather more indifferent and weary. ¡°What¡¯s the taste of the fresh blood of the Shangguan Family? I¡¯ve almost forgotten it myself, but since you¡¯ve just tasted it, you can probably tell me about it. My son is beginning to copse, and thus, as the first person to attack him, you should speak up.¡±


    Gu Shenwei hade with a fearless mindset which was prepared for death. Yet, he involuntarily shuddered when he felt a chilly sensation rushing from his back to the top of his head, while the room became so hot that the air was beginning to feel thicker.


    ¡°I¡­¡± As the furnaces whirred, the puffs made by the Supreme King seemed to spray directly on to the killer¡¯s face. Gu Shenwei was suddenly able to snap out of it. His tone became calm, and the chilly sensation bounced out of his head and never returned. ¡°¡­ didn¡¯t taste anything.¡±


    Shangguan Fa took a step back. He felt that it must have been due to his increasing age that he was unable to intimidate a young killer. His fiery killing desire was bing unfamiliar together with the entire world, as if nothing had ever belonged to him, and everything was just illusory memories stuffed into his mind by other people. ¡°Raise your head.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did as he was told and exchanged eye contact with the Supreme King. He was not thinking of thetter as his enemy or the leader of the Golden Roc Fort. All he saw was a lonely old man who was trapped in a body which no longer listened to its owner, and who was futilely trying to push it to be as robust and agile as it used to be.


    <em>¡°Take revenge!¡± </em>A fervent cry sounded from the bottom of his heart, as if a group of people was shouting up at him from the bottom of a cliff.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem so. Did you kill Immortal Peng?¡±


    Shangguan Fa had changed the topic. After a brief daze, Gu Shenwei was able to suppress the fervent thought and replied, ¡°Indeed.¡±


    ¡°What weapon did you use?¡±


    ¡°A sword.¡±


    ¡°How many movements did it take?¡±


    ¡°One.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re lying.¡±


    ¡°Immortal Peng¡¯s kung fu wasn¡¯t as good as it used to be. I was simply able to take advantage of an opportune time.¡±


    Shangguan Fa remained speechless for a long time, as if he believed the killer¡¯s exnation, or otherwise because he was no longer interested in talking. Subsequently, he plodded over to the killer and pressed a finger on thetter¡¯s forehead. Although the force was not great, it was as hard as iron, causing Gu Shenwei to think of Mama Xue.


    The killer¡¯s heart pounded rapidly. He had seen the Supreme King¡¯s kungfu when even a modicum of it was unfathomably powerful. Instead, he could not feel the same pressure that was as heavy as a mountaining from the body of this old man. They were like twopletely different individuals; the former was all-powerful and tyrannical, while thetter was weak and resigned to death.


    Every sign attested that the Supreme King was sick. A fervor rekindled in the bottom of the killer¡¯s heart, and his strength began to concentrate upon his right fingertip. In the blink of an eye, he could tear his trousers to pull out the dagger and stab it into the old man¡¯s gut. This would not require excellent swordcraft or coercive killing intent, but simply courage.


    Shangguan Fa did not find any killing intent on the killer¡¯s body. What he saw was a dauntless pair of eyes which was honest and bright, which he had only seen several decades back when he became an ordinary human being and yearned for friendship.


    When he realized that it was a youngster who was trying topete on equal footing with him, Shangguan Fa¡¯s weary heart was triggered and he was finally able to rouse himself from his slump. When he straightened his body, he became a lot taller and bigger, such that he nearly filled up the entire room.


    ¡°You may have learned how to kill, but not how to use a knife.¡±


    This was a judgment and perhaps also a signal, albeit one which Gu Shenwei did notprehend and paid no attention to. With the twitch of the lord¡¯s fingers, two rigid masks appeared from the shadows.


    <em>¡°It¡¯s all over,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought. He had ced his focus entirely on Shangguan Fa and did not realize there were other enemies close by. They were both ck-masked assassins and their kung fu levels were a mix of good and bad. It was the people by the Supreme King¡¯s side who were the most powerful assassins.


    A soft voice was heard from outside the door, breaking the silence and murderous mood in the room. ¡°Father, I¡¯vee to see you.¡±


    Shangguan Fa inhaled a deep breath and seemed as if his soul had returned to his body after a brief adventure outside. ¡°Ru¡¯er? Don¡¯te in, it¡¯s hot in here.¡±


    The ck-masked assassins who had just revealed themselves quickly vanished.


    ¡°Yes, father. How¡¯s your Divine Skill practice going?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯ll bepleted soon.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Let me kowtow to you from outside.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡°Father, do you need me to do anything on your behalf?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡±


    Shangguan Ru remained silent for a moment. ¡°Father, is my killer with you? Did he do something wrong? Allow me to punish him.¡±


    ¡°No. I was merely asking him a few questions. You may bring him away.¡±


    The Supreme King¡¯s mystifying summoning of the killer ended just like this. Gu Shenwei bowed and exited the room, feeling the summer night wind blowing in his face at once. The pleasantly cool sensation made him feel reborn.


    Shangguan Ru was wearing a full set of killer¡¯s ck clothes and a mask. To an unknowing person, she would appear no different from any ordinary female killer. Maid Lotus had gone somewhere and was not by her side.


    The two walked out of the courtyard and went to a secluded spot, where Shangguan Ru whispered, ¡°Never leave my side when in the Stone Castle ever again, no matter who¡¯s looking for you.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Tenth Young Master.¡± Gu Shenwei did not question her. They both understood that the Supreme King¡¯s killing intention had been aroused once more. What the killer could not understand was how he had not died just moments ago. A few sentences by the Tenth Young Master should not have been sufficient to change the lord¡¯s mind. Shangguan Fa¡¯s intentions were simply iprehensible.


    Shangguan Ru quietly led the way and came to an inspection point. She swiftly shed her waist token and did not say a word. Gu Shenwei soon realized that they were not taking the route out of the Inner Residence. However, he simply followed without asking questions.


    They took an increasingly devious path until they finally reached a ce which seemed like an uncultivated garden. A dozen or so torches stood at irregr spots all over the ce, which was somewhere near the border of the peak, and from where the high city walls could be seen.


    Four killers appeared from the shadows. Shangguan Ru, who was prepared for this, fished out another waist token at once. One of the killers came forth to examine it under the torchlight, before turning towards hispanions and nodding his head.


    The quartet bent their waists and picked up two iron chains from the barren ground. Working together, they hauled up an iron door which had blended into its surrounding environment.


    The night was bing more and more bizarre, as if a special moment was imminent. The members of the Shangguan family were all behaving oddly and never offered any exnation.


    Gu Shenwei followed as Shangguan Ru led the way down the underground steps.


    At the bottom of the steps was a long passageway which had only a faint lighting from its innermost. Seeming a little timid, Shangguan Ru stood and waited for a brief while before she walked towards the light.


    This was a dungeon which had only one cell. A small torch was hung on the wall outside it, illuminating only a very small spot. The beak-nosed jailer vigntly received the waist token from Shangguan Ru¡¯s hands and examined it for a long time before grumpily taking out the keys and opening the cell door.


    The door was immediately locked from outside once the two visitors entered. ¡°Knock on the door a little strongly when you want toe out.¡± The jailer departed as soon as he threw down these words, clearly not wanting to listen to the conversations that were about to take ce inside.


    The cell was directly dug out from the walls of a cave. It was approximately a dozen steps square in area, which made it not very big. There were no facilities save for a stone bed, a chamber pot, and a close stool. However, the ce was very clean and tidy, and there was no unpleasant odor.


    There was a window at a spot where the wall was only about a person¡¯s height. Several iron bars, which were as thick as a wrist, were erected within it, and through their gaps passed the night breeze and the moonlight which the prisoner was reveling in with so much pleasure that he did not notice the visitors behind him.


    ¡°Third Brother,¡± Shangguan Ru murmured.


    Gu Shenwei was slightly shocked when the prisoner turned his body. Among the children of the Supreme King he had seen before, it was this Third Young Master, Shangguan Yun, who resembled their father the most. With his narrow long face and sunken eyes, he seemed practically like a younger Shangguan Fa, albeit his expressions werepletely different. The corners of his mouth were slightly arched upwards to reveal a mischievous smile, as if he was a thirty-something-year-old child.


    The smile did not seem to be revealed to wee the visitors. Shangguan Yun appeared very satisfied with everything in his surroundings, particrly the moonlight which provided him with ecstatic delight. Gu Shenwei had never seen a simr expression throughout Golden Roc Fort and the entire Jade City. His feeling was right; the members of the Shangguan family were all behaving oddly on this night. As he had personally just escaped from the menace intent of the Supreme King, the smile seemed increasingly inauthentic the more he looked at it.


    ¡°Long time no see, Younger Sister Ru. You¡¯ve grown a lot taller and still love wearing boys¡¯ clothes. Where is Master Yu? Why didn¡¯t he follow you here? And who¡¯s this? A new friend?¡±


    Shangguan Yun offered up a series of questions which Shangguan Ru did not reply to at all. She took off her mask and sat on the stone bed. ¡°Third Brother, I¡¯ve fallen ill. Mother has allowed me to seek your help.¡±


    Gu Shenwei guessed that Lady Meng would absolutely not have allowed her daughter to make a request so bluntly. However, Shangguan Ru was not one to beat around the bush.


    Shangguan Yun took a stride forward, eliciting a nking sound from the chains around his ankles. ¡°But I¡¯m not a doctor,¡± he replied in a tender voice as if treating his younger sister like an eight-year-old child.


    ¡°Someone from the New Moon Hall cast a force on my body. Mother says the only thing that can save me is the book our family has handed down.¡±


    It suddenly hit Gu Shenwei that Lady Meng had ordered Shangguan Ru to return to the castle the moment she heard that her daughter had been ¡°possessed¡± because she knew the severity of the condition and how to treat it. ¡°The book handed down¡± was probably referring to the Wayless Book which both New Moon Hall and Barren Sect wanted to steal at all costs.


    He had never imagined that Shangguan Ru needed the same ¡°antidote¡± as himself. This offered him a great sense of relief. The book should be much easier to steal with the Tenth Young Master¡¯s assistance.


    Although maintaining the smile on his face, Shangguan Yun shook his head resolutely. ¡°No, she¡¯s wrong. The book cannot save you and will instead harm you. Never learn it.¡±


    Shangguan Ru exhaled a breath calmly. ¡°I guessed as much. In any case, there¡¯s no need to worry because I won¡¯t die so soon.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was a little worried even if she was not. ¡°Tenth Young Master, you¡¯ve gone through two qigong deviations already. I¡¯m afraid you can¡¯t wait too long.¡±


    Shangguan Yun looked at the killer, and without being annoyed by thetter¡¯s impudence, he exined with great patience, ¡°Wayless Qigong is a truly terrible technique. Anyone who practices it would find that their strength wouldpletely disappear at regr intervals, causing their bodies to be as frail as a baby¡¯s, and making it difficult for them to even stay alive.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt a click in his heart. He finally understood what illness the Supreme King was suffering from.

 Chapter 223 - The Convict

    Chapter 223: The Convict


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The changes to Shangguan Ru urred gradually. The death of Master Yu was only the beginning, and when she found out that the murderer was her own brother, Shangguan Fei, it was as if something had died inside her.


    In the past, she had erected a mental barrier in her mind, and within that barrier, she treated killing as a game. The victims were no different from tools, target boards or flora ¨C when they were killed, they did not suffer even a little bit.


    However, outside of this barrier, she believed that all beings had feelings, and towards these beings, she felt the same amount of pain that was inflicted on them.


    From this point onwards, Shangguan Ru could never rouse her killing desire again ¨C she could not bring herself to strike the mortal blow even if it was towards her most hated enemy. The feeling of joy when one¡¯s weapon pierced into the target¡¯s flesh was lost to her forever.


    That being said, one aspect that didn¡¯t change was that she still wanted to be strong and did not like to lose. She thought of her weakness as a type of sickness and wished to be cured of it someday. She did not care much about the threat of qigong deviation.


    She had known since a young age that the Third Brother was the rebellious one in the Shangguan Family. It was said that during his saber awarding ceremony when he was 13 years of age, Shangguan Yun openly dered that his saber would never be drawn from its scabbard. It infuriated his father so much that he had nearly killed his worthless son with his own hands.


    When Shangguan Yun left the mountains for his pilgrimage, he did not stay in the South City to apply his abilities ording to tradition. Instead, he brought along the 10 killers assigned to himself and went wandering in the jianghu and did not return to the Fort after the usual one year period. When he finally returned home, seven years had already passed. His travels brought him as far the Central in, and he had indeed never used his saber. The killers who went with him had also returned in good health.


    The Third Young Master continued to drift along aimlessly in life, choosing not to gather machetemen to form his own Society, nor topete with his siblings. He kept a distance away from his own family while leading a chaotic lifestyle in the Jade City. What was extraordinary was that the 10 killers who had gone along with him on his pilgrimage remained steadfastly loyal to him. They never left him, even when they had a chance to return to their original masters.


    Even an experienced killer like Tie Hanfeng, who was much older than Shangguan Yun and had been through many tough situations with the Supreme King, also could not help but fall under the influence of his new master. He became more worldly, as his image as a killer slowly faded away.


    Shangguan Ru first met her Third Brother six years ago, when she was eight. It was the day he was to be confined in the underground dungeon. She had never known the reason why he was imprisoned, and at that time she was not really concerned ¨C she felt that Third Brother must have done something wrong and earned the displeasure of their father.


    She had visited him along with Master Yu a few times, out of curiosity. She was quickly enchanted by her elder brother¡¯s easy-going attitude, but was soon forbidden by Lady Meng to visit him again when she learned that the siblings were getting along a little too well ¨C she had wanted her daughter to get to know about Shangguan Yun and treat him as a negative role model.


    Shangguan Ru sighed while she realized that thest time she had paid her Third Elder Brother a visit was two years ago. She was already weary of the world in less than a year into her training and only at the young age of 14. Lately, she had been thinking about Shangguan Yun, and she would have found a way to see him again, even without her mother¡¯s approval.


    Gu Shenwei had hoped that the two siblings would discuss more about the Wayless Book, but after a few words, their conversation strayed away from the topic and became aimless chatter.


    ¡°Both Eldest Brother and Fourth Brother are dead,¡± Shangguan Ru said.


    ¡°So it has begun? Who killed them?¡± asked Shangguan Yun, the smile on his face fading a little but notpletely disappearing.


    ¡°Eldest brother died in the hands of Shangguan Fei, while I allowed him to kill Fourth Brother,¡± she said while directing her brother¡¯s attention to Gu Shenwei.


    For the first time, Shangguan Yun looked taken aback and he looked at Gu Shenwei, while firing off a series of questions. ¡°Tsk, tsk, what is your name? How old are you? Who taught you kung fu? You must be highly regarded by the Stone Castle, right?¡±


    Shuangguan Yun had suffered the side effects of not having conversed with anyone for too long, leading to him speak impatiently. Because he was imprisoned deep underground, he did not know anything about what went on above in the Stone Castle.


    ¡°I¡¯m known as Yang Huan, 17 years of age, my Master Shifu is Tie Hanfeng, and the Tenth Young Master thinks highly of me,¡± said Gu Shenwei without missing a beat. He felt the need to follow up with another statement. ¡°Tie Hanfeng was also killed by me,¡± he added.


    ¡°A model killer.¡±


    Shangguan Yun¡¯s tone did not change in the slightest bit while giving his judgement, but Gu Shenwei felt that it wasced with sarcasm. He did not speak again. He did not envy these two unconventional siblings ¨C one of them ended up living the rest of his life aimlessly in an underground dungeon while the other ended up being used by everyone around her and was hanging on to her life by a thread.


    ¡°He saved my life many times,¡± emphasized Shangguan Ru, but it did not change her brother¡¯s image of the killer.


    Shangguan Yun said while looking at his sister, ¡°Have you also started to fight for the fake title of the Lord as well?¡± There seemed to be a slight tinge of pity and regret in his expression.


    The title of Supreme King was not one of a true Lord, and was not recognized by every country. However no one spoke about or even dared to imply this fact in the Stone Castle.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Shangguan Ru shook her head while saying. ¡°I want topete for it, but¡­ I can¡¯t bring myself to take action.¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you already killed Fourth Brother?¡±


    ¡°There were some things that I could bring myself to do in the past but not now. I can¡¯t even kill a dog or a cat now. Third Elder Brother, do you have a way to cure me of this sickness?¡± asked Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Yun beganughing again, this time sounding even happier than before. He said, ¡°Sister Ru, you do not have any illness, it¡¯s theplete opposite, you have cured yourself of your sickness. To be killing is the true sickness, and only you and I are truly normal in our family.¡±


    Gu Shenwei lightly gave a disapproving ¡®Hrumph¡¯. As Shangguan Yun did not disy any form of authority and was confined in the underground dungeon, he was not in awe of the Third Young Master.


    ¡°Despise me as you wish, you promising killer. However, I do have to say that you are already incurable.¡±


    A true killer should never be ruffled, and should not even have the thought of retorting, never mind entering a debate. However Gu Shenwei was converted into one midway through his life, and still could not control the asional impulse to give killers a better reputation. He asked the Third Young Master, ¡°Let¡¯s say if someone you loved was murdered, would you witness it then not seek revenge? How about if you had taken a blow from a machete, would you let the attacker kill you and not strike back?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s different, being forced to kill and to kill for a living are not the same things.¡±


    ¡°There is always specialization in every industry. Someone who asionally uses the forge will not be in the same league as a cksmith, while a bunch of hooligans cannot bepared with the same number of soldiers. If you do not practice, when ites to time where you are ¡®forced to kill¡¯, how could you defeat someone who ¡®kills for a living¡¯?¡±


    For the first time, Shangguan Yun gave the killer serious consideration. He said to the youth, ¡°It seems I was wrong to call you a model killer just now. As a killer, you do seem a little too talkative.¡±


    ¡°Third Elder Brother, you should answer his question and not evade it,¡± said Shangguan Ru with a gleam in her eyes. She had still not made up her mind, and felt that there was truth to ve Huan¡¯s words.


    ¡°I¡¯m a normal person and cannot imagine myself in such an extreme situation. If you do not like the water, why do you have to you pick up swimming for fear of drowning?¡±


    Gu Shenwei now truly despised this Third Young Master. He blurted out, ¡°Somebody by the name of Wu Shengqing says he does not have long to live. He wishes to ask you, is Parro still alive?¡± He would not have acted so rashly, even in thepany of people he trusted the most. However, Shangguan Yun had a strange quality which made those around him unconsciously lower their guard.


    Shangguan Yun¡¯s expression changed drastically. He retreated a few steps and leaned against the stone wall, seemingly being unable to stand by himself.


    Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Ru had met Madman Wu when they were in danger at the Gui Garden. Wu had said a few baffling words to them at that time. Now, Gu Shenwei deduced that Wu Shengqing and Shangguan Yun must have been connected inextricably.


    Shangguan Ru stood up and blinked once towards ve Huan, signalling for him to stop speaking. She then went up to the side of her brother and asked, ¡°Who is Parro? Madman Wu¡­ Wu Shengqing saved my life once, who is he as well?¡±


    Shangguan Yun turned around and continued stepping backwards until he could see the lonely crescent moon hanging in the night sky, muttering the word ¡°Parro¡± again and again. After a while, he spoke, ¡°Wu Shengqing mastered the Unstoppable Wind together with me, and Parro was the woman that we both fell for.¡±


    Parro¡¯s surname was Chen, and her father was a big protector of the satin trade. She had chanced upon Shangguan Yun and Wu Shengqing while admiring the flowers in the Gui Garden during the spring season. From then on, their lives were intertwined together.


    Both men tried all means to woo her. They respectively sent her flowers in the night, stood outside her window and serenaded her with the flute, pretended to have met her by chance on the street or begged her maid to pass her a personal message. When Parro had decided to be with one of them, the other swore that he would remain single for the rest of his life, and willingly became her guardian.


    ¡°Who did she choose? It was you, wasn¡¯t it?¡± asked Shangguan Ru anxiously.


    ¡°How I wished that the person she chose was not me,¡± said Shangguan Yun softly. The smile was gone from his face. When he squinted his eyes slightly, he became a splitting image of his father, Shangguan Fa. Gu Shenwei felt fearful, and regretted his earlier verbosity.


    ¡°And then?¡± Shangguan Ru¡¯s voice slightly trembled as she asked. She had the feeling that her brother¡¯s reply would break her heart.


    ¡°I brought her back to the Castle, where she was raped by that old animal. I wanted to kill him, and ended up being imprisoned here.¡±


    The blurry images in her memory of that fateful day became clearer now to an ashen-faced Shangguan Ru. She had even begun to remember what Parro looked like, but she had not known about her rtionship to her Third Elder Brother, nor about the role her father had yed in the incident.


    Gu Shenwei had wanted to mention to the Third Young Master that this was the sorrow one would feel, to be incapable of killing. He decided not to speak, and just like a true killer who would not draw attention to himself, he retreated into the shadows, leaving the two siblings to their conversation.


    ¡°Maybe you¡¯re right, maybe I have yet topletely separate myself from the Stone Castle. However, both being unable to take revenge and killing people are just different forms of suffering. When fatees calling, whatever you decide to do will be wrong anyway,¡± Shangguan Yun turned his gaze to the killer, his expression gradually bing warmer.


    Gu Shenwei remained silent. He felt his heart bing more resolute ¨C he had only known the insufferable pain of being unable to take revenge, and had never felt the pain of killing another before.


    ¡°Did Wu Shengqing turn insane because of this incident?¡± Shangguan Ru did not want to question her brother any further, but felt she needed to know how it ended.


    ¡°Partly because of it. He was only in rage and not of clear mind then, but not insane. It was Immortal Peng ¨C he controlled Wu¡¯s feelings, and thought it would be a good opportunity to force Wu toplete his training in the Unstoppable Wind technique, but it ended up driving him crazy.¡±


    Gu Shenwei would have guessed that Immortal Peng definitely tried to y his ¡®Having Feelings¡¯ and ¡®No Feelings¡¯ trick again.


    ¡°Immortal Peng is already dead, it was also¡­ him that killed Peng,¡± said Shangguan Ru, bringing her brother¡¯s attention to the killer once more.


    Shangguan Yun was stunned. Then he began tough loudly and said, ¡°It¡¯s good that he¡¯s dead, he had iting.¡± When he thought about it a little more, his mind was filled with questions, so he asked Gu Shenwei, ¡°I would never have thought that your kung fu is so good, that it was good enough to kill Immortal Peng with your own hands. But why did the Supreme King not have you killed? That is very strange.¡±


    ¡°Did our father know Immortal Peng? Howe I have never heard about this before?¡± a curious Shangguan Ru asked.


    ¡°They were more than mere acquaintances ¨C they had studied the ¡®Secrets of Love¡¯ together before. The dwarf had given him many things, and in return the Supreme King did not interfere in the matters of Hope Alley, leaving it to run its own course under the hands of that bunch of weird people.¡±


    Gu Shenwei finally understood that Shangguan Fa had wanted to kill him because of Immortal Peng, and not to take revenge for both of his sons. However, this was not an important issue to him ¨C his real motive was the Wayless Book. ¡°Is Parro still alive?¡± he asked, emerging from the shadows.


    ¡°She¡¯s still alive,¡± said the siblings in unison.


    ¡°We should let her leave the Stone Castle as Wu Shengqing would very much like to meet her.¡±


    This statement struck a chord with Shangguan Ru, and she looked joyfully at ve Huan.


    ¡°Do you have the ability to make it happen?¡± After he said it, Shangguan Yun immediately changed tack and continued, ¡°You should have, since you have killed so many people.¡±


    ¡°It shall be known whether I have the ability or not once I am put to the test. However, you have to pass on the Wayless Qigong technique to the Tenth Young Master.¡±


    Gu Shenwei surmised that it would be easier to get the Wayless Book from Shangguan Yun than trying to force it from the temple guard. It would be his new n.

 Chapter 224 - The Rescue

    Chapter 224: The Rescue


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Yun felt that he had made himself absolutely clear, and was surprised by the conditions that the killer had raised.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already said that Wayless Qigong is a technique that should never be learnt. I love my sister, and I do not wish for her to suffer an early death.¡±


    Before Gu Shenwei could use any one of his hundreds of reasons to convince Shangguan Yun, his sister interrupted him. ¡°It¡¯s ok, Third Elder Brother, I will think of a way to bring Parro down the mountain. You don¡¯t have to teach me the Wayless Qigong technique.¡±


    ¡°Other than causing the person to lose his strength and be feeble from time to time, are there any more hidden risks in learning Wayless Qigong?¡± Gu Shenwei had great need for the Wayless Book and could not allow this opportunity to slip from his hands. He looked at the Tenth Young Master, knowing that she thought his urgent requests for her brother to teach her the technique was out of concern. She had not realized that she was being made use of.


    ¡°There are no other risks. But this alone risks your life.¡±


    ¡°So if one were to take precautions, would it not be fine?¡±


    ¡°No no, it¡¯s not as simple as you think. Whoever learns Wayless Qigong has practiced it frequently, killing countless people and making many enemies. No matter how many precautions you take, there is always going to be something you overlook.¡±


    ¡°But the Supreme King remains fine,¡± said Gu Shenwei after a moment of silence. He did not want to mention this, as risked showing others he knew the Lord¡¯s weakness.


    Shangguan Yun also became silent. Evidently, this piece of news was not totally unexpected to him. He finally said, ¡°So, he has finallye to this.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I just came from his ce.¡±


    ¡°Mother mentioned that Father was training in some special technique, so this was it?¡± Shangguan Ru felt it odd that she knew less than ve Huan, even though she was the Supreme King¡¯s daughter.


    Shangguan Yun¡¯s flicked to his sister as he said, ¡°He has been practicing it for many years now. The Supreme King has the privilege of learning it because only he has the privilege of the tightest security. So, it¡¯s all up to you to decide.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was a little indecisive and swept her eyes across ve Huan¡¯s face before making up her mind. ¡°I will help Parro leave without, no questions asked, but I also wish to learn Wayless Qigong.¡±


    Shangguan Yunughed bitterly, shaking his head. ¡°Fine, I will teach you, but you have to swear an oath that you will never pass it on to anyone else ¨C especially the killer beside you.¡±


    Shangguan Ru nodded and said, ¡°I swear.¡±


    Gu Shenwei realized that he had been too hasty and Shangguan Yun had seen through his motives. Instead of trying to justify himself, he asked, ¡°If the Wayless Qigong technique is the privilege of the Supreme King, how did youe to learn it?¡±


    Shangguan Yun lifted his chin slightly and for the first time, looked as how a master should. ¡°I never said that I knew Wayless Qigong. And you had better act as a real killer ¨C turn around, don¡¯t ask any questions. Don¡¯t even think about it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei obeyed, and turned to face the cell door.


    A rustling sound came from behind him, as if something was scraping the stone wall, sharp and piercing. Gu Shenwei thought to himself ¨C <em>He cannot possibly be carving the entire Wayless Book on the stone wall, right? It would take more than all night, and even so, Tenth Young Master could not manage to memorize all of it.</em>


    However, the rustling sound quickly stopped, after ten or so words were carved. Shangguan Yun asked, ¡°Have you remembered it?¡±


    ¡°I remember.¡±


    There was the sound of rubbing, and finally Shangguan Yun warned his younger sister, ¡°Be wary of this killer, he is no simpleton.¡±


    Shangguan Ru knocked on the door. Gu Shenwei turned around and fixed his eyes on Shangguan Yun, anger ring as he thought of this Third Young Master who had grown up amongst killers yet despised them.


    ¡°Assure me that Parro will be fine,¡± said Shangguan Yun softly. He looked stern and even more like the Supreme King at his prime.


    Gu Shenwei was at a loss for words for a while. He realized then that Shangguan Yun knew that his sister would not be able to aplish the rescue mission by herself, and that he was trusting the killer to get it done.


    ¡°She will be fine,¡± said Gu Shenwei tly, ¡°but I cannot guarantee anything.¡±


    On their way back, Shangguan Ru was silent, as if deep in thought. Upon reaching the Eighth Young Master¡¯s front yard, she asked, ¡°What¡¯s your n?¡±


    ¡°At the moment, I have none.¡±


    ¡°You must havee up with one,¡± she replied, as a smile creeping across her tense face.


    ¡°One has to deliberate on this. Slowly.¡±


    ¡°Do you need me to spell it out for you? I¡¯m learning the Wayless Qigong technique for you. No matter what Third Elder Brother said, I will definitely teach it to you ¨C after all, you are my ¡®disciple¡¯.¡±


    It had been a while since they had addressed each other as master and disciple. Gu Shenwei was familiar with Shangguan Ru¡¯s behavior andughed as he said, ¡°To be honest, I really do need to learn Wayless Qigong. The Peripheral Force still remains in my body and it won¡¯t be long before it erupts.¡±


    ¡°Can the Wayless Qigong technique cure you?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Gu Shenwei resolutely, even though as he himself was not certain. He and Maid Lotus had guessed that it would cure him, but neither of them knew just how it would work out.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought. That book¡­ anyway, it¡¯s pointless to speak of it, I shall tell you about it in a few days¡¯ time.¡±


    As they were conversing in the room, Maid Lotus knocked on the door from the outside. ¡°Tenth Young Master, Miss would like to invite you back to rest.¡±


    Shangguan Ru mischievously stuck out her tongue. ¡°Eighth Sister-inw is so strict. I¡¯ll take my leave but you need to think of an idea quickly. The most important thing is that we rescue Parro,¡± she said.


    It would be no easy task to sneak Parro out of the Castle, as she was the concubine of the Supreme King and living in the Inner Residence. Gu Shenwei recalled that there had been an incident when two ves had tried to sneak out of the Stone Castle by hiding in water barrels, but they were quickly caught.


    But he was more concerned about the Wayless Book. It seemed like Shangguan Yun had not actually learnt the technique and had only given his sister some clues. If those clues were identical to the clues he already knew, he would wind up on the losing end of the deal.


    Gu Shenwei let his mind wander, and it was when he was about to doze off when he came up with a n for the rescue.


    Shangguan Ru came knocking on his door early the next day morning. She had alsoe up with a n, but abandoned it once she had heard ve Huan¡¯s. ¡°Your n is more reliable, but more difficult to carry out. It¡¯s a miracle that Eighth Sister-inw agreed to take me in, I don¡¯t think she will agree to take part in this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll convince her, you go get Lady Meng¡¯s help.¡±


    ¡°Mother would definitely help. She can¡¯t wait to rid of a few more women in the Inner Residence.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not point out to her that if Luo Ningcha¡¯s intelligence was correct, Lady Meng herself had brought in a substantial number of women into the Inner Residence.


    As predicted, it took much effort to convince Luo Ningcha to participate in their n. She had grown tired of doing things for ve Huan ¨C she felt that she did not get anything in return. However, at the moment, she coulde up with anything for ve Huan to do to repay her, other than some impractical assassination requests. Gu Shenwei simply concealed Lady Meng¡¯s important role in his n from her, saying ¡°Miss, think about it, as ady of the Inner Residence, if Parro were to go missing, Lady Meng would naturally lose face¡­¡±


    Luo Ningcha seemed swayed by his statement. However, something had been preupying her thoughts and sheid it out to him. ¡°ve Huan, how is it thattely you have always been involved with womentely? If it¡¯s not sending women to me, it¡¯s trying to sneak other women away? Don¡¯t forget that you have sworn an oath of loyalty to me. I haven¡¯t even won yet, so you shouldn¡¯t be caught up in your own matters right now.¡±


    Every time Luo Ningcha self-righteously requested something of him, Gu Shenwei felt a surge of anger rising within him. However, it a went away quickly. He knew that this woman did not have long to act high and mighty. In fact, she probably even had less time than the three-year time limit of his own qigong deviation.


    Gu Shenwei casually rattled off a few oaths. In the end, he won over the support of Miss Luo.


    ¡°I do want to see what this parrot or mynah looks like, for so many men to be fighting over her.¡±


    Inparison, it was much easier to win over Lady Meng. Shangguan Ru hid the fact that she had wanted to help her Third Elder Brother and that he had told her about the ¡®reward¡¯ beforehand. Rather, she described it as purely a transactional deal, and this easily earned her mother¡¯s understanding.


    Once they had enlisted the help of Lady Meng, it became much easier for Gu Shenwei to carry out his n.


    ve Huan and Maid Lotus were summoned back to the Castle, under the pretense that Luo Ningcha was returning the favor after receiving gifts from her father. Ten carts of gifts were prepared and it seemed like all was going ording to n. The Eighth Young Mistress had not learnt her lesson, and prepared to send four maids to the Bighead Kingpin ¨C those she had sent previously had ended up being killed by her father.


    The night the gifts left the Castle, a minor incident urred in the Inner Residence. A concubine of the Lordmitted suicide by jumping off a cliff. As it was customary to not gossip about such personal issues of the Inner Residence, most people did not even know the name of the deceased concubine.


    Once the gifts passed through the gates of the East Castle, ve Huan and Maid Lotus would havepleted their task. They passed on the responsibility of escorting the gifts back to the Iron Mountain to the fifty machetemen sent by the Kun Society.


    The day after the suicide, people in Hope Alley began to notice that Madman Wu, who was always seen wandering around the streets, had gone missing. He did not appear for the next few days. Everyone said ¡°He¡¯s dead¡± when asked, and some imed that he had shown signs of approaching death. The mystery of his absent corpse matched his mysterious nature when he was still alive.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s small residence at the North City became upied once more when Xu Xiaoyi and Chu Nanping moved in. The neighbours only saw the two children going in and out of the residence and no one knew if there was anyone else who lived there as well.


    Of all the people involved in the rescue, only Gu Shenwei had neverid eyes on Parro. He did not visit her, even when she insisted on thanking her rescuer personally. He only wished for the mission to bepleted and for Shangguan Yun¡¯s information on the Wayless Qigong technique to be of value.


    Since he had already left the Castle, Gu Shenwei also had to attend to another matter. It was time for the Kun Society to give their ¡®Protective Talisman¡¯, and he was in charge of handing over the silver. The responsibility made him a little more proactive.


    The Kun Society was gaining momentum, but the hundreds of machetemen under their hire was no small burden. Even after the ountants had made preparations, there were only 900 thousand taels of silver in their coffers. If would be no easy task to gather one million and 150 thousand taels of silver.


    Gu Shenwei took a banknote equivalent to 800 thousand taels of silver with him, iming that he could convince the governor to ept a smaller tribute.


    But even before he went to see the governor, he went around to understand more about the situation within the city. It seemed like the deaths of Wei Lingmiao and Meng Mingxian was still the subject of gossip on the streets, and as his expectation proved, more people were beginning to link both cases together. Only this time, what was on everyone¡¯s mind was not friendship, but revenge.


    The Meng Family did notment on this issue, and this only affirmed the beliefs of the people.


    Because of that, Gu Shenwei felt confident to win the trust of Wei Song, even before meeting. Never would he have anticipated that someone had already interfered in this matter, and was waiting for the killer to fall into the trap.

 Chapter 225 - Payback

    Chapter 225: Payback


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The death scene of the Stone Castle¡¯s Eldest Young Master, Shangguan Chui, had left asting impression on Shen Liang. He especially could not forget the machete techniques of the two youthful killers.


    As the Heart Cleansing Yard was the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s internal justice department, once the news of Fourth Young Master Meng¡¯s murder and the discovery of assassins within the Governor¡¯s Mansion traveled back to the Stone Castle, investigations into both cases fell under demaster Shen Liang¡¯s responsibility. No matter what the residents of Jade City talked about, a true expert could see traces of a Golden Roc killer¡¯s handiwork in both cases.


    Even though Gu Shenwei was rmed to see the demaster at the Governor¡¯s Mansion, he calmly paid his respects.


    Wei Song sat at the position of the host and nodded half-heartedly in return. There was wariness in his eyes and he did not say a word, hinting that Shen Liang would be in-charge of all matters.


    ¡°You are known as Yang Huan, yes?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Gu Shenwei noticed that Shen Liang had brought 10 killers along with him.


    ¡°On the 3rd night of the seventh month, where were you?¡±


    ¡°I was at the South City with the Kun Society,¡± replied Gu Shenwei after a moment¡¯s thought,


    ¡°You remember very clearly.¡±


    ¡°I have to, as there was some incident that happened that day.¡±


    ¡°What incident?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t say.¡±


    Shen Liang¡¯s gaze turned harsh. He knew that this killer¡¯s original master was his own nephew Shangguan Nu, but was no longer under his care as Yang Huan now belonged to the Tenth Young Master.


    ¡°As the demaster of the Heart Cleansing Yard, I order you to speak truthfully.¡±


    ¡°I seek the forgiveness of the demaster, but I still cannot talk about it.¡±


    Wei Song witnessed this interrogation with an inscrutable expression. He felt that there was no one he could trust here.


    Shen Liang felt a sh of anger. No one dared to disrespect him within Golden Roc Fort. <em>¡°Unless¡­ </em><em>it was Lady Meng.¡± </em>He became hesitant. If what Yang Huan could not speak about was linked to the twins, he did not want to push further.


    A killer came forward and suggested, ¡°demaster, the assassin took a blow on his or her back that night, and the wound could not have disappeared so quickly.¡±


    Shen Liang understood what his killer had meant. ¡°Yang Huan, do you agree to disrobe for an examination?¡± This time, his tone was warmer.


    Gu Shenwei lowered his head and thought for a moment. He then removed a stack of banknotes and some essories from the front of this shirt, then quickly removed it. He turned around and stood back facing the others.


    It was all quiet in the room, and Wei Song turned away after a nce at the youth¡¯s back. Even though the others who were present were all killers, and specialized in using torture on their victims, none of them had seen so many scars on a living person¡¯s body before.


    There were simply too many scars on his back, and even the most experienced person could not have differentiated the old from the new scars. The examination could neither prove nor eliminate the possibility that Yang Huan was the assassin.


    Shen Liang felt ovee by embarrassment. He had sharp instincts, and believed that both assassinations had something to do with this killer. However, he did not have any proof. If it was just an ordinary assassin in front of him, he could use the cruelest forms of torture to make the killer speak. But as to Yang Huan, he had to consider that Lady Meng could be possibly backing him.


    Wei Song believed that this was all a show by the Golden Roc Fort and that it had finished. After all, how could it be possible for them to truly want to protect a Governor sent from the Central in? He decided to y along. ¡°I believe that the assassin isn¡¯t this Yang Huan. I believe that the true assassin has suffered a setback, and would never dare to return as long as the Golden Roc Fort is here to protect my mansion.¡±


    Shen Liang took his leave in embarrassment. It was at this moment that he decided to find out the truth ¨C even if he could not officially disclose it in the end. He wanted to know everything about Yang Huan. He wanted the youth to know that it was a huge mistake to be faking it in front of him.


    Gu Shenwei felt that it was a farce as well, except that Shen Liang and Wei Song were the ones putting it up ¨C the Central in was plotting behind the Golden Roc Fort to destroy it, yet these two were still trying to put up a front of giving and receiving protection.


    When only the Governor and the killer were left, Wei Song spoke, ¡°demaster Shen wanted toe, and I could not bring myself to reject him. However, I¡¯ve never thought of you as the assassin. The most basic reason being, why would you kill me without having gotten the reward for your actions?¡±


    ¡°Please check, your Honor.¡± Gu Shenwei presented the banknotes with both hands to the Governor.


    Wei Song did not receive the notes as they did not belong to him. He replied, ¡°Keep it, when you go outter, somebody will give you a proof of receipt. What about the information that I asked for?¡±


    Gu Shenwei kept the bank notes collectedly and replied, ¡°There¡¯s no mistake about it, and it seems rather serious, leading nearly to the total loss of kung fu.¡±


    ¡°Are you absolutely positive?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen it with my own eyes.¡±


    Wei Song slightly leaned his body, and a tinge of excitement showed on his cold, hard face. ¡°What evidence do you have?¡±


    ¡°There can be no evidence for such a thing. Your Honor would know that I¡¯m speaking the truth by finding out more about the Wayless Qigong technique or the Wayless Book. A practitioner of such a technique suffers from periodic total loss of power.¡±


    ¡°Wayless Qigong,¡± repeated Wei Song softly, evidently not having heard of the technique.


    ¡°Good, you¡¯ve done a good job. You¡¯ve already epted the money, what about the official post that I promised you, when would you want it?¡±


    ¡°When will your Honor leave Jade City?¡±


    ¡°One monthter.¡±


    ¡°I wish to go along with your Honor.¡±


    It would not be a good idea being caught trying to assassinate the Governor in the North City, therefore Gu Shenwei decided to change his ns.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be a problem. I guess you won¡¯t have an easy time with demaster Shen keeping a close watch on you. I¡¯ll leave my post on the 13th day of the eighth month, and you had best arrive here punctually.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt that there was more than enough time for him. He nned to get the Wayless Book before dealing with the Governor.


    Gu Shenwei lifted his head and gave the governor a nce when he retreated. He could not help but think, <em>¡°Wei Song looks familiar to me, yet he couldn¡¯t recognize the youngest child of his inws¡¯ family anymore.¡±</em>


    Little did he know that Wei Song had felt his heart stir when he met the young killer. However, Wei felt that something so coincidental could never have happened and had quickly cast the thought to the back of his mind.


    ¡°Now that you have the money, I have to be careful of you.¡±


    What was meant as a joke by Wei Song came as a warning to Gu Shenwei. After leaving the mansion, he thought carefully about the governor¡¯s current position and decided to set up surveince teams to monitor his movements. Now that the governor had got the intelligence he wanted, there was a possibility that he could flee from Jade City before his term was up.


    It turned out that the Wei Song was not the only one who wanted to flee. When Gu Shenwei returned to his residence at the North City, Xu Xiaoyi came to inform him that Wu Shengqing had left with Parro, ¡°I tried to persuade them to stay, but they would not listen to me. She said that it wasn¡¯t safe for them to stay, and it would bring trouble to you, while he said that he couldn¡¯t thank you enough for your kindness. Whatever it is, they¡¯ve left without nning to repay you.¡±


    Chu Nanping, who was concentrating on carving a suitable wooden sword, lifted his head to interrupt, ¡°Madman Wu does not seem mad anymore.¡± His long sword was confiscated upon entering the North City, and this had made him uneasy to no end.


    Gu Shenwei could not refrain from shaking his head. <em>¡°It was remarkable that a woman could have so much influence over a man. To be heartless like a killer is the right thing to do. If you miss somebody else all the time, how could you kill and remain at peace with yourself?¡±</em>


    Gu Shenwei reminded the two youths not to go wandering about for the time being, as demaster Shen Liang was searching for leads on the assassins throughout the entire city; the danger period was not over yet.


    He then made a trip back to the Kun Society in the South City, making some arrangements with capable machetemen that he trusted. He bypassed Liuhua, who was overseeing the Kun Society on behalf of the Tenth Young Master. He kept the marksman in the dark as to his actions.


    Back at the Stone Castle, the person who was the most delighted to see him was Shangguan Ru. She questioned ve Huan over every detail and seemed to think that doing good deeds was better than being a killer. When she heard that Wu Shengqing had fled Jade City with Parro, she sped her palms together and prayed for them to have a safe and peaceful journey.


    Gu Shenwei felt that there was an ominous tone to Shangguan Ru¡¯s well wishes. In the Stone Castle, only the dead were ¡®peaceful¡¯.


    Shangguan Ru finally was willing to pass on the secret to the Wayless Qigong technique after what had been promised was aplished. However, she would not directly break her oath of secrecy to her brother, and purposely left behind a written message for her Eighth Sister-inw to bring to Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°What does it mean? What¡¯re you two up to?¡± Luo Ningcha questioned as she ced the note in a slot of the wooden wall. She was increasingly displeased at being made use of. There was only one line on the note: ¡®The day of recital is the 15th day of the seventh month¡¯.


    Gu Shenwei understood the hidden meaning of this sentence.


    Since ve Huan had already uncovered the secret, Shangguan Ru could begin to exin in greater detail to him. ¡°The Wayless Qigong technique is remembered by heart by the temple guard. As even a few wrong words could lead to qigong deviation for the practitioner, they¡¯vee up with a way to make sure that the guard does not remember the wrong words. On the 15th day of the seventh month of every year, the temple guard will recite it once. There are 15 Sacred Masters in Six Kills Temple each of whom has mmemorizeda portion of the technique. They¡¯ll take turns to corroborate their parts with the temple guard. Once there¡¯s any deviation, even if it¡¯s just one word, they¡¯ll have to request the lord to personally verify which version is correct.¡±


    It was aplicated and tedious way to keep a secret, and the only benefit was that it was extremely safe.


    Gu Shenwei had snuck into Six Kills Temple with Shangguan Ru and the others before, but it could not be considered a sess, as they had been spotted from the beginning and only managed to steal what they came for because Mister Guo wanted to catch them in the act.


    The second time anyone snuck into Six Kills Temple was when the Barren Sect came to kidnap the temple guard. They could not be considered to be sessful as well, as Gu Shenwei had spilled the beans before they acted, and the Supreme King let them grab the fake temple guard to follow their trail.


    This time around, there would be no more holding back ¨C from either the trespassers or the guardians of the temple. The recital day as of prime importance and sensitivity to Six Kills Temple, and security would expectedly be tight. It would be impossibly difficult to get close to the temple guard.


    Gu Shenwei felt that Shangguan Yun¡¯s leaked intelligence did not amount to much, and he had only one chance to strike. He would most probably be dead on the 15th day of the seventh month next year¡­


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we kidnap the temple guard before the recital day, and force him to divulge the technique,¡± suggested Gu Shenwei. His n was not to act so covertly, and it was simr to that of the Barren Sect.


    ¡°It won¡¯t do,¡± said Shangguan Ru enthusiastically. She still preferred this type of adrenaline-inducing game which did not involve killing anybody. ¡°The temple guard has sworn an oath to not leak a word of the technique to anyone other than the Lord, even under the threat of death.¡±


    Gu Shenwei himself did not think much of oaths, but he was aware that there were killers in the Golden Roc Fort who stuck to them. The temple guard came from a killer¡¯s background, and torture or death would probably not scare him much.


    While Gu Shenwei was busy with the rescue the past few days, Shangguan Ru had not kept idle. She had thought of a n, which wasrgely inspired by him.


    The n was workable, but its problem was that it involved too many people. This would increase the probability that someone would spill the beans. This mission was different from rescuing a concubine of the Supreme King, as no one, not even Lady Meng herself, could bear the responsibility of being involved with eavesdropping on the recital of the Wayless Qigong technique.


    Maid Lotus was listening at the side all the while, as she also had a role to y in Shangguan Ru¡¯s n. When the other two were hesitating, she interrupted, ¡°Not everyone involved has to know the entire story. I have a way to keep our secret safe, and it can also allow Miss Luo and Lady Meng to patch things back up.¡±


    After Maid Lotus touched up a crucial part of the n, the three youths went their separate ways and begun preparing. At this time, there were only six days left to the 15th day of the seventh month.

 Chapter 226 - Making Peace

    Chapter 226: Making Peace


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The news that Lady Meng and the Eighth Young Mistress were patching up had spread across the entire Golden Roc Fort and the whole of Jade City at a speed that was faster than a gust of wind. The apanying shockwaves were even greater than when the news of the two master¡¯s death had broken out.


    Many people outside the Castle were suspicious of the uracy of this piece of information, and until both women officially made their peace at the Six Kills Temples, there would also be doubts about whether it was true. However, nothing could stop the countless theories that had begun to spring out. Everyone wanted to know: <em>Who had blinked first?</em>


    When Luo Ningcha questioned ve Huan, the issue of public perception was also her main concern. ¡°You want me to make peace with her? Dream on. People will say that I could not win and had to beg for forgiveness.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had came prepared with a reason for her, ¡°Miss, this is notpromise, but rather it is to retreat first to give yourself options for a future attack¡­¡±


    ¡°To retreat first? I have taken in her daughter, and I even co-operated in the rescue. What more do you want? I¡¯m already at the cliff¡¯s edge, and if I were to retreat further, I would fall off the cliff.¡±


    ¡°Miss, what is your motive in requesting for the 20 female ves from the Bighead Kingpin?¡±


    ¡°It was for¡­ You already know, so why ask?¡±


    ¡°You will eventually have to let the Lord see them, otherwise what is the point of keeping them? Now, this path is controlled by Lady Meng, and if you don¡¯t make peace with her, it will never be open to you. This is to retreat first to striketer.¡±


    Luo Ningcha thought for a moment before she said, ¡°ve Huan, I know you are close to that little girl, perhaps too close. Tell me the truth, what¡¯s going on between you two?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had not considered that Miss Luo would have changed the subject, and was speechless for a while. He gave a few coughs before he managed to say, ¡°She is my master, and I am her killer, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°Humph, don¡¯t think that you are the only smart person here. I¡¯m no fool either. I know very clearly that all this rescuing and making peace were all her ideas, and that so many people would be helping her without anything to gain. As for me, other than some false glory, I will earn nothing. No, you have to tell me the truth. What are you two trying to achieve? I want in if there are any benefits to be gained.¡±


    Gu Shenwei could only manage to cook up a story to counter her, ¡°It is because there is a secret hidden in the Six Kills Temple¡­¡±


    ¡°The map leading to the hidden treasure in the Stone Castle!¡± eximed Luo Ningcha, her breathing bing heavier. Although she was rich, she would never reject an offer to make herself richer.


    ¡°Maybe.¡± Gu Shenwei could only continue to y along.


    Luo Ningcha immediately gave her conditions. ¡°I want half of it.¡±


    ¡°Regarding this, I have to get the approval of Lady Meng,¡± replied Gu Shenwei. He continued to lie to make his words seem more convincing. He was not afraid of getting into Luo Ningcha¡¯s bad books because she would not remain useful for long.


    The next day, Gu Shenwei came back to Miss Luo and told her that Lady Meng could only agree to a 60 ¨C 40 split between herself and the youngerdy. Luo Ningcha finally agreed to it after a long period of consideration.


    As for Lady Meng, firstly, she was willing to do anything for her daughter, and secondly, she had never regarded Luo Ningcha as a worthy adversary. Thus, she was willing to take this opportunity to make peace.


    This was the inside story of the reconciliation between mother and daughter-inw.


    The Six Kills Temple was the ancestral shrine of the Shangguan Family and, as a show of sincerity for both of them, Lady Meng chose it as the ce to put aside her differences with her daughter-inw. However, they were women and were thus prohibited from entering the main hall ¨C they could only pay respects to the ancestors by burning incense at the entrance of the hall.


    All women who had some title were invited, and who amongst them would miss such an opportunity?


    On the 14th day of the seventh month, even elderlydies, who were between 70 to 80 years of age and had to be supported by their maids, insisted oning to witness the event. No less than 300 people, including masters and servants, formed up on the steps to the main hall¡¯s entrance in ordance with their title. Those that could not squeeze in could only peek from the bottom.


    Lady Meng looked as poised and gorgeous as usual. She held onto her daughter-inw¡¯s hand and, with an amiable smile across her face, they burned incense and prayed together in front of the Six Kills tablet.


    Those that had thought that the Eighth Young Mistress would have changed her habits were disappointed. Luo Ningcha was still wearing a thick veil which hung down below her waist. As such, many felt both of them had fought to a standstill and that that the younger woman might even have had a slight upper hand.


    The twodies at the hall of the Temple were without a doubt the focus of everyone¡¯s attention. Even the Sacred Masters who were pure of mind and standing a distance away could not help but a steal a few nces in their direction. The killers who provided security for the hall were, however, not so bold, and basically stood outside the walls. They only did a thorough search after everyone had left, and they picked up many trinkets such as handkerchiefs and jewelry.


    Under such circumstances, no one who has noticed that a maid had gone missing.


    The original n was to have three people to eavesdrop during the recital ¨C ve Huan, Maid Lotus and Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Ru was not able to participate because of her mother¡¯s disapproval. Once Lady Meng heard that her daughter would be suspended on a cliff for three days and two nights, she immediately forbade her daughter to take part. Lady Meng said, ¡°Let the killers do it, as it¡¯s their job. You are the Tenth Young Master, how could you take such a risk?¡±


    As for Gu Shenwei, he felt he would have trouble if he tried to sneak into a group of women. Furthermore, he was under surveince and his movements were severely restricted.


    Even though demaster Shen Liang was still personally in the city to investigate both assassinations, he did not be less vignt on the movements of the young killer at the Castle. The Heart Cleansing Yard had the Eighth Young Master¡¯s main yard on surveince, and there would be several people tailing Gu Shenwei whenever he stepped out of its doors. Therefore, he decided to remain in the residence so as to avoid raising any suspicion.


    Therefore all of the burden fell on Maid Lotus.


    When everyone¡¯s attention was on Luo Ningcha and Lady Meng, Maid Lotus sneaked up to the cliff on the east side of the Temple. She began to climb up until she reached a blindspot at the north side of the main hall. She had to hide there for three days and two nights. When the recital began on the 15th day of the seventh month, she nned to sneak to the open windows to her east or west and record what she heard.


    The only safety precaution she took was to use a very thin rope. Other than that, there would be no one to help her, so she had to take care of herself, regardless of whether she was caught in a torrential rain or a lightning storm.


    The reason she gave for epting this mission was simple and straightforward, ¡°This would save my life too.¡±


    They had to find a way for her to make a record; using paper and brush was out of the question. She would most definitely not be able to write with a brush when she was busy fighting with gravity. Then they finally came with an idea. They found a few soft wooden nks and cut them into many pieces. After that, they ground out fine tips on two metal pieces for her to carve with. Maid Lotus had practiced writing with them for a few days. To prepare her for the possibility that the recital could be in the night, and she even had to learn to write with her eyes blindfolded.


    In order for them to safely exfiltrate Maid Lotus, the show of Lady Meng and Luo Ningcha making peace had tost for three days. On the first day, the daughter-inw would express her goodwill while Lady Meng would return the favor on the second. Finally, on thest day, both of them would offer a sacrifice to the ancestors of the Shangguan Family together.


    While Maid Lotus was carrying out her potentially fatal mission, the others were waiting anxiously. Every few hours, Shangguan Ru woulde running to ve Huan to ask him questions, such as: <em>Was Maid Lotus¡¯ rope sturdy? What if she was noticed? Is the wind out there too strong? </em> Gu Shenwei could only answer that Maid Lotus was very nimble, and would definitely be all right. However, he was not too sure himself.


    Fortunately, Luo Ningcha did not cause any trouble, and was waiting patiently for her huge mary reward. To keep her happy, Gu Shenwei reminded the Tenth Young Master to not expose his lie.


    Two incidents urred on the 15th day of the seventh month. As Shangguan Ru was extremely worried, she insisted on dressing up one of Luo Ningcha¡¯s maids and had gone along to the Six Kills Temple. Just after thedies had left, people from the Heart Cleansing Yard came to look for ve Huan.


    Shangguan Ru had reminded him not to follow anyone back to the Stone Castle. However, this yellow-belt torturer hade with a gift. Gu Shenwei received him at the front yard.


    ¡°The demaster asked me to pass these two items to you,¡± said the yellow-belt torturer. He closely observed for any changes in ve Huan¡¯s expression as he opened his palm to reveal the items.


    It was a gold hairpin and a jade ornament. Gu Shenwei did not receive them. He replied, ¡°These are not my things.¡±


    ¡°A madman known as Wu Shengqing had abducted a woman, and now they are dead. These two items were left behind by the woman, and the demaster said that you may be able to identify them, as they hade from the Inner Residence.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took a closer look and said, ¡°No, I don¡¯t recognize them. And also, I¡¯m not familiar with the Inner Residence. I believe demaster Shen must have been confused.¡±


    The torturer sped his palms together and replied, ¡°That is possible. I shall let him know that you said ¡®You don¡¯t recognize them¡¯.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡±


    This was an intimidation technique meant to test him. If Gu Shenwei was not able to remain calm, he would have given himself away. He did not understand why Shen Liang had wanted to keep a close watch on him; there was no cause for animosity between them ¨C they did not even have any small arguments before.


    After the ceremony was over, Luo Ningcha exined the reason to him. ¡°You are always not in the Castle, and are not aware of many things. Sheng Liang and Lady Meng used to be in cahoots, but are now not on good terms. It was all due to them fighting for spoils. Shen Liang had wanted one of his own people to take over Mister Guo¡¯s position, and had wanted to gather more killers for my husband, but was unsessful on both counts. It¡¯s most likely because you are a killer for the Tenth Young Master, and he wants to make things difficult for you and strike at her at the same time. Tsk, tsk, it should be like this. So you see, I have be more observant than before¡­¡±


    Shangguan Ru became nk for a long while after she heard about the death of Wu Shengqing and Parro. After she came to, she asked, ¡°Should we let Third Elder Brother know?¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t tell him now, he will hate you if he knows about itter.¡±


    Shangguan Ru could not bear to tell her Third Brother in person, so she sent ve Huan with her mother¡¯s waist token to pass on the bad news. ¡°How should we tell him? He would be devastated.¡±


    ¡°Did you see whether Parro was happy when she left the Stone Castle?¡±


    ¡°She was happy, I¡¯ve never seen somebody who was so emotional. I¡­ I feel that the Stone Castle has owed her too much.¡±


    ¡°Wu Shengqing was also very happy. That was enough, nobody can be happy for his or her entire life.¡±


    Shangguan Yun reacted much more calmly than his sister did. He sat on his bed of stone, and looked at the full moon outside his cell. ¡°It has always been the case that no one could escape from the Stone Castle. You have already achieved a feat by letting the two of them meet,¡± he said. After a momentary pause, he added, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not feel the usual anger or sorrow after getting to know that the love of his life and his best friend had been killed. As he looked at the moon, the same mysterious and yet mischievous smile came across his face again. It was as if he no longer felt any emotions, and he had even be unsound and mad.


    Gu Shenwei walked to the edge of the wall, and felt around the area where Shangguan Yun had written the words for his sister. There were no tools in the cell, and Shangguan Yun had used his fingers to carve the words, and his palm to wipe them off- all of which were done on stone. The level of his Internal Strength stunned Gu Shenwei and also made him feel at ease.


    Before leaving, Gu Shenwei passed something to Shangguan Yun as he sped his hand.


    It was a small piece of apass saw, and it could be used to saw off the chains from his legs.


    Shangguan Yun looked in bewilderment at the killer as he left. He thought about it for so long that the full moon had moved beyond the view of his tiny window. He finally understood that the killer was giving him a chance to take revenge. He had tried it once, but it was unsessful, which resulted in his imprisonment. Now, he had a golden opportunity to do it again as the ¡®old animal¡¯ did not have any Internal Strength in him now.


    As he stood outside the underground dungeon, Gu Shenwei¡¯s thoughts were not about Shangguan Yun¡¯s reaction. Instead, he was thinking about Maid Lotus, and if she had been sessful, about how she would be busily inscribing the Wayless Qigong now.

 Chapter 227 - Spoiling the Plan

    Chapter 227: Spoiling the n


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei was beginning to feel the incredible aura of vignce permeating the Golden Roc Fort. In the past, he had hidden behind the scenes and managed to put the me for his killings on natural disasters or other people. However, after the assassination of Meng Mingxian and the attack on the Governor, he failed to hide his tracks, and the demaster Shen Liang had started to keep a close watch on him.


    All of a sudden, Gu Shenwei felt that there was trouble brewing all around him. The surveince by the Heart Cleansing Yard, the murderous intent of the Supreme King and Lady Meng¡¯s controlled vengefulness ¨C he was aware of all these potential problems, but he never would have thought that the person who would spoil the n would be Luo Ningcha.


    The show of daughter and mother-inw making peace woulde to an abrupt end on the 16th day of the seventh month.


    No one could tell what Luo Ningcha had in mind by looking at her; the thick veil she wore became her best disguise. She must have plotted for a long time, as she appeared to be very calm, self-assured and polite ¨C just the way a virtuous daughter-inw would behave. The act she put up was so good that even Lady Meng bought it. There was even a part of her that believed Luo Ningcha would really change her temper.


    Shangguan Ru and Xu Yanwei were already waiting for Maid Lotus as she rejoined the group. They discreetly cleaned the dirt away on her and helped to touch up her make-up, while supporting her up.


    As the sacrificial ceremony outside the hall drew to an end, the maids waiting behind came forward to their masters. It was a slightly chaotic scene. When Luo Ningcha came back surrounded by her maids, she ced one hand around the shoulder of the maid leading the way, and nonchntly used the other to take away one of the wooden bs which were filled with carvings from Maid Lotus¡¯ hand.


    There were a total of ten wooden bs. Maid Lotus had covered them with a piece of green silk as she held them with both hands, seeming to any onlooker to be a spare essory box.


    Maid Lotus had not caught any shut-eye for all three days and two nights while she was on the cliff. If she had not undergone the tough training of a killer before, she would have copsed by now. Her mind and body had be slow to react. Even though she had tried her best to hold the bs tightly, she was still unable to stop Luo Ningcha from taking one of them.


    As the piece of green silk was about to fall off, Shangguan Ru quickly got hold of it and covered the bs again. Luo Ningcha had acted differently from their n, and both the Tenth Young Master and Maid Lotus were caught with surprise.


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s veil served as the perfect cover as she hid the hand holding on to the b under it. Seeing that, Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus guessed that she probably was doing this to help carrying the bs, and both breathed a sigh of relief.


    They never expected that what happened next would cause them to gasp in shock.


    Luo Ningcha turned around abruptly and said in a voice that was not too loud, but could be heard by everyone in the surrounding area. ¡°Isn¡¯t this the Tenth Young Master? You are indeed mischievous to have gone so far as to dress up as a maid to join us here.¡±


    As she finished, Luo Ningcha walked slowly down the stairs and left. Still, no one managed to catch her expression.


    As Luo Ningcha¡¯s maid, Maid Lotus could only leave with Miss Luo¡¯s entourage. Shangguan Ru was left to face the aftermath of Luo¡¯s surprise attack alone.


    Not all out of the hundreds of women present were perceptive enough to understand the hidden meaning behind the Eighth Young Mistress¡¯ words. Some of them, giddy with excitement, went up to see for themselves. Pleasantly surprised that Shangguan Ru was present all along, they did not hesitate to point out that she was in disguise, ¡°Oh, it really is the Tenth Young Master, her make-up was so good that if the Eighth Young Mistress hadn¡¯t mentioned anything, I wouldn¡¯t have noticed it was her. When did you arrive, Tenth Young Master? It must be tough leaving the Castle! Thedy must be delighted¡­¡±


    Lady Meng never thought that Luo Ningcha, someone whom she did not think highly of, would have counter-attacked at this time. The younger woman¡¯s actions caused irreparable damage to their rtionship right after the ceremony which was supposed to signify their peace-making.


    ¡°Ru¡¯er,e over here to support me.¡± Lady Meng had on the slight smile of a loving mother on her face, as she called her distraught daughter to her side. ¡°It¡¯s really true when people say it¡¯s better to have daughters rather than sons. See, now that I¡¯m ill, it¡¯s my daughter that insists oning to see me, while my son is gallivanting around mindlessly as if he doesn¡¯t know me,¡± she continued.


    The news of Lady Meng¡¯s illness caused a shockwave to spread through the crowd. The women all came forward to offer words of concern or to assist Lady Meng in walking. They swarmed forward, pushing Lady Meng¡¯s maids away from their positions.


    As most of the women were not familiar with the rules of the Stone Castle, they did not realize what a great damage Luo Ningcha had caused to the Tenth Young Master¡¯s future by pointing her out in the crowd. Instead, they just kept praising the Tenth Young Master¡¯s filial piety instead, saying things like what a good daughter she was. When the killers heard the news, they immediately understood that the Eighth Young Mistress had made it even harder for the Shangguan Ru to earn the title of ¡®Young Master¡¯.


    Even with Lady Meng¡¯s damage control, the fact that Shangguan Ru had returned to the castle before her training wasplete still became public news. Even though there was no rule stating that the training of a young master outside of the castle had tost up till a year, it had be a tradition and an unwritten expectation of the young masters. In this instance, the tradition influenced opinions more than writtenws. In others¡¯ eyes, by returning to the castle before a year had passed, Shangguan Ru was almost openly dering that she was not willing to earn the title of ¡°Young Master¡±.


    Lady Meng kept up her calm demeanor until she returned to her chambers and dismissed the women who were concerned about her illness. When they were alone, she said darkly to her daughter, ¡°I¡¯ve always raised you as if you were my son, and you¡¯ve never let me down. You should know how a son of the Shangguan family would react to the challenge issued by the Eighth Young Mistress today.¡±


    Amongst all involved in the matter, Maid Lotus was the most struck dumbfounded and the most self-critical. On the way back, all of her thoughts were focused on the b of wood in Luo Ningcha¡¯s hands. However, she could not snatch it back in front of the crowd, and Miss Luo also was wary of her, only allowing her to follow from the back. Fortunately, Luo Ningcha did not think of taking the remaining bs from Maid Lotus.


    This was the news Gu Shenwei got after waiting anxiously for so long.


    As he knew that Lady Meng was not certain where he and Maid Lotus stood in all this mess, and had them as well as Luo Ningcha in her sights, Gu Shenwei wanted to appease her quickly. He let Maid Lotus make a copy of the contents on the remaining nine wooden bs first before sending them to the Inner Residence.


    Then, he went to see Luo Ningcha himself.


    Luo Ningcha received ve Huan in her private chamber. A screen was erected in front of her, and only Maid Cui and Xu Yanwei were left behind to serve her. Her demeanor and speech were overflowing with pride from her ¡®victory¡¯ over Lady Meng, so much so that she was unable to sit still, and was pacing to and fro. When she spoke, she sound livelier than before. ¡°I¡¯ve waited so long for this day, I feel so at ease now. What do you think of my move, ve Huan? Even you were fooled, weren¡¯t you? Haha, that that old bitch wanted to hide her daughter in the castle. I would never have let her have her way with it. You¡¯ve contributed well this time, I followed your advice to ¡®Retreat first to striketer¡¯ and to ¡®Strike after gaining the trust of the enemy¡¯. It was so much fun!¡±


    Gu Shenwei had to suppress the rage building up inside him. This woman had put him in a very dangerous situation from which there could possibly be no return, yet she was still proud of herself. ¡°Miss Luo is indeed smart. I just gave a few words of casual advice, yet you could apply it to real situations. May I ask where¡¯s the wooden b you took?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve hidden it.¡±


    ¡°Can I take a look?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Came Luo Ningcha¡¯s steadfast refusal. She thenughed continuously before adding, ¡°Poor little ve Huan, do you think your story about treasure fooled me? I knew the thing you lot were eyeing could not have been simple as a treasure map. Even that old bitch is willing to make peace with me for this thing. My husband is incapable but full of ambition. He told me that he would take over the position of the Supreme King sooner orter, and had wanted to learn various kung fu techniques, such as Wayless Qigong. However, the lord was not fond of him, and as such, he never even knew where the manuals to the techniques were being kept at. Imagine now that I have the Wayless Qigong in my hands.¡±


    Gu Shenwei wanted to tell this woman that her father would be finished soon and she would be losing her backing. The aftermath of the Bighead Kingpin¡¯s end would be stirring up so much dirt that it would be enough to bury her ten times over.


    ¡°Miss, you¡¯ve done great service in the name of the Eighth Young Master,¡± said Gu Shenwei nonchntly. He knew that if Luo Ningcha knew that the lives of three people were dependent on the wooden b in her hands, she would not have wanted to give it up even more.


    ¡°Humph, I didn¡¯t do it for him.¡±


    ¡°Do you n to learn it yourself?¡±


    ¡°Pfft, I don¡¯t have the time to learn kung fu.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯ve another smart move up your sleeve, Miss.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, do that old bitch and the little girl want this wooden b very badly?¡±


    ¡°I believe so.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t give me all that, if you dare toe up with something to trick me, ve Huan, I¡¯ll¡­ exchange this wooden b for your life.¡±


    After hearing this, Gu Shenwei felt relieved instead of fear. He now knew that Luo Ningcha did not have any n in mind as to how to use this wooden b. He realized that she probably just had taken it to spite and taunt Lady Meng. He was getting more confused as to whether she was too foolish or too smart.


    ¡°Miss, you¡¯re too sharp, I can¡¯t hide anything from you. I shall tell you the truth then. There¡¯s a rule within the Stone Castle that only the lord can learn the Wayless Qigong technique. Lady Meng stole the manual as she wanted one of her twins to be the next Supreme King. However, she was ambushed by your sneak attack, and now you have her in the palm of your hand.¡±


    ¡°Are you suggesting that she would agree to any demand of mine?¡±


    ¡°Of course, as long as you hand over the wooden b.¡±


    ¡°Um, I shall consider it seriously. I¡¯m too excited today and can¡¯t think of anything. Tell that old bitch to continue waiting and not to y any dirty tricks. I hid the b in a secure location, and even Maid Cui and Maid Wan don¡¯t know where it is, so none of you lot will be able to find it. If I¡¯m threatened, I¡¯ll spill all the beans out to the public, and let the lord know that you lot have stolen the manual to the technique.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had to admit that Luo Ningcha had everything in control now. He knew that he had to coax her slowly to listen to his reasoning, as she never considered the consequences of her actions. Even though she was simple-minded and her motives were easy to understand, it was impossible to predict what she would do next.


    Lady Meng did not receive Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus when they came to the Inner Residence with the other nine wooden bs, in the pretense of being ill. Shangguan Ru, however, had already recovered from the incident and felt a mix of anger and humor out of it all. She asked the two killers, ¡°What does Eighth Sister-in-Law actually want?¡±


    After listening to Gu Shenwei¡¯s brief exnation on Luo Ningcha¡¯s ideas, Shangguan Ru was even more confused than before. ¡°She hadn¡¯t even thought about her conditions before she decided to take one of the bs to ckmail us?¡±


    Luo Ningcha was like the rapids. Even though you could see clearly into the water, the force of its flow was ferocious and no one could predict the direction of the currents.


    ¡°Miss Luo¡­ does have a strange temper,¡± said Gu Shenwei helplessly.


    ¡°It¡¯s all because of me,¡± said Maid Lotus. She had not broke free of the web of self-criticism. ¡°If only I had held on more tightly¡­ or if only I could¡¯ve remembered the words better,¡± she added.


    ¡°How could you be med? You hadn¡¯t got any rest over three days, it would be impossible to remember so many words. I should be med, for not carrying the bs for you at that time.¡±


    The two teenage women took turns to take the me, and Gu Shenwei said after listening to them for a while, ¡°We have to think of a way for Miss Luo to give up the wooden b.¡±


    The three of them read the contents of the remaining nine bs. Maid Lotus had inscribed very neatly in verypact and small script; it was hard to think that she had done it in the dark of the night.


    The contents of the first two bs were famr to them, as it was thest portion of the strange script in the Death Scripture. Shangguan Ru had only learnt up till the first thousand words and was surprised to read them here.


    What followed next was aplex set of Internal Strength mantra. While reading it, Shangguan Ru kept eximing in delightful surprise, ¡°I know this part!¡± However, the contents grew unfamiliar for her when they came to the sixth b.


    The Internal Strength technique taught within the Golden Roc Fort was derived from the Wayless Book, and improvised from a small portion of it. The true Wayless Qigong technique was many times stronger inparison, and each Supreme King managed to rule over all his killers because of this fact.


    They looked at each other after they had finished reading all the bs. Luo Ningcha had coincidentally took thest one, and they could still start practicing the technique even without it; but they could not finish learning it.


    As she knew that Luo Ningcha¡¯s importance was diminished substantially due to this reason, Shangguan Ru thought of her mother¡¯s words: What would a man of the Shangguan Family do?

 Chapter 228 - Slave Xin

    Chapter 228: ve Xin


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    After a whole night of pondering, Luo Ningcha put forth three conditions to Lady Meng for the exchange of the wooden b. The conditions were: One, she wanted both ve Huan and Maid Lotus to return to her; these two were initially her servants when she married the Eighth Young Master, and they should not be serving others. Two, she wanted to move to a big mansion, and never have to visit her mother-inw in the morning again. Three, brought the Eighth Young Master back as she no longer wanted to live like a widow.


    Lady Meng found the first two conditions eptable and can be fulfilled easily but waspletely baffled by the third one. Every young master wanted to live independently and increase their strength without any help from the fort. The Eighth Young Master¡¯s returning was entirely up to Shangguan Nu himself.


    Gu Shenwei pointed this out to Luo Ningcha, which made her furious. ¡°My father is Bighead Kingpin, and I am his only daughter. His position as the leader of the Iron Mountain will naturally be conferred to my future husband. What is there left for Shangguan Nu to do? Just stay with me for a few years, and we can return to the Iron Mountain to im the throne. This is the most reasonable n.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had been a messenger for both sides, while Maid Lotus was searching for the whereabouts of the wooden b among the maids, but in vain. After returning home, no one ever saw it again, not even the maid that was always with Luo Ningcha; she must have hidden it very well.


    Lady Meng had finally met ve Huan. Setting aside past resentments, she did not send words by maids, instead, she sincerely chatted with him. Finally, she asked, ¡°You¡¯re always with Ru¡¯er and are her most trusted killer. Now that she is facing a crisis, do you have any solutions?¡±


    Lady Meng¡¯s attitude alerted Gu Shenwei. He had never followed her orders to ease the tension between the twins. Instead, he had been adding fuel to the fire. Seemingly, she was good-natured, but she clearly has great resentments towards him deep down.


    ¡°As a killer, I follow my master¡¯s will. Even if the bottomless abyss were in front of me, I would still jump in without hesitation.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not asking you to jump into the bottomless abyss right now; I want you toe up with some ideas.¡± Lady Meng was very different from Luo Ningcha. A couple of oath was not going to convince her.


    However, Lady Meng did not show even the slightest hint of her mind. ¡°Madam, forgive me for being a little dim. In my opinion, there were no special motives when Eight Young Mistress took the wooden b from you. How about pretending to agree? Afterall, retrieving the wooden b and curing the Tenth Young Master¡¯s illness should be our top priority.¡±


    Lady Meng sighed and said disappointedly, ¡°Ever since that child Yushi died, Ru¡¯er has never been the same. I have been relying on you to keep her clearheaded. Who would¡¯ve thought that you¡¯re a fool just like her? Do you think we canpromise in the Stone Castle? My Eight Daughter-inw is greedy. If I met her demands, would the twins and I have any future in the castle?¡±


    Her intentions were obvious. Gu Shenwei immediately knelt on one leg. ¡°I am the Tenth Young Master¡¯s killer. It is my duty to protect my master at all costs. If anyone threatens the Tenth Young Master, I¡¯llunch a preemptive strike against him!¡±


    Lady Meng was not very satisfied with his reaction. Thus, she said again with a sigh, ¡°None of these two kids is sensible, especially Fei¡¯er, who can¡¯t do anything without his mother. He asks me about everything. I read his letters, they¡¯re almost amusing. He said quite a few about you. He even med his failure on you. I wrote to tell him that he¡¯s the master; he can¡¯t put the me on his killers and servants instead of working hard. If ve Huan was that capable, why would he watch someone else bully his master? How was that going to benefit him? ve Huan, I don¡¯t care who your previous master is but I think you are very clear on who you should be following.¡±


    Lady Meng¡¯s words were almost threatening, but Gu Shenwei was not afraid. Lady Meng saw ve Huan as an opportunist for his pledging to two masters. Little did she know about his real motives.


    As long as he got the ¡°Wayless Book¡± and got rid of his Peripheral Force, Gu Shenwei would be able to exact his revenge with no restrictions at all. Lady Meng would have never guessed that this servant¡¯s ambition was to kill every member of the Shangguan family.


    Lady Meng wanted ve Huan to kill Luo Ningcha. However, she could not say these words herself. Gu Shenwei could only spare the trouble for her. ¡°Madam, please give me just a few days, I will give Madam and the Tenth Young Master a very satisfying result.¡±


    Gu Shenwei roughly knew what would happen in these few days.


    Lady Meng imed to be in the process of epting the terms to appease her daughter-inw: ve Huan and Maid Lotus were returned to the Eight Young Mistress nominally, and the grand mansion was being tidied up. The only thing left was the Eighth Young Master¡¯s return, but that was a little tricky.


    Luo Ningcha had decided that she had achieved a great victory; she did not consider any of the consequences of her explicit provocations. Additionally, she had two killers taken turns guarding her day and night. She did not need bodyguards in case of assassinations; she only wanted to unt her victory.


    She more or less knew that she needed to win people¡¯s hearts over: As a statement, she gave the two killers a servant. It was this new servant that has caused Gu Shenwei some headaches.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s new servant could be called an acquaintance of sorts, named ve Xin; who was one of the ten teenagers that had entered the family through marriage at that time and carried corpses in the Firewood Yard for quite a while. Until now, he finally got out of the horrible ce.


    As soon as ve Xin saw ve Huan, he bowed and called ¡°Lord Yang¡± with a strange smile on his face, as if he was reuniting with an old friend.


    The ten teenagers had sworn to be brothers, but times have changed. <em>¡°Who would still be honoring such a half-hearted pact from that long ago?¡± </em>Gu Shenwei was puzzled but did not say anything.


    ve Xin rubbed his hands nervously. He first praised ve Huan¡¯s achievements over the years and then dwelled on his failures, trying to bring up the past.


    Gu Shenwei had to broke in. ¡°ve Xin, do you have something to say to me?¡±


    ve Xin¡¯s eyes sparkled; as if he was moved to tears. Gu Shenwei remembered that he was not like this. He could not help but feel a bit disgusted, but he immediately felt relieved. He realized that life in the Stone Castle was not an easy one, ve Xin¡¯s change was entirely reasonable.


    ¡°Lord Yang¡­ I¡­ I shouldn¡¯t have said this¡­¡±


    ¡°Speak as you like. Although the Miss sent you as my servant, we were friends since a long time ago. There¡¯s no need for you to hold back.¡±


    ve Xin said several ¡°yes¡±, rubbing his hands harder. ¡°You do know that I have previously helped you out, right? I¡¯m not trying to gain any merit here, but I feel like I should tell you this¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Gu Shenwei replied faintly as he pictured his younger self back at the Firewood Yard, isted and helpless.


    ¡°Do you still remember¡­ that white handkerchief?¡±


    Gu Shenwei stopped cleaning the de of his sword to get a good look at ve Xin for the first time. ¡°So, it was you.¡±


    Written on the handkerchief was Gu Family¡¯s sped-up technique of the Yin and Yang Strength. Gu Shenwei went through a lot of trouble to find it. He even went as far as killing ve Yao. Afterward, this handkerchief was secretly returned, and Gu Shenwei had always thought the person who returned this was the deceased ve Qian. He could not believe that it was the very cowardly ve Xin.


    ¡°Hehe, it was me. I¡¯ve always kept this secret for you, never saying a word to anyone.¡±


    ve Xin was illiterate, and the white handkerchief was thrown off the cliff. Not worrying about him blowing the whistle, he continued to clean his de. ¡°It¡¯s not such a secret thing. It was just a small keepsake left for me to remember my family by, and I have no clue where it is.¡±


    ve Xin was stunned. The only reason why he dared to say this secret out loud was to receive gratitude but he was left disappointed. Not caring for hisst bit of self-esteem, ve Xin plopped down on his hands and knees and said in tears, ¡°ve Huan, no, Lord Yang, let me make a blood oath to you. I will forever be loyal to you.¡±


    ve Xin¡¯s behavior was utterly unexpected. The blood oath was traditionally among killers, not for servants. Moreover, this was the first day of their reunion; there was hardly any room for loyalty.


    Gu Shenwei put his sword down and said, ¡°What is going on? Get up. If you have something to say, say it.¡±


    ve Xin refused to get up, but he decided to speak up. ¡°I, I don¡¯t want to die.¡±


    ¡°Who wants to kill you?¡± If it was Luo Ningcha, then Gu Shenwei thought he could ask her to spare his life.


    ¡°No¡­ no one wants to kill me, but it¡¯s¡­ those who have offended you would die: ve Xiao, ve Yao, ve Qian, they all died like this, even ve San and the others too. In the past, they have all talked about you behind your back. Once you were gone; they either couldn¡¯t stand the mistreatments andmitted suicide or were killed by a big bird. There were a total of ten who followed the Miss, and now I¡¯m the only one left¡­ no, and you, Lord Yang.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had been haunted by ¡°evil¡± back then and did not think that ve Xin would still obsess over such a thing in the past. ¡°It¡¯s not like you have offended me, so there is nothing to worry about.¡±


    ve Xin was truly frightened, to the point of banging his head a few times causing his forehead to turn purple. Gu Shenwei asked him coldly, ¡°Who did you tell about the handkerchief to?¡±


    ¡°You know I wouldn¡¯t say anything, even if I was tortured, but I had no choice! I had to leave the Firewood Yard. You know the Firewood Yard is not humane¡­ so when he asked, I just answered.¡±


    ¡°He? Who¡¯s he?¡± Gu Shenwei interrupted.


    ¡°The de Master of the Heart Cleansing Yard, Shen.¡±


    ve Xin originally wanted to keep the truth to himself, but after witnessing the death of every one of hispanions and the reason behind their deaths all seemed to be rted to ve Huan, he could not hide it any longer. He was too afraid of the ¡°evil¡± and trembled with fear at the sight of ve Huan, even to the point of stuttering.


    After the death of the first Young Master Shangguan Chui, Shen Liangunched a thorough investigation into ve Huan¡¯s and Maid Lotus¡¯ background. Maid Lotus had a simple and clean background, nothing suspicious was found. However, ve Huan¡¯s background was obscure. Although the information he gave seemed normal, it did not hold water. Shen Liang was even more baffled by the white handkerchief ve Xin mentioned. Unfortunately, ve Xin was illiterate and could not tell him what was written on it.


    Gu Shenwei finally understood why Shen Liang could not keep his eyes off of him. ¡°And then?¡±


    ¡°And then? There¡¯s nothing more. I left Firewood Yard right after and came to work for the Miss. I didn¡¯t expect her to assign me to you.¡±


    ¡°demaster Shen didn¡¯t have you collected information for him?¡±


    ve Xin repeatedly bowed his head. ¡°demaster Shen forced me and wanted me to get some information about you from the Miss, but I have yet to see her, let alone talking to her. You must believe me.¡±


    Luo Ningcha knew that ve Huan got into the Golden Roc Fort to exact revenge for his family. If Shen Liang were to learn of this, it would be the end of ve Huan.


    ¡°Okay, I forgive you,¡± said Gu Shenwei. He originally wanted to wait for theplete copse of the Iron Mountain Gang to take care of Luo Ningcha and the ¡°Wayless Book¡±, but the circumstances had changed. Now, he had to act before Shen Liang discovered his secrets.

 Chapter 229 - Father and Son

    Chapter 229: Father and Son


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    On the same night when the Third Young Master escaped from the dungeons, Gu Shenwei was preparing to force Luo Ningcha to give up the wooden b.


    In the second half of that night, the chirpings of the crickets had gradually subsided. Gu Shenwei was sitting on his bed wearing the full night suit and was pondering about what was the best method to use for dealing with Luo Ningcha. Suddenly, a not-so-clear sound of a whistle was heard. This was a universal signal that was exchanged by the Stone Castle¡¯s killers.


    Gu Shenwei leaped out of the house as soon as he heard this signal. Maid Lotus appeared almost at the same time as he did, and since it was her turn to protect the Missus, Gu Shenwei said, ¡°You stay behind.¡± He vaulted onto the rooftop and headed for the Inner Residence.


    The sound of the whistle quickly stopped, and it did not alert many people. There was not much of a reaction from the Inner Residence. Only those who were trained in the discipline of killers and with patient observation skills would be able to spot multiple moving shadows that were all rushing off in one direction.


    This was the moment when Gu Shenwei realized that Shangguan Ru¡¯s jailbreak had set off the rms. He had no idea why it took the Third Young Master this long to break out of his cell ever since he had sent thepass saw to him five days ago.


    Luo Ningcha must be lucky tonight to be able to keep dreaming in her sleep, not knowing that a crisis was averted as Gu Shenwei had a sudden change of ns. He made his way into Shangguan Fa¡¯s courtyard to wait for Shangguan Yun before taking any further actions. It was more important to wait than to obtain the ¡°Wayless Book¡±.


    The whistling rms had just lured away a few more killers, but the personal guard of the Supreme King was still diligently guarding his post step by step. The next thing that this guard did surprise Gu Shenwei into thinking that this guard was not as stern as he had believed: after checking every possible ambush point and ensuring the safety of the king, he climbed up to the rooftop, blended into the shadows and disappeared without a trace.


    Was Shangguan Yun here for revenge, was he here for something long-term, or had he merely fled? Although Gu Shenwei had only met the Third Young Master twice and did not know him very well, he was still very sure that Shangguan Yun would choose the first option.


    All of the forces were sessfully lured away; there could not be a better time than this to exact his revenge. Gu Shenwei was hoping that Shangguan Yun would do it on his behalf. If not, then the least he could do was to investigate Shangguan Fa¡¯s background for him.


    If this was three years ago, Gu Shenwei would kill his enemies with his own hands. But now that he has matured and sees through the eyes of a real killer, it was better for him to kill any person by using the safest possible method.


    Gu Shenwei observed the surrounding with great concentration for a while but he still could not find any traces of Shangguan Yun¡¯s whereabouts. But when he finally discovered the Third Young Master, he had no clue about how long he had been standing there right under the tree in the middle of the courtyard.


    Shangguan Yun was still wearing the old prison outfit, resting one hand on the tree while looking at his father¡¯s residential ¡°hot chambers.¡±


    The killers in charge of guarding the residence finally noticed that something was wrong. They were not the type to ask questions, or even scream and shout. These three unsheathed their sabers and slowly approached Shangguan Yun from behind while brandishing their des.


    Shangguan Yun was motionless and seemed to be oblivious of his surroundings until the killers reached within seven feet from him. When they were about to attack, he countered with a preemptive attack.


    Shangguan Yun spread out his arms and spun reflexively, creating a gust of wind that blew up some leaves from the ground and caused the leaves still on the tree¡¯s branches to rustle wildly.


    The killers were hit by the storm of leaves and flew backward, causing them to fall heavily onto the ground. They were unable to get back up.


    Although he was a little far away and the moonlight was not very bright, Gu Shenwei was still able to see that the killers were not dead; they had either fainted or were struck at the precise acupoints that stopped their movements.


    It was evident that Shangguan Yun was still not ready to kill anyone yet. Gu Shenwei determined that he would probably have to personally pick up the pieces in the end.


    This seemingly small battle had alerted many people. Dark shadows approached from all directions. Two killers were just a few feet away from Gu Shenwei. Good thing that all of their attention directed at the man standing in the courtyard and no one was able to notice the lurker within close proximity.


    ¡°Retreat,¡± ordered a voiceing from the ¡®hot chambers.¡¯ It was the Supreme King. The killers quickly withdrew as dexterously as they had arrived. In a blink of an eye, there were only two people in sight: one standing in the courtyard and the other on the rooftop; both with hearts fuming with revenge.


    ¡°You¡¯re still as soft as ever.¡±


    The Supreme King pushed open the doors. He was wearing arge robe that gave off a majestic look even though hisplexion was past one¡¯s prime. Gu Shenwei had a high impression of Shangguan Fa. Thest time they had met, he was like an unwavering tower that filled up the entire room. But today, looking from afar, this was just an ordinary old man with thin bones and a weak frame that needed strong support.


    ¡®This was the perfect time to take action, without dy and without speaking any nonsense,¡¯ these were the thoughts that the killer on the rooftop wanted to imnt into the avenger standing under the tree. Unfortunately, the precious opportunity went to waste; Shangguan Yun still opened his mouth with his voice filled with hatred.


    ¡°Parro is dead.¡±


    ¡°Parro? Is that a person or a bird?¡± Shangguan Fa seemed impatient. As if he was a schr facing his long-awaited rival and the first words that his opponent uttered was a bunch of nonsense that made him feel greatly disappointed.


    ¡°You don¡¯t remember her?¡±


    ¡°I remember now, that woman? The same woman whose son was the reason you wanted to kill your father then? After all these years, you still love her?


    ¡°Not then.¡± Shangguan Yun¡¯s sleeves swelled up like balloons. The leaves swooshed, and everything else started to float in the air.


    The Supreme King did not retreat. Instead, he stepped forward in response, ¡°This little amount of killing intent can¡¯t even match up to the apprentices in the East Castle. Aren¡¯t you embarrassed at all, Shangguan Yun?¡±


    Shangguan Yun made his move. Numerous rocks were propelled by the turbulent wind and were shot toward the Supreme King.


    Gu Shenwei was delighted for just a moment before realizing that it was just a feint attack. The stones had brushed past Shangguan Fa and struck the doors and windows. They had great momentum, but they were not lethal.


    Shangguan Fa stared at his son with a little contempt. ¡°In a month, you will lose any chance to kill me. Aren¡¯t you touched?¡±


    Shangguan Yun calmed down in the face of his father¡¯s provocation. His voice returned to its normal state, gentle and peaceful with a hint of cynicism. Gu Shenwei had a mischievous smirk on his face and contemted whether or not he should kill the Supreme King with his own hands instead.


    ¡°There will always be chances, and you can always kill me. Aren¡¯t you softhearted?¡±


    ¡°My dream is the Complete Ten Sons.¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, ¡®The King of the Cross,¡¯ Do you still believe in the fairytale from Immortal Peng?¡±


    Gu Shenwei remembered that Shangguan Yun had told him before that the Supreme King used to practice martial arts with the dwarf. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder, ¡®so Shangguan Fa¡¯s superstitions hade from Immortal Peng. But why did he not kill me back then? Was it because of his daughter¡¯s plea to spare my life? That doesn¡¯t sound like the conduct of the Supreme King.¡¯


    ¡°That Immortal Peng is a con man, but his fortune-telling is still top-notch.¡±


    ¡°Big brother is dead, the fourth younger brother is dead, and that fortune telling Immortal Peng is also dead. Have you still not awoken from your dream?¡±


    ¡°I know my dream means nothing now, but I can still have more children. That youth was heartless and cruel; I wish that even one of my children will be like him.¡±


    The father and son were talking about ve Huan, causing Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart to beat frantically.


    ¡°Heh. If one of your children were like the killer, the first thing he would do is kill you and take the throne.¡±


    ¡°Would our Shangguan family be afraid of such a thing? I am only afraid of my children not being malicious enough and being unable to secure the title of the Supreme King.¡±


    Shangguan Yun¡¯s voice turned serious and said, ¡°is that why you wanted to torment and force me to be as cold-hearted as you?¡± Gu Shenwei remembered that the Third Young Master¡¯s appearance was exactly the same as the Supreme King.


    ¡°Correct, among all of my children, you are the most simr to me. Not just in appearance, but your temper was also the same as when I was young. Therefore, I indulged you to wander the Jiang Hu and lead you to enter the Joy Pavilion with the hope that you would follow in my footsteps. Unfortunately, you wanted to live afortable life and had even fallen in love with a woman.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare mention her!¡± Shangguan Yun¡¯s sleeves swelled once again.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I? What was that woman¡¯s name again? Parro? I¡¯m starting to remember her face now; her skin was as tender as water. She was constantly pleading in my arms, it was alright at first but started getting annoying after a while, so I punished her a little¡­ ¡±


    The fierce wind suddenly rose, even the killer standing on the rooftop was able to feel the breeze.


    Shangguan Yun revealed his madness and challenged the Supreme King in the open, instead of secretly assassinating him. Just as Gu Shenwei anticipated, Shangguan Yu had missed the chance of a lifetime. Perhaps he never had the opportunity at all.


    Four ck-masked assassins suddenly appeared as if they came out of the walls. They waved their sabers in front of the Supreme King and suddenly vanished.


    Shangguan Yun had indeed gone in for the kill: he missed his first attack and immediately went for his second attack, but before he could even lift a finger, several ck-masked assassins appeared out of nowhere and stopped him.


    One ck-masked assassin who concealed himself on top of a tree was a death dealer. Although his de was a bit slow and did not cut the head, he was still able to inflict a fatal deep wound on the enemy¡¯s chest.


    Shangguan Yun hit a ck-masked assassin in the face with his palm, shattering the mask. The assassin fell backward and paused in the air for a moment beforending heavily on the ground.


    Fresh blood stted out from his chest. Shangguan Yun¡¯s legs gave out and staggered before kneeling on the ground. No one can kill the Supreme King. Even if he lost his powers, there were loyal and devoted ck-masked assassins guarding him.


    ¡°You are the only person who had two chances to kill me.¡± Shangguan Fa coldly said as his son was no longer able to speak. ¡°You should be grateful that my self-destruction has diminished my killing desire. Unlike in the past when I would have killed anyone I wanted to kill. But, watching you finally able to break your abstinence from killing makes me very happy. I am somewhat disappointed in your kung fu not improving at all ever since one of the ck-masked assassins had injured you. Cherish your life and return to the dungeons, don¡¯t let me see you again.¡±


    Shangguan Yun shook his head a few times and slowly fell, with his headnding on top of the corpse of one of the ck-masked assassins.


    Gu Shenwei did not make a move for a long time. He waited until Shangguan Fa had returned to his residence and for the other killers to leave the area. It wasn¡¯t until just before the break of dawn did he make his move and returned to the Eighth Young Master¡¯s courtyard.


    Gu Shenwei now had toe up with another solution to kill the Supreme King. He muste up with a way to bypass the ck-masked assassins.


    It was now ve Huan¡¯s shift to ¡°protect¡± the Missus. Maid Lotus gave him a nod indicating that she was able to take on another shift. Maid Lotus has never questioned ve Huan about his whereabouts; she was the ideal aide.


    Before falling asleep, Gu Shenwei began contemting about whether or not he should ask Maid Lotus for help. There was only one month left until the Supreme King recovers his powers; this was the golden opportunity that he could not miss. Gu Shenwei would never forgive himself if he lets this slip by, he had to try at least once. He needed to lure the Supreme King out of the inner residence¡­ His thoughts wandered on and on and he remembered that, during the death of the First Young Master, Shangguan Fa had made an appearance at the funeral but he didn¡¯t appear for the Fourth Young Master¡¯s funeral.


    Gu Shenwei sorted out every possibility. What hecked was a proper bait.

 Chapter 230 - Trapped

    Chapter 230: Trapped


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Once ve Xin opened the door, Gu Shenwei woke up.


    ve Xin felt that he had gained ve Huan¡¯s understanding and he wouldn¡¯t be disturbed by ¡°evil spirits¡±. He had recovered as hisplexion improved, though he seemed flustered this time. He said, ¡°Bad news. Bad news.¡±


    Gu Shenwei sat up awkwardly while holding onto his sword shaft.


    ¡°Heart¡­ Heart Cleansing Yard has surrounded¡­ surrounded us¡±, ve Xin said. He was hardly able to handle such a crisis, and his body was trembling like a sieve. When he finally calmed down, ve Huan had disappeared.


    ve Xin¡¯s description was exaggerated. There were ten torturers from Heart Cleansing Yard, who were wearing yellow belts, standing politely at the door of the courtyard. They requested to meet Yang Huan and Maid Lotus was dealing with them.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know exactly which matter had gone wrong. Once he stepped out from the door, one torturer pointed at him and said, ¡°Yang Huan hase. Pleasee with us.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    ¡°You will know once we get there¡±, the torturer said. It was the tradition of Heart Cleansing Yard whereby the person involved won¡¯t be informed of the agenda beforehand. It would make the person involved feel uneasy as he spected about the agenda.


    Gu Shenwei had much to specte about so he was unwilling to head for Heart Cleansing Yard. He said, ¡°Wait a minute. Let me ask Miss about this.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not necessary¡±, the torturer said harshly, ¡°I will let others notify Eighth Young Mistress.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I am responsible for protecting the safety of Miss, so I can¡¯t leave my post.¡±


    Ten torturers held onto their swords simultaneously. They were ordered to bring Yang Huan back, by hook or by crook. In their opinion, this matter was a breeze and was being overdone.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus also held onto their swords.


    ¡°Who are the ones quarrelling so loudly early in the morning?¡± Xu Yanwei asked as she walked out. She stood naturally in between the two parties.


    Her current name was Maid Wan. The torturers did not recognize her and shouted, ¡°Go away.¡±


    Xu Yanweiughed at the torturers and said gently, ¡°Please move to one side.¡±


    The smile stunned all of the torturers. They had a mind to escort her back and torture her.


    However, they lowered their head and moved to one side obediently.


    Not only the torturers, both Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus stepped aside as well. Luo Ningcha, who was covered in her veil came out and the Tenth Young Master Shangguan Ru was guiding her.


    ¡°Who are these people? Why are they standing at the door?¡± Luo Ningcha asked as she was not used to people getting in her way.


    ¡°We are from Heart Cleansing Yard¡­¡±, a torturer said. Then Xu Yanwei interrupted, ¡°How dare you. Miss didn¡¯t ask you anything so why are you responding?¡±


    The torturer flinched and was embarrassed.


    Xu Yanwei turned to Luo Ningcha and said, ¡°Miss, they imed that they are from Heart Cleansing Yard but they didn¡¯t know what items to cleanse here.¡±


    ¡°Then, you should ask them. This house is too old. They can cleanse whatever they want after I move out two days from now.¡±


    Xu Yanwei smiled in acknowledgement. However, when she turned back, she appeared indifferent. She said coldly, ¡°Miss said that you cane over two dayster and cleanse whatever you want.¡±


    ¡°We are not here to cleanse things, but to make arrests!¡± one tortured shouted as he could no longer tolerate any further nonsense. He took a step forward and drew his saber midway. In Golden Roc Fort, few dared to disrespect Heart Cleansing Yard.


    It just so happened that there were two bold masters standing in front of him.


    ¡°They want to kill me!¡±, Luo Ningcha eximed. She faltered back and several maids went up to support her. Shangguan Ru shouted, ¡°Who dares to disrespect Eighth Sister-inw?¡± as she went up to the rude torturer and ced her saber at his neck.


    The torturer suddenly realized that he had overdone it when Shangguan Ru threatened him. He was hesitating on how to deal with the situation. Hispanions reacted quickly and made him kneel on the floor. They said, ¡°Zhang You, you must be crazy. How could you draw your sword out in front of Tenth Young Master and Eighth Young Mistress?¡±


    The situation became slightly chaotic. Maid Lotus made a signal and Gu Shenwei went back into the courtyard while the group of women blocked the doorway.


    The torturers left crestfallen. After a while, the torturer who had drawn his sword came back. He asked for forgiveness by kneeling on the ground. He was forgiven in the evening.


    When Shangguan Ru learned in advance that Heart Cleansing Yard wasing to arrest ve Huan, she came early in the morning to stop them. Even though she and Eighth Young Mistress were enemies, both of them worked together on this matter.


    Shen Liang fearlessly sent men to arrest ve Huan as he had captured Chu Nanping.


    Shangguan Ru only had a rough grasp of the situation. She had seen that soft-looking boy and had a deep impression of him. She said, ¡°Chu Nanping was captured yesterday night at Hope Alley. I heard that Chu Nanping had admitted to the assassination of Meng Mingxian.¡±


    Chu Nanping didn¡¯t heed Gu Shenwei¡¯s advice, which was to stay in North City. He missed the real long sword and the acquaintances at Joy Pavilion. This was why he was caught.


    Gu Shenwei knew Chu Nanping wouldn¡¯t betray him, but his greatest w was that he couldn¡¯t lie. He would only either answer questions truthfully or not answer at all. He would divulge secrets in front of the old sly Shen Liang. Gu Shenwei was more worried about Xu Xiaoyi as he was unable to withstand the torture of Heart Cleansing Yard. However, ording to Shangguan Ru, he wasn¡¯t captured. Even though he didn¡¯t know kung fu, he was very clever and he would have found a hiding spot.


    Shangguan Ru asked ve Huan secretly whether he got Chu Nanping to kill Meng Mingxian and Gu Shenwei acknowledged. After thinking for some time, she said, ¡°You have gotten into big trouble. The Mengs will take revenge. I will plead with Second Brother and you should stay by Eighth Young Mistress¡¯ side. She will protect you.¡±


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t ask ve Huan for the reason as she probably felt that this was another thing ve Huan wanted to do for himself.


    Gu Shenwei naturally wouldn¡¯t expose his ns. He just felt that the world was changing too fast. He was forcing Luo Ningcha to hand over the nksst night, and now he had to seek protection from her.


    People in Stone Castle fought fiercely among one another because of ve Huan.


    Shen Liang wanted to capture ve Huan so as to please the Mengs and to push the me to Tenth Young Master. As Kun Society had seized half of South City¡¯s territory, Shangguan Ru¡¯s brothers started to view her as their enemy.


    In contrast, Lady Meng naturally hoped that her daughter wouldn¡¯t be involved in the fight. Although she didn¡¯t openly express her stance, she let Shangguan Ru deal with the threat by herself.


    As the current Stone Castle chief was Second Young Master Shangguan Tian, both Shen Liang and Shangguan Ru lobbied him. He didn¡¯t want to offend any party, so he had been perfunctory for three days and finally said, ¡°It will be best to have a witness for this matter.¡±


    Shangguan Ru had the upper hand. Although Chu Nanping admitted to the assassination, he didn¡¯t reveal who the mastermind was and even the most seasoned torturer couldn¡¯t sound him out.


    During the three days that Shangguan Tian was hesitating, it was the best time for Shen Liang to act. He just had to capture ve Huan as he wasn¡¯t afraid that ve Huan wouldn¡¯t admit to the assassination. Against his expectations however, the biggest obstacle would be Eighth Young Mistress. He wanted to tell that stupid woman that everything he did was for her husband, Shangguan Nu. If she was rational, she would hand ve Huan over.


    Luo Ningcha had a simple n. As ve Huan and Maid Lotus were returned back to her, anyone who wanted to arrest them would have to get past her even if they used Shangguan Nu as an excuse.


    Furthermore, she was proud that she had the ability to protect a killer. Everytime she saw ve Huan, she would remind him, ¡°You have created a lot of trouble for me. Do you know how many people I¡¯ve had to offend in order to protect you?¡±


    Gu Shenwei tried to recall his vows. He would modify and exaggerate his vows and then swore on them. Luo Ningcha liked it. She even made the maid write his vows down on several asions and made ve Huan acknowledge by fixing his thumbprint on it.


    Gu Shenwei was trapped in Eighth Young Master¡¯s residence and didn¡¯t dare to step out of the door. Shen Liang had mobilized all his men to capture ve Huan once he made an appearance.


    Having such authority, Luo Ningcha was satisfied and became greedy. She said, ¡°When my husband returns, I will make him present these women to the Lord. Unlike the Procuress of Meng family, I wouldn¡¯t be doing such things. With my assistance, my husband will be Iron Mountain¡¯s leader and the Supreme King. Till then, no one will dare despise me. ve Huan. Since you are so free, you can help me think of several strategies so that I can keep them forter.¡±


    In fact, Gu Shenwei did not have the time to help Miss to think of strategies as he had a lot to think about for himself. The first thing was whether he should save Chu Nanping. He discussed with Maid Lotus and both of them felt that they shouldn¡¯t act rashly. Shen Liang might haveid a trap, and was waiting for ve Huan to jump in.


    The second matter was about practicing Wayless Qigong.


    Although there were some words missing on thest nk, it didn¡¯t affect the initial practice. Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus had started practicing but Gu Shenwei had not even started.


    His Yin and Yang Strength became his stumbling block.


    Gu Shenwei was rejected when he was sent to East Castle for the first time as the Internal Strength which he practiced was in conflict with Golden Roc Fort Internal Strength. Wayless Book was the origin of Stone Castle kungfu and was naturally more overbearing. From the very start, it emphasized that the practitioners had to disperse all other Internal Strength before learning the one from Wayless Book, if not it would be life-threatening.


    Now that there were dangers everywhere, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t dare to disperse his Internal Strength. In addition, he had another secret, that he hoped to take revenge for the Gus before Supreme King recovered his skills. As he could not master Wayless Qigong in a few days, he was reluctant to give this opportunity up.


    This was tormenting. With the close monitoring of Heart Cleansing Yard, Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t move around much within Stone Castle, let alone lure Supreme King to leave.


    The major event that Gu Shenwei had long awaited happened at the end of July. Overnight, there was a great shift in influence in Stone Castle. Gu Shenwei realized that all troubles and conspiracies could be resolved by this major event.


    Iron Mountain Camp was attacked by Central in. Nobody could believe when the news came until messengers rushed into Jade City one by one. Everyone finally epted the fact that war had broken out.


    ve Huan¡¯s matter had be insignificant. No one came to arrest him and he didn¡¯t need anyone to protect him.


    The former enemies, Shen Liang and Luo Ningcha became allies. The fate of Bighead Kingpin and Shangguan Nu directly affected their fate in Stone Castle.


    Unfortunately, before the allies had the time to exchange ideas, there was a piece of news that shocked the whole of Jade City. Golden Roc Fort¡¯s Eighth Young Master Shangguan Nu had betrayed his father-inw and sought refuge in Central in.


    Luo Ningcha couldn¡¯t believe that her husband killed her father and Bighead Kingpin would die.


    This was a heaven-sent opportunity for Gu Shenwei.

 Chapter 231 - No Leader

    Chapter 231: No Leader


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Ever since a long time ago, the Central ins had been making ns to wipe out the Iron Mountain. To justify their actions, the Central ins had used the death of Wei Lingmiao as a reason to attack Iron Mountain.


    Wei Song pushed the me toward the North City¡¯s Meng family, but the Central ins imed that the mastermind was Bighead Kingpin. Their argument seemed trivial as the forces in Western Region had often used each other. However, they would not go beyond verbal threats. But this time, the Central ins had followed up on their threats. On one hand, they had exchanged letters, but on the other hand, they had secretly mobilized their troops.


    In less than two months after the death of Wei Lingmiao, five thousand troops were sent to the battlefield on July of this year. Sixteen other vassal nations had also provided the same amount of military support.


    Bighead Kingpin still believed that a war wouldn¡¯t break out at this point in time. Although the Central ins had deployed ten thousand soldiers, Iron Mountain had more than five thousand bandits. Furthermore, Iron Mountain¡¯s troops were all well nourished and could take it easy and wait for their enemies to be exhausted. Golden Roc Fort¡¯s killers and machetemen were included in the Iron Mountain¡¯s troops, so they were a force that could not be taken lightly. He felt that he could exin to the Central ins that the Iron Mountain had nothing to do with Wei Lingmiao¡¯s death.


    But at this critical moment, Shangguan Nu had betrayed his father-inw. There were different spections about the betrayal. Some said that Bighead Kingpin was assassinated on the night when both of them were arguing. Others said that both of them weren¡¯t arguing, they were instead discussing about how to confront the enemy together during the day. Their rtionship was close. It was during the discussions when the Eighth Young Master suddenly staged a coup. A hundred killers rushed into the tent and killed Bighead Kingpin and the other Iron Mountain leaders.


    In any case, it was certain that Bighead Kingpin had been killed by the Eighth Young Master regardless. It was probable that Shangguan Nu didn¡¯t kill Bighead Kingpin personally because Bighead Kingpin was rumored to be extremely brave. Apparently, with only his iron spear, he fought hundreds of enemies head on before being finally hacked to death.


    With the death of Bighead Kingpin, the Iron Mountain gang had be leaderless. The bandits either fled or surrendered. The biggest bandit gang, which had controlled Western Region for nearly two decades, had now disbanded.


    However, the details were always exaggerated. On the contrary, Gu Shenwei believed that Shangguan Nu would use the safest method to assassinate Bighead Kingpin. Shangguan Nu might have even drugged Bighead Kingpin beforehand.


    During the copse of Iron Mountain, the Central ins troops had suddenly arrived at the border of Jade City. This was the first time in many years that something like this had happened. Many people now finally realized that the bandit gang had been protecting the city all along.


    The Central ins didn¡¯t immediately withdraw its troops and they didn¡¯t announce their next move. Jade City was in total chaos. Rumors about them nning to wipe out the entire city were rampant and some even evacuated with their families to the nearby Shu-lik. Other people chose to wait for Golden Roc Fort¡¯s response.


    Unexpectedly, Golden Roc Fort had remained silent. It was as if this matter had nothing to do with them. The citizens gathered at Stone Castle to make a petition and to make inquiries, but the Supreme King did not respond. For five consecutive days, all of Jade City was agonized by the imminent crisis.


    Gu Shenwei could have done many things within these five days. As he had known about Shangguan Nu¡¯s betrayal and the attack on Iron Mountain, he had plenty of time to think about the consequences. Hence, he was able to react faster than everyone else.


    When the news of Bighead Kingpin¡¯s death was confirmed, Luo Ningcha went into a state of hysterical madness. She cried from morning till night and she smashed all that items that she could get her hands on. On one asion, she would beat all her servants. At another asion, she would plead with everybody to ask them to protect her.


    After having caused many troubles for ve Huan and Maid Lotus, both of them had now be Luo Ningcha¡¯s most trusted allies. She forced them to swear an oath saying that they would stay by her side. Then, she ordered them to head to the Iron Mountain¡¯s camp to look for Bighead Kingpin, who might still be alive.


    On the next day, there was more news about Shangguan Nu¡¯s killing of Bighead Kingpin. Luo Ningcha was devastated by the news. She silently hid her room and she even lowered her voice whenever she spoke. Then a strange idea came to her. She thought that the entire incident was a conspiracy created by Golden Roc Fort. She would be the next target after the death of her father.


    Luo Ningcha forbade those killers and maids assigned by Stone Castle from entering the backyard. She summoned those people who she had brought from her maiden family and assigned them to guard the house. Several personal maids and two killers were arranged to stay in the house. Every once a while, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus would have to head to the roof and check for any signs of a possible assassin. It was only after that when the Miss would then feel at ease.


    In fact, Luo Ningcha did not need to worry about her personal safety because almost everyone had forgotten about her. Golden Roc Fort had not intended to stay silent. Just like the others, Second Young Master Shangguan Tian was stunned by the news. In the midst of his panic, he had issued many conflicting orders. At one moment, he wanted to denounce Shangguan Nu as a traitor. At another moment, he wanted to negotiate with the Central ins through the Eighth Young Master. The killers were deployed aimlessly. The counselor of Whitehouse Academy had to suppress these ridiculous ns in order to protect Golden Roc Fort¡¯s image.


    Among all of his ns, Shangguan Tian had only one logical n, which was to wait for his father¡¯s instructions.


    Even though Supreme King had not yet recovered his skills, he had to personally resolve this imminent crisis. Although he didn¡¯t make an appearance, he had been observing the situation and had secretly made arrangements. During the five days when the Supreme King was making his observations, Golden Roc Fort had remained silent. Gu Shenwei made use of this opportunity to resolve many problems.


    The first thing he did was to save Chu Nanping.


    The news about the Eighth Young Master Shangguan Nu seeking refuge at the Central ins had arrived that afternoon. As the uncle of Shangguan Nu, Shen Liang was stripped of his position as a demaster. In the eyes of Second Young Master Shangguan Tian, Shen Liang was a hidden traitor who was ced in the fort by the Central ins.


    In the midst of the chaos, Shangguan Ru had managed to obtain a decree to release a prisoner. She went to Heart Cleansing Yard prison with ve Huan.


    Gu Shenwei was able to leave Luo Ningcha behind by using the name of a safety inspection.


    The attitude of the torturers immediately changed as soon as the demaster was removed. They excessively fawned over the Tenth Young Master.


    Before they entered the torture chamber, Gu Shenwei had heard a familiar voice, ¡°Hey, what¡¯s wrong with you today? Come and attend to me. I¡¯m itching all over. Little Chu, are you itching as well?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not itchy but I¡¯m slightly hungry.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m mocking them. Can¡¯t you cooperate?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m slightly itchy, but I don¡¯t want to be tortured again.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to confess?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t confess but I don¡¯t want to be tortured.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi was actually here. Gu Shenwei understood immediately that Shen Liang had intentionally concealed this news. He wanted to wait until thest moment to throw Xu Xiaoyi out. He didn¡¯t expect that something would go wrong and that he would be detained.


    Both of them were badly tortured. Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s eyes were swollen and he initially couldn¡¯t recognize Brother Huan. In just a few days, the number of scars on Chu Nanping was no less than that on a killer.


    When he recognized Brother Huan, the first sentence that Xu Xiaoyi said was, ¡°Both me and Little Chu didn¡¯t confess anything.¡±


    ¡°I know¡±, Gu Shenwei said. He requested for some cloaks to cover both of them. He then personally sent them down the hill in a carriage and entrusted them to his most trusted people.


    After persisting for a few days, Xu Xiaoyi could finally rx and doze off in the carriage. Before he slept, he asked Chu Nanping, ¡°We¡¯re now buddies. Do you still want to kill me?¡±


    Chu Nanping seriously thought about it for a while and replied, ¡°ording to Heartless Swords, the more I find it more heartbreaking to kill you, the more thoroughly will our rtionship break apart. It will be more beneficial for me when I practice swordcraft. If Yang Huan is willing to practice swordcraft, I¡¯ll still have to kill you.¡±


    Fortunately, Xu Xiaoyi didn¡¯t hear such unfeeling words. He fell asleep when Little Chu was analyzing his emotions.


    It waste at night when Gu Shenwei returned to Stone Castle. Luo Ningcha was about to go crazy because she didn¡¯t see him for a few hours. She thought that he had fallen for the enemies¡¯ plot, or that he had betrayed her. She burst into tears in front of many maids and scolded ve Huan for being an ingrate. She then happily weed him back.


    Gu Shenwei said a lot of insincere words tofort her. When she calmed down, he signalled the maids to retreat except for Maid Lotus and Maid Cui.


    Despite such a sorrowful moment, Luo Ningcha still remembered to wear her veil and to sit behind a screen. Gu Shenwei could only see her silhouette.


    ¡°Miss, now is not the time to feel sad. We still need to think about how to protect ourselves.¡±


    ¡°Do you have another solution? You said that a woman¡¯s status depends on her father and husband. However, my husband killed my father. I have nothing left and can be easily taken advantage of. It¡¯s all your fault. You taught all kinds of nonsense and thus offended everyone in the fort. Everyone wants me dead and no one wants to protect me¡±, Luo Ningcha said angrily. She was being irrational and ¡°offended¡± thest few people who were serving her.


    ¡°That¡¯s why we have to think of a solution¡±, Gu Shenwei said patiently.


    ¡°Come up with the solution then!¡± Luo Ningcha shouted. She suddenly stood up and said in an unprecedented gentle tone, ¡°You have a solution, don¡¯t you? Please tell me, ve Huan. I¡¯ll give you all of my money.¡±


    ¡°The first thing to do is to obtain Lady Meng¡¯s understanding. She has the authority and is able to determine your fate.¡±


    ¡°Yes, tell Madam that I¡¯m willing to apologize. I can do a public apology.¡±


    ¡°I can tell Madam now, but Miss has to hand over that nk first.¡±


    If it were someone else, they would know that the nk was the only bargaining chip. They would be helpless if they gave up the nk. However, Luo Ningcha¡¯s mind was a mess. She didn¡¯t consider any precautions and quickly agreed, ¡°It¡¯s with Elderly Zhang. I let him hide it in the stable.¡±


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s state of mind had been fluctuating. Gu Shenwei was surprised by her actions. As Horsekeeper Elderly Zhang was a servant in Stone Castle, who would have thought that the Eighth Young Mistress would pass him the nk for safekeeping? It was also incredible that Elderly Zhang could gain the trust of Miss.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon¡±, Gu Shenwei said while looking at Maid Lotus. He let her stay behind.


    Even though it¡¯ste at night, Elderly Zhang hadn¡¯t slept yet. He was alone in the stable and was taking care of the remaining two horses. The other horses were taken away by the Eighth Young Master and he didn¡¯t know if those horses would ever return.


    ¡°Elderly Zhang, I¡¯m here to collect the item that Miss had passed to you¡±, Gu Shenwei said. As Elderly Zhang had helped him before, Gu Shenwei felt that Elderly Zhang was one of the few good people in Stone Castle. He was polite and didn¡¯t force him with kung fu.


    Elderly Zhang didn¡¯t lift his head nor did he speak. He searched the stable for a while and then handed over thest nk.


    Gu Shenwei received the nk and thanked him.


    The nk was wrapped in severalyers, with yellow silk, linen, soft paper and cloth. Elderly Zhang had protected this nk with great care.


    While staring at Elderly Zhang for a while, Gu Shenwei came up with a thought. He held the nk in his arms and returned theyers of fabric to Elderly Zhang. Gu Shenwei said, ¡°I don¡¯t need these things.¡±


    Elderly Zhang didn¡¯t say anything and swiftly took back the fabric. He kept the fabric and threw the other items aside.


    ¡°Have you taken a good look at Miss before?¡±


    ¡°None of your business,¡± Elderly Zhang replied harshly while studiously mixing the feed. His face blushed. ¡°It was an ident. The Eighth Young Mistress wanted to ride a horse, I¡­ It¡¯s none of your business,¡± he said.


    Gu Shenwei felt more secure. Not only had he found a solution for Luo Ningcha, he had also filled in an important part of the n which he had been developing.

 Chapter 232 - Defending the servant

    Chapter 232: Defending the servant


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The horsekeeper Elderly Zhang was an ideal servant. He was loyal, trustworthy and tight-lipped. He would only acknowledge Shangguan Nu as his master. His only love in life was caring for the horses and he never made any friends.


    It was such a person who actually attracted the Mistress¡¯ attention. He dly did anything for her. Whenever he saw her, his heart would beat wildly and his face be flushed with teenage embarrassment.


    Elderly Zhang was a lonely man. After contemting for some time, Gu Shenwei could understand why he acted in the way he did. However, he could not understand Luo Ningcha¡¯s actions. Even though she had not punished Elderly Zhang, letting him go was akin to showing mercy to a killer. This was unprecedented.


    Gu Shenwei returned the wooden board and passed it to Maid Lotus. The two shared such a close bond that they needed no words to understand each other. Maid Lotus took her leave. On the surface, it seemed as if she was going to return the wooden board. However, she was going to copy the inscriptions on the board and keep itter. She would never give it to Lady Meng or Shangguan Ru.


    The Golden Roc Fort experienced some turbulent times. This piece of wooden board could save one¡¯s life. It was an important bargaining chip; they had to hold on firmly to it.


    Luo Ningcha was not in a stable condition. Gu Shenwei was quiet that night. After Maid Lotus had returned, she imed that Lady Meng was in happy spirits and that Miss would not need to doubt her personal safety. Luo Ningcha was relieved but he gave a strange order. Maid Lotus was to stay outside. ve Huan would have to stay in the house.


    Gu Shenwei was embarrassed; he was not a child anymore. He was already 17 years old. If he were to stay in hisdy master¡¯s room the whole night, it would invite much criticism. It would not be good for Luo Ningcha¡¯s current situation.


    Luo Ningcha did not care about all of this. In her eyes, men, women and children were all the same. Since Gu Shenwei was a servant, he would have to listen to her orders. She had already treated ve Huan as a substitute for Mama Xue. She would be relying on him to protect her in the most dangerous situations.


    That night, Gu Shenwei stayed because of this very reason. Miss and Maid Cuiid on the bed, with the front of the bed acting as a screen. The killers first left and then returned secretly. They did this in order to keep themselves from being seen or heard by other people. They stood in the corner of the room all night, protecting their master.


    He started to understand that being a maid of the Miss must be a terrible experience. Luo Ningcha woke up several times in the night and Maid Cui practically kept her eyes open the whole time. She was prepared to help her master arrange the corners of her nket, massage her waist and bring tea at any time. It was pitch-dark in the house but Maid Cui seemed to move with ease.


    Gu Shenwei was not spared from the ufortable experience either. Luo Ningcha would wake up in shock at random times, calling: ¡°Are you there?¡± Following which, she would only go back to sleep when ve Huan replied in the affirmative.


    The next day, Gu Shenwei had not mentioned his own n. Luo Ningcha seemed to be in a confused state of mind. She would agree to everything that Gu Shenwei said. However, Gu Shenwei would rather wait for the situation to stabilize¨Cwhen Luo Ningcha had understood the conditions facing her¨Cbefore trying to persuade her.


    He wanted not a hasty act but a decisive course of action that would end the battle. Moreover, the Eighth Young Master had only been forgotten temporarily. He would have to deal with attacks that woulde at anytime.


    In the afternoon, Lady Meng sent one of her men asking ve Huan to meet her.


    Luo Ningcha would have preferred ve Huan to stay by her side and not go anywhere else. However, she was terrified of Lady Meng. Before leaving, she ordered: ¡°Go tell Lady Meng that I am extremely saddened by my father¡¯s death. When I am feeling better, I will pay my respects to her at the Inner Residence personally. ve Huan, you are best at reading people¡¯s expressions. You must find out what the Lady is thinking. Does she want to take revenge against me? I have already returned the wooden board¡­¡±


    After listening to the Miss¡¯ rantings, Gu Shenwei went to meet Lady Meng. At the moment he entered the Inner Residence, Shangguan Ru came up to him. She greeted him with a smile andter said in a small voice: ¡°Follow me closely. Don¡¯t fall behind.¡±


    That time when the Supreme King was gripped by a killing desire, Shangguan Ru also reminded him in this manner. Gu Shenwei thus understood that Lady Meng did not have simple intentions in asking to meet him.


    Lady Meng stopped pretending to be friendly. She told the killer that she had known everything. Shangguan Fei had written a letter to her exining everything. This included how ve Huan had yed a two-handed game between Shangguan Fei and his sister. Moreover, Lady Meng was angry with ve Huan for not killing the Eighth Young Mistress when news of Bighead Kingpin¡¯s death came.


    ¡°I thought you were a smarter than that.¡± Lady Meng started. She did not ask Shangguan Ru to leave. She had decided to expose ve Huan¡¯s true intentions in front of her daughter. ¡°I trusted you and gave you a chance. I entrusted my dearest daughter to you but you have let me down.¡±


    Gu Shenwei sat quietly on the floor. He knew that arguing with Lady Meng would be useless. This woman was not Luo Ningcha and would not be swayed by a few words. However, if Gu Shenwei was so willing, he could have killed everyone in the house. He did not do this. Instead, he chose to seek Shangguan Ru¡¯s protection.


    Before meeting Lady Meng, Gu Shenwei simply went up to Shangguan Ru admitting that he had once betrayed her. He confessed that before the negotiations with the Horned Dragon Society he had pledged loyalty to Shangguan Fei and asked him for his help in killing Ye Sng at the ce of negotiations.


    Even so, Shangguan Ru cared only about one thing. ¡°Master Yu¡­¡±


    ¡°I knew nothing about that.¡± Gu Shenwei denied immediately. He was speaking the truth. No one could have predicted Shangguan Fei¡¯s move. ¡°I was Master Yu¡¯s archenemy, but I remembered my promise¨CI have never thought of killing him.¡± However, this was a lie. He had never made a move because he hadn¡¯t had the right chance.


    When Shangguan Yushi first tried to assassinate ve Huan, Shangguan Ru had made the two swear never to fight each other again. The ¡°promise¡± Gu Shenwei mentioned pointed to this matter.


    ¡°But he went back on her promise and tried to use Wildhorse and Meng Mingshi to kill you several times.¡± Shangguan Ru said faintly. Without knowing it herself, she had excused ve Huan. However, her heart ached terribly whenever she thought about Master Yu.


    ¡°So I could only have gone to seek the Ninth Young Master for help. I couldn¡¯t have let Master Yu know about my n.¡±


    Shangguan Ru forgave ve Huan. She started to trust him even more than before. She had lost Master Yu and ve Huan was the only person left whom she felt she could trust. Hence, she treasured him greatly. She started finding reasons for ve Huan¡¯s actions and was oblivious to the dubious nature his exnations.


    Thus, when Lady Meng exposed ve Huan¡¯s betrayal and dishonesty, her daughter defended him.


    Gu Shenwei hung his head and felt slightly guilty. He had lied to Shangguan Ru and used her as a protective shield. However, he quickly quashed such thoughts. Compared to the years of torment and humiliation that he had suffered, Shangguan Ru¡¯s little sacrifice was nothing.


    Lady Meng was livid. Her daughter actually stood up for ve Huan. This was inexplicable to her. From her perspective, this act was also a form of betrayal. ¡°Shangguan Ru, do you still regard me as your mother?¡±


    ¡°Mother,¡± Shangguan Ru spoke in a soft but firm voice. ¡°Let ve Huan go. We have plenty of enemies around. Why would we still have to kill one of our own?¡±


    ¡°One of our own? If he was indeed one of ours, he wouldn¡¯t have tried to sow discord between you and Shangguan Fei; he wouldn¡¯t have pledged his loyalty to the second master; and he would already have brought the old Eighth daughter-inw¡¯s head to me a few days ago.¡±


    Shangguan Ru stood beside ve Huan. Her killing desire had vanished a long time ago and was almost non-existent. However, her temper was as quick as before. ¡°Mother, brother hates me and that has nothing to do with other people. I know everything about what ve Huan had done. He had simply followed my orders and had no will of his own. The Eighth Sister-inw has had her bases destroyedpletely, so why do you still have to kill her? Moreover, she is still holding on to something that we need. We can¡¯t kill her for this very reason.¡±


    ¡°Outrageous.¡± Lady Meng was not one to act on her emotions. She had already made preparations to eliminate ve Huan. The only thing that she did not anticipate was how her daughter was actually standing in the way at that very moment. She was speaking up for an outsider and had not appreciated her mother¡¯s care for her.


    The five masked killers got the hint and they appeared at the same time. The three surrounded ve Huan and Shangguan Ru. The other two stood before Lady Meng to protect her from any harm.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s exploded in vehemence just like the time she and the others were trapped in Mister Guo¡¯s house. She would had rather died than fail to protect the ones whom she loved. She pulled out her saber in front of the killers and said: ¡°Don¡¯t you dare toe any closer.¡±


    The killers did not dare to hurt the Tenth Young Master but neither did they want to be cut by her de. They thus waited for Lady Meng¡¯s orders. As long as she gave her approval, there was no person whom they could not kill.


    For the first time ever, Lady Meng softened and relented. ¡°Ru¡¯er, I¡¯m aggrieved. How did you turn out to be like this? Is Shangguan Yushi really that important?¡±


    Shangguan Ru wished that her mother had never mentioned this name. Shangguan Yushi mattered, yes, but what¡¯s more important was the fog that clouded her vision. Her love affair with Meng Mingshi and his feelings for her were all true to her. The opinions of the others were varied and only confused her.


    Shangguan Ru then sent ve Huan out of the Inner Residence personally, reminding him to be careful. ¡°Let the Eighth Sister-inw hide the best piece of the wooden board. Your life depends on it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had just escaped from the demaster Shen Liang. Now, he had to confront an even stronger enemy. The longer he stayed in the Stone Castle, the harder it would be to keep his secret. He started to think of an escape n. However, before that, he had to carry out his n to assassinate the Supreme King.


    There was only one such opportunity. He thought that as long as he was still alive, he would continue to hide.


    Luo Ningcha waited impatiently. As soon as he had seen ve Huan, he asked: ¡°How are things? Will the Madam let me off?¡±


    ¡°No way, she even wanted to kill me.¡±


    ¡°But¡­but I have already returned the board.¡±


    ¡°The Lady is cruel and vengeful. I would advise Miss to not mention anything about the board from now onwards. Maid Lotus and I will ensure your safety.¡±


    ¡°Can you really protect me? The Lady has all the killers at her disposal.¡±


    ¡°Miss, you need not be too worried. Not everyone listens to Lady Meng. The Stone Castle belongs to the Lord and not to her. We still have a chance.¡±


    ¡°A chance? The Bighead Kingpin is dead. What sort of a chance do I still have?¡± Luo Ningcha started to cry. She felt like a cornered rat. She was beseiged by pain and terror and she had no means of defending herself or escaping.¡± Take me away then, ve Huan. Take me away from this cold Stone Castle. I¡¯ve never liked it. I have countless treasures. We can all escape.¡±


    Indeed, Gu Shenwei had ns to escape. However, now was not the time for escape.

 Chapter 233 - The Supreme Kings Words

    Chapter 233: The Supreme King¡¯s Words


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Luo Ningcha had suggested leaving Golden Roc Fort on a whim. Gu Shenwei could only persuade her to give up on this idea. Moreover, he had almost identally revealed his own ns. It was best to wait for a while more. There was only one chance to assassinate the Supreme King and it had to be perfect.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus were especially careful on that night. However, no killers had confronted them. After all, Luo Ningcha and ve Huan were two minor characters in Stone Castle. They were not worth Lady Meng¡¯s efforts and resources because she had a bigger enemy to deal with.


    This time, as the Supreme King left the Stone Castle to resolve a dispute, turmoil was developing inside the Fort.


    The Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Young Masters had returned to the Stone Castle together. The Fifth and Seventh Young Masters were originally from Shangguan Chui¡¯s faction. The Sixth Young Master had supported Lady Meng in the past. However, as of now, the situation hadpletely changed. The three masters had no idea how they had ended up being in the same faction to cause mischief for the Second Young Master Shangguan Tian.


    Moreover, Lady Meng and Shangguan Tian were especially astonished that these three young masters did not stay in that distant garrison. Instead, they had been secretly hiding in Jade City. When Bighead Kingpin was killed and the Eighth Young Master had betrayed them, the three young masters did not immediately appear. Instead, they waited until the situation deteriorated and the Second Young Master had lost control over the situation, before going up the mountain to contest for control.


    This very matter had drained much of Lady Meng¡¯s strength and she was forced to let Luo Ningcha and ve Huan go for now.


    On the very same day, news arrived at Jade City that Governor Wei Song had disappeared.


    Gu Shenwei had once asked men from Kun Society to monitor the Governor¡¯s Mansion. They had reported that Wei Song must have made his ns to escape a long time ago. He had escaped as soon as the Central ins had prepared to encircle Iron Mountain. Most likely, he had been disguised as someone carrying out errands and left directly through the city gates. Everyone had been fooled ¨C his guard, and the macheteman from Kun Society who had been watching him.


    However, they couldn¡¯t be med for the Governor¡¯s disappearance. When Wei Song had fled the Central ins, the troops had not been on alert at that time. No one thought that the Governor would have fled. However, what made them lose their jobs was that they had only discovered the matter five to six dayster. By that time, it was already toote to catch up with him.


    Wei Song and the killer Yang Huan had agreed to leave Jade City on the 13th of August. Gu Shenwei had guessed that the Governor was unhappy and must have already had ns for his escape. However, Gu Shenwei was stuck in the Stone Castle and had let this important figure slip away.


    On the same day, Gu Shenwei received an unexpected invitation.


    Mr. Zhang, a teacher in the Stone Castle, had invited Yang Huan for a gathering in the afternoon.


    Zhang Ji had been giving Gu Shenwei the cold shoulder ever since when Gu Shenwei had killed Tie Hanfeng. Although Gu Shenwei had sent wine to Zhang Ji on a regr basis, he had not visited Zhang Ji for a long period of time.


    It was not easy for Gu Shenwei to free himself from the Miss but eventually, he still decided to go to the school. He was hoping to learn more about the Stone Castle¡¯s history from Zhang Ji.


    Gu Shenwei was surprised that Zhang Ji, who had always stayed away from the affairs of the Stone Castle, had actually been ¡°bought over¡± by someone.


    Moreover, Zhang Ji was blind. It was Shangguan Hong who had wanted to meet ve Huan.


    Shangguan Hong was originally named Shangguan Hongye. Just a few months ago, the Supreme King hadn¡¯t wanted to acknowledge him as his son. However, almost suddenly, Shangguan Hong had be Shangguan Fa¡¯s illegitimate son and this caused his social status to rapidly increase. However, this was only an illusion. Even though he had changed his name, Shangguan Hong did not enjoy the privilege that the sons of the Supreme King had ess to. He was much older than the twins but no one had ever suggested calling him ¡°master¡±. He had be insignificant. He was only important for Lady Meng¡¯s ends.


    Gu Shenwei had felt that Zhang Ji had not chosen a strong backer. He had traded blows with Shangguan Hong several times and knew the background of this Supreme King¡¯s son. He was, in reality, an empty vessel.


    Shangguan Hong had not changed much. Just like before, he alternated between pride and low self-esteem. When he raised his head to meet Gu Shenwei, he ended up patting him on the shoulder instead. While he had hoped to create an amiable and casual atmosphere, he actually ended up appearing to be blunt and awkward.


    Shangguan Hong had wanted to win ve Huan over but he felt that he had no means of doing so. ¡°Let us face the facts. The Tenth Young Master and the Eighth Young Master are no longer capable of achieving sess. ve Huan, have you never thought of giving yourself a chance?¡±


    ording to the Stone Castle¡¯s standards, Luo Ningcha was not considered to be a person of any influence at all, therefore Shangguan Hong simply did not mention her.


    ¡°The Eighth Young Mistress is now my master.¡±


    Shangguan Hong was a little taken aback by ve Huan¡¯s reply. He turned his head to look at Zhang Ji, hoping to receive a hint. Zhang Ji only coughed and said, ¡°ve Huan is a smart person. He¡¯ll choose whichever path he wants for himself. Let us drink.¡±


    Evidently, Shangguan Hong did not understand what the teacher meant. His face turned a little red and he lowered his head to drink the wine in silence.


    Zhang Ji chatted with ve Huan and turned the conversation towards the issue of the Stone Castle. ¡°if you were to ask me, I think the Stone Castle is in dire straits. The Supreme King has lived up to his name in having amassed such great territory. However, the next generation has declined greatly in power. His sons are all quite unlike him. The Great Young Master does not seem promising, the Second Young Mastercks ambition while the Third Young Master, while capable, is unfortunately locked up in the dungeon. Moreover, the Fourth Young Master is too calcting, the Fifth Young Master is reckless, the Sixth Young Master is only a trickster, the Seventh Young Master sits on the fence on almost everything, the Eighth Young Master is too hot-headed and the Ninth Young Master is simply too weak. Sigh, if anything bad were to happen to the Lord, Golden Roc Fort would be in grave danger.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew that Zhang Ji wanted to rmend Shangguan Hong, so he yed along. ¡°What about Master Hong?¡±


    ¡°Master Hong is a good-for-nothing. He has all the ws of the nine young masters.¡±


    Shangguan Hong had been waiting for his teacher¡¯s praise. He was taken aback by such a blunt criticism. He hotly rose to his feet but did not dare to express his anger. He then struggled to think of an excuse for the teacher¡¯s criticism but he could not think of anything. His face turned red and he did not know what to do.


    Zhang Ji coldly looked at him and said, ¡°Sit down, I haven¡¯t finished speaking.¡±


    Shangguan Hong uneasily sat down like a dog that was being trained. Even though he felt highly indignant, he did not let it be apparent.


    ¡°He has only one admirable quality, and that is his obedience.¡± Zhang Ji continued in his conversation with ve Huan. ¡°He listens to the opinions of others despite having such a social status. If you support other masters, you¡¯d be an average killer for your entire life. In that situation, you¡¯d only be able to slowly gain sess. However, if establishing a great career is your objective, then Master Hong would be your best bet.¡±


    Zhang Ji¡¯s words were simple and direct but it revealed a powerful truth. Shangguan Hong would naturally be at a disadvantage when it came topeting with the other masters and powerful figures. However, because the other candidates were equally weak, Shangguan Hong¡¯s malleable disposition was turned into a winning trait. He¡¯d follow a strong man who¡¯d be willing to assist him.¡±


    If he did not have any other motives in mind, Gu Shenwei would have dly epted Zhang Ji¡¯s advice. Actually, Gu Shenwei did not consider Shangguan Hong to be of any value but rather he held Zhang Ji in high regard.


    ¡°Let me think about it.¡± Gu Shenwei did not reject at the outset. ¡°The situation is too chaotic right now. I have to reconsider a few things.¡±


    Zhang Ji knowingly raised his ss but did not say a word. Shangguan Hong felt unsettled. ¡°You won¡¯t reveal the secret, right?¡± He blurted.


    ¡°No, I won¡¯t.¡±


    Zhang Ji snorted, chiding his disciple, ¡°Don¡¯t be foolish. If he had truly wanted to tell the secret, he wouldn¡¯t have said it. And even if he were to reveal the secret, what could you possibly do about it?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had not expected that the situation in the Stone Castle to have stabilized so quickly, such that it had almost disrupted his entire n.


    After the quarrels between the several masters and Shangguan Hong¡¯s attempt at winning ve Huan over, the Supreme King had finally made a speech.


    ¡°The Eighth brother has won a victory.¡± Shangguan Fa immediately erased Shangguan Nu¡¯sbel of being a ¡®traitor¡¯. ¡°He removed Golden Roc Fort¡¯s mortal enemy. Bighead Kingpin is ambitious and big-headed and would have be a scourge sooner orter. The Eighth brother understood me best. He has achieved something great for me.¡±


    The several masters were gaping in astonishment. After some time, they recovered and started to praise the Eighth brother for his foresight. The smarter ones attributed the victory to their father, saying how the Eighth brother was clearly only following the Supreme King¡¯s instructions. Everyone else had been kept in the dark.


    ¡°The Central ins is a friend, not an enemy.¡± These wordspletely reframed the rtions between Golden Roc Fort and Jade City. There was no big army. A battle between them was nowpletely out of the question. ¡°Second son, go build good rtions with the great general of the Central ins in my name. Tell your Eighth brother that he is my good son. New Moon Hall has not been exterminated. Let him continue to work hard.¡±


    Shangguan Fa personally sent his second son out of the city. This squashed rumours about how he was suffering from a debilitating illness that caused him to lose all his martial arts abilities. Only a small number of people knew that his personal servants were all first-rate ck-masked assassins. Unless it was an army, no person could havee within ten steps of the Supreme King to cause him any harm.


    During the days when the Second Young Master Shangguan Tian was fretting over how to carry out his father¡¯s instructions, Shangguan Fa had already sent messengers to different parts of the Western Region to proim the news. Some of them had already seeded in their mission while others were still on their way.


    Hence, the 16-nation alliance was disbanded for a very simple reason. ¡°The Iron Mountain bandits have already been annihted. There¡¯s no need to stay here any longer.¡±


    The Central ins only had 5,000 troops. It relied on the alliance for resources and all forms of support. The General of the army knew that the time was not ripe. He had thought that the Supreme King was heavily ill and that Golden Roc Fort would fall from infighting. However, it had turned out that the Supreme King was healthy and so it would be unwise to pick a fight now.


    The Central ins epted Golden Roc Fort¡¯s tribute and this meant that both sides have re-established normal friendly rtions. Initially, the annihtion of Iron Mountain was not a loss to the Stone Castle. It was actually a form of victory. Residents of Jade City breathed a sigh of relief. However, only a few had noticed a catch: the troops of the Central ins have not retreated. They still remained in the big camp of Iron Mountain. Furthermore, the Eighth Young Master, who had just been praised by his father, had not returned to the Stone Castle in this calm period.


    The dust had settled. There can only be one winner, but his status was still unclear.


    As Bighead Kingpin was dered to be the enemy of the Supreme King, Luo Ningcha would have naturally be the enemy¡¯s daughter. However, because of Shangguan Nu¡¯s feat of scoring the ¡°first victory¡±, the Eighth Young Mistress should be receiving her husband¡¯s honor.


    However, contrary to what Luo Ningcha had expected, she was only a small fry in the Stone Castle. Hence, no one bothered her for a few days. As long as the Supreme King had not said anything about it, everybody behaved as though the problem did not exist.


    Neglect felt sharper than hatred. The pain that it caused would permeate through the entire body and crush the spirit. How much had Luo Ningcha wanted to run into the Inner Residence to stir up a havoc!


    If Shangguan Nu had truly cared about his wife, Gu Shenwei felt that his n might not have seeded. However, the Eighth Young Master¡¯s ¡°pet¡± had not given the Eighth Young Mistress any protection. Gu Shenwei felt that this situation might be the status quo and thus he felt that the time was finally ripe.

 Chapter 234 - Secret Plot

    Chapter 234: Secret Plot


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Luo Ningcha officially took her veil off on the day when Bighead Kingpin¡¯s coffin was brought into Jade City. She had never worn it since then.


    The Supreme King dered that the Iron Mountain was Golden Roc Fort¡¯s for. Furthermore, he also announced that a proper burial ceremony would be held for Bighead Kingpin. Shangguan Nu had followed his father¡¯s orders. He had not only delivered Bighead Kingpin¡¯s corpse but also a considerable amount of Iron Mountain¡¯s wealth back to Stone Castle. This act signified his loyalty.


    The father and son used this method to prove to naysayers that Golden Roc Fort was not suffering from any internal discord.


    The amount of people that surged onto the streets were ten times more than the time when Luo Ningcha was married to Golden Roc Fort. The onlookers were curious when they saw the enormous coffin of the Bighead Kingpin. The city gates were usually half opened, however, the gates were wide open today.


    Eight strong, healthy oxen walked slowly into Jade City and they appeared to be sad. Dozens of coffin bearers looked solemn and every one of them was carrying a giant g of Iron Mountain. The g waved in the wind and the spear that was emzoned on the g was moving like a snake.


    The residents seemed to be infected by the atmosphere as they showed their reverence toward him. They involuntarily took several steps back and bowed to pay their respects. They had heard about oundish rumours like how Bighead Kingpin had to eat several humans daily. However, he was now being remembered as a warrior who had died on the battlefield. Some even shed tears.


    As soon as Bighead Kingpin¡¯s coffin arrived at the city center, the sad atmosphere was disrupted by amotion.


    Themotion started at the North City gates and started to quickly spread onto the streets, as if it was a burning rope. At that moment, no one was interested in Bighead Kingpin¡¯s coffin. Everyone stretched their heads to look behind and whispered: ¡°That woman has finally shown her bare face.¡±


    From this day on, these terms, ¡°that woman¡± and ¡°that woman of the Stone Castle¡±, belonged exclusively to Luo Ningcha.


    She was walking alone on the cobbled path without her attendants. Her servants and followers were trailing ten steps behind her. There were people on both sides of the street and they were quiet. This was her first time taking off her mask in public and it felt as if she was walking on the streets while naked. The people were ncing at her and their gaze was like daggers which could tear her skin and pierce her heart. Every step she made was sapping much of her strength. Yet, the future still seemed bleak.


    The men were silent yet excited, but the women were ashamed and jealous. The nearly two hundred thousand residents had the same idea that Lady Meng must have been severely mistaken. How could she have abused someone who looked like a fairy? The woman before their eyes looked surreal. How was it possible for her tomit evil?


    Luo Ningcha saw the coffin in which her father was lying inside. He was her backer, her support, her everything but now he was dead. His corpse was cold and emotionless, just like the walls of the Stone Castle.


    Luo Ningcha had been feeling terrified recently as she had felt nothing towards her father¡¯s death. But now, the feelings of longing and grief surged when she saw the massive coffin. She seemed to be greatly affected by her father¡¯s death as the image of Bighead Kingpin seemed to appear before her.


    Her father was truly dead. Luo Ningcha¡¯s body trembled and the crowd cried in sympathy. Countless hands stretched out for their master, hoping to support this battered woman.


    However, Luo Ningcha steeled herself. Her pale and weak fingers caressed the coffin as she slowly walked around the coffin. She took a deep breath, lifted her head, escorted her father¡¯s coffin through the Northern Gate and walked towards Golden Roc Fort.


    It was a long journey. Several determined residents followed it all the way up until where their path was blocked by the stone bridge of Golden Roc Fort. Many were lingering around at night so they can catch a whiff of the fragrance that had been left behind by ¡°that woman¡±.


    As soon as she entered the Stone Castle, Luo Ningcha copsed into the arms of her servants. She proudly turned her head to look at the killers behind her, then she closed her eyes and slept.


    She hadpleted ve Huan¡¯s task.


    On the night when the Supreme King was dealing with a crisis, Gu Shenwei and Luo Ningcha had a deep conversation. There were only the two of them in the house as Maid Lotus had brought the blind and mute Maid Cui out of the house.


    ¡°Miss, you have no other option.¡± Gu Shenwei did not use the term ¡°we¡± because he knew that Luo Ningcha did not care about anyone except herself.


    Luo Ningcha kept herposure. However, she wasn¡¯t calm. She was like a small beast, which had been cornered. She was stunned. ¡°My husband¡­¡±


    ¡°Eighth Young Master would never return to the Stone Castle ever again. Everyone knows that he has betrayed the Supreme King. The Lord¡¯s praise was only a dying tactic.¡±


    ¡°Should I leave the Stone Castle? Bighead Kingpin has left me arge amount of inheritance.¡±


    ¡°Firstly, the Stone Castle will never let you go. Secondly, without the protection of the Stone Castle, Bighead Kingpin¡¯s inheritance will only spell disaster.¡±


    Luo Ningcha slumped onto the bed and sobbed. Selfishness often caused her to misjudge. However, she was not stupid as she knew that ve Huan was speaking the truth. Both her father and husband, who were her pirs of support, had copsed at the same time. She was really at her wits end. Currently, Lady Meng was busy augmenting her power, but soon, she will take her revenge on Luo Ningcha.


    Gu Shenwei waited until she stopped crying and said: ¡°There is a chance to turn the tide. Do Miss have the courage to make ast stand?¡±


    Luo Ningcha, who was behind the screen stood up. ¡°What do you mean? Do I still have a chance to protect myself?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Gu Shenwei had deliberated for a long time before uttering this word. This made Miss ecstatic.


    Luo Ningcha stood up. ¡°ve Huan. Good ve Huan. Quickly tell me your n!¡±


    ¡°Some people are in power but that power does not belong to them. There is always a source and that source would be more reliable than your father or husband.¡±


    ¡°You mean¡­ the Lord?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°But, he will never protect me. Without Bighead Kingpin, why would he protect a helpless woman?¡± Luo Ningcha did not understand.


    ¡°Lady Meng has an average rtionship with her husband¡¯s family but she is favored by the Lord.¡±


    ¡°The twenty ves that father had sent! If only we could use them to gain the Lord¡¯s favor¡­¡± Luo Ningcha slightly raised her voice as she became excited.


    ¡°Lady Meng would not let them be seen by the Lord,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He had initially wanted to use those twenty ves, but now he changed his mind.


    ¡°What should I do now?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was silent for a moment. ¡°Please forgive this ve Huan¡¯s bold suggestion.¡±


    ¡°Speak. You can ask for anything.¡± Luo Ningcha spoke hurriedly as though she was drowning and was grabbing onto a piece of wood.


    ¡°Could Miss walk out of the screen and take down your veil?¡± After saying this, Gu Shenwei went down on one knee immediately. He looked down as if he was asking for forgiveness.


    There was a long period of silence behind the screen. Luo Ningcha gradually understood ve Huan¡¯s n. Initially she was angry, then shameful, and finally humiliated. She finally understood that everything in this world was an illusion. She could only rely on her father for a short while and wasn¡¯t able to rely on her husband at all. The only person whom she could rely on for life was not these two people nor ve Huan nor the Lord, but was herself.


    Gu Shenwei heard a rustling of the veil and fine footsteps. Then, a very light voice spoke. It was different from the Miss¡¯ usual tone. ¡°Lift your head up,¡± she said.


    Gu Shenwei raised his head and gazed at Luo Ningcha who was standing under themp. He lowered his head again after a long time. ¡°Those twenty ves could notpare with a single strand of Miss¡¯ hair.¡±


    Luo Ningcha felt light-headed after removing her thick veil. She felt lighter. Apart from her father and her husband, ve Huan was the third man who made her feel jumpy.


    ¡°The problem still remains. I¡¯m still unable to meet the Lord.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s confidence increased tremendously. ¡°Man proposes, God disposes. Miss, you need not worry. I have my ns. However, I still have to ask you a few questions.¡±


    ¡°Just ask. You will call the shots, as long as you can save me from this predicament.¡±


    ¡°That Elderly Zhang¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha,¡± Luo Ningchaughed. ¡°Haven¡¯t you told me that ¡®the most loyal people are often the best betrayers¡¯? Elderly Zhang was the most loyal to Shangguan Nu so I tested this logic out on him. It seemed that you were right. He pledged loyalty to me when I removed the firstyer of my veil. However, he¡¯s just a horsekeeper. He is useless. I could only get him to help me hide something.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had once imparted the knowledge, which was taught by Zhang Ji, to Luo Ningcha. He had forgotten much of the details and hadn¡¯t expected that Miss would take him so seriously.


    ¡°I want to hear the details of the secret, which Miss had been keeping from Bighead Kingpin.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had learnt about one of Luo Ningcha¡¯s secrets and he knew that she had killed someone who was very important to Bighead Kingpin. However, he was not very sure about the details. Hence, he took this opportunity to ask about it.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you know about it?¡± Luo Ningcha was alerted as ve Huan had once imed that he knew everything.


    ¡°Yes, but I want the details.¡±


    ¡°Is this rted to the n that we are talking about now?¡±


    ¡°Once the news regarding me plotting something for Miss gets out, I¡¯ll not be spared from death. Hence, I hope that Miss could prove that you fully trust me.¡±


    Luo Ningcha retreated behind the screen. Habits died hard as she felt more rxed behind the screen. ¡°There are no details. I have a brother who Bighead Kingpin was very fond of. I wasn¡¯t happy so Mama Xue killed him. She then told me that she had killed him for me. However, she was actually trying to use this method to control me.¡±


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s voice turned cold, as if she was narrating someone else¡¯s story. Gu Shenwei guessed that Mama Xue had kind intentions but Luo Ningcha must have been very supportive of Mama Xue¡¯s actions. Luo Ningcha was indeed a member of the Shangguan family.


    ¡°It¡¯s simr to what Mama Xue had told me,¡± Gu Shenwei lied. Luo Ningcha was fickle-minded and easily irritable, hence it was hard to handle her. Gu Shenwei had to be like Mama Xue, whereby he had to use Luo Ningcha¡¯s secrets to control her.


    ¡°It¡¯s time for you to tell me about your n on how to let the Lord see me.¡± Luo Ningcha was very proud of her own looks and was now more confident than ve Huan.


    ¡°It¡¯s difficult for the Lord to see you. It¡¯s almost impossible. We have to let him ¡®hear¡¯ you.¡±


    Luo Ningcha was lost in thought. ¡°Is it that simple?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. The Lord has countless women. Is Miss able to capture his heart?¡± Gu Shenwei had to ask this question. Shangguan Nu had met Luo Ningcha before and was infatuated with her for a while. However, he still left her in the end as he was not worried about betraying the Stone Castle and his father.


    Gu Shenwei seemed to be too blunt. Luo Ningcha red up, and asked. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Miss needs a master.¡± Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t bothered about all these as he was ruthless in all his strategems. He wouldn¡¯t be able to achieve anything if he was shy. As for the ¡°Master¡±, he already had a suitable person in mind. He had initially sent Xu Yanwei to the Stone Castle to save her life and to use her to deliver information. But now, she has more uses.

 Chapter 235 - Surprise

    Chapter 235: Surprise


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The plot to assassinate the Supreme King was not sessful. Although the people in the Fort had investigated for a long time, they failed to understand why it had developed into a massacre.


    In West Castle, there was an alley that was close to the Eighth Young Master''s residence. Many counselors from Whiterobe Academy were living there. Like the killers, they were following different owners and were the spokesperson for their respective young masters.


    By the time when the Supreme King had fended off the assassins, half of Stone Castle could already hear Luo Ningcha''s screams. Three of the most important counselors had heard of a piece of news: the Lord was assassinated.


    Luo Ningcha was terrified and continued to scream. She became a direct footnote to the mysterious person''s reminder.


    Luo Ningcha''s initial reaction wasn''t due to the assassination of the Lord. Instead, she thought that Lady Meng had sent people to kill her. She was throwing tantrums and fearfully shouted, "She wants to kill me."


    This was the first time that Shangguan Fa had seen Luo Ningcha''s real character. He was surprised yet disgusted. He could finally understand why his Eighth Son, Shangguan Nu, would abandon such a beautiful wife and desert Golden Roc Fort. However, Luo Ningcha''s misbehavior had saved her life as Shangguan Fa didn''t think that she was the mastermind.


    Shangguan Fa had even wasted some precious time tofort the Eighth Young Mistress before he left. Although it was an open secret in the Fort that the Supreme King was lustful, he still had to keep his image in mind.


    The situation had developed beyond Shangguan Fa''s expectations.


    He returned to the Inner Residence, and as usual, he secretly issued orders and inspected the fort. However he didn''t expect that the news of the dead Supreme King would spread so quickly and that many people would believe it.


    The Second, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Young Masters didn''t regard Stone Castle as a safe home. They were guarding against one another and they felt beleaguered. Collusion and betrayal could happen at any moment. Some casual words and the meeting of each other''s gazes could spark a fertile imagination and would cause them to fight among themselves. They relied on the Supreme King''s ban on killing to maintain the delicate bnce.


    Not everyone believed the news that the Supreme King was assassinated. In fact, there were many suspicious things even before they saw the corpse. However, they were worried that someone would use the news to make preemptive strikes, so they had to strike first.


    It was total chaos. The Fifth Young Master attacked the Second Young Master, the Sixth Young Master ambushed the Fifth Young Master, the Seventh Young Master charged into the Inner Residence to kill Lady Meng and Lady Meng wanted to kill everyone else.


    When the Supreme King realized that the situation had gone out of control, the killing spree was already in the middle of being carried out, and he couldn''t stop any of the orders. Shangguan Fa sent out many elite killers and several ck-masked assassins around the city to announce that the Lord was still alive. Those who disobeyed would be cruelly suppressed.


    The chaos in the Fort had died down at around midnight. Dozens of people, including the Sixth and Seventh Young Masters, had died in this ridiculous killing spree.


    The Supreme King was furious. He imprisoned the Second and Fifth Young Masters and stripped Lady Meng of her authority. He found out that the culprit was that assassin, but he escaped unscathed and was nowhere to be found.


    Gu Shenwei survived, partly due to his luck and partly due to the help of others.


    Shangguan Fa was held back by Luo Ningcha, thus allowing the assassin to escape from the bedroom. A ck-masked assassin saw Gu Shenwei just when he had jumped onto the roof. At the time, Gu Shenwei had not wanted to test his machete skills, so he fled. The ck-masked assassin had closely followed behind him. It was as if he was Gu Shenwei''s shadow.


    Gu Shenwei couldn''t outrun the assassin, but he was saved by an unexpected person.


    As usual, Horsekeeper Elderly Zhang was still in the stablete at night. Luo Ningcha''s scream made him quiver. For the first time in his life, he wanted to save a damsel in distress. So, he took a sickle and fiercely ran outside. He was slightly slow so he had let the assassin run past him, but he managed to stop the ck-masked assassin.


    The ck-masked assassin killed elderly Zhang just like that. The old him would have silently stayed in the stable. He lost his life just because thedy had lifted her veil. The person who he wanted to save didn''t require his help, but the person who he didn''t want to save had managed to survive.


    The ck-masked assassin was dyed for only a moment. Although he had barely stopped for a short time, the assassin still managed to escape from him.


    Gu Shenwei was grateful to Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi as they had yed a game of "assassination" two years ago. As they had covered every corner of Stone Castle, he knew every street and was more familiar of the area than the locals.


    Gu Shenwei jumped from a low wall into a courtyard and shook off the ck-masked assassin, who had been chasing after him. He then returned to the Eighth Young Master''s residence. Just when he was about to enter his house, he saw Maid Lotus waving at him.


    There were too many unexpected things this evening. Gu Shenwei entered Maid Lotus''s house without much of a thought.


    "Get on the bed," Maid Lotus whispered.


    Gu Shenwei jumped onto the bed. When he was under the nket, he removed his night suit and mask, and threw them at Maid Lotus.


    Maid Lotus was unfazed and neatly folded the outfit. Then, she ced them together with her clothes.


    "My sword ... is still in the backyard."


    "Leave it."


    After Maid Lotus finished her sentence, a group of people poured into the courtyard. Someone shouted, "Stay in the house! No one is allowed toe out!"


    At this time, the fighting among the Young Masters haven''t begun yet. Shangguan Fa was bent on finding the assassin. The night watchmen who heard the news first investigated the Eighth Young Master''s residence.


    "Where is ve Huan? Why is he not in his room?"


    Maid Lotus walked to the door and said, "He''s with me."


    The door was brutally pushed open and two of the night watchmen saw that ve Huan was on the bed. They loosened their grip on their swords. They had seen too many illicit affairs between killers, so they weren''t surprised.


    "What happened? I heard noises in the backyard and was about to head over," Gu Shenwei said. He pretended to sit up in a fluster. He covered his body with the nket and was looking around for his saber.


    "That''s none of your concern," one of the night watchman replied. He then turned back and asked, "Was ve Huan here all along?"


    ve Xin peeked out and he seemed to be uneasy. He said, "Yes, I came at 9 pm and wanted to ask Master Yang if he had any orders. He wasn''t around, so I stayed in his house."


    Gu Shenwei realized that Maid Lotus must have known that ve Xin was sleeping next door, so she made him enter her house. Without her help, his whereabouts would''ve been exposed by ve Xin, and the timid ve wouldn''t have covered up for the master.


    "He''s been with me this whole time," Maid Lotus said calmly. After that, she closed the door in front of the night watchmen.


    Both of them didn''t talk as they listened to the conversation that was taking ce outside the room. They waited for the other ces to erupt into chaos. The Eighth Young Master''s residence quietened down when the night watchmen left to suppress the riot. As Lady Meng and the Young Masters were vying for the throne, they didn''t think that Luo Ningcha would pose a threat to them. Hence, no one wanted to kill her.


    Luo Ningcha was still in shock. When the night watchmen had just left, she ordered ve Huan and Maid Lotus to immediately go to the backyard to protect her.


    Gu Shenwei couldn''t find an opportunity to exin to Maid Lotus, and she didn''t ask him for an exnation. In the midst of the chaos, she had even retrieved his sword that was at the pir and returned it to him.


    Teacher Zhang Ji was smarter than what Gu Shenwei had imagined. The intelligent counselor had made use of the news released by ve Huan and nned the killing spree. He helped Shangguan Hong eliminate both of his two older brothers and effortlessly suppressed the otherpetitors.


    Just like that, excluding Gu Shenwei, there were at least two people in Stone Castle who knew about the identity of the assassin. He believed that Maid Lotus was unsure about Zhang Ji.


    Zhang Ji used a simple method to prove to the killers that he could keep secrets. Every few days, a part-time businessman in the Fort would send him a pot of fine wine from Southwall Tavern. This businessman had received lots of silver taels, and it was sufficient to get a year''s worth of wine. Zhang Ji would tend to ept the gifts. But this time, he had sent his young personal attendant to deliver a letter. His message was beautifully crafted as he thanked his disciples for their respect.


    Zhang Ji hoped that there would be a killer who would want to follow Shangguan Hong because this Supreme King''s son who he was assisting was too weak. The killing spreest night could have yielded better results, but Shangguan Hong couldn''t disy his ability. He could only cautiously stay by Lady Meng''s side and disyed his loyalty and support to her.


    After the killing spree, Shangguan Hong didn''t receive many rewards. The Supreme King didn''t even notice Shangguan Hong''s existence. Lady Meng didn''t require Shangguan Hong''s help even though she had been suppressed by the Lord, just like the other Young Masters.


    Gu Shenwei was slightly relieved.


    The Supreme King didn''t believe that the assassin''s target was Luo Ningcha, but he still assigned ten killers and twenty machetemen to protect her. Hence, the Eighth Young Master''s residence became one of the safest ces in Stone Castle. Gu Shenwei managed to spend two days peacefully at the Eighth Young Master''s residence until when Shen Liang came by.


    Shangguan Fa had sworn to find the assassin and the mastermind. To this end, he released Heart Cleansing Yard''s demaster Shen Liang.


    The Supreme King only had superficial praises for his Eighth Son, Shangguan Nu, so he had imprisoned Shen Liang. However, when it came to solving conspiracies and finding murderers, demaster Shen was the best. Because of this, Shen Liang had managed to regain his freedom.


    Shen Liang took over Heart Cleansing Yard again. He quicklyunched operations and captured many people. Even though he had his eyes on ve Huan, he was cautious and didn''t act immediately as the Eighth Young Mistress had gained some influence. He waited for two days before going over to personally interrogate them.


    Luo Ningcha must have been pressured as she didn''t ban anyone from Heart Cleansing Yard. She wanted the interrogations to take ce in the Eighth Young Master''s residence. It would be good if there was nothing wrong with ve Huan. Otherwise, she hoped that demaster Shen could resolve it.


    Shen Liang naturally understood the intention of the Eighth Young Mistress. Although he gave his promise, he had a n to get all of the information from ve Huan before he died.


    "This is a routine interrogation. Everyone in the Fort has to undergo this," Shen Liang said confidently.


    "Ok," Gu Shenwei answered indifferently. He was banned from carrying his sword. It was the equivalent of him losing half of his kung fu.


    "Where were you when the Lord was assassinated?"


    "I was in Maid Lotus'' room"


    "What were you doing?" Shen Liang asked. He seemed to be asking the obvious, but he was well prepared. He believed that he could sound ve Huan out, but he didn''t expect to hear the following reply.


    "I was experiencing qigong deviation. She had been trying to find different ways to treat me."


    "What?"


    Shen Liang grabbed onto the killer''s shoulder and immediately realized that something was wrong. This killer had a weak Internal Strength. It could not measure up to the Internal Strength of an ordinary killer, let alone a Golden Roc killer.


    It was true that Gu Shenwei was experiencing qigong deviation. He didn''t expect that certain things would ur, such as the simultaneous implosion of two Peripheral Forces, which had almost took away his life.


    This qigong deviation was directly rted to the p from Shangguan Fa.

 Chapter 236 - Seven Chapters

    Chapter 236: Seven Chapters


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s qigong deviation was proof that he was not involved in the assassination.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t expect that the Supreme King had regained his Internal Strength two nights ago. He had no choice but to use all of his Internal Breath to counter the sudden p.


    His Dantian was nearly shattered. Fortunately, the Supreme King hadn¡¯t fully recovered. Furthermore, the Supreme King wasn¡¯t able to use all of his strength because it had happened so suddenly. Hence, Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t seriously injured. However, he lost much of his Internal Strength and his Peripheral Force was discharged from his Baihui and Xuanji acupoints. The rate of discharge gradually became faster and faster. By noon on the day after the assassination, Gu Shenwei could no longer control the force of the qigong deviation.


    Barren Sect Managing Master Kang Wenhui had reminded Gu Shenwei that he would definitely die when both of the Peripheral Forces hadpletely discharged. He had no choice, but to dispel his Internal Strength and start practising Wayless Qigong.


    Maid Lotus was the only one who knew the truth. While it appeared that the two killers were protecting Luo Ningcha, in fact, Maid Lotus was the only one protecting Gu Shenwei and Luo Ningcha.


    There was an independent chapter in Wayless Book about the dispelling of Internal Strength . As both Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus practised Golden Roc Fort Internal Strength, they do not need to go through this step and experience the excruciating pain.


    When one dispelled his Internal Strength, one would have to endure excruciating pain, which was simr to having his bones ripped out from his body while still being alive.


    For two consecutive nights, Gu Shenwei was dispelling his Internal Strength in a room in the backyard. Maid Lotus was guarding outside in order to prevent anyone from disturbing Gu Shenwei. They were afraid that Miss would have an errand for them as it was impossible to interrupt the process of dispelling Internal Strength.


    Fortunately, there were ten killers and twenty machetemen guarding Luo Ningcha. Hence, Luo Ningcha was able to sleep well. As she was mindful of how others gossip about her, she didn¡¯t allow the killers to stand on guard inside the house.


    It took three days to dispel Internal Strength and, by the time Shen Liang came, Gu Shenwei had managed to dispel most of his Internal Strength. When the Heart Cleansing Yard demaster grabbed him, he seemed very weak and said, ¡°demaster Shen. Please be patient. I maymit suicide a few dayster.¡±


    Shen Liang exerted too much force as he almost broke ve Huan¡¯s bone. He loosened his grip. The original n waspletely disrupted. ¡°How long has it been?¡± he asked.


    ¡°About ten days.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you mention about it earlier?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to trouble the Fort.¡±


    ¡°Do you think that just the two of you could cure qigong deviation?¡±


    ¡°We will try every method. I may even recover without any treatment.¡±


    Shen Liang felt that ve Huan was lying, but it was true that he lost his Internal Strength. It was unnecessary for a demaster to mobilize his men for a killer. Shen Liang hoped that he could make use of ve Huan to diminish Lady Meng¡¯s influence, hence he wanted conclusive evidence. However, there was a loophole in the current evidence.


    ¡°Very good,¡± Shen Liang said, ¡°Recuperate well. I think you¡¯ll get better soon.¡±


    Shen Liang left and didn¡¯t reveal all of his information. He wanted to thoroughly investigate this matter.


    Just when Gu Shenwei was relieved, a series of trouble came.


    The news that ve Huan was experiencing qigong deviation and losing Internal Strength had quickly spread out. Luo Ningcha was the first one who reacted. She said, ¡°Oh my. I have allowed him to protect me. Is qigong deviation simr to being possessed?¡±


    She still remembered the scenario of ve Yao experiencing qigong deviation and was terrified. She didn¡¯t meet ve Huan. Instead, she got Maid Lotus to ry a message, saying that ve Huan had to move out.


    For Luo Ningcha, this action was considered to be extremelypassionate and generous. She still remembered their past friendship. Otherwise, she would have sent ve Huan to Firewood Yard and let him die there.


    Gu Shenweiplied and moved to East Castle. There were many small yards, which were specially made for killers to stay in. He wasn¡¯t disappointed as he didn¡¯t have much expectations in the first ce.


    ve Xin was unexpectedly willing to leave with the killer. He said, ¡°Miss had allowed me to serve Master Yang so I can¡¯t abandon you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pretended to ept ve Xin. Yet he was still on guard against the servant.


    It wasn¡¯t suitable to train in East Castle. A new batch of apprentices was enthusiastically practising for the annualpetition. Some were unconvinced by ve Huan¡¯s reputation so they viewed him as apetitor.


    Maid Lotus was unable to help Gu Shenwei because she had to stay by Luo Ningcha¡¯s side. Gu Shenwei¡¯s progress was dyed by two days until Shangguan Ru came to help.


    Shangguan Ru met Eighth Sister-inw. As she wanted to take ve Huan back, she said indirectly, ¡°Maid Lotus will stay with you.¡±


    Luo Ningcha wanted to send the ¡°possessed¡± servant out. She almost agreed, but at thest moment, she vehemently rejected, ¡°We will be aughing stock if we are fighting over a killer. He can stay with me. I can lend him to you whenever Sister has ack of manpower.¡±


    The desperate situation and the newly learnt skills had once rendered Luo Ningcha in a state where she was unable to control her feelings. When the Supreme King made a visit and she became more confident, then that action could be used against her. She would feel insecure if she were to return ve Huan back to Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Ru ¡°borrowed¡± ve Huan. Only both she and Maid Lotus knew what qigong deviation actually was.


    Gu Shenwei moved to Kun Yard. Apart from Inner Residence, Kun Yard was where the Tenth Young Master resided at. It was very quiet and far away from the murderous new apprentices of East Castle.


    The ce was big. Gu Shenwei sent ve Xin to another yard so he could live alone. Gu Shenwei managed toplete the third dissipation of Internal Strength, and then started to practice Wayless Qigong.


    He originally wanted to kill the Supreme King and escape when Golden Roc Fort was in chaos. However, the Supreme King didn¡¯t die. The escape n was useless because it only took half a night to suppress the riot. Though it was dangerous, it was still much safer than being pursued.


    There were seven chapters in the Wayless book. Gu Shenwei immediately noticed that the rtionship between this number and Immortal Peng. Shangguan Ru must have revealed much of the contents to the dwarf in the past.


    The Supreme King had never looked for ve Huan ever since the time when his daughter had tried to interrupt him. It seemed that he became cold and indifferent after his powers had been restored. He was no longer saddened by the death of Immortal Peng and had lost his desire for revenge.


    The dispelling of Internal Strength had an unexpected benefit. The two Peripheral Forces at Baihui and Xuanji acupoints were also dispelled. Even before he practised Wayless Qigong, he had recovered from the ailment, which had been troubling him for more than two years.


    Gu Shenwei initially didn¡¯t believe it. When Maid Lotus visited him and heard this news, she checked him by using her Internal Strength and discovered that both of his acupoints were empty. There were no hidden external forces in the acupoints anymore. She said with surprise, ¡°I haven¡¯t dispelled thest bit of force in my body.¡±


    Even though Maid Lotus was surprised, she didn¡¯t want to dispel Internal Strength, which was a drastic measure to treat qigong deviation. She would rather treat the deviation slowly through practicing Wayless Qigong.


    They inspired each other in a manner simr to how both of them had practiced swordcraft in the past. She gave many useful reminders to Gu Shenwei during the initial few days.


    The method of practicing Wayless Qigong was different from how one practiced other Internal Strength. For other Internal Strength, one could only progress to the next chapter after mastering the current chapter. However, for Wayless Qigong, one had to practice one chapter every day. Afterpleting all seven chapters, one would start from the first chapter again. The cycle continued endlessly. The progress was dependent on one¡¯s aptitude and level of hard work as there was no such thing as the highest level.


    The most peculiar thing was that it was eptable to miss out on a few chapters. As long as one started from the first chapter, two chapters could form a cycle. Even though the training speed was naturally slower, it¡¯s prowess wouldn¡¯t be affected if one persisted for a sufficiently long period of time.


    Gu Shenwei started from scratch. After more than ten days, he could only feel that his body became lighter, but his Dantian was still empty and there was no Internal Strength. But this matter couldn¡¯t be rushed as it was a slow process.


    After practicing seven chapters for the second time, Gu Shenwei realized a problem and asked, ¡°Do you think that these seven chapters of Wayless Qigong feel iplete?¡±


    His words lit up Maid Lotus¡¯s eyes. She had the same feeling and thought about it for a few days. She said, ¡°Yes. However, I have copied down everything. The temple guard said it slowly and there were fifteen people checking against him. There was no mistake. Could there be another hidden chapter?¡±


    ¡°It is possible that Golden Roc Fort didn¡¯t get the full copy.¡±


    They discussed for a long time, but they still had no clue. Since it didn¡¯t affect their practice, they ced the matter aside for now.


    Gu Shenwei was rarely disturbed in Kun Yard. Shen Liang didn¡¯t disappoint as he closed the assasination case. The Stone Castle¡¯s past order and security were restored.


    Second Young Master Shangguan Tian became the scapegoat for the events because there were many pieces of evidence which showed that Shangguan Tian was disgruntled. He bribed a master and secretly brought him into the Stone Castle. He didn¡¯t admit that he was the mastermind of the assasination of the Lord. However, the masters who Shangguan Tian bribed couldn¡¯t stand the torture and confessed that they were responsible for the assasination. Their targets included the Lord and Lady Meng.


    This was sufficient. Shangguan Tian was imprisoned in a dungeon and most of his subordinates were executed. It appeared that another crisis was quickly resolved.


    Gu Shenwei knew that it was an illusion. Shangguan Tian might have wanted to kill his father but the assasination of the Supreme King foiled his n. demaster Shen Liang would probably know the truth and quickly dealt with the Second Young Master. On one hand, he could suppress the enemy and on the other hand, he could protect the reputation of Golden Roc Fort. It would be very shameful if he couldn¡¯t find the mastermind of the riot.


    Investigations had been going on secretly and many people, including ve Huan, were being watched. Gu Shenwei ran into stalkers on several asions whenever he went out with Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Ru cared about the safety of ve Huan so she visited him almost every day. When Gu Shenwei had made steady progress and had more free time, they started to wander around the fort just like what they did in the past.


    They ¡°invented¡± a new game. As they were familiar with the area, they would often ¡°disappear¡± and suddenly appeared behind the stalkers to scare them. This game didn¡¯tst long because there were no stalkers a few dayster.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t understand Shangguan Ru¡¯s intentions. As they weren¡¯t children anymore, they had lost the initial fun in wandering around the fort. Gradually, he realized that Shangguan Ru was trying to find traces of Master Yu. Whenever she went to a location, she would remember certain scenes and Shangguan Yushi would always be involved in it.


    One day in August, Gu Shenwei followed Shangguan Ru to Giant Rock Cliff to reminisce about the past. They often came here over the past few days. This was a very secluded ce in the past, however, it became less secluded after the arrow tower at Reincarnation Cliff was built. One could enjoy the unobstructed view when one stood at the top of the cliff.


    Fortunately, there were few people on duty at the arrow tower. Hence, they weren¡¯t worried about being seen.


    Recently, Gu Shenwei felt that Shangguan Ru was bing more and more troubled. He thought that it was rted to Shangguan Yushi so he rarelyforted her.


    Today was no exception. Shangguan Ru stood at the edge of the cliff and looked into the distance while holding onto a giant stone. She didn¡¯t speak for a long time. Suddenly, she turned around and gave him a mysterious smile. She was holding onto a few pieces of paper as she said, ¡°This is for you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nced at it and knew that it was the seventh chapter of Wayless Book. He asked, ¡°Why did you have it?¡±


    Luo Ningcha handed over thest nk. Both Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus kept it and didn¡¯t give it to Lady Meng.


    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business. Aplet edition is better than an iplete one. Well, you better keep it a secret.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I will.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt slightly guilty, but was then surprised. He didn¡¯t read it closely, but after ncing over the first few sentences, he realized that the content was very different from the text on the nks.

 Chapter 237 - The Thing

    Chapter 237: The Thing


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei was 17 now. During the past few years, he had been exposed to many erotic visual images and verbal descriptions in South City but had never been romantically involved with any woman. Therefore, he did not have a deep insight into the power of beauty and was not very confident about his n.


    He had sessfully persuaded Luo Ningcha to work together with him, but he still felt uncertain and kept worrying about all the minor details. <em>¡°The Supreme King may note to sleep with Luo </em>Ningcha, <em>since she¡¯s his daughter-inw. Or, he won¡¯te unless his </em>Internel <em>Strength recovers. When Shangguan Fa¡¯s kung fu is back to its normal levels, I¡¯ll be no match for him. I can only assassinate him when he has no Internal Strength.¡±</em>


    .


    Compared to ve Huan, Xu Yanwei was far more confident in Luo Ningcha¡¯s charm and ability to seduce a man. Although she did not know ve Huan¡¯s real intentions, she truly enjoyed instructing Luo Ningcha and taught her everything. After seeing Miss Luo¡¯s face with her own eyes and instructing her for a few days, she asked ve Huan, ¡°Do you want Miss Luo to seduce a Buddha or something? My goodness,pared to her, even Xiao Fengchai looks like a vige girl.¡±


    Comparing a woman to Xiao Fengchai, who was generally acknowledged as the most charming prostitute in Pleasure Alley, was the highest praise Xu Yanwei could think of.


    Upon knowing that the Bighead Kingpin¡¯s coffin would be transported to Jade City in several days, Luo Ningcha suddenly became secretive and asked most of her servants in the backyard to move into the front yard. Only a few of them that she trusted the most were allowed to stay in the backyard to serve her. During those days, she kept asking for Xu Yanwei¡¯s advice on how to walk, talk and express herself with her eyes. She felt enlightened by the views of the prostitute and sighed, ¡°If I had mastered these tricks before, Shangguan Nu might not have left me alone in this Stone Castle.¡±


    Xu Yanwei was never a first-rate prostitute. She was not always able to control her temper in the presence of her clients and would even offend them sometimes. Nevertheless, she turned out to be a good teacher who was adept at instructing her student to control her temper. ¡°All men are the same. They enjoyed being looked up to and being implored to. The more cuddly and pitiful you appear, the more generous they¡¯ll be to you,¡± she said to Luo Ningcha.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus were put in charge of Luo Ningcha¡¯s safety, which made Gu Shenwei even more anxious. <em>¡°Both Luo Ningcha¡¯s and </em>mine <em>personal enemies mayunch sneak attacks on us at any time. When that happens, Maid Lotus and I won¡¯t be able to take on so many enemies.¡±</em>


    Fortunately, the Supreme King keenly sensed that there were some plots brewing inside the fort and issued an order, which said that whatever the reason, the one who killed a person in the fort without authorization would be executed. To maintain his ruling status in Golden Roc Fort, a ce packed with bloodthirsty and merciless killers, the Supreme King never tolerated any killer acting in defiance of his orders. Given that, Gu Shenwei was pretty sure that he did not have to worry too much about their safety now.


    .


    As the most staunch supporter of the lord¡¯s no-kill order, Shangguan Ru also helped him a lot. She came to visit her Eighth Sister-inw almost every day. Although she did not bear any grudge against Luo Ningcha for her past behaviors, Gu Shenwei still carefully monitor their conversations, in case that they mentioned the wooden board.


    Maid Lotus deduced that ve Huan and Miss Luo were up to something, but she never asked him about it. asionally, she would persuade him to practice Wayless Qigong. ¡°Your death caused by the qigong deviation will arrive earlier than mine. I¡¯m sure that you¡¯ll benefit a lot from practicing Wayless Qigong.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that I have to wait.¡± He always answered her this way, without further exnation. He wished to get rid of Peripheral Force as soon as possible, but unlike Maid Lotus who could start the practice right away, he had toplete the self-destruction process, namely draining away all of his Internal Strength, before practicing Wayless Qigong. At such a crucial moment, he did not want to lose all of his Internal Strength.


    He foresaw that the assassination of the Supreme King would cause a tempest in the fort. <em>¡°To avoid being drawn into this storm, I have to flee from the fort right after the assassination. As for </em>Wyaless <em>Qigong, I¡¯ll begin practicing it when I get to somewhere safe. I¡¯ll leave Luo Ningcha to her own fate and tell Xu Yanwei how to save her own life before my departure. I can¡¯t protect them or take them away, so that¡¯s all I can do,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei.


    After a while, he came to realize that he truely wished to take Maid Lotus along with himself. <em>¡°Given the tacit understanding I have with her, I¡¯d better ask her to escape together with me. As a killer, I need such a partner to protect my rear. Although I can¡¯t divulge my n to her at this moment, when the Supreme King is killed in the Eighth Young Master¡¯s residence, it¡¯ll be a natural choice for her, a killer of the Eighth Young Master, to flee to protect herself.¡±</em>


    Gu Shenwei was sure that he had gotten everything ready, now he only needed to see if Luo Ningcha could seed in attracting people¡¯s attention in Jade City during her first outing without wearing a veil.


    The truth was that Luo Ningcha had achieved a smashing sess, which far exceeded Gu Shenwei¡¯s expectations. She caused such a sensation that all the people in Jade City heard of her new title ¡°the most beautiful woman in the world¡± within a short time. When she was heading back toward Stone Castle, the security checkpoint that she was going to pass were already packed with tens of thousands of people, who wished to get a glimpse of the beauty. The guards at the checkpoint had to resort to force to resolve the traffic congestion and to keep her adoring fans at bay, which nearly caused a riot.


    Before her return, all the people in Golden Roc Fort had heard of the sensation, and more than a hundred of them had already crammed into the alley in front of the entrance of the Eighth Young Master¡¯s residence, waiting for her. Some of them just came to join the fun, while the others secretly nned to make troubles to embarrass her as a way to please Lady Meng. However, the moment Luo Ningcha got out of her carriage while being supported by her maids, all the people in the alley spontaneously made way for her. They were taken by her beauty, so much so that they would rather hold their breath than say anything to disturb her. After she entered the residence, they finally got their breath back and sighed simultaneously, feeling a kind of emptiness in the absence of the beauty.


    Gu Shenwei and Luo Ningcha had intended to attract only the Supreme King. Beyond their expectations, they first attracted a group of flirtatious men of the Shangguan family, and some of them were still students of the school. They flocked to Shangguan Nu¡¯s residence with the excuses of expressing sympathy to their Eighth Aunt-inw, Eighth Sister-inw or even Eighth Granddaughter-inw. Gu Shenwei had never seen this ce so crowded before.


    As he nned to maintain Luo Ningcha¡¯s mystery after her first outing without wearing a veil, he allowed no one to enter the residence and thus offended quite a lot of people. Shangguan Hong came here too, but he quickly fled the ce when he saw ve Huan.


    In the end, only Shangguan Ru managed to squash into the residence and finally met her Eighth Sister-inw in person. She expressed her condolence and then had a short conversation with Luo Ningcha, who did not wear a veil anymore. After that, she walked out, shaking her head and clicking her tongue in wonder. ¡°Now, you bear such a heavy responsibility, ve Huan. Be careful and take good care of her. Otherwise, my Eighth Brother won¡¯t let you off easily,¡± Shangguan Ru said smilingly.


    Gu Shenwei smiled back at her without saying a word, while thinking, ¡°<em>Shangguan Ru still doesn¡¯t realize that Shangguan Nu will never be able to return to Stone Castle as long as the Supreme King is alive.¡±</em>


    Everyone was tired out after the busy day and went to bed early in the evening. As Luo Ningcha still had not fully recovered from her anxiety, ve Huan and Maid Lotus had to take turns to stand guard at night inside her room. Only with a guard being around, Miss Luo could feel secure as if sleeping with a saber under her pillow.


    Today, it was Gu Shenwei¡¯s turn to keep guard for Luo Ningcha, and the thing just happened when both of them were unprepared.


    Today¡¯s outing had exhausted Luo Ningcha¡¯s energy, but when shey on her bed at night and recalled what had happened during the day, she felt thrilled. She finally knew how attractive she was, and this made her think back to the first few months after getting married to Shangguan Nu. Back then, her husband had been madly in love with her but she had always dreaded seeing his hand hook and thus seldom showed affection to him. At the moment, Luo Ningcha believed that this was the reason for Shangguan Nu¡¯s decision to walk out on her and betray the Golden Roc Fort.


    She felt somewhat stifled and confined on her bed, which was big enough for two people, and asked Maid Cui, who was lying at her foot and forever on call, to get out of her bed.


    After sending Maid Cui away, she still could not fall asleep. Like a little girl who was excited about a new toy, Luo Ningcha had just discovered her mor and was fascinated by it.


    ¡°Are you still here?¡± asked Luo Ningcha.


    ¡°Yes, I am,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Come here.¡±


    Miss Luo sounded differently. Her voice had never been so sweet when she had been practicing speaking with Xu Yanwei before, but now she suddenly got the trick without her teacher¡¯s guidance.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart skipped a beat, and at the same time, he had an unusual feeling. He had asionally felt this way back in South City and every time he could easily suppress this urge. However, this time, he discovered that it had already grown into a monster, which was roaring and struggling, trying to break the shackles on itself.


    He could not help moving his feet. Soon enough, he went behind the screen and stopped beside Miss Luo¡¯s bed, his mindpletely nk.


    ¡°Do you find me attractive?¡± asked Luo Ningcha.


    ¡°Uhm,¡± Gu Shenwei mumbled, while continuing fighting against his desire. As her face had already been imprinted on his mind, now he felt as if he could see it in this pitch-dark room.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you show any interest in me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a killer.¡±


    ¡°So is he.¡±


    Upon realizing that Luo Ningcha was referring to the Supreme King, Gu Shenwei became clear-headed and thought, ¡± <em>I should note in here. If the Supreme King can¡¯t wait any longer ande here tonight, it¡¯ll be me instead of my foe being killed in this bed.¡±</em>


    When he was about to retreat, his right hand, which was gripping his saber shaft, was grabbed by a soft, cold and trembling hand.


    ¡°If I can¡¯t make you fall for me, how can I satisfy him?¡± asked Luo Ningcha.


    If she had said these words to any other man, the man would have felt being insulted. However, for the killer, these words happened to give him a reasonable exnation.


    He epted that hand¡¯s guidance, took off his clothes and went to the bed. Luo Ningcha slowly slid a finger from his arm to his chest. ¡°You have so many scars,¡± she eximed.


    Her husband, Shangguan Nu was also a killer, but he did not have any scar on his body except for his severed hand.


    Gu Shenwei remained silent, as he was fighting against the monster in his heart. That monster was urging him to throw himself on top of the woman, choke her and tear her into pieces. That monster wanted him to merge together with the woman, while he just wished to keep calm. He hoped to be a professional killer, who could enjoy the passion without being controlled by it.


    Luo Ningcha was somehow aroused by his rough skin and scars. She felt a flow of warmth circting inside her body and surging inside her lower abdomen.


    As the young killer was inexperienced, she had to take the initiative to seduce him. She tried all the tricks she had recently learned on him, while feeling half excited and half ashamed.


    They clumsily tried out all the theories they knew and did their best to hide their ignorance. As a result, both of them could not rx themselves.


    Luo Ningcha had never enjoyed making love to Shangguan Nu, as she really feared and loathed his hand hook. She even found it repellent to stay in the same room with that man.


    However, now she somehow felt an intense pleasure and waves of excitement. She wanted to call out and was unafraid to let the waves inundate her.


    Gu Shenwei, who had despised Tie Hanfeng for his habit of raping a woman before killing her, now yielded to his desire for Luo Ningcha, who was his enemy¡¯s wife and the sacrificialmb in his n. <em>¡°It¡¯s a double pleasure. I can not only satisfy myself but also retaliate against Shangguan Nu by making love to her,¡±</em>thought Gu Shenwei. He guessed that he must have been subtly influenced by his Master Shifu and thus subconsciously epted his idea.


    Nevertheless, his first attempt to gain such a double pleasure ended in the most embarrassing way. He was disappointed to find out that even a killer who was good at disciplining himself was unable to control everything in his life.


    Upon discovering that he had ended the thing prematurely, Luo Ningcha did not say anything tofort him. Instead, she jeered at him and said, ¡°Maid Wan is right. It¡¯s your first time, isn¡¯t it? She told me that men always end up like this during their first experience. You¡¯ve spent quite a long time in South City. Howe you don¡¯t have any experience? How about Maid Lotus? I heard that you¡¯re romanticly involved with her.¡±


    ¡°Shut up,¡± Gu Shenwei said harshly.


    ¡°How dare you!¡± Luo Ningcha was about to lose control of her temper.


    ¡°If I were the Supreme King, I would hush you up.¡± Gu Shenwei exined.


    With these words, he forced himself on her again, full of anger. He forgot about all the tricks and just did everything that the monster in his heart wanted him to do.


    He came to understand that the best way to ovee his desire was to give vent to it.


    Gu Shenwei and Luo Ningcha, who had been awkward a while ago, had an awesome, memorable experience this time. They reached the climax together and then gradually slid into an abyss. They felt that it came like a violent gust of wind or a bolt of lightning. The felt as if they were traveling as freely as light in the void.


    Since then, Luo Ningcha and Gu Shenwei had shared one more secret with each other.


    Throughout the night, Gu Shenwei had been worried that if the Supreme King would have suddenlye in here, but facts proved that his worries were entirely unnecessary. Rumors about Luo Ningcha¡¯s beauty did spark the Supreme King¡¯s romantic interest in his own daughter-inw, but he was not an ordinary man and would never sneak into a woman room covertly.


    When a strange old killer came to see the Eighth Young Mistress and offered condolence to her on behalf of the Supreme King, Gu Shenwei knew that his n worked.


    He quickly forgot about the temporary pleasure he had with Luo Ningcha and concentrated on his assassination n. Now, he was a cold-blooded killer again, who was always ready to strike his saber and sword at his targets.

 Chapter 238 - Dagger

    Chapter 238: Dagger


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The seventh chapter of Wayless Book had two versions. Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart was racing. He asked about the origins of the text while he pretended to be concerned about Shangguan Ru¡¯s safety.


    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s okay to tell you,¡± Shangguan Ru said. She could not dissuade ve Huan and had to say the truth, ¡°The text on Eighth Sister-inw¡¯s nk was rtively short and Fifteenth Sacred Master was responsible for reciting it. Mother pressured him a little bit¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei suddenly realized that there was a special method to preserve the Wayless Book. A temple guard had to memorize the entire content and fifteen sacred masters would memorize different parts of the book to prevent any error and forgetfulness. They would check against one another annually. The temple guard would never casually leak out the contents and it was even more difficult to get the sacred masters to reveal them. However was still possible to make them reveal the contents by pressuring one of these masters, especially thest master. Hence, the ¡°little pressure¡± applied by Lady Meng seemed to be effective.


    ¡°Did the Sacred Master recite the text to you?¡±


    ¡°No. After mother obtained the text, she handed it over to me,¡± Shangguan Ru answered. She stared into Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes and looked slightly confused. ve Huan should be thrilled since he had received the text.


    Gu Shenwei then revealed a warm smile and said, ¡°This is great. I¡¯m finally not restrained by the Missus. She can keep that nk.¡±


    Shangguan Ru smiled. This was what she expected. She said, ¡°Eighth Sister-inw is too petty. She wants to get hold of everything.¡± She paused and asked again, ¡°Was my father really in her¡­room that night?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better for you to feign ignorance.¡±


    Shangguan Ru kicked the boulder angrily and appeared to be in pain. Different people had different impressions of the Supreme King. In Shangguan Ru¡¯s eyes, he was a strict but loving father. Few dared to gossip about the Supreme King in front of her. However, her father suddenly changed. Her third brother was the first to tell her about how uneptable their father was. Then, it was followed by the incident concerning Eighth Sister-inw.


    Since the death of Master Yu, Shangguan Ru¡¯s world was gradually copsing, but it was far from over.


    ¡°Killers are always like this,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He could not think of any words tofort her. Suddenly, without rhyme or reason, he thought of the crippled killer Tie Hanfeng and started talking about his past. He finally said, ¡°Forgetfulness is a type of ruthlessness, and promiscuousness is also ruthlessness.¡±


    Shangguan Ru felt that it was extremely uneptable to kill people. However, she coulde to terms with it. Little did she know, that was just the tip of the iceberg. There were too many uneptable things that were beyond her imagination. She was disappointed, but she quickly detached herself away from it. She was unable to think so much as she was only fourteen.


    ¡°Hey, could you teach me swordcraft?¡± Shangguan Ru asked in order to change the subject so she could get rid of such meaningless thoughts. As if she was surrounded by a sea of evil, she hoped to iste herself on a lonely ind and stay like this forever.


    ¡°Swordcraft?¡± Gu Shenwei asked. Shangguan Ru changed the topic of conversation too abruptly and Gu Shenwei could not keep up with her.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you learn swordcraft at Joy Pavilion?¡±


    ¡°Those things,¡± Gu Shenwei said contemptuously, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll teach you.¡±


    There was a conflict between Emotionless Swordsmanship and swordcraft of Death Scripture. Gu Shenwei had not practiced Emotionless Swordsmanship for a long time. He used a wooden saber in ce of a real sword and taught Shangguan Ru move by move.


    Emotionless Swordsmanship appeared to be mboyant without the cooperation of Secrets of Love. They seemed to be having fun, and they weren¡¯t bothered by it.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t practice Wayless Qigong that night. Instead, he wasparing the contents between the two versions of the seventh chapter of Wayless Book.


    It was indeed different. Most of the contents were the same, but there were some keywords, which werepletely the opposite. One wrote ¡°Congealing Qi,¡± and the other wrote ¡°Dispelling Qi.¡± One wrote ¡°From Yin to Yang,¡± and the other wrote, ¡°From Yang to Yin.¡± It was obvious that it was not an act of negligence, but rather, it was a deliberate forgery.


    Although Gu Shenwei had a few suspects in mind, he calmly reconsidered all the possibilities.


    The first suspects were the temple guard and the sacred masters. They had no reason to forge the contents as they knew if someone were to overhear any of the contents, they would just silence the person. There was no need toplicate things.


    The second suspect was Maid Lotus; however, she had no reason to do it. She had numerous chances and methods to kill ve Huan. Hence, she did not need toe up with a set of fake Internal Strength. Furthermore, she was suspended in the air while memorizing the content. It would be difficult for her to change the words within.


    The next suspect was Shangguan Ru. However, she knew that ve Huan had lost all his skills and could easily kill him.


    Thest suspects were Lady Meng and the Fifteenth Sacred Master. One of them must be the one who forged the contents. If the culprit was Lady Meng, she would first harm her daughter then ve Huan. Therefore, Lady Meng was less likely to be the culprit. As for that Sacred Master, he was likely to forge the contents as he was pressured to say them, but he didn¡¯t want to break his oath.


    Thus, Shangguan Ru was the only victim.


    Gu Shenwei hid both versions and didn¡¯t mention about them to Maid Lotus. He hesitated whether to tell Shangguan Ru the truth. At this moment, he did not understand the hidden meaning behind the hesitation. A few dayster, he realized that he had unconsciously changed.


    Both of them continued to practice their swordcraft at the Giant Rock Cliff. Even though they knew the swordcraft was not very powerful, they still practiced diligently.


    That afternoon, the autumn chill damaged a few fallen leaves. Shangguan Ru practiced slightly harder and her cheeks were flushed. Her mood was good and she had a naughty and dazzling smile on her face as though she could hum a tune at any moment.


    At this moment, Gu Shenwei felt a sudden impulse to tell Shangguan Ru that there were some issues with her Wayless Qigong.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± Shangguan Ru asked with concern. She felt that there was something wrong with ve Huan.


    Gu Shenwei reminded himself that she was the daughter of his enemy. His hatred was like the tide on the ocean. But he couldn¡¯t reignite it regardless how hard he tried. He said, ¡°I¡¯m a little tired.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I always forget that you currently have no Internal Strength. Let¡¯s call it a day. How long have you been under the self-destruction for? Haven¡¯t you recovered yet?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been half a month. I think it¡¯s almost over.¡±


    Both of them left together. Shangguan Ru was hopping all the way as though she had returned to her old self. When they separated, she whispered, ¡°I will give you the same gift tomorrow.¡±


    Gu Shenwei became so afraid that he didn¡¯t even eat his dinner. He was alone in the house and banned ve Xin from entering. He was thinking, but he didn¡¯t understand what was wrong with him and why he felt apologetic towards Shangguan Ru.


    This was the first time. He felt more and more guilty ever since he obtained the fake seventh chapter. He often found himself defending Shangguan Ru so that he could prove that she wasn¡¯t his enemy.


    Indeed, what did Shangguan Ru do to hurt him? No, nothing at all. Shangguan Nu wiped out the Gus Family, but what does it have to do with Shangguan Ru? She neither participated in nor nned the killing.


    The entire Golden Roc Fort was also innocent. They were an organization of killers and were employed to kill people. Now, it seemed that the employer was probably his inw Wei Song. There was no difference between the Stone Castle and the saber, which was used to kill people.


    Such thoughts scared Gu Shenwei.


    Time was like running water and hatred was like a tough towering stone. As water flowed, the stone would be eroded. This was the first time Gu Shenwei felt that his hatred was being eroded in these three years. It had been the only thing that supported him, but now it became unfamiliar and distant.


    No one, excluding himself, had ever called the name ¡°Gu Shenwei¡± for a long time. The killer began to worry if he hadpletely became ve Huan.


    Maid Lotus visited him the next morning. Gu Shenwei, who stayed up all night, could not stand it any longer. He poured out some of his worries to her, but he didn¡¯t mention the annihtion of the Gus Family. He said, ¡°Killers need hatred, but I can¡¯t seem to hate anything.¡±


    Maid Lotus thought for a while and stretched out her hand to press against his forehead. Although she was indifferent, her palm felt warm and soft. Gu Shenwei realized that not only had he forgotten about his hatred, he had be more affectionate. Even though he often worked with Maid Lotus, he rarely felt something for her. However, he had an impulse to embrace her forcefully today.


    Maid Lotus felt that there was nothing strange about ve Huan and said, ¡°I think that it is rted to theck of practicing the Death Scripture after you have dispelled your Internal Strength.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Gu Shenwei asked eagerly. He hoped for an exnation and wished that his changes were caused by external forces.


    ¡°I heard from a killer mentor said that both the desire and the kung fu constitute the killing desire.¡± Maid Lotus pondered and recalled what she heard at that time, ¡°The weak have no killing desire. The stronger the person, the stronger the killing desire. The killing desire and one¡¯s strength are corrted. Although he had mentioned killing desire, it seemed appropriate for your current situation.¡±


    Gu Shenwei gained a slight understanding but had another concern. Maid Lotus was implying that the Death Scripture was controlling him, instead of Gu Shenwei practicing it. What was the difference between this and Immortal Peng¡¯s trick?


    Gu Shenwei had once experienced true hatred. That feeling was strong, but it often made him lose his rationality. He would go all out for the sake of killing people. his hatred became more and more stable as he improved his kung fu. He could finally control it and often relied on it.


    His hatred and killing desire diminished with the momentary loss of his kung fu. He had little true hatred left in him.


    After Maid Lotus left, Gu Shenwei was still confused, but he couldn¡¯t extricate himself from the confusion. He tried many ways to reignite the hatred, but he would give up halfway each time. It continued until Shangguan Ru arrived as promised, and she brought him a present.


    ¡°This was given to me by Eighth Brother a few years ago. I like it very much and have treasured it. It just so happened that you use a sword, so I decided to ¡­ give it to you,¡± Shangguan Ru said. She reluctantly handed the dagger to ve Huan.


    Gu Shenwei received it. He drew the sword out and looked at it. He said, ¡°This is a good sword, but I don¡¯t have any present for you.¡±


    ¡°You could probably give me a sword that has a name engraved on it?¡± Shangguan Ru asked as sheughed.


    Gu Shenwei smiled, but he felt like someone was stabbing his heart. Instead of blood, hatred was surging out like a volcano eruption. The deep intense hatred, which he thought had been eroded away by time, suddenly emerged ferociously.


    Regardless of who the employer was, Golden Roc Fort was still his enemy. Hadn¡¯t Shangguan Ru hurt him before? She had betrayed the two giant rocs.


    Gu Shenwei tightly gripped the dagger. He became less empathetic and fearful. Should he tell the truth? It was a ridiculous idea. He wanted to watch Shangguan Ru practice the wrong Wayless Qigong until she died painfully.


    Gu Lun gave this dagger to his youngest son and the young personal attendant kept possession of it. After the attendant was killed by Young Master Gu, Shangguan Nu got hold of the dagger, which was then given to his sister, Shangguan Ru.


    The Will of the Divine didn¡¯t want to further weaken the killer, hence it made Shangguan Ru bring his most familiar dagger.

 Chapter 239 - Bedroom

    Chapter 239: Bedroom


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Fa had been romantically involved with countless women. Even he himself could not tell the approximate number of women he had slept with. Nor did he bother to remember those women of little importance.


    The Supreme King felt enticed by pretty women the same as an emperor was tempted bynd. Although all the mountains and rivers under the sky looked almost the same, the vast expanse ofnd always seemed to be stretching to infinity. Faced with such an endlessnd, an emperor could never cease to conquer.


    The Supreme King never stopped conquering, either. In his eyes, every woman he had slept with was like a piece ofnd he had seized. Driven by an indescribable desire, he pressed ahead, conquering continuously, and seldom cast a nce backward. This desire was not a lust for women, since he had lost interest in this kind of thing a long time ago. Nor was it an urge to gratify his vanity, for he disdained to do so.


    When he became more mature and saw most of his sons reach adulthood, he finally understood what the desire was. He realized that deep inside his heart, he believed that he was born to be a king, a real king. He was confident that even if he began as a king of a very small country, he would be able to expand his domain topete with or even annex Nond and the Central in.


    To his great disappointment, he was only the Supreme King, and it was just a jianghu title instead of a royal title. Although his Golden Roc Fort was widely-recognized as the most powerful force in Western Regions, his territory had not yet been officially acknowledged as a country. Unable to fulfill his ambition for power, he could only satisfy his desire to possess and conquer by sleeping with more and more women.


    In the past, Shangguan Fa had been totally uninterested in Luo Ningcha for a reason. As this women never showed her face to anyone, he deduced that the only reason she had won those praises for her beauty was that the people who lived in dread of the Iron Mountain Gang tried to tter Bighead Kingpin by bragging about how beautiful his daughter was. Given her father¡¯s looks, the Supreme King did not believe that Luo Ningcha could live up to her reputation.


    Therefore, when the whole Jade City was amazed by her beauty, Shangguan Fa felt, for the first time in years, the temptation of a woman. After conquering lots of ¡°ces¡±, he surprisingly discovered that a paradise-like ce right behind his base had not yet been merged into his domain.


    The elderly killer sent by the Supreme King did not announce his name when he came to visit Luo Ningcha. After chatting with the Eighth Young Mistress for a while, he went out to check the situation in the backyard and then ordered all the maids and killers living in the yard to move into the front yard, by saying ¡°The Eighth Young Mistress need peace and quiet.¡± Upon hearing his words, all the people in the backyard knew for sure that something was going to happen tonight.


    The elderly killer¡¯s words reassured Gu Shenwei that his n worked and he finally got the chance that he had dreamed of for years. He could not help thinking, <em>¡°Tonight, everything wille to an end. Zhang Ji is right about the Supreme King¡¯s sons. None of them arepetent enough to manage the Golden Roc Fort. Once Shangguan Fa is dead, the fort will soon copse.¡± </em>Gu Shenwei felt for the first time that he was so close to his goal of avenging his family¡¯s death. He felt that now the goal was like a ripe fruit hanging from a tree and he only needed to lift his arm to pick it off.


    <em>¡°Luo Ningcha will be killed too. Once the others know that the lord dies inside her bedroom, they¡¯ll immediately kill her to avenge the </em>lord¡¯s <em>death, no matter what she says.¡±</em>


    Gu Shenwei searched his conscience and d to see that he was not jealous of the Supreme King or sorry for causing Luo Ningcha¡¯s death. He and Luo Ningcha had never fallen in love with each other, even when they were inplete harmony with each other in bed.


    Both of them were unable to fall in love with anyone.


    A killer only wanted to maintain a strong killing intent and regarded the other desires as hidden danger, which needed to be restrained or even destroyed. Even when a killer asionally took a risk to satisfy those desires, he or she just did this to appease them, just like a professional animal trainer throwing a piece of meat to an animal to make it quiet.


    As for Luo Ningcha, she only loved herself. Countless people were enchanted by her appearance and believed her to be a nice and kinddy like a gracious goddess. Nevertheless, her beautiful face was just another mask she wore under her veil, and only a few people who were close to her were able to discover her selfishness and cruelty. Unfortunately, Gu Shenwei was one of these people.


    Before this day, he had spent three days living a seclusive life with her. During those three days, they vented their lustful desires and satisfied each other so much so that they could just get over each other after those days.


    Now in the front yard, which was crammed with all the servants of the residence, Gu Shenwei began to prepare for his assassination mission in a small bedroom that was assigned to him.


    He folded his night suit neatly and then kept wiping his saber and sword until they could not be more shiny. Although he had a servant now, he still did many of those trivial things by himself.


    For a killer, a perfect assassination n had to include retreat nning. Gu Shenwei hoped that the Golden Roc Fort would hurtle into chaos and unprecedented violence after he killed the Supreme King, so he went to chat with Zhang Ji that afternoon and before his departure, he deliberately said to the teacher, ¡°I find the current situation in the fort very unstable. As the young masters are fighting endlessly against one another, I guess that amotion is going to break out very soon. Given this, you can make some preparations for Master Hong.¡±


    ¡°Very soon? When? ¡± Zhang Ji immediately asked.


    ¡°Maybe tonight, tomorrow night or the night after that,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    He could not talk about this any further, as in this Stone Castle, trusting anyone might turn out to be a fatal mistake.


    By talking ambiguously to Zhang Ji, he intended to delude the teacher into believing that it was one of the young masters who would deliberately create chaos in the Golden Roc Fort. Despite that the Supreme King had already resolved the Central ins crisis, his sons still remained in the fort andpeted against one another for their father¡¯s favor. Under such circumstances, Gu Shenwei believed that it would be perfectly natural for Zhang Ji to suspect the young masters¡¯ real motives.


    After getting everything ready, he returned to the Eighth Young Mistress¡¯ residence. He felt that it took a particrly long time to get dark after the sunset today and got increasingly nervous as time went by. He had never felt this way since he had be an apprentice in East Castle. This reminded him of the night three years ago, when he and his friends, all equipped with inferior kung fu skills, had been anxiously preparing to assassinate Han Shiqi.


    He ced his saber and sword in front of himself and wiped both of them once again. In the end, however, he decided to carry only the saber with himself, as he thought, <em>¡°The only reason I¡¯m able to kill the Supreme King is that he has lost all of his Internal Strength. Using a sword to kill him may expose my identity and ruin my escape n.¡±</em>


    When it finally got dark, all the servants in the front yard went to bed earlier than usual, as they knew that the Supreme King would probablye to visit Luo Ningcha tonight. Even the most curious people in here could only secretly think about this thing to themselves for a moment. Although they could not fall asleep at this hour, they still made some loud snoring sounds, lest being used of peeping at the Supreme King.


    Gu Shenwei quietly left his bedroom and sneaked into the backyard, nning to hide himself well before the lord¡¯s ck-masked assassins sealed the yard.


    The hiding ce he chose for himself was Luo Ningcha¡¯s reception room. This room was separated into two parts by a wooden wall and on the hostess¡¯ side, there was a door leading to her bedroom.


    He ced himself on the beam that supported the roof structure, for he could easily cross the wooden wall from this ce.


    As he came into his ce earlier than he had expected, he could hear Luo Ningcha anxiously pacing back and forth inside her room now. Suddenly, he began to reminisce about the good time he had inside that room. Just the night before, they had stayed up all night making love tirelessly, obsessed with trying all kinds of tricks on each other. Only a dozen hourster, the killer regarded her as nothing but a sacrificialmb.


    He felt hesitant for a moment and then resolutely banished those thoughts. <em>¡°If I can¡¯t subdue my lust for a woman, how can I be counted as a professional killer?¡±</em>thought Gu Shenwei. Although he himself had never been trained in the Carvewood Academy, he had heard that all the apprentices in the academy, both boys and girls, would lose their virginity there and that this was actually a part of their training. Once the apprentices grew ustomed to this kind of thing, they would be someone like Maid Lotus, who would never hesitate to seduce their assassination targets if there was a need.


    Gradually, his feelings for Luo Ningcha and even his anxiety for the assassination mission subsided. He now waited patiently and whole-heartedly, while breathing extremely gently and making no sounds.


    Suddenly, he felt that someone entered the room, although he did not see it or hear it.


    <em>¡°It must be a ck-masked assassin,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei. Like a hunting dog, the assassin immediately began nosing around after it entered the room.


    Gu Shenwei held his breath and finally caught a glimpse of the ck-masked assassin when he felt a gust of breeze blowing across him. He saw the assassin appear and disappear an inch away, like a phantom in the night.


    For the rest of the night, the assassin remained hiding in a corner of the room, and Gu Shenwei kept breathing at the same rate as the invisible enemy, vigntly guarding against him. As he concentrated all his energies and thoughts on the assassin, he did not notice what was going on in the adjacent bedroom.


    As a result, he did not get a chance to assassinate the Supreme King and could only let him leave safely that night.


    He could have killed the ck-masked assassin prematurely, but by doing so, he would have alerted the Supreme King and the other ck-masked assassins who stayed somewhere around.


    He did not want to waste a good opportunity. Nor did he want to spoil it.


    He had confidence in Luo Ningcha¡¯s charm and firmly believed that the Supreme King woulde to visit her again.


    As he had expected, on the second day, the servants were still banned to enter the backyard, except for Maid Cui and a few other maids of Luo Ningcha.


    Gu Shenwei spent the entire day considering how to get rid of the ck-masked assassin that would follow the Supreme King into Luo Ningcha¡¯s room. The simplest option was to kill that assassin when he was nosing around in the room, and the moment he brushed past the beam was the best chance. However, after thinking about this n for a long time, Gu Shenwei still decided to give it up, since killing the assassin might alert the Supreme King and the other assassins before he got close to the lord.


    Gu Shenwei was left with only one choice: sneaking into Luo Ningcha¡¯s bedroom before theing of the Supreme King and his assassin. He had nned to aplish this assassination mission all by himself before, but now he had to ask someone else for help, since he could not let Luo Ningcha know that he was going to hide in her bedroom.


    .


    In the evening, Xu Yanwei went to the backyard and required to meet Miss Luo. Among all the maids, only she dared to do so, since now she was the most trusted maid of Miss Luo. After giving Miss. Luo some tips for the night, she quickly left the backyard.


    She did this at Yang Huan¡¯s request without knowing his real intentions. She had made up her mind a long time ago that she would always follow Mr. Huan¡¯s instructions.


    With the help of Xu Yanwei, Gu Shenwei sessfully sneaked into Luo Ningcha¡¯s bedroom and hid under her bed, nning to repeat his sess of using a knife to kill his target from under the bed.


    To his intense disappointment, the Supreme King did note that night, and all his efforts were thus wasted.


    Compared to the disappointed killer hiding under the bed, the youngdy lying on the bed appeared even more agitated. She felt that she was betrayed by everyone and kept cursing all the traitors, including the Supreme King and ve Huan, in a low, angry voice untilte night. When she finally fell sound asleep, Gu Shenwei stealthily left her room, without being detected by her at all.


    He was well aware that he could not y the same trick again, so on the third night, he decided to kill the Supreme King¡¯s ck-masked assassin first and thus carried both his sword and his saber with himself.


    That night, his patience finally paid off. The Supreme King left all of his ck-masked assassins outside and entered Luo Ningcha¡¯s room alone. This was probably because of his increased confidence in the security here and the fact that he did not want anyone to stay nearby and eavesdrop on him when he was making love to a woman.


    As Shangguan Fa walked very quietly, Gu Shenwei had not noticed himing until he heard Luo Ningcha¡¯ joyful voiceing through the wooden wall. <em>¡°Xu Yanwei taught her well,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought, as he left his sword on the beam. He quietly climbed down the wooden wall to get into the hostess¡¯ side of the reception room. After that, he opened the door a crack and sneaked into Luo Ningcha¡¯s bedroom.


    The room was illuminated by a singlemp, which was ced beside Luo Ningcha¡¯s bed. Now, she and the Supreme King were passionately making out.


    <em>¡°The Supreme King has already lost all of his Internal Strength,¡± </em>With this in mind, Gu Shenwei quickly calmed himself down. In the next moment, he took one step forward to get into a proper stance, readying to leap forward and stab the Supreme King to death.


    Suddenly, he felt somewhat anxious, as if there was something standing in his way, hindering him from advancing and warning him that there was danger looming ahead.


    Despite that, he still jumped up with his saber in hand.


    In the meantime, Luo Ningcha was wheezing in her bed, but suddenly, she discovered that the man on top of her was missing. She felt as if she was having a nice dream which abruptly stopped at the happiest moment.


    The next minute, when she turned her head to the side, her sweet dream turned into a nightmare. She saw that a ck-clothed, masked assassin appeared under the light, and the naked Supreme King struck on the assassin¡¯s chest with his palm. Shangguan Fa was surprised to find out that this reckless assassin had great kung fu. Instead of being killed on the spot, he made use of the backward momentum and leaped out of the room after smashing the door open.


    .


    Shangguan Fa had lied to everyone including his son, Shanggyan Yun. His Internal Strength had already gone back to normal levels several days ago.


    Luo Ningcha finally woke up from her ¡°dreams¡±. She sensed the danger and screamed at top of her lungs regardless of anything.

 Chapter 240 - Pregnancy

    Chapter 240: Pregnancy


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    After his self-destruction, Gu Shenwei became weak. However, this enabled him toprehend Death Scripture swordcraft better.


    This swordcraft was a bloody art. Users could only improve themselves through ceaseless killing. The more proficient they were, the greater their killing desire, and vice versa. The quintessence of ¡°self-deconstruction¡± and ¡°life-destruction¡± led to the same destination, which was to be conquered by the Murderous Swords, and became a part of it.


    When facing one¡¯s desire, one¡¯s obedience would be one¡¯s victory. Emotion, sword and killing were all one¡¯s desire.


    Initially, Gu Shenwei felt uneasy about being controlled by the Death Scripture. However, he now wanted to embrace it.


    He had already practiced Wayless Qigong four times. Though his Internal Strength had not recoveredpletely, he could feel a strong Internal Breath moving quickly through his meridians. It disappeared after several weeks, as though it was a river in a desert.


    He believed that he would soon be able to keep the Breath in his Dantian.


    He saw the changes in Maid Lotus and Shangguan Ru. Shangguan Ru was progressing fast although she practiced the wrong skill. She was also well trained in Emotionless Swords due to her powerful Internal Strength. Gu Shenwei was left far behind.


    Simr to what Gu Shenwei did when ve Yao was experiencing qigong deviation, he looked on coldly at Shangguan Ru. There were symptoms asionally. Shangguan Ru would sometimes feel tightness in her chest. She even thought that it was caused by the remnant hazard, which was left by the master of New Moon Hall.


    His days in the fort would have been like this whereby he would practice Wayless Qigong secretly, watch Shangguan Ru die of qigong deviation, assassinate the Supreme King, and mess up Golden Roc Fort. Then, he would find Wei Song to find out all the facts. Unfortunately, his whole n was destroyed by a nobody even before it started.


    It all started when Luo Ningcha suddenly summoned ve Huan. It had been nearly a month since thest time he stepped into the Eighth Young Master¡¯s residence. He even thought that he had nothing to do with this woman anymore.


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s attitude alerted the killer. She seemed to have changed into another person. She was concerned with ve Huan¡¯s ¡°possession¡± and spoke manyforting words. She felt slightly out of ce new disposition, and talked nonsense. ¡°You have survived for a month. It seemed that you have a chance to fully recover. Why not find a monk to conduct a rite for you? I¡¯ll pay for it.¡±


    There were other maids in the room, thus Gu Shenwei had to be grateful for her. He imed that Miss was extremely kind to her servants and that he was recovering well.


    After talking for a while, Luo Ningcha found an excuse to send all of maids off and walked out of the screen. She asked in the tone of Xu Yanwei, ¡°Do you miss me?¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t miss her. Thus, he gave an ambiguous answer. ¡°I dare not.¡±


    Luo Ningcha took his reply as ttery. She wanted to disy her charms, but then she could not help but raise her hands and gently stroke the killer¡¯s face. ¡°Aspared to the father and son, I like you more.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt disgusted. His control over his emotions weakened as he no longer had his Internal Strength or the Death Scripture. He stepped back to avoid her hands. ¡°Does Miss have anything for me?¡±


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s expression suddenly changed. She shook her hands and went behind the screen. Though she was not wearing her veil anymore, some of her habits were unchanged. ¡°ve Huan, you are ungrateful. Don¡¯t you know that you¡¯re a nobody? I can ask the Lord to kill you anytime.¡±


    This was the woman Gu Shenwei was familiar with. ¡°If I¡¯m not loyal to Miss, I¡¯ll kill myself at yourmand.¡±


    Luo Ningcha loved to hear this. She remained silent for a while behind the screen and then said, ¡°I want you to do something for me.¡±


    ¡°Please instruct.¡±


    ¡°Well, although you have lost your Internal Strength, you haven¡¯t lost your intelligence. Although there are counselors and military counselors in Stone Castle, you can help mee up with stratagems. I can support you forever, even if you have lost your kung fu.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s your enemy?¡±


    ¡°Humph, who dares?¡± Luo Ningcha sounded confident and arrogant. She then murmured something, but Gu Shenwei could not hear it clearly.


    ¡°What did you say?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pregnant.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had prepared humself fully, but he hadn¡¯t expected such a thing. He was stunned and his facial expression shifted. ¡°Who¡­?¡±


    ¡°Hee. Don¡¯t be silly, it¡¯s only been half a month and it has nothing to do with you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was relieved. This made Miss unhappy again. ¡°It¡¯s right to say that you are ungrateful. It seemed almost as if I spared your life when I say that it¡¯s unrted to you. Are you that cowardly?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had understood her intention and ignored her usation. He said, ¡°Does Miss want me to think of an idea to cover this matter up?¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Luo Ningcha said excitedly. ¡°You¡¯re so clever.¡±


    ¡°Does the Lord know?¡±


    ¡°I have yet told him. The elderly woman Meng loves to kill pregnant women in Stone Castle so I didn¡¯t reveal this news. But, they¡¯ll know sooner orter. You have to help me think of a way to resolve this. Simr to ¡­ Shangguan Hong, people thought that he was the nephew of the Lord for dozens of years. But, he was the Lord¡¯s illegitimate child. This is the effect I want.¡±


    Due to Luo Ningcha¡¯s scream that night, people knew that the Lord had visited his daughter-inw. However, the fort had to maintain its reputation. Gu Shenwei thought for a while, and said, ¡°You don¡¯t need to wait further. You tell the people tomorrow that Eighth Young Master had came back unnoticed when Bighead Kingpin¡¯s coffin was sent here.¡±


    ¡°Will this work?¡± Luo Ningcha was unsatisfied with his suggestion. ¡°It has been half a month. Besides, what if Shangguan Nu doesn¡¯t agree? I¡¯ll be even more embarrassed.¡±


    ¡°The time difference is insignificant. As for Eighth Young Master, if I¡¯m right, he won¡¯t deny your request, or at least he won¡¯t deny it in public¡±


    Luo Ningcha was not stupid. She finally understood after ve Huan¡¯s rified. ¡°You¡¯re right. Shangguan Nu has yet broken away from Lord. He¡¯s not afraid of me, but he is afraid of the Lord, so¡­ you little imp. That little girl, Shangguan Ru wants you back, but I won¡¯t let her. From now on, you shall assist me. We will destroy the Meng family. When my child bes the Supreme King, I¡¯ll make you¡­ What do you want to be?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be satisfied as long as I can stay by Miss¡¯s side.¡±


    ¡°Humph, ve Huan, you have a glib tongue.¡±


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s voice became sweet and gentle again. Gu Shenwei was in a hurry to leave as he stepped out of the house regardless whether Miss agreed.


    It was getting dark and there was no one in the backyard. Gu Shenwei heaved a sigh of relief. He felt that he had to find a way to get rid of Luo Ningcha. She¡¯ll foil his n sooner orter. Furthermore, she had bore a child for the Shangguan family so he would have one more enemy.


    Before Gu Shenwei coulde up with a n, he saw someone hiding behind the pir. His vision and hearing were weakened with the loss of his Internal Strength. However, he was still very alert. He could guess the identity of the person with one nce. ¡°ve Xin, shall we leave together?¡±


    ve Xin walked out and acted as though he had only just saw ve Huan. He looked surprised. ¡°Master Yang, you are out so soon. I thought I would have to wait longer.¡±


    ¡°Well, Miss has nothing much for me. Why did youe? You know that you can¡¯t enter the backyard any time you wish.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know. The weather is cold, so I have brought you a garment. For a moment, I forgot the rules for a moment.¡±


    ve Xin did bring a robe and helped to put it on for Gu Shenwei. Gu Shenwei took a few steps and suddenly stopped. ¡°I¡¯m so foolish. Miss had asked me to take the incense burner out. Come with me.¡±


    ¡°Miss said this?¡± ve Xin sounded surprised. He then found something wrong in his words and added hurriedly, ¡°Master Yang, the truth is that I¡¯m just a lowly ve, so I¡¯m slightly¡­ afraid of her.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s ok. Miss has changed. Just remember not to look at her directly.¡± After saying this, Gu Shenwei walked towards Miss¡¯s room.


    ve Xin stood there and hesitated for a while. He then followed ve Huan.


    Luo Ningcha had lost her affection. She was unhappy with Gu Shenwei for returning and for knocking on her door. ¡°What do you want? I¡¯m going to sleep. Call the maid over.¡±


    ¡°Miss, you have forgotton that I haven¡¯t yet took the incense burner out.¡±


    ¡°What¡­?¡±


    As soon as Luo Ningcha spoke her first word, Gu Shenwei barged in. There was a timid ve following him. The ve hunched over and his head could almost touch the ground. She seemed to understand Gu Shenwei¡¯s intention. ¡°You can take the burner out tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Since I¡¯m here, I can do it now¡­¡± While talking, Gu Shenwei went past ve Xin and closed the door. Then, he suddenly turned over and hit ve Xin¡¯s neck.


    However, Gu Shenwei had forgotten that he had lost his Internal Strength. His strength was stronger than his same-aged counterparts. ve Xin fell onto the floor, but remained conscious. He only hurt his forehead. He rolled to one side, and sat up. He supported his body with an arm and looked at ve Huan in surprise. ¡°Master Yang, you are¡­¡±


    ¡°What have you heard?¡±


    ¡°I did not¡­ No, I didn¡¯t even hear¡­ Master Yang, what do you mean?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had never believed in ve Xin. After Shen Liang¡¯s visit, he knew that ve Xin was a surveint from Heart Cleansing Yard. Thus, he didn¡¯t let ve Xin serve him. He did not expect that ve Xin was getting bolder as he dared to eavesdrop on their conversation.


    As Gu Shenwei did not have the Internal Breath, Luo Ningcha did not know any kung fu, and other killers including Maid Lotus were guarding the front yard, no one noticed this spy.


    ¡°You¡¯re Miss¡¯s servant. You better tell me the truth. Miss will forgive you, and also protect you.¡±


    ¡°I really did not¡­¡±


    ¡°You report to Heart Cleansing Yard every day. Shen Liang must have given you many benefits.¡±


    ¡°No, no¡­¡±


    ¡°How much you knew about Miss? What did you report to Shen Liang? What is Shen Liang¡¯s intention behind this surveince? Is he unsatisfied with Miss? Or does he want to harm the Lord?¡±


    ¡°I did not say anything about Miss.¡± ve Xin was frightened and shocked. Gu Shenwei¡¯s questions made him dizzy. ¡°demaster Shen had already learned that you¡¯re from the Gu family. Miss, I did not say anything about you. I ¡­¡±


    Luo Ningcha stood at the side silently, with her hands hidden behind her. Then, she suddenly she raised her right hand, and threw a jade paperweight. ve Xin reacted fast and dodged. He knew his life was at risk and would lose his life if he continued act timidly. Thus, he jumped up as he tried to rush out through the door, after which, he could shout for help and attract the attention of the killers of Heart Cleansing Yard. This was the only way that he could save his life.


    Gu Shenwei was guarding against ve Xin. He stepped forward and blocked the doorway. But he had overestimated his power. ve Xin was like a trapped beast who wanted to escape. Gu Shenwei was then knocked down by ve Xin.

 Chapter 241 - Caught

    Chapter 241: Caught


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    After losing his Internal Strength, Gu Shenwei realized that he couldn¡¯t control his strength. Except for his swordcraft practices with Shangguan Ru, he didn¡¯t enter into a fight with another person.


    Gu Shenwei got knocked over by ve Xin and could not do anything except to sp onto ve Xin¡¯s ankle. He made ve Xin fall and thus, both of them started fighting. Luo Ningcha tried to separate the two by using a paperweight to hit them, but she missed. She was breathless as she had overexerted herself and had nearly fell over. She was furious as she lifted up the paperweight and aimed for ve Xin from among the twobatants.


    Gu Shenwei finally realized the struggles of the weak. Even if he had a strong killing desire, he couldn¡¯t help much. He had to squeeze every ounce of strength out of his body to block one of ve Xin¡¯s desperate attacks. After rolling around on the ground for a while, he was finally able to get on top of ve Xin with both of his hands strangling ve Huan¡¯s neck. ve Huan¡¯s face turned red with his eyes bulged and veins swollen.


    Gu Shenwei did not want to kill ve Xin in this manner. He was prepared to interrogate ve Xin. In particr, he wanted to know what ve Xin meant when he said, ¡°You¡¯re from the Gu Family.¡± Had he been exposed or was ve Xin pointing out that ve Huan was the son of the Gu Family¡¯s old servant, Yang Zheng?


    However, ve Xin was struggling hard and was trying to call for help. As the Supreme King¡¯s killers were in the outer court, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want them to be alerted.


    Blood rushed to his head losing all sense of reason, only thinking that his demise was inevitable if he doesn¡¯t kill the person in front of his eyes and put all his strength into his hands and squeezed.


    The process of killing seemed to take a long time without the use of his Internal Strength and the swordcraft from the Death Scriptures. Gu Shenwei was feeling exhausted and he hoped for this to end quickly, but ve Xin was still struggling as he ripped apart Gu Shenwei¡¯s clothes.


    Boom!


    A copper incense burner smashed onto ve Xin¡¯s head, and fresh blood oozed out. He was no longer struggling.


    Gu Shenwei was out of breath as he released his grip and sat on the ground. If he had another choice, he would rather experience qigong deviation than to dispel his Internal Strength.


    He was also surprised by Luo Ningcha. Usually, she could only throw some cups and pots, but this time, she was able to lift up a heavy incense burner.


    Luo Ningcha was pale and asked nkly, ¡°Is he dead?¡± She was definitely not used to killing someone personally.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Both of them were saying a few words when someone outside asked, ¡°Mistress, do you need anything?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ ¡± Luo Ningcha spat out in a panic. Gu Shenwei interrupted, ¡°A ve was moving the incense burner, but it fell onto him. Come in and carry him away.¡±


    Luo Ningcha quickly withdrew behind the screen. Gu Shenwei hurriedly put on his robes and opened the door.


    Two killers entered and saw that the incense burner hadnded on someone¡¯s head. They did not make a fuss as they understood that such an incident could happen. ¡°Mistress was not startled, wasn¡¯t she?¡±


    ¡°Take this clumsy guy away. ve Huan, call the maid over and get her to clean this mess up.¡±


    The two killers carried the corpse and the incense burner away while Gu Shenwei went to the front yard to call for the maid. Then, he ran back to Kun Yard.


    He thought he had concealed himself well and that it was safe within the Stone Castle. Unfortunately, it seemed that Shen Liang had figured out his background. However, he hadn¡¯t made any actions as he wanted to maximize his gains.


    After calming down, he guessed that ve Xin probably did not know the name ¡®Gu Shenwei.¡¯ Luo Ningcha knew that he was posing as Yang Zheng¡¯s son. She probably revealed this information on ident and ve Xin had heard about it.


    The need to escape had never been so urgent. Gu Shenwei was helpless due to the temporary loss of his Internal Energy, and there was nowhere to run.


    Even after the time for a column of incense to burn out had psed, ve Huan had yet to regte his breathing. Maid Lotus arrived. She pushed open the doors a little bit and slid in. She was wearing her killer¡¯s outfit.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t turn the lights on. He knew that it was Maid Lotus just by his feelings.


    ¡°There are people monitoring you. I think the people from Heart Cleansing Yard wille for you soon.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was prepared for this.


    Currently, there were only two people who could save him. The first person was Luo Ningcha. Even though both of them did not have a close rtionship, they knew many of each other¡¯s secrets. Hence, they had to ¡°trust¡± each other. The second person was Shangguan Ru. That simple and naive girl from the Stone Castle was his most reliable talisman.


    ¡°Go and find the Tenth Young Master,¡± Gu Shenwei said to Maid Lotus. He had made his final decision. Luo Ningcha was too unpredictable. Even though she could help him, she might silence him midway.


    Maid Lotus nodded and quickly departed. She had already abandoned her post when she met with ve Huan. If she wanted to meet the Tenth Young Master at the Inner Residence, she had to sneak in while avoiding the night watchmen. Even though she would bemitting a major crime, she did not utter a word andplied with ve Huan¡¯s request.


    News of ve Xin¡¯s death had reached Shen Liang. ¡®Would Heart Cleansing Yard¡¯s demaster continue to wait or take action?¡¯ Gu Shenwei wondered. As he was wondering about it, the answer came.


    Two masked men, who were dressed in ck, came straight in. Gu Shenwei realized that these two weren¡¯t the torturers in yellow belts. They were killers in red belts. Things were not going the way he wanted.


    One man in ck guarded the entrance, while the other moved towards ve Huan.


    ¡°What is going on?¡± Gu Shenwei asked calmly. He pretended that he was unaware of what was happening.


    The man did not speak. He merely raised his right hand and pped ve Huan¡¯s neck. The power exceeded Gu Shenwei¡¯s current strength. He saw iting and thought of how to dodge the attack, but he could not react in time because his body was as slow as a snail.


    Gu Shenwei fainted. Before he lost his consciousness, hisst thought was that, if he had a choice, he would rather die than to dispel his Internal Strength.


    When he opened his eyes again, he realized that his hands and feet were tied to a chair. There was a smallmp on a table beside him, which was illuminating a small circle around him. He soon realized that he was in an ordinary stone house, instead of the torture chamber within the Heart Cleansing Yard.


    There were other people in the room. They were standing in the dark and were watching the killer who was tied up.


    Gu Shenwei recognized one of them but did not know whether he should feign ignorance or be straightforward. Thus, he called out ambiguously, ¡°demaster Shen.¡±


    ¡°Yang Huan,¡± Shen Liang called out. Every word sounded short, yet forceful as though this name belonged to someone famous. However, this was the first time that Shen Liang met the owner of this name.


    Gu Shenwei was in a disadvantageous position, so he didn¡¯t make any sound and allowed the other party to make the first move.


    ¡°A small killer¡­¡± Shen Liang continued with traces of admiration in his voice, ¡°can cause so much trouble in the Stone Castle right under his master¡¯s nose and not give yourself away. You have made this Heart Cleansing Yard¡¯s demaster lose face.¡±


    ¡°demaster Shen would be ttering me if you are talking about me.¡±


    ¡°No, no,¡± Shen Liang said. He shook his head while walking out from the darkness. He went up to ve Huan and observed ve Huan¡¯s facial expressions carefully. ¡°It was no ttery. I know about everything that you¡¯ve done. You shouldn¡¯t have killed ve Xin. You could have concealed yourself for a while longer if he were still around.¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked directly into Shen Liang¡¯s eyes and revealed a sarcastic smile. If Shen Liang knew everything, he wouldn¡¯t have bothered to kidnap Gu Shenwei. Instead, he would¡¯ve brought Gu Shenwei to the Supreme King or had him killed already.


    Shen Liang was not irritated by the smile. He straightened himself up and said, as though he was mumbling, ¡°Yang Huan, son of the old servant, Yang Zheng, of the Gu Family from the Central ins, painstakingly followed the Eighth Young Mistress into the Stone Castle, and then followed many different masters, sowed dissensions, and killed many people. The Golden Roc Fort¡¯s influence is far-reaching, which ranges from the deserts to the Snow Mountains, but you crawled into its heart like a small bug.


    Because of the death of the killer Han Shiqi, Gu Shenwei and other youths were tortured in the Heart Cleansing Yard three years ago. Since then, he learned that, in order to hide greater secrets, he had to admit to some less essential secrets. Therefore, he appeared slightly flustered, turned his head and said, ¡°My father¡¯s name is not Yang Zheng.¡±


    This was the only truth that Gu Shenwei had revealed all evening, but Shen Liang did not understand the true meaning behind it. Shen Liang sneered, ¡°You have taken much revenge. Unfortunately, you haven¡¯t taken revenge on the Eight Young Master as he is out of your reach. You even killed Wei Lingmiao so that you could push all the me on him, right?¡±


    What Shen Liang knew was all superficial; thus Gu Shenwei felt slightly calmer.


    ¡°After returning to the city, you sowed discord between the Governor and the Meng family, hoping to create chaos in Jade City so that you could kill more people in the midst of the chaos. Yang Huan, you are too ambitious. You have defeated yourself, instead of your enemies.¡±


    ¡°It seems like demaster Shen wants to be my teacher. You talk so much.¡±


    Shen Liang was not concerned with ve Huan¡¯s sarcasm. Instead, heughed and said, ¡°What, am I not qualified to be your teacher? I have sufficient evidence to have condemn you to death.¡±


    ¡°Please continue yourmentary. Let me see if there are any loopholes within these ¡®ambitions.''¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s such a pity that I am not a very patient teacher. Let¡¯s summarize. You are a smart kid, who hides behind the Tenth Young Master. Firstly, you gained her trust. You took advantage of this to gradually bring her under your control. You used her name to kill the other young masters of the Shangguan family. I know all of this, but I want the details. I hope you can tell me to what extent had the Tenth Young Master knew about your n.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better for you to ask the Tenth Young Master directly,¡± Gu Shenwei answered. He knew that his confession would cost Shangguan Ru her life and she was hisst hope. Luo Ningcha was like a piece of hot yam. One might incur the wrath of the Lord if one were to offend her. Therefore, no one dared to offend her.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Everyone is the same. Initially, they don¡¯t want to speak, but soon they will talk incessantly. You¡¯ll have to restrain yourself then and not say any nonsense. I only want to know about the details regarding the Tenth Young Master.¡±


    Shen Liang retreated to the entrance and knocked twice. A short and thin man walked in. His face was wrinkled and dried, and he looked like a talking monkey.


    The ¡®monkey¡¯ was carrying a parcel under his arms. He bowed at Shen Liang when he entered the room.


    ¡°I¡¯m leaving this person to you.¡± Shen Liang turned back and said to the killer, ¡°This is ridiculous. I can¡¯t stand the sight of a bloody scene, so I¡¯ll be leaving.¡±


    The ¡®monkey¡¯ bowed with great respect as he sent the Lord demaster off. He then turned around. He still had that charming smile on his face as he ced the parcel down.


    ¡°A killer,¡± he said while tearing the prisoner¡¯s clothes apart. He saw the scars all over Gu Shenwei¡¯s body and nodded with satisfaction. ¡°You are definitely different from ordinary people. You can tolerate more excruciating pains, which is exactly my favorite type of person. I don¡¯t know how to kill people as that¡¯s not my expertise. But, torturing is a different story. To date, no one has died in my hands.¡±


    ¡°I hope your torturing techniques are not as annoying as you are.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had to tolerate the torture. He hoped that Maid Lotus and Shangguan Ru could find this ce quickly.

 Chapter 242 - Torture

    Chapter 242: Torture


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus arrived at the Heart Cleansing Yard but they discovered that ve Huan was not there. They knew that something was wrong.


    A torturer warmly received the Tenth Young Master and vowed that he did not arrest anyone. The torturer would not agree to allow Shangguan Ru to go in and check. ¡°Tenth Young Master, it¡¯s not that I dare to stop you, but this kind of ce is not suitable for someone of your status.¡±


    ¡°Let her go in.¡± Shangguan Ru pointed at the assassin in ck by her side.


    Without waiting for the torturer to open his mouth to agree, Maid Lotus rushed past him and headed straight to the underground torture chamber. She shook her head when she came out, there were many prison cells in the Heart Cleansing Yard. Some of them were hidden deep down. Without a torturer to lead the way, she could not find her way around at all.


    The torturer spread out his hands. ¡°As I said before, the people of the Heart Cleansing Yard must record each case and hand it in regrly. You see, tonight¡¯s records are nk.¡±


    Shangguan Ru seized the book, and indeed, there was no text on the page for the day.


    ¡°Go find Eighth Sister-inw. ve Huan belongs to her, so ask her to think of a way. After half an hour, we shall meet in Kun Yard.¡± Shangguan Ru ordered them when they were outside the Heart Cleansing Yard. Although she had lost her killing desire, she was not a person who was in a state of panic. Her mind had quickly drawn up several ns, and any one of them would be effective for rescuing ve Huan.


    Infighting was beginning to rage around the killer. Someone was busy asking for evidence. Someone was busy destroying the evidence.


    Upon entering the backyard, Maid Lotus saw a few pale-faced maids were struggling to scrub the floor. They did not even dare to lift their heads. When she left, ve Xin¡¯s blood stains were just about to be wiped clean. It looked like someone else has suffered.


    Luo Ningcha was yelling in the room next door. ¡°You are ungrateful, you are all ungrateful! Even the mute and the blind dare to betray me. Go to hell with your mean lover!¡±


    Maid Lotus¡¯s heart sank. There was arge basket next to the working maids, and its contents were revealed to be very simr to the clothing that Maid Cui usually wore.


    Maid Cui was a good friend of Maid Lotus. The two had met in the ve carriage of the ve trader. One was sold to the Bighead Kingpin, and the other was the dowry to the Stone Castle. After what happened to Maid Cui, the friendship between them had not diminished, but rather it had grown day by day.


    Maid Cui was poor; Miss had her eyes dug out and her tongue cut off, and afterward, Maid Cui had to serve this vicious woman, who always abused her. Therefore, if someone was kind to her, she hoped to return their kindness tenfold. ve Xin was probably taking this advantage to approach Maid Cui for getting some secrets between her gestures.


    Maid Lotus had warned Maid Cui not to trust ve Xin, but in the fort, even false affection was extremely rare. Maid Cui could not refuse ve Xin¡¯s sweet talk and had not expected they would be discovered by Miss.


    Maid Lotus became furious and clenched the sword shaft uncontrobly. She was a killer people expected to be good at emotion management. But she so hated the woman in the room, even the hate was not a way to stirp up her strength, instead, it was a blind hate that solely pushed the owner to act.


    ¡°Maid Lotus! Where have you been that you havee back just now? I have so many dead people here and I have not seen youing to protect me. Why should I keep you any longer?¡± Luo Ningcha saw Maid Lotus outside the room and started to snap at her.


    Maid Lotus loosened the hilt and allowed the hatred to ferment. It would be the mellow wine of revenge sooner orter.


    ¡°Miss, ve Huan was taken away.¡± Maid Lotus entered the house and whispered the news.


    Luo Ningcha was stunned. ¡°By whom?¡±


    ¡°It may be demaster Shen Liang, but the Heart Cleansing Yard did not admit it. They said there was no arrest tonight.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t Shen Liang my husband¡¯s uncle? What¡¯s he doing with my killer?¡± Luo Ningcha slowly sat down as herplexion changed. She had too many secrets in ve Huan¡¯s hands, and some of them would be enough to draw death upon her again.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know at the moment. I haven¡¯t seen demaster Shen. He seems to be in hiding.¡±


    Luo Ningcha regretted letting ve Huan leave. It was the best to have him stay by her side. After thinking for a while, she removed a ring from her fingers. ¡°Take this to find Shen Liang and demand that hee to see me¡­ No, tell him¡­ the Lord is with me and summons him, he muste at once.¡±


    When Maid Lotus took the ring, she uttered a ¡°yes¡±. As she turned to leave, Luo Ningcha halted her and gestured for the other maids to withdraw. When there were only the two of them left, she whispered, ¡°Maid Lotus, you are loyal to me, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, miss, I¡¯m willing to go through hell and back for you.¡± If they could speak, everyone serving under Luo Ningcha had to recite a few vows. Maid Lotus was no exception.


    ¡°Then you tell me the truth. What is going on between you and ve Huan? I heard that he has spent the night in your room.¡±


    ¡°We are both Miss¡¯s people. We must rely on each other in the Fort and help each other. There is nothing else to it. He was in my room because he was undergoing a qigong deviation and asked me for help.¡±


    ¡°OK.¡± Luo Ningcha could not confirm the answer, and she lowered her voice again. ¡°Well then, find ve Huan and bring me his head.¡±


    Maid Lotus looked up. She knew the secrets of Miss and ve Huan, but she could not expect that Luo Ningcha would be so vicious.


    ¡°What, you can¡¯t do it?¡±


    Luo Ningcha slightly widened her eyes, even when she was being cruel and ruthless, her expression was still impable. Maid Lotus was not the first to think of it, nor was she the only person who thought so: God must have made mistakes before she put the heart of a demon into the skin of a god.


    ¡°Yes, Miss.¡± Maid Lotus¡¯ reply was as calm as usual.


    Luo Ningcha was satisfied but was feeling a little shame for ve Huan, but servants had to protect themselves. When a servant had been arrested and caught by others, he would imperil his master and she could only give up. ¡°This is what you taught me.¡± Luo Ningcha whispered and felt a sudden chill on her body. From the moment when she had entered the fortress and lived high above at the top of others, she has never felt warm again.


    Maid Lotus went to Shen Liang¡¯s home but did not find anyone. Due to the fact that she did not have a corresponding waist token, she could not randomly go through the fort at night so she had to go back to Kun Yard.


    Shangguan Ru was already waiting. ¡°How is it?¡±


    Maid Lotus shook her head and did not say that the Eighth Young Mistress was now the enemy of ve Huan.


    Shangguan Ru had expected this, but it was only one of her ns. It did not affect the overall situation. ¡°I have already received a decree for his release. I¡¯m just waiting for the news.¡±


    Shangguan Ru did not say what the news was, and Maid Lotus did not ask. She clearly knew what her position should be. The edict was certainly fishy, but she did not need to worry about it.


    At the end of the day, a killer came to Kun Yard and, after saluting the Tenth Young Master, said, ¡°Of the three torturers of the Heart Cleansing Yard, only Liao Qing was away. I asked the night watchman and found that he went to the East Castle Pyrowork Academy.¡±


    Maid Lotus suddenly realized thatpared with the administrative torturers in the Heart Cleansing Yard, those who were really good at torture were the working torturers. Shangguan Ru did not look for the whereabouts of Shen Liang, but sought the whereabouts of the working torturers. It was indeed clever.


    In fact, Shangguan Ru hade up with more than just this n. She sent out a few people to look for ve Huan in different ways. Shen Liang was still on her radar, but finding the torturer way first worked.


    ¡°You two will take the edict and go to the East Castle.¡±Shangguan Ru ordered, she still had to stay here for others to report back.


    Maid Lotus followed the killer and set off. Only Shangguan Ru was left in the yard. She knew that there was a killer protecting her in a certain corner, but she still felt lonely deep in her bones. She felt as if the entire Stone Castle was empty. ¡°I won¡¯t let him die,¡± the little girl whispered to herself.


    Within the stone-walled house, Gu Shenwei was ¡°chatting¡± with the torturer.


    ¡°How old are you?¡±


    Torturer Liao Qing¡¯s wrinkled face was glowing with strange brilliance under the lights. He had caused countless wounds on the prisoner. The blood trickling to the ground, but he still did not get a serious answer. This made him both surprised and excited. With a gradual and orderly punishment, most people cannot tolerate it for a long time. In light of this, he saw the possibility of using high-level techniques on ve Huan.


    ¡°I¡¯m 62!¡± Liao Qing also answered as if they were chatting.


    ¡°I thought you were eighty.¡± Gu Shenwei was still quivering a little despite his efforts to shifted his attention away from the pain.


    ¡°I look old.¡±


    ¡°How long have you been doing this?¡±


    ¡°Well, from the moment I opened a pig¡¯s stomach¡­ It¡¯s been about forty years.¡± Liao Qing picked up a small knife and shed it before the prisoner. He would alway let the prisoners see the process of his torture, as this would cause them to suffer deeper pain and fear.


    ¡°You surely don¡¯t have a wife and children.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no way. If there was someone by my side, I would always want to cut her alive. Who would marry me? I¡¯ll use this for your nails. I don¡¯t like to pull it out. It¡¯s too fast. ¡±


    ¡°I hope you can go slower. I have ten fingers; it¡¯s enough to keep you busy.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not in a hurry. No one knows you¡¯re here. The Lord demaster hadn¡¯t given me a time limit, so you don¡¯t have to confess too early. We¡¯re both¡­¡±


    The ¡°friendship¡± between the two was mercilessly interrupted. Maid Lotus smashed opened the door with a saber in one hand and the edict in the other. ¡°Release him.¡± She demanded.


    ¡°Who are you? I only listen to¡­¡±


    Maid Lotus¡¯s saber was about to move, but Gu Shenwei stopped her. ¡°The old guy doesn¡¯t have much blood in his body. Let him live.¡±


    Maid Lotus raised her saber and cut off the rope on ve Huan. She gently picked him up and walked toward the outside.


    ¡°You can¡¯t go.¡± Liao Qing was anxious and called out while holding a knife.


    Maid Lotus flew up and kicked the torturer into the corner.


    The killer who led the way quietly urged them to go. ¡°Come on, I heard someoneing.¡±


    Gu Shenwei escaped from the final torture but trying to find a safe ce in the Stone Castle was way too hard. Shangguan Ru looked at the cuts and bruises that covered ve Huan and immediately made a decision. ¡°Bring him to my residence.¡±


    This evening, Maid Lotus was in the house of the Tenth Young Master. She could no longer go back to see her mistress because she did not cut off ve Huan¡¯s head.


    The two girls stayed up all night to care for the wounded ve Huan.


    The struggle was far from over. The Heart Cleansing Yard would not stop there. Shangguan Ru had rescued ve Huan but that had caused her to fall into Shen Liang¡¯s trap: Her behavior had just confirmed that she was an insider of all of Yang Huan¡¯s plots.


    Gu Shenwei did not sleep either, for his brain was running rapidly. When it was nearly dawn, he decided to take a risky move. ¡°Tenth Young Master, I want to see Lady Meng.¡±

 Chapter 243 - Farewell

    Chapter 243: Farewell


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Ru was very surprised because ve Huan wanted to see Lady Meng. Her mother was very dissatisfied with this killer, and her heart was filled with killing intent. ve Huan also knew this. Despite this, she still followed the advice to contact her mother.


    There were only two people left. When they were in bed, Gu Shenwei said to Maid Lotus: ¡°I know it¡¯s very abrupt, but I have to run away from the Stone Castle and go far away. It is no longer a ce for me to stay.¡±


    Maid Lotus was still as in as usual. It was as if ve Huan had only casually said a word, and she continued to support him as always. ¡°This was never my ce to be.¡±


    This was enough. Gu Shenwei knew that Maid Lotus could be trusted, and was the only credible person in Stone Castle. After they escape together, he will tell her the whole truth. He had already made a grand n in his heart and he needed this reliable assistant.


    Maid Lotus did not know the true thoughts of ve Huan but she only thought that this was their closest moment ever since the two had met.


    The world surrounding Shangguan Ru was copsing. Gu Shenwei¡¯s entire n for hiding was also falling, and at a faster speed. He had been hiding behind the twins, Luo Ningcha, and rarely had direct shes with the big men in the fort. But when he was at the most vulnerable part of Golden Roc Fort, he had ignored the airtight that was over his head.


    When he started bypassing the protectors to make his im, this big immediately tightened around him. Gu Shenwei finally understood that he could not break the Stone Castle on his own. That¡¯s right, he saw the huge cracks and used these cracks. Something was done, but it did not damage Golden Roc Fort.


    Although several of the Supreme King¡¯s sons had died, he would give birth to more, and the foundations of the Stone Castle had not wavered. The killer who only wanted to take revenge had even inadvertently be the sweeper of the Stone Castle and a tool for eliminating the weak.


    It was all over. Gu Shenwei decided to make use of the cracks in the Stone Castle for onest time. Then he had to change the method and make a more direct and violent blow from outside the castle. This was his future n.


    When Shangguan Ru returned, Gu Shenwei reluctantly got up and dragged his broken body to meet Lady Meng.


    Like her daughter, Lady Meng was very surprised to see ve Huan. She thought that this two-faced boy should have already been far away. She had temporarily lost her power because of the turmoil a month ago. They would return to her sooner orter, but until then, she could not kill anyone.


    In front of the mother and daughter, Gu Shenwei calmly stated the facts that have already been known: Yang Huan was the son of Yang Zheng, a servant of the Gu family in the Central ins, and that he had infiltrated the Stone Castle for revenge.


    He said that he had already exacted his revenge, but Shen Liang refused to let go of him, and used him by ¡®follow the vine to get to the melon¡¯ to get to the Tenth Young Master and then to Lady Meng.


    There were very few lies in this passage, and Lady Meng silently listened to him. There were obviously many things that she had already knew about.


    Shangguan Ru was astonished that he was originally a ve who she had snatched away from her brother. However, he was like a skillful face changer as he kept removing one mask after another. The pirs in her world had already crumbled, and only the pir of ve Huan was still barely standing. She suddenly felt terrified and feared that this was another copse of the sky.


    In order to temporarily ignore Shangguan Ru¡¯s feelings, Gu Shenwei had to fight to obtain Lady Meng¡¯s support.


    ¡°Some people say that you had been using my Ru¡¯er and Fei¡¯er to kill the other children of my Shangguan family.¡± Lady Meng¡¯s views were simr to the views of Shen Liang.


    Gu Shenwei had already thought that Lady Meng would have this question. ¡°I have been around the Tenth Young Master. Have I ever touched even a strand of her hair?¡±


    ¡°And he had saved me several times. If he wanted to kill me for revenge, he wouldn¡¯t need to do anything but sit back and watch,¡± Shangguan Ru said. He did not harm her even once regardless of how many masks he had.


    Lady Meng Meng sighed. She did not expect that the daughter who she had raised as a boy since birth would act like such a simpleton. He did not necessarily save her life in good faith, he could have done it with ill intentions. However, her daughter had already fallen for him and a few words wouldn¡¯t be enough to pull her out.


    ¡°This Shen Liang has some guts.¡± Although Lady Meng did not believe in ve Huan¡¯s loyalty, she believed what he said because there were many things that she already knew.


    ¡°demaster Shen Liang must have found a new backer.¡± Gu Shenwei knew very well that he could only challenge him and would never dare to challenge the Tenth Young Master and Lady Meng.


    ¡°A new backer? All of the young masters are in disorder and they are either dead or imprisoned. Even old Eight had abandoned his wife and wouldn¡¯t return to the Stone Castle. Can he still find any backers?¡±


    ¡°The Mistress is losing power. Whoever benefits the most is the person who is his new backer.¡±


    Lady Meng looked at ve Huan, and she suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. If her son had such cleverness, she would not be left alone and have to solve everything by herself.


    ¡°The second, third and fifth oldest sons were left in the fort. They were all kept in jail. The second son is one of my people. This time, I was the worst hit. The third oldest child had no roots. That leaves the fifth eldest.¡±


    Gu Shenwei remembered Zhang Ji¡¯s evaluation of the Fifth Young Master when he said, ¡°Reckless and unmotivated.¡± He almost said that there was also a Shangguan Hong, but closed his mouth at thest moment as there was no need to cause an even bigger mess. What he wanted was just an opportunity to escape.


    ¡°What mydy said is correct.¡±


    Lady Meng¡¯s face became resolute. Her struggle in the Stone Castle was never rxed and was always restless. She was always ready to attack regardless of whether it was at the peak of her favor or at the bottom of her fall.


    Gu Shenwei knew that he should retreat. Lady Meng will not tell him a detailed n, but regardless of what she thinks in her heart, Shen Liang will bear the brunt of the attack, which will be enough to give him a moment of respite.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t stay at Ru¡¯er¡¯s anymore. It¡¯s inappropriate.¡± Lady Meng did not ignore such details even in such a critical moment. ¡°Go find Master Hong and hide at his ce.¡±


    ¡°Yes, mydy.¡± When Gu Shenwei had retreated to the door, the name of Shangguan Hong has appeared in his mind for the third time. Suddenly he realized that he and Lady Meng havemitted amon mistake. ¡°It may not be the Fifth Young Master.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°demaster Shen¡¯s backer may not be the Fifth Young Master.¡±


    ¡°What are you thinking?¡± Lady Meng was a little interested.


    ¡°Mydy has lost her powers. The people who would benefit the most can not be the Fifth Young Master. He has always been his wife¡¯s rival. His temper is reckless, and the king does not like him much. Shen Liang would not choose him as his backer.¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Tian,¡± Lady Meng said the name of the Second Young Master. She suddenly became enlightened by ve Huan¡¯s reminder. The second child was the biggest beneficiary. Although he had always supported himself, he must have borne a grudge against her because she did not help him when he was in trouble.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t second elder brother caught by Shen Liang? Shen Liang pushed all of his responsibilities to assassinate father onto second elder brother.¡± Shangguan Ru did not understand the intentions of her mother and ve Huan.


    Gu Shenwei went out of the house to let the mother and daughter speak in private. In fact, everything was clear. Shen Liang framed Shangguan Tian and then pledged loyalty to him. By using a loss for a win, the Second Young Master had be firmly held in their hands. Zhang Ji said that Second Young Master did not have a great talents and bold visions, which was exactly the qualities that the ambitious Shen Liang had wanted in a puppet.


    The ce where Shangguan Hong lived was not far from Lady Meng. On the surface, she was taking care of him, but she was actually putting him under surveince.


    It was a very small yard. At the front of the court was a rock garden and a small forest. It was almost impossible to see the situation inside while walking down the road. This was in ordance to Lady Meng¡¯s arrangements with Shangguan Hong.


    The maid left after saying a few words, and Shangguan Hong was stunned and intimidated. It was as if his own plot was about to be exposed. After the maid had gone away, he kept talking to ve Huan about what Lady Meng had been saying. Without any particr hints, he decided that he was only providing amodations and had no other responsibilities. He was greatly relieved and was a little more enthusiastic about receiving ve Huan.


    Gu Shenwei did not understand Zhang Ji¡¯s thoughts. Although Shangguan Hong was easily controlled, it was too bad as it was iplete. Even a person who is 100 times more clever than Zhang Ji could hardly bring this son of the Supreme King up to any decent standard.


    Gu Shenwei did not intend to care about other people¡¯s affairs and he repeatedly thought about his escape n. He had nothing to do, and can only wait. The key to sess was Maid Lotus. She must watch the movements within the fortress at all times, obtain a waist token, and choose the best time to find ve Huan and escape together.


    The sooner the better, Gu Shenwei thought. His words were always full of loopholes. Apart from Shangguan Ru, no one would believe it too much. After Lady Meng¡¯s removal of Shen Liang, she would certainly not let go of ve Huan. He only hoped that he could be on the very bottom of the list of deaths.


    This was the result of theck of power in one¡¯s hands. He formted the n, but he could not control the direction of the n¡¯s development and was at the mercy of chance.


    This time, ¡°chance¡± did not favor Gu Shenwei as it once did.


    On the next day, everything in the Stone Castle was as usual, and nothing had happened for the whole day. Lady Meng did not make the first move to take revenge on Shen Liang. Lady Meng, the Second Young Master, and Shen Liang did not search for the escaped prisoner either. All the conspiracies were carried out in secret.


    As the darkness fell, the conspiracy began to surface as it opened its mouth and prepared for arge meal.


    Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus did not appear for the whole day, and came together in the evening.


    Shangguan Hong ttered the Tenth Young Master on her arrival but he wavered during his greeting. Calling her ¡°Tenth Young Master¡± would cause the Supreme King to lose face, but calling her ¡°younger sister¡± seemed too casual. He didn¡¯t know what to think and finally blurted out ¡°Young Master Sister.¡±


    Shangguan Ru pushed the elder brother out of the way. ¡°You¡¯re not allowed to eavesdrop while we chat.¡±


    Shangguan Hong was often bullied by Shangguan Ru and Master Yu in school, so he willinglyplied and obediently loitered outside. Zhang Ji had told him that the farther he was away from whatever conspiracy, the better. If it was possible, he would rather be hiding in the foothills of Jade City.


    Shangguan Ru brought out a waist token, a saber, and two swords; these were all items that ve Huan needed. The things she wants to say were simple: ¡°Run away, my mother will betray you. She has already gone to see father to prove that everything you have done had was by Eighth brother, and that Shen Liang was your aplice. I overheard it.¡±


    The thing that Gu Shen Wei was most worried about had happened. Lady Meng not only pushed him to the very top of the death list but also used him to wipe out her other enemies.


    He looked into Shangguan Ru¡¯s dark eyes and stared. He was afraid of what he would find and he wanted to look away. He was also afraid that he might miss something. He suddenly realized that this was farewell.


    He hadn¡¯t made a perfect lie to exin to her about a lot of things, however, she would still choose to unconditionally believe it.


    ¡°Everyone has the chance to trust another person in their life and I give this opportunity to you.¡± This was what Shangguan Ru had used to say to ve Huan, and Gu Shenwei was in the midst of a surge of emotions. Suddenly there was an uncontroble impulse of wanting to tell Shangguan Ru about the truth, especially that the seventh chapter of Wayless Qigong that she had in her hands was fake.

 Chapter 244 - Chilliness

    Chapter 244: Chilliness


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei kept silent, as he could not allow his emotions to affect his decisions, not when Maid Lotus was beside him. Shangguang Ru was an excellent example: The servants would not hestitate to bite back once the master became weak.


    Maid Lotus was not his servant, but it was mostly due to his calm and heartless characteristics of a killer that made her willing to follow him. He could not lose these.


    What an ordinary farewell it was, it was as if they would meet again the next morning. Shangguan Ru felt as if she had much that she wanted to say, but it seemed too simple to even mention it once she tried to put it into words. She merely did not want him to die. Just like that time when they were surrounded in the house; in order to protect the people around her, she would even put a knife against her neck. That was all.


    Preparing to set off, he changed into a full set of killer gear, with a sabre and two swords snuck under his arm. Gu Shenwei again looked towards that pair of jet ck eyes and said, ¡°I am leaving.¡±


    Shangguan Ru nodded her head. Watching her two remaining killers leave, she suddenly felt the urge to cry. But she¡¯s a killer, not a child. Even if she could not kill, she would not be emotional. Taking in a deep breath, she stopped her tears from falling.


    Even though they have the waist token, it was no easy feat trying to escape from the Stone Castle. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus formted a n and did not tell Shangguan Ru about it.


    The duo left the Inner Residence as normal, and soon noticed that there was someone tailing behind. Maid Lotus had to pull Gu Shenwei forward as he lost his Internal Strength entirely. Circling around the maze-like alleys, and with their familiarity of the area, they managed to shake off the tail after 15 mintutes.


    Assured that they were safe, with ve Huan on her back, Maid Lotus carefully avoided the night watchman and purposely chose to take the quiet side path. After walking in a big circle, they came to the Reincarnation Cliff at the easternmost point of the Stone Castle.


    In the beginning, tall arrow towers were built around the Stone Castle to kill the Giant Red-crowned Roc due to the nuisance it created. As the Giant Roc rarely appeared, and with the Supreme King living in seclusion, these towers gradually ckened their defenses, many arrow towers were no longer guarded, turning into abandoned buildings.


    There were reasons as to why Gu Shenwei chose the arrow tower on the Reincarnation Cliff as his hiding ce. First of all, not many people tended to go there unless they had to dump corpses. Secondly, he need to retrieve some things from the Giant Rock Cliff nearby.


    Maid Lotus settled ve Huan in the arrow tower and soon left to execute the second part of their n: Someone would have to ¡°escape¡±from the Stone Castle so as to draw Shen Liang and Lady Meng¡¯s attention toward Jade City.


    There were still members of the former Tattooed Arm Gang in the Little g Battalion who were still loyal towards ve Huan and Maid Lotus. Not knowing that ve Huan is currently in a unfavorable situation, a member was willing to assist in faking a ¡°great escape¡±.


    As soon as Maid Lotus left, Gu Shenwei came out of the tower and went towards the Giant Rock Cliff. There were a few things that he hid in there. This might seemed like child¡¯s y, but there is was no other ce in the Stone Castle as safe as the Giant Rock Castle.


    Both the Death Scripture and the Wayless Book were there. After some contemtion, Gu Shenwei put the Death Scripture back to where it was originally. The Wayless Book was the origin of the Golden Roc Fort qigong, but the Death Scripture belonged to him. If the hiding n failed, Gu Shenwei would not want the Supreme King to get hold of the secret manuscript.


    Once he was back in the arrow tower, Gu Shenwei looked through the balistraria, watching the dark night sky. Touching the copied Wayless Book in his arms, along with the fake seventh chapter that was given by Shangguan Ru, Gu Shenwei could not hold in his guilt any longer. He had lost the final chance, and this parting might very well be thest farewell.


    Shangguan Ru was his enemy and she betrayed the Giant Golden-crowned Roc. This was something that he would never forgive. However, her trust was a price too costly, and this fact weighed heavily and unshakably on Gu Shenwei conscience.


    Due to theck of Internal Strength, he was temporarily not influenced by the Death Scripture, and therefore he was bing weak. This was how Gu Shenwei tried to defend himself. Beside him, the short sword leaning against the wall that was unexpectedly returned to him by Shangguan Ru was a reminder to Gu Shenwei about his revenge of his broken home. Slowly, he turned hard-hearted.


    There was still a long way to go before Maid Lotus could sneak back. Clearing his mind, he started practising the Wayless Qigong. He was practicing the fourth chapter tonight.


    After some time, a sudden gust of chilliness sent Gu Shenwei a slight shiver. He opened his eyes to sober up from the mediation.


    It was merely mid-autumn. Although the summit was colderpared to the foot of the mountain, it was not cold to the extend of making one shiver.


    An impossible thought then appeared in Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind. He first pressed the Xuanji acupoint on his head followed by the Baihui acupoint on his chest. There was no response. The Peripheral Force had been removed entirely from these two areas. Lastly, he pressed on his Dantian.


    An aching pain started from inward to outward and in a moment spread throughout his body. Gu Shenwei almost screamed, but he gritted his teeth and managed to bear the pain.


    The killer was terribly disheartened. His qigong deviation was not removed. The Peripheral Force actually managed to moved away from the two acupoints into his Dantian. Previously he was not able to retain his Internal Breath, therefore he did not realize it. Today, a faint Internal Breath finally went to his Dantian after several circles, reevoking the Peripheral Force within him.


    Gu Shenwei thought that it was all so ironic. His mind was still filled with lofty visions and causes to defeat the Golden Roc Fort, yet his life was hanging by a thread.


    A Maid Lotus in disguise and the apprentice pretending to be ve Huan returned to the Stone Castle openly in the early morning. The apprentice was very excited even though he obviously did not have any idea about the motive of this strange operation. Maid Lotus had no choice but to kill him from the back, then proceed to dumped his body at the East Castle to let people assume he was killed from the killings among the apprentices.


    This was not a perfect n. But as long as the pursuers assumed that both ve Huan and Maid Lotus had escaped from the Stone Castle, they would not question the gatekeepers meticulously about the entering and exiting of the gates. The two killers were safe for the time being.


    Maid Lotus snuck back to the arrow tower on the Reincarnation Cliff during the early morning as there were less people at that hour. She saw ve Huan in crumpled spirits.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Maid Lotus asked as she wiped off the disguise on her face.


    ¡°The Peripheral Force went to my Dantian.¡± He had been waiting for Maid Lotus to return, as both of them were in simr situations. If Maid Lotus did not fully remove the Peripheral Force as well, then that would mean it was aplete failure.


    Using the Wayless Qigong to remove the Peripheral Force was a guess from the duo, and there was always a possibility that it was in vain.


    Maid Lotus walked over to ve Huan¡¯s side and pressed onto his abdomen for a moment, ¡°I think this is just temporary. When Wayless Qigong gets stronger, it will remove the Peripheral Force entirely.¡±


    ¡°Is it the same for you as well?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not like that for me, but I did not have self-destruction as well, so maybe that is where the problem lies.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was nervous and flustered for a moment, as he had not thought it through carefully. The reminder from Maid Lotus cheered him up slightly. She was right. It must be due to the self-destruction. He should not resign himself to self-loathing, but continue to practice qigong until he regained his power.


    ¡°I was slightly scared.¡± He admitted bashfully.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. Before I got the Wayless Qigong, there was a period of time when I couldn¡¯t fall asleep.¡±


    Gu Shenweiughed, it was hard to imagine Maid Lotus, who was always calm, to lose sleep due to fear of qigong deviation.


    The day passed peacefully. An apprentice came over to dump a corpse. He was not aware of the people in the arrow tower, kneeling at the cliff side, trembling for a while. It looked like the apprentice was crying, before standing up reluctantly and returning, pretending to look strong and tough.


    Killers dumping the corpses themselves was a tradition that Gu Shenwei started and that was continued in the East Castle.


    Apart from this, the duo did not know what was going on in the castle.


    During the nightime, Maid Lotus went out to explore one round. She saw many killers leaving the castle in a hurry. Their diversion n worked. Shen Liang and Lady Meng both assumed that ve Huan and Maid Lotus had escaped the Stone Castle and sent men to capture them.


    After eating the food that Maid Lotus stole from the kitchen, they practiced Wayless Qigong separately.


    Gu Shenwei was slightly anxious. The Death Scripture relied on the Internal Breath to make a swift and deadly attack, he could only regain his kung fu and ward off attacks when his Internal Strength returned.


    Maid Lotus was a good killer and assistant, but he could not possibly rely on her protection alone. They are partners, and partners should protect each other.


    They hid in the arrow tower for five days in a row. The duo mostly did nothing during the day and practice qigong during the night. Maid Lotus would go and patrol around every night, bringing back food and bits of information.


    The atmosphere in the Stone Castle was getting tenser by the day. The Supreme King was not concerned about who should be held ountable for ve Huan, but how two normal killers could actually escaped the Golden Roc Fort without any trace.


    It was worrying for Gu Shenwei as well. Soon, people would think to search the Stone Castle for the runaways. He needed to regain his Internal Strength as fast as possible.


    He felt that the moment wasing soon.


    Although Immortal Peng was a liar, he did possess some genuine knowledge. That kind of hypnosis after collective practice of the Secrets of Love was like no other. It helped Gu Shenwei to open the meridians in his body, and this was very helpful in practicing any type of qigong.


    Once he finished a chapter of Wayless Qigong, the Internal Breath circling in his body would strengthen slightly. Although it would disappear after a few days of cirction, the duration tended to be sustained for longer and a faint portion of it would remain in the Dantian.


    The only thing that worried Gu Shenwei was the chilliness that he felt within his body. It was also getting stronger by the day. Deep from the Dantian spread waves after waves of aching pain, and he once fainted due to it as well. Maid Lotus was helping him to wipe his sweat when he woke up. Gu Shenwei was shivering from the cold, but his forehead was damp.


    This was a fight for time against the qigong deviation. Gu Shenwei would need to practice harder and let his qigong advance faster, so that it could ovee the Peripheral Force in the Dantian.


    On the evening of the sixth day, Gu Shenwei felt particrly good. Even before he started practicing, there were signs of Internal Breath flowing through his meridians. This was an auspicious sign, showing that he was going to regain part of his qigong, and maybe even remove the dangers in his body.


    Like always, Maid Lotus went out to steal some food and snoop for news. Gu Shenwei was left alone in the arrow tower, silently reciting the contents of the seventh chapter. He still felt that the Wayless Book was iplete, there was definitely more chapters behind.


    <em>¡°Maybe only the Supreme King could grasp the secret within.¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought. Unsure of how long that person had been waiting there, he turned around, and saw someone standing opposite on the ballista staring at himself.


    ¡°Liuhua!¡± Gu Shenwei eximed in surprise. Liuhua was supposed to stay in the South City to help Shangguan Ru take charge of Kun Society. What was he doing here?


    ¡°Are you ready?¡±


    ¡°For what?¡±


    ¡°Ready for your death. I¡¯ve been going crazy waiting for this day.¡±

 Chapter 245 - Liuhua

    Chapter 245: Liuhua


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Liuhua was carrying his bow and arrows, but there was a sword hanging under his waist.


    Gu Shenwei looked at him. He was wondering how he had offended this marksman and how Liuhua managed to find him. Gu Shenwei said, ¡°You have done a great job. Who will reward you, Shen Liang or Lady Meng?¡±


    Liuhua snorted contemptuously. He appeared slightly agitated, but was trying to keep calm. He was different from his usual indifferent self. He said, ¡°I¡¯m not like you, who willingly ys the obedientckey for the Tenth Young Master. I have no master and I work for myself.¡±


    ¡°So you are a stray dog.¡±


    ¡°Hm. You know, I always feel that your skill of speech is better than your swordcraft.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s not talk nonsense. Why haven¡¯t you acted yet? You don¡¯t look like a killer.¡±


    In an instant, Liuhua stared straight at ve Huan and his gaze was like aser prating through the darkness. He said, ¡°I can¡¯t vent my hatred by just killing you. I will let you know the reason.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m all ears.¡± He was willing to dy a bit. Maid Lotus would arrive any moment and only she could save him.


    ¡°I have always been protecting you.¡± While replying, Liuhua gnashed his teeth as though he were chewing and swallowing his hatred.


    ¡°So you were the one who saved me at Governor¡¯s Mansion.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡±


    ¡°You were the one who killed Ye Sng at Rogue Forest.¡±


    ¡°So you remembered.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had not forgotten. He felt uneasy when he fought against Ye Sng for the first time. Suddenly, a mysterious swordsman came out from nowhere and stabbed Ye Sng. The duel had toe to an end and the swordsman somewhat helped him out. However, he had never imagined that Liuhua was the one who helped him. How could Liuhua the Silencer have such superb swordcraft when he only has average machete skills?


    Unless Maid Lotus¡­


    Gu Shenwei realized something. His mind was in a whirl and had to lean against the wall just to stand.


    ¡°You have begun to understand.¡± Liuhua was like a cat torturing its prey. He let out a cruel smile and his tone sounded desperate as though he wanted to rip open Gu Shenwei¡¯s chest to see his broken heart.


    ¡°You are the one who killed Maid Lotus¡¯s Master.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s voice became hoarse. He seemed to have exhausted all his strength when he tried to say those few words.


    It happened during the time when the disciples of Barren Sect stole the Wayless Qigong. There were many cases of death in South City and the earliest incident was the death of Maid Lotus¡¯s Master, Wu Ling. He was killed at the brothel as the sword pierced through his eyes. Gu Shenwei felt that it was simr to Death Scripture¡¯s swordcraft. After the incident, Liuhua tried to push the me to New Moon Hall and Barren Sect.


    ¡°That old, lewd, shameless thing. He should have died earlier. I regret not killing him earlier.¡± Liuhua was still resentful even though it had been so long.


    Gu Shenwei was silent for a while. He had to gradually digest the facts thrown out by Liuhua.


    ¡°So you have been in love with her.¡±


    There were signs of it. Maid Lotus brought Liuhua over when the rtionship of ve Huan and Wildhorse broke down and were in a disadvantageous position. He should have known then. However, Liuhua attempted to assasinate Maid Lotus. No one would have believed that both of them had an affair.


    ¡°I love her and will love her forever. I wouldn¡¯t have protected you if it weren¡¯t for her request.¡± Liuhua said resentfully.


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t stand any longer and his mind was in a whirl. The chill that would ur after practicing Internal Strength came earlier than expected, so he had to sit down slowly.


    He was not only jealous, but was also greatly disappointed. The only person which he thought was credible also had secrets. Maid Lotus and Liuhua must have had a close rtionship, if not, Maid Lotus wouldn¡¯t have taught Liuhua the Death Scripture swordcraft so easily. It should be a secret between the two of them.


    However, he himself was not truthful towards Maid Lotus either. He hid many secrets from her, but Maid Lotus appeared not to mind.


    ¡°You must be thinking that ¡®Maid Lotus loved me so much that she got Liuhua to protect me¡¯, right?¡± Liuhua teased sarcastically. He wanted to savor this taste of revenge and victory, hence he approached ve Huan so to see ve Huan¡¯s expression clearly.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know how he should think about it. Maid Lotus asionally treated Gu Shenwei as a lover instead of a partner, but such a feeling was fleeting. Now, it seemed more like a¡­ conspiracy for Maid Lotus to protect ve Huan.


    ¡°I hope you don¡¯t overthink.¡± ve Huan didn¡¯t speak, so Liuhua continued talking. When taking revenge, insulting the other party was more effective than fighting and bloodshed. Hence, Liuhua wanted to make use of this opportunity to insult ve Huan. ¡°She said that darkness is a friend of the weak. You hid behind Tenth Young Master, Maid Lotus hid behind you and I hid behind Maid Lotus. In order not to arouse the suspicion of others, we nned an assasination together. Hm, shooting her was the most difficult decision in my life. Now, as long as you die, no one will discover our true motive.¡±


    ¡°Wayless Qigong,¡± Gu Shenwei muttered. It was Wayless Qigong. All the conspiracies and tricks were designed for it.


    ¡°She has already gotten hold of it. Hence, you are useless.¡± Liuhua drew out his sword. Death Scripture swordcraft was the most appropriate method to kill ve Huan with as he was the one who first discovered this set of kung fu. It seemed all too appropriate.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t she kill me personally?¡± Gu Shenwei asked coldly. After he calmed down, he realized the truth, which he knew all along. No one in the world was trustworthy. His initial feeling towards Maid Lotus was urate. It was probably the reason why he had not spoken much to her.


    ¡°She has a strange idea. She wanted you to¡­¡±


    Just when he started speaking, Liuhua¡¯s body was lifted up strangely as though someone had tickled him. However, he didn¡¯tugh. He slowly turned around and knelt down slowly.


    Maid Lotus was standing behind him and was holding onto a sword. She had that usual indifferent look and said, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be here.¡±


    Liuhua was speechless and did not have the strength to change his facial expression. He had a confused and sad gaze as his death was imminent. The memories that came to his mind were rted to the young girl who had killed him. When he was bullied and ostracized in Carvewood Academy, she was the only one who befriended him secretly and suggested to him that he should master archery. Since then, he decided to follow her willingly and hid behind her quietly.


    This was a difficult path, which was filled with pain and jealousy. The weaker students were bullied by the killer mentor and the stronger students. None could escape. Although he could endure the torture that was imposed on him, he couldn¡¯t stand anyone insulting Maid Lotus. Hatred was his driving force and he spent more effort to improve on his archery skills until the apprentice¡¯s ughter.


    Everyone said that ¡°Liuhua the Silencer¡± killed people for the sake of his own hatred, but no one understood that he killed people for Maid Lotus.


    Then, ve Huan appeared. Liuhua believed that she had worked out a wonderful n, but he couldn¡¯t ept that both of them were getting closer and closer. From her silent gaze at ve Huan, Liuhua saw a familiar thing. It was the same subtle emotion that he had when he looked at her.


    Jealousy was stronger than hatred. He had to use a strong will to repress his impulse to shoot ve Huan whenever he followed the ignorant ve Huan. It was against his will to perform this task, which was to protect ve Huan.


    Now that everything was over, he finally failed to hold back and stood in front of her. It was probably his mistake. Liuhua¡¯s gaze became dull and lifeless. He had experienced taking revenge through the use of words and could no longer kill people.


    Maid Lotus carried Liuhua¡¯s corpse out from piles of arrows and threw it out. It was a vast abyss outside. As Liuhua was a Golden Roc killer, he would share the same fate.


    Gu Shenwei was looking at her while Maid Lotus was doing these things. As Liuhua only said a few words, he was still perplexed and confused.


    ¡°Liuhua likes you very much.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t ept male disciples.¡±


    ¡°So you joined Barren Sect.¡± Gu Shenwei gradually understood the entire development.


    ¡°Mama Xue likes me,¡± Maid Lotus replied indifferently as though their rtionship hadn¡¯t change.


    However, the Barren Sect was annihted.¡±


    ¡°Barren Sect was just a branch of New Moon Hall.¡±


    Gu Shenweiughed bitterly, ¡°What a surprise. So you were a disciple of New Moon Hall. They epted you so easily?¡±


    ¡°Mama Xue injected Peripheral Force into my Yinbai acupoint so the manager knew as soon as he touched it.¡±


    The word ¡°Yinbai¡± was not only a pun, but it was also an unimportant acupoint, which was located the toes. Mama Xue hid the Peripheral Force there as she trusted Maid Lotus.


    ¡°Is that woman the manager?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    There was a tall woman who once injected evil energy into Shangguan Ru and others. ve Huan and Maid Lotus were spared as they had Peripheral Force in their bodies. Gu Shenwei felt silly as he had not realized such an obvious fact earlier. He said, ¡°You have been waiting for Tenth Young Master to fall ill, waiting for her to steal Wayless Qigong and waiting for her to ask for your help.¡±


    ¡°No, she will ask you for help.¡±


    ¡°Oh, then I will ask you for help.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Gu Shenwei let out another bitterugh. He made use of Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus was making use of him. His heart ached painfully. He suddenly realized why the death of Master Yu had a huge impact on Shangguan Ru. This was how it felt to be betrayed.


    After a long while, he said slowly, ¡°However, you tried to kill Tenth Young Master on several asions.¡±


    ¡°I have to put on an act. Liuhua is always neaby, and he will help whenever necessary. Luckily, his help is not needed. I also know that you don¡¯t want to kill Shangguan Ru at all.¡±


    Gu Shenwei remained silent as it was unnecessary to say more. Initially, he didn¡¯t intend to let Maid Lotus know of the truth, and now, Gu Shenwei was even more reluctant to tell her truth. He wanted Shangguan Ru to die, however he didn¡¯t want to kill her directly. He wanted to ¡°conceal¡± the truth and make Shangguan Ru die from qigong deviation. He didn¡¯t expect that Shangguan Ru would give him the correct version of the seventh chapter. Maid Lotus gave him the wrong version and Gu Shenwei himself was the one undergoing qigong deviation.


    Maid Lotus brought over two steamed buns and ced them on the floor. She then wiped them on ve Huan¡¯s forehead and pressed them against his lower abdomen. She said, ¡°You should eat something. It will be more painful in the future.¡±


    Even though he knew that it was useless, Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help, but asked, ¡°Since you have gotten the Wayless Qigong, why don¡¯t you escape and return to New Moon Hall to get credit?¡±


    ¡°There is still unfinished business.¡±


    Gu Shenwei admired Maid Lotus¡¯s calmness, but it became the root of his hatred. He said, ¡°You want to see me die from qigong deviation?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°In that case, why did you give me Wayless Qigong to dispel Peripheral Force?¡±


    ¡°Peripheral Force was given to you by someone else. I want to make you undergo qigong deviation myself.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because of ve Yao.¡±

 Chapter 246 - Arrow Tower

    Chapter 246: Arrow Tower


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The death of ve Yao was the first death that ve Huan caused in Stone Castle. Gu Shenwei had never forgotten that pointy-faced teenager, especially the scene where he died of qigong deviation.


    ve Yao was on the brink of death and was lying on his death bed. He was staring at ve Huan, looking confused and puzzled. His face flushed, then subsided. His chest was heaving violently and both of his arms were shaking heavily. He was banging against his bed. Suddenly, he started tough hysterically.


    ve Yao was in delirium. His face would flush, then subside, then flush again. He would sometimes gather his strength to talk, but it was mostly nonsensical. He had forgotten about Golden Roc Fort and those people and things that he mentioned came from his past experience. He would boast for a while, then curse and then plead as though he were acting out a monologue while performing many roles.


    ¡°ve Huan, you can¡¯t escape. I will be waiting for you in hell.¡± Just before his death, ve Yao gathered hisst bit of strength to threaten ve Huan. He was looking forward to it.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know that the messenger sent by ve Yao from hell would be Maid Lotus.


    There were hints, but Gu Shenwei never noticed them.


    ve Yao liked to exaggerate and was proud that he would be a killer apprentice. He would show off every day when he returned home from Mama Xue¡¯s, but he didn¡¯t mention anything about Maid Lotus, who always practiced with him. He, who experienced puppy love, would regard her as a unique secret and was unwilling to share it with anyone else.


    Although Maid Lotus wasn¡¯t an enthusiastic person, she had her own attractive side. She made many friends in Carvewood Academy. She brought in many apprentices from different backgrounds and formed the ¡°Tattooed Arm Gang¡± then. However, she was jealous of ve Huan when she first saw him. Gu Shenwei thought she wanted to be the only disciple of Mama Xue and he finally understood all the reasons.


    In a moment, Gu Shenwei was no longer jealous, disappointed, resentful or sad.


    Revenge was one of the most legitimate rights in the world. He sought revenge from Golden Roc Fort and killed countless people. It was natural for someone to seek revenge from him, and Maid Lotus was only the first.


    ¡°He is good at pleasing you.¡± Gu Shenwei calmed down. ve Yao had the ability to please anyone if he was willing to do so. ve Yao was the onlyfort for Maid Lotus, who just entered Stone Castle and lived under the oppression of Luo Ningcha and Mama Xue.


    ¡°Probably. I hardly even remember what he looked like.¡± Maid Lotus didn¡¯t seem to be lying and there was no need for her to lie. She frowned slightly as she recalled, but finally shook her head. She said, ¡°Now that I think about it, he seems average. Even if you didn¡¯t cause his death, he would probably die in Carvewood Academy in less than one month¡¯s time.¡±


    ¡°But, you still wanted to avenge him.¡± Gu Shenwei, who had known everything, became confused again. This was the first time he thought like a mature man, and knew that no one could fathom women¡¯s thoughts.


    ¡°A dead person is forgotten, but the hatred stays forever.¡± Maid Lotus pressed against her heart, and said, ¡°This is the true meaning of Death Scripture. You should understand.¡±


    Gu Shenwei definitely understood since he had some personal experience. The strongest enemy of hatred was time, as time could change anyone. Hatred was like an awkward boulder, whichy in the heart and could be eroded away. Maid Lotus couldn¡¯t even remember ve Yao, so when did he ever remember his family clearly? The looks of his parents, brothers and sisters had long been blurred in three years time and turned into memory. It was the reason why his hatred was diminishing.


    However, his hatred had yet faded away. Itsted for a long time because of the Death Scripture. It blocked the attack of time and allowed him to kill people without any burden in the name of hatred. It was only after he dispelled his Internal Strength and wasn¡¯t able to practice Death Scripture that his hatred weakened temporarily.


    When the two unsuspecting youths decided to practice Death Scripture, they had fixated their hatred in their hearts and they could no longer resolve it.


    Maid Lotus had figured it out earlier than Gu Shenwei, hence her thoughts became messier and contradictory.


    Gu Shenwei looked at the girl in front of him and experienced a sudden telepathy with her. They always had great chemistry and could understand each other¡¯s intention even after they became enemies.


    Neither of them spoke for a while. Maid Lotus jumped onto the bed, which faced the entrance and sat with her knees sped. She looked at the night sky outside and seemed to have forgotten about ve Huan, who was ten steps away from her.


    ¡°You must have put forth much effort to make me undergo qigong deviation.¡± This was Gu Shenwei¡¯s heartfelt admiration. He had plotted many tricks, but none wasparable to this.


    ¡°This is nothing. If weren¡¯t for your Death Scripture, I couldn¡¯t n out such plot with my superficial knowledge of Internal Strength.¡±


    ¡°So is the Wayless Book entirely fake?¡±


    ¡°I had only modified thest chapter, but the rest was real. As obtaining the Wayless Qigong was my most important mission, I couldn¡¯t amend it casually.¡±


    ¡°You bought an additional nk secretly and re-carved the modified seventh chapter?¡±


    Maid Lotus nodded. She had hidden the correct chapter underneath her skirt and no one found out. She said, ¡°Luo Ningcha startled me. That stupid woman snatched my nk away and almost foiled my ns.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that she would identally save my life. Ironically, I wanted the board back for myself.¡±


    Maid Lotus seemed unwilling to talk about this topic. However, after a while she took out a ring and waved it under the moonlight. She said, ¡°She asked me to chop off your head.¡±


    Gu Shenwei smiled as he became rxed. He said, ¡°That woman, I knew she would be like this.¡±


    ¡°But you still¡­ went to bed with her.¡±


    Maid Lotus was still calm, but her voice changed slightly. This made Gu Shenwei suddenly feel that she was a cute young girl instead of a cold-blooded, cruel killer. He asked, ¡°Are you jealous?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not¡­¡± Maid Lotus denied too quickly. She felt that she was being untruthful. She then sneered and admitted to it. She said, ¡°So what if I¡¯m jealous? I will still kill you.¡±


    ¡°So you have chosen the hardest and slowest method to kill me.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t say ¡°the most painful¡±. Even though he became colder, he pretended to be indifferent. He said, ¡°You still couldn¡¯t bear to kill me. You said that Death Scripture made you unable to forget hatred, but you didn¡¯t act ording to what the book said, which was to kill me in one shot.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you the same? There were several asions that you could have killed Tenth Young Master, but you always find some excuse to miss the opportunity.¡±


    Both of them became silent as their chemistry vanished. They resumed talking after a long while.


    ¡°My real name is Gu Shenwei.¡±


    ¡°I know that.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had talked nonsense during that time when Gu Shenwei fell into aa due to his injury. Maid Lotus took care of him all night and heard everything.


    ¡°This is the dagger Shangguan Ru gave me.¡± Gu Shenwei took out a dagger from a parcel beside him. He said, ¡°It originally belonged to me as it was a gift from my father. Shangguan Nu killed my family and took this dagger away. He then gave it to Shangguan Ru.¡±


    Gu Shenwei recited this story in order to prove that it was impossible for him to like Shangguan Ru. Maid Lotus understood his intention, but wasn¡¯t touched. She said, ¡°There is nothing wrong with liking someone. If you are able to toughen up and kill all the people who you loved, you will be victorious. You have failed, and I will not.¡±


    For a moment, Gu Shenwei wanted to plead with her. He even thought that the real reason behind all this trouble was for him to plead Maid Lotus for forgiveness and express his love for her. However, he didn¡¯t plead. As he had endured years of humiliation, he didn¡¯t want to lose his dignity at thest moment.


    ¡°New Moon Hall will destroy Golden Roc Fort?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°When you kill Shangguan Fa and Shangguan Nu, please tell them my real name if possible. And Governor Wei Song. He is my enemy, but I don¡¯t know who is the mastermind.¡±


    Maid Lotus twisted her head as to look at Gu Shenwei and said, ¡°I will kill all your enemies, and will find out who the mastermind is. Whenever I kill a person, I will tell him that you are the descendant of the Central in Gu Family, and you are the one who asked me to take revenge.¡± Her voice was unprecedently gentle.


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°No, Thank you. After you die, I will need a new source of hatred so that the Death Scripture swordcraft won¡¯t be affected.¡±


    Gu Shenwei recalled the eleven-year-old Chu Nanping. He wanted to master Heartless Swords, but could not bear to kill the friends that he just made. The girl in front of him was the best candidate to practice Heartless Swords.


    They stopped talking and moving. They allowed the night to settle in as though there were an iron wall separating them.


    The chill in his body prated into his bones, and Gu Shenwei tried to remain silent. Maid Lotus wanted to watch him die of qigong deviation, but he didn¡¯t want to be like ve Yao, who lost control.


    A ray of sunshine of dawn shone past Maid Lotus¡¯s head andnded on Gu Shenwei. He didn¡¯t feel any warmth, but was moved by the scene before him. He couldn¡¯t help but said, ¡°You are so beautiful.¡±


    Maid Lotus was enveloped in the ineffable light. She looked like the very first flower in the world, which was free from pollution. Even the air that she took in was the freshest.


    Maid Lotus turned her head in amazement. With the change in the angle of the light, she returned to her usual appearance. She was still very beautiful, but she had lost that holiness, which others looked up to. She appeared slightly different, as if she had¡­ cried.


    There was no better chance than this. The estrangement between both of them disappearedpletely. A sentence from the youth could possibly defeat the powers of Death Scripture and turn hate into love.


    A dark cloud moved past and its shadow covered the entrance. Maid Lotus suddenly jumped off from the bed, as though she were ambushed. She pulled the bow as she was suddenly on high alert. After a long time, she was relieved. She became highly sensitive to her surroundings.


    The opportunity had passed but Gu Shenwei had yet spoken. Death Scripture had little influence on him now and he could think clearly. He was tired of endless killing and was willing to pass this difficult task to others.


    He would soon die of qigong deviation, but he was sympathetic and thankful towards the mastermind of this plot, Maid Lotus.


    Maid Lotus grasped her sword shaft tightly and was suppressing her feelings. She was on the verge of copse. She understood all Gu Shenwei¡¯s thoughts as though his mind were transparent. She then felt very proud. She not only wanted to kill the person whom she loved, but also to avenge him.


    This pride made her push all reasons of hatred to the Death Scripture. She carefully avoided her true intention. Her hatred was caused by ve Huan¡¯s dy in reciprocating her love.


    A small group of killers approached Reincarnation Cliff early in the morning. Maid Lotus¡¯s facial expression changed and she said, ¡°Foolish Liuhua. He had been followed.¡±


    Liuhua¡¯s whereabouts were revealed. Those killers who discovered him hadn¡¯t fully understand the importance of this incident.

 Chapter 247 - At the Same Time

    Chapter 247: At the Same Time


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The team of three killers thought that this mission would be unfruitful. If ve Huan and Maid Lotus had not suicided off the cliff, they would be hiding in an unknown ce within Jade City. It was impossible that they were still in the Stone Castle, where there were surveince round the clock and no ce for them to hide.


    The team, however, had spent an entire night searching East Castle for a killer named Liuhua. Thest area they had not searched was Reincarnation Cliff, after searching which they knew they would probably face reprimand because it was likely that Liuhua had also suicided off the cliff, meaning that they would return empty-handed.


    They first checked Reincarnation Cliff and Giant Rock Cliff, within which theybed through every single possible hiding spot. They did not do things half-heartedly despite it being a pointless mission.


    Finally, they searched the Arrow Tower.


    As per their usual practice, one killer guarded the door while the other two entered the tower. They found nothing except dust on the ground floor, and subsequently climbed the stairs in a single file to reach one of the upper floors.


    ve Huan was sitting beneath a road-facing window and smiling at them.


    The killers were startled and pulled their sabers out in unison. ¡°Where¡¯s Maid Lotus?¡±, one of them questioned.


    ¡°Behind you.¡±


    Before Gu Shenwei hadpleted his answer, one of the killers¡¯ face had already stiffened. Just as the other killer turned his head, his expressions froze as well.


    Maid Lotus disappeared for a while but quickly returned to the upper floor. Right as she did so, the two killers copsed and tumbled to the bottom of the tower.


    Maid Lotus¡¯ concealment ability was all along better than Gu Shenwei¡¯s. To most people, she was merely a rather outstanding female killer. Few knew that her swordcraft was of the highest level. The three killers were caughtpletely off guard and assassinated.


    ¡°We have to find another ce.¡±


    As Maid Lotus carried Gu Shenwei on to her back, she caught a nce of the saber and two swords leaning against a wall. She took the sword carved with the word ¡°Yun¡±, which she had given to ve Huan, and left the other weapons where they were. She knew that there was no need to destroy the evidence ¨C they would be quickly andpletely exposed now that the three killers were dead.


    Gu Shenwei took a final look at his saber and sword.


    As it was currently daytime, they would not able to elude the guards in the castle no matter how good their Lightness Skills were. Maid Lotus thus chose a dangerous route. She walked towards the south along the edge of the peak, of which there were several sections which they needed to climb the cliff walls to pass through. There was a moment when Gu Shenwei thought about dragging her off the cliff and dying together, but it was nothing more than a passing thought, for he still needed her to take revenge on his behalf.


    The southeastern section of Stone Castle was rtively deste and contained several portions of wastnd. From here, Maid Lotus turned to travel towards the west. The southwestern section was where thepound inhabited by the servants was, and therge number of people there meant that the duo would be more likely to be seen. Maid Lotus snappily lowered ve Huan on to the ground and the duo proceeded shoulder to shoulder. As they had put on the killers¡¯ ck clothes, nobody dared to check on them or recognized these two seemingly ordinary killers.


    When they reached the western side of the cliff, Maid Lotus raised Gu Shenwei on to her back once again and took a turn towards the north. Gu Shenwei finally understood what her destination was.


    The duo had taken a huge detour from the easternmost Reincarnation Cliff to the westernmost Ghost Cliff.


    The ce contained symbolic meaning for both of them. Firewood Yard was only a wall away from here, while ve Yao, who suffered from qigong deviation, had died here and his body was thrown off the cliff.


    Gu Shenwei had taken great pains to purge the Peripheral Forces from his body. Despite being afraid of death, he seemedpletely indifferent now that death was at hand, and even felt considerably more rxed and easy.


    Maid Lotus was a little exhausted from the non-stop journeying. Gu Shenwei saw as ayer of fine sweat seeped out from her neck when he suddenly suffered from a prankish impulse. Just as she stepped on to the ground of Ghost Cliff, he gently kissed her on the neck.


    As if she was the one who suffered a qigong deviation, Maid Lotus reacted like she had been sneak attacked by a snake. She instantly flung the youth on to the ground and pulled out her sword. ¡°You¡­¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t control myself, but you don¡¯t have to spare my life for that.¡±


    Maid Lotus had a frosty look on her face. ¡°It would be useless even if I do, for I cannot resolve your qigong deviation.¡±


    Gu Shenwei walked to the edge of the cliff with his back facing Maid Lotus, and smiled as he peered at the cloudy mist in the distance. Having received special training in Carvewood Academy, Maid Lotus was certainly not sensitive to physical contact with the opposite sex. What her reaction did reveal was her true feelings toward him.


    She remained silent behind him, but when she opened her mouth once again, she was aze with anger, unlike her usual calm and collected demeanor. ¡°I shall go kill Luo Ningcha.¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned around in surprise, and could not understand where her abrupt anger came from.


    ¡°She killed Maid Cui. I cannot let her off just like that.¡±


    Maid Lotus offered apletely unnecessary exnation and subsequently ran off without waiting for Gu Shenwei¡¯s response. She leaped on to the roof of Firewood Yard and made her way towards the Eighth Young Master¡¯s forecourt to perform a kill in broad daylight.


    Gu Shenwei could only roughly understand what was weighing on her mind, but he had no time to ponder over it. He took out the Wayless Book the moment she disappeared. The seventh chapter, which Shangguan Ru had sent, was still intact. He carefully read through it and memorized an outline.


    There would probably be a chance to save himself if he practiced it for theing month or so. Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart began to palpitate. He would have calmly epted his fate if he had no choices to make. But he did not want to sit and await death, seeing as there was a possibility to live on.


    Maid Lotus was at ease about leaving him alone on Ghost Cliff because she was certain that he would not dare to seek help from people in the castle, and furthermore, because he did not have the Internal Strength to run away.


    After deliberating for a while over whether to begin practice or to find an escape route, Gu Shenwei decided on the former. Running away would be futile if the qigong deviation truly could not be resolved any further. He could only rely on himself as there was nobody to trust.


    While this was going on, the Supreme King Shangguan Fa was filled with wrath and bewilderment as he observed the corpses of the three killers which had been sent to him.


    ve Huan and Maid Lotus were two names he was not too familiar with. These insignificant youths had actually been hiding in Stone Castle all this time while arge group of killers was turning Jade City upside down in search of them. Golden Roc Fort became something of aughingstock at once.


    Shangguan Fa suspected that there remained ipetent subordinates in the castle. For a simple manhunt like this, it was only on the seventh day that a clue was identally found. He had, in recent years, distributed his power to many people, and now realized what a big mistake this was. The people whom he entrusted his power to used their allocation of power to fight with each other instead of augmenting the influence of Golden Roc Fort.


    <em>¡°This policy should end, for there¡¯s nobody worthy of trust,¡± </em>he thought. He could clearly see through the plot by Shen Liang and Lady Meng, and there was still time to salvage everything. There was nothing too regrettable about the fact that his weak and incapable sons had died. The prophecy of ¡°The King of the Cross¡± would eventually be realized anyway.


    He carefully examined for some time the fatal wounds on the three corpses, and even touched them with his own finger. The swordcraft of the two runaway killers had surpassed his expectations, and even seemed a little simr to that found in the legendary Dajue Book of Swordcraft.


    ¡°Within the next two hours, I want to see these two people. Alive.¡±


    After the Supreme King gave his instructions, the panicky crowd of killers and counselors bowed inpliance and exited the hall. They proceeded to direct orders to their subordinates as fast as they could. Many of them had not shaken off the habits developed during the internal strife and thought that this was yet anotherpetition to see who could find the two escaped killers first.


    This was a moment which required swift and ruthless action. Shangguan Fa¡¯s priority was to deal with a most tantly guilty person, whereas the powers of Shen Liang and Lady Meng could be sorted outter on.


    The novelty which Luo Ningcha had brought had already faded, and the Supreme King was sick of her wilful arrogance, mboyance, and stupidity. It was she who brought the two killers into Stone Castle, and it was at her ce where he was subjected to an assassination attempt. ording to Shen Liang¡¯s exnation, the assassin was definitely one of the two killers.


    Miss Luo was just a woman, and she no longer had the backing of Bighead Kingpin or the concern of Eighth Young Master. The Supreme King decided to personally settle this matter as a means of giving preferential treatment to the beauty.


    Meanwhile, with Gu Shenwei to her north and the Supreme King to her south, Luo Ningcha was pacing back and forth anxiously in the court of the Eighth Young Master. She had been cursing ¡°Ungrateful fools!¡± for three sessive days since the escape of ve Huan and Maid Lotus. Every servant in the residence was punished for this matter, and was told to p each other¡¯s cheeks until they bled.


    When her fury finally subsided, fear took its ce.


    There were two bad omens. The first was the escape of the dowry servants she had brought in, while the second was the fact that the Supreme King had not visited for seven days already. She had sent people to check on the situation in the Inner Residence, but they could not even get through the entrance. The women who had once turned to her side would, at this delicate moment, rather be flies on the wall than precipitately offer help to the Eighth Young Mistress.


    She once again felt that her world was on the verge of copse, and was extremely terrified. She was terrified of death, terrified of not being anyone¡¯s pet, terrified of being despised, and terrified of being neglected by the lowliest of persons. She once had a powerful father and a set of multiyered veils, and cherished the memory of these like a baby cherished her mother¡¯s embrace.


    <em>¡°Things would have been fine if ve Huan is still around. He would always provide me with good ideas.¡± </em>Luo Ningcha¡¯s thoughts began to drift before she remembered that ve Huan was the main cause of this disaster.


    She forced herself to calm down, and told herself that she had to be self-reliant as there was nobody she could trust.


    <em>¡°ve Huan would say, ¡°Miss Luo, you aren¡¯tpletely done for. The baby in your womb is the child of the Supreme King and will arrive at the right time. Several sons of the Supreme King have already died. Can there be any better present or sign of your loyalty?¡±¡±</em>


    Even Luo Ningcha was annoyed by her own foolishness. It had taken her a full seven days to understand such a simple matter, while the rest of the time had been wasted on anger and fear.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, I have the Lord¡¯s child.¡± Luo Ningcha became rxed at once. It was, without a doubt, a son this time. She wanted to report this piece of good news to the Lord. She would protect the child with her own life and ensure that no woman from the Inner Residence ever touch him. Every meal she ate would have to be sampled for safety first. She would double the number of guards protecting the court, and bar everyone except her personal maids and the Lord from entering the backcourt. Even a physician would have to sign a death-as-punishment liability agreement before being allowed to enter.


    It was her son who would be the future Supreme King.


    While Luo Ningcha was in an euphoria, someone else was distressedly praying to the heavens.


    Shangguan Ru had been counting the days. Seven days were sufficient for ve Huan and Maid Lotus to have escaped from the boundaries of Golden Roc Fort, yet unexpectedly, they remained in the Stone Castle. This was a risky n but also a clever trick. It was definitely an idea which ve Huan came up with.


    She tightened her clothes and picked up her saber. She was not praying for the two killers to escape safely, but for herself to have the strength to protect them.


    When she turned around, she saw her mother standing in the doorway with a sorrowful expression which made her shudder.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want your own life anymore?¡±


    ¡°Mother.¡± Shangguan Ru acknowledged heartfeltly. She walked over to her mother, hoping that her words would be able to convince thetter. ¡°This is something I must do.¡±


    ¡°We all have things we must do.¡±


    Lady Meng¡¯s heartache was no less severe than her daughter¡¯s. Many years of painstaking anticipation had evaporated in one day. The twins were supposed to be her aides and shields, but instead, they became burdens and threats. In the end, she had no one she could trust.


    Before Shangguan Ru understood her mother¡¯s meaning, she felt somebody press a finger below her ribs. The figure of her mother gradually faded into the darkness. The gods had answered her prayers in an unexpected way.


    Shangguan Ru copsed into the arms of an assassin in ck, who took away her saber and handed it to Lady Meng.


    This was the first time Lady Meng held one of the Stone Castle¡¯s standard weapons. It was heavy just like her heart was, and ice cold just like her heart was as well.


    This was her ¡°Tenth Young Master¡±. Or at least, she used to be but no longer would be.

 Chapter 248 - Up and Down

    Chapter 248: Up and Down


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Standing by the edge of Ghost Cliff, Gu Shenwei managed to get his head together with much difficulty and began to practice the seventh chapter of Wayless Qigong.


    The chill within his body, nevertheless, did not abate as a result. Instead, the rapid cirction of Genuine Qi in his meridians caused a frigid pain. Gu Shenwei clenched his teeth and endured for some time, but was finally unable to hold on any longer and fell headlong on the ground.


    When he woke up, he saw Maid Lotus kneeling beside him while wiping sweat off him using a silk handkerchief. Her hair was somewhat messy and she looked deeply concerned, as if she was in as much pain as him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll let you die now if you beg me to,¡± Maid Lotus said in a soft and soothing voice. Her other hand was clutching her sword shaft.


    Gu Shenwei felt that his nasal passages were finally clear once again. He forcefully inhaled the chilly air of the peak such that his chest began to undte violently. However, his mind was still in a numb and dazed state, and thereby the girl in front of him was a stranger. He gawked at her and understood neither the reason why she was sad nor the meaning of her words.


    As his memory gradually recovered, the young girl¡¯s face turned indifferent, as if the earlier scene was just his hallucination. He would ¡°rather die¡± than beg her for anything.


    ¡°Have you killed her?¡±


    Maid Lotus took out Luo Ningcha¡¯s ring and tossed it off the cliff. ¡°She was struck by my throwing knife. It now depends on her luck.¡±


    This was the reason why concealed weapons and crossbows were not valued by killers. Because of their long distance, it was impossible to tell whether the target stayed alive or died. idents happened all the time. But there were too many guards beside Luo Ningcha, and thus Maid Lotus did not want to take the risk of rushing in.


    Gu Shenwei was unconcerned about that woman¡¯s death or otherwise. The chill was bing increasingly severe, and a giant block of ice seemed to have formed in his abdomen. He tried to conceal his pain but his body began to tremble involuntarily. He had suffered a qigong deviation because of his inverse practice of the seventh chapter of Wayless Qigong. He subsequently sought to rectify this through the standard practice, but the result was contrary to what he wanted.


    Maid Lotus hesitated for a while before she held him in her arms. She knew very little kung fu and did not know how to transmit Internal Breath to relieve his pain, and thereby could only use her body temperature to help reduce his chill.


    A solitary deep horn was heard. As the Golden Roc killers mostlymunicated through whistles, this was the first time Gu Shenwei heard a sound like this in Stone Castle.


    ¡°They¡¯reing.¡± Maid Lotus turned her head towards the castle.


    What the two young killers did not know was that the horn was Stone Castle¡¯s highest level alert. This was the first time it had been sounded in the castle since Shangguan Fa became the Supreme King. Even the ck-masked assassins who were hiding in the deepest ces were summoned towards the designated location to await orders.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I may not be able to withstand the qigong deviation.¡± Gu Shenwei too looked towards the castle, his emotions stirring. For no reason, he thought back to a day three years ago when he was riding a pony near his manor, so excitedly chasing after the hares and birds that he forgot the time. As the sun began to set, he peered at the silhouette of his manor and felt that his home was distant and unreal. Yet, his heart was filled with a strange sense of affinity as a result.


    ¡°Nobody can kill you except me.¡± Maid Lotus¡¯ tone became cold and t, and she seemed to have made up her mind. She drew the Golden Roc Fort saber and threw it off the cliff. Next, she pulled out Gu Shenwei¡¯s ¡°Yun¡± sword and stuck it in the ground. ¡°This is for killing you.¡± Finally, she grasped her own ¡°Huan¡± sword. ¡°And this is for killing them and myself.¡±


    Arge group of killers would be surging towards them any time now. They had nowhere left to run.


    ¡°It isn¡¯t worth it to die like this after all that trouble stealing Wayless Book.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve delivered it already. Sooner orter, New Moon Hall will invade Stone Castle to take revenge for me as well as for you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s enemy was not Golden Roc Fort, but he did not say anything further. This was a delicate moment when there was no enmity, and instead only an inexplicablepassion and a tacit understanding, between the killing side and the killed one.


    The Golden Roc killers did not immediately arrive, and thus Maid Lotus had time to shift Gu Shenwei under a tree beside which she guarded. She suddenly asked without cause, ¡°Why are you called Gu Shenwei? It¡¯s such an odd name.¡±


    Gu Shenwei remained dazed for some time as he thought, before replying, ¡°It came from a line in an ancient text. ¡®A gentleman should be cautious of doing (shen wei) good, for doing good naturally garners fame, which naturally creates personal benefits, which naturally causes disputes.''¡±


    ¡°¡®Do good with caution¡¯? It turns out that your father intended for you to never do good things from the time he came up with this name.¡±


    Gu Shenweiughed and did not exin further that the meaning of the line was not what she thought it was. As a matter of fact, he did not quite like the name himself, but his father considered it to be highly appropriate.


    ¡°How about yourself? What¡¯s the saying behind the name ¡®Huo Yun¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Nothing. It¡¯s a verymon name.¡±


    The duo was chatting casually when the gate of Firewood Yard suddenly opened, and out ran someone who looked in all directions but did not see the two killers behind the tree and thus had no choice but to shout loudly, ¡°Yang Huan! Are you here?¡±


    Surprisingly, it was Xu Yanwei. Gu Shenwei had initially intended to secretly send her to Stone Castle to meet Xu Xiaoyi but eventually forgot about it.


    ¡°I¡¯m over here.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stood up and waved his hands while Maid Lotus leaped up the tree and hid. As before, she was responsible for covertly protecting Gu Shenwei when he was meeting someone.


    Xu Yanwei frantically hurried over, and did not stop to knock the dust off when she fell down on the way. She reached the tree in a few steps and handed a cloth bundle to Gu Shenwei, her cheeks flushed and her breathing difficult. ¡°Tenth Young Master gives this to you and Maid Lotus.¡±


    Gu Shenwei opened the bundle astoundedly. Inside were two sets of ck clothes, a waist token with the highest-level inscription ¡°Du¡±, and a few disguise tools. ¡°She¡­ how did you know I¡¯m here?¡±


    Xu Yanwei shook her head and inhaled a deep breath before exining incoherently, ¡°Tenth Young Master passed these to mest night. She said that you two might still be in Stone Castle, but because she was being watched closely, that I should hand them to you on her behalf. Everyone has been talking about you two since the attack on her. I heard the killers saying that they¡¯re ready to surround Firewood Yard, and so quickly ran here with her waist token in hopes that I¡¯m still in time.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was a little touched. She was undoubtedly taking a bold risk to run here at this critical point in time, and it was extremely rare for her to do something like this, even if her actions woulde to nothing for it was impossible to deceive the killers or to save his life.


    As he neared death, he became somewhat more emotional than usual.


    ¡°Your younger brother¡­¡± Gu Shenwei wanted to tell her about Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s whereabouts so that the siblings could reunite, but it was toote. The assassins in ck came pouring out of Firewood Yard one after another.


    They were not in a hurry to catch their prey. Instead, they fanned out and surrounded the youth.


    ¡°Is Miss Ru dead?¡±


    ¡°Not yet, but her injury is serious.¡± Xu Yanwei¡¯s voice began to quiver. She had already exhausted her courage, and was thereby frightened out of her wits, like a mouse among a destruction of cats, as she faced the dozens of killers who remained in grave silence.


    ¡°Go find her. If she isn¡¯t dead, beg her to protect you. And remember this: she needs you.¡±


    Xu Yanwei did not know whether she would remain alive to see the mistress, or even why she ran all the way here only to cause trouble for herself. She walked towards the people in ck with her body as if already fallen into pieces, such that before every step she took, she had to reassemble her limbs, bones, and viscera.


    Treating the frightened girl as if she was invisible, the killers watched apathetically as she walked towards them with her body tottering and close to copse. But when she reached the gate of Firewood Yard, one of them pressed on her shoulders, causing her body to buckle and fall on to him at once.


    Gu Shenwei took backward steps until he neared the edge of the cliff, while at the same time, more and more killers continued to join the surround. He had never seen so many men in ck appear together like this before. Every one of them kept silent, as if their sole purpose for being here was to form a human wall.


    demaster Shen Liang walked out from among the crowd with a smile on his face. This was his victory. The impact of ve Huan¡¯s arrival was greater than he had imagined. The wrath of the Supreme King would deal a heavy blow to Lady Meng, who was so greedy that she wanted to concentrate all power in her hands. She absolutely would not have thought that she would fall out of favor because of a young killer.


    Gu Shenwei was slightly disappointed that Shangguan Fa did not show up in person. Moreover, he thought that Shen Liang would say a few words, whether to reprimand or to humiliate him, but instead nothing was heard. The veteran demaster would by no means waste his breath on an ordinary killer.


    Gu Shenwei had several things to talk about himself ¨C his real identity, his deepest hatred, and to curse viciously, as was amon thing to do. But his many years of training as a killer eventually prevailed. Spreading his arms, he decided that he had no need to speak.


    Speaking might make one feel cathartic, but the satisfaction it provided was illusory and unreal. Even if he verbally vilified Golden Roc Fort and the Shangguan family with all the righteous indignation in the world, his words would just be empty rhetoric with no effect whatsoever.


    There was nothing strange about the fact that some people seeded at taking revenge while others failed.


    Within the six great divisions in the wheel of karma, there was never enough to kill, and also never enough to hate. He considered himself to have done something world breaking by destroying the enemy who killed his family, but it was in actual fact nothing more than a regr activity in Golden Roc Fort, and it left no impression on the Supreme King at all.


    He raised his head and looked at Maid Lotus who was hiding in the tree above. This peculiar girl had pulled out all the stops to make him undergo qigong deviation and die, yet at the final moment staked everything on a ¡°Huan¡± sword to preserve thest vestiges of his life. This showed that hatred was just one of the seven emotions and six sensory pleasures, and that even the strongest of hatreds could not control a person¡¯s entire heart. There would always be other emotions hiding in the recesses of one¡¯s heart which could surge up powerfully at any given time.


    He subsequently lowered his head and looked towards the bottom of the cliff, only to see two men in ck clinging on to the cliff wall. The killers had to set up an escape-proof because the Supreme King wanted to catch him alive.


    Once they realized they had been discovered, the two killers leaped back on to the top of the cliff and grabbed hold of the resistance-less youth.


    Maid Lotus swooped down from the tree unhesitatingly the moment she turned her head and saw what was going on.


    With two clean strikes of her sword, Maid Lotus performed her first openly-seen killings. This was also the first time the swordcraft from Death Scripture was witnessed by living but unknowing people. Her name would be forever remembered by every Golden Roc killer from this moment onwards.


    The smile disappeared from Shen Liang¡¯s face. He certainly had toply with the Lord¡¯s orders to capture the youth alive. Nine out of ten times, the two highly-experienced killers who hid on the cliff wall would have done the job. But with this girl and this swordcraft¡­


    Maid Lotus pulled the ¡°Huan¡± sword out of the ground using her left hand and looked at the youth who was standing by the cliff. This was not her ideal ending, but an even better one than that.


    There was a smile on Gu Shenwei¡¯s face. At this point, he felt that this was the final smile of his life, and that no person or thing would interest him henceforth.


    Aside from the Wayless Book in his arms and the Death Scripture in his heart, he possessed nothing in Stone Castle and therefore had nothing to lose. Furthermore, he had nothing left to want from people and therefore had no more debts to repay.


    The youth inclined his body and fell into the abyss.


    The ¡°Huan¡± sword in Maid Lotus¡¯ hand had been an inch away from his body but did not pierce into him after all. A momentter, she too made the jump.


    ¡°No!¡± Shen Liang bellowed.


    The crowd of killers did not remain expressionless this time. Having failed toplete their Lord¡¯s orders for a live capture, an ominous panic began to grow in their and the demaster¡¯s hearts.


    They ran towards the edge of the cliff, when all of a sudden, a gale began to sweep up sand and stones all around them. Everyone halted their footsteps involuntarily and used their hands to protect their eyes as they witnessed an unbelievable sight: a giant ck bird soared high into the sky and entered the clouds, and on its back kneeling on one leg was the youth, expressionless.


    Many yearster, people would still remember this scene, and would even consider it to be an omen of all turbulent events and killings. At this time, however, it was only a fleeting spectacle, and the killers standing at the back did not even get to see it for themselves.


    ¡°Look, there¡¯s a rope!¡± A killer eximed.


    Indeed, a fine rope was tied around the tree next to the cliff, while its other end dangled towards the bottom of the cliff.


    The two young killers had escaped from Stone Castle, one after the other.


    (End of Volume I)


    I want to thank every book pal, for it is your clicks, rmendations, and reviews which have enabled the continued writing of this novel.


    A special shoutout to those who have cast evaluation votes. Your support hasforted me during times when the numbers remained bleak.


    Finally, I want to thank those who have helped to promote this novel in forums. The only way I can repay you is to continue writing, whether the novel receives an A rating or otherwise.


    Because a promise is often the beginning of a lie, I shall not make any. What I can say, however, is that I shall begin work on Volume II today.

 Chapter 249 - A Year

    Chapter 249: A Year


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Leaning on his five feet long saber, Zhuang Heng watched as his brothers plundered wantonly, and felt a warmth in his heart as though he was watching his children ying and having fun.


    He had only two beliefs in life: sabers were his life blood, and his brothers were his family. He was thus nicknamed the ¡°Long Machete God¡± in the jianghu. To him, gold and silver were like dirt, while women were nothing more than lust-satisfying objects which could talk, and which often annoyed him when they talked too much.


    Five carriages were overturned along the roadside. The horsesid in the pools of blood gasping feebly for air while a dozen or so human corpses were scattered amidst the tall grass. This had been an all-toomon transaction. If he had not been paid for it, Zhuang Heng would not have bothered to make this trip.


    Having more ¡°dirt¡± was always weed. To the bandits, this served as food which they could never have enough of.


    His twelve brothers had already heaped together all of the items found in the carriages, and were currently searching the corpses one-by-one for money and valuables. They were not a big gang, and thus every cent and item mattered to them. If they saw that one of the corpses was wearing afortable pair of boots, they would consider it a huge waste not to take it off.


    ¡°Hey, look what I¡¯ve found!¡± The stubbly Elder Du was carrying a young girl of around ten years old, and was eager to receive the approval of his boss.


    Elder Du was an imperceptive person who could not discriminate what was valuable and what was not. A young girl like this was not yet a woman, and could not even be used by his brothers to release their urges upon. But Zhuang Heng was in no mood to educate him andzily waved him off.


    Disappointed and despondent, Elder Du ced the girl down and pulled a short sword out from beneath his waist. He always hoped to own a five feet long saber like his boss¡¯, for it was more powerful at scything people and looked more imposing, but he did not have the courage to ask for one. His current short sword was decent as well. At its best, it could chop down a tree which was as thick as the rim of a bowl.


    The young girl raised her head and gazed at the bandit. Her slim and fragile neck was certainly not as thick as the rim of a bowl.


    Perhaps because she had been scared silly, the young girl neither cried nor whined, and showed no intention of running away. Instead, she seemed to be waiting for the adult to give her sweets.


    ¡°Lower your head,¡± Elder Du ordered. He wanted to chop her head off with one perfect stroke such that her head would roll over to his boss¡¯s feet while her body remained standing upright. He had witnessed a scene like this before and always wanted to imitate it at least once.


    The final wish of Elder Du¡¯s life would, however, be impolitely interrupted by an intruder.


    Everyone turned their sights toward the wilderness, starting from the boss Zhuang Heng, followed by the brothers who were searching through the corpses, and finally Elder Du who was taking careful aim at the young girl¡¯s neck. Only the young girl remained unconcerned and continued to stare fixedly at the bandit.


    A pure ck horse ambled its way toward the crowd. It was ridden by a pale-faced young knight who looked like a lost traveler. He appeared calm and unperturbed despite having barged into a group of bandits in his disorientation. Like the little girl, he seemed to not understand the cruel reality of the situation.


    As the bandits brandished their shiny swords, several of them moved toward the nks and prepared to encircle the prey which had arrived on its own.


    Although the horse was a fine specimen, the knight himself did not carry much luggage. Zhuang Heng felt that a fool like this was too insignificant for him to get worked up over.


    The knight stopped ten steps away from Zhuang Heng, unbothered by the movement behind him. Without saying a word, he performed an action which confounded the bandits. He took out a piece of ck cloth and rubbed it gently on the horse¡¯s cheek several times before he covered the horse¡¯s eyes with it. The animal was apparently ustomed to this practice and did not disy any sign of resistance.


    The knight leaped off the horse, revealing the saber and sword which were attached to his waist.


    ¡°Are you Zhuang Heng?¡±


    The knight¡¯s sickly pale face suggested that he had just arrived from a frozennd, but it was currently early autumn and the sunshine provided a pleasant warmth. The bandits, who had been busy for half a day, were even sweating profusely.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhuang Heng bucked his spirits up slightly, albeit he still did not take seriously the knight who had appeared from nowhere.


    ¡°You can¡¯t be like this.¡± The knight shook his head in some disappointment.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t worthy of being in by my sword in your current state.¡±


    Zhuang Heng was taken aback for a moment before he and his brothers broke intoughter. The solemn and murderous atmosphere evaporated faster than the droplets of water on the grass did. There were always a few machetemen and swordsmen in this world who highly rated their own kungfu and considered the bandits to be a bunch of ipetent goons. They would then seek to kill these bandits in order to make a name for themselves. Like the pale-faced knight, this type of people would speak profoundly and abstrusely at the start, but would be all flustered and overwhelmed when the action started. Subsequently, they would either die horrifically or escape through sheer luck. In thetter case, they would then grumble, while shuddering with terror, that the bandits were breaking the rules of the jianghu by outnumbering their enemies. The one thing which these people would never mention was that they had initiated the challenge themselves.


    This was yet another swordsman who came to court his own death. Zhuang Heng increasingly felt that this was a day for fun and game, and thereupon pulled his long-saber out of the ground and rested it on his shoulder. ¡°Come, let¡¯s fight while I¡¯m still slightly interested. We have to be on our way soon, unlike you with all that spare time.¡±


    The knight did not react to the derisoryughter. With his pale face remaining expressionless, he pulled his sword out and slowly drew nearer to his enemy.


    Zhuang Heng felt a quake in his heart the moment the knight took his first step forward. Even though there was no perceptible killing intent or swift offensive from thetter, the bandit leader began to tense up involuntarily. He grasped his saber shaft forcefully and lowered his center of gravity, as if he was facing a formidable opponent.


    Unable to sense their boss¡¯s frame of mind, the twelve brothers were bored stiff as they watched the duel y out. While awaiting the impending oue, they were strenuously estimating their total yield for the day. A few quick-thinking ones among them were already eyeing the pure ck horse. By the bandits¡¯ principles, whoever touched a particr piece of loot first would get to im it as his own.


    Therefore, most of the bandits were not paying attention to what was going on on scene, and did not know that the duel had already ended in the blink of an eye. Only the simple-minded Elder Du clenched his fists excitedly and prepared to apud and cheer. He never got tired of watching his boss use a two-handed saber to kill.


    But his apuses and cheers would never be heard. Though he had been watching, Elder Du did not understand what was going on. It felt the same as when one entered a different dream while halfway through a dream; because the contents of the two dreams werepletely unrted and the dislocation between them was ludicrous, one would even murmur to one¡¯s self within the dream that this was impossible.


    Zhuang Heng¡¯s long-saber was resting on his shoulder as before. What the brothers would never find out was that the long-saber had moved away from his shoulder for a short time and been a sh away from scything the enemy, but his rapid technique was not fast enough today.


    Feeling that killing one person a year with it was enough, the knight sheathed his sword and took his saber out instead. It was only now that the bandits fixed their attentions on him. They recognized the weapon for what it was ¨C a saber exclusively used by Golden Roc killers as well as a few daredevil impostors.


    As Zhuang Heng remained motionless, everyone gradually recognized the fact that their boss was dead.


    In contrast to many bandit gangs, they were a group of people with affection and loyalty for each other, and would not hold back from taking revenge against, let alone run away from, a strong opponent. Like a wounded wolf, Elder Du howled toward the heavens and became wildly ferocious as he led the mass charge toward the knight.


    It was twelve versus one, with the only bystander being the little girl standing transfixed in the tall grass. The bloodshed caused by the bandits during the robbery had already petrified her. Inparison, the killing which was currently taking ce in front of her eyes was rtively simple, and did not showcase any horrific scene which could rouse her from her daze.


    The knight looked like he was dancing as he fought. Every action he performed, whether it be advancing, retreating, turning, or striking, was executed efficiently and seemed to have been rehearsed. The bandits also exhibited their good teamwork as they met him head-on, pursued, struck, and eventually copsed. They seemed to be enjoying themselves as much as a dog was when chasing after a bone.


    The young girl slowlyprehended the scene in front of her eyes. Instead of twelve bandits encircling a knight, it was the exact opposite. The knight would never rush into the group to hack and sh, but would rather maintain continuous movement to keep himself positioned on its periphery. Throughout this process, the bandits were always at different distances away from him, such that there was always one of them face-to-face with him alone, whom he would kill with a lightning-fast swing of his saber, while theirpanions were always a step too slow to rescue their brother or to catch hold of him.


    Thest surviving bandit was Elder Du, who was utterly oblivious to the copse of his brothers. As he remained wholeheartedly focused on avenging his boss, his howling became increasingly monotonous. This was because there was a strong buildup of force in his heart, but he never had an opportunity to exert it upon the quick-footed knight. The buildup continued to a point when it urgently needed to be released. <em>¡°I can chop a tree as thick as the rim of a bowl,¡± </em>he thought to himself right before he suffered a strike on the neck. His thoughts immediately disintegrated as silently as silk.


    He happened to be standing a few steps away from the young girl, while still raising his saber, when he keeled over in a perfectly straight posture, with the tip of his saber narrowly missing her legs by several inches. Yet, she continued to remain motionless.


    The knight sheathed his saber and gestured toward the young girl to cover her eyes.


    Having seemed to be petrified, the young girl reacted very quickly instead at this moment. She immediately raised both hands to cover her eyes. Soon, she heard a strange whistle, and a gale which nearly knocked her off her feet arose abruptly. A puffing sound was then heard after the gale stopped. Unable to contain her curiosity any longer, she made a tiny gap in her fingers and peeked outward. She was unable to close her eyes thenceforth.


    A giant ck bird which was a head taller than the pale-faced knight, with red feathers and eyes, was gleefully pecking on the eyeballs of the dead bandits. After every two pecks, it would make a little hop with alternate legs to express its immense joy and satisfaction.


    She finally understood why the knight had covered the horse¡¯s eyes, albeit she could not bring herself to close the gap in her fingers.


    The bird leaped towards Elder Du¡¯s body and ate its favorite food in two sessive pecks. It then turned to face the little girl and saw through the gap in her fingers that her pupils were green in color and sparkling like a gemstone reflecting the moonlight.


    Shrouded by the shadow of the giant roc, the little girl imagined that its pair of crimson eyes could shoot zing fireballs at any time. Although she was astonished to the point that she forgot to breathe, she was not the least bit afraid. In fact, she believed that the bird was the most beautiful living thing she had ever seen, and thus slowly reached out her hand, hoping to get a touch of its body of silky smooth ck feathers.


    The giant roc soared up and leaped over the young girl¡¯s head, before continuing to peck on the eyeballs of the corpses. It was not an animal which would casually allow humans to touch it.


    ¡°What¡¯s its name?¡± The girl waspletely fascinated by the giant ck bird, and began asking the knight questions about it.


    ¡°It isn¡¯t a pet, and so it doesn¡¯t have a name. But some people call it the giant red-crowned roc, while others call it the Demon Bird.¡±


    The girl nodded her head thoughtfully.


    When the giant roc had eaten enough snacks for the day, it hopped towards the knight and pecked gently on his body twice before it soared high up, produced a gust of wind, and quickly disappeared into the sky.


    The knight mounted his horse, and after removing its blinkers, he turned it towards the direction of the route he came from and slowly advanced forth.


    After a brief hesitation, the young girl took the short saber from Elder Du¡¯s hands and used it to unshackle her slender calves. She then followed a few dozen steps behind the knight.


    As the sky became darker, the ck-clothed knight riding on a ck horse was on the verge of blending into the night. The young girl identally tripped over and could no longer see where the knight was when she raised her head once again. ¡°Wait for me!¡± she cried out, but her voice disappeared into the wilderness and did not even echo.


    The young girl raised the short saber and shuddered. Had she not vowed to never cry ever again, her entire face would be soaked in tears already. Nevertheless, a teardrop formed in her eye, and she had to put in all effort to prevent it from flowing down.


    ¡°Why are you following me?¡± a voice asked from above her. A moment or so ago, the knight had returned to her side, yet she did not even hear the ttering of the horse¡¯s hooves.


    ¡°I¡­ my parents were murdered and I waster sold to somebody else. But I want to take revenge and hope that you can¡­ help me.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t help anyone to take revenge when I have yet to take my own.¡±


    ¡°You can teach me kung fu and I¡¯ll take revenge myself.¡±


    ¡°I also don¡¯t teach kung fu. Killing is very simple. You have a saber in your hand, just swing it across.¡±


    The knight departed once again.


    The girl trotted and followed him closely. Based on an intuition which only children possessed and which she had notpletely lost, she knew that the knight would not forsake her.


    ¡°The bird doesn¡¯t have a name, but do you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ called Yang Huan.¡± The knight provided one of his two names.


    ¡°I also have a name. I¡¯m called¡­¡±


    ¡°I know your name.¡±


    ¡°You know? How?¡± The girl widened her eyes in surprise and nearly tripped once more.


    ¡°You take your maternal grandfather¡¯s surname Tie and your maternal grandmother¡¯s name Linglong, right?


    The girl named Tie Linglong paused her footsteps, her green eyes fixed upon the knight whom she had never heard of. All of a sudden, she began to sob, flinging to the four winds her promise to never cry ever again.

 Chapter 250 - Second Year

    Chapter 250: Second Year


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Long Qinying was approaching seventy years old. Among the males in the Great Snowmountain, his longevity was considered rare already. His luck, however, was not quite as good: the body of hisst grandson was ced in front of him, entailing that the chief of the Luoshen tribe would not have a sessor.


    He reached a hand out to close the eyes of his grandson before he stood up and used the same hand to grasp a long and broad greatsword. His hand was covered in wrinkles and its joints were showing, resembling a withered branch. Only those people who had touched or felt it before knew that it was still very powerful.


    He walked outdoors from the low and dingy house. This was the coldest season of the year in the Great Snowmountain, such that the breath he exhaled would turn into ice. However, he felt dry and hot all over his body, and almost wanted to strip off his clothes and roll in the snow like he did when he was young.


    Sunlight bounced off the snowy surface and caused him to squint his eyes. Inhaling a deep breath of the piercingly cold fresh air, he doubted that he could live more than a day without snow. He swept a nce through the faces of his few remaining tribesmen. He not only recognized every one of them, but also remembered their names and even the years which they were born in.


    Standing sparsely in the snow were two hundred or so people, of which more than half were women and elderly people, less than fifty were young people who could lift a heavy sword, and only a handful were children.


    This was the story of the decline of Luoshen Peak, which was the head of the Great Snowmountain¡¯s five peaks. Even if Long Qinying¡¯s final grandson was still alive and there were not groups of enemies shutting them in, they would nheless eventually perish in the deste and barren valleys, with frozen blood vessels and no descendants to seed their bloodline.


    Long Qinying raised his heavy sword high and wanted to say a few sentences to boost the tribe¡¯s morale, but when he saw the expressions of silent perseverance in the eyes of his tribesmen, he knew there was no need to waste his breath. The sons of the Great Snowmountain were never good at words and innately only knew how to fight. Even if only one of them was left, he would fight to the death without needing to be motivated by pleasant words or promises of wealth.


    ¡°Weng¡­¡± Long Qinying raised his head and emitted from his chest a heavy humming noise which was continuous and increasingly high-pitched.


    Starting with the able-bodied males and subsequently the women and the elderly, everyone mimicked the old chief by raising their heads and emitting the same noise. The Roar of the Benevolent and Forgiving Dragon reverberated across the valleys and lingered ceaselessly.


    An even more powerful medley of noises was soon heard, and it quickly drowned out the chanting of the people of Luoshen Peak. It was made up of the roars of an uncountable number of beasts, and it sounded as if a powerful andrge army was drawing near.


    Long Qinying ced his heavy sword down and waved toward the crowd. Five children between the ages of six and ten,prising of three boys and two girls, walked up to the old chief, each of them carrying a sword which was almost as long as their bodies. Their determined expressions were sufficient proof that they were of pure Luoshen blood.


    Several hundreds of years ago, it was also five people who first entered the Great Snowmountain and established the Luoshen ancestry. Their children and grandchildren would fill up every livable valley.


    ¡°Anyone can die, but not them.¡± Long Qinying dered. This was an order as well as a wish and a prayer.


    The roars from outside the valleys gradually subsided. Arge group of swordsmen, whose bodies were without exception wrapped in hide, slowly approached the peak. ced t on their shoulders were huge heavy swords which gleamed under the sunlight. Like a giant moving iceberg, they swooped in to kill the remaining tribesmen of Luoshen Peak.


    Long Qinyang cast off the fur cape he was wearing and led the charge toward the enemies. Behind him were fifty or so primary swordsmen, while further back were elders who could still lift a heavy sword. Though the elders¡¯ swords were already ridden with rust, they longed for the stain of fresh blood all the same. The women held short swords which were rtively much lighter. These short swords had been used to bleed the necks of thest tamed animals in Luoshen Peak, and were certainly capable of puncturing holes in the bodies of the present enemies as well.


    The five children remained at the very back. Although they wished to charge toward the front, they were held back by the adults and could only look down from the mountain slope anxiously.


    The enemy wasprised of three to four hundred swordsmen, every one of them a physically robust male. Their leader was a middle-aged man of more than forty years old who wore a ck cloak made from pieces of hide. He had arge and powerful jaw and eyes which, like those of the residents of the Great Snowmountain, were always squinting. The heavy sword in his hand seemed to be as light as a feather.


    The two groups of people halted their footsteps approximately fifty steps away from each other, with the Luoshen tribe on slightly higher terrain.


    After so many years, the warfare among the tribes of the Great Snowmountain¡¯s five peaks was finallying to an end. As the victor, the chief of Danduo Peak, Long Xiaoshi, had plenty to say. ¡°Lay down your swords, and your women and children under ten years old shall be allowed to live.¡±


    ¡°Live on as ves of Danduo Peak?¡± Long Qinying preferred tomence the fighting immediately, but in the Great Snowmountain, there were a few rules which needed to be observed at all times.


    ¡°The descendants of the Five Dragons will only be swordsmen, and never ves.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Were those missing children carried away by wild beasts?¡±


    ¡°Regardless of who carried them away, it was definitely not me.¡±


    Long Qinying turned his head back toward his silent tribesmen. He did not understand the point of this nonsensical exchange of words. Raising his heavy sword with both hands, he thereby dered war. ¡°Long Qinying of Luoshen Peak seeks battle.¡±


    The old man took calm and steady steps toward the space between the two groups of swordsmen. His spirits instantly invigorated and the sword he was holding became much lighter.


    Long Xiaoshi snorted grimly. He could have ordered his men to swarm upon the remaining strength of Luoshen Peak and spare no one, but instead, he decided to y by the rules so as to prove a point to those people who still doubted that he was worthy of being the overlord of the five peaks.


    He would not enter the battlefield himself. After all, killing a moribund old man would bring him no honor whatsoever.


    A twenty-something-year-old swordsman led the attack. He was so eager to gain the honor of killing the Luoshen tribe chief to the extent that nothing else mattered to him. If anyone reminded him to be careful, he would rage and turn hostile at that person. To him, the most embarrassing thing was to be unable to finish off a nearly seventy-year-old man within ten strokes.


    ¡°I am Danduo¡­¡±


    ¡°Come at me!¡±


    The entire valley seemed to tremor when the old man bawled. The young swordsman¡¯s words abruptly ceased, and his face reddened involuntarily. Making a low groan, he charged forth with his sword in hand.


    Long Qinying counted the opponent¡¯s steps, and when the time was about right, he took a powerful stride forward and sprang high into the air on his second stride. His heavy sword preempted his opponent¡¯s weapon and swung towards the young swordsman with such brutality that nobody could believe it was being exerted by a moribund old man.


    The young swordsman parried the first blow, albeit his legs sank deeply into the snow in doing so. His body was still shaking when the second strike from the old man came swiftly at him. He parried once more, but this time fell on his bottom. Refusing to give up, he gnashed his teeth and held on tightly to his heavy sword with both hands.


    Hot blood was flowing rapidly beneath Long Qinying¡¯s loose skin, and his heart felt like it was bursting out of him.


    On his third stroke, he cleaved his opponent¡¯s sword and one side of his opponent¡¯s body. Red blood rapidly spread all over the white snow, resembling a bright flower in this drab valley.


    His hot blood cooled down quicker than expected, such that he suddenly had difficulty even lifting up his heavy sword. But he could not back down or admit defeat, for behind him were every remaining tribesman of Luoshen Peak. He had to persist on even if he could only protect them for a little while longer.


    He raised his heavy sword in the air once again. A trail of blood was meandering down the icy smooth de.


    Long Xiaoshi¡¯s face darkened. Realizing that the old man was as persistent as before, he knew that he could not send his tribesmen one by one to their deaths henceforth. He thus turned his head and took a look at the guest beside him.


    The guest nodded his head and took off his thick and heavy cape. He then pulled a short sword out from his waist area and walked towards the old swordsman standing in the middle of the battlefield.


    He did not waste any time on self-introductions, and duly sped up and charged toward Long Qinying, who was already bracing himself. Thetter could tell with one look that this person was not a son of the Great Snowmountain and seemed to be an expert.


    When there was nearly ten steps between the two swordsmen, and their swords were on the verge of meeting, a snowball suddenly flew diagonally toward the guest.


    The guest halted his footsteps at once and used his weapon to deflect the snowball. Changing countenance, he asked, ¡°Has Luoshen Peak also learned to sneak attack?¡±


    Long Qinying was as surprised as his opponent. He was outraged at the usation and was about to refute it, but a voice from the mountain slope on the left preceded his. ¡°Sneak attacks are the forte of Golden Roc Fort, and aren¡¯t easy for others to learn.¡±


    A young man who was not yet twenty years old appeared. He was dressed in all-white and had been hiding in the snow without being discovered all this time. His face was just as white, and at his waist were a saber and a sword. None of the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain knew who he was.


    ¡°A Golden Roc killer!¡± someone cried out in rm after recognizing that one of the weapons was a saber.


    Both swordsmen who were on the verge of a showdown howled at the same time. No matter how deep their mutual enmity was, it could notpare to their shared abhorrence for the Golden Roc Fort. It was none other than that unscrupulous and dishonorable organization of killers which had blocked the way out of the Great Snowmountain, and abducted innocent children from the tribes every year.


    While the strife among the tribes of the Great Snowmountain¡¯s five peaks went on year after year ceaselessly, each tribe¡¯s slogan for peace was to unite in the fight against Golden Roc Fort.


    ¡°My name is Yang Huan. I¡¯m a defector from Golden Roc Fort. It¡¯s this man who¡¯s a real Golden Roc killer.¡± The youth only exined himself after the howls from both swordsmen hadpletely stopped.


    Few people had ever heard the name ¡°Yang Huan¡±, but many had heard about the ¡°defector from Golden Roc Fort.¡± The traceless disappearance of two young killers in full view had be a terrible humiliation of the Supreme King, and the story had spread throughout the entire Western Region.


    ¡°Haha.¡± The sword-wielding guestughed disdainfully. ¡°If you can call me a Golden Roc killer, I can just as easily call you a spy. You really think just based on the one line that you can prove that Danduo Peak is colluding with a foreign enemy?¡±


    The guest had deftly shifted the youth¡¯s usation towards the chief of Danduo Peak, Long Xiaoshi, who was standing behind him.


    The youth was not here for a verbal dispute. Pulling the sword out from beneath his waist, he leaped like the most agile of deers toward the guest.


    Regardless of which tribe they were from, nobody from the Great Snowmountain would intervene in this fair contest. Long Qinying even took a few steps back to give up the battlefield.


    The guest bent his legs slightly and waited for the perfect time for a sudden leap toward the rear of his opponent.


    The youth reached near to the guest within a few hops and swept past him like a gust of wind. However, as if struck by fear on the spot, the youth ran away without appearing to have exchanged blows. Only when he was a dozen steps away did he stop and turn back to face the now-motionless guest.


    ¡°There¡¯s a Golden Roc Fort waist token on his body. This is the item they use to recognize each other.¡± The youth sheathed his sword, implying that the fight was already over.


    Only a few people, including Long Qinying, had seen through the youth¡¯s swordmanship. The old man was the closest person to the body and so he walked over to it. It copsed on the snow the moment his hand made contact. He bent down and fumbled for a while before fishing out a faint yellow oval-shaped jade token which he subsequently raised up high to show to everyone.


    Every swordsman of the Great Snowmountain recognized the Golden Roc Fort waist token.


    Nobody trusted the white-clothed youth who had appeared from nowhere. On the other hand, no matter whether they were friend or foe, everyone believed the chief of the Luoshen tribe, Long Qinying.


    Even Long Xiaoshi did not dare to use the old swordsman of fraudulence. Instead, he pointed the finger at the youth. ¡°You sure have quick hands. It¡¯s truly in line with Golden Roc Fort¡¯s practices to nt a waist token on someone so as to frame and alienate him.¡±


    ¡°Why, you also know that Golden Roc Fort is good at driving a wedge between people.¡± The youth raised his voice so that everyone in the valley could hear him. ¡°Aren¡¯t you ashamed that the men of the Great Snowmountain only know how to fight against each other and not how to join hands to resist themon enemy?¡±


    The swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain were not used to criticism, regardless of whether it was offered out of good or bad will. The two groups of people thus turned toward the youth and loudly rebuked him at the same time. A few short-tempered people even charged toward him with their swords.


    Strangely, it was Long Xiaoshi who held back his tribesmen. His objective for today was to wipe out the people of Luoshen Peak, and he did not want there to be anyplications. ¡°You may be a small boy but you certainly have some nerve. What right do you have to say this?¡±


    The youth looked toward Long Qinying instead of the questioner. ¡°I was friends with Long Tao and Long Hai. They entrusted me with reforming the five peaks of the the Great Snowmountain before their deaths.¡±


    Although Long Qinying had long known that the oue would be like this, his body shuddered nheless. ¡°Those two grandsons of mine are dead?¡±


    ¡°Yes. They killed a Golden Roc killer in Stone Castle and were consequently retaliated against.¡±


    ¡°Good!¡± Long Qinying cheered. To kill a person in Golden Roc Fort was something which nobody else from the Great Snowmountain had been able to do.


    Long Xiaoshi snorted grimly once again. Although Luoshen Peak now had an extra swordsman helping them, this did not affect the battle situation. In fact, the white-clothed youth¡¯s interference in the battle would save him considerable trouble.


    Long Xiaoshi raised his heavy sword and shouted from the deepest part of his abdomen, ¡°Kill!¡±


    The two factions bellowed as they charged at each other. They never enjoyed verbal debates, and only knew how to engage in bloody fights.


    A melee was about to take ce with the white-clothed swordsman sandwiched in the middle. He thus pinched his lips and emitted a sharp whistling sound.


    A dark cloud suddenly appeared in the clear sky and rapidly drifted over everyone¡¯s head.


    A giant red-crowned roc descended from the sky, and with its first attack, it pecked off one of Long Xiaoshi¡¯s eyeballs. It subsequently flew up again beforending behind the white-clothed youth. Spreading its giant wings to protect him, it raised its head and swallowed what was in its mouth before looking left and right.


    The swordsmen of both factions gasped astonishedly in unison, effectively drowning out Long Xiaoshi¡¯s screams of pain.


    ording to the old legend, giant rocs fed mainly on dragons. As descendants of the Five Dragons, this was the living thing these swordsmen should dread the most. They never imagined that this legendary bird would truly exist in this world.

 Chapter 251 - Third Year

    Chapter 251: Third Year


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    demaster Shen Liang opened a corner of the drapes so that he could take a peep outside. He hoped with all his heart that three years of running about was henceforth over. In less than half a month, he would be able to return to Stone Castle where he could possibly regain the Lord¡¯s favor and trust.


    Whenever he thought of the two young killers who escaped in front of his eyes, he would fly into a rage, of which some was directed at the escapees and himself, while a small portion was directed at the Lord. He had acted before Lady Meng did and surrounded the defecting killers with his men, yet the result was a total catastrophe.


    Who would have thought that ve Huan would fly away on a giant roc? This was totally beyond the scope of human control.


    Perhaps he should have predicted that Maid Lotus would escape by jumping off the cliff. The area around the Ghost Cliff had been the Barren Sect disciples¡¯ secret route to reach the top of the mountain. Although the iron nails fixed into the cliff walls had long been removed, the holes remained. However, he never imagined that the young female killer¡¯s Lightness Skill would be good enough for her to slide down a rope andter to dig her fingers in the holes as she scaled down the mountain. By the time he realized what was going on, it was already toote.


    The only remedial measures which Stone Castle could employ after the fact was to plug the nail holes and to set up an Arrow Tower on the Ghost Cliff.


    In order to make up partially for his mistakes, Shen Liang had fastened a fine rope around his waist and personally went down the cliff wall to check that most of the nail holes had been filled with dirt. Although some could still be forcibly dug into, even a person with amazing Lightness Skill would be terrified by the risks. As long as the person took one uneven breath, he or she would fall and be smashed into pieces.


    Therefore, between the two escapees, Shen Liang admired Maid Lotus more.


    The female killer was not only decisive but also brave without being reckless. She had shrewdly decided not to ve Huan, and descended the cliff alone at thest possible moment. Evidently, she felt that he was a burden who could very likely have caused both of them to die.


    What Shen Liang could not understand was why she wanted to defect. A killer as outstanding as her would never be moved by love.


    Furthermore, there had been no trace of her since her disappearance, unlike ve Huan who went around killing people and even allowed his giant roc to leave a distinctive mark ¨C that of the eyeless corpses ¨C everywhere.


    Shen Liang viewed ve Huan¡¯s actions as an open challenge toward him and Golden Roc Fort. He had sent people to where the eyeless corpses were and had covered practically every country in the Western Region, yet after dispatching teams upon teams of killers, the youth would somehow manage to slip away every single time.


    Shen Liang had a feeling that Maid Lotus was hiding beside ve Huan, and that as long as thetter fell into the trap today, he would be able to dispose of both defected killers.


    It was currently the early hours of the morning. The camp was extremely quiet, such that the footsteps and the swaying of the weapons of the patrolling soldiers were clearly audible. Everything was proceeding normally. What even the soldiers did not know was that in this tent were hidden the best killers of Golden Roc Fort.


    Shen Liang lowered the drapes and turned his head back to look at the three distressed people.


    One of them was an old man with a dark face, thick arms, and a slightly hunched back. He was one of the most famous cksmiths in Shu-lik, and was especially skilled at making swords. The other two people were his young disciples. They were bashful and uneasy to the extent that they did not even dare to raise their heads and take a glimpse of the killer standing in the doorway.


    In a letter, ve Huan had brazenly demanded Shu-lik¡¯s military camp to hand the cksmith over to him. Shen Liang had thought, at one point, that this was a trap, until he personally read the letter that was worded brusquely and arrogantly:


    Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks hereby orders every one of you to retreat three hundred miles within five days while leaving behind Daga the cksmith.


    Although there was no signature or ve Huan¡¯s name on the letter, Shen Liang knew it was written by him. News of the unrest on the Great Snowmountain had long reached Golden Roc Fort.


    Seven or eight months ago, the killer had fled into the Great Snowmountain and killed dozens of Danduo Peak¡¯s swordsmen with the assistance of a giant roc. He thereupon forced the chief, Long Xiaoshi, to make peace with the old enemy Luoshen Peak. Subsequently, a series of battles involving Greatsword Peak, Smallsword Peak, and Canopy Peak broke out. The intensity of these battles exceeded the results attained by Golden Roc Fort¡¯s many years of sowing discord.


    The undercover Golden Roc killers either fled the Great Snowmountain or were killed. However, news of the conflicts continued ceaselessly and showed no sign of end. Shen Liang had made the prudent decision to remain as a bystander, but that was only until this ¡°Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks¡± suddenly popped up.


    Shen Liang could not help but let out a disdainful snort. <em>¡°The defected killer and son of a servant dares to call himself a chief and leader. ve Huan must have gone mad.¡±</em>


    Upon hearing the snort, the two cksmith disciples startled up as if they had identally stepped on burning charcoal. They covertly gazed at their master for a moment before lowering their heads back down, afraid that an inappropriate expression in their eyes would invite death upon themselves or their master.


    Twenty killers were hiding within the same small tent. Nheless, the cksmith and his disciples did not see even the slightest trace of them.


    The only killer who did not hide was demaster Shen Liang himself. He was certain that ve Huan and Maid Lotus would arrive to perform a sneak raid. Both of them were killers trained by Golden Roc Fort after all. Even though they had defected, their behavioral patterns could not have deviated from that of killers.


    Everything would end today.


    Four days after the threat from the Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks, when the sun had just risen and the dewdrops had yet to evaporate, the guards spotted in the distance a knight slowly riding his way out of the pass of the Great Snowmountain. The strange thing was that their forward scouts and sentries did not provide a single notification.


    As the news rapidly traveled up, more and more people gathered in front of the camp to get a view of the knight and his ck horse.


    ¡°Is he the ¡®Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks¡¯?¡± the general asked in astonishment. He felt that the Golden Roc killers had made a mountain out of a molehill and had wasted their efforts setting up an ambush. The person whom they wanted to kill wasing directly toward them alone.


    ¡°Could it be that everyone in the Great Snowmountain has died, leaving him to proim himself as king?¡± Laughter broke out when someone made this conjecture.


    ¡°But where are the scouts?¡± Someone else raised this cautious suspicion, but his voice was drowned out by the uproar around him.


    A bodyguard soldier beside the general drew his bow and shot an arrow at the knight. The arrow scraped the knight¡¯s arm andnded on the ground, causing the knight to rein in his horse.


    Theughter in the camp grew even louder. Most of it was to ridicule the soldier¡¯s archery technique.


    Shen Liang was a little skeptical of the news, but when the noise outside became ever more morous, he felt obliged toe out and investigate. The killers remained lying in wait in their original positions, in case the enemy was just feinting to divert attention.


    ¡°Is that the person you seek?¡± the general asked.


    Shen Liang nodded his head with a gloomy look on his face. ¡°Yes.¡±


    It was indeed ve Huan. Shen Liang was able to recognize him even though he was still a far distance away. The once-childish face had matured a little, but it had not acquired too many scars over three years of running about and away. The only thing was that hisplexion was paler than Shen Liang remembered, as if he had been constantly hiding underground.


    ¡°Prepare the arrows,¡± the general ordered. For several days past, he had been infected by the anxiety of the Golden Roc killers, and did not expect that the ¡°Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks¡± would be a lunatic like this.


    ¡°Wait a moment.¡± Shen Liang remained doubtful, for he saw only ve Huan but not Maid Lotus. Although the former had killed many people, he did so with the assistance of the giant red-crowned roc. In Shen Liang¡¯s eyes, Maid Lotus¡¯ swordcraft was more impressive.


    The general was a little displeased. This was Shu-lik¡¯s military camp, in which the Golden Roc killers were merely guests, yet his orders were interfered with. Nevertheless, he swallowed his dissatisfaction. With twenty killers hiding within the camp, he had no choice but to act carefully.


    Shen Liang summoned ten of the killers. There was no longer a need to keep them secret at this stage. They walked out of the camp and spread themselves out as they charged toward the knight. They had separate duties. Three of them would be responsible for killing the man while seven of them would monitor the skies. The giant bird was the target which they were taking more precaution against.


    The killers each carried a saber in one hand and a quick crossbow in the other. The bolts were smeared with enough Antiaris poison to kill an elephant.


    The Shu-lik soldiers could not resist slyly curling their lips. They were not in Jade City, and over here, the practice of outnumbering the enemy was ill-epted and even somewhat looked down upon.


    Without dismounting his horse, the knight slowly raised up a saber which was exclusive to Golden Roc Fort, and blew upon the horn which hung on his chest.


    The officers and soldiers of Shu-lik were astounded. They had never heard such a high-pitched call before.


    The ten killers nervously halted their footsteps and raised their heads to search the skies for a giant roc which looked like a dark cloud.


    Before the bugle call ended, more knights surged out of the mountain pass. Heavy swords rested on their shoulders as they silently spurred their horses on. Only the convergent rumbling of the horses¡¯ hooves upon the ground apanied the sound of the bugle.


    The general and his soldiers abruptly changed countenance. ¡°Just how many knights does the Great Snowmountain have? A thousand or two? Or even more?¡± They had never seen so many swordsmen appearing at the same time. These uncouth mountain people engaged in endless fights from the time they were born. To be able to gather a few hundreds of them as a team was in itself a remarkable achievement.


    There were, in total, less than a thousand soldiers in the military camp. They were usually more than enough to intercept individual or small groups of swordsmen. However,pared to arge cavalry army which came rolling down from the snow mountain, they were effectively like an egg against a stone.


    The horses picked up speed and the heavy swords began to move away from the swordsmen¡¯s shoulders. A murderous atmosphere pervaded throughout heaven and earth, such that the smell of death filled up everyone¡¯s noses.


    The ten killers standing in front were like a few lonely treelings situated in the wilderness while facing them was a furious thunderstorm which would uproot every one of them.


    Unable to decide whether to continue carrying out their orders or to run for their lives, the killers quickly lost the chance to choose.


    The swordsmen did not even need to use their swords. The horses stomped the ten killers into pieces as they sped past.


    ¡°Arrows! Arrows!¡± The general bellowed as a premonition of his destruction arose in his heart.


    The soldiers frantically moved into formation and drew their bows.


    A dark cloud drifted past over their heads.


    ¡°Demon Bird!¡±


    The moment this terrifying name was mentioned, a soldier was already lifted into the sky, and just as quickly, he was heard screaming in agony as he fell out of the air. His voice was so chilling that half of the soldiers immediately discarded their weapons and prepared to flee.


    Shen Liang did not dare to believe what he was seeing. The person was well and truly ve Huan. How could he have be the ¡°Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks¡± for real?


    The demaster staggered his way towards the tent, pushing aside any soldier who blocked his way. Even if the current operation was a failure, the cksmith had to be killed so that ve Huan would not obtain him.


    As the camp was in chaos and everyone was scrambling to get on the horses, the general ordered his bodyguards to create a way out for him by killing their fellow soldiers.


    Nobody paid attention to what was going on in the tent. When Shen Liang dashed into it, he saw that there were two new people protecting the cksmith and his disciples.


    One was a gentle yet cold youth who was holding a long sword, while the other was a green-eyed girl who wielded a saber.


    The remaining ten killers were nowhere to be found.


    Shen Liang hastily exited the tent. He had already lost the will to fight, and wanted to run away together with everyone else.


    The swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain charged into the camp like a flood submerging every living thing on the road. Meanwhile, the giant red-crowned roc was busy flying up and down like a child happily ying his favorite game.


    Amidst the crowd, Shen Liang saw ve Huan dismount his horse, before sheathing his saber and pulling his sword out. The onrushing knights automatically gave way to the ¡°Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks¡±, so that the two men who possessed sabers could have an isted space for a life-and-death duel.


    Shen Liang pulled his saber out. As the demaster of Heart Cleansing Yard, he was certainly a very well-known figure.


    Within the tent, while his two disciples were trembling with fear, Daga the cksmith remained calm as he spoke. ¡°I¡¯ll need fifty kilograms of Wushan refined iron if I am to forge the world¡¯s sharpest sword for your master.¡±

 Chapter 252 - Counselor

    Chapter 252: Counselor


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Fang Wenshi had not expected that he would be so poverty-stricken. The first thing that he thought of when he opened his eyes every morning was about how he could use a few grains of rice to feed his hunger. He had once been respected by many of his neighbors because he was a man of poetry, was well versed in many books, and can hold conversations about philosophical matters. Even the local wealthy man had wanted him to marry his daughter. However, he had rejected the offer. A real man¡¯s aspirations should be endless- why should he be afraid about not having a wife? When he had traveled around the country for four or five years and had returned to his hometown without any sess, he had been greeted by the same rich man. He rejoiced in secret for several days.


    Today¡¯s Fang Wenshi was like an invisible person in the vige. The once familiar neighbors had either pretended to be blind or had been hiding away from him because they were afraid that he would ask them to borrow money. As if his bad luck hadn¡¯t already peaked, he had been blocked by two strangers in the yard today.


    At that time, Fang Wenshi had been at his older brother¡¯s house next door. He had used his silver tongue; he begged, intimidated, and induced. One would have had heard sublime words with deep meanings, as well as knowledge of Astronomy and Geography. He had used whatever techniques he had thought of and the Devil of Hell would had been moved. However, his sister-inw had not even blinked a wink, and had kept on feeding the chicken in the yard as usual. Not even a grain of rice had been allowed to be ¡°borrowed.¡± To her, her brother-inw¡¯s voice was no different than the noises that were made by cicadas.


    With a parched mouth and a starving heart, Fang Wenshi thought that he was not needed and that there was no need to return. Suddenly, two unfamiliar fellows pushed open the door and entered without permission. They had apparently heard reliable information and, upon seeing the schr in rags, they asked, ¡°Are you called Fang Wenshi?¡±


    The big fellows were wearing travel-stained felt clothing. Their faces were rough and their tone was blunt. They looked like the kidnappers who had kidnapped him a few years ago. Fang Wenshi had an ominous feeling and he hurriedly shook his head.


    The reaction of his sister-inw, who had not spoken the whole time, was surprisingly quick. She said preemptively, ¡°It is him.¡±


    The ck cloth bag descended from the sky. Fang Wenshi had a mind of prowess, but not a single ounce of strength to parry against the rough rugged men. His head was covered and there was darkness before him. Then, he was lifted up to be carried away. This was start of thest part of his unfortunate life.


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s sister-inw breathed a long sigh of relief as if she had recovered from many years of a stubborn illness. However, it had ured to her that her husband might ask her about this in the future. Hence, after waiting for the big fellows to leave for some time, she shouted in tears, ¡°kidnappers!¡±


    The neighbors left their homes and watched. They only had time to see the dust raised by the horses. They wondered in their hearts, ¡®Who would be so blind as to kidnap a poor man? Besides, why kidnap him? Just ask for help, and the vigers would happily tie the schr up and send him to you. If someone will provide food, then Fang Wenshi himself would probably be willing to go.¡¯


    The two big fellows carried Fang Wenshi and moved forward without stopping. They had rested for only a short time each day. On the first day, Fang Wenshi felt that the bones of his body had been torn apart. When a big fellow had taken out some rations, he had still grabbed it and gobbled it up, without even asking where they were going.


    The big fellow was shocked and had thought that this schr must have had been a bit of a doormat.


    Fang Wenshi had guessed that they were going westward. However, it had been strange that the big fellows had not chosen the safest and most unobstructed path- the Tianshan South Road, which passed through Jade City and was protected by Golden Roc Fort. Instead, they had taken the wilderness north of the mountains, where sometimes there were no roads.


    After filling his stomach, Fang Wenshi began to worry about his safety. He politely asked the two ¡°pals¡± for some answers but the reply he received was to be gagged with rags. The two big fellows did not speak much to each other. There were only the monotonous sounds of horse hooves that went on nonstop, day and night, which even lingered in their dreams.


    After more than half a month, the journey was finally over. The cloth bag on his head was removed and the rags in his mouth were taken out. Fang Wenshi felt that he was still floating on a turbulent horse. His feet had felt like they had stepped into a heap of cotton flowers. As soon as the big fellow had let go of him, he fell to the ground andid there for half a day.


    This was arge tent with not much illumination. It had simple decorations and felt rugs that wereid out. There were a dozen rough men sitting or standing on either side, each with short or long heavy swords hanging by their sides. Fang Wenshi had a feeling that the status of these people was proportional to the size of their swords.


    However, his first impression soon fell apart. A young man was sitting cross-legged on the inside of the shortest couch. From his point of view, he should had been the leader; but the sword by his side was the shortest.


    The young man¡¯s face was pale, and he seemed to have an illness. The face should have had been handsome, but it was covered by a gloomy expression.


    There was a guard standing on both the left and right sides of the low couch. On the left was a very handsome teenager. Fang Wenshi couldn¡¯t help but nce at him a second time. On the right of the couch was a teenage girl.


    Fang Wenshi swallowed some saliva and said the words that he had longed prepared in his heart, ¡°Your majesty, please spare my life. This lowly little schr has no money and no potential. The two big brothers must¡¯ve grabbed the wrong person.¡±


    The young man in the low couch spoke up. His voice was cold and slightlyzy, but there was a kind of dignity that felt murderous so Fang Wenshipletely believed that he was the ¡°king¡±.


    ¡°Fang Wenshi, don¡¯t you recognize me?¡±


    Fang Wenshi lifted his head and thoroughly looked at him for a while. His mind quickly churned. He hoped that he could think of something. Then his eyes lit up. ¡°It¡¯s you, eh, why didn¡¯t you say so sooner? Has brother been well? Is your family well?¡±


    The young man waited for him to finish. ¡°Four years ago, at Iron Mountain Camp, does Mr. Fang still remember the man who had given you the horse?¡±


    With this reminder, Fang Wenshi finally recognized the young man in front of him, but he still couldn¡¯t remember this person¡¯s name. ¡°It¡¯s you! You¡­how¡­aren¡¯t you¡­where is this ce?¡±


    ¡°This is the mountain pass of the Great Snow Mountain. My name is Yang Huan, and I am no longer a killer from Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    <em>The Great Snowmountain! </em>Fang Wenshi was shocked. This was at least thousands of miles away from his hometown; he was actually captured man around and brought to this hellhole. There was no need to ask, the ferocious men around him must be the legendary swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain.


    From the secluded countryside, news of the swordsmen rushing out of the Great Snowmountain against the border of Shu-lik country had not yet reached the ears of Fang Wenshi, but he vaguely had an impression of the name ¡°Yang Huan¡±. He remembered that this person had defected from Golden Roc Fort a few years ago. If he didn¡¯t remember, then he would never have associated this person with the killer apprentice that he had met several years ago.


    ¡°Brother Yang.¡± Fang Wenshi spoke out but then changed his mind. ¡°Lord Yang ¡­¡±


    A one-eyed man corrected him coldly, ¡°The Chief of the Dragons, the Leader of Five Peaks.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was startled. This name was too long so it was a little hard for him to spell out. The one-eyed man gave him an abbreviation: ¡°Dragon King¡±.


    ¡°Your majesty, the Dragon King.¡± Fang Wenshi saluted respectfully and bowed. He felt that the young man and the killer apprentice he had met were not the same person.


    ¡°Not ¡®Your Majesty¡¯, just the ¡®Dragon King¡¯.¡± The one-eyed man was tirelessly teaching the schr who seemed to not understand anything.


    ¡°Dragon King.¡± Fang Wenshi felt that the title was very strange but his mind had calmed down and could cover up his true emotions well. ¡°This lowly one receives your summons. What are your orders?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Fang must have still remembered the promise that we had made back then. Now I have 5,000 people and I¡¯m looking for your counsel.¡± Gu Shenwei did not like the title of ¡°Dragon King,¡± but this title was conferred by the Chief of the Five Peaks several days ago. He could only ept it.


    Fang Wenshi was of course, unable to remember even a word from back then. However, it was after all, a good thing to have had someone seeking counsel from him. This was perhaps the turning point which he had waited 20 years for. ¡°Oh, of course, of course. 5,000 men, not bad, not bad.¡±


    Gu Shenwei understood Fang Wenshi was also just a man. ¡°Mr. Fang must be fatigued from the journey and may wish to retire. Let¡¯s continue our talk tomorrow.¡±


    Although there were not many kinds of dishes at the banquet, it was veryvish; if it weren¡¯t big chunks of meat, then it was cooled milk and wine. Fang Wenshi was eating the heartiest meal he ever had for the past few years. He carefully observed the young ¡°Dragon King¡± and his savage swordsmen until his belly bulged high and could no longer fit in any more food.


    For one to want Fang Wenshi¡¯s counsel, he must have a strong foundation. Fang Wenshi would not willing to be the military counselor to a group of rabble.


    The result of Fang Wenshi¡¯s observation was not very optimistic. The swordsmen were silent and were powerful indeed. However, they were very guarded against each other. They always had one hand grabbing the meat, and the other hand was ced not far from their heavy swords.


    Dragon King Yang Huan was served by two teenagers. Each dish was tested by one of them every time .


    There was no established set of rules here. The swordsmen entering and leaving did not need to give any notification; they simply lifted the curtains as they made their way out. There were no obligatory rites of bowing or bending the knee to the Dragon King, just a simple nod was eptable.


    However, Fang Wenshi felt very clearly that everyone was afraid of the young Dragon King, and that this fear came from the bottom of their hearts. No one except for the two servants had dared to approach him too closely.


    After the meal, when Fang Wenshi was going to his designated tent, what he saw and heard in the camp confused him even more.


    There were a lot of swordsmening and going, but there were definitely not 5,000 people. Arge part of them were teenagers or children and old people who were between 50 to 60 years old. They were also divided into groups with their own leaders in each individual tents. The tense atmosphere was very obvious.


    Only fear, which was stronger than hatred, can subdue these people.


    Fang Wenshi was very disappointed with the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain. He grew increasingly curious about the young Dragon King.


    What kind of ability does that young man have to quell all these wild animalistic swordsmen, such that all of them had bowed their heads to call him ¡°king¡±?


    That night, Fang Wenshi had an upset stomach. He tossed and turned and could not sleep well. So he simply got up, paced back and forth, went to the toilet several times, and reorganized the knowledge in his head- knowledge that he would never use. Just when he had be a little hungry, an idea formed in his heart.


    The next day, the Dragon King did not summon him. Fang Wenshi just walked around the camp and chatted with swordsmen everywhere. He learned a lot of useful information.


    Although the swordsmen were rough, the different tribes were roughly simr in their ways. They were very weing to the guest. They answered his questions and never lied. Thus, Fang Wenshi gained some confidence.


    On the third night, the Dragon King summoned the counselor alone; aside from these two, there were also the two teenage servants in the tent.


    Fang Wenshi was well-informed and did not beat around the bush. At the moment when they met, he immediately asked, ¡°Dragon King, please tell me the truth. If you were truly an enemy of Golden Roc Fort: would you want to take revenge, or would you want to be the Overlord of the Western Region?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡±


    ¡°Revenge is a private matter. Not everyone in the Western Region is like the Great Snowmountain¡¯s swordsmen. Not everyone has such deep-seated hatred towards Golden Roc Fort. You have formed an alliance here easily. There are also people outside this mountain who will be willing to risk their lives for you. But if all you want is revenge? If that is so, then I don¡¯t want to. On the other hand, the struggle for the Overlord of the Western Region is a fight for kingship. It carries great risks, but also huge benefits. The participants fight for the name, power, and wealth. The people in the world will all be raring to partake in a portion of this victory. So, ah, if it¡¯s revenge that you want, I won¡¯t be able to help you. It would be better to let me go back to farming. However, ah, if it¡¯s hegemony, I¡¯ll be willing to give you some pointers.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had not expected that Fang Wenshi would have said such a thing. He bowed his head for a moment. ¡°There is still killing involved in the fight for hegemony, isn¡¯t there?¡±


    ¡°You can kill countless people.¡±


    ¡°I want to be the Overlord of the Western Region.¡±

 Chapter 253 - Victory or Defeat

    Chapter 253: Victory or Defeat


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei talked with Fang Wenshi all night long. The little girl, Tie Linglong, was so sleepy that she fell asleep on the low couch while Chu Nanping vigntly kept his guard. He could not understand what the Dragon King and his counselor were saying, so his ears were used to listen to the sound outside the tent.


    There was a natural reason for the tension within Chu Nanping, the Dragon King suffered an assassination once or twice. Thus, he swore that he would never let this fellow practitioner die in the hands of others.


    In the afternoon of the next day, Gu Shenwei called together the five chiefs to discuss important matters. Fang Wenshi, for the first time in his life, spoke as a military counselor. His excitement kept his eyes open and his mind was full of ideas, without feeling sleepy at all. When he analyzed the situation to the several somber Great Snowmountain chiefs, it seemed that the world was in his hands.


    ¡°The Great Snowmountain is in danger. If you don¡¯t make preparations early, you will be defeated within this year.¡± Fang Wenshi took the advice from the Dragon King, and when he opened his mouth, the first thing he said was a shocking statement to attract their attention.


    The five chiefsughed in disdain at these words. The one-eyed chief, Long Xiaoshi of the Danduo Peak was first to make a rebuttal. One of his eyes was pecked out by the Legendary Giant Bird and caused his position to advance, thus giving him the right to speak in front of the Dragon King. ¡°Destruction of the whole army? As you can see, in the past two months, Great Snowmountain defeated the army of Shu-lik three times and killed numerous enemies; there were very few losses in our army. Golden Roc killers had dozens of plots, all came with none able to leave. A string of heads are still hanging at the gates of this camp.¡±


    Fang Wenshi listened to his voice and showed respect for the chief of Danduo Peak, and then asked, ¡°In that case, why does Great Snowmountain not march to Shu-lik? Instead, are staying at the mountain pass and waiting for the offensive?¡±


    ¡°Only waiting for the Dragon King to give an order.¡± Long Xiaoshi hit his fist on the low table in front of him.


    ¡°Because we don¡¯t n on leaving Great Snowmountain,¡± The oldest among them, the Luoshen tribe¡¯s chief, Long Qinying, argued. The remaining three chiefs had their inclinations, thus did not speak and only nodded.


    Only Fang Wenshi shook his head again and again. ¡°Oh, you think that Great Snowmountain is victorious, but I believe that Great Snowmountain had actually been defeated. What is victory and what is defeat? This cannot be determined by a single instance¡­¡±


    The military counselor¡¯s words were a bit puzzling and angered the five chiefs. Long Xiaoshi raised his heavy sword and shouted, ¡°Victory is victory, defeat is defeat, and it is clear that there is a time and a ce. How is it possible that Great Snowmountain killed countless enemies on the battlefield, but are still the defeated?¡±


    Great Snowmountain swordsmen does not necessarily want to kill people. Many times it was just a way of expressing their emotions. Fang Wenshi was aware of this and his heart was still a bit uneasy, pretending to bow his head and carrying his hands, taking a few steps away from the Long Xiaoshi and said:¡±Let me make an analogy. In the past few years, the five peaks of Great Snowmountain has struggled endlessly with each other, winning and losing. Compared this with the enemy, the Golden Roc Fort, is it not a crushing defeat? Even the so-called winner¡­¡±


    Fang Wenshi had not finished his words, the five chiefs shed their heavy swords together and shouted in unison. Fang Wenshi knew that he had made a mistake and rushed to the side of the Dragon King, and could only swallow down the remaining half of his words.


    Gu Shenwei raised his hand to stop the angered chiefs. ¡°Ignorance can be forgiven.¡± Then he turned to the frightened military counselor. ¡°Fang Wenshi, the Great Snowmountain has five peaks. The past cannot be mentioned again. I forgive you for your ignorance this time. However,mit this offense again, you will be condemned to death.¡±


    Fang Wenshi submissively apologized, but he suddenly came to an awkward realization that he had to deal with this group of barbarous mountain people. He must be careful to not die due for such a ridiculous reason before the hegemony had even started. ¡°Let me give another example: A and B, two countries. A, who has one hundred thousand elite soldiers, sends 10,000, and B with 20,000 elite soldiers, also sends 10,000. After the war, the whole country of A undergoesplete destruction, and B loses 5,000. Who wins?¡±


    This sounds more like an arithmetic problem. The chiefs scoffed at it, and Long Xiaoshi replied, ¡°Of course country B wins, even if there is only one person remaining. The entire country of the enemy had facedplete destruction, so naturally, country B wins.¡±


    ¡°But only 10% of the elite soldiers in country A were lost, while the 20,000 troops in country B lost one-fourth. Although this battle is sessful, what will happen during the second battle, the third battle, and the fourth battle?¡±


    The chiefs felt that the counselor¡¯s words were somewhat reasonable, but also seemed sophisticated. They all bowed their heads and wondered how to refute them.


    Fang Wenshi took advantage of his victory and continued to speak. ¡°For example, a country charges straight into the enemy country, burning and looting. The earn a lot of loot, but at the loss of half the troops, resulting in the loss of strength to send more troops in the next year. Is this victory or defeat? Another example is that if a country has elite soldiers, it will win every battle. Although the strength of the enemy¡¯s troops is weak, there are countless amounts of money. After each defeat, a new army is formed immediately. In the long run, who wins and who loses?¡±


    The chiefs were gradually beginning to understand the meaning of the military counselor¡¯s anecdotes. The Luoshen tribe¡¯s chief, Long Qinying opened his mouth much more politely and said, ¡°Mr. Fang no longer needs to give any more ¡®examples¡¯, let us talk about Great Snowmountain and Golden Roc Fort and the Shu-lik country.¡±


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s victory in the early stages of the war led to a sharp increase in confidence. He nced at the calm and collected Dragon King and continued, ¡°Great Snowmountain has won three consecutive battles, but has gained nothing. Shu-lik is a big country in the Western Regions. The loss of thousands of soldiers is not a big deal for them. They can still recruit more for the next ten battles and even one hundred battles. What about Great Snowmountain? Dozens of people have died in each battle, and we will continue to fight. How many will remain in the end? Forgive me if I am being too blunt, but the so-called five-thousand people, is this an ¡®urate¡¯ number?¡±


    The Great Snowmountain swordsmen are not used to lying. They were asked just one question by Fang Wenshi and were embarrassed. Long Xiaoshi coughed twice and said, ¡°Not five thousand, probably more like three thousand.¡±


    ¡°Three thousand? Is this an estimate or is it an urate count?¡±


    Long Xiaoshi could not say a word and lowered his head. Gu Shenwei spoke the following words: ¡°There are actually 1,200 people, 1,500 horses, sometimes more and sometimes less.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was talking with the Dragon Kingst night about most of the Western Region and the overall situation, but did not understand the details clearly. Hearing such a small number caused his heart to beat like a drum, and then he thought, ¡®I have not been so appreciated for many years, although I am unable to show my potential to the fullest, it is still possible to wet my feet.¡¯ He shook his head and said, ¡°With more than a thousand troops against the Shu-lik country, I am afraid that you will never have the opportunity to even cross paths with the Golden Roc Fort. It¡¯s better to just disband here. There are thousands of miles within the Great Snowmountain. Everyone has been the same as always, hiding and waiting for old age, isn¡¯t this better?¡±


    The chiefs seldom argued with the counselor, but at this slight provocation, they all brandished their heavy swords again and fulminated. The chief of the Greatsword Peak was a strong and prosperous man, and his temper was fierce. He had been holding it in for the respect of the Dragon King and the chief of Luoshen Peak, Long Qinying. At this moment, he could resist no longer. With one big p to the table, he stood straight up with frowning brows and angry eyes, and said, ¡°Kid, are you looking down on our Great Snowmountain? Let¡¯s make a bet. If I fail to mount Golden Roc Fort within three years time, I will give you my head; if I seed, then you give me your head!¡±


    Fang Wenshi moved closer to the Dragon King again, thinking that he should set some rules for these swordsmen. Otherwise, he would be a schr who has not even the ability to tie-up a chicken with his hands. Mingling with this bunch was rather dangerous, so he made sure to show no fear. Thus, he raised his head andughed, ¡°This gamble is too easy. As long as you be a captive, you¡¯ll naturally have the opportunity to board Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    The chief of Greatsword Peak angrily stood up with one hand holding his heavy sword and howled. He wanted to chop up the military counselor who had just taken office less than a day ago. Fang Wenshi had indeed overly taunted and even frightened himself. He then jumped one step closer to the Dragon King. The beautiful teen, Chu Nanping, brandished his long sword and stood beside the military counselor.


    The Dragon King did not speak, and the chief of Luoshen Peak hurried to get up and blocked the furious chief of Greatsword Peak. ¡°Have you lost your mind? Have you forgotten the oath we¡¯ve all taken?¡±


    The chief of Greatsword Peak¡¯s heart suddenly jolted. They once swore to the gods, pledging their loyalty to the Dragon King. One of the pledges was to never kill anyone inside the Dragon King¡¯s tent. Thus, he dropped his heavy sword down, and mumbled to himself. The Great Snowmountain swordsmen did not know how to properly apologize, they just spoke so low that no one else could hear them.


    The Dragon King still did not speak, and the small storm easily passed. Fang Wenshi¡¯s heart was slightly at ease. As he turned his head and saw Chu Nanping standing still and holding his sword, he imagined he was looking at himself.


    Chu Nanping said coldly, ¡°Only five steps allowed from the Dragon King.¡±


    Fang Wenshi originally thought that there were no rules in Great Snowmountain. At this time, he discovered that he was actually not familiar with the rules here. When he remembered talking all ofst night, the Dragon King kept a distance with himself, so he awkwardly retreated a few steps back and coughed in embarrassment trying to gather his interrupted thoughts.


    The one-eyed chief of the Danduo Peak, Long Xiaoshi, spoke out to smooth things over. ¡°Let¡¯s listen to the military counselor¡¯s meaning, he must have some good ideas to prate Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    ¡°There is no good idea.¡± Fang Wenshi was never able to cure the faults in his choices of words and has always regretted every word he has ever spoken. He then busily added, ¡°But there probably are some. May I ask, between Shu-lik and Golden Roc Fort, who does Great Snowmountain hold the deeper hatred for?¡±


    Although Fang Wenshi imed that he did not participate in acts of revenge, he also knew how to deal with revenge, and it was useless to say ¡°hegemony¡± to the Great Snowmountain swordsmen; he must say ¡°revenge¡±.


    ¡°Of course it is Golden Roc Fort. Every family in Great Snowmountain had their rtives killed by the Golden Roc killers, or their children were taken away.¡± The response of Long Xiaoshi was endorsed by several other chiefs and nodded as they revealed expressions of sadness and hatred.


    Although the Shu-lik sent troops to block the most important mountain pass of Great Snowmountain, their purpose was simple. It was only to prevent mountain people from invading the border. Unlike Golden Roc Fort, it sent arge number of spies and killers to the mountains to interfere in the battles of the tribes.


    ¡°In this case, the confrontation between Great Snowmountain and Shu-lik country is a big mistake. It is a waste of strength, but it does not harm Golden Roc Fort at all.¡±


    ¡°What can we do then? Great Snowmountain and Golden Roc Fort are separated across the entire Shu-lik country. If we want to attack Golden Roc Fort, we must first defeat the Shu-lik,¡± Long Xiaoshi assessed, gesturing with both hands and thinking this was simply the truth.


    ¡°Not so true, not so true.¡± Fang Wenshi shook his head again and again. ¡°Shu-lik is a big country. How easy is it to defeat it? What I want to say is that, instead of holding onto impractical ideas, it is better to take a step back and have peace-talks with the Shu-lik, then, encroach towards Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    ¡°You mean to surrender to the Shu-lik?¡±The chief of the Greatsword Peak again wanted to take the spotlight and arose. He found that the table in front of him had be pieces of debris, and simply gestured pressing the attack with his palm.


    ¡°Of course not, for example, if you are practicing swordsmanship, don¡¯t you practice with the lightest sword first, then gradually work up to the heavier swords, and finally to the most heavy sword? The Shu-lik are like the overweight sword. Great Snowmountain wants to swing it. The first thing to do is to take this ordinarily heavy sword known as Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s ¡°for example¡± had once again been effective, and the chief of the Greatsword Peak did utter a word. The chief of Luoshen Peak, Long Qinying, opened his mouth and said, ¡°What Mr. Fang said makes sense, but the Shu-lik is currently at war with Great Snowmountain, and Golden Roc Fort are just around the corner. How could they possibly give in to our demands?¡±


    Fang Wenshi stood straight with his head high and chest out. If this little problem cannot be solved, then how can he be called a persuader and counselor? ¡°This lowly Fang has no talents, but is willing to enter the Shu-lik country alone and persuade their King to halt their troops and end the war, and even allow us to peacefully pass through.¡±


    The five chiefs looked at each other in disbelief, and they did not believe in the overzealous words from the poor schr. Long Xiaoshi frowned and said, ¡°With that mouth of yours?¡±


    ¡°Of course, but I also have a few small demands.¡±


    ¡°Please say.¡± The five chiefs spoke at the same time.


    ¡°A carriage, ten guards, and ten thousand gold taels.¡±

 Chapter 254 - A Rich Man

    Chapter 254: A Rich Man


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Two days ago, Fang Wenshi had made big promises to the Dragon King and the tribal chiefs of the Great Snowmountain and presented a list of demands to them. Today, he got more than what he had demanded.


    The Great Snowmountain offered him afortable carriage, 18 guards and 10,000 taels of gold, but he had to go to the capital of Shu-lik to get the money.


    Fang Wenshi was quite satisfied with this arrangement, except for one thing: the Dragon King would go to Shu-lik together with him.


    He recalled all the legendary stories he had read about counselors but failed to find any historic precedent for a situation like this. Usually, a counselor would go alone to lobby the enemies of his lord and return after achieving sess several dayster. As no one would be able to know what the counselor did during the several days, the counselor could always brag about his prowess as a lobbyist. As to the financial support offered by the lord, the counselor could spend the money as he wished and even keep part of it for himself. However, with the Dragon King around, Fang Wenshi was pretty sure that he would not be able to earn a lot during this trip.


    ¡°Erm, Dragon King, please forgive my bluntness. I think it¡¯s not a good idea for you to leave the Great Snowmountain now, since the situation here isn¡¯t very stable,¡± Fang Wenshi said to the Dragon King, trying to persuade him to stay behind.


    ¡°Counselor, it¡¯s not that I want to supervise your activities. It¡¯s just that I have to be personally present in the city to withdraw the 10,000 taels of gold,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Fang Wenshi could not refute such an argument, so he stopped talking. As for the unstable situation in the Great Snowmountain, Gu Shenwei had already thought it over and made arrangements ordingly.


    With the help of the giant red-crowned roc and his superb kung fu skills, Gu Shenwei had brought the five tribes of the Great Snowmountain together a few months ago, but he was well aware that the swordsmen from different tribes still held grudges against one another. Once he left, a trivial disagreement among the swordsmen might lead to the restart of tribal wars.


    Despite that, Gu Shenwei still decided to leave for Shu-lik, since he hadpelling reasons to do so. First of all, no one else could withdraw the 10,000 taels of gold. Secondly, he had to find a way to ensure there would be adequate military supplies for his army. Last but not least, he could not fully trust Fang Wenshi.


    He had made up his mind not to trust anyone a few years ago.


    Before his departure, he appointed Long Xiaoshi, chief of the Danduo tribe, as temporary Commander-in-Chief. As Danduo Peak had thergest number of swordsmen and was the strongest of all the five tribes, the other tribal chiefs had no objection to this decision. After that, Gu Shenwei designated Long Qinying, chief of the Luoshen tribe, as supervisor of the army and gave him only one task, which was to ensure that the army would stay inside the camp and never go out to fight the Shu-lik army, no matter how the enemy tried to provoke them.


    Gu Shenwei also ordered each chief to assign his most important direct descendant to join this trip. These young people would work as his guards, and in the meantime, Gu Shenwei could hold them as hostages. As all of Long Qinying¡¯s direct descendants had been killed during the previous tribal wars, he picked a capable young man from his tribe and publicly designated the man as his sessor before sending him to apany the Dragon King on his journey.


    Apart from the sessors of the trial chiefs, Gu Shenwei asked each tribe to select two children under 10 to follow him to the capital of Shu-lik. ¡°The Golden Roc Fort likes to steal children from the Great Snowmountain and train them to be professional killers. Why can¡¯t we train our own killers and let our children fight for the Great Snowmountain?¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Soon, many children volunteered to receive the killer training. Gu Shenwei selected 10 of them to apany him.


    All in all, there were 18 guards traveling with Fang Wenshi and they consisted of the sessors of the five tribal chiefs, 10 future killers, the Dragon King and his two teenage guards. None of them would take orders from Fang Wenshi. Even the coachman was also a fierce-looking swordsman. He spoke little and did nothing for the counselor except driving the horse-drawn carriage.


    Everyone on the team had to carry his own food during the journey. Fang Wenshi had to sit beside his food, which was a pile of jerky, inside his carriage. This kind of food was smelly and hard to chew, and he already had enough of it during his stay in the Dragon King¡¯s base camp. A few days ago he had still been on the verge of starvation, but after bing the military counselor of the Great Snowmountain, he immediately had much higher standards for his food.


    After losing three battles, Shu-lik was busy amassing new troops and did not have any n to attack the Great Snowmountain for the moment. Given that, the Dragon King and his team traveled peacefully in the wilderness for two days. On the third day of their trip, when they stepped onto the main road, they had to hide their heavy swords inside the carriage since there were many other travelers on that road.


    With the swords ced inside, the free space inside the carriage became much lesser. Fang Wenshi had to sit still to avoid being wounded by the weapons.


    When they arrived at a town, Gu Shenwei hired two carriages to transport the ten children. Beyond his expectations, this caused a little trouble for him. The children from the Great Snowmountain were ashamed of traveling by coaches and insisted on walking by themselves. In the end, it was the five future tribe leaders who persuaded them using all possible means and finally got all of them into the carriages.


    Fang Wenshi, who eagerly looked forward to working as a lobbyist, took all these temporary frustrations as blessings in disguise, except for one thing: the silence in the team. Sometimes, he found it really hard to endure the trip, for he had no one to talk to. The Dragon King was a man of few words, and so were his swordsmen. They could travel for a whole day without saying a word. Only Tie Linglong, a lively girl, often chatted with the military counsellor, but a little girl like her could not understand Fang Wenshi¡¯s political and military analysis. As she was more interested in the roadside flowers, Fang Wenshi searched his memory for quaint names and made up many stories about them to intrigue the girl. Apart from talking to Tie Linglong, he could only keep his mouth busy by chewing on his jerky.


    On the 13th day of their trip, the team finally saw the capital of Shu-lik in distance. After finishing eating hisst piece of jerky, Fang Wenshi said to his lord, ¡°Dragon King, please forgive me for being so blunt, but we really can¡¯t enter the city like this.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Look at all these people, excluding you, of course. Everyone can tell at a nce that they¡¯re from the Great Snowmountain. I¡¯m afraid that we¡¯ll be put into prison before we meet any powerful people in this country.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve prepared for such a situation.¡±


    Upon hearing that, Fang Wenshi could not ask any further questions regarding this situation, but he still doubted that his young lord had got everything ready beforehand.


    That day, the team did not enter the city. Instead, they went to a secluded manor in the suburbs. Before they arrived at the manor, the servants there had already prepared new clothes and a rich banquet for them.


    The team members took a bath and then put on their new clothes. People from the Great Snowmountain looked very ufortable in these clothes since they were not used to wearing these soft cotton clothes. They kept rubbing their bare necks or pulling the corners of their garments, feeling that this kind of fabric was not so good as felt and leather.


    Only Fang Wen felt much better after changing into his new clothes. He thought that now he finally looked like a professional counsellor. He had new clothes, new shoes, and a feather fan. He also enjoyed the banquet very much. In his eyes, the dishes served during the banquet were far more tasty than jerky. However, he did not get carried away in the moment. After the banquet, he immediately went back into his own room to practice his debating skills and bodynguage in front of a mirror, for he had not debated with anyone for a long time.


    In the evening, he went to meet with the Dragon King and a famous merchant who would provide him 10,000 taels of gold.


    That merchant was Xu Xiaoyi, who hade to the capital of Shu-lik two years ago. He frequently used his original name Xu Yi now, and had be a tycoon in the city.


    Even though he was a tycoon now, he was still tiny. In order to make himself look more mature, he grew a mustache, but his small figure still clearly indicated that he was a young man. Fooled by his appearance, many people believed that they could easily deceive this youth, but they always ended up losing money to him.


    Xu Xiaoyi had known who were in this team beforehand and prepared presents for everyone. He especially prepared more gifts for the military counsellor to show his respect, however, when the counsellor asked him for the 10,000 taels of gold, he frowned and looked hesitant. ¡°There¡¯s a slight problem. We¡¯ve spent a lot on the military supplies, and we still need money to bribe the guards at the city gates. The furs and herbal medicines from the Great Snowmountain aren¡¯t worth very much. If we take that much money out of our ount, Brother Huan, we won¡¯t have enough money to do business.¡±


    Fang Wenshi had expected the merchant to be reluctant to ede to such a request. After all, 10,000 taels of gold was a staggering sum of money for any merchant. He had prepared himself for this situation and figured out a way to persuade the wealthy man beforehand. ¡°From a business perspective, fighting for regional hegemony is also a profitable business. If we invested 10,000 taels of gold in it now, we¡¯ll possibly earn 20,000 or even 100,000 taels of gold the next year.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure we can earn 15,000 tales of gold if we invest the money in my business. We can use it to buy some spices and jade, and then we can transport them to the Central in to be sold. After that we can use the money to buy silks in the Central in and bring them back here to sell,¡± said Xu Xiaoyi. Now, he was a shrewd businessman who was adept at controlling risks and had no interests in the things that could ¡°possibly¡± happen.


    Personally, Gu Shenwei did not care much about money, but as a leader, he had to take this thing into consideration. ¡°Give Mr. Fang 10,000 taels of gold. I¡¯ll find a way to pay you back,¡± said the Dragon King.


    Xu Xiaoyi epted the order without anyint, but he still felt a little resistant to the idea. Although all his start-up capital was provided by his Brother Huan, he had earned a lot of money with it from his own effort in the past few years. Fang Wenshi noticed that the rich man seemed to be very close to the Dragon King, so he decided to further exin the situation to win the merchant¡¯s favor. ¡°Mr. Xu, please rest assured. I¡¯ll put the money to good use. Now that the younger brother of the king is the most powerful official in this country, we have to bribe him to get a chance to meet the king. He¡¯s a venal and lecherous man. I¡¯m afraid that 10,000 taels of gold is a must.¡±


    ¡°Lecherous? s, I really wish that my sister was here right now,¡± sighed Xu Xiaoyi, still feeling reluctant to give the counselor 10,000 taels of gold.


    Fang Wenshi was not sure if the rich man was just joking, so he made no response.


    Suddenly, Xu Xiaoyi patted his own forehead and asked, ¡°Counselor, the younger brother of the king that you mentioned just now is Prime Minister Shi, isn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°Yes, what I was talking about is Shi Xian, Prime Minister Shi. In Shu-lik, half of the government decrees are his decisions,¡± said Fang Wenshi, assertively, although he had just heard about this thing from others.


    Much to the counsellor¡¯s relief, Xu Xiaoyi did not continue to talk about Shi Xian, as he thought of another thing. ¡°If it¡¯s him, I think 10,000 taels of gold isn¡¯t very much. I heard that the Golden Roc Fort sent a team to Shu-lik, and now the team members are living in the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion,¡± said Xu Xiaoyi.


    ¡°Who are the team members?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°I¡¯ve not gotten the name list yet, but I¡¯m sure that the Second Young Master Shangguan Tian came here. I also heard that there¡¯s another young master, who seems to be called Master Hong. What a coincidence. They came to this city almost at the same time as you guys. They arrived in the city yesterday.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was not afraid of Shangguan Tian and Shangguan Hong at all. He cared more about another person. ¡°Is Zhang Ji in that team?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but please rest assured. Some of my people are working on it. I¡¯ll get the name list tomorrow morning.¡±


    ¡°Is Zhang Ji a skilled killer?¡± asked Fang Wenshi, worriedly. He was confident in his own ability to talk himself out of trouble at any time except when faced with a ruthless killer, who would never talk to him.


    ¡°No, Zhang Ji is also a counselor,¡± replied Gu Shenwei. Back in Golden Roc Fort, Zhang Ji had once taught him many useful things, but now he could not determine whether Zhang Ji was a friend or a foe.


    Upon hearing that Zhang Ji was just a counselor, Fang Wenshi felt much rxed. He patted his chest and said boldly, ¡°Trust me, Dragon King, I¡¯ll¡­¡±


    Before Fang Wenshi finished his sentence, the Dragon King¡¯s face changed, and he dashed out of the room, leaving the counselor speaking to empty air.


    Xu Xiaoyi, who had undergone simr experiences before, immediately blew out the candle and hid under the table. Compared to his property, he cared more about his own life.


    Fang Wenshi, who did not have much jianghu experience, was more curious than afraid at this moment. He sneaked to the door and looked outside.


    Surprisingly, he did not see anyone in the yard not even the Dragon King.


    He felt bewildered. Suddenly, a person appeared out of nowhere, and what happened subsequently frightened him so much that he did not dare to see the Dragon King fighting anymore.


    Gu Shenwei had been hiding behind a potted nt all this while and darted toward the person as soon as that person popped out. He cut off the person¡¯s head with one strike, leaving the headless body standing in the ce. After arge amount of blood gushed out of the person¡¯s neck, the body finally fell down to the ground.


    After killing the person in the yard, Gu Shenwei saw Chu Nanping appear on the roof, with a human head in his hand. The boy gave him a nod to confirm that they had already killed all the intruders.


    Although neither of the two intruders were kung fu masters, Gu Shenwei still felt great after this fight. He just missed the feeling of killing someone in a fight. Now he felt as if he was a wanderer who was finally returning to his hometown. He was very excited to feel like this again.


    ¡°Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks¡± was just a mask he sometimes wore. Now he was a killer again.

 Chapter 255 - Nerve

    Chapter 255: Nerve


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The main reason Gu Shenwei had sent Xu Xiaoyi to Shu-lik two years ago was that Shu-lik was one of the few kingdoms in Western Region which could resist the Golden Roc Fort. There were not many killers in this country.


    Gu Shenwei had never been to Shu-lik City during the past two years, but Xu Xiaoyi had been working there all this while to collect intelligence for him.


    The Golden Roc Fort owned a security agency in Shu-lik city, which had more than 100 armed escorts and was engaged in ordinary business activities. However, it was rumored that there were many killers hiding inside the security agency. Xu Xiaoyi had already found the truth about this matter for the Dragon King. He raised a hand with all the five fingers extended and said, ¡°Five, there are only five killers in the security agency. A minister told me this. It can¡¯t be wrong. Those five killers aren¡¯t ordinary ones. One of them is a demaster from the Stone Castle. His name is Xiang Kai. Although he doesn¡¯t show up in the security agency very often, he¡¯s the agency¡¯s actual controller. The chief of the armed escorts is just a boss in name.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi believed that the two assassins who had sneaked into the manor just now were sent out by demaster Xiang Kai. ¡°Xiang Kai has an intelligence team. They¡¯ve kept a close watch on me recently. I¡¯m afraid that they didn¡¯te here for you, but for me,¡± said Xu Xiaoyi.


    In Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes, no matter who the assassins¡¯ target was, their appearance indicated that this manor was not a safe ce anymore. All their enemies had to do would be to ask around in the neighborhood and they would soon discover that a group of strangers were staying inside this manor. Given that, Gu Shenwei decided to leave this ce with his team as soon as possible.


    As this manor was just a rental, Xu Xiaoyi did not mind giving it up. That night, he took the ten children away to a secret base, whose location was only known to himself and the Dragon King. They would train these children to be killers at that base. Gu Shenwei and the remaining team members split into several groups and went to check in at an inn in the suburbs in turns, pretending that they did not know one another.


    Fang Wenshi had hardly recovered from the shock after witnessing the Dragon King y an intruder. This incident made him fear the Dragon King even more, but it did not increase his respect for the young lord. In his eyes, a good killer was not necessarily a capable leader. He thought that it still remained to be seen if this young man was a wise lord.


    When the Dragon King asked him about the political situation in Shu-lik, he simply replied, ¡°The King of Shu-lik prefers enjoying his life to dealing with governmental affairs, so he gives most of his job to his brother Shi Xian, the current Prime Minister. To achieve our goal, we can only bribe the greedy Prime Minister. If we don¡¯t give the 10,000 taels of gold to him, he won¡¯t introduce us to the king, not to mention persuading the king to help us attack the Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    ¡°Are you certain that you can persuade him to help us?¡± asked Gu Shenwei. He had some doubt as to whether the counselor could get the oue he expected to get. Since Shangguan Tian was living inside the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion now, Gu Shenwei assumed that the Prime Minister was probably a close friend of the Golden Roc Fort. <em>¡°Although it only has a small number of killers in Shu-lik, as a main power in Western Region, the Golden Roc Fort must have an extensivework in this country. Otherwise, when Lady Meng murdered the eldest young master a few years ago, the other young masters of the Golden Roc Fort would¡¯ve never fled to this country to seek protection,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei.


    Fang Wenshi thought that the Dragon King was questioning his ability, so he immediately lifted his right hand, doing an affirmative gesture. ¡°If I tell you that I¡¯m 100-percent sure, you¡¯ll think that I¡¯m bragging. I can promise you now that I¡¯m 90-percent sure since I¡¯m well-prepared. Besides, as the military counselor of the Great Snowmountain, I¡¯d be killed if I fail to win Prime Minister Shi¡¯s support. Do you still think that I won¡¯t take this thing seriously?¡±


    Gu Shenwei lowered his head apologetically and said, ¡°You¡¯re right, Mr. Fang. I look forward to hearing good news from you soon.¡±


    The next morning, when Gu Shenwei entered Shu-lik city, he discovered that the atmosphere in the city had changed.


    In recent months, Shu-lik had been at war with the Great Snowmountain, but it was just a small-scale war which did not affect the lives of the ordinary citizens much. However, all of a sudden, the officers and soldiers of Shu-lik city were acting in a paranoid manner. They were heavily armed and patrolled everywhere in the city. Guests of inns and hotels had to show their travel documents to the officers and told the officers their purpose of travel and length of stay in the city.


    Fortunately, Xu Xiaoyi had prepared everything for the Dragon King¡¯s team members beforehand, which included endorsed travel documents and several packages of goods which they were supposedly selling. He had asked them to tell the officers that they were merchants when being questioned.


    As it was easy to identify those swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain by their rugged faces, they could only hide inside their rooms to avoid meeting the officers and let Fang Wenshi handle everything for them. The counselor sessfullypleted this task, as he had mastered various tricks of dealing with officers when he was travelling to different kingdoms of Western Region in the past. During that time, he had made countless attempts to bribe the guards and officers at the residences of many influential people, in the hope that he would get to meet them. That was how he had gotten broke.


    In the afternoon, Xu Xiaoyi secretly met with Gu Shenwei and brought him an intelligence report: it was the Prime Minister who ordered the officers tounch a citywide search for swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, as his guests from the Golden Roc Fort told him that the Great Snowmountain had already sent some people to Shu-lik City.


    Upon hearing this news, Gu Shenwei wanted to know more about this Prime Minister Shi, so he asked Xu Xiaoyi for his opinion on the Prime Minister.


    Compared to Fang Wenshi, Xu Xiaoyi seemed to think much better of Prime Minister Shi. Although he had never met the Prime Minister, he had good personal rtionships with some other ministers in Shu-lik. Given that, Gu Shenwei had more faith in his words. ¡°The Prime Minister is a little bit greedy for money, but he¡¯s also very benevolent to people in need. He always quickly exhausts the money he collects. Every time when there¡¯s a diaster, he¡¯ll offer relief food assistance to refugees. Usually, the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion will react even faster than the government under such circumstances. I bet every resident of this city has once received help from the Prime Minister. As to his lechery, that¡¯s not a big deal. After all, every man is¡­ oh no, you¡¯re not lustful, but he¡¯s the Prime Minister. It¡¯s not a strange thing for such a high-ranked official to have dozens of concubines,¡± said Xu Xiaoyi.


    ¡°Are you suggesting that Prime Minister Shi is a person of impable character?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°No, he¡¯s not,¡± said Xu Xiaoyi. After a moment¡¯s thought, he added, ¡°Prime Minister Shi has a strange habit. He¡¯s very approachable to ordinary people, but quite arrogant to the privileged ones. Given that, ordinary people like him but the other ministers¡­ You know, he¡¯s the Prime Minister, so no official dares to criticize him. Mr. Fang was right about one thing. Prime Minister Shi does have a say in most of the governmental affairs.¡±


    <em>¡°Prime Minister Shi seems to be an ambitious politician. Such a person won¡¯t randomly betray his ally. Now that the Golden Roc Fort is his ally, he probably won¡¯t ept bribery from the Great Snowmountain.¡± </em>With this thought in his mind, Gu Shenwei sighed, ¡°It looks like he won¡¯t be moved by the 10,000 taels of gold.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m worried about,¡± said Xu Xiaoyi, his eyes brightened. He did not want to waste the money and thus offered another suggestion. ¡°I can bribe a counselor of the General to get the army of the Great Snowmountain into Shu-lik, and I need only 5,000 taels of gold.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head without saying a word. This matter was not as easy as Xu Xiaoyi thought. If the army of the Great Snowmountain sneaked into Shu-lik without the kingdom¡¯s authorization, it would probably be caught in a squeeze between the Golden Roc Fort and Shu-lik and would be under attack from both sides. Gu Shenwei agreed to Fang Wenshi¡¯s n to win Shu-lik¡¯s support before sending troops out to attack the Golden Roc Fort. However he doubted that Fang Wenshi could sessfully persuade the Prime Minister, an ally of the Golden Roc Fort, with only 10,000 taels of gold.


    ¡°Does Prime Minister Shi¡­ have enough nerve?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    Xu Xiaoyi was not sure what his Brother Huan was asking about. He scratched his head, revealing a confused expression. At this moment, even the mustache could not disguise his childish look. After thinking for a while, he replied, ¡®I¡¯m not sure if Prime Minister Shi is a brave man, but every time he goes out, he¡¯s apanied by lots of people. He hires many guards. It¡¯s said that demaster Xiang Kai often works as his body guard.¡±


    Upon hearing that, Gu Shenwei had some idea about how to achieve his goal. After that, he asked Xu Xiaoyi a question that he had asked the boy yesterday. ¡°Did Zhang Jie here together with Shangguan Tian?¡±


    ¡°No. Is this Zhang Ji hard to deal with?¡± asked Xu Xiaoyi, while handing a hand-written name list to his Brother Huan. Gu Shenwei received the list and gave it a nce. There were more than 30 names on it, but Zhang Ji was not here.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say,¡± Gu Shenwei replied briefly. In his eyes, Zhang Ji was a better counselor than Fang Wenshi. If he had a chance, he would like to hire Zhang Ji as his military counselor.


    Unfortunately, he did not have such an opportunity. At this moment, he had no choice but to trust Fang Wenshi, a boastful schr, who had imed that he had a way to persuade Prime Minister Shi to cooperate with the Great Snowmountain. Gu Shenwei had to lead his army out of the mountain. Otherwise, he would never be able to avenge his family¡¯s death or contend for hegemony.


    Fang Wenshi grew increasingly anxious in his room at the inn. He had been in Shu-lik city for three days but still did not get the gold. To make matters worse, the Dragon King had been absent since telling him to wait here for a message three days ago.


    <em>¡°The Dragon King didn¡¯t tell me what kind of message he would deliver to me or when he would send the message back. That¡¯s probably because he still can¡¯t fully trust me, but it¡¯s not a big deal. No counselor can win his lord¡¯s trust before attaining outstanding sess. When I seed in persuading Prime Minister Shi to help us, both the Dragon King and the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain will be deeply impressed.¡±</em>


    Fang Wenshi felt much consoled by that thought and then he silently recited the speech he had prepared one more time. <em>¡°My logic is irrefutable. Who will continue to support the Golden Roc Fort after hearing my speech? No one else has such a deep insight into the political situation in Western Region like me.¡±</em>


    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Fang Wenshi felt thrilled andughed. A momentter, picturing how surprised the Dragon King and the swordsmen would be when he seeded, he began to sneer, ¡°Hee-hee.¡± When he turned around, he was astonished to find out that there was a swordsman standing at his door and looking at him in surprise. ¡°The Dragon King wants to meet you,¡± said the swordsman.


    Fang Wenshi was greatly displeased. <em>¡°These swordsmen just don¡¯t know how to behave themselves. They always speak coldly to me and enter my room without knocking on the door first.¡±</em>


    Upon his return from the city, Gu Shenwei summoned his military counselor. ¡°Mr. Fang. Are you a brave man?¡± asked Gu Shenwei the moment he met Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯m a counselor. We counselors are powerless, but we dare to argue with kings. Do you still think that I don¡¯t have enough nerve?¡± replied Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°That¡¯s good. I¡¯ve prepared everything for you. Now, you can go to the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion. The moment you entered the city, someone will give you the gold.¡±


    Fang Wenshi cupped one of his hands in the other before his chest to ept thismand and said, ¡°Dragon King, please wait here for good news.¡± In fact, he felt a little nervous about going to the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion at such short notice, but he did not want to appear hesitant since he had just boasted that he was a brave man. Besides, he believed that he could perform well since he had practiced for several days.


    ¡°Much obliged for your assistance, Mr. Fang,¡± Gu Shenwei nodded and said.


    Fang Wenshi and a swordsman, who worked as his guard and servant, mounted their horses and rode to the city. When they arrived at the city gate, they saw Xu Xiaoyi waiting there. Behind Xu Xiaoyi, stood 10 burly men who carried fiverge wooden boxes.


    Although Fang Wenshi could not see the contents of the boxes, he still felt excited. <em>¡°Those boxes must be filled with gold.¡± </em>Usually, a counselor could spend the money given to him as he wished and keep a portion of the money for himself. Nevertheless, Fang Wenshi did not get such a chance.


    Heforted himself by thinking, <em>¡°This is the first step. Just like doing business, I have to invest first and then I can make a profit,¡±</em>


    Toward evening, when they came to the gate of the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion, a butler immediately walked out to receive them. Xu Xiaoyi stopped at the door and did not follow the others into the mansion.


    After the butler ushered them into a reception room, an eunuch-in-chief came out to receive them. Fang Wenshi could not help sighing in his heart, <em>¡°That¡¯s the power of money.¡± </em>In the past, he had tried to bribe servants with five or ten taels of silver at the gates of some powerful people, but this could not earn him a chance to meet the powerful people, not even their butlers.


    About half an hourter, Prime Minister Shi stepped into the room. He was a natural leader who had amanding presence and an amiable tone of voice. Fang Wenshi had such a good time talking with him. The counselor always hoped to assist a leader like Prime Minister Shi in contending for hegemony in Western Region. <em>¡°Unfortunately, I can only work for a former Golden Roc Fort killer now,¡± </em>Fang Wenshi sighed secretly.


    However, things did not turn out as the counselor had nned. The Prime Minister subtly avoided talking about the Great Snowmountain during the conversation and concluded the meeting in less than 15 minutes, promising the counselor that he would find a proper time to introduce them to the King of Shu-lik. Throughout the meeting, Prime Minister Shi gave no clear indication of when he would introduce them to the king, but he still received their gold and ordered his servants to carry the boxes away. He did not even treat his visitors to a meal before sending them away.


    When Fang Wenshi listlessly walked out of the reception room, he began to hate that hypocritical Prime Minister who had fooled him during the meeting. In the meantime, he was worried that he would not be able to give the Dragon King a reasonable exnation. He had heard numerous perfunctory promises like this one and was pretty sure that Prime Minster Shi would never introduce them to the King of Shu-lik.


    Fang Wenshi walked toward the gate of the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion, deeply absorbed in thoughts. When he was about to walk out of the gate, someone shouted behind, ¡°Stop him!¡±


    Upon hearing that, a dozen guards at the gate simultaneously unsheathed their weapons. Fang Wenshi was startled, and his swordsman immediately stepped forward to protect the counselor. The swordsman had not brought his heavy sword with himself, so he could only fight with bare hands. It was obvious that he had no chance to defeat the guards.


    The eunuch-in-chief hurriedly ran to the gate and spluttered, ¡®How dare you! Arrest them!¡±


    When the guards surrounded them, Fang Wenshi plucked up his courage to ask, ¡°Chief, is there anything wrong? As amon saying goes, ¡®When two countries are at war, the envoys are never executed.¡¯ Given that, you can¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°Who cares about some f*ckingmon saying!¡± the eunuch-in-chief cursed, his face flushed with anger. ¡°Why is there half a human head inside the box? Who did this?¡±


    The eunuch¡¯s words staggered Fang Wenshi. He was so shocked that he nearly fell to the ground. Now he finally understood what the Dragon King meant by asking whether he was a brave man.

 Chapter 256 - Half a Head

    Chapter 256: Half a Head


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei had been tailing demaster Xiang Kai for three days in a row, and every time he mingled with the crowd or crouched on a roof, he would somehow think of his previous partner.


    Chu Nanping, his present partner, was a good swordsman. Gu Shenwei had taught him the first five chapters of Wayless Book and some sword skills from Death Scripture to help him improve his kung fu. Now, Chu Nanping was a good servant and guard, but he was still not a killer. Gu Shenwei felt that the boy had no tacit understanding with him when they were required to make on-the-spot decisions.


    <em>¡°Maybe it¡¯s not Chu Nanping¡¯s fault but mine. Now that I¡¯m unable to fully trust anyone, I shouldn¡¯t expect others to trust mepletely,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei.


    In the next moment, he banished those unwanted thoughts and focused on the current task. He and Chu Nanping would assassinate demaster Xiang Kai today.


    A few days ago, when Shangguan Tian had arrived in Shu-lik City, Xiang Kai had moved into the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion together with the Second Young Master. As the actual controller of Golden Roc Security Agency, he had to go to a teahouse located directly opposite the security agency every day to hear reports from his subordinates. After meeting with his men, Xiang Kai would have some rest in a room on the second storey of the teahouse before going down to have lunch at noon. After lunch, he would return to the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion. He usually would not change his daily routine unless there was an emergency.


    Gu Shenwei nned to assassinate Xiang Kai when the demaster rested inside his room on the second floor. Its door was facing the Golden Roc Security Agency and it had a semi-open corridor at the front, thus Xiang Kai¡¯s room was always under the watchful eyes of the security agency during daytime. Given that, Gu Shenwei and Chu Nanping chose to sneak to this room before dawn.


    Gu Shenwei had learned from his observation that Xiang Kai habitually stopped for a moment at the door every time before entering the room, so he did not directly push the door open. Instead, he gently traced the edges of the door with his fingers until he felt a small piece of paper stuck in the crack between the door and its frame, which would fall off once the door was opened.


    He drew out his dagger and pressed its tip onto the paper to prevent it from moving away, and then he asked Chu Nanping to unlock the door with a key, which was bought from an elderly locksmith. This key cost Xu Xiaoyi lots of money, since the locksmith contended that it could open roughly half of the locks used in the neighborhood of the security agency. He boasted that nearly all the locks used in this region were made by him.


    After a ¡°ck¡±, the door was opened. <em>¡°It looks like that elderly locksmith didn¡¯t brag to us. This key is indeed worthy of 100 taels of silver,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei.


    After that, he slipped into the room while having Chu Nanping hold the dagger for him, and then they closed the door, making sure that the piece of paper was in its original ce. The next thing that they had to do was to wait, which was amon step in all assassination tasks.


    During an assassination mission, a professional killer would spend at least half of his time monitoring the target and collecting intelligence. The rest of his time would be spent on waiting for the best opportunity tounch an attack, and when it came, he would usually kill his target with one blow. No matter how superb the target¡¯s kung fu was, the killer would always stand a good chance to kill him, since it was the killer whounched the preemptive first strike.


    Gu Shenwei leapt up to grab onto a beam, which held the roof of the room. He gently moved his hand on its upper surface to ensure that there were no booby traps before he lifted his whole body up to lie on it. He would have to hide in here for about one or two hours before he could strike.


    Recently, Xiang Kai had been very busy since he had gotten a strange intelligence report, which said that Yang Huan, leader of the bandits in the Great Snowmountain had sneaked into Shu-lik City. He was skeptical about this piece of information, for now the Great Snowmountain was at war with Shu-lik. In his eyes, as ¡°Chief of the Dragons¡±, Yang Huan should not leave his army at such a critical moment.


    As soon as Xiang Kai arrived at the teahouse this morning, one of his subordinates came to him with a verified intelligence report: the Great Snowmountain had sent a messenger to Shu-lik City to make peace with Shu-lik, and Prime Minister Shi had already promised to meet the messenger. He also told Xiang Kai that it was a merchant named Xu Yi who had helped arrange this meeting between the Great Snowmountain¡¯s messenger and the Prime Minister.


    <em>¡°It¡¯s such a pity that this isn¡¯t Jade City. Back in the city, such minor problems could easily be solved,¡± </em>Xiang Kai secretly sighed. He was a seasoned killer and a first-rate saber user, but his kung fu and killer tactics could not be used here in Shu-lik.


    <em>¡°Ironically, I live in the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion now with the Second Young Master, but I¡¯ve never heard anything about the Prime Minister¡¯s n to meet a messenger from the Great Snowmountain. That¡¯s urgent business. I¡¯d better go back as soon as possible to report to the young master.¡± </em>With this thought in his mind, Xiang Kai stood up, preparing to leave. Just at this moment, his other subordinates came in here to report to him.


    After hearing all their reports, Xiang Kai changed his mind and decided to have a rest in the teahouse before returning to the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion.<em>¡°Maybe this thing isn¡¯t as urgent as I imagined. I heard nothing about the Prime Minster¡¯s n to meet the messenger, but this doesn¡¯t necessarily mean that the Second Young Master doesn¡¯t know it.¡±</em>


    When he stood in front of his room on the second storey, he could see that the lock was intact and the piece of paper was still in its original position. His servant went into the room first to check everything for him. A momentter, the servant walked out and nodded to him to show that everything inside was alright before going downstairs.


    Xiang Kai entered the room and closed the door. Only in this room could he rx a little. Sometimes, he felt that this room was too extravagant for a killer, who should always stay alert.


    Strangely enough, he could not rx himself in this room today, as his sixth sense told him that there was something wrong in here. He felt as if he had stepped into a wrong room, since all furnishings inside this room seemed so strange.


    He held onto the shaft of his saber, his gaze sweeping across the room.


    Upon discovering that Xiang Kai sensed his presence, Gu Shenwei had to admit that after he had spents several months in the Great Snowmountain as ¡°Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks¡±, his assassination skills were not as good as before.


    Despite that, Gu Shenwei still attacked. When Xiang Kai lifted up his face toward the ceiling, he saw a saber heading straight towards him from above.


    When the sharp point of the saber pierced through Xiang Kai¡¯s clothes and skin with unstoppable momentum, Gu Shenwei reminded himself that as a killer, he should retreat the moment he killed his target to prevent himself from being wounded by the target¡¯s counterblow.


    Nevertheless, Gu Shenwei just could not help himself during this moment. He felt as if his saber had suddenly be greedy for human blood and eagerly hoped to cut the man in half. As a result, Gu Shenwei failed to retreat as fast as he wanted.


    After inflicting a wound on Gu Shenwei¡¯s ribs with his saber, Xiang Kai fell to the ground on his knees, his back arching in the process and his forehead was touching the ground, forming a weird arc.


    Gu Shenwei did not care about the injury, but he was astonished that his killer skills had regressed so much in just a few months. He immediately thought of Shangguan Fa. <em>¡°How does the Supreme King manage to keep a sharp sixth sense and superb killer skills while being a lord for decades?¡±</em>


    He engraved this matter on his mind and was determined to figure it out in the future.


    He chopped Xiang Kai¡¯s head off, put it in a bag and then sneaked out of the room to avoid being noticed by the people in Golden Roc Security Agency across the street. He swiftly walked out of the teahouse and then left together with Chu Nanping, who had been waiting for him on the street all this while. Some pedestrians on the street spotted blood stains on Gu Shenwei, but before they could express any suspicion about this man, they had already lost track of him.


    News of Xiang Kai¡¯s death had already spread to the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion before Fang Wenshi went to visit Prime Minister Shi.


    Upon hearing this news, Shangguan Tian maintained that it must have been Yang Huan who had murdered Xiang Kai and asked Prime Minister Shi to issue an arrest warrant on the Dragon King. However, the Prime Minister did not assent to Shangguan Tian¡¯s request. He was well aware that Xiang Kai was a first-rate killer of the Golden Roc Fort and could not help but doubt its strength upon hearing that Xiang Kai was assassinated by the Dragon King. <em>¡°This Yang Huan seems to be quite interesting. As for the Golden Roc Fort, it still remains to be seen whether it¡¯s a strong ally.¡± </em>With that thought in mind, Prime Minister Shi decided to do nothing about Xiang Kai¡¯s death before he learned more about the Great Snowmountain by meeting with its messenger.


    When meeting with the messenger, the Prime Minister was a little disappointed, as this schr appeared a little pompous and pedantic. For the sake of the 10,000 taels of gold, he gave the messenger a perfunctory promise before sending him away. After the meeting, he ordered one of his men to shadow the messenger, as a way to find out where the Dragon King was.


    He did this out of curiosity and never expected himself to get involved in thispetition between the Golden Roc Fort and the Dragon King.


    Not long after he had asked his servants to carry the gold to the back of the reception room, the eunuch-in-chief hurriedly ran back into the room in a panic, bringing back some imusibly frightening news: the boxes were indeed filled with gold, but there was half a human head in one of them.


    Prime Minister Shi immediately went to check the situation, and the scene in there nearly made him throw up. At first, he had mixed feelings about this matter, but then, he red up. He was the Prime Minister of Shu-lik and the king¡¯s brother. No one in this country or in any other countries of Western Region dared to threaten him like this.


    In the past, he had thought that people from the Great Snowmountain were simple and umunicative, so he decided to act kindly toward them. However, now he considered them as a group of scoundrels and was determined to teach them some lessons.


    Seeing the messenger and his attendant being driven back into the reception room by the guards, Prime Minister Shi made up his mind to kill them.


    He drew out a scimitar stuck in his attendant¡¯s belt from its sheath and rushed toward the messenger while shouting, ¡°You bast*rd! How dare you!¡± The servants of the minister all came forward to support him, worrying that he would identally hurt himself during this process.


    Fang Wenshi, who had encountered countless difficulties and dangers during his wandering life, had never been so frightened before. At this moment, he could not feel where his legs were and even wetted himself. As surprise nailed him to the spot, he kept cursing the Dragon King in his heart.


    After swearing at the insidious killer, Fang Wenshi felt much calmer. He plucked up his courage and decided to try his best to talk himself out of trouble. He lifted up his head while flinging a corner of his garment to cover his wet pants, and then he said, ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about how a leader should treat a messenger sent out by his enemy. I don¡¯t think it would be right for you to kill me after you epted my money.¡±


    ¡°Your money?¡± asked Prime Minister Shi, furiously. He held the scimitar to the messenger¡¯s throat and continued, ¡°Why is there half a head inside the box? Are you trying to threaten me or something? You unruly hooligans, do you think you can frighten me, the Prime Minister of Shu-lik, with such a low-grade trick? I¡¯ll chop off Yang Huan¡¯s head tonight and conquer the Great Snowmountain in a month.¡±


    Fang Wenshi had no idea about the head thing, but he still managed to remain calm and cool. ¡°Are the boxes all filled with gold?¡± he sneered and asked.


    Prime Minister Shi was stunned. He had immediately turned his head away the moment he saw the head. The eunuch-in-chief, who had checked all the boxes for the Prime Minister, nodded to him to show that what the messenger said was true.


    Prime Minister Shi was bewildered. <em>¡°Why did the Dragon King send me real gold if he really wants to threaten me? Did he think that he can intimidate me, the Prime Minister of Shu-lik by hiding half a head among the gold?¡± </em>After a moment¡¯s thought, he said, ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll still kill you and your master.¡±


    Upon knowing that the gold was real, Fang Wenshi felt much relieved. ¡°Prime Minister, take it easy. How about checking the head first?¡±


    ¡°Who is it? Tell me now.¡±


    Fang Wenshi pretended to know everything and replied, ¡°Prime Minister, you can find it out by yourself. Maybe it¡¯s a person you hate, and my master just wants to send the head to you as a present.¡±


    Fang Wenshi sincerely hoped that he guessed right, but evidently he failed to convince the Prime Minister. He did not know that except for Yang Huan, who had just offended Prime Minister Shi, all the people hated by the Prime Minister were already dead.


    Besides, there was only half a head inside the box, which was a bloody mess. No one was able to recognize who it was.


    ¡°If you tell me where Yang Huan is, perhaps I¡¯ll spare your life,¡± Prime Minister Shi still refused to put down his scimitar. He thought that if he did not kill Yang Huan and his messenger, he would be a subject of derision in Shu-lik.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Prime Minister. I don¡¯t know where the Dragon King is. Plus, I advice you not to search for my master given the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s many failed attempts to capture him during the past three years. Shu-lik is a great country, but it¡¯s not necessarily better at hunting a killer than the Golden Roc Fort. If you want to behead me to give vent to your anger, go ahead and do it now, but I¡¯m afraid that you¡¯ll regret itter.¡±


    ¡°I only regret that I didn¡¯t kill all the bast*rds in the Great Snowmountain earlier.¡±


    ¡°Hehe.¡± Fang Wenshi smirked to cover the fact that he was busy racking his brain for a solution to his current problem. In the meantime he could not helpining in his heart, <em>¡°Sigh, Dragon King, why did you do this without telling me beforehand?¡± </em>A momentter, he said, ¡°Bas¡­ swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain are tough. It¡¯s not an easy thing to eliminate them. Besides, please forgive my bluntness, Prime Minister. Your own life is in danger now. Do you still think that you can kill the swordsmen?¡±


    Fang Wenshi just said it to win more time for himself, but Prime Minister Shi believed it and felt shocked. ¡°What danger?¡±


    Fang Wenshi did not know what to say, so he continued to sneer, feeling anxious and lost. At this critical moment, a guard hurriedly ran into the room.


    The guard just whispered a few words beside the Prime Minister¡¯s ear, and thetter¡¯s face suddenly changed and his hand holding the scimitar also began to tremble.

 Chapter 257 - Five Days

    Chapter 257: Five Days


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Fang Wenshi and the swordsman who worked as his guard were shut away in a room inside the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion until midnight.


    When they finally walked out of the mansion, they worried that they would have to live in the street tonight. They could not return to the inn since all the gates of the city were closed at this moment. Fortunately, Xu Xiaoyi had sent someone to bring them to a hotel when they came out.


    After entering his room, Fang Wenshi immediately closed the door and took off his wet pants. After heaving a long sigh of relief, he began to shout curses at his lord, as if the Dragon King was standing right in front of himself now. The counselor swore to the gods that he would never work for such a cruel wretch anymore and would set out to return to his hometown tomorrow morning without bidding farewell to Yang Huan.


    Gu Shenwei did not hear these words, and Fang Wen did not leave in the end. It was not money or power that made him change his mind. He decided to stay because of a woman.


    That woman directly pushed the door open, and then she leaned against the doorframe while looking the schr up and down. When she found out that the schr had already taken off his pants, she sneered, ¡°Tut-tut, what an impatient client. I¡¯ve never seen any client like you before.¡±


    ¡°Who are you?¡± asked Fang Wenshi, his face flushed with embarrassment. He crouched, trying to use his shirt to cover his lower body.


    ¡°Someone paid me to serve you. What¡¯s the matter? Are you unhappy with me?¡± asked the woman.


    Fang Wenshi stood agape, and the women smiled at him. He was not sure if he had said anything funny to the women. He just smiled back at her and did not want to leave anymore.


    That night, Fang Wenshi did not have any time to ask others what had happened inside the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion during the day, which frightened Prime Minister Shi so much and made him release the hostages.


    The next morning, when Xu Xiaoyi came to the hotel to console him, he finally got a chance to ask the merchant for more details about the incident.


    Xu Xiaoyi told the counselor all the information that he knew. ¡°One of the wooden boxes sent to the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion contained half a human head, while the other four were just filled with gold, so the servants carried them to the warehouse. The warehouse supervisor weighed and recorded the amount of gold received. He then opened the door of the warehouse, preparing to put the gold into it. However, the moment the door was opened, all the people at the scene saw half of a head hanging down from a ceiling beam inside the warehouse.¡±


    ¡°Since it was tied to the beam with a thin rope, it kept swaying slightly. Upon seeing it, all of them were frightened to death. One of them passed out, and another two became paralyzed with fear. Three of them started to vomit and four of them got cold feet and couldn¡¯t move. In the end, only one of the servants managed to run away to call the guards,¡± said Xu Xiaoyi.


    ¡°When the guards came, they put the two halves of the head together and recognized that this man is the Golden Roc Fort killer named Xiang Kai, who¡¯s a frequent visitor to the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion.¡±


    ording to Xu Xiaoyi, Prime Minister Shi had also been shocked when he heard the news, since the warehouse was the most heavily guarded ce in his mansion. ¡°Prime Minister Shi found it hard to believe that someone could sneak into his warehouse. He probably also suspected that there was a spy inside his residence. No matter what, that half of the head proved to him that the Dragon King could sneak into his mansion to kill anyone at any time.¡±


    Upon hearing that, Fang Wenshi realized that the half of the head hidden inside the wooden box was just a reminder, and the other half of it hanging inside the warehouse was the real threatening message.


    Xu Xiaoyi told Fang Wenshi that Prime Minister Shi had been frightened and irritated, and had hesitated for a long time before making a decision. ¡°The Prime Minister decided to release you and the swordsman in the end. After your departure, he invited Shangguan Tian to have a talk with him. He politely asked the young master to bring the Dragon King¡¯s head to his mansion within five days. He contended that if Shangguan Tian failed to do so, he would introduce the Great Snowmountain¡¯s messenger to the King of Shu-lik,¡± said Xu Xiaoyi.


    After talking with Xu Xiaoyi, Fang Wenshi rubbed his neck and thought, ¡°What a risky n. I nearly got killed yesterday. However, if the Dragon King hadn¡¯t taken this risk, it would¡¯ve been really difficult to persuade Prime Minister Shi to give up the Golden Roc Fort by relying solely on the 10,000 taels of gold. Now that the Dragon King has to depend on himself. As long as he can survive theing five days, we¡¯ll be able to meet the King of Shu-lik.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was not content with just hiding for the next five days. He nned to prove his strength further to Shu-lik.


    In a sense, thispetition between him and Shangguan Tian was a close match. No matter how powerful the Golden Roc Fort was, it could only offer limited help to its Second Young Master within Shu-lik. The Dragon King, a former killer of the Golden Roc Fort, was very familiar with all the means and tactics used by the killers. As to Prime Minister Shi, he had already dered that he would not help either party in thispetition.


    On the first day, both parties adopted a simr strategy. The Dragon King and his guard, Chu Nanping, hid in a ce that remained unknown to everyone. Even Xu Xiaoyi had no idea where they were. Shangguan Tian and Shangguan Hong moved out of the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion and disappeared too. Their servants and killers all moved to the Golden Roc Security Agency.


    The first day was peaceful. Although both parties were well aware that killers would never expose themselves to rescue anyone, each of them still sent out scouts to monitor the other party¡¯s movements in case that someone in their own team was kidnapped. Knowing this, Fang Wenshi felt secure. He was pretty sure that he would be safe and be able to enjoy himself with that woman as much as he could during these days.


    The second day, Golden Roc Security Agency send out all of its staff to search for Yang Huan and promised to give 50,000 taels of silver to the one who offered correct location of Yang Huan and 100,000 taels of silver to the one who brought Yang Huan¡¯s head to the security agency.


    Everyone in the city was motivated and began to ask around for the pale-looking young killer. The locations of Fang Wenshi, Xu Xiaoyi and a few of the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain all got exposed. A few hooligans kepting to the inn, intending to kidnap some of Yang Huan¡¯s friends to force the killer to show up. As a result, Xu Xiaoyi had to ask everyone in the team to stay together and hired some machetemen, who had no connection to the Golden Roc Fort, to protect them.


    The Shu-lik government sent out troops to stop the hooligans, as the Prime Minister ordered that thispetition was just between the killers.


    Both parties of thepetition had achieved nothing on the second day. However, from that day on, residents of the city showed more respect to Yang Huan, since they all heard about how he had threatened Prime Minister Shi with a Golden Roc Fort killer¡¯s head a few days ago. Now, every time when they talked about the pale-looking young killer, they would refer to him as the Dragon King.


    On the third day, when all the hooligans in the city continued to hunt for the Dragon King, Golden Roc Security Agency suddenly recalled all of its armed escorts and kept them inside the agency for a whole day.


    This move made many people believe that the Golden Roc Fort had already found the Dragon King. They guessed that the armed escorts were busy preparing for an attack right now.


    Fang Wenshi and Xu Xiaoyi were a little fidgety, as their lives and futures were closely bound with the fate of the young killer. If the Dragon King was killed, they would immediately lose everything they had now.


    Only Tie Linglong was perfectly calm and collected. She practiced her saber skills as usual and then consoled the other members of the team. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The dragon king will be alright even if they find him. He¡¯ll kill them all.¡±


    Unfortunately, the little girl failed to convince anyone in the team, and even the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain also began praying for the giant roc to appear again ande to the rescue of the Dragon King.


    Upon hearing the swordsmen¡¯s prayers, Tie Linglong solemnly exined, ¡°The roc isn¡¯t the Dragon King¡¯s pet. Nobody can control it. Ites and goes as it likes. Even the Dragon King can¡¯t summon it.¡±


    Tie Linglong¡¯s words further undermined the team members¡¯ confidence. Upon hearing that, Fang Wenshi thought to himself, ¡°If things are getting bad, I have to persuade Xu Yi to make some arrangements as soon as possible. Maybe I can earn some money during this process.¡±


    On the fourth day, when the Golden Roc Fortunched an attack, the team members¡¯ confidence hit rock bottom.


    As the Dragon King needed someone to collect intelligence for him, he sent Chu Nanping out. Although the teenage swordsman had used some make-up to change his looks before going out, the Golden Roc Fort killers still recognized him. They followed him to a small inn and had him surrounded at around 9 pm.


    This time, Shangguan Tian had sent out 30 killers. Such a team would be enough to eliminate a small gang. Upon hearing this news, many people in the city guessed that Shangguan Tian had found the Dragon King and Chu Nanping long before this day. They thought that the Second Young Master had just pretended to have no idea about where the Dragon King hid while secretly assembling his killer team.


    Few of them witnessed the fight that night, but on the next day, many described the scene in detail as if they had seen the whole process.


    It was said that two killers had sneaked into the teenage swordsman¡¯s roomst night, trying to catch the youth alive, but in the end the boy was somehow rmed by the killers and then jumped out of the room through the window.


    Chu Nanping was said to have escaped without a scratch from the inn after exchanging blows with four or five killers. Many people found it difficult to believe that the youth could have broken through the ranks of the killers.


    Someone who was familiar with the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s style contended that it must have been Shangguan Tian¡¯s scheme. ¡°The Second Young Master must¡¯ve let the boy escape on purpose. He must¡¯ve sent his killers to follow him. The Dragon King is probably being surrounded by the killers now.¡±


    Rumors were flying everywhere on the fifth day, and there were as many as ten versions of rumors regarding the death of the Dragon King. Even Tie Linglong could not remain calm and cool that day. She was in no mood to practice her saber skills and spent the entire day listening to different intelligence reports together with Xu Xiaoyi, no matter how absurd these reports sounded.


    ¡°The Dragon King is alright as long as we don¡¯t see his head,¡± Tie Linglong said to herself. Every time someone hurriedly ran into the inn, she would feel that her heart had skipped a beat.


    The whole city was eagerly waiting for the final result of thispetition. The hooligans, who had been busy searching for the Dragon King in the past few days, felt very disappointed. They believed that they were used by the Golden Roc Fort killers. Given that, they began to openly support the Dragon King and hoped that the pale-looking young man could survive thest day of thispetition.


    Usually, Golden Roc Fort killers never took actions during the daytime, but on the fifth day of thepetition, all the armed escorts of Golden Roc Security Agency went out to surround a ce which was said to be the Dragon King¡¯s hiding ce. Once they spotted an unfamiliar face among the people entering and leaving this ce, they would follow or interrogate that person. Although these armed escorts were not soldiers sent by the government, no one dared to resist them.


    Residents of the city were greatly surprised since the ce surrounded by the armed escorts was the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion and its surrounding area, but on second thought, they realized that this ce was indeed the ideal hiding ce. Besides the king¡¯s pce, the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion was the safest ce in the whole Shu-lik City.


    Two days ago, Prime Minister Shi had left the city on the pretext of going hunting in the suburbs. Although he did not mind letting the killers fight inside his mansion, he announced that once anything in his residence was damaged, he would refuse to recognise the result of thispetition.


    Everyone in the city wished to watch this fight between the killers that night, but the armed escorts did not allow misceneous personnel to enter that ce. Even the government also sent troops to help Golden Roc Security Agency seal off that area. The servants in the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion were so excited. As servants of Prime Minister Shi, they did not have to worry about their own safety, and meanwhile they could get a chance to watch the fight. They could brag about such an experience in the months toe.


    As night fell, hundreds of people gathered outside the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion. They did not expect to see or hear what happened inside the mansion. They only wanted to know the result in real time.


    Soon they got bored, since the mansion was too quiet. At this moment, a man who imed to be very familiar with killers¡¯ style said to the crowd, ¡°Killers are always as quiet as mouses during a fight. Only soldiers in the army and bandits will fight noisely like cats and dogs.¡±


    Some soldiers in the troop heard that and beat the man. With a bloody nose and a swollen face, the man still refused to leave and started to murmur, ¡°Let¡¯s wait and see. The Dragon King is tough. He¡¯s the nemesis of the Golden Roc Fort. Even 100 killers can¡¯t¡­¡±


    Before he finished his sentence, some armed escorts beat him. After that, the crowd was as quiet as the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion.


    People began to leave one after another after around 9 pm. Shortly after midnight, there were only a few who stayed behind. The armed escorts and soldiers also rxed their vignce. Everyone was wondering if there were really any killers fighting inside the mansion.


    At dawn, two servants opened the door of the mansion while yawning. Before they closed their mouth, they were shocked to find out that they were already surrounded by a curious crowd. The people eagerly asked about the fightst night, but the servants just shook their heads repeatedly and said, ¡°No, all the dogs inside the mansion were quietst night. There were no killers fighting here.¡±


    Now that all the five days had passed, residents of the city could not wait to know the result. Finally, at noon, they got a message from the suburbs of the city: the Dragon King had won thepetition and Shangguan Tian had be his captive.

 Chapter 258 - Victory

    Chapter 258: Victory


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei was able to sessfully capture Shangguan Tian alive because he got a clear understanding of a fact: Prime Minister Shi hated and feared the Dragon King and would not easily sever his own rtions with Golden Roc Fort.


    Therefore, as soon as Shangguan Tian disappeared, he deduced that the Second Young Master was still hiding near Prime Minister Shi.


    Under such circumstances, he had to figure out a way to make Shangguan Tian surrender and admit defeat without disturbing Prime Minister Shi.


    Chu Nanping sessfully attracted the Golden Roc Fort killers¡¯ attention, and even though he was in a dangerous situation, Gu Shenwei was certain that before the killers found out where he was, they would never kill or harm Chu Nanping.


    In the meantime, he deliberately left some blurred tracks inside the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion, which were invisible to untrained eyes but would sessfully mislead the Golden Roc Fort killers into believing that the Dragon King was hiding inside the mansion.


    Shangguan Tian was dressed in a servant¡¯s uniform, drinking alone in the tent. He was confident that his killers would return with good news very soon, but he still felt depressed.


    He did not doubt his killers¡¯ ability. After all, there were 30 of them. It should be a piece of cake for them to kill a former ve boy of the Golden Roc Fort. The reason he was unhappy was that as the Second Young Master of Golden Roc Fort, the most likely sessor of the Supreme King after the deaths of his brothers, he was not shown due respect in Shu-lik, and was even asked to prove his own strength by the Prime Minister, who had taken so much bribery. In his eye, what Prime Minister Shi did to him was public humiliation.


    Shangguan Tian had no choice but to tolerate this insult, as he was sent here on a mission, which was to lobby Prime Minister Shi against the Great Snow Mountain. The Golden Roc Fort intended to spur Shu-lik on to crush the swordsmen in the mountain as a way to eliminate its traitor, Yang Huan.


    Because of the tribal hostilities among the swordsmen, their army would quickly disintegrate once they lost a battle.


    Shangguan Tian was well aware that if he failed to fulfill such a simple task, his father would question his ability again.


    Thinking about the troubles from inside and outside the Golden Roc Fort these past few years caused Shangguan Tian to have a lingering fear in his heart.


    All the internal strifes that happened within the Golden Roc Fort ended up in a lose-lose situation, so was the one between the Second Young Master and Lady Meng. As the Supreme King had lost patience with the endless infighting, they had to make peace and privately negotiate with each other. ording to their agreement, Lady Meng would let Shangguan Tian inherit the title from the Supreme King, and Shangguan Tian would give Shangguan Fei arge number of territories and killers.


    Shangguan Tian was pretty sure that this was just a stalling tactic of Lady Meng. He believed that she was waiting for her son to grow older.


    The Second Young Master was an indecisive man, but this time he was determined to destroy his enemy once and for all. In order to be the next Supreme King, Shangguan Tian nned to draw support from a powerful foreign country. That was the reason he volunteered toe to Shu-lik as the messenger of the Golden Roc Fort.


    Shangguan Tian was sitting next to the candlelight, thinking about what he should say to Prime Minister Shi after getting Yang Huan¡¯s head. All of a sudden, he froze, <em>¡°I¡¯m here all by myself, but howe there are two shadows on the ground?¡±</em>


    If Shangguan Tian had been a seasoned killer or an apprentice who had survived the gang wars, he would have attacked right away before thinking instead of looking back.


    However, the Second Young Master¡¯s knee-jerk response was to turn his head back. He regretted it shortly after turning his head halfway as he realized that his saber was hidden in a parcel three steps away. When he was about to get up to grab his weapon, a saber from behind was already against his throat.


    He slightly lifted his head up from the de, while hastily searching through his memories for proper words to say. Many thoughts shed across his mind, and he was pretty sure that he knew what to say during such a moment as a young master of the Golden Roc Fort. Nevertheless, the words that he blurted out in the end while trembling was,¡±Don¡¯t kill me.¡±


    If Gu Shenwei had intended to kill the Second Young Master tonight, he would have never yed such a trick on Shangguan Tian. He wished to kill everyone surnamed Shangguan, but he needed to give Prime Minister Shi an out. ¡°Send your servant to invite the Prime Minister here,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°ve Ya, go and invite the Prime Minister. Just say I have something important to tell him,¡± Shangguan Tian ordered. A minute ago, he was thinking about bing the next Supreme King, but now he was willing to do everything for the de to distance away from his neck.


    ¡°Yes,¡± someone replied from outside. In order to hide himself among the Prime Minister¡¯s servants, Shangguan Tian had sent all his servants away except ve Ya, his most loyal servant. It was because of this ve that Gu Shenwei was able to quickly discovered Shangguan Tian¡¯s tent.


    ve Ya noticed that Shangguan Tian had emphasized the word ¡°something¡± slightly, and understood what his master meant, so he hurriedly went to ask Prime Minister Shi for help.


    Upon hearing ve Ya¡¯s request, the Prime Minister knitted his eyebrows. <em>¡°My impression of Golden Roc Fort was that they were widely known as an expert in solving problems, yet this Second Young Master is an expert in causing problems instead. How can he deem himself a professional killer if he needs me to rescue him?¡±</em>


    Despite that, Prime Minister Shi still sent out a dozen soldiers to surround Shangguan Tian¡¯s tent. He believed that Yang Huan was a very dangerous man and nned to take this chance to kill the Dragon King, even when there was a possibility that a young master of the Golden Roc Fort would be harmed or even killed during this process.


    ve Ya was stunned upon seeing a dozen archers aiming their arrows at the Second Young Master¡¯s tent. <em>¡°If they all shoot together, my master will die along with the assassin as well,¡± </em>thought the ve worriedly.


    To ve Ya¡¯s great relief, the Prime Minister was cautious and did not order his bowmen tounch an attack. He nodded to one of his guards, who then drew out his scimitar and approached the tent and announced, ¡°Second Young Master, the Prime Minister is here.¡± With these words, the guard entered the tent.


    A momentter, he came out, a strange expression on his face. He was bewildered yet could not help butugh. It seemed like he had seen something ridiculous inside, ¡°Prime Minister, pleasee in. There¡¯s no danger,¡± said the guard.


    Prime Minister Shi appeared hesitant in the beginning, but he chose to believe his guard and walked into the tent, which was encircled by his archers.


    The next thing he saw was Shangguan Tian sitting on his bed looking up at the ceiling dazedly, his hands trembling in front of his chest. There was a saber against his throat. However, there was no one behind the young master. The saber was tied to a wooden stick erected on the bed.


    Upon seeing this, Prime Minister Shiughed so hard that he ended up in tears. From this moment on, he decided to take Dragon King of the Great Snowmountain seriously.


    In fact, right after ve Ya left to invite the Prime Minister, Gu Shenwei had sneaked out of the tent through an opening at the back. He despised this son of the Supreme King very much. In his eyes, Shangguan Tian had good kung fu, perhaps even stronger than most killers, but he was unable to even show half of the kung fu skills he had learned due to theck of a real killer¡¯s sharp sixth sense.


    Thispetition between the two groups of killers came to a dramatic end. Since then, most of the residents in Shu-lik City had acknowledged Yang Huan as the Dragon King. As for Shangguan Tian, rumors had it that he was so frightened that he wetted his pants and his slightly dark facialplexion turned as pale as Dragon King¡¯s face and remained pale all the time after this incident.


    Prime Minister Shi publicly admitted the Dragon King¡¯s victory and invited the messenger of the Great Snowmountain into his mansion again.


    Upon hearing this news, Fang Wenshi felt much relieved. He immediately began to prepare for the second visit to the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion and asked Xu Xiaoyi to buy various things for him. The swordsmen who had apanied Fang Wenshi to the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion several days ago told everyone how brave the counselor had been in the face of danger. This story totally transformed how others viewed the counselor. Now Fang Wenshi was very respected among them and thus all his requirements were satisfied. Soon, he got new hats, clothes, and footwear, a luxurious carriage to rece the old one and even a ve boy to serve him. The five swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain also received new outfits after getting back their heavy swords. This time, all five swordsmen would follow the counselor to the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion again.


    The Prime Minister¡¯s attitude toward Fang Wenshi had changed as well. This time, the Prime Minister invited him into a study for a private talk.


    Fang Wenshi seized this chance to borate his carefully considered n to Prime Minister Shi, and the Prime Minister frequently nodded in agreement. After Fang Wenshi finished talking, the Prime Minister expressed his doubts. ¡°Mr. Fang¡¯s speech is very impressive, but I don¡¯t have a say on this matter. You still need to ask His Majesty for permission. You¡¯ll get a chance to meet His Majesty within three days if everything goes well. During which you will be challenged by the other ministers. Are you sure that you can win this debate, Mr. Fang?¡±


    Fang Wenshi stood up and bowed deeply to the Prime Minister in gratitude. He said assertively, ¡°I know I¡¯m just an obscure schr, but I sincerely hoped to have a chance to debate. No matter if I win or lose, it is still my doing. Please rest assured, Prime Minister.¡±


    After that, Prime Minister Shi gave Fang Wenshi a brief introduction of all the ministers and their stance toward the Golden Roc Fort and told the counselor how to behave himself in front of the king to avoid offending His Majesty.


    Fang Wenshi benefited enormously from the Prime Minister¡¯s advice and thanked him repeatedly, all the while thinking, <em>¡°The Dragon King¡¯s risky trick is indeed effective.¡±</em>


    Prime Minister Shi also requested to meet the Dragon King towards the end of their meeting.


    Fang Wenshi readily promised him but was at a loss after leaving the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion. He himself had not seen the Dragon King for days on end.


    As soon as he returned to the inn, he immediately asked Xu Xiaoyi for help. Unfortunately, Xu Xiaoyi had no idea where the Dragon King was either. He told the counselor, ¡°It¡¯s always the Dragon King whoes to find me usually. I never know where he is.¡±


    Toward midnight, Gu Shenwei sneaked into Fang Wenshi¡¯s bedroom and woke up the counselor without awakening anyone else in the inn.


    If Fang Wenshi had met Gu Shenwei a few days earlier, he would have grumbled that the Dragon King had put his life at risk by sending Xiang Kai¡¯s head to Prime Minister Shi. However, now he was pleasantly surprised to see this young man and did notin about the sending of Xiang Kai¡¯s head at all.


    Gu Shenwei shared the same concern as the Prime Minister. Fang Wenshi was eloquent from the perspective of the Great Snowmountain. But most of the officials would prioritize the interests of Shu-lik during the debate, and many of them probably would never support the Great Snowmountain for there was also Golden Roc Fort in the background. He was worried that the counselor was unable to handle so many officials when they take turns to debate with him.


    ording to Xu Xiaoyi, although Prime Minister Shi won the hearts of the residents of Shu-lik, many officials considered him their political enemy. Evidently, it was not enough to have only the Prime Minister¡¯s support.


    However, now it was toote for them to lobby the other officials in Shu-lik City. Recently, Shangguan Tian had been very active going around bribing many officials in the city. The Second Young Master, who was humiliated during the previouspetition, was determined to defeat the messenger of the Great Snowmountain during the debate in front of the King of Shu-lik.


    Gu Shenwei believed that he had done everything he could to help the counselor, and now he could only hope that Fang Wenshi would deliver an excellent speech during the debate. The two of them are still in the process of testing waters and had not attained full trust with each other yet.


    To show his determination to win the debate, Fang Wenshi solemnly swore, ¡°I guarantee that I¡¯ll persuade the King of Shu-lik to help the Great Snowmountain. I¡¯ll swear to you on¡­¡± Fang Wenshi was about to say that he could swear on his own life but suddenly realized that the Dragon King was a killer who takes such oaths seriously. After pausing for a moment, he continued, ¡°I can swear on the lives of my entire family.¡±


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s elder brother and sister-inw were heartless to him, so he decided to drag them in as well.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that, Counselor. Even if you fail to win Shu-lik¡¯s support for the Great Snowmountain, I¡¯ll still need your assistance in the future,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Fang Wenshi felt much relieved and said other things to assure Dragon King of his sess. He finally added that Prime Minister Shi requested a meeting with Dragon King.


    ¡°Tell the Prime Minister that I¡¯ll meet with him when you go to the pce for the debate,¡± said Gu Shenwei cautiously. He did not want to make a public appearance before Fang Wenshi won the debate.


    The next day, Fang Wenshi was invited into the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion for the third time.


    Prime Minister Shi informed him that the King of Shu-lik will summon the messenger of the Great Snowmountain in the main hall of the pce on the third day of the eighth month.


    Fang Wenshi was thrilled by the news. He had seeded in persuading many people, but most of them, including the tribal chiefs of the five peaks of the Great Snowmountain, were ineloquent and thus could not be considered as real debate opponents. Given that, the meeting with the king of Shu-lik two dayster would be the first time for Fang Wenshi to fulfill his long-cherished dream of distinguishing himself in front of a ruler during a debate.


    Fang Wenshi felt so exhrated that he could not fall asleep. If it weren¡¯t for the important debate, he would have wanted to sleep with a prostitute to calm his nerves.

 Chapter 259 - The Court Session

    Chapter 259: The Court Session


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Prime Minister Shi¡¯s pre-emptive warning came as a great boon for Fang Wenshi. Upon arriving at the main hall, he started to identify his key opponents from the rows of officials.


    The King of Shu-lik was over forty and sat with a perfect upright posture, looking quite authoritative. He did not speak throughout the entire court session, preferring the eunuch at his side to moderate the entire debate.


    Fang Wenshi presented his strategy to the king as the messenger of the Great Snowmountain, representing the ¡®Leader of the Dragons, and the Master of the Five Peaks¡±. He had strategically reced Gu Shenwei¡¯s title of ¡®King¡¯ to ¡®Master¡¯, following the Prime Minister¡¯s advice, to avoid belittling the King of Shu-lik. Naturally, Gu Shenwei had no use for mere titles and did not hesitate to agree with the change.


    It took a while for the ceremony of greeting the king to end, and the eunuch invited the messenger from the Great Snowmountain to speak once the officials were done taking turns to pay their respects and everyone were all seated.


    Fang Wenshi had specially brought along a duster shaped like a feathered-fan for this asion. It was all the rage in the Central in, and was used during debates. One would hold it to signify that one was about to speak, or ce it down on a table to show that one was going to listen carefully to the esteemed opinion of the other speaker.


    First, he bowed to the king as a sign of respect, duster in his hand. He then turned towards the twenty or so officials and swept his gaze across each of them, finallying to one of them who had a great white beard. This man was Moyang, the chief minister of Shu-lik, and he was known as ¡®the Master¡¯. He was Prime Minister Shi¡¯s biggest rival, and had originally not approved of Shu-lik cosying up to the Golden Roc Fort. However, after one of his sons was killed by a swordsman from the Great Snowmountain, he became eager to exterminate the entire faction.


    Moyang was a big influence on the King of Shu-lik, and as he was never close to the Golden Roc Fort, his views carried even more weight in the current debate. It was for this reason that he was also the person Prime Minister Shi was most wary of.


    Fang Wenshi began his speech. ¡°I¡¯vee here today to talk about a matter concerning the survival of Shu-lik. In times like this, warnings often fall on deaf ears¡­¡±


    He had wanted to use his old strategy of scaring his audience into his corner by warning them about an impending disaster. He did not expect that officials in Shu-lik did not follow the usual debate protocols of the Central in. He had only begun to speak, and was still holding onto duster, when a dark-faced official interrupted him. The official could not contain himself and issued his rebuke to Fang Wenshi, ¡°Nonsense, you¡¯re a messenger from the Great Snowmountain, what right do you have to interfere in the matters of our country? I think you¡¯vee here bearing ill will.¡±


    Fang Wenshi shook his head and smiled slightly. When the official lost momentum and returned to his seat, Fang Wenshi began speaking again, ¡°The Great Snowmountain and Shu-lik are heavily reliant on each other to prosper. Should any one of us be attacked, it¡¯ll be detrimental to survival of the other as well. As such, how can I not be worried about the security of your country?¡±


    ¡°What a joke this is. You just joined the ranks of the Great Snowmountain only a month ago, and cannot even be considered as one of them. You have no right to speak for them. What rights do you have to talk about the reliance of both countries on each other?¡± Another pale-faced official rebutted. They were taking turns to debate with Fang Wenshi. All this while, Moyang sat still and remained silent.


    ¡°The joke is on you. Shu-lik has always opened its borders. Haven¡¯t Shu-lik traded for silk from the Central ins, fine iron from Wushan and horses from Nond? Haven¡¯t this country weed merchants from all over the world to conduct business in itsnd? Why then do you expect that a counselor has to be a native of the country he or she represents? I¡¯m only here to perform my duty as a messenger and counselor. If you should wish to debate with a swordsman from the Great Snowmountain instead, I have five of them waiting outside the hall. I can summon them in if you should wish.¡±


    The officials knew that men from the mountains were not keen to talk, and would not hesitate to attack if they could not win in a debate. None of them wished to involve the swordsmen.


    As the other officials remained silent, Moyang gave off two coughs and began to defuse the situation. ¡°There¡¯s no need for verbosity. Since you¡¯vee here prepared, speak your mind.¡±


    Fang Wenshi absent-mindedly swished his duster before realising that it had not served its intended purpose. He decided that he should keep his arms behind his back instead. He continued his speech. ¡°Shu-lik, Nond and the Central in are the three dominant powers in Western Region. Each has maintained its foothold peacefully for decades. Now, imagine that each country is a leg of a tripod, which represents the current bnce. If one leg is broken, the entire tripod would copse. Now, Nond is pre-upied with its own chaotic situation, and the Central in is growing increasingly ambitious, with ns to bring the entire Western Region under its control. Shu-lik is in an increasingly precarious situation, and I¡¯m afraid that all of you Sirs would be unable to enjoy peace for long.¡±


    The officials had expected the messenger from the Great Snowmountain toe with an offer of peace, and had not foreseen that he would have started his speech with a message of Shu-lik¡¯s impending doom. Moyang replied without getting up from his seat, ¡°You¡¯ve indeede with a ¡®prophecy of doom¡¯, and I¡¯m truly ¡®absorbed¡¯ by it. However, even though Nond is embroiled in civil war, it¡¯ll be quelled in a few years¡¯ time; its state can therefore not be considered as a ¡®broken leg of the tripod.¡¯ Moving on, even though the Central in is indeed ambitious, it¡¯s far away from us, and separated from us by a desert. The troops they¡¯ve stationed in the Western Region amount to only 20 or 30 thousand soldiers. Even though Shu-lik cannot bepared to other big nations, we do have our own crack troops which are 50 thousand strong. We do not fear their army.¡±


    Fang Wenshi knew that there could not be so many elite troops in Shu-lik, but he did not call Moyang¡¯s bluff. ¡°You¡¯re not correct, Master. Even though the Central in hasn¡¯t stationed many of its soldiers in Western Region, it has maintained a presence here for centuries. Each country in Western Region has people from the Central in. Take Shu-lik for example, there must be at least 10 thousand of them here. Furthermore, as a major power, the Central in enjoys the support of many other countries in the east, supporting it with supplies and troops for every military campaign it enters. With a decree, the Emperor of the Central in could summon retainers from Western Region which could amount to ten times its stationed troops and at least hundred times of that of its own citizens living in the region. May I ask if your ¡¯50 thousand¡¯ crack troops are able to withstand such an attack?¡±


    The other officials remained silent as Moyang smirked. ¡°From what I hear, you¡¯re saying that neither Shu-lik nor Nond can withstand the ambition of the Central in. Would you care to exin to me again your concept of the ¡®tripod representing the bnce¡¯ between the three countries?¡±


    The debate was heading in the direction Fang Wenshi expected. He began growing confident. He could not help himself and began swishing his duster again, before continuing. ¡°You¡¯re mistaken. You¡¯re referring to the Central in¡¯s ¡®power¡¯ and not its ¡®strength¡¯. I consider its 30 thousand troops stationed in the Western Regin as its strength, as they belong solely to the Central in. The other countries in the east can be ssified as minor powers which can be utilized by the Central in at a price. Now, the millions of its citizens in Western Region are a major power, and how each country uses them should be scrutinized. With proper handling, they would be willing to serve any country in a war.¡±


    Upon hearing this, the dark-faced official spoke up angrily again ¡°You might as well not have spoken, everything you say hinges on some other possibility.¡±


    Fang Wenshi waited for the official to return to his seat again before replying, ¡°The future of Shu-lik is still up for debate, while that of the Central in and Nond has already been decided. This is what I meant previously about survival.¡±


    The dark-faced official was about to get up again before Moyang signalled for him to remain still. Moyang replied, ¡°What you mean by the fate of Nond and the Central in¡¯s future refers to the civil unrest in the former and the ambition of thetter, am I right?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Do you have proof then, or are they just empty words?¡±


    ¡°The proof is Jade City.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s said that three years ago, when the Supreme King was extremely ill, the Central in took the opportunity to eradicate the Iron Mountain Gang. This was a minor incident but of prime importance to Western Region. It¡¯s a pity that none of the countries in the region have properly analysed it. The Iron Mountain Gang¡¯s camp was situated at the north of Tian Shan, close to the border of Jade City. It was the same ce where Nond grazed its horses. The 5,000 elite soldiers sent by the Central in never left after theypleted their mission and have been stockpiling supplies ever since. Now, they¡¯ve already be a deep-seated problem. Nond chose to not react, and it¡¯s exactly this act of allowing its enemy to set up a camp so close to its heart shows that its civil unrest has still not been quelled. After the Supreme King recovered from his illness, not only did he not counter-attack, instead he chose to belittle himself and work with the enemy, in the name of ¡®eradicating bandits in unison¡¯. As such, the bnce in Western Region has shifted. The Central in has yet to act because it¡¯s storing up its might. Once it has enough manpower and resources, the first step it takes will be taking over Jade City, then making Shu-lik submit to its will. Once it has Shu-lik, the entire Western Region would be controlled by the Central in. Nond is already out of the picture, what with its ongoing civil war. Its millions of mounted troops would have no say in maintaining its foothold in Western Region. When that timees, it¡¯ll be a long while before Shu-lik can have any real hope of restoring the bnce of three powers in the region again.¡±


    After they had listened to Fang Wenshi¡¯s long discourse, the officials could be seen either nodding or shaking their heads. All of them, however, had a question in their minds, and it was the pale-faced official who spoke on their behalf. ¡°You have made a good speech, but the thing is this. Even though the Golden Roc Fort does represent an obstacle to the future progress of Shu-lik, and your description of ¡®inter-reliance¡¯ is indeed apt, but you¡¯re a messenger of the Great Snowmountain, are you not? This¡­¡±


    Fang Wenshi was just about to use the official¡¯s question as a reason to start talking about the Golden Roc Fort, when the eunuch moderating the debate interrupted. ¡°This court session is adjourned for a lunch break. We invite our guest, who hase all the way over from the Snowmountain, to have a meal with us.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was already on track to win the debate before he was interrupted by the eunuch. This had made him extremely unhappy. However, as the eunuch was representing the King of Shu-lik, he could not protest. Besides, after growing ustomed to eating jerky for the past month at the Great Snowmountain, his usual love of good food was greatly diminished.


    In the past, he would have been overjoyed to be invited to eat food cooked by royal chefs, but now he barely touched the food in front of him, still pre-upied with plotting the fall of the Golden Roc Fort and making an alliance between Shu-lik and the Great Snowmountain.


    When Prime Minister Shi arrived to visit him, he saw Fang Wenshi pacing to and fro, deep in thought. He congratted the counselor on the good start in the earlier debate, and told him that the second court session would not be held in the hall, but rather the royal study room. Also, there would only be two participants ¨C Fang Wenshi and Moyang.


    Fang Wenshi kept himself up to date on the affairs of the world, but was not familiar with customs of the court. Fearing something was amiss, he hurriedly asked, ¡°What does his Majesty mean by making this change of venue?¡± Prime Minister Shi did not directly answer his question, but rather he smiled and told the counselor to not worry.


    Both of them chatted idly before the Prime Minister took his leave.


    Gu Shenwei believed that the safest ce for him to be in Shu-lik City was its royal pce, and had disguised himself as one of the five swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain apanying Fang Wenshi.


    Just as the Prime Minister was about to make his move, Gu Shenwei approached him and whispered, ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to be able to meet you, Prime Minister. I¡¯m Yang Huan.¡±


    Prime Minister Shi was extremely surprised. His sole motive for the visit was to pass the King¡¯s message to Fang Wenshi, and had not anticipated that he would meet the Dragon King. He recovered quickly and grasped the killer¡¯s elbow as he said, ¡°A real master knows how to conceal his true identity. You¡¯ve indeed hid yourself well.¡±


    Gu Shenwei gave a nod to his military counselor, signalling for Fang Wenshi to leave with the other four swordsmen. The counselor understood what he meant and left the Dragon King and the Prime Minister in privacy. He stood guard outside the room with the swordsmen while pretending to admire the great view of the pce.


    The Prime Minister was not prepared to speak to Gu Shenwei under such circumstances, but he knew he could not allow such a rare opportunity to slip away. He started off with the usual pleasantries, while Gu Shenwei remained mostly silent. He was waiting for the Prime Minister to broach the main subject.


    ¡°Did you hear about what happened during the court session just now, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Briefly.¡±


    ¡°What do you think about Mr. Fang¡¯s chances of winning the debate?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still too early to say, as the session has yet to be concluded.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you still have doubts, and are not telling me what you really think.¡±


    Gu Shenwei paused for a moment while he thought about how to best reply the Prime Minister. ¡°Master Moyang was just questioning Counselor Fang just now, and didn¡¯t make his stand clear. I fear that the momentum of the debate would swing away from us at the imperial study.¡±


    Prime Minister Shi nodded, expression turning serious. He seemed to be gauging how trustworthy the Dragon King was, as he stood looking at Gu Shenwei. ¡°I¡¯m certain that would happenter. I¡¯ve already received information that Moyang ns to give it all he¡¯s gotter. He ns on getting the king to reject the offer of peace, and would even chase your messenger away. What¡¯s worse is that he wants the king to order an attack on the Great Snowmountain with 50 thousand troops.¡±


    There were only a thousand swordsmen in the Great Snowmountain, and even if Shu-lik came at them with half their men, it would be impossible for the swordsmen to prevail.


    ¡°We really need your assistance now, Prime Minister. If you could lend us a helping hand, we from the Great Snowmountain will never forget your kindness.¡±


    ¡°You could say we started off as rivals but ended up mutually respecting each other,¡± the Prime Minister said as he shifted his gaze away from Gu Shenwei. His attitude had be a little indifferent as he continued. ¡°The Golden Roc Fortcks real leadership, as Shangguan Tian is cowardly and ipetent. I¡¯m now on your side, but the political situation in Shu-lik is extremelyplex and I¡¯m on my own here. Our path is fraught with obstacles, and you have to put in the effort as well to help us navigate safely to the exit.¡±


    ¡°Could you point me in the right direction, Prime Minister?¡±


    ¡°We shall talk again after the second debate, where you¡¯ll know I¡¯m telling the truth.¡±


    Prime Minister Shi did not want to be staying at the Great Snowmountain camp for too long, and took his leave again.


    Gu Shenwei could already guess what Prime Minister Shi wanted. He was only not sure which target the Prime Minister would give him: His nemesis Moyang, or his own brother, the King of Shu-lik.

 Chapter 260 - Counterattack

    <span>Chapter 260: Counterattack


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    That afternoon¡¯s debate in the Imperial Study went just as Prime Minister said it would ¨C sparks flew the moment it started.


    Moyang was keen on firing the first salvo. ¡°Your Majesty, your humble subject was already aware of this messenger¡¯s motive. He wants to convince you that the Jade City is in a precarious situation, and that the Golden Roc Fort would either ally itself with the Central in or Nond, endangering Shu-lik¡¯s national security in the process. He wishes to rece the Supreme King with the Great Snow Mountain, and ¡®borrow¡¯ our money, supplies, and soldiers along with free passage through ournds with Your Majesty¡¯s blessings. I say ¡®borrow¡¯ with invertedmas as I believe that they will never pay us back for what they owe.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was shocked upon hearing Moyang¡¯s opening statement. <em>This old fellow has correctly deduced almost all of my intentions. So, that¡¯s why he did not rebut in the first debate session; he wanted to probe into it more, </em>he thought. He gently waved his duster and replied with a smile, ¡°Let¡¯s not discuss my motives first. Do you feel that the Golden Roc Fort is in a very stable position, Sir?¡±


    ¡°Whether or not the Golden Roc Fort is in a stable position, our King will have a way to handle any issues thate our way. Now let¡¯s talk about you ¨C how can we expect a mercenary such as yourself to have the best interests of Shu-lik at heart? Your Majesty, don¡¯t for a moment doubt that this man is devious and wishes to scare us into submitting to his will, thereby profiting from our fear. You should chase him away now. Let¡¯s see if he is still loyal to the Great Snow Mountain after our great army has exterminated the Snow Mountain Gang,¡± said Moyang.


    The King of Shu-lik did not reply. He had been trained since a young age, and knew the importance of remaining silent in such situations.


    Fang Wenshi pped and shouted, ¡°Good, good, good!¡± His voice was so loud that it shocked Moyang and the King, thetter even shaking a little. The counselor did not have any reason to behave in this manner, but he needed time to re-think his strategy. ¡°You, Sir, are indeed worthy of the title ¡®Master¡¯. You are right. There are some things which cannot be said in court. I shall speak inly now, since there are only three of us, and there is no scribe here to record everything. There is no doubt that I would want to be repaid after studying hard for so many years. Yes, I have sold my services to the Great Snow Mountain. I am speaking up on its behalf here today, but none of what I said were ¡®lies¡¯. There is a saying that goes ¡®To benefit others is to benefit yourself¡¯, and I would not have spoke today if my ideas would not help Shu-lik as well.¡±


    ¡°Hrumph,¡± Moyang grunted, and was about to rebut when Fang Wenshi quickly cut him off by continuing, ¡°A loyal subject might not give the best advice to his king. The world is like a chess set, and the audience would have a more objective view aspared to the yers. To be so particr about the concept of loyalty, and to not be receptive of ideas which are not to your taste, thereby shutting yourself off from the opinions of others, do you, as the ¡®Master¡¯, imply that to be loyal is to shield His Majesty from other sources of ideas and to only listen to you?¡±


    Moyang¡¯s face grew red upon hearing Fang Wenshi¡¯s statement. He pointed at the counselor and chastised, ¡°Are you saying that I am preventing the Majesty from hearing the opinions of others?¡±


    Fang Wenshi bowed slightly as a sign of apology before continuing. ¡°Of course not, I meant that you, Sir, always have the best interests of His Majesty at heart, but may not always choose the best options avable. By focusing too much on loyalty, you may have filtered out crucial information from His Majesty.¡±


    Moyang flew into a rage, but managed to calm himself down quickly. Heughed sarcastically before replying, ¡°How clever of you to turn my loyalty against myself. I suppose that you will now be saying the ¡®hard truths¡¯?¡±


    ¡°One can only decide which is the best option after considering multiple ideas. There are also benefits of hearing the ¡®hard truth¡¯,¡± replied Fang Wenshi.


    Moyang nced at the King before tilting his head away. ¡°Let¡¯s see what you cane up with.¡±


    Fang Wenshi coughed a little to clear his throat, before continuing his train of thought in the earlier debate session. ¡°Jade City is located strategically at the heart of the Western Region. To its west, you have the Kingdom of Shu-lik, Nond to its north, the Central in to its east and about 20 other small to big countries, to its south. The Golden Roc Fort sprang up as a force to be reckoned with during the past few decades of war amongst the various countries, securing a foothold with its killers. After peace was achieved, there was still conflict over who should govern the city. The Central in and Nond nearly fought over it, and it was thete King of Shu-lik who managed to prevent such a border conflict by stepping in with the suggestion that all three countries should take turns governing the Jade City. This, however, caused the power of the Golden Roc Fort to grow exponentially, allowing it to controlnd amounting to a hundred miles. Today, it onlycks the official title of a kingdom, but in reality it can already be considered as one.¡±


    ¡°By recounting such a history, you have proved yourself as a schr,¡± interrupted Moyang sarcastically. He could not reallye up with any rebuttal as the opponent had not broached his main topic.


    Fang Wenshi continued. ¡°In reality, the alternating governance of the Jade City became that of non-governance. Everyone knows that the post of Governor of Jade City is a position whereby one does nothing but bes very rich at the end of three years. The Supreme King is taking advantage of the fact that Shu-lik, Nond and the Central in are curtailing each other¡¯s influence in the region. It is for this reason that he grows uneasy when any of the three nations make an unexpected move. You, Sir, are not entirely correct when you said that the Golden Roc Fort will ally itself with either the Central in or Nond. You have underestimated the Supreme King¡¯s ambition. All signs have shown that the Shangguan Family wishes to take control of the Jade City and be officially considered as royalty before chaos breaks out in the Western Region. During that time, Nond can rely on its natural advantage in Tianshan mountain, while the Central in will be protected by the vast expanse of the desert. Only Shu-lik will be stuck in the middle of the chaos, and to make matters worse, another power ¨C the Golden Roc Fort ¨C would have sprung up, bing another force to contend with.¡±


    ¡°The Supreme King wishes to be a real king? Haha, what a joke that is. His title of ¡®King¡¯ is simr to that of your master ¨C the ¡®King¡¯ of the five peaks. Both titles are only recognised by its own base, and no country would ever recognise the Supreme King as a true king. Shu-lik would be the first to reject such an idea.¡± Moyang grew confident that Fang Wenshi was only beating around the bush and had nothing concrete to present.


    Fang Wenshi replied coldly, ¡°What if Nond has already officially recognised him as a real king?¡±


    ¡°That is even less likely than Shu-lik and the Central in recognising the Golden Roc Fort as an official kingdom. When ourte king alternating governance over Jade City, Nond was the party that was strongly opposed it. You have also mentioned that Nond has the strategic buffer of Tianshan from the other countries in the Western Region. If Shangguan Fa wishes to establish the Golden Roc Fort as a kingdom, he will need to block off the two mountain passes from his east and west. The Central in could still reach him by crossing the Gobi desert, but Nond would have been blocked off from the West Region without having any ess to the passes. It has no reason to acknowledge him as a true king,¡± Moyang replied while shaking his head continuously, growing increasingly confident.


    Fang Wenshi smiled faintly. He turned towards the silent King of Shu-lik before continuing, ¡°What a coincidence. I had the same idea as the Master. However, I came to a conclusion which is entirely in opposition to this theory. The old Khan of Nond is now severely ill, and his sons are openly fighting to take his ce. Nond is now embroiled in civil war, and is unable topete with the Central in. Now, what would be its best option to maintain a foothold in the Western Region? Naturally, it would be to support a vassal nation who can protect its passage throughout the two mountain passes. Which party in the entire Western Region, other than the Golden Roc Fort, has a vested interest in Central in¡¯s influence in the Jade City? It¡¯s entirely logical that both of them would enter into an alliance ¨C one wishes to be officially recognised, while the other needs the benefit the Fort can offer. You, old Sir, feel that my warnings are distasteful, but you are not aware that the enemy is already eyeing Shu-lik. Once Shangguan Fa is officially recognised as a king, he would definitely move westwards, and at that time, Shu-lik would be in danger.¡±


    ¡°Hrumph, it seems that Mr. Fang is indeed ¡®concerned¡¯ about the security of Shu-lik. You continuously speak about our nation¡¯s impending doom ¨C in the earlier session, you spoke of the danger the Central in poses to us. Now, you are warning us about the Golden Roc Fort bing a kingdom of its own. It makes it seem as if Shu-lik is here for the taking and powerless to defend itself. Do you have any solid evidence that Shangguan Fa wishes to be recognised as a real king?¡±


    ¡°Evidence?¡± asked Fang Wenshi derisively, his chest puffed out. ¡°The current governor of Jady City is from Shu-lik, and will return soon after his three-year term has beenpleted. Your Majesty can then find out from him, as to whether the ¡®Protective Talisman¡¯ he got was far more than any other governor in the past? There¡¯s your evidence. Furthermore, all three countries have previously sent nobles who were living idly to fill the post of governor, a glorified position which was not involved in any actual politics. If what I¡¯ve guessed is correct, for the next three years, Nond will send somebody from the royal family with actual political power to fill this role.¡±


    Moyang continued shaking his head and turned to face the King as well. ¡°Your Majesty, ording to this man, all nations, even the Golden Roc Fort which has yet to be officially recognised as one, are our enemies. Isn¡¯t this trying kicking up a fuss just to scare us? Even if Shu-lik¡¯s national security is indeed threatened, can a bunch of barbarians from the Great Snow Mountain change the political situation in the Western Region?¡±


    ¡°The current political climate isplicated. One move can affect all parties that are involved. Now, it¡¯s a given that the Great Snow Mountain cannot change the political situation in the Western Region¡¯. However, if we intervene at the right moment and do the right thing, we can help Shu-lik achieve 30 years of stability.¡±


    Just as Moyang was about to counter, the King of Shu-lik, who had remained silent all this while, raised his right hand and stopped his chief minister, allowing the counselor to continue.


    Even though the King always had the final say in such matters, he rarely took sides or intervened in debates. Therefore, Moyang was surprised by his actions. Fang Wenshi, however, was greatly encouraged and took the opportunity to continue. ¡°Since Jade City is crucial to the entire situation, the Central in would definitely make the first move, once it has gathered its forces. This would return the Western Region back under the influence of the Emperor of the Central in. Shangguan Fa would be officially recognised as a king, and turn his back on Nond, thereby stirring up even more unrest. If the Great Snow Mountain removes the Golden Roc Fort from the picture, the situation in the Region would remain as it is, and Shu-lik would be the biggest beneficiary.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that the Golden Roc Fort is ambitious, but not the Great Snow Mountain?¡±


    Fang Wenshi snickered before replying, ¡°Yes, everyone is ambitious, but not everybody gets to realise their ambitions. Take the Golden Roc Fort for example. It has maintained its monopoly over the Jade City for over 30 years, but it is only now that Shangguan Fa dares to take concrete steps to be recognised as a real king. If the Great Snow Mountain was to make a move on the Golden Roc Fort, it would be from a thousand of miles away, and with the backing and control of Shu-lik. Even if we have any ambition, how would we dare to realise it? Your Majesty, please examine my words for any lies. It has always been wiser to have information that can be used against your opponent, rather than dering ¡®permanent alliances¡¯. Now, Your Majesty has the Great Snow Mountain eating out of your hands.¡±


    Moyang wanted to mock the counselor, but decided against it. He said to the King, ¡°Your Majesty, this person¡¯s words are covered with lies, please do not be deceived by him. The situation now is very clear to us that the Great Snowmountain is a thorn in our side; if we do not get rid of it, we cannot turn our attention to other issues. Now that the five peaks have been united, it is the perfect moment to eradicate them once and for all. With 50 thousand soldiers, we can get the job done. They are weak and cannot stand against the Golden Roc Fort on their own. If we give them the means to do so, we will be creating a future enemy, without any glory or benefits to ourselves. Please do not agree to do so, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°The Master is wrong to say so. Shu-lik is the weakest out of the three major powers in the Western Region. The other two yers can take Jade City by force, but not Shu-lik. This will be akin to courting your own doom. The Great Snow Mountain will act in the name of revenge¡­¡±


    Fang Wenshi had a lot more to say, but was disrupted again by the eunuch. ¡°It¡¯ste, and we would like to invite the messenger to rest now. We shall this discuss further in three days¡¯ time.¡±


    The messenger from the Great Snow Mountain was thus ushered out of the imperial study, leaving Moyang behind to talk to the King of Shu-lik in private.


    Fang Wenshi gazed at the bright sun as he stepped out of the study, no longer as confident as before. Once he and his entourage were out of the pce, he said to the Dragon King, who was still disguised as one of the apanying swordsmen, ¡°The King was convinced, but I am worried that Moyang will be a problem.¡±


    The debate had went exactly as how the Prime Minister had warned it would be. The path ahead for Gu Shenwei was fraught with obstacles, and he knew he had to get the swordsmen to leave the Great Snow Mountain. If they remained there, they would be wiped out, and they would not have gotten any closer to getting rid of the Golden Roc Fort anyway.


    In the afternoon, Xu Xiaoyi came bearing a message from the Prime Minister, requesting a private meeting with Gu Shenwei between nine to 11 in the night. It would be a risk for both of them to meet in person, so the Prime Minister had prepared a secret room for that purpose as a sign of good faith. They talked long into the night, with the Prime Minister confiding in the Dragon King and analysing the current situation in detail with him, leaving thetter no choice but to agree with his n.


    When Gu Shenwei took his leave from the Prime Minister, it was already past midnight. Still, he woke his military counselor up, and they discussed whether or npt they could trust the Prime Minister.


    Fang Wenshi did not change out of his pyjamas, and paced to and fro while considering the matter. After a long while, he finally said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid this is the only option.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew that too, but he could instinctively sense a conspiracy from someone¡¯s suggestion. There was something not quite right with the Prime Minister¡¯s request to kill both the King of Shu-lik and Moyang at the same time.

 Chapter 261 - Borrowed Blade

    Chapter 261: Borrowed de


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    On the surface, Prime Minister Shi controlled the government of Shu-lik. However, there were definitely great dangers hidden within.


    He didn¡¯t agree with the other ministers, but he didn¡¯t care. The Prince stood on the side of those ministers which caused the situation to be different. Although the King of Shu-lik was only in his forties, his physical condition was not good. Prime Minister Shi was worried that, once the king died, the Prince would seed the throne. This would be unfavorable to him, so his idea was to preemptively be the king himself.


    The original coborator that decided this was Shangguan Tian, but he did not yet announced his temptations. The Second Young Master of Golden Roc Fort had suffered a crushing defeat in thepetition with the Dragon King. Therefore, Prime Minister Shi quickly changed his mind.


    He gave a promise in a secret conversation with the Dragon King: he would fully support the Great Snowmountain after usurping the throne. He will, not only allow passage across their roads, he will also supply grains for the horses, weapons, and armor, however he could not lend them troops. The Shu-lik country could not publicly stand on the side of the Great Snowmountain.


    Gu Shenwei asked his military counselor, ¡°How trustworthy are the words of the Prime Minister?¡±


    Fang Wenshi recalled every detail of his meeting with Prime Minister Shi. ¡°I want to say that this matter is concluded. Prime Minister Shi has been persuaded by me. If he bes king, there are eight or nine times out of ten that he will regard Golden Roc Fort as his enemy.¡±


    ¡°What I mean is that this isn¡¯t going to be a plot to kill someone, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Fang Wenshi tend to focus on the grand scheme of things, thinking less about details and conscientiously thought for a while before continuing, ¡°He wants to usurp the throne, this cannot be fake. Hence, he invites you as a killer. It should be sincere, but you must prevent the possibility that he may me the regicide on the Great Snowmountain after he sessfully aplished his ns.¡±


    This was exactly what Gu Shenwei was worried about. No one is willing to bear the charge of killing their brothers. If Prime Minister Shi turns on them, then the Great Snowmountain would face imminent danger.


    After dawn, Fang Wenshi, on behalf of the Dragon King, was to see Prime Minister Shi and brought with him a specific assassination n. He also put forward two requirements: First, Prime Minister Shi has to write down his promises in ck ink on white paper and stamp them with public and private seals. Second, he must provide the details of the guards of the pce. The Dragon King did not want any idents to ur during the assassination.


    Prime Minister Shi quickly agreed to the second article. His own henchmen were among the guards in the pce. He had clearly revealed the guard patrol routes, the times when their shifts will change, the position of the rms, and so on. After Prime Minister Shi finished writing it all down, he handed it over to Fang Wenshi.


    As for the first article, Prime Minister Shi was a bit ambiguous. The Dragon King could notpletely trust him, but the Prime Minister also did not want to be so easily handled by others. Furthermore, hismitment to write everything on paper and stamp it with his seal would be irond evidence of his rebellion. If any of this ends up in the hands of the King of Shu-lik then it would bring great cmity.


    The two bargained like businessmen. Take a step back and I¡¯ll let a foot. They struggled for a long time before finally reaching apromise. Prime Minister Shi wrote all the promises and stamped it with his seal, but did not give it to Fang Wenshi. However, he agreed to hand it over on the day when the assassination n has beenpleted.


    One hand handed over the money while the other hand received the delivery. Thus, the assassination of the King of Shu-lik was set in motion. The time was set for after the second round of Breaking Obsession in two days and the location was the main hall of the pce.


    The Prime Minister¡¯s mansion aside, Gu Shenwei was not idle and was running around all day long.


    He first went to Xu Xiaoyi. He did not talk about the assassination n as he only came to inquire for intelligence.


    Xu Xiaoyi had received news that Shangguan Tian had lost trust in the Prime Minister, but he did not give up. He immediately sided with the other ministers. Moyang was originally part of the opposition party against Golden Roc Fort, but he became a supporter with the efforts of Shangguan Tian. Compared with the Great Snowmountain¡¯s messenger, he held a huge advantage, that is, he could talk privately with the King of Shu-lik. Even if Fang Wenshi was irrefutable, Shangguan Tian was incapable of admiring the subtle influence of the military counselor.


    Helping Prime Minister Shi seems to be really the only choice.


    After having said that, Xu Xiaoyi secretly lowered his voice. ¡°Someone wants to see you. Who would you never think of?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi revealed a hint of smug and felt that it was very rare for Brother Huan to have such a hard time.


    ¡°Shangguan Hong.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi was taken aback at the name that Gu Shenwei had said. ¡°You¡­ How did you know¡­ have you met him?¡±


    In fact, Xu Xiaoyi showed his own prowess. His expression showed that the person who saw him was a person whom Gu Shenwei was acquainted with. With a little intuition, Gu Shenwei thought of Shangguan Hong almost instantaneously. In fact, he was just the person he wanted to see.


    Whether in Golden Roc Fort or in Shu-lik, Shangguan Hong¡¯s status was embarrassing. He had been recognized as the son of the Supreme King for several years, yet he still did not receive the title of Young Master. Everyone considered him to be a chess piece within the hands of Lady Meng, and an insignificant piece that was asionally picked up and used, and then discarded immediately afterwards.


    He had followed his second brother to the Shu-lik country, and also took the position of an overseer. Shangguan Tian was so cold to his brother and even treated him like a ve. When hepeted with the Dragon King, Shangguan Tian had been hiding beside Prime Minister Shi. Shangguan Hong stayed with the Golden Roc security agency, just like everyone else.


    Even the ves and servants did not take care of this ¡°Master Hong¡±, and no one wanted to provoke the Second Young Master¡¯s suspicions.


    This brought a benefit. Shangguan Hong was a lonely man, and no one paid any attention to anything he does. Because of this, he was able to secretly go see Xu Xiaoyi and ask for the Dragon King, killer Yang Huan. He did not recognize that this man with a small mustache grown across his face was a teenager that came out of Jade City, and even thought that he was one of the Dragon King¡¯s men.


    There was a small pub in a narrow alley behind the Golden Roc security agency. Shangguan Hong avoided everyone to drink here every day. Since childhood, he was known as a trust-fund baby. Even being a son of the Supreme King had failed to change him. The cheapest and worst quality of wines was on the table, as well as a dish of peanuts as snacks. When he tasted the wine, he was reminded of Zhang Ji¡¯s teachings of personal examples and verbal instructions over the past few years.


    But this day was far from over. Shangguan Hong felt that his patience was about to pass the limit. Zhang Ji kept saying that time was not ripe and that it was best for him to keep a low profile. The old bookkeeper had hidden himself throughout his whole life and was naturally full of patience, but he still wanted to have a good time with the youngsters.


    The patron with ck and thin whiskers at the table across from them have been chatting with the manager. When the manager went to collect the bill, he probably thought that working by himself was too boring so, while carrying snacks and wines and without being invited, he sat opposite Shangguan Hong.


    ¡°What?¡± Shangguan Hong was already drunk, squinting his eyes to size up the uninteresting guest.


    ¡°One drunk person is not as good as two drunk people. The more the merrier.¡±


    There was a fat fish in the dishes that this guest had brought. Shangguan Hong was touched by it but then he secretly despised himself. If Zhang Ji saw him like this, he would certainly be scolded again. ¡°That old thing,¡± Shangguan Hong cursed in his heart and raised his chopsticks and furiously picked at the fat fish.


    Shangguan Hong ate quickly for a while and found that the guest sitting across him did not move his chopsticks, so he pushed over the peanuts on his side and said, ¡°Here, have a taste.¡±


    The guest shook his head and asked, ¡°Is Mister Zhang Ji doing well?¡±


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s chopsticks halted in the air as he opened his mouth. Suddenly he felt embarrassed beyond words. If Zhang Ji had not repeatedly insisted, he would not want to meet with the killer Yang Huan. In his mind, this was ve Huan.


    His association with ve Huan was already not right from the beginning, and have not been seen since. He was also a master by name, but he always took money from the ves and worked for the ves.


    ¡°Oh, he¡¯s well. I didn¡¯t expect you toe today,¡± answered Shangguan Hong.


    Gu Shenwei came here as soon as he received the message from Xu Xiaoyi. He had been observing for a long time before deciding to reveal himself after he confirmed that there were no traps. After seeing Shangguan Hong, he once again started to feel his initial doubts. Zhang Ji was such a deeply profound counselor, why did you choose the most ipetent son of the Supreme King to assist him?


    ¡°I hope that you have brought me some useful information,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    This sentence was rather condescending and it roused Shangguan Hong¡¯s hatred as it surged within his heart. However, after years of submissive humiliation by Lady Meng, he was able to skillfully hide his emotions. His face revealed a meaningful smile and said, ¡°It¡¯s definitely useful, but it¡¯s not quite appropriate here.¡±


    Gu Shenwei said, ¡°There is this Old Charm restaurant about three blocks away. Have you heard of it?¡±


    Shangguan Hong nodded.


    Gu Shenwei continued, ¡°After half an hour, go there and find a guest named Gu.¡±


    Shangguan Hong nodded again, and there was a sense of excitement in his heart. What Zhang Ji said was right, conspiracies are the most interesting games in this world. It secretly determined the fate of all beings. It is the power of the strong. Chopping and killing were nothing more than tools for the strong to achieve their goals.


    Old Charm restaurant provided quiet and secluded private dining rooms, which was a good ce to prevent eavesdropping. However, Shangguan Hong still spoke in a low voice and whispered, ¡°Mister Zhang said that the Second Young Master must have different ambitions. With the Lord secretly voting for Nond and the Eighth Young Master surrendering to the Central ins, the Second Young Master could only receive help from the Shu-lik country. This visit was to exterminate the Great Snowmountain only in name, but they actually want to borrow troops¨C¡±


    Shangguan Hong made a shing action. Gu Shenwei stayed calm and collected, thinking that as the number of sons of the Supreme King was bing fewer and fewer, their ambitions were bing bigger and bigger. He didn¡¯t know if this was a good thing or a bad thing for his revenge. He then said, ¡°You should report this to Lady Meng and the Lord. It would be a great contribution.¡±


    ¡°How can this be carelessly said? I don¡¯t even have any evidence,¡± Shangguan Hong said while being puzzled by ve Huan¡¯s cold reaction. Zhang Ji has said that ve Huan would definitely be interested in this. Gu Shenwei exined, ¡°You still don¡¯t understand? If the Second Young Master borrows a big army from the Shu-lik country, then the first ones to suffer would be the Great Snowmountain. The Shu-lik must extinguish them first to eradicate any future worries. Only then will they send their troops to attack Jade City. Mister Zhang said that friends and enemies are all things at one time and one ce. At this moment, we should form an alliance and jointly deal with Shangguan Tian.¡±


    Shangguan Hong was too anxious. Before he waited for the other party¡¯s response, he already said everything in his heart. Therefore, Gu Shenwei believed his words about eight or nine out of ten. Then he asked, ¡°What is Shangguan Tian¡¯s specific n?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I heard that he had hooked up with the chief minister named Moyang and was conspiring against the Great Snowmountain and Golden Roc Fort,¡± answered Shangguan Hong.


    ¡°What does Zhang Ji want me to do?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Hey, you are a killer, what else is there for you to do?¡± Shangguan Hong said while drooping his head and feeling a little embarrassed. Then looked up at ve Huan again as he hoped to show a firm will.


    It was another n to kill a person with a borrowed de. Zhang Ji wanted to take this opportunity to get rid of the Second Young Master and pave the way for the future of Shangguan Hong. Gu Shenwei was well aware of this. He then said, ¡°I will think this over. We¡¯re in the Shu-lik country, I can¡¯t casually kill people here.¡±


    Shangguan Hong did not understand the meaning behind his words. He thought that ve Huan did not believe in himself, and hurriedly threw out thest piece of information, ¡°You don¡¯t want to kill, but people want to kill you. Those killers that arrived a few days ago haven¡¯t left yet, and have been staying at the Golden Roc security agency. Who do you think their target is? It¡¯s definitely you. He who strikes first gains the advantage, and those afterwards will suffer. Zhang Ji has said that this is the only choice if you and the Great Snowmountain want to survive.¡±


    For the second time in two days, Gu Shenwei heard the phrase ¡°the only choice¡± and he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he really only had one choice.

 Chapter 262 - Beard

    Chapter 262: Beard


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Xu Xiaoyi tried his best to control his expression. After several years of arduous training and hard work in Shu-lik, he consciously trained himself to contain his feelings. But he was always like invisible to Brother Huan, thus he was very upset and decided to try saying, ¡°There¡¯s someone else here that wants to see you, guess who?¡±


    This time his intuition did not help. Gu Shenwei thought that it would be Shangguan Tian at first, but when he saw Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s tense face with great surprise concealed; he changed his mind and thought about it again. ¡°Moyang.¡±


    The surprise in Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s heart spilled and he shook his head saying, ¡°Nothing can hide from you. If you run the business, how much more money will we make?¡±


    Doing business and reading people¡¯s minds were not the same. Letting Gu Shenwei manage their money would cause them to lose even their investments.


    He had already vaguely understood Moyang¡¯s intentions, but he still went to a manor outside the city under the invitation. He decided to visit the biggest obstacle on the way to persuade the King of Shu-lik.


    Moyang looked old and weak, and he was not very enthusiastic when he saw the Dragon King. He nodded slightly and didn¡¯t even stand up. The ¡°Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks¡± was just a bandit chieftain of the Snow Mountain Gang. ¡°Do you know why I am looking for you for?¡± said Moyang.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head, did not sit down, and distanced himself from the tyrannical old man. No one dared to see a killer so rashly in Jade City. In the Shu-lik country, an official who did not even practice kung fu treated the killer as any other random macheteman. He not only bravely met the killer alone, but also in a disdainful manner.


    Which world was more normal, Gu Shenwei was a bit unclear.


    ¡°Everyone says you are a smart person.¡± Moyang took a sip of tea and said with his eyes dropped.


    ¡°Smart people don¡¯t guess other people¡¯s minds,¡± Gu Shenwei said with his hand on the hilt.


    ¡°Well, yes, I have something to say. The talkative schr you hired may be able to persuade His Majesty, but as long as I am here, you will never reach your goals. As for the reasons, I dare to say that it has nothing to do with the situation in the Western Region and the national security. This is simply a personal revenge. My favorite third son died in the hands of the Snow Mountain Gang people. For this, I have vowed I¡¯ll ughter these savages, regardless of men, women, or children. Unfortunately, no one in Shu-lik is willing to enter the Great Snowmountain. Now, you have helped me a lot; you unified the Snow Mountain Gang and led them to challenge the Shu-lik country. You gave me the once in a lifetime chance to watch all of you perish,¡± Moyang said as his tone was getting higher and higher, and in the end, it was almost as if he was cursing in anger.


    .


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to find me if you just want to say these,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°I hope that there is only this,¡± Moyang said while suppressing his voice. The following words were obviously contrary to his original intention, so he was quite reluctant to say, ¡°Time changes everything. The situation is different now, and I can¡¯t live like this holding onto what happened years ago. Right now, I¡¯ll give you a chance: Agree, and I will move aside, letting that schr of yours persuade His Majesty. Disagree, and I will deploy another n, absolutely better than yours that even His Majesty would not refuse. The life and death of Great Snowmountain depend on your choice.¡±


    ¡°Agreeing seems to be my only choice.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Moyang answered directly. He was holding the lifeline of the Dragon King. He believed that he had the advantage and did not need unnecessarypromises.


    ¡°Even so, I have to know what your ¡®other n¡¯ is.¡±


    ¡°I have a way to get half of the territory of Jade City.¡± Throwing out this sentence, Moyang picked up the teacup again. This was enough; there was no need for a killer to know everything.


    It turned out that this was the price of Shangguan Tian¡¯s borrowing troops from the Shu-lik. He was willing to be half of what the Supreme King was and even risked instant betrayal. Gu Shenwei thought that the King of Shu-lik would not so easily buy the n. The attack on the Golden Roc Fortwould would cause intense reactions from the Central ins and the Nonds. The Shu-lik could not withstand the pressure.


    However, with Moyang the situation would be different. Thend was always an irresistible temptation to monarchs, as elite weapons were to kung fu masters. Under the encouragement of the military counselor, King of Shu-lik was likely to make short-sighted choices.


    ¡°You want me to kill for you.¡±


    ¡°This is like what a smart person should say. I want you to kill someone for me, but this is simply a preemptive strike to protect myself. You understand what I mean.¡±


    ¡°The prime minister is now a supporter of Great Snowmountain.¡±


    ¡°Of course, you gave him 10,000 taels of gold. Everyone knows this. Even His Majesty has heard of it. Maybe you promised to kill for him. However, you have to understand one thing. The support of the prime minister is half-hearted. My opposition will spare no effort. Even if I toss away this old life of mine, I must stop your persuader. So, choose.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was speechless, he was thinking about the connection between these three borrowed-de murders.


    ¡°I hope that you are not thinking about how to kill me. Prime Minister Shi has always had this idea.¡± Moyang misunderstood the silence of the killer. ¡°Someone knows that you wille to see me. When I die, His Majesty will immediately send troops to Great Snowmountain and avenge me. I at least, am worth this much value in his heart.¡±


    ¡°I agree.¡± Gu Shenwei said as he held the three ¡°only choices¡± in his hand, and this had just given him some leeway between his choices.


    ¡°The day after tomorrow is the second round of Breaking Obsession. Afterward, I will hold a private talk with His Majesty. If I haven¡¯t received the news I¡¯ve been waiting for then this whole operation will be canceled.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not say any farewells and directly left. As things became more and moreplicated, he needed to find the military counselor for a consultation.


    When he returned to his residence, it waspletely dark. Gu Shenwei jumped over the wall into the courtyard. He had not properly gone through doors for many years.


    Chu Nanping emerged from the shadows. He volunteered for the responsibility of guard duty and had never cked off. ¡°You¡¯re back.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Gu Shenwei waited for the young swordsman to speak, knowing that he would not appear to just say hello.


    ¡°You should care more about Tie Linglong.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s up with her?¡±


    ¡°She has been practicing with her saber a bit too much these days as if something is weighing on her mind.¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked at Chu Nanping and wondered if he also had something weighing on his mind. ¡°When ites to concern, you should talk to Xu Xiaoyi. He takes your friendship deeply seriously.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± As soon as Xu Xiaoyi was mentioned, Chu Nanping¡¯s voice became stern. ¡°As long as he still has that beard, I won¡¯t talk to him.¡±


    ¡°That beard¡­¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s words just left his mouth, and Chu Nanping had already disappeared.


    This youth was a good swordsman but was not a good killer. Gu Shenwei was only using the contents from the Death Scripture to help him improve his swordcraft but had not taught him the whole scripture. This was one of the most important reasons: Chu Nanping imed himself emotionless. In fact, he had rich emotions that countered to the fundamental concept of the Death Scripture.


    The fallout between the two good friends stemmed from a joke made inst year.


    Xu Xiaoyi drank a little too much then, and Chu Nanping also drank quite a lot. He had a strange principle: He thought that friends should advance together and retreat together. No matter what Xu Xiaoyi had ever said, he had always done it diligently, even if it was not something he liked. For example, drinking.


    Chu Nanping¡¯s cheeks became rosy red, looking more and more like a gorgeous girl, Xu Xiaoyi jokingly blurted out the following words that left his good friend furious. ¡°Little Chu, all the prostitutes from Pleasure Alley added together can¡¯t evenpare to one of your fingers. All women should feel inferior in your presence.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi grew up in a brothel. In his opinion, this was a sincerepliment, but he forgot that Chu Nanping was a swordsman.


    Chu Nanping had already pulled out his long sword to almostplete the Emotionless Swordsmanship ¡°killing friends and chopping affections.¡± Suddenly, he realized that he was acting in a fit of anger, which did not meet the original intentions of the swordcraft. Thus, he put away his sword and retorted with a cold remark. ¡°Don¡¯t you think yourself a man just because you wear a small mustache!¡±


    The pair fell out because of this little thing. They had not said anything to each other over the past year. Xu Xiaoyi made apologies for a few times, but he strongly refused to take off his beard. This beard was meaningful to him. Taking it off was like taking off all his clothing.


    Gu Shenwei decided not to meditate; this was a child¡¯s y and he did not bother himself.


    He came to the backyard and saw that Tie Linglong was dancing with her de. The little girl had been practicing for three years, and her machete skills were already very different. She had also learned the Wayless Qigong, although fewer than that of Chu Nanping, with only four chapters. Moreover, she had never learned from the Death Scripture.


    At the time Gu Shenwei saved the granddaughter of Tie Hanfeng, he thought that she would be a good young killer. However, it turned out that he was wrong. Tie Linglong¡¯s heart was full of hate, and she could not control the power, just like now. Ever since entering Shu-lik City, she had been desperately working to practice the sword art,pletely without a killer¡¯s calmness.


    Perhaps this was not a problem with Tie Linglong and Chu Nanping. Gu Shenwei thought that maybe it was his training method that was improper. He had not experienced the basic training of the Carvewood Academy. This missing segment could not be made up anyway, and it was more impossible to teach to others.


    He did not ask Tie Linglong what went wrong; he did not even know how to phrase himself. In the killer¡¯s opinion, being asionally controlled by vengeful hatred might be a good thing.


    Fang Wenshi was anxiously waiting for the Dragon King. After hearing of the three borrowed-de murder ns, he became extremely confused and said, ¡°This¡­ is such a coincidence.¡±


    Gu Shenwei could not help but thought that if it was Zhang Ji, he would definitely be able to see through the hidden plots at once. ¡°No, it¡¯s probably not coincidental and actually logical.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°If you want to kill someone and don¡¯t want to be exposed, there is only one way to do it and that is to put the me on others. Hence, the ¡®others¡¯ would be better off having an adequate motive to kill.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was gradually realizing. He could see the world¡¯s general picture, but he had never been qualified to participate in a specific scheme. In this regard, he reacted slowly. ¡°You are the Snow Mountain Dragon King, the enemy of Shu-lik. So, of course, Prime Minister Shi would use you to murder to king; you are the killer Yang Huan, the sworn enemy of Golden Roc Fort, so of course Shangguan Hong would use you to kill his brother; you¡¯ve sent Prime Minister Shi heads and became enemies of him, that¡¯s why Moyang use you to kill his rival. After each party achieves their goals, they will all put the me on you. Even if anyone suspects otherwise, no one would discover anything.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. Great Snowmountain was still too weak, and the killer Yang Huan was just a small fish that Golden Roc Fort let slip through its. Everyone thought he was disposable.


    ¡°What to do? We have to choose one, especially Prime Minister Shi and Moyang, these two people¡¯s requirements are opposites. However, both would benefit Great Snowmountain. It¡¯s more or less good news.¡±


    ¡°I have all agreed.¡±


    ¡°What¡­ what are you going to do?¡±


    ¡°Aplish everyone¡¯s goals and then achieve mine.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had a partially organized n in his mind. The core of a conspiracy was not whether it would seed or fail, but who had the right to be in control. In that way, even if the conspiracy failed, the mastermind behind the scenes would benefit from it. Gu Shenwei had suffered from it before and had a deep understanding of this.


    He wanted to seize back control.

 Chapter 263 - Three Plans

    Chapter 263: Three ns


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    In early August, the second round of the Breaking Obsession was conducted. The sky was clear, and Prime Minister Shi performed divination for the guests in his mansion. Mo Yang was flipping through an almanac from the Central ins. Shangguan Hong had drawn a mark in front of the small Buddha statue that was in the house. They found that all things were going well today and it would continue to be a perfect day.


    Gu Shenwei got up early and put on clothes from his entourage. He also put on make-up and a disguise with the help of Tie Linglong. He also carefully hid his saber. Then, he sat down and carefully thought of his n. All ns have the possibility of failure and the risks would increase exponentially for every added ident.


    He did not beg the spirits because he felt that he had already minimized the risks.


    Fang Wenshi did not know what the details of the Dragon King¡¯s n was, but there was a sense of ominousness in his heart. However, he calmed down before he departed as he had a well thought-out n. He believed that even if there was interference due to personal grievances, he could still persuade the King of Shu-lik.


    As usual, Chu Nanping dressed fancily and could not understand why everyone was so interested in his appearance that he often had to cover up. His sword was the thing that he cared the most about.


    Xu Xiaoyi knew a bit more about Brother Huan¡¯s ns. His worries had also deepened. Brother Huan was always rescued from desperate situations, but nobody knew which desperate situation would be thest time. He looked at Chu Nanping, the beautiful youth that had turned into an ordinary person. He felt that there were some words that he had to say.


    Then, he carefully ripped off the fake beard around his lips while he frowned, ¡°I look like this without a beard.¡±


    Chu Nanping personally kept his long sword hidden. Chu Nanping was surprised by Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s sudden obedience, even though Xu Xiaoyi had only done something simple. Looking at Xiaoyi¡¯s appearance, it seemed like life-and-death had no boundaries.


    ¡°It will be fine. You should just stay back.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not angry with me?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Chu Nanping said truthfully. He was never that good at analyzing emotions. ¡°But I am very happy.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi smiled and carefully stuck his beard back on.


    The only unhappy person was Tie Linglong. ¡°Why can¡¯t I go, haven¡¯t I killed anyone? Are my machete skills not good enough?¡±


    If she was a killer, she would not ask these pointless questions. Gu Shenwei thought for a while and patiently exined, ¡°This operation does not require you. You have your own mission.¡±


    Tie Linglong pursed her lips and quickly retracted her words. She did not want to look like a child, but the Dragon King¡¯s exnation was the same as if he didn¡¯t say anything at all, so she was very upset.


    A group of people from the Great Snowmountain entered the pce after going through detailed inspections.


    Fang Wenshi apologized to the Officials the day before. The Great Snowmountain prepared gifts for the King of Shu-lik, but it had been dyed. They had just arrived and could only offer it before the second round of the Breaking Obsession.


    The gifts included a number of silks, gold and silver jades, spices, and twenty handsome boys and girls.


    The venue for the second round of Breaking Obsession was changed back to the main hall. There were also fewer ministers involved. There were only a dozen of them, and their leader was still Moyang.


    Before the formal debate, the messenger of the Great Snowmountain read out the list of gifts. The list was very long, so he brought in one of his followers.


    Gu Shenwei was holding a roll of map that had a dagger hidden inside it. This was an ancient strategy that will prove its effectiveness once again.


    As for the other weapons, they were hidden in a box that was guarded by Chu Nanping. When he hears the signal, he would rush in with it.


    Prime Minister Shi was the first to recognize the true identity of his follower and immediately turned his face to nod in agreement with the other ministers.


    Moyang soon saw through the disguise of the killer and stared at him for a while. Gu Shenwei pretended to look at the items that was held in his hand and nodded at the military counselor.


    Three borrowed de murder ns. Everyone had been informed of a set of ns by Gu Shenwei:


    Prime Minister Shi thought that the Dragon King would carry out his ns at the end of the Breaking Obsession. After killing the king, he would take Prime Minister Shi as a hostage and demand all of their guards to withdraw and simultaneously take away the letter ofmitment.


    The n that Moyang had heard of was apletely different version. After the end of the Breaking Obsession, the Dragon King would be among the teenagers who were sent as gifts and secretly stay in the pce to assassinate Prime Minister Shi. If it was sessful, the news would immediately reach his ears.


    As for Shangguan Hong, the only thing he knows is that ve Huan will start sooner orter, but the time and ce were not clear to him.


    The eunuch announced the start of the Breaking Obsession.


    Fang Wenshi felt that something was going to happen in the main hall, but his task was to persuade the King of Shu-lik as much as he can. He didn¡¯t have time to think about other things. The schr coughed twice and walked towards the king and the ministers, to pay his respect. ¡°Bnce of the Western Region is the most important matter for the Shu-lik country. The Central ins and the Nonds, regardless of which country are thergest, would swallow up the Shu-lik. A storm ising, and each party is justcking the suitable excuses and opportunities. It is the biggest opportunity to change the bnce of power for Shangguan Fa to im the throne. Today, the best way to dy his im to the throne is to cut the weeds and dig up its roots, and exterminate the Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    Fang Wenshi stopped and waited for the ministers to refute. As a result, no one spoke. It seemed that everyone already knows the results of today¡¯s meeting and there was no need for unnecessary arguments. Fang Wenshi¡¯s heart sunk slightly, but he quickly adjusted his mindset and continued to say, ¡°While the three countries are big, they have mutual jealousy and have no choice but to prepare themselves. Anyone who attacks the Jade City will retaliate against the other two parties. Among them, the Shu-lik is the weakest. As long as one single solder enters the boundaries of Jade City, it will cause the Central ins army to march, which is the best oue.¡±


    Shangguan Tian exchanged half of thend of the Jade City for the Shu-lik country to send troops. This was the n that Moyang would use to persuade the King of Shu-lik. Fang Wenshi refuted in advance, but Moyang still does not speak. Instead, a ck-faced minister was instructed to get up and say, ¡°What the Mister said was grand but it would be for naught. Since he is a messenger of the Great Snowmountain, he does not need to care about other countries¡¯ affairs. Just talk about the Great Snowmountain.¡±


    Fang Wenshi smiled and shook his head. ¡°A country¡¯s life and death are often determined by other countries. Without seeking outside help, how does one protect themselves? However, it is true that I should talk about the Great Snowmountain. You must think that this Fang is very strange, the Great Snowmountain and the Golden Roc Fort are currently feuding. The grievances cannot be washed away like melted snow that easily. Why does he want the Shu-lik to send troops to attack? Although there are thousands of miles of in the Great Snowmountain area, it is snowy all the year round. It is not suitable for human habitation. It is nothing more than a wedding dress for Golden Roc Fort. In the case of defeat, it would be augh for the world.¡±


    The ck-faced minister felt that he was being provoked and got up again. ¡°The Snowmountain Gang is nothing but a small group. How dare they think that they can defeat the Shu-lik? Snowmountain swordsmen are barbaric and rude. They often steal the livestock and loot the citizens of our country. The Shu-lik are constantly besieged by the Great Snowmountain. It is not wise to open our border. It¡¯s designed to protect ournd and our people.¡±


    Fang Wenshi opened his hands and said, ¡°Then it would be much simpler. The Great Snowmountain is bent on seeking revenge against the Golden Roc Fort. Why not lend a path and let the two sides fight decisively?¡±


    ¡°Sounds good, but nobody knows if the Great Snowmountain has any ulterior motives. As soon as the Shu-lik country lends a path, it would be the same as letting a wolf into the room.¡± The ck-faced minister was determined to answer the question.


    ¡°Hehe, this Fang remembers that someone said that the Shu-lik country has 500,000 soldiers during thest Breaking Obsession. Why would you be afraid of 10,000 swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain? To say the least, a swordsman relies on their own roots and can¡¯tpete with the brave soldiers of Shu-lik. Once they leave the Great Snowmountain, former allies are no longer reinforcements. Food and fodder are controlled by the Shu-lik, which is the most important thing in the hearts of the people. Therefore, they are more afraid of the Shu-lik country being dishonest and retaliating.¡±


    The ck-faced minister sneered. ¡°Do you think our Shu-lik is like the Golden Roc Fort, treacherous and unscrupulous?¡±


    ¡°Well said. Treacherous and unscrupulous. These words are engraved on the gates of Golden Roc Fort. Surely you don¡¯t mean that the great Shu-lik country is working for the Supreme King, right?¡±


    The two men were at loggerheads with each other and attracted everyone¡¯s attention in the hall. Only Prime Minister Shi seemed to be uninterested. He looked indifferent and asionally yawned. He was the younger brother of King of Shu-lik. He did not pay much attention to the Breaking Obsession ceremony. Just as it reached its climax, he seemed to have remembered something very important. The eunuch who was rushing to the king nodded and sneaked out behind the ministers.


    Gu Shenwei received hints from Prime Minister Shi¡¯s eyes.


    Moyang has been staring at Fang Wenshi, but he kept Prime Minister Shi within his peripheral vision and suddenly said, ¡°Prime Minister Shi, what do you think?¡±


    Fang Wenshi was arguing with the ck-faced minister, both going back and forth with their arguments. They could only pause and feel ufortable.


    Prime Minister Shi was still more than ten steps away from the entrance of the main hall and stopped embarrassedly to say, ¡°Hey, this Great Snowmountain messenger is rmended by me. It¡¯s better to avoid unfounded suspicions. The views of the ministers are the same as my views.¡±


    Moyang took advantage of his status as the military counselor, not caring about etiquette. He walked over and grabbed the sleeves of Prime Minister Shi. Moyang took him back to his original ce. ¡°This is a national event, there are no suspicions. As a country¡¯s prime minister, it is always necessary to say a few words in regards to the Great Snowmountain that has asked to borrow our roads to attack the Golden Roc Fort. Is this appropriate or inappropriate?¡±


    Prime Minister Shi was unhappy and broke free from Moyang¡¯s hands. ¡°Lending a path is not going to be a problem, but the five peaks of the Great Snowmountain have only joined hands for a mere few months. It is still at the beginning of its creation. It seems that they are not worthy opponents of the Golden Roc Fort, and the Shu-lik has no reason to offend its neighbors.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was prepared for this. He raised his finger and pointed in the direction of the area that is northwest of the Great Snowmountain. ¡°The 10,000 swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain faced the soldiers of Shu-lik in three wars and won all three wars. They do not fear nor are concerned of your 500,000 man army, not to mention the jianghu. It has been three years since my leader, the Dragon King has forsaken the darkness for the light. The Golden Roc Fort is called the strongest killer organization in the Western Region, but it has never been able to harm the Dragon King. The Dragon King is familiar with the inside and outside of the Golden Roc Fort. One blow is sure to win. What hecked in the past was only the manpower. Now with numerous swordsmen and soldiers, how are we not the opponent of the Golden Roc Fort? ¡±


    Gu Shenwei blushed at Fang Wenshi¡¯s boasting. The killer did not care about lying but he was not used to boasting. The counselor was the opposite, telling lies would cause his face and ears to redden. However, he was poised when exaggerating his master¡¯s strength.


    ¡°Please allow this Fang to demonstrate the situation of Shu-lik country¡¯s eastern borders and the topography of the Jade City to His Majesty. Bring me the map,¡± Fang Wenshi ordered.


    This was the moment that Gu Shenwei had been waiting for.


    Prime Minister Shi pretended to make way and took a few steps away. He kept his distance from Moyang.


    Gu Shenwei spread the map on the ground and stepped back slowly.


    The map was getting more and moreplete, the scrolls were getting smaller and smaller. The ministers were watching intently, and the King of Shu-lik was also sat up straight.


    ¡°The checkpoint here¡­¡±


    The most important act in Fang Wenshi¡¯s life ends here.


    Gu Shenwei pulled out the dagger and rushed to the target of assassination. Before anyone cried out rmingly, the mission has beenpleted.


    At the same time, there was a loud noise outside the hall. A group of people wanted to rush in and shed with the temple guards.


    Gu Shenwei had only one thing left to do, to ensure the safety of himself and his military counselor.

 Chapter 264 - Murder in the Hall

    Chapter 264: Murder in the Hall


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The King of Shu-lik fell in a pool of blood. The killer stood before the throne and lifted the dagger that was still dripping with blood. He then kicked the eunuch down the steps.


    At that moment, everything within the main hall froze and everyone stood still. The first person to react was Prime Minister Shi. He had been waiting for this moment and instead of being in ordance with the agreement of ¡°taking the initiative¡± to be a hostage, he ran out of the hall hurriedly.


    Fang Wenshi was the second to react. The Dragon King had carried out the worst one out of the three borrowed de murders. However, the schr did not have a choice, his life was linked to this bloodthirsty killer. Thus, he could only follow his movements and ran towards the throne in a panic.


    The eunuch who was kicked to the ground was in utter confusion. He felt as if someone had run past him and hugged the enemy¡¯s legs while shouting, ¡°Protect His Majesty.¡± It was Fang Wenshi who was randomly shuffling around and pretending to stop the assant.


    More than ten ministers circled around. They were screaming like women and had lost all their senses. Moyang was stunned. He stared at the killer for a while before suddenly turning around and pointed at Prime Minister Shi, who was running away. ¡°It¡¯s you! Prime Minister Shi killed the King! Prime Minister Shi killed the King!¡±


    The six temple guards rushed in with long axes. When they heard Moyang¡¯s words, they were at a loss and didn¡¯t know who to attack.


    Prime Minister Shi stood in front of the doors. He grabbed his clothes with one hand and pointed at Moyang with the other. ¡°The military counselor is the mastermind, kill him!¡±


    The killer was still standing in front of the corpse of the King of Shu-lik, holding the weapon in his hand. However, he only got a little amount of attention. Both parties were anxious to push the crime as the mastermind of the regicide onto the other party,pletely ignoring the existence of the actual killer.


    A group of guards of more than 30 people ran in from the outside of the hall, holding scimitars. They rushed in without saying a word and cut down the guards holding the axes. They then stood in front of Prime Minister Shi, waiting for his orders.


    The scene became more and more chaotic, and the timid ministers looked around for ces to hide. Moyang used all his strength to yell, ¡°Someonee! Someonee!¡±


    There was another group of people that rushed into the main hall before the guards who were protecting Prime Minister Shi established their footing. These people took the advantage of the disorder and came in through the gaps of the chaos. Some were standing on the steps leading up to the throne, while holding their des with its edge facing outwards. They even managed to save the drowning mouse, Fang Wenshi.


    Chu Nanping brought more than a dozen teenagers and arrived just in time. He threw a saber at the Dragon King that stood before the throne while holding a long sword himself.


    Half of the 20 teenagers who came from the Great Snowmountain were killers that received secret training from Gu Shenwei for two years. This was the first time that they were brought into the spotlight. Some were excited, some were nervous, and some were even trembling.


    ¡°Kill the rebel party.¡± Prime Minister Shi shouted with a shaking voice, but his expression was fierce.


    The guards brandished their des and were about to act. Suddenly, sounds of drums came from outside the main hall along with uniformed shouting. It was an obvious gathering of troops.


    Prime Minister Shi¡¯s face suddenly changed, and the guards around him also looked around and paused.


    A general d in full armor strode into the main hall. There were nearly 200 soldiers that followed him from behind and surrounded everyone. ¡°Protect His Majesty! Protect His Majesty!¡± the generalmanded.


    The eunuch reacted like he was seeing his parents for the first time in a while. He kneeled on the ground and crawled towards the general, crying, ¡°Your Royal Highness, you just missed it. His Majesty has been assassinated.¡±


    Prime Minister Shi was thoroughly shocked. He had clearly sent someone to monitor the Prince. While the action was taken on this side, an assassin had also been nted to assassinate the Prince on the other side. How is it possible for His Highness to be in the main hall with all of these soldiers? It was toote to think about such pressing matters, thus Prime Minister Shi immediately went beside the Prince, full of grief and said, ¡°Nephew, the Great Snowmountain¡¯s assassin was instructed by Moyang to assassinate my royal brother, His Majesty. You havee at the right time, you must avenge my royal brother. ¡±


    Moyang was filled with indignation and shivered. ¡°Such nder, the people from the Great Snowmountain are endorsed by you. How could it be that I incited them?¡±


    ¡°The night before, you met with the Dragon King of the Great Snowmountain secretly in your countryside manor. Was this not true? I thought you were merely ckmailing him, but I didn¡¯t expect it to be¡­¡± Prime Minister Shi was extremely invested in his acting, sobbing profusely and unable to speak any further.


    The prince held his scimitar and screamed, ¡°Everyone shut up!¡± He then nced at the assassin who was still standing in front of the throne. ¡°Everyone put down your weapons.¡±


    The teenagers brought by Gu Shenwei were not calm and collected enough. All of them put down their des one by one. The only one who still held onto his sword was Chu Nanping.


    The prince pointed at the guards behind the prime minister andmanded. ¡°You too.¡±


    The guards looked at each other and no one disarmed.


    Prime Minister Shi said, ¡°Your Highness, they are my people. The assassins¡¯ kungfu is extremely strong, so they can be very helpful.¡±


    The Prince was unwaveringly cold. As more than 200 soldiers advanced at the same time, Prime Minister Shi thought about the matter in his heart before looking back to his guards and saying, y them down.¡±


    The guards obeyed andid down their scimitars. They looked very hesitant and looked at each other.


    Aside from the Prince and the guards, there were only two people in the entire main hall that were still holding their weapons, Gu Shenwei and Chu Nanping.


    ¡°You are the Great Snowmountain¡¯s Dragon King?¡± the prince asked quietly.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°You have no way to escape.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡±


    ¡°Who is the true culprit?¡±


    Both Prime Minister Shi and Moyang listened diligently because the words of the Dragon King would determine who won and who lost, or who lived and who died.


    ¡°Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s answer was not what everyone expected. Even Fang Wenshi looked back at him with uncertainty.


    ¡°There are no people here that are from Golden Roc Fort here,¡± the Prince said. As a man whose father had just died, he seemed unusually calm.


    ¡°He is,¡± Gu Shenwei said as he pointed to someone among the guards of Prime Minister Shi. ¡°Second Young Master Shangguan Tian, this is the end of the matter, reveal yourself.¡±


    The guard panicked and said, ¡°I am not.¡± After saying this, he made a fatal mistake and unconsciously turned his head to ask for help, hoping to get a hint.


    This group of guards looked around several times. Gu Shenwei had roughly guessed which person was Shangguan Tian. This lost guard gave him the final piece of evidence. Only the Dragon King had noticed it at first, but now everyone else has also turned their attention to his unattractive face.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± the Prince pulled out his scimitar.


    ¡°Yes, it was Moyang who told me.¡±


    Moyang had received unwarranted usations repeatedly, and he could hardly say anything. He pointed at the Dragon King and trembled for a moment before saying, ¡°You are talking nonsense, I don¡¯t know Shangguan Tian was here. He, he should not be here, we agreed on this.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Gu Shenwei immediately asked.


    ¡°I¡­ you¡­ what the hell is going on?¡± Moyang suddenly felt that something was wrong, the Dragon King was too calm, and the Prince was also too calm.


    ¡°I ordered you to answer this question.¡± A majestic voice sounded behind Gu Shenwei.


    The King of Shu-lik stood up while covered in blood.


    The crowd waspletely shocked. Most of the people in the main hall were kneeling down after the Prince kneeled down. Even the soldiers were of no exception. Only Gu Shenwei remained standing instead of kneeling. By his side, Chu Nanping was also not kneeling and stood guard beside the Dragon King.


    ¡°Moyang, obey the royalmand,¡± said the King of Shu-lik. Although his clothes were bloody, he did not lose his aura as an emperor.


    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. I¡­ I took Shangguan Tian¡¯s money and promised to persuade Your Majesty to attack Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    The next thing happened very quickly, and many people even wondered what had happened at the time.


    The guard flew out and threw himself at the Prince who was not so far away from him, with a dagger in his hand.


    Chu Nanping reacted at the same time as he did, and stabbed with his long sword. The two immediately exchanged three or four moves before separated.


    Twenty of the 30 or so guards quickly picked up their scimitars from the ground, and the soldiers armed with halberds swarmed. The main hall was once again inplete chaos. Chu Nanping wanted to fight Shangguan Tian properly, but he was nowhere to be found.


    The chants of ¡°protect His Majesty, protect His Majesty¡± came and went, as everyone wanted to be in front of the throne. But they interfered with each other and caused even more confusion among themselves.


    The prince rushed to the side of his father, blocking the front andmanded the soldiers to prepare for battle.


    The bloody battlested for about a quarter of an hour. In the end, the main hall was covered in ayer of blood. There were dozens of corpsesid and spread all around.


    ¡°There is no Shangguan Tian.¡± After the soldiers quickly counted the bodies, they reported to the King of Shu-lik. ¡°The Dragon King is also gone.¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Tian is here.¡± With that voice, a human head flew in from outside the main hall. It rolled on the ground a few times before hitting one of the corpses and stopped.


    Some people recognized that this was the head of that guard. A soldier grabbed and picked up the head, wiped it a few times, and then wiped off the disguise before presenting it to the King of Shu-lik and the Prince.


    ¡°Is it him?¡± asked the King of Shu-lik.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Moyang replied weakly.


    At the beginning of the battle, Prime Minister Shi lied down behind the pirs and started crawling towards the throne. ¡°Royal brother, you are not dead. This is good. This is so good. It¡¯s all thanks to the Prince who saw through Moyang¡¯s schemes.¡±


    ¡°Moyang¡¯s schemes? How can Shangguan Tian and those from the Golden Roc Fort be your guards?¡± Within the tone of the voice of the King of Shu-lik, there was an unbearable wrath.


    ¡°Royal brother, listen to me. I was framed. I don¡¯t know anything. I thought¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Take him away, don¡¯t let me see his face again,¡± King of Shu-lik said disgustedly.


    Several soldiers arrested Prime Minister Shi and walked outside of the main hall. Prime Minister Shi wanted to ask for mercy, but his mind was in a mess. He didn¡¯t understand how that killer designed this y with the King of Shu-lik. The pce was filled with his eyes and ears. The details of the guards that he gave the Dragon King were also not entirely true, and it was absolutely impossible to sneak into the pce unnoticed.


    ¡°Where is the Dragon King?¡± It was not just Prime Minister Shi, but the King of Shu-lik was also curious about his whereabouts.


    Fang Wenshi was protected by Chu Nanping, but he was shocked since he could only be the mastermind on paper. The scene of the killing really happened in front of him and he could not stand it. However, the counselor¡¯s dream supported him as he stood in the midst of the confusion and said, ¡°The Dragon King has left, and everything involving the Great Snowmountain will be under my responsibility.¡±


    Although there was no clear exnation that was given to him in advance, Fang Wenshi believed that this was the task that the Dragon King has given to him.


    ¡°Let¡¯s have a talk in the royal study room.¡± After King of Shu-lik finished, he turned and left. The eunuch followed him closely from behind, like a dog that had just jumped out of the water.


    The prince stayed behind to clean up the mess in the main hall. The ministers understood something and they stood in front of him to express their loyalty. The Prince pushed the ministers aside and said to Moyang, ¡°Shangguan Tian gave you a lot of money, just go home with this money as your pension.¡±


    Moyang understood. He had saved his own life, but his authority had been reduced to ashes. However, like Prime Minister Shi, he didn¡¯t understand exactly how this little Snowmountain Gang chieftain was able to meet with the King and the Prince.


    During the first Breaking Obsession, Gu Shenwei once met with the King of Shu-lik, and he immediately noticed that the eyes of the king were green.


    Although there were many blond haired and blue eyed barbarians in the Western Regions, green eyes were extremely rare.

 Chapter 265 - Scandal

    Chapter 265: Scandal


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    It was purely by chance that Gu Shenwei had managed to locate Tie Hanfeng¡¯s granddaughter as well as being able to save her life.


    Three years ago, Xu Xiaoyi and Chu Nanping were captured in the Stone Castle. At that time, Gu Shenwei already made the resolve to defect and he decided to make some preparations in advance. So after rescuing the two, he immediately sent them to the Shu-lik country overnight. This move waster proven to be correct. When Shen Liang regained power and wanted to capture the witnesses again, he could not find any clues that remained in Jade City.


    No one could think that an ordinary killer would have so much money. Golden Roc Fort had never investigated into this matter.


    The pair of good friends came to Shu-lik City with childish appearances. They were carryingrge stacks of silver notes, which amounted to more than one million taels. No one would dare to cash in too many silver notes in an unfamiliar ce, as they would inevitably feel fearful.


    Xu Xiaoyi decided to start from the field he was most familiar with. He brought Chu Nanping along with him and they both went to the square of the Shu-lik City brothel, where he had spent half a year there, and enjoyed all the happiness that gold and silver could buy.


    While Xu Xiaoyi was indulging himself, Chu Nanping was practicing his swordcraft in the yard. The strange thing was that he was not influenced at all, as his state of mind was pure. The Hope Alley where he used to live was not a paradise. The sensual pleasures did not appeal to the youth swordsman¡¯s emotionless heart at all.


    After disappearing for half a year, Yang Huan, the killer who flew out of the Stone Castle on a Giant Red-crowned Roc, had re-emerged in the jianghu and had challenged the Golden Roc killers at several locations. The horrifying legends that spawned from it had reached all the way to Shu-lik City and it became the main topic of gossips. Everyone was more interested in the Man-eating Demon Bird and felt that the killer had been relying on its power to survive up until now.


    Only Xu Xiaoyi was afraid of the killer. He was so frightened that, on that same day, he moved out of the brothel and took out the remaining silver notes to count. He realized that he couldn¡¯t exin his indulgent behavior to his Brother Huan, but it was a good thing that he became very familiar with the ins and outs of Shu-lik City. He was confident enough that, if he started a business, then he would earn back the initial investments and earn even more profits within one year. However, this was not enough. He reorganized all the information he had heard during his time in the brothel, mainly because he felt that Brother Huan would be very interested in his intelligence gathering; this exnation should be enough to temporarily deal with this issue.


    Not long afterward, someone really came to find Xu and Chu to give them a designated location to go and see ¡°an old acquaintance¡±.


    Xu Xiaoyi felt uneasy as he went there, because he did not want to mention about the money. He threw out the collected intelligence, including the gossip of the King of Shu-lik¡¯s love affair that was circting within small areas of the brothel industry.


    It was said that the King of Shu-lik was once privately served by a famous prostitute, who even gave birth to an illegitimate child. The mother of the famous prostitute was also very famous. In the early years, she had moved from Jade City to this local area. Her name was Zi Linglong.


    This name shed in Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind until Xu Xiaoyi kept saying an assortment of random information. He suddenly remembered. <em>¡°Didn¡¯t Master Shifu Tie Hanfeng previously say something about having affectionate memories for a woman with that name?¡±</em>


    Gu Shenwei was very interested in this matter despite being unclear in his thoughts about it. He did not believe in the gossip about the King of Shu-lik. Prostitutes often made up some stories to raise their own prices. Actually, Xu Xiaoyi did not believe it either. The only reason he said it was in order to make his intelligence appear ¡°important¡±.


    Xu Xiaoyi received instructions to continue to snoop around for news of this Zi Linglong pair of mother and daughter.


    Zi Linglong had already passed away. The daughter had been a prostitute for a while. Later she married a good man. There was indeed a daughter who had been hiding in the house all the year round. None of the neighbors had seen much of this littledy. They only knew that she was named Tie Linglong, which did not follow her father¡¯s surname.


    Xu Xiaoyi really couldn¡¯t find out anything else. This family was ordinary. In his opinion, it was impossible to have a rtionship with the royal family. Just when he was about to give up, this ordinary family encountered an unusual misfortune: At night, a group of bandits had broken in and they killed the husband and wife as well as many servants. They also captured the little girl.


    Xu Xiaoyi smelled the scent of a conspiracy. He became extremely excited and investigated everywhere. Finally, he found out that it was not a simple burry. The objective of the bandits was clear, that was, to kill. The little girl should have been killed, but this group was very unprofessional. They failed to live up to the trust of the employer by kidnapping the little girl with the aim of selling her to human traffickers for an evenrger sum of money.


    Subsequently, the second group of bandits was hired and were given the order to chase and kill the human trafficker and all the ves, and to not leave anyone alive. There was no specific mention of the little girl. The bandits were very dedicated. When they had almostpleted the task, they were interrupted by the killer who had arrived just in time.


    Xu Xiaoyi had not figured out who the mastermind was behind the scenes. As for Tie Linglong, she believed that her own biological parents had been killed, but her knowledge of the reasons was not clear.


    Gu Shenwei did not bother to find her enemies for her because it was Tie Linglong¡¯s own business. She should have hatred in her heart so that she would grow into a real killer and then avenge herself.


    It was not until when he saw that the King of Shu-lik also had green eyes, when he realized that the little girl who he had rescued on a whim might have helped save his life. The rumors of the King privately visiting the brothels may have been true after all. These three borrowed de murders were the reasons for Gu Shenwei¡¯s discovery.


    Xu Xiaoyi had not been able to provide more information. Gu Shenwei seriously asked Tie Linglong for the first time, ¡°Why do you follow your grandfather¡¯s surname if you have a father?¡±


    Tie Linglong couldn¡¯t exin since she had only seen her parents and two or three servants until she was ten years old. She wouldn¡¯t know how strange it was to not follow her father¡¯s surname, so she never questioned it. She only knew from her mother¡¯s words that her grandfather was a well-known killer who was living in Jade City.


    Her childhood memories were aplete blur. Under Gu Shenwei¡¯s guidance, Tie Linglong tried hard to remember, and then she finally remembered a small detail during that ordinary life. When she was five or six years old, there was a young man with the same green eyes who often visited her. This person imed to be her ¡°brother¡± and had given her many gifts for about a year, and this ¡°brother¡± never came back again.


    On the day before the second assembly, Gu Shenwei and Xu Xiaoyi purposefully mined for intelligence and quickly pieced together the following facts: The eyes of King of Shu-lik and the Prince were all green, but Prime Minister Shi¡¯s eyes were not the same. He had the same parents as the king, but his appearance was quite different. The mother of the King of Shu-lik came from a distant western country; hence his appearance was very different from the locals of the Shu-lik country.


    There were too many eyes and ears of the prime minister around the King of Shu-lik. Thus, Gu Shenwei decided to start with the Prince to break the bnce of the three plots.


    The Prince had always been wary of his uncle, Prime Minister Shi. The people around him had been chosen by thousands of people to ensure that they were not part of his uncle¡¯s surveincework. Xu Xiaoyi sent a letter to the Prince through personal contacts to set up a meeting with him that night. There was only one sentence in the letter: ¡°Green-eyed sister wants to see her brother.¡±


    Gu Shenwei came to the appointed ce with Tie Linglong, and the little girl could not recognize the ¡°brother¡± in a hood. After a while, she was ordered to conduct a safety patrol outside.


    The prince confessed to the Dragon King that the King of Shu-lik had an affair with Tie Linglong¡¯s mother. This caused a stir in the pce, although it didn¡¯t take long to subside. The king didn¡¯t even know that he had an illegitimate daughter outside the pce.


    A few yearster, the Queen had heard some rumors and ordered the Prince to investigate. The Prince found that he had a younger sister. He had not told his mother and he also had not disclosed it to his father. Instead, he had secretly taken care of the family and had warned them not to let the daughter appear in front of any outsiders.


    After a few more years, the Queen had heard from other sources that there was a little girl with green eyes in the city. The mother was that shameless woman. Hence, she had been so angry that she hired two assassins to cut down the weeds and dig out its roots. By the time the Prince discovered this, it was toote to stop it.


    This was Tie Linglong¡¯s life story. Gu Shenwei also revealed some secrets, and after a discussion with the Prince, they reached an agreement: The Prince would help the Dragon King borrow a tool for the Great Snowmountain. After that, he would prepare the proper arrangements for his sister to protect her from all harms again. Lastly, the Dragon King must keep Tie Linglong¡¯s existence a secret and not spread out this royal scandal.


    It was not an easy task to use two of the most important ministers of being treacherous as well as convincing the King of Shu-lik to believe any of that. The Prince secretly entered the pce to persuade the king to act out a y. This scene did not meet the requirements of royal etiquette, but it was the quickest way to obtain evidence.


    In this way, everything went ording to n. Gu Shenwei killed Shangguan Tian in the chaos, and then left the pce at the moment when the guards left their posts, so as to prevent the king and the prince from wanting to kill.


    He didn¡¯t go back to his ce of residence, and he didn¡¯t see anyone. He left Shu-lik City and left the finishing touches to Fang Wenshi. He wanted to return to the Great Snowmountain as soon as possible in order to lead the swordsmen to make a surprise attack before Golden Roc Fort was fully prepared.


    He had to meet someone in a small inn, which was a dozen miles away from Shu-lik City.


    The killers in the Golden Roc security agency suddenly disappeared. Shangguan Hong knew that what he had expected would happen. Thus, he took all the money, took a horse, and lied about going out on a stroll. In fact, he quickly made his escape from Shu-lik City.


    Shangguan Tian and the people in the security agency did not take this Master Hong seriously, but Gu Shenwei wanted to talk with him.


    Shangguan Hong had not yet left the city very far before he was stopped by five Great Snowmountain swordsmen. He had never received training in high-level kung fu, thus his skills were not as good as an ordinary macheteman. After two or three moves, he was dragged down from his horse and was kidnapped away to the small inn, where they waited for the Dragon King toe and interrogate him.


    Pressed for time, Gu Shenwei pulled out a saber as soon as he entered the house. He understood the nature of Master Hong and did not intend to beat around the bush. ¡°Shangguan Tian is already dead.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Shangguan Hong¡¯s brain did not turn on for a moment, and he thought that he was an aplice to ve Huan and did not understand the threat in this sentence.


    ¡°Your surname is Shangguan, I have to kill you.¡±


    Shangguan Hong smiled. This was not a calm smile, but a tacit smile. ¡°Mister Zhang reminded me to tell you. ¡°Why do you want to kill Master Hong? He is your most useful ally within Golden Roc Fort.¡¯ Really, ve Huan, I am willing to help you. You want revenge, and I¡­ have little ambition. The people of Shangguan family are really just obstacles to me.¡±


    Shangguan Hong was an obedient person. Sometimes he was too obedient. Gu Shenwei thought about it, he felt that Zhang Ji was also ying the trick of killing a person with a borrowed de and simply did not want Master Hong to return to Golden Roc Fort alive.


    The old-fashioned Zhang Ji hid his true purpose deeply. Gu Shenwei was unable to think for a while, but he did not want to be a scapegoat for anyone, so he ced the saber on Shangguan Hong¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You may be useful, but you have to give me some leverage so that I can believe you.¡±


    Shangguan Hong remembered many horrifying legends about the killings made by ve Huan and finally realized that the cold-headed youth was not a ve who he was familiar with. He immediately said what Zhang Ji taught him. ¡°I, Zhang Ji and I arranged the n that killed the Fifth Young Master, Shangguan Yi. This is a secret that no one else knows.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had been paying attention to the movements of Golden Roc Fort. He knew that Shangguan Yi hadmitted suicide a year ago. It was not necessary to know whether or not it was rted to Shangguan Hong. ¡°This secret is useless. Even if I said it out loud, it would cause the Supreme King to like you even more.¡±


    The saber slightly tilted. The sharp edge of the de cut through the fabric of his clothes and on to his skin, which caused a small stream of fresh blood to flow along the de.


    In Shangguan Hong¡¯s mind, Zhang Ji¡¯s predictions had always been urate. Why did it fail this time? ve Huan should believe him, and even hug him, ¡°Wait, wait.¡±


    ¡°OK.¡±


    ¡°I have another secret.¡±


    Gu Shenwei just scared Master Hong a little, and he has already decided to open his mouth to stay alive. He did not expect for him to squeeze out another secret at all and said, ¡°Speak.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Lady Meng, she has a secret.¡±Shangguan Hong looked straight at the killer andpletely forgot the differences between their past identities.

 Chapter 266 - Divine Troops

    Chapter 266: Divine Troops


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Hong had given up all the secrets and was held for many days before he was released. After he had fled, the hatred in his heart for ve Huan became deeply rooted.


    Gu Shenwei left with his unexpected gains. He had not found a way to utilize this information. However, the most important thing that he had to do now was to bring the over 1,000 swordsmen away from the Great Snow Mountain as quickly as possible.


    News of the peace talks between the Great Snow Mountain and Shu-lik had not yet reached the frontlines. However, the troops of Shu-lik had received orders to lie low for now. The Great Snow Mountain had also been strictly following the orders left by the Dragon King before he had left the country. The two sides maintained a tense peace.


    The situation remained this way from the time when Gu Shenwei went around the blockade and returned to the mountain pass via the small road. The threats from the outside had been resolved, but those from within remained.


    Many things awaited the Dragon King¡¯s attention, and of them, a few were particrly pressing.


    First of all, several nearby groups of bandits hade to join in the activity. They did not have clear motives. Some had a feud with the Golden Roc Fort or Shu-lik while others wanted to fish in troubled waters. Yet others wanted to find shelter in these times of trouble. These men offended the honest sensibilities of the Snow Mountain swordsmen, who promptly chased them away out of their own ord.


    Secondly, there was a severe divide within the Great Snow Mountain. This division had nothing to do with the feud with the Five Peaks. All the swordsmen were debating about a single problem: whether they should leave the Great Snow Mountain.


    The old chief of Luoshen Peak, Long Qinying, was one of the loyal supporters of the Dragon King. However, he did not want to leave, regardless of whether he was alive or dead. ¡°I¡¯m old,¡± he had said. He was deeply apologetic towards the Dragon King who had rushed back under the night sky. ¡°My arms can lift a sword, but my legs can barely move. The Great Snow Mountain is my home. I must die here.¡±


    There were many people who had the same mindset as Long Qinying. Most of them were old swordsmen. The Five Peaks of the Great Snow Mountain had only gathered about a thousand and two hundred people. These menprised about a third of the people. The remaining younger swordsmen had not left their homes. They were all gripped in panic under the influence of their elders. ¡°If we were to leave now, we might never be able toe back ever again.¡± This was the thoughts of many of them.


    Gu Shenwei had never thought that, at the most crucial juncture, their sentimentality for their own hometown would defeat their desire for revenge. He lived for revenge and would die for revenge. He could not understand what these swordsmen were thinking about.


    Gu Shenwei did not express his thoughts on the first day. He gathered the other chiefs from the other four peaks. Everyone had discussed that, if they were to attack the Golden Roc Fort, then the number of their troops must exceed a thousand. Someone even suggested to forcibly abduct the Luoshen tribe.


    Finally, there was a matter of the state that Gu Shenwei could not decide was big or small. However, it had been affecting many residents of the mountains extensively.


    A few months ago, Gu Shenwei had snatched away a cksmith by the name of Daga from the Shu-lik military camp. He had done it in order to forge even more weapons. Daga had wanted a hundred jin of Wushan refined iron while Xu Xiaoyi had sent a thousand jin.


    Daga was originally a rather well-known cksmith in Shu-lik. However, because he had killed someone by ident, he had been cast out of the country and sent to the borders. He continued his career in the military camp, and his fame grew due to his high standards of workmanship.


    Daga¡¯s obsession with iron and fire and his standards would not pale inparison with Chu Nanping¡¯s standards on swordcraft. He did not care about who he was manufacturing weapons for. He would not stop working as long as he had a furnace, anvil and other materials by his side.


    Aside from a thousand jin of refined iron from Wushan, Daga had also asked for a long list of items. He had specifically requested for materials that he would have needed: charcoal from a certain country produced during a certain month, clear waters from a certain part of a certain river, stones from a certain hole and only the fats of a quencher. Also, he had chosen the wild bison produced from the Great Snow Mountain and had specified that it had to be male.


    Xu Xiaoyi was stunned when he saw the list of items. However, he proved his capabilities with his own actions. After a month of hurrying to and fro, he had gathered all the materials that were required. Slowly, inch by inch, he entered the Great Snow Mountain via the small road.


    The cksmith Daga was satisfied. This was all that he had dreamed of and all his materials wereid out in front of him- not a single one was missing. He started murmuring the words, ¡°Every book has its own beauty,¡± every day dumbly like a nerd. It was as if a beautiful woman had appeared before him when he had least expected it. His heart was joyful beyond what words could describe.


    He built a house in the hidden valley and led two disciples and several other helpers to produce weapons during the day and night. Very soon, his disciples and helpers had be limated to such tireless work. They took turns to help each other out.


    Daga had not caught a single wink of sleep. He wished to witness the birth of his life¡¯s greatest masterpiece.


    The first sword was scrapped. It could not even cut a burning piece of wood.


    Daga threw it wordlessly into the furnace and immediately proceeded to the greater phase of his work: creating nine swords simultaneously.


    ¡°Nine,¡± he murmured this number repeatedly. ¡°This is my favorite number. It¡¯s a mysterious number. It¡¯s him. You will see it.¡±


    God knows who he had been talking to.


    The two disciples were extremely afraid. The vigers from the mountains who had been sent over to help the weapons production talked in hushed tones among themselves. From bewilderment to panic, they gradually grew a form of respect towards the process.


    ¡°The cksmith is divine!¡± These words quickly spread throughout the Great Snow Mountain at a speed that was faster than a galloping horse.


    Also, because of a small incident that had urred, the two disciples hade to believe that their master was certainly someone who had attained divine qualities.


    Daga was a methodical cksmith. He was extremely strict about where the various materials were being ced. Hammers, anvils and other tools had to be ced within reach. However, one day, one of his disciples had ced the hammer in the wrong ce. Daga had reached out for it, and when he didn¡¯t find it, he turned around from his work and searched high and low all over the whole ce. It was only after he had spent a long time before he had found the item.


    From this episode, the two disciples discovered that their master had turned blind.


    This incident had happened when Gu Shenwei was hurrying towards Shu-lik. Previously, he had only heard that the cksmith¡¯s actions had be stranger and stranger. Upon arriving at the Great Snow Mountain, someone told him something weirder.


    On a certain night, the valley where Daga had been working in suddenly emitted a red light. The light raged and spurted like a long tongue reaching for the heavens. On the second day, many imed that they had witnessed this incredible phenomenon. However, their testimonies were wildly different; there were talks of gods, ghosts, and demons.


    For the first time in several months, Daga walked out of the house and proimed that the production of the weapons had beenpleted. ¡°The Dragon King will be the first person to see them.¡± From then on, he sat at the doorstep. He didn¡¯t eat; he only asionally drank, with a mysterious smile on his face.


    More and more residents from the mountains became moved by this phenomenon. A gradually number of residents joined the team that was guarding the door. This was because there were rumors of people who wanted to steal these nine magical weapons. These swords and des have be a big part of the Great Snow Mountain. They became a sacred part.


    This incident happened three days ago. Gu Shenwei had many things to resolve, however, this incident had been ced first. Already, there had been many men and women of different ages guarding the valley to wait for the Dragon King to examine the weapons.


    This was a ceremony that was hastily organized. The five tribal chiefs had already invited three warlocks from the deepest reaches of the mountains. They had offered sacrifices to the Empyrean after the Dragon King¡¯s return. There were nine horses, nine cows, nine sheep. Their blood spilled on the snow that had not changed for years. Some were spread on the Dragon King¡¯s naked body. Their flesh were cleanly burnt while their organs were buried under the ground after a careful examination.


    The warlocks announced that, after dawn the next day, they would deliver the prophecies that were crucial to the Great Snow Mountain. Before that, the Dragon King would receive the nine divine weapons.


    Gu Shenwei could hardly touch his food all day long. The dried blood on his body also remained uncleaned, and he tossed and turned in bed the whole night. He was unable to sleep, so instead, he sat up in his tent and waited for dawn to arrive. There was no metal weapon beside him. At the same time, the vigers of the mountains were drinking wine as they wildly celebrated around the fire.


    Gu Shenwei did not think about whether this practice was credible or not. His position as the Dragon King of the Great Snow Mountain was, to arge degree, due to the vigers¡¯ fear and respect toward the Giant Red-crowned Roc. He had to follow the customs of the locals.


    The Golden Roc Fort did not believe in any faith. Hence, they were amassing their troops at this very moment, in preparation for a great battle with the Great Snow Mountain. That was all. Gu Shenwei did not want to keep thinking about this issue.


    In theter half of the night, five assassins secretly crept into the tent in the hopes of assassinating the unarmed Dragon King. However, they were ambushed. Four of them were killed while the final man was taken alive.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s suspicions were useful. The more than ten assassins had hidden inside the tent. They could not bring weapons so they were holding wooden sticks and oxen bones. Even so, the assassins tried to flee when they discovered the ambush. This made them die even sooner.


    The five assassins came from the bandit gang that they supported. The swordsmen who learned about the killing flew into a rage. Before Gu Shenwei had given out his orders, they had massacred almost half of the bandits who hade from foreign ces. Those who were still alive had been tied up to await the Dragon King¡¯s judgment.


    Following which, the five chiefs took turns to visit the Dragon King, exining to him the process of the ceremony and things to take note of.


    In the early hours of the morning, there had already been over a thousand people gathered within and outside the cksmith¡¯s valley. Vigers from distant mountains had also arrived one after another. Everyone had felt that this must be the most important day of the Great Snow Mountain in many years.


    The viscous blood of the sheep and cattle formed a thick cake over the snow, which created a visage of scorched earth. Gu Shenwei was extremely ufortable. However, he feltpelled to hold his head high and his back straight. He took solemn steps out of the tent and walked, while naked, towards a peak in the vicinity of the cksmith¡¯s valley. Over ten thousand mountain vigers followed behind him.


    The peak of the mountain was still covered with a thickyer of snow. Three warlocks had started to wait at this spot sincest night.


    The first ray of sunlight lit the mountain peak and the warlocks prophesied in unison. ¡°The weapons given by the gods will cut the weapons of mortals. The vigers of the Great Snow Mountain can leave their homnd. The heavens are above. This order cannot be vited.¡±


    Each of the five peaks tribes chose a virgin and cleaned the blood stains on the Dragon King¡¯s body with snow. Afterward, the five chiefs ced a ck robe over the Dragon King¡¯s body together.


    Following which, the team was led by the blind cksmith Daga and his disciples. The eight elite swordsmen carried arge bucket and walked through the thick crowd. They walked up to the mountain peak with the bucket which was filled with the fat of wild bison and urine. The nine swords were buried inside.


    Gu Shenwei reached his hands into the wooden barrel and took out a sword from inside. He said loudly: ¡°The Luoshen sword is thick and heavy.¡±


    The Luoshen tribe¡¯s chief held out his own sword.


    Gu Shenwei swung the sword downward with force. The sword in the Luoshen chief¡¯s hands sharply broke. The crowds on the hillside who looked on cheered in unison.


    ¡°The Danduo sword is big and sturdy.¡±


    ¡°The Daxue sword is broad and wide.¡±


    ¡°The Xiaoxue sword is refined and experienced.¡±


    ¡°The Huagai sword is sharp and precise.¡±


    Gu Shenwei examined the sword of every single tribal chief. Cries of adtion came from the hillside which grew louder. Even the elderly, women and children had felt the calling of the gods. Their spirits were heavily bolstered and they became determined to join the Dragon King in his fight against the Golden Roc Fort.


    ¡°The Five Peaks Saber.¡± Gu Shenwei raised the sixth military weapon. Its design was exactly the same as that of the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s saber. ¡°Drink the blood of the enemy.¡±


    The swordsmen pushed the lone captured assassin through the crowds. Hended before the Dragon King.


    The assassin had be greatly disoriented by the wild crowd. He knelt down obediently. He did not feel any pain at all when the saber pierced through his heart.


    The saber pierced deeply through him. It went in him so deeply that not a single inch of the de was left hanging out of him. The whole body of the saber was soaked with fresh blood.


    Gu Shenwei pulled out the Five Peaks Saber and nted it into the snow. With both hands, he reached deep into the wooden barrel and took out two knives which both had the same handles. ¡°The left and right protective knives will only protect the virtuous.¡±


    Thest handle was a sword that was not more than three feet long and not more than three inches wide. Gu Shenwei lifted it up high. His heart, which had usually been closed, now seemed to be infected by a certain strength that entered his body. This magnified his voice to be ten times louder for no apparent reason at all.


    ¡°The Dragon King sword will taste its master¡¯s blood first.¡± He then made a small cut on his forearm.


    The five chiefs took the lead. More than 10,000 vigers of the Great Snow Mountain knelt down in rows. This was their custom of paying respect to the gods.


    Gu Shenwei breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he had not wasted too much time.

 Chapter 267 - Black Flag

    Chapter 267: ck g


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    More than 3,000 swordsmen gathered in the Great Snowmountain overnight. Many of whom were women and children, who could barely hold up the heavy swords. The five chiefs checked through all of them one by one and a lot of them were dismissed. There were about 2,000 people left after that.


    The people of the Great Snowmountain had never felt so confident before. All of them felt that the future war would be an overwhelming victory.


    Long Qinying, the chief of Luoshen Peak, changed his mind. He was willing to bring along the remaining few of his tribe to follow the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei decided that it was better for him to remain behind and guard the Great Snowmountain. He announced that Long Qinying would be acting on behalf of him as ¡°Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks¡±, taking charge of all matters, and would continue to provide at least 100 swordsmen to the frontline every three months until Golden Roc Fort perishes.


    Gu Shenwei then pardoned the remaining people who sought refuge. He ordered them to either leave immediately or swear loyalty towards the Great Snowmountain. The original bandit gang was also broken up and dispersed among the five peaks by Gu Shenwei. Many opportunists does not like how things were going and escaped right after. Only a little more than 100 people remained.


    All of these took up three days¡¯ worth of time. Unable to wait any longer, Gu Shenwei ordered the chiefs to carefully select a total of 200 swordsmen, 400 horses, and provisions adequate for five-day¡¯s worth in proportion. He was going to lead this vanguard personally and advance towards the border of Jade City, securing an advantageous position.


    As luck would have it, news of the sessful peace negotiations between Shu-lik and the Great Snowmountain arrived that night. The military camp of Shu-lik requested the Great Snowmountain to send a messenger the next day to further discuss the details of path borrowing, and to agree on setting a specific route. The Shu-lik army would closely follow and supervise the whole process.


    There was no way to vite the agreement once it was signed. Gu Shenwei and the 200 swordsmen set off after midnight, rushing to pass through the guarded checkpoint before the signing of the negotiation agreement.


    Assuming that the war had ended, the Shu-lik¡¯s army guarding the checkpoint wasx. They did not expect the surprise arrival and could only helplessly watch as the group of troops galloped away.


    After daybreak, the Great Snowmountain sent several messengers who brought bulks of gifts to the Shu-lik army, exining that it was a bunch of runaway bandits escaping.


    The vanguard of the Great Snowmountain followed the mountains headed in the direction of east, before leaning near south two dayster and continuing eastward for another two days. It was untouched wilderness everywhere throughout the journey. In order to bypass the eastern checkpoint of Shu-lik, they even climbed over a rugged mountain on thest day.


    On the afternoon of the seventh day, the vanguard finally arrived at the eastern region of Shu-lik. The men were fatigued and the horses were spent. Even the fiercest swordsman was teetering on his horse saddle. Only half of the 400 horse mounts were left, and some people had to share a horse together.


    Gu Shenwei ordered everyone to rest on the spot and brought three swordsmen with him to conduct reconnaissance about the enemy situation.


    The Golden Roc Fort had already assembled an army and upied a well-positioned mountain valley.


    However, the army exhibited signs of hastiness and hurriedness. The soldiers were all machetemen who had been hired in a short amount of time. The camp was built halfway, and many materials were still stacked on the ground. They would rather brandish their sabres and make a show of one¡¯s force, than to do menialbor of timber nailing.


    No scouts were spotted along the way until Gu Shenwei was about two to three miles away from the campground. There were about 10 or more machetemen gathered around a pile of fire.


    The machetemen wereining about the drudgeries of their job, reminiscing about the neverending flow of good wine in the camp and startedpeting to find out as to who can boast the most.


    ¡°A 100 taels if you y a swordsman from the Great Snowmountain. I would like to earn about 20000 taels or so, to save up for the second-half of my life.¡±


    ¡°Knock it off man, based on your machete skills, it would be a relief if you can prevent yourself from getting killed. Even if you were given 10,000 taels, you will spend it all on Pleasure Alley in less than a month. Didn¡¯t you mentioned you¡¯ve always taken a liking to someone? Who was it again?¡±


    ¡°Haha, well said. If it¡¯s me, I wouldn¡¯t even bother with the Great Snowmountain or whatever, I¡¯ll just look for that killer straightaway. The bounty on his head is worth 100,000 taels, even if I remained in Pleasure Alley, it¡¯s enough for a year¡¯s worth of it.¡±


    ¡°Yang Huan the killer.¡±


    ¡°Dragon King of the Great Snowmountain.¡±


    ¡°The Demon Bird Swordsman.¡±


    ¡°Chief of the Dragons, the King of something.¡±


    ¡°That bastard, he sure has many titles for just one head.¡±


    The crowd burst intoughter, not knowing that the ¡°bastard¡± was hiding in the bushes just 10 steps away from them.


    Gu Shenwei made several hand gestures towards the three swordsmen behind him. Perplexed by his hand gestures, Gu Shenwei then lowered his voice and told them: ¡°Do not move. Wait for my whistle, then charge towards them.¡±


    The swordsmen nodded immediately.


    Gu Shenwei went around to the opposite side and pulled out the Five Peaks Saber made by Daga, the cksmith. He whistled, short but lightly.


    As if acting in unison, the swordsmen waited for a moment before rushing out. They leaped out of the grass all at once, wielding their heavy swords towards the machetemen near the fire.


    The machetemen took notice once they heard the whistle. They pulled out their sabers one after another, while looking in the direction of Gu Shenwei. They were shocked when three swordsmen rushed out, roaring from behind.


    The swordsmen were fierce and courageous. They charged right into the middle of the machetemen and started hacking away vigorously.


    Even after living with them for a year, Gu Shenwei still could not ept this type of attack style, hoping that the swordsmen could lower their voices so that they could look out for one another.


    This was the moment that Gu Shenwei was waiting for as the machetemen fought with their sabers. He quietly snuck out of the bushes and circled around the group of machetemen. There was a blow every three to four steps. The Five Peaks Saber was an irresistible force. Most of them were down before they could even react. Those who were about to fend off with their sabers were all cut in half, both the person and the weapon.


    The three swordsmen killed one or two of the machetemen on their own, while the killer had already killed off eight of them. Only one man was still alive. The man was scared stiff, his legs shaking in fear. He threw away the short sword and dropped to his knees in a heartbeat, kowtowing profusely, ¡°Mr. Yang, Mr. Yang, Dragon King, spare my life, it¡¯s me, I¡¯m Xiao Ning.¡±


    The swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain despised people who to surrender at thest moment due to fear the most. Gu Shenwei stopped them as they raised their heavy swords. He does not recall the name Xiao Ning, but would like to question him.


    ¡°Do you recognize me?¡±


    Kneeling upright on his knees, Xiao Ning the macheteman thumped his chest relentlessly like an orangutan, and said eagerly, ¡°It¡¯s me, Xiao Ning. Don¡¯t you remember, Dragon King? I was a macheteman for Kun Society, and was a guard for the Tenth Young Master. I fought several tough battles against you.¡±


    ¡°Right, but you are my enemy now.¡±


    Xiao Ning¡¯s face turned white as he remembered the boasting among the machetemen just now, ¡°Mr. Yang, Dragon King, I was forced to. The Golden Roc Fort sent out all of the machetemen in the city. I have old and young ones to take care of. There is no other way. It¡¯s true, I am willing to follow you. Please ept me.¡±


    Machetemen only recognized money. Everything that he said now was a pack of lies, but Gu Shenwei was not nning to call him out for it. ¡°How many people are there in the campground?¡± he asked.


    ¡°600? 800, there are definitely 800 of them. They are all machetemen from the city. Hired for 300 taels every month. There are peopleing in every day. I didnt expect that you to arrive so early, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Who is themander?¡±


    ¡°Commander?¡± This term was unfamiliar to Xiao Ning, he stared nkly for a while before saying, ¡°There is a demaster in the fort. His name is, is Shangguan Qingqi.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was familiar with Shangguan Qingqi. Shangguan Qingqi could count as one of the close rtives of the Supreme King, they addressed each other as brothers. He is currently the acting as the chief for the Pyrowork Academy, and is also in charge of the killer apprentices. It was said that he has good machete skills, but Gu Shenwei never had the chance to experience it.


    Putting Shangguan Qingqi in charge of the machetemen goes to shows that the Golden Roc Fort was slighting the Great Snowmountain, using the swordsmen as an opportunity to train the apprentices.


    ¡°Are there any more peopleing to stand watch tonight?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s just us. Vigil duty is for the whole night.¡± After finishing his sentence, Xiao Ning suddenly realized that this might put him in a dangerous situation, so he added: ¡°Someone wille around to patrol. I¡¯m not sure what time, but someone is definitelying.¡±


    Gu Shenwei ordered the three swordsmen to remain and hide the corpses by disposing them into the bushes. They were to watch over Xiao Ning strictly. If there was really someone patrolling, let Xiao Ning handle it.


    The 200 swordsmen were still resting at the back. Gu Shenwei woke a few of them up and let them meet the three swordsmen in front.


    As tired as he was, Gu Shenwei could not sleep. Like always, his mind was preupied with the battle that was about to erupt. This was a muchrger scale of assassination. Maybe ambush would be a better word, but it was difficult for the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain to do this. All of them were fearless in attacking, sometimes even too fierce and courageous. They preferred fighting by themselves, therefore it was easy to besiege them.


    Gu Shenwei woke everyone up in the middle of the night. After eating quickly, everyone discarded everything unnecessary. They tightened their girth and was lightly armored. About 50 men without horse mounts were not included as part of the forward charge. They were ordered to set off early to their allocated locations for the ambush.


    Gu Shenwei has a Weapon Carrier whose duty was to help the Dragon King carry the two long-sabers and his personal belongings. The Weapon Carrier followed the Dragon King¡¯s instructions and took out the ck robe given by the five chiefs. He tied it onto a seven-foot-long wooden pole and used it as a g.


    It was still dark. The swordsmen could only faintly see the swaying of the g.


    ¡°Everybody, bite the whip horizontally in your mouth.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s first order was very strange. The swordsmen were puzzled. As the Dragon King was regarded as a demigod, they did not hesitate and carried out the order.


    ¡°No yelling allowed. If the whip fell out of anyone¡¯s mouths, your sword will be seized.¡±


    ¡°Seizing the sword¡± was a humiliating punishment for the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain. If the heavy sword was seized, one could only reim his weapon after killing an enemy with his bare hands. Even if they were ridiculed during this period, they could not fight back.


    The swordsmen nodded solemnly. They bit the whip tightly even though it does not taste good.


    ¡°Later when dawn arrives, we will charge forward. You can spit out the whip when Imand ¡®Kill¡¯. Only then, you can shout as loud as you want.¡± Gu Shenwei raised his voice, ¡°Everyone will see the g and follow it. Killing is not important. My order for you will be to follow the g until the war ends. I do not care how many you killed. Anyone who falls behind will be beheaded.¡±


    The swordsmen raised their heavy swords up in unison and made bleating noises as their mouths bit the whips.


    Under the lead of the Dragon King, about 140 remaining swordsmen charged towards the Golden Roc Fort campground on their horses.


    The fire was about to die out soon, Xiao Ning and the few swordsmen were still standing guard there. Xiao Ning¡¯s face turned green as he looked towards the group of swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain in the dark. He started groveling on all fours, shaking from head to toe, ¡°Dragon King¡±, was all he could said.


    He won¡¯t get the sympathy of the swordsmen in this manner.


    ¡°g sacrifice.¡± Gu Shenweimanded.


    Not knowing what these two words meant or that it rted to himself, the fear in Xiao Ning¡¯s heart suddenly rose like a flood, but it was stuck in his throat. He was unable to get a word out.


    The Weapon Carrier leaped from his horse. He was unable to get a word out as he was biting the whip as well. But there was nothing that needed saying. Laying the g down in front of the macheteman, he then raised up his heavy sword and shed mercilessly.


    Xiao Ning watched the whole process. It was as if there was a bubble in his heart, getting bigger and bigger,rger andrger, which then shattered with a ¡°pop¡±.


    The head falls off, as fresh blood sttered onto the g.


    The swordsmen who were standing guard at the fire followed their counterparts, bit their whips, and leaped onto their horses.


    Faint sunshine covered all of the earth in the morning, hiding the war g of the Great Snowmountain.


    Blood covered the ck war g, along with the coward¡¯s head stuck on top.


    The first war between the Great Snowmountain and Golden Roc Fort was about to begin.

 Chapter 268 - Charge

    Chapter 268: Charge


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The warhorses trotted through the meadow without encountering any resistance. Then they galloped through the woods, and the Golden Roc Fort camp that was at the entrance of the valley came into sight.


    The swordsmen were arranged in groups of four to five, with the Dragon King at the forefront. A weapon carrier was behind him while the others following closely behind him. They were carrying a makeshift ck Blood g that was made from long robes.


    The warhorses neighed with uneasiness. They were heavily breathing as their hooves dug deep into the ground and loosened the soil. They were fully rested and were waiting for their owners to loosen the reins for them to run wild.


    The machetemen had been binge drinking for two days. In this remote and backward ce, they could only find enjoyment from drinking superb wines. The enemy was far away, so why not enjoy themselves a little?


    Fighting for life and death, was it all not for this? Several machetemen woke up early with hangovers. They hazily saw a group of men who were at a far distance away from the camp. ¡°Hey, more havee again. If we don¡¯t take them down, then we aren¡¯t manly men.¡±


    A thinyer of smog was shrouding the area all around them, and the ck g that was slightly flying in the morning breeze seemed to go unnoticed. ¡°Who are they? They don¡¯t look like machetemen from the city.¡±


    Gu Shenwei sheathed his saber. This type of saber was too short and was unsuited for riding into battle on horseback. He pulled out a guardian saber from the weapon carrier¡¯s back. Its length was five foot and four inches, and its handle was nearly one foot long.


    He looked back at his soldiers. No matter how many shorings these swordsmen had, they were born and bred warriors: eager to fight, eager for blood, eager for glory, and there was no need for words to motivate them. He only needed to point them in the direction of the enemy.


    He patted the horse¡¯s buttocks with the saber, and the warhorse spread its four hooves and gradually elerated toward the enemy camp.


    The sounds of horse hooves galloping forth became clearer and finally woke up the few machetemen that got up early. They hadn¡¯t even had their trousers on, so they frantically ran to their tents to get dressed. Heart tearing, lung spitting screams rippled throughout the camp, ¡°The Dragon King ising!¡±


    ¡°Kill¨C¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s high-pitched roar drowned out the outcries within the camp. The ending syble prolonged, and gradually became a clear whistle. The swordsmen cracked their horsewhips, and the excitement that had been suppressed within their hearts were crying out like roaring thunder.


    The machetemen who were still in their sleep suddenly woke up and heard the sounds of their enemy¡¯s ambush. They felt that they werepletely surrounded. Most people didn¡¯t even bother to pick up their sabers. They rushed out of their tents only to bepletely confused and disoriented, before fleeing in all directions.


    This was the creed of machetemen: Grab all the merits when you can, but run when you encounter danger. A dead macheteman can never make money, but a living macheteman, no matter how cowardly they are, can always be hired.


    Gu Shenwei knew their temperament well.


    The cavalry brandished their heavy swords like huge pikes, as they deeply pierced into the camp of the Golden Roc Fort. The tents were torn like skin, and blood was sshing around like the frantic crowd.


    They charged all the way to the end of the camp before immediately turning their horses around with Gu Shenwei leading the assault. This charge was perfect, the swordsmen strictly adhered to the Dragon King¡¯s orders and there were no stragglers at all. Only a few people¡¯s warhorses were tripped over, but they continued to swing their heavy swords to kill the enemies as they followed the Dragon King¡¯s ck Blood g on foot.


    The first round of the charge tore the camp in half. After turning around, the second round started from east to west, but the tents in this path were more condensed.


    A group of shadowy figures that Gu Shenwei was familiar with came out of a tent in front of him. It was a small number of people and their slender bodies were fully clothed in ck. The iconic brown belts were attached to their waist and their faces were covered. Each person was holding a saber in their hands.


    This was a group of more than 30 brown belt killers. They were slightly higher in rank than the apprentices but they have yet to aplish the title of official killers.


    At this moment, Gu Shenwei understood the strong fighting desires of the Great Snowmountain swordsmen. Seeing the men in ck wielding their sabers, his first reaction was to switch to the Five Peaks Saber, jump off his horse, and contest with his juniors.


    However, he was no longer a killer. Instead, he was the Dragon King who was leading an assault battalion of more than one hundred people.


    ¡°Kill¨C¡± He screamed again. The swordsmen¡¯s shouts were higher and longersting than the first time. Their heavy swords cut down and, as long as something was blocking their path, they would be cut into two. It didn¡¯t matter if it were people or objects.


    This was the first time these teenage brown belt killers had encountered this kind of battle. How did their trainingpare to these opponents? They had never seen the fierce cavalry that had flooded in. If they were experienced old killers, they would have run faster than the machetemen and judge the situation from afar until it was safe for them to turn around. Unfortunately, these teenagers were hesitant between greeting the enemy and fleeing from the enemy.


    The galloping warhorses didn¡¯t give them time to think. Hundreds of iron hooves m the lives and dreams of the brown belt killers into the dirt. Some people leaped high and collided into the dense forest of swords. It was a scene of a lonely boat being swallowed by giant waves.


    Gu Shenwei saw that a few swordsmen had fallen off their horses, but he did not lead the team to rescue them. Instead, he once again changed direction and rushed toward the west of the camp.


    After three assaults, the sky waspletely bright. There were more than a hundred swordsmen riding behind the Dragon King. The dozens of swordsmen on foot could not catch up with the ck Blood g, so they wielded their heavy swords and chased after the machetemen who had not been able to run away.


    A great number of machetemen had escaped; only a few were able to mount their horses while others had fled on foot.


    The camp was aplete mess, and it looked as if a hurricane had swept by. Gu Shenwei continued to chase the fugitives, but the battle was not over yet. The number of people from Great Snowmountain was too small topletely eliminate the enemy, but they were capable of killing as many as possible, and thus, instilling great fear into Golden Roc Fort.


    The fleeing machetemen knew that the safest direction to run toward is the east. Dozens of horsemen in the forefront ran ahead a few miles, and a group of swordsmen on foot was killed in their spurs. The swordsmen, who were already impatient, were hot on their tail and became irritated the screams of theirrades that were cut down.


    Fifty stalks of the heavy swords cut down, and only a few people made it out on horseback. Most of the others were killed and only a few had resisted.


    Most of the feeling machetemen had no intentions to fight. In spite of their greed for money: those who could run, ran; those who could not run, either plead for mercy or fought for their lives.


    When the cavalry led by Gu Shenwei caught up to them, the two sides were already in fiercebat. Gu Shenwei still hadn¡¯t dismounted, so he continued the chase until he saw the crossroads at the western boundary of Jade City. He then turned back to kill the overtaken machetemen.


    Countless bodies littered along the main road one after the other like a wandering serpent.


    The battle ended when he returned to the ambush point of the swordsmen on foot. The 30 or more surviving swordsmen gazed at the corpses and killed those who were still breathing.


    Only one wounded person was spared.


    This man was dressed in ck and he wore a red belt. It was a killer who was rarely seen in the Golden Roc Army.


    Shangguan Qingqi¡¯s right leg was injured and he could only be supported by his left leg. He leaned forward and stood still. He knew that his life wasing to an end. His heart was a little nervous, and he felt empty inside as if all of his viscera was missing. However, he remained calm with a trace of pride.


    His surname is Shangguan, and as a demaster, he should maintain his dignity in front of a defected killer.


    Gu Shenwei returned the long-saber to the Weapon Carrier, dismounted the horse, and the swordsmen gave way to him.


    The killer and the demaster had no contact in the Stone Castle. There was just a very unclear impression of each other between them. Shangguan Qingqi appeared to be somewhat old. His had passed his prime and his instincts had dulled, but his ability to kill was still very good.


    Gu Shenwei drew out his saber and walked toward Shangguan Qingqi before stopping five steps away. The demaster had stood on one leg for a while, causing it to go numb. His body could not help but sway as if it was disying his weakness. He felt deeply ashamed and said, ¡°Traitor, you will always¡­ ¡±


    The saber passed through his throat, which prevented him frompleting his sentence.


    Shangguan Qingqi covered the wound with his hands, and the blood flowed down the fingers. He didn¡¯t feel the pain, but he was bing colder and colder. His heart sank like a stone falling into the water, and the darkness quickly drowned him.


    At the entrance of the Golden Roc Fort camp, dozens of swordsmen ced their heavy swords on the ground and waited for their punishment. They had not followed the ck Blood g and had vited the orders of the Dragon King.


    ¡°Those who fell down from their horses are acquitted of their crimes.¡± Gu Shenwei forgave everyone. The swordsmen were delighted and immediately picked up their swords. They were not afraid of death, but they were afraid of losing face in front of theirpanions.


    In this campaign: more than 200 Golden Roc machetemen were killed, more than 70 were imprisoned, and hundreds had fled; Half of the camp was still intact with many usable supplies, and Great Snowmountain only lost a little more than ten people. This was a great victory.


    The captives were gathered in a pile and their faces paled. The legend of the killings of the Dragon King and the Demon Bird were repeating in their thoughts. Thankfully, there were no dark clouds drifting through the sky this time, so their eyes would be preserved even if they died.


    ¡°Go back and tell the Supreme King that I have returned. Tell the machetemen in the city: don¡¯t die for money.¡±


    The Dragon King threw the head of Shangguan Qingqi at the captives. They almost fainted at the sight, and barely stood straight with each other¡¯s support.


    The swordsmen gave way, and the captives realized that they had preserved their lives. They trembled in fear as they walked out of the camp slowly, and ran as soon as they reached the exit.


    A young swordsman with tears in his eyes came with a brown belt killer¡¯s body, and hoarsely said, ¡°Dragon King, this is my brother.¡±


    Golden Roc Fort was fond of children from Great Snowmountain. Every year, they would abduct arge number of people and trained them to be killers. Then they would be ordered to kill their former rtives.


    ¡°His death was caused by Golden Roc Fort.¡± Gu Shenwei closed the eyes of the corpse andforted the sorrowful swordsmen. ¡°We will avenge him.¡±


    ¡°Revenge! Revenge! ¡°The swordsmen shouted in unison to symbolize the end of the first battle.


    Gu Shenwei looked up to the hillside deep in the valley. He also had hatred. It used to be his home. The ruins of the Gu family¡¯s manor still stood in the same ce.


    Three dayster, panic spread across the entire Jade City. Golden Roc Fort doubled the sry but they still could not recruit several machetemen.


    Five dayster, another army arrived. Thousands of people were stationed at the west side of the mountain pass, while the Great Snowmountain had set up camp half a day¡¯s distance away. Both sides were very cautious and were busy building strong camps as well as sending out scouts to test each other. No oneunch arge-scale offensive.


    Gu Shenwei was waiting for the arrival of his main troops, but he wanted to know what Golden Roc Fort was waiting for.


    Ten dayster, the main force of Great Snowmountain arrived. Fang Wenshi waited for others to join their advance from Shu-lik City. Then, scouts came back with news that Golden Roc Fort¡¯s army had also increased in numbers by about three to four thousand.


    A great war was brewing. The military counselor Fang Wenshi, despite being covered in dust, asked for a private audience with the Dragon King as soon as he arrived. He didn¡¯t like to fight, he really didn¡¯t like it at all, so much that he proposed a strategy that everyone could not ept.

 Chapter 269 - Array

    Chapter 269: Array


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    From the beginning, Fang Weishi¡¯s main strategy was to convince the Dragon King to negotiate for peace with the Golden Roc Fort.


    ¡°Now is the best time. The Great Snowmountain had won the first battle and proved its strength. With such prestige, I am sure that the Golden Roc Fort would be open for negotiations,¡± said Fang Wenshi, as he excitedly walked around in the tent. The fatigue of these past few days seemed to have been swept away.


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait, this is just a sneak attack, we haven¡¯t confronted the Golden Roc Fort head on.¡±


    ¡°This is what we agreed on since the beginning, Dragon King, you¡¯re not changing your mind are you?¡± Fang Wenshi looked at the Dragon King with suspicion. This master was still too young. He was stillcking in the temperament of ruthlessness as well as foresight.


    ¡°No, I hope for another victory for easier negotiations.¡±


    Fang Wenshi shook his head. He was precise with small details, but he could also clearly see the big picture. ¡°Dragon King, you should know that the more you win, the harder it is to negotiate. The victory will cause the confidence of the Great Snowmountain swordsmen to inte. How can they agree to negotiate then?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was silent, what the military counselor said was exactly what he had in mind. In these past few months, he had been fighting alongside these swordsmen, which gradually gave him a more in-depth understanding of these people. Their hatred for the Golden Roc Fort was no less than his own, but this was also maintained at such a strong momentum due to Golden Roc killers adding fuel to the fire each day.


    This was arge group of wild bison that could destroy everything in their path. It was almost impossible to turn their direction unless there were mountains and rivers in front of them.


    Gu Shenwei was not afraid to talk about underhanded ploys, but he also did not know how to exin these tactics to some of the fighters. The negotiations for peace were only a temporary means to expand their strength. The ultimate goal was still to annihte the Golden Roc Fort. He understood that the Great Snowmountain swordsmen wouldn¡¯t understand this.


    ¡°Let me speak with them.¡± Fang Wenshi understood that the Dragon King was in a tight spot, thus he volunteered to persuade the Great Snowmountain swordsmen. His experiences in Shu-lik has increased his confidence. ¡°As long as several chiefs nod, the rest will be easy.¡±


    Gu Shenwei still did not speak a word. The military counselor knew too little of the Great Snow Mountain. Chiefs were not kings. Although their status was high, they had no absolute power. The mountain people followed their orders out of respect, not obedience. Even the Dragon King had to borrow ¡°divine powers¡± in order for everyone to follow him out of the Great Snowmountain.


    ¡°We cannot be hesitant about this.¡± Fang Wenshi was a little anxious. Some words that he had already said to the Dragon King needed to be repeated again, ¡°The Great Snowmountain is now sandwiched between the Golden Roc Fort and the Shu-lik Country. This is too dangerous, one wrong move and we can lose everything. The Shu-lik are using us as their sharp knife for killing by opening their roads for us to pass. They¡¯re hoping to see losses on both sides: the Great Snowmountain would bepleted exhausted, and Golden Roc Fort¡¯s power and influence to decline. We can only survive through the gaps by patching up all our ws as soon as possible. Dragon King, you know all these things. You have said that you want to fight for the Western Region, not for a personal vendetta.¡±


    Gu Shenwei has never hesitated like this. After thinking about it, he was not like a decisive killer. He admired the military counselor very much and felt that he had not found the wrong person. Fang Wenshi¡¯s words were extravagantly clear and were logically said to the King of Shu-lik. However, he was willing to betray the original agreement with an arrogant heart and not a hint of embarrassment could be found.


    ¡°Just one battle,¡± Gu Shenwei decided as he could no longer hesitate. The military counselorughed, ¡°The Great Snowmountain will have to face an open head-on battle with the Golden Roc Fort, and then I will persuade everyone afterwards.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was sighing and could only ept the Dragon King¡¯s order. ¡°We must win this battle no matter what, at least we must not lose. Otherwise, no one will take the Great Snowmountain seriously, and negotiations for peace won¡¯t even be mentioned.¡±


    ¡°We must win this battle.¡± Gu Shenwei fully grasped their situation. He had once led two hundred cavalrymen to break through the barracks of eight hundred machetemen. Now that he had gathered two thousand swordsmen, he was not afraid of the four to five thousand enemies.


    Scouts had been able to find out that the Golden Roc Fort army was still dominated by machetemen. These machetemen came from all around the world. Many of them had low level kung fu and were not even qualified to live in Jade City. These days, they had been training in the camp. Although their numbers were high, they did not dare to make a challenge.


    The swordsmen who joinedter were strong, but the glory of the 200 pioneers made them green with envy. After just resting for one day, several chiefs came to see the Dragon King together and strongly demanded an immediate battle.


    ¡°We can¡¯t wait any longer. With our current momentum, we would be able to charge into the Golden Roc Fort within ten days.¡± Even the usuallyposed one-eyed chief, Long Xiaoshi, was full of confidence and seemed impatient.


    Fang Wenshi was on the sidelines and secretly shook his head. If this battle was victorious, the biggest resistance to the negotiations for peace would not be the Golden Roc Fort, but rather, it would be the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain.


    Gu Shenwei waited for another three days to allow the tired swordsmen from afar to rest. At the same time, he arranged for tight security in the camp. They had to guard against the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s specialty in assassinations.


    Just as the Great Snowmountain was ready to go to war, themander of the Golden Roc Fort was the first to send a letter of challenge.


    There were about a thousand words written in the letter, and the letter was written in a convoluted manner. Only Fang Wenshi could understand it, and he even praised its contents. Then he exined to everyone, ¡°The morning after tomorrow, both sides are to engage in an array of battles 30 miles from their camps. ¡®To hunt¡¯ means to battle.¡±


    The chiefs were stunned and scrambled to be the main attacking force. Everyone wanted to take the merits for defeating the main force of the Golden Roc Fort.


    The Golden Roc Fort¡¯smander was named Dugu Xian, and he was also a barbarian. Gu Shenwei has never heard of such a person in the fort. It was rumored that Dugu Xian was a general of a small country who had been recruited by the Stone Castle. He was quite formidable in the art of military formations.


    No one within the Great Snowmountain, including Gu Shenwei, paid any attention or value to this opponent. Fang Wenshi praised this person¡¯s literary talent, but he did not regard him as a great general.


    The battle site was a t and narrow grasnd. The north side was close off by the towering Sky Mountains. There was arge river flowing along the south, which was called the Peacock River. On the other side, the grasnd gradually transitioned into the Gobi Desert.


    In order to figure out how to fight this battle, Gu Shenwei listened to the opinions of many people but ultimately decided to follow his own ideas. The swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain did not understand the art of war, and Fang Wenshi had many battle arrays in mind, all of which were learned from ancient books. One was moreplicated than the previous one, which caused Gu Shenwei¡¯s brain to swim in confusion, not to mention the simple swordsmen.


    This was his arrangement: The left wing, that is, the ce closest to the mountains, with swordsmen from the Greatsword Peak and the Smallsword Peak with a total of about 600 people; The right wing, close to the riverside, would be guarded by the Danduo Peak of more than 600; More than 400 from the Canopy Peak to be sandwiched in the middle. A total of 1,600 cavalrymen, each of them was equipped with a round shield that can protect the upper body. This was because the Golden Roc Fort was likely to have arge number of archers.


    Gu Shenwei wanted to personally participate in the battle. This was the duty of the leader of the Great Snowmountain. However, under the strong suggestion of Fang Wenshi, he stayed on a small hill less than half a mile behind.


    ¡°This is the confrontation between the two military armies, not gangs from the jiang hu.¡± Fang Wenshi was bitterly persuading the Dragon King. ¡°Themander-in-chief has to control the overall situation, and there is sufficient reserve power on hand. You would only be able to take on about 100 on your own if you charged in, you can¡¯t guarantee victory for the entire army with this.¡±


    After riding up the hill, he was able to clearly see the whole battlefield. However, Gu Shenwei had only 100 or so from the Luoshen Peak as guards and for protecting themander-in-chief¡¯s banner. The banner was made from Gu Shenwei¡¯s ck robes that had been stained with blood, which was recognized as a sacred object in the hearts of all the swordsmen, and was attached to a thick and long gpole.


    There were still more than 300 swordsmen staying in the military camp. As this kind of embarrassing task was not willing taken up, it could only be decided by lottery.


    The swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain obeyed their traditions. The children of the Long family and the most courageous warriors were on the front lines. Behind them were the swordsmen of other surnames. There was no clear front line, but everyone decided how much space they needed.


    The opposing army was more formal.


    Gu Shenwei was looking from far away. The Golden Roc Fort had more numbers than the Great Snowmountain, about 4,000 total. Their formation was extremely neat. The first two rows were archers. Thest five rows were infantry with pikes. On the left wing, they arranged a team of light cavalry. Their numbers were small, estimated about six or seven hundred with hundreds of gs of different colors fluttering in the wind.


    Commanding a war waspletely different from being a killer. Gu Shenwei believed that the Great Snowmountain would definitely win, but his heart was not at ease. He hoped to be at the front line. Although observing from the sidelines was necessary, it led him to have a feeling that things were not under control. He was not used to being on the sidelines as he greatly preferred the style of surprise attacks and pursuits.


    Fang Wenshi said to him that the art of war was extraordinary and ordinary. The Dragon King¡¯s ns belonged to ¡°extraordinary¡± and cannot be used all the time, it was still the ¡°ordinary¡± that ultimately determined the victor.


    Gu Shenwei thought that the military counselor was right.


    The swordsmen were already a little anxious, and they were shouting loudly at the opposing army. Heavy swords banged on shields with the other side following up with banging from their drums, which caused loud uproars.


    The Golden Roc Fort was set up in a defensive formation as they waited for the Great Snowmountain tounch their offense.


    ¡°Would you like to make a bet?¡± Gu Shenwei asked the military counselor beside him. ¡°I can guarantee that we can break through the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s formation with just one charge.¡±


    Fang Wenshi stretched his neck and looked in front. ¡°Not necessarily, I can see that Dugu Xian¡¯s military formation does have holes. Although it is still notparable to those famous ones from ancient and modern times, it is still not so easily disrupted with just one charge. I¡¯ll bet with you¡­ one hundred taels. I only have this little money, I am the cheapest counselor in the world, and you are the stingiest master.¡±


    If he hadn¡¯t forgotten how to smile, Gu Shenwei wouldugh out at this moment. ¡°You¡¯ll definitely lose. Perhaps Dugu Xian is very capable in the art of military formations, but he doesn¡¯t understand these machetemen. It won¡¯t take long for us to break through them. Machetemen would not risk their lives so easily, they would shoot two rounds of arrows from their bows and turn to flee.¡±


    It was about time, the screams of the Great Snowmountain swordsmen were getting louder and louder, and Gu Shenwei took a deep breath and blew into the horn which was hanging from his chest.


    The low-pitched horn sounded like a gentle and powerful wind, and it felt as if the breath of the gods had whisked through the crowd. More than 1,600 cavalrymen galloped, trampling the innocent ground as they rushed toward the enemy. 1,600 round shields protected their masters, and 1,600 heavy swords swung from their masters¡¯ hands. It seemed as if a behemoth was opening its giant mouth to swallow its prey.


    On the first day of September, at the foot of the Sky Mountains by the Peacock River, both the Great Snowmountain and the Golden Roc Fortunched their first frontal battle. The 37 years of peace in the Western Region was broken on this day, and a few people thought that the impact of this small-scale campaign would be so great.

 Chapter 270 - Reinforcements

    Chapter 270: Reinforcements


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei felt that the battle unfolding not too far away from him was an illusion and had nothing to with himself. The adrenaline rush he had felt before the start of the battle was suddenly gone.


    He could not be moved by the battle cries, neighing horses and the incredible amount of arrows whizzing about. After sounding the horn, it was as if he had be a bystander and was not involved in the battle at all. Soon, this feeling of being an onlooker was also reced with a feeling that he was listening to someone else recounting a battle, and that he was only re-enacting the battle scenes in his mind.


    This made him feel a little guilty, as the mounted troops facing the arrows were his soldiers and fighting for him. However, it did grant him the ability to calmly observe the battle from afar. He knew that his military counselor had won them the battle even though the mounted troops had only covered two-thirds of the distance between themselves and the enemy.


    The machetemen converted into bowmen and pikemen in the opposition forces were not what he expected, and they seemed to be bolder or driven by some unknown terror after being trained by Dugu Xian. The archers did not panic when facing the fierce mounted assault. Two ranks of archers calmly released the first volley of arrows only when the riders were a hundred steps away from them. After three volleys, they formed up, retreated behind the cover of the pikes and drew their machetes.


    Many riders from the Great Snow Mountain were shot down by the arrows raining down from the sky, and some were trampled to death by their own brothers. Those that survived continued to rush towards the enemy, and there were even some who did so whilepletely unarmed.


    Five rows of pikes were formed up and pointed towards them, and they seemed to be rushing towards a giant porcupine that did not offer any opening.


    However, the swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain were a force to be reckoned with. Even as the horses of the first wave of riders impaled themselves on the pikes and threw the riders onto the ground, they got up and started hacking at their enemies with their heavy swords, without discriminating between beast, foe or pike, as they cut anything in their path into two. They had forced an opening into the body of the ¡®porcupine¡¯.


    The riders behind them could not halt their advance, and simply leapt out of their saddles as they held their round shields in front of them to form a solid wall. They overtook the swordsmen in front of them and viciously smashed their shields into the rows of pikes facing them.


    The mounted assault had turned into a mass melee.


    ¡°Sigh, I¡¯m going to lose. If this continues on, the Great Snow Mountain will be sure to win.¡± Fang Wenshi shook his head in defeat. He was not sure whether he was happy or dismayed. The swordsmen were undisciplined and impetuous, but their ferocity exceeded his imagination.


    Gu Shenwei did not tell his counselor that he had won. The Dragon King did not intend or nned for his swordsmen to enter into a melee, because they were a valuable resource and were hard to rece.


    After the terrible fighting continued on for about 30 minutes, the swordsmen from Luoshen Peak had visibly won their battle on the right nk. They had crushed the mounted soldiers and pikemen on the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s left nk, and the archers who had switched to meleebat with their machetes did not really put up a fight. They gave a few symbolic shouts before they fled.


    The swordsmen from the Smallsword Peak were still engaged in a life and death struggle with the enemy on Gu Shenwei¡¯s left nk. It was still difficult to see which side would eventually prevail.


    However, in the center of the battlefield, the swordsmen from the Canopy Peak were facing heavy losses, and they did not seem to be able tost for much longer.


    The benefit of observing all the chaos from afar was that it allowed Gu Shenwei to have an overview of the entire battlefield, which would have been impossible if he had entered the fray. If he had joined the battle, he would only have been able to observe his surroundings ¨C if hisrades were dying, it would signify that they were losing, and if the enemy had been routed, it would mean that they would be winning. He would not have been able to make any tactical adjustments, and the final victory could only be earned through sheer force and luck.


    However, it was useless to continue to observe if the situation demanded him to act.


    Gu Shenwei nodded to the Weapon Carrier beside him, and took the long-saber from thetter¡¯s hands. He tilted his head and nced at the 100 or so remaining swordsmen from the Luoshen Peak who were with him. All of them were ready ¨C they were grasping their sword shafts while staring at the enemy, and their bodies were taut with tension. It was as if they were also engaged in battle. They felt the same way as the Dragon King; they were full of desire to go and join their fellow brothers in battle.


    ¡°Dragon King, you cannot¡­¡± cautioned Fang Wenshi in shock. Before he could evenplete his sentence, Gu Shenwei had already spurred his horse forward. The remaining swordsmen shouted in unison, and rode behind the Dragon King. Their charge was like a gale blowing across the battlefield.


    Fang Wenshi could not stop shaking his head in disapproval. He circled around on his horse before returning to his original spot. He was a counselor, and his worth to the Great Snow Mountain was his tactical acumen. He could only think properly if he was a safe distance from the fighting; if he was close the bloodshed, he would have been scared stiff even before anyone attacked him. He would have been useless then.


    ¡°Sigh, impetuous, too impetuous,¡± muttered Fang Wenshi. He could not help but think: <em>Why did no true king wish to secure my services? </em>The King of Shu-lik had witnessed his talent first hand, but had not shown any signs of admiration. ¡°I was born in the wrong time,¡± he continued grudgingly. When he finally raised his head to observe the battle again, he could see a plume of dusting from a spot far away from the ensuing melee.


    He could sense that something was amiss, and carefully stood up while bncing on his stirrups. He shielded his eyes with his right hand, which was holding on to his whip.


    As the dust settled, he could see no less than 3000 riders charging towards the battlefield.


    Fang Wenshi was shocked speechless. He had only received word from his scouts that the enemy forces would amount to at most 5000 men, and he had no idea where these riders hade from. He immediately realised that the Great Snow Mountain had been set up, and he did not know what method Dugu Xian had used to hide such arge force from his scouts and spies.


    The Great Snow Mountain hadmitted all its forces into the battle. They would definitely not be able to withstand the onught of the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s reinforcements.


    He instinctively rode forward by about 10 steps before reining in his horse. He then turned his horse around as he knew that it was useless for him to try to warn the others. He would just be courting his own death, and it would be better to ¡®conserve his energy¡¯.


    The counselor rode his horse westwards while his heart was beating rapidly. He felt frightened as he despaired at his poor luck. His ability had just been recognized, but now his master was going to die in a reckless assault.


    Meanwhile, Gu Shenwei and all of the swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain had no way of knowing that their end was near. All they could see around them were the enemies, weapons and blood. The dust was also affecting their vision. As most of them were feeling the rush of battle, they could not even differentiate between friend or foe, not to mention being able to notice the sudden appearance of reinforcements.


    Gu Shenwei chose not to reinforce his left nk or to help the swordsmen from the Canopy Peak who were losing their battle in the middle of the battlefield. He was clear that, with only 100 or so men with him, he could not act on all three fronts at the same time. Therefore, he threw himself into the right nk, which was already about to be won by the swordsmen from the Luoshen Peak. His strategy was to quickly route the enemy on his right and then quickly sweep to his left nk in one go.


    He realised that it would not be as simple as he thought once he entered the battle. The swordsmen had already broken ranks when charging into the pikes, and now they were in a state of disarray as they were fighting as individuals instead of fighting in any type of formation. The men from the Luoshen Peak who hade with him were soon caught up in the battle and spread themselves out across the battlefield; only about eight of them remained close behind him.


    In such a situation, the Death Scripture swordcraft and the Golden Roc Fort machete skills were rendered useless because there were simply too many bodies surrounding him. It did not matter whose kung fu was better, but rather it was about who had the most energy and the best weapon.


    Gu Shenwei held his long-saber with both hands and an enemy¡¯s head would fall down every time it sliced down. He ordered any swordsman from the Great Snow Mountain he met along the way to follow him. In this manner, he gathered a few hundred men very quickly. They were an unstoppable force of ferocity, and after both nks were secured, they rushed to assist their brothers in the middle of the battlefield.


    Victory was close at hand. More and more swordsmen were signalling to each other as they gathered on the right nk and followed the Dragon King, as well as engaging the enemy in the middle of the battlefield. Thus, the tables were turned for the swordsmen of the Canopy Peak who were originally losing.


    Thebatants were suddenly shaken to their senses by the foreign and iprehensible sound of thundering hooves charging towards them. They could feel the ground tremor beneath them. Both sides stopped fighting and turned simultaneously to look eastwards at the new entrants to the battlefield.


    Gu Shenwei was enjoying his adrenaline rush and only realised something was not right after killing three more enemies.


    The riders were equipped with sharp pikes and wore ck leather armor. To witness their charge was akin to observing an avnche of ck snowing your way, and the dust that stirred in their wake had effectively blocked out the sun. The only thing that could be clearly seen were the numerous odd sized gs which bore the insignia of the Golden Roc Fort.


    The Great Snow Mountain would not be in a dire situation now if the swordsmen had maintained formation, and if they had pikes to counter the charge. It would also help if the Dragon King could call on reinforcements of his own as well.


    However, they did not have any of that. They could only rely on their fighting spirit and ferocity.


    Gu Shenwei drew a second long-saber from the Weapon Carrier who had remained by his side. Wielding a long-saber in each hand, he lifted both his arms just like how a giant red-crowned roc would spread its wings. He bent slightly forward and let loose a wolf-like howl from his diaphragm.


    Gu Shenwei had it all nned out, and he knew he could not correct the mistakes in his strategy once the battle had begun. His father, Gu Lun, was not a general who had led troops in battles, but had witnessed and took part in his fair share of war. Even if he did not study the art of war, he had derived a theory from his experiences and conversations with others: in most situations, there were far more soldiers who were killed while fleeing than the number of soldiers who were killed while fighting.


    This was the same as the golden rule applicable to killers: It is always easier and safer to strike from the back of the target than from the front of your target.


    Gu Shenwei only knew a bit about the art of war, but he decided to stick to his principle of never turning his back to the enemy.


    Therefore, it would be impossible for him to sound the retreat.


    The swordsmen would also never ept such an order, even if it came from the god-like Dragon King. No one could coerce them to flee from their enemies.


    They were already exhausted, as one would expend more energy while fighting on the battlefield thanpared with carrying out an assassination. However, the Dragon King¡¯s howl triggered their instinct for survival and gave them renewed strength. Their shouts, which made them sound like wild beasts, spread across both nks from the middle of the battlefield, and dwarfed even the sounds of the hoove beats from the riders.


    The men from the Golden Roc Fort who were already engaged in battle entered into a state of panic. They were frightened by the shouts and the charge of the reinforcements. The riders were formed into tight ranks and seemed to be pointing their pikes at them. It did not look as if they would care as to whether theymitted fratricide or not.


    They fled either by jumping into the Peacock River, or by forcing themselves up the cliff using the weeds which grew on its wall. Those that did not flee prostrated themselves on the ground, hugging their heads and praying to whichever deity they believed in for divine intervention.


    Gu Shenwei seemed like an indestructible, walking windmill as he wielded both sabers. He hacked at everything in his way, and something fell with each strike of his des, be it pikes, horses or men. He could no longer see what he hit, but he knew that he was surrounded on three sides by enemies, so he continued to sh.


    He felt as if he was bashing his way through a thick growth of thorns which grew back again whenever he looked back, which made his efforts seem futile.


    He had a fleeting moment whereby he thought his end was near, but quickly threw it aside as he continued to sh. Everyone¡¯s fate was determined, and no one¡¯s death could stop the Earth from spinning.


    The Weapon Carrier remained by his side, and his scabbards were now empty. He was holding on to the dirty and ragged looking ck Blood g, the head which was stuck on it had long shrivelled up. The skull was observing the carnage on the battlefield with its empty eye sockets.


    Gu Shenwei passed one of the long-sabers to the Weapon Carrier so that he could defend himself. He wielded the remaining saber in both hands again and continued to hack at the riders.


    ¡°Kill-¡± Sharp battle cries rang out. They did note from either the Dragon King or the swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain, and it caused even more chaos then the sudden emergence of the riders.


    The cries came from behind the swordsmen.

 Chapter 271 - The Gift of the Saber

    Chapter 271: The Gift of the Saber


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    A few years ago, a middle-aged macheteman had made a deration to a young killer. The former gave himself 10 years to travel around Western Region and gather a team capable of defeating the Golden Roc Fort. He imed that not everyone was afraid of the Supreme King and felt that there would be others willing to join his cause. The two of them would meet again this very day on the battlefield.


    The middle-aged macheteman was none other than Tuo Nengya, and the killer called himself Yang Huan. Within three years, Tuo Nengya had built up a sizable team. He drilled them well, and the team was capable of maintaining a giant formation. Even so, he knew that he had too few men to bepeting with the Supreme King, and thus he sent out trusted men to foreignnds with the purpose of gathering more funds and manpower, all the while keeping the presence of his team secret. It was thus that he got to hear about Yang Huan¡¯s remarkable achievement of uniting the people from the different peaks of the Great Snowmountain.


    Tuo Nengya had observed the Great Snowmountain for over a month before he decided to get in touch with Yang Huan, the Dragon King. He wanted to be sure that Yang Huan really had things under control and that he would be supporting the correct person. After he was convinced that the peaks of the Great Snowmountain were truly united, he led his men to meet up with Yang Huan.


    He had never forgotten about the killer.


    He gave the order to his trusted men, who were scattered all over Western Region, to gather at Shu-lik. This took a lot of time, as his messengers were not familiar with the route to the Great Snowmountain, and were stopped by the Shu-lik army beyond their blockade. When the machetemen finally arrived at the Great Snowmountain, they realised that the main body of its swordsmen had already set off for the battlefield.


    More and more machetemen came answering Tuo Nengya¡¯s call to arms, till atst there were more than 1,500 of them. Tuo Nengya had originally wanted to lead them to the Great Snowmountain, but changed his course midway there when he heard that the Dragon King and his swordsmen were already headed to the eastern border of Shu-lik. It took them a few days¡¯ journey to meet up with the Dragon King¡¯s forces as they had to take evasive measures to avoid being intercepted by the Shu-lik army.


    The sudden appearance of suchrge, armed group created much panic in Shu-lik, and everyone in the country began preparing for a possible invasion. They stood down only when the machetemen were far from Shu-lik¡¯s borders.


    As for Fang Wenshi, he was fleeing westwards after the appearance of the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s reinforcements at the battlefield, but changed his mind after having rode one and a half kilometers. He thought about how he had waited for almost 30 years to have a chance of establishing a name for himself as a military counselor, and he knew that he might not have another shot at it if he gave up on the Dragon King now. He did not want to follow in the footsteps of the legendary Jiang Ziya, who only found a suitable person to serve at a ripe old age. He was also afraid of having no ie¡ªto him, it was a feeling worse that dying.


    To avoid that, he knew that he had to ensure that the Dragon King would survive the battle, even if it would cost him all the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain. With this in mind, he rode back in a hurry to the Great Snowmountain¡¯s base camp. Once there, he summoned the 400 over remaining swordsmen who were guarding the camp to address them. He only managed to say, ¡°The Dragon King is in danger.¡± Without waiting for him to finish, the swordsmen swarmed out of their camp and rushed to the scene of the battle.


    Just as the swordsmen were leaving their camp, Tuo Nengya and his machetemen arrived. The two parties nearly got into blows as they did not know each other, and it was Boss Tuo who managed to prevent any bloodshed before they even got to the battlefield. He exined to the swordsmen who he was and why he had brought his men here.


    Fang Wenshi was delighted beyond words. He could not help lifting his head towards the sky, secretly feeling grateful and lucky that he did not desert the Dragon King. He did not mention to anyone that the Dragon King and the main body of the Great Snowmountain were losing badly and in grave danger of perishing on the battlefield. All he said was that they were engaged inbat with the enemy, and that the forces of the Golden Roc Fort were slowly retreating, therefore he hade back to gather more men, so that they would have a chance to contribute.


    If he had more time to prepare and tidy himself up, they might have believed him. However, he was unkempt and ragged looking, not to mention sweating profusely. The swordsmen knew that the Dragon King was in dire need of their assistance, and once they heard that the machetemen were not their enemy, they hurried onwards to the battlefield without even bothering to greet their allies.


    Tuo Nengya understood that he had to reach the Dragon King quickly as well. He ordered the 500 or so mounted machetemen to follow his lead and the rest who were on foot to proceed on a forced march to the scene of the battle.


    The mounted machetemen soon overtook the swordsmen and arrived first at the battlefield. They could see both sides engaged in closebat and the forces of the Great Snowmountain were losing badly.


    They quickly dismounted, as they were not ustomed to mounted warfare. Next, they formed a huge formation made up of seven mini formations and entered the fray, shouting ¡®Kill¡¯ in unison.


    These 500 machetemen saved the lives of the Dragon King and the main body of the Great Snowmountain that day. If the machetemen had note to their assistance, the Dragon King and his men would have been wiped out.


    Even though there were not many swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain left, the appearance of the machetemen proved that they still had reinforcements avable. As more ground troops could be spotteding to their assistance, the Golden Roc Fort decided to retreat and regroup.


    It took Gu Shenwei a while before he could identify who his reinforcements were. He quickly got on a horse and rode up and down the battlefield, shouting orders to his swordsmen not to chase after the retreating enemy.


    Themander of the Golden Roc Fort was much better than Gu Shenwei thought, and he was worried that his men would be falling into another ambush by chasing after their opponents. Intelligence provided after the battle proved that his deduction was correct¡ªDugu Xian had at least a 1,000 archers regrouped and ready to rain death on their pursuers.


    The battle was basically over when the machetemen and swordsmen who were on foot arrived. They saw the survivors from the main body walking towards them, carrying the bodies of the fallenrades.


    Neither side dered itself as the victor, as both sides suffered heavy losses.


    The Great Snowmountain suffered about 700 casualties¡ªabout one third of their troops. Gu Shenwei knew that even though he had won the battle, he had lost the war with the Golden Roc Fort so far. Even though his men had inflicted greater losses on the enemy, they would be able to replenish their ranks quickly.


    Once the Dragon King and his swordsmen arrived at their camp, the first thing they did was not tomemorate their fallenrades, but to thank the machetemen who hade to assist them in battle.


    The Dragon King gave the long-saber he was still holding on to as a gift to Tuo Nengya, presenting it to the macheteman with both hands, as a sign of respect. All the swordsmen began taking out their most precious items, aside from their swords, and stacked them into a pile. They allowed the machetemen to pick and keep those items they wanted, and even gave up the best tent for their newfound allies to rest in.


    In the past, Gu Shenwei had dismissed Tuo Nengya¡¯s idea of forming a team of machetemen to fight the Golden Roc Fort as unrealistic. Little did he know that Tuo Nengya would have brought his men to save him and the entire Great Snowmountain from annihtion today. The little bit of admiration he always had for the macheteman became true respect¡ªTuo Nengya had stuck to his word and aplished something seemingly impossible.


    The long-saber was made of steel whiter than snow, and there was not a single nick or drop of coagted blood on it, even after Gu Shenwei had used it to y many enemies. Anyone could see that it was a weapon of rare quality.


    Tuo Nengya went down on one knee and received the long-saber with both hands. At the same time, he pledged his loyalty to the young Dragon King. He believed in the killer¡¯s ability and wisdom, and he ced even more trust in their hatred of themon enemy. He had sensed the hate in the young killer when they met three years ago, but it was only recently that he knew they had the same target.


    The Dragon King helped Tuo Nengya up and raised his voice as he addressed the entire camp. ¡°These are the sixth brothers from the Great Snowmountain¡ªLuoshen Peak, Danduo Peak, Greatsword Peak, Smallsword Peak, Canopy Peak, and now we have the Machetemen Peak as well.¡±


    The men from the Great Snowmountain cheered loudly as they weed the machetemen, treating them as their own tribesmen.


    After that, came the burial of the dead. ording to the customs of the Great Snowmountain, the corpses were sent deep into the Snowmountain and buried under the ice and snow to preserve the looks of the dead. However, they were now far from the Snowmountain now, and there was not much snow or ice around them. Therefore, they had to break from tradition and make do with what they had.


    They made a clearing on a slope in the valley, where the Gu family¡¯s manor used to stand. Pieces of wood were stacked on the ground and the corpses were ced on top of the firewood. They continued stackingyers of firewood and corpses in the same manner until a tall tower-like structure was formed.


    The warlocks, who had apanied them, began praying to the heavens for its blessings andid curses on their enemies. After they were done, the Dragon King set fire to the pyre and they watched as it burned to ashes.


    ¡°The soul rises to the Ninth Heaven, and the spirit falls to the Ninth Abyss. The living grief, while the dead rest in peace,¡± he chanted continuously as the ashes spiralled up into the skies.


    More and more joined him in chanting, and these words soon became the Great Snowmountain¡¯s eulogy for their dead.


    The Golden Roc Fort sent men to challenge the Great Snowmountain to another battle, but the Dragon King ordered his men to not react.


    After the first battle, Gu Shenwei understood the difference between warfare and assassination. Dugu Xian, who remained hidden behind the scenes, had taught him a valuable lesson that he could not have learnt in the past few months, when fighting against the small forces that Shu-lik sent to suppress the Great Snowmountain.


    That night, he summoned his military counselor for a private meeting. He apologized sincerely to Fang Wenshi, and said that he should have listened to his counselor¡¯s advice. The Dragon King knew now that contending for power in Western Region was different from taking revenge. The former required him to focus on building up his strength and consider killing as a means to that end. Whereas thetter spurred him on to crush his enemy even at the risk of perishing together with the enemy.


    Fang Wenshi did not show any pride at having won over this master, even if he felt pleased with himself. ¡°There are always a victor and a loser in warfare,¡± he said. Even though 700 of the swordsmen had perished in the first battle, their leader was still alive and they had new allies in the machetemen. Fang Wenshi felt that things were still looking good for them. ¡°Also, the battle was not for nothing. We didn¡¯t lose, and disyed our strength for all to see. The Golden Roc Fort, however, made a grave mistake.¡±


    ¡°Their cavalry which came as reinforcements definitely were not put together at thest minute. They were well trained, and in his haste, the Supreme King exposed his ambition and strength to everyone to see. This would in turn give us an opening for suggesting a peace deal,¡± the counselor continued.


    As he began giving serious consideration to making peace with the Golden Roc Fort, Gu Shenwei realised how hard it was to go against his original conviction. He had struggled and survived till now, fuelled by his need to exact vengeance. To ask him to give that thought up, even temporarily, made him feel extremely ufortable.


    ¡°Fine.¡± He felt a heavy burden was lifted from his soul as he said it. He could not remember whether it was his Master Shifu Tie Hanfeng who had told him before that even if hatred was a source of energy, one should control it and not be controlled by it instead. He trusted in his ability to consider the big picture and keep his own hatred of the Shangguan family in check. ¡°Let¡¯s begin the peace process now,¡± he continued.


    He summoned Tuo Nengya to get his opinion on the issue. The macheteman was experienced in the ways of the jianghu, and immediately understood the Dragon King¡¯s motives once he heard what he had to say. He made noments but raised two concerns. ¡°It won¡¯t be easy trying to make peace with the Supreme King, and I¡¯m afraid Shu-lik would be displeased as well.¡±


    Upon hearing this, Fang Wenshi immediately had a much more favorable opinion of Tuo Nengya. He felt that the macheteman and himself were of simr thought. ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± he eximed, unable to control his own excitement at having found a soul mate. His reaction scared Tuo Nengya a little. ¡°This is the crucial part of our n to gain a foothold in Western Region,¡± Fang Wenshi continued.


    Gu Shenwei decided to listen instead of speaking up, sensing that his counselor was eager to express himself.


    ¡°The Supreme King would definitely not want to make peace with us. The Golden Roc Fort has the upper hand now, and even a few thousand of our swordsmen are nothing in his eyes. Besides, it would diminish his authority and give us time to regroup by entering into a peace deal with us. On the surface, this negotiation is between the Golden Roc Fort and us, but in fact, we¡¯ll involve the Central in as our negotiation partner.¡±


    Tuo Nengya wrinkled his eyebrows, puzzled at how the Central in was in the picture at all.


    ¡°The Central in has been consolidating troops to the east of Jade City all these years, but it¡¯s a very slow process, and they¡¯re not able to conquer the entire Western Region in one go as yet. Therefore, it would want to maintain the status quo, and would especially not wish for Shangguan Fa to be a legitimate king and im Jade City for himself. Having to contend with the Great Snowmountain to its west, Shangguan Fa¡¯s conspiracy with Nond and coronation would definitely be dyed and affected. Using this fact, I¡¯m confident of convincing the Central in to step in and force the Supreme King to make peace with us. Furthermore, I¡¯ve heard that there¡¯s a rising force in Jade City gathering under the name of ¡®to Stop all Killing¡¯ and is anti-war. Its leader is the Four Truths Temple, and from our current situation, I feel it¡¯s also an important boost to our aim of achieving peace.¡±


    ¡°What about Shu-lik? Wouldn¡¯t our actions anger them and lead their army to attack us?¡± Tuo Nengya asked.


    ¡°Never,¡± said Fang Wenshi triumphantly. He emphasized each of his words as he continued, ¡°The King of Shu-lik is a sheep in wolf¡¯s clothing. He¡¯ll support the winning side. If we lose badly, he¡¯ll definitely take advantage of our weakness and inflict greater losses on us, to earn the forgiveness of the Golden Roc Fort. If we win the support of the Central in, he won¡¯t dare to react. The strong get stronger, and if Shu-lik wants us to do their dirty work, we¡¯ll aim to profit at their expense.¡±


    This was Fang Wenshi¡¯s strategy and he split the duties with the Dragon King after concluding the meeting. He would pay a visit to the highest ranking official from the Central in residing in Western Region, while his lord would sneak into Jade City and link up with the anti-war factions. It would be the first time in three years Gu Shenwei re-entered Jade City, ever since his rebellion.


    The only problem left was to convince the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain.

 Chapter 272 - Heavenly Protection

    Chapter 272: Heavenly Protection


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei summoned several chiefs and important people within the tribes to his tent, for an important discussion. There were about thirty of them.


    Fang Wenshi volunteered to persuade the swordsmen. Dragon King could push the me to his military counselor if Fang Wenshi failed. ¡°At the worst case scenario, they would not kill me, would they?¡± he asked nervously.


    Gu Shenwei refused and decided that he would do the convincing himself. Fang Wenshi kept reminding him of what to take note of and what to avoid saying, but Dragon King threw all caution to the wind with his first sentence.


    ¡°Everyone, I¡¯ve decided to cease battle with Golden Roc Fort and we¡¯ll make peace with them.¡±


    This statement caused a huge uproar in the tent.


    Fang Wenshi tried to signal Gu Shenwei by wincing, blinking and shaking his head vigorously. Due to the constant shaking of his head, he earned the nickname of ¡®Head-shaking Military Counselor¡¯. News of his actions soon spread throughout the camp.


    Long Xiaoshi, the one-eyed chief of Danduo Peak, who was injured, stood up. This affected his wound and he winced in pain. ¡°Cease fire? Dragon King, what do you mean?¡±


    The chief of Luoshen tribe did not attend the meeting, but a young man in his twenties came on the priest¡¯s behalf. The man stood up as well. He then realized that he was in no position to speak, so he sat down in a huff. He used so much force that he nearly fell over his seat.


    Like the military counselor, the chief of Smallsword Peak shook his head continuously. He said ¡°impossible¡± every time he shook his head.


    The irascible chief of Greatsword Peak screamed. He could feel his blood pressure rising, and coupled with the fact that he hadn¡¯t recovered from his injury, he fainted and fell from his seat.


    The other swordsmen were dissatisfied. They drew their swords to show their displeasure.


    Thete chief of Canopy Peak had perished on the battlefield and was seeded by his son, Long Fanyun, who was also the Dragon King¡¯s Weapon Carrier. He had just received a saber from Dragon King, so he did not voice out his displeasure out of loyalty. However, his face flushed. It was obvious that he disagreed with Gu Shenwei¡¯s suggestion.


    Gu Shenwei spoke after everyone had vented their frustration. ¡°As the ¡®Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks¡¯, I plead with all empyrean children to give me three years. If I can¡¯t destroy Golden Roc Fort and Shangguan Family within three years, I am willing to ept heaven¡¯s punishment and offer my life as an apology for my failure.¡±


    The people of Great Snowmountain imed to be descendants of the Empyrean, and were extremely afraid of ¡®heavenly punishment¡¯. This was the most sincere pleading as Dragon King made such strong vows.


    Everyone was speechless momentarily.


    The chief of Greatsword Peak was beginning toe to as he heard Dragon King. He felt indignified and sad. ¡°Dragon King, Dragon King, why did you make such a vow? Why did you give in to the enemies? Had ourck of bravery let you down? Were you deluded by the enemies after you had left the icy sanctuary?¡±


    Tuo Nengya was silent, while Fang Wenshi turned red from guilt. He wanted to rebut but he kept quiet after ncing at Dragon King.


    ¡°The courage of the people from Great Snowmountain is unmatched,¡± Gu Shenwei replied. He had thought of many ways to convince the swordsmen, but he finally decided to be open and honest. These swordsmen were the core of his strength and were his most valuable resource. If they did not stand together with him, all his ns would havee to naught.


    ¡°Each swordsman is a gift from the Empyrean, thus I can¡¯t let you die in vain. Therades that have died, and those that will die, are losses which I don¡¯t want to bear. I want all of you to live and be the most distinguished group of people in the world. When you step on the ruins of the Golden Roc Fort, the entire Western Region will be kowtowing to you. This is my promise, Dragon King¡¯s promise to you. To achieve this, I will have to y dirty. This is our enemy¡¯s best trick, and now, I¡¯m going to let them have a taste of their own medicine. I will not hide anything from you, and I hope to have your trust and agreement. Should any swordsman in the tent disagree with my proposal, I will not do it.¡±


    There was a long silence. Everyone kept their heads down as they swallowed their bitterness. They had to keep their feeling of pain and loss in check for Dragon King. It was Long Xiaoshi who broke the silence with a sigh. ¡°There are so many swordsmen in Great Snowmountain, who have a grudge against Golden Roc Fort. How should we break the news to them?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Let the gods say.¡±


    Just as the chiefs predicted, the hatred the swordsmen felt was at its peak after the terrible battle. When the chiefs announced that they would be making peace with Golden Roc Fort, it caused a hugemotion in the camp.


    Gu Shenwei gathered all of them at a clearing and repeated what he had told the chiefs earlier to the other swordsmen. Finally, he asked, ¡°Let me ask all of you now. Are you willing to hand over the right to negotiate to the Empyrean?¡±


    No one was in favor of the negotiation, but no one objected to it as well. They had sworn an oath to serve the Dragon King faithfully, as he had ended the civil war in Five Peaks and united everyone. He even led them out of Great Snowmountain. The swordsmen would never go against their oath.


    ¡°Let the gods decide,¡± somebody said. Soon, everyone was agreeing with him.


    The three warlocks, who came with the army, were prepared to ughter nine horses, nine cows, and nine sheep. The animals were sacrificial offerings to the spirits. They then burned the carcasses at a nearby peak and threw the innards on the ground. They tried to interpret the intention of the Empyrean.


    Fang Wenshi did not believe in divination, so he asked Dragon King privately, ¡°This is a superstition. Will it work? If the warlocks spout some nonsense, we will have no more room left to manoeuvre.¡±


    ¡°The Empyrean always takes care of me.¡± Gu Shenwei was extremely certain that things would go his way. He was more confident in the ¡®gods¡¯ than the swordsmen of Great Snowmountain. He had some secrets that he would not tell anyone.


    At daybreak next day, the warlocks announced a decree publicly. The message was short and sweet ¨C ¡°The heavens bless Dragon King¡±.


    Cries of ¡°Dragon King, Dragon King¡± broke out, and even Tuo Nengya¡¯s machetemen cheered along. The sounds from Great Snowmountain camp traveled all the way to the enemy¡¯s camp which was 10 li away. The troops of Golden Roc Fort were startled and thought that they were ambushed. They scrambled to their stations only to realize that it was a false rm.


    Just like this, the negotiation was settled. However, there were much to prepare for.


    First of all, the news had to be kept secret. Once the news is spread, Shu-lik would be furious as they were deceived. Shu-lik would retaliate by sealing off their exit route and might even attack them. Great Snowmountain had to make use of thisst period of alliance with Shu-lik to gather as many supplies as they could for the winter. They had to be prepared to defend their camp for a long period of time.


    Golden Roc Fort had inadvertently helped Great Snowmountain. Supreme King had originally nned to establish a stronghold in the valley. Thus, he wanted to store arge number of supplies there. Gu Shenwei knew about it and got two hundreds cavalries to ambush eight hundred machetemen from Golden Roc Fort. Not only did they disrupt Supreme King¡¯s ns, but they also managed to snatch the supplies away.


    Xu Xiaoyi and Long Qinying managed to transport many supplies over quickly from Shu-lik City and Great Snowmountain respectively. It was estimated that the supplies were enough tost three thousand men for at least four to five months. The supplies couldst until the next spring.


    Next, they had to decide who to represent Great Snowmountain for the negotiation. Golden Roc Fort would definitely do everything in their ability to stop Great Snowmountain from allying with other forces. Their representative would be in danger right after he left the camp.


    Fang Wenshi decided to go to the residence of the Commanding Officer of Central in in Western Region to convince the officer alone. It was his dream as a counselor to take on such a task. He wanted to ask for some allowance. Even the simple-minded swordsmen were worried that he would run away with the money. He might join the mightier Central in Army or return to his hometown.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s decision to give Fang Wenshi the money was not because he trusted the military counselor, but because he happened to have some gold hidden in the East. ¡°Take this letter, and look for a man called Zhong Heng in the Central in Army. He will take care of you and give you what you need.¡±


    Fang Wenshi had no choice but to take over and hide the letter. He doubted whether Dragon King had so much clout, for an officer to fork out tens of thousands of gold with just a letter. Hemented his fate once again for following a stingy master. It was so hard for him to get a bit more money from such stingy master.


    Gu Shenwei only took Chu Nanping with him when he left for Jade City. It was easier to get himself exposed if he brought more people with him. Furthermore, his task was much easier. After he had gotten the support of various forces in Jade City, he could return to the camp in the West anytime.


    Thest problem was how to pass the customs. Dugu Xian had already blocked off the entire route, and there was full of checkpoints. It was impossible to bash their way through.


    Fang Wenshi solved this problem as he was already prepared it when he was in Shu-lik city.


    One day in mid-September, a Shu-lik merchant caravan past by Great Snowmountain camp. Three ordinary looking ves then sneaked on board. Their names were on an official list, which was endorsed by Shu-lik authorities, and the owners recognized them. Xu Xiaoyi had spent tens of thousands of silver taels for this list.


    Shu-lik lent its road to Great Snowmountain. However, they were still maintaining a cordial rtionship with Golden Roc Fort on the surface. Hence, the team of merchants was allowed to pass the border. It took an entire day to inspect every single goods and person on the caravan. They were then released.


    After the first checkpoint, they were inspected by soldiers in almost every vige, where they were resting in. After the inspection, the soldiers would stamp on the list.


    This situationsted for three days. The caravan traveled so slowly that it was almost caught up by a team behind.


    The governor of Jade City could only hold power for three days and the three major nations took turns to appoint the governor. This year, the governor was appointed by Nond.


    Fang Wenshi once spected in front of King of Shu-lik that Nond would go against its tradition by appointing an important person to take up the post of Governor, so to get Golden Roc Fort¡¯s support.


    He was right.


    The Governor from Nond was named Mo Chu. Even though the Mos wasn¡¯t the royal family, the Mos was one of the important noble families. Mo Chu was in his sixties and had once served as a minister. He retired a few years ago and dozens of his children and grandchildren held high posts.


    The act of the bed-ridden Khan from Nond sending someone who used to be an important official to govern Jade City showed a subtle attitude. Even the merchants could sense that there was something unusual. There were many spections and many even felt that Nond did not trust Supreme King.


    Mo Chu was an important figure regardless. Judging from the influence he had in Nond, his status was greater than that of most kings of smaller nations in the Western Region.


    His clout was evident from the scale of his entourage. He had brought about five hundred people with him from Nond. There were about two hundred servants, two hundred guards, dozens of clerks and dozen of his favorite concubines. He was definitely young at heart.


    There was a merchant among the team of merchants from Shu-lik who had dealings with the Mo family before. Therefore, he was represented to pay respects to the newly appointed governor. He offered a lot of gifts to Mo Chu.


    The two teams then traveled together. The rest of their journey was unimpeded and they didn¡¯t encounter any inspections.


    They finally arrived at Jade City inte September. They rested for a day before they continued on their journey. During this time, two servants, unfortunately, passed away due to a disease. Their names were removed from the list.


    Gu Shenwei then returned to Jade City. He was here for a different purpose. In the past, he wanted to kill people. This time, he wanted to stop the killing. However, he was still wanted. Many woulde after him if his cover was blown.


    He took out his Dragon Head Sword and Five Peaks Saber, which were hidden throughout the journey. He believed that they woulde in handy in the next few days toe.

 Chapter 273 - The Old Friend

    Chapter 273: The Old Friend


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    It seemed that this ce had not changed at all in thest three years. Pleasure Valley was still the hottest ce for famous prostitutes, and Southwall Tavern was still the best tavern in the city. The most popr prostitute was still Xiao Fengchai, and everyone was still gossiping about the real age of this woman.


    But for Gu Shenwei, everything seemed to have changed. This city used to be the hunting ground for this young killer, but now he was being chased like prey. He did not dare to even show his real identity. Everything that had been connected to him was wiped out from this city.


    Kun Society was still there, and its leader was Shangguan Fei again. This man was always hiding in North City and he gave orders to this organization of machetemen from there. Meng family was bing more and more wealthy. They had purchased Gui Garden¡¯s peach forest in the south of Hope Alley, which was surrounded by high walls to keep unauthorized personnel at bay.


    Endless killing was still amon urrence in South City. No matter big or small, the Protectors kept disappearing and reappearing. Now Gu Shenwei could only recognize a few of them.


    The war at the western border had only be a topic of conversation for the citizens. What was different was that ¡°that killer¡± now had a proper name, Yang Huan, the Dragon King of the Great Snowmountains. It was the same as ¡°that woman¡±, which was the Eighth Young Mistress in the fort.


    ¡°That killer is nothing without the Demon Bird. He¡¯s just a bandit chieftain. I¡¯ll bet the Snow Mountain Gang won¡¯t even survive until the end of the year.¡±


    That was what Gu Shenwei heard when he entered a tavern. Everyone around the speaker also voiced their agreement.


    ¡°Don¡¯t speak about such things so easily. That killer was good at plotting schemes, remember? So many sons of the Supreme King had died because of him. Not to mention that all those killers in the Stone Castle couldn¡¯t even find a trace of him after all these years. Besides, the fort had been attacked by him. He¡¯s a tough one, I¡¯ll give him that.¡± But this man who defended the Dragon King did not win much support.


    Shopkeeper Lyu, who had lost a finger, stood by the counter and looked at the customers coldly. He was bored even though those men were making his business prosper. Compared to another much more profitable business, that wine-selling business was a waste of time, although the wine was the best.


    However, it was a good cover for him.


    Shopkeeper Lyu noticed the cloaked guest immediately when he came in. He found two things: First, this man hid his weapon in the cloak and managed to fool the guards; second, this man had a familiar temperament to him.


    This man¡¯s face was a little dark. He has a thick beard and the corners of his eyes were tilted, which was the symbol of a man in the Western Region. He must have endured the hardship of the journey, and acted like a businessman who just walked out of the desert by running to the tavern before he even found a ce to rest.


    ¡°A cup of wine.¡± However, this anxious guest only asked for so little.


    Though the counterjumper was disappointed, Shopkeeper Lyu was surprised and nearly dropped his pen. He signaled the counterjumper with a wink. The counterjumper understood and changed his attitude. He cautiously invited the guest to the private room.


    Shopkeeper Lyu kept vignt when he stood in the private room. Not many people had the chance tomunicate with Yang Huan, and he was one of them. Though he was motivated by his curiosity, he was still frightened toe face to face with this killer.


    Three years ago, he had helped Xu Xiaoyi and Chu Naping leave Jade City and had helped Gu Shenwei transfer more than a million taels to Shu-lik. This deal was profitable. Gu Shenwei gave him amission of 20 percent. But If Golden Roc Fort knew about this deal, then he would not have earned a dime.


    Thus through this deal, Shopkeeper Lyu discovered a brand new way to earn money: transfer the money to those who did not want to show off. Lucky for him, numerous people in Jade City had the need.


    Of course, a high risk will yield a high reward. Those who wanted to transfer their property often had a bad rtionship with Golden Roc Fort. Shopkeeper Lyu had to take precautions all the time against the killers.


    ¡°You should not havee to South City now,¡± Shopkeep Lyu said. He was not sure of his attitude toward the Dragon King since he had not seen him for three years. Though this man was a king, in this city, Yang Huan was only an ouw. However, he was much more than any ordinary Protector and had countless ess to resources.


    The killer pulled open his cloak and revealed the saber and the sword.


    Shopkeeper Lyu seemed to feel the pain of his lost finger again when he saw that. He immediately changed his attitude and smiled consciously. ¡°Of course, you¡¯re safe in my ce.¡±


    ¡°I trust you.¡± Who Gu Shenwei really trusted was not Lyu or his own weapon, but Xu Xiaoyi, who was Lyu¡¯s most important partner.


    ¡°Am I supposed to call you¡ª Dragon King, now?¡± Shopkeeper Lyu asked tentatively.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    The killer is serious, thought Shopkeeper Lyu. He then straightened his face and said, ¡°How can I help you, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°I came here to negotiate peace with Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    His words were so abrupt and surprising that Shopkeeper Lyu, an experienced cunning old fox, could notprehend and react. ¡°What? Negotiate¡­peace? Do you propose to make peace and then¡­assassinate them?¡±


    ¡°No assassination, just negotiation.¡±


    Lyu was stunned. His eyebrows wrinkled and loosened, and wrinkled again. Finally, he asked, ¡°Are you serious?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s¡­that¡¯s good. But I don¡¯t think I can help you. My words don¡¯t carry much weight in the fort.¡± Shopkeeper Lyu reacted and said the worst thing first.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to talk with Golden Roc Fort. Do you like war?¡±


    ¡°Me? Of course not. Actually, most of the businessmen don¡¯t like war. Our businesses will definitely be affected once there is a war. Only some of these people can benefit from it.¡±


    ¡°Hence, you merchants must support this negotiation.¡±


    Shopkeeper Lyu was enlighted. ¡°I got it. But regardless of whether we like it or not, we won¡¯t speak out about it. Who wants to mess with the fort?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to speak. Soon there¡¯ll be someoneing to ask about your attitude, and all you need to do is to tell them the truth. But I hope that all the merchants can make preparations in advance. Otherwise, you might be fooled and be manipted by others.¡±


    It was the Dragon King who wanted to manipte the merchants, and Shopkeeper Lyu knew it well. But for him, everything was business. Thus he showed reluctance in his face, and said, ¡°This will be difficult and risky. You know how many spies the fort has¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll get paid, and it¡¯ll be worth your while.¡±


    Though Shopkeeper Lyu did not ask for the exact payment, he understood that he will not be treated badly, based on the numerous deals he had made with the Dragon King through Xu Xiaoyi.¡± I can guarantee you that the businessmen in all walks of Jade City will be solid supporters of your negotiation.¡±


    ¡°I heard that there¡¯s a ¡®Stop Kills Society¡¯ that had appeared in the city?¡± Since Gu Shenwei hadpleted the major task, he started to make another inquiry.


    ¡°Yes, but it can¡¯t be depended on.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°It was just a deceptive thing. It¡¯s like¡­ um¡­ the guild of the machetemen. Yeah, a guild, with a g of so-called ¡®stop killing¡¯. It also collects fees from the machetemen. But all they do is bury the dead after a killing. Just think about it, how can the machetemen live if they really ¡®stop killing¡¯?¡±


    Shopkeeper Lyu only made badments about this society. Gu Shenwei visited another person this night. He wanted to know more.


    Not many people had heard of Zhao Tong. He was called ¡°Little Four¡± at first and then became ¡°Old Four¡± in his twenties. In his thirties, he was ¡°Uncle Four¡±, and now, he was fifty years old, everyone called him ¡°Father Four¡±. Now, he was influential among the machetemen and did not need to work himself to the bone. Although he did not manage to be ¡°Master Four¡±, he was satisfied with his present life.


    Mister Zhao was cautious against this unfamiliar guest. But this man gave him the original holograph of Boss Tuo, so he enthusiastically invited the guest toe inside and for a private talk.


    ¡°I¡¯m ttered that Boss Tuo is considerate of my worn-out bones. How should I address you?¡± This guest looked ordinary, but Mister Zhao was sure that he had something special ording to his experience.


    Gu Shenwei showed his saber and sword again. ¡°Mister Zhao, do you remember the killer who had visited you three years ago?¡±


    Three years ago, Gu Shenwei was still running hither and thither for the building of the machetemen teams. He had nearly visited every old macheteman in the city and had the chance to meet Mister Zhao. Mister Zhao had refused his invitation, but he introduced several good machetemen for Gu Shenwei.


    Mister Zhao¡¯s face suddenly changed. ¡°Wait.¡± He walked out of the room and closed the gate. He then came back and shut the door of the room. ¡°I¡¯m honored to be in your presence, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei held Mister Zhao¡¯s body before he kneeled down. This old macheteman would be more trustworthy than Shopkeeper Lyu because he had been assured by Boss Tuo.


    Gu Shenwei wanted to know how the machetemen had reacted to the war. Mister Zhao thought for while and gave him this answer: ¡°Actually, as long as the fort is willing to pay the money, the young machetemen will attend the war. After all, they have a family to feed. To tell you the truth, Dragon King, people in this city did not hear much about your prestige.¡±


    The old macheteman said it very politely. In fact, Gu Shenwei did not have more influence than that sh-in-the-pan Giant Red-crowned Roc.


    However, in contrast to Shopkeeper Lyu, Mister Zhao gave an absolutely different answer regarding ¡°Stop Kills Society¡±. ¡°That society is like a home to the machetemen. Even I paid the membership fee. Stopping killing is not practical, that¡¯s true. But the society did save many people. Those orphans and widows no longer have to live in the street. If the Dragon King wants the machete men to support the negotiation, then you must go to the society.


    There was a reason why Gu Shenwei chose not to contact the ¡°Stop Kills Society¡± from the beginning. The creator of the society were several monks from the Four Truths Temple. Master Lianhua was one of them. But those monks did not supervise the affairs. Joy Pavillion in Hope Alley was the real supervisor.


    Why would those monks have a rtionship with the freaks of Joy Pavillion? Gu Shenwei was confused. He had been thinking about this ever since he had heard of this society a year ago. He thought that there must be some secrets behind it.


    Besides, Gu Shenwei had once killed an Immortal Peng and did not trust the new Immortal Peng. Thus he decided to let Chu Nanping contact Joy Pavillion and he stayed in the dark.


    It waste. Gu Shenwei navigated through the crowds and went back to his residence on the city border. This was the third day since he had returned to Jade City. He walked out of his house and discovered that he was being followed when he was passing a street with many casinos and taverns.

 Chapter 274 - Memory

    Chapter 274: Memory


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei walked into a quiet valley. The stalker was very careful as he always kept a distance of a dozen steps away from Gu Shenwei. He could keep a close eye on Gu Shenwei by relying on the lights from the houses along the street.


    This stalker was experienced. If Gu Shenwei was not that suspicious, then he would not have discovered the stalker.


    The gate of a house in front of Gu Shenwei was utched. He stopped at the gate, checked his surroundings, pushed open the gate, entered the yard and closed the gate gently behind him. He stuck himself to the gate and listened for any sounds as he grabbed his sword hilt with his right hand.


    Gu Shenwei could hear the sound of peopleughing inside the house. This was a prostitute¡¯s house and she was entertaining her customer. The servant had forgotten to close the gate.


    Gu Shenwei waited for a while. Then he suddenly pushed the gate forward. He reached his left arm out and pulled in a person. He then ced his saber at the person¡¯s neck with his right hand.


    That man was holding onto a limestone in his right hand as he was about to make a sign on the door. He couldn¡¯t even react and he froze in his original posture. A chill ran down his spine. His body softened, but he managed to stand straight with his mouth wide open due to the presence of a saber at his neck. He didn¡¯t even dare to breathe.


    ¡°What is your name?¡± Gu Shenwei whispered. Theughter from the house was gradually bing louder and it made for a good cover.


    ¡°Wang¡­Wang Cheng.¡±


    ¡°Who is your master?¡±


    ¡°I¡­I can¡¯t say.¡±


    Gu Shenwei exerted a little strength and the saber sliced through ayer of the stalker¡¯s skin.


    Wang Cheng did not have much courage despite the fact that he was an experienced stalker. All of a sudden, his eyes dted, his limbs twitched and his mouth was foaming.


    Gu Shenwei loosened his grip. Wang Cheng kept convulsing as he slowly sat down. He was dead, but the blood that was flowing out from his neck was not even enough to feed a mosquito.


    He had bitten the toxic pill inside his mouth andmitted suicide.


    Gu Shenwei bent down and observed him for a while. He did not know much about poisons so he could not find any clue. There was nothing special on his body, so Gu Shenwei sheathed his saber. He pushed open the gate and left quickly. He left the body behind for the prostitute and her customer.


    There were quite a few people in South City who appeared to have no connection with Golden Roc Fort, but in fact, they were working for the fort. However, Wang Cheng was not one of them. He was just a stalker. There was no need for him to poison himself upon being caught.


    Gu Shenwei returned home with his suspicions. He suspected that Shopkeeper Lyu and Mister Zhao was involved because he was followed when he left his house for the first time in three days. The problem must lie with the two of them, but he wasn¡¯t sure who was the one.


    This small yard was located in a developing vige on the border of South City. The residents here were mostly poor machetemen and businessmen. Xu Xiaoyi bought this yard through someone else a year ago and had asked an old servant to guard it. The guard only recognized Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s seal. The nearby residents often changed, hence they wouldn¡¯t pay much attention to their neighbors.


    Xu Xiaoyi had rented or bought seven to eight simr apartments in different locations. They were bought or rented in preparation for Gu Shenwei¡¯s return.


    Chu Nanping came at midnight. They patrolled around the house and did not find any stalkers.


    The second Immortal Peng almost couldn¡¯t wait to meet killer Yang Huan. When he saw Chu Nanping, he figured out that the Dragon King must have entered Jade City.


    ¡°He said that Joy Pavilion can protect us.¡± Chu Nanping was simple-minded and naive, and he trusted Immortal Peng¡¯s words. ¡°We don¡¯t need to stay here. Golden Roc Fort wouldn¡¯t dare to create trouble because there are many masters in Joy Pavilion.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not want to move to Hope Valley. In fact, he changed his residence at dawn in the next morning. Both him and Chu Nanping also disguised themselves.


    Gu Shenwei was rxed since Immortal Peng was in a hurry to see him. For the next three days, he disguised himself as a hired macheteman who wanted to avenge his master and inquired about Wang Cheng. Even though Wang Cheng was so cowardly, he had been willing to kill himself over a small incident. He was definitely being controlled by someone powerful.


    But no one knew Wang Cheng. There were only two Wang Chengs in Jade City, and both of them were living well. They had nothing to do with the stalker.


    Gu Shenwei visited Mister Zhao and Shopkeeper Lyu again. Although Chu Nanping was on the lookout, he hadn¡¯t detected any stalker on both asions. Gu Shenwei thought that the problem might lie with Chu Nanping. No matter how the teenager was dressed up, he still had the temperament of a swordsman, hence Chu Nanping could be easily identified by experienced stalkers.


    Gu Shenwei temporarily put this matter aside and went to meet Immortal Peng one evening.


    The previous Immortal Peng was an ugly dwarf, but now he was reced by a slightly bearded, white-faced schr. The schr¡¯s style was very different from that of his predecessor. Besides, he had no screen to cover him. He was sitting cross-legged on a hard wooden bed, and there were two boys standing on both sides. One of them held a sword, while another held a miniature Buddha. The incense burner was emitting dense smoke into the air, which enveloped Immortal Peng in a mysterious atmosphere.


    Without a strong hypnotism, the second generation Immortal Peng was less mystifying than his predecessor. However, his words were just as mystifying. ¡°Everyone will return to Joy Pavilion.¡± This was his first sentence.


    Gu Shenwei had previously learned the Secrets of Love at Joy pavilion, so he was regarded as a disciple of Joy Pavilion. He did not want to be tangled up in this issue and asked directly, ¡°I heard you are in a hurry to see me?¡±


    ¡°I heard that you want to negotiate with Stone Castle?¡± Immortal Peng asked.


    Gu Shenwei once reminded Chu Nanping not to say too much. However, Chu Nanping had treated Joy Pavilion as his second home, so it was difficult for him to stay vignt here. Chu Nanping revealed all of the Dragon King¡¯s ns when Immortal Peng had shown his goodwill. But he didn¡¯t even realize that he had leaked the information.


    ¡°Well, I am tired of killing. I don¡¯t want to bleed anymore nor do I want to let anyone die for me.¡±


    ¡°Do you think that Stop Kills Society can help you reach an agreement?¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not have such high expectations but he nodded. He said, ¡°But I don¡¯t know whether the society can do it.¡±


    ¡°Ha ha.¡± Immortal Peng smiled kindly as though he was an almighty god who was facing an innocent, naive child. ¡°There¡¯s nothing that Joy Pavilion can¡¯t do.¡±


    ¡°Joy Pavilion or Stop Kills Society?¡±


    ¡°Joy Pavilion is Stop Kills Society and Stop Kills Society is Joy Pavilion. Times have changed, Yang Huan. The divine power of Immortal Peng has now exceeded that of Hope Valley and now, the entire Jade City has to listen to him. If you want to negotiate, then he¡¯ll see it through.¡±


    The white-faced schr seemed to have a cognitive bias towards his identity. Though he imed to be Immortal Peng, he used terms like ¡°Immortal Peng¡± and ¡°he¡± instead of ¡°I¡± to express his opinions after some time. It seemed that he was possessed by the dwarf. Although he was just a messenger, his way of speaking would often awe the listeners.


    However, Gu Shenwei was not affected by it. He knew that the dwarf Immortal Peng would not talk to him in such a calm manner. ¡°But ¡®he¡¯ has some conditions. Tell me. An open discussion is important for cooperation.¡±


    Immortal Peng smiled, but he did not say anything. The two boys bowed and left. Chu Nanping also retreated. After his return to Joy Pavilion, the Dragon King was no longer the only one who couldmand him.


    The immortal and the killer were the only ones remaining on the third floor of Joy Pavilion.


    Immortal Peng took out a white handkerchief, which was as big as a quilt. There were many tiny characters on it. He touched the handkerchief in a loving manner, and then looked up and said, ¡°Do you remember this thing?¡±


    ¡°The screen.¡±


    There was once a giant screen in this room, which was used to cover the dwarf Immortal Peng. The Secrets of Love and the so-called sixty-four training methods were recorded on it. After when Gu Shenwei had killed the immortal and smashed the screen, the disciples rewrote the notes on the handkerchief based on their memory. The size of the handkerchief was the same as the screen.


    ¡°Most of Immortal Peng¡¯s efforts were on this handkerchief, and you had nearly destroyed it.¡±


    ¡°Immortal Peng had already reincarnated, so he wouldn¡¯t care about it.¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t care. But it¡¯s time for you to return a part of his memory.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was prepared to deal with Immortal Peng¡¯s nonsense, but he was still confused when he heard this sentence. He said, ¡°I will return it if I have it. But I don¡¯t have it.¡±


    ¡°You have it.¡± Although Immortal Peng was calm, he seemed to be a little urgent. ¡°When you had killed him, you had taken a roll of paper away. That was his memory and everyone witnessed it.¡±


    That roll of paper was contained in the Death Scripture which was written by Gu Shenwei when he was deluded. It was not Immortal Peng¡¯s memory. ¡°Oh, I have an impression of it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it. Return it to him, and Immortal Peng will make your dreame true.¡± There was a tinge of urgency in Immortal Peng¡¯s tone.


    Three years ago, there were two disciples of Joy Pavilion who had wanted to take that roll of paper back from the killer. The white-faced Immortal Peng had taken a long time to realize this because he had been spending a lot of time to practice the Secrets of Love and the sixty-four methods. In the end, he still failed to practice collectively nor have a mental connection with his disciples. He had to speak through the mouth of others. That was how he knew that his predecessor had not recorded the entire manual on the screen.


    The lost manuals must be that roll of paper, which had been taken away by the killer. The disciples of Joy Pavilion were convinced that, if it weren¡¯t for their fear and distrust towards the outside world, they would have searched the entire Western Region to hunt down Yang Huan.


    ¡°Please prove the capability of Stop Kills Society before we discuss the return of the ¡®memory¡¯.¡± Gu Shenwei held onto his sword hilt and was prepared to leave. He wanted to head to Four Truths Temple to find Master Lianxin. It would probably be more helpful.


    ¡°We can prove our capability anytime!¡± Immortal Peng became dignified and ruthless. His deep voice swayed the candlelight.


    A dozen strange-looking disciples of Joy Pavilion suddenly appeared from the windows and downstairs. They were holding onto different weapons and surrounded the killer.


    Chu Nanping waste by one step. He jumped to the Dragon King¡¯s side and drew out his long sword without saying a word.


    ¡°Chu Nanping, this man killed your brother,¡± a disciple with a tumor on his forehead said sternly.


    ¡°No one can kill him before I have mastered Emotionless Swordsmanship.¡± Chu Nanping¡¯s swordsmanship was improving rapidly under Gu Shenwei¡¯s guidance. However, he still could not forget about Emotionless Swordsmanship, which he would never be able to master.


    The disciples were eager to attack, so Gu Shenwei drew out his saber. He would only kill one person with his sword every year, meaning that the quota for this year had already been used.


    The two sides calmly confronted each other and waited for an opportunity.


    The disciple who stood at the stairway was the first to discover something strange. He blurted out, ¡°The peach forest is on fire.¡±


    Sure enough, red light from the mes was reflected in Joy Pavilion. The thunderous burning sound was mixed with some crackling sound. It sounded as if a giant monster was growling.


    This fire was extremely strange but timely. All the disciples couldn¡¯t help but look back. Seizing this opportunity, Gu Shenwei took Chu Nanping with him and jumped out from the window. They jumped several times along the high wall and disappeared into the darkness.


    Gu Shenwei did not know the importance of this fire until the next day. He only noticed one thing that night, and it was that someone was stalking him again.


    This time, Gu Shenwei brought this tail to his real residence.<h3 ss="g_h2 mb16">Comment (<span>0)

 Chapter 275 - String

    Chapter 275: String


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei was followed for the second time. This stalker¡¯s skill was much better than Wang Cheng and his hiding skills were better than Wang Cheng. If it weren¡¯t for the peach forest fire in Gui Garden, which revealed his shadow, Gu Shenwei would not be able to detect his traces so quickly.


    After returning to his residence, Gu Shenwei made Chu Nanping stay in the house. He then took off his robe and put on the ck cloak. He jumped out from the rear window and concealed himself on the roof so that he could spy on that stalker.


    The stalker did not know that he was being watched. He was monitoring all night up until when two other people came to take over before daybreak. He then left.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t care about the two neers and followed the first stalker. His Lightness Skill and techniques were better, so he was not detected.


    At daybreak, the ignorant stalker entered a residence in the city and did note out again.


    Gu Shenwei walked around the nearby area, but he did not find any ambusher. When he returned for the third time, a middle-aged woman was walking out from the residence with a basket in her hand. She seemed to be going to buy some groceries.


    However, she went directly to the city center. It was full of brothels, taverns, and betting arenas, but there was no market.


    Gu Shenwei followed her from a distance.


    This woman didn¡¯t seem to know kung fu. Though she was vignt and often looked back, she did not find anything unusual. She had been some people in ck cloaks, but this was South City. Such attire wasmon.


    The woman seemed to be walking around aimlessly. Gu Shenwei began to wonder if he might have been fooled. In thete morning, she finally stepped up her pace and headed straight to her destination.


    She went to Pleasure Alley, where there was barely anyone. She then walked into a house which had exceeded Gu Shenwei imagination.


    It was Xiao Fengchai¡¯s house.


    For many years, Xiao Fengchai was the most famous prostitute in Pleasure Alley or even in the entire Jade City. Most people could not understand why, but they were still fascinated by it.


    Gu Shenwei had met her once when he kidnapped Wei Lingmiao with Shangguan Ru. At that time, he had been wearing a mask and didn¡¯t speak at all, so he believed that Xiao Fengchai would definitely not remember him.


    Therefore, things were even more strange.


    The small building beside where Xu Yanwei lived had changed ownership, so Gu Shenwei had nowhere to go. Thus, he did not stay there. He just needed to know who the mastermind was. He had to observe for a while longer and then decide on his future actions.


    Since he had already gotten rid of the stalker, Gu Shenwei decided to make use of this opportunity to go to Four Truths Temple. Master Lianxin must have been responsible for the ¡°stop killing¡±. Gu Shenwei could make use of him to win the machetemen¡¯s support.


    People could rent horses at the eastern market of South City. The market was already open early in the morning. Gu Shenwei left a deposit, rented a strong horse and headed toward the temple outside the city.


    The first ce he went to was Leftslope Vihara, which was located near Four Truth Temple. No one was there. The thatched meditation hall had long been deserted.


    There were many male and female pilgrims at the entrance of Four Truths Temple. Although they were pilgrims, they were eager as though they were watching some fun.


    ¡°Buddha¡¯s blessings, I hope that the woman wille,¡± a man with a greasy face muttered excitedly.


    Gu Shenwei came at a good time. Thedies of the new Governor were here to offer incense and give alms. They were apanied by thedies of the Shangguan and Meng families. They had arrived yesterday and lived in the temple. However, few knew about this news. They were returning back to the city today, so many people came here upon hearing the news. They wanted to have a good look at them.


    The citizens of Jade City still remembered how gorgeous Luo Ningcha was when she had showed up three years ago.


    ¡°Did shee?¡± Some kept asking this question, but they didn¡¯t get a definite answer. Some even wanted to bribe the receptionist at the gate, but they were sternly refused.


    Ordinary pilgrims were not allowed to enter Four Truths Temple today. Gu Shenwei wanted to meet Master Lianxin, but the receptionist refused to inform the master. Gu Shenwei said he wanted to give alms, but the receptionist thought that Gu Shenwei was a yboy who wanted to peep at the female donors. Thus, the receptionist said coldly, ¡°Come tomorrow. We don¡¯t ept silver tickets here.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was about to lead the horse and leave when amotion broke out. The crowd shouted, ¡°They came out, they came out.¡±


    A bunch of guards who were carrying swords rushed outside. They drove the crowds away and carved out a broad pathway. The onlookers were very excited even though thedies had hurriedly left.


    ¡°Where is she? Where?¡± The men craned their necks impudently. The women looked at them disdainfully, but they didn¡¯t miss any detail.


    ¡°Oh, no. No, it¡¯s not her.¡±


    ¡°Is she in the carriage?¡±


    ¡°No, no, she is the daughter of Bighead Kingpin. She must be riding on a horse.¡±


    ¡°Herees the rider. No ¡­ eh ¡­ who is she? Pretty ¡­¡±


    ¡°The Tenth Young Master, isn¡¯t that the Tenth Young Master from Stone Castle? She hasn¡¯t gone down the mountain for a long time, has she?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Who would have imagined that, when she wore women¡¯s clothing, she could be so¡­¡±


    No one knew how to describe their feelings.


    Gu Shenwei stood at the periphery of the crowd and saw Shangguan Ru riding past him at a distance.


    Thest time he saw her in women¡¯s clothing was when they were visiting Master Tiger Monk at Four Truths Temple. At that time, she had felt very ufortable in women¡¯s clothing as though she was a bashful boy. Now, she had already gotten used to it. She had even changed her horseriding posture. Currently, her giant horse and her indescribable air made her stand out from the others around her.


    Even though she was really a young girl, she also had a feminine aura. Women were envious of her and men were attracted to her.


    This was a special kind of beauty that had always existed in her, but few could detect it. Only the veteran lover, Wei Lingmiao, had known how to appreciate it when she was only eleven. However, they were not able to meet three yearster.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t appreciate it as much as that of ordinary people.


    During the three years of escape, Gu Shenwei had been monitoring Stone Castle and would asionally hear about Shangguan Ru.


    On the same day when he was rescued by the Giant Red-crowned Roc, Lady Meng confiscated her daughter¡¯s saber, forced her to wear women¡¯s clothing, and ced her under house arrest. From then on, the term ¡°the Tenth Young Master¡± no longer existed. Only the citizens of Jade City would still use this name out of habit when they mentioned her.


    The reason why Gu Shenwei was unfamiliar with the girl who rode past, was either due to the long distance, the strong initial impression of her or her attire. A thin line in his mind suddenly snapped.


    That thin line was connected to some good times of the past. Those moments faded out as time went by. It was finally broken by the harsh reality and there was no longer any emotional support.


    For three years, he never cared how much he had changed, thus he did not expect for her to change. The little girl who he used to y with, venture out with and start a career with, had already be a part of his memory.


    ¡°Ah¡ª¡ª¡±


    ¡°Wow¡ª¡ª¡±


    The onlookers hadn¡¯t thought of anything to describe the Tenth Young Master who appeared for the first time in three years. They could only make meaningless noises from their throats.


    ¡°It¡¯s worth it.¡± The man with a greasy face looked around with a satisfied smile on his face. ¡°She¡¯s not worse than that woman. I think she is even better.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The crowds were still whispering excitedly even though Shangguan Ru had already disappeared. They were not interested in thedies at the back of the group. Some men even closed their eyes to reminisce about the view that they just saw. They knew that the appearance of the Tenth Young Master would be the hottest topic in Jade City for days or months. As an onlooker, they would be interrogated. Thus, they needed to remember every single detail.


    Gu Shenwei rode back to the city and followed the pilgrims. He didn¡¯t catch up. He was thinking about how to find Master Lianxin and how to deal with Xiao Fengchai.


    After entering South City and returning the horse, he hade up with a n. It was simple. There was no need for him to think for such a long time, but he felt that he had to keep thinking to keep himself awake.


    Soon, arge amount of information came and upied his mind.


    Initially, he did not notice what the citizens were talking about, until an insane beggar ran in and shouted ambiguously, ¡°The Dragon King killed ¡­ wipe out Jade City ¡­ everyone died, everyone died! Haha, they all died!¡±


    ¡°He dares to assassinate the Governor? The Dragon King is crazy,¡± said a man who was watching the beggar making a scene.


    Gu Shenwei deeply felt that his ability to collect intelligence was much weaker than Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s ability. It took him such a long time before he took notice of what the people around him were saying.


    The fire in Gui Garden¡¯s peach forestst night was not an ident. Some assassins had attacked the new Governor and lit the haystack when they fled. Autumn was the dry season, hence there were only a few peach trees left. The Meng family, who bought this gardenst year, had only one chance to watch the peach blossoms blooming.


    There was nothing much to see this season, but the Governor¡¯s favorite concubine insisted on seeing the scenery. Thus, the Governor, Mo Chu stayed over for a night at the garden. In the end, he could truly experience the customs of Jade City.


    In the end, this pampered troublemaking concubine had saved Mo Chu¡¯s life. On that night, the spoiled woman had wanted to wear the Governor¡¯s clothing to show off. It was probably Mo Chu¡¯s idea to build the atmosphere. Anyway, the assassin had killed the wrong person under the dim light.


    The Governor was shocked and passed out. He immediately returned to North City after he woke up. He cursed and vowed that he would arrest the assassins and skin them alive.


    If this was Nond, countless officials and soldiers would have been deployed that night. However, in Jade City, the Governor could only directlymand hundreds of men. This was not even enough to protect the Governor, let alone tob the city for the assassins.


    Thedies who were at Four Truths Temple offering incense had heard the news and returned ahead of schedule. All of the other forces had gathered at the Governor¡¯s Mansion and discussed how to avenge the old Governor.


    Hence, South City was not affected for the time being. Everyone regarded this assassination as a piece of strange news.


    From the Governor to the peddlers selling vegetables, they were absolutely sure that the assassin was that killer¡ª the Dragon King, Yang Huan.


    When Gu Shenwei returned to his residence, he saw that those two stalkers were still there. They were sitting by a tree and were pretending to y chess. Chu Nanping stayed in the house as instructed by the Dragon King and never came out.


    Gu Shenwei passed by them and deliberately paused for a moment. He then pushed the door and entered the courtyard.


    The two surveints were shocked and exchanged nces. One of them threw the chess pieces angrily, turned and ran to report the situation to their boss.


    That night, all the surveints were evacuated.


    Gu Shenwei had originally nned to personally visit Xiao Fengchai at night to inquire about her motive. She did not expose him to Golden Roc Fort, which means that she had another purpose. However, he changed his mind. He moved again with Chu Nanping and disguised himself again.


    He then went to a nearby tavern and bought some wine. However, he did not drink it. He sat around through the night. He did not hear any worthwhile news. Those drinkers simply treated the news about the assassination as a dish to go with the wine. Soon, they did not even mention it.


    Gu Shenwei returned to his new residence. He carefully checked it out. He went to bed after confirming that there were no surveints.


    As he closed his eyes, the image of Shangguan Ru in women¡¯s clothing appeared in front of his eyes without warning. That broken line miraculously returned to its original state. The new image reced that boyish girl as though she had been like this as a child.

 Chapter 276 - Deception

    Chapter 276: Deception


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei was surprised that someone was knocking on his door. He just moved inst night. He thought, ¡°Am I being followed again? Did the stalker evade my repeated inspections?¡±


    If this was the case, the stalker was not only skillful, but also bold. He dared to visit in broad daylight.


    Gu Shenwei opened the door personally. Chu Nanping was standing against the wall and was five steps away from the Dragon King.


    There were three machetemen at the door. The leader was in his thirties and was robust. The other two machetemen were rtively younger and skinnier. Although they had a sword hanging at their waist, the weapon seemed to be unnecessary because it looked like an excessivelyrge essory.


    As soon as the door opened, the three of them came in and stood in the courtyard. They started to look around. When they turned around and saw a swordsman by the wall, they were slightly surprised but weren¡¯t alerted.


    Gu Shenwei moved two steps back and created a feint with Chu Nanping by surrounding the machetemen. If the other party were experienced machetemen, they would have been alerted and would have already reacted. However, the three of them were more interested in the house and didn¡¯t realize that they were in danger.


    Normally, the other party would ask in surprise when the three of them entered anyone¡¯s house. However, these two guys didn¡¯t say anything and acted like blockheads. The built macheteman coughed. Then, a thin macheteman raised his head and asked, ¡°Are both of you new here?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    ¡°This is Boss Mo. All the machetemen here are under him. He has something to say to you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had never heard that there was a leader who was ¡°managing¡± the new machetemen before. However, he kept quiet. He held onto his sword shaft as he kept his guard up.


    When the robust Boss Mo reached out his arm to rest on Gu Shenwei¡¯s shoulder, Gu Shenwei almost drew out his sword. Chu Nanping had even diverted his Internal Breath to his fingers. No one could casually touch the Dragon King even though he had not carried out the five steps ban on special asions. However, the Dragon King didn¡¯t react, so Chu Nanping didn¡¯t draw out his sword.


    The three swordsmen still didn¡¯t realize anything.


    Boss Mo did not have any evil intention and said earnestly in a hoarse voice, ¡°Friend, it is hard to earn a livelihood. This is Jade City. There are thousands of people who earn their livelihoods by killing people. You think you are unique and have superb machete skills. But, no one knows you. You need someone to rmend you. He will guide you along and give you work to do.¡±


    ¡°Are you the rmender?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Boss Mo turned around and looked at his two subordinates and said, ¡°This friend is experienced and promising.¡±


    Just when Gu Shenwei was about to open his mouth to send the three men away, Boss Mo asked, ¡°Have you heard of Stop Kills Society?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    ¡°Have you heard of the holy monk who protects the de?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Master Lianhua of Four Truths Temple.¡±


    ¡°Eh, you know a lot. Then you must have known that the holy monk has great powers and could protect us from difficulties. He is our guardian. You will have good luck after listening to his preaching. Your enemies won¡¯t be able to harm you. He will also bless your sword. Your kung fu will improve and you will be invincible. I think you are an honest man. You have just arrived in Jade City and are unfamiliar with the ce, so I am telling you this piece of news out of goodwill. The holy monk will be preaching this afternoon and it will cause a stir in the whole city. Thousands of machetemen will want to listen to him. I have a few slots left. Do you want to go and listen?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was surprised that Master Lianhua, who was once pedantic, was working with this jianghu swindler. However, Gu Shenwei still wanted to meet Master Lianhua. Hence, he nodded and answered, ¡°Yes.¡±


    Boss Mo held out his palm and said, ¡°A slot for ten silver taels, no bargain.¡± He only wanted the money and didn¡¯t care about the other party¡¯s name.


    Holy monk Master Lianhua¡¯s conference would be held in an abandoned garden in the suburbs this afternoon.


    There were more than two hundred people in the audience, and most of them looked dazed. They were obviously neers.


    When the hour arrived, the familiar Master Lianhua went up to the altar and started to preach. Monk Lianye was at his side to protect him.


    Unsurprisingly, the monk spoke titudes, recited a paragraph of Breaking Obsession and preached. Initially, the machetemen tried to listen, but gradually they couldn¡¯t keep up with the Master. They started yawning and became bored. Hence, they talked to one another in the hopes of making use of this opportunity to make some new friends.


    Gu Shenwei was prepared. At the moment when he heard Breaking Obsession, he immediately stuffed his ears with cotton balls. He had been previously hurt by it so he didn¡¯t dare to listen to it again.


    Master Lianhua finished his preaching in the evening. Then, the robust swordsman, Boss Mo came forward again and boasted about the effectiveness of Master Lianhua¡¯s preaching. He then said, ¡°After listening to his preaching, you will have good luck. Of course, the duration will vary ording to your fate. Even if you have the least fate, no weapon can harm you for now. If you don¡¯t believe me, you can test it out.¡±


    Nobody was willing to be stabbed for no reason. Thus, they just looked at one another andughed. It seemed that they didn¡¯t believe Boss Mo¡¯s words.


    ¡°Tell you what. I believe that I have a little fate. Anyone cane and hack me. If anyone can injure me, I will me it on myself. If no one is able to injure me, then you can treat it as a form of entertainment.¡±


    Boss Mo had a jianghu tone, and it seemed that he was trying to sell something. He said, ¡°Anyone? Anyone? Oh, shouldn¡¯t you have the courage to hack people, since you are now earning a livelihood in South City?¡±


    A macheteman who looked strong couldn¡¯t withstand the insults and shouted, ¡°I will try.¡± He squeezed out from the crowd and drew out an enormous long saber. He wandered a few steps in front of Boss Mo, then he suddenly shouted and hacked at Boss Mo. The audience watched intensely as the saber was heading towards Boss Mo¡¯s head. However, the saber tilted midway involuntarily, brushed past his shoulders andnded on the floor. Boss Mo wasn¡¯t hurt at all.


    The swordsman touched Boss Mo¡¯s head and looked puzzled. The audience started talking among themselves. Some began to believe, however some thought that the swordsman had colluded with Boss Mo.


    After which, there were five machetemen who also didn¡¯t believe it so they volunteered to hack at Boss Mo. However, the results were still the same. All of them missed their targets as their sabers tilted and brushed past him.


    Now, everyone became excited. Machetemen rushed up as they wanted to try it out. However, Boss Mo quitted and said, ¡°Stop, I have used up most of my fate and dared not to try again. Anyone who thinks he has a strong fate can try for themselves.¡±


    No one was paying attention when the monk was preaching just now. Hence, no one thought that they had strong fate. However, they believed most of Boss Mo¡¯s words. They then shouted, ¡°Preach again, preach again.¡±


    Boss Mo raised both of his hands and suppressed the shouting. He said, ¡°Listen to me. The holy monk will preach once every ten days. If you want to listen again, you can register with me tomorrow at Fortune Tavern. One slot for fifty silver taels.¡±


    The price increased five folds, but the machetemen didn¡¯t feel that it was expensive. Some wanted to sign up on the spot, however Boss Mo rejected all of them. Those who wanted to sign up had to do so tomorrow. Boss Mo then said, ¡°The holy monk will bless your weaponter, at a cost of eighty silver taels. The effect canst for two to ten days as it varies with your fate. Furthermore, Stop Kills Society is founded by the holy monk. Those who are interested to join have to prepare a hundred silver taels. Members can enjoy a 20% discount for future preaching sessions and weapon blessings.¡±


    Most swordsmen had just arrived in Jade City, so they had little money. Hence, they left bitterly. However, twenty people stayed behind and formed a line. They were holding onto their sword in one hand and the silver taels in another. They first had to apply through Boss Mo to join Stop Kills Society, then they could respectfully ask the monk to bless their weapons.


    The sky became darker. Only Gu Shenwei was able to see through the trick. Boss Mo was standing at a strategic position where his right shoulder was facing Lianye. Whenever someone attacked him, Lianye¡¯s arm would move slightly and flicked out a small stone. It would then hit the de. The monk had strong Internal Breath and his calction was very precise, thus the attacker couldn¡¯t feel anything.


    Gu Shenwei felt that it was strange of Master Lianhua who was on the altar to turn a blind eye to such deception. There was a great difference between him and the monk in Gu Shenwei¡¯s impression of him.


    He wanted to talk to the monk when there were fewer people around, but he changed his mind. He walked out of the garden, jumped over a low wall, hid behind a tree and observed in secret.


    The swordsmen who had their weapons blessed left in contentment. They wanted to try out their weapon while the effect was still there.


    Boss Mo bowed reverently to the monk and took all the silver taels away.


    Liuhua and Lianye packed up. When they saw there was no one around, they then put on their capes and hoods. They hurriedly left the garden in the dark, as they wanted to leave for North City before the city gate was closed.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t follow them.


    Gu Shenwei became more and more unfamiliar with Jade City.


    Now was the time when Pleasure Alley was the most lively. Even if one didn¡¯t have enough money, one could go over and stroll around in droves and look at beautiful famous prosititues. One could take this wonderful impression with him and look for other women. ¡°Looking at the meat on other people¡¯s tes while eating our own steamed buns and pickles is also a mean of economic survival.¡± Tie Hanfeng had brilliant summarized this phenomenon.


    Gu Shenwei knocked on Xiao Fengchai¡¯s door directly.


    A beautiful yet emotionless maid opened the door and said, ¡°Guest came at the wrong time. Madam doesn¡¯t want to serve anyone today.¡±


    Gu Shenwei grabbed the door and said, ¡°She will definitely see me.¡±


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°I am the person who Madam is waiting for.¡±


    The maid was hesitant. She didn¡¯t know who Madam was waiting for. Usually, the guests would crowd around, but Gu Shenwei came alone and didn¡¯t seem to have much money. However, Gu Shenwei¡¯s voice sounded somewhat authoritative, and it was hard to refuse him.


    ¡°Wait for a moment,¡± she said. She hesitated for a moment, opened the door and let the guest in. ¡°Wait here.¡±


    The maid hurried upstairs and left several elderly women behind to vigntly watch the strange guest.


    Gu Shenwei took off his hood and ck cape, and ced them in front of his chest. He hid his right hand in the clothing and held onto sword shaft out of habit. It had been a few days since he drew his sword, hence he felt slightly anxious.


    The maid came down and looked surprised. She became respectful and said, ¡°Guest, please go upstairs.¡±


    Gu Shenwei waited a little longer in a small living room on the second level before being allowed to enter the inner room.


    If he knew a little about the rules here, he would realize that it was unusual for him to be able to meet Xiao Fengchai in such short amount of time. Few could enjoy this kind of treatment among the men who met the famous prostitute in Jade City.


    As time had brought about great changes and everything in Jade City was not what it used to be, the prostitutes here were the only thing that didn¡¯t change. Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help but to think about it.


    Xiao Fengchai who was under the light looked the same as three years ago. Her elegant attire and the luxurious decorationplemented each other even though it didn¡¯t match well.


    ¡°You look like you¡¯ve seen me before.¡±


    ¡°I kidnapped Wei Lingmiao here.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Xiao Fengchai lifted her head slightly, ¡°You are one of the two killers, who were brought over by the little girl from Stone Castle. Yes, your name is Yang Huan, and you are initially a subordinate of the Tenth Young Master.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was shocked. He drew out his sword. He then inhaled some colorless and odourless powder. His body shook and his hand, which was holding onto his sword, rxed involuntarily.

 Chapter 277 - Competition

    Chapter 277: Competition


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    There were no blood stains despite the fact that a corpse was lying on the floor.


    ¡°It¡¯s rare for you to think of me. Now the maids would not need to exert a lot of effort to clean the carpet.¡± Xiao Fengchaimented emotionlessly as though she was used to seeing the scene of a murder. She didn¡¯t know kung fu so she wanted to let the Dragon King exhaust his Internal Strength. However, the killer who she arranged had made a mistake. She said, ¡°I wish that my machetemen were aspetent as you.¡±


    She gently knocked twice on the table and two hunched elderly women came in. They carried the body away without saying anything.


    ¡°I really can¡¯t control my machete skills,¡± Gu Shenwei exined, but he didn¡¯t intend to apologize. The person had wanted to ambush Gu Shenwei with anonymous knockout powder from Golden Roc Fort. However, since a few years ago, Gu Shenwei had been taking in a certain dosage of such powder on a regr basis. Therefore, he was immune to it. He only felt weak for a moment, but he didn¡¯t spare any effort to show mercy.


    The strong had various choices, but the weak only have two options: to kill or be killed.


    ¡°You are as uncontroble as your machete skills, ¡± Xiao Fengchai said with augh. Her teasing seemed just right because it could be understood as either apliment or a sarcasm.


    ¡°Say. How can I help you?¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t respond to her goodwill. The killer was on alert because this woman had a certain air which could infatuate other men. To control or be controlled. He had suffered a lot in this aspect in the past so he was deeply concerned about it.


    Xiao Fengchai¡¯s expression had not changed. However, she was more interested in looking into the killer¡¯s eyes. She said, ¡°One small thing.¡±


    ¡°You are making a great fuss over nothing by spending so much effort, just so you could find me for such a small matter.¡±


    ¡°Spending much effort? Haha, it¡¯s not really true. My people have been watching Lyu Qiying from Southwall Tavern, and they found a strange young swordsman. He was disguised but appeared slightly nervous, hence they followed him from far behind. Then, they saw you. He didn¡¯t know you were the famous the Dragon King of the Great Snowmountain. I realized you were the Dragon King when you got rid of the stalkers and startled two of my men. I thought you wouldest night, but I didn¡¯t expect that someone would stand me up.¡±


    Unconsciously, Xiao Fengchai changed her attitude and became approachable, as though she was an old friend of the Dragon King who hadn¡¯t seen him for many years. That silent meeting through the mask suddenly became a memorable affair.


    This was her skill. She could detect the hidden feelings of the other party through the smallest details, and adjust her attitude ordingly. A single expression wouldn¡¯t be able to please all men.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t realize that his wariness was gradually diminishing. By the time he realized, he had loosened his grip on the hilt of his sword.


    ¡°People usually find me to kill for them. Who do you want me to kill?¡± Although Gu Shenwei was less wary, he was still unwilling to waste his time here.


    ¡°The Dragon King is so direct. You make me feel a little embarrassed. The person I want to kill ¡­ is rted to the Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei suddenly realized how extraordinary Xiao Fengchai was. She hadn¡¯t disyed this side of herself when they first met three years ago and he didn¡¯t pay special attention to her either.


    Xiao Fengchai¡¯s eyes were more alluring than her appearance and temperament, even more so than all the other prostitutes in Pleasure Alley.


    Gu Shenwei had seen many prostitutes. They all had their own special skills and tricks to seduce men. However, most of them either had a poor performance or a fixed expression. Xu Yanwei was like most of them as she could only seduce inexperienced clients with her pitiful looks. She was unable to serve experienced clients.


    Their eyes revealed their true feelings. A casual nce could show their displeasure towards the guest and their desire for money.


    Xiao Fengchai¡¯s gaze and attitude were in harmony. When she acted noble, her gaze looked indifferent. When she acted amicably, her gaze looked yful. When she acted elegantly, her gaze looked empty. When she was praising the client, her eyes showed respect. When she acted flirtatiously, her eyes interacted with the client. All of her emotions werepletely genuine.


    Gu Shenwei came to a realization and raised his guard against her. Although he didn¡¯t grab onto his sword hilt, he defended against her in his heart. Years of killing had made him understand a truth: Killers did not need to use a sword to kill. Counselors used their mouth to kill and women used their hearts to kill.


    ¡°Shopkeeper Lyu.¡± Gu Shenwei knew the reason, but he still asked, ¡°How did he offend you?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King should know that I am a little woman who makes a living through small dealings in this chaotic world. To be honest, I don¡¯t likepetition. Lyu Qiying probably didn¡¯t know that he had been snatching away more and more of my business. I can¡¯t sleep because of this.¡±


    ¡°You should have a lot of good killers. You don¡¯t need me.¡±


    ¡°I have good killers, but Lyu Qiying has them too. It had be toote when I discovered it. Now, it is a problem. I need a brilliant killer like the Dragon King to help me eliminate the problem.¡±


    Gu Shenwei remained silent. There were many loopholes in Xiao Fengchai¡¯s words, so he wanted to hear her exnation.


    Xiao Fengchai smiled slightly brighter as her eyes looked slightly aggrieved. She asked, ¡°Doesn¡¯t the Dragon King believe me?¡±


    ¡°I have reasons not to believe you.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai adjusted her demeanor again. This time, she became straightforward as though she was making a business deal. She was also respectful towards the Dragon King. She said, ¡°Yes. Why wouldn¡¯t Xiao Fengchai approach Golden Roc Fort? Who is more suitable than a Golden Roc killer in terms of killing a person in Jade City?¡±


    Xiao Fengchai asked some questions and then answered them after a momentary pause. She exined, ¡°I have said that it was toote when I found out that Lyu Qiying was mypetitor. He has almost everything that I have. Do you think he is in contact with Golden Roc Fort? Like all businessmen, he has to pay arge amount of protection money to Golden Roc Fort. Hence, if I ask Golden Roc Fort to kill him, I will have to pay a huge price. I may have to bear the monthly payment for him. The most important thing is that I know Lyu Qiying is doing business with the Dragon King, so I was hoping to rece him. This cannot be made known to Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    The rtionship between this woman and the various forces in Jade City had always been a mystery. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know how much trust he should ce in her. He asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid that I will be killed by Golden Roc Fort?¡±


    ¡°As long as the Dragon King is willing to cooperate with me, I can guarantee you that no one in South City can kill you. Xiao Fengchai may not know how to kill people, but she knows how to protect people.¡± Xiao Fengchai sounded very confident. Her gaze became as sharp as that of men. She said, ¡°Golden Roc Fort is the god of Jade City. However, due to its superiority, it had distanced themselves from the ground. If you could maintain a low profile, you will not be caught by the Supreme King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had sounded Xiao Fengchai out and there was no need for him to stay any further. Hence, he retreated towards the door and said, ¡°I will have to reject your proposal. However, I have to remind you that if Lyu Qiying dies, you will not be safe either.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai was still smiling as though she was sure of her victory even after being rejected. She said, ¡°I am not in a rush. This is just a suggestion. I hope the Dragon King can first think of my proposal when he needs a safe hiding spot in Jade City.¡±


    The killer had left, but Xiao Fengchai was still smiling and pondering interestingly. She believed that this meeting was still fruitful because she knew more than the Dragon King. She was always the winner.


    There were not many pedestrians on the street. Gu Shenwei was wearing a hood while he was walking in the darkness. He didn¡¯t have an answer to his biggest doubt. The first person who followed him was not sent by Xiao Fengchai. The person who swallowed drugs andmitted suicide had a different background. Xiao Fengchai didn¡¯t know the existence of this person.


    He went to his neighborhood, but he didn¡¯t enter the alley. Instead, he jumped onto a roof from afar as though he was a killer on a mission. Heid low and moved about at the dark side of the roof.


    Xiao Fengchai hadn¡¯t said much, but Gu Shenwei guessed some of them. He guessed that Golden Roc Fort had known that the Dragon King had infiltrated South City and that they were secretly mobilizing killers to kill him.


    He knew the tricks of Golden Roc Fort. Usually, killers didn¡¯t search the city with great fanfare. They loved to search for targets secretly and then kill the enemy discreetly.


    This time was no exception.


    After secretly moving around for a while, Gu Shenwei discovered the traces of killers.


    Two groups of killers were hiding in two houses, which were located in a street behind him. They were guarding the entrance and the exit of the alley. They were on standby, but they didn¡¯t want to alert the enemy.


    There were two killers lying in ambush near Gu Shenwei¡¯s house, and they were responsible for delivering information. There was a third killer on the roof opposite the residence, and he was monitoring for movements in the courtyard. Once the target appeared, he would send a signal to the two messengers. Then, the two messengers would inform the other killers to surround the house.


    This was a standard assassination operation. If Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t started his inspection from the outermost periphery, then it would be very difficult to find any clues.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to alert the enemy, but Chu Nanping was still in the residence. He had to save this young swordsman.


    The two assassins who were responsible for delivering information had to change their positions regrly. They would move around the target¡¯s residence, as this method would eliminate any blind spots.


    After figuring out their pattern, Gu Shenweiid in ambush at one of the killer¡¯s path. He pulled out his saber and waited in silence.


    A hunched killer came over quietly. He was staring at the house under the moonlight, but he didn¡¯t notice the small shadow at the side.


    Even though the distance was a little far, Gu Shenwei rushed toward the killer with his saber and jumped like a cat.


    The killer¡¯s head was hanging on the roof and made a slight noise. Gu Shenwei pressed against his body and waited for a while before slowly moving away.


    Gu Shenwei touched the back of the second killer directly. The killer was alerted and quickly turned around. He was already holding on to his saber. However, he was slightly slower and was stabbed in his neck.


    Under normal circumstances, Gu Shenwei had to retreat quickly after killing a person. However, Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t do that this time. Gu Shenwei was holding onto a corpse in one hand while he caught the other killer¡¯s saber with the other hand. He gentlyid the killer down so as not to make too much noise.


    The killer who was responsible for the surveince remained. He hadn¡¯t moved for half a night. Usually, the killer who performed this role was the best as he must have enough patience and keen judgement.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to take the risk of killing this killer. He went behind the house, picked up three small stones from the ground and threw them at the rear window. He threw two stones, paused for a moment and then threw thest stone.


    Chu Nanping heard the signal and quickly jumped out from the rear window. Both of them quickly fled into theplex streets of South City.


    The surveint saw the both of them, but both of the messengers were dead. It would be toote if the surveint personally went to inform the huge group of killers. Also, as he was alone, it was too risky for him to pursue the Dragon King. Hence, he could only watch the targets disappear.


    Xu Xiaoyi had a few houses in South City, but Gu Shenwei knew that none of them was safe. He was betrayed and his whereabouts were exposed. As Xiao Fengchai had said, he needed a safe hiding spot and had to maintain a low profile.


    He must find a secluded ce to hide for twelve hours as now was the time when he would experience the once-in-a-few-months qigong deviation.

 Chapter 278 - Reward

    Chapter 278: Reward


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei was tricked by Maid Lotus three years ago. Maid Lotus had tampered with the seventh chapter of Wayless Qigong. Thus, Gu Shenwei had practiced with the incorrect version. Till now, the Frosty Qi in his Dantian had not beenpletely removed.


    If it was possible, Gu Shenwei would never want to remember that six months after fleeing from the Stone Castle.


    He and the Giant Red-crowned Roc were hiding in the mountains while avoiding all strangers. They had led a savage life. The Giant Roc had to fly far away to get food.


    The chill in his Dantian was constantly getting stronger. Although it was summer, he felt as cold as if it was winter.


    Apart from eating, he had spent many sleepless nights on practicing the correct version of Wayless Qigong. He was fighting for time against qigong deviation. He could temporarily suppress the chill as long as his Internal Strength was strong enough.


    He was able to survive, thanks to dwarf Immortal Peng. By practicing the Secrets of Love at Joy Pavilion, his meridians were unblocked and he quickly recovered his skills. He was able to counterbnce the Frosty Qi in his Dantian after a few days.


    However, the chill was bing worse. Under the torture of the endless chill, his face became pale and was unable to return to its original state.


    There was a bitter war urring in Gu Shenwei¡¯s Dantain. As a result, he was unable to sleep well. If he didn¡¯t practice his skills for two hours, the Frosty Qi would prate into his bone marrow and make him shiver. It forced him to wake up.


    At that time, he didn¡¯t know when such a hellish life would end. He often wanted to end his life, but the Giant Red-crowned Roc dissuaded him from doing so.


    The Giant Roc knew that this human was in great pain, but it was willing to protect, feed and console him. It chased away all wild animals within a five kilometers radius and it flew far away to get all kinds of food, just like what its parents had done before. It carefully thought of the human¡¯s tastes and changed recipes constantly.


    When the human became weak and wanted to end his life, it would p its wings and danced awkwardly to entertain him. When the human became cold, it would use its feathers and body to warm him up so it could reduce his pain slightly.


    However, it didn¡¯t allow human beings to climb onto its back. There was one time when it carried him on its back, but it was a critical moment and there were no other options. There would never be a second time. It was a holy giant bird and it was neither a pet nor a mount.


    Gu Shenwei was exposed to the elements as he lived like a wild animal during thest two months. He was almost naked.


    He persevered and survived. However, he hadn¡¯t removed the root of the problem. The chill in his Dantian would rpse every one to three months and he would experience hell for the next twelve hours. He had to use all of his energy to counterbnce the chill throughout its entire duration.


    Only Chu Nanping knew a little about Gu Shenwei¡¯s condition. When the Dragon King was fighting against the chill, he needed a protector. The Giant Red-crowned Roc used to take on this role, but due to its unparalleled love for freedom, it would disappear for seven to eight months. Hence, the young swordsman had to take up this role.


    ¡°Dragon King, are you recuperating again?¡± Chu Nanping asked. Gu Shenwei¡¯s face was paler than usual. This was the indication that the moment wasing.


    ¡°Yes. Within three days.¡±


    Both of them had just escaped the killers¡¯ encirclement and were running through the narrow streets of South City. They had to choose those deserted paths and to avoid the faint moonlight.


    There were no safe spots in Jade City, and Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to hide in the mountains so soon. He wanted to do something as there were still three days left. At the very least, he wanted to find the person who betrayed him.


    It was either Shopkeeper Lyu, Mister Zhao or Immortal Peng who betrayed the Dragon King. He temporarily excluded Xiao Fengchai as she was thetest one who knew about the Dragon King¡¯s infiltration. Golden Roc Fort might have even learnt of this news earlier than her.


    At dawn, the Dragon King¡¯s whereabouts were exposed and everyone knew about the Dragon King¡¯s escape. Spies who were sent by the various forces in Jade City mushroomed. They were wandering around in their respective spheres of influence and gave out wanted posters. Whenever they saw a stranger, they would interrogate him even if he was a beggar.


    Strangely, there were six to seven different kinds of rewards in the city at one time. Golden Roc Fort, North City Meng Family, and other unknown mysterious forces were the sponsors of the search. The mary rewards ranged from ten thousand to fifty thousand silver taels. Meng Family was not the one who offered the most money. It was Stop Kills Society who offered the most rewards. Furthermore, they wanted to capture the Dragon King alive.


    Gu Shenwei removed Immortal Peng from his list of suspects due to the reward offered by Stop Kills Society. The schr obviously had no intention to share his information with Golden Roc Fort.


    The other rewards weren¡¯t concerned about the Dragon King¡¯s fate. One of them caught Gu Shenwei¡¯s attention. It specifically mentioned the Dragon King¡¯s swords and even knew their names: Dragon Head Sword and Five Peaks Saber.


    The sponsor didn¡¯t reveal his name, but he said that he would contact the person with the sword. The reward was twenty thousand taels.


    After Gu Shenwei disguised himself again, he was wandering around in the most lively ces in South City. He was drinking tea and chatting with the people. The new Governor, the two women in Stone Castle and the hunt for the Dragon King were the three hottest conversation topics in town. Gu Shenwei usually didn¡¯t talk much, but now he became talkative. Gu Shenwei had to thank Tie Hanfeng for his guidance. He knew how to say pleasant rhetoric.


    Chu Nanping hid outside the city. His swordcraft was good but his conduct was no different from that of an eleven-year-old. Thus, he would be easily identified.


    Chatting was useful as Gu Shenwei managed to integrate with the residents in the city. After two hours, no one regarded him as a stranger and several machetemen went past him without paying any attention to him.


    Two swordsmen came to drink tea at noon. They ran all morning and were getting tired. They hadn¡¯t seen the Dragon King and had only collected a pile of conflicting news.


    ¡°I heard that he was arrested at Pleasure Alley.¡±


    ¡°But others said that he went to North City to kill someone.¡±


    ¡°He may be dead, and the killer is thinking about which reward he should get.¡±


    ¡°What is there to think about? Give Golden Roc Fort his head and wait for the sponsor to collect the swords. Both rewards are greater than that of Stop Kills Society. It¡¯s so simple.¡±


    ¡°Sigh. I hope that I can find the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Can you kill him?¡±


    ¡°That depends. If he is being hunted down and run past me coincidentally, I will trip and stab him. Ta-da. I have enough money for the rest of my life.¡±


    The crowdughed and no one took it seriously. It was simr to having gold to fall from the sky andnd on him. Everyone could imagine that. Even the old man who didn¡¯t know kungfu was also staring at the rewards. He said, ¡°If I knew the whereabouts of the Dragon King, I would inform the sponsor and get half the rewards.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want the Dragon King. I hope that he will throw his swords at my feet when he dies. One cannot be so greedy. I will be satisfied if I can exchange the swords for twenty thousand taels,¡± a cheeky teenager interrupted. He reminded Gu Shenwei of Xu Xiaoyi, who was in Shu-lik City.


    To the residents of Jade City, their impression of the Dragon King was arge windfall.


    What Mister Zhao said at the first meeting was right. Jade City residents hadn¡¯t heard much about the Dragon King. Although the Dragon King had killed countless people and had confronted Golden Roc army hundreds of miles away, it had little influence in Jade City. Few believed that the defector from Golden Roc Fort could match up to his former master.


    Before the Dragon King had entered Jade City, the military counselor Fang Wenshi had once urged him not to kill people there. It was better for him to build a good rapport with all parties and get the support of Stop Kills Society.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly realized that the military counselor¡¯s suggestion was not entirely feasible. He had to build his own influence so that his words would be meaningful.


    That stab at Xiao Fengchai¡¯s house probably aroused the killer¡¯s desire for blood. That was the desire he hated, but he couldn¡¯t get rid of it. It was secretly influencing its master to find a reason to resume killing people.


    That night, Gu Shenwei headed to Southwall Tavern first. He discovered two watchmen. In order to avoid their attention, he went to the backyard and sneaked into Shopkeeper Lyu¡¯s bedroom. Shopkeeper Lyu was his first suspect.


    At dawn, Shopkeeper Lyu had just finished his business and was startled by the unexpected appearance of the Dragon King. He almost called in all the guards that were outside the room. Shopkeeper Lyu blew out the oilmp and proposed some suggestions to the Dragon King in the dark. He suggested that the Dragon King should either flee back to the Western Region, hide in Hope Alley or approach Four Truths Temple for help. He didn¡¯t want the Dragon King to stay in Southwall Tavern.


    Gu Shenwei asked a few simple questions. He didn¡¯t tell Shopkeeper Lyu about Xiao Fengchai¡¯s threat. He then left secretly. Lyu Qiying wasn¡¯t the informer as the informer would think of ways to dissuade the Dragon King from leaving instead of sending him off.


    Gu Shenwei was slightly disappointed. Mister Zhao was rmended by Boss Tuo and was respected by South City machetemen. He hoped that Mister Zhao was credible.


    Gu Shenwei arrived at Mister Zhao¡¯s house at daybreak. It seemed that the house wasn¡¯t under surveince. He would rather wait until the sun had risen before jumping over the wall to enter the house. Everyone was less alert at this time of the day.


    Mister Zhao lived alone. He was old and slept uneasily. He vaguely realized that there was a person standing before his bed. He opened his eyes and recognized the disguised Dragon King from his swords.


    ¡°Dragon King? Why ¡­ Why are you here?¡±


    ¡°Many people areing after me. I have no ce to go.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Mister Zhao sat up, put on his clothes slowly and lowered his head. He was obviously thinking of an idea. He then said, ¡°I know of a ce, but it may not be entirely safe. It is possible to hide there for two to three days. If the Dragon King doesn¡¯t¡­¡±


    Mister Zhao then kept quiet. He was surprised that the Dragon King had drawn his saber out and was pointing it at his bony chest.


    That single sentence was insufficient to conclude that Mister Zhao was the informer. If the other party was Shopkeeper Lyu, then Gu Shenwei would not have hesitated to kill him. He wouldn¡¯t have any regrets even if he killed the wrong person. However, he had to be impable because he was now facing an old macheteman, who was rmended by Boss Tuo.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t believe what that killer said,¡± Gu Shenwei lied.


    Mister Zhao¡¯s bby cheeks flushed as though he became angry after being insulted. He quickly regained hisposure and gave up on unnecessary lies and self-protection. He said, ¡°Tell Boss Tuo that the machetemen now are not the same as before.¡±


    This was ament and also a genuine confession.


    Gu Shenwei urately stabbed Mister Zhao¡¯s heart with his saber. Blood slowly flowed out. He pulled the saber out after the tension at the initial stages of death was lost.


    This was the first person who the Dragon King had intentionally killed. He would kill more people in the next few days. It would not only shock the entire Jade City but would also create panic.

 Chapter 279 - Raising the Flag

    Chapter 279: Raising the g


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The first reaction the citizens of Jade City had upon hearing about Mister Zao Tong¡¯s death was indignation.


    The old macheteman was already semi-retired and rarely involved in matters of jianghu. How could one not grieve over his death after knowing that he was brutally murdered in his twilight years?


    There was no doubt in everybody¡¯s mind that the murderer was the Dragon King.


    On the night of Mister Zhao¡¯s death, a ck g was put up on a wall of his house, and none of his neighbors understood its significance. The next day when a curious soul went over for a closer examination of the g, he found out that the red blotches on it seemed to be made of blood. Sensing that something was amiss, he broke into the house, only to find Mister Zhao¡¯s corpse sprawled on the bed.


    Argeceration stretched from Zhao Tong¡¯s chest to his abdomen, and his bed sheets were covered with blood.


    His death stirred up feelings of chivalry amongst the machetemen, and about half of them now were willing to join in the search for the Dragon King. Previously, only a few of them were willing to do it, and it was for the pay too. The streets and alleys of South City were now filled with reckless youths carrying machetes, and they spent their time eyeballing pedestrians who walked past them intently, hoping to nail the Dragon King.


    The Dragon King¡¯s raising of the ck Blood g was as good as a deration of war with the entire Jade City. What was puzzling was that all was quiet for the next two days, and there were only a few minor incidents of the grieving machetemen causing injuries to some citizens by ident. It was as if the Dragon King had hidden himself deep under the depths of the sea, and there was no trace of him at all.


    Gu Shenwei had aplished his first objective of killing the traitor, and his actions caused everyone else to focus their attention on South City. Taking advantage of this fact, he hid himself in a valley away from the city¡ªhe needed 12 hours tomit himself fully to withstanding the piercing cold caused by his qigong deviation.


    Just like this, with only Chu Nanping¡¯s protection, he survived his first qigong deviation since his return to Jade City with no hups.


    On the third day after the murder of Mister Zhao, news of him leaking the movements of the Dragon King to the Stone Castle began spreading around, and the citizens began debating about it. It was also on this day that another ck Blood g was raised.


    The Kun Society had more than a thousand machetemen, and it was thergest gang affiliated with the Golden Roc Fort in South City. It also had a monopoly over most of the armed escort business. At the time of Mister Zhao¡¯s death, its master, Shangguan Fei, was hiding in North City and a demaster was supervising its operations in South City.


    The demaster was known as Zhang Yan, and he was one of the few widely known killers around the city. He had a nickname, ¡®Murderous Saber¡¯, but everyone called him ¡®Merciless Saber¡¯ when speaking with him.


    Zhang Yan was murdered even more brutally than Mister Zhao. He was decapitated and his head was impaled on the pointed shaft carrying the ck Blood g. It looked as if it was looking down on the entire Kun Society base from high above. It was only after dawn when sentries and a few neighbors who woke up early that day realized that the Kun Society¡¯s g was reced. Investigationster revealed that Zhang Yan was murdered at least four to six hours earlier.


    The offensive g with Zhang Yan¡¯s head stuck onto it was immediately removed, but news of the horrifying scene had already spread amongst the citizens of Jade City. The image was so vivid that it soon became deeply rooted in their minds, and everytime they thought about it, the memory made them feel afraid and strangely excited at the same time.


    It had been a long time since there was any faction in Jade City capable of going against the might of the Stone Castle, and the citizens had a feeling that the struggle between the Golden Roc Fort and the Dragon King would be much more intense than the earlierpetition between the young masters.


    They were soon proven to be correct. The Dragon King struck again, without waiting for the shock from the news of demaster Zhang¡¯s death to die down. This time, his target was in North City.


    The Governor¡¯s mansion was protected by around 200 guards who came from Nond, and they did regr patrols around thepound. There were also an unknown number of assassins from the Golden Roc Fort providing an extrayer of security, and they were never seen in the open.


    On the second day after Zhang Yan¡¯s death, a ck Blood g was spotted flying above the Governor¡¯s mansion. It had reced Nond¡¯s White Horse g, and two heads were impaled on the tip of its shaft. The victims were not the guards from Nond¡ªthey were killers from the Golden Roc Fort.


    Thest time a criminal offense wasmitted in North City was when the Tenth Young Master kidnapped Meng Mingshi. As for thest murder that urred in the city, the citizens could only recall one which happened more than 10 years ago.


    The Dragon King had picked his targets well and chosen the perfect locations to strike, and his actions created a wave of panic on a scale that the citizens of Jade City have never felt before. North City and the Governor¡¯s mansion were among the least likely ces one could find a victim of a murder, and killers of the Golden Roc Fort were the most unlikely person to be assassinated.


    The first person to be driven close to insanity from the intense atmosphere was not the governor, Mo Chu, but the Ninth Young Master of the Stone Castle, Shangguan Fei. In his hysteria, he imed that he himself was going to be the Dragon King¡¯s next target, and returned to the fort on the very same morning when thetest murder was discovered, against the advice of his subordinates. He would refuse to step out of the Stone Castle ever again.


    Mo Chu felt that his authority had been repeatedly challenged by the Dragon King not even half a month into his term as the governor, and he swore that he would get his revenge. He publicly announced that he was going to summon 10,000 elite troops from Nond, to first destroy the Great Snowmountain¡¯s base camp and then to uncover the location of the Snowmountain Gang¡¯s chieftain. He nned to let his troops loose in Jade City and was even prepared to sacrifice the lives of innocent civilians to find the Dragon King.


    However, his staff quickly brought him to his senses. They warned him that his n could not be executed, as the Central in would send more troops to Western Region if Nond moved first, which would cause undesirable oues. They strongly advised the governor relying on the help of the Golden Roc Fort to capture the Dragon King in Jade City.


    To everyone¡¯s surprise, the Dragon King struck again not even two days after Mo Chu was dissuaded from taking actions against the Great Snowmountain by his staff. At that time, Shangguan Fei was just beginning to feel a modicum of safety staying inside the Inner Residence, another ck Blood g was raised on the watchtower at the peak of the Stone Castle.


    This act made the Golden Roc Fort lose a lot of face.


    The Dragon King had not actually caused any substantial damage to the Golden Roc Fort by raising ck Blood gs throughout the city, and the demaster and killers who were murdered by him were expendable. Image wise, however, the Fort had taken a huge beating. It was like a clumsy giant picking a fight with a buzzing fly, swinging wildly but never able to hit its target. Not only could they not find the Dragon King, it was starting to look like they might even lose this game against the Dragon King.


    Rumors began spreading throughout the city that the Dragon King was no longer alone, and that he had a team of more than a hundred killers with him, ready to challenge the assassins of the Supreme King. They said that the battle between both sides would take ce in Jade City, and that once the real fight begins, at least half of the poption in the city would be wiped out.


    As the rumors grew more terrible in nature, they spread even wider. Some citizens who were timider even moved their entire family to viges at the outskirts of the city, and many merchants began packing for emergency evacuation.


    Thus, Gu Shenwei achieved his second objective¡ªto strike terror within Jade City so that he had a pretext for peace talks.


    This achievement came at a huge price though. Although it seemed to outsiders as if the Dragon King was able to enter and leave Jade City as he wished, and that he could do anything he wanted, he himself knew that with every strike, his space to roam shrank by a huge margin. Killers from the Golden Roc Fort were beginning to corner him into a dead end.


    His act of raising a ck Blood g in the Stone Castle was especially dangerous, even though it got the best results. Gu Shenwei did not intend to try it again.


    To enter the Stone Castle, which was situated at the peak, he hid in the undercarriage of a water delivery cart, and just as it was nearing the stone bridge at the entrance of the fort, he quickly released himself from the cart and hid in the nearby bushes. He remained there untilte night, when he climbed the wall of the cliff until he reached the bottom of the bridge. When the guard was cking off, he shifted to the side of the bridge, and began climbing slowly and spider-like to the opposite end, using potholes as his handholds.


    He was above a deep ravine, and if he slipped he would be falling to his death. Even Gu Shenwei himself felt that it was remarkable for his climb to be entirely ident-free.


    The penultimate act of killing and nting the g was the easiest part of his mission, as the Stone Castle was huge, and not all sentries were kung fu masters. The two guards at the watchtower were not even killers, and they were not even rmed when Gu Shenwei was climbing up the wall of the watchtower and identally stepped on a loose piece of rock.


    After he reced the Golden Roc g, Gu Shenwei stood gazing towards the interior of the Stone Castle, his hand tightly gripping the shaft of the g pole. He felt a strong impulse to rush inside and kill the inhabitants of this hated ce.


    However, he knew that security would be tighter the further he went into the castle. He controlled his impulse and left the same way he came from.


    On his way back, he nearly met with disaster. When climbing back across the stone bridge, his fingers slipped and he nearly fell. Luckily, he managed to grip onto a small pothole with one hand. He clung on and remained suspended from his fall in this manner for a while, not daring to move.


    While he managed to aplish his mission and people began to think that he could do anything he wanted, after his close shave, Gu Shenwei decided that he would never sneak into the Stone Castle in this manner ever again.


    He struck in the dead of the night, picking his targets and nting more gs around the city. During the day, he would ¡®hide¡¯ by openly mingling in the busiest teahouse in South City.


    The guests in the teahouse soon became familiar with him, and they thought that he was living nearby. No one bothered to consider the fact that he was a stranger who only began appearing a few days ago.


    He was pleased with the reactions of the citizens in Jade City. Even though most of them were fearful of the impending battle between the Dragon King and the Golden Roc Fort, quite a number of them felt that it would just be a spectacle of a bigger scale then they had ever seen before, and that it would not affect them personally. ¡°Let them kill each other, what does it have to do with us? I don¡¯t know any kung fu, and don¡¯t wish to im the bounty on the Dragon King anyway,¡± was the prevailing train of thought.


    The bounties were doubled, but the amount of people who were willing to try to im them grew lesser substantially.


    Next, Gu Shenwei changed his strategy of only targeting killers from the Golden Roc Fort. That night, he struck again, this time at a few inns situated at the outskirts of East City. The next morning, when four merchant caravans got ready to move off from the inns they were staying at, they noticed that a ck Blood g was struck on each of their cargo carriage. The blood on each g came from the head of security of each caravan, and they were machetemen from the Kun Society who were paid to act as armed escorts.


    Gu Shenwei was so efficient that the team mates of the victims, who were all sleeping near each other, did not even wake up when they were murdered and decapitated. They only noticed that their leaders were murdered upon waking up, and it led them to shout hysterically in panic, totally unconscious of losing their image as battle-hardened machetemen.


    None of the four caravans dared to move off that day.


    Trading was an important source of ie for Jade City. A substantial portion of earnings of the Golden Roc Fort and the Meng family came from it, and the lives of the ordinary citizens were also closely interlinked with trade. The Dragon King was causing major disruption to the daily flow of everyone¡¯s lives by his actions.


    What made matters worse was that some machetemen began following the Dragon King¡¯s example¡ªthey started to kill and nt ck Blood gs after the deed. Some of them were caught but found to have no connection whatsoever with the Dragon King and the Great Snowmountain, while others managed to avoid detection just as Gu Shenwei did.


    The struggle was an exercise in subtlety.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s motive was to stir up panic in Jade City, which would lead to dialogue amongst each party involved in the situation, as well as allowing them to anticipate what was toe. However, he had to maintain close observation of public opinion on the ground. He knew he had to hold back his killings at some point in time, before he managed to offend everyone.


    On the 18th day after he raised the first g, when he thought everything was going smoothly, his luck ran out.


    At this juncture, even he had to admit that it was no longer kung fu or smarts that allowed him to single-handedly cause so much disruption and panic in Jade City. Luck yed an important part in his sess.


    That very afternoon, he was chatting idly as usual with ¡®familiar faces¡¯ in the teahouse, unaware that danger was nearby.


    The hot topic of that afternoon was when would the Dragon King stop killing or be killed himself.


    ¡°It¡¯ll never end,¡± said a middle-aged man. He sounded as if he was a soothsayer bemoaning the fate of mankind and the entire universe. ¡°It¡¯s Jade City¡¯s doom, and no one can escape from it,¡± he continued.


    His statement set the tone for the afternoon¡¯s discussion, and the others started sounding more and more pessimistic.


    ¡°Jade City has been around for a few centuries, hasn¡¯t it? Is it going to fall because of the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°If this continues, no one will be able to conduct business, so how can the city survive? What do we have of our own? Even our grains and food are imported from far away.¡±


    ¡°Why not we let the Dragon King and the Supreme King duel amongst themselves. Whoever survives wins, and we¡¯ll get the peace we want,¡± suggested someone boldly. No one took the speaker seriously.


    The guests soon began talking about other matters to avoid dampening their moods by continuing with the heavy topic about the city¡¯s impending doom. Out of nowhere, an old man, who Gu Shenwei had noticed the first day he had started to mingle in the teahouse, spoke up. ¡°Business in other parts of the city has been affected, but this teahouse has profited from it. Everyonees here when they have nothing to do, and there are new guests here everyday.¡±


    The manager was all smiles as he nodded, agreeing that business was indeed brisk these few days.


    ¡°New guests.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s expression became serious, as his right hand reached into his long robe for his Five Peaks Saber.


    Killers of the Golden Roc Fort had sessfully trapped the Dragon King.

 Chapter 280 - Bow and Arrow

    Chapter 280: Bow and Arrow


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s tracks had been discovered five days ago, and the killers from the Golden Roc Fort took their time to prepare a perfect trap for him.


    A few of them snuck into the teahouse everyday, acting like friendly neighbors by greeting the other guests warmly and joining in every conversation. In this way, 17 of them were already lying in wait for the Dragon King when it came to them for them to act.


    Of course, real citizens could recognize which of the guests were not from the neighborhood, but they did not pay any special attention to strangers, as there would definitely be guests from out of town in a teahouse. Gu Shenwei was a fake ¡®neighbor¡¯, and thus could not tell the difference between strangers and citizens.


    The old man¡¯s idle conversation with the manager alerted the Dragon King, so the killers had no choice but to execute their n prematurely. What happened next stunned the old man to such a great extent that he remained speechless afterward for a few days.


    The rest of the guests and the manager were so frightened that they hid under the tables. They could only hear the never ending soundsing from the sh of weapons, but miraculously, after the incident, they all imed that they saw what happened.


    ¡°There were blood and pieces of flesh flying across the teahouse, and human heads were raining down upon the floor. There was one head that fell before me, and I¡¯m not bluffing, I swear it even grinned at me.¡±


    ¡°None of the 20 killers were left alive.¡±


    ¡°All 50 killers perished in the fight.¡±


    ¡°A hundred killers¡­¡±


    The rumors became more and more exaggerated, but only a few people truly knew what happened that afternoon.


    Gu Shenwei cut down seven of his opponents with 24 strokes of his saber, however he caught three blows and nearly lost his life in the teahouse.


    He had just drawn the Five Peaks Saber, when a saber came shing at him from underneath the table. He lifted the table using a palm and struck down the ¡®guest¡¯ on his left with the saber. At the same time, he was cut at his left waist.


    The wound was not deep, and it did not cause him much pain. He continued hacking at his opponents.


    The interior of the teahouse was not very spacious, and there were obstacles all around it. Gu Shenwei could not circle his enemies and pick them off one by one. He could only take them on directly and he had to be wary of sneak attacks on his exposed back as well.


    Chu Nanping did not enter the city with the Dragon King, as he was not suited for stealth missions, even though he was highly skilled in kung fu. He would have been exposed too easily.


    The fight in the teahouse was a chaotic melee that did not suit either side, and it was especially disadvantageous for Gu Shenwei. Just as he killed his sixth opponent, another one made a long sh on his back. Blood poured out from his wound and half of his torso was soon covered in it.


    That said, he still managed to bash out an escape path. He had no intention of being stuck in a prolonged fight.


    He leapt out of the teahouse after striking down another opponent with two more strokes of his saber, closely followed by the remaining killers, who kept him within five steps.


    The fight ended as abruptly as it had started. Pedestrians outside of the teahouse were still bustling about, minding their own business. The bloodied Dragon King knocked into one of them as he rushed into the crowd, and nearly fell after losing his bnce. This momentary pause led to the killers catching up with him, and three sabers came shing at him.


    Two of them missed their mark, but thest one drew a shallow wound on Gu Shenwei¡¯s right arm.


    It was at this moment when three masked archers, who were lying in wait on the room opposite the teahouse, released an arrow each, taking down the three killers. They saved the Dragon King¡¯s life.


    The pedestrians were beginning to realize what was going on. ¡°The Dragon King ising!¡± someone shouted as everyone panicked, the entire street descending into a state of chaos.


    Gu Shenwei did not even have time to see who had saved him, since there were still seven killers hot on his heels, and he had to run even faster if he wished to escape from them. He took advantage of the chaos and snuck into an empty alley by following the crowd. He leaned against a wall and caught his breath, thinking hard about how to escape from South City. He was sure that the 17 killers had back up, and any misstep would lead into another trap again.


    As he was deep in thought, two masked archers leapt down from the roof, short bow in hand.


    He brandished his saber in front of him, and it made him feel the wound on his shoulder. He did not feel anything earlier because of the adrenaline rush from the fight, but could sense a bone piercing pain now.


    ¡°Follow me,¡± a masked archer said. The voice was evidently that of a woman.


    The two archers were holding on to unloaded bows and did not seem to pose any threat to him. Gu Shenwei nodded and lowered his saber, still holding onto it just in case.


    The three of them ran deep into the alley, made a few turns and came to a small yard. They leapt over its walls, and there were three ck capes ready for them to wear in a room. As the two archers removed their masks, Gu Shenwei could see that they were women who were about 17 to 18 years of age.


    He could not recognize any of them.


    It was not the time for introductions, however. They quickly donned their capes, and one of the women started feeling around the floor boards. She opened a trap door, revealing a hidden underground passage. She leapt in, followed by Gu Shenwei and the other archer.


    The passage was not long, but when they emerged from it, they were already in another room a few streets away. There was a carriage waiting for them outside the room, and the two women leapt into it, followed by Gu Shenwei. The horsekeeper gave a shout to get the horses moving, and directed them forward.


    As the wheels of the carriage began moving, Gu Shenwei could finally have a moment of respite to tend to his wounds. He removed his cape, tore away part of his sleeve to bandage up his wounds. The two women just sat looking at him and did not offer to help.


    After he was done, he began wondering about the events of thest half an hour.


    <em>¡°The killers from the Golden Roc Fort had me surrounded, and nearly seeded in killing me. However, their n was foiled by some masked archers.¡±</em>


    The archers¡¯ shortbows made him think of somebody he knew¡ªLiuhua the Silencer, the marksman from the Dragon Year apprentices.


    He then thought about someone else he was familiar with as well.


    Gripping his Five Peaks Saber, he turned to his ¡®saviors¡¯ and asked coldly, ¡°Who¡¯s your master?¡±


    Both women shook their heads simultaneously, and one of them replied, ¡°It¡¯s not time to reveal our master yet. Follow us, Dragon King, and our master will talk to you personally.¡±


    The next moment, the carriage hit a hump, and Gu Shenwei seized this chance to leap out of the carriage through its back door, merging quickly into the crowd. The two women did not have any chance to stop him, and the horsekeeper was oblivious to what was going on behind him.


    It did not matter who his ¡®savior¡¯ was, Gu Shenwei did not want to meet him or her without knowing anything about who he or she was. He knew that this person would have no difficulty finding him, should he or she wish to meet him again. After all, he or she knew about the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s trap before he even realized it.


    Just the thought that his savior could be <em>that woman </em>that he was so familiar with gave him the chills.


    Gu Shenwei prided himself on having good sources of information, but he did not expect that Maid Lotus and the New Moon Hall would disappear off the grid for the past three years. Even though Shangguan Nu was still seemed to be at the border of the desert, busy with wiping out the New Moon Hall, he had not been achieving any real progress for a protracted period of time.


    Both he and Maid Lotus knew each other¡¯s deepest secrets¡ªthat his real name was Gu Shenwei and she stole the Wayless Book for the New Moon Hall. Even though they had never made a pact to keep their secrets to themselves, neither of them leaked the other¡¯s secret to a third party.


    He could see traces of Maid Lotus¡¯ method of handling things from the sudden emergence of the archers. Maid Lotus had allowed Liuhua to shadow her previously, and there was no doubt that she would know how to utilize archers as well.


    He felt his Dragon Head Sowrd hanging at his waist. Out of nine exceptional weapons crafted by the cksmith Daga, only this sword had not yet tasted the blood of its enemies.


    He was preupied with thoughts about the impending final battle between the two of them, both simrly trained in the Wayless Book and the Death Scripture, and did not notice where he was heading to.


    Even though she could have been the one who had saved his life this time, it was not enough to settle their differences.


    Unknowingly, he had walked into Pleasure Alley. It was not far from the teahouse, and news of the fight between the Dragon King and the killers had already spread like wildfire. Scores of stern-looking machetemen were patrolling the streets, inspecting each brothel one by one. Passers-by were also frequently stopped and interrogated crudely.


    Business in Pleasure Alley was affected negatively as a result of the actions of the machetemen. The prostitutes, their maids and elderly women servants either stood at the streets or peeked out from their windows mocking the ineptitude of the killers and the machetemen. There were even a few famous prostitutes amongst them, and the men prowling the streets¡ªeven some of the machetemen who had a task to aplish¡ªcould not help but keep turning their attention to the eye candy.


    Gu Shenwei walked into a corner between two walls and wiped off the make up from his face vigorously with his cape when he saw that no one was looking. He was unafraid of being recognized after removing his disguise, since he was sure that no one in Pleasure Alley would remember a killer named Yang Huan who used to own a brothel in the alley.


    He removed his hood and became just like any other man, walking on the streets while looking at thedies asionally. The women began mocking the machetemen more enthusiastically, as their audience grewrger.


    ¡°Oh, isn¡¯t that old man Li? Just two nights ago, you swore that you would kill the Dragon King by yourself, and split the bounty with me. What happened today then? Did the Dragon King slip from you? You look like your wife has died, you bastard. You should be happy if your wife¡¯s dead¡­¡±


    The man being recognized as ¡°Old Man Li¡± had more than 10 machetemen with him, and did not lift his head to acknowledge the woman calling him out. He was prepared to start a fight with whoever wasughing the hardest at him, and did not notice a pale and sickly looking youth passing him by. The youth looked nothing like the Dragon King who had escaped from the teahouse earlier that afternoon.


    Gu Shenwei walked slowly to the center of the street, and lifted his head to see a very pretty prostitute giving off all kinds of signals to the men looking at her from below. She was using the opportunity to promote herself.


    She had to do so, as she was facing heavypetition. Xiao Fengchai¡¯s brothel was just next to hers.


    Xiao Fengchai would never show her face under such circumstances, even if most of the men were queuing up outside her house.


    Gu Shenwei knocked on the door of the pretty prostitute¡¯s house, and a few men who were in the vicinity gave him knowing smiles.


    A maid opened the door and invited him in enthusiastically. She brought him tea and began talking to him in a perfunctory manner, trying to get a measure of his wealth. Understanding what she was trying to do, Gu Shenwei fished out a small gold nugget, and the maid immediately promised to invite her mistress out.


    This was previously Xu Yanwei¡¯s house, and even if there had been some slight changes he could still remember itsyout very clearly. Just as the maid stepped into the bedroom on the second floor, he ced his teacup down, took a few steps to the bottom of the staircase, and leapt up without making a sound. He clutched at the floorboards of the second storey with his left hand, and remained hanging there in this position.


    ¡°The esteemed guest is here¡­¡± The prostitute¡¯s tone turned from sweet to cold before she even finished her sentence. ¡°Where¡¯s he? The guest? Where¡¯s the guest with the gold?¡±


    ¡°Eeh, he was here just a moment ago.¡±


    The twodies hurriedly came down the stairs in search of the mischievous customer, and Gu Shenwei leapt up from the other side of the stairs. He went quickly into the bedroom once hended on the second storey.


    The window facing the street was only partially shut. He walked up to the rear window, utched it and pushed it open gently. He then closed it back again after leaping out of the window. He knew that thedies would not notice anything strange for the time being.


    He was now standing close to Xiao Fengchai¡¯s house. In the past, he had to swing across using a rope, but with his skills now, he could cross over with just a leap.


    The first window of her house, which led into her bedroom, was tightly shut, and Gu Shenwei did not want to be directly entering her bedroom, therefore he leapt to the second window. He listened carefully for any signs of movement before drawing his dagger and using it to pry open thetch on the window. He then opened a gap just wide enough for himself and entered the house.


    There was no one in the guest hall on the second storey, as most of the maids were downstairs waiting for their orders.


    Gu Shenwei could hear that there was someone else other than Xiao Fengcha in her bedroom. He crept to the door of the room and heard a man saying, ¡°This is a huge deal for us. We have to find the Dragon King before the Stone Castle gets to him.¡±

 Chapter 281 - A Transaction

    Chapter 281: A Transaction


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    It wasmon for there to be men in Xiao Fengchai¡¯s room. However, it was unusual for this man to care about the whereabouts of the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei quietly eavesdropped.


    ¡°Rest assured that as long as Dragon King is still in South city, my people will definitely find him. Maybe he wille to find us himself,¡± Xiao Fengchai said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be careless. I heard that the Dragon King is already surrounded. That gave me a shock. If he dies, our ns will fall apart,¡± the man said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the Dragon King will die so easily. I have never seen a more paranoid and cautious person.¡±


    ¡°Yes, this is for the best. I have to go.¡±


    ¡°There are many people outside. Are you not afraid of being recognized?¡±


    ¡°The presence of many people is the best cover.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was hiding behind a table, with only a small oilmp in the living room. He wore a ck cape and stood against the wall,pletely blending in with the shadows.


    Another man wearing a cape emerged. Xiao Fengchai sent him to the stairs and watched him go downstairs, and then returned to the room. She did not notice that there was one more person in the living room.


    After a while, the maid came up and said that two or three machetemen had arrived downstairs, but were sent away. Xiao Fengchai hummed and did not speak.


    After the maid left, there was only Gu Shenwei left in the living room.


    ¡°Is the Dragon King nning toe in, or do you want me to go out?¡± Xiao Fengchai said softly. Her voice was clear in the quiet room.


    Gu Shenwei walked into the bedroom. This time there was no macheteman hiding behind the door.


    ¡°I hope the Dragon King did not have to wait for long.¡±


    ¡°Fortunately.¡±


    Seeing the Dragon King¡¯s wary face, Xiao Fengchai smiled slightly. ¡°The Dragon King doesn¡¯t have to worry too much. The girl next door is one of my people. She told the maid that a strange guest had just arrived, and I guessed it was you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had not heard the maid say this. The master and servant must have another way ofmunication. ¡°I came to make a deal.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t seem to see Lu Qiying¡¯s head,¡± Xiao Fengchai said tly. She had given him a proposal: The Dragon King was to kill Shopkeeper Lyu of Southwall Tavern. In return, she would provide him with a secure hideout.


    ¡°A different deal.¡± Gu Shenwei refused Xiao Fengchai¡¯s initial proposal and would not change his mind just because he had nowhere else to go.


    Xiao Fengchai put an arm on the table. Her body was stiff and she looked dignified, like thedy of a big family. She already knew how to deal with the Dragon King: There was no need for anythingplicated, it was best to get straight to the point. This was a man with great ambition who was not easily tempted by women.


    ¡°Did the Dragon King hear my discussion with my second brother?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. He had only heard a few words, but decided not to admit it.


    ¡°Well, is the Dragon King interested in this deal?¡±


    ¡°I want to listen to the details.¡±


    A shallow smile passed across Xiao Fengchai¡¯s face. ¡°Are you coaxing me to talk? Why don¡¯t you speak first?¡±


    ¡°Shopkeeper Lyu should not die, nor does he need to die.¡± The reason why Gu Shenwei came to Xiao Fengchai was not to eavesdrop on her conversations, but for a deal that had been on his mind. ¡°The Great Snowmountain¡¯s wealth is deep enough to amodate two more people.¡±


    ¡°Does the Dragon King want to partner with me?¡±


    ¡°No, not partner with you; just make a deal. You want to make money, and I wish to avoid the Meng family. We all want money to flow smoothly, nothing more.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai lowered her head and thought for a while. ¡°This deal with Dragon King is very risky.¡±


    ¡°The profits are worth the risk, it¡¯s 20%.¡±


    ¡°That is worth the risk then.¡± Xiao Fengchai smiled. ¡°But I have a big appetite, and I don¡¯t do business for less than one million taels.¡±


    ¡°As long as you are willing, then you can have as much as you want,¡± Gu Shenwei lied calmly. He estimated that the amount of money in Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s hands did not amount to more than one million taels. In order to arm the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, he had already spent a lot of money; it was not enough to share between Shopkeeper Lyu and Xiao Fengchai.


    ¡°That is great. For the sake of money, I am willing to offend the Golden Roc Fort. You can stay with me, I will guarantee your safety.¡±


    As soon as she finished her sentence, a maid came in and hurriedly said, ¡°Madam, a group of swordsmen havee again and are demanding toe upstairs.¡±


    ¡°I see, let theme up after a while.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai got up and opened a tapestry on the wall to reveal a small door that came up to half his body. ¡°I hope the Dragon King doesn¡¯t mind being too cramped.¡±


    The small door opened to a narrow staircase that perfectly fit inside the wall. After going straight down, Gu Shenwei arrived at a small room with a bed, a table, and a lit oilmp. Judging by the height of the stairs, he guessed that he was currently underground.


    After a quarter of an hour, the small door above opened again. Xiao Fengchai walked down carrying bandages, ointment medication, and other things. ¡°The machetemen have already left, they were just here for some silvers. Not many people really want to capture the Dragon King. They are all taking the opportunity to make some money. They won¡¯t cause any trouble if they are paid.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s the expert you raised?¡±


    ¡°Experts are used for moreplicated matters, something as small as that can easily be resolved by some money. Take off your clothes.¡±


    Thest statement was more like an order, and Gu Shenwei hesitated before untying his cape and taking off his shirt. His wounds were only wrapped in cloth, which had started to bleed again.


    If most people, including men, saw the Dragon King¡¯s crisscrossed scars, they would gasp in horror. However, Xiao Fengchai did not even flinch, or perhaps she just concealed it well. Her hands were also very stable as she wiped the blood, poured on the medical powder, and carefully wrapped up the three wounds.


    ¡°To tell the truth, I am a bit surprised. The Dragon King actually trusted me so quickly.¡± Xiao Fengchai put down the items in her hands and sat down across from Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°I don¡¯t trust anyone; I just think this deal is worthwhile.¡±


    ¡°Well, the Dragon King¡¯s deal is very attractive to me, but since Dragon King heard my conversation with my second brother, you should know that we also have a deal.¡±


    ¡°What does the Second Young Master Meng want the Great Snowmountain to do for him?¡± Gu Shenwei had already thought of who the man was¡ªMeng Mingshu, the second young master of the Meng family of North City. He vaguely remembered seeing this person from afar a few years ago. Xiao Fengchai¡¯s calling him ¡°second brother¡± enabled him to finally grasp that vague glimmer of memory.


    ¡°The Meng family has business all over the Western Region, but these businesses will fall into Meng Mingkuan¡¯s hands sooner orter.¡±


    Meng Mingkuan was the eldest young master and the heir of the Meng family. Everyone in the Western Region knew this name.


    ¡°The second Young Master Meng must not be too happy.¡±


    ¡°Who said that he wasn¡¯t? They are brothers of the same womb. The first-born gets everything and the younger one gets nothing at all.¡±


    ¡°Does the Second Young Master want to be the boss?¡±


    ¡°He is not that cruel.¡± There was an edge in Xiao Fengchai¡¯s voice. ¡°He only wants what he deserves. The Shu-lik country is one of Meng family¡¯s most important business partners. There are five banks there. I hope¡­ we hope that the Dragon King will shut down these banks¡¯ business until my second brotheres to their rescue.¡±


    The Meng family controlled more than half of the Western Region¡¯s transactions. Offending the Meng family meant that, in the future, one could only secretly transfer the golds and silvers for a high price. Other than the Dragon King, you could not find any other person who would dare to do this kind of thing.


    ¡°How do I benefit from this?¡±


    ¡°The same as before, 20%. Even 20% of the Meng family¡¯s total wealth in the Shu-lik country is a big fortune. I¡¯ll even give a concession of 10% for doing business with me.¡± Xiao Fengchai¡¯s face revealed a strange smile, which made the cold numbers seem heart-warming.


    ¡°I will think about it.¡± Gu Shenwei only wanted to find a temporary hiding ce. He did not intend to participate in the conspiracy and the feud within the Meng family so soon.


    ¡°I am not in a hurry. Please have some rest. I will take care of the things outside,¡± said Xiao Fengchai. As she walked up to the stairs, she suddenly stopped, saying, ¡°I¡¯m sleeping right upstairs. Let me know if there¡¯s anything you need.¡±


    This might have been a hint, but Xiao Fengchai¡¯s face seemed too serious. Gu Shenwei only nodded without saying anything.


    Early in the next morning, Gu Shenwei went upstairs and jumped out through the window. Xiao Fengchai was still sound sleep. She muttered something at the noise.


    After nearly 20 days of struggling in Jade City, Gu Shenwei felt that it was time to negotiate. He certainly could not just appear and speak the words. It was best to leave this task to a party with great influence in the entire Western Region.


    Gu Shenwei wandered around all day with his real face, listened to the residents chatting, and ate some food. Not until nighttime did he cross the border walls and enter North City.


    There was an ordinary-sized temple in North City, with only one main hall and four or five rooms. Aside from the abbot, only two monks resided there.


    Gu Shenwei was looking for them.


    The Four Truths Temple held a special status in Jade City and throughout the Western Regions. Agreements signed there were sacred and could not be vited. Since Master Lianhua was a Holy Monk, it would be the best if he could bring up the negotiation.


    Gu Shenwei walked around the temple and found no signs of ambush, so he climbed over the wall and entered.


    Monks mingled with jianghu chatans. It baffled Gu Shenwei. He thought for a long time and felt that there must be some hidden reason that he had to get to the bottom of.


    He quietly walked around in the yard. The abbot slept soundly, snoring sonorously; while no sounds came from the opposite room. He hade here a few days ago, and had gotten to know Lianhua and Lianye who lived here. But at that time, he had not shown himself.


    Gu Shenwei knocked on the door but he suddenly felt that something was wrong. He stepped back two steps and took hold of the Five Peaks Saber. The room was too quiet, even a Holy Monk should have made some noise.


    The door shattered into pieces without warning, and a suffocating gust of wind rushed out.


    Gu Shenwei did not retreat; he swung his saber as fast as lightning. A silver ball emerged in his hands, hitting all of the wooden pieces flying at him. In that instant, a monk charged through the broken doors and attacked.


    The killer retreated to the opposite side of the courtyard. The monk stood in the same ce, swinging left and right like a drunkard. Both men moved in the air. The monk¡¯srge robes fluttered and spread widely; he looked like a giant gray bat under the moonlight.


    ¡°What happened?¡± a strange voice asked from behind Gu Shenwei.


    The sleeping abbot had been woken up by sounds of the broken door and came out to see what was going on.


    Gu Shenwei turned around with a palm and struck the abbot¡¯s neck. The fat monk copsed softly.


    The monk heard these sounds and growled. Like a fierce tiger, he pounced across the yard and single-handly smashed the pirs into half.


    Gu Shenwei hid again at a distance. This strange monk was clearly Monk Lianye. He had no scars on his body, but his expression was both sorrowful and panicky. He did not use his eyes to see, but rather, he turned his head sideways to listen; he was obviously blind.


    The monk relied on listening to the wind to find the enemy, but Gu Shenwei slowed his breathing and remainedpletely motionless.


    ¡°Dragon King, I know it is you.¡± The tone of Lianye¡¯s voice seemed to contain deep hatred. ¡°Was it not enough to kill my senior brothers, but you have toe and destroy the body as well?¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned to look around. There was a g on the South wall. Although he could not see the shape and color, he knew that it was definitely the ck Blood g of the Dragon King of the Great Snowmountain.

 Chapter 282 - Frame-up

    Chapter 282: Frame-up


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei kicked a piece of wood with the tip of his foot toward the pirs that were a few steps away.


    Lianye rushed toward the sound. Gu Shenwei waited for him to pass and immediately stabbed him with his de. He then raised his left hand and mercilessly chopped down on the thick neck of the monk.


    He only learned the basics of acupoint kung fu, so he did not dare to use it on those Internal Strength experts, such as Lianye. All he could do was to stab him first and knock him out.


    In the house, Lianhua¡¯s body was lying on the bed. Half of his face was stained with blood, which made this monk appear less gracious and more ferocious.


    A small incense burner was lying in a pool of dark blood at the door. This was the crime scene as well as the murder weapon.


    Master Lianhua just died a few moments ago, and the ck Blood g mounted on the wall of the courtyard unmistakably indicated that the murderer wanted to frame the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei found two ropes in the utility room next to the main hall. He tied up the two fainted monks respectively. He then brought the abbot to the bedroom and took Lianye to Lianxin¡¯s bedside.


    Lianye faintly woke up and deathly stared at the Dragon King, muttering, ¡°Why? Why have you killed my senior brother?¡±


    ¡°Will your eyes get better?¡± Gu Shenwei aimed the saber at the monk to prevent him from suddenly breaking the rope.


    ¡°My eyes?¡± Lianye seemed to have forgotten that he had been blind for some time. He then thought for while and said, ¡°My eyes are fine, why did youe back? Do you want to kill me? Do it then.¡±


    ¡°There is a ck Blood g on the wall. Do I still need to kill?¡±


    ¡°You, you¡­¡± Lianye¡¯s mind was a little confused. ¡°Then why did youe back?¡±


    ¡°I just arrived. Master Lianhua was not killed by me.¡±


    ¡°It was you!¡± Lianye roared. He struggled and the rope tied around him made crisp sounds of tearing, but it also touched the wound on his waist which made him scream in pain.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to kill you, but you better stop moving.¡± Gu Shenwei pointed the saber closely at the chest of the monk, ¡°Now tell me, what exactly was going on.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? You came to see our senior apprentice. He was so happy he invited you into the house for a chat and told me to guard outside. But ¡­ but ¡­ you started an argument and then you pounded senior brother to death¡­¡± Lianye sorrowfully said. He then fearlessly sat up, ignoring the de which was pressing against his body.


    Gu Shenwei slightly withdrew his saber. ¡°Did you see me at that time?¡±


    ¡°I did.¡±


    ¡°But you were blind back then!¡±


    ¡°It was you killing the senior apprentice that blinded me! When you first came, I was perfectly fine. I saw you pretty clearly that time, and it was exactly who you are now. Dragon King, Yang Huan, I will never let you off, and neither will the Four Truths Temple. There are so many masters in the world. Don¡¯t think that just because you had once stayed in the Golden Roc Fort that it makes you powerful.¡±


    The more the monk said, the more excited he was. Thus Gu Shenwei hit his mouth with the side of the de. ¡°You heard me talking at that time?¡±


    The monk was stupefied, ¡°What tricks are you ying at? How would I dare to listen to your talk with the senior apprentice?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you see ¡®me¡¯? Did ¡®I¡¯ talk to you?¡±


    Lianye became more and more confused, and his voice gradually weakened. ¡°No, you nodded at me. I recognized you, so I called senior apprentice toe out.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took a step back. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about something else. What¡¯s with Linghua giving those lectures? Are you willing to help a liar?¡±


    ¡°Senior apprentice is not a liar!¡± Lianye roared angrily again. With a kaboom, he broke free from the tightropes. Barely moving his body, he had already rushed in front of the killer.


    But the killer moved faster than him. Before the monk even said a word, Gu Shenwei had already shot out of the room and jumped over the wall.


    This was an borate frame-up.


    Gu Shenwei was deeply disturbed. He was not afraid of being framed, but the culprit was obviously familiar with his appearance and was knowledgeable about all of his whereabouts. This man even knew what he was thinking, thus he was able to stay a step ahead of him to kill Lianxin.


    This must have been done by a former acquaintance.


    Gu Shenwei had several candidates in mind, but everyone had no motive to kill Lianye: The enemies of Maid Lotus were Golden Roc Fort and the Dragon King, who have nothing to do with the monk; The enemy of the Golden Roc Fort was the Great Snowmountain. If those killers were able to guess the whereabouts of the Dragon King, then they would definitely make a direct attack. There was no need to y suchplicated games.


    Gu Shenwei felt uneasy when he thought that there might be a spy who knew him well and couldpletely conceal their presence.


    He made several circles on the lonely and unupied streets of the North City, like a ghost who only appeared on a moonlit night and was searching for his long-lost body.


    On several asions, he suddenly turned back on the same route but he still didn¡¯t find anything. If there was a spy, then the spy seemed to be invisible.


    Dawn had not yete, but the news of Saint Lianhua¡¯s death had spread throughout Jade City. The Dragon King immediately became the target of public criticism. The sorrow and anger had overwhelmed the fear. Although Great Snowmountain still wanted to negotiate for peace, the machetemen and the vast majority of residents of the city would not support it.


    The favorable atmosphere created by Gu Shenwei¡¯s painstaking efforts had turned into the most unfavorable testimony overnight. Even if there were no survivor or ck Blood g at the scene, after these days of killing, everyone assumed that the murderer must be the Dragon King. Except for him, who else would dare to kill anyone in the North City? Not to mention that the victim was a saint monk.


    Gu Shenwei was looking for the real murderer that killed Lianhua. If Lianye was unwilling to cooperate, then he had to proceed from another way.


    He didn¡¯t like being spied on or being impersonated. Darkness was his friend and he didn¡¯t want to share it with the others.


    Boss Mo, who cooperated with the monk to swindle the wealth of machetemen, should know something.


    Fortune Tavern was a small shop where there were only three tables. Most of the guests could only stand while they drank and picked some salty peanuts as wine dishes. Boss Mo once mentioned that this was his stronghold.


    Gu Shenwei changed his appearance again. He invited a macheteman for a drink. After drinking two bowls of wine, he managed to acquire information about Boss Mo¡¯s residence from him.


    Boss Mo¡¯s home was very old and shabby, which didn¡¯t match the money he earned from those lectures. Gu Shenwei knocked on the door but had no response. The neighbor said that Boss Mo went out early. ¡°Everyone, as long as they have sabers, had gone to catch the Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei returned to Fortune Tavern, where a group of machetemen was enthusiastically discussing the reasons why the Dragon King killed the Saint.


    ¡°The Dragon King became infuriated, then he killed everyone in his sight.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King doesn¡¯t like machetemen. He must be challenging all the machetemen in Jade City. Um, and the Four Truths Temple as well. The Dragon King certainly doesn¡¯t like monks either.¡±


    ¡°Could it be that the people of Stop Kills Society offended the Dragon King, so the Dragon King took out his frustrations on the saint monk?¡±


    ¡°Then he should go to the Joy Pavilion first. The saint monk was the guardian of the Stop Kills Society. The Joy Pavilion has the real power.¡±


    While everyone was gossiping enthusiastically, a horrifying cry suddenly came from outside. ¡°The Dragon King is killing someone, he is killing someone!¡±


    More than a dozen machetemen pulled out their sabers and rushed out of the tavern. Gu Shenwei was mixed in with them.


    There was a corpse lying on the street, and the pedestrians stayed far away from it. The screams wereing from two young scraggy machetemen who depressingly stood beside the corpse.


    ¡°Where is the Dragon King?¡± a middle-aged macheteman asked.


    ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know,¡± a thin macheteman trembled as he replied. ¡°He ran away after he killed this man.¡±


    ¡°Did you see the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ no, he attacked in the dark.¡±


    The middle-aged macheteman frowned, put away his saber and flipped the corpse over.


    It was Boss Mo. His mouth was full of white foam, and his face was ghastly pale.


    ¡°It was not the Dragon King. He was killed by poison.¡±


    ¡°Then it must be the Dragon King. He must have poisoned Boss Mo.¡± The thin macheteman adhered to his opinion and said it with absolute certainty.


    The middle-aged swordsman did not refute it. He did not know who was the real murderer. After all, this matter had nothing to do with him and Boss Mo was not his friend.


    Then another macheteman screamed in a panic, ¡°Look, it¡¯s the Dragon King¡¯s banner!¡±


    Everyone turned back and didn¡¯t know when a ck g was erected on the roof of Fortune Tavern. The bloodstain on it could be seen clearly.


    The manager of the tavern copsed on the street. ¡°Why me? I didn¡¯t offend the Dragon King! I¡¯ve never said anything bad!¡±


    The people on the street stared at the ominous g, and no one had noticed that an ordinary macheteman suddenly turned around and ran into the nearby alley at an incredible speed.


    Gu Shenwei saw that the person who raised the g was a masked man. But when he chased him into the alley, he lost sight of that man. Several pedestrians were looking at the ck blood g above the tavern in horror. It seemed that they did not notice any masked man running past them.


    In order to find Boss Mo at the tavern, Gu Shenwei had traveled around the surrounding area once, so he was familiar with the nearby streets and alleyways. He considered it for a while, and then immediately turned around and ran toward the streets ahead at the fastest speed. He hurdled over a number of walls. He must capture the person who raised the g.


    He soon came to a narrow alley, and could not see even anyone in this empty space. It was the quietest ce in this district. His intuition told him that the person who raised that g would escape from here.


    He recalled those masked women who had saved people yesterday. They had fled to a few streets away by the tunnel and had seeded in escaping from Golden Roc Fort¡¯s encirclement. This man was likely to repeat the same tactic.


    Gu Shenwei stood on a high wall over the alley, where he could see the front and the back.


    A man walked out of a nearby yard. He was dressed like an ordinary macheteman, but he looked around as soon as he came out. Clearly, he did not want to attract any attention.


    The man walked toward Gu Shenwei¡¯s direction. Gu Shenwei suddenly jumped off the high wall and ced his saber on this man¡¯s neck.


    The man was thoroughly shocked. His hand had already held the handle of his saber, but he slowly released his grip. ¡°You have confused me for someone else, your lordship.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s definitely you.¡± Gu Shenwei used his saber to force the man to lean against the wall. ¡°Who made you raise the ck Blood g?¡±


    ¡°What ck Blood g¡­¡± The man pretended to be confused, but his performance was overdone. The ck Blood g was well known in Jade City. Upon realizing this, he immediately changed his words, ¡°Oh, you mean the Dragon King g. You must be mistaken. When I came out¡­ ¡±


    Gu Shenwei exerted a little more pressure on the de.


    There was more and more fear in the eyes of this man. ¡°You, you¡­¡± He said a number of ¡°you¡± and suddenly his eyes violently opened, his limbs twitched, and his mouth began to foam.


    Gu Shenwei removed his saber and the man slowly fell to the ground as he died.


    Another one.


    The Dragon King¡¯s first stalker also poisoned himself just like this. These two people were obviously timid, but they were not afraid to end their lives. Gu Shenwei once again thought that the forces behind them must be very formidable.


    He felt more and more anxious. There was a in the darkness, and he was getting closer and closer. However, he had no lead. He had too many enemies to identify which was the real target.


    <em>It must be the New Moon Hal </em>l, he thought. This gang of women was the best at evil secrets. But what would they gain from posing as the Dragon King? The Dragon King was already the enemy of the Golden Roc Fort, so there was no need to sow discord between these two sides.


    Gu Shenwei walked out of the alley with his saber. He wanted to kill the first person he bumps into so that he could lighten his mood.


    The first one he met was a child. He was only five or six years old, with a baked roll in his right hand and snot on his lips. Though he saw the killer holding the saber, he was not afraid. He then raised his left hand toward the sky and turned around several times, excitedly cried, ¡°gs, gs are everywhere.¡±


    Gu Shenwei jumped several times and came to the top of a nearby rooftop. Many people, like him, stood on high ces and were horrified at the sight.


    Looking around, the entire South City was filled with ck Blood gs, with a total number of not less than one hundred. They were like the giant ravens which rested on a corpse that was going to rot.

 Chapter 283 - Ambush

    Chapter 283: Ambush


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Jade City has never felt such deep hysteria ever since the era of the diverse warfare in the Western Regions which had urred decades ago. But even that had not impacted Jade City as much as this.


    The ck Blood gs were fluttering all around, like a scary prophecy which was gradually revealing all of its contents to the people. Everyone felt pressured by it.


    This time, the Golden Roc Fort responded quickly. Even the killers who rarely made public appearances were fully geared. They were frantically hurrying all throughout the streets in broad daylight.


    In some people¡¯s eyes, the Golden Roc killers could assure their safety. For others, they were a source of disaster. Some people even begged the killers not to remove their family¡¯s ck Blood g. ¡°What if the Dragon King seeks revenge after you take it? I have families¡­¡±


    Their begging was useless and, in less than an hour, all the ck Blood g in the city were taken down. Not one remained. They even captured a dozen g-bearers who were all dead. These people seemed to be possessed by demons. Once they were surrounded, they would rathermit suicide by swallowing poison than be captured.


    The killers could only carry a string of heads through the streets, hoping that the residents could rest assured.


    No one could feel rxed. The Dragon King was still missing, and there seemed to be no end to the killings.


    Jade City had numerous thrilling days. The machetemen of all parties were arresting people everywhere, including those who looked like g-bearing spies working for the Dragon King. Several open fights happened. Even the Golden Roc killers were often besieged. Everyone must publicly prove that they were not the Dragon King in disguise.


    At the same time, the ¡°Dragon King¡± was stillmitting crimes. The targets of murder were gradually expanding: First, they were the killers and machetemen, then the merchants in South City, and finally the rich people in the North City. The ck Blood gs were like weeds in the spring. Cutting and burning it were both useless.


    In just ten days, more than 50 people had died in Jade City. Although the number was not big, it spread a city-wide panic. Hundreds and thousands of people fled outside the city with their valuables, and even frantically escaped to the southern countries.


    Hence, upon hearing that a messenger from the Great Snowmountain wanted toe to Jade City, most of the people were angry at first, but then they sighed in relief.


    ¡°Hurry up and end this.¡± Even the machetemen said this in private.


    Fang Wenshi had achieved great sess in persuading the governor of the Central ins who was stationed in the Western Regions. He headed toward Jade City with a special emissary of the Central ins.


    While on the road, he heard the news about the situation in Jade City, which was continuouslying. He was very confused and a little dissatisfied. The Dragon King had gone too far. The terrified atmosphere had a subtle limit. Within the limit, he could force the other side to sit down and negotiate for peace. Outside the limit, the Great Snowmountain would be the public enemy of the Western Region.


    As the news increased, he was even more confused. The Dragon King had erected hundreds of ck Blood gs at the same time? The Dragon King was not a god. Even if he joined forces with Chu Nanping, the two did not have the skills to pull off such a feat. The g-bearersmitted suicide when they were caught? If this was not just a rumor, then it did not sound like the Dragon King¡¯s style.


    Fang Wenshi was convinced to assure the special emissary from the Central ins that the incident in Jade City was not done by the Dragon King. ¡°Someone is sabotaging the peace talks. There must be a conspiracy in all this.¡±


    This was both his opinion and his hope. He did not know enough about the Dragon King. That young man has a deep hatred in his heart and he could cause all sorts of problems at any time.


    When they were still a day¡¯s journey away from Jade City, Chu Nanping came to the camp at night to see him. His words reassured the military counselor. ¡°Someone is framing the Dragon King. He is currently looking for the mastermind behind the scenes.¡±


    Fang Wenshi immediately took Chu Nanping to meet with the special emissary from the Central ins. He made every effort to convince the other party to believe that someone in Jade City was posing as the Dragon King.


    The special emissary from the Central ins believed in the Dragon King¡¯s good faith. However, it was still difficult to hold peace talks when there were a series of assassinations going on.


    A group of people entered the North City, and they first met with the Nond Governor. Mo Chu was still angry, and he almost ordered people to drag the Great Snowmountain¡¯s messenger to cut off his head and show it to the public. After he saw the face of the special emissary from the Central ins, he decided to let him go. Then he harshly said, ¡°Either the Dragon King pay for his sins with death, or capture the so-called ¡®impersonator¡¯, otherwise the Nonds will never negotiate.¡±


    The next day they went to the Four Truths Temple. The monks were very polite and supported the peace talks, but their opinions were simr to those of the Governor. ¡°The Dragon King killed Master Lianhua, and this sin has triggered the wrath of the heavens and the people of the Western Regions. Our temple demands an exnation from the Dragon King. If there really is an impersonator, the Dragon King muste out to exin.¡±


    Next were the Meng family in the North City. The patriarch Meng Yuzun personally met with the two messenger. He held onto his big belly and said, ¡°Someone told me that my fourth child was killed by the Dragon King, but that was a few years ago though. The Meng family was ipetent, we couldn¡¯t¡¯ find the evidence, so I won¡¯t pursue this matter any further. However, I am unwilling to help him. As for the peace talks, I won¡¯t object to nor support it.¡±


    Fang Wenshi immediately realized that the Meng family¡¯s attitude was no different from objection.


    On the fourth day, Golden Roc Fort sent people down the mountain and respectfully said to the special emissary from the Central ins, ¡°When all of the Great Snowmountain swordsmen in the western borders have gone and Jade City¡¯s assassins¡¯ heads have all fallen, the Lord will talk with the Dragon King.¡±


    There was a reason for the Golden Roc Fort to refuse to negotiate at this time.


    There were more and more people killed by the ¡°Dragon King¡±. There were also many g-bearers who were captured by the Golden Roc killers. Although these peoplemitted suicide as soon as they were arrested, there were still some people being captured alive. Some had no time to swallow their poisons so they became prisoners.


    It was said that the Golden Roc Fort wasted no time in interrogating these captives, and they believed soon they would find the Dragon King¡¯s hideout in Jade City.


    The situation in front of Fang Wenshi was like this: He had managed to win the support of the Central ins, but the results were ruined by the fake Dragon King¡¯s violent acts.


    The Central ins had a strong influence in the Western Regions, but it could not go against all the forces. Thus the Special Envoy went to talk with many parties to listen to their demands.


    Finally, he announced the only option to the Great Snowmountain¡¯s messenger. ¡°The Dragon King said that someone has been impersonating him. I believe him, but you better bring out the impostors now. At least point out who these people are. I think there must be a time limit for this, let¡¯s say, ten days.¡±


    The special emissary from the Central ins had equivalently given the final ultimatum. Fang Wenshi anxiously urged Chu Nanping to find the Dragon King and tell him about the urgency of the matter. However, the young swordsman was in no hurry at all. ¡°I don¡¯t know where the Dragon King is, he told me to protect you during these days and he didn¡¯t tell me where he would be hiding.¡±


    Fang Wenshi naturally hoped to be protected. Jade City was in deep resentment against the Dragon King. It was inevitable for it to affect the Great Snowmountain¡¯s messenger. However, what he worried about the most was not his own safety, but the Dragon King¡¯s course. The time is limited. The special emissary from the Central ins was to leave in ten days. After that, the conquest that the Dragon King had just initiated would be gone in mes.


    No one could find the Dragon King, because Gu Shenwei was hiding in a ce that he himself could not even imagine.


    He did not go to Xiao Fengchai again. She was a businesswoman; she only did business with the strong. If the Dragon King became a street rat and lost his value, she would not hesitate to sell him out.


    Every location you could think of was filled with dangers: Joy Pavilion, the Four Truths Temple, and North City.


    The female archer came to the Dragon King¡¯s aid in time again.


    At the time, Gu Shenwei was chasing two of Boss Mo¡¯s followers.


    Boss Mo, Lianhua and Lianye swindled money out of the new machetemen. When the Dragon King was about to find him, he fell to the ground and died like the g-bearers whomitted suicide.


    Of course, this could not be a coincidence. Gu Shenwei believed that, by following this man, he will surely find the mastermind behind the scenes who impersonated the Dragon King and killed the Saint.


    Although Boss Mo had died, the two thin followers were still alive. Gu Shenwei did not expect for the two to know about inside secrets, but he was hoping to dig out some valuable facts.


    These two were very easy to find. After Gu Shenwei found that the whole city was dotted with ck Blood gs, he immediately returned to the crime scene. The body was still lying in the same ce, and the gs left the followers in shock. They looked around in fear and no longer dared to speak the words ¡°Dragon King¡±.


    When everyone recovered from the shock, the two followers realized: If their backer was dead, then staying here was not only pointless, but also might cause troubles.


    The two looked at each other, blended into the crowd and went to hide at home. They were blood-rted brothers and lived together.


    Those who had killed Boss Mo mighte back to kill these two followers. Gu Shenwei watched for two days and two nights straight, and he hoped that the enemies in the dark would give themselves away.


    The two followers lived in seclusion. They asionally went out without their sabers, as if they hadpletely given up their status as machetemen.


    No one hade to kill them until on the third day; several machetemen asked the two brothers some questions. However, they quickly left and did not seem to get an answer, nor did they embarrass the brothers.


    Gu Shenwei felt that the moment he awaited was about toe, because he recognized that these machetemen were from the Kun Society. There was a fish-shaped pattern on their clothes. It was a logo invented by someone after he escaped from the Golden Roc Fort.


    In the middle of the night, a murder urred at the cksmith Vige in the easternmost part of South City. A ck Blood g was erected, which attracted many killers and machetemen to swoop in. Soon afterward, an assassin in ck barged into the brothers¡¯ home to cut the weeds and dig up its roots.


    The two could not believe that being followers of a third-rated macheteman would bring fatal disaster upon them.


    Gu Shenwei did not stop the act; instead, he switched his target to the assassin in ck and followed him.


    The assassin probably felt that the mission was very easy. Afterward, he casually put up a ck Blood g and immediately fled into the night.


    The brothers were not important, so the ck Blood g in their home would not be discovered until the next day.


    The assassin leaped onto the roofs and vaulted over the walls at an incredible speed. After a few detours, he suddenly jumped into an alley.


    Gu Shenwei had encountered an ambush in this very alley.


    This was definitely a trap that had been set up long ago. Just as hended, four sabers stabbed toward him.


    Gu Shenwei was vignt. With his body still in the air, he pulled out his saber and even acted a little ahead of the attackers.


    The two attackers immediately fell to the ground, but more masked men appeared from both sides of the alley. No one was shouting as they silently rushed toward their target.


    The Dragon King¡¯s speed clearly exceeded what the attackers had expected. After the fourth person fell, the others were still a few steps away. Gu Shenwei took the opportunity to vault back onto the wall.


    He was not trying to escape, but rather, he was trying to escape from being surrounded by the pursuing forces. In the past few years, he had encountered countless ambushes and he was more experienced in escaping than anyone else.


    More than a dozen attackers followed closely.


    Before he killed the attacker he had been following, the female archers appeared, not one or two, but in groups. They shot arrows toward the attackers and killed most of them at the first time.


    Someone finally noticed the battle on the roof. He hid in the corners and banged the gong to warn everyone.


    A female archer once again invited. ¡°Dragon King, please follow us.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not intend to run away halfway this time. He wanted to know who the masters of the female archers were, and why they clearly knew about the trap for the assassination of the Dragon King.

 Chapter 284 - Tianji

    Chapter 284: Tianji


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    A total of ten female archers had suddenly appeared. Every arrow had hit their targets. More than a dozen ambushers were wiped out in just two volleys. Gu Shenwei did not even have time to catch one alive.


    Even so, he still hurriedly checked it again. Unlike what he had imagined, these ambushers were not the aplices of Boss Mo. They were Golden Roc machetemen. Their Golden Roc logo was not on the shoulder of their coats, but it was hidden under their cors.


    ¡°Dragon King, please follow us,¡± the leader of the group of female archers said as she took the lead and jumped off the roof.


    Gu Shenwei followed silently. He became more and more uneasy. These women knew too much about Golden Roc Fort¡¯s ns as they could haveid in ambush at the periphery all the time.


    The group of people came to a nearby residence. The female archers put down their bows and arrows, quickly changed into their ck suits, covered their faces, and picked up their sabers.


    Someone threw Gu Shenwei a set, and he also changed into it. The Five Peaks Saber was exactly the same as the Golden Roc Fort Saber, therefore there was no need to change it.


    Soon, eleven people transformed into Golden Roc killers. They even had the Golden Roc logo on their shoulders. Gu Shenwei even received a fake killer waist token.


    One could walk freely in Jade City with this disguise and the waist token.


    The female lead archer nodded and said, ¡°Dragon King, please.¡±


    Gu Shenwei walked past her and suddenly drew out his saber. Before the other women could react, he was behind the chief and had his saber on her neck.


    The nine women pulled out their sabers simultaneously and surrounded him.


    ¡°Put down your sabers. The Dragon King means no harm,¡± the female chief ordered. The nine subordinates withdrew their sabers obediently, but they were still surrounding the Dragon King.


    ¡°No harm? I¡¯m not sure about that.¡± Gu Shenwei would never follow people who he was unfamiliar with, especially those who were obviously rted to Golden Roc Fort.


    ¡°Master said that this might happen.¡± The female chief was not nervous at all. ¡°I have a keepsake.¡±


    ¡°Keepsake?¡± Gu Shenwei exerted slightly more force and the female leader had to raise her head.


    ¡°Yes, a keepsake. Bring it over.¡± The female chief did not dare to open her mouth and could only squeeze out a few words from her throat.


    A woman came over. She was holding onto a sword in its scabbard with two hands.


    Gu Shenwei did not let go. He had no impression of this sword.


    The woman slowly pulled out the sword in front of the Dragon King. It was a short, thin sword.


    Gu Shenwei was shocked.


    ¡°Does the Dragon King believe me now?¡± the female chief asked.


    Gu Shenwei still had many doubts, which were unexined. He said, ¡°How could she¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story. Does the Dragon King want to talk about it here or after we have reached a safe ce?¡±


    Gu Shenwei sheathed the Five Peaks Saber. He wouldn¡¯t believe anyone easily, but he was familiar with the short sword that the female archer showed him. It was the gift that he had received from his father when he was a child. It was first stolen by Eighth Young Master Shangguan Nu and then it was passed on to Shangguan Ru. Shangguan Ru then returned it to him. When he fled from Golden Roc Fort, it was abandoned at the Reincarnation Cliff arrow tower.


    Had Shangguan Ru sent someone to save him?


    Gu Shenwei was puzzled. Shangguan Ru should have been ced under house arrest by her mother for a while. Even Kun Society had fallen back into the hands of Shangguan Fei. When did she form such a female archer team?


    ¡°Is it the Tenth Young Master?¡± he couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°It is the Tenth Young Master. It is not advisable to stay here for a long time. Dragon King, please.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was still skeptical, but he still decided to follow them.


    This trip from the South City to the North City was quite far. The checkpoint was already closed for passage, but the guards let them pass reluctantly because the female chief had a ¡°sole¡± waist token.


    The final destination exceeded Gu Shenwei¡¯s expectations as it was the Meng family¡¯s Bodhi Garden in North City. The garden waspletely deste as the famous four-colored lotus flowers had passed its blooming season.


    The group of people arrived at a rock garden at the southeast of the pond. Two women uncovered the withered vines to reveal the iron gates within. They knocked several times rhythmically. The iron gates were pushed open from the inside.


    Gu Shenwei suspected that it might be dangerous, so he couldn¡¯t go any further. Even if Shangguan Ru appeared, he wouldn¡¯t believe it entirely. Three years was enough topletely forget a person, let alone her personality and preferences.


    ¡°I think it is safe enough here.¡±


    No one could have imagined that the Dragon King would hide in the Meng family¡¯s Bodhi Garden. It would be rtively safe here as long as there was no thorough search being carried out.


    The female chief took off her mask and smiled, ¡°Dragon King still refuses to believe mepletely.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t said anything yet.¡±


    The female chief nodded at her subordinates and the nine of them entered the iron gate and closed it from the inside. The Dragon King and the chief were left outside.


    ¡°My name is Guan Shang, the Shang in a businessman.¡± The female chief revealed her name as the first step to win the trust of the Dragon King. She then briefly summarized the experiences of what Tenth Young Master Shangguan Ru had been through in the past three years.


    Lady Meng had confiscated her daughter¡¯s saber, ced her under house arrest and forced her to wear women¡¯s clothing, but she could never give up the ¡°Tenth Young Master¡± in her heart.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s kung fu, ambition and intelligence exceeded Shangguan Fei¡¯s. Lady Meng had high hopes for her. She hoped that her daughter could, not only be independent, but also to help her brother in winning the position of the Supreme King. Unfortunately, after the death of Shangguan Yushi, she had changed to apletely different person, and she was no longer as ruthless as she once was. She was even willing to betray her own family for the sake of a ve.


    The cowardly personality of Shangguan Fei really disappointed Lady Meng. All his intelligence and wisdom seemed to have disappeared after he had schemed to kill Master Yu. He took refuge in North City and entrusted all his affairs to others. In the long run, his influence would only be limited to the Kun Society of South City. Inparison to his surviving brothers, he couldn¡¯t even protect himself, let alone have a chance topete for the throne.


    There were fewer and fewer people who Lady Meng could trust and rely on. She had to consider grooming her daughter again.


    After Shangguan Ru was ced under house arrest for a year, Lady Meng released her secretly. Almost no one in Stone Castle knew about this, let alone any outsiders.


    Shangguan Ru was only fifteen years old that year, and it was possible to remodel her.


    This was a very secretive n. Even the Lord was unaware of this.


    Before her release and the maturation of the twins, Lady Meng had started to implement these ns.


    On the surface, Lady Meng had an ordinary rtionship with her family. However, in the eyes of Patriarch Meng Yuzun, this distant niece was closer than his own daughter. He knew very well that it would be a great help to the Meng family if Lady Meng was in power in Stone Castle.


    Meng Yuzun had been acquiring suitable girls from the Western Region. Some of them had been trained and were given by Lady Meng to the Supreme King. The rest remained in North City and were secretly trained as killers.


    This team of female killers had begun to take shape when Shangguan Ru was released. After two years, she became the leader of the team and named it ¡°Tianji Society¡±.


    It was more difficult for women to train with sabers. Even though they were supported by strong Internal Strength, they were still inferior to men who started at the same time. Under the advice of Shangguan Ru, they focused on practicing the bow and arrow in order to make up for their own shorings.


    ¡°We all swore allegiance to the Tenth Young Master.¡± Guan Shang was full of respect when she mentioned the Tenth Young Master. ¡°We do not ept themand of anyone aside from the Tenth Young Master and Lady Meng. Even the Lord couldn¡¯t order us directly.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was very surprised. Shangguan Ru had lost her killing desire three years ago and was no longer suitable to be a killer. However, she had received more than ten years of education for males. With such ambitious aspirations, it was very likely for her to restore her old self with the help of her mother.


    He remembered that glimpse in front of Four Truths Temple. Shangguan Ru was riding on a glorious steed in women¡¯s clothing. She hadn¡¯t expressed any tinge of coyness.


    ¡°Is she here?¡±


    ¡°No, the Tenth Young Master would onlye once in three to five days. But, she ordered me to help the Dragon King at all costs.¡±


    ¡°Had Lady Meng allowed the Tenth Young Master to do so?¡±


    Guan Shang was silent for a while, then she said, ¡°Lady Meng did not know about the order given by the Tenth Young Master, and would not know about it in the future as well.¡±


    Gu Shenwei still couldn¡¯t quite believe Guan Shang¡¯s story. In the end, the short sword was the one which touched him. No one should know about the story of Shangguan Ru giving away the sword.


    There were many caves in the artificial mountain. There were countless crisscrossed paths, which led to different rooms, and some of the rooms were quite spacious. As he passed by, Gu Shenwei saw many women and girls who were practicing their sabers and shooting arrows.


    The Meng family must have spent a lot of effort on creating this secret base, and they were certainly unwilling to use this just to protect the Dragon King. Gu Shenwei could not help but think about exactly how much control Shangguan Ru had of this ce.


    The room that was assigned to him for resting in was a stone room. There were no windows because it was deep underground. There was an iron grid on the door panel for easy venttion, but it looked simr to a cell.


    The door of the ¡°cell¡± was not locked so Gu Shenwei could enter and exit freely. However, the paths were tooplicated. It was easy to get lost without a guide, therefore he rarely went out.


    It was difficult to tell the time as he was living in a ce where there was no daylight. Gu Shenwei waited for Shangguan Ru, but she never came.


    ¡°The lord suspected that there was a traitor in the fort, so he was conducting a thorough investigation. The Tenth Young Master was unable to go down the mountain for a while.¡± Guan Shang came every day. She answered every one of his questions and also brought news from the outside at the same time.


    Cases of the Dragon King¡¯s imposter killing people and cing gs were continually emerging. Golden Roc Fort was exhausted, but they had only killed a few nobodies. Most people still thought that the Dragon King was the mastermind. No one believed that he was fighting alone.


    Through Lady Meng, the Tianji Society had very urate and timely sources of information in Stone Castle. All traces of the Dragon King had disappeared in these few days. The Supreme King was puzzled and had sent more Golden Roc killers to search the city. The safest ce within the entire Jade City was probably the underground of Bodhi Garden.


    The female killers of Tianji Society were very interested in the Dragon King. Even though Gu Shenwei had lived there for less than a day, he found that people were often peeking at him. To these women who had been receiving secret training, the Dragon King was a legendary figure because only the greatest killer had the ability to escape from dozens of arrest attempts from the Golden Roc Fort.


    On the third day or so, there was finally a courageous female archer who quietly approached the Dragon King¡¯s room. She first gave the Dragon King some small gifts and fine snacks, and slowly began to talk to him.


    Almost overnight, Gu Shenwei found himself bing a story-telling grandfather and was forced to recall his training and escape career to a group of ten to fifteen-year-old girls. There were asional, exaggerated cheers.


    Unknowingly, the girls began to ask for pointers on machete skills. Among all of their naive questions, there were a few which had great insights and Gu Shenwei was surprised by these questions.


    However, he still believed that these people would not be qualified killers. He also believed that the Tianji Society was a team that belonged to Shangguan Ru. These women, like Shangguan Ru,cked ruthless killing desires.


    Maid Lotus was a real female killer.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly thought of her. It was also because of the image of Maid Lotus that he could see the ws in Guan Shang¡¯s story.

 Chapter 285 - Underground Chambers

    Chapter 285: Underground Chambers


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei had never received training at Carvewood Academy. His understanding of a killer¡¯s primary training mainly came from his observations of Maid Lotus.


    Maid Lotus had undergone tremendous changes after a mere 10 months stint at Carvewood Academy. Other than her improved kung fu skills, she was also better at concealing her feelingspared to before. Her hatred for ve Huan could not be noticed at all.


    In contrast, the female killers of the Tianji Society seemed to be too naive. They were no different from a group of ordinary little girls crowding around their idol as they kept asking questions left and right.


    Guan Shang mentioned that Shangguan Ru had taken over the Tianji Society two years ago. Even after the change of ownership, the trainer would not possibly be the Tenth Young Master herself. The training tutors should be familiar with all the methods taught in Golden Roc Fort and would never have groomed such unqualified apprentices.


    Guan Shang and the few female archers under her seemed more like killers.


    It was a rude awakening as Gu Shenwei realized that these little girls who ¡°worshiped¡± the Dragon King were a ruse in order to deceive him and gain his trust.


    The Bodhi Garden underground chambers seemed like a trap as Shangguan Ru refused to show up after so long.


    Showing no emotions, Gu Shenwei continued to tell stories to the curious ones while also giving guidance on some machete techniques. Stretchingzily, he said, ¡°It¡¯s getting boring. Who can show me around the ce?¡±


    Seven or eight little girls got up as they scrambled to be the guide.


    The underground chambers covered a wide area, some of which were even deep under theke. All of the passages and rooms were illuminated by torches and candles. The inadequate lighting was enough to simte the night environment.


    Nighttime was the killers¡¯ favorite period of time, and they were also the most active during this hour.


    Gu Shenwei estimated that there were hundreds of people living in the underground chambers. He noticed many adult killers, both male and female, who were training the apprentices. The skills and temperament of these apprentices were not the same as the seven or eight little girls around him. The differences were barely noticeable, but he was able to see things more clearly since he had his suspicions.


    Killer apprentices tend to be more silent, they observed more but asked less. They were usually taciturn and stern, especially in front of people who were in higher standings. During sparring sessions, these apprentices would ruthlessly attack as if they had a profound hatred towards the other person.


    A normal killer would not trust others. Likewise, it was also difficult for him to win the trust of others.


    Finally, the group arrived at a ce withplicated paths, with nothing but a lit torch in sight much further away. Gu Shenwei remembered that this was not far from the entrance. ¡°Let¡¯s go out for a breath, it¡¯s really stuffy in here.¡±


    ¡°Okay, but we can¡¯t go out because we don¡¯t have the keys.¡± A little girl seemed to be very disappointed. ¡°I¡¯ve been here for almost five months but I have never gone outside.¡±


    All of them nodded. The duration that they entered the underground chambers varied from a few months to six or seven months. Memories of the outside world were still fresh in their minds and they missed it very much.


    Gu Shenwei was a little confused when he returned to his ce of residence. He might have been too overly suspicious of the girls. They probably have not experienced formal training, and therefore still retained their innocent personalities. They have nothing to do with traps or conspiracies.


    He pretended to rest and sent all of them away. After closing his eyes to sleep for a while, he quietly got up and tried to recall the path toward the entrance of the underground chambers. He was holding a small stone in his hand which he used to carved marks on the many intersections that he had passed when he was strolling around just now.


    He should be able to leave the underground chambers unhindered if there were no traps.


    But the result was that he became lost.


    The markings were still there, but the ce where the intersection was supposed to be not long ago had turned into a thick wall. This was not something that can be pushed away by mere human strength. Gu Shenwei was forced to take a detour. Soon, he could not find a way out and forgot the way he came from. It was not until he stumbled into a training room that a female apprentice helped to send the Dragon King back to his residence.


    The apprentices were silent and had obvious alertness in their expressions. It was apparent that these fifteen or sixteen years old had shown signs of being trained in the Golden Roc Fort killer¡¯s forms.


    Guan Shang came and reced the candle before it burned out. She brought back many news, a few of which were not so good.


    ¡°The Governor¡¯s family ising to visit the Bodhi Garden. We might not be able to go out for a while. But it is safe here so please stay at ease, Dragon King.¡±


    Guan Shang mentioned this casually among the many other news as if it was the least important thing. From this, Gu Shenwei finally confirmed that he had fallen into a trap. ¡°The Governor¡¯s family seemed to prefer to visit the garden when it was out of season.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it so? There is nothing here in the Bodhi Garden at this time. It¡¯s not much different from a wastnd.¡±


    The conversation about going out of the underground chambers ended so fast, and they quickly moved on to other topics.


    The search in Jade City by the Golden Roc killers had be much more thorough, including many areas that were rarely involved in the past. ces such as Hope Alley and the Four Truths Temple had also been harassed to varying degrees.


    The imitation Dragon King¡¯s acts had dropped drastically, but now the assassinations were targeting people who were of a much higher status. The corpse of a big Protector of cksmith Vige was strewn across the street, with a ck Blood g stuck onto his stomach. An exiled aristocrat in North City was found dead naked on his bed, with dozens of brutally inflicted wounds on his body.


    Guan Shang finally mentioned Shangguan Ru when she said, ¡°The Tenth Young Master will not be able toe down from the mountain for a while. The castle is holding a martial arts tournament to examine the skills of the Shangguan family¡¯s children. The Lady hopes that the Tenth Young Master will use this opportunity to regain the Lord¡¯s favor, and is urging her to train hard. She will not be able to leave the fort for the time being.¡±


    ¡°The Tenth Young Master has very good kung fu. Surely, she will be crowned champion.¡±


    ¡°Yes, the Tenth Young Master¡¯s machete skills and internal strength are the best in the fort for someone so young. Even old killers who had been practicing for decades cannotpete with her. There are several good rising stars in the family, but they still pale inparison with the Tenth Young Master.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought that Guan Shang was going to continue talking about thepetition, but she left it as it is, and started talking about other things. She did not mention another word about it up until she left.


    But this was just a trick to confuse the Dragon King, in order to prevent him from bing suspicious too early.


    Guan Shang¡¯s expression was not very natural when she came by the next time. It seemed like there was something worrying her. Gu Shenwei knew that she was waiting for him to speak about it first, so he asked, ¡°Did something happen to the Tenth Young Master?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Guan Shang replied immediately. After a while, as if contrary to her thoughts, she said reluctantly: ¡°Who could have thought that there were two experts among the younger generation of the Shangguan family. It seems that it won¡¯t be easy for the Tenth Young Master to win the championship.¡±


    ¡°Oh, who are these experts?¡±


    ¡°You might not have heard of them, Dragon King. The experts are brothers. The older brother is called Dewei, he is 18 years old. The younger brother is named Dezhi, and he is 16 years old. I don¡¯t know how they trained, but they were quite unknown and suddenly be really powerful. The old killers who observed them said that these two brothers are the top disciples of the Shangguan family.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think they are rivals of the Tenth Young Master.¡±


    Shangguan Ru practiced the Wayless Qigong, and this was a huge gap that others had no chance of oveing.


    ¡°Yes, the Tenth Young Master¡­ In fact, I shouldn¡¯t say this¡­ But, Dragon King surely know that the Tenth Young Master has no problems with kung fu, it¡¯s theck of killing desire. The others are kept in the dark about this. It is likely that she will be lenient in a crucial timing, whereas the two brothers are quite ruthless. I¡¯m afraid¡­ ¡±


    ¡°The Tenth Young Master will produce sufficient killing desires when ites to life and death situations.¡±


    ¡°I hope so. Oh well, it would be great if there was a way to let the Tenth Young Master¡¯s killing desires be stronger. The Tenth Young Master is a good leader. If she was defeated, Lady Meng would most likely rece her with someone else to take charge of Tianji Society. ¡±


    Guan Shang purposedly did not fully disclose the information as she was waiting for the Dragon King toe to a realization about the implications of her words. If the Tenth Young Master lost the power tomand the Tianji Society, then the Dragon King¡¯s safety in the underground chambers could not be guaranteed.


    Gu Shenwei did not pick up the cue until Guan Shang announced that she was ready to leave. He said, ¡°I hope that the Tenth Young Master cane here.¡±


    ¡°The Tenth Young Master is currently¡­¡±


    ¡°I know, she is preparing for the tournament. It won¡¯t take up too much of her time. It is something important and I have to tell her personally.¡±


    Guan Shang hesitated for a while before saying, ¡°Is it really important?¡±


    ¡°Very important.¡±


    ¡°You can trust me, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°I do trust you, but I can only tell this to the Tenth Young Master herself.¡±


    ¡°Ok, I will get someone to bring a message to the Tenth Young Master, but it¡¯s up to Lady Meng whether or not she cane down the mountain.¡±


    The Tenth Young Master will definitelye down the mountain. Gu Shenwei was very convinced now, but it was hard to determine who this ¡°Tenth Young Master¡± could be.


    He waited for two more days. Guan Shang brought back different kinds of news each time. One day the Tenth Young Master would be able toe and then the next, she could not. It was as if she was fiercely fighting against the obstructing forces in the fort.


    Guan Shang came with good news this time when she returned. ¡°Please follow me, Dragon King.¡±


    This whole ordeal seemed quite mysterious as she did not mention the Tenth Young Master.


    Gu Shenwei made an expression of tacit understanding and nodded. He carried his saber and followed Guan Shang to meet with the Tenth Young Master.


    The path was bing more and more narrow. Several areas could only barely fit one person through it. Gu Shenwei felt that they were currently headed towards an area that was underneath theke.


    There was a long corridor that was quite unusual. As soon as they approached, the saber and dagger on Gu Shenwei started to be restless and floated up into the air. It tried to leave its master¡¯s grasp.


    ¡°Apologies, Dragon King, this corridor is made up of mas. It is inconvenient to bring weapons. We better leave them outside.¡±


    Guan Shang removed her saber, but Gu Shenwei was not willing to surrender his weapons. After some consideration, he handed them over to Guan Shang. She kept them at the nearby stone room for safe keeping.


    After passing through the maic corridor, two of them entered a spacious room.


    The person inside turned out to be Shangguan Ru indeed.


    The lights were slightly dimmed, but the person sitting at the table was definitely her. She was wearing a light yellow dress, and her appearance was exactly simr to when Gu Shenwei had seen her in front of the Four Truths Temple.


    Guan Shang bowed and left the room.


    ¡°Tenth Young Master.¡± Gu Shenwei slightly nodded, he felt very ufortable. He was the Dragon King now and was no longer a ve of the Golden Roc Fort.


    ¡°ve Huan.¡± Shangguan Ru addressed him by his former name. Her voice was very low as though she also felt as ufortable as Gu Shenwei. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to see you again.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I never thought that you would send people to save me twice.¡±


    ¡°You are my best¡­ friend, I won¡¯t let anyone hurt you.¡±


    ¡°I have always remembered the words that you said.¡±


    ¡°I never forgot it as well.¡±


    The room was quiet for a moment, both of them seemed to be reminiscing about the past, slowly immersing in the joy of their reunion.


    Gu Shenwei remembered that the 11-year-old Shangguan Ru had given the only chance of trust to ve Huan, but he did not give her the same promise.


    ¡°You still can¡¯t kill.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened to me either. It has been like this even after three years.¡±


    ¡°I have a way to help you regain the killing desire, but you have to be willing.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I am very torn. I don¡¯t want to kill, but others want to kill me.¡±


    ¡°Yes, there is no way to survive in the castle without the killing desire. It¡¯s not that you want to kill, but you have to kill.¡±


    Gu Shenwei approached closer to her as he spoke.


    ¡°Don¡¯te over.¡± Shangguan Ru turned away slightly and seemed to be a little shy. ¡°We are not children anymore. Others will misunderstand.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Gu Shenwei responded respectfully. It was like back in the past, when she was the master and he was the ve.


    Suddenly he rushed over, with his left arm tightly strangled around Shangguan Ru¡¯s neck, his right hand held a sharpened chopstick against her throat. ¡°Ninth Young Master, it seems that you really prefer being a woman.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was holding a dagger, but his arm was stiff in midair.

 Chapter 286 - Cheat

    Chapter 286: Cheat


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Everyone thought that the Ninth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort was a coward, and even Shangguan Fei himself admits it. Because of this, he had hesitated for a few days before he agreed to pretend to be his sister in order to deceive ve Huan.


    The brother and sister duo originally looked very simr to each other. Add on some crafty disguise, and they would be almost wlessly identical to each other. All he had to do was to suppress his voice and try not to stand up because he was taller than his sister.


    Shangguan Fei had a hidden dagger, but ve Huan did not have any weapons.


    This should have been a low-risk operation which should have went smoothly, but he didn¡¯t understand how he still fell into the hands of ve Huan with his neck being pressed against the deadly and sharp weapon.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk it out,¡± Shangguan Fei said in his own voice. He was no longer able to keep his cool. In fact, it happened so quickly that he didn¡¯t have the time to feel fear.


    Gu Shenwei stared at Shangguan Fei¡¯s fragile skin. Even though he only had sharpened chopsticks in his hand, he could still easily kill the enemy in front of him.


    ¡°Call your ck-masked assassin toe out.¡±


    ¡°What ck-masked assassin? I do not have¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Lying is no way to ¡®talk it out¡¯, but no matter. It will be the ck-masked assassin¡¯s funeral anyway once you¡¯re dead.¡± After their first year of experience, each young master would be assigned a ck-masked assassin to serve as their personal guard. Gu Shenwei believed that someone like Shangguan Fei, who was as timid as a mouse, was no exception.


    ¡°Kill, kill me, and you¡¯ll die here as well,¡± Shangguan Fei threatened while trembling. After the initial calm, his instincts of fear was gradually increasing. His brain became numb, and the dagger in his hand dropped to the ground.


    Gu Shenwei applied a little force and the chopsticks pricked into the skin. A drop of ruby-like blood dripped out.


    ¡°ck-masked assassin! ck-masked assassin!¡± Shangguan Fei immediately screamed once he felt pain. It was unclear whether he was ordering the ck-masked assassin to reveal himself, or summoning the ck-masked assassin to save him.


    Gu Shenwei felt a chill behind him and said, ¡°Walk to the front.¡±


    Guan Shang came out from behind the two. She was holding a saber in her right hand and the Dragon King¡¯s saber in the other.


    This was the first time that Gu Shenwei had ever seen a female ck-masked assassin. ¡°Prove it to me.¡±


    Guan Shang turned her head, but a stiff mask appeared on her face when she turned around. At that moment, the female killer, with both a name and a surname, has be a ruthless assassin.


    Gu Shenwei believed that she was the ck-masked assassin. The proof was not the mask, but the rising tension in his heart.


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go back above ground now.¡± Gu Shenwei had many doubts in his heart, but he did not intend to do an interrogation here.


    ¡°The exit is behind here.¡± Shangguan Fei was as eager to return above ground as ve Huan was. He never liked the underground chambers. It was like aplicated prison that was sealed from the inside, but it did not provide any sense of security.


    Gu Shenwei held on to Shangguan Fei¡¯s neck, and turned a quarter of a circle around. He used his peripheral vision and saw that there was indeed a ¡°door.¡± There was a curtain, and its colors were mixed in with the surrounding walls. This was where Guan Shang had sneaked in from.


    ¡°You go in front,¡± Gu Shenwei ordered. No one wanted an expert such as a ck-masked assassin behind them.


    Guan Shang nodded, her mask disappeared into thin air. ¡°Dragon King, it is not so easy to fool you¡­¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go outside before we speak.¡± Gu Shenwei knew what Guan Shang wanted to do. She was merely buying time to rescue the Ninth Young Master.


    Guan Shang paused for a second and finally realized that she was unable to deceive the Dragon King. She took the lead and walked in front, and tore off the curtain before passing through. This move showed that she hadpletely given up on saving her master.


    There was a long and tortuous narrow passage behind the curtained door, which was inteced with other small roads. Some road sections did not even have a light and were pitch ck. The only advantage was that you didn¡¯t need to worry about threats from either side, only what¡¯s behind you.


    Following this passage, the three quickly came to a spacious stone room that was another exit out of the Bodhi Garden underground chambers, and it was connected by two passages.


    A small wooden frame stood on the doorway and there was a copper que hanging from it.


    In order to reassure the Dragon King, every move that Guan Shang made was very slow. She raised her saber and gently tapped on the gong with the handle.


    The sound echoed throughout the walls and passed toward the depths of the underground chambers.


    ¡°The gatekeeper has the key. He will be here soon,¡± Guan Shang exined.


    ¡°You won¡¯t kill me right?¡± Shangguan Fei knew that these words were useless nonsense, but he still couldn¡¯t help but ask. He hated being controlled by others. He was willing to do anything as long as he could get rid of the weapon on his neck.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say. I can¡¯t let you go unless I feel safe.¡±


    ¡°No, no, you will be safe. I promise, for¡­ my sister¡¯s sake, don¡¯t kill me. Otherwise, she will hate you forever. She would also hate me if I killed you.¡±


    ¡°Hey, do you think I really care?¡± Gu Shenwei said. The people of Golden Roc Fort always habitually regard him as a ve, and couldn¡¯t understand his ambition to ughter the Shangguan family.


    ¡°You do not care? Because of you, my sister hadn¡¯t said anything to her own mother for three years. She doesn¡¯t talk to anyone, she would rather be mute. Even so, you don¡¯t care?¡±


    Killers should not say too much nonsense. Gu Shenwei answered Shangguan Fei¡¯s question with two words, ¡°Shut up.¡±


    Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t want to shut up. He suddenly understood that his life was not in ve Huan¡¯s hands, but his sister¡¯s. ¡°Do you remember? My sister said that she will never kill me.¡±


    In the Gui Garden peach forest, Shangguan Ru once had a chance to kill her brother to avenge Master Yu. She had said this sentence out of grief, but Shangguan Fei had forgotten it and Gu Shenwei was not present at the time.


    He mentioned Shangguan Ru again and again, which only made Gu Shenwei angry and anxious. Then he applied more force into the chopsticks in his hand.


    Suddenly, there was a series of ¡°Ho Ho¡± soundsing from Shangguan Fei¡¯s throat, as if he was choking on something. Two hands pulled against ve Huan¡¯s iron arms in vain.


    ¡°Have mercy, have mercy,¡± someone shouted while gasping.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly woke up. If he killed Shangguan Fei, then he would be trapped and would die in the underground pce. The chopsticks moved a little away, but Shangguan Fei was still struggling. He had unexpectedly used a substantial amount of strength.


    Then, a fatty came running from another passage. His body was thick and fat, and it looked bigger than the narrow passage. It was a miracle that he could fit inside.


    ¡°Dragon King, have mercy,¡± The fatty said it again as he waved his hand to wipe the sweat from his face. Two machetemen were behind him. Those two standing together were almost as wide as this fatty was.


    ¡°Old Meng, save me!¡± Shangguan Fei gave up his struggle and shouted at this new savior to save him.


    Gu Shenwei knew who this fat man was. He was Meng Yuzun, the patriarch of the Meng family of North City. Although he had never met this man, Gu Shenwei has long heard of his ¡°fat¡± name.


    Meng Yuzun was Lady Meng¡¯s elder, but they were not close rtives. Shangguan Fei normally called him ¡°Old Meng.¡±


    ¡°Open the door.¡± Gu Shenwei only wanted to leave the underground chambers as soon as possible. It doesn¡¯t matter what was the name of the fat man. As for Shangguan Fei, since he had fallen into his hands, he couldn¡¯t just let him go so easily.


    Meng Yuzun was really obese, and running this passage had exceeded his stamina. He was hunched over with both hands on his knees, panting like a wild ox. He straightened himself up after catching his breath and said, ¡°No, we cannot open the door.¡±


    It was not Gu Shenwei that was surprised by his words, but Shangguan Fei. His hatred for ve Huan was diverted to the fatty. ¡°Old Meng, ve Huan wants to, wants to kill me. Hurry and open the door for him.¡±


    Meng Yuzun took out a silk handkerchief and wiped the sweat off of his face. ¡°Even if we open the door, the Dragon King may not let you go. Moreover, it was not easy to invite the Dragon King into Tianji Society. It would be unfortunate to let him go so easily.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was stunned and couldn¡¯t speak.


    Gu Shenwei knew that he has encountered another problem. ¡°Unfortunate indeed, that¡¯s what Lady Meng would probably say if she saw her son¡¯s corpse.¡±


    ve Huan¡¯s words caused Shangguan Fei¡¯s heart to sink. ¡°Old Meng, my mother will not spare you if I die.¡±


    Meng Yuzunughed a few times. The people in the Shangguan family were always like this: They think that killing people can make everyone afraid. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Ninth Young Master, the Dragon King will let you go.¡±


    Meng Yuzun then gave the Dragon King a proposal, ¡°Dragon King, I am a businessman who will never be willing to trade at a loss. The Ninth Young Master is in your hands. You want to exchange his freedom for us to open the exit, sure, but you have to provide a guarantee to us of your good faith. Otherwise, if you leave and decide to not let him go, won¡¯t you keep using him to make more demands? Won¡¯t I be at a loss then?¡±


    ¡°Good faith? Do you want his ear or finger?¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s face paled. He didn¡¯t want to be missing any parts of himself.


    Meng Yuzunughed again, ¡°It¡¯s best to keep the Ninth Young Master in one piece. What I meant by ¡®in good faith¡¯ was that the Dragon King has to give us something.¡±


    Gu Shenwei already guessed the other party¡¯s purpose, so he did not say anything and waited for him to continue.


    ¡°The Dragon King has seen it too. Tianji Society has raised a group of female killers. These women cost me a lot of money and effort, but they are still not quite as skilled they should be. Experts have said that the training methods were not the problem. It was their level of kung fu which made it impossible for them to ever be masters. I heard that, when Dragon King left Stone Castle, he had taken away a lot of secret kung fu manuscripts. Hand over one or two, and give Tianji Society some hope. This is what I mean by ¡®good faith¡¯, hehe.¡±


    ¡°You also want the Dajue Book of Swordcraft?¡± Shangguan Fei screamed in even more surprise than ve Huan.


    ¡°Is it called ¡®Dajue Book of Swordcraft¡¯? I don¡¯t have any knowledge about it. Golden Roc Fort has a lot of high-level kung fu and this was one of them, right?¡±


    ¡°You, you don¡¯t even practice martial arts, why do you want this?¡± Shangguan Fei still couldn¡¯t understand Old Meng¡¯s intentions.


    ¡°Hehe, this, the Ninth Young Master should understand. Your mother thinks that the reason why you are such a coward was because of your low kung fu level. Thus, I hope to cheat the Dajue Book of Swordcraft out from the Dragon King with this proposal. As for me, I don¡¯t know kung fu. I was more afraid than you are when I saw the chaos urring in the Western Region. It¡¯s toote for me to learn kung fu, but I had always wanted to train a few masters to block a few des for me and whatnot.¡±


    ¡°Dajue Book of Swordcraft¡± was another name for ¡°Death Scripture.¡± Gu Shenwei was amazed. He couldn¡¯t figure out how his secret was leaked. It was reasonable to say that only Maid Lotus has ever read this book in this world.


    ¡°How about it, Dragon King? I will immediately let you go as long as you hand over the scripture. From then on, I will be friends with the Dragon King. You could even kill my son, and I would not blink. I would even fully support Great Snowmountain¡¯s negotiations.¡±


    Meng Yuzun chattered on and on. No one could have thought of how he issued a secret order. The two guards by his side suddenly made their move and put out the torch in the stone room.


    Next, an even more unexpected thing happened.


    Meng Yuzun, who in everyone¡¯s eyes was not a kung fu practitioner, swiftly attacked the Dragon King. His speed waspletely inconsistent with his obesity. His attacks were so ruthless that he seemed topletely disregard whether Shangguan Fei lived or died.


    At the same time, the ck-masked assassin, Guan Shang, also attacked. Although she was holding three swords in two hands, that did not affect her skills at all.


    Surprisingly the target of her attacks turned out to be Meng Yuzun.


    Gu Shenwei flew up and killed the two guards.


    When the stone room fell into darkness, it became confusing to tell apart friend from foe.

 Chapter 287 - Hidden Traitor

    Chapter 287: Hidden Traitor


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    It was pitch dark and was as silent as a stone wall. It seemed that no one had survived.


    The survivors were holding their breath. Instead ofparing their kung fu, everyone here was trying not to be the first person to make a mistake.


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t see but he knew that one of Meng Yuzun¡¯s guards was lying five steps away from him with a bleeding neck. Another guard was hiding in the dark. Just like everyone else, the guard was waiting for an opportunity to strike.


    He didn¡¯t know the fates of Shangguan Fei, Meng Yuzun, and Guan Shang. There were many unexpected things, but he had no time to consider them.


    Death Scripture could detect the living energy of the survivors, but Gu Shenwei only had half a chopstick in his hand. Thus, he didn¡¯t dare to try.


    Both sword and chopstick could kill people, but this couldn¡¯t eliminate their differences. Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t disy his Death Scripture swordcraft with chopsticks.


    He had once used the saber in ce of his sword. He then incorporated Death Scripture into his machete skills. However, these two methods were unsatisfactory as they had less power. He was even less confident now that his weapon was just a pair of chopsticks.


    This was a strange phenomenon. It felt simr to a person who had used chopsticks for decades, who knew how to move his fingers without even thinking about it. However, his fingers would immediately be clumsy when either he only had a pair of extremely short wooden strips or had nothing in his hands. The harder he tried, the more his movements would be serious.


    All kungfu had to rely on weapons such as hands, knives, swords, poles, spears, etc. Without them, kungfu wouldn¡¯t exist.


    To Gu Shenwei, Death Scripture would always be a swordcraft.


    Some people couldn¡¯t help but breathe. A slight sound was like a leaf falling slowly onto the surface of ake. People might not hear it, but the ripples it caused could travel a far distance.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t react immediately.


    Another man rushed up and the two des struck each other. It created a spark and generated a fleeting faint sh.


    The one who breathed was Meng Yuzun¡¯s guard, and the attacker was Guan Shang. Gu Shenwei needed to choose one of these two as a target.


    He also rushed forward. He thrust his chopsticks into someone¡¯s neck and then returned to his original position.


    It became dark and silent once again. After a while, Guan Shang said, ¡°I want to light up the ce.¡±


    ¡°Ok,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    There was a sound of flint hitting each other and the torch on the wall lit up soon afterward.


    Both of Meng Yuzun¡¯s guards were dead. The fat man was lying on Shangguan Fei.


    Guan Shang carefully ced her saber into her scabbard and picked up the Dragon King¡¯s sword with both hands. She said, ¡°This is yours.¡±


    Gu Shenwei carefully took back his sword. He then felt relieved. He was aplete killer as long as he was holding onto his familiar sword hilt.


    Guan Shang took out a dagger and also returned it to the Dragon King. She said, ¡°I am not your enemy.¡±


    ¡°Nor a ck-masked assassin?¡± Gu Shenwei thought that Guan Shang was just an ordinary killer and he didn¡¯t expect that she had such aplicated identity.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk outside.¡±


    Guan Shang turned over Meng Yuzun¡¯s fat body and took a key from him.


    Meng Yuzun didn¡¯t die. He was struck at his acupoints and was holding onto his breath. He persevered longer than his guards.


    Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t die either. He passed out from fear, and his breathing was weak. He was also blocked by the fat man. Thus, it seemed like he wasn¡¯t breathing.


    Both of them had set up a trap, but they were caught in it and were rendered helpless. Meng Yuzun was experiencing a shortness of breath. He couldn¡¯t say anything and his eyes were moving around. He wanted to use this method to beg for mercy.


    ¡°Can I say something?¡± Guan Shang knew that the Dragon King was still doubtful of her, so she was respectful.


    ¡°You don¡¯t want me to kill these two men.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I have my reasons.¡±


    Obviously, Meng Yuzun mustn¡¯t learn of the reason. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know much about acupoints so he knocked the fat man out by kicking him.


    ¡°It was not easy for us to position some of our men around Meng Yuzun and the Ninth Young Master. Our efforts will be in vain if both of them died. They will be at loggerheads after today¡¯s incident. Instead of killing them, it will be better to let them fight each other.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shed through many possibilities in his mind. He said, ¡°You are a disciple of New Moon Hall.¡±


    ¡°Does the Dragon King want to talk about the details here or outside?¡±


    This was the second time that Guan Shang said something simr. Previously, Gu Shenwei was led to the underground chamber of Tianji Society by this remark. This time, he didn¡¯t know where he would be led to.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk outside.¡± Gu Shenwei also wanted to leave this ce as soon as possible.


    Guan Shang used the key to unlock the door and pulled open the heavy metal door with much effort. She then gestured for the Dragon King to leave first.


    It was dark outside. Bodhi Garden was no different from the wilderness in early winter, and there was ayer of snow on the ground. Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t figure out how many days he had been hiding in the underground chamber.


    Guan Shang dragged Shangguan Fei out and ced him on the snow. She then turned and closed the door. Subsequently, she exined, ¡°The one who wakes up earlier will kill the other person. He will then push the me onto the Dragon King. It is better to separate them first.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded in agreement. In fact, at this crucial juncture when Great Snowmountain wanted to make peace with Golden Roc Fort, even without Guan Shang¡¯s persuasion, he wouldn¡¯t have killed any member of the Shangguan and Meng families.


    Shangguan Fei was dressed in women¡¯s clothing and he looked very simr to his sister. He snorted in the snow. Gu Shenwei went up and kicked him.


    ¡°The Dragon King, pleasee with me.¡±


    ¡°No, youe with me.¡±


    The Dragon King wasn¡¯t holding onto his swords, but Guan Shang couldn¡¯t question his words. Guan Shang hesitated a little bit and said, ¡°The Dragon King, please lead the way.¡±


    Out of all the apartments Xu Xiaoyi bought in Jade City, one was located in North City. It was an independent apartment in a grand mansion. There were also other tenants. The owner of the mansion was a rtive to the king of a nation and had the nominal ownership. Because of this, the owner would receive his monthly rent and turn a blind eye to anything that was happening in the mansion.


    That was hisst hiding spot. Gu Shenwei wouldn¡¯t use it unless the situation had be extremely dangerous.


    Even so, he and Guan Shang still checked the surroundings carefully. They entered after having made sure that there was no danger.


    Guan Shang was an excellent killer. Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help but think that he needed such a killer.


    Before the Dragon King could ask, Guan Shang started to narrate a story, ¡°New Moon Hall didn¡¯t disappear. On the contrary, the leader brought the majority of the disciples out from the desert. For many years, I have been working hard to prate into the various forces of Jade City, especially that of Golden Roc Fort. I shouldn¡¯t have exposed my identity this early, but it is my priority to protect the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Are you really the ck-masked assassin?¡± Gu Shenwei had his doubts. The assassins he knew were extremely loyal to their masters as if they were their masters¡¯ shadow. They were very different from Guan Shang.


    ¡°I am. I was trained in Golden Roc Fort ever since when I was able to remember things. I had been leading a monotonous life for twenty-eight years. The leader enlightened me and made me understand that I was no different from a zombie. I switched over to New Moon Hall two years ago. From then on, I only had one goal and the leader was like my parent.¡±


    Guan Shang¡¯s words made Gu Shenwei feel more suspicious.


    It was said that New Moon Hall was good at making knockout powder and specialized in evil secrets. If Guan Shang didn¡¯t have other motives, then he might be controlled by the evil secrets. Ordinary Golden Roc killers, let alone ck-masked assassins, were unlikely to be swayed by a few words. Gu Shenwei knew that he and Maid Lotus were the only two defectors in many years.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if the Dragon King doesn¡¯t believe me. The leader will exin everything to you after you have met her.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had seen the leader of New Moon Hall. She was a tall beautiful woman and she was the one who inserted the ¡°evil spirits¡± into Shangguan Ru¡¯s body and the others. Her methods were more powerful and were more evil than that of Mama Xue. It was beyond Gu Shenwei¡¯s understanding. He only knew about swords, so he was definitely unwilling to deal with that kind of woman.


    Gu Shenwei had seen the disciples of Barren Sect and New Moon Hall before, and none of them were normal. Even Maid Lotus showed her madness which was deep inside her during thest moment of her escape.


    Gu Shenwei thought that the word ¡°crazy¡± was the most appropriate term to describe these women.


    ¡°I am not in a rush to meet your leader.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King had misunderstood our New Moon Hall,¡± Guan Shangughed. ¡°Whatever, both New Moon Hall and Great Snowmountain have the same goal, which is to destroy Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    ¡°Is that the reason why you kill people in my name so that the negotiations will be disrupted?¡±


    ¡°The purpose of the Great Snowmountain peace treaty is to preserve and strengthen its capacity. It works the same way as the concealment of New Moon Hall. Why would we ruin the Dragon King¡¯s n? The imposter is someone else.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°I heard a lot of insider information from Stone Castle. The news that is reported to the Dragon King on a daily basis is true, so ¡­¡±


    ¡°The imposter came from Golden Roc Fort.¡± Gu Shenwei had known about this. He wanted to sound Guan Shang out by using New Moon Hall.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t found any concrete evidence, but these imposters have something to do with Stone Castle. Those who were killed either had a dispute with Stone Castle or were useless machetemen. Stone Castle made use of this opportunity to simultaneously wipe out dissidents and disrupt the negotiations.


    Gu Shenwei reminded himself that New Moon Hall was good at sowing discord and would thus benefit from it. Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯tpletely believe Guan Shang¡¯s words.


    ¡°Do you have other clues?¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s for the time being. It is better for the leader to exin to you in more detail.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pped Guan Shang on her neck and knocked her out. He then found a rope to tie her up and ced her on the bed.


    It was toote for Gu Shenwei to learn about acupoints pressure. He thought to himself that he would have to bring some tough ropes along with him in the future.


    Guan Shang said that she had no clue, but Gu Shenwei was doubtful of her words. Gu Shenwei had one clue.


    The reward for the swords and the sessive assassinations reminded Gu Shenwei of a ce: cksmith Vige. It was located in the easternmost part of South City.


    The imposters of the Dragon King hadmitted crimes in many ces, but there were many cases which happened in cksmith Vige. Many people, including the Big Protector, cksmiths and apprentices were killed. There must be a reason behind this.


    Gu Shenwei put on his cape and took Guan Shang¡¯s waist token. He entered South City through the checkpoint in the morning.


    It was now when the Great Snowmountain¡¯s negotiation had fallen through. It was the seventh day of the ten-day ultimatum, which had been delivered by the Special Emissary from the Central ins. Fang Wenshi was very anxious and prayed that the Dragon King would soon appear and solve all the current problems.


    It happened four hours after Shangguan Fei had gotten up from the snow. He hastily left Bodhi Garden in fear and anger and turned to his mother for help.


    Golden Roc Fort heard the news and deployed many men. Golden Roc Fort made a vow that they will kill the Dragon King and the ck-masked assassin who betrayed them within three days.

 Chapter 288 - Tianshan

    Chapter 288: Tianshan


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    It was an ordinary day at cksmith Vige, although it was shrouded in an unfortunate atmosphere. The temperature had plummeted and business was poor. A seventeen-year-old apprentice had been killedst night. A ck Blood g was ced at the doorstep of a shop and the blood on the g was frozen.


    More than sixty cksmiths came together in a small house that afternoon to discuss countermeasures. However, no one had any ideas and they were only here to chat. Most didn¡¯t even have a seat and they had to squeeze in and squat around.


    ¡°Seven cksmiths had died.¡±


    ¡°Twelve apprentices had died too. I don¡¯t have enough people, but no one in South City dares to take up this job.¡±


    ¡°Why does the Dragon King hate cksmiths? We didn¡¯t offend him.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Hong. Please say something.¡±


    Mr. Hong was a hunched, well-built old man who had been lowering his head. Out of the dozens of cksmiths, he was the only one who hadn¡¯t spoken at all. He barely raised his head when his name was called. He then said, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Are you the one who initially made weapons for the Dragon King?¡±


    After hearing this sentence, everyone looked at him. Mr. Hong¡¯s mouth was sealed and looked stubborn. After a while, he said, ¡°I have made two swords for him a few years ago. What¡¯s the matter? If he is unsatisfied, he can juste and kill me.¡±


    This wasn¡¯t a big deal but everyone looked surprised. This was the only rtionship between cksmith Vige and the Dragon King that they knew of. The reason why the Dragon King was angry and wanted to take revenge after so many years was due to either Mr. Hong pocketing more money during that time or there were problems with the sword.


    The Dragon King was someone who bore grudges. Wasn¡¯t his motive foring into Jade City to take revenge on Golden Roc Fort?


    Mr. Hong lowered his head again, but he couldn¡¯t avoid those gazes. They were like countless fine needles which made Mr. Hong feel ufortable. It seemed as if he hadmitted a shameful crime and was epting the public¡¯s silent criticism. Hence, he stood up, pushed the door and walked out of the room.


    ¡°What ¡­ is going on? He hadn¡¯t made himself clear,¡± a cksmith said discontentedly. Others were nodding their heads.


    Soon, they heard a hoarse scream from the street. cksmith Mr. Hong used such a method to exin himself. He shouted, ¡°Damn you, Dragon King! Come and kill me, you coward! I will be waiting here!¡±


    The cksmiths dispersed and no one dared to persuade Mr. Hong.


    The hunched old man stood up straight. He watched his counterparts running away, pedestrians rushed off and the shops on both sides of the street closed. He couldn¡¯t help but sigh.


    cksmiths could forge the sharpest weapons, but they couldn¡¯t control how the weapon can be used. When they were attacked, they were as helpless as ordinary people and would panic.


    Mr. Hong walked back to his small shop. Two young disciples looked at their master in panic. One said, ¡°Master, my mother is ill ¡­¡±, the other said, ¡°My sister is going to get married.¡±


    ¡°Leave. All of you, leave.¡±


    There was one person left, but Mr. Hong felt at ease. He took off his robe, picked up his hammer and struck the iron te on the anvil. Sparks were flying and he felt more at ease.


    What was terrible about death? Something might even grow on the tomb after he was buried in the soil.


    Night fell. cksmith Vige, which was usually noisy and had furnaces burning, was surprisingly quiet now. Mr. Hong sat down next to the anvil. He was looking at the shanty wooden door and was not doing anything. He wasn¡¯t hungry, but he felt slightly cold, so he put on his robe again.


    When he looked up again, there was one more person at the door. The person was masked in ck and was holding onto a saber.


    Mr. Hong nced at him, lowered his head and showed his neck. He said, ¡°Come and kill me in one strike.¡±


    The man in ck took a step forward and raised his saber. He took another step forward, but he suddenly stopped. He realized that there was something wrong.


    Arge fell from the beam of the house. Five men jumped down onto the ground and each of them pulled at a corner.


    The man in ck swung his saber twice, but he was still caught in the.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let him swallow poison!¡± one of the ambushers shouted. The group rushed up and suppressed the man in ck. They hurriedly pinched his nose and opened his mouth. They took something out from his mouth.


    ¡°Alright. We caught him alive!¡± a twenty-year-old young man eximed excitedly. He was holding a small pill in his hand for cksmith Mr. Hong to check.


    Mr. Hong nodded.


    The young man grabbed the prisoner and tore his mask off. ¡°Mr. Hong, is this him?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, will the real Dragon King be caught so easily? Ask him where he came from.¡± Mr. Hong¡¯s tone sounded strict. The hunched, ipetent cksmith suddenly became a decisive leader.


    The young man kicked the prisoner and said, ¡°Mr. Hong is asking you a question. Say something.¡±


    The prisoner was a thin middle-aged man. He sneered and turned away. He didn¡¯t reply to Mr. Hong.


    The young man wanted to lift his foot again. Mr. Hong then said, ¡°Don¡¯t interrogate him here. Bring him to a safe ce and interrogate him there.¡±


    The other four men carried the prisoner and the young man pushed open the door and looked around for a while. When the coast was clear, he turned around and the group of people left quietly.


    The young man looked at the old cksmith with a little bit of concern. He said, ¡°Mr. Hong, I will stay and protect you.¡±


    ¡°Go, I don¡¯t need to be protected.¡± Mr. Hong¡¯s tone sounded stiff, as though the young man had offended him.


    The young man¡¯s face flushed slightly and he hurried outside to catch up to hispanions.


    Mr. Hong patted off the non-existent dust on his body. He then stood up and was preparing to strike the iron te. He still had to do his job regardless of how many people wanted to kill him or whether there were any guests.


    Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in the back of his head. Mr. Hong fell into darkness as he ¡°plopped¡± forward.


    When Mr. Hong slowly woke up, there were ¡°tinkling¡± sounds in his ear, which made him think that he was in a cksmith¡¯s shop. However, the sound disappeared when the scene became clearer.


    He was leaning against a coffin in a mourning hall.


    Mr. Hong was surprised and stood up in a hurry. He recognized that this was the mourning hall which was set up for Big Protector who had been killed a few days ago. His wife and children fled the city in less than three days after Big Protector¡¯s death. It had been a long time since someone stayed in the hall. Those cksmiths who were familiar with Big Protector would light up two candles every day.


    There was a young man standing at the door and he looked surprisingly pale. It was as if he was a terminally ill patient who was going to die. He was peering out into the cold night through a gap.


    ¡°The Dragon King?¡± Mr. Hong vaguely recognized his face, but he looked very different from that teenager a few years back. He didn¡¯t seem to be the same person.


    ¡°Someone was using my name to kill people.¡± Gu Shenwei wasying in ambush in cksmith Vige for twelve to fourteen hours and had watched coldly as Mr. Hong set up a trap to capture someone alive. He didn¡¯t follow the prisoner because he felt that Mr. Hong would know more.


    ¡°I guessed so.¡± Mr. Hong stood up as he tried to straighten his hunched back. He was calmer than mostpetent killers when facing the Dragon King.


    ¡°It¡¯s time for you to tell me something.¡± Gu Shenwei turned around and looked at the cksmith who had once made the ¡°Huan¡± and ¡°Yun¡± de for him and Maid Lotus.


    ¡°I have nothing to say.¡± Mr. Hong was stubborn. He would have the same attitude even if he was standing in front of the Supreme King.


    ¡°That Lin Xiaoshan. Is he your son?¡± Gu Shenwei was hiding in a blind spot when he was observing Mr. Hong. He could guess some secrets from Mr. Hong¡¯s eyes.


    Lin Xiaoshan was the young man who wanted to stay behind to protect Mr. Hong.


    After Gu Shenwei made that remark, Mr. Hong¡¯s facial expression changed. His muscles twitched, and it seemed as if mes were about to burst out from his eyes. He shouted, ¡°No, but you are not allowed to touch him!¡±


    ¡°Are you able tomand me?¡±


    The mes in Mr. Hong¡¯s eyes gradually died down. Mr. Hong then lowered his head and said, ¡°The imposter was killing Tianshan Sect, instead of the cksmiths.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Gu Shenwei doubted that he had heard wrongly.


    ¡°Tianshan.¡±


    Gu Shenwei immediately thought of Elderly Dragon who was wearing a cotton-padded jacket and peddling fantasies to swordsmen. Tianshan Sect was the first small gang, whom Elderly Dragon participated in the massacre of as a killer apprentice. It was moremonly referred to as the ¡°Ten-Dragon Gang¡±.


    However, both Elderly Dragon and Tianshan Sect were swindlers. They would collect admission fees and say big words. It was simr to the preaching of the holy monk. The backbone of the gang, including Elderly Dragon, were all dead.


    Gu Shenwei never imagined that he would hear the name of this gang again, but he soon realized, ¡°Are you one of the ten dragons of Tianshan Sect?¡±


    ¡°The Ten Dragons is a scam. Elderly Dragon was too anxious, so he had died a terrible death.¡±


    ¡°He is a liar,¡± Gu Shenwei said coldly.


    ¡°Yes, Elderly Dragon is a liar and so is the Ten-Dragon Gang. Mr. Hong readily admitted, ¡°However, Tianshan Sect isn¡¯t. Golden Roc Fort thought that they have destroyed Tianshan Sect, but we have been developing in secret. Some information was leaked when a traitor had betrayed Tianshan Sect a month ago.¡±


    ¡°So, was Golden Roc Fort using my name to destroy Tianshan Sect again?¡±


    ¡°This is why it is so strange. The traitor didn¡¯t seek refuge in Golden Roc Fort. The Supreme King probably still thought that Tianshan Sect had already perished.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the influence of Tianshan Sect is bigger than what you think. I heard that you have seen Immortal Peng from Joy Pavilion before. His Stop Kills Society is a scam. Tianshan Sect is the one who is managing the machetemen.¡±


    The light that just appeared dimmed again. Guan Shang, who was a disciple of New Moon Hall, believed that the imposter was a Golden Roc killer. The imposter should be rted to Stone Castle. Gu Shenwei originally thought so, but that was directly denied by Mr. Hong.


    Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t concerned about whether Stop Kills Society was a scam.


    ¡°If it¡¯s not Golden Roc Fort, who will it be?¡±


    ¡°We also don¡¯t know. That¡¯s why we had to capture prisoners and interrogate them. However, we may not get much information because we couldn¡¯t sound them out. They were in awe of their mastermind and will rather die than leak any information out. We will design another trap and use these prisoners to lure bigger targets. The mastermind will be exposed sooner orter.¡±


    Mr. Hong spoke much. This waspletely different from his usual temper. He was surprised. He said, ¡°That¡¯s all. Tianshan Sect won¡¯t make a fuss even though the Dragon King had once participated in the massacre of the Ten-Dragon Gang. Both of us don¡¯t hate each other. If the Dragon King is willing, then we can join hands.¡±


    ¡°I will look for you when you have news.¡± Gu Shenwei wanted the support of Tianshan Sect, but he was more used to being alone. It might be a wrong move for him to believe anyone, especially at this moment.


    ¡°We will be waiting. However, please don¡¯t knock my head and ask me directly.¡± Mr. Hong was rubbing the back of his head as it still felt painful.


    ¡°Are you the chief?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    ¡°Hey. There is no need for the Dragon King to sound me out because I won¡¯t tell you. There are too many different kinds of people in Jade City, so the chief will never reveal himself. In short, it is not me. He is a great man and the Dragon King will meet him soon ¡­¡±


    Mr. Hong spoke a little too much about the chief. It seemed as if the Dragon King¡¯s punch has changed Mr. Hong¡¯s character and made him more talkative.


    The Dragon King left before Mr. Hong has finished speaking. He darted out of the door and disappeared.


    The clue was broken again. This matter became very confusing as the motive of the imposter was unclear.


    Gu Shenwei flipped over the boundary wall and quickly returned to North City. He wanted to reinterrogate Guan Shang because there was something wrong with her words.

 Chapter 289 - Crows

    Chapter 289: Crows


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The courtyard looked very safe. Gu Shenwei observed for two hours before entering. By this time, it was almost daybreak.


    Guan Shang was still lying in bed. She looked at the Dragon King helplessly, who returned a dayter.


    Gu Shenwei cut off the leather rope for her leather and took a few steps back. ¡°I have something to ask you.¡±


    ¡°And then knock me out again?¡±


    ¡°That depends.¡±


    The Dragon King was serious. Guan Shang sat up and rubbed her arms. ¡°Please ask.¡±


    ¡°You mentioned that the people who were killed by the imposter had grudges against Golden Roc Fort. What about the people in cksmith Vige who were killed? Did they offend Golden Roc Fort as well?¡±


    ¡°cksmiths? No, they had no grudges against Golden Roc Fort. It was a tactic to take advantage of a confusing situation. Many people were killed by the imposter to create chaos so that they can make use of the opportunity to kill off the real target. The Lord wanted to kill several major Protectors as some of them dominated certain businesses and their influence was gettingrger. They were evenpeting with Golden Roc Fort secretly.¡±


    ¡°A major Protector in cksmith Vige was killed as well.¡±


    ¡°He might either be the real target or someone who died in vain. I cannot be sure. The Stone Castle kept this confidential and it was impossible for me to know.¡±


    ¡°What do you know about Master Lianhua?¡±


    ¡°That holy monk who was killed? As far as I know, his death was not part of Golden Roc Fort¡¯s n. Because after hearing about his death, they were both excited and surprised by it.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t the killers capture a few prisoners? Did they confess?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about that. However, there¡¯s something strange. There are some people in the fort who seemed to be very interested in the poison that was swallowed by the imposters. They collected a few pills and even took some corpses away.¡±


    Gu Shenwei understood why Golden Roc Fort would be interested in the poison. This method of suicide was simr to what New Moon Hall would do. Supreme King would definitely want to get to the bottom of it. However, as a disciple of New Moon Hall, Guan Shang couldn¡¯t understand why they were making a big fuss about it.


    ¡°Does New Moon Hall concoct all kinds of poison often?¡±


    Guan Shang understood what the Dragon King meant and shook her head. She said, ¡°Our Sect is good at making poisons, but there is no need for a suicide poison. Every disciple is loyal and will never reveal any information even if they are caught.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had seen how thedies of New Moon Hall would rather die than to submit. Guan Shang was initially a loyal ck-masked assassin who would never betray, yet she was roped in by New Moon Hall. He said, ¡°The Master must have done something to you right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ashamed. I am not qualified to ept the Master¡¯s skills.¡±


    Gu Shenwei snorted slightly. She was forced to pledge her allegiance to New Moon Hall so naturally she waspelled to lie as well. His trust in Guan Shang was greatly reduced.


    ¡°Take me to meet the Master.¡±


    Upon hearing Dragon King¡¯s request, Guan Shang seemed a bit surprised. She said, ¡°Alright, but you will have to wait for seven days.¡±


    ¡°You seemed to be in a hurry to let me meet her yesterday.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I could only get information once every week and yesterday was supposed to be it. Since I didn¡¯t get the information, I would have to wait for another week.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was confused by Guan Shang and Mr. Hong¡¯s conflicting statements. There seemed to be many clues, but none of them were useful.


    He stood by the door and pondered over the matter, while Guan Shang sat on the edge of the bed motionlessly. She was staring at her saber, which was ced on a table a few steps away. She could grab it if she stood up, but she didn¡¯t dare to do it in front of Dragon King.


    ¡°You are free,¡± Gu Shenwei said suddenly. Guan Shang was no longer of use to him.


    ¡°I can help the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Gu Shenwei refused directly. He only needed intelligence, not assistance.


    Guan Shang stood up and picked up her saber. She cautiously walked past Dragon King and said, ¡°After a week, I will tell Master that the Dragon King wants to meet her.¡±


    Guan Shang disappeared into the brief darkness before daybreak. Like the Dragon King, she was also being hunted down by Golden Roc Fort and needs to find a safe hiding spot.


    Gu Shenwei followed her from a distance.


    North City appears to have wide walkways, but there were many obstacles. Many overt and undercover officers continued to keep watch around the ce. It was like a deep forest for those who were familiar with the situation. There were only a few areas were not monitored or seldom monitored. These areas formed a disconnected forested path.


    Both Gu Shenwei and Guan Shang knew these paths. Hence, he could determine her path beforehand and was able to follow her from a distance. If it was the chaotic South City, he would need to follow her more closely.


    Guan Shang returned to Bodhi Garden.


    It was very clever of her to hide in a ce where Golden Roc Fort would never expect her to be in, or perhaps she had an ulterior motive to inform her master about the situation after deceiving the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei did not enter.


    Gu Shenwei took a risk and used Guan Shang¡¯s killer waist token again as he exited the city through the eastern gate. He rented a horse and rode it around the nearby streets. After confirming that there was no one tailing him, he sped up and headed towards the southern suburbs.


    There was a small hill to the south of Jade City and it was full of rocks. Only a few tender des of grass could grow in the rainy season. The residents of Jade City named it Reincarnation Hill.


    This was where corpses were dumped. Any unimed corpses would be carried to this ce and buried hastily. On many asions, there was no soil covering the corpses.


    Gu Shenwei saw arge group of crows flying up and down from a distance.


    Golden Roc Fort was interested in the poison swallowed by the suiciders. Gu Shenwei initially thought that Supreme King wanted to dig out traces of New Moon Hall. After pondering for some time, he felt that he should not jump to conclusions. There might be some hidden clues, so he wanted to investigate as well.


    Most of the corpses whomitted suicide would be dumped at Reincarnation Hill.


    However, Gu Shenwei changed his mind after seeing the crows. He turned back and headed towards South City.


    He was very lucky. He saw a carriage just as he was leaving the hill.


    There were several corpses on the carriage. The two coachmen covered their faces with ck cloth. However, they were dressed shabbily, as though they were doing a poor imitation of killers.


    They were corpse transporters and had no interest in killers. They covered their faces for two reasons. Firstly, it was to block off the foul smell of the corpses. Secondly, they wanted to keep their identities hidden as this was not a profession worth showing off.


    The transporters were shocked as the strange knight offered to walk with them all the way. People often paid them to dispose of the corpses as soon as possible, no one was willing to watch them work.


    Twenty silver taels and the shing of the killer waist token resolved all doubts.


    The group of crows was very familiar with the transporters. They started dancing and chattering excitedly. Some of them evennded on the carriage eagerly.


    The transporters waved their whip and drove the hungry birds away. They then dumped the corpses on the side of the road and shoveled some earth onto the corpses symbolically. They were ready to return to the city.


    ¡°The winter soil is too hard. We could only do this,¡± one of the corpse transporters exined to the knight.


    The knight looked indifferent. Shocked, the transporters hurried down the hill. They didn¡¯t dare to ask anymore. After they traveled for some distance, both of them looked back and analyzed the knight¡¯s purpose for going to Reincarnation Hill.


    The crows were not afraid of the living. As soon as the corpse transporters left, the crows flew past Gu Shenwei andnded on the corpses like a dark cloud. Two of the birds even had the audacity to peck on Gu Shenwei¡¯s ears.


    Gu Shenwei drew out his Five Peaks Saber and struck across. Several crows fell to the ground, but it did not even affect the appetite of other birds.


    Instead of heading down the hill, he urged the nervous horse to head up the hill. There was no more road upwards, only heaps of rocks.


    Three men who were lying in ambush jumped out like lithe lynxes pouncing on the prey on horseback.


    Gu Shenwei leaped into the air. He looked like a giant crow as his ck cape spread open. The first strike slits a person¡¯s throat and the second strike pierced another¡¯s heart.


    He thennded back on the ground.


    The third person missed his target and looked at hispanions¡¯ corpses in disbelief. He seemed to have realized something. Before he could act, the ck knight rushed towards him and gripped his throat.


    Gu Shenwei forced thest person to spit the poison out. He took out a leather rope and tied the person before pushing him to the ground.


    The crows nearby cocked their heads and their gazes were filled with greed.


    ¡°I won¡¯t say anything.¡± The captive looked flustered, but his tone was still unyielding.


    ¡°Let them interrogate you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei held onto the horse and slowly retreated. Encouraged, the crows hopped towards the human who was tied up.


    The first crow jumped onto the human¡¯s chest and pecked him lightly on the face. Dozens of crows came forward simultaneously.


    The captive screamed loudly, his body writhing like a fish that had been thrown ashore.


    The crows dispersed and swarmed towards him again.


    ¡°I will talk, I will talk. Hurry up and get rid of them!¡±


    Gu Shenwei rushed into the flock of birds and swung his Five Peaks Saber swiftly. There were more dead birds on the ground. The remaining crows finally sensed the danger and retreated, growling discontentedly.


    Gu Shenwei were grateful for these crows. From afar, he was able to guess that there were people at the top of the hill as crows were flying up and down.


    The captive¡¯s face was pale, ¡°You are the Dragon King?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    ¡°Hey, your head must be spinning, right? Let your crowse over. I¡¯m not afraid of death. Someone will avenge me.¡± The captive who was just begging for mercy suddenly became bold. He closed his eyes, moved his lips and murmured softly. He appeared frightened yet fearless.


    ¡°Someone will be taking over your shift at night?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    The captive opened his eyes suddenly, but Dragon King was no longer in sight. Swarms of ck crows were heading his way. They seemed to understand that they were permitted to enjoy this good meal without hesitation.


    The shrieks stopped quickly.


    Gu Shenwei released the frightened horse and stood beside the crows. Jade City was enveloped in dark winter clouds. No crow dared to approach this human being as he looked from afar.


    Gu Shenwei knew that the Special Emissary from the Central ins would leave Jade City the day after tomorrow. Great Snow Mountain only had a little more than a day left. He needs to find out who the mastermind behind the imposter was so that the negotiations could continue.


    The purpose of killing was to stop killing. The purpose of a peace negotiation was to vite the negotiation. Gu Shenwei held onto his sword shaft with confidence.


    Three shadows went up Reincarnation Hill at nightfall.


    One of them whistled, but there was no response.


    The bright moon was hanging high in the sky, illuminating the entire area. They found three familiar knives and three sets of fresh skeletons.


    The three men looked at one another, speechless. They immediately pulled out their sabers and looked around in horror. They leaned towards one another and retreated. They would jump in fear whenever they heard a bird call.


    After retreating back to the foot of the hill, they ran around the wilderness like rabbits and fled towards South City, looking back frequently as they were afraid that the crows would catch up to them anytime.


    These three panicky machetemen were unable to detect the presence of the Dragon King.


    Three of them fled into the burnt peach forest in Gui Garden. Arriving at the rear wall of Joy Pavilion, they knelt down on one leg and shouted in unison, ¡°Lord, Lord.¡±


    There was another person on the wall. He was well built, but ugly. His brow ridge was bulged high, like a horn that had been cut into two. His eyes were covered by the shadow. Holding onto a saber at his waist, he looked as solemn as a king.


    More and more people appeared. Some were standing on the wall, some were standing in the peach forest. They formed several circles around the ugly man, facing him as they knelt on one leg.


    Gu Shenwei saw several familiar faces. He saw Wang Cheng, the first person who tailed him after he entered the city and Boss Mo, the swindler who coborated with the holy monk. They should be dead since they swallowed the poison. However, these people were revived and were kneeling along with other people.


    Gu Shenwei finally knew who the mastermind behind the imposter was.

 Chapter 290 - The Meeting

    Chapter 290: The Meeting


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Fang Wenshi was restless.


    The Special Emissary from the Central ins was growing impatient. If Dragon King did not show up and expose the imposter, the negotiation would most certainly fall through.


    The Great Snowmountain and Tuo Nengya together only counted to about three thousand people. It was impossible for them tost through the winter.


    Fang Wenshi liked things to be orderly and under his control. However, it was hard for the counselor to fathom the Dragon King¡¯s thoughts as he was consistently unconventional in his behavior.


    Bad news continued to arrive, one after the other. Golden Roc Fort hinted that they had found Dragon King and would capture him alive any moment. Four Truths Temple and the many machetemen from Jade City were furious about the death of the holy monk and wanted to avenge the monk themselves. The Nond governor, Mo Chu, simply added fuel to the mes, publicly iming that he would push for Nond and the Central in to send a coalition to take over Jade City if Dragon King was not punished for his crimes.


    As luck would have it, Shu-lik had also sent a messenger to Jade City.


    The peace negotiations between the Great Snowmountain and Golden Roc Fort was practically a form of betrayal towards Shu-lik. Fang Wenshi had spent endless words trying to convince the King of Shu-lik that Dragon King would battle it out with Supreme King. But now, only after two mediocre wars were fought, they nned to call for a truce. Shu-lik had lent their roads,nd and even supplied part of the resources to the Great Snowmountain, but just as raising a tiger invites cmity, indulging one¡¯s enemy was surely asking for trouble.


    Fang Wenshi had originally thought that the peace negotiations would bepleted before winter arrived. Shu-lik would acknowledge the negotiations as long as they had the support of Central ins and agreement from Nond.


    However, the negotiation process was greatly dyed due to the mess made by the imposter Dragon King.


    Shu-lik must be up to something if they sent a messenger over at this time.


    The Shu-lik messenger was named Shi Ying. He was a rtive of the King of Shu-lik and served as one of his minister. Fang Wenshi remembered him. He was the ck-faced minister who had always been at loggerheads with him during the court session, opposed to the lending of roads to Great Snowmountain.


    Fang Wenshi gritted his teeth and reluctantly went to pay respects to Shi Ying but was politely refused a visit. It was evident that Shu-lik intended to disrupt the peace talks.


    Fang Wenshi felt helpless. He had observed how Dragon King resolved issues at thest moment; he could only hope that Dragon King would seed again this time.


    The ¡°10 days deadline¡± was up. Fang Wenshi asked Chu Nanping whether he knew where Dragon King had been, but the young swordsman only shook his head.


    Fang Wenshi went to meet the Special Emissary from the Central ins with a heavy heart. He believed that his counselor¡¯s dream was about to be shattered. However, he quickly raised his spirits. Now that he had made a name for himself, he could always find another person who would recognize his worth even if he were to leave Dragon King.


    The Special Emissary from the Central ins also invited Governor Mo Chu, the messenger from Shu-lik, a chief from the Whiterobe Academy of Golden Roc Fort, a young master from Meng family and a monk from Four Truths Temple. This was not a formal meeting as the purpose was to reach a consensus on one thing: Would the Central in support the peace negotiations?


    Everyone knew the answer. If Dragon King continued to indiscriminately kill people in Jade City, it would mean that Great Snowmountain was not sincere about the peace negotiations, and there would not need to talk about support from the Central ins.


    The seven of them exchanged pleasant greetings, before Fang Wenshi realized that he was being left out. Except for the Special Emissary from the Central ins, no one was talking to him. The messenger from Shu-lik, Shi Ying, pretended not to know him, while Mo Chu actively red at him. Dragon King had provoked him twice, causing one of his favored concubines to die, so naturally, he was still bitter.


    The representative that Meng Family sent was Second Master, Mingshu. He was the first to bring up the main topic. He coughed and said, ¡°The Great Snowmountain wants to make peace with Golden Roc Fort. This matter is of great concern and should be settled by today.¡±


    Xuan Sheng the monk spoke, ¡°It is best to make peace. However, Dragon King has still not shown up. He has secretly killed countless people, with Master Lianhua counting among one of the victims. It is hardly believable that Dragon King is sincere about making peace.¡±


    The chief from Golden Roc Fort was a skinny old man. He looked like a schr who knew nothing about martial arts, but his voice was as grating as metal on metal. He said, ¡°Everyone is aware that Great Snowmountain has invaded us repeatedly and Yang Huan¡¯s killing desire is ever burning. Thus, Golden Roc Fort had no choice but to deploy soldiers to protect ourselves. However, we assure you that the head of Dragon King will be on this table in two days¡¯ time. The swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain will vanish from the Western Region by next spring. There is absolutely no need to discuss peace negotiations.¡±


    No one spoke after that. The Special Emissary from the Central ins looked at Fang Wenshi and said, ¡°Mr. Fang is the messenger from the Great Snowmountain. Do you have anything to say?¡±


    Fang Wenshi was caught off-guard. He blurted, ¡°Dragon King bears the burden of avenging his father. However, in order not to disrupt the lives of the people within the Western Region, he is willing to forsake his hatred and make peace with Golden Roc Fort. He is very sincere about it. I can assure you that the recent killings in Jade City have nothing to do with Dragon King and the Great Snowmountain.¡±


    ¡°What use is your assurance?¡± It was the first time the chief from Golden Roc Fort had spoken to the Great Snowmountain messenger and it was extremely disdainful. ¡°Let Yang Huane and speak for himself.¡±


    ¡°Hey, Golden Roc Fort has long schemed to send Dragon King to his doom. How can he show up so easily?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Yang Huan doesn¡¯t dare to show up. He has always sent his men to represent him, even asking his men to kill people for him.¡± The disgust was in on the chief of Golden Roc Fort¡¯s face.


    ¡°This is where the problem lies.¡± Fang Wenshi had to restrain himself, remarking in a confused tone, ¡°Dragon King entered the city alone with no one following him. He could not possibly be in two ces at once either. Where did these ¡®men¡¯e from?¡±


    ¡°He dares to act, but not take responsibility? Didn¡¯t Yang Huan once im that he had thousands of soldiers? It is no big deal sacrificing a few men. He said that he entered the city alone, but who knows? There might be a group of men alongside him.¡±


    ¡°I heard that Golden Roc Fort caught several captives?¡± Fang Wenshi turned the tables back on the chief of Golden Roc Fort.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Did they admit to being the Dragon King¡¯s subordinates?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Is there a need to ask?¡±


    ¡°And they killed people using the Golden Roc saber?¡±


    ¡°Stop pushing the me to Stone Castle. It is normal for Yang Huan to use a saber since he was once a Golden Roc killer.¡±


    ¡°That was not what I meant.¡± Fang Wenshi said cheerfully even though he was still uncertain. He said, ¡°Dragon King is used to using the Golden Roc saber, but all his men are swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain. They are not used to using this type of weapon.¡±


    ¡°This gentleman is good at arguing, but he is a little forgetful. There are more than one thousand machetemen in the Great Snowmountain military camp. These people are also under Yang Huan.¡±


    ¡°Well, I am a little forgetful and I don¡¯t know any kung fu, but I do know one thing. No matter where you are from, machetemen are terrible at using the Golden Roc saber. Just look at the name itself, Golden Roc saber, who else would be specialized in using it? Why would Dragon King let his men use weapons that they were unfamiliar with?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? Are you saying that Golden Roc Fort impersonated as Yang Huan¡¯s men and killed our own men?¡± The veins on the chief of Golden Roc¡¯s neck bulged, and he stood to his feet. His posture clearly showed that he knew kung fu and was skilled.


    Fang Wenshi shook his head repeatedly as he took advantage of this loophole. He hoped that he could try to buy some time for Dragon King. ¡°I have no evidence, so I will not use anyone. I only want to let everyone know that if Dragon King raises his g, he will acknowledge his doings. If he denies any killings, he will not raise his g. The current situation is obviously a conspiracy. <em>Some people </em>clearly hope that the negotiations will fall through so that they can take advantage of the chaos.¡±


    The chief of Golden Roc Fort mentioned from the start that he was unwilling to go through with the peace negotiations. Therefore, he felt that the messenger from the Great Snowmountain messenger was talking about himself. He then took a step forward and said sternly, ¡°Chaos? Ha, the Great Snowmountain overestimates itself. You are not worthy topete with Golden Roc Fort yet!¡±


    Fang Wenshi was unsettled. He gritted his teeth and took a step forward boldly. Heughed and said, ¡°Golden Roc Fort imed that they could get the head of Dragon King in two days¡¯ time and wipe out the Great Snowmountain by next spring. However, I do not recall that Dragon King suffering any injury in the past three years and the Great Snowmountain was victorious in thest two wars fought. They have high morale, you know?¡±


    The chief of Golden Roc Fort touched his hip out of habit before remembering that he was unarmed. ¡°What high morale indeed. We shall wait and see then, Sir.¡±


    Governor Mo Chu was irritated by their verbal exchange. He considered himself to be the highest ranked among all present. Banging the table, he growled, ¡°Cut the crap and let Dragon Kinge and exin everything himself.¡±


    Fang Wenshi bowed towards the Governor and said, ¡°Sir Governor, it is not that Dragon King doesn¡¯t want toe, but the Golden Roc Fort killers are closing in on him. It is impossible for him toe.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s there to be afraid of? I can guarantee his safety.¡± Mo Chu patted his chest, his thick white beard swinging back and forth, ¡°I cannot protect him forever but if anyone dares toy a finger on Dragon King today, that person will be regarded as an enemy of Nond.¡±


    After Mo Chu finished speaking, everyone looked at the chief of Golden Roc Fort. The chief bowed in response and said, ¡°Since Lord Mo has spoken, Golden Roc Fort will obey your orders. Yang Huan will be safe for today.¡±


    Everyone then fixed their gaze on the messenger from the Great Snowmountain. Fang Wenshi found himself in a predicament. He did not know the whereabouts of Dragon King so he could neither ept nor refuse the offer.


    Just when Fang Wenshi was running out of ideas, Shi Ying, the quiet messenger from Shu-lik spoke, ¡°I would like to say something.¡±


    ¡°Lord Shi, please speak,¡± said the Special Emissary from the Central ins politely.


    ¡°I have a message from Dragon King. If the Governor and the Special Emissary from the Central ins can guarantee his safety, he is willing to show up and exin everything.¡±


    Everybody was shocked. Everyone thought that the messenger from Shu-lik was here to disrupt the negotiations. No one could have imagined that Shi Ying would be rying a message from Dragon King himself. Fang Wenshi was the most surprised out of them all. He had no idea that his words had actually matched the intentions of Dragon King. However, he was displeased that he was kept in the dark once again.


    Mo Chu smoothed his beard and coughed. He said, ¡°Of course, as I said, I will guarantee his safety for today. I believe the messenger from the Central in has the same intention as well?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Lord Mo is right. For the sake of the Western Region, it is necessary for Dragon King to show up and exin himself. Likewise, the Central in is also willing to guarantee his safety. From now on till midnight, anyone who dares to harm Dragon King is not only an enemy of Nond, but also an enemy of the Central in as well.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Shi Ying agreed, but he did not seem too happy. ¡°Mr. Fang, please go to the door and let Dragon King in. He trusts your words.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was perplexed. He walked to the door and saw the servants standing outside. Chu Nanping was among them, but there was no one else beside him.


    ¡°Dragon King, you can show up now. Nond and the Central in have guaranteed your safety.¡±


    The dozens of servants within earshot were surprised and started looking around in all directions.


    One of the servants for the messenger of Shu-lik stepped out from the crowd, wiping the paint off his face with a handkerchief. He was Yang Huan, Dragon King.


    The other servants whispered among one another. Chu Nanping looked very excited. Only Fang Wenshi felt uneasy, and whispered, ¡°Did you find the imposter?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded and walked into the room. He did not kneel down. He looked at everyone and said, ¡°I have found the imposter.¡±


    ¡°Who is it?¡± Governor Mo Chu was the first to ask.


    ¡°An exiled Golden Roc killer. His name is Wildhorse.¡±

 Chapter 291 - Evidence

    Chapter 291: Evidence


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    "Wildhorse is the imposter." Gu Shenwei walked into the hall and said this sentence in front of the representatives of the various forces. He then observed their reactions.


    The special emissary from the Central ins and the monk from Four Truths Temple obviously didn''t know who Wildhorse was. They frowned and looked around in confusion.


    Shu-lik''s messenger, Shi Ying, did not express any emotion. He didn''t dare to oppose the Dragon King because he was forced to bring him here. However, he would never support the Dragon King.


    Mingshu, the second young master of the Meng Family, lowered his head and pretended not to know the Dragon King. He was determined to be an outsider and refused to have anything to do with the discussion today.


    Governor Mo Chu looked away, as though he didn''t hear nor see the Dragon King.


    The chief from Golden Roc Fort sneered at him. He thought for a while before saying, "You are good at choosing people. Wildhorse was exiled by the Tenth Young Master a few years ago. We don''t even know if he is alive. Of course, you can say whatever you want."


    Gu Shenwei was confident because now Mo Chu and Golden Roc''s chief had gone too far in their behavior, and this proved that both of them knew the truth.


    "Words alone can''t prove anything. I have evidence. If everyone wants to see it, then I can bring it out immediately."


    "Amitabha." The monk from Four Truths Temple spoke, "Did Wildhorse kill Master Lianhua?"


    "Yes," Gu Shenwei answered with great certainty.


    "But ... why did he pretend to be the Dragon King and kill people in Jade City?" The monk seemed puzzled.


    "Wildhorse was defeated by me. He wanted to take revenge and he also had other ambitions. He had infiltrated Jade City for some time and was hoping that Great Snowmountain and Golden Roc Fort would fight it out. He would then reap the benefits."


    "What a joke." Golden Roc''s chief hadn''t thought of a rebuttal, so he had to use a disdainful tone to cover it up.


    Fang Wenshi didn''t know who Wildhorse was. In fact, both of them had once met each other at Iron Mountain camp, but Fang Wenshi couldn''t recall it. However, he reacted quickly. He became more confident when he saw that the Dragon King was making an usation in such a confident manner. He said sternly, "No wonder. This exins why these imposters are good at using sabers. Wildhorse must have taught them."


    "The Dragon King had also learned Golden Roc machete skills," the chief immediately rebutted.


    "However, the Dragon King was being hunted down by Golden Roc Fort. He only found a foothold at Great Snowmountain a few months ago. How was there time for him to pass on the machete skills?"


    Fang Wenshi''s words weren''t entirely true. Gu Shenwei had been secretly grooming killers in Shu-lik even when he was fleeing. Although it wasn''t very sessful, very few people had known about it.


    Indeed, Golden Roc''s chief didn''t know about it. The chief sneered. The special emissary from the Central ins stood up as he felt that it was up to him to break the stalemate. He said, "This is simple. Since the Dragon King ims that he has evidence, then please bring it out for everyone to see. It will save us these unnecessary arguments."


    No one made an objection. Gu Shenwei nodded slightly and said, "I can present the evidence immediately, but I want to say something first."


    Golden Roc''s chief snorted and hinted to the crowd that the Dragon King was up to something.


    Gu Shenwei ignored him and went on to say, "Wildhorse wanted to disturb Jade City so that he could gather strong backers and supporters. If I take the evidence out now, it will eradicate Wildhorse''s influence. However, it will also alert the enemy and the enemy will go into hiding. If I am given some time to investigate, I promise that I will find out the forces behind these killings."


    Gu Shenwei looked at everyone and asked slowly, "Does everyone want to get rid of Wildhorse now or wait for a while?"


    The special emissary from the Central ins felt that the Dragon King should present the evidence immediately. However, he wasn''t in a good position to take a stance on this matter, so he looked at the Governor and asked, "What do you think of this, Lord Mo?"


    Mo Chu hummed in acknowledgment. He thought for a while and said, "The holy monk from Four Truths Temple was killed. Let''s hear from the Master first."


    "Er. If there''s a mastermind, then it is best to catch him altogether. However, the Dragon King''s casual statement couldn''t convince the crowd, so it is better to bring the evidence out." The monk proposed apromise which immediately won the approval of the special emissary from the Central ins.


    "Alright. Everyone, including the entire Jade City, will see the evidence before midnight. However, this is only a part of it. There is still more evidence, but I was hoping to wait until when everything is cleared up before bringing it out."


    "That would be the best." The monk nodded continuously, "What do you think, Golden Roc Fort? After all, you are involved in the conflict."


    Golden Roc''s chief obviously didn''t expect things to develop in this manner. He seemed uneasy as he looked at Mo Chu. However, he didn''t get any hint from the Governor. He said, "I can''t make the decision. I will have to ask the Lord for instructions."


    Mo Chu started to lose his temper and said sternly, "Why can''t you make a decision? The Dragon King, please present part of the evidence by midnight, so as to at least prove the existence of Wildhorse''s and his ability to create chaos in Jade City. Then, you shall present all of the evidence within ten days..."


    "One month." Gu Shenwei interrupted.


    "It has to be a month." Fang Wenshi exined on behalf of the Dragon King, "Wildhorse should have strong backers and supporters. It will be very difficult to investigate them."


    "One month it is then," said Mo Chu angrily, as if everyone in the room had offended him. "I will speak to the Supreme King about this. I think he will approve this on my ount."


    The others had nothing to add. Shu-lik''s messenger, Shi Ying, and Meng Mingshu didn''t say anything as they let the otherse to a decision.


    Golden Roc''s chief immediately left. He was returning to the mountain to report the situation to the Lord. The others left one after another, while Gu Shenwei stayed with the special emissary from the Central ins. Since Governor Mo Chu said that he would guarantee the safety of Dragon King, he left several guards behind to protect the Dragon King.


    The special emissary from the Central ins knew that the Dragon King had something to say to the military counselor so he returned to his room after exchanging greetings.


    "Is there really such a person called Wildhorse? Is he impersonating the Dragon King?" Fang Wenshi immediately asked the Dragon King when both of them were the only ones left. He didn''t even greet the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    Fang Wenshi breathed a sigh of relief as things were starting to change. However, he didn''t know whether he could endure such ups and downs. He probably needed a strong heart to assist the Dragon King. He then asked, "Had he sent his men to kill people? Was he the one who erected the gs?"


    "No. The first few cases were done by me."


    "Well, it doesn''t matter. No one will care about it as long as we catch Wildhorse. Alright. Let me see the evidence first."


    "I have no evidence now."


    Fang Wenshi nearly jumped up and asked, "No evidence?"


    "As I said, the entire Jade City will see it by midnight. I don''t have it now."


    "This." Fang Wenshi shook his head excessively and said, "The Dragon King, please tell me the truth. Do you have the evidence?"


    "Of course. I have made an appearance. What''s the use of getting to this point by cheating?"


    Fang Wenshi began to believe the Dragon King''s words. However, he had more doubts. He said, " You imed that there was a mastermind. Are you referring to Golden Roc Fort? The Lord certainly didn''t want to proceed with the negotiations."


    "He is one of them."


    "One of them? And ... Nond? It is unlikely. Mo Chu was the target of an assassination just when he had entered the city ... Er, is the Dragon King the assassin?"


    "No. In fact, it is obvious that Wildhorse will never kill the wrong person. Wildhorse and Governor Mo Chu were in cahoots. They created a smokescreen that Wildhorse had identally killed the concubine in officer''s clothing."


    "I see. Both Golden Roc Fort and the Governor are the masterminds behind this. But it''s strange. Why did Mo Chu allow the Dragon King to continue to investigate?"


    "Because he needs time to hide the evidence so that I can''t find anything."


    "Then what should we do?"


    Gu Shenwei raised his head slightly and the military advisor roughly understood. The advisor seemed to be bad at plots and tricks. Gu Shenwei replied, "If he didn''t hide it, how could I find the evidence?"


    Fang Wenshi was enlightened. He could not help smiling. He said, "Would the Dragon King reveal the entire truth?"


    "No, what I want isn''t the truth. I want the Governor and the Supreme King to agree to the negotiations and give Great Snowmountain a break."


    Fang Wenshi admired this young chap. He finally believed that the Dragon King was not only a killer but was also qualified to dominate the Western Region. He asked, "Whose idea was it to kill the holy monk? Four Truths Temple will not spare him."


    "There is something wrong with this matter."


    "What''s wrong?"


    "Wildhorse didn''t kill Master Lianhua. I had seen the scene, and it wasn''t done by a killer."


    "Ah? But you just said ..."


    "Yes, I said that it was Wildhorse. Apart from him, I haven''t found anyone else who could have been the murderer for the time being."


    Fang Wenshi didn''t really know what to say. Lying with a straight face was one of the essential qualities that an ambitious and ruthless character must have. In this way, the Dragon King was praiseworthy, but ¡ª "What if the real murderer is exposed in the future?"


    "By that time, Great Snowmountain may be at war with Golden Roc Fort again. It doesn''t matter what others will think."


    Fang Wenshi was shocked at how indifferent the Dragon King was when the Dragon King talked about war.


    "I think the Dragon King should reveal some evidence to the special emissary from the Central ins. He is the strongest supporter of Great Snowmountain."


    "Well, how much did it cost?"


    Fang Wenshi blushed. It was customary for counselors to make their own decisions when they spent money, but he didn''t dare to tell the Dragon King about this. He answered, "Three thousand taels. General Zhong said that there were another thousand taels with him."


    "Is he a general?" asked Gu Shenwei curiously.


    "He''s a low ranking general. I don''t think many soldiers respect him."


    Zhong Heng was good at plots and tricks. Gu Shenwei thought that Zhong Heng wasn''t appreciated was probably because of this reason.


    As it was getting dark, Gu Shenwei didn''t visit the special emissary from the Central ins. Since money could be used to get support, there was no need to maintain the rtionship through discussions. Fang Wenshi went to the backyard twice and assured the emissary that the Dragon King would keep his promise.


    After 9 pm, Fang Wenshi couldn''t sit still. He kept running to the door as he thought that he could see the evidence fall from the sky.


    Neither Chu Nanping nor the Dragon King was enthusiastic people. Although they hadn''t met for days, they only nodded to each other. The young swordsman became the Dragon King''s guard once again.


    It was thirty minutes to midnight and Fang Wenshi couldn''t hold it in anymore. He said, "The Dragon King, please tell me, this evidence ..."


    Before Fang Wenshi finished speaking, a person who was hanging upside down suddenly appeared at the door, which was left ajar, and startled Fang Wenshi. He then recognized the person. She was Tie Linglong. He asked, "Eh, how did you ...?"


    Tie Linglong jumped onto the ground before Fang Wenshi finished talking. She walked into the hall, smiled and said, "Why am I here? I walked here. Then, the Dragon King got me to run an errand. The guards outside were really bad. I just came in casually and no one noticed me."


    Tie Linglong was proud. She gave the Dragon King a saber and a sword. Fang Wenshi then realized that the Dragon King was unarmed.


    Gu Shenwei took the weapons and asked, "Is it done?"


    "Well, Tianshan hadid an ambush and will attack Joy Pavilion soon."


    Fang Wenshi didn''t understand the meaning behind this sentence, because the Dragon King didn''t exin it to him. The Dragon King held onto his sword hilt tightly and said, "It will be midnight soon. We need to prepare to wee the guests."


    Fang Wenshi then realized that the deadline set by Nond and the Central ins would soon be approaching.

 Chapter 292 - Attack the Camp

    Chapter 292: Attack the Camp<b>Trantor:</b> Transn <b>Editor:</b> Transn


    The sound of drums was heard in the dead of night, and each drum beat felt like knocks on Fang Wenshi¡¯s heart.


    A military counselor should share weal and woe with their master, and a master should take their military counselor¡¯s strength in advisement. However, the Dragon King did not open his mouth, forcing Fang Wenshi to make the decisions himself. He slowly retreated to the back door, in his heart, convincing himself, ¡°You don¡¯t know kung fu, so you¡¯ll only get in the way if you stay here. The Dragon King hasn¡¯t been able to think of anything, what say yourself?


    The Dragon King, holding the Five Peaks Saber, stood freely in the middle of the hall. He seemedpletely oblivious to impending assassination, closing his eyes in repose.


    Tie Linglong showed calmness that did not match her age. Only the gently shaking fingers of her left hand showed a trace of nervousness and excitement. She nced at the young swordsman and said, ¡°Little Chu, let¡¯spete.¡±


    Chu Nanping thought for a while before only spitting out an ¡°okay.¡±


    The three of them stood seven paces apart, tense and guarded.


    Fang Wenshi was even more convinced that there was no ce for him here. He calmly retreated to the back door. Just as he was about to leave through the curtain, he changed his mind. Fang Wenshi shook his head and thought to himself again, It¡¯s not every day that I get the chance to show my loyalty. Let me take a gamble.


    Countless shadowy forms of Taoists emerged from the ground and rushed into the hall.


    Fang Wenshi sighed. Since he decided to stay, he only had one choice: to keep his head down and squat under the table.


    The first attack from Chu Nanping was not to cut the enemy, but to cut the wick of the only lighted oilmp in the hall. Thest me struggled on the tip of the sword before extinguishing leaving the hall in darkness.


    Gu Shenwei opened his eyes. He was used to the darkness, and he saw more clearly in the faint moonlight.


    Unless he was on the battlefield against an army of thousands, he would never rush into the battle. There was not much room to maneuver in the hall, so he had to use another tactic ¨C bounding lightfootedly around the periphery of the assassins, just like a nimble grasshopper, and ambushing the enemy.


    In order to keep up with the Dragon King, the assassins also jumped, scattering their team. This only helped Gu Shenwei to pick off them off in the air one by one.


    Fang Wenshi was silently prayed: Let the Dragon King win quickly. This is the only chance to show loyalty, the next time won¡¯te so soon.


    Sharp sounds of shing weapons and wet sounds of blood being drawn could be heard. The impact of heavy objects falling made Fang Wenshi tremble in fear. There were no screams of injury and death, but that only made it more terrifying.


    He dictated the deaths of millions on a battlefield without hesitation, but could not stand the sight of killing.


    Internally, he rationalized: Just like a gentleman should stay out of the kitchen, the counselor should keep a distance from the killings. If he was always fearing for his death, how could he ever think about the bigger picture?


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s feelings did notst long as the sound of the fight suddenly stopped. Fang Wenshi did not dare to even blink, let alone move, until someone patted him on the shoulder.


    Fang Wenshi broke out in cold sweat. Peeking his head out from the bottom of the table, he let out a bloodcurdling scream ¨C the only scream of this killing.


    He wriggled out from the bottom of the table and saw the oilmp had been relit. There were seven or eight bodies lying in the hall, most of them were decapitated. Tie Linglong wasughing at herself. Fang Wenshi leaned on the table, nauseous and pretended, ¡°I ate something badst night.¡±


    Then he remembered that he had not eatenst night, causing his face to blush red. Hurriedly, he said, ¡°Who are these people? Were they sent by Golden Roc Fort or the Governor?¡±


    ¡°They are the people of the Meng family.¡± From the brief confrontation, Gu Shenwei had already ascertained the origins of these people. Only Meng Mingshu, who did not know kung fu, would send assassins to assassinate the Dragon King.


    ¡°Meng family?¡± Fang Wenshi¡¯s surprise drove away any feeling of nausea. ¡°Is there still someone who still supports the Great Snowmountain in Jade City?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took the lead and walked out of the hall, leaping to the rooftop. Tie Linglong and Chu Nanping carried the military counselor and followed.


    In addition to not liking the sight of blood, Fang Wenshi found that he did not like heights either. Standing on the uneven tiles, there was no sense of stability. However, the sight in front of him made him forget all about it.


    A raging fire ignited at the farthest part of South City, illuminating half of the sky.


    ¡°This, this¡­¡± Fang Wenshi really hoped that the Dragon King would disclose news in advance, any news, instead of letting his military counselor feel that he had been kept in the dark.


    ¡°That¡¯s Joy Pavilion. Wildhorse is currently surrounded.¡±


    ¡°By the Tianshan Sect?¡±


    ¡°Not just Tianshan Sect, but also Golden Roc killers and machetemen of the city.¡±


    ¡°This¡­how is it possible?¡± Fang Wenshi had too many questions, and his tone couldn¡¯t help but bear a hint of resentment.


    ¡°It¡¯s all my hard work,¡± Tie Linglong hurriedly said. She had not had the chance to kill just now, so she did not mention thepetition with Chu Nanping. ¡°I took the Dragon King¡¯s sword and went to see¡­ someone in Tianshan Sect. They have been secretly monitoring Joy Pavilion sincest night, and have been guarding all the exits.¡±


    Tie Linglong was speaking too rushed. She took a deep breath before continuing, ¡°Tianshan Sect secretly informed the machetemen in the city that they would gather at the vicinity of Joy Pavilion in the dead of night, and set fire to get rid of Wildhorse and his people.¡±


    Fang Wenshi could only shake his head. The Dragon King always changed the paradigm when cornered. Eventually, he would slip up, but at leaste the current crisis had finally passed. ¡°In any case, that Wildhorse is finally done for.¡±


    ¡°No, Wildhorse has already escaped,¡± Gu Shenwei corrected the military counselor.


    ¡°Why?¡± Fang Wenshi wished that he had also practiced kung fu and couldpel the Dragon King to tell him the truth, even just once.


    ¡°Wildhorse is a wise man, he will have definitely escaped in advance. But this is also beneficial, Golden Roc Fort has gained another enemy.¡±


    ¡°Great Snowmountain had also gained another enemy,¡± Fang Wenshi muttered.


    The fire at Joy Pavilion woke the entire Jade City and Gui Garden, which was just separated by a wall. Many people connected the two fires together, sure that they were caused by the haunting of ghosts and gods.


    News of the event was released after dawn. It turned out that there had been many foreign machetemen in Joy Pavilion. It was these men who, in the name of the Dragon King, had killed many people and erected the ck blood gs.


    Many machetemen in South City had received mysterious information to gather. Last night, thousands of machetemen rushed into Hope Alley and the abandoned Gui Garden, attacking Joy Pavilion from all sides before setting them on fire.


    Naturally, such actions could not be strictly kept secret. The dozens of disciples, including Immortal Peng, had escaped. More than a hundred foreign machetemen had been killed in the chaos. Afterwards, people found many resurrected g bearers who hadmitted suicide by swallowing poison within the heap of corpses.


    There was no survivors, but Tianshan Sect had previously captured a prisoner. After learning that their aplices had all been wiped out, the captive had finally revealed everything, admitting that they had been impersonating the Dragon King.


    Even so, the residents of Jade City were skeptical. The name ¡°Tianshan Sect¡± had not been heard before. It was a secret organization among the machetemen. It was hard to convince anyone that they had just spontaneously appeared.


    However, at noon on the day of the fire, Golden Roc Fort made a speech. The Golden Roc killers had ¡°caught¡± several prisoners who confessed that the act of killings and raising the gs had been under Wildhorse¡¯smand, and had nothing to do with the Dragon King.


    In an instant, the public enemy of Jade City that had been Yang Huan, the Dragon King, became Wildhorse.


    The name of Wildhorse was immediately familiar to all, and quickly became the target of public resentment. Unfortunately, as Gu Shenwei had predicted, Wildhorse escaped. He was not found in the hundreds of corpses.


    Gu Shenwei obviously did not reveal that the first few raised g killings had beenmitted by him, because he had achieved his goal, with even better results than he had expected. The residents of Jade City, who had once been tortured by the Dragon King, were tired of living on edge. Negotiations for peace became the most talked-about topic in the streets, and almost everyone expressed their support.


    The negotiation was a matter between Great Snowmountain and Golden Roc Fort. Outsiders had no right to speak of it, but their attitudes yed a part to promote it.


    The Special Emissary from the Central ins first stated that he did not want to see the hard-won stability of the Western Regions destroyed. The Central ins was willing to act as a mediator and guarante the safety of the Dragon King and his entourage before the negotiation began.


    The Four Truths Temple then held the dharma assembly in public. Hundreds of monks chanted and prayed for Jade City. They hoped that the Dragon King and the Supreme King would be able toy down the butcher knife for the sake of the people.


    The Meng family also supported the negotiations for peace. Although seeming insincere, Meng Yuzun imed that it was best for both sides toy down their weapons. However, he did not intend to participate in this matter.


    Unexpectedly, the Shu-lik also supported the negotiations for peace. The camp upied by Great Snowmountain was nominally their country¡¯s territory and they were prepared to make some demands for it.


    Golden Roc Fort was reluctant to express their position. Three dayster, news came from the West. Dugu Xian had gathered 10,000 people to attack the Great Snowmountain¡¯s camp.


    This was the Supreme King¡¯s n: to eliminate the Great Snowmountain as quickly as possible, rendering the peace negotiations meaningless.


    The situation was obvious in a nce. If Golden Roc Fort could win in a few days, the Dragon King would be cut off from everyone. There was no need to mention anything more. If the war continued, there would be far more deaths and injuries. Then, Golden Roc Fort would lose the support of allies and more likely to ept or even propose peace..


    In those few days, the residents of Jade City paid attention to the war in the West in an unprecedented interest. Every day,rge groups of people braved the cold and waited at the western city gate. When they saw someone quickly riding in on a horse, they would shout out their questions.


    Gu Shenwei had no time to return to the camp. He could only wait for news. Fang Wenshi was talked without end, as ifforting the Dragon King, when he was in fact, he was cheering himself up. ¡°The Supreme King must have calcted wrongly this time. It¡¯s already winter, everyone that has read the art of war should know that this is the least suitable time to attack. Ha, that Dugu Xian. I thought he was a bit talented but turns out, he is a coward. Dragon King, you can rest assured that the Great Snowmountain camp is impregnable. They can definitely defend against the attacks.¡±


    Two dayster, Fang Wenshi¡¯s tone changed. ¡°Dragon King, the Great Snowmountain¡¯s defenses will hold, right?¡±


    On the fourth day, Fang Wenshi paced back and forth in front of the Dragon King. ¡°No, I have to let the Central ins give pressure and force Golden Roc Fort to retreat.¡±


    However, the Special Emissary from the Central ins was powerless. The Supreme King refused to meet them, giving various excuses. Even the Governor of the Nonds, Mo Chu, was sent, but they seemed to be ying a game of hide-and-seek, with the Supreme King nowhere to be found for days.


    Everyone felt that the war had gone on for too long. Finally, on the seventh day, shocking news came from the west: Golden Roc Fort¡¯s front-linemander, Dugu Xian, had sent people back to the city and publicly advised the Supreme King to negotiate peace.

 Chapter 293 - Holding Position

    Chapter 293: Holding Position<b>Trantor:</b> Transn <b>Editor:</b> Transn


    The thing that worried Gu Shenwei most when he left the Great Snowmountain camp was Golden Roc Fort army attacking the camp by force.


    Dugu Xian had a military background and was more than familiar with battles, whereas the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain seldom had experience in battles involving more than a thousand of people. They were courageous and full of valor when fighting alone, but were as good as a rabble when put together.


    Out of the entire camp, he could only rely on Tuo Nengya, the old macheteman.


    Although Tuo Nengya¡¯s machete formations could only amodate up to 200 or 300 people, it was already taking shape of a formidable army worthy to fight against Dugu Xian.


    Moreover, Gu Shenwei trusted the old macheteman very much. Even though they had not met for thest three years, his trust in him was greater than that of the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain who had fought alongside him.


    To Gu Shenwei, Tuo Nengya was an odd person. He had pledged allegiance to Young Master Shangguan Chui solely because of a small kindness he had received from him. And he had been adamant on avenging him when the Young Master died. Yet when the opportunity to kill the murderer, Shangguan Fei, had arrived, he then changed his mind because he thought him weak and wanted to seek revenge on someone stronger than Shangguan Fei. Afterward, Tuo Nengya dered that he would travel all over the Western Region to raise money and recruit more machetemen to prepare for a battle with the Supreme King.


    It was highly possible that even the Supreme King was not aware of his existence.


    Gu Shenwei had scoffed at Tuo Nengya¡¯s actions at that time, however, he was also the first person he thought of when he was looking for someone trustworthy.


    There was a fine line between holding on to foolishness and perseverance ¡ª after all, they both wore a mask of weakness. But when Tuo Nengya came to pledge his allegiance to Dragon King with over a 1000 machetemen, and openly dered enemies with Golden Roc Fort, Gu Shenwei understood then, that the old macheteman was clinging onto his perseverance.


    During a long talkte one night, Gu Shenwei asked, ¡°What should we do if Dugu Xian decides to attack by force?¡±


    Tuo Nengya had already considered about this issue. ¡°There is a certain advantage for the Great Snowmountain to keep on defending instead of attacking. My machete formation that consists of 1500 men is more than enough to handle the skirmish if the enemy dispatched less than 5000 troops. But anything more than that¡­ I¡¯m afraid we are not their match.¡±


    There were about 5000 troops in the Golden Roc Fort army and they were adding to their numbers day by day. Gathering 10000 troops would not be a problem for them. Gu Shenwei asked again: ¡°My army still has about 1000 swordsmen, is it possible to use them?¡±


    Tuo Nengya thought for some time before answering, ¡°The vigor that the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain possessed certainly exceeds that of my men. The only problem is that they are arrogant and unyielding. I am afraid that they would jump into battle rashly, without careful consideration, andpromise my machete formation.¡±


    The swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain were exactly like that ¡ª they needed no encouragement for attacking but you would need all sorts of tricks up your sleeve to hold them down to defend.


    Gu Shenwei then summoned Long Fanyun, the chief of Canopy Peak. This young man had once served as his Weapon Carrier and was bestowed the long-saber during the battle, taking over as the chief of Canopy Peak when his father died in battle. He served Dragon King with utmost loyalty.


    Gu Shenwei had requested that after he was gone, Long Fanyun must support Tuo Nengya at all times and follow the old macheteman¡¯s orders, especially when facing an attack from the enemy.


    Long Fanyun swore to the Empyrean that he would obey Tuo Nengya like how he obeyed Dragon King. The young chief actually held the old macheteman in high esteem. That was because Tuo Nengya had led his machetemen to arrive in the nick of time, thus preventing the Great Snowmountain from being wiped out.


    After more than a month, Golden Roc Fortunched an attack as predicted. The Great Snowmountain had some internal dissension over how they should approach the battle. All the swordsmen were bored from defending and wanted to go out and face the enemy. Only Tuo Nengya maintained his stance of defending.


    Long Fanyun did not disappoint Dragon King. He openly showed his support for Tuo Nengya at the chiefs¡¯ meeting, and even persuaded Smallsword Peak and Luoshen Peak privately, making it three against two in a decisive moment, thus vetoing the suggestion of going into battle.


    The opening of the valley where the camp was located was wide and difficult to defend. Tuo Nengya¡¯s n was to lure the enemy in deep. After the first few days of tentative confrontations, he voluntarily surrendered the outer perimeter of the camp gates and withdrew the troops to a well-fortified narrow valley that was easy to defend.


    The Golden Roc Fort Commander Dugu Xian was a cautious general but more than half of his troops consisted of machetemen hired by Golden Roc Fort. These men were eager to im the heads of their enemies for esteem and reward. Seeing the enemy retreat, they mored for permission to pursue and attack.


    The pursuit attack proved to be disastrous. The main force of Golden Roc Fort ran up against the machete formation consisting of 1500 machetemen. With the narrow terrain and slippery ground from the freezing winter, it was very difficult to maneuver. Troops at the front could not continue further, and the troops at the back could not move forward.


    Halfway through the battle, swordsmen from the five peaks of the Great Snowmountain suddenly appeared from both sides of the hillside. Like a tiger charging into a herd of sheep, after days of mindless defending, the swordsmen released their pent-up energy at the trapped Golden Roc Fort army.


    Even though Dugu Xian managed to call for a retreat in time, they still suffered about 3000 casualties. Many machetemen fled during the night after noticing that things were not looking good. Overnight, Dugu Xian¡¯s army, which originally had enough men to surround the enemy, became one that needed to focus on self-preservation instead.


    It was under such a circumstance that Dugu Xian sent out a messenger to Supreme King to ask for immediate peace negotiations so that he could have time to reorganize the army.


    Gu Shenwei finally felt relieved. He was sure that even if he had remained at the camp, he could not have done it better than Tuo Nengya.


    Fang Wenshi was beyond thrilled. After repeatedly saying, ¡°Wonderful!¡±, he continued, ¡°This victory came too timely, and at such an important time as well. This will surely be the foundation for all of your future aplishments and ambitions.¡±


    No one knew what was the Supreme King really thinking. Governor Mo Chu finally appeared on the third day after Dugu Xian sent out the messenger. He first summoned the Special Emissary from the Central ins and expressed that he would be willing to work together with the Central in as mediators to urge for peace negotiations between Golden Roc Fort and the Great Snowmountain.


    Just like that, the peace negotiations that residents of Jade City had been hoping for began.


    Peace negotiation was aplicated and delicate matter. Not even the sharpest saber or a highly skilled killer could do much this time. Times like these were opportunities for Fang Wenshi to show his expertise.


    The first step of the peace negotiations was to ensure that both sides maintained the status quo. No one was allowed to provoke a conflict. This meant no more battles on the western border for Golden Roc Fort and to the Great Snowmountain, it also meant that Dragon King¡¯s safety in Jade City was ensured.


    The preliminary agreement was soon reached: a temporary cessation of hostilities for a period of three months. Any party who vited the truce would be punished jointly by Nond and the Central in.


    The second step was the start of the long process of peace negotiations. Some of the issues were rather perplexing:


    Concerning the statuses of the Great Snowmountain and Dragon King, were they simply bandits or a force with rising influence?


    What about thend which the Great Snowmountain were staked on, who did it really belong to? What made the situation even moreplicated was that Shu-lik had imed ownership as well.


    Lastly, should Dragon King, along with his swordmen and machetemen, return to the Great Snowmountain?


    Fang Wenshi argued and debated with all sides, talking more in those days than Chu Nanping had had for an entire year. That was how his reputation came about, other than ¡°Head-shaking Military Counselor¡±, another nickname for him was ¡°the quick-tongued Fang who talked like a continuous volley of arrows¡±.


    Gu Shenwei let the military counselor handle the peace negotiations as he busied himself trying to establish a foothold in Jade City.


    Although North City was safe, it was impossible for him to live there as no weapons were allowed in the city. It was very inconvenient for him to constantly hide his weapons everytime he entered. Moreover, he had also killed several assassins in the residence of the Special Emissary from the Central ins the night Joy Pavilion caught fire. This had caused the wealthy merchants and nobles to be fearful and they did not want Dragon King as a neighbor.


    Therefore, he bought arge mansion on the westernmost side of South City to establish himself. Soon, the residents of Jade City would refer to the mansion as the ¡°Residence of Dragon King¡±.


    It was simr to the time when he set up Kun Society, just that everything now was done on arger scale. The Great Snowmountain, however, had to minimize on recruiting machetemen as they still needed to provide for a troop of over 3000 men in the western border of Jade City and therefore did not have extra resources to spare.


    Tianshan Sect had helped a lot during this period. This secret organization among the machetemen of South City were now somewhat public. Only Mr. Hong the cksmith knew their leader. He lent several machetemen to Dragon King and said that remuneration could be worked out at ater time.


    Along with that, a total of 20 young swordsmen and 10 young girls traveled all the way from the Great Snowmountain and arrive safely at Jade City just in time for the armistice truce toe into y. They were sent by Long Qinying, chief of Luoshen Peak to Gu Shenwei. The swordsmen would serve as guards and the young girls would wait on Dragon King.


    Gu Shen Wei was held up by these trivial matters until Xu Xiaoyi came to rescue him.


    Xu Xiaoyi had a prior agreement with Dragon King. He had immediately headed to Jade City to help Gu Shenwei out once he caught wind about the peace negotiations in Shu-lik City. Xu Xiaoyi managed to run the Residence of Dragon King smoothly and orderly thus freeing Gu Shenwei up to handle more pressing matters.


    He was waiting for the Master of Xiaoyue Hall.


    Among the various influences in Jade City, Gu Shenwei believed that New Moon Hall was the only ally that could fight against Golden Roc Fort. Their long-standing deep hatred, ruthless methods as well as their well-concealed identities would assist the Great Snowmountain as a reinforcement.


    Gu Shenwei had struggled with epting New Moon Hall as an ally because Maid Lotus was a disciple of New Moon Hall, and might be hiding somewhere in Jade City right now.


    Gu Shenwei always felt conflicted when thinking about Maid Lotus. She was the one who had modified the seventh chapter of Wayless Book and caused him to suffer for more than half a year of qigong deviation. It was impossible to remove it entirely, not to mention that the condition continued to ur every one to three months.


    A strong desire to kill would surface in his heart ever since he had endured the freezing pain that prated into his bones. At this time, he would be stroking the Dragon Head Sword instead of the Five Peaks Saber with his right hand.


    But she was also the partner who he coordinated with the best.


    Both Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong could fight alongside him, but neither of them was killers to begin with, and would never be in the future as well. There was no one to rely on but himself during crucial moments.


    During times like these, he would miss that cold and indifferent girl.


    Guan Shang, the female ck-masked assassin had mentioned that she would convey Dragon King¡¯s wish to meet the Master of Xiaoyue Hall after seven days. But two weeks had passed since then, and there was still no sign of the Master and Guan Shang.


    New Moon Hall truly seemed to prefer hiding behind the scenes.


    Gu Shenwei could not just keep on waiting. He had already spent too much time meeting the main influences of Jade City while helping to expand Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s businesses. If not for the supplies that Golden Roc Fort had left behind at the Great Snowmountain camp, his money alone could not have evensted a month.


    No one was willing to openly support Dragon King since the situation was still hazy as the peace negotiations were still in process. Even Lyu Qiying, the manager of Southwall Tavern, would only agree to meet Gu Shenwei in utmost secrecy.


    ¨C


    However, no matter what, the Great Snowmountain would still survive this winter. Gu Shenwei believed that the following months would only consist of influences secretly pitting against each other, and there would be little opportunity to involve sabers. He would be able toe up with a solution to settle all the problemse next spring.


    The residents of Jade City shared the same sentiments as well, and their topic for conversations quickly went back to fine wine and women. Therefore, when the news of Miss Ru from the Stone Castle was about to get married arrived, it immediately overtook the peace negotiations and became the hot topic.


    Fang Wenshi came back with this piece of news and told Dragon King about it as a trivial matter.


    ¡°Miss Ru?¡± Initially, Gu Shenwei had no idea who she was.


    ¡°Shangguan Ru, she used to be known as the Tenth Young Master. If I recall, you used to be her killer in the past.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Gu Shenwei replied coldly, wishing to end this topic at once.


    Fang Wenshi, however, clicked his tongue in amazement and continued, ¡°This is so unexpected. Really unexpected indeed. I would never have imagined that Supreme King would give Miss Ru¡¯s hand in marriage to Fifth Young Master Meng! They were like sworn enemies in the past! To think, sworn enemies will be married as husband and wife, haha, just the thought of it spells trouble!¡±

 Chapter 294 - Something Odd

    Chapter 294: Something Odd


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Shangguan Ru, who recently celebrated her 17th birthday, had failed to be a Young Master and was instead, being used as a pawn for Golden Roc Fort''s coboration strategy. She was going to be married off to the Meng family.


    The residents of Jade City had witnessed and was more than familiar with the feuds between Shangguan Ru and Meng Mingshi. Many people still remembered the battle between Kun Society and Horned Dragon Society, so they were not very optimistic about the marriage. This topic was constantly brought up for discussion around the city.


    "Looking at these two, who do you think will hold the reins in the rtionship?"


    "Do you even need to ask? Whoever won the battle between the two societies at that time will call the shots in the marriage!"


    The gossiping residentsughed knowingly. Rumor had it that Fifth Young Master Meng was going to marry into the Stone Castle. This rumor was, however, quickly denied. Meng family had decided to vacate the whole Bodhi Garden so that the newly married couple could live in it. The Bodhi Garden would be the newlyweds'' living quarters from now on. Outsiders and even the Meng family themselves could not casually enter to admire the four-colored lotus flowers even if they wanted to.


    Shangguan Ru had previously appeared at the Four Truths Temple after three years of not leaving the mountain. It was the Tenth Young Master''s first public appearance and she had been seen standing together with the women of the Meng family. Many people then came to the realization that this was obviously an opportunity for the women of the Meng family to observe their future daughter-inw.


    This marriage between Stone Castle and Meng family must have secretly been in the works for a long time.


    These two families had maintained the tradition of intermarriage all along. Lady Meng and several daughters-inw of Supreme King came from Meng family, while his sisters and several daughters had also married into the Meng family. This, in turn, had caused a mix-up of the positions in the family hierarchy. Take Shangguan Ru and Meng Mingshi for example. Technically speaking, they were one generation apart. However, the residents of Jade City were quite ustomed to this and did not talk about it.


    Everyone was more concerned about the reaction of the two families. Any bit of insider information would quickly spread to both North and South cities as well.


    Shangguan Ru''s side seemed to be very calm as there was almost no newsing from the Stone Castle. Even when the ves going down the mountain were asked about it, they just stared nkly and replied, "It''s quite alright. Miss did not cry or made a fuss about it. She is currently preparing her dowry, together with Lady Meng!"


    Many people, therefore, came to the conclusion that the former Tenth Young Master had really turned into Miss Ru. This was not due to Lady Meng''s strict discipline, but the power of time instead. "It is always the case for women! Mischievous when they are young, but they be more demure as they grow up, isn''t it so? She is still a woman in the end. Sigh, what a pity. Such a beautiful and fine woman is too good for Meng the Fifth!"


    Even by the standards of South City, Meng was not a good candidate for a husband as he indulged too much in wastefulness and debauchery.


    The death of Shangguan Yushi had either caused Meng Mingshi too much grief or that the only feelings he was capable of feeling had all been spent on her. Anyway, he returned to his old ways less than six months after her death, with a renewed recklessness. He would always be found dead drunk in brothels in South City, the attendants and owners were so afraid of him that they almost closed their businesses and fled with whatever money they had. Several brothels owned by the Meng family were shut down as a result.


    An experienced ve was then assigned to watch over the fifth young master, but even the ve was unable to stop him from sneaking out of the mansion. Climbing over walls, digging a hole, and putting on disguises were just some of the methods the young master used to sneak into South City.


    Contrary to Shangguan Fei who was so terrified of South City, Meng Mingshi would rather rot in the filth of South City than lie on hisfortable bed in North City.


    In the end, except for his grandmother who doted on him the most, his family had given up hope on trying to save this good-for-nothing son. He could do whatever he wanted so long as he did not embarrass the Meng family by dying in the hands of prostitutes and machetemen.


    Rumor had it that the olddy of the Meng family did not like Miss Ru from the Stone Castle very much. The only reason she had agreed to this marriage was due to Meng Yuzun''s persistent persuasion, and because she still harbored hope that this would be an opportunity to set her grandson back to the right path.


    Wasn''t the former Tenth Young Master the only person Meng Mingshi was afraid of? So let here and handle him then.


    One could only imagine how violent Meng Mingshi''s opposition towards this marriage would be.


    For several days in a row, the first question that the residents of Jade City asked as they entered teahouses was: "What did Meng the Fifth do again?"


    Meng Mingshi first tried to hang himself, followed by jumping into the river, and even holding a saber up to his neck in front of his grandmother, but none of it worked. The hanging rope was either too thin or the ice in the river waters was too thick. His body was too weak from his indulgent lifestyle that he could not even hold a saber up against his neck for long.


    After that, he tried to run away. He tried to escape in every direction possible except for the high mountain in the north side acting as a barrier. The furthest he managed to go was 30 miles away, before being spotted by a passerby, lying at the side of the road after copsing from exhaustion and was sent back to North City.


    The passerby was rewarded with hundreds of taels of silver. Once the news broke out, countless idle people were helping the Meng family to watch over the fifth young master, hoping that they themselves could also have the opportunity to "save" him just once.


    Drained and exhausted, Meng Mingshi finally sumbed. After giving up, word had it that he told his grandmother with great sadness, "Just wait and see, Grandma, just wait to collect my corpse for me. She will kill me on our wedding night."


    They had hugged and cried on each other''s shoulders.


    Gu Shenwei was more surprised than others upon hearing the news because he had seen Meng Yuzun and Shangguan Fei be enemies. He thought that would surely form an irreparable rift between the two families, but he didn''t expect that they would end up closer instead.


    Fang Wenshi the military counselor was not aware of the inside story but managed to see through to the real meaning of the marriage in a single nce. He said: "For the Meng family to agree to a marriage at this time only goes to show that they are willing to be bound together with Golden Roc Fort. The Supreme King can now act without worries in mary aspects."


    Fang Wenshi then sighed with envy. These past few days in his presence had made him realize that Dragon King was actually a poor man. He added, "As the military counselor, I have to remind you that you should not interfere in this matter, Dragon King."


    "Why should I intervene in this matter?"


    Fang Wenshi was a little confused since Dragon King seemed very angry. His impression of the Dragon King was someone who masked his emotions very well. He replied nkly, "Um, I just felt that Dragon King seemed to like... meddling in other people''s businesses. The Great Snowmountain needs the Meng family just like Golden Roc Fort does. If we cannot win the support of Meng Yuzun, we should at least try not to offend him too much."


    Gu Shenwei realized that he lost his cool, so he eased the tension in his voice and said, "I understand that it is unnecessary to interfere in this matter. Meng family and Shangguan family will eventuallye together."


    Fang Wenshi nodded and did not speak of the matter again. To him, the peace negotiations were the most important thing at the moment, and he believed the Dragon King was wise enough to not make foolish mistakes like these.


    That was what Gu Shenwei thought as well, but he was unable to fall asleep at night. Something was definitely off with this marriage , he thought. Gu Shenwei even wanted to tell Fang Wenshi about what happened in the underground chamber of Bodhi Garden, so that he could hear the military counselor''s views on the matter. But he quickly decided that it was best not to say anything about it. Fang Wenshi was already preupied with the peace negotiations and had no time for other trivial matters.


    Almost everybody, including Fang Wenshi, felt that the marriage was part of the Supreme King''s scheme which he had nned for a long time, but Gu Shenwei had a vague sense that Lady Meng had a lot to do with it.


    There was definitely something odd about this. His desire to find out the truth grew stronger by the minute. He even knew who was the best candidate to dig information from.


    Shangguan Hong was so insignificant in the Stone Castle that when Second Young Master Shangguan Tian died in Shu-lik, he did not receive any punishment after fleeing back to Jade City.


    As the illegitimate child of the Supreme King, he had always lived in the Inner Residence. Simrly, because Lady Meng kept a close watch over him, he was able to spy on her as well.


    Gu Shenwei decided to try his luck with Shangguan Hong.


    After returning to Jade City, Xu Xiaoyi had quickly established a secret team to collect intelligence. There were always people in South City willing to take a risk and work for Golden Roc Fort''s enemy for money. Although the intelligence team was far from covering the whole city, it was still useful.


    Therefore, Gu Shenwei knew of Shangguan Hong''s whereabouts as early as a few days ago.


    After years of ordeals, Shangguan Hong had finally gained a bit of Lady Meng''s trust. He now helped her run a few errands here and there.


    This afternoon, Shangguan Hong hade to South City to collect a sum of money and decided to drop by a close prostitute''s home to catch up. He knew Mr. Zhang Ji would say something along the lines of, "If you cannot endure hardships for a moment, how can you build up an empire thatsts forever?" But Shangguan Hong had had enough. Just two hours of rxation was sufficient for him to return to Stone Castle and endure for another half a month.


    Shangguan Hong was very afraid to bump into Dragon King again. Back in Shu-lik, he had been forced into divulging an important secret to ve Huan. But he could not disobey Lady Meng''s instructions, and he did miss that hypocritical woman as well.


    Therefore, Shangguan Hong was not very surprised when Dragon King appeared with his saber at his waist as the prostitute left the room with the excuse of using the loo. His face turned pale, and the wine quickly tasted soured in his mouth but he managed to remain calm as he spoke, "Dragon... Dragon King, let''s have a drink together."


    Gu Shenwei shook his head and replied, "I don''t drink."


    "Yes, right, that''s my impression as well." Shangguan Hong wanted to stand up to ve Huan as an equal, but his conviction was waning as he spoke, and he didn''t know where to put his hands, so he continued saying, "Zhang Ji, Mister Zhang mentioned that he wished to meet you."


    "Tell Mister Zhang I am always waiting for him."


    "Sure, I will tell him. Why not... sit down and eat something."


    Gu Shenwei sat down, but he did not touch the food on the table. It was a shabby brothel and paled inparison to Pleasure Alley. The dishes were mediocre. "I came to ask you about something."


    "Please ask away, Dragon King." Shangguan Hong said. He couldn''t help himself, his tone was bing more and more courteous.


    "The marriage of Shangguan Ru and Meng Mingshi is Lady Meng''s idea, am I right?"


    Shangguan Hong pretended to think about it but the guise soon faltered under Dragon King''s cold and relentless gaze. Regretfully, he began revealing everything that he knew about the matter. He should not have divulged the secret to Gu Shenwei at the start. Now he was always going to be at the whim of Dragon King.


    "Yes, it''s Lady Meng''s idea. It happened the day the Ninth Young Master came backining that he almost died at Meng Yuzun''s hands. Meng Yuzun knows kung fu and was interested in the secret manuscript that Dragon King has. You know about this already. Lady Meng was furious and went to settle the score with Old Meng. But somehow, it ended up in Miss Ru getting married to Meng Mingshi."


    Gu Shenwei knew very well that Shangguan Hong knew exactly what had transpired despite his ignorant appearance. So he kept quiet and let him continue.


    "Afterwards I heard, this is just what I heard... Apparently, Meng Yuzun spent a lot of money trying to settle the matter and reached an agreement with Lady Meng. They would snatch the secret manuscript from Dragon King''s hands together. Then... then, the Ninth Young Master had an idea. He said that Dragon King would definitely interfere in the matter if his younger sister was married off, and they would catch you alive then..."


    Shangguan Hong stole a look at Dragon King, wondering if what he said was correct.

 Chapter 295 - Delicacy and Force

    Chapter 295: Delicacy and Force


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Wildhorse used a fake brow ridge to change his looks. Under the shadow of the bulging brow ridge, his widely-separated eyes were not very evident on his face. However, Gu Shenwei still recognized him at first sight by his regal gesture and the way he gripped his saber hilt.


    Gu Shenwei and Wildhorse had been enemies for years. Even a pair of intimate friends could not know each other better than they did each other.


    They had duelled for three times. The first time, they had been cut off in midstream, and the second time, Gu Shenwei had suffered a total defeat. As for the third time, if Shangguan Ru had not deliberately let Wildhorse go, he would have been killed in the wilderness a long time ago.


    Now, Wildhorse returned to Jade City, but Gu Shenwei did not intend to challenge the killer into another duel. He was in Wildhorse''s territory now and did not want to expose himself when he was uncertain about the current situation. He swiftly left the peach forest while thinking, " Wildhorse will soon realize that I''m hiding somewhere around him. So, let him search around here."


    After discovering that it was Wildhorse who had been impersonating the Dragon King, Gu Shenwei understood many things that had happened recently but he still could not figure out what Wildhorse and the Joy Pavilion wanted by doing so. It seemed to him that this would do no good to them at all. He knew that he still needed to find out more evidence to support his reasoning.


    The first person he went to visit after leaving the peach forest was Mr. Hong in cksmith Vige.


    Mr. Hong was greatly surprised that the Dragon King came to see him again after such a short interval, but he still answered all of his questions truthfully.


    "Does the Stop Kills Society know the existence of the Tianshan Sect?" asked Gu Shenwei.


    "No, the Stop Kills Society is just a group of con men. They''re good at deceiving others instead of intelligence gathering," replied Mr. Hong.


    "You''ve been deceived by them."


    "What? What do you mean? Dragon King."


    As Gu Shenwei did not have much time to exin everything to Mr. Hong, he just continued to ask, "You''ve told me that there was a traitor in the Tianshan Sect. Where did he take refuge in the end? "


    Mr. Hong seemed a little unwillingly to answer this question in the beginning, but after a moment''s hesitation, he decided to be honest with the Dragon King. "To be frank, we don''t know much about it except that it wasn''t the Golden Roc Fort. Someone spotted him in the north after he escaped from the city. That''s all we know about him. We''ve found out that most people who have been killed in cksmith Vige recently were our sect members, and that all the dead members'' names were known to the traitor. Given this, we reckon that the whole thing must have something to do with him."


    During the whole conversation, Mr. Hong cautiously avoided mentioning this traitor''s name.


    "Keep a close watch on the Joy Pavilion and the Stop Kills Society. They''re your enemies. I''lle back to you very soon."


    With these words, Gu Shenwei quickly left Mr. Hong''s ce. The elderly man felt bewildered and wanted to ask further, but the Dragon King did not give him such a chance.


    He had to solve many problems during the night and could not afford to waste any more time in cksmith Vige.


    After leaving the vige, he went to Pleasure Alley to visit Xiao Fengchai.


    Xiao Fengchai had not received many guests recently, as she had to run a bigger business and did not have enough energy to entertain the clients in her brothel.


    However, tonight, a "guest" suddenly turned up uninvited.


    Deep in the night, when the Dragon King broke into Xiao Fengchai''s bedroom, she wore only a next-to-skin garment but she did not grab any other clothes to cover up her curvaceous body. "You just don''t like to walk through the door, do you? Tell me, Dragon King, which window do you like best? I''ll leave it open for you in the future," she smiled up at him and said.


    "No, don''t bother. I prefer to take a different route every time Ie here," replied Gu Shenwei.


    "Well, I wee you at any time," Xiao Fengcha said with her arms open.


    "I have a question for you."


    "We''re business partners, Dragon King. We should be honest with each other. You can ask me anything."


    "That night, I heard Meng Mingshu say that if I died, your n would be ruined. Can you tell me what this ''n'' is?"


    "Why do you ask me this question? You know the answer, don''t you? The Second Young Master Meng told you that he wanted you to help him take over the Meng Family''s business in Shu-lik," Xiao Fengchai said while looking at the Dragon King with big, serious eyes and appearing to be very surprised and even a little discontent.


    "Just as I expected, Xiao Fengchai is not as candid as Mr. Hong," thought Gu Shenwei, as he drew his saber and approached her. "You know, the Dragon King kills people regardless of age and gender," said Gu Shenwei.


    Xiao Fengchai smiled slightly. She had seen many different men and believed that the Dragon King was just another guy. She pulled her cor down a little to reveal a part of her white chest and let the tip of his saber touch it. "You know, men can do whatever they want at my ce," said Xiao Fengchai.


    She never knew that the Dragon King was not just another guy but a man who had solidified his hatred in his heart and would never let it go.


    He looked into her eyes and slowly pushed his saber forward. They were very different from each other. One was as hard as nails, while the other was flexible like water. Both of them were confident and refused to back down.


    Soon enough, the tip of his saber pierced through her skin, and she quickly gave up the battle before blood oozing from the wound.


    "Alright, alright, you won." She felt somewhat offended, and her face was peach red. No matter how old she actually was, she behaved like an embarrassed little girl at this moment.


    When Gu Shenwei withdrew his saber, Xiao Fengchai lowered her head to look at her chest and saw a red spot on it. She felt irritated and immediately pulled her cor up. After that, she picked up a robe and wrapped it tightly around herself. For the first time in her life, she had felt frustrated. "You must be dead inside or deeply in love with some woman."


    "You''d better hire some real kung fu masters to protect you," Gu Shenwei said coldly to change the subject, as he knew that this woman would never easily admit defeat and once she spotted a chance, she would strike back.


    "It''s not easy to find real kung fu masters, especially for me. I''m only a weak woman and know nothing about kung fu. How can I tell who has superb kung fu," said Xiao Fengchai.


    "Go on." He prompted her to continue, knowing that what she was going to say must have something to do with the n of the Second Young Master Meng.


    "Well, upon seeing that you, the Dragon King, be a kung fu master at such a young age, everybody is envious and... curious. The Second Young Master Meng heard that you took a manual from Immortal Peng. It''s said that once a person masters the kung fu skills recorded in the manual, he or she will be a Peerless Ace."


    "Does Meng Mingshu also want to be a Peerless Ace?" Gu Shenwei asked sarcastically, while wondering, "Howe those rich guys in the Meng family suddenly be interested in kung fu?"


    "No, he doesn''t. He knows his limitations. He just wants to give that manual to his father as a present. Tell you a secret, Meng Yuzun knows kung fu and his kung fu is quite good, but he forbids his sons to learn it."


    As the Dragon King had already known that Meng Yuzun was a kung fu master, he was not very surprised by the secret but he was d that Xiao Fengchai had already begun to tell the truth.


    "The Second Young Master Meng said that he wanted me to help him in taking over the business in Shu-lik City. It''s a trap, isn''t it?"


    "No. To be frank, it''s my n." With these words, Xiao Fengchai slightly lifted up her chin, fear and admiration evident on her face, but this did not undermine her grace. "I''m not interested in kung fu. I just want to make more money at that time, but now I see how ridiculous I was. I can make lots of money, but it doesn''t mean that I can protect my money. I used to think that Meng Mingshu would be able to protect me, but now I see that he isn''t a big shot. I..."


    Xiao Fengchai''s voice got increasingly soft, and the admiration in her eyes was gradually reced by a dreamy look. She looked as if she had lost her mind under the influence of some sorcery and was going to copse there at any minute. At this moment, she was just a physically attractive body, and her apathy and elegance could only further stimte a man''s desire to force himself on her.


    Gu Shenwei walked backward step by step, believing that he had already gotten enough evidence to understand and exin the current situation.


    The next moment, he left the warm bedroom, embraced the cold winter night and inhaled deeply. The air was cold and refreshing.


    "Xiao Fengchai is indeed worthy of her legendary name. Even I couldn''t remain unmoved when staying with her. However, my hate is stronger than anything, and it''s the source of my powers," he thought, while feeling proud that he could possess and use such a great power.


    After the Dragon King''s departure, Xiao Fengchai still remained immersed in her romantic fantasy. She floppilyy down in her bed and curled up while gently moaning. Different from the other prostitutes, Xiao Fengchai never deliberately made a gesture or gave a superficial performance. For her, every face she put on revealed a part of her nature, as she believed that she had to deceive herself first to deceive others. Gradually, she drifted into a light sleep, while thinking proudly and confidently that the Dragon King would fall for her feminine charms sooner orter.


    .


    It was alreadyte at night, and day would break within a few hours. Nevertheless, Gu Shenwei still had several ces to go. After a moment of thought, he decided to pay the messenger of Shu-lik a visit first.


    The messenger lived in a residence in North City. It was a property owned by Shu-lik and located near to the Governor''s Mansion. Among all the ces that Gu Shenwei wanted to go tonight, only this ce was least guarded. At that time, no one, not even the messenger himself, expected that the Dragon King would ask Shu-lik for help.


    When Gu Shenwei arrived at the residence, all the guards there had already left their positions to sleep. He entered the backyard of the residence without much efforts, nning to persuade or even bully Shi Yin into bringing him to the Special Emissary from the Central ins, but beyond his expectations, he came across an old acquaintance in the yard, who would help him easily achieve his goal.


    That person was practicing saber skills in the darkness. After a while, she paused and murmured to herself, "Why does my saber technique improve so slowly?"


    "It''s because your hatred is not deep-seated enough," said Gu Shenwei.


    "Dragon King!" Tie Linglong shouted excitedly. The next minute, she lowered her voice and asked, "Is it really you?"


    Gu Shenwei revealed himself to her, and she ran toward him with her arms open cheerfully. When she was about to hug him, she recalled that the Dragon King was cool as ice and disliked such enthusiastic responses and she embarrassedly stopped.


    "Why did youe here?" The Dragon King sounded as calmly as always, seemingly nonchnt about reuniting with the little girl.


    "You tell me, why did you leave me behind in Shu-lik City? You still think that my saber skills are not good enough and I can''t protect you like Little Chu does, don''t you?" asked Tie Linglong.


    "The Prince is your brother," replied Gu Shenwei.


    "I don''t want a brother. I want revenge, but he always declines to reveal who killed my family. He knows it, but he just refuses to tell me," Tie Linglong said grumpily.


    Gu Shenwei knew who killed her parents, but he did not want to tell her either. "When this little girl grows up, she''ll figure the whole thing out and discover that it was her half-brother''s mother who had her parents killed," Gu Shenwei thought to himself and then he said, "I killed your grandfather, you can take revenge on me."


    "No, that''s different. My grandfather was a killer. He killed people and people would kill him. That''s the way of doing killer business. However, my parents weremon people, and they even did not know any kung fu..."


    Tie Linglong could not help sobbing. She quickly lifted up her hand to wipe her tears away as she thought, "I shouldn''t cry. The Dragon King used to tell me that a killer had to be cold and unfeeling, but I just couldn''t control it. I never expected that the Dragon would suddenly appear in this ce. It''s his fault. He caught me unprepared."


    Upon seeing this, Gu Shenwei sighed in his heart, "Tie Linglong has been practicing the first four chapters of Wayless Qigong all this while. She''ll definitely be a kung fu master someday but she can never make a qualified killer. What''s the reason for this? Is there anything wrong with my training methods? Or, is she just not endowed with the qualities needed for a killer?"


    "So, why did youe here?" asked Gu Shenwei.


    "I''vee here to look for you," Tie Linglong stopped sobbing and replied smilingly. She was delighted to see the Dragon King suddenly appear in front of her. "I nned to find Little Chu first, but my brother forbade me to..."


    "Your brother is here?" Gu Shenwei cut her off and asked astonishingly.


    "Yes, he is, but he told me not to tell the others that he''s here. Only the ck-faced messenger and I know it. It''s alright to tell you this, since he wants to meet you here," replied Tie Linglong.


    Gu Shenwei had a guilty conscience since he had betrayed Shu-lik. Upon hearing that the prince wanted to meet him, he suddenly felt much relieved. "The prince still seems to trust me. As long as he''s the prince of Shu-lik, the country won''t treat the Great Snowmountain as an enemy."


    "Bring me to meet him," Gu Shenwei said to Tie Linglong.


    He had discovered enough facts, but he always bore in mind that "looking for the truth" and "solving the problem" arepletely different concepts.


    He was faced with lots of problems and had to deal with the Golden Roc Fort, the Governor and Four Truths Temple at the same time. He was well aware that all he needed to do was to offer them enough solid evidence while concealing a part of the truth.

 Chapter 296 - Reciprocation

    Chapter 296: ReciprocationTrantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    It was pitch dark the moment Gu Shenwei returned to his temporary home, which was now widely known as Residence of Dragon King. Although it was his own ce, he still persisted in his old habit of quietly sneaking into a residence at night and leapt over the wall to get into thepound.


    He had to be prudent since Wildhorse and Immortal Peng were not bound by the three-month truce agreement. As for the other disciples of the Joy Pavilion, who were particrly fascinated by the three-storey building, they would definitely want to take revenge on him for the destruction of the pavilion.


    Gu Shenwei easily dodged the guards who were patrolling the courtyard and returned to his room. The moment he entered it, he sensed something amiss and took hold of his saber shaft.


    Without his permission, no one was allowed to enter his room, but at this moment, he clearly felt that someone else was inside it.


    ¡°This person is breathing evenly, seemingly not making any effort to hide himself or herself. It looks like he or she is¡ªsleeping.¡±


    With this thought in mind, Gu Shenwei quietly unsheathed his saber and gently drew his bed curtain open.


    Behind the curtain, there was a fully-clothed girl who curled up in his bed. Under the dim light, he could see that she was fast asleep and had a smile on her face. He guessed that she was probably dreaming of something good.


    He recognized that she was one of the maids from the Great Snowmountain, but he did not know her name. ¡°Ahem,¡± Gu Shenwei coughed lightly.


    The young girl woke up with a start. She rubbed her sleepy eyes and suddenly saw the Dragon King standing beside her with Five Peaks Saber in hand. She was scared as well as ashamed, her cheeks turning bright red from blushing. She jumped out of the bed and said incoherently, ¡°Dragon King¡­ I was¡­ You¡­ I didn¡¯t know¡­ Please forgive me.¡±


    Like all the other people from the Great Snowmountain, this girl did not have the habit of kowtowing to her superiors, so she just huddled at the bedside and awkwardly begged for mercy.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Gu Shenwei asked nonchntly while bringing his saber down, but not sheathing his weapon.


    ¡°Jiang,¡± replied the girl, who was frightened.


    It took Gu Shenwei a minute to understand that ¡°Jiang¡± was her name instead of a cry of fear. ¡°So your surname is Long?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    Most residents of the Great Snowmountain were surnamed Long, but this convention did not apply to the girl. She shook her head in disagreement while saying, ¡°No, I¡¯m from the Qin Valley n of Luoshen Peak.¡±


    Each of the five tribes of the Great Snowmountain was divided into several ns. A person from the Qin Vally n usually was surnamed Qin.


    ¡°Qin Jiang?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°No, just Jiang,¡± the girl shook her head again and said.


    Despite that Gu Shenwei was respected as ¡°Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks¡±, he did not know much about the customs of the Great Snowmountain. He guessed that the probable reason this girl had such a strange name was that women were not allowed to use a surname in her n. ¡°What¡¯re you doing here?¡±asked Gu Shenwei.


    As the Dragon King spoke softly this time, the girl named Jiang did not seem to be so scared anymore, although her face was still red. She revealed a childlike smile and said, ¡°I came here to serve you, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never asked you toe here.¡±


    ¡°But my tribal chief ordered me to serve you. He instructed that I should make sure that you get a good rest and¡­¡±


    ¡°I nullify all themands that he gave you.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ But¡­¡± Jiang stuttered, feeling confused. She felt that she had to follow her tribal chief¡¯s order, but at the same time she dared not to act against the Dragon King¡¯s will.


    ¡°Go back to your room. I¡¯ll call you if I need you,¡± Gu Shenwei said in a low voice, trying his best not to sound too harsh.


    ¡°Um,¡± Jiang replied and then walked toward the door. After walking a few steps, she hurried back to pick up her shoes on the ground and then swiftly ran out of the room. Her face was redder than before, and it appeared that she was working hard to hold her tears back.


    Gu Shenwei had decided long before that he would never keep a servant in his bedroom, for he knew that the betrayal of such a servant would lead to serious consequences. He thought of Jiang¡¯s intrusion as an ident and did not pay much attention to it.


    He quickly forgot about the girl, sheathed his saber and sat on the bed, thinking about the information divulged by Shangguan Hong.


    ¡°Using Shangguan Ru as bait to lure me into a trap indeed sounds like a n made by Lady Meng and Shangguan Fei.¡±


    Gu Shenwei snorted and continued to think, ¡°Master Fei, you underestimate me. You consider this thing as a childish game¡ªwho¡¯s whose friend, and who¡¯s whose foe. I¡¯ll never fall into your trap.¡±


    With this thought in mind, Gu Shenwei fell into his bed, sinking into sleep with his saber in hand. He fought numerous people in his dream that night.


    The next day, he had to deal with a lot of chores and thus did not go out.


    Xu Xiaoyi came into his room to remind him that he had to find a way to replenish their capital, as they had spent a lot recently and it was hard even for any shrewd merchant to support an army of thousands with so little money.


    Xu Xiaoyi also told him that someone had spotted the Joy Pavilion¡¯s disciples in a valley outside the city and promised to find their whereabouts within three days.


    When Xu Xiaoyi was reporting to the Dragon King, Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong were fighting each other with wooden sabers on the other side of the room. Tie Linglong was very talkative and keptmenting on Little Chu¡¯s moves, as if she was his tutor. The teenage swordsman listened attentively to the girl and only made responses to herments asionally.


    Gu Shenwei listened to Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s report, while watching Chu Nanping fighting against Tie Linglong. Suddenly, he asked, ¡°Chu Nanping, where do you think the Joy Pavilion¡¯s disciples would be hiding?¡±


    Chu Nanping thought for a moment and replied, ¡°No, I don¡¯t know. Even if I know, I¡¯ll never tell you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei believed that the youth had answered truthfully. The boy¡¯sst sentence sounded quite blunt, but that was his style and Gu Shenwei had already got ustomed to it. ¡°Did Immortal Peng ask you anything about your new sword techniques?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    He had taught Chu Nanping some Death Scripture sword skills and was a little worried that the straightforward teenager might tell Immortal Peng all the skills that he had learned if being asked.


    ¡°Yes, he did. I told him that I learned these swords skills from you, and he didn¡¯t ask any more questions about it.¡±


    Upon hearing that, Gu Shenwei felt much relieved and thought, ¡°The white-faced Immortal Peng thinks that I stole the hypnosis manual from the dwarf Immortal Peng, so he wouldn¡¯t be interested in the swordcraft. Disciples of the Joy Pavilion are kung fu masters but they¡¯re not smart. I don¡¯t need to worry about them. Only Wildhorse deserves special attention.¡±


    When Gu Shenwei was thinking about his own business, a swordsman came in and reported, ¡°Mr. Xu Xiaoyi, a person hase to our gate and is asking to meet you for something urgent.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi was stunned, since his informers always met with him in secret and none of them had evere to Residence of Dragon King to find him before. He hurriedly walked out to check the situation with the swordsman.


    Gu Shenwei nodded to Chu Nanping, hinting that he should follow Xu Xiaoyi.


    Tie Linglong put her wooden saber down, feeling reluctant to let her practice partner go. ¡°Dragon King, when will you let me perform an assassination alone?¡±


    ¡°When you can tie with Little Chu in a fight.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve just tied with him in our fight. Haven¡¯t you seen it?¡±


    ¡°He deliberately let you win.¡±


    ¡°Humm, I¡¯ll force him to take me seriously the next time,¡± said Tie Linglong, while brandishing her wooden saber.


    ¡°Ouch!¡± someone suddenly screamed outside, and it sounded like Xu Xiaoyi. Gu Shenwei was startled and immediately rushed out of the room, drawing the Five Peaks Saber in hand. Tie Linglong was extremely thrilled to get a chance to fight. She swiftly picked up her saber from a corner of the room and ran out.


    In the next moment, she saw a woman in a cloak grabbing Xu Xiaoyi by his ear, dragging him into the yard. Chu Nanping was walking beside them, but surprisingly, he did not do anything to help Xu Xiaoyi. The swordsmen at the gate all tensed up and grabbed their sword shafts, waiting for the Dragon King¡¯s order, but they quickly rxed their vignce, as the Dragon King nodded to them to show that everything was alright.


    Gu Shenwei knew for sure who this woman was. No one else dared to treat Xu Xiaoyi like that except for his own sister.


    ¡°You brat, you came back to Jade City without paying me a visit. Didn¡¯t the Dragon King tell you that I¡¯m still alive? And how old are you? Howe you¡¯re growing a moustache?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m 19. As for my moustache¡­aw.¡±


    Before Xu Xiaoyi finished his sentence, Xu Yanwei had already torn his moustache off. ¡°I knew it. It¡¯s fake. Ah, Mr. Huan. What should I call you now?¡±


    ¡°Call me Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Hee-hee.¡± Xu Yanwei sneered and then she released her brother¡¯s ear. She took off her hood and looked around. ¡°Your residence looks great, but its location is not so good,¡± said Xu Yanwei, still refusing to refer to Gu Shenwei as the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei had saved Xu Yanwei¡¯s life for many times and sent her to serve Luo Ningcha in Golden Roc Fort a few years ago. ¡°It looks like serving the cruel Miss Luo hasn¡¯t changed her a lot. Xu Yanwei is just like before. She¡¯s straightforward most of the time and only pretends to be amiable and mild when there¡¯s a need to,¡± thought Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°I came here for you,¡± Xu Yanwei said to Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°What? Didn¡¯t you tell the swordsman that you came here for me?¡± asked Xu Xiaoyi, while rubbing his red ear with one hand and glueing the moustache to his face with the other hand.


    ¡°That¡¯s just an excuse for meeting you. You look great. I can rest assured now,¡± replied Xu Yanwei.


    Among all the people in the yard, only Tie Linglong had never met Xu Yanwei before. She vigntly looked at the woman, saber in hand.


    Xu Yanwei was certainly not scared by the little girl. She gazed at her and then said to Gu Shenwei, ¡°She¡¯s pretty, although her eye color is a little bit strange. I¡¯m sure clients will like her. Do you want to restart your old business?¡±


    Several years ago, Tie Hanfeng, Gu Shenwei¡¯s Master Shifu, had opened a brothel under his name, but now he did not want to mention it anymore and suggested, ¡°Let¡¯s talk inside the room.¡±


    The moment they entered the room, Xu Yanwei said to Gu Shenwei, ¡°I need to talk with you privately.¡±


    ¡°These three people are my most trusted friends,¡± said Gu Shenwei. He assumed that Xu Yanwei must havee to deliver a message for Luo Ningcha, so he refused her request at once; he did not need to cosy up to the Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter anymore.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯vee here to tell you that Miss Ru is going to get married. What¡¯re you going to do?¡± said Xu Yanwei.


    Gu Shenwei was struck speechless, as he had never expected that Xu Yanwei would havee here to speak for Shangguan Ru.


    ¡°Who¡¯re you? How dare you talk to the Dragon King like that! What does this Miss Ru¡¯s marriage have to do with the Dragon King?¡± Tie Linglong blurted out.


    She had been quite pleased when Xu Yanwei praised her beauty, but after a while she realized that it was not apliment and even felt a little offended.


    ¡°Who am I?¡± said Xu Yanwei with her right hand supporting her waist. ¡°He¡¯s seen me nude and shared blood wine with me. How about you?¡±


    Tie Linglong frowned in disbelief, but she could not refute Xu Yanwei¡¯s argument, as she knew nothing about the Dragon King¡¯s past. In the end, she just stuttered, ¡°No matter who you are, now you¡¯re¡­ a traitor, since now you¡¯re speaking for Miss Ru of the Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    Upon seeing a quarrel developing between them, Xu Xiaoyi hurriedly stepped forward to stop them.


    At this moment, Gu Shenwei also recovered from the surprise and said, ¡°Xu Yanwei, no matter who sent you here, I want you to return to the Stone Castle to tell her that now I¡¯m an enemy of the Golden Roc Fort. Now that the Supreme King and I have signed a three-month truce agreement, I¡¯ll stick to it and keep my promise not to interfere in the internal affairs of the Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    Xu Yanwei was surprised and irritated at Gu Shenwei¡¯s reply, her big eyes widening further in anger. ¡°Do you think that Ie here because of someone else¡¯smand? No, Ie here of my own free will. She¡¯s Miss Ru of the Golden Roc Fort, and she worried and prayed for you everyday during the past three years. She¡¯s been waiting for you all this time. She even saved your life a few years ago. Don¡¯t you n to reciprocate her kindness to you?¡±


    ¡°All the people in the Shangguan family are my enemies. I don¡¯t owe them anything. Instead, I¡¯ll ask them to pay me back with my saber and sword,¡± Gu Shenwei suppressed his anger and retorted in a deep voice.


    Xu Yanwei was so furious that she could hardly speak.


    Although Tie Linglong was just 13 years old, she incisively recognized the change in the Dragon King¡¯s mood. She was surprised, since she had never seen him being irritated by anyone or anything before.


    She was pretty sure that this Miss Ru was not just a casual acquaintance of the Dragon King.

 Chapter 297 - A Precious Weapon

    Chapter 297: A Precious WeaponTrantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei regretted having this talk with Xu Yanwei in front of Xu Xiaoyi, Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong.


    Upon hearing his sister¡¯s words, Xu Xiaoyi slightly curled his lips and nodded his head, while thinking, ¡°It looks like even the Dragon King can¡¯t rise above ordinary desires.¡±


    Chu Nanping remained unmoved by Xu Yanwei¡¯s words, but he could not help frowning in bewilderment.


    Tie Linglong gazed at the Dragon King and opened her mouth, seemingly wishing to say something, but in the next minute, she somehow changed her mind and did not utter a single word.


    ¡°Are you really going to tell that to Miss Ru?¡± Xu Yanwei asked in a trembling voice.


    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Gu Shenwei, coldly and assertively. ¡°Now that you work for the Golden Roc Fort, I don¡¯t want to see you anymore.¡±


    Xu Yanwei was about to take her leave in a fit of anger, but she quickly changed her mind before she made any move. She put on a frightened face and ced her hand on her chest, as if she was too scared to stand steadily. ¡°Dragon King, I¡¯ve sworn to take you as my master. How can I betray you? Besides, my brother still works for you. How can I leave like this? If you don¡¯t want to help Miss. Ru, I won¡¯t force you to do it. I don¡¯t care about it very much. After all, it¡¯s none of my business,¡± said Xu Yanwei, in a soft voice.


    Gu Shenwei was pretty that Xu Yanwei was lying, but he could not kick her out in front of her brother. ¡°Alright, you can stay here. Don¡¯t go back to the Stone Castle anymore,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Great,¡± Xu Yanwei pped her hands and said. ¡°I¡¯ll stay here. Dragon King, you¡¯ve no idea how difficult it is to serve the Eighth Young Mistress. I¡¯ve had enough of it.¡±


    ¡°Uhm.¡± Gu Shenwei did not want to talk about Luo Ningcha. He knew how cantankerous the woman was. He assumed that she must have be even more bad-tempered after surviving the assassination attempt by Maid Lotus three years ago.


    Xu Yanwei took off her cloak and threw it to her brother while saying, ¡°Give me the best room.¡± After that, she turned around to look at Chu Nanping and said smilingly, ¡°Little Chu, you¡¯re still so good-looking. Sigh, women like me are going to lose our jobs.¡±


    Chu Nanping moved his lips but failed to utter a word, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Right at this moment, he found out that Tie Linglong was looking at him angrily, and his face instantly became redder.


    Soon enough, Gu Shenwei discovered that it was a mistake to let Xu Yanwei stay inside his residence.


    In less than half a day, all the people in his residence, including his machetemen, swordsmen and even handymen, heard the story about him and his childhood sweetheart in the Stone Castle, but he could not find any evidence that Xu Yanwei was deliberately spreading the rumor.


    Tie Linglong took all this very seriously and she seemed to feel that she was obligated to take care of the Dragon King¡¯s emotional needs. She was dressed in an outfit meant forbat all day long and stayed with him almost all the time, with a polished saber in her hand. It looked as if she was ready to perform a task at any minute. Every time she discovered that the Dragon King appeared to be in a good mood, she would say with infinite care, ¡°The Great Snowmountain has a vast expanse ofnd. It¡¯s not a difficult thing for us to hide a person inside the mountain¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei had no choice but to forbid her from entering his room again.


    Xu Xiaoyi was smart and diplomatic and never mentioned Shangguan Ru in front of the Dragon King during the whole day. Chu Nanping was extremely confused in the first ce and spent quite a long time thinking about this thing. In the end, he believed that he figured it out and asked the Dragon King, ¡°Dragon King, you¡¯re nning to continue your Emotionless Swordsmanship practice, aren¡¯t you? That Miss Ru is the one you intend to kill for the mastery of the sword technique, isn¡¯t she? ¡±


    Thrilled at the thought of being able to continue practicing Emotionless Swordsmanship techniques, Chu Nanping cast a meaningful nce at Xu Xiaoyi. Xu Xiaoyi swiftly ran away, as he knew that he was the one that Chu Nanping wanted to kill to master Emotionless Swordsmanship.


    Gu Shenwei had enough of it and decide to prohibit everyone from entering his room except his military counselor.


    To keep the Dragon King fully briefed on the negotiating process, Fang Wenshi had to report to his lord everyday after he returned from his meetings. This evening, he was exceptionally talkative. He started with his political analysis and then he began to talk about the past kings and lords, telling the Dragon King how their lechery had ruined their futures. Fang Wenshi talked in such a roundabout way for a long time, trying to make his view amply clear to his lord, which was women were the root of all troubles.


    Gu Shenwei treated all of them coldly, believing that they would quickly forget about this rumor. Contrary to his expectation, everyone thought that he must have put on such a cold face to hide his worries, since they had never seen him being so moody in the past.


    Gu Shenwei was adept at scheming, but not good at coping with the emotional stuff. He even had a sneaking suspicion that Xu Yanwei had already been bribed by Lady Meng and hade here to lure him into a trap.


    Shangguan Hong had told him that the Golden Roc Fort nned to use Shangguan Ru¡¯s marriage to strengthen its rtionship with the Meng family and in the meantime it also intended to use her as a bait to lure him into a trap. Gu Shenwei believed Shangguan Hong¡¯s words, but by far he had not divulged this piece of information to anyone else.


    The next morning, Gu Shenwei woke up, feeling confident that nobody would talk about Shangguan Ru again. He believed that what he had done yesterday had already expressed his stand clearly. However, the moment he got up, he discovered that some people were standing in front of his door.


    They were the elderly tribal chief, Long Qinying, 20 swordsmen and 10 girls from the Great Snowmountain. Gu Shenwei invited them toe into his room, but they refused. Given that, he could only have a talk with them while standing together with them in front of his room.


    ¡°Dragon King, we don¡¯t mean to offend you, but we have to ask you a question,¡± A young swordsman in his 20s spoke on behalf of these people. While he was saying this, he appeared very nervous and his hand kept stroking his sword shaft restlessly.


    ¡°Alright, go ahead and ask me,¡± said Gu Shenwei. Every time he talked with the people from the Great Snowmountain, he had to be extra careful, trying to appear approachable as well as authoritative.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s just that we heard a rumor. It¡¯s said that you fell in love with a girl from the Golden Roc Fort and are nning to snatch her from the fort and elope with her,¡± said the young swordsman.


    ¡°It must be Xu Yanwei who made up this story and started this rumor,¡± Gu Shenwei thought with anger, but as he had to control his temper in front of his people, he just solemnly said, ¡°That¡¯s not true. I swear to the Empyrean that I¡¯ll spend my whole life destroying the Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    Everybody looked delighted upon hearing the Dragon King¡¯s reply, but they did not leave right after this. ¡°Here¡¯s another thing. We hope you¡¯ll gratify a wish of the Empyrean¡¯s people,¡± said the young swordsman.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°We hope you can let Jiang stay inside your bedroom, as she¡¯s designated by the Empyrean to be your servant.¡±


    When the young swordsman was saying this, Jiang was hiding behind the crowd, her face turning scarlet with embarrassment.


    ¡°I see. I¡¯ll let Jiang stay inside my bedroom,¡± Gu Shenwei immediately promised them, as he thought, ¡°People from the Great Snowmountain are simple and honest and have a strong faith in the Empyrean. Beforeing to Jade City, they must have performed some ceremony to appoint Jiang as my servant. I¡¯d better not argue with them over this matter.¡±


    The crowd was satisfied with the Dragon King¡¯s reply. When they took their leave, they even slightly bowed to their lord, appearing more respectful than before.


    Jiang was left behind by the crowd. She lowered her head and nervously wrung her hands together, her face still red.


    Gu Shenwei could predict that she would never be a qualified maid, since girls from the Great Snowmountain did not know how to work as one. Although all the tribes in the mountain regarded women as inferior to men, no one, not even their tribal chiefs, kept a maid at home. Women from the Great Snowmountain were brave and hardworking. They knew how to hunt, how to build a house and how to graze and butcher their cattle, but none of them knew how to serve another person.


    ¡°You can clean the room first,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    He tried his best to be nice to Jiang, but the girl was still startled upon hearing him speaking to her. She clumsily used her sleeve to wipe a table in the room, but she overexerted and identally smashed a vase.


    Embarrassed by her own clumsiness, Jiang was about to cry. Gu Shenwei immediatelyforted her by saying, ¡°Rx, it¡¯s not a big deal. Just throw those broken pieces away.¡±


    Gu Shenwei decided to leave Jiang alone, giving her some time to get familiar with her new job. He summoned Chu Nanping, Tie Linglong and a macheteman, prepared to set off on a mission. Before his departure, he told Xu Xiaoyi, ¡°Keep an eye on your sister. If she continues to spread rumors about me, I¡¯ll cut her tongue out.¡±


    The four mounted their horses, galloped through South City and stopped at the Rouge Forest on the eastern outskirts of Jade City. This ce was a regr haunt for masterless machetemen, but Gu Shenwei had note here for them. He was looking for Wildhorse and the disciples of the Joy Pavilion.


    ording to intelligence provided by Xu Xiaoyi, some suspicious-looking people had suddenly appeared at this ce and they looked like disciples of the Joy Pavilion.


    Gu Shenwei wanted to check out the real situation by himself.


    The moment he arrived at the Rouge Forest, he was amazed. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen so many wandering machetemen here before, and the Golden Roc Fort has just hired lots of them. Howe there are still so many here? Have all the machetemen in Western Regione to Jade City recently?¡±


    Gu Shenwei brought a Tianshan Sect macheteman named Lin Xiaoshan with him. This man was a few years his senior and muscr as a leopard, but because he had a round face like a baby, he did not look very mature.


    Lin Xiaoshan was also greatly surprised by the number of the machetemen in the Rouge Forest and eximed, ¡°Why are there so many machetemen here?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know the reason? You¡¯re from the Tianshan Sect,¡± said Gu Shenwei. He thought that the Tianshan Sect must have known the reason as it was a semi-public guild of the machetemen in Jade City.


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask around to figure out what happened.¡±


    With these words, Lin Xiaoshan dismounted from his horse and walked into the forest. After a while, he returned and said, ¡°Some rich men from North City organized a Machete God Contest here. Today is the opening day of the contest.¡±


    Gu Shenwei still remembered the previous Machete God Contest, which had been held a few years ago. That contest was a part of the gang war between the Kun Society and the Horned Dragon Society, and the previous Machete God ended up being killed by Maid Lotus.


    ¡°What about the organizers¡¯ background?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Curiously enough, they¡¯re just a bunch of retired machetemen. I haven¡¯t seen them for years and I haven¡¯t heard anyone or any organization support them. It seems to be a pure kung fu contest. The winner will win the title of ¡®Machete God¡¯ and a precious weapon.¡±


    ¡°What weapon?¡± asked Tie Linglong, her eyes brightened with excitement. She had long wished to rece her ordinary saber with a precious weapon like the Five Peaks Saber.


    ¡°Melon-hilted Scimitar. Just like the Dragon King¡¯s saber and sword, it¡¯s also made by the famous Shu-lik cksmith, Daga.¡±


    Daga was one of the most well-known cksmiths in the Western Region. Every weapon he crafted after he entered his 40s was of extraordinary quality.


    Upon hearing Lin Xiaoshan¡¯s reply, Gu Shenwei felt intrigued. ¡°Before the Supreme King and I signed the truce agreement, quite a lot of people in Jade City put bounty on my head. Someone even offered a reward of 200,000 taels of silver for my Five Peaks Saber and Dragon Head Sword. I used to think that this person must have some connection with the cksmith Vige, but Mr. Hong swore to me that this incident had nothing to do with the cksmith Vige and the Tianshan Sect.¡±


    The four of them walked into the Rouge Forest after leaving their horses outside of it.


    Gu Shenwei was wearing a cloak but he did not use any make-up to change his looks. Despite that the Dragon King had already be a household name in Jade City by now, only a few people in the city had met him before. He was not worried that he was going to be recognized here.


    There were several stages set up in an open space inside the forest, which were about 2 meters in height. Crowds of machetemen and ordinary people gathered around the stages, enthusiastically watching the fights on the them.


    Several machetemen paced around the area and invited the other machetemen to partake in the contest, like peddlers crying their wares. ¡°Melon-hilted Scimitar, you must¡¯ve heard of it. It¡¯s a precious scimitar made by Daga. It can effortlessly cut through metal and a strand a hair would be sliced into two just being blown across its sharp edge. This precious scimitar together with 3,000 taels of silver will be awarded to the Machete God. Come here and sign up for the contest quickly. Once you be the Machete God, you¡¯ll be a household name.¡±


    When Gu Shenwei brushed past a middle-aged macheteman who was advertising the contest, the man recognized the Dragon King at first nce. He suddenly stopped peddling and shouted excitedly, ¡°The Dragon King! The Dragon King hase to attend our Machete God Contest!¡±


    Upon hearing this, all the contestants on the stages simultaneously stopped fighting and everyone at the scene shifted their gaze toward Gu Shenwei.

 Chapter 298 - Staged Fights

    Chapter 298: Staged FightsTrantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The machetemen of Jade City had mixed feelings about the Dragon King.


    Many machetemen considered him a hero, since he dared to defy the Golden Roc Fort and even led swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain into a battle against it. Most of the machetemen bore a grudge against the Golden Roc Fort, who was one of their biggest employer for ages, but none of them had seeded in revolting against it.


    In the meantime, some machetemen and their friends and families thought of the Dragon King as the Devil, for he had ughtered many of them during his career as a killer and in his war against the Golden Roc Fort.


    Despite their different opinions on the Dragon King, all the people at the scene now shifted their gaze toward the young man.


    Gu Shenwei saw hatred, contempt and admiration in their eyes. He had not intended topete for the Machete God title before, but now he changed his mind.


    ¡°As a killer, I have to be very low-key, but as the Dragon King, I¡¯d best grab every opportunity to show my strength in front of everyone. Besides, I¡¯m quite interested in the origin of the Melon-hilted Scimitar.¡±


    With this in mind, Gu Shenwei announced, ¡°Yes, I¡¯vee here to participate in the Machete God Contest.¡± His voice was not loud but every word he said was distinct. Upon hearing that, all the people at the scene began to whisper to one another. A momentter, someone began to apud and the others quickly followed suit.


    ¡°I¡¯ll participate in this contest too!¡± said Tie Linglong, and then she asked Lin Xiaoshan and Chu Nanping, ¡°How about you guys?¡±


    Lin Xiaoshan shook his head smilingly. He did not want to step on the stage to fight because of his inferior kung fu skills. Chu Nanping thought for a while and replied, ¡°No, I¡¯m a swordsman, so I can¡¯t participate in the Machete God Contest.¡±


    Tie Linglong did not hear what Chu Nanping had said. When the young swordsman was still thinking about how to answer the girl¡¯s question, she had already gone with the Dragon King to sign up for the contest.


    The news that the Dragon King wouldpete in the Machete God Contest quickly got around. Soon enough, several thousand people flocked to the Dragon King¡¯s fighting stage in the Rouge Forest. Even the small vendors all stopped doing business and joined the crowd.


    Everyone gathered around the Dragon King¡¯s stage, leaving the other stages with no audience at all.


    Five of the seven organizers of the Machete God Contest, who used to work as machetemen, admired the Dragon King¡¯s achievements very much. To show their respect for the Dragon King, they decided to change the rules of the contest for the young man. After some deliberation, they announced that the Dragon King did not have to participate in the knockout rounds and wouldpete in the final round for the Machete God title three dayster.


    As for Tie Linglong, she did not get to receive such special treatment, but she did not mind it, as she cared more about fighting in the contest than winning the title. ¡°Wow, I¡¯ll fight against the Dragon King in the final round!¡± eximed the little girl excitedly, her green eyes as bright as gems.


    In the following two hours, the number of contestants increased several dozen fold. Although the Dragon King was widely known as a superb saber user, most newly enrolled contestants still thought that they could possibly defeat the former Golden Roc killer in this kung fupetition. In their eyes, a killer only had the expertise to assassinate someone in the dark but could never bring his or her kung fu skills into full y when fighting an opponent in the open.


    When Tie Linglong stepped on the stage, she discovered that this match was quite different from what she had expected, as the contestants could only use wooden sabers in this fight. ¡°What? Why don¡¯t we use real sabers or machetes during the Machete God Contest?¡± asked Tie Linglong.


    ¡°As the usage of real sabers and machetes caused too many casualties in the previous contests, we decide to use wooden sabers this year. We emphasize friendship overpetition this time,¡± one of the organizers of the contest exined to her.


    Tie Linglong practiced her skills with a wooden saber everyday, but she felt that it was not enough to fight with wooden sabers during a contest. ¡°How can you decide who¡¯s the winner if there¡¯s no one get wounded in the match?¡± asked Tie Linglong.


    ¡°We¡¯ve invited experienced judges for the contest,¡± replied the organizer.


    Before each stage sat three old machetemen, who would work as judges for the matches on the stage.


    Tie Linglong cast a doubtful nce at the three old men in front of her stage, whileining in her heart, ¡°Who knows if they can see my moves clearly.¡±


    Those old men quickly proved themselves to the girl. When Tie Linglong struck her 11th blow at her opponent, they dered her the winner of the match.


    Tie Linglong took part in a total of three matches on that day and won all of them, which excited her very much. On the way back to the city, she kept describing to Chu Nanping what moves she had adopted to defeat her opponents.


    Chu Nanping was liked by many people as he was such a good listener. Every time someone talked to him, even in a casual conversation about daily meals, he would attentively listen to the person and then give responses after careful consideration.


    When Tie Linglong was talking about her third match, he was stillmenting on her first match. Surprisingly, he was able to clearly remember all the questions from the girl and answer them in perfect order.


    During thetter half of their trip back to the city, when Tie Linglong stopped talking, the young swordsman still continued answering the girl¡¯s questions by saying, ¡°Yes¡±, ¡°No¡±, or ¡°Well, it¡¯s possible¡±.


    Gu Shenwei had decided to partake in the Machete God Contest on the spur of the moment and never expected his military counselor Fang Wenshi to be so fully supportive of his decision, especially when the counselor heard that all the contestants had to use wooden sabers in this event. ¡°Dragon King, if I had heard of this event before, I would¡¯ve encouraged you to join it a long time ago. What a great opportunity to win the machetemen¡¯s support and build up a positive image for yourself!¡± eximed Fang Wenshi, excitedly.


    Just like Tie Linglong, he found it hard to restrain his excitement at this moment. While pacing back and forth inside the room, he rambled on about his n. ¡°Many machetemen have been holding a grudge against the Golden Roc Fort for a long time, for it has suppressed and exploited them all this while. In the past, they couldn¡¯t find a capable leader, so they dared not openly revolt against the Golden Roc Fort. However, now they have you, the Dragon King. Here¡¯s my n. You have to be the opposite of the Supreme King in every way. For example, he¡¯s widely known as a man with no morals; you should be as chivalrous as often as possible. He prefers to use unscrupulous tactics, and you should deal with everything aboveboard¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei was stumped by his counselor¡¯s request. He had dreamed of bing a chivalrous hero since childhood, but this dream was over when he was 14. The three years in the Golden Roc Fort had turned him into a totally different person, making him forget how to achieve his goals in a moral and honest way. In addition, he still had a vivid memory of what had happened to Marshal Yang. ¡°I can¡¯t defeat the Supreme King if I handle everything aboveboard,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Hee-hee, do you think all unscrupulous actions are sneaky? If that¡¯s true, howe there¡¯s no dynasty in the history established by killers? The Golden Roc Fort¡¯s unscrupulousness is now known to everyone and it won¡¯t do the Supreme King any good in the future. In my eyes, he¡¯s very politically naive. The Golden Roc Fort had its moment during the turbulent days when its killers rampaged across Western Region, but now the situation in this region is different. Look at the Central in and Nond. Both of them im to be safeguarding humanity, justice and morality. Do you believe they really care about the stability and prosperity of Western Region? No, they just say this to win the people¡¯s support. They¡¯re openly lying to achieve their own goals.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was once again convinced by his military counselor, and meanwhile, he could not help thinking of Zhang Ji, the teacher in the Stone Castle. He was sure that Fang Wenshi and Zhang Ji would enjoy talking with each other if they had a chance.


    Since the Dragon King had been spotted shortly after he entered the Rouge Forest, he did not have the chance to search for the Joy Pavilion¡¯s disciples by himself. However, when he announced his participation in the Machete God Contest, he already had a n in his head.


    Ordered by the Dragon King, Xu Xiaoyi and Lin Xiaoshan motivated all their people to investigate the other participants of the event. Just as the Dragon King had expected, they discovered several people backed by the Joy Pavilion among the ones who had registered as contestants in the afternoon after the news that the Dragon King would partake in the contest spread around.


    Upon knowing this, Gu Shenwei became more confident about his n.


    When he returned to his bedroom, he found it spotlessly clean, but several ceramic art works were gone. Jiang blushed while admitting that she had identally smashed those ceramics when she was cleaning up the room. Her face was extremely red. It looked as if herplexion would never be able to return to its normal tone in the future.


    She set up a small bed near the entrance of the room, nning to serve the Dragon King day and night. Gu Shenwei did not raise any objection upon seeing it. Neither did he refuse Jiang when she came to assist him in taking off his coat. Nevertheless, when she was about to take hold of his saber and sword, he said in a crisp and authoritative tone, ¡°Don¡¯t ever touch my saber and sword.¡±


    Jiang nervously nodded her head and retreated to her bedside in a flustered manner, but she dared not to sit down when the Dragon King was inside the room.


    Gu Shenwei did not say anything tofort her, since this was a part of her job as a maid and she had no choice but to gradually get used to it.


    Right at this moment, Xu Yanwei stepped into the room without being called upon. Upon seeing the small bed and the bewildered look on Jiang¡¯s face, she twitched her mouth, revealing a knowing expression.


    Gu Shenwei earnestly wished that she would misunderstand the rtionship between Jiang and him and leave his room as soon as possible, so he did not even bother to exin the situation to her before asking, ¡°Do you want to see me about something important?¡±


    ¡°No. I juste here to chat with you. It¡¯s just that I haven¡¯t seen you for a long time. Where¡¯s Maid Lotus? She¡¯s been with you all the time, hasn¡¯t she?¡± asked Xu Yanwei.


    She did not know that Gu Shenwei had already parted ways with Maid Lotus a few years ago, for Gu Shenwei had never divulged any information regarding his rtions with Maid Lotus to third parties.


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°You¡¯re still so secretive just like before.¡± Xu Yanwei did not care much about Maid Lotus, so she quickly changed the subject to keep the conversation going. ¡°I heard that you¡¯re going to fight in the Machete God Contest.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Do you think you¡¯ll definitely win?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°You just like kung fupetition, don¡¯t you? Someone told me lots of stories about how you liked to participate in such kind ofpetitions in the past.¡±


    ¡°Get out,¡± said Gu Shenwei, sharply.


    ¡°You really have a heart of stone,¡± Xu Yanwei said bitterly. She turned around and prepared to take her leave, while adding, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anyone like her. She¡¯spletely infatuated with the man she loves. During the past three years, she seldom spoke to her family. She could only share her feelings with me. Most of the time, she just kept telling me stories about a silly little boy.¡±


    Gu Shenwei drew out his Five Peaks Saber. Upon seeing that, Xu Yanwei swiftly ran away.


    He hoped to be alone for some time, but he could not drive Jiang out, since he feared that it would cause dissatisfaction among the people from the Great Snowmountain. In the end, he justy on his bed, fully clothed, while trying to calm himself down by gripping his saber shaft.


    ¡°Even if the Golden Roc Fort hadn¡¯t ughtered my family, I still can¡¯t forgive her, for she caused the death of the two giant golden-crowned rocs.¡± Gu Shenwei knew that his reasoning sounded quite childish, but it worked. By thinking about the giant golden-crowned rocs, he quickly forgot about Shangguan Ru.


    Upon seeing that the Dragon King fell asleep, Jiang slowly slid down into a side-lying position on her small bed. She could vaguely see one side of the Dragon King¡¯s face while lying in her bed, and her face, which had just returned to its normal color, became red again.


    ¡°She must be as pretty as a fairy,¡± Jiang closed her eyes and thought. While picturing a beautiful fairy in her head, she fell into sleep with a sweet smile on her face.


    Jiang only had good dreams.


    The next day, Tie Linglong dragged Chu Nanping out, making him apany her to the contest inside the Rouge Forest. Just like yesterday, she won all the three matches, which gave her a thrill. The moment she met the Dragon King, she began boasting about her performance in the matches. ¡°Today I fought an opponent, who¡¯s at least 150 kilograms! I kept beating him with my wooden saber, and he ended up begging for mercy with his head buried in his arms. The audience nearly diedughing. Hahaha, Little Chu, do you remember?¡±


    ¡°Yes, some of the audienceughed, but I didn¡¯t,¡± replied Chu Nanping.


    On the third day of the contest, Tie Linglong¡¯s winning streak came to an end. She deemed it terribly embarrassing to lose to this opponent, since he defeated her with bare hands. He did not even use a wooden saber.


    Before anyone asked her about the match, she startedining with indignation, ¡°He cheated. He used¡­ evil tricks. This is a Machete God Contest. How could he¡­ not use any weapon?¡±


    That being said, Tie Linglong knew in her heart that the man¡¯s kung fu would not be weakened if he had used a weapon. ¡°Dragon King, teach him a lesson tomorrow. Only you can defeat him,¡± said Tie Linglong.


    Before Tie Linglong and Chu Nanping came back, Gu Shenwei had already received an intelligence report, which informed him that the opponent that he was going to fight tomorrow would be a monk from Four Truths Temple and this monk was named Lianye.


    Although the Dragon King had shifted all me for the murders in Jade City on Wildhorse, Lianye still firmly believed that it was Yang Huan who had assassinated Lianhua.


    ¡°Lianye has superb kung fu, and his Internal Strength is exceptionally strong.¡± With this in mind, Gu Shenwei believed that a wooden saber would be far from enough for tomorrow¡¯s match against the monk.

 Chapter 299 - Snores

    Chapter 299: SnoresTrantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Monk Lianye allowed the macheteman to strike him with the wooden saber without resistance, before shattering the weapon with his body.


    The move created a controversy among the three judges and hundreds of spectators. What if it was a real saber instead of a wooden one? The monk would have been split in half. This was the Machete God Contest. The monk had somewhat vited the rules for not using a saber in the contest. It was difficult to convince the public that Monk Lianye won the contest just by shattering a wooden saber.


    Master Lianye became angry. Only his senior, Lianhua¡¯s chanting could subdue this vigorous force within him. However, he had no qualms restraining himself since his senior had passed away. ¡°Bring over a real saber!¡± His loud voice echoed across the arena like a booming thunder roaring above everybody¡¯s heads. Those timid spectators wanted to cower in fear.


    The three judges were still hesitating. Then, someone threw a saber onto the stage.


    The macheteman picked up the saber and looked at the monk. He had already suffered a terrible defeat and was thinking of a way to save some face. ¡°You asked for it, monk.¡±


    ¡°Come at me!¡±


    Lianye shouted out every single word. The macheteman was terrified. He wanted to hop off the arena and admit defeat, but he was holding onto a real saber. Hence, he could only bite the bullet and attack the monk.


    ¡°Receive my moves,¡± the macheteman shouted. Aspared to the monk¡¯s roar, his voice was akin to a child¡¯s squabble.


    The monk didn¡¯t budge when the saber came towards him. When the de touched his body, he suddenly shouted, ¡°Go!¡±


    Although the macheteman readied himself for the monk¡¯s roar, the roar still made him feel lightheaded. Even though the sabernded on the monk¡¯s chest, the move did not have much strength.


    Lianye¡¯s internal breath was akin to that of an avnche and a tsunami. The weak short sword was caught in the powerful force. In a moment, the sword which was made of fine steel was shattered into three pieces, leaving only the handle in the macheteman¡¯s hands.


    The macheteman was stunned. Even though he didn¡¯t use much strength, the saber was destroyed purely by the monk¡¯s Internal Strength. He murmured, ¡°Holy monk,¡± admitting defeat in public and eximed, ¡°Holy monk!¡±


    This was the contest after Tie Linglong¡¯s defeat. Lin Xiaoshan, the macheteman witnessed the entire process. Like all the other spectators, he was awestruck. ¡°Lianye had mastered the body of Diamond Sutra. Some even said that there was an apparition of Holy Monk Lianhua. The holy monk protected his junior from harm.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not believe it. He had once stabbed Lianye with his Five Peaks Saber so he was sure that the monk was a mere human.


    ¡°All the machetemen are going crazy about it. Dragon King, let¡¯s use real sabers since Lianye is not afraid of them. Five Peaks Saber is a rare weapon. I¡¯m sure it can prate the monk¡¯s kung fu.¡±


    Gu Shenwei found himself in a difficult position. Both the Five Peaks Saber and the Dragon Head Sword could prate Lianye¡¯s kung fu, but it would portray him as a coward. However, he was not certain if he could win by using a wooden saber.


    This time, Lianye caught on to the Dragon King¡¯s weakness.


    Gu Shenwei remembered what Mama Xue once said when she was teaching him kungfu. She said that his fists were the foundation, but it could never win against weapons. Killers used sabers to win against both sabers and bare fists. All these made a lot of sense to him at that time. However, he did not expect that there woulde a day whereby he had to do away with his identity as a killer and resort to fighting with his bare fists.


    Fang Wenshi knew nothing about martial arts, so he didn¡¯t think about it much. He simply assumed that Dragon King would definitely win. The key was how he would win. ¡°You cannot let the Four Truths Temple lose face. You need to achieve a bnce. You need to win beautifully and let the monk save his face. Do you know what I mean, Dragon King?¡±


    The military counselor was of no help. Gu Shenwei ordered everyone to leave the room as he tried toe up with a solution.


    He still remembered the scene when Lianye fought with the expert from Barren Sect. He knew that once the wooden saber was broken, he had to face Lianye with his bare fists. He would likely lose.


    It seemed like the only way to solve this problem was to use the Five Peaks Saber shamelessly.


    Gu Shenwei still hoped that he could convince Lianye. Only the monk could exin away the doubts that he had.


    Jiang was carefully wiping the cab on one side. She was now able to use a cloth and her face did not blush as much as before. Gu Shenwei looked at her and thought of something. He asked, ¡°Do you know kung fu, Jiang?¡±


    Upon hearing Dragon King¡¯s question, Jiang was shocked. The cloth in her hands dropped onto the floor. She picked it up hurriedly and blushed. She then said in a soft voice, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was somewhat disappointed. He had once recalled seeing women of Great Snow Mountain fighting fiercely with one another in closebat, and their valor wasparable to swordsmen. He was hoping to learn a few techniques, but Jiang appeared bashful and didn¡¯t seem like a person who know how to fight.


    Gu Shenwei stood up. Jiang knew his habits very well now. Knowing that Dragon King was going to head out in the night again, she quickly passed him his ck cape.


    Gu Shenwei did not rm anybody in the residence. He sneaked into North City by himself.


    There was something that he should have solved some time ago. He had been procrastinating till now. It couldn¡¯t wait any longer.


    He came to the small temple where Lianhua was killed. Like always, he would climb over the wall and enter the premises after inspecting the surroundings.


    No one was in the west wing. A faint breathing sound could be heard from the east wing.


    This was not a wasted trip, Gu Shenwei thought to himself. He took out a dagger, pried open the lock and entered the room silently.


    Lying on the bed was an overweight monk, who was sleeping soundly. He was the abbot who Gu Shenwei knocked out thest time.


    Gu Shenwei kept his dagger and drew out his Five Peaks Saber. He then tapped the monk¡¯s face with the saber.


    The monk waved it off but did not wake up.


    Gu Shenwei tapped with more force. The monk then opened his eyes dazedly. He noticed someone holding a saber in front of him, so he sat up straight immediately. He wanted to scream loudly but he did not dare to do so.


    ¡°Do you know who I am?¡±


    The monk first shook his head, then nodded, ¡°Dragon ¡­ Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°I have a few questions for you.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Dragon King, please ask. I won¡¯t hide anything.¡±


    ¡°What did you see on the night when Master Lianhua was killed?¡±


    ¡°I ¡­ I saw Dragon King fighting with Master Lianye.¡±


    ¡°Before that.¡±


    ¡°I was sleeping at that time, so I didn¡¯t know anything.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pressed the Five Peaks Saber against the monk¡¯s sturdy chest. ¡°It seemed like you didn¡¯t have a regr snoring pattern. You were snoring really loudly the other time. However, you weren¡¯t snoring this time round.¡±


    The monk¡¯s face changed, ¡°I ¡­ I ¡­ Is it ¡­ I don¡¯t even know when I snore.¡±


    ¡°Master Lianye was grief-stricken when Master Lianhua was killed. He must have made a lot of noise then. Didn¡¯t that rouse you up?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know. I was sleeping soundly.¡±


    ¡°There are many kinds of machete skills. I can kill people in one blow or hundreds of blows. All of these are considered to be top machete techniques. Which one do you prefer?¡±


    The monk did not understand what Gu Shenwei meant initially. He soon realized what Gu Shenwei meant by using multiple blows. It was used to torture a person instead of killing him. His face turned green as he started sweating profusely. He could not imagine how many blows his fat body had to undertake. ¡°Don¡¯t, Dragon King, don¡¯t, I ¡­ I will tell you the truth.¡±


    ¡°I want the real truth.¡±


    ¡°Yes, the real truth. That day ¡­ that afternoon, Liu Qi came to me and gave me 20 silver taels. He wanted me to put something into both monks¡¯ food. I refused, but he pressured me. He said that it wasn¡¯t poison and wasn¡¯t deadly. Never did I thought that the drug would cause Master Lianye to lose his sight temporarily and Master Lianhua to be assassinated. If I knew that this would harm someone¡¯s life, I would have never done such a wicked thing. As a monk ¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei interrupted him, ¡°who is Liu Qi?¡±


    ¡°He ¡­ he¡­¡± The fat monk was trying to think of a way that best describes Liu Qi¡¯s origins. He finally decided to use a simple method. He said, ¡°He was a ve from the castle. His name was ve Qing. Dragon King would probably know him.¡±


    Gu Shenwei definitely knew ve Qing.


    ve Qing used to be apanion for the twins. He then came down from the mountain to serve as a butler for Ninth Young Master, Shangguan Fei.


    Gu Shenwei was extremely startled. Why would Shangguan Fei kill Master Lianhua, and tried to push the me onto Dragon King? It didn¡¯t benefit him.


    ¡°What did you know about Master Lianhua preaching to the machetemen at South City?¡±


    ¡°I really didn¡¯t know about this. The two masters were only staying here temporarily and didn¡¯t really talk to me.¡±


    Recognising the hidden meaning in the monk¡¯s words, Gu Shenwei raised his head and asked, ¡°What did you hear?¡±


    ¡°Regarding this, there was once when I heard Master Lianye sobbing hard. He said that he had caused harm to Master Lianhua and would punish himself bymitting suicide. Master Lianhua didn¡¯t allow it and even reprimanded him. Really, that¡¯s all. Dragon King, that¡¯s all I know.¡±


    Gu Shenwei spared the abbot¡¯s life. As Great Snowmountain was currently in the middle of a peace negotiation, killing someone now would give Golden Roc Fort a cause for objection.


    There was not enough time to find ve Qing. Gu Shenwei returned to the Residence of Dragon King and pondered what Lianye had done to implicate Master Lianhua.


    It was alreadyte at night. Other than Jiang, there was someone else in his room.


    Xu Yanwei was determined to pester Dragon King. She did not persuade him to do something directly. However, as long as she found a chance, she would beat around the bush and mention Shangguan Ru. Gu Shenwei once forbade Xu Yanwei from entering his room. Her ability to please people was further honed after serving Luo Ningcha for a few years, hence Dragon King¡¯s orders were often not executed.


    This was the case tonight.


    Once Jiang noticed Dragon King, she stood up immediately and spoke fearfully, ¡°Dragon King, it was my fault. I shouldn¡¯t have let Sister Xue in ¡­¡±


    Xu Yanwei smiled and said cheerfully, ¡°Don¡¯t me her. I insisted oning in. She wasn¡¯t as strong as me so she was unable to stop me.¡±


    Xu Yanwei might be slightly older, but she was as petite as her brother. All her strength would not even measure up to an arm strength of a girl from Great Snowmountain.


    Gu Shenwei did not bother entertaining her, nor did he drive her out. He removed his cape and passed it to Jiang. He then leaped onto the bed and closed his eyes.


    ¡°Would you like to enter Stone Castle, Jiang?¡± Xu Yanwei took the Great Snow Mountain girl by the arm and continued chatting.


    ¡°I had never thought about it.¡± Jiang lowered her voice.


    ¡°Just look for me if you want to enter Stone Castle. I can guarantee that you can enter and leave the castle safely. You can even bring someone out. Nobody will suspect anything ¡­¡±


    Jumping off the bed, Gu Shenwei carried Xu Yanwei from the small bed and threw her out of the room.


    ¡°That person weighs about the same as me.¡± Xu Yanwei kindly reminded him from the outside. ¡°And she knows how to leap onto roofs and vault over walls, so you won¡¯t have to carry her.¡±


    Gu Shenwei blew the lights out and slept. Jiang helped tuck his nket corners and went back to sit on her small bed before lying down to sleep.


    The next morning, Gu Shenwei brought ten swordsmen, ten machetemen, along with Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong to the Rouge Forest.


    The spectacr asion had reminded him of the duel that he had with Sword Sacrificer Ye Sng a few years back. That match was fought ording to the ways of killers. The entire forest was the fighting ground. Today, he would be following the rules, which wereid out by the machetemen and would battle it out, face to face against a strong rival in a small arena.


    Gu Shenwei did not sleep muchst night, but he was quite refreshed. He had thought through several important matters and that gave him much more confidence in today¡¯s match.

 Chapter 300 - Internal Strength

    Chapter 300: Internal StrengthTrantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Carrying a cinerary urn in his arms, Monk Lianye went unapanied into Rouge Forest. The crowd automatically parted a narrow walkway and bowed their heads in respect as he passed. Many machetemen held up their weapons, hoping that the holy monk could bless it.


    The anger in Lianye did not diminish, but reproached himself for enjoying the this feeling of being held in high regard, even indulging in the fond memory of leaving home to be a monk.


    He ha once been an infamous bandit in the Western Region. Lianye had killed, robbed and stopped at nothing until he was cornered by his enemies. He had sought refuge in Four Truths Temple and had converted to Buddhism under his senior, Lianhua¡¯s, influence.


    He was a tiger beside Master Lianhua. Although he possessed a heart of Buddhism, his ws still remained.


    With Lianhua gone, the ws of the rash monk gradually lost their steel.


    The thought of revenge tormented him to the point of insanity. It was like a tiger drawn to the scent of blood again, eager for the taste of fresh blood and the feeling of biting.


    Dragon King had not arrived yet. Lianye walked up to the arena and ced his senior, Lianhua¡¯s, cinerary urn respectfully at the side. He then sat cross-legged and began chanting quietly as if there was no one around.


    It was as though a sacred halo was radiating from the fierce-looking and brusque monk. Everyone thought they heard a low chanting voice. Devout believers knelt down first. More and more people joined in the worshipping crowd, making the others who were still standing feel uneasy, as if they weremitting some offense. They too, knelt down involuntarily.


    This was the scene that Gu Shenwei and his entourage were greeted by when they arrived at Rouge Forest.


    ¡°Things don¡¯t look so good.¡± Lin Xiaoshan, the macheteman, was slightly worried, ¡°This is just apetition organized by several wealthy organizations. Dragon King ¡­ It¡¯s alright if you don¡¯t want to participate.¡±


    ¡± Go about your business.¡± Gu Shenwei would never run away at thest moment. The military counselor, Fang Wenshi, reminded him, in order to win the hearts of people and unite all forces to fight against Golden Roc Fort, he needed to be the exact opposite of what Supreme King was.


    ¡°Fair, honest and magnificent.¡± Gu Shenwei muttered these strange words while contemting whether there were any loopholes in today¡¯s n.


    Lin Xiaoshan bowed to ept the order and quickly disappeared into the crowd.


    Dragon King¡¯s arrival caused a stir among the crowd, like ripples in the ocean. The people who had knelt stood up once again and gave way to a much wider pathway. They stretched their necks and tiptoed so as to catch a glimpse of Dragon King¡¯s real appearance.


    ¡°He¡¯s really young.¡± Most of them shared the same first impression, before specting about his sickly appearance. ¡°Look how weak he is. I doubt he¡¯ll be able to block a punch from the holy monk.¡±


    Gu Shenwei went to the stage and handed his sword and saber to Chu Nanping before going up the arena.


    Lianye stood up and sped his palms together. He muttered a few more words to the cinerary urn before turning to face Dragon King. There was nothing left of the Buddhist halo. Now, he was just a ferocious tiger with ruffled hair.


    An old renowned macheteman said a few words on stage. He emphasized the purpose of ¡°meeting friends with martial arts, stopping when appropriate¡±. The spectators were tired of it. They hade to watch the duel between the holy monk and Dragon King. If there was no bloodshed or death, what was the point of watching?


    This was the same group of people who had, after kneeling down to worship the ways of Buddhism, cheered at the sight of massacre.


    Someone brought two sabers up to the stage and the old macheteman raised his voice to announce the start of the duel. Apuse and cheers were heard from the spectators, as they surged forward.


    Lianye took the wooden saber, broke it apart and threw it down the stage. He took off his sleeve and revealed his muscr right arm. This caused the spectators to cheer loudly again.


    Gu Shenwei held the wooden saber in his hands. He could not muster that feeling of being true to life as he had during practice. Without the weight and chill of the steel, he felt his kung fu had deteriorated drastically.


    Both of them stared at each other. No one wanted to make the first move. The spectators grew impatient and started to jeer.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have killed Senior. You were indebted to him.¡± The audience could not hear a word as Lianye spoke softly.


    Gu Shenwei had already exined everything that night and did not intend to repeat himself. So he replied, ¡°Do monks avenge by killing as well? It seemed like Master Lianhua¡¯s Breaking Obsession did not have an effect on you.¡±


    Breaking Obsession was a scripture, which was written by Lianhua and his brother, Lianxin. Frequent reciting of the scripture could weaken the killing desire. Gu Shenwei had once fell victim to it. Lianye spent years reciting it, but hispetitiveness and desire to excel was not so easily removed. Gu Shenwei rubbing salt on Lianye¡¯s wound only made him angrier. The monk let out a bellow before attacking.


    The duel had begun. The excited yells of the spectators rustled the trees and caused the snow to fall.


    However, they would be disappointed.


    Many people still remembered the match between Killer Yang Huan and Sword Sacrificer Ye Sng a few years back. It had also happened in winter, with the entire Rouge Forest as the arena. The spectators suffered from the cold but saw nothing exciting. In the end, the killer carried the injured swordsman out of the forest.


    This time, was an open duel. Everybody thought it would be a story worth spreading. The rash Monk Lianye had already proved his invincible body and Dragon King was known to kill without batting an eye. It should be an exciting fight.


    But as they looked on, the monk had never made any more powerful moves apart from that roar. His pace was as slow as an old cow as though he was carrying a mountain. Even a child could easily avoid him.


    However, Dragon King did not take this opportunity to attack. Instead, he squared his shoulders and merely brandished the wooden saber. He refused to approach the monk.


    Both of them circled the arena a few times without making a single move. They did not even touch each other.


    ¡°What is this!¡± Finally, someone yelled discontentedly, ¡°I can put up a better fight if you let me go up.¡±


    ¡°Quick, go for it!¡± More and more people egged on.


    Gu Shenwei had pushed all the me for the past month of killings to Wildhorse. Although he no longer bore the hatred of the residents of Jade City, it also had its side effects: the fear of the real Dragon King was gone.


    ¡°Dragon King. Don¡¯t run!¡±


    ¡°Quickly block him, monk!¡±


    ¡°Coward.¡±


    The spectators were more and more rude to Dragon King.


    Dragon King heard the spectators¡¯ jeers, and finally took the initiative to attack. He swung his weapon towards the steady monk.


    Although this move was unremarkable, the way Dragon King moved was as fast as a bolt of ck lightning. Not many spectators could achieve this, so they apuded and cheered.


    Just like that, the emotions of the crowd were stirred up once again, before it was extinguished without fanfarey. Lianye grabbed the tip of the de with his left hand but the wooden saber didn¡¯t split in half. The duo stood motionlessly as they stopped circling the arena.


    ¡°What are they doing?¡± This question spread through the crowd.


    ¡°It seems like¡­ they arepeting with their Internal Strength.¡± The answer was quickly ryed back to everyone¡¯s ears, and the crowd nodded in agreement.


    The two of them had fought against each other before. Therefore, they knew their opponent¡¯s limit well.


    Even though Gu Shenwei was holding a wooden saber, Lianye was fearful of Dragon King¡¯s machete skills. Hence, Lianye had to be careful and wanted to kill his enemy in as few moves as possible.


    Gu Shenwei knew that he could never win the monk by using his bare fists, so he decided to fight using Internal Strength from the very beginning.


    Gu Shenwei had a taste of Lianye¡¯s deep-seated Internal Strength. However, things were no longer what they used to be. His Internal Strength had improved tremendously after diligently practicing Wayless Qigong. He was confident that he couldpete against the monk.


    Lianye¡¯s Internal Breath was akin to a bowl of warm water, not domineering but flowing endlessly. It was guided through the wooden saber into Gu Shenwei¡¯s body. Meanwhile, his right hand flicked blows of Internal Breath at Dragon King¡¯s Dantian directly.


    Gu Shenwei soon realized that he had underestimated Lianye.


    Lianye was as horrified as Dragon King. His Internal Strength had already been quite profound before bing a monk. It was further improved after he meeting a brilliant master at Four Truths Temple. He had practiced for decades. It was hard toprehend how Dragon King had already achieved such strong Internal Strength when he was only in his twenties.


    Dragon King¡¯s Internal Breath was extremely unique. It was as though countless tiny ice cones were pouring into Lianye¡¯s body like a crumbling iceberg. He could feel the chill in his body gradually intensify.


    ¡°Look, the monk is losing!¡± Someone among the listless crowd finally noticed what was happening.


    ¡°Rather, the monk is going to turn to ice soon.¡±


    His bare arm trembled slightly and Lianye¡¯s fluffy beard was covered with ayer of frost.


    The spectators gestured wildly in excitement and surprise. They had never seen kungfu like this before. The crowd had finally gotten something worthy to talk about for the next few days. Dragon King certainly did have what it took.


    Everyone thought that Dragon King was about to win; only Gu Shenwei knew that he was about to lose.


    Although Lianye¡¯s skin was frozen, his vital organs were still well protected. The Internal Breath that flowed through the wooden saber had drained most of Gu Shenwei¡¯s strength. Furthermore, the blows of invisible Internal Breath that the monk was firing had intensified. Gu Shenwei could only use his Dantian to put up in resistance.


    Like dripping water prating through stone, constant perseverance would yield sess.


    It was about time. ¡°Monk hasn¡¯t removed the Peripheral Force imnted by Barren Sect yet, have you?¡±, Gu Shenwei whispered.


    A few years ago, Lianye had fought with a disciple from the Barren Sect using Internal Strength on Gu Shenwei¡¯s body. A momentary oversight had resulted in him being imnted with the Peripheral Force. Even though the Force was negligible at that time, it had grown stronger in recent years. It had be a lingering evil that did not go away.


    Lianye¡¯s face changed abruptly as his Internal Breath became chaotic. Gu Shenwei intensified his attack, and continued saying, ¡°Because of such a small injury, you managed to be controlled, even implicating your senior¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Lianye shouted. His voice was deafening thunder that swept through Rouge Forest, startling the unsuspecting spectators.


    The roar had been to scare. Lianye¡¯s Internal Breath became more erratic. Although it was extremely powerful, it was gradually being exhausted.


    Gu Shenwei had been waiting for this opportunity all along. All of a sudden, he released the wooden saber and nimbly appeared behind the monk. He punched the monk¡¯s neck and back.


    Lianye spat out a mouthful of blood and copsed.


    Only Dragon King was left standing on the arena, empty-handed.


    The crowd was momentarily stunned by the duel ending so abruptly and stood in silence; no one spoke a single word.


    The silencested for a short time before an arrow shot through the air towards Dragon King, who was still in the arena.


    ¡°Kill.¡± With thismand, more arrows shot towards the arena.


    Chaos erupted. Half of the spectators were idlers who had no knowledge of martial arts. The unexpected change of events had them fleeing the scene in fear. The machetemen grasped the handle of their sabers and observed the situation. They would rather stay neutral and act as if this had nothing to do with them.


    At the same time the first arrow was shot, more than a hundred machetemen in long capes jumped out from all corners and pounced on different targets. They shouted, ¡°Get Joy Pavilion! Get Joy Pavilion!¡±


    Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong leapt onto the stage. The youth drew his sword out of the scabbard with one hand and handed Dragon King the Five Peaks Saber with the other.


    The first public showdown between Dragon King of Great Snowmountain and Wildhorse of Joy Pavilion would begin.

 Chapter 301 - Blame Me

    Chapter 301: me MeTrantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The disturbance in the Rouge Forest was directed at the Dragon King, but it ended up with a battle between the Joy Pavilion and the Tianshan Sect.


    Many members of the Tianshan Sect were killed by the Dragon King imposter, and the other members of the sect had not let go of their hatred. They were searching far and wide for Wildhorse and the disciples of the Joy Pavilion, far more enthusiastically than the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei knew that Lianye¡¯s registering to take part in the Machete God Contest was most likely Wildhorse¡¯s idea, and deduced that the killer would send men into the Rouge Forest secretly.


    He proposed to the Tianshan Sect, via Lin Xiaoshan, for them to work together.


    Thus, the sect sent out more than 100 of its most trusted and skilled machetemen, and they hid amongst the audience as well, observing behind the scenes.


    Most of Wildhorse¡¯s men were discovered when they drew their hidden crossbows and fired at the Dragon King. After their first volley, they threw down their weapons and wanted to escape, but were surrounded by the machetemen from the Tianshan Sect.


    There were about 30 of them, and five of them were disciples from the Joy Pavilion. They did not flee when they realised that they were trapped, but drew out their weapons and charged at the Dragon King who was on the stage.


    Fights were breaking out everywhere between both sides, and onlookers who did not know any kung fu started scattering everywhere, screaming and baying as they ran. More than half of the machetemen who hade to watch the contest decided to retreat from the affected area and watch from afar, while the others stood with the Tianshan Sect and helped to surround and pick off the assassins sent by Wildhorse.


    It was also on this fateful day when people no longer differentiated between Wildhorse and the Joy Pavilion disciples. From that day onwards, they were known collectively as the ¡®Wildhorse Gang¡¯, and to everyone, Wildhorse was a far better representative of this ragtag bunch of grotesque beings than Immortal Peng ever was.


    Gu Shenwei regained his confidence when he gripped the Five Peaks Saber. It was a confidence that allowed him to kill remorselessly.


    It was a pity that most of the audience was scattered by then, and not many got to watch the Dragon King take on five highly skilled opponents.


    Chu Nanping blocked away the iing arrows directed at the Dragon King, but hesitated to strike upon seeing familiar faces from the Joy Pavilion. He overcame his indecisiveness and went forward, trying to force them away.


    Tie Linglong had her chance now. She charged at an ugly-looking elderly woman wielding two short swords, and they were soon entangled.


    Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong had only managed to engage with their opponents for a short while before the Dragon King struck.


    He cut down the five Joy Pavilion disciples with only 11 strokes of his saber, and his speed was remarkable. When he was done with thest one, the first opponent was still shaking in a standing position¡ªhe had not even fell to the ground.


    A few of the old machetemen who were lucky enough to witness the fight were shocked beyond words. They had never seen such a machete technique before¡ªit was so simple and direct that there was no stance to speak of, and its only uniqueness was its speed. Every stroke was aimed at a vital part of the enemy.


    ¡°The Dragon King wins,¡± announced an old macheteman as he stood up, entirely oblivious to the fact that there was no audience left.


    Monk Lianye had not seen the Dragon King cutting down the Joy Pavilion disciples, since he was lying half-unconsciously on the stage with a streak of blooding from the corner of his mouth all this while. When he heard the old macheteman¡¯s words, he thought the macheteman was announcing the result of the match between him and the Dragon King. He firmly believed that the Dragon King must have used deception to defeat him.


    When he finally came to his senses and sat up, he realized that he was lying on a soft bed, and saw a maid whose cheeks were flushed red holding a green porcin bowl. She was surprised by him suddenly sitting up, and gave a loud cry. At least half of the medicinal drink in the bowl she was holding spilled out onto the floor.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Yang Huan?¡± asked the monk sternly. The maid did not know anyone by the name of Yang Huan, and stared nkly back at him.


    ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± replied the Dragon King.


    He had brought Lianye back to the his residence.


    The Tianshan Sect had won a decisive victory¡ªthey killed more than 10 and captured six of their enemies. Only a few of the Wildhorse Gang managed to escape during all the chaos.


    Lianye jumped down from the bed and channelled his Internal Breath once. He rxed upon sensing nothing out of the ordinary. ¡°Come, let¡¯s fight again,¡± he said while giving the Dragon King a death stare.


    ¡°We¡¯ll speak of it again when you have removed the Peripheral Force in your body.¡±


    Lianye¡¯s face became as flushed as the maid. ¡°How did you know?¡± he asked. He then thought about the duel he had with Yang Huan.


    ¡°The New Moon Hall is controlling you via the Force, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°New Moon Hall?¡± Lianye was perplexed. ¡°Haven¡¯t they been wiped out? What do they have to do with this?¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew that he had guessed incorrectly that the New Moon Hall was involved. He quickly changed the subject, ¡°Wildhorse forced you and Master Lianhua to cheat by saying that he would remove the Peripheral Force from you, you¡­¡±


    ¡°Brother Lianhua did not cheat!¡± roared Lianye, his fists clenched tightly and his breath bing faster. Jiang was frightened by him and took a few steps back.


    Gu Shenwei did not counter, but merely continued looking at the monk. Soon, Lianye calmed down and sat unsteadily. ¡°The person who cheated was me, brother Lianhua was just¡­ just espousing his mantra. He believed that Breaking Obsession could remove killing desire from people, therefore he was willing to exin his mantra to the machetemen. Those taels of silver¡­ he never kept any of it.¡±


    As Lianye spoke about Lianhua, he grew agitated and began hitting his head with his fists. ¡°I¡¯m to me, I¡¯m to me, if not because he wanted to cure me, he wouldn¡¯t have¡­¡±


    Kung fu from the Barren Sect was known to work in strange ways. Originally, Lianye had only received a little of the Peripheral Force on his Shanzhong acupoint, and there was no visible harm done then. He thought it would be a piece of cake for him to drive the force out, but things worked exactly opposite as how he thought it would. The little bit of Peripheral Force in him was like a speck of dust floating around in his body, hard even to get hold of, much less remove. Once he let his guard down, it began growing until finally it became an ineradicable disease.


    Gu Shenwei waited for the monk to vent out all his frustration, before he asked the question bugging him. ¡°Can Wildhorse remove the Peripheral Force in you?¡±


    ¡°He can, his Internal Strength is nearly at the same level as that woman,¡± replied Lianye confidently.


    ¡®That woman¡¯ was not referring to Luo Ningcha, but rather the Barren Sect¡¯s disciple, Kang Wenhui. It was she that infused that little bit of Peripheral Force into Lianye.


    Gu Shenwei did not express the surprise he felt. ¡°Wildhorse is a killer trained by the Golden Roc Fort, how did he learn kung fu from the Barren Sect? Furthermore, the Barren Sect has nearly been wiped out, and the New Moon Hall does not ept male disciples. Wildhorse must have had a serendipitous encounter with someone during these few years, but Lianye would surely not know anything about it,¡± thought Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°If that is the case, Lianhua died because of you, and you should avenge his death.¡±


    Lianye stood up again and took a step towards the Dragon King. ¡°You¡¯re right, Lianhua was killed by you. I¡¯ll take my revenge.¡±


    Gu Shenwei lifted his head proudly as he said, ¡°If you¡¯re not so foolish, perhaps Master Lianhua would still be alive today.¡±


    ¡°Me, foolish? I¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not aware that someone poisoned your food, isn¡¯t that foolishness?¡±


    ¡°Poison? What¡¯re you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Why did you suddenly lose your sight on that day? If I¡¯m not wrong, you lost your Internal Strength momentarily too, and were therefore unable to grab hold of the assassin on the spot.¡±


    Lianye began shaking and he looked as if he might copse. ¡°I thought that was the result of the Peripheral Force¡¯s outbreak. Was I really poisoned that day? Can it be that¡­ you really did not kill Lianhua?¡±


    ¡°No, it wasn¡¯t me, and I still know who the poisoner is.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s it?¡±


    ¡°ve Qing, Shangguan Fei¡¯s butler in North City.¡±


    Lianye grew increasingly perplexed. ¡°Shangguan Fei is the Ninth Young Master of the Stone Castle, why would he harm Lianhua when they haven¡¯t even met each other?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe you can find out. He used an unnamed knockout powder from the Golden Roc Fort, but he mixed toorge a dosage, and not only did that cause you to lose your Internal Strength momentarily, you lost your sight for a while too.¡± Gu Shenwei told the monk everything he knew. ve Qing was from the Fort, and he could not break the truce now. He would leave Lianye to take care of matters.


    ¡°You¡¯re not lying to me?¡±


    ¡°Whether or not I¡¯m lying to you, you can find out by asking around.¡±


    Lianye thought about it for a while, then began walking out of the room. He paused at the entrance, saying, ¡°Dragon King, if what you say is true, you¡¯re my savior.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to repay me,¡± replied Gu Shenwei in his customary calm tone. ¡°You just have to tell me the oue as well as the whereabouts of Wildhorse.¡±


    Lianye hesitated before replying, ¡°I¡¯ll make the final decision as to whether I¡¯ll repay your kindness or get my revenge. Allow me to add that your Internal Strength is not quite right, and you had better not engage in any form of Internal Strengthpetition in the future.¡±


    The monk left after he finished speaking. Gu Shenwei was surprised by Lianye¡¯s sudden statement, and knew that the monk had discovered the concealed danger his Internal Strength posed. After a moment¡¯s hesitation, he suppressed his urge to chase after Lianye and kill the monk to prevent his secret from being leaked out and made up his mind to follow Lianye¡¯s advice.


    Jiang was still holding on to what was left of the medicinal drink as she felt the need to say a fewforting words to the Dragon King, but did not know how to start.


    A lot happened over the course of the day. A few old machetemen from North City came visiting, bringing along 3,000 taels of silver and a wooden signboard with the words ¡®Number One Machete God¡¯ inscribed on it. However, they did not bring the Melon-hilted Scimitar with them. ¡°The Scimitar is enshrined in the Shenxu Shrine, and we would like to invite Dragon King to personally make a trip there,¡± they exined.


    Shenxu Shrine was situated in North City and could not be considered as huge, but it was the most important Taoist temple in the entire Jade City.


    Gu Shenwei agreed and made an appointment to receive the scimitar on the next day¡¯s morning.


    Scores of machetemen were crowding outside the Residence of the Dragon King, some of them looking to be employed, while many were looking to be a disciple of the Dragon King.


    As Gu Shenwei appeared before them while sending the old machetemen out, the crowd surged forward and everyone began shouting incoherently.


    ¡°Take me as your disciple, Dragon King, my machete skills are good and I¡¯ve killed a few hundred people.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s lying, take me instead, I¡¯m rich, and can give you the amount you want.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m willing to serve you, Dragon King, the pay is not important as long as I¡¯ve enough to eat.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi was extremely delighted by the enthusiasm disyed by the machetemen. ¡°We need more men, and this is our chance. They¡¯re offering their services on their own ord.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother about them first,¡± replied Gu Shenwei. He knew that their enthusiasm would notst long. ¡°Let¡¯s wait till after three or five days before really considering their offers.¡±


    As Gu Shenwei walked back into thepound, he could see Xu Yanwei talking softly to Tie Linglong. He hurriedly called thetter over, worried that she would be influenced by Xu Yanwei.


    At first, Tie Linglong did not have a good impression of Xu Yanwei, but they had be close recently, and she was referring to Xu Yanwei as ¡®Big Sister Xu¡¯ now. ¡°Big Sister Xu is such a good person, she tells me all sorts of things.¡±


    Gu Shenwei could not help but look at Tie Linglong again. She was just about to enter her teens, and he felt that is was inappropriate of her to mix with Xu Yanwei. ¡°Don¡¯t speak to her again,¡± he cautioned.


    ¡°Why, Big Sister Xu¡­¡±


    ¡°If you wish to improve your kung fu skills, you cannot be distracted. She doesn¡¯t know any kung fu, and whatever she tells you is of no benefit to your saber skills.¡±


    Tie Linglong did not push the matter further, but seemed a little indignant¡ªshe could be caught muttering softly to herself.


    It was midnight when Lianye reported back. Gu Shenwei had already dismissed Jiang and told her to retire to another room. He wanted to speak to the monk in privacy.


    Lianye looked a little off color, and did not bother to greet the Dragon King as he entered the room. He went straight for a chair, and lowered his head into his arms as he gathered his thoughts. After a while, he lifted his head and said, ¡°ve Qing is dead.¡±


    ¡°When was that?¡± Gu Shenwei was also shocked at hearing about ve Qing¡¯s death. At the same time, he med himself for being careless. He should have gotten Xu Xiaoyi to scout ahead and gather such basic information first.


    ¡°It was on the second day after Lianhua¡¯s death. Shangguan Fei dered him as a traitor and had him killed.¡±


    It was obviously done to silence ve Qing, but Gu Shenwei could not point out the obvious. If he did so, the monk would definitely suspect that the Dragon King was using the dead man as a scapegoat for his own crime.


    ¡°I believe you,¡± Lianye said after a long pause. He seemed to have made up his mind as he continued, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you where Wildhorse is hiding. Will you be willing to avenge Lianhua¡¯s death on my behalf?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had been waiting for the monk to ask. He pretended to think about it for a moment, then nodded slightly and replied, ¡°Yes.¡±

 Chapter 302 - Obsessed with Riches

    Chapter 302: Obsessed with Riches Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The melon-hilted scimitar was three feet and one inch long, and the end of its hilt was shaped exquisitely like a melon, hence its name.


    One could clearly observe that its de was curved, making it simr in style to the scimitars favored by the barbarians in the Western Region. It was heavy, such that one¡¯s hand would droop when carrying it, and it was so keen that it gave the wielder confidence to slice through metal or stone without using much strength.


    The eldest machete man was known as Liu. He was scrawny and skeletal-like. In fact, he looked so frail that it seemed he might copse and die at any moment. However, life works in mysterious ways, and this old man ¨C who had difficulty even with grasping a saber ¨C was the most senior of all the machete men and highly respected, so much so that everyone called him ¡°Liu Zu¡±.


    Liu Zu drew the melon-hilted scimitar and presented it with both hands (while trembling slightly) to the Dragon King. It was the ultimate prize for winning the Machete God Contest.


    Gu Shenwei received the scimitar from the old man and silently marveled at its quality. He examined it for a while before sheathing it again. Liu Zu personally ced it in a wooden box and applied a seal over the container. They were in North City, and everyone was forbidden to carry weapons openly in these parts without permission.


    A few of the older machete men were looking eagerly at the Dragon King, their gaze carrying a mixture of adtion, anticipation, and awe in equal parts. However, there was also a tinge of craftiness in the way they were looking at him.


    Gu Shenwei could sense that they wanted something from him. There had to be a reason why these old machete men, who had already made a name for themselves and were already living a life of luxury in North City, would organize the Machete God Contest. He ced the wooden box on the table and waited for them to speak first.


    In the end, it was Liu Zu who spoke up on behalf of the machete men. He chose not to go straight to the point but started off with a story instead.


    ¡°The melon-hilted scimitar has an extraordinary history. I don¡¯t know whether you have heard about it before, Dragon King?¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head.


    Liu Zuughed softly, causing his throat to give out heavy breathing sounds. It seemed as if theugh was too much for him to take. ¡°To be honest with you, Dragon King, this scimitar is known to bring bad luck to its owner. All of its previous 22 owners died in a terrible manner, and none of them had possessed it for more than a year.¡±


    In fact, seven of its previous owners died under the sword, six died from drowning, four from burns, another three fell to their deaths and the remaining two died from poisoning. Out of all the weapons forged by Daga, the scimitar could only be considered as of a normal standard and it was of good but not uparable quality. It was infamous because of the terrible fate suffered by its owners.


    Liu Zu did not intend to use the scimitar¡¯s history with its owners to scare Dragon King, as he came quickly to exin. Its previous owners were all bandits and he had no reason to believe that Dragon King would end up like them too. It was rare for someone in their line of work to leave this world peacefully.


    ¡°Your predecessor was called Chihe, and he wasmonly known as the ¡®Butcher of Tianshan¡¯. After every robbery hemitted, he would kill off all witnesses, regardless of age or gender. Sigh, it took so much effort from us to get rid of him.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had heard of the Butcher of Tianshan before, and knew about his ruthlessness. There were huge bounties on him in many countries, and it was known that he had a younger brother, Chipo, who was even more ruthless. Chipo had a scary nickname ¨C the Hearteater ¨C and it was said that he would rip out the heart of his victims and eat it on the spot. It was reported that he imed this would increase his skills.


    Gu Shenwei knew where this was going, but he wanted the machete men to broach the subject.


    Liu Zu sighed, then smiled as he continued. ¡°Even though us old men have already left the jianghu, we still wish to grow our retirement funds. With this in mind, we pooled together to start a modest business, and we do not know why but this drew Chihe¡¯s attention and he started looking for trouble with us. We took it in stride for a long time and had to hire someone to get rid of him only when it started getting out of hand. To us, it¡¯s all part of the game, but his brother, the Hearteater Chipo, publicly announced that he would avenge his brother¡¯s death.¡±


    ¡°You can always look for the person who got rid of Chihe to take care of his brother too,¡± replied Gu Shenwei unenthusiastically. He did not want to show any interest in this matter.


    The machete menughed bitterly. Liu Zu replied, ¡°He¡¯s already been killed, and Chipo said that we would be next. Unless¡­ unless we cough up one million taels of silver to appease him.¡±


    ¡°Where can we find such an amount of money,¡± interrupted another old machete man indignantly.


    ¡°So, your intention is¡­¡±


    The other machete men followed Liu Zu¡¯s lead and their smiles became even more adtory in nature as they replied, ¡°We wanted to select the person with the best machete techniques and get this Machete God to take care of Chipo. Beyond our wildest dreams, you came to join the contest, and not only did this make us unbelievably happy, but we also secretly think that we no longer have to worry about the Hearteater anymore.¡±


    ¡°I have not agreed to anything yet,¡± Gu Shenwei reminded the old moneybags. He was sure that they would be able to fork out one million taels of silver to pay for his services.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. We should consider the Machete God Contest and the offer to kill Chipo as two separate cases.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had more pressing matters to attend to and did not wish to be involved in the vendetta between the machete men and Chipo. He stood up, took the melon-hilted scimitar and prepared to leave. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen Chipo before, and I bear no grudges against him. The Great Snow Mountain is also not involved in jianghu matters. You should look elsewhere for a killer.¡±


    The old men were flustered, upon seeing that the Dragon King was leaving. They quickly surrounded him, and each began trying to convince Gu Shenwei to take up the job.


    ¡°Please stay, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Now that the melon-hilted scimitar is in your possession, Dragon King, Chipo will definitely be looking for you. Why don¡¯t we join forces?¡±


    ¡°Dragon King, we will pay you, one million¡­ two million¡­ no, no, four million taels of silver.¡±


    In the end, it was Liu Zu who understood the Dragon King the most. He waved his hand at the others, signaling for them to be quiet, before speaking, ¡°Dragon King, you should know that the Hearteater, Chipo, has joined the Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stopped in his tracks. He turned to look at the trembling Liu Zu and paused for a moment before replying, ¡°That is even more reason for me to not get involved in the affairs of Chipo. The Great Snow Mountain and the Golden Roc Fort are in a ceasefire deal now, and I will not break it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei left after speaking, leaving the other machete menining to Liu Zu that he had spoken too soon. The old man sniggered and straightened his body, replying, ¡°Wait and see, I dare to guarantee that the Dragon King will take an interest in our offer.¡±


    He was right, and Gu Shenwei¡¯s interest was indeed sparked by the old man¡¯s words. He was not interested in the well-being of the machete men, but rather why the Golden Roc Fort had roped in a bandit such as Chipo, who was a lone wolf and had no prior connection to it.


    He knew that the Fort would not bring its operations to aplete standstill during the temporary ceasefire, and that the reason he could remain in rtive safety in Jade City was because of the Central in and Nond¡¯s guarantee, and more importantly because the Supreme King had his hands full with other issues at the moment.


    The Great Snow Mountain¡¯s sole objective was to destroy the Golden Roc Fort, but to the Supreme King, the Dragon King and his swordsmen were only one of his many problems.


    It was already in the afternoon when Gu Shenwei arrived back at his residence, and he had invited the cksmith Mr. Hong over. After the Battle of the Rouge Forest, Tianshan Sect¡¯s reputation had grown far and wide, but its core group of leaders continued to keep their identities secret, with the exception of Mr. Hong.


    He was adept at forging weapons but did not know how to use them. However, he had secured connections with many machete men from his job as a cksmith and managed to rope in many of them into the sect.


    There were only three participants in the meeting at Dragon King¡¯s Residence ¨C Mr. Hong, the Dragon King himself and the monk Lianye.


    Lianye had decided to turn against Wildhorse, even at the expense of the fact that the Peripheral Force in his body would forever remain within him. He spoke up first, ¡°Wildhorse is hiding in the Seventh Machete Vige, and from what I know, there are members of his gang in nearly every vige.¡±


    The cksmith was surprised to hear this. There were about 10 viges made up of machete men in the outskirts of South City, and they were each appointed a number based on their geographical location from east to west. ¡°Our sect has many eyes in that area, how could we not notice this?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Wildhorse has a group of loyal followers who took great pains to hide him.¡±


    Mr. Hong was skeptical of the monk¡¯s ims and turned his head to the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei nodded and replied, ¡°I¡¯ve sent men to check on the Seventh Machete Vige, and it does seem that there is something not quite right about it.¡±


    The cksmith pounded his own knee, saying, ¡°The deaths of our sect members will not be vain, and as long as there are still survivors of the Wildhorse gang, we will fight till the end. Speak, Dragon King, and let me know how many men do you need from us this time?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need as many men as thest battle, 50 will do this time. What¡¯s more important is that we have to keep our movements secret, as Wildhorse is no easy target. I¡¯m a little worried that he has already moved to another location as we speak.¡±


    ¡°No matter where he shifts, he is bound to be in one of the viges of the machete men,¡± suggested Lianye. He was coerced into engaging in fraud and had also roped in inexperienced machete men for Wildhorse, and bore no small hatred towards the killer. ¡°As long as we cast our wide enough, we will eventually manage to capture him.¡±


    Mr. Hong took his leave after the three of them decided on a detailed n of action, returning to his base of operations to gather his machete men and prepare them for what was toe.


    Gu Shenwei still could not determine who Wildhorse was working for ¨C between the Golden Roc Fort, Nond, and the Meng family, but he had a good feeling that there was someone behind the scenes directing the actions of the regal-looking mute killer.


    No matter what, the Wildhorse Gang was not part of the ceasefire agreement, and both Gu Shenwei and his military counselor Fang Wenshi agreed, after discussing in detail, that they had to quickly get rid of this faction.


    Xu Xiaoyi came looking for the Dragon King just after Mr. Hong had left. As always, he was concerned about mary issues. ¡°We have some trouble, Dragon King. The camp at the western border has sent a request for 2000 crossbows and 40,000 arrows, along with other misceneous items. We will be spending all of our money soon.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had note up with a solution for theirck of funds. The Great Snowmountain was still at an obvious disadvantage and most of the rich people in Jade City were not willing to openly support the Dragon King. At the moment, only Liu Zu and his group of old machetemen were willing to pay tens of thousands of taels of silver to hire his services.


    ¡°Supply them with as many bows and arrows as you can first. As for the other supplies, hold them off for 2 days, and I will get the money for them.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi knew it was pointless to convince him otherwise, and took his leave to prepare, his heart still feeling heavy.


    Gu Shenwei began making preparations for the battle that would be taking ce that night. As there could be many disciples of thete Immortal Peng with Wildhorse, he did not allow Chu Nanping to take part, to prevent any conflict of interest. It was just as well, as his staying behind would create a false image that the Dragon King was still in his residence. For the same reason, Tie Linglong was also made to stay behind.


    Xu Yanwei sneaked in, just as he was issuing orders to the machete men and swordsmen that would be going with him to the vige. She gave a slight cough to announce her presence after the Dragon King was left alone.


    ¡°What do you want to say now?¡±, asked Gu Shenwei nonchntly.


    ¡°Nothing much. I¡¯m thinking that since I¡¯ve nothing to do, why don¡¯t you rent a room in Pleasure Alley for me again, and we¡¯ll split my earnings 50-50?¡±


    Even though Gu Shenwei was in dire need of money, he had decided long ago that he would never engage in the prostitution business again. ¡°Go ask your brother. I can loan you 5000 taels of silver, and I¡¯m fine as long as you repay me within half a year. There¡¯s no need to split your earnings with me.¡±


    ¡°5000 taels? What a stingy person. You are the Dragon King, yet you are not even as generous a wealthyndlord from North City.¡±


    ¡°Feel free to look for any of them for help.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, even if they want to help me, I won¡¯t fancy it. However, 5000 taels are too small a sum, it¡¯s alright if you have financial constraints. I¡¯ll go find¡­ Meng Mingshi, there¡¯s only a month left till his wedding with Miss Ru. If I offer my congrattions to him and based on our rtionship¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei vowed to never show his temper to Xu Yanwei ever again, but he could not control his anger this time. He felt a wave of anger rising in him, and before he came to his senses, he had already drawn the Five Peaks Saber and had very nearly struck at her.


    Xu Yanwei ran off quickly, saying as she ran, ¡°One month, there¡¯s only one month left.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had the urge to vent his anger by killing a few more people tonight.

 Chapter 303 - Chipo

    Chapter 303: Chipo<b>Trantor:</b> Transn <b>Editor:</b> Transn


    On the second night, there were hardly any pedestrians or lights in the Seventh Machete Vige. It seemed deserted. At this point in time, all the swordsmen were in the taverns. There are only a few women and children who went to bed early in the vige.


    Pointing at the house, Lianye whispered: ¡°There¡¯s a secret room downstairs. Wildhorse usually hides in there.¡±


    The moonlights that were reflected by the thick nket of snow lit up the night in a strange way. Everyone¡¯s every move was extremely conspicuous.


    The swordmen of the Tianshan Sect were all very capable. Some of them were evenparable to Golden Roc Fort¡¯s killers. However, they were not as good as Golden Roc Fort¡¯s killers at hiding their tracks. Therefore, Gu Shenwei believed that Wildhorse would notice immediately if they entered the vige.


    Yet, nobody came out to fight.


    The swordmen were divided into three groups. In each group, half of the men were standing guard outside the door and the other half rushed in while brandishing their sabers. Soon, the sounds of furious fighting came from inside, which was then followed by the rumbling of a copsing floor.


    There were some families nearby who lit theirmps. Some men ran out, carrying sabers. One of the swordmen from the Tianshan Sect cried out loud, ¡°This is personal, it has nothing to do with outsiders.¡±


    The men returned to their homes. Soon, the lights went out.


    There was about ten figures who jumped out of the room and fled in every direction. However, they were stopped by the swordmen that was just outside the door.


    Gu Shenwei pulled out his Five Peaks Saber and started chasing the fastest one among them.


    The man turned around and received the Dragon King¡¯s saber with his long sword. Gu Shenwei recognized him. He was Immortal Peng, from the Joy Pavillion.


    The Immortal Peng used to fight with a rope, but then he started learning how to use the sword. He improved at an incredibly fast pace. Compared to his kung fu skills three years ago, his kung fu skills now were way better.


    The two men exchanged four or five strokes in an instant. When they were separated by mistake, Immortal Peng spat out a few words,¡±You stole something from him. Sooner orter, you must return what you have taken.¡±


    Gu Shenwei replied with a saber that is even more rapid and violent. Immortal Peng was worthy of his sword, but less than a year has passed by and he would rather keep using the saber.


    A man rushed out. After waving around a heavy iron bar, he smashed it into Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei stopped suddenly and put his knife behind his back. He then slit the neck of the sneak attacker. Even though he had been slightly obstructed, Immortal Peng was already fleeing to the city.


    Tianshan Sect prevailed, but since there was not any sign of Wildhorse anywhere, Gu Shenwei decided to chase Immortal Peng all the way.


    Both of them had incredible Lightness Skills, they leapt onto roofs and vaulted over walls. They proceeded through the South City. Nothing could block their way.


    In order to get rid of Gu Shenwei, Immortal Peng even jumped onto the bustling street several times, where many people were scared to death by those two blistering figures.


    Just when Gu Shenwei thought that Immortal Peng was almost in his hands, he found out that something was wrong.


    A pedestrian who nearly got hit shouted, ¡°Are you blind? Can¡¯t you see where you¡¯re going?¡±


    Immortal Peng went everywhere, but no matter how many times he changed his way, it seems like he wanted to lead Dragon King away from the West.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly realized that he could have been deceived by his enemy.


    With this thought in mind, he stopped chasing Immortal Peng and ran towards the Western side of the Residence of Dragon King in the South City.


    In the Residence of Dragon King, a brutal fight had just concluded.


    There were only seven people who managed to break into the Residence, but all of them were amongst the best fighters in the world. While six of them were mounting a sneak attack on the front courtyard, one of them managed to kill three sabermen and one swordsman, alone. They waited for Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong toe and meet them. The seventh man, then slipped into the back courtyard, killed two servants and snatched the Melon-hilted Scimitar.


    Young Lady Jiang did everything she could, but her forehead wascerated by a saber. If it was not for the saberman Lin Xiaoshan, she would have certainly been one of the victims.


    The robber was incredibly arrogant. He called for his men to retreat from the top of the building. He then said, ¡°Tell Dragon King that ¡®Hearteater¡¯ Chipo came to visit him and to return the Melon-hilted Scimitar back to its rightful owner! Ahahah!¡±


    When Gu Shenwei came back, people were bandaging the wounds of the victim. Tie Linglong and Lin Xiaoshan told him what happened. With a white cloth covering her head, Jiang asked Dragon King¡¯s forgiveness for not being able to protect the Melon-hilted Scimitar.


    ¡°This is not your fault¡±, Gu Shenweiforted her, ¡°You are already lucky enough to still be alive, I am not used to fighting with a scimitar anyway, it¡¯s not a big deal.¡±


    Fang Wenshi hid himself every time he heard a noiseing from the outside. This time, he ran in front of Dragon King, ¡°This doesn¡¯t work, Dragon King. The Great Snowmountain is really shameless! I don¡¯t like attacking people with the sword, but this time is different. You must get rid of this Hearteater Chipo as soon as possible.¡±


    Lin Xiaoshan, whispering, reminded the Dragon King, ¡°This is clearly a diversion, that monk can¡¯t be a mole.¡±


    Gu Shenwei also had his suspicions, but when Lianye came back, his doubts cleared up. The monk have yet to understand that there was a link between the ambush at the Residence of Dragon King and the Seventh Machete Vige. He had believed that Chipo got lucky.


    This was just tant provocation, just as Fang Wenshi said. If Dragon King could not solve this matter immediately, the Great Snowmountain¡¯s fame would be swept away.


    The news that Hearteater Chipo had snatched the Melon-hilted Scimitar away soon arrived at the Jade City. Not at all surprised, the old saberman from the North City, Liu Zu, sent one of his men to wee Dragon King the day after, at dawn.


    Several wealthy people believed that the Dragon King has no other choices, but to cooperate with them if he wanted to kill the lone robber, Chipo.


    However, Gu Shenwei refused to meet them again. He sent Xu Xiaoyi to make an unexpected proposal: if they were willing to pay one million taels, Dragon King would agree to exchange Chipo¡¯s head with them.


    Both Liu Zu and Xu Xiaoyi thought that Dragon King¡¯s proposal was not reliable, ¡°If they are willing to pay one million taels, wouldn¡¯t it be better to just give it to Chipo and save themselves? Why would they give it to us?¡±


    ¡°Just tell them what I said, don¡¯t worry about the rest. With this million taels, the Great Snowmountain will be able to survive for a little longer.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi nodded without conviction. Even though he thought that Dragon King¡¯s ideas were bing weirder and weirder, he still trusted Brother Huan and would obey his orders. ¡°We have already found where Chipo and those robbers who used toe to Jade City are. I really don¡¯t get all these people, who are of simr personalities.¡±


    After Gu Shenwei brought back the Melon-hilted Scimitar from North City, he made Xu Xiaoyi pay close attention to Chipo¡¯s whereabouts. The attackst night exposed the solitary robber.


    The situation was not something that surprised Xu Xiaoyi. Liu Zu was very surprised by Dragon King¡¯s proposal. He almost didn¡¯t believe his own ears. He even doubted what Xu Xiaoyi was telling him, believing it to be some fake news. After finally making sure that it was true, Liu Zu bes very stubborn, ¡°Tell Dragon King that if people respect him, he must respect them too. If he¡¯s so hungry, let him go to Chipo and ask for money.¡±


    That night, Gu Shenwei really took Chu Nanping to Chipo and ¡°ask for money¡±.


    Chipo liked afortable life, no matter how much the bounty on his head was. Every year he would spend one month in the Jade City and squander all of his savings.


    All the money that he snatched through robberies had to be spent. This was one of his few beliefs.


    Some people said Chipo was fearless, but he knew how to avoid Golden Roc Fort. As for Dragon King, Chipo does not even consider him as a threat. Even if the enemy suddenly broke through the door with the Five Peaks Saber in his hand, he would not show any signs of astonishment or fear.


    Chipo looked very confident with the Melon-hilted Scimitar in his hand. On the contrary, the half-naked prostitute next to him was as white as a ghost. She shrieked and threw herself into Chipo¡¯s arms.


    Chipo grabbed the prostitute¡¯s hair only to throw her aside. He took out his saber, ¡°News about Dragon King is true then, and he¡¯s already here. I thought I would have to wait a little longer for him.¡±


    ¡°You owe me six lives and a saber.¡± Gu Shenwei said, keeping a distance of seven or eight steps from Chipo¡¯s bed.


    Chipo pointed at the prostitute on the other side of the bed, ¡°Does this one count?¡±


    As he uttered these words, he unsheathed the Melon-hilted Scimitar. The de shined before being impaled into the prostitute¡¯s chest. Fresh blood gushed out as she fell down onto the bed. The blood rapidly soaked the bedsheet,ing close to Chipo, but he did not care. He calmly put the saber away, ¡°Stinky whore, I bet even you heart stinks. How dare you sell me out and then take my money?¡±


    Chipo was about thirty years old. His body was well built, his arms muscr, everything in him was full of strength. Even though he was very handsome, there was a kind of madness in his eyes that sees human lives as something trifle, which gave him a frightening and ugly look.


    Chipo was right. Xu Xiaoyi¡¯sckeys heard the news from the prostitute.


    Gu Shenwei did not interfere, then cidly shook his head, ¡°No, this one doesn¡¯t count.¡±


    Chipo burst intoughter, but his smile suddenly disappeared from his face. The fierce look in his eyes could have scared a timid person to death, ¡°In this case, I shall give you another life.¡±


    Chipo had just uttered these words when something flew through the window and fell onto the floor, spinning.


    They were the two heads of Chipo¡¯s servants. Last night they took part in the attack on the Residence of Dragon King with their master, and then they sought pleasure with the prostitutes next door. This resulted with their heads on the floor.


    Last night¡¯s battle onlysted for a short period of time, Chu Nanping did not have many chances to fight back. Even though he could finally prove his swordcraft this time , he just stayed outside, without entering the room.


    Red Spirit nced at the heads on the floor without changing his expression. He then took out his saber for the second time.


    He was still sitting on the bed when he pulled out the saber. He was already in front of Dragon King when the scimitar had just beenpletely unsheathed.


    At that moment, four men entered the room, blocking Dragon King¡¯s retreat with their sabers.


    Gu Shenwei took a step back. Thanks to this simple and swift move, he avoided Chipo¡¯s saber just in time. Futhermore, he was already standing behind the four interceptors. No one saw how he managed to do it clearly.


    The four men stared at him nkly and then jumped into the jaws of death.


    Gu Shenwei killed the four of them and then used their bodies as a shield to protect himself from Chipo¡¯s attack.


    Chipo was furious. He cried out and waved his scimitar around, smashing everything that was in his way. His already dead mates were of no exception.


    What once was a ce of tenderness became a ce of carnage. Chipo was a mad devil. Only one thing could calm him down ¡ª a saber on his neck.


    Chipo¡¯s kung fu was remarkable, but he could not control himself. Usually, his enemy would be scared by his madness, and this, in turn, would make him even wilder. This time, however, his enemy was like an iceberg.


    Chipo gasped, ¡°I underestimated you. Just seven lives, you have earned one more. Take it.¡±


    ¡°You can also pay your debts in other ways.¡±


    ¡°Do you want money?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but it would not be enough.¡±


    Chipo finally understood why Dragon King did not kill him, ¡°Do you want me to betray Wildhorse?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    Chipo burst out intoughter, he did not care about the saber on his neck, ¡°I underestimated you. But you made the same mistake. Let¡¯s fight, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei moved the Five Peaks Saber away from Chipo¡¯s neck slowly, ¡°I have a better idea.¡±

 Chapter 304 - Selling Men

    Chapter 304: Selling Men<b>Trantor:</b> Transn <b>Editor:</b> Transn


    News of the robber Chipo being captured by Dragon King spread even faster than the news of Chipo breaking into the Residence of Dragon King.


    Messengers from the seven Western Region countries in Jade City made requests for Dragon King to release Chipo to them, promising a great reward, but all of them were rejected.


    ¡± The price for Chipo is one million taels of silver.¡± That was the answer of Xu Xiaoyi to every messenger that came to him.


    After that, the rumors about the Dragon King selling people spread very quickly. ¡°Dragon King said that even if it¡¯s Wildhorse, if one can pay a million taels of silvers, he would release him. He is so crazy about money. A killer burr is worth so much money?¡±


    Everybody felt surprised about the Dragon King¡¯s move, including Fang Wenshi. He personally confronted Dragon King and asked, ¡°You are Dragon King. Doing that kind of thing, isn¡¯t it kind of¡­?¡±


    Fang Wenshi did not continue. In his opinion, since Chipo was taken a prisoner, they would have to act decently, giving Chipo to the country that was hunting him down, even without any reward in return. It would create a positive image.


    But Gu Shenwei had other ns and said, ¡°The Great Snowmountain needs money, therefore I cannnot let any possible source of money go away. As for those small countries, I can assure you that if they get Chipo, they will immediately let him go.¡±


    ¡°What if Wildhorse pays? Do you really want to give Chipo to him? He¡¯s the greatest enemy of the Great Snowmountain.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi cheerfully interrupted the conversation. ¡°In this matter, I support Dragon King. The military counselor can rest assured. In the end, the people who pay will be neither Wildhorse nor those small countries.¡±


    Fang Wenshi felt that Dragon King was hiding something from him and felt very difitted, so he dawdled, reluctant to leave. Xu Xiaoyi realised the military counselor¡¯s intention and withdrew, nning how to spend the silvers that he would soon acquire.


    As soon as Xu Xiaoyi left, Fang Wenshi immediately continued, ¡°Dragon King, since you invited me to be the military counselor, I have the right to know everything¡­ or¡­ uh¡­ most of the things. If you hide things from me, I will only give foolish ideas.¡±


    ¡°My military counselor is responsible for many things. I do not want to bother you anymore; however, I have never deliberately concealed anything. If my military counselor wants to know anything, feel free to ask.¡±


    With many questions in mind, Fang Wengshi thought for a long time before asking, ¡°How much money does the Great Snowmountain have?¡±


    ¡°A little more than 870,000 taels of silvers. However, it¡¯s always easier to spend money than to earn it.¡±


    That sounded like the truth. Fang Wenshi¡¯s heart sank. That was less than what he thought. No wonder Dragon King was so stingy, ¡°Very well. With money, there is always a way to solve any problem. Now I want to know what happened to these forces in Jade City. Wildhorse, Tianshan Sect, the Meng family, and Joy Pavillion ¨C I want to know who is the enemy and who the friend is. Apart from the Golden Roc Fort, I am not sure of anyone.¡±


    Indeed, Fang Wenshi felt aggrieved. He was wary of Nond and the Central ins, and faintly concerned about Golden Roc Fort and Meng family but he was not clear about the other small forces.


    ¡°Wildhorse and I were rivals during the apprenticeship. I almost died in his hand, and he almost died in mine.¡± Gu Shenwei had not figured out how their hatred was formed. Their very natures seemed to be different. ¡°ording to my information, Wildhorse was expelled from the Golden Roc Fort three years ago and somehow managed to win the recognition of Nond.¡±


    ¡°Nond? You say that Wildhorse is from Nond? I thought he was just hired to do the Governor¡¯s work.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head: Tianshan sect had gathered some details about Wildhorse, not all of it, but enough to deduce some things. ¡°Wildhorse is a very powerful man, but without the support of Nond, he could not have formed his team.¡±


    ¡°So, the force of Nond has actually extended into the territory of Jade City.¡± Once Fang Wenshi understood the pros and cons, he immediately realised that what Dragon King had said was right.


    ¡°Exactly. Nond won¡¯t recognize the rtionship with Wildhorse. So, Wildhorse can fight for power in Jade City without the restraints of the Agreement.¡±


    ¡°In the end, these powers will fall into the hands of Nond.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded, ¡°Yes, but Wildhorse is basically still independent. He returned to Jade City before me and visited the Joy Pavillion. He was trusted by Immortal Peng. He recruited the entire Joy Pavillion into his gang. Then based on this, he established strong or weak ties with the Meng family and Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    Fang Wenshi finally understood Nond¡¯s arrangement in Jade City. ¡°Since Nond secretly supports Wildhorse gang, the Central in will definitely interfere. Is it possible that¡­?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t found any evidence yet, but I presume Tianshan Sect has always been supported by the Central in.¡±


    ¡°So Tianshan Sect will help Dragon King, because we all have the same patron.¡±


    ¡°I believe they will. After them, the Meng family is the most important ally of the Golden Roc Fort, but there is also a fissure between the two parties. Meng Yuzun is actually a master in kung fu. He cooperated with Lady Meng and secretly trained a team of female killers, called Tianji Society. I am still not sure about the purpose. But in short, Tianji Society doesn¡¯t serve the Supreme King.¡±


    That surprised the military counselor. ¡°Meng Yuzun? That fatty? He can do kung fu?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen it with my own eyes. The fatty¡¯s kung fu is not weak.¡±


    ¡°This is good. Meng Yuzun and Supreme King have disagreements; we could use it to our own advantage.¡±


    ¡°Maybe. As off now, this friction is not being used.¡±


    ¡°What about Your Majesty? What is your position in these forces?¡±


    ¡°Me? To put it simply, Wildhorse wanted to kill me, but Meng Yuzun and Lady Meng did not. They wanted secret manuscripts about kung fu from me, so Wildhorse just pretended to be me to force me into a bad position. After the truth was exposed, he didn¡¯t attack immediately, but hid and harassed from time to time. In reality, he was waiting for the opportunity.¡±


    Fang Wenshi wanted to ask what kung fu manuscripts had intrigued Meng Yuzung, but hesitated. Such an important thing was surely the secret of Dragon King, it wasn¡¯t appropriate to ask.


    ¡°What about Chipo? Xu Xiaoyi said that it isn¡¯t Wildhorse or the small countries that will finally pay for him.¡±


    ¡°Actually Chipo was bought by Golden Roc Fort, it has nothing to do with Wildhorse.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was lost again. ¡°What¡­ what is going on?¡±


    ¡°Chipo is a smart man. Even with a knife on his neck, he is not saying that he is ackey of Golden Rock Fort; instead, he ims to be a man of Wildhorse. I was just ying along to threaten the old moneygrubbers of North City to hand out money.¡±


    ¡°Chipo broke into the Residence of Dragon King at night. He killed people and snatched the saber. That¡¯s why he doesn¡¯t dare to admit he¡¯s the man of Golden Roc Fort.¡± Fang Wenshi smiled and said, ¡°I am going to use that to my advantage in the peace conference.¡±


    Dragon King trusted himpletely, and Fang Wenshi was veryfortable with it. He began setting ns for the Great Snowmountain, ¡°The Great Snowmountaincks money, and Meng family has it. Can you find a way to get some money from Meng Yuzun?¡±


    ¡°I have been thinking about it.¡± Gu Shenwei told the truth, ¡°The Great Snowmountain¡¯s biggest enemy now is Meng Yuzun. Money is an important matter, that¡¯s why the Meng family has an influence over Western Region situations.¡±


    Fang Wenshi fully agreed, and then immediately looked at Dragon King with suspicion, saying, ¡°Your Majesty, do you want to stop the marriage, and destroy the union of Meng family with Golden Roc Fort?¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes cooled. Fang Wenshi knew that he made a mistake and hurriedly apologized. ¡°Forgive your humble servant, I am hasty in my words.¡± Then he added, ¡°The rtionship of Meng family and Golden Roc Fort is rock-solid, and destroying their marriage will only result in their union against onemon enemy. Your Majesty definitely knows about that.¡±


    Fang Wenshi withdrew, satisfied, oblivious to the fact that Dragon King still concealed something from him.


    New Moon Hall had already infiltrated Jade City, even into the Golden Roc Fort. But Gu Shenwei had not been able to decide whether they were friend or foe for a long time, because Maid Lotus was among them.


    Maid Lotus had stolen ¡°Wayless book¡±; she was probably already an important person in New Moon Hall. Gu Shenwei sometimes felt a chill prickle the back of his neck, as if she was hiding nearby. But he could not find her anywhere; he suspected that she was plotting something in the dark.


    On the third day after Chipo was arrested, rumors spread in Jade City that Wildhorse had sent his men to Dragon King to discuss the ransom for Chipo. The famous thief was said to be the right hand of Wildhorse, so regardless of the price, he would save him.


    Gu Shenwei and Xu Xiaoyi had guessed right. Machetemen in North City could not sit still. If Chipo was released, they would be in trouble, and one million taels of silver of Wildhorse most likely fall on their shoulders.


    Liu Zu personally paid Dragon King a visit. The skinny old macheteman smiled like a child of a few years. ¡°The Dragon King is worthy of the title Dragon King, easily catching that small thief, Chipo.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi exchanged a few words with him for Dragon King, waiting for the old man to voice his intentions.


    ¡°We old fellows have talked. Chipo has done bad things and is a blight on the Western Regions. We want to enforce the justice and ask Dragon King to remove him.¡±


    ¡°He who pays one million taels of silver will have Chipo.¡± Xu Xiaoyi repeated.


    Gu Shenwei sat cross-legged on a hard wooden bed, without speaking from beginning to end.


    Sweat beaded on Liu Zu¡¯s forehead. Gritting his teeth, he said, ¡°Fine, we have one million.¡±


    ¡°Hand over the money, we will hand him over.¡±


    ¡°Tomorrow. He must be alive.¡±


    After Liu Zu left, Xu Xiaoyi jumped up in excitement, ¡°It¡¯s such easy money, more profitable than any other deal.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was not as delighted. ¡°It feels like a scam.¡±


    ¡°A scam?¡± Xu Xiaoyi asked with a great surprise,pletely at odds with the formidable mustache on his face.


    ¡°Liu Zu knows that Chipo was brought by Golden Roc Fort, so he didn¡¯t dare to find a Golden Roc killer to help. Instead he yed dumb, hoping to get Chipo killed by other ways. At this time, he wants to exchange one million for a living Chipo, not his head. What does it mean?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi immediately understood and said, ¡°The old man is doing it for Golden Roc Fort, it¡¯s possible that one million ising from Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡±


    ¡°Then what shall we do? Keep the person or take the money?¡±


    ¡°The money. Go and see Liu Zu in the afternoon and raise the price to two million taels.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi jumped again. ¡°Good, good. Since Golden Roc Forte to us, they deserve to be ruthlessly ripped off. I am just afraid that Golden Roc Fort will not find it worthwhile and refuse to pay that high price.¡±


    ¡°They will.¡± Gu Shenwei said firmly. He realized that Chipo had many secrets that were important to Golden Roc Fort. He must dig it out before he was released.

 Chapter 305 - Banks

    Chapter 305: Banks<b>Trantor:</b> Transn <b>Editor:</b> Transn


    Chipo was a tough man and refused to divulge any information to the Great Snowmountain. Two swordsmen had beaten him so hard that they had broken a wooden cudgel each, but he just continued taunting them as he wished, after spitting out teeth and blood.


    ¡°Harder, why do you have less strength than a whore from Pleasure Alley? I¡¯m not enjoying it enough.¡±


    The two swordsmen were already panting from their exertions. Nevertheless, upon hearing his taunt, they lifted up what was left of their cudgels and wanted to work Chipo again. They were only stopped when Gu Shenwei, who was observing from the sideline, ordered them to stop. He instructed them to leave him alone with Chipo, as he wanted to speak privately to the bandit.


    Chipo was covered in his own blood and looked cheekily at the Dragon King, the ferocity of his gaze undiminished even after his ordeal. ¡°It¡¯s so easy to be called a king nowadays. I¡¯ll get myself such a title one of these days. Since you¡¯re the Dragon King, I shall be known as the Dragon ying King, ha, ha.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was unaffected by his taunt. Other than Xu Yanwei, nobody could get him angry. He waited for Chipo to stopughing before replying, ¡°You can call yourself king of whatever for all I care. Since you¡¯re unwilling to admit to conspiracy with the Golden Roc Fort, I have to make a wild guess.¡±


    ¡°As you wish. You can even assume I had an affair with women of the Fort for all I care.¡±


    ¡°The Golden Roc Fort¡¯s willingness to cough uprge amounts of money in return for your life proves that your value to the Supreme King lies beyond your machete skills.¡±


    ¡°Are you suggesting that my machete skills are inferior? I was careless before, let¡¯s have another fight.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to. Your machete skills are alright, but not worth one or two million taels of silver. You operate alone, with only a few men, and are known for being a spendthrift. No one has noticed you ever hoarding your money. Therefore, I can say the Supreme King neither values your skills nor your wealth.¡±


    ¡°Of course, why should I hoard my money? Money only has spenders and not owners. Hey, Dragon King, why don¡¯t I introduce some whores to you? They¡¯re guaranteed to be worth it and once you¡¯ve tried their services, I¡¯ll be sure that you¡¯ll be the same as me¡ªspending all your money away in no time.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stared at the bandit, who was immensely pleased with himself. The Dragon King wrinkled his eyes slightly and said, ¡°Why would the Supreme King spend so much effort to rescue someone so useless?¡±


    ¡°Are you calling me useless?¡± Chipo stared angrily, puffing up his body. The cowhide rope which bound him pressed deep into his muscles, but he did not seem to care. ¡°You really think you¡¯re a king after earning the loyalty of a few thousand swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain? How dare you call me useless. The joke¡¯s on you. With a single call, I can summon ten times your number of men. Yang Huan, you¡¯re just a killer on the run and no different from a rat scampering across the street. Kill me now if you dare, we shall see how much longer than me you have to live. Aren¡¯t you cruel and ruthless, capable of any methods¡­¡±


    Chipo had let his secret slip and was frantically trying to cover it up by spouting a bunch of gibberish. However, it was toote and the Dragon King had already caught on to him. The information on Chipo collected by Xu Xiaoyi and the Tianshan Sect checked out with what the bandit himself was saying and basically confirmed Gu Shenwei¡¯s suspicions.


    ¡°Summon more than 10 times the swordsmen of the Great Snow Mountain,¡± Gu Shenwei repeated what the bandit said. ¡°Hearteater Chipo, the bandit who acts alone, travels across each nation in Western Region and likes to make friends with his fellow bandits. The amount you¡¯ve spent to secure your connections is a hundred times more than what you¡¯ve spent in Pleasure Alley.¡±


    Chipo¡¯s looks changed a little and he tried to cover it up byughing loudly. ¡°You¡¯re right, every bandit camp I visit, I¡¯m treated as a VIP. What about swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain? Bunch of fools with snowy mush on your legs you all are. Even if you invited me to go, I would never set foot in such a miserable ce. Hey, you¡¯d better kill me now, before every bandit in the worldes looking for you.¡±


    ¡°What benefits does the Supreme King grant you for helping him to garner the support of the bandits?¡±


    Chipo remained calm faced with the Dragon King¡¯s unexpected question. The only sign that he was worried was hisughter, which had be a little hoarser. ¡°Ha, ha, you really like to joke, Dragon King. Are you a joker? What a pity that I don¡¯t have any women or booze around me now.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew he could not squeeze out any more information from the bandit. ¡°I¡¯ll let you walk out of here alive. After that, I¡¯ll send people to establish contact with bandits all around thend. Soon, news will spread that both the Great Snow Mountain and the Golden Roc Fort arepeting to gather the most support from bandit gangs in the Western Region, as well as news that I have a list of all the gangs that have secretly allied themselves with the Supreme King. Don¡¯t you think that everyone will wonder how I got hold of this list?¡±


    Gu Shenwei walked out of the room, leaving Chipo to ponder the answer to his question alone.


    ¡°You, you despicable, treacherous, nasty person!¡± Chipo shouted, finally unable to keep his act up. ¡°It won¡¯t be so easy to frame me. The Supreme King would not believe your lies, and I wille for you sooner orter to take my revenge.¡±


    That afternoon, Xu Xiaoyi came back with the old machete man Liu Zu, smiles on both their faces. The former was genuinely happy and could not control himself, while thetter¡¯s expression was so stiff and unnatural that even the loose skin on his face was all stiff. When he greeted the Dragon King, it seemed that his throat was filled was phlegm.


    Gu Shenwei was sure that the old moneybags had to cough up some of their personal savings to contribute to the ransom; there was nothing unnatural about the hate in Liu Zu¡¯s eyes.


    Gu Shenwei nodded nonchntly and let Xu Xiaoyi handle the transaction on his behalf.


    Chipo was gagged tightly and escorted by 10 swordsmen from the residence of the Dragon King to Liu Zu¡¯s residence in South City. It was impossible for an infamous bandit such as Chipo to enter North City openly.


    The next day, the severed head of ¡®Chipo¡¯ was hung high up for all to see, inviting many people to crowd around it. They had note to see the head of an infamous bandit, but rather a valuable object that was worth two million taels of silver.


    ¡°This is the most expensive head in the whole world, isn¡¯t it?¡±, observed many amongst the crowd. Thus, the reputation of the old machete men who were one foot in the grave spread so far that there was always someone trying to visit them nearly every day, either to offer their services or to secure a loan from the old men.


    Later, Xu Xiaoyi went to inspect the severed head personally, and came back reporting, ¡°It¡¯s pretty identical, but the hair is still intact.¡±


    The two swordsmen had pulled off a clump of Chipo¡¯s hair when interrogating him, upon receiving the secret instructions of the Dragon King. A little of the bandit¡¯s scalp was thus exposed, and as he was being beaten at that time, he took no extra notice of the pain emanating from his head and did not know that there was another identifying mark on his head now.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s guess about Liu Zu¡¯s link with the Golden Roc Fort was proven correct by the old man¡¯s act of using a fake head to deceive others into thinking that Chipo was dead.


    After another day had passed, news that the Great Snow Mountain and the Golden Roc Fort werepeting to garner the support of the bandit gangs started to surface, resulting in a series of events.


    Trade was the bedrock of Jade City¡¯s economy, and its businessmen, big and small, hated the countless number of bandit gangs to the core. They were distraught upon hearing that both the Great Snow Mountain and Golden Roc Fort were getting friendly with the gangs, and were worried whether the leaders of both factions would sacrifice the livelihoods of the merchants for the support of the bandits.


    Fang Wenshi immediately rose to the challenge and did his best to make the Great Snow Mountain¡¯s stance on the matter clear. He spoke up during the peace talks and at all sorts of asions, earnestly vowing that the Great Snow Mountain was not a bandit gang itself, and stating that its swordsmen had never engaged in arson, murder or robbery, nor would they ally themselves with uwful criminals. He gave a lot of supporting evidence to hint that the Golden Roc Fort was, instead, the protector of the bandits.


    The issue soon blew out of proportion, and the Golden Roc Fort was slow to react. It only sent out a chief from the White Robe Academy a few dayster to clear the air and was forced to promise that they would send out their killers to take part in each country¡¯s bandit extermination operation.


    Gu Shenwei had achieved his goal but was soon faced with another problem.


    Liu Zu had issued a bank note for the two million taels of silver he owed, and they could only cash it out from a bank owned by the Meng family. Gu Shenwei was unwilling to leave his money in the hands of his enemy, but when Xu Xiaoyi went to transfer the silver to another bank, all the banks owned by the Meng family rejected his request, saying that the amount was toorge for them to handle and told him to the deal directly with the Meng residence.


    At the same time, the smaller banks were also pressured into rejecting the transfer, and even underground bankers like Shopkeeper Lyu and Xiao Fengchai dared not announce that they would ept it.


    These small bankers had no other choice but to deal with the Meng family if they wanted their business to progress, so they had to obey the Meng family¡¯s order.


    The two million taels of silver had be a useless source of funds which they could not tap into. From the way things looked, it was necessary for the Dragon King to personally deal with the Meng family.


    Gu Shenwei knew what Meng Yuzun¡¯s motive was. It seemed that the fat man was still coveting the Dajue Book of Swordcraft.


    That very night when Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s request to cash out the silver was rejected, the Dragon King summoned him, the military counselor and Lin Xiaoshan for a meeting on how to solve their problem.


    Xu Yanwei had also snuck in and she spoke up with conviction when the Dragon King tried to banish her. ¡°Even though I¡¯m not as smart as all of you, I know about many things¡ªno matter what, I¡¯ve been in the Stone Castle for three years. Who knows, maybe I cane up with some simple solutions to your problems.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had no choice but to let her remain, but not before warning her, ¡°You¡¯re not allowed to speak unless I ask you a question.¡±


    Xu Yanwei nodded vigorously in agreement and she indeed kept to her word.


    Gu Shenwei spoke first. He had the intention of dering war on the Meng family. Even though it was allied with the Golden Roc Fort, it was not part of the ceasefire deal, and the fort could not interfere even if the Dragon King attacked the Meng family at this point in time.


    ¡°Meng Yuzun will never betray the Supreme King, so why not take this chance to get rid of him,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Upon hearing the Dragon King¡¯s proposal, Lin Xiaoshan made no response, except for lowering his head, and the Xu siblings nodded solemnly in agreement. Fang Wenshi remained still for a while before he spoke, ¡°This won¡¯t work out. The Meng family is a big n, and even if we get rid of that fat man, it won¡¯t affect their influence on the entire Western Region¡¯s banks. We will also have another tough opponent to handle, and it will adversely affect our ability to get funds in the future.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll keep killing until one of them is willing to give in,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Fang Wenshi felt that the statement was even more incredulous. He was so agitated that his face had turned red. ¡°I don¡¯t agree. As your military counselor, I¡¯ll never agree to such a strategy. The most important task for us now is to achieve peace for the Great Snow Mountain, and then we have to carve out our own territory and gain a foothold in the region. As for money, once peace is achieved, we can request for financial aid from the Central in. They need a pawn in the Western Region and therefore will be bound to help us financially.¡±


    He calmed down after realizing that he should not lose his cool as a counselor. He took a deep breath and continued in a softer tone, ¡°Please look at the big picture, Dragon King, and prioritize our n to achieve ascendancy for the Great Snow Mountain over matters of the heart. There are many beautiful women in the world, and once you secure your position in the region, you can have your pick of them. Why should you be so eager now?¡±


    Gu Shenwei lifted his head slightly while he replied, ¡°You¡¯re over thinking it, military counselor. I have no ulterior motives for getting rid of Meng Yuzun. The Meng family is like a noose slowly tightening over our necks, and if we don¡¯t get rid of it, it¡¯ll surely be a problem for us in the future.¡±


    Fang Wenshi still shook his head and said, ¡°Sometimes, a moment¡¯s restraint can lead to great aplishments. Dragon King, we cannot touch the Meng family now. If you have the ability to strike, why not use it to exterminate the Wildhorse gang?¡±


    Gu Shenwei lowered his head and remained silent while considering the counselor¡¯s suggestion.


    Xu Xiaoyi and Lin Xiaoshan were tactful and kept quiet upon seeing that the Dragon King and his counselor were deep in debate. However, Xu Yanwei was increasingly infuriated, and stood up with a flourish, after receiving no reaction from her brother despite repeated eye signals. ¡°Even if the Dragon King wants to behead me, I still have to speak now.¡±


    Upon hearing that, the Dragon King did not ask for her head and only looked coldly at her. She took it as tacit encouragement for her to continue, and pointed at Fang Wenshi as she said, ¡°Ungrateful fellow, what did you promise me when youy with me? You sure change attitudes real quickly. Do you think I slept with you expecting nothing in return?¡±


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s face was peach red and could no longer maintain his image as a military counselor. He replied, obviously exasperated, ¡°You, you, how could you say such a thing? And in the presence of the Dragon King furthermore.¡±


    ¡°Since you can act in this manner, I can talk like this,¡± Xu Yanwei rebutted, both hands on her hips and eyebrows raised. Even though she was short, her presence outgrew the counselor at this moment.


    Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s face was as red as Fang Wenshi¡¯s, and his tone showed as much exasperation as the counselor¡¯s. ¡°You, you, how dare you get intimate with my sister? Are you trying to take advantage of her? She¡¯s stopped working in the flesh trade a long time ago¡­¡±


    ¡°Incorrect, incorrect, it was she that came into my room¡­¡± retorted Fang Wenshi.


    Just like this, the serious atmosphere of the meeting was spoiled, and Gu Shenwei had to chase everyone out. He continued thinking about the entire matter in private and came to a decision to go against his military counselor¡¯s prudent strategy.


    As he gripped the hilt of his saber, he realized that it was increasingly difficult to control the desire to kill deep inside himself.

 Chapter 306 - Missing

    Chapter 306: Missing<b>Trantor:</b> Transn <b>Editor:</b> Transn


    Tie Linglong and Chu Nanping were already gone for four hours before Gu Shenwei knew that they were nning to break into the Golden Roc Fort. Xu Yanwei was full of confidence as she told him about her n, ¡°With my advice, nothing will happen to them. They¡¯ll even be able to bring back some¡­thing.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had underestimated her will and also her ability to convince other people. When he was not around, she used a variety of ways to bring everyone in the residence to her side. Even the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, who hated the Golden Roc Fort to the core, were pitying Shangguan Ru, who was trapped in the Stone Castle, and felt that the Dragon King had a duty to rescue her after Xu Yanwei was done speaking to them.


    Most of the people in the residence, however, kept their pity to themselves and did not dare to voice out their concerns to the Dragon King. As for Fang Wenshi, even though he had received some ¡®benefits¡¯ from Xu Yanwei, he felt that it was one of the perks of being a military counselor and that he did not owe her anything. He, too, did not speak to the Dragon King about advancing Xu Yanwei¡¯s cause.


    Tie Linglong was the only one truly moved by Xu Yanwei.


    She was 14, the age where girls like to fantasize the most, and her pity extended beyond Shangguan Ru to the Dragon King. ¡°He never smiles and doesn¡¯t seem to be interested in women. I always thought that he must have someone close to his heart to be acting in this manner,¡± she said to Xu Yanwei.


    Xu Yanwei took the opportunity to drive her point through to the younger girl. ¡°You¡¯re right. He grew up together with Miss Ru, and they¡¯re a perfect match for each other. They should¡¯ve been a couple. It¡¯s a pity that fate makes a fool of us all. However, we can trick fate too. He wants to rescue her, but cannot do so due to his position as the leader of the Great Snowmountain and because of his pride. If we try to convince him, I believe he¡¯ll agree with us immediately.¡±


    Tie Linglong was young, but she was of a meticulous nature. ¡°It¡¯s no good. I understand his behavior, the more someone tries to convince him otherwise, the more stubborn he gets. Once he makes up his mind, he won¡¯t go back against his word.¡±


    However, even as she understood the Dragon King¡¯s behavior, this little girl still oversimplified the problem and underestimated the risks involved with her n. ¡°If he doesn¡¯t want to go rescue her, why don¡¯t I go? I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll reject her if she¡¯s brought to him,¡± said Tie Linglong.


    If it were someone else hearing about such a n, they would immediately feel that it was not the right solution. However, Xu Yanwei was already close to being driven mad by constantly thinking of any means to rescue Shangguan Ru, and she felt that it was the light at the end of the tunnel for her. The only question she had for the young girl was, ¡°Is your kung fu up to it?¡±


    Tie Linglong cocked her head proudly as she replied, ¡°There are at least 80 people, if not 100, to have fallen under my saber. Only the Dragon King, and er, that monk, is more than a match for me. However, when I fought the monk, I was using a wooden saber. If I had a real one¡­¡±


    Xu Yanwei believed her but felt that it was dangerous for the girl to venture into the fort alone. She came up with a solution, ¡°Let¡¯s rope Little Chu in, his swordcraft is not too bad. And both of you will be able to look after each other.¡±


    Tie Linglong agreed that it was a sound idea.


    Both of them went looking for Chu Nanping, but the youth was not interested in being part of the rescue mission. ¡°I¡¯m not going. She¡¯s the Dragon King¡¯s love, and why should we go rescue her if he hasn¡¯t requested for us to?¡±


    Xu Yanwei began indoctrinating the swordsman. ¡°He¡¯s too shy to speak up, but he secretly wishes for you to go. Case in point¡ªhe obviously knows what I¡¯m here for, and I¡¯ve made him angry a few times, but has he chased me away? This is his way of hinting. Having followed him for so long, you should understand how he hints. If you don¡¯t, he won¡¯t favor you or practice that ¡®Sentimental Sword Craft¡¯ with you.¡±


    ¡°You mean ¡®Emotionless Swordsmanship¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that. So, are you in or out?¡±


    Chu Nanping shook his head, not getting what Xu Yanwei was about.


    This made Xu Yanwei mad, and Tie Linglong became angry as well. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll go mysel. Even if there¡¯s no one covering my back, I¡¯ll go. Even if I¡¯m stabbed to death from the back, I¡¯ll not me you,¡± the young girl said.


    Chu Nanping lowered his head and gazed at the long sword in his hand, while saying, ¡°Fine, but first, we have toe up with a detailed n.¡±


    The ¡®detailed n¡¯ was finalized within 15 minutes. Xu Yanwei went through with the two youths on how they could sneak into the Stone Castle, avoid detection from the guards, sneak into the Inner Residence and find Miss Ru. She had thought about this for a long time and felt that it was foolproof.


    Tie Linglong could not remember much of it, but Chu Nanping had memorized every word of what Xu Yanwei said with a serious look on his face. He could even recite Xu Yanwei¡¯s instructions out, earning her praise.


    Just as the Dragon King was discussing with the others on how they should tackle the Meng family, his two young guards had left their post without instructions and were headed to the Golden Roc Fort.


    Xu Yanwei had already prepared all the necessities for their journey. Both youths were dressed as killer apprentices and wore matching waist tokens. Just like this, they sessfully entered North City and went up the mountain once they received their weapons at the north gate of the city.


    Chu Nanping had gone into the Stone Castle once before but as a captive. As for Tie Linglong, she only had the chance to gaze at it from afar at the foot of the mountain. Both of them did not know the way up, but luckily for them, there was only one path leading toward the castle. They arrived at the stone bridge outside the castle about midnight and were stopped there by a group of guards.


    They trusted in Xu Yanwei¡¯s n and were therefore unafraid of what they were about to do. They felt that they had nothing to hide, and calmly disyed their waist tokens and were willingly interrogated and searched by the guards.


    This was the first key factor as to why they could sessfully sneak into the Stone Castle.


    Luck was on their side as well, as a bunch of apprentices had indeed gone down the mountain that morning. As such, the guards did not pay extra attention to the youths.


    The nature of the n itself also worked in their favor, as it was simply crude. No one who wanted to sneak into the castle woulde up with such a sloppy and brazen n to dress as apprentices and hope to walk in. The guards did not believe that anyone would be so foolish to try and therefore were not suspicious of Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong.


    Chu Nanping softly recited directions as per Xu Yanwei¡¯s roadmap, and Tie Linglong took charge of navigation. However, they became lost after walking past about eight crossings upon entering the castle.


    Both of them had a small argument on how to proceed, and just at this time, a guard who had been in hiding showed up and ordered them back to East Castle. Tie Linglong insolently replied that she had orders to report to the Inner Residence.


    The guard became flustered, as he had never encountered such a person before, who could still be indignant when obviously flouting the night curfeww. In a moment of muddle-headedness, he gave the young girl directions to the Inner Residence.


    In this way, they managed to enter the Inner Residence, but all contact was lost with them afterward, and it was as if they had been swallowed by the fort.


    Finally, Xu Yanwei grew uneasy after the two youths did note back at the appointed time. She had no choice but to tell the truth to the Dragon King (albeit rather euphemistically). ¡°I¡¯m afraid that something has gone wrong, Dragon King. Little Chu and Little Lyu went to the Stone Castle to rescue Miss Ru, and have yet to return.¡±


    Tie Linglong¡¯s eyes were green, and thus Xu Yanwei called her ¡®Little Lyu¡¯. (Lyu means green in Mandarin)


    Gu Shenwei got a huge shock upon receiving the news. He knew that both of them acted on their own ord sometimes, but it did not cross his mind that they would dare to break into the Golden Roc Fort. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Did you incite them into doing it?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Xu Yanwei denied immediately. ¡°You¡¯re to me, Dragon King. Since you¡¯ve not made yourself clear at the beginning, they could have interpreted you wrongly and thought that you wanted them to go¡­¡±


    At this moment, Gu Shenwei sincerely regretted having saved her life so many times a few years ago.


    It was an extremely delicate situation for him. Both youths were his personal bodyguards, and if they were caught sneaking into Golden Roc Fort, it was as good as the Great Snowmountain signifying that they had every intention to rip the temporary cease-fire agreement into shreds.


    Fang Wenshi was extremely irritated. He had noe back if the Golden Roc Fort wanted to seize the opportunity to cause trouble again. Not only would the hard work of the past few months be for naught, the Special Envoy from the Central in would also have doubts about the ability of the Dragon King to control the situation.


    He found it surprising, however, that the Golden Roc Fort did not use this opportunity to immediately cancel the cease-fire deal. Everything went on as per usual, and it was as if nothing had happened.


    Xu Xiaoyi only managed to hear about how ¡®two apprentices¡¯ went into the Stone Castle even after trying to gather information from everywhere and tried his best to guess and re-trace the steps of Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong. Surprisingly, he found out that no one from the Golden Roc Fort was punished due to this extraordinarypse in security. It was as if no one from the castle had discovered them.


    Fang Wenshi knew that there was something not quite right about the entire situation. ¡°Not right, everything seems not right,¡± he said, arms crossed behind his back and pacing back and forth in front of the Dragon King, his eyebrows furrowed together. ¡°What is the Supreme King thinking about exactly?¡±


    Xu Yanwei was extremely uneasy, but she was naturally optimistic. ¡°Who knows, maybe Miss Ru is keeping them with her, and she¡¯s looking for an opportunity to bring them down the mountain?¡±


    That being said, she herself could not have believed that this perfect ending woulde true. Sheughed drily and stood behind the chair, trying her best to avoid the Dragon King¡¯s line of sight.


    Gu Shenwei had to try very hard to control his anger. ¡°I¡¯ve received news that Lady Meng used her daughter as bait, and set a trap for us. I believe Little Chu and Linglong are in her hands now.¡±


    ¡°Oh, why didn¡¯t you say so earlier?¡± Xu Yanwei could not help but interrupt. ¡°If I had known that it was a trap, I would not have got them to go in the fort.¡±


    This statement exposed her role in the entire incident, and she tried to cover up by deriding herself. She quickly snuck out of the room before the Dragon King got angry with her again, and it was only after a few dayster when she dared to show her face.


    ¡°This time, we can only be passive,¡± said the counselor. He turned his palms up and shook his head helplessly. ¡°The Golden Roc Fort can take this as a chance to break off from the ceasefire agreement anytime they want. I don¡¯t have any more tricks up my sleeve.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll rescue them,¡± replied Gu Shenwei resolutely. ¡°Continue with the negotiations, counselor, and leave such matters to me.¡±


    Fang Wenshi sighed, for there was nothing much he could do for such a rescue mission. ¡°It would be best if we can rescue them, but if not, you have to think of a way to sever all connections to them.¡±


    Gu Shenwei understood what he meant and nodded.


    On the third day after Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong had gone missing, Meng Yuzun sent a messenger to invite the Dragon King for a meeting. On the surface, it would be about the two million taels of silver, but Gu Shenwei was pretty certain that the fat man was acting at the behest of Lady Meng.


    He did not trust Meng Yuzun, and therefore selected a brothel in South City as the meeting point.


    Xiao Fengchai was their mutual acquaintance, and both parties trusted her. She was also willing to host the meeting.


    As soon as the Dragon King¡¯s arrival was announced, Meng Yuzun personally went downstairs to receive the young man. He acted so warmly as if he was receiving an old friend in his own home. Any outsider who witnessed the scene would not have imagined that the two of them had faced off in Bodhi Garden previously.


    They were ushered into an elegantly built study on the second story, and Xiao Fengchai tactfully retreated with her maids after paying her respects. Meng Yuzun dismissed all of his followers and stopped smiling after they left. He spoke as if he were confiding in the Dragon King, ¡°My thanks for not killing me thest time around and not spreading the news about the Tianji Society; I¡¯m extremely grateful to you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was gripping the shaft of his saber with his right hand out of habit. He trusted Xiao Fengchai, but not to the extent where he could let his guard down. ¡°Since you have no intention of harming me, Sir, I, too, have no intention of killing you.¡±


    Meng Yuzun sniggered as he replied, ¡°Let¡¯s not be on ceremony here, Dragon King. You can address me as Old Meng.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded slightly but did not reply.


    Meng Yuzun wiped away the sweat from his forehead. It was a sign of self-confidence and not anxiety. ¡°Er, there aren¡¯t any outsiders here, so I¡¯ll be to the point. I have two people with me that the Dragon King might be interested in. My request, or rather Lady Meng¡¯s request, is very simple¡ªall you have to do is to exchange the Dajue Book of Swordcraft for them. It¡¯ll be as if the entire incident did not happen, and the Supreme King would never know about it. Hur, hur, if it¡¯s up to me to decide, since you¡¯ve already learned it, there¡¯s no point keeping it with you. It¡¯s an extremely good deal for you.¡±


    Meng Yuzun was all smiles as he waited for the Dragon King¡¯s reply. He was confident that victory was at hand.


    Gu Shenwei remained expressionless and he pondered for a moment before replying. ¡°My request is also very simple. Release the two of them, and I¡¯ll continue to keep Lady Meng¡¯s secret safe with me.¡±


    ¡°Secret? What secret?¡± The smile was now gone from the fat man¡¯s face, and more beads of sweat started to form on it.


    ¡°Go ask Lady Meng.¡±


    Gu Shenwei started walking towards the door and paused at the doorstep before adding, ¡°If I fail to receive the two million taels of silver tomorrow, I¡¯ll act myself after the deadline.¡±


    It was time to leverage on the secret that Shangguan Hong had divulged to him, and Gu Shenwei felt that he still had a chance to win.

 Chapter 307 - Pile of Silver

    Chapter 307: Pile of Silver<b>Trantor:</b> Transn <b>Editor:</b> Transn


    After blustering out a threat to Lady Meng and Meng Yuzun who was muddle-headed about thedy¡¯s secret, Gu Shenwei got a response on the following day.


    In the afternoon, the citizens of South City got to witness a rare spectacle: more than 10 carriages, carrying two million taels of silver, were being transported to the Residence of the Dragon King in broad daylight.


    The sole responsibility of the men sent by Meng Yuzun was to ensure that the silver was delivered; they even wanted to collect the boxes back. As such, the silver had to be stacked in the Dragon King¡¯s front yard after being weighed, and it literally became a mountain of silver. The taels of silver were so shiny that one would get dizzy just by looking at them. Everyone in the residence crowded around to see for themselves, their mouths agape in amazement.


    More than 10 pairs of eyes could be noticed peeking unblinkingly and greedily at the silver from the door seams and over the wall of the front yard.


    Fang Wenshi was also gazing at the pile of silver with his mouth wide open, and had to control his strong urge to throw himself on it. He had seen through the cunning ploy of the Meng family. ¡°This was obviously done to cause trouble in the residence. How many people woulde in hope of snatching it for their own use? This move by the fat man is indeed ruthless.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not order the silver to be moved. Instead, he made the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain erect a g near it. Fang Wenshi suggested against using the ck Blood g as it had a somber reputation now, and Gu Shenwei had to re-design another one.


    The murder of crows on the Reincarnation Hill had left an indelible impression in Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind, therefore the new g he designed for the Great Snowmountain was ck based with a crudely drawn side portrait of a red crow in the middle of it.


    Fang Wenshi did not really like this design, but grudgingly epted it in the end.


    Xu Xiaoyi had secretly contacted many underground banks in the hope that someone would ept the deposit of two million taels of silver, but none of them dared to. ¡°It¡¯s too conspicuous. It¡¯ll be akin to openly going against the Meng Family by epting your deposit. Furthermore, I don¡¯t have the resources to store it securely,¡± replied Shopkeeper Lyu of Southwall Tavern. He was heartbroken to have to pass over a deal like this; he wanted to do it but was also extremely afraid of the Meng family.


    That very night, the robbers came, just as was expected.


    Greed overcame fear, and there were at least five groups of bandits loitering around the residence of the Dragon King once night came. They were already fighting amongst themselves even beforeying eyes on the silver, and only calmed down after one of them was struck dead. They came up with a n by dividing the residence into different parts and made a deal tounch a multi-pronged attack. It was up to the individual bandit to grab as much of the silver as he or she could.


    They were still somewhat wary of the Dragon King, and dared not aim to grab all of the two million taels of silver; they only wished to get part of it amongst the chaos.


    The atmosphere within the residence of the Dragon King had suddenly grown tense.


    Those who did not know any kung fu were made to stay in the backyard, and they were separated by gender into two different rooms. Four machetemen, four swordsmen and Lianye stood guard over them. Lianye did not wish to take part in guarding the silver because of his status as a monk and volunteered to help guard the backyard instead.


    The remaining 30 over machetemen from the Tianshan Sect and swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain were responsible for guarding the front yard with the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei only allocated two men to stand guard under the Red Raven g. The other people were dispersed throughout the surrounding area and stationed themselves in the various rooms, waiting for their orders. Antern was hung under each corner of the roof.


    The anxious bandits finally struck when it was close to midnight, and snow was beginning to fall.


    The first wave consisted of three groups, each made up of five to eight bandits. They came leaping onto the roof from the east, west, and north. Some of them had concealed their faces but some did not bother to do so.


    The three groups of bandits stood hesitating on the roof. The silver was just below them, but none of them dared to make the first move. It was only after 15 minutes and when the snow started to get heavier, when a bandit shouted, ¡°I¡¯m Ma Er, Dragon King. My finances are a little tight right now, and I¡¯vee here to borrow some money. Please be generous. We can be friends. If you have any request, feel free to look for me from now on.¡±


    After the ¡®pleasantries¡¯ were over, more than 20 of the bandits leaped into the yard, seemingly simultaneously. They had drawn their sabers and advanced gingerly through the shallow snow towards the pile of silver.


    The two swordsmen standing guard under the Red Raven g drew their heavy swords and readied themselves for battle.


    However, it did not start immediately, as bandits always waited for someone else to start a fight; they were always looking to grab the loot when the others were fighting. Slowly, their steps became smaller and smaller until they were almost marching on the spot.


    Snowkes were starting to cover the sky, and the light emanating from the fournterns was soon not enough to pierce through the snow in the air. It was pitch ck around the pile of silver, which was at the center of the yard, but it did not matter to the bandits; it was why they were here.


    Soon, the second wave of bandits was already on the roof. They were no less than 60. A muscr bandit gave a loud roar as he raised the scimitar in his hand. ¡°The Dragon King has fewer men than us. Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Thus, the battle began.


    As the second wave of bandits leaped into the yard, the first wave rushed towards the pile of silver. The guards of the front yard came rushing out of the various rooms, and soon there were more than a hundred people congregating in the yard. The battleground immediately looked smaller, and this resulted in extremely brutal closebat.


    As shouts from the front yard kept ringing out, those seeking refuge in the backyard trembled and huddled together. Fang Wenshi closed his eyes and quietly prayed. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, the Dragon King will be fine, and the silver will also be fine.¡±


    As the battle just began, someone had extinguished the me from all thenterns. Thebatants were soon plunged into the pitch ck night and never ending snow. There were only countless cries to be heard.


    ¡°Don¡¯t sh, it¡¯s me!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got the silver, let¡¯s go!¡±


    ¡°Grab a little more.¡±


    ¡°Hurry, hurry.¡±


    ¡°Dragon King! Dragon King¡­¡±


    All of a sudden, a few torches were lit, and one could see the bodies dropping like flies. There were people continually being cut down and the blood from their wounds froze before it could stter or gush out. This did not diminish the draw of the pile of silver, however. More and more bandits surged forward with a raging desire for the money. They hacked a bloody path towards the mountain of silver, not discriminating between friend or foe. Once they got there, they threw themselves on the silver and started stuffing their pockets and sacks full of it. They then turned back and tried to hack their way out again.


    Gu Shenwei had never ughtered bandits so easily before. Lin Xiaoshan was carrying a torch and darting around thebatants, and Gu Shenwei followed closely by his side. With the aid of the light from the torch, he killed a bandit with every single stroke of his saber. It was nearly a massacre without resistance, and only a few of his opponents tried to block his attacks.


    The power of the silver was ten times more than he had imagined.


    The battle ended around midnight, and there was not a single tael of silver missing. However, the pile of silver had been covered by blood and snow, and could not shine as brightly as before.


    There were many corpses left behind in the yard, and only a few of the bandits came to their senses at the veryst minute, leaving the silver behind and fleeing for their lives.


    Thenterns were re-lit and everyone took inventory. A few of the machetemen and swordsmen were wounded and were sent to the backyard for treatment.


    Gu Shenwei saw that there was a youth about 13 years of age standing at the now open main entrance, and asked, ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡±


    A swordsman replied, ¡°He wants to be a disciple of the Dragon King, and he¡¯s the only one to stay behind; all the others have left.¡±


    When Gu Shenwei won the title of Machete God, a group of people had gathered at his doorstep, wishing to learn his machete technique. He had not epted any of them, and all of them took it as a sign for them to leave, except for the youth who remained waiting stubbornly outside the main entrance.


    His clothes were thin, and his face was red from the frost. He was hugging a short-saber and did not show any sign of fear upon seeing the corpses strewn in the yard, his gaze fixed steadily at the Dragon King.


    ¡°Bring him to me, if he¡¯s still here tomorrow,¡± Gu Shenwei instructed the swordsman who had replied to him, before returning to his room to rest.


    The first battle was over, but there would be stronger enemiesing their way.


    The first two waves of bandits were probably machetemen from the city who had made ast minute career switch. Their methods were amateurish and disorderly. Real bandits would have got other people to attack first and only appear when they got a grasp on the enemy¡¯s strength. They were only looking for riches, but would never sacrifice their lives for it if possible.


    Gu Shenwei had predicted the arrival of more bandits, but he had not predicted that his qigong deviation would attack at this critical time.


    Previously, he would have a premonition two to three days before each attack¡ªhis body would feel cold for no particr reason at all. This time, it was sudden and came without prior warning.


    He had felt a little cold when standing in the yard after getting rid of the first two waves of bandits, but he attributed it to the snow. It was only when he returned to his quarters and felt that the coldness was getting stronger instead of diminishing, that he knew all was not well.


    ¡°Get monk Lianye toe,¡± he ordered Lin Xiaoshan.


    Lin Xiaoshan could see that the Dragon King was even paler than before, and knew that something was amiss. He bowed to the Dragon King as a sign that he understood the order, with a tinge of uncertainty in his eyes, and then he went to the backyard to fetch Lianye.


    Once the monk stepped into the Dragon King¡¯s room, he immediately made it clear that he was not willing to take innocent lives, ¡°Wildhorse forced brother Lianhua and me into working for him and I want to kill him to avenge my senior¡¯s death. However, I won¡¯t kill to protect your silver, Dragon King, you¡­¡±


    He stopped himself upon seeing that Gu Shenwei did not look quite right.


    Gu Shenwei could not dy his resistance to the qigong deviation attack any longer, as it was extremely strong. He had to begin channeling his internal energy but was worried that there would still be people trying to get their hands on the silver when it got closer to midnight. He ordered Lin Xiaoshan, ¡°Bring everyone to the backyard, and no matter what happens in the front yard, don¡¯te over.¡±


    ¡°Go to the backyard? What if there are bandits?¡± Lin Xiaoshan could not understand the logic behind the Dragon King¡¯s order. However, the Dragon King looked serious and did not seem like he was spouting nonsense. Lin Xiaoshan felt that he could only carry it out, but not before asking further, ¡°Everyone?¡±


    ¡°Everyone. No one is toe to the front yard until dawn.¡±


    Lin Xiaoshan went to convey the Dragon King¡¯s order to the other machetemen and swordsmen. Gu Shenwei turned his attention to Lianye. He had no other choice left but to trust the monk. ¡°There¡¯s been a slight problem with my internal breath, and I need to channel my internal energy to drive it away. I hope that you can be my guardian while I¡¯m at it, Master.¡±


    Lianye had already detected an anomaly to the Dragon King¡¯s internal breath earlier at the Machete God Contest, and he had undergone the torment of qigong deviation before as well. As such, he understood Gu Shenwei¡¯s pain and brought his palms together as he said, ¡°I humbly ept this post. However, I have to make it clear that I¡¯ll only protect you, Dragon King. I¡¯ll not be protecting the pile of silver in the yard.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded in agreement. The chill in his Dantian was growing stronger, and he no longer had the energy to worry about the silver. As such, he had simply sent Lin Xiaoshan and his other men to the backyard to protect the defenseless residents. It would be great if the next wave of bandits thought that the empty front yard was a trap and went away, but if not, he could only forsake the silver and ce more emphasis on his personal safety.


    A person who was withstanding a qigong deviation attack could not be disturbed in the slightest bit. Lianye walked out of the room and stood guard at the door, while Gu Shenwei stuffed his ears with cotton wool, closed his eyes and began channeling his internal breath.


    However, it took him quite a while to enter a state of absolute concentration. He would be close to defenseless for the next 12 hours, and in the past, he had fought against the attacks by hiding in uninhabited areas, with Chu Nanping as his guardian. Now, he was in the bustling South City, and the two million taels of silver that everyone had eyes on was only about 10 steps away from him. What was more, he no longer had the loyal youth as his guardian, but a monk whom he did not know very well.


    There was too much for him to worry about, and he could not rx entirely.


    His saber and sword were just beside him, and he hesitated for a while before cing the Dragon Head Sword within easy reach. He felt that only the swordcraft from Death Scripture could save him if he was forced to act.


    The chill was spreading towards his limbs and bones and he began to shiver slightly. He forced himself to concentrate and focus all his energy on withstanding the iciness in his body.


    As he entered a state of absolute concentration, he could not be disturbed by any sound other than thunder or if someone was charging towards him. Therefore, he could consider himself lucky that he could not hear a voiceing from the front yard.


    ¡°Come on out, Dragon King, and receive your death! The Five Warlords of Tianshan are here to avenge Chipo¡¯s death!¡±

 Chapter 308 - Snow Night

    Chapter 308: Snow Night<b>Trantor:</b> Transn <b>Editor:</b> Transn


    Lianye had been a solitary bandit before he became a monk. Although he rarely participated in jianghu affairs after bing a monk, he was still very well-informed. He had never heard of the name ¡°Five Warlords of Tianshan¡±. He then quickly realized that the people who hade up with that name and imed that they were seeking for revenge, were actually after the silver taels.


    ¡°Amitabha,¡± Lianye chanted. Other than avenging his senior, he did not n on fighting anyone else. ¡°If you are here for the silver, please take it. Both Dragon King and I will not stop you.¡±


    The monk spoke the truth, but the five people on the roof did not believe him. They had been observing nearby for a while and had already discovered that the machetemen and swordsmen, who were initially in the front yard, had moved to the backyard. The gate of Dragon King¡¯s residence was open and it made them feel more wary.


    All five of them were covered in ck from head to toe, and each wielded different weapons: a saber, a sword, a spear, an axe and a bow.


    The one with the saber appeared to be their leader as he was the one who spoke on the behalf of the group. ¡°Hey, we will seek our revenge and take our taels. These taels were obtained by betraying Chipo. Dragon King should not have taken these taels. Get him toe out. We want to test Dragon King¡¯s machete skills.¡±


    Lianye shook his head and said, ¡°Taels are worldly items and Dragon King is unwilling to hurt the innocent. The taels are in front of you. You are free to take as much as you need.¡±


    The monk was extremely honest. The five people on the roof felt uneasy, thinking there was a trap in the courtyard. The leader simply ignored Lianye and shouted, ¡°Dragon King, are you a coward? We are good brothers of Chipo and are here tonight to avenge him. Stop ying tricks ande out quickly.¡±


    There was no sound in the house. Monk Lianye knew that there was no use speaking further, and lowering his head, started chanting softly.


    The snow on the ground was piling up and hadpletely covered the silver taels in the courtyard. The monk was also covered with snow.


    The man with the axe lost his patience first. He said, ¡°Dragon King is a coward. Big Brother, let me go and kill him.¡±


    The eldest brother, the one with the saber, was more cautious. During the first half of the night, he had seen the fate of seventy plus bandits. Although he believed that the five of them were more capable than the bandits, they still had to be on guard against Dragon King¡¯s tricks. He said, ¡°Fifth Brother, shoot an arrow at Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Fifth Brother¡± drew his bow and notched an arrow. Kneeling on one leg, he aimed at the monk and fired.


    In the split second before the arrow reached the monk, it suddenly split into three pieces, each aimed at the monk¡¯s head, chest, and abdomen.


    Lianye took a breath, clenched his fists and grunted. No matter whether it had been one or three arrows, they snapped into pieces under Lianye¡¯s Internal Strength.


    The leaderughed and said, ¡°You are indeed worthy to be the holy monk of Four Truths Temple. You have great skills. It is a pity that you are willing to be a ve to Dragon King just because of your defeat at the Machete God Contest. You have insulted the name ¡°Holy Monk¡± and have embarrassed Four Truths Temple.¡±


    Lianye¡¯s killing desire had been suppressed by years of mediation and Breaking Obsession. But oce his killing desire was ignited, it would not be controlled, like a prowling tiger on the loose. He shouted, ¡°What is there to talk about? Come and fight me.¡±


    The leader took the lead and the Five Warlords of Tianshan jumped onto the ground. They had basic courtesy not to crowd the monk. The well-built man with the ax stepped forward and said, ¡°Monk, let¡¯s fight.¡±


    The handle of the ax was less than two feet long, but the ax was bigger than his head. When the ax was held up, wind rushed around them, blowing snow in swirls.


    Lianye was already losing his patience. He jumped towards the enemy without any weapon and pped him without even a word of warning.


    The two of them exchanged blows and the four people watching the match were stunned. The monk¡¯s capability exceeded their expectations ¨C he could force the built man into a retreat with his bare hands. The most astounding thing was that even though the monk made huge movements, the snow on his head and shoulders did not move as though it was firmly attached to him.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go together,¡± the leader shouted. Dragon King had not appeared and the four of them were confident. They ignored the jianghu rules, which was to fight one on one.


    Lianye became more and more at ease. He did not bother to evade his opponent¡¯s attack but focused on attacking the opponent. Although the built man was strong, he had no power to retaliate. He had to block every attack with his ax as he knew any strike from the monk could be fatal.


    Just when the four other warlordsunched their assault on the monk, the monk shouted and the snow on his body fell off. He punched directly at the ax. The power was so strong that it knocked the well-built man off his feet, despositing him on the pile of silver taels in the courtyard.


    The man vomited blood and he couldn¡¯t move his ax away from his body. Although he was not dead, he was badly injured.


    After Lianye had injured one person, his killing desire was was inmed. Before the four people could reach him, he rushed at them and began attacking first, throwing them into confusion.


    Before Lianye had became a monk, his kungfu was already good. Although he practiced Buddhist doctrines at the Four Truths Temple, his skills didn¡¯t deteriorate. Under the guidance of a teacher, his Internal Strength had became stronger. If Dragon King had not revealed the secrets of Peripheral Force at the Machete God Contest, he would not be thrown off and he would probably have won when they hadpeted with their Internal Strength.


    The monk¡¯s robe sleeves danced around and his moves were as fast as lightning. Their weapons could not even get close to the monk and the archer could not shoot his arrows as he could not get a good shot.


    Mama Xue once told Gu Shenwei that it was difficult to use bare fists to fight against weapons. Gu Lun had also said something simr to his son. They were right, but there was a pre-requisite: the two sides had to be evenly matched.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s Internal Strength was not as good as the monk, and his melee attacks were much weaker, but Gu Shenwei¡¯s chance of winning increased exponentially when he had a weapon. ¡°Five Warlords of Tianshan¡± were second-rate bandits. Even if they had weapons, they would still lose.


    The leader became more and more frantic as the fight progressed. He wanted to use his best move. He swung his saber several times, jumped out from the fight and shouted, ¡°Monk, don¡¯t you want to dispel your Peripheral Force? Just surrender!¡±


    This move was simr to that used by Gu Shenwei at the Machete God Contest, but the effect was the opposite.


    The reason why Lianye was controlled by Wildhorse was not that he was afraid of death, but because he had not wanted his junior to suffer. As he also wanted to promote Breaking Obsession, he was willing to speak ofw and was hence duped by the swindlers.


    As Lianye wanted to seek revenge, he still cooperated with Wildhorse at the Machete God Contest. He had not expected Dragon King to know his predicament. He lost as he been distracted at the crucial moment when they werepeting with Internal Strength. In the same way, he was now coborating with Dragon King in order to seek revenge. He knew that Wildhorse would leak the secret, and was prepared. Upon hearing the leader¡¯s threat, he was not afraid, instead, he was furious.


    ¡°All of you will die!¡± The monk shouted. His movements did not slow. Before he had even finished speaking, he had snatched the sword. He turned to avoid the spear and stabbed the person with the spear in the heart.


    The leader saw that his best move had backfired. His face turned white and said, ¡°What a crazy monk. We shall fight another time.¡± Before he had finished his first sentence, he was already at the gate. By the time anyone heard his next sentence, he had already disappeared.


    The leader had escaped. The archer was even more terrified, and jumping onto the roof, he ran in the other direction.


    Only the man with the sword was left. His weapon was snatched away. He stared at the monk, dazed, momentarily forgetting to flee.


    Lianye sighed. Histe senior would know that he had started killing people and me himself. His heart clenched and he threw down the sword. He said, ¡°Leave. Take the both of them away. Don¡¯te back.¡±


    The man only then, responded, saying ¡°Thank you Holy monk for sparing my life.¡±He carried the corpse of the man with the spear, supported the man with the ax and staggered out from the gate as quickly as he could.


    Snow was still falling. The monk was alone in the courtyard as he started to chant the Breaking Obsession. He med himself for igniting his killing desire.


    Someone peeked out from the gate of Dragon King¡¯s residence. He was the leader with the saber who escaped earlier on. He said, ¡°Monk. Master Lianhua had died of a terrible death. Don¡¯t you want to avenge him?¡±


    After spending much effort to calm down, he was irritated. He asked, ¡°What do you know?¡±


    ¡°I know that Lianhua was murdered and the killer hid well. You werepletely kept in the dark.¡±


    ¡°I know who the murderer is.¡± Lianye almost said Shangguan Fei¡¯s name. He held it back. ve Qing had been killed that night by poison, so there was no basis to use Stone Castle Ninth Young Master. The only possibility of revenge would ur when Dragon King was at war with Golden Roc Fort.


    ¡°Hey. You thought you knew, but you don¡¯t know anything. Lianhua had died of a terrible death, and he had left behind a stupid junior. You want to avenge your senior, but you can¡¯t find the murderer.¡±


    The leader disappeared immediately after saying those words.


    Lianye knew that it might be a trick, but his patience could not withstand another blow, otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have such a ridiculous nickname. He turned around and looked at Dragon King¡¯s room, thinking that he would capture the leader easily and still have the time to rush back to protect Dragon King after interrogating him. With that, he rushed out into the snow.


    When the monk left, it began to snow heavily. The snowing subsided only when the snow on the ground was one foot thick. The fournterns hanging around the yard had burnt out and was dark.


    The snowing suddenly stopped. The moon was hanging high and illuminated the entire area.


    Another person peered out from gate of Dragon King¡¯s residence.


    A red-faced, young macheteman sneaked into the courtyard, leaving deep footprints.


    He passed the pile of silver taels in the middle of the yard. He nced at the taels and ax, which were covered by thick snow. He was tempted, but continued walking. Then, he felt something amiss. He turned around and gazed at the top of the tall Red Raven g.


    There was a person standing at the top of the g.


    The young macheteman blicked his eyes as if he couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing. The top of the gpole was less than half a foot long and swayed in the wind. How could anyone stand on it?


    However, it was a person. He jumped down and snapped open his cape. His cape looked like giant wings. Hended silently and with almost no trace on the snow.


    The person was covered in ck and his weapon was concealed in his cape, hidden from the young macheteman¡¯s view.


    The cloaked man ced his index finger on his lips.


    The young macheteman had a little jianghu experience. Even though he was stunned, he did not show it. He just nodded his head.


    The cloaked man pointed at Dragon King¡¯s room and said softly, ¡°Check it out.¡±


    This was an unusual instruction, but the young macheteman was controlled by the cloaked man who descended from the sky. He nodded again and walked towards the room.


    Dragon King¡¯s door was in front of him. The roof had not been able to withstand the heavy snow there was half a foot of snow at the doorstep.


    The young macheteman gently pushed the door open and saw Dragon King sitting cross-legged on the bed. Dragon King was motionless, just like an ice statue. His stiff face showed that Dragon King was in great pain.


    The young macheteman was unable to move.

 Chapter 309 - Fear

    Chapter 309: Fear<b>Trantor:</b> Transn <b>Editor:</b> Transn


    It was as if there were millions of ice needles that were pricking the inside of Gu Shenwei¡¯s body. The pricking sensation emanated from his viscera towards the surface of his body. The chilliness ebbed away bit by bit every time the pricking sensation hits his skin, but not for long before a new wave of ice needles began forming in his Dantian again. Even though Gu Shenwei protected the pulse of his heart, it did not numb the sensation of pain. On the contrary, it only further intensified and the excruciating pain that he had to endure was increased by twofold.


    He could not hear anything as his ears were stuffed with cotton wool. However, he would still open his eyes involuntarily whenever danger approached.


    There was a panic-stricken young macheteman who stood by the door. His face was so red that it could even be clearly seen in the night.


    It was the sixth hour of exorcism. The most difficult period had passed. Gu Shenwei still needed to persevere for six more hours, but he was able to devote some of his energy to his surroundings.


    The young macheteman seemed to be saying something indignantly as he approached Gu Shenwei. He couldn¡¯t hear anything, but he was able to feel a strong animosity from the young man¡¯s face.


    The young macheteman did not pose the greatest threat. Instead, it was someone outside that posed the greatest threat.


    The footprints left by the young macheteman were barely visible in the thick snow. Gu Shenwei was able to sense someone else hiding in the dark. The killing intent emanating from that person was weak but unshakable.


    The young macheteman was filled with grief and indignation. He was discouraged. Like what the rumors would suggest, Dragon King seemed to be in a state of qigong deviation. However, even though Dragon King was in such a state, this demon still paid him no attention, as though his existence was insignificant.


    ¡°¡­ I am here to seek revenge. I had initially hoped to be your disciple and kill you after learning your kung fu. However, God is fair; I currently have the opportunity to exact my revenge as you are currently incapacitated¡­¡±


    Dragon King remained silent. The pained expression on his face subsided a little bit. His gaze was cold and empty. This made the youth even more furious.


    The short sword that the youth unsheathed seemed a little too big for him. The youth thought that he could reach and kill Dragon King within three steps. However, it was as though there was an invisible in front of him. The more he tried to move forward, the greater the resistance.


    The youth was afraid. All the stories of Dragon King and the scene that he had witnessed of Dragon King killing the bandits during the first half of the night terrified him. This fear was like a heavy boulder that was weighing down on his small shoulders. His arms were shaking; his heart pounding and his legs were giving way.


    He hated how ipetent he is. He couldn¡¯t move any closer, even though his de was just three feet away from Dragon King.


    A shadow appeared behind him and grabbed his arm with a strong and forceful hand. There was a hypnotizing cold voice that spoke above his head. ¡°Do you want to live your whole life with regret?¡±


    The youth bit his lips till it bled. He seemed to have gained strength from the mysterious cloaked man and took a step forward gently. The short sword in his hand was pointed at Dragon King¡¯s heart.


    Dragon King was like an ice sculpture. It was as though he did not even have the strength to roll his eyes.


    Like a hungry stray cat, the youth pounced on his target recklessly, without ounting for the difference in capabilities.


    The cloaked man took a step back when the youth pounced forward. He was a very cautious man. Considering that this opportunity to kill Dragon King seemed to be too easy and much of a coincidence, he was being very vignt.


    However, things did not y out as it would.


    The desperate young man had already exhausted all of his strength when the tip of the de touched Dragon King¡¯s heart. The ice-like statue suddenly attacked and stabbed the cautious cloaked man behind the young macheteman.


    All three of them were injured.


    The feeble youth knelt on the ground, shivering. His short sword had been thrown aside. He did not manage to see what had happened above his head.


    The cloaked man retreated hastily to the door, while holding his neck. He was horrified. It was as though he had seen a ghost, but he was still alive. He slumped over the doorstep.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s were the most injured. Most of his Internal Strength had been used to protect his heart pulse against the effects of the continuously emerging ice needles. The Death Scripture required its practitioners to use all of their strength to kill in one blow. Even though that move was only within a moment, it still diverted a lot of his Internal Strength.


    The chilliness in his body took advantage of this and damaged several vital meridians concurrently. Gu Shenwei was barely able to hold back a mouthful of blood that rushed to his throat, but he was greatly shaken. He realized that the qigong deviation this time would cause him great harm.


    ¡°Such an evil swordcraft.¡± The cloaked man was both impressed and frightened at the same time. He was still alive, but the Internal Breath in his Dantian evaporated rapidly like snow in spring. It escaped through every pore of his skin.


    ¡°Hey, crybaby! Get up.¡± The cloaked man was unable to get up, so he tried to encourage the young macheteman instead. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to exact your revenge? Your enemy is right in front of you. Do you know how many people in the world are hoping for such an opportunity? Yet you got it. Quickly pick up the sword and kill him.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I dare not.¡± The young man cried. Shameful tears welled up in his eyes.


    In his n, revenge would be a long process. He didn¡¯t expect the opportunity toe so soon.


    ¡°It is normal to be afraid since he¡¯s the Dragon King. Everyone will be nervous when they try to kill someone for the first time. It¡¯s alright. Stand up. With just one blow, you will be the person who killed Dragon King. You will be famous.¡± The cloaked man persuaded patiently.


    The youth knelt on the ground and shook his head desperately. He said, ¡°No, I can¡¯t. My legs¡­¡±


    ¡°You coward. You have no guts!¡± The cloaked man failed to persuade the youth so he tried to provoke him instead. ¡°Have you forgotten how your uncle was killed? He was stabbed in the back. Your young cousin was also stabbed to death. Your aunt who had no kung fu was raped and murdered. Have you forgotten all about it? Get up, you good for nothing!¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not hear what the youth in front of him said, but the cloaked man heard it loud and clear from outside the house.


    The taunting was effective. The youth picked up the short sword and stood up with a jerk. Wiping away his ipetent tears, he said, ¡°Yes, I must kill you, Dragon King. Even if I will be killed when I step out of here, I want to kill you off right now.¡±


    Gu Shenwei could not hear what the youth said. There was no need for the Death Scripture swordcraft. He could just grab the Dragon Head Sword that was nearby and kill off the weak opponent. But even so, he would need to divert a little Internal Strength, and this alone was enough for him to bepletely controlled by qigong deviation. Even if he survives, he would most likely be paralyzed.


    Gu Shenwei was also amused by the fact that the renowned Dragon King of the Great Snow Mountain would actually be killed by a nobody.


    ¡°Hey, who are you people? What are you trying to do?¡± Jiang appeared at the doorstep.


    Jiang faithfully carried out the Dragon King¡¯s order to stop anyone from entering the front yard till dawn. At first light, she was the first to check on the situation despite the dissuasion of others.


    The cloaked man was shocked. He was so focused on Dragon King that he didn¡¯t notice any outsiders approaching him. However, he was too weak to get up and could only pin his hope on the youth. ¡°Hurry up and do it!¡± He shouted.


    Jiang¡¯s questioning had unnerved the youth, but he did not falter. Although his sword kept shaking, he still managed to urately stab Dragon King¡¯s heart.


    Jiang was taken aback. She leaped over the stranger at the doorstep and pounced on the youth. She pushed him aside and fought him for his weapon.


    The short sword slit Dragon King¡¯s chest.


    ¡°Let go of me, I want to exact my revenge!¡±


    The weak youth struggled desperately, but he was no match for Jiang, who was a girl from the Great Snow Mountain. Although she didn¡¯t know kung fu, she was still much stronger than other girls. Concerned about the safety of Dragon King, she exerted even more force.


    Jiang snatched the short sword and stood guard in front of Dragon King. Panting, she said, ¡°Do note any closer.¡± She then shouted loudly, ¡°Somebody,e here quickly! There are assassins here!¡±


    Like a ball that was bouncing back up, the cloaked man stood up suddenly. In an instant, Jiang was pushed to the corner of the wall. Her head banged against the wall and she passed out.


    ¡°The loss of Internal Strength was only temporary.¡± The cloaked man breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn¡¯t help but grin nastily. There was not a lot of time, but it was enough for him to kill Dragon King and escape.


    Gu Shenwei knew that he had no other choice but to grab the Dragon Head Sword.


    Both weapons struck at the same time.


    For the first time, he slipped up while using the Death Scripture swordcraft. As the Dragon Head Sword struck the short sword, the cloaked man retreated three steps forcefully and shot a hidden weapon towards Dragon King¡¯s chest.


    Dragon King bent over, lying on the bed.


    The hidden weapon was poisonous. The cloaked man thought to himself, ¡°Dragon King is definitely going to die.¡± Just as he was about to check on Dragon King, the guards of the Residence of Dragon King rushed into the front yard after hearing Jiang¡¯s shouts.


    ¡°He must be dead.¡± The cloaked man thought to himself again and left the room, jumping onto the roof and escaping towards the city.


    Gu Shenwei was still alive, but he was in a state that was no different from being dead.


    The cotton wool in his ears was removed. Even the slightest noise would rattle his ears, yet he was unable to make out a single sound. He opened his eyes but everything he saw seemed surreal.


    Why was the monk thumping his chest and stamping his feet? Why was the red-faced young girl crying? Why were the Xu siblings as pale as paper?


    Gradually, the sounds and scenes finally merged, and the world became real.


    ¡°It¡¯s my fault, it¡¯s all my fault.¡± Lianye was ming himself. ¡°I was tricked. I went around in circles. After spending so much effort catching the person, he didn¡¯t know anything at all. This is all my fault.¡±


    ¡°Dragon King is awake,¡± Xu Yanwei said, pleasantly surprised.


    ¡°How am I alive?¡± Gu Shenwei asked softly. He remembered that he had fallen into a deep icy abyss and his entire body was numb. There should be no way to save him.


    ¡°Master Lianye saved Dragon King,¡± Lin Xiaoshan said as he stepped forward from the outermost of the crowd.


    Lianye had pulled Dragon King back from the gates of hell; he used his Internal Strength to help Dragon King dispel most of the poison and stabilized his heart pulse. However, the monk still felt guilty and kept on repeating. ¡°It¡¯s my fault.¡±


    Gu Shenwei tried to gather his Qi and was disheartened to realize that his Internal Breath had coagted like glue. Although he didn¡¯t die, he couldn¡¯t even gather his Qi. He was only barely speaking and didn¡¯t even have the strength to raise his hand.


    ¡°Dragon King had just woken up. Let¡¯s not disturb him and leave him to rest. Jiang, please stay with him,¡± Xu Yanwei said softly. Everyone nodded and left the room.


    Lin Xiaoshan was behind the pack and was already at the door. He seemed indecisive about something. Hence, he turned around again and said, ¡°Dragon King, there is something¡­¡±


    ¡°Dragon King is already in this state¡­¡± Jiang said angrily.


    Lin Xiaoshan blushed slightly, but he still insisted on staying.


    ¡°Speak up,¡± Gu Shenwei said weakly. He had never felt so frail before.


    ¡°The Meng family sent someone over to meet Dragon King. He imed that he also represents Lady Meng.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had threatened Lady Meng with a ¡°secret¡± and now she is trying to find out how much he knew. ¡°Tell him to let Shangguan Honge instead.¡± Gu Shenwei replied.


    Lin Xiaoshan froze. He had no idea how this matter was rted to Supreme King¡¯s illegitimate son but he still acknowledged it in a low voice.


    Gu Shenwei believed that by using Shangguan Hong¡¯s name, he would be able to convince Lady Meng that the secret was indeed with him.


    Just when Lin Xiaoshan was about to leave, Gu Shenwei asked, ¡°Who is that youth?¡±


    ¡°He said that he¡¯s Nie Zeng. He imed that Dragon King killed his uncle, Nie Qing, and his family a few years ago. I had already locked him up and will wait for your instructions.¡±


    Gu Shenwei remembered it immediately. He and his master, Tie Hanfeng had killed a family of three a few years ago. The macheteman in the family was called Nie Qing.


    ¡°Release him,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He was neither softhearted nor contemptuous, ¡°Everyone has the right to seek revenge.¡±

 Chapter 310 - Enemies

    Chapter 310: Enemies<b>Trantor:</b> Transn <b>Editor:</b> Transn


    The residents of Jade City and various forces were deeply shocked when they heard Dragon King had been attacked by an assassin while paralyzed on his bed.


    Respondng to inquiries by those who were curious or with ulterior motives, Fang Wenshi shot down the rumor seriously, ¡°There¡¯s no such thing. Dragon King is fine. How could he be paralyzed?¡±


    However, for the past few days, the military counselor would conclude the negotiations early and return the Dragon King¡¯s residence in South City before dark. Hence, everyone knew that there was something wrong with Dragon King.


    Indeed, Gu Shenwei could not get out of bed. His chest injury was minor and the state of his Internal Breath in his Dantian had also improved, but he could not move anything from waist down. The poison in the hidden weapon was the biggest problem. Although Lianye had driven out most of the poison, the little that remained was hard to remove.


    Lianye felt that he had unintentionally caused Dragon King¡¯s injury and was deeply disturbed. Hence, he used his Internal Strength to heal Dragon King every day and refused to leave Dragon King¡¯s residence.


    The injury would gradually recover but everyone was worried about whether Dragon King had the time.


    The cloaked man who had escaped was a deadly threat. He knew better than anyone that Dragon King was vulnerable at this time and would probablye back again.


    Tianshan Sect sent many swordsmen reinforcing Dragon King¡¯s residence with more than a hundred guards. It was sufficient to fend off an ordinary attack, but there were still loopholes that a real master could make use of.


    Fang Wenshi suggested Dragon King move into the residence of the special emissary from the Central ins in North City, but Dragon King declined. One couldn¡¯t bring weapons into North City. Hence, Dragon King would be a more precarious situation. North City could not hold off those who wanted to get rid of Dragon King.


    Nothing much happened in the first two days. Shangguan Hong came upon invitation on the third day.


    It was obvious that Shangguan Hong had not intented to visit Dragon King. He wore a thick and long cape as if he was a thief. He arrived at Dragon King¡¯s residence in the evening and looked around warily after he entered the house, as though there would be an ambush.


    The others retreated. Shangguan Hong took off his hood and asked nervously, ¡°Why did you summon me? Aren¡¯t you revealing who I am?¡±


    ¡°I saved your life.¡± Gu Shenwei was propped up with a pillow and his tone was weak and old.


    ¡°Saved my life?¡± Shangguan Hong did not understand Dragon King¡¯s meaning.


    ¡°Lady Meng must have known that you were the one who leaked the secret. The reason why I summoned you was to remind her not to silence anyone, otherwise, I will disclose the secret.¡±


    Shangguan Hong hummed in acknowledgment. He knew Dragon King was right, but didn¡¯t want to admit it. He asked, ¡°Will you disclose it?¡±


    ¡°If I am going to die, why would I keep the secret?¡±


    Shangguan Hong seemed uneasy and paced up and down. He said, ¡°What do you want? Lady Meng will never let your two men off. She said that unless you gave her the secret manuscript, she struggle with all her might. Furthermore, both of us didn¡¯t have any evidence and you knew that the Lord listens to her.¡±


    Gu Shenwei coughed feebly, ¡°I¡¯m not worried. Tell Lady Meng that I¡¯m living well. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have a chance to struggle. I have already collected the evidence.¡±


    ¡°You have?¡± Shangguan Hong was startled.


    Gu Shenwei stopped talking.


    ¡°That¡¯s all?¡± Shangguan Hong was even more nervous.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Gu Shenwei looked at Shangguan Hong. He suddenly asked, ¡°Did Zhang Ji get you to kill me?¡±


    Shangguan Hong jumped and his face turned pale. He replied, ¡°No. Mr. Zhang said that he would want to meet you again if the opportunity arose. I ¡­ I will take my leave if there¡¯s nothing else.¡±


    Before Dragon King could reply, Shangguan Hong pushed open the door and left Dragon King¡¯s residence hurriedly. He was afraid the guards would stop him.


    The talk was concluded hastily. Gu Shenwei stared at the door until he could no longer see Shangguan Hong¡¯s shadow.


    Monk Lianye entered the room looking very serious.


    ¡°Does he look simr?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Lianye voice was a mixture of grief and fury and clenched his fist. ¡°I don¡¯t understand why it is him.¡±


    ¡°Although I didn¡¯t kill Master Lianhua, he died because of me. Shangguan Hong wanted to silence me, but he didn¡¯t dare to attack me. Hence, he pushed the me to me. He hoped that Four Truths Temple and killers in the fort would erupt into a rage. Of course, this is my guess. Now, some people saw Master Hong leaving Dragon King¡¯s residence in one piece. So, you are now free to move around.¡±


    ¡°Amitabha.¡± Lianye bowed with his palms together. ¡°I will be back as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°No. Don¡¯te back. Shangguan Hong is the son of Supreme King. Great Snowmountain will not meddle in your personal grudges. Pleasee back after you have settled it.¡±


    Lianye nodded solemnly. He turned around and left the house, disappearing into the twilight.


    Gu Shenwei had doubts about the cloaked assassin who had appeared three days ago but had finally resolved his doubts when he met Shangguan Hong just now. He also understood the reason behind Lianhua¡¯s death.


    Meng Yuzun, Lady Meng, Joy Pavilion and Wildhorse all wanted the Death Scripture. They didn¡¯t want Dragon King to die now. Golden Roc Fort and Governor had great influence. If they had sent assassins, it would not just be one person.


    Lianhua¡¯s assassination was also very strange. He was slightly pedantic and would not have offended the various forces in Jade City. It seemed that the mastermind wanted to push the me to Dragon King. However, he had been crushed by a censer and had his rice poisoned. Such killing methods werepletely unlike those used by Dragon King.


    ve Qing was Shangguan Fei¡¯s steward. Gu Shenwei would think that the mastermind was Ninth Young Master, but he had some doubts. Shangguan Fei knew that Wildhorse would impersonate Dragon King. Why would he risk killing Lianhua before Wildhorse?


    It was only until Lin Xiaoshan had said that Lady Meng had sent someone over to negotiate and Gu Shenwei blurted out Shangguan Hong¡¯s name, when he realized that his enemies were not only those powerful forces but also those insignificant nobodies.


    Shangguan Hong was one of them. Gu Shenwei had gotten hold of his secrets in Shu-lik. He must have asked Zhang Ji for help after returning to Golden Roc Fort. Zhang Ji must be Dragon King¡¯s hidden enemy.


    The teacher who had helped ve Huan would never betray Golden Roc Fort for anonymous student.


    With this in mind, Gu Shenwei remembered that Shangguan Hong¡¯s figure resembled his own. He could easily disguise him, impersonate Dragon King and deceive Lianye.


    As for the cloaked assassin, Shangguan Hong and Zhang Ji must have thought a way to hire him. The two of them were uninterested in the Death Scripture and they might not even know its existence. They only wanted to silence Dragon King, but they were not verypetent and could not hire many masters.


    Even after sending Monk Lianye after Shangguan Hong, Gu Shenwei felt slightly regretful. He had hoped that he could get Zhang Ji to support Great Snowmountain. However, now that he knew about the matter, it would be impossible to get Zhang Ji¡¯s support.


    It was alreadypletely dark. Gu Shenwei lifted the quilt, jumped out of bed and ced his swords at his belt.


    The young maid Jiang came in. She was pleasantly surprised to see Dragon King off the bed. She said, ¡°Dragon King ¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei raised his forefinger and motioned her to speak softly. Jiang lowered her voice and asked, ¡°Have you recovered?¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. He had not fully recovered as there was some poison left in his body. He couldn¡¯t move his Internal Breath smoothly, but he could stand up and move his swords.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let anyone in tonight,¡± he said to Jiang. ¡°If someone barges in, don¡¯t block him. Stay in bed and don¡¯t move.¡±


    Jiang widened her eyes and nodded. She detected a hint of danger in Dragon King¡¯s tone and whispered, ¡°Will there be assassins tonight?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded his head.


    He had foreseen the danger from Shangguan Hong¡¯s eager posture. Although this illegitimate child of the Supreme King had the best counselor to help him, he was inexperienced and could not hide his secrets.


    Gu Shenwei jumped onto the table and then leaped onto the roof. He would try not to use his Internal Strength.


    Jiang pushed her little bed next to the big bed. She blew out the candle, put on her gown andy on the bed. She held her breath and kept her eyes wide open. She didn¡¯t dare to move, lest she disturb Dragon King, who was hiding on the roof.


    The night grew deeper. Gu Shenwei had regained the feeling of being a killer once again. How much time did killers spend waiting? He couldn¡¯t figure it out. The time spent waiting might be longer than the time spent sleeping.


    Eventually, Jiang could not bear it any longer and fell into a deep sleep. Her breathing was steady as if dreaming sweet dreams.


    He felt that she should not stay with him let alonee to Jade City. He needed to get rid of these meaningless thoughts. Too many things had happened that should not have and he couldn¡¯t be bothered with any of these thoughts.


    ¡°Pong.¡± There was a slight noise from the window as though the snow on the roof fell to the ground. The killer who was lying on the beam was instantly alert. The assassin he had been waiting for had arrived.


    Gu Shenwei gripped his sword tightly. As he had little Internal Strength to use, he had to make the first strike and kill the enemy in one blow.


    However, the assassin seemed too cautious. He hadn¡¯t even entered the house.


    Gu Shenwei pricked up his ears. Apart from Jiang¡¯s gentle breathing, he couldn¡¯t hear anything. It seemed that the sound was caused by the falling snow.


    He thought that there had been an ident outside but did nto jump down to check, wary for any traps.


    A burst of footsteps passed by the door. It belonged to the guards of Dragon King¡¯s residence, who were patrolling.


    In order to hide his intention, Gu Shenwei had not given any special instructions to the guards tonight. Everything was as usual.


    Those machetemen and swordsmen couldn¡¯t fend off a real assassin. The sound of footsteps went away; it seemed that no one found anything out of sorts.


    Gu Shenwei still believed the sound was created by an assassin who hade and gone, instead of falling snow.


    He thought the assassin was here to reconnoiter the area. He was slightly nervous as this would mean that there might be more than one assassin tonight.


    Who did Zhang Ji and Shangguan Hong send? They had no money and power. They could only rely on Zhang Ji¡¯s glib tongue and it seemed unlikely that they had convinced any capable Golden Roc killer, unless it was a retired killer who had left Golden Roc Fort.


    Killers usually reached their peak before they turned forty. They could only seek some idle job, teach young killers or voluntarily give up the title of Golden Roc killer. Or, like vagrant machetemen, they could look for clients.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly remembered who the cloaked man was. He had met the cloaked man once, but had not thought about it as it had happened a long time ago.


    Another enemy came. There was no sound this time, but a sudden shadow shed across the window.


    A tiny hole was poked through the paper window. An assassin was listening attentively. Gu Shenwei made breathing sound, which was consistent with Jiang¡¯s breathing sound to indicate that there were two people in the house.


    The shadow disappeared for a while. Then, a small wooden pipe was stuck into the room and a thin stream of smoke drifted in.


    It wasn¡¯t the knockout powder, which wasmonly used by Golden Roc Fort. The assassin obviously didn¡¯t want to leave any evidence rting him to Golden Roc Fort.


    After fifteen minutes, a dagger was stuck through the crack in the door, as it tried to unlock the door.


    However, the dagger stopped moving when its tip appeared on the other side of the door. The person outside seemed to be hesitating.


    Gu Shenwei was extremely nervous. He was in a very dangerous situation. His right hand gripped the sword shaft tightly. He might have to run the risk of aggravating his wound and use Death Scripture swordcraft.


    The threat had not gone. The assassin outside had suddenly disappeared. Gu Shenwei even doubted that he had heard it wrong. The dagger was left at the door. Then, it moved up without warning.


    The feeling of impending danger grew stronger. Gu Shenwei had not been so nervous in a long time and this nervousness had nothing to do with his injury.


    The door cracked open. It was only wide enough for a gust of wind to enter, but a person managed to slip through the small gap.


    A woman in a in dress looked up when she entered the room, right at the ce where Dragon King was hiding.


    The chill in Gu Shenwei¡¯s body suddenly intensified and he found himself trembling. Then, he fell off the beam.

 Chapter 311 - Cooperation

    Chapter 311: Cooperation<b>Trantor:</b> Transn <b>Editor:</b> Transn


    Gu Shenwei had imagined a variety of ways to meet Maid Lotus again, but none of it was like this: Holding a sword in his hand, he wanted to move, but he held himself back, knowing that he would be defeated as iciness gripped at his Dantian.


    He fell off the beam. Hisnding was wobbly but he managed to stand firmly.


    They stared at each other in silent, wary of each other. Each had no intention to speak up first.


    Suddenly, a series of exmations came from outside. ¡°Are you alright, Dragon King?¡± Lin Xiaoshan asked urgently.


    ¡°I¡¯m alright.¡± His gaze still remained on Maid Lotus. ¡°How many were killed?¡±


    ¡°Five, and two of them belonged to Joy Pavilion.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I got it.¡± A total of four assassins were heard by Gu Shenwei, but he was still missing one.


    Lin Xiaoshan was full of doubts but did not dare to ask. Then, he cleaned up the corpses along with the guards and left.


    ¡°So, you are called Dragon King now?¡± Maid Lotus spoke first, her hostility and vignce suddenly disappeared. She even smiled faintly, as if they were still good partners, just like before.


    ¡°So, have you came to save me again?¡± Gu Shenwei replied sarcastically. The hostility was gone but he still kept his vignce. He had had a taste of Maid Lotus¡¯ tricks and knew that she would never help him kill five assassins for no reason.


    ¡°It is New Moon Hall who saved you, not me.¡±


    After not seeing Maid Lotus for three years, Gu Shenwei noticed that she had changed. It was very subtle, but he realized that the quiet girl who had often been overlooked in the past now possessed a sense of confidence and grace, so much so that it was somewhat aggressive.


    Maid Lotus had aplished a huge deed for New Moon Hall, naturally, she would be held in high regards by the Master of Xiaoyue Hall. Her temperament would surely be different now that she was of a different status. Unknowingly, Gu Shenwei became defiant and cocked his head slightly. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then let the Master of Xiaoyue Halle and speak to me.¡±


    Maid Lotus somehow noticed the change in his attitude and rxed her stance. ¡°Just consider me as the messenger from New Moon Hall. You should at least talk to the messenger briefly before meeting the Master.¡±


    Gu Shenwei suddenly realized that he was giving in to his personal feelings. No matter what Maid Lotus¡¯ real intentions were, the Great Snowmountain and New Moon Hall were natural allies as they shared amon enemy. One acted in the open and another in secret, but this actuallyplemented each other. Slowly, he eased his tone and released his grip on the hilt of his sword.


    ¡°Are we discussing it here right now?¡±


    Maid Lotus nced over at Jiang, who was sleeping soundly. She had breathed in quite a significant amount of the knockout powder and was in a deep slumber, oblivious to the conversation going on beside her.


    ¡°No, go to Doctor Sun¡¯s at North City after daybreak. We will talk there.¡±


    Even though Gu Shenwei was aware that New Moon Hall had nted many spies in Jade City, he was still taken aback. He would never have thought that Doctor Sun, who was well renowned, would pledge his allegiance to New Moon Hall. He immediately felt that he had done far too little these few years.


    Maid Lotus took out a small wooden box and pass to him, ¡°Take one pill every morning and night. It acts as an antidote for the poison in your chest.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took the wooden box but did not open it.


    ¡°You know I won¡¯t hurt you.¡±


    She smiled softly and left without waiting for Gu Shenwei to answer.


    There was some bawls outside the room before Lin Xiaoshan barged in. He had noticed that something was amiss, so he let the guards continue their patrolling while he remained guarded outside the room. But in a blink of an eye, the person who came out of Dragon King¡¯s room leaped onto the roof and was gone before he could even catch up.


    Relieved that Dragon King was unscathed, he saw Jiang on the small bed and was a bit embarrassed. He stammered, ¡°Please pardon me, Dragon King¡­ I didn¡¯t know¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, she¡¯s¡­ a friend from the past.¡±


    Lin Xiaoshan was slightly suspicious but took his leave. Gu Shenwei yed with the wooden box for a long time before opening it. Inside was two small pills with an unusually bright shade of red.


    Gu Shenwei closed the lid without touching what was inside.


    After daybreak, Gu Shenwei headed toward North City, apanied by Lin Xiaoshan and 10 other guards. This was not really necessary since the news of five assassins killed in the residence had already spread to the whole of Jade City. Everybody now believed that Dragon King had never been hurt in the first ce, let alone paralyzed.


    Lin Xiaoshan and others waited outside the residence of Doctor Sun while Gu Shenwei entered alone.


    The tall and robust Doctor Sun remained unchanged, only balder than before and his beard bushier. ¡°Thest time I diagnosed you, you were still a killer apprentice. Today, you are Dragon King. The affairs of the world are constantly changing, no?¡±


    Doctor Sun gazed at Gu Shenwei curiously, as though he was a rare case waiting to be examined.


    ¡°A lot of things are not how you would expect it to be, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s no need to think about it if it¡¯s going to be unexpected. Come, let me check your pulse.¡±


    The doctor reached over with his slender fingers and Gu Shenwei did not move away. He knew Doctor Sun was excellent in kung fu.


    Doctor Sun¡¯s brows furrowed sharply as the minutes ticked by. Soon, nearly an hour had passed. He hadpletely forgotten that Dragon King hade here today with the purpose of meeting Maid Lotus as a messenger of New Moon Hall. When he finally spoke, his tone carried a sense of bewilderment, like someone at their wits¡¯ end. ¡°Difficult, this is indeed difficult. Dragon King, how could you possibly practice your Internal Strength to this extent? Both positive and negative exist within, and your yin and yang are not in harmony. To think you could actually withstand it¡­¡±


    Doctor Sun could not help but shake his head. Clicking his tongue, he said, ¡°If Dragon King doesn¡¯t mind shortening your lifespan by 30 years, I actually have a solution that you can try. But no promises that it¡¯ll work out.¡±


    ¡°I am not here to see a doctor.¡± Gu Shenwei replied coldly. ¡°If I was able to endure it before, I can endure it in the future as well.¡±


    Doctor Sun stared at Dragon King in surprise. His haughty demeanor had been reced with one that seemed like a child making a mountain of a molehill. Bowing slightly, he said, ¡°As Dragon King wishes, I apologize for meddling. One moment, please.¡±


    Doctor Sun took his leave. Gu Shenwei waited alone until suddenly, the bookshelf near the wall split open and Maid Lotus emerged.


    Seeing Maid Lotus in daylight made him realize how much she had really changed.


    In the past, she had been a quiet and amiable girl. Although she did not attract attention, she was able to gain the trust of others easily. Now, even though her looks remained unchanged, there was something in her gaze that people could not possibly ignore.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly missed that quiet girl. He quickly cleared his thoughts and said, ¡°When can I see your Master?¡±


    ¡°Soon, but not now.¡± Maid Lotus¡¯ gaze was making him ufortable. ¡°Master is not in Jade City right now, she has other matters to attend to.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, does that mean you are the one who makes decisions in Jade City now?¡±


    Maid Lotus smiled before lifting her hands in front of her and pping twice. Guan Shang, the former ck-masked assassin from Golden Roc Fort came in upon hearing the summon. She bowed respectfully toward Maid Lotus and asked, ¡°What can I do for you, Managing Master?¡±


    ¡°Convey to him what Master said.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± In the presence of Managing Master who was younger than her by a few years, Guan Shang¡¯s nervousness was akin to a killer apprentice who had just entered the East Castle. Her tense expression eased as she turned toward Dragon King.


    ¡°Dragon King would like to wipe out the Shangguan family, and New Moon Hall would like to upy the castle on the mountain top. Since Golden Roc Fort is themon enemy, Master hoped that we could cooperate and work together. With the Great Snowmountain in the open, and New Moon Hall in secret, this is a match made in heaven.¡±


    Gu Shenwei tensed slightly at the words ¡®match made in heaven¡¯, but showed nothing.


    Maid Lotus waved a hand in dismissal, and Guan Shang bowed as she left the room.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± Maid Lotus asked.


    ¡°Working together is a good thing.¡± Gu Shenwei suppressed his true emotions and decided to consider the proposal in his role as Dragon King. ¡°Let¡¯s be honest and talk about what we both want.¡±


    ¡°We only want to take over Golden Roc Fort as it was the original home of New Moon Hall.¡±


    ¡°The Great Snowmountain wants to take over the entire Jade City, all 800 miles from east to west.¡±


    ¡°The Great Snowmountain can have all territories as long as you provide New Moon Hall an escape route.¡±


    ¡°How many people are there in New Moon Hall? Where are they distributed?¡±


    The answer to that question was ssified information. However, Maid Lotus did not hesitate and answered immediately, ¡°167 people. 121 of them are in Jade City. We have seven people in Meng Family, one in Joy Pavilion, another in Four Truths Temple and 18 of them in Golden Roc Fort. The rest are dispersed in different areas. It is alright to assume that New Moon Hall had insiders nted in all the forces within the Jade City.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was surprised and delighted. New Moon Hall was indeed the assistance that he needed. In the past three years, when he had been hunted and forced to flee to the Western Region, New Moon Hall had quietly shifted their influence from the desert to Jade City. It was even possible that Supreme King had no idea that his enemies were so close to him.


    ¡°Are your people reliable? Take Guan Shang for instance.¡±


    ¡°People are never reliable.¡± There was a hint of coldness from Maid Lotus¡¯ voice. ¡°What is reliable is the means to control them.¡±


    A green pill, simr to the one that she gave to Gu Shenwei, appeared in Maid Lotus¡¯ hand. ¡°The Blood Coagtion Pill was made with the blood of the drug maker and mixed with 81 types of herbs and poisons. It is necessary to consume one every year. If you miss the timing, within seven days, you will go berserk and die. And the state when you are dying¡­ it¡¯s better not to say.¡±


    Her calm tone carried a tinge of pride, as though the pill in her hands was an elixir that could bring back life.


    ¡°You consume it as well?¡± He could not help but ask, relieved that he had not taken the pills given by Maid Lotus yesterday.


    ¡°People are never reliable.¡± Maid Lotus repeated, not answering Gu Shenwei¡¯s question directly. ¡°I know a lot of things in New Moon Hall, for example, Supreme King used pills like that to control the ck-masked assassins. Golden Roc Fort has sworn to never use the ult sciences from New Moon Hall, but he still kept some of it. He didn¡¯t even dare to name the pills. But those are just imitations. Their effectiveness pales inparison to the authentic ones that we have in New Moon Hall.¡±


    Gu Shenwei finally understood why Guan Shang had defected from Golden Roc Fort. He cannot help but shudder at the allegiance established through fear by these pills. But then he remembered the crazed women and believed Maid Lotus¡¯ words. The reverence she had towards the Blood Coagtion pills was also tinged with a trace of craziness. Gu Shenwei heightened his alertness.


    ¡°With such tactics, New Moon Hall should be able to prate Golden Roc Fort from within any time.¡±


    Maid Lotus shook her head and put away the green pill. ¡°The Blood Coagtion Pill is very rare and precious. You cannot use it on just anybody. If we want to capture Golden Roc Fort, it¡¯s better to rely on true strength, like the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain that you led.¡±


    Gu Shenwei became vignt and slowly drew out the Dragon Head Sword, pointing it at a nt to the ground.


    Maid Lotus pulled out her sword nonchntly and crossed it together with Gu Shenwei¡¯s weapon.


    With this as a symbol, the two of them began their second cooperation.


    Gu Shenwei recognized that Maid Lotus¡¯ weapon had not changed, it was still the ¡°Huan¡± sword.

 Chapter 312 - Starting a war

    Chapter 312: Starting a war<b>Trantor:</b> Transn <b>Editor:</b> Transn


    Fang Wenshi was wary about New Moon Hall¡¯s proposal to work together, ¡°New Moon Hall? Sounds familiar, where are they from?¡±


    Fang Wenshi was in the Iron Mountain Camp when Golden Roc Fort and Bighead Kingpin dered war on New Moon Hall, but he could not remember much until Gu Shenwei mentioned the vicious women who looked like ck birds. He shuddered as the color drained from his face. ¡°Those women are even more vicious than the Golden Roc Fort killers¡­¡±


    Fang Wenshi swiveled around, remarking, ¡°I think it¡¯s better to stay away from them.¡±


    ¡°How could they defeat Golden Roc Fort if they are less vicious than killers?¡±


    Fang Wenshi turned toward Dragon King, ¡°Are you thinking about revenge again, Dragon King?¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head but he was lying. Hatred was already a part of him, and it would never diminish. His experiences after returning to Jade City only made his hatred grow. ¡°You said it yourself, countless people die in a power struggle. I am only trying to help the Great Snowmountain to find the sharpest saber.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid this saber might be too sharp.¡± Fang Wenshi screwed up his face. ¡°Hegemony is a great cause to undertake in a long time. But you would need at least three to five years to establish your grounding. Now, if you really want to make it big, you will need about seven to eight years or even ten years. Of course, you are still young, there is no need to rush into things¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei silenced the military counselor¡¯s doubts with his reply,¡±I¡¯m afraid if we don¡¯t work with New Moon Hall, the Great Snowmountain will have yet another strong enemy.¡±


    Fang Wenshi shuddered again, he could never see these demonic female killers as part of the conquering strategies that he¡¯d studied. ¡°I suppose¡­ that is the only way out. But you must promise that they will operate in secret, Dragon King. If they show up in public, I am afraid the Great Snowmountain will lose the support of the Central in as well.¡±


    Fang Wenshi had experienced firsthand how the Barren Sect women killed people at night and were appropriately terrified of them. However, after seeing Maid Lotus in the morning the next day, he was stunned into silence. How could this quiet and demure girl who smiled warmly be one of those women killers?


    Fang Wenshi could not recognize Maid Lotus even though they had met before. He was at a loss for words, but every misgivings of his vanished when he met her. He then remembered his status as the military counselor of the Great Snowmountain, and coughed slightly, before solemnly weing the messenger from New Moon Hall.


    The Xu siblings still recognized Maid Lotus and were shocked at her change. They were not aware of the feud between Dragon King and Maid Lotus and had assumed that she was in hiding, only to have returned again, so they were very friendly toward her.


    Xu Yanwei tried to reiterate the idea of saving Shangguan Ru to Maid Lotus when Dragon King was not paying attention, but unknownst to her, her actions were having the opposite effect instead.


    Gu Shenwei had nned to observe for a few more days and wait for his injuries to recover fully beforeunching a counterattack toward the enemy, but something unexpected happened and kickstart the war in advance.


    He did not consume the pills given by Maid Lotus but took an antidote prescription from Doctor Sun to remove the remaining poison, he also used his Internal Strength to slowly dissolve the tangled state of his Dantian.


    Just when he was halfway through fully restoring his kung fu, both Xu Xiaoyi and Lin Xiaoshan simultaneously brought back a piece of news: Monk Lianye was dead.


    Lianye had died three days ago. He was tracking Shangguan Hong at that time, and Gu Shenwei thought that the monk was not in danger. He even reminded him not to return so soon.


    The monk had three major wounds on his back. His corpse had been thrown into the frozen border river in between the North and South Cities and was identally discovered by someone three dayster.


    Two monks from the Four Truths Temple was killed one after another had shocked the entire city. But this time around, few assumed that Dragon King was the murderer. It was evident from the wounds on the monk¡¯s body that this was not Dragon King¡¯s style, and there was no ck Blood g or Red Raven g around the scene.


    But the Great Snowmountain was deeply embroiled for what happened next.


    Initially, several assassinations in Tianshan Sect had happened in a single night. Even a few senior members who were always hidden in secret had not been spared. Mr. Hong who had no kung fu skills managed to dodge a bullet because he was being closely protected.


    Following this, the target turned to the military counselor of the Great Snowmountain afterward.


    Fang Wenshi followed a regr routine in his daily life. He would wake up and enjoy a wonderful meal, before heading to North City, apanied by 10 guards. Even though he had not taken breakfast for a few years, his lifestyle demands had not changed.


    The residence of the Special Emissary from the Central ins was where the peace negotiations were held. It had now reached the critical juncture: whether the Great Snowmountain should withdraw from the west of Jade City, where should they withdraw to, etc. Neither side could manage to convince the other.


    Fang Wenshi thought that the odds were in his favor, firstly due to the public support from the Special Emissary from the Central ins, and secondly, that campground had originally belonged to the Gu family¡¯s manor. Now that the Gu family was all dead, and Yang Huan was the son of the Gu family¡¯s close friend who sought to avenge the Gu family, thend should naturally fall into Yang Huan, Dragon King¡¯s possession as he had the right to it.


    He hoped to propose the second reason the next day but was kidnapped not long after he left North City.


    The 10 guards should not be med as they were conscientious and almost never leave the military counselor alone. However, they had no choice but to obey when the military counselor was insisted on visiting a confidante.


    The short intimacy between Fang Wenshi and Xu Yanwei had ended long ago. After enduring a dull and insipid life for more than 20 years, he was in need of someone¡¯s constion and even his willpower could not tame down this intense fire within him. He could only pretend to refuse as he gave in to his desires.


    Prostitutes are heartless, this simple yet rustic truth was confirmed again by Fang Wenshi himself.


    The guards waited till evening until they felt that the military counselor had spent far too much time inside. Once they barged in, they only saw the prostitute tied to the bed and a few items of clothing scattered around, the military counselor nowhere to be seen.


    The prostitute must have been bought off. But she could only provide very little information. Some unassuming men in ck had left her with about 100 taels of silver. She was not even sure how many of them were there.


    The body of the military counselor did not appear, nor did the kidnapper made any demands. Dragon King led a total of 50 machetemen from Tianshan Sect and 15 swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain and swept through all the viges of the machetemen on the outskirts of North and South Citieste that night.


    Gu Shenwei had collected intelligence beforehand so the goal of this night attack was clear. More than 30 members of Wildhorse gang were killed. Among them, three were disciples from Joy Pavilion.


    Gu Shenwei believed that the Wildhorse gang must be behind the assassinations of the members of Tianshan Sect, and the kidnapping of the military counselor of the Great Snowmountain. This was because only the Wildhorse gang was not bound by the agreement of the peace negotiations in Jade City, and dared to challenge Dragon King.


    The Central inid no restrictions on Wildhorse and the Governor did not admit the links between Nond and Wildhorse. This meant that the guarantee of Dragon King¡¯s safety by the two countries was meaningless.


    Gu Shenwei could only rely on his own strength to fight against Wildhorse.


    Just like the apprentice killings years ago, the leaders remained unchanged, but the grounds for battle had changed from East Castle to Jade City below the mountain.


    Furthermore, not even the Supreme King could stop the fight between the two of them this time.


    The assassinations that urred between two sides carried on for nearly 10 days and killings happened every night. Most of it urred in remote areas near the edge of South City, resembling half of a bloodied ne wrapped around the chest of Jade City.


    The Residence of Dragon King was located at the westernmost part of South City and happened to be part of the half chain of killings, but it was never attacked.


    Five top assassins who were killed in the Residence of Dragon King had made Wildhorse wary of the traps within. His strategy was clear; to eradicate the Tianshan Sect and strike a deadly blow when Dragon King was left high and dry.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s n was to draw the snake out of its hole and lure the enemy deep into the trap. His secret weapon was New Moon Hall. Maid Lotus and her people did not partake the first 10 days of assassinations as they were still hidden away. Gu Shenwei hoped to draw Wildhorse out by carefully exposing his weakness.


    News of the deterioration of the Dragon King¡¯s machete skills had begun to spread among a small group of people.


    Gu Shenwei did not make it up. His kung fu was recovering slowly, but it was far from being fully recovered. Therefore, his machete skills were truly not as exquisite as before.


    But as far as the machetemen and swordsmen who were with Dragon King could tell, Dragon King was still invincible. He seldom needed more than 10 strokes to kill people and he had a strange habit of destroying the corpses either by burning or chopping them up in order to get rid of all traces.


    However not all corpses were destroyed, and one or two people managed to escape after sustaining injuries. From there, the real experts realized the problem: Dragon King¡¯s machete skills had not slowed, but the control of strength was no longer as precise. The wounds were either too deep or too shallow, which indicated that there was something wrong in his control of Internal Strength.


    Fang Wenshi was released after being kidnapped for three days. He was disheveled and barefooted on the snow as he ran back to the Residence of Dragon King.


    The kidnapper turned out to be Wildhorse indeed. Fang Wenshi brought a word to Dragon King from Wildhorse, ¡°Hand over the secret manuscript of Immortal Peng.¡±


    No threats or trades, just a simple sentence. Wildhorse had been influenced by Joy Pavilion into believing that the machete skills of Dragon King were unique from the rest due to the fact that he had stolen a secret manuscript from Immortal Peng.


    The release of Fang Wenshi had no effect on the battle between the two of them. Wildhorse had spared Fang Wenshi¡¯s life simply because the military counselor of the Great Snowmountain did not know kung fu, and therefore, did not pose a threat to him.


    Gu Shenwei was only concerned about one thing. Fang Wenshi knew about New Moon Hall¡¯s involvement, and his n of luring the enemy would be spoiled if this was leaked.


    Fang Wenshi swore to the skies that he was loyal to Dragon King throughout his ordeal. Perhaps such a resolute image was unlike himself, he added, ¡°I begged for mercy. The saber was against my neck, and I don¡¯t know any kung fu, but I did not speak carelessly. It¡¯s true.¡±


    The next day, after most of the shock had dissipated, Fang Wenshi admitted to Dragon King that he had been too frightened during that time that he did not even remember New Moon Hall¡¯s involvement, so naturally, it was impossible for him to spill the beans.


    With the peace negotiations suspended, Fang Wenshi did not leave the Residence of Dragon King for more than 10 days.


    At first, the residents of Jade City were frightened and kept vignt for any mishaps, but after three to five days, they realized that the Great Snowmountain and Wildhorse gang were skilled killers and unnecessary killings or injuries seldom happened. No one tried to take advantage of the situation as well, hence most people felt at ease.


    This war in the city ended on the 13th day, with the final battle taking ce at the Residence of Dragon King. Maid Lotus appeared with a group of female killers and this quickly became the most sensational news in Jade City, even overtaking the incident of the Dragon King imposter.


    It was through this battle that Gu Shenwei realized their divergence was more prominent than ever. After three years of not seeing Maid Lotus, the girl who practiced Death Scripture with him, he noticed that they no longer arrived at the same end by different means, rather, their methods seemed to be diverging further and further.

 Chapter 313 - Luring the Enemy

    Chapter 313: Luring the Enemy


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    By the first night of the 12th lunar month, the pile of taels of silver in the front yard of the Residence of Dragon King was still not cleared yet. The thick snow umted had frozen into a hard shell around the taels, and the Red Raven g drooped from where it hung beside it.


    On this day, the Wildhorse gangunched a major attack.


    Over the past 10 days or so, both parties had suffered heavy losses. The Wildhorse gang had around 50 casualties, Tianshan Sect lost around 30 men, and about 10 swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain were killed.


    There was little left for the Dragon King to use.


    The Tianshan Sect became fearful. They were originally a secret organization, hoping to unite most machetemen in South City to one day, win by sheer quantity. To fight head to head with the enemy, and oppose them with equal harshness, did not align with the founder¡¯s strategy. Moreover, rumors of the deterioration of Dragon King¡¯s machete skills also caused several Sect members to lose faith.


    ¡°I am very sorry, Dragon King.¡± The cksmith, Mr. Hong, had specially made a trip to the Residence of the Dragon King to exin the difficult situation in Tianshan Sect. ¡°We cannot continue like this. We decided to withdraw our men and hide among the machetemen. It¡¯s okay for me since my identity has been exposed, but the other members cannot publicly help the Dragon King anymore.¡±


    Gu Shenwei could not me Mr. Hong. He should be the one apologizing instead, as he had never told Tianshan Sect that thest few days of killings were just a ploy to lure out the enemy.


    Only fewer than 50 machetemen¡¯s identities in Tianshan Sect had been exposed. Most of them chose to remain in cksmith Vige in the east and did not station themselves at the Residence of Dragon King in the west.


    Only Lin Xiaoshan and the few other machetemen that he led remained voluntarily, ¡°We are willing to live and die together with the the Dragon King.¡±


    Mr. Hong was unable to change Lin Xiaoshan¡¯s decision. He sighed, wanting to say something, but he was aware that the current situation was beyond his control. He could only leave Lin Xiaoshan with a short sword that he made, saying, ¡°It¡¯s not a precious saber, but it has never been used before. Let it be stained with blood.¡±


    The Great Snowmountain camp sent another 40 swordsmen over, as they could not afford more. Anything more than this would raise objections from the Golden Roc Fort. As a result, the fighting force in the Residence of Dragon King was only about 50 people or so.


    Gu Shenwei then summoned the people in the residence who were not skilled at kung fu: the ves were sent away; Fang Wenshi and Xu Xiaoyi took Jiang and the rest to stay in North City. With the protection from the Special Emissary from the Central ins, they would be rtively safe.


    Xu Xiaoyi trusted the Dragon King but Fang Wenshi was nervous and uneasy. His fate was tied firmly together with the Dragon King, they were bound together for better or for worse. He asked, ¡°You know what to do, right, Dragon King?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. Fang Wenshi was able to talk eloquently in imperial courts and argue for the interests of the Great Snowmountain, but he was not suited to be involved in closebat battles like these. Gu Shenwei was very aware of this point and did not tell Fang Wenshi about his n of luring the enemy.


    Thest person he dealt with was Xu Yanwei, ¡°It¡¯s either you go back to the Golden Roc Fort, or leave together with your brother. No matter where you go, you are not allowed to enter the Residence of Dragon King ever again.¡±


    ¡°You want to banish me? Why?¡± Xu Yanwei asked in surprise. She felt that she did not deserve this treatment.


    ¡°No reason why. This is my order.¡± Gu Shenwei was hesitant all along but he finally made up his mind to sever all ties with the Golden Roc Fort.


    Seeing the Dragon King expressionless, Xu Yanwei felt nervous. It was under this gaze, years ago, that she made a blood oath to the youth. ¡°No, I won¡¯t go back to the Golden Roc Fort. That woman is too difficult to handle. I won¡¯t go to North City either.¡±


    A killing intent shed through Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes. Xu Yanwei shrank involuntarily and hurriedly said, ¡°I think I will go to Pleasure Alley instead. You mentioned that you will give me a few thousand taels of silver. I shall continue to collect intelligence for you there.¡±


    ¡°Whatever, go take it from the front yard.¡± Gu Shenwei thought that perhaps Xu Yanwei would still be useful in a way.


    Xu Yanwei cheerfully went to the front yard. Knowing that she was not strong enough, she quickly chose two ves who had been dismissed to pry away the snow and break apart the taels.


    Xu Xiaoyi followed his sister and urged her quietly, hoping to change her mind. The siblings trusted the Dragon King fully with their hearts and did not think that there were any risks in this final battle.


    But Gu Shenwei was not entirely sure.


    The Wildhorse gang was more powerful than what Gu Shenwei had initially estimated. There were still a lot of them left. Among them were about 20 to 30 experts in Joy Pavilion, and people in the Residence of Dragon King were definitely not their match.


    After sacrificing dozens of lives, Gu Shenwei ced all his hopes of defeating the Wildhorse gang on New Moon Hall.


    Because of the betrayal of the ck-masked assassin, Guan Shang, there was a possibility that Golden Roc Fort had discovered the existence of New Moon Hall. This piece of news would naturally reach Wildhorse as well. But Maid Lotus and her men had an advantage; they were in possession of Wayless Book and had practiced it for three years, naturally, a group of experts that the world had not yet seen were cultivated.


    Not even Gu Shenwei had seen their skills.


    The greater hidden danger was Maid Lotus. Gu Shenwei felt a pang of sorrow every time he saw her, but the chilliness in his Dantian reminded him not to believe this woman again.


    The New Moon Hall¡¯s ambition would not stop at just taking over the Golden Roc Fort. Deliberately nting their men within every force only meant that there was bound to be a bigger scheme.


    Gu Shenwei agreed to cooperate with New Moon Hall for the moment but continued deliberating about it over the next few days. In the end, he concluded that it was better to keep Maid Lotus close rather than letting her hide in the shadows.


    The attack toward the Wildhorse gang was a test: If New Moon Hall was willing to go all out, their cooperation could still continue for a period of time, or even until the fall of Golden Roc Fort.


    Tianshan Sect had ceased all activities and retreated from the war on their own initiative, but the Wildhorse gang did not ept it immediately. Instead, they sent people to assassinate several machetemen from Tianshan Sect before setting their sights on the Residence of Dragon King.


    On the first day of the 12th lunar month, a windless chill settled on Jade City. The icy shell on the mountain of taels of silver was as hard as steel, and the hole pried by Xu Yanwei was still there, gaping like an ugly mouth.


    At midnight, upon hearing the news, some wandering swordsmen and several groups of bandits came to surround the Residence of Dragon King.


    What drew them was not the honor of killing Dragon King but the pile of silver taels.


    After Wildhorse gang¡¯s efforts to persuade them, many believed that the Dragon King¡¯s machete skills had deteriorated. They even heard that the final battle would happen in thetter half of the night on the first day of the 12th lunar month. There would be no more opportunities to rob the taels if they did not go earlier.


    The threat of spilled blood was not enough to ovee the temptation for money, and many people were enticed by it. In total, there were about 200 men gathered in front of the residence.


    The background of the thieves wasplicated but they managed to organize themselves under the intimidation of several big bosses. As midnight fell, they threw fire torches into the front yard, melting the icy shell around the mountain of silver and closed in from several directions.


    The Red Raven g caught fire and became a pir of me, making the pile of taels shined even more brightly.


    No one from the Residence of Dragon King came out to stop them. Truth be told, Gu Shenwei and the 50 guards were guarding the backyard. He could not afford to waste his strength on this rabble.


    The bandits were extremely excited. This proved that the rumor was indeed correct, Dragon King¡¯s machete skills had weakened and he had no strength or energy to spare to protect these two million taels of silver.


    The silver mountain was soon plundered. The thieves began to fight among themselves, and not even the bosses skilled in kung fu were able to control the situation. There were a dozen corpses left on the front yard when the bandits finally left.


    However, some bandits returned after hiding their taels. Encouraged by Dragon King¡¯s weakness, they became even more ambitious. They want to kill the Dragon King and seize the two weapons that all martial arts practitioners dreamed of ¨C the Five Peaks Saber and the Dragon Head Sword.


    The bandits¡¯ attack was cautious at first. After realizing that the guards of the Residence of Dragon King were guarding the backyard and Dragon King was reluctant to show himself, they thenunched a brazenrge-scale attack.


    Almost immediately, the Dragon King appeared. His machete skills had deteriorated but he was still able to handle a group of arrogant bandits.


    He killed three people in a row, during which the heavy swords from the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain flew across and killed more than 10 people in an instant.


    The bandits who thought they could take advantage of the situation immediately scattered like birds. Most of them went back to count their taels. Only a small group lurked nearby, hoping to catch a glimpse of the final battle between the Great Snowmountain and the Wildhorse gang.


    This would definitely be a rare and exciting battle.


    The Wildhorse gang was very good at keepingposed. 90 of the most elite members of Wildhorse gang only appeared in the early morning, as most bandits, unable to endure the biting cold, had retreated one after another.


    Wildhorse did note to the battlefield. Instead, the person leading the charge was the current Immortal Peng of Joy Pavilion.


    The white-faced Immortal Peng held a long sword and stood on the roof of the front yard. With the weak light from the morning shining on him as his white clothes fluttered in the breeze, he looked like a real immortal. ¡°Capture Yang Huan alive.¡± He ordered.


    The battle began with those few words.


    A scuffle was what Gu Shenwei disliked the most. He could only run atop the roofs to bait the enemy to pursue him as there was no more space on the ground and asionally strike a blow behind him, killing those who ran too fast and got separated from the group. It was impossible for him to help the guards who were standing guard for the Residence of Dragon King.


    Soon, he was targeted by Immortal Peng and realized that he could not shake him off. It was not long before he was surrounded by the disciples of Joy Pavilion.


    Gu Shenwei actually wanted to wait for Wildhorse to show himself before summoning the disciples of New Moon Hall. He had no choice but to summon them after seeing the number of casualties on the ground increased as time passed.


    He suddenly changed direction and leaped toward the front yard, no longer circling the roofs on the backyard.


    ¡°The Dragon King is escaping!¡±


    ¡°Stay!¡±


    Immortal Peng was determined to capture the Dragon King alive and had nted a few disciples from Joy Pavilion to block his way.


    This was the time for Maid Lotus to show up. Just like before, one would be responsible for luring the enemy into the trap while the other would lie in ambush to strike and kill.


    Maid Lotus had only brought nine people. Nine people who were coldblooded and killed quickly without mercy.


    Ever since the first day, both Maid Lotus and Gu Shenwei had practiced the Death Scripture differently. She was solely focused on ¡°killing¡± blindly, so much so that even Gu Shenwei was frightened when her killing intent was unleashed.


    She had been practicing diligently for these past three years, constantly striving for perfection. Her killing intent was even colder than the bone-numbing chill in the early morning.


    Faced with the sudden appearance of the female killers, a disciple from Joy Pavilion even forgot to escape and was killed right where he stood.


    Death Scripture had a fatal w. It required practitioners to improve their skills by killing an expert with skills on par with oneself. When their swordcraft reached an unrivaled level, the person could only mit suicide¡±. Because of this, Gu Shenwei only used a sword to kill one person each year. He also incorporated some of the swordcraft into machete skills to dy the improvement of his swordcraft.


    But Maid Lotus used a sword, and it was the ¡°Huan¡± sword that she had never changed. She leaped forward and killed with a single blow, not at all worried about the swordcraft backfiring on her.


    Gu Shenwei was taken aback, looking at this stance, it was clear that he was not Maid Lotus¡¯ match even if his Internal Strength was not damaged.


    He could not understand why was it so.

 Chapter 314 - Trust

    Chapter 314: Trust


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Maid Lotus and nine disciples of the New Moon Hall she had brought proved their prowess. Not until they had emerged and killed several Joy Pavilion¡¯s disciples in the front yard did Immortal Peng and others catch up.


    Only Immortal Peng in the Wildhorse Gang recognized the saber technique concealed in Maid Lotus¡¯s attack. Instead of being afraid, he showed surprise in his face. ¡°That¡¯s it, that¡¯s it,¡± Without regard to anything else, he darted towards Maid Lotus.


    Gu Shenwei had never seen such a foolish master before¡ª to put up desperate fight with his opponent without understanding the situation.


    Immortal Peng might be a master, but the sword craft of the Death Scripture was about how to kill a master in one move.


    Immortal Peng might have had a chance to escape the de if he hadn¡¯t been so excited. Like a moth to a me, he died without regret. ¡°The invincible¡­¡± Immortal Peng copsed before Maid Lotus, his unfinished sentence of his lips.


    Maid Lotus cut off Immortal Peng¡¯s head before the corpse hadnded. Jumping to the roof, she held up the head, showing off her trophy to all the people in the backyard in the illuminated dawn.


    Pretty soon, the Wildhorse Gang realized the terrifying situation on the roof. Everyone¡¯s first reaction was to flee. Immortal Peng had the most powerful kung fu among them, and his death symbolized their failure.


    The entrapment of one side became the hunting of the other.


    Gu Shenwei went around his residence, killing every fugitive he met.


    The swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain and the several machetemen led by Lin Xiaoshan looked at those unexpected reinforcements in surprise, especially since those reinforcements were all women.


    The swordsmen couldn¡¯t wrap their minds around it at first. They roared in unison and chased the fleeing enemies. There was only one thought in their minds¡ªthey must kill more people than these women did.


    Many of Wildhorse Gang¡¯s members had escaped from the Residence of Dragon King, but they were ambushed again on the way. In addition, another 20 disciples of the New Moon Hall had hidden themselves in the nearby streets. Although there were not many of them, they would not let a single enemy escape.


    With the rising of the sun, corpsesid around the Residence of Dragon King, making the ce a veritable graveyard. The Wildhorse Gang had put in all their effort tounch an attack, but had suffered a catastrophe. In this attack, nearly 100 people were killed and very few were able to escape.


    Unfortunately, Wildhorse himself had not appeared at all. It seemed that he anticipated the plot. He had appointed disciples to fight, but he chose not to reveal himself.


    Standing on the roof between the front and the backyard, Gu Shenwei gazed at the scorched but not fallen falgpole, a sort of joy bubbling in his breast. This was the kind of battle he liked, plot after plot, ambush after ambush, and all within his control.


    However, he was not the mastermind of this victory today.


    Maid Lotus and other 29 disciples of the New Moon Hall came back to the Residence of Dragon King, they were the pivotal ones in this fight.


    Gu Shenwei looked at Maid Lotus, waiting for her to react.


    The surviving guards of the Residence of Dragon King also looked at those fearsome women who were dressed in ck skirt and jacket and covered with ck gauze. Even the most powerful swordsman from the Great Snowmountain felt his hair stand on end.


    Except for Maid Lotus, the disciples of the New Moon Hall all held a saber in their hands. The way they killed was simple¡ªonce making a move, regardless of danger, they made sure to hit the enemy¡¯s vital. Not waiting for the body to fall, they would immediately cut the enemy¡¯s head and throw it aside.


    Only Maid Lotus had not covered her face with ck gauze. She smiled nonchalently, without any trace of killing intent, as if nothing had happened.


    Led by Maid Lotus, all disciples of the New Moon Hall knelt on one knee and shouted in unison, ¡°My Dragon King.¡±


    This fight had major repercussions. Fang Wenshi, who was in the North City, was the first to realize that something had happened. The roadblocks he had met at the negotiating conference were suddenly resolved. It seemed that the Golden Roc Fort was urgent to reach a permanent armistice.


    No one knew that New Moon Hall was involved.


    Gu Shenwei was the only one who knew that Maid Lotus had joined New Moon Hall with the Wayless Book. Some people still remembered this gentle woman and thought that she was the partner of Yang Huan the killer, just the same as before. Some also assumed that the reason why Maid Lotus had not appeared in recent years was because she had been requested by Dragon King to train female killers.


    Dragon King had be so famous that Tianshan Sect had changed the attitude. Tianshan Sect wanted to ally with Dragon King, even if its disciples were to be treated as victims to lure the enemies.


    The New Moon Hall wouldn¡¯t appear in public before the Golden Roc Fort was overthrown. This was the agreement between Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus. The New Moon Hall had over a hundred disciples, but only 30 people paid allegiance to Residence of Dragon King publicly.


    Xu Xiaoyi immediately rushed back to the Residence of Dragon King from North City after hearing the news,menting the 2 million taels of silver, ¡°If I knew this in advance, I would have let my sister take more.¡±


    Xu Yanwei also rushed back, eyes narrowed and hands on her hips, not caring a whit about Dragon King¡¯s injuries ¡ª Dragon King¡¯s victory was surely set in stone anyway. Furious, she berated, ¡°Dragon King, you¡­ you are too ruthless. You gave me fake silver, and I was almost killed by other people.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s eyes lit up,¡±The silver is fake? Where is the real silver? Does the Meng family¡­No, I personally verified the silver when the Meng family sent it. It was pure silver.¡±


    ¡°This money is important to the Great Snowmountain, of course I couldn¡¯t just let bandits plunder the money,¡± Gu Shenwei said slightly. Money was the foundation of hegemony and could not be easily taken by other people. A few days ago, he had asked Lin Xiaoshan and three trusted people to move the silver. Under the ice shell, they sessfully reced the silver with a pile of painted galvanized iron.


    Xu Yanwei smiled happily, ¡°Then, where is the real silver? Dragon King, I am working for you, this¡­¡±


    ¡°Take 10,000 taels of silver from Xiaoyi.¡±


    Xu Yanwei jumped up, intending to give the Dragon King a hug, but she dared not do it. To return to the Residence of Dragon King was to forfeit her life, and she knew she couldn¡¯t ask for more.


    Gu Shenwei already solemn face grew graver, ¡°If you cannot provide useful information for a consecutive month, I will take back all the money and require you to pay rent.¡±


    ¡°Ok, it¡¯s a deal,¡± she said, ¡°I have an information now.¡± Xu Yanwei was very confident in her ability to obtain useful information from men.


    Gu Shenwei knew what Xu Yanwei was going to say. However, before he could stop her, she was already speaking, ¡°The day after tomorrow is the wedding day. She will belong to another man if no one saves her. What kind of person is Meng Mingshi? He doesn¡¯t deserve to marry me, let alone¡­¡±


    The Dragon King turned around and left because he worried that he would lose control and draw his sword. For him, there were few people who deserved his trust. The swordsman from the Great Snowmountain followed the Dragon King reverently. But for a demigod for the Dragon King, they were but humans. Only Xu Weiyan and her brother, Chu Nanping, and Tie Linglong were like his families and friends to some extent.


    Although killing made him excited, the people he didn¡¯t actually feel like killing brought his heart peace.


    Maid Lotus waited for Dragon King in the study because they had a lot of things to make clear. The cooperation between them in the morning was just a courtesy.


    Having thought about one thing for the past few days, Gu Shenwei asked Maid Lotus as soon as they met, ¡°Before, was it the New Moon Hall who offered a reward for my saber?¡±


    Maid Lotus nodded frankly, ¡°The Master thought that magic weapons couldn¡¯t be wasted. But it turned out that the Dragon King was safe, so she changed her mind and got ready to join hands with you.¡±


    ¡°What about you? What¡¯s your purpose?¡± Gu Shenwei asked. In his mind, the most dreadful person wasn¡¯t the tall and beautiful Master, but the reserved and introverted woman in front of him,¡± You stole the Wayless Book and gave it to the New Moon Hall, and you passed on the Death Scripture. You must be a great donor. The Master thinks highly of you, doesn¡¯t she?¡±


    ¡°The Master trusts me, and she lets me preside over Jade City¡¯s affairs. As for why I want to cooperate with you, it is because I need your help.¡±


    Gu Shenwei raised his head slightly and paid attention to Maid Lotus¡¯s words.


    ¡°You still suffer from qigong deviation, right?¡±Maid Lotus changed the topic suddenly.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly felt filled with a cold rage, and he almost drew his sword. He had the urge to fight with this woman right now. ¡°Yes,¡± he said with a t tone, ¡°it res up every one to three months.¡±


    Maid Lotus did not show any regret at all. She cast down her eyes and said, ¡°The Wayless Qigong is sorcery on Internal Strength. You secretly worry about underlying qigong deviation but I have the ability to get rid of itpletely. ¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew the meaning in Maid Lotus¡¯s words. One would risk self-destruction in several months or sooner if he practiced the Wayless Qigong. During that period, there would be no sign of Internal Breath, making one just like an ordinary person. He wouldn¡¯t even be able to defeat an ordinary swordsman.


    He had personally witnessed the Supreme King Shangguan Fa experience such a thing.


    ¡°Do you mean that you want me to protect you when you self-destruct?¡± Gu Shenwei asked. He hd not expected that Maid Lotus would propose this idea. The situation forced them to cooperate, but they were still enemies. Sooner orter, they would meet with sabers.


    Maid Lotus nodded, ¡°This is a reciprocal arrangement. If you help me, I will also protect you when you suffer from qigong deviation.¡±


    ¡°Have we established enough trust for this?¡±Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t resist asking sarcastically.


    ¡°This is not trust.¡± Maid Lotus corrected. Just like before, ve Huan had made a n, and she was responsible for fixing the bugs of the n. ¡°This is the only choice. Jade City is full of enemies and traps. Do you have a safe ce to hide and trusted people by your side when you suffer from qigong deviation?¡±


    Maid Lotus¡¯s words struck a nerve in Gu Shenwei. Truthfully, there was no one he could rely on when he suffered qigong deviation, as proven by the experience in recent days. Even Chu Nanping wasn¡¯t an ideal protector. As a young swordsman, Chu Nanping was short of the temper andcked the habit of being a killer, making his protection unreliable.


    However, Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t trust Maid Lotus. At least not now.


    ¡°You know, I will not kill you and I will not allow others to kill you either.¡± Maid Lotus¡¯s tone changed, bearing a trace of sadness and emotion. ¡°I have never changed my mind. I want to watch you die because of qigong deviation, but I will not do anything to prevent you from fighting the qigong deviation.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt that he was already adept at controlling his emotions, but the anger was so strong that he almost lost his mind. His hand was already on the sword hilt, but he loosened his grip again. He has not fully recovered and he could not defeat her. He couldn¡¯t be impulsive , Gu Shenwei warned himself.


    Maid Lotus realized the mood of Dragon King shifting and backed down before slowly saying, ¡°Who better to believe than a persistent enemy?¡±


    Gui Shenwei said, ¡°Why would you believe me? The New Moon Hall is full of masters.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but they only do things for Blood Coagtion Pill. How dare I ept their protection when I have no strength to resist?¡±


    ¡°That is true,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He neither agreed nor objected.


    Maid Lotus thought they had reached a consensus, so she didn¡¯t say more but asked, ¡°What¡¯s next? The Wildhorse Gang can¡¯t be able to make aeback in a short time. Who is our next target?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had been thinking about the next target for a long time. He looked at Maid Lotus and said, ¡°The Meng family.¡±


    Maid Lotus raised her eyebrows slightly. Just like before, she knew ve Huan¡¯s ideas, but she would not voice her own so easily.

 Chapter 315 - Surprise Attack

    Chapter 315: Surprise Attack


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei decided that he would be the first to get rid of the threat from the Meng family, even though he knew very well that many would oppose. But he was ready to justify himself to even the most ardent opponents.


    However, there was no need to exin to Maid Lotus, who was willing to follow Dragon King anywhere. The more time they spent together, the more they became indifferent and calm, as they were in the past. Maid Lotus would never reveal anything in her mind.


    As one could well imagine, it was the military counselor Fang Wenshi who raised the strongest objection, saying ¡°This¡­ Your Highness, we had a deal. How can you change your mind so quickly? Allow me to be frank, you are not even remotely eligible for the hegemony, let alone seeding in acquiring it. Be patient and wait for several years. Do not get yourself in trouble.¡±


    ¡°We spent a long time in preparing for the n. The Prince of Shu-lik and I had agreed on it, and this has nothing to do with anyone else. I am sorry I did not inform you before carrying out the n,¡± Gu Shenwei answered.


    Fang Wenshi hoped he could control his facial expression better but he could not conceal the look of indignation and worry. He did not understand what tricks Dragon King was ying and how the prince of Shu-lik was involved.


    In thest few days after the fake Dragon King incident, Shu-lik sent messengers to Jade City, with the prince disguised himself as one of them. He brought his sister Tie Linglong with him and wanted to have a conversation with Dragon King.


    The prince was a practical person. He did not care about the Great Snowmountain¡¯s immediate ¡°betrayal¡± after traversing Shu-lik territory, or at least he did not show it. ¡°Considering that the Western Region is a mess, Shu-lik hopes to make more friends instead of enemies.¡±


    That night, the Prince suggested: after today, Dragon King could take up Jade City, as long as the mountain pass in the west was ceded to Shu-lik.


    There were mountain passes on both the eastern and western border of Jade City. Being the most important passage to enter the Western Region from the north, the two mountain passes had been the biggest concern to Shu-lik for many years, especially the one on the west, which was next to Shu-lik¡¯s border. Once the Nond army reached the pass, they could drive directly to the heart of Shu-lik.


    Therefore, to obtain the western mountain pass was the principal but concealed agenda of Shu-lik. Neither the Nond nor the Central in would allow Shu-lik to upy the fortress just like that.


    ¡°I see¡±, Fang Wenshi suddenly understood and blushed. He always thought that he had seeded in giving an opportunity for the Great Snowmountain to use the mountain pass by virtue of his glib tongue. He had not expected that Shu-lik had ulterior motives.


    It was with the excuse of surveilling the swordsman of the Great Snowmountain that Shu-lik had sent an army of thousands of men near the western mountain pass. This army, in the name of preventing the war from spreading to Shu-lik, was actually eyeing covetously the strategic fortress.


    Fang Wenshi suddenly doubted on his own ability, and said, ¡°The King of Shu-lik and the Prince are really crafty. I¡¯m afraid the ministers are still in the dark.¡±


    ¡°A country¡¯s actions are all justifiable,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He did not think that Shu-lik had gone too far. On the contrary, it gave him more confidence to seek hegemony in the Western Region. Meanwhile, Gu Shenwei did not think there was anything wrong with the military counselor¡¯s ability, and he said so, ¡°If it had not been for your eloquence, Shu-lik could not have sent an army there without showing its true intentions.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was much relieved and grinned shyly. ¡°Well,¡± he said, ¡°there must be something special about Shu-lik that made it the biggest country in Western Region¡­ s, I profess to be a counselor, how did not anticipate that my efforts were highjacked by Shu-lik?¡±


    Then he recalled that the original conversation had been about getting rid of the threat of the Meng family, and asked, ¡°How about the Meng family? What was it that caused hatred between them and Shu-lik?¡±


    It was actually Gu Shenwei¡¯s idea to remove the Meng family¡¯s threat. He had long understood that the Great Snowmountain was running short of capital, and had not choice but to pay a high price to avoid the Meng family¡¯s surveince. This had be the Great Snowmountain¡¯s Achilles¡¯ heel.


    But when he opened his mouth, the words and emerged were different. The military counselor had never supported the idea of attacking the Meng family, he used to say that in order to attack, it was necessary to have ¡°justified reason¡±. Therefore, Gu Shenwei said, ¡°It¡¯s known to all that the rtionship between Golden Roc Fort and the Meng family isplicated. If Shu-lik wants to take hold of the western mountain pass, it faces the threat of the Meng family¡¯s blocking themercial routes.¡±


    ¡°So do we really need to take action against the Meng family now?¡± Fang Wenshi asked, somewhat frustrated. He could not help but have some admiration for rich men, especially the richest one in the Western Region.


    Gu Shenwei nodded, and he said, ¡°In fact, the war has already begun. It just needs more time for the news to reach Jade City.¡±


    The ¡°news¡± mentioned by Dragon King spread through the streets at noon the next day, and people were worked themselves into a frenzy to find out every detail about the war.


    At the same time, several banks and shops of the Meng family in Shu-lik, were attacked by a group of unknown bandits. People were killed, houses were burned, and most of the gold and silver looted. As a result, the exchange of bank notes was put on hold for a long time.


    Before everyone could understand what happened, more news came in the evening.


    It was not only the banks and shops in Shu-lik that had been attacked but also nearly 60 of the Meng family¡¯s properties distributed in more than 20 countries in the Western Region. In total, one-third of the family¡¯s properties had been burnt to ash, amounting to unfathomable losses.


    It was said that Meng Yuzun, the forefather of the Meng family, was furious when he heard the news. He med it on Dragon King, announcing, ¡°He wille to a tragic end!¡±


    However, there was no evidence to link these attacks with Dragon King and the Great Snowmountain. The attackers, who looked like typical bandits, were at least seven or eight, at most 20 or 30, bouncing around with the main aim to rob.


    However, the attacks took ce one after another that it seemed like it had been pre-nned, with the news spreading to Jade City the same day. It was beyond mere roving bandits¡¯ ability to do.


    Fang Wenshi was also puzzled by this, and he asked, ¡°Your Highness, how did you find these people?¡±


    ¡°Tuo Nengya,¡± Gu Shenwei exined briefly, ¡°as soon as the temporary armistice reached its end, sent some machetemen in batches to Shu-lik as the Prince had instructed. The machetemen went to different ces and took action at the appointed time.¡±


    Fang Wenshi shook his head with a wry smile, feeling that he had been given the cold shoulder again, but he believed that Dragon King had his reasons. Anyway, the most important task of the military counselor was the peace negotiation, he did not spare any effort in making more ns.


    Meng Yuzun would not extinguish his rage easily. He had long been pondering how to obtain the secret manuscript from Dragon King, and now, the desire for revenge went beyond everything else.


    That night, the Residence of Dragon King was attacked three times.


    The first attack included the money-faced machetemen and bandits, most of whom were involved in thest robbery of the Residence of Dragon King. They had suffered terribly in thest incident with the fake money and were mocked in taverns, brothels and betting arenas.


    It was the same people who attacked the Residence of Dragon King again after epting some of gold and silver of unknown origin. This time they came in greater number and with arger goal¨CThey came not only for money, but also for lives.


    However, having encountered Wildhorse¡¯s gang in the past, these attackers did not n to fight but were only shouted to demonstrate their power. Once they were met by the fierce attack of the guards of Residence of Dragon King, they immediately dispersed, hiding in the nearby streets for half an hour, and then snuck away.


    Meng Yuzun had made a mistake. He shouldn¡¯t have paid them in advance.


    The second round of attack was much fiercer, and in consequence, the end was even more tragic.


    Due to the armistice, the regr killers of Golden Roc Fort could not openly attack Dragon King. Therefore, Meng Yuzun hired a group of retired killers, who were still very skilled and had abilities was far beyond the average macheteman, despite the fact that they were past their peak.


    There were only around 70 retired killers. They were divided into three groups, which took turns to lure the guards of the Residence of Dragon King into battle, while the idle groups attacked from behind.


    That was a fierce battle. Both the attacking and defending groups used almost the same tactic: lure and attack.


    Meng Yuzun had made another mistake. His desire for revenge was so strong that heunched an attack impatiently before the enemy had let down their guard. Therefore, the guards of the Residence of Dragon King still had high morale and the best strategies.


    Even so, the guards of the Residence of Dragon King suffered heavy casualties. It was not until Maid Lotus and the disciples of New Moon Hall under her lead appeared at thest moment that the situation was reversed.


    Among the more than 70 retired killers, fewer than 10 managed to escape with their lives.


    Before the battlefield was cleared, the third round of attack began.


    Meng Yuzun wanted so desperately to kill Dragon King that he even sent out a group of hidden female killer of the Tianji Society.


    It turned out that this was the most serious mistake he had made that night.


    Tianji Society¡¯s training methods were strict. There was only one problem: in order to keep assassinations confidential, members of Tianji Society had little practical experience. Neither Lady Meng, who lived a secluded life in the Stone Castle and knew nothing about kung fu, nor Meng Yuzun, who stealthily cultivated kung fu and rarely showed it to others, had ever anticipated the fatal w.


    The corpses and cut-off heads rolling everywhere messed up the female killers¡¯ n and left no space for them to stand. The frightening guards of the Residence of Dragon King and ferocious disciples of the New Moon Hall scared them to death.


    The battle ended quickly. Members of the Tianji Society, established by Meng Yuzun and Lady Meng, proved to be far from the level of real killers.


    When the morning came, and from that day on, experienced residents of Jade City regarded Dragon King and the Great Snowmountain as a powerful force. They said, ¡°No one could rival Dragon King except the Stone Castle killers. Old Meng fell into a pit this time.¡±


    No one knew Meng Yuzun¡¯s feeling. This gave him great shame, but he still had to force a smile and carry out the day¡¯s most important task.


    Meng Mingshi¡¯s marriage with Shangguan Ru was to be held as scheduled, before noon.


    Now Meng Yuzun needed the support of the Supreme King more than ever. This marriage was of great significance to him.


    This was also what military counselor Fang Wenshi worried about the most. ¡°We are pushing the Meng family to the Golden Roc Fort¡± he said, sighed and shook his head. But to his relief, Dragon King seemed to have no intention of interfering with the wedding. Dragon King looked calm as if he had already epted the fact.


    Fang Wenshi did not care about offending the Meng family. But he had a strict principle: Counselors could indulge in women and wine, but the masters had to be free from desires. Acting impulsively for any woman would never bring good results.


    Residents of Jade City swung between watching the Dragon King¡¯s ughter and the grand wedding ceremony. In the end, most people still thought the wedding ceremony more entertaining and flocked to the main streets of North City to watch the most sensational wedding reception. Thest time the whole city happened to be so excited was for Shangguan Nu¡¯s wedding with Luo Ningcha.


    The Meng family¡¯s wedding processionsted for several miles. The leading percussion band had already reached the center of North City, when the end of the procession had not yetpletely left the Meng¡¯s residence.


    Meng Mingshi rode on his horse, in low spirits and surrounded by Golden Roc killers as guards. He did not show any joy of being the bridegroom on his face, nor did he respond to the onlookers¡¯ cheers.

 Chapter 316 - Poisoned

    Chapter 316: Poisoned


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    There could be nothing more conceptually different than ughters and weddings, yet nothing else could make the citizens of Jade City more excited than these two pr extremes. Now that a wedding was taking ce after all that carnage in the city, they could not stop talking.


    No matter how depressing Fifth Young Master Meng was looking as he sat on the back of his horse, even he could not spoil the grand atmosphere of the wedding made possible by the presence of a huge amount of riches apanying the procession. They were stored in boxes made of ironwood, and even the most honest onlooker could not help but be envious.


    ¡°I guess only the Dragon King would have the guts to rob the procession,¡± a young man said while squinting. An old man beside him immediately covered the young man¡¯s mouth with his hands.


    There were many eyes from the Golden Roc Fort and the Meng family hidden in the crowds standing on both sides of the street, and the more experienced residents of Jade City could naturally spot the strangers easily.


    However, the curiosity of the people was getting stronger from all the recent events ¨C the Dragon King¡¯s deration of war towards the Meng family (even though Gu Shenwei never did openly dere war with the Meng family, everyone firmly believed that he was the mastermind behind the recent attacks on their banks, as did Meng Yuzun), the counter attacks by the Meng family over the past few nights and the grand wedding ceremony. No one could remain indifferent in the face of such an intensive barrage of news.


    Everyone in the crowd was voicing his or her opinion about the recent incidents, and the lookouts were busy trying to identify the dissenters. In the end, they could only admit defeat, as voices of dissent against the Golden Roc Fort and the Meng family were everywhere and it was an insurmountable task. They left the crowd to their gossip and analyses on the recent attacks.


    ¡°When do you think the Dragon King will strike against the Meng¡¯s residence in North City?¡±, asked someone excitedly, eyes brimming with intent. It seemed as if the speaker wished to pour salt on the Meng family¡¯s wounds.


    ¡°Dream on. Do you think he will enjoy continued sess after only one sessful strike? Let me tell you, the number of killers from the Golden Roc Fort stationed in the Meng¡¯s residence now could be even more than that of the Stone Castle, waiting for the fool to fall into their trap.¡±


    ¡°Well, he¡¯s the Dragon King. The way I see it, old Meng will suffer this time, not only has his banks been attacked, maybe the wedding would even be disrupted,¡± the speaker nced carefully to his sides to see if anyone was observing him, before lowering his voice and continuing in a mysterious tone, ¡°The Dragon King used to be a killer working under the Tenth Young Master, and I¡¯ve heard that¡­ hehe¡­ there was something suspicious going on between the both of them.¡±


    Such inane talk was soon drowned in a torrent of rebuttals.


    ¡°The Dragon King never left South City and he¡¯s still sittingfortably in his residence. What¡¯s the point of kidnapping the bride after she has consummated her marriage?¡±


    ¡°Even the Dragon King would not dare to strike in North City, that¡¯s if he wishes to continue with the peace negotiations. Once he steps out of North City, he is within the territory of the Stone Castle. More reason for him to not show up, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    The speaker who had exposed the ¡®scandal¡¯ was nearly drowned in the spittle from his fellow residents. Although he was indignant, he could not produce any evidence to support his ims and could only mutter apprehensively, ¡°I¡¯m just saying. Who knows what¡¯s going on in the mind of the Dragon King, he¡¯s always full of tricks.¡±


    The long wedding procession snaked its way through the gates of North City, advancing towards the Stone Castle at the top of the mountain. Golden Roc Fort had increased its level of vignce, and only a few had permission to follow the procession from behind.


    As such, it was only the permitted few who got to ¡®witness¡¯ the unfolding of the biggest news of the day.


    It was a stretch for them to im to have witnessed the entire proceedings, as they were following far behind, and the mountain passage was narrow. With the addition of the Golden Roc killers providing security for the procession, it would be impossible for even the most dedicated person to rush up to the front.


    They were only a medium for the disturbance that followed. As waves after waves of rumors started to trickle down to them, they could not helped but be caught up and swayed by it.


    ¡°Why has the procession halted?¡±


    ¡°The music has also stopped?¡±


    ¡°Something has happened, something has happened.¡±


    ¡°Brother killer, in front of us¡­¡±


    ¡°Quick, look quickly, why are people running down from the mountain?¡±


    ¡°What on earth is going on?¡±


    ¡°The wedding procession is under attack!¡±


    ¡°Who is leading the attack? Is it the Dragon King? It must be him!¡±


    ¡°No, no.¡±


    ¡°No one attacked, but¡­ Fifth Young Master Meng is dead.¡±


    Meng Mingshi thought that he would die at the hands of Shangguan Ru on their wedding night, but s, he did not even make it to the wedding ceremony.


    It was only until the next day when news of the entire incident that took ce at the entrance to the Stone Castle traveled down to the city.


    There was a narrow stone bridge in front of the gates to the Golden Roc Fort, and ording to customs, all who arrived on horseback had to dismount to cross the bridge. Not only was it a sign of respect towards the Supreme King, it was also to ensure the safety of the visitor.


    When the procession arrived before the bridge, the guards dismounted, leaving only Fifth Young Master Meng seated on his saddle, not moving at all. He hung his head and looked as sullen as when he just left the Meng¡¯s residence.


    A personal attendant went up to him and tried to persuade his master to dismount, ¡°We¡¯ve arrived, Fifth Young Master.¡±


    Little did he know that Meng Mingshi had arrived at a different ce ¨C the Gates of Hell. As the attendant touched him gently, his body slumped onto the back of his horse.


    A few authority figures with close ties to the Meng family began propagating this theory that the Fifth Young Master was poisoned to death.


    However, there was not a single clue pointing to who did the poisoning.


    Of course, the Dragon King was one of the prime suspects, but even Meng Yuzun himself did not think that it was possible for him to extend his reach to the Meng¡¯s residence in North City.


    The next suspect was Shangguan Ru. It was a widely known fact that she was not willing to be married to Meng Mingshi, but just like the Dragon King, she did not have the capability to strike in the Meng¡¯s residence from afar.


    Therefore, the most logical exnation for many people was that Fifth Young Master Meng was so resistant and fearful of his impending wedding that he took his own life with poison.


    Next came another piece of news from the Meng¡¯s residence: Before setting off for the Stone Castle, Fifth Young Master Meng had drunk a bowl of soup to freshen himself. It was the only possible opportunity to poison him that day, and he had personally ordered the soup to be served. The soup was brought to him by his most trusted attendant.


    It seemed to corroborate the news that Meng Mingshi had taken his own life.


    The Meng¡¯s residence was extremely chaotic; there were crying and bawling everywhere. Nowhere else to vent his anger, Meng Yuzun killed dozens of ves who could be linked, however slightly, to the bowl of soup Meng Mingshi drank.


    That day, the reaction of Golden Roc Fort, the other party involved in this tragedy, was pretty intriguing.


    The Supreme King, who rarely showed himself to the public these few years, came to visit his old friend Meng Yuzun personally. He publicly announced that his Ru¡¯er would be part of the Meng family. ¡°No matter whether the wedding ceremony waspleted or not, she would also be considered as Fifth Young Mistress Meng.¡±


    That very afternoon after Supreme King¡¯s visit, a splendidly dressed Shangguan Ru was sent to the Bodhi Garden in North City. She was thus condemned to a life of solitude in the empty garden.


    The residents of Jade City were united in their pity for Shangguan Ru, which was a rarity. None of them suspected that she was the murderer anymore. They believed that having a useless husband was even better than spending the rest of her life as a widow.


    As the wedding ceremony was notpleted, many did not acknowledge her as the Fifth Young Mistress of the Meng family and still addressed her as the ¡®Tenth Young Master¡¯ out of habit.


    The person who was the most uneasy over the entire incident was Fang Wenshi. He spent nearly all of his time at the Residence of the Dragon King in South City, trying to find out who was the actual poisoner. ¡°You have to tell me the truth, Dragon King. Are they¡­ you ordered someone to do it, and I know those women are adept in the use of poisons. They would do anything for you.¡±


    The existence of the New Moon Hall was still a secret for the time being, and as such Fang Wenshi addressed them as ¡®those women¡¯.


    ¡°It¡¯s better if you don¡¯t know anything about this,¡± replied the Dragon King nonchntly. His calmness, however, made his military counselor even more uneasy.


    ¡°You ordered it, didn¡¯t you?¡±, Fang Wenshi continued questioning. ¡°All because of a woman? To tell you the truth, I¡¯m a little disappointed.¡±


    Gu Shenwei lowered his head in thought before replying. ¡°I respect your knowledge and strategies, counselor. However, if you do not even have this little bit of trust in me, I believe it would be better for us to part ways here.¡±


    The expression on Fang Wenshi¡¯s face immediately changed. He knew that he had gone overboard; this young man was the Dragon King of the Great Snowmountain, not one of his students. ¡°You are being too serious, Dragon King. Hehe, of course, I trust you, even more than I trust anybody else. We still have to work hand in hand to achieve our goal of regional hegemony.¡±


    The counselor did not bring up the issue again. Facing questions from other people, he answered righteously, ¡°How could it be possible? It was definitely not the Dragon King¡¯s doing. It must be someone with ulterior motives trying to smear him. He had not entered North City for the longest time, and besides, he does not know a thing about poisons.¡±


    The first phase of the war with the Meng family was just over, and only dozens of their banks and shops had been destroyed; it was not enough to topple the foundation of the Mengs.


    Two days after the death of Meng Mingshi, the Residence of the Dragon King was suddenly crowded as many came, hoping to visit the Dragon King.


    The ability demonstrated by the Dragon King, as well as the countless amount of gold and silver being produced finally convinced a bunch of major and small protectors, and some desperate people who were willing to take the risk to publicly announce their intent to co-operate with the Great Snowmountain, hoping to get a slice of the pie.


    It was quieter on the evening of the third day. The visitors from the day had already left and the Dragon King was not epting any more guests. Tonight, he had set aside time for discussions with the two most important people for his ns.


    Lyu Qiying, the manager of the Southwall Tavern, was so excited over the past two days that he could not sleep well. He had made up his mind that, regardless of the risks involved, he would do business with the Dragon King. With the millions, and possibly even tens of millions of taels of silver I could earn from doing business with him, I would have more than enough to spend for the rest of my life just from themission alone , he thought.


    The other guest was a character who was rarely seen. If anyone saw the famous prostitute Xiao Fengchai leaving Pleasure Alley at night with only a maid to pay a visit to the Dragon King personally, he or she would definitely be left standing agape in bewilderment. No matter the time of the day, the onlooker would still spread the news all around Jade City.


    Shopkeeper Lyu did not know that he was once on Xiao Fengchai¡¯s hit list. He was a little beside himself at being able to see the most famous woman in South City in person and seemed overly eager and toady. ¡°Oh my, imagine being able to meet Madam Xiao here. It¡¯s a real honor, a real honor I say.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai smiled indifferently and quickly ssified Lyu Qiying as the type of man not worthy of her attention. She did not want to bring herself down during her visit, but the pull of the two million taels of silver and with more possiblying from robbing the Meng family¡¯s banks and shops was too strong for her to resist, so much so that she could not even pretend to reject epting them.


    Aside from the money, she had another reason for meeting the Dragon King personally: Xu Yanwei had leased five small blocks situated just opposite her house. They upied a tract ofnd even bigger than Xiao Fengchai¡¯s and she was prepared to start operating the biggest brothel in Pleasure Alley.


    Xiao Fengchai would be lying if she imed to not be envious. She wanted to know how much money the Dragon King was exactly hiding since he could afford to be so generous when assisting a down-and-out third-rate prostitute.


    However, the Dragon King would not divulge much. No matter how hard Lyu Qiying and Xiao Fengchai tried to dig, he would not give them any substantial information on the exact amount of money in his hands. Furthermore, the terms he offered were disappointing. ¡°I want to bring down themission offered to both of you. Two percent is too much, I feel that zero point five percent is enough.¡±


    ¡°Zero point five percent?¡±, eximed Lyu Qiying and Xiao Fengchai simultaneously. They could not believe their ears; they were here to make money, not be bankrupt.


    ¡°Yes,¡± replied the Dragon King. His tone was extremely calm, yet carrying an obvious steely quality. ¡°The amount of money both of you would be making would not decrease, but increase as a result.¡±


    The twopetitors gave each other a nce and remained silent, waiting for the Dragon King to exin how things actually stood for both of them.


    ¡°I want to establish anotherwork of merchants in the Western Region, bigger in scale than even that of the Meng family¡¯s and also worth more in money than theirs. I¡¯m willing to give this chance to the both of you.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai and Shopkeeper Lyu looked at each other in dismay. Establish anotherwork of merchants? Bigger in scale than even that of the Meng family¡¯s? He either must be insane or has not told us everything yet , they thought.


    However, if the Dragon King was to fulfill his ambition¡­ they would be the next ¡®Meng family¡¯ and have countless riches, not to mention gaining a strong foothold in the Western Region in the process.


    For a long while, neither of them spoke.


    Gu Shenwei waited patiently for their reply, but he was thinking of something else. Just as it was getting dark, a caped stranger came bearing a letter stating that both Tie Linglong and Chu Nanping were currently in Bodhi Garden.

 Chapter 317 - Meng the Second

    Chapter 317: Meng the Second


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Maid Lotus wished to regain the same feeling they once had.


    The ve Huan then had progressed from always being on his guard around her, to conditionally co-operating with her, to eventually trusting herpletely, albeit slowly and over a long period of time.


    It will be the same this time, she thought.


    She even felt that the present Dragon King had trusted her far too early. Not only had she been immediately assigned to protect him covertly, she even had the opportunity to take part in nning each plot of his.


    As such, she witnessed wave after wave of peopleing from all ces to pander themselves to the Dragon King. She also saw Xiao Fengchai and Shopkeeper Lyu bow to his will, as all the others did, albeit with some resistance at first. They were willing to work for him now, and left harboring dreams of building themselves a huge businesswork.


    She even saw a mysterious stranger handing him a note that evening, stating that both Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong were currently imprisoned in Bodhi Garden and that the Dragon King was invited to retrieve both youths.


    But there were things which she did not entirely know as well. For example, she had supplied the Dragon King with the tasteless and colorless poison, but she did not know how he had managed to get Meng Mingshi to consume it.


    She appeared just as he was seated behind his desk, absorbed in thought and exposed. She felt that she was experiencing deja-vu and it moved her so much so that it felt so surreal.


    ¡°It¡¯s a trap, you know.¡± Her tone was gentle and unhurried, showing that she was neither trying to persuade him nor analyze the situation, but just stating a simple fact.


    Gu Shenwei knew what she was talking about, even though he had not shown any excitement when he saw the note. He could never hide his feelings from her.


    ¡°The trap is too obvious. The Golden Roc Fort should know that I would never fall for it.¡± His tone was not as calm as hers. He was trying to find an excuse to risk the trip to Bodhi Garden.


    ¡°You are always so suspicious of everything, why are you so convinced this time? There is nock of people who understand how you think in the Golden Roc Fort. Perhaps, the sender is trying to use the simplest form of trickery to deceive you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei remained silent. Maid Lotus was right. His customary practice was to unearth any signs of a plot from seemingly ordinary matters, but it was not like him to try to disprove a conspiracy.


    Maid Lotus was extremely surprised. Even though it had been more than three years since they hadst co-operated, she could still urately sense this man¡¯s every thought. It did not, however, make her feel any better to be left in the dark on his ns. ¡°Those two people are extremely important to you,¡± she said simply.


    Those were the words he had been waiting to hear.¡±Yes, they¡¯ve passed my test of loyalty,¡± he replied.


    He had not realized that his words would wound her. Maid Lotus¡¯ heart trembled slightly as she heard his reply, but managed to hide her emotions from him; she had done it so many times that it was like second nature to her. In this aspect, she had always been better than him. ¡°Maybe we can avoid their trap and rescue the two of them at the same time,¡± she replied.


    Gu Shenwei lifted his head to look at Maid Lotus. He realized that he had gone against his original intentions and was starting to warm up to her again. He had never experienced the same level of rapport with anyone else; talking to her was almost like speaking to himself. It was a feeling that he had longed for but never experienced these past three years.


    ¡°The military counselor would not agree,¡± said Gu Shenwei. In actual fact, he did not really care about what Fang Wenshi thought, but this time around, it was different. There could be killers from the Golden Roc Fort waiting to ambush him in Bodhi Garden, and his breaking in would give the Supreme King an excuse to call off the temporary ceasefire.


    ¡°We have no intention of letting anyone know,¡± she replied, ending their discussion.


    As such, they sneaked into North City. Other than Jiang, no one else noticed their absence. After the decisive battle with Wildhorse had concluded, she had insisted on returning to the residence of the Dragon King from North City. As such, she was the best person to cover the Dragon King¡¯s tracks.


    Gu Shenwei did not go to Bodhi Garden directly but took the long route around before arriving at a small house at the edge of East City. After inspecting the surrounding area for a while, he leaped into the house alone, leaving her standing guard outside its walls.


    Maid Lotus and the other disciples of the New Moon Hall had been operating in Jade City for a long time, and she was extremely familiar with the goings-on in the city. As such, she knew exactly who the owner of the house was. At the same time, she understood who had poisoned Fifth Young Master Meng.


    Meng Yuzun had killed dozens of innocent ves, but it never urred to him that the real murderer was another of his sons.


    Meng Mingshu, or Second Young Master Meng, was Xiao Fengchai¡¯s most steady customer. He had practically never dealt with the Dragon King in the past, and Gu Shenwei had only seen him in the famous prostitute¡¯s home once before. It was from her that he came to know Meng Mingshu was a man of ambition.


    Even though it was an ambition that the Second Young Master kept well hidden, Gu Shenwei had an acute feeling that it just needed a little spark to be set aze.


    The Meng family had the backing of the Golden Roc Fort and posed an insurmountable obstacle. If Gu Shenwei wanted to defeat them, he would have to target the cracks in the organization. This type of tactic was second nature to him.


    Meng Mingshu was handsome and he exuded an aura that was entirely different from this arrogant fourth brother or his debaucherous fifth brother; he was serious and reserved in nature. As such, when the Dragon King suddenly appeared, he did not panic, and could even guess roughly what the intruder¡¯s intentions were.


    That negotiation went smoothly, as neither party disguised his intentions. They spoke openly, and although they did not make any concrete ns to work together, each of them found a source of energy in the other that wascking in himself. As such, they left with a good impression of each other.


    A few days earlier, Gu Shenwei made his second visit to Meng Mingshu. This time around, they discussed their ns in greater detail, each of them proposing their own conditions.


    Gu Shenwei wanted Meng Mingshi dead. His reason was that he wanted to teach Meng Yuzun a lesson and strike a firm blow to the close rtionship between the Meng family and the Stone Castle at the same time.


    Neither the Dragon King nor the Great Snow Mountain could be seen taking part in this n, as Meng Mingshi, who was about to marry Shangguan Ru, could already be considered a part of the Golden Roc Fort.


    The Dragon King needed the help of Second Young Master to execute his n.


    Meng Mingshu wanted his elder brother dead, and his reason was even more simple. He wanted to inherit the immense industries of the Meng family. After his first meeting with the Dragon King, his ambition grew by the day and he had made up his mind to realize it, everything else was damned.


    Meng Mingshu and his elder brother Meng Mingkuan were born to the same parents but the former was younger by just a year. He was capable too, but the inheritance he was allocated was less than a tenth of his elder brother¡¯s. This left himmenting the unfairness of fate.


    Simrly, he could not be caught taking part in the murder of his elder brother. His father Meng Yuzun was no fool, and if his elder son were to die from any kind of ident, his first suspect would be Meng Mingshu.


    The Meng family did not observe the same rules as the Golden Roc Fort and there was no reward for killing one¡¯s own brother, only punishment.


    Thus, he needed the Dragon King¡¯s assistance as well. The Great Snow Mountain was a known opponent of the Meng family, and he would not be a suspect if Meng Mingkuan was killed by the Dragon King.


    The only problem was that they could not be seen working together. Meng Mingshu did not tell anyone about their co-operation, even Xiao Fengchai.


    Therefore, he was extremely surprised when the Dragon King appeared in front of him for the third time. However, he quickly regained hisposure, for there was something he wished to ask anyway, ¡°I heard from Fengchai that you are nning to build a second businesswork in the Western Region which will beparable to that of the Meng family.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you forget about our deal,¡± Meng Mingshi replied. He felt a little anxious; he wanted to inherit the entirety of his family¡¯s industries and not just a family name with no substance.


    ¡°The day you take over, you¡¯ll find that you can easily settle these conflicts and your position will be even more secure.¡±


    Meng Mingshu was doubtful. He was beginning to grow wary of the Dragon King¡¯s methods; this man, who was younger than him by more than 10 years, was even more astute than his father. ¡°I hope this day wille soon, and I hope that when the timees, the industries of the Meng family will stillrgely be intact.¡±


    ¡°Your wish wille true,¡± replied Gu Shenwei. He believed that he had firm control over Second Young Master Meng¡¯s lifeline. ¡°I wish to know whether there is a trap waiting for me in Bodhi Garden.¡±


    Meng Mingshu smiled sardonically. He was not mocking the Dragon King, but rather, his father. ¡°Father knew you woulde to Bodhi Garden sooner orter. Therefore, he spent a lot of effort setting up a trap for you, mobilizing hundreds of people. I¡¯m not sure of the details, but he has offered a bounty of one million taels of silver for anyone who manages to captures the Dragon King alive and 500 thousand taels of silver for the person who manages to kill you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to Bodhi Garden tonight.¡±


    Meng Mingshu had felt that the Dragon King would not fall for his father¡¯s trap even without his warning. As such, he did not know how to react for a moment after hearing the statement. This was not the image he had of the Dragon King, who was full of cunning. ¡°What are you going to Bodhi Garden for, Dragon King?¡±, he asked.


    The Second Young Master could not help but think of all the gossip that he had brushed off in the past. If the Dragon King paid this much attention to women, he would have to reconsider their deal; he wished to rely on somebody who was ruthless and decisive, not someone immature and willing to forsake personal interests for women.


    ¡°Two of my important helpers are imprisoned in Bodhi Garden.¡±


    His calmness helped to dispel some of Meng Mingshu¡¯s concern. ¡°It¡¯s a little risky, but you can try,¡± replied Meng. He did not know the details about the trap and could only describe the situation in Bodhi Garden in general.


    Gu Shenwei left after listening to Meng Mingshu. He met up with Maid Lotus outside the house and both of them arrived at Bodhi Garden before midnight.


    She did not have any questions for him on their way to the garden.


    Ady wearing a ck cape was waiting anxiously for the Dragon King at a rock garden to the north-east of Bodhi Garden. It was she who had passed the note to Gu Shenwei that evening, requesting to meet him at this very spot.


    ¡°Is it you?¡±, she asked softly, seeing the silhouette of someone carrying two weapons approach.


    Gu Shenwei nodded, appearing alone. Maid Lotus, meanwhile, was hiding nearby.


    ¡°Ah, Miss said you woulde. She received news that there¡¯s abyrinth in the garden, and that there are two people are imprisoned inside. After much effort, she managed to get hold of¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei abruptly drew his Five Peaks Saber and ced it against her neck.


    ¡°Dragon King¡­¡± the woman¡¯s eyes were filled with fear.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have called her ¡®Miss¡¯,¡± said Gu Shenwei coldly. He believed that even after more than three years of dressing up as a woman, Shangguan Ru would still dislike being called ¡®Miss¡¯, and her gracing the entrance of the Four Truths Temple was proof of that.


    ¡°I¡­¡± The woman¡¯s voice started to tremble.


    ¡°Where is she staying?¡±


    The woman seemed reluctant to answer the question until the Dragon King increased the pressure of the Five Peaks Saber on her neck. She pointed to the south-west, replying, ¡°Lotus Yard. I¡¯m not lying, Dragon King¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei sheathed his saber upon getting his answer. The women crumpled to the ground, a small wound on her neck.


    Meng Mingshu did not know the exact location of Shangguan Ru, but from what he had gathered, Meng Yuzun had set up his trap far from where she was staying at. He did not dare to let her get wind of his ns; he knew that she was his daughter-inw purely in name and that she was rebellious.


    Just as they had thought, Meng Yuzun had hoped to draw the Dragon King to the underground chamber at the Center Lake, but Shangguan Ru¡¯s quarters at the Lotus Yard was situated at the south-west corner of Bodhi Garden.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus retreated from the garden and took a long way round till they were outside Lotus Yard. Theyy in wait on a roof, peering into the interior of the yard over the wall.


    It was extremely dark and the courtyard was silent and still.


    All of a sudden, Gu Shenwei did not know why he hade here. If the news of the Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong being imprisoned in Bodhi Garden was just meant to lure him into a trap, he should, in fact, leave as quickly as he could.


    Maid Lotus managed to guess what he was thinking again. She urged him on softly, ¡°After all, you killed her husband. You should at least give her an exnation in person.¡±

 Chapter 318 - Reunion

    Chapter 318: Reunion


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Gu Shenwei did not move and at thest minute, suspicion flooded its head again, trying to convince him to abort the mission. Even Shangguan Ru could very well be part of the trap now.


    Three years ago she was still a child who loved to dream, and who knows what she has be after three years of house arrest and being out of favor? , he thought. When he saw her at the entrance of the Four Truths Temple, she was astride a big horse and looked formidable; it seemed like she still retained her lofty aspirations from the past.


    Besides, he knew that people with ambitions were never afraid to change themselves in order to fulfill their dreams.


    There was amotion in Lotus Yard ¨C a ce across from them ¨C as Gu Shenwei remained indecisive on the rooftop.


    Armed with sabers, a group of men in ck was surrounding Shangguan Ru¡¯s quarters. There were at least 50 of them and some were only dozens of steps away from Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus.


    The female corpse on the rock garden had been discovered.


    After they had finished setting up the ambush around the house, a few of them went up to knock on its door.


    With all of this happening at a distance from Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus, coupled with the dark night, they were not able to clearly see what was happening. There seemed to be an argument urring, but the figures d in ck still managed to enter the room in the end; however, they quickly returned in a state of panic as if they had been taught a lesson.


    In spite of this, they managed to confirm that the Dragon King was absent and therefore signaled theirpanions to retreat.


    It was already past midnight, and would soon be daybreak.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go and look over there,¡± Maid Lotus said softly before quietly disappearing into the night.


    Gu Shenwei leaped onto andnded on the ground. He dashed across the walkways swiftly and jumped onto the wall of the Lotus Yard, observing his surroundings for a while. He noticed there was lighting from one of the rooms and a blurry figure was reflected through the windows.


    All of a sudden, another scene from a different night shed across his mind. It was still midsummer and the air was filled with the fragrance of flora as he leaped into the yard. Picking up a pebble under the Hai Tang tree, he used it to knock on Shangguan Ru¡¯s window.


    There was also a tree nted in Lotus Yard. Subconsciously, Gu Shenwei walked up to it, grabbed a small fistful of hard snow and flicked it lightly onto the window of the lit room.


    Unlikest time, no one was peeking out from the window; they were still groggy with sleep. The shadow of the figure was motionless, but weirdly, the door opened slightly with a crack and woke Gu Shenwei from his imagination.


    He waited for a while before inching towards the door, entering the room swiftly with his saber in hand and paying close attention to any sign of movement.


    Shangguan Ru was seated at her desk and resting her chin on one hand. Her other hand was tracing absentmindedly on the table top, and she was gazing listlessly at the flickering candle me. The expression on her face was a mix of the familiar immatureness and mischievousness from three years ago, yet it exuded the elegance and aloofness of a teenage girl as well. She did not seem to have noticed that a man had entered the room with her now.


    Gu Shenwei immensely regretted his decision. Although there was no trap here, it was entirely different from what he had pictured and how he secretly hoped their reunion would be; however, he had to say something, so he spoke up, ¡°I¡¯vee¡­¡±


    He stopped midway, not knowing what exactly he hade for.


    ¡°Little Chu and Miss Tie are with me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was surprised beyond words; he thought that the news of Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong in Bodhi Garden was a lie intended to lure him into a trap. Never would he have imagined that it was true.


    ¡°Take them away with youter,¡± she continued, still not looking at him. It seemed as though an important secret was contained within the flickering me, making it a must for her to keep staring at it. ¡°They are not familiar with North City, therefore I¡¯m notfortable letting them wander about on their own.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Gu Shenwei with much difficulty, feeling relieved to have got it out.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± replied Shangguan Ru, her tone neither warm nor cold. Her gaze had not shifted away from the me by even an inch, and all Gu Shenwei could see in her eyes was the dance of the flickering light.


    The two of them did not speak for a while and Shangguan Ru did not summon Chu Nanping nor Tie Linglong either. She seemed preupied with her own thoughts and treated the Dragon King just like how she used to treat ve Huan in the past: as a trusted ve who did not require any special attention, instead of as the Dragon King who was now feared throughout Jade City.


    Gu Shenwei felt the rage welling up inside him, so he cocked his head and said coldly, ¡°Let theme out. I¡¯ll repay the favor; however, don¡¯t expect too much in return.¡±


    ¡°Am I your enemy as well since my family name is Shangguan?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. You¡¯re my enemy, not only because of your family name but also because you betrayed the two giant rocs. They were family to me as well.¡±


    Shangguan Ru seemed unmoved by what he said, but she stopped tracing on the table. After a while, she replied, ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to apologize to you for that. I would also like to apologize to the giant red-crowned roc who was always with you. I guess it was their child, right? At that time, I didn¡¯t know a thing about the cruelty of death. Killings brought my father joy and it made me happy as well, in the past; however, these aren¡¯t important. You have the right to take revenge and you can act now; I promise that no one wille and stop you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei gripped the handle of his saber tightly, yet he could not find it in himself to move it by even an inch; it was as though the saber itself had grown roots like how a rock left in its ce over the years would. ¡°I won¡¯t kill you today in return for you handing over Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong,¡± he said, finally finding a suitable excuse for himself.


    Shangguan Ru averted her gaze from the me all of a sudden and looked at ve Huan ¨C or rather the Dragon King as everyone called him now ¨C for the first time since their reunion. She showed him the smile that he was so familiar with, saying, ¡°Is this the real you? You were pretending all along in the past, weren¡¯t you? It must have been terrible living in the same castle as your foes, serving the daughter of your enemy.¡±


    It felt like a brazen attempt to taunt him and Gu Shenwei felt a sincere desire to kill Shangguan Ru for the first time in his life. He replied, ¡°I could endure it because I knew that I would eventually be able to get my revenge.¡±


    Shangguan Ru looked apologetic after saying those words; she did not understand why she said something so hurtful. Perhaps, she was still bitter about the fact that she gave him her trust when she was young and ignorant. It was the only chance in her life to trust somebody and she had chosen to give it to ve Huan, only for him to turn into the pale-faced male stranger standing in front of her now.


    Despite being forced against her will to get used to dressing as a woman, even though she had never held a real saber for more than three years now, the pride was still within her. As her apologetic feelings soon passed, she said, ¡°This is what I wanted to tell you as well. You can have your revenge ¨C but within limits. I won¡¯t allow you to take innocent lives; not everybody named Shangguan is guilty.¡±


    Gu Shenwei found her wordsughable as his initial anger subsided. Perhaps the past three years of being under house arrest had trapped her forever in the temperament of a 14-year-old. Here she was, thinking that she was still the Tenth Young Master and he was still ve Huan who was always at her beck and call. ¡°I have forgotten about that fact that you had been practicing Wayless Qigong all this while. I hope your kung fu has not deteriorated and that I will still have a worthy opponent when the timees for us to fight a decisive battle to the death.¡±


    Upon hearing his sarcasm, Shangguan Ru¡¯s eyes revealed a tinge of pity. It was unclear to whom the pity was addressed to; however, she said, ¡°I don¡¯t kill and I will not kill anybody. I¡¯ve already tasted enough of the pain thates with killing. I only hope that you¡¯lle to understand this one day ¨C not now, not when you¡¯ve yet to avenge your family, but I don¡¯t want you to pass the point of no return.¡±


    ¡°No one can stop me,¡± replied Gu Shenwei. He raised his voice unknowingly, and his face became stern ¨C this was the demeanor that left the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain in awe of him. ¡°The path of vengeance is never-ending, and only death can stop all of this from happening.¡±


    The man before Shangguan Ru was scary and unfamiliar, and it was hard for Shangguan Ru to believe he used to be ve Huan. His words, however, had stirred up her pride and ambition. She was unable to kill, but that did not mean she would bow down to any threat posed to her. Standing up, she replied in a tone nearly as cold as his, ¡°I will prove to you that there are other alternative paths in this world.¡±


    The two of them red at each other, the me dancing about in their eyes ready to burst forth at any moment.


    Shangguan Ru was the first to stop staring as she began tough. This was not the ve Huan she was familiar with, but another character who was even more interesting. It had been years since she hadst felt so ted.


    However, Gu Shenwei was infuriated by her abnormal reaction. ¡°Do you not believe that I will kill you?¡± he asked.


    It was a foolish question, and he regretted it the moment the words left his mouth. He understood the absurdity of empty threats many years ago but did not expect himself to actually use one at such an inappropriate moment.


    ¡°I believe you,¡± Shangguan Ru replied, still looking amused despite no longerughing. This made her resemble herself from three years ago. ¡°You are the Dragon King who kills like it is second nature, right? I¡¯ll be waiting for you to strike. Take your people away and tell them to never break into the Stone Castle again. I don¡¯t recall us doing such a rash and foolish thing at their age.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was no more than two or three years older than Tie Linglong and Chu Nanping but spoke as if she was a Jianghu veteran herself. Furthermore, Gu Shenwei could clearly remember the times when she hadmitted many foolish acts in the past and a lot of them were even more rash than what the two youths did.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s pale and stiff face trembled slightly, a sign that he was trying hard to control hisughter. It made him seem a little weird, but he quickly regained hisposure. ¡°Why would Lady Meng allow you to bring them down the mountain?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Let the two of them tell you.¡±


    The sounds of footsteps sounded from outside the door, and before the attendant showed herself Shangguan Ru quickly added, ¡°Thank you for helping me to solve such a huge problem.¡±


    Gu Shenwei wanted to ask what she would do if Meng Mingshi had not died back there ¨C at the gates of the Golden Roc Fort. Since you¡¯re incapable of killing, would you try to run away? He thought to himself.


    At this moment, the door opened and a maid brought Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong in, thus he had no other option but to hold back his questions.


    The two of them looked very strange. Tie Linglong was dressed as a male servant from Golden Roc Fort, and she would have looked somewhat simr to the young Shangguan Ru if not for her green eyes. Chu Nanping, on the other hand, was dressed in female clothes, and it actually looked good on him ¨C so much so that Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t recognize him at first nce.


    Chu Nanping was uneasy and extremely embarrassed by his outfit.


    However, Tie Linglong did not seem to care what she was wearing. Upon seeing the Dragon King, she gave a cry of surprise and suppressed her voice before saying, ¡°I knew you woulde, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei wanted to give them a harsh scolding but now was not the time to do so. As such, he merely ordered, ¡°Follow me.¡±


    Tie Linglong cheered softly at first, but upon seeing Shangguan Ru still sitting at her table, she was dismayed and surprised. ¡°Isn¡¯t Sister Ruing with us?¡± she asked.


    ¡°No,¡± replied Shangguan Ru with a slight smile. ¡°This is my home, and besides, I am enemies with the Dragon King,¡± she continued.


    ¡°Enemies?¡± Tie Linglong was increasingly surprised. ¡°How is it possible? Hasn¡¯t the Dragon Kinge for you¡­¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± said Gu Shenwei, leading the way out of the room with Chu Nanping following closely behind.


    Tie Linglong looked around and hurriedly said to Shangguan Ru before leaving, ¡°I¡¯ll convince the Dragon King to change his mind.¡±


    Once they had leaped over the walls of the yard, Chu Nanping immediately removed the ornaments from his head. Just when he was about to throw them away, he was stopped by Tie Linglong, who had hurried over and snatched them away from him. ¡°Don¡¯t just throw them anywhere. Do you want to leave evidence behind?¡± she asked.


    Maid Lotus did not show herself, but Gu Shenwei knew she was observing nearby. As a result, he did not try to look for her and quickly took the two youths out of North City.


    Security in North City was tight, and without someone who was familiar with its details ¨C like Gu Shenwei ¨C leading the way, it would definitely be difficult for Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong to safe escape.


    The three of them remained silent on their way back. Tie Linglong was anxious to tell the Dragon King about her adventures with Chu Nanping, but Gu Shenwei was in no mood to listen to her. Dawn was breaking over the horizon, dispersing the dark night away just as they arrived back at the Residence of the Dragon King. The border between South and North City was exposed in its entirety, leaving nowhere for anybody to sneak around.


    Shangguan Ru was right, Gu Shenwei thought. He had known all along that they were enemies, but it was hard for him to ept that fact sometimes.

 Chapter 319 - Rescued

    Chapter 319: Rescued


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    It was not entirely due to random chance or by ident that Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong managed to sneak into the Golden Roc Fort. They were already marked as suspicious characters at the gates of North City and their identities as the personal bodyguards of the Dragon King were confirmed when they were at the foot of the stone bridge.


    However, the news of them trying to enter the fort was reported directly to Lady Meng instead of the Supreme King.


    Just like this, the two confident youths fell into a trap set up for them. They were captured once they set foot in the Inner Residence and did not even have time to find their bearings around the ce.


    Lady Meng was disappointed that it was not the Dragon King himself who had been lured into the trap, but two of his subordinates instead ¨C not to mention that they were just teenagers. She understood him and knew that he would not give up the secret manuscript just for Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong, but she still informed Meng Yuzun that the youths were in her hands; this would allow him to use them as bargaining chips in his negotiations with the Dragon King.


    The two teenagers did not suffer much during their captivity; in fact, they were rescued before the negotiations even began.


    Shangguan Fei was exaggerating when he told the Dragon King that his sister was not speaking to anyone and that she would rather be mute. However, it was true that she had not talked to her mother for three years.


    Shangguan Ru was only on partial house arrest and could still move freely within the Inner Residence. Moreover, she still enjoyed the love and loyalty of many within the fort. As such, her sources brought her even more informationpared to what her mother and brother knew about.


    Very quickly, she got to know about the capture of the two teenagers and understood that they hade to ¡®rescue¡¯ her.


    The way things turned out in the end, Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong were the ones who required rescuing instead.


    Shangguan Ru knew very well that it would be easy to rescue both of them: Lady Meng did not want the Supreme King to know about the teenagers and therefore had them imprisoned in a stone hut instead of the heavily guarded underground dungeon.


    Springing them from the hut would be one thing, but it would be next to impossible to send them safely down the mountain. Security in the Golden Roc Fort had gradually be stronger all these years after the rebellion of ve Huan and Maid Lotus. Even Shangguan Ru was unable to escape from the castle herself, let alone the two youths who were unfamiliar with the territory.


    The only option would be to find a safe ce to hide them temporarily ¨C Shangguan Ru thought.


    But that would be nearly impossible, she concluded. There were only a few ces in the Stone Castle that were out of Lady Meng¡¯s reach ¨C basically, the houses frequented by the Supreme King, including the residence of the Eighth Young Mistress, Luo Ningcha.


    After managing to survive the assassination attempt, she had her wish fulfilled: she gave birth to a son. Her quarters in the Inner Residence was a grand mansion which was rtively independent of the other houses. She kept a distance away from Lady Meng and was also situated far away from the Supreme King, Her mansion can be considered as somewhat shielded from public eyes , Shangguan Ru thought to herself.


    Luo Ningcha did not allow Lady Meng to get involved in anything pertaining to her ¡®territory¡¯ and only she dared to (and dly) partake in everything that would lead to the displeasure of the matron.


    As such, Shangguan Ru sent the two brash youths to her Eighth Sister-inw¡¯s residence.


    Luo Ningcha immediately agreed to take them in, as she had a somewhat good impression of Shangguan Ru. Another reason was that she heard that Lady Meng kept their presence in the fort a secret from the Supreme King and intended to use them to threaten ve Huan.


    Shangguan Ru knew the inherent danger of her actions and warned Luo Ningcha against presenting the two youths to the Supreme King: they were the trusted subjects of the Dragon King, and he woulde looking for revenge if any harm came to them.


    Luo Ningcha was not afraid of the Dragon King¡¯s vengeance, but she promised to keep the presence of the two youths a secret. However, she made it very clear that she wanted ve Huan, instead of Shangguan Ru, to repay the favor in future.


    Thus, Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong spent the next 20 over days in the ¡°residence of the Eighth Young Master¡±. Luo Ningcha was the one who came up with the sudden and weird idea of forcing Chu Nanping to dress as a girl and making Tie Linglong constantly squint her eyes to conceal those emerald pupils, so as to hide their true identities from the spies of Lady Meng; the girl was also dressed as the opposite gender, albeit without force.


    Even though the two youths were a little resistant to the cross-dressing and squinting, they could still bear with it. What was insufferable for them was the constant nagging of Luo Ningcha.


    ¡°At least three times every day,¡± Tie Linglong said.


    She was in charge of recounting their adventure to the Dragon King. Her eyebrows wrinkled together as she thought about Luo Ningcha¡¯s nagging; just the thought of it was unbearable.


    ¡°We had to swear that she was our savior. Luckily, she did not want us to repay the favor. She wanted us to inform you, Dragon King, that she was taking a huge risk and that you are obliged to repay her.¡±


    This was exactly the Luo Ningcha that Gu Shenwei knew. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I have a way to handle her,¡± he replied.


    Even though there were times when Gu Shenwei had underestimated Luo Ningcha, his impression of her was merely an extremely selfish woman and had never viewed of her as an opponent that should be treated seriously.


    ¡°Right, then it¡¯s all good, I guess.¡± Tie Linglong felt relieved. Even though Luo Ningcha could be considered as her savior, she was unable to get herself to like the woman. She then asked curiously, ¡°Are you familiar with her, Dragon King? She seemed¡­ to know you pretty well.¡±


    ¡°I was working under her and that¡¯s how I entered the Golden Roc Fort in the past,¡± replied Gu Shenwei indifferently with a calm tone. He believed that no matter how foolish Luo Ningcha was, she would not speak irresponsibly about their past.


    Tie Linglong and Chu Nanping nodded at the same time as a mystery clouding their thoughts was solved. They were young and knew little about the ways of the world; if a more worldly adult was in their ce, surely he or she would be more suspicious after hearing what the Dragon King had said.


    As for Lady Meng, she went off her rocker upon discovering that her two captives, who she had spent so much effort to catch, were missing. She suspected that her daughter was involved but could not find any evidence leading directly to her. Furthermore, she could not openly start a search for the two teenagers as well. As such, she issued a gag order, hoping that the Dragon King would still believe that they were in her custody.


    Both of them had actually followed Shangguan Ru down the mountain as part of her entourage of ves during her wedding.


    Every family in the fort contributed a gift for the youngdy who was getting married. Even though many of the Supreme King¡¯s sons were dead now, his grandchildren were still around. Under the supervision of their mothers, they still had to pay tribute to Lady Meng, who held real power, on behalf of their fathers.


    Luo Ningcha was the Eighth Young Mistress in name and she followed the Bighead Kingpin¡¯s tradition of sending gold, silver and precious jewels as well as ves for the wedding gift. Among the five pairs of ves from both sexes were Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong, who were, of course, dressed as the opposite sex.


    No one in the entourage expected Meng Mingshi to die before even crossing the stone bridge to the castle, and the two youths were almost detained in the fort once again. It was only when the Supreme King insisted that the marriage was valid regardless of Meng Mingshi¡¯s death that they managed to leave the mountain with Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Ru did not let the two of them leave immediately when they arrived at Lotus Yard for fear that they would be exposed in North City due to their unfamiliarity with the ce, but she also had other reasons for letting them stay.


    ¡°She did not say it directly, but she knew you woulde looking for her, Dragon King,¡± said Tie Linglong, disying the natural instincts of a woman in matters of the heart. ¡°And it was true. You came eventually,¡± she continued.


    ¡°The words ¡®we are enemies¡¯ came from her, and she was very right about that,¡± Gu Shenwei reminded the young girl.


    No matter how good her instincts or smarts were, Tie Linglong had noeback for the Dragon King. She tried very hard to figure out the meaning of Shangguan Ru¡¯s statement but did not even know where to begin.


    Therefore, she changed the subject of their conversation. She started describing Shangguan Ru¡¯s ns to tackle the problem of her marriage. She hade up with a few ns but did not manage to execute them due to the sudden death of Meng Mingshi.


    The simplest of them was that she would hold Fifth Young Master Meng hostage in public once she arrived at the Meng¡¯s residence, thereby forcing him to annul the marriage. Shangguan Ru expected this to be very easy, as Meng Mingshi was terrified of her, and was simrly reluctant to be married together.


    As for the mostplicated n, it would be to secretly switch ces with a loyal maid and forcing Meng Mingshi to keep it a secret. The fake bride would find an excuse not to show herself for a few days, while the real Shangguan Ru would take this opportunity to flee. As for what she would do after escaping, Shangguan Ru did not say that she would go and find the Dragon King, but rather she mentioned that she wanted to wander around the world.


    Shangguan Ru felt that her ns were very carefully considered; she had even thought of a way out for the maid who was going to switch ces with her. If her double was willing, she would consummate the ¡®marriage¡¯ with Meng Mingshi. If not, she would bring some valuables with her to look for the Dragon King. With Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong around, Shangguan Ru believed that the Dragon King would not mistreat the maid.


    No matter what n would be carried out eventually, Shangguan Ru had decided that first, she would have to get out of the fort and down the mountain so that the two teenagers could be on their way.


    Gu Shenwei thought that Shangguan Ru was still as child-like as before. If he had not managed to poison Meng Mingshi, none of her tricks would have worked. Even so, she was even full of confidence that she could prevent him from ¡®going overboard in his quest for vengeance¡¯.


    ¡°Hrumph,¡± said Gu Shenwei softly. He could not decide whether he found her behavior absurd or not.


    Even though Tie Linglong did not manage to aplish her original objective, her experience had been an adventure so far. Furthermore, she got to see for herself the girl that Xu Yanwei had described more or less like a deity, and she felt that it was not a wasted trip at all. After she had finished speaking, she lifted her head and looked excitedly at the Dragon King, waiting to hear his praises.


    The stern voice of the Dragon King quickly killed her hopes. ¡°You two did not follow my orders and left your posts on your own ord. From today onwards, both of you shall be ced under house arrest for a month.¡±


    Tie Linglong was surprised beyond words. Even the normally silent Chu Nanping tried to defend himself, ¡°I was being forced. She said¡­¡±


    The Dragon King cut him off, ¡°You are a swordsman, and yet it just took a few words to convince you. Where is your ¡¯emotionless heart¡¯?¡±


    Unable to speak any further, Chu Nanping was flushed with embarrassment. When Tie Linglong reprimanded him for ¡®betraying¡¯ her as they left dejectedly, he found it even harder to try toe up with a reply.


    It was Xu Xiaoyi who consoled them in the end. ¡°The Dragon King has his reasons. Think about it, Miss Ru has juste down from the mountain a few days ago. If the two of you began showing yourselves in public, wouldn¡¯t you be selling her out to Lady Meng?¡±, he suggested.


    Tie Linglong was enlightened by his words and epted her house arrest with no furtherints.


    However, Chu Nanping was still moody. ¡°I heard that the Dragon King had all of the people from the Joy Pavilion killed,¡± he said.


    He used to be the servant of the dwarf Immortal Peng, and even though he practiced Emotionless Swordsmanship, he had quite a lot of feelings towards the pavilion. Xu Xiaoyi was surprised to hear his question and did not know how to answer. After hemming and hawing for a long time, he replied, ¡°In reality, it was not the Dragon King who struck first. Most of the disciples were killed by that bunch of women¡­¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is right. I am practicing Emotionless Swordsmanship, yet there is always something holding me back. I can¡¯t be thinking of that Joy Pavilion anymore now¨C¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi breathed a sigh of relief. However, Chu Nanping was not quite finished yet. He swept his gaze across the faces of Xu Xiaoyi and Tie Linglong, his two best friends.


    ¡°Also, I want to cut off all ties with the both of you.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi was speechless. He did not understand how the death of the disciples of the Joy Pavilion had anything to do with him.


    ¡°With pleasure¡±, said Tie Linglong. She then cocked her head proudly and stormed back to her room to begin her house arrest.


    Gu Shenwei did not spend too much time thinking about the bickering teenagers. He was discussing a matter of importance with Maid Lotus in a separate room ¡ª however, not a word was spoken about Shangguan Ru.


    Second Young Master Meng had kept to his part of the promise and poisoned his brother; now was the time for the Dragon King to fulfill his part of the deal. He had to murder Meng Mingkuan, the sessor of the Meng family.


    Gu Shenwei had already secretly gathered some intelligence ¡ª and although it was not asprehensive as that of the New Moon Hall, the conclusion from their preliminary discussion was that it would be extremely hard to assassinate First Young Master Meng; the difficulty of carrying out the hit could possibly even rival that of a mission targeting Meng Yuzun.


    ¡°Therefore, it would be a fatal blow to Old Meng,¡± Gu Shenwei concluded. He had made up his mind to stick to the deal. Since he had already dered war on the Meng family, he could not back out of it halfway.

 Chapter 320 - Information

    Chapter 320: Information


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The Meng family kept the news of Gu Shenwei killing the woman in the Bodhi Garden in North City a secret. After fighting for a few days, the two sides entered a temporarily cooling-off period.


    Many Golden Roc¡¯s killers and machetemen had already been sent to different parts of the Western Region to protect the Meng family¡¯s property and to chase the bandits. At this point, Gu Shenwei still believed it was best to be prudent.


    However, he also thought that, after provoking Old Meng¡¯s anger, he could not be overcautious. His next target would be First Young Master Meng, Meng Mingkuan.


    Meng Mingkuan was about thirty, young, vigorous and well-known. His behavior, unexpectedly, was very discreet. He rarely showed up except when he was with his father.


    He lived in a small house next to the Meng¡¯s residence, with doors which connected the buildings. Every morning, he would go to pay respect to his father, and deal with business for him in the studio, and in case of important matters, he would wait until noon to personally ask him for instructions.


    365 days a year, wind or rain, frost or snow, First Young Master Meng would never neglect his duty. He would not let his father worry in the slightest. Even when he fell ill, he would take medicine and carry on working.


    Thanks to the efficiency of his eldest son, Meng Yuzun had the energy and time to enjoy himself and also deal with more important matters. For this reason, there was no need to question who Meng Yuzun¡¯s sessor would be.


    Only his death could clear the way for the ambitious second son of the Meng¡¯s family.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus spent almost an entire daybing through the information they had obtained. In the end, however, they came up empty. This First Young Master Meng was truly impable. He was not addicted to alcohol, notscivious, not fond of gambling, and for many years he had hardly ever stepped into South City. They could not use the traditional killer¡¯s method to assassinate him.


    First Young Master Meng exerted an extremely stringent control over his subordinates. Those who he really trusted numbered no more than ten and he tempered justice with mercy towards them. He would offer them rewards, but one mistake, and he would never employ them again. Buying a traitor from within was not entirely impossible, but it would need time and would most definitely be expensive.


    There was still a problem with getting rid of First Young Master Meng: they could not be too ostentatious about it, but they also had not to be too quiet. If they draw suspicion away from Meng¡¯s secondborn, they had to let everybody know it was Dragon King¡¯s handwriting, but at the same time, they had to be careful not to leak any information and to publicly me the Great Snowmountain of cheating on peace talks.


    For two days in a row, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus failed toe up with any n and kept dying action.


    Finally, breakthrough emerged as unexpected news form Xu Yanwei.


    Xu Yanwei spent ten thousand taels to buy a five-stores brothel. It was far from being the biggest in South City, but it was without a doubt the first in Pleasure Alley, wherend was more precious than gold, and still bigger than Xiao Fengchai¡¯s one in front of it.


    This was her great idea: Since the prostitutes in Pleasure Alley were the ones who earned the most money, why not open a bigger brothel and hire some women?


    As a result, the ten thousand taels she received from her younger brother, Xu Xiaoyi, were spent in a blink of an eye. They had just enough to pay the rent for the first month. Additionally, the three girls she knew were not even enough to fill a single room.


    In Jade City, they believed in miracles. Xu Yanwei made up a lie about the ces he had been to in the previous years and how he rose from the dead and nobody doubted it, or at least, nobody cared to check the details.


    In short, Xu Yanwei did not have any money and Xu Xiaoyi did not dare to give her more, leaving her with the only solution to go to Dragon King.


    Xu Yanwei did not know yet that the two men had already been saved and she was still harboring guilt over their imprisonment. Being afraid of seeing Dragon King, she hesitated before scraping together some information and finally deciding to report in.


    ¡°I have important news, we don¡¯t have time to dy.¡± Xu Yanwei told the guards whom Dragon King had ordered to not let her in.


    Only after being stuck at the gate for almost half an hour was Xu Yanwei allowed to meet Dragon King in the hall. She was upset about it, but ultimately, it was by her efforts that Dragon King decided to break that unhappy marriage. Although she had not thought about killing Meng Wu, she still contributed to Dragon King¡¯s mysterious poisoning.


    She was full ofints, as soon as she entered the hall, she beamed with joy. She did not mention her ¡°merits¡±, nor the money problem, but gave him all the information as sincerely as she could.


    The merchants were asking where all the money stolen from the Meng family in the Western Region was. The machetemen were curious about who Dragon King¡¯s next victim would be. The protectors cared about the next conflict between Stone Castle and Dragon King. An old nobleman in exile, in his fifties, having lost his entire fortune and unexpectedly still wanted to stay at Xiao Fengchai¡¯s house, was sent to the checkpoint between South and North Cities, and, when thrown on a bridge, cried all day. When the old servant of Miss Xiao Ju¡¯s house talked about Dragon King, she did not show any sign of respect and even called him ¡°Yang Huan¡±. In those days, all the people in the Pleasure Alley were regr guests, but that day, there was no one around.


    The pieces of information were bing more and more trivial, but since Gu Shenwei had never made it explicitly clear what he wanted, he could not me her.


    After being stuck in the freezing cold for half and hour, Xu Yanwei spitefully decided to nag at him for that same amount of time. She wanted Dragon King to lose patience before telling him about the money so that he would agree to anything just to be left in peace.


    Just like every other brothel, prices for the prostitutes at Pleasure Alley were fixed. It did not matter how high or how low the prices were, the prostitute would make the guest happy. The only important thing was that the tip left by the guest was usually higher than the fee.


    Xu Yanwei was not an expert in negotiation, but that that day was just a disaster. Dragon King patiently listened to her nagging, nodding absently, just like one of those patronizing old women listening at the feet of their masters.


    In the end, Xu Yanwei gave up. Since the first time she met Dragon King, back when he was still called ¡°ve Huan¡±, none of her moves had ever seeded.


    ¡°That¡¯s all.¡± Xu Yanwei took a long sip of tea to soothe her dry throat, ¡°Dragon King, do you think it is useful?¡±


    To Xu Yanwei¡¯s surprise, Dragon King nodded, pondered for a while before asking her: ¡°Is Jin Quan a guest of Pleasure Alley?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he is. He has been with Xiao Ju for almost half a year now. He used to say that he would redeem himself and start a life with her, but I have not seen him recently. I keep telling Xiao Ju, she can¡¯t take the words of her guests seriously.¡±


    Despite her hoarse voice, Xu Yanwei wanted to go on, but Gu Shenwei interrupted her and ordered her, ¡°Find out what Jin Quan is busy with and inform me immediately.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± Xu Yanwei brightened again, jumped up to move, but as she took a step, she turned around again and said softly: ¡°Dragon King, I don¡¯t have money.¡±


    Xu Yanwei left the Residence of Dragon King very satisfied. She had obtained other ten thousand taels, enough to cover the expenses for another month. If only the luck of the brothel turned, she was sure that money would not be a problem soon.


    Although she was only in her early twenties, Xu Yanwei believed she was past her prime: the old tricks she had once used were pathetic would not work anymore, so she decided to be a Procuress and to devote herself to teach and foster a new generation of famous prostitutes.


    The twenty thousand taels from Dragon King was a good start.


    In only two months, three at most, the money could double, she thought happily. As she arrived at Pleasure Alley, she immediately jumped into action and in less than four hours, she had all the news Dragon King needed.


    Gu Shenwei was especially interested in Jin Quan. He had discovered long ago that he was First Young Master Meng¡¯s housekeeper.


    Now he wanted to know whether Jin Quan could be bought, but the news he received from Xu Yanwei was even better than expected.


    Jin Quan had not actually abandoned Miss Xiao Ju, but he had been preparing to leave for a long trip to deal with some important matters.


    Xu Yanwei was extremely excited with her newly acquired ten thousand taels, and proved herself better than her younger brother at finding out some news, almost guessing the real intentions of Dragon King. She ran from brothel to brothel, to call on Procuresses and gossip with them. After gathering information, she reached this conclusion: it was First Young Master Meng himself who was ready to leave for a long trip, Jin Quan was only following his master to help him in his business.


    First Young Master Meng, Meng Mingkuan, was almost impable. He was going to inherit a huge property, but he could not demand as much from his subordinates as his father had. They were loyal to their master, but at the same time, they also wanted to enjoy their lives.


    When they were indulging with the women of Pleasure Alley, there was no man who could keep his mouth shut. Although everyone was confident that they had not revealed the whole situation, a few words were enough for a clever prostitute, only, most of the time, they did not care about these kinds of information. All they really wanted was to extort more money from their guests.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus made an effort to keep on the investigation under wraps without leaving any trace. Finally, in the New Moon Hall, in the Meng¡¯s residence, they received the most explicit piece of information: in three days, Meng Mingkuan would leave for Shu-lik.


    The machetemen of Tuo Nengya¡¯s subordinates had seriously damaged the Meng family¡¯swork of the merchants, especially those from Shu-lik, which was almostpletely paralysed.


    Shu-lik was thergest country in the Western Region, and its importance could not be overlooked. First Young Master Meng had received two orders from his father. First, to bring a big sum of money to alleviate the economic crisis. Even though the losses were only temporary, they could not damage the Meng family¡¯s reputation and prestige. Second, to buy over some ministers from Chaozhong, and sort out the story for this grievous plunder.


    Meng Yuzun had already smelled the conspiracy in Shu-lik: he suspected that someone must have been secretly coborating with Dragon King, otherwise, the looting would not have been sessful and the event would have been void of evidence.


    The Meng family already had many steady supporters in Shu-lik. Now it was their turn to stand for the Meng family.


    Meng Ziyun hoped that the news of his eldest son leaving Jade City for Shu-lik remained a secret, but he was also worried for his safety. Therefore, he made sure to prepare on both sides.


    Golden Roc Fort sent to Shu-lik thirty killers and one hundred machetemen, who were hired in name to protect Meng family¡¯s property, but whose task was in fact, to protect First Young Master Meng along the way.


    Meanwhile, many of the machetemen in South City had begun to stir restlessly, hanging around Dragon King¡¯s surveilling, which made Old Meng have no more illusions the matter. He also wanted to give the impression of a surprise attack against Dragon King. In this way, he thought, he would trap Dragon King in his residence, leaving him without the energy to do anything else.


    But once he understood the facts, all the events at the Meng¡¯s residence and the Golden Roc Fort became just clear evidence to Gu Shenwei.


    This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to kill. That very night, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus started to formte a n and the following day they set out to prepare.


    As First Young Master Meng had the close protection from Golden Roc¡¯s killers, whose assassination methods could be predicted. However, since The Agreement between the two killers could not be broken, they decided to adopt a less conventional method.

 Chapter 321 - Giant Crossbow

    Chapter 321: Giant Crossbow


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Something had urred in South City recently, but because it was neither a huge matter nor was it a small issue, not a lot of people seemed to care. However, it was a topic for discussion among those who drank.


    The manager of the Southwall Tavern of many years, Lyu Qiying, moremonly known as Shopkeeper Lyu, had officially announced that he would sell off the tavern as he was heading to Shu-lik for retirement.


    Shopkeeper Lyu, who was in his fifties, was not considered that old. He was in the prime of his life as his business was booming with enormous profits each day. Hence, it was indeed unexpected that he chose to retire at this time.


    It went without saying that the drinkers were more concerned about their fine wine ¡ª they were worried that there would be a change in the taste of the wines when Shopkeeper Lyu retired. It was only until the new manager publicly announced that everything in the tavern, from the supply channels to the preservation methods and prices, would remain the same, did the drinkers rx. After the drinkers bid farewell and well wishes to Shopkeeper Lyu, no one was interested in this matter anymore.


    The way Lyu Qiying had departed so hastily also caused some spections among people. It was as though he was fleeing something as he had left without even bidding farewell to all his rtives or friends. ¡°I saw he visited Dragon King secretly the other day. Perhaps things didn¡¯t work out and he was afraid, that¡¯s why he left in such a hurry?¡±


    Being relieved of his managerial position in the tavern made Lyu Qiying a little worried. But his fear was directed to the enemies of Dragon King, not Dragon King. As of right now, he was feeling more excited than afraid.


    He was about to embark on a newer and bigger career.


    Dragon King had ns to build up a businesswork in the Western Region, with Xiao Fengchai in charge of Jade City and Lyu Qiying responsible for establishing several strongholds in various other countries. The first stop was Shu-lik, thergest country in the Western Region.


    He needed only to establish a solid foothold here and his career would already be semi-sessful.


    Lyu Qiying picked 37 out of over 100 machetemen who worked for him. They would protect him and his years of savings, traveling together to and with broad prospects. These men were those who had followed him for a long time and were trustworthy and loyal.


    It was a huge gamble but Lyu Qiying was as excited as a young man seeing the world for the first time, sitting in the carriage with a smile on his face even though he was already in his fifties. He only regained hisposure when he looked at the missing finger on his hand.


    It had been cut off by Dragon King several years ago, when Dragon King was still ve Huan.


    The hope of his sess and the risk of his failure were closely linked to this cool-faced young man, but Lyu Qiying was not quite sure how to deal with this merciless Devil Emperor.


    Dragon King was also present, hiding among the 37 guards.


    Dragon King¡¯s absence was kept strictly confidential within Jade City. The Residence of Dragon King was not peaceful these days. Bold machetemen spied from afar and had evene closer to start provocations at timeswage small attacks, shouting and cursing in the dark and sending out hidden weapons. All this made people believe that the Dragon King was still in his residence, ready for any provocation.


    Even the guards of the Residence of Dragon King thought that their master was in the backyard since Jiang served tea and water on time every day, and Xu Xiaoyi came to report as well. Things went on as usual, and the Dragon King still remained as mysterious as no one saw him.


    With their cleverly machined ns, Gu Shenwei, together with Maid Lotus and 11 disciples from the New Moon Hall, left Jade City hiding in Lyu Qiying¡¯s team.


    Except for Maid Lotus, the disciples of the New Moon Hall were all scattered around Jade City and seldom appeared. Only Maid Lotus was able to find them any time.


    After the first night of camping, three guards went missing from Lyu Qiying¡¯s team, but almost no one noticed it, and neither did Lyu Qiying. The journey continued the next morning, with 10 female killers in the team, making Lyu Qiying feel at ease.


    Gu Shenwei, Maid Lotus, and Guan Shang hid in the mountain nearby as they waited for First Young Master Meng, who would arrive one dayter.


    Among these three people, the former ck-masked assassin Guan Shang from the Golden Roc Fort was the main assassin.


    Normally, Golden Roc killers preferred to use their swords when killing in close proximity, before cutting off the heads afterward, just to be on the safe side. However, things were different this time. They had to kill people stealthily and not hurt the guards, but at the same time publicize it. Therefore, Gu Shenwei decided tounch a long-range attack using a crossbow.


    Guan Shang was the best at crossbow among the three of them.


    They brought with them a huge crossbow, so tall that it was almost the height of a grown man when straightened. It required thebined strength of five ordinary people to even notch the bowstring. The effective range was up to several hundreds of steps away, but the most effective distance was within 200 steps.


    As Maid Lotus was in charge of monitoring the route, Guan Shang was practicing how to use the huge crossbow. Gu Shenwei helped her to stretch the bowstring and observed the effects, periodically giving her advice.


    They had been doing the same thing all day. It was tiring and tedious but the three of them were killers who had underwent strict training and were, therefore, used to it. Especially Guan Shang, who had gone through theplete set of training for a ck-masked assassin. She was definitely more refined in terms of technique and mentality than the other two.


    Gu Shenwei secretly pondered what kind of evil medicine was the so-called ¡°Blood Coagtion Pill¡± that made someone like Guan Shang switch allegiance. Or was this yet another double ploy? But. Maid Lotus seemed to trust Guan Shang.


    Although she rarely revealed her true thoughts, Gu Shenwei knew that Maid Lotus was just as suspicious as he was.


    First Young Master Meng¡¯s entourage finally arrived that evening.


    The outskirts of Jade City were barren and deste, and there were few ces suitable for camping. It was not surprising that First Young Master Meng set up camp in the same area as Lyu Qiying.


    The best time to assassinate was naturally before dark, when the line of sight was more ideal, the camp slightly more disorganized and the guard perimeters notpletely set up.


    Gu Shenwei and Guan Shang draped snow-white capes over themselves as they hid on the mountain while Maid Lotus lurked on the side of the road to surveil closely. All three of them observed First Young Master Meng. There were several excellent opportunities to assassinate but they did not strike.


    Golden Roc Fort had sent 30 killers and 100 machetemen to protect First Young Master Meng, it was quite a powerful force and Gu Shenwei knew he would not be able to break through this line of defense even if he led all his people to attack.


    Besides, they were also a very experienced force.


    Before they set up the camp, five killers and 10 machetemen had already arrived earlier to search the camp and the nearby hillside. Anything out of the ordinary was not spared.


    The area where Guan Shang had practiced the crossbow was just several miles away from the camp, and there were messy footprints and traces of damage that could not be have been caused by ordinary crossbows.


    Gu Shenwei soon realized that he had not been not careful enough. He should have chosen a ce farther away. Luckily, it was a narrow escape for them as the machetemen did not advance further to the crossbow practicing grounds. They had apparently decided that the search had extended far enough.


    Despite this, Gu Shenwei still kept this in mind, marking it down as a mistake.


    There was a huge boulder on the hillside about 200 steps away from the camp. That was the ce Guan Shang chose for the assassination attempt, it was also the ce where the Golden Roc killers inspected most carefully. Two of the killers somehow did not seem very satisfied with this area as they came back to patrol a few more times, before sending a macheteman to stand guard there. It was this macheteman who created the biggest headache.


    Gu Shenwei and his team hid well without a trace. But they could not carry out the assassination before dark as it was impossible to get into attack position. The only thing they could do was wait, which was the most fundamental task of killers.


    When night fell, the macheteman guarding on the stone of the hillside lit a fire to stay warm. It also acted as a way tomunicate with other machetemen at the foot of the mountain.


    Soon, the people in the camp were preparing to go into their tents to rest. There was not much time left for the three assassins.


    When they had discussed the assassination n earlier, Gu Shenwei suddenly recalled how Shangguan Ru¡¯s shadow had been reflected on the window, and drew up a backup n based on this: if they had no chanceunch an attack before dark, they would wait until First Young Master Meng returned to the tent, and kill First Young Master Meng by aiming at his shadow.


    There were a lot of loopholes in this n. What if the First Young Master Meng decided to rest right after he entered the tent without even lighting amp? Not to mention, it was very difficult to judge a person¡¯s exact position just ording to where the shadow was.


    But Gu Shenwei was still wanted to give it a try. He had no more ns except this one. Otherwise, he would conceed to return to Jade City with Maid Lotus and Guan Shang right away, and allow First Young Master Meng to live for another one or two months.


    But even if they were to carry out this backup n now, they still faced another obstacle: the macheteman guarding the giant stone.


    The macheteman was from Golden Roc Fort and they could not kill him.


    Maid Lotus sneaked back and reported that First Young Master Meng had already lighted amp in his tent. They should take action as soon as possible.


    After whispering and perfecting the whole n quickly, theyunched into action.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly felt excited. It was a long-lost but familiar feeling. He had no choice but to admit that cooperating with Maid Lotus had rejuvenated him. If the people beside him had been Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong, he would have no choice but to give up on the assassination.


    Once again, he realized that he had failed in training killers.


    Gu Shenwei quietly approached the macheteman on the giant stone. When the macheteman was yawning, it gave Gu Shenwei an opening to appear and spread the poison. He quickly took off his cape and stood still,pleting all of these in the blink of an eye. The macheteman fell, and Dragon King took over his guard duty. Even if someone had been monitoring from the camp at the foothill, he would just assume that he had been seeing things for a moment.


    New Moon Hall was skilled in concocting poison, making it easy to swiftly knock out a macheteman.


    From a distance, Gu Shenwei was no different from a macheteman as he was wearing ck clothes under his snow-white cape.


    He noticed a vague shadow casting on First Young Master Meng¡¯s tent. It was toorge to make it out clearly, hence it was difficult to judge the location of the master based on this.


    But he decided to give it a go anyway. He could not waste this opportunity.


    Guan Shang came up behind him. Holding the huge crossbow, she crouched low and wait for Dragon King¡¯smand. Gu Shenwei was also waiting for the signal.


    A faint light lit up at the foot of the mountain. No one would have noticed it if they were not looking closely.


    ¡°Up.¡±


    Just a brief word and Guan Shang immediately stood up. She set up the huge crossbow on Dragon King¡¯s extended left arm and aimed at the blurred shadow on the tent.


    Gu Shenwei was quietly counting down while Guan Shang was carefully calibrating. They would only have one chance at this. Whether they seeded or not, they would have to withdraw immediately.


    Maid Lotus was at the edge of the camp at this moment and had a clearer picture of the situation. The people in the tent stood up as a group of guards passed by. Maid Lotus blew on a piece of tinder that had been ignited ahead of time, immediately extinguishing it before retreating.


    Gu Shenwei counted to 10 for Maid Lotus to get to a safe ce.


    Guan Shang pulled the trigger and an iron arrow of about five or six feet flew out.


    They immediately discarded the huge crossbow and quickly climbed down the mountain.


    The guards in the camp were immediately alerted and blew the whistle.


    But the arrow was already on its way.


    When the iron arrow reached the target and dozens of people in the camp headed for the huge stone, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus were already headed for Jade City that very night. Guan Shang stayed behind to confirm the final oue.

 Chapter 322 - Humble Apology

    Chapter 322: Humble Apology


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Guan Shang was extremely respectful towards Maid Lotus, to the point that it was bordering on fear instead. She would not even dare to raise her head or utter any other word, except for¡±Yes¡± when Maid Lotus was in her presence.


    Gu Shenwei could feel that Guan Shang was slightly rxed when they were using the huge crossbow on a mountain, but she became stiff again as soon as Maid Lotus appeared.


    Gu Shenwei took notice of these interactions, keeping in mind that there were still a lot of questions about Maid Lotus that was unanswered. However, he would rather observe in secret than ask her about it.


    Especially the fact that she could actually use the sword without any inhibitions. How did she manage it?


    It was not just the swordcraft that made Gu Shenwei curious and even a little jealous.


    They were like two deer spirits who were full of energy and vigor back there. Leaping forward in the pure winter night, stepping onto the solid snow road. At first, they just wanted to hurry as fast as they could, but it slowly led to apetitive race.


    Gu Shenwei had already recovered most of his Internal Strength. Although he was like a galloping horse at his fastest when he was using about 70 to 80 percent of his strength, Maid Lotus could always keep up with him. She onlygged behind slightly as a sign of respect, not because he was beyond her abilities.


    Gu Shenwei gave up trying topete against her just as they were approaching Jade City. He acknowledged that his Lightness Skills were slightly inferior to Maid Lotus¡¯ skills.


    While Gu Shenwei wasted about six months of his time fighting against qigong deviation, Maid Lotus had been practicing the correct version of the Wayless Qigong all these while. It was only natural that his progress was slowerpared to hers.


    A dull anger arose in his heart again.


    ¡°What will Old Meng do if First Young Master Meng dies?¡±, Maid Lotus asked suddenly. It was still before daybreak and they were already back in the Residence of Dragon King.


    ¡°If he¡¯s as foolish as before, he will organize arge-scale attack. But if he¡¯s smart¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s anger was interrupted by her sudden question but he had no idea what ¡°clever Old Meng¡± would actually do.


    Unlike foolery, which was often simr, cleverness could be unexpected, and sometimes even full of surprises.


    Meng Yuzun¡¯s actions were definitely unexpected this time.


    Almost nobody believed it when news of First Young Master Meng being assassinated broke out in Jade City. That was because not much people knew that he had left for Shu-lik, some of them even met him just two days ago.


    But it was proven to be true as more news arrived. The First Young Master Meng was assassinated within a hundred miles of the city. What made it even more incredible was the fact that he was found dead with a woman.


    In everybody¡¯s eyes, the First Young Master Meng had always kept a respectful distance from women. He hardly ever touched another woman except for his wife. ¡°Women are just a source of cmity, you need one to give birth to children, but anything more than that is just risking it.¡± This was what he usually said as he advised his acquaintances.


    The First Young Master Meng whose desires were like that of a monk, was found hugging a half-naked prostitute. Their bodies were pierced by a long iron arrow and their blood blended together. It was difficult to separate the bodies for days on end.


    That prostitute was not even famous. She was just working in a small alley within South City and weren¡¯t even qualified to work as a maid in Pleasure Alley.


    Those who heard the newsmented at the fact that, for someone who had worked hard for all of his life, the woman that the poor First Young Master Meng had been found with was not as good as his housekeeper.


    All of a sudden, Dragon King¡¯s reputation rose again. In addition to that, there was no evidence to prove that it was Dragon King¡¯s doing. Many people swore that they saw Dragon King strolling in South City with their own eyes when the incident happened. Therefore, it could not be him. But the death of First Young Master Meng was inevitably linked to Dragon King.


    As a result, a legend was secretly born. After some gossip was spread by word of mouth, people in Jade City were divided into two factions. The conservative faction that believed that Dragon King had raised a team of killers, like the ck-masked assassins of Golden Roc Fort. The fantasy faction, instead, was certain that Dragon King had already learned some doppelganger skill to deal with many things at the same time and he could summon his sword to kill people, ¡°And don¡¯t forget, there¡¯s still the Demon Bird. Dragon King could just ride it and go anywhere he wants quickly.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not care about these rumors, he was still waiting for Guan Shang¡¯s news.


    In the end, Guan Shang brought back the most urate information. While more than one hundred killers and machetemen almost turned up in full force looking for the traces of the assassin in the surroundings but could not find anything, Guan Shang took this opportunity to infiltrate the empty camp and took a look at the situation from up close.


    First Young Master Meng died, the arrow was shot through both his and the woman¡¯s waist, linking them together. Guan Shang would not be able to shoot it so urately even in the daylight.


    Gu Shenwei was waiting for Meng Yuzun¡¯s counterattack. As long as Golden Roc¡¯s killers were not helping out, the Meng family could hire all the machetemen from South City they wanted to, in order to take revenge against Dragon King. In any case, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus knew how to deal with it.


    To their surprise and to all of Jade City¡¯s surprise, Old Meng admitted defeat.


    He apologized so profusely that Gu Shenwei was somewhat at a loss.


    On the morning of the third day after First Young Master Meng¡¯s death, a surreal peace prevailed around the Residence of Dragon King. All of those unknown machetemen who came looking for trouble were gone.


    That day, Fang Wenshi did not attend the meeting for the peace negotiations, instead, he frantically ran to the Residence of Dragon King, bringing with him a piece of astonishing news, ¡°Meng Yuzun ising to seek peace, he¡¯ll be here in a moment.¡±


    The military counselor was out of breath, his lips trembled as he spoke. He, himself was also puzzled by this news.


    As predicted, before Fang Wenshi even calmed down from the adrenaline rush, the guards already announced a visit from Meng Yuzun.


    The patriarch of the Meng family from North City, the richest man in the Western Region, dragged his fat body along while carrying a twig of a chaste tree behind his back. He walked out of his house andpletely ignored the questioning of others. His actions created doubts in North City, which was then followed by a bigmotion in South City.


    A humble apology. Old Meng wanted to offer a humble apology to Dragon King. This news reached the incredulous ears of people at an incredible speed. A quarter of an hourter, thousands of people poured into the streets, following Old Meng at a distance.


    Meng Yuzun came alone without even a single attendant following him from behind. He entered the enemy¡¯s territorypletely defenseless. Opening his arms, and with a grief and humble expression on his fat face, he said: ¡°I surrender to Dragon King.¡±


    Old Meng stood under the newly erected Red Raven g that was in the middle of the front yard. He put his right hand on his heart, and bowed profoundly, uttering words of defeat. He then lifted the edge of his robe and was prepared to kneel.


    Gu Shenwei did not expect such a scene to ur. In all his experience as a killer, there has never been an end to the fight between two enemies. The fights were usually to the death of either party. Apart from the good-for-nothing Shangguan Fei, he has never met a person who would beg for forgiveness and admit defeat so profusely as this one.


    Gu Shenwei grabbed Old Meng¡¯s arm and help him stand up before he could kneel down.He did so while hiding his strength and guarding against a sneak attack. Despite being very capable at kung fu, Old Meng did not have any intention to sneak an attack. Right now, Meng Yuzun was just a father who was suffering from the loss of his child.


    ¡°It¡¯s my fault. This is all my fault.¡± Meng Yuzun was covered in tears, ¡°It was me who provoke Dragon King at first. I even set up a n to imprison him. I am a foolish old man who only saw the money in my hands and failed to notice that there were more powerful forces around me. I lost my child. I have learned my lesson.¡±


    His words and expression seemed so sincere that the swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain could not bear to look on. They went away one by one.


    ¡°Today, I stand in front of Dragon King, begging for forgiveness and also hoping to end the war.¡± He continued talking, as humble as a deferential mountaineer who has just met the king, ¡°but I do not dare to beg for my life. My life, my family¡¯s property, all I have now belongs to Dragon King. You can do whatever you want. I only hope that Dragon King could spare the lives of my other two sons. They haven¡¯t taken part in any action against Dragon King. I am willing to exchange my life for theirs.¡±


    Jiang was already wiping away her tears as she looked at Dragon King from the back. She would rather kneel down and beg for mercy herself, but she did not dare to do so.


    Thousands of residents from Jade City crowded the streets outside the gate. Old Meng¡¯s words were ryed exactly. Even those who initially wanted to see the drama were moved to tears. Everybody was absolutely quiet, listening attentively to Dragon King¡¯s reply.


    Countless pairs of eyes were staring at the expressionless Dragon King.


    Dragon King took three steps back very slowly. The spectators were trembling with fear. Meng Yuzun could not understand as well.


    Dragon King then bowed profoundly to return the bow from Old Meng. He moved forward to remove the twig of the chaste tree on Old Meng¡¯s back with his own hands and threw it aside. He then raised his voice so that everyone, even the people outside the residence could hear. He said: ¡°The Great Snow Mountain and the Meng family have no hatred, Dragon King is willing to make an enduring fraternal bond with the Meng family.¡±


    There was silence, which was then followed by sudden deafening apuse.


    Dragon King and Old Meng turned from enemies into good friends in a short amount of time. This was even more sensational than the simultaneous marriage of the ten sons of the Supreme King. Even when a prostitute was doing the deed with her customer, this topic was all he could talk about.


    Meng Yuzun set up a banquet and Dragon King invited him back. The Governor congratted him by holding a banquet as well, and so did the Special Emissary from the Central ins. One by one, it went on like this for seven days.


    The whole of Jade City was immersed in a joy of peace.


    After all the outsiders werepletely gone on the day when Old Meng sought peace, Fang Wenshi went to Dragon King to congratte him on his victory and praised him for his appropriate response that noon. ¡°To tell you the truth, I was still a bit worried back there, hahaha.¡± He confessed.


    Gu Shenwei, however, was not so happy. He asked for the military counselor¡¯s opinion on Old Meng¡¯s sudden move. After thinking about it for a while, he uttered the same sentence he once said to Dragon King, ¡°As long as you reach your goal, being aboveboard or by hook by crook doesn¡¯t matter. ¡±


    Gu Shenwei shared the same sentiments.


    Looking back suddenly, he realized that everything had been going on too smoothlytely. The main reason was that Golden Roc Fort faithfully abided the temporary armistice agreement and did not challenge the Great Snow Mountain. This was not exactly Supreme King¡¯s style. There must be something big hidden within their obedience.


    The Meng family from North City was known as one of the most important allies of Golden Roc Fort. The Meng family could even be considered as the pir for Golden Roc Fort. For them to admit defeat publicly and not actually seeking any help from the Supreme King really rang several alert bells for the constantly suspicious Dragon King.


    But he could not find a w.


    He used all his strength. New Moon Hall had already let Guan Shang expose herself in advance in order to save Dragon King. They took another risk and demanded their people inside the castle to dig out any information, which resulted in nothing.


    Everything was normal at Golden Roc Fort. Whether if they weremon ves or high-positioned chiefs, everyone was deeply shocked by Meng Yuzun¡¯s action. Rumor has it that Lady Meng almost fainted when she heard about the news.


    Many people advised the Supreme King to resolve the situation between Dragon King and the Great Snow Mountain as soon as possible, but he always beats around the bush on the pretext that he could not break the peace negotiation agreement.


    There was only one month left until the end of the three-month temporary armistice, but a permanent peace negotiation was almost near. It seemed that the Supreme King was losing hisst chance to eliminate future problems.


    Gu Shenwei could not figure out what kind of game Supreme King was ying. The fawning attitude of Meng Yuzun made him extremely uneasy. He of all people knew exactly what it means to endure a moment of humiliation.


    It was about two weeks before the New Year when Fang Wenshi received a piece of news that clear up some of the doubts Gu Shenwei had regarding his enemy¡¯s strategy.


    The princess of a small country in the Western Region had reached the age to get married, and she was choosing the Emperor¡¯s son-inw.


    Fang Wenshi received a confirmed information from the Special Emissary from the Central ins, which revealed that the Supreme King¡¯s son, Shangguan Fei, was also on the list of the possible candidates.


    ¡°Supreme King wants to be a real King this time!¡± said Fang Wenshi, all worked up.

 Chapter 323 - Turn around

    Chapter 323: Turn around


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    This ce was even more shabby than that chaotic machetemen vige; there were houses of mud and straw that followed one after another with their interconnecting doors. Strangers entered and left, but nobody seemed to care.


    There was nothing of value worth to be stolen or robbed in those houses.


    Gu Shenwei passed through one mud hut after another, also passing by a thin and weak boy; an old shivering woman; two men in a deep sleep; a flock of chickens; some cows and sheep leisurely chewingy. Finally he found his target.


    A skinny man wasying on his heated brick bed, and his skin was sallow and bby as if he had not eaten for a long time. Only his eyes, still bright and shiny, gave him the expression of a sick lion ready to jump off to hunt at any moment.


    In his hand, there was a saber with the scabbard, which was as battered as this room, and could barely cover the knife.


    As this person was not very famous in Jade City and recently almost vanished without a trace, Xu Xiaoyi had to spend a lot of energy to locate his whereabouts.


    Gu Shenwei sized him up for a while, but still could not recognize him, so he asked, ¡°Are you Hu Shining?¡±


    The skinny man seemed already dead; he did not have any reaction. Only after a while did he roll his eyes and look suspiciously at his visitor, sighing slightly.


    ¡°Are you the training tutor of the East Castle¡¯s Carvewood Academy?¡± Gu Shenwei could not refrain from asking another question. He really could not associate this skeleton man with the strong master Hu.


    A few years ago, Hu Shining was a training tutor of Golden Roc Fort, specialized in training a dozen teenagers who wanted to be killers. It was him who regretted that Salve Huan once refused aplete initial training and rmended this unusual disciple to Tie Hanfeng.


    A yearter, however, he lost the position as training tutor.


    As usual, the castle of the killers was full ofplicated personal fights. Hu Shining was thought to be part of Young Master¡¯s faction, thus once Shangguan Chui died, he would be purged too.


    He could choose to retain the name of Golden Roc¡¯s killer, live in a small house on the side of the mountain, receive a basic monthly sry, and spend hisst years in this way. At that time though he was not yet even forty, and as many killers don¡¯t ept their age, he voluntarily refused to have any connection with Stone Castle, bing a wandering macheteman.


    The first two years passed by without any problems and Stone Castle¡¯s killers were part of the same circle and helped him a lot; however, they had an unwritten rule: Never take part in a fight with Golden Roc Fort. Therefore, at the time of the kunqiu war, these middle age killers chose to stay aloof.


    During the following years, however, Hu Shining began to experience bad luck and misfortune one after another. First, he had a serious disease and had spent almost all his savings, then the two missions he took part in did not go very well and thus he lost his client. He began to be marginalized even in the circle since everybody believed that as training tutor, hecked real fight experience, and he did not deserve to stay with the other killers.


    The second time he lost a personal battle, he became apletely vagrant macheteman. Common machetemen though also had many kinds of circles rted to sects, families, acquaintances, and money. There was no one like him and after identally having offended some small Protectors, he became an unweed macheteman.


    In this way, he gradually ended up in the poorest corner of South City where even bandits could not find the way, eating dull and waiting for his end.


    During all this time, Hu Shining did not receive any information and thus did not know anything about the outside world. He didn¡¯t even know that the man standing there was the legendary Dragon King. Furthermore, he could not recognize that this was that ve Huan who was so determined in bing a killer.


    This was probably someone who came to kill me for revenge, he thought, hoping that he would attack soon.


    Gu Shenwei thought that the kindest way to treat this middle-age macheteman, who had lost his fighting spirit and his vitality, was to give him a saber, but he said, ¡°I¡¯ve got a job for you.¡±


    Hu Shining twisted his neck and looked at this pale young man with astonishment. Then, recognizing some characteristics that only Golden Roc¡¯s killers had, he asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°My name is Yang Huan.¡±


    ¡°Yang Huan?¡± Hu Shining repeated his name, but it did not ring any bells in his mind. ¡°I don¡¯t even have a saber, so I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t help you.¡±


    That young man was clearly rted to Golden Roc Fort. He was definitely starving to death and to avoid any trouble he did not want to be involved in any fight with Golden Roc Fort.


    ¡°Think about it. Whenever you want you can find me at my residence.¡± Gu Shenwei was a bit disappointed and felt that he found the wrong person.


    Gu Shenwei turned around and took two steps when, Hu Shining, still lying on the brick heated bed, suddenly uttered a sentence, ¡°You always turn right, this is not good.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stared nkly for a while; he had never noticed this detail of always turning right. Since he entered the room he had only turned around once, so how could that man say ¡°always turn right¡±? Gu Shenwei suddenly regained interest in the half-dead Gu Shining.


    ¡°If you want, this is your job.¡± Gu Shenwei added before going away, ¡°Correct young people¡¯s mistakes.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was standing at the entrance of the courtyard, after having passed again through the poor and indifferent residents. He was thinking about his habit of turning right when he suddenly took his hand out and grabbed a teenager from a bundle of straw mats leaning against the wall.


    Just as the other poor people who lived there, the young man was dressed like a beggar, and on his dirty face there were frostbites, yet his hand was holding a short sword.


    The short sword was shiny and sharp, even spotless ¨C in deep contrast with its owner.


    It had been a while since Gu Shenwei had discovered he had a little stalker, for whom he almost felt a kind of admiration, but his eyes were as cold as ever. Most people would panic and beg for forgiveness under the gaze of these kinds of eyes.


    The young man instead looked bravely into Dragon King¡¯s eyes, without drawing back even a step. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of you,¡± he said with a slightly trembling voice.


    Gu Shenwei threw the young man in the corner. ¡°If you really weren¡¯t afraid of me, you wouldn¡¯t say it out loud. Often the wordsing from people¡¯s mouths are the opposite of those in their heart.¡±


    ¡°I, I¡­¡± the young man was confused by Dragon King¡¯s words and did not know what to say.


    The young man was called Nie Zeng and was only thirteen years old. He arrived at Jade City to avenge his uncle¡¯s family ¨C the three of them died, killed by Tie Hanfeng and ve Huan.


    He had a once-in-a-lifetime chance to avenge himself at the Residence of Dragon King, but he missed the opportunity because he was too timid. Even though Dragon King did not kill him, he felt so ashamed that he wanted to throw himself into a river.


    Nie Zeng had been wandering about the Residence of Dragon King for a long time, hoping to have another opportunity, and this time he would not hesitate.


    Dragon King seldom went out through the main gate. Nie Zeng kept on walking around the Residence of Dragon King with an incredible perseverance and only one thought in mind, ¡°Meeting by chance with Dragon King.¡±


    That day, finally happened this ¡°by chance¡±.


    But Dragon King was no more in the situation of the qigong deviation and almost did not have a chance to make a move.


    ¡°Do you want revenge?¡±


    ¡°I want revenge.¡±


    ¡°Do you know how difficult it is to take revenge on someone?¡±


    ¡°I know, but I don¡¯t care how hard it will be. Nothing will stop me from seeking revenge. Unless you don¡¯t kill me now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been preparing for revenge since I was 14 years old. It¡¯s been more than six years now and I haven¡¯t done anything yet. For how long can you bear it?¡±


    Nie Zeng leaned against the wall and stared at Dragon King¡¯s pale face, speechless. He had heard that Dragon King wanted to seek revenge against Golden Roc Fort but had never thought about what this revenge had inmon with his. He suddenly felt ashamed by Dragon King¡¯s words and, in a low voice, said, ¡°I¡¯m not like you. You have Master Shifu. From whom do I learn kung fu?¡±


    ¡°Over there, there¡¯s a man called Hu Shining. You can learn from him.¡±


    Nie Zeng watched Dragon King disappear at the corner of the street without moving. This was not like Dragon King. Wasn¡¯t he the one who killed in a wink? Howe that his own head was still on his neck?¡±


    Gu Shenwei went back to the Residence of Dragon King, where Maid Lotus said, ¡°That child has got a savage character. He is indeed a good young sessor. I¡¯m just afraid that one day he will seek revenge on you.¡±


    Maid Lotus was following him everywhere, but most of the time she would not show up.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. On my back, I¡¯ve got a needle which can keep me on alert.¡±


    Hatred is such a powerful force. This was one of the most important lessons Gu Shenwei had learned from Golden Roc Fort. As long as well trained, one could control this force and direct it outside but not inside.


    After that, Lotus Maid did not say a word. In silence, she was pondering about what role she had next to Dragon King. It was like a needle in her heart, sad yet proud.


    Fang Wenshi was already waiting for Dragon King. During those two days, he had lost his mind and had been analyzing Golden Roc Fort¡¯s intention to marry the Princess. What¡¯s more, from the Special Emissary from the Central ins, he received some big news which suddenly cleared up his mind.


    ¡°The Supreme King really is a wily old fox. He¡¯s faking this peace negotiation only to get his son married to the Princess.¡± Fang Wenshi began to say, ¡°Do you know how perfect the Princess is?¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not know it, but Fang Wenshi was not looking for an answer and kept on talking by himself, ¡°She¡¯s the King¡¯s younger sister. The King hasn¡¯t got any children and has been sick for many years. People say he will live only for a few years and after his death, the royal family will cease to exist. ording to the Western Region¡¯s tradition, only the Princess¡¯ son is the eligible one to the throne, do you understand?¡±


    Fang Wenshi kept beating his left hand with his right fist, ¡°All the countries in the Western Region are going crazy. This is clear: whoever marries the Princess will acquire the country. The only thing left then is giving birth to a child. Who would not be jealous? I heard there are 70-80 kings who want to propose.¡±


    Fang Wenshi beat faster and faster, and his mind became clearer and clearer, ¡°The Supreme King wants his nephew to be the king, then¡­then leave the throne to him! Jade City is long and narrow on the western-eastern side but is quite wide on the north-south line. Once someone has captured Stone Kingdom, then nobody can stop them from bing the king.¡±


    In the Stone Kingdom, in Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind appeared the image of a weak thin young man. When he was younger, ve Huan had been involved in the conspiracy against the royal family, during which the king had been killed and the final winner resulted in the second born Prince, the current king of Stone Kingdom.


    Gu Shenwei had a premonition that the Supreme King wanted to be connected with the Stone Kingdom by marriage. This was not an improvised n since it had probably already been several years since Golden Roc Fort was secretly involved with the Stone Kingdom, and at that time he even unintentionally helped the Supreme King a lot.


    Fang Wenshi stopped beating his hand and stretched his arms. There was something he had been waiting to tell Dragon King for a long time. ¡°You can¡¯t let the Supreme King achieve his goals, but the only way to stop Golden Roc Fort, Dragon King, is marrying the Princess.¡±

 Chapter 324 - Despondent

    Chapter 324: Despondent


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    In the evening, two men, one old and one young, both dressed like beggars, appeared at the Residence of Dragon King. They were immediately discretely brought to the back courtyard.


    The first thing they received when they arrived was a full meal. They were eating in a very different way: The young one devoured ravenously, he had not even swallowed the first bite when the second piece was already in his mouth. The old man was calmer. He drank some wine, took some food, and are, repeating these three movements methodically. He seemed slower, but he ate more than his youngpanion.


    Tie Linglu, at the other side of the table, looked at the two uninvited guests, especially at the young one, as he had heard that had had once wanted to kill Dragon King.


    Afraid that his stomach would explode, Nie Zeng stopped eating and took a deep breath, raising his head for the first time.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± Nie Zeng told ruthlessly to the green-eyed girl, thinking that she was the monster apanying Dragon King.


    Tie Linglong, shocked, sat up straight. His impression of that beggar was even worse, ¡°Are you looking for revenge?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°I am Dragon King¡¯s personal guard, you¡¯ll have to go through me.¡±


    Nie Zeng sneered disdainfully, not caring a whit.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a chance right now. Come and fight. ¡°Tie Linlong was furious. Standing up, she pulled out her saber.


    Nie Zeng took one look at the new recognized ¡°Master Shifu¡±. Hu Shining, as if he had not heard anything, did not stop eating and did not give any advice.


    Nie Zeng patted his stomach, stood up and pulled out his short sword.


    His short sword was actually long andrge, and it did not seem to suit him.


    Tie Linglong snorted again. Before the young beggar could stand firmly, she suddenly shed out with her de before retreating.


    Nie Zeng¡¯s sword fell to the ground. He looked down and saw a wound on his chest, one-foot long. At first, only a few drops of blood seeped out, but soon, more and more blood flowed, soaking his clothes and dripping onto the floor.


    ¡°You, you cheated.¡± Nie Zeng terrified put both his hands on the wound, hoping to stop the bleeding.


    ¡°You idiot.¡± Tie Linlong coldly gave a lesson to the untactful beggar, ¡°Machete skills are to kill people, there¡¯s no such thing as cheating.¡±


    Nie Zeng¡¯s face alternated between red and white, and looked again at his Master Shifu.


    Hu Shining, finally satisfied, spit out, ¡°You are indeed an idiot, it¡¯s true what they say about you.¡± After reprimanding Nie Zeng, he turned to the youngdy, ¡°And you are not smart either. Machete skills are used to kill people, why do you want to watch him bleed? You wasted such a good chance to kill.¡±


    Tie Linglong wanted to exin why she had shown mercy but realized that this would contradict what she said before. She swallowed what she wanted to say, her impression of the old beggar even worse.


    Hu Shining picked up a pot of wine, and looking up, poured it into his mouth, then pulled Nie Zeng¡¯s hands apart, sprayed a mouthful on the wound, then poured all the rest of the wine in the pot onto the wound to wash it.


    Nie Zeng gritted his teeth through the pain, but Tie Linglong looked cheerful.


    Hu Shining moved fast, before any new blood had gushed out. Pulling out a paper bag, as if by magic, he drew out and Jinchuang ointment and spread some on Nie Zeng¡¯s chest, and then bound the wound up with a piece of the young man¡¯s clothes.


    Chu Nanping, who had been standing in a corner all this time, came over and asked, ¡°Dragon King, will you be our Master Shifu?¡±


    Hu Shining sat back on his chair, ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe, anyway I can¡¯t do anything else either.¡±


    ¡°Is your technique good?¡± Tie Linglong asked immediately, as if doubtful of Dragon King¡¯s decision.


    ¡°Not so good, maybe not even as good as yours.¡± Hu Shining replied honestly.


    ¡°Then how can you be my Master Shifu?¡±


    ¡°Three days after bing my disciple, I guarantee you¡¯ll never ask such a stupid question again.¡±


    Tie Linglong¡¯s face was red. Dragon King was severe, but he had never called her stupid. With her hand on the saber¡¯s handle, she thought about challenging the old beggar to a duel.


    Chu Nanping stood between them, ¡°If Dragon King invited him, it means that he must be something extraordinary.¡±


    Tie Linglong¡¯s face became even stiffer, ¡°We are still breaking up, I never promised I would make peace with you.¡± But she did not pull out the saber and turned away.


    Chu Nanping had a mncholy expression. He regretted breaking up with his two good friends. Xu Xiaoyi forgave him easily, but Tie Linglong did not seem to have any intention to do so.


    Nie Zeng covered the wound with his hand, ¡°What a boorish woman!¡±


    Hu Shining did not agree, ¡°If well trained, she will be even stronger than the two of you.¡±


    Tie Linglong circled around the courtyard to go to the Dragon King¡¯s office. She wanted to confirm if the old beggar was going to be her master. She was a disciple of Dragon King himself, what more did she need?


    As she reached the office, she heard the ¡°Shaking-Head¡± military counselor¡¯s voice.


    For thest two days, the military counselor was always bothering Dragon King, ¡°Dragon King, this is not your personal affair. When the Supreme King became the king, the Great Snowmountain lost their chance to fight with him.¡±


    ¡°How about the Central in, what¡¯s their opinion?¡±


    ¡°They agree with me. They hope that Dragon King will take on this responsibility. You know, the Central in is gathering their strengths, it is not suitable for a public conflict.¡±


    Dragon King did not reply. Fang Wenshi decided to risk provoking his master, ¡°Dragon King, you are still thinking about Shangguan Ru, aren¡¯t you? Now she is Meng Wu¡¯s wife. It doesn¡¯t matter what other people say, the Meng family and the Shang family have recognized it too, and you should think for yourself now. The other party is Stone Kingdom¡¯s Princess, she is of high enough status that your own will not bepromised.¡±


    ¡°Please, don¡¯t mention her again.¡± Dragon King¡¯s voice became cold.


    ¡°Counselor Fang knows his guilt, please forgive him.¡± There was no fear in Fang Wenshi¡¯s voice. ¡°I heard that the Princess of Stone Kingdom is still very beautiful. And even if she¡¯s a bit uglier, what are you afraid of? After a few years, you will get a whole country. Even if it was to a monkey, everybody would like to marry her.¡±


    Tie Linglong could not bear to listen any longer. She pushed open the door and said, severely, ¡°No.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had already heard Tie Linglong¡¯s footsteps, though Fang Wenshi had not noticed and was slightly shocked, ¡°Who are you, how dare you to say ¡®No¡¯? This is a matter of national importance, not a child ying house. Get out.¡±


    Tie Linglong was not afraid of the military counselor, and took two steps forward, ¡°You are a bad military counselor, specialized ining up with bad ideas. When Dragon King wanted to save sister Ru, you did not agree. Now sister Ru hade down the mountain, but you still urge him to marry another woman, is sister Ru your enemy?¡±


    Fang Wenshi was a glib, but he was puzzled by the girl¡¯s words, ¡°This is ridiculous, why should we be enemies? I¡­ Who are you anyway? What do you care who Dragon King is going to marry?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Tie Linglong did not know what to say.


    She was that child saved by Dragon King. She had learnt how to use a saber with him, even if they could not be called master and disciple. The first day he taught her kung fu, Dragon King clearly said that he had personally killed her grandfather Tie Hanfeng.


    But she did not bear any resentment towards Dragon King, and Dragon King had never suspected her.


    ¡°I am Dragon King¡¯s personal guard.¡± Tie Linglong finally thought what she could say, ¡°So¡­ so it¡¯s natural that I care about who Dragon King is going to marry, otherwise, when they are squabbling, how can I fulfill my duty?¡±


    At these halfprehensible words, Fang Wenshi burst intoughter. Not only Dragon King did not thank her for her help, but he even sent her out, ¡°I have already invited the best training tutor. You and Little Chu won¡¯t be my personal guards anymore. Go back and learn how to be a killer again.¡±


    ¡°I saw the old man. I¡­ I don¡¯t like him. And I don¡¯t like his kid.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to like him.¡± Dragon King¡¯s cold voice was stern. ¡°You just have to learn what he teaches you. At this level, there¡¯s no way you can be my guard.¡±


    Tie Linglong felt so aggrieved that tears came to her eyes. She turned around, ran to her room and pulling out her saber, started to swing it wildly.


    ¡°This was just a temporary careless. At the Golden Roc Fort she fell into the trap, why was Dragon King so angry? Be a killer, be a killer, hadn¡¯t she killed too?¡±


    But Tie Linglong sat on the bed and remembered that she had not actually killed anyone. She sighed deeply, suddenly remorseful, and even began to doubt her strengths.


    Following that, something else happened that further revealed her weakness. She raised her head and noticed that there was someone else in the room, and she had not detected a thing.


    Tie Linglong jumped out of the bed and grabbed the saber when she recognized that it was Dragon King¡¯s new personal guard, Maid Lotus.


    Tie Linglong did not like Maid Lotus either. This woman who always hiding in the shadows made Tie Linglong feel ufortable. Like now, she suddenly appeared without saying a word. Furthermore, it had been Maid Lotus who had reced her and Chu Nanping as Dragon King¡¯s personal guard.


    Without her¡­ Tie Linglong felt things would be different.


    ¡°What are you doing in my room?¡± Tie Linglong asked stiffly, not bothering disguise her hostility.


    ¡°Just looking at you.¡±


    Maid Lotus¡¯ voice was not loud and almost t, but hearing it made people feelfortable. Even though her face though was not smiling, her eyes were full of tenderness, making her look like an older sister.


    Somehow, Tie Linglong began to like her, ¡°But¡­ You and I, we¡¯re not friends.¡±


    ¡°Women are always familiar with each other. You just forgot.¡±


    Tie Linglong has never heard something like that. She did notpletely understand, but now, even thest trace of wariness towards Maid Lotus had disappeared, ¡°You are like a fairy.¡±


    Maid Lotus was indeed like a fairy, mysterious and ethereal. Even if standing in the dark, there seemed to be a light shining from her body.


    ¡°What about Shangguan Ru?¡±


    ¡°Sister Ru is a fairy too, but¡­ you two are different, she is like ¡­ morning sunshine, you are like ¡­ evening sunset.¡± Tie Linglong finish her sentence haltingly, then immediately added, ¡°You are both beautiful.¡±


    Maid Lotus smiled, ¡°You are a lovely girl. Tell me, why are you sad?¡±


    Tie Linglong was not so naive that she would open up to a stranger, but with Maid Lotus, she had a strong desire to reveal everything. ¡°Because Dragon King thinks I¡¯m not good enough at kung fu and wants me to start from the beginning. And because Dragon King wants to marry a princess, but he should marry Sister Ru.¡±


    ¡°Do you feel helpless?¡±


    Tie Linglong nodded, suddenly her eyes brightened again, ¡°You have a n, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I have a n. But I can¡¯t carry it out.¡±


    ¡°Just tell me, I can do it. And even if Dragon King is not happy, he won¡¯t kill me.¡± Tie Linglong¡¯s green eyes shed with strange light, she could not wait to run into Maid Lotus¡¯ arms.


    ¡°Actually, it¡¯s quite simple. Once your kung fu is good enough, you won¡¯t need to bow to Master Shifu. What more, if the Princess no longer exists, Dragon King can¡¯t marry her.¡±


    Tie Linglong suddenly understood, she was a killer, she has justined that she has not killed enough people, but who most worthy to kill than the Princess? However ¡ª ¡°My technique is not good enough, even if I start training now, there won¡¯t be enough time.¡±


    ¡°I can help you.¡±


    ¡°Can you? But Dragon King said that the sword technique depends entirely on me¡­¡±


    ¡°You said I was like a fairy. Well, fairies naturally have some unique kung fu training methods.¡±


    ¡°Then, will you help me? I will do everything you ask of me. You are too kind.¡± Tie Linglong¡¯s breath came in gasps.


    Lotus Maid raised her right hand, holding a yellow pill in three fingers, ¡°Take my elixir, it¡¯ll protect you as you practice and advance. This will surely make Dragon King sit up and take notice. Once you are done, killing will be a piece of cake.¡±

 Chapter 325 - Meet Me Death Scripture

    Chapter 325: Meet Me Death Scripture


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Zhang Ji, a teacher from the Golden Roc Fort, sent a messenger to invite the Dragon King to a gathering at the Southwall Tavern.


    Shangguan Hong had mentioned Zhang Ji¡¯s wish to meet Gu Shenwei several times, but Gu Shenwei had not really expected to receive the invitation. He was, after all, the arch-enemy of the Supreme King. No one in Golden Roc Fort would dare to have anything to do with him. Zhang Ji had a lot of courage to choose to meet in such a crowded ce like the Southwall Tavern.


    Gu Shenwei actually wanted to meet the teacher as well. They were enemies now and had even crossed paths before. Shangguan Hong had killed Master Lianxin by disguising as Dragon King, andter, murdered Monk Lianye as well. It was very likely that he had done all these under the advisement of Zhang Ji.


    The old teacher¡¯s appearance had not changed much, he was just as serious and severe as before, as if he perpetually had a yardstick to pull out. Upon seeing Dragon King, he nodded slightly and motioned him to sit on the opposite side.


    It was early morning and there weren¡¯t many customers in the tavern except for the tired shop assistant sprawled on the table a distance away, fast asleep.


    ¡°No one else sends me fine wine anymore since you left the Stone Castle.¡± Zhang Ji remarked, recalling fondly about the old times.


    ¡°The Southwall Tavern ispletely free of charge for Mister Zhang from today onwards,¡± Gu Shenwei offered generously. He still harbored a glimmer of hope in his heart that he could bring Zhang Ji over to his side.


    ¡°I heard that your people had taken over the tavern from Shopkeeper Lyu.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°s¡­¡± Zhang Ji said as he looked around, his expression was like a son who was about to leave home. ¡°What a pity! I cannote again.¡±


    By saying these words, Zhang Ji dered his hostility against Dragon King. His face became serious as he said, ¡°You are a wise man, and I am not stupid either. Let¡¯s go straight to the point.¡±


    ¡°That would be best,¡± Dragon King replied.


    Zhang Ji looked at the silent Dragon King and recalled ve Huan, who had alwayse to ask for his advice. Deeply understanding the mercilessness of time, he knew that a stubborn old man like him had no more room to change, while young people would thrive, one generation after another.


    They would all be crushed to pieces on the old stone, he thought, and said, ¡°I came to ask for a favor. In return, I will tell you a secret.¡±


    ¡°Please go ahead, Mr. Zhang.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to the Stone Kingdom to seek a marriage alliance on behalf of the Great Snowmountain?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded his head. Fang Wenshi had seeded, at least partly, in persuading Dragon King to join the team of them seeking marriage, with the purpose of prohibiting Shangguan Fei from being the bridegroom instead of bing one himself.


    In Fang Wenshi¡¯s eyes, it would be advantageous for the Great Snowmountain and their hegemony goal for Dragon King to marry the Princess and inherit the throne of the Stone Kingdom. Even if they failed to marry the Princess, simply ensuring that Golden Roc Fort¡¯s could not secure the marriage was good enough.


    This had already spread around the Jade City. People began to argue over who would be the winner between Dragon King and the Ninth Young Master.


    Zhang Ji paused briefly, as if to show reluctance, but his tone was cold and ruthless when he spoke. ¡°Master Hong will apany the Ninth Young Master to the Stone Kingdom. If you can kill Master Hong during the journey, I will tell you a crucial secret.¡±


    Gu Shen had several hunches about Zhang Ji¡¯s goal, but this was beyond his expectation. Shangguan Hong possessed neither the ambition nor potential to be the next Supreme King. Zhang Ji should have known clearly when he decided to assist Shangguan Hong from the beginning. Getting rid of him only after three years did not seem like Zhang Ji¡¯s way of handling things.


    This could be another conspiracy.


    Gu Shenwei knew the importance of pretending in front of the enemy, so he said, ¡°Apologies, the Great Snowmountain and Golden Roc Fort are holding a temporary armistice right now. I will never break the agreement by killing someone from the Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    Zhang Ji smiled grimly, ¡°If only Master Hong were half as talented as you, he would be able to hold up his head today.¡±


    He stood up, not intending to persuade Dragon King any further. Instead, he said, ¡°The secret is with Master Hong himself. It is up to you to decide whether you want to know the secret, and how to obtain it.¡±


    This was the first time Zhang Ji addressed Gu Shenwei as ¡°Dragon King¡± since they met. He uttered the word with a slightly slower tone which seemed to show both respect and irony at the same time. Finally the senior nced around the familiar tavern of South City and left without even bidding farewell to his former disciple.


    Zhang Ji is exactly the type of military counselor I want. Gu Shenwei thought to himself. Someone who can make ns, implement them, and is confident and concise.


    He definitely wanted to know what secret Shangguan Hong possessed, and also why Zhang Ji wanted to kill the master that he worked for. But he did not intend to get his answer by doing as Zhang Ji wished.


    In the backyard of the Residence of Dragon King, Hu Shining was training the three teenagers. They were not allowed to use sabers but only allowed to hit each other on their backs with their legs.


    Tie Linglong managed to hit Nie Zeng to the ground every time, and then raised her head to at the training tutor in defiance. She refused to train with Chu Nanping and when Hu Shining forced her to do so, she would just stand still instead.


    Gu Shenwei agreed with Hu Shining that the young girl had the potential to be an excellent killer.


    Hu Shining had taken up office in the Residence of Dragon King once reaching a dead end, but he made a demand as well, ¡°I am only in charge of training the killers. I don¡¯t care what Dragon King uses them for. However, Jade City belongs to the Lord¡¯s territory, and I want to leave this ce eventually.¡±


    Gu Shenwei agreed. He had already built a secret base in Shu-lik, but the killers trained there were too unskilled and were in need of reorganization. Hu Shining was perfect for this job.


    Dragon King set out for the Stone Kingdom after New Year, during which Hu Shining also took the three teenagers to Shu-lik to train. This was what they agreed on. Nie Zeng only desired to be stronger than Dragon King. Chu Nanping did not really care for anything but Tie Linglong found it humiliating. However, she did not raise any objections. It seemed like she had epted her fate.


    Shortly after Gu Shenwei entered his bedroom, Jiang brought him a letter. Although she had been serving Dragon King for many days, she still could not stop herself from blushing and would often break things by mistake. There were only a few pieces of porcin in Dragon King¡¯s room that were still intact.


    This time there was no exception. The letter slipped from her hands but Gu Shenwei managed to catch it swiftly. Jiang apologized repeatedly and hastily ran to the other side of the room to wipe the already stainless table.


    ¡°Who sent this letter?¡±


    ¡°It was Sister Yanwei¡¯s maid,¡± Jiang muttered when she realized she had failed to mention such a simple thing when she delivered the letter. Her face blushed deeply once again.


    Gu Shenwei guessed that half of the blood in her body was concentrated on her head, which exined why she was so clumsy.


    The letterhead was sealed with red wax, without any mark on it. Gu Shenwei cut the letter open carefully from the other side with his dagger and pulled out the folded white paper.


    There were only three scrawled words written on the letter, which seemed like the handwriting of a little child. It said ¡°Come and meet me.¡±


    This did not look like Xu Yanwei¡¯s handwriting, much less her tone.


    ¡°Do you know the maid who delivered the letter?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it was Little Mei. She hase here several times.¡± Jiang¡¯s eyes opened wide, confused at Dragon King¡¯s doubts.


    Gu Shenwei was busy with several other matters before he made his way to Pleasure Alley. He just happened to have business with Xu Yanwei.


    The Stone Kingdom¡¯s current king had taken to Xu Yanwei when he was exiled in Jade City. He even wanted to bring her back to his country, although, he wanted to take her life afterward.


    Gu Shenwei realized that Xu Yanwei might be useful somehow, so he decided to take her to the Stone Kingdom with him. But he had not discussed it with her yet.


    The ¡°Number 1rgest brothel in Pleasure Alley¡± was already opened for business, and business was surprisingly good. The customers there were fond of holding ady in each arm, and they would open the windows even in the cold winter just to show off to the famous prostitute Xiao Fengchai, who was staying in the opposite building.


    Xiao Fengchai had been a highly sought-after prostitute for a long time, which offended many of her peers and men who could not afford to be her customers.


    This day, the ¡°Number 1rgest brothel¡± had little business. It was not because the customers had gotten bored, but the owner had decided to take a day off and refused to serve the customers. Even the women worked for her were hidden away.


    ¡°How many days was it even opened for? Are you looking down on us just because you are thergest around here?¡± The rejected customersined bitterly as they were forced to leave the brothel.


    Gu Shenwei came in through the back door. Maid Little Mei was flustered upon noticing him and immediately went to greet him. She said, ¡°Thank goodness, you finally arrived, Dragon King. Please hurry upstairs.¡±


    ¡°Where is your master?¡± Gu Shenwei did not like this ce, and he wanted to make it quick.


    ¡°She¡¯s serving the customer upstairs.¡± Little Mei replied, pointing to the upper floor.


    Gu Shenwei frowned, to think, Xu Yanwei was still serving a customer when she wanted him to meet her. This was really¡­


    Little Meimented in a low voice, ¡°I don¡¯t know the background of the customer, but I¡¯ve never seen Madam Xu so scared. The customer was so demanding!¡±


    Xu Yanwei followed the example of Xiao Fengchai and let her staff addressed her as ¡°Madam¡± as well.


    Gu Shenwei was already on the stairs when he realized what Little Mei had said. He suddenly knew who had written the letter. He stopped immediately.


    He did not want to see her at all.


    ¡°Dragon King is here.¡± Little Mei announced loudly.


    Gu Shenwei had no choice but to continue walking upstairs.


    Xu Yanwei was kneeling in front of a screen, and before she left the room, she made a face at Dragon King. Judging from the sweat beading her forehead, Xu Yanwei must have suffered a lot.


    Behind the screen, a familiar voice called to Gu Shenwei, ¡°You brat, how bold of you that you dare toe and meet me.¡±


    Luo Ningcha walked out from behind the screen. She had not changed much in thest three years, except that she looked even more overbearing now. It was as if the whole world had sumbed to her beauty and even Gu Shenwei had to admit that she looked even more attractive and alluring now.


    It was a pity that Maid Lotus¡¯s hidden weapon had failed to kill her that time. Gu Shenwei shrugged indifferently, ¡°It¡¯s unwise for the Eighth Young Mistress toe here. If the Supreme King hears about this, he will explode.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of him.¡± Luo Ningcha smiled smugly, and then frowned and said, ¡°What did you just call me?¡±


    Luo Ningcha did not like to be addressed as the ¡°Eighth Young Mistress¡±. All the people who worked for her had to call her ¡°Miss¡±.


    ¡°Miss,¡± Gu Shenwei did not intend to argue with her over these trivial matters, but his tone was getting colder and even more unfriendly.


    Luo Ningcha did not detect his impatience. She looked over at him and shook her head, sighing, ¡°What happened to you? You don¡¯t look so good. Your face is as pale as¡­ Is the Great Snowmountain really so cold?¡±


    ¡°What did you want to see me about, Miss?¡±


    Luo Ningcha became more arrogant, almost suffocating Gu Shenwei with her oppressive air. She said, ¡°I saved your two young underlings.¡±


    ¡°And I thank you for that.¡±


    ¡°Thank you? A ¡°thank you¡± is not enough. I am here for repayment for the deed that I did. Do you think that I would do anything for you for nothing?¡±


    ¡°What do you want in return? Just name it, Miss.¡±


    Luo Ningcha seemed to lose her temper again. Gu Shenwei could even tell from her breath that she was seething. Surprisingly, she restrained herself from venting her rage and smiled instead, ¡°So, you are the Dragon King now?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°And you trained thousands of people in preparation to fight against Golden Roc Fort?¡±


    ¡°Something like that.¡± Gu Shenwei did not want to lie nor tell the truth.


    Having run out of patience, Luo Ningcha grabbed a teacup from the table and threw it at Gu Shenwei.


    Gu Shen did not avoid it. The teacup brushed past him, falling to the ground and smashing to pieces.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care!¡± Luo Ningcha lost her temper. ¡°No matter what, you belonged to me, and you need work for me. I have even given you my body, isn¡¯t that enough? You ungrateful brat, you should be on your knees!¡±


    Knowing that Maid Lotus was hiding nearby, Gu Shenwei wondered if it was time to signal for her toe out now. Even if this was reason enough for the Supreme King tounch a war, he would not hesitate to do so.

 Chapter 326 - Break Off

    Chapter 326: Break Off


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    ¡°How could you negotiate peace with Golden Roc Fort?¡±


    Luo Ningcha did not sense the danger lurking at all, and although she did not insist Dragon King to ¡°crawl over¡±, her tone sounded like she was reprimanding a ve.


    ¡°The Lord still has two sons alive. You need to kill them off so that Cheng¡¯er could seed to the throne. Then we can discuss the peace negotiations, isn¡¯t it better this way?¡±


    While Luo Ningcha was happily talking by herself, Gu Shenwei was somewhat confused by her words. The Supreme King still had four sons left, perhaps she only acknowledged both Shangguan Nu and Shangguan Fei and excluded Shangguan Hong the illegitimate son and Third Young Master Shangguan Yun, who was imprisoned. As for Cheng¡¯er, that should be the son that Luo Ningcha gave birth to.


    Luo Ningcha even softened her tone at the mention of ¡°Cheng¡¯er¡±, which was something that Gu Shenwei found exceptionally rare.


    ¡°He¡¯s only two years old but he¡¯s already grabbing a wooden saber and running about, even the Lord praised him about it! Cheng¡¯er is the 10th son of the Lord, and his name is ¡®Cheng¡¯, which echoes the prophecy of ¡¯10 sons bing king¡¯! I have a hunch that Cheng¡¯er is going to be the Supreme King, and I will be there to witness it. Golden Roc Fort belongs to him ¨C it belongs to us both, mother and son.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s still so young, there¡¯s no need to rush.¡± Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t hold himself back and reminded her, but soon regretted his words. Luo Ningcha was especially sensitive about this topic and immediately started to rattle on about it after being challenged.


    ¡°He¡¯s not young at all. Evil people will start toy hands on him once he¡¯s older. I need to strike first to thwart the enemy and help my son to remove his obstacles. Anybody standing in his way will be eliminated.¡±


    ¡°ve Huan.¡± Luo Ningcha spoke anxiously, calling the former name of Dragon King out of habit. ¡°You have to help me. Help me think of new ideas. You are the most reliable person for us to depend on, and once Cheng¡¯er bes Supreme King, he will have the power of life and death over many people. You can seek revenge and kill whoever you want.¡±


    ¡°I want to seek revenge on Golden Roc Fort, therefore your son is my enemy as well. I won¡¯t help you.¡± Gu Shenwei stated matter-of-factly; he wanted to cut ties off with this woman using this in and outright rejection. Also, how could anyone possibly fail to understand such a simple logic?


    Luo Ningcha narrowed her eyes as she was nning to throw something at Gu Shenwei but instead walked towards him. ¡°Cheng¡¯er is your child.¡± She said, so close that Gu Shenwei could feel her breath on his face.


    Gu Shenwei was shocked. He must have had a really weird expression on his face as his mind ran wild. He also noticed something even weirder in Luo Ningcha¡¯s eyes.


    Luo Ningcha kept a straight face and was unprecedentedly serious. Then she let out augh, clutching her stomach, and was soonughing until she was almost out of breath.


    Gu Shenwei was furious. As Dragon King, he had never been teased like this before. His hand involuntarily went towards the handle of his saber.


    Luo Ningcha had a hard time trying to stop herughter. She still didn¡¯t sense the danger lurking around her. Turning around and walking towards the screen, she said, ¡°In your dreams! How old were you back then? You expect me to give you a son? Is it even possible? Even if I count my 10 fingers¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei carried Luo Ningcha from behind and threw her onto the bed.


    Luo Ningcha screamed, ¡°You want to¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want anything. He straddled atop her and tore her clothes off.


    Luo Ningcha struggled as she tried to resist. Lashing out at him in a low voice, she said, ¡°Let go of me, you jerk. You are my ve. Don¡¯t you dare touch me without my permission.¡±


    Her words angered Dragon King even more, and there was only one way to release this fury. He gave her a p on the face without exerting too much force, but it still caused a rough flush.


    Luo Ningcha froze for a moment before she clenched her teeth and attacked the man on top of her like crazy. She strangled, bit, scratched and grabbed him, resorting to every conceivable way possible.


    Gu Shenwei was not tender to her as well. Like a silent wolf, his actions were rough and forceful. He left patches of bruises on the delicate woman, rubbing and squeezing her like a soft dough.


    Like the snow of ck and red colors mixing together, their clothes were torn into pieces during the fierce wrestling.


    Even while doing the deed, Luo Ningcha did not give up struggling. She added countless tiny bloodstains to Gu Shenwei¡¯s already scarred body.


    Gu Shenwei was very surprised that he still retained a strong memory of her body, and knew how to fit in with her in order to get pleasure from it.


    After the first time, the two of themid side by side on the bed, with nothing on their minds. And then, acting simultaneously without prior agreement, they did it again for the second time.


    After the deed, Gu Shenwei realized he had no clothes to wear. Just as he was thinking about it, two sets of clothes were thrown in through the crack of the door.


    Xu Yanwei was very sharp when it came to such affairs.


    Luo Ningcha pointed to a small scar above her right breast, ¡°This was stabbed by Maid Lotus, that traitor. I heard that she is still following you.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Gu Shenwei replied, neither satisfied nor guilty. His anger was gone and he was calm again as he slowly put his clothes on.


    ¡°Avenge me,¡± Luo Ningcha spat out these words, her tone brief and forceful, as though this was an order that could not be refused.


    ¡°No,¡± Gu Shenwei answered briefly and forcefully as well.


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Luo Ningcha sat up all of a sudden. She even forgot to cover herself with the quilt.


    ¡°I said no.¡± Gu Shenwei replied coldly as he put his saber on his belt.


    Luo Ningcha was capricious, ¡°How dare you¡­¡±


    ¡°I dare to because I am no longer your ve, and the same goes for Maid Lotus. I won¡¯t do anything for you. You are a foolish woman, and you have always been. You are not worthy of my service.¡±


    Luo Ningcha was dumbfounded. Thest time she was so frightened was when she heard about the death of Bighead Kingpin. After that, she had never been this afraid even when facing the Supreme King.


    Gu Shenwei was about to leave. He wanted her to wake up from all her fantasies, so he said, ¡°Continue to let your son grow up. I won¡¯t kill him until he reaches the age of 14.¡±


    Luo Ningcha could not recognize the man in front of her. In terms of looks, he was simr to ve Huan, yet hepletely turned into another person when he started talking. She did not know what or how to feel and actually said these words with a pleading tone, ¡°ve Huan, you are the only one in my heart. It¡¯s true, ever since I was pregnant, I did not let the Lord touch me again.¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked at this woman: she was the most famous and beautiful woman in Jade City, his former master, the Miss who had brought him endless humiliation. His face was as cold as frost, then he said, ¡°That means nothing to me,¡± and turned to leave. She was no different from anyone who could be killed by a saber and he felt nothing within his heart for her.


    Luo Ningcha copsed on the bed and sobbed uncontrobly. She did not understand how had ve Huan be so ruthless. What about the pleasure they had just now, was it all a dream?


    Her world was extremely simple; it was built swiftly and, therefore, it copsed as easily as well.


    Xu Yanwei tiptoed into the room quietly and sat on the edge of the bed. Her resentment towards the Miss had disappeared, and herpassion for her overflowed excessively like a river. ¡°Men are all like this,¡± she consoled.


    ¡°But even him! Even he wants to betray me?¡± Luo Ningcha still could not ept what had just happened.


    ¡°Dragon King is a man as well, and men are never loyal to women. Especially for men like Dragon King! They kill, fight, and conquer. Only sabers, blood, territories, and titles matter to them. Women are not a part of it. Never.¡±


    Xu Yanwei did not give much thought to her words when she tried to console the Miss. But she also felt that her words were quite reasonable after she finished talking. Dragon King was probably already ambitious back then when he refused to sleep with her , she thought to herself.


    Luo Ningcha looked up at Xu Yanwei, who was immersed in her thoughts. Such an expression really did not suit her; however, she was moved by Xu Yanwei¡¯s remarks. ¡°But women will always have a way to take revenge for themselves. Right?¡±


    Xu Yanwei herself already failed to keep up with her own train of thoughts. Startled from her deep thoughts, she said, ¡°What? Revenge? Our revenge as women is to see these men killing each other. Just wait for the winner to give us the most money. We don¡¯t need to do anything. ¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. Men will always kill one another, I am so stupid,¡± Luo Ningcha said as she suddenly came to a realization. ¡°Why should I beg him? If they can settle for peace negotiations today, they might start fighting again tomorrow. Go and kill, then. Kill everybody off.¡±


    Xu Yanwei had nothing more to say, so she let the Miss rest on herp as she continued crying.


    Even the Miss could not have everything as she wished, Xu Yanwei thought to herself. Suddenly she doubted herself as well; was she getting on in age, why was she so sentimental all of a sudden?


    Maid Lotus made noment on what Dragon King had done. She seemed to havepletely severed her own feelings and cooperated with Dragon King purely as the Managing Master of New Moon Hall.


    Gu Shenwei carefully observed her every move but did not find anything unusual about Maid Lotus.


    Fang Wenshi came running in during the evening with some bad news. ¡°We underestimated the Supreme King indeed. He must have nned to seek a marriage with the Stone Kingdom for a long time. I heard that all of Stone Kingdom was bought over by Golden Roc Fort, even the servants sweeping the pce floors are on Supreme King¡¯s side. The King of Stone Kingdom was weak and sick, and it¡¯s probably not by chance that he has no children. This is the day that the Supreme King has been waiting for after so many years of painstaking effort.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought about his Master Shifu. Tie Hanfeng had spent 10 years ¡°raising¡± a major Protector, only to kill and rob him of all his property when he retired.


    Golden Roc Fort had their own style of handling matters, and the methods used by Tie Hanfeng and the Supreme King were simr, just that the scale varied greatly.


    ¡°The Stone Kingdom is very important.¡± Fang Wenshi was very sour about it. He did not count on Dragon King to marry the princess, but it was still a great victory as long as Golden Roc Fort¡¯s n was ruined. He still could not bear to give up that piece of territory. ¡°The five kingdoms of Xiaoyao Lake; with the Stone Kingdom strategically located at the opening of imports and exports, taking down a kingdom would mean upying all five kingdoms. This could save at least 10 years of time in hegemony for the Western Region.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t let the Supreme King have his way.¡± Gu Shenweiforted the military counselor, as a rough n already formed in his mind.


    ¡°It¡¯s good that we have the support of the Central in. The five kingdoms of Xiaoyao Lake are friendly with the Central in and this can help offset some of the influence from Supreme King. The Central in will send out another Special Envoy to Xiaoyao Lake. You can join hands with him and tackle Golden Roc Fort. Shangguan Fei is ipetent so there¡¯s nothing fearful about him. It¡¯s a pity I still have to handle the peace negotiations and cannot apany you, Dragon King.¡±


    He could not conclude too early whether Shangguan Fei was ipetent or not. Gu Shenwei then told the military counselor his n. Fang Wenshi pondered for a moment after listening and actually nodded his head in agreement for once. ¡°I think this could work.¡±


    Tie Hanfeng robbed and killed the major Protector that he had cultivated for 10 years. The final beneficiary was not himself though, but his disciple, ve Huan. Gu Shenwei gained a lot of inspiration from this story.

 Chapter 327 - Small Village

    Chapter 327: Small Vige


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    There were only a few drinkers in the small, filthy and dim tavern. Like a group of lions who had already eaten their fill, they would stare at every customer who walked in until they sat down, joining in as onlookers with the rest of the crowd to the next customer who walked in after.


    As soon as Gu Shenwei walked in, he noticed that traditions here werepletely different from Jade City. These people were rude, and theycked danger awareness, not knowing that their stares might actually get themselves killed.


    Zhong Heng waved at him from the innermost corner that was dimmer than usual.


    ¡°Quite a good ce you chose, yeah,¡± Gu Shenwei spoke as he sat down, no longer being stared at by others.


    ¡°No choice, there¡¯s only this tavern around here,¡± Zhong Heng replied, smacking his lips with a dreamy expression on his face. ¡°Close your eyes and imagine here as Southwall. I haven¡¯t gone back to that ce for more than three years, and I really miss the fine wine there.¡±


    Gu Shenwei noticed that Zhong Heng used the word ¡®back¡¯. For someone who was not a resident of Jade City, but from the Central in, he had actually regarded Jade City as his home.


    Zhong Heng was the assistant of the Special Envoy sent by the Central in to Xiaoyao Lake. He met Dragon King in private as old friends.


    It had been almost 10 days since Gu Shenwei left Jade City.


    Located at the east of Jade City, this ce was called Shuangquan Vige. It was thest courier station towards the south before entering the desert, but it was still within the border of the city. It would take about five to seven days to travel through the desert as it wasn¡¯t very big, and right across from it was Xiaoyao Lake.


    All the forces traveling toward the five kingdoms of Xiaoyao Lake would need to reorganize here. They could rest, store up clean water, and hire guides if needed.


    It was here that Gu Shenwei joined the Special Envoy sent by the Central in as they prepared to leave for Xiaoyao Lake together.


    To him, Zhong Heng was glib and experienced when it came to officialdom, therefore Gu Shenwei was slightly surprised when he noticed Zhong Heng looked somewhat shabby as if he had experienced some difficult times. He said, ¡°The fine wine in Southwall is still the same as before, but Lord Zhong, you seem to have changed a lot.¡±


    ¡°Haha, yes, it¡¯s getting worse by the day, but who could have imagined, Dragon King, gee,¡± Zhong Heng said in amazement. As if they had just met for the first time, his gaze was locked on Dragon King¡¯s face the whole time.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t thanked Lord Zhong yet. I heard from the military counselor that you helped a lot.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t really enjoy Zhong Heng¡¯s gaze and was perplexed because he wasn¡¯t so rude before.


    ¡°Hey, the gold belonged to you anyway. I was just helping to take care of it. I was beyond ted when you were willing to give me 20 percent as a remuneration. Dragon King, you are really smart. If you didn¡¯t write to tell me about the whereabouts of the gold, I would have thought you had transferred it all away, instead of it being buried underground.¡±


    Gu Shenwei once assassinated Wei Lingmiao and buried carriages of gold into a big pit within the camp. ording to the agreement, the gold was split into four-four-two parts, among himself, Shangguan Nu and Zhong Heng respectively.


    Two years ago, when Gu Shenwei was on the run, he heard that Shangguan Nu was very shocked by ve Huan¡¯s origin and had the intention to join hands with his father to hunt the renegade down. He sent a letter to Zhong Heng and entrusted him to dig out the gold, offering it to Shangguan Nu as a form of goodwill.


    At that time, Gu Shenwei had already decided that he could not allow the crack in Golden Roc Fort to heal again. If Shangguan Nu was a small enemy to him, then his greatest enemy was Shangguan Fa.


    ¡°It ought to be so. I will need to rely on your help once again, Lord Zhong.¡±


    Zhong Heng looked around and said in a low voice, ¡°Don¡¯t expect too much from me, Dragon King, let alone the other guy.¡±


    ¡°The other guy¡± here referred to the Special Envoy for Xiaoyao Lake. The reason Zhong Heng asked to meet Dragon King in private was to let him know more details about the Special Envoy. His motive for doing so was due to the 2000 taels of silver that Zhong Heng received every month from Dragon King without fail for a few years now. If there was apse in payment, it would also be supplemented afterward.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Gu Shenwei already felt that the Special Envoy for Xiaoyao Lake had a lukewarm approach towards him, but he did not know the reason for it.


    ¡°He is a close friend of Lord Wei and is very mindful of Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Wei Song is back in the Western Region again?¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart raced as he asked. Half of the revenge for the massacre of the Gu family was rted to Golden Roc Fort, and another half was rted to Wei Song. He had always wanted to understand the truth behind it; however, that year, Gu Shenwei did not manage to seize him in time as Wei Song fled to Shu-lik and borrowed paths from Nond and return back to the Central in.


    Zhong Heng nodded and answered, ¡°Yes, you need to be careful, Dragon King. Mr. Wei is now the Commanding Officer for the Western Region. He is in control of the major political affairs in the Western Region now. It¡¯s hard to say what is the Central in¡¯s approach towards Dragon King.¡±


    Zhong Heng was also extremely vignt towards Wei Song. When he was still themandant under the Governor, he almost died at the hands of Wei Lingmiao. He faked his death and escaped from Jade City with the help of ve Huan. Finally, just when he was getting on track in the Central in army, he knew his future would be unstable again upon knowing that Wei Song took on the role of Commanding Officer for the Western Region.


    ¡°Will he let the Central in change their approach to support Golden Roc Fort instead?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. The Central in will not change their main strategy, but honestly, he¡¯s not that supportive of Dragon King and the Great Snowmountain.¡±


    The two of them chatted for a while more before they walked out of the tavern one after another as Zhong Heng footed the bill.


    Fang Wenshi mentioned that there would be a lot of obstacles on this trip. His biggest assurance was banking on the support of the Central in, but even this was shot down unexpectedly. Not to mention that Gu Shenwei had not even stepped into the territory of Stone Kingdom yet.


    Shuangquan Vige was a very small vige, with only about 30 to 40 households. The livelihood of the whole vige was to provide clean water and guides for business trips thate and go. Winter was usually the off-peak season, however, this year¡¯s winter seemed different. Within a few days, there were already seven to eight teams gathered here and the numbers were increasing by the day.


    Several monks lined up and passed by the front of the tavern. Zhong Heng suddenly let out a sigh. ¡°The King of Stone Kingdom is probably bogged down as we speak.¡±


    ¡°They are the monks from the Four Truths Temple.¡± Gu Shenwei remembered that there were no monks here yesterday.


    ¡°Four Truths Temple has a great influence on the five kingdoms of Xiaoyao Lake. Several kings be monks at the temple after abdication. I bet these monks are going to the Stone Kingdom as well.¡±


    This was yet another ominous sign that Golden Roc Fort was determined to get the throne of Stone Kingdom.


    The two of them bypassed the tavern and saw the Golden Roc g waving high in the wind within steps.


    The Ninth Young Master Shangguan Fei had arrived.


    Compared to the small troop that Gu Shenwei brought, Shangguan Fei was almost bringing along a small army.


    Golden Roc Fort set up their camp just outside of the vige, but their scale was almost like that of a vige. Gu Shenwei bid farewell to Zhong Heng and went back. Lin Xiaoshan immediately came to report that there was a total of 200 people from Golden Roc Fort, and among them were 100 guards, with the rest being handymen for transporting the dowry.


    The monks from the Four Truths Temple came with Shangguan Fei as expected.


    After Lin Xiaoshan left, Maid Lotus came with updated news: There were 50 killers in Shangguan Fei¡¯s camp, meant to protect the Young Master full-time.


    Even if 10 Princesses were waiting in the Stone Kingdom, Shangguan Fei would never leave North City or the Stone Castle if he was given a choice. In order to make him rest assured, Lady Meng even sent out all the guards avable within her power. 50 killers and 50 machetemen were more than enough to start a mutiny in the Stone Kingdom.


    Gu Shenwei brought 30 men, and most of them were swordsmen. Only Maid Lotus and Guan Shang came from New Moon Hall, while the rest remained in Jade City to deal with possible attacks.


    Gu Shenwei still had to guard against Wildhorse as he was still atrge.


    That evening, Gu Shenwei unexpectedly received an invitation from Shangguan Fei to meet him.


    The meeting ce was chosen by Dragon King to show no signs of malice. Gu Shenwei chose the small tavern at the front of the vige as the distance between their amodations was almost the same.


    Everybody, from the manager to the customers was ousted out of the tavern. The ce belonged to the border of Golden Roc Fort so the orders from the assassins in ck carried a lot of weight.


    Shangguan Fei seemed very nervous. He wanted tough freely but could only get some hollowughter out of his throat. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that we would bepetitors, Dragon King.¡±


    Both parties could bring an attendant ording to the agreement, so Shangguan Fei brought Shangguan Hong along. Although they were half-siblings, looking at the way Shangguan Hong carefully stood with his hands at his sides, there was no difference between him and a ve.


    Zhang Ji already harbored intentions to abandon this unqualified master and Gu Shenwei actually felt a little sympathy for the guy as he was probably oblivious of it.


    Shangguan Hong pretended that he did not know Dragon King at all, and did not bother to even lift his head.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s attendant, Lin Xiaoshan, stood dutifully behind Dragon King.


    ¡°I really didn¡¯t expect it.¡± Gu Shenwei felt that it was a wrong move for the Supreme King to let his ninth son asked for the Princess¡¯ hand in marriage. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that you would actually be interested in the Princess.¡±


    Shangguan Fei blushed; only very few people know that he didn¡¯t like women, and unfortunately, Gu Shenwei was one of them¡­ and he knew it very well.


    ¡°The peace negotiations are currently ongoing between the Great Snowmountain and Golden Roc Fort. For now, we are at a temporary armistice,¡± Shangguan Fei said suddenly, sounding somewhat impatient.


    That¡¯s right. There is still half a month left before the temporary armistice ends.¡±


    ¡°By that time, the peace negotiations will definitely be sessful, without a break in between.¡± Shangguan Fei added immediately.


    ¡°I hope so.¡±


    ¡°No matter what, the temporary armistice is now in effect.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Not just in Jade City, but also in Stone Kingdom as well.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Feeling a little relieved, Shangguan Fei said, ¡°I believe in you, Dragon King. So, we are¡­peting uprightly, no using of ploys or schemes.¡±


    ¡°Yes, no ploys or schemes, everything has to be under the sun, above board and forthright.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was deeply puzzled when Dragon King answered so readily until he understood what he actually meant. Compared to Dragon King, he was unable to be ¡°above board and forthright¡±, that was his weakness.


    Shangguan Fei looked simr to his sister in terms of appearance, thus he should be quite good-looking if not for his shifty eyes and constantly evasive gaze. Gu Shenwei was perplexed; how could the difference be so vast between this pair of siblings?


    ¡°Let¡¯s make a deal, Dragon King.¡± Shangguan Fei hesitated for a moment, before finally deciding to state his real purpose.


    Gu Shenwei made noment. Opposite him, Shangguan Hong got the hint and retreated out of the tavern. After ncing at Dragon King, Lin Xiaoshan soon followed as well.


    With just the two of them left, Shangguan Fei was even more nervous. He kept looking at the saber on Dragon King¡¯s waist. Then he said, ¡°You know, I have never once thought of bing the prince consort or whatever, but these are the Lord¡¯s orders. I cannot defy him.¡±


    Gu Shenwei kept silent. He could not fathom what deal Shangguan Fei could offer him.


    ¡°As for me, in fact, I have no ambition. All I wanted was to continue to be the Ninth Young Master safely and have no ambition to inherit the throne. Don¡¯t listen to the nonsense that people had been spreading.¡±


    The Supreme King had only five sons left: one was in prison, another one turned traitor, another was illegitimate, and one more could not be publicly announced. Only Shangguan Fei seemed normal on the outside and the throne did seem like it should belong to him. But Shangguan Fei was most afraid of being targeted from all sides.


    ¡°What are you trying to say?¡± Gu Shenwei was bing impatient. Shangguan Fei seemed to treat him as ve Huan still, which made him angrier by the minute.


    ¡°Very simple,¡± Shangguan Fei said as he took a step back. ¡°Give up the idea of killing me, and don¡¯t stop me from marrying the Princess, I¡¯ll¡­ give you my sister.¡±


    Looking at the furious expression on Dragon King¡¯s face, he immediately added, ¡°You can see her anytime. She¡¯s in the camp as well.¡±

 Chapter 328 - Warning

    Chapter 328: Warning


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei sneered coldly.


    Although he himself embraced and benefited a lot from the Shangguan family¡¯s motto ¡°Do anything to achieve your goals¡±, Gu Shenwei could not help despising the Ninth Young Master upon hearing his ridiculous offer. He knew Shangguan Ru well. She was obviously not the kind of woman who could be given to someone as a gift.


    Shangguan Fei mistook the Dragon King¡¯s sneer for a sign of distrust and continued to exin. ¡°I can figure out a way to let my sister leave with you without being noticed. You just need to find a ce to hide her.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a son of the Supreme King.¡± Gu Shenwei reminded Shangguan Fei of his identity.


    ¡°I know, but it¡¯s not my choice. I¡¯d rather be a son of an ordinary man. I wish to spend my life in peace instead of fighting my brothers to death for a meaningless title,¡± said Shangguan Fei.


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe you,¡± Gu Shenwei said bluntly. He had never forgotten how the Ninth Young Master, an expert at pretending to be weak while preparing for a surprise attack, had assassinated Shangguan Yushi.


    ¡°Well, I understand. I lied to you inside the underground chamber of Bodhi Garden, but this time it¡¯s different. You¡¯ll have enough time to wait and see how this thing will y itself out. I can offer you more information right now. Once the princess of the Stone Kingdom gets married, the king will give up his throne and be a monk. Have you seen the monks? They¡¯re going to shave his head. This has been decided a long time ago,¡± said Shangguan Fei.


    In Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes, it was just a foregone conclusion that the king of the Stone Kingdom would abdicate after the princess¡¯s wedding, so he just replied matter-of-factly, ¡°Well, it¡¯s good news for the future husband of the princess.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s me who¡¯ll be the princess¡¯s consort. To be frank, I¡¯m not interested in the princess; I¡¯m just following my father¡¯smand. If I fail toplete this task, my life will be in jeopardy. You¡¯re different. No one will kill you if you fail to marry the princess. I might as well tell you that my father has prepared for this marriage for years. The king of the Stone Kingdom won¡¯t dare to allow anyone else to marry his sister. This thing is set in stone.¡±


    Upon noticing that the Dragon King looked displeased, Shangguan Fei immediately added, ¡°I¡¯m not threatening you. I¡¯m just telling you a fact, and I don¡¯t want topete with you even when I¡¯m sure to win thispetition. Look, giving up thispetition now won¡¯t cost you a thing, and you¡¯ll get my sister for free. I promise you that she¡¯s 100 times better than the princess.¡±


    Gu Shenwei would never trust Shangguan Fei no matter how sincere he appeared, but at the same time, he felt that it was not a bad idea to make peace with Master Fei for now. ¡°I might as well tell you a secret. The Golden Roc Fort thinks it has something on the king of the Stone Kingdom, but in fact, it¡¯s not the only one who knows the king¡¯s secret. You may not know that it was me who solved the murder case years ago,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Several years ago, when Gu Shenwei had been a killer apprentice of the Golden Roc fort, he had used Guard Ju of murdering Prince Ju Gaotai to cover up the fact that the real murderer was the prince¡¯s younger brother, namely the current king of the Stone Kingdom.


    <em>¡°The Golden Roc Fort must have been using this thing to ckmail the king of the Stone Kingdom and push him around all this while,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei.


    He knew that his guess was correct, since Shangguan Fei revealed a frightened expression when he mentioned the murder case.


    ¡°That¡¯s not the whole story,¡± Shangguan Fei said hastily and seemingly in false bravado. He looked worried. ¡°I know some other secret stuff about the king. The Stone Kingdom has borrowed a huge amount of money from the Meng family. The country can never pay off its debts. In short, the king won¡¯t have enough nerve to let the princess marry anyone else except me.¡±


    ¡°Even a coward can pluck up his courage when he¡¯s cornered; you should know best,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s cheeks flushed red and looked as if he was about to lose control of his emotions at any minute. He suddenly threw up his hands and asked, ¡°What do you want? Do you have to kill me? It wasn¡¯t me who killed your father. I don¡¯t even know who he is. Come on, think about it. How old was I when your father got murdered? I was still studying in the school at that time. Be reasonable, Dragon King. I¡¯m even willing to give you my sister. What else do you want? Just tell me.¡±


    ¡°I want a lot of things,¡± said Gu Shenwei, feeling that it was the time to end this conversation. ¡°Think again, what can you give me that is equal to the princess and her dowry?¡±


    ¡°My sister¡­¡± Shangguan Fei stuttered.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head and walked toward the door.


    Shangguan Fei knew what the Dragon King wanted¡ªa country, which was not something he had to give someone else. Even so, he still held on to a small shred of hope as he said to the Dragon King, ¡°You cane to visit my sister at any time. She¡¯s been thinking about you all these years.¡± While he was saying this, the Dragon King had already walked out of the tavern. Shangguan Fei slumped down on the ground and buried his head between his arms, while repeatedly murmuring to himself ¡°I have to survive¡±. After a while, he lifted up his head, revealing a nk expression. He seemed to have made up his mind and announced, ¡°I¡¯ll be alive and well.¡±


    It was pitch dark outside, except for a few lonely lights flickering weakly in the surroundings. When Gu Shenwei was walking toward the inn with Lin Xiaoshan, he saw two monks suddenlye out from behind a mud hut. The monks quickly left after giving the Dragon King a nce, seemingly very wary of his presence.


    ¡°You go first,¡± Gu Shenwei said to Lin Xiaoshan.


    Lin Xiaoshan nodded in agreement and went back to the inn by himself. He knew that the Dragon King was a very secretive person and a first-rate kung fu master who did not need his protection.


    Gu Shenwei watched the monks walking away and then saw Shangguan Feie out of the tavern. Failing to find Shangguan Hong waiting for him outside the tavern, Master Fei stomped angrily and then headed for his camp outside the vige.


    After the Ninth Young Master¡¯s departure, Gu Shenwei went behind the mud hut. There were two people waiting for him.


    Maid Lotus stood beside Shangguan Hong with a sword in hand. ¡°The monks interrogated him just now. I heard them mention your name,¡± Maid Lotus said to the Dragon King.


    Shangguan Hong looked as if he was drunk and nauseous. To support his trembling body, he leant against a wall and put his hands on his knees. He raised his head to cast a nce at the Dragon King, while saying, ¡°They want to avenge Lianhua and Lianye¡¯s death.¡±


    ¡°Strange enough, they¡¯ve waited for such a long time before taking revenge on me,¡± said Gu Shenwei nonchntly. It seemed that he was not surprised at all to hear that even monks could not let go of their hate.


    Shangguan Hong was somewhat irritated by the Dragon King¡¯s indifferent attitude and said, ¡°The monks just want to find evidence first. Besides, they won¡¯t let you off easily.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t kill the monk,¡± retorted Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Well, but they believe that you caused the death of those two monks. They¡¯re determined to hold you ountable,¡± said Shangguan Hong.


    ¡°Wow, they¡¯re indeed monks from the Four Truths Temple; it¡¯s typically overbearing of them. What about you? Did you tell them everything?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Tell them what?¡± Shangguan Hong was still trying to tough it out.


    Gu Shenwei approached him and whispered into his ear, ¡°You didn¡¯t work to kill ve Qing quickly enough. He told me lots of things.¡±


    These words staggered Shangguan Hong. He held the wall and looked as if he was about to throw up at any minute. When he finally straightened his back, he was pale and listless. ¡°So you know everything?¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not reply to Shangguan Hong¡¯s question. He would never tell Shangguan Hong the truth¡ªHe had no chance to ask ve Qing any question when he realized that it was the ve who had poisoned the monks.


    ¡°That¡¯s Zhang Ji¡¯s idea,¡± Shangguan Hong was vexed and began to ramble. ¡°I told him that you knew about our secret, so he asked me to kill you. He suggested that I should achieve that goal with the help of the powerful Four Truths Temple.¡±


    ¡°So you pretended to be me and killed Master Lianhua in North City. Before that, you paid ve Qing to poison the monks. After the incident, you managed to set Shangguan Fei against ve Qing and tricked him into killing the ve for you,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Shangguan Hong pped himself hard across the face and said, ¡°I¡¯m such an idiot to believe that Zhang Ji¡¯s n was perfect. It didn¡¯t work at all.¡±


    ¡°Is it Zhang Ji¡¯s idea to kill Lianye?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Yes, when you requested to meet me, Zhang Ji said that you must¡¯ve noticed something. To ensure our sess, he asked me to appeal to Lady Meng for help. Lady Meng sent three killers to protect me. They killed Lianye.¡±


    Most of the information provided by Shangguan Hong matched Gu Shenwei¡¯s deductions, but none of them were what he really cared about. ¡°I met with Zhang Ji before leaving the city.¡±


    ¡°I knew about that,¡± Shangguan Hong replied, seemingly not bothered it.


    ¡°He asked me to kill you and he told me that you possess an important secret.¡±


    Upon hearing that, Shangguan Hong¡¯s mouth was agape. Suddenly, he chuckled and said, ¡°It¡¯s so funny.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Before I left the city, Zhang Ji warned me that you might want to drive a wedge between him and me. I¡¯m surprised that he¡¯s right. This old man is so smart,¡± said Shangguan Hong.


    Gu Shenwei decided to give up this conversation after hearing Shangguan Hong¡¯s words. Evidently, Shangguan Hong would not believe him no matter what he said. He had to admit that Zhang Ji outsmarted him this time. If he wanted to get the secret, he could only kill Shangguan Hong as Zhang Ji had requested.


    ¡°Believe it or not, I won¡¯t kill you,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯m still useful to you,¡± Shangguan Hong winked at the Dragon King and said. ¡°You want to marry the princess. I think I can help you, and if everything goes smoothly, I¡¯ll tell you the secret mentioned by Zhang Ji. Given this, you¡¯d better help me out when the monks take actions against me.¡±


    With these words, Shangguan Hong melded into the darkness. After returning to the inn, Gu Shenwei still could not figure out what Zhang Ji was ying at; he could not even be sure if the old teacher really wanted Shangguan Hong dead.


    ¡°The monks have great kung fu,¡± said Maid Lotus, who had been staying beside him all this while. Her words wakened him from his deep thought.


    ¡°How many monks can you take on at a time?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Three,¡± replied Maid Lotus.


    Gu Shenwei had seen a total of 12 monks during the day. If all of them could be deemed as kung fu masters by Maid Lotus, the team of monks would be second only to the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s team in terms ofbat capability among all the teams here.


    Gu Shenwei felt that it would be prudent to have a discussion with the monks. After all, he did not kill Lianhua and Lianye and should not be considered an enemy by the monks.


    Surprisingly, the monks came to him instead.


    Two monks carried a heavily wounded man into his room, while the other two guarded the front and back of the group.


    ¡°He wants to meet the Dragon King,¡± said a middle-aged monk gruffly. He looked as if he did not want toe here at all.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know this guy,¡± said Gu Shenwei, after giving the wounded man a nce. The man was dressed in ordinary clothes, but Gu Shenwei was sure that this man was a killer.


    ¡°That¡¯s none of our business. We discovered him outside the vige, and he insisted on meeting the Dragon King. That¡¯s why we brought him to you,¡± said the middle-aged monk, while getting increasingly impatient. He gestured for the other monks to put the wounded man down at the Dragon King¡¯s door and turned around, preparing to leave this ce. Before his departure, he added, ¡°I¡¯m Lianqing. Lianhua and Lianye are my seniors.¡±


    ¡°Both of them are my friends,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Lianqing replied, putting heavy stress on each word and then strode away.


    Gu Shenwei lowered his head to look at the wounded man. He was 100-percent sure that he had never met this man before.


    The man was unconscious and had several deep wounds on his back, which had been patched up by the monks. At this moment, there was some blood oozing out of the wounds again.


    Maid Lotus walked out of the darkness and whispered to Gu Shenwei, ¡°He works for me.¡±


    The New Moon Hall had nted a dozen spies inside the Golden Roc Fort, and this man was one of them.


    Upon seeing the Dragon King and Maid Lotus carrying the man into the room, Lin Xiaoshan immediately led the other people out.


    Maid Lotus swiftly fished out a green pill from the front of her coat. This was Blood Coagtion Pill, which was used by the New Moon Hall to control its disciples.


    Poisonous substances could often be used as an effective antidote under certain conditions. Shortly after Maid Lotus made the man swallow the pill, he came back to his senses. However, his eyes were ssy, and it looked as if he was unable to recognize the woman in front of him.


    ¡°Speak,¡± ordered Maid Lotus. At this moment, she was ying the role of Managing Master of the New Moon Hall instead of the Dragon King¡¯s friend and guard.


    Upon hearing Maid Lotus¡¯ order, the man¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°Don¡¯t go¡­¡± While saying this, he seemed to think of something more important and jumped to another intelligence report. ¡°The Supreme King ns to exterminate¡­¡±


    Before he finished his sentence, blood gushed out of his mouth; not even an elixir of life could not save him now.

 Chapter 329 - Suing for Peace

    Chapter 329: Suing for Peace


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei sat on horseback at a small mound as he gazed far ahead in the direction of the desert. Behind him, the 10 teams were forming up and leaving Shuangquan Vige in a long procession. It was the first day of their journey to the Stone Kingdom.


    Suddenly, the children who had been running and giggling beside him stopped ying and pointed their fingers at the sky while shouting, ¡°Eagle! There¡¯s an eagle!¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked up and saw a ck eagle flying unsteadily above in the sky. It looked as if it was about to lose its bnce and fall to the ground at any minute.


    ¡°It¡¯s injured,¡± said some child.


    ¡°No, it has been entangled by a snake,¡± said an elderly man. He was the most experienced guide in this vige and would be leading the teams across the desert.


    Upon hearing the elderly man¡¯s words, the children all looked up while shading their eyes with their hands. They quickly spotted a colorful snake in the eagle¡¯s beak. The snake refused to give in to the bird and tightly wrapped itself around the eagle¡¯s body.


    During such a life-and-death struggle, the victory would always belong to the one who was more persistent.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a good omen,¡± the guide muttered to himself. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t take this route during this season.¡±


    ¡°Omens themselves are neutral; one man¡¯s meat is another man¡¯s poison,¡± Gu Shenwei said while watching the eagle fighting the snake.


    The guide was deeply impressed by the Dragon King¡¯s words and bowed to him while saying, ¡°You¡¯re right, Dragon King. Let¡¯s hope that it¡¯s a good omen for us.¡±


    Before the oue of their fight was decided, the eagle had flown away from the scene with the snake in its beak.


    The team dispatched by the Golden Roc Fort took its position at the head of the procession and was leading the other teams out of the vige. Gu Shenwei did not see anyone who looked like Shangguan Ru in the team. He thought that she must have disguised herself.


    After the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s team came the Special Emissary from the Central ins and his entourage. The Special Envoy warmly greeted the Dragon King, while Zhong Heng, who was also on the Special Envoy¡¯s team, just slightly nodded to the youth without saying a word.


    Behind them were several merchant caravans, followed by monks from the Four Truths Temple. All of the monks traveled by foot with big bags on their backs. They hade to Shuangquan Villiage together with the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s team, but surprisingly, they did not team up today.


    Amongst them was an elderly monk who was thin but looked hale and hearty. He walked with his fellow monks while carrying a package on his back. ording to the news that Gu Shenwei had gotten beforehand, this monk was named Fayan and he was the Master Shifu of Lianhua, Lianxin and Lianye. Gu Shenwei was not sure whether this monk joined this journey on purpose or by ident.


    Unlike the other monks, who deliberately ignored the Dragon King, Fayan, a total stranger to the young man, nodded to him while walking past.


    At the end of the procession, was the Great Snowmountain¡¯s team led by Lin Xiaoshan, which consisted of more than 30 people. Guan Shang had used some make-up to change her looks, allowing herself to blend in with the crowd.


    Maid Lotus was thest to leave the vige. She rode up to Gu Shenwei saying, ¡°Many people in the six caravans have suspicious backgrounds, but none of them look like killers from the Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    ¡°The Supreme King won¡¯t send any killers to assassinate me here. He¡¯ll never want to bear the me for breaching the truce agreement,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°No matter whom he has sent here, we won¡¯t have enough manpower to cope with them,¡± said Maid Lotus.


    Among the 30 team members of the Great Snowmountain, only three people had great kung fu. Compared to the Golden Roc Fort, the Dragon King did have a rather weak team here.


    ¡°Given that, we can only strike first to gain the initiative,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Upon hearing this, Maid Lotus smiled, since this was exactly what she was thinking about. She quickly determined the first target and said, ¡°We can start with that small caravan. It has only 15 people, and they look more anxious than the others.¡±


    Gu Shenwei agreed since he himself had also noticed this strange team. Although all the members of the team were dressed in long robes like ordinary businessmen, their riding posture, their strong and steady hands and the looks on their faces clearly indicated that they were notmon people. ¡°Let¡¯s act tonight,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    It was winter. When night fell, it was particrly cold and quiet in the desert. The 10 teams pitched camp together for the night and the tents of the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s team upied nearly half of the camp ground.


    Toward midnight, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus sneaked out of their tent and went to meet with Guan Shang, who had been keeping watch on the small caravan for them all this while in the northeastern corner of the camp. When they arrived, Guan Shang nodded to them, signifying that everything was alright and there was no trap.


    After having fulfilled her responsibilities, Guan Shang retreated to her own tent, leaving matters to the two killers.


    The 15 members of the small caravan were split evenly into three tents. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus intended to use knockout powder on them before sneaking into their tents to cut off their heads.


    Before they took action, they spent a little bit of time observing their target out of habit. What happened next proved that this was prudent.


    Fourteen people crept out of the three tents in groups of two or three, their faces concealed. They nodded to one another and then headed for the southeastern corner of the camp.


    That corner was upied by the Great Snowmountain¡¯s team. It seemed that these masked men also nned tounch an attack tonight.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus exchanged a knowing look with each other and then took a detour to the southeastern corner, preparing to block and eliminate their enemies when they retreated from that ce.


    To their great surprise, when they arrived, they discovered that the target of the 14 masked men was not the Great Snowmountain¡¯s team but the monks from Four Truths Temple.


    The 12 monks, who were nning to meditate through the night, did not need too much space. Therefore, they had pitched only two tents.


    The masked men left two men standing guard outside each tent, and then the rest of them split into two teams and rushed into the two respective tents. This was an amateur assassination technqiue which could only seed when used on ordinary victims. Against the 12 highly skilled monks, it was akin to courting their own death.


    The fight in the tents hadsted for a very short period of time before the defeated masked men dashed out of the tents and fled.


    Upon hearing the noises from the fight, the people in the neighboring tents woke up with a start and ran out to check the situation. Such chaos happened to provide coverage for the masked men.


    At this moment, the middle-aged monk named Lianqing stepped out of his tent and said in a loud voice, ¡°Don¡¯t panic. It¡¯s just a group of hooligans sneaking into our tents. We¡¯ve already defeated them and driven them away. Everybody in our tents is fine.¡±


    The chaos quickly died down before reaching a climax, but no one in the camp actually believed Lianqing¡¯s exnation. As they were in an uninhabited desert now and with a Golden Roc g fluttering over their camp, everyone was clear that no hooligan would dare to approach and that it must have been some people inside the camp who had attacked the monks. However, as Lianqing had made it very clear that the monks did not want to track down the intruders, nobody wished to trouble himself.


    The moment the masked men had broken into the monks¡¯ tents, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had sneaked back to the northeastern corner of the camp to hide, waiting for the masked men toe back. About one hourter, the masked men returned to their tents. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus could hear them discussing together in whispers.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never expected the monks to have such great kung fu.¡±


    ¡°What can we do now? How about turning back? We¡¯re only one day¡¯s journey away from the vige.¡±


    ¡°But we¡¯ve received the money. How can we report back to our client without getting the thing.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait for another opportunity. We¡¯ve been too hasty this time. The Golden Roc Fort, the Dragon King, the monks and Zhuang Qiang, no one in this camp is easy to deal with. Once they fight against one another, we¡¯ll get a chance to acquire the thing in the chaos.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. We don¡¯t need to exert ourselves.¡±


    ¡­


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus gave up their attempt to kill the masked men and returned to their tent. Guan Shang was there, waiting for them. ¡°After your departure, two batches of people sessively came here to spy on us. Both left this ce quickly. It¡¯s probably because they found out that you had left this tent,¡± Guan Shang said in a low voice.


    ¡°I know who¡¯s hired by the Golden Roc Fort to kill me¡ªZhuang Qiang. I killed his brother, Zhuang Heng,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Long Machete God¡± Zhuang Heng, leader of a small gang of bandits, had fallen under Gu Shenwei¡¯s saber two years ago.


    His brother, Zhuang Qiang, who was also a leader of a bandit gang, had once openly imed that he would have avenged Zhuang Heng¡¯s death by killing Yang Huan. However, Gu Shenwei had never encountered the bandit during the past few years and neither had he heard any information about this man after bing the Dragon King.


    ¡°Zhuang Qiang is not a first-rate kung fu master. His sabers skills are noticeably inferior to his brother,¡± added Maid Lotus. As Managing Master of the New Moon Hall, she knew many kung fu masters in Western Region.


    ¡°That¡¯s why he waited until today. He only dares to take his revenge on me when he¡¯s backed by a powerful person,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Both Maid Lotus and he were more interested in Zhuang Qiang and did not care much about the fight between the masked men and the monks.


    The next morning, the 10 teams continued to travel together. Lin Xiaoshan, who knew many machetemen in this procession, spent the whole day collecting information upon the orders of the Dragon King but he still failed to find any clue about the whereabouts of Zhuang Qiang.


    In the evening, when the teams pitched camp, Shangguan Hong came to visit Gu Shenwei.


    He was sent here by Shangguan Fei. Although he hated this job, he dared not reject the Ninth Young Master. ¡°Dragon King, the Ninth Young Master is looking forward to your response. His offer to you is still valid,¡± said Shangguan Hong.


    ¡°Tell him that I¡¯m still thinking about it,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have much time left. Er, I mean, this is what the Ninth Young Master said to me. Once we arrive in the Stone Kingdom, you¡¯ll have little choice,¡± said Shangguan Hong.


    ¡°I know.¡± Gu Shenwei still refused to give a clear answer.


    After delivering the message to the Dragon King, Shangguan Hong heaved a sigh of relief, and then he looked at the Dragon King while saying, ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m very grateful to you. I told you all my important secrets, and you¡¯ve kept them for me all this while, even when you were being pushed so hard by Lady Meng. You really saved my life.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m always cautious in my speech,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Yes, and you always keep your promises. Dragon King, please tell me the truth. Do you really want to kill everyone in the Shangguan family¡­ including me?¡± asked Shangguan Hong.


    ¡°As long as the truce agreement is valid, I won¡¯t kill anyone from the Golden Roc Fort,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Yes, but everyone knows that the so-called peace talks are just a cover. The lord agreed to a cease-fire because he wants to make a good impression on the countries of Western Region. As such, the Ninth Young Master can sessfully marry the princess. As for you, the Dragon King, you just use the peace talks as a ploy to gain time and advantage. You intend to umte strength andunch a counterattack on the Golden Roc Fort. Am I right?¡± asked Shangguan Hong.


    ¡°If you think that you already know everything, why bother to ask?¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t believe you really want to kill all members of the Shangguan family. At least, I know that you can¡¯t kill someone in our family,¡± Shangguan Hong smiled knowingly at the Dragon King and said. ¡°I hope that I can also be a person that you¡¯re unwilling to kill.¡±


    ¡°What happened in the Stone Castle? What makes you guys, sons of the Supreme King, suddenly be so eager to betray the Golden Roc Fort?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Nothing happened. Everything has not changed.¡± Shangguan Hong appeared somewhat irritated and said, ¡°I¡¯m still the same old me, except for my given name, which has been changed from Hongye to Hong. Zhang Ji has been working hard for the past three years but still failed to build me up. To be honest, I¡¯m tired of all this, especially that old woman, who treats me like a ve, yells at me and even forces me to serve her son.¡±


    Shangguan Hong breathed a long sigh and continued, ¡°I don¡¯t even have the chance to take an oath of loyalty to the Supreme King. How can I betray him? I just want to¡­ find my own way out.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m always ready to offer you such a way,¡± Gu Shenwei replied in a calm tone as if he was talking to a desperate fugitive.


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s face lit up, and he hurriedly added, ¡°I¡¯m also willing to work for you. To show my sincerity, I can give you a piece of information now. The Ninth Young Master ns to trap you in this desert tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.¡±


    With these words, Shangguan Hong excused himself.


    Gu Shenwei was deeply perplexed at why Shangguan Hong and Shangguan Fei, sons of the Supreme King, feared him so such. <em>¡°These two young masters are guarded by lots of professional killers and machetemen, but both of them seem to firmly believe that they¡¯ll be assassinated during this journey. They even kept imploring me to be gracious to them. What a strange thing.¡±</em>


    Bound by the terms of the truce agreement, the Dragon King could not assassinate anyone from the Golden Roc Fort during thispetition to win the princess¡¯ favor. This was a fact known to all.


    Given that, it seemed very ridiculous that these two young masters of the Shangguan Family dreaded him so much.


    The piece of information that Shangguan Hong had leaked to the Dragon King quickly proved to be true. The next day, the Great Snowmountain¡¯s team did run into trouble.

 Chapter 330 - Retaliation

    Chapter 330: Retaliation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Monk Fayan was the type of person who somehow always appeared superior to you. If you were a beggar, you would feel inferior to him. If you were a king, you would still look up to him with veneration. He was always a notch better than you, no matter who you were or what you did.


    In the meantime, he naturally maintained an approachable attitude without being condescending.


    Gu Shenwei felt somewhat nervous in front of this monk.


    He never dreaded fierce-looking opponents, such as Lianqing, as he believed that he could always take them on. Nevertheless, when confronted with Fanyan, he felt helpless as if he were an exhausted leopard chasing a prey who always managed to stay one step away.


    The moment Gu Shenwei stepped into Fayan¡¯s tent, the skinny monk smiled knowingly at him, seemingly having predicted the young man¡¯s arrival a long time ago. Gu Shenwei disliked the monk¡¯s attitude very much, as the monk behaved as if he already had everything under his control.


    Lianqing was standing beside Fayan, breathing heavily as growls emanated from his throat. He looked like a fierce guard dog which was ready to open its mouth and tear the intruder into pieces at any minute on behalf of his master.


    ¡°Lianqing, rx. The Dragon King bears no ill will,¡± said Fayan. Surprisingly, the skinny monk had a very soft and gentle voice.


    Upon hearing his Master Shifu¡¯s remarks, Lianqing put his palms together, bowed to Fayan and drew aside to join the meditating monks. There were 6 monks inside this tent. Fayan sat in the middle, with two monks sitting on his left and three on his right. Lianqing was now sitting on the second meditation cushion on the right.


    For a moment, Gu Shenwei really wished to tell the monks bluntly that he was indeed bearing some ill will, but he quickly banished the thought away since he did not want to act in such a juvenile manner. He nodded slightly to Fayan and said, ¡°I¡¯vee to meet you, Master Fayan. I want to make a deal with you.¡±


    In Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes, everything could be discussed. He needed to win the monks over as temporary allies, so he came here to visit Fayan right after Shangguan Hong¡¯s departure.


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s a good deal, but we can¡¯t agree to it.¡± Fayan firmly refused the Dragon King before hearing the young man¡¯s proposal and acted as if he had seen through the Dragon King¡¯s mind.


    Gu Shenwei had intended to work together with the monks to fight the bandits, since some of these bandits nned to kill him, and the others wanted to snatch something from the monks.


    ¡°Master Fayan, do you think that I¡¯ll be defeated?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°No, I believe you can defeat all your enemies, Dragon King. However, you¡¯ve a particrly strong killing intent. I dare not get too close to you,¡± said Fayan.


    Gu Shenwei nced at the monks who were meditating beside Fayan and mocking them, ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that they¡¯ll disy strong killing intents too once they get pissed off.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re different from you, Dragon King. Your killing intent keeps growing stronger while theirs has already showed signs of abating.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was well aware that Fayan was just packaging his refusal in a friendly manner and said, ¡°Well, masters, I have to excuse myself. Have a good rest.¡±


    With these words, Gu Shenwei stepped backward toward the entrance of the tent. Fayan smiled and fixed his eyes on the young man, as if he had already known what the Dragon King was going to do next.


    Gu Shenwei did not believe that this monk was really able to read his mind.


    He promptly drew out his Five Peaks Saber and stabbed at Lianqing, who was sitting in a meditation position beside Fayan with his eyes closed.


    This strike was enough to kill a first-rate kung fu master in jianghu, but it was stopped by someone using only a few fingers.


    Fayan moved even faster than the Dragon King and used three fingers to stop his saber. ¡°Dragon King¡¯s saber is impressively quick, Dragon King,¡± said Fayan.


    ¡°You indeed have incredible Internal Strength, Monk,¡± said Gu Shenwei. He did not feel much energying through the monks¡¯ fingers, but no matter how hard he tried, his saber still could not pierce through the defence of the monk.


    ¡°Impressive,¡± Gu Shenwei praised Fayan¡¯s kung fu, before suddenly drawing back his saber and stepping to the right to strike at Lianqing again.


    Lianqing remained in deep meditation with his eyes closed, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings. However, his eyebrows began to knit together at this moment.


    Fayan quickly moved to stop the Dragon King and used the same move to block the young man¡¯s saber once again. Just as he was about to speak, he realized that he had been set up.


    He suddenly heard a sharp weapon ripping the tent wall behind him and then saw a dark shadow darting toward him. Before the other monks realized what was going on, the shadow retreated as fast as the wind, leaving only an open gash in the tent.


    Fayan released the saber and retreated to his meditation cushion. As he took a seat on the cushion, he said, ¡°Congrattions to you, Dragon King. Your assistant has superb kung fu.¡±


    The five monks sitting beside Fayan could no longer focus their minds on meditation. They opened their eyes and discovered that the part of garment covering Fayan¡¯s ribs had already turned red with blood.


    Upon seeing this, Lianqing roared with anger. When he was about to spring at the Dragon King, Fayan stopped him by saying, ¡°No, Lianqing. I¡¯ve told you that the Dragon King bears no ill will.¡±


    ¡°But, Master Shifu¡­¡± Lianqing did not want to let the Dragon King off so easily.


    ¡°The Dragon King has already recognized you. It¡¯s a good thing for you. Now you don¡¯t need to conceal your identity anymore,¡± said Fayan.


    Suddenly, Lianqing¡¯s face changed. ¡°Master Shifu, I¡­¡± he stuttered.


    Gu Shenwei stood at the entrance of the tent with unsheathed Five Peaks Saber in hand and said, ¡°You¡¯ve sacrificed a lot for your revenge n during the past two years. You even shaved your head and became a monk for it.¡±


    Ever since hearing the name ¡°Zhuang Qiang¡±, Gu Shenwei could sense that someone¡¯s face kepting up in his mind. After spending a whole day recollecting his memories, he finally realized that it was that of Lianqing.


    ording to Shangguan Hong, the monks from Four Truths Temple nned to kill him during this journey to avenge the death of Lianhua and Lianye, but he could not understand why the monks hated him so much, since those two monks¡¯ death was not directly caused by him. However, as a person who had also suffered from the pain of losing his close rtives, he could recognize the intense hatred in Lianqing¡¯s eyes when he first met the monk.


    Gu Shenwei believed that Shangguan Fei must have been nning to use Lianqing to kill him in this desert and he had better strike first. That was why he had asked Maid Lotus to work together with him to kill Fayan, the monk¡¯s protector.


    Beyond his expectations, Maid Lotus failed to kill Fayan with one blow. She withdrew immediately after wounding the elderly monk. This was a habit she had developed during her killer career. Gu Shenwei knew that now she was probably hiding somewhere nearby, preparing tounch another attack.


    ¡°Very impressive, Dragon King,¡± Lianqing said coldly. ¡°You¡¯ve seen through my disguise. I was indeed known as Zhuang Qiang before bing a monk.¡±


    By now, the other monks had already finished dressing Fayan¡¯s wound. A dull red flush suffused the skinny monk¡¯s face when he asked, ¡°Lianqing, now the murderer of your brother is standing right in front of you. What¡¯re you going to do?¡±


    Lianqing turned around to bow to his Master Shifu and his seniors and then said, ¡°I¡¯m deeply grateful to you for teaching me so much during the past two years, Master Shifu, but I still can¡¯t let go of my hate. I¡¯m really sorry to let you down.¡±


    Fayan still looked as calm as before, as if he did not feel disappointed at all. The flush on his face began to fade away, which meant that his wound was alright now. ¡°You¡¯re no match for the Dragon King,¡± said Fayan.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care. He killed my brother, so I have to kill him!¡± Lianqing red at the Dragon King and shouted. In this moment, hepletely forgot about his Master Shifu¡¯s teachings. He was not Monk Lianqing but Bandit Zhuang Qiang now.


    Gu Shenwei could haveunched a surprise attack on Lianqing and killed him when he was speaking, but he did not strike and instead walked out of the tent, waiting in the open for the monk.


    Lianqing tore up his shirt, revealing his muscr upper body and a tattoo of a dragon engaged in fiercebat with a tiger covering his chest. He then drew a long knife out of his backpack, which was used by the monks to make clothes, and strode out of the tent, determined to fight the Dragon King till death.


    Upon hearing the noise, all the monks in the neighboring tent came out. They were shocked at the scene before their eyes, but they could not interfere in this situation as their Master Shifu Fayan did not give them any order. In the end, they just pushed up the p covering the entrance of the tent to let their Master Shifu watch the fight happening outside.


    A dozen ¡°businessmen¡± also came to watch the fight. They maintained quite some distance from Lianqing and the Dragon King and each of them reached into his own robe to grab his weapon, preparing to join the fight at any minute.


    ¡°Did my brother offend you before?¡± Lianqing asked harshly. After having suppressed his anger for more than two years, he wanted to ask the Dragon King all the questions he had about his brother¡¯s death.


    ¡°No, I¡¯d never met him before I killed him,¡± Gu Shenwei shook his head and replied.


    ¡°Did he block your path?¡±


    ¡°No, it was me who came at him, and not the other way around.¡±


    ¡°Then why did you kill him?¡± Lianqing raised his voice. Their conversation attracted more and more on-lookers. Upon seeing this, those ¡°businessmen¡± removed their hands from their robes.


    ¡°Because he had great kung fu. I needed to kill such a kung fu master to improve my swordcraft.¡± Gu Shenwei continued to speak in a calm and neutral tone, as if everything he said was a grain ofmon sense.


    ¡°Haha.¡± Lianqing red with anger and then said with augh, ¡°To improve your swordcraft? What a reasonable exnation. Today, I¡¯ll kill you to improve my machete skills.¡±


    Usually, Gu Shenwei never talked so much with his opponent, but when he nced across at Fayan, who seemed to be reciting some Buddhist incantation inside the tent, he decided to continue this conversation.


    ¡°Did you and your brother always kill people for very valid reasons?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± shouted Lianqing, but almost immediately he realized how hypocritical he sounded, so he added, ¡°My brother and I were bandits. If we didn¡¯t kill anyone, how could we get our loot?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a killer. If I don¡¯t kill anyone, how can I improve my skills?¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Lianqing was struck speechless. ¡°Now, you¡¯re a monk. If you can¡¯t let go of your own hate, why bother to pray to Buddha everyday?¡± asked Fayan, who still remained inside the tent.


    ¡°I¡­¡± Lianqing had no reply. Two years ago, he had chosen to be a monk in Four Truths Temple because he nned to seek for opportunities to kill the Dragon King under the cover of this prestigious temple. He had never expected that he would have been so deeply influenced by the Buddhist doctrines. Now he sincerely hoped to be a Buddhist, but he still could not give up the thought of avenging his brother¡¯s death.


    Suddenly, some on-looker sneered coldly, ¡°What¡¯re you waiting for? It¡¯s your divine right to avenge your brother¡¯s death. If you don¡¯t do so, you¡¯ll be despised by the others.¡±


    Upon hearing that, Lianqing felt no more hesitation. He lifted up his long knife and charged toward the Dragon King.


    Lianqing took three big steps forward while the Dragon King took three small steps backward. In the blink of an eye, the monk was only about two meters away from the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei carefully calcted the distance between them. When he took the third step, he just touched the ground with the toes of his back foot, and then he leapt forward and raised his saber to strike at Lianqing. When the Dragon Kingunched his attack, the monk had not yet firmly pressed his front foot on the ground, so his stance was not very steady.


    Gu Shenwei brushed past Lianqing and then continued to run several steps under the influence of inertia. The moment he stopped and turned around, a drop of blood slid down his Five Peaks Saber.


    Lianqing had practiced for days to prepare himself for this duel against the Dragon King. He had never expected that he would have lost the fight because of one false move. It made him change from the offensive to a defensive during the veryst minute of the fight. Although he managed to protect most of the vulnerable parts of his body by doing so, he still failed to dodge the Dragon King¡¯s saber. He got stabbed in his ribs just like Fayan.


    ¡°Your kung fu is not so good as your brother¡¯s,¡± Gu Shenwei said matter-of-factly. He failed to kill Lianqing with one blow since this time he had used a saber instead of a sword. Compared to the saber techniques he was using now, the sword skill that he had used to kill Lianqing¡¯s brother, Zhuang Heng, was much more powerful.


    ¡°Killing is so meaningless,¡± said Lianqing, as the warm energy inside his body as well as his hatred toward the Dragon King were gradually dripping away. Now he knew how death felt like and realized how absurd his urge for revenge was. He slowly sat down on the ground in a meditation position and continued repeating those four words ¡°Killing is so meaningless¡±.


    Gu Shenwei sheathed his saber and nodded to Fayan. It turned out that their failure to strike a deal did not prevent them from achieving their respective goals.


    After that, he walked toward the tents of the Great Snowmountain. All the on-lookers in his way simultaneously stepped aside to let him pass.


    He spotted a familiar pair of eyes in the crowd, but these big and ck eyes were on a shallow male face.


    He and the ¡°man¡± looked at each other for a moment, but neither of them said a word.


    Gu Shenwei heaved a sigh of relief when he returned to his tent. Many people in this camp hade here to assist Lianqing, but they had never anticipated that the Dragon King would have struck first to spoil their original n. They could have worked together to kill him when the duel ended, but none of them had the courage to do so and thus missed this chance. They did not know that the Dragon King¡¯s guard was not around.


    Maid Lotus should have returned to her job after injuring Fayan, but Gu Shenwei had not sensed her presence all this while.


    Now he found out that she was sitting on the carpet inside the tent and her face was as pale as his. Apparently, she was severely wounded.

 Chapter 331 - Backfire

    Chapter 331: Backfire


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The Death Scripture swordcraft backfired on Maid Lotus.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had nned to dominate the situation by striking first, but now they ended up cing themselves in jeopardy.


    The sword skill from Death Scripture required its practioners to charge forward without hesitation and to kill with only one stroke. During this process, one would have no time to think or maneuver. Maid Lotus had never expected Fayan to have such powerful kung fu until she broke into the tent to attack him. Instead of killing the monk with one blow, she only managed to wound him, and at the same time, she was jarred by his Internal Strength. The monk¡¯s internal strength swiftly rushed toward her Dantian, carrying along her own energy that she had infused her sword with.


    As a result, she was now suffering almost the same pain as Gu Shenwei did during his qigong deviation attacks.


    ¡°I¡¯m running out of time,¡± Maid Lotus said in a trembling voice while trying her best to remain calm. Her lips had be white from the chill inside her body.


    ¡°You feel so much pain that you¡¯d rather die, don¡¯t you?¡±said Gu Shenwei, ¡°The pain will grow worse, and at the most painful moment, you won¡¯t get enough strength to kill yourself.¡± Gu Shenwei did not feel much sympathy for her, as it was Maid Lotus who had caused his periodical paralysis, which would make him feel as if he was continuously stabbed by icicles.


    Upon hearing the Dragon King¡¯s cold remarks, Maid Lotus looked up at him, her eyes clear and peaceful. She looked as if she wanted to say something, but she was too weak to do so, as she had to concentrate all her efforts on fighting against the icy energy surging out of her Dantian.


    The two of them gazed at each other for a while, and then Gu Shenwei knelt down beside Maid Lotus and whispered, ¡°Focus on guarding your heart meridian and give up on the other meridians. This will increase your pain, but only in this way can you save your own life.¡±


    Maid Lotus stared at him for a moment and then she suddenly stretched out her cold and shaky hands to hold his hands, while saying, ¡°Guan Shang.¡±


    She was unable to say anything after saying this name, but Gu Shenwei immediately understood her meaning and said, ¡°I won¡¯t let Guan Shang get close to you. I¡¯ll always stay by your side and protect you.¡±


    Maid Lotus had once told Gu Shenwei that she did not trust anyone from the New Moon Hall. Upon hearing Gu Shenwei¡¯s promise, she finally felt relieved. She released his hands and closed her eyes. Her pain was bing increasingly evident on her face.


    Gu Shenwei fished out two small clumps of cotton wool and stuffed them into Maid Lotus¡¯ ears.


    Maid Lotus had suggested that they work as each others¡¯ protectors before, but back then Gu Shenwei had not made his stand known regarding this proposal. Neither had he expected that it would have been Maid Lotus who needed help first.


    As he watched Maid Lotus channeling her Internal Strength with a pained expression on her face, he could not help thinking what a good opportunity he had at this moment. The Great Snowmountain¡¯s alliance with the New Moon Hall was just temporary, and Maid Lotus and he would be enemies again sooner orter. If he did not take this chance to kill Maid Lotus, who had already surpassed him in swordcraft, he would have endless trouble in the future.


    Besides, she would never know who murdered her, since now she was suffering from severe qigong deviation caused by her swordcraft backfiring.


    Gu Shenwei gripped the hilt of his Five Peaks Saber, while imagining the feeling of cutting her throat with it.


    He continued kneeling beside Maid Lotus and gradually suppressed his urge to kill her. He reminded himself that he had to learn to coexist with his foes and that at present, Maid Lotus and the New Moon Hall were still his irreceable allies.


    Apart from that, there was so much that he wanted to find out about Maid Lotus, such as the reason for her frequent and random use of the Death Scripture swordcraft.


    In ordance with Gu Shenwei¡¯s previous experiences, it would take at least 12 hours to recover from such a qigong deviation, and the first four hours would be the most critical period. During these four hours, Maid Lotus had to shut her eyes since she could not be disturbed or interrupted. Nevertheless, after four hours, when the day broke, Maid Lotus did not open her eyes, which meant the backfire caused more damage than Gu Shenwei had imagined.


    .


    At this moment, the other teams in the camp were busy preparing to set out. Lin Xiaoshan and Guan Shang repeatedly came to the Dragon King¡¯s tent to ask for instructions but failed to get any order from him.


    After the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s team left the camp, Gu Shenwei finally walked out of his tent and summoned Lin Xiaoshan and Guan Shang,manding them to go first with the Great Snowmountain¡¯s team.


    The two were very surprised. Guan Shang seemed to gather immediately that something was amiss, but she just tactfully bowed to the Dragon King to ept the order and left. After her departure, Lin Xiaoshan could not help but ask, ¡°Dragon King, what happened? Do you want me to leave some people behind for you?¡±


    ¡°No. You just need to escort her to the Stone Kingdom safely,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    The Dragon King had asked Lin Xiaoshan to secretly bring Xu Yanwei and Jiang, who would work as Xu Yanwei¡¯s maid during the journey, to the Stone Kingdom. These two young women did not know any kung fu, so Gu Shenwei decided to let them stay away from this dangerous ce.


    Lin Xiaoshan still had some doubts, but he did not inquire further. Instead, he immediately went back to order the swordsmen to leave the camp. Before their departure, they left four horses for the Dragon King and tied them up in front of the Dragon King¡¯s tent.


    When the teams packed their belongings and left the camp one after another, many people found it quite suspicious that the Dragon King¡¯s tent was still intact and began to exchange whispers.


    The Dragon King was not the only one who stayed behind. Not far away from his tent, stood two tents, which belonged to the monks from Four Truths Temple. The monks could not hit the road today, since Fayan and Lianqing were both seriously injured.


    By noon, Maid Lotus had not opened her eyes yet.


    Gu Shenwei had stayed by her side for the whole morning and during this period of time, he had only drank two mouthfuls of water. He also kept his eyes closed for all this while to have some rest and get himself ready for the attack that woulde sooner orter.


    Nevertheless, the first guest he got was a monk from one of his neighboring tents. ¡°Dragon King, my Master Shifu invites you toe to our tent.¡±


    Gu Shenwei walked to the entrance of his tent, and then he looked back at Maid Lotus and said in a low voice, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I can¡¯t leave this tent.¡±


    The monk outside snorted grumpily and left.


    After a while, Fayan came to the Dragon King¡¯s tent and asked, ¡°Dragon King, how¡¯s your friend¡¯s internal injury?¡± To Gu Shenwei¡¯s great surprise, the monk, who sustained a severe injury in his ribs, sounded very energetic and did not seem to have any difficulties in movement.


    Fayan knew for sure that he had injured the assassin. Gu Shenwei was unable to conceal the fact, so he replied, ¡°Well, my friend will recover after a short rest.¡±


    ¡°Although I¡¯m just an old monk, I think I may be able to offer your friend some help,¡± said Fayan.


    The monk¡¯s extraordinary Internal Strength might be very helpful to Maid Lotus¡¯ qigong deviation, but Gu Shenwei did not dare to agree to the monk¡¯s request. Both Maid Lotus and he are extremely skeptical people, and they would never easily ept the help of others. ¡°Thank you, Master. She¡¯s alright. We don¡¯t dare to bother you with such a trifling matter,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Well, Dragon King, please feel free to tell me if you need my help,¡± said Fayan.


    Fayan had firmly refused to ally with the Dragon Kingst night, but today he suddenly came over to show his kindness. Such an abrupt change in his attitude alerted Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll inform you if we need help,¡± said Gu Shenwei. Soon, he heard Fayan leave the ce.


    Shortly after noon, nearly 20 people came to the camp.


    The ¡°businessmen¡±, who had gotten here first to watch the fight between the Dragon King and Monk Lianqingst night, were also among them. These people had followed the other teams to leave this ce early in the morning, and now they returned to this ce and no longer concealed their intentions.


    The entrance of Gu Shenwei¡¯s tent was covered by a p. He walked to it, opened it a little and peeped outside. He saw the group of ¡°businessmen¡± stop at a spot about 100 steps away from the monks¡¯ tents and then he saw a bearded man ride out of the group quickly. ¡°Zhuang Qiang, are you still alive?¡± asked the bearded man.


    ¡°Be quiet. We¡¯re treating his wound,¡± a monk went out and replied stiffly.


    The bearded man snorted and then shouted toward Lianqing¡¯s tent, ¡°Zhuang Qiang, do you still want to avenge your brother¡¯ death? The Dragon King is injured and hiding inside his tent now. What a heaven-sent chance for you. If you don¡¯t want your brother to die in vain,e out like a man!¡±


    Lianqing made no response and continued staying inside the tent. The monk outside the tent took three steps forward, carrying a long staff in hand. He said, ¡°I told you to be quiet.¡±


    The bearded man snorted again, but he did not want to irritate the monk. ¡°Alright, we¡¯vee here to kill the Dragon King. Masters from Four Truth Temple, do you want to watch our fight or n to stop us?¡± asked the man.


    ¡°We won¡¯t watch your fight. Neither will we interfere in your affairs,¡± the monk replied bluntly and then he returned to his tent. He secured the p of the tent tightly to show their determination to not take part in the entire affair.


    Gu Shenwei felt quite relieved as the enemies were not as many as he had expected and apparently they believed that it was the Dragon King who was injured. He believed that he could take advantage of their misunderstanding to win this fight.


    The bearded man turned to the Dragon King¡¯s tent and said in a loud voice, ¡°Dragon King, I think I¡¯d best tell you the reason before killing you. We¡¯re friends of Hearteater Chipo, and today we¡¯ll kill you to avenge his death. I¡¯m ¡®Flying Machete¡¯ Ma Teng. Come out and face your death.¡±


    Gu Shenwei remained in his tent and unsheathed his Five Peaks Saber silently while thinking, <em>¡°Haven¡¯t these bandits discovered that Chipo faked his own death? Or, do they just intend to use his death as an excuse to kill me?¡±</em>


    Emboldened by the Dragon King¡¯s silence, Ma Teng began insulting the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei never responded to such verbal provocation, but the monks in the nearby tents could no longer stand it. The monk, who had talked with the bearded man just now, poked his head out of his tent and shouted, ¡°Be quiet! Just fight if you want to kill the Dragon King. If you don¡¯t want to fight, just leave.¡±


    Ma Teng blushed and snorted loudly, but he did not have the courage to offend the monks. He looked back at hisrades and upon receiving their encouragement, drew out his scimitar and charged toward the Dragon King¡¯s tent.


    Just as Ma Teng¡¯s horse was about to crash into the tent, Gu Shenwei opened a crack in the p and dashed out with the Five Peaks Saber in his arms. His right shoulder struck the side of the horse¡¯s chest and he stabbed at Ma Teng with his saber at the same time. After that, he quickly retreated back into his tent.


    The horse stumbled and fell, but it was not injured. It struggled to stand up while neighing continuously. It then carried Ma Teng¡¯s dead body all the way back to the group of bandits.


    The bandits were shocked when they found out that Ma Teng was stabbed in the neck. This fatal wound must have been inflicted by the Dragon King, but none of them had seen the Dragon King appear.


    ¡°Then it must¡¯ve been that woman,¡± Someone bandit whispered and the others simultaneously nodded their heads in agreement.


    The Dragon King had once been paralyzed in Jade City, which was a story known to all the people in the city. Prejudiced by that incident, all the bandits firmly believed that now Dragon King was paralyzed again and protected by Maid Lotus, whose sword technique looked very simr to that of the Dragon King.


    ¡°She can only rely on herself.¡±


    ¡°We have enough manpower.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t wait any longer. Once the Dragon King recovers, we won¡¯t have a chance.¡±


    After some deliberation, the bandits split into two teams, which consisted of 8 and 9 people respectively, and nned to besiege Maid Lotus and the Dragon King. The nine-person team set out first and took a detour to approach the back of the Dragon King¡¯s tent.


    Gu Shenwei observed his enemies inside the tent. When the nine-person team was halfway down, he rushed out and mounted one of the steeds tied to the front of his tent. He severed the reins tethering the horse and kept his upper body down and close to the back of the horse while charging toward the eight-person team.


    He moved so fast that the bandits did not have much time to react. Before they realized what had happened, the Dragon King had already got close to them. He quickly leaped up and killed a person with a sh of his saber.


    ¡°The Dragon King. It¡¯s the Dragon King!¡± The bandits all turned pale with fear and hurriedly rode away.


    Gu Shenwei leapt up three more times to kill three more bandits, and then he mounted his horse and galloped back to his tent.


    Upon seeing that the Dragon King was not injured, the bandits panicked. The nine-person team gave up their n and withdrew nearly 1.5 kilometers to meet up with theirrades. All of them had no idea what to do at this moment.


    Gu Shenwei went to check Maid Lotus. She still could not open her eyes. That meant she was still in the most painful first stage of suffering.


    Gu Shenwei was pretty sure that the bandits would not easily give up their attempt to kill him. Once more enemies or more powerful opponents came here, he would get into real trouble. Given that, he began to consider how much he really cared about saving Maid Lotus¡¯ life.


    The answer seemed obvious. Gu Shenwei would never want to die in vain in this desert, as his campaign of revenge had just begun. Nevertheless, when he looked at Maid Lotus¡¯ colorless face, he felt hesitant.


    <em>¡°If I were the one sitting there and fighting against a qigong deviation, what would she do?¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei. He recalled what had happened at the Ghost Cliff a few years ago¡ªMaid Lotus was determined to protect ve Huan at any price, even when she was confronted with a crowd of Golden Roc Fort killers.


    Gu Shenwei quickly banished those thoughts and decided to act ording to the changing circumstances. In any case, he would not let himself die in this ce.


    A momentter, he heard the trampling of horses¡¯ hooves and peeped outside again. This time, he discovered that he was surrounded by nearly 100 people. They were 7 or 8 gangs of bandits, and the gang who had been driven away by him in the previous fight was also among them.


    A short fat man announced loudly. ¡°The Dragon ying Contest begins. The one who kills the Dragon King will be recognized as the Bandit King, and all bandits in Western Region will have to obey his orders!¡±

 Chapter 332 - Duels

    Chapter 332: Duels


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The bandits felt conflicted about this ¡°Dragon ying Contest¡±. In ordance with the existing rules of their trade, the loot always belonged to the one who got it first, but this time, the one who led the charge would definitely take the most risk. Given that, no one wanted to risk his own life to pave the way for others.


    The title ¡°Bandit King¡± rather appealed to the bandits, but they were also clear that if they fell under the Dragon King¡¯s saber, no one would even remember their names.


    Therefore, after the short fat man announcing the beginning of ¡°Dragon ying Contest¡±, all of the different groups of bandits reacted nonchntly and modestly declined to lead the charge.


    They could not figure out why the Dragon King stayed behind in the desert when he was not injured. They were particrly worried about falling into a trap set by the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei felt that it was unnecessary to continue observing the hesitant bandits, so he tightened the p to securely close the tent and sat beside Maid Lotus. He put his Five Peaks Saber down beside himself and then gripped the Dragon Head Sword.


    He had no choice but to use his sword now, as there were so many enemies outside and some of them probably had superb kung fu; Maid Lotus would be killed if there was so much as a slight dy in his actions.


    He sincerely hoped that there were no kung fu masters like Fayan among the bandits, since the swordcraft of Death Scripture had a fatal defect¡ªthe backfire effect. Several years ago, when Maid Lotus and he had just begun practicing this sword technique and only asionally failed to kill their targets, the backfires would not cause them any severe qigong deviation. Nevertheless, the backfire effect had been getting more and more harmful to them since they had started practicing Wayless Qigong to rapidly improve their sword skills. Now, they could no longer easily recover from such a qigong deviation caused by the backfire.


    Maid Lotus had been sitting still for a whole day. Even a senior monk who was deeply absorbed in a meditation could not hold this position for such a long time. Now, she was oblivious to her surroundings and unable to fight back when being attacked. Even a small child can easily kill her at this moment.


    The frayed edge of the carpet beside her was already covered with frost.


    Gu Shenwei closed his eyes and channelled his Internal Breath to increase his sensitivity to his surroundings. Once a living being came within 3.3 meters of him, he would be able to spot its living energy. At first, he only sensed Maid Lotus¡¯ energy. It ¡°looked¡± like an extremely thin thread or fibre, which would break at a touch.


    Soon enough, he felt that the first wave of ¡®contestants¡¯ were swiftly approaching his tent in a very unique way.


    They came from three different directions and were traveling toward his tent at a high speed. If he had used his eyes to track his enemies, he would have never been able to immediately spot them and kill them without disturbing Maid Lotus.


    With his eyes closed, he could clearly sense their living energy at this moment.


    He stabbed three times with his sword and each time he hit the target urately.


    The next moment, he opened his eyes and saw three fountains of blood spewing out of the sand in his tent.


    Evidently, the first wave of attackers had nned to use ¡°Sand Tunneling Skill¡± to sneak into the tent.


    When blood stopped gushing out, Gu Shenwei picked up the Five Peaks Saber and inserted it into the ground. He gently ran the saber through the sand and then inserted his hand into the sand to pull out three heads. After he threw them out, the other bandits outside immediately withdrew 1.5 kilometers.


    Gradually, night began to fall. As winter in the desert was particrly cold, Gu Shenwei was unable to maintain the fast cirction of his Internal Breath for a very long time. He needed some rest now.


    However, his enemies would never give him such a chance.


    ¡°Dragon King, pleasee out. Let¡¯s have a talk,¡± a bandit shouted outside Gu Shenwei¡¯s tent.


    ¡°I can hear you in the tent,¡± Gu Shenwei said, while standing behind the curtain at the entrance of his tent, with his Five Peaks Saber in hand.


    He heard the bandit exchange some whispers with the other 6 or 7 people outside, and a momentter, the bandit said, ¡°Dragon King, let¡¯s get straight to the point. We¡¯vee here to avenge Chipo¡¯s death. You can¡¯t me anyone else for this. After all, it was you who handed him over to those machetemen. ording to our rules, you have to pay with your life for sending him to his death.¡±


    ¡°Chipo is still alive.¡±


    The bandits outside the tent paused for a moment.


    ¡°Dragon King, are you kidding us?¡± asked the bandit.


    ¡°Chipo didn¡¯t die. The Golden Roc Fort saved him. The head it hung up was just a fake human head,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Haha.¡± ¡°Hur Hur.¡± ¡°Hee-hee.¡± The bandits sneered. ¡°Dragon King, are you trying to persuade us to spare your life? Do you think we¡¯ll buy your story?¡±


    ¡°Well, you won¡¯t be able to hear any story in this world very soon,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    He did not want to waste time exining to the bandits. In his eyes, they were either idiots being used by the Golden Roc Fort or wicked guys who intended to acquire the ¡°Bandit King¡± title on the pretext of avenging Chipo¡¯s death.


    The bandits took the Dragon King¡¯s provocation very seriously and no one wasughing this time. They were quiet for a moment, before the same bandit who had spoken up for the others said, ¡°Dragon King, I¡¯m He Sancai, widely known as ¡®Invincible Machete of Tianshan¡¯. Today, my counterparts and I havee here to challenge you to a fight. They are known as: ¡®Sand Devil¡¯ Zheng Tai, ¡®Tiger on the Hill¡¯ Ouyang Jing, ¡®Fierce Spear¡¯ Shi Dazhi, ¡®Single-Armed Machete¡¯ Zhang Xin, ¡®Old Reaper¡¯ Deng Xiaoyuan and ¡®Duansheng Taoist¡¯.¡±


    These names were familiar to Gu Shenwei. The first five men were widely-known bandit gang leaders and thest two were notorious burrs. During the past few years, he had traveled to many different ces to evade his pursuers before getting into the Great Snowmountain. Although he had never met these people before, he had heard lots of tales about them.


    ¡°Alright, juste at me,¡± Gu Shenwei looked back at Maid Lotus and said.


    Surprisingly, the seven bandits did not attack the Dragon King together. Instead, theyplied with the rules of dueling and were prepared to take turns fighting him. The first of them was Shi Dazhi. ¡°Try taking a blow of my spear, Dragon King!¡± he shouted.


    Gu Shenwei swiftly stepped aside as Shi Dazhi¡¯s spear shot into his tent. It was moving in a sideways fashion like a giant python, but Shi Dazhi himself did not break into the tent, seemingly fearful that there was a trap for him inside it.


    As it was very dark inside the tent, Gu Shenwei could only rely on his hearing to determine where the spear was. He kept dodging the spear until he seized a chance to grasp it with his hand. He took advantage of Shi Dazhi¡¯s forward momentum and pulled him into the tent.


    Shi Dazhi was a tall strong man. Due to his own inertia, he continued rushing forward with his spear in hand after entering the tent, towards Maid Lotus.


    Gu Shenwei immediately lifted up his Five Peaks Saber and used its hilt to knock Shi Dazhi out. He then took the man¡¯s spear and threw it aside.


    Right at this moment, another challenger came forth.


    ¡°Herees ¡®Old Reaper¡¯,¡± said Deng Xiaoyuan. He began to strike when he was still a dozen steps away from the Dragon King¡¯s tent.


    <em>¡°If I remember correctly, Old Reaper is expert at using hidden weapons,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei. Suddenly, the tent copsed, disrupting his train of thought. In the meantime, several knives thrown out by Old Reaper were rapidly approaching him.


    Deng Xiaoyuan kept throwing weapons as he was running toward the Dragon King¡¯s tent. Some of the weapons severed the ropes holding down the tent while the others pierced into the tent.


    Gu Shenwei brandished his saber with one hand to fend off those weapons, and at the same time, he picked up Shi Dazhi¡¯s spear with the other hand and inserted it into the ground to support the roof of the tent which had already fallen halfway down. After that, he rushed out of the tent to confront ¡°Old Reaper¡±.


    Deng Xiaoyuan was a lean, middle-aged man. He moved very fast and managed to stay at least ten steps away from the Dragon King during the fight. Under the moonlight, he appeared like a phantom sliding on the sand. He would throw several weapons at his opponent with every step he took.


    To protect Maid Lotus, who was not far behind himself, Gu Shenwei could not move around to dodge the weapons thrown by Deng Xiaoyuan. He could only block them with his saber.


    Deng Xiaoyuan had already thrown 30 or 40 weapons during the past few minutes, and seemingly had suppressed the Dragon King better than ¡°Fierce Spear¡± Shi Dazhi did.


    Upon seeing that, the other bandits felt quite relieved. However, the tables were turned all of a sudden. Before they realized what had happened, the Dragon King had already gotten close to Deng Xiaoyuan.


    In the next moment, Deng Xiaoyuan¡¯s head fell to the ground as the Dragon King retreated to his original position. What was left of his body continued taking three steps forward before also falling to the ground. There was not blood traces left on the ground as the sand quickly absorbed his blood.


    After witnessing this dreadful sight, even the merciless bandits could not help but feel chilled to the bones.


    ¡°Who¡¯s next?¡± Gu Shenwei asked coldly, with the blood-stained Five Peaks Saber in hand. His passion for killing had already been aroused and he could not wait to fight another duel.


    Gu Shenwei managed to control of his own power and killing intent when fighting against Shi Dazhi and defeated his opponent without killing him because he could only be considered as a borderline good user of the spear. However, when faced with ¡°Old Reaper¡±, a first-rate kung fu master, he had no choice but to fight with all his strength and ended up killing the man as a result of losing control of his killing intent.


    He Sancai, the short fat man who announced the beginning of the ¡°Dragon ying Contest¡±, stepped forward with a long-saber on his back, which looked almost as tall as the man himself.


    ¡°You¡¯re venerated as Machete God of Jade City, Dragon King. You do live up to your reputation. I hope to be the next one to duel with you,¡± said He Sancai.


    Gu Shenwei agreed. At this moment, he totally forgot about his original n and fell under the control of his own killing intent. He had chosen to use his saber instead of his sword and knock Shi Dazhi out instead of killing him, since he had originally nned to avoid killing any bandit when fighting against them. However, killing Deng Xiaoyuan sent him back into the world of killers, where death was the solution to all the problems


    He Sancai untied his long-saber, lifted it high over his head and brandished it slowly. The saber reflected the moonlight and looked like the shimmering surface of ake.


    Gradually, it twirled faster and faster and ended up looking like a beam of light shining above He Sancai¡¯s head. No one could clearly see how He Sancai¡¯s hands moved at this moment. In the meantime, He Sancai quickened his steps, and then he threw himself to the ground. In a sh instant, it looked as if he turned himself into a bright light ball as he rolled toward the Dragon King.


    <em>¡°Very impressive ¡®Earth Combing Skill¡¯. He didn¡¯t brag about himself. This ¡®Invincible Machete of Tianshan¡¯ is indeed a kung fu master,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei.


    Confronted with the light ball, Gu Shenwei just kept observing it while moving backward to dodge its attack; he was searching for weak spots.


    As more and more sand was stirred up into the air by He Sancai¡¯s saber, the light ball quickly doubled in size and looked even more formidable than before.


    When Gu Shenwei took his 15th step backward, he struck his saber at the light ball and then quickly stepped aside.


    It seemed that He Sancai had suddenly lost his bearings; the light ball was still intact, but it was now rapidly heading away from the Dragon King.


    When he was about 20 steps away from the Dragon King, he finally stopped twirling his saber and stood up, his face pale and his mouth corner stained with blood. He walked back, leaving a thin blood trail behind himself, and then he said to the Dragon King, ¡°Great saber. Excellent saber skills. You deserve the reputation you enjoy.¡±


    He Sancai raised his long-saber and spotted an obvious dent on it with the help of moonlight.


    Gu Shenwei had won not only in saber skills but also in the quality of weapons. If the Five Peaks Saber had not been this sharp, Gu Shenwei would have never been able to easily break the ¡°Earth Combing Skill¡±.


    He Sancai walked back to hisrades while dragging his long-saber behind himself. He said, ¡°Let¡¯s withdraw. We have to figure out another way.¡±


    The other three bandits all considered him as their leader and agreed, but the independent burr ¡°Duansheng Taoist¡± disagreed and retorted, ¡°There are seven of using here to fight the Dragon King, and the four of us haven¡¯t even tried once.¡±


    He Sancai nced sideways at the burr and said while shaking his head, ¡°You¡¯re an excellent sword user, ¡®Duansheng Taoist¡¯, but¡­ What a pity.¡± With these words, he led the other three bandits back toward therge bandit troop.


    Upon hearing He Sancai¡¯s words, Duansheng Taoist¡¯s face changed. Instead of challenging the Dragon King to another fight, he also left the ce, but he walked in a different direction from the four bandits.


    After their departure, Gu Shenwei tied the ropes severed by Deng Xiaoyuan to fix his tent, and then he looked at the monks¡¯ two tents nearby, while thinking,<em>¡°These monks did keep their promises. They didn¡¯t interfere in the fights. Neither did they emit a sound during the whole process.¡±</em>


    When he entered his tent, he found out that Shi Dazhi was still lying unconscious on the floor. He did not mind killing one more person at this moment and thought it was unnecessary to spare this man¡¯s life. When he raised his saber, preparing to kill the man, Maid Lotus suddenly spoke, ¡°Wait, I need him.¡±


    She finally passed through the first phase of her qigong deviation, but was still far from full recovery. Now she could just barely open her mouth to speak.


    She took the clumps of cotton wool out of her ears and then fished out two wooden boxes from the front of her coat. She opened them and put them down beside her.


    One of the wooden boxes was filled with a dozen red pills and the other with a dozen yellow pills.


    She swallowed a red pill, channelled her internal breath for a while and then took a yellow pill. She repeated this process for seven times and quickly consumed most pills in her boxes. After that, herplexion was visibly better.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to watch me using this kind of kung fu,¡± she said to Gu Shenwei.


    Upon hearing that, Gu Shenwei walked out of the tent and then he spotted some firelight in the distance. At this moment, the bandits were discussing how to kill the Dragon King. By far, they had sticked to the rules of jiang hu, but they would change their mind before dawn, since they were currently left with only one choice: by sheer numbers.


    Suddenly, heart-wrenching screams came out of the tent and began to resound through the desert. Gu Shenwei could clearly see that firelight in the distance was beginning to flicker.


    The tent beside him was opened a crack, revealing Fayan¡¯spassionate face.

 Chapter 333 - Evil Kung Fu

    Chapter 333: Evil Kung Fu


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    This chapter is


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that.¡± The old monk Fayan walked out of the tent with his ribs wrapped in bandages as repeated, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that.¡±


    Despite not having any reason for it, Gu Shenwei had a profound hatred for the monk. He red at him holding the saber and did not say a word.


    Fayan¡¯s deep essence seemed to be concentrated in his prating eyes. He looked at Dragon King the way an elder looked at a naughty young man, ¡°Has the Great Snowmountain cooperated with New Moon Hall?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was shocked. Few people knew that Maid Lotus had joined New Moon Hall, but the old monk could guess the truth just from one shriek.


    Fayan turned his sight from Dragon King to the tent. The shrieks inside had stopped. ¡°Excuse me, who is the master of New Moon Hall?¡±


    Maid Lotus walked out of the tent. She did not look very well and her steps were not steady yet, but she could walk on her own feet.


    Gu Shenwei was shocked again. Every time he resisted his Internal Demons, he could not even get up after the first stage of torture. He had to continue to exercise and cure himself. It was beyond his expectation that Maid Lotus could move freely so soon.


    ¡°Does Master know New Moon Hall¡¯s master?¡± Despite her weak voice, Maid Lotus was clearly vignt and she instinctively hated the old monk.


    Fayan stared nkly at her. During the fight the previous night, Maid Lotus was wearing a mask on her face and her movements were so fast that the monk did not see what she looked like. When he found out that it was actually a young woman who was walking out of the tent, he was astonished. He asked, ¡°Was the patroness¡¯ surname Kang or Han?¡±


    ¡°My surname is Huo.¡± Maid Lotus was originally named Huo Yun, and few people knew herst name.


    Fayan was even more astonished. He shook his head and then nodded, ¡°Has New Moon Hall begun to ept disciples of other surnames since it returned to Jianghu? Forgive me for being ignorant, but how has Master Han been?¡±


    ¡°Master Han has been very good, but she hasn¡¯t mentioned Master.¡±


    ¡°Master Han has rarely travelled through Jianghu. I¡¯ve only heard about her and have not seen her personally. Naturally, she would not know my name.¡±


    Fayan seemed to be increasingly interested in Maid Lotus. The way he stared at her was impolite, even for ordinary people, but he did not care, ¡°How long has it been since the patroness had practiced the Divine Rotation?¡±


    ¡°This Monk knows a lot, and he even recognizes these ult sciences¡±, said Maid Lotus, standing firm and with a calm voice, growing more and more cautious. She was gathering her strength to prepare for an attack.


    Fayan had not sensed the danger. Instead, he thought about it for a while raising his head and then went on talking by himself, ¡°There are three evil kung fu styles: the Wayless Book, the Dajue Book of Swordcraft and the Divine Rotation. I am afraid that no one has seeded in cultivating them at the same time for nearly a hundred years. Yet the Patroness, at such a young age, unexpectedly¡­¡±


    ¡°Evil kung fu?¡± Maid Lotus sneered, both divine kung fu and evil kung fu kill people, what¡¯s the difference between the evil and the divine kung fu?¡±


    Although Maid Lotus wanted to kill the monk, she was truly afraid of the old monk and did not dare to do anything against him.


    Gu Shenwei had heard of many secret techniques in the New Moon Hall, but he did not know that, in the past three years, Maid Lotus had learned some of them. Apparently, her incredible ability with the swordcraft of the Death Scripture had something to do with it.


    As they were all used to kill people, Gu Shenwei agreed with Maid Lotus that there was no difference between the evil and the divine kung fu styles. Just like the two brothers Lianhua and Lianxin, Fayan was an eminent monk of the Four Truths Temple, who believed that only by eliminating the killing desire deeply rooted in people¡¯s heart, an adherence to old ideas could arise.


    Fayan put his palms together devoutly and mouthed a few prayers. Then raised his head and said, ¡°There is still some difference. These three evil kung fu styles¡­¡±


    The monk suddenly stopped. At the same time, Gu Shenwei rushed into the tent with Maid Lotus.


    The weapons crushed, making a crisp sound. A figure broke through the top of the tent and rose up. Afternding, it jumped three times in a row and stopped ten steps away.


    Gu Shenwei sliced the tent with his saber and walked out with Maid Lotus. The man was able to escape under the siege of two killers, so he must have been extraordinary at kung fu.


    The moonlight was glistening over the sky. Gu Shenwei nced at Shi Dazhi, who was used to practicing kung fu with Maid Lotus. There was no wound on the man¡¯s strong body, but his face was extremely distorted, his eyes widely opened, and his lips closed to his ears, covered with ayer of frost.


    He seemed to be scared to death in a cold environment.


    Gu Shenwei just nced at him and then looked at the master who sneaked into the tent.


    Dressed in a Taoist costume, with three long strands of beards and a three-foot-long sword in his hand, the Taoist Duansheng, who had left alone, secretly returned.


    The Taoist Duansheng was still terrified after fleeing at a time of imminent peril, but on his face, there was an evil smile, ¡°It¡¯s a pity that the three divine kung fu styles fell into the hands of a little girl. Heaven doesn¡¯t have eyes, but your grandpa is not convinced.¡±


    Maid Lotus had not yet recovered and could not use the sword, but she was not afraid. She stood up and said, ¡°If you are not convinced,e and take it. Defeat me and the divine kung fu will naturally belong to you.¡±


    Fighting with Maid Lotus, Taoist Duansheng discovered that her internal strength had been injured, but Dragon King was still next to her. He was not confident in winning even if the two of them acted together. Therefore, he turned to Fayan, ¡°Monk, it¡¯s a Buddhist disciple¡¯s duty to subdue demons and devils. Now the two devils¡¯ heads are here in front of you, why are you just watching them? Kill them or you¡¯ll regret it.¡±


    ¡°Amitabha, the devil is born from the heart and must be removed from the heart. The two benefactors have notpletely sumbed to the devil spirits, thus they can still be saved.¡±


    Taoist Duansheng burst intoughter, waving his sword in the air. ¡°What a merciful monk! If you do not regardmon people, you will only avoid your responsibility. Let the Taoist do the tiring work of killing the demons.¡±


    As the Taoist Duansheng pronounced these words, he had already made up his mind that if Dragon King and Maid Lotus joined their forces against him, he would never get into the fight.


    To his delight, Maid Lotus came out alone.


    Maid Lotus nced at Gu Shenwei, meaning that she was fine. She stepped forward, with her sword hanging beside her waist and empty hands. ¡°The devil is here. Now the Taoist cane here to kill the devil.¡±


    All the monks in the tent came out, including the severely injured Lianqing ¨C he was standing behind Fayan, supporting his elder brother and watching the battle.


    Fayan bowed his head and recited the sutra in a low voice. It seemed that he had no interest in the duel.


    Gu Shenwei observed carefully how Maid Lotus had improved her kung fu.


    Taoist Duansheng grinned grimly. A long sword struck the ground, stirring up a sand curtain, which rose more than one person high and suddenly attacked Maid Lotus like a huge sword.


    The long sword of Taoist Duansheng kept slicing, rolling up the sand curtainyer byyer, converging into a storm and rushing toward his target.


    Maid Lotus¡¯s Internal Strength had not recovered yet, so she could not fight back directly but had to rely on the Lightness Skills to dodge the sand curtains.


    More and more flying sand and stones gathered as they surrounded Maid Lotus. By contrast, the Invincible Machete of Tianshan He Sancai¡¯s Earth Combing Skill was not on the same level.


    The Taoist Duansheng coveted the three evil kung fu. He did not immediately use all of his strength, but instead, he slowly increased his strength overtime, hoping to exhaust Maid Lotus¡¯s internal strength and capture her alive.


    Soon, he regretted his decision.


    A group of bandits holding torches approached slowly in the distance and discovered that there was a battle.


    Maid Lotusunched a sudden counterattack. Originally, she was like a boat floating on the stormy waves. Suddenly, she turned into a sword in the twinkling of an eye and broke through the sand curtains, stretching out her hand to pat the enemy.


    Though already prepared, Taoist Duansheng¡¯s reaction was still slow. He was hit on the chest, which caused him to retreat more than ten steps. Feeling that this p was weak and did not cause any serious injury, he rxed.


    When the sand curtain fell to the ground, Maid Lotus stood where she was, sweating profusely. It seemed that the hit had consumed all her strength.


    Taoist Duansheng brushed his chest and grinned. ¡°What do you want? Flirting with the old Taoist¡­¡±


    He has not finished talking yet before he suddenly fell short and unexpectedly knelt down unconscious, his mouth foaming. His hands were scratching his body and he immediately blushed like blood, rolling on the ground like crazy.


    Monks who were watching the battle looked at each other and Fayan recited the sutra even faster.


    Gu Shenwei saw the shadow of the Peripheral Force from Maid Lotus¡¯hit; however, she did it so easily and the effect came out so fast, and it was so different from Mama Xue.


    Taoist Duansheng felt like burning all over his body and there was extreme tingling everywhere. Meanwhile, the itching became unbearable and he had to rub himself on the ground. He finally understood what was the right thing to do, asking desperately for mercy, ¡°Miss, please forgive me. I am a bastard. I was blind, forgive me, forgive me, please!¡±


    The voice sounded so miserable ¨C it somewhat resembled that of Shi Dazhi before he died.


    The approaching bandits stopped in the distance again.


    Maid Lotus looked indifferent at the whining and begging Taoist Duansheng. She turned back with her eyes fixed on Gu Shenwei. There was even a hint of provocation in her eyes.


    At this point, she was not the Shadow Guard of Dragon King, but the Managing Master of New Moon Hall, who possessed three divine kung fu and many other extraordinary skills.


    Gu Shenwei raised his head slightly and was indifferent to the shrieks that were filling his ears. The devil girl under the moonlight instead could not help but feel excited. He understood that the monk was right. The Wayless Book and the Death Scripture were all evil kung fu. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had sumbed to the devils and even enjoyed it.


    They were different from themon people.


    Maid Lotus smiled, and she knew that this man would be the only person in the world who understood her.


    They were simr to each other.


    ¡°Amitabha,¡± a Buddhist voice raised between the two people.


    Perhaps the monks had found that they could no longer be saved. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had the same thought as they approached each other and stood side by side facing the twelve monks.


    ¡°Bliss Needle, the benefactor patroness had good luck. You should have received Master Han¡¯s generous instruction.¡±


    There was a trick in Maid Lotus¡¯ strike on Taoist Duansheng. With a poisonous needle between her two fingers, she stabbed one of his most important acupuncture points. In fact, there was nothing inmon with the Peripheral Force.


    ¡°The Monk seemed to be very familiar with New Moon Hall.¡±


    ¡°I have spent half of my life to studying the secret techniques of New Moon Hall, hence I know a little bit about the Bliss Needle. It is said that the pain willst for seven days and seven nights.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±


    Taoist Duansheng heard clearly what they said and was scared to death. At this moment, the Taoist¡¯s robe had been torn to pieces. He rolled on the ground as he crawled toward Maid Lotus, begging for mercy.


    ¡°Is the patroness not going to save him?¡±


    ¡°Why should I do that?¡±


    Fayan sighed. ¡°May I propose a battle to you, to see what New Moon Hall¡¯s divine kung fu is capable of? What do you think?¡±


    It was the first time that Maid Lotus heard such a polite request. She understood that the monk was excellent at kung fu, but she was not afraid of him. Instead, she was desperate to take revenge. She said, ¡°Agreed.¡±


    Maid Lotus looked at Gu Shenwei and did not know whether because he was being impulsive or he had other purposes, and she whispered, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you everything.¡±

 Chapter 334 - Divine Kung Fu

    Chapter 334: Divine Kung Fu


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The battle was more like a solo performance by Maid Lotus.


    She dared not to use the swordcraft of the Death Scripture again. Since the beginning, she used a variety of tricks, such as p, point, w, punch, pat, poke, scratch and hammer. Before the monk could be familiar with it, she would immediately change to the next one.


    There was nothing new about Maid Lotus¡¯s tricks since New Moon Hall was good at strange evil secrets. In terms of punching and kicking, they were not even as good as the derived Barren Sect. In the seemingly innocent actions of Maid Lotus, there were actually hidden all kinds of things, such as needles and poisons. Sometimes she would shoot out subtly hidden weapons as if she was juggling.


    On the contrary, Fayan responded with only one trick: he punched straight ahead, without any variation.


    The old monk was skinny and his fist was not much bigger than a child¡¯s. He seemed to have little strength and his punch was not swift; however, each punch was effective, making it difficult for Maid Lotus to approach.


    Being a killer, Maid Lotus did not have any advantage in the face-to-face battle. Besides, her Internal Strength had recovered by only 30 to 40 percent. She could thus do nothing but retreat under the enemy¡¯s pressing offensive.


    After more than ten moves, she was seven or eight steps away from the monk. Unless she pulled out a sword, she could not hurt the monk in any way.


    Gu Shenwei could vaguely recognize Fayan¡¯s tricks, which were the same as Lianye¡¯s. The old monk used the strength that passed the empty space, which meant that although the fist did not touch the target, the strength inside had been transmitted to the other side.


    Gu Shenwei was gathering strength in his hands and was ready to hold the saber¡¯s handle, waiting for the signal from Maid Lotus. The n was that as they nced at each other before the battle, Maid Lotus would lure Fayan into Gu Shenwei¡¯s attacking range, and then he would suddenly attack.


    However, Maid Lotus seemed to be forced to retreat in one direction, leaving Fayan farther and farther away from Gu Shenwei.


    Maid Lotus suddenly stopped and knelt down on one leg. ¡°Master is so formidable and I am willing to admit defeat.¡±


    Gu Shenwei moved his finger slightly. He was more than ten steps away from Fayan, which was not the best distance, but he had no choice; he should either take action now or battle with the old monk face to face like Maid Lotus had done.


    Several monks leaned forward, so Gu Shenwei had to give up his n to attack. The enemies were tightly guarded, leaving no chance of sess for him.


    Then he discovered that Maid Lotus sincerely admitted defeat.


    ¡°Is benefactor feeling better?¡±


    ¡°Master was so magnanimous, I have now recovered by 60 to 70 percent. ¡±


    The monks who were watching the battle were very surprised by his words. Gu Shenwei was even more shocked. Relying on pills and the Divine Rotation, Maid Lotus managed only with difficulty to stop the qigong deviation. But her Internal Strength was greatly damaged, thus how could she recover so fast after the fight with the old monk?


    ¡°This old monk is so bold to ask a favor from you.¡±


    Knowing what Fayan meant, Maid Lotus stood up and walked up to Taoist Duansheng who had bruises all over owing to the itch, then she took out a pill and said, ¡°Open your mouth.¡±


    Despite the pain, Taoist Duansheng tried to kneel down and open his mouth and let Maid Lotus throw the pills in.


    Gu Shenwei noticed that the pill seemed green, exactly the same as the Blood Coagtion Pill.


    The drug worked immediately. Taoist Duansheng was safe from the inch and pain; however, he was exhausted and could onlyy on the ground groaning in a low voice.


    Saving Taoist Duansheng was contrary to Maid Lotus¡¯ original intentions. She said to the monk, ¡°This man is a lone bandit who burns, kills, rapes, loots, andmits any imaginable misdeed. Why is Master still giving him a chance to live?¡±


    Fayan smiled without saying a word, and Maid Lotus suddenly understood what he meant. She was a devil who killed people unrelentingly herself, yet the monk had spared her life, let alone a lone bandit.


    ¡°There are no evil people in the world.¡±


    It took a while before the old monk spoke again. Maid Lotus kept quiet, but Gu Shenwei could not help but say, ¡°If there are no evil people, whomitted such evil things? Did those innocent people really deserve to die?¡±


    This was a strange conversation. The ¡°wicked¡± in the eyes of ordinary people were Dragon King and Maid Lotus, while the ¡°good¡± was Fayan; however, thetter was defending the ¡°evil¡±.


    Fayan shook his head gently, ¡°Nobody deserves to die. There are always countless evils in this world, but people who are evil often have good thoughts. Those who rob may think to use the money to support their mothers, those who bully may have even more kindness and benevolence for their brothers, and what a general wants is to end the war which killed thousands of soldiers.¡±


    The old monk paused briefly and continued talking, ¡°Those who feel resentful, will love more deeply. They hate because they love. People do evil things for love, but no one does evil things for evil. Everyone has a benevolent heart, and sometimes they are bewitched by the evil spirit and misinterpret the meaning of love, hence they do evil things. As the Buddhist doctrines say, ¡®Lay down your de and be a Buddha.¡¯ ¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew what brought about his aversion to Fayan. When you force yourself to do something contrary to your intention, you have someone who understands the situation, just like a mirror. Though not interfering with you, it reflects all of your nastiness, so how can you not be angry with that mirror?


    ¡°It¡¯s all the same.¡± Out of control, with his veins visible on his face, Gu Shenwei said, ¡°Those who don¡¯t deserve to die are dead, and those who deserve to be killed still have to be killed.¡±


    He made eye contact with Maid Lotus and the anger in his heart disappeared immediately.


    Maid Lotus looked so calm that she seemed to have epted the old monk¡¯s statement wholeheartedly, but she also seemed indifferent. Gu Shenwei found himself in the trap ¨C undue anger was an indication of defeat. He could not do as Fayan pleased anymore.


    ¡°You are right, I was rude,¡± Gu Shenwei apologized sincerely. ¡°What Master said was abstruse and profound, thus I can¡¯t understand it. I still have to think about it.¡±


    Fayan lowered his sight and bent down slightly. He epted Dragon King¡¯s apology, but he was aware that the two evil spirits would noty down the de just for a few words.


    On the other side, Taoist Duanshang was normal again. He was in rags and his hair was unkempt, and it seemed that he was a crazy beggar instead of a Taoist.


    Dragon King¡¯s eyes were filled with anger, so clearly, Fayan¡¯s words exerted no influence on him. After having dashed into the desert for several li, Dragon King shouted, ¡°We will meet again!¡±


    Maid Lotus muttered, ¡°It won¡¯t be long.¡±


    Maid Lotus and Gu Shenwei were just pretending to be polite with the old monk, while a disciple who stood behind Fayan was deeply moved. ¡°Master Shifu, I still think about the brotherly love, which is good. But I also want to kill Dragon King for revenge, which is evil. This is how good turns into evil.¡±


    Fayan extended his hand and pressed it on the disciple¡¯s head, saying nothing.


    Lianqing understood something but was also confused. He wanted to put down his de, but seeing Dragon King standing there, he could not suppress his rage. Finally, he roared and suddenly knelt down on his knees. ¡°Your disciple is ipetent and does not understand anything. Please punish me.¡±


    Fayan sighed. ¡°Now that you are able to walk again, let¡¯s continue our journey.¡±


    Lianqing understood what Master Shifu meant and did not want to provoke him too much. So he stood up, nodded silently, entered the tent, then shouldered up the heavy luggage, and headed for the South, not even looking back once.


    The monks were really swift; they tore down the two tents quickly and passed through them.


    Fayan was thest one to leave. Before he left, he bowed and said, ¡°Please do me a favor and try not to harm innocent people.¡±


    To the old monk, the two young men in front of him were better than over a hundred bandits miles away.


    Gu Shenwei did not say a word. Before the monk was about to leave, Maid Lotus asked, ¡°Is it the divine kung fu Sumeru Mustard that the Master had used?¡±


    ¡°It is not much of a divine kung fu, but its name is indeed ¡®Sumeru Mustard Mantra¡¯.¡±


    After having pronounced these words, the old monk looked at the two men as if saying something profound. Following the disciples, he gradually disappeared in the night.


    ¡°The monk¡¯s Internal Strength is good for us. I have seen the description of the divine kung fu Sumeru Mustard in a book in New Moon Hall, but I didn¡¯t expect it had so many advantages, and that it wasplemental to the Wayless Qigong.¡±


    After the monks had walked away, Maid Lotus exined to Gu Shenwei that she felt a warm air entering her Dantian every time she received a punch from the distance by the monk. It was the punch that saved her from the ice cold she suffered. After the battle ended, not only was she not injured, but she also recovered a lot.


    Gu Shenwei understood what Maid Lotus meant. She was interested in the monk¡¯s divine kung fu, and so was Gu Shenwei actually. ¡°Be careful,¡± he warned. ¡°Don¡¯t be fooled by the monk¡¯s trick. I¡¯ve got the Breaking Obsession theory.¡±


    The Breaking Obsession was a scripture written by master Lianxin. It was capable of removing the killing desire. Being the disciples of Fayan, Lian Xin and other monks had one thing inmon. They were fond of meddling in others¡¯ business. They often epted the evils as disciples since Lianxin used to raise tigers and Lianye and Lianqing were renowned bandits. Gu Shenwei had to take precautions against Fayan.


    ¡°We could find a way to get the real divine kung fu,¡± Maid Lotus had made up her mind since she had just suffered the qigong deviation, she desired the recipe more than Gu Shenwei did.


    ¡°Your Divine Rotation was not bad either and is very helpful for recovering.¡± Gu Shenwei wanted to seize the opportunity and find out as much as possible. Although Maid Lotus promised to tell him everything, it was possible that she would soon change her mind.


    ¡°I made great contributions by stealing the Wayless Book. The Master of New Moon Hall passed the manual to me, which made me recover very quickly. If¡­there were people around now, I would write the manual down and give it to you as soon as we left the desert.


    Maid Lotus had a sincere look. Gu Shenwei ced too much trust on her before that he excised the Wayless Qigong without being cautious, and that made him suffer the qigong deviation. Therefore, he simply replied, ¡°Ok.¡±


    They packed their luggage and were going to ride their horses to break through the bandits¡¯ attack. Though the bandits would not harass the monks, they would not let Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus go.


    A figure shed out, kneeling on the ground far away, ¡°Please fairy forgive me! Help me, please!¡±


    It was Taoist Duansheng who was in rags. He felt something wrong with his Internal Breath not long after running away. Knowing that he was set up by his opponent when he was in a panic, he ran back to beg for mercy after much hesitation.


    Maid Lotus was sitting on a horse, feeling regret for the Blood Coagtion Pill. Had it not been for the old monk, she would never have wasted such a rare pill on Taoist Duansheng.


    ¡°I am Dragon King¡¯s guard, what are you asking me for mercy for?¡±


    The Taoist Duansheng immediately understood what she meant and ran in front of Dragon King¡¯s horse on his knees. ¡°Dragon King, please let me join the Great Snowmountain. Taoist Duansheng will be your ve from now on, and will do whatever you want me to do.¡±


    Taoist Duansheng was a renowned bandit, so he should be humble after taking a pill. Gu Shenwei became more cautious of New Moon Hall¡¯s evil secrets. ¡°If you want to join the Great Snowmountain, tell the truth first. What benefits have Golden Roc Fort given to you to send you to kill me?¡±


    ¡°Golden Roc Fort?¡± Taoist Duansheng raised his head and showed a surprised look. ¡°I haven¡¯t heard that people from Golden Roc Fort participated in ughtering Dragon King¡­ It was He Sancai who incited the action. He said that after obtaining the title of ¡°Bandit King¡± he could win the acknowledgment of some party. Though he did not give more details, we all believe that this party was either the Central in or the Nond.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew which one it was.

 Chapter 335 - Surrender

    Chapter 335: Surrender


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Maid Lotus turned around and asked Gu Shenwei in a low voice, ¡°Do you want the bandits dead or alive?¡±


    If it was an hour ago, Gu Shenwei would not hesitate and would say he wanted them dead. Now that he had regained hisposure, he started to think things through from the perspective of hegemony rather than a killer. These bandits, who were miles away, were merely tools used by the enemy. Even if they were all killed, it would not weaken the enemy, but it would be useful if he could rope them in.


    ¡°You have a way to make them listen to you?¡±


    Maid Lotus nodded and looked at Taoist Duansheng who was kneeling on the ground as she said, ¡°The Dragon King spared your life, but you need to show your loyalty by doing some deeds of merit.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sure. Please tell me what to do, Fairy. I am willing to go through anything for you.¡±


    ¡°Make the bandits surrender and convince them to join the Great Snowmountain.¡±


    Taoist Duansheng turned glum when he heard what she said, and he dared not ept the order. Although he was renown, he was merely a solitary bandit, and just his words alone were impossible to persuade those ouws.


    Maid Lotus then took out a small silk pouch and carefully pulled out three thin steel needles that were about two or three inches long. They were as thin as a hairspring and were hardly visible under the moonlight.


    ¡°I believe these three Bliss Needles are more than enough to attack six people. In order to round up bandits, one must catch their ringleader first. Do this and wait for the Dragon King. He expects to see six people rolling on the ground when hees by.¡±


    Taoist Duansheng had suffered under the hands of the Bliss Needle and knew what it was like. Afraid yet pleased, he repeatedly answered ¡°Yes¡± and epted the needles with his both hands carefully. However, he did not get up and leave immediately.


    ¡°Lift your head up,¡± Maid Lotus ordered before she struck his forehead with a flying kick.


    Taoist Duansheng¡¯s face lit up as he tried to channel his Qi. ¡°Thank you so much, Fairy,¡± he said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t assume that you are safe. If you dare to have other thoughts, I can make you feel like dying is better than living.¡±


    Taoist Duansheng held the steel needles and kowtowed to Maid Lotus, before doing so to the Dragon King as well. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare to, I wouldn¡¯t dare. I swear to heaven, I will forever be loyal to the Dragon King and you, Fairy,¡± Taoist Duansheng said as he stood up and retreated, his back hunched the whole time. After several steps, he turned and put away the needles and ran toward the bandits who were miles away.


    ¡°And now you are known as ¡®Fairy¡¯?¡± Gu Shenwei felt that there were some changes in Maid Lotus after she recovered from her qigong deviation.


    ¡°He just blurts it out without thinking. If you don¡¯t like it, I will forbid him to address me as that againter.¡±


    ¡°No need for that, it¡¯s quite a good title. ¡± Gu Shenwei looked at Maid Lotus and added, ¡°You are worthy of this name as well.¡±


    The corners of Maid Lotus¡¯ mouth slightly turned up. She looked away, her face blushing a little as she did so.


    Gu Shenwei realized what was different about her. Maid Lotus was more eager to help him and even seemed slightly impatient, as though she was in a hurry to repay his kindness.


    He stayed by her when she was experiencing qigong deviation, and it seemed to have broken down a wall in her heart.


    But Gu Shenwei warned himself to be careful, as Maid Lotus¡¯ thoughts were as unfathomable as the depths of the ocean and he could never be sure. Therefore, he quickly changed the subject by saying, ¡°The Blood Coagtion Pill is indeed a good way to control people.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity to use it on him, but at least he is smart. He immediately returned to ask for mercy after realizing that his Internal Breath was unstable. Using it to order him to get some things done is still worth it, I suppose.¡±


    The two of them rode slowly on their horses. During which, Maid Lotus revealed all kinds of ult sciences from New Moon Hall without Gu Shenwei even asking. ¡°The Blood Coagtion Pill, once consumed, will stir up the Internal Breath of the person and cause his body to be heaty, the pain even more excruciating than that of the Bliss Needle; however, the person will not die. His Internal Strength will slowly disappear bit by bit within 49 days, followed by atrophy of the muscles, until he¡¯s only just a bag of skin. He can¡¯t do anything except swallowing food.¡±


    There was a tinge of pride in her expression as she continued, ¡°In order to remove the pain and protect your Internal Strength, you would need to receive the Jueyin Touch within 49 days. What¡¯s funny is that the Jueyin Touch is also another means to control a person, but it counteracts with Blood Coagtion Pill when used together.¡±


    ¡°Just like Mama Xue¡¯s Peripheral Force?¡±


    Maid Lotus nodded, ¡°Yeah, something like that. The Barren Sect was a branch from the New Moon Hall and specialized in kung fu from other non-mainstream schools; however, they arecking in skill in the ult sciences whenpared to us.¡±


    She also introduced several other strange ult sciences that Gu Shenwei had never heard of. ¡°It¡¯s no wonder that the Golden Roc Fort vowed not to use them again when they signed The Agreement with New Moon Hall.¡±


    ¡°The Golden Roc Fort was short-sighted to remove one of its capabilities just to win the support of various powers. With their kung fu, they would naturally be invincible if they worked together with the New Moon Hall and its ult sciences. They could even take the emperor¡¯s throne if they wanted to.¡±


    Holding her head high, Maid Lotus looked confident as she talked about these details. Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart stirred ¨C he seemed to have touched a bit on the New Moon Hall¡¯s true ambitions. Maid Lotus would not be so confident for no reason and must have been unconsciously influenced by her Master as well.


    Realizing that she must have spoken too much, she smiled apologetically to him and said, ¡°Now that the old monk knows that New Moon Hall and the Great Snowmountain are working together, I¡¯m afraid the Four Truths Temple and other Taoists won¡¯t be happy about it. If you feel that this is inappropriate, we can remain in hiding and assist you in secret.¡±


    Many years ago, Golden Roc Fort and New Moon Hall signed The Agreement, whereby it was stated that the former would have to give up the ult sciences they had learned, and thetter would retreat into the desert and never leave.


    Now that New Moon Hall returned to jianghu again, and was nning to use these ult sciences that were hated by the people of jianghu in broad daylight, they would definitely encounter heavy opposition and even hatred.


    ¡°What¡¯s there to be afraid of?¡± Gu Shenwei said. As time went by, very few people could actually remember how terrible the secret techniques of the New Moon Hall could be. Gu Shenwei was definitely not one of them, so he said, ¡°Everyone will have nothing to say as long as Golden Roc Fort is defeated.¡±


    Maid Lotus deeply agreed.


    Neither of them realized the great impact that the words ¡°secret techniques of the New Moon Hall¡± would bring back then. Fayan knew everything but he did not exin to them about the risks and benefits. It was not because the old monk intended to hide anything from them, but he knew that the two of them were already deeply obsessed and therefore did not want to waste his breath.


    Shrill shrieks came from the front, one after another, as though somebody was screaming just beside one¡¯s ears.


    ¡°It seeded. That Taoist sure have some use.¡±


    Maid Lotus urged her horse forward. Gu Shenwei wanted to remind her that it might be a trap, but the shrill shrieks did not seem like how humans would sound and were by no means an imitation, so he sped up his horse as well.


    Taoist Duansheng had performed his tasks dutifully. He draped on a robe borrowed from somewhere as he held a long sword and talked to the group of bandits with fervor and assurance. Six people were writhing around beside him like fish thrown ashore, but with the added effect of shocking shrill shrieks.


    ¡°Everybody, do not believe in He Sancai anymore; he was bought off by the Central in. The ¡°Bandit King¡± was just a scam to fool you guys. They are officials, and we are bandits, how can we even be one family? The Central in just wants to use the opportunity to exterminate us. He Sancai betrayed his friends for personal gain! I have already joined the Great Snowmountain and pledged allegiance to the Dragon King. What are you all waiting for?¡±


    The bandits were both shocked and furious. They could not understand how Taoist Duansheng had changed his tune so suddenly. It was not long ago that they heard his screams when he was being tortured, yet in the twinkling of an eye, he actually went to pledged his allegiance to the Great Snowmountain.


    However, no one dared toe forward. The six people writhing on the ground were leaders of their own gang. Usually, they would not even make a noise when they were shed by others, yet now they were shrieking and screaming just because of a needle prick. It brought deep fear to all of their underlings.


    Judging from Maid Lotus¡¯ temper, Taoist Duansheng knew that it was better to please Dragon King than to please her, so upon hearing the galloping sounds behind him, he turned to the six men shrieking on the ground and said, ¡°Do you know the power of the Bliss Needle now? Hurry and beg the Dragon King for mercy, only he can save all of you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took a closer look under the moonlight to confirm that Taoist Duansheng was not up to any tricks. He looked at the six people who were pricked. There was He Sancai the Invincible Machete of Tianshan, Zheng Tai the Sand Devil, Ouyang Jing from Tiger on the Hill, and Zhang Xin the One-armed Saber. He didn¡¯t know who the other two were and assumed they were probably a prominent figure in some other smaller gangs.


    Already unable to bear the torture of the itching pain, not only would these people surrender, they would even be willing to kill each other off if asked to do so. As such, they rolled and crawled in front of Dragon King, ¡°Mercy!¡±,¡±I surrender!¡±, were all they could say desperately.


    Gu Shenwei turned a blind eye to them and looked around at the bandits, waiting for them to dere their stand.


    Although these bandits were notrge in number ¨C about 100 men in total ¨C there were still many gangs among them. He Sancai¡¯s men, along with the underlings of the other five men, was merely half of the total number. Terrified by the shrieks of their leaders, they quickly put down their weapons, wanting to surrender; however, only a few people expressed their intentions while the others still seemed hesitant.


    A bandit raised his torch and shouted loudly, ¡°What¡¯s there to be scared of? Let¡¯s capture both the Dragon King and that b*tch and force them to hand over the antidote!¡±


    These words indeed expressed the thoughts of some people. Taoist Duansheng was eager to perform in front of Maid Lotus, so without waiting for Dragon King to speak, he already rushed over and cut off the head of the man who spoke with his sword.


    He was a well-known solitary bandit within the Western Region, and just his kung fu alone was almost on par with Maid Lotus. His sword moved so rapidly that the head had justnded on the ground when he returned to his original position.


    ¡°People who show disrespect towards the Dragon King will be beheaded! Same goes for people who show disrespect to the Fairy! Off with their heads!¡± Taoist Duansheng stood upright as he held his sword, showing his ¡°loyalty¡±.


    He Sancai was recognized as the leader of the bandits, but even he was unable to withstand the pain from the Bliss Needle. He had long cast his ambitions to the winds, rolling around, he shouted, ¡°Surrender¡­ All¡­ Surrender¡­ Dragon King, have mercy¡­¡±


    Arge number of bandits gradually begin to kneel down on one leg upon hearing that. The first few were somewhat hesitant, but the rest did so more readily afterward. ¡°Respects to Dragon King¡±, ¡°Long live the Dragon King¡±, ¡°Dragon King, have mercy¡± were some of the cries from them.


    There were also more than ten bandits who were unwilling to surrender and did not care about the lives of He Sancai and the rest. They leaped onto their horses, preparing to leave.


    ¡°Let none of them live,¡± Gu Shenwei issued his first order. From his experience as king of the Great Snowmountain, he knew very well that if these unwilling bandits were spared, half of the bandits kneeling before him would escape before dawn.


    Maid Lotus galloped swiftly and threw out hidden weapons continuously. These bandits, more than 10 in number, fell from their horses without even having the time to disperse. Their whole bodies were twitching about and it did not look like they would not live for long.


    Taoist Duansheng¡¯s face was as pale as ash as he watched on. Maid Lotus¡¯ skills were even better than he imagined. He finally realized that he could never escape from her grasp, so he said, ¡°The Dragon King is invincible. The Fairy is invincible!¡±


    He was the first one to kneel on both knees and kowtowed. The other bandits were shocked by the vicious killing methods of Maid Lotus as well and put their other knee down, formally kowtowing to the Dragon King.


    The shrieks continued but Gu Shenwei was not in a rush to save them. Maid Lotus had just shown him a way to quickly strengthen his force, and he needed to make good use of it. These people might never be as loyal as the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain, but they could also be an asset for him.


    What he could not be certain of was the extent to which Maid Lotus and New Moon Hall were willing to be used.

 Chapter 336 - The Guest

    Chapter 336: The Guest


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Power in the Stone Kingdom essentially belonged to two families: Ju and Yang. For years, the Ju family had imed the throne, with the Yang family as their subject; there had never been any deviation. But this road was soon nearing its end.


    Upheaval wasing, and it would be at a scale that the nation had never seen before. Prime Minister Yang Dou felt deeply worried just thining about it ¨C the influence he retained, along with the lives of his family depended on how he handled the events of the next few days. If it turned out well, the Yangs would continue to be in charge of the government in the Stone Kingdom. If not, perhaps even the Stone Kingdom itself would soon be a fading memory.


    Yang Dou was quickly nearing 60. When he had taken over the position of Prime Minister from his father, he had experienced several big incidents during his tenure but none that made him feel as helpless as he did now.


    More than 10 years ago, when the old King Ju passed on and his brother had usurped the throne, the Yangs had supported the usurper and exiled the young Crown Prince. But very soon, the Yangs realized that the new King was not such an easily controlled puppet that they had desired. After tolerating him silently for a few years, the usurper died mysteriously. Yang Dou had never dig into the details, but he would definitely not try to rake up the past as well.


    Yang Dou personally went to Jade City to escort the Crown Prince back to the kingdom, and that experience was still fresh in his mind.


    The Crown Prince was a disappointing weasel. Rash and ignorant, he did not understand the importance ofpromise that needed to rule a kingdom. His resentment towards the Yangs was undisguised, having already thought about seeking revenge for his exile before even sitting on the throne.


    <em>It is always better to prevent trouble before ites, </em>Yang Dou decided. And his wish came true as the Prince was soon found murdered in a brothel; his reputation destroyed. The Second Prince was a smart man, and he was willing to make major concessions in exchange for the throne. Therefore, Yang Dou quickly reached a private agreement with him.


    In the following years, Yang Dou and his n rose to a height of power they had not achieved for the past dozens of years. He held absolute power in his hands and was like a regent of the kingdom.


    The long war of attrition had exhausted the Ju family bloodline. As the royal family, they plotted and killed each other for the ridiculous puppet throne, and the dwindling number of family members had created a situation where, for the first time, there was no heir in line for the throne.


    The Second Prince had already been in poor health even before he ascended the throne. This was also a major reason why he was willing to cede most of his power to the Prime Minister. But he was more than willing to bear a son for the Ju family. It was a pity then, that the heavens failed to grant his wishes, as the Queen still did not showing signs of pregnancy even after four years. Even the women who had been secretly sent into the pce did not manage to conceive as well.


    This should have been the perfect opportunity for the Yangs. But Yang Dou had not expected that this situation had also lured several opportunistic suitors to the Stone Kingdom, each of them wielding even more influence than his own n.


    Today, he would be meeting these suitors.


    He would have to focus all his energy on the meeting. If he handled the situation well, perhaps he could still secure the independence of Stone Kingdom and maintain the standing of the Yangs. An even better victory for the Yangs, of course, was to chase away all these suitors who were eyeing the throne of the Stone Kingdom as well.


    Immersed in his fantasy, Yang Dou let out a sigh. He knew very well that the only choice for the Yangs right now was to choose a less ruthless master among these suitors. Perhaps, he might be able to get some of the leftovers after the new heir apparent had had his fill, renewing the bitter struggle between his n and the royal family.


    The guests were slowly arriving, one after another. Yang Dou dismissed his fantasies and summoned theposure of a Prime Minister before going out to greet the guests.


    The Prince of Kang Kingdom was the first to arrive. He was a boorish-looking young man, and he did not look too pleased. Yang Dou met his rudeness with a ttering smile and invited him into the Council Chamber; he understood where his anger wasing from.


    Xiaoyao Lake was a bigke surrounded by five small kingdoms that wereprised of the Stone, the Kang, the An, the Sha and the Hui Kingdoms respectively. These five kingdoms were linked bymon rivers and mountains and were closely connected to each other. By convention, the royal families practiced intermarriage. For example, the current Queen of Stone Kingdom was from the Hui Kingdom.


    As one could imagine, the Stone Kingdom¡¯s decision to choose the Princess¡¯ husband from the entire Western Region had caused great dissatisfaction among the other four kingdoms, especially the Kang Kingdom. The Prince of the Kang Kingdom was of suitable age and unmarried. He had long regarded the Princess of Stone Kingdom as his own fiancee and had harbored the thought of taking over the throne of Stone Kingdom. He never imagined that he would need topete with a other suitors, some of which were not even of royal descent.


    ¡°Prime Minister, since when did the royal families of Xiaoyao Lake decided to mix their bloodline with impure blood?¡± asked the Prince of Kang Kingdom as he walking in furiously, wanting to rify the situation.


    ¡°Please calm down, Your Highness. Our kingdom has had no choice but to resort to this. The five kingdoms have been intermarrying for many years now and although it¡¯s a good thing to cement our kingdoms¡¯ rtionships with one another¡­ Your Highness, as the Princess¡¯ uncle, this is somewhat¡­¡±


    ¡°So what? Didn¡¯t the King of the An Kingdom marry his aunt as well? What¡¯s wrong with me marrying my sister¡¯s daughter?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not always a good thing to be so closed off, and it¡¯s not like Your Highness doesn¡¯t stand a chance¡­¡±


    ¡°This is an insult to the Kang Kingdom, as well as towards the royal families of the five kingdoms. Prime Minister, I don¡¯t need to remind you that the coalition forces of the four kingdoms are just stationed at your nation¡¯s border, right? It must be me who marries the Princess.¡±


    Yang Dou continued smiling, but his heart was full of contempt for the Prince of the Kang Kingdom. Even though the Kang Kingdom was not the weakest among those that had surrounded the Stone Kingdom, they did not have what it took topete with the strongest contender. They were no better than the Stone Kingdom. The coalition forces of the four kingdoms were probably made up of hired machetemen from Golden Roc Fort, using money from the Meng family of Jade City as well. Yang Dou scoffed inwardly.


    Yang Dou tried his best to appease the Prince of the Kang Kingdom without telling him the truth, wanting to let this young man learn his lesson by himself.


    The second and third guests arrived almost at the same time, and after exchanging greetings at the doorstep, they entered together, hand in hand.


    Yang Dou could not help but tense up once he noticed the Special Envoys from the Central in and Nond. They were the main contendors and it was because of their interference that the Stone Kingdom was now in a dilemma. One Princess was indeed not enough to save the kingdom.


    It would be ideal if the two countries could send a Prince each from their homnd to ask for the Princess¡¯ hand in marriage, ensuring that the remaining four kingdoms would not dare to oppose to it as well. What made Yang Dou resentful was the fact that the two bigger countries would rather hide behind the scenes and choose to pick a candidate instead, and now the Stone Kingdom was caught in between each side.


    The biggest disaster to a small kingdom would be to be the target ofrge countries. Even now, Yang Dou was at a loss to who to greet first when the two Special Envoys walked in together. He could only extend his arms and pretend to be overjoyed at the sight of them together, exchanging greetings like old friends. He had act informally and go against normal diplomatic protocol so as to not offend either party.


    Unlike the Prince of the Kang Kingdom, the two Special Envoys hadmunicated with Yang Dou before ¨Cmaking their own speeches and issuing their threats. Today, the purpose of their visit was more to judge and supervise thepetition for the princess.


    Despite facing the messengers from the big countries, the Prince of Kang Kingdom did not mask his displeasure. It was as though everyone was his enemy and was trying to snatch the Princess away from him. This made Yang Dou suspect that the next kingdom to fall among the five kingdoms would be the Kang Kingdom.


    The guests who arrived after that were much easier to handle as they were all here to ask for the princess¡¯s hand. There were three Princes from faraway countries, and even the Prime Minister was confused as to how they managed to get hold of the news of the marriage. Five chiefs from nearby tribes had also sent their sons. Compared to the five of them, the Prince of the Kang Kingdom appeared refined and cultured. There were also several sons of wealthy businessmen, but rather than propose, they were primarily here to catch a glimpse of the Princess¡¯ beauty so that they would have something to talk about.


    These people were like dancers in an arena of beasts, helping the bloody scene appear less savage.


    The Ninth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort arrived and Prime Minister Yang Dou went to greet this unusual suitor with mixed feelings.


    The Golden Roc Fort had once been the best ally of the Yang family. Although Yang Dou detested the killing profession, he was very satisfied with the assassins from the Golden Roc Fort after working together with them on a few asions.


    At that time, the Golden Roc Fort had been very professional and seemed to take on work only for money. It did not appear to harbor any improper thoughts of expanding its influence.


    It was not until the Supreme King sent someone to reveal his ns for the Princess to be his daughter-inw that Yang Dou realized his long-time partner was already on the offensive. The Supreme King not only wanted money, but the title of a real king as well.


    Even if Nond no longer supported Golden Roc Fort, the Stone Kingdom would probably not be able to reject the marriage proposal. The Stone Kingdom only had a guard force of fewer than 300 men, one-third of which was provided by Golden Roc Fort. Therge sums of money spent by the Ju¡¯s and Yang¡¯s were borrowed from the Meng family under the guarantee of the Golden Roc Fort as well.


    Now, the Stone Kingdom would have to pay for their short-sightedness and greed.


    In all fairness, Yang Dou would have picked the Ninth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort out of all the suitors. Not only would the problem of the huge debt be solved, it would bring the support of a major power for the Stone Kingdom as well. Yang Dou was familiar with how the Golden Roc Fort worked and strongly believed that the Yangs would still survive under the wing of the Supreme King.


    The only problem was Shangguan Fei¡¯sck of enthusiasm. He did not seem very interested in bing the Stone Kingdom Emperor¡¯s son-inw, or sitting on the throne that woulde with it. It was said that the Ninth Young Master was cowardly and useless, and Yang Dou could not help but agree with that description. The few times they had met, he had spoken incoherently, or not at all, apart from conveying his father¡¯s orders.


    Shangguan Fei seemed like the odd one out when he entered the Council Chamber. After greeting the Special Envoy from Nond, he sat daydreaming in his seat, expressionless. Even when the Prince of the Kang Kingdom red at him, Shangguan Fei did not seem to care.


    <em>At least he¡¯s not ugly and somewhat worthy of the Princess, </em>Yang Douforted himself.


    Finally, thest guest arrived.


    Yang Dou once thought that Dragon King would never reach the Stone Kingdom, and thus save him from being in a dilemma. But the suitor who suddenly appeared was merelyte for a few days. Not only that, his killing intent was strong as he entered the room. It was said that he and a female bodyguard had killed almost a thousand bandits in the desert and escaped unscathed.


    Xiaoyao Lake and Jade City were separated by a desert, butmunication between them had never been disrupted. The stories about the Dragon King were exaggerated as they spread, and by the time they reached the Stone Kingdom, they had be horror stories.


    It was said that the Dragon King had killed tens of thousands of people within a short span of three years, and this alone was enough to make the people of Stone Kingdom terrified beyond words; the poption of the Stone Kingdom was only about 40000 to 50000 people. The poption of Stone Kingdom itself was not enough for the Dragon King to kill in the next few years.


    It was only after more and more real news spread to the Stone Kingdom that Yang Dou realized he had actually met Dragon King a few times before. It was he who had cracked the murder of the First Prince. Not only did he manage to force the murderer, who tried to attack him, to surrender, but also managed to salvage the reputations of all parties involved.


    The incident had left a deep impression on Yang Dou, but he would never have expected that the smart young man would actually choose to be an enemy of the Golden Roc Fort.


    However, Yang Dou was still unwilling to let the Princess marry the Dragon King. The Great Snowmountain was still a fairly new power and their future was uncertain. It would be a huge risk to tie the fate of the Stone Kingdom together with that of the Great Snowmountain .


    Because of this, Yang Dou was warmer towards the Dragon King than to any other suitor. If someone would offend the Dragon King, he hoped it would not be himself.


    Gu Shenwei walked into the Council Chamber and swept his eyes over the crowd. Everybody quietened down and gazed at the monster in the their legends.


    Gu Shenwei did not care about the others and only nodded his head in the direction of the Special Envoy from the Central ins.


    Everybody believed that the Central in supported the Great Snowmountain, but only Gu Shenwei knew that the Central in had just nned an assassination attack against him.

 Chapter 337 - Sound Out

    Chapter 337: Sound Out


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    After a night in the desert and two more nights dealing with the group of bandits, Gu Shenwei arrived in the Stone Kingdom three dayster than the others. A lot of people were surprised to see him arrive at the courier station of the Stone Kingdom, but they skillfully masked their shock.


    Maid Lotus did not bring a lot of Blood Coagtion Pills with her and was unwilling to use them on the bandits, thus she used the Jueyin Touch to help them remove the effects of the Bliss Needle.


    Jueyin Touch was simr to Mama Xue¡¯s Peripheral Force. Although it would not take effect immediately, thetent danger of qigong deviation had already taken root in the body. As a result, the six bandits had no choice but to listen to Maid Lotus.


    Moreover, the newly subdued bandits were very unreliable. Gu Shenwei dealt with them for two days and pried out a lot of information from He Sancai¡¯s mouth. He ordered a dozen of them who were rtively trustworthy to contact more of their fellow people toe to the Stone Kingdom, while the rest continued to hide in the desert on standby.


    On the second day after arriving in the Stone Kingdom, he went to visit Yang Dou ¨C the Prime Minister ¨C along with other suitors.


    Yang Dou was shrewd and crafty. Although there was already a certain someone in mind for the Emperor¡¯s son-inw, he still put on a wless act that nobody could see through. On behalf of the king, he proposed five criteria for choosing a son-inw: family background, literary talent, kung fu, wealth, and character.


    Everybody quickly measured their own advantages and disadvantages with others and put forward questions and demands one after another. The Prince of the Kang Kingdom insisted that ¡°family background¡± should be the most important criteria, while others felt that ¡°literary talent¡± or ¡°character¡± should be the core of the criteria instead. No one touched on ¡°kung fu¡± and ¡°wealth¡± because they knew that among the suitors, nobody could win against Dragon King in terms of kung fu, and nobody could win against the Ninth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort in terms of wealth.


    But these two men did not say a word from start to end and just let everybody else fight it out.


    Both Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Fei were very clear that the person who could decide on the choice of the prince consort was not Prime Minister Yang Dou, nor was it the Princess herself or the King of the Stone Kingdom; it was up to the two Special Envoys from Nond and the Central in.


    Faced with theplicated situation, Yang Dou disyed his ability and persuaded every suitor who put forward different opinions one by one. He ensured that the whole process of choosing the prince consort would be fair and reasonable, giving everyone a chance.


    The whole morning was spent in quarrels as the suitors engaged in a battle of words with each other. In the end, Yang Dou emerged as the winner because none of the five criteria for choosing a son-inw were changed despite the heated discussions.


    At noon, the pce hosted a banquet for all the guests to enjoy.


    The King of Stone Kingdom only showed his face briefly at the banquet and did not say much. After drinking a ss of wine symbolically, he left his seat and the banquet was instead hosted by the Prime Minister.


    The king was different from the memory that Gu Shenwei had of the Second Prince. He was much older and his already thin body looked even frailer now. Like a candle in the wind, it seemed like he could copse anytime.


    All suitors stayed in the courier station outside of the city, and the realpetition would begin after meeting with one another this time.


    On that night, Gu Shenwei draped a cape and paid a visit to the Special Envoy from the Central in.


    On the surface, the Central in remained a supporter of Dragon King and Gu Shenwei did not intend to fall out with him too soon. Moreover, from what He Sancai confessed, it was Wei Song ¨C the Commanding Officer of the Western Region ¨C who instigated the assassination of Dragon King. It was still not clear whether the Special Envoy was aware of it.


    The Special Envoy from the Central in was named Lin Tao and he was a militarymander. After working as an official in the Western Region for many years, his words were filled with nostalgia for the Central in, and all he wanted was to retire and return back to his country. ¡°I am a southern man, Every time I close my eyes, images of regions abound with rivers andkes, as well as boats floating in the watery towns, fill my mind. Yet, when I open my eyes, there is nothing but yellow sand all around me. I would nevere to the Western Region ever again in my next life. Hehe, I heard that Dragon King is from the Central in as well. Where¡¯s your hometown? I¡¯ve long heard of General Gu¡¯s reputation, but it¡¯s a pity Ick fate to meet him¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei humored him carefully as he was not very good at dealing with such figures from the officialdom. He thought that Zhong Heng could be a very useful advisor if he was worthy of his trust.


    Next, Lin Tao talked about the bandits in the desert, ¡°They¡¯ve overestimated themselves! These people, how dare theyy their hands on the Dragon King! But Dragon King, you are too polite indeed. If you knew that there were people trying to block your way, why didn¡¯t you let me know then? Although I didn¡¯t have a lot of men under me and they only had average abilities, it would still have been possible for them to help you keep a lookout, you know, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thanked Mr. Lin sincerely for his concern and naturally pinned Golden Roc Fort as the instigator of the bandits. ¡°Supreme King had always wanted to get rid of me, but he¡¯s afraid of the wrath of therge countries and hasn¡¯t dared to send his own people. It¡¯s shameless that he actually encouraged these unpopr bandits to trap me to death in the desert.¡±


    ¡°Shameless indeed,¡± Lin Tao said sternly after listening to what Dragon King said, vouching firmly to him. ¡°The Central in will guarantee the safety of the Dragon King, and this is by no means empty talk or intimidation. As long as we have explicit evidence that Golden Roc Fort is behind this, we will send our troops to the Supreme King. No matter how good his kung fu is, it¡¯s impossible for him to defeat the tens and thousands of troops that we have!¡±


    For Lin Tao to actually give out such a clear threat as the Special Envoy of the Central in, it goes to show that as the confidant of Wei Song ¨C the Commanding Officer of the Western Region ¨C he was definitely aware of this ¡°shameless¡± attack.


    The two talked again, and Lin Tao slowly moved onto the real business. His mood was not very optimistic as he said, ¡°The Stone Kingdom is very important, isn¡¯t it? The Stone Kingdom guards one of the two major entries of Xiaoyao Lake. Once you obtain the Stone Kingdom, you will acquire the entirety of Xiaoyao Lake ¨C these words were indeed true. Although the five kingdoms are not big, they are rich in resources, especially the refined iron from Wushan; it¡¯s unparalleled in this world¡­¡±


    Lin Tao leaned towards Dragon King and then said, ¡°Golden Roc Fort is determined to win the marriage proposal this time and they have the backing of Nond. The five criteria listed by Prime Minister Yang were obviously more advantageous for Golden Roc Fort as well. Do you have any countermeasures, Dragon King?¡±


    Gu Shenwei prepared several ns but he did not intend to tell Lin Tao about it, therefore he beat around the bush and first talked about the hatred between the Great Snowmountain and Golden Roc Fort. After that, he talked about how the support of the Central in was important to them. All in all, it was just amon conversation, until, finally, he said, ¡°The Great Snowmountain has just been recently established, thus we are still weak in strength and are also nearly a thousand miles away from Xiaoyao Lake. We don¡¯t have any foundation here as well ¨C in fact, there is no need for it. My purpose foring here was not to be the prince consort but to stop Golden Roc Fort from growing their wings.¡±


    Lin Tao bowed his head in deep thought and was somewhat surprised, saying, ¡°I see. Actually, Dragon King does have what it takes to be the prince consort of the Stone Kingdom. Look at all these peopleing to ask for the marriage in hand: they are all princes. How are theyparable to you, Dragon King? Haha, but since the Dragon King has no intention of vying for the throne, I should not force you. I feel that, however, Dragon King should choose apetitor who is well-matched in strength and can be pit against Golden Roc Fort, and then fully support him. As long as he bes the prince consort, Golden Roc Fort naturally won¡¯t be able to get what they want.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was clearly aware that this was the true intention of the Special Envoy of the Central in. It was also a major reason why Wei Song ¨C the Commanding Officer of the Western Region ¨C dared to assassinate Dragon King and was not afraid of ruining the strategy of the Central in.


    There was little use for weapons in this secret struggle. After thinking for a moment, Gu Shenwei said, ¡°In fact, I was thinking about this for a long time as well. Unfortunately, I¡¯m not familiar with the many countries of the Western Region, and therefore don¡¯t know which of these suitors is worth manipting. Mr. Lin, you¡¯ve been an official in the Western Region for a long time, so perhaps you can offer me some advice?¡±


    Appearing to be vexed as though he could not make up his mind right now, Lin Tao said, ¡°It¡¯s indeed difficult to find another suitor who canpete with Golden Roc Fort other than Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was intending to sound out his opinion, so he asked, ¡°What about the Prince of the Kang Kingdom? I understand that the two countries had made marriage engagements in private.¡±


    At this juncture, the experienced and vicious Lin Tao revealed part of his true self. Without thinking, he quickly objected to Dragon King¡¯s suggestion and said, ¡°No, that¡¯s not good. The Kang Kingdom is weak and has always been under the covert control of Golden Roc Fort and the Meng family. It¡¯s highly possible that he will go back on his word at thest minute, and this will ruin your ns, Dragon King.¡±


    The two of them did note to a conclusion that night. Lin Tao imed that he would still need to understand the situation before giving Dragon King a more specific suggestion.


    Gu Shenwei returned to the amodations that the courier station had arranged for the Great Snowmountain. He first summoned Lin Xiaoshan and inquired about Xu Yanwei.


    ¡°She has been sent to the pce and nobody noticed.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. The most advantageous weapon in his hand for this marriage proposal battle was probably Xu Yanwei. She was very confident in being able to persuade the King of the Stone Kingdom and even seemed very happy to see him again. She said, ¡°The Second Prince is a very nice man; he¡¯s gentle and considerate. s, if only I had followed him to the Stone Kingdom, my life would have been very different, wouldn¡¯t it?¡±


    Xu Yanwei never once remembered the bad things done by her customers. Even when the Second Prince had once sent someone to kill her, she did not resent him. Being a little afraid, she asked, ¡°He won¡¯t do anything to me again, will he?¡±


    Gu Shenwei let Jiang follow as a maid and sent Guan Shang as a guard to ensure Xu Yanwei¡¯s safety.


    Gu Shenwei believed that the King of the Stone Kingdom was unable to protect even himself. The sudden appearance of Xu Yanwei would only give rise to more suspicion, and he would not dare toy his hands on her at all.


    Lin Xiaoshan seemed quite worried, so he said, ¡°There are a lot of spies nted by Golden Roc Fort in the pce and I am afraid that they might harm Madam Xu, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked at Lin Xiaoshan and pondered over his words. The macheteman blushed slightly under Gu Shenwei¡¯s stare.


    ¡°Rest assured, there are suitors from all countries residing outside the city. Even if the people in the pce realize who Xu Yanwei is, they will not dare toy their hands on her.¡±


    Lin Xiaoshan agreed without saying much and excused himself.


    In the afternoon of the next day, Zhong Heng came to visit. He conveyed Lin Tao¡¯s suggestion and said, ¡°Prince of the Lon Kingdom: he has a noble family background and is skilled in both literary and martial talents. Great wealth resides in his kingdom and his character is impable. He can be the strongestpetitor against Golden Roc Fort, and Mr. Lin hoped that Dragon King could find a chance to meet with him.¡±


    ¡°The Lon Kingdom,¡± Gu Shenwei repeated in a low voice.


    The Lon Kingdom was the closest kingdom to the Central in out of all the countries in the Western Region. They had been a loyal spokesman for the Central in forces for many years. The kingdom was thousands of miles away from Xiaoyao Lake and was separated by a vast gobi desert even, thus for them to even know about the news of the Princess seeking a husband and appearing on the list of suitors was a miracle in itself, so to speak.


    Golden Roc Fort and Nond were adamant, but the Central in was a force to be reckoned with as well.


    Dragon King did not express his views for quite some time. Zhong Heng, who was usually the best in beating around the bush, suddenly be very direct and said, ¡°May I know how I should report back to Mr. Lin, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Say Ipletely agree with it, and please let Mr. Lin arrange for us to meet as soon as possible.¡±


    By right, the meeting should have ended by now, but Zhong Heng did not leave the room. After rambling for a while, he finally stated his true intention, ¡°Has the Dragon King ever had doubts that perhaps Golden Roc Fort was not the instigator for the bandits in the desert?¡±


    Every month, Zhong Heng would receive a sum of taels from Dragon King. Likewise, he also had grudges with Wei Song ¨C the Commanding Officer of the Western Region; however, Gu Shenwei still couldn¡¯t trust himpletely, so he probed, ¡°What do you mean, Lord Zhong?¡±


    Beating around the bush like this could take up a lot of time and Zhong Heng was fully aware that he would need to show his sincerity first in this game, so he put his cards on the table and said, ¡°Lord Wei would never let you off, Dragon King, and he would never let me off either. He knew the culprit behind the death of Master Wei Lingmiao. If I guessed correctly, once the marriage of the Princess of the Stone Kingdom is settled, the two of us would be met with mishaps, Dragon King.¡±

 Chapter 338 - Pledging Allegiance

    Chapter 338: Pledging Allegiance


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Zhong Heng was smart, sometimes too smart. All his previous bosses knew that none of their private matters escaped him, thus made sure that he was not frequently promoted and atst, his ambitions died. In his own words, he now wanted nothing more than to get rich and find a peaceful ce to live hisst years.


    To him, pouring out his heart to someone was not only ridiculous but also dangerous. However, he decided to trust Dragon King, if only for the chance of fortune and security for the rest of his days. ¡°I pledge allegiance to you, to help you be a real king and even im the entire Western Region.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was slightly taken aback. He had always appreciated Zhong Heng and had learned many useful principles from him. Therefore, he found it hard to imagine that someone as slippery as him would take their chances with him, whose status was not yet established. ¡°Commandant Zhong is an Officer from the Central in.¡±


    Zhong Heng gave out a wry smile. ¡°I am indeed, but the Superior Officer of the Central in wants me dead! Wei Song is crafty, he must have known who killed Wei Lingmiao and that I¡¯m involved. Before, he was in the Central in giving a report of his work and could not do anything about me. Now he¡¯s the powerful Commanding Officer of the Western Region. How am I supposed topete with that? To be honest, I have nowhere to go but to Dragon King.¡±


    It sounded like a perfect reason, but Gu Shenwei still did not ept it immediately. For those who volunteered information too readily, there was a fine line between being too enthusiastic and invoking arrogance, and being too suspicious and making them disheartened. Gu Shenwei could not say that he could navigate it well; he could only try to get close.


    ¡°What about Shangguan Nu? He was also involved in the murder of Wei Lingmiao; isn¡¯t he worried about Wei Song¡¯s revenge?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a different matter entirely. He now holds an important position and is an indispensable pawn of Central in. In my opinion, if Jade City is in turmoil, and the Central in army is not ready to fight, Shangguan Nu will likely be made Supreme King. In the case of that, even if Wei Song knows Shangguan Nu is an aplice, he can only y dumb.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t Shangguan Nu protect you?¡±


    ¡°Well, we never talk about it. But it¡¯s obvious. He has nothing to worry about, he is not on the same boat as me. Why would he protect me? But, if I am on the same boat with the Dragon King, we can help each other. No, you are the one steering; I¡¯ll help you row.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was impressed. In truth, he had known Zhong Heng was at a crossroads; he just wanted Zhong Heng to say it out loud.


    Words were magical, when they were buried in one¡¯s heart, they could grow into whatever form their owner wanted; but once they were spoken aloud, these fleeting sybles would take on a fixed form that would shape their owner instead.


    Pledging allegiance was simr. When it was just an idea, betrayal and loyalty were just amorphous concepts, it could take on any form it liked. But, when it was spoken, it was binding.


    The shaping could be modest, but also unbreakable. But no matter what, it began its work.


    Gu Shenwei was familiar with both pledging and receiving an allegiance. He knew that the frequent pledges that Luo Ningcha required were only guaranteed by the power of words. Yet, at the same time, without prescribed rules, any allegiance could be untrustworthy.


    He stood up and spoke the words that he had been pondering. He was not fully satisfied with them, but it was the best he could do. ¡°In my heart, Commandant Zhong has been a good friend and teacher. You have taught me a lot. Now that we have the same enemy, I¡¯d like to fight against them beside you.¡±


    Zhong Heng knew what he had to do. He knelt on one leg, bowed his head and said, ¡°Dragon King, please ept my allegiance.¡±


    This was a simple ceremony. The two sides did notpletely trust each other. But it had been an important step because they would not have to investigate each other but could go straight to business.


    Zhong Heng wanted riches and Gu Shenwei desired information and advice.


    ¡°ording to my estimation, in two more years, the provisions and supplies that the Central in will have stored in the Western Region will be able to feed an army of 100,000 soldiers. When countries like the Lon Kingdome to their aid, the army will expand to almost 150,000 soldiers. At that time, their only rival in the Western Region will be Nond.¡±


    It was only now that Gu Shenwei knew how dire the situation was. All these years, the Central in had been expanding slowly in the Western Region, giving the impression that they would not act in the near future. But it had been a facade. Their soldiers could march into the Western Region anytime. What would finally cripple the Western Region was their supplies, and Central in had been secretly hoarding supplies, in order to get the Western Region under control once for all.


    If the Great Snowmountain wanted to be independent, they had to possess a piece ofnd first. Fang Wenshi¡¯s n to get the throne in five to ten years was far too optimistic.


    ¡°The Central in¡¯s only concern is Nond.¡± Zhong Heng continued. Having lived in the Western Region for years, he was ustomed to the mindset and felt indifferent to the country. ¡°Khan is badly sick and will die at any time. I guess the Central in is waiting for him to die and for Nond to go into turmoil. When they can¡¯t attend the Western Region in the south, the Central in will simply march through the main passage to the Western Region or even go up north.¡±


    When the Central in seized the Western Region, Dragon King and his Great Snowmountain would be redundant.


    Zhong Heng was a junior officer and had no ess to confidential information. He could only specte and had not developed any ns. Still, Gu Shenwei was in need of a resourceful counselor like Fang Wenshi.


    But the threat of the Western Region was still far off. The nearest danger was from Wei Song. ¡°Special Envoy Mr. Lin has brought 50 guard troops, 10 of them are not local, they came from the Central in. I would say the bandits in the desert are just pawns, the real master is among the 10.¡±


    ¡°They were sent by the Central in?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, perhaps you might be able to tell. I¡¯ll arrange for you to meet them.¡±


    Though Wei Song had evil intentions, Gu Shenwei did not want to fight him in the open, and definitely not so soon. The Central in was the Great Snowmountain¡¯s biggest benefactor. Though not entirely definitively, it could easily scare away other forces in the Western Region. ¡°It¡¯s best that we don¡¯t do it the antagonistic way. I don¡¯t think Wei Song will fight us openly.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. Mr. Wei is the Commanding Officer of the Western Region and the alliance with the Great Snowmountain was made by the previous Commanding Officer, he won¡¯t openly abandon it so soon. In fact, I have an idea, but I¡¯m not sure how you¡¯ll like it.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°You have to be the Emperor¡¯s son-inw.¡±


    Zhong Heng did not borate any further, he believed that the Dragon King knew his meaning.


    The Central in hoped to use the Stone Kingdom to control the entire Xiaoyao Lake ¡ª it was their basic strategy. Lin Tao had chosen the Lon Kingdom Prince as his puppet, but if the Dragon King managed to eke out, Wei Song would be forced to continue allying with the Dragon King and Great Snowmountain and would have to abort the assassination.


    In the case of Zhong Heng, as long as the Dragon King was alive, Wei Song would not act so rashly as to kill him.


    Gu Shenwei had never liked the Stone Kingdom Princess. Part of what he told Lin Tao was true; the Xiaoyao Lake was far away from the Great Snowmountain. Even if he imed that territory, it was like distant water that could not quench the present thirst. It would help much in defeating the Golden Roc Fort.


    Now, he needed to think about how to marry the Princess.


    Zhong Heng could not stay for long, and after the discussion, he withdrew.


    In the evening, Maid Lotus finally returned.


    Maid Lotus did not openly present herself to Dragon King in the Stone Kingdom. Just as she left the desert, she put on a disguise to search for the Four Truths Temple monks.


    The monks did not stay in the royal pce; instead, they had settled at Nengjue Temple in the city. Nengjue Temple was not big, but it was Stone Kingdom¡¯s national temple. It was conveniently located close to the royal pce.


    ¡°It¡¯s true that the King is going to abdicate and be a monk.¡± Maid Lotus brought back a lot of useful intelligence. ¡°The monks are busy preparing. It looks like that the King will shave his hair before the Princess gets married. You have to be the Emperor¡¯s son-inw; you don¡¯t even need to have a son to get the throne.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be the Emperor¡¯s son-inw¡­¡± Gu Shenwei had not decided yet, but he would rather not discuss it with Maid Lotus.


    Maid Lotus did not press. ¡°The good news is that it is not just the old monk who practices the Sumeru Mustard divine kung fu, some of his disciples practice it too. But they¡¯re too dumb to master it; I think I can capture one of them to interrogate.¡±


    Maid Lotus had benefited from Fayan¡¯s Internal Strength and had never forgotten it since.


    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± Gu Shenwei thought it was not the top priority at the moment, ¡°I need you to do something for me.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡°Special Emissary from the Central ins has 50 guard troops; the Central in may have nted masters among them. Go and find out, but don¡¯t engage.¡±


    Maid Lotus did not ask any further. Before leaving, she took out a pile of papers. ¡°I said I would tell you all the secrets of the New Moon Hall. This is part of it, I¡¯ll write down the rest. You¡¯d better destroy it afterward; I don¡¯t want the New Moon Hall people to find out.¡±


    Gu Shenwei put them away and said nothing. After she had left, he carefully read through them.


    The first thing she presented was the New Moon Hall¡¯s most important ult science, the Divine Rotation.


    The Divine Rotation was indeed a wicked kung fu, the practicer would not gain Internal Strength through it, and must consume others¡¯ to feed himself to recover his Qi.


    Not only the cultivation method was written down in detail, but the pained reactions of each victim were listed. The inventor of the practice seemed to relish them.


    One of the reactions was letting out continuous bloodcurdling screams. Monk Fayan had learned it somehow and knew that someone was practicing the Divine Rotation in the tent.


    ( )


    Even if he fully trusted Maid Lotus, he would not practice such a method. He held out the paper to the candle but suddenly changed his mind. He folded the paper and carefully put it away.


    It was dark outside, but Gu Shenwei did not intend to sleep. He wanted to meet Shangguan Fei. He always had the feeling that other than getting the Stone Kingdom Princess, the Supreme King had arger plot, a plot that he was not even close to deciphering.

 Chapter 339 - Rumors

    Chapter 339: Rumors


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei was ready and believed that he had to ovee many obstacles before meeting Shangguan Fei.


    The Ninth Young Master valued his precious life very much and normally could be found wishing that there was a way to have all his guards around his bedside while he slept. Even if that were possible, he would have also wanted to be able to sleep with eyes wide open and ears pricked up.


    Unexpectedly, as Gu Shenwei checked himself into the courier station in the Stone Kingdom, he found that Shangguan Fei seemed to haveplete faith in the security level there. The guards were so ck that it all felt like a trap.


    After observing for a long while, Gu Shenwei decided that he should reveal himself, so went up openly to call on Shangguan Fei.


    It seemed that the attendant at the entrance knew that Dragon King would being and he announced the guest¡¯s arrival loudly to the upants of the courier station. After which, he led Dragon King into the main hall respectfully.


    During their meeting with the Prime Minister of Stone Kingdom, Shangguan Fei was so gloomy that he looked like an old man who was very ill. Now, however, he was a youth and all smiles, weing Dragon King in a dramatic manner and with too much enthusiasm.


    ¡°Dragon King graces us with his presence and livens up our humble dwelling. Please sit over here. Quick, serve the drinks! Do you drink alcohol, Dragon King? It¡¯s such a cold night and the perfect time to drink and rejoice about the good times. Oh, pardon me, pardon me, that¡¯s a name you wish to forget an affront to you. <em>(Note: The word joy in Mandarin is ¡®Huan¡¯ and Shangguan Fei is referring to the Dragon King¡¯s old name as ve Huan here) </em>Oh, you are still as teetotal as before. Say, it¡¯s got me thinking about the past. Every incident is still so fresh to me and the changes to you, Dragon King¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei had to admit that he was bamboozled by Shangguan Fei. They were known enemies, and even though both their camps were negotiating for peace, he did not have to go out of the way to treat the Dragon King as warmly as he was a good friend.


    There were many people in the hall and the attendants rushed about, serving drinks and snacks. After everything was done, they tactfully left.


    Shangguan Hong was also present. His new role was to break the ice and liven up the atmosphere when both Shangguan Fei and the Dragon King did not want to talk. ¡°I still remember the scene when you were ying with the two young masters in the Stone Castle, Dragon King. To be honest, you made all of us apprentices envious. Even at that time, you already seemed to be different from the others¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei had never been the recipient of such tant and fawning ttery before. The swordsmen of the Great Snow Mountain were taciturn, and he had got used to living with those unyielding men. He was really no match for such fierce boot-licking.


    Throughout the entire conversation, he spoke very little and did not drop his guard for even a little bit. He would not be smug andcent even if he was ttered anymore than this.


    Furthermore, Shangguan Ru was at her brother¡¯s side.


    She had disguised herself as part of the retinue on the way to the Stone Kingdom and had reverted back to her original appearance by then. Wearing a long dress with narrow sleeves made for ease of movement and she also wore a saber at her waist. She was seated in a dignified manner and was the only person in the hall not making a big fuss out of the Dragon King¡¯s presence.


    She was as reticent as Gu Shenwei and gazed out of the window, her thoughts seemingly elsewhere; however, when Shangguan Fei and Shangguan Hong¡¯s ttery became further outrageous, to the point where he even began describing her as ve Huan¡¯sckey in the past, she could not take it anymore. Standing up in a flurry, she grasped the hilt of her saber. ¡°What a disgrace, is there no ce for the dignity of the Shangguan Family in your hearts?¡±


    She cast her wide, ck eyes at Gu Shenwei and it looked as if she wanted to start a fight; however, the tense moment onlysted for a short while and very quickly she shifted her gaze somewhere else and stormed out of the hall.


    Shangguan Fei disyed a look of iprehension and surprise. ¡°What¡¯s the matter with her? Why¡¯s she offended when us old friends are reminiscing about the past? Pay her no mind, Dragon King ¨C Little sister is unhappy. To be honest, hehe, she misses you even more than us.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was also bing a little impatient and said, ¡°Shangguan Fei, I believe that we are both already very familiar with each other.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right,¡± replied Shangguan Fei. He cast Shangguan Hong a look and thetter tactfully left. He bowed to his master and retreated backward with small steps ¨C his humility portraying him as a ve of the lowest rank.


    ¡°I guessed that you woulde calling within these two days, Dragon King,¡± said Shangguan Fei. Even though they were alone now, he was still trying to worm his way into Gu Shenwei¡¯s good books.


    ¡°Right, I¡¯m here now. I wish to discuss that deal with you.¡±


    Previously, in the small tavern of Shuangquan Vige, Shangguan Fei had offered his sister in exchange for the Dragon King to back out from the race to be the Emperor¡¯s son-inw. Hearing that the Dragon King wished to resume discussion about the matter, Shangguan Fei¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°You¡¯ve seen my sister, she¡­¡±


    ¡°It has nothing to do with her,¡± said replied Gu Shenwei firmly. ¡°I need other benefits.¡±


    Shangguan Fei appeared slightly puzzled at his statement but very quickly understood what Dragon King was implying. ¡°Please state your terms, Dragon King. As long as I can be the Emperor¡¯s son-inw, I will agree to any conditions.¡±


    ¡°You can marry the princess, but cannot be King.¡±


    Shangguan Fei looked awkward as he replied, ¡°This, Dragon King, is not up to me to decide. It¡¯s an arrangement made by his Lord, and regardless of whether I ept it or not, the King of Stone Kingdom will abdicate the throne and go into monkhood. It¡¯s pointless to reject it.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to bother about that. You just have to openly dere that you will never have designs on the throne.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I know. You wish to have the monk of the Four Truths Temple¡­ after which, it will be impossible for the King to be a monk,¡± Shangguan Fei said, mimicking the pose of an executioner beheading someone.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s reply was the same, ¡°I said, you don¡¯t have to bother about that.¡±


    Shangguan Fei nodded, seemingly enlightened. ¡°I promise, but I can make such a deration now. I vow that I will make the announcement at the same time when I am anointed as consort to the princess. Nevertheless, I believe that you surely know that this will make it seem as though I am just biding my time and not to be believed to the others.¡±


    ¡°This will do just fine,¡± Gu Shenwei said as he stood up, ready to take his leave. ¡°A warning for you: Yourpetitor is not me, but the Prince of Lon Kingdom,¡± he added.


    Shangguan Fei immediately understood what Dragon King meant, and said, ¡°The Special Emissary from the Central in¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei left the hall. He realized that the courier station was not too big, and many people had to rest outside in tents. It was no more than a hundred or so steps from Dragon King¡¯s quarters.


    His trip had not cleared all of his doubts. Shangguan Fei was extremely clever and on the surface, he seemed to be ttering Dragon King, but in reality, he had managed to keep his intentions well under wraps. Gu Shenwei still did not understand what the Ninth Young Master was exactly afraid of and why he had to work with Dragon King. Furthermore, Shangguan Fei was not afraid that news of their cooperation would leak out to the public.


    During the meeting, Shangguan Hong seemed to bepeting with his master over who could ingratiate himself better with the Dragon King. Just as Gu Shenwei arrived back at his lodgings, Lin Xiaoshan came announcing that Shangguan Hong was seeking an audience with Dragon King.


    Shangguan Hong was more at ease with himself than Shangguan Fei was, perhaps due to the fact that many of his secrets were already made known to Gu Shenwei. He did not beat around the bush and spoke immediately after he entered, ¡°You have to save me, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°That will depend on how much of what you say is true.¡±


    Shangguan Hong looked as if he was prepared to say the truth. sping his palms together, he paced back and forth with a look of distraught, panic and worry on his face. He stopped after a while and lifted his head to speak. ¡°There are reports saying that after the princess has chosen her consort, and that you have ns to ughter every suitoring from Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    ¡°Do you believe that?¡± asked Gu Shenwei coldly. He felt that Shangguan Hong was not asposed as Shangguan Fei and there may be a possibility for him to create an opening here.


    Shangguan Hong shook his head and replied, ¡°I don¡¯t believe it.¡±


    ¡°What are you worried about, then?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not worried about you, Dragon King. I¡¯m worried about the person spreading these rumors.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was suddenly enlightened and came to understand the entire conspiracy; however, he felt that it was too outrageous to be true and thus did not speak about it, letting Shangguan Hong continue.


    ¡°Someone ¨C whether they be a male or female ¨C wishes to cause the ceasefire between you and Golden Roc Fort to fail, Dragon King. As a result, a few or maybe even a batch of sacrificialmbs from the fort have to be selected.¡±


    Shangguan Hong was extremely agitated after he finished speaking as he raised both his arms in an exaggerated manner, looking as though he was seeking redress from the heavens. ¡°Why is it always me who is the unlucky one? All I have is the empty title of Supreme King¡¯s son. After all these years, I have not even earned the right to speak to his Lord, yet when somebody needs to be sacrificed, I¡¯m chosen.¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Fei is aware of this matter as well?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps. The two of us rarely speak to each other; he¡¯s the master and I am but merely the ¡®ve¡¯,¡± Shangguan Hong said, the resentment in his tone undiminished. ¡°You can deduce from his performance that he most likely knows that this trip will not end well. Isn¡¯t his motive for openly being friendly with you to let everyone know that you have no reason to kill him? He believes that by doing so, the scheme cannot be carried out. But what does he have to worry about? He¡¯s the legitimate son of Supreme King and the Ninth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort. No matter what, he will not be selected to be sacrificed.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stared at Shangguan Hong, surmising how much of thetter¡¯s words were true. ¡°Zhang Ji told you all of this.¡±


    Shangguan Hong was agape with surprise, lowering his head as he replied, ¡°Yes, Mister Zhang warned me to be careful.¡±


    ¡°This is the secret Zhang Ji left with you?¡±


    Shangguan Hongughed. It was as if he had expected the Dragon King would be asking him about Zhang Ji¡¯s secret. ¡°Hehe, Dragon King, I can tell you about anything except for this; however, rest assured that I will let you know the secret once the princess has chosen her consort. Zhang Ji said¡­ forget it. I cannot divulge the secret now, it¡¯s my current insurance.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not continue pressing Shangguan Fei, even though he knew that thetter would spill everything out once he drew the Five Peaks Saber.


    Before he found out what Zhang Ji¡¯s real motives were, he decided not to fall for Shangguan Fei¡¯s words yet. It seemed that the tutor without any real authority in Golden Roc Fort was ying an extremelyplicated game here and he was only a secondary character in it.


    He walked up to Shangguan Hong, saying, ¡°I wish to help you, but you have to put in some effort too. Tell me, who exactly was the person spreading the rumors?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I really don¡¯t. But¡­ it¡¯s pretty obvious. You know, other than his Lord¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew, and this was exactly the part where he felt it was too incredible to be true. <em>Why would the Supreme King sacrifice two of his sons to push the me of dishonoring the ceasefire agreement onto me? Everyone knows that there aren¡¯t many males left to carry on the name of the Shangguan Family, </em>he thought.


    The pressure was on Gu Shenwei now, and he felt as if there was a huge beast drawing nearer to him in the dark; he could hear its breathing but could not pinpoint where its huge mouth was.


    He let Shangguan Hong leave while remaining behind in the room to ponder over the entire issue. After he was done, he summoned three of his apanying swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain and gave them some instructions. He made them remember the instructions before ordering them to set off back to their base camp.


    If Supreme King truly had any intentions of dishonoring the peace agreement, the thousands of people in the Great Snow Mountain camp would be in grave danger.


    The next day, Gu Shenwei found an opportunity to meet up with Zhong Heng and ryed the strange conspiracy to thetter. Zhong Heng considered the issue from a different angle, and spoke after a long period of deep thought, ¡°The true motive of this rumor might not be the sacrifice of the two sons of Supreme King, but of you, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei believed that Zhong Heng¡¯s deduction was somewhat justified as it made sense out of Golden Roc Fort¡¯s supreme confidence in winning over the Princess of Stone Kingdom¡¯s hand.

 Chapter 340 - Bribery

    Chapter 340: Bribery


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    An ominous odor of death pervaded the air around the courier station, as more and more people heard rumors ¨C through variousmunication channels ¨C that the Dragon King was about to ughter the otherpetitors. At the same time, absurd news had begun spreading as well: There were unknown people nning to get rid of the Dragon King.


    These conflicting yet potentially bloody rumors had kept those people who were not aware of the situation awake at night due to fear. A few suitors who came from wealthy merchant families were the first to crack under the pressure and consecutively announced their withdrawal from the royal consort selection process ¨C even before it begun.


    They came here with the purpose of enjoying the atmosphere and did not wish to die for no reason in a bid to win the Princess¡¯s hand in marriage.


    The other suitors were adamant about staying, especially the sons of the five tribal chiefs. They knew little about the Dragon King and did not care much about the possibility of bloodshed.


    Because of the rumors, Gu Shenwei realized that he had be a harbinger of doom and he received special attention wherever he went. Many residents of the capital of Stone Kingdom especially traveled to the entrance of the courier station just to catch a glimpse of him from afar. Audible gasps from the crowd could be heard whenever his hand went to the hilt of his saber.


    However, less than two dayster, thetest update was that Dragon King had be good friends with the two young masters of Golden Roc Fort. The previously sworn enemies were even hosting banquets for each other, and many people had also witnessed it firsthand. There were no signs of each side wanting to start a fight against the other at all.


    This perplexed everyone.


    As such, the Special Envoy from the Central in, Lin Tao, summoned the Dragon King for a meeting to discover the reason behind his actions.


    ¡°I need to understand the motives of Golden Roc Fort,¡± Gu Shenwei exined. ¡°I do not wish to start a massacre in Stone Kingdom, nor do I really wish to make peace with them.¡±


    At least on the surface, Lin Tao expressed full confidence in Dragon King and very quickly, he introduced thetter to the Prince of Lon Kingdom.


    Being a youth of about 19 years of age, the Prince of Lon Kingdom was handsome and spoke in a refined manner. During the meeting, he also showed just the right amount of respect to Dragon King.


    The two of them did not talk about the Princess of Stone Kingdom but merely chatted idly and became acquainted with each other. After their initial meeting, Gu Shenwei felt that the candidate chosen by the Central in was quite an ideal choice as well ¨C if he were the King of Stone Kingdom and there was no pressure from outside forces, he would definitely pick the Prince of Lon Kingdom as the prince consort.


    Finally, the consort selection process had officially begun.


    The first round was family background. Each suitor had to submit his family tree for inspection to prove that he was of a noble bloodline from many generations ago.


    Gu Shenwei had always imed publicly that he was of the Yang n, and even though the Yang n had some bearing amongst the martial artsmunity of the Central in, its reputation in the Western Region was close to nothing. Luckily, Fang Wenshi had already prepared for this andpiled an eptable family lineage for Dragon King.


    Fang Wenshi did not state Dragon King¡¯s origins of the Yang n, rather, he listed down the history of the Great Snowmountain instead. The lineage started from generations mentioned in the legends up until Dragon King took over from the chiefs. His mboyant writing proved that the people of the Great Snowmountain were descendants from the Emperor of the Central in from three dynasties before and they had made the long migration to the Great Snowmountain and took refuge there. He imed that the title of ¡°Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks¡± was bestowed upon Dragon King by the gods.


    This description of the Dragon King¡¯s genealogy caused many problems for Prime Minister Yang Dou. He dared not proim the contents as false, as it would be akin to challenging the Dragon King. Yet, he could not certify its authenticity as well since it would mean that Dragon King was of a more noble lineage than even the King of the Stone Kingdom himself.


    In the end, Yang Dou came up with a solution. He would only pick the best out of all the family trees submitted and would notment or rank the others.


    Therefore, the Prince of the Kang Kingdom got what he wished for as his lineage was proimed the noblest out of all the suitors. The reason that Yang Dou gave the win to him, was that there were numerous intermarriages between both the Stone and Kang Kingdoms, therefore it was only natural for the prince to have more points in this aspect.


    Along with that, the Stone Kingdom had to give some face to the Prince of the Kang Kingdom as they were part of the five kingdoms in Xiaoyao Lake as well.


    Next up was apetition of literary talent. Each suitor had to submit an essay praising the beauty of the Princess.


    The sons of the tribal chiefs were flummoxed by this and caused a hugemotion as they went looking for the Prime Minister. ¡°I want to see the Princess. How can I write anything without even meeting her?¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be a problem to write a few hundred words about her if I can see her just once.¡±


    Yang Dou spent a lot of effort exining to them what apetition of literary talent entailed. ¡°Imagine how the Princess looked like, and if you really can¡¯t, you may make it up. It¡¯s not apetition about the uracy of the description of her looks, but rather whose writing is more elegant,¡± he said.


    ¡°Elegant writing? Writings are all about the same, do you mean to say that characters from thenguage of the Central ins would look better than ours?¡±


    Thankfully, Gu Shenwei¡¯s essay did not rank thest, nor did it be aughing joke with the help of these people.


    The Prince of Lon Kingdom won first ce in this round and everyone was convinced by the results except for, not surprisingly, the sons of the tribal chiefs.


    The third round was about kung fu. Most of the candidates knew their ce and forfeited thepetition except for three sons of the tribal chiefs, who openly challenged the Dragon King to battle.


    More than half of the city¡¯s poption came to watch thepetition on the day itself. The first contestant wielded a huge saber, about tens of catties heavy, and just as he swung it over his head, four of his fingers were already sliced off by the Dragon King. He withdrew from thepetition, howling loudly from the pain of defeat. Upon seeing this, the other two contestants immediately forfeited thepetition.


    It was supposed to be a duel that would go down in history for Stone Kingdom, yet it concluded in less than 15 minutes from start to end.


    The fourth round of thepetition was about wealth.


    Prime Minister Yang Dou had prepared many huge wooden dippers at the entrance of the pce, and all the suitors had to do was to pour gold into them. The one who poured the most would be dered the winner of this round.


    Unfortunately, the Dragon King was rankedst for this round. The gold that he brought was not enough to even cover the bottom of the dipper fully, and his results were even shabbier than the sons of the tribal chiefs.


    The wealthpetition had overtaken the kung fupetition as the most closely watched round in the consort selection process.


    The few sons of the tribal chiefs soon conceded defeat after the Dragon King had done so; even the richest of them could only fill half a dipper.


    Thepetition waged most intensely amongst three people: Shangguan Fei, as well as the princes from the Kang and Lon Kingdoms.


    Carriage after carriage carrying gold was shipped from Golden Roc Fort, and as thepetition continued into the evening of the second day, the amount of gold from Shangguan Fei had already filled up five dippers and weighed tens of thousands of catties heavy. He had finally defeated the other two worthy opponents and won a unanimous victory, gaining an important point for himself.


    All of the gold was kept sealed. If the contestant became the prince consort, the gold that he presented during thepetition would serve as a betrothal gift while everybody else¡¯s gold would be returned as it was.


    It was an arrangement that everyone agreed to readily, simply because it wasmon knowledge that the consort of the princess would be King of the Stone Kingdom sooner orter, therefore the ¡®betrothal gift¡¯ would eventually fall back into his hands.


    There were four winners from the previous rounds of thepetition: Prince of the Kang Kingdom with the best lineage, Prince of the Lon Kingdom who possessed good literary talent, Dragon King who won in kungfu, and Shangguan Fei, who had the most wealth overall.


    They were now left with thest segment of thepetition ¨C Character. This was also the hardest to judge out of the rest. Yang Dou came up with a splendid idea: All of the 11 suitors, along with the King of the Stone Kingdom himself, would have to cast a vote each for the person they deemed to have the best character amongst all the contestants. The person with the most votes would be dered the winner of the character contest.


    His reason was very simple ¨C the person who could win the approval from hispetitors would definitely have the best character amongst them.


    If the winner of this round was also one of the winners from the previous four rounds, then he would be dered the prince consort. If not, Yang Dou would have toe up with anotherpetition until a suitor won two rounds of the event.


    The brilliant part about the n was that in the quest to be the prince consort, the four previous winners who had the best hope of bing the prince consort would be forced to use all sorts of means to bribe the other sevenpetitors. In this way, almost everyone had something to gain from and Stone Kingdom would not have to spend a single tael of silver at all.


    Yang Dou gave everyone three days to think about who they should vote for. As such, the openpetition had turned into people pitting against each other in secret. The special envoys from Nond and the Central in no longer concealed their motives and personally visited each suitor as they attempted to entice or force the voters into voting for the candidate that they supported.


    As an onlooker, Gu Shenwei gained the trust of both parties on the surface. As a result, he already knew about the vote count for each candidate after the end of the first day.


    Surprisingly, both Shangguan Fei and the Prince of Lon Kingdom each imed to be equal with eight votes each; however, this didn¡¯t add up because that would mean the total votes were more than the highest possible count of 12 votes if this was true.


    Gu Shenwei knew that if this were the case, that means there were three other people, aside from himself, who double promised their votes to both Nond and the Central in.


    The conflicting counts were soon discovered by both parties and therefore a new round of alliance-making began. This time, the lobbying became even bolder.


    The Special Envoy from the Central in summoned Dragon King for another meeting and made an exception as he did not beat around the bush this time. He went straight to the point and said, ¡°I suppose you should know how important the support of the Central in means to the Great Snowmountain, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    ¡°Does that mean I can ce myplete faith in you, is it right to say that? You¡¯ve been very close with Shangguan Feitely, Dragon King. You wouldn¡¯t change your mind at the veryst minute and vote for him, would you?¡±


    ¡°The Great Snowmountain knows its ce and would never go against our promise to the Central in. Furthermore, Golden Roc Fort will always be our enemy. I will never help Shangguan Fei,¡± lied Gu Shenwei, naturally because he knew that the Special Envoy from the Central ins was lying as well.


    Maid Lotus had been observing Lin Tao¡¯s guard troops in secret and noticed that they were all kung fu experts with extraordinary skills who were purposely dressed as normal guards. Theypletely matched the list provided by Zhong Heng and they rarely ventured out, neither did they try to start fights with anyone, but there were visible traces of their skills reflected in their behavior. It would be extremely hard formoners to notice it ¨C but not for Maid Lotus.


    These 10 kung fu experts were the assassins sent by Wei Song to murder Dragon King and Zhong Heng. Gu Shenwei knew very well that they both kept secrets from each other, but he pretended that he knew nothing about the assassins.


    ¡°Someone is trying to double-cross me,¡± said Lin Tao as he squinted and looked sullen, no longer asposed as before. ¡°I will not show that person any mercy when I find out who he is,¡± he continued.


    ¡°It¡¯s a crucial period for all of us and you shouldn¡¯t overreact about it, Mr. Lin. Focus on finding out who these double-crossers are and try to persuade them.¡±


    Lin Tao nodded in agreement; however, he was extremely cautious and still refused to give out the specific list of names.


    Inparison, Shangguan Fei had much less trust in the Dragon King. He thought that he would be able to win thepetition easily and did not expect to encounter such a huge obstacle in the process. He asked, ¡°Be honest with me, Dragon King. You made a promise to both parties to vote for them, am I right?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Gu Shenwei continued to lie. ¡°Why should I vote for the Central in after they had cast us away? Furthermore, if the Prince of Lon Kingdom was to be the prince consort, he would definitely ept the throne of the Stone Kingdom and be a willing puppet of the Central in. This does not bode well for Great Snowmountain.¡±


    ¡°Do you really have a way to prevent the King of the Stone Kingdom from abdicating his throne?¡± asked Shangguan Fei anxiously; he was confused by the Dragon King¡¯s standing as well.


    ¡°Yes, but I would need your cooperation. You will be the prince consort and I will help the Stone Kingdom to maintain its political independence ¨C this is our deal.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes. Sigh, it¡¯s not easy to be the prince consort as well. The Lord apparently said that everything had already been arranged, so why is it still turning out this way?¡±


    The first person to be revealed as a swing voter was the Prince of the Kang Kingdom. He had spent a considerable amount of effort to lobby for himself but was enraged when he realized no one was going to support him. Therefore, he decided to benefit at the expense of both parties at y; by getting arge enough mary reward if he was going to lose. Even when he was exposed, he was not embarrassed about it and announced publicly that he would vote for the party who offered more money.


    The entire second day was spent in open struggles and covert maneuvering to get the support of the Prince of the Kang Kingdom. First, threats were issued followed by the increased number of bribes. The servants who were responsible for passing messages between the involved parties were as busy as ants scurrying around different locations.


    As it drew closer to midnight, Nond and Golden Roc Fort won the decisive victory. Shangguan Fei won the vote of the Prince of the Kang Kingdom with a promise of an unknown mary reward. He was ahead of the Prince of Lon Kingdom by seven to eight votes.


    Gu Shenwei felt that this was an unwise move on the Prince of the Kang Kingdom¡¯s part as it would invite unrest to his kingdom, but his actions had also drawn everyone¡¯s attention and this, in turn, brought Dragon King some valuable time to prepare for the final battle.

 Chapter 341 - Made Use Of

    Chapter 341: Made Use Of


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The Prince of Kang Kingdom had been bought over by the Golden Roc Fort, and this immediately created a huge advantage for Shangguan Fei. Now that he had eight votes, even without the three unknown voters who could swing either way, he would still have five confirmed votes. He only needed one more confirmed vote to end up with at least a tie; two more, and he would surely be the prince consort.


    On the other hand, the Prince of Lon Kingdom only had seven votes with three voters who could possibly swing to Shangguan Fei. Unless the prince could ensure that all three undecided votes were cast on him, he could not win the contest.


    As the contest raged on, the small courier station became a marketce festered with conspiracies. It was so tense that even a very ordinary look from a very ordinary ve could spark off a series of conflicts and suspicions.


    On thest day before the voting, two of the swing voters were revealed. They were the sons of different tribal chiefs. Even though they were simple-minded, they were not foolish. They were waiting for their ¡®market value¡¯ to shoot up¡ªthe Prince of Kang Kingdom was a good example: if they could not win over the hand of the princess, they would at least have carved out a sufficient chunk of money from the two big nations.


    The Prince of Lon Kingdom and the Special Emissary from the Central in found themselves pressed into a corner and worked hard to win more votes. Since the Golden Roc Fort had spent a significant sum of money bribing the Prince of Kang Kingdom, after half a day of bargaining, each side managed to win a vote respectively from a previously undecided voter. The vote count was now Shangguan Fei¡¯s seven to the Prince of Lon Kingdom¡¯s six.


    There was one remaining swing vote, and it belonged to someone who was yet to reveal himself. His choice would determine whether the Golden Roc Fort would win the contest or both sides would end up with a tie. If it were thetter, the contest would have to go on.


    Gu Shenwei continued to double-cross both sides but he knew that he could not keep his act up for long: both Nond and the Central in were doubling up their efforts in interrogating each voter, and it would only be a few hours before he would be revealed as the remaining voter who could swing either way.


    There was not much time left for him to act, therefore, he was the busiest person for the rest of that day.


    The first person he went to visit was Shangguan Fei. Gu Shenwei decided that he would reveal some very important ¡®truths¡¯ to the Ninth Young Master.


    ¡°Rumor has it that I n to ughter everyone from the Golden Roc Fort,¡± he said, giving Shangguan Fei a shock the moment they met.


    ¡°That, that¡¯s just a rumor. Of course, you would not move against us, especially me. Hehe, everyone has seen that we¡¯re as close as brothers¡­¡±


    ¡°Your thinking is too naive. Others can im that it¡¯s just a front I¡¯m putting up to create an alibi for the impending murders.¡±


    Of course, Shangguan Fei knew about this train of thought. He had passed on the entire responsibility of garnering votes to his attendants and the special envoy from Nond and had spent the past few days worrying about this ¡®rumor¡¯. ¡°What did you hear about, Dragon King?¡±, he asked.


    Gu Shenwei stared at Shangguan Fei and replied only after thinking for a while, ¡°If I hadn¡¯t been dragged into this conspiracy, I would definitely not tell you about it.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s voice trembled as he spoke. ¡°I understand. Even if we¡¯re enemies, there are times when we¡¯re in the same boat together. We are in such a situation now.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded sternly as he replied, ¡°The Special Emissary from the Central in wants to murder you and put the me on me. The time he will act is tomorrow night.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was really surprised now. He had believed that he knew the entire conspiracy inside out, but the Dragon King¡¯s words had caught him unaware. ¡°This isn¡¯t possible, the Central in¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei cut him off harshly, speaking in a tone that did not allow any questioning. He wanted to forcibly imnt the ¡®truth¡¯ into Shangguan Fei¡¯s mind. ¡°You¡¯ve said it that enemies can be in the same boat together at times. The Central in has struck a deal with the Supreme King to make Shangguan Nu his heir apparent. With this, the Supreme King no longer needs you and Shangguan Hong, and the Central in no longer requires the assistance of the Great Snowmountain. Murdering both of you and nting the me on me is a splendid idea which will kill two birds with one stone.¡±


    ¡°Eighth Brother? Father wants Eighth Brother to¡­¡± At first, Shangguan Fei still refused to believe the Dragon King, but as he spoke, he began recollecting more and more signs that validate Gu Shenwei¡¯s theory. ¡°You¡¯re right, Eighth Sister-inw has been very active and acting very arrogantly these few days, she must know something. However, how could Eighth Brother let her off when he¡¯s back in the castle? She had done that with Father¡­¡±


    ¡°Everything is about benefits now. Since Shangguan Nu needs Luo Ningcha to convey messages to the Supreme King, naturally he must have made plenty of promises to her.¡±


    Shangguan Fei believed at least 70 to 80 percent of what Gu Shenwei said, as he had guessed that his father wanted to kill him a long time ago. ¡°Ha,¡± heughed drily and nervously. ¡°This is the Shangguan family for you. Brothers fighting each other, and a father and his sons trying to kill each other. I still thought that Mother would be able to convince him.¡±


    ¡°Lady Meng¡¯s influence on the Supreme King is no longer the same as it was before,¡± Gu Shenwei pointed the cruel fact out, seemingly very knowledgeable of the happenings in the Stone Castle.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s face had grown pasty white. He sat in stunned silence for a while before replying, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, no matter how close the both of us seem to be in public, Fa.. The Supreme King and the Central in still wish to move against me?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded his head.


    ¡°How did youe to know about the entire matter in such great detail, Dragon King?¡±, asked Shangguan Fei cautiously. When dealing with the Dragon King, he was still extremely distrustful.


    ¡°Someone close to the Central ins¡¯ Special Emissary has leaked a secret to me: The emissary has detailed 10 top kung fu experts from the Central ins and has mixed them amongst the 50 guards he brought along. Think about it, are they hiding their identities just to protect the special emissary from the shadows? He represents the Central ins, do you think anyone would dare toy a hand on him?¡±


    Shangguan Fei rubbed his sweaty palm against the armrest of his chair, biting his lip. Suddenly, he lifted his head to speak after a long pause. ¡°You already have a solution, haven¡¯t you, Dragon King?¡±


    The expression in his eyes was more of pleading rather than hoping.


    Gu Shenwei nodded slowly. It was the crucial moment to convince Shangguan Fei, and he could not allow any w to be exposed. ¡°But, I need your help. This is another reason why I chose to tell you the truth.¡±


    There was a loud pping sound as Shangguan Fei smacked his palm on the armrest. He had used too much force and literally smashed half of the chair into pieces. He got up quickly andughed awkwardly, replying, ¡°Please speak, Dragon King. Since we¡¯re already on the same boat, I¡¯ll definitely do my best to help.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not reply immediately. He stood up as well and paced to and fro for a while, considering the issue at handprehensively. ¡°At the moment, the most pressing danger to us is the ten kung fu experts with the Special Emissary from the Central ins. They¡¯ll acttest by tomorrow night, and we have to strike before they do. We have to get rid of them tonight.¡±


    ¡°Tonight? Kill them in the courier station? Is, isn¡¯t that dering war with the Central ins?¡±, Shangguan Fei said. He had wanted to sit down, but the chair was already tilted to one side; he could only support himself on the table and had to forcibly keep his legs upright.


    ¡°Of course, we cannot make our move in the courier station.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s voice was bing firmer and his tone was beginning to sound like an order; he wanted to leave Shangguan Fei with no choice. ¡°I have people by the Special Emissary of the Central ins. He¡¯ll flee from the courier station tonight and try to escape into the pce. If I didn¡¯t guess wrong, many of the 10 kung fu experts will be after him. When that timees¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei was enlightened. ¡°Splendid n, Dragon King. If the kung fu masters from the Central ins get killed in the royal pce of Stone Kingdom, no one can trace it back to us. The Special Emissary might even refuse to admit that they were his men.¡±


    ¡°I need your men to set up the trap.¡±


    ¡°Dragon King¡­ can you not move on your own?¡±, Shangguan Fei suggested, a crafty look on his face. He was more than willing to not be involved in the entire matter.


    ¡°No, I¡¯ve brought too few men with me and I can¡¯t kill so many kung fu masters by myself. Besides, I don¡¯t wish to openly break off rtions with the Central ins yet. It has to be your men, your best killers¡ªyour most trusted subordinates.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s tone had be extremely harsh, implicitly signifying that he was reprimanding and unhappy with Shangguan Fei. Thetter trembled slightly as he replied, ¡°I can send out 20 men. They were detailed by my mother and should be loyal to me.¡±


    ¡°Very good.¡±


    Gu Shenwei gave detailed information on the specific time the mission would be executed as well as the location of the ambush. Shangguan Fei was extremely smart and couldmit everything to memory after only hearing it once. However, there was something important that he was worried about. ¡°Getting rid of the kung fu experts will only stall the inevitable for a while. Since my father¡­ the Supreme King has decided to kill me and put the me on you, Dragon King, I fear he won¡¯t give up so easily.¡±


    ¡°His intention is but to me me for breaking the ceasefire agreement. It¡¯s very simple: after the princess has been engaged, the Great Snowmountain will very quickly dere war once more against the Golden Roc Fort. At that time, he¡¯ll no longer require any more excuses.¡±


    Shangguan Fei heaved a sigh of relief. He was enemies with the Dragon King, but could only confess his innermost feelings to him. ¡°I don¡¯t understand, Father clearly likes me and my sister. Even though Mother is not as favored by him as before, she has always wielded authority. Why does he want to act so ruthlessly? Even if he wants to put the me on you, he doesn¡¯t have to kill me; he could have chosen any killer or even someone else¡ª Shangguan Hong, for example.¡±


    ¡°The Supreme King surely has his reason,¡± Gu Shenwei replied. He knew exactly what that reason was, but he did not want to tell Shangguan Fei at the moment.


    Shangguan Fei sighed dejectedly. Earlier when he had embarked on the journey to the Stone Kingdom, he had deduced that his father wanted him dead from various hints given by his mother and many small signs that he spotted. Even though he hade up with many ns to tackle the assassination, there was something that he could never figure out: How could his father be so ruthless?


    <em>¡°Could it be because I was too weak all these years?¡± </em>Shangguan Fei thought indignantly. He was full of loathing for the title of ¡°Son of the Supreme King¡± and had to forciblypose himself. He replied, ¡°I¡¯ll detail the killers. Please stay awhile, Dragon King. My sister wishes to see you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was preparing to leave; he had many things to see to. However, he paused for a moment and surprisingly replied, ¡°Yes.¡±


    Shangguan Ru put on an expressionless face and did not speak for quite a while. Gu Shenwei wanted to ask her if she knew that she was one of the sacrificialmbs chosen by the Supreme King, but managed to control his urge to do so. ¡°You wish to see me?¡±, he asked.


    ¡°Right,¡± Shangguan Ru said. She pursed her lips together as she looked at the chair smashed into half by her brother. ¡°I¡­ Can you tell me something truthfully?¡±


    ¡°What thing is it?¡±


    ¡°What are you and Shangguan Fei getting at? He has an illusion that Father wishes to kill him. You¡¯re making use of this against him, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Make use of him?¡±,ughed Gu Shenwei coldly. ¡°It¡¯s not that you¡¯ve not seen his smarts before. It¡¯s not even clear who is making use of who in our rtionship.¡±


    Shangguan Ru looked at Gu Shenwei, her jet ck pupils turning from an expression of coldness to tenderness. Four seasons seemed to sh past in her eyes, and each left an indelible impression in Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you thought of¡­¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Gu Shenwei interrupted harshly. He thought that he was ruthless, but he was unprepared to reply to her question. ¡°I want to fight till the end and kill all of my enemies. Besides, I want to be the prince consort of the Stone Kingdom,¡± he continued.


    Gu Shenwei stormed out of the room, the thawing chill of winter blowing across his face. His heart was filled with brutal pride: he was no longer ve Huan, and she was no longer the Tenth Young Master. The killing wasing and he did not allow himself a single shred of doubt.


    Only the heavens knew that he was torturing himself as he tormented her as well.

 Chapter 342 - Running Away

    Chapter 342: Running Away


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    It was a night without peace. Every group was either busy trying to garner support for themselves or incite discourse between the other factions. As soon as Gu Shenwei left Shangguan Fei¡¯s reception hall, he traveled to the courier station and disappeared for nearly four hours.


    During that time, several groups of people hade seeking an audience with Dragon King one after another; however, they were all rejected by Lin Xiaoshan. ¡°Dragon King is not here. I will report to him as soon as hees back,¡± he told them.


    Before Dragon King reappeared, there was a slightmotion at the courier station. Since itsted for only a short while and did not affect many, only a few people had noticed it.


    Shortly after nightfall, about an hour after Dragon King disappeared, the assistant from the Central in, Zhong Heng, walked out of the courier station alone and empty-handed. He nodded his head at the doorman, looking as if he was going out for a stroll.


    However, being away from Stone Kingdom¡¯s capital, the courier station offered nothing for recreation in the winter. The assistant¡¯s behavior looked somewhat strange.


    Soon, the news reached the Special Emissary from the Central in, Lin Tao, and he immediately realized that something was wrong. As a result, he sent people to search the assistant¡¯s room. As he expected, Zhong Heng¡¯s weapon and silver were left behind, but all the documents he had kept were gone.


    Lin Tao realized that Lord Wei Song¡¯s secret had been leaked. He dispatched eight kung fu masters to track down Zhong Heng, saying, ¡°Cut off his head and bring it to me.¡±


    Lin Tao sat in his room, his head bowed as he pondered over the details of the past few days. He became more and more suspicious of Dragon King.


    From Lin Tao¡¯s point of view, Dragon King was still a naive young man with merely good kung fu. He felt that Dragon King and his swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain were just a mob and would only be useful as a pawn; however, they did not deserve to be allies with the Central in.


    Two hourster, one of the kung fu masters brought back some news ¨C Zhong Heng was hiding in Nengjue Temple situated beside the royal pce. Instead of taking action immediately, the masters returned to seek instructions from the Special Envoy.


    Lin Tao snorted. A small country like the Stone Kingdom could not possibly protect a fugitive who the Commanding Officer of the Western Region wanted to kill. ¡°Be quiet and do not rm the eminent monks of the Four Truths Temple,¡± he ordered.


    The kung fu master left with his instructions. Lin Tao was still pre-upied with the Dragon King. <em>What was he thinking, disappearing at this point? Was the pale, young man hiding any conspiracy?</em>


    About an hourter, Lin Tao¡¯s doubts were answered; Dragon King reappeared at the courier station. The first thing he did was visit the Special Emissary from the Central in.


    ¡°You¡¯re really busy, Dragon King,¡± Lin Tao chuckled, feeling relieved. The young man was not with Zhong Heng, which meant there was no collusion between the two of them. ¡°I sent people to invite you over several times but couldn¡¯t get you toe.¡±


    ¡°I beg your pardon, Your Honor. There were still several bandits remaining in the desert and I heard that they were sneaking around and spying, so I went out to get rid of them.¡±


    ¡°What foolish bandits! How dare they challenge Dragon King!¡± Lin Tao rebuked sternly. He actually meant what he said ¨C it was the idea of another confidant of Wei Song to hire bandits to intercept and kill Dragon King, and Lin Tao had disagreed from the very beginning. He believed that they should not kill Dragon King before milking the young man for all his worth; there was still value in him.


    Dragon King¡¯s ¡®value¡¯, however, would onlyst for one more day. After he voted and the Emperor¡¯s son-inw was selected, it would be time for him to disappear forever.


    ¡°Er, Dragon King, the reason why I invited you here is that I¡¯ve heard a rumor that you are double-crossing both parties in this voting contest ¨C that you¡¯ve promised to vote for Shangguan Fei and the Prince of the Lon Kingdom at the same time. Haha, I don¡¯t believe it, but gossip is a terrible thing¡­¡±


    ¡°The rumor is true.¡±


    Lin Xia was astonished. He knew that Dragon King was thest swing voter whose identity had not been revealed, but he did not expect that the youth would admit to it in such a straightforward manner. Thus, he frowned as he questioned Dragon King, ¡°I am confused. Could you borate?¡±


    ¡°Firstly, please forgive my actions. I did not discuss anything with you before doing this because I have to keep the entire n confidential.¡±


    ¡°As long as you have legitimate reasons to act in this manner, Dragon King,¡± Lin Tao said, looking amiable; however, he did not want tomit to anything yet.


    ¡°I did this to win Shangguan Fei¡¯s trust as I know that Golden Roc Fort is plotting a conspiracy which has something to do with your life.¡±


    Lin Tao raised his eyebrows, surprised. ¡°Could it be that Shangguan Fei actually dares to kill me?¡±


    To Lin Tao¡¯s surprise, Dragon King nodded solemnly. ¡°Shangguan Fei is cowardly and ipetent ¨C one who treasures his life. The only task Supreme King had given to him was to marry the Princess at all costs. If he failed, he would lose his life.¡±


    ¡°What¡­ what does this have to do with me?¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Fei has already deduced that my promise to vote for him was a lie. If that¡¯s the case, he will have only six votes, just like the Prince of Lon Kingdom, and it will result in anotherpetition round after tomorrow; however, he doesn¡¯t have the confidence or patience to wait for the next segment and try to win it, so he decided to throw caution to the wind and assassinate you. If you die, the Prince of the Lon Kingdom would lose his support, and the tickets that belonged to him would naturally go to Shangguan Fei.¡±


    ¡°Is this true?¡± Lin Tao was skeptical. ¡°By doing so, Shangguan Fei would actually be dering war on the Central in. Would he be so stupid? The Supreme King would definitely ask him to pay the price for his actions.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t believe it either, so I endeavored to win Shangguan Fei¡¯s trust. Just now, I received news that 20 Golden Roc killers stealthily left the courier station this afternoon and didn¡¯te back after entering the capital. I asked Shangguan Fei about it beforeing over here. He wascent and said to me, ¡®Wait and see, before dawn, everything will be reversed and the Central in will never stand in my way again.¡¯ Therefore, I rushed here to protect you.¡±


    Lin Tao¡¯s expression suddenly changed as he asked, ¡°Shangguan Fei sent killers to the capital?¡±


    ¡°Yes, although I don¡¯t understand why he did that, I guessed that it must be part of the n to murder you, Your Honor.¡±


    Lin Tao still couldn¡¯t believe it. For many years, the various forces in the Western Region had maintained a delicate bnce, and if any of them dared to break the bnce, it should have been a big nation like the Central in or Nond. ¡°This may just be a coincidence; Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t directly say that he would kill me. You may have overthought it, Dragon King,¡± he said.


    ¡°I hope so, but we can¡¯t be too careful.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you are right,¡± Lin Tao chuckled twice. ¡°So, you will definitely vote for the Prince of Lon Kingdom tomorrow, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course, Shangguan Fei is ipetent. Whatever they contest for, I believe the Prince of Lon Kingdom will be the winner.¡±


    Lin Tao showed an expression of relief. They chatted for a moment, and Lin Tao declined Dragon King¡¯s request to personally act as his guard. After sending Dragon King off, he immediately sent people to the city to find out more about the situation.


    Gu Shenwei went back to his room to rest for a while. Before he slept, he said to Lin Xiaoshan, ¡°The Special Emissary from the Central in will send someone to meet meter; wake me up as soon as he arrives.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was sure that there was no way his prediction would fail.


    The truth was that the Special Emissary from the Central ins was even more anxious than he had imagined. Instead of sending someone to summon Dragon King, Lin Tao came over personally at around two o¡¯clock. He wore a cape to prevent anyone from recognizing him.


    ¡°Dragon King, you are right,¡± Lin Tao said emotionally as soon as he entered the room, trembling with fear. ¡°Zhong Heng betrayed the Central in and colluded with Golden Roc Fort. He lured several of my guard troops into Nengjue Temple in the capital and killed all of them. Shangguan Fei really moved against us. No, Shangguan Fei certainly would not dare do this alone. The Special Envoy of Nond must be the manipting him behind the scenes¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei sat on the bed and held the handle of his saber without interrupting Lin Tao, knowing that the special envoy¡¯s fear would lead him to figure out all the causes and consequences of the actions of each party involved in the incident; there was no need to persuade him.


    ¡°Shangguang Fei is going to strike soon and the killer could very possibly be hiding outside this house and war could be triggered at any time. You have to protect me, Dragon King. From now on, this isn¡¯t about the feud between Great Snowmountain and Golden Roc Fort anymore, but about the war between the Central in and Nond.¡±


    It was time for Gu Shenwei to pretend to be confused. ¡°How did the Special Envoy of Nond get involved? I thought it was just Shangguan Fei¡¯s idea.¡±


    ¡°s, you think too simply.¡± Lin Tao was anxious and had cast away his superficial respect for Dragon King, and his tone was as if he were talking to an ordinary little boy; however, he immediately realized that his lifeid in the hands of Dragon King and he immediately changed his tone. ¡°There¡¯s something that you don¡¯t know about, Dragon King ¨C the Khan of Nond is bedridden and could pass away at any time. It¡¯s very possible that he wishes to start a war before he dies and seize control of the entire Western Region once and for all.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pretended to be enlightened. ¡°Now I understand. You can rest assured that as long as I am here, I will ensure your safety, your Honor,¡± he said.


    However, Lin Tao could not be at ease. Currently, Dragon King was still unaware of the secret order of Mr. Wei, but the special envoy would need to watch out for him the most if it were ever leaked to the young man. ¡°It would be great to be protected by you, Dragon King, but there are too many killers from Golden Roc Fort, and there would be many casualties on your side in the event of a fight. I do have a n, however, to resolve the crisis without the use of force.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to know about your n.¡±


    ¡°I am the target of Nond and Shangguan Fei. If I am not here, naturally they will not take any action. As long as I return to the residence of the Commanding Officer, they would not dare to act rashly with an army at mymand.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not expect that things would go so smoothly ¨C Lin Tao¡¯s train of thought was almost identical to his own n. ¡°I understand what you mean. Let me escort you to the residence of Commanding Officer right now, Your Honor,¡± he said.


    ¡°No, no, we would be letting Shangguan Fei off too easily. I have an idea, and I would like to seek your opinion about it, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Pray tell, Your Honor. We from the Great Snowmountain would dly serve the Central in.¡±


    ¡°My idea is for you to stay in Stone Kingdom and do your best to help the Prince of Lon Kingdom to be the Emperor¡¯s son-inw, Dragon King. You can also take some extreme measures if necessary. Also, you needn¡¯t worry about the armistice agreement; the Central in will bear responsibility for your actions.¡±


    Gu Shenwei sneered in his heart. Even before leaving, Lin Tao was setting him up ¨C the special envoy was hoping that the Great Snowmountain and Golden Roc Fort would fight each other so that he would have two weakened adversaries to deal with in the future.


    ¡°The Great Snowmountain has nothing to fear as long as we have the Central in¡¯s support. I will never let Shangguan Fei be the Emperor¡¯s son-inw.¡± Gu Shenwei said, a slight hint of murderous intent showing in his eyes, causing Lin Tao to be both afraid and relieved.


    Gu Shenwei escorted Lin Tao as they left the courier station secretly, the two remaining kung fu masters of the Special Envoy¡¯s guard troops following behind.


    Along the way, Lin Tao had been encouraging Dragon King to do his best, as he even overtly implied that he should kill Shangguan Fei and the Special Envoy of Nond. As they went their separate ways after walking for 10 li, Lin Tao believed that Dragon King waspletely under his control.


    As the sun began to rise, Gu Shenwei returned to the courier station. He had removed the biggest obstacle facing him, and he could carry out thest part of his n now: obtain the throne of Stone Kingdom and control the entire Xiaoyao Lake.

 Chapter 343 - The Draw

    Chapter 343: The Draw


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The close attendant of the Special Emissary from the Central in looked embarrassed as he publicly announced that the Special Envoy was suddenly caught ill and unable to get out of bed. As such, he could not meet anyone nor attend the voting that day.


    The illness came so coincidentally that not many people bought his excuse. The Special Envoy of Nond was secretly delighted but he did not show how he felt; he even sent people to bring medicinal soup to the Special Emissary so as to show his concern. Shangguan Fei was greatly relieved, thinking that Dragon King¡¯s preemptive strategy had taken effect and that the Special Emissary from the Central in was no longer a deadly threat.


    On the other hand, the Prince of Lon Kingdom was panicking; without the Central in¡¯s support, he was like a baby who had lost the protection of its parents. He could hardly make a move, let alonepete for the position of the Emperor¡¯s son-inw.


    Lin Tao had asked his attendant to leave a message for the Prince of the Lon Kingdom: ¡°Find Dragon King; he will take charge of everything.¡±


    Therefore, not long after Gu Shenwei had returned to the courier station, the Prince of Lon Kingdom came looking for him. His face was paler than the youth as he asked, ¡°Dragon King, what happened? Mr. Lin¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Mr. Lin encountered an emergency and has left Stone Kingdom.¡±


    The Prince of Lon Kingdom was shocked as he asked, ¡°What shall I do then?¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked the prince up and down as if trying to measure his capability. ¡°This is a battle of life and death. Your Highness should cheer up and try your best.¡±


    ¡°A battle of life and death? Why is it so? Mr. Lin¡­ he¡¯s not trying to run away from his obligations, is he?¡± The handsome prince looked indignant, finally realizing that he had been abandoned by his backing.


    Gu Shenwei did not answer the question, ¡°Anyway, Your Highness has arrived at a point of no return. You have to face the issue head-on.¡±


    The Prince of Lon Kingdom shook his head; he hade to fight for the position of Emperor¡¯s son-inw at the request of the Central in. Stone Kingdom was far away from Lon Kingdom, and even if he seeded, it would not be of significance to the Lon Kingdom. Therefore, he said, ¡°No, I¡¯m going to quit. I¡¯m going out to announce that they should just let the candidate from Golden Roc Fort be the Emperor¡¯s son-inw. It doesn¡¯t matter to me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s expression turned cold and his tone became serious. ¡°Even if you don¡¯t care, the Central in cares. Controlling the Stone Kingdom is an important strategy of the Central in. If you shirk your responsibility, not only will you get into trouble, but so will the Lon Kingdom.¡±


    The Prince of Lon Kingdom sat down dispiritedly. It was less than two hours before the voting would begin. Indeed, he was in a dilemma. He could not help feeling vengeful towards the Special Emissary from the Central ins. Golden Roc Fort had sent many killers to apany Shangguan Fei and Lin Tao must have escaped upon realizing that the situation did not look good for him, leaving the prince to die.


    Gu Shenwei stood there silently while waiting for the Prince of Lon Kingdom to realize on his own that there was only one solution avable.


    The prince was not stupid, but he was used to living infort and luxury and hadpetent people to take care of everything. As such, he was slow to react when faced with a crisis on his own.


    After having thought for a long time, he raised his head and looked at the calm Dragon King, enlightened. He finally came up with a way to save his life. ¡°Fight for the position of Emperor¡¯s son-inw, Dragon King. I will tell those involved to vote for you. You aren¡¯t afraid of Golden Roc Fort, right? Only you¡­ you are from the Central in, aren¡¯t you? Dragon King, you must help me.¡±


    The Prince of Lon Kingdom was being incoherent, but his intention was rtively clear. Gu Shenwei thought briefly and said, ¡°This is not good¡­ ¡±


    The Prince of Lon Kingdom almost jumped in front of Dragon King. ¡°Well, it¡¯s the best way. I will tell those involved now. Even if our n fails, it is the Special Emissary from the Central in that should be responsible, right? He should have remained in Stone Kingdom to oversee things¡­ ¡±


    Before he even finished talking, the prince turned around and ran out. He had already made up his mind and he was going to pass the hot potato to Dragon King, no matter whether he agreed to it or not.


    Gu Shenwei tidied up his clothes. Everything had been under his control so far, but he did not feel rxed; there was still something in his heart that made him ufortable. He pondered over his n again but could not find any obvious w in it. As such, he decided to suppress the trivial doubt and stop thinking about it.


    Maid Lotus came in and nodded her head at him. She had not been in the courier station for several days, during which she was out to perform another important task.


    ¡°You got it?¡±


    Maid Lotus raised her hand and was holding a small cotton bag. ¡°It¡¯s here, so we can take action tonight. I have everything prepared,¡± she replied.


    Gu Shenwei remained deeply vignt around her, but he had to admit that there was no one who could reassure him like Maid Lotus did. ¡°OK, let¡¯s take action tonight,¡± he said.


    Gu Shen was getting ready to set off when Maid Lotus suddenly asked, ¡°Are you really going to marry the princess?¡±


    Gu Shenwei gave Maid Lotus a surprised look. He had never told her his n, but she guessed correctly. ¡°I have to. The Great Snowmountain needs a ce to amodate its people.¡±


    Gu Shenwei went out of the room after speaking, while Maid Lotus remained silent and expressionless. In her opinion, Dragon King¡¯s answer was irrelevant to the question, as it was not necessary to marry the princess to gain control over the Stone Kingdom.


    The vote was still presided over by Prime Minister Yang Dou, who first expressed regret over the illness of the Special Emissary from the Central in and then thanked each suitor. It was only after he finished his lengthy talk that the voting began.


    To show that nobody would manipte the votes, the voting was done publicly. Everyone who had the right to vote had to stand up and dere, ¡°Of all the people, I think so and so was the best in terms of character and conduct.¡±


    The King of Stone Kingdom did not show up, thus Yang Dou would vote on his behalf.


    Most of the voters cast their votes ording to their promises made to the two major factions over the past few days. The only change was that those who had originally pledged to vote for the Prince of Lon Kingdom switched to Dragon King instead.


    There was no more need for Gu Shenwei to remain on the fence; everyone knew that he had double-crossed the Central in and Golden Roc Fort and that he would vote for himself at the decisive moment.


    As such, Dragon King and Shangguan Fei each won six votes, resulting in a draw.


    Shangguan Fei was relieved and even began generously congratting Dragon King; he was willing topete in the next round, as Yang Dou had voted publicly for Shangguan Fei on behalf of the King. It was akin to dering that he would almost certainly win the position of the Emperor¡¯s son-inw.


    The others also held the same idea. The Prince of Lon Kingdom privately expressed his thanks to Dragon King and had already calmy conceded defeat in the next round ofpetition. ¡°We are not to be med; the Special Emissary from the Central ins has fled. Of course, the King of Stone Kingdom would know which side he should be on now,¡± he said.


    That evening, Yang Dou announced the specific agenda for thestpetition. It was very simple and further convinced everyone that Shangguan Fei was bound to be the Emperor¡¯s son-inw. ¡°At noon tomorrow, both of you shall report to the pce and the princess will choose her consort.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was already beginning to ept congrattions. Everyone knew that the princess could not go against the King¡¯s intentions. Since her brother had chosen to side with Golden Roc Fort, it was assumed that she would make the same choice.


    The Prince of Lon Kingdom began packing up impatiently. He nned to retrieve the gold belonging to his nation and leave Stone Kingdom as soon as the princess had selected her consort. Even so, he did not forget toin to Dragon King, ¡°I will tell the Commanding Officer of the Western Region what the special envoy has done. It¡¯s all his fault that things have turned out like this.¡±


    Even after thepetition was seemingly over, Dragon King did not show any intent to begin killing. He remained polite with the Ninth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort just like they were friends, which made many people relieved and some a little disappointed. The Prince of Kang Kingdom seemed to be afraid that he would miss out on themotion, and he shouted openly in the courier station, trying to stir things up, ¡°I thought that Dragon King was courageous, but it seems that he is just someone who bullies the weak and fears the strong.¡±


    Gu Shenwei faced defeat calmly. After nightfall, he stealthily left the courier station without anyone noticing.


    Not far from the city gate, Maid Lotus was hiding in the bushes and waiting for him. They remained silent after meeting up and continued to moving forward before climbing over a high wall and sneaking into the city.


    In a remote house, thirty ferocious bandits were waiting for the arrival of Dragon King and Maid Lotus.


    Gu Shenwei had disappeared for four hoursst night to meet up with another group of bandits. At Maid Lotus¡¯smand, nearly 200 bandits had already entered Stone Kingdom in batches and were staying in different locations.


    The leader of the bandits was He Sancai, also known as the Invincible Machete of Tianshan. He was a short, fat middle-aged man who showed great respect to Dragon King; however, he was even more afraid of the woman beside him to the point that he dared not to even look at her directly.


    He Sancai led the way and invited Dragon King and Maid Lotus into an annex. There were three captives inside the room.


    There was blood all over the captives; they had obviously been beaten and had undergone some cruel form of interrogation. Upon seeing that someone walked into the room, they hurriedly begged for mercy. They recognized Dragon King and knelt down in front of him as they pleaded, ¡°Please forgive us, Dragon King. We¡¯ll tell you everything and dare not to conceal anything from you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not ask anything; he had already heard all their confessions via Maid Lotus. He came here just to see if they were the people he wanted.


    Yes, they are, he thought.


    On the very first night, they camped in the desert after setting off from Shuangquan Vige. A dozen machetemen dressed up as merchants had rushed into the tents of the monks from the Four Truths Temple, hoping to relieve them of a valuable object; however, in the end, they failed and retreated from the scene.


    The three captives belonged to the group of robbers.


    They had not given up and followed the monks to Stone Kingdom. They did not dare to rob them in public and could only keep watch on the monks near Nengjue Temple. Eventually, they found an opportunity to strike.


    A high-ranking monk in the temple had broken his monastic vows and was having an affair with a married woman in the city. He often went out for dates in the night and was caught red-handed by the machetemen on such an asion. They then forced him to steal an object from Master Fayan.


    The monk sumbed to the threats and could only agree to do so. After returning to the temple and observing for a few days, he finally took action in the night and stole the object before handing it over to the machetemen who were waiting outside the temple.


    The machetemen were overjoyed and did not expect to have been spied on in return.


    The fifteen machetemen were intercepted by a group of bandits not even twenty li from the capital of Stone Kingdom. Most of them were killed and only three were captured alive.


    ¡°They were sent by Wildhorse,¡± Maid Lotus said; she had already heard their confession earlier.


    Gu Shenwei weighed the cotton bag in his hand as he said, ¡°We can begin talks with them now.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to make use of it? Wildhorse had big ns for it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head, saying, ¡°My n is exactly the opposite of his.¡± He paused briefly, before repeating what Fang Wenshi had once said, ¡°Sometimes, being candid is an unscrupulous act.¡±


    They came to Nengjue Temple at midnight. Instead of climbing over the wall, as usual, they knocked on the door directly.


    It seemed that there were people watching over the temple even at midnight. As soon as the door was knocked on, someone opened it from the inside.


    It was not a monk who opened the door, but an imperial guard with a scimitar hanging at his waist. He whispered, ¡°Pleasee in, Dragon King. The Emperor and Holy Monk have been waiting for a long time.¡±


    Gu Shenwei entered the temple as Maid Lotus faded into the night.


    Meanwhile, not far from Nengjue Temple, a figure ran into the royal pce and headed straight for the residence of the princess.

 Chapter 344 - The King

    Chapter 344: The King


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    For a period, he thought that he had reached the peak of his life, but all these years of being a king only seemed to have robbed him of his energy. He was utterly fatigued, both mentally and physically, and seemed to have aged several years at once.


    He missed the days in Jade City when he was still the exiled Second Prince from Stone Kingdom.


    Sitting on the meditation cushion, as the King listened to the low and gentle chanting of the sutra by the eminent monk, his mind had drifted thousands of miles away. He had been so naive at that time, thinking that he would never be subjected to despise and ridicule by people once he ascended the throne, but oh, how wrong he was.


    During the period that he was absent, the Yang family had formed a pervasive web in the Stone Kingdom, so thick that it was practically imprable. Lying on the web and waiting for his prey was the giant spider himself, Prime Minister Yang Dou. The King was merely another insect trapped in hisyers of the web. Unable to move, his only function was to attract the attention of other prey.


    But even so, the disaster was not over. Soon, predators more fearsome than the spider would appear and when that happened, he might not even be able to retain his hollow throne.


    He could only watch as the great Ju family line, one of the royal families of the Western Region,e to an end in his hands.


    However, the reunion with Xu Yanwei had caused a surge of joy in his heart. It was as though she was a ray of sunshine, bringing forth long lost light and piercing through the thick web wrapped around him.


    Taken aback by the sight of the King, Xu Yanwei would never have imagined that the Second Prince, who was still childlike four years ago, had turned into a dying old man.


    In order to produce a descendant for the Ju family, the King often summonedmoners into the pce, therefore the appearance of Xu Yanwei did not cause a stir in the pce.


    Xu Yanwei¡¯s sympathy spread unchecked like a flood. Disregarding the fact that the Second Prince had once tried to kill her, she took it upon herself to arrange his diet, inquire about his medications, and dismiss any nasty people, while slowly instilling an idea into him: The Stone Kingdom rightfully belonged to the Ju family, and should continue to belong to the Ju family even in the future.


    Once the timing was ripe, Xu Yanwei admitted that she had been sent by Dragon King.


    The King had already guessed that was the case, but he didn¡¯t mind. Since he was already surrounded by tigers and wolves, there was no harm in having another raptor around. Perhaps it could even help him break the encirclement.


    Last night, Zhong Heng, the assistant to the Special Envoy of the Central in, entered the pce from Nengjue Temple unexpectedly. He came with Dragon King¡¯s request for a meeting with the King.


    Hence, tonight, protected by his most trusted guard, the King hid from the watchmen in the pce and secretly came to Nengjue Temple. Together with Master Fayan, they waited for Dragon King to arrive.


    Fayan had gained the mutual trust of both parties. As soon as he arrived in the Stone Kingdom, the eminent monk advised the King against bing a monk. His reason was, ¡°Your Majesty has not yet obliterated your worldly desires. Even if you shave your head, it will not be beneficial for you.¡±


    At least Fayan¡¯s remarks proved that he was not in cahoots with Golden Roc Fort.


    Although Dragon King and the King had met once, they had no chance to speak to each other since there were other suitors around at that time.


    ¡°Dragon King is always able to do as he wished.¡± The King spoke first, and he could not help but show a trace of envy in his tone, ¡°Even when you were a ve in Golden Roc Fort, it was no exception back then.¡± He continued.


    Gu Shenwei nodded in acknowledgment to Fayan when he arrived and sat on the other futon. He replied, ¡°This is because I know how to satisfy as many people as possible.¡±


    The Kingughed dryly. Indeed, the people who had conspired to kill the First Prince back then had managed to get what they wanted, one inherited the throne as he wished and the other held on to his power as a Prime Minister. Only the guard who wielded the saber became the sacrifice in the conspiracy.


    ¡°I hope Dragon King can make me satisfied this time as well. Although, I have to apologize for choosing Shangguan Fei during the day.¡± The King said. He then paused for a while before adding grudgingly, ¡°The power of the King of the Stone Kingdom lies in the hands of the Prime Minister now.¡±


    Prime Minister Yang Dou voted in the King¡¯s stead and merely reported to the results to the King without even seeking instructions in advance.


    ¡°Soon, the royal power will be returned to Your Majesty.¡±


    The King had already learned a painful lesson from his previous experience with the Prime Minister. He knew that by seeking the help of a stronger influence, he would end up paying a huge price for it. So he asked, ¡°What rewards are you seeking, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°The Stone Kingdom will need a Prime Minister and a strong army eventually.¡±


    The King sighed, he was unable to escape his fate of being a puppet after all. But these were not important. He only cared about one thing. ¡°But the King of the Stone Kingdom must be someone who carries the Ju surname.¡± He said.


    ¡°There is no need for Your Majesty to be in such a hurry to abdicate. Take good care of yourself and nurse your body. You still have time to produce a prince. Even if it¡¯s unfortunate that you are not able to have offspring of your own, it is still up to Your Majesty to decide who will seed the throne.¡±


    The King felt the need to state things clearly, so he added, ¡°Dragon King should know that the Ju family is not without sessors, there are still a few distant rtives around. And they are of a legitimate royal bloodline. If I am unable to get the blessings of the gods, I will still only appoint a sessor among them. No matter who my sister marries, he has no right to seed to the throne, and neither does her offspring as well.¡±


    Gu Shenwei straightened himself up and said, ¡°I am ¡®Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks¡¯, I don¡¯t need other titles.¡±


    The King thought for a long time as he knew verbal agreements like these were not binding. Even if it was written in ck and white on paper, it might just end up being empty words. But he had alreadye so far, there was no point in stopping. After considering the next step, he said, ¡°In that case, everything will be as you wished, Dragon King.¡±


    The King put his palms together to salute and bowed to Master Fayan before leaving. He would have to ask Zhong Heng for more specific details after he returned to the pce.


    During the whole negotiation, Fayan had remained aloof and detached from the conversation. After the King had left for quite some time, he opened his eyes and smiled. It was a smile that made him seem like he was looking at all living creatures from a god¡¯s perspective. Looking at Dragon King with his prating eyes, he asked, ¡°When are you nning to return the personnel file, Dragon King?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was unable to get rid of his disgust and hatred for the monk. He really wished he could resolve his differences with the monk with a saber, but he said, ¡°The monk has met some people with ill intentions and your things were stolen. I happened to bump into them coincidentally and managed to snatch it from them.¡±


    The smile on Fayan¡¯s face disappeared. After lowering his eyes and reciting a few words of the sutra, he asked, ¡°How many people were killed?¡±


    ¡°Twelve. Three survived, but probably not for long.¡±


    ¡°And how many people do you n to kill next, Dragon King?¡±


    After thinking for a moment, Gu Shenwei replied, ¡°Countless.¡±


    The monk recited a few words in silence again, before saying, ¡°Old monk has some words for you. I hope Dragon King can listen to it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded slightly.


    ¡°Great evil must be controlled by great wisdom, and great wisdom itself must adhere to great events. Great events, however, must be consolidated by great responsibilities.¡±


    ¡°And which one do you think Ick in, Monk?¡± Gu Shenwei asked with sarcasm.


    ¡°Great responsibilities,¡± Fayan answered without hesitation. ¡°Seeking revenge itself cannot bear the weight of great responsibility. Compared to Supreme King, your ambitions are too small, Dragon King. So, although you possess great wisdom, you are not able to do great evil.¡±


    Gu Shenwei suppressed his emotions and sneered, ¡°Supreme King¡¯s ambition is to be in possession of more women and try to wrangle a real royal crown if possible. I am indeed inferiorpared to him.¡±


    Fayan smiled again, then he said, ¡°It¡¯s alright, as long as you can remember the words of this old monk. Now, when does Dragon King n to take out the personnel file?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not with me.¡± Gu Shenwei said. He knew that the old monk¡¯s Kung Fu was unfathomable and he probably could not gain the upper hand if they really fought, so he had given the package wrapped in cotton cloth to Maid Lotus for safekeeping. ¡°After looking through the file, it seems very important.¡±


    Everything that Gu Shenwei had said so far was just a ploy to probe the monk. However, the monk seemed like he had no experience in negotiation; he did not take precautions against Gu Shenwei and merely said whatever was on his mind. ¡°Well, it¡¯s nothing much, actually. The file recorded the names of the kings and nobles of the Western Region before and after bing a monk.¡±


    ¡°Imagine if the file was to fall into the hands of people with ulterior motives. What if they kidnapped some eminent monks from the Four Truths Temple based on the names in the file and use it to threaten all countries?¡±


    ¡°You overestimate it, Dragon King. Whether he was once a king or a beggar, he is but a monk after shaving.¡±


    ¡°But these kings are not monks. How can a son not worry if his father is kidnapped after bing a monk?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was in a slightly better mood once he was back in control of the negotiation. He hoped to see the monk reveal his true colors.


    ¡°That means it was destined for him to experience such a cmity in his life. None of these matters. What does Dragon King want from this old monk in exchange for the personnel file?¡±


    The monk finally brought up the core matter at hand, so Gu Shenwei demanded coldly, ¡°The Sumeru Mustard Mantra.¡±


    ¡°Dragon King and thedy are in danger because of the qigong deviation. This manual of mine does provide some help in relieving the problem.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not speak as he waited for the old monk to make up his mind.


    However, Fayan shook his head unexpectedly. He said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, the old monk cannot use the Sumeru Mustard Mantra to exchange for the personnel file.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stood up and said, ¡°It¡¯s alright. If I can¡¯t exchange it for the divine kung fu, I might as well sell it for a good price.¡±


    ¡°Goodbye, Dragon King.¡± Fayan was still unhurried. He said, ¡°Old monk has a presumptuous request, however. Is Dragon King able¡­¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Gu Shenwei refused tantly. ¡°I don¡¯t kill people, but people will want to kill me. No one can stop the killing that is going to happen in the Stone Kingdom.¡±


    Once again, the monk lowered his eyes and recited some sutra under his breath as Gu Shenwei walked out of the room. He was not in the least bit worried that the monk would divulge the secret meeting. Fayan regarded himself as a Holy Monk, and he would never harm a being. Gu Shenwei¡¯s ns were rted to the King¡¯s life and death, and even if the monk disclosed the secret meeting, he had a way to deal with it.


    Maid Lotus appeared once Gu Shenwei left Nengjue Temple. She knew that things had not gone smoothly from the look on Gu Shenwei¡¯s face. So, she offered, ¡°How about letting me capture one or two young monks? I can force them to tell us about the secret of the divine kung fu.¡±


    He shook his head. Just as he approached the city gate, he suddenly realized something and stopped in his tracks. ¡°Return the personnel file to the monk.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Maid Lotus had always able to quickly discern what he was thinking, but she was caught off guard this time.


    ¡°Return it to the monk, go now.¡±


    Maid Lotus epted the order and withdrew. She did not understand his intentions, but as always, she was willing to follow orders unconditionally and would not try to get to the bottom of it.


    Gu Shenwei climbed over the city wall and returned to the courier station outside the city.


    Soon it would be morning, and everything had to be settled by today. But his mind was never free from anxiety. Fayan¡¯s words only helped to increase the uneasiness within him. He did not understand. Other than wanting to be a king, what other ambitions did Supreme King have?


    Outside the wall of the courier station, Gu Shenwei hesitated again, before walking towards the nearby tent campgrounds.


    Shangguan Ru did not stay in the courier station like her brother. It seemed as if she had intended to keep a distance with Golden Roc Fort as her tent was located on the edge of the camp.


    He bypassed two hidden sentries and went to the back of the tent. Suddenly, he did not know why he was here.


    Then, he picked up a small stone from the ground and threw it at the tent.


    After a while, Shangguan Ru walked out of the tent, her eyes slightly swollen. It was unclear whether she had not slept well or she had just cried, but she raised her head slightly and pursed her lips stubbornly into a thin line.


    ¡°Your brother wants to kill you, be careful.¡±


    Having said that, the burden in Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart felt even heavier. Without waiting for Shangguan Ru to reply, he quickly retreated, almost startling the hidden sentries nearby.

 Chapter 345 - The Princess

    Chapter 345: The Princess


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The news that the Princess would be choosing her own husband attracted a lot of bystanders. Even if these princes or masters had no hope of winning the favor of the Princess, still, they tried all sorts of ways to enter the pce, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Princess.


    Since everybody assumed that the ceremony would not be suspenseful, their attention was solely focused on the Princess for the first time.


    The Princess of the Stone Kingdom had recently turned 16. She was still an infant when she went into exile with her family in Jade City and had no impression of her homnd. But her two brothers and the wet nurse told her proudly almost every day, ¡°You are a Princess, and you will marry a King in the future.¡±


    Having been influenced by their words for many years, the Princess grew proud of her identity. She had seen with her own eyes, the tragic scene of the queen mother in exile next door passing on with no one to bury her, and the situation when a group of rough machetemen with no ties to the royalty surrounded the Jus¡¯ residence and demanded money, but she still believed that she would marry a real king someday.


    She was even more excited about returning to their mothend than her second brother who was going to inherit the throne. She was, therefore, even more disappointed than her second brother soon after.


    It turned out that being a princess meant losing her freedom. She was like a caged bird, reduced to a meremodity for sale, albeit rare and highly prized.


    On the way back to the kingdom, Prime Minister Yang Dou formally informed her, ¡°Once Your Highness is of age, you will marry someone from the Yang family. I will personally choose the most suitable husband for the Princess.¡±


    The young Princess did not understand. What about a king? Shouldn¡¯t she be married to a real king? Why would a minister¡¯s son be appointed as her future husband? At that time, the Princess was still ignorant of power and itsplexities; she even had the audacity to raise her doubts to the Prime Minister.


    She would always remember how the old Prime Minister hadughed contemptuously, dismissing her. ¡°There are only about thirty or so kings in the Western region, but hundreds of princesses. Do you really think that all of you will marry kings? Haha, little girl, soon you will understand that even the Yangs are out of your reach, and you are marrying above your status.¡±


    Prime Minister Yang Dou was correct. She soon realized that both she and the King were mere prey caught in the web woven by the Yangs. They were only kept alive because it was better for the food to remain as fresh as possible.


    She did not even have a chance to see the residents of her kingdom. The moment she had arrived and alighted from the stifling carriage, she was sent to a cold and narrow residence. She was forbidden from stepping out of the residence, even seeing her royal brother required approval from the Prime Minister himself.


    It slowly dawned on her that her only duty was to give birth to a son who could inherit the throne for the Yangs.


    From then onward, she began to hate the title of Princess. It had brought nothing but bad luck to her.


    Soon, a disaster would befall her. But she could only sit in her tiny room and look on with cold indifference as she waited for the chaos to swallow her.


    At first, the Kang Kingdom had used violent force to pressure the Princess into marrying the Prince of Kang. However, Yang Dou had been able to edge out his rival by pretending to be polite and subservient.


    Next was the Meng family, who presented a thick stack of loan receipts and offered to ¡°Erase all debt and provide one million taels as dowry. The Princess could choose any master from the Mengs as her husband.¡±


    Whenpared to the Mengs, the wealthiest family in Western Region, even Yang Dou, who was of one of most influential families in Stone Kingdom, was sweating. He could onlye up with a series of lies to stall for time.


    The threat from the Meng family was merely a short interlude, or perhaps, a prelude for what was toe because Golden Roc Fort soon appeared. The Shangguan family had neither the royal blood like Prince of the Kang Kingdom, nor the wealth of the Meng family. But the killers and secrets ced before him were something that Prime Minister Yang Dou could not refuse.


    It was the secret of how the King had conspired with the Prime Minister to murder the First Prince.


    No one had actually mentioned any of these to the Princess, but every scene of Jade City had run through her mind in those countless hours of solitude. She already knew her eldest brother¡¯s cause of death long before the suitor from the Shangguan family appeared on the doorstep of the royal family.


    Even the crafty Prime Minister Yang Dou took the bait. The assassination he had nned contained numerous ws and loopholes ¨C it was nothing more than a child¡¯s trick in the eyes of Golden Roc Fort. Despite the incident had urred many years ago, the evidence was enough to prove who was the instigator at that time.


    The Princess was more than satisfied to see the Prime Minister weighed down with this. She did not care who she was going to marry. Since the title of a Princess was only in name, who could guarantee the authenticity of those kings? Perhaps the Supreme King¡¯s son was powerful enough and could protect her.


    However, Dragon King¡¯s name suddenly appeared.


    ¡°Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks¡±, the Princess had never heard of such a title before and found it quiteughable. Even ¡°Supreme King¡± sounded more like a real title than that.


    Gradually, rumors about Dragon King spread to the ears of the Princess. The giant roc who swallowed human eyeballs, the Devil Emperor who had killed countless, thousands of rough and barbaric swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, the person set on revenge and was at loggerheads with Golden Roc Fort. All these rumors led the Princess, who had already lost all hope toward her future, to pray sincerely in front of the statue of Buddha that she would not have to marry that wicked man.


    Buddha must have heard her prayers but did not act on it. Instead, Dragon King was pushed closer and closer to her.


    In the beginning, Dragon King had shown little promise among all the suitors, yet he had managed to lead with half of the votes and turn the tide around. This result was something that the Princess could not have foreseen. It had also caused her to be even more fearful of this man.


    For the first time in her life, the Princess epted the Prime Minister¡¯s orders willingly. ¡°Right now, the choice lies in Your Highness¡¯ hands. Needless to say, I believe the Princess should also understand that choosing the Ninth Young Master of the Golden Roc Fort will be the most favorable decision for the Stone Kingdom.¡± The Prime Minister said.


    She quickly nodded and agreed, although the interests of the Stone Kingdom was not her main priority. She would choose anybody else as long as she did not need to marry Dragon King, along with that horrible big bird which was with him.


    However, a mysterious woman ruined her mood, which she had just calmed down.


    The woman had been sent by the King¡¯s imperial guard and imed herself to be Xu Yanwei. She was glib at talking and soon won the trust of the Princess. It was only when no one was around that Xu Yanwei took out a secret letter.


    The letter was written by her royal brother personally, with only three words, ¡°Choose Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°But the Prime Minister¡­¡± The Princess said, her heart was about to shatter. She did not understand why this chaos did not end.


    ¡°Dragon King is a good man.¡± Xu Yanwei said as she instinctively sensed the Princess¡¯ fear. She began telling the Princess stories about Dragon King, knowing just what to say and what to avoid mentioning.


    ¡°Is he really like what you said¡­ Dragon King?¡± The Princess was confused. Dragon King seemed like a deity who was vague and with many sides. Each story seemed to show apletely different side of him.


    ¡°Dragon King is a good man.¡± Said Xu Yanwei as she nodded solemnly. She used this sentence as her opening and closing remarks. Following that, she went on and talked about the Ninth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort.


    Xu Yanwei knew Shangguan Fei inside out, even better than Dragon King. She said, ¡°He¡¯s a sinister and timid fellow. You will know it when you see him. His gaze is abnormal, and he got a bad leg. Even if these are not important, you should also know for a fact that he¡­ likes men.¡±


    The Princess did not understand thest sentence. Only after Xu Yanwei exined it in a roundabout manner, she could not believe her ears.¡±How is it possible?¡± She eximed.


    ¡°Ah, Your Highness is so pure.¡± Xu Yanwei hugged her shoulders and envied her naivety from the bottom of her heart. ¡°The world is far moreplicated than you think. It is precise because I have seen many hypocritical men in my life, therefore I know that Dragon King is a good man.¡±


    However, the Princess was not quite convinced. Dragon King had long been a nightmare in her mind that a few words could not easily dispel such thoughts. ¡°That giant roc which only eats¡­ don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s just a rumor to deceive others as well?¡±


    Slightly embarrassed, Xu Yanwei regretted noting to see the Princess sooner. This was an imaginative Princess who had been isted for so long that she had shaped Dragon King into a mythical demon from legend. She replied, ¡°Well, that part about the giant roc is true. But it has flown away and has not appeared since.¡±


    The Princess trembled and tears welled up in her eyes upon hearing that, but she fought her urge to cry. Then she spoke with a determined attitude, ¡°Alright, as long as brother¡¯s throne is secured, I will marry anyone that he asks me to.¡±


    Xu Yanwei was easily affected by the Princess¡¯ emotions and her tears started streaming down her face, ¡°Fate is like that, men are always used by gods to punish women.¡±


    The only constion for the Princess was that she would be able to get her revenge by publicly humiliating the Prime Minister Yang Dou after all these years of imprisonment.


    Yet, she often couldn¡¯t help but think, if only there was a choice, why did the heavens arrange such a narrow path for her, such that even a simple act of moving her fingers was difficult?


    Therefore, only a tinge of fear shed her mind when the assassin appeared from nowhere. The huge rock that had been weighing on her mind was lifted, and the Princess even smiled as she weed the saber about to stab into her chest.


    ¡­


    At noon, the Council Chamber in the pce was filled with people. Many men who were not eligible to seek for a marriage were able to enter the pce through all kinds of ways as well. It was said that this was the first ever appearance of the Princess after all these years, and would probably be herst appearance as well.


    However, there was a little dispute in the chamber. The people who had cast their votes to Dragon King surrounded the Prince of the Lon Kingdom, demanding for their payment.


    The Prince of the Lon Kingdom who handed over the problem to Dragon King was already clear-headed by now. He exined in a small voice, ¡°You have to ask Dragon King for the money. You cast your vote to him, didn¡¯t you? What has it got to do with me?¡± ( )


    ¡°But¡­¡± said the people surrounding the Prince, no one dared to look for Dragon King and ask for the payment. ¡°No, you were the one who made the promise that time. You were the one who made us switch our votes to Dragon King on thest day, of course, it¡¯s only natural that wee looking for you. Don¡¯t tell me you are in cahoots with Dragon King and want to go back on your word after lying to us?¡±


    Sweat began to trickle from the Lon Kingdom Prince¡¯s forehead. He cursed the Special Envoy from the Central ins over a hundred thousands of times in his heart. It was because of Lin Tao fleeing at thest moment whichnded him in so much trouble.


    On the other side of the chamber, Shangguan Fei spoke to the Special Envoy from Nond in a low voice. Then, he stood up and pushed through the crowd, making his way to Dragon King¡¯s side.


    The Council Chamber was crowded but no one was surrounding Dragon King.


    ¡°We will just have to wait for the Princess to announce the results.¡± Shangguan Fei said, smiling knowingly. He had promised Dragon King that he would announce that he had no intention of inheriting the throne once he became the Emperor¡¯s son-inw.


    Gu Shenwei nodded slightly. He was clear that Shangguan Fei had given him an empty promise. Golden Roc killers were obviously hidden among the crowd in the Council Chamber. Even if Gu Shenwei closed his eyes, he would be able to sniff them out.


    What made Gu Shenwei uncertain was, were these killers here to protect Shangguan Fei or to kill him so that they could me it on Dragon King instead?

 Chapter 346 - Rebellion at the Palace

    Chapter 346: Rebellion at the Pce


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    It was already noon and everything was quiet in the Council Chamber. Everyone was holding their breath and looking at the gate in the corner; the Princess should be walking out from it.


    Soon, ady came out and she looked exactly like a goddess; however¡­her age did not seem quite right, as she did not look like a 16-year-old girl.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you!¡± Shangguan Fei cried out. He then closed his mouth and looked nervously at Dragon King.


    Xu Yanwei lowered her head, appearing to be shy with so many men in front of her, resulting in her bashful actions for a while before she said, ¡°Her Highness has caught a cold and has to remain in bed. She can¡¯t¡­¡±


    There was a great stir in the chamber; everyone hade to see the Princess, and they did not expect to meet a maid.


    Yang Dou was even more perplexed as he rushed to the unknown maid and looked at her coldly, asking, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Madam Yang had always kept the King and Princess of Stone Kingdom under her control without encountering any fierce resistance. As such, in the past two years, she had be less watchful but had never expected to make such a careless mistake at the most critical moment.


    ¡°Her Highness is really ill, so she asked me toe out to announce the results.¡± Xu Yanwei whispered in reply.


    Yan Dou¡¯s face recovered a bit of its color. There were too many people behind him, therefore he could not be too tant and could only stare at the maid with a stern look as he told her, ¡°Then let¡¯s hear what the princess truly wishes for. Who did she choose to be her consort ¨C the Ninth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort or Dragon King?¡±


    The crowd quieted down again. They could not see the Princess, but at least they had to know who the Emperor¡¯s son-inw was going to be. More than half of them had cast their gazes on Shangguan Fei.


    Shangguan Fei did not look like he wanted to be the Emperor¡¯s son-inw. He was cowering and had lowered his head, acting like a young man who had never seen the world. Even the Special Envoy of Nond could not help but frown, thinking that the Ninth Young Master¡¯s behavior was ruining the reputation of the Shangguan family.


    ¡°Her Highness has already made a decision.¡± Xu Yanwei raised his voice slightly as she continued, ¡°Both the Ninth Young Master and the Dragon King are both extraordinary men. Her Highness is honored to receive their favor and said that it was really difficult to choose¡­¡±


    The Prince of Kang Kingdom was impatient and cried out loudly, ¡°First tell us her decision before you carry on with that crap.¡±


    ¡°Ehm¡­ Her Highness has thought about it for a long time and in the end, she decided that¡­ the Dragon King is going to be the Emperor¡¯s son-inw.¡±


    Silence reigned in the Council Chamber. This result waspletely contrary to what they had heard beforehand. Everyone immediately started to think about the causes and the consequences of this result.


    ¡°This is impossible!¡±


    Prime Minister Yang Dou blurted out- his words were heard by the whole crowd, causing many people to look at him pitifully.


    Yang Dou¡¯s face turned white and he hastily tried to exin his gaffe, ¡°Dragon King, don¡¯t get me wrong, I mean¡­ How is it possible that the Princess is ill? And¡­ who the hell are you? How is that I¡¯ve never seen you before?¡±


    ¡°I am the maid of Her Highness. If Your Excellency does not believe me then you can go and ask the Princess directly.¡±


    There must have been an ident. Yang Dou¡¯s mind was aplete mess; he could always behave in the most appropriate way, but now, he could note up with anything to salvage the situation. He hurriedly ran out of the corner gate without bothering about how disrespectful leaving his guests alone would be.


    However, when he was at the entrance, he remembered he had to provide an exnation to Shangguan Fei. Therefore, he turned around and started to look for the Ninth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort ¨C who must have been furious by this time ¨C amongst the crowd.


    Shangguan Fei had disappeared as immediately after the announcement, he squeezed his way out of the crowd and left from the front gate.


    ¡°This, this¡­¡± The Special Envoy of Nond remained speechless for a while before shouting, ¡°Someone is cheating, let the Princesse out. Nond will never ept this result.¡±


    Gu Shenwei remained indifferent to the news and was keeping a close eye on seven of Golden Roc¡¯s killers in the crowd.


    The killers obviously did not expect this kind of situation to ur. Four of them left with Shangguan Fei while the other three did not know what to do. They waited for a while before leaving as well. No one tried to approach the Dragon King.


    The first four killers were Shangguan Fei¡¯s guards. The other three were those who wanted to assassinate Shangguan Fei.


    The original n was for the Dragon King to kill the Ninth Young Master in a rage after losing the race to be the Emperor¡¯s son-inw. It would be the perfect opportunity to frame him, yet unexpectedly, the Dragon King won over the Princess¡¯s heart and there was no longer any excuse for bloodshed. As such, the three killers did not attack.


    The crowd was staring at the Dragon King, when suddenly everyone seemed to have simultaneously recalled that they had some important matters to attend to at home and rushed out like a swarm of bees, striving to be the first to leave as if their lives depended upon it.


    When there were only two people left, Gu Shenwei asked, ¡°Howe it was you that came out?¡±


    ¡°The princess really had to remain in bed, but not because of a cold. Last night, some assassins appeared. Luckily, she is fine and just scared.¡±


    ¡°Assassins!¡± Gu Shenwei cried out in surprise.


    ¡°Shhh, you¡¯ll know everything about the incident soon, Dragon King. I have to go now.¡±


    Gu Shenwei left the Council Chamber too as he still had many things to do. Finding out the identity of the assassins who attempted to assassinate the princess was not paramount at the moment.


    At quarter-past noon, dozens of imperial guards appeared at the entrance of the royal pce, all armed with sabers. Interestingly, the guards at the door did not recognize them.


    The crowd who hade to see the princess poured out of the pce, scattering in every direction. Many of them noticed the frightening imperial guards and believed that something bad was going to happen, thus they began running even faster.


    One of the King¡¯s personal guards appeared at the entrance of the pce and announced the imperial decree loudly, ¡°His Majesty has decreed for his son-inw to enter the pce to have an audience with him. He also summons the newly appointed imperial guards to enter the pce and report to His Majesty.¡±


    The ten guards at the gate were shocked. Since the current king was coronated, it was the first time they heard him issue a decree; previously, it was always the Prime Minister who was in charge of matters both within and outside of the royal pce.


    One of the guards boldly asked, ¡°Where is the imperial edict? Where is the seal?¡±


    The imperial guard replied sternly, ¡°It¡¯s His Majesty¡¯s order, do you dare to not respect it? ¡±


    Dozens of unidentified guards drew their sabers at the same time and the matter was settled.


    Gu Shenwei had juste out of the pce and nodded to the imperial guard. He was then led by the guard and escorted by He Sancai and the others who were pretending to be imperial guards into the pce.


    Along the way, they only encountered some small resistance. After the death of two guards, the other guards discarded their weapons and no one else came to stop them. The eunuchs and court maids bowed their heads to make way for the Dragon King and his entourage, daring not to make a sound.


    They knew that another coup was about to ur. As usual, no one wanted to dere their position before knowing who the final victor would be.


    The king was anxiously waiting for the arrival of Gu Shenwei. There was only a court maid assigned by the Dragon King to protect him and he was feeling very uneasy around this female guard named Guan Shang.


    Upon seeing Dragon King lead a group of fearsome guards in, the king finally managed to ay his worries.


    ¡°Is everything alright?¡±


    ¡°His Majesty will see the results very quickly.¡±


    Soon, Dragon King¡¯s words were proven to be true.


    Prime Minister Yang Dou was the first person to be brought in by Maid Lotus. He was powerless like a baby and could not put up any resistance. Seeing the King, he began to regain some confidence. ¡°Your Majesty, everything is messed up. This, this¡­what is all this? Princess¡­Dragon King¡­¡±, he said.


    ¡°Yang Dou, do you know your crime?¡± the King had spoken these words thousands of times in his dreams, but he still felt very emotional now that he had the opportunity to say them in real life; he had been waiting for this moment for too long.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t know what I am guilty of,¡± Yang Dou replied, his face turning red. He felt that was the real master of Stone Kingdom and that this king who was already on the decline was just his puppet.


    ¡°Coborating with the enemy and forcing the king to abdicate ¨C Yang Dou, what you havemitted is a disgraceful crime worthy of having all your descendants in,¡± the King replied as he stood on the steps. After every word he uttered, he felt increasingly refreshed. His perennial problem was apparently solvedpletely.


    Yang Dou was speechless and suddenly turned to Dragon King, ¡°It¡¯s all your fault, it¡¯s your plot! Your Majesty, don¡¯t believe him. He¡­he wants to kill the Ju royal family!¡±


    Dragon King snorted softly and a dozen bandits disguised as imperial guards pulled out their shining short swords again. The courtyard was immediately filled with a cold and austere air.


    The King¡¯s heart trembled slightly, but he soon regained his calm, ¡°Save your effort in trying to sow discord, Yang Dou, me yourself for pushing me to a dead end and leaving me without any choice.¡±


    Facing the threat of the weapons, Yang Dou knelt down slowly. He did not understand how Dragon King contacted the king.


    More and more people admitted that Dragon King would be the winner of the coup at the pce and began pledging their loyalty to the king and a few eunuchs brought the imperial seal over. It was a symbol of power that even the king had not touched personally since he began his reign.


    Most of the imperial guards pleaded guilty and surrendered to the king, while a dozen others fled away. They were all machetemen sent by Golden Roc Fort, who, when they heard of Dragon King, stood on the king¡¯s side and immediately left the city as fast as possible to look for the Ninth Young Master for protection.


    Aside from Madam Yang, many important officials also arrived. Many wept bitterly, as it was the first time they had seen the king of their own nation.


    Gu Shenwei and the bandits ced by Maid Lotus inside and outside the city attacked simultaneously, capturing almost all of the Yang family in one go and escorting them to the royal pce.


    When Yang Dou saw that even the youngest of his grandson had been arrested, hepletely copsed and implored the King for mercy. ( )


    Seeing that the more or less everything was under control, the king was now able to manage the situation himself. Gu Shenwei released half of the people and took the other half with him. He gave the people from Golden Roc Fort an opportunity to leave Stone Kingdom, but he would be unafraid to fight if they chose not to surrender.


    Residents in the city remained calm and every family kept its door shut. The king¡¯s herald held the king¡¯s g up high as he publicly dered the crimes of Madam Yang and that martialw was in effect.


    The courier station outside the city was another story. The special envoy from Nond and Shangguan Fei hid in a nearby camp belonging to Golden Roc Fort, while all the princes and their attendants retreated to another camp, signifying their neutral stance. There were only more than twenty swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain who remained in the courier station, with Lin Xiaoshan as their leader. They were prepared for any possible incident.


    The group from Golden Roc Fort did not flee norunch any attack. Everything seemed to be happening as per normal for them.


    Gu Shenwei observed Golden Roc Fort camp for a while before ordering Li Xiaoshan to enter the city. At the same time, he arranged for some people to send an invitation to the other neutral nations.


    Most of the princes and tribal chief¡¯s sons wanted to enter the city as they were concerned about their gold which was currently kept in the imperial pce. As long as it was possible, they were hoping to retrieve the gold they had presented during thepetition of wealth a few days ago.


    It was not until evening when Gu Shenwei recalled the attack on the princess. It was exactly during this time when Guan Shang sent the assassin over to him.


    ¡°If it was not for Sister Xu, I would have killed her,¡± said Tie Linglong indignantly; she had lost her weapons. Xu Yanwei prevented her from killing the Princess and Guan Shang captured her alive. It was that the assassination, which had been nned for many days, failed.

 Chapter 347 - The Throne

    Chapter 347: The Throne


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Tie Linglong¡¯s preparatory work could be considered as very sessful for an assassination.


    She had escaped from the Dragon King¡¯s residence on the second day after his departure from Jade City. She disguised herself as a teenage ve and sneaked into a merchant caravan heading to Xiaoyao Lake. She was hiding close to the Dragon King for many days but had never been discovered.


    She continued to lie low when they had arrived in the Stone Kingdom, and it was during this time that she had gone to the royal pce to conduct some reconnaissance on the princess. As such, she had some preliminary understanding of the daily habits of the princess.


    <em>¡°If the Dragon King does not manage to marry the princess, I won¡¯t have to do anything,¡± </em>she thought.


    On the day of the actual voting, she knew that the Dragon King would eventually be dered the winner of the entirepetition. Therefore, she decided to make her move.


    The assassination should have been carried out easily, except that it was Xu Yanwei who tried to protect the princess by leaping in front of her. This gave Tie Linglong a shock and she had no choice but to draw her saber back. Even though it was a very slight pause, it gave Guan Shang, who was standing watch outside, enough time to realize what was happening in the room and rush in.


    The two women fought all the way out of the room. Tie Linglong was no match for Guan Shang and eventually became her captive.


    Guan Shang recognized the young girl, but she would never have thought that the person who incited Tie Linglong to assassinate the princess would turn out to be Maid Lotus, the Managing Master of the New Moon Hall.


    Guan Shang hid the young girl away and lied to the princess that the assassin had escaped. However, she was still uncertain; she could notprehend the Dragon King¡¯s intentions. In the end, it was Xu Yanwei who proved to be the most understanding; she knew Tie Linglong¡¯s character very well too. ¡°She must have been acting behind the Dragon King¡¯s back again. It¡¯s all my fault for having taught her too much nonsensical stuff,¡± she said.


    This was the second time that Tie Linglong had acted without instructions. The first time was when she sneaked into the Golden Roc Fort with Chu Nanping, and it had forced the Dragon King to be passive.


    As such, Gu Shenwei could not possibly forgive her again. It did not matter whether she did it out of goodwill or not; it was harmful to his ns.


    ¡°I won¡¯t execute you,¡± said Gu Shenwei. He was not angry nor did he castigate her, but his tone was firm and his authority unquestionable. ¡°Neither will I forgive you. From now on, you¡¯re no longer the personal bodyguard of the Dragon King and a member of the army of the Great Snowmountain,¡± he continued.


    Tie Linglong looked at the Dragon King in surprise. She knew that she would be reprimanded and punished, but had never thought that the consequences were so serious.


    Gu Shenwei was not done speaking yet. He continued after a pause, ¡°Return to Shu-lik and look for your brother; he¡¯ll tell you who your enemy is. You can already get your revenge with the kung fu you have now. Never appear before me again, unless you believe your machete technique to be better than mine.¡±


    Tie Linglong¡¯s green eyes were welling up with tears as she spoke. ¡°Dragon King, I know I¡¯ve done wrong, but I did it for your own good, in your heart¡­¡±


    ¡°Then never do anything for my betterment ever again,¡± Gu Shenwei cut her off. ¡°I need soldiers who can follow orders and not opinionated little girls. Get out,¡± he continued.


    Tie Linglong bit her lips. She could not decide whether to be indignant or to plead with the Dragon King. She knew that it was useless to beg him for mercy for he was hard-hearted. As such, she lifted her head and turned around to leave, trying hard to control her impulse to break into tears.


    After she left, Gu Shenwei turned his attention to Lin Xiaoshan and the other 20 or so swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain. ¡°Tie Linglong is no longer one of us. From now on, all of you are to treat her as you would an enemy if you meet her. Anyone who tries tomunicate with her secretly will be executed,¡± he said.


    All of them bowed and acknowledged the Dragon King¡¯s orders. No one dared to try to convince him to go back on his decision; no one remembered the Dragon King ever being convinced.


    Tie Linglong wandered around aimlessly in the city, having no ce to go to and no idea how long she would be walking for. She felt as if something was trapped inside her and missed her saber terribly. She was left empty-handed and felt as defenseless as a lion cub who had been dewed.


    It was soon night time, and she saw a woman standing in her way. Tie Linglong knew that she would appear sooner orter, and could no longer fight back her tears. ¡°The Dragon King doesn¡¯t want me around anymore, he has chased me back to Shu-lik,¡± she said tearfully.


    Maid Lotus approached her and looked as she continued crying. ¡°The Dragon King chased me away in the past too, but you can see for yourself that I¡¯m now back at his side and have won his trust as well,¡± she said.


    Tie Linglong lifted her head to look at Maid Lotus. Thetter¡¯s eyes were as obscure as thick smoke and there seemed to be bits of starlight shimmering in its depths. It made Tie Linglong intoxicated, and a desire to worship Maid Lotus grew within her. She had not sold Maid Lotus out to anyone, even the Dragon King. ¡°How did you do it?¡± she asked.


    ¡°It was because I perfected some exceptional kung fu techniques and am of aparable skill level with him. He needs me, as I can help him realize his ambitions.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m too foolish and could never learn any peerless kung fu technique. Even those pills that you gave me¡­ I did not eat them.¡±


    Maid Lotusughed sweetly as she replied, ¡°The pills are just an aid. You still need to put in the hard work to master any unique set of kung fu techniques.¡±


    ¡°I can put in the hard work, I can endure any hardship,¡± replied Tie Linglong, a steely gaze shining from her eyes.


    Maid Lotus did not point the young girl in the right direction immediately, but gazed at her, as if she wanted to look through her entire body right into the depths of her soul. She then leaned over and whispered some words to Tie Linglong and fished out a piece of jade shaped as a crescent from her clothes. ¡°Take it and go to the ce which I¡¯ve just mentioned. There are countless hardships there, and once you¡¯ve endured all of them, you¡¯ll have peerless kung fu skills,¡± she said.


    Tie Linglong did have some doubts about this arrangement, but somehow she hade to trust Maid Lotus subconsciously, and she was spurred on by the cold-heartedness of the Dragon King. She took the crescent-shaped piece of jade over from Maid Lotus and gripped it tightly in her fist. ¡°However, the Dragon King is still going to marry the princess,¡± she said.


    ¡°He won¡¯t, I¡¯ll take care of it,¡± Maid Lotus said gently with a slight smile. Even so, her authority was as unquestionable as the Dragon King¡¯s.


    At the same time, the King of the Stone Kingdom, who finally had real power in his grasp, was continuously issuing orders to hunt down the remaining members of the Yang family.


    As for the Dragon King, he brought the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain up to the castle walls and they stood gazing far away at the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s camp a few kilometers away from them. It was still all quiet there; they had not retreated nor made any move.


    It was so quiet that it felt abnormal.


    As it grew dark, the citizens of the city went to bed early but very few of them could fall asleep. They were all pricking their ears for any sign of unrest and seemed to be able to hear sounds emanating from the royal pce.


    The king was tired; his health did not allow him to withstand long periods of intense thinking and to handlerge amounts of matters of the state. However, he still did not wish to go to bed and remained sitting on his throne in the main hall of the pce, hugging the royal seal closely to his chest.


    Before today, he had only sat on this throne once, and it was on the day of his coronation. After that, the main hall was sealed off, and all matters of the state were handled in the Prime Minister¡¯s mansion and the discussion hall of the royal pce.


    Finally, the Ju family had regained the throne.


    He could not recall how many orders he gave during the day, and many of them were pertaining to insignificant matters. Under his request, the servants of the pce were fetching buckets after buckets of clean water to wipe down every spot that the Prime Minister frequented. The guards had also removed their weapons and tucked them in their waist sashes.


    The King had an extremely peculiar feeling as he watched his orders being carried out rapidly. He felt that his body was slowing expanding and he was turning into a giant; even the main hall, which was empty now, would not be able to contain him very soon.


    It was this feeling which made him order everyone out of the main hall and made him sit on the throne till now. ¡°It¡¯s all mine,¡± he muttered. He felt so emotional that he was nearly cried.


    When the Dragon King walked into this ce with a few men, there were only a few candles burning in the huge hall. Without the King¡¯s orders, no one dared to make the room better lit.


    The King looked at the armed man in front of him and hugged the royal seal even more tightly to his chest. A fiery anger grew within him; he had just issued a decree that no one, without being summoned or having announced his or her visit, was to be allowed into the hall. However, in the royal pce, the Dragon King had special status.


    His fearsome machete men, who were more than 200 strong, remained the biggest armed presence in the city. The royal army wascking in manpower and unity; they would be no match for a tough adversary.


    Besides, the Dragon King had the ability to kill him anytime he wished to.


    Very quickly, the King¡¯s rage turned into fear, and he secretly hid the royal seal in his clothes. He opened his arms to wee the Dragon King, ¡°Ah, Dragon King, the savior of the Stone Kingdom, my right-hand man. We¡¯ve seeded. Are you here to im the post of Prime Minister?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. This was the deal between us,¡± Gu Shenwei replied. He halted his approach, leaving more than 20 steps between them; he could pick up the concealed hatred from the honeyed words of the King.


    ¡°Yes, yes. It¡¯s my honor to be able to jointly rule the Stone Kingdom with you, Dragon King. However, I feel that the post of Prime Minister belittles you,¡± said the King as his heart raced. He was trying to test the reaction of the Dragon King.


    ¡°I have no intention of bing the Prime Minister of the Stone Kingdom,¡± replied the Dragon King. His words made the king rejoice, but he was not done speaking. ¡°This man, however, would be the ideal choice for Prime Minister,¡± he continued.


    Zhong Heng stepped out from behind the Dragon King and bowed respectfully to the king of the Stone Kingdom. ¡°Your Majesty, I hope that you¡¯ll be more satisfied with me aspared to Yang Dou,¡± he said.


    ¡°Satisfied, I¡¯m extremely satisfied,¡± said the king with an unnatural smile stered across his face. Once he had got a taste of power, he could not go without it anymore. However, he did not have the strength to rule his kingdom on his own and had to ally himself with someone stronger. ¡°I hope the Central in would not mind parting with such a great general,¡± he continued.


    Gu Shenwei did not wish to discuss matters pertaining to the Central in with the king and changed the subject. ¡°How does Your Majesty wish to take care of the Yang family?¡±, he asked.


    The Yang family wasrge, and there were more than a hundred of them, both sexes included. If he could rule by his own ord, he wished to eliminate every one of them. That said, he was still a little lucid. ¡°I¡¯m waiting to discuss this matter with you, Dragon King. They have vited everything that is sacred and should be severely punished,¡± he suggested.


    ¡°My suggestion is to reduce them to the status of ordinarymoners and exile a few important members of the n. The others can decide whether to stay in the Stone Kingdom or not,¡± the Dragon King replied.


    His suggestion was implicitly final, but the king could not help but counter it. ¡°That¡¯s all? We should at least behead Yang Dou along with a few of his sons and disy their heads for all to see. None of them are good people,¡± he said.


    ¡°The Yang family has ruled the Stone Kingdom for many years and has wide connections. It has secured close rtions with many nations in Western Region, especially in the kingdoms around the Xiaoyao Lake viaplicated intermarriages. You¡¯ll be isting the Stone Kingdom by exterminating the entire n, and might even be risking the revenge of the coalition forces. Spare him and let him escape; besides pacifying the other nations, we can also see who amongst them are our true friends.¡±


    The King¡¯s face grew red. The Dragon King had just taught him a lesson and it made him feel extremely uneasy. ¡°Then let¡¯s follow your suggestion, Dragon King,¡± he said. His passion had diminished greatly, and even the royal seal had lost much of its appeal.


    Gu Shenwei walked out of the hall, pondering about how he could move his army at the western border of Jade City to the Stone Kingdom; he wanted a solid base for his people where they could grow. It was then, at the entrance of the royal pce, that he bumped into a few swordsmen who were escorting someone who hade looking for him.


    It was Shangguan Hong; he had not escaped to the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s camp, as he knew it was not safe there for him.


    ¡°Congrattions, Dragon King,¡± shouted Shangguan Hong, even when they were still at a distance away from each other.


    ¡°What are you here for?¡±, asked Gu Shenwei, his eyebrows wrinkled into a frown.


    ¡°You¡¯ve forgotten, Dragon King. Mister Zhang left a secret with me. Hehe, I¡¯ve said before that I would let you know what it is once the princess has chosen her consort.¡± /


    Gu Shenwei had not forgotten about it, but rather he did not pay too much heed to it. He believed that he had seen through the teacher¡¯s devious trick; it had to be that he wanted to protect Shangguan Hong.


    As such, when he took over the kit from Shangguan Hong, he never imagined that it would contain a secret which would turn the situation around.

 Chapter 348 - Ambition

    Chapter 348: Ambition


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Zhang Ji held an exquisite wine cup in his right hand and gently twirled it around. The thick liquid in it sloshed around with his movements but never spilled out; it always stopped when it had reached the edges, then returned to the center of the cup.


    To him, wine was the best thing in the world. When he was down, it would give himfort.


    And yet, it was also the worst thing in the world; after a hangover, his depression would only intensify.


    He ced the wine cup on the table and stared at it as if facing off with an enemy. Suddenly, he chuckled softly and shook his head. <em>¡°I¡¯ve really got nothing better to do, to bepeting with a cup of wine,¡± </em>he thought.


    Even if his opponent was a cup of wine, he still emerged the victor. He made up his mind to be teetotal from now on.


    The time for boredom was over. To counselors like himself, real battles were not fought in taverns or ssrooms; they viewed the entire world as a chess game and nations as chess pieces. As for individuals, well, they were but specks of dust on the chess pieces.


    <em>¡°ve Huan must already have won the title of prince consort by now,¡± </em>Zhang Ji thought. <em>¡°This person is not a speck of dust, nor is he a pawn. He¡¯s a disruptor, but he doesn¡¯t know what his objectives are, he¡¯s unaware even when being made use of.¡±</em>


    <em>¡°He imed that he wanted revenge, but revenge? ¡± </em>Zhang Ji could not control himself andughed coldly as he thought about it. <em>¡°What aughable excuse. Revenge is just like concepts such as love, familial bonds and wealth¡ªthey are just but checkpoints in a man¡¯s life journey. It would be too foolish to be too caught up in them.¡±</em>


    <em>¡°The final destination of that journey would be power. Everything was because of power, for without power, what difference would there be between a man and a walking husk?¡± </em>Zhang Ji thought, as the ambition of his days as a youth welled up in him again.


    After he finished thinking about ve Huan, the image of another youth crept into Zhang Ji¡¯s mind.


    This youth was different from the others around him right at a young age. Only he had dared to challenge the Supreme King and question every rule of the Stone Castle. He would seek clear exnations for everything he had to do, and even when the Supreme King flew into a huge rage, he would be unafraid. Instead, he would exin his actions eloquently.


    He was a person with his own way of thinking, and such a person would never walk the path paved by others for him; he would rather take a long way round and forge his own path.


    As such, he wandered into the jiang hu, made friends, fell in love and even mastered difficult kung fu techniques. The only thing he did not like was killing.


    Zhang Ji was biding his time as the youth was treading his own path in life. He knew that the day woulde when the youth would mature and see the light. Then, he would join forces with the teacher to continue on with their life journeys together.


    The youth was the Third Young Master, Shangguan Yun. In Zhang Ji¡¯s eyes, he was the only one eligible to seed the mantle of the Supreme King. His other brothers were harmful to the future of the Stone Castle and should have been gotten rid of earlier; especially that good-for-nothing, Shangguan Hong. Zhang Ji was satisfied with the cold manner in which he treated Shangguan Hong. If it were not for the fact that he had sprung the Third Young Master out of prison, Zhang Ji would never have so much as cast an eye on him.


    It was an extremely long wait and during which he had slowly trained the useless Master Hong into a person of some capability. He made use of Shangguan Hong to plead for the Third Young Master¡¯s case to Lady Meng and slowly change her image of Shangguan Yun, thereby nting the seed for her to convince the Supreme King as well.


    However, the Supreme King, being the Supreme King, saw through the entire plot. Nevertheless, he was not angry and instead, on an afternoon, decided to pay a personal visit to the teacher; he wanted to work together to fulfill both their ambitions.


    Zhang Ji¡¯s thoughts were disrupted as a supervisor wearing a yellow-belt came into his room. The supervisor bowed respectfully to the teacher and passed him a letter with both hands.


    Zhang Ji opened the letter and nced through it once. ¡°Invite the lord for a visit,¡± he said.


    The yellow-belt retreated with an expression almost bearing on worship. In the entire Golden Roc Fort, and very possibly the entire Western Region, no one could possibly make the Supreme King move a single step. However, this tall, old man, who was still a stern looking teacher with a ruler in hand yesterday, had suddenly be the most trusted advisor of the Supreme King overnight. Even those who were most familiar with the internal matters of the fort were left dumbfounded.


    The Supreme King arrived very quickly.


    Seeing the still untouched cup of wine on the table, Shangguan Fa broke into a knowing grin as he said, ¡°No volume of good wine can fulfill a man¡¯s true ambitions.¡±


    ¡°The same goes for women,¡± replied Zhang Ji indifferently, as he bowed slightly.


    The Supreme King had started preparations to realize his ambition much earlier than the teacher. A few years ago, he began getting intimate with women on only a few rare asions; after ¡®conquering¡¯ countless women during his lifetime, he had finally made up his mind that he would do the job of a true king: conquer thends and people around him.


    ¡°Is there news already?¡±


    Zhang Ji nodded and passed the letter to the Supreme King.


    It was a short letter, and Shangguan Fa nced through it once. ¡°Everything¡¯s settled to the north, how about the south?¡±, he asked, his face expressionless.


    ¡°The Dragon King will soon realize that he has no other choice.¡±


    Zhang Ji spread a map open on the table and traced a finger in the north-east direction from Jade City past a sprawling desert and stopped at where the Stone Kingdom was marked. ¡°The Dragon King should¡¯ve already won the title of prince consort. If he¡¯s smart enough, he won¡¯t move against the Ninth Young Master. However, he¡¯s separated thousands of kilometers away from the Great Snowmountain, and once news about the situation from the north reaches him, he¡¯ll bash his way across the obstacles in his path to save his own army. When ites to that, he cannot afford to be merciful.¡±


    Zhang Ji continued tracing his finger a little to the west of the Stone Kingdom and stopped at its border with the Kang Kingdom. ¡°The army of the Kang Kingdom is already waiting at this location. Once the Dragon King leaves the Stone Kingdom, they can move, and we can expect the destruction of the Stone Kingdom toe sometime soon.¡±


    He then traced his finger northwards across the desert to its other side till where Shuangquan Vige was marked. ¡°This will be burial ground of the Dragon King,¡± he said.


    ¡°He¡¯s stumbled around for so long that it¡¯s time for it to end,¡± Shangguan Fa said coldly. It was extremely humiliating for the Supreme King to have a traitor of the Golden Roc Fort to muster an army so close to the Jade City and to force him into a peace deal, and he needed a muchrger ambition to be able to take it.


    ¡°The Dragon King has his uses,¡± said Zhang Ji in the tone of a tutor subconsciously. ¡°If it were not for him vying to be the prince consort in the Stone Kingdom and thereby drawing away the attention of the various powers from us, including that of the Central in, would the Third Young Master have been able to seed in the north?¡±


    ¡°My only regret is that his death wille too swiftly for him.¡±


    Zhang Ji shook his head in disagreement. He felt that the Dragon King was only a disruptor and could not even be considered to be a pawn in their game of chess with the other factions in Western Region; there was no need to ord him too much attention. He traced his finger in a north-east direction on the map and stopped at the mountain pass to the east of Jade City. This was where thebined forces of the Central in and Shangguan Nu were stationed at. ¡°I estimate that the Lon Kingdom will descend into chaos after three days. This would force the army of the Central in to retreat, and our army can cross the grassy ins of Nond and upy this spot at the mountain pass in the name of punishing Shangguan Nu, who has been an unfilial son. We¡¯ll then be able to take the provisions and fodder stocked up by the Central in over the years for our own use. This will ensure that the Central in will not have the ability to move westwards for the next three to five years.¡±


    The two men swept their gazes across the entire map as if they had each piece ofnd in their grasp. This was a kind of feeling that even the best wine and the most charming woman in the world could not give them.


    Zhang Ji drew arge arc with his finger from the mountain pass on the east side of Jade City until it reached the other one on the west side. To its north stood the Xiaowan Kingdom and Nond, while the camp of the Great Snowmountain stood to its south. In the middle of it all, slightly to the east, was the camp set up by Dugu Xian.


    ¡°Since the Third Young Master has already married the Princess of Xiaowan Kingdom, it¡¯s only a matter of time before he takes over the throne. Then, the army that we¡¯ve hidden in that nation can finally be unleashed. 5,000 troops will attack Shangguan Nu, while another 5,000 will merge with Dugu Xian¡¯s forces. I estimate that we canpletely wipe out the entire Snowmountain Gang within a month at most.¡±


    The secret army in the Xiaowan Kingdom was the Supreme King¡¯s big secret, which he had kept hidden for many years. Within the Golden Roc Fort, only Zhang Ji had managed to guess it correctly from various scraps of leads he had. From there, he had deduced that the Supreme King was still ambitious.


    The Supreme King¡¯s gaze shot westwards to Shu-lik even before Zhang Ji¡¯s finger had moved there. It was a huge piece ofnd, and the Jade City looked like a prisonpared to itsndmass. The Golden Roc Fort had been caged in this prison for all this while.


    ¡°Shu-lik can amass an army of at least 50,000,¡± said Shangguan Fa a little worriedly. It was an issue that was still troubling him even though he had discussed many times with Zhang Ji. It was also the hardest part of their n.


    ¡°Their troops are scattered all over the country, and thergest force it can muster in a single location will only be about seven to eight thousand troops. If the 10,000 cavalry troops supplied by Nond advance quickly enough, Shu-lik won¡¯t have any chance of countering. After Dugu Xian has exterminated the Snowmountain Gang, he¡¯ll be able to supply more than 10,000 troops. His cavalry will advance through Shu-lik while his infantry holds down the territory he has won. I guess that within six months to a year¡¯s time Shu-lik will be a part of the Golden Roc Nation.¡±


    ¡°I cannot allow the killers to remain idle in the castle,¡± added Shangguan Fa. ¡°They shall create chaos in Shu-lik; even if they cannot withstand the might of an army, they can make sure it bes leaderless.¡±


    ¡®Leaderless¡¯ led both of them to think about the traitor from the Golden Roc Fort who now called himself ¡®Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks¡¯ and they bothughed.


    Hence, they decided that this would be their n. There will still some kinks to be straightened out, and even if they managed to conquer Shu-lik, it would just be the first step to their n of hegemony. The Central in coulde with their huge army or Nond could suddenly turn ambitious and think of turning the tables against the Golden Roc Fort; these were things that they had thought about ande up with some preliminary ns against, but they were no cause for too much concern at the moment.


    ¡°The Ninth and Tenth Young Masters do not really have to die,¡± said Zhang Ji after a period of silence. He did not mention Shangguan Hong, as he knew that the Supreme King did not even consider this unfamiliar youth as his own son.


    A cold light shone from the deep-set eyes of Shangguan Fa. He had kept his ruthlessness and cruelty hidden for far too long, so much so that the people around him had already forgotten about these two characteristics of him. He felt that it was time to let them wake up. ¡°They secretly learned the Wayless Qigong without my permission and deserve to die,¡± he said.


    It was what Zhang Ji wanted to hear. He did not care about whether the twins lived or died, but he wanted to be sure that the Supreme King would note to regret his decision and ask the tutor to pay in the future. ¡°Lady Meng would be extremely sad,¡± he said.


    ¡°That lecherous woman,¡± Shangguan Fa replied, spitting the words out vehemently. ¡°I¡¯ll let her live before I squeeze all the money from the Meng family. Once news of the death of the twins reaches the fort, let her know immediately.¡±


    Zhang Ji was satisfied. Although Lady Meng had been foolish at one time, she was not to be taken lightly, and the grand n for the Golden Roc Fort had only just begun. It could not fail because of her.


    His gaze still remained fixed on the map, seemingly pondering something.


    ¡°Is there something wrong?¡±, asked Shangguan Fa.


    Zhang Ji pointed to the westernmost part of the Xiaoyao Lake. It was the tiny Hui Kingdom. He traced a meandering path northwards, past the vast, sprawling desert until it reached the western border of Jade City, where it was not far from the camp of the Great Snowmountain. It was a treacherous route and would require nearly a month to traverse. ¡°I¡¯m wondering whether the Dragon King will take the risk to return to his camp by this path, instead of by how he came to the Stone Kingdom,¡± he said.


    Shangguan Fa was pleased to have the opportunity to make his own ns known to Zhang Ji. ¡°ve Huan thinks that his kung fu is peerless, but he doesn¡¯t know that there are other masters in this world with skills that are beyond his wildest imagination. Rest assured, Mister Zhang. There are eyes on him. If he returns from the south by where he came, Shangquan Vige will be his burial ground. If he advances westwards, he¡¯ll meet his end even sooner.¡±


    There was nothing left for Zhang Ji to worry about.


    More than a thousand kilometers away, Gu Shenwei was opening the kit brought by Shangguan Hong to him. There was only a note in it, and on it was written these few words: The Third Young Master has already be King of the Xiaowan Kingdom.

 Chapter 349 - Siblings

    Chapter 349: Siblings


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Even though the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s camp outside the capital of the Stone Kingdom seemed peaceful, everyone in it was on high alert. They kept their sabers with them at all times and even left them unsheathed and close by so that it would be easier to strike when the time came.


    The attendants who did not know kung fu were even more anxious and most of them went into hiding. They wished that the ground were softer so that they could dig a hole and hide in it. Everyone standing guard at their post was shaking terribly, so much so that it seemed no one would be able to hold a ss of water without spilling its contents out.


    Shangguan Fei was seating in his tent. Like the guards, he had drawn his saber, and like the attendants, he was trembling. He was forced to take extraordinary measures as things had gone way south for him and he was in the worst possible situation currently.


    He watched his remaining servants warily, secretly suspicious that everyone in the world wanted him dead.


    He had given the order to break camp and begin the journey back to Jade City upon his arrival back from the royal pce, but it was not carried out. Most of the people in the camp remained where they were; it was as if the Ninth Young Master was invisible and his words muted.


    He came to understand that his failure to be prince consort did not disrupt the Supreme King¡¯s plot to kill him and put the me on the Dragon King. He was well aware that the killers sent to this camp by his father were hiding somewhere nearby and waiting for the prime opportunity to strike.


    He was in a state of extreme fear but could still think clearly. He knew that it was pointless to flee, as many eyes were watching him. He was sure that the arrows woulde flying towards him even before he could escape from the camp.


    Perhaps, the only option avable to him could work out.


    He had already sent out his killers and was waiting for them toe back with good news.


    It was soonte night, the time when killers loved to roam.


    The p of his tent opened, and the figures who stepped in did not belong to those killers he had sent out. Even though they were dressed identically in ck and wore masks as well, he could tell them apart at a nce.


    There were a total of three of them, and they took up different positions around the young master, silently watching him. Shangguan Fei guessed that there were possibly more of them outside the tent.


    His servant crumpled to the floor as he hugged his head. He even began sobbing softly.


    Shangguan Fei forced himself to be strong and managed to squeeze out a stiff smile. ¡°So, you¡¯re moving against me now?¡± he asked.


    The masked figures did not reply. Killing one¡¯s master was inauspicious, even if the order came from the Supreme King. After a while, one of them spoke, ¡°Please make a trip with us, Ninth Young Master.¡±


    Shangguan Fei wanted to ask them where they were bringing him to but quickly came to understand where they would be going. <em>¡°Where else could they bring me? My body has to be found in the city for my death to be med on the Dragon King,¡±</em>he thought.


    ¡°I have a solution,¡± said Shangguan Fei. He felt that he could not maintain hisposure for much longer and had to speak his mind as soon as he could. ¡°You just wish to frame the Dragon King by falsely using him of killing someone from the Golden Roc Fort, don¡¯t you? There¡¯s an even better candidate than me to be the sacrificialmb¡ªmy sister.¡±


    ¡°Why would the Dragon King kill me? He¡¯s already be the princess¡¯ fiance, hasn¡¯t he? However, he has every reason to kill Shangguan Ru. He loves her and even had her soon-to-be husband murdered. Everyone knows that, so¡ª¡±


    He swept his gaze across the faces of the three killers. ¡°He tried to force himself on her and killed her by ident. Isn¡¯t it the perfect story? No one can point out a w in it, and the Golden Roc Fort can use it to stop the ceasefire as nned, thereby being able tounch an attack on the Great Snowmountain again,¡± he suggested.


    An eager look was stered all over his face, making him look like a child who had cleaned up his room on his own ord and who was excitedly telling his parents about his aplishment. However, the masked figures were not his parents, and they remained unmoved. Shangguan Fei grew a little anxious as he continued, ¡°There¡¯s no benefit to be gained from killing me; once the lordes to his senses, he¡¯ll regret it ande looking for those that killed me. Besides, my mother would never let my murderer off.¡±


    The three masked figures remained silent, but finally, they seemed to be convinced and retreated out of the tent.


    Shangguan Fei let out a breath of air heavily. He felt that his legs had be as soft as jelly and he needed to sit down.


    Another person came walking into his tent, and Shangguan Fei looked as if he had seen a ghost. He immediately stood up again, as if he had sat on a bed of pins. ¡°You¡­ what¡¯re you doing here?¡±, he asked.


    Shangguan Ru looked at her brother, a mixture of pity, disappointment, anger, doubt and detachment, feelings which she could not exin, churning within her heart. ¡°You don¡¯t even have the courage to kill me yourself, do you?¡± she questioned.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s first reaction was denial, but could not find his tongue just as his mouth was open halfway. The three masked figures were not his executioners and possibly were not even killers. To begin with, it was a ploy by his sister to get him to speak.


    He was ashamed and angry at the same time. He stared at his sister for a while before sobbing just like the ve paralyzed on the floor. ¡°I¡¯ve no choice, little sister. I¡¯ve no choice. I¡¯m afraid, too afraid. I don¡¯t understand why Father would want to kill me. Forgive me! Besides, it was not my idea to kill you. It was Mother. Yes, her. She requested for you to follow me. She didn¡¯t say it explicitly, but¡­¡±


    Shangguan Ru did not need her brother to exin in detail. After receiving the Dragon King¡¯s warning, she understood the entire conspiracy; she sent people to test her brother because she wanted to hear his confession at first hand.


    Other than their mother, no one else could force her toe to the Stone Kingdom. In truth, she could not help her brother in any manner in his quest to be the prince consort; her only usefulness was that she could take her brother¡¯s ce as the sacrificialmb.


    This was the reality of life in the Stone Castle¡ªsiblings would kill each other and the sole survivor would take over the mantle of the Supreme King. She had seen through all of it a long time ago, but when this harsh reality was to be applied to her own life, she still could not help but feel a heart-wrenching pain inside.


    ¡°Do you think that Father would let you off just by acting in this way?¡± she asked softly. She felt her own hatred for her brother slowly dissipating; he was the weakling of the fort, and everything he did was nearly never of his own ord.


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know,¡± said Shangguan Fei nkly; he had stopped crying. He never dared to consider this possibility. ¡°Mother¡­ she would save me.¡±


    ¡°If she had the ability to save you, she would not have risked sending you here in the first ce. Don¡¯t you get it? She¡¯s lost the favor of our father, and she no longer has the right to speak to him.¡±


    Shangguan Fei shook his head violently, unwilling to admit this obvious truth. ¡°Never, never, Mother would never lose the favor of Father, he likes her so much¡­¡±


    His voice diminished until it almost disappeared. He was extremely clear that in the Stone Castle, nothing was forever, other than the stones.


    ¡°What should we do now?¡± Shangguan Fei asked. It was like when they were young, and he would blurt out the question to his sister without thinking.


    ¡°Escape,¡± Shangguan Ru replied. She wasposed in front of her brother; it was pointless to be grieving or angry. He was of the same blood as her, and even if he was a scheming brother, she had to save him.


    ¡°How can we escape? Father¡¯s killers are lying in wait outside,¡± he replied. He regretteding back to the camp, but knew that it was equally unsafe to remain in the capital; after all, it had already be the territory of the Dragon King.


    Someone outside the tent said softly, ¡°We can make a move now, Tenth Young Master.¡±


    Shangguan Ru turned and left the tent. Shangguan Fei hesitated for a while before following suit, and he turned to look at the trembling servant still lying on the floor when he reached the entrance of the tent. ¡°You can leave with me,¡± he said.


    The servant remained trembling and did not reply. He seemed to have been shocked out of his senses and did not even lift his head up. Shangguan Fei did not pay any heed to him again.


    The chilly wind blowing outside the tent was starting to turn warm, and the endless night sky was filled with countless stars. Shangguan Fei could not help but shiver a little and followed closely behind his sister. He disliked darkness, especially when it was pitch ck.


    The three masked figures bowed to Shangguan Ru as a show of respect and retreated backward. Soon, they had disappeared amongst the tents.


    ¡°Why have they left?¡±, Shangguan Fei asked in a trembling voice. He wished to have as many people with him as possible at this juncture.


    ¡°They¡¯re killers, and cannot leave with traitors against the lord.¡±


    ¡°I still have killers, they¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei suddenly remembered that he had sent his killers to assassinate his sister, but they had never returned.


    ¡°They could not find their target and have decided to not get involved any further in this matter. They¡¯re nevering back to see you,¡± she replied.


    Shangguan Fei had spent much effort in stirring up some courage within himself, but it was gone with the wind now. He had thought that his sister had some cunning n up her sleeve, but it turned out to be just for the two of them to bash their way out of the camp. He wanted to return to his tent, where there was light. At least, if he was there, he could temporarily distance himself from the darkness outside.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, follow my lead,¡± Shangguan Ru said as she drew her weapon from its scabbard. It turned out to be a wooden saber.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s faith in his sister was diminishing by the seconds; she could not even bring herself to kill. However, his feet moved of their own ord, and they gradually brought him further away from the brightly lit tent.


    <em>¡°Rather than feeling afraid myself, why not entrust my life to someone stronger,¡± </em>he thought. It was this thought that made him cast away all his doubts and follow closely behind his sister.


    Shangguan Ru was not sneaking out, but walking boldly and openly out of the camp.


    No one came to stop them; it was as if everyone in the camp had gone missing all of a sudden.


    Despite that, Shangguan Fei did not feel secure at all. He knew that many murderous killers were waiting for him in the dark.


    When they were a few dozen steps away from the gate of the camp, his nightmare came true.


    A few ck figures dashed out from behind their tents and came rushing at the siblings from various directions.


    Shangguan Ru struck her saber at her opponents. She made a sudden change of direction just as she began moving, and her saber hit the shoulder of the opponent on her left. Even though it did not have much killing power, it still knocked her opponent away.


    Her feet did not stop moving, as she leaped around the tents. It was as if she was ying in the Stone Castle when she was young. Her lightness skills were top notch and she made frequent changes in direction, but Shangguan Fei managed to keep up. In a bid to ensure his own survival, he had stimted all of his hidden potential in lightness skills.


    Shangguan Ru did not seem to have a well-defined escape route and seemed to be probing different spots of the camp. Shangguan Fei soon caught on to her; she wanted to flush out all of the hidden killers.


    Not everyone in the camp had received orders to kill the twins; less than 20 killers were trying to hem them in. The others remained hidden in their tents, contented to watch how things would unfold.


    The killers chased closely after the twins, and after circling twice around the camp, there was finally a breach in their ranks. The siblings took their chance and rushed out of the camp.


    Shangguan Ru had already prepared two good horses beforehand, and the twins leaped onto their mount and spurred them into a gallop.


    The killers behind them were still chasing after them but did not seem to be putting too much effort into it. Shangguan Fei suddenly realized that they were riding towards the capital of the Stone Kingdom.


    ¡°We cannot enter the city,¡± shouted Shangguan Fei. He dared not reduce speed for fear of losing his sister. ¡°It¡¯s exactly what Father wants; for us to die near the Dragon King.¡±


    Shangguan Ru did not reply, but she knew very clearly that under such circumstances, the Dragon King was very possibly the only person who did not want the twins dead.


    As they neared the capital, its gate was suddenly flung open, but it was not to wee the twins.


    A column of people came riding quickly out of the gate, and its leader was the Dragon King himself.


    Neither of the siblings knew that their Third Brother had already be the prince consort of the Xiaowan Kingdom and that in reality, a war had already begun between the Golden Roc Fort and the Great Snowmountain.

 Chapter 350 - Secret

    <h3 id="chapter350secret">Chapter 350: Secret<h6 id="trantortransneditortransn-2"><strong>Trantor:</strong> Transn <strong>Editor:</strong> Transn</h6>


    Arge-scale riot of unknown cause broke out in the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s campte in the night. The shoutingsted for about two hours, and the citizens in the surrounding area could hear them clearly, but none of them dared to venture forth to witness themotion that night.


    Early on the next morning, some curious citizens finally plucked up their courage and headed for the campsite, hoping to find out what had happenedst night. However, they only found it deserted when they arrived there. Dozens of corpses were left behind, and they all belonged to defenseless ves in the camp.


    The killers and machetemen had broken camp in a haste and left behind arge number of valuable items, to the benefit of the local good-for-nothings. Very soon, citizens from the surrounding area, regardless of age or gender, were hurrying over to get their share of the spoils. When the soldiers from the city arrived at the scene, even most of the corpses had been stripped of their clothing.


    Most people heard a whisper that it was the Dragon King who had killed the children of the Supreme King and sparked the panic within the campst night, but another rumor had it that it was the killers of the Golden Roc Fort who had secretly executed their own young master and killed their ves to conceal the truth.


    No matter what it was, everyone believed the Shangguan twins to be dead by now, and that the Great Snowmountain and the Golden Roc Fort had renewed their war with each other. As for the Stone Kingdom, now it had no choice but to join the side of the Great Snowmountain.


    In fact, both the twins and Shangguan Hong were still very much alive and hiding in the city. Gu Shenwei was still undecided on how to handle them; there had been too many unexpected identstely which disrupted his ns.


    The first surprise for him was Zhang Ji. He racked his brain but still failed to figure out how did the tutor, who had obscured his talents for so many years in the fort, get to take part in such a secretive mission and even set him up.


    The second person who surprised him was the Third Young Master, Shangguan Yun. Thest time Gu Shenwei had met him, he was imprisoned in the dungeon, and even attempted to take his father¡¯s life. <em>¡°Why had his fortunes reversed all of a sudden, and why was he the only child still favored by the Supreme King? He was even representing the Golden Roc Fort in the Xiaowan Kingdom,¡±</em> Gu Shenwei thought perplexedly.


    The note from Zhang Ji, which had been passed to him via Shangguan Hong, had already given an obvious hint that no matter how the Dragon King handled the twins, the Golden Roc Fort woulde up with an excuse to renew its war with the Great Snowmountain. As such, his best option was still to kill the three siblings to fulfill his vow of revenge against the entire Shangguan Family.


    His hatred was thus being used against him.


    Even though it was a critical moment for him, Gu Shenwei still decided to use some of his precious time on a visit to Nengjue Temple. He wanted to pay Master Fayan a visit; he did not like the monk, but he needed the monk¡¯s advice. He wanted to have a clear picture of how big the ambition of the Supreme King actually was.


    ¡°I¡¯m extremely grateful for your returning of the personnel file, Dragon King,¡± said Fayan. He knew nothing about the happenings of the past two days, and his expression was still as sorrowful as before.


    Gu Shenwei had just paid a heavy price for underestimating his opponent, and did not want to make the same mistake again. Therefore his attitude toward the monk had be extremely sincere now. ¡°The personnel file belongs to this fine temple, and it¡¯s only right for it to return to its original owner,¡± he said.


    Fayan nodded with a smile on his face but did not reply; Gu Shenwei remained silent as well. They faced each other in this manner for about 30 minutes before the monk finally broke the silence. The monk somehow knew what Gu Shenwei wanted to know without evening talking to him and exined explicitly, ¡°There are two mountain passes outside Jade City. The one in the west leads to Shu-lik, and the other one in the south to the Xiaoyao Lake. Once the Golden Roc Fort captures these two ces, half of the territories in Western Region will belong to the Shangguan family. With such arge piece ofnd, the Golden Roc Fort will rise to be a power worthy ofparison with the other big nations.¡±


    Finally, he could sort through the mess of thoughts in his mind and fish out some leads from them. He had made a mistake which nearly no one could have avoided: that of overconfidence. He had thought of himself as the biggest opponent of his enemy.


    When in fact, to both Zhang Ji and the Supreme King, he was just a killer who did not know his ce and who was causing a nuisance far away from the heart of the Golden Roc Fort. Shangguan Fa¡¯s reaction had been weak thus far because he had greater ambitions in mind and was not willing to reveal his true strength at such an early stage.


    Gu Shenwei had always thought of the Golden Roc Fort as a huge, immovable force, but it was, in fact, more like a sleeping beast; although frequently caught napping, it would not be willing to be continually attacked without fighting back, and when it did, it could easily tear the instigator to shreds.


    As Gu Shenwei was getting ready to take his leave, Fayan said, ¡°I hope that you can bring thatdy over for a visit before you leave, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei bowed and acknowledged the monk¡¯s request before walking into the royal pce directly from a side gate of Nengjue Temple.


    The three Shangguan siblings were facing each other silently in an isted room; they had not spoken to each other since meeting.


    Gu Shenwei faced them as he spoke, ¡°I want to bring all three of you back to Jade City. Since everyone says that I¡¯ve killed you, I want to show them that all of you are alive.¡±


    Shangguan Ru cast her gaze sideways and her twin brother let out a sigh of relief slowly. Only Shangguan Hong replied, ¡°What¡¯s the point? I estimate that most of the people from the Great Snowmountain would already be dead by the time we arrive back at Jade City. If you¡¯re asking me, why not let¡¯s do it this way: let me go, and I shall sneak back and tell everyone there the truth. This might still allow us to salvage the situation.¡±


    Shangguan Hong was still under the impression that Zhang Ji wanted him to pass the kit to the Dragon King as the tutor had some cunning n to save him. As such, he preferred not to be seen working together with the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei looked at Master Hong, who waspletely unaware that he was being made use of. He despised Shangguan Hong¡¯s foolishness and yet could empathize with him at the same time. ¡°You¡¯re just like the two of them: wanted by the Supreme King. If I let you go, you¡¯ll be killed even before walking out of the desert.¡±


    Shangguan Hongughed drily and did not really believe the Dragon King¡¯s words. ¡°I¡¯m just a scapegoat. If the Ninth Young Master survives, I¡¯ll be targeted, but if everyone believes him to be dead, naturally I would be fine. The Lord has no reason to kill me now, and he may not even know that I¡¯m still alive.¡±


    ¡°Have you divulged <em>that</em> secret to Zhang Ji?¡±


    The expression of Shangguan Hong changed as Gu Shenwei¡¯s question took him by surprise. He quickly nced at the twins before replying, ¡°What¡¯re we talking about this for? Er, Zhang Ji¡­ he knows everything; nobody can fool him.¡±


    ¡°In this way, the Supreme King knows about it too. And it¡¯s because of this secret that he wants all of you dead.¡±


    Shangguan Hong was agape with shock. He did not understand the intentions of the Dragon King. ¡°Impossible, impossible, how could Zhang Ji even get an audience with the lord?¡±, he asked.


    Comparably, the twins were in even greater shock, especially Shangguan Fei. He still could not figure out why his father intended to kill him, and could not think of any other reason other than his own cowardice, nor did he dare to ask. He leaped up from his seat the moment he heard that it could be linked to Shangguan Hong. ¡°It¡¯s you! What secret is it? Why? You¡¯ve offended Father, haven¡¯t you? But how could it have links to me?¡± he questioned.


    Shangguan Hong had no counter for Shangguan Fei¡¯s continuous stream of questions and hurriedly waved his hand, replying, ¡°Don¡¯t spout nonsense, the Dragon King¡¯s¡­ trying to drive a wedge between us. Don¡¯t believe him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to drive a wedge between you three?¡±, Gu Shenwei countered coldly. He took out the note from Zhang Ji and showed it to the three Shangguan siblings.


    ¡°Third Brother?¡± Shangguan Ru asked. She was confused; when they had set off from Jade City, Shangguan Yun was still imprisoned in the dungeon, and there were no signs of any impending release for him.


    ¡°The Xiaowan Kingdom?¡± Shangguan Fei was even more bewildered than his sister. ¡°When did Father take an interest in the Xiaowan Kingdom?¡±, he continued asking.


    ¡°Third Young Master? Zhang Ji¡­¡±, Shangguan Hong said, particrly unable to fathom the tutor¡¯s intentions.


    Gu Shenwei had no other direct evidence besides the note, but he could already deduce most of the conspiracy from the factsid out in front of him. ¡°This is Zhang Ji¡¯s cunning plot, the person he really hopes to assist is Shangguan Yun; supporting Shangguan Hong was just a way of getting Shangguan Yun out of the dungeon, am I right?¡±


    The twins knew nothing about this and did not even understand what the Dragon King meant by saying Zhang Ji had ¡®supported¡¯ Shangguan Hong. As such, they turned to their half-brother, who was turning paler by the minute.


    ¡°Yes¡­ yes, but Zhang Ji said that only by releasing Shangguan Yun¡­ would the various powers in the fort bnce out and that this would be beneficial to me. How could it¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei flew into a rage and rushed up to Shangguan Hong, saying, ¡°So you¡¯ve been harboring a plot all this while. How could I not have seen through it? To think that I even treated you as a confidant!¡±


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s face turned from pale white to peach red as he stood up as well. ¡°Confidant? I¡¯m your elder brother, not your most trusted ve from the Stone Castle!¡± he eximed.


    Both of them stared angrily at each other, seemingly about toe to blows at any instant. Gu Shenwei had to forcibly suppress his urge to kill both of them as he mocked coldly , ¡°Don¡¯t be hasty. When the Supreme King hears the news that any of you are still alive, he¡¯ll send killers after you three.¡±


    Upon hearing that, the two half-brothers returned to their respective seats, still angry with each other. Shangguan Fei continued to question his elder half-brother in the tone of a master addressing his ve, ¡°Speak, what secret does Zhang Ji tell to our father? Why did it cause Father to be so angry that he would want even me and my sister dead?¡±


    Shangguan Hong turned his head away and his lips remained tightly sealed. His face, though, was as red as when he spoke to Shangguan Fei earlier.


    ¡°Stop asking,¡± interrupted Shangguan Ru. She had been living in the Inner Residence and could roughly guess what Shangguan Hong¡¯s ¡®secret¡¯ was. ¡°The end result will be the same even if we know what it is,¡± she continued.


    ¡°No. I want to know what it is,¡± replied Shangguan Fei. Even though he was cowardly, he was not afraid of Shangguan Hong and was determined to find out the truth.


    Shangguan Hong continued ignoring him and turned to the Dragon King, ¡°Did Zhang Ji really divulge the secret to the Lord?¡±


    ¡°Think about it. First, he made use of you and Lady Meng to get Shangguan Yun out. Next, he would have to get rid of potential challengers for Shangguan Yun, and what better way to do that than leverage on your secret? You should have understood this the moment you knew the Supreme King wanted all three of you dead.¡±


    Shangguan Hong grew even redder. It was not that he did not have his suspicions, but he could not believe that Zhang Ji could have betrayed him. Now that it was already a fact that the Third Young Master had be the Prince Consort of Xiaowan Kingdom and obviously the heir apparent of the Supreme King, what further use could he, an illegitimate son, be of?


    ¡°How could this be?¡±, said Shangguan Hong, irritated. He was restless and tried to speak a few times but ended up holding himself back. ¡°Is there a need to tell them?¡± he finally asked.


    ¡°What secret is it exactly?¡±, Shangguan Fei asked. He was close to flying into a violent rage, which was something rare for him.


    ¡°They¡¯ll get to know it sooner orter. Since all of you are on the same boat now, it¡¯s best to be honest with each other,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Then you¡­ you tell them since you know everything,¡± replied Shangguan Hong as he hung his head. He had still not recovered from the blow of Zhang Ji¡¯s betrayal.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s expression had turned somber and once had wanted to leave before returning to her seat again. She hung her head as well.


    Only Shangguan Fei was waiting impatiently for the Dragon King to divulge the secret. Most importantly, he wanted to know whether there was any way to salvage his diminished reputation in the eyes of his father.


    ¡°Shangguan Hong had an affair with Lady Meng,¡± said Gu Shenwei bluntly. He had known about this secret long ago but did not expect for it to be a deadly weapon in Zhang Ji¡¯s hands.


    ¡°In the past, the deadliest weapon was a counselor,¡± recalled Gu Shenwei as he thought about his previous discussions with the tutor. Now, this old but deadly weapon was about to be ¡®unsheathed¡¯ again.


    Shangguan Fei was stunned. He did not seem to understand the Dragon King¡¯s words and furrowed his eyebrows together like a confused student trying hard to process new information.


    He turned his head and carefully took a measure of the uneasy and bashful Shangguan Hong. Suddenly, he drew his saber and rushed toward his elder half-brother with only murder on his mind. His speed was so great that not only was Shangguan Hong unable to counter, even Gu Shenwei felt that it was hard for him to interfere.

 Chapter 351 - Hesitation

    Chapter 351: Hesitation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Hong had never understood how things actually happened, but he insisted that he had no fault in it.


    Zhang Ji made him do whatever he could to please Lady Meng, but he never did say that Shangguan Hong must throw himself at her, and he definitely did not harbor such thoughts as well. To him, Lady Meng was akin to the Lord himself, and his impression of them was only fear and pressure.


    However, after thinking about it carefully, Shangguan Hong realized that he had some unique advantages indeed.


    First of all, there was not a lot of men in the Inner Residence as most of them were either handymen or killers. Because of this, Shangguan Hong was above them all due to the fact that he carried the surname of Shangguan and shared the same blood as Supreme King.


    Moreover, he had always stayed near Lady Meng¡¯s residence and would pay his respects two times a day like how servants do. Then, he would wait patiently and try to seize any opportunity to please and tter Lady Meng shamelessly.


    Perhaps he outdid himself on his ability to please people, Shangguan Hong sometimes thought. However, the reason Lady Meng chose him seemed to be rted to the Supreme King as well.


    Lady Meng was extremely furious about the affair between the Supreme King and Luo Ningcha. She had even shed tears over it several times. It was during then when Shangguan Hong noticed that Lady Meng¡¯s attitude towards him had changed. She would nce more often at him, and there was some kind of obvious scrutinying from her gaze.


    ¡°How is it that he has so many women yet his appetite can¡¯t be satisfied?¡± Lady Meng onceined in front of Shangguan Hong. ¡°Why must he go to that woman of all people? That¡¯s his daughter-inw! Isn¡¯t he ashamed at all? Must everybody be like pigs in this castle in order to live well?¡±


    Shangguan Hong was terrified and did not dare to answer as he knelt on the ground. He did not tell Zhang Ji what Lady Meng had said, for fear that he would be embroiled in a brutal family feud.


    In the following year, Shangguan Hong managed to gain more trust from Lady Meng and began to run errands for her. During this time, he also had more frequent contact with her as well.


    Suddenly on one night, it all unfolded.


    Shangguan Hong had no choice. He was too terrified at that time, and his whole body was limp. However, to his great surprise, only theher region was erected.


    Naturally, after the first time came the second, and the third time soon followed¡­


    Shangguan Hong became a toy and a confidant of Lady Meng. He knew the Supreme King had a change in temperament and started to not give in to temptations of women and lust from Lady Meng¡¯s mouth. He was also taking back his authority from Lady Meng bit by bit.


    Shangguan Hong kept this secret hidden for a long time and did not mention a thing to anybody, as Lady Meng also demanded silence on this issue. She told him directly without hinting, and said, ¡°If any of this leaks, be prepared to jump down straight from the Reincarnation Cliff with your mother.¡±


    But he could not help himself. Like an inted balloon, the secret was taking over his mind and it would explode sooner orter if he did not release it.


    Therefore, Shangguan Hong revealed everything to the only person he trusted.


    Zhang Ji¡¯s reaction at that time did not seem like a counselor who harbored ulterior motives. He merely sneered, neither praising nor objecting and never spoke of the matter again. But he did request Shangguan Hong to carefully bring up the topic of Third Young Master in front of Lady Meng.


    Zhang Ji managed to instill an idea to Lady Meng through Shangguan Hong¡¯s mouth: Supreme King hoped to bnce the several influences within the Stone Castle and did not like it when someone controls most of the authority, therefore Lady Meng should take the initiative and create a ¡°rival¡± that she could control.


    The Second Young Master was still alive back then, but he was known for being herckey, so the best candidate for this ¡°rival¡± should be the Third Young Master.


    He was kept imprisoned in the dungeons for years and therefore had no foundation in the castle, plus he had always been at odds with his father, all these were some of his ¡°advantages¡± so to speak.


    It was a mission that was carried out step by step and Zhang Ji was never in a rush. Shangguan Hong spent half a year to finally convince Lady Meng and she took almost as long to let the Supreme King recall that he still had a son who was imprisoned. A defiant but promising son.


    Then the matter was dropped, Zhang Ji no longer urged about it, the affair between Shangguan Hong and Lady Meng slowly lost interest as well, while Third Young Master continued to be imprisoned, suffering the fate of being forgotten once again.


    Shangguan Hong did not realize then that Third Young Master was an important figure when he went to Shu-likst year and was forced to divulge the secret to Dragon King.


    When Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong were captured in Golden Roc Fort, Shangguan Hong was immediately suspected once Dragon King imed that he was aware of Lady Meng¡¯s secret. But Lady Meng did not act on it right away and only waited until Shangguan Fei came to the Stone Kingdom to seek a marriage. It was only then that she sent Shangguan Hong to follow her son along.


    Zhang Ji told him, ¡°Lady Meng is going to kill you, and she will most likely make use of Dragon King¡¯s saber to do so. Heed my words and you might be able to return to Jade City alive.¡±


    Zhang Ji then passed Shangguan Hong a kit and asked him to hand it to Dragon King only after the Stone Kingdom had chosen their prince consort. He also told Shangguan Hong that he should never peek into the kit and that Dragon King cannot know about this until everything was settled. ¡°Whether or not you can survive depends on your determination to hold on until the end.¡±


    Shangguan Hong managed to persist until the end, but he would never have imagined that his ¡°teacher¡± of so many years would actually sell him out to Dragon King as a ¡°gift¡±.


    This was the most disappointing and saddest thing to him. Dragon King¡¯s saber was of no importancepared to this betrayal. ¡°I trusted him so much¡­¡±


    That moment, the four of them faced each other awkwardly in the room.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s lips were drawn into a thin line. Her world had not stopped crushing down on her. One by one, her subordinates, friends, brother, and parents revealing their true colors only served to make her even stronger.


    Shangguan Fei tried to strike a blow but was blocked by Dragon King. Throwing his saber away, he held his head and muttered to himself, ¡°How is this possible?¡±


    He finally understood that his father was resolute in his intention to kill. Both his sister and him were pampered because of their mother and naturally would fall from grace along with their mother. He was filled with resentment and hated all of them ¨C Shangguan Hong, his mother, his father, his sister, and Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei was the only one who maintained a calm expression out of the four of them, yet he was uncertain as well. This small group of people harbored hatred for one another, but was it possible for them to be bound by amon hatred for the enemy?


    However, he believed that it was better to divulge the secret voluntarily rather than exposing it unintentionally in the future.


    ¡°Think about your future way out,¡± Gu Shenwei decided to give the three of them some time to think things through. ¡°You cannot hide here forever, Supreme King will know the truth sooner orter. Then he will send someone to kill you when that timees.¡±


    Shangguan Hong followed Gu Shenwei as he left the room, thest thing that he wanted was to remain in the same room with the twins.


    After settling Shangguan Hong, Gu Shenwei sent someone to summon Zhong Heng.


    Maid Lotus appeared before Zhong Heng arrived, she was always nearby him and heard everything about the scandal of the Shangguan family, she said, ¡°You need to think carefully, all of them carried the Shangguan surname.¡±


    Maid Lotus seldom gave suggestions unless Gu Shenwei asked. But this time, she felt very uneasy about Dragon King¡¯s decision.


    Gu Shenwei did not think that Maid Lotus was meddling in his business because even he himself had not made up his mindpletely on this issue, ¡°Both the Supreme King and Zhang Ji made a mistake. They are ustomed to how Golden Roc Fort handles matters, and don¡¯t think much about killing their own children. But that is not the case for others, normal people will not kill their children. I want to keep the three of them to show the ugliest side of the Supreme King to the world.¡±


    These words were more for himself instead. <em>Perhaps the military counselor could understand my intentions, </em>Gu Shenwei thought to himself. Fang Wenshi had always told Dragon King to be someone who waspletely opposite of Supreme King.


    As expected, Maid Lotus was impassive, it seems like she did not really understand his intentions. She was also a killer cultivated by Golden Roc Fort, and New Moon Hall¡¯s principles would only serve to reinforce it further. She felt that Golden Roc Fort¡¯s style of handling things was already widely known by people, it was also why they could stand firmly in the Western Region for so many years, therefore it was not necessary to prove it to the world.


    However, she did not voice out her views on the matter. Since Dragon King had already decided, she would not oppose it. Although she believed that Shangguan Ru was the real reason that he showed mercy.


    Maid Lotus hid again when Zhong Heng arrived.


    Now that Zhong Heng was the Prime Minister of the Stone Kingdom, he was entitled to share the royal seal together with the King. But his position was very unstable, it was still shaky and could be snatched away at any time.


    Hence, he could only rely on Dragon King.


    To Gu Shenwei¡¯s relief, Zhong Heng was very supportive of his decision, ¡°Everybody knows that the Golden Roc Fort is unscrupulous and stops at nothing, but few people have experienced it personally. This can be an opportunity to let everyone know that the Supreme King will kill his own children just for some personal gain.¡±


    However, this could only be carried out in Jade City. Only there could the humiliation cause the greatest harm toward the Supreme King.


    Moreover, both of them agreed that the thousands of troops from the Great Snowmountain must be relocated to the Stone Kingdom.


    The western border of Jade City was narrow, and with Shu-lik at the back made it unreliable, the Great Snowmountain couldn¡¯t hold on for long. Entering the Stone Kingdom for them, however, would give them the strength needed to unify the Xiaoyao Lake and secure a strong base.


    ¡°We need to act fast.¡± Zhong Heng brought over a map andid it on the table as he and Dragon King studied it. ¡°I am afraid the Golden Roc Fort had already dered war with the Great Snowmountain. You would need to bring them out of there before they are all wiped out, Dragon King.¡±


    This was precisely what Gu Shenwei was most anxious about. Every minute spent in the Stone Kingdom was a waste of his time, but he had to work out a detailed and meticulous n. He had already walked right into the enemy¡¯s trap and could not allow himself to be led further by their intentions, that would only make him sink deeper into their trap.


    ¡°There are two routes to go back to Jade City and the Great Snowmountain camp.¡± Gu Shenwei had thought about it for a long time but was not able to reach a final decision. ¡°We can head towards the north and take the original route back to Shuangquan Vige, before turning west all the way. That will take about half a month¡¯s journey to reach Jade City. We can also ride faster to cut the timing shorter. Or we can just head towards the west straightaway and pass through the Kang, the Sha, and the Hui Kingdoms, before going towards the north and cross the desert. Here, we can reach the Great Snowmountain camp first.¡±


    ¡°The first route is very dangerous. Golden Roc Fort must have already set traps to intercept you, Dragon King. But the second route will be a hard traverse, and the journey time might be twice as long.¡±


    This was exactly what Gu Shenwei was hesitating about, ¡°Perhaps I can sneak around the traps if I don¡¯t bring along any attendants.¡±


    Zhong Heng propped his chin and thought for a moment, ¡°I think you should still bring along the three Shangguan siblings. Their roles can probably do more than just letting the Supreme King make a fool of himself.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pointed to the second route, ¡°Then this is the only choice. Perhaps bringing more horses can save some time.¡±


    ¡°Be careful.¡± Zhong Heng agreed with Dragon King, but he felt the need to remind him, ¡°All the people of the Shangguan family are wolf cubs and will bite back their savior at any time.¡±

 Chapter 352 - Set Out

    <span>Chapter 352: Set Out


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The sentry at the border of the Stone Kingdom brought back bad news: The allied forces of the four kingdoms led by the Kang Kingdom were headed toward the capital with a total of 2000 troops.


    The residents of Stone Kingdom had not yet recovered from the coup and were now made to live in fear of their kingdom¡¯s demise. The capital was never big to begin with, and it quickly became crowded with residents from the outer cities moving in.


    The situation was very serious as Stone Kingdom only had less than 500 men in its standing army, some of them were even hired from Golden Roc Fort. Moreover, many of them deserted after Dragon King was announced as the prince consort, leaving less than 400 men in the army.


    The bandits who had been subdued by Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus in the desert, along with a few others who had rushed over upon hearing the news, amounted to less than 200 men.


    Taking into ount the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain and the guards from the royal pce, the number of soldiers that Stone Kingdom could use barely reached 600 men.


    The King was even more terrified than his own people and hadpletely lost all will to resist. All he ever did was to kneel in front of the ancestors¡¯ tablets, repenting from day to night,ining about his bad luck and pushing all me to others.


    Zhong Heng personally took the royal seal from the King and began issuing orders to prepare the kingdom¡¯s defenses.


    Gu Shenwei gathered the three members of the Shangguan family and told them what he thought, ¡°I am returning to Jade City to save the Great Snowmountain troops. At the same time, I want to prove that the children of Supreme King did not die in my hands.¡±


    All of them remained impassive. Gu Shenwei paused before continuing, ¡°You have two choices. One, stay at Stone Kingdom and wait for the news to leak, the killers wille knocking at your the door. Or two,e with me.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was the first to speak. She had been lukewarm towards him ever since they had met again. Her tone was businesslike and impersonal as if it was a formal negotiation. ¡°You are going to use us to disgrace Supreme King and make Golden Roc Fort lose moral support.¡±


    She referred to him as ¡°Supreme King¡± rather than ¡°father¡±. This was a good sign for Gu Shenwei, so he admitted frankly, ¡°That¡¯s right. That is why I won¡¯t kill you. You are still of use here.¡±


    Shangguan Ru did not utter another word and kept her gaze down as if everything was insignificant to her.


    Shangguan Fei secretly sighed with relief. He was safe as long as he could still be useful to others. He said, ¡°I wille with you. However, you need to protect¡­ us.¡±


    He had thought it through and realized that Stone Kingdom¡¯s capital was currently in peril, therefore it was better to go with Dragon King rather than stay here.


    Shangguan Hong did not think for very long as he was only preupied with one thing, ¡°I cane with you but¡­ the two of them need to promise that they will not assassinate me.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± Shangguan Fei said, gritting his teeth.


    Shangguan Hong immediately realized that there was a loophole in his words, so he added, ¡°You cannot kill me in the open either, and you have to promise that you won¡¯t try to kill me in any way.¡±


    ¡°I promise.¡± Shangguan Fei squeezed out these words from his throat, but his gaze was void of tolerance.


    Shangguan Hong was more than familiar with the credibility of these ¡°promises¡± made by the Shangguan family, but it was all he could ask for. Either way, he made up his mind to stay with Dragon King at all times from now on.


    Everyone¡¯s eyes rested on Shangguan Ru as she still had not made a clear decision.


    ¡°I will leave the Stone Kingdom with you, but not necessarily back to Jade City.¡±


    She did not know where she really wanted to go. Stone Castle was no longer her home, and Jade City disgusted her, but Stone Kingdom was a foreignnd to her, she had nowhere else to go.


    It was settled then.


    Gu Shenwei decided to leave that night. Lin Xiaoshan and over 20 swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain would remain in the Stone Kingdom and act as Prime Minister Zhong Heng¡¯s bodyguards. The 200 bandits who had been forced into submission were also handed over to him. In this way, he would possess an independent army and this could help drive Stone Kingdom¡¯s troops to fight.


    Xu Yanwei, Guan Shang and Jiang remained with the Princess at the royal pce.


    Gu Shenwei brought along Maid Lotus, the three Shangguan siblings and five bandits including He Sancai. He put together 10 people and prepared 20 steeds.


    Xu Yanwei came to send them off. Seeing Miss Ru and Dragon King together again made her very happy. At the same time, she did not forget about the Princess in the pce. To her, it was normal for Dragon King to have many wives and concubines.


    ¡°You should visit the Princess before you leave, Dragon King. You are the prince consort now, but you haven¡¯t even met her once.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll talk about it when I¡¯m back.¡± Gu Shenwei replied. He was not in the mood to see the Princess and had in fact, almost forgotten about her.


    Xu Yanwei sighed silently. She felt that the women who were involved with Dragon King would never be happy, and she was fortunate that she had not slept with him at that time.


    At dusk, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus went to Nengjue Temple to pay respects to Master Fayan as promised.


    The monks from the Four Truths Temple were all packed up and ready to leave the kingdom the next morning. They would return by the original route since they would not have to worry about traps.


    Fayan promised that he would exin the truth to the chief of the Four Truths Temple. ¡°Old monk is grateful that Dragon King did not start a killing frenzy in the Stone Kingdom. Please ept my humble gift.¡±


    Each of them received a small package wrapped in cloth. Once they left the temple, they unwrapped the cloth to find a booklet inside.


    The copied text in the booklet was still fresh, as if the writing had just beenpleted. The title was: Sumeru Mustard Mantra.


    Fayan had refused to make a deal with Dragon King because he had long decided to give them the precious mantra that would help them with their Internal Strength.


    The old monk was truly a strange person. Gu Shenwei was able to guess his thoughts but he was unable to understand him. This set of Internal Strength had to be a unique and important skill to the Four Truths Temple, yet he had given it away just like that, especially to people who were known as devils to the world.


    However, their confusion and gratitude soon vanished. First of all, the text was extremely esoteric and was mixed with a great amount of transliteration from Sanskrit. Both of them could barely understand it, and they suspected that this could be another variation of the Breaking Obsession. Perhaps the old monk was trying to use this to make them remove their killing desire. Secondly, each of them had only received half of the mantra. Gu Shenwei had the first volume, and Maid Lotus had the second.


    What was the monk¡¯s real intention? Was he trying to sow discord? They could not understand and did not want to think too much about it. Maid Lotus gave her volume to Gu Shenwei, ¡°You hold onto it for now since we won¡¯t have time to practice it for a while.¡±


    Maid Lotus was probably sincere about it, but Gu Shenwei was also aware of her interest in this divine kung fu. He did not take her volume, but instead proposed another idea, ¡°Let¡¯s hide it together, and we can take it out again once we return to Stone Kingdom.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Maid Lotus said tly.


    It was these kinds of small matters which made them realize that they were being too polite to one another. Both of them had been acting carefully so as to not let the other be suspicious.


    Perhaps this was Fayan¡¯s intention.


    At midnight, when the sky was the darkest, the group of 10 people quietly left Stone Kingdom¡¯s capital.


    Within the group, the bandit Zheng Tai, known as ¡°Sand Devil¡±, was leading the group. The five kingdoms of Xiaoyao Lake were his territory and he knew his way around well. They did not take the main road but went toward the south for a few miles, before heading west, following the shore of theke closely.


    Xiaoyao Lake was quite big and extended onto a vast territory. Dark mountains could be seen looming from the other bank as the sound of the waves washing on the shore matched the hoofbeats of the galloping horses.


    The 10 of them traveled all night and rested for a little while before continuing their journey again. By the time it grew dark again, they could see the troops of the Kang Kingdom from a distance.


    Gu Shenwei could have snuck into the military camp during the night and assassinated a few high-ranking military officers but he did not want to waste any time, so he made a detour and entered the territory of Kang Kingdom at midnight.


    Further west was the Sha and Hui Kingdoms. Out of the five kingdoms, only the An Kingdomy on the southern bank of the Xiaoyao Lake, but they did not need to pass through there.


    Zheng Tai tried to take isted paths as much as possible. Only bandits like him who had lived in the wild for many years would know about these deserted paths.


    The route was very concealed. The only w was that it was not an easy one. Although the group traveled relentlessly from day till night, by the time they reached the Hui Kingdom, they had already spent 10 days, rode seven horses to death and had been forced to abandon some water and food.


    After passing through the Hui Kingdom, they would enter the Gobi desert for a thousand miles and would no longer be able to get supplies during this period. Therefore, it was necessary to stop and reorganize, as they would need to buy more horses and stock up on supplies like water and food.


    It was easy to stock up water and food but difficult to buy horses as most of them were being used by Stone Kingdom to prepare for war.


    They managed to catch up with the first wave of messengers from the frontlines who brought news that Stone Kingdom¡¯s capital was surrounded and would be conquered within a few days.


    More bad news for the Great Snowmountain arrived. It was rumored that Supreme King had hidden tens of thousands of troops and divided them into two routes, one would attack the Great Snowmountain camp in the west while the other would go for the ¡°unfilial son¡± Shangguan Nu in the east.


    Gu Shenwei tried his best to be optimistic: With Golden Roc Fort sending expeditions to both the east and west, it was unlikely for them to send troops down south. This way, only the four allied forces of the Xiaoyao Lake would be surrounding Stone Kingdom¡¯s capital. As a result, Zhong Heng could maintain his defense for a little longer as there were not so many opposing forces.


    Before leaving, Gu Shenwei promised Zhong Heng that he would return to Stone Kingdom with swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain. Time was running out.


    After much dy, He Sancai finally managed to buy all the necessary supplies and horses. The others took this opportunity to have a good rest since they knew that once they entered the Gobi desert, it would be a long time before they would have soft beds and unrationed clean water.


    Gu Shenwei had only slept for a short while beforeing out to stand guard again.


    He cannot make any more mistakes now that the war had resumed again. He had to be vignt at all times.


    Shangguan Hong did not sleep much either. He was waiting for the opportunity to talk to Dragon King alone. So he snuck to his side and whispered, ¡°I could be of great service to you. Although I am not any kind of Young Master, I know many secrets that even the twins have not heard of before.¡±


    ¡°So you still have ¡®secrets¡¯.¡±


    Realizing that Dragon King did not believe him, Shangguan Hong panicked. He was as pragmatic as any other person in Golden Roc Fort and would not feel secure unless he was holding onto something important worth exchanging ¡°It¡¯s true. I didn¡¯t say it at first because I thought it was not important, but I¡¯ve been thinking for the past two days about what will interest you. Then I remembered this.¡±


    ¡°Speak.¡±


    ¡°Uh, well, there is a secret passage that can directly lead to Stone Castle from the foot of the mountain. Technically speaking, it cannot be considered as a secret passage but it really goes all the way to the top.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was unable to fathom how this secret passage was hidden since Golden Roc Fort was located on a precipice and all sides of the castle were bottomless abysses, ¡°You had better not be lying about this.¡±


    ¡°I would never.¡± Shangguan Hong¡¯s eyes sparkled in excitement, ¡°As soon as we arrive in Jade City, I will show you the secret passage, Dragon King. This is my service to you, and it is greater than anybody¡¯s else.¡±


    Shangguan Hong returned to the temporary camp and slept peacefully.


    Gu Shenwei noted this in his heart and moved stealthily around the camp. He discovered a stalker behind He Sancai as he returned with the purchased supplies.

 Chapter 353 - Dug out the Heart

    Chapter 353: Dug out the Heart


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    With the cruel Gobi on the left and the capricious desert on the right, it seemed like twopletely different but equally deadly weapons determined to torture any creature who passed through.


    This route which started in the Hui Kingdom of Xiaoyao Lake nted northwestward until it reached the territory of Shu-lik. It was not the shortest route but it was the only safe passage avable to them.


    A corpsey on a nket, its blood already solidified. His empty chest was like an abyss, dark and bottomless.


    There was one each day and this had been the third victim in three days. The killer who followed the group was organized, like a connoisseur who had tasted many delicacies, no matter what he ate, he would chew slowly, bit by bit.


    Gu Shenwei was unable to force the rest to continue their journey. The relentless traveling throughout day and night to save time and lose their stalker had resulted in a tragic failure.


    Like a shadow, they were unable to detect the killer by sight or sound. Once the night fell, he would mysteriously appear, kill a person and dig out their heart, before disappearing once again.


    Gu Shenwei tried many defensive measures.


    They did not stop to rest and traveled through the first night. However, a bandit at the rear was quietly killed before dawn. Not even a scream was heard even as his heart was dug out. He was left still riding on horseback, his horse trotting obediently behind the group.


    It was not until dawn when someone turned around and saw such a strange sight: a corpse riding on horseback.


    Shangguan Hong and Shangguan Fei had vomited on the spot and could hardly get back up on their horses. Shangguan Ru did not evene over to look at the sight. Upon seeing the tragic death of their peer, even the remaining four bandits, who had killed without batting an eye, turned pale as well.


    Gu Shenwei personally carried the body off the horse¡¯s back and leave the horse behind. He then ordered everybody to continue on their way as he and Maid Lotus remained at the back.


    But nothing happened the entire day.


    The following night, as they need to let the horses rest, the remaining nine of them sat in a circle and faced outward with their weapons drawn out as they took turns to keep watch. Except for the asional crackle of a small fire in the middle and horses¡¯ neighs, nobody noticed anything unusual, and no warning was raised by any of them.


    In the morning, the bandit sitting between He Sancai and Zheng Tai was dead. His heart was removed, and the two people next to him did not even realize it.


    The two of them admitted that they have fallen asleep at dawn.


    That day, they traveled at great speed and no one suggested taking breaks of any sort. Everybody wanted to escape from the devilish hands that seemed to always surround them.


    It was night again. The deceased was a bandit, his position was in the middle of the group. Shangguan Ru looked back by sheer chance and noticed a thick shadow darker than the night and immediately shouted to warn others. That was how they found the bandit with his heart dug out.


    The sky slowly brightened and the blood of the deceased had solidified.


    The person traveling behind the decreased was Shangguan Hong. He was unable to give any clues about what happened. Like a frightened bird, he had not noticed anything and would even be startled by his own shadow.


    There were only seven people left. Gu Shenwei had to stop and solve this problem. It would take 11 to 12 days to cross the Gobi desert and if this went on, all of them would be dead even before reaching Shu-lik.


    ¡°He has a distinctive way of killing by digging a person¡¯s heart out. I hope everyone can think it through, what kind of person will actually kill like that.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had never heard of an expert capable of such means as his eyes scanned everyone. Maid Lotus and the three Shangguan siblings shook their heads immediately. He Sancai, the Invincible Machete of Tianshan, thought for a moment before shaking his head as well.


    Everyone¡¯s eyes rested on Zheng Tai. He was the local viin of Xiaoyao Lake and should be more than familiar with the people in this area.


    ¡°Xiaoyao Lake doesn¡¯t really have such powerful experts. With the narrownds and tiny poption, not to mention poverty, I really can¡¯t think of anyone with such skills and likes to dig their victim¡¯s heart out.¡± Everybody¡¯s hopes fell at Zheng Tai¡¯s words. He too, was in low spirits and in fact, somewhat afraid.


    ¡°It¡¯s a ghost, it must be a ghost. It never appears during the day, andes and goes without a trace. What else can it be?¡± Shangguan Fei added as he hid behind his sister. His words scared himself as he shrank down further.


    Everybody turned slightly pale whether or not they believed in it. The killer was ruthless and extremely skilled in Kung Fu, it might as well be a ghost.


    Gu Shenwei knelt on one knee and checked the corpse carefully once again. Then he walked toward the horse of the deceased, and touched it back and forth, before inspecting under the horse¡¯s belly.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a ghost, it¡¯s a person.¡± Gu Shenwei said with certainty.


    ¡°Have you found any clues, Dragon King?¡± Shangguan Hong¡¯s eyes lit up.


    Gu Shenwei nodded and closed his eyes. He tried to visualise the killer¡¯s actions in his mind, then he opened his eyes and said, ¡°He was hiding under the horse¡¯s belly and jumped up sticking close to the horse. He immediately escaped after striking a blow and wore specially made ck clothes which were almost the same color as the night sky before dawn.¡±


    ¡°A living person hiding below the horse¡¯s belly yet the rider and horse did not notice anything?¡± He Sancai asked in surprise.


    ¡°Therefore, this person must be very small and light.¡± Gu Shenwei reasoned.


    Hearing his exnation, everybody turned and looked at He Sancai again, since he was a short man himself, merely four feet tall. He jumped back, ¡°It¡¯s not me. I am short, but I am not light at all. Besides, all of you saw me, didn¡¯t you? I can¡¯t possibly duplicate myself, right? If my Kung Fu was so good, then I wouldn¡¯t¡­¡±


    He did not dare to finish his sentence. If he had good kung fu, back in the desert south of Shuangquan Vige, he would not have been defeated by Dragon King and forced to receive the Jueyin Touch from Maid Lotus, thus bing one of their men.


    ¡°Let¡¯s continue.¡± Gu Shenwei was the first to straddle his horse.


    Nothing happened during the day and they continued to push on without stopping in the first half of the night before Gu Shenwei ordered all of them to rest for the second half of the night.


    They did not light a fire this time and Gu Shenwei sat down with his knees in the middle while the others circled him. No one was allowed to sleep, though no one was able to fall asleep as well. Everybody was alert as they waited for the enemy to arrive.


    Shangguan Hong was the most nervous among them. His chattering teeth were extremely distracting to the other people.


    As the night deepened, he could not hold it in any longer, so he said, ¡°I think this person has a regr pattern when he strikes.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s his pattern?¡± Shangguan Fei asked. Although he detested his half-brother, he could not help his curiosity.


    ¡°He starts with the person with the weakest Kung Fu and chooses a stronger target each time.¡±


    ¡°Master Hong¡¯s words seems reasonable.¡± Zheng Tai, the Sand Devil, said. The three bandits who had died were his men and he had the most say in their skill levels.


    ¡°I think¡­¡± Shangguan Hong swallowed with difficulty as he continued, ¡°I think tonight, his target will be me.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was sitting beside him but shifted to the side once he heard what he said.


    ¡°Dragon King, you have to protect me! I¡­ I am still of great service to you.¡± Shangguan Hong pleaded, his voice trembling. He had pinned all his hopes onto Dragon King.


    ¡°Shut up.¡± Gu Shenwei needed silence.


    Holding the Dragon Head Sword in his hand, he was ready to enter the realm of no thought and use the Death Scripture swordcraft to end the enemy.


    This was an extremely risky move. If he failed, it would backfire on him just like it did to Maid Lotus, and he might lose his life because of it.


    But it was his only choice.


    During the day, all those words that he said were all made up. In fact, he was unable to find any clues and only wanted to reassure the group.


    Only Maid Lotus knew how great of a risk Dragon King was taking so she held her ¡°Huan¡± sword tightly and stayed even more alert.


    It took a lot of energy and Internal Breath to feel the living energy. Gu Shenwei waited for a while before closing his eyes.


    The vital breath of the six people in the group was clear and distinguishable, the different levels of kung fu resulted in different forms of their vital breath.


    Maid Lotus¡¯ vital breath shifted irregrly and it was difficult to grasp a specific shape. She was a first-ss expert.


    Gu Shenwei was slightly surprised that Shangguan Fei was one rank inferior to Maid Lotus. His vital breath was very strong but smallpared to other people as it tried its best to restrain itself; this was a timid expert.


    Shangguan Ru had been practicing Wayless Qigong and by default should possess better Kung Fu than her brother. However, her vital breath shifted slower than the others and the form barely changed. Her weakness was, therefore, the most obvious. She had really given up on her killing desire.


    He Sancai was a famous bandit leader and his Kung Fu was definitely not weak. His vital breath was rough and insolent, but he was far from being a true expert.


    The remaining two were almost the same. Judging from their vital breaths, the person who had the weakest kung fu was Zheng Tai the Sand Devil instead of Shangguan Hong.


    There was no other sign of living breath other than these people.


    Gu Shenwei did not know how much time had passed, but just when he could not hold out for any longer, the mysterious and ruthless killer appeared.


    It was a very light vital breath. What was strange was that it did not coagte into a ball but instead, took the form of a long, thin strip, like a twisted snake, which made it difficult for people to detect.


    It circled around the group, approaching and retreating rapidly, sometimes far away sometimes close.


    Gu Shenwei restrained himself and silently waited for the enemy to take the bait.


    Unlike Gu Shenwei, this assassin could not possibly have learned the Death Scripture and feel the living energy around him. But he must have found another way to sense danger and was extremely alert. There were several times when he was near the target and ready to strike, yet he retreated again in a blink of an eye.


    Gu Shenwei had plenty of patience but he could not possibly remain in this state of no thought.


    The assassin was the first to lose his cool.


    The long strip of vital breath struck before quickly disappearing and the form curled up from a long strip to a small ball.


    Gu Shenwei drew his sword.


    The sword struck a perfect blow. It did not backfire on him but struck the target squarely. Yet, it was not what he had imagined.


    One after another, the survivors stood up and were all startled by the scene in front of them:


    More than a foot long of Dragon King¡¯s sword had pierced through Zheng Tai from the back, through the heart and out on the other side. A heart was pierced on the tip of the sword, it seemed like it was still beating.


    Maid Lotus and Shangguan Ru leaped up one after another and pursued in different directions but soon returned empty-handed.


    Gu Shenwei sheathed the Dragon Head Sword.


    ¡°Dragon King, Dragon King¡­¡± He Sancai legs gave way and fell to his knees. He was confused and thought that Dragon King was going to kill him.


    ¡°Look, there¡¯s blood!¡± Shangguan Hong pointed to the ground and cried out.


    There were several drops of blood on the gravel in front of Zheng Tai, it connected and formed a line pointing in the direction that Maid Lotus had just run towards.


    Gu Shenwei had managed to stab the enemy after all.


    ¡°He escaped.¡± Maid Lotus said simply. She had followed the trail of blood for a hundred steps until the blood trail disappeared and the target was out of sight.


    ¡°The other person ran away as well.¡± Shangguan Ru said as she held her wooden saber. There was not a trace of fear on her face. ¡°I saw him, it was Wildhorse.¡±

 Chapter 354 - Old Man

    Chapter 354: Old Man


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Shangguan Ru saw Wildhorse. Just as Gu Shenwei drew his sword out, Wildhorse appeared within mere steps of her. Although it was the darkest moment before dawn, she still managed to recognize the young man whose eyes were far apart under the moonlight.


    Wildhorse did not wear a mask and was holding on to the saber at his waist. He took one look at Shangguan Ru and quickly turned to leave, his speed was so swift that Shangguan Ru was deeply shocked. She remembered that Wildhorse¡¯s Lightness Skills were never this good years ago.


    Dragon King managed to stab the unknown assassin and this had boosted everybody¡¯s spirits. Only Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus understood that this move of his could not be used at any time. If the assassin changed the timing of his appearance, the oue could likely be immediately reversed


    Gu Shenwei hoped that the assassin was frightened enough by the overwhelming odds against him and retreat.


    ¡°He won¡¯t dare toe again, he definitely won¡¯te again since Dragon King is around.¡± Shangguan Hong consciously took on his role as a bootlicker and was more excited than the rest because he strongly believed that the next target on the assassin¡¯s list would be him. ¡°Dragon King can kill him before he even strikes a blow next time.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say.¡± Gu Shenwei did not wish to give them false hope, so he said, ¡°Let¡¯s hurry and get on our way, it¡¯s best if we can shake them off.¡±


    He Sancai recovered from the shock and understood the real meaning behind what he saw just now. He knew that Dragon King was not the one who killed ¡°Sand Devil¡± Zheng Tai, and the heart that was pierced on the tip of the sword gave him some hints and reminded him of something.


    ¡°Impossible, that¡¯s impossible.¡± He Sancai muttered to himself, yet it seemed like he was trying to seek answers from anyone.


    ¡°What is impossible? Speak properly.¡± Shangguan Fei ordered impatiently, forgetting that the bandit was not his subordinate.


    He Sancai was not bothered by the young master¡¯s attitude. He looked at Dragon King and Maid Lotus and said, ¡°I was reminded of someone, but he¡­ died many years ago, and was only active in the north when he was still alive. Why would he appear here?¡±


    ¡°Then he must have resurrected from the dead.¡± Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus shared a look with each other as they were reminded of Wildhorse who fled toward the north.


    ¡°Quickly say, who can it be?¡± Shangguan Fei was getting more and more impatient. He wanted to know everything about the background of the enemy right away.


    ¡°Old Man Mu.¡± He Sancai uttered this strange name. Seeing the puzzled expressions on everybody¡¯s faces, he realized that he was the only one who knew about the man, so he added, ¡°It was at least more than 10 years ago. Old Man Mu was active around the north of Tianshan and killed countless. He was very strange in his manner, and there was no clear purpose as to why he killed, sometimes he would secretly go and kill somebody if he heard that that person had great Kung Fu. It¡¯s like he kills purely for fun. In short, he is evil¡­¡±


    He Sancai did not manage to resist saying these words and only after he noticed that both Dragon King and Maid Lotus, who were considered evil by others, were not angry at what he said, he continued, ¡°After that, he killed too many people and offended people from both the government and the gangs, so everybody ganged up and joined forces together to fight against him. About hundreds of men, who were all Kung Fu experts, surrounded him for more than two months and finally managed to kill him off. There was a lot of witnesses for this, so it can¡¯t be wrong. Plus no one has seen him over the past 10 years.¡±


    ¡°Old Man Mu likes to dig out people¡¯s hearts?¡± Shangguan Hong shuddered. He strongly believed that his initial judgment was correct, that the assassin was a ghost.


    ¡°That¡¯s not certain, but Old Man Mu had vicious patterns of killing, and he was famous for it back then as well. His targets would always be dismembered somehow.¡±


    ¡°Did you take part in the encirclement back then?¡± Gu Shenwei needed to rify this.


    He Sancai turned red, he said, ¡°Uh, no, I was still young at that time, and my Kung Fu was not as good back then, no one asks me to go.¡±


    ¡°More like you didn¡¯t dare to go, yeah.¡± Shangguan Fei had a good eye for such things and guessed the truth correctly.


    ¡°I usually do business in the south of Tianshan and the matters in the north is not under me.¡± He Sancai quickly defended himself, but he blushed even harder.


    ¡°Hmph, what broken wood, he never dare toe to the territory of Golden Roc Fort at that time anyway¡­¡± Shangguan Fei spoke halfway, before sighing dejectedly. He could not return to his home even if he wanted to and could no longer enjoy the protection of the Stone Castle.


    ¡°How did Old Man Mu look like?¡± Maid Lotus finally spoke.


    ¡°It was said that he was a white-haired old man. I don¡¯t exactly know how he looked like, but he seemed to have everything. Some even said that he has four arms,¡± He Sancai replied respectfully.


    ¡°And his height?¡± Maid Lotus asked again.


    ¡°Normal, he was definitely taller than me, but not particrly tall.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not him.¡± Maid Lotus had chased the assassin for a while back there, and although she did not manage to capture it, she saw its shadow vaguely, ¡°The Dragon King was right. The assassin is someone short, very short, like a child¡¯s height.¡±


    He Sancai breathed out a sigh of relief. He felt bad enough for being controlled by the two young devils and would never want to encounter the old devil, Old Man Mu, who had caused upheavals back then in the north and south of Tianshan. ¡°Then that is great. Perhaps I recalled wrongly.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps it was his apprentice,¡± Shangguan Hong suggested.


    ¡°No matter who he is, it¡¯s best for him to not appear again.¡± Gu Shenwei turned and got on his horse. For him, the most urgent thing right now was to rescue the thousands of people from the Great Snowmountain who were surrounded by Golden Roc Fort. In his eyes, getting themselves entangled with the jianghu people was a waste of time.


    Everybody straddled their horses and continued on their way.


    Zheng Tai, the only one who was able to recognize the roads had died. But thankfully, the route that followed was not difficult to make out. All they needed to do was to walk along the boundary line between the desert and Gobi.


    They did not stop to rest all day as all they wanted was to ditch the unknown assassin off. No oneined though they were all tired. Even Shangguan Hong who had the weakest Kung Fu among them gritted his teeth and continued to hold on.


    After nightfall, they could only slow down because more and more horses were starting to feel exhausted. After midnight, Gu Shenwei decided to stop and rest. Rushing like this would only cause the animals to copse sooner orter, which would only dy time even further.


    ¡°I can still persevere on.¡± Shangguan Hong panted. He would much rather die of fatigue on the road as soon as he thought about the devil who dug out hearts.


    However, Gu Shenwei did not stop for him. While he ordered everybody to feed the horses, he took the opportunity and told Maid Lotus, ¡°It¡¯s time for us to work together again.¡± U.p..dated by BoxNo vel


    Maid Lotus understood what he meant, so she disappeared when everybody was resting.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Maid Lotus?¡± Shangguan Fei asked nkly.


    Shangguan Ru understood Dragon King¡¯s intentions better than her brother, so she warned in a low voice, ¡°Don¡¯t ask so much.¡±


    It would be yet another agonizing night, and they had not slept for two days and two nights. It was still alright when they were riding on horses, but they could no longer hold on the moment they sat on the ground.


    Shangguan Fei was the first to fell down and it shocked Shangguan Hong who was beside him. He thought that Shangguan Fei had died and was secretly happy but soon disappointed once he noticed that the Ninth Young Master was only sleeping.


    Gu Shenwei ordered everyone to sleep and would stand guard by himself.


    Thest days of the winter still remained, and the nights of the desert were very cold. Not much heat could be felt even though they were next to the pile of fire.


    Gu Shenwei held on to the Dragon Head Sword that he drew out. He felt that the cold could do some good and at least keep him awake.


    Two hours passed but the assassin had not yet appeared. Perhaps he was waiting for the early morning, or maybe he did not dare toe again after being injured. It could also be that he was sleeping peacefully knowing that his enemy was painfully worried.


    Gu Shenwei disliked it the most when he was unable to be in control of a situation. Bute to think of it, he was seldom in control as well.


    He turned and looked at the four people sleeping soundly. Life was really unpredictable, of all people, he would never have imagined that he would be protecting his enemies.


    ¡°Seeking revenge itself cannot bear the weight of great responsibility.¡± The words of Master Fayan kept lingering in his mind.


    In fact, Fang Wenshi had also said something simr. One of his prerequisites for agreeing to be the military counselor of the Great Snowmountain was that Dragon King needed to give up on revenge and focus on hegemony instead.


    ¡°I must lose my revenge in order to avenge.¡±


    It was something that was very difficult to think through. Gu Shenwei was especially afraid that the Death Scripture swordcraft would lose its power significantly the moment he lost his hatred.


    He cleared his mind. At least, he did not need to kill the three people who carried the Shangguan surname right now, and this made him much more rxed.


    At this moment, Shangguan Ru was sleeping soundly and curled up like a baby.


    Someone trotted his horse out of the desert and stopped several steps away from Gu Shenwei. He extended his arms to show that there was no malice.


    Gu Shenwei had to give Maid Lotus some time to prepare, so he said to the person, ¡°Long time no see, Wildhorse.¡±


    The four people who were fast asleep immediately jumped up and drew their weapons out, Shangguan Fei was slightly dizzy and turned one round before facing the enemy.


    It was indeed Wildhorse, his looks were so distinctive that it would be hard to mistake him for others.


    Then, something strange happened. Wildhorse opened his mouth and spoke, ¡°The Dajue Book of Swordcraft is indeed reputable.¡±


    Wildhorse clearly only had half a tongue but the words spoken were articted clearly and spread into the ears of all present. Only the voice sounded somewhat old and did not match Wildhorse¡¯s age.


    ¡°ying tricks here and there, are you ashamed to show your face, sir?¡± Gu Shenwei said coldly. He already realized that although the voice came from Wildhorse¡¯s direction, it was not him who had spoken.


    ¡°Hehe, You got it right, Dragon King. I¡¯m really ashamed to show my face to others. It¡¯s a good thing that I have a mute disciple who¡¯s willing to lend me this body of his.¡±


    The cold winds, chilly moon, and the deste desert further increased the creepiness felt by others when they heard these words. Shangguan Hong could not help but grunt and Shangguan Fei felt that the saber in his hands was as heavy as a boulder as well. So the two of them moved a few steps closer to the Dragon King.


    ¡°You were really lucky to survive, Old Man Mu. You were besieged by so many Kung Fu experts, yet they still failed to kill you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was just trying to make a guess, and the other party suddenlyughed spookily, ¡°Old man here is not only lucky to survive, but my life is also very good as well! Not only did I not die, but I also managed to practice a set of divine kung fu.¡±


    ¡°A divine kung fu that makes you unable to show your face and allow me to stab your palm.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother trying to agitate me, you¡¯re still too young. I initially wanted to have some fun for a few days, but I changed my mind, I want your Dajue Book of Swordcraft. Give it up and I can let all of you die in a quicker manner.¡±


    Indeed, Gu Shenwei did intend to stop wasting his effort. Maid Lotus should be in position by now, and he was ready to face the enemy as well.


    Only the sound of wind could be heard in the area.


    A horse brayed softly and broke the silence.


    He Sancai suddenly leaped high in a graceful posture, far exceeding his usual skill. He looked up at the moon like a stocky wolf ready to howl.


    But he did not make any noise. Something flew out of his body, it was about the size of a fist and the color was bright red.


    It was his heart, held in a hand of a man smaller than him.


    Old Man Mu had made his move, he should have been hiding behind Wildhorse but suddenly he attacked behind them. He should have appeared like any normal old man, but in reality, he was a dwarf!


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s sword struck toward the enemy as Wildhorse rode toward him. Shangguan Ru held her wooden saber and jumped into the air. Shangguan Fei was beyond petrified while Shangguan Hong fell to the ground holding his head.


    Like a picture frozen in the air, only Maid Lotus¡¯ sword could destroy this image now.

 Chapter 355 - Demonic Tone

    Chapter 355: Demonic Tone


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    Old Man Mu was indeed an old man. His exposed skin was covered inyers of wrinkles, yet his forehead was the only part of his skin that was as smooth as a baby¡¯s, which made him look all the more stranger.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s sword had pierced into He Sancai¡¯s corpse which was used by Old Man Mu as a shield.


    Draped in a dark yellow cape and hidden in a pile of sand, Maid Lotus used her sword with all her strength as she rose up into the sky.


    Expecting an ambush at his feet, Old Man Mu did not hide from it but instead faced the attack with his bare body.


    Maid Lotus¡¯s long sword pierced into the enemy¡¯s chest but it could not enter an inch further into the body even though the de was already bent into an arc. Even an expert like Old Man Mu would actually wear a tight-fitting armor that protects his body. U.p..dated by


    Although it was only a brief moment when the three of them were in the air, each of them gathered all of their strength as they striked blows at each other.


    Shangguan Ru waste by a step and leaped above the three of them, while her wooden saber struck the enemy¡¯s forehead.


    She has been practicing the Wayless Qigong for a long time, therefore her attack was also extremely strong despite using a wooden saber.


    But her blow was too hesitant.


    Old Man Mu was unable to hide from Shangguan Ru¡¯s attack as the vital forces of the three people were tense at the moment. But once Shangguan Ru hesitated and thought that a wooden saber could also kill people, Old Man Mu took the chance and finished channeling his first Internal Breath. As he generated his second Internal Breath; borrowing the strength of Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus, he suddenly leaped up into the sky like a stone thrown out by a stone thrower and fell just behind Wildhorse.


    ¡°Hahaha, these three babies¡¯ kung fu are not bad at all, it will be very enjoyable to kill you all. Get the Dajue Book of Swordcraft ready, we will fight again tonight.¡±


    Wildhorse turned around his horse and disappeared into the dark.


    As both Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus were falling down their swords collided with each other. Unfortunately the ¡°Huan¡± sword was no match for the Dragon Head Sword and broke into two pieces which was heard with a ¡°ng¡± sound.


    Shangguan Ru fell to the ground right after and did not react upon seeing this scene. Shangguan Fei, however, did not understand what was going on, ¡°You, the two of you¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Maid Lotus picked up the broken sword, staring nkly at it for a while and put it back into the scabbard, she still had another sword with the character ¡°Yun¡± written on it that she could use.


    ¡°Something¡± had almost happened to Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus back then. Old Man Mu¡¯sst leap absorbed most of the strength from the two of them, and a bit of it still remained on the sword itself. The remaining strength had to be drained immediately, otherwise, it could trigger a backfire.


    ¡°It¡¯s my fault, I acted toote.¡± Shangguan Ru admitted her mistake, but this was something that she did not have a choice in. No matter how ruthless Old Man Mu was, he still was a real person and she could not possibly kill him.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, at least we know more about Old Man Mu now. If we join forces together, the five of us will be able to kill him.¡± Gu Shenwei could not me Shangguan Ru for this, no one knew her situation better than him.


    ¡°Five of us together?¡± Shangguan Hong jumped off and asked anxiously, ¡°But I can¡¯t help with anything.¡±


    ¡°Everyone is useful in their own way.¡± Gu Shenwei finished saying these words and straddled his horse. He actually doubted that Shangguan Hong could survive until the next night.


    At dawn, the five people with seven horses continued their journey on the border between the Gobi desert and the Sha Kingdom.


    On this day, they did not ride their horses and gallop away, but let them wander forward slowly instead. The horses were already exhausted and the five of them were afraid that the horses would not survive for the next few days if they continued to gallop at full speed.


    Shangguan Hong was in the middle of the group, but he was not reassured and kept looking around anxiously. Hence, he was the first to notice someone behind them, ¡°Look, Wildhorse is still following us.¡±


    There was indeed a little ck dot in the distance, keeping at the same speed as them.


    ¡°They are waiting for nightfall.¡± Shangguan Fei said gloomily. Resentment grew inside him since he was now abandoned by his father, had no attendant to serve him, and was followed by strange people who wanted to kill him, ¡°Whose turn is it tonight?¡±


    Shangguan Hong almost fell off his horse, ¡°Dragon King said that¡­ the five of us together can win against Old Man Mu.¡±


    ¡°Huh!¡± Shangguan Fei sneered grimly as if mocking at Shangguan Hong¡¯s foolishness.


    The group continued to go forward in silence. When the sun was zing hot at noon, Shangguan Fei¡¯s anger finally red, ¡°I mean, Old Man Mu¡¯s targets are Dragon King and the Dajue Book of Swordcraft. What does it have to do with us?¡±


    ¡°Stop sprouting nonsense.¡± Shangguan Hong hurriedly tried to please Dragon King and quickly rebutted him, ¡°If it was not for Dragon King, you would already be dead.¡±


    ¡°It is better to die rather than suffer like this. Do you want your heart to be taken out alive?¡±


    Shangguan Hong wanted to continue and tter Dragon King, but the muscles on his face were stiff and he was unable to say a word.


    Gu Shenwei did not pay attention to Shangguan Fei¡¯sints.


    In the afternoon, the group sped up and managed to ditch Wildhorse out of sight. But walking at the edge of the desert which was as t as a mat made it impossible to hide their tracks.


    Wildhorse soon caught up with them, though he continued to keep a distance.


    ¡°What the hell are they doing? Must they only act at night?¡± Shangguan Hong was constantly turning around. Seeing the sun setting made him even more anxious.


    But no one answered his question. Only Shangguan Fei continued to mutter about how unlucky they were.


    In the evening, the group sped up again and only stopped when it was almost midnight.


    Gu Shenwei jumped off from his horse and told the three siblings of the Shangguan family, ¡°All right, we can part our ways now.¡±


    Shangguan Ru remained expressionless, while Shangguan Fei¡¯s gaze was evasive and Shangguan Hong was shocked, ¡°This, Dragon King, I really do trust you, just let Shangguan Fei leave by himself.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t spare enough energy to protect the three of you. And neither of you are of service to me. It¡¯s better to go separate ways. We will meet again when we are out of the desert.¡±


    Out of the three people, one did not have the killing desire, one was too timid and one was poor in kung fu. They were indeed of no help.


    Then they heard a voice that was both gloomy and joyous in the dark, ¡°The babies¡¯ morale is scattered, yes? Good to separate then! Separate!¡±


    ¡°I want to stay with Dragon King.¡± Shangguan Fei quivered and immediately said, ¡°I mighte in handy, just give me the instructions on what to do, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not insist that they separate their ways again but he ordered everyone to rest for an hour.


    Old Man Mu was a bit too excited and kept on talking, but he still refused to show himself. His voice could be heard here and there, yet no one could tell exactly where he was hiding.


    From a distance, Wildhorse could still be noticed faintly in the darkness like a doll figure riding on a horse, away from the five people.


    Old Man Mu was telling his killing history to them: one story after another about all the people he had killed, it was as though he had a booklet full of details dedicated to record these killings. Especially his voice, it was changing irregrly as if he was ying different roles: suddenly his tone was fierce, then it was pleading, and he would even imitate the sound of a saber breaking a bone, which was even more creepy whenbined with the whistling wind.


    But Old Man Mu¡¯s voice became weirder and weirder. Not a sentence could be finished in a fixed tone, like a group of clumsy drummers, his voice was recklessly knocking on the eardrums of the five people around him. Shangguan Hong was the first who could not take it any longer. Covering his ears, he jumped up and shouted, ¡°Stop it, shut up!¡±


    The twin¡¯s faces were a little pale as well.


    ¡°Use your Internal Strength to resist,¡± Maid Lotus had already understood what Old Man Mu was doing, so she said, ¡°It¡¯s useless to cover your ears.¡±


    ¡°Eh? The youngdy knows what the old man is doing?¡± Old Man Mu seemed surprised at what Maid Lotus said.


    ¡°Seven Magical Tones, nothing extraordinary.¡± Maid Lotus replied. She was someone with few words and even when she asionally talked, her voice was always t, but this time she seemed like a different person. There was a faint rhythm to her words as her voice fluctuated up and down when she said it, and it produced the opposite effect from Old Man Mu as it made the rest felt happy and rxed.


    Maid Lotus motioned everybody to mount their horses as she stayed at the back.


    ¡°So you are a disciple of New Moon Hall. Excellent.¡± Old Man Mu immediately guessed Maid Lotus¡¯s identity.


    ¡°So you are the disciple who abandoned New Moon Hall. Very bad.¡± Maid Lotus ridiculed. The Seven Magical Tones were one of the skills taught by New Moon Hall and she was using it as well.


    It was a strange contest. The two of them kept asking each other questions using in words, but their intonation was as strange as it could be as if they were challenging the limits of the human voice and using it as weapons to attack and defend.


    But it was quite an unpleasant experience for the listeners. One moment their hearts were beating like a drum as the blood rushed through them, the next moment they were gasping for breath as though their blood froze. Luckily, Maid Lotus¡¯s voice was the opposite of Old Man Mu¡¯s and therefore created a bnce to this contest, the rest was able to keep their minds in order relying on their Internal Breath.


    ¡°Ha ha! What does the youngdy know, is Han Wuxian well?¡±


    Maid Lotus was slightly surprised. Han Wuxian was the Master of New Moon Hall and very few people knew her name, yet this strange old man just said it casually without even thinking.


    ¡°The Master is very well, don¡¯t worry about it. Old Man Mu, you have stolen the ult sciences from us, quickly kill yourself or else New Moon Hall won¡¯t let you off.¡±


    ¡°Ignorant girl, who has stolen what from who? Go and ask them yourself and you¡¯ll understand.¡±


    But Old Man Mu seemed to want to defend himself very much and continued to talk. His tone was slightly excited and destroyed the effects of the Seven Magical Tones. It was much better for the listeners and Maid Lotus only had to counterattack asionally.


    ¡°Was it more than ten years ago? Old man doesn¡¯t remember clearly, but several thousands of cowards from the martial arts world besieged me.¡±


    ¡°What a brag, it was no more than a hundred people.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how many, but there were a lot of people. We fought all the way and identally entered New Moon Hall¡¯s territory. Old man had killed and injured many people, but I was stabbed identally and almost died. Those idiots also assumed that I was dead¡­¡±


    ¡°But, in fact, you were saved by New Moon Hall yet, in return, you avenged our kindness by stealing the ult sciences.¡±


    ¡°No! That girl Han Wuxian saved me for other purposes. You New Moon Hall people are experts in the ult sciences but you guys are terrible at kung fu involving real weapons. She taught me the ¡®Manual of Seven Secret Techniques¡¯ to survive, and I taught her all of my skills. It¡¯s all thanks to me that her disciples have made great progress in kung fu over the years.¡±


    Maid Lotus only joined New Moon Hall a few years ago so naturally, she would not know whether all these past events were true or not. But the ¡°Manual of Seven Secret Techniques¡± was true and the Seven Magical Tones was one of the manuals as well, ¡°Braggart, New Moon Hall, however, doesn¡¯t remember about you.¡±


    ¡°Of course she doesn¡¯t remember!¡± Old Man Mu became increasingly indignant and this made his demonic tone lose its effect, ¡°Since when did you guys from New Moon Hall keep your words? Han Wuxian is the Master so, of course, she¡¯s the best at cheating people. She taught me the ¡°Manual of Seven Secret Techniques¡±, but she did not say which techniques could be practiced and which ones could not.¡±


    ¡°So you were secretly practicing the Seven Rotation Skill. No wonder you became a dwarf who dare not see the daylight. But you cannot me the Master, ¡®practice this with caution¡¯, it was clearly written in the Manual of Seven Secret Techniques.¡±


    ¡°Fuck her!¡± Maid Lotus¡¯s words touched his sore spots. Old Man Mu¡¯s anger broke out, unable to keep calm anymore, he said, ¡°At that time this old man was tall and handsome, now I am disliked by gods and hated by demons, and this is all because of New Moon Hall! ept it, little girl, tonight I¡¯m going to cut your chest, dig your heart out, and cut it into pieces.¡±


    Shangguan Hong, who was in the middle of the group, breathed a sigh of relief when he heard these words.


    ¡°Go.¡± Gu Shenwei, who had not spoken all this while, suddenly ordered and sped up in front.


    He wanted to go all out and rush toward the Great Snowmountain camp as he raced against time with Golden Roc Fort. But now it seemed like he had to waste some time with Old Man Mu. It would be a disaster if they don¡¯t get rid of him.

 Chapter 356 - Falling into the Trap

    Chapter 356: Falling into the Trap


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    They managed to leave Old Man Mu behind, but not for long as Wildhorse would bring him when he caught up again.


    ¡°Is it true, what he said?¡± Even in this critical moment, what Shangguan Hong cared about the most was Old Man Mu¡¯s story. It was no wonder since his Internal Strength was the weakest among them and the Seven Magical Tones had the biggest influence on him.


    ¡°Maybe.¡± Maid Lotus returned to her normal indifferent and dull tone. Then, she looked at Gu Shenwei and exined it specifically to him, ¡°In the Seven Rotation Skills, bones and muscles are the basis of kung fu practice. It¡¯s simr to the Divine Rotation and people say that it has the effect of bringing the dead back to life, but¡­¡±


    These people saw with their own eyes the result of that ¡°but¡±. An old man of normal stature had shrunk into a dwarf. Everyone concurrently thought to themselves that they would never practice this manual even if they were killed.


    New Moon Hall being an expert in evil secrets had originally been a legend. But Gu Shenwei honestly felt it now.


    ¡°Is digging out someone¡¯s heart kung fu from New Moon Hall as well?¡± Shangguan Hong asked. He and the twins had recently found out that Maid Lotus was a disciple of New Moon Hall and had been both surprised and awestruck, especially Shangguan Hong. Maid Lotus was raised to almost the same level as Dragon King in his heart.


    ¡°No, I read some notes in one of the Master¡¯s books about the Five Hole Punch that uses the five elements and when it is practiced to the Fire level, it aims for the heart. Maybe this is the kung fu used by Old Man Mu.¡±


    Shangguan Hong covered his chest and said, ¡°Maid Lotus, New Moon Hall is so familiar with Old Man Mu¡­¡±


    But he was disappointed before he even finished speaking. Old Man Mu and New Moon Hall were enemies; they had already threatened each other. The first to be killed would be Maid Lotus and Old Man Mu would never spare her life.


    Shangguan Fei pped his hands and said, ¡°Everything is bing clearer now, Old Man Mu¡¯s targets were only Dragon King and Maid Lotus, so¡­¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s better for the three of you to stay away from us.¡± Gu Shenwei ordered with a cold voice.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s n was to fight to win or die.


    Wildhorse continued to follow his target steadily. The Gobi desert on his left and the deserts on his right werepletely t. ve Huan and the others had nowhere to escape. Their lives were all in Old Man Mu¡¯s and his hands.


    Wildhorse hated the old dwarf hiding in the sack behind his back, but he had no choice but to rely on Old Man Mu¡¯s kung fu to back him up.


    The year that Shangguan Ru had expelled him from Golden Roc Fort, his Internal Strength had almost been destroyed by ve Huan¡¯s sword. He had wandered alone aimlessly towards the north, his heart filled with hatred.


    He would always remember how ve Huan had betrayed him. They had originally agreed to assassinate the Tenth Young Master who no longer possessed her killing desire. But ve Huan had turned on him at thest moment.


    Since the beginning, he and ve Huan had been nothing but rivals. It was only until that day when he was expelled from Golden Roc Fort that they became enemies.


    The mute young killer had never once thought about the times when he secretly harmed ve Huan, his mind was preupied with the dreams that were destroyed, and the fire of revenge zed hotly within him from then on.


    It was purely by chance that Wildhorse met Old Man Mu.


    At the cost of his own kung fu, Old Man Mu had obtained the pills and the ult sciences from New Moon Hall that could save his life. Since then, he had practiced in seclusion for more than ten years. When he emerged, he had already shrunk into an ugly dwarf, afraid of sunlight, and only active at night.


    Old Man Mu also harbored a desire for revenge. He wanted to kill all the people who had besieged him and the disciples of New Moon Hall. It was because of those crazy women that he had turned into a creature that looked neither human nor ghost.


    But before this, Old Man Mu needed a servant who could take him along during the day.


    He chose Wildhorse, a killer who had been exiled and was unable to talk.


    In order to make the servant worthy of himself, Old Man Mu taught Wildhorse a lot of kung fu. When he found out that this young man was actually a prodigy in kung fu, he started teaching him with even more enthusiasm.


    They were not master and disciple but they had a real teacher and student rtionship.


    Wildhorse was d to have met such an extraordinary man and cautiously won his favor. He then slowly imbued his own hatred into Old Man Mu.


    After a year, once Wildhorse¡¯s kung fu began to take shape and Old Man Mu also felt that he had the strength needed to take revenge, the two men returned back to Jianghu.


    At this time, ve Huan had been fleeing and as his fame was growing day by day. Wildhorse¡¯s hatred grew deeper and deeper. But his ambition was not just to revenge. Therefore, he sought shelter in Nond, and thanks to his unbeatable kung fu skills, he immediately obtained the trust of a prince. He was then ordered to go to Jade City to secretly build up his influence.


    Wildhorse felt the advantage of having a strong backing. Even though he was a deserter from Golden Roc Fort, he was weed by Golden Roc Fort and was able to move freely in Jade City with their authority.


    It was exactly because of ve Huan that Wildhorse knew that there were many experts at Joy Pavillion in Hope Alley. He went to visit them and quickly gained the trust of Immortal Peng. Thanks to this group of entric people, he was able to build up a powerful force.


    During the whole process, Old Man Mu was in hiding. Except for Wildhorse, only one person knew of his existence.


    Although Supreme King was hiding his skills in the Stone Castle, his eyes and ears were not idle. He knew about everything that was happening in Jade City. Wildhorse returning to Jade City as an expert from Nond had obviously been reported to him by his men.


    At first, Supreme King regarded this as a trivial matter but finally picked up notice as the news of Wildhorse¡¯s incredible kung fu spread to him time and time again. He noticed a shadow of New Moon Hall¡¯s training in some of Wildhorse¡¯s skills.


    The results of the investigation were unexpected: Supreme King found out that Old Man Mu was reduced to a state of neither human nor a ghost.


    During those days, Old Man Mu was famous in the Western Region, but he held Supreme King in such high esteem, to the point that he had nevermitted a crime in Golden Roc Fort¡¯s territory. Moreover, they hit it off easily now that they had amon enemy. Supreme King would help to keep his secret and in turn, he would provide his services to Supreme King.


    Lady Meng and Meng Yuzun was obsessed with seizing ve Huan¡¯s Dajue Book of Swordcraft and requested for Wildhorse¡¯s help at that time. The news reached Old Man Mu¡¯s ears but he did not pay much attention to it. It was only until he was ordered to kill Dragon King and saw the elusive sword move for himself that his heart stirred.


    <em>The two children did not learn well. If that kind of swordcraft fell into my hands¡­</em>Old Man Mu¡¯s heart stirred once again. He still believed that his kung fu was second to none in this world. Perhaps he was only a little inferiorpared to Supreme King, but he still envied this particrly unusual swordcraft. Like a fool who collected paintings and calligraphy, once he saw something special, he could not help but covet it.


    This was supposed to be a killing mission, but now he had another purpose.


    Not only did Old Man Mu liked killing people, he also deeply enjoyed the process of doing so. Other people¡¯s fear was a feast to him, and his insatiable hunger could never be satisfied.


    Therefore, he was very happy as he stood on Wildhorse¡¯s shoulders and saw Dragon King and his entourage had divided into two groups, ¡°The brats of Supreme King seem really good-for-nothing. No wonder they lost favor.¡±


    Wildhorse was a capable servant. His only shoring was that he could not talk. Old Man Mu, on the other hand, was a garrulous man and was content to talk by himself, ¡°Which one shall I kill first? Dragon King and that woman from New Moon Hall or the three babies of the Shangguan family? I told her I will cut her into pieces. She has definitely already set up a trap together with Dragon King. Haha, it¡¯s not so easy to fool me, you know. I¡¯ll kill Supreme King¡¯s daughter first, let¡¯s see if he wille and save her. Then, I¡¯ll kill that woman. That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right.¡±


    Wildhorse made several gestures.


    ¡°Dragon King is tricky and foxy? I think he¡¯s at the end of his tether. He failed to kill me twice and revealed his background to me instead. Either something is wrong with the Dajue Book of Swordcraft or he uses it in the wrong way. Anyway, Dragon King¡¯s unique skill can only be used once. He must channel his Internal Strength in order to attack a second time. Just this window of time is enough for me to kill him ten times over.¡±


    After speaking, Old Man Mu jumped nimbly onto the ground. In a few jumps and bounces, he had already disappeared, faster even than a galloping horse.


    Wildhorse made a face of disgust. Even though he had a debt of gratitude toward Old Man Mu, there was no way Wildhorse could take a liking to this man who had shrunk himself into a dwarf. He wanted to vomit every time he came into contact with him.


    Wildhorse and Old Man Mu had surprisingly simr definitions of kindness and hatred.


    The small group of five split up. Dragon King and Maid Lotus walked close to the deserts, while the three siblings of the Shangguan family traveled along the Gobi desert. They were half a mile away from one another. They would not arrive in time even if they wanted to help each other.


    Old Man Mu quickly caught up with his target. He could not run all night like a galloping horse, so he jumped onto the sides of a horse that nobody was riding and tugged the horse belly strap to secure himself and stealthily watched.


    His Lightness Skills had always been very good, but it became even better after he shrinking into a dwarf.


    The three people were obviously frightened and were traveling in a hurry. The faces of Shangguan Hong and Shangguan Fei were especially pale.


    <em>Which one should I kill first? </em>Old Man Mu pondered. Despite his excellent kung fu, he was still cautious and preferred to kill the easiest opponent first.


    Both Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Hong were easy prey since one did not possess the killing desire and the other had poor kung fu.


    As long as one of them was killed, the remaining two would certainly run to Dragon King for protection. Old Man Mu decided to follow behind them and take the opportunity to kill the New Moon Hall disciple, thus fulfilling the promise he made before midnight.


    This was his n.


    Old Man Mu decided that his target would be Shangguan Hong.


    He was not in a rush. He preferred to do it right before dawn. Other than the fact that people tended to be more rxed at that time, he wanted was to create a killing style that left a deep impression.


    Now was the time since he still needed to give the other two enough time to run to Dragon King for help.


    Shangguan Hong looked even more helpless than a baby, but Old Man Mu didn¡¯t mind. He had killed many people who were physically weak, and the pleasure was always the same, merelycking in the thrill whenpared to killing an expert.


    The Five Hole Punch was a kung fu where the hands had to be made into w-shapes. It was a very powerful kung fu and even more effective than sabers or swords. Old Man Mu found it outrageous that not many people wanted to learn it.


    He gently jumped off the horse andnded on his four limbs like a fine fox. He quickly moved in front and burrowed under the belly of another horse. The rider was Shangguan Ru. He resisted the impulse to remove the girl¡¯s heart, and sped up to surpass two other horses and caught up with Shangguan Hong¡¯s horse.


    The galloping horse hoofs became the best cover for him. Even the Jianghu experts were unable to notice a little shadowy figure in the dark, much these three children whocked experience.


    Flipping over with his right hand and mounting the horse, he struck a blow and dismounted with his left hand before hiding again.


    This was Old Man Mu¡¯s usual technique and he had never once failed. If his rival was an expert, he could take his heart out from behind, but since it was Shangguan Hong, he could easily kill him from the front.


    Everything went smoothly when he mounted the horse. Shangguan Hong did not notice anything. However, the unexpected urred when he struck his blow. The chest of his target was harder than steel and even his sharp w was unable to prate it.


    Old Man Mu was shocked. Even though it had not worked out as he thought, he would still need to dismount, but he was unable to move at all as a strong arm held onto his belly. At the same time, a dagger stabbed into his lower abdomen. From the strength and the speed of the move, he could tell it was not an ordinary person with kung fu.


    The man was obviously Shangguan Hong, but his skills were like an expert who had practiced for more than ten years. Old Man Mu was even more appalled when he realized that he had fallen into a trap.

 Chapter 357 - Sunlight

    Chapter 357: Sunlight


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Old Man Mu had killed many people in his life and had suffered injuries from many sabers, but none of them had surprised him like this one.


    He was not a fool and had long passed the age of reckless ignorance. He was very well aware of the dispute between Dragon King and the three siblings of the Shangguan family, therefore, it was expected that they would go on their separate ways.


    Before taking any action though, he had also carefully observed that it was definitely Dragon King and Maid Lotus who was walking in the desert. What¡¯s more, he even noticed that Shangguan Hong, whom he had chosen, looked and acted like himself. Most importantly, after following Shangguan Hong for a while, he did not sense any strong Internal Breath or killing desire in this person.


    The dagger was still stabbed into the lower abdomen and the arm gripping on to the belly was still as strong as an iron hoop. Old Man Mu wanted to channel his Qi to escape but was unable to do so as the dagger was stabbed right into the middle of his Dantian.


    ¡°Suffering a major setback due to carelessness¡­¡± Old Man Mu said vaguely as he was almost leaning into the man¡¯s chest.


    ¡°You are too careless indeed.¡± The voice over his head was without a doubt Dragon King.


    Yesterday at noon, Gu Shenwei thought of this idea when Shangguan Feiined for the first time that he was implicated by Dragon King.


    Shangguan Hong and Dragon King were simr in age and stature. There was once when Shangguan Hong even pretended to be Dragon King and killed Master Lianhua, yet nobody recognized him. Therefore, vice versa, Gu Shenwei could also impersonate Shangguan Hong as well.


    Shangguan Hong, however, was not that willing toward this idea, ¡°Old Man Mu said that the next one to be killed will be Maid Lotus, leaving me with her¡­¡±


    ¡°No, Old Man Mu will definitely kill you first, he wants to y cat and mouse with you, so he will not take action against Maid Lotus so soon. So you will be safer if pretend to be me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was so confident in his tone, it was as if he had already seen through Old Man Mu¡¯s mind. Shangguan Hong was moved by these words, after all, he did not have much choice since Dragon King¡¯s orders were invible.


    Actually, Gu Shenwei was notpletely sure. Old Man Mu tend to kill his targets from the weakest to the strongest, but that old fellow was also someone who would do just as he pleases, therefore it was possible that he would change his mind at thest minute.


    So the two of them took on each other¡¯s identities. Maid Lotus and Shangguan Ru helped them to put on a disguise. Although there was not enough time to put on a perfect disguise, one could hardly notice any w in the dim night.


    Appearance was easy to change, but not so much for temperament. Gu Shenwei could act out Shangguan Hong¡¯s cowering attitude, but it was hard for Shangguan Hong to act like Dragon King.


    ¡°As long as the enemy managed to notice that something¡¯s slightly off, the one who will die tonight will be you.¡± Gu Shenwei could only intimidate Shangguan Hong to brace himself.


    If there was anything that could inspire courage in the men of the Shangguan family, it was death. Shangguan Hong immediately held his head high. Even though it was a bit too excessive, he seemed more simr to how Dragon King would look like.


    Afterward, it was necessary that the group went separate ways. Old Man Mu had looked down on the ¡°little brats¡± of the Shangguan family. Without Dragon King and Maid Lotus, his vignce would cken and it was unlikely that he would use all his strength as soon as he appeared.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s kung fu was unfathomable and Gu Shenwei hoped to gain a little advantage on the preparation front.


    The Five Hole Punch aimed straight for the heart. That astonishing power, however, had an obvious shoring. Gu Shenwei tied the Dragon Head Sword and the Five Peaks Saber diagonally to his body and it acts as a protection for his chest from both front and back. He would be in an advantageous position as long as he managed to blocked the first move.


    The most difficult thing was to hide his Internal Breath and his killing intention.


    Gu Shenwei practiced the ¡°Death Scripture¡± differently from Maid Lotus, so his killing intent was never as strong as hers, therefore he just had to control it more carefully. As for his Internal Breath, he would try to keep it in check as much as possible. In this way, his gestures would be more simr to Shangguan Hong who were poor in kung fu.


    Even so, if Old Man Mu was a little bit more cautious, he could have noticed a w. Luckily, he was not and acted in a hurry instead.


    The twins slowed down and surrounded Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei tied up Old Man Mu with a strong leather rope and threw him on the ground, the dagger was still quivering vertically from his lower abdomen.


    ¡°Kill him.¡± Shangguan Fei said fervently as he pulled out the saber.


    ¡°Maid Lotus wants him alive.¡± Gu Shenwei had promised her that he would not kill Old Man Mu.


    ¡°Maid Lotus? Isn¡¯t she your ve? Why do you listen to her? This old fellow is too dangerous. The earlier you kill him, the better.¡±


    Old Man Mu did not dare to exert too much strength, but he still managed tough out loud: ¡°You jerk, your father, the Supreme King, still shows me respect, you know.¡±


    Gu Shenwei still disagreed. He knew very well that Maid Lotus was not anybody¡¯s ve.


    As soon as the horse stopped on this side, Maid Lotus and Shangguan Hong who were half a mile away immediately rode their horses over.


    Seeing the small shadow on the ground, Shangguan Hong almost tumbled down his horse. Even though he looked like Dragon King, his expression and temperament werepletely different, ¡°Great job, Dragon King, this is a very clever plot, Old Man Mu is just so-so, I guess.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not dead yet, you know.¡± Old Man Mu was not happy at all being belittled in this manner, ¡°Back in those days, more than a thousand kung fu experts besieged me and yet I managed to survived. So I will survive this time as well. Spout more nonsense and I will finish you first the next time.¡±


    Upon hearing that, Shangguan Hong¡¯s face changed, then he asked the same question as Shangguan Fei, ¡°Why are we not killing him? His death will end all of our troubles.¡±


    ¡°He still has some use.¡± Maid Lotus simply replied.


    Gu Shenwei understood what Maid Lotus meant. It could possibly be true that Old Man Mu imed to have helped New Moon Hall to improve their kung fu skills. But he must have held back a trick or two. Maid Lotus was familiar with the kung fu style of her sect and was well aware of all this, but she wanted to know more about all his skills.


    Maid Lotus had already reached one of the highest levels of kung fu, and sooner orter she would even surpass Old Man Mu if she continued to practice the swordcraft of the ¡°Death Scripture¡±. Gu Shenwei did not truly understand her greed in this, but he did not want to interfere.


    ¡°Exactly, I am still useful. But will any of you be so kind to pull out this dagger from my stomach? I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to hold on for much longer and I will kill myself if I¡¯m agitated.¡±


    No one wanted to pull out the dagger. Even Gu Shenwei believed that it was better to leave the dagger in Old Man Mu¡¯s stomach.


    Wildhorse was watching from a distance and did note forward to rescue him. Shangguan Fei looked back at him with great anxiety and continued to instigate Dragon King, ¡°Let him die. Once he¡¯s dead, even Wildhorse will leave us in peace, and we can travel faster.¡±


    Among all of them, only Maid Lotus needed him alive. She jumped off from her horse, took out the green pills and said: ¡°Do you know what this is?¡±


    Despite the darkness, Old Man Mu recognized what Maid Lotus had in her hand at a nce, ¡°Blood Coagtion Pill, one of the seven pills specially made by New Moon Hall, they can save lives or torment people and is made with the blood of the drug maker herself. If you consume it, you¡¯ll be a ve for good. Come one, give me one of those pills.¡±


    Maid Lotus looked at him distractedly, but she believed in the specially-made pills of her sect, so she flicked one pill and let it fall into Old Man Mu¡¯s mouth.


    Old Man Mu ate it like it was fried beans, chewing and swallowing it down, he quipped, ¡± Not bad, still the same taste, but one pill is not satisfying enough, give me one more.¡±


    However, Maid Lotus could not afford to give him another one, the Blood Coagtion Pills were too precious and they were not snacks that could be given to just anybody.


    Poof, the dagger popped out of Old Man Mu¡¯s stomach and fresh blood gushed out, he snorted, and channeled his Qi to stop the bleeding. The ropes tied on his body snapped and broke into pieces.


    Several sabers pointed at Old Man Mu¡¯s vital points at the same time.


    ¡°Blood coagtion pills are the best to save a life.¡± Old Man Mu said licking his lips, as if he still had not had enough of it, not caring about the weapons around him.


    Gu Shenwei took out a few more pieces of rope and bounded Old Man Mu in several circles until he waspletely wrapped into a ball. Then he ced him on a horse and led him as he continued his journey.


    Meanwhile, Wildhorse was still following them, he was not too far and not too close and did not seem like he was in a rush to rescue the old fellow.


    Although Old Man Mu was seriously injured, it did not stop him from talking idly. He had something to say about every single thing, ¡°Bunch of idiots, is there no one who knows acupoints? Must you tie me up so tightly?¡±


    ¡°Dragon King, how could you? You are lucky you tied your swords on your chest to deceive me. I still haven¡¯t practiced the highest level of the Five Hole Punch yet.¡±


    ¡°The Five Hole Punch concerns the Five Elements and the Five Organs. The Heart belongs to the Fire level, and I had just finished practicing it. You guys saw how I dug out people¡¯s hearts, right? Actually, with just a punch to the body, the person¡¯s heart and veins were already broken. I took his heart out to see if it waspletely broken. But this was not the highest level, the Five Hole Earth Punch is the highest level, not only could it hurt the spleen, but it will also shatter the five internal organs.¡±


    Everyone was silent but Shangguan Fei was fed up listening to him, ¡°You can kill someone with just any moves of any of the five organs, what¡¯s the use of learning the skill with the shattering of the five internal organs?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not the same! It¡¯s not the same!¡± Finally, someone replied Old Man Mu and he was very happy, but his face changed upon seeing the suning out, ¡°Damn, quickly, cover me with a thick cloth, I can¡¯t see the sunlight.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about him.¡± Maid Lotus walked on the other side of Old Man Mu as she controlled the ropes with her left hand, and continued to press her sword shaft with her right hand. She said, ¡°The Seven Rotation Skill was practiced in reverse, therefore the yin and yang are upside down. The sun will damage his Internal Strength, but he won¡¯t die from it.¡±


    No one wanted to help him at first, and now even lesser people would offer to help.


    As the sun rose, Old Man Mu seemed to look ten years older. Even his forehead, the only smooth part on his body, was slowly showing some wrinkles. He began to swear and his voice was booming. At least, for the first two hours, he did not sound like someone whose Internal Strength was damaged.


    Old Man Mu spouted a lot of obscenities and Shangguan Ru had to plug her ears, before moving to the front.


    The cursing did not have any effect and the sun was getting more and more zing during the day. As Old Man Mu¡¯s voice gradually became weaker, he changed his tune and started to ask for mercy instead, ¡°Dragon King, and you, what¡¯s your name, Maid Lotus, spare my life, or you can kill me. I¡¯m suffering too much, I¡¯m drying out, at least cover me with just oneyer, I, I¡­¡±


    Then, Old Man Mu¡¯s head askew aside, and no sound came from him.


    Maid Lotus rode with him and felt for his breath, before saying, ¡°It¡¯s okay, we can keep him in the sun for at least seven days.¡±


    ¡°And after seven days?¡± Shangguan Fei was still hoping to kill Old Man Mu.


    ¡°He will be disabled and it would be impossible to recover.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s such a crooked¡­¡± Shangguan Fei began to say but swallowed down the other half of his sentence. The Seven Rotation Skill was one of New Moon Hall¡¯s ult science and he was a little afraid of Maid Lotus, the former killer of his family.


    Around noon, Old Man Mu woke up, his voice was getting increasingly weary and hissed like a snake, he also seemed almost unconscious when he said, ¡°Thirsty, thirsty¡­ little baby is really cute¡­ kill¡­ don¡¯t chase me¡­ spare my life¡­¡±


    Everybody else was indifferent. Only Shangguan Ru was unable to tolerate it any longer. She had already pulled out the cotton wadding from her ears, and after hearing Old Man Mu pleading, she became even more sympathetic toward him.


    She did not talk to Dragon King but turned to Maid Lotus instead, ¡°Do you have to torture him like this? At least cover his head with something!¡±


    This was an awkward moment as Maid Lotus and Shangguan Ru had not talked at all since the reunion. In the past, they were master and servant, and Maid Lotus could not pretend to ignore Shangguan Ru¡¯s request, so she nced at Dragon King and said: ¡°If he recovers his skills, we are not his opponents.¡±


    Then, after pausing for a moment, Maid Lotus still could not ovee her old habit, so she added, ¡°We can cover his head with a cloth, he will suffer less pain.¡±

 Chapter 358 - Parting

    Chapter 358: Parting


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Only on the 7th day after departing Hui Kingdom and entering the boundary between the desert and Gobi Desert, did they find the a water source. It was a small spring, named Lifesaver Spring.


    They stoppd to rest, particrly for the sake of the horses, who needed to regain their strength before the next five to six day trek.


    Wildhorse had been following them, keeping a distance of one or two miles during the day and less than one mile at night. He neither put forward any requests nor lent a hand to rescue people, even asionally disappearing for an hour or two before reappearing again.


    After two days of being in the sun, Old Man Mu looked worse for wear. His skin draped loosely over his body like a ragdoll, and only after the sun set did he regain some energy.


    As long as he had the strength to open his mouth, he never stopped babbling, boasting about his excellent kung fu,menting on all kinds of stunts and coercing people to release him. Sometimes he would even stealthily use Seven Magical Tones to make Shangguan Hong uneasy.


    Maid Lotus spared Old Man Mu¡¯s life so that his knowledge could be used to perfect New Moon Hall¡¯s kungfu. She had little to worry about. After another five days under the sun, Old Man Mu would lose all his force and skill, and then he would naturally sumb to her control.


    Except for Shangguan Ru, the three men in the team were looking forward to the death of Old Man Mu. It was at her request that Maid Lotus allowed him to put on a thin ck gauze during the day to marginally relieve the pain.


    At dusk, when the team arrived in the Lifesaver Spring, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus stood guard against Wildhorse while Shangguan Hong filled each member¡¯s water bag with clean water. Shangguan Fei, who could not stand Old Man Mu¡¯s nagging, went to sleep a distance away.


    He was so exhausted that fall asleep immediately, dreaming that he was still the Ninth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort, and was being served by the ves in Stone Castle.


    Old Man Mu was left with Shangguan Ru alone. In a hoarse voice, he whispered, ¡°Is your name Shangguan Ru?¡±


    Shangguan Ru ignored him. Although she could not bear to watch Old Man Mu suffer, she was quietly aware that he was a vicious demon.


    ¡°I really can¡¯t tell that you are the daughter of Supreme King.¡± Old Man Mu was used to talking to himself, so he did not feel embarrassed at all. ¡°It is said that Supreme King has 9 sons and 8 daughters, among them, the Tenth Young Master resembles her father the most. However, looking at you, I don¡¯t think that you are¡­ ruthless enough.¡±


    Only a few people were aware that the the killing desire of Shangguan Ru had disappered. To the residents of Jade City, Tenth Young Master was still the fake boy who desired to be the Young Master. Many people thought that the reason why she was forced to put on women¡¯s clothing anded under house arrest was because her killing intent was too strong.


    Shangguan Ru remained silent. Dragon King and others woulde back soo, Old Man Mu did not have much time. ¡°An old man like me knows the most about little girl¡¯s inner thoughts, I am quite experienced at my age. Dragon King had an affair with that woman, and you feel wretched, don¡¯t you?¡±


    Shangguan Ru blushed rosily, immediately opening her mouth to refute, ¡°No, that¡¯s nonsense.¡±


    Old Man Mu chuckled. Over the past two days, his eyes had not spared a single detail. He clearly saw the personalities of andplicated rtionships between the five people.


    ¡°Just take it that I¡¯m talking nonsense. With you is Dragon King, with tens of thousands of swordsmen under him, and the other is the high-ranking member of New Moon Hall, who has exquisite sword craft and can keep pace with Dragon King. Furthermore, she will have learned the ult sciences by now, and is a suitablepanion of Dragon King. Ah, they were born a pair. It will be difficult for them to seperate in the future. They will give birth to a lot of sons and daughters, and might even creat a small Golden Roc Fort¡­ ¡±


    Shangguan Ru thought that she should be angry, but she only felt sad, ¡°You are talking nonsense. Dragon King¡­ will marry the Princess.¡±


    ¡°Yes, the Princess, but he is Dragon King. It will not be strange for him to have dozens of wives. But it is unfortunate that some will not even be among that dozen.¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s humiliation had gone too far. The flush on Shangguan Ru¡¯s face faded away and she said coldly, ¡°I am what I am. Nobody is qualified to criticise. If you want me to save you, forget about it. You are a devil who kills people without blinking an eye. I will never let you do evil to the world again. You deserve your suffering. Think about those who were killed by you, and their rtives and friends.¡±


    ¡± I¡¯ve been thinking about it.¡± Old Man Mu argued, ¡°These two days, I¡¯ve only managed to survive relying on imaging their look of horror when they died. Little girl, you don¡¯t know the pleasure of killing people. Let me tell you¡­ ¡±


    Shangguan Ru did not wish to listen any further and turned round to leave. Old Man Mu changed the subject quickly. He had misjudged. This little girl was not what he imagined, she could not be persuaded by sordid affairs. Desperately, he called, ¡°Wait a minute. I¡¯ll be serious.¡±


    As Shangguan Ru was the only guardian, she could not go too far. Hearing the words, she stopped.


    ¡°Look at your skill, you must have learnt Wayless Qigong. Did you learn it secretly?¡±


    Wayless Qigong was one of the top manuals in Golden Roc Fort. It had always been kept hidden and only passed on to the King¡¯s sessor. Old Man Mu must have guessed that Shangguan Ru had not acquired her skill from a formal way.


    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t care whether. Golden Roc Fort has Wayless Qigong, and my manual is not bad either, but I did not expect that Dragon King and Maid Lotus¡¯s Dajue Book of Swordcraft was so powerful. It is said that this sword craft was originally a unique skill in the Fort. Why aren¡¯t you capable of it?¡±


    Shangguan Ru did not reply.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s words must have hit home and he spoke with more confidence, ¡°s, Dragon King and Maid Lotus are traitors of Golden Roc Fort, that they should know more kung fu than the daughter of Supreme King. This is unreasonable.¡±


    ¡°What is unreasonable is that people like you are still alive, just like¡­ Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, you are right. But I feel bad for you.¡±


    Shangguan Ru turned around and saw Dragon King and Maid Lotus walking shoulder to shoulder through the dusk. On her other side, Shangguan Hong stumbled back, bringing a dozen water sacks.


    ¡°The two of them, having learnt seven chapters of Wayless Qigong, thought that they were invincible. That¡¯s ridiculous. If it hadn¡¯t been for my carelessness, hum¡­ ¡± Old Man Mu was still rambling.


    Shangguan Ru was slightly surprised by how much Old Man Mu knew about Wayless Qigong.


    ¡°In fact, it¡¯s only half ¡ª or the greater part ¨C of the divine kung fu. There are still several chapters behind it. Only after learning all of it can one be truly invincible. I feared that manual, that is why I did not dare toe to Golden Roc Fort to start a fight.¡±


    Shangguan Ru looked at Old Man Mu skeptically. The seven chapters of ¡°Wayless Book¡± did not seem to be finished, but there were only seven chapters in Golden Roc Fort.


    Old Man Mu chuckled again, knowing that the following words would shock the little girl, ¡°There are 8 chapters in Golden Roc Fort, don¡¯t you know? Supreme King has another chapter in his hand. He thought that he was the only one who knew the secret. But I know and I just keep a distance to avoid starting a fight.¡±


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s doubts vanished. Her killing desire was already gone, what more did she care about how many chapters Wayless Qigong had?


    Dragon King and Maid Lotus were approaching. Old Man Mu had no more time to beat around the bush. He said eagerly, ¡°Let me go, I will help you get chapter 8. With your current foundation, you are bound to surpass them in a year¡¯s practice. By then, will Dragon King note to grovel like a dog?¡±


    Old Man Mu had overestimated his persuasion. Shangguan Ru paid no heed.


    In the middle of the night, Gu Shenwei asked everyone to get up and hurry on with the journey. The camp of Great Snowmountain was likely toe under siege. He must take the survivors out of danger before the camp was broken into and more people died.


    Even though knowing that Wildhorse would not fall for it, Maid Lotus still sprinkled short-acting poison into the spring. The contaminated spring water would kill people within three days.


    The next few days passed without disturbance. Like a stubborn child, Wildhorse followed them all the way, keeping an appropriate distance, and never taking any action. When pursued, he retreated.


    Old Man Mu was getting weaker and weaker. Although he still did not give up persuading the people in the team to set him free, he slowly lost the strength to speak. Five dayster, he could only nce at the five faces one by one with hope, especially Shangguan Ru, who was his greatest hope.


    Shangguan Ru became more silent and did not say a word for several days. The five people in the team had known each other since an early age, but the other four could not a shadow of the Tenth Young Master.


    But everyone was hurrying on with the journey, and nobody took it too seriously.


    Six days after Old Man Mu was captured, the team finally walked out of the deserts. There was still no human being in sight, but clusters of shrubs gradually appeared, a faint burst of green struggling in thete winter.


    That afternoon, when the setting sun was still shining, Shangguan Ru spoke for the first time in a few days, saying she would leave the team.


    ¡°I go until here. I have to leave.¡±


    ¡°Where to?¡± Gu Shenwei blurted out in surprise. He thought she wanted to return to Jade City too.


    The bumpy path led to the northwest, but Shangguan Ru looked south, ¡°Over there, I¡¯ve always wanted to travel.¡±


    Wandering Jianghu had been Shangguan Ru¡¯s dream since she was a child. Gu Shenwei suddenly recalled that he had once gone down the mountain, carrying her on his back, before sending her back to Stone Castle again. He said, ¡°I hope you¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget, we are enemies.¡± Shangguan Ru interrupted his words.


    ¡°Sister, you are penniless. How far you can go? Why don¡¯t youe back to Jade City with me? Maybe¡­ ¡± Shangguan Fei still had bore the faint hope that they could earn their father¡¯s forgiveness, but his persuasion was half-hearted. Shangguan Ru shook her head and did not say a word.


    Shangguan Hong opened his mouth, then hesitated, feeling that this matter had nothing to do with himself. He swallowed and said nothing.


    Gu Shenwei seemed to have a lot of words to say, but he said nothing.


    Shangguan Ru rode on a horse. She had already made up her mind a few days ago. Her gaze moved from Dragon King¡¯s face to Maid Lotus¡¯, and she only said one sentence, ¡°Congrattions, for acquiring the Wayless Qigong.¡±


    With that, she spurred the horse and rode away.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly understood.


    Old Man Mu had recognized that Maid Lotus was a master of New Moon Hall. It was at this point that Shangguan Ru realized that everything had just been a plot. ve Huan and Maid Lotus had used her to steal the Wayless Qigong.


    Shangguan Ru had not even considered ve Huan, who had hidden his surname and defected to fort Jin Peng, traitorous. But stealing the Wayless Book was undoubtedly a betrayal.


    She had put her trust in ve Huan, which proved to be the wrong choice.


    Gu Shenwei made no excuses though he knew that Shangguan Ru had misunderstood him.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± he said. His voice was so cold and hard that it could not fool anyone, even Shangguan Hong, who pursed her lips and gazed at the direction which Shangguan Ru had left.


    ¡°Ah.¡± Old Man Mu who had barely spoken the whole day, heaved a sigh.


    That same night, Old Man Mu, who had not been able to recover his ability, magically disappeared.

 Chapter 359 - Separate Paths

    Chapter 359: Separate Paths


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    After six days of exposure, Old Man Mu had already lost most of his force and skill. He no longer posed a threat to them. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus began to focus their defences towardsbatting Wildhorse. Since the journey was about to end, Wildhorse was likely to carry out his n at any time.


    At this moment, Old Man Mu, who had barely enough energy tost a day, escaped.


    It was not until early the next morning as they were about to set off that they found Old Man Mu had disappeared, leaving the empty leather ropes. Nobody had realized that Old Man Mu had run away.


    For the past ten days, everyone had been focusing on keeping up, and with only a little rest each day. Their vigor and physical strength had ckened, and so had their vignce. Even Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had almost run out of patience. All of this had created conditions that facilitated Old Man Mu¡¯s escape.


    But it was still a mystery how he managed to get out of the ropes.


    Old Man Mu had suffered great insult, he would surelye back for revenge sooner orter. Shangguan Fei kept insinuating that Maid Lotus made the wrong decision, she should have listened to him and killed the old devil, but Shangguan Hong was more afraid. He was so worried that he paced up and down, muttering ¡°What should we do¡­ What should we do?¡±


    ¡°Old Man Mu¡¯s force and skill has not recovered. It is not toote to go and find him now. But let¡¯s not make the same mistake and bepassionate this time.¡± Shangguan Fei saidmandingly.


    ¡°Yes, yes, the Ninth Young Master is right. How long will it take for him to recover?¡±


    Maid Lotus was searching for clues with Dragon King. She had not spoken much but piped up to answer, ¡°About 30 days or so.¡±


    ¡°Well, we still have enough time.¡± Shangguan Hong breathed a small sigh of relief.


    ¡°Although he will take more than 30 days to fully recover, Old Man Mu only needs about 50 to 60 percent of his force and skill to kill us all. That will only take several days. s, one wrong step will lead to the wrong track.¡± Shangguan Feiined, not heeding the others¡¯ expressions. In reality, he was exaggerating. Old Man Mu¡¯s kung fu was more powerful than Dragon King¡¯s or Maid Lotus¡¯s, but the gap was not thatrge. Besides, he had just suffered torture, and would never dare to take action rashly before he recovered fully.


    Gu Shenwei , who was carefully scrutinising the rope, suddenly got up and said, ¡°Someone has helped Old Man Mu.¡±


    ¡°You mean one of us helped him?¡± Shangguan Hong asked in amazement.


    The Shangguan brothers looked at each other. Among the four people, Dragon King and Maid Lotus had no reason to let go of Old Man Mu. Naturally, the two of them were the only suspects.


    At the same time, they pointed at each other usingly, ¡°It¡¯s you!¡±


    Erupting into a heated argument, they each listed the reasons for the other¡¯s betrayal. Finally, Shangguan Fei stopped the futile debate and asked Dragon King, ¡°How do you know that he got help from someone?¡±


    Gu Shenwei held up the rope and carefully picked up two lengths of leather rope from the base. Obviously, these two pieces were originally from the same piece of rope that had been cut by someone with sharp tools. That was how Old Man Mu escaped.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t me.¡± Shangguan Fei took the initiative to defend himself, ¡°I slept all night longst night and did not get up. It must be Shangguan Hong. I saw him get up at night and move around for quite a while aftering back. Who knows what he was doing?¡±


    Shangguan Hong blushed, ¡°Nonsense, it wasn¡¯t me, why would I set him free?¡±


    ¡°Old Man Mu said that anyone who set him free would be taught the unrivaled kung fu skills he has. You are the worst in kung fu among us, of course you would be tempted by his offer.¡±


    Shangguan Hong blushed deeply, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t I have run away with him if I let him go?¡±


    ¡°You are bad at kung fu and hence you were afraid of attracting the attention of others. Therefore, you would likely find an excuse to leave in several days instead, and then go to the appointed ce to acknowledge Old Man Mu as your teacher. It must be like this.¡±


    Although they were both cowards, Shangguan Fei was smarter. His description of Shangguan Hong¡¯s betrayal was convincing.


    When it came to Shangguan Hong, he could not say anything to defend for himself but ¡°It wasn¡¯t me¡± repeatedly. Maid Lotus, who had been scoping the suroundings, returned and reported, ¡°He was heading south.¡±


    Both the two brothers closed their mouths and looked at the south, as if they could see Old Man Mu¡¯s figure in the distance. Shangguan Fei looked gloomy. Shangguan Hong thought for a moment, suddenly enlightened, ¡°It was Shangguan Ru!¡±


    Yesterday afternoon, Shangguan Ru had headed for the south after parting with them. The other three had already thought of this but just had not put the idea forward.


    Shangguan Hong thought he had solved the mystery and eximed excitedly, ¡°It must be her. I remember that she had been alone with Old Man Mu several times and they seemed to have a lot to discuss. When someone else approached, they stopped talking. They might have reached an agreement then. Then¡­ she cut off the rope, and excused herself to leave firstst night. Old Man Mu escaped after midnight and they met at the appointed ce. It was wless, who would have expected that the Tenth Young Master was so crafty?¡±


    Shangguan Hong had not forgotten Shangguan Fei, and gave him the side-eye, ¡°Maybe they left a spy here to smear others.¡±


    The two brothers began to quarrel again until Gu Shenweimanded in a low voice, ¡°Shut up.¡±


    Dragon King looked ferocious, and the two brothers¡¯ hearts were gripped with fear. Neither dared to say a word.


    It was hard for Gu Shenwei to believe that Shangguan Ru should have done such kind of thing. But really, who in this world was trustworthy?


    He had hurt her, and deliberately ignored her these past few days. The disheartened look on her face when they separated the day before was still etched in his mind.


    Shangguan Ru was not a weak woman, she might have lost the killing desire, but she would never admit defeat so easily.


    Gu Shenwei did not want to think about this anymore. He nced over the two brothers of the Shangguan family, hoping to find a more reasonable traitor.


    Shangguan Fei and Shangguan Hong cowered like rabbits under a tiger¡¯s gaze. They were so stupefied that they stood still and did not even defend themselves.


    ¡°We have to find Old Man Mu.¡± Gu Shenwei said. He knew that finding the traitor was not the most urgent task at this moment.


    Shangguan Hong inserted, ¡°It¡¯s dawn now, Old Man Mu can¡¯t be far. He must be hiding nearby.¡±


    ¡°But why hasn¡¯t Wildhorse left?¡±


    Shangguan Fei pointed to a small ck spot in the southeast. It was Wildhorse, who did not know that Old Man Mu had escaped, or perhaps he did not care, still following them stubbornly.


    Old Man Mu was not likely to be far. Gu Shenwei could not waste time on this. He had to get to the Great Snowmountain¡¯s camp as soon as possible.


    Maid Lotus understood Dragon King as soon as she caught his eyes, ¡°I will go to find Old Man Mu. Since it was me who wanted to keep him alive, let me solve this problem.¡±


    Therefore, Maid Lotus was the second to leave the team after Shangguan Ru.


    It would take about 30 days for Old Man Mu to fully recover his force and skill, hence the first few days were the golden time to kill him. Therefore, Maid Lotus and Dragon King agreed to regroup in one month, no matter the oue.


    Gu Shenwei continued his journey with Shangguan Fei and Shangguan Hong.


    Wildhorse did not care about the left of Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus, and did not give up following them even after finding remains of the rope on the ground.


    Gu Shenwei wanted to shake off this tail, but did not have time to setplicated traps. While he hastened on the journey all day long, he thought about what to do. Finally, he came up with an idea and felt that it was worth a try that night.


    This idea required Shangguan Fei¡¯s cooperation.


    After speeding up suddenly at dusk and losing Wildhorse for a while, the three of them stopped for a short rest. Gu Shenweiid out his n, ¡°If there are no idents, there will most certainly be an ambush up ahead.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± the Shangguan brothers asked simultaneous. They had imagined that there would be no more danger for a while.


    ¡°Wildhorse has been following us, but he never took any action. He must be waiting for opportunity. My guess is that he has already deployed an ambush at the end of the road.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s possible.¡± Shangguan Fei thought briefly and agreed with Dragon King.


    ¡°What should we do? Change the route?¡±


    There was no second route, since the guide had been killed. Running around in the wild would only waste more time. So Gu Shenwei rejected Shangguan Hong¡¯s suggestion, ¡°No, we have to get rid of Wildhorse, in case we are attacked from the front and behind.¡±


    Shangguan Fei and Shangguan Hong made a eye contact again. This time they had the same thought. One of them said, ¡°Dragon King has a wonderful n. ¡± And the other said, ¡°I will be waiting for good news.¡±


    As soon as Gu Shenwei spoke out his n, Shangguan Fei shook his head, ¡°No, I can¡¯t do this. If I am exposed, that would ruin Dragon King¡¯s n. And this trick was yed a few days ago, it won¡¯t deceive Wildhorse again.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew what could make Shangguan Fei willing to take the risk, ¡°If you don¡¯t cooperate, I won¡¯t be able to get rid of Wildhorse. Let¡¯s continue our journey, and when we meet the ambush, let¡¯s run away separately. Their goal is probably to just eliminate some of us, and the irrelevant one isn¡¯t likely to be pursued.¡±


    Shangguan Fei gritted his teeth, ¡°Okay, I will do it.¡±


    In Shangguan Fei¡¯s view, he was more important than Dragon King. Since Wildhorse worked for Supreme King, it was likely that he was the target of Wildhorse rather than Dragon King.


    Shangguan Hong, who was not involved in the n, was greatly relieved and encouraged his half-brother, ¡°It will do, you are a twin, as long as you¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei gave him a hostile re, and Shangguan Hong quickly shut up.


    At midnight, the three men stopped again, lit their fire, and rested on the spot, looking into the distance. Two of them fell asleep while one was guarded nearby.


    About a mile away, Wildhorse got down from his horse and rested. He did not light a fire or sleep, butid a small carpet on the ground, knelt on it, held the handle of his knife, and stayed alert of the noises around him.


    In the dim light of night, a man riding a horse came slowly from the south. The horse rode the soil that had just begun to thaw, and though it did not make a loud sound, it was enough to make Wildhorse rise and pull out his saber.


    To his surprise, it was Shangguan Ru. Although her appearance was distant and fuzzy, he had once been a killer her Shangguan Ru and was confident that he was not seeing the wrong people.


    The saber in Wildhorse¡¯s hand lowered several inches, but he remained vignt.


    Shangguan Ru stopped at 20 steps away, then urged the horse forward a few steps forward gestured that she wanted to talk with Wildhorse.


    Wildhorse nodded and took a few steps forward. They were less than ten steps apart.


    Wildhorse made the first move. He was not gullible, and at this point, he would never be cheated by a fake Shangguan Ru.


    He guessed that it was Shangguan Fei in disguise, with Dragon King was hiding nearby. So he decided to kill Shangguan Fei by surprise, and then run away on the horse, giving Dragon King no chance to take action.


    However, to hisplete surprise, Shangguan Ru blocked his first stab.


    Moreover, Shuangguan Ru even snapped off the weapon in his hand.


    Killers would never get into a dogfight with anyone. Although Wildhorse was shocked, he quickly retreated, holding half of the saber, and jumped onto his horse.


    At this moment, the fatal stab was made.


    Shangguanfei, who was in women¡¯s clothing, looked pale, and his heart was racing.


    A few years ago, after Shangguan Ru and her aplices had stolen the Wayless Book, Lady Meng, who naturally would not forget her son, transcribed one for him. Shangguan Fei secretly practiced it, improving Internal Strength greatly, even though, his timidity did not diminish a bit. Only under the pressure of death did he even dare to try.


    Even so, he required more assurance and borrowed the Five Peaks Saber from Dragon King.


    What a nice saber! He thought, as he watched one of Wildhorse¡¯s are separate from his body and blood gush, a good ten steps away.

 Chapter 360 - Shaking

    Chapter 360: Shaking


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Wildhorse fell into the trap. He used a small percentage of his strength to attack Shangguan Fei, while the majority of it was channeled towards defending against Dragon King. However, Shangguan Fei was stronger than he had thought, and the way he retreated was just as Dragon King expected.


    Wildhorse had run out of escape routes and could only exchange his left arm for his life. He immediately jumped off the horse and ran away.


    ¡°We can still catch up with him.¡± Shangguan Fei urged himself, urging his horse faster. However, this brave idea was just as fleeting as Wildhorse was fleetfooted. He tightened his reins.


    ¡°You won¡¯t be able to catch up with him.¡± Gu Shenwei sheathed the Dragon Head Sword. Though Wildhorse head did not learn the Wayless Book or Death Scripture, his kung fu had advanced by leaps and bounds, especially his Lightness Skills, which was more proficient than even Gu Shenwei.


    Gu Shenwei knew what his weaknesses were, which was why he needed a helper like Maid Lotus. Wildhorse would never have escaped if she had been there.


    Several days ago, Gu Shenwei was hurrying along the journey, and did not think of this assassination n.


    Gu Shenwei rode on Wildhorse¡¯s horse, and came up to Shangguan Fei.


    Shangguan Fei held the scabbard of Five Peaks Saber and was reluctant to return it to Dragon King ¡°It really is a nice saber!¡±


    Gu Shenwei snatched it back immediately. Shangguan Fei¡¯s cowardice was inborn. No matter how sharp the weapon was, it would not give a coward courage.


    When the two returned to the resting ce, the fire was still alight, but Shangguan Hong was gone, along with one horse.


    ¡°I knew it was him!¡± Shangguan Fei shouted angrily, ¡°It was him that set Old Man Mu free instead of my sister. He must have left to get his reward.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about him.¡± Gu Shenwei was not worried at all. He took out a few pieces of dry food from a pack tied to the horse and shared it with Shangguan Fei. They set off again after finishing their food.


    Shangguan Fei hoped to have a rest; it seemed that there was rtively little danger, especially since Wildhorse had run away. However, he did not dare to voice it. The longer he had spent in the presence of Dragon King, the more unconsciously he obeyed the master-servant arrangement.


    Dragon King¡¯s calmness was not without reason. Shangguan Hong caught upte in the morning, gasping and sweat dripping down his brow, ¡°s, why did you two leave first? I had to relieve myself¡­¡±


    This excuse was surely too far-fetched, even Shangguan Hong did not expect that anyone would believe it. Instead, he chuckled ingratiatingly, ¡°Dragon King, please forgive me, I won¡¯t do it again.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was shocked and immediately asked, ¡°Tell us, did you go to see Old Man Mu? Where is he hiding? Confess quickly.¡±


    ¡°No, no, I have nothing to do with Old Man Mu.¡± Shangguan Hong defended himself though his face was pale. However, only telling the truth would get rid of the suspicion, ¡°I didn¡¯t think¡­ I didn¡¯t expect¡­ that we would encounter so many dangers following Dragon King. When we reach the Great Snowmountain, it will be even more dangerous. I¡¯m poor in kung fu and clumsy, and I can¡¯t help you, so¡­ ¡±


    ¡°So you ran away!¡± Shangguan Fei was indignant. Supreme King¡¯s acknowledged son had not run, while the illegitimate son fled. ¡°Why do youe back?¡±


    Shangguan Hong put up a pathetic face and looked at the silent Dragon King, begging for mercy, ¡°Dragon King, it¡¯s all my fault. I¡¯m a coward, I¡¯m treacherous, I¡¯m shameless and contemptible¡­¡±


    Shangguan Hong rebuked himself with a dozen words consecutively. Thinking that was enough, Gu Shenwei took a piece of dry food from the pack and threw it to him.


    Shangguan Hong, like a hungry dog, caught the dry food with both hands, stuffed it into his mouth and swallowed it without chewing.


    Shangguan Fei suddenly realized something, pointing to Dragon King, ¡°You¡­ you¡­ did you put poison in the dry food?¡±


    To be precise, it was Maid Lotus who had poisoned the food. The Blood Coagtion Pill was too precious to waste on these two people, so she had used the poison usedmonly in New Moon Hall. After taking the poison for a while, he would asionally experience abdominal pains. The method to relieve it was simple: one way was to suppress it, and he would recover after a few days. The other way was to continue to take the poison.


    Shangguan Hong did not know the first method. The moment he felt abdominal pain, he knew that he had been tricked and pleaded Dragon King to give him the antidote.


    ¡°You won¡¯t die.¡± Gu Shenwei always Zhong Heng¡¯s warning that all the people in the Shangguan family were wolves on his mind, and knew he must possess the skill for training wolves.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s face changed, ¡°Dragon King, you are too cruel. I trusted you so much. Was my sister ¡­¡±


    For sure, Gu Shenwei would not treat them differently. He knew that Shangguan Ru would not die, the abdominal pain would disappearpletely after several rounds. It did not even hurt that much. However, he certainly would not tell them the truth, so he simply nodded his head.


    Shangguan Fei did not be enraged. On the contrary, his anger seemed to dissipate suddenly. All he had for Dragon King was respect and worship, so he changed his tone and repeated. ¡°Dragon King, you are too cruel.¡±


    Shangguan Hong was eager to change Dragon King¡¯s impression of him and said, ¡°How can you be a killer if you are not cruel? How could youpete with Golden Roc Fort?¡±


    From then on, the twopeted to win Dragon King¡¯s favor. They tried ttery, eyes constantly scanning on the parcel that stored the dry food. Shangguan Fei privately despised Shangguan Hong: Why did he run away empty-handed, he should at least have taken water and dry food.


    Gu Shenwei also became more vignt. He kept the real poisonous powder hidden in his sleeve, and each time he took out some dry food, he would spread a little on it.


    The tail who had been following them finally disappeared. The whole day of traveling passed without a hitch. Gu Shenwei decided to rest early this night to be more energised. They set off before dawn the next day and saw Tianshan rising in the north. Soon, they would enter the territory of Shu-lik.


    Gu Shenwei was right. He had guessed Wildhorse would set an ambush at the end of the road.


    However, no fight urred. Wildhorse¡¯s disappearance obviously unexpected. As soon as Dragon King drew near, they fled. No one came out to challenge him.


    The ten men, who were hidden in arge bush by the road, fled like frightened animals.


    The road ahead was bumpy. That afternoon, the three of them finally drew near to Shu-lik¡¯s border and could see the country from a distance. Having just escaped danger, they still did not feel at ease.


    They stopped on a hill. Shu-lik¡¯s border post several miles away was now a mere pile of burnt debris, the ashesy smoldering.


    When the three of them rode up on their horse, stopping to survey the expanse of smoke and dust that continued to wind east of the road.


    The three jumped off the horse with Gu Shenwei taking the lead. They hid the horse under the small hill, and hid themselves behind the bushes on the top of the hill, observing from a distance.


    ¡°That¡¯s Nond¡¯s army! Has Nond invaded the Western Region?¡± Shangguan Fei cried out in surprise.


    Gu Shenwei also recognized the white wolf g of Nond. The army had a total of 1,000 people, advancing at full speed, with no scouts. Obviously, this was not the first cavalry to have entered Shu-lik.


    ¡°They were sent by Supreme King.¡± Gu Shenwei finally believed understood Master Fayan¡¯s analysis. Supreme King¡¯s ambition was beyond his own. He had wanted to invade a territory bigger than his own and borrowed troops to upy Shu-lik.


    As the map indicated, the Great Snowmountain¡¯s campsite was 30 miles away in the east. Gu Shenwei had to face a cruel fact that 3,000 swordsmen and machetemen were possibly dead. All his efforts might be in vain.


    Meanwhile, Jade City, several hundreds of miles away, was in turmoil. There was also a man, just like Dragon King, who was worried about the fate of Great Snowmountain¡¯s campsite.


    Fang Wenshi had experienced the biggest storm in his life. The peace negotiation was going to end and the oue was good. The night before, he had been preparing for the signing ceremony to be hosted in the Four Truths Temple the next day. The eminent monk there would be the witness.


    However, Xu Xiaoyi knocked at the door just before dawn, waking Fang Wenshi from his sweet dream. ¡°Damn it! News has been circting around that Dragon King failed in the contest to be Emperor¡¯s son-inw, so he started a ughter, cutting off the heads of the Ninth Young Master, the Tenth Young Master and more.¡±


    Fang Wenshi shot up, dressed in his underwear and paced back and forth several times, and then pat himeself on the forehead. He smiled, ¡°Nonsense, I was almost scared by you. Think for a moment, it takes at least 10 days to go from Stone Kingdom to Jade City. Rumors cannot reach here so fast unless they can fly. Dragon King just arrived Stone Kingdom ten days ago, and the contest for being the Emperor¡¯s son-inw would have just begun. Hence, it hasn¡¯t been decided who will be the emperor¡¯s son-inw, why would he kill anyone?


    Fang Wenshi shook his head repeatedly. Although he had not spent much time with Dragon King, he believed that Dragon King would not kill anyone and undermine the hard-won peace negotiation even if he failed to be the Emperor¡¯s son-inw.


    Xu Xiaoyi smiled, thankful that it was probably nothing, but could not help but still feel uneasy, ¡°Would it be a conspiracy of Golden Roc Fort?¡±


    Fang Wenshi pondered for a while and shook his head again. ¡°Probably not. They were quite earnest during the negotiation and scrutinised every detail. It doesn¡¯t seem likely that they will start a war.¡±


    In reality, Fang Wenshi was being too optimistic. Though Golden Roc Fort did not have any intention of starting a war, and was skeptical about the rumors, they did dy signing the agreement.


    This caused a problem because the three-month-long temporary armistice hade to an end. Theoretically, Golden Roc Fort and the Great Snowmountain were at war again.


    Fang Wenshi sensed that something had gone terribly wrong.


    Golden Roc Fort had put on a dazzling show, evolving from disdain to hesitation, and finally the rage and shock after discovering the evidence. Supreme King had made an alternation from the offender to the prosecutor.


    Initially, citizens of Jade City unanimously believed that Dragon King killed people. In their minds, Dragon King was a demon who did not bat an eye when killing people.


    Not until even more shocking news spread did some people begin to suspect that Golden Roc Fort was involved in a big conspiracy. But no one dared to speak.


    Third Young Master Shangguan Yun, who had nearly faded out of people¡¯s memory, suddenly became the Emperor¡¯s son-inw of the Xiaowan Kingdom in the north of Tianshan. Moreover, he was likely to seed to the throne.


    A serious riot irrupted in the Lon Kingdom of the east. Arge group of bandits joined forces to invade the capital of the Lon Kingdom. Troops stationed in all part of the Central in rushed to the capital at night to aid them.


    Next, an unknown army set off from the Xiaowan Kingdom and went straight to Eighth Young Master Shangguan Nu at the eastern border, with the excuse of revenge for Bighead Kingpin. Supreme King¡¯s attitude toward Bighead Kingpin had undergone aplete reversal overnight.


    That night, another army joined forces with the troops stationed at the western border, and theyunched an attack on the Great Snowmountain¡¯s campsite.


    A few dayster, the whole Western Region was shaken by an upheaval that had not happened in a thousand years: thousands of Nond cavalry marched southwards, through the western mountain pass and into Shu-lik, iming that King of Shu-lik sent assassins to assassinate Khan.


    As the situation exacerbated, everyone felt that the world was turning upside down. It was no longer important whether Dragon King had killed Supreme King¡¯s sons and daughters.


    On the seventh day after the rumor, Fang Wenshi was imprisoned at his residence. Golden Roc Fort kept him alive in order to force him to admit that it was Dragon King who had triggered the war.


    For the first time, Fang Wenshi saw personally how unscrupulous Golden Roc Fort was. His fury became unprecedented courage as he firmly rejected the threats and promises of Golden Roc Fort.


    There was no news of Dragon King¡¯s death, and that became the greatest constion for Fang Wenshi. For more than ten days, he had worried about the Great Snowmountain campsite. With 3,000 people there, it was the foundation for Dragon King power. If the entire army copsed, there was no way back even if Dragon King grew three heads and six arms.

 Chapter 361 - A Decisive Battle

    Chapter 361: A Decisive Battle


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Having experienced threerge-scale attacks and countless strikesunched by killers, the impregnable Great Snowmountain was the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s most formidable enemy. This exceeded Supreme King and Zhang Ji¡¯s expectations.


    In the grand strategy drawn up by the two of them, the critical part was invading Shu-lik by borrowing soldiers, followed by upying the Central in stronghold near the eastern border. Eliminating the Snow Mountain Gang was a minor distraction. ording to the n, the assault would end within half a month.


    Til now, the first two ns were going well. Third Young Master Shangguan Yun, leading a troop of 5,000 soldiers and horses, had marched thousands of miles towards the Central in stronghold. They failed in the first foray. Shangguan Nu, who was hiding in the stronghold, escaped upon hearing the news, leaving several years worth supplies umted by the Central in in the hands of Golden Roc Fort. Shangguan Yun was recruitingborers to build an invincible city in the eastern border, in anticipation of Central in retaliating.


    The 10,000 cavalry of Nond was even more overwhelming. They won every war and were slowly approaching the capital of Shu-lik, continuously strengthening their forces at the same time.


    The Great Snowmountain campsite, located at the eastern entrance of Shu-lik, upied an important position. Dugu Xian led tens of thousands of people to besiege it. They should upy it as early as possible, and then lead the troops into Shu-lik to upy the city after Nond army. Twenty days passed, however, and the Great Snowmountain campsite still resisted. Dugu Xian could only spare a few soldiers to send into Shu-lik, which greatly disrupted Zhang Ji¡¯s grand n.


    Nond was like a tiger, and Golden Roc Fort, a wolfpared to it. Even if they worked together, as long as the wolf exposed its weakness, the tiger was very likely to swallow its prey and kick the wolf away. This was what Zhang Ji worried about the most.


    The pressure upon Dugu Xian grew. He prepared for the fourth attack, which would be thest attack as well, at least for Dugu Xian.


    The Great Snowmountain campsite remained impregnable, but it suffered heavy losses and faced major internal discord.


    Over the past few months, the number of swordsman from the Great Snowmountain had gradually increased to more than 2,000, and including the swordsmen brought by machetemen Tuo Nengya, it amounted to around 3,500. After three rounds of war, they had lost almost one-third of the troops.


    Moreover, the first two defensive lines had all been broken through. Only one was left. Many people doubted that they could withstand the next attack.


    However, the swordsman¡¯s morale did not diminish. Having been in hiding for months, everyone was reserving back their strength. Now, they would rather rush out to die in battle rather than wait for death while defending the camp.


    Among many high-ranking military officers, Tuo Nengya was the only one who insisted on a defensive strategy. He had once saved the Great Snowmountain at a critical point; that was why he was highly respected. However, his status had declined recently. This was not his fault. As soon as the war had started, many machetemen fled or turned, greatly damaging the swordsmen¡¯s impression of the old machetemen.


    That night, Tuo Nengya walked through thest snowfall of the winter and headed for the main tent. He intended to discuss military affairs with the chief of the Five Peaks to decide whether they would defend or attack. Till now, the 50-year-old macheteman had refused to ept that he was too old. At this moment, however, he felt that his strength did not match his desire, and he sensed that he might lose this negotiation.


    But he was still convinced that Dragon King would create miracles and reverse the situation once again.


    When Gu Shenwei was in Stone Kingdom, he had suspected that Golden Roc Fort might find an excuse to start the war again, so he sent three swordsman to ride through the night and return to the Great Snowmountain campsite with a warning. They arrived two days before the war started. Therefore, the Great Snowmountain earned precious time to respond, which was the main reason why they could resist the three strong attacks.


    And that was also why Tuo Nengya believed that Dragon King woulde back to save the army. All they needed to do were to defend the campsite and maintain their strength.


    He entered the main tent. After ncing at the people inside, he knew that this was a fight he would not win.


    The chiefs had arrived early. It seemed like they had already reached a agreement.


    There were five chiefs in the Great Snowmountain, of which the highest-ranking, Long Qinying, chief of the Luoshen tribe who guarded in the mountain, had appointed a young man of his tribe to perform the duty on behalf of the chief. He seldom expressed his opinions, and he always followed the decisions of the other four chiefs.


    The chief of Danduo Peak Long Xiaoshi, who had one of his eyes pecked away by the giant red-crowned roc, was the most influential figure among the five chiefs. The chiefs of Greatsword Peak and Smallsword Peak ceded to his orders.


    The chief of Canopy Peak Long Fanyun was a young man. He and Tuo Nengya had once been rewarded by Dragon King the patronus¡¯s saber. He had always been a supporter of the old machetemen. Tonight, however, he lowered his head and avoided eye contact with Tuo Nengya.


    Long Xiaoshi stood up and spoke on behalf of all the swordsmen of Five Peaks. ¡°We have held back for too long. The men of the Great Snowmountain do not want to be cowards any more. Even if all the troops of Western Region are outside, we will charge and fight.¡±


    Long Xiaoshi¡¯s words made it clear that there was no more room for negotiation. Tuo Nengya did not reply. Long Xiaoshi paused shortly, and then continued, ¡°We understand that the machetemen have different ideas from us, and we will not force them. In the final battle, the swordsmen will rush to the forefront. As for others, they can choose whether to fight or leave.¡±


    Finishing his speech, he sat back.


    Tuo Nengya took off the patronus¡¯s saber given by Dragon King from his back and held it respectfully in his arms. He said, ¡°Although some have escaped and some have turned, please don¡¯ty me on those here. Have they not fought shoulder to shoulder with you and killed the enemy? Did they not show courage when fighting the army of Golden Roc Fort? Are they not loyal to Dragon King, just like you?¡±


    The five chiefs in the Great Snowmountain looked embarrassed. The young chief of the Canopy Peak Long Fanyun even blushed.


    Long Xiaoshi stood up again, holding out his hands in a respectful fist and apologized to the old machetemen. ¡°I am a rude man who is not good at speaking, please forgive me, Boss Tuo. To me, every macheteman who fought shoulder to shoulder with us is as good as any man in the Great Snowmountain. However, we are still somewhat different from you. We only know how to attack, and do not know how to defend. We are born to die on the battlefield.¡±


    Tuo Nengya silently sighed to himself. Dragon King had found a group of the bravest soldiers, but not apetentmander. The chiefs could not do it, neither could he.


    ¡± I do not oppose war.¡± As Tuo Nengya said this, the people in the tent beamed, relieved. He added, ¡°I have only one request.¡±


    ¡°Please tell us, Boss Tuo.¡± Long Xiaoshi said politely.


    ¡°All signs indicate that Golden Roc Fort is preparing for its fourth attack, which will probably happen tomorrow. Let¡¯s defend one more time to discourage the enemy. After that, I will be the first to lead the charge.¡±


    This was not what the chiefs had agreed on. All people fixed their eyes on Long Xiaoshi. Now that Dragon King was not here, he was the leader of the Great Snowmountain. Long Xiaoshi lowered his head and did not say a word.


    ¡°There will be a fight sooner orter, why should we have to wait again? When Golden Roc Fortes, why not charge and kill them just as we desire?¡± The chief of the Greatsword Peak had a quick temper, and was eager to say what was on his mind.


    The chief of the Canopy Peak Long Fanyun flushed and said, ¡°I think Boss Tuo speaks reason. Defending one more time will act to discourage Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    The chief of the Greatsword Peak pped on his knee and shouted angrily, ¡°Golden Roc Fort is as timid as a mouse. They only kill people stealthily. Are the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain afraid of them?¡±


    Long Fanyun blushed deeply, but refused to concede. ¡°I didn¡¯t say we were afraid of Golden Roc Fort. I just don¡¯t want our people to die in vain.¡±


    The two red at each other, which wasmon in Great Snowmountain. Long Xiaoshi knew that fight themselves bloody if he did not say anything, so he spread out his arms, and said, ¡°Ok, keep your fire for the battlefield. Why not defend first and attackter, and take Golden Roc Fort by surprise?¡±


    The n was settled. Tuo Nengya could not change the chiefs¡¯ minds, and simply agreed.


    Back in his residence, Tuo Nengya antsy, like on pins and needles. He couldn¡¯t exin why but felt that something was wrong. Later, he would recall that each time Golden Roc Fort hadunched a strong attack, they would send a number of killers to sneak into the camp to create chaos. However, these two days had been peaceful, not a single sneak attack.


    The attack tomorrow would be fierce. Tuo Nengya was worried that it would be difficult to defend, let aloneunch an attack instead.


    Before dawn the next day, all troops in the camp began to prepare for the war. The Five Peaks of the Great Snowmountain and Tuo Nengya volunteered half of their machetemen as the main force to defend, leaving the rest for the attack during the second half.


    After breakfast, with the drums beating their resounding beat, Golden Roc Fort¡¯s armyunched their fourth attack.


    Unlike what Tuo Nengya had expected, this attack was not as formidable as the previous three attacks. The defending army repelled several attacks only with their bows and arrows.


    Dugu Xian seemed to be at his wits end and could only take advantage of sheer numbers tounch one attack after another to break thest defence line of the Great Snowmountain campsite.


    However, the attack this timested far longer than the previous attacks. It raged from morning to noon Piles of corpse werey in front of the camp, dyeing the soil red.


    The defenders were exhausted and quickly running out off their arrows. Behind them, the other half of swordsmen were waiting impatiently for their turn to attack. The chief of the Greatsword Peak unsheathed his heavy sword, pleading Long Xiaoshi tounch the attack.


    Tuo Nengya felt that it still was not the appropriate time. It seemed that Golden Roc Fort had not used up all their forces. However, the plea for the final attack was getting louder and louder, he could not ignore it any longer.


    At three o¡¯clock in the afternoon, Long Xiaoshi ordered the gate of the camp open and lead the entire army to charge.


    The sound of the low drum beat and the shrill horn intertwined in the valley. The bravest group of swordsmen in the Great Snowmountain took the lead in rushing out of the camp, stepping over the enemy¡¯s corpses and blood, heading for the enemy who outnumbered them.


    Even the exhausted defending army were drawn into the battlefield, putting down their bows and arrows, taking up their swords, and rushing out before receiving the order.


    In the distance, the Commander of Golden Roc Fort Dugu Xian finally felt relieved.


    Three thousand heavy cavalries, all heavily armed, gathered at the foot of the mountain, pointed theirnce forward. Propelled by the battle drum, they hastened their pace and rushed towards the enemy.


    Tuo Nengya was still a macheteman inside. Once he rushed out of the campsite and held up the patronus¡¯s saber, he no longer thought about winning or losing. Even when he saw the unexpected heavy cavalry, he did not care. There was only one thought in his mind: Never let the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain win. Even if he were to die, he would kill as many people as possible.


    Meanwhile, dozens of masked killers emerged from where they were hiding, and jumped into the Great Snowmountain campsite, which was almost deserted.


    That was what Gu Shenwei saw when he returned to the campsite after his ordeal.

 Chapter 362 - Charge

    Chapter 362: Charge


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    It was pitch dark at this moment, but Gu Shenwei easily recognized the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s military camp when he gazed far ahead, since it was brilliantly illuminated by firelights and looked like a 1,000-meter-long light strip as bright as the Milky Way in the sky. This light strip tightly blocked the entrance of a valley, and inside the valley stood the Great Snowmountain¡¯s camp, which was only dimly lit. If Gu Shenwei had not been very familiar with the terrain here, he would have never been able to find out where the Great Snowmountain¡¯s camp was.


    Upon seeing that, Gu Shenweiforted himself by thinking, <em>¡°Perhaps they just reduced the amount of light in the camp to guard against the killers¡¯ sneak attacks at night.¡±</em>


    Shangguan Fei was deeply impressed by the scene before his eyes and eximed, ¡°This is our Golden Roc Fort¡¯s¡­¡±


    He suddenly stopped and sighed. The Golden Roc Fort had already scaled new heights, but he was only a stepping-stone and a sacrificialmb for it and was forced to join the losing side.


    ¡°Dragon King, what shall we do?¡± asked Shangguan Hong, in a very modest tone. Since his failed attempt to escape, he had be more and more humble in front of the Dragon King, as if he was the young lord¡¯s ve.


    Since leaving the Stone Kingdom, Gu Shenwei had been thinking about this question all along the way. He already had a n and but he was not very sure about it. Nevertheless, now it seemed that he was left with no other choice.


    ¡°The two of you,e here. It¡¯s time for you to do something for me,¡± Gu Shenwei said to the excited-looking Shangguan Fei and the worried-looking Shangguan Hong.


    The two boys were well aware that the Dragon King did not just want to prove to everyone that he had not ughtered the Supreme King¡¯s children by bringing them back here. They had expected this to happen a long time ago, but now when the Dragon King was about to send them out on a mission, they felt somewhat reluctant to work for him.


    ¡°Hur Hur, Dragon King, I¡¯ve assisted you in ambushing Wildhorse, and it was not my fault that you failed to kill him. Given that, I think it¡¯s someone else¡¯s turn this time.¡± Shangguan Fei hoped to remind the Dragon King of his ¡°credit¡±.


    Shangguan Hong patted his chest and said proudly, ¡°Please tell me what to do, Dragon King. Now, I¡¯m all yours, as long as you don¡¯t despise my poor kung fu.¡± That being said, Shangguan Hong was praying deep inside his heart that the Dragon King would ditch him for this mission because of his inferior kung fu.


    Gu Shenwei knew that only great fear could drive these two cowards to take action, so he patted the parcel containing their dry food and said, ¡°You¡¯ve been eating Intestine Severing Powder these days. It¡¯s one of the seven specially-made medicines of the New Moon Hall and is very good for your health.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, Dragon King, you¡¯re so kind to us. Both of us want to find a chance to repay your generosity.¡± Shangguan Fei lied because he dared not reveal his real thought to the Dragon King. In the meantime, he missed his authority as the Ninth Young Master of the Golden Roc Fort even more.


    ¡°You¡¯ll benefit from this mission, too,¡± said Gu Shenwei while pointing at the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s military camp. ¡°You two go to meet with Dugu Xian at noon tomorrow. Don¡¯t postpone or bring forward the time. You¡¯ll tell him that you¡¯ve just escaped death, and then you shall summon all the killers in the camp and order them to remove Dugu Xian from his post. After that, you¡¯ll withdraw the army 5 kilometers to make way for the Great Snowmountain¡¯s soldiers. You¡¯ll tell everyone that it¡¯s the Supreme King¡¯smand.¡±


    Upon hearing the Dragon King¡¯s ¡°simple¡± request, Shangguan Fei and Shangguan Hong gazed at each other in speechless despair. In their eyes, it really went beyond their current level ofpetence. Although both of them had taken part in many schemes before, for most of the time they had been hiding behind the scenes and sent others to carry out their orders.


    ¡°Well, how will we benefit from this mission?¡± Shangguan Fei asked bluntly.


    ¡°If you two made a public appearance in Jade City now, the Supreme King would soon have you assassinated and tell everyone that you¡¯re impostors. However, if you first appear here, a ce beyond the Supreme King¡¯s reach, your safety will be guaranteed. The more people witness your return, the better your future safety will be ensured.¡±


    The Shangguan brothers could not deny that the Dragon King¡¯s analysis sounded quite reasonable, but they still felt hesitant, especially Shangguan Fei. He instinctively rejected all actions that required his personal involvement, ¡°What if Dugu Xian knew the lord¡¯s n and had both of us instantly killed?¡±


    ¡°He won¡¯t kill you guys,¡± Gu Shenwei said assertively. He knew for sure that a hiredmander like Dugu Xian would never be allowed to know the top secrets of the Golden Roc Fort.


    Shangguan Hong appeared much braver than Shangguan Fei and patted his chest again, while saying, ¡°No problem, Dragon King. Just wait for our good news.¡± With these words, he turned to Shangguan Fei and said, ¡°Brother, don¡¯t be so nervous. It¡¯s just a simple mission. Besides, Dragon King has saved our lives. We should try our best to repay him, right?¡±


    Shangguan Fei was stunned when Shangguan Hong called him ¡°Brother¡±. He was not used to it and even felt somewhat irritated by it. He snorted and said to the Dragon King, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go, but I¡¯ve a request. Once weplete this mission, you¡¯ll give us the antidote for that Intestine Severing Powder. No matter how great it is for my health, I don¡¯t want to have it anymore.¡±


    Gu Shenwei solemnly agreed and then reminded them. ¡°You¡¯ll have 12 hours to remove Dugu Xian from his post after going into the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s camp. I want to see the ground outside the valley to be empty by midnight.¡±


    Both Shangguan Fei and Shangguan Hong were usually considered as cowards by others, who were incapable of fulfilling any crucial task. Nevertheless, Gu Shenwei entrusted them with this important mission, since he believed that they were as cunning as the other members of the Shangguan family. Shangguan Fei had once pretended to be Shangguan Ru to deceive him, and Shangguan Hong had once killed a famous monk to frame him. He was clear that once these two cowards were cornered, they would be capable of anything.


    As for Gu Shenwei himself, tonight he would make a detour around the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s army to get into the Great Snowmountain¡¯s camp from the back of it.


    The Great Snowmountain¡¯s camp happened to stand in the ce of the former Gu family¡¯s manor, and Gu Shenwei could still recall the terrain here.


    However, this trip turned out to be far more difficult than he had ever imagined. The mountain path was rugged, and there were many killers lying in wait along the way. To avoid these killers, he could only take more detours.


    Not even in their wildest dreams had Tuo Nengya and the tribal chiefs expected the Dragon King to be slowly approaching their camp in the mountain while they were discussing military affairs.


    By divine coincidence, when Gu Shenwei arrived at the camp, it was already toote to stop his army from rushing out of the camp for a charge, but he happened to bump into the dozens of killers who sneaked into the camp.


    Confronted with the Golden Roc Fort killers who suddenly appeared in the camp, the 300 to 400 wounded soldiers did not have much power to fight back.


    In order to boost their morale, Gu Shenwei decided to change his usual fighting style. Instead of ambushing the stragglers, he held his Five Peaks Saber high and rushed into the crowd of killers to engage them in closebat while shouting, ¡°The Dragon King is here.¡±


    Upon hearing that, the killers were struck with fear. Although the Dragon King was also a killer trained by the Golden Roc Fort, they all considered him as a legendary figure and believed that his kung fu was much better than theirs. The injured soldiers of the Great Snowmountain, however, were pleasantly surprised to hear the Dragon King¡¯s voice. When they saw with their own eyes that it was indeed the Dragon King, they were thrilled. More than a hundred wounded warriors immediately struggled to stand up and joined the fight.


    Killers never liked a melee. Gu Shenwei was forced to start one, and the other killers quickly retreated to avoid it. For them, this was the only correct choice under such circumstances.


    The fight ended quickly, and Gu Shenwei did not send anyone to chase after the killers. Instead, he asked immediately, ¡°Where are the other soldiers?¡±


    ¡°They all went out of the camp to battle against the Golden Roc Fort,¡± a wounded soldier replied, his eyes filled with indescribable joy. He and hisrades all firmly believed that once the Dragon King appeared, they would definitely win the battle.


    Gu Shenwei climbed up adder to get a view of the battlefield outside the camp wall and saw 3,000 heavily armored cavalrymen charging into the battlefield.


    He recalled that Dugu Xian had once sent out a well-trained cavalry troop during the battle that happened right after he and his army captured this campground. He deeply regretted for not having sent anyone to investigate the source of the cavalry troop at that time. He realized that if he had tracked it down, he would have been able to uncover the Supreme King¡¯s scheme in the Xiaowan Kingdom a long time ago.


    Compared to that of the previous battle, the cavalry regiment that appeared today was much more disciplined and much better equipped. In an instant, they had easily broken through the Great Snowmountain¡¯s defense line, and were now steering their horses back and regrouping, preparing tounch a second charge.


    They would quickly wipe out all the soldiers of the Great Snowmountain in a few more charges.


    ¡°Tell them to retreat,¡± Gu Shenweimanded, and almost immediately he saw the bewildered look on the wounded soldiers¡¯ faces and realized that he had made a stupid mistake. Horns of the Great Snowmountain were only used to send out signals for charge and never for withdrawal.


    He jumped back to the ground, took hold of a horse that looked strong and said to the wounded soldiers who were barely able to rise to their feet. ¡°Defend the camp and never step out of it.¡±


    After that, he straddled the horse, circled around inside the camp and in the end, decided to leave with a battle g in hand. It was a ck g with a side portrait of a red crow in the center. He had designed this g during his stay in Jade City.


    Gu Shenwei galloped out of the camp, nning to try his best to rescue his brave and loyal warriors. If they were annihted, he would lose everything he had built up along with the trust of the people left behind in the Great Snowmountain.


    The ground was red outside the camp and scattered with numerous bodies. Among them, many severely wounded and dying people were crying and wailing like helpless children.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s mount was galloping as fast as it could, but he still felt that it was too slow. The heavily armored cavalry regiment ahead of him had already begun charging for the second time. They looked like a fast-moving iron wall, and he would never catch up with it no matter how hard he tried.


    Even if he managed to keep up with the cavalrymen, he would never be able to stop them by himself.


    In front of the cavalry regiment, the soldiers of the Great Snowmountain were engaged in closebat against the infantry of the Golden Roc Fort and thus were unable to pay any heed to the situation behind themselves.


    When the heavily armored cavalrymen swept across the battleground, numerous infantrymen from both sides were knocked down like wheat being harvested by a huge sickle.


    It seemed that Dugu Xian did not mind sacrificing his own infantrymen while trying to destroy the Great Snowmountain¡¯s soldiers.


    Gu Shenwei galloped into the battlefield and shouted loudly, ¡°The Dragon King is here. Gather under the g!¡±


    The appearance of the Dragon King boosted the morale of his machetemen and swordsmen. They cheered and quickly gathered under his g. The Golden Roc Fort¡¯s infantrymen began to waver, but their heavily armored cavalrymen remained unafraid. They turned around and regrouped again, preparing for the third charge.


    Countless warriors of the Great Snowmountain had already died before the arrival of the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei swept his gaze across the crowd and found out that there were only less than 2,000 people gathering under his g.


    ¡°The injured ones leave first, and the others cover their withdrawal. Let¡¯s retreat into the camp!¡± Gu Shenweimanded.


    The machetemen swiftly executed the order, but the swordsmen all stood agape. They had thought that Dragon King hade here to join the battle against the Golden Roc Fort.


    Gu Shenwei held the Red Crow g aloft and shouted with an unquestionable tone, ¡°It¡¯s the Dragon King¡¯s order. Everyone has to obey!¡±


    Upon hearing that, the swordsmen all looked dejected like a group of children being scolded by their seniors, but they finally began to retreat toward the camp.


    Gu Shenwei jumped off his horse to stand in a line with nearly 1,000 soldiers, still holding the battle g in his hand. They would work together to block the narrow entrance of the valley to cover theirrades.


    ¡°Strike at the horse legs!¡± Gu Shenwei said, and these five words were quickly passed down by the soldiers standing on both sides of the Dragon King. After receiving the order, the swordsmen all half squatted and held their heavy swords with both hands, ready to strike at the horses.


    When the cavalrymen came at the swordsmen, the swordsmen¡¯s defense line sustained the impact and only a few dozen cavalrymen had managed to break through it. The whole scene looked like a hammer being caught up in a soft fishing.


    The third round of cavalry charge was thus thwarted by the swordsmen.


    Well-trained cavalrymen never engaged in a closebat against infantry, so they immediately retreated, nning to charge again when they got enough distance between themselves and the enemy.


    The warriors of the Great Snowmountain fought while withdrawing and paid a heavy price to block several cavalry charges. Toward evening, they finally made it to their camp.


    Gu Shenwei was soaked with blood and looked as red as the crow on his g when he returned to the camp.


    His army was not utterly destroyed in the battle, but he was not d. Based on his previous experiences, he suspected that there was a plot behind this battle, and his sixth sense also told him that someone in the camp was secretly pleased with the defeat at this moment. He swore that he would find out the hidden traitor in his army.

 Chapter 363 - Withdrawal Westward

    Chapter 363: Withdrawal Westward


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The remorse for their own mistakes and the pain of losing theirrades in armspounded the misery of the survivors of the battle.


    When the fight was over, the morale of the Great Snowmountain soldiers began to fade away. They kept looking around nkly, searching in vain for their best friends, until the grief of seeing familiar faces among the pile of corpses wrenched their hearts. After that, these hard-bitten warriors, who would rather die than surrender before the enemy, would slump down on the ground with the most vacant expression on their face, their mindspletely nk.


    Before long, they would begin to ponder, <em>¡°Why did we fail to win this battle? And why did we fight this battle?¡±</em>


    The soldiers were suffering from low morale caused by the huge loss, so much so that even the appearance of the Dragon King failed to cheer them up.


    All the tribal chiefs were seriously wounded, and more than 1,000 swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain were killed.


    Tuo Nengya, the battle-seasoned macheteman, had dozens of wounds on his body and became soaked in his own blood. He stared at the Dragon King but was unable to utter a word. His reputation was untarnished, but he did not know whether there was still any chance that he would be able to use his patronus¡¯ saber again in the future.


    The machetemen troop he had worked so hard to build up now only had less than 500 people. The machetemen quietly gathered around their leader, seemingly wanting to bring more vitality to him in this way.


    Amongst the four battles during the past 20 days or so, the fourth one caused the most damage to the Great Snowmountain. Among the 4,000 soldiers of the army, only 1,600 survived the battles and nearly half of them were injured.


    Gu Shenwei walked past all the survivors, full of grief and anger. He swept his gaze across their faces, some of which were unfamiliar to him, and gradually subdued his anger.


    He firmly believed that there was a hidden traitor in his army and it was probably one of the five tribal chiefs. This traitor had made use of the bravery and arrogance of the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, and spurred them tounch this suicide attack.


    Neither the simple-minded swordsmen nor the proud middle-aged macheteman had suspected that there was a scheme behind the whole thing, but Gu Shenwei, who had grown up in a world of intrigue, was keenly aware of this possibility.


    Nevertheless, now the top priority was not finding out the hidden traitor, since it might further shatter the morale of the army.


    Gu Shenwei was well aware that justice must be served in an appropriate way, otherwise it would do more harm than good to his army.


    After banishing the thought of tracking down the hidden traitor right now, Gu Shenwei summoned all the important figures in his army to meet together.


    The Great Snowmountain consisted of five peaks, which were equivalent to five tribes. Each peak was further divided into many different valleys, and each valley had a leader, who did not have much real power. In ordance with the current rules of the Great Snowmountain, all the matters within a tribe were determined by the tribal chief, and the leaders of the valleys were just in charge of delivering messages and carrying out orders from their chiefs. However, this time, Gu Shenwei decided to break these rules.


    Beside the five tribal chiefs and Tuo Nengya, who were carried by others to the meeting, Gu Shenwei also invited all the 70 valley leaders of the Great Snowmountain and 23 leaders at all levels from the machetemen to the meeting. As such, there were a total of 100 people, including the Dragon King, at the meeting.


    These 100 people would determine the fate of the army.


    The Dragon King¡¯s main tent was not big enough, so he chose an empty slope for the meeting. At the beginning of the meeting, all the participants knelt down to mourn for the dead. After that, they all sat on the ground and listened to the Dragon King¡¯s speech. Gu Shenwei stood on top of the slope and once again called on everyone to leave with him.


    Pressed for time, he did not summon any warlock or use any ornatenguage to persuade his soldiers this time around. He explicitly told them, ¡°I¡¯ve juste back from the Xiaoyao Lake in the southeast. It¡¯s a beautiful and prosperous ce, and a natural choke point. The locals down there are worried that the Golden Roc Fort is going to expand to the south, so they invite us, the soldiers of the Great Snowmountain to fight side by side against amon enemy.¡±


    Nobody had expected the Dragon King to make such a request. The tribal chiefs and the valley leaders began whispering to each other, ¡°Aren¡¯t we going back to the Great Snowmountain?¡± The leaders of the machetemen all lowered their heads and remained silent, while thinking, <em>¡°Now things look awfully bleak for us. It¡¯s better for us to disband and go into hiding at different ces, waiting for another chance toe back.¡±</em>


    Gu Shenwei could notice their doubts about him and continued, ¡°Now, the situation in Western Region is totally different. The Golden Roc Fort is in league with Nond and their armies are busy making war all over the region. A session of cavalrymen is rapidly advancing toward Shu-lik in the west. I¡¯ve seen it with my own eyes. Only kingdoms around the Xiaoyao Lake in the south are not upied by our enemies, since that ce is isted by deserts. This is our only chance. Once we upy thatnd, we¡¯ll be hunted no more and we¡¯ll gain a firm footing in Western Region.¡±


    As these words were intended for the leaders of the machetemen, Gu Shenwei quickly continued, trying to argue the swordsmen into supporting his decision. ¡°I¡¯m your Dragon King. I¡¯ve promised you that I¡¯ll capture Golden Roc Fort within three years, and this promise is still valid. I implore you, the people of the Empyrean, the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain, to continue fighting together with me. Don¡¯t be depressed by this momentary defeat. The Empyrean has appointed me to unite the five peaks of the Great Snowmountain. It won¡¯t abandon me when we¡¯re faced with formidable enemies and it¡¯ll never let the five peaks split again.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not tell them the whole truth, but his speech still touched many people. Firstly, it was the swordsmen who stood up and cheered in agreement, and then the machetemen quickly followed suit.


    At this moment, several senior leaders of the swordsmen asked whether they were obligated to offer sacrifice for the Empyrean and pray for a blessing. The Dragon King tly refused to hold such a ceremony, since there was no time to lose. ¡°Everyone gets ready to leave this camp as soon as possible. Let the injured ones mount the horses, and the others travel by foot. Bring as much hay and water as possible, and leave the other things behind. We¡¯ll set out at any minute,¡± Gu Shenweimanded.


    Most soldiers in the camp had no idea how they were going to step out of this camp, as the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s army had already blocked up the only exit of the valley. Despite that, they still moved swiftly to carry out the Dragon King¡¯s order on such short notice.


    Gu Shenwei climbed up a watch tower to observe the military camp of the Golden Roc Fort.


    It was nearing midnight, but the camp was still brightly lit, showing no sign of retreat.


    He had already sent out some scouts to investigate the situation, but none of them hade back by far.


    He had ordered the Shangguan brothers to meet Dugu Xian at noon, but he had never expected Dugu Xian to withdraw his army only byte afternoon. <em>¡°If they only got the chance to meet themander when he returned to the camp, they probably would not have ample time toplete the task,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei worriedly.


    He was getting increasingly unsure that the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s army would retreat toward the east before midnight, but this was not his main worry, since it would be alright if they just dyed their withdrawal. What concerned him most was that they saw through the brothers¡¯ scheme. He feared that he had pushed the cowardly brothers too hard and stressed them out. Under such circumstances, they might make mistakes when trying to finish the task in a hurry.


    Time passed, and around midnight the soldiers of the Great Snowmountain all got fully equipped to start a journey. As they had lost most of their horses during the previous battles, only the most severely wounded ones could get mounts. They were ordered to leave no one behind, and even prepared to carry the unconscious ones with themselves.


    <em>¡°We¡¯ll only be able to travel at a very low speed,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei sighed secretly, but he could notmand his soldiers to ditch their woundedrades. The swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain were different from the Golden Roc Fort killers and would not tolerate any despicable behavior from their leader, not to mention that they all considered their Dragon King a demigod.


    There was no water clock in his camp, but Gu Shenwei was able to tell the time by the position of the moon and the stars. He was pretty sure that midnight had already passed.


    At this moment, the firelight in the camp of the Golden Roc Fort was as bright as before.


    ¡°Dragon King, the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s army has withdrawn. They¡¯ve left,¡± a scout ran back to report, while panting heavily.


    Gu Shenwei suspected that this might be a trap. <em>¡°Shangguan Hong and Shangguan Fei probably n to win back their father¡¯s favor by luring my army into an ambush. As for the antidote for the Intestine Severing Powder, they probably don¡¯t care much about it. Perhaps they believe that their father is always able to find a way to save them.¡±</em>


    To find out what had happened, Gu Shenwei personally led his vanguard, which consisted of 500 soldiers, to cross the battleground and sneak into the military camp of the Golden Roc Fort.


    They vigntly scanned their surroundings but saw no one in this camp, although the tents, camp fire and weapons were all left intact.


    Gu Shenwei forbade his soldiers from touching anything in the camp and focused on checking the marks left by horseshoes. The tracks were still fresh, clearly indicating that the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s army had already retreated toward the east.


    Gu Shenwei was pleased to know that Shangguan Fei and Shangguan Hong proved themselvespetent during their first cooperation.


    He led his troops to march toward the west, and after traveling a few kilometers, he was pretty sure that there were no enemies waiting in an ambush for his army. He sent out scouts to investigate the situation ahead of and behind his troops, and messengers to summon the other troops to follow up.


    Soon enough, the remaining 1,600 or so soldiers of the Dragon King gathered together and regrouped into three parts: 500 people taking the lead, another 500 at the rear and the wounded soldiers and pack animals traveling in the middle. The Dragon King led his army quietly toward the west, and just after daybreak they were already far away from their camp. As they left in a hurry, many dead bodies of theirrades had been left behind.


    As Gu Shenwei had expected, the Great Snowmountain troops could only travel at a very slow pace, which was about a dozen kilometers a day, while carrying arge number of wounded soldiers. Besides, they alsocked horses.


    He was worried, not only because the Golden Roc Fort would discover the Shangguan brothers¡¯ deception sooner orter but also because now they were marching on the road, which had been used by the cavalrymen of Nond when they went to invade Shu-lik. If they appeared again on this road, the Great Snowmountain troops would incur a heavy loss.


    Gu Shenwei prayed sincerely, asking the Empyrean for help for the first time. This time, luck was indeed on his side.


    On the third day of their journey, the Great Snowmountain troops arrived at a burned-down sentry post of Shu-lik. From this point on, they were going to travel toward the southeast, following the route between the desert and Gobi, and if everything went smoothly, they would reach the Xiaoyao Lake 23 dayster.


    It was going to be a difficult journey, so Gu Shenwei wanted his soldiers to rest for a day and be well prepared for it. He ordered his men to pitch camp here, take care of the injured ones and graze their horses nearby.


    Toward evening, Shangguan Fei and Shangguan Hong returned to the Dragon King¡¯s army at the agreed time. They even brought back a captive¡ªDugu Xian, themander of the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s army. Dugu Xian did not understand what the Shangguan brothers had done to him until he met the Dragon King.


    Shangguan Fei and Shangguan Hong were overjoyed that they had sessfullypleted the mission. Apart from iming their respective credits, they even praised each other in front of the Dragon King, showing unprecedented friendship.


    ¡°The Ninth Young Master is such a genius. All the killers were convinced by him, and one of them even said that he had found Dugu Xian suspicious a long time ago and anticipated the lord to remove him from his post someday. Haha,¡± said Shangguan Hong.


    ¡°Master Hong was very helpful. He deluded them into believing that Nond¡¯s cavalrymen were lying in wait in the west. He told them that once the soldiers of the Great Snowmountain began to flee, they would be eliminated in the ambush,¡± said Shangguan Fei.


    Gu Shenwei gave them two red pills and imed that they were an antidote for Intestine Severing Powder. He had received these pills from Maid Lotus when he had been severely wounded at one time. Regardless of the fact that Maid Lotus had contended that they were nontoxic and had good curative effect, Gu Shenwei still refused to take them or use them on his own warriors.


    ¡°Now, you can return to Jade City,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    The Shangguan brothers exchanged a look with each other and then said simultaneously, ¡°No, Dragon King. We want to stay with you.¡±


    There had been no justifiable reason for Supreme King¡¯s decision to kill them, but at present, the obvious fact that they had assisted the Great Snowmountain troops to escape offered an adequate exnation for their father¡¯s cruel decision. Once they showed up in Jade City, the Supreme King would openly hunt and kill them.


    Given that, both of them were clear that in the entire Western Region, only the Dragon King could protect them.


    After nightfall, the Dragon King and his army ran out of luck. Their scouts returned and reported, ¡°The Golden Roc Fort¡¯s army has been chasing after us at top speed since uncovering the deceit. They took a short-cut and have already blocked the way leading to the Xiaoyao Lake.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a big deal. We¡¯ve a hostage,¡± said Shangguan Fei. Surprisingly, this time, he was collected in the presence of danger.


    Gu Shenwei gave a nce at Dugu Xian who stayed in the corner of his tent and wondered, <em>¡°Does thismander carry enough importance? Are we really be able to stop the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s army by taking him hostage?¡±</em>

 Chapter 364 - Release the Commander

    Chapter 364: Release the Commander


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Dugu Xian was in his early 30s. He was a tall man with a masculine face and had all the fine qualities of a military man. He had an abundant amount of military experience, which enabled him to be amander of an army at such a young age.


    When he had been a young nobleman of the Xiaowan Kingdom, he traveled widely and served in the armies of the Central in and Nond respectively. Although he did not read many military books, he gained a lot of experience from real battles.


    Unfortunately, when he returned to the Xiaowan Kingdom, he found out that his expertise was useless in his country.


    The Xiaowan Kingdom was the most loyal vassal of Nond, and the great power controlled all major and even minor matters in the kingdom. The king of Xiaowan did not even have the right to appoint the guards at the gate of his own royal pce, and the whole country¡¯s standing army only had less than 300 soldiers. The most probable reason Xiaowan still existed as an independent country was that Nond wanted to prove that it had no ambition to annex all the territory north of Tianshan.


    When the Golden Roc Fort expressed its intent to hire Dugu Xian to secretly train an army in the country, he readily agreed.


    Like most people in Western Region, he did not have a strong sense of national identity and just wanted to get a chance to use his talents. That was why he did not mind serving the Golden Roc Fort.


    When the Supreme King resolved to wipe out the Great Snowmountain troops, it was a natural progression for him to serve asmander-in-chief of the army. He returned to the battlefield, full of expectation that he would establish his reputation as a talented militarymander, but soon he was disappointed.


    During the entire process of the siege, Dugu Xian and the Golden Roc Fort were riven by contradictions.


    Dugu Xian nned to amass arge army, which had three or even five times as many soldiers as the Great Snowmoutnain troops, beforeunching the first siege battle. Nevertheless, the Supreme King sent a messenger to him before he was fully prepared, asking him to wage war against the Great Snowmountain and overrun their military camp as soon as possible.


    Dugu Xian had no choice but to execute the Supreme King¡¯s order. As a result, both sides suffered heavy losses in that battle, but the Great Snowmountain¡¯s military camp still stood intact.


    Not long after the battle, when the Dragon King was seeking opportunities for peace talks in Jade City, Dugu Xian wanted to grasp this chance to trap the Great Snowmountain swordsmen to death bypletely blocking all roads linking the camp to the outside world. The Supreme King, however, vetoed this suggestion.


    He had another n, which he could not divulge to a hired general.


    As such, Dugu Xian halted the troops and waited. When the winter was about to be over, the Supreme King suddenly sent 5,000 soldiers to merge with the 5,000 men under Dugu Xian¡¯smand, asking him to conquer the Great Snowmountain¡¯s camp within half a month.


    It was not a good season to start a siege, as the weather was cold and the roads were muddy. Given this situation, Dugu Xian had nned to lure the Great Snowmountain troops out of their camp by sending a small troop to feinting to attack the swordsmen¡¯s homnd. Nevertheless, as the Supreme King refused to give him ample time to carry out his original n, he ended up having to give up the n and gave orders to take the Great Snowmountain¡¯s camp by force.


    During the siege, the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s army only managed to break through two unimportant defense lines at great cost. The deeper they went into the valley, the more difficult it would be for them to advance further.


    Displeased with the result, the Supreme King, who had always maintained a modest attitude in front of Dugu Xian before, revealed another side of himself to themander. He threatened to fire or even kill the general if he failed to seize the Great Snowmountain camp during the next battle.


    There were many Golden Roc Fort killers in the army. They were under directmand of a demaster trusted by the Supreme King and would never take orders from Dugu Xian.


    Their presence made themander-in-chief feel worried about his own life. Under such pressure, he decided to take the risk to buy over a hidden traitor inside the Great Snowmountain¡¯s army and then asked this traitor to encourage the swordsmen to leave the camp.


    People in Western Region all considered swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain to be inflexible and tough-minded. Being involved in a scheme obviously did not conform to this stereotype, but Dugu Xian found out that they could also be bought over as long as the offer was lucrative enough.


    He just had never expected that the Dragon King would have suddenly appeared during the battle and brought the remaining soldiers of the Great Snowswordsman back to the camp.


    Dugu Xian felt that the young man known as the Dragon King always brought him back luck, but he never expected that several hours after the battle, another two young men would make his life even worse.


    When first meeting with Shangguan Fei and Shangguan Hong, Dugu Xian was not alert at all. He was very excited and received them warmly, for he believed that finding these two sons of the Supreme King would make up for his failure to capture the Great Snowmountain¡¯s camp.


    He had never expected that these two young masters would have broken into his tent with a group of ck-clothed killers in the middle of the night. They tied him up and publicly announced that he colluded with the Great Snowmountain Gang.


    Since the Supreme King had repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction with Dugu Xian before, everyone in the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s camp firmly believed that the Ninth Young Master was executing his father¡¯s order. Even Dugu Xian himself had never anticipated the Shangguan brothers doing this for the Dragon King.


    Even when Shangguan Fei and Shangguan Hong, who had imed to bring him back to the Golden Roc Fort, suddenly changed their route after leaving the camp, he still did not doubt their behavior.


    When he discovered that he was brought to meet the Dragon King, he finally came to understand the whole situation.


    He ruefully admitted that he was such a fool.


    At this moment, when he was faced with the Dragon King, who was more than 10 years his junior, he lowered his head dejectedly without saying a word, as a way of admitting his defeat.


    Outside the Dragon King¡¯s tent, a crowd of swordsmen blocked the entrance, nning to bite a piece of meat from Dugu Xian when he came out. They hated this man¡¯s guts, since it was under hismand that the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s army had ughtered numerous soldiers from the Great Snowmountain.


    As for the sons of the Supreme King, who had caught Dugu Xian and sent him here, they were quickly forgiven by the swordsmen and even made friends with some of them.


    Gu Shenwei was pleasantly surprised when seeing this important captive. After ordering the other people to leave the tent, he personally interrogated Dugu Xian.


    In the beginning, themander just kept his head down quietly, and Gu Shenwei also remained silent while staring at him.


    They faced each other like this for a while and then Dugu Xian could no longer stand the silence. Despite the fact that he had already been ¡®demoted¡¯ to a captive, he still managed to maintain his dignity. He lifted up his head and said, ¡°I was not killed in the battle. What a pity.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that I¡¯ve never seen you during any previous battle,¡± Gu Shenwei mocked coldly, while sounding perfectly calm and rational.


    ¡°Humph.¡± Dugu Xian snorted and then retorted, ¡°Battles of professional soldiers are different from street fights of machetemen. A general has his own duties. The one always leading the charge is not necessarily a good general.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not want to waste time bickering over military affairs. He wanted to get straight to the point as long as Dugu Xian began to speak. ¡°That¡¯s right. A general must stick to his duties, and killing a general won¡¯t destroy his army. Given that, I decide to release you,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Dugu Xian was shocked into silence. He had heard many tales about the Dragon King¡¯s hideous brutality. Although he did not believe all of those lurid stories, he never expected to walk out of this tent alive. After a while, he realized something and asked, ¡°What do you want from me?¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s the hidden traitor of the Great Snowmountain? Let me know,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    Dugu Xian looked the young man over with an appraising eye for the first time, while thinking, <em>¡°I used to think that this guy just relied on luck or someone else¡¯s help to spoil my ns, but now it seems that he¡¯s quite smart himself. I¡¯ve kept my liaison with the hidden traitor a top secret all this while. Most of my subordinates in the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s army have no idea about it, let alone the soldiers of the Great Snowmountain. Should I expose the hidden traitor to save myself or stick to my principle of trustworthiness?¡±</em>


    After pondering the question for a moment, Dugu Xian made a decision and said, ¡°You¡¯ll never get even half a word out of me.¡±


    ¡°Are you willing to sacrifice your own life to save a traitor?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about him. It¡¯s just that I can¡¯t break my promise,¡± replied Dugu Xian. He also told this to himself.


    Upon hearing this unexpected answer, Gu Shenwei snorted contemptuously. He knew that once he ced his Five Peaks Saber against the general¡¯s throat, he would quickly change that stance, but on second thought, Gu Shenwei changed his mind. He had a better way to deal with Dugu Xian.


    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll still release you,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Why?¡± Dugu Xian asked, feeling even more astonished. After a minute, he realized how stupid he had sounded just now. ¡°What¡­ What do you want?¡± he stuttered.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll send you away and then tell everyone that you¡¯re going to give the traitor away when you¡¯re released outside the camp. I guess that the traitor will want to escape upon hearing this news. I¡¯ll only need to send some people to lie in wait around the camp to catch him,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Dugu Xian felt embarrassed at having behaved in such a childish way. He blushed with shame like an inexperienced young man while saying, ¡°You¡¯re doing this to undermine my reputation.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯m just like you. You don¡¯t care about the traitor, and I don¡¯t care about you, apdog of the Golden Roc Fort. I¡¯ll try all means to find out the traitor.¡±


    With these words, he stopped conversing with Dugu Xian and stuffed themander¡¯s mouth up to keep him silent. After that, he called two swordsmen and two machetemen into his tent and asked them to take the captive out and release him when they were at least 5 kilometers away from the camp.


    The Dragon King¡¯s order was totally beyond the four soldiers¡¯ expectations, but they still carried it out without a question. Unlike them, the other people in the camp were agitated about this decision of the Dragon King, and the five wounded tribal chiefs even immediately got out of their beds to question the Dragon King. Tuo Nengya also sent one of his confidants to inquire about the situation.


    Gu Shenwei had expected this to happen and replied with a question. ¡°The Golden Roc Fort¡¯s army has already caught up with us and blocked the road leading to the Xiaoyao Lake. Are you ready for the uing battle?¡± This was not a lie, and he just wanted to take this chance to inform them of his strategy against the enemies.


    The tribal chiefs were stunned by the Dragon King¡¯s question, and then Long Xiaoshi, chief of the Luoshen tribe, said, ¡°Please rest assured, Dragon King. We¡¯re actively preparing for it. Men from the Great Snowmountain are always ready for a battle. All of us will go to the battleground, even if we¡¯re badly injured and have to walk on all fours.¡±


    ¡°Good. I deliberately let Dugu Xian see us preparing for the battle. This will make him concentrate his forces in the road when he returns to his army. However, we won¡¯t battle against them. Nor will we take that road. I¡¯ll lead you to advance southward, avoiding confronting the enemies,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    The chiefs¡¯ mouths were agape. Fleeing the battlefield to avoid enemies did not conform to the tradition of the Great Snowmountain at all.


    ¡°We can¡¯t let our enemies pick the battlefield. Really brave warriors always pick the time and sites of their battles by themselves.¡± Gu Shenwei exined further to persuade the chiefs.


    Upon hearing that, the chiefs were struck speechless and took their leave embarrassedly, while still feeling reluctant to ept such a military decision.


    The hidden traitor dared not insist on confronting the enemy head-on in front of the Dragon King, thus he did not give himself away during this meeting.


    Gu Shenwei had a n and thus was in no hurry to find out the traitor at this moment. After quite a long time, when he estimated that Dugu Xian was at least a few kilometers away from the camp, he summoned Shangguan Fei and Shangguan Hong and gave them a simple task.


    Due to their great efforts, a rumor quickly began circting among a small group of people, which said that Dugu Xian had admitted that there was a hidden traitor in the Great Snowmountain¡¯s army and had promised to offer this traitor¡¯s name to the Dragon King in exchange for his own freedom.


    The brothers sessfully deluded the soldiers into believing that the swordsmen and machetemen, who were in charge of escorting Dugu Xian, would bring back themander¡¯s words within less than 4 hours.


    The soldiers in the camp were loyal to the Dragon King, but they also venerated their leaders of their respective peaks. Soon enough, Tuo Nengya and all the five tribal chiefs of the Great Snowmountain knew the rumor. Most of them did not take it seriously, but one of them was rmed at receiving this news.


    Gu Shenwei secretly sent out a mixed team, which consisted of 10 swordsmen and 10 machetemen, toplete a confidential mission. They would patrol around the camp and report back to him once they noticed something unusual.


    He never expected that the hidden traitor would turn himself in instead of escaping this ce.

 Chapter 365 - The Hidden Traitor

    Chapter 365: The Hidden Traitor


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Long Haiying was tall and sturdy; he even kept getting bigger after age 30. Now, he was 56 and looked roughly the same size of two swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain put together.


    He was widely-known for his bravery and reckless behavior. Once, he had rushed into a crowd of 100 enemies and ughtered half of them before scaring the other half away.


    ¡°I have a son.¡± Long Haiying started with this sentence when he went to confess his crime to the Dragon King.


    The reason he betrayed the Dragon King was just that he wanted to leave his son a strong and prosperous Greatsword Peak. To achieve that goal, he needed to remove two obstacles.


    The first one was the Luoshen Peak and its chief, Long Qinying. As the eldest tribal chief in the entire Great Snowmountain, Long Qinying enjoyed high prestige among the locals.


    The other one was the Danduo Peak, who had the most men in the Great Snowmountain. Its tribal chief, Long Xiaoshi, had long been venerated as a leader of the swordsmen and his status was second only to the Dragon King.


    Among the five peaks, the Greatsword Peak was not the weakest one, but it could only be considered to be average. In the foreseeable future, it was impossible for the Greatsword Peak to surpass the two powerful tribes unless the two peaks declined by their own doing.


    In the Dragon King¡¯s army, the Greatsword Peak still could notpete with the Danduo Peak and the Luoshen Peak. The former had the most swordsmen in the army and thetter had mobilized all the young men of the tribe to join the army, while on the other hand, Long Haiying had only taken half of his swordsmen to join the expedition and left the other half with his son in the Greatsword Peak of the Great Snowmountain.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened. It must have been a devil who put this idea into my mind. I think that even if this army is wiped out and even if I die, my son with the young swordsmen that I¡¯ve left with him will still be able to outshine the other four tribes in strength and thus the Greatsword Peak will be the strongest force in the Great Snowmountain.¡±


    Long Haiying admitted that he was the hidden traitor. However, he did not look or sound regretful, as if he had just made a small mistake.


    Gu Shenwei had already roughly guessed what was on Long Haiying¡¯s mind. He kept calm and quiet and even gazed at the sturdy swordsman with a little respect.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never thought of betraying you, Dragon King. You saved the Great Snowmountain. You¡¯re our guide and our leader. Even when the Greatsword Peak bes the strongest tribe in the Great Snowmountain, we¡¯ll still be loyal to you.¡±


    With these words, Long Haiying untied his heavy sword and went down on one knee. ¡°I¡¯vemitted an unforgivable crime. Please kill me with my sword, Dragon King. It¡¯s my own idea and has nothing to do with the others,¡± he said while holding his sword up high with both hands.


    It took a lot of nerve for Long Haiying to make such a request. Based on the Great Snowmountain¡¯s tradition, killing a swordsman with his own sword was a supreme insult to him.


    Beyond the tribal chief¡¯s expectations, the Dragon King declined to receive his sword. He kept waiting for a while before lifting up his head. His face blushed, and his eyes were full of sorrow and disappointment. ¡°Isn¡¯t it enough to make up for the things I¡¯ve done wrong?¡± asked Long Haiying.


    ¡°More than a thousand soldiers died because of you,¡± Gu Shenwei said in a harsh tone. Long Haiying was old enough to be his grandfather, but he could not forgive this man just because of his old age. ¡°The Great Snowmountain has the bravest young men in the world, but has always suffered the fate of being bullied by foreign tribes. Why? It¡¯s because of constant internal struggles,¡± added Gu Shenwei.


    Long Haiying ced his other knee on the ground and kowtowed to the Dragon King, while holding his heavy sword with both hands. ¡°Please punish me any way you like, Dragon King. I¡¯ll ept it withoutint,¡± Long Haiying said in a trembling voice.


    Gu Shenwei took one step backward and said, ¡°Since you¡¯ve no regrets about it, tell me the whole truth. Don¡¯t put the me on some evil spirit. Let me know who gave you this piece of advice.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew his swordsmen well. He believed that Long Haiying himself could never think of colluding with the Golden Roc Fort no matter how much he wanted to help his son.


    Upon hearing the Dragon King¡¯s demand, Long Haiying was shivering all over. In his eyes, betraying another person was worse than death, even if this person had once deceived him.


    Gu Shenwei refused to back down. His army could not afford another serious setback caused by betrayal, since they would have to undergo all sorts of hardships and danger in the near future.


    ¡°Lu, Lu Huan.¡±


    Long Haiying seemed to have exhausted all his strength to utter that name. After saying it, his whole head sank down between his broad shoulders.


    Gu Shenwei felt that his heart had just skipped a beat when he heard the name. Lu Huan was not a swordsman but a macheteman under themand of Tuo Nengya.


    <em>¡°Someone outside the Greatsword Peak was also involved in the betrayal. This is the worst possible oue,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei sighed in his heart and then he thought of Zhong Heng¡¯s words, <em>¡°¡®Looking for the truth¡¯ and ¡®solving the problem¡¯ arepletely different concepts.¡±</em>


    ¡°Stand up,¡± Gu Shenweimanded.


    Long Haiying managed to get up, his body still shaking.


    ¡°I want someone to attack the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s army in the southeast. By doing so, we can delude our enemies into believing that we¡¯re advancing toward the southeast and gain more time for our main body to retreat southward,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Long Haiying¡¯s gaze brightened at these words. He stopped shivering and doubtfully looked at the Dragon King for a moment. After that, he knelt again and said, ¡°I¡¯ll never forget your kindness, Dragon King.¡±


    Long Haiying was a typical swordsman and not good at expressing his gratitude with words.


    He knew that the Dragon King was nning to sacrifice his life to save his and the Greatsword Peak¡¯s reputation.


    The Dragon King could not execute a tribal leader without announcing his crime. Given that, if Gu Shenwei directly executed Long Haiying, everyone would know the tribal leader¡¯s wrong deeds and keep cursing him for years after his death. The Greatsword Peak would also be disgraced by his conduct.


    However, if Long Haiying ended up dying on the battlefield, he would be remembered as a martyr instead of a traitor.


    ¡°Don¡¯t take too many people with you,¡± said Gu Shenwei. He had to send some innocent soldiers to apany Long Haiying on this mission while knowing for sure that they would never be able toe back alive.


    He had no choice but to sacrifice them for the future of the entire army.


    Long Haiying left the tent with tears of gratitude and went back to his own tribe to pick out some swordsmen for the mission. He got so many volunteers that he found it very difficult to dissuade many of them from following himself.


    Lu Huan was a subordinate of Tuo Nengya. When Gu Shenwei was pondering about how to break this to the elderly macheteman, a swordsman and a macheteman walked into his tent with a captive and then shoved the captive to the floor in front of him. They nodded to him without saying a word, turned around and walked out.


    Swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain did not care much about social etiquette, and now the machetemen in the army began to follow suit.


    The captive looked pale and crouched low to the ground, shivering. Different from Long Haiying, it was not the shame but his fear that gave him the shivers.


    ¡°Dra-Dragon King¡­¡± he stuttered.


    Lu Huan, who was in his early 20s, did not look like a spy at all. With his round face, thick eyebrows and big eyes, he looked more like a little boy, and thus could easily win the trust of others.


    ¡°Tell me the truth. To be dead or alive, it¡¯s up to you,¡± Gu Shen deliberately said something ambiguous to get the young man to talk.


    ¡°I¡¯m a professional macheteman hired by the Golden Roc Fort, and my whole family has been taken hostage by the Supreme King. I¡¯ve no choice. If I didn¡¯t follow the lord¡¯s order, my entire family would be killed. Dragon King, please forgive me. I don¡¯t want to die. I¡¯ve two children¡­¡±


    Lu Huan rambled a lot about his personal life, but Gu Shenwei did not want to hear this. He was well aware how good an experienced macheteman was at lying. Furthermore, even if what Lu Huan said was true, he would never let a traitor off. ¡°Boss Tuo helped you a lot,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Boss Tuo?¡± Lu Huan said, and uncertainty flickered in his eyes. He quickly concealed whatever might be showing on his face and added, ¡°Yes, Yes, it was Boss Tuo who told me to¡­¡±


    <em>¡°That¡¯s enough,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei, while drawing his Five Peaks Saber to cut Lu Huan¡¯s throat. The young man¡¯s reaction had clearly showed that Tuo Nengya had nothing to do with this incident of betrayal . Before Lu Huan¡¯s dead body fell to the ground, Gu Shenwei had already sheathed his saber and stepped out of his tent.


    The swordsmen outside looked bewildered; they had just finished preparations for battle and now they were asked to get ready to flee. Shortly after that, the tribal chief of the Greatsword Peak came out, announcing that he was going to lead a team to fight against the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s army but selected only less than 20 soldiers to join his team¡ªit was all very bewildering.


    Under the astonished gaze of the swordsmen, Long Haiying gathered his men and mounted his horse. When this team was about to take its leave, Gu Shenwei walked to Long Haiying, slightly bowed to the elderly swordsman and then turned around to face the soldiers gathering nearby. ¡°The tribal chief of the Greatsword Peak and these 16 swordsmen are going to sacrifice themselves to protect us. Please remember that. Our foe is the Golden Roc Fort. We¡¯re going to take revenge on it some day in the future.¡±


    Upon hearing the Dragon King¡¯s words, every swordsman present immediately unsheathed his heavy sword to pay his respect to Long Haiying and the 16 swordsmen. They held their sword hilts with both hands, brought their sword tips down to touch the ground and lowered their heads toward the team.


    Long Haiying cast a grateful nce at the Dragon King, while feeling that he had a lot to say to the young lord. On second thought, he considered that there was no need to say such words at all.


    ¡°May heaven bless you, Dragon King! May heaven bless the Great Snowmountain!¡± Long Haiying shouted, while squeezing his horse¡¯s sides with his legs, and then he led his suicide squad consisting of only 16 soldiers to gallop out of the camp, heading toward the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s army in the southeast.


    ¡°Break camp,¡±manded Gu Shenwei. He would lead the remaining 1,600 or so soldiers to travel deep into the wilderness in the south and make a detour to reach the Xiaoyao Lake


    This route only existed in legends. Gu Shenwei had heard about it from some elderly machetemen who had rich jianghu experience. After talking to them for several days, he finally found three men who could work as guides for the journey.


    These three guides did not know the exact route, but all of them earnestly assured that besides the two routes in the desert, there was another one in the mountains, which also led to the Xiaoyao Lake.


    Gu Shenwei was determined to take that route to avoid being trapped in a battle against the Golden Roc Fort at this ce, which he probably could not win easily. Besides, Nond¡¯s cavalrymen were running rampant in Shu-lik now and could steer their troops to catch up and eliminate the Great Snowmountain troops at any moment.


    The Great Snowmountain troops quickly finished preparing themselves for the expedition to the south.


    When the army hit the road, Gu Shenwei came to the machetemen troop.


    Tuo Nengya was carried on a stretcher by two machetemen, since he had just recovered some health and the ability to speak.


    Gu Shenwei held his hand and walked beside his stretcher silently for a long time.


    ¡°Who¡¯s the hidden traitor?¡± Tuo Nengya suddenly asked. Unlike the simple-minded swordsmen, he could intuit the Dragon King¡¯s thoughts sometimes.


    ¡°Lu Huan. But that problem is already solved. You don¡¯t have to worry about it anymore,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    Upon hearing that, Tuo Nengya immediately knew what the facts were. <em>¡°As an ordinary macheteman, Lu Huan could never have incited the swordsmen to fight a head-on battle against the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s army without the help of a powerful person. The tribal chief of the Greatsword Peak, who volunteered for a suicide mission, is probably the one that got used by him. The Dragon King just wanted to express his confidence in me bying here and telling me not to worry.¡±</em>


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± said Tuo Nengya, while thinking that this was perhaps the best solution to the problem.


    Like a junior fulfilling his filial duties to the elderly macheteman, Gu Shenwei walked a long way while holding Tuo Nengya¡¯s hand.


    Three dayster, when the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s army discovered that the remaining 1,600 or so soldiers of the Great Snowmountain had already sneaked into the barren mountains in the south, they were astonished. They had gotten ustomed to the swordsmen¡¯s usual fighting style, which was ¡°only advance, never retreat¡±, and never expected them to flee.


    They had only met the tribal chief of the Greatsword Peak and 16 swordsmen on the battleground, but such a small team could not satisfy their appetite and was quickly annihted.


    When Dugu Xian examined the dead bodies after that battle, he recognized Long Haiying and knew that he had been outwitted by the Dragon King. <em>¡°That youth is more cunning than a sophisticated con man.¡± </em>From that moment on, Dugu Xian began to see the young man differently.


    After that battle, Dugu Xian led his elite cavalry units to chase after the Great Snowmountain troops. Five dayster, when his vanguard units discovered the trace of the Great Snowmountain troops, a snow storm suddenly arrived andpletely blocked the way leading to the south.


    Everyone in Du Xian¡¯s cavalry troop firmly believed that the Dragon King and his soldiers were killed in the unexpected snow storm; this was further substantiated by the discovery of arge number of corpses when the snow stopped. They brought those dead bodies back to Jade City as proof that the Snowmountain soldiers had all perished in the snow storm.


    In the following six months, almost all the people maintained that the Great Snowmountain was no longer a major power in Western Region.

 Chapter 366 - Forest

    Chapter 366: Forest


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    News reached the army of the Golden Roc Fort every day. To the west, a new fort in Shu-lik had been conquered, and to the east, a checkpoint had been built at the mountain pass with incredible speed. Another kingdom of the Xiaoyao Lake had surrendered to the Supreme King, and the Third Young Master, Shangguan Yun, was about to be King of the Xiaowan Kingdom. Shangguan Fa himself was highly likely to be crowned as a true king by Nond¡­


    To cover his failure up, Dugu Xian publicly insisted that the army of the Great Snowmountain had beenpletely wiped out; privately, he wished for it to be true.


    Just like this, the Dragon King and the Great Snowmountain were forgotten amidst all the continuous stream of huge events happening throughout the entire Western Region. Only a few still remembered the army that had been buried by thest blizzard of the winter and believed that there were survivors.


    The blizzard had wrecked great havoc on the soldiers from the Great Snowmountain. More than 300 soldiers who were heavily wounded did not manage to survive the terrible weather; they froze to death in the icy wilderness.


    It was, also, a savior for the people of the Great Snowmountain. Other than removing the dead weight, albeit in the cruelest way, itpletely covered their tracks.


    The survivors struggled to advance, so much so that they did not even have a chance to bid their deadrades farewell.


    The traveled southward for a month, passing through unpopted, aridndscapes and deserts and fighting their way through swampsden with traps. As spring finally came, they were suddenly greeted with lush, greenndscapes everywhere. The Dragon King had led them to the border of an uncharted forest.


    It was vast and endless, seeming like a rough ocean, filled with wariness and animosity towards the strange visitors.


    Gu Shenwei did not dare to venture into the forest rashly, and thus gave the order for his people to set up camp outside of it. He wanted to use the rare break to rest their weary bodies and breed some livestock, as well as settle many of their internal issues.


    The swordsmen soon began to miss the Great Snowmountain with its four seasons of snow. Even though it was also impoverished, they were familiar with the ways of theirnd. The deserts, swamps, and forests they were facing now were strange to them and made them feel uneasy.


    At first, their sense of longing for the Great Snowmountain only lingered in their minds, but gradually, as more and more of them began voicing out their thoughts, their pleas to return back to their homnd was soon building up into a crescendo.


    The machetemen under Tuo Nengya were even more unsettled; even though they had pledged allegiance to Boss Tuo and the Dragon King, they still retained their mercenary nature and wished to be repaid for their services, the sooner the better.


    Their current situation, however, made the idea seem imaginary.


    Even so, the survivors, amounting to a little more than a thousand people, had still not splintered into different factions due to a couple of reasons. Firstly, they were loyal to and in awe of the Dragon King, and secondly, they had no other way to turn to; no one was willing to head back and re-experience the hardships of the past month.


    Gu Shenwei, however, became more resolute in his beliefs and stubbornly hung on to the thought that if they continued advancing, they would soone to the secret mountain pass that led to the Xiaoyao Lake.


    Even when their guides were already disheartened and admitted to losing their way, Gu Shenwei was not shaken by the least bit. He felt that the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s power was at a high now and that the Great Snowmountain had to avoid taking it head-on. Even if they could not reach the Xiaoyao Lake eventually, he wanted his people to remain in hiding in the south for at least a year or so.


    Once again, Gu Shenwei prayed to the Heavens for divine assistance.


    The three warlocks who had been apanying the army of the Great Snowmountain began offering livestock as sacrifices on a mountain slope. They tossed the innards of the animals on the ground and burned their fat for divine signs which turned out to be unclear.


    ¡°The Heavens want us to continue southward,¡± the first warlock said as he tried to predict the future from the pattern disyed by the innards syed out on the ground. ¡°But¡­ there are surprises and disasters ahead of us,¡± he continued.


    ¡°I see death, countless number of deaths,¡± said the second warlock as he observed the rising plumes of smoke. ¡°However, there stands a gigantic deity d in golden armor behind the dead¡­ they will not be forgotten¡­ great honor.¡±


    ¡°Pick up your weapons,¡± said the third warlock as he tried to predict the future by meditating. His advice was the most straightforward and was also the first to be proven correct.


    On the third day after the army from the Great Snowmountain had set up camp outside of the forest, curious eyes could be spotted peeping at them from the gaps between the trees. Soon, more of them could be seen, and the animosity towards the intruders became more obvious.


    The fugitive army had encountered the legendary forest residents.


    They were a savage people and clothed themselves with animal skins and leaves. They used wooden longbows and javelins as weapons and spoke a strangenguage that only they could understand.


    At first, Gu Shenwei tried to handle them by making a show of friendship. He sent the forest residents a few horses and dozens of metal weapons, hoping to garner their support and get a guide familiar with thend in the process.


    However, the ways and thoughts of the savages were distinctly different from others and Gu Shenwei could not figure them out. In the end, he did not even know how he managed to offend the forest residents.


    The savages began organizing raids and snuck into the Great Snowmountain¡¯s camp in the night after killing the sentries, or they would hide in the thick bushes near water sources and attack with their sharp wooden arrows. Their familiarity with the techniques and the mysteriousness of their movements wereparable to top-level killers from the Golden Roc Fort.


    Gu Shenwei gave up his n of forming an alliance after the 10th casualty from the Great Snowmountain camp. He decided to garner their support forcibly.


    He formed the swordsmen and machetemen under hismand into 20 or so 50-person teams. They would enter the forest in waves and support each other, covering each other¡¯s nks and advancing slowly. They surrounded each tree and engaged in closebat with the savages.


    The frustration of the soldiers was pent up for too long, and they did not show any mercy. Within five days, they had killed more than a hundred savages and finally advanced their way to the vige where the savages lived in.


    The youths of the vige were either killed by the intruders or escaped deeper into the forest.


    The soldiers were engulfed by bloodlust and each of them had the intention to massacre all the vigers. Even Gu Shenwei¡¯s desire to kill was aroused, but he managed topose himself at the critical moment. In the end, they only snatched away a portion of the food stored by the vigers, as well as five elderly savages and a dozen children.


    It proved extremely difficult trying tomunicate with the elderly forest residents, and it was only after 10 whole days that both parties could have some semnce of understanding as to what each other meant through hand signs and guesses.


    The old folks had never heard of any ce resembling the Xiaoyao Lake, and they only knew that there were fewer viges as one progressed deeper into the forest. However, the savages would be increasingly violent in nature.


    Gu Shenwei gave the order to break camp and advance into the forest. He sent an advance party of 20 soldiers and two old forest residents who were familiar with thend to set off one day before the main body. Their responsibility would be to give a simple instruction to each vige they encountered: provide some food and send 10 to 20 of their young men to join the army, otherwise, it would be considered as the enemy.


    The first two viges they encountered were tougher, and not only did they refuse the terms, they even killed one of the messengers. After which, they ventured out of their viges to fight the invaders.


    Each time, Gu Shenwei managed to resolve the fight quickly by sending out only about four of his 50-person teams. The weapons and equipment used by the savages were too rudimentary, and even though they were familiar with thend, they were no match for the battle-hardened soldiers.


    After the first two battles, the remaining journey of the invaders into the forest went much smoother. As the forest residents got wind of a huge, unknown army invading theirnd, they either fled or obediently eded to the invading army¡¯s requests.


    This became another problem for the Dragon King and his army, however. They could not advance in a straight line and had to move from vige to vige. It was a journey that sometimes forced them to walk around in circles.


    They did not have any other choice, as they were a huge group and had to depend on the viges for food. Without the forest residents providing their sustenance, they would notst for more than a few days in the forest.


    Even so, everyone, including the Dragon King, had to ration their food. The viges were small, and the number of provisions they could provide were limited.


    The fortunes of the invaders got better after conscripting the savages into their army, Even though they were additional mouths to feed, they were familiar with the ways of the forest, and could always manage to hunt down some prey or gather other types of food. Although the food they provided might not be tasty, it helped to prevent the others from starving.


    The forest was vast, and even the savages had limited knowledge of its entire expanse or the way out of it. Other than directing the army to nearby viges, they could not help much with navigating.


    The army wandered in the forest in this manner for three months, raiding dozens of viges and relying on whatever meager tribute they were given as sustenance. The vengefulness of the soldiers grew increasingly obvious, and as they were afraid to voice out their frustration, they began venting it out in other ways. Once, a team of 50 soldiers massacred an entire vige of forest residents, not discriminating by gender or age. It was sparked off merely because one of the soldiers had been attacked by arrows from a savage in hiding.


    Gu Shenwei could only humiliate the offenders by confiscating their weapons; he could not mete out punishment ording to the militaryw of the Great Snowmountain under such circumstances.


    The forest had be an extremely restrictive piece of garment constricting the movements of the soldiers; it would always cause restrictions to outsiders. They were driven close to the brink of insanity by the ancient fauna which blocked out all sunlight and the swarms of poisonous insects.


    If this carried on, even the authority of the Dragon King would not be able to contain the pent-up resentment of his soldiers.


    Gu Shenwei had no intention of turning back and kept searching for a way out of the forest. To this end, he specifically selected a few machetemen who were literate and had them map out each vige and record down the myths of the savages. In this way, he finally managed to produce a rough sketch of the entire forest.


    He then sent out 10 groups of scouts to perform reconnaissance in different directions. He ordered them to turn back the moment they came to a dead end, and even if they did not, they had to return back to camp after five days at most.


    Most of the scouts came back before five days; they met with either deep gorges or insurmountable mountains and could not advance any further.


    There was only one team which brought back a glimmer of hope for the Dragon King. They reported that it was possible to advance in a southwest direction, and even though they would be obstructed by a mountain, there was a small passage through it.


    ording to the myths of the savages, there were no viges in the southwest cluster of mountains, but it was the prowling ground of strange beasts. As such, Gu Shenwei felt that it was most possible that it would lead to a way out of the forest.


    He garrisoned his troops in separate locations to gather as many provisions as they could. After 10 days, he gathered them, and they advanced southwest-ward.


    The mountain pass was extremely windy and hard to traverse, and even the conscripted savages were fearful; some of them even deserted the army. However, the soldiers were generally excited at the thought of being able to leave the forest.


    Spring was drawing to a close. On an afternoon when the sun shone gently, and just as their stores of food were about to be depleted and the few remaining livestock were already ughtered for food, the army from the Great Snowmountain finally managed to break free from the clutches of the forest.


    In front of them was a paradise-like ce. After walking for so long in the ancient forest which waspletely obscured from sunlight, everyone was stunned to see stretches after stretches of beautiful flora and countless fauna of all types.


    No one knew who started it, but very quickly everyone was shouting ¡°Dragon King¡±. Their doubts had been banished, and even if they could not arrive at the Xiaoyao Lake, they knew that their journey southward had not been in vain.


    However, the conscripted savages were increasingly panicky; it was the first time many of them had been out in the open.


    Gu Shenwei gave them a choice: either remain in the army and get to learn about a bigger world that they had ever known, or return back to the forest.


    Their panic, however, had aroused the ambition of many of the savages, and more than half of them were willing to remain behind. These forest residents amounted to more than 300 in number and became another source of manpower for the Great Snowmountain army. Gu Shenwei formed them up into a special unit under his directmand.


    Their good fortune continued, and on the third day after they had left the forest, the scouts from the advance party came back with a piece of news that created a wave of excitement throughout the troops: more than 30 miles awayy a fort.


    They had stumbled upon an isted country by ident and came to know its name after establishing contact with its leaders.


    It was known as the Land of Fragrance, and legend had it that it was a ce of many peculiar flora and people. Many years ago, Gu Shenwei had heard about this country from a highly skilled doctor, but he had never imagined that he would personally step foot on it one day.


    He could also never imagine that the fate of both himself and his army would take a huge turn for the worse here.

 Chapter 367 - The Tryst

    Chapter 367: The Tryst


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    After thest line of cruel and muddle-headed kings of the Land of Fragrance had passed away without leaving any offspring behind, its citizens cut off all ties with the outside world. More than 100 years had since passed, and its people thought that outsiders had already forgotten about them.


    It was a vast, isted and peaceful ce which was sparsely popted. Its citizens were free to choose the ideal locations for their homes, and only the royal pce was left untended to. The glory of years past was long gone, and only vast patches of weeds were left. Now, it had be a ce for beasts and children to prowl.


    The citizens had long since stopped electing a King. Instead they were separated into 10 different tribes and practiced self-autonomy. Each tribe had a leader, and the post was rotated amongst all the members of the tribe.


    The sudden arrival of arge army of close to 2000 soldiers from the forest immediately caused immense upheaval in the Land of Fragrance. The 10 tribal leaders, who were usually idle, were now faced with an immense task of handling the visitors. After a long discussion whichsted throughout the night, the 10 of them decided to represent all of the citizens in negotiations with the foreign army, who looked barbaric and hungry.


    About three miles from the capital of the Land of Fragrance, Gu Shenwei ordered his troops to set up camp with their back facing a small river. He then received the messengers in the main tent.


    They could be considered as the most gentle and cultivated people in the world. All of them were uniformly dressed in long robes of light color which were loose fitting. Other than ornate belts, they did not wear any other essories but gave off fragrances. Their mannerisms were poised and proper, and their voices soothing and clear. Even though they spoke a foreignnguage, one could immediately sense their goodwill.


    There was arge disparity between the ages of the ten tribal leaders, and the youngest of them was only about 20 something years of age. He was inexperienced and seemed a little nervous. The eldest had white hair and a white beard, and he was holding onto a crutch of about the same color.


    There were of simr status, and normally the eldest tribal leader spoke on behalf of the others.


    After listening to a few sentences from the tribal leaders, Gu Shenwei could only understand one phrase ¨C that the eldest tribal leader was called Shili Molo. As such, he summoned a machete man who was multi-lingual to act as his interpreter, and after much guessing, some of it wild,pounded with all sorts ofplicated hand gestures, both parties came to a rough understanding of what each other¡¯s intentions were.


    Shili Molo said that his country was sparsely popted and that its citizens amounted to less than 6000. Over the previous centuries, the country had rarely got in contact with outsiders and had especially never seen warriors and so many kinds of weapons before. As such, they were susceptible to shock, and the tribal leader urged the Dragon King sincerely to control his soldiers. He wanted them to be prohibited from entering the capital, but they could set up camp anywhere outside of the city grounds and were free to stay as long as they wished.


    As a token of appreciation for their cooperation, the citizens were d to provide sufficient food every day.


    Gu Shenwei agreed to their terms; it was a mutually beneficial deal ¨C the citizens wanted to be safe, and the soldiers wanted sufficient rest.


    Gu Shenwei then asked his interpreter to ask Shili Molo the way toward the Xiaoyao Lake, but the old man knew nothing about it. However, he said that there was an old map passed down from generations of kings past, and he would send his men to bring it over to the Dragon King once he went back into the city.


    Just like this, the negotiations were concluded.


    There were many soldiers crowding around the outside of the main tent, watching the strange men who were giving off a nice fragrance. After the messengers left, Shangguan Fei, who was watching from a corner, twitched his mouth andughed. ¡°What a convincing act,¡± he said.


    Gu Shenwei understood what he meant. Out of the 10 messengers, including Shili Molo, at least three of them could understand the Central ins Chinesenguage. However, they acted as if they could not, but they overdid it, and naturally, this could not fool the Dragon King and Shangguan Fei, who were embroiled in conspiracies all the time.


    Shangguan Hong, who was also standing outside the tent, did not manage to detect any abnormality in the messengers. At a loss, he asked, ¡°What act? Are you saying that they smell as good as women?¡±


    The other two did not bother replying him. Although Gu Shenwei could see that that the people of the Land of Fragrance were not as simple as they portrayed themselves to be, he did not wish to uncover their secret immediately. He thought that perhaps they were only fearful of his army and were trying to use theck of mutual understanding of each other¡¯snguage as a way to not let the visitors know too much about them.


    However, the presence of Central ins Chinese speakers in their poption showed that they were not entirely isted from the rest of the world.


    Later during that day, Shili Molo kept to his promise and sent people carrying an old map over to the Dragon King. Pests had bitten many holes in its fabric, but the map was stillrgely intact. However, it was marked in a strange script that even the trantor could not understand.


    There was argeke marked out on it, and it was very possibly the Xiaoyao Lake from its position on the map. However, there were no paths leading from the Land of Fragrance to it, and the other areas of the Western Region were marked extremely inurately on the map. As such, it did not have much value.


    Gu Shenwei felt that something was not quite right. The citizens of any other nation would definitely be in a hurry to send a foreign army away from theirnd, but Shili Molo and the other tribal leaders did not seem to be impatient.


    He temporarily cast the thought aside and turned his attention to security. Even though he had found an ideal hiding ce for his army, as the Golden Roc Fort was busy with its campaign in the Western Region, he still ordered his men to set up a few more sentries both inside and outside of their camp, to prevent sneak attacks.


    Both parties lived in peace over the next fortnight. The citizens from the city kept to their promise and sent their visitors huge amounts of fruit and food made from wheat flour every day. Even though there was no meat provided, it was enough to keep all 1600 of the soldiers fully fed.


    Gu Shenwei kept his side of the bargain as well. He gave strict orders to his men and forbade them to get near to the capital of the Land of Fragrance. He then sent out dozens of scouts to venture in a northeast direction, hoping to discover a path to the Xiaoyao Lake.


    He spent most of his free time training the conscripted savages, who amounted to more than 300 people.


    The savages were far from their natural habitat and rtives and found it hard to adapt to their new surroundings. The food did not suit them and they also had difficulty epting regimentation in the military camp.


    That said, very few of them deserted, as they were enticed by the incredibly sharp metal weapons that they were given; they would rather die before giving them up.


    Few of them had seen steel before, and when they realized that even the most ordinary steel saber could effortlessly slice their wooden javelins into two, they immediately grew to love their new weapons so much that they could not part with them; they even had to hug the weapons to sleep.


    At first, they were repulsed by the idea of protective gear. They were not used to being encumbered by gear and thought that it was cowardly to require protection. It was only until when they witnessed a personal demonstration by the Dragon King, where he put on a breastte which blocked attacks from wooden and even steel arrows, that they began scrambling to wear armor.


    As Tuo Nengya¡¯s wounds were nearly healed, Gu Shenwei directed the old machete man and the chief of Small Sword Peak to teach the savages how to handle sabers and swords. He also had other people to teach them to speak Central ins Chinese.


    The savages were trained in archery from a young age, and after they were given bows and arrows of better quality, their shooting power was greatly increased. Few among the machete men and swordsmen were their equal.


    If it were not for Shangguan Fei, who noticed something peculiar, the Dragon King would be spending a few more months with the savages.


    The Ninth Young Master had endured much hardship. Following the Dragon King was much tougher than he had imagined, but if there was a way back for him into the Golden Roc Fort, he would not hesitate to be the first to desert.


    He was the happiest to have arrived at the Land of Fragrance and the only thing which he was unhappy about was still his half-brother, Shangguan Hong.


    There was some point in time during their journey that their rtionship grew slightly better, but as they spent more time together, their mutual hatred grew even faster than weeds in spring. Shangguan Fei could never ept the fact that his ve-like half-brother had an affair with his own mother, and even the thought of it disgusted him.


    As such, he took note of Shangguan Hong¡¯s movements at all times, just like how he would monitor an enemy.


    ¡°Shangguan Hong has turned against us,¡± Shangguan Fei revealed to the Dragon King one evening, in an especially mysterious tone.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± asked Gu Shenwei calmly, seeming not to mind.


    ¡°It¡¯s true.¡± Shangguan Fei was getting impatient. ¡°I saw it with my own eyes ¨C he was fooling around with a woman from the city just at the riverside. That kid is in such a beautiful mood now that he would even betray Mother, much less you, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei finally took an interest in Shangguan Fei¡¯s information.


    ¡°Shili Molo was strongly against the soldiers entering the city, so why would he allow women from the tribes out?¡± Gu Shenwei thought.


    ¡°Come over and let me know the next time he leaves camp,¡± he said.


    Shangguan Fei was delighted to receive and continuously acknowledged the Dragon King¡¯s orders. Before leaving, he even remembered to add, ¡°It¡¯s time to tighten up our military discipline. You can¡¯t be soft again this time, Dragon King.¡±


    The campsite of the soldiers from the Great Snow Mountain was situated near the banks of a river, and the men usually drew their water from upstream. Shangguan Hong and the woman from the city were, however, having their trysts at a location which was downstream; it was closer to the capital.


    Getting to and from the tryst seemed to be a walk in the park for Shangguan Hong; he even knew where the potholes concealed by weeds were. However, he did not seem to have realized that he was being followed.


    Just as Shangguan Fei said, a foreign woman was awaiting his arrival. She wore a light colored long robe not too different in style from that of the tribal chiefs, but it was made from thinner material. Other than a sash made of cloth on her waist, she did not wear any essories.


    The lovers behaved intimately and very soon they were hidden by a thick bush.


    ¡°Now¡¯s the time to catch both of them in the act,¡± said Shangguan Fei excitedly in a soft voice. The Dragon King got hold of him just as he was about to stand up.


    ¡°Let¡¯s return to camp first,¡± replied Gu Shenwei. He did not believe the entire issue to be as simple as two lovers having a secret rendezvous.


    Shangguan Fei was surprised at first but nodded knowingly after a while. He knew that the Dragon King acted more ruthlessly the longer he waited to strike, and it was to his liking.


    On the other hand, Gu Shenwei was not thinking of Shangguan Fei. He had noticed many spots where weeds had been trampled upon on their way to observe the two lovers, and it was obvious that Shangguan Hong was not the only one getting intimate with women from the city.


    After returning to camp, he circled around the campsite, making idle talk withmon soldiers. He was surprised to find that the swordsmen, who had been incredibly homesick, and the machete men, who were gloomy, were now happy and contented.


    He was suddenly enlightened. This past month, he had heard fewints from his men, and they were too few to be normal.


    All of a sudden, he found that he could notpletely trust even the swordsmen, who were the most loyal to him.


    Gu Shenwei gave a task to Shangguan Fei; he knew that this was the only man in his camp who would not sumb to the wiles of the women. ¡°Tomorrow, you shall go to the riverside as well. If any woman waves to you, you are to chat with her properly.¡±


    ¡°Dragon King, you know that I don¡¯t like¡­¡±


    ¡°I know, therefore I trust you.¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t understand thenguage of this ce.¡±


    ¡°You just have to get them to answer a very simple question: how many people are there actually in the city?¡±


    Shili Molo imed that the poption of the Land of Fragrance was lesser than 6000, yet they could provide 1600 soldiers with sufficient food without any difficulty. Gu Shenwei grew increasingly suspicious of the country and its people.


    Shangguan Fei was pulling a face; he was not too willing to ept the mission.


    The next evening, he came back to debrief the Dragon King. ¡°The woman did not divulge anything. She knew what I meant but kept acting dumb. Unless I grab and interrogate her, I don¡¯t have any other means to get her to talk.¡±


    To make up for his failure, he tried to dig deeper into the issue at hand. Before reporting to the Dragon King, he confirmed his suspicions with a few soldiers whom he was close to. ¡°This Land of Fragrance is practically a huge brothel. As long as it¡¯s not raining, at least dozens of these women will be circling around the perimeter of the camp, solely waiting for men toe. They don¡¯t reject anyers and don¡¯t collect any money; they are literally doing it at a loss. All the men in our camp, with the exception of the savages, have redeemed their ¡®privileges¡¯, and only you are not in the know, Dragon King.¡±


    What seemed like a harmless paradise filled with fresh flowers had suddenly be a treacherous ce covered with booby traps. Gu Shenwei was still unable to figure out what benefit the Land of Fragrance stood to gain by having a foreign army stay in theirnd. ¡°We have to enter the city,¡± he said.


    ¡°We?¡± asked Shangguan Fei. He was never one for adventure but was even more afraid of the consequences of going against the Dragon King¡¯s orders. ¡°Hehe, let¡¯s go then. Let¡¯s see what the old procurers of this country look like.¡±

 Chapter 368 - Sacrifice

    Chapter 368: Sacrifice


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    For as many centuries back as the people of the Land of Fragrance could remember, their country had never been invaded. The castle walls of the capital, which were full of vines and in a state of disrepair, were proof of this.


    There weren¡¯t many citizens living in the city; Shili Molo seemed to not have lied. The entire poption of the country amounted to only a few thousand people. What was strange was that Gu Shenwei noticed, while observing from the shadows, that the women walking on the streets of the city seemed to attach much importance to their waist sashes. The beauty of theirs wasparable to that of the 10 tribal chiefs who he had met with earlier ¨C this was strikingly dissimr from the simple waist sashes that the women at the riverside wore.


    From the perspective of a killer, the interioryout of the city was a paradise for assassins. Its streets were narrow and winding, and there was luxuriant vegetation growing everywhere. The entire city seemed to be cloaked with a colorful cape and it would be easy to hide an army of a few hundred people inside it.


    Gu Shenwei did not notice anyone carrying weapons openly in the city. In fact, he had not even seen any athletic looking males in the city but his suspicious nature kicked in. He continued observing the city from the shadows for a short while and quickly returned to his camp.


    <em>¡°The women at the river are either poor or forced to take part in the trysts. However, the first theory looks usible on paper, but it doesn¡¯t make sense that they don¡¯t ept payment for their ¡®services¡¯. It could be the second theory, as they are unwilling to dress up or simply want to avoid detection. If it were so, then why do the messengers intend to keep a huge, foreign military presence in theirnd? Supplying food and water for 2000 people is no small matter¡­¡± , </em>Gu Shenwei thought.


    The doubts kept growing in his mind and he summoned the chiefs of the five peaks along with Tuo Nengya for a discussion.


    The others did not think that there was any conspiracy and focused more of their attention as to whether the romantic encounters were moral or not. They were a little embarrassed about their actions as they had tried kept the trysts a secret from the Dragon King until now, when he found out about them by himself.


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s part of the local customs. It isn¡¯t strange actually, judging from the fewer number of malespared to females in this city,¡± observed Long Xiaoshi, the chief of Danduo Peak. He had heard rumors of the trysts much earlier before, but he was not too bothered by them. ¡°All of us did not report to the Dragon King before not because of any particr reason but because¡­ you, Dragon King¡­ this¡­ you¡¯re a little too young for us to be discussing such matters with you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned to the young chief of Canopy Peak, Long Fanyun, next. He was the most ardent supporter of the Dragon King, but was blushing terribly now. It was evident that he had experienced the tenderness of the women as well. He was getting incredibly uneasy as he felt the Dragon King¡¯s gaze fall on him. He coughed a few times and said, ¡°It has been an extremely tough few months for everyone¡­ the people here are not even armed¡­ how big a danger can the women pose¡­¡±


    His voice grew increasingly softer until in the end all that came out from him were incoherent mutterings.


    Even Tuo Nengya, who was experienced, did not think it was a big deal. ¡°Think about it. A big group of men who were first trapped in a valley covered in ice and snow, then made to trek through the wilderness for months ¨C it¡¯s a miracle that they haven¡¯t rushed into the city and taken the women by force. I believe it¡¯s a sign that they have already tried hard to control their urges. If the Dragon King doesn¡¯t like the men to partake in such affairs, we will issue warnings to them. After which, we should try to leave this ce quickly.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. Maybe I¡¯ve thought too much. All of you don¡¯t have to say anything to the men upon returning to your respective tents.¡±


    The meeting was thus dismissed. Gradually, Gu Shenwei came to understand why his views were different from the others: upon arriving at the Land of Fragrance, he had spent all his time with the savages, whereas the swordsmen and machete men had daily interactions with the residents of the city which was their source of food. As such, they had got used to the cultured and refined natives and naturally would be unwary of them.


    He did not want to seem as being too harsh without clear evidence backing up his theory. As such, he did not summon any of hismon soldiers for questioning again. Instead, he requested for Shangguan Hong toe ¨C he wanted to find out what the motives of the women were.


    Shangguan Hong was not in the least bashful. He openly admitted to being part of the trysts, ¡°I didn¡¯t start it. Half of the camp have already done it while the other half is queuing up for a try.¡±


    He offered a simple exnation as to the motives of the women. ¡°Look at the men in thisnd ¨C all of them are wearing make up, and the fragrance emitted by them is even stronger than that of the noble women of Jade City. They are just particrlycking in masculinity. Then look at us ¨C a group of tough men. Of course we would be attractive to thedies.¡±


    All of the soldiers believed the locals were weak and harmless. Even Shangguan Hong, who was usually timid and had an inferiorityplex, was full of confidence now.


    ¡°They didn¡¯t want anything? And they didn¡¯t make any request either?¡±, questioned Gu Shenwei. He still could not believe it. Even though the theory that the women were acting as per their local customs could exin away many of his doubts, he was still pretty sure it was more usible that they were trying to gain some sort of benefit.


    Shangguan Hong carefully re-collected his adventures for a while before replying, ¡°No. Actually¡­ hehe¡­ we didn¡¯t spend too much effort on talking.¡±


    Aside from the Dragon King, Shangguan Fei was the only other person who felt that there was something peculiar about the entire matter. He came looking for the Dragon King after Shangguan Hong had left ¨C he had something to tell. ¡°There¡¯s definitely something fishy. I made contact with one of the women upon your orders, Dragon King. To be honest, it¡¯s not my cup of tea and the woman did not seem to be enjoying it either. If she wasn¡¯t forced to do it, I might as well be blind.¡±


    With this, Gu Shenwei sneaked into the capital of the Land of Fragrance for the second time to gather intelligence. This time round, he followed a woman who was returning from the river.


    The woman parted ways with the swordsman who she just had a tryst with and stopped smiling after she thought there was nobody else around her. She walked with her head looking down and there was not even a little bit of joy in her expression. Shangguan Fei was spot on. This woman also did not seem to be acting on her own ord. Furthermore, she seemed to havepleted a task she was not willing to undertake.


    Only Shangguan Fei, who was also an unwilling participant in the trysts, could have noticed this. All of the other men were blinded by their excitement.


    She did not enter the city from the main gate but took the long way around instead and went into the southern part of the city from a crack in the city walls. There were many peopleing and going from the same spot as the woman did, and Gu Shenwei waited till it was dark before sneaking into the capital.


    There was flora growing all over the Land of Fragrance except this corner of the city. It was full of crude and simply built houses. The division of wealth in this country was as simr to that of Jade City, where the rich stayed in North City while the poor squeezed themselves into South City.


    It was extremely crowded in the area of the poor in South City. Gu Shenwei roughly estimated that there were four to five thousand people there. Evidently, when Shili Molo imed that the poption of this country did not even amount to 6000 citizens, he had not included these people in his calctions.


    Gu Shenwei still decided not to travel too deep inside the city. He secretly went around South City before returning to his camp.


    He had previously sent out scouts in the east and north directions and he decided to send out other reconnaissance teams in the directions as well. He wanted to find out how many more people this country was hiding from him.


    When he arrived back at his tent, someone was already waiting there for him without having been summoned.


    The person was not a warrior under hismand but was capable of much ¡®damage¡¯ as well.


    She was an extremely beautiful woman and she stood in front of his bed, smiling gently at him. She only had an extremely thin and translucent yarn dress on, and her long hair, which hung down to her waist, was the only thing on her that could serve to cover her up.


    They were not in the main tent used for discussion pertaining to matters of the military, but Gu Shenwei¡¯s resting quarters. As there were times when he would have to channel his internal energy in privacy to fight off the chills in his body, he forbade anyone else to enter, even when there was nothing wrong with him.


    Someone from his inner circle had sent one of the women at the river side to him in a bid to remove his suspicions.


    The woman spoke a few words to him softly in an extremely gentle and intimate voice. It did not matter whether one was familiar with the localnguage; if one were a man, one would understand what she was getting at.


    Even so, she exined herself further. Her hands brushed her thin dress over her shoulders and it cascaded slowly down her body to the ground, lying in a pile at her feet.


    Since she was so direct, Gu Shenwei did not wish to beat around the bush as well ¨C


    He slowly drew the Five Peaks Saber, purposely grinding the de on the inner walls of its scabbard, creating a slight but piercing sound.


    The woman¡¯s smile froze. She seemed to be in disbelief that her move had failed to work, and it spurred her on. She lifted her feet from the dress on the ground and twirled around, her hair moving along with her. She then slid across to the Dragon King as if she was walking on ice.


    Her throat was moving towards the sharp end of the Five Peaks Saber, and it was only three to four inches away from the de.


    Gu Shenwei stared directly into her eyes, his expression cold, not wanting her to have a chance to feel lucky or misunderstand him. ¡°I know you can interpret Central ins Chinese and very possibly speak it. I shall give you a suggestion ¨C it¡¯s best to start speaking now.¡±


    The woman gradually wiped the smile from her face. There was an instance where she seemed to not have given up and wished to continue her attempts in charming the Dragon King. She even puffed her chest up, wishing to counter the cold re of the de with her limitless tenderness. In the end, she gave up at the veryst minute, her heels raising then falling back to the floor again.


    ¡°You¡¯re not a man,¡± she said. Indeed, she knew how to speak Central ins Chinese. Even though there was resentment in her tone and her ent made it sound stiff, it was still easily understandable.


    ¡°It¡¯s not important,¡± Gu Shenwei replied, his saber still not moving away from her throat.


    There were many different kinds of threats in the world, and there were many myriad ways of duelling. Gu Shenwei was only skilled with the saber and the sword, and it was the only way he knew how to handle his problems.


    ¡°What do you wish to know?¡±


    Gu Shenwei immediately spotted his opponent¡¯s trick. While she had seemed to acknowledge defeat, she still made no attempt to cover herself up and instead nonchntly swept her long hair back with her hands, exposing even more of herself to him.


    She was still trying to turn the tables against him.


    ¡°Who let you in?¡±


    ¡°He did not introduce himself, but I heard everyone calling him ¡®Master Hong¡¯,¡± she replied, not shy to betray the men of the foreign army.


    ¡°Are you residing in South or North City?¡±


    The woman was a little surprised to hear his question. She hesitated for a while before replying, ¡°I live in Back City, which is probably the South City you are talking about.¡±


    She was a poor person.


    ¡°Who sent you here?¡±


    ¡°Master.¡±


    He reached the saber forward another two inches. Its pointed edge was now resting on the skin covering her throat.


    ¡°I can¡¯t say the Master¡¯s name,¡± she immediately said, visibly in a state of panic.


    ¡°You can¡¯t or don¡¯t want to say it?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ we are forbidden to speak his name,¡± she replied, getting increasingly panicky. Still, she refused to say her master¡¯s name, as if there was some sort of mysterious enchantment preventing her from doing so.


    ¡°Shili Molo,¡± Gu Shenwei suggested. It was the only name he knew among all the people in thisnd.


    She took a step back and nced to her sides. She seemed to be even more afraid of the name than the de right in front of her. She nervously nodded in acknowledgement.


    Gu Shenwei sheathed the saber, grabbed one of his long robes and tossed it to her.


    For the next three days, the beauty stayed in the Dragon King¡¯s tent and did not take even a step out of it. The Dragon King himself ventured out very rarely as well. The soldiers from the Great Snow Mountain grinned to themselves as they knew about it; they felt that he Dragon King was more personable now.


    Gu Shenwei did not punish Shangguan Hong for sending the beauty to his tent without permission. Publicly he seemed to have dropped his suspicions but he did noty a finger on the woman throughout the three days. Instead, he raised a lot of questions, trying as best he could to understand the inner workings of the Land of Fragrance.


    She was just a ve who was not acting on her own volition and extremely afraid of her master. As such, there were many things which she could not speak about, but she still managed to divulge huge amounts of valuable intelligence to him.


    On the morning of the fourth day, he instructed Shangguan Fei to protect the woman in his tent, while he led 10 of the conscripted savages out of camp in the name of a hunting trip.


    The ruling ss of the Land of Fragrance were known as ¡®Master Citizens¡¯. It was the day when an imporant ritual was to be held and more than half of the residents of the city would be going to the altar situated in the southeast of the outskirts of the city. It was a prime opportunity to observe how the country worked.


    Gu Shenwei instructed the savages to hide amongst the bushes a few miles away from the altar before advancing stealthily on his own. Hey hidden on the top of a mound and peeped ahead.


    The altar was a huge piece of architecture and its base was in the shape of a square which gradually shrank in size as it rose up. Its top was a tform only about ten feet wide and the entire structure was about 35 metres high.


    The area around the altar was surrounded by citizens of the Land of Fragrance. It was possible to determine their social ss from the position they were standing at and the quality of their waist sashes: the inner rings of the crowd were of higher social standing, and they were standing and swaying sideways rhythmically while singing softly; the other rings were filled with ves wearing simple waist sashes prostrate on the ground. They looked like fallen stone sculptures because they did not move even by a bit.


    All together, there were about more than 10000 ves and their masters.


    Huge amounts of firewood were already stacked on top of the tform. It was said that five people would be offered to the deities as sacrifices today.


    Unexpectedly, the cultured and refined people of the Land of Fragrance were practicing life sacrifices.


    10 women supported the five sacrificialmbs slowly up the altar. They stopped after every step up the stairs to the tform, their movements solemn.


    The sacrificialmbs were also young women dressed in long robes. They wore extremely exquisite waist sashes and seemed to have taken knockout powder; even though they willingly moved up the steps with their assistants, their heads were hanging listlessly to a side.


    Upon reaching the top tform, the five women turned around, readying themselves to be burnt alive.


    Gu Shenwei was in for a shock.


    Even though he was a distance away, he could recognize Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus were among the five women!

 Chapter 369 - The Rescue

    Chapter 369: The Rescue


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    As she took in the destend and strange sights around her, a mixture of joy and fear grew in Shangguan Ru.


    From a young age, it was her dream to wander in jiang hu. In her dreams, she would always be leaving the Stone Castle in a ze of glory and returning triumphantly, but now, she was alone and without support. She had no direction and was like a migrant bird who had left its flock.


    There was a short while where she felt that the world was unfair to her. She had done nothing wrong, yet her family and friends treated her terribly and she was surrounded by lies and conspiracies since she was young.


    As such, the seeds of hatred were very nearly sown in the young woman¡¯s heart.


    At this moment, the chilly winds of cold, early Spring blew across and her mood suddenly became carefree. The wind hadpletely blown the seeds of hatred away.


    However, when she recalled her past, the carefree feeling soon went away as quickly as the slight warmth in the wind.


    She began to think that she was notpletely innocent. She was only used to being pampered, and even if she had harmed somebody in the past without meaning to, she would bepletely clueless until she experienced the same kind of hurt herself. Only then, would she understand how much pain she had caused others in the past.


    She had happily tortured the ves in the fort in the past and believed their smiles to represent their true feelings. She had even informed against ve Huan to her father, causing the deaths of the two giant golden-crowned rocs, who were like family to ve Huan. At that time, she was proud of her own actions, but ve Huan dared not show that he was displeased in the least.


    <em>¡°There¡¯s a cause and effect to everything,¡± </em>she continued thinking. <em>¡°I have to find out the real reason behind my tragic situation today.¡±</em>


    Her thoughts led to Shangguan Yushi, who was her closest friend and with whom she seemed to bepletely open with. She could now recall that their conversations were never about her friend and they only talked about herself.<em>¡°What did Master Yu like? What did she hate? How could I not know anything about them?¡± </em>she thought.


    The 18-year-old Shangguan Ru was like an old person who was self-aware of her own impending death as she tried to recollect every moment in her life. She felt increasingly detached from her previous self the more she remembered.<em>¡°How could that spoilt brat be me?¡± </em>she thought.


    She would have been driven insane if she kept at it. Luckily, a very simple need dragged her out from the depths of self-pity.


    She was hungry till the point where her stomach was slightly hurting.


    She fished out some dry rations, and her hunger subsided as she ate a little. Her abdominal pain, however, kept growing stronger. She felt as if someone was poking and stirring up her insides with a pair of blunt scissors. Eventually, it grew to a point where she was unable to continue riding her horse.


    She had to dismount to rest. She channelled her Internal Strength in a bid to contain the pain, but it made matters worse. She felt as though her internal energy had be thousands of tiny steel needles threading their way through her meridians. Every inch they moved caused her to feel even more immense pain.


    Eventually, she gave up. She sat on a rock, hugging her knees close to her chest,forted by the idea that she was about to die.


    She was certain of the source of poison ¨C someone had put it in her food. <em>¡°Was it ve Huan or Maid Lotus? It doesn¡¯t matter. Both of them are as good as one,¡± </em>she thought.


    Sweat droplets the size of beans began rolling off her forehead onto the ground in front of her toes. The dry earth absorbed them up instantly, leaving no traces behind.


    <em>¡°Perhaps, a handful of grass will sprout here someday,¡± </em>she thought, her nonsensical ideas still not yetpletely stopped. She continued thinking that her corpse would probably provide sufficient nutrients for a small tree.


    Her pain gradually stopped after two hours. She felt a little regretful that she was still alive.


    <em>¡°As long as I¡¯m not dead, I have to continue living,¡± </em>she thought.


    She led the horse by its reins, wandering about the wilderness without any hurry. She only wanted to head southwards, as far away from her previous life as possible.


    She did not travel far that entire day. The pain in her abdomen kepting back every four to six hours and when it red up, she had to stop and curl up with her knees close to her chest as much as possible for the pain to slowly subside.


    The option of heading back to get the antidote from ve Huan did not even cross her mind.


    That night, she erected a small tent. She kept her ears peeled to the calls of the wild outside as shey inside. She tried to bear the pain in her abdomen but it kept her awake throughout the entire night.


    On the morning of the next day, she felt incredibly tired but did not wish to stop at her current spot. As such, she dismantled her tent and decided that she would travel for as far she could.


    The sack for the tent was left outside the entire night, tied to a sturdy piece of rock. Just as Shangguan Ru was about to keep the folded felt tent, she noticed that there was something unexpected inside.


    At first, she was shocked as she thought that it was a wild creature that had crawled into the sack in the middle of the night to escape from the cold. When she took a closer look, she discovered that it was not a creature but seemed to be a small child. It was curled up into a ball like a porcupine and looked as if it was trying to bear an abdominal pain like hers.


    Shangguan Ru grabbed and lifted the intruder by its hair. She soon recognized the creased, extremely ugly face of Old Man Mu.


    Her first reaction was to fling him dozens of steps away and draw her wooden saber, readying herself for a fight.


    Old Man Mu tumbled around a few times after hitting the ground. He was still curled up like a shrivelled up piece of meat and he did not shout in pain or move. He seemed to have been dead for a while.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s heart was racing. As she began thinking about his terrible kung fu technique which specialized in ripping out the hearts of his opponents, it began beating even faster.


    After exactly 15 minutes, she slowly moved towards Old Man Mu. She prodded him with her wooden saber for a few times with increasing force. Eventually, he gave out a weak groan, proving that he was still alive but had lost the ability to react.


    Multiple questions came to her mind. Shangguan Ru did not understand how he had escaped ore to be hiding in the sack, but the most pressing question was how she should handle him.


    To most people, the easiest solution would be to kill him when he was powerless to react. However, Shangguan Ru could not bring herself to do it. Her disgust for killing had far exceeded her fear of being killed by the old man.


    The other option most people would choose would be to leave him here to his own fate. She had heard from Maid Lotus that Old Man Mu practiced the Seven Rotation Skill and was most afraid of sunlight. She did not even have to lift a finger and his kung fu would be removed on its own. If that happened, he would never be able to harm anyone in this world again.


    She had already packed her belongings up and led her horse away for a few dozen steps before realizing that she was unexpectedly unable to leave with peace of mind. She did not understand why.


    Old Man Mu was like a discarded newborn baby now.


    She turned back and threw out a few items from her sack which were of no use to her at the moment. She then picked him up and stuffed him into the sack.


    <em>¡°It¡¯s a mistake,¡± </em>a voice said to Shangguan Ru. <em>¡°Old Man Mu is not someone who knows how to repay kindness. Once he has regained his power, the very first thing he does could very possibly be to rip out your heart.¡±</em>


    Shangguan Ru knew that she was making a big mistake but still kept the old man in her sack.


    During the noon hour, she experienced another episodic abdominal attack and had to sit down, but it was not as painful the other day, when she had felt like dying. After the attack, she even had the mood to consume some dry rations. She did not care even if they were possibly poisoned as well.


    Since arriving at this ce, she had not seen any flora or fauna around. She was sure that she would starve to death once she finished her supply of dry rations.<em>¡°No matter how skilled Old Man Mu was, he could not possibly defeat hunger in the end.¡± </em>This thought calmed her down significantly, but then she felt that it wasedic. She did not know if she was saving or killing the old man.


    Compared to her, Old Man Mu was much more clear-headed about the entire matter.


    ¡°Youngdy, don¡¯t keep sitting and admiring the scenery. If you don¡¯t continue walking, we¡¯ll both die here.¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s weak voice came out from the sack.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter where one dies, it¡¯s still dying. It¡¯s alright here anyway,¡± Shangguan Ru replied. She was still hugging her knees to her chest, unafraid of death.


    Old Man Mu was silent for a while. When he resumed speaking, his tone had turned extremely angry. ¡°Fool, you wish to die, but I don¡¯t. Don¡¯t try to practice Zen at such a young age. If everyone is as unafraid to die like you, what pleasure would there be in killing?¡±


    ¡°Leave yourself then. I didn¡¯t want to bring you along anyway, and I don¡¯t wish to see you start killing once you¡¯ve recovered.¡±


    Old Man Mu changed his tone again. ¡°Youngdy, I can hear from your words that you are no ordinary person. Who knows, maybe you¡¯ll be able to attain enlightenment and be a bodhisattva some day. However, you should go all the way if you intend to save somebody. It¡¯s broad daylight now, how do you expect me to walk by myself?¡±


    Shangguan Ru was not in a hurry to go anywhere, however. ¡°How did you escape from¡­ the Dragon King?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Hehe, I have many excellent moves up my sleeve. I miscalcted once and decided to y along with you young people. After I had my share of fun, I used the Bone Shrinking Skill and easily escaped, leaving a fake ¡®double¡¯ behind.¡±


    Shangguan Ru did not believe him as he was already extremely small in size. ¡°So that¡¯s what happened. Then, you should use one of your incredible skills and escape on your own.¡±


    Old Man Mu knew he had over exaggerated, so much so that even he himself found his own words hard to believe. ¡°To be honest, I didn¡¯t know what happened either. Someone cut the rope binding me and I managed to escape with the help of the ck.¡±


    Shangguan Ru felt a little pity for ve Huan. He always seemed to be knee deep in countless conspiracies and plots and would probably never be able to extricate himself.


    She was deep in thought and neither spoke nor got up to start moving again. Old Man Mu got a little anxious. ¡°Youngdy, don¡¯t sayter that I didn¡¯t remind you. That woman, Maid Lotus, is now searching around for me and will discover our tracks sooner orter. She isn¡¯t as soft hearted as you. After killing me, I bet she¡¯ll kill you as well.¡±


    ¡°Why would she kill me?¡± Shangguan Ru shook her head, unconvinced.


    ¡°Of course it would be because she wants to get rid of the source of her problems and eliminate any future threat. Once you¡¯re dead, the Dragon King will not think of you again and will belong exclusively to her.¡±


    Shangguan Ru did not wish to be discussing about ve Huan with anybody else at this point in time but could not stop herself from rebutting. ¡°The person he misses is not me. He only wishes to be able to kill me one day to take revenge for his family and the giant rocs.¡±


    ¡°Silly girl. You¡¯ve been fooled by the Dragon King¡¯s tricks,¡± Old Man Mu replied. He sounded extremely sincere and earnest, as if he was speaking to his granddaughter. ¡°Don¡¯t be fooled by his act of calling himself ¡®Dragon King¡¯. In reality, he¡¯s just an immature kid whocks any technique to handle the woman he loves but can¡¯t be together with. He thinks that his act of pushing you away can fool everyone, but let me tell you, the person who appears the coldest is usually the most romantic. I can see it clearly, even Maid Lotus¡­¡±


    ¡°Enough,¡± said Shangguan Ru. She had expended a lot of effort topose her thoughts but was now confused again. She got up and continued leading her horse on, rebutting Old Man Mu¡¯s words with one reason after another.


    As long as Shangguan Ru kept moving, Old Man Mu was happy to keep quiet. He hid in the sack, conserving his energy.


    As night came, he became more energetic. Even though he had not regained his power yet, it did not stop him from taking a look around their resting spot. He was constantly moving throughout the entire night and woke Shangguan Ru, who was sleeping in the tent, up before the sun was up. ¡°You are extremely careless to leave so many traces behind. Even if Maid Lotus were blind, she would catch up with us within two to three days. Let¡¯s quickly get moving!¡±


    Shangguan Ru did not believe in the least that Maid Lotus would want to kill her. As such, she turned away from the old man and covered her ears, continuing to sleep till it was dawn.


    Her abdominal pain grew weaker with each attack, and she finally realized that she was not given a deadly poison. She was in no hurry, and no matter how hard Old Man Mu urged her on, she continued to stroll on foot, leading her horse by its reins.


    For the second half of the day, Old Man Mu unusually remained silent, seemingly having passed out again. It was either that or he wasing up with some plot again.


    In reality, he was thinking of something else. No matter how fast Shangguan Ru moved, she could not possibly shake the killer chasing after them. The reason Maid Lotus had not caught up was that she had to search for their tracks in the vast wilderness, but it would not take her too long. Also, he needed more than a month to regain his power.


    Escape was not a solution to his problem.


    That night, Old Man Mu presented his well-thought-out n to Shangguan Ru. ¡°Youngdy, you¡¯re in luck. I¡¯ve decided to go against my master¡¯s teachings and break tradition by taking you as my disciple. Come, kowtow to me now.¡±

 Chapter 370 - Taking in Disciples

    Chapter 370: Taking in Disciples


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Old Man Mu had never expected that epting a disciple would be so difficult. He was on the verge of pleading, but Shangguan Ru was simply not the least interested. No matter how many reasons and advantages he put forward, she did not respond most of the time buty sleeping soundly in the tent.


    ¡°If you learn my martial arts, you will be invincible. Everyone will fear you. Even just a suggestion of your skill and that Dragon King, or Monkey King, all of them wille running like a dog to please you.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t Maid Lotus feel that she is very powerful? She won¡¯t even be able to receive ten blows from you.¡±


    ¡°Think about it, you will reign across jianghu, you can either take your revenge or repay any favors. You can do whatever you want. You will have it all. You will hold power over the life and death of everyone like an emperor, but without the responsibility of governing the world. All beings are like ants to you and you are the god. Anyone who disobeys you will die. Even the ones who follow your lead will have to die too if they are not pleasing to your eye¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu grew excited the more he talked andpletely forgot that Shangguan Ru had a deep-seated hatred for all this stuff. When he finally realized this, it was even harder for him to take her in as a disciple.


    After midnight, Old Man Mu quietened down for a while, but he started nagging again as soon as he hid into the luggage the next morning. This time, he changed his strategy and used thinly veiled threats instead of patient and earnest persuasion.


    ¡°Little girl, I know that you don¡¯t like to kill. But I have to remind you that my hobby is killing. Especially when I am in a bad mood, I have to kill to vent my anger. You are now making me unhappy. When I recover my Kung Fu, the first thing I will do is to kill a hundred people, regardless of age or gender. I will kill every single person I see and it will all on you. Since you wouldn¡¯t take me as your Master Shifu, all of them will die because of you¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s threat had an effect, but it was not the effect that he wanted.


    Shangguan Ru stopped walking and she pulled Old Man Mu out of his luggage and threw him to a few feet away. ¡°Walk by yourself. Don¡¯t follow me. I won¡¯t protect you and I won¡¯t learn your Kung Fu. We are not the same. Juste and find me the next time you want to kill me.¡±


    Old Man Mu was most afraid of the sunlight. He covered his head with both hands and ran like the wind toward the shade of the horse¡¯s belly. In agony, he begged for mercy. ¡°Oh, you really have a hot temper, little girl. I was just kidding. We are in the middle of nowhere. Not even a rat is in sight, where can I go to kill people? Good girl, kind girl, the most beautiful girl in the world, put me back into the luggage, please! I can¡¯t hold on any longer if this continues.¡±


    Old Man Mu returned to the safety of the luggage as he wished and stayed quiet for a while. But instead of giving up, he changed his tactics once again. ¡°I have an idea.¡±


    Shangguan Ru continued walking forward and simply ignored him. Now that her abdominal pain had disappeared, she only wanted to get as far south as possible.


    ¡°I was moved by you.¡± Old Man Mu¡¯s fingers wavered in the air in the luggage as if he was really remorseful. ¡°Really, I have never seen anyone like you. You are highly skilled in Kung Fu but reluctant to kill. You would even give a helping hand to such a devil like me. Your kindness makes me feel ashamed of myself.¡±


    However, his ttery had no effect on Shangguan Ru.


    ¡°I have made a decision. I will never kill anybody anymore even if I could recover all my Kung Fu. Just like you, Old Man Mu wants to be a good person, a nice person, a saint.¡±


    Shangguan Ru gave a snort of contempt. She obviously did not believe him. But Old Man Mu was certain that he finally found what this little girl liked to hear.


    ¡°I want to kill people and people naturally want to kill me as well. The heroes of the world are not few and there are so many experts among them. There¡¯s bound to be someone who is much stronger than me. Just like Dragon King and Maid Lotus. Within three years, if they join forces, they can defeat me. In another ten years, if they attain a higher level in Wayless Qigong and Dajue Book of Swordcraft, I won¡¯t even be able to beat one of them.¡±


    Among the many things that Old Man Mu had said, only these sentences made some sense. Shangguan Ru was a little surprised but still did not say anything.


    ¡°That is why I want to stop killing. I want to learn from good girl and repay evil with good. I hope to bury all my grudges in this life.¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s words seemed hypocritical, but he was very serious when he said all these. Then, he paused for a while and added very solemnly: ¡°But I need your help.¡±


    After saying this, Old Man Mu no longer spoke. Shangguan Ru waited for 15 minutes, then she couldn¡¯t help but ask: ¡± What are you up to again? Whether you want to kill or not is totally your own business. How can I help in this?¡±


    Old Man Mu felt smug when he heard Shangguan Ru speak. But he continued to maintain a serious tone. ¡°It¡¯s not easy to quit killing. It¡¯s alright if you don¡¯t have the capability. But if you can kill by using a finger, it is very hard to resist the urge. Like a habitual thief standing in front of unguarded treasures. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s extremely difficult to quit?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that hard. Just put yourself in other people¡¯s position. Bepassionate and considerate, naturally, you will feel that killing is wrong.¡±


    ¡°Little girl, you forgot that we are not the same. You are from heaven and I am from hell. The things thate very naturally to you, for me, it is even more challenging than ascending to heaven.¡±


    Old Man Mu stopped talking once again, so Shangguan Ru could only take the initiative to ask, ¡°Don¡¯t keep me guessing. Go on! What can I do to help you? Destroy your Kung Fu for you?¡±


    Old Man Mu was shocked by her words. For the past few days, he had been weak and fragile and at the mercy of Shangguan Ru. He would rather die than be an ordinary person. So he hurriedly said: ¡°No! No! My Kung Fu is kind of special. If you destroy it, I will be dead as well. What I mean to say is, how about you supervise me instead? If I have the killing desire, you can quell it right away. After I get used to it, it would be much easier to quit killing eventually.¡±


    ¡°I am not your match.¡± Shangguan Ru pointed out the obvious loophole in Old Man Mu¡¯s n.


    ¡°You are practicing the Wayless Qigong. If you learn some moves from me, you will be able to defeat me.¡±


    After beating around the bush for so long, Old Man Mu finally returned to his original goal.


    ¡°I won¡¯t learn from you.¡± Shangguan Ru bluntly refused. ¡°Your Kung Fu is cruel and domineering. It is better if it disappearspletely.¡±


    Deep down, Old Man Mu had plenty of unspoken criticism for this little girl, but he kept them to himself and said instead: ¡°Not all of them, for example¡­ Lightness Skills. I have good Lightness Skills, right? You can run or fight as you wish if you learn it. It can be a little domineering but it is not cruel at all. When I have the urge to kill, you can take away the person whom I want to kill and run without a trace. This way, you can save lives and do me a favor as well.¡±


    Shangguan Ru knew Old Man Mu¡¯s intentions. He wanted her to learn Lightness Skills so that they could escape from Maid Lotus at any critical moment. But Old Man Mu¡¯s Lightness Skills was remarkable indeed. He could move faster than a running horse and make no sound at the same time. There was no harm in learning it. ¡°Mastering Kung Fu will take some time since I need to study and practice diligently. Even if you teach me now, I won¡¯t be able to master it in a short time. I still won¡¯t be able to help you. If Maid Lotus catches up with us, let me talk to her. Maybe I can save your life without using force. But you have to promise that from now on, you will not kill people anymore.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely no more killing. I promise. But that woman is hard to deal with. We should have an alternative n, right? Your foundation for Internal Strength is pretty good. For the others, it may take a year but you can make a breakthrough within a few days. ¡±


    Shangguan Ru thought about it for a long time and finally said, ¡°Okay.¡±


    Old Man Mu was exhrated and almost jumped out of the luggage. He couldn¡¯t maintain his reserved manner anymore. ¡°I will teach you now.¡±


    ¡°Wait, let me get this clear. I don¡¯t want to take you as my Master Shifu.¡±


    ¡°It is a pity, but you can have it your way. Wildhorse wants to take me as his Master Shifu and I didn¡¯t ept him as a disciple, but I still teach him Kung Fu anyway.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ make a vow that you will not kill people anymore.¡±


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t really believe Old Man Mu¡¯s words. Betrayals and broken promises were amon urrence in her life, however, she still wanted to hear some promises.


    ¡°I, Old Man Mu, swear that I will not kill anyone from now on. I want to be a good old man who is willing to help others. If I break this vow, I will die without a burial ce and will never see the wife of my master ever again for generations toe.¡±


    It was the first time that Shangguan Ru heard someone sworn on ¡°the wife of my master¡± in a vow. She was very surprised and asked, ¡°What happened to the wife of your master?¡±


    ¡°s.¡± Old Man Mu sighed. These words seemed to be more true than the previous thousand speeches. ¡°In order to express my sincerity, I will tell you about it. But you can never disclose it to anyone else.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I won¡¯t.¡± Shangguan Ru¡¯s curiosity was aroused.


    ¡°In the past, I was tall and handsome. We were meant for each other. But my Master Shifu, that bastard, forcefully broke us up and injured me greatly. Then he used all means possible to torture her right in front of me. No part of her body was left unhurt when she finally died. It was then that I made a vow to avenge her with more cruel means on the world.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was stunned by his story but she believed most of it. ¡°But your enemy is only your Master Shifu. It has nothing to do with anyone else.¡±


    ¡°There are only two people in this world, me and the rest of the world. If one person hurts me, it is equivalent to the whole world hurting me. And if one person saves me, that is equivalent to the whole world saving me. So help me so that I will not kill anyone.¡±


    Old Man Mu way of thinking was far too odd. Shangguan Ru was confused but judging by his tone, she felt that it might be true.


    Old Man Mu seemed to be dwelling on the death of his love; it was rare to not hear him say a word for half a day.


    ¡°Teach me Lightness Skills, then.¡± This time, Shangguan Ru took the initiative to speak first.


    ¡°Oh right, we have some serious work to do. Okay, I will teach you Foxlike Movement Skill first. This set of Lightness Skills will improve your speed in running for a period of time. You can use it for escaping for for pursuing people. Either way, it is a perfect choice¡­¡±


    ¡°Foxlike Movement Skill? Is that the Lightness Skill whereby I will be on all fours when I use it?¡±


    Shangguan Ru seen Old Man Mu escaping from the Dragon King¡¯s sword before. That scene shed across her mind immediately.


    ¡°Yes, it is. You may not be able to hold on for long when you just started learning it. But it will be more than enough for you to get rid of your pursuers at critical moments¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to learn it.¡± Shangguan Ru refused before he could say more.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°It¡­ it¡¯s too ugly to be on all fours.¡±


    It was the most unexpected reason. Old Man Mu was so surprised that he couldn¡¯t respond. It took him some time before he asked confusedly: ¡°Ugly? This is the best set of Lightness Skills in the world. Wildhorse begged me to teach him for dozens of times but I always refused him!¡±


    ¡°Anyway, I don¡¯t want to learn it.¡± Shangguan Ru¡¯s face was flushed. She had been raised as a boy since young, but her thoughts had gradually evolved after putting on women¡¯s clothing, and she was very opposed to indecent behaviors.


    Old Man Mu still could not understand, ¡°This¡­ you¡­ don¡¯t want to learn anything cruel, don¡¯t want to learn anything ugly. Did you really grow up in Golden Roc Fort?¡±


    Shangguan Ru pursed her lips and refused to change her mind. So Old Man Mu had topromise again. ¡°Okay. All right. Fortunately, I know a lot of Kung Fu. Otherwise, I would be really stumped by you. Uh, let me think¡­ let me think¡­ Yes, I¡¯ll teach you another type of Lightness Skills. Although it cannot help you run fast, it can make your body flexible and it is best for evading attacks from enemies. It is not cruel, and it is very pretty. You know it just by the name ¨C Subtle Shadow Lightness Skill¡­¡±


    Suddenly, Shangguan Ru stopped walking, and the horse stopped too. Old Man Mu, who was in the luggage, realized that something was wrong. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°There are smoke and dust rising in the distance, maybe¡­ Maid Lotus is catching up.¡±

 Chapter 371 - The Lunatic

    Chapter 371: The Lunatic


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    That gust of dust appeared near, but it was actually quite a distance away. It was likely just a random gust of whirlwind and nothing to do with Maid Lotus. Old Man Mu, however, was terrified and hid in the luggage bags.


    ¡°Good girl,e, get on the horse as well. Let¡¯s run away quickly. This horse is plump and sturdy, it can withstand both our weights.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was not afraid of Maid Lotus, but she did not want to see her either.


    The rtionship between the two of them was still awkward, and Dragon King was just one of the many reasons why.


    Maid Lotus was one of the most trusted killers under the Tenth Young Master, yet as her subordinate, she had secretly stolen the Wayless Book and presented it to Golden Roc Fort¡¯s nemesis, New Moon Hall. She was not the most unexpected traitor, but her actions made Shangguan Ru felt apologetic toward the Stone Castle and understood her father¡¯s intentions in wanting to kill her off.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s horse was just of a normal breed and it was no longer plump and strong after traveling in the Gobi desert for many days. By dusk, his pace was unsteady and he constantly lost his footing. It seemed like the horse would not endure for much longer.


    They were no longer traveling in the wilderness, in front of them was endless marsnd. Many of the pits were still dry as the rainy season had not arrived yet.


    Shangguan Ru dismounted and unloaded the luggage, bags, and harness, before letting the beast go off. ¡°Go, eat some grass and drink up on water, you are now free.¡±


    Old Man Mu had yet to fully regain his Internal Strength and needed to rely on Shangguan Ru for protection. But he resisted the thought of criticizing her and said, ¡°Good girl, aren¡¯t you too kind? Letting go of the horse means you will have to carry me and walk from now on. Although I am small in size, I still weigh quite a bit, you know? What¡¯s more, we are almost done with the dry food, the horse meat¡­¡±


    ¡°I have my ways.¡±


    Shangguan Ru looked through the items in the luggage and threw away those that were not needed. She separated the remaining items into two bags, one was bigger than the other, then she took out her dagger and cut two slits at the bottom of the luggage that Old Man Mu was hiding in, and tightened the luggage opening with a thin rope tied to it. She held on to the thin rope and said, ¡°Follow me, you can now walk on your own.¡±


    Old Man Mu spread out his arms in the luggage, ¡°Do you think I look good like this? You refuse to learn the Lightness Skill because the posture looks ugly. Do you not consider my feelings as well?¡±


    Shangguan Ru picked up the bigger bag which held the tent and dry food, without saying a word, she tied it to Old Man Mu¡¯s back. She said, ¡°You have to do something too, you can¡¯t just let me help you.¡±


    With that, she carried the smaller bag, held the thin rope and walked into the swamp.


    Old Man Mu managed to refrain from exploding. Like a top-heavy mushroom monster, he followed closely behind Shangguan Ru. But after falling a few times along the way, he started toin, ¡°Little girl, I think I was wrong about you. You are not as kind as I imagined.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°I am an old man, you know! Plus, I am seriously ill right now, how can you abuse me? Wildhorse would never be like this. He¡¯s very obedient and would not voice a singleint even if I shit on his head.¡±


    ¡°Then learn from Wildhorse and stop nitpicking.¡±


    Old Man Mu was lost for words. Wildhorse was willing to endure harsh treatment simply because he wished to learn extraordinary Kung Fu from him. But the tables had now turned and Old Man Mu would need to get on her good side and lie in order for this girl to learn his Kung Fu.


    Fortunately, the sky soon darkened and Old Man Mu was able to get out of the luggage bag. He did not stumble and fall as often as before even though he was still carrying a big bag.


    Neither of them knew the way. They only chose paths that were dry and tried not to leave tracks behind them.


    It was not until after midnight that they stopped to rest at a marsnd.


    Old Man Mu slumped to the ground, panting hard. He did not even have the energy toin. He finally managed to get his bearings when Shangguan Ru finished setting up the tent and was about to go to sleep. He said, ¡°See? This is the disadvantage of not knowing Kung Fu, or if you are weak in Kung Fu. You tend to walk slower, unable to carry things, will be hunted down by others and need to constantly hide from them. I really don¡¯t know how ordinary people live.¡±


    ¡°Now that you know, then you should not treat human lives like dirt in the future.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, good girl, you are right. I can now empathize with them. No wonder you let me carry such a big bag. You have good intentions, I¡­¡±


    ¡°ng!¡± Something jumped out from the grass nearby. Old Man Mu was so badly frightened that he quickly rushed toward the tent. Just as half of his head had entered the tent, Shangguan Ru pped him away. ¡°Do note in.¡±


    Old Man Mu somersaulted away. He was beyond relieved when he realized it just was a wild boar passing that he did not mind Shangguan Ru¡¯s brusque actions. ¡°Scared me to death, I thought Maid Lotus had caught up with us.¡±


    ¡°I thought you are not afraid of anything. In fact, Maid Lotus¡­¡±, Shangguan Ru broke off midway, not knowing how to continue with her words. The Maid Lotus whom she knew was a fake persona, she knew nothing about the real Maid Lotus.


    ¡°It¡¯s not her that I am afraid of.¡± Old Man Mu tried to exin himself. You could say anything you want about him, but cowardice was something that he could not ept. ¡°The point is¡­ She¡¯s a disciple of New Moon Hall. You know about New Moon Hall, right?¡±


    ¡± I know a little about them.¡±


    ¡°I know all about them. They are definitely a group of crazy women. Even if you used to be normal, just one year inside will make you go crazy. Back in those days, why do you think I wanted to escape from New Moon Hall by any means possible? Find somewhere isted and recover from my wounds? It¡¯s because I didn¡¯t want to end up a lunatic like them.¡±


    Yet, Old Man Mu himself was nothing but a crazy devil in Shangguan Ru¡¯s eyes. So she said, ¡°Not Maid Lotus, she looks¡­ quite normal.¡±


    ¡°You are blinded, and Dragon King is even more muddle-headed than you! Let me tell you, New Moon Hall trains their disciples by driving them mad at first, and the methods that they use ¨C Forget it, you are too pure. You will go crazy if you hear about them. Then, they see who can control the craziness within them, and these people are epted as real disciples. So when you see a disciple from New Moon Hall, the more normal she looks on the outside, the crazier she is on the inside and the higher level her Kung Fu will be. This Maid Lotus is not simple. If she is able to learn the highest level of the Seven Circles Kung Fu at such a young age, that must mean she is crazy on a whole other level. Gee, I really don¡¯t know what Han Wuxian is thinking.¡±


    Shangguan Ru did not refute Old Man Mu¡¯s words. Years ago, she had also been captured by New Moon Hall and had seen their disciples before. It was exactly like what Old Man Mu said, many of them seemed like lunatics at first nce while the people who held a higher status and had more powerful Kung Fu skills seemed much more normal.


    ¡°Maid Lotus¡­ Dragon King¡­¡± Shangguan Ru realized that she was worried for ve Huan and quickly quieted down. He was now the Dragon King, and his wits and Kung Fu were far superiorpared to ordinary people. There was no need for her to worry.


    Old Man Mu did not notice the change in her voice and went on, ¡°The Master of Xiaoyue Hall, Han Wuxian herself is an incurable lunatic. Her looks and temperament are like that of an immortal. But her thoughts are beyond ourprehension. Do you know how she wanted to make use of me back then?¡±


    Old Man Mu was fuming mad and spat on the ground. Without waiting for the girl in the tent to ask, he went on vehemently, ¡°She thought I possessed good bone structure, so she wanted all the women in New Moon Hall to sleep with me and conceive children. If it was a boy, they would dispose of the baby. Then they will take care of the young girls until they reached 10. They will be epted as disciples if they were able to inherit the bone structure, but kill the rest who were not able to do so.¡±


    Shangguan Ru listened on with horror, Golden Roc Fort also had many cruel training methods that were extreme, such as encouraging apprentices to kill each other, but they would not go so far as toy hands on babies.


    ¡°You also feel that this is too much, don¡¯t you?¡± Old Man Mu was resentful. ¡°Using me as a breeding sow! Sure, I am a man, I don¡¯t care about this. But¡­ you have to let me have a choice, isn¡¯t it? Not all disciples of New Moon Hall are pretty women like Han Wuxian or Maid Lotus. There are so many ugly women, not to mention, plenty of old women as well, and I am supposed to ept all of them as theye! I, Old Man Mu¡­¡±


    ¡°I want to sleep, so stop talking.¡± Shangguan Ru hurriedly stopped him from talking further. Old Man Mu was someone who spoke without a care, and it would only be more unbearable the more he went on.


    ¡°Alright, I won¡¯t say no more. But you should not sleep. I have not yet taught you the Lightness Skills and Maid Lotus is right behind us. You better learn the Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills, we are depending on this to save our lives.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sleepy, let¡¯s talk about it tomorrow.¡± Shangguan Ru was not interested in learning any type of kung fu, and she felt that the only life that needed saving was Old Man Mu¡¯s.


    Old Man Mu knew what would tick her off, so he did not rush her. He put his hands behind his back and said, ¡°I am really worried for Dragon King. His Kung Fu, looks, and bone structure wereparable to me back then, about 70-80% simr. Since Han Wuxian is unable to catch me, I¡¯m guessing she will settle for second best¡­¡±


    Shangguan Ru walked out of the tent with a cold expression, holding the wooden saber. She said, ¡°Once I master it, I will run away myself.¡±


    Old Man Mu knew his scheme had seeded and felt proud. He smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s not important how many people can run away, the important thing here is that someone learns my unique art.¡±


    Old Man Mu was a murderous devil who had reigned over the Western Region. People fawned over him wherever he went. But back when he was still trying to seek a Master Shifu to learn Kung Fu, he had bootlicked his Master Shifu every day. He would never forget how to pander to others, so it was not a hard feat using it on Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Ru obviously did not believe a word of his, she only wanted to shut him up by learning the Kung Fu, and stop him from mentioning Dragon King especially.


    Only when she really began to practice the Kung Fu did she realize that this set of Kung Fu suited her well.


    Unlike Old Man Mu¡¯s Kung Fu that was either too cruel or ugly, Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills was mainly used to avoid the enemy¡¯s attack and would not inflict any damage. The moves were also graceful and the pace and direction was often unexpected.


    ¡°This set of Lightness Skills was a life-saving trick that I used in my early years. Later on, I tend to use it less when it was mostly me killing others and no one was trying to kill me.¡±Old Man Mu gazed at Shangguan Ru¡¯s lithe figure dodging attacks and could not help but let out a sigh. He was ovee by a strange feeling because his Master Shifu¡¯s wife was the one who had taught him Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills. Shangguan Ru might not be as capable as her, but she vaguely resembled her in a way.


    Old Man Mu shook his head and cleared his mind of useless thoughts, ¡°Learn it well and use it now. You are definitely not Maid Lotus¡¯ match, but if you use it unexpectedly, it may just save your life.¡±


    Shangguan Ru spent about two hours learning the gist of it. She would need a few months¡¯ time to perfect the skill. But she noticed a problem as well. ¡°Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills requires light footsteps and Qi to spread throughout the whole body. In this case¡­ I won¡¯t be able to take you with me and escape.¡±


    Old Man Mu grinned, ¡°Good girl is kind-hearted indeed. You even thought about this. Even if you were to take me with you, we won¡¯t be able to escape either. Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills works best in narrow ces. You will definitely lose if you use this in a stretch of tnd with an opponent.¡±


    Shangguan Ru knew that Old Man Mu had already prepared something else, so she did not bother asking and waited for him to bring it up.


    Old Man Mu lowered his head and thought for a while, then he said, ¡°You can¡¯t just hide from her, it¡¯s better if you can subdue her without injuring her. How about this? I will teach you one more set of acupoint technique.¡±


    Old Man Mu had an innocent look on his face, but Shangguan Ru was certain that there was more to this set of acupoint technique, it was not simply used to subdue someone.

 Chapter 372 - Food

    Chapter 372: Food


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    As a matter of fact, Old Man Mu was well aware of Shangguan Ru¡¯s suspicions, so he quickly exined the acupoint technique that he was about to teach, ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong. The acupoint technique that I will be teaching you is the Finger of Immobilisation. Other than paralyzing the opponent for 2 to 4 hours, there is no other harm to this Kung Fu.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to recognize acupoints.¡±


    Golden Roc Fort had focused more on killing methods and looked down on other types of manuals. Shangguan Ru could only recognize some of the more important acupoints and did not even know the names for the rest of them.


    Old Man Mu eyes gleamed, with a satisfied expression, he said, ¡°This is the subtlety of the Finger of Immobilisation, you don¡¯t need to recognize the acupoints so long as you hit within five inches of the Xuanji acupoint on the opponent¡¯s chest. Your strength alone will prate the opponent¡¯s body, and it will naturally find the right acupoints and keep them immobilized.¡±


    Although Golden Roc Fort did not focus on acupoints, they did have some general knowledge as required. Shangguan Ru knew a little about it, but it was the first time she ever heard of such an acupoint technique called Finger of Immobilisation. ¡°How is it possible? You just want to trick me into learning Kung Fu that kills people, don¡¯t you?¡±


    Old Man Mu stared back, eyes wide as if he had just been insulted. He said, ¡°How can I be so shameless? Besides, your Kung Fu is much better than me now, if I trick you into killing people and reignite that killing desire within you, won¡¯t youe and kill me next? That¡¯s like bringing trouble onto myself, losing more than I can gain, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Seeing as the sky was bing brighter and Shangguan Ru still did not trust him, Old Man Mu had no choice but offered her a solution instead, ¡°I guess there is only one way for you to believe me. I will teach you the acupoint technique and then you can use it on me. Poke me and see if I stop moving or die.¡±


    This seemed feasible, ¡°Okay then.¡± Shangguan Ru said reluctantly.


    Old Man Mu shook his head and muttered in a low voice, ¡°You won¡¯t find such a miserable Master Shifu like me, who volunteer to be the test subject, and even has to humbly plead his student to learn from him.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense, you are not my Master Shifu.¡±


    ¡°Right, right, it¡¯s all my wishful thinking. Good girl wants to be a Buddha, the reason she is learning from me is also to save people¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu continued to tter her before exining the details of the acupoint technique, what she should look out for, which areas were prone to mistakes, etc. Everything was articted clearly.


    The Finger of Immobilisation sounded easy, but it was much moreplicated than the Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills. The moment your Qi was channeled wrongly, the effect would be gone and it would, in turn, weaken your defenses and you might fall into the enemies¡¯ hands.


    Shangguan Ru managed to remember the key points just before daybreak. At first, she tried poking her fingers in the air to practice before trying a few times on Old Man Mu¡¯s chest, but she kept making mistakes and did not even cause him any pain.


    At dawn, as the two of them continued their journey, Old Man Mu wore the luggage over his body and only revealed two feet for walking. He was led by Shangguan Ru as they went deeper into the swamp.


    Shangguan Ru practiced the Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills and Finger of Immobilisation as she walked, and when she encountered any problems, she would turn to Old Man Mu for advice. The day passed by quickly in a blink of an eye and the sky soon turned dark again.


    Right now, the two of them were faced with an important problem: They had run out of dry food.


    ¡°If only we had managed to get that wild boar fromst night.¡± Old Man Mu¡¯s stomach growled with hunger, and he kept swallowing, ¡°Look around, if there was one wild boar, there must be another one around.¡±


    There were not many animals in the swamp. A ¡°second wild boar¡± did not appear, though there were some birds which flew past them from time to time.


    Old Man Mu crawled out from the luggage and looked up at the dark sky, licking his lips. He said, ¡°Normally, I can shoot a few birds down with just a leaf.¡±


    He turned his head and saw Shangguan Ru with her head lowered, apparently pondering about something, her fingers were eager to try out the moves. Old Man Mu was secretly pleased, he knew that the young girl was fascinated by the amazing Kung Fu. But he was unable to suppress his hunger any longer, so he coughed twice to interrupt her thoughts and said, ¡°Lady Buddha, it is time to kill something small to save this old fellow. Find something for us to roast and eat, even a mouse is alright.¡±


    However, Shangguan Ru appeared to not have heard what he said, her brows were slightly furrowed and it was obvious that she had some unaddressed doubts in her heart.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s patience was running out. With such an omniscient Master Shifu like himself around, what else did she need to think about? Wanting to rouse her, he stretched out his arm and tapped on Shangguan Ru¡¯s leg.


    Shangguan Ru, as if by instinct, jabbed the Xuanji acupoint on Old Man Mu¡¯s chest.


    Old Man Mu saw clearly that it was the Finger of Immobilisation and that the Kung Fu was still far from perfect; he could have easily avoided it by leaning slightly to one side, but he had nomand over his body since his Internal Strength was weak. He was able to foresee everything but unable to do anything about it.


    Old Man Mu really froze there like a block of wood. Except for his eyeballs, his whole body was immobilized, his face turning redder by the minute.


    ¡°Oh, did I use it on you?¡± Shangguan Ru was deeply apologetic. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but this is what you requested as well.¡±


    Old Man Mu couldn¡¯t open his mouth, so he tried his best to squeeze out his voice, ¡°Yes, I did request for it. Now restore the acupoints for me.¡±


    Old Man Mu had taught her the Kung Fu along with a way to restore the pressed acupoints, but Shangguan Ru had practiced the acupoint technique the whole day, and could only try and learn to restore the acupoints hands on. After more than 10 times of trying, with Old Man Mu¡¯s face almost turning purple did she manage to restore his acupoints and relieve him of the immobilization.


    Old Man Mu finally regained his mobility. Sitting on the ground, he panted profusely and was unable to utter a word for half a day.


    Shangguan Ru looked at her own finger, ¡°You said the Finger of Immobilisation wouldn¡¯t harm people, but you¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu regained some color on hisplexion, so he smiled wryly and said, ¡°Good girl, I mean, you attacked me when I was caught off guard just now! I wasn¡¯t able to channel my Qi in time and my acupoints were blocked, of course, I would suffocate! Wait till I¡¯m ready then you can strike again, it will just be immobilization of the body with no other harm.¡±


    ¡°Then get ready.¡±


    ¡°Right now?¡±


    ¡°I only tried it once, and there are still many things that I don¡¯t understand.¡±


    Old Man Mu rubbed his belly and said, ¡°Let¡¯s eat first, shall we? The Finger of Immobilisation cannot possibly keep us full, right? I will be so ufortable if I am immobilized with an empty stomach.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    Now that they had reached a consensus, the old and young looked at each other, not understanding why the other continued to stand still.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you cooking?¡± The two of them asked at the same time.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how.¡± Both answered in unison.


    Old Man Mu had been the devil who reigned across the regions and had always dismissed trivial matters such as cooking.


    On the other hand, as the Tenth Young Master of the Golden Roc Fort, Shangguan Ru had led a life of luxury and privilege and was used to being waited upon. In her imagination, the extremely arduous jianghu life did not include finding food for herself.


    ¡°It¡¯s very simple. Just hunt a bird, kill it, pluck its feathers and remove the internal organs, then roast it over the fire.¡± Old Man Mu replied. After all, he had more jianghu experience and vaguely knew what the process was like.


    Just the thought of it made Shangguan Ru sick, so she said, ¡°I will try to catch something, you do the rest.¡±


    ¡°I am already so old, and I¡¯m so small in size, plus my Internal Strength is so weak¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu gave several excuses but Shangguan Ru was not buying it. ¡°There are many people who don¡¯t know Kung Fu, but they can still cook very well.¡±


    Old Man Mu was so hungry that he could only agree. Over and over again, he told himself to bear with it. In less than a month, he would be the master of the world again once his Kung Fu was restored.


    Shangguan Ru went hunting for food and Old Man Mu stayed behind to collect firewood to start a fire.


    Starting a fire was a dangerous move since Maid Lotus might be somewhere nearby, but Old Man Mu could not care less about it. Just the thought of eating the greasy roast meat was enough for him to risk his life.


    He tried tofort himself with thoughts like these: The swamp was big and perhaps the lunatic had lost her way trying to track them down. So he daringly lit up a small fire and waited for Shangguan Ru to return.


    Shangguan Ru returned with two quails smaller than the size of a palm. Old Man Mu looked at her, dumbfounded, and said, ¡°This, this is not even enough for me to fill up my belly.¡±


    ¡°One each.¡± Shangguan Ru did not bother exining and threw her catch to Old Man Mu. Then she walked to a far end and continued to figure out the two new Kung Fu she had just learned.


    Shangguan Ru had tried out the Lightness Skills, Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills and gained many insights when she was catching the birds. It was a Kung Fu that went well with the Finger of Immobilisation and she felt that it suited her so well, she did not even want to use the wooden saber.


    Here she was, putting her heart and mind into practicing the Kung Fu and soon forgot about her hunger. Old Man Mu, on the other hand, was miserable. He had never once imagined that cleaning up two dead quails were even harder than killing people.


    He took an hour to clean up the quails and hurriedly roast them above the fire. Seeing as the quails looked even smaller after removing and trimming away its feathers, he harbored thoughts of devouring the birds by himself. But after thinking it through, he realized that he would still need to rely on Shangguan Ru to hunt for food, so he reluctantly called out, ¡°Good girl,e and taste the old man¡¯s cooking.¡±


    Old Man Mu was too impatient and his method of cooking was wrong as well, the two quails looked cooked on the surface but the meat was still very much raw on the inside. He ate a mouthful and red blood oozed from his mouth.


    Seeing this, Shangguan Ru lost her appetite suddenly and said, ¡°You can have it all, I can still endure the hunger.¡±


    Old Man Mu was a straightforward person and did not wish to lose his food by being polite, so he happily nodded his head and devoured the two half-cooked roast quails in a few mouthfuls.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t taste as good as human flesh.¡± Old Man Muid on his back, his burning hunger not quite satiated so he used his imagination to suppress it.


    ¡°You ate humans before?¡± Shangguan Ru asked in surprise.


    ¡°Hehe, I was just lying to you. There are so many delicious foods around in the world, why would I eat human flesh? But in some wild areas, there really are tribes who consume human flesh. They have a lot of ways when ites to eating them¡­¡±


    ¡°No, I won¡¯t listen, I won¡¯t, you better stop talking.¡± Shangguan Ru hurriedly curbed Old Man Mu¡¯s enthusiasm.


    ¡°The Supreme King is quite the man. He is the only person whom I respect and fear. How did he give birth to a daughter like you? Frankly speaking, are you¡­¡±


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s facial expression turned cold, ¡°Am I what?¡±


    ¡°Are you sleepy?¡± Old Man Mu changed his question in the nick of time. But he was also curious, if the Supreme King was able to poison his own children, perhaps it was because they were not his own blood.


    <em>Women. Not even the Supreme King could control his own woman, thank goodness his heart belonged to no one, </em>Old Man Mu sighed ruefully. <em>It was better to snatch from others than to take care of your own women </em>. The more he thought about this, the more reasonable it seemed, therefore his desire to restore his Kung Fu as soon as possible grew more urgent than ever.


    The jianghu experience for these two people was vastly different; one wascking in it and the other did not care much for it. So they continued to keep the fire lighted as they slept.


    Old Man Mu knew what to expect, so he had a good dream. Countless beauties surrounded him with all kinds of delicacies in their hands. He ate nonstop but his hunger was never satisfied. In the end, even the beautiful women turned into huge portions of chicken, duck, and fish.


    He realized that his hunger was still there when he woke up. White smoke rose up into the hazy night, even the fire next to him had extinguished.


    Through the white smoke, he saw a distant woman floating towards him like an illusion. The woman was somewhat simr to the beautiful women he had dreamed of, but instead of the mouthwatering delicacies, in her hands was a sharp sword.


    ¡°Hey.¡± Old Man Mu shouted to the tent. ¡°Good girl, someone is here to offer us human flesh.¡±

 Chapter 373 - Drew out Her Sword

    Chapter 373: Drew out Her Sword


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    As a well-trained killer, Maid Lotus should have approached secretly and struck quietly, so Shangguan Ru was somewhat surprised at her uncharacteristically public appearance.


    She had already noticed someone approaching them while Old Man Mu was still dreaming. But she emerged from her tent holding a lightweight wooden saber only after Old Man Mu let out a scream.


    The ex-master and servant faced each other in silence.


    ¡°Tenth Young Master.¡± Maid Lotus spoke first. For a moment, there was no killing intent within her. She was as courteous and polite as before, and her sword lowered a few inches as well.


    ¡°Maid Lotus.¡± Shangguan Ru bowed her head to return the courtesy, no longer regarding her as her subordinate.


    ¡°I think I owe you an exnation.¡±


    Copying the Wayless Book was themon turning point shared by the teenagers at that time. Because of this, Maid Lotus was able to make a huge contribution to New Moon Hall while ve Huan¡¯s justification for revenge became even stronger. However, as a result, Shangguan Ru had lost her father¡¯s favor.


    Even so, Shangguan Ru did not wish to listen to any exnation. It was obvious that everybody was just using each other in a way, and she was the only one kept in the dark, assuming that everybody was working for her. She was born and raised in the Stone Castle and should have been well aware of this.


    <em>You were too naive, you cannot possibly me others for being conniving, </em>she thought. Then she said, ¡°There are always reasons for doing so and the Stone Castle owes you two so much more, it¡¯s alright if we just let it be.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your magnanimity, Tenth Young Master.¡±


    The two of them had traveled with each other for many days, yet they rarely spoke, let alone had eye contact. This conversation exchanged between them was extremely polite, it did not seem like they were enemies, but neither were they friends.


    Old Man Mu nced at the two of them. Although Shangguan Ru was not to his liking, Maid Lotus was disappointing as well. ¡°Hey, what are you two going on about? This is the moment that you either live or die. Fight! Kill! Stab her with a sword or fight her with a saber, my life belongs to whoever who wins. Uh, same goes for Dragon King, he¡¯s¡­¡±


    The two women turned to look at him together, and their faces were as cold as frost. Old Man Mu read the atmosphere and swallowed his words. ¡°Continue your chatting. I¡­ I will count the stars.¡±


    ¡°I would also need to ask the Tenth Young Master to do me a favor.¡± Maid Lotus¡¯ tone grew more and more polite.


    ¡°You are too polite. There¡¯s nothing I can help you with. And I am no longer the Tenth Young Master.¡±


    ¡°You will always be the Tenth Young Master in my heart.¡±


    The two of them were silent for a moment and the awkward atmosphere did not dissipate. There was a thin thread between them, no one wanted to take the step forward nor did they wish to break the thread themselves.


    ¡°I cannot let you kill him.¡± Shangguan Ru was the first to break the silent standoff and was amused by the feigned facade she had put on just now.


    ¡°I understand that the Tenth Young Master is unwilling to kill, so please stand aside and I will do it.¡±


    ¡°No way.¡±


    ¡°You should know what kind of person Old Man Mu is, Tenth Young Master. You saw the way he killed others. If you let him go today, you will be unleashing the devil.¡±


    ¡°He promised me that he will not kill again in the future and I will supervise him constantly.¡±


    There was pity in Maid Lotus¡¯ eyes. This was her first time showing anything other than a servant or a killer in front of Shangguan Ru. She said, ¡°You can¡¯t trust what Old Man Mu said. He is addicted to killing and will never kick this habit.¡±


    ¡°I have my own way to stop him from killing again.¡± Shangguan Ru was insistent.


    Old Man Mu watched them, satisfied. He was excited to see the sparks between the two women fly, as it might burst into mes at any time.


    ¡°Everybody said that you were the one who cut the rope and released him.¡± Maid Lotus said, her voice bing colder. ¡°I don¡¯t believe that and I never will.¡±


    Shangguan Ru did not wish to defend herself. She even vaguely sensed a killing intent stirring in her heart. This was something that she had not felt for years.


    Why did she hate Maid Lotus? Shangguan Ru asked herself. Although Maid Lotus was not loyal to her, she had not betrayed her like how Master Yu, ve Huan or even her parents and brother had. This quiet and resourceful female killer had only done what she had to do.


    Her killing desire was like a malnourished seed, withering as soon as it budded. All of a sudden, Shangguan Ru felt rxed from the inside out and was able to speak more candidly.


    ¡°Even though Old Man Mu kills people, you have killed as well. Everybody is killing people, and it is neverending. Just trust me once, Maid Lotus. I will bring him to the most remote ce ever and will never let him have the opportunity to kill anyone ever again. I can guarantee with my life.¡±


    ¡°I believe you, Tenth Young Master.¡± Maid Lotus said as she took a step back. ¡°However, once he regains his Kung Fu, no one in the world will be able to stop him. There will never be a peaceful day for New Moon Hall and the Great Snowmountain if I don¡¯t get rid of him.¡±


    ¡°Then, you will have to get through me first.¡± Shangguan Ru raised her wooden saber. If it had been a few days ago, she would not hesitate to hand over Old Man Mu. But after several days of getting to know him, what she saw was not a demon killer but a small fellow who was poor in Kung Fu, someone who was forthright and unbashful, merely seeking protection.


    Maid Lotus was silent for a moment. Either she seemed to be considering the options or maybe she was waiting for Shangguan Ru to change her mind. Then she said, ¡°Sorry if I offend you.¡±


    Shangguan Ru gripped her wooden saber tightly. She knew she was not Maid Lotus¡¯ match. All she could think about was the two Kung Fu skills that she recently learned and hoped to achieve good results.


    Maid Lotus¡¯ first strike was not directed at her, however.


    Old Man Mu only had less than 10% of his Internal Strength left, however, his eyesight was still sharp. He realized that things were bad as soon as he saw Maid Lotus drew out her sword, but he could only let out a half shout. ¡°Ah¡±.


    The sword went through his chest.


    Maid Lotus had already retreated several steps away. She was not one to take risks even when facing an opponent who had lost almost all of their Kung Fu. Moreover, she was well aware that Old Man Mu wore a thin bulletproof armor. No one had taken it from him when he was captured since he had been immediately tied up.


    Like a broken doll that had been passed down for several generations, Old Man Mu staggered to the ground, his right shoulder bleeding profusely. He tapped his chest and said, ¡°I thought you would stab here instead.¡±


    He did not wear his thin armor but had a breastte in ce. He paid special attention to protect his own heart since he liked going around digging out others¡¯ hearts.


    The first move from Maid Lotus was just a test. Indeed, Old Man Mu had not fully recovered his skills, and this would make things much easier.


    She moved slowly and her gaze did not fall on either of them. It was as though she was a girl next door strolling through her garden, having thoughts of a young girl and not paying particr attention to the people and things around her.


    Then, her second strike came. It was as fast as a lizard¡¯s long tongue swiping for flies.


    Once again, Old Man Mu could clearly preempt it, but there was nothing he could do about it.


    Fortunately, Shangguan Ru finally made a move. She came to Old Man Mu¡¯s side almost at the same time as Maid Lotus.


    But her ¡°almost¡± could not hold back an expert¡¯s sword and neither could it save people.


    Shangguan Ru had been in cruel battles and went through near-death experiences, she was also once surrounded by hundreds of thousands of enemies. However, she had never felt as overwhelmed as she felt now.


    Just watching by the side, she still had not felt that Maid Lotus was much stronger than her. But she realized that the two of them were of different levels once she really started attacking.


    Maid Lotus¡¯ speed was slightly faster than her. To normal people, it was small enough that it could be ignored, but it was something that Shangguan Ru could not mend even if she tried her best.


    On the other hand, Maid Lotus did not seem to pay much attention to guarding against Shangguan Ru. She would attack, retreat and observe the results at her own pace.


    The sword struck Old Man Mu¡¯s left calf. Although it did not bleed much, he still yelped from the pain, ¡°Hehe, this b*tch is ruthless indeed. But you made the wrong move. Might as well kowtow and beg me if you want to learn my kung fu. If you are hoping to threaten me by disabling my Kung Fu, why not use a honey trap on me? I might be enamored and perhaps be willing to teach you some skills, you know?¡±


    Maid Lotus did not wish to kill Old Man Mu right away, she had merely damaged his leg tendons and ignored his verbal provocation. Again, she continued to pace slowly at a dozen paces away.


    Somewhat bashful, Shangguan Ru stood in front of Old Man Mu and said, ¡°You already possess Wayless Book and the ult sciences of New Moon Hall, why do you still want other people¡¯s Kung Fu?¡±


    Maid Lotus actually did not find it necessary to say anything more to her former master. Although Shangguan Ru had grown up, she was still a little girl in her heart. Except for her somewhat disheartened temperament, she was still as naive as before, therefore there were many things that she would never understand.


    But she still spoke, not so much as to exin to Shangguan Ru, but to threaten Old Man Mu, ¡°There is no end to learning, there will always be experts beyond our imagination who exist in this world. Since I am already in the jianghu, I must always move forward and continue to excel.¡±


    If not for the two painful wounds on his body, Old Man Mu almost wanted to apud her exnation. He said, ¡°Yes, you are right. Shangguan Ru, you should really learn from Maid Lotus.¡±


    Shangguan Ru could not think of anything to rebut, but she was not convinced by what Maid Lotus said either. She was still very vignt, hoping that she could block Maid Lotus¡¯ next move when she drew her sword out.


    To the eyes of Shangguan Ru, the third blow from Maid Lotus was without any warning. Just when she drew out her wooden saber, a grey shadow passed by and Maid Lotus had already returned to her original position.


    This time, the sword damaged the tendons on Old Man Mu¡¯s right wrist. No matter how powerful his Internal Strength was, two more blows from Maid Lotus and Old Man Mu¡¯s Kung Fu would be disabled, he would no longer be able to use Foxlike Movement Skill and Five Hole Punch anymore.


    ¡°Hold on.¡± Old Man Mu started to panic. Losing his Kung Fu was his biggest nightmare and he had never thought it would happen today. He said, ¡°Just what kind of Kung Fu do you want to learn? Speak, so that I can think about it. All these blows one after another, how am I supposed to guess what you want?¡±


    Maid Lotus paced leisurely and did not seem to be in a rush. Dawn would soon arrive and she had already predicted that Old Man Mu wouldply. ¡°All of it.¡± She replied, leaving no room for negotiation.


    ¡°Ambitious, ruthless, and smart enough, you are indeed my type. Ever since your Master, nothing had moved my heart for the past ten years.¡±


    Old Man Mu began to speak lewdly again although it did not bother Maid Lotus at all. But Shangguan Ru had enough of it, so she said, ¡°Shut up, Old Man Mu. If you are going to sprout any more nonsense, then you will have to fight her yourself.¡±


    Old Man Mu, however, was unexpectedly ungrateful, he said, ¡°You still have the cheek to say, little girl? You promised to protect me but you could not even block half of her blows. There is no difference with or without you, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Shangguan Ru grunted in reply, but she did not move away. Although the killing desire within her was gone forever, herpetitiveness was still strong. Rather than protecting Old Man Mu, it was more toward the fact that she could not believe she was unable to block off Maid Lotus¡¯ sword.


    ¡°I surrender. All my Kung Fu belongs to you, Maid Lotus.¡± Old Man Mu peeked out from behind Shangguan Ru. He did not n to fight when the odds were against him.


    ¡°Very well.¡±


    ¡°But I have one condition.¡±


    Maid Lotus hesitated slightly; she thought Old Man Mu was going toe up with some obscene suggestion again, so she said, ¡°Say it.¡±


    ¡°This old man has no other hobbies but have enjoyed killing people my whole life. I am so bored after not seeing a corpse for more than 10 days. I can¡¯t kill now, as you know. So how about you kill off this useless little girl here? Make me happy, and I will teach you my Kung Fu.¡±

 Chapter 374 - Acupoint Technique

    Chapter 374: Acupoint Technique


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Old Man Mu turned on Shangguan Ru in an instant, intending to kill the one who had vowed to protect him.


    Even though she was ustomed to betrayals, Shangguan Ru could not help but be slightly annoyed by it. However, she ignored Old Man Mu behind her and continued to keep her gaze on Maid Lotus¡¯ every move, looking for any trace as to when Maid Lotus would draw her sword.


    This was a duel between the two of them and had nothing to do with others.


    Maid Lotus did not answer and Old Man Mu grew impatient, so he urged, ¡°Answer me, do you agree or disagree with what I suggested?¡±


    TAs the sun was rising from the eastern horizon, the thin night was already frantically retreating.


    Maid Lotus answered with the sword in her hand.


    Her fourth blow was still as fast as lightning and her target remained on Old Man Mu. This time, it was the tendons on his left wrist that was damaged by the sword.


    Maid Lotus did not retreat back to her original spot, however. She deviated five steps to the right and looked at Shangguan Ru in surprise.


    Shangguan Ru had finally caught up with Maid Lotus¡¯ blow. Although she had been unable to stop Maid Lotus, she had managed to force her to change direction.


    Old Man Mu heaved helplessly, ¡°Sister Maid Lotus, Aunt Maid Lotus, my Grand Aunt Maid Lotus, just what are you thinking? If you want to speak your mind, feel free. I am like amb being led to ughter, I am the most obedient person in the world. You don¡¯t have to cut me into pieces, right?¡±


    For the first time since her first blow, Maid Lotus seriously sized Shangguan Ru up. But her words were directed to Old Man Mu, ¡°Your Kung Fu is out of this world and you can go back on your word at any time. No one can restrict you. I have no choice but to destroy your Kung Fu.¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s face was as pale as a sheet of paper, partly due to the pain and partly due to fear. ¡°If you destroy my Kung Fu¡­ I¡­ I will kill myself!¡±


    Her gaze shifted away from Shangguan Ru as she continued to pace slowly, circling Old Man Mu, ¡°Without your Kung Fu, you cannot die as you wish. You should know that better than me. You have tortured many helpless people, Old Man Mu. It is time for you to pay your debts.¡±


    Sweat began to trickle down Old Man Mu¡¯s forehead. ¡°Can¡¯t I repay my debts in my next life? Let me reincarnate as a pig, I will be ughtered at birth and then eaten as a roast suckling pig.¡±


    Maid Lotus did not speak further, she had no interest in sparring with words. Both Golden Roc Fort and New Moon Hall had taught her the same principle: Always be in control of the situation as much as possible.


    The promise of the strong was not credible. No matter how sincere his promise was, once Old Man Mu regained his Kung Fu, the first thing he would probably do was to kill Maid Lotus in revenge.


    Furthermore, the weak had no conditions to speak of. Old Man Mu, whose limbs and tendons were damaged was at the mercy of others; there was no need for her to promise him anything.


    One more move and the tendons on Old Man Mu¡¯s right leg would be damaged as well.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s gasps were getting heavier. He had met his match. <em>New Moon Hall was full of crazy people indeed </em>, he thought. He had endured for more than ten years and returned to Jianghu only to be ruined at the hands of a New Moon Hall disciple again. ¡°Hey, good girl, If there is still a trace of kindness in you, just turn around and kill me, yeah? I rather go to hell and fall into the hands of the King of Hell than suffer under this crazy woman.¡±


    Shangguan Ru did not respond to Old Man Mu¡¯s plea. All her energy was focused on Maid Lotus. Even her breathing and heartbeat was in synchrony with hers.


    Maid Lotus stopped in her tracks, she said, ¡°Are you really willing to die for a devil who is a stranger to you?¡±


    Shangguan Ru still did not respond. She was afraid of losing her judgment toward Maid Lotus once she opened her mouth. She knew in her heart that she would not die for anybody, and Old Man Mu was frankly not important for her to protect with her life.


    Maid Lotus¡¯ fifth blow was no longer targeted at Old Man Mu.


    It was time to end things anyway. She had already done everything that she could. The Tenth Young Master was not her master and she had never been. Killing her was just a job that had been dyed for too long. Years ago, the few killers had already nned to kill their master, but ve Huan had ended up giving many reasons to abort the n. That n would be realized today.


    Through the four blows exchanged just now, Maid Lotus had learned how Shangguan Ru moved and was very confident in her next move. Therefore, she was taken aback when the swordpletely missed the target. Shangguan Ru had disappeared.


    Old Man Mu had already forgotten about his pain and injuries, he was staring the situation in front of him with a fixed gaze. Whether or not his carefully thought n woulde through would depend on their next moves.


    <em>Just one more day, </em>he thought, even if it was just a few more hours if Shangguan Ru could have more time to practice that two sets of kungfu more, their odds would be better as well.


    Shangguan Ru had dodged Maid Lotus¡¯ sword using the Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills.


    Old Man Mu was right. Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills was a Lightness Skills that was dedicated for fleeing, it would not stop the opponent from attacking the third party and was only effective when Maid Lotus changed her target to Shangguan Ru.


    Chasing and being chased were two different things. Even if Shangguan Ru failed to catch up with Maid Lotus, that did not mean that Maid Lotus would able to catch up with her either.


    Maid Lotus struck five to six blows in total, each blow skimming Shangguan Ru¡¯s clothing, but always half an inch away from hitting the target.


    Old Man Mu was nervous. It was no use just trying to avoid the opponent, Shangguan Ru would always be at a disadvantage if this continued. Once she slipped up, she would be struck by the sword.


    She must defeat Maid Lotus with the Finger of Immobilisation.


    ¡°Just one time, just once¡­¡± He whispered aloud, unconsciously.


    Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills was a rare Lightness Skills in the martial arts world. Even when Old Man Mu had exchanged his Kung Fu in return for the specially-made pills for his injuries, he had not taught this manual to them. To the Master of Xiaoyue Hall, Han Wuxian, there was no point in fleeing for life.


    Therefore, when Maid Lotus saw this illusory and elusive Lightness Skills, she was confused all of a sudden. But after 10 more blows, she began to understand the secret behind it, and her sword began to strike closer to Shangguan Ru.


    ¡°Hit!¡± Old Man Mu could not help but let out a cry.


    In that instant, Shangguan Ru took an important step forward and she managed toe up behind Maid Lotus from an incredible angle. Turning to face her, she seized that fleeting opportunity and struck Maid Lotus with her finger.


    Maid Lotus practiced the Death Scripture swordcraft and even if she was using other types of Kung Fu, she would still follow the principles in the scripture by always attacking and not defending. She did not think that Shangguan Ru would actually reverse her defense into attack and certainly did not expect herself to be attacked by her.


    Even though that finger acupoint move was extremely light and only went past her chest, it disrupted Shangguan Ru¡¯s pace. It was then that Maid Lotus took a step back and thrust her sword. She was certain that her opponent had nowhere to run.


    However, her strength had suddenly disappeared. Maid Lotus thought she missed a step as the ground under her turned into nothingness. She saw her sword tip touching Shangguan Ru but the sword was no longer under her control and it would not move forward.


    <em>Impossible </em>, was what Maid Lotus had on her mind before she copsed.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s face was pale and her hair was disheveled. There was no joy from the victory she had just won. She did not even understand why she was enemies with Maid Lotus.


    Old Man Mu jumped up excitedly as he supported his whole body with his only intact right leg. He hopped over on one leg to Maid Lotus¡¯ side and kicked her with his dangling left leg, ¡°You¡­¡±


    Even though it was a harmless kick from the frail old man, Shangguan Ru picked him up and put him aside, ¡°You are not allowed to touch her.¡±


    ¡°She wants to kill me¡­ and you, good girl. You should no longer be softhearted.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you want to kill me as well? I still saved you.¡±


    Old Man Mu hopped around to keep his bnce and shook his head repeatedly, ¡°It¡¯s not the same, not the same. I was trying to trick her, I never really wanted you killed. But this little crazy woman is different! I think she is trying to get rid of her love rival so that Dragon King¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu stopped himself in time. This was a taboo topic and there was no reason to offend Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Ru looked at Maid Lotus who had copsed before realizing something was not right. Maid Lotus was not immobilized and still, but had copsed limply instead, her cheeks were also bing redder as if she had suffered a serious internal injury.


    ¡°What happened to her?¡± Shangguan Ru asked in surprise. She knelt to one knee to check for Maid Lotus¡¯ breath and realized that her breath was weak and scattered, and even showed signs of qigong deviation.


    Old Man Mu had already found the knack of standing on one leg and no longer needed to jump around to bnce himself. He bent down to take a look, before curling his lip and said, ¡°I think she was too temperamental and too furious that she was defeated by you¡­¡±


    ¡°Tell the truth!¡± Shangguan Ru grabbed Maid Lotus¡¯ sword and held it to Old Man Mu¡¯ chest. She was certain that he was lying.


    ¡°Why? Do you want to kill me? Do it then.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was fuming. She was still being used in the end. Even the deepest part of the wilderness was still full of deception and betrayal. She said, ¡°You did not teach me the Finger of Immobilisation.¡±


    Old Man Mu was certain that ¡°good girl¡± would not harm him, but he was too proud of his n. After holding it in for a while, he burst outughing, only stopping when he was trembling and in danger of losing his bnce.


    ¡°Haha, good girl. Let me tell you. It¡¯s called the Seven Circles Seven Apertures Heart Stopping Finger. It¡¯s almost the same as the Finger of Immobilization. You are blessed to learn it.¡±


    Shangguan Ru had never heard of this Kung Fu before, but since the name was also part of the ¡°Seven Circles¡±, it must be one of the evil secrets from the Manual of Seven Secret Techniques of New Moon Hall.


    ¡°You¡­¡± She was so furious that she did not know what to say, so she continued, ¡°Tell me how to save her.¡± Although she was full of doubt, saving Maid Lotus was what she was most concerned about right now.


    ¡°I taught you how to restore the finger acupoints already. Just do it on her, and I guarantee she will spring up immediately, even more energetic than me.¡± That being said, that delighted expression on Old Man Mu¡¯s face clearly showed that this was yet another lie of his.


    Shangguan Ru nced at the flushed face of Maid Lotus and an uncontroble killing intent rose up in her. It was like a ball of sparks hidden under ashes that would immediately burst into mes once it came in contact with dry tinder.


    Old Man Mu was more than familiar with such an expression, so he jumped back and said, ¡°Hey, sober up. Don¡¯t forget you cannot kill people. I¡¯m already half disabled, you know¡­¡±


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s dark big eyes showed a hint of crazed desperation, and it reminded Old Man Mu of the crazy women from New Moon Hall.


    ¡°Tell me the truth or else¡­ I will kill you and thenmit suicide myself. Since I have already killed Maid Lotus, it doesn¡¯t matter if I kill one more person.¡±


    <em>Women are all crazy indeed, no wonder New Moon Hall only epts female disciples. </em>Old Man Mu thought to himself as he grasped that realization. Then, he looked up at Shangguan Ru, trying to gauge her determination. ¡°Alright, alright. You win, okay? I will tell you how to save her.¡±


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s eyes were moist and almost seemed like she was about to cry. But Old Man Mu did not soften. He said, ¡°There are many ways to save a person, but tears are definitely not one of them. You better wait for her to wake up, then the two of you can hug and weep bitterly together.¡±


    ¡°Speak.¡±


    ¡°Ha, it is actually very simple! Young people like you don¡¯t like to learn and tend to make a franticst-minute effort¡­¡± Old Man Mu still wanted to nag for a bit. Shangguan Ru shifted the sword tip and he immediately went straight to the point. ¡°The two of you practiced the Wayless Qigong and is of the same spirit. Use your Qi to unclog her meridians and it will be fine.¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s words were often half-truths and Shangguan Ru did not know whether to believe him this time.

 Chapter 375 - Getting Fooled

    Chapter 375: Getting Fooled


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Ru carried Maid Lotus into the tent and healed her using Wayless Qigong. Old Man Mu¡¯s words were not to be trusted, but she had no other choice.


    Old Man Mu hid in the luggage and did not dare to move again. He waited for Shangguan Ru to help him reattach his broken tendons, but his mouth simply refused to be idle, not caring if his incessant talking would bother the two people in the tent.


    ¡°This old fellow is so lucky! All the deities and buddhas in the heavens who bless the wicked will never let me die, haha.¡±


    ¡°How did I evene up with the Seven Circles seven apertures Heart Stopping Finger? I really admire you, you old fellow!¡±


    ¡°Be it Jueyin Touch or Peripheral Force,pared to me, everyone else are fireflies vying with the sun and moon for light. I bet Han Wuxian didn¡¯t expect me to be so clever when she revealed the secret techniques of the New Moon Hall and asked me to fix their ws. Not only did I manage to fix the ws, I even created a new manual! The Manual of Seven Secret Techniques has one more unique skill because of me.¡±


    ¡°New Moon Hall likes to nt things into people¡¯s bodies so as to coerce them to obey. Hehe, I will give them a taste of their own medicine by inventing the Heart Stopping Finger, specially made to counteract against New Moon Hall. Plus, it¡¯s easy and simple, just a little force from the fingers will cause them to suffer from qigong deviation. Maid Lotus will be your minion from now on, good girl!¡±


    ¡°I wanted that old crazy woman, Han Wuxian, to experience this for the very first time, but who knew that this little crazy woman robbed her of that opportunity.¡±


    ¡°Old fellow here really is quite lucky, isn¡¯t it? Good girl, how did you learn Heart Stopping Finger so quickly if you do not have prior knowledge of Wayless Qigong? I, myself took three months to master it. You had no idea, right? Actually, the Manual of Seven Secret Techniques was based on Wayless Qigong as well. All of the ult sciences of New Moon Hall are based on it. That is why they had to steal the divine kung fu by all means necessary. The two sects were originally one family, do you understand?¡±


    ¡°The most interesting thing was that I had just reached the Fire Level of Five Hole Punch for the heart, and my heart pulse was as solid as a massive rock. Even if the New Moon Hall disciplines attacked me with the Seven Circles seven apertures Heart Stopping Finger, it would have had no effect on me. Haha, good girl, you¡¯ve been fooled. But you scared me as well! Last night, I almost died when you attacked me with it, you know? Especially since my Internal Strength has not fully recovered yet.¡±


    ¡°Look, stop helping the little crazy woman and help me attach my tendons back. There are a total of seven moves for the Heart Stopping Finger and you¡¯ve only learned two moves. There are still five more moves, you know¡­¡±


    The luggage was removed from his body as Shangguan Ru stared down at him coldly.


    The sunlight shone directly on him, and in an instant, his gleeful gloating evaporated into a wisp of smoke. Old Man Mu immediately shriveled and raised his arms to cover his face. He let out a series of strange groans and then pleaded, ¡°Cover me, cover me.¡±


    However, Shangguan Ru hardened her heart and threw the luggage to one side, letting Old Man Mu writhe painfully in the sun.


    ¡°Good girl¡­ spare¡­ please spare me.¡±


    Old Man Mu had no principles: he would terrorize others when he was formidable but was not ashamed to plead for mercy when he was weak.


    Shangguan Ru squatted down and reattached his three broken tendons, then get up and left. She did not stop until she no longer heard his wailing.


    nts in the marsh had started to bud.


    Spring was arriving, but Shangguan Ru¡¯s heart was as heavy as a rock and as brittle as the cold winter.


    Just because she was born in the Stone Castle, did that mean she would never be able to run away from deception and betrayal? Even in the wilderness and surrounded by only two people, the scheming and plotting never stopped, even she was forced to scheme and plot as well. It used to be something she took pride in, but now it sickened her.


    The spring breeze blew past and Shangguan Ru gradually calmed down. She even felt a hint of joy.


    From now on, her life would be used to repay all the evil things that she had done in the past. The thought that the hardships she was suffering now werepensation for her previous sins fueled her.


    Old Man Mu was still writhing around on the ground when Shangguan Ru returned to ce the luggage over him again.


    ¡°You¡­ you¡­¡± Old Man Mu was so weak that he almost could not speak.


    ¡°You promised me that you would never kill again.¡± Shangguan Ru¡¯s tone was calm and she no longer felt remorse for what she was about to do.


    ¡°I¡­ I didn¡¯t kill anybody.¡±


    ¡°You almost made me kill Maid Lotus.¡±


    ¡°Is it also counted? You didn¡¯t say so earlier. I thought that as long as I did not do it with my own hands, it wouldn¡¯t count as breaking the promise. Old fellow won¡¯t dare to do so again, please don¡¯t torture me anymore.¡±


    ¡°You also mentioned that you would ept my supervision from now on.¡± Shangguan Ru continued on her own train of thought.


    ¡°Yes. If the good girl doesn¡¯t want me to kill, I won¡¯t even kill a rabbit.¡±


    ¡°But Maid Lotus was right. Your Kung Fu is too powerful. Once you restore your skills, no one will be able to control you.¡±


    ¡°I can teach you the best Kung Fu, then you will be a hundred times stronger than me.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to learn your Kung Fu.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ what do you want to do?¡± Old Man Mu asked. He had a bad feeling about what was going toe next. His voice was no longer haughty but became suspicious and rigid.


    ¡°Very simple. As long as your Kung Fu is not restored, I will be able to supervise you and prevent you from killing innocent people.¡±


    No sound came from the luggage. Old Man Mu seemed to have turned into a block of wood.


    ¡°From now on, I will need you to bask in the sun every 15 days. This way, your Kung Fu will only partially recover. Since you don¡¯t want to kill people anymore, there¡¯s no use having such good Kung Fu skills.¡±


    Shangguan Ru finally finished telling Old Man Mu about her n. Ever since bringing Old Man Mu along with her, she had been thinking about this problem. It was not all empty talk when she told Maid Lotus that she had a way to control this devil. She had actually beening up with this n for a long time.


    But she saw how much he suffered under the sun and was still somewhat reluctant. It was only after being deceived by him and almost killing Maid Lotus with the Seven Circles seven apertures Heart Stopping Finger that she made up her mind to do so.


    To Shangguan Ru, it was a difficult decision. To Old Man Mu, the news was like a thunderbolt out of a clear sky.


    He was still in cloud nine after having sessfully deceived Shangguan Ru, but in a twinkling of an eye, he became the one who was fooled. Even Old Man Mu. who had experienced countless storms and waves, was dizzy from it.


    ¡°You¡­ you¡­¡± Old Man Mu was full of indignation; he felt that he was the most unfortunate person in the world. ¡°How could you do this? This old man here was dead set on believing that you will not do evils. You are a good person, you should be the female Buddha, you know. Why did you learn from evil people like me?¡±


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s face flushed, and her conviction was swayed once again. But she knew that her decision was final and unwavering, so she said apologetically: ¡°I never wanted to be a Buddha. But I saved your life. So from now on, every person that you kill is akin to me killing as well. Therefore I could onlye up with this n. But rest assured that I will always take you with me, and will not let you suffer from hunger and cold.¡±


    ¡°Damn you, do you think I am some kitten or puppy? How about I¡¯ll give you a chain, you might as well chain me up or something.¡± Old Man Mu was furious and no longer in the mood to please Shangguan Ru.


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Shangguan Ru had thought of that idea as well, just that she was too shy to voice it out.


    Old Man Mu was in despair and started hurling verbal abuse at her. Hisnguage was as colorful as his words of ttery and full of patterns. Suddenly, the ¡°good girl¡± Shangguan Ru became a ¡°bad woman¡± with many unttering upations.


    Shangguan Ru could understand his pain, not to mention that she also could not fully understand most of the swear words, so she said, ¡°Have a good rest, don¡¯t let your wounds split open again.¡± Then she went into the tent and let Old Man Mu vent his anger alone.


    In the tent, Maid Lotus was still in aa, but her condition seemed better given that herplexion had returned to normal.


    If Old Man Mu was right, the lurking danger of qigong deviation had already been nted in Maid Lotus¡¯ body even though her conditioned had stabilized.


    Shangguan Ru did not wish to control people using such evil means, she wanted to wait for Old Man Mu to calm down before asking him for a solution. She wanted to set Maid Lotus free and then find a way to evade her tracking.


    <em>Doing good was always much more difficult than doing evil. </em>Shangguan Ru recalled the times when both Kun and Qiu society fought against each other and felt it quiteparable to today¡¯s situation.


    Maid Lotus was also a killing devil herself, but Dragon King needed her. Shangguan Ru agonized over her thoughts and turned a deaf ear to the curses outside the tent.


    Maid Lotus¡¯s sword was still lying on the ground, Shangguan Ru picked it up and put it back into the scabbard. She noticed that there was a small ¡°Yun¡± word carved into the sword shaft. Maid Lotus still owned another sword which was broken. She had not discarded it and that sword had the word ¡°Huan¡± carved on it.


    Seeing this, Shangguan Ru was even more determined to save her. She would return Maid Lotus in good condition back to Dragon King.


    Maid Lotus woke up in that evening. Evenatose, she had a general idea of what had happened and that familiar yet unfamiliar force nted by the finger exined everything: Once again, she was being controlled.


    ¡°You won.¡± There was not a trace of emotion in Maid Lotus¡¯ voice. ¡°I will carry out all your orders, and will not pretend to be happy. I won¡¯t waste time to make excuses.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do anything.¡± Shangguan Ru suddenly had a thought, even though she felt it ridiculous. ¡°What if I ask you to leave him?¡±


    ¡°Whatever the master says.¡±


    Maid Lotus was still indifferent. However, Shangguan Ru was panicked and ashamed. ¡°You don¡¯t have to follow my orders. I will try my best to remove the Heart Stopping Finger.¡±


    The indifference shown by Maid Lotus made her seem inhuman; she was neither thankful nor doubtful towards Shangguan Ru.


    It sent chills down her spine. Shangguan Ru would rather sleep in the wilderness than stay in the same tent as the female killer.


    Outside the tent, there was no noise for a while after Old Man Mu got tired of cursing.


    The night was getting darker, so Shangguan Ru helped him take off the luggage. She was shocked to see two lines of tears running down his wrinkled face.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Shangguan Ru tried to recall the victims whose hearts were dug out by Old Man Mu so that she could remember that he was really the devil who terrified the Western Region.


    ¡°Do I not have feelings? Can¡¯t I cry?¡± Old Man Mu seemed not the least bit embarrassed as more tears flowed down his face. ¡°I trusted you so much and really thought that you are a good girl, a living Buddha even! But you lied to me!¡±


    ¡°Since you now know that being cheated doesn¡¯t feel good, then you should not have deceived so many people.¡±


    ¡°How can that be the same? Everybody knows that being defeated is not a good feeling, but everybody wants to defeat others. It¡¯s because I¡¯ve deceived too many people, therefore, I cannot ept being lied to by you.¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s words often sounded both logical and ridiculous. Shangguan Ru knew that it was wrong but she could not argue with him, so she dropped the whole subject altogether, ¡°The Heart Stopping Finger in Maid Lotus¡¯ body, how can it be removed?¡±


    ¡°Remove? Why do you want to remove it? Even if you have no ambitions, you can also make her carry your luggage or something. If you don¡¯t like her, give her to me then.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry about what I do. Tell me the method.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t say, even if you kill me, I won¡¯t say a thing.¡±


    ¡°At first, I said I will tan you in the sun every 15 days¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, you really don¡¯t know how to take a joke. It¡¯s simple. If you want to remove the Heart Stopping Finger entirely, you will need to learn all of the seven moves of Heart Stopping Finger, then you will have the power to im life or death.¡±


    The thought of learning Kung Fu from Old Man Mu again made Shangguan Ru very uneasy.

 Chapter 376 - Doing Evil

    Chapter 376: Doing Evil


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    It was an odd temporary group in which everybody was wary of one another, yet for now, they could only depend on one another.


    Old Man Mu was injured and could not move for the time being, so for three days, they remained where they were.


    Maid Lotus had already recovered fully except for the Heart Stopping Finger. She had brought the horse hidden nearby and distributed dry goods and clean water enough tost the three of them for several days. She also took initiative and did all of the chores. However, like a submissive invisible genie, she seldom spoke and would disappear once she finished her work.


    Shangguan Ru devoted herself to learning the remaining five moves. She questioned the usage of each move and even though Old Man Mu told her everything he knew and was showing off most of the time, the more she learned about them, the more frightened she was.


    Combining the secret techniques of the New Moon Hall and his own wicked Kung Fu, Old Man Mu had created the set of Heart Stopping Finger based on the foundation of Jueyin Touch and Peripheral Force. Although it looked unimpressive on the surface, the Kung Fu itself was dark and vicious. The opponent would neither die nor live and his heart pulse would either be immediately damaged or secretly remain as a danger within the body. The skill was most effective for those who had practiced New Moon Hall¡¯s Kung Fu.


    Although there were only seven moves in total, there were many variations once it wasbined together. Often, there was only a very slight difference between saving one¡¯s life or killing someone. Just as Old Man Mu said, it all depended on the person¡¯s mood to either use the moves to kill or to save.


    Shangguan Ru secretly vowed to forget this acupoint technique and would never use it again after helping Maid Lotus to remove the Heart Stopping Finger.


    With the Wayless Qigong as a foundation, Shangguan Ru was a fast learner and quickly learned six moves in just three days. Although she was far from skillful, she no longer needed Old Man Mu¡¯s guidance.


    Only the third move was difficult for Shangguan Ru to get past.


    The move was one that Old Man Mu was proud of. To him, it was a move that was too easy to learn and use. ¡°What¡¯s there to it? As long as you master the strength properly, the killing move will be a saving move. Once you practice more you will naturally be able to understand how to use it correctly. Just wait till I regain my Kung Fu¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu would heave endless sighs whenever this matter was brought up.


    It was easy for him to say, but Shangguan Ru did not dare to try the move. To her, the third move of the Heart Stopping Finger was hard to master because of the control of strength. If it was too much, the person being attacked by it would die right away. But if the strength was weak, it would not serve its purpose. Only when the control of strength was just right, then the heart pulse would be protected, and the killing move would be one that could save others.


    But how could she just try it out? She could only try to figure it out slowly. Yet the move was the core to removing the Heart Stopping Finger. She would not be able to save Maid Lotus if she was unable to master it.


    Old Man Mu flung his hands in despair as there was no other way to it. He said, ¡°It all depends on whether or not you are sincere in saving her. Go somewhere with more people and try the move on some unlucky person. Maybe then you¡¯ll find the knack for it at once. Hell, you won¡¯t even have to kill someone!¡±


    Shangguan Ru sometimes doubted Old Man Mu¡¯s motives and wondered if he was trying his best to reignite the killing desire within her.


    Three dayster, they set out on their journey. Both Old Man Mu and Maid Lotus had no destination in mind, while Shangguan Ru only wished to be as far away from the Western Region as possible. So they continued to head down south.


    Once the dry goods were eaten, Maid Lotus took on the responsibility to hunt and make food. Her expertise in this area was as superb as her Kung Fu. Old Man Mu was full of praise for the grilled meat she provided that he even forgot about his broken tendons. ¡°I knew there was an advantage in bringing along a ve. Do you see it, good girl? Can you make such delicious food? Let me tell you, you will be reluctant to even let her go once you get used to this.¡±


    Shangguan Ru really wanted to help Maid Lotus remove the Heart Stopping Finger immediately, but she did not dare to do so when she was still uncertain.


    She confessed the truth about the third move of the Heart Stopping Finger, but Maid Lotus treated it as a test from her master and did not express much interest in it, as if she had noints about serving the Tenth Young Master.


    Shangguan Ru had no choice but to seek help from Old Man Mu again, ¡°You mentioned that the Five Hole Punch can protect one¡¯s heart pulse.¡±


    He understood what she was trying to say, so he said, ¡°I did mention it before, but I don¡¯t have much Kung Fu now. I can perhaps manage to block off the first move of the Heart Stopping Finger, but I definitely cannot block the third move. Good girl, you can¡¯t possibly show preference in your treatment towards us and want to sacrifice me for Maid Lotus, right? Actually, your worry is uncalled for. Even if you turn Maid Lotus into a fairy and sent her back, Dragon King will not thank you for it. Men¡­ forget it, I won¡¯t say anymore.¡±


    However, Old Man Mu¡¯s mouth was never idle. As the 15th day was approaching, his real motive was also gradually revealed: To make Shangguan Ru into a viin like himself.


    His idea was simple. Most good people were stubborn in their own opinions, but the viins would act ordingly to changing situations as deemed fit. Once the good girl turned into a bad girl, he would be able to offer irresistible conditions in exchange for restoring his Kung Fu.


    Teaching the Seven Circles seven apertures Heart Stopping Finger was just a start. He would still need to exert a subtle influence and change Shangguan Ru¡¯ prejudice against viins.


    ¡°Bing evil is easy, but it¡¯s not easy when you are trying to be a viin who is multifaceted.¡±


    That night, Old Man Mu started talking to the tent walls. Only Shangguan Ru was in the tent, Maid Lotus had gone off somewhere nearby to stand guard unnecessarily.


    Old Man Mu would take it as an acknowledgment whenever there was no reply and would continue talking to himself, ¡°The low-level viins need to make up reasons to persuade himself beforemitting evil. All mortal beings are like that. For example, ¡®This guy owes me¡¯, ¡®If people can get it, then I can take it too!¡¯, or ¡®He started it first, that¡¯s why I was evil to him too.¡¯ These kinds of evil have no standard.¡±


    He felt that Shangguan Ru would not be interested in these low-level viins, so after coughing twice, Old Man Mu continued to exin, ¡°Intermediate viins, their reasons are created by others. For example, Dragon King. His father was killed by Golden Roc Fort, therefore, he would need to be evil in order to seek revenge.¡±


    This was something that even Shangguan Ru would have no interest in, so he hastened and said, ¡°The high-level viins, create their own reasons for doing evil, mind you, it¡¯s creation, not a fabrication. For example, your father the Supreme King is a good example. He wants to dominate the Western Region and take over the world, therefore he¡¯s ruthless. It doesn¡¯t matter if you haven¡¯t offended him, as long as you block his path¡­¡±


    Shangguan Ru was falling asleep, so Old Man Mu quickly switched to the main topic and said: ¡°I belonged to the top-level viins, I don¡¯t need a reason, be it fabricated, or created by others or themselves. I have no reason and no target, therefore there is no end to my killing. My source of happiness is derived from people¡¯s pain. There is no end to the suffering of people in this world, and therefore there is no end to my happiness. So guess, what did I get?¡±


    Shangguan Ru was not a good listener, and did not even humor him with a reply. But Old Man Mu had gotten very excited, ¡°Freedom! I got freedom! Good girl, take a good look at yourself. You want to do good but you are caught in a dilemma. Can¡¯t do this or that. You don¡¯t even dare to see your former rtives and can only seek to go somewhere isted. Why torture yourself like that? Once you change your perspectives, you will be as free as I am.¡±


    Like a spring which could not stop bouncing, Old Man Mu limped around outside the tent talking excitedly, ¡°Top-level viins are hard to be, you need to have extraordinary Kung Fu. Look at me now, even though I possess a heart of freedom, but I am still being chased by Maid Lotus like a bereaved dog and surrendered to you. Good girl, use me as your guide, you have a good foundation and I can make you invincible in less than three years. Once you taste that freedom to do whatever you want¡­¡±


    Shangguan Ru walked out of the tent. Old Man Mu was ted, ¡°The world is your oyster!¡±


    What Shangguan Ru was holding was not ¡°the world¡± but a piece of ck cloth instead. Without saying a word, she tied it firmly over his mouth and turned back into the tent.


    Old Man Mu was silent as he stood outside for a moment, then he tore off the ck cloth and mumbled in a low voice, ¡°I don¡¯t believe that you will be willing to remain an ordinary person once you possess extraordinary Kung Fu.¡±


    Then he ced the cloth back in its original position and went round to inspect with his hands at his back. After practicing the Seven Rotation Skill, his night and day were reversed and he slept mostly in the luggage during the day; nighttime was when he was active and energetic.


    <em>Once my hands and legs are almost recovered and I manage to regain back at least half of my Kung Fu, would I not escape myself? </em>Old Man Mu was not worried, this was not the first time he had fallen into such a situation, and he was confident that he would be able to triumph over the odds this time as well.


    These two women were difficult to deal with, especially Maid Lotus. She was always so gloomy and seemed to always be hiding some sort of scheme.


    Old Man Mu walked to a nearby bush and sat down. He pulled the ck cloth down to his neck and let out a sigh, ¡°It¡¯s a pity that I possess such an amazing set of unique skills yet I have no one to pass on to. Even if a mouse passes by, I would also ept it as a disciple and let it reign over the cats.¡±


    Suddenly, Maid Lotus emerged from the shadows clutching her sword shaft tightly. She was now the most skilled in Kung Fu among the three of them, even though she was trapped by the Heart Stopping Finger and could not kill people at will.


    The two of them were several steps apart and looked at each other under the dim night, each trying to guess the other¡¯s real thoughts.


    All of a sudden, Old Man Mu burst outughing, ¡°I rather teach rats than crazy women. Fat chance!¡±


    Old Man Mu felt that he had made a fool out of Maid Lotus and left feeling satisfied, but Maid Lotus was not one who was easily angered. She looked at the tent from afar and tried to figure out a way to escape.


    It was not that Maid Lotus did not believe in Shangguan Ru. But years of experience being a killer had taught her an irrefutable truth: Always try to be in control of the situation. Pinning hopes on others might seed ten times, or perhaps even a hundred times, but just one failure was enough to make your previous efforts go to naught.


    The next night, Old Man Mu made his first escape attempt.


    His hands and feet were almost fully recovered by now, but he still pretended to walk with difficulty, hoping to fool the two girls who were keeping watch over him.


    Old Man Mu felt that he had run out for at least a dozen miles. At dawn, he hid in a thick bush and carefully fell sleep.


    However, when the sun was at its peak at noon, he could no longer sleep so he opened his eyes and saw a dark thing falling from the sky.


    He was back inside the familiar luggage and was led like a livestock by Shangguan Ru. Maid Lotus¡¯s horse had to carry other things and had no space for him ride on it.


    Just like that, Old Man Mu would try to escape if he could, or he would try to persuade Shangguan Ru to be a viin like him.


    The night before the first 15th day, he had the most intense reaction. He tried to plead, threaten, lure, act shamelessly and even flee. He tried everything and even harbored serious thoughts of assassinating Shangguan Ru.


    As a result, Shangguan Ru threw him under the sun without an ounce of guilt.


    After being in the sun for half a day, Old Man Mu quietened down. Even Maid Lotus, who was the most vignt, also assumed that he would not have the energy toe up with any more tricks.


    To their surprise, the weak and feeble Old Man Mu actually managed to escape that night. Unlike the previous times, he left very few clues. All these indicated that he had gone into the dense forest.

 Chapter 377 - Pursuit After

    Chapter 377: Pursuit After


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Both Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus were led into the Land of Fragrance by Old Man Mu. As the two of them were chasing him into the forest, they had not the slightest idea that they were three days ahead of Dragon King, who was leading the remaining troops of the Great Snowmountain and marching through the wilderness as well.


    Old Man Mu had nned his escape for a long time. All his previous actions, including the multiple escape attempts, were just a ruse to let the two girls let their guard down. His Kung Fu had not yet fully recovered, but he was notcking in jianghu experiences.


    Unlike Old Man Mu, Dragon King and his troops raided the viges where the savages lived in order to collect supplies. However, Old Man Mu did not dare approach ces with traces of human habitation. He was afraid he would leave visible trails and specifically chose to walk in secluded ces covered with dense trees and tall grass. Moreover, those areas ensured that there was not much sunlight during the day so that he was able to travel through day and night.


    Maid Lotus was extremely skilled at tracking. No matter how small the clues left by Old Man Mu were, she was always able to discover his tracks.


    In the beginning, Shangguan Ru was very surprised because almost all the greenery in her eyes looked the same. Gradually, she came to realize that the methods used by Maid Lotus had all been taught by the killer mentors in Golden Roc Fort. Everyone had learned it but not many could remember when ites to applying these methods in real life situations.


    Due to this, Shangguan Ru¡¯s respect and admiration for Maid Lotus grew.


    During a short break, Shangguan Ru gave serious thought about the current situation of Golden Roc Fort for the first time and came to understand many things.


    The decline of the Stone Castle was inevitable. As the castle continued to cultivate stronger and powerful killers, the decline of the castle itself would soon follow as well. This was because while the masters of the Stone Castle enjoyed the safe environment created by these powerful killers, they neglected the need to progress and improve along with them.


    Compared to the ruthless and cruel experience of the killers, the power struggle between the Shangguan children really were not worth mentioning.


    A killer who grew by leaps and bounds would not endure the weakening authority of his master forever.


    The Stone Castle was like a gigantic rotting corpse, while it nourished worms andrvae, at the same time, it was also withering increasingly day by day. There would only be more traitors like ve Huan and Maid Lotus and it was only a matter of time when the rotting corpse waspletely wiped out.


    Shangguan Ru suddenly understood why her father was persistent in wanting hegemony in the Western Region to fight for the title of King for the Shangguan family. He wanted to make use of the loyalty shown by these killers to set up a new empire and create a kingdom that would not rely on just killers alone.


    Rather than letting these killers end the Stone Castle, it was better for the master to do it himself.


    She also came to understand the pathetic and sorrowful behavior of the current generation of the Shangguan children. They were still having fights among themselves ording to the traditionsid down by previous generations and were not aware that their most important audience outside the arena was already restless, their minds long drifting to matters that had nothing to do with these power struggles.


    This was also the reason why the most unusual son of the Supreme King was suddenly in favor.


    Third Young Master Shangguan Yun had always refused to be the master of the killers. He was the only one among them who had actually braved the real jianghu and understood the thoughts and needs of themon people. This was a course that the future sessor would need to learn the most.


    Therefore, even without the help of outsiders, the Supreme King would be reminded of this son sooner orter.


    It was as though the blind could see again; Shangguan Ru¡¯s thoughts had never been so clear and lucid. Moreover, what had triggered all of these was due to Maid Lotus unconsciously performing the skills used by killers.


    When they set out again, Shangguan Ru gave Maid Lotus a sincere smile. Her resentment, secret or public, had all vanished. She realized that her fate was neither arranged by gods or anyone else, but bound to the family¡¯s overall destiny. No one was to me for this.


    However, Maid Lotus was puzzled by her smile and increased her vignce toward her.


    ¡°To what extent do you think Old Man Mu has recovered his Kung Fu?¡± Shangguan Ru asked quietly. In the enclosed forest, strangers tend to lower their voices to speak, as if they were guests visiting for the first time. Only the savages who had lived here for a long time spoke loudly, like the master of this ce.


    During the several days traveling, they two of them seldom spoke to one another. Maid Lotus was always the one who found the clues and Shangguan Ru would follow silently. Therefore, her simple question perplexed Maid Lotus.


    ¡°About 50 percent or so.¡± Maid Lotus never revealed her uncertainty easily, so she added, ¡°He is constantly on the road and has no time to practice his Kung Fu, so his recovery will likely be slower.¡±


    ¡°Will Old Man Mu really lose all of his Internal Strength if he is exposed to the sun for seven consecutive days?¡±


    ¡°That was what the book recorded.¡± Maid Lotus pondered for a moment, then she continued, ¡°They say Old Man Mu is the only one who has practiced the Seven Rotation Skill in recent decades.¡±


    ¡°I hope you can forgive my mistake. I should have listened to you and tanned him under the sunlight for seven days straight so that his Kung Fu could be disabledpletely.¡±


    Maid Lotus paused for a moment. She would never have imagined hearing an apology from the Tenth Young Master herself. ¡°It¡¯s alright. We still have time to capture him.¡±


    The two of them continued to track down Old Man Mu. It was also from this day onward that Shangguan Ru¡¯s attitude toward Maid Lotus changed greatly. She was much warmer toward Maid Lotus as if they were good friends who had known each other since childhood.


    Shangguan Ru wanted to confide in Maid Lotus and let her understand that all the Golden Roc killers, be it the loyal ones or the traitors, were on their way to demise. Rather than just sneaking into the Stone Castle and seeking revenge alone, ve Huan grew to be Dragon King instead because he had already realized this,


    However, she was unable to find the right moment to say all these. Maid Lotus¡¯ suspicion was more impregnable than the stone walls of Golden Roc Fort. It was not something that could be broken down easily, not even by Shangguan Ru¡¯s cordial attitude.


    The two of them entered the Land of Fragrance on the 20th day of Old Man Mu¡¯s escape.


    Dragon King and his soldiers from the Great Snowmountain wandered around the forest for a few months because they did not know the way out. Likewise, Old Man Mu chose secluded areas to travel because he did not know the route as well. However, it only took him less than a month to traverse through the shrouded maze.


    In the remaining days, Old Man Mu¡¯s Kung Fu had evidently improved, as noticed by fewer traces he left behind. However, the two girls were already very familiar with his tracks and routines by then. Just by specting, they were able to roughly make out his destination and they sped up their pursuit as well.


    They managed to catch up with Old Man Mu at the edge of the forest.


    Old Man Mu fled down any path he stumbled upon and assumed that any route that was remote and difficult to traverse would lead deeper into the forest. Yet he did not expect the trees starting to be more and more sparse, and there was an ambush waiting for him.


    A total of five people, dressed in white robes and wearing strange masks were hovering around the trees, emitting creepy, hollow noises.


    These must be the strange monsters that the savages were talking about. They had never dared toe near here because of this, and therefore had no chance to discover the Land of Fragrance, a country rich in fertilend and resources.


    But in the eyes of Old Man Mu, these were merely rascals with ordinary Kung Fu ¨C they were just small preys for him to vent his anger.


    ¡°Finally, I see living people!¡± Old Man Mu smacked his lips and was so excited that he almost wanted to eat these people. He had been living on berries, grass, and leaves for the past few days and was really famished.


    Only savages who had lost their way would asionally intrude into this passage, therefore, the five men who were acting creepily did not pay attention to the small fellow, Old Man Mu. But they would never have imagined that this small fellow here was a devil who would even kill real ghosts.


    Old Man Mu had already restored about 60-70 percent of his Kung Fu by now. He was still wary of Maid Lotus but others were just ants to him.


    Like a wanderer who had not seen his family for a long time, Old Man Mu let out a whoop and rushed toward one of the ¡°white mask ghosts¡±, killing him with just one move. He held the fresh heart in his hand and shook his head. ¡°Sigh. It¡¯s too much of a difference.¡±


    The Five Hole Punch of the Fire level required the person to break the opponent¡¯s heart pulse immediately and the heart dug out should be done as neatly as possible. Old Man Mu carefully observed the heart he held in his hands under the moonlight and was unsatisfied the more he looked at it.


    The remaining four ¡°white mask ghosts¡± did not share the same thoughts as this devil. Even after pretending to be ghosts for years, they were still as timid as ever. After seeing the real ¡°ghost¡±, they were much more afraid of this than the savages in the forest. They let out a scream and quickly ran away.


    Old Man Mu could no longer withstand it once his interest in killing people was piqued. He quickly chased after them using the Foxlike Movement Skill. His actions were so rapid that it was really as though some ghost hade running out from the forest.


    Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus followed the sound of screams and arrived just as Old Man Mu killed the fourth person.


    Shangguan Ru had been slightly impatient and revealed her tracks too early. Old Man Mu hesitated for a moment and decided to avoid them. Then, heughed loudly and rushed out of the forest, crawling into the tall grass.


    The two girls followed closely behind. They would never let Old Man Mu escape from their sight again.


    Out of the ¡°white mask ghosts¡± who were guarding the edge of the forest, only one had managed to survive. Without even seeing clearly if the two figures behind him were men or women, human or ghost, his legs went as soft as dough. The moment he managed to stand up, he escaped to the capital city and reported that things were not looking good. There were three ghosts who had emerged from the forest and specially fed on the hearts dug out from the victims.


    The residents were rather dubious about this news but quickly grew pale with fright upon seeing the four corpses, quickly carrying them back to the city. No one dared toe to the edge of the forest from then on.


    Therefore, a few monthster, when the Great Snowmountain army walked out of the forest, they did not see any ¡°ghosts¡± as mentioned.


    Old Man Mu did not know his way and just ran about aimlessly. He regretted leaving the forest once the sky began to brighten up. Here, the trees were scattered and sparse and the weeds were short, there was no way for him to hide from the sunlight.


    Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus knew that the opportunity to capture Old Man Mu alive wasing, therefore, they were not in a hurry to chase him up. They slowly split up, preparing to block him.


    Old Man Mu tried to think of a solution, but he was unable toe up with anything useful and could only make empty threats to intimidate them.


    ¡°Listen up, you girls, if you continued to chase me¡­ I will take my pants off!¡± This might be effective for Shangguan Ru, but as a strictly trained killer, Maid Lotus was not affected by his threat at all.


    ¡°I will surrender all my Kung Fu and will not hide anything from you all, just let me go.¡± This might be tempting to Maid Lotus, but it would not work on Shangguan Ru. If it was possible, she would rather forget everything she learned about the Heart Stopping Finger.


    Old Man Mu had really run out of ruses. But just when the sun was about toe out, once again, the gods blessed the wicked.


    A forest appeared in front of them.


    It was a stretch to call it a forest since most of the nts were tall exotic flowers and grasses. Although it was not enough to cover and hide the sky, the shade offered by the nts were more than enough to protect Old Man Mu from direct sunlight.


    At any one time, Old Man Mu and the two girls behind him would never enter this flower forest rashly because it had obvious hints of being manmade and artificial. It was also somewhat odd that there were no houses nearby.


    However, because Old Man Mu wanted to avoid the sunlight at all costs and the two girls did not intend to let their target go, the three of them barged into the unknown flower forest, one after another.


    This ce was located several miles away from the west of the capital of the Land of Fragrance, and it contained one of the most important secrets of the residents of the country.

 Chapter 378 - The Priest

    Chapter 378: The Priest


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus had already lost track of Old Man Mu even though they heard hisughter nearby, and when they looked around, they were unable to find their way out.


    As the sun rose, the soft light shone through the leaves and nts in the flower forest, making the surrounding flora looked like a fairnd, dangers lurking and hidden from sight.


    The flowers in the forest were not packed in a thick grove but seemingly spread out into clusters of nts randomly. Unknowingly, the two of them returned to their original starting ce as they walked through the grounds.


    Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus tried all sorts of ways; they made markings on ces they passed, threaded thin ropes to mark their paths and even leapt into the air to get to a higher vantage point to observe their surroundings, but they still could not walk out of the flower forest. There were several times when they were clearly going straight but somehow ended up in the ce where they had made their markings less than an hour ago.


    Flustered, they decided to remove the obstructing nts. However, Maid Lotus gave up on that idea right after she cut down the first nt. These unknown nts released a unique fragrance from the branches and it made them so dizzy that any more cuts would make them faint.


    As a result, the two of them were trapped for three days. They discovered Old Man Mu¡¯s tracks five times in the flower forest. However, they could no longer find him after making a few turns, therefore, they decided to remain in one ce instead, for fear of separating from each other.


    There were many low-hanging fruit trees in the flower forest, and the fruits looked sweet and delicious, but they would rather starve than eat them.


    On the fourth day, Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus still had not found the way out and Old Man Mu was still in hiding. But they met another old man instead.


    The flower forest was a maze, it was difficult to walk out but easy to walk further in.


    In the vague centre of the flower forest, a dozen shabby straw huts formed a circle, just like a small vige. There were no women or young men, just an old man and a dozen children.


    Like a pedant who had lived in his study for a long time, the old man looked thin and weak. He sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, lecturing in a strangenguage to the children, who were in their teens, and turned a blind eye to the uninvited visitors.


    The scene was even more bizarre than the flower forest maze.


    Shangguan Ru approached holding her wooden saber while Maid Lotus hid in the dark, just in case.


    The thin old man who looked weak and vulnerable was actually telling the children about the ways of martial arts. Shangguan Ru could not understand him, but she noticed that the children were listening attentively and gesticting actively.


    After finishing exining a part of his lecture, the old man looked up and gave a friendly smile, before saying a few words. The children turned to look curiously at Shangguan Ru as well.


    This was much more reassuring than turning a blind eye to her.


    ¡°What is this ce? Who are you?¡± Shangguan Ru asked and gestured, hoping that the other party would be able to understand her.


    The thin old man¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Not many people here speak thisnguage.¡± He was speaking Central ins Chinese. Although it was not very fluent, it was very clear. ¡°This is the Flower Soul Forest of the Land of Fragrance. I am the High Priest of Flower Soul and I am teaching the ways of strengthening the body.¡±


    Shangguan Ru still could not understand what he was saying. She had never heard of the Land of Fragrance before and did not know what kind of person the High Priest of Flower Soul was. So she said, ¡°Did you set up this maze?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± The high priest shook his head. ¡°I merely live here.¡±


    ¡°Then, surely you must know how to get out?¡±


    The high priest continued to shake his head, ¡°I have lived here since I was born and have never once gone out.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was confused as she listened on, ¡°What about the rest of the vige?¡±


    ¡°There is no one else here, only priests like us.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was beginning to wonder whether the other party was deliberately making a fool out of her, but looking at the high priest¡¯s naive and innocent expression, he really did not seem like he was trying to be funny. So she asked, ¡°What about their parents? What about your wife and children?¡±


    ¡°My parents are outside the forest. I have neither wife nor children.¡±


    Maid Lotus appeared after checking the surroundings thoroughly and making sure that there were no ambushes lying in wait. She whispered to Shangguan Ru, ¡°He was here.¡±


    ¡°Have you seen a short old man before?¡± Shangguan Ru asked.


    ¡°No, but a mischievous monkey came here to steal food.¡±


    ¡°Food?¡± Shangguan Ru¡¯s stomach willfully let out a growl.


    The high priest held up a wooden te beside him filled with brightly colored fruits. The two of them had already seen these in the forest but had never dared to eat.


    Shangguan Ru was very surprised that such a bloodthirsty devil like Old Man Mu actually had notid a hand on the residents here. ¡°Is there anybody among the children who know the way out?¡±


    The high priest still shook his head.


    ¡°Their parents would surely know, right?¡±


    After thinking for a while, the high priest finally nodded his head.


    Shangguan Ru looked at Maid Lotus warmly, ¡°When will theye to pick the children up? Tonight?¡±


    The high priest picked up a wooden board that was used to keep records. After counting for a while, he pointed to the oldest child nearest to him and said, ¡°He will be taken away in three years, four months and eight days¡¯ time, that is the soonest.¡±


    It seemed like they had barged into someone else¡¯s dream. They were not able to make sense of the surrounding scenery and could not understand what others were saying.


    After seeing the high priest and the children eat the fruits, the hungry girls could no longer afford to be demure and genteel. They gobbled down five tes of food in total.


    The high priest did not seem surprised at this but the children slowly gathered around them. They were interested in their clothes, appearance and eating habits.


    Shangguan Ru was a little embarrassed and tried to talk to them, but the children did not understand Central ins Chinese. After a difficult round ofmunication using hand gestures, they understood what the strange visitor was trying to say and gave the same answer as the high priest: No one here could go out on his own unless someone from outside came to pick them up.


    After satisfying their hunger, the two of them tried to ask the high priest for more information again.


    The high priest was rather pedantic but he was warm-hearted and would answer whenever they had questions. Sometimes, he would even ask his disciples to bring out some ancient books and look for answers.


    But there was not much he could do to help. His vision had never extended beyond this forest and all of his knowledge came from the books. These books were ancient and profound, they talked about the formation of the whole world but did not mention anything regarding the Flower Soul Forest or the Land of Fragrance.


    The high priest¡¯s lower limbs were paralyzed and he lived on the meditation cushion all year round, supported and taken care of by his disciples.


    Every few years, people from the outside world would send in some children as well as varying amounts of items to the forest. At the same time, they would fetch the children who hadpleted their learning and ensure that the high priest always had twelve disciples in total.


    This old man, who relied on his disciples to carry him around for his daily routines was actually teaching real Kung Fu, but he had never practiced any of it. He was just indulging in empty talk.


    After asking a few questions, Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus no longer paid attention to the Kung Fu in the mysterious flower forest. The high priest was a kind person but he could be quite stubborn when it came to the knowledge in the books. He believed in all the unrealistic records, and would oftene up with specious theories to exin the contradictions if there was any.


    The two of them decided to focus on finding a way out. A few dayster, however, something happened that caused them to change their impression of the high priest.


    Old Man Mu was here. He was not able to get out of the Flower Soul Forest as well. Initially, he was not in a hurry and felt that this was a good ce to hide and practice his Kung Fu. But he could not wait to seek revenge on the girls once he had restored about 80 percent of his Kung Fu. Old Man Mu did notunch a sneak attack but challenged them in the open instead.


    He hated and feared Maid Lotus the most, so he named her as the first one to fight.


    It was a close battle. The Five Hole Punch was brutal and domineering while the Death Scripture swordcraft was swift and merciless. The 12 children were stunned when they saw them strike their first blows.


    Only the high priest was not surprised by the scene. In his imagination, Kung Fu should be exaggerated like this. The disciples were unable to reach this level simply because they did not study hard enough, so he discussed his views with Shangguan Ru in a light-hearted tone.


    ¡°This is the Five Hole Punch and it is a very rare type of fist technique. The short one is a disciple from Yuqing Sect¡­¡±


    ¡°This is¡­ Dajue Book of Swordcraft. It is much rarer. Are you two from the Reborn Fort of Xuandu Peak? Then our fate is not shallow after all. ¡±


    ¡°Hey, seems like the two of them did not practice correctly. ¡®Through the hole¡¯, here, it means, toprehend the meaning thoroughly. It does not mean making holes in a person. The short one, his moves are too brutal, and therefore, he loses the original intention ofbining the five elements. Maid Lotus also has some problems with the Dajue Book of Swordcraft. Although it isn¡¯t too far off, it¡¯s at a lower skill level¡­¡±


    Shangguan Ru grew more surprised the more she listened to him. She could not imagine that in such a remote ce like the Flower Soul Forest, this high priest who was pedantic and weak could actually recognize the two unique Kung Fu of the Western Region and was even able toment on it.


    But she could not be more surprised than the two people who were fighting to the death. Both Old Man Mu and Maid Lotus heard what the high priest had said, and after exchanging more than 10 blows, they separated from each other.


    Old Man Mu looked at the high priest, as if he had just seen a ghost, then he pointed to Shangguan Ru and said, ¡°You told him about the Five Hole Punch¡­¡±


    Without waiting for Shangguan Ru to rebut, Old Man Mu denied himself, ¡°No, I have never once mentioned Yuqing Sect, surely you don¡¯t know about that.¡±


    Then he turned to the high priest and asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°The High Priest of Flower Soul.¡±


    ¡°What a strange and ugly name. Where did you hear about Yuqing Sect? You can even recognize my Five Hole Punch?¡±


    ¡°It was written in the book, the five elements are rted but it also inhibits each other, all your moves were never far from your opponent¡¯s heart, that means you have already mastered until the Fire level, of the heart. Fire can restrict metal, so your real intention is¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up! Shut up!¡± Old Man Mu cried out, flustered, trying to prevent the high priest from revealing the most important secret of the Five Hole Punch. ¡°Old fellow! If you dare to talk again, I will beat you into pulp with one punch!¡±


    ¡°Beating someone into pulp will only be more inconsistent with the original intention of the Five Hole Punch.¡± The high priest did not care about anything else but would argue about the slightest detail when it came to martial arts.


    In fact, he need not say more. Both Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus suddenly came to the realization that Old Man Mu¡¯s act of taking out a victim¡¯s heart was just a ruse, his real deadly attack was aimed at the lungs which were the metal level.


    Although the Five Hole Punch was still very powerful, it was much easier to ward off the blows once they understood this logic.


    Maid Lotus snorted slightly and did not make a move immediately. She was worried that Old Man Mu would still have other Kung Fu to protect himself.


    Old Man Mu retreated several steps, then he pointed to Maid Lotus and asked the high priest, ¡°What about her? What is the loophole for Dajue Book of Swordcraft?¡±


    ¡°Why would the Dajue Book of Swordcraft have loopholes?¡± The high priest seemed confused.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s face flushed with anger. Feeling cheated, he said, ¡°I knew it. You went to do a background check on me secretly just to scare me. Hehe, I am not so gullible.¡±


    After he finished speaking, Old Man Mu turned and ran into the flower forest. He was well aware that the person¡¯s words were all true and he was not bluffing. The only thing that he was unaware of was, not only was this high priest physically disabled, he also had no Kung Fu.


    Shangguan Ru looked at the thin old man with an incredulous look. ¡°Who are you¡­ exactly?¡±


    ¡°The High Priest of Flower Soul.¡±


    ¡°But how did you know about the name of Reborn Fort of Xuandu Peak?¡±


    It was impossible for Shangguan Ru to not be surprised. Many years ago, the Reborn Fort of Xuandu Peak was the old name for Golden Roc Fort, and this was something that she heard Zhang Ji, the teacher mentioned unconsciously. She also remembered Zhang Ji clearly mentioning that this name had already died out and no one outside the castle would even knew about it.


    The high priest had never met someone with such poor knowledge, but he still exined patiently, ¡°I am the fifth generation High Priest of the Flower Soul Forest, and also the eleventh sessor of the Reborn Fort of Xuandu Peak, of course, I would know about all these, it¡¯s all written in the books.¡±

 Chapter 379 - Explaining the Martial Arts

    Chapter 379: Exining the Martial Arts


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The High Priest of Flower Soul went on and narrated an absurd story about the Stone Castle. It was a story very different from the history that Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus knew of. In order to convince them, the High Priest made his disciples bring along stacks of books and pointed the text out line by line.


    There was no concept of time in ancient books so they could only judge by the wear and tear of the book itself to know that the books were recorded many years ago.


    At that time, Jade City had just been established and its poption was no more than a few thousand. Even the North and South cities were notpletely segregated as well.


    The mountaintop was named Xuandu Peak and the Stone Castle was named Reborn Fort. The owner¡¯s surname was Feng and people addressed him as ¡°Holy King¡±.


    Holy King possessed excellent Kung Fu and epted all kinds of disciples. ording to the characteristics of each person, he established three inner halls, namely zing Sun Hall, New Moon Hall and Lone Star Hall.


    The disciples of zing Sun Hall were good at cooperating with one another in collective warfare. New Moon Hall specialized in pill-making and ult sciences, while Lone Star Hall had the most outstanding disciples. They never cooperated with others and kept to themselves, performing the most arduous and secretive tasks.


    At Reborn Fort¡¯s heyday, a revolt emerged from within.


    The three inner halls believed that they had learned all the Kung Fu from their master and began to act arrogantly. Unwilling to submit, they joined forces to revolt against the Holy King.


    But they overestimated their own strength. Once Holy King retaliated, the renegades were defeated immediately andy down to beg for mercy.


    The Holy King forgave his disciples for their momentary rebellion and did not kill them all, but his kindness only resulted in an even greater betrayal. New Moon Hall used ult sciences to entrap the loyalty of the servants who served Holy King and discovered the date of Holy King¡¯s self-destruction. zing Sun Hall banked on their advantage in numbers and besieged the guards loyal to the Holy King. Lone Star Hall took the opportunity to enter the secret chamber and was about tomit the crime of killing their master.


    However, the Holy King¡¯s Kung Fu was unfathomable. Even in the midst of self-destruction, he was also able to easily destroy the insurgents.


    He killed many people and the survivors were terrified. However, he grew tired all of a sudden. He looked at the trembling disciples on their knees on the floor and said, ¡°You all are merely ants, and ants can never bring down the elephant. But the elephant can easily trample and kill all of you in a step. However, it won¡¯t have any meaning to the elephant. His strength will not increase because of your loyalty, nor will it lessen because of your betrayal. As punishment, all of you will forever lose the chance to be the strong one.¡±


    Therefore, the Holy King left Xuandu Peak and voluntarily gave up the castle to the cowardly and ipetent renegades. He knew that once these useless disciples were no longer under his protection, they would not be able to keep the Stone Castle and would soon be ves to their former enemies.


    Then, the Holy King came to the Land of Fragrance. Generation after generation, his prophecy came true. The three inner halls perished one after another, and the traitors, filled with regret, would always call out the title of Holy King at the end of their lives.


    ¡°The end.¡± The high priest closed his books and continued, ¡°My surname is Feng, and I am the Holy King of the 11th generation. He is my sessor, the 12th generation Holy King, the sixth generation of High Priest of Flower Soul.¡±


    ¡°He¡± referred to a boy aged somewhere between 11 to 12 years old, propping his chin up and listening with fascination as the high priest told the story. In truth, he could not understand Central ins Chinese but he was more than familiar with the contents of the books. He already knew which paragraph the high priest was talking about the moment he moved his fingers across the pages.


    Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus looked at each other. This story might be fabricated, but there were a lot of true contents about the Stone Castle that outsiders were unaware of and uninterested in. But there were also many illogical areas in the story, even if it were true, those who were not from Stone Castle could easily find many loopholes in the story.


    zing Sun Hall was obviously known as Golden Roc Fortter on and although New Moon Hall was in exile, it had not perished. But neither of them had heard of Lone Star Hall before, and they guessed the ck-masked assassins were most likely what remained of them.


    Maid Lotus did not bother to argue, and even though Shangguan Ru did not have the heart to do so, she still asked, ¡°High Priest, are you training disciples here to recapture the Stone Castle one day?¡±


    The high priest did not seem to understand what she meant, then he looked surprised and said, ¡°Did you not heard what I said? Holy King relinquished Reborn Fort willingly to let the betrayers know their tragic fate without the protection of the Holy King. We will never go back. I am training my disciples here to protect the Land of Fragrance. They were honored to receive guidance from the sessors of the Holy King, and each of them will be able to fight against a hundred people once theyplete their studies.¡±


    Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus exchanged a look with each other and were very sympathetic toward the high priest. He obviously knew nothing about the real situation in the Western Region and believed every word in these ancient books. He continued to live in a partly true and partly fictional fantasy world, contented with everything he had.


    There was nothing crueler than destroying someone¡¯s fantasy. Shangguan Ru decided to never bring up Golden Roc Fort again, while Maid Lotus did not care for it. She was more worried about Old Man Mu, his Kung Fu was recovering day by day and in a few days¡¯ time, no one would rival him.


    Although the high priest was pedantic and simple, Maid Lotus was more interested in the fact that he had pinpointed the secret of the Five Hole Punch.


    The high priest did not hoard information and eagerly asked his disciples to bring in more books and read out information about the Five Hole Punch word for word.


    But Maid Lotus was slightly disappointed. As it turned out, this was not the real manual, but just an analysis of the Five Hole Punch made by a certain Holy King, based on what he saw and heard. Among them, it specifically mentioned the Earth punch as the highest level of the Five Hole Punch and there would be no more loopholes once you mastered it.


    The high priest also wanted to exin the Dajue Book of Swordcraft to Maid Lotus but she politely refused and merely nced through the rted books. Again, no specific content from the scriptures was stated, it was only discussions made in general terms and divided the practitioner to several realms of skill levels. Rather than insight, it seemed more like exaggerations written by a disgruntled schr who had never seen the true scriptures before.


    Among the piles of books, only a few contained ases of real Kung Fu, but Maid Lotus took no interest in any of them.


    Like their Master Shifu, these children spent most of their energy reciting words. They were able to speak knowledgeably on the subject but were no different from ordinary teenagers when they tried to strike a blow.


    One could only imagine the strength of the soldiers trained in this way.


    However, the high priest and his disciples had something inmon: they were extremely submissive. From what the two girls had observed, these people¡¯s submissiveness was to the point of eager ttery; the disciples would fight to fulfill any request of the two girls. Their enthusiasm was like a group of dogs focused on pleasing their owners, not caring where they came from or what their purpose was.


    Golden Roc Fort had made great efforts to train obedient ves but they were never able to achieve results like this.


    If the high priest was really the sessor of Reborn Fort, perhaps the Holy King had overdone in rectifying their behavior. The disciples would never betray him, but they were also useless.


    This was a group of people who possessed no threat, so Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus¡¯ thoughts went back to Old Man Mu again.


    Old Man Mu was wary of the high priest, so he gave up on challenging directly and chose to sneak attacks instead, which he was good at.


    On the night of the duel with Maid Lotus, he quietly approached the residence of the high priest and was attacked at the door by Maid Lotus.


    Old Man Mu had already prepared himself for it, so he easily avoided her but stumbled right into Shangguan Ru¡¯s hands.


    The most exasperating thing for him was that Shangguan Ru actually used Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills and preempted him on the path that he took and performed the Seven Circles seven apertures Heart Stopping Finger on him. Although the move would not kill him, it was more than enough to cause internal injuries, and he was unable to strike back for a long time.


    Old Man Mu narrowly managed to avoid it but was in a sorry state.


    Maid Lotus soon caught up and the two girls joined forces to surround him. They would not let Old Man Mu escape again.


    Old Man Mu regretted attacking them when he had not fully regained his Kung Fu. He said, ¡°How malicious of you, Shangguan Ru, using the Kung Fu that I taught you to deal with me. Ungrateful! You are as vicious as snakes and scorpions, a woman¡¯s heart is the most wicked¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu refused to shut his mouth. But in the end, it was another mouth who rescued him from trouble.


    When the high priest heard the noises outside, he asked his disciples to carry him to the door. He gavements as he watched, ¡°The short one is going to lose soon. He doesn¡¯t dare to use the Five Hole Punch, now he is using the Tiger Shape Palm from Yuqing Sect and¡­ Seven Circles Flower Picker from New Moon Hall. He is quite the daredevil,bining these two sets of Kung Fu together. But both the Tiger Shape Palm and the Seven Circles Flower Picker belong to the yin, it¡¯s more than enough to defend but inadequate if he wants to attack. Don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s a woman as well?¡±


    Old Man Mu cried loudly and wanted to go up to the paralyzed High Priest several times to teach him a lesson for sprouting nonsense, but he was always blocked by Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus.


    The high priest was impartial and he started exining the Kung Fu performed by the other two, ¡°This girl is still using the Dajue Book of Swordcraft. Wait, no, it¡¯s mixed with the Seven Circles Floating Sword from New Moon Hall. Yes, this is a smart move. This way, she can reduce the chances of the swordcraft backfiring on her. But it would also decrease the power of the moves. The other girl¡­ her Kung Fu is strange. It looks like the Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills from Yuqing Sect, but the Kung Fu she uses is not easy to recognize, it seems like it could be from New Moon Hall but also from Yuqing Sect.¡±


    ¡°Well, the three of you possess good Kung Fu and seem like you were fellow disciples of the same sect. Why are all your moves so vicious?¡±


    Old Man Mu was trapped by the two girls and could not run away or fight back. After hearing the sarcastic remarks made by the high priest, he was fuming with anger. ¡°You wretched cripple! You will still be a cripple in your next life! If you know everything, then why not tell me how to defeat these two girls? Even if I cannot defeat them, it will be good if I can escape as well!¡±


    ¡°The two of them have very good skills. It will be difficult for you to defeat them, but you can escape easily if you want to.¡±


    Without waiting for Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus to stop him, the high priest voiced what was on his mind, ¡°I don¡¯t know if you know the Nimble Sparrow Lightness Skills by Yuqing Sect¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu silently cursed at himself for being so stupid. Both the Nimble Sparrow Lightness Skills and Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills were Yuqing Sect¡¯s unique skills to save oneself. He definitely learned it before, but he had been killing people for the past few decades and spent another good decade in hiding to practice the Seven Rotation Skill, therefore he seldom had the chance to use these two sets of Lightness Skills. He did not remember it at critical moments like these and even needed a bystander to remind him about it.


    Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills were suitable to use in t areas, but Nimble Sparrow Lightness Skills were for flying around at a height.


    Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus were not familiar with this Lightness Skill and by the time they understood, Old Man Mu had already leaped onto the rooftop and soared like a bird. Although his footing was unstable, hended on a flora nt nearby and was able to use it as an assist to jump onto another nt.


    The two of them followed closely on the ground. Suddenly, Shangguan Ru had a thought: <em>If Old Man Mu was jumping around in high areas like these, wouldn¡¯t it be easy for him to leave the Flower Soul Forest?</em>


    As this idea shed past her mind, Old Man Mu fell from the sky all of a sudden andnded heavily on the ground. He let out a scream, ¡°Strange.¡±


    This was not the only strange thing. Shangguan Ru staggered and almost fell as well. All of a sudden, her Dantian felt empty and it seemed like her Qi had vanished. Then, she smelled a faint fragrance which was different from the flower fragrances around her. She felt dizzy and her eyes closed involuntarily.


    Maid Lotus managed to persist for a while longer. She saw about 20 to 30 men wearing long robes walking out from behind the flowers. They were holding ropes and approaching cautiously.

 Chapter 380 - Surrender

    Chapter 380: Surrender


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Ru opened her eyes to see herself lying on a soft,fortable bed and wearing a long pale green robe made of lightweight material. She was shocked and immediately sat up. She calmed down slightly upon realizing that the internal energy in her Dantian was already back to normal levels and that her dagger, which she hid close to her body, was still around.


    A maid of the same age as Shangguan Ru came running over upon hearing the sounds from her bed. ¡°Master, you¡¯ve woken up,¡± she said stiffly in Central ins Chinese.


    Shangguan Ru only knew that she was still in the Land of Fragrance. However, the locals were all somewhat weird, and she could not figure them out. ¡°Who¡¯re you? What¡¯s this ce?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m your ve, Master. This is the capital.¡±


    Shangguan Ru leaped off her bed and saw that her belongings were ced on a chair nearby. She walked over and picked up her wooden saber, saying, ¡°Who sent you to me? I want to see him.¡±


    The maid suddenly kneeled down and kept kowtowing uneasily. ¡°Please forgive your lowly ve, Master,¡± she pleaded.


    Shangguan Ru got a shock from the maid¡¯s reaction. ¡°You¡­ what are you doing? Get up quickly,¡± she replied.


    ¡°Please forgive your lowly ve, Master. I cannot carry out Master¡¯s orders.¡±


    Shangguan Ru finally understood why the maid was acting in this manner. ¡°Forget it, I¡¯ll not visit him. I¡¯ll wait for him toe to visit me instead. Where¡¯s my friend? I can see her, right?¡± she asked.


    Maid Lotus was in the adjoining room.


    They discovered that they were still residing in a garden, but the vegetation growing outside their rooms looked very normal and would not obstruct their path or give off a fragrance that intoxicated them. Given that, they guessed that they had probably left the Flower Soul Forest.


    The two women found their encounter odd. The maid assigned to them was clueless about what was going on and seemed to have never spoken to a normal person in her life before.


    Luckily, their questions were soon answered.


    The true master of the house was an old man whose hair and beard had already turned white. He carried a white crutch and called himself Shili Molo.


    He was the same Shili Molo who would receive the Dragon King and the army of the Great Snow Mountain as the representative of the Land of Fragrance a few monthster. During that time, he would pretend to not understand Central ins Chinese, but right now, he was conversing with Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus fluently in it.


    ¡°The Land of Fragrance is a lowly country with a poption of fewer than 6000 people. Our people are docile and not fond of conflict; we don¡¯t even have weapons. Every year, a few of us will venture to othernds for business and barter for the daily necessities of our people.¡±


    ¡°Our nation has been isted from the world for centuries. We don¡¯t wish to have too many foreigners here, and we wish even more for news of ournd to not spread too far.¡±


    Shili Molo beat around the bush and started introducing the two women to several local traditions, refusing to make his real intentions clear.


    Shangguan Ru could not stand his conversational style which was not to the point. She bluntly cut him off, saying, ¡°We¡¯re both tracking a bad man and entered your country by mistake. After we¡¯ve left, we¡¯ll be sure to keep this ce a secret. You don¡¯t have to worry about that.¡±


    Shili Molo smiled gently but still seemed to be a little anxious. Maid Lotus deduced his real intentions correctly. ¡°They didn¡¯t manage to capture Old Man Mu and are waiting for us to help,¡± she said.


    Shili Molo nodded awkwardly. Old Man Mu had already be the nightmare of the people of the Land of Fragrance, and it was a problem he had which needed to be resolved immediately.


    It was two days ago since Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus had fainted in the Flower Soul Forest.


    Old Man Mu cursed as he fell from the air. He was unexpectedly alright and stood up before leaping onto the flower bed and escaping.


    It was a miscalction on his part. If he had known that the two women had already fainted and that there were no kung fu masters in the Land of Fragrance, he would have immediately begun killing.


    He still believed the Chief Priest to be a kung fu master who kept his skills concealed. As such, he did not wish to remain behind in the Flower Soul Forest and put his Nimble Sparrow Lightness Skills to use, sprinting on high ground until he was out of the maze.


    ¡°The flowers are actually harmless, but I¡¯ve coated their stems¡­ with a bit of some chemical which can only be found in our country,¡± Shili Molo said, sounding very sincere.


    Old Man Mu had already killed at least eight people over the previous two days, and they were all nobles from the city.


    The benefit of istion was that the country was never invaded, but the disadvantage was that once it was, its natives had already lost the ability to defend themselves. The most skilled ¡®kung fu masters¡¯ amongst them were all paper tigers like the Chief Priest of the Flower Soul Forest.


    It also happened that these paper tigers were the ones who volunteered to subdue the demonic old man high-spiritedly, and were also the first casualties.


    In reality, there were 6,000 nobles and ten times that of ves in the Land of Fragrance. Even though they vastly outnumbered the nobles, the ves had been living in istion and were trained to be obedient and act as tools for the nobles. They were even proud of their subservience, and when their masters were at a loss, they would only get more panicky.


    Being in a national crisis forced the people sent into the Flower Soul Forest to capture Old Man Mu to think of all sorts of solutions. They managed to recollect that he was extremely wary of Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus, therefore when the two women woke up, they found themselves change from captives into honored guests.


    Shangguan Ru had made a blunder that was not too serious yet not negligible as well; she had divulged her real intentions much too early to Shili Molo. Once he heard that the two women had trespassed into the Land of Fragrance by ident to ¡®capture the evil man¡¯, he had some measure of how to handle them.


    Shili Molo had seen the outside world before and was different from the obedient ves and simple-minded nobles in his nation. He was the most important merchant of the Land of Fragrance and had established contact with the outside world multiple times in the past. As such, he had cultivated a slick nature.


    Shangguan Ru felt guilty because Old Man Mu had regained his powers due to her mistake. He could kill at will again, and as of now, he had already taken dozens of lives. She felt that their death was her burden to bear.


    Luckily, she did not express her guilt in Shili Molo¡¯s presence. If she had done so, the Land of Fragrance would not have pleaded with her for help; he would have manipted her guilt and made her proactively seek to atone for her blunder.


    Both women did not bear any grudge against Shili Molo and agreed to help him to capture Old Man Mu within the borders of the Land of Fragrance.


    Old Man Mu loved the game of hide-and-seek he was ying with his pursuers. Even so, he was more cautious than before and spent most of his time in hiding while trying to regain more of his powers. He surfaced asionally but made sure he was far from the two women, taking the opportunity to kill one or two nobles before going into hiding again.


    Shangguan Ru gathered all the disciples previously trained by the Chief Priest, and there were more than a hundred of them. She nned to give them some training and let them join in the hunt for Old Man Mu, but it ended up terribly bad.


    The disciples wereposed mostly of offspring of the ves and they were extremely obedient; they would even not hesitate to take their own lives should they be ordered to do so. This was their weakness too, however. Without any orders, they dared not act, and no matter how hard Shangguan Ru tried to motivate or stimte them, she could not get them to be more proactive.


    As such, Shangguan Ru went to Shili Molo for help.


    The old slick businessman was perturbed by Shangguan Ru¡¯s request. ¡°Since they¡¯re ves, how can they act on their own ord? Wouldn¡¯t that be rebellion? As long as you two heroines can get rid of this problem guing our country, we¡¯re willing to offer 10000 taels of gold as a reward.¡±


    This incident sowed the seeds of discord which led to huge differences between the two of them.


    The longer Shangguan Ru stayed in the Land of Fragrance, the more she felt that there was something not quite right with the country. All of the nation¡¯s wealth was concentrated in the hands of the nobles. There were only about 6000 of them, but they ruled over the tens of thousands of ves like gods. The ves were taught to be obedient the moment they entered this world, and were extremely subservient to their masters; they dared not even mention their masters¡¯ names casually.


    Most of the locals, including many of the nobles, were not even aware that there were people of different ethnicities and nations living in this world. They treated Old Man Mu as a demon who had emerged from the forest and the two heroines as woond fairies.


    Only about two to three hundred merchants, who had traveled out of the Land of Fragrance before, knew the true identities of the three visitors, but they kept it a strict secret amongst themselves, refusing to speak a word of it to their fellow countrymen.


    The heroines were soon ced under surveince, and every person they met or spoke to had to report their encounter in detail after that. As such, Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus became unwee visitors. Wherever they went, the locals would scatter away, avoiding them like the gue.


    This made the hunt for Old Man Mu increasingly difficult.


    Old Man Mu regained all of his powers after 20 days, and he began to satiate his bloodlust.


    Even so, he did not move against the two women for the time being. He changed his mind about killing them and decided to take them as his disciples instead. He did not know why, but Shangguan Ru, who waspletely void of killing desire was to his liking, and he kept feeling that she would be suited to take over his mantle. As for Maid Lotus, well, he felt that she was his female soulmate.


    To this end, every time he killed, Old Man Mu would leave a note behind. There were a few times whereby he wrote it down on paper, but most of the time, he would scribble it on walls and the surrounding grass with the blood of his victims.


    The contents of his notes were about the same¡ªit spoke of ¡®the Way of Evil¡¯.


    asionally he would even appear very close to their location while attempting to persuade the women to surrender to him, using his Seven Magical Tones skill to broadcast his speech. ¡°There¡¯s a limit to my patience. I¡¯ll only wait for seven days. After that, I¡¯ll kill you as well. To be honest, I¡¯ve never thought of taking in female disciples at all in the past. I was even hesitant to receive male ones; I rejected all of Wildhorse¡¯s requests. Therefore, be secretly pleased, you two. Imagine if the three of us join forces, who could take us on? We¡¯ll kill whoever we wish to. The Supreme King, the old Khan of Nond, the Emperor of the Central ins will all be easy pickings.¡±


    He did not manage to convince Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus with his Seven Magical Tones but sessfully won over many of the nobles in the city.


    A plot was thus building up behind the back of the two heroines.


    Maid Lotus would normally not have fallen for such a trap, but her pride and aloofness made her underestimate the citizens of the Land of Fragrance, who seemed to be weak and easily bullied to her. That night, as she and Shangguan Ru tracked Old Man Mu to the old royal pce, neither of them were suspicious in the least.


    The royal pce was already uninhabited and the former royal garden had been converted into a maze very simr to the Flower Soul Forests, except that it was bigger in scale and there was no Chief Priest residing in it.


    The Land of Fragrance, under the leadership of Shili Molo, surrendered to Old Man Mu. They were willing to ept his Way of Evil and lusted after world dominance upon bing strong, as this would allow them to forcibly enve more people.


    On the second day after Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus were imprisoned, a suspicious piece of news came from the forest. After Shili Molo checked its credibility a few times, he finally confirmed that it was true¡ªan army, a few thousand strong, was drawing near to the border of the Land of Fragrance.


    Old Man Mu was eager to meet the Dragon King again and was ready for a titanic sh. <em>¡°He¡¯s caught up with me again, this time with an army of a few thousand men. It was he who caused all my recent fragility and humiliation. If I don¡¯t get my revenge, what sort of evil person am I?¡± </em>he thought.


    The Dragon King had the numerical advantage and the Land of Fragrance, which he had just subdued, was useless in an actual fight. As such, Old Man Mu decided to go into retreat¡ªhe wanted to master the Five Hole Earth Punch until it was wless. If he managed to do that, he would have nothing to fear even if Gu Shenwei brought 10,000 men along with him.


    ¡°If the Dragon King arrives, you must keep him and his Great Snowmountain army here by hook or by crook. Anyway, I will need to kill to master my technique. If it¡¯s not their lives I take, it shall be yours,¡± Old Man Mu ordered Shili Molo. He then prepared to find a ce unknown to anyone else for his retreat.


    Shili Molo was entirely captivated by the unshackled and bloodthirsty demon. He received his orders like a ve, repeatedly saying ¡°Yes¡±. He then asked Old Man Mu, ¡°What about the two women, how should we deal with them?¡±


    The seven day grace period was already over, and Old Man Mu had lost his passion of trying to take Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus as his disciples. ¡°As you wish,¡± he replied, without even a little regret in his heart.


    Shili Molo decided to sacrifice the two women. Their acts and words had infected a considerable number of people, and he felt that it would be a good opportunity to let the indecisive ves observe their fate.

 Chapter 381 - The Horn

    Chapter 381: The Horn


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei stood up. He did not expect to be reunited with the girls under such circumstances.


    They were among the young women who were about to be set on fire on the altar, which was close to one kilometer away from him, and were in a state of partial loss of consciousness. The 10 tribal chiefs were encircling the altar and facing outwards, singing about something in unison.


    Below the altar stood the nobles, swaying to the same rhythm with increasing vigor.


    The prostrate ves were at the perimeter. They were curled up like porcupines and looked from afar like pieces of stones wearing long robes.


    On the altar, the sacrifice was about to begin and both Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus, along with the other three women, were about to be immted. Gu Shenwei felt a little helpless, as even a flying bird could not cover one kilometer in an instant. What made matters worse was that he had to fight his way through thousands of people in the crowd, and even if they did nothing, they would still form a formidable barrier between him and the altar.


    Gu Shenwei was without support; the 10 conscripted savages he had brought along with him were a few kilometers behind him. He could not summon them in time. The soldiers from the Great Snow Mountain were even further behind him and could not possibly be expected toe to his aid in time.


    Gradually, on the altar, the singing from the 10 tribal chiefs grew into a crescendo.


    Gu Shenwei had no other option. In this instance, his sword and saber were useless.


    He lifted the cowhide horn from the Snow Mountain slung at his side to his lips, took a deep breath, and blew into it.


    The first st from the horn drowned out the singing of the tribal chiefs. It felt as if the low growls of a dragon were traveling toward the altar from afar. They burst forth from the earth itself, shaking the entire world and shooting up to the skies. There was no sign that the growls would stop as they continued reverberating higher and higher upward.


    Both the ruling and ve sses of the Land of Fragrance had never heard such a sound before. They were caught in a moment of connection with their gods and could suddenly feel that their eardrums and hearts were under tremendous attack by the noise. To them, even the ground seemed to be trembling and looked as if it would split open any moment to swallow them up.


    Gu Shenwei did not have time to consider so many things. He only wished that the sudden sts from the horn would draw the attention of most of the locals, earning him some precious time to reach the altar before the burning began.


    The result was totally unexpected by him.


    The sts, which sounded like the growls of a dragon, smashed away everything in his path. The prostrate ves were extremely terrified and pressed themselves t to the ground, grabbing on to every de of grass or piece of rock they could, as if it would help them withstand the might of the heavens.


    The nobles, who had been standing a moment ago, were even more terrified and either squatted down and hugged their heads or knelt and kowtowed. None of them dared to check out where the sts came from.


    Gu Shenwei held the horn in one hand and his saber in the other as he ran down the slope. He stepped over the bodies of the crowd before him and stopped and lifted his head to continue blowing into the horn after every few steps he took. He made the sts follow the echos, creating a continuous stream of sonic attack.


    He did not meet any resistance all the way to the foot of the altar.


    Shili Molo was the first to recover from his shock. He pointed to the Dragon King and shouted, ¡°He¡¯s only one man, stop him! Stop him quickly!¡±


    Dozens of nobles stood up upon hearing his exmation, daring to look in the direction of where the sts came from.


    ¡°One man!¡± shouted several others.


    ¡°Stop him!¡± more nobles began ordering their ves as they, however, retreated back to hide. The Five Peaks Saber was glinting in the Dragon King¡¯s hand and even more terrifying than the horn sts.


    The ves on the perimeter of the crowd slowly lifted their heads, but none of them got up.


    As ves, they had no right to get close to the altar, and the honor of attending today¡¯s ritual was bestowed only upon the most excellent of them. Most of their ss would only be hearing about the altar by word of mouth.


    No matter how urgent their masters sounded, none of the ves dared to break against tradition which has been passed on for many generations.


    The Dragon King looked like a nimble stag, leaping past at least eight or nine flight of steps with every step he took. Soon enough, he was about to reach the top of the altar.


    Shili Molo panicked. He did not know what the Dragon King intended to do. Before Old Man Mu went for his retreat, he ordered Shili Molo to hold the army from the Great Snowmountain back by any means necessary but had not exined the rtionship between the two ¡®heroines¡¯ and the Dragon King.


    ¡°People of the ruling ss,e! Protect the altar!¡± implored Shili Molo. He could only seek for their help now.


    The nobles felt that it was an appropriate call for help by their leader, but each of them also felt that their personal safety was paramount and that his or her constitution was weaker than everybody else. As such, they remained full of hope that somebody else would step up.


    Gu Shenwei stood on the top of the altar andid his horn down. He was the most surprised out of everyone present; the seemingly imprable crowd was even more harmless than the vegetation and rocks in his path on his way to the rescue.


    Till now, Shili Molo kept speaking in his nativenguage, but stopped pretending to not know Central ins Chinese at this moment. He stumbled backward by three steps before managing to say, ¡°Dragon, Dragon King, you¡­ we did not offend you, so why¡­¡±


    ¡°Who are these women to be sacrificed to?¡± Gu Shenwei questioned, moving closer by another step. The other nine tribal chiefs had retreated a step down the tform, leaving Shili Molo alone to face the Dragon King.


    The 10 women who were supporting the sacrificialmbs also had retreated along with the other tribal chiefs; they were nobility and it was the first time they were attending to a ve.


    The five women who were nearly sent up the pyre to be burnt alive had been shocked out of their daze by the horn sts, but were still experiencing the effect of the knockout powder they had taken. As such, they were still standing unsteadily.


    Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus had recognized Gu Shenwei, but both of them did not feel that he was real. Shangguan Ru even grinned like a young child, believing herself to be in her own personal sweet dream.


    Shili Molo appeared even more feeble without any supporters around him. ¡°They, they are meant to be sacrificed to all the deities in the heavens. It¡¯s their honor and they¡¯re¡­ all willing participants.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a deity. Sacrifice them to me.¡±


    Shili Molo seemed to grow shorter in stature. He did not believe the Dragon King and was even more shocked that the young barbaric man would spout such disgraceful and sphemous words which exceeded his limits of tolerance.


    ¡°You¡­ aren¡¯t¡­¡± The words took up all of the old tribal chief¡¯s remaining energy, but they came off as incoherent mumblings.


    It was not enough to just rush up to Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus, he had to think of a way to get them out safely. Even though the ves did not dare toe near to the altar, they would not permit their enemy to leave easily under the orders of their masters.


    Gu Shenwei lifted the Five Peaks Saber high up and addressed the entire crowd. He had channelled his Internal Strength into his voice, and it reverberated far and wide. Everyone surrounding the altar, regardless of whether he or she was standing or prone, could hear him clearly. ¡°If you wish to please the gods, very well. I¡¯m a deity and ept your gift. These five people will now be received by me. I don¡¯t want them to die; I want them alive.¡±


    Shili Molo flew into an uncontroble rage for the first time in his life. He had met the Dragon King before and even negotiated with him. <em>¡°How could this man be a god? If I had to choose, I would select the merciless Old Man Mu to be my deity,¡±</em>he thought.


    ¡°Demon, leave this altar!¡± shouted Shili Molo, as he raised his crutch, which was pure white in color, high up with both hands. He suddenly straightened himself up and charged bravely towards the unwee intruder who hade to disrupt the ritual, showing a side of himself that the people of the Land of Fragrance had never seen before.


    The Five Peaks Saber cut a thin, straight line from the old tribal chief¡¯s forehead right down to his belly.


    His white robe flew open, exposing his emaciated chest covered with white hair.


    Gu Shenwei supported Shili Molo¡¯s back with his other hand and flung his corpse onto the pyre. He then grabbed a ming torch from the edge of the altar and threw it onto the pyre as well.


    In no time, a raging fire was burning.


    ¡°As you wish,¡± said Gu Shenwei softly, before raising his voice to continue, ¡°The demon has left the altar.¡±


    In his desperation, Gu Shenwei hadmitted a very basic error. He was speaking with Shili Molo all this while, but had unusually forgotten that most of the people of the Land of Fragrance could not understand Central ins Chinese.


    Only a few people among the crowd could understand the Dragon King, but it was them who did not believe him the most. They started stirring up the anger of the others, in their native tongue, to avenge the death of the old tribal leader.


    A few thousand nobles gave each other courage as they surrounded the altar and started advancing up the tform one step at a time.


    Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus were still notpletely conscious and just like the other three women, they were weak and standing unsteadily. They looked as if they would copse at any moment.


    The fire on the pyre grewrger and he could feel wave after wave of heat assaulting his back. Gu Shenwei took another deep breath as he lifted the horn to his lips once again, before blowing into it as hard as he could.


    The effect was not as visible as the first time he tried doing the same thing. Most of the mob halted in their steps but did not fall to their knees as they did before. They hesitated and were at a loss, waiting for each other to react. It only took one of them to take up the lead before the entire mob would charge forward without consideration for personal safety.


    Real leaders were born during such times. However, the people of the Land of Fragrance had enjoyed centuries of peace, and leaders were already redundant in their society. It would take time for someone to break free of the bonds of tradition, and for now, they were still waiting on each other to act.


    The Dragon King gazed over all of their heads toward a gentle slope far away. Someone noticed this and looked in the same direction as well. What followed next was a shout of terror.


    The 10 conscripted savages had caught up on their horses. They could recognize the sts from the Dragon King¡¯s horn and would only act upon its direction.


    Five of them were armed with sabers while the others wielded swords. They let out beast-like howls in unison which ranged from sharp to low pitches. It sounded like 10 different kinds of animals had emerged from the forest and werepeting in a contest of voices.


    They then formed up into a single rank and charged into the restless and noisy crowd.


    Their decision was a mistake. Cowards would surrender if they faced an enemy with impossible odds, but the right amount of stimtion could cause them to be bold.


    Gu Shenwei was not in time to stop the loyal soldiers, and he could not even if he tried.


    The 10 savages were like a sharp spear which was pierced deeply into the gigantic body of an enemy; it plunged deeply into its body but could not cause any significant damage due to the sheer size of the opponent.


    They were instantly surrounded by the ves and dragged around and beaten. Even so, they did not seem to be afraid in the least and did not retreat. They were stimted by the horn sts and seemed to have been bestowed with divine strength. With every stroke of their weapons, they would shout a phrase, the first words in Central ins Chinese they had learned over thest 10 days or so.


    ¡°Dragon King!¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked at Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus, who were standing beside him. He could not bring himself to look on helplessly as his soldiers got ughtered. As such, he resumed blowing on his horn and spread out his right arm, which was holding onto his saber, like a huge bird with only one wing, and leaped at the nobles a few steps below him.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s spur-of-the-moment rescue very nearly became a tragedy from which there was no turning back.


    As he leaped into the air, drawing the attention of many people, an even louder horn st was heard.


    It was not a solitary st, but abination of two to three thousand sts being grouped into a formidable force, returning the call of the Dragon King¡¯s horn from afar.


    It came just at the right time and it broke thest line of defence of the locals.


    Those who could understand Central ins Chinese and were stirring up the mob not too long ago became the first to fall to their knees. They mimicked the tone of the savages as the shouted ¡°Dragon King¡± loudly.


    More and more of the locals followed suit, shouting out the words butpletely unaware of its meaning.


    They had already acknowledged him as their god.

 Chapter 382 - Conquest

    Chapter 382: Conquest


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    As the sts from the Dragon King¡¯s horn traveled to their camp, the entire body of soldiers from the Great Snowmountain cast their chores aside and came running towards the source of the sts regardless of where they were.


    No matter how many days they had been resting for or how much tender loving care they received from the local women, they became warriors again at this moment.


    The sts grew increasingly urgent; the Dragon King seemed to be faced with a formidable foe.


    Tuo Nengya did not have a horn of his own, but it was his suggestion for all the swordsmen to blow on their horns at the same time, as a reply to the Dragon King.


    The conquest of the Land of Fragrance turned out to be unexpectedly sessful, at least at first nce.


    The nine remaining tribal chiefs had already respectfully surrendered to the Dragon King when the soldiers were still a significant distance away from the altar. Everyone of the locals, regardless of ss, was willing to ept the Dragon King¡¯s rule. Generations of obedience training allowed them to switch back to a monarchy very easily.


    All of a sudden, the poption of the Great Snowmountain grew by tens of thousands of people. There was an intense debate on how the ¡®new citizens¡¯ should be treated.


    That night, Gu Shenwei sent out a small force to garrison the capital. They went around searching and tallying the number of people in the city, as well as guarding against any probable ambush and selecting a suitable location to station all the troops.


    It was the first time the army of the Great Snowmountain had ever conquered a country, and even if the Land of Fragance did not have any armed forces, its poption and wealth were significant.


    The machetemen under Tuo Nengya were loyal to the Dragon King, but it did not affect their love for money. It was one of the reasons why they had kept striving till now. Therefore, they naturally thought of the entire poption of the Land of Fragrance as their captives and felt that they should be distributed evenly to each soldier as the valuable items and money were.


    The machetemen, very prudently, did not bring their request up immediately. Instead, they took turns inculcating the values of dividing the spoils of war to the ¡®unenlightened¡¯ swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain and the conscripted savages.


    ¡°Every army behaves in the same way. Evenrger bandit gangs also have simr practices.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, we were not part of the actual conquest; the Dragon King conquered the entire country nearly by himself. However, we¡¯ve fought in many battles and many of our friends are dead. Even those of us who survived are covered in wounds now. Furthermore, we¡¯ve always stayed by the Dragon King¡¯s side and provided him with unwavering loyalty. Shouldn¡¯t we receive some rewards?¡±


    ¡°As long as the Golden Roc Fort still stands, we¡¯ll have to leave this paradise to fight again sooner orter. We should enjoy ourselves here while itsts, who knows how many of us will die in the next battle?¡±


    ¡­


    After experiencing the hardships of battle and their expedition, the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain had fell for the beauty of the local women and were thus immediately convinced. Furthermore, it was part of their tradition for the winner to take all the spoils.


    Only the conscripted savages who reported directly to the Dragon King were unmoved. Basically, they could not grasp the concepts of very and wealth, and thus answered each person who tried to coax them with the same words, ¡°Ask the Dragon King.¡±


    The prayers of the majority of the soldiers were answered. The chiefs and Tuo Nengya came to visit the Dragon King together, asking him about the issue of dividing the spoils of conquest.


    ¡°We used to be their guests and acted ordingly. However, they attacked you, Dragon King. Now that we¡¯re enemies, we shouldn¡¯t stand on ceremony,¡± said Long Xiaoshi, the chief of Danduo Peak. He was the first to speak and his thoughts were exactly simr to the other swordsmen. ¡°If it were up to me, I would conscript all of the able-bodied men and divide them up into the various tribes. The old and feeble can stay and be left to survive on their own. As for the women, why don¡¯t we give a few of them to each soldier. If we manage to produce a bunch of babies, the poption of the Great Snowmountain would boom again.¡±


    Everyone in the main tent roared withughter. Even though the swordsmen were unsophisticated, they somewhat despised women. Earlier on, during the civil war between the five peaks, incidents of snatching and raping the women folk of their enemies weremon.


    As usual, the Dragon King did not voice his opinion immediately. Instead, he let everyone speak their mind first.


    The other chiefs were of nearly simr thought to Long Xiaoshi. Only Long Fanyun, the young chief of Canopy Peak, disagreed. ¡°Let the women remain behind. We¡¯re an army after all, how can we fight with them apanying us?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re probably afraid that your wife back home would be unhappy, Fanyun. Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll keep your secret safe with us,¡± Long Xiaoshi replied, blinking his only good eye. His statement sparked off another round of uproariousughter.


    The army of the Great Snowmountain had not been in such a jovial atmosphere for a very long while.


    Gu Shenwei hoped that Tuo Nengya would offer a different perspective, but he was a machete man after all. ¡°The Land of Fragrance is a gift from the heavens to the Great Snowmountain. We¡¯ll never find another country that is so easy to conquer. If we don¡¯t take it, the Supreme King will be sure to send his people over once news reaches him.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had much to say, but could not find the right words all of a sudden. As such, he requested for everyone to return to their tents and said that he would give them an answer the next morning.


    They were surprised at his indecision but still followed his orders. All of them went back and informed the soldiers under theirmand to wait patiently for the Dragon King¡¯s decision.


    Gu Shenwei had many tasks to do, but the most pressing issue was that both Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus were still notpletely conscious.


    The five women who were nearly burnt alive were still in a state of partial unconsciousness. They could eat, walk, sit and sleep, but had to be attended to for everything they did. Once their servants left, they were no different from zombies; they had no reaction to other people and objects.


    The remaining nine tribal chiefs of the Land of Fragrance were kept as hostages in the Great Snowmountain¡¯s military camp. They were also surprised at the condition of the five women. One of them, who knew Central ins Chinese, said carefully to the Dragon King, ¡°They should have recovered by now. Have they not taken the antidote to the Indra fragrance?¡±


    The nobles did not dare to speak to the Dragon King unless he had questions for them. It was partly because they were not speaking amonnguage and also partly because out of fear. Even if they speak, they would carefully consider their words before talking.


    This held a lot of matters up.


    ¡°Indra fragrance? Antidote? Why did no one speak of this before? Hand them over now,¡± said Gu Shenwei as he forcibly controlled his anger. <em>¡°These people appear to be very cooperative after their surrender, but none of them took the initiative to tell me about the antidote,¡± </em>he thought grumpily.


    In truth, Gu Shenwei had to bear some responsibility for not being informed about the cure. He had never paid much attention to the five women publicly, and only Tuo Nengya and the Shangguan half-brothers in his entire army knew who Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus were. The other soldiers did not know that the twodies were people he cared deeply about, much less the nobles of the Land of Fragrance.


    The nine tribal chiefs started to look at each other as they heard the Dragon King¡¯s words being tranted into their localnguage. Eventually, it was the tribal chief who could speak Central ins Chinese who speaked up shakily, ¡°The antidote¡­ is not with us. The Indra fragrance has been kept by the Shili family all this while.¡±


    It just happened that the master of the Shili family was Shili Molo, who had been killed by the Dragon King on the altar.


    Other than the nine tribal chiefs, there were many nobles in the camp of the Great Snowmountain, but none of them was from the Shili family.


    The nobles gave themselves up very willingly upon being interrogated. Gu Shenwei quickly got to know that the Shili family had fled when their master was killed. All of them escaped from the scene; there were tens of thousands of people present then and only a few noticed them fleeing.


    Gu Shenwei sent Long Fanyun, the chief of Canopy Peak, with a small group of men into the city to seize the members of the Shili family and get the antidote.


    It was only at this moment that many people came to realize the importance of the five female sacrificialmbs.


    Shangguan Fei just got to know that his sister was nearly burned alive on the altar, and disyed a little rare love for his sibling. ¡°That bunch of b*stards. We should¡¯ve killed all of them,¡± he said.


    After saying these words, he felt that his duties to his sister were done. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll have a solution, Dragon King. There¡¯s no need for me to be worried for nothing, haha.¡±


    Long Fanyun brought back bad news to the Dragon King. Shili Molo¡¯s sons had escaped from the capital and their whereabouts were unknown. There were only frightened women and helpless ves left behind in his residence and none of them had the antidote.


    Gu Shenwei summoned all of the hostages who were nobles once again into his tent. He drew the Five Peaks Saber and ced it across his knees as he sat. Dozens of conscripted savages were standing at his sides as a show of force. He then ordered the hostages to cough up all the information they had on the Indra fragrance.


    Dozens of them fought for their turn to confess. Two of their tribal chiefs acted as interpreters and kept on tranting their words into Central ins Chinese. Gu Shenwei had to rely on his extraordinary ability of analysis to piece the piecemeal information together.


    Nobles of the Land of Fragrance were divided into ten tribes, and not only was each tribe given a piece ofnd along with ves but also a Flower Soul Forest each. Other than that of the royal pce, which was uninhabited, a Chief Priest resided in each of the other nine Flower Soul Forests. Each priest had his own specialty; some were skilled in kung fu while some in medicine.


    The Shili family presided over the seventh Flower Soul Forest and its priest was skilled in the use of various fragrances. Inmon jianghu pance, he knew how to concoct knockout powders.


    The Shili family was knowledgeable and full of ideas and they could be considered as distinct from the other people in the Land of Fragrance. When the other citizens obediently epted the rule of their conquerors, the men of the Shili family fled the capital, seemingly intent on avenging their father¡¯s death.


    There were no words in thenguage of the Land of Fragrance which could be used to trante ¡®revenge¡¯, and the two interpreters had to take some time to exin the concept to their fellow hostages. All of them felt that the Shili family¡¯s choice was inconceivable.


    The seventh Flower Soul Forest was situated about three and a half kilometers to the southwest of the capital. Gu Shenwei sent out his men during the night to get the antidote. The tribal chiefs had learnt their lesson and decided to pre-empt the Dragon King by warning him that the forest was a maze built with vegetation, and that without a guide, his men would either find it hard to enter or impossible to exit.


    The setup of each Flower Soul Forest was basically the same, with only slight differences. Therefore, Gu Shenwei sent out one of the tribal chiefs to guide his men.


    Having learnt his lesson, Gu Shenwei continued interrogating the hostages.


    As he gathered more information, he became increasingly uneasy.


    He was not the first to conquer the Land of Fragrance alone. Before he arrived, Old Man Mu was already ¡°the Uncrowned King¡±. Nobody knew where he was hiding now in retreat, and he was nning to practice his new skills on the Great Snowmountain army after he was done with his retreat.


    The nobles had forced their female ves to seduce the soldiers of the Great Snowmountain at the river because they wanted to hold them back for Old Man Mu¡¯s target practiceter on.


    Gu Shenwei was not afraid of Old Man Mu; he felt that no matter what, one man was no match for an entire army. That said, he was afraid that Old Man Mu would not face him openly and choose to engage in gueri warfare instead by making sneak attacks on hismon soldiers.


    Gu Shenwei gave the order for Tuo Nengya to lead 200 men to sweep the entire Land of Fragrance in search for Old Man Mu. Once spotted, they were not to engage and had to return back to report to the Dragon King.


    Tuo Nengya had heard of the infamous Old Man Mu and therefore treated the task more seriously than the other soldiers. He immediately set off with his men to fulfil his orders.


    The time of idleness for the army of the Great Snowmountain had nowe to an end. Even though many of them could still not feel it themselves, an intense atmosphere was spreading throughout the camp from the Dragon King himself.


    The problems kept piling up: how to divide up the spoils of war, retrieving the antidote in time to save the women and finding out where Old Man Mu was. Each problem demanded that Gu Shenwei resolved it quickly.

 Chapter 383 - Burden

    Chapter 383: Burden


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Upon learning that the Dragon King had also found a woman he liked, the soldiers of the Great Snowmoutain army felt much relieved. They rubbed their hands with glee, eager to rush into the city to get their loot. They were so excited that most of them were up all night.


    That night, Gu Shenwei did not sleep either. He forced himself to temporarily forget about Shangguan Ru, Maid Lotus and Old Man Mu and concentrate instead on how to deal with the Land of Fragrance.


    Among all the views in the army, only Tuo Nengya¡¯s opinion could be considered well-founded. The macheteman reminded the Dragon King that the Land of Fragrance could no longer be cut off from the outside world, as there was no way to make nearly 2,000 soldiers keep it a secret. Once the outside world knew about the existence of this richly-endowed country and the fact that it could be easily conquered, the powerful forces, such as the Golden Roc Fort, would swoop in, just like a group of predators attracted by a huge piece of fat meat.


    Given that, sparing the people of Land of Fragrance out of mercy would probably lead to the country being conquered by the Supreme King. When that happened, the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s strength would be further bolstered. This was not the result that Gu Shenwei wanted.


    However, if he let his men carve up the country, this army he had built up to fight for supremacy in Western Region would be reduced to a bandit gang. This was not a result that he desired either, as a bandit gang would never be able to contend for hegemony with the Golden Roc Fort and Nond. He did not know much about military tactics and by far, he had led his army solely depending on his intuition and rudimentary military administration skills that he had learned back in the Central in during his childhood.


    As such, he really wished that Fang Wenshi or Zhong Heng hade along with him and offered him some suggestions at this moment; how to deal with the easily-won loot in the Land of Fragrance was a test for him. His decision would determine the future of himself and the Great Snowmountain.


    He knew this in his heart but did not how to express himself in words.


    Swordsmen, machetemen and savages were the three major manpower sources of bandits in Western Region. In their eyes, it was a natural thing to divide the spoils fairly, and they would never understand or even be willing to understand the Dragon King¡¯s n and vision for his army. The Dragon King¡¯s hesitation only made them suspect that he wished to keep all the loot for himself.


    It was daybreak shortly after Gu Shenwei had sent out two teams to search for the antidote for Indra fragrance and Old Man Mu respectively. The nobles who were kept as hostages in the camp felt threatened under the greedy, watchful eye of the soldiers and the two tribal chiefs, who were able to speak Central ins Chinese, went to the Dragon King¡¯s tent early in the morning, begging for an audience.


    After their request was approved, the two men walked into the tent on their knees and then kowtowed many times to the Dragon King, looking like chickens pecking at rice. They remained kneeling and kowtowed another dozen times even after he ordered them to get up, and they did so reluctantly. ¡°Now that we¡¯ve venerated you, the Dragon King, as our lord, we think we have to show our loyalty by actual deeds instead of speech. Although the Land of Fragrance is just a small and remote country, we still want to offer some financial support for your army. We¡¯re willing to give half of our wealth to you, Dragon King,¡± one of the noble men said.


    Upon seeing that the Dragon King gave no reply to the man, the other noble believed that the young lord was not satisfied with their offer and added. ¡°We¡¯ll also send 3,000 ve men and 3,000 ve women to serve you and your soldiers.¡±


    <em>¡°How could these nobles reckon that it¡¯s natural to send 6,000 ves to serve my army, which is not even 2000 strong? What was the ruling ss thinking when they made their national policies? Did they really believe that just the surrounding mountains and forests could fend off all their enemies?¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought in astonishment.


    Despite that, he still respectfully agreed to receive their presents in a bid to appease them before asking them to gather all the other nobles kept hostage in the camp for a meeting with the soldiers.


    The excited soldiers were waiting under the rising sun for the Dragon King to announce his n on how to distribute the spoils of war.


    Gu Shenwei stood in the center of a vacant lot, and behind him were the 50 or so trembling nobles. He also had the few remaining boxes of gold and silver carried out and ced at his feet.


    Upon seeing this, the soldiers nodded to one another with satisfaction, firmly believing that the Dragon King was going to divide the loot today. The hostages turned deathly pale, worrying that the Dragon King was still dissatisfied with their offer.


    Unexpectedly, the Dragon King did not mention anything rted to the loot. Instead, he said to his soldiers, ¡°You¡¯ve rested for such a long time. I want to see if your kung fu is still as good as before. Now, I want all the swordsmen to form a team, and the machetemen and guard troops to form another one. Each team will select 50 candidates for a duel. The winning team will be awarded, and the losers won¡¯t be punished.¡±


    The guard troops actually consisted of the conscripted savages but they were referred to as such now as they were under directmand of the Dragon King.


    Engaging in kung fupetitions was one of the soldiers¡¯ favorite activities. As soon as the order was given, several hundreds of them rushed to their respective leaders, requesting that to take part in the duel.


    Many of them did not understand the Dragon King¡¯s proposal at first, but when they noticed the frightened look on the hostages¡¯ faces, they deduced that the Dragon King was nning to cow these nobles into submission.


    Soon enough, the two teams picked out 50 soldiers each for the duel, and each team stood on one side of the Dragon King.


    The Dragon King dered the start of the duel and both sides charged toward each other.


    Despite the fact that the Dragon King had just promised not to punish the losing side, none of these soldiers wanted to lose since they could not tolerate the humiliation of defeat. More importantly, they assumed that the winning side would get arger share of the loot, for the Dragon King had just promised an award for the winners.


    As such, the soldiers took the mock battle very seriously. They fought with all their might even when confronted with theirrades and for some of them, even their best friends.


    If the Dragon King had really intended to intimidate the hostages, he would have been very satisfied with the results of his n: the nobles, who wore long soft robes and delicate waist belts, were now ashen-faced and trembling, as if they had been faced with predators. The nobles were so scared that they could only stand on their feet by holding and supporting one another.


    Gu Shenwei and the tribal chiefs of the Great Snowmountain kept their eyes on the fight. They did not mind that the participants got injured, but they had to make sure that none of them got killed.


    Gu Shenwei stopped the fight when the oue was starting to be clear.


    Not surprisingly, the 50 swordsmen won the fight. The machetemen and the conscripted savages were not as strong as the swordsmen and they did not work well with each other, so their defeat was within everyone¡¯s expectations.


    When the winners looked at the Dragon King expectantly, waiting for him to announce their awards and his n, he had the gold and silver in the boxes taken out and roughly divided into 50 shares and said, ¡°Come get your award. Each of you will get a share of the money together with a hostage. They¡¯re yours now.¡±


    The soldiers looked at each other in bewilderment; these awards were totally different from what they had expected. The amount of money offered was quite good, but it belonged to the army instead of the Land of Fragrance. As for the hostages, they were just a bunch of feeble men. None of the swordsmen were interested in them.


    On the contrary, the nobles had very high opinions of themselves. They were the most powerful and wealthy people in the Land of Fragrance and could hardly imagine working as ves for the barbarians. They assumed that the Dragon King must have wanted to squeeze more money out of them by doing so and wailed as they knelt to beg for his mercy. They offered to pay a ransom for their release and kept increasing the price until it was several times more than their own assets.


    Upon hearing their pleas, the swordsmen swarmed toward the nobles. Compared to these super-rich people, the small piles of gold and silver at the Dragon King¡¯s feet were nothing now.


    Gu Shenwei remained unmoved no matter how the noble hostages implored him. When all of the 50 swordsmen got their hostages and money, he issued amand which surprised everyone present. ¡°The winners, carry your hostages on your backs and pick up your money.¡±


    The swordsmen had already packed the gold and silver and held their packages in hand. However, they were reluctant to carry the hostages. ¡°Aren¡¯t they our ves now? Why do we have to carry our ves on our backs?¡± they wondered.


    Despite their doubts about the order, the swordsmen still carried it out, one after another. They were annoyed as the hostages kept crying on their backs; they really wished to kill these weeping men with their swords.


    ¡°Does anyone of you want to give up his awards?¡± the Dragon King asked loudly.


    The swordsmen all shook their heads, smiling; no one wanted to give up the awards.


    ¡°Good, now you¡¯ll fight another mock battle while carrying your prizes.¡±


    Everyone was stunned by this order from the Dragon King.


    With hostages on their backs and money in their hands, the swordsmen could only fight with one hand. It was not a hard thing for them to wield a heavy sword with one hand, but when their opponent was not some disorderly mob but a group of battle-seasoned soldiers, they did not stand any chance of winning.


    All the people in the camp were perplexed about what the Dragon King wanted to do. The soldiers were struck speechless, and the hostages stopped wailing.


    ¡°The duel begins! Once your hostage and money drops to the ground, you¡¯ll be deemed a loser.¡±


    Some people in the camp gradually came to understand what the Dragon King intended to do, but some swordsmen still declined to back down and rushed forward to fight their opponents with one hand.


    The oue of this fight was easy to predict, as no swordsman could defeat his opponent while carrying a hostage on back and a package of gold and silver in hand. They either took the initiative to drop their prizes amid the fighting or were forced to do so when they could no longer take their opponents¡¯ attacks.


    Gu Shenwei thought that it was time to voice his thought now. ¡°Look, my soldiers, what¡¯s the point of owning the money and the ves? They¡¯re a burden which may cause you to be killed in a battle and they can be snatched away at any minute.¡±


    His statement dampened the enthusiasm of his soldiers, but he still had to say something else to raise their spirits. ¡°Our enemy is the Supreme King. I¡¯ve vowed to the Empyrean that I¡¯ll capture Golden Roc Fort within three years. One year has already passed by now. Have we achieved our goal? Can you tell me?¡±


    ¡°No, we haven¡¯t.¡± Only a few people in the crowd answered the question.


    ¡°Do you want to admit defeat and hide forever in this ce or wage war against the Supreme King once again?¡±


    ¡°We want war.¡± This time, more people replied to the Dragon King¡¯s question.


    ¡°Do you want to go to war while carrying your ves and money or fight without any burden on you?¡±


    ¡°We want to fight without burden!¡± All the soldiers now understood his meaning and shouted in unison.


    The swordsmen left their awards on the ground without looking back at them at all.


    The hostages were the only ones who found it hard toprehend this situation. They felt much relieved after being unexpectedly rescued from a desperate situation, but they did not understand the Dragon King¡¯s words or his soldiers¡¯ reactions. <em>¡°Are these barbarians insane? They happily chose to go to war instead of owning ves and money,¡± </em>thought the nobles.


    Among the crowd, a daring macheteman, who did not consider the Dragon King as a god like the swordsmen and the conscripted savages did, asked the Dragon King, ¡°We¡¯re soldiers and may die in any battle. Why not let us enjoy ourselves before going to war?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was well aware that not many soldiers could always resist the temptation of women and money. They might be able to do so, when they asionally enjoyed themselves before the battles. Nevertheless, as time went by, this kind of life-style would morally corrupt them and make even the most valiant swordsman from the Great Snowmountain feel hesitant to charge during a battle.


    Gu Shenwei had a clear understanding of the issue, but he did not speak it out directly. He chose another way to persuade his soldiers. ¡°Good question, all of us may die in a battle. You could. He could. So could I. You can rx yourself by indulging yourself once in a while, but that¡¯s just temporary. As long as the Golden Roc Fort still stands, we¡¯ll never be able to enjoy our lives in peace. Now, you¡¯re faced with a chance. Once we win the war, destroy the Golden Roc Fort and preside a vastnd with arge poption, we¡¯ll be able to enjoy ourselves to the utmost and pass this on to our future generations. We¡¯re gambling with our lives now. If we lose, we¡¯ll be ughtered on the battlefield. If we win, we¡¯ll be able to enjoy asting peace. Are you willing to fight for total victory in war together with me?¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes!¡± shouted the soldiers. They werepletely convinced by the Dragon King¡¯s potent arguments.


    After the shouts subsided, Long Xiaoshi, the tribal chief of Danduo Peak pointed at the hostages, who had crumbled to the ground, while saying, ¡°What about them? Are we going to ditch them here?¡±


    Gu Shenwei himself did not want any ve. Neither did he n to leave the ves for someone else.


    ¡°All the men aged 15-50 from the Land of Fragrance, noble or ve, must join the army and learn how to fight in a battle,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    This was his n to deal with the Land of Fragrance: turning its obedient residents into professional soldiers. When that happened, they were no longer a burden but a rich source of military manpower.

 Chapter 384 - New Recruits

    Chapter 384: New Recruits


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The first batch of soldiers sent out by Gu Shenwei came back to the military camp, and Long Fanyun, the one in charge of the mission, reported to the Dragon King, ¡°When we arrived, the sons of Shili Molo had already taken all their most potent fragrances and their Chief Priest away. We only found a dozen of disciples of the priest. I¡¯ve already sent some soldiers to track down the runaways and bring the disciples back.¡±


    Upon arriving at the camp, the young disciples, who had spent their entire lives living in a Flower Soul Forest isted from the outside world, were frightened to death. Surrounded by a group of fierce-looking strangers, they were too scared to say anything and looked as if they had also inhaled some intoxicating fragrance and be walking corpses.


    After the several tribal chiefs of the Land of Fragrance came to appease them, they finally recovered from their shock and were able to speak.


    Unfortunately, it turned out that none of these young disciples were able to make an antidote for Indra Fragrance, as all of them were still at the stage whereby it was required of them to ce all their attention on ancient texts and none of them had any hands-on experience.


    The tribal chiefs of the Land of Fragrance were eager to please the Dragon King, so they immediately sent their men to fetch fragrance makers from their capital. Before long, nearly 40 fragrance makers were brought to the camp and all of them were disciples of the Shilli family¡¯s Chief Priest. Everyone of them was able to make several types of fragrances, but none of them knew how to make Indra Frangrance and the antidote to it.


    ording to them, Indra Fragrance was recognized as the king of fragrances, and only the Chief Priest and his designated sessor knew how to make it.


    As such, the focus was shifted back to the young disciples again.


    The chosen sessor of the Shili family¡¯s Chief Priest was a boy aged 14 or 15. Among all the Chief Priest¡¯s disciples, only he was from the ruling ss of the Land of Fragrance. He was handsome but timid; he could not even say a single word in front of the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei had no choice but to let two tribal chiefs of the Land of Fragrance question him.


    This time, the boy finally told them the whole truth.


    Indra Fragrance could put a person under general anaesthesia, and in this condition, the person would only be partially conscious and unable to feel any physical pain. As such, those who inhaled Indra Fragrance would never struggle or fight back when being burned alive or stabbed by a knife.


    Under the influence of this drug, the women being burned to death on the annual sacrifice ceremony of the Land of Fragrance could remain calm and peaceful throughout the whole process, which greatly increased the solemnity and sacredness of the ceremony.


    Indra Fragrance had longsting effects. ording to the ancient books, if someone who had inhaled the fragrance failed to take the antidote in time, he or she would be stuck in aa, which wouldst about a month. During the process, the person¡¯s symptoms would keep getting worse until he or she died quietly.


    As the Land of Fragrance seldom used the antidote for Indra Fragrance, the Chief Priest¡¯s sessor only knew the form for the antidote but had never made it. He expressed that he was willing to try out the form but it would take him at least half a month.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s disgust with the entire Land of Fragrance grew steadily.


    <em>¡°The inhabitants here seem to be weak and harmless, but they¡¯re probably born with a strange mixture of simplicity and cruelty. They behave as if they were a group of spoiled children and show no respect for other people¡¯s lives. The nobles here will never take the initiative to save anyone outside their own ss unless someone powerful makes them to do so,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei.


    Things that happened a few dayster further confirmed his judgment.


    After conquering the Land of Fragrance, the Great Snowmountain troops did not enter the capital and were still stationed outside the city. If possible, Gu Shenwei wanted topletely iste the soldiers from the locals. However, he was unable to do so.


    He had to rely on the city to provide food rations for his army, and he could not stop the ve women from continuing to sneak out of the city and hook up with his soldiers. These women, who had been forced to seduce the Great Snowmountain soldiers previously, seemed to really like his soldiers, who were exactly the opposite of the men in their own country. Now more and more of them began to follow suit.


    Gu Shenwei turned a blind eye to this. He did not forget about the speech he had made to his soldiers the other day. He just did not want to be excessively strict with them. <em>¡°As I¡¯ve already stopped them from carving up the Land of Fragrance like bandits, I¡¯d better not ask them to give up the other ¡®benefits¡¯,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei.


    At present, the real headache for him was the new recruits in his army.


    The Land of Fragrance had a poption of around 60,000, and nearly 10,000 of its residents were men aged between 15 and 50. Gu Shenwei had conscripted 6,000 of them into his army, and the remaining men in the country were craftsmen and men who were old, weak or sick.


    At the beginning, Gu Shenwei let the 6,000 men from the Land of Fragrance form a troop of their own and selected some swordsmen and machetemen to train them. A few dayster, he had to admit that it was a wrong decision. Over the past few days, the new recruits had tried every way to stay away from the weapons and some of them even had secretly destroyed the weapons distributed to them.


    There was no iron in the Land of Fragrance, and the Great Snowmountain troops did not have enough extra weapons for the new recruits. As such, most of the new soldiers were just equipped with wooden sabers or wooden swords, which could easily be broken or burnt.


    Gu Shenwei decided to correct his mistake by dividing the 6000-person troop into two parts and asking them to join the swordsmen and machetemen troops respectively. He hoped that the battle-seasoned swordsmen and machetemen could exert a subtle influence on the new recruits and make them tough.


    This was a risky decision, as the new recruits significantly outnumbered the veterans in the army. Once the veterans got assimted by the people from the Land of Fragrance, the Great Snowmountain would lose more than it gained.


    Soon enough, a more serious problem arose.


    Among the 6,000 or so new recruits, 1,200-1,300 new soldiers were nobles of the Land of Fragrance and the rest of them were ves. The former openly refused to fight side by side with thetter. They even loathed training together with the ves.


    They treated their peers gently and politely and the soldiers of the Great Snowmountain with profound awe and respect. Nevertheless, they could never ept their ves as their equals. On many asions, these noble men, who wished to stay away from weapons forever, picked up their wooden sabers or swords to beat the ve soldiers. They acted so cruelly and abusively that even the battle-seasoned veterans found their behavior very shocking.


    Gradually, this kind of thing happened more and more often. The noble soldiers even asked the ve soldiers to serve them like before, which caused great disturbance to the military training.


    Gu Shenwei summoned all the tribal chiefs of the Land of Fragrance and sternlymanded them to renounce their rights to the ves and treated all the soldiers equally.


    Nevertheless, these nobles, who had surrendered without putting up any resistance and given up all their wealth and women to please their conqueror, resolutely refused to treat the ves as their equals.


    Gu Shenwei finally came to know how stubborn these cowardly men could be.


    They did not give him any reasonable exnation or bargain with him. Instead, they all knelt down, wailing and begging for the Dragon King¡¯s mercy. They were willing to ept punishment, but refused to ept their ves as theirrades.


    When Gu Shenwei expressed that he wanted to kill one of the chiefs to set an example for the others, all the chiefs rushed to take the responsibility. Upon seeing that, he knew that this method was useless.


    To solve this problem, Gu Shenwei separated the ves from the nobles. The former wasmanded to join the machetemen troop and thetter was conscripted into the swordsmen troop. The Dragon King supported the ves in gaining equal status with the nobles, but the ves kept sneaking out of their own troop to serve their former masters and even took pride in this kind of behavior. If a ve did not do anything for his former master in three days, he would be despised by his peers.


    This ridiculous situation made Gu Shenwei doubt himself. <em>¡°I might be wrong about them. The men in this country can never make qualified soldiers. If I had followed my soldiers¡¯ advice and made these captives ves of the army, the situation would¡¯ve been better. Or, maybe I should lead them to leave this ce as soon as possible. The nobles and ves may change and stop being so divided after they see the outside world and fight a few major battles together.¡± </em>With this in mind, he put most of his effort into collecting food and horses for his army.


    At the moment, both Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus were still unconscious and thus could not remind the Dragon King that he was repeating their mistake by having engaged in an irreconcble sh of interests against the nobles.


    Tuo Nengya returned to the camp. He had searched everywhere in a 50-kilometer radius around the capital but still failed to find Old Man Mu. During his mission, he had burnt down all the Flower Soul Forests to the ground, and thus he brought all the Chief Priests and their disciples in the forests back to the camp.


    Among all the 10 Flower Soul Forests of the Land of Fragrance, only the one located within the royal pce was uninhabited, and in each of the other nine forests, lived a Chief Priest. These nine Chief Priests were experts in their respective fields, which included fragrance making, pharmacy, medicine, gardening, scriptures, ceremonies, fortune-telling, clothes & essories and kung fu.


    After exchanging a few words with the Chief Priests, Gu Shenwei were disappointed to discover that these people were all obedient ves and extremely bookish people. In the past 100 years, they had just insisted on a rigid interpretation of the doctrines in the ancient books and never expanded on them.


    As such, Gu Shenwei kept only the two Chief Priests, who were good at pharmacy and medicine respectively, and these two priests¡¯ disciples in the camp. As for the other Chief Priests and their disciples, Gu Shenwei set them free and allowed them to return to the city or join the army.


    He deliberately spent more time talking to the Chief Priest whose expertise was kung fu, but he got as disappointed as Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus had been. This old Chief Priest patiently answered all his questions, and some of the priest¡¯s views did delight him for a moment. However, all of the old man¡¯s views were from the ancient books. They consisted mainly ofments and not practical instructions.


    That led Gu Shenwei to secretly dub the priest ¡°chicken ribs¡±¡ªtasteless when eaten but a pity to throw away. The only reason he decided to keep this priest in his army was that this old man¡¯s lower body was paralysed. Asking the priest to leave the camp would be no different from sentencing him to death.


    Gu Shenwei nned to have a good talk with the priest when he had plenty of time to do so. He still wanted to try to get something useful from the pedantic man.


    Although now building a strong army was the core measure to enhance hispetitiveness against the Golden Roc Fort, he still had to improve his kung fu skills. Without superb kung fu, he would be unable tomand and subdue his swordsmen and machetemen.


    Gu Shenwei was nning to bring his newly recruited soldiers to the outside world to see what a real war looked like, but before he could do so, someone brought it to him.


    It turned out that the 7 sons of Shili Molo had not just escaped with their Chief Priest, they had also returned with an army of their own. The Land of Fragrance was notpletely isted from the outside world, but the privilege tomunicate with the outside world was enjoyed by only a small group of people, which included Shili Molo and his sons.


    ording to the scouts, a 3,000-strong army from the northeast was heading for the capital of the Land of Fragrance and would arrive there three dayster.


    Gu Shenwei considered it a great opportunity for him. He was confident that he would soon be able to find a route to return to Western Region and turn his new recruits into real soldiers.


    He secretly ordered all the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain to keep a close watch on their ve soldiers and prevent them from contacting their former masters.


    In the meantime, the machetemen were ordered by the Dragon King to disseminate the news about the Shili family¡¯s rebel troops to the nobles in their ranks.


    As Gu Shenwei had expected, the night before the arrival of the Shili family¡¯s army, more than half of the nobles made up all kinds of excuses to return to the city and then defected to the Shili family after leaving the camp.


    He did not send any troop to stop them, and in fact, he wanted to see more defectors. To encourage the remaining 400 or so noble soldiers, who were not brave enough to escape, to flee, hemanded his troops to withdraw 15 kilometers to the southwest, leaving the capital of the Land of Fragrance to his enemies. He made this decision, as he intended to fight a perfect battle. As for his soldiers, they did not understand his decision but still carried out all his orders dutifully.


    Soon enough, thest batch of nobles fled. They even took lots of money and women away from the city.


    <em>¡°Now, the burden has been shifted to the enemy. It¡¯s time to engage,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei.


    This was going to be the first war fought in the Land of Fragrance in this century.

 Chapter 385 - Facing Off

    <span>Chapter 385: Facing Off


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei waited for three more days before agreeing to fight.


    During the three days, the 3,000 soldiers of the Shili family¡¯ army, who hade to the city with only their weapons, horses and dry food, plundered the city¡¯s treasure and thus umted lots of money and ves. Now, every soldier in the army owned some ves and several parcels of valuable items.


    The ves in the city were still loyal to their masters, but the nobles declined to trust them. They used them of doing nothing when the thousands of ve men had beenpelled to join the army of the Great Snowmountain and began to take their revenge on the ves in the city before the war.


    This situation made soldiers of the Great Snowmountain somewhat anxious, as they always considered the wealth and ves of the city as their spoils. Although the Dragon King forbade them from dividing these spoils of war, they still could not remain calm when seeing their loot and ves fall into the hands of the enemy.


    Groups of soldiers came to see the Dragon King one after another, demanding to wage war against the Shili family right now.


    The Shili family¡¯s army was eager to take their loot away, and the Great Snowmountain troops were in a hurry to obtain the loot back. As such, both of these two belligerent parties wished to fight to see who was the stronger as soon as possible. This was the backdrop for the battle.


    The Shili family, who enjoyed numerical superiority in terms of troops, was the first one to issue the challenge. The sons of Shili Molo were confident, since they were well aware that there were only 1,500-1,600 professional soldiers in the Great Snowmountain troops and all the nobles in the city had promised them that the ve soldiers of the Great Snowmountain would change sides amid the war upon hearing their masters¡¯ orders.


    Gu Shenwei felt the same way about the ve soldiers as the nobles did. Given that, he decided to leave the ves soldiers behind and assigned a small troop of veterans to supervise them.


    The ve soldiers epted this arrangement obediently and then calmly waited for the oue of the war. They did not care much about the oue. All they needed to do was to wait for their master to return with victory, as the winner of the war would surely belong to their master.


    The site of the battle was also decided by the Shili family.


    This ce was not far away from the capital and used to be covered by a Flower Soul Forest, which had already been burnt to the ground by Tuo Nengya. As now there were no nts or trees hindering the soldiers¡¯ movement, it was the best ce for the two armies to fight a battle.


    This ce was a piece of low-lyingnd, and there were slopes on both its eastern and the western sides. As such, these slopes be natural stands for the nobles to watch the fight.


    The nobles had never intended to fight against the Great Snowmountain troops by themselves. They had spent a lot to hire their reinforcements and now they only wanted to observe the battle at a safe distance from the slope on the eastern side of the battlefield.


    The 1,000 or so noble men also invited their wives and children to watch the fight for a reason that only themselves could understand. These nobles came to the slope followed by arge group of ves, who stayed by their side and held parasols open for them.


    The nobles had been dishonest with the Dragon King from the very beginning, and all the poption figures they had provided were incorrect. Every noble family had tried their best to hide many of their young ves, and now they finally could let all of them out.


    As for the two armies on the battleground, neither of them had dispatched all of its soldiers to take part in the battle.


    The machetemen troop under themand of Tuo Nengya had been divided into two parts. One part of it stayed behind to supervise their ve soldiers, and the other part went to lie in ambush at a ce designated by the Dragon King.


    Yesterday, a small troop of swordsmen hadunched a surprise attack on the tribal troops¡¯ military camp. They killed no one but snatched some valuable items from the camp. This incident made the tribal troops believe that the Dragon King was coveting their wealth. They got nervous and decided to leave one third of their men to defend their camp before they left to fight against the Dragon King¡¯s army.


    Under such circumstances, the tribal troops still had 2,000 soldiers joining the fight and enjoyed numerical superiority over the Great Snowmountain troops who had only 1,300 soldiers.


    Upon seeing that, the nobles of the Land of Fragrance were extremely excited, as it was going to be the first battle that happened in their nation after more than a century. None of the noblemen had seen a real battle, but they had read a lot about wars in the ancient books. Now they all began to show off their knowledge in front of their wives and children, and some of them even started to loudly recite some well-written paragraphs about wars from the books.


    They firmly believed that it would be an easy victory for them as their tribal soldiers significantly outnumbered the Dragon King¡¯s warriors. Besides, ording to their ancient books, the Land of Fragrance had won every war that had happened here before. They were sure that this war was no exception.


    They hated the Dragon King, for he had vited the greatest taboo in their culture. They would never ept ves as their equals.


    Before the war, the nobles had held a writingpetition which had attracted more than 100 talented young writers to join. Every participant of thispetition had to write an article to describe the uing battle and submit it to a jury consisting of tribal chiefs and some other elders.


    The winner of thispetition used metaphoricalnguage to write an epic. In this work, which the author had spent two days and two nights toplete, the Dragon King was depicted as a fierce-looking dragon who led numerous demons to invade the peaceful and civilian Land of Fragrance, and the 7 sons of the Shili family were described as brave young men who rose to the challenge and waged war against the evil dragon. He also described the fighting scenes in detail through a great many pages.


    At this moment, the author was reading this story out loud and passionately to his fellow countrymen and winning rapturous apuse from his audience.


    When he came to the part where the patron gods of the Land of Fragrance were moved by the 7 sons of the Shilli family and about to send troops from heaven to y the evil dragon, the real battle in the low-lyingnd began.


    The Shili family¡¯s armyunched an attack first.


    Their army consisted of troops borrowed from a dozen tribes outside the Land of Fragrance, who did business with the Shili family; they agreed to join the sons of Shili Molo after being promised ample rewards.


    The eldest son of Shili Molo, who was venerated asmander-in-chief of this army, did not know how to handle military affairs at all and even scorned to get involved in a battle, so he simply let the tribal troops stand in a line and allow them to decide when to start a charge and how fast they would charge toward the enemies. As a result, the Shili family¡¯s army was just a loose coalition of forces.


    As for the army of the Great Snowmountain, itsmander-in-chief, the Dragon King, personally led the soldiers to the battlefield, and the soldiers were neatly aligned into three sections: the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain were ced on the nks of the battle line, and the 300 conscripted savages who served as bowmen stood in a line in front of the swordsmen.


    Due to the fact that neither side was good at fighting on horseback, no cavalrymen were involved in this battle. The swordsmen had once fought on horseback, but their performance could hardlypete with that of professional cavalrymen. In addition, their heavy swords were not suitable for this type of fighting.


    At this moment, the Dragon King could not help thinking of his military counselor, Fang Wenshi. <em>¡°If that schr was here, he would be strongly against such an arrangement. He would say that a general should avoid joining the fight and he must focus on managing the overall process of the battle and acting ording to circumstances. He has a point, but just like the Chief Priests of the Land of Fragrance, he¡¯s somewhat bookish. My army still heavily relies on the soldiers¡¯ fighting capacity to win battles. There aren¡¯t very many soldiers in my army and they can¡¯t work seamlessly and smoothly together. In this sense, there¡¯s no ¡®overall process¡¯ that needed to be managed. More importantly, my soldiers all wish to see me fighting together with them.¡±</em>


    The Dragon King needed his soldiers to worship him. This was not out of the need to gratify his vanity. It was just a necessary way for him to better control his soldiers.


    Besides, he also personally preferred killing enemies with his own saber to staying behind the battle line.


    By now, the battle line of the tribal troops had already been twisted into an asymmetrical arch line, since both of its nks had surpassed the troops in the middle and the left nk was a little bit ahead of the right nk.


    The nobles of the Land of Fragrance had a certain responsibility for this mess, as all of them had followed the Shili family¡¯s example and promised to pay a double bounty to the tribe who killed the most enemies.


    On the other side of the battleground, the conscripted savages felt slightly nervous, because this was the first time for them to fight a battle on a in. Although the Dragon King had ordered them to shoot together, some of them still shot their arrows ahead of the fixed time. As such, they failed to achieve the desired effect in the first round of shooting.


    Fortunately, the conscripted savages¡¯ excellent archery skills sessfully remedied this fault. They preferred aiming at the targets before shooting to shooting randomly.


    In the first round of shooting, many of their arrows missed their targets because of the long distance, but in the second round, almost every arrow hit its target. The right nk of the tribal troops suffered heavy casualties and soldiers kept falling down to the ckened ground one after another.


    The noblemen on the slope all turned pale at the sight, and the noblewomen turned their heads away from the revolting scene.


    The winner of the writingpetition continued reading out his work, but his voice got weaker and weaker. In the meantime, his audience started to flee.


    There were no bowmen in the tribal troops, and all the soldiers in the troops wore only crude leather armors and were even less armored than swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain. Therefore, the 300 conscripted savages easily kept the tribal soldiers at least 30 meters away from the Great Snowmountain troops with their bows and arrows.


    The tribal soldiers swiftly retreated backward. After they got out of the range of the arrows, they stamped their feet with rage while loudly using the Dragon King of ying dirty tricks on them and criticizing that the Great Snowmountain soldiers were not real men.


    Compared to the locals in the Land of Fragrance, these tribal soldiers were not so ignorant. Most of them had heard various kinds of rumors about the Dragon King before, but none of them had taken these stories seriously. They belittled the Dragon King¡¯s achievements even more when they heard that he had been defeated by the Golden Roc Fort and abandoned his camp to flee southward.


    Upon seeing the tribal soldiers¡¯ reaction, Gu Shenwei ordered his army to get ready for a closebat. The savages immediately put their bows and arrows away and picked up their swords and machetes.


    The tribal soldiers were thrilled to see their wishe true and could not wait to show off their power in front of their generous employers. Therefore, they repeated their mistake and acted independently again. After running only less than 20 meters forward, they lost their formation. When seen from afar, their battle line looked like an earthworm struggling on a dry ground.


    Contrary to them, swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain were all seasoned warriors.


    To maintain their formation, they started by walking.


    Gu Shenwei walked in the middle and put most of his time and efforts marshalling his soldiers instead of observing his enemies, preventing his men from advancing rashly.


    When he saw the tribal soldiers leading the chargee within 10 meters of his army and was even able to clearly see how many teeth the enemy soldiers had, he finally lifted up his Five Peaks Saber and blew his horn, which was tied to a shoulder strap he wore.


    Thousands of soldiers from the Great Snowmountain instantly blew their horns to answer the Dragon King¡¯s call.


    The horn sound shook the ground and vibrated the air. This sound had conquered the Land of Fragrance before, and now it made the people of the Land of Fragrance start to tremble with fear once again.


    The young writer stopped reading his story out and stood agape. His mouth dropped open, but words no longer came out of it.


    Many nobles ordered their ves to stay here until the battle ended and tell them the result after the battle, while they themselves stealthily left the ce.


    The tribal soldiers were also shocked by the horns, but they did not shrink back. Instead, they emitted various kinds of shouts, trying to psych their opponents out and build their own courage up.


    When the Dragon King and his swordsmen put their horns away, the horn sounds were still reverberating. After the horn blowing, they all held their weapons high, making their formation now look like a giant hedgehog who suddenly erected all of its spines.


    The two armies quickly got into a closebat.


    No epic in the Land of Fragrance had described such a fighting scene before. The nobles, who were watching the fight from the slope, all got stressed out and escaped upon seeing the blood sttering over the battleground. Even the seven sons of Shili Molo, the nominalmanders of the tribal troops, also fled and left everything to their ves who felt their legs getting weaker at this moment.


    A professional general would dismiss the battle as a street brawl but he would definitely be astonished by the brutality exhibited in thetter half of the fight.


    The tribal soldiers were evidently weaker than the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain in terms of kung fu and teamwork skills, and their numerical superiority could hardly make up for these disadvantages.


    As such, the battle soon turned into a massacre. The swordsmen got all the bad emotions, which had been stored up all this while, out of themselves and began to ughter the tribal soldiers.


    Due to therge number of the tribal soldiers, this fight might havested for several hours, but someone¡¯s screams suddenly interrupted the battle. ¡°The Great Snowmountain troops are raiding our camp! They¡¯re raiding the camp!¡±


    When the tribal soldiers looked back at their military camp where they stored all their valuable items, they were surprised to see that it was engulfed by thick smoke.


    Upon seeing that, they hurriedly ran toward their camp. As such, the first battle fought in the Land of Fragrance in this century hadsted for only less than half an hour until this moment.


    However, the battle would not end here, as Gu Shenwei intended to annihte all the enemy forces. He wanted to keep his army¡¯s stay in the Land of Fragrance a secret for a longer time.

 Chapter 386 - Reward and Punishment

    Chapter 386: Reward and Punishment


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Subsequent battles continued until the end of the night.


    The three thousand reinforcements which had been acquired with some difficulty by the Shili family werepletely annihted. More than half of them had died in the process of retreating. The survivors surrendered near their own military camp.


    Tuo Nengya and the machetemen had not attacked the military camp at all. They had just set a fire near the camp and then ambushed nearby. Together with the main force of the Great Snowmountain, they surrounded and annihted a thousand people who remained in the camp and the retreating remnants.


    Such an oue waspletely beyond the expectations of the nobles of the Land of Fragrance. Therefore, it was no wonder that many people reacted extremely by sitting down and crying bitterly, kotowing to their gods for help at the altar and throwing belongings on the streets. Some people evenmitted suicide with their own family members.


    Only a small number of people quickly fled with the Shili family. Most people surrendered themselves to the Dragon King for the second time.


    Gu Shenwei had no time to respond to the nobles¡¯ second pledge of loyalty. This evening, he kept giving orders, sending out small forces again and again to chase down the escaped remnants.


    At noon the following day, the seven sons of the Shili family, as well as a group of followers, were all captured and escorted to the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei was very satisfied with the performance of the warriors. Their leisurely life for more than a month had not impacted theirbat effectiveness.


    Behind him, packages and boxes piled up like a hill. The warriors from the Great Snowmountain had not needed to move their hands at all. The nobles and tribal soldiers of the Land of Fragrance had spontaneously ¡°contributed¡± them to the Dragon King.


    On his left hand, more than 1,600 warriors from the Great Snowmountain stood upright and proudly. They had only suffered a minimal loss in thebat. The warriors never looked away from the Dragon King. This victory overshadowed most of their failures of the past few months. It also enhanced their reverence for the Dragon King.


    On his right hand, there were more than a thousand tribal remnants, looking at the wealth that they had possessed for a short time. They were all seized with remorse. Yesterday, they were saviors. Today, their lives were in the hands of the Dragon King.


    More than 4,000 ve soldiers surrounded the prisoners of war. Many of them reced their wooden sabers with swords for the first time. When they received the heavy steel weapons, they were both excited and frightened. Especially when they saw their former owners kneeling on the ground like ves, they felt like the whole world had turned upside down£®


    The nobles were divided into two groups. The smaller group consisted of about one hundred people. They were headed by the seven sons of the Shili family and were kneeling at the forefront. All of them were fugitives who had been arrested. The other group was muchrger. More than 1,000 people knelt behind them. This was their second surrender. The first time was when they were a part of the Great Snowmountain. Last time, they were standing, but this time they were all kneeling down, begging for forgiveness.


    A huge quantity did not necessarily mean powerful strength. Sometimes they could be a cumbersome burden.


    Under the supervision of sabers and swords, no one in the entire military camp dared to speak.


    Gu Shenwei had to deal with these nobles and prisoners of war immediately. He didn¡¯t do it out of revenge. The resistance of these people was understandable. He didn¡¯t do it to demonstrate his power in front of the people of the Land of Fragrance. There was no need to enhance their cowardice. He did so for the sake of the warriors under hismand.


    For the Dragon King, having this one thousand and six hundred people on his side was far more important than owning a country. There wouldn¡¯t be any others like them. They would believe every single word of Dragon King and unconditionally execute his every order.


    Compared with these nobles who were kneeling in front of him, his warriors were obviously more valuable assets.


    Gu Shenwei raised his right hand and pointed to the escaped nobles in the forefront rows, ¡°Behead.¡±


    Before the nobles understood the meaning of this word, a row of the Great Snowmountain warriors emerged from the crowd, wielding their sabers and swords. They struck the necks of the nobles without resistance, like lions and tigers rushing into a flock of sheep.


    Dozens of nobles who had surrendered twice and were kneeling in the back fainted all at once.


    The nobles who had surrendered were equally untrustworthy. They had to be punished, and they had to prove that they were no longer liabilities. Gu Shenwei pointed his bloodstained finger at them, ¡°Send them all to the forest and give them a day¡¯s rations. ¡± Then he raised voice, ¡± After five days, anyone who wants revenge,e out and fight with the Great Snowmountain. If you want to join the army, prove that you are a man. ¡±


    Gu Shenwei hade up with this method of training killer appretices in Golden Toc Fort ¨C a brutal survival of the fittest. As for the hatred that might arise, he paid no heed.


    For many nobles, this was worse than being executed on the spot. They cried out loud saying they were willing to contribute all their possessions, even their wives and daughters.


    Their performance only brought them more contempt and disgust. Two hundred Great Snowmountain warriors took more than 1,000 nobles out of the military camp and drove them to the forest in the north.


    Then it was the captured tribal soldiers¡¯ turn.


    The Dragon King had always just been a distant and vague nightmare for them. They never expected it to be a reality. Those inconceivable legends suddenly became credible. Many people looked up nervously, thinking that the horrible Man-eating Demon Bird was flying in the air.


    ¡°You have a choice.¡± Gu Shenwei used Internal Strength to projecy his voice so that everyone could hear it. ¡°Go home, prepare to fight again; Or surrender, fight with the real warriors. ¡±


    ¡°Surrender.¡± Immediately, a captive opened his mouth, and soon the sound of surrender became unanimous.


    But there were others with a different idea. One of the captives shouted, ¡°No, I won¡¯t surrender!¡±


    The captives automatically drew back to let him through. He walked to the front of the crowd and said again: ¡°I have to go home. I will crawl my way back if needed. Dragon King is a hero. But we are not wusses. I want to fight again. ¡±


    He was tall with a resolute gaze. He had always been conspicuous standing amidst the captives. At this moment, he became the focus of everyone¡¯s attention.


    ¡°How did you get captured?¡± Gu Shenwei asked, admittedly with a little respect for the bold man. There might be many people who were reluctant to surrender and wanted to go home but he was the only one who had dared to defy the majority and speak out in public.


    Sometimes, it required even more bravery to voice a contrary view than to kill enemies on the battlefield.


    ¡°They took my weapon away.¡± The man turned his head and nced back at them. His tone was resentful and full of disdain. He had been betrayed by his ownpanions, so it was beneath him to surrender with them.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°Ha Chilie. I¡¯m the son of the chief of Dongshan Mountain Tribe, Ha Shelong.¡±


    ¡°Go back and tell your father and nsmen. Dragon King and the Great Snowmountain are the co-owners of Western Region. We will soon go out and fight with the Supreme King. You must make a choice. There is only one chance to join a side. You are free to go now¡±


    Ha Chilie seemed to be not totally convinced of Dragon King¡¯s words. When he hadsaid he would not surrender, he was ready to die. Since the Dragon King had already said so, he did not see the need to be courteous. He turned back and said to the captives from his n, ¡°Follow me. Let Dragon King know, he is not the only real warrior here. ¡±


    No one moved. Everyone thought that the Dragon King was ying a trick by setting them free. If someone dared to walk out of the military camp, he would be beheaded immediately. What more, they hadpletely admitted defeat. They believed that even if they tried again, they would undoubetedly be defeated.


    Ha Chilong shook his head in disappointment. He looked enviously at the Great Snowmountain warriors across the road, then headed out of the camp. He did not even express gratitude to the Dragon King.


    Many warriors were deeply angry with this and gripped their swords tightly. As long as the Dragon King indicated anything with a meaningful nce, they would rush to attack the ungrateful son of the chief.


    The Dragon King never opened his mouth and did indeed set Ha Chilong free.


    Gu Shenwei spoke to those who had surrenderred again, ¡°If you lost your weapon, you have to grab another with your own skills. Before the next battle, you have to fight with your bare fists.¡±


    Thest thing to deal with was the piles of gold and silver treasures.


    Gu Shenwei insisted that they shouldn¡¯t be divided equally. It was not because that he didn¡¯t think the warriors were worthy of rewards. He didn¡¯t want to take exclusive possession of everything either. He never had a desire for fortune.


    His experience with Zhong Heng had taught him a principle: drawing somebody over to one¡¯s side little by little without letting up was far better than a one-time bribe.


    When Gu Shenwei had been a killer of Golden Roc Fort and Zhong Heng had been themandant, he had given Zhong Heng a gift every month. The amount was not too big, but ihe had done it consistently for years. It was because of this, Zhong Heng¡¯s loyalty graduallyy with the Dragon King.


    The Daxueshan warriors were simple and loyal. Even the macheteman under Tup Nengya¡¯s could stand the test. They would never forsake righteousness for the sake of gold.


    Gu Shenwei cherished this quality, but thought that he could not afford to be rxed and sit on thisurels. On the contrary, he had to be careful when dealing with any warrior. He had to demonstrate the nobility and severity of a king. asionally, he would express trust and gratitude to satisfy them. He could never make the warriors feel like they were merely his employees.


    This was much more difficult and more rewarding thanmanding an army that was simply manipted with rewards. Gu Shenwei had to use techniques. As long as he did not go too far, he could secure his position in the minds of the warriors.


    All the gold and silver treasures were divided into two parts equally. One part was to award all the warriors ording to their merits. The other was kept as future rewards and jointly controlled by Long Xiaoshi, the one-eyed patriarch of Danduo Peak, and the old macheteman, Tuo Nengya.


    The rewards and punishment had been all settled. Gu Shenwei convened several generals to discuss military affairs.


    When Long Xiaoshi entered the main tent, he asked, ¡°That Ha Chilong, how dare he disrespect Dragon King! Do you want me to send someone to chop off his head back?¡±


    ¡°No. He abandoned the brothers of his n and went home alone. He will be called into question instead of being respected. Let him spread the fear. Send out my order, we decamp five dayster. We will follow the son of the chief back to the Western Region. ¡±


    Gu Shenwei could ask the captives for directions, but he also wanted to have an unwitting guide.


    The following situation was veryplicated. Another group of ves from the Land of Fragrance had joined the army. No more young men could be found inside the city.


    But Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t take away all the young men. This country would bepletely destroyed if it merely consisted of elderly people, women, and children.


    ording to his order, only one young man could stay at home in each family, all the other men must go along and fight with the army. At the same time, a small number of troops were to remain. They set up checkpoints at every exit and entrance, preventing foreign enemies from invading.


    The Land of Fragrance could not stay isted from the world anymore.


    The hardest part was finding a governor. The nobles were very unreliable, not to mention they had already been driven into the forest. The ves had not yet got rid of their former habits and none of them dared to be a leader.


    Gu Shenwei managed to settle this problem by designating several warriors who had been injured in previous battles to stay in the Land of Fragrance.


    Gu Shen kept himself swamped with work, so he would not have to visit the two women in a semi-conscious state. He didn¡¯t want the warriors to misunderstand.


    The seven sons of the Shili family had already been executed. However, the High Priest who made frangrances and the antidote did not return to the country with the tribal warriors. Eventually, good news returned of the heir of the High Priest finally making the antidote under the strict supervision of several warriors after nearly 20 days.


    The young disciple repeatedly stressed that the effect of the antidote was unknown, and he could not guarantee that it would work.


    Gu Shenwei had no choice but to take a risk. Fortunately, there were fiveatose women in total. He could try the antidote on the others first.


    Taking the antidote coincided with the night before the army set out. Everything happened at the same time. People kepting in and out of Gu Shenwei¡¯s main tent without pause. Many things were waiting for him to settle.


    The news about the efficacy of the antidote had not yet arrived. A disturbing incident happened in the military camp.


    Old Man Mu left the training grounds. On the first night, he killed only one warrior. Although everyone was furious, they did not anticipate how severe the incident was.

 Chapter 387 - Waking from a Dream

    Chapter 387: Waking from a Dream


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    This dream was going on for far too long. When she was half-awake, reality and illusion were perfectlybined. The dividing line between them waspletely blurred. Shangguan Ru gradually lost her ability to distinguish them. Everything in her mind seemed to be real and credible.


    Even when the sense of heaviness subsided and the light became ring, she did not regain consciousness immediately. She looked at the unfamiliar maid, ¡°Go on then.¡±


    ¡°Yes, master¡­¡± The maid was a ve of the Land of Fragrance. She had never dared to say ¡°no¡± to her master, but she was frightened by the expression of her new master and rushed out for help.


    Maid Lotus¡¯ reaction was better. She had remained silent in her semiatose state. After she regaining consciousness, she still did not speak. For a long time, the maid beside her was not aware that her master was gathering herself. She also never realized that she was in danger.


    This was the second time that Maid Lotus had been drugged in the Land of Fragrance. As a disciple of New Moon Hall, she was furious. New Moon Hall was renowned for its secret techniques and pharmacy. However, she had been drugged with some third-rate intoxicating fragrance from a remote area.


    The killing intent had been brewing in her heart for a long time. Her fingers were eager to kill, even when she was feeling like treading a path in the dark and gloomy night. However, there was always a thickyer of invisibleting binding her whole body, keeping her from doing what she wanted.


    Now, the had disappeared. Maid Lotus did not even realize that she had alreadye back to the real world. She was still following the path in her dream and did not hesitate to attack.


    The clueless waitress suffered Maid Lotus¡¯ de right in her chest. Before her thoughts could catch up with the fact that she had been stabbed, she had already fallen to the ground and died.


    When Gu Shenwei walked into the tent, the first thing he saw was the body on the ground.


    Maid Lotus did not seem to know him. Her whole body was filled with killing intent. It almost blew up the tent into pieces. Her right hand fumbled at her waist, searching for her own sword.


    In face of a sudden challenge, Gu Shenwei naturally responded by holding the hilt. His body was like a taut bow which could shoot out a deadly arrow at any moment.


    Maid Lotus finally gained conscious and gently let out a sigh of relief. Her killing intent quickly dissipated and then disappeared, ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°You were drugged with Indra fragrance. You have been in aa for more than half a month. Now, you are all right.¡±


    Maid Lotus quickly epted Gu Shenwei¡¯s statement. She lowered her head and thought for a while. Then she looked up and said,¡±Old Man Mu is still alive. I let you down.¡±


    ¡°He wo¡¯t live for long.¡± After a pause, Gu Shenwei added, ¡°You brought me a country.¡±


    If he had not found out that Maid Lotus and Shangguan Ru were to be burned to death as a sacrifice, Gu Shenwei would not have made up his mind to attack and upy the Land of Fragrance. To some extent, it was true that these two women ¡°brought¡± him a country.


    Maid Lotus got back her own sword. After two days of rest, she returned to normal. She began to follow Dragon King and took on the responsibility of imperial bodyguard.


    Gu Shenwei had to admit that he was relieved. He still kept the habits of a killer. He was often overly concerned about what was behind his back. Even when he was at the center of the Great Snowmountain military camp, surrounded by the most loyal warriors, he still couldn¡¯t sleep at ease.


    Warriors and killers are two kinds of people, the former would never understand thetter¡¯s instinctive suspiciousness.


    The presence of Maid Lotus relieved most of the tension, so much so that Gu Shenwei sometimes had to remind himself not to trust this womanpletely.


    This was the reason why killers were destined for loneliness. They couldn¡¯t trust anyone, but they were always in need of someone to watch their backs.


    Maid Lotus was not interested in the fate of the Land of Fragrance, but she took the heir of the fragrance-making High Priest and several disciples. She acquired the forms of Indra fragrance and other fragrance drugs. She intended to make them and integrate them with New Moon Hall¡¯s pharmacy.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s recovery took much longer. After five days, shepletely returned to the real world. During that time, she seemed to regard the people around her as the same person. She kept making the same request, ¡°Go on then.¡±


    Her dream had been interrupted at the most critical moment. She tried her best to return to her dream and continue it.


    Shangguan Fei had visited his younger sister once but he was not recognized by her at all. So he left and searched for the Dragon King, ¡°My sister has probably lost her mind, Dragon King¡­ Can you take a look at her? Maybe she¡¯ll get better when she sees you. ¡±


    Gu Shenwei had never visited Shangguan Ru because he couldn¡¯t think of any reason. Unlike Maid Lotus, Shangguan Ru was not only the daughter of the enemy but also useless to the cause of the Great Snowmountain.


    He set high standards for all the warriors, so he had to be restrained by even higher standards.


    At the request of Shangguan Fei, Gu Shenwei went to visit her.


    Shangguan Ru seemed to be all right, but she looked defenseless like a child. The mncholy and maturity of her face since she turned fourteen had disappeared without a trace.


    She recognized Gu Shenwei, but did not regard him as the Dragon King, ¡± ve Huan.¡± She whispered as if they were hiding in the Stone Castle ying old tricks, ¡°He will tell the secret. Listen carefully. ¡±


    ¡°Who is he?¡± Gu Shenwei also lowered his voice to y along with her entric behavior.


    ¡°It¡¯s him, but he always stopped halfway, ve Huan, figure out some way.¡± The second half of the sentence was apanied by a hint ofmand. Shangguan Ru regarded herself as the Tenth Young Master again.


    Faint mes of fury sprang to Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart. The name of ve Huan and the life in Golden Roc Fort were memories that he wanted to forget but could never quite erase. Sometimes, he felt that the hatred that experience brought to him even exceeded the cmity of his family¡¯s annihtion.


    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him.¡± Gu Shenwei repressed his anger and said patiently, ¡°If you don¡¯t listen, he will continue to speak.¡±


    This was an obviously unreasonable strategy. However, Shangguan Ru believed it to be true. ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t listen, he will say it¡­¡±


    She opened her mouth and yawned widely. Although she had been half asleep, she never really slept. ¡°I have to sleep. ve Huan, tell me a story.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Before Gu Shenwei coulde up with a story, Shangguan Ru had already fallen soundly asleep.


    This was the fifth night after taking the antidote. The next morning, she would wake up normally, only vaguely remembering what happened. She would not be able to tell if they were true or not. However, there was one thing she would know soon: Old Man Mu was killing innocent people in her name.


    The Great Snowmountain troops should have set out five days ago, but they made no move because of Old Man Mu.


    On the first night, Old Man Mu killed a peripheral sentinel.


    He had changed his techniques and had stopped taking out the bleeding heart. The dead body was unharmed, without even a drop of blood. It was like a fatal disease outbreak, a natural death.


    Old Man Mu did not want to be an unknown killer. After killing the sentinel, he yelled at the top of his voice in the wilderness and woke up the entire camp.


    ¡°Nine hundred and ny-nine! Listen up, Dragon King! Old Man Mu will kill nine hundred and ny-nine people in your army! Today is the first one, thest one will be you. Haha, don¡¯t me me, it¡¯s all on Shangguan Ru. That silly girl should never have saved me. I am good at repaying evil for good. If you want to be free, you have to ¡­ ¡±


    Old Man Mu made a long speech excitedly. His voice could not be traced, and finally stopped at dawn.


    Gu Shenwei ordered the defensive circle to tighten and increase patrols day and night. He was preparing to leave the Land of Fragrance.


    The marching speed on the first day was very slow, only a dozen miles per day. The capital of the Land of Fragrance was still visible if anyone looked back.


    Gu Shenwei set many traps outside the camp, waiting for Old Man Mu to walk right them.


    But Old Man Mu was like a smart and flexible rat. He managed to avoid the traps and entered the military camp. Three machetemen and three swordsmen were killed without a sound.


    After leaving the military camp, Old Man Mu began to show off again. He did not know that Shangguan Ru was still in a semi-conscious state, and he intended to let her hear his words.


    ¡°Good girl, now you must regret saving me. Let me tell you, Old Man Mu may not always take revenge, but I will always return every favor. The people I killed are all on you. Haha, feel the pain, cry me a river! If you want to be free, want to be happy forever, just be an evil person like me.¡±


    On the second day, Gu Shenwei decided to suspend the march. Old Man Mu had already made a huge impact on his army. Both the ve soldiers and the captives were watching how the Dragon King and the warriors from the Great Snowmountain would respond. Swordsmen and machetemen were outraged and eager to seek revenge on this old devil.


    It was because of these dys that the Great Snowmountain army took in a group of nobles.


    Around a thousand nobles had suffered five days of forest life. In order to snatch dry provisions, many people were killed on the first day. As days passed, more and more people got lost in the forest and could not find their way out.


    Only less than two hundred people survived to escape the forest. They joined the Great Snowmountain army with resentment. Nevertheless, they pledged loyalty to the Dragon King.


    Most people couldn¡¯t understand the intention of the Dragon King. The vows of these people were not trustworthy at all. They could betray him at any moment. It was better to kill them all and save further troubles.


    Gu Shenwei insisted on keeping them and added them into the savage guard troops.


    Only Tuo Nengya could understand the Dragon King¡¯s. ¡°This is a needle stuck in Dragon King¡¯s leg. In this way, he will always stay alert.¡±


    Nheless, many people could not understand. However, the warriors respected the Dragon King and did not question his decision.


    Tuo Nengya was only partially correct about Gu Shenwei¡¯s intention. Actually, it had be another of his habits. The people around him almost all had reasons to hate him, such as Xu Yanwei, Xu Xiaoyi, Chu Nanping, Tie Linglong, Shangguan Fei, Shangguan Hong, and so forth.


    Surrounded by more than a hundred resentful noble guard troops, Gu Shen maintained almostplete istion. Even the ck-masked assassin could not achieve that.


    There was also a practical use of the nobles. Gu Shenwei intended to use them to set an indiscoverable trap for Old Man Mu.


    On the third day, Maid Lotus waspletely awake and immediately joined the hunt.


    After waiting for another two days, the Dragon King suddenly announced that several nobles had colluded with enemies. They had nned to assassinate the Dragon King and hand over the most important secret of the Land of Fragrance.


    Under normal circumstances, Old Man Mu would not rescue anybody. However, this rescue would strike a heavy blow to the Dragon King, and obtain vital secrets at the same time.


    Gu Shenwei hoped to lure him into the trap since this secret was appealing enough. He spread a few strange rumours, iming that the kung fu High Priest had eight chapters of Wayless Book in his memory.

 Chapter 388 - Kidnap

    Chapter 388: Kidnap


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Ru was deeply disturbed at the result of her softheartedness.


    On the night as shey awake, she heard Old Man Mu boasting about the people he had killed. So far, he had assassinated 25 soldiers from the Great Snowmountain and nobody had glimpsed his shadow lurking.


    ¡°Good girl, today I killed five people for you again! Haha, only the wicked have freedom¡­¡±


    Therefore, Shangguan Ru recounted her interaction with Old Man Mu right from the very beginning. Upon hearing this, Gu Shenwei devised a way to lure him into a trap.


    At that time, Old Man Mu was still being made to bask in the sun every day. In order to provoke Shangguan Ru to release him, he talked a lot, and all his words revealed his understanding and admiration of the Wayless Qigong of Golden Roc Fort.


    It was Old Man Mu who divulged that there were eight chapters of the divine kung fu in the castle.


    He was determined to be invincible, and if there was a chance for him to defeat Supreme King, he would not give it up easily.


    Even so, Shangguan Ru felt that Dragon King¡¯s n was too simple, ¡°Will he fall for it? He¡¯s very cunning.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Not only is he cunning, he is also very arrogant and underestimates everybody. He will know full well that this is a trap but he will still fall into the trap willingly, just to prove that he is able to free himself from it.¡± Gu Shenwei was not familiar with Old Man Mu, but he could understand the heart of that man.


    It was settled then.


    The nobles who were used as bait were not innocent either. They were indeed hatching a plot to instigate thousands of ve soldiers in the camp to raise a mutiny and kill off Dragon King and the soldiers from the Great Snowmountain. At the very least, they want to drive them all out of the Land of Fragrance.


    The tough life in the forest had not taught them a lesson, for they still thought that they held supreme authority over the ves, and the ves would naturally respond to their beck and call.


    Indeed, the ves were unable to escape the generations of very they were mired in. Even though they held sabers and swords, and Dragon King had rmoved the status and names of the ves, they unconsciously drew a distinction between masters and ves. However, to them, their masters were no longer the weak and useless nobles who were unable to fight on the battlefield, but the real soldiers from the Great Snowmountain and Dragon King.


    As soon as the mutiny n was leaked, the news reached Dragon King¡¯s ears.


    Gu Shenwei waited for a few more days. After the nobles who had taken part in the mutiny gave themselves away, he rounded them up and then used them to lure Old Man Mu.


    Shangguan Ru was very self-conscious in front of Dragon King. With so many lives taken by his hands, she could no longer justify Old Man Mu¡¯s existence.


    Maid Lotus did not say anything. She expressed her thoughts only when it was just the two of them, ¡°Your n is not simple.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded his head. He could not hide his n from Maid Lotus, nor did he need to hide it , ¡°It goes without saying that Old Man Mu covets the Wayless Qigong. But he won¡¯t believe that the high priest possesses the divine kung fu and he will barge into the military camp. However, his target is not the high priest or the traitors.¡±


    Maid Lotus understood immediately. This was why she assisted Dragon King. He was always quick to notice the truth of things, while she, like Shangguan Ru, had been kept in the dark by Old Man Mu.


    ¡°The Tenth Young Master.¡± She said. Old Man Mu was eyeing on the Wayless Qigong in Shangguan Ru¡¯s mind, but there were still two things she could not understand, ¡°Old Man Mu did not stop the Land of Fragrance from killing us, and he did not kidnap the Tenth Young Master even when he came out from the mountains.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was slightly surprised that Maid Lotus still addressed Shangguan Ru as ¡°the Tenth Young Master¡±, but he did not raise it and lowered his head to ponder about what she said, ¡°It is purported that Old Man Mu¡¯s going into retreat was to practice the highest level of the Five Hole Punch. If I am not wrong, he did not seed this time.¡±


    Old Man Mu had lived in seclusion for more than ten years prior to this. Even after his injuries had healed, he did not return to the jianghu immediately. Instead, he practiced his Kung Fu diligently. The impact of the Five Hole Punch was very powerful and it was a skill which he lived by. Therefore, it was only natural that the Kung Fu was of utmost importance to him. He would not have waited until now if he had been able to master it within a month.


    From this, Gu Shenwei assumed that Old Man Mu still had not mastered the highest level of the Five Hole Earth Punch. The way he killed now, without removing the victims¡¯ hearts, was probably just a cover-up.


    He need not say more as Maid Lotus had already grasped what he meant, so she said, ¡°But he thought he was able to master it, therefore, he was more eager to get his hands on Wayless Qigong after he failed.¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Ru must have left a deep impression on him when she managed to learn both the Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills and Seven Circles seven apertures Heart Stopping Finger in such a short duration.¡±


    Other than Supreme King himself, there were four people who practiced the Wayless Qigong. Shangguan Fei seldom disyed his Kung Fu and was beyond Old Man Mu¡¯s knowledge, while both Dragon King and Maid Lotus would neverpromise. The simpleminded and softhearted Shangguan Ru was be the best choice for him to get the divine kung fu.


    Maid Lotus¡¯ train of thought became clearer, ¡°He didn¡¯t kidnap the Tenth Young Master immediately but killed people in her name instead so that he could discredit her and force her to leave the military camp on her own ord.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. He imagined that Old Man Mu had already harbored intentions to take Shangguan Ru¡¯s Wayless Qigong, but he did not reveal it as his Kung Fu had not fully recovered. Something must have happened since then, to give him the confidence to assume that he was able to master the highest Earth level of the Five Hole Punch.


    After another failure, Wayless Qigong was his main target once again.


    This was the only way to exin Old Man Mu¡¯s fickle actions. Gu Shenwei felt that he was spot-on on his guesses and did not think that the missing link was important.


    ¡°Tonight will be the best time for him to take Shangguan Ru away,¡± As Gu Shenwei exined to Maid Lotus. He was also trying to look for possible ws in his reasoning. ¡°I have already set up a trap, and the troops will naturally concentrate around the high priest and the traitors. He will pretend to fall into the trap and try to divert attention, before taking advantage to kidnap her. He has already killed more than 20 people. As long as he threatens to kill the remaining 900 people, it is possible to make Shangguan Ru reveal something.¡±


    Maid Lotus thought that it was usible. She wondered if Shangguan Ru would make up a fake version of the chapters and trick Old Man Mu with Qigong Deviation. She banished her thoughts and said, ¡°If that is the case, that means it was not the Tenth Young Master who released Old Man Mu that time.¡±


    Old Man Mu had escaped the ropes because they were cut off in secret. At that time, Shangguan Ru had aroused the most suspicion among them. However, she did not ept him as her Master Shifu, nor did she gave him the Wayless Qigong. She could never be the rope cutter since it was apparent that she was not in cahoots with Old Man Mu.


    ¡°It was not the Tenth Young Master indeed, because I know who it is.¡± Gu Shenwei said tly, looking at Maid Lotus. He paused for a while and said, ¡°It was Shangguan Fei.¡±


    Maid Lotus was slightly surprised, ¡°How could it be him?¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Fei had the foolish idea that he will be able to regain his father¡¯s understanding and love as long as he has made a major contribution. So he continued to stay by my side and helped me gather my momentum. It is only worthwhile for him to sell me out once the Great Snowmountain is on par and canpete with the Supreme King. As he waits for that day toe, he needs to nt several helpers in advance, and Old Man Mu happens to be one of them.¡±


    Dragon King was very astute in specting a person¡¯s true intentions. Sometimes, even Maid Lotus was concerned if he was too extreme, but she still chose to believe him unconditionally, ¡°But you still want to keep him alive.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s keep him alive for now. He intends to betray me but I also intend to make use of him as well.¡±


    This was aplicated game. Indeed, Gu Shenwei did not trust Shangguan Fei but he did not tell the whole truth as well.


    The n to trap and kill Old Man Mu progressed in an orderly manner. Hundreds of swordsmen and machetemen hid in ambush. Arge number of conscripted savages acting as archers positioned outside. These soldiers were unaware of Dragon King¡¯s real n, so all of them made careful preparation.


    Shangguan Ru also participated in the operation. She knew she was unable to kill people, but hoped she could stall Old Man Mu for some time.


    In her heart, she did not want to see anyone die, which included Old Man Mu as well. But she was well aware of what would happen if she interceded for him.


    Everything was ready by nightfall. The highlight tonight was neither Dragon King nor Maid Lotus, nor the swordsmen and machetemen who were eager to seek for revenge, but 300 archers who made up of the conscripted savages. Gu Shenwei nned to shoot Old Man Mu to death.


    The archers didn¡¯t know their responsibilities, but all of them ha dreceived strict orders that once Dragon King shot a ming arrow, they would follow suit and shoot in the direction of the arrow.


    Gu Shenwei had positioned Shangguan Ru in an ingenious way such that he would have to bypass the archers if someone wanted to go near her, and the soldiers would shoot upon Gu Shenwei¡¯s orders.


    He was about to leave his tent when a soldier of nobility knelt outside to seek an audience with him. Several swordsmen tried to pull him away, but he was very persistent and refused to leave.


    Gu Shenwei could have ordered the soldier to wait until the next day, but the panic in the soldier¡¯s voice led him to change his mind.


    Old Man Mu was used to sneaking attacks during thetter half of the night, and there was still some time as the sky had just turned dark.


    The soldier who was anxious to see Dragon King was called Su Mohua. Like the rest of the surviving nobles from the Land of Fragrance, he served as guard troops of Dragon King. These guard troops were ced under strict surveince. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that most of the conscripted savages were involved in the operation tonight, Su Mohua would not have the chance to approach Dragon King¡¯s tent unimpeded.


    Su Mohua was a young man in his twenties. ording to the traditional standards of the Land of Fragrance, his figure was slightly thick, but he looked frail in the eyes of the soldiers from the Great Snowmountain.


    As soon as he entered the tent, he knelt in front of Dragon King and wept bitterly.


    His brother was one of the main organizers who had incited the ves to rebel against Dragon King. He had been detained and would be beheaded the next morning.


    ¡°Dragon King, who is as tall and magnanimous as the mountains, please pardon my brother¡¯s life! He¡¯s a fool, and he was tricked!¡± Su Mohua could only speak simple Central ins Chinese. Although he spoke urgently and some words jumbled in order, the meaning was still clear.


    Gu Shenwei felt that he was merely wasting his time, ¡°Military orders cannot be changed.¡±


    Tears streamed down Su Mohua¡¯s face. He postrated himself, intended to beg again. However, after some pondering, he organized his words and said, ¡°I know the rule of exchanging a life for a life. I am willing¡­ to exchange my brother¡¯s life for mine.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was deeply surprised that such a righteous person would exist among the nobles in the Land of Fragrance. Very soon, he realized that he had misunderstood Su Mohua.


    ¡°I will use the Revered Devil¡¯s life to exchange for my brother¡¯s life.¡± Su Mohua added, because he was not nning on using his life in exchange.


    The ¡°Revered¡± was an address used by the Land of Fragrance towards older people who possessed wits and virtuous qualities. ¡°Devil¡±, was a derogatory term. It was the first time Gu Shenwei heard these two words were used together. ¡°Are you referring to Old Man Mu?¡±, Gu Shenwei was slightly surprised.


    ¡°Yes, him. He¡¯s hiding in the forest, doing goodness knows what, and he¡¯s nning to do bad things to you. I heard all about it.¡±

 Chapter 389 - Consult

    Chapter 389: Consult


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    All this while, Old Man Mu had been hiding in a corner of the forest that had never seen the sun. Naturally, the Great Snowmountain had been unable to track him down since they were searching the Land of Fragrance.


    More than 1000 nobles were forced to enter the forest. They wandered around and soon entered the vicinity where Old Man Mu was. They disrupted his spiritual retreat and he was furious. He was even more enraged when he realized that he was unable to master the Five Hole Earth Punch.


    The two fits of anger rose in him and he vented it all on the nobles who had identally barged in.


    After killing more than a dozen of them, Old Man Mu calmed down and asked a few of the nobles about the events that had happened in the Land of Fragrance. Heshed out at the other nobles, including the now deceased Shili Luomo, ¡°So many of you, yet you were beaten by a defeated army, are all of you still men even? No, I mean, are all of you still humans?¡±


    He had forgotten that he had subdued the whole country using only cruel means of killing and some boasting. He began to scold the weak nobles, saying that they had no guts. The few nobles who unfortunately fallen into the clutches of the devil trembled as they took the oath, stating that they had received blood from the ¡°Revered¡± and would go out of the forest to resist Dragon King with all of their might.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s anger gradually disappeared, he knew that these cowards did not have what it took to fight against Dragon King, so he plotted a n for them, ¡°You bunch of fools, don¡¯t the ves listen to you the most? Pretend to surrender to Dragon King and join the army, then encourage those idiots to rebel.¡±


    Old Man Mu was very proud of his wit. Therefore, these ¡°bunch of fools¡± quickly contacted their peers who were unaware of what had happened and walked out of the forest together to surrender to Dragon King. They were zealous in ordering the ¡°bunch of idiots¡± to stage a mutiny.


    Su Mohua did not see Old Man Mu, but he heard about what had happened from his brother. He had been hesitant all along; now that the conspiracy had revealed so quickly, he need not be in a dilemma any longer.


    Gu Shenwei did not hear any important information from Su Mohua. To him, it was not important who led the mutiny.


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± He frowned slightly.


    Su Mohua became more and more flustered. He thought hard to see if there was anything else worth mentioning. It was not his intention to hold back any information, just that he was unable to differentiate the order of importance when it came to such matters. Therefore, it was only until the end when he came to what he thought was unimportant, ¡°And, he wants the high priest, my brother¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei waved his hand to interrupt, ¡°What does Old Man Mu want the high priest for?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had lied about the high priest possessing Chapter Eight of the Wayless Book. That pedantic semi-paralyzed old man knew nothing about high-level Kung Fu, he had merely memorized the records penned by the ancestors and asionally blurted out some shocking observations.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t know.¡± Su Mohua was both ted and nervous that Dragon King was finally interested in the information that he provided. ¡°I heard that he had met the high priest before and talked for a long time.¡±


    Gu Shenwei really could not understand what Old Man Mu could get from the high priest.


    Suddenly, he felt that he must meet the high priest and rify this matter.


    Dragon King walked out of the tent. Su Mohua was perplexed. Bracing himself, he asked, ¡°Dragon King, about my brother¡­¡±


    ¡°Go and tell them to think hard about what other information can be used to redeem their lives. Let me know before dawn.¡±


    Gu Shenwei would never forgive the mutinous nobles easily. Moreover, he was certain that these nobles had withheld many secrets about the Land of Fragrance that even the ves were unaware of.


    The high priest lived alone in a small tent near to the imprisoned nobles, right in the heart of where the soldiers were lying in ambush.


    He had a young disciple as a servant but that disciple did not stay with him at night.


    The high priest smiled kindly upon seeing Dragon King. He was an easily contented old man who lived in a world built by ancient books. With the Flower Soul Forest burnt, and most of his disciples dismissed; even though he was surrounded by strangers with sabers and swords, all of these happenings would not change his world. It was as though he still lived in the straw hut inside the forest.


    Beside him piles of ancient books were stacked, these were the only treasures that he refused to let go of. Gu Shenwei had quickly looked through the books once, but most of the content was meaningless. There were many Kung Fu skills mentioned in the books which were already long lost.


    There was an old monk from the Four Truths Temple who always had a kind smile as well, but it was a smile that made him look like an all-knowing god looking down from up high. The smile of the high priest, however, seemed like a smile that a child would possess, someone who had not yet grown up and knew nothing about the world. To put it bluntly, Gu Shenwei felt that the high priest had not yet matured in terms of intellect.


    ¡°Have you met Old Man Mu before?¡± Gu Shenwei asked calmly. There was no need, nor was it necessary, to speak harshly to someone like the high priest.


    ¡°You mean that shorty?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Yes, he is very studious.¡±


    It was a very strange judgment. Gu Shenwei was somewhat regretful that he did note to rify earlier. It suddenly urred to him that during the few times when he spoke with the high priest, he had not mentioned Old Man Mu at all. Moreover, the high priest would never take the initiative to start a topic that was unrted to Kung Fu.


    ¡°What did you guys talk about?¡±


    ¡°He said, ¡®Old fellow, your Kung Fu must be quite good to be able to recognize that I am using the unique skill of Yuqing Sect,¡¯ and I said, ¡®Hey fellow, isn¡¯t it easy? It¡¯s all written in the books.¡¯ Then, he said¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei quickly corrected his mistake. If this went on, the high priest would recount every word that he had said at that time. Although he might seem odd, the high priest did possess a good memory. It was so good that he was able to repeat a book he had read decades ago word for word.


    ¡°Then he realized that you don¡¯t know Kung Fu.¡±


    ¡°How can I not know Kung Fu?¡± The high priest was never angry, but there was a slight surprise in his tone and facial expression. ¡°I know the best Kung Fu in this world and I even teach it to many disciples.¡±


    The high priest¡¯s meaning of ¡°knowing¡± was different from how normal people understood it. Gu Shenwei could only patiently wait for him to finish speaking before saying, ¡°Sorry, I misspoke. Old Man Mu realized that you are very good at Kung Fu, so he came to you for advice.¡±


    ¡°Yes, he didn¡¯t believe me at first, butter, he grew in admiration of me and even wanted to talk to me all night long.¡±


    ¡°Did he asked about the Five Hole Punch?¡± Gu Shenwei tried to be more specific in his questions.


    ¡°Yes, he said he wanted to test me, so he asked me if I knew how to master the Five Hole Punch by practicing until the highest level ¨C the Earth Punch which belonged to the spleen.¡±


    ¡°So you told him.¡±


    ¡°Of course, this is too easy for me,¡± The high priest revealed his repressed delight like a child. ¡°The Heart corresponds with Fire, and it begets the Spleen, which corresponds with Earth. When you reach the Heart Fire level of the Five Hole Punch, you need to maximize your full potential. However, the Spleen Earth level is the exact opposite. Earth is the highest virtue that tolerates all. Your Qi needs to be reserved, and your strength must be contained and not blow up¡­¡±


    When the high priest began his lengthy speech. Gu Shenwei knew that he was reciting the contents of the books again because he had read about the records of the Five Hole Punch among the pile of ancient books.


    Old Man Mu was clever throughout his life, yet he was fooled this time. He was actually impressed by the naive and pedantic high priest and had gone in retreat to practice the Five Hole Earth Punch ording to what he had said. Of course, the results were unsessful.


    Gu Shenwei started worrying for the high priest¡¯s life. It was indeed strange that Old Man Mu had not killed the high priest off despite entering the camp several times. ¡°Did he ask you about the Wayless Book?¡±


    ¡°Ah, Wayless Book. That¡¯s the highest secret manuscript of martial arts from the Reborn Fort of Xuandu Peak. No matter how you practice all the Kung Fu in the world, there is always an end to it. Like the Five Hole Punch, the highest level is the Spleen Earth level. However, the Wayless Book is neverending. There is nothing to the way, therefore it is endless, neverending, limitless and infinite¡­¡±


    The high priest was immersed in a fantasy of glory and pride and almost forgot to answer Dragon King¡¯s question. ¡°The shorty did ask about the Wayless Book. It¡¯s a pity that the Holy King felt that this set of unique art was too mystical and did not find it fitting to spread it to the world, so he destroyed it and didn¡¯t bring it to the Land of Fragrance. What a pity.¡±


    The high priest had always respected his distant ancestors. However, he held an entirely different view from the Holy King on this matter.


    The records about the predecessor of Golden Roc Fort on the ancient books were mostly a mixture of truth and falsehood. Gu Shenwei believed that even Zhang Ji, who was well informed, would not be able to distinguish the truth from it. But some things could still be judged ording to human nature. Of course, the Holy King would not destroy the divine kung fu. There must be some reason as to why he did not bring it out of the Stone Castle. Perhaps the Holy King himself had not evene to the Land of Fragrance, he could have been killed by the killers and his descendants who managed to escaped made up a series of stories about it.


    Gu Shenwei decided to end his spections here. He was not interested in the history of Stone Castle and it was gettingte. Old Man Mu would barge into the camp any time now. ¡°High Priest, please rest well. I wille back and consult you again in the future.¡±


    The high priest was somewhat reluctant as Dragon King took his leave. He finished what he wanted to say in his mind, then mumbled to himself, ¡°Dragon King is not as studious as that shorty.¡±


    With this information, Gu Shenwei believed that it was quite possible that Old Man Mu was really interested in the high priest. He only told Maid Lotus about it while the rest remained in ambush. Regardless of whether Old Man Mu¡¯s target was Shangguan Ru or the high priest, Gu Shenwei¡¯s n remained the same: Old Man Mu will die by the arrows.


    The military camp gradually quietened down. Because Old Man Mu woulde and kill every night, the soldiers outside the ambush circle were all on standby and ready to fight.


    Just after midnight, Old Man Mu appeared. But he did not show up in public, instead, he used another way to make it known that he had epted Dragon King¡¯s challenge.


    ¡°Dragon King, you little bastard. Even if I die, this old fellow here will never forget that you once stabbed me in the belly! Clean your belly, I will do the same and stab you as well!¡±


    Old Man Mu was using the Seven Magical Tones. It made many people agitated, and although they did not lose control, their hidden tracks were easily revealed. This was how Old Man Mu managed to discover the men in ambush.


    ¡°Good girl, I will return the remains of Dragon King to you after I am done with him. Haha, it may not be whole, but I guarantee he will still be alive.¡±


    Old Man Mu had already fully recovered his Kung Fu and no longer needed Shangguan Ru¡¯s help. He boldly spoke his mind and knew what could unnerve her the most.


    Shangguan Ru turned red all the way up to her ears. Thank goodness the night sky was able to mask her expression, and even thest trace of sympathy that she had for Old Man Mu disappeared.


    Gu Shenwei was not affected by his words. Old Man Mu had been shouting simr words for the past few days and these would not offend him.


    This was a life-and-death duel. As long as Gu Shenwei adhered to this principle, he would not entertain foolish thoughts. There were many ways to kill people. Moreover, in the eyes of killers, every means was legitimate and reasonable.


    Old Man Mu became more and more excited as he talked, and his words grew more gruesome as well. But he still did not enter the ambush circle. Even though Old Man Mu thought highly of himself, he was no fool.


    There were several asions where he would try to barge in a few steps and immediately retreat and disappear into the darkness without waiting for the soldiers lying in ambush to react.


    Gu Shenwei had all the time in the world. He knew that no matter how imperfect the process of killing was, people would quickly forget all of these afterward and only remember the glory of the winner and the pitifulness of the dead.


    Old Man Mu spent a long time hassling with them. After two hours, he finally ran out of words to say and stayed silent. Everybody was relieved.


    Less than half an hourter, Old Man Mu¡¯s voice rang again. This time, he no longer used the Seven Magical Tones, but the excitement in his tone was undeniable. ¡°Goodbye, Dragon King. I wille and find you again, good girl!¡±


    He did not kill anyone at all.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly realized that he had made a grave mistake.


    Someone had made a mistake far more grave than him, however. Old Man Mu¡¯sst words had exposed his position and a figure shot out like an arrow from ambush.


    Shangguan Ru could not stand Old Man Mu¡¯s verbal humiliation any longer, she had to vent her anger. There were other ways to punish the enemy other than killing.

 Chapter 390 - Unique Skill

    Chapter 390: Unique Skill


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    As Shangguan Ru followed Old Man Mu and disappeared into the night, several youths who were staying in the tents at the edge of the military camp cried out, ¡°The Blessed Child is being taken away! He¡¯s being taken away!¡±


    Old Man Mu dide to kidnap someone indeed. His target was neither the high priest nor Shangguan Ru, but the young disciple who had been apanying the high priest.


    ording to tradition, this disciple was referred as ¡°the Blessed Child¡±, and was the heir of the high priest. He would go on to be the ¡°12th sessor of the Reborn Fort of Xuandu Peak and the sixth High Priest of the Flower Soul Forest¡± in the future.


    He was only 11 or 12 years old and of noble birth. In order to be a high priest, he was trained to be as submissive as a ve and was usually quiet around others, as though he didn¡¯t exist. Other disciples were sent home but he insisted on staying by the high priest¡¯s side and continue to receive guidance from him.


    He wouldn¡¯t even be squeezing in the same tent as the other youths tonight if it weren¡¯t for the fact that the high priest had to act as a bait.


    At that moment, Gu Shenwei came to realize what Old Man Mu was plotting. He leaped out of the ambush spot, wanting to give chase, but stopped in his tracks. As the Dragon King, thousands of soldiers were waiting for hismand, he could not possibly take any chances.


    But Shangguan Ru was by no means Old Man Mu¡¯s opponent.


    Just as Gu Shenwei hesitated, another figure flew out of the military camp.


    It was Maid Lotus. Gu Shenwei was somewhat relieved.


    Gu Shenwei summoned the soldiers who were lying in ambush and quickly ordered the whole troop to be divided into four groups and take turns to be on duty. Even though Old Man Mu had escaped, that did not mean that the danger had been eliminated.


    Afterward, he immediately went to look for the high priest. There was surely some matters that he had not rified yet, and the way the people of the Land of Fragrance talked grated his nerves. The thing about them was that these people would answer what was asked, but they always said less than necessary.


    What was the secret that the high priest was unaware of but the Blessed Child knew about?


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s doubts were answered immediately. Contrary to what he had thought, it was a secret that both the master and disciple knew, and Old Man Mu only needed one of them.


    The high priest was dead.


    The medical high priest of the Land of Fragrance was in the camp and quickly came over to take a look. He concluded, ¡°He was poisoned. It was most likely added into his food and its effects kicked in around midnight.¡±


    Old Man Mu wanted to be the only one who knew about the secret, so he had killed the high priest who was in charge of Kung Fu and only kept the heir alive.


    But it was impossible for him to poison the food.


    The truth soon came to light. The high priest had eaten alone yesterday evening, and the people who cooked and delivered his meals were all investigated and questioned. All of their testimonies aligned and their suspicions pointed toward a noble soldier.


    Su Mohua was zealous in serving the high priest and had not aroused anyone¡¯s suspicion at that time. After pleading with the Dragon Kingst night, he went to the edge of the camp and reced a fellow soldier¡¯s ce for guard duty, waiting nervously for the ¡°Revered¡± to take him away.


    But Su Mohua was stumped after Old Man Mu disappeared. His mind was nk and he even lost the strength to escape, staying put until he was brought in front of Dragon King.


    It was not that Old Man Mu had forgotten about his loyal ve, nor was he punishing him, therefore, leaving him behind. He was merely using Su Mohua to make sure Dragon King knew what had happened and make his victory even more perfect.


    It was very simple. Both Su Mohua and his brother had pledged allegiance to Old Man Mu under his coercion and had different tasks to carry out.


    In fact, Old Man Mu was heavily invested in the mutiny organized by Su Mohua¡¯s brother and the nobles. The change of attitude from the ves was indeed something that he had not expected.


    On the other hand, Su Mohua was responsible for another n. He was tasked to secretly persuade the high priest and the Blessed Child to escape from the military camp and seek refuge with the ¡°studious Revered.¡±


    The high priest was someone who resigned himself to adversity. Be it Dragon King or Old Man Mu, to him, they were no different from the nobles of the Land of Fragrance. But the high priest lived by a principle ¨C he would never take the initiative to do anything, anybody coulde and take him away, but nobody could ask him to leave a ce by himself.


    The high priest was paralyzed and together with the Blessed Child, lived in a tent not far from Dragon King. Old Man Mu would not want to take the risk since it would be difficult to bring the two of them out of the camp.


    The trap that Gu Shenwei had set up had provided Old Man Mu some inspiration.


    And he had seeded. The Blessed Child was in his hands and the high priest had killed by poison. Moreover, he had also led Shangguan Ru out of the camp in the process. All his goals were achieved.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s hatred for Dragon King was not only because of that one stabbing. The truth was that being deceived by Dragon King was a grudge that he had long harbored, and he finally felt a little avenged this time.


    At dawn, Su Mohua along with the other nobles who were involved in the mutiny were beheaded in public.


    Gu Shenwei sat inside the high priest¡¯s tent, looking through the ancient books in hopes of finding any possible clues. But there was nothing. That secret must have been passed down by word of mouth instead of being recorded in books.


    Gu Shenwei felt incredulous that Old Man Mu had only spoken with the high priest on one asion and was able to make him divulge the important secret. So he summoned five noble soldiers who could speak Central ins Chinese along with the medical high priest for questioning.


    He felt that Old Man Mu probably learned about the secret from the nobles instead of the high priest.


    The impact of beheading in public had not yet disappeared. The six men knelt as soon as they entered the tent, swearing to Dragon King that they had not participated in the mutiny.


    Gu Shenwei listened for a while before asking them to provide a detailed introduction and information about the nine high priests of Flower Soul Forest.


    Nobody knew what was Dragon King¡¯s purpose in doing so, so they could only say what they knew and what they remembered. It pertained to all sorts of information and mostly irrelevant. In the end, it was the medical high priest who mentioned something of interest to Dragon King, ¡°I know a mantra that can bring back the dead, but I will only pass it on to my heir.¡±


    ¡°You can only pass it on to your heir?¡± Gu Shenwei was not interested in the mantra, but he was fixed on the mention of the heir.


    ¡°You are the master, you can listen to it as well, Dragon King.¡± The high priest quickly added, then he said, ¡°But it¡¯s not effective every time¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei cut him off and said, ¡°Does that mean that every high priest will have a unique skill of their own and they will only pass it on to their heirs?¡±


    Only the high priest and his heir knew the antidote to the Indra fragrance, therefore Gu Shenwei wanted to rify this.


    All five noblemen and the high priest nodded their heads. To them, it wasmon sense and they never thought that there was a need to highlight this information.


    ¡°What was the unique skill of the high priest in charge of Kung Fu?¡±


    They all looked at one another, unaware of the answer. A nobleman reacted quickly and said, ¡°Someone might know, let me call him over.¡±


    The nine high priests corresponded to different tribes, and people who were not of the same tribe knew very little about the unique skills of other high priests.


    The insider quickly arrived. He was from the tribe of the Kung Fu high priest. Everybody started asking questions in theirnguage, and he was very frightened. It took him a while to realize that he was not in trouble.


    ¡°The unique skill of the Kung Fu high priest was also a set of mantras, but it was very long. It was said that those who master the mantra would be invincible in the world.¡± The medical high priest tranted what the insider said to Dragon King.


    The unique skill was said to be passed down only to their heirs, but some of it might be circted among people. The insider happened to remember some words of the mantra.


    Just these few words were enough for Gu Shenwei to know what the unique skill of the high priest was. At the same time, he regretted that he had missed out on such an important secret.


    Although that few sentences were poorly tranted, it was definitely instructions for Internal Strength and was in line with the contents in the Wayless Book.


    What was even more surprising for him was that these few words were certainly not within the scope of the seven chapters of Wayless Book that he had been practicing.


    But the Kung Fu high priest had once mentioned that the Holy King had destroyed the divine kung fu and he did not look like he was lying that time.


    The insider only remembered a few words, and only the Blessed Child would retain all the information now. But he was now in Old Man Mu¡¯s hands.


    Gu Shenwei finally realized how big a mistake he had made.


    Both Maid Lotus and Shangguan Ru still had not returned by noon, and the soldiers who were sent out to check on them also did not manage to find any traces of them.


    Gu Shenwei summoned several leaders from the army and ordered Long Xiaoshi, the chief of Danduo Peak and Tuo Nengya, the old macheteman to lead the troops and start moving. He would remain behind to search for Old Man Mu.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s threats to kill the remaining 999 soldiers were just a ruse aimed to disrupt the morale of the army. Gu Shenwei believed that he was in hiding now, interrogating the Blessed Child for the full incantation.


    Old Man Mu was still not much of a trouble for now, but he would be an even bigger threat if he managed to learn the Wayless Qigong.


    Everybody could not understand the severity of this incident, so they found the Dragon King¡¯s decision uneptable. Some even suspected that Dragon King only wanted to save his beloved women, and they unconsciouslymented over it.


    In their eyes, they could have as many women as they want, but it was not worth taking any risk for any of them.


    It was very hard for Gu Shenwei to exin the whole situation, so he simply did not exin and said, ¡°Three days, then I will catch up with the army.¡±


    No one dared to question Dragon King. The leaders epted his orders and left.


    Before the army marched out, Gu Shenwei rode a horse and went out of the camp by himself. He soon found markings left behind by Maid Lotus nearby.


    Maid Lotus took a branch from a shrub and rolled it into a ball, and the remaining branch was pointed in the direction that she went in. Not many people could notice this marking, except for Gu Shenwei, who was familiar with her style.


    It seemed as though Old Man Mu was trying to shake Maid Lotus and Shangguan Ru off his tail, as he went around in circles before finally entering the capital of the Land of Fragrance.


    Only the elderly, women and children, and a small number of ve soldiers remained in the city, and they posed no threat to Old Man Mu at all.


    It was getting darker now, so Gu Shenwei left his horse outside the city and quietly entered without informing the garrison nearby.


    Gu Shenwei was able to guess Old Man Mu¡¯s direction even without Maid Lotus¡¯ markings.


    It was probably the only ce out of the whole the Land of Fragrance that was to Old Man Mu¡¯s liking.


    There were 10 Flower Soul Forests in total. Nine of them were located outside the capital and had been burnt to the ground. Only the one in the pce was spared, and it was the only one that was empty as no high priest lived there.


    The Flower Soul Forest was a maze made up of nts. The branches on the nts were regrly coated with Indra fragrance to prevent intruders from destroying the forest in an attempt to find their way out.


    But the Land of Fragrance had already subjugated. Nobody hade to care for the flora and fauna for the past month, and the effect of the drug had worn off. Both Maid Lotus and Gu Shenwei were not afraid of the Indra fragrance as they kept the antidote for it.


    Maid Lotus had hastily broken off the flower branch and left an obvious marking.


    Old Man Mu no longer going around in circles and went deeper into the Flower Soul Forest.


    There were no more markings left by Maid Lotus. Nobody was in sight and there was no sign of any fighting. The three of them seemed to have disappeared into the air.


    Gu Shenwei believed that this was the end of the path, so he breathed deeply and challenged Old Man Mu. ¡°Old Man Mu you rat! Come and see me!¡±


    The surroundings were silent as his voice lingered in the air. After a while, Old Man Mu¡¯s eerieughter could be heard nearby.

 Chapter 391 - Exchanging Skills

    Chapter 391: Exchanging Skills


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Old Man Mu emerged from behind the shrubs. He had grown and in the dark night, looked more like a moving bamboo pole.


    After looking at the figure for a while, Gu Shenwei realized that Old Man Mu was standing on the Blessed Child¡¯s shoulders, his legs mped around the youth¡¯s head.


    Old Man Mu did not weigh much and even youths would be able to handle his weight. However, the Blessed Child was visibly frightened and tried hard to keep his body from trembling, asionally letting out a sob. With his arms at his sides, he dared not move a single muscle.


    It was as though he was being possessed by a demon.


    Old Man Mu was very pleased. He opened his arms as though he had wings, looking like a proud master showing off his residence to visitors, ¡°Wee, Dragon King! Everybody is here except for you!¡±


    There was no sign of Shangguan Ru or Maid Lotus.


    Although they were still a distance from each other, Gu Shenwei angled his body slightly forward as if readying himself to face an enemy while slowly drawing out the Dragon Head Sword. Slowly, he said, ¡°You should know that you will be defeated. I still thought you would hide further away from me.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, I know Dragon King would not be provoked so easily. Actually, I am like that as well. All I want is to do as I pleases, instead of being led by the nose. Nobody can crder or trick me into doing things.¡±


    Old Man Mu spoke in the tone of a King issuing amand. Gu Shenwei snorted softly and said, ¡°To do as one pleases, how nice indeed. But I heard that you are scared to death of Supreme King? Trembling and quivering whenever you see him; you even volunteered to be a pawn for him!¡±


    ¡°Nonsense.¡± Old Man Mu, who was ¡°not easily provoked¡± reprimanded, ¡°It was Wildhorse who epted Supreme King¡¯s orders, not me. I was merely just fooling around and killed a few experts along the way.¡±


    ¡°I see. So you never really humbled yourself in front of Supreme King¡¯s daughter and begged for mercy, or worked for her like a simply pack horse? Are these nonsense as well?¡±


    A trace of anger shed past Old Man Mu¡¯s face, but he quicklyposed himself and continued smiling, ¡°So what if it¡¯s true? A great man knows when to yield and when not to, I imagine Dragon King should be well aware of this? You used to be that good girl¡¯s ve in the past, right?¡±


    They could continue throwing insults for a long time, and neither of them was willing to take a step closer to each other. It was as if there was a sinister undercurrent between them and taking a step forward would put their lives at risk.


    ¡°Takes one to know one. Well, let¡¯s go straight to the point, Old Man Mu.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to wait for the girls toe before I say my piece?¡± Old Man Mu was not in a rush. He felt very safe and even that he had gained the upper hand.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter whether theye out or not.¡± Gu Shenwei calmly, as if they were entirely irrelevant to him.


    ¡°Hey, you think I don¡¯t know?¡± The three of you outnumber me and have already nned it all out. The two of them don¡¯t have the guts so they are hiding nearby, waiting for you. And now, you have finally arrived.¡± Old Man Mu raised his voice and said, ¡°Good girl, evil girl, hurrye out and fight for your man!¡±


    Ten steps away from Gu Shenwei, flower shrubs rustled slightly. Shangguan Ru appeared first followed by Maid Lotus, who emerged another ten steps away.


    The three of them formed a semi-circle, facing Old Man Mu.


    Maid Lotus was expressionless. Shangguan Ru, unlike the other two, was unable to keep a poker face. Old Man Mu was always trying to grate on her nerves, making her anger harder and harder to contain.


    ¡°Alright, everybody is gathered here now.¡± As Old Man Mu pped his hands together, the Blessed Child underneath him swayed slightly. Old Man Mu still managed to stand firmly, but he used his legs to grip the youth¡¯s head tightly and scolded, ¡°You idiot! You¡¯d better stand up straight or else I will eat you alive! Look at you, all soft and tender, you will definitely taste better than beef or mutton!¡±


    The Blessed Child struggled to stop himself from trembling, but could not stop his tears from falling.


    ¡°Why did you frighten him? He¡¯s just a child.¡± Shangguan Ru questioned angrily.


    Old Man Mu was very pleased despite being criticized, and he ced his left leg on top of the Blessed Child¡¯s head, putting his hand on his knee, he said, ¡°It¡¯s much more interesting to torture innocent kids like him! All his emotions are shown naturally, it¡¯s refreshing to watch. Once they grow up, they learn to pretend and hide their emotions, no matter how unwilling they are on the inside, they still pretend to be respectful and polite on the surface. Then there¡¯s no point, isn¡¯t it? Just look at Dragon King for example. He used to be so obedient to you when he was still ve Huan, but now he is so good at putting on airs, don¡¯t you find it boring?¡±


    Old Man Mu had an entire set of corrupted theories in his heart and he could continue talking til dawn if nobody stopped him.


    Gu Shenwei took a half step forward and Old Man Mu immediately silenced, looking at him with interest.


    ¡°Do you want to take revenge for that stab? I¡¯m right here waiting for you.¡± Gu Shenwei gently shook the Dragon Head Sword, challenging him with contempt.


    ¡°Have all of you seen the cripple¡¯s books yet?¡± Old Man Mu did not ept the challenge but answered his own question instead, ¡°Of course, or else would you dare toe and look for me? s, had I known earlier that the cripple was useless, I would have just killed him right away.¡±


    Among the high priest¡¯s numerous books, there was one which was devoted to the Kung Fu of Yuqing Sect. It was full of praises for the Five Hole Punch, while also pointing out several possible ws.


    Maid Lotus had read through the contents but she did not think it would be helpful at that time. However, while she was in her semia, she had been in a state of tenseness, ready to fight, and Old Man Mu was one among her pretend enemies. The description of Five Hole Punch in the book had alway dangled in front of her, just out of reach, until she finally realized the problem.


    ¡°Straightforward and to the point, the punch will injure all five organs.¡± This was the author¡¯s praise given to the unique skill of Yuqing Sect. Maid Lotus had not thought much of it at first, butter on, she found out that thisment waspletely contrary to Old Man Mu¡¯s style.


    Like a killer, Old Man Mu had always killed secretly in ambush or in sneak attacks. Even when the opponent¡¯s Kung Fu was far weaker than him, he would never attack in the open. This did not seem like the ¡°straightforward and to the point¡± punch style that was mentioned.


    ording to the book¡¯s records and the high priest¡¯s words, Yuqing Sect was an orthodox sect in the Central in. Their Kung Fu originated from Taoism and focused on tranquility and passiveness. It was totally different from Old Man Mu¡¯s bloodthirstiness and his habit of removing his victim¡¯s heart.


    Maid Lotus had abided by her sect¡¯s warning and had never practiced the Seven Rotation Skill before, but she had seen the contents regarding it in the manual and could remember the general gist of it. After waking up, she finally understood something ¨C Old Man Mu had gone overboard in his practice of the evil arts, not only did his tall, built figure shrunken into a small, short body, his Kung Fu had also fundamentally changed.


    The in and unpretentious Five Hole Punch had turned into a ruthless unique killing skill in his hands. Yet, it was also because of this that he was unable to reach the highest level of Earth Punch, and he could not block the biggest w in this set of fist techniques no matter how hard he tried.


    The Five Hole Punch cannot be used continuously.


    Both Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus was able to rte because the same problem was also in the Death Scripture swordcraft. The two of them had used different methods to solve the issue. Gu Shenwei would use his saber most of the time and would only use a sword at crucial moments, while Maid Lotus incorporated a set of swordcraft from New Moon Hall into it. It might look like the same swordcraft, but waspletely different internally.


    Both the Death Scripture and Five Hole Punch would require the practitioner to use all of their might to strike a deadly blow to their enemy. It was no wonder that there would be simr loopholes.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s way of dealing with it was to only kill one person at a time, and he would move swiftly so as to not let the opponents have a chance to outnumber him in the battle.


    Maid Lotus and Shangguan Ru were waiting for Dragon King. It would be possible to subdue Old Man Mu if the three of them attacked at the same time.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s regret for not killing the high priest earlier seemed to prove that Maid Lotus¡¯ spection was correct.


    ¡°It must be hard to do as one pleases.¡± Gu Shenwei merely took half a step forward, not willing to go any further. Now that this area was Old Man Mu¡¯s territory, he would have set up traps instead of attacking them honestly. Gu Shenwei tried to look for clues but was unable to notice anything unusual.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s hard.¡± Old Man Mu deliberately ignored the sarcasm in Dragon King¡¯s words. ¡°Freedom is gained by taking from others. How can one do as one pleases unless he possess Kung Fu of the highest level? All this while, this old fellow¡¯s life here, is very close to realizing it, but it¡¯s alwayscking a little something.¡±


    Old Man Mu gestured ¡°a little¡± using his thumb and forefinger, not caring whether they were able to make out his gesture in the dark at night. ¡°Wayless Qigong, Wayless Qigong. It¡¯s because of this that this old man here cannot truly do what he wants.¡±


    Finally, Old Man Mu revealed his true intention. Gu Shenwei was relieved. Just as he had expected, the manual that the high priest and the Blessed Child had memorized as a unique skill was only part of the Wayless Qigong. Moreover, the first chapter was definitely missing, which exined why they were unable to practice it for over hundreds of years.


    Old Man Mu had not gotten rid of Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus, nor had he killed them. Instead, he had waited for Dragon King to arrive so that he could negotiate.


    ¡°So, you see. I have a proposal.¡± Old Man Mu ced his left foot back on the Blessed Child¡¯s shoulder, away from his head. Speaking like one of the peddlers in South City, his voice was full of enthusiasm, ¡°The eighth chapter of the Wayless Qigong is right under my feet. But the previous seven chapters are memorized in your heads. Let¡¯s cooperate and fulfill each other¡¯s wishes, how about that?¡±


    Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus did not say anything. Before Dragon King arrived, Old Man Mu had already expressed the same intention. The two of them had not wanted to expose themselves at that time so they had kept quiet. Now that Dragon King was here, they would go along with his decision.


    Gu Shenwei took a step back. The grip on his sword loosened, and he let out a sneer.


    ¡°Young man, don¡¯t reject my offer so quickly..¡± Old Man Mu still believed that he had the upper hand, so he continued, ¡°Think about it carefully, sooner orter you will need to face Supreme King if you want topete with Golden Roc Fort. You still have a long way to go. You might not be his opponent even if you master the Dajue Book of Swordcraft. But with Chapter Eight, you can oust him!¡±


    Of course, Gu Shenwei would want Chapter Eight, but he did not want to cooperate with Old Man Mu. Once he gathered all eight chapters of the Wayless Qigong, this double-crossing devil would definitely attack the three of them.


    ¡°Hegemony of the Western Region depends on strategy and military strength. You are too childish, Old Man Mu.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m childish? Stop trying to y hard to get, you think this old fellow here can¡¯t see through it?¡± Old Man Mu raised his head and looked around, ¡°Let¡¯s be direct here, shall we? The three of you can work together with me; all four of us will benefit from it. But I won¡¯t force you either, I won¡¯t reject if any of you wants to work with me alone. And I will definitely help if you want to get rid of the other two as well.¡±


    Old Man Mu was openly sowing discord and did not expect this n to work. He only wanted to express how determined he was. He never thought that someone would really agree to it.


    ¡°What if one person wants to get rid of the other three? Will you help as well?¡±


    Shangguan Fei walked out from the flower shrubs behind Old Man Mu, vigntly keeping a distance from Dragon King and the other two. Although his expression was shadowed in the dark night, his voice was undeniably full of excitement.

 Chapter 392 - Choosing A Victim

    Chapter 392: Choosing A Victim


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The fourth person who secretly learned Wayless Qigong from Golden Roc Fort appeared as well. Everyone in the Flower Soul Forest, especially Old Man Mu, was surprised.


    He turned and looked at Shangguan Fei, ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you the weak and ipetent son of Supreme King? Did you learn the divine kung fu as well?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Just like the three of them, I am qualified to make a deal with you as well.¡± Shangguan Fei¡¯s eyes flickered around as he said that. He was usually afraid of the dark, but right now he was thankful for the cover of darkness. ¡°And I am willing to deal with you alone.¡±


    Old Man Mu had the perfect n intended for Dragon King and the other two so he was very displeased at the sudden appearance of Shangguan Fei. He said, ¡°You mentioned that you know Wayless Qigong. Prove it.¡±


    Shangguan Fei had practiced Wayless Qigong for about three years now but never dared to show his skills to anyone. Even at this moment, he did not have the courage to disy his Kung Fu in front of Dragon King. ¡°Uh-¡±


    Just as he hesitated, Shangguan Ru called out, ¡°Are you crazy, brother? Once Old Man Mu gets his hands on Wayless Book, he will kill you.¡±


    ¡°No, not at all.¡± Old Man Mu said with a smile. He squeezed his legs, forcing the Blessed Child under him to turn around so that he could face everybody. ¡°For someone who betrayed their close ones and friends, this fellow suits me so well! Maybe I will even ept you as a disciple if I¡¯m in the mood.¡±


    ¡°I would be more than honored if I have such an opportunity.¡± Shangguan Fei bowed to Old Man Mu with his hands wrapped in a fist. Then he straightened himself and told Shangguan Ru, who was away from him, ¡°Sister, I am not the one who is crazy. But you should really think it through and stop being so silly. Our father and Dragon King, they want to kill us both. If Dragon King wins, he will want to seek revenge. If our father wins, he will still regard us as his humiliation and get rid of us. We have no other choice but to save ourselves. Come over to my side, Senior Mu won¡¯t kill you.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Shangguan Ru refused tly. ¡°Old Man Mu is a murderous devil. I¡¯d rather die than work with him. And his words cannot be trusted, don¡¯t believe him.¡±


    Shangguan Fei shook his head. He had been walking on a tightrope all this while, and even at the end of the tightrope was still an abyss. Old Man Mu was not someone trustworthy, but he was willing to take a risk and switch to another tightrope. ¡°Senior Mu, actually I have been helping you all along. I was the one who secretly cut the rope for you.¡±


    Maid Lotus nced quickly at Dragon King. Everybody except for Gu Shenwei at that time had suspected that Shangguan Ru was the one who helped Old Man Mu escaped, but he had already guessed that it was Shangguan Fei who cut the rope.


    Old Man Mu curled his lip with disapproval. ¡°You are very bold indeed. Did Supreme King misjudge you? Do you need me to help you plead for leniency? Supreme King still gives me some face, you know?¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s eyes lit up for a moment before darkening again. He was no longer a child and was well aware that Old Man Mu was just humoring him. Moreover, his father would never give face to others. ¡°I appreciate your good intentions, Senior. I only want to exchange the Wayless Qigong with you. As for reconciliation with my father, it¡¯s better if I handle it myself.¡±


    ¡°Gee, what a good child. If everybody is as reasonable as you, this old man here won¡¯t have to spend so much time plotting schemes or conspiracies. s, why can¡¯t the world be simpler?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was not going to stand here and listen to the two of them exchange hypocritical banter, so he said, ¡°Old Man Mu, now that you have already found a partner to deal with, do you dare toe out and duel with me?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we are not in a hurry.¡± Old Man Mu said readily, ¡°It is indeed quite tricky for me to handle the three of you. Don¡¯t worry, I wille up with something, it won¡¯t take much time. Well, Shangguan Fei, show me the Wayless Qigong, let me see if you have really learned it.¡±


    Wayless Qigong was a set of Internal Strength, and it was hard to disy it without theplement of high-level Kung Fu. Both Dragon King and Maid Lotus were able to make full use of the potential of the divine kung fu as they had learned the Death Scripture swordcraft. However, it was somewhat difficult for Shangguan Ru. Instead of the Kung Fu learned from Golden Roc Fort, it was actually the Seven Circles seven apertures Heart Stopping Finger that she learned from Old Man Mu that enabled her to make good use of the potential of the Wayless Qigong. Compared to them, Shangguan Fei fared the worst.


    Shangguan Fei thought it over, then he smiled and said, ¡°The sky is so dark right now. It will be hard to gauge whether or not my Internal Strength is real. Let me recite a paragraph of the manual. You¡¯ve traveled around and are well-informed. I¡¯m certain you are able to distinguish between real and fake.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Nobody can try to fool me with fake manuals. There is always something inmon among the Kung Fu in the world. This old fellow here will be able to tell whether it¡¯s good or bad, highly-skilled or not. Recite then, boy.¡±


    Shangguan Fei scanned the three of them and decided that as long as someone started acting suspicious, he would immediately cry for help. Then, he recited a section of words from the Wayless Book. It was not very long, about a hundred words or so.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s face turned red. Both Maid Lotus and Gu Shenwei exchanged an undecipherable look.


    The words that Shangguan Fei had uttered was thest two sections of Chapter Seven, it was urate and not single word was incorrect.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s wrinkled brows furrowed as he concentrated on memorizing it, and he repeated it again in a low voice once Shangguan Fei finished reciting. For someone his age, he actually managed to memorize everything perfectly.


    Both Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus looked at Dragon King. This was a good opportunity to attack Old Man Mu.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head slowly. There must be a reason for Old Man Mu to choose this ce to meet with them. They would only fall into his trap if they acted too rashly.


    Old Man Mu pondered about the meaning of the words uttered by Shangguan Fei. Slightly anxious, Shangguan Fei smiled and said, ¡°Senior, this is part of Chapter Seven of the Wayless Qigong. It is connected to Chapter Eight and it is really urate.¡±


    The chapters of the Wayless Qigong was directly connected and one would need to possess the previous chapter in order to learn the next chapter. This was why the sessor of the Holy King of the Reborn Fort was unable to learn the Kung Fu even after hundreds of years. Both Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had realized quickly that the scripture was iplete at first.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± Old Man Mu seemed to believe him, smiling happily.


    Suddenly, like a fallen leaf picked up by the strong wind, Old Man Mu got up from the Blessed Child¡¯s shoulders and made a few turns before appearing at Shangguan Fei¡¯s side within moments. Like a young eagle catching a grownrge sheep, he grabbed him by the neck from behind and quickly returned to his original position, setting his prey down by his side.


    This was yet another good opportunity to make a move, but Gu Shenwei was still unmoved. He was determined to wait for Old Man Mu to strike first.


    Shangguan Fei grew pale and was too frantic to disy the Wayless Qigong that he had learned. He shrank involuntarily and said, ¡°Senior, you¡­¡±


    ¡°Idiot, I¡¯m protecting you. We are now in the same boat, I can¡¯t possibly let the others get to you, can I?¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Senior¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei wanted to say a few more words of gratitude, but Old Man Mu waved his hand impatiently, ¡°Save it, keep all the bootlicking forter. Only say it when I want to hear it.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Shangguan Fei bowed deeply. He even dared to raise his head and look straight at Dragon King and his sister. ¡°Don¡¯t me me. I am the most innocent out of all of us. All of you have ambitions, but I have none. Yet I always get dragged in because of others.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not speak. He knew all along that Shangguan Fei harbored evil designs, but he never would have imagined that of all people, he would actually pledge allegiance to Old Man Mu. Shangguan Ru was right, once Old Man Mu gathered all eight chapters of Wayless Book, the first thing he would do would be to kill off all possiblepetitors.


    ¡°There are three people in front of you, who do you want to kill first?¡± Old Man Mu asked exuberantly.


    ¡°Uh-¡± Shangguan Fei lowered his head as if embarrassed to look at them, then he said a name that surprised everybody. ¡°Maid Lotus.¡±


    Even Old Man Mu was puzzled, ¡°Maid Lotus? I would have thought it would be Dragon King, or maybe your sister if you are more heartless. What grudge do you have with Maid Lotus? Did you two have a fling and she dumped you?¡±


    Shangguan Fei disliked such talk even more than Maid Lotus, so he exined, ¡°No, I just cannot ept it. She was originally a ve in the Stone Castle, and only became a killer because she was good at currying favor and gained the trust of her master. But she stole the Wayless Qigong and pledged allegiance to New Moon Hall, the nemesis of Stone Castle! This is even more infuriating than Dragon King¡¯s betrayal.¡±


    Before this, back in the desert, when Old Man Mu uncovered Maid Lotus¡¯ real identity, the twins immediately understood what had happened that year. Because of this, Shangguan Ru became much quieter. Although Shangguan Fei pretended like he did not care, in his heart, he saw her as an unforgivable traitor.


    Deep down, Shangguan Fei still regarded himself as the Ninth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort.


    The three people in the semicircle stood at ready. Old Man Mu rubbed his hands together andughed dryly, ¡°That¡¯s right. You reminded me- the evil woman is a disciple of New Moon Hall, she¡¯s my enemy! She must be Han Wuxian¡¯s favorite disciple if she is able to learn the ¡°Manual of Seven Secret Techniques¡± at such a young age ¨C I like her too, hehe, I really like her a lot¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu struck before he even finished his words. He moved forward in a strange pattern, jumping from the Blessed Child¡¯s shoulders to the ground seven steps away. Then, like a bouncing ball, he jumped toward the right and faced a tall flower tree. His toes tapped lightly on the tree branch as he leaped toward another flower tree.


    Like a lightning bolt out of control, he bounced around the Blessed Child and Shangguan Fei. At first, there was still a faint shadow visible, soon, only whooshing sound of wind could be heard and he was hardly seen.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s trick did notst long; just when everybody was puzzled, heunched a sharp attack.


    His target was not Maid Lotus in the center, but Shangguan Ru who was about ten steps away on her left. Gu Shenwei was unable to help since he was standing on the other side of Maid Lotus.


    ¡°A-¡°, Shangguan Fei could only utter half a shout before Old Man Mu returned to the Blessed Child¡¯s shoulders again, ¡°What a close shave! Dragon King, you are really something! The two girls teamed up with you so well!¡±


    Old Man Mu had not seeded in his attempt.


    Maid Lotus seemed to have realized Old Man Mu¡¯s real target, so she drew her sword the same time when he started attacking. She stabbed at the direction where he would definitely pass by- But she was slightly slower than Old Man Mu.


    Using Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills, Shangguan Ru shifted suddenly and was almost as fast as Old Man Mu. Although she was still far from mastering the skill, it was more than enough for her to avoid a fatal attack.


    Old Man Mu could only retreat, but he was attacked by Dragon King in the midst of doing so ¡ª Gu Shenwei did not rescue the other two, instead, he leapt toward Old Man Mu just as he was retreating, hoping to intercept and kill the enemy.


    The three of them had actually discussed this n beforehand, it would be the same regardless of who Old Man Mu attacked first.


    But Old Man Mu¡¯s swiftness was still beyond imagination. He had suffered in the hands of the Dragon King, so he was extremely vignt. He would rather stop ahead of time than to take a risk, therefore, Gu Shenwei did not manage to strike a blow to him.


    The three of them returned to their original positions, and silentlymented their fail attempts.


    It was the first time that Shangguan Fei experienced Old Man Mu¡¯s empty promise but he did not dare toin. He coughed before saying, ¡°Senior ¨C¡°, and was harshly cut off by Old Man Mu. ¡°Shut up! Didn¡¯t you see me trying to gain momentum here? Your disruption caused me to lose my concentration!¡±


    Old Man Mu seemed to be venting his anger on him, and Shangguan Fei was frightened. He dared not speak again, his face flushed.


    But Old Man Mu gave aposed smile once again and said, ¡°My good grandchild- Look at me, I am more than enough to be your grandfather, right? Don¡¯t be afraid, I am not treating you like an outsider. What did you want to say? Say it.¡±


    Shangguan Fei would not dare to deny this ¡°grandfather¡±, so he swallowed his saliva and braced himself before saying, ¡°Senior¡­ grandfather, I have already proved to you that I know the first seven chapters of the Wayless Qigong, but you¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu raised his left leg and stepped on the Blessed Child¡¯s head again, then he said, ¡°My good grandson doesn¡¯t believe in grandfather? Oh well, this is a business, of course, our goods have to be genuine.¡± Then he stepped a little harder and said, ¡°Come, child, recite two paragraphs of Chapter Eight. 50 words, anything more or less, and I¡­ will eat your little arm first.¡±


    The Blessed Child was so scared that his teeth were chattering, however, everybody else was concentrating and listening attentively. They still had not confirmed if the descendant of the Holy King had really memorized Chapter Eightpletely.

 Chapter 393 - Becoming a Disciple

    Chapter 393: Bing a Disciple


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The Blessed Child had never received this much attention before and was afraid of everyone surrounding him. He was fearful and disgusted at Old Man Mu, who was standing on his shoulders. As for the Dragon King and his party, including Shangguan Ru, who had pleaded for leniency on his behalf, they were bloodthirsty and evil people from another world in his eyes.


    ¡°I, I¡­¡±


    ¡°You what? I want you to recite the eighth chapter of Wayless Qigong, is there ¡®I¡¯ in the passage?¡± asked Old Man Mu as he lifted his feet and stamped on the child¡¯s shoulder, showing no mercy even to a child of about 12 years of age.


    The Blessed Child could not bear the pain and shouted. Shangguan Ru took a step forward before managing to control her impulse with considerable effort, her hatred for Old Man Mu growing even deeper now.


    ¡°The, the path of emptiness¡­¡± recited the Blessed Child. He was not too proficient in Central ins Chinese but he had memorized the chapter by heart, and once he started speaking, the words kept tumbling out of his mouth. As he spoke, the anxiety in his heart diminished a little.


    The child managed to remember the word limit of 50 words and stopped in time. He was worried as he did not know if these bloodthirsty demons were satisfied or not.


    Upon Old Man Mu¡¯s kidnapping of the Blessed Child, Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus remained in close pursuit and they hid in close proximity to the kidnapper and his hostage after they had entered the Flower Soul Forest. As such, Old Man Mu had not got anything of substance from the child, but as the two women listened, they felt that the few words from the hostage seemed to link up well with what Shangguan Fei recited.


    ¡°How about that? Good grandchild, this is the supreme technique from your family, isn¡¯t it? If the Supreme King shoulde to know that the eighth chapter would be hidden in such a remote corner of the world, he would be extremely furious, haha.¡±


    Shangguan Ru gave a vague reply. She felt that the words were very simr to that of her brother¡¯s, but she could not be entirely sure. She looked intently at the Dragon King, waiting for him to make his judgment.


    Gu Shenwei lowered his head in thought before sheathing his Dragon Head Sword. ¡°Let¡¯s go, there¡¯s no need for us to be wasting time here. Let¡¯s leave the old man and his ¡®grandchild¡¯ to their business.¡±


    The two women did not understand the Dragon King¡¯s intentions but went along with him. They sheathed their weapons as well, preparing to retreat.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s face grew extremely pale and Old Man Mu¡¯s expression changed as well before he beganughing loudly. ¡°Dragon King, do you think you can fool me with your little trick? Do you dare im that this is not the eighth chapter?¡± he asked.


    Gu Shenwei had already taken a few steps away before he turned back and replied coldly, ¡°This is the eighth chapter, but the wrong one.¡±


    Old Man Mu lowered his head to look at the Blessed Child. He then pointed at the Dragon King andughed. ¡°Look at you, as if you were speaking the truth. I was nearly fooled by you. There are four people who have practiced Wayless Qigong before, what makes you so special that you can tell the difference just by hearing a few words? Shangguan Fei, speak, is this true or false?¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s entire body was trembling as he stammered, ¡°It should, should be true.¡± He felt that he liked being called ¡°good grandchild¡± better.


    Old Man Mu was looking conceitedly at the Dragon King before he heard Shangguan Fei add-on, ¡°But it could probably be fake as well.¡±


    Old Man Mu lifted one leg up and swept it across the face of Shangguan Fei, barely missing it and thereby ensuring that his ¡®business partner¡¯ would continue to live. ¡°Young fool, you dare to make sport of me? This is the supreme technique of your own family, is it so difficult to tell whether it is real?¡±


    Shangguan Fei was ashen-faced and stuttered like the Blessed Child, ¡°I, I¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei spoke up, rescuing Shangguan Fei, who was having difficulty expressing himself, in the nick of time. ¡°Coincidentally, I practiced fake Wayless Qigong before and therefore am better suited to tell the real version from the fake one. This child has memorized it pretty well, but there are too many errors in his version. From the dozens of words he said, I can spot at least six mistakes. I believe that it has been passed on from generations to generations over the past century and the previous Chief Priests, not understanding the true meaning of the texts, could¡¯ve made their own amendments or reductions to it. As such, the errors must have umted over the years.¡±


    Gu Shenwei spread his palms open, signifying that the eighth chapter memorized by the Blessed Child was already meaningless. He then wanted to leave again.


    Maid Lotus was the one who had caused Gu Shenwei to practice the wrong version of Wayless Qigong and nearly die from the resulting Qigong Deviation, but she remained expressionless. Shangguan Ru was a little surprised and quickly threw Maid Lotus a nce.


    ¡°Wait a moment,¡± said Old Man Mu, growing anxious. He lifted a leg up before continuing, ¡°Since you¡¯ve said that this child¡¯s version is entirely wrong, what¡¯s the point of keeping him? I¡¯ll kill him.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not even bother turning his head back and continued walking out of the woods. Maid Lotus followed closely behind him, but Shangguan Ru was hesitant. She knew that the Dragon King was most likely ying a trick on Old Man Mu, but she also knew that he was ruthless ¨C it was not impossible for him to sacrifice the young Blessed Child.


    Shangguan Ru quickened her pace and caught up with the Dragon King. ¡°The child might be of use¡­¡± she said extremely softly.


    Gu Shenwei acted as if he had not heard her and continued walking forward. Old Man Mu¡¯s eyesight was good and could make out Shangguan Ru muttering in the dark. ¡°Nice girl, what sweet mutterings are you saying to the Dragon King? Are you telling him that he¡¯s only slightly less good-looking than me, or that the child is reciting the real eighth chapter?¡±


    Gu Shenwei increased his pace, and Shangguan Ru did not hesitate any longer. The three of them soon disappeared into the night.


    Old Man Mu stood with his mouth agape and eyes blinking as he looked far away at the receding figures of the three intruders. A part of himself thought that his n had failed, anther part assumed that the other party was up to something while the rest part of himself was shrouded in doubt.


    Shangguan Fei, who was standing beside him, began feeling awkward all of a sudden and started shifting carefully backward.


    Old Man Mu turned his head violently to face him, addressing him in a voice so sweet that it was nauseous, ¡°Let¡¯s talk, Ninth Young Master.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Shangguan Fei, his legs so wobbly that he nearly sat down on the ground. ¡°What does Mu, senior Mu want to talk about?¡±


    ¡°Now that my eighth chapter is gone, can you recite the other seven chapters to me?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°Of course what?¡±


    ¡°Of course I can recite them to you, it¡¯s the honor of our Shangguan Family that you¡¯re taking an interest in our secret techniques, senior. But, to be honest, Wayless Qigong is never passed on to an outsider. Er, that is if we exclude the Dragon King and Maid Lotus. They sneaked the texts away. So¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei was beating around the bush. Old Man Mu knew what he was getting at and interrupted his rambling speech, ¡°You feel that I don¡¯t have anything to exchange for your Wayless Qigong now, don¡¯t you, Ninth Young Master?¡±


    ¡°No, no, your skills are otherworldly, senior. In fact, you don¡¯t even need to learn the divine kung fu of our family.¡±


    ¡°What I need is my business, Ninth Young Master, but I won¡¯t let you make a loss. Why don¡¯t we do it this way? I¡¯ve many different kung fu techniques, you just have to tell me what you wish to learn. If one technique is not enough, two or three are also fine. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re satisfied now.¡±


    Shangguan Fei began thinking quickly. He felt that he would not be safe even if he managed to master an extremely difficult kung fu technique. He suddenly kneeled down and said, ¡°Senior, I don¡¯t wish to learn anything. I¡¯ll give up my family¡¯s divine kung fu willingly to you and only wish that you take me as your disciple. Allow me to remain by your side to serve you, senior.¡±


    Old Man Mu frowned; he had never took any disciples before. Even Wildhorse, who had served him for many years, did not get to be his disciple. He had wished to take Shangguan Ru in previously, but it was not a sincere effort. As for Shangguan Fei, he was not to the old man¡¯s liking. ¡°Your ambition is pretty big, kid ¨C you wish to learn all of my skills. Good grandchild, why don¡¯t you recognize me as your granddad? You can serve me as my ¡®grandchild¡¯ anyway.¡±


    Shangguan Fei did not seem to bother about status and replied, ¡°Why don¡¯t I recognize you as my master and granddad, what do you think about that?¡±


    Old Man Mu had a natural liking for despicable people and therefore smiled. ¡°Good grandchild,¡± he said.


    ¡°Granddad,¡± replied Shangguan Fei with unrivaled intimacy, as if Old Man Mu was even more dear to him than his real grandfather.


    The Blessed Child got the chills as he heard their nauseating conversation and shivered even more.


    ¡°You can recognize me as your master now. Kneel down and kowtow nine times to me, then stand up and say in a loud voice, ¡°Heavens, sc*ew your entire family¡±. Then we¡¯ll officially be master and disciple.¡±


    It was an unusual and bizarre initiation ceremony for a disciple, but Shangguan Fei did not mind. After he had finished straining his voice to curse the heavens, he said, ¡°Master Grandad, you don¡¯t say. After shouting like this, I feel much more at ease.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, of course, you would. This is one of the secret techniques of our sect. Right, remember this well¡ªmy kung fu has some connection to that of the Yuqing Sect in the Central ins, but personally, I do not. You¡¯re entering the God ying Sect, and if you should have a chance to meet the disciples of the Yuqing Sect in the future, y them.¡±


    ¡°I acknowledge the Master¡¯s orders,¡± replied Shangguan Fei, but secretly he suspected that the so-called ¡®God ying Sect¡¯ was just a name made up by Old Man Mu.


    ¡°Good disciple and grandchild. You have to give your new Master a gift. Why don¡¯t you recite the first seven chapters of Wayless Qigong to me, I don¡¯t want anything else.¡±


    Shangguan Fei nced at the Blessed Child at the feet of Old Man Mu and remained silent, seemingly believing that the child was redundant now.


    ¡°Let¡¯s keep him here for the time being. The Dragon King wishes to fool me, but I¡¯m not falling for his trick,¡± said Old Man Mu before looking down at the Blessed Child and speaking to him. ¡°Cover your ears, kid. I forbid you to listen to anything of we are about to say. I¡¯ll devour your tongue directly from your mouth if you so much as hear a word of it.¡±


    The Blessed Child was extremely quick to react after receiving so many threats. He hurriedly pressed both hands to his ears, being careful to avoid hitting the old demon¡¯s legs in the process.


    Shangguan Fei looked around and straightened out his clothes. He took a few deep breaths until he could see that Old Man Mu was visibly impatient. He then began reciting the manual to Wayless Qigong.


    Old Man Mu was extremely knowledgeable about kung fu and knew Shangguan Fei was indeed reciting qigong instructions of the highest level. He knew that, however, it wascking in the most important parts. ¡°Good disciple and grandchild, what you¡¯re reciting is¡­¡±


    ¡°The seventh chapter of Wayless Qigong.¡±


    ¡°I have to start learning Wayless Qigong from the first chapter, why are you reciting the manual from the back?¡±


    Shangguan Fei kneeled down again and respectfully kowtowed another nine times before replying the bewildered Old Man Mu, ¡°Master Granddad, your disciple can only remember the seventh chapter as of now.¡±


    Old Man Mu flew into a rage. It turned out that his ¡®good grandchild¡¯ was not well behaved at all. Upon being taken in as his disciple, Shangguan Fei unexpectedly wanted to hold him hostage with his divine kung fu manual. He immediately changed tack and forcibly controlled his anger, switching to an amiable expression. ¡°It¡¯s my mistake. My good disciple has already given me something, but I have yet to express my gratitude. There are 23 secret techniques in our sect, which do you want to learn? Lightness Skills? Boxing skills? Machete techniques or swordcraft?¡± he asked.


    Shangguan Fei repeatedly shook his head, uninterested in all of the mentioned techniques. ¡°I only wish for you to help me with a task, Master Granddad,¡± he replied.


    ¡°Speak.¡±


    ¡°Er, it¡¯s your disciple¡¯s wishful thinking to be the king of the Land of Fragrance.¡±


    This was no small task and it went beyond Old Man Mu¡¯s expectations. ¡°You want to be king of such a rotten country¡­ hehe. Whatever pleases you, we shall go now and let all the citizens of thisnd, regardless of age or gender, acknowledge you as their king.¡±


    Shangguan Fei kept shaking his head. ¡°I don¡¯t only wish to be king, I hope to restore the Land of Fragrance to its past glory ¨C isted from the world and with vespletely loyal to their masters, not to mention nobles that have absolutely zero intention of rebelling.¡±


    Old Man Mu looked in surprise at the Ninth Young Master of the Golden Roc Fort, who was reputed to be timid as a mouse. ¡°You wish for me to kill everyone from the Great Snowmountain?¡±


    Shangguan Fei nodded passionately. Only by killing those barbarians that would never ept the local culture could he ensure that the nation would revert to its past state. ¡°If you fulfill this wish of mine, your humble disciple will recite the first six chapters of Wayless Qigong in one go,¡± he replied.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s expression soured immediately as he said harshly, ¡°Foolish kid, you wish to draw me out of the All Annihting Formation so that the Dragon King can kill me?¡±

 Chapter 394 - Hostage

    Chapter 394: Hostage


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Ru was still worried about her brother. The moment they lest the forest, she asked Dragon King, ¡°My brother is working for you, right?¡±


    ¡°I hope so,¡± Gu Shenwei replied, halting. He gazed at Shangguan Ru¡¯s face for a moment before turning back to look at the pitch ck forest.


    ¡°You¡­ what do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Fei is acting on his own ord, nobody knows what he¡¯s really thinking about,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He was speaking the truth; he did not expect Shangguan Fei to tail behind them secretly, and the Ninth Young Master had concealed himself so well that no one had noticed him along the way to the forest.


    Shangguan Ru was stunned for a moment before replying, ¡°What do you intend to do next?¡±


    <em>¡°Maid Lotus would never ask so many questions,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei could not help but think.


    He hesitated before replying truthfully again, ¡°I¡¯ll set fire to the forest.¡±


    He had left behind a number of his soldiers to manage the capital and could summon a portion of them at any time he wished to set fire to all corners of the forest. This would kill off every living thing that resided inside it.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s eyes grew wide with surprise. She had heard numerous stories of how cruel the Dragon King could be, but even so, she could not ept what she was hearing with her own ears. ¡°My brother and that kid¡­¡±


    ¡°Allowing Old Man Mu to escape will only lead to the deaths of more innocent people.¡±


    To Gu Shenwei, it was a simple choice. With people like Old Man Mu, he could never speak his terms inly, the only way to handle them was to eliminate them.


    Shangguan Ru pressed her lips together tightly and her jet ck eyes were like a bottomless abyss; gazing into them made one dizzy. Gu Shenwei turned his head away again, right into Maid Lotus¡¯ cold gaze.


    ¡°The Blessed Child really know the eighth chapter,¡± Shangguan Ru said. She knew that it was pointless to plead ¨C the Dragon King was no longer ve Huan, and she could only try to convince him with benefits.


    Gu Shenwei tried his best to make his tone sound calm as he replied, ¡°Then, he was purposely reciting the wrong version just now.¡±


    Shangguan Ru grew a little red. She felt the man standing in front of her grow increasingly unfamiliar to her. ¡°I know this may be hard to believe, but¡­ when I was in a daze, I kept having the same dream. The Chief Priest was saying something important but I could not hear clearly¡­¡±


    That was why she made the same request to anyone she saw after taking the antidote: ¡°Go on.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not make fun of her, and this encouraged her to continue speaking. ¡°When I woke up, I recalled that one night, I did indeed hear the Chief Priest reciting the incantation, and it was exactly the same as what the Blessed Child recited just now ¨C it sounded all over the ce. I didn¡¯t pay much attention then and heard only half of it, but I have an idea now ¨C ¡±


    An idea, like a venomous snake, had taken hold of Shangguan Ru and kept circling in her mind. As she heard the incantation for a second time via the Blessed Child¡¯s recital, she had suddenly gotten a brainwave. ¡°The contents of the incantation are not entirely undocumented. In fact, they are written down in the archived documents kept by the Chief Priest. The only thing is, they have been separated into different books, so I think¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei immediately caught on to her idea: what the Blessed Child was reciting was not the actual eighth chapter, but a code that would allow one to discover the original texts from the archived documents.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s deduction seemed to be logical. If this was true, it would mean that even the Chief Priest and the Blessed Child themselves did not know about the secret.


    The Indra fragrance could make one fall into a parti or be anesthetized, but it could also narrow the thoughts of the person who inhaled it. Under such circumstances, Shangguan Ru had spent nearly all of the previous month repeatedly hearing the Chief Priest reciting a portion of the incantation, and she had finally managed to notice a pattern in it.


    However, she had only seen a small part of the archived documents kept by the Chief Priest, and it was still difficult to know if her deductions were correct or not.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus exchanged nces while Shangguan Ru said impatiently, ¡°I know, it¡¯s just a dream. But if I¡¯m right, with that incantation, we can derive the eighth chapter from the documents.¡±


    To get hold of the eighth chapter in this manner, they would have to give up their chance of killing Old Man Mu.


    Gu Shenwei weighed out his options before shaking his head. ¡°Even if there is really an eighth chapter to Wayless Qigong, I still have to set fire to the forest. Old Man Mu poses a big enough threat to us that I cannot allow him to live any longer.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was aware that what she was about to do was very foolish, but she still felt that she had to try. ¡°Give me some time, I will bring Old Man Mu and the Blessed Child to you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not reply immediately. She tried again, this time her tone nearly bordering on pleading, ¡°Believe me this time, it imght be the only chance for us to get our hands on the eighth chapter.¡±


    The other copy of the eighth chapter only existed in the mind of Supreme King and nobody could take it from him.


    ¡°Alright,¡± replied Gu Shenwei as he lifted his head to look at the starry night sky. It was soon going to be midnight. ¡°Once dawn breaks, I will set the fire. You¡­ should remember to exit the forest in time.¡±


    Shangguan Ru nodded joyously.


    Maid Lotus, who had been silent all this while, said, ¡°I¡¯ll go in with you.¡±


    ¡°No, you stay, I can do it alone,¡± Shangguan Ru replied. She did not want to exin her n for fear that the Dragon King would find her immature and make fun of it.


    As such, Shangguan Ru turned back into the forest. Maid Lotus looked at the Dragon King, awaiting his orders.


    ¡°Gather the troops garrisoned in the capital and prepare to set fire to the forest.¡±


    The sole remaining Flower Soul Forest of the Land of Fragrance would not escape the fate of being burnt down as well. Old Man Mu, who was still hiding within it, was clueless about Gu Shenwei¡¯s n and continued interrogating Shangguan Fei. He wanted to know Shangguan Fei¡¯s true motives.


    Shangguan Fei had to pluck up a lot of courage before deciding to enter the forest, but now, every word and nce from Old Man Mu was chipping away at it. He grew increasingly frightened and knelt down again, pointing to the heavens while swearing, ¡°Shangguan Fei had no ulterior motives against his Master Granddad. Should I have any intention to harm you, may I be punished by the heavens.¡±


    Going against his own oaths was second nature to Old Man Mu and therefore he thought nothing of those sworn by other people. He was still somewhat skeptical of the younger man. Sensing this, Shangguan Fei quickly added, ¡°My request to take over the Land of Fragrance is not urgent at all. Please act only when you wish to, Master Granddad. Treat it as a test of your apprentice¡¯s loyalty.¡±


    ¡°You can get up,¡± replied Old Man Mu. He reluctantly decided to ept Shangguan Fei¡¯s exnation on ount of the seven chapters of Wayless Qigong that he held. ¡°What¡¯s so good about this rotten country that you need to have it?¡±


    Shangguan Fei brightened upon hearing the question. In his eyes, the Land of Fragrance was the ideal nation that he had always dreamt of; there was nothing bad about it. ¡°Isted from the rest of the world, a simple local culture, no wars, citizens that are happy and contented with their lot, easy to conquer without much nning. I only wish that the Great Snow Mountain¡¯s influence on thisnd could be removed as quickly as possible.¡±


    Old Man Mu raised his right index finger to his lips, signaling for Shangguan Fei to be quiet. He grinned and said softly, ¡°I knew it. The Dragon King was ying tricks with me, pretending to leave before sneaking back again. Hehe.¡± He then suddenly raised his voice and shouted with the Seven Magical Tones, ¡°Are you the Dragon King or Mouse King? Stop being sneaky ande on out!¡±


    A figure stepped out from the nearby cluster of flowers, but he or she was not alone. Dozens of soldiers from the Great Snow Mountain, armed with sabers and swords, appeared.


    Their leader was a swordsman of about 50 years of age. He had been garrisoned in the capital under the Dragon King¡¯s orders and had only came to check the situation upon receiving a report that there were strange sounds emanating from the old royal pce. Unfortunately, they had entered the Flower Soul Forest from a different direction and had not met the Dragon King.


    The old swordsman recognized Old Man Mu and knew that he had killed many of hisrades. As such, he lifted up his heavy sword and said in a deep voice, ¡°Prepare to die, old devil.¡±


    ¡°Old devil? I¡¯m Old Man Mu. Even if you find me old, you should address me as an Old Mu! Most probably, the Dragon King sent the bunch of you to draw me out. Just with your abilities¡­¡±


    The swordsman was not adept at verbal exchanges and gave a loud roar, leading the charge toward the enemy.


    Five other swordsmen followed closely behind him. The others were ve soldiers and waited for a while before following suit.


    Old Man Mu was stunned by the audacity of the soldiers for a moment before spitting out, ¡°Fools.¡±. He did not make any move until the soldiers were 20 feet away from him. Then, he lifted his right leg and lightly kicked the back of the Blessed Child¡¯s head.


    The scene that unfolded next would forever be imprinted in Shangguan Fei¡¯s memory.


    From the gound, clusters of flowers and other sharp sounds of objects whistled through the air as countless hidden weapons flew across them. The dozens of attackers appeared as if they were being strangled by unseen ghosts as they all fell heavily to the ground heavily. Their corpses were like human-shaped water containers that shattered instantly upon hitting the ground, blood gushing out in all directions like a waterfall.


    Old Man Mu was watched in delight before noticing that he was suddenly closer to the ground. It turned out that the Blessed Child, whose shoulder he had been standing on, could not take the bloody scene and had fainted.


    He kicked the Blessed Child¡¯s body once before saying, ¡°Coward, you aren¡¯t even fit to be a pack animal.¡±


    ¡°Master Granddad¡¯s¡­ kung fu is just divine,¡±mented Shangguan Fei. He felt that he had the responsibility to add ingratiation, but his voice shook and he could only speak a few words.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Old Man Mu replied, not taking his disciple¡¯s ineloquence to heart. ¡°It¡¯s called the All Annihting Formation, do you think it¡¯s just for show? To set this formation up, you have to use hairs of the best quality that is also shiny and ck ¨C the longer the better ¨C and razor-sharp pieces of steel ¨C the smaller the better. Then you have to carefully set everything up and be ingenious with where you ce the traps. Even if a deity stumbles into the formation, he or she would not be able to escape in one piece. A pity that it has been wasted on these fools. The Dragon King is indeed ruthless to send his men on a suicide mission to break into my formation. But, if he thinks that my ability is just limited to such traps, then¡­¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t send them,¡± a voice said angrily from afar.


    ¡°Oh, the gooddy is back. What about the Dragon King and Maid Lotus, where are they hiding?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m alone,¡± replied Shangguan Ru as she took a few steps toward Old Man Mu. She took one look at the bits of flesh and blood sttered all over the ground and averted her gaze. Her expression turned grim as she continued, ¡°Did you really have to kill so many people?¡±


    ¡°I still think there are too few dead,¡± said Old Man Mu, his hands crossed behind his back, examining the traps that he himself had set. ¡°There are simply too many people in this world; one can never kill all of them. Isn¡¯t there a saying in the Golden Roc Fort which goes, ¡°There are Six Paths of Reincarnation, Killing Never Ceases¡±? I¡¯ve only killed a dozen people today, and tomorrow, twice that amount will be born. Tsk, tsk, this is such a heavy responsibility I bear.¡±


    Shangguan Ru knew that she would only prompt the old man toe up with more twisted theories the more she spoke. She was already toote to save these brave and rash soldiers, but she could still rescue the other two people beside Old Man Mu. ¡°I have a proposal,¡± she said.


    Old Man Mu looked at Shangguan Ru in surprise before breaking intoughter. ¡°You know how to negotiate now, gooddy? It¡¯s better to leave the trickery and backstabbing to the Dragon King. You¡¯re not suited for it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not lying to you, nor do I wish to lie to you. Let the Blessed Child and my elder brother go. I will take their ce as your hostage.¡±


    Old Man Mu curled his lips as he replied, ¡°You¡¯re toote. Your elder brother has already recognized me as his master and acknowledged that I¡¯m his grandfather. He even wishes to hand over the Wayless Qigong willingly. Isn¡¯t that so, my good disciple and grandson?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master Granddad. Don¡¯t try to snatch what is mine, sister.¡±


    Shangguan Fei sounded sincere. Shangguan Ru sighed lightly before raising her voice to say, ¡°My brother knows Wayless Qigong, but what about the Dajue Book of Swordcraft?¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s smile immediately vanished. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you have it?¡±


    Shangguan Ru nodded.

 Chapter 395 - Incantation

    Chapter 395: Incantation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Old Man Mu had a unique definition of freedom.


    He did not wish for the divine skills to fly through the skies or travel across the earth or to be able to perform incredible feats or to be immortal. Once he thought about how much training monks and Taoists put themselves through, he firmly believed that even gods and deities themselves did not enjoy much freedom.


    His concept was very simple ¨C the more powerful person would always be the one with more freedom. Since there were only two types of people in his eyes ¨C him and everyone else ¨C his way of achieving freedom was to be more powerful than anyone and everyone in the world.


    Despite the saying that there would always a mountain higher than this one, there had to be somebody who was the most powerful. From the first day Old Man Mu practiced kung fu, his goal was to be the strongest.


    He had been hunted down by many kung fu masters, taken advantage of and nearly ced under house arrest by the New Moon Hall and dragged along like an animal by Shangguan Ru, but he did not view of those incidents as restrictions to his freedom.


    He felt that there were only two restrictions to his freedom: the Golden Roc Fort and the Four Truths Temple.


    When he was killing his master, he indignantly questioned the old man, ¡°Why does the Yuqing Sect have so many secret techniques, yet no proper qigong cultivation method? Am I going to have no chance of making it in my entire life?¡±


    His master shifu¡¯s throat was full of blood and he could not answer the question.


    The Seven Rotation Skill had given him hope. Even though the demonic skill ravaged much of his body, it had improved his Internal Strength by leaps and bounds, stronger than when he had crossed, unimpeded, over the north of Tianshan.


    It was because of this that he broke with tradition and went with Wildhorse to Jade City.


    He met the Supreme King and immediately understood that he hade toote. Shangguan Fa had already tided over his period of self-destruction and his Internal Strength was even stronger as a result of his ordeal. Old Man Mu knew that he was no match for the Supreme King.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s response to not being able to taste freedom was working willingly for the Supreme King.


    The Supreme King thus became a small portion of ¡®the other people in this world¡¯ that was untouchable.


    Now, the Wayless Qigong was right in front of him and the twins were fighting to give it away. Even though it was one chapter less than what the Supreme King had, Old Man Mu believed that he could ovee the loss of the eighth chapter with his natural ability.


    He even had the Dajue Book of Swordcraft in his grasp. It was a peerless set of swordcraft, thought to have been lost over time, and both the Dragon King and Maid Lotus had relied on it to be top ss kung fu masters at such a young age. What was most splendid was that the Supreme King did not have the technique.


    Old Man Mu looked hungrily at Shangguan Ru, wishing that he could crack open her skull to see if the two sets of otherworldly skills were indeed hidden in her brain.


    Shangguan Ru could see that Old Man Mu¡¯s interest was piqued. ¡°Since you¡¯ve taught me the Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills and Heart Stopping Finger, I¡¯ll now repay you with Wayless Qigong and the Dajue Book of Swordcraft,¡± she said.


    ¡°That¡¯s fair, that¡¯s most fair,¡± replied Old Man Mu, smiling. That said, he had not entirely been ovee with happiness at the opportunity being presented to him right then. ¡°However, you have to prove that you really know the Dajue Book of Swordcraft.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know it,¡± replied Shangguan Ru. Old Man Mu¡¯s face grew grim as she finished speaking. She immediately added, ¡°But I remember its entire text.¡±


    ¡°Since you remember it, why don¡¯t you practice it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too cruel, and I don¡¯t wish to learn it.¡±


    If it had been someone else who said that, Old Man Mu would not have believed him. But it wasing from the ¡®gooddy¡¯, and he felt that there was a 70 to 80 percent possibility that she was telling the truth.


    ¡°Then recite a passage for me to hear.¡±


    Shangguan Ru did as he said, but she did not stop at one passage, she recited at least three to four hundred words of the manual. However, Old Man Mu could not understand a single part of it, much less remember it. ¡°What manner of trick is this?¡± he asked.


    ¡°The instructions to the swordcraft.¡±


    Old Man Mu was bewildered and lifted his head to look at the simrly doubtful Shangguan Fei. ¡°Have you heard it before?¡±


    ¡°No, Master Grandfather, I¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up,¡± ordered Old Man Mu roughly. With the arrival of the ¡®gooddy¡¯, Shangguan Fei¡¯s value had taken a deep dive.


    In reality, Shangguan Fei had actually seen this part of the text but had not heard it read out loud before.


    The ending of the Death Scripture was simr to the beginning of the Wayless Qigong. They were introductions to the texts written in thenguage of the Western Region but marked with phic symbols in Central ins Chinese. They described the link between both techniques and various points to take note of during practice and were independent of the texts themselves. As such, they could not be considered as part of the manuals.


    This portion of the manuals could be read in many different ways, and Shangguan Fei had only seen the original texts. Naturally, he was unable to interpret the words his sister was chanting now.


    ¡°Recite it one more time,¡± said Old Man Mu.


    Shangguan Ru recited thest part of the manual again. She did it smoothly, evidently well versed in it.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s trust towards her grew. ¡°Is the Dajue Book of Swordcraft full of such words? How did the Dragon King and Maid Lotus manage to master it?¡±


    ¡°No, this is merely an incantation to focus one¡¯s attention on mastering the technique. I¡¯ve not touched on the actual swordcraft itself.¡±


    ¡°Tell me now.¡±


    ¡°Release them first.¡±


    Shangguan Fei fought to answer before Old Man Mu could. ¡°Wait a minute, I didn¡¯t say I wanted to leave. I¡¯ve already be your apprentice and acknowledged you as my grandfather. I will never leave your side from now on, not even by a single step, Master Grandfather.¡±


    Old Man Mu looked as if he was touched by Shangguan Fei¡¯s words and patted the thigh of his ¡®good grandchild¡¯. Then he leaped up suddenly and grabbed the young man by the scruff of his neck before walking out of the All Annihting Formation, carefully avoiding the booby traps. He tossed Shangguan Fei dozens of steps away from him before quickly returning to the center of the formation. ¡°Get further away from me, foolish kid. I don¡¯t even want a real grandson, what more a fake and useless one like you?¡±


    Shangguan Fei saw stars from his fall, and as his mind cleared, his dream of bing King of the Land of Fragrance faded away as well. He scrambled to his feet and said, ¡°Master Grandfather, don¡¯t fall for my sister¡¯s trick. She¡¯s lying to you. How could she know about the Dajue Book of Swordcraft? And she wouldn¡¯t give the Wayless Qigong up either.¡±


    Old Man Mu was more willing to put his trust in Shangguan Ru. ¡°From now on, if I ever hear you speak another word, I will chop you up into minced meat and mold it into meatballs and hamburgers before feeding them to all the cats and dogs of the city as snacks.¡±


    Shangguan Fei did not expect such abrupt hostility from Old Man Mu and feel silent. He nced at his sister with hate-filled eyes before turning around and fleeing the forest.


    ¡°There¡¯s still one more left,¡± said Shangguan Ru as she pointed toward the Blessed Child, who was still lying unconscious on the ground.


    ¡°I have to keep this one with me. Even though you are a gooddy, there¡¯s no saying whether you would lie for the man you love. You have to give me both the Dajue Book of Swordcraft and Wayless Qigong before I let him go.¡±


    ¡°I can rece him.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re too stubborn. If I can¡¯t get you to recite the manuals, wouldn¡¯t I stand to lose a lot?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll teach you the incantation for concentration first. Let him go.¡±


    ¡°No way, no way,¡± replied Old Man Mu as he shook his head repeatedly.


    Shangguan Ru remained silent as they remained in a stalemate. Old Man Mu was the first to concede. ¡°Alright, alright, we¡¯ll do it your way. But you have to tell me first ¨C what¡¯s the purpose of the incantation for concentration? Why do I have a feeling that what you recited was all gibberish?¡±


    ¡°You have steel your heart first before you can master swordcraft. The incantation allows one¡¯s heart to be firm and unmoved by whatever is happening on the outside.¡±


    Old Man Mu lifted his head as he thought about the mannerisms of both the Dragon King and Maid Lotus. He felt that there was some logic in Shangguan Ru¡¯s words. ¡°How do I steel my heart? I couldn¡¯t understand a single word of what you said.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to understand the words. The manual itself is hidden in the tones of the words. In the beginning, recite the incantation loudly. After you are used to it, you can practice silent reading. It works too.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s that simple?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I believe you. You are a gooddy after all. Come in.¡±


    Bits of flesh were scattered all over the ground before her, and blood was sttered all around the area. Shangguan Ru knew that once she had entered his formation, no one else could get her out of it. Old Man Mu was trying to test her by making her walk in on her own.


    Old Man Mu observed her, amused, as he gave her instructions to walk into the formation without triggering the booby traps. ¡°Take seven steps forward ¨C normal steps, not too big or too small ¨C then take three steps to your right. After which, leap up by five feet and step on the tree branch. Reach your left hand forward and spring away by six steps¡­¡±


    Shangguan Ru sessfully made it into the formation under his guidance. She stood opposite him and lowered her gaze to the prone Blessed Child, feeling a little relieved to see that he was not dead.


    ¡°Since you¡¯re in my formation now, let me remind you,¡± said Old Man Mu. His attitude had taken a drastic turn ¨C he was treating Shangguan Ru as a captive now. ¡°I¡¯m not only skilled in killing, I¡¯m even better at torture. I admire you, but if I find out that you are ying a trick on me, you¡¯d better think of a way to take your own life, because I¡¯ll make you suffer so much that you¡¯ll wish you were dead.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was not her brother, Shangguan Fei. When facing the old man¡¯s threats, she did not cower in fear but lifted her head up defiantly. ¡°Not everyone is like you,¡± she retorted.


    Old Man Mu patted his chest as heughed. ¡°That¡¯s good. I wouldn¡¯t be able to take it if everyone was the same as me,¡± he said.


    He then sized Shangguan Ru up, as if it were the first time he had seen her. It made her feel extremely ufortable. ¡°You imed to have never practiced the Dajue Book of Swordcraft before but say that I can learn the incantation for concentration using the tones of the words. Furthermore, you can remember its contents word for word¡­¡±


    ¡°The incantation is just a foundation. If one doesn¡¯t learn swordcraft, it¡¯s pointless to practice it.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s some use in it even if the practitioner doesn¡¯t n to learn swordcraft. Is your stubbornness a result of practicing the incantation?¡±


    Shangguan Ru had noeback for him and coughed once before beginning to recite the entire incantation.


    It was extremely long, and Old Man Mu stopped her after she recited over a thousand words. ¡°Wait, wait. It¡¯s all messed up and now I¡¯m lost. How did you manage to memorize it?¡±


    ¡°If you read it every day, you¡¯ll memorize it gradually. You can start off by trying to memorize 500 words, and see how it works out.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense,¡± replied Old Man Mu. He lifted his head and gave Shangguan Ru a nce. ¡°It¡¯s going to be daybreak soon; we have to hurry up. If the Dragon King gets serious and sends hundreds of his minions to break my formation, I won¡¯t be able to handle them.¡±


    The old man always imed to be smart and as it turned out, it was not entirely an exaggeration. After only listening to the five hundred oddly-sounding words a few times, he unexpectedly could memorize all of them.


    ¡°You won¡¯t sneak up on me while I¡¯m practicing, will you?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to specifically practice the incantation. In fact, you don¡¯t even have to think about it ¨C all you have to do is to memorize it by heart. It won¡¯t affect your other activities.¡±


    ¡°That incredible?¡± Old Man Mu felt it was a little unbelievable. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you present it to your dad? With it, I believe he would have forgiven all your transgressions.¡±


    Shangguan Ru refused to reply him and Old Man Mu offered an exnation on her behalf. ¡°A father who kills without mercy produces a girl without any killing desire¡­ Sigh, having children can be so unpredictable. Luckily, I¡¯m not dragged down by all that.¡±


    Old Man Mu continued muttering to himself and began reciting the incantation that Shangguan Ru taught. He was still a little wary of her and thus diverted some of his attention in case she tried to move against him.


    After repeating the 500 words a few times over, Old Man Mu realized he was starting to feel something. ¡°Weird, it¡¯s really weird! Why do I¡­ feel more frustrated the more I recite it? It seems as if I especially dislike the incantation.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s always like this when someone starts to practice it.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was also reciting the incantation herself, from beginning to the end. She did not make a single mistake until now and this further increased Old Man Mu¡¯s trust in her.


    It would soon be dawn and Old Man Mu¡¯s current location was full of luscious vegetation, giving him all the cover from sunlight that he could possibly want.


    The unconscious Blessed Child finally woke up. Shangguan Ru stopped reciting and stood in front of him, obscuring his view of the bloody surroundings. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, you are safe now. Follow me out,¡± she said.


    She was like a fairy who hade down to earth to the boy. He was so moved that he kept nodding his head and got up to his feet before moving to stand at her side, away from Old Man Mu.


    ¡°Close your eyes,¡± Shangguan Ru said as she took hold of his elbow, preparing to leave the formation.


    Old Man Mu had been quiet as he observed Shangguan Ru, but he was puzzled now. ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    ¡°To bring him out of the forest,¡± she replied.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve agreed to let the hostage go!¡± said Old Man Mu. He was getting angry ¨C he called the shots here and no one coulde and go as he or she wished.


    Shangguan Ru did not reply or stop. She took a step out ording to Old Man Mu¡¯s previous instructions.


    ¡°Stop!¡± shouted Old Man Mu. He leaped out with one step, wanting to teach the ¡®gooddy¡¯ a lesson.


    However, he soon realized that something was not right; extremely wrong in fact. Shangguan Ru was using Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills and could easily avoid his attacks. <em>¡°This is not possible!¡± </em>he thought.


    He was so shocked that his face lost color. He did not understand why he would hesitate at the veryst moment when he attacked Shangguan Ru as if he could not bear to kill her.


    He looked exactly like a starving lion that could not bear to hunt down a fat deer standing right in front of it, and it was beyond his imagination¡­

 Chapter 396 - A Big Fire

    Chapter 396: A Big Fire


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The image of the monk, with skin so pale that it was nearly transparent, would forever be imprinted on Shangguan Ru¡¯s memory.


    When she had been ced under house arrest, Master Lianhua was the only outsider allowed to visit her. His original intention was to find out if someone else other than the Dragon King and Maid Lotus had learned the Death Scripture, but he had ended up discovering a very unique young woman.


    Shangguan Ru was the favored daughter of the Supreme King, and she had been born and grown up in the Stone Castle. Naturally, she would be immersed in the culture of killing, but she turned out to have a weak killing desire and was not willing to harm anyone.


    It was the miracle that Master Lianhua had been hoping for. He instruted her in the entire Breaking Obsession, which was tens of thousands of words long, with the hope that the miracle would continue on.


    It was a secret that the monk and the young woman kept between themselves; Lady Meng knew nothing about her daughter¡¯s study of Breaking Obsession and treated her increasing ¡®weakness¡¯ as a mental obstacle.


    Breaking Obession was a Buddhist incantation written by Lianhua and Lianxin and it specifically targeted the killing intent of violent individuals. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had once unknowingly practiced part of the incantation and had had to spend a lot of effort to rid themselves of the effects.


    Shangguan Ru, however, studied it proactively and recited the incantation at least once a day. At first, she did it secretly where there was no one around. Gradually, she was able to perform her recitations silently, and she did not have to worry about her mother discovering that she was practicing Breaking Obsession.


    The incantation¡¯s effect on her was extremely obvious. Not only did it remove her killing desire, she now wished for everyone to stop killing as the two monks did. However, it remained her secret wish; she did not express this desire to anybody.


    Old Man Mu was the first person to learn Breaking Obsession from her.


    Thete Master Lianhua had been preaching Breaking Obsession to the machetemen of Jade City to limited effect, so much so that even Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus, who had unknowingly learned part of the incantation, were influenced more by its effects. Most of the machetemen treated it as some sort of sutra promising atonement for their sins, and they would chant a few lines of it after killing or aftermitting violence. They spent hardly any effort trying to understand the incantation and inculcate it into their lives.


    As such, even though Old Man Mu had heard of Master Lianhua and Breaking Obsession, he did not consider it as something important and casually dismissed the monk as a low-level con man. He never expected to be tricked into learning the incantation one day.


    The objective of Breaking Obsession was to remove the killing desire of an individual. As such, the practitioner had to be a willing party. Because the machetemen knew about its effects beforehand, they had some natural resistance to it, and this led to the incantation having little to no effect on them.


    Old Man Mu was now in a simr situation as Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had been a few years ago ¨C they had all believed the incantation to be some powerful Internal Strength manual and took it upon themselves to memorize it. Since they studied it diligently and spent much of their efforts on learning it, the effects on them were pronounced.


    It was not possible to make him give up killing immediately, as he had been memorising it for less than two hours and had only learned a few hundred words. However, it nted the seed of doubt in him.


    There were many different levels of speed, but the difference between being fast and extremely fast was only a few split seconds, but it was what separated good kung fu masters from the very best ones. That iperceptible seed of doubt in Old Man Mu resulted in his speed diminishing slightly, but it took away his ability to make sudden and unpredictable attacks. Even Shangguan Ru, whose abilities were much weaker than his, could manage to escape his strikes.


    Old Man Mu still had note toplete realization. He only noticed that his moves were not as swift as before, and it gave him a shock. He stood rooted to his spot in a daze as questions began ringing in his head. He felt as though much of his soul had left him.


    Shangguan Ru retraced her steps to get out of the All Annihting Formation safely. She lowered the Blessed Child and caught Dragon King¡¯s eye as she raised her head.


    Gu Shenwei had followed her into the forest not long after she left and overheard most of her conversation with Old Man Mu. Just as he heard Shangguan Ru beginning to teach Breaking Obsession to the old man, he hurriedly retreated to a distant perch and only returned after a long while.


    He finally understood why Shangguan Ru could not regain her killing desire. The death of Shangguan Yushi and the betrayal of her close friends and family had served as the pretext for her to pore over Breaking Obsession, but they did not provide aplete exnation as to why she had stopped killing.


    Gu Shenwei could not describe what he was feeling now; it was a mixture of pity, surprise, despise and respect.


    He knew that now was not the time to speak to Shangguan Ru andposed himself. He took a few steps forward, shielding Shangguan Ru and the Blessed Child from the old man. ¡°Old Man Mu, do you still have any deals to make?¡± he asked.


    Old Man Mu looked as if he just woke up from aa and looked at Dragon King and Shangguan Ru in bewilderment, his wrinkly face turning and unexpected peach red.


    He was angry now, furious, in fact. Even when the Master of Xiaoyue Hall, Han Wuxian, had tricked him into learning the Seven Rotation Skill, he was not so angry. Furthermore, he had gained some skill from that incident, but now he had nothing except for the seventh chapter of the Wayless Book, which was useless by itself.


    ¡°What unique skill is this?¡± Old Man Mu asked, his voice urgent and stiff, the exact opposite of his usual frivolous tone.


    He had already begun to realize that all of his problems were caused by the 500 words Shangguan Ru had taught him.


    ¡°Evil Cleansing Chant,¡± replied Gu Shenwei, lying to Old Man Mu about the name of the incantation. There were some Taoist books in the Gu family, and when he was young, he had flipped through a few of them out of curiosity. He did not know why, but the words ¡®Evil Cleansing Chant¡¯ had left a deep impression on him.


    The Yuqing Sect was a model Taoist sect, but since Old Man Mu had no interest in learning the ways of Tao, he had never heard of the ¡®Evil Cleansing Chant¡¯. He repeated the words to himself a few times in a soft voice. Just the name itself gave him chills.


    ¡°It¡¯s not possible; you¡¯re trying to fool me. How can chanting a few hundred words cause my moves to be slower? How can there be such strange sorcery in this world?¡±


    ¡°Speaking of strange, you should know more about that type of thing than us.¡±


    Old Man Mu had learned many types of kung fu from different sects. To him, the best types of kung fu were those which were cruel and strange. Even the Five Hole Punch of Yuqing Sect, which was not devious, but when remodeled into a terrible technique by him was used to rip out the hearts and shatter the lungs of his opponents. As such, he was especially drawn to weird theories.


    He opened his palms skyward and observed them, before suddenly starting to shadow box. His moves were as swift as lightning, making him feel relieved. He let out a deep breath and began to smile again, not caring anymore that he hadpletely lost to Shangguan Ru. ¡°Whew, you scared me. I¡¯m alright, I¡¯m alright. My punches are still as swift as before. You¡¯re too devious, Dragon King, to concoct a lie to scare me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was intimately aware of the powerful effects of Breaking Obsession and made a soft sound of retort. ¡°Old Man Mu, don¡¯t be happy just yet. Imagine that someone is standing in front of us and that you can kill him or her with one punch. Think hard about it and then try to strike again.¡±


    Under normal circumstances, Old Man Mu would definitely not do as told, but he was extremely receptive to Gu Shenwei¡¯s suggestion now.


    He only managed to punch his ¡®target¡¯ twice before finding himself rooted to the spot like a wooden puppet. Gradually, his entire body started to tremble and he suddenly leaped onto a flowering tree and shouted at Shangguan Ru, who was behind the Dragon King, from above, ¡°All women are bad people. Do you think you can kill me by tricking me into learning a few hundred words of the Evil Cleansing Chant? Foolish girl, you¡¯ve offended me now. I¡¯ll catch you and strip you naked before parading you in the streets of the city. There aren¡¯t many young men in the city, but many between sixty to seventy years of age. It¡¯ll be a treat for them¡­¡±


    Filthy words sprang from his mouth and Shangguan Ru grew red with embarrassment just hearing them. She had originally wanted to plead for mercy on his behalf but gave up the idea. She grabbed the Blessed Child and left the forest quickly.


    Old Man Mu immediately changed tack when he saw Shangguan Ru leaving. ¡°My gooddy, don¡¯t go. I¡¯m just being cheeky with you. When will the effects of the Evil Cleansing Chant wear off?¡± he asked.


    ¡°It won¡¯t go away,¡± replied Gu Shenwei on her behalf, who was now facing Old Man Mu alone, dealing him another heavy blow. ¡°Look at Shangguan Ru, do you still not understand?¡±


    Old Man Mu grew ashen-faced. Indeed, Shangguan Ru was entirely void of killing desire. She was skilled in many kinds of kung fu but when threatened, she could only flee ¨C this would logically be due to the effects of the ¡®Evil Cleansing Chant¡¯.


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible,¡± said Old Man Mu as he stared fiercely at Gu Shenwei. ¡°She learned much more of the chant than me, I¡­ only memorized 500 words, and only for a short period of time. I, I¡¯ll forget them, I¡¯ll forget them now.¡±


    The more one tried to forget the incantation, the deeper it etched onto one¡¯s memory. Gu Shenwei had first-hand experience, and he knew that if one wanted to remove the effects of Breaking Obsession, one would have to generate even more killing desire than before; it would be difficult in Old Man Mu¡¯s case. Furthermore, Gu Shenwei had no intention of letting him know about this trick. ¡°Then take your time to forget it, I hope you have enough time on your hands,¡± he said.


    He took a final sweeping nce at the pieces of flesh and pools of blood on the ground around him before turning away and leaving the Flower Soul Forest as well.


    Only Old Man Mu was left in the forest now. As the sun gradually rose, he hid under a bush of flowers offering the most shade. He had a premonition that something terribly bad was about to happen to him.


    Thirty minutester, a huge fire was lit at all corners of the forest, spreading quickly to the very center of it; thus, thest Flower Soul Forest of the Land of Fragrance was reduced to ashes.


    As she stood at the outskirts the forest, Shangguan Ru felt uneasy. Even though she did not personally kill Old Man Mu, he had perished because of her doing. Regardless of whether it was due to her own nature or the effects of Breaking Obsession, his death made her feel guilty.


    The ve soldiers garrisoned in the capital were observing the zing fire under Maid Lotus¡¯ direction, and they would toss in dry firewood upon noticing anywhere the fire showed signs of abating.


    Gu Shenwei managed to guess what Shangguan Ru was thinking about and said to her, ¡°It was I who killed Old Man Mu. No matter what you did just now, I would still have set fire on the forest.¡±


    Shangguan Ru smiled stiffly, not saying a word.


    The Blessed Child stood beside her, still shaking, and gazed at her, following wherever she went.


    On her other side stood Shangguan Fei, who looked as if he could not decide to be embarrassed or afraid.


    The Dragon King had not spoken to him, but Shangguan Fei felt that he should take the initiative to exin. ¡°Dragon King, um, actually¡­ this¡­ I was¡­¡±


    ¡°You wished to trick Old Man Mu out of his formation, therefore you tried to fool him by promising to give him the Wayless Qigong manual,¡± Gu Shenwei finished the sentence for him.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Shangguan Fei was ted that the Dragon King understood his intentions. ¡°This is the benefit of working for you, Dragon King. Without having to express my intentions to you beforehand, you¡¯ve already understood what I was trying to do. I didn¡¯t know that you nned to set fire on the forest. If I did, I would not have made things worse by trying to help.¡±


    Shangguan Fei continued to offer his long-winded exnation but Gu Shenwei kept looking at the zing fire, neither paying him any further attention nor replying him.


    As Gu Shenwei felt that he would eventually be able to make use of Shangguan Fei¡¯s status as the Ninth Young Master of the Golden Roc Fort and therefore did not wish to cut ties with him just yet.


    The fire was raging, even a deity would not be able to escape it now.


    Gu Shenwei turned to speak to Shangguan Ru again, ¡°The documents from the Chief Priest are all kept in our military camp. Follow me, you have the right to see the eighth chapter as well.¡±


    Shangguan Ru shook her head; she was no longer interested in any type of kung fu technique. ¡°You are returning to the Western Region but I wish to continue traveling southward. It would be useless for me to have the eighth chapter.¡±


    Suddenly, an idea sprang to Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind. He did not pause to consider it before telling Shangguan Ru, ¡°Stay here; the Land of Fragrance needs a benevolent ruler. Who would be more suitable than you?¡±


    Shangguan Fei was so surprised at his suggestion that his mouth fell open. He could not believe his sister¡¯s good luck, and interrupted, stammering, ¡°What, what? Let me stay instead, Dragon King.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was also extremely surprised and looked at the Dragon King, not sure what he meant by this suggestion.

 Chapter 397 - Exhortation

    Chapter 397: Exhortation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Old Man Mu¡¯s corpse still could not be found. After the fire had died down, more than 100 people formed a single row andbed the remnants of the Flower Soul Forest, trying to find evidence of his body, but all they could discover were mutted remains belonging to the dozens of soldiers from the Great Snowmountain who were killed by the All Annihting Formation.


    As such, Gu Shenwei had to remain in the capital for two more days and he continued to send outrge numbers of his men to search for any remains. They nearly unearthed the entire ground where the forest used to stand, but to no avail.


    Eventually, everyone had to agree with Shangguan Fei¡¯s deduction: ¡°As the fire raged on, Old Man Mu panicked and triggered one of his booby traps. He ended up being cut to shreds by his very own formation; his remains is surely among that pile of bones.¡±


    This seemed like the only possible oue for the old devil. Gu Shenwei decided that he could not dy his departure any longer and he made up his mind to leave the capital the next morning to catch up with the main troop.


    He hoped that Shangguan Ru would stay behind in the Land of Fragrance and rule over the remaining ve soldiers, the elderly, women and children on behalf of the dead swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain.


    However, Shangguan Ru had still not given a reply to his unexpected request.


    Shangguan Fei was even more anxious than the Dragon King and more proactive than his sister on this matter. He tried to persuade her no less than three times a day. ¡°Younger sister, it¡¯s a great opportunity and you shouldn¡¯t miss it. Do you still wish to travel southward? If you go any further, you¡¯ll end up in the sea. Stay and be King, no, Queen of the Land of Fragrance. Isn¡¯t that a great idea?¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t find any ce better than here. See, each season is like Spring and the flowers are flourishing. The fruits and vegetables grown here are so abundant that no one can try them all; you only need one kind of food to survive here. Furthermore, the people here are great as well. Everyone is educated and polite. They are all obedient ves and know what they should or shouldn¡¯t do; you needn¡¯t worry about them.¡±


    ¡°I did some thorough research. The Land of Fragrance is blessed in its current geographic location; easily defensible and surrounded by mountains everywhere. To its northwest is a forest inhabited by savages, and the only essible route is a narrow mountain passage to its northeast. If you erect a checkpoint there, you can easily defend against a strong army of thousand men even with a hundred men. With that¡­¡±


    He trailed off, and upon seeing that his sister was not particrly angry, he decided toe clean. ¡°If you really do not wish to govern a country, let me help you out. Speak to the Dragon King and let me stay behind instead. To be honest, I have so many ns in mind. I promise that we¡¯ll make the Land of Fragrance prosper and that its royal line will forever bear the Shangguan name. When that happens, why do we even need to return to the Stone Castle for? Here is a bigger, safer Stone Castle.¡±


    ¡°Just do it, sister. It¡¯s not easy to win the Dragon King¡¯s trust, and if you hesitate further, who knows, somebody else might take up the opportunity.¡±


    Shangguan Ru had been pestered by her brother until she reached her breaking point. ¡°Invite the Dragon King and Maid Lotus over,¡± she told him.


    Shangguan Fei was delighted and shouted with joy. He was so excited that he was glowing. ¡°That¡¯s good. We have to work hand in hand immediately on various projects. Our nation has everything but young males; they have all been taken by the Dragon King. However, the men of the surroundingnds are too savage and we cannot wee them into our country. We can only solve this with one method: let every remaining soldier take up to five wives and push them to produce more males. After one generation¡­ Oh, you wish to see the Dragon King.¡±


    Once the two guests arrived, Shangguan Ru chased her brother, who was still feeling excited, away.


    Shangguan Ru invited the Dragon King and Maid Lotus in. She did not want to discuss her decision to stay, rather, she wanted to speak to them about the Blessed Child. ¡°I wrote down a copy of his incantation. Take it and tally it against the documents left behind by the high priest; you should be able to piece the eighth chapter together.¡±


    She had deduced that when the Holy King was betrayed, he had not believed in anyone again and hence divided the most important cultivation method of Internal Strength from his sect into separate ancient documents beforeing up with an incantation that was mixed with truth and falsehood as a means to piece together the entire manual.


    She ced the stack of papers on her desk but she knew that both the Dragon King and Maid Lotus were naturally suspicious. As such, she called the Blessed Child out and asked him to recite the incantation once more. ¡°I wrote it down a little hastily and there are probably a few errors. We¡¯d better check my copy with the source.¡±


    Gu Shenwei believed in Shangguan Ru. Furthermore, the documents left behind by the high priest were kept in the military camp, and even if she wanted toe up with a fake incantation, there was nowhere for her to begin with. Even so, he agreed to let the Blessed Child recite the incantation again.


    It was one thing to trust someone, but to express that trust was another matter altogether. Gu Shenwei felt that he did not have to offer preferential treatment to anyone.


    Throughout the past two days, the Blessed Child remained by Shangguan Ru¡¯s side; he was willing to be her servant.


    He was still much frightened after having been terrorized by Old Man Mu and stammered as he talked. After every few sentences, he would twist his head to look at Shangguan Ru and continue reciting only after being encouraged andforted by her.


    He quickly recited the entire incantation, which was a few thousand words long. Shangguan Ru had taken perfect dictation. Gu Shenwei was especially interested in the second half of the incantation.


    The first few hundred words were exactly the same as what Shangguan Ru had predicted ¨C they seemed like a clue written in some sort of code. Not only was it mixed with truth and falsehood, the content was also jumbled and there were many contradicting parts within it.


    But that night, everyone realise something wrong in the first half of the incantation if the Blessed Child had recited more than the first 50 words.


    However, the content of the incantation changed after 600 hundred words or so; it was no longer a jumbled-up set of instructions for Internal Strength cultivation, but a set of exhortations which actually made sense.


    The creator of the incantation was exhorting his disciples not to practice the Dajue Book of Swordcraft without good reason.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus were finally convinced that ¡®Dajue Book of Swordcraft¡¯ was the proper title for this unique manual, and that ¡®Death Scripture¡¯ was only a description used after.


    ording to the incantation, good and evile from the same source; and it varied from person to person. Say, using steel as an example: It could be used to make tools and equipment for the benefit of mankind, such as hoes and picks, but it could also be made into weapons which could harm others and the users as well. It also exhorted that the swordcraft taught in the manual was extremely powerful and was the only one in the world, only someone of great wisdom could control such a devastating force.


    As for what constituted great wisdom, the incantation provided a simple analysis: if one practiced the Dajue Book of Swordcraft and there were any signs of its effect backfiring, then one should immediately stop learning it.


    Not only had Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus experienced said signs while practicing and using swordcraft taught by the book, in fact, but they had also experienced its effects first hand.


    The insight offered by the incantation was not quite the same as the afterword of the Death Scripture. Thetter had been painstakingly tranted by Master Lianhua into Central ins Chinese, and it exined that there were sixteen types of possible interpretations and methods of practicing the scripture. No matter which method one chose, one would have to kill to improve on it, and as one¡¯s powers increased, it would only be a matter of time before the effects backfired. The way to prevent it would be to decrease the rate of one¡¯s killing to only one per year.


    The ideal solution would be to first master Wayless Qigong. Once one¡¯s Internal Strength had reached a certain level, one could mostly dy and reduce the effects of the swordcraft backfiring.


    However, the incantation, which had ben passed down by the descendants of the Holy King for dozens of generations, believed that the backfiring had nothing to do with one¡¯s Internal Strength. Instead, what one required was the very vague theory of ¡®great wisdom¡¯.


    It was only a moment ago that Gu Shenwei felt that he could trust Shangguan Ru, but now, he could not help but feel that she was up to something.


    The effect of Breaking Obsession on her was too great to be taken for granted, and she could have gotten the Blessed Child to add in a few paragraphs to convince the Dragon King and Maid Lotus to stop practicing the peerless and incredible Dajue Book of Swordcraft.


    Gu Shenwei quickly scanned through Shangguan Ru¡¯s expression. His suspicion was quickly reduced ¨C Shangguan Ru had never seen the Death Scripture before, and even if its afterword was also the beginning of the Wayless Book, she had only seen the original text of thetter, which was written in a strange and foreignnguage. She had never seen the trantion before, and it was not really possible for her to evene up with a set of exhortations within the past two days.


    The Blessed Child also did not look like he was acting on someone else¡¯s orders. He was only ten years of age and had grown up by the high priest¡¯s side. As such, he had not yet learned to lie and was as transparent as a clear stream of water in the eyes of the Dragon King.


    ¡± <em>It doesn¡¯t matter, </em>¡± Gu Shenwei thought. Even if the Death Scripture eventually turned its practitioners into demons, he would continue to practice it. Everyone on this earth had to pick their path in life, and only he was destined to walk on the path of death.


    As for Maid Lotus, she was always inscrutable. Gu Shenwei had a real spiritual connection with her asionally since both of them had chosen the path of death voluntarily.


    The three of them remained silent for a while as no one was willing to begin a discussion about the deep meaning contained in the incantation.


    Shangguan Ru was the first to speak up; she wanted to give Maid Lotus a gift. ¡°It¡¯s my mistake to nt a force inside your body. I¡¯m extremely sorry about that. The only way to remove it is to use the Heart Stopping Finger of Seven Circles and Seven Apertures, but I can¡¯t bring myself to practice it, therefore please allow me to teach you.¡±


    Visible surprise swept across Maid Lotus¡¯ expression before it vanished as quickly as it came. She was the Managing Master of the New Moon Hall and possessed superior Kung Fu; normally, anyone who had the opportunity to control her would never give it up easily.


    ¡°Tha¡­ thanks,¡± said Maid Lotus somewhat unnaturally. She was not being ungrateful, but rather, she was not used to speaking words of such nature.


    ¡°I only have one request. I know that after learning the Heart Stopping Finger, you may have to kill. I hope that¡­ whoever you kill deserves to die.¡±


    There were thousands of people in this world that should be killed. In a sense, Maid Lotuspletely believed that every life she took was justified; to her, even the maid whom she had killed just after shaking off the effects of Indra fragrance deserved to die.


    Maid Lotus would not decieve Shangguan Ru with her words and therefore gave a straightforward reply, ¡°Those that I kill with the Heart Stopping Finger in future will be considered as bad people even by your standards.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took his leave first; he was uninterested in Old Man Mu¡¯s Kung Fu. While Maid Lotus learned more techniques, he maintained his focus on the Death Scripture. Before leaving, he tried to convince Shangguan Ru to stay behind once more, ¡°There are still 50000 residents in the Land of Fragrance, and they are simple-minded and innocent; they¡¯ve not been influenced by the outside world. As such, whoever rules over thisnd will determine the direction their character will develop. Think about it, I will leave tomorrow in the early morning.¡±


    It was already past midnight when Shangguan Ru finished teaching all of the Heart Stopping Finger moves to Maid Lotus. But she felt restless and could not fall asleep.


    When he heard that his sister invited the Dragon King over but had not discussed the ¡®very important matter¡¯ of taking over the Land of Fragrance, Shangguan Fei was extremely agitated. But he knew it was inappropriate to burst into his sister¡¯s room in the middle of the night. As such, he could only patiently wait till it was daybreak beforeing to see his sister and find out what had happenedst night.


    ¡°Sister, my good sister, Father wants us dead and Mother can¡¯t save us. Now, we only have each other to rely on for help. Even if you don¡¯t want to think about your future, spare a thought for me. If you don¡¯t agree to stay, the Dragon King will never agree to let me remain behind alone. He will bring me into battle, and it will be against the Stone Castle. Look at me, I can¡¯t possibly be a soldier. Do you know how much I¡¯ve suffered over the past few months? I really cannot take it any longer¡­¡±


    ¡°Go inform the Dragon King that I¡¯m willing to stay behind.¡±


    Shangguan Fei jumped up in delight.


    ¡°But I have some conditions. The Land of Fragrance will not be a base of provisions for the Great Snowmountain. I will not interfere if any of the 50000 residents decide to work for the Dragon King, but I will never organize them to transport supplies to the Great Snowmountain.¡±


    ¡°About this, isn¡¯t it a little too early to be setting such conditions?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all I have to say,¡± replied Shangguan Ru, stubbornly sticking to her decision.


    <em>It was just as well, </em>Shangguan Fei thought. The Dragon King obviously still harbored some feelings for his sister, and he might agree to the conditions. He thought that it was only a matter of time before the Land of Fragrance isted itself from the outside world, and if they cut off ties with the Great Snowmountain at an early stage, they would need not have to worry about doing soter.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had already packed up their belongings and were preparing to set off when Shangguan Fei came bearing his sister¡¯s message to them. Dragon King came to see Shangguan Ru personally and agreed to her conditions. There were still dozens of soldiers from the Great Snowmountain, loyal to him, who remained behind in the Land of Fragrance. They would arrange the logistics themselves and there was no need for Shangguan Ru to interfere.


    It was time for them to part. Unexpectedly, both of them were calm. Previously, they had no idea that they had been walking on separate paths for far too long, but the past few months together had made it evident, showing them that they were clearly moving in different directions after all.


    ¡°Bring my brother along with you. He¡¯s the first person that the Land of Fragrance does not wee,¡± she said, making her final request.

 Chapter 398 - The Valley

    Chapter 398: The Valley


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Although the army of the Great Snowmountain now had more than 10000 soldiers, Gu Shenwei did not feel that their strength had improved. The original troop, of about 1500 or 1600, were still the ones that he could rely on.


    After defeating the reinforcements hired by the nobles, the men from the Great Snowmountain managed to find a substantial number of healthy ves both in and outside of the capital. With the addition of the tribal soldiers who had surrendered and the few nobles who had survived the forest, their army had expanded, but the newly joined were either weak-willed or cowardly. They were like a big group of children which constantly required supervision, ultimately draining a considerable amount of energy from the veterans.


    The battle before them was a major test for the 8000 or so new recruits. Not only did they need to prove theirbat power, they also had to show the extent of their loyalty to Dragon King.


    It was alreadying to a month since the army of the Great Snowmountain had left the capital of the Land of Fragrance. Throughout this time, they had travelled across mountains and rivers and even trampled out small paths hidden amongst the wilderness into a road that was able to amodate horses and carriages. They had left a few soldiers behind at certain locations to ensure that there would be a smooth passage through this route in the future so that supplies could be transported from the Land of Fragrance.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus pushed on with their journey without a stop and caught up with the main body in just a few days¡¯ time.


    There were three to four hundred volumes of books left behind by the high priest which were, surprisingly, not thrown out by the illiterate soldiers. Still, it took considerable effort to dig them all out, and it would be much more difficult to piece together the entire text of the eighth chapter of the Wayless Book together from the books.


    The texts had originally been arranged in order and matched with each sentence of the incantation, but their sequence had been jumbled up by thete high priest. If anyone wished to cross-check the texts with the incantation, he or she would have to read through the books at least once to match them back into the correct order again.


    Gu Shenwei had no energy to perform such a task.


    Maid Lotus used spare time over the next few days to read through dozens of the books. Once she noticed sentences that were simr to the incantation, she would reread the paragraph in great detail. Utilizing such a tedious method, she somehow managed to piece together some words that seemed to be a Kung Fu manual. This proved that Shangguan Ru¡¯s deduction was possibly correct.


    As they drew nearer to the Western Region, her role as Dragon King¡¯s protector grew increasingly important and she had to set the books aside.


    Gu Shenwei ordered men to take proper care of the books and decided to turn his attention to them once things had somewhat settled down. After all, the most important wa to secure dominance over the Western Region was not extraordinary Kung Fu but a strong, loyal and dependable army.


    The opposing army was already in formation as they stood on an undting mountain slope. They looked like rows and rows of trimmed trees.


    These were the coalition forces made up of the Wushan tribes from the south of the Xiaoyao Lake and they guarded the main route through the mountain, blocking the exit for the army of the Great Snowmountain.


    There were a total of five kingdoms surrounding the Xiaoyao Lake: the Stone, Kang, Sha, and Hui Kingdoms were on the northern shore of theke; only the An Kingdom sat on its southern shore. Further south of the An Kingdom was the Wushan mountains. This endless mountain range contained the best iron ores as well as the most chaotic tribes in the entire Western Region.


    No one knew exactly how many tribes there were in the Wushan region; conservative estimates pegged them over more than a hundred. In their struggle to gain control over the profitable ore lodes, the tribes engaged in battle with one another and sometimes joined forces for alliances. Likewise, no one could understand the rtionship between these tribes.


    To the southwest of the mountains stood a small, barren hill. Very little vegetation grew on it and it did not contain rich iron ores; it was an area disliked by all tribes. As such, it became a natural barrier for the Land of Fragrance.


    Every year, the nobles from the Land of Fragrance would send out a small merchant caravan to cross the mountain range and trade their native products with anything except the precious ores from the Wushan tribes.


    For centuries, these small merchant caravans did not attract any attention from any tribe; the tribes could not even tell the difference between them and the other merchants from the Western Region.


    Therefore, when the seven sons of the Shili family came looking for reinforcements, the merchants who knew them were shocked.


    The native products of the Land of Fragrance were various herbs. Normally, they would fetch a good price and the merchants would spend some of the money earned from the sale to purchase supplies that their country wascking in before bringing the rest of the taels back.


    Years of umtion had allowed the Land of Fragrance to have arge reserve of valuable wealth. It was this reserve that the Shili family used to hire reinforcements in an attempt to save their country from invaders.


    The 3000 reinforcement troops entered the Land of Fragrance and traveled without pause. They managed to cover a journey that usually took about 20 days in just half a month. They saw for themselves the legendary riches of the Land of Fragrance and even got to pack the taels into boxes personally. However, they ended up benefiting others instead: more than half of them died in the battle and the riches, which they had just gotten ahold of, fell into the Dragon King¡¯s possession.


    Not only was it a double loss to the tribes who had sent out their soldiers in response to the Shili family¡¯s request, but it was also a huge embarrassment that was hard to forget.


    Ha Chilie, the son of the Dongshan Mountain Tribe, ran back to his hometown barefooted. He had lost much weight and was dirty from the journey. He was treated as a savage who had lost his way and almost died at the hands of his own people.


    He requested for his father to gather the neighboring tribes and conveyed the news of their annihtion.


    Before they entered the Land of Fragrance, the Wushan tribes had been misguided by the Shili family into believing that they would be facing a bunch of bandits from the forest. They could never have imagined that their enemy would be Dragon King and the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain who had disappeared for several months.


    ¡°The Great Snowmountain has already been destroyed, how could it¡­¡± The chiefs from the dozens of tribes hade over and were unable to believe Ha Chilie¡¯s news.


    However, the truth was right in front of them; only one of the 3000 soldiers had returned and they did not see any of the promised gold or silver.


    The tribal chiefs were enraged and swore to seek revenge at all costs.


    Initially, they wanted to gather more tribes but the army of the Great Snowmountain calcted their timing well; it was only three days after Ha Chilie had returned home before the army of ten thousand closed in on the border.


    The tribes hastily prepared for battle and managed to gather 2000 soldiers. They had home ground advantage and high morale. Moreover, they were familiar with the geography of their ownnd.


    However, once they saw the army of the Great Snowmountain covering the mountains, every one of them, from the tribal chief to themon soldier, began to panic.


    Just like that, even before the fight began, each party already felt that the other was stronger.


    There were more than a thousand soldiers in the army of the Great Snowmountain who had surrendured from the tribes. Dragon King had instructed them to get their weapons from the battlefield, so in essence, they were as good as hostages.


    Gu Shenwei ordered them to stand behind the main body of his army on high areas so that their own people in the opposing army could see them.


    Not too far from where they stood was the core of the army of the Great Snowmountain ¨C the thousand or so veterans.


    The thousands of ve soldiers from the Land of Fragrance were divided into three sections: the vanguard unit, the left nk, and the right nk.


    Out of the hundreds of noble soldiers, half of them remained near to Dragon King, while the other half joined the vanguard unit.


    Led by a hundred veterans, the vanguard unit of the Great Snowmountain army were less than a thousand soldiers. The opposing force sent out by the Wushan tribes was even smaller inparison; only slightly more than 700 soldiers.


    There was not enough t ground in the mountains for arge scale battle. As such, both sides could only send out these few soldiers.


    The spot chosen for the decisive battle was a slightlyrger valley. The vanguard units from each army would charge down from a gentle slope and engage at the bottom of the valley.


    Other than examining thebat power and loyalty of the new soldiers, there was not much purpose to this battle.


    Initially, Gu Shenwei had no intention to fight this battle. Upon entering Wushan, he sent out a few soldiers to each tribe to express goodwill. However, not only was there no reply from them, none of his soldiers returned as well.


    It was all within Gu Shenwei¡¯s expectations. He hoped that through this battle, the Wushan tribes would acknowledge the strength of the Great Snowmountain, and even if they were not willing to ally themselves with him, he hoped that they would remain neutral and not lean toward Golden Roc Fort.


    The tribal chiefs on the opposing side were stirring their soldiers up with loud words of encouragement. He could not hear them clearlyand could see that the effects were effective; the 700 or so enemy soldiers brandished their various weapons roared toward the skies. Their voices reverberated throughout the valley. All in all, they were pretty impressive.


    On the side of the Great Snowmountain, the vanguard formedrgely by thousands of ves and nobles weas much worse off. Even before the battle started, many of them were trembling and the weapons they held seemed less like tools in battle and mroe like burdens they carried. If the veterans had not been there to hold down the fort, some of them would very likely have discarded their weapons on the spot.


    For the first time in their lives, many of them realised that there was a bigger world out there, and there were many other countries outside the borders of the Land of Fragrance. Furthermore, these people were the first in many generations of their families to have ventured more than 50 kilometers away from the capital.


    The new soldiers were not only afraid of war and death but of the unfamiliar people and surroundings, not to mention their uncertain futures.


    Gu Shenwei drew his Five Peaks Saber and nced at his sides before taking the lead by marching forward, squeezing his way through the group of veterans.


    A total of 20 men followed him; they were made up of swordsmen and machetemen with the best Kung Fu, including the three chiefs of the Great Snowmountain.


    These people had all been handpicked by Gu Shenwei.


    Now that he had let his new soldiers have a taste of the atmosphere of battle, it was time to lead them to victory.


    The Dragon King and his 20 followers stood at the forefront of the formation.


    He turned to look at the new soldiers who were standing in a state of shock. Most of them did not understand Central ins Chinese and it was useless to encourage them with words. As such, he brandished the Five Peaks Saber high up in the air and swept his gaze across their faces before turning around to face the enemy, blowing the rawhide horn from the Great Snowmountain.


    Not only were the new soldiers surprised, they could not believe what they had just seen. Even though the title of ¡®ves¡¯ and ¡®nobles¡¯ had been abolished, they still had trouble changing their old views and naturally treated the veterans from the Great Snowmountain as their masters. To them, Dragon King was the master of their masters.


    ording to the centuries-old tradition of their nativend, masters would never fight along with their ves.


    More deep sounding horn sts rang out. The sounds merged together as they swept through the entire valley, engulfing the shouts of the opposing tribal soldiers entirely.


    The residents of the Land of Fragrance, regardless of status, were extremely fearful of the horn sts. Just two months ago, they had been shocked out of their wits by the sts and as a result, surrendered to Dragon King.


    But today, the sts stirred up a surge of emotions in them. Suddenly, the sts no longer sounded like the howls of beasts who came from the depths of hell but had be the growls of a holy dragoning from the heavens itself.


    A source of power, which the new soldiers neither experienced nor imagined before, flowed through their bodies, giving them an uncontroble desire to charge forward.


    Thus, the battle began.


    The shouts of thebatants and the roars of encouragement from the spectators shook the entire valley into pieces.


    As quickly as it began, the battle was over.


    Both sides only wished to test each other¡¯s strength and after a brief engagement, they quickly retreated back to their formations, taking their own dead with them. Each had dozens of casualties and it was hard to tell which side had won from the numbers.


    In the eyes of the veterans, it was a battle not worth mentioning, but to the new soldiers, it was an experience they would never forget. Their hands which held their weapons had never felt as steady as they had now.


    Gu Shenwei certainly felt that the Great Snowmountain was victorious as the new conscripts were turning into true soldiers.


    He ordered half of the vanguard unit to fall out and reced them with 500 of the new soldiers from his left nk. Since it was a training exercise for them, he wanted as many of them to participate as possible.


    As the two waves of soldiers shifted, the opposing army also changed.


    An unknown army had suddenly appeared from the mountaintop behind them and was charging toward the dozens of tribes which were preparing for the second round of battle.


    The soldiers from the Great Snowmountain looked in surprise at the opposite side of the valley. Many of them even believed that it was an ambush nned by the Dragon King, but Gu Shenwei knew that he had absolutely nothing to do with it.

 Chapter 399 - The Spy

    Chapter 399: The Spy


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Ha Chilie was so embarrassed, and he didn¡¯t think that fortune yed a trick on him: he was fighting with Dragon King a quarter of an hour ago, but after that, he had to yield to Dragon King for help.


    There were many tribes in Wushan, of which the rtionship was intricate. They could be divided into two different groups. One believes that their ancestors were born and had lived there, Ha Chilie belonged to this category. The tribes that associated with him were basically kin to him. The other group had no ancestors to show off. They were mostly outsiders, attracted by rich mineral deposits, andpeted with locals for territory and interests, so they were nicknamed ¡°mine thieves.¡±


    Those who suddenly appeared behind the tribe¡¯s coalition forces were the mine thieves.


    The number of mine thieves was small, and there were about eight or nine hundred people, but due to themunching an attack from the back, the tribes were caught unprepared. It was difficult for them to swiftly turn around the army to fight the enemy, so they had to retreat to the bottom. In such short and narrow road, the losses were heavy.


    Ha Chilie originally thought that these mine thieves had been bribed by Dragon King. However, when they found that the army of the Great Snowmountain did not move, he realized that this matter had nothing to do with Dragon King.


    There was little time and choice left for him. The coalition forces had to either fight with the mine thieves in the narrow valley and only then deal with the threat of the Great Snowmountain or surrender to either party out of the two.


    The mine thieves were the enemy of the native tribes. For this reason alone, Ha Chilie would rather bow to Dragon King. The battlefield was in chaos, so there was no way to solicit ideas from all, but these tribes were organized by him. It was also up to him to make the final decision.


    ¡°Dragon King.¡± Ha Chilie raised a long-saber and shouted for help towards the hillside. ¡°I volunteer to offer my weapons. Please forget previous ill and lend a helping hand to the tribes in distress!¡±


    The coalition forces were attacked immediately, but it was a godsend for the army of the Great Snowmountain, which was almost equivalent to another Land of Fragrance which failed without fighting.


    But Gu Shenwei did not want to send troops to rescue them.


    The army of the Great Snowmountain had just entered Wushan, and was unfamiliar with the ce and the people. Therefore, It was necessary to offend another party for one party.


    ¡°Let your peoplee up, and I can protect your safety, but you have toy down your weapons.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s sound was not big enough, but it was enough for the people at the bottom of the valley to hear clearly.


    The requirements of Dragon King were very demanding, and contained a hint of insult. Ha Chilie was pale and turned to look at the situation on the battlefield. He sighed and ran to the chiefs of tribes and shouted: ¡°Go up the mountain! Go up the mountain!¡±


    Without the persuasion of Ha Chilie, everyone heard the words of Dragon King and had already rushed to the mountains. They were between a rock and a hard ce, so in their views, the party that had not fought against them was a safe haven.


    As soon as they entered the defense line of the army of the Great Snowmountain, soldiers immediately confiscated the weapons of tribes¡¯ soldiers.


    The mine thieves even chased after them and they also went up the mountain.


    The vanguard units of the Great Snowmountain was prepared for a real battle, and hundreds of savage guard troops bent their arrows and set their their arrows against the strings at the back. Long Fanyun, the young chief of Canopy Peak, was asked to sound the horn, and then said loudly: ¡°The Dragon King of the Great Snowmountain is here, stop your paces.¡±


    Seeing aplete victory, the mine thieves did not follow his order to stop.


    Hundreds of arrows were shot at the same time, falling behind the mine thieves, which was more effective than a thousand words of warning.


    The mine thieves backed up a few paces and kept a distance of an arrow from the army of the Great Snowmountain. However, they still refused to escape. They discussed for a while and then elected a negotiator.


    The man was short and strong, holding two sabers in his hands, and shouted towards the mountain: ¡°Who is the Dragon King? Let me take a look.¡± The tone was arrogant. Although facing the army of 10,000 soldiers, he wasn¡¯t trembling.


    Numerous sabers and swords kept falling at the same time, which made the sound of the gale blowing the water. The double-saber mine thief stared at them, waved his weapon, and refused to yield to them.


    Gu Shenwei admired the courage of this person, so he went out of the crowd and stood on a prominent stone, ¡°I am the Dragon King, speak out your name.¡±


    The two-saber thief looked at him up and down, ¡°My name is Ge Ying, also called ¡®Audacious Twin des.¡¯ Are you really the Dragon King?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was very young and his face looked pale and weak even in the sun, which made people who met him in the first time surprised. So did Ge Ying. Ge Ying looked him over again and obviously didn¡¯t take him seriously, ¡°Dragon King, why are you protecting them. You are fighting them and so are we. It is a help for you, why are you doing this?¡±


    Ge Ying was not courageous, but reckless. Gu Shenwei immediately realized that Ge Ying was only regarded as a gun to use and he was not a real leader, so his face turned dark, ¡°Let your leadere out to speak.¡±


    Ge Ying really deserved the title of ¡°Auadcious Twin des¡±. He put the two-saber in front of his chest, ¡°You can talk to me, because they all listen to me¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei suddenly jumped off from the stone. Afternding, he used his toes to click the ground slightly, and then popped up quickly. In the blink of an eye, he had already rushed to the front of Ge Ying, and then jumped three times and returned to the original ce.


    Ge Ying had no time to react until the crowd burst intoughter, he touched his head, and then realized that the bun had gone, leaving only the hair roots that was less than an inch long.


    Ge Ying¡¯s ¡®courage¡¯ was not enough. He opened his mouth wide and couldn¡¯t say any words. His hands began to tremble slightly with two sabers.


    One of the mine thieves broke the deadlock and said: ¡°Since the Dragon King have said that, we should give him a face. Let us retreat.¡±


    People were not as rash as Ge Ying. Seeing so many soldiers who had been fully prepared, they wanted to retreat early and then said, ¡°Yes, let¡¯s give the Dragon King a face.¡±¡±He is the head of a military, so we should retreat.¡±


    They were about to retreat when the horn sounded again on the mountain. The voice of Dragon King rang in their ears, ¡°Others can go, but several people have to stay there.¡±


    Although the name of the mine thieves had a word of ¡°mine¡±, they actually never mine, but seized the site by sabers and swords and then sold it at a high price. There was little difference between the real bandit and them, because they were all aggressive. If the Dragon King didn¡¯t say anything, they could makepromise, but now felt despised, so they all turned around to brandish their weapons and shout. They hardly blinked an eye at tens of thousands of soldiers.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s original idea was not to offend any force in Wushan as much as possible. At that time, he changed his mind and nodded to Long Fanyun that had been behind him.


    The Dragon King was humiliated, which made Long Fanyun very furious, so he had been waiting for this order.


    A thousand vanguards, encouraged by the horn, took the initiative to attack the mine thieves.


    The mine thieves were also like bandits who pretended to be brave and aggressive. When the Dragon king meant business, they immediately yield to him. Ge Ying who was bald said, ¡°Wait. Dragon King, you should distinguish between enemy and friend. We are not here to challenge the Great Snowmountain today, so we shouldn¡¯t fight with each other. ¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t respond immediately. When the vanguards took dozens of steps and was very close to them, the mine thieves suddenly looked afraid. Gu Shenwei ordered to stop, ¡°our enemy is only Golden Roc Fort, and we have no intention to be enemies with other people. You can escape unscathed, but the spy of Golden Roc Fort among you have to stay there.¡±


    The mine thieves looked at each other and did not understand what he meant. Ge Ying said loudly: ¡°Dragon King, you have made a mistake. We are a group of people who make a living from mining and have nothing to do with Golden Roc Fort and Supreme King.¡±


    ¡°You have been deceived. When I just arrived in Wushan, someone told me that the spies had entered¡­¡±


    He hadn¡¯t finished his words when five people jumped out of the ranks of the mine thieves, and then ran to the hillside that originally was upied by the coalition forces of tribes. The mine thieves were even more surprised. These five people were their acquaintances who had known each other for at least half a year. Unexpectedly, they were indeed the spies of Golden Roc Fort, but they did not understand what the Supreme King coveted a group of mine thieves in the mountains.


    Gu Shenwei quickly guessed the truth. Of course, it was not because some people blew the gab, but the mine thieves acted contradictorily. These people were mostly like Ge Ying, audacious but reckless unintentionally. However, they couldn¡¯t n such a meticulous n to sneakily attack the coalition forces, so there must be capable people behind them.


    Then he recognized a killer of Golden Roc Fort. It was not the killer¡¯s face that betrayed him, but the assassination skills he almost used.


    While Gu Shenwei rushed to Ge Ying to cut off his bun, which was just a momentary matter, most people did not realize it. Behind Ge Ying, a thin man took a step towards Gu Shenwei. However, the Dragon King acted so swiftly that he no choice but to stop his attempt at assasination and return to his original position.


    It was merely a simple movement, but it showed the obvious style of Golden Roc Fort: do everything possible tounch an attack on the side and back of an enemy.


    Gu Shenwei was not good at attacking others at the back even when he was an apprentice. However, he could see the enemy¡¯s intention at a nce.


    All five spies of Golden Roc Fort were swindled by the Dragon King, and then fled as soon as possible.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t order soldiers to chase them, but looked at their figures.


    The five spies had already ran to the hillside, and would disappear across the peak of the mountain. However, they suddenly fell down one after another like drunken drinkers, or they were downed by the Dragon King¡¯s eyes and lost all strength in an instant.


    All bystanders, including the army of the Great Snowmountain and the mine thieves, were stunned by this strange sight.


    Thest spy fell down. Finally, there appeared a pretty figure, and then the figure disappeared with a khaki mantle shing. No one could find her.


    Because Maid Lotus had already ambushed before. Although the training she received in Golden Roc Fort was the same as the five people, her Kung Fu was much better than that of them, so she could easily beat them who didn¡¯t choose the right way due to panic.


    She knew that the Dragon King wanted the spies alive, so they just lost their strength and fell unconscious.


    Before the soldiers of the Great Snowmountain began to act, dozens of mine thieves dashed up to catch those spies and then sent them to the front.


    Ge Ying kicked them in the body, ¡°son-of-a-bi**h, you have cheated me for so long time¡­¡±


    After they were caught, the spies were silent and even refused to look up at the Dragon King.


    ¡°I just want to know one thing. The Supreme King was so enthusiastic and helped me to deal with the tribes of Wushan. What is his reason for this?¡±


    A killer could run away or fail, but wouldn¡¯t easily confess.


    Gu Shenwei waited for a while. After Long Fanyun got an indication, he pulled out the patronus¡¯s saber and killed the first person. Pausing for a moment, he killed the second person.


    No one spoke, and only soundless killing had been going on.


    After four people were killed continuously, thest spy decided to speak. He was deliberately left by Gu Shenwei. Among the five spies, only this person looked a little flustered. Expectedly, he immediately told the truth, ¡°Dragon King, please let me go. I am the machetemen hired by Golden Roc Fort, and not the killer of Shangguan family.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded and asked him to continue his words. His initial question hadn¡¯t yet been answered: Why did the killers of Golden Roc Fort help the Dragon King to attack the coalition forces of tribes?


    ¡°Two¡­ two reasons.¡± the machetemen said nervously, ¡°I hoped to take the opportunity to join your army, and then seize the chance¡­to assassinate you, or leave the Dragon King in the mountains as long as possible and have more time to seal the way out of the mountains. ¡±

 Chapter 400 - Shortcut

    Chapter 400: Shortcut


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Tremendous changes had taken ce in the Western Region.


    In less than a year, the Shu-lik in the west had lost more than half their territory. The capital was upied and the royal family had fled to an unknown destination. They had essentially lost the ability to fight.


    Golden Roc Fort and Nond worked to advance towards the East, and defeated two small countries in session. They were approaching the sphere of influence of Central in in the Western Regions. Arger war would break out soon.


    The four countries including Xiaoyao Lake surrendered one after another and became the vassals of Golden Roc Fort. In order to show their loyalty, they took turns asking to meet, demonstrating their willingness to abdicate the throne and be marquis¡¯.


    Shangguan Fa, who had been dreaming of getting the real, kingly title, became reserved and refused all the requests of abdication, but everyone knew that the ¡°Supreme King¡±, a name only known in jianghu, would turn into one of the Kings in the Western Region. It was just a matter of time.


    Golden Roc Fort had almost removed all their troublesome neighbours, leaving only the unimpressive Stone Kingdom.


    The country was still standing, which was beyond the expectations of many people.


    It was a small country in the easternmost part of Xiaoyao Lake with smallnd area and sparsely popted. Compared with other countries, such as Xiaoyao Lake, it belonged to the weak, not to mention the Western Region .


    However, facing the continuous siege, it had stood for eight months. It was even more tenacious than the muchrger Shu-lik.


    There were many reasons why Stone Kingdom could maintain independence, the most important being the indifference of Supreme King towards it. The most important enemy of Golden Roc Fort and Nond was the Central ins. Therefore, the main force was in the East and it was difficult to depatch the troops to fight in the South.


    The coalition forces, which wereposed of Kang, Sha, Hui and An Kingdom, seiged the capital of Stone Kingdom, but the result was disappointing. Although the casualties were heavy, they did not manage to breach the city wall.


    A few monthster, the battle of Shu-lik came to an end. Finally, the Supreme King paid attention to this small southern country, and he was very surprised that it had not been conquered.


    However, Golden Roc Fort had been preparing the battle with the Central ins, and still had no spare power to depatch soliders to the South, so the Supreme King sent a general and dozens of killers tomand the four countries to fight.


    Under the request of the new general, the countries recruited men who were the appropriate age. The army that seiged the capital gradually increased from 2,000 to nearly 5,000 people.


    The new general was still not satisfied with that. However, they could not get one more solider from Golden Roc Fort and those four countries, so they had to cast theirs in the tribes in Wushan.


    The tribes in Wushan did not intend to be involved in disputes in the Western Regions. Some were delicate about it while others were more straightforward. They all refused to depatch troops.


    The refined iron in Wushan was an important strategic material. Golden Roc Fort had been quietly cing people in the area, ordering them to provoke a big battle between the mine thieves and the locals. When the two sides could not defeat each other and asked Golden Roc Fort for help, they would naturally send troops to join the war of seiging the Stone Kingdom, and even have time to take part in the decisive battle against the Central ins.


    The n was close to sessful, but suddenly there was strange news that the Dragon King had resurrected and led a main force to Wushan from the wilderness. There were not many people who believed it. When the army really arrived, the spies of Golden Roc Fort suddenly became harried.


    Finally, a machetemen who had been lurking in Wushan for many years came up with a ¡°wonderful idea¡±: they couldn¡¯t fight against the Dragon King in public, but they could ¡°help¡± him to defeat the tribal coalition forces to gain trust. After that, they would lead him to the depths of Wushan, which could consume the strength of the army of the Great Snowmountain, or present an opportunity to assassinate the Dragon King, which was a great achievement.


    The machetemen was very clever, but he had ignored one point. His plots were very effective for the mine thieves and the locals in Wushan, but were not worth mentioning to the Dragon King.


    It was from this macheteman¡¯s mouth that Gu Shenwei learned of the changes in the Western Region.


    The Stone Kingdom had not surrendered, which was another gift that God gave to the army of the Great Snowmountain. Gu Shenwei was d that he had chosen Zhong Heng as the Prime Minister of Stone Kingdom.


    However, the present situation was still very critical. Wushan was long and vast, but there was only one passageway into and out of Xiaoyao Lake, located in the north and connected with the An Kingdom, and the passage was narrow and tortuous. Once closed, 10,000 troops would be trapped in the mountains and unable to return to the Western Region.


    Gu Shenwei made a series of decisions.


    Long Fanyun, the chief of Canopy Peak, led 500 selected vanguards. Guided by several locals, they set off immediately, aiming to get out of the mountain as soon as possible.


    Tuo Nengya, the old machetemen, led their machetemen and two thousand soldiers to follow Long Fanyun.


    With Long Xiaoshi, the chief of Danduo Peak, leading the main force, they steadily opened up a safe route to ensure the connection with the Land of Fragrance.


    The tribes in Wushan still had conflict with the mine thieves, but they did not hold a deep hatred against Golden Roc Fort. Therefore, Gu Shenwei allowed them to leave, leaving only few volunteers to act as hostages and guides.


    After finishing everything, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus set off with light pack and walked in the forefront. They were ready to fight against the killers of Golden Roc Fort who were rushing out of the mountain.


    Their leader was Ha Chilie. Because Dragon King had rescued the tribal coalition forces, he was very d to have the chance to return this favor.


    The road was rough. It was pointless to use horses, so they chose to walk on foot. Ha Chilie knew terrain of Wushan well, and he chose a shortcut. Although it was more difficult to walk, this would save a lot of time.


    Gu Shenwei was very anxious to walk nonstop, which was so hard even ording to the standards of killers in Golden Roc Fort. In the first three days, Ha Chi wanted topete with killers and persisted without a word. However, on the fourth day, he could not stand it. He almost walked off the cliff several times in a daze, but was dragged back to safety by Dragon King.


    ¡°Dragon King¡­ I know your ability. But your guard is a woman¡­ she is so amazing.¡± When they finally stopped, Ha Chilie admired Maid Lotus with sincerity. The most admirable person was Maid Lotus, but not the Dragon King, because the Dragon King should be this person.


    Ha Chilie did not know the name of Maid Lotus, but he had seen her fight against those five spies on the hillside. Besides, having walked with her for a few days, he admired her even more in his heart, ¡°We can¡¯t find women like you in Wushan, hehe¡­¡±


    He suddenly found that he had been staring at her all this time, so immediately turned his head and blushed, embarrassed.


    Maid Lotus did not say anything, but she was not angry.


    This was just a small episode on the road. After that, regardless of fatigue and drowsiness, they continued to move forward day and night. No one had mood and energy to say a word.


    For fifteen days, they only took less than ten short breaks. Finally, after nearly a month, they arrived at their destination ¨C the first checkpoint of the main road in Wushan.


    Actually, it was not a checkpoint, but a stockaded vige of the tribes. It was especially used to charge toll for the caravans that transported ores and provide amodation and meals. The cost was not high, but was enough to feed the old and the young in the vige.


    When they arrived at the vige, Gu Shenwei finally understood the ¡°importance¡±of the road. This was a canyon with high cliffs on both sides. In the middle, only five or six people could walk side by side.


    The canyon was more than 5,000 meters long, and the middle of the valley widened slightly. There were many natural or artificial caves on the wall, which were the homes of the tribe residents.


    As long as they were willing, people in the vige could use the stones to build a number of checkpoints along the canyon only in a few days, and mere hundreds of people could stop thousands of soldiers and horses.


    Gu Shenwei could not think of any ways to break through this obstacle.


    Thanks to the shortcut led by Ha Chilie, when they rushed to the vige, they did not find killers.


    In fact, news that the Dragon King and the army of the Great Snowmountain had entered Wushan was still spreading on the road by the three people who had been behind.


    Everything in the vige was as usual. Lines of vehicles were parked on the roadside. There were various kinds of ores on it, but mostly iron. They had to be smelted outside the mountains.


    The vige was small, and there were more businessmen and miners than the locals.


    Ha Chilie¡¯s attitude towards the Dragon King had undergone major changes from forced obedience to the voluntary loyalty. He knew that the matter was urgent. Because the power of Golden Roc Fort in this area was muchrger than that of the Dragon King, he did not rest for a moment, but asked to see the chief immediately.


    ¡°The chief here is an old friend of my father and will listen to my advice.¡±


    This was the most ideal n. Dragon King and Maid Lotus could kill many people, but they had no way to upy the entire vige.


    The chief was the fattest person Gu Shenwei had even seen. He was sitting on a soft cushion that was enough to amodate three people, but had no room.


    Compared with his body, his arms were as short and fleshy as a baby.


    The chief was trying to open his arms to wee the arrival of the old friend¡¯s son, ¡°My nephew, how long have you note to see me? Have you been married? My little daughter has been waiting for you.¡±


    Ha Chilie bowed deeply to the chief, ¡°I am the guardian of Wushan and the owner of Gulping Wind Gorge. Please ept my best wishes. I have brought my father¡¯s greetings and thanks for your years of care of Dongshan Mountain Tribe.¡±


    In Wushan, people had their rules and traditions: When acquaintances met, they must give gifts. However, they were hurrying to leave and had not taken anything, so Ha Chilie offered his own treasured saber.


    The chief epted the gift and recognized that it was a rare weapon. Looking at the tired Ha Chilie who had walked for long time, and the proud man and woman behind him, he immediately understood that the great event was going to happen.


    ¡°Ha Chilie, why don¡¯t you introduce your friends? Do you think I am not hospitable enough?¡±


    Ha Chilie apologized to the chief, but dyed in revealing the identity of the Dragon King. The Wushan tribes had never been interested in the disputes outside the mountain, but the forces of Golden Roc Fort had infiltrated here. Moreover, it was still a big customer of their ores, so the good impression it got was far more than that of the Great Snowmountain.


    If the Dragon King had a little poprity in Wushan, the Great Snowmountain was an entirely strange name.


    After recounting the story of the spies of Golden Roc Fort instigating the mine thieves to sneakily attack the tribal coalition forces, Ha Chilie finally spoke the name of the Dragon King.


    The chief was very surprised. Like many people who saw the Dragon King for the first time, he looked at Gu Shenwei up and down. It was hard to believe that this pale young man was the head of an army.


    But he was more observant than most people. The Dragon King had some temperament in himself, which made him understand that this young man¡¯s reputation was not hollow.


    The chief tried to move his fat body and pay tribute to the Dragon King, ¡°Wee, to you and your army. The Gulping Wind Gorge was a trade route. As long as people follow the rules, no one will be blocked out of the valley. ¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded slightly. He knew what the ¡°rules¡± were, ¡°We will pay customs duties ording to the number of people, which shouldn¡¯t be less than 31.25 grams.¡±


    The chief looked very satisfied and then unfolded his arms again, ¡°The more friends, the better. You have been a friend of us since then. Come and bring good wine and dishes. I want to have a drink with my new friends until we are thoroughly drunk.¡±


    Ha Chilie looked back happily at the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei had been carefully observing them and found no suspicious signs. The chief and his people seemed to be sincere, but the only person that surprised him was Maid Lotus.


    She was as quiet as usual, but Gu Shenwei could feel a little tension from her. This was a signal that there was danger nearby.

 Chapter 401 - The Slave Girl

    Chapter 401: The ve Girl


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei had always been paranoid and on guard against strangers, but there were always some people he could not observe carefully, such as women who belonged to someone else.


    On this, Maid Lotus had an advantage.


    It had been a couple of years since thest time the fat chief had walked steadily by himself. His every move required the help of others. Therefore, he was constantly surrounded by eight girls, like the tentacles of a gigantic octopus, executing their master¡¯s thoughts immediately.


    The fat chief announced to the feast to begin. Four female ves bowed their heads and walked out of the cave. At this moment, Maid Lotus pulled out her sword and blocked their way.


    Maid Lotus¡¯ actions triggered a fierce reaction.


    The four female ves screamed in unison and hid behind their master.


    The guards outside the cave heard the screams, and dozens of them immediately rushed in with spears. They lined up, pointing their spears at the two guests.


    Ha Chilie looked around in shock. He had intended to mediate between them, but Dragon King was silent, and swallowed his words.


    Gu Shenwei still couldn¡¯t tell what was the problem exactly, but he trusted Maid Lotus. So he held the sword hilt with the right hand, turning his body halfway, angled towards the guards behind Maid Lotus.


    Among all the people, the most shocked and furious one was definitely the fat chief. He twisted his body to the right, pping his short, fat arm up and down, trying tofort the frightened female ves. But his eyes stared straight at Maid Lotus,¡± What¡¯s going on? What is the meaning of this? Ha Chilie, Dragon King, what¡¯s wrong with this crazy woman? ¡±


    ¡°There is a crazy woman here, but it¡¯s not me.¡±


    Maid Lotus did not respond to the fat chief¡¯s questions. All this time she had been staring at one person.


    It was the fat chief¡¯s youngest female ve. She looked around fifteen years old, youthful and petite, wearing a pitiful look. That look reminded Gu Shenwei of one of Xu Yanwei¡¯s best tricks.


    The little female ve was also the most timid. She hid behind the fat chief, only revealing half her bun.


    The fat chief struggled to turn around and took a long time to recognize the female ve, ¡± Yan Er? What are you talking about? She is just a kid. Are you out of your mind? Dragon King, this is how you treat your friends, huh? Gulping Wind Gorge does not wee your army. You should reconsider. ¡±


    ¡°A true friend would never watch you being deceived and do nothing.¡± Gu Shenwei stood resolutely beside Maid Lotus, ¡°Let here out first. If our suspicions do not hold water, you can be mad at uster. ¡±


    The fat chief felt that he was being insulted and nced at the dozens of guards at the entrance. The rumors of the Dragon King shed through his mind. He looked at Ha Chilie, wondering if the son of his ¡°old friend¡± had some secret agenda.


    Ha Chilie coughed awkwardly, ¡°Uncle, she is the imperial guard of Dragon King, highly skilled and with ill intention¡­¡± He still did not know the name of Maid Lotus.


    Ha Chilie¡¯s guarantee appeased the fat chief. He patted his right shoulder twice with his left hand, ¡°Yan Er,e out, stand by my side. I am here, no one will dare to bully you.¡±


    Yan Er seemed terrified. She was used to executing his every order immediately, but she hesitated for a while this time. Then she stood up, trembling, from behind her master and slowly moved to the right hand of the fat chief. She still bowed her head and did not dare to speak.


    ¡°If I am not mistaken, you were not born here, right?¡± Maid Lotus began asking, still holding the sword in her hand.


    ¡°Of course.¡± The fat chief replied for her, ¡°My female ves were all bought from outside. How could I let a local girl be a ve?¡±


    ¡°How long has she been here?¡±


    Yan Er still did not dare to speak, so Maid Lotus turned to the fat chief for answers.


    ¡°How long?¡± The fat chief frowned and thought briefly. ¡°Two¡­three or four years, how old was she when she came here?¡±


    Thest sentence was to directed at another female ve. The female ve whispered back. The fat chief nodded. ¡°Twelve years old when she came here. Now she is fifteen. What¡¯s the problem?¡±


    ¡°In the past three years, she has not changed at all. She has not grown tall, and her appearance now is exactly the same as before.¡± Instead of asking further questions, Maid Lotus described her precisely.


    Gu Shenwei had already seen through the ws of Yan Er, but he did not interrupt.


    Ha Chilie knew that Maid Lotus was new here but he immediately believed her after hearing her description.


    However, the fat chief thought differently. In his opinion, this female guard of the Dragon King was clearly aware of Yan Er¡¯s situation. She hade here to make a disturbance on purpose. His wide face turned a dark red,¡± What¡¯s the matter with her height? It¡¯s quite normal. A lot of girls stop growing up at a young age. What do you want to say? ¡±


    Maid Lotus looked down and seemed to be at a loss for words for a moment. Then she looked up and continued in an indifferent tone, ¡°But she is like a mature woman in bed, or even maybe more proficient.¡±


    These words were too much. A female ve¡¯s life was entirely her masters, not to mention her body. But nobody would bring up this topic in the presence of the master.


    The face of the fat chief finally turned thunderous. He kept pped both hands on his thighs. ¡°Get out! Get them all out! Dragon King, you and your army, don¡¯t even think about walking through Gulping Wind Gorge. ¡±


    The guards with spears marched forward and began forcing the unwee guests out of the cave.


    Gu Shenwei pulled out the Five Peaks Saber, but after looking at Maid Lotus, he did not take any further action.


    Maid Lotus gazed at Yan Er, and suddenly she moved back a few steps. She squeezed through two guards who were standing close to each other, and stood behind them.


    The spears of the guards were very long, and they were standing close to each other, making it difficult for them to turn around. They all fell into disorder.


    Maid Lotus held the sword in her right hand and used her left to gesture in the air. In an instant, the guards all fell to the ground, some foaming at the mouth, some twitching from head to toe.


    The face of the fat chief turned from ck to white. This woman was too strange. Maybe it was true that the Dragon King was indeed the reincarnation of the demon. Therefore, he softened his tone, ¡°Ha Chilie, I have been treating your father and you very well ¡­ ¡±


    Ha Chilie was stuck in between and did not know what to say. He could only look at Maid Lotus, hoping that she could provide some evidence on the spot. Otherwise, the longstanding friendship between Dongshan Mountain Tribe and Gulping Wind Gorge would end today.


    Maid Lotus returned to her position and looked at Yan Er . ¡°No one can protect you here. You know, I will not be merciful.¡±


    Indeed, no one here could protect her. Even the fat chief who had spoke up for her shut his mouth. He had decided that he would not confront Dragon King and Maid Lotus.


    He thought that Yan Er would pass out because of fear, or cry for mercy. But what happened next waspletely unexpected.


    The body of Yan Er was shaking more and more wildly. Judging from her back, she seemed to be shaking in fright. But then, they heard a sound like a viper¡¯s hiss. The fat chief and the other female ves realised that Yan Er wasughing wildly, contrasting sharply with her usual pure image and childish face.


    ¡°Until now, you still can¡¯ let go of us.¡±


    ¡°Us? Who are you talking about?¡± The fat chief immediately ruled himself out, and he to began to doubt Yan Er.


    Yan Er suddenly turned around, like a wolf standing erect, bending at the waist and said ferociously, ¡°You disgusting fatty, shut your mouth. When you learn to clean up your own mess, you got the chance to talk again. ¡±


    The fat chief was criticized by his female ve, the most timid and gentlest female ve to boo. He was so shocked that he did not even reprimand her.


    Yan Er turned to the Dragon King and looked at him for a while, ¡°Now, you¡¯ve found your way back to your man. He still doesn¡¯t know your true face, right?¡±


    Maid Lotus had forced Yan Er to abandon her disguise, but her voice was still indifferent. ¡°Our sect has decided to unite with the Great Snowmountain. He knows everything.¡±


    Yan Er obviously did not believe Maid Lotus¡¯ words, but she became more vignt and her voice held a trace of fear, ¡°I said that New Moon Hall would be destroyed in your hands, but the master wouldn¡¯t believe me.¡±


    That was enough. Yan Er had said the words ¡± New Moon Hall ¡°, showing all her card. Maid Lotus did not intend to let her reveal more secrets.


    The long sword flew.


    Yan Er leaped up high and almost hit the top of the cave. This kung fu was something she had never shown her master.


    Then she fell down onto the ground and could barely stand. Even though she had not fallen like the guards, the pain in her face was serious.


    She had not been stabbed by the sword, just barely grazed by the point.


    The Seven Circles and Seven Apertures Heart Stopping Finger required actualbat practise. For Shangguan Ru, this was an insurmountable hurdle. For Maid Lotus, it was a simple requirement.


    It only required a little force to take down the opponent when using Heart Stopping Finger, especially for New Moon Hall disciples.


    Yan Er couldn¡¯t speak. She looked at the Maid Lotus, her body swaying, and then slowly turned around. Facing her unwitting master, she spat out a mouthful of blood.


    The blood spurted out strongly, like a waterfall. The fat chief¡¯s body was equivalent several people¡¯s. His whole body was covered with blood, and even the several female ves behind him were not spared.


    Yan Er had been actingpletely contrary to her usual self. The blood spurt was thest one. She fell on her back and kept bleeding from her mouth. It looked like she would not stop bleeding until she spat out all her blood.


    There wasplete silence. Then the other seven female ves screamed again.


    The fat chief also made a surprising action. He stood up, blood still dripping from his clothes; the first time in at least a decade.


    But he immediately fell back onto the soft couch. Not even the strength of his will could support such a fat body. ¡°Who is she? Who are you? What the heck is New Moon Hall?¡±


    The fat chief threw the series of questions to Maid Lotus, a bit of awe in his tone.


    ¡°She is a traitor to our sect. I have been hunting her for a long time. As for other things, it is better not to know.¡±


    At such a blunt answer, the fat chief nodded in agreement, but could not help but ask, ¡°So, she is not fifteen?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°How¡­old is she?¡± The fat chief knew he would probably regret asking this question, but he had to ask, otherwise it would be like a fishbone getting stuck in his throat.


    Maid Lotus probably took into consideration the feelings of the fat chief, pausing a while before saying, ¡°As far as I know, when she defected, she was already forty years old.¡±


    The fat chief could not hold back anymore, vomitting over his own body in front of the guests. The female ves would have to suffer again.


    ¡°How is it possible? How is it possible? Why did she hide in here?¡± The fat chief asked after he hda stopped.


    ¡°You should ask the person who sent here.¡± Maid Lotus was pretty sure that she did note over by herself.


    ¡°Golden Roc Fort. She was sent here by Golden Roc Fort.¡± The fat chief remembered that immediately.

 Chapter 402 - Making Friends

    Chapter 402: Making Friends


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    To the Supreme King, the most important and most dangerous enemy was the Central ins, but he did not overlook the other smaller forces in the region.


    The killers and machetemen of the Shangguan family, along with the merchants and banks of the Meng family in North City had been gathering support all around the Western Region, using both covert and overt means. This was for the rare asion that their connections mighte in useful one day.


    The Gulping Wind Gorge was located in an important passage in Wushan. Naturally, its chief was someone the Golden Roc Fort considered necessary to associate with. Yan Er was just one of the many gifts that Golden Roc Fort had sent the chief over the past several years.


    ¡°The Supreme King sent me an old monster. What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡± The fat chief had just taken another bath and changed all of his clothes. He was still indignant when talking about Yan Er.


    It was not an easy task to clean up after such arge person with a mobility impairment. Gu Shenwei, Maid Lotus and Ha Chilie waited for almost two hours before they saw the fat chief reappear.


    The answer was obvious, so Gu Shenwei did not reply. Ha Chilie hoped to win the fat chief over to Dragon King¡¯s. He spoke angrily, ¡°Of course it¡¯s a trick. The Supreme King wants to see whether the Gulping Wind Gorge is obedient or not. Uncle, all this time, you have been living with a dangerous mole nted by the Supreme King. Luckily, the Dragon King¡¯s guard recognized the assassin and foiled his n. ¡±


    Gu Shenwei reckoned that the small Gulping Wind Gorge was not worthy of the personal attention of the Supreme King, so Yan Er might not be sent by the Golden Roc Fort on purpose. Maybe she had just wanted to escape New Moon Hall. She had hidden in this remote ce with the help of the Golden Roc Fort, but she never expected to meet the Managing Master Maid Lotus here.


    ¡°Supreme King¡¯s ambition is great. I am afraid that the whole Wushan is his target, not just the Gulping Wind Gorge.¡± Naturally, Gu Shenwei would never defend the Supreme King but simply tried to make the conspiracy sound more remarkable.


    The fat chief scowled fiercely and swore not to let the Supreme King seed before ordering people to put on a sumptuous feast as a treat for the Dragon King. Maid Lotus did not participate, and the fat chief was sorry for her absence. He paid a greatpliment to her, and envied the Dragon King for having such an incredible guard with excellent kung fu.


    The banquet continued from the afternoon till midnight. Ha Chilie had drunk most of the wine on behalf of the Dragon King, and he grew sleepy and exhausted. When he returned to the guest room, he fell asleep immediately.


    Gu Shenwei was also very tired, but he did not have time to rest. He sat in the room and waited. After a while, Maid Lotus pushed open the door open entered.


    ¡°How is it?¡± Gu Shenwei had asked Maid Lotus to walk around the vige to see if there were any other Golden Roc Fort killers lurking around.


    Maid Lotus shook her head, ¡°I didn¡¯t find anyone peculiar. If they are here, they must be hidden.¡±


    ¡°Do you trust the chief of the Gulping Wind Gorge?¡±


    When judging a person¡¯s credibility, Gu Shenwei rarely sought the opinions of others. Maid Lotus was taken by surprised and thought honestly about it, ¡°He wants to keep the Gulping Wind Gorge independent, so he and his descendants can continue to rule this small kingdom. They would not want to be under the Golden Roc Fort. Furthermore, he seems to have no idea about the ve girl. ¡±


    Maid Lotus knew that Dragon King was paranoid, so she did not finish her statement. Gu Shenwei was still thinking, but about something else. ¡°I thought that with those specially-made pills, the New Moon Hall would never produce a traitor.¡±


    Although they had united with New Moon Hall, it was still a mystery to Gu Shenwei. He had not even seen its master yet and had only dealt with a few female disciples till date.


    ¡°There is always an exception to everything,¡± said Maid Lotus without going into specifics. ¡°The human heart is unpredictable. Even if we have the most effective pills, there is still no way to make everyone loyal.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not ask any further questions. His rtionship with Maid Lotus was very delicate. Both of them had a small ce in their hearts that they did not want the other to pry into.


    ¡°Everyone is loyal as long as it benefits them. Some people may undertake unprofitable tasks, but not for long,¡± Gu Shenwei continued Maid Lotus¡¯s statement. ¡°This is what irks me. The chief of the Gulping Wind Gorge promised to let us through without hesitation but did not ask for anything in return. ¡±


    ¡°He wishes to collect a toll fee,¡± Maid Lotus reminded him.


    ¡°That was the condition which I proposed, which he immediately agreed to. There was no bargaining. If it were somebody else, he would definitely ask for more.¡±


    ¡°Maybe he was so generous for the sake of Ha Chilie.¡± Maid Lotus did not intend to argue with the Dragon King. She was only trying to consider all the possible avenues for him.


    ¡°Perhaps, but his warmth towards Ha Chilie is fake. The Gulping Wind Gorge is located along an important passage. All the tribes in Wushan have to make friends with him. The Dongshan Mountain Tribe is apparently not their best friend. The fat chief haspromised too much. ¡±


    ¡°There is only one possibility left. He doesn¡¯t think that his promise will be fulfilled. He is only paying lip-service.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was pacing back and forth when he suddenly stopped. ¡°I guess there are two possibilities. The assassins are ambushing in the vige, intending to strike; or else the vige is indeed not prepared. He is waiting for the helpers to arrive.¡±


    ¡°I choose thetter.¡± Maid Lotus believed what she had observed. There were no real masters in the vige. The Dragon King hade so quickly. There was no way anyone could have foreseen his arrival.


    ¡°If we remain safe tonight and the fat chief does his best to keep us in tomorrow morning, then he is waiting for someone, possibly the Golden Roc Fort killers.¡±


    For the second half of the night, they took shifts to rest and remain watching.


    There were no abnormalities in the vige. Even the asional barks from the dogs seemed loud but calm, as if simply reporting that all was peaceful to their owners.


    The next morning, the fat chief sent people to invite the Dragon King and Ha Chilie over. Firstly, they made some chitchat, before talking about the size of the Dragon King¡¯s army and the toll that should be paid. The fat chief was very straightforward. He asked for one tael of silver for each person, 10 thousand taels of silver in total.


    This was a very low price, even less than Gu Shenwei expected. Ha Chilie was very happy, and tried to encourage the friendship between the Dragon King and the fat chief.


    Gu Shenwei took his leave politely. Now, he could pass through the Gulping Wind Gorge without impediment. However, after leaving Wushan, there was still a huge obstacle left to ovee.


    The An Kingdom, which was located to the south of the Xiaoyao Lake, was officially under the Golden Roc Fort now. They would never ept the passage of the troops from the Great Snowmountain troops.


    The fat chief patted on his fat chest. ¡°Dragon King, you can stay here and wait for the army. I will take care of the An Kingdom. I have a very good rtionship with the king; I know the difficulties he has. There is a saying ¡®It¡¯s better to big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond¡¯. His Majesty was forced to surrender to the Golden Roc Fort. Now that you are here with tens of thousands of troops under yourmand, he has nothing to fear anymore. As long as I say the word, the whole kingdom will follow your lead.¡±


    This was a typical show of brotherhood. The Dragon King refused his kindness, but the fat chief insisted on helping. In the end, the fat chief grew angry, ¡°Why? You do not want to be friends with the Gulping Wind Gorge? Besides, it is good for the An Kingdom. As long as you promise to keep the An Kingdom independent, His Majesty will have toe out to wee your army. ¡±


    Gu Shenwei gradually caved. Finally, under the persuasion of Ha Chilie, he epted the good intentions of the fat chief, but strongly insisted on giving somepensation to the Gulping Wind Gorge.


    But the fat chief did not want money or beauties. ¡°I liked these two things when I was young. Now that I am old, suddenly I have no interest in them anymore. I only have one request. I hope you can take my sons with you. If any of them makes any significant contributions in the future, I would be very satisfied and grateful if they are conferred a rank of nobility.¡±


    This request was reasonable, and the Dragon King consented without hesitation. He even made an oath of alliance with the fat chief.


    Friendship was like a fire. If the parties involved keep building it up, soon, everyone would be caught up with being friendly, with no need for a third part to facilitate.


    The fat chief called in many children and grandchildren. He introduced them one by one to the Dragon King. He even wanted to call out his daughters, so that the Dragon King could select one of them and take her with him.


    Gu Shenwei firmly refused. Among the many good intentions of the fat chief, he was only sessful at this one.


    Ha Chilie was touched by the friendly atmosphere and he proudly dered that the Dongshan Mountain Tribe would conquer the world with the Dragon King and maintain a friendship with the Gulping Wind Gorge forever.


    Therefore, the Dragon King stayed in the vige.


    Maid Lotus was also kept upied up tillte afternoon, and could not discretely observe the situation.


    The fat chief envied the Dragon King for having a female guard. So he made a small request, hoping that Maid Lotus could take some time to teach his female ves a few moves, at least to make them calmer when there was an urgent situation.


    The banquet started very early, with only a small break in the middle, and then continued until midnight.


    There were more participants this time and many passing merchants were also invited. They were very surprised to hear that the young man in the distinguished guest seat was the Dragon King. That said, very few of them took the initiative to make friends with him. Only the fat chief and his descendants took turns toasting him enthusiastically.


    The Dragon King made an exception and drank a few more bowls of wine. He had thrown up in public earlier that night, diminishing his aura somewhat. It also made the fat chief feel less embarrassed about his own vomiting incident the day before.


    The banquet was still ongoing, but the Dragon King could only be helped back to his room by two female ves.


    The female ves were ordered to serve the Dragon King all night, but Maid Lotus cleared them all out. ¡°Dragon King can¡¯t drink wine for a reason. When he gets drunk, he will kill. When he wakes up, he doesn¡¯t remember anything. I am the only one who can stop him. You¡¯ll be killed for no reason if you stay here.¡±


    The two female ves left in horror. Since their master was still entertaining the guests, they did not tell him about this small issue.


    Gu Shenwei was indeed not good at drinking, but he was not yet drunk and unconscious. When the two female ves left, he got up immediately.


    The Gulping Wind Gorge was located to the south of Wushan, and to the north of the An Kingdom. It was hard to anticipate which direction the killers woulde from.


    Gu Shenwei intended to work together with Maid Lotus. Neither of them killed alone and they would feel unsafe working by themselves.


    Gu Shenwei reckoned that the fat chief was more likely to invite killers from the An Kingdom.


    The spies of the Golden Roc Fort in Wushan mostly hid their identities. They probably did not have much contact with the Gulping Wind Gorge. The fat chief imed that he had a good rtionship with the An Kingdom, and it probably was not all exaggeration. Therefore, it was most usible for him to seek help from the An Kingdom.


    Gu Shenwei had once asked Ha Chilie about the location of the capital the An Kingdom, and learned that the city was very close to the Gulping Wind Gorge. It would take only three days to make a round trip.


    The Dragon King, Maid Lotus and Ha Chilie had arrived at the vige around noon the day before. If the messenger sent out by the fat chief was fast enough, he could bring the killers over here tonight.


    Gu Shenwei left the room with Maid Lotuster that night. They bolted the door from the inside and jumped out of the window before sneaking out of the vige. They could still hear the merryugher from the banquet even after a distance away.


    There was only one passage through the Gulping Wind Gorge, which saved them a lot of trouble. They hid in ambush in a ce which was less than three miles away from the vige and waited patiently.


    Nothing happened all night. Only a small group of patrolmen went through twice and talked about the luxurious banquet in the vige. They were all very curious about their chief¡¯s generosity.


    Before daybreak, the urgent sounds of horseshoes came from the north. They sounded exceptionally clear in the quiet gorge.

 Chapter 403 - Wrongful Murder

    Chapter 403: Wrongful Murder


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Three people were about to arrive. Gu Shenwei still harboured some doubts, but there was little time left. The three horses passed in a sh, he had no time to ponder about it. Years as a killer had developed in him a habit of nning carefully before acting but having no hesitation when it came time to strike.


    In terms of procedure, this was a perfect assassination with nothing for him to worry about.


    Gu Shenwei struck first. He swept past one of the riders with his saber outstretched. The rider¡¯s head fell to the ground like a ripe fruit falling from its tree.


    The other person had not even realized what had happened before Maid Lotus struck. His head flew into the air as blood from his neck wound spurted a few feet high.


    The sole rider was leftpletely shocked. It was unbelievable to be ambushed so close to home, and his twopanions had died so strangely that he was even more puzzled. Even so, he did not speed up to escape or shout for help. It seemed that he was not afraid. He held the reins of his mount and looked around as if what had happened was merely a childish prank.


    This man did not behave like a killer; his actions showed that he did not even have basic jianghu experience.


    The doubt in Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind suddenly heightened and he could not tamp it down any longer.


    What happened next took no time at all. Gu Shenwei pounced on the third knight just as Maid Lotus struck. However, he changed his mind at the veryst minute and did not strike with his saber. Instead, he squatted on the horse and held his target by the neck.


    The horse raised its front hooves and whinnied.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Gu Shenwei asked softly, close to the rider¡¯s ear.


    The rider was finally shook out of his daze but he was now overwhelmed by fear and could not say a word; he could only let out guttural sounds.


    Gu Shenwei tapped the back of the rider¡¯s head with the hilt of his saber. The threat seemed to infuse some energy back into the rider and he finally spoke. ¡°I, I, I am Starlet,¡± he said.


    ¡°Who were the other two men?¡±


    ¡°Seven, Seventh Master and Yue¡¯er.¡±


    Maid Lotus had carefully examined the two corpses on the ground. She shook her head at Gu Shenwei, signifying that neither of them were Golden Roc killers.


    Gu Shenwei rxed his arm which held the neck of Starlet, ¡°What are you doing, returning back here at night?¡±


    ¡°The Old Master sent a messenger to inform Seventh Master that the honored guest had arrived in the vige and that he should return to the vige immediately.¡±


    Gu Shenwei finally realized that he hadmitted a grave error.


    After careful consideration, he realized that there was no direct evidence that the fat chief was harboring any evil intention. It was just a deduction he made, based on what he understood about human nature. This tactic was time-tested, but today it had failed.


    The customs of the Wushan tribe might be entirely different from that of Jade City.


    Gu Shenwei jumped off the horse and thought about how to make up for his mistake: The fat chief had many children and grandchildren, but he seemed to love them all. He would not be indifferent to the inexplicable death of ¡°Seventh Master¡±.


    He raised his head and then looked at Maid Lotus. They had the same idea about what to do next.


    Gu Shenwei hesitated for a moment, but immediately reminded himself, <em>¡°You are the Dragon King and there are 10,000 soldiers of the Great Snowmountain behind you.¡±</em>


    He sheathed his saber and said to Starlet, ¡°It is a misunderstanding, so you don¡¯t have to be afraid.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Starlet replied. He was still dazed. ¡°Misunderstanding, it¡¯s a mis¡­¡±


    A sword struck Starlet¡¯s left ear. His body straightened momentarily before slowly copsing onto his horse. He died without understanding why, just like his twopanions.


    The whinny of the horse drew the attention of people of the vige and a group of passers-by came running over. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus jumped up to a cliff, the height of three people, and snuck back to their residences in the vige.


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t prove anything. The people of Gulping Wind Gorge may have other plots that we don¡¯t know about.¡±


    Maid Lotus said it as an encouragement.


    However, it made Gu Shenwei vignt again. He suspected that he had inadvertently shown a little weakness which lead to Maid Lotus sympathizing with him. He considered it as a fatal w for somebody like himself who wanted topete for hegemony in the Western Region.


    ¡°Maybe. But this is not important now. In a few days, the vanguard of Long Fanyun will upy this area once. The passage of Wushan shouldn¡¯t be in the hands of outsiders.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was speaking about his ns in advance. Maid Lotus seemed to understand his intention, so she bowed respectfully towards him and withdrew from the room.


    This was the distance Gu Shenwei kept between them deliberately: He needed Maid Lotus, because her kung fu and status could not be reced by anyone, but he did not want to get too close to her.


    He suddenly remembered Shangguan Ru, who was walking on an opposite path. They had be more and more unfamiliar with each other, but there was something simr about them: They had both been hurt deeply by betrayal and then buried their inner feelings using different methods.


    Gu Shenwei had made few mistakes when trying to uncover plots but this was not the first time that he killed a person wrongly.


    When he had fled from the Golden Roc Fort, he had encountered several crises. At that time, he was required to make a quick decision whether to kill or not. In all cases, he chose the former.


    Most of the time, his choices were correct. There were several times in which he would never even need to review whether those choices had been right or wrong. However, there were also two urances when there was clear evidence that he had killed the person wrongly. The dead were just ordinary people and had nothing to do with Golden Roc Fort.


    If he chose to kill, there was always a possibility that it would be a mistake, but it would not be a fatal one. If he chose not to kill; there was still a 50-50 chance that it would be mistake, only that this time, if it was, he would end up dead ¨Cthis was the difference between the two options.


    Shangguan Ru told him about how Old Man Mu ssified villians: Low-ss evildoers tended to fabricate reasons for their deeds while the average ones were forced by reasons provided by others to justify their actions. The ones good at doing evil deeds created reasons and the top-level evildoers did not need any reasons.


    Old Man Mu thought that he was a top-level evildoer and he regarded Gu Shenwei as one of average ss.


    Gu Shenwei felt that Old Man Mu thought too highly of him. He was a junior evildoer and simply faking an excuse to get peace of mind aftermitting wrongful murder.


    Once his thoughts began down this path, it was difficult for him topose himself. An image of an old monk now shed across his mind. This monk also had a theory of good and evil.


    Fayan Master of Four Truths Temple had once said to him: There were no real wicked people in this world. All wicked people needed to disguise themselves as good people, not for others to see, but to appease themselves.


    Although the Old Man Mu and Fayan were not acquainted with each other, their theories about good and evil were simr in some way.


    However, Old Man Mu had died. If not, Gu Shenwei thought that he could bring this devil who believed in ¡°evil is freedom¡± to Fayan, so he could refute the old monk¡¯s argument that ¡°all people are good¡±.


    Gu Shenwei only had time to ponder about it for a while before he was pulled back to reality by sounds from outside.


    One son and two attendants of the fat chief had died near the vige. The news was immediately spread throughout the vige and many people got up and dressed once they heard it.


    The whole vige was in a state of grief and indignation. All the nsmen gathered outside the chief¡¯s house to express their condolences and desire for revenge.


    Most of the businessmen who were making a short stop in the vige also came to express their condolences. A few shrewd people had a premonition that something bad was about to happen, so they urged their subordinates to set out early in the morning without having breakfast.


    Everyone was guessing who the killer was. When Gu Shenwei was invited to see the fat chief, no one dared to make a sound.


    The assassin who had killed the Seventh Master had superb machete skills; even inexperienced people could see that. As a result, everyone naturally thought that the Dragon King had done the deed.


    The fat chief had drunk a lot of winest night, but he did not show any signs of drunkenness now. He sat on a soft couch and held his head in his hands. Silent tears streaked across his face.


    The maids were more careful than usual, keeping their breathing as quiet as they could.


    The fat chief looked up at Gu Shenwei, ¡°This was my son, he was killed by someone.¡±


    Ha Chilie had arrived a little earlier than Gu Shenwei. He whispered with a serious expression, ¡°It happened just now, when the sun had not yet risen.¡±


    ¡°Please ept my condolences. The killers must pay for their crimes, and revenge will be taken.¡±Gu Shenwei¡¯s tone was calm, because he would not allow himself to be controlled by guilt.


    ¡°Revenge must be taken,¡± said the fat chief as he clenched his fleshy right fist, held it aloft, and pounded the empty air in front of him. ¡°This is my favorite son and I wanted him to follow the Dragon King to advance his career, but¡­¡±


    The fat chief took a deep breath and suppressed more tears before saying, ¡°Everyone said that the men who killed my son were some first-ss experts, so I want to ask you to take a look at him for me. ¡±


    The fat chief scooped up his dead son¡¯s head in his hands and held it out, waiting for Gu Shenwei to receive it.


    Gu Shenwei walked towards the chief, picked up the head carefully and then looked at it for a moment, ¡°The cut of saber was smooth and they killed your son with one move. The assassin was indeed a master.¡±


    The fat chief had been staring at Gu Shenwei intently and did not take back his son¡¯s head immediately, ¡°Some viins ran to me and said that the only masters in the vige are the Dragon King and his female guard.¡±


    ¡°Someone is obviously sowing discord.¡± Gu Shenwei, who avoided looking at the eyes of the fat chief, sent the head back with his hands, looking neither surprised nor defensive.


    ¡°Yes.¡± The fat chief took the head and gently stroked the cheek of his son as if he were alive, ¡°Why did you kill my son? There is no reason to do that at all. It must be the assassin who was sent by Golden Roc Fort. Gulping Wind Gorge has made friends with you, so the Supreme King wanted to threaten me in this way.¡±


    The Supreme King was thousands of miles away and could not possibly know what had happened here. Gu Shenwei did not correct the chief¡¯s mistake, simply nodded and said, ¡°The people of Golden Roc Fort will regret this, I promise.¡±


    ¡°We will follow you and battle to the end with Golden Roc Fort even if there is only one person left!¡± The fat chief sweared in a harsh voice.


    After returning back to the room, Gu Shenwei was still thinking about the actions and words of the fat chief. He felt that the chief seemed to see through everything.


    Ha Chilie asked for a meeting.


    The tall Ha Chilie looked embarrassed in front of the Dragon King, as if he was unsure of his status and proximity to Gu Shenwei, ¡°I want to ask you something.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°I know I shouldn¡¯t ask about this and I haven¡¯t the right to ask.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, speak.¡±


    ¡°Did you kill the Seventh Master?¡± Ha Chilie mustered up his courage and asked.


    Gu Shenwei did not deny it immediately, but he was silent for a moment before saying, ¡°What would you do if I did?¡±


    Ha Chilie raised his head to look at Dragon King in surprise before lowering his eyes again. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but¡­ I think I need a reason.¡±


    Gu Shenwei raised his eyebrows. The reason he came up with could only convince himself, but it was useless in convincing others.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do it.¡± He said.


    Ha Chilie heaved a sigh of relief, and his face turned from cloudy to sunny. ¡°I knew it. You don¡¯t need to make enemies. The Gulping Wind Gorge is trustworthy. I know the family very well and they are not snobs. It¡¯s a pity that the Seventh Master died. He had hoped to make a career in the battlefield since he was a child. Although he joined the An Kingdom army and took part in the siege of the capital of Stone Kingdom, he had absolutely no intention to pledge loyalty to the Supreme King. The killers of Golden Roc are everywhere, I think, so we must all be careful, especially the chief. He may be the next target ¡­ ¡±


    Ha Chilie wanted to carry on talking but Gu Shenwei interrupted him and asked with surprise, ¡°Has the Seventh Son of the chief been besieging the capital of Stone Kingdom?¡±


    ¡°Yes. You didn¡¯t know that? But I thought that you was unhappy with him for this reason.¡±


    Ha Chilie had not heard the confession of the servant Starlet, so he did not know how important his words were.


    The capital of Stone Kingdom was far away from Gulping Wind Gorge, and there was the vast Xiaoyao Lake in the middle. Even if the Seventh Master flew, it was not possible to get the news of Dragon King¡¯s arrival in just two days and get back in time.


    As a result, the so-called ¡°distinguished guest¡± of Starlet was not the Dragon King, but someone else¨C a person who had been hidden by the fat chief and never introduced to the Dragon King.

 Chapter 404 - Courtship

    Chapter 404: Courtship


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    What did the servant¡¯sst words mean? Gu Shenwei had been wrong once before. He did not want to make the same mistake again.


    However, he was still interested in the unrevealed ¡°privileged guest¡±.


    The seventh young master hurried back from the Stone Kingdom. He had not stopped to rest the entire night and arrived at the Gulping Wind Gorge around dawn. It was clear that he was very eager to meet with this¡±privileged guest¡±.


    On the contrary, the generous fat chief had introduced almost half of the people in the vige to the Dragon King, without making referring to anyone in particr. In the two days, the only person who was treated as a privileged guest was the Dragon King.


    The father and son¡¯s contradictory behaviors only made Gu Shenwei more suspicious.


    ¡°Ha Chilie, these days you have done much for the Great Snowmountain. I hope to reward you. Whatever you need, just say the word.¡±


    Ha Chilie felt very surprised to hear Dragon King bring up the topic of reward, ¡°Truly, I have not done much. I have just shown the way¡­¡±


    All of a sudden, he realized that the reason the Dragon King had brought this up before the arrival of the army was that the Dragon King did not trust him. He knelt down on one knee,¡±Men from the Dongshan Mountain Tribe value loyalty more than anything else. I remember every single word I said and will never break my promise. I said in the Land of Fragrance that I would go to another war with you, and I did. On the battlefield, I gave up my weapon in return for your help. Thousands of people saw it. Since then, my life belongs to you and no other.¡±


    Gu Shenwei epted the allegiance of this man who was several years older than himself. Different parts in the Western Region had different customs. He must hold different attitudes towards different people.


    The environment of Wushan was a harsh one. But there were minerals buried in here that everyone wanted. Therefore, the tribes here consisted of the simple and tough swordsmen like those from the Great Snowmountainbined with the cunning and snobbery of the Jade City residents. Loyalty, faith, money and power all yed dominant roles here.


    Gu Shenwei could conquer the Great Snowmountain with the sword and the will of heaven, but he had to use other techniques with Ha Chilie, ¡°You have proved your loyalty, Ha Chilie, so I want to reward you by giving you a very important task.¡±


    ¡°Please tell me.¡± Ha Chilie did not say any more. He was very happy that he got a task instead of a reward because this indicated that the Dragon King really trusted him.


    ¡°You can tell me what kind of reward you want. If I have it now, you can get it right away. If I don¡¯t, you will get itter.¡±


    Ha Chilie bowed his head. He already had an idea, but he just did not dare to bring it up. But this moment was a prime opportunity, perhaps his only chance. Ha Chilie once again knelt down, ¡°I hope that I can take you as my master. I want to learn your saber techniques.¡±


    This request surprised Gu Shenwei. He thought about it. ¡°You don¡¯t have to take me as your master, but I will teach you the saber techniques.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Dragon King.¡± Ha Chilie was overwhelmed by happiness, but his words were stingy. Then he got up and waited for the Dragon King to talk about the task he had for him.


    Gu Shenwei hoped to dig out the information of the ¡°privileged guest¡±immediately. He could have waited for the arrival of the troops of the Great Snowmountain but it would minimize the loss of lives if he took the initiative.


    ¡°Those three people were killed by me.¡± Before Gu Shenwei mentioned the task, he would tell the truth. Anyway, Ha Chilie would know it sooner orter.


    Ha Chilie did not speak nor reveal any expression of surprise. He had always spected. Even when the Dragon King denied it previously, his suspicion did not abate. He had imed to know the reason at that time, but he did not insist on his own opinion this time. He believed that the Dragon King had a reason for this.


    ¡°The chief must have figured it out. The troops are approaching. I hope that the gorge will remain open, so I have to know the actions and thoughts of the chief at any moment.¡±


    ¡°I can go find out. I am familiar with many people here.¡±


    ¡°Well, that is too obvious. It is easy to arouse suspicion.¡±


    ¡°What do you want me to do?¡±


    Gu Shenwei paused for a while, ¡°I want you to ask the chief to marry one of his daughters.¡±


    This time, it was Ha Chilie¡¯s turn to be surprised. He was a warrior. He was not scared of running straight into enemy ranks or evading hazardous traps. However, when it came to conspiracies and tricks, his reaction was much slower. ¡°The daughter of the chief? This¡­¡±


    Every time the fat chief met with Ha Chilie, he would say that he wanted to marry his daughter to him, but it was only a joke. Ha Chilie never took it seriously, and the fat chief never insisted.


    ¡°You have to marry a daughter of the chief. You had better choose carefully. The sooner the better. If you can, it will be best to take Maid Lotus with you.¡±


    This is the first time that Ha Chilie heard the name of Maid Lotus. He was stunned, and then bowed and consented. He had already pledged loyalty to the Dragon King, so he couldn¡¯t make excuses when taking on the task. He also figured that this marriage alliance had another purpose.


    Ha Chilie asked for leave and started thinking about how to talk to the fat chief. A young master had just died in the Gulping Wind Gorge and the chief was grieving. This was not a good time to ask for his daughter¡¯s hand in marriage.


    Maid Lotus came out from her hiding ce. ¡°So, you suspect that the¡¯privileged guest¡¯ is a woman?¡±


    ¡°I am thinking about a few things.¡± Gu Shenwei answered Maid Lotus as if talking to himself, ¡°Did the chief really have no idea about the true identity of the female ve? When you revealed the truth, the reaction of Yan Er was strange. She considered you as the biggest evil to the New Moon Hall, but she seemed to hate the chief even more.¡±


    ¡°The disciples of the New Moon Hall are adopted from a young age. There are very few people like me. She hated me for a reason. But it is strange that she hated the chief. With her technique and skills, she shouldn¡¯t have been bullied too badly.¡± Maid Lotus ruminated on Dragon King¡¯s idea. It was like the two of them were like using the same brain to think about the same problem.


    ¡°Yan Er never neglected the illusion even when she was dying. But her performance was exaggerated, which means that she wanted to cover up for someone.¡±


    ¡°Another Golden Roc Fort killer? A female killer?¡±


    Gu Shenwei indulged in his idea, ¡°If Yan Er was performing, then the chief was ying along with her. When he imed that Yan Er was a gift from the Golden Roc Fort, he probably told me that on purpose.¡±


    Maid Lotus heart leapt,¡±There are more traitors of New Moon Hall lurking in here.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my fault. I shouldn¡¯t have had a preconceived opinion at the beginning. I thought it must be the Golden Roc Fort controlling the Gulping Wind Gorge. I made mistakes again and again¡±


    The conclusion he made was still based on spection, but he believed that this time he was right.


    ¡°What a coincidence! I have been looking for them for a long time.¡± The killing intent of Maid Lotus was suddenly awakened before soon disappearing. At that moment, she was not the guard with tacit understanding with the Dragon King, but the Managing Master of the New Moon Hall who possessed great power.


    Gu Shenwei was quick to seize the moment and suddenly realized why some New Moon Hall disciples would betray their sect. Maid Lotus had been favored by the Hall Master. She had a meteoric rise, esepecially due to the stolen ¡°Wayless Book¡±. That would inevitably cause great conflict within the sect.


    Among a group of mad women, it was unrealistic to try topel submission by kindness. Gu Shenwei could imagine the reaction of Maid Lotus in the face of conflict.


    Ha Chilie did an excellent job in fulfilling the task of the Dragon King. Before noon, he asked the fat chief to marry his daughter with some reasonable rhetoric, ¡°Uncle, please forgive my obtrusion. I mean no offense. You have lost a son. I hope that I can take the ce of my seventh elder brother. If you don¡¯t despise me, please take me as a son.¡±


    If the fat chief could stand up, he would surely hold this handsome kid in his arms. He stretched out his arms and waited for him to get close. He firmly held the right hand of Ha Chilie, ¡°I have been waiting for today for so long. Good boy, Gulping Wind Gorge has always been your home.¡±


    The fat chief could not wait to announce the news in public to lighten the miserable atmosphere that was over the vige. The foreign business travelers were all surprised,menting privately that the customs of this ce were so different.


    Ha Chilie¡¯s father was far away, so the young Dragon King was invited to serve as an elder.


    This was another noisy day. Congrattors flooded in, even more than the mourners in the morning. After all, congratting was way easier thanforting.


    The fat chief fulfilled his promise and let Ha Chilie choose his future wife. Under normal circumstances, Ha Chilie should have refused, and allow the chief appoint one for him. But with the task of the Dragon King on his mind, he only refused three times, and then he yielded with a show of reluctance.


    The fat chief had many children, but there were not many daughters who were still unmarried. In fact, Ha Chilie did not have many options. The fat chief med himself for that. Gu Shenwei proposed a solution in a timely manner, ¡°I think Ha Chilie doesn¡¯t have to marry a daughter of the chief, a granddaughter should be fine too.¡±


    The fat chief had no opinion. He only worried that Ha Chilie might not be willing to lower his seniority.


    Ha Chilie pretended to be very happy, uncaring about the age gap. However, he felt that the task of the Dragon King was indeed arduous.


    The selection was carried out in the evening. The Dragon King and Ha Chilie never mentioned Maid Lotus, but when she followed Ha Chilie to see the daughters and granddaughters of the fat chief, no one objected.


    Because of the presence of Maid Lotus. Ha Chilie was willing to do anything for the Dragon King, but there were some situations that he could not handle. The fat chief had around thirty or even forty daughters and granddaughters who were not married. They were in their own home, so all of them were at ease. They whispered to each other, covering their mouths and snickering. Ha Chilie was in the midst of them, extremely embarrassed. He did not even dare to look up, let alone observe them carefully.


    Maid Lotus took a look at them for him, not only thedies but also the maids around them.


    At the same time, Gu Shenwei and the fat chief were having fun drinking. The Dragon King had vomitted the previous night and proved that he was not good at drinking at all. Therefore, the fat chief was ¡°drinking¡± and the Dragon King was responsible for ¡°having fun¡±.


    The experience of being a ve in Golden Roc Fort was indeed helpful. Gu Shenwei still remembered many tricks to please people. These skills had even better effects with him as the Dragon King.


    However, in his heart, he remained vignt.


    The traitors of New Moon Hall might have walked into the trap. They were probably hidden in the midst of the women to observe Maid Lotus. However, they were more likely to see through the tricks of the Dragon King. Now that Dragon King and Maid Lotus were separated, it was a chance for them to attack.


    The purpose of Gu Shenwei was to lure the enemies to act immediately. If they took no action, he would be more worried.


    Then, the ¡°privileged guest¡± of the Gulping Wind Gorge really showed up. She was dressed as a low-level maid, standing at the entrance along with a group of maids. Gu Shenwei found her out when he nced over her for the third time. He was surprised to see that he recognised this woman.


    Her name was Guan Shang, a rare female ck-masked assassin at the Golden Roc Fort, the former protector of Shangguan Fei. She had betrayed the Supreme King and defected to the New Moon Hall, and now she was about tomit betrayal again.


    Maid Lotus had never trusted her. When her swordsmanship had backfired in the desert, the first thing she had proposed to Gu Shenwei was to let Guan Shang leave.


    What made Gu Shenwei even more anxious was that Guan Shang should have stayed in the capital of the Stone Kingdom to protect the princess, Xu Yanwei, and assist Zhong Heng. Now she was in the Gulping Wind Gorge. It was an ominous sign.

 Chapter 405 - Poison

    Chapter 405: Poison


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Among the disciples of the New Moon Hall, except for Maid Lotus, Gu Shenwei was most familiar with Guan Shang.


    In the underground pce of Bodhi Garden in Jade City, the two fought discretely. Gu Shenwei was surprised when Guan Shang revealed that she had be disciple of the New Moon Hall at thest minute.


    Since then, the two had worked together several times.


    Guan Shang was a very good killer. It was no ident that she had be a ck-masked assassin of Shangguan Fei. The New Moon Hall was good at ult sciences and only marginally inferior at practical kung fu. Maid Lotus and Guan Shang were the rare masters among them.


    Many years of training as a ck-masked assassin had enabled Guan Shang to develop a special set of skills: to hide her strength and be as unobtrusive as possible.


    She could disy different levels of kung fu ording to her needs. She could be a weak woman with no strength to truss up a chicken, a mediocre machete man, or a top-tier ck-masked assassin.


    Because of this, every time when Guan Shang was nearby, Gu Shenwei always felt a twang of tension in his heart.


    Today, this feeling of tension came over him unexpectedly. In the beginning, Gu Shenwei did not understand where it came from. He nced over Guan Shang¡¯s disguised face twice but failed to find any w. On the third time, a faint impression shed into his mind. Gu Shenwei suddenly found the source of tension and identified Guan Shang.


    Guan Shang¡¯s disguise was very clever. She had not made herself look younger or older. She still looked about 30 years old. Her facial features were slightly modified, which made her look more ordinary and quite contrary from her real appearance.


    Guan Shang was good at hiding her sharpness. But once Gu Shenwei saw through her disguise, he immediately recalled that this was not the first time Guan Shang appeared in here. In fact, in the past two days, almost every time he met with the fat chief, Guan Shang had always been standing among the group of maids.


    Gu Shen was waiting for Guan Shang to make a move. He was already prepared. He was not afraid of the kung fu of the New Moon Hall disciples, nor their ult sciences. Maid Lotus had assuaged his worries.


    Before he came to see the fat chief, Gu Shenwei spected that the ¡± privileged guest¡± of the Gulping Wind Gorge was probably traitors to the New Moon Hall. That made Maid Lotus more relieved. Golden Roc Fort was a huge organization. Even after full training, there were still many secrets in the Stone Castle that ordinary killers couldn¡¯t get ess to. As to the New Moon Hall, Maid Lotus believed she had already grasped everything about it.


    ¡°If a group of traitors are nning a plot, they will never dare use a real sword for assassination. ¡± Maid Lotus was certain about this, so she and the Dragon King acted separately, rather than staying together to protect each other.


    The real disciples of New Moon Hall were most ustomed to using all kinds of ult sciences including various kinds of poisons when assassinating masters.


    ¡°They have three kinds of poisons to choose from, all odorless and tasteless. ¡± Maid Lotusmented,¡± The first one takes effect fastest, but eating it is harmless. It must be breathed in, so someone will have to risk throwing the powder. We just need to take a little precaution. The second kind also takes effect quickly and needs to be added in food to trick us into eating it. But it takes effect too quickly, by the first swallow, you will know it. If it spits out in time, the harm will not be great, so I don¡¯t think they will use it. The third one has the slowest effect. It takes several doses to kill a person. There is no antidote or trace after the attack. There is no difference between poisoning and sudden death. The name is¡¯Falling Powder¡¯, meaning that its effect resembles an idental fall.¡±


    These were just a few kinds of the specially-made pills in the New Moon Hall. It was not easy to survive in such a sect. Gu Shenwei was curious about one thing, ¡± So¡­ it is easy for the New Moon Hall to kill someone, and it can easily get rid of suspicion afterward.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s very easy, but it¡¯s very troublesome to make the Falling Powder. We won¡¯t casually use it unless it¡¯s an important target. ¡±


    Obviously, the Dragon King and Maid Lotus were both important targets.


    ¡°Maybe we have already eaten it several times unconsciously.¡±


    ¡± Well, it¡¯s possible. But it cannot be confirmed before it takes effect. ¡±


    Although it was impossible to confirm, Maid Lotus still had a way to neutralize the poison, Otherwise, she would not be able to survive in the New Moon Hall. She took out a small wooden box containing over ten red pills.


    Maid Lotus had given him two such pills for a serious Qigong Deviation before. He had not eaten them andter gave them to someone else, but it had not been a big deal then. Now, he would have to face the choice again: to eat or not to eat. The real decision now was how much he wanted to trust Maid Lotus.


    ¡°Before the poison takes effect, this is the only antidote.¡± Maid Lotus were carrying the small wooden box carefully as if it was a priceless but fragile treasure,¡± As long as there are disciples of the New Moon Hall nearby. I have to take one pill every seven days. This is a new product I made in the Land of Fragrance. It has not been used yet.¡±


    The Land of Fragrance was abundant in herbs. Maid Lotus had taken the country¡¯s Fragrance-making High Priest and all his disciples to make many specially-made pills.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s vignce suddenly increased, but he did not show any hesitation on his face. He picked up a pill and threw it into his mouth.


    Maid Lotus also took one pill in front of him.


    ¡°During the seven days, no disciple of the New Moon Hall can secretly harm you .¡± She said.


    Guan Shang would rather sacrifice apanion in Golden Roc Fort, just because she didn¡¯t want Maid Lotus to find out there were more disciples of the New Moon Hall, so that Maid Lotus and the Dragon King would not take the antidote in advance.


    This was a clever idea. However, Gu Shenwei had figured it out and had also recognized her.


    It was gettingte. Ha Chilie chose the ¡± ideal wife¡±. Strictly speaking, this was indeed Maid Lotus¡¯s choice. He got a hint and pointed to a girl around him. Then he left without saying a word.


    The two maids who had been following and watching him carefully smiled knowingly and promptly reported the result to the chief.


    ¡°Ah, my grandson-inw is here. We are really a family this time. You have a good taste. You have chosen my favorite granddaughter.¡± The fat chief warmly congratted Ha Chilie with open arms.


    Ha Chilie¡¯s face was still red. He didn¡¯t know how to call the fat chief. Should he call him ¡°uncle¡± or ¡°grandfather¡±?


    The matter was settled and they sat to have a small talk. The moment Gu Shenwei stood up to leave, his face flushed as if he had been infected by Ha Chilie. But the flush disappeared quickly. Few people noticed anything strange, even the Dragon King himself did not seem to notice it.


    He deliberately did so with his Internal Strength.


    Before the Falling Powder took effect, the victim would not feel anything different, but there would be some subtle signs of umtion. Maid Lotus assumed that they had eaten a little bit of poison at every meal after entering the Gulping Wind Gorge. So she had described the reaction they should have in detail.


    One of them was the sudden flush.


    Gu Shenwei hoped that Guan Shang would make the move as soon as possible. He had been dyed too long in the Gulping Wind Gorge already. In three days, the news of the Dragon King¡¯s reappearance might have spread over half of Xiaoyao Lake.


    He couldn¡¯t strike first. There might be more traitors of the New Moon Hall lurking in the Gulping Wind Gorge. He had to wait until they were all exposed.


    Guan Shang was probably the only one who saw the flush of the Dragon King, but she obviously didn¡¯t think this was the best time to attack, so she still chose to bide her time.


    Gu Shenwei pretended to be clueless.


    Maid Lotus was waiting for him in the room. The moment he came in, she said urgently, ¡± I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll have to kill another person tonight. ¡±


    Among the many daughters, granddaughters and maids of the fat chief, Maid Lotus had not found any disciples of the New Moon Hall. This was normal. No one dared to put on an act in front of the Managing Master. It had been an ident that Yan Er got recognized. She never expected that Maid Lotus woulde to the Gulping Wind Gorge so soon.


    But Maid Lotus had found a master.


    She was a maid, and her owner was the fiancee chosen by Ha Chilie.


    Maid Lotus naturally had a reason to point out this granddaughter of the fat chief. The maid had thought that she was exposed and her eyes revealed killing intent and panic. This reaction made Maid Lotus more sure that this maid was good at kung fu.


    ¡°It was a test. They wanted to know if our target was still the Golden Roc Fort killer, so they sent a target. ¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought her judgment was urate and agreed with her decision. Then he told her that he had recognized Guan Shang.


    Hearing that news, Maid Lotus was silent for a moment. ¡± I never fully trusted her. ¡±


    Gu Shenwei remembered that Guan Shang was always nervous in front of Maid Lotus, and humbled herself even more than the lowest ves. Maid Lotus also warned the Dragon King not to let Guan Shang get close when she was suffering from the Qigong Deviation.


    ¡± We have to do it as soon as possible, I¡¯m worried that changes have taken ce in the Stone Kingdom. ¡±


    ¡°There is only one day. We have taken enough Falling Powder. It should take effect around noon tomorrow. ¡±


    The two bolted the door from the inside and jumped out of the window again. After they had appointed the fiancee for Ha Chilie, they wanted to assassinate the fiancee¡¯s maid.


    There was also another possibility that the maid had deliberately exposed her identity in order to lure these two into the trap. It was highly possible if the opponent was a Golden Roc Fort killer. But the tactics of the disciples of the New Moon Hall were different. Maid Lotus believed that poison was their choice.


    The seventh young master had just been assassinated, and the guards in the vige was obviously much vignt. After midnight, there were still many people patrolling around with torches. There were also many secret posts arranged in various ces.


    There was only one way through the Gulping Wind Gorge. There was nowhere to hide. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus stealthily edged along the cliff, dodging arge number of torches and moving along the shadows towards the target.


    Most of the residences here had two or three floors, and women generally lived on the highest floor. Maid Lotus had already found out the residence of thedy and the maid in advance so they had no need to look around.


    This was a strange assassination. Both the murderers and the victim had jumped bought into the scam voluntarily.


    At the expense of a master, it was only to convince the Dragon King and Maid Lotus that the one behind the plot was the Golden Roc Fort. If Gu Shenwei did not have some knowledge of the New Moon Hall, he would never believe that someone coulde up with such a n.


    The New Moon Hall was full of lunatics. Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help thinking about what Maid Lotus had been through over these years. Perhaps it was even worse than the pain of ice sting when she was suffering from the Qigong Deviation.


    There were ventting windows on the cliff wall. As usual, Gu Shenwei was responsible for opening the windows and killing people while Maid Lotus stayed behind to guard against the enemy¡¯s sneak attack.


    Gu Shenwei pried open the window with a dagger. He gently opened it a crack and took a look. He found that they did not need to get in at all.


    There were two bodies lying on the ground without their heads. Gu Shenwei could not see any more details. He could only guess that these two people were thedy and the maid that Maid Lotus had suspected.

 Chapter 406 - Maid

    Chapter 406: Maid


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Maid Lotus also peeked inside. After they had returned to the room, she told Gu Shenwei that she could not identify the bodies.


    The two headless bodies could be anyone.


    Before dawn, a mournful scream woke up the whole vige. Everyone soon learned that a granddaughter of the chief was assassinated, along with her personal maid. Their heads were both cut off.


    Who was cruel enough to assassinate two defenseless weak women? The nsmen and merchants in the vige immediately thought of the Golden Roc Fort. The son of the Dongshan Mountain Tribe¡¯s chief had just chosen his fianc¨¦e, and then his fiancee¡¯s head was cut off. It was obvious that the Golden Roc Fort had done this.


    The Dragon King easily got rid of suspicion. In the eyes of ordinary people, Ha Chilie was a subordinate of the Dragon King. He wouldn¡¯t do this to his own man.


    Ha Chilie wasn¡¯t very enthusiastic about the marriage, but ending it in this way was beyond his tolerance. As soon as he heard the news, he went to see the fat chief. He swore to avenge his fiancee.


    ¡°The murderer is not only the enemy of the Gulping Wind Gorge, but also the sworn enemy of Dongshan Mountain Tribe. Even if I have to chase him to the ends of the earth, I will kill him myself. ¡±


    Ha Chilie¡¯s anger was appreciated by many people, especially the fat chief. He had always been able to keep his equanimity, but he had suffered a heavy blow by losing two kids in session. He appeared to be much older all of a sudden.


    Gu Shenwei was also present at the scene and gave the typical condolences. Most of the time, he was observing carefully.


    The grief of the fat chief was sincere, no w could be detected. But this time, only one of his many granddaughters died, he looked even more sad and withered than when he lost the seventh young master. That was a little bit incongruent.


    Guan Shang was also there, still unobtrusively hiding among the maids.


    After all, Dragon King and Ha Chilie were outsiders, so they soon left.


    On the way, Ha Chilie kept silent with his head down, seemingly preupied.


    He probably still suspected that the Dragon King was the murderer. Gu Shenwei did not intend to tell the truth now. They would carry out the plot of Maid Lotus soon, and then everything woulde to light naturally.


    ¡± Dragon King. ¡± When they almost arrived at their residence, Ha Chilie stopped. He looked around to make sure nobody was watching and then said, ¡± I don¡¯t know how to say this ¡­¡±


    ¡± I don¡¯t want to lie to you, but I can¡¯t tell the truth right now, so don¡¯t ask.¡± Gu Shenwei hoped to get rid of Ha Chilie by saying so.


    However, Ha Chilie looked very confused. Apparently, he had no idea what the Dragon King was talking about. Gu Shenwei realized that he was wrong about Ha Chilie¡¯s intention, ¡°Speak your mind. What¡¯s the matter? ¡±


    Ha Chilie looked around again, ¡± Pleasee to my room.¡±


    Gu Shenwei hesitated for a moment and then agreed. Ha Chilie and his tribe were very important in Wushan and would be a powerful ally of the Great Snowmountain now and in the future. It was worth it to draw them over to his side even though there were risks.


    Ha Chilie¡¯s room was next to the Dragon King¡¯s. His room was also medium-sized withplete facilities and gorgeous decorations. The fat chief really did not treat him as an outsider.


    Ha Chilie was still not at ease even after shutting the door. He pushed open the window and peeped out. He looked even more nervous than before.


    Gu Shenwei was holding the hilt of his sword. This little trick couldn¡¯t fool him. There were at least two others hiding in the room.


    Ha Chilie turned around and saw the Dragon King on full alert. He exined immediately,¡± Don¡¯t get me wrong. It¡¯s not me who wants to see you, it¡¯s her¡­¡±


    Hardly had his voice faded away when the cab door in the corner opened silently. Two women came out. The younger one was around 15 and panicking. The older one was around 20 and alert just like the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei was surprised. He vaguely knew the identities of these two, but still felt that it was strange.


    Ha Chilie pointed to the younger girl and said, ¡± This is Miss Ming Zhen.¡± Then he pointed to the older woman,¡±This is ¡­ ¡±


    ¡± My name is Han Xuan. ¡± The woman introduced herself,¡± I¡¯m half a disciple of the New Moon Hall. ¡±


    Ming Zhen was the fiancee chosen by Ha Chilie. Han Xuan was naturally the master discovered by Maid Lotus. They should be dead in the bedroom instead of standing in front of the Dragon King.


    The situation had changed dramatically. Gu Shenwei still held the hilt of his sword and remained silent. This time, it was the two women who had e back from the dead¡± that needed to exin.


    Ming Zhen was a pampered youngdy. It was not easy for her to still stay conscious after a sudden ident. She couldn¡¯t speak at all, so Han Xuan took it upon herself to speak with the Dragon King.


    ¡± You must be surprised. ¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡± Did you see the bodiesst night? ¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Where is Maid Lotus? I want her to stand in front of my eyes. Her hiding in the dark makes me nervous. ¡±


    Han Xuan¡¯s attitude was somewhat aggressive, and Gu Shenwei did not feel like ceding to her wishes. ¡°If you wanna tell me something, say it now. I can¡¯t stay for long and I think you have even less time.¡±


    Han Xuan seemed to be on the verge of losing her temper but she quickly restrained it. She sighed, ¡°Yes, there is no time. Let¡¯s cut to the chase, Dragon King, Miss Ming Zhen and I need your protection.¡±


    ¡± Let¡¯s start from the beginning. Who are the two bodies? ¡±


    ¡°Two washerwomen. Their names don¡¯t matter. They are our scapegoats.¡±


    Even a perfect spection could be riddled with loopholes. Gu Shenwei¡¯s previous spection had been merely based on a few words and his understanding of human nature. Hecked sufficient understanding about the Gulping Wind Gorge and the family of the fat chief. He did not ignore any clue, but there was simply some information he couldn¡¯t get ess to.


    Ming Zhen, nominally the granddaughter of the fat chief, was actually his own daughter. She was once very favored, but after her mother died, the favor had faded away.


    Her mother died unexpectedly, leaving nothing but the grievances of the previous generation.


    Han Xuan¡¯s life experience was moreplicated. She was abandoned shortly after birth at the gate of the stockaded vige and adopted by the chief¡¯s family as an illegitimate daughter of ves. When she was around six years old, a mysterious woman came here suddenly. She taught her kung fu and told her that her family name was supposed to be Han and her biological mother was somebody who had a great history.


    The mysterious woman came once or twice a year. Another woman named Yan Er hade four years ago. She was the one who told Han Xuan about the New Moon Hall. She imed that Han Xuan¡¯s mother had been a major figure in the Hall, and had asked her to take care of Han Xuan before she died. She then asked whether the previous mysterious woman had left some kind of secret manuscript.


    Han Xuan had nothing in her hand. In fact, she had only learned a few normal kung fu moves but knew nothing about ult sciences. She was barely a master, and she had never really had a fight with anyone.


    Yan Er stayed here and eventually believed Han Xuan¡¯s words a yearter. But she became interested in the Gulping Wind Gorge. She had a set of skills that Han Xuan would not speak of and soon won the favor of the fat chief.


    Han Xuan was forgotten and continued to be a maid. She had no idea about the level of her kung fu, so she had never thought of leaving the Gulping Wind Gorge to explore the jianghu alone.


    Ming Zhen was the seconddy she served. They sympathized with each other. Both of them once had a mother who could protect them. And they both had suffered from the fickleness of the world since their mother passed away.


    Not long ago, more and more strange women came here, all of whom were Yan Er¡¯s acquaintances. They hid themselves using this identity and rarely made public appearances.


    When the traitors of the New Moon Hall needed a bait to mislead the Dragon King and Maid Lotus, Han Xuan was remembered again. She could not use ult sciences, and her kung fu had nothing to do with the New Moon Hall. She was the ideal candidate.


    As for Miss Ming Zhen, her death was all in vain. Besides, no one cared about her life except for the fat chief.


    This n should not have gone wrong. Ming Zhen was only a pampered kid. Han Xuan was older but had no experience in jianghu. Even though she knew that the human heart was sinister, she still couldn¡¯t see through the plot. She didn¡¯t know how to hide herself in front of a real master, so she was the best ruse to attract the attention of Maid Lotus.


    Guan Shang and others underestimated Ming Zhen. Even though she was only 15 years old, she had a better understanding of the fickleness of human nature than Han Xuan. She was much more mature. What remained childlike was only her face, not her mind.


    Ming Zhen was invisible, like air. Family members thought little of her and rarely avoided her when they were talking. She figured out that Han Xuan was in danger, and then deduced that she must also be in danger.


    The two washerwomen were sisters, who died at the same time just two days ago. Ming Zhen hade up with the idea and Han Xuan carried the bodies of the scapegoats.


    Even at this time, they did not consider about escaping from the Gulping Wind Gorge to fend for themselves, but decided to find a backer.


    Ha Chilie was naturally selected.


    Ming Zhen had a good impression of this tall and rugged man. ¡°Let¡¯s go to him and let him tell the truth to the Dragon King.¡±


    It was still Ming Zhen¡¯s idea, but she hadn¡¯t said a word since she entered the room. Han Xuan did all the talking.


    No one could figure out a truth like this, even he was way smarter than Gu Shenwei.


    ¡± How many women of the New Moon Hall are there in the Gulping Wind Gorge?¡± Their story of escape was intriguing, but Gu Shenwei was more concerned about the enemy¡¯s situation.


    ¡± I don¡¯t know, probably ¡­ seven or eight. ¡± Han Xuan despised Yan Er for her behavior, so she never took part in or paid attention to her affairs.


    Ming Zhen quickly looked up at the Dragon King and seemed to want to say something, but the words vanished on the tip of her tongue, leaving her lips moving silently.


    Han Xuan interpreted the meaning of her immediately, ¡± Oh, she said at least ten, no more than fifteen, mostly living in the Jiuqu Cave. ¡±


    ¡± Where is the Jiuqu Cave? ¡±


    Han Xuan looked at the Dragon King with surprise, as if not knowing about the Jiuqu Cave was an unforgivable mistake.


    Ha Chilie knew that the maid had a very weird temper, so he answered for her, ¡± It¡¯s a cave in the north of the stockaded vige. It¡¯s said to have twists and turns inside, so it is called Jiuqu Cave. It¡¯s a sanctuary for the nsmen of the Gulping Wind Gorge. It hasn¡¯t been used for many years, has it? ¡±


    ¡°No one has used it since I was young, but the people here all know Jiuqu Cave.¡± Han Xuan still felt that Ha Chilie¡¯s exnation was redundant.


    ¡± When did Guan Shange to the stockaded vige?¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t care about Han Xuan¡¯s attitude after he learned about her personality.


    ¡± Guan Shang? Who is Guan Shang? ¡±


    ¡± A woman about 30 years old. She pretends to be a maid, and is always standing close to the chief. ¡±


    ¡± Her, maybe a month or more.¡±


    ¡°Forty-five days.¡± Miss Ming Zhen finally opened her mouth. Her voice was as quiet as a mosquito.


    Gu Shenwei made a rough calction. Forty days was the duration Wushan tribe coalition forces had to fight against the Great Snowmountain in the Land of Fragrance.


    No one believed that their enemy would be the Dragon King when the nobles of the Land of Fragrance came to Wushan to seek reinforcements. Now it seemed that some people had taken the news seriously. It might not be a coincidence that Maid Lotus had run into traitors of the New Moon Hall in the Gulping Wind Gorge.

 Chapter 407 - Gifts

    Chapter 407: Gifts


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Dragon King and Maid Lotus had no choice but to halt their initial n after listening to the vital information that Miss Ming Zhen and her maid, Han Xuan, had brought.


    The two headless corpses would not fool the others for long. The traitors of New Moon Hall would know that their cover was exposed once they realized that these two baits had pledged allegiance to Dragon King. It would, therefore, be meaningless for Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus to pretend to be poisoned.


    Ming Zhen was a cautious girl. Although she did not speak much, everything she said was information that Gu Shenwei desired.


    Ming Zhen was known as the fat chief¡¯s granddaughter, but it was only in name. In fact, she was his daughter actually. The fact that she did something out of the blue that shocked her family and the traitors from New Moon Hall made Gu Shenwei impressed, but he was also naturally suspicious of her.


    Dragon King¡¯s gaze was intense and powerful, as though his eyes were a thin de that could prate one¡¯s thoughts and shatter them into pieces.


    Ming Zhen could not even withstand a single nce and grasped Han Xuan¡¯s arm tightly as her petite figure trembled. She was afraid she would faint if Dragon King stared at her any longer.


    However, Han Xuan waspletely opposite character. Either she was too daring, or she was numb; she had no reaction to the intense gaze. She caressed the Miss¡¯ arm and stared back at Dragon King fiercely. ¡°Don¡¯t you go frightening a child! Aren¡¯t you embarrassed, as a grown man, to be staring down at Miss like that?¡±


    Gu Shenwei slowly loosened his grip on the saber. He did not waste any more time with Han Xuan and turned to Ha Chilie instead. ¡°Stay here. Do not go out no matter who calls you.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Ha Chilie had a feeling that there would be a fight, but he was calm. This was a task that he was best at, and something that he wanted to carry out.


    Gu Shenwei looked at Han Xuan again, ¡°Have you killed before?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I was the one who cut off the heads of the two corpses.¡±


    ¡°Have you killed someone living before?¡±


    Han Xuan thought for a moment. Without answering directly, she raised her head and said, ¡°Isn¡¯t it easy? I just have to be harsher when I strike.¡±


    Gu Shenwei could not spare any more time guarding them so their lives would rest on Ha Chilie¡¯s shoulders. ¡°If you want to keep you and your Miss alive, you will need to strike with all your might no matter who barges inter. It¡¯s not about striking harsher, but trying to kill with all your strength, as if you facing down the enemy who killed your mother.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I know what to do. Why waste my stamina? What if there are a lot of enemiester on?¡± Han Xuan shook her head repeatedly, still stubbornly holding onto her own views.


    Gu Shenwei drew out his saber and swung it forward. His action was so swift that before Ha Chilie had called out, ¡°Dragon King, have merc-¡°, he had already returned to his original position and lowered his saber.


    Dragon King¡¯s killing intent was reserved while Maid Lotus¡¯ was overwhelming. Han Xuan was able to feel the sheer force from Maid Lotus and underestimated Dragon King because of this. Faced with the sudden strike, she was startled and puzzled. But then she understood what had happened and looked down. Half of her earringy on the ground. Then she touched her ears and realized it was hers.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Han Xuan was angry. Completely disregarding the difference in strengths between the two, she struck a blow toward Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei struck the second time before turning to leave. This time, the target was not Han Xuan, but Ming Zhen who was standing behind her.


    Han Xuan struck three blows, each blow was more powerful than before, but none of it even brushed Dragon King¡¯s clothes.


    Ming Zhen only felt a slight breeze beside her ear and had no idea what just happened. She only let out a scream after Dragon King had disappeared and covered her mouth immediately.


    Her earrings were cut in half and had fallen to the ground.


    Han Xuan was convinced. Indeed, Dragon King was not someone with an undeserved reputation. His machete skills were out of this world and even the mysterious woman who used to teach her Kung Fu was not his match either. But she remained stubborn and asked Ha Chilie, ¡°Hey groom, is Dragon King always so rude and rough?¡±


    The ¡°groom¡± address embarrassed the other two in the room. Ha Chilie smiled wryly and said, ¡°It is just Dragon King¡¯s way of letting you know that when the enemy approaches, you might only have a chance to strike one or two blows. You will need to strike with all your strength since it¡¯s a life-and-death battle. It¡¯s not just a sparring and there is no time for you to test the waters.¡±


    Han Xuan frowned. Although she did not like the way Dragon King reasoned with her, she was still convinced and felt that this groom was rather naggy.


    Maid Lotus remained in Dragon King¡¯s room next door. Gu Shenwei skipped the story of Ming Zhen and her maid and only revealed what was most important for now. ¡°There are a total of 10 to 15 traitors from New Moon Hall. Except for Yan Er, the others had just arrived and they were all waiting for you.¡±


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s not really a coincidence as well.¡± Maid Lotus said with disdain in her tone. It was her most obvious emotion as of now. ¡°When shall we make a move?¡±


    ¡°Now, we don¡¯t need to pretend to be poisoned anymore.¡± Gu Shenwei could not help but feel anxious. He had not taken shortcuts to save these few days¡¯ of time for all his efforts to be wasted on the Gulping Wind Gorge. This was not part of his n at all.


    No matter how risky it was, he decided to take the risk and believe Ming Zhen¡¯s words.


    Maid Lotus nodded, she was more confident since the opponents were traitors of New Moon Hall.


    Jiuqu Cave was located on the northern edge of the vige. The name itself already sounded like a good ce toy an ambush. Gu Shenwei hade up with a simple n and hoped that it would lure the traitors from New Moon Hall out.


    They headed straight to the residence of the fat chief after heading out.


    It was just after noon and the vige was busy as usual. Dozens of heavily armed soldiers were patrolling, and the entire atmosphere was tense. But other than that, the deaths of the fat chief¡¯s family had no influence on the vige.


    The residence was very quiet, not only were there no visitors, even the female ves who were always around the fat chief had disappeared as well.


    The fat chief had been waiting for Dragon King and Maid Lotus to arrive. He was not surprised when the two of them entered without anyone noticing.


    Gu Shenwei gently drew out the Five Peaks Saber. He could put on all kinds of pretense when necessary, but he still preferred to handle things directly.


    ¡°Dragon King is such an impatient man.¡± The fat chief looked at the sharp saber, his hands resting on his plump belly like an enormous clumsy puppet. He could only stand still when he faced imminent danger.


    ¡°Yes, I am in a hurry.¡±


    Gu Shenwei went up to the fat chief, a mere six to seven steps away from him. Maid Lotus remained at the door, her sword already drawn.


    ¡°I have something to say.¡± The fat chief was slightly uneasy.


    Gu Shenwei waited for him to speak.


    ¡°Have you met Mingzhen?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°That girl is very smart, she takes after her mother¡­¡±


    ¡°That is not what I want to hear.¡±


    ¡°Yes, what I want to say is that the girls of New Moon Hall wish for reconciliation. They have no ambitions and only want to live in peace and stability, and have children like normal people. There is no need to fight as long as Maid Lotus agrees to it. The Gulping Wind Gorge will still be open to Dragon King¡¯s army.¡±


    The fat chief¡¯s proposal was worth considering if not for the previous conspiracies. For the sake of greater interests,promise was essential. Contradictions within New Moon Hall should not be an obstacle to the advancement of the army.


    However, the time for negotiations had passed. More than a dozen traitors from New Moon Hall were gathered in Gulping Wind Gorge to get rid of Maid Lotus. There was no reason for them to give up easily.


    ¡°Ask them toe out then, we can talk about it.¡± Gu Shenwei humored him.


    ¡°They don¡¯t dare toe out, they are afraid of the Dragon King, and they are even more afraid of Maid Lotus.¡±


    Probably noticing that Dragon King¡¯s intention to kill was growing, the fat chief quickly added, ¡°In order to show my sincerity, I want to give Dragon King a present.¡±


    The fat chief pped his hands. Two men wielding sabers appeared from each side.


    The four of them were genuine Golden Roc killers, that was clear. Gu Shenwei was always spot-on when it came to recognizing these people.


    The spies from Golden Roc Fort in Wushan had split into two groups. In an attempt to sneak into the Great Snowmountain army, one group remained in the mountains and encouraged the mine thieves to ambush the coalition forces made up of the tribes. But Dragon King had seen through their antics and had captured all of them. Another group had headed straight for Gulping Wind Gorge, hoping to seal the route and prevent Dragon King and his soldiers from returning to the Western Region.


    Under the guidance of Ha Chilie, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus took shortcuts and managed to stay ahead of the second group. But they too had finally arrived.


    This was the ¡°present¡± given by the fat chief. A present that was full of poisonous spikes and to be removed only by the person who received it.


    Both sides understood the meaning of this duel. Whoever won could take possession of the Gulping Wind Gorge. The fat chief was a wise man and no matter how bold and generous he was, in the end, he would only choose the stronger one or perhaps, not at all.


    The duel followed the typical style of Golden Roc Fort. Nobody spoke from the start. All sabers were drawn out from the scabbards and everybody walked forward cautiously.


    The fat chief was right in the middle of the duel circle. He struggled to move his neck and looked at the killers who were ready to strike at any moment. It was as though they were merely toys that he owned. ¡°Well, don¡¯t dirty the floor. It had just finished cleaning¡­¡±


    One of the Golden Roc killers standing on the left in front of Gu Shenwei struck first, brushing closely past the fat chief¡¯s sleeping mat.


    From the first day of his defection from Golden Roc Fort, Gu Shenwei was never the biggest target of Supreme King. He was only a stain, which could be removed by professionals. Although the stain was stubborn, it was not fatal.


    This was a good thing for Gu Shenwei. These four Golden Roc killers had all heard of Dragon King before, but still chose to adopt standard attack tactics and did not regard him as an enemy that they needed to respond agilely to.


    Gu Shenwei knew what was going to happen the moment the killer on his left moved a step. So he leaned forward, pretending that he was going to face the opponent, but his right foot stepped backward instead. He turned slightly and struck with a blow, stabbing the killer at the back on the right.


    The ¡°front feigning attack while the back strikes an ambush¡± was a basic tactic for teamwork in Golden Roc Fort. They were too careless to use this trick against Dragon King.


    Suddenly, there was a weakness in the encirclement of the four killers, and although the remaining three killers could still stand in their respective positions to block the gap, Gu Shenwei did not want to give them the opportunity. Once the battle had started, it would only stop when there was a clear victory.


    One blow, two blows, three blows. Gu Shenwei¡¯s steps were faster than his saber. He had already walked several steps within three strokes, and every step was a change in direction.


    The fat chief¡¯s demands were met. All four bodies were cut at the throat and there was little blood. As requested, the floor was not dirtied.


    The whole process was too short and it was not what the fat chief had expected. Moreover, Maid Lotus had watched from the side and did not even participate. He regretted not listening to Guan Shang¡¯s advice. Guan Shang was the only one who had witnessed Dragon King¡¯s Kung Fu before ,yet he had not taken her words seriously.


    ¡°Good machete techniques.¡± The fat chief tried to sit up straight and praised Dragon King.


    Suddenly, Gu Shenwei realized that the fat chief was trying to escape. Just when he was about to stop him, a saber stabbed down from above his head.


    At the same time, the fat chief, along with the sleeping mat beneath him sank ¨C he was about to disappear soon.

 Chapter 408 - Abdication

    Chapter 408: Abdication


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Someone had sneaked an attack from above, and within steps away, the fat chief was about to escape. Even if Gu Shenwei was fast enough, he could only make a choice between defending himself or nabbing the guy.


    cing his personal safety into the hands of Maid Lotus, he chose thetter instead.


    Several steps away from Dragon King, Maid Lotus was standing at the door all along. The thought of joining the fight did not cross her mind until Dragon King made his decision ¨C and before he even moved forward- she had already guessed his intentions and charged towards him with her sword in hand, just in time to face the killer from above.


    The five Golden Roc killers initially nned to tackle Dragon King with four people while another would make a surprise attack from the top of the cave. Failing to find a suitable opportunity as the fight below ended too soon, the killer at the top took the risk and attempted to strike a blow.


    As Maid Lotus swept past him and came beside Dragon King, behind her, the killer copsed heavily onto the ground, dirtying the clean floor after all as blood flows profusely from his mouth and chest.


    Gu Shenweiyed t on the ground, gripping the fat chief¡¯s wrist tightly. The wrist might seem dwarf-looking inparison to the master¡¯s body, however, it is actually two times wider than normal, and Gu Shenwei could only hold on to slightly more than half of the wrist with his hand.


    He could withstand the weight but it was not easy to pull him up especially when the fat chief was struggling hard, unwilling to give in.


    The movable door under the soft bedding uses an up-down mechanism, and as it was stuck at the fat chief¡¯s bum, it started making creaking sounds the more he struggled.


    Unable to find a space to rest her hand, Maid Lotus then pointed to the plump wrist of fat Chief¡¯s with her sword and asked, ¡°Do you want me to cut it off?¡±


    Maid Lotus was merely scaring him. Of course, they could not just possibly keep a palm after going through so much to capture the prey. The fat chief was a clever man, but it was hard to think straight when he was hanging in midair. Upon hearing that, he quickly uttered: ¡°Don¡¯t cut it, don¡¯t cut it. Hold on to me, I¡¯lle up.¡±


    Gu Shenwei exerted strength and gradually pulled the fat chief up as he stopped struggling.


    Internal Strength was practiced using both the Qi and Internal Breath, and although it had the effect of strengthening the body as well, it was still two separate matters when ites to lifting weights by just using brute strength. Gu Shenwei was also tired out when the fat chief, weighing several hundreds of catties fell back to the ground. He secretly channeled his Internal Breath and ordered the fat chief to speak up.


    The fat chief could only sit on the ground as the sleeping mat had fallen into the ground. As his eyes flickered between the two of them, he said, ¡°What do you want me to say?¡±


    ¡°You will have to guess this yourself.¡±


    Gu Shenwei held the Five Peaks Saber against the fat chief and stabbed half an inch into his sturdy chest. To normal people, it might cause quite a vital damage, but it was merely a slight prickly sensation for the fat chief. Still, he was unable to withstand it and felt chills all over, ¡°I will say, I will say.¡±


    The fat chief wiped the sweat from his forehead, ¡°But you have to promise not to kill me.¡±


    ¡°As long as there are no traitors from New Moon Hall in the Gulping Wind Gorge, I will not kill you.¡±


    ¡°They forced me to eat a lot of dubious pills, can Maid Lotus save me?¡±


    ¡°Yes, she can.¡±


    ¡°Uh, you can¡¯t kill my sons and grandchildren either.¡±


    Gu Shenwei poked the Five Peaks Saber further by another half an inch to answer his endless conditions.


    The fat chief could no longer care about the safety of his children and grandchildren, so he quickly said, ¡°These five people arrived this morning. They had already heard that Dragon King is here and wanted to set traps, I had no other choice but to agree.¡±


    This was not what Gu Shenwei wanted to know particrly, so the saber still remained in the fat chief¡¯s body.


    The fat chief felt dizzy. For the first time, he knew that it was not pain but fear when being stabbed by a saber. It was a fear that he was unable to suppress. As though there exists another part of himself that was always well-hidden; it would appear and took control of the authority of his own body when ites to life-and-death situations, demanding that he should save his life at all costs.


    ¡°New Moon Hall. Dragon King would like to know about New Moon Hall. There¡¯s a total of 13 people, only Yan Er had been staying here all this while. Now that she was dead, there are still 12 remaining, and these people had only arrived within these two months. Around a month ago, it was reported that several tribes had discovered a country as heard from legends, and were about to fight against Dragon King for the rulership. In fact, not a lot of people believed in this matter. Everybody at that time had assumed that Dragon King was already dead. But Yan Er took it seriously. She said that Dragon King won¡¯t die so easily because there was a big trait¡­ Maid Lotus was with you. So she gathered her fellow sisters and wanted to explore the mountains. Who would have known that the two of you had already arrived before they even started their chase.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was able to guess this information as well, so he asked, ¡°Where are they hiding now?¡±


    ¡°Jiuqu Cave, they seldome out.¡±


    ¡°What about Guan Shang?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sometimes Guan Shang woulde out and pretend to be my servant to observe Dragon King¡¯s reaction. I forgot to mention, they put poison in Dragon King¡¯s food and said that it will take about three to five days for the effect to show. Originally, Guan Shang mentioned that Dragon King had already walked into their trap, but after noticing Ming Zhen and Han Xuan missing, she dreadfully realized that both of you must have already came prepared. Therefore, they would need to think of another way. Just these five Golden Roc killers had arrived, so¡­ it¡¯s not my idea, actually. I really had no other choice. The lives of all my family lie in their hands¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not want to listen to hisints, so he slightly used some strength on the saber to interrupt him. ¡°Take us to Jiuqu Cave.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, I hope¡­ no, no, Dragon King will surely be able to get rid of them at one go and save everybody from the young to old in the Gulping Wind Gorge from the devil¡¯s ws¡­¡±


    The fat chief was very good at acting, as he easily changed from a bold and generous demeanor to one that was fawning and ttery. After realizing that it did not gain any reactions from the two, he changed into a pragmatic demeanor and point to the trap door beside him. ¡°You can go from here, it leads directly to the inside of the Jiuqu Cave. Sneak a surprise attack on them.¡±


    ¡°How many exits are there in Jiuqu Cave?¡±


    ¡°Three. There¡¯s one at the front door, one here, and another on the cliff. That¡¯s a secret exit and not a lot of people know about it.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,e with me to get rid of the traitors of New Moon Hall. You and your son can live when all of them are dead.¡±


    The fat chief used up all of his strength to lift up his bottom, before letting out a sigh. He said apologetically, ¡°I, I can¡¯t leave.¡±


    After the fat chief was sitting on the ground again, Maid Lotus retreated back to the door to monitor the situation outside. Suddenly, she said, ¡°They have escaped.¡±


    Just when she finished talking, someone rushed into the hall and said, ¡°Something bad has happened, something bad has happened¡­¡±


    It was the fat chief¡¯s butler. He was shocked upon entering and seeing the five corpses lying on the ground. He understood that something grave had happened here when he took a second look and realized his master was being held against with a weapon, sitting on the ground. ¡°Uh, oh, this¡­ I¡­ chief, several young masters had suddenly passed out, it¡¯s as though¡­ I wille backter.¡±


    As the butler turned around, he was startled by Maid Lotus at the door and could only remain standing on the spot.


    The fat chief was stunned, his mouth agape. He first looked at Dragon King before turning toward Maid Lotus, ¡°How could¡­¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t just faint. They are already dead. The traitors mixed poison into everybody¡¯s food.¡±


    The fat chief was overwhelmed in grief and indignation. Then he realized something serious and asked, ¡°Does that mean I am poisoned as well?¡±


    No one answered him.


    The fat chief reached out to Dragon King, ¡°Save me, I will give you half of my assets.¡±


    Gu Shenwei kept his sword, then he turned to Maid Lotus and asked, ¡°Is it toote?¡±


    ¡°The antidote is very precious, must we really waste it on him?¡± Maid Lotus yed along with Dragon King¡¯s threatening act.


    Overwhelmed by fear to think logically, the fat chief said, ¡°No, it¡¯s not a waste, not a waste. I have a big purpose. There are a lot of traps in the Gulping Wind Gorge, and many treasures are hidden within it. I am the only one who knows all the details. I will tell you everything if you give me the antidote.¡±


    Now that he was visibly frightened enough, Gu Shenwei made Maid Lotus watch over the fat chief and ordered the butler to bring over all the prominent figures in the n, while he himself went to find Ha Chilie.


    There were also four corpses lying inside the room. Three of the corpses, killed by Ha Chilie obviously, had fatal saber wounds. There was also a corpse bleeding from the mouth, this was the first person killed by the maid, Han Xuan.


    Han Xuan looked pale. She kept staring at the corpse to watch out for it as if it could jump up again at any time.


    As soon as Dragon King entered the room, Han Xuanunched an attack with all her might, as instructed by him.


    Gu Shenwei avoided the attack gracefully and told the three of them to follow him.


    Han Xuan recognized Dragon King and was hesitant to apologize, but he had already left. Ha Chilie and Miss Ming Zhen followed hurriedly, leaving her behind.


    The traitors from New Moon Hall were ruthless. In order to not arouse suspicion, they had mixed the Falling Powder into many people¡¯s food and there were around 20 to 30 people who were poisoned by it. Most of them were the descendants of the fat chief, several of whom had already died.


    The fat chief was of arge stature, therefore his resistance toward the poison was stronger than the others and he was able to hold on much longer. Maid Lotus gave him half of the antidote. After eating, he began issuing orders to his people.


    In recent days, there had been daily deaths in the Gulping Wind Gorge, and it was bing increasingly fierce. Everybody was already utterly exhausted and in great fear. But none of that was as shocking as the words spewed by the fat chief.


    ¡°Ming Zhen didn¡¯t die. She followed my instructions and pretended to be dead to trick the enemies. Sigh, though the enemies revealed their true colors, they still managed to escape and even poisoned many people.¡±


    ¡°I am old and can¡¯t cope with these matters anymore. So I have decided to take a break. During this period, my grandson-inw, Ha Chilie, will take over as the chief and handle all affairs. His marriage with Ming Zhen should also be held as soon as possible.¡±


    Ha Chilie was just as surprised as everybody else. Only after he received a hint from Dragon King¡¯s gaze did he came forward to ept the appointment.


    Just Ha Chilie alone was difficult to suppress the Gulping Wind Gorge. Fortunately, in a few days¡¯ time, the Great Snowmountain army led by Long Fanyun would arrive and all obstacles would be resolved.


    Several matters were still pending, however, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus need to set off immediately. Not only would they need to pursue the escaped traitors from New Moon Hall, but they would also need to go to the An Kingdom, which was located at the north of Wushan, as it was the second obstacle for the Great Snowmountain army to return to the Western Region.


    Several women were noticed by the guards in the vige, and they divided themselves into three batches to leave the Gulping Wind Gorge. The direction that they headed to was also toward the An Kingdom.


    Gu Shenwei asked for two of the best horses avable. Ha Chilie was more familiar with the An Kingdom so he reminded Dragon King that some hundred miles away from the Gulping Wind Gorge lies a town that belonged to the An Kingdom, and horses could be exchanged at the courier station there.


    Gu Shenwei put Ha Chilie in charge to fix things up in Gulping Wind Gorge since it was already in an awful mess. He left with Maid Lotus in the afternoon without stopping for breaks at all. When he entered the town that Ha Chilie spoke about, it was already past midnight and the horses were too tired to continue running.


    All was quiet in the still of the night. The courier station was located outside the town and it was very easy to find. Gu Shenwei knocked at the door, but there was no response for a long time. So, both of them leaped onto the wall to take a peek inside.


    Although there was no particr indication suggesting otherwise, however, the two of them were able to sense danger at the same time.

 Chapter 409 - Notorious Reputation

    Chapter 409: Notorious Reputation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    In the quiet post station, there was a dead silence almost within reach.


    A truly dreadful silence. Gu Shenwei immediately recalled that feeling when he was carrying corpses in Golden Roc Fort.


    Maid Lotus was on guard against any possible dangers. She took out a small porcin bottle, opened the lid and took a sniff. Then she raised it to Gu Shenwei¡¯s nose, regardless of whether he was willing or not.


    Gu Shenwei took a quick whiff, and the smell of rancid salted fish rushed straight to his head.


    Gu Shenwei was amazed at the fact that although Maid Lotus seemed thin, she always carried around with her endless bottles and bags. He also had a deeper understanding of the ult sciences from New Moon Hall.


    The two of them did not enter the courier station and quickly retreated. Maid Lotus exined her actions earlier, ¡°The Undying Corpse Poison is one of the most advanced poisons in New Moon Hall. It spreads through the corpse and the toxicity will only be stronger. There is an antidote, but it is rare.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t it be endless if it continues to spread like this; until everything is wiped out,¡± Gu Shenwei inquired, slightly shocked.


    ¡°The Undying Corpse Poison also has its shorings: It can be countered with fire,¡± Maid Lotus admitted.


    It was not long before the courier station was aze and the poison removed before it began to spread.


    The fire grew more fierce, but nobody from the town cried for help. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus checked the households one by one and realized that the town had already been abandoned. Hundreds of families seemed to have moved away overnight, and they were very hasty in doing so, as apparent by the many heavy belongings left behind.


    It was already light outside when the two of them left the town. They headed toward the capital of the An Kingdom, but could only walk slowly, as their horses were too fatigued.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly remembered something. ¡°If the whole town had fled, then where did the corpse in the station came from,¡± he asked.


    Maid Lotus seemed reluctant to answer this question at first, but she remembered that she had promised to tell Dragon King everything about New Moon Hall, so she said, ¡°It is very difficult to prepare the Undying Corpse Poison. A person must sacrifice themselves. That person must consume various poisons for many years, beforemitting suicide at the right time and ce. The sacrifice must be voluntary; only then will they have the determination and willpower to consume all those poisons without being frightened to death.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not speak for a while. The more he knew about New Moon Hall, the more he thought it was evil. <em>¡°No wonder all the neers became insane. Normal people would not be able to remain inside, however¡ª¡±</em>


    Maid Lotus did not seem to have changed at all, except for the asional imposing demeanor, she was still the same as before: cold and restrained just like a few years ago, not a sign of madness was evident.


    ¡°To even use such a rare poison just to get rid of you, they spared no effort indeed,¡± said Maid Lotus.


    ¡°Or perhaps they only used this as ast resort? They knew that I was very familiar with the Undying Corpse Poison, but they still used this approach, which yielded no result,¡± she added.


    The two of them spent the rest of the time focused on the journey ahead. Maid Lotus did not look thoughtful at all. However, around noon, she actually took the initiative and brought up a topic which might have seemed a bit abrupt. It also helped to rify some doubts in Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Our opinions were divided on the matter,¡± Maid Lotus spoke. ¡°The secret techniques of the New Moon Hall are certainly unique, but it is easy for them to provoke hatred. Just like the Undying Corpse Poison, although the poison itself is powerful and may even wipe out a whole nation, once it spreads and people know that ites from New Moon Hall, everybody will be deterred by the danger and will surelye together to attack us. New Moon Hall definitely won¡¯t be able to survive. The agreement of the Four Truths Temple back in those days was reasonable.¡±


    Many years ago, due to pressure from all sides, Golden Roc Fort and New Moon Hall signed a truce at the Four Truths Temple. Golden Roc Fort would have to give up on using ult sciences and could upy the Stone Castle, while New Moon Hall retained their ult sciences but had to retreat into the desert.


    In contrast, Golden Roc Fort was only good at assassination, and this was much more easily epted by the world.


    ¡°Master understands this as well, that was why she was trying all sorts of ways to strengthen our sect¡¯s Kung Fu and lessen the reliance on the ult sciences. ¡± She continued about why New Moon Hall was so adamant in getting the Wayless Book, and why she cooperated with Old Man Mu.


    ¡°I shared the same sentiment as Master, but there are still many disciples who insisted that the ult sciences remain as the essence of the sect and Kung Fu is non-essential.¡±


    Maid Lotus was trained by Golden Roc Fort and naturally did not like the ult sciences very much. The reason why she did not be mad was that she never involved herself too deeply in the evil crafts. Gu Shenwei secretly breathed a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Guan Shang has excellent Kung Fu, but even she is on the traitors¡¯ side,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He could still not understand.


    Maid Lotus snorted with disdain, she had always been wary of Guan Shang. ¡°The words of the high priest in the Land of Fragrance were somewhat reliable, to say the least. New Moon Hall and Golden Roc Fort were one family, originally. Although the emphasis was different, there was always something inmon. I believe Guan Shang went insane from the training to be a ck-masked assassin. She was infatuated with the secret techniques of the New Moon Hall, despite knowing very little about them. She just didn¡¯t dare be too obvious about it when I was around.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was hesitant ¡ª Ever since Maid Lotus represented New Moon Hall and proposed to cooperate with the Great Snowmountain, he had in mind a question that he been wanting to ask ¡ª and this was a good time to inquire. ¡°What is Master Han¡¯s main purpose in revamping New Moon Hall? Surely it was not only to recapture Golden Roc Fort and avenge these several generations,¡± he asked.


    Maid Lotus looked down and did not speak. She deliberated as to which side she would be loyal. Gu Shenwei did not pressure her to answer. The two of them walked in silence for a while before Maid Lotus said, ¡°Master¡¯s ambitions are the same as that of Supreme King. Perhaps they might not be as big as Supreme King¡¯s, but she is interested in the whole of Jade City.¡±


    This was very different from the conditions presented by Maid Lotus during the first negotiation between the two sides. At that time, New Moon Hall had imed that they only wanted to upy Golden Roc Fort, and that Dragon King could take over Jade City.


    But Gu Shenwei believed what she said now more than before.


    ¡°It was just a vague idea from Master,¡± She said. Maid Lotus did not want Dragon King to have too many suspicions, so she added, ¡°She never really said clearly, it is just my guess. Moreover, the Western Region is so vast, I¡¯m sure it can amodate both the Great Snowmountain and New Moon Hall.¡±


    ¡°All thanks to Supreme King. He caused upheaval in the Western Region, and in turn, made room for both of us.¡±


    Maid Lotus let out a smile.


    She seldom smiled, and whenever she smiles, she seems to have suddenly changed into a different person¡ª someone who should have turned out as how Huo Yun should be: without the experiences of Golden Roc Fort and New Moon Hall.


    Gu Shenwei suppressed his sympathy by thinking grimly instead, <em>¡°She always had a way to win the trust of others.¡±</em>


    The horses regained some of their strength, and the two of them sped up, leaving the empty town and their impromptu conversation behind.


    Although the An Kingdom upied the south of Xiaoyao Lake, itsnd was narrow, long, and winding. The capital itself was not far from Gulping Wind Gorge. Maid Lotus and Gu Shunwei already managed to spot the high city walls by noon before the sky even turned dark. They also realized where the residents of the small town had gone ¡ª


    The fat chief had hosted an open banquet for Dragon King, and many passing businessmen were in attendance. The news of the arrival of Maid Lotus and Gu Shenwei to the An Kingdom spread quickly.


    In less than a day, news of Dragon King leading hundreds and thousands of men to enter Xiaoyao Lake from Wushan spread like wildfire, and it created chaos in the An Kingdom. Even the original rumormongers and the businessmen who once drank with Dragon King were all frightened by the panic they had created. They traveled day and night, trying to escape as far as possible.


    Therefore, the residents of the town were not expelled by the traitors from New Moon Hall but fled because they were frightened by the news of Dragon King.


    More and more residents attempted to seek refuge as they were getting closer to the capital of the An Kingdom. Everybody was talking about the terrible Dragon King and his army of tens of thousands, yet nobody recognized that the pale-looking young man walking beside them was Dragon King himself.


    Gu Shenwei was at a loss whether to cry orugh at this situation. The Great Snowmountain army had no choice but to travel south as they were driven to a corner by Golden Roc Fort and only entered the Xiaoyao Lake from Wushan after going around in circles, which earned them such a horrid reputation.


    By mixing in with the fleeing An Kingdom residents trying to enter the capital and listening to their conversations, while adding in a few quips of his own from time to time, Gu Shenwei slowly came to understand where their fear came from.


    Wushan was the dividing line for Xiaoyao Lake, as well as the whole of the Western Region, so to speak. Toward the north, there was the civilized area that consisted of kings and ministers who were particr about hierarchy and understood etiquette and sense of shame. The south, however, included the tribes in Wushan, where they werebeled savages. There were chiefs and tribal chiefs who fought constantly and killed endlessly. The people were bloodthirsty and aggressive, and they used swords to settle any disputes.


    Several groups of businessmen and machetemen who entered Wushan should have eliminated the misunderstandings from the outsiders, however, it was the opposite: Every person who entered Wushan from Gulping Wind Gorge described the barbarians in the mountain with more horror aftering out ¡ª only then would people trust their words and be willing to listen.


    After fleeing from Golden Roc Fort, Gu Shenwei often hid in remote areas and spent time with the swordsman from the Great Snowmountain. He did not think the tribes in Wushan were anything special and even assumed that the residents of the An Kingdom were kicking up a fuss and somewhat ignorant.


    But he understood these people¡¯s thoughts and soon realized they were ¡°smart.¡±


    It was said that the general sent by Golden Roc Fort to besiege the capital of Stone Kingdom was recruiting soldiers in several countries atrge, resulting in almost zero young people in various countries. But on the way to the city, Gu Shenwei saw many young men in their prime ¡ª men who managed to avoid conscription and instead were consumed by fear because of Dragon King and his 100,000 armies.


    There was arge crowd gathered in front of the city gate and they were quarreling with the guards guarding the gate.


    Not only the residents of the An Kingdom, but the powerful citizens in the city were also frightened: The army of the An Kingdom had gone to join the siege of the capital of Stone Kingdom. With the defenses depleted, they could not even gather 100 men. Moreover, with the increasing number of refugees, they were even more frightened that there would be arge number of spiesing in. Therefore, they ordered the city gates to be closed an hour earlier.


    This decision immediately caused many rumors and riots among the residents. Everybody assumed that Dragon King¡¯s army wasing soon and argued incessantly with the guards to open the city gates.


    The guard leader was a man in his forties. He received orders to close the gate, but he felt sympathy for the residents on the outside, so he spoke loudly to the residents below, ¡°Everybody, listen to me! Everyone, please listen to me! As of yet, there is still no sight of the enemy. If Dragon King is here, he would have gone straight to the capital. Please go home, everybody. It¡¯s safer than here.¡±


    No one believed him. Some threatened while others tried to bribe, and someone recognized the identity of the leader. ¡°Aren¡¯t you¡­ whoever from whoever¡¯s house? I am an old neighbor of yours! Let me in, just me alone,¡± said the resident.


    The guard leader was unable to suppress the deafening grievances from outside the gate.


    Gu Shenwei listened to Maid Lotus for a while. Just as he was about to climb over the city wall and go somewhere with fewer people, someone on the city wall shouted, ¡°The King has run away! The King has run away! We are all being thrown to Dragon King now!¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not wish for Dragon King to have such a bad reputation, but he realized there might be a lot of benefits to gain by using this infamy.

 Chapter 410 - A Leader

    Chapter 410: A Leader


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Along with his Queen and favorite concubines, the King of the An Kingdom fled the capital by boat under the escort of several ministers, leaving thousands of residents to Dragon King¡¯s hundred thousand men.


    If every country in the Western Region was like the An Kingdom, Gu Shenwei was somewhat reluctant to relinquish the aura of terror that hung over Dragon King.


    Since the king had fled, the royal decree was naturally void. After a short discussion, the guards opened the gate and allowed the residents outside to enter. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus followed, as well.


    Since then, the gate was kept open. The few guards threw away their weapons and ran with the people toward the pier in North City.


    News of the King¡¯s escape had already spread throughout the capital, and the small pier was packed with thousands of people.


    But it was toote.


    The King took three big ships away. The remaining boats, however big or small, regardless of the owner, were sunk.


    Dozens of fishermen were wailing on the shore.


    It was a moment of despair, as rumors of unknown origin spread among the crowd one after another.


    ¡°Dragon King¡¯s army is 30 miles away from the city!¡±


    ¡°Blood has shed like water outside the city!¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King has ordered to massacre the city, no one will be spared!¡±


    The big ship on which the king and his party were traveling was still faintly visible. Suddenly, several men jumped into the waters and swam hard in a desperate attempt to catch up with the ship. One of them did not know how to swim and disappeared after bobbing for a while in the waters.


    The crowd was panicking, and there was no way out in this situation. Just when Gu Shenwei was hoping for someone to take the lead at this moment, a person suddenly came forward.


    ¡°Everybody, don¡¯t panic,¡± shouted a young man in his 20s. He was standing on an abandoned carriage and had three partners about his age standing near him. ¡°Come over and listen to me; I have a way to keep everybody alive,¡± he said.


    The young man had quite a sly look, but his words were like the mantra of the Buddha for the thousands of people on the pier, so everybody crowded around him.


    The young man was very d and coughed twice to clear his throat. ¡°Truth be told, I am very close with Dragon King. As long as I tell him that the people in the city are willing to surrender, I can guarantee that he will noty hands on you.¡±


    ¡°Surrender? We surrender,¡± the residents cried noisily. Since the King had already escaped, the loyalty of his people vanished as well.


    The young man looked even more satisfied, so he raised his hands to stop the crowds from talking, ¡°But we cannot merely say we want to surrender, we need to prove it with our actions. This is not just my problem, is it? All of you will have to pay for it, and it is not expensive, 100 taels per person. I will write down your name and issue you a guaranteed note. Then you will be safe.¡±


    His partner beside him raised papers and brushes while the other two were waving bundles of red threads. They were prepared all along.


    Some immediately rushed forward to pay, for they could afford 100 taels. But for most people with arge family, it would cost up to thousands of taels, which was no small sum.


    The An Kingdom, a small and remote country in the Western Region, could in no way bepared to Jade City, which was renowned for gold and money. Many poor souls did not even have a few pieces of silver in their pockets.


    As a result, it was chaos on the pier, and one of the young man¡¯s partners had no choice but to help maintain order.


    A dozen impatient people had already paid. They were given a simple-looking red thread and their names were scribbled on paper.


    Gu Shenwei did not want to stop the scam for it could calm the residents for now. Moreover, in this way, nobody would be guarding the capital, and it was a good thing for the Great Snowmountain army if they were stationed here.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus walked among the crowd to find the traitors from New Moon Hall.


    However, some people were dissatisfied with the young man¡¯s behavior, ¡°Huapi, what the hell? When did youe to know Dragon King?¡±


    The young man¡¯s nickname was ¡°Huapi Dog.¡± Only those who knew him well would address him as ¡°Huapi.¡± Upon hearing his nickname, he was uneasy. He pretended to be calm and raised his voice, ¡°You are just the guard for the King; of course you had no idea that I befriended Dragon King.¡±


    It was the guard leader who exposed Huapi. He was the one who ordered to open the gates to allow the residents to enter. Moreover, he was the only one who did not remove his machete even after he left the gate tower, it still hung on his waist.


    ¡°Do not believe this boy,¡± the guard leader shouted through the crowd. ¡°He is merely a rascal who hangs around in the back alleys and has never left the capital before. How can he know the Dragon King? Don¡¯t be fooled, everybody. His Majesty will bring back reinforcements to save us. Our city walls are tall and thick, so we can guard the city with just a hundred people. Dragon King is a human¡­¡±


    Seeing that therge sum of money was about to fly away from his hands, Huapi was infuriated and pointed to the guard leader, ¡°Dragon King will reward handsomely and punish strictly! Those who paid can live. As for those who have no money, you can kill the guards to ensure safety!¡±


    The incitement was extremely effective, and many people immediately looked at the guard leader differently. They formed a circle and slowly closed in around him, for they were afraid of his machete and did not dare to attack rashly.


    The guard leader did not appear frightened. Instead, he drew out his machete and waved it in front of him, shouting, ¡°Come forward if you are not afraid of death! You are so frightened by Dragon King, yet you have the courage to kill your own people?¡±


    Huapi made a mistake: His instigation made the remaining guards in the city unite. They had been scattered but soon rallied around the leader in small numbers. Among the unorganized residents, they were the most powerful group.


    The guard leader only wanted to expose Huapi¡¯s scam, but the situation was escting, and he could only move forward. So he walked toward Huapi and gang with his machete drawn. Everybody gave way to him, and nobody darede forward, no matter if they were rich or not.


    Realizing that the situation was not good, Huapi and his cronies quickly jumped off of the carriage and squeezed into the crowd to escape.


    Without a word, several guards lifted the guard leader to where Huapi had stood and looked at him expectantly.


    Panicked crowds yearn for leaders, just as drowning people need air.


    Yet the guard leader had run out of courage. He had never seen such a spectacle before and would prefer carrying out orders, rather than issuing them. ¡°Everybody¡­ Listen to me,¡± he began.


    This was his mantra. Usually, few people would care for these words, but they achieved miraculous results at this moment. The people on the pier immediately forgot about the rogue young man and instead turned their hopes to the guard leader. Even his old neighbors were unconsciously awed by him.


    It was quiet once again, save for the asional cry of a baby.


    Even more uneasy, the guard leader said, ¡°I mean, Dragon King is human as well, he is not a god or a demon. He only came here because he was defeated by Supreme King.¡±


    Everybody nodded and felt that his words were reasonable.


    Encouraged by the crowds¡¯ responses, the guard leader raised his voice, ¡°The Dragon King doesn¡¯t have a 100,000-strong army. It¡¯s merely a defeated army of thousands or hundreds of men; there is no need to be afraid. We will close the gates and defend with all our might. Dragon King will retreat if he cannot enter. We also have our own army who are attacking the Stone Kingdom as we speak. His Majesty himself went to bring them back for reinforcements. When the timees, Dragon King can only flee.¡±


    The mood of the crowd was like a school of fish in the sea: They might look magnificent, but they had no fixed route and often changed direction, catching fishermen off-guard.


    Just as the residents were assuming that it was the end of the world, they were now encouraged by the guard leader¡¯s words and became excited. Someone then said, ¡°The Dragon King is not scary.¡± One by one, people followed and began repeating these words as if chanting a mantra.


    The guard leader was encouraged and raised his voice, ¡°I will need 100 volunteers, as long as you are young and strong enough to pick up weapons.¡±


    No one answered. The younger men bowed their heads and turned their waists, showing weakness.


    A heavy heart weighed on him, but the guard leader continued, ¡°We will also need amander. Anybody here who¡¯s had experience as an officer? It doesn¡¯t matter if you are slightly older; we will all listen to you. His Majesty will certainly reward you handsomely upon his return.¡±


    After he finished, the momentum that had gathered in the crowd dropped once again. How could the guard leader fight against Dragon King¡¯s army if he was just all words and no action?


    ¡°Who is willing to do so? I will bet my life to guarantee that volunteers will be rewarded in the future by the King.¡±


    Still, nobody answered. The guard leader started panicking and paced around nervously atop the carriage.


    Maid Lotus whispered to Gu Shenwei, ¡°You should stand up.¡±


    This was an odd idea. The residents of the An Kingdom were looking for people to resist Dragon King¡¯s army, yet Dragon King himself was going to volunteer.


    On second thought, Gu Shenwei believed it was a wonderful idea. ¡°I canmand,¡± he shouted.


    Such a simple sentence had the power to reverse the situation. Silence fell over the crowd on the pier. Everybody, including the men, women, the old and young, looked toward the direction of the voice.


    As Gu Shenwei began walking, the crowd split and a wide passage cleared for him to pass.


    The guard leader was very excited, but he felt somewhat apprehensive when he saw that the candidate who came forward was just a sickly-looking man in his twenties.


    Just like Dragon King, the young man also carried a sword and a saber. The guard leader thought that the idea was ridiculous and immediately drove it out of his mind. The guard leader asked, ¡°Can I know your name, and where you became an officer?¡±


    ¡°My surname is Gu,¡± Gu Shenwei said his surname truthfully. In the future, it would be treated as a sudden inspiration for a lie. ¡°I¡¯ve fought battles in many ces.¡±


    It was as if what he said was redundant, but the steadiness shown in him was a quality that most people needed right now. ¡°Lord Gu, we will follow your orders,¡± Someone said.


    The guard leader was still cautious, so he said, ¡°Gu¡­ Lord Gu, this is a serious matter. The lives of the people in the city are now in your hands.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! No army can easily enter the gate with me around. You are right; Dragon King is also a human, and he had been defeated in battles. There is nothing to be afraid of, as long as everybody is united, we can keep him at bay.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King has the Demon Bird with him! He can fly here at once¡± panicked voices shouted from the crowds.


    ¡°The Demon Bird is not with the Dragon King. Even if the bird was around, it can only carry one person at a time. There are at least ten thousand people in the city; surely all of you can handle one person,¡± Gu Shenwei replied.


    The guard leader was convinced as well. The young man appeared to have experience in battles. Perhaps he was a savior bestowed by the heavens to the An Kingdom.


    ¡°He¡¯s the Dragon King!¡± A shrill voice pierced the air, causing a frenzy among the people. ¡°He is the Dragon King! Everybody, let¡¯se together to kill him so that we can keep our capital safe!¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew who was trying to sow discord among the people. In fact, he and Maid Lotus had been waiting for this person to speak up.

 Chapter 411 - The General

    Chapter 411: The General


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    A woman¡¯s voice had identified Gu Shenwei as the Dragon King, but the result was not as she desired.


    Gu Shenwei did not admit or deny it. He spread out his arms slightly and slowly turned a circle so that everybody from all directions could see him.


    ¡°He¡¯s the Dragon King?¡± Someone in the crowd asked, with a tone full of doubt. ¡°Stop joking. Dragon King is at least twice as tall as he is!¡± Said another.


    ¡°At most, his pale face is a bit simr,¡± conceded one person.


    ¡°He also carries a saber and sword, like Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°But why would the Dragon King volunteer to help us defend the city? If he was the Dragon King, then I¡¯m the Buddha!¡± another voice shouted.


    Gu Shenwei then turned to the guard leader again. He remained silent, with a helpless expression.


    The guard leader was taken aback upon hearing the usations. But after closer examination of the young man, he just could not match him with the legendary Dragon King. So he reassured himself, and shouted to the crowd, ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense! We have to stay united if we want to live! Since this¡­ Lord Gu knows how to fight battles, let¡¯s¨C¡±


    ¡°You bunch of fools!¡± It was that same woman¡¯s shrill voice again, ¡°You are being sold yet you are still helping others to count the money. He is the Dragon King! If you don¡¯t believe¨C¡±


    Her next words came to an abrupt end. It was as if she kept quiet because she was scared. Only Gu Shenwei knew that this was to be credited to Maid Lotus.


    Once Dragon King showed up in public at the pier, the traitors of New Moon Hall could not help but create chaos to try to get rid of him. But as a result, they exposed themselves and became Maid Lotus¡¯ prey instead.


    It was a small broil and nobody took it seriously. Everybody urgently hoped ¡°Lord Gu¡± could tell them what to do.


    The guard leader continued, ¡°All of us will listen to Lord Gu. Please issue an order, Lord Gu.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pointed to the 30 or so unarmed guards around him, ¡°I canmand the guarding of the city, but I have one condition: All of you will be my personal guards and obey my orders unconditionally. Vitors will be beheaded.¡±


    This was the ordinary duty of the guards, the only difference was that the subject of their obedience had now changed. They all nodded in agreement. The smart ones took the lead and knelt, others including the guard leader, followed suit.


    Gu Shenwei epted their respects. After they all rose, he shouted to the people standing on the pier, ¡°Are you willing to obey my orders?¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course,¡± the crowds answered noisily. Some knelt while others remained standing.


    ¡°Well, my firstmand¨C¡± Gu Shenwei was interrupted.


    ¡°Pull out your saber and sword! Let everybody see if it¡¯s Dragon King¡¯s Dragon Head Sword and Five Peaks Saber!¡± shouted the samedy from the crowd. This time, her voice was special, it sounded far yet near, as if there were two or three people speaking one after the other.


    The traitors of New Moon Hall did not dare topete in Kung Fu, nor did they dare to use their dark magic loosely, with Maid Lotus around. So they could only hope to stir up a fury among the crowd and take advantage of the situation to create chaos and kill Dragon King.


    All of them knew what happened when the first instigator suddenly went quiet. So the second person tried to use the Seven Magical Tones to hide her location.


    Compared with Old Man Mu, the Seven Magical Tones of this person was far less convincing. Gu Shenwei was immediately able to locate her true position, but he deliberately looked in the wrong direction. He then drew his sword and saber and held them high in the air.


    Under the sunlight, the sword and saber shone brightly. The crowd could only nce at it, before turning away.


    Even farmers who had never touched weapons were able to tell that these were no ordinary weapons.


    The guard leader was the closest, but he appeared embarrassed; for he desired to examine the weapons more carefully, but dared not.


    Gu Shenwei handed the sword to him freely. ¡°You can take a look at it,¡± said Gu Shenwei


    The guard leader took it carefully and examined the sword from hilt to tip. He turned it over and looked at it again. Then he dly proimed, ¡°This is not the Dragon Head Sword of Dragon King! There are no words carved on it!¡±


    At east, the crowd hissed. ¡°Who said it was Dragon King¡¯s sword? Find her!¡± shouted someone from the crowd.


    No one answered. Both Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus knew the exact location, but the instigator could not speak.


    It was well known that the Dragon Head Sword and Five Peaks Saber belonged to Dragon King; not to mention, there were many legends about the two weapons. However, not many people were interested in the small details. The traitors of New Moon Hall assumed the sword would have inscriptions on it and had no idea that Dragon King came up with the weapons¡¯ names only after the castings had beenpleted. He did not make any inscriptions on it afterward.


    The crowd did not believe that the young man in front of them was the Dragon King. It was not only because there was no evidence, but also the thought itself was unimaginable. Moreover, they had enough fears for now so would rather bury their heads and ignore the facts than learn about something terrible once again.


    ¡°It is a good sword,¡± the guard leader praised heartily, before returning it to ¡°Lord Gu¡± using both hands.


    But even though it was a good sword, it was very different from the sword that he imagined Dragon King should possess.


    Gu Shenwei put away his sword and saber, and told the crowds off in a berating tone, ¡°I was stranded here by ident and volunteered tomand and guard the city when you were helpless. But you did not believe in me and kept using me and making me prove something that¡¯s impossible. How can I not be bitterly disappointed?¡±


    Theints of ¡°Lord Gu¡± immediately caused panic among the crowd. It was not easy to find amander, and if he decided not to take up the role, the residents would once again lose the one person they could rely on. So they denounced the woman who spoke out, and many even rolled up their sleeves and walked around the crowd, in an attempt to find the instigators.


    The guard leader more or less had some experience in officialdom. He knew they needed to do more to retain ¡°Lord Gu¡±. So he said loudly, ¡°Do not spread rumors to deceive people, witch! Please, don¡¯t mind her, Lord Gu. Pleasemand us to fight. You are our¡­ general. Yes, General Gu! Please issue an order.¡±


    Therefore, ¡°General Gu¡± became Gu Shenwei¡¯s new title. Everyone nodded, and almost everyone repeated the title to themselves. In this way, ¡°General¡± became an unbreakable title that was no longer a simple position, but the owner of special power.


    Gu Shenwei felt a jolt. ¡°General Gu¡± reminded him of the memories of his father, so he epted the title and raised his arms. He said loudly, ¡°You gave me the title of General Gu, and I will perform the duties of a general. I am the first and thest volunteer. Now that the enemy is at present, there is no such thing as ¡®voluntary.¡¯ My first order is to ask all of you, men and women, old and young, to join the army in guarding the city and shoulder the responsibilities that you are capable of.¡±


    The guard leader only wanted 100 volunteers, but General Gu recruited thousands of people from the pier and other parts of the city as soldiers the moment he opened his mouth. His appetite was a hundred, or even a thousand times more than that of the guard leader.


    <em>¡°Strangely enough, when recruiting 100 volunteers, no one dared to enlist. And no one dared to oppose when all the volunteers joined. In fact, most people were very excited and even agreed with one another. This is how a general should be. It seems the young man was not lying when he imed that he had fought in many ces.¡±</em>the guard leader thought to himself.


    ¡°I need a space big enough for the general¡¯s main tent.¡± Gu Shenwei told the guard leader.


    ¡°Yes, we have. The Council Chamber in the royal pce is very big, however¡­¡± The guard leader was somewhat hesitant. After all, this ¡°General Gu¡± had not yet been approved by the King.


    ¡°It must be close to the South gate.¡± General Gu requested.


    ¡°Close to the gate¡­¡± the guard leader thought aloud, ¡°Then the tax office would be thergest.¡±


    ¡°Then it shall be there. Let others take me. Hurry, take 10 men with you to close the city gate. People are allowed to enter but not leave.¡±


    The guard leader was taken aback. Generally, to stop the spies from sneaking in, people were prevented from entering but permitted to leave.


    ¡°I want it to be foolproof,¡± Gu Shenwei exined.


    Suddenly, the guard leader¡¯s admiration for the young man rose, and he immediately epted his orders. Just when he was about to leave, Gu Shenwei asked again, ¡°What is your name?¡±


    ¡°I am Wu Zongheng,¡± he replied.


    ¡°You are from the Central in?¡± asked General Gu.


    ¡°It has been three generations since my family moved to the Western Region,¡± said Wu Zongheng.


    Gu Shenwei nodded as guard leader Wu Zongheng hurried off with 10 men.


    General Gu, who was ¡°chosen¡± by the residents in public, went to the tax office under the protection of more than 20 guards, followed by arge crowd. Before long, there was almost no one left on the pier.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s original purpose was to lure the disciples of New Moon Hall to appear, but he had more ideas the further he progressed.


    Small countries in the Western Region could not afford to keep too many ministers, but there were two positions that must be taken up: one was the prime minister who assisted the king; the other was the tax minister who guaranteed that the treasury was always adequate. But both fled with the king.


    The tax office was spacious indeed. Gu Shenwei set up the general¡¯s office here and began issuing a series of orders.


    The first thing was to appoint five guards to guard the gate. The guards would be responsible for reporting and presenting people to him, while a dozen other guards would run errands and notify others of the general¡¯s orders.


    The tax minister took away his official seal, but the tax stamp was still there. So Gu Shenwei used it as the general seal instead.


    The second thing was to search for weapons. The king had fled in a hurry and took away a lot of jewelry, but left many things behind. The treasury vault of the royal pce was forcefully opened, and the weapons were all taken out while the valuables remained intact.


    Then came the selection of soldiers.


    In order to not give anyone an excuse to refuse, Gu Shenwei ordered a nationwide conscription. However, when it came to the distribution of weapons, he needed to select soldiers carefully and not arm the wrong ones.


    After excluding the old, the young, the sick, and the women, there were actually more than 900 men remaining. However, there were only 300 to 400 weapons avable. So the people guarding the city took turns using weapons.


    The first task of the soldiers was to search the city and bring all men of suitable age who were hiding from conscription to the tax office. They were to face charges of deserting the army and then be locked up in the nearby market, guarded by special personnel.


    After searching through the city, the troops had increased by more than 200 people.


    From this, Gu Shenwei managed to roughly estimate the potential of the five countries in Xiaoyao Lake. This was something that Golden Roc Fort had not managed to discover, and he would take over all of it.


    After nightfall, the new General Gu issued a curfew order: Nobody was allowed to leave for any reason¨C this was in order to capture the spies who sneaked into the city.


    The task of capturing the spies would be carried out by General Gu himself.


    Maid Lotus quietly returned and reported the results: Three traitors from New Moon Hall were exposed. They were all killed and thrown into the water.


    Yan Er and a total of 13 traitors were killed. At least one of them volunteered as the Undying Corpse Poison. Three had died at the dock, and eight remained. Maid Lotus believed that they were still hiding in the city.


    Eliminating the traitors of New Moon Hall was just one of the urgent problems for Gu Shenwei to solve. For him, the most important and urgent problem was the boats.


    Without boats, the Great Snowmountain army would be trapped in the south of Xiaoyao Lake, unable to be put to good use and at a disadvantage.

 Chapter 412 - Searching the City

    Chapter 412: Searching the City


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    At night, several poisoning and assassination incidents urred in the capital of An Kingdom, killing more than 20 innocent people and causing much panic again. As a result, the army Gu Shenwei had temporarily assembled was almost defeated.


    The renegades of New Moon Hall had intended to assassinate the Managing Master Maid Lotus in the Gulping Wind Gorge, but they had failed and fled. When they realized there was no way out, they went crazy and nned to fight against their enemy in the densely popted capital.


    Fortunately, they had some sense and did not use unstopple poison in the capital, but left it at the courier station midway along their journey. Otherwise, the city would be full of corpse, even they would not be spared.


    The first incident happened to be a guard. Someone had requested to enter, and the guarde inside to report. As he opened his mouth to speak, the poison began to work. He seemed to be drowning, suddenly, and his entire face was flushed. His hands clutched at his throat, almost strangling himself. Air could not enter his body, but a milky liquid spurted almost twelve feet, out of his mouth.


    Gu Shenwei, who had been guarding New Moon Hall, reacted very quickly. As soon as the guard vomitted the liquid, he drew out his saber and rushed to cut off the guard¡¯s head. He stepped aside and exined to the stunned guards: ¡°He was poisoned by witches, so whatever he vomitted is also poisonous.¡±


    As expected, the milky liquid was corrosive. Where it fell, small potholes appeared on the stone floor in the tax office.


    Everyone¡¯s faces changed. They believed Gu Shenwei, but had much doubts in their minds, ¡°Poisoned by witches?¡±


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t let the guards me the poisoning incident on the Great Snowmountain, but it was too troublesome to exin the struggle between them, so he made up a story, ¡°Well, this is a group of witches who wish to stir up trouble. They want to start a war to benefit from. I have been tracking them.¡±


    Everyone was even more surprised. Gu Shenwei paused for a moment. After they had epted this sensational news, he went on, ¡°We can¡¯t sit still and wait for death. Instead, we should take the initiative tounch an attack and catch all those witches.¡±


    Maid Lotus appeared at the door and raised one finger to Gu Shenwei, indicating that she had already killed the poisoner and that there were still seven renegades left.


    The second manhunt in the whole city had began. This time, the targets were not the young and middle-aged men who were hiding, but the terrible witches.


    Disciples of New Moon Hall were good at camouge, making them difficult to identify from their appearance alone. Gu Shenwei reminded people to pay more attention to single women. If they discovered anything unusual, they shouldn¡¯t make a move, but send someone to inform him.


    Gu Shenwei was in charge of the tax office, while Maid Lotus would secretly guard the perimeter.


    After the first poisoning failed, the renegades of New Moon Hall changed their strategy.


    A guard rushed in to report that six people in a family had been killed three blocks away. However, soldiers who were searching the city strictly obeyed General Gu¡¯s order and did not enter for a detailed search.


    It was obvious that those six people had died of poisoning, because their faces were purple and their eyeballs had popped out of their heads, but the corpses themselves were not harmful. Maid Lotus pointed to the half melted candle on the table, ¡°It was pear flower scented candle¡­ If someone had lit it incautiously, he would have been poisoned to death immediately.¡±


    The candle looked verymon. However, if not for General Gu¡¯s strict orders, the soldiers could have easily lit it without second thought.


    That night, Gu Shenwei had no choice but to believe Maid Lotus, taking arge number of pills, guaranteeing resistance to most of the poisons of New Moon Hall.


    Using a simr measure to lure the enemy, the renegades repeated the poisoning four more times, killing many innocent people. Three careless soldiers died in their boots just by trying to move a chair that had been in the way.


    Panic began to spread. The number of dead had multiplied and people¡¯s hearts changed. More and more people vited the curfew and rushed to the streets. Some of them ran to the docks while others rushed to the gate, all wanting to leave the city that was shrouded with the shadow of death.


    Many soldiers left their weapons and joined the panicking crowd.


    The temporary troop, which included thousands of people, contained only few credible people. Wu Zongheng, the leader of guards, was one of them. Gu Shenwei ordered him to lead a hundred armed men and hold the city wall. No one was allowed to climb it. As for several gates in the city, the keys were all kept by General Gu himself.


    Next, Gu Shenwei had to spend a little time stabilizing his army. He patrolled around, encouraged those who stuck to their posts, punished those people who were absent without permission, and announced the death toll. By doing this, he led everyone to think that the situation was not terrible as they imagined.


    Of all the measures, the most effective was producing the corpses of several ¡°witches¡±.


    Maid Lotus knew the methods of her fellow disciples very well. Everytime they set a trap, they would reveal clues, so she would track and kill them one by one.


    The arrest of the ¡°witches¡± showed that Gu Shenwei had the ability to prevent more death. Due to this news, people grew excited. First, the soldiers gradually calmed, and then the city¡¯s attitude changed from one of panic to one where they would wait and see.


    After midnight, 15 witches were killed. Seven of them were the real renegades of New Moon Hall, and most of them died under the sword of Maid Lotus, but only one had been hacked to death by soldiers for resisting ordinary inspection.


    Eight people were killed by mistake, because they looked suspicious and were single, without spouses.


    People searched for the witches enthusiastically, but the situation began to grow out of control.


    Gu Shenwei immediately ordered soliders to stop killing. He imed that the witches had all been killed and the search on the whole city turned into a normal patrol.


    But in truth, there was still one renegade in hiding.


    Guan Shang had not made a move. As a disciple of New Moon Hall, she adored ult sciences, but she had practiced Kung Fu of Golden Roc Fort from childhood and was not good at using poison, so she had a hand in any of the poisonings.


    The capital of An Kingdom was not veryrge, and it was crowded with amodating tens of thousands of people. Gu Shenwei had inspected almost all the areas, beforeing to the conclusion that there was only one ce Guan Shang had left to hide.


    Maid Lotus had the same idea.


    The soldiers¡¯ trust and awe in General Gu kept increasing. Although it was far from self-sacrifice, General Gu¡¯s orders would always be strictly enforced. However, this time, they hesitated.


    ¡°This is the royal pce.¡± A soldier whispered, appalled by the general¡¯s decision.


    The royal pce was the only ce in the capital that had not been searched.


    Although the king and queen had escaped, the royal pce was not empty. There were many eunuches and court maids, and it was said that the king¡¯s concubine was still there.


    The An Kingdom was located on the edge of Western Region, but it had been established for a long time, so people¡¯s respect for the royal family went deep. Even if they were angry and disappointed in the king, they did not want to and dared not break into the pce.


    Gu Shenwei did not force soldiers to break into the pce, because only Guan Shang was left. He thought that he could fight against her with Maid Lotus.


    Instead, he arranged arge number of soldiers around the pce and ordered them to kill anyhey found trying to escape.


    For nearly four days, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus climbed over the wall and sneaked into the pce without the soldiers¡¯ knowledge. They all thought that he had returned home to have a rest.


    The pce was small, not asrge as the private residence of Meng family in Jade City, not to mention Golden Roc Fort.


    After a simple search, they deduced the innermost room as their target.


    Together, they pushed open the door and saw Guan Shang.


    In front of the Dragon King and Maid Lotus, the killer¡¯s cloaking technique was of little use. Therefore she chose not to hide, but took a simpler route: holding hostages.


    She put her saber on the neck of an elderly woman. Four maidsy in a nearby pool of blood.


    That woman was dressed in loose pajamas. Although looked scared, she still had a trace of nobility, so she was obviously the master of the pce.


    To their surprise, the king¡¯s concubine had not run away with the king.


    However, Gu Shenwei did not understand why Guan Shang would do that. He was not be afraid of sacrificing innocents.


    But Guan Shang was aware of this, so she immediately exined, ¡°This is the Queen Mother of An Kingdom, the king¡¯s biological mother.¡±


    However, this was of no significance to Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus. They looked around carefully. Although Guan Shang was supposed to be thest renegade of New Moon Hall, they could not drop their guard.


    ¡°She is the princess of the Central in.¡± Guan Shang revealed what was really at stake, ¡°If the Dragon King wants topete for hegemony with Golden Roc Fort in the Western Region, you¡¯d better keep her alive.¡±


    Actually, Gu Shenwei had broken ties with the Central in, and they were only nominal allies. Guan Shang clearly knew this fact, but what she said was true. The Central in was caught unprepared by the alliance between Golden Roc Fort and Nond. As a result, it was temporarily in a weak position and hadn¡¯t the ability to counterattack, but it was still one of the most important forces in the Western Region. If Gu Shenwei wanted to return, it would be futile to fight by the army of 10,000 soliders. Sooner orter, they had topromise with the Central in.


    ¡°You had good methods.¡± Guan Shang went on, ¡°You cheated all people in this city, but you have to reveal your real identity sooner orter. If the princess of Central in dies in front of you, the army of the Great Snowmountain will be isted. By then, the Central in will not forgive you.¡±


    Her words were somewhat urate. Gu Shenwei was a native of the Central in, so he knew the standard of behavior of the Central in court. Their emperor might turn a blind eye to the princesses who married abroad all. However, if the princess was humiliated, it was a challenge to the imperial power. Over the past hundred years, many wars had happened for this reason.


    However, things had became easier over time. The control of the Central in over the Western Region had been greatly weakened, and the troop closest to An Kingdom were still thousands of miles away.


    Gu Shenwei snorted, and did not even look at the two women. He held the Five Peaks Saber which he had unsheathed and walked slowly around the maids in the pool of blood, ¡°Which emperor¡¯s princess are you?¡±


    The queen mother, caught by Guan Shang, was frightened and could barely keep calm. She answered Gu Shenwei after a long while, ¡°My father is An emperor.¡±


    An Emperor was the emperor of the Central in three generations ago. Therefore, the Queen Mother of An Kingdom was the grand aunt of the current emperor of the Central in.


    ¡± Why didn¡¯t you run away with the king?¡± Gu Shenwei asked slowly, as if making simlpe conversation. He seemed to be unconcerned about ¡°the Princess of Central in¡±.


    ¡°He was an unfilial son who betrayed the Central in and surrendered to the self-styled Supreme King, and I have broken the bond between mother and child. Are you really the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Are you also the General Gu who was selected by people? ¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    She sighed lightly. Gu Shenwei did not know whether it was in admiration or disappointment.


    After Gu Shenwei was certain that there was no one else in the room, he turned to Guan Shang and said, ¡°It is strange that your machete skills have regressed so much after several months. You killed several maids, but there is so much blood.¡±


    When Gu Shenwei finished his words, the four maids who fell in blood suddenly resurrected, andunched an attack at the same time. Their target was Maid Lotus.


    These four maids were flexible and quick. They were as skillful as Guan Shang, and did not appear to be disciples of New Moon Hall.

 Chapter 413 - Accidents

    Chapter 413: idents


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The only person New Moon Hall was trying to kill was Maid Lotus. As for Dragon King, they regarded him as an obstructor, whom they would rather avoid than confront head-on.


    They set up a series of sophisticated traps to entice Maid Lotus.


    The trap began at Gulping Wind Gorge. Because it had been recognized in advance, the ¡°scattering n¡± was unsessful; therefore, they started to carry out their backup ns.


    The traitors were fullymitted to their attacks. For them, it was all or nothing. At the courier station, they used incurable poison. At the docks, they incited the crowds to attack Dragon King. They had even poured poison around the capital.


    They had seeded. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had indeed been confused by such madness at the veryst minute. They believed that Guan Shang must be thest traitor and had no way to escape.


    Even if Gu Shenwei figured out the four maids had feigned their deaths, it would not affect their ns. Their most important tactic was still unbeknownst to Dragon King and Maid Lotus.


    The four maids were servants of New Moon Hall, but their Kung Fu was top-notch. Instead of employing the ult sciences that New Moon Hall was so famous for, they relied on their impable cooperation to kill their targets.


    This strategy wasmonly used by the Golden Roc Fort. However, because Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had thought that the maids hade from ¡°New Moon Hall,¡± they had not considered this possibility.


    Gu Shenwei pulled out his saber quickly. He was sure to kill one of the assassins, which left the remaining three to Maid Lotus.


    At the same time, Guan Shang made his move. His target was Maid Lotus. They had already made up their minds to kill Maid Lotus, even if this meant that they would all die by the saber of the Dragon King.


    Only queen mother Wang remained still in the room. What was happening at the moment waspletely beyond herprehension. She did not know who these people were, especially the four maids. <em>¡°Aren¡¯t they justmon court maids? Why did they jump up from these pools of blood like ghosts to attack the unknown woman?¡± </em>she wondered.


    The queen mother felt a wave of dizziness hit her. Her heart skipped a beat.


    She fainted and, before falling into darkness, was shocked to see the unknown woman surrounded by many people, standing still as if she was also shocked.


    The Death Scripture sword technique could only kill a single person at a time. This was the way it concentrated its power and was also its weakness. Unless the opponent was weak, the process of regenerating power was Death Scripture¡¯s fatal w. This was the reason why Gu Shenwei needed to avoid falling into a tight encirclement at all costs.


    Maid Lotus faced the same problem. In order for her to survive, she had to change her style of fighting.


    Maid Lotus did not think that the renegades from New Moon Hall would produce four highly skilled opponents. Neither did the opponents expect Maid Lotus to have more tricks up her sleeve.


    A faint fragrance wafted in the air. While everyone inhaled a little, no one paid it any mind. Maid Lotus and the renegades all understood each other¡¯s tactics. Before the fight, they had consumed many antidotes, believing this would defend themselves from all the ult sciences of their opponents.


    However, they were not aware that Maid Lotus had learned a new type of knockout powder in the past few months.


    The fragrance-producing technology in the Land of Fragrance did notpare to that New Moon Hall¡¯s secret techniques. However, few knew the scents. Even Maid Lotus, who entered the Land of Fragrance, had twice in a row been knocked out by Indra incense. Only when she found out the powder¡¯s secret ingredients and made the antidote herself did the powder lose its effectiveness.


    The renegades of New Moon Hall had fallen for the trap. The incense did not take effect immediately. The steel needles they wielded were still close to the target, but their motions began to slow down.


    Maid Lotus bought the time that she needed. She spun around in a circle, her five fingers brushing across the chests of her five assants. She did so softly and effortlessly.


    Seven turns, seven apertures¨C the Heart Stopping Finger. Few people knew about the needle technique Old Man Mu had specially invented to deal with the disciples of New Moon Hall.


    When Maid Lotus had learned this skill from Shangguan Ru, she had sworn against using it indiscriminately.


    Yan Er was the intended target. Maid Lotus had once practiced the finger technique on her. However, this time, she had five more opponents to practice her skills on. It was a good opportunity for her to find out about the different effects the same skill had on different people.


    The first assant died on the spot as if she had been summoned by magic. The magic suddenly disappeared and the body fell to the ground.


    As for the second assant, the needle remained lodged in her neck. She desperately grabbed at the needle; the itchiness seemed nearly unbearable. She continued to scratch at that spot on her neck until she took herst breath.


    The third traitor fell from the air and onto the ground. She was on her knees like a drunkard, vomiting uncontrobly; only it was blood, not wine.


    The fourth traitor was technically already dead. However, even after taking a blow from Gu Shenwei, she continued after her target. She was immune to the effects of Indra and the Heart Stopping Finger technique.


    Maid Lotus dodged the attack just in time.


    Only Guan Shang remained alive.


    Out of everyone, her kung-fu skills were the best, and her reflexes were the fastest. Her chest had only been grazed by the attacking finger. Moreover, her Internal Strength was not quite trained in the ways of the New Moon Hall. Hence, she had not been affected as severely by the Heart Stopping Finger technique. She had barely saved her life to this critical juncture.


    Guan Shang retreated to a corner of the room. The Indra knockout power had only begun to take its effect, and she could scarcely conceal the fear inside of her. Things went beyond expectation. Maid Lotus seemed to transform into a different person¨C the knockout powder and the kung-fu she used werepletely new.


    The horror was fleeting, and Guan Shang began to drift into a dream state. In this new realm, she was more concerned about things that had nothing to do with Maid Lotus.


    Looking at the corpses on the ground, Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He had consumed the antidote to the Indra powder before the fight, however, it had not prepared him for this scene. To prove that she had no intention of harming the Dragon King, she had given the Dragon King all of her antidotes.


    ¡°Do you recognize these four people?¡± Gu Shenwei asked Maid Lotus.


    Maid Lotus shook her head and said, ¡°I thought that they were single-heartedly interested in practicing their ult magic skills and were not the least bit interested in practicing the advanced martial arts.¡±


    ¡°She may be able to tell us the truth.¡± Gu Shenwei pointed at Guan Shang, who was standing there, wobbling.


    Maid Lotus snatched the knife from Guan Shang¡¯s hands and threw it aside. She nudged her chest with her finger before stuffing the antidote into her mouth.


    Guan Shang had not been poisoned for long, and she awakened quickly. After she came to her senses, she felt a wave of panic. She had lost many of herrades and even so, she had not managed to kill Maid Lotus. Not only had she be a prisoner, but her Internal Strength had also vanished temporarily, and she did not even have a chance tomit suicide.


    ¡°What should I do with this one?¡± Maid Lotus did not ask Guan Shang but pointed at the Queen Mother Wang who had fainted in fear.


    ¡°Keep her.¡± Gu Shenwei felt that killing the queen mother Wang would not do them any good. Keeping her alive might turn out useful.


    ¡°Help her to the bed.¡± Maid Lotusmanded Guan Shang, her tone cool and indifferent as always. It was as if Guan Shang were her subordinate.


    However, this time, Guan Shang lowered her head and did not take her order immediately. After hesitating for a while, she walked over, picked up the queen mother and put her onto the bed.


    In such a way, Maid Lotus knew that she could let Guan Shang speak. ¡°Where shall we start?¡± asked Maid Lotus.


    Guan Shang lifted her head and responded, ¡°Kill me. I have nothing to say.¡±


    Maid Lotus shook her head slowly. ¡°You have not learned the real secret techniques of the New Moon Hall. However, you should know that death is by far the lightest of our punishments. These four were lucky, but you are not.¡±


    Guan Shang¡¯s face turned pale. At that moment she obeyed the order to lift up the queen mother. Her heart had yielded; this was not her first betrayal.


    Betraying Golden Roc Fort, Maid Lotus, and now having to betray herrade. She had never found a real sense of belonging. ¡°What do you want to know?¡± she asked.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on with these four maids?¡± Maid Lotus inquired.


    ¡°They were skilled experts whom she had trained three years ago to kill you,¡± replied Guan Shang.


    As for ¡°she,¡± Guan Shang did not mention her name and neither did Maid Lotus ask.


    ¡°How many other traitors are there?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I came as soon as I received the order. I know nothing else.¡± Guan Shang admitted.


    ¡°Think about it carefully. Maybe you¡¯ll know.¡±


    Maid Lotus leaped before Guan Shang and tapped on her chest. She swiftly returned to her original position.


    Guan Shang uttered a strange ¡°Uh-Huh.¡± However, she seemed to be embarrassed all of a sudden. She then hung her head intently and tidied up her clothes for no reason. ¡°Master, please,¡± she begged.


    Guan Shang¡¯s cries were weak. It was as though she had not awakened from her dream state. Afterward, she began to scratch her body. At first, she tried to resist and clenched her fists. However, she soon yielded and started to scratch herself furiously.


    She tore her clothes to pieces.


    Gu Shenwei hesitated for a moment before turning to leave the room.


    The sky was about to light up, and the city had already fallen into his hands. However, even with this streak of good luck, Gu Shenwei did not feel at ease at all.


    There was a reason why the Land of Fragrance, the Wushan tribe, and the An Kingdom had been ignored or even forgotten by the big powers in the Western Regions: Even as a group, they did not provide much strength. It would take less than 2,000 soldiers from the Great Snowmountain to crush them. The Dragon King would only be the underdog when faced with the powerful army of the Golden Roc Fort.


    Gu Shenwei tried to upy his mind with military affairs; however, his thoughts unwittingly strayed to Maid Lotus. She had tried to get the Dragon King to leave, in order to interrogate Guan Shang alone.


    The New Moon Hall had many ways of getting people to talk; surely there was no need to force Guan Shang to scratch herself to death.


    Maid Lotus had imed that she would reveal all the secrets without reservation.


    <em>¡°Everyone has their own hidden secrets,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought, everyone, including himself.


    The terrible screams of Guan Shang echoed clearly from the room. Gu Shenwei thought that it would be better to avoid suspicionpletely. Hence, he left the pce quietly in the night.


    Shortly after dawn, Maid Lotus returned. She said tly, ¡°Guan Shang does not know much. There are not many traitors from New Moon Hall left. There is no need to worry about them anymore.¡±


    Gu Shenwei murmured assent. This matter was considered resolved. Regarding Maid Lotus¡¯ secret and what was happening in New Moon Hall, Gu Shenwei decided not to ask anymore questions. He and Maid Lotus preserved a delicate bnce in their rtionship, and it would be unwise to break it.


    At this very moment, a soldier who had been guarding the city ran over hurriedly. He reported seeing a group of troops and horses approaching the south gates, and they seemed to be the ¡°100,000¡± troops of the Dragon King.


    This must have been the vanguard of the Great Snowmountain, led by Long Fanyun. It only consisted of several hundred people.


    The army had already arrived, but Gu Shenwei still had one key problem: The free, unfettered sea was in sight, but he had not even a single boat in his hands.

 Chapter 414 - Gathering the City

    Chapter 414: Gathering the City


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Long Fanyun led five hundred elite troops to rush to Gulping Wind Gorge overnight. They caught up with Ha Chilie just in time, as he was about to lose support.


    On the second day after Dragon King and Maid Lotus had left, the fat chief and his ten children and grandchildren were poisoned to death.


    Maid Lotus gave them the mostmon pills that could onlyst them for another day. The antidote to the scattering technique had been very hard to prepare. Maid Lotus did not have much left on her hands. Having to save some to ward off her enemies, she had not wanted to waste it on people who had nothing to do with this matter.


    All of the important men in the fat chief¡¯s family had fallen in the attack. Since there was no leader among the surviving descendants, they started to fight amongst themselves.


    The Dragon King left too soon, and Ha Chilie¡¯s authority had not yet been established. He won little support in the name of the grandson-inw of the fat chief, and even became the target of power struggles. He was unjustly criticized many times, with some people openly iming that he was linked to the death of the fat chief.


    In those two days, Ha Chilie was in danger and in no less trouble than the Dragon King. Several sons and grandsons of the fat chief spent all day gathering a team of supporters. News spread quickly of these teenagers preparing to kill Ha Chilie and then close the north and south gates.


    Ha Chilie hardly slept. He clung to his long-saber every moment, preparing to defend himself against the enemy¡¯s attack.


    At a most critical moment, Miss Ming Zhen yed a significant role. She was only fifteen years old and was too shy to speak in front of outsiders, but she had already learned the art of coborating and scheming. It was with her help that Ha Chilie had met many influential people at Gulping Wind Gorge and made promises to them in order to win their support.


    The residents of Gulping Wind Gorge were divided into two distinct factions: those who supported the Dragon King, and those who supported Golden Roc Fort.


    No one was concerned with the lives of the weak. The bodies of the deady about, uncollected. Everyone was waiting apprehensively for a final decisive battle.


    If it had not been for Long Fanyun¡¯s army that had arrived just in time, a bloody battle would have started in the vige. No one could have predicted the winner.


    Five hundred strong swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain could deal with any problem. Most people in the vige had epted a certain fact: Gulping Wind Gorge had already fallen to the Dragon King. Many of the dissatisfied and those who feared retribution fled overnight and disappeared.


    Long Fanyun went after the Dragon King. So he left a hundred soldiers to bemanded by Ha Chilie and led the remaining four hundred men without stopping, reaching the capital of the An Kingdom only a day after the Dragon King.


    The gates of the city were firmly shut. Long Fanyun had no way of knowing what went on in the city. He could only find a suitable ce to set up a garrison and send troops up the city walls to shout at the city guards; however, no one answered.


    At this time, Gu Shenwei had been thinking of ways to harvest the prickly fruit that he had nted: to tell the residents of the city that he was the Dragon King.


    He had intended to force the city to admit the facts with a tough attitude, and then offer kindness in exchange for the residents¡¯ obedience. In the end, someone had helped him to resolve this embarrassing situation.


    The queen mother had sent someone to summon ¡°General Gu¡±.


    Troops inside and outside of the city were waiting for Gu Shenwei to make a decision. After hesitating a while, Gu Shenwei finally decided to see the former princess from the Central ins.


    The queen mother received Gu Shenwei in the main hall of the royal pce. The throne was empty and the ministers were absent. There were only scores of eunuchs and court maids in the hall who were as old as the Queen Mother. After the incidentst night, she could hardly trust the young maids.


    Upon sobering up, the queen mother regained her elegant demeanor. She despised the self-proimed lone king and naturally would not regard the Dragon King as true royalty. Hence, she gave the excuse of being old and feeble, and bowed to the Dragon King like an elder meeting someone of the younger generation, and avoided a sensitive power struggle.


    Gu Shenwei was not bothered by this stunt. To him, it was no time to fight over fame and status.


    The queen mother seemed to have a little understanding of the Western Region¡¯s situation, especially the forces rted to the Central ins. She knew a thing or two such as the alliance between the Dragon King and the Central ins¨C she had heard this from someone. As for the split that happened afterward, she knew nothing as neither side had been open about it.


    However, she was also very naive. After beating around the bush, she first thanked the Dragon King for his rescuest night. Later, she started to talk about how naive Nond and Golden Roc Fort were. She then talked about the five countries of the Xiaoyao Lake: especially the short-sightedness of the An Kingdom, the foresight of the Dragon King, and so on.


    Gu Shenwei listened patiently to the olddy¡¯s nagging and finally understood her intention.


    It turned out that the queen mother was extremely dissatisfied with her son, the current king of the An Kingdom, and hoped to force him to abdicate. She would allow her grandson to seed the throne ahead of time and herself govern the country as the Queen Mother.


    This was a story about political infighting. This was not surprising to Gu Shenwei. So he solemnly agreed, yet added several restrictions, such as the support of the An Kingdom for the Dragon King, the public support of the Central ins, and the like.


    The most critical thing was, the queen mother had to exin to the masses and generals that ¡°General Gu¡± was the Dragon King, and that the Dragon King had no intentions of ughtering the city nor indulging the army in plundering.


    The queen mother did not understand Gu Shenwei¡¯s half-hearted intentions. She had dly epted the conditions and agreed to allow the Dragon King to give orders in her name in the pce hall.


    Gu Shenwei summoned groups of men one after the other. First, guard leader Wu Zongheng, and others. They were the only professional soldiers among the scores of mob members.


    The queen mother solemnly expressed to the guards that the Great Snowmountain was now allies with the Central ins. The Dragon King was a friend of the An Kingdom, ¡°General Gu¡± to the masses, and the person who was sent by her to infiltrate the city. As for conscripting the men in the city to form an army, it had also been her idea.


    The soldiers were stupefied. Wu Zongheng guessed that General Gu must havee from a formidable background and might even have been the Dragon King himself, but he was still surprised to hear the truth.


    ¡°How¡­ How is this possible? General Gu is even going to lead everyone to resist the Dragon King.¡± Wu Zongheng was astonished and vited royal etiquette, questioning the queen mother¡¯s words.


    The queen mother looked ill and Gu Shenwei felt that he should speak. ¡°You don¡¯t have to resist the Dragon King. The Great Snowmountain army is only passing by. As long as there are sufficient ships, the troops will leave immediately. I assure you, in the name of the Empyrean of the Great Snowmountain, that we will not loot or burn the city and the residents of the city are safe.¡±


    ¡°But you made us an army¡­¡± Wu Zongheng thought more than the queen mother. All the youth of the An Kingdom had been forced into the army¨C this was true surrender.


    ¡°The army will be disbanded today. I formed it in order to unite the hearts and minds of everyone, not to expand my own strength.¡± Gu Shenwei admitted.


    Gu Shenwei thought about the practicalities. This hastily-put-together army was extremely unstable and has no fighting capabilities; keeping it together only invited danger. Gu Shenwei would rather keep all his weapons than waste them on halfhearted men.


    Wu Zongheng was relieved and he knew he did not have a second choice.


    The guards knelt to the queen mother and bowed to the Dragon King to express their obedience.


    Gu Shenwei did not let them go immediately. Instead, he asked for them to be the imperial guards of the main hall.


    The guards, including Wu Zongheng¡¯s own troops, followed these orders. However, they had not realized that in actuality the Dragon King was no longer their general.


    Next, the queen mother summoned the city¡¯s elderly, rich families, representatives of various trades, and fugitives. She called them to stay in the hall until past noon when the summons finally ended, and the hall had be overcrowded.


    A total of a dozen people were astonished when they heard the truth. However, seeing how the people ahead of them had alreadypromised, they could only follow the opinions of the majority.


    By this time, news had already spread throughout the city, and there were signs that emotions were getting slightly out of control within the city. Gu Shenwei, after discussing with the queen mother, immediately released the dozen or so people and allowed them to convey the Dragon King¡¯s sincerity to the residents of the city.


    That afternoon, the city gates of the An Kingdom were opened. Four hundred warriors of the Great Snowmountain began entering the city, discovering the streets empty. The residents were hiding in their homes, watching nervously, waiting to see if the Dragon King¡¯s promise was indeed sincere.


    Finally having gathered a trustworthy force, Gu Shenwei immediately ordered the soldiers of the Great Snowmountain to guard the city gates, dock, royal pce, and other important areas.


    As for the temporary army, the soldiers were permitted to go home, including the young men who had been held in the market. However, all of them had to leave their weapons behind.


    At this time, few were willing to pledge their undying loyalty to the Dragon King. Most had wanted to go home, while only a few chose to stay for various reasons.


    Wu Zongheng only recognized the authority of queen mother. Therefore, hemanded the dozens of guards to voluntarily stay in the pce as pce guards. They were the only ones who had been permitted to keep their weapons.


    The capital of the An Kingdom barely remained stable. However, the vast and unfettered ocean remained in front of the Dragon King and the Great Snowmountain army¨C without boats. They were like beasts trapped in cages without a chance to use their ws.


    Unfamiliar with this territory, Gu Shenwei still had to ask the queen mother and Wu Zongheng for help.


    The queen mother was enthusiastic about helping. However, as she had always lived deep in the pce, she had known little about the affairs of the country. It was difficult for her to offer any valuable opinions.


    Only Wu Zongheng was of great help. He had hoped to send the Great Snowmountain troops away as soon as possible, so he had been considering how to get hold of a boat. ¡°There could be ships in the fishing vige nearby but they might be too small and unable to withstand the wind and waves of the ocean¨C they could only advance along the coast. In regards to big boats, maybe only this family still has one or two ships hidden.¡±


    ¡°This family¡± referred to the Meng family of the Jade City.


    The Meng family¡¯s industry is spread all over the Western Region, including the distant An Kingdom.


    Upon hearing the arrival of the great army of the Dragon King, the counterjumpers of the shops, the hidden killers of the Dragon Roc Fort, and other machetemen immediately fled to the north bank of Xiaoyao Sea and took most of the gold and silver, faster than the king.


    Only an old manager stayed back in the shop, faithfully guarding the goods that had not been taken.


    Seeing the intrusion of the Dragon King¡¯s army, the old manager managed to remain calm. He pointed at the piles of luggage behind him. ¡°They are all here. I hope everyone gives me witness that the Dragon King came to plunder and that I was unable to stop him¡­¡±


    However, he was wrong. The Dragon King did note to rob, but to conduct business.


    Arge bag of gold was thrown before the old manager. ¡°I want to hire a big ship.¡± dered the Dragon King.


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t have a boat, no big or small one.¡± The old manager appeared shocked, but he did not panic.


    Wu Zongheng followed and went up to him saying, ¡°The queen mother decrees that whatever the Dragon King needs, the residents of the city would try their utmost to supply.¡±


    ¡°Empty promises.¡± The old shopkeeper remained stubborn.


    Wu Zongheng took out the decree that the queen mother had personally written. There was no royal seal of the King but the personal stamp of the queen mother.


    The old manager looked intently at the decree and made sure there was no mistake. ¡°The shop does have a boat.¡± the shopkeeper relented. ¡°It isn¡¯t awfully big. It¡¯s moored at a bay outside of the city. I can hire it to you but you have to leave a receipt stating that the boat was leased out under the queen mother¡¯s decree; It will be easier for me to ount to my master in the future.¡±


    Gu Shenwei agreed. However, he thought that if everything went well. He would be having to ¡°ount¡± to Meng Yuzun.


    After more than eight months, the Dragon King had finally returned to the Stone Kingdom. This was half a yeartepared to the time that he had promised.

 Chapter 415 - Defending the City

    Chapter 415: Defending the City


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Zhong Heng felt that the heavens were not fair to him. Everytime they gave him some benefits, before he could truly enjoy them, they would be cruelly taken away from him.


    Back in the Central ins, his official career had been full of frustrations. When he noticed that he did not have any achievements after joining the military for many years, he spent arge amount of money to earn a small official post in the Ministry of Defence. However, after only one month into the job, he got posted to Western Region on the pretext that it was for him to undergo a few years of training and that he would have a post waiting for him upon return to the Central ins. In reality, it was more like exile.


    In name, he had been promoted from a sixth to fifth-grade official, but in a convoluted and dangerous environment such as Jade City where the bad mixed with the good, the post ofmandant was without actual authority. The nucleus of his job was to ensure the personal safety of the Governor; it was not much different from being a butler.


    Different from the Governor, who could easily obtain a ¡®Protective Talisman¡¯, namely arge amount of money, at the end of his term, Zhong Heng did not even have many chances to be bribed.


    As he saw for himself how there were rich people all over North City and countless pleasures to be indulged in South City, he realized that it was extremely painful to be poor. It was like forcing an extremely hungry beggar watching the guests in the opposite inn gorge themselves of food through his window.


    Living under such torment that he could feel all the time made him develop a nihilistic attitude towards life. <em>¡°Should I be loyal to the Emperor? But I¡¯ve never even seen the ground he walked on before. Should I love my country? The Central ins is hundreds of miles away and every benefit I fight for here in Jade City will somehow wind its way into the hands of the Governor¡ªit¡¯ll have nothing to do with my nation. Should I work towards my ideals? My only wish is to be covered with riches, even at the expense of 10 years of my own life,¡± </em>he thought.


    Then, a weird youth called ve Huan appeared in his life.


    The first time they met, the both of them rarely spoke to each other. Even so, the experienced Zhong Heng could immediately spot the uniqueness in the youth. He was known as a ¡®ve¡¯ but there was still a residual aura of pride carried over from his days being well-off.


    It wasmon in the Western Region for someone to be from poor to rich and vice versa; there were instances of royalty bing ves. However, it was not usual for someone who had undergone the tough, inhuman training of the Golden Roc Fort to not entirely ept the role of a ve.


    When ve Huan epted themandant¡¯s advice that ¡®discovering the truth and solving the issue are two entirely different things¡¯ and sessfully extricated himself and the Xu siblings from the homicide case, Zhong Heng felt that the youth was not an ordinary person. That said, it was just a thought he had at that point in time.


    What ve Huan did not know was that his actions at that time gave themandant much encouragement. It was the first time anyone had valued the insight of this lowly fifth-rank official. Zhong Heng was a man of usual literary talent and his kung fu was average; the only things he prided himself in having been his vision and urate judgement. However, in the eyes of his superiors, they were not merits but ws that made them afraid. As a result, they did not trust him and kept finding excuses to exclude him from the inner circle.


    One was amandant who was middle-aged and still unaplished, while the other was a youth who was keeping his hatred in check and biding his time for revenge. Their fates were intertwined from that moment onwards, although sometimes they were on the same path and other times on separate ones.


    Many yearster, ve Huan became the Dragon King, and Zhong Heng became Prime Minister of the Stone Kingdom in one swoop with his help. Even though it was such a weak nation, it could also be considered a big transition in his life.


    The heavens were still unfair to him. Before Zhong Heng could have a real taste of being Prime Minister, the Stone Kingdom was invaded and more than half of itsnds had fallen into the hands of the enemy. Only the capital was left, barely managing to keep the enemy at bay.


    This time, Zhong Heng did not n to give in; he did not know if he would have a simr opportunity in the future. No matter what, he wanted to keep it within his grasp and he had no ns to let go.


    When the Dragon King had left the Stone Kingdom to rescue the army of the Great Snowmountain, he had promised that he would havee back with reinforcements two monthster. Even so, Zhong Heng¡¯s judgement told him that even if the Dragon King came back within the promised time, the small Stone Kingdom would still be unable to hold off a huge enemy. As such, he had to carefully n for the future.


    The Stone Kingdom now was extremely chaotic andcking in cohesion. The former Prime Minister, Yang Dou, was exiled, and there were only a few hundred people left in its army. Its people were in fright and distrustful of their new Prime Minister, while their king was sickly and simple-minded; his only passion was receiving the carefully orchestrated worship of the eunuchs every morning.


    The only force he could rely on was those led by the macheteman, Lin Xiaoshan. This forced consisted of dozens of swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, more than 200 bandits who were unclear which side they stood on as well as four to five hundred soldiers of the Stone Kingdom itself.


    The coalition forces of the other four kingdoms surrounding the Xiaoyao Lake were already closing on the Stone Kingdom¡¯s borders, which left the newly appointed Prime Minister not much time to act. Zhong Heng immediately began acting on a few things.


    He abandoned the tactic of waging war all over the country and sent out messengers to summon all of the soldiers stationed at the border posts back to the capital. In this way, he managed to squeeze out a little more than 200 soldiers.


    His next move was to request all of the citizens of the Stone Kingdom to relocate to the capital within three days, and they were only allowed to bring along provisions, money and various jewelry along with them. The Prime Minister promised his people that after the war, theirnds and houses would be returned to their original owners and all damages to their property would be borne by the treasury. Thisst statement caused many citizens who were hesitant to make up their mind to swarm into the capital.


    Zhong Heng even made time to make friends with the group of bandits ording to jianghu rules and not as the Prime Minister of the Stone Kingdom. Very quickly, he found out the truth that the person they turned to, or rather feared, was not the Dragon King, but his female guard, Maid Lotus. Their fear of her was so great that it was enough to garner some degree of loyalty.


    The very day of the Dragon King¡¯s departure, Zhong Heng had confiscated the assets of his predecessor, Yang Dou; they amounted to such a high value that it even exceeded that of the national reserves. Zhong Heng did not report the assets but used them to hire craftsmen to patch up the castle walls and also to attract the youthful farmers who were entering the city into joining the army.


    The most important supply he had to secure was still provisions, for without food, no matter how strong his army was, it would be unable to guard the city for long.


    War was suddenly upon the Stone Kingdom and its official reserve of provisions was extremely small. As such, Zhong Heng used both force and tact to bolster the country¡¯s supply of provisions. On one hand, he purchased provisions from themon folk at exorbitant prices while he forced the wealthy and nobles to give up their personal supplies on the other.


    It was one of the most important reasons as to why the Stone Kingdom managed to hold on to its capital. After only three months, the price of provisions shot up so much that even an offer of 10 times the original price of rice would not be enough to purchase any from its citizens.


    The confiscated money from the Yang Family was soon drying up and Zhong Heng held two discussions with the king before realizing that he was unable to persuade thetter. As such, he decided to bypass the ipetent king and took control of the national reserves as well as the royal treasury. He also sent out his people to take over the shops and banks in the kingdom which were owned by the Meng family by force. In this way, he managed to gather another sum of money.


    Even so, it was an impossible mission trying to secure the capital with barely 1000 soldiers. After all the hard work Zhong Heng put in, he would need to rely on the wrong strategy used by his enemies to barely hang on to the small kingdom that he just got to govern.


    The other four nations surrounding the Xiaoyao Lake, namely the Kang, An, Sha and Hui Kingdoms, had formed a coalition army of about 2,000 soldiers. The Kang Kingdom was the strongest of them and sent a general to marshal its troops while its prince remained with the other soldiers. Before they even reached the border of the Stone Kingdom, they met with its exiled ex-Prime Minister, Yang Dou, who wanted to defect.


    It just happened that the three of them had a major disagreement on military strategy.


    The general felt that he had too few soldiers and that did not suit his troops to take the capital of the Stone Kingdom by force. He wished to entice the enemy to engage at their border in usual battle formations and to spread the news that the coalition forces would give the king of the Stone Kingdom special treatment and allow him to keep his crown, thereby hastening the surrender of their enemy.


    Yang Dou, on the other hand, was extremely vengeful. He felt that the Stone Kingdom did not belong to the royal family but was the private property of the Yang n. Now that it was forcibly taken away from him, he wanted to use all means necessary to seize it back¡ªeven if it came at the cost of countless lives. He made several tempting promises to his newfound allies, iming that the citizens of the Stone Kingdom had long lost their sense of loyalty toward the royal family and that there were still many supporters of the Yang n in the city; if the coalition forces attacked quickly enough, they would be able to seize the capital without even fighting, as the city gates would be opened for them to walk into.


    The Prince of the Kang Kingdom, however, was still reminiscing about the Princess of the Stone Kingdom. As such, he did not wish to transfer rulership of the Stone Kingdom back to Yang Dou. Also, both their kingdoms shared amon border, and seizing morend would not only force the Stone Kingdom to change its mind and allow him to wed its Princess, it would also expand the might of the Kang Kingdom.


    The three of them debated for many days, thereby missing the prime opportunity to attack. They finally came to a conclusion that they would divide the army into two: one half of it would attack the capital while the other seize the other towns and settlements of the Stone Kingdom.


    It was a strategy that was eventually proven to bepletely wrong.


    When the first half of the army advanced to a spot about more than 15 kilometers away from the capital of the Stone Kingdom, they received unexpected news that not only were the city gates not opened to wee the arrival of the coalition forces, the defenders were standing guard over the city walls and their strength increasing everyday. As of now, they numbered to more than a thousand soldiers, matching that of the invaders.


    Yang Dou was extremely disappointed at the turn of events and therefore personally wrote dozens of letters urging the supporters of the Yang n to make their move before getting archers to attach them to their arrows and shoot them into the city in the night.


    He got his answer the next morning when dozens of heads were flung out of the city; the victims included descendants of the Yang n as well as people who were known publicly to be its supporters.


    After that incident, Yang Dou¡¯s standing in the coalition army diminished to ¡®dispensible¡¯.


    The other half of the coalition army was seizing territory within the borders of the Stone Kingdom and noticed that all the towns were uninhabited; the citizens only left their houses and bulky items behind. When the invading soldiers realized that there were no riches for them to loot, they were enraged and began to burn down all the infrastructure they encountered.


    News of the invaders¡¯ actions spread to the capital and gave Zhong Heng¡¯s cause a huge boost as the citizens of the Stone Kingdom, who up till now were adopting a wait and see attitude, developed amon hatred of their enemy overnight. Soon, no one brought up the idea of surrender again.


    As both sides were evenly matched, many of the defenders even wished to engage their enemy in a decisive battle outside the castle walls, in the hope that they could crush the invaders in one blow.


    Zhong Heng managed to keep a clear head. Even though the army of the Stone Kingdom had grown in numbers, he knew that theirbat power was not that high and there was a low possibility of them winning if they engaged their enemy brashly. If they lost the battle, the morale that was built up overnight would immediatelye crashing down. As such, he stood his ground and ordered his troops to maintain their defensive posture.


    It took an entire month before the coalition forces managed to meet up. By that time, they had finallye to realize that the Stone Kingdom did not have any ns to surrender to them and it was only then did they begin to attack the city.


    The siegested for more than half a year.


    Once news of the demise of the Dragon King and the entire army of the Great Snowmountain spreaded to the Stone Kingdom, it nearly crushed its people but Zhong Heng did not allow himself to believe that. He decided to ce all his stakes on his hunch and miraculously, his resoluteness moved many people. The citizens of this small piece ofnd were the only ones in the entire Western Region to firmly believe that the Dragon King was still not dead and that he was gathering more troops beforeing back to rescue their nation.


    During the siege, there were many instances whereby the coalition forces had the intention to retreat, but the Golden Roc Fort was on an unstoppable rampage throughout Western Region and the speed of its expansion caught everyone by surprise. As such, the other four kingdoms surrounding the Xiaoyao Lake knew that their status as the Supreme King¡¯s allies would soon be diminished to vassals before eventually bing his ves; even their eventual sovereignty, albeit in name only, was standing on shaky ground.


    The fact that the coalition forces were no longer fighting to get more benefits for their respective nations but on behalf of the Supreme King kept lowering the morale of the besiegers, but it was also for this reason that they did not dare to surrender for no good reason.


    Life was not rosy inside the city as well. As the war dragged on, the supplies of the defenders grew lesser and provisions had to be rationed out everyday. Even so, it only kept them half full and their morale had also hit rock bottom. It was only because of their Prime Minister¡¯s iron fist that none of them dared to surrender.


    After a few months, the Supreme King sent a new Commander to take over the siege. He summoned more soldiers from the four nations and started huge waves of attacks.


    It got harder trying to defend the capital and even Zhong Heng began to doubt that the Stone Kingdom could keep the defense up for much longer. He began to think that the Dragon King was either dead or never returning back to the Western Region again.


    It was at this moment that the new Commander of the coalition forces sent a messenger bearing a letter. It was written with unprecedented civility and friendliness towards the defenders, praising the tenacity of Prime Minister Zhong and the citizens of the Stone Kingdom before offering very generous terms of surrender: if the defenders were to open the city gates and surrender now, the Stone Kingdom would be able to maintain its sovereignty and Zhong Heng would also be guaranteed to remain in his current post by the Golden Roc Fort. As for the citizens of the Stone Kingdom, they would be allowed to return to their old lodgings and not receive any punishment.


    These were incredible terms of surrender for everyone in the Stone Kingdom, including the King and the Prime Minister. Once the contents of the letter were ¡®unintentionally¡¯ made public by the messenger from the coalition forces, support for immediate surrender skyrocketed and it gave Zhong Heng immense pressure, eventually forcing him to agree to formal negotiations.


    Meanwhile, news that the Dragon King was leading his army across Wushan into the Xiaoyao Lake region was kept under a strict gag order by the coalition forces outside the city walls.

 Chapter 416 - Loyalty

    Chapter 416: Loyalty


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Experienced casanovas hated to be cheated by women the most, while businessmen found paying even a penny more than what they should the hardest thing to bear. As for officials, they keptining about how no one came looking for them after they left their posts. Basically, everyone hated to lose out in their area of expertise.


    As such, it was not hard to understand why Fang Wenshi, the military counselor of the Great Snowmountain, was furious at the betrayal of the Golden Roc Fort and its decision to restart the war; it was actually his n. When he was still waiting for his side to gather more support in the Central ins, the Supreme King was already one step ahead of him, and what a huge step it turned out to be.


    As he kept getting news everyday about the Golden Roc Fort taking over more and more territory, Fang Wenshi¡¯s feelings turned from rage to pain then panic. Just like Zhong Heng, he had just tasted the sweetness of a luxurious lifestyle; he finally got his hands on the things that he had been coveting all along¡ªtasty food, good clothes and women. Now, he wanted more of those things and would not give in so easily.


    As the might of the Golden Roc Fort grew by the day, Fang Wenshi started to have other thoughts. No matter what, he was no longer just a face in the crowd¡ªhe had performed well in Shu-lik and won the debate in Jade City. He was certain that even if the Dragon King was removed, there would still be other discerning potential masters looking to hire a great counselor such as himself.


    As such, he waited and even tried to enlighten himself that being ced on house arrest by the Golden Roc Fort was a form of training; if he survived it, he could even brag about the experience to outsiders in the future.


    He started to be more focused on his bearing and began doing things such as waking up on time, taking real care of his attire and making sure his hair and beard were properlybed. He purposely stood in his yard in a schrly manner and recited the ssics loudly with scroll in hand, making a show of his exceptional calmness and serenity in the face of danger.


    Unfortunately, the two machetemen from the Golden Roc Fort sent to watch over him were uncouth and ignorant. Not only could they pick up the hints, they felt that he was being overly noisy. They managed to bear with his show for one day before drawing their long-sabers on the next day and using them to request the schr to keep quiet roughly.


    Fang Wenshi firmly believed in the theory that it was never toote for revenge and returned to his quarters, silently reprimanding the two uncouth guards. He dreamed that the Supreme King woulde personally to his humble abode to persuade him to join the Golden Roc Fort. He would steadfastly refuse the Supreme King¡¯s offer thrice before ¡®reluctantly¡¯ forsaking his old master. At that time, the first thing he would do was to teach the unruly machetemen a lesson.


    Beyond his expectations, it was not the Supreme King but news that the Dragon King and the entire Great Snowmountain army had been decimated that came to Fang Wenshi; he could onlyment his untimeliness.


    The situation was even worse than what he had imagined. No formidable character came to snatch up his services, and he was forgotten. Even the two machetemen who were supposed to watch over his house seemed to feel that it was unnecessary to keep him under house arrest. They called their friends over for merrymaking everyday, treating the ce they were supposed to be guarding as an entertainment venue.


    Fang Wenshi was beyond enraged at this point in time. He could not focus on his books and kept pacing back and forth in his room while cursing the Golden Roc Fort and the Supreme King creatively. He kept talking about how he would do this or that ¡®one day¡¯ but deep inside his heart he knew that the Dragon King was a remarkable character and it was only with him that he could possibly realize his ambitions.


    On the 10th day after the Dragon King was ¡®killed¡¯, Xu Xiaoyi used bribes to sneak the military counselor out.


    Xu Xiaoyi did not like to study and it was a stretch to call him literate, but he had a sharp nose for danger; it was simr to how a seasonal bird could sense the drop in temperature even when the wind still felt warm. He had hid a huge amount of bank notes just as the Golden Roc Fort began spreading rumors that the Dragon King had broken the ceasefire agreement.


    Xu Xiaoyi was extremely devious and covered his tracks so well that no one could discover any trace that the bank notes belonged to the Dragon King.


    The Golden Roc Fort did spend some effort searching the little man managing the Dragon King¡¯s money, but they came up with nothing. As more and more news of their side¡¯s victories came, the importance of the Great Snowmountain gradually diminished, and so did the attention spent on Xu Xiaoyi.


    He kept his channels ofmuncation open and was still constantly kept updated on thetest happenings. It was due to this fact that he did not believe the news of the annihtion of the Great Snowmountain troops.


    After sometime, Xu Xiaoyi no longer felt as safe in Jade City as before. The Supreme King¡¯s sess had dazzled the citizens of both North and South City; everyone was eagerly hoping to be part of the celebrations once he had managed to secure the Western Region. Even though Xu Xiaoyi was no longer an important person, it was still possible that someone would still sell him out to win the Supreme King¡¯s favor.


    He had to flee.


    After much hesitation, Xu Xiaoyi decided to rescue Fang Wenshi. He did not like the military counselor as he felt that thetter was only capable of empty talk and a money-grubber, not to mention that he took advantage of his sister. If he did not believe that the Dragon King was still alive, the only reason he would be willing to spend any money on Fang Wenshi was to bribe his guards to finish him off.


    The entire matter went very well and the two machetemen could not wait to receive their payment and be rid of their ¡®burden¡¯. They let him go and informed their superiors that the prisoner had hung himself.


    No one bothered to perform an inspection; the Dragon King was already history, what more hisckey.


    ¡°Sigh, leave me be. The Dragon King is already dead, as is my heart. Even if there will be other heroes again in this world, no one will ever get any advice from me again,¡± Fang Wenshi said.


    In truth, he was just reading from a script as the ideal master he was dreaming of had not turned up.


    During this time, they were already fleeing Jade City in the same carriage. Xu Xiaoyi did not understand what the military counselor was muttering about but he knew that the money was in his hand and thus by default, so was the authority. ¡°Spout less nonsense, Fang. The Dragon King is not dead yet; you needn¡¯t be threatening tomit suicide now.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is not dead yet? How do you know?¡± asked Fang Wenshi, his eyes suddenly gleaming. He brushed off the younger man¡¯s harsh tone.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that simple. I¡¯ve gathered information that the news of the Dragon King¡¯s death came from Dugu Xian, but he hasn¡¯t even seen the corpse of the Dragon King yet. I guess that he made it up out of fear of being punished by the Supreme King. You¡¯ve only known the Dragon King for a short while. If you understand Brother Huan as well as I do, you¡¯ll know that he¡¯ll definitely not be found dead in a snowstorm; even if the others really perished, he¡¯ll survive and appear suddenly one day to scare you.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was not really convinced by Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s deduction but it came as a constion to him. ¡°If the Dragon King is really alive, it¡¯s ok even if he scares me till I faint.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi was increasingly being irritated by Fang Wenshi¡¯s mannerisms and started to regret rescuing him out. ¡°Fang, let me remind you that when we arrive at our destination you have to behave yourself; you¡¯re not allowed to flirt with my sister ever again,¡± he said.


    Everyone realized that there was not muchnd surrounding Jade City that was not under the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s control. As such, Xu Xiaoyi had made ns to travel to the Stone Kingdom; not only was his sister, Xu Yanwei, there, there was a small faction there that was still on the Dragon King¡¯s side.


    Fang Wenshi was of different opinion. He was not concerned about Xu Yanwei; she was a rather beautiful woman, but women were not a priority for counselors. He did not want them to go to the small Stone Kingdom; he wished to keep traveling eastward and seek refuge once they were within the Central in¡¯s sphere of influence.


    Naturally, Xu Xiaoyi was no match for the military counselor in a debate but he remained steadfast in sticking to one principle no matter how convincing or logical Fang Wenshi sounded: that he was helping to keep the bank notes on behalf of the Dragon King and he would not give away a single tael of silver.


    Fang Wenshi had nowhere to go to without money. Thus, he could only try to persuade and tempt Xu Xiaoyi patiently. He could not stop talking; he tried everything, from discussing about the situation in Western Region to what was fun in its eastern part. They traveled in this manner until they arrived at Shuangquan Vige. They then traversed across the desert and managed to sneak into the capital of the Stone Kingdom under the cover of night after bribing some of the soldiers in the coalition forces who were besieging it.


    It was only at this point in time that Fang Wenshi abandoned his original n of seeking refuge in the Central in.


    Power in the capital of the Stone Kingdom belonged to Zhong Heng. Fang Wenshi was acquainted with him and had a somewhat good impression of the Prime Minster, but he was extremely unconvinced that thetter suddenly became a trusted follower of the Dragon King. His discontent showed in his speech, and this led to their rtionship bing very tense for a while; eventually, after Xu Yanwei acted as mediator, they toned it down and remained cordial with other, albeit superficially.


    Xu Yanwei was very pleased at the appearance of her brother; they had finally realized their original dream of leaving the soul sucking pit that was South City and were now in the Stone Kingdom.


    She too did not believe that the Dragon King was already dead. In fact, her belief in Gu Shenwei¡¯s survival was even stronger than her brothers. ¡°The Dragon King is inhuman; he¡¯s like a devil sent by the King of Hell himself to our world to act as the Grim Reaper. How could he die?¡±


    If anyone asked her how she knew the Dragon King was inhuman, she would reply mysteriously and softly, ¡°Have you seen any ordinary man that doesn¡¯t love thepany of women? Especially women like me? He¡¯s like that, even though he¡¯s perfectly normal. Don¡¯t ask me how I know that. I just know that he is. Why do you suppose he can never be seduced by a woman? Because he¡¯s a demon.¡±


    She said ¡®demon¡¯ in a respectful manner; this made her look exactly like a witch with bad intent.


    Zhong Heng was extremely angry with her, but it was hard for him to put on the air of a Prime Minister in her presence as he used to be her customer and she knew him inside out. Furthermore, the witch-like Xu Yanwei was unexpectedly popr in the Stone Kingdom; the citizens were suffering from the siege and were looking forward to any sort of supernatural power that could aid them. Even if the Dragon King was a devil, he could also be worshipped by them at this point in time.


    Zhong Heng was more farsighted and thus politely requested Xu Yanwei to change her choice of words from ¡®the King of Hell¡¯ and ¡®devil¡¯ to ¡®Buddha¡¯ and ¡®Arhat¡¯ respectively.


    ¡°How could the Dragon King be a reincarnated Arhat? He always looks as if someone owes him something. Obviously¡­ alright, alright, I¡¯ll listen to you once.¡± Xu Yanwei made some amendments to the story but she was much less enthusiastic about spreading it around now.


    She did something big next.


    The defenders were getting increasingly fatigued and their despair over their future led them to promote another theory amongst themselves. ¡°Who¡¯re we fighting for exactly? The Prime Minister is not from here and none of the people he trusts are important officials of the Stone Kingdom. Where are the king and the princess? Why do we never see them around? Could it be that they¡¯ve already secretly been killed?¡±


    It would be catastrophic to allow such a rumor to continue propagating, but it would not be hard to stop it. All it took was for the king to appear at the castle walls and let everyone see him. This would prevent the morale of the defenders from falling for a while more.


    The king of the Stone Kingdom, however, rejected the request without hesitating. ¡°I¡¯ll never leave the royal pce, even by a single step,¡± he said.


    In reality, he limited his activities to only two ces¡ªthe main hall and sleeping quarters of the royal pce. There were less than 10 people whom he trusted, and everytime he met the Prime Minister, there was undisguised deep hatred in his gaze; the royal seal was still with Zhong Heng.


    Zhong Heng could force the King out of the pce, but doing so could very backfire against him. It became a tricky problem for him.


    Xu Yanwei was one of the very few people who coulde in and out of the pce freely. She spent most of her time apanying the princess and told her all sorts of stories, hoping that the princess would have a good impression of the Dragon King, but instead, it made her more afraid of him.


    That said, the princess really loved and depended upon Xu Yanwei; she would ede to all of thetter¡¯s demands.


    ¡°The Stone Kingdom belongs to your brother now, but it¡¯ll belong to the offspring of you and the Dragon King in the future. If your brother doesn¡¯t care about the safety of the capital, you should appear before the people. Come on, it¡¯s just making one round in the city¡ªit¡¯s not difficult at all,¡± Xu Yanwei said to the princess without discussing with Zhong Heng in advance.


    It was an extremely tough decision for the princess to make. She grew up in Jade City and did not socialize much during her time there. The moment she returned back to her homnd, she was ced under house arrest and got to meet with even lesser people. As such, asking her to suddenly appear in front of tens of thousands of people was akin to taking her life.


    That said, she still agreed to Xu Yanwei¡¯s request. Just like when she agreed to marry the Dragon King, she epted to undertake this very difficult task with the attitude that she was sacrificing herself for her nation.


    The results turned out to be unexpectedly good, so much so that even Zhong Heng was surprised.


    As far as citizens of the Stone Kingdom were concerned, the Princess was a mysterious character. Her public appearance satiated all of their intense curiosities, and her beauty, elegance and warmth made them feel valued; they were certain that they were fighting for her now.


    The Princess¡¯s fear quickly dissipated amongst the cheers and adtion of the crowd. It was also from this day on that she started to treat herself like a real princess, and Xu Yanwei was her only trusted follower.


    Fang Wenshi managed to stay near the Princess because of his status as a military counselor. His heart was beating incredibly fast and he was uncharacteristically silent. All he could think of was: <em>¡°Now this is a woman, a real woman, the kind that can really cause a counselor¡¯s willpower to waver.¡±</em>


    That said, he knew that he had to maintain proper etiquette and changed his mind; he could not bring himself to make an improper move toward the future wife of the Dragon King. Now, he had a goal to fight for like the rest of themoners and he treated the defense of the capital of the Stone Kingdom as an important task which he had to put in a lot of effort for.


    Therefore, when Zhong Heng was pressured into a negotiation with the coalition forces, Fang Wenshi and the Xu siblings were unhappy and decided to start a coup and strip the Prime Minister of his power.

 Chapter 417 - The Coup

    Chapter 417: The Coup


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Fang Wenshi and the Xu siblings were extremely angry with Zhong Heng for showing signs of ¡®betrayal¡¯.


    ¡°It goes without saying that Zhong Heng definitely wants to surrender to the Golden Roc Fort and benefit himself. He doesn¡¯t care about our survival anymore, much less the Dragon King,¡± Fang Wenshi said to the Xu siblings; he came running to meet them once he heard that Zhong Heng had agreed to negotiate.


    ¡°All of the money belongs to the Dragon King, and no one can hope to take it away from me,¡± said Xu Xiaoyi. Once he arrived in the Stone Kingdom, he hid most of the bank notes away and became wary of everyone.


    ¡°I thought Zhong Heng was a pretty decent person¡­¡± said Xu Yanwei; she was enraged as well. ¡°Military counselor, what do you think we should do?¡±


    Fang Wenshi was full of ambition but he was not being valued enough around Zhong Heng. It had been a long time since he was able to demonstrate his capability and he treated the nning of this coup as a chance for him to keep himself sharp. ¡°This is pretty easy. There¡¯s nock of people loyal to the Dragon King in the city and we should unite them and overthrow Zhong Heng. We¡¯ll let¡­ Xu Xiaoyi be Prime Minister and continue resisting the Golden Roc Fort. When the Dragon King¡­¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi got a shock when he heard the counselor¡¯s suggestion. He waved his hands in protest and replied, ¡°No way, no way. I can¡¯t be Prime Minister. Furthermore, I¡¯m not brave. I can still handle those sneaky tasks, but I¡¯ll chicken out if you ask me to go up the city walls.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was waiting for him to reply in this manner. He patted his chest and replied generously, ¡°Alright, then I shall help you out and be Prime Minister in this time of crisis.¡±


    The Xu siblings did not have many opinions about his suggestion; they were more concerned about a concrete n for their coup.


    ¡°I¡¯ve a perfect candidate¡ªLin Xiaoshan. His loyalty to the Dragon King is unquestioned and the swordsmen he leads are all highly skilled. Furthermore, they¡¯re Zhong Heng¡¯s personal bodyguards and it¡¯ll be easy to strike¡­¡±


    ¡°Er, we¡¯re not really going to kill the Prime Minister, right?¡± Xu Xiaoyi was suddenly a little hesitant. ¡°After all, he hasn¡¯t said he¡¯s going to surrender. Shouldn¡¯t we at least find some evidence?¡±


    Fang Wenshi shook his head vigorously out of habit. ¡°If we don¡¯t get rid of him now, it¡¯ll be our problem in the future. It¡¯ll be easy to gather evidence; we¡¯ll let Zhong Heng negotiate with the Golden Roc Fort. During that time, he¡¯ll show his true colors, and we¡¯ll move once he thinks that he has seeded.¡±


    This suggestion got the immediate approval of the siblings.


    That said, Xu Yanwei still had doubts about an issue. ¡°There¡¯s something not quite right with that Lin Xiaoshan,¡± she said.


    ¡°What about him? I think he seems pretty honest, and his respect for the Dragon King is sincere,¡± replied Fang Wenshi. He felt that he was pretty urate at judging people and was therefore surprised at Xu Yanwei¡¯s reaction.


    ¡°He¡­ seems to be a little¡­ with the Dragon King¡¯s maid¡­ I can¡¯t put it to words, but whatever it is, they seem very close,¡± she replied. Xu Yanwei was extremely sensitive about such matters and could sometimes see how things really were even before the parties involved.


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s maid? Jiang from the Great Snowmountain?¡± Fang Wenshi was more surprised now, but at the same time, he felt reassured as he was no longer the only person interested in the women belonging to Dragon King. ¡°It¡¯s alright. It shows that his loyalty is even more believable now.¡±


    Just like this, the plot for the coup was decided upon.


    Fang Wenshi hade up with a n without even spending one hour.


    Firstly, he would personally go to convince Lin Xiaoshan to secure the support of the Prime Minister¡¯s personal guards.


    The next step was for Xu Xiaoyi to make use of his personal strengths. He would keep a close watch on all the movements of the soldiers and citizens in the city to uncover those potential surrenders.


    Last of all was for Xu Yanwei to participate as well. She would request to take part in the uing talks as Special Envoy of the royal family of the Stone Kingdom so as to gather first hand evidence of Zhong Heng¡¯s intention to surrender. She was most suited to undertake such a task as she was a woman and her participation would not arouse the suspicion of Zhong Heng.


    The talks were to take ce during noon time of the next day; the three of them had to act immediately.


    The Xu siblingspleted their tasks without any hups but Zhong Heng met with some difficulties; Lin Xiaoshan was loyal to the Dragon King but did not believe that the Prime Minister would surrender. Also, he did not wish to take part in the coup.


    Fang Wenshi spent a considerable amount of time trying to persuade Lin Xiaoshan. He pointed out all the signs to Zhong Heng¡¯s uing betrayal but the macheteman¡¯s stubborness was beyond his imagination. He had no choice but to use his trump card. ¡°Lin Xiaoshan, to be honest, I¡¯ve always trusted you. If I didn¡¯t, I wouldn¡¯t have roped you in. I¡¯ve always brushed away rumors about you, but now it seems like¡­ haha.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve nothing to hide,¡± Lin Xiaoshan replied calmly. He was neither a swordsman from the Great Snowmountain nor a macheteman working under Tuo Nengya¡ªhe was following the Dragon King entirely out of his own free will.


    ¡°Is that so? Would you dare to repeat that in front of Jiang?¡±


    Lin Xiaoshan blushed rose, his hand on the hilt of his saber. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±


    Fang Wenshi raised his teacup and slowly enjoyed his tea, not lifting his eyes to look at Lin Xiaoshan. ¡°Why, are you nning to kill me to keep it a secret?¡±


    Lin Xiaoshan blushed even more. He let go of his saber and sat down in a flurry. ¡°Don¡¯t spout nonsense, military counselor. I respect Jiang and my loyalty toward the Dragon King isparable to the others.¡±


    ¡°Loyalty is not expressed in words but by actions. Now¡¯s your chance,¡± replied Fang Wenshi. He was secretly pleased with himself, while realizing what a close shave it was. If Xu Yanwei had not let slip that piece of previously unimportant information, he would be in an awkward situation now.


    ¡°The sessful defense of the city up till now is due almost entirely to the Prime Minister¡¯s efforts. We can¡¯t just overthrow him just like this.¡±


    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s a huge taboo to changemanders in the midst of an ongoing war. Therefore, we have to gather evidence first and Xu Yanwei is working on it now. You have to y a part too.¡±


    Lin Xiaoshan agreed to join in reluctantly on the condition that there had to be concrete evidence that the Prime Minister was preparing to betray the Dragon King and surrender to the Golden Roc Fort.


    The plot was slowly taking shape. Fang Wenshi could feel the excitementing from his bones and did not dare to visit Zhong Heng for fear that he would divulge his real intentions by ident.


    During midday of the next day, the talks began exactly on time. As both parties were distrustful of each other, it took a lot of back and forth before the site for the talks was decided upon. Eventually, the coalition forces besieging the city made concessions. They retreated about five kilometers away from the city gate and then cleared a space to set up a sole tent located between the encampment of the coalition forces and the city gate.


    Lin Xiaoshan checked the tent first to make sure that there was no ambush before releasing a signal toward the city. It was only then when Zhong Heng came out of the city gate toward the tent.


    Zhong Heng had no choice but to agree to the talks. There were extremely few people loyal to the Dragon King in the capital of the Stone Kingdom; most of the citizens did not even know how he looked like. If it were not for the miscalction on the part of the coalition forces by looting and razing, which stirred up intense hatred of the civilians, the defense of the city would most likely have failed long ago.


    He had to prove to many people in the city that the talks were just a plot and that the Golden Roc Fort could never be trusted.


    It was extremely risky, but he did not have any other option avable.


    Dugu Xian, the Commander of the coalition forces, had already arrived and greeted Zhong Heng politely.


    It was the same Dugu Xian that had engaged in many battles with the forces of the Great Snowmountain and who imed that the Dragon King had already perished in a snow storm.


    ording to their agreement, bothmanders could only bring along two attendants and five guards. The guards were to stand watch outside the tent while the attendants could enter.


    Dugu Xian¡¯s attendants were his advisors, while those of Zhong Heng¡¯s looked a little out of ce. One of them was a gorgeous woman while the other, an elderly civilian. It seemed that he was not too clear about his role in the negotiations and insolently took measure of Dugu Xian in secret. At the same time, he seemed to be extremely ill at ease.


    Zhong Heng briefly exined the backgrounds of his attendants. ¡°She¡¯s a maid in the royal pce and represents the royal family of the Stone Kingdom. He¡¯s an elder elected by our people.¡±


    Dugu Xian managed to keep his surprise well hidden.


    The twomanders exchanged pleasantries, speaking about things such as how they had admired each other for a long while before turning back to signal their attendants to leave them alone; the talks were to proceed in privacy.


    Xu Yanwei was extremely unwilling to leave the tent, but it was a procedure that had already been agreed upon earlier; she could not insist on remaining behind.


    All 10 bodyguards from both sides were on high alert outside the tent; their right hands were hanging closely to their weapons. It seemed like a fight would break out anytime.


    Xu Yanwei squinted at Lin Xiaoshan. She was the only person without fear in the tense environment, she even felt that she was in her natural environment.


    She was surrounded by men and did not feel that there was anything to be afraid of.


    Her many years of professional experience gave her many useful insights, and one of them was that men were always putting on a mask. Publicly they would act dignified and honorable and it was only in private that they would show their true colors.


    After observing for a while, she picked a suitable target out of the seven men apanying Dugu Xian. She walked toward him and presented herself as shy and ignorant, saying softly, ¡°Er, I don¡¯t know anything; I¡¯ve never attended such an event before. What should we do while our two superiors are negotiating inside?¡±


    The man was one of Dugu Xian¡¯s attendants and about 40 years of age. His face was stern and horse-like, and he was the only one who did not even so much as give Xu Yanwei a nce since the start of the talks. His eyelids drooped a little upon hearing her question and he replied coldly, ¡°Ask that person beside you.¡±


    ¡°Them? Those bearing weapons don¡¯t know a thing and the old man is half deaf¡­ Ah, did I do something wrong? I shouldn¡¯t be speaking to you. What should I do? His Majesty and the Princess entrusted me with the task¡­¡±


    The horse-faced man frowned upon seeing that the ¡®weak and helpess¡¯ gorgeous girl was so worried that she about to cry. He waved his hands impatiently at her before turning his head and giving a signal to his enviouspanions, showing that he nned to gather intelligence from the enemy. ¡°What? Does the king not trust your Prime Minister?¡±


    Xu Yanwei covered her mouth anxiously. ¡°No, no, his Majesty trusts the Prime Minister very much. He passes the most important tasks to him.¡±


    ¡°Erm, that¡¯s good then. I was worried that the Prime Minister had selfish motives and would be unwilling to pass on all of our side¡¯s conditions to the king as they were.¡±


    Xu Yanwei¡¯s eyes gleamed and raised her head to look at the horse-faced man. She looked like a devout believer gazing at a revered master. ¡°How do you know what his Majesty is thinking about? You¡­ I¡­¡± she said.


    ¡°I can deduce such simple matters,¡± the horse-faced man replied, looking a little proud. ¡°Let¡¯s head over there to speak. Then you can pass on our goodwill to His Majesty.¡±


    Both of them headed to the back of the tent and whispered to each other before returning to its entrance after 15 minutes. The horse-faced man gave another meaningful nce to hispanions, showing that the n had seeded.


    At the same time, Xu Yanwei gave the same signal to Lin Xiaoshan, signifying that she had got the evidence.


    Lin Xiaoshan was still hesitant; the passing on of the evidence seemed to be done a little randomly. Even if the Golden Roc Fort offered tempting conditions for surrender, there was a possibility that the Prime Minister may not ept them.


    Xu Yanwei was a little impatient and stamped her feet lightly, urging Lin Xiaoshan to act quickly.


    After considering for a while, Lin Xiaoshan came to a decision and shook his head slowly at Xu Yanwei.


    Xu Yanwei was surprised and angry. Just as she was about to drop a clearer hint to him a sudden, frantic shout came from the tent, ¡°You¡¯re tricking us!¡±


    The shout came from Dugu Xian.


    This time round, even Xu Yanwei was at a loss as to what to do.


    Dugu Xian¡¯s two attendants rushed one after the other into the tent; their actions were even more swiftly than the other five guards; they were evidently first-ss kung fu masters.


    Someone around Xu Yanwei dashed into the tent as well; his action was also as quick as Dugu Xian¡¯s attendants. He was neither Lin Xiaoshan nor one of his four swordsmen; it was the elderly man walking unsteadily just not long ago.

 Chapter 418 - No Way Out

    Chapter 418: No Way Out


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Dugu Xian regretted joining Golded Roc Fort, having been driven into a corner.


    Although he had not read many military books, he had spent his entire boyhood and youth in the regr army. For him, the war was neither a means to protect the country, nor a way to get achievements. It was simply an ordinary lifestyle. Being a soldier was not much different from being a schr, a farmer, an artisan or a merchant.


    He used to have a lot of passion, but it was slowly destroyed by the thought of impending death. Too many people were being ughtered like animals, but their death were all meaningless to themselves, to the people, and to the country.


    A whim of the king at the rear, an abrupt intention of the general in the forefront; sometimes an important figure¡¯s words after drinking would cost the soldiers¡¯ precious lives on the battlefield, their deaths changing nothing in the entire situation.


    Dugu Xian knew that he could never be a famous or valiant general. He just hoped to build up a professional army and not care about who he was fighting for. But the soldiers in the forefront had to be able to decide when and how to fight. He thought an army like this would be invincible because it would never challenge an enemy who was too powerful.


    Chess was often used as a metaphor for war. However, Dugu Xian couldn¡¯t find any simrity between the two things. The yers on the chessboard always started ying in the same situation, but such a perfect situation would never ur in a real war. The party possessing the advantage beforehand was usually the winner, so themander¡¯s greatest responsibility was to add his army¡¯s advantages before the war began.


    Indeed, in some cases, a general could use the few to defeat the many, but if a general regarded that as a goal to pursue, he was a fool who waited for windfalls.


    Dugu Xian thought that the Supreme King could understand him.


    Golden Roc Fort¡¯s request of their killers was simr to Dugu Xian¡¯s understanding of war. However, it turned to be that these two didn¡¯t share a lot inmon. The view of Supreme King was simple: if you have more soldiers than the other, you should defeat them within the shortest time. Victory was more important than how many people were killed in the war.


    They had frequent conflicts when they sieged the camp of the Great Snowmountain in the west of Jade City. Eventually, Supreme King was the one who called all the shots. His only responsibility was to break down the straightforward demands and trante them into military orders, to be executed by the innocent soldiers.


    The siege of a brick-fortified capital was a mistake in itself. However, what made the situation even worse was that this arduous task was given to the four-nation coalition forces who had no experience and equipment.


    Dugu Xian was reluctant to clean up the mess, but he had no option. In the eyes of Supreme King, he was almost equal to a ve. If he refused, he might be killed.


    At the most desperate moment, he wondered if his family name was to me for his troubles. His surname, Dugu, was exactly the same as his master¡¯s.


    No matter what he thought, Dugu Xian fulfilled his duty as a professional soldier. He tried every means possible to attack the capital of Stone Kingdom, excavating hidden passages, building tforms as high as the wall, making battering rams and scalingdders. He tried everything, but none worked.


    The soldiers guarding the capital were all experienced veterans.


    Dugu Xian couldn¡¯t help having sympathy for the Prime Minister of Stone Kingdom, but he didn¡¯t know that Zhong Heng was also at his wits¡¯ end. He could see through the enemy¡¯s tricks, relying partly on his keen intuition and partly on luck.


    When Dugu Xian was preparing for another attack by calling up five thousand soldiers and making arge number of equipments, he caught wind of a confusing and frightening news: Dragon King had not died. The Great Snowmountain army did not perish, but had grown even stronger. They were marching into Western Region through Wushan.


    Dugu Xian found himself in a desperate situation, taking down Stone Kingdom¡¯s capital or not did not matter. He had alreadymitted a capital crime, because he lied to Supreme King about Dragon King¡¯s death before.


    The Supreme King had been annoyed with this unsatisfying general, so he had depatched many advisors and killers to supervise Dugu Xian in the guise of protection.


    When the news that Dragon King had led his army to return to the Western Regions was confirmed, the killers looked at the Commander of coalition forces differently. Dugu Xian believed that this was not his own imagination.


    The messenger was crossing the desert to Jade City. When he came back from Stone Castle, he might bring along a death sentence.


    Dugu Xian felt that there was little time left for him. In the tent where the negotiations were held, he dismissed the attendants and then told Zhong Heng his real intention, ¡°I want to surrender.¡±


    The first reaction of Zhong Heng was that the other party was giving the signal of an assassination attack. He stood up immediately and looked around nervously.


    No assassin appeared. Zhong Heng breathed a sigh of relief and sat down again. He began to seriously consider those four words and then was very surprised, ¡°Um, General Dugu¡­¡±


    Dugu Xian was not particrly good at negotiating, so he did not beat around the bush, but addressed his own predicament directly. In the end, he said,¡± In the whole Western Region, only the Dragon King can stand up against the Supreme King. I am willing to help him. ¡±


    Zhong Heng had been always proud of his ability to evaluate people. But this time he was a bit uncertain.


    Golden Roc Fort was very influential in the Western Region, like the sun in broad daylight. The four-nation coalition forces could conquer the Stone Kingdom¡¯s capital in a couple of days. It was odd that the general had offered to surrender. ¡°Well¡­This is, of course, a good thing. But what about your family? Don¡¯t you need to consider them?¡±


    ¡°I have no wife or child. My parents and brothers are royal family of the Xiaowan Kingdom. The son of Supreme King just got on the throne with help from my family, so he wouldn¡¯ty hands on them. Even though they threaten me with my family, I don¡¯t care about that, because I have left my home ever since I was a kid.¡±


    Zhong Heng came to the conclusion that Dugu Xian was a wolf with less intelligence, and almost wholly bought his words, ¡°Wee, but¡­¡±


    Zhong Heng felt easy while Dugu Xian was anxious. ¡°I can¡¯t wait. To tell you the truth, the two attendants I brought are Golden Roc killers. They will make a move as soon as the negotiation stop, so you have to find a way to save yourself. Can you see my sincerity?¡±


    Zhong Heng was still calm, and his peaceful smile made Dugu Xian feel that he was being yed. ¡°Prime Minister Zhong, I admire your courage, and that¡¯s why I¡¯m willing to surrender. Otherwise, even if the Dragon King is standing in front of me, I would not yield. I hope¡­¡±


    ¡°I have no doubts about your sincerity.¡±Zhong Heng felt that he could believe Dugu Xian for sure, ¡°In fact, I guessed that the Golden Roc killers would assassinate me before the negotiation, so I have prepared for it.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Dugu Xian was a little surprised. He looked around, as if trying to find the ambush in all corners.


    As far as he knew, there were not many masters in Stone Kingdom¡¯s capital. However, Zhong Heng had set up a very rigorous defense by setting a lot of traps, which repelled the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s sneak attacks several times. He thought that Zhong Heng would do the same this time, but he realized that the tent had been built by coalition forces. It was impossible for Zhong Heng to have set up their own traps.


    Zhong Heng decided to be frank with the general. ¡°This is my preparation.¡± He spread his right hand and revealed a in looking yellow-brown pill. If it was thrown onto the ground, it would be no different from the mud.


    Dugu Xian was confused but Zhong Heng had no intention to make any further exnation and folded his arms. He was about to crush the pill when he suddenly thought of something, and asked, ¡°Have you practiced Internal Strength?¡±


    ¡°I practiced a little when I was young, but I haven¡¯t made much progress for many years.¡±


    ¡°It might have a little effect. Don¡¯t panic if you feel a little ufortable.¡±


    Dugu Xian¡¯s head was dizzy when he smelled the very light fragrance which came from Zhong Heng¡¯s palm. The Qi in his Dantian which he had forgotten for many years disappeared in an instant.


    ¡°If you would, cry out, and lure the killers in. ¡±


    Zhong Heng stood in front of his eyes, but his words were like far away at the end of the world. With hisst consciousness, Dugu Xian shouted: ¡°You deceived me!¡±


    The two killers, dressed as military advisors, rushed into the tent and then smelled the fragrance. They also fainted and their Qi quickly disappeared.


    The two of them were shocked. If they were faced with a master, they would immediately retreat. However, Zhong Heng¡¯s Kung Fu was mediocre. They could stillplete the assassination with their remaining Qi.


    A moment passed when they measured each other¡¯s abilities. Two killers continued to rush the target, holding daggers in their hands stably.


    Zhong Heng did not even have an opportunity to escape.


    The killers fell down in front of him, with their weapons lying less than a foot away from his toes.


    Zhong Heng¡¯s face turned white, and then managed a smile to the old man who rushed in afterwards.¡±Thank you¡­¡±


    The old man was expressionless and rushed out of the tent, . This was another person who Zhong Heng couldn¡¯t see through. He couldn¡¯t help thinking that only the Dragon King would be able to believe and control a woman like this.


    The old man was Maid Lotus in disguise.


    Both her and Dragon King and arrived at the north shore of Xiaoyao Lake the day before yesterday. They had climbed up the wall and sneaked into Stone Kingdom¡¯s capital in the night to meet with Zhong Heng. They both thought it was an assassination trap after they heard Dugu Xian¡¯s request of negotiation, so they decided to y along and kill the general of the enemy.


    Zhong Heng took the task to kill Dugu Xian, and Maid Lotus would focus on the Golden Roc killers.


    The guards outside did not know what was going on in the tent, but they were already ready to fight. They pulled out their weapons at the same time and rushed to each other.


    Xu Yanwei was not afraid of normal men, but she was afraid of the men who were fighting. So she screamed and hid behind the tent.


    The battle soon ended with Maid Lotus joining the battle and killing five machetemen of Golden Roc Fort in a dazzling speed.


    ¡°Maid Lotus, you are Maid Lotus!¡± Xu Yanwei identified the old man at first, ¡°What about Dragon King? He is still alive. I knew it¡­¡±


    This was not the ce to talk. The coalition forces had already discovered the battle around the tent, and a group of cavalry was approaching quickly.


    Zhong Heng walked out of the tent with Dugu Xian on his shoulder, ¡°Move, now!¡±


    Dugu Xian was in a delusional world because of Indra, unaware of the next things happened . When he opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was the pale face of a young man.


    ¡°Dragon King.¡± he said.


    ¡°Do you have a way to defeat the army of Supreme King?¡± The Dragon King came straight to the point without a single greeting.


    Dugu Xian was not fully awake, but he had been thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of Golden Roc Fort for a long time. ¡°I can¡¯t guarantee victory, but I do have some ideas.¡±


    Dugu Xian had not learned his lesson. In front of his new master, he still left an appropriate margin for unforeseen circumstances.


    Gu Shenwei was not angry. On the contrary, he felt that Dugu Xian might be the person that the Great Snowmountain army needed the most: a general who really knew about the war.


    ¡°Speak your thoughts, and let¡¯s achieve it.¡±

 Chapter 419 - Loyalty

    Chapter 419: Loyalty


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei believed that sometimes speed was more important than strength. Like now, although the main force was still stationed at the southern bank of Xiaoyao Lake, he still wanted to attack the coalition forces immediately.


    Naturally, Dugu Xian didn¡¯t agree with him.


    Therefore, after a short conversation, he had fallen into disfavor before he could find favor with Gu Shenwei. At least, he thought so.


    Dugu Xian lived in a house near the royal pce. Although there was no clear order to restrain his freedom, he dared not walk out of the house: all soldiers and civilians in the capital hated him so much that they wanted to tear him apart.


    Gu Shenwei needed a professional general, but it was not a good time to put Dugu Xian in an important position: there were too many dissenting opinions, and rebuilding the army was not the most pressing issue.


    Dragon King¡¯s return to Stone Kingdom¡¯s capital triggered a series of reactions. Therefore, he had to reorder things the confusion as soon as possible.


    Fang Wenshi and Xu¡¯s sister and brother¡¯s small plot could not be hidden from him. Lin Xiaoshan had stuck to his principles and never reveal a word to Dragon King and the Prime Minister. It was Xu Yanwei who had taken the initiative to confess, because she still did not believe Zhong Heng, and tried to prove that he had the intention to betray him. But her confession involved the military counselor and her own younger brother.


    Gu Shenwei rebuked these three people in a very harsh tone even though they were all his own people, especially Xu Yanwei and Xu Xiaoyi. After that, he had issued a clear order: Xu Yanwei was not allowed to leave the royal pce in the future, and Xu Xiaoyi could only take charge of money. If they dared to poke their noses into other¡¯s business, they would be expelled from the Stone Kingdom.


    Xu Yanwei was used to Dragon King¡¯s threats, so she didn¡¯t take it seriously. She asked before leaving,¡±Where is Miss Ru? Why didn¡¯t you bring her back? Well, it¡¯s none of my business. You should go to visit the Princess, because she misses you very much. It is all because of me. I have put in a good word to her for you.


    Xu Yanwei was sent away. Xu Xiaoyi said embarrassedly, ¡°It¡¯s all my sister¡¯s fault, and actually I didn¡¯t believe¡­¡± He nced at Fang Wenshi, indicating that he had been deceived.


    Xu Xiaoyi was still happy even though he was reprimanded. He couldn¡¯t help boasting about his contribution, ¡°Dragon King, your money is untouched. I hid it in a secure ce.¡± After that, he left.


    Now Fang Wenshi was left alone. He was the initiator of the conspiracy, so he was anxious, but felt somehow insulted.


    A schr could be killed, bribed, or abandoned, but he could never be humiliated.


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s expression was serious, but he nervously stood by his principles.


    ¡°You have suffered a lot recently.¡± Gu Shenwei softened his tone because he was an adult over thirty years old while Fang Wenshi was still an immature youth.


    ¡°Not much.¡± Fang Wenshi said stiffly. After a pause, he began toin,¡± I was held by Supreme King for a while, cruelly tortured and bribed. But I still had faith. I escaped from Jade City and traveled a long way to your only stronghold in Western Region. Even though I have been underappreciated here, I am always loyal to you and I never dare to give myself up. I hoped to preserve strength for Dragon King but no one appreciated it. So, I didn¡¯t suffer, not at all.¡±


    It was the first time in years that Gu Shenwei had felt a smile try to break free on his face. He could never beat Fang Wenshi in a rhetorical fight, so he pretended not to hear the irony in his remarks and changed the topic, ¡°Well, that¡¯s good for you. Now that Golden Roc Fort has upied arge territory, and the situation of the Western Region will change dramatically. It¡¯s a turbulent time. My military counselor, do you have any brilliant insight?¡±


    Fang Wenshi had many ¡°brilliant insights¡±. But he was reluctant to put forward them quickly since he had just been reprimanded, so he raised his head and kept silent, counting from one to ten in his heart. When he felt it was the right time, he beganmenting on the overall situation. Soon he forgot about Dragon King¡¯s rudeness as he became more excited.


    ¡°First, turbulence is good, great in fact. Powerful heroese forth in turbulent times. Without turbulence, how could you have the chance topete for hegemony in the Western Region? I said that you had to wait for ten years. Now, this decade can be saved.¡±


    ¡°Secondly, it is not Golden Roc Fort but the Nond that have upied the territory. Don¡¯t be fooled by the Golden Roc g. It depends on who is holding the g. At this time, it¡¯s not smart to fight against Supreme King. Even if we win, it¡¯s still meaningless.¡±


    ¡°Third, why does the Central in seem to be weak? Because its opponent is not Golden Roc Fort, but the entire Nond. Look at the map, you will understand the truth. The Western Region and the Central in are separated by thousands of miles of desert. It¡¯s good to win the Western Region. Will the loss of Western Region have any influence on the Central in? No. Look at Nond. Its border next to the Central in is no less than 10,000 miles, but the Western Region is just a small part of it. From the perspective of the Central in, starting a full-scale war rashly in the Western Regions is not worth the loss. Instead, it may be a diversion.¡±


    ¡°I think that the Central in will start the war sooner orter, but its goal will not be the small Golden Roc Fort. If the Central in can defeat Nond at one stroke, the Supreme King will surrender for sure.¡±


    Fang Wenshi talked about his analysis of the situation in the Western Region the entire afternoon, so Gu Shenwei had to interrupt him. Those things were too far away, even further than the time that he would use Dugu Xian. ¡°You have a point. But our problem now is to deal with the four-nation coalition forces outside the capital.¡±


    ¡°Those thousands of soldiers are like sheep without their shepherd. Theirmander-in-chief has already surrendered, so there is nothing to worry about. Dragon King, you should have long-term vision¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei gave him some perfunctory remarks and then left without his military counselor.


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s words were indeed reasonable, but it was not the time to implement them.


    The news of Dragon King¡¯s arrival had spread throughout Stone Kingdom¡¯s capital. But nobody could recognize him when he was walking on the street.


    An exaggerated reputation had both advantages and disadvantages. Dragon King could march in Xiaoyao Lake and capture a country with the strength of two people because of his ruthless reputation and the rumor of the one hundred thousand army behind him. But the drawbacks were emerging, which had almost overweighed the benefits.


    If the people in Stone Kingdom recognized the Dragon King, they might be disappointed, because he was not the person deified or demonized in their imagination. They were all excited and had high morale. They thought that Dragon King could defeat the enemies outside the capital by breathing fire and the war that hadsted for a year would end soon. Then, they could resume their old life to live and work in peace and contentment.


    Thanks to his fake reputation, few people in the Stone Kingdom¡¯s capital had made preparations to fight against Supreme King, even though they had been engaged in the war with Golden Roc Fort¡¯s puppet country for a long time.


    Zhong Heng was busy reading official documents and issuing orders when Gu Shenwei found him in the Council Chamber of the royal pce.


    Zhong Heng was the person Gu Shenwei needed the most at present. He wouldn¡¯t hitch his wagon to a star like Fang Wenshi, nor would he stick to the ustomed rules like Dugu Xian. This Prime Minister, who was well aware of the essence ofpromise, was always concerned with the current problems.


    If the Dragon King couldn¡¯t show up in time, Zhong Heng would surrender for sure, because his loyalty has limits. As long as the conditions were appropriate without any conspiracy, he would give up whatever he had already gotten. The only reason that he hadn¡¯t given up was because Golden Roc Fort hadplicated the issue.


    There was no necessity to test Zhong Heng. It was enough to treat him as a savvy businessman who would deliver the goods if he got the money. Therefore, after Gu Shenwei entered the capital, he met with Zhong Heng at first to demonstrate his trust. After his identity was disclosed, he immediately ordered Xu Xiaoyi to hand over half the bank notes to enrich the treasury controlled by Zhong Heng.


    Zhong Heng fully understood Dragon King¡¯s meaning. As a result, even though he had figured out the plot made by Fang Wenshi and his followers, he decided not to get to the bottom of it, butpletely handed it over to the Dragon King.


    ¡°The spies said that the hearts of coalition forces outside the capital are not strong and the soldiers will flee at any time. I think we can start fighting now.¡±


    Zhong Heng made his suggestion as soon as he met the Dragon King. After carefully defending the capital for more than eight months without any attempt to attack, it was finally time to start the war.


    This was exactly the suggestion that Gu Shenwei was eager to hear, ¡°Who is in charge of the coalition forces?¡±


    ¡°A group of advisors and killers from Golden Roc Fort. There are seven or eight leaders controlling about a hundred people. The coalition forces barely exist because of they are very repressive. But they know nothing about military strategy and tactics except for forcing soldiers to fight.¡±


    ¡°What about the high-ranking military officers of each country? Will the soldiers obey their orders?¡±


    Zhong Heng thought for a while, touching his own chin, ¡°It¡¯s hard to say. The high-ranking military officers don¡¯t want to fight either. But they are more afraid of the Golden Roc killers than the soldiers.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought for a while with his hand on the hilt of his saber, ¡°Do you think these high-ranking military officers will surrender?¡±


    Zhong Heng was a little surprised. It turned out that Dragon King¡¯s idea was not merely to defeat the enemy, but also take to the opportunity to expand its strength. ¡°Since they have surrendered to the Golden Roc Fort, they will surrender to anyone; as long as we can show stronger power than them and kill the killers. But we can¡¯t count on their loyalty.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was well aware of this. If he had thought too highly of loyalty, he would be still huddling up in the Great Snowmountain. The art of managing people was infinite in variety, and enemies coulde into use. Loyalty was like a sticky core. You can wrap up a ten-fold, or even a hundred-fold ball around that core.


    ¡°So, our enemies are only seven or eight advisors and killers from Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s seven or eight people in the center of the army.¡± Zhong Heng pointed out the difference. Then he realized that the Dragon King could break into the military camp since he could enter the capital through the line of encirclement. ¡°Golden Roc killers are full of cunning tricks. Watch out.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had already thought about this, and felt that he could take a risk. Stone Kingdom was not the focus of Supreme King, so the killers he sent out shouldn¡¯t be top-tier, ¡°I am more worried that the five thousand coalition forces will flee too fast. In that case, we will have to take down them one by one. Shangguan Fa will not give us too much time.¡±


    Zhong Heng meditated for a while and finally came up with a well-arranged idea, ¡°Yang Dou, the former Prime Minister of Stone Kingdom, has been hiding in the military camp. He has some families staying in the capital trying to establish rtionship with the high-ranking military officers of each country. What conditions would you like to offer them?¡±


    ¡°I can spare their lives. Each country stays independent, and Yang Dou can be the Prime Minister.¡±


    Zhong Heng was surprised: what was he supposed to be if Yang Dou became the Prime Minister? Later, he understood the little trap that was hidden in Dragon King¡¯s words. He nodded and smiled, ¡°These should be enough. When will you do it? How many people you will take with you?¡±


    ¡°Tonight, two people are enough.¡±


    It was almost dark outside. Zhong Heng was not surprised again. He thought that his own movements need to be fast enough too.

 Chapter 420 - Nameless

    Chapter 420: Nameless


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Only his few old acquaintances knew his name, for he rarely told anyone. As a killer of the Golden Roc Fort, he was ustomed to keeping a low profile and getting ready to hide in the shadows anytime.


    He was reluctant to appear in public, although everyone had already heard about him.


    <em>¡°An advisor from the Whiterobe Academy is supposed to be eloquent and act ostentatiously to impress others, but not a killer.¡± </em>The nameless killer reflected.


    The nameless killer stood in the corner of the tent. He absently listened to the advisor while paying attention to the noises nearby. He knew every move of his four otherpanions. One stood opposite him, while the other three patroled silently outside the tent. The three on patrol stamped gently as they passed behind him to inform him that there was no danger.


    The speaker was a chief of the Whiterobe Academy. He had the highest ranking among those who had been sent to the four-nation coalition forces by Golden Roc Fort. Now that the Commander had defected and fled, he was in charge of the whole troop, and his top priority was to prevent the alliance from breaking up.


    The high-ranking military officers from four kingdoms huddled together in the tent. They listened to the arguments and threats from the advisor anxiously, while their eyes were fixed on the killers.


    ¡°Yang Huan couldn¡¯t have 100,000 troops, and I bet that he can summon 3000 soldiers at most; besides, there are just a few ships left in the southern bank of the Xiaoyao Lake. His troop couldn¡¯t make it through even if the Dragon King does. There is nothing to worry about.¡± The advisor in white, raising his hands, said confidently.


    He indicated that nothing was serious, while refusing to admit the enemy¡¯s title of ¡°Dragon King¡±. ¡°Our Lord is a wise king, and now it¡¯s time to distinguish yourself gloriously. As long as we work together, we can take the capital of the Stone Kingdom and behead Yang Huan within three days,¡± he continued.


    The advisor kept talking, but barely received a response from the officers.


    Regardless of his deficiency in stratagems, the nameless killer was an obedient and excellent killer because he never talked too much or overstepped his duty but strictly followed orders. In spite of it, he knew how ridiculous and boring the advisor¡¯s words were.


    The high-ranking military officers of four-nation coalition forces were from the royal family. <em>¡°What¡¯s the point of receiving rewards from the king if their king loses the throne? Besides, what else could equal to the royal crown?¡± </em>They thought to themselves.


    In his eyes, people from the Xiaoyao Lake were cowards. The nameless killer looked at the silent nobles in disdain. <em>¡°If they areshed with a whip and treated with a sword, they will yield.¡± </em> He thought.


    However, if that was the case, the advisor would be of no use. After all, advisors did not learn the ways of the knife and sword in the Whiterobe Academy.


    Killers and advisors were two different people, and they each looked down upon each other. The nameless killer also despised advisors, but he did not pursue that thought further except for some unconnected ideas shing through his mind.


    <em>¡°Advisors are redundant, and so is the Whiterobe Academy. They exist due to the practice passed for years, like a knife scar or a wart left on the body. But as time passes, they will be a part of the body.¡± </em>The nameless killer mused.


    <em>¡°Only 10, no, 15 to 20 killers about my level can take the Dragon King¡¯s life.¡± </em>The nameless killer thought to himself. He began to conceive a simple but effective assassination n. Then he got lost in thought again, <em>¡°The Dragon King is skilled in martial arts, but strategies are also important in a fight. He was just amon killer when leaving the Stone Castle, so he couldn¡¯t know many strategies.¡±</em>


    ¡°I hope that you can stick together to fight against the enemy. Dugu Xian is an ipetentmander, so it¡¯s good news for us without him. Tell the soldiers that they can take whatever they get within three days as long as we take the capital of the Stone Kindom. Besides, our Lord will award them ordingly,¡± the advisor said.


    The military officers became excited when they heard the promise of three-day plunder. When they had entered the Stone Kingdom, one of their teams had looted around, but only reaped a small harvest as the citizens had already escaped to the capital with their valuables. The Dragon King was said to have amassed lots of money, which meant that they would make a fortune once they took the capital.


    After observing their responses, the advisor decided to throw more bait to enhance morale, and said, ¡°To be honest, I also want to contribute my strength and take the spoils. Therefore, we need to take actions soon because¡ª I can¡¯t reveal more. What I say is best kept secret¡ª besides, another troop more powerful than the Dragon King¡¯s will arrive soon. We can¡¯t let them get ahead.¡±


    As they had already been told that the Supreme King would send one contingent of his trusted troops to attack the capital of the Stone Kingdom, only several officers pretended to show their surprise so as not to embarrass the advisor.


    The advisor proceeded a long speech without noticing their responses.


    The nameless killer ignored it because he was concerned about another matter.


    Fifteen minutes passed, but the sound of a stomp still didn¡¯t reach his ear.


    He cast a nce at oppositepanion, finding him just as confused as himself.


    The opposite killer leaned forward and coughed, attracting attention from most people inside immediately. They seemed to be more interested in the killer¡¯s move than the advisor¡¯s words.


    The nameless killer seized this opportunity and snuck out of the tent.


    Ranking also existed among killers. The three outside the tent belonged to the inferior ranking; sometimes they got ck at work or thought that continuously patrolling was meaningless, but a real killer had a knack for finding something unusual from these monotonous tasks.


    <em>¡°Has the Dragon Kinge?¡± </em>The nameless killer assumed the worst but soon ruled it out. <em>¡°Dragon King isn¡¯t a killer anymore. He is amander now, so he won¡¯t put himself in danger. Besides, the tent is surrounded by a great number of guards and killers. Even if half of them were remiss, the rest could still keep an eye on the territory within one hundred steps so that no one can get closer without being discovered.¡± He meditated.</em>


    <em>¡°I¡¯ll teach them a lesson.¡± </em>The nameless killer thought to himself. He had no mercy on those who neglected their duties.


    There was a strict hierarchy among Golden Roc killers that outsiders could never know. The demaster was at the top, and killers came the second. Only insiders knew it.


    As he had expected, a killer had been stopped by some bothersome guy; this killer was the one to me for the failure to stamp.


    ¡°Bothersome guy¡± was what the nameless killer called Yang Dou.


    Yang Dou was the former Prime Minister of the Stone Kingdom, but now stayed in the military camp. Penniless as he was, he still made promises as if he were a prince or a lord. He thought that the four-nation coalition forces would hand over the capital to him once they took it.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯te here,¡± the nameless killer said coolly to Yang Dou, and then he shot a nce at his carelesspanions.


    <em>¡°Something is wrong. Even a careless killer couldn¡¯t look drowsy like this.¡± </em>He thought.


    Before he figured out what had happened, the nameless killer had already held the hilt of his saber unconsciously in his right hand.


    However, it was toote. A light, delicate fragrance came. The nameless killer was about to hold his breath, but at this moment, his front chest was tapped gently by someone. Suddenly his Internal Breath randomly ran out and he involuntarily inhaled the knockout powder.


    Then, his Internal Breath was draining away quickly, and figures and objects before him began to twist together. The nameless killer did not utter a word of warning for he wanted to survive.


    Before losing consciousness, he med himself in his mind, <em>¡°How could I be so careless that I even didn¡¯t notice the two attendants Yang Dou brought?¡±</em>


    Sentry posts were ten feet away. The guards had their backs turned to the tent, keeping an eye on the small area they were in charge. When they heard the nameless killer¡¯s voice, they became more focused on their work, but no one turned around.


    Yang Dou had perfectlypleted his task without being suspected. He gave one of his attendants a measured nce, one of resentment and fear.


    When Zhong Heng had suggested utilizing Yang Dou to bribe the high-ranking military officers of the four-nation coalition forces, it suddenly urred to Gu Shenwei that Yang Dou might be more useful.


    A man whose ambition couldn¡¯t be satiated was inclined to betray those around them; Gu Shenwei had learnt it from his teacher- Zhang Ji. It not only worked for ves and servants but alsomon people.


    Yang Dou didn¡¯t think that he was an ambitious person. All he wanted was to reinstate in the Stone Kingdom so that the Yang Family could dominate the kingdom again.


    However, his humble ambition couldn¡¯t be satisfied, which made his resentment increase day by day. He became disappointed at the coalition forces and the Golden Roc Fort, and his hatred grew.


    At that time, one of his nephews had bribed someone and snuck into the military camp with two attendants, and sent a message to him, ¡°You can reinstate the family as long as you deliver the Dragon King¡¯s decree to the high-ranking military officers of four kingdoms.¡±


    After hesitating for a moment, Yang Dou had epted his offer. He didn¡¯t care whom he worked for because he only wanted to take charge of the Stone Kingdom.


    Two attendants had told Yang Dou that they were killers sent by the Dragon King, and as a part of the deal, he needed to take them to the main tent.


    After some hesitation, Yang Dou had agreed. He had tried many means to regain the position of Prime Minister but had failed, so he thought that assassination might work.


    Later, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had concealed their real identity and sessfully infiltrated the enemy¡¯s camp under the close watch. But when they got closer to the main tent, they were stopped by a killer on patrol.


    After Maid Lotus managed to control two killers with Heart Stopping Finger and Indra, Yang Dou pretended to whisper to the two killers to cover their doings.


    The person wouldn¡¯t lose control of his body instantly after inhaling Indra. He could still walk under others¡¯ lead.


    Yang Dou gripped the two killers warmly, and said, ingratiatingly, ¡°Thank you very much; I could never return the favor¡­¡±


    Soon, they walked to the entrance of the tent.


    At this moment, the advisor¡¯s speech ended, and the high-ranking military officers walked out of the tent in relief. They did not talk to Yang Dou standing outside the tent, but they felt slightly surprised to see him holding two killers by the arm.


    If other killers saw this scene, they would immediately suspect that something was wrong.


    Two killers were still on patrol outside the tent, and they woulde in soon, so Maid Lotus remained outside to handle them.


    Yang Dou walked into the tent first, and said loudly, ¡°Mr. Song, I¡¯m here to beg you to do me a favor.¡±


    The advisor was agitated and said, ¡°What are you doing here? Get out¡­¡±


    The killer in the corner drew out his saber but fell to the ground after taking a step.


    Only now did the advisor notice the two killers with an odd expression on their faces, and the strangers behind them.


    Familiar with the way the killers of Golden Roc did things, Mr. Song knew his survival depended upon his next move. ¡°I have something to say,¡± he said.


    Noticing that the strangers did not act immediately, Mr. Song proceeded, ¡°A troop is heading to the Xiaoyao Lake now; leave me alive if you want to know their route and arrival time.¡±


    Yang Dou had never thought that the advisor would be terrified, and what respect remained for the Golden Roc Fort disappeared. He snorted and said, ¡°The Golden Roc Fort is said to send a troop monthly, but until now, I haven¡¯t seen a single soldiere except hundreds of foreman.¡±


    With his gaze closely fixed on the strangers in the attendant¡¯s dress, the advisor said, ¡°It¡¯s true. Our Lord has made a n not only to take the Stone Kingdom but also devour the other three kingdoms together.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was shocked to hear the news. He had thought that they had enough time to prepare for the war and would never have expected that Golden Roc Fort would send the troops so soon.

 Chapter 421 - An Ingenious Military

    Chapter 421: An Ingenious Military


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The warrior d in white in Fort Jin Peng revealed something important before he died, but couldn¡¯t say it all. He did not say howrge the army was, when they would arrive, nor the route they would take.


    This made even more questions.


    ¡°Just bring him back for questioning. This is not easy.¡± Fang Wenshi said with slight regret. It was evident that he was ming the dragon king for moving too fast.


    Gu Shenwei discussed this startling information with Zhong Heng and Fang Wenshi in the Council Chamber of the royal pce.


    Recalling the scene, Gu Shen hadn¡¯t a choice knowing the warrior would never speak again. But for the news being suprising, the warrior¡¯s only purpose was to garner more time for rescue. Because he would almost impossibly turn traitor, for he feared the Supreme King more than he did death.


    The assassination bore an enduring wait. However, he had to act very quickly once he began, as the slightest hesitation would lead to fatal consequences.


    After Gu Shenwei killing the warrior with Maid Lotus, they evacuated leaving several Jin Peng killers who had lost their sanity.


    Yang Dou was impressed by the quick skills of the two killers and finally guessed their true identities. ¡°Dragon King, there is good news. Tomorrow morning, the 5,000 coalition forces will be our allies. Please remember what I will do today because I am risking my life.¡± He said.


    It was not reliable to rest all hope on one man, especially when his standing was questionable. While Gu Shenwei sneaked into the military camp to assassinate themander-in-chief, Zhong Heng had selected 500 soldiers equipped with all the horses in the city, and waited behind the gate.


    Gu Shenwei left the Chamber and joined the 500 soldiers before he could know the oue of the worker¡¯s remarks.


    News that the dragon king would fight with soldiers, like a warm wind in the early spring, invigorated them and filled them with great pride and courage.


    Indeed, the dragon king was not as tall and powerful as they perceived, nor did he seem to have magical sorcery, but his bravery, calm and friedliness was beyond their imagination.


    Gu Shenwei nodded at everyone as he slowly pushed from the end of the team to the front. Every time he passed a few soldiers, he whispered, ¡°follow me.¡±


    Although many soldiers were middle-aged, Gu Shenwei still felt childlike enthusiasm from them.


    Yang Dou promised to persuade all the generals to surrender before dawn and as it approached 5 a.m., with the appointed time now more than an hour away, the Dragon King and his troop rode out of the gate quietly and attacked the coalition forces.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to wait passively.


    While they closed in on the enemy camp, Gu Shenwei sounded the horn and issued the order to fight. The soliders shouted as one, causing confusion among the enemies.


    The enemy camp was already a mess nevertheless.


    When the corpse of the warrior in white was found very soon, the four generals looked at the secondmander-in-chief they had lost with pale expression, and what frightened them more was that the five killers of Jin Peng did not die nor did they live. Like walking dead, they stood in the main tent and seemed to be unaware of all people and things.


    There were still dozens of soldiers in Fort Jin Peng, albeit none having special status. They quarreled among each other and then with the generals of the four countries because no one was willing to lead this ominous army.


    Yang Dou felt that it was the right time to visit the main generals of the various countries to convey the conditions of Dragon King and persuade them to surrender immediately and said to them,¡±Prince Kang has already agreed, you have no reason to oppose. The Dragon King said those who surrender protect their countries and kings, but those who do not, will loose everything.¡±


    The change being too sudden meant that some clever people that had already thought of this agreed vaguely, apart from Prince Kang.


    The Prince had still fresh in his mind, the fault of vying for the princess with the Dragon King.


    Yang Dou knew reckless and stubborn the prince was, so chose to see him atst, hoping to subdue him with the influence of the other three countries.


    The Prince guessed Yang Dou¡¯s purpose on seeing him andughed. Before Yang Dou could speak, heshed out at him and ordered the guards to hack him to death.


    Yang Dou died in a ce he¡¯d never thought of before, however his death solved a small problem for the Dragon king, because the Dragon king now didn¡¯t have to arrange a position for him, an exiled Prime Minister.


    The coward often had the courage to be a fool, a valuabe trait Prince Kang possessed.


    The blood drove him insane. Prince Kang led his troops and summoned all the generals to im that he was still themander of the coalition forces.


    This night was doomed now to uncertainty, in all ranks from the general to the soldier, all staying up all night with no one knowing who would issue the next order.


    It was then that the Dragon King and his cavalry stormed the camp as the horn sounded. The shout, loud as it was, seemed toe from a thousand people.


    The four-nation coalition forces were at their weakest as they were attacked forcing them to retreat almost instinctively. Even the prince, that had made an oration, without honour left his men behind and rode his horse as far as the wind took him.


    After dawn, the battle was over and those that hadn¡¯t fled, surrendered to the Dragon King and just started to realise that they had been defeated by only 500 men.


    Zhong Heng led more soldiers to take over the barracks.


    Speed was most important as Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t think this was a victory. With the four countries still on the side of Fort Jin Peng, there wasn¡¯t a better time to change their position. The odds would be very much stacked agaisnt them once the mighty army of Fort Jin Peng entered Xiaoyao Lake.


    In the frenzied barracks of the coalition forces, Gu Shenwei issued several orders on end.


    Lin Xiaoshan then led the soldiers, still 500 strong, marching West to seize the capital before the Kingdoms of Kang, Sha and Hui each reacted, and ¡°invited¡± all kings to meet the Dragon King.


    A daring move that could achieve remarkable results as long as they acted quickly. At this moment, the main armies of all the countries had joined the coalition forces but had left provisional armies in their home territories. If Lin Xiaoshan followed the runners closely, he could not only break into the capital easily but also take advantage of the panic they created to gain an overwhelming advantage.


    Zhong Heng received the second order: the city was under siege. The Prime Minister immediately started collecting boats on the north shore of Xiaoyao Lake while bringing the army from the south shore.


    With the situation in Xiaoyao Lake hanging by a thread, this task required speed given how great the result the army could achieve, because they had to rely on robustness, if they wanted to keep thend and people in their hands.


    Zhong Heng had already formted a scheme in his mind that he spoke out before he left saying, ¡°Fort Jin Peng can¡¯t know so soon of news that the Dragon King is still alive or else its army wille to the Great Snow Mountain. Besides, Shangguan Fa wouldn¡¯t think that DuGuXian would surrender, so his purpose isn¡¯t to strengthen the coalition.¡±


    Although Zhong Heng did note to a conclusion, what he said was just what the Dragon King worried about. Gu Shenwei himself couldn¡¯t lead his troops to conquer the three countries, west of Stone kingdom because of this.


    Fang Wenshi was waiting anxiously when they returned to the city. He judged theing the advancing army of Fort Jin Peng from another light saying, ¡°This is a great deal of fraud. The Supreme King is no prophet, clearly the coalition has an advantage. Hadn¡¯t the Dragon King arrived in time, the Stone Kingdom wouldn¡¯t have held out the capital for long enough and even though the Supreme King just sent an army then, there was an agenda hidden.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was a little wordy by nature, so it took some time for him to mention the point of topic but said, ¡°the Supreme King is trying to annex Xiaoyao Lake.¡±


    So sure was he of his hypothesis that he paced back and forth excitedly to demonstrate his opinion saying, ¡°the Supreme King keeps protesting the proposal of abdication despite all four kings adhering. A greater ambition is self-evident in this, he wants to make the Xiaoyaoke his own.¡±


    ¡°Fort Jin Peng is backed by North Court, it always depends on the North Court¡¯s army to conquer the West and East. The Supreme King must found his own country if he doesn¡¯t want to be a stooge. However small Xianyao Lake may seem, it is difficult to attack yet easy to defend thus we regard it as a solid rear¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei understood already what he meant and agreed wholly but the key issue was the details of the army. Fort Jin Peng was and of fragrance that was isted from the rest of the world not some savagend in the woods. It was neither a Wushan tribe that had been fighting for years, nor a small sea country caught between two minds. They knew truly who the Dragon King was so they wouldn¡¯t believe any exaggerated legends or be intimidated by a few people.


    This crucial battle would be the first since the army of the Great Snow mountain returned to the Western Regions where them being triumphant would mean gaining a firm foothold in Xiaoyao Lake and making the foundation for challenging Fort Jin Peng however defeat would leave them only one option, to retreat to the Land of Fragrance. As a result, it would be more difficult to rush out of Wushan than ascend to heaven .


    Gu Shenwei¡¯sst order thus was given to him. To find out the enemy¡¯s situation and know their strength.


    Before he left, Gu Shenwei took the time to meet Dugu xian hoping to get some advice. After all, Dugu Xian was a general in Fort Jin Peng and more familiar with the situation.


    In addition to the path of Wushan, Xiaoyao Lake had two ess routes to it, one that came from the east and another from the west which all crossed the desert. The eastern route was easier to walk by, so Gu Shenwei rolled the dice and anticipated it would be the route through which the army of Fort Jin Peng would attack.


    DuGuXian was willing to help, but didn¡¯t want to make unfounded spection and said, ¡°Typically, amander would certainlye in from the east, the reason being very simple¡ªwater. There is plenty of water and grass in the east enough to supply tens of thousands of soldiers trekking a short path across the desert. The western passage on the other hand has little water and can amodate mere hundreds of people. If the army thus has more than 3,000 soldiers carrying arge amount of clean water on their own would bring a really high cost.¡±


    Gu Shenwei became confident more in his n aftertemting this.


    After betraying Fort Jin Peng, Dugu Xian was driven more to defeat the army sent by the Supreme King, When he knew that the Dragon he warned after knowing the Dragon King was going to spy on the enemy saying, ¡°find out who their main generals are and from which country the soldierse. I might of more help then.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    He led the Dutch women and a few people across the desert to the northern vige of Shuangquan in less than ten days.


    Along the way, they didn¡¯t see any signs of the army advancing. Besides, Shuangquan vige also thrived by receiving passing businessmen as before.


    But in the vige¡¯s tavern, news that an army wasing had spread with rumours flying around that it was as big as 10,000 to 200,000 strong. Finally, an old man said, ¡°It¡¯s obvious that a camp is being built in the east of the vige where each stake inside represents a tent multiplied five times over, the number is probably the size of the army. I ce a bet that it¡¯s no more than thirty five thousand soldiers.¡±


    Thirty thousand soldiers from Fort Jin Peng would fight against ten thousand of the Great Snow Mountain. Gu Shenwei knew in his heart that his mening out victorious was a chance slimmer than a sword¡¯s edge.

 Chapter 422 - Opinions

    Chapter 422: Opinions


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Maid Lotus separated from the Dragon King in Shuangquan Vige. After that, she was going to Jade City to call up disciples of New Moon Hall.


    Gu Shenwei left two spies and then returned to Xiaoyao Lake alone. Although the information he had collected was insufficient, he could not wait any longer: He had to develop a strategy to attack the enemy as soon as possible.


    Upon returning to the capital of Stone Kingdom, he met several kings who were ¡± invited¡± to form an alliance.


    The four kings of Shi, Kang, Sha and Hui Kingdom all hade. However, the King of the An nation, on the southern bank of Xiaoyao Lake, was not in attendance. He had already fled to Jade City to take refuge.


    The four kings were terrified, and distrusted the Dragon King.


    After a grand alliance ceremony, Gu Shenwei released the three kings of Kang, Sha and Hui Kingdom. ording to the custom, they left their Crown Princes as imperial guards and hostages of the Dragon King.


    Zhong Heng quicklypleted his task. Within 20 days, he had collected more than 300rge and small ships to transport all of the troops of the Great Snowmountain troops to the North Shore. Next, he set up camps at the entrance and exit of the main road in the east. Finally, he was prepared to wage arge-scale battle with Golden Roc Fort.


    Roughly speaking, the army of the Great Snowmountain was not weak. There were nearly 20,000 people, including swordsmen, machetemen, forest savages, ves and nobles from the Land of Fragrance, tribes and mine thieves from Wushan, and soldiers from the five countries of Xiaoyao Lake, which was more than that Gu Shenwei had expected.


    But the army was like a clumsy paper dummy without aplete shelf, and soldiers from different factions all had their own ideas. Even if there was no enemy, they were wobbling and might fall apart at any time, let alone fighting against the army of Golden Roc Fort.


    Those who were actually prepared for the war were more than 1,000 swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain and machetemen of Tuo Nengya. They were unwaveringly loyal to the Dragon King, but it was arduous for them to bind together the recruits who were more than ten times their numbers.


    Therefore, Gu Shenwei held the first meeting and the participants were limited to a few, including the heads of the Great Snowmountain, Tuo Nengya, Zhong Heng and Fang Wenshi.


    He was satisfied with the result. Those people had been hiding all along and fought asymmetrical skirmishes. Finally, when they returned to the Western Regions, they all looked forward to fighting a decisive battle with Golden Roc Fort, and their soldiers were waiting excitedly for the arrival of the enemy.


    In the midst of the war, only Tuo Nengya reminded Dragon King that the army was moving too fast, the Wushan army in the rear was unstable, and the spies who were sent by Golden Roc Fort had not beenpletely eliminated. Besides, the position of many tribes and mine thieves was still unclear, and the narrow road to the Land of Fragrance might be cut off at any time.


    Gu Shenwei did not make a decision on the spot but summoned the next group of people, which included ten leaders of ves and soldiers from the Land of Fragrance, the two leaders of the noble soldiers, Ha Chilie of the Wushan tribe, and Ge Ying, a mine thief.


    There wereplicated rtionships among these people. ves and nobles, tribes and mine thieves all used to be extremely antagonistic like water and fire. Now they were barely keeping the peace, and their mutual contempt and hatred had not decreased.


    As soon as they entered the tent, two small disputes urred.


    The leader of the ve soldiers identally touched the leader of the nobles and was harshly scolded, but the ve dared not to refute or even defend himself. He lowered his head respectfully and epted the scolding from his former master. His knees kept shaking. If the Dragon King had not appeared in time, he would have soon knelt for mercy.


    Another dispute was more serious: As soon as they met, Ha Chilie and Ge Ying red at each other. One imed that the other was servile while the other used him of malicious intent; then they drew their sabers.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s arrival put a stop to the two disputes.


    These people were also d to fight against Golden Roc Fort, but they had different attitudes.


    Out of fear, the nobles of the Land of Fragrance obsequiously said that they would follow the Dragon King forever, but there was no sincerity in their words.


    The ten ve leaders were still confused. In just a few months, the whole world had changed. They were full of surprise about everything outside butcked an intuitive understanding of Golden Roc Fort and the Supreme King. They did not know the importance of the war at all but humbly expressed that they would carry out all the orders of the Dragon King.


    ve soldiers were thergest single source of troops in the army of the Great Snowmountain, with a total of more than 7,000 people, but theirbat capability was very doubtful.


    Soldiers needed obedience rather than servility. Although Gu Shenwei had given them freedom, the ves only looked at this freedom carefully and never dared to embrace it. In their eyes, the Dragon King was a kind but demanding master.


    The Audacious Twin des Ge Ying had brought hundreds of mine thieves. Why did he join the army of the Great Snowmountain? He did not know the reason. At first, he said that he admired the Dragon King, and then he was naturally fond of lively activities. Finally, he was concerned about dividing up the spoils. ¡± Dragon King, we all have given up our business to follow you, regardless of the reward. If we win, how would we divide the gold and silver treasures and those women of the Supreme King?¡±


    Ha Chilie was unhappy before Gu Shenwei spoke, ¡°Do you think the Dragon King is a bandit leader like you?¡±


    In principle, Gu Shenwei should not take sides in official matters. He learned this truth from his father Gu Lun, who knew the doctrines of officialdom and sometimes told his three sons. Gu Shenwei did not care much at that time but remembered it clearly when he grew up.


    But this time was different. He had to correct Ge Ying¡¯s mistake. ¡°There will be gold and silver treasures, and women, but we win it not by robbery or division, but by ourselves. We will build a new country. By that time, all of you will be heroes, and you will possess everything.¡±


    ¡°F**k, do you want me to be an officer? Haha.¡± Ge Ying was a rough fellow. Although he said dirty words, he wanted to express his excitement.


    Ha Chilie was thest person to speak and simply expressed his desire for war. His loyalty to the Dragon King could bepared with that of the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain, but he brought no more than 300 people. Most of the tribes in Wushan adhered to the principle of non-interference and believed that the war had nothing to do with them.


    Gu Shenwei summoned the third group of people, who were princes and generals from all countries of Xiaoyao Lake.


    The soldiers from Stone Kingdom stood firmly on the side of the Dragon King, but they were full of distrust for the other four countries.


    This distrust was justified.


    In the An Kingdom, because the king had fled, the soldiers were forced to join the army of the Great Snowmountain.


    The people of Sha and Hui Kingdom were simr to the people of An Kingdom. When it came to the uing war, all of them avoided the question and showed obvious negative emotions.


    Among the countries, the Kang Kingdom was the most powerful, and also had the strongest opposition to the Dragon King.


    The Prince of the Kang Kingdom had escaped before attended the meeting. Last year, he was on a par with the Dragon King, and even in a slightly higher position. But now he served the Dragon King as a hostage. This change made him very ufortable, so he spoke with strange voices, ¡°We can take measures ording to the actual situation, and the Dragon King is there. What are we afraid of? We just follow behind him and then pick up the booty.¡±


    Theposition of the army of the Great Snowmountain ranged from loyal to sinister people, and the number of thetter wasrger.


    Before fighting a decisive battle with the army of Golden Roc Fort, Gu Shenwei had to fight a hard battle with his own army.


    <em>¡°I should try my best to listen to the opinions of others before reforming the whole army.¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    Zhong Heng¡¯s idea was pragmatic and simple, ¡°To drive wolves with tigers, temper justice with mercy. The swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain and the machetemen of Tuo Nengya should be scattered among the various armies and serve as generals who drive people to march forward bravely. The soldiers of the five countries should be strictly supervised. At the same time, arge amount of gold and silver should be offered as a reward, and the distribution scheme of spoils should also be worked out so that everyone has an impetus to fight.¡±


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s viewpoint was slightly empty and differed from Zhong Heng¡¯s. ¡°The swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain cannot be dispersed. They are the main force of our army, and the whole army is waiting with eyes wide to see their performance. Once they are dispersed, the army will be soulless. Who will fight bravely? I think that the prime minister¡¯s opinion is wrong, very wrong.¡±


    Both views were reasonable, so Gu Shenwei could not make a decision immediately.


    Fang Wenshi had other views, ¡°The war is very important, but actually the Great Snowmountain and Golden Roc Fort are small forces in the Western Regions. Whoever wins or loses will not change the overall situation much. I think that we should ask the Central ins for help. The Central ins will mainly attack the east area, holding the power of Golden Roc Fort as much as possible. The Great Snowmountain will cooperate in the south, and their efforts will be fundamental for victory.¡±


    Zhong Heng did not oppose to aligning with the Central ins, but he reminded the Dragon King, ¡°Wei Song is now the chief of the Central ins in the Western Regions.¡±


    Wei Song is inextricably linked to the murder of the Gu family. Gu Shenwei and Zhong Heng once conspired to assassinate Wei Lingmiao, the son of Wei Song, and nearly got revenge on Wei Song in Stone Kingdomst year.


    This was a stubborn stone wedged between the Dragon King and the Central ins and could not be bypassed. However, Fang Wenshi did not know about it and was still rmending himself. ¡°Let me persuade the Central ins to ensure that Golden Roc Fort is in a dilemma within a month.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not agree with him immediately. Among theplicated problems, he only made a decision about one thing: to appoint Tuo Nengya and Ha Chilie to pacify Wushan.


    The mountain path to the Land of Fragrance could not be broken, which was a good base that was given to him by heaven. It was rich in natural resources, easy to defend, and difficult to attack. Whether pursuing a retreating enemy or making aeback, they all needed this richnd.


    Tuo Nengya had rich experience in Jianghu and knew how to deal with many forces. Ha Chilie was a native of Wushan, who could introduce them and negotiate.


    Gu Shenwei let them take away 100 swordsmen and 500 ve soldiers. These 600 men were a big force in Wushan.


    All things had yet to be decided. A spy who stayed in Shuangquan Vige delivered the bad news that Golden Roc Fort already knew that the Dragon King had returned to Xiaoyao Lake, and the conquest n changed ordingly. The army was still gathering in Shuangquan Vige, but there were no longer 30,000 but 50,000 soldiers.


    The news spread quickly and the whole army was shocked. At night, the soldiers of the five countries fled. Although the number was notrge and only dozens, this was only the beginning. If they were not stopped in time, the troops of the Great Snowmountain would be in danger ofpletely falling apart.


    Gu Shenwei took many measures. ording to Zhong Heng¡¯s suggestion, he dispatched part of the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain to the five nations and then strengthened the supervision of the soldiers. After that, he summoned all of the princes and generals from every country and made them live near the main tent to prevent them from deliberately releasing their subordinates.


    He was faced with a difficult chess game, and Gu Shenwei felt overwhelmed for the first time since he raised the banner against Golden Roc Fort. Although he could work out several strategies for the war at once, none of them satisfied him.


    Thest person he summoned was Dugu Xian, and he hoped that the surrendered general could help him revive the game.

 Chapter 423 - Troop Training

    Chapter 423: Troop Training


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Dugu Xian lived in fear at all times. The smallest sound outside the door would cause him to tremble and stiffen with fear. Even the air he breathed was frozen like ice.


    He was not only afraid that the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain would take revenge on him at any moment but also afraid of the killers sent by the Supreme King. In his imagination, the Supreme King must have been furious with his betrayal and wanted to punish him at all costs.


    This was far from what he had imagined himself bing. As a battle-hardened general, he believed that he should be fearless and even take the initiative to wee death.


    Oddly enough, he never had simr fears on the battlefield, but he shuddered at the thought of those cold killers like swords.


    Therefore, he was also afraid of the Dragon King. Dugu Xian observed two extremely opposite temperaments in this young man: One originated from the killer identity who was ruthless, habitually unwilling to attract attention, and the other originated from the identity of the Dragon King of the Great Snowmountain who was also ruthless, but always overwhelming.


    Gu Shenwei did not know that he was soplicated. He showed his modesty as far as possible and even visited the surrendered general in person. But when he saw his terrified opponent, he felt both slightly amused and disappointed.


    However, once they discussed the impending battle, Dugu Xian behaved more normally. He yed no games; he said what he knew, without exaggeration or hiding a thing.


    Gu Shenwei introduced the enemy¡¯s situation first.


    Themander of Golden Roc Fort who led fifty thousand soldiers was named Shangguan Jianyi. Gu Shenwei knew very little about him and received his information from Shangguan Fei. Shangguan Jianyi was the nephew of the Supreme King, but they were simr in age and he had not lived in the Stone Kingdom for many years.


    The source of the 50,000 soldiers was quiteplex. The Xiaowan Kingdom provided a cavalry of 10,000 that was the absolute main force of the army, while Shu-lik and other newly-conquered countries dispatched 20,000 soldiers.


    The Golden Roc Fort originally intended to use 30,000 men to upy Xiaoyao Lake. However, when he heard that the Dragon King had returned to the Western Regions from Wushan, the Supreme King immediately added 20,000 troops. Half of those came from the Xiaowan Kingdom and his subordinate countries, while the rest were mercenaries recruited temporarily.


    The Xiaowan Kingdom was Dugu Xian¡¯s mothend, but now it belonged to the Shangguan family, and even the throne had been given to Shangguan Yun, the third youngest master. Its army was the core strength of Golden Roc Fort, which had been trained by Dugu Xian.


    ¡°The Supreme King likes cavalry.¡± Dugu Xian recalled the situation when he epted the task of training soldiers, ¡°This is probably influenced by the Nond. As you know, the Nond was founded on riding and shooting, with more than 300,000 soldiers controlling strings. It¡¯s easy to learn horsemanship and archery separately, but its difficulty multiplies if you learn them together. Unless you were familiar with horses and bows since childhood, as the people of Nond, it will take many years to reach their level.¡±


    Dugu Xian stared nkly for a while, imagining the spectacr scene of the Nond Army, ¡°The Supreme King still insists on a cavalry. He thinks that the cavalry is fast and powerful, which conforms to the strategy of Golden Roc Fort, so I have trained a heavy cavalry for him. Soldiers and horses wear armor¨C armed with spears, and they are extremely sharp.¡±


    Dugu Xian¡¯s boasting implied sarcasm. Gu Shenwei knew the power of the cavalry and felt that what he said was not too exaggerated. Although the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain couldpete against the cavalry, both sides would lose a lot in the end, especially the Dragon King.


    ¡°It must have cost Shangguan Fa a lot of money to train such an army,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Countless. Tens of thousands of horses alone are worth more than one million taels. Other armors, weapons and soldiers were more expensive.¡± Dugu Xian answered.


    ¡°Someone told me that one wood is hard to support, and he said that riding and shooting areplementary to each other. Even the most powerful cavalry also has weaknesses,¡± Gu Shenwei mentioned.


    This was what Gu Lun had said to his younger son. Although he was not a general who led troops to fight, he often educated his three sons with his experience since he had stayed in the army.


    Dugu Xian was slightly surprised, and then nodded, ¡°He¡¯s right. The heavy cavalry is fast, but also awkward. It is difficult for them to turn around, so they can only fight in a ce that is as t as a pancake. They are also afraid of nking attacks.¡±


    ¡°Golden Roc Fort has assembled many troops from all countries, including cavalries and archers, which should be able to make up for the w of cavalry, right?¡± Gu Shenwei inquired.


    ¡°Not really. It¡¯s also up to people. What do you know about Shangguan Jianyi?¡± Dugu Xian asked the Dragon King.


    ¡°Not much. I had never heard of this man when I was in Golden Roc Fort.¡± Gu Shenwei admitted.


    ¡°He is the most trusted person of the Supreme King, and may also be the only one he trusts. In the past few years, he has frequentlye to the Xiaowan Kingdom to supervise my training,¡± said Dugu Xian.


    Dugu Xian didn¡¯t like Shangguan JianYi but knew a lot about him.


    Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s father was Shangguan Fa¡¯s eldest brother, who had the best chance to inherit the throne of that generation. However, after a fiercepetition against his younger brother, he failed and even lost his life.


    One of the most important reasons for Shangguan Fa¡¯s final victory was to get the support of Shangguan Jianyi.


    Shangguan Jianyi betrayed his biological father and sought refuge with his young uncle, who was only three or four years older than himself. All this remained a mystery. He imed that he did it for the overall situation because Shangguan Fa had more qualities as a king, in his eyes.


    As a symbol of trust, Shangguan Jianyi held the most important position in the Golden Roc Fort for many years: the right-hand-man of the Supreme King.


    About ten years ago, Shangguan Jianyi suffered a major setback. He did not defeat Lady Meng, who was gathering all sorts of favors at that time, so he left the Golden Roc Fort in dismay and went to Nond to take over the killer¡¯s stronghold.


    No one could have imagined that ten yearster, with the help of Shangguan Jianyi, Fort Jin Peng won the trust of the Nond and the two sides would join forces to fight against the Central ins.


    The Supreme King sent his most trusted assistant to the Nond. Whether it was a deliberate demotion or a premeditated n was also a mystery.


    ¡°Shangguan Jianyi is a very capable person who can easily win the trust of others, but he doesn¡¯t know how to arrange troops and only believes in speed and aggression. This may make him look brave, but his aggressive approach also makes it easier for him to fall into a trap,¡± Dugu Xian said.


    After he heard Dugu Xian¡¯s evaluation of the enemy¡¯smander, Gu Shenwei found simrity between Shangguan Jianyi and himself: Both of them believed in speed and aggression. Although he had took part in several wars, he still had only a little knowledge about the ways of military service.


    ¡°I can defeat the 50,000 troops with qualified soldiers in the right ce,¡± Dugu Xian said more confidently. Even his fear had reduced.


    Although Xiaoyao Lake was notrge, there were mountains and waters, the right ce could always be found. As for the ¡°qualified soldiers,¡± it was a big trouble. ¡°What does ¡®qualified soldiers¡¯ mean? And how many people do you need?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    ¡°Well, they should listen to themands and be fearless. The brave don¡¯t show off and the weak don¡¯tg behind. They should be familiar with these three weapons: saber, gun, and bow. And they should be good at walking or riding. This is what I call a ¡®qualified soldier.¡¯ The number of soldiers should be at least 20,000. It is very risky to fight against 50,000 troops with 20,000 soldiers.¡±


    Gu Shenwei could not even provide one-tenth of those soldiers. After pausing a moment, he said, ¡°I have twenty thousand troops and horses, but they need to be trained.¡±


    ¡°Twenty thousand soldiers like the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain?¡± Dugu Xian asked.


    The swordsmen were easier to train, for they were fearless.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. <em>¡°If all 20,000 soldiers possessed the same power as the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain, I would start the war immediately.¡± </em>He thought to himself.


    ¡°Most of them are like soldiers of the five countries of Xiaoyao Lake, or may be weaker.¡± Gu Shen told the truth.


    Dugu Xian was very disappointed. He hadmanded the soldiers of Xiaoyao Lake before and knew them well. It was not easy to turn these people into real soldiers, ¡°How many horses do you have? Do you have enough weapons and armor?¡±


    ¡°There are thousands of horses and barely enough armor.¡± Gu Shen responded.


    Dugu Xian realized how difficult the present situation was, ¡°It¡¯s hard to say. If you only mean to defeat the fifty thousand troops led by Shangguan Jianyi, we can try it, but it will take a year to prepare.¡±


    ¡°The army of Golden Roc Fort will attack in a month.¡± Gu Shen revealed.


    Gu Shenwei could find ways to solve many tough problems, but this one was out of his hands.


    ¡°A mob of twenty thousand against fifty thousand elite troops, this¡­¡± Dugu Xian began. Concentrating on solving problems, he fell into the old habit of expressing his thoughts candidly without scrupling the other person¡¯s ideas, even if that man could control his fate.


    ¡°I have to think about it carefully.¡± Dugu Xian did not provide a clear n in the end.


    Gu Shenwei was not too disappointed to leave. He was also thinking about what he could improve as soon as possible to close the gap with the army of Golden Roc Fort.


    Xu Xiaoyi did not know how to know when the Dragon King had entered the capital, so he waited for the Dragon King outside the gate. He said smilingly, ¡°Dragon King, my sister would like you toe.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Gu Shenwei was going to refuse. <em>¡°Xu Yanwei has hardly serious business. This time she probably intends to coax me to see the Princess.¡± </em>He mused.


    Even if all the princesses in the world were waiting for him in the pce, Gu Shenwei had no mood to take a look at them at that moment.


    ¡°She said that it was about the King of the Stone Kingdom, who seemed to, seemed to have some ideas,¡± Xu Xiaoyi said.


    The King of the Stone Kingdom was very suspicious of the Dragon King and the army of the Great Snowmountain. Although he had no money and no soldiers in his hands, he could make some trouble. He could be greatly influenced by soldiers in the Stone Kingdom.


    After meditating for a while, Gu Shenwei agreed to go to the pce.


    After he entered the pce, Gu Shenwei found that they were not heading for the princess¡¯s residence. He was slightly relieved. However, at the sight of Xu Yanwei¡¯s excited expression, he knew he had been fooled.


    ¡°Dragon King, you havee atst. You should save me.¡± Xu Yanwei said.


    ¡°You overestimated me,¡± Gu Shenwei responded.


    ¡°No, no, I did not. You¡¯re the only one who can help. If you didn¡¯t see the Princess, she would kill me. I have praised you so well, so the Princess insisted on seeing you.¡±


    Xu Yanwei pointed to the room behind her, ¡°The Princess is right here. It will not take you much time. Will you not enter the room even if you pass through the door?¡±


    Gu Shenwei often forgot the identity of the Emperor¡¯s brother-inw. Besides, the Stone Kingdom had beenpletely under his control, so he thought even less of this name.


    In spite of that, he still stepped into the room. ¡°The Princess and I are not enemies, so I don¡¯t have to humiliate her by avoiding her.¡±


    After pushing the door, he saw the Princess for the first time. Nervous and frightened as she was, she almost fainted. She barely stood with her fingers touching the table slightly, and then she said softly, ¡°Dragon King¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei pulled out his saber, which frightened her more.


    Gu Shenwei was certain that he and the princess were not alone in the room¨C he felt a trap waiting for him.

 Chapter 424 - Lateness

    Chapter 424: Lateness


    Trantor: Transn Editor: Transn


    The Princess never expected to meet the Dragon King in this way.


    Since she was young, she had not made any of her own decisions; all things were decided by others on her behalf. This time, Xu Yanwei nted the idea of meeting the Dragon King in her mind. Slowly, she thought of this idea as her own.


    ¡°The Dragon King is my future husband. This is a time of national crisis, so I should give my support,¡± the Princess thought.


    The Princess was unaware of how many lies Xu Yanwei had told her in order to convince her to see the Dragon King.


    The Dragon King was not as she had imagined. However, he was as handsome as Xu Yanwei had described, which satisfied the Princess. She had doubted the terrible legend that the Dragon King was a ferocious man with an evil spirit, but Xu Yanwei never mentioned his coldness.


    It was as if an iceberg had entered the room. The princess felt her blood freezing. Simply saying the name ¡°Dragon King¡± nearly exhausted all of her strength.


    Once the Dragon King drew his saber, it scared her blood to a boil.


    The next scene was beyond the Princess¡¯ imagination; something she had never witnessed. Although she saw the whole process, she only remembered a few fragments, which also frequently reappeared in her future nightmares.


    The Dragon King¡¯s saber was as sharp as fire and pierced the body as easily as burning a small piece of paper. In the Princess¡¯ memory, he slowly became the saber itself, burning with fire and destroying everything in an instant.


    Herst memory was that there were three corpses on the ground, and she did not know where they came from. As if in a blink of an eye, she was magically transported from her original room to this horrible ce.


    The Princess¡¯s only way of coping was to faint and refuse to admit that the present scene was a reality.


    The three assassins had hidden on the roof and attacked from the sky when the Dragon King drew his saber, but they had lost the chance to raid.


    Gu Shenwei moved quickly and killed the assassin on the left first. Before the target fell down, he circled behind him, which caused the middle assassin to kill the one on the right.


    Finding that hispanion had been killed, thest assassin turned to run, and the result was a saber through his heart.


    As soon as the Princess fainted, Gu Shenwei burst through the window.


    Xu Yanwei and Xu Xiaoyi were standing in the courtyard, chatting quietly and smiling. They were startled by the sudden rush of the Dragon King. Soon, they were startled once more at the sight of two people standing on the t roof; they had somehow blended in with the surroundings in broad daylight.


    The rooftop assants did not retreat. But instead, they jumped down together and drew their sabers to attack the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei shot through the middle of the two siblings, their mouths wide open. Two assassins masked with grey cloth, wielding shining narrow knives, collided directly with the Dragon King.


    Xu Yanwei¡¯s scream was still brewing in his throat when the Dragon King¡¯s saber passed by suddenly. An assassin on the other side fell down as if to embrace her; however, he tripped over a stone on hisst step.


    Only one assassin caught the Dragon King¡¯s trick.


    When two identical sabers collide, the skill decides who wins, but Five Peaks Saber was sharper.


    The assassin¡¯s saber was cut in two, and so was he; his head tumbled all the way under the steps of the veranda.


    Xu Yanwei hoped that she could pass out without being frightened by the scene, but her mind was exceptionally clear and her senses were ten-times sharper than usual. The scream hovering in her throat finally broke through the shackles and erupted like a volcano.


    Gu Shenwei covered her mouth to stop her screaming. Xu Yanwei almost choked, but finally recovered.


    Xu Xiaoyi grabbed his sister by the arm, ¡°Dragon King¡­¡±


    ¡°The killer of Golden Roc Fort.¡± Gu Shenwei let go of Xu Yanwei, and quickly searched the yard with the Five Peaks Saber. After he checked the roof and the nearby room, he determined that the five men were all assassins.


    Some court maids and eunuchs heard Xu Yanwei¡¯s first scream and ran over to have a look, but immediately disappeared without a trace. As a part of rules of the pce, one must stay away from corpses before the fact was clear. One more nce would bring death to him or her.


    The royal pce of Stone Kingdom was small, but the rules here were not much different.


    Xu Xiaoyi soon realized the seriousness of the matter. ¡°Several assassins lurked in the Princess¡¯ room, and the Dragon King was deceived by my sister and me. Therefore, we will all be suspected of coborating with the assassins.¡± He mused.


    ¡°Brother Huan.¡± Xu Xiaoyi was so nervous that he called him by his former name, ¡°I really didn¡¯t know there were assassins, my sister and I ¡­¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Gu Shenwei assured him while sheathing the Five Peaks Saber, which made Xu Xiaoyi slightly relieved.


    Xu Yanwei also understood, but she thought more and then blurted out, ¡°It was he who revealed the whereabouts of the Dragon King!¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    ¡°Shangguan Hong,¡± she replied.


    Gu Shenwei was slightly stunned. ¡°How did Shangguan Hong get involved in this matter? He should have had no chance to contact the people in the pce.¡± He wondered.


    Xu Yanwei quickly added, ¡°Shangguan Hong advised me to lure you into the pce by not mentioning the Princess, but attracting your attention with the excuse of the King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei questioned the credibility of Xu Yanwei¡¯s words. Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s thoughts were another matter. He asked with a cold face, ¡± Sister, how did you get along with that boy Shangguanhong?¡±


    ¡°How could I not?¡± Xu Yanwei opened her eyes in surprise and was dissatisfied with his question, ¡°He is not ugly, he is smart, he can speak sweet words, and he can y the flute.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi blushed and could not think of anything to criticize his sister, so he muttered in a low voice, ¡°Dogs can¡¯t eat¡­¡±


    Xu Yanwei didn¡¯t say anything but grabbed his ear tightly and asked, ¡°Who is the dog?¡±


    ¡°I am a dog! I am a dog!¡± Xu Xiaoyi immediately yielded and begged his sister to let go of his ear. He rubbed his ear and then looked at the silent Dragon King, ¡°Sister, it¡¯s all your fault. You made the Dragon King fall into a trap.¡±


    ¡°I, I also didn¡¯t want to do this. Although I said that, it was not necessarily Shangguan Hong who divulged the secrets.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not immediately express his opinion. He bent over and removed the mask off of a corpse. ¡°Do you know this man?¡± he asked.


    They looked at the corpse carefully and shook their heads together. Soon, Xu Yanwei nodded again immediately, ¡°He seems to¡­ he seems to be a eunuch in the pce.¡±


    ¡°Is the sickly King of the Stone Nation really that heartless?¡± Xu Xiaoyi jumped up and said, eager to rid he and his sister of suspicion.


    Gu Shenwei still refused toment, ¡°The Princess fainted, you go and have a look.¡±


    Xu Yanwei was surprised and then hurried into the room.


    ¡°Go and call someone to identify the bodies,¡± Gu Shenwei instructed.


    Xu Xiaoyi took the order. He left to call the supervisor eunuch in the pce at a much faster pace than usual.


    Gu Shenwei did not want to express his real thoughts in front of them. He already had a rough n in his heart, but it was not the right time to implement it.


    Facts proved that this was a nned assassination. The head eunuch recognized that all five assassins were worker eunuchs in the pce. After that, he called the eunuch in charge and learned that they had been in the pce for a period of time. They were probably hired in the same month that the Princess was married.


    This was ate assassination and the rules of Golden Roc Fort were clear. The five assassins were ordered to kill the Dragon King in the pce. Obviously, they had been watching the Princess¡¯ behavior in turns, thinking that they would see the Dragon King in her pce sooner orter.


    They had waited for nearly ten months.


    Nobody knew what went wrong. Although the death of the Dragon King had been spread throughout the whole Western Region, the five men did abandon their mission but stayed hidden. At the time when the siege was most tense, they did not help the troops outside the city to assassinate the generals in the city.


    Gu Shenwei ordered to block the news and asked the supervisor to investigate everyone¡¯s background in the pce ording to the personnel file, including eunuchs, imperial guards, handymen, and court maids, especially the time of entering the pce. He wanted to see if the assassins had anypanions.


    Gu Shenwei anticipated that he would not find any clues. He wanted to use the two slightly contradictory acts of restricting news and investigating to send a signal to the secret enemy that he had not found the truth.


    Since the assassins had long been hidden in the pce, in the view of Xu Yanwei and Xu Xiaoyi, other people also got rid of the suspicion. Xu Yanwei specifically told the Dragon King and brother not to tell others that she suspected Shangguan Hong, ¡°He is timid and afraid of the Dragon King, so I am afraid that he can¡¯t stand this failure.¡±


    The Princess woke up an hourter. When she learned the details from Xu Yanwei, she was frightened and ashamed. She felt that it was a very shameful act to faint in front of the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei did not think so. Although he still had no feelings for the Princess, he found a suitable person to solve some small matter.


    the Kung Fu high priest of the Land of Fragrance left a pile of books and incantations, hiding the crucial chapter 8 of the ¡°Wayless Book.¡± It was a time-consuming andborious work and required an extensive vocabry, which was enough to exclude the vast majority of people in the army.


    Gu Shenwei asked Xu Yanwei if the Princess would like to take this task, and Xu Yanwei readily promised, ¡°The Princess especially wants to do something for you. Is the content of the book important?¡±


    ¡°It is very important, and she must keep it a secret.¡± Gu Shenwei replied.


    Xu Yanwei immediately shut her mouth tightly and nodded solemnly.


    The Princess was indeed willing to do it, but it was a pity that the Dragon King did not hand over the task to her personally.


    After leaving the pce, Gu Shenwei went to visit DuGu Xian again.


    Dugu Xian was carefully nning the content of training. Upon seeing the Dragon King, he nodded casually as if they had never left each other, ¡°It would take eight months for us to turn the mob into useful soldiers, at least eight months.¡±


    But the army of Golden Roc Fort would attack within a month.


    ¡°Is the winter not suitable for war in Xiaoyao Lake?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    In the face of this sudden problem, Dugu Xian was stunned. After thinking for a while, he knew how to answer it and said, ¡°Yes, normal generals will not fight in winter, especially cavalry, because providing fodder for tens of thousands of horses is enough to bring them down. One of the important reasons why the four-nation coalition forces were unable to attack the capital of Stone Kingdom at the beginning was that they chose to fight before the end of winter, so many weapons were not used.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s September, that is to say, as long as the army of Golden Roc Fort takes no action within a month, we can rest for the winter,¡± suggested Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Well, this should be the case. However, Shangguan Jianyi is as stubborn as the Supreme King and may be reckless and fight in the winter, or he may get here tomorrow.¡±


    Anything is possible. Dugu Xian refused to make an assertion, but Gu Shenwei gradually had ideas in his mind. He would not necessarily have eight months to rebuild his patchwork army, but it was much better to have more time.


    ¡°Shangguan Hong shoulde in handy,¡± he thought.

 Chapter 425 - Tricked

    Chapter 425: Tricked


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    As Gu Shenwei had expected, even after he issued a gag order, news that he was attacked in the pce spread quickly throughout the capital and into the military camp.


    The Great Snowmountain army had already taken measures to prevent sneak attacks by the Golden Roc killers, and Gu Shenwei introduced even more security measures on top of these: Firstly, he restricted civilians froming within five kilometers of the military camp. He also sent his cavalry to trample a special passageway between the camp and the capital city of the Stone Kingdom. In addition, unauthorized personnel were restricted from using it.


    In the course of these measures, Gu Shenwei summoned the Shangguan brothers for a meeting.


    Shangguan Hong and Shangguan Fei felt anxious and afraid as they were ¡®escorted¡¯ to meet the Dragon King by a few swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain. The path they took was windy, and they felt as if they were walking into abyrinth. They were even blindfolded for the final stage of their journey.


    The location of the Dragon King¡¯s quarters was now kept secret, and only a select few knew where to find him. That said, even such a privilege was temporary, as it was very likely that they would not find the Dragon King at the same location as before.


    Shangguan Fei reminded himself silently, <em>¡°You know Wayless Qigong, the divine Kung Fu. Defeating these swordsmen would be easy.¡±</em>


    With this in mind, he kept himself ready all along the way but did not strike. As such, when he walked into the Dragon King¡¯s tent, his arms were all stiff and aching from tensing up.


    Shangguan Hong fared worse than his brother. He was even more afraid; so much so that he did not even have the strength to escape, and could only bite the bullet. Upon meeting the Dragon King, he gave a deep bow in adtion, before realizing that it was out of character. He knew that the sudden change of habit was akin to admitting his mistake, and with this thought, he turned pale. He had prepared something to tell the Dragon King beforehand but now remained silent.


    Gu Shenwei reinstated the old ban and no one coulde within five steps of him. Outside of this five-step radius stood all of his guards, and they consisted ofyer uponyer of swordsmen, machetemen, savages, and ves. There were so many of them that there was nearly no space for anyone else to stand in the tent.


    The two brothers walked in unison along the narrow passage toward the Dragon King and were intercepted once they were within 10 steps of him.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s killer temperament miraculously disappeared. He was now the Dragon King and of higher stature than everyone; only the weapons hanging from his waist symbolized the source of his authority.


    ¡°You two have nothing to be afraid of,¡± said Gu Shenwei. His tone was cold, which made the brothers even more afraid.


    ¡°It¡¯s great to see that you¡¯re unharmed, Dragon King,¡± Shangguan Fei said, beating his brother to be the first to speak.


    ¡°Your Kung Fu is superior, and there¡¯s no match for you out there. How could a few¡­ lowly¡­ Golden Roc killers¡­ harm you?¡± Shangguan Hong said. He was a little unused to belittling his own killers.


    Gu Shenwei did not react to their crude ttery and nodded to his guards. They began to snake out of his tent, beginning from the ves at the outermost ring.


    As space in the tent gradually increased, so did the anxiety of the two brothers. When thest swordsman closed the ps of the tent, Shangguan Fei said, ¡°If you kill me, Dragon King, my sister¨C¡±


    He stopped himself mid-sentence. It was the same sister who had heartlessly refused to let him remain in the Land of Fragrance and left him to the fearsome Dragon King; it was her who caused him to feel afraid constantly.


    Shangguan Hong was obviously feeling more guilty. He swallowed his saliva and hurriedly began exining, ¡°Dragon King, it¡¯s not me who leaked the secret. I¡¯ve your best interest at heart and Xu Yanwei can vouch for me. I¡¯m absolutely loyal to you.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was stunned for a while upon hearing Xu Yanwei¡¯s name but he quickly realized the implications behind his sibling¡¯s statement. <em>¡°The Dragon King was attacked in the royal pce and hasn¡¯t that bitch always resided there?¡±</em>he thought. He felt more rxed once he was certain that he had nothing to do with the incident. As for Shangguan Hong, his so-called ¡®elder brother,¡¯ he now saw him as an enemy.


    ¡°She¡¯s not a bad hooker. She¡¯ll do anything for money,¡± Shangguan Fei added in without prompting.


    Shangguan Hong red at Shangguan Fei harshly as his mind spun faster than usual. He immediately shouted, ¡°I don¡¯t have any money, our rtionship is¨C¡±


    He had no way to urately describe their rtionship. Xu Yanwei used to be a sex worker and specialized in pleasing her customers, but now, Shangguan Hong was the one who tried to please her; there was no proper way for him to exin that.


    As Gu Shenwei looked at the two brothers go, he reminded himself that he had to step up his own performance a notch. As such, he swept his gaze across their faces back and forth until they were blue in the face and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need to exin further. I trust you two. Those killers were nted in the pce years ago and have nothing to do with you.¡±


    The two brothers heaved a sigh of relief.


    ¡°I¡¯ve summoned the both of you because you two are also in danger,¡± the Dragon King revealed.


    ¡°Us?¡± the two of them asked at the same time.


    ¡°Well, the decisive battle between the Golden Roc Fort and the Great Snowmountain is at hand and ording to tradition, killers are always sent to wreak chaos in the enemy camp. The first target will naturally be me. As for their other targets, I¡¯m sure the two of you are among them.¡±


    ¡°Father¡­ his Lord¡­ the Supreme King will not be so ruthless, right?¡± Shangguan Fei cried as he asked. It was a rhetorical question; he was absolutely clear that his father was even more ruthless than that.


    ¡°We helped the Dragon King rescue the army of the Great Snowmountain; Shangguan Fa will never forgive us for that,¡± added Shangguan Hong. He did not have a strong impression of his father and therefore it was natural that he did not have many feelings for him. ¡°Therefore we are strongly bound to you, Dragon King. The others may betray you, but we definitely will not.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded, signifying that he agreed with Shangguan Hong¡¯s opinion, ¡°Originally, I wanted to keep both of you by my side, but I¡¯ve too many matters to attend to and I¡¯m unable to constantly look out for you two,¡± he said.


    ¡°We can take care of ourselves,¡± Shangguan Hong was the first to reply. ¡°We are eternally grateful for you to even consider it, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Since both of you have turned to me, I will naturally have to ensure your safety. If not, wouldn¡¯t I be aughing stock and cause my soldiers to be terribly disappointed?¡±


    Shangguan Fei could sense that the Dragon King had something to tell them and immediately continued the conversation along this train of thought. ¡°Yes, yes, not only does this concern our lives, but it also affects your reputation, Dragon King. Tell us, esteemed Dragon King, what would you have us do?¡±


    ¡°I need a favor from you two. Or rather, I need both of you to take a risk for me.¡±


    Even though both Shangguan Hong and Shangguan Fei were prepared, upon hearing the word ¡®risk,¡¯ they exchanged nces and declined to be the first to ept. It was eventually the former who spoke up first, ¡°So be it. I believe that you have a solid n in mind, Dragon King. When we tricked Dugu Xian previously, didn¡¯t it go pretty smoothly and safely?¡±


    Shangguan Fei knew that there was no option left but to ept the task. ¡°Yes, yes as long as it¡¯s the Dragon King¡¯s n, we¡¯ll naturally be safe from harm.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stared at the both of them for a while before saying, ¡°Attack is the best form of defense. I want to make use of the both of you to draw out the Golden Roc killers andpletely wipe them out of the Xiaoyao Lake region.¡±


    The two siblings did not speak and Gu Shenwei took it as their tacit eptance. He summoned some men to bring them out of his quarters into two separate tents nearby and they enjoyed the same level of security as he did.


    That evening, Shangguan Fei covertly went to seek an audience with the Dragon King on his own. He looked furtively around upon entering the Dragon King¡¯s tent and only walked up to five steps from the Dragon King after he had dismissed his guards. He then spoke in a soft voice, ¡°Dragon King, there¡¯s something that I don¡¯t know whether I should be telling you about.¡±


    ¡°Feel free to speak your mind,¡± said the Dragon King.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t trust Shangguan Hong,¡± Shangguan Fei disclosed.


    ¡°Why?¡± the Dragon King inquired.


    ¡°You should know what sort of person Xu Yanwei is, Dragon King. She loves money, but Shangguan Hong is not rich. It¡¯s only natural that Shangguan Hong is the one who initiated the whole thing. Isn¡¯t it weird? It¡¯s not as if he didn¡¯t have amorous rtionships with women in the Land of Fragrance, so why is he so invested in his rtionship with a sex worker? There¡¯s something fishy about it.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was smart but his timidity made him seem foolish at times; Gu Shenwei reminded himself to be wary of the young man. He considered for a while before replying, ¡°I already know about the things you just told me.¡±


    Shangguan Fei brightened up upon hearing his statement. ¡°Then how would you handle¨C You don¡¯t have to tell me. I¡¯ll rest assured knowing that you are already prepared, Dragon King,¡± he said.


    Shangguan Fei took his leave. Gu Shenwei looked a little hesitant and called out to him just as he neared the entrance of the tent. ¡°Hold on,¡± he said.


    Shangguan Fei immediately hurried over, saying, ¡°What would you have me do, Dragon King?¡±


    The Dragon King still looked hesitant, as if thinking whether he should trust Shangguan Fei.


    The younger man waited patiently.


    ¡°If Shangguan Hong was bribed by the Golden Roc Fort, how do I know that you¡¯re loyal to me?¡±


    Shangguan Fei smiled bitterly as replied, ¡°Can I be the same as him, Dragon King? My sister and I secretly learned Wayless Qigong ¨C it¡¯s a big taboo in the Stone Castle. Even if Fa¨C the Supreme King decides to let somebody off the hook, it wouldn¡¯t be me. Furthermore, Third Brother has already been crowned king; the rest of us siblings are now useless to him. How could I not understand that? Even if the Supreme King personally promises me that I¡¯m pardoned, I¡¯ll never dare to believe it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± replied the Dragon King as he nodded slowly; he seemed to have finally trusted Shangguan Hong. ¡°Will you be willing to do another thing for me?¡±


    The tasks given to him by the Dragon King all had an element of danger in them. Shangguan Fei could only force himself to reply, ¡°I¡¯ll be willing to go to any depths for you.¡±


    The Dragon King hesitated again before making his decision. ¡°Well, I want to make use of Shangguan Hong to pass some intelligence to the Commander of the Golden Roc Fort army, Shangguan Jianyi. However, someone has to pass Shangguan Hong that piece of information first,¡± he said.


    The task seemed to be pretty harmless and Shangguan Fei became more eager to undertake it. He immediately made his stance known, ¡°Leave it to me. Shangguan Hong is a fool, and it¡¯ll be easy to trick him.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be easy to trick him but not Shangguan Jianyi. Therefore it has to be perfect,¡± said the Dragon King.


    ¡°Yes, yes. Tell me how I should go about doing it, Dragon King. I¡¯ll follow your instructions.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not reveal his entire n immediately. ¡°Tomorrow, I¡¯ll summon the both of you to go with me to inspect our supply depot. About 15 kilometers from there is a spot known as the Wildboar Slope. Once we¡¯re there, you¡¯re to find an excuse to break off and tell what you see to Shangguan Hong. Just don¡¯t let him realize that you¡¯re purposely leaking the secret to him.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was all smiles; no part of their n was fake. He admitted to himself that he was no match for the Dragon King when it came to plotting and scheming; as such, he was full of admiration for Gu Shenwei.


    Not long after Shangguan Fei left, Shangguan Hong came sneaking to his tent for an audience as well; it seemed pre-nned by the siblings. ¡°Dragon King, Shangguan Fei is not to be trusted, don¡¯t be fooled by him,¡± he said.


    ¡°Oh, why so?¡± Gu Shenwei asked. When speaking to Shangguan Fei, he was hesitant, but he was indifferent toward Shangguan Hong.


    ¡°Well, I met Xu Yanwei beforeing to see you, Dragon King. She told me something,¡± replied Shangguan Hong nervously. The Dragon King nodded, seemingly not minding. Only then did he continue on, ¡°There¡¯s something unusual about the fact that the five assassins were nted in the pcest year.¡±


    The Dragon King did not seem to be interested in this piece of news, making Shangguan Hong uneasy. He hastened the pace of his speech, ¡°Dugu Xian is spreading the news that you were attacked, Dragon King. Now, it¡¯s spread throughout the entire Western Region and the five assassins would definitely have had no reason not to know about it too. They remain in the pce because they hadn¡¯t received an order to retreat. Such a low-level mistake would never havee from the Supreme King or the Whiterobe Academy. But again, other than the Supreme King, who could have controlled the movements of the five assassins?¡±


    ¡°Lady Meng,¡± Shangguan Hong answered his own question after a little pause. ¡°When Shangguan Fei arrived to take part in the contest for the Princess¡¯ hand, Lady Meng still had some power and could have secretly sent killers to the Stone Kingdom. When something happened here, she was already not in favor and had lost control over the five assassins. That is, up until Shangguan Fei appeared again¡­¡±


    Shangguan Hong did not have to borate further. He looked expectantly at the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei raised his head and repeated what he said to Shangguan Fei to his brother. ¡°I know those things that you¡¯ve just said to me. I have a n and I would maybe require your help to execute it.¡±

 Chapter 426 - Play-acting

    Chapter 426: y-acting


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The supply depot of the Great Snow Mountain was situated about 20 kilometers away from the capital of the Stone Kingdom. Its back was facing the Xiaoyao Lake and built on a small pier. To either side of it was a small river that acted as a natural trench. The only way in or out of it was a narrow passageway at its northeast corner.


    About five kilometers away from the depot was the spot called the Wild Boar Slope. The slope itself was a piece of wilderness strewn with rocks. It was slightly undting with a path situated below the slope.


    Shangguan Fei gave the excuse that he had to answer the call of nature and ran up the slope. He gazed afar as he urinated, but he was confused by what he saw.


    About one to two kilometers away was what seemed to be a barren swamnd, covered with potholes of all sizes. It was filled with a thick, viscous ck liquid which bubbled slowly and lifelessly.


    There were roughly 200 hundred or more people there, their nostrils covered with cloth, who were scooping out pail after pail of the ck liquid then loading them onto oxcarts before sending them away towards the capital of the Stone Kingdom.


    An unfamiliar and unpleasant odor pervaded the air; Shangguan Fei did not even know how to describe it.


    He felt bewildered, but the Dragon King had instructed him to just inform Shangguan Hong what he saw, he need not inquire further ¡°That¡¯s all?¡± Shangguan Fei thought.


    Shangguan Fei knew the Dragon King¡¯s character ¨C he would never divulge his entire n beforehand. Shangguan Fei curled his lips together and was about to fasten his belt, before something happening in the distance caught his attention.


    Someone who looked like a foreman lit a piece of tinder up and threw it into one of theden pails, seemingly wanting to test the properties of the liquid.


    A dazzling column of mes shot up toward the skies and it was about three meters high shocking the surrounding people.


    Shangguan Fei got a shock as well. He could roughly guess what the liquid was meant for, but was also doubtful. <em>¡°Why would the Dragon King want to let the enemy Commander know about such a useful weapon via Shangguan Hong?¡± </em>he wondered.


    <em>¡°The Dragon King¡¯s ns are always tooplicated, and one day he will overthink things,¡± </em>Shangguan Fei considered secretly. He leaped off the slope and mounted his horse before catching up with the column in front of him. He was not willing to be left behind for long; the Dragon King was right about the possibility that the Golden Roc killers could be waiting for him to be alone.


    There was nock of inventory in the supply depot. It was full of weapons and armor and it seemed to be able to equip an army tens of thousands strong.


    Zhong Heng had indeed spent considerable effort at this end.


    The Shangguan brothers apanied the Dragon King because they wanted his protection, not because they wanted to contribute to strategy. As such, they tactfully remained silent.


    In a corner of the depot, more than a hundred crafstmen were sweating away as they worked around the clock. The items they were crafting were extremely crude though: narrow strips of wood about two meters long that had seven or eight holes punched at their tips. Wooden spikes about a meter long were then fastened by rivets to the holes and were extremely sharp; many of the craftsmen were wearing bandages.


    Typically, Gu Shenwei did not exin what the spikes were to be used for; he only asked the supervisor of the depot, who was beside him, some questions softly. The supervisor, who was slow to catch on, replied loudly, ¡°We tested them on live pigs,¡± before continuing in a suppressed voice, ¡°They¡¯re quite useful. Though some of them will break off, there will always be a few spikes that will pierce through.¡±


    That day, the Dragon King was upied with many tasks. After the visit to the depot, he went to check on the training of the ve soldiers. In between all that, he summoned at least seven people to ask them how the preparations for battle was going.


    Especially focused on they of the surroundingnd, he would ask his attendants to take note of every location they passed by that could work in their favor during battle. He even had them to do a rough sketch of the surrounding geography.


    As such, the Shangguan brothers had a strong impression that the Great Snow Mountain army was confident about winning the uing battle.


    It was close to midnight before he returned back to the military camp. His guards split into three parties and went in different directions so that casual onlookers would not be able to deduce the Dragon King¡¯s actual quarters.


    Shangguan Fei began thinking about how to pass on the fake to Shangguan Hong information in a clever way; he could not tell him directly as it would only arouse the suspicions of his brother.


    Just as he was about to reach the camp, he had an idea . He would attempt to get in the good books of a few swordsmen who were also guards of the Dragon King. He waited for the Dragon King to dismiss them before inviting them over to his tent for a drink.


    Shangguan Fei could be a very charming young master, if he was willing. Upon joining the Great Snow Mountain, he had been very focused on building up his rtionships with the other swordsmen, and thus his invitation was warmly epted.


    Although the Dragon King had issued many bans in light of the impending battle, he seemed to have forgot to prohibit the drinking of alcholic beverages.


    Cautiously, the seven or eight of them suppressed their voices, unwilling to let the Dragon King, who was just residing nearby, hear them. However, when they lost themselves in the moment, at times there would be a few loud noises emitted from their tent.


    Also staying in a tent nearby, Shangguan Hong was suffering from their rowdiness. He felt that their chaotic noises were even harder to bear than continuous streams of chatter. Though he could not fall asleep, his sense of hearing grew sharper as the night wore on.


    Although Shangguan Fei¡¯s method of passing the information was ingenious, it had a w, and that was the he had no idea whether Shangguan Hong could hear him or not. As such, he did not divulge everything and only spoke of what he had seen, leaving out the specific location.


    Early the next morning, Shangguan Hong broke tradition and went into his younger brother¡¯s tent. Heined to Shangguan Fei and reprimanded him for preventing him from having a good night¡¯s rest. ¡°What ck oil and big fire were you talking aboutst night? To think you could be spouting such nonsense after a few drinks.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was still hungover fromst night but still remembered about his task. ¡°I didn¡¯t spout nonsense. Wildboar Slope¡­ ah, forget it. Why should I tell you something like that,eh? Why are you in my tent? Get out.¡±


    Shangguan Hong grunted and turned away. His brother called out to him just as he was about to leave, ¡°Why are you wearing new clothing?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s it to you?¡± Shangguan Hong replied harshly.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to meet Xu Yanwei secretly!¡± shouted Shangguan Fei, seemingly afraid that those outside his tent could not hear him. ¡°You¡¯re tired of living, aren¡¯t you? How dare you leave the Dragon King¡¯s side at a time like this?¡±


    Shangguan Hong did not seem to be willing to reply such a childish question, but could not resist boasting. ¡°Fool, of course I won¡¯t take the risk. Hehe, I¡¯m not going to visit her, but she came to see me. I wore thisst night. Did you think you were the only one with guests here?¡±


    ¡°That whore!¡± Shangguan Fei scolded, unable to control himself. He envied Shangguan Hong for having a woman to apany him and was also jealous of Xu Yanwei¡¯s status. She used to be just one of many sex workers in Jade City, so how had she managed to win the trust of the Dragon King, bing able to enter the pce whenever, however she wished now? He had seen her trying to curry favor and throw tantrums in front of the Dragon King before causing him to believe she was willing to do anything.


    ¡°Watch your tongue, she is now a personal maid of the princess.¡±


    ¡°Princess,¡± spat Shangguan Fei grudgingly. He was getting increasingly jealous. Though he did not fancy women, he still found it difficult to ept that the woman who was supposed to be his bride, was snatched away by the Dragon King.


    ¡°How dare you speak ill of the princess, she¡¯s the future Queen of the Great Snow Mountain.¡±


    ¡°Go go go, I want to sleep now.¡±


    Even though it was just to torture his stubborn brother a little, Shangguan Hong definitely would not let such an opportunity slip by. Not only did he not leave, instead, he took a few steps closer towards his brother. Sighing, he said, ¡°Forget about me, in the past, I was no more important than a ve in the Stone Castle. But you, oh Ninth Young Master, were different. You very nearly wedded the princess and became the king of Stone Kingdom. You could have been on par with the Dragon King, but now, you¡¯re not even fit to speak to the maid of the Princess.¡±


    Shangguan Fei sat up in a flurry and ground his teeth in fury as he spoke, ¡°Don¡¯t count your chickens before they hatch. In the future¡­ hmph, let¡¯s not even go that far. The Dragon King will not marry the princess; he loves my sister. He gave her the entire Land of Fragrance. You and that whore should just give up trying to make use of the princess to get in the Dragon King¡¯s good books.¡±


    Shangguan Hong was about to deal the fatal blow to his brother. ¡°That¡¯sughable and presumptuous. If the Dragon King really liked your sister that much, why would he pass the princess all the books left behind by the Chief Priest and have her decipher them?¡±


    Shangguan Hong stopped himself in time. His brother was bewildered and asked, ¡°Decipher what? What could be more valuable than the Land of Fragrance?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not telling. No matter what, the Dragon King trusts the Princess one hundred percent. Even if he ns to have more than one wife in future, the princess will be his queen. As for your sister, she can be a concubine, haha.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s also your sister. You¡¯re also a Shangguan,¡± shouted Shangguan Fei in rage.


    Shangguan Hong, who was not particrly proud of his own family name, left contendedly.


    In this manner, they both aplished their tasks.


    Shangguan Hong did not haave any suspicions, but aftering up with his own story, he realized that he missed Xu Yanwei a little. <em>¡°That whore is much more skillful than those wild women of the Land of Fragrance,¡± </em>he thought. Like most other other johns, he looked down upon the women-of-the-night he got his hands on.


    Shangguan Fei was left thinking about much more. Of course, he knew what has hidden in thete Chief Priest¡¯s books, but why such an important secret would be given to the princess, was beyond him? Very quickly, he found his answer ¨C the princess did not know any kung fu nor did she possess the first seven chapters of the Wayless Qigong. As such, it was most appropriate for her to attempt to decipher the books.


    The next question he had was why such a piece of information would be passed to him. He knew that the Dragon King would never allow the existence of such a ring loophole to exist and it increased his wariness of the situation.


    At the same time, Gu Shenwei, having only slept a little more than four hours, was already up and discussing military issues with Zhong Heng.


    Other than the Dragon King himself, Zhong Heng was the only other person who knew of the plot. Though it was ingenious, it was simultaneously full of ws. After considering for a long while, Zhong Heng could feel that it was necessary to discusst it again. ¡°Please allow me to continue, Dragon King,¡± he said.


    Gu Shenwei nodded, with Maid Lotus not around, he needed a third party to help tidy up his ns.


    ¡°Have you never considered that both of them are actually putting up a front and that there¡¯s no hatred between them? That they are acting like this to fool outsiders?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible,¡± Gu Shenwei replied, well aware of how the two siblings came to hate each other, although there was also something suspicious about it all. ¡°But it¡¯s not important,¡± he added.


    ¡°All they need to do is tomunicate and understand that you¡¯re ying both of them supplying each of them with false information.¡±


    ¡°Not all of it is fake,¡± Gu Shenwei corrected Zhong Heng; a great plot was one that mixed real information with false. ¡°No matter how we n it, Shangguan Jianyi will no doubt be suspicious. When hees to verify the authencity of the information, I will let him see the truth personally. At that time, he¡¯ll have to believe it.¡±


    Zhong Heng could only choose to have faith in the Dragon King. That said, he still had a question for thetter, ¡°How do you know that Shangguan Hong will be the one to escape, Dragon King, and not Shangguan Fei? Or perhaps the both of them could escape together?¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Fei will remain behind. Because his ambition is great,he won¡¯t leave before he gets what he really wants. He¡¯ll do all that he can to win my trust.¡±


    Though not entirely convinced, Zhong Heng was was smart and knew when to remain silent. He understood that the Dragon King would keep some matters from him and in turn, he would never inquire in much detail about them.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s n was slowly moving forward. However, one night, the first piece of news that came to him was not quite what he expected. Shangguan Hong had indeed attempted to escape, but was assassinated halfway through his journey.

 Chapter 427 - Surrounding the Camp

    Chapter 427: Surrounding the Camp


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Hong had only just left the military camp when he was ambushed in an isted corner. His corpse was, in terrible condition, was nearly diced into mincemeat. It could only be identified from the little trinkets left at the scene. As there was nothing that could be brought back to the Dragon King, the soldiers on patrol could only invite him to personally go down to see for himself.


    It was more than any ordinary assassination. It was more like the killer wanted to release his or her pent up rage or had wished to use such crude methods to hide the truth.


    Gu Shenwei felt that the prior theory was more usible. The Golden Roc Fort he knew could be ruthless and strike without mercy, but its killers rarely defiled the corpses of their victims.


    Shangguan Fei, logically, agreed with the Dragon King¡¯s theory but he was still pale with shock and nearly threw up.


    He had hated Shangguan Hong, had even wished for his half-brother to perish as quickly as possible. However, upon seeing the pieces of flesh strewn across the ground, even if it could be someone else¡¯s, he still felt somewhat sorry.


    He could see his own future from the gory scene.


    The Dragon King was going to take serious action. For the next five consecutive days, a huge search was conducted in the capital of the Stone Kingdom, as well as as inside and outside of the military camp. He personally took part in searches of crucial areas and left no stone unturned.


    A total of 34 killers and machetemen from the Golden Roc Fort were rounded up. Most of them were executed on the spot. Only two were captured alive, but theymitted suicide by taking poison while being escorted to the Dragon King.


    They definitely were not the entirety spies nted in the Xiaoyao Lake region, but Gu Shenwei could only do so much, for now.


    On the sixth day after Shangguan Hong¡¯s disappearance, two supply depots within the borders of the Stone Kingdom were secretly set on fire simultaneously.


    The existence of one of the depots was public knowledge, while that of the other was kept secret. The former was situated about 20 kilometers in a southwesterly direction from the capital and was the very one that Gu Shenwei had brought both Shangguan brothers to visit before. There were many sharp wooden pegs stored in it. Thetter was closely adjacent to the city walls of the capital and looked like an ordinarymoner¡¯s house that was frequented by encumbered oxcarts. The mysterious ck liquid that Shangguan Fei saw that night was stored in this depot.


    The scale of the sneak attacks exceeded everyone¡¯s expectations. Each depot was hit by groups of about 80 to 90 people; the searches over thest five days did not seem to have diminished the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s strength. In fact, it seemed stronger now.


    Gu Shenwei had strengthened security at both locations and even set up traps for the attackers. After a brief fight, the ambushers suffered heavy losses and were nearly wiped out. Even so, they sessfully set fire to the depots andid waste to Zhong Heng¡¯s strenuous endeavor.


    The fires, both north and south, shot up high and illuminated half of the night sky. It raged on for a long time and only gradually died down near dawn.


    Rumors began spreading suddnely, causing the soldiers and civilians of the Xiaoyao Lake to have even less confidence in the uing battle. The more experienced civilians began snatching up provisions and storing them securely, getting ready for another long and drawn out seige.


    When the fires raged on, Gu Shenwei and Zhong Heng were in their tents nning battle formations throughout the night. As the news was passed on to them, they both heaved a sigh of relief.


    In the end, Shangguan Hong still managed to pass the intelligence on to the Golden Roc Fort, He even did it even quicker than they had expected. As for the two depots, they were only disyed that one day for Shangguan Hong¡¯s viewing pleasure, and more than half of the suit of armors kept there were replicas made of wood, with very few real items among them.


    ¡°The journey from here to Shuangquan Vige takes, at the very least, half a month. It¡¯s only the sixth day since Shangguan Hong¡¯s death, yet the Golden Roc Fort seemed to have acted a bit too swiftly,¡± Zhong Heng raised his doubts.


    ¡°Therefore, the person who gave the order would definitely not be Shangguan Jianyi. Most probably it was some demaster. Let me get him to¡­¡± Gu Shenwei remarked as he briskly walked to the entrance of his tent. Suddenly he paused and spun around, struck by an idea. ¡°Could it be that¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly right!¡± the usually calm Zhong Heng eximed, an obvious excitement unexpectedly appearing upon his face. ¡°Shangguan Jianyi has already snuck into the Xiaoyao Lake region, he¡¯s somewhere near to us!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s the Commander of an army.¡±


    ¡°So are you,¡± said as he Zhong Heng grinned.


    It wasmon for killers to have the inclination to engage in risky business alone. The Dragon King had gone alone to gather intelligence on the enemy on a few assions and it was possible that Shangguan Jianyi would behave in the same manner. It was exactly the type of behavior that the Supreme King appreciated.


    It was slightly sloppy to assume that the enemy Commander, after only two sneak attacks which were moderatelyrger in scale, was hiding somewhere near. However, Gu Shenwei increasingly sensed that it was usible. He could not help but get excited as well.


    Zhong Heng led some men to put out the fires and catch the arsonists who escaped. Gu Shenwei led over 200 guard troops and 300 swordsmen to surround the camp of the five highest-ranking military officers of Xiaoyao Lake himself.


    Gu Shenwei was not making a wild guess while deducing that Shangguan Jianyi was hiding in the camp.


    After he was attacked in the royal pce, Gu Shenwei ordered people to observe the Shangguan brothers secretly. There were various signs that showed that the person Shangguan Hong was making contact with came from the tents of the military officers from the five nations.


    Gu Shenwei originally nned to keep the small nest running for a little while longer. Though he could wait a while longer for thergest fish to take the bait, he decided that it was time to reel it in; he even suspect he was a bit toote.


    Just as the encirclement was set up, news came again that the arsonists were mostly stragglers from the other four nations of the Xiaoyao Lake who had fled after their loss. On paper, they never returned to their camp, nor were their names recorded within the personnel files. In reality, however, they had been hiding in the camp all along, protected by theirrades.


    The armies of all five nations were involved in the matter. There were even some soldiers of the Stone Kingdom, who were more loyal in nature, that were willing to protect the deserters.


    The situation soon became blown out of proportion. The Dragon King¡¯s army consisted one-third of the soldiers from the five nations army. If he did not intervene, it would be akin to allowing the betrayal to continue, were he to act too harshly, it would be a detriment to his own strength. No matter what, it was not as simple as all of the local soldiers from Xiaoyao Lake wanting to turn to the Golden Roc Fort.


    It was still dark when Gu Shenwei gave the order for all his troops to assemble, before leading his men into the camp of the high-ranking military officers of the five nations army.


    There were four princes among the dozens of officers and all of them were woken from their sleep, emerging from their tents to greet the Dragon King.


    In reality, none of them were actually asleep. The burning of the supply depots was huge news and could even be seen from afar. The officers, who were either guilty or afraid of trouble, hid in their tents trying to listen to the noises outside.


    Upon seeing that the Dragon King was not in a good mood, the military officers gathered around dared not ask any questions.


    There were more than 120 attendants and guard troops assigned to the officers in the camp. They were separated from their masters and forced to stand in a row. Gu Shenwei walked past them, inspecting each of them, picking out seven suspicious characters.


    The Dragon King¡¯s actions made it seems as if he could sniff out the traitors, but in reality he had sent people to investigate beforehand and waspletely sure of who were on the side of the Golden Roc Fort. That being said, he had not discovered who among them was Shangguan Jianyi.


    He did not immediately bring out his usations, choosing instead to walk in front of the officers. He began to speak for the first time since entering the camp, ¡°The Supreme King wants to turn the entire Xiaoyao Lake region into the private property of the Shangguan family, but I gave you independence. There¡¯s a price to pay for maintaining the status of the royal families and that price is fighting alongside me. Now though, there are some among you who are secretly in cahoots with the Golden Roc Fort. Not only are you betraying me, you¡¯re a traitor to your own royal n and nation. Stand out and perhaps I will spare you.¡±


    Not one single person came forth. Though the Dragon King¡¯s method of calling out the other traitors amongst the attendants and guard troops made their officers feel extremely afraid, they still chose to believe luck was on their side.


    Gu Shenwei waited for a while before waving his hand, the hundreds of soldiers standing behind him drew their weapons in unison.


    One of the high-ranking military officers from the Stone Kingdom thought that the Dragon King was about to begin a massacre and hurriedly attempted to exonerate himself. ¡°Dragon King, I¡¯m absolutely innocent. Prime Minister Zhong can vouch for the fact that I put in great effort during the defense of the city.¡±


    All along, although the military officers from the five nations had their differences, they always thought of themselves as a united front. Compared to the Dragon King and his army, who were outsiders, they felt that they were the true masters of the Xiaoyao Lake region.


    Now, their united front was starting to crack and split apart.


    Gu Shenwei nodded and replied, ¡°All the high-ranking military officers of the Stone Kingdom shoulde over here.¡±


    The seven officers from the Stone Kingdom felt as if a huge weight was lifted off their chests and ran to the left side of the Dragon King, and looked with pity upon theirrades who had to remain at their original spot.


    The military officers from the Sha and Hui kingdoms started speaking over eachother upon seeing what ured with their counterparts from the Stone Kingdom. ¡°I¡¯m loyal to the Dragon King!¡± ¡°Dragon King, the prince of the Kang Kingdom a traitor! I have proof!¡± ¡°Dragon King, none of the people from the An Kingdom are good!¡±


    ¡°All of you! Shut up!¡±


    Some one, knowing that there was no way for him to hide and that, not only would hisrades point him out, but the Dragon King would soon focus on him as well, eventually stepped forward.


    The prince of the Kang Kingdom step forth and dered, ¡°Since you must find the traitor, then capture me. No one would believe me anyway.¡±


    ¡°Very well,¡± Gu Shenwei replied, drawing his Five Peaks Saber.


    The prince of the Kang Kingdom had always acted indignantly toward the Dragon King and his turning out to be the traitor was within the expectations of many people.


    The prince felt that his bravery had dissipated slightly, that he needed something to motivate himself. However, he was unable to look at the Dragon King directly and decided that he would simply turn away. He faced the high-ranking military officers of the five nations and addressed them, ¡°Cowards! Remember that we are in Xiaoyao Lake. Thisnd has always belonged to the five royal families! I¡¯ve saved your lives today, so think of a way to save yourselvester. It doesn¡¯t matter whether we¡¯re relying on the Dragon King, or Supreme King, their motives are the same, and we¡¯ll be doomed either way!¡±


    ¡°Non-nonsense,¡± rebutted a lone voice out of the dozens of high-ranking military officers present. The prince of the Kang Kingdom was spot on; they were as unwilling to help the Supreme King attack the Stone Kingdom as they were to join the Dragon King¡¯s army.¡±


    Everyone was preparing themselves for the Dragon King¡¯s fatal strike.


    Gu Shenwei did not make a move immediately, even though he had something to say too.


    ¡°His Royal Highness, the prince, is correct,¡± he replied. He did not want to use flowerynguage; he would wake these people up with the harsh reality of the situation. ¡°The Supreme King wants to destroy the five nations, though to me, Xiaoyao Lake is simply a base to stabilize my operations.¡±


    The dozens of officers remained silent with their heads bowed. Though it was the truth, by publicly dering it the Dragon King was ascribing a grave and humiliating insult to them.


    ¡°Neither the Supreme King nor I, can be med. You only have yourselves to me for ending up in this predicament,¡± Gu Shenwei continued, his choice of words bing increasingly abrasive. ¡°None of you have ever proven capable enough to defend thends your ancestors left behind. All you know is how to be is superficial and when to give in. Fate has left the Xiaoyao Lake in your hands, yet you proactively gave it away to outsiders! I must to seize the Lake for myself, because if I don¡¯t do so, the Supreme King will do it first. Thanks to your weakness, Xiaoyao Lake has now be and of no master! It can be taken by anyone who acts quickly enough.¡±


    Only the prince of the Kang kingdom dared to rebut him, ¡°My family has ruled over the Kang kingdom for centuries. We have always been the masters of thisnd!¡±


    ¡°A master will give anything and everything to protect what belongs to them. Have you ever done that?¡±


    The prince turned as red as an apple as he retorted, ¡°I was not in cahoots with the Golden Roc Fort, and I don¡¯t have any ns to rely on the Great Snow Mountain. Just kill me and get it over with. It will only be hastening my death by a few days. The royal families of Xiaoyao Lake are destined to be destroyed by you and the Supreme King.¡±


    ¡°Nothing is fated,¡± Gu Shenwei said as he lifted his saber. ¡°You are not a traitor, and I won¡¯t kill innocent folk. They are the traitors.¡±


    The Dragon King pointed the tip of his saber toward the eight officers he had picked out, who had nearly copsed to the ground. They were from the An Kingdom, south of Xiaoyao Lake.


    The eight of them kneeled on the ground pleading for mercy in unison, ¡°Spare us, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Where is the man from Golden Roc Fort?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    ¡°He- he went into the city and hasn¡¯t been back since,¡± an officer confessed immediately.


    Gu Shenwei got a shock upon hearing that. <em>¡°Which target of Shangguan Jianyi is so valuable, that he has to personally go for it? Or is this a diversion to allow him to escape?¡± </em>he thought.


    ¡°He went to kill General Dugu, I¡¯m sure of it,¡± said another high-ranking military officer of the An Kingdom. Even though it was only a guess, he sounded quite certain.

 Chapter 428 - Morale of the Military

    Chapter 428: Morale of the Military


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    It had been a while since Dugu Xian left his room, and during this time, he used his sense of hearing to stay appraised of what was happening on the outside.


    He knew that, within his courtyard, there were a total of 15 guards and three handymen. He also knew that three guards would pass by the entrance to his room every 30 minutes. They were heavy footed and their weapons brushed against the steel armor they wore, giving off a sound that made one feel at ease.


    What made him feel even more assured, was the Dragon King. The youth seemed to have special insight and he might be able to force the 50000 strong Golden Roc Fort army into retreat. He had no whims of eventually, and utterly, defeating the Supreme King. However, if the Great Snow Mountain army were to be equal with the Golden Roc Fort, then he, as a traitor, would not have to live in fear everyday.


    An hour ago, someone was shouting that there was a fire somewhere and it shocked Dugu Xian out of his sleep. He had not heard the footsteps of the guards for a while, so instead of going back to sleep, he was listening closely to the sounds outside.


    He was a slightly anxious as he looked at the short saber ced on his desk. He decided against touching it as he knew his own kung fu was only on the same level of an ordinary macheteman. Given that, he rose from his seat and walked toward the door, listening for a while more.


    It was too quiet outside, as if he were the only one left in the courtyard.


    Dugu Xian retreated to the side of his desk, hesitating, before slowly drawing the short saber. He stood its tip against the floor, and leaned it against the back of his thigh. Using two fingers to steady the saber at the hilt, and sped his hands behind his back. The scabbard was left on the desk and its opening was facing him. If anyone were toe in, they would think that the saber was still within its scabbard.


    In this manner, he waited, for whatever maye.


    Time passed extremely slowly. He felt like the night should have already been over, but it was still very dark outside. The dim bit of light that could be seen in his room felt very ring to his eyes.


    For no aparent reason, Dugu Xian felt a cool breeze blowing from the ground, up to his neck.


    He slowly twisted his stiff body and turned to look behind him.


    A figure stood before his bed. It was tall, thin and d entirely in ck. He could not see a weapon, so he figured it must have been shrouded in darkness as well.


    With a ng, his saber fell onto the floor. Dugu Xian¡¯s heart beat extremely quickly a few dozen times before suddenly calming down. He was ted;ing face to face with Death was not nearly as scary as he had imagined.


    Just as he was about to speak, the other party lifted a finger, signalling for him to be quiet and to face the door again.


    Extremely surprised, Dugu Xian slowly reverted to his original position. The saber, however, was left upon the ground.


    The man in ck did not strike.


    A small glimmer of hope grew within Dugu Xian¡¯s heart; perhaps, this person in ck was not a killer, but someone sent by the Dragon King to protect him.


    Suddenly, the cool breeze behind him became warm.


    The person in ck seemed to understand what Dugu Xian was thinking and had diminished their aura, which was already insignificant, to nearly imperceptible levels.


    The two of them stood in this manner, not unlike statues, for nearly two hours. Dugu Xian began to feel the soles of his feet bing numb.


    The first rays of morning sunlight began to show outside. Just as Dugu Xian very wanted much to turn around and nce at his protector, sounds came from outside his room.


    He heard hurried footsteps, before a swordsman from the Great Snow Mountain pushed open the door to his room in a rather gruff manner. He took measure of Dugu Xian, who was standing as still as a wooden pole, and asked ¡°Are you alright?¡±


    The swordsman¡¯s tone was harsh, as if he could never have a favorable impression an enemy Commander who had surrendered.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± replied Dugu Xian. He was a bit surprised; the swordsman¡¯s expression clearly showed that he had not seen the second person within his room.


    ¡°It is not safe outside right now, don¡¯t step out.¡±


    Dugu Xian nodded.


    The swordsman must have noticed something strange about his expression and posture. For, as it seemed he was about to turn and leave, he paused for a moment and took another step toward Dugu Xian, asking again, ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re alright?¡±


    This additional question cost the swordsman his life.


    Most of the swordsmen were hardened veterans and had an instinctive feel for danger. He had already grasped his sword hilt, but was ambushed after only drawing it two to three inches. His head sank down and his lifeless body slowly kneeled on the ground, revealing the assassin standing behind him.


    It was another person in ck. He was masked and slightly shorter and although it was brighter now, Dugu Xian could not see where his weapon was hidden either.


    Dugu Xian felt a chill run up his spine. He realized that the person in his room was no protector and he was just the bait in a trap. He did not even know how many people were hidden around his room.


    The short man in ck also lifted a finger to the corner of his mouth, signalling for Dugu Xian to remain silent.


    Dugu Xian was unable to respond. Although afraid that the Dragon King would fall for their trap, he was even more frightened at the possibility him not. these assassins would not keep waiting for the Dragon King forever, and would be sure to get rid of him before making any other moves.


    The short man in ck dragged the corpse of the swordsman to a corner of the wall and did not bother to conceal himself again. He stood beside the corpse, lowering his head slightly, appearing as if he was sleeping while standing up.


    After staring for a while, Dugu Xian finally noticed where the man in ck kept his weapon. The scabbard of his saber was as pitch ck as his clothes and stuck closely to his thigh. Even under bright sunlight, it would be hard to notice.


    Footsteps sounded outside of his room again, this time though, the visitor was more polite and asked softly when he was at the door, ¡± General Dugu?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± answered Dugu Xian. He did not know what he should say and squeezed out a vague sound from his throat.


    ¡°The Dragon King hase to visit and asks if it¡¯s convenient for you, General.¡±


    The man in ck standing at the corner of the wall stared at Dugu Xian, his gaze indifferent.


    ¡°It is,¡± Dugu Xian replied. He shifted his body weight to the other leg and came to a sudden decision. It was done so quickly that he did not even have the time to weigh the pros and cons. ¡°There¡¯s¡­¡±


    Just as he was gathering his breath to shout the rest of the words, the sabers of the assasins struck at him. There were more than one of them; one standing in front and behind him respectively. Another was even hiding above of where he was currently standing.


    ¡°¡­ an ambush!¡± Dugu Xian still managed to shout the rest of his words, despite the attacks. He could feel an intense paining from the left side of his body immediately afterward.


    He thought that he was going to die. Strangely, though, he was still very conscious. Legends had it that the Golden Roc assasins always killed in just one stroke; but the strike of his assants did not seem to be their usual style.


    Dugu Xian did not have time to think about it, as he withstood the sharp pain before he fell to the ground; it took him a few rolls before he could get back to his feet.


    The first thing he noticed was that his left arm was now gone and blood was gushing from it like snow melting off a mountain. Then he saw the Dragon King in the midst of killing the remaining assassin.


    When Dugu Xian was still sound asleep, three Golden Roc killers had already snuck into his room.


    Gu Shenwei entered the city just before daybreak and ordered the soldiers to surround the nearby alleys, while he alone went ahead to find out the situation.


    The guards in the courtyard were still alive but having faced a sneak attack the night before, two soldiers who used to be savages, were injured by hidden weapons. Therefore the other soldiers had broadened their patrolling radius. Even after midnight, their enemies had not dared show themselves again.


    As for Dugu Xian, who had remained in his room, the guards could vouch that absolutely no one snuck in.


    Gu Shenwei thought otherwise and therefore sent a guard to check on the general. He had reminded the guard to not speak too much and to leave the room once he saw Dugu Xian.


    However, the guard did not follow the Dragon King¡¯s warning. When he was killed, the Dragon King had been standing guard on the roof, listening closely to the voices below and trying to find any traces an enemy.


    The prime opportunity for him to strike was the moment when the three assassins retreated from the room. However, due to Dugu Xian¡¯s verbal warning the assassins were ready to kill him, forcing Gu Shenwei to strike.


    He pierced through the roof and killed two of the assassins in one go. He was slightlyte, though, and unable to save the arm of the general from being cut off. He then exchanged three blows with the third assassin before killing him as well.


    The three of them were not just any ordinary killers from the Golden Roc Fort. If they had had the advantage of striking first, Gu Shenwei was not certain if he could withstand their attacks.


    Dugu Xian was starting to slip into unconsciousness. He had understood roughly what had ured before he cked-out and fainted.


    The sounds of the battle drew the guards outside Dugu Xian¡¯s room. they startled upon seeing the corpses strewn across the floor. They hurriedly bandaged Dugu Xian¡¯s wounds and cleaned up the scene.


    Gu Shenwei examined the corpses of the three assassins carefully. He did not know how Shangguan Jianyi looked like, but he was certain that none of them belonged to that bold enemy Commander.


    He believed that Shangguan Jianyi had either fled from the Stone Kingdom or changed his hiding spot. This was no ordinary opponent ¨C Gu Shenwei was convinced of his assessment. Having met a worthy opponent, an excitement grew within him.


    He had not lost yet, though. Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s action of setting fire to the two supply depots and setting a trap at Dugu Xian¡¯s room, proved that he was starting to take the bait.


    A short whileter, Dugu Xian woke up. Sharp pain apanied his increasing consciousness as he frowned and groaned twice. ¡°Shangguan Jianyi will most likely not send his troops over again for the rest of this year.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stood in front of the general¡¯s bed and nodded, replying, ¡°No, but he¡¯ll send more assassins after us.¡±


    The intelligence that the Dragon King wanted Shangguan Hong to pass on was not the most important of his n to trick the enemy; what made Shangguan Jianyi suspicious was the two supply depots. He was an extremely meticulous and wary person, and just like the Dragon King. The inventory in the depots were mostly nonsensical items, and Shangguan Jianyi would believe that both Shangguan Hong and the depots were part of an borate plot cooked up by the Dragon King to trick him into attacking as soon as possible, causing him to fall into the trap.


    It was a ploy simr to a double bluff and when Gu Shenwei told most of it to Dugu Xian, the general was even more confident than the Dragon King was that it would work. This was due to the fact that he understood Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s character. ¡°He doesn¡¯t trust anybody except for his own eyes,¡± he counseled.


    Therefore, Gu Shenwei made sure he ¡®saw with his own eyes¡¯.


    Gu Shenwei stayed for a while before returning to the barracks. It was highly usible that Shangguan Jianyi would wait till the next spring before sending his soldiers to battle, but even if there was only a ten percent chance that he could attack now, the Great Snow Mountain army could not afford to rx. Before winter came, they must improve on their defences.


    The atmosphere of the entire barracks was one of high tension as they would be facing tough opponents. All soldiers were ordered to gather earlier on and had still not been dismissed after Gu Shenwei came back.


    A group of swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountin were matching the soldiers against the personnel file in their hands while another bunch of them made a thorough search of the entire camp. Eventually, they found close to a hundred soldiers that were unounted for. Inluding the arsonists that had set fire to the supply depots, there were more than 270 spies within the army camp of the five nations.


    It was Gu Shenwei¡¯s thorniest problem ¨C how could he pacify everyone while subduing the five nations of Xiaoyao Lake?


    The spies had to executed, publicly. Anything else would go against military principles.


    It was tough to try to pacify everyone, though; just a few promises and pretty words would not assure anyone. After Gu Shenwei gave the order to behead the spies, he dismissed his soldiers and nned to gradually suppress the fear and longing to desert within his troops.


    It was an extremely busy day for him, people kept seeking him out. Some did it tantly while others tried to drop hints, but all of them wanted to provide information against someone else. If Gu Shenwei were to listen to them fly into a fit of rage, he would have to have killed half of his own army.


    He knew that not all of the spies had been uncovered. It was actually very likely that other soldiers, who were registered in the personnel files, harbored the same thoughts as the moles: that the Dragon King and the Great Snow Mountain army were invaders.


    That very evening, Zhong Heng came to see him. The Prime Minister seemed to have thought very thoroughly about what he was about to say. He first told Gu Shenwei about the serious consequences of the upheaval in the fighting spirit of his troops, before suggesting a solution that he believed was more appropriate and less costly, ¡°I would suggest you get married to the princess of Stone Kingdom quickly, Dragon King. It¡¯s the most important link between the Great Snow Mountain and Xiaoyao Lake.¡±


    Gu Shenwei understood what Zhong Heng was getting at. Logically, he knew that it was a good idea which he should have thought of before. But in his heart, he realized that he had was strongly opposed to the princess. It had nothing to do with their previous encounter. It was a resistance that had taken root the day he decided to ask for her hand in marriage.

 Chapter 429 - The Wedding Date

    Chapter 429: The Wedding Date


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The king of the Stone Kingdom sat in the cold and dark main hall, his scrawny body curled up into a ball. He looked like a ghost who could not bear to leave its favorite haunt. It was only once he spoke that others were sure he was alive.


    ¡°Ah, the Prime Minister of the Stone Kingdom, my right-hand man. It¡¯s been a while. You <em>are </em>the Prime Minister, aren¡¯t you? I can¡¯t recall clearly.¡±


    Zhong Heng was unaffected by the jibe, he even wore a look of amusement on his face, as if the feeble man sitting on the throne was just an unskilledborer. He then gave a cursory bow, informing the king about the Dragon King¡¯s decision, ¡°The Dragon King wishes to conduct his wedding with the princess ten days from now. Please, make preparations, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Preparations? What¡¯s there to prepare? What can <em>I </em>contribute? The royal seal is already in your hands. Why don¡¯t I send the chair I¡¯m sitting on to the Dragon King as a gift?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that,¡± replied Zhong Heng earnestly. ¡°The Dragon King doesn¡¯t need anything from Your Majesty. In fact, he wishes to send Your Majesty a gift. This wedding is extremely vital for the Stone Kingdom and we hope Your Majesty will treat it seriously.¡±


    ¡°I will,¡± replied the king. Though he knew that the words did not represent true authority, he could not help himself. ¡°I will definitely be serious if you guys draw your weapons,¡± he added.


    Zhong Heng remained grinning but unexpectedly did not deny it. He then turned around and left the hall.


    The king shrank even more, looking as if he had melded with the throne.


    Zhong Heng also went to inform the princess about the wedding.


    He had never been soft-hearted, but upon seeing the princess, who was obviously anxious and worried, put on a brave front, a small part of him could not bear to be too harsh to her. ¡°Please rest assured, Princess. After the wedding, Your Highness will still reside in the pce, just as before.¡±


    The princess truly wished for things to be the same as they were before, once again. She knew, however, where she was stood and what the right words to be saying at this moment were. ¡°Thank you, for your concern, Prime Minister. Where I should be staying after the wedding will be up to the Dragon King. I won¡¯t be choosy,¡± she said.


    Zhong Heng did not expect her to possess so much more wisdom than her brother, at such a young age. He found a new level of respect for the princess. Bowing deeply, he slowly retreated.


    Xu Yanwei was waiting outside for him.


    Finally, the Dragon King was going to wed the princess. Xu Yanwei was probably the only person truly happy about the wedding. She tended to feel strongly responsible for her ex-customers and masters, as evidenced by her feelings toward Luo Ningcha, Shangguan Ru and the princess of the Stone Kingdom.


    The princess was naturally weak-willed. From a young age, she was controlled by various forces, as such, she was in dire need of a strong protector to take care of her. To Xu Yanwei, the best candidate for that role was the Dragon King.


    Under Xu Yanwei¡¯s gradual influence, the princess¡¯s impression of the Dragon King had changed greatly. At the very least, she already understood that those far-fetched rumors about him were false, and no longer thought of her future husband as that fearful and murderously cannibalistic monster. That said, their first encounter had made all of Xu Yanwei¡¯s effort wasted.


    Even though the princess could only remember parts of the scene where the Dragon King was killing, they were securely imprinted within her memories and could not be forgotten. For a few days after that incident, she suffered from nightmares, waking up abruptly every night. She would ask Xu Yanwei, who would hurry over to console her everytime, if the Dragon King nned to murder her.


    Xu Yanwei swore that he would not, but to little effect. As such, she deduced that there was only one way to get rid of the fear in her mind, and that was for both of them to be wed post haste. After they had spent a few blissful nights together, they would naturally be affectionate toward one another; the mystery concerning the other party would diminish.


    It was a conclusion borne from her own personal experiences.


    She only worried about one thing.


    She was not interested in how good the Dragon King¡¯s kung fu was, or how many soldiers hemanded, nor who the enemy he was about to face was. There was one matter, though, that she was clearer on than anyone else.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to wait for ten days. If it¡¯s up to me, tomorrow¡¯s pretty good. Today¡¯s alright too. Howplicated could a wedding ceremony be? There just has to be some music, then they have to end up in the bridal suite. Why do we have to wait so long?¡±


    Zhong Heng would normally avoid Xu Yanwei, but he was the Prime Minister of the Stone Kingdom now and he was trying to create a future for himself. He was not willing to rekindle an old romance, nor be entangled with an old me, but since he was questioned, he could only try to tackle the problem head on.


    ¡°Er, ten days is already fairly rushed. The princess has her status to worry about and the wedding cannot be overly casual.¡±


    ¡°Did you not get my meaning?¡± Xu Yanwei asked, her eyes opening wide, as if Zhong Heng hadmitted a rookie mistake.


    ¡°Your¡­ meaning?¡± asked Zhong Heng, secretly puzzled about what could bring the cold-blooded Dragon King to trust such a woman.


    He changed his mind, though, and wanted to thank Xu Yanwei for her reminder, after hearing what she had saidter.


    Xu Yanwei bit her lip and hesitated, saying softly, ¡°Never ever tell anyone that I leaked this piece of information to you.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t said anything yet.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that if the wedding gets dyed by a few more days, the princess might not even be alive.¡±


    ¡°Why? Are you referring to the Golden Roc assasins? Don¡¯t worry, the Dragon King has prepared for them.¡±


    The marriage between the Dragon King and the princess of the Stone Kingdom was meant to stabilize the rtionship between the Great Snow Mountain and the five nations of Xiaoyao Lake. As such, Zhong Heng had already predicted Shangguan Jianyi would naturally try to disrupt it.


    ¡°The Golden Roc assasins are nothing,¡± replied Xu Yanwei, as she twisted her mouth with disdain, as if she had stopped countless of assassinations before. ¡°I¡¯m talking about someone at the Dragon King¡¯s side.¡±


    ¡°Someone at the Dragon King¡¯s side? What nonsense are you talking about? Is it Fang Wenshi? What will he dare to do to the Princess? I bet he isn¡¯t even capable such a thing.¡±


    ¡°Sigh. You¡¯re such a intelligent person, but today, you turn out to be as dumb as a pig.¡±


    Zhong Heng scowled. This was one of the reasons why he tried to hide from Xu Yanwei; the woman had probably spent too much time in the red light district of Pleasure Alley and was frequently insurbodinate. Luckily, there was no one else around them, otherwise the Prime Minister would have lost face.


    ¡°Speak clearly,¡± he said.¡±I have many things yet to be done.¡±


    Xu Yanwei had not wished to divulge her secret originally, but men were always too insensitive about such matters. All they thought about were how to kill hundreds or thousands more people, but they overlooked those closest to them. As such, it was now up to her to take care of the Dragon King. ¡°Maid Lotus,¡± she said.


    Once the two words left her lips, Xu Yanwei began looking around nervously. She bore utmost goodwill toward the all of the women rted in any manner to the Dragon King, with the exception of Maid Lotus. A few years ago, when the Dragon King was still known as ve Huan, she already had the feeling that there was something off about Maid Lotus; no matter how she tried, she could not get close to and was even slightly afraid, of her.


    After the Dragon King came back to the Stone Kingdom, the two women met each other only on a few rare assions. Yet somehow, Xu Yanwei¡¯s fear of Maid Lotus had grown even stronger. It was nearly on the same level as that of the princess¡¯s terror of the Dragon King.


    ¡°Maid Lotus? She¡¯s not with the Dragon King now. Most likely she¡¯s on a mission,¡± replied Zhong Heng. He was even more puzzled now; not only did the female personal bodyguard of the Dragon King possess marvelous kung fu, her loyalty was self-evident. The fact that the Dragon King entrusted his personal safety to her, spoke volumes of it.


    Maid Lotus had returned to Jade City to gather the disciples of the New Moon Hall, and no one else besides Gu Shenwei knew about her whereabouts.


    ¡°I know she¡¯s not around. It¡¯s the reason why I suggested the wedding be brought forward. If we dy it until her return, I fear that not only would the wedding be disrupted, some people may even die.¡±


    ¡°Impossible. Are you trying to say that Maid Lotus would be jealous? Impossible, she¡¯s a killer. That¡¯s impossible, entirely impossible,¡± Zhong Heng replied while repeatedly shaking his head. He was even more distrustful of Xu Yanwei¡¯s words now.


    Xu Yanwei was growing anxious and spilled out the secret she had kept well hidden until this moment. ¡°What¡¯s so impossible? When the Dragon King came to ask for the hand of the princess, Maid Lotus sent someone to assassinate her. If it wasn¡¯t for me¡­¡±


    Zhong Heng got a shock. He knew a little about that incident and recalled that the assassin seemed to be a young girl who was following the Dragon King around. ¡°Don¡¯t you spout nonsense. The Dragon King trusts Maid Lotus very much, even to the point of entrusting his life to her.¡±


    Xu Yanwei stamped her foot in anger. She was present when Tie Linglong tried to assassinate the Princess, and it was her own interference, nearly at the cost of her own life, that saved the princess.


    Tie Linglong had not revealed anything after being captured, but Xu Yanwei could deduce the entire plot. Matters that could not be understood by men, were very clear to her.


    ¡°It¡¯s up to you to believe me or not. Anyhow, I¡¯ve warned you. If you want the wedding to go smoothly, arrange it while you still have time. Once Maid Lotus is back¡­ you shall see.¡±


    Zhong Heng was full of doubts as he left the city and returned to the barracks. The moment he saw the Dragon King, he began to believe what Xu Yanwei told him.


    Up till now, he judged the Dragon King ording to his ambitions and took it for granted that he did not care for women or riches. During their past encounters, the Dragon King had also clearly proved that he possessed extremely strong self-control.


    Even though the Dragon King offered amnesty to the offspring of the Supreme King not only refusing execute them, he allowed them to apany him, Zhong Heng had always disregarded rumors about the Dragon King and Shangguan Ru. He had even considered that it was proof of maturity on the Dragon King¡¯s part for having enough restraint to put aside simple-minded ns for vengeance.


    On his way back, he kept thinking about Xu Yanwei¡¯s warning and when he saw the Dragon King¡¯s face, Zhong Heng suddenly realized his mistake: the Dragon King was still a young man.


    Not even turning to face the Prime Minister, Gu Shenwei, who was inspecting a map, asked, ¡°Is there trouble?¡±


    ¡°No, everything is proceeding smoothly.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good. We have enough trouble for now. Shangguan Jianyi has not left the Stone Kingdom. He¡¯s still here.¡±


    ¡°Was someone killed again?¡± Zhong Heng asked as he tensed up. He began to regret having brought so few guards when he entered the city just now.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m just guessing.¡±


    Of course, the Dragon King would not make wild guesses based on nothing.


    Most of the spies hiding in the barracks had already been publicly executed, only a few of them were imprisoned. The imprisoned ones had divulged a great deal of information to their captors.


    A demaster kept appearing in their confessions, but there was no sign of him amongst the captive spies. Gu Shenwei supposed that this person was Shangguan Jianyi, who had changed his name to avoid detection.


    Not only had Shangguan Jianyi personally nned and given instructions for a string of rebellious incitements and assassinations, he was particrly interested in the background of each individual troop of Gu Shenwei¡¯s army, especially that of the Land of Fragrance. He had even a personal chat with a few of the soldiers within it.


    ¡°Shangguan Jianyi will not leave. He feels that there the fighting spirit of my army is wavering. That he doesn¡¯t even need to involve his strong, 50,000 man army; he believes that all he has to do is to sow discord from within to make it splinter apart into separate factions. He¡¯s notcking in money or killers. Hence, since the battle has already begun, he¡¯ll strike again very soon.¡±


    Money creates greed and killers bring out fear in people. These two factors could greatly elerate the division and betrayal of soldiers from the different factions within Gu Shenwei¡¯s army.


    ¡°Well,,¡± replied Zhong Heng. He felt that the Dragon King¡¯s analysis was very logical and therefore took the opportunity to make a suggestion. ¡°That means that your wedding with the princess is in danger, Dragon King. Shangguan Jianyi will definitely not wish to see the Stone Kingdom and the Great Snow Mountain connected with a marriage alliance. Why don¡¯t we¡­ conduct the wedding tomorrow.¡±


    Gu Shenwei lifted his head and swept his gaze across Zhong Heng¡¯s face before lowering it to continue observing the map. ¡°It¡¯s not your habit toe up with reasons at the veryst minute,¡± he observed.


    Zhong Heng knew that he could not keep the matter under wraps any longer. The Dragon King was extremely sharp and naturally suspicious; his good intentions and polite words might create an unnecessary misunderstanding.


    ¡°I heard¡­ that someone close to you¡­ doesn¡¯t like the princess, and about this wedding¡­, please forgive me for talking too much, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei lifted his head again, a cold glint in his eyes. Zhong Heng hurriedly stopped himself from saying any more.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with the people beside me,¡± replied Gu Shenwei. He did not wish to share certain types of information with Zhong Heng. ¡°As for the wedding date, I leave it up to you.¡±


    Zhong Heng felt relieved and decided to bring the wedding forward; he was also a little uneasy and anxious when he thought about Maid Lotus.

 Chapter 430 - Forced Marriage

    Chapter 430: Forced Marriage


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The strong, 50,000 man army of the Golden Roc Fort, which was assembled at the veryst minute, was not too different from the army of its enemy, which consisted of many different factions brought together by the Dragon King. It also had a convoluted background, with less than a quarter of its soldiers loyal and dependable, whichprised of its core group. The other soldiers were from nations enved by the Golden Roc Fort. Even many of the mercenaries it had hired were not making it very clear as to which side they were on.


    This army was originally meant to conquer the Xiaoyao Lake region and was to use the even weaker army of the five nations as practice. Little did the Golden Roc Fort expect for the Dragon King and the swordsmen of the Great Snow Mountain to suddenly reapper from the Wushan mountain range.


    The battle of Xiaoyaoke was an extremely important one for the Golden Roc Fort. During the previous battles, the cavalry of Nond was undeniably the main force and the Golden Roc army had only followed behind it to upy territory that had already been conquered. There were not many opportunities for it to disy the capabilities of its soldiers.


    Spouses look for matching qualities in each other while business partners should be on par in terms of capabilities. Shangguan Jianyi knew fully well the pros and cons of entering into an alliance with arge nation. Not only did he have to defeat the Dragon King, he had to make it a decisive victory so as to earn even more respect from Nond.


    Intelligence gathered in the Stone Kingdom, however, showed that the Dragon King seemed to be preparing very well for the battle and even if the Golden Roc Fort prevailed, it woulde at a huge cost. As such, after some consideration, Shangguan Jianyi decided to temporarily dy the battle and switch tactics by engaging the Dragon King in another type of warfare which gave the himsel an upperhand.


    Dragon King could neverpete with the Golden Roc Fort in amassing first ss killers.


    Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s target was not to kill the Dragon King ¨C the cost was too high and probability of sess too low ¨C but to spread panic in the Xiaoyao Lake region. This would cause the already uncertain level of fighting spirit of the Dragon King¡¯s army to waver even more, until huge divisions were created.


    When the army of the Dragon King was reduced to the few surviving swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain, it would never be able to hope to withstand the unstoppable force that was the heavy cavalry of the Golden Roc Fort. At that time, it would not matter if Shangguan Jianyi decided to use fire attacks or setting traps for his enemy.


    Gu Shenwei put himself in the shoes of his enemy and came up with the above deduction. Zhong Heng reminded him, ¡°Don¡¯t be too careless as well, Dragong King. You are everything to the Great Snow Mountain. If the Supreme King is killed, he will simply be reced by another one. But if you are killed, there will never be a second Dragon King again.¡±


    Zhong Heng knew how to tter. He used to be themandant of Jade City and at that time, the Dragon King was just an apprentice assasin from the Golden Roc Fort who had not graduated. Now, their statuses were reversed, but Zhong Heng still managed to take it in stride and y his role very well.


    Gu Shenwei stared at him as he replied, ¡°It¡¯s what worries me the most. Shangguan Jianyi can assassinate anyone ¨C you, me, the royal family of each nation, right down to the most ordinary soldier. Any of whose deaths will create a panic, everyone will say that I, the Dragon King, don¡¯t have the ability to protect my men.¡±


    Gu Shenwei rapped his desk twice with the fingers on his left hand. ¡°I definitely don¡¯t have the capability tobat this problem, nor is it effective enough to use many people against assasins.¡±


    The Dragon King was different from the previous superiors that Zhong Heng had worked with in the past. He did not like to beat around the bush and disliked pointless praises even more so. Zhong Heng decided to cease resorting to ttery, as he was also very clear that the Dragon King was speaking the truth. If Shangguan Jianyi decided to change the assassinations into indiscriminate killing without specific targets, it would deal a crippling blow to the Great Snow Mountain¡¯s army.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have the ability to protect everyone and Shangguan Jianyi doesn¡¯t have the capability to execute a perfect operation. The panic caused by killing even a thousandmon soldiers will dissipate after the enemy Commander is captured,¡± said Zhong Heng; he was only considering the final results.


    Gu Shenwei had struck up a deep interest in his opponent, who had so far kept himself hidden among the shadows. Shangguan Jianyi was different from normal assasins; he was bold and unconstrained, while being willing to sacrifice hundreds of spies to determine the authencity of the two supply depots. It was hard to find a pattern in the actions of such an opponent.


    Gu Shenwei had to ¡®create¡¯ the pattern for Shangguan Jianyi.


    There were bound to be a few people he wanted to kill the most.


    The wedding between the Dragon King and the princess was to take ce three dayster. Zhong Heng had already tried his best to cut down on the activities during the ceremony, but the bride was a princess and certain segments could not be overlooked. If they were, it would be insulting to her.


    News of the wedding created the wonderful effect of easing some of the tension amongst the locals. Firstly, the people of the Stone Kingdom started to refer the Dragon King possesively, for example, ¡°It is only our Dragon King that is worthy of the princess¡­¡±


    The soldiers from the Stone Kingdom who were residing in the barracks did not necessarily bepletely loyal due to the wedding, but at the very least, they were no longer worried if the Dragon King was nning to massare them. The tension felt by the soldiers from the other four nations had also diminished slightly.


    The veterans of the Dragon King¡¯s army were ted for him. Their feelings for this strangend growing significantly.


    Taking advantage of the general good mood, the Dragon King appointed Dugu Xian as the General of the Left .


    As the Dragon King¡¯s second-inmand, Dugu Xian would have various reponsibilities, such as restructuring, training and the selection of battle strategy. Other than not being able to move the troops around at will, he was practically the Commander of the entire army.


    Each faction had exactly opposite reactions to the appointment.


    The soldiers and officers of the five nations trusted the Dragon King even more. Dugu Xian used to be their Commander and had tried to wipe out the Great Snow Mmountain many times in the past. If he could be pardoned, so could they.


    Other parties were indifferent, except for the swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain and the machetemen left behind by Tuo Nengya, who vehemently opposed the appointment.


    The chiefs led dozens of swordsmen, furiously, to question the Dragon King. Some of them even drew their heavy swords and waved them around. To a casual onlooker, it looked as if they wanted to fight the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei knew them well. They were uncouth and direct but simple-minded. The act of drawing their swords was only a way for them to express their feelings, just like schrs waving their fans. As such, he was not angry, but patiently exined his decision to them instead.


    He told them that Dugu Xian was a professional general and bore no hatred or ill will toward the Great Snow Mountain. The Xiaowan Kingdom was in the hands of the Supreme King and Dugu Xian¡¯s family and friends had be hostages; he had been forced to work for the Golden Roc Fort.


    Gu Shenwei was exaggerating, as Dugu Xian did not have much feelings for his homnd and loved ones; what he upheld was purely professionalism. He could serve anyone.


    To Dugu Xian, there was no such thing as loyalty, and it was exactly why Gu Shenwei trusted him.


    But this image of Dugu Xian would prevent him from receiving approval from the swordsmen of the Great Snow Mountain. As such, Gu Shenwei left that part out.


    The chiefs grudgingly epted Gu Shenwei¡¯s exnation, but none of them seemed very convinced.


    Also, none of them took their leave. They looked at each other and seemed to have something to tell the Dragon King but did not know how to start.


    Somewhat surprised, Gu Shenwei asked, ¡°Is there anything else?¡±


    Everyone remained silent, until the most esteemed of them, the one-eyed chief Long Xiaoshi, spoke up, ¡°There¡¯s indeed something. Erm, you are going to be marrying the princess soon, Dragon King. Erm, we¡¯re all happy, erm, but, erm¡­¡±


    It was rare for a swordsman from the Great Snow Mountain to beat around the bush.


    Long Xiaoshi coughed a few times before eventually spilling everything out. ¡°But, sir, you¡¯re the Dragon King of Great Snow Mountain. Your first queen should be a woman of Great Snow Mountain.¡±


    They hade to force him to marry one of their own people.


    The swordsmen were embarrassed at first, but once Long Xiaoshi spoke, they became direct again. Long Fanyun, the chief of the Canopy Peak, who had always been the most ardent supporter of the Dragon King, was also of a simr mind as his countrymen in this instance. ¡°If the Dragon King marries woman of the Great Snow Mountain before or together with the princess, it would be our greatest honor,¡± he said.


    ¡°Marrying the princess is for steadying the morale of our army. I thought all of you knew that?,¡± Gu Shenwei replied. He had to tread lightly, as he did not want the swordsmen to be disappointed, nor did he want to give them false hope. ¡°Furthermore, we¡¯re so far away from the Great Snow Mountain now. I don¡¯t think you can make one of thedies from your tribes suddenly appear here.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to conjure her out of thin air. There¡¯s one now,¡± replied Long Xiaoshi immediately. He looked pleased, evidently having already believed that the Dragon King had agreed to their request.


    Gu Shenwei was stunned for a while before realizing that there was indeed a woman from the Great Snowmountain in the capital of the Stone Kingdom.


    Jiang, who was from Luoshen Peak, was the Dragon King¡¯s personal maid. She had been residing in the royal pce ever since arriving at the Stone Kingdom. As the Dragon King was constantly busy and facing danger upon returning to the Xiaoyao Lake region, he did not bring her from the city.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly came to understand something as he thought of the clumsy and constantly blushing Jiang. ¡°So, you¡¯ve set me up long ago,¡± he realized.


    The swordsmen were blushing slightly as well. They were ashamed to have deceived the Dragon King, but some part of them was a little pleased at the same time, when they knew that their n was sessful.


    ¡°Jiang is the bestdy from the Great Snow Mountain, we¡­¡± Long Xiaoshi had intended to continue speaking before the Dragon King cut him off with a wave of his hand.


    ¡°I¡¯ll consider it,¡± replied Gu Shenwei perfunctorily. The simple-mindedness of the swordsmen usually worked in his favor, but it could also assionally be quite troublesome for him. Marrying the princess of the Stone Kingdom was meant to pacify the people of the five nations, but marrying another woman at the same time would achieve the opposite results; they would think that the Dragon King was belitting them.


    The swordsmen were still unsatisfied, but the Dragon King was obviously asking them to leave. As such, they could only take their leave.


    Though Gu Shenwei believed that the matter could not be resolved so easily, he could only try to dy making a decision for as long as possible.


    After not even a quarter hour after the swordsmen had left, another three people came looking for him to persuade him. This time round, Gu Shenwei did not even insinuate to them that he would consider taking Jiang as his first wife.


    The three warlocks from the Great Snow Mountain were of great importance to the Dragon King and many times in the past when they consulted the Empyrean for signs, the Dragon King always received huge support from it. This was not entirely due to chance or ¡®divine will¡¯.


    The warlocks bowed respectfully to the Dragon King and then remained silent.


    Gu Shenwei was in a dilemma. There was no way for him to reason with the warlocks, but he was also reaping what he sewed; in the past, when he negotiated with them, one of the promises he made was for them to pick his queen for him.


    He had no idea that they had already made their choice long ago and had even sent her to him.


    When Jiang had just been sent to him, Gu Shenwei actually had some slight suspcions, but as the warlocks had never made any request, he had slowly forgotten his doubts.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He did not have a choice; the swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain were too important to him. ¡°I will marry the princess and Jiang simultaneously.¡±


    Before the Dragon King had even agreed, news that he was going to marry Jiang as well had already begun spreading. The swordsmen took it as something they could be proud of and spread it eas far as they could; it was already impossible to contain the news.


    Zhong Heng came running over just as the warlocks left. ¡°Dragon King, they say that¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    Zhong Heng was stunned. He knew the Dragon King must not have had any room to maneuver to be making such a decision. ¡°Do they know how dangerous this is?¡± he asked.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. How could he possibly exin to the swordsmen that there was an ulterior motive for marrying the princess and appointing Dugu Xian as his Left General? He had wanted to use both of them as bait to attract Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s attention.


    The swordsmen and warlocks did not know that their good intentions were cing Jiang in danger.


    Zhong Heng had not told the Dragon King about another of his worries ¨C would his marrying of two women at the same time cause another woman to be his enemy?


    He felt a headacheing. <em>¡°Women are even harder to grasp than the fickle Shangguan Jianyi,¡± </em>he thought.


    When it was close to midnight, Shangguan Jianyi moved on his first target and started a spree of assassinations. He would use human heads to build a wedding present for the Dragon King.

 Chapter 431 - Something Cropped Up

    Chapter 431: Something Cropped Up


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Jianyi was like a slippery fish, circling the bait on the hook, but refusing to bite.


    The first batch of victims of assassination were not Dugu Xian or the Princess but three high-ranking military officers from Xiaoyao Lake. Just a few days ago, these people were still helping him to harbor a spy, but now they were dead.


    The assassination took ce before midnight, and just as the chaos was contained after much effort, another two soldiers from the Land of Fragrance were killed.


    Only one set of assassina ran into the guards during their escape. Having struggled for a while, one assassin was killed on the spot. His aplice, however, took the opportunity and managed to run away. No one came to his partner¡¯s rescue.


    The Dragon King sent people to remove the dead bodies on the scene, but did not go there personally.


    He chose to take no action. Chasing after a group of ordinary killers was insignificant, he wanted to go all the way up until he reached Shangguan Jianyi.


    Before that, he had to bear with the misunderstandings for a while.


    Around daybreak, rumors began circting that the Dragon King was rendered helpless by a bunch of assasins. ¡°He hid so well that even his own men couldn¡¯t find him. We, on the other hand, are worse off. The assasins from the Golden Roc Fort kill whoever they get their hands on.¡±


    No matter what, the murderers were fewer in number and had to carefully pick their targets when faced with a huge army of 20,000 soldiers. The fear that they created, however, pervaded throughout their enemy¡¯s camp. Army deserters began to appear. To prevent soldiers from running away, the swordsmen had to patrol day and night.


    Gu Shenwei sent out arge number of men to uncover the killers¡¯ nest covertly, as well as to pay close attention to the reactions of his troops. Before the soldiers¡¯ morale fell to rock bottom, he must find a proper moment to fight back. He also hoped that he would be able to ensnare Shangguan Jianyi along with the other assasins.


    He faced many matters which disturbed him, the uing imperial wedding was among them.


    The news that the Dragon King was marrying two wives at the same time gave rise to much debate. The people of Xiaoyao Lake felt that this was a little demeaning toward the princess, while the swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain were extremely excited. They imed that she descended from the most ancient family and her status was higher than the princess¡¯s.


    To show that she was of the same standing as the princess, chief Long Xiaoshi sent people to take Jiang out of the royal pce and arranged for her to stay in the camp of the Great Snow Mountain army.


    Gu Shenwei returned back to his tent in the evening, after a busy day. Entering the tent, he found that Jiang, with a flush on her face, stood there nervously. She was too shy to utter a word.


    Gu Shenwei frequently changed his quarters, but his most trusted guards came from the Great Snow Mountain. As such, his movements could not confuse the chiefs.


    Jiang was a beautiful maiden. By the standards of Jade City, she may not have been slender enough, and she was also overly shy, but she was healthy and pure. There was also a liveliness behind her shyness which was seemingly inextinguishable. Such a character could onlye out from the Great Snow Mountain.


    ¡°All¡­ allow me serve you, Dragon King,¡± Jiang said shyly. Her voice was too low to be heard, which seemed toput her at a loss.


    <em>¡°She should have known her fate much earlier on¡± </em>, Gu Shenwei thought, <em>¡°When the old chief Long Qinying sent her here, he must have told her what to do. This is probably why she always blushed in my presence.¡±</em>


    ¡°Very well,¡± he replied. He could think of anyplicated plot in an instant, but at this moment, he didn¡¯t what to do with her. ¡°Do you have something to tell me?¡± he continued.


    ¡°No, no,¡± Jiang replied, shaking her head hurriedly. ¡°I, I¡¯m very pleased.¡±


    Gu Shenwei could not sense any happiness from her words. Jiang was even more simple-minded than the average swordsman from the Great Snow Mountain. It was always crystal clear when she was lying.


    ¡°Rest,¡± he told her. He did not continue interrogating her. Right now, he had no time to worry about the matters of young women.


    In the past, Jiang always slept on her own small bed when she served Dragon King. This time, however, the chiefs had either overlooked that detail or had other intentions; they had sent her to the Dragon King¡¯s tent without any other ce to sleep.


    Gu Shenwei walked toward the sleeping mat and Jiang unconsciously stepped back. She lowered her head and looked like a small deer caught in the ws of a lion. She was in a panic! She had already given up the idea of resisting, because she knew it wouldn¡¯t work.


    Gu Shenwei picked up a bedroll from the mat andid it out near the entrance of the tent. ¡°Go to sleep. Don¡¯t get up if there¡¯s any sound at night,¡± he told her. Then, he blew out the candles.


    Jiang remained standing before the mat in the darkness, her breath quickened and then steadied again; she seemed to be undergoing some kind of internal struggle. After a long while, she lightly took a step toward the entrance of the tent.


    After hearing Dragon King snoring, Jiang retreated back to the mat andy down, fully clothed. She gave off a small birdlike sound; it sounded as if either a huge burden was lifted from her or she was controlling her sobs.


    She soon fell asleep.


    Gu Shenwei got up stealthily and left the tent. He snuck around the camp alone; cing himself in the shoes of a Golden Roc Fort assasin, choosing a target at this very moment.


    Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s assassination targets seemed to be chosen randomly, but Gu Shenwei was sure that there was some pattern they were following. For example, they could avoid ces with too much security or areas where there could be traps waiting for them, to lower the risks they were undertaking.


    The camp seemed to have no demarcated zones, but to a real killer, it was divided up into many different small nes¡¯. It would be safest for them to travel on these paths.


    As it drew closer to midnight, Gu Shenwei found his targets. Three killers snuck into the camp along a safe path. Two of them kept watch outside while the third snuck into a tent. He came out very quickly, and then all three of them retreated immediately.


    It took exactly 15 minutes before a cry came out from that tent.


    Gu Shenwei did not interfere throughout the entire assassination; some sacrifices were unavoidable. This was a war between killers and victory would be won at the expense of many lives.


    The three killers were followed upon leaving the camp.


    Noting that the hidden scouts that he put in ce were doing their job, he stealthily returned to his tent, waiting for news to reach him.


    A guard attracted his attention.


    When he snuck out of his tent, this man was standing sentry nearby. Now, though, two hours had passed, yet no one took his ce. This was contrary to his earlier orders.


    This man was Lin Xiaoshan. He had returned recently after leading a group of soldiers to seal off the exits on the east side of Xiaoyao Lake.


    He was a macheteman from the Tianshan Sect of Jade City and one of the people that the Dragon King trusted the most.


    His hand was supported by his saber as he gazed deep into the dark night, unmoved by the shouts from afar. He acted like a wooden carving; seemingly having lost his ability to hear or move.


    He would move his neck a little, after a while and shift his gaze elsewhere at regr intervals, proving that no one had struck his acupuncture points or was under the influence of some spell.


    Gu Shenwei entered his tent. Jiang was sound asleep and had not noticed hising and going.


    The next morning, Gu Shenwei led a group of guards into the city to visit the king of the Stone Kingdom.


    The king was originally uninterested in the marriage, but he was slightly terrified after the assassinations ured.


    Until now, the killings were limited to the camp outside the city, but everyone believed that the strike radius of the Golden Roc Fort would expand as time went by.


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s presence brightens up my small royal pce quite considerably,¡± the king said tteringly, obvious sarcasm dripping within his praise. These days, sarcasm was the only weapon he had.


    ¡°You should get some sun.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought nothing of the puppet sitting on the throne. He turned and spoke a few words to his guards, who immediately followed their orders and moved to surround the rmed King.


    The King trembled fearfully as he asked, ¡°What, what are you doing? I am the King of Stone Kingdom, this is my country, my royal pce, my main hall, my¡­¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King invites you outside for some sunlight,¡± replied Lin Xiaoshan coldly. He had been on sentry for the whole night yesterday and still volunteered to escort the Dragon King this morning.


    The guards lifted the King from his chair and carried him out of the cold and dim hall. The eunuchs who were hiding in the corners began to frantically scamper away in all directions.


    After checking the hall thoroughly, Gu Shenwei instructed 20 guards to remain behind.


    The king stood in the shade at the front of the hall, his face turning purple. He did not know whether he should thank the Dragon King for increasing security in the pce or reprimand him for being so overbearing.


    Gu Shenwei summoned Xu Yanwei to the Council Chamber of the pce. He pretended to ask her about the princess¡¯s condition, but in fact, he needed her to answer his other queries.


    When military counselor Fang Wenshi had plotted against Zhong Heng, Xu Yanwei had told him the rtionship between Lin Xiaoshan and Jiang. When Gu Shenwei heard about it, he did not think much of it. Now he needed to know more.


    ¡°The princess is rejoicing, knowing the wedding will be held the day after tomorrow. She¡¯s trying on new dresses as we speak and is the most beautiful bride I¡¯ve everid eyes on. You¡¯ve such good taste, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei reminded himself that most of what she said could not be believed. ¡°How about Jiang? Is she happy?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Jiang? She¡¯s with you, you should know better than I do.¡±


    ¡°Telling the truth is beneficial to everyone, especially you.¡±


    Xu Yanwei¡¯s eyebrows twitched and she appeared as if she was going to rebute, but she controlled her impulses for a while and decided that it would be better for her to be truthful. ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be happy or unhappy about with marrying someone. Once you all get married, after a while, she will naturally be happy,¡± she replied.


    ¡°I want to know about what happened between her and Lin Xiaoshan.¡±


    Xu Yanwei regretted having mentioned it. Now she couldn¡¯t pretend to be ignorant of their rtionship. ¡°In fact, there¡¯s nothing much to it. It¡¯s probable that I tover thought it,¡± she said. After pausing for a while, she seemed to have thought about something and hurriedly added, ¡°I have to dere first that they are innocent even now.¡±


    It depended on what that ¡®thing¡¯ was.


    The Dragon King had left the pce over eight months. Lin Xiaoshan was left in charge of guarding the royal pce. It was inevitable for him to encounter Xu Yanwei and Jiang. During their encounters, Xu Yanwei felt that there was something a little strange between them.


    Lin Xiaoshan and Jiang were both followers of the Dragon King. They met each other in Jade City, but he was overly courteous with her. Every time they met, he would greet her very formally, as if she were the real princess.


    They had blushed when they met each other. It was still somewhat normal for Jiang, as she would blush in anyone¡¯s presence, but not so for Lin Xiaoshan. He would appear especially shy only in Jiang¡¯s presence and was very unlike a macheteman.


    Xu Yanwei had created many opportunities for both of them to stay privately, but they always treated each other very respectfully and never crossed the line.


    ¡°How would I know that Jiang was meant to marry you, Dragon King,¡± Xu Yanwei said, trying to exin her actions. ¡°Before you left, you should have told me, so that I could have kept a close eye on her for you.¡±


    It was enough for Gu Shenwei. He looked at Xu Yanwei and felt that she was still holding something. ¡°Tell me everything you know, it¡¯s your duty,¡± he said.


    Xu Yanwei had agreed to gather intelligence for the Dragon King in the past, just as did her brother. She had not expected that all the information she collected had something to do with the women the Dragon King was involved with.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t kill without discretion in a fit of anger right?¡±


    Gu Shenwei remained silent. He never made promises when it came to killing.


    Xu Yanweiughed before replying, ¡°This is even more ridiculous. It could be that I¡¯m jealous. Yes, I¡¯m indeed being jealous. I don¡¯t like the way Fang Wenshi looked at the princess. Even when we were at our most intimate and romantic, he never looked at me in that way.¡±


    Gu Shenwei grunted. These were the two women he was going to marry. It made him even less interested in the wedding.

 Chapter 432 - The Pains of Love

    Chapter 432: The Pains of Love


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Fang Wenshi lived in a huge house near the Royal Pce and was notcking anything. Despite that, he was still cooped up indoors, bemoaning his fate. He felt that he had been forgotten, which was even worse than being imprisoned in Jade City.


    The Dragon King returned, but the people he relied on the most now did not include his Military Counselor from the Great Snowmountain. Rather, he now relied on the lowly military official, Zhong Heng, and the surrendered General from Golden Roc Fort, Dugu Xian.


    Even though the enemy was now before them, Fang Wenshi unexpectedly remained idle all day. Nobody seemed to be bothered to ask about his ideas. The Dragon King no longer asked for his advice seriously, and even the Golden Roc killers seemed to think that he was worthless ¨C none of them even attempted to assassinate him.


    The phrase ¡°serving a master is like apanying a tiger¡± kept shing through Fang Wenshi¡¯s mind. He was sure that his fate wasing to an end before he even aplished his goals.


    asionally, Fang Wenshi would self-reflect. During these times, he felt that he had to take some responsibility for the fact that the army of the Great Snowmountain was stranded hundreds of kilometers away, and that the Dragon King¡¯s n for domination never really took off.


    It was Fang Wenshi who had suggested they try to gain passage through Shu-lik and join forces with the Central in while entering into a temporary ceasefire with Golden Roc Fort. The n was supposed to be all-epassing, but they were only sessful with the first half of it, and they ended up being beaten terribly. He was a counselor, but he had underestimated the Supreme King¡¯s ambition and deviation. As such, he was caught unprepared, and it was an unforgivable mistake.


    At the same time, he felt that the Dragon King had made an even bigger mistake. After all, he was only a schr from a vige in the Western Region, having only gotten to know about Golden Roc Fort through rumors, but the Dragon King was actually from Stone Castle. He had seen the Supreme King before and should have known what to expect.


    These thoughts were his way of consoling himself, but he never ned to tell anyone else about them.


    The Dragon King was not the only one to give him the cold shoulder.


    After the failed ¡®coup¡¯, the Xu siblings snubbed him, as if it was all his fault. Fang Wenshi was hurt by it, but he still believed that Zhong Heng would have surrendered if it were not for the Dragon King¡¯s timely return. To him, the Prime Minister was unprincipled and opportunistic, and anyone could buy his loyalty at the right price.


    As for the Princess, Fang Wenshi could feel his heart ache everytime he thought of her. News of the uing grand wedding between her and the Dragon King spread to him, and he was restless the entire night. He tossed and turned, taking turns to persuade, admonish and provoke himself. He kept having the urge to do something bad.


    Fang Wenshi was shocked with himself. He was already over 30, but still indulging in teenage fantasies.


    Still, he could not stop thinking about her. Every expression and action of hers was imprinted on his brain, and he was unable to erase them.


    What was most surprising was that Fang Wenshi had only met the Princess a grand total of three times.


    He first encountered the Princess when she was urged by Xu Yanwei to make a public appearance. He stayed by her side only five steps away from her, and he could smell her unique and delicate fragrance everytime he took a deep breath. That said, he dared not to be too indecent and took very slow breaths to prolong the sweet fragrance, so the scent memory would remain in his heart forever.


    After the incident, someone teased him for blushing, but the truth was that he was red in the face from trying to hold his breath.


    The second time Fang Wenshi met the Princess was when he entered the pce to meet Xu Yanwei for a discussion of their ¡°coup¡± n. The Princess was present, but she only observed the discussion quietly. Whenever her gaze fell upon the Military Counselor¡¯s face, she would quickly turn away.


    Fang Wenshi thought that she portrayed the ideal poise and attitude of a Royal Princess. She listened, but did notment, allowing her subjects to debate freely. He approved of her behavior as the perfect mediator while still allowing everyone to perform at the same time.


    Fang Wenshi felt the Princess¡¯s strong influence, and that was why he insisted on the coup and spent so much effort to persuade the Xu siblings. It was partly because he wanted to showcase his abilities in the Princess¡¯s presence.


    Thest time they met was when the Dragon King announced that he would marry the Princess. No one wanted to break the news to the King or the Princess, so the thankless task eventually fell upon Fang Wenshi.


    The King was his usual enigmatic self, so Fang Wenshi took his leave after only speaking a little with him. The counselor did not pity him in the least.


    It was a different story when he met the Princess. She did not seem as majestic or poised as she had during their first and second encounters. This time, she showed a part of her true self to the Military Counselor, whom she had only met twice before.


    She was afraid and insulted at the same time, but she did not speak mysteriously like her brother. Instead, she chose to ept reality with extremely strong self-control and a sense of duty.


    No matter what, she would be the Queen someday, controlling the Stone Kingdom, while the young girl from the Great Snowmountain would eventually have to return back to her snowy homnd.


    ¡°Everyone has their own version of what sort of man the Dragon King really is. Can you tell me honestly, Military Counselor?¡± she asked.


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s heart was beating very fast and he wanted to tell her the truth immediately, but he did not know where to begin. ¡°The Dragon King¡­ is a person fated to aplish great hings,¡±he said.


    There was a lot of hidden meaning inside his statement, one of them referring to the fact that the Dragon King would not be moved by any woman. Fang Wenshi nearly told the Princess about Shangguan Ru, but he controlled himself from doing so in the end. The Dragon King had not done anything improper, so there was no cause to upset the Princess any further.


    Fang Wenshi felt heavy-hearted when he left the Royal Pce. He was full of pity for the Princess, and was unaware that he had disyed too much emotion during their meeting. Xu Yanwei, who was next to the Princess all the while, had taken notice of it, though.


    <em>¡°You are a counselor,¡± </em>he told himself when he reached his room. <em>¡°What you are after is a career for yourself and an official title. Forget the Princess and start thinking about how to build up the Dragon King¡¯s might,¡± </em>he thought.


    When Gu Shenwei came to visit, the counselor forced himself to think about their grand n for the future.


    ¡°Dragon King, you¡¯vee at the right time. I have a bold n that could possibly break the stalemate and allow our army to advance all the way up to Golden Roc Fort,¡± he said.


    Fang Wenshi looked haggard, his eyes were red and swollen, and his hair was unkempt. He looked like a beggar, but his excitement made him seem as if he had just unearthed some treasure that everyone else was coveting.


    At that moment, Gu Shenwei knew that Xu Yanwei was right when she warned him about the counselor being madly in love.


    For no particr reason, Gu Shenwei felt a little amused. Fang Wenshi sounded so certain when counselling him to not allow love to constrain him or derail his ambitions, but when it came to the counselor himself, he behaved exactly like a young man who had fallen in love for the first time.


    ¡°Right, what good idea have youe up with this time, military counselor?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°I want to understand something. We are about to engage in a huge battle with Golden Roc Fort, and we have to win at all costs. But what happens after the victory? Golden Roc Fort has the support of Nond and will not be destroyed after one battle. It could even gather more troops. Hence, we have to find a better solution,¡± said Fang Wenshi.


    Gu Shenwei was more concerned about how he should go about winning the impending battle, but Fang Wenshi had, indeed, brought up a crucial point about their future. ¡°What do you think we should do, Military Counselor? Should we borrow soldiers from the Central in, too?¡± he asked.


    Fang Wenshi shook his head seriously. ¡°The major forces that dictate the situation in the Western Region are the Central in and Nond. Both us and Golden Roc Fort have made a grave mistake by choosing to side with one of those two forces. In the eyes of the Central in and Nond, both of us are just tools to be discarded once we¡¯re no longer useful,¡± he exined.


    Fang Wenshi had spent a lot of effort to forget about the Princess, and he needed to understand certain things. ¡°We may not be sessful in trying to get reinforcements from the Central in. Besides, it¡¯s always better to seek help from closer sources. Why don¡¯t we turn to Nond for assistance?¡± he proposed.


    It was indeed a bold move ¡ª too bold, in fact. So much so that Gu Shenwei even began to suspect that the Military Counselor might have be foolish.


    Without waiting for the Dragon King to begin asking, Fang Wenshi started to exin excitedly. ¡°Nond doesn¡¯t really intend to create a powerful force in the Western Region. It only wants to use Golden Roc Fort to reduce some of the Central in¡¯s power. Now that it has been defeated in the Xiaoyao Lake, its value is non-existent. Nond will still support the Supreme King when left with no other choice, but what if we offer it an option?¡± said Fang Wenshi.


    Gu Shenwei was a little moved and seemed to have forgotten why he had visited. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t Nond be distrustful of the Great Snowmountain?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Why would they be? You and the Great Snowmountain have done Nond no harm, Dragon King. Allying ourselves with the Central in was always only a marriage of convenience. Now that the Central in¡¯s influence has diminished and it¡¯s restraining itself, it¡¯s only normal for us to switch sides. Nond is a big nation, so these kinds of things are normal to them,¡± said Fang Wenshi.


    Gu Shenwei lowered his head and thought carefully about it. The counselor volunteered himself for the task, saying, ¡°Send me to Nond, Dragon King. I can¡¯t help you win by remaining here, but I still have a slick tongue. At the very least, I can sow discord between Nond and Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no harm in trying,¡± Gu Shenwei replied. He was from the Central in, but had left when he was around 10 years old. Like Dugu Xian, he did not harbor any strong feelings for his homnd.


    ¡°But you have to win the battle, Dragon King. If you lose, there¡¯s no point to this, even if I manage to persuade them,¡± said Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll win. Even if Golden Roc Fort sends tens of thousands of its troops over, I¡¯ll prevail,¡± Gu Shenwei said, confidently.


    The Dragon King was being a little boastful, but it made Fang Wenshi very happy. After all, it was necessary for someone nning for dominion to be a little bit of a jerk. ¡°I¡¯ll set off tomorrow and take the long way westwards to Nond. I won¡¯t need too many men¡­ two or three followers will suffice. But I¡¯ll need money ¡ª lots of it, in fact. Kings are always upied with the amount of territory they rule over, while those by their sides always love money. I have to be introduced before I can establish rtionships with the powerful ministers of Nond. If I can get summoned by the Khan for a meeting, the task will be 70 to 80 percentplete¡­¡± Fang Wenshi said.


    Gu Shenwei was a little surprised that Fang Wenshi was so keen to head to Nond. Afterward, he finally came to understand the counselor¡¯s true intention ¨C he could not shake himself from the pains of love and would rather be far away from the source of his pain.


    ¡°You¡¯re a little overly eager, Military Counselor. My wedding falls on the day after tomorrow, and no matter what, you should attend it before setting off,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    ¡°The task at hand can¡¯t wait. While I can always make up for not attending your wedding, it¡¯s better for us to change Nond¡¯s stance as soon as possible,¡± argued Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t rush. You¡¯ve said yourself, Counselor, that if the Great Snowmountain doesn¡¯t win the uing battle, it¡¯s no use for you to go to Nond. And the battle is still some time away,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°I have to make a lot of preparations beforehand. Even bribing the flunkies will take a few months,¡± Fang Wenshi said. He was insistent. All of a sudden, he realized something, and his red and swollen eyes showed his fright. ¡°You¡¯vee for something today, Dragon King, haven¡¯t you?¡± he asked.


    His ¡°bold n¡± was created no more than four hours ago, and he had not mentioned it to anyone else. The Dragon King was definitely not here because of it.


    ¡°Right, it¡¯s about the Princess,¡± Gu Shenwei replied calmly. His gaze, however, turned cold.


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He was at a loss for words. He wanted to both deny everything as well as exin himself, but he could not voice out his thoughts. Finally, he gave up trying to resist after being under the harsh re of the Dragon King for a while. ¡°I¡­ am guilty, Dragon King. Punish me as you see fit,¡± he said.


    His excitement suddenly left him, and he sat dejectedly on the chair, waiting to be on the receiving end of the Dragon King¡¯s rage. He had vited nearly every code of conduct a counselor and subject should observe, and he felt that he deserved whatever punishment wasing his way.

 Chapter 433 - Problems

    Chapter 433: Problems


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei did not punish Fang Wenshi. After all, the military counselor had only been guilty of adoring the Princess; hemitted no egregious acts. He apologized to Dragon King, crying like a child. Dragon King epted his apology like an adult andforted him.


    As for the n to unite with Nond, Gu Shenwei had to reconsider, because it was created by the military counselor on impulse to rid himself of his lust for the Princess. Therefore, the Dragon King certainly could not agree to it impulsively.


    Before meeting his military counselor, he had thought that he should bring envy and hate and punish Fang Wenshi harshly. But he found that envy and hate were not rooted in his heart from the beginning. He hoped to show that men had the right to their fianc¨¦e, but he found that he did not care it at all.


    Gu Shenwei could not remember the Princess¡¯s face, but only the expression of fear, tension, and resistance.


    ¡± <em>This is just a small matter, </em>¡± he thought, ¡± <em>I marry the princess to win people¡¯s support in Xiaoyao Lake. It has nothing to do with love or even with the Princess. </em>¡±


    On the way back to the barracks, he abandoned these silly ideas and turned to thinking about the battle with Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s killers, the battle with the 50,000-strong army of Golden Roc Fort, and more wars after the final battle. Although the Great Snowmountain lost more than ten soldiers through two nights of battle, they also gained many clues. The hiding ce of the killers of Golden Roc became more and more apparent.


    Gu Shenwei asionally nced at the macheteman Lin Xiaoshan. An idea shed across his mind, but he calmed down quickly.


    Jiang was destined to marry the Dragon King, which was crucial to both the Dragon King and the Great Snowmountain. Anyway, this would not change because of a macheteman.


    Lin Xiaoshan¡¯s self-control was much better than Fang Wenshi¡¯s, for example, whenever he heard about the Dragon King, he showed the same deferential attitude as usual, and his vignce remained very high. He was always the first to respond when there was trouble around him.


    It was better to remain silent than to be clear about this young macheteman¨C this was Gu Shen¡¯s final decision.


    Back at the barracks, Gu Shenwei summoned Dugu Xian. Left General had been in the office for two or three days and had been doing nothing. Gu Shenwei wanted answers.


    Dugu Xian lost an arm, which truly made him the ¡°lone¡± general. He did not fully recover from his injury and was a little withered, but it was nothing serious.


    At the right moment, he desired to meet with the Dragon King.


    ¡°I know about the situation of the soldiers. The source of the Dragon King¡¯s army is veryplicated,¡± said Dugu Xian.


    ¡°Yes, so I need a professional general like you to turn them into real soldiers,¡± the Dragon King replied.


    ¡°Training can begin at any time, but this isn¡¯t the most urgent problem at present. Although there are 20,000 soldiers in our army, the troopse from various sources. Because of the vast differences in tactics, they can only act independently. There are many soldiers who fight bravely, but also quite a few cowards who avoid fighting, so the number of qualified soldiers is actually less than 20,000.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded and encouraged Dugu Xian to continue. This was indeed one of the fatal shorings of Great Snowmountain army. Swordsmen, machetemen, savages, ves, nobles, tribes, mine thieves, and some who came from five countries all differed enormously. Some even hated each other. The seeds of betrayal were nted everywhere¨C one small trifle could lead to unexpected consequences.


    ¡°Therefore, I¡¯ll reorganize the whole army before training to remove misunderstanding and differences among each troop. Thus unifying themand and structure of the army,¡± Dugu Xian concluded.


    This was the best solution to the problem, perhaps the only one. Gu Shenwei had a simr n before, but he did not carry it out. The first reason was that hecked time and energy, and the second was that he worried the generals and soldiers would misunderstand this move.


    The smallest of things could cause mayhem. It was hard to say what kind of trouble would be caused by such arge reorganization, given that it affected so many people.


    ¡°We mustn¡¯t be too hasty in this matter.¡± Gu Shenwei did not want to change the status quo before he was sure.


    After several days¡¯ understanding, Dugu Xian realized how difficult it was topletely reorganize an army. ¡°Do you worry the soldiers from five countries will oppose reorganization, Dragon King?¡± Dugu Xian asked.


    Soldiers from five countries had always been the core of the army. As the Dragon King¡¯s most trusted soldiers, the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain enjoyed many privileges. The leaders of each nation had supreme power over their own tribe; at times even the Dragon King could not intervene. In every battle, the Dragon King gave orders to chiefs and they, in turn,manded their soldiers.


    Once reorganized into a regr army, there would be no difference between swordsmen and other soldiers, which would be difficult for many people to ept.


    Dugu Xian did not think too much. He thought Dragon King was worried about the soldiers from five countries, so he continued, which was his main purpose to meet Dragon King, ¡°The soldiers from five countries are not very reliable, but they have received some regr training and will be the first avable force with a little more training. For the time being, Shangguan Jianyi will not take action, but it won¡¯t be long before he finds out we¡¯re bluffing. He¡¯ll certainly attack us next spring at thetest, so we don¡¯t have much time left.¡±


    Gu Shenwei almost guessed what Dugu Xian wanted to say, which was another difficult problem to solve.


    ¡°The most important thing is to grab the hearts of the generals and soldiers from five countries. Dragon King, please forgive me for saying too much, but it isn¡¯t a good idea to marry two queens at the same time.¡±


    The Kang, Sha, Hui and An Kingdoms once formed a coalition to attack the Stone Kingdom. But after joining the Great Snowmountain army, they resolved their differences and stared at foreign soldiers together with suspicion, especially the few swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain whom Dragon King trusted most.


    At first, marrying the Princess of the Stone Kingdom was to appease the hearts of the people of the five countries, but the appearance of Jiang disturbed the n, and the things that the Great Snowmountain took pride in made five countries dissatisfied.


    The Princess of the Stone Kingdom, who appeared in public only once, suddenly became the symbol of hope for the soldiers from five countries.


    On one hand, they were their strongest supporters, on the other hand, they were the most urgently needed power, so Gu Shenwei was in a dilemma.


    It was more difficult to make a reasonable arrangement to bnce people¡¯s benefits than destroy the enemy¨C a problem unsolved by both ancient and modern emperors alike. As his power expanded, Dragon King also encountered the same problem.


    After leaving Dugu Xian, Gu Shenwei summoned the five generals once again. The generals of the An Kingdom all pleaded guilty of involvment in the betrayal, and therefore some people were newly promoted, including the head of guards Wu Zongheng.


    Wu Zongheng was originally a low-level gatekeeper in Anguo city. When the king fled, he did not even think of him; but he showed some leadership qualities when the city was about to fall into chaos. Gu Shen transferred him from the An Kingdom and he earned several promotions, and eventually became the leader of the An Kingdom army.


    Of over a dozen generals from the five countries in Xiaoyao Lake, only he was a civilian.


    Things were more serious than Gu Shenwei imagined. Although the generals were submissive and obedient to the Dragon King, everyone kept silent when it came to the imperial wedding to be held the day after next, especially the generals of the Stone Kingdom who felt dejected, and ashamed.


    Wu Zongheng was appreciated by Dragon King, and he was trusted by him to a certain extent. So he was elected to express everyone¡¯s true thoughts. ¡°We¡¯re wondering if, well, if the Dragon King, uh, can the imperial wedding¡­ be staggered, only one day, can you marry the Princess first¡­¡± he stuttered and stammered.


    The Prince of the Kang Kingdom wanted to marry the Princess at first, but he failed. He was still bitter, and at this moment he sided with the generals. He was not punished for speaking rudely in front of the Dragon King, and this emboldened him a bit. So after Wu Zongheng finished speaking, the Prince said, ¡°Dragon King will marry the Princess of the Stone Kingdom, which is a great honor to Xiaoyao Lake. As everyone knows, the wedding was nearly a year ago. But I don¡¯t know, when did Dragon King decide to marry ¡®Princess¡¯ of the Great Snowmountain?¡±


    The generals all nodded and felt these word expressed their feelings. There was no issue of how many women the Dragon King could marry and make Queen. There were many small countries in the Western Region where this sort of thing was not unusual, but one Queen had toe first above all others. The Princess of the Stone Kingdom chose the Dragon King as her bridegroom, which had been tested again and again. But a girl named Jiang from the Great Snowmountain, a maid, would also marry Dragon King and suddenly hold the same status as the real Princess.


    Gu Shenwei remembered that his father said those in high positions should speak and act cautiously unless they made up their minds to follow through to the end; so he expressed his understanding of the concerns of the generals and soldiers from five countries, yet made no promises.


    It was a good idea to marry the Princess the first day and Jiang the next day. Gu Shenwei was confident that he could convince the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, the key was to convince the three warlocks.


    These three warlocks were the medium between Dragon King and the Empyrean and they held one of the Dragon King¡¯s most important secrets. They were very stubborn and insisted that the Dragon King carry out his original promise: The first Queen he married had to be a woman from the Great Snowmountain. He could also marry another woman, but only one day, or even a quarter of an hourter.


    Gu Shenwei considered killing these three warlocks, but he quickly abandoned this n because his belief in the Empyrean upied an important position in the life of the Great Snowmountain. Gu Shenwei was not rted to the Great Snowmountain, but he was honored as ¡°Chief of the Dragons and King of the Five Peaks,¡± which greatly depended on ¡°providence.¡±


    He still needed these warlocks, and they may soon be of use to him.


    The battle against Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s killers carried on. People were killed everyday, but Dragon King¡¯s uing wedding had captured the attention of most people.


    Gu Shenwei had to find the best way to solve the problem, which was not to satisfy only one side but to satisfy everyone.


    Zhong Heng was a veteran at solving problems, but Gu Shenwei did not n to ask him for advice. This involved something personal, which was the secret he could not reveal.


    He decided to find a solution on his own.


    It was getting dark. Gu Shenwei finished his work early and entered a random tent to have a rest.


    As expected, Jiang was sent in advance by the chiefs, preparing dinner, waiting to serve the Dragon King.


    Outside the tent, it seemed that Lin Xiaoshan decided not to rest. He stood guard faithfully, refusing to take shifts.


    Some people were in favor of the Dragon King¡¯s wedding arrangements, others were not. Gu Shenwei found he was in an absurd dilemma. He thought, <em>¡°Why not let Lin Xiaoshan take Jiang away? But if so, the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain would lose face and suffer quite an embarrassment, which would go against my true intentions.¡±</em>


    Jiang nervouslyid out bowls and chopsticks still as nervous and impetuous as before. As soon as Dragon King entered the tent, she broke a bowl and juice spilled all over the floor.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Jiang apologized with a red face, hurrying to wipe the floor with a cloth.


    ¡°Leave it be,¡± said Gu Shenwei as he sat on the sleeping mat. He pointed at the empty ce beside him and said, ¡°Come here.¡±


    Jiang seemed to be struck by lightning. With a face as red as blood, she bit her lip to force herself to remain calm and walked step by step towards the Dragon King. Sitting by his side with her body quivering and head hanging, her irregr breath was like an enduring sob.


    ¡°How much do you like Lin Xiaoshan?¡± Gu Shenwei remained unmoved and ask the frightened girl bluntly.

 Chapter 434 - Asking for Death

    Chapter 434: Asking for Death


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Jiang¡¯s mind was in a state of chaos. The Dragon King¡¯s questions were crushing her, and the pressure waspletely beyond her ability to bear.


    Her life was supposed to be simple. In the Great Snowmountain, men yed the role of proud and aloof heroes, while women silently supported them. The fate that old chief Long Qinying personally assigned to Jiang was supposed to be an honor and also her duty.


    But she never happily epted this fate.


    She, like the others, respected the Dragon King as a demigod. It was because of this man, who hade out of nowhere, that the tribes of the Great Snowmountain ended their senseless killing after years of fighting amongst each other. Even if many talented swordsmen were sacrificed in the process of following the Dragon King, there was no regret among the people.


    Jiang still recalled her past life. Luoshen Peak was fell, and its people were drifting miserably in the most remote area of the Great Snowmountain. The women were hungry more than half of the time as they were afraid to venture out to pick wild vegetables, for they could have been caught by hostile swordsmen, never to be seen again.


    Their fate would have been even worse had they encountered killers from the Golden Roc fort who had entered the region to kidnap children.


    It was the Dragon King who put an end to this miserable way of life. Before Jiang had even met him, she had already worshipped him; she was willing to give her life to protect even a single hair on his head.


    As a result, in the Dragon King¡¯s presence, she always appeared to be shy and clumsy; she never managed to show even a little of her true self. The young girl who ran freely in the snowy mountains and whoseughter could reach beyond the mountains was trapped, in a rigid shell of herself.


    Lin Xiaoshan was different from the Dragon King in every way. Within his shy exterior hid burning passion and purity. He was not a swordsman of the Great Snowmountain, but he was also drawn to the Dragon King and was willing to give his life for their cause.


    The taels, who were simr in nature, found their personal qualities respectively in the other person and already had a favorable impression of each other from their childhood in Jade City. They remained ignorant of these feelings until they were under siege together in the capital of the Stone Kingdom for more than eight months; then that they finally understood their true feelings.


    Xu Yanwei had made the same observation much earlier than the taels. She was meddlesome in nature and created many opportunities for Lin Xiaoshan and Jiang to be together. She thought that they would be closer, but instead, they decided not to meet again.


    Jiang firmly believed that she belonged to the Dragon King and that her fate was decided by the heavens; she could not oppose or have even a shred of doubt in her heart.


    She deliberately avoided meeting the young man who could make her feel carefree and happy, hoping to force those feelings into remission.


    Lin Xiaoshan was puzzled by her behavior, thinking that he had acted been rude and offended Jiang; he contemted for a long time, but still did not know which particr incident displeased her. That was until the Dragon King announced the date of his wedding.


    The pain hit him as ferociously as an erupting volcano, and like a river, it would not stop. Liao Xiaoshan was still not defeated, but he was different from Fang Wenshi; he could note up with so many excuses for himself, nor would he me himself without reason. He was certain of one thing at least: that Jiang was worthy of the Dragon King, even more so than the fragile Princess of the Stone Kingdom.


    Lin Xiaoshan made up his mind to protect the Dragon King and Jiang until he died by the enemy¡¯s sword.


    Lin Xiaoshan stood guard night and day and apanied the Dragon King everywhere; he felt no fatigue or pain. asionally, he would wonder why the killers of the Golden Roc Fort had still not arrived and whether Jiang would be a little sad if he were killed.


    Jiang¡¯s heart was broken and could not be pieced together again. The level at which she hated herself was ten times stronger than Fang Wenshi felt toward himself because she realized that she was growing resistant to the idea of marrying the Dragon King.


    The swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain did not pay much attention to the ceremony. Chief Long Xiaoshi gave Jiang a very blunt order when he fetched Jiang from the royal pce, ¡°Sleep with the Dragon King; I want to see the birth of his sessor 10 months from now. Remember, you cannot give birth to his child after the Princess of the Stone Kingdom. You can be earlier by a day or even an hour, but notter.¡±


    The pure young girl was unable to cope with the many different kinds of pressure pouring in.


    ¡°How much do you like Lin Xiaoshan?¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s question gave her more pressure than she had ever felt before and finally broke her. She burst into tears, her heart full of guilt and fear, and slid from the cushion to the ground, crawling before the Dragon King¡¯s feet.


    ¡°Dragon King¡­ Dragon King.¡± Jiang muttered senselessly, unable to even say another word. She pressed her hands tightly on the tips of the Dragon King¡¯s shoes.


    Gu Shenwei freed his feet from her grasp and stood up. He ignored the girl¡¯s crying and walked to the entrance before lifting the screen and shouting Lin Xiaoshan¡¯s name.


    Lin Xiaoshan recognized the coldness in his voice. He was not a master of guessing other people¡¯s ideas, but he immediately understood what was about to happen.


    The pressure that had built inside him unexpectedly disappeared. Lin Xiaoshan had not felt this rxed in a long time.


    That said, he felt an unprecedented amount of pressure upon seeing Jiang copsed on the ground and crying pitifully.


    ¡°It¡¯s all my fault,¡± Lin Xiaoshan firmly dered. His voice was calm; it was a level of calm that belonged only to the strong-willed. He then drew his saber and knelt before presenting the weapon to the Dragon King with both hands.


    He suddenly realized that he was being too brief and that it could lead to misunderstanding. Thus, he quickly added, ¡°It was all wishful thinking on my part. Jiang has never done a single thing to wrong you, Dragon King. She¡¯s the best in the world¡­¡±


    Lin Xiaoshan stopped talking in the nick of time. He was worried that speaking too much would enrage the Dragon King even more.


    Gu Shenwei was indeed a little angry, not because of Lin Xiaoshan¡¯s rtionship with Jiang, but because of the fact that he had to waste time on these trivial matters when the enemy was drawing near and killers lying in wait.


    The young couple thought of their rtionship as a great betrayal, but they knew nothing about the Dragon King¡¯s real thoughts.


    Gu Shenwei took two steps back and stood in between them. ¡°This matter needs to be resolved,¡± he said.


    Lin Xiaoshan¡¯s heart sank while Jiang stopped crying and raised her head to look at the Dragon King; they did not understand what he meant by ¡°resolve.¡±


    ¡°Jiang and I haven¡¯t done anything,¡± Lin Xiaoshan was not defending himself, but he hoped not to bring trouble to Jiang.


    ¡°I know, but I don¡¯t want to hear gossip again; it¡¯s not beneficial for anyone,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    <em>¡°Gossip?¡± </em>Hearing this, Lin Xiaoshan got very angry. <em>¡°We didn¡¯t even express our true feelings to ourselves, so how could there be gossip? But if the Dragon King knows about it, he must have heard something from someone,¡± </em>he thought.


    His anger soon dissipated, but Lin Xiaoshan still held onto his saber. He was a macheteman and knew what the best ¡°solution¡± was. He said, ¡°I beg you, Dragon King¨C give me a chance to fight against the enemy. It won¡¯t take long. The day after tomorrow¨C no, I will resolve it by tomorrow.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s wedding was in two days, and Lin Xiaoshan would rather end his life before that.


    Jiang finally understood the meaning of ¡°resolve.¡± After tearing up, she got up on her feet and spoke to the Dragon King in a calm tone she had never possessed before, ¡°No, he is innocent. It is I who has betrayed you, Dragon King. Everything I have belongs to you, but I had some thoughts that I shouldn¡¯t have had, so let me¨C¡±


    ¡°No, no, Jiang hasn¡¯t done anything!¡± Lin Xiaoshan protested.


    Lin Xiaoshan and Jiang both stared at the Dragon King. They dared not even nce at each other, but each of them wanted to take responsibility.


    Gu Shenwei gently tapped his fingers on his scabbard. Looking at the simple couple, he suddenly felt very old. His heart quickly hardened again. He could eradicate his own feelings, let alone the love of others.


    Compared with the cause he was undertaking, the scene unfolding in front of him was really insignificant.


    ¡°Jiang can¡¯t die,¡± he said, only considering how to solve the present problem. ¡°The Great Snowmountain needs a queen, an impable queen.¡±


    This was the final decision. The result was what Lin Xiaoshan had expected, so he stood up and sheathed his saber before nodding to the Dragon King in acknowledgment of his decision. He was unwilling to beat around the bush like the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain; he would demonstrate his loyalty and determination during his decisive battle with the enemy.


    He retreated to the exit and made the boldest move of his entire life: He looked up at Jiang with a slight smile.


    Jiang was looking at the empty exit in a daze when she began to have the rebellious thought that fate might be unfair.


    ¡°Sometimes, death is a blessing, but those who survive have to endure more pain,¡± Gu Shenwei said. It was meant to be neither a threat nor constion, but his theory about life.


    ¡°Does everyone feel so much pain?¡± Jiang asked.


    Jiang neither hated the Dragon King nor resented the people of the Great Snowmountain. Nobody treated her poorly. The swordsmen of her homnd were proud of her while its women admired her status, so she could not understand why she still felt so miserable. Although the Dragon King was ruthless, he was the only one she could ask.


    ¡°Everyone.¡± Gu Shenwei paused for a moment before adding, ¡°So we always try our best to pass our pain onto others.¡±


    Jiang pondered the Dragon King¡¯s words and understood some truth in them. And although she could not express it with words, her mind was crystal clear.


    Gu Shenwei walked out of the tent. The sky was overcast and a cold wind was suddenly blowing; thest cold rain ofte autumn wasing.


    Lin Xiaoshan was still at his sentry post. He did not hear the footsteps behind him and bowed immediately when he found the Dragon King standing beside him.


    ¡°You don¡¯t miss the people of Jade City? Such as the cksmith, Mr. Hong.¡±


    Mr. Hong was one of the leaders of the Tianshan Sect. He was like a father to Liao Xiaoshan but he always kept their rtionship a secret.


    Lin Xiaoshan was silent for a moment, ¡°Uncle Hong loved my mother and has been taking care of me since she died, so he¡­ will understand my decision.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that he didn¡¯t know you had a choice and thinks that you¡¯re dead.¡±


    Lin Xiaoshan had nothing to say and he did not know why the Dragon King was torturing him with these words. <em>¡°Don¡¯t tell me that even death will not erase my past faults?¡± </em>he thought.


    ¡°You should feel indebted to Mr. Hong. If he dies in Jade City, will you avenge him?¡± the Dragon King inquired.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Lin Xiaoshan said firmly.


    ¡°But you will die very soon. How will you avenge him?¡±


    Lin Xiaosiao was stunned, his usually calm demeanor began to turn chaotic. Even so, the Dragon King refused to let him go and continued on, ¡°If Mr. Hong and Jiang got into trouble at the same time, which one of them would you save?¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s tone sounded very serious, and he kept staring at Lin Xiaoshan¨C his gaze colder than the wind blowing around them.


    Lin Xiaoshan had never thought about this problem before. He felt a sh of anger again, thinking that the Dragon King was ying tricks on him, but he calmed down quickly and searched for the true feelings in his heart. ¡°Jiang needs more help. Mr. Hong is not a macheteman but chose the path of one. Sooner orter, he will die by the enemy¡¯s sword,¡± he said.


    Gu Shenwei nodded, ¡°You are ready to face death and I will arrange for you to die in a suitable fashion. Tomorrow is too early; it shall be the day after tomorrow. Wait for my order.¡±


    The Dragon King did not return to his tent, but disappeared into the darkness.


    The cold wind suddenly became stronger and chilly drops of rain started falling, the torches flickered in the barracks, and Lin Xiaoshan did not notice any of it. He contemted the Dragon King¡¯s words over and over, until the rain seeped through his clothes.

 Chapter 435 - The Queen

    Chapter 435: The Queen


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei led soldiers to make an attack on a hidden stronghold of the killers of Golden Roc Fort.


    Although he had received some clues, he still could not find Shangguan Jianyi. He had to do something to boost the soldiers¡¯ morale, so he led this attack.


    100 swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain and 50 savage archers disguised as guards and then followed the Dragon King into the city. As they were approaching the gate, they suddenlyunched their sneak attack and surrounded a manor in the east of the city.


    The manor belonged to the royal family of the Stone Kingdom. It was abandoned during the siege of the capital and had not been restored for some time. The intelligence obtained by the spies of the Great Snowmountain and Xu Xiaoyi indicated that there were about a dozen killers and machetemen of Golden Roc Fort stationed there.


    Since they had prepared the attack well, the whole process was very smooth, like recreational hunting: swordsmen set fire around, leaving only one gap to force the enemies out of their hiding ce, while archers shot the enemies from a distance to kill the those trying to escape.


    Gu Shenwei watched the entire attack without intervening or allowing any of his swordsmen to rush in. In order to exterminate several killers, it was not worth sacrificing any of his soldiers.


    A total of 11 people were killed. Judging by their weapons, three were killers and the others were employed machetemen.


    Gu Shenwei led 50 guards to the capital and left 100 guards behind. After the fire went out, he thoroughly searched the ruins of the manor and made sure nobody was left.


    Lin Xiaoshan was not allowed to take part in the operation. He stayed in the barracks to protect the future Queen of the Great Snowmountain.


    Gu Shenwei summoned the King and the Princess at the same time to the Council Chamber of the royal pce.


    The news that the Dragon King destroyed the stronghold of killers had spread to the pce. Therefore, when the Dragon King entered into the pce holding the hilt of his saber, in the eyes of the King and the Princess he was shrouded in a murderous atmosphere, surrounded with by a strong smell of blood.


    The Princess was able to remain calm, but the King was shaking.


    Gu Shenwei had a deep understanding that imagination always brought more fear than the fact. Although there were advantages and disadvantages, he had gained more benefits from it.


    Gu Shenwei nodded indifferently and sat on the throne without ceremony. In the main hall, the King would sit on the throne; but in the Council Chamber, the Dragon King was the master.


    Gu Shenwei saw the Princess¡¯ face for the first time.


    He could understand why Fang Wenshi fell deeply in love with the Princess. Even with a heart full of fear, the Princess had her own noble temperament which was a result of the education she received in the small courtyard of Jade City since childhood. Years of living a closed life made her used to the scene, even though it was unfamiliar.


    A woman who had seen the world a little, even the daughter of the emperor, would not maintain this nobility at all times like her.


    For Fang Wenshi, who had been struggling to survive for many years, the Princess was like a fairy goddess from heaven.


    Although the King received the same education as his sister¡¯s, his career as a puppet, like treading on thin ice, had worn away the ostentatious appearance. What remained was only the most real resentment and triviality. Even when ttering the Dragon King, he could not hide it, ¡°I¡¯m happy to hear that the Dragon King has destroyed several killers of Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    ¡°Well, I burned one of your manors,¡± said the Dragon King.


    ¡°Good job! As long as you got rid of those moths, you could also burn the royal pce,¡± the King replied.


    ¡°I will consider it, because the pce is indeed a good ce for killers to hide.¡±


    The King was stunned. After all, the pce was his home and the only ce where he could give orders. If it were burned, he would not even be a puppet, so he regreted his talkative remark, ¡°The pce is clean, and never¨C¡±


    Gu Shenwei ignored the King but turned his attention to the Princess.


    The weak Princess seemed unable to bear even a nce, and the panic in her eyes was on the verge of overflow. She did not know if she was shocked or actually braver than her brother, but she did not escape the eyes of the Dragon King.


    Maybe the Princess was someone with whom Gu Shenwei could discuss business. He greatly changed his impression of her and said to her rather than the King, ¡°There is one thing that I need your help with.¡±


    Tomorrow was their wedding, so it was not very polite for them to meet, but the Princess did not care. When speaking directly to the Dragon King, she still felt very nervous and had not opened her mouth after several moments of deliberation. Her courage had run out, so she must umte it again.


    The King was afraid that the Dragon King would actually burn the pce, so he tteringly interjected, ¡°You are so polite! The Princess is yours and you can give orders to her anytime. How else may I be of assistance?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was still waiting for the Princess to answer.


    The Princess took a breath slowly and said, ¡°Please give your orders.¡±


    ¡°I hope that you can go out of the city to visit Jiang. She lived with you and epted your care before; she misses you very much.¡±


    The Princess did not understand government affairs, but she understood the purpose of the Dragon King¡¯s move.


    The Dragon King married two queens at the same time, and the people of Xiaoyao Lake felt that the Princess was humiliated. If she showed affection for Jiang at this time, it could alleviate the people¡¯s dissatisfaction with him to a certain extent.


    But this was indeed a shame. Jiang lived in the pce as a maid before but suddenly stood on equal terms with the Princess. Now the Princess was asked to go out of town to visit her, which was ipatible with the idea she had formed since she was a child.


    Because the King had suffered far more serious humiliations than this, he did not care. As long as the Dragon King was happy and did not burn the royal pce, he could treat his sister as a ve. So he said, ¡°No problem. They will be sisters in the future. When will she go? Now? I¡¯ll order people to prepare a carriage.¡±


    The King was like an impatient assistant and ran out of the Council Chamber to look for someone, hoping that the Dragon King would leave as soon as possible.


    Only the Dragon King and the Princess stayed in the room.


    Looking at the girl who would be his wife, Gu Shenwei felt that the Princess was a negotiator, and held something he desperately needed.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to go to visit Jiang,¡± Gu Shenwei said. Although this was a bit hypocritical, he would not force the Princess out of the city.


    ¡°No, I want to go.¡± When facing the Dragon King alone, the Princess became calmed down significantly. She said, ¡°Tomorrow I will be your Queen, so I should think of you. Now the situation is chaotic, so I am happy even if I only contribute a little.¡±


    After Zhong Heng met the Princess, he said that she would be a qualified queen. Now Gu Shenwei understood the Prime Minister¡¯s meaning. Although she was still very shrewd when she said these words, sooner orter she would be familiar with them and make her words more credible.


    Gu Shenwei tried to test her and then said, ¡°I hope you know that you don¡¯t have to marry me.¡±


    She was stunned for a while, and thest tremor in her voice disappeared. She said softly, ¡°What happened to the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is just an assumed name. I have no royal lineage, no pces, and no hordes of ves. The army of Golden Roc Fort will attack at any time; it may not be very long before I have to flee once again, and even I can¡¯t guarantee your safety. So I can postpone the wedding until the situation is favorable.¡±


    The Princess was confused. She did not know how to deal with the unexpected kindness of the Dragon King. He was not like the murderous man in her impression. Although she was eager to speak her mind, she was trained to suppress the nature from childhood, so she just said what she was supposed to say.


    ¡°The real kings don¡¯t ask about their origins. It is rare for the royal families of the Western Regions to trace back five generations. In the past year, how many royal families have died by the sword? You don¡¯t have to worry about me. If anything happens, I willmit suicide to protect your honor and never drag you down.¡±


    In less than 15 minutes, Gu Shenwei had witnessed the strange changes of the Princess, from a frightened girl to more and more like the mother of a country.


    The image of Lady Meng of Golden Roc Fort appeared in his mind.


    The King had prepared the carriage and then ran to suggest that the Dragon king and the Princess could leave now.


    Guards who stayed outside the city to search for the manor had also arrived, and reported that they found a remaining group of killers in Golden Roc Fort and killed them.


    The Princess left the pce with only two court maids. Xu Yanwei was preparing for the wedding and did not follow her.


    Tomorrow was the wedding, but the Dragon King took away the Princess at this time. The people in the city were very surprised and then found out the reason themselves. They said, ¡°This is the custom of the Great Snowmountain. Jiang was taken to the barracks as soon as the wedding was announced. It was probably the same for the Princess.¡±


    ¡°The Princess is pathetic,¡± someone said.


    ¡°They¡¯re just heathens,¡± another retorted.


    In fact, Gu Shenwei escorted the Princess out of the city with 150 guards. Instead of leaving the city directly, he took a detour and destroyed another stronghold of Golden Roc Fort killers in the city.


    Another five people were killed by the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain, which was a bnce for the assassination tide over the past few days.


    The Princess sat in the carriage but heard the sounds outside clearly. She found that the killing was not as terrible as she had imagined, she did not hear tragic screams and violent roars, and the duration was very short. The carriage seemed to have just stopped and the extermination was over.


    The Princess and the people of the city were impressed by the Dragon King¡¯s retaliation, which was easy as if lion and tiger were ying with chickens and rabbits. The previous forbearance was no longer helpless, but a sess.


    In fact, Gu Shenwei only found these two strongholds by casting a huge, and he knew very well that there were no important figures in the strongholds. A hasty encirclement and suppression would urge other killers to hide deeper and would also provoke a strong rebound from Shangguan Jianyi.


    This was his purpose.


    The arrival of the Princess waspletely beyond Jiang¡¯s expectation. As a result, she did not know how to cope with situation and was at the mercy of the moment.


    Two future Queens appeared in the barracks at the same time, which made the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain and the soldiers of the Five Countries very happy. The former saw their woman standing with the Princess, while thetter found that the Princess of Stone Kingdom was more like the Queen.


    That evening, the Princess stayed in the barracks. She and Jiang would return to the pce together in the next morning and be formally sent to the Dragon King¡¯s ¡°temporary residence pce¡± to hold the wedding at noon.


    The so-called ¡°temporary residence pce¡± was the main tent in the barracks, which had been decorated from inside out.


    The next day was the Dragon King¡¯s wedding, so they had enhanced the defense in the barracks, which was several times stricter than usual. Lights were on all night and almost half of the soldiers participated in patrols.


    But this still could not hold back the first-ss killers of Golden Roc Fort.


    Shangguan Jianyi did not want to be overpowered by the Dragon King¡¯s encirclement and suppression, so heunched arger assassination that night, targeting mainly swordsmen and savage soldiers of the Great Snowmountain, and the two Queens.


    The macheteman Lin Xiaoshan finally had a chance to fulfill his promise.

 Chapter 436 - The Dark Night

    Chapter 436: The Dark Night


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s assassination n had just begun, and naturally, he would not easily admit defeat. He sniffed out the Dragon King¡¯s intentions of attacking and immediately retaliated.


    His response was direct and cruel. That night, he sent out over thirty first-rate killers and an evenrger number of machetemen. These machetemen had been working for the Golden Roc Fort for many years and were familiar with the rules of a killer¨C they were not inexperienced.


    There was not much novelty in the whole assassination n. From the looks of it, each day seemed easy. However, starting from the second day and ending at dawn, even the most experienced soldiers had a little fear of the night.


    The troops of the Five Countries had be even more tightly controlled by the Dragon King. They had been hurt in the tides of assassination over the past few days, but this did not affect the views of a minority: the troops of Golden Roc Fort. They had not yet entered Xiaoyao Lake, and the troops looked more pleasant than the troops that had already conquered the Great Snowmountain. Set apart by a deserted desert, the ambitious Supreme King looked more like a rescuer than an invader.


    The army still had spies hidden. Things were not as open as before, and this increased their destructive power.


    One small group of about fifteen soldiers patrolled the area around the barracks after dark. They walked on a fixed route past several secret posts that were supporting each other. These postsmunicated to each other via sounds that resembled birds and other animals and were very sensitive to any changes in their surroundings.


    However, this time, the attack took ce between two posts. It happened quietly and was over in the blink of an eye. It did not arouse anybody¡¯s attention.


    Thirteen soldiers were killed. The assassins quickly removed his ck clothes revealing the uniform of the Five Nations army underneath. They dragged the bodies to the roadside and covered them with their own ck clothing. They then took the dead soldiers¡¯ weapons and continued patrolling with two leaders.


    The two leaders did not even turn their heads. It was as if they had pretended that nothing had happened. They only slowed down a little, waiting for the group to line up, and everything returned to normal.


    The small group did not hurry. After finishing the patrolling mission, it handed its duty over to the next group, as usual, and calmly returned to the barracks.


    At this time, it was still two minutes to the second watch day.


    The soldiers of the Five Countries were concentrated in the barracks in the East and South regions. They were on the outskirts, close to the Great Snowmountain camp. ording to the orders of the troops, they were not to cross the border at will.


    Thirteen killers waited silently for a while in the dark tent, then quietly walked out in groups of two and three¨C forming five teams in all. They stood by in their designated areas awaiting orders.


    The two leaders were fast ¡°asleep¡± tents, exaggerating their snoring. And when thest group of killers had left, their hearts were quietly relieved. After the chaos in the barracks, they would use the opportunity to escape the barracks, and officially be enemies of the Dragon King.


    The killers seemed to have ideas of their own. A saber gently pierced the vitals of its victim. The betrayerpleted his final mission and stopped pretending to snore.


    The first assassination took ce outside of the barracks¨C four soldiers at two of the secret posts were killed. Once the signals were not sent on time, the bodies were quickly discovered. Arge number of troops arrived and found the thirteen dead patrol soldiers. They immediately understood that the killers had already infiltrated the barracks.


    From the beginning, the number of deaths wasrge, which indicated that tonight¡¯s attack would berger than any day before.


    The leaders of the Great Snowmountain swordsmen immediately rang their horns to alert the barracks.


    The killers in hiding took this as their signal to begin their operation.


    The whole army had ns on how to deal with this situation and they did not panic, especially the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain. They were the main force in the barracks and were always ready forbat. As soon as the horn sounded, they climbed out of their warm beds, took up their heavy swords, and walked towards the assembly point.


    The horns outside the camp continued sounding, and most of the swordsmen were ready.


    However, improving vignce was a process after all, especially within one¡¯s own military camp. Although each tent only house several soldiers, things were bound to be messy with everyone moving at once.


    The killers who were hiding in ambush seized this opportunity.


    Their target was the swordsman at the back of the group. After killing him, they immediately moved on to the next in line. Once the swordsman in front had realized that something was wrong and looked back for hisrades, three swordsmen were already dead.


    The defense within the Great Snowmountain¡¯s encampment was extremely tight. Hence, the three assassinations had all taken ce on the fringes. However, this incited a lot of anger in the hearts of the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain. They lit their torches and went scouring for the hidden killers.


    This was a bad decision. The swordsman shouldered the heavy responsibilities and should have left immediately to help the panicked soldiers strengthen their defenses and protect the important people in the camp.


    It was not until a quarter of an hourter that Dugu Xian, who had been standing beside the Left General, came over to hurry the troops. It was not until then that the swordsmen bitterly put their ns into action.


    However, it was alreadyte. The other groups of killers had already put their ns into motion in the camp: to kill their two most important targets.


    There were not many savage soldiers. There were only a few hundred of them selected by the Dragon King to be his personal troops. Even though the tent that the Dragon King lived in was subjected to change, to everyone, his tent was always situated not far from where his personal troops were stationed. Hence, these two assassinations aroused greater vignce at this time.


    The Dragon King¡¯s two Queens also lived in the military camp. Many people understood immediately that the killer¡¯s sole mission tonight was not to kill only unimportant targets.


    Shuangguan Jianyi was like a god looking over the world. He was well aware of everything that went on in the barracks and was even one step ahead in the assassination ns.


    When arge number of soldiers surrounded the tent of the Princess and Jiang, the assassinations took ce on the other side of the camp.


    Two nobles from the Land of Fragrance and four ves were killed, one after the other. The killers were extremely professional in their methods of operation; they were wless, but their techniques were unusual. In order to intimidate the people and demonstrate their power, the corpses were subjected to extreme muttion, and witnesses of the spectacle vomited in disgust. The cowardly troops were thrown into a panic, and arge group of swordsmen came to settle themotion.


    The killers carried out their operation step by step with increasing frequency. Next, another two high-ranking military generals from the Five Countries and one mine thief were assassinated.


    Panic was spreading. Only a thousand swordsmen from the Great Snowmountains remained calm. However, they were forced to disperse to different parts of the camp in order to ensure the army¡¯s stability and boost morale.


    However, the Dragon King never showed up.


    Gu Shenwei had been waiting patiently, knowing that if he revealed himself, he would be a part of Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s n.


    Shangguan Jianyi once hid in the barracks and so he was very aware of the mentality of the various armies¨C he could even urately predict their reactions. Only the Dragon King¡¯s routine remained beyond hisprehension.


    Gu Shenwei believed that patience was the most important element in this battle.


    The assassination was still in progress, but with the improvement of the military camp¡¯s defense, the ws of the killers became increasingly apparent.


    Any n is perfect in the initial stages, then things begin to go downhill. The wise know when to stop, while those eager to retaliate will to stick to the n.


    Shangguan Jianyi was eager to retaliate. He had never had any contact with the Dragon King. However, he firmly believed that the Dragon King was a ve of the Golden Roc Fort. He refused to be humiliated by a ve.


    The machetemen started to coordinate themselves in the battle outside of the military camp. However, the effects were not exactly favorable. The swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain stuck firmly to their orders and stopped running from the scene. The patrolling soldiers started to show some fighting will after panicking, and their alertness became higher than before. Even for the first-rate killers, it became hard for them to kill quietly.


    Specting is the same as making ns. The start was usually easypared to the end. Shangguan Jianyi applied pressure on the entire camp, and it produced unexpected results.


    The assassination that took ce outside of the barracks became a face-to-face duel. The troops from the Five Countries proved their fighting strength during the fight. By the fourth watch, the night of assassination began to draw to a close, and they had managed to stave off the attack by machetemen outside of the barracks. They had sessfully encircled over sixty people, and only a few machetemen escaped.


    The coordination outside of the barracks was ineffective. The assassination within the camp increased in difficulty, and without new orders, the killers were forced to carry on with their original n.


    The two killers, in assassinating one noble from the Land of Fragrances, had revealed their weaknesses and died under the arrows of the Dragon King¡¯s personal troops. Following which, another killer in hiding was also discovered and killed by several swordsmen from the Great Snowmountains.


    Most of the killers had already been used to assassinating their targets from the back. As soon as their tracks were discovered, they would have lost their advantage¨C greatly reducing theirbat effectiveness.


    The swordsmen¡¯s situation was the exact opposite.


    News of the killers¡¯ defeat spread quickly throughout the military camp. Even the most feeble soldiers rejoiced over such news, and the halo of fear that hung over the killers of the Golden Roc Fort began to fade.


    However, the assassination was not over. Just when the whole army tightened its vignce, there were still people dying. The killers were fighting for their lives.


    Shangguan Jianyi showed all his cards in the midst of achieving his goal. Thest time, the burning of the supply depot sacrificed the lives of army deserters from the Five Countries. This time, however, he sacrificed the lives of his most elite soldiers.


    On the fourth day, all of the machetemen outside the camp had been killed or forced to flee. Eleven killers were also killed inside the camp.


    Thirteen patrolling soldiers who were killed corresponded with the number of dead killers. Hence, there were still two killers remaining. These two seemed to have lost all courage, going deep into hiding and not daring toe out.


    Dawn was approaching. The night of the killers wasing to an end and the soldiers all believed that even the best killers had nowhere to hide under the sun.


    Wiping out all the killers was only a matter of time.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s patience was being tested. To Shangguan Feiyi, his powers of understanding paled inparison to Dugu Xian. However, Shangguan Feiyi believed that he was capable of understanding the psyche of the other and that the assassination ns should never be just this.


    Dawn arrived, and there were shouts andughter from the barracks¨C thest two killers had been caught.


    Shangguan Feiyi was prone to making mistakes too. Gu Shenwei thought this but remained vignt all the same.


    The soldiers did not rx their vignce either. Theyunched a wide-scale search of the military camp in search of potential killers and any remaining spies.


    At this moment, a sharp scream rang out from the two tents in the heart of the military camp. The atmosphere suddenly changed; everyone knew it came from the residence of the two future Queens. There were at least five hundred guards on surrounding the tent. Even if the killers were invisible, they would not be able to squeeze their way through the security.


    However, the assassination still took ce.


    The Princess of the Stone Kingdom and Lady Jiang from the Great Snowmountain had been assassinated at the same time. Lin Xiaoshan, who had been prepared to sacrifice his life, was injured but did not die.

 Chapter 437 - Building the Army

    Chapter 437: Building the Army


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    When the dust settled, the men in the military camp realised the two assassins had not infiltrated the camp the night before but, dressed up as women, instead had been cooking and doing other chores there.


    Everyone feared the worst, the number of fatalities had these two ¡®women¡¯ poisoned the food. Fortunately however, they shouldered even more important tasks.


    They had marked initially an important general or even so, the Dragon King himself. The two queens changed their target at once after taking their thrones at the same time and made sure everyone remained oblivious to the details.


    This was the moment Gu Shenwei had been waiting for.


    On the same day he issued two ruthless challenges, forcing Shangguan Feiyi to retaliate equally as heartlessly. Only few would fit such status. The two queens would be the best targets after the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei used the Princess and Jiang as bait for it would be Long Fanyun and Lin Xiaoshan to do the fishing. The two had each chosen the most elite helpers and with borate disguises, had hidden so close around the tent that they could hear the vague voices inside.


    In order to lure the killers into the trap, the Dragon King had to be somewhere else in order to clear aparatively safer route.


    The Dragon King had chosen to stay with Dugu Xian. This single-armed general was number one on the hitlist of Fort Jin Peng and needed extra protection.


    Long Fanyun and Lin Xiaoshan received orders telling them to kill anyone that attempted to enter the Queen¡¯s tent after darkness fell.


    Long Fanyun knew that he had to protect the Princess of the Stone Kingdom but heard suspicious voicese from the tent despite seeing no one enter. It was especially then that anyone would hesitate to enter because it was the day the Queen was to marry the Dragon King. As the Dragon King¡¯s personal guard, he would not dare barge into the tent before dawn.


    However, Long Fanyun had felt on edge the whole night, thinking only of the assassins with other thoughts put to the back of his mind. He had not considered the Queens at all. Thence on hearing a noise, he sliced open the tent with his saber, rushing in with his fourpanions following.


    The assassins could have killed the Princess with ease but instead had nned to escape as a group after killing her, slowing them down thus.


    The Princess had not been sleeping at all. Seeing her maid walk towards her without reason, she shouted in wary tone, ¡°I didn¡¯t call you,¡± it was these four words that ushered in the five Big Snowmountain swordsmen.


    This was a killer, proficient in the Yi Rong technique. The killer was disguised first as a stout middle-aged woman, kidnapping one of the Princess¡¯ ves the previous night and changing her identity. The killer then had stayed by the Princess¡¯ side and not been recognised all along.


    The five heavy swords were swang towards the assassin like lions¡¯ teeth to a deer. The Princess though previously swearing to ept such violence as part of her life after marrying the Dragon King was still frightened and had fainted.


    The other maid screamed.


    The killer chose to escape, abandoning the kill, overwhelmed by the alertness and dexterity of the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain were. He did not want to blow his cover.


    The killer¡¯s weapon was an unconventional dagger that flew out the tent after bouncing off the heavy sword of Long Fanyun when it hit it.


    Originally, he had to kill the Princess by dawn and had nned to escape immediately disguised as the maid. However, he could only now rely on his sharpness and swiftness to break through the many guards and his otherpanioning to his aid.


    Lin Xiaoshan¡¯s respect for Jiang was no less than her loyalty to the Dragon King. This was bad. His whole attention was focused on the outside and did not dare pay attention to the voices inside, in fear of betraying the trust of the Dragon King.


    When Long Fanyun started the operation, he realised something was wrong but was still hesitated slightly, before pulling his knife and rushing into the tent.


    It waste already when the killers too heard the terrible scream outside. Knowing their n had then beenpromised, they darted out of the camp swift as arrows and passed Lin Xiaoshan.


    The young swordsman was filled with such panic and rage that he gave his all to attack, even disregarding his own safety. He however had already missed his chance now with a shot of pain through his chest thus falling involuntarily and saw Jiang, before bing unconscious, sleeping on her bed as thoughplete unmindful of what was happening outside.


    The two killers failed to escape the siege.


    The killers still had a chance originally when the troops outside the faced outwards but upon hearing the screams, turned around causing a disruption in their formation as the chaos spread out. The troops then cheered each in self-pride after they captured and killed the thirteenth assassin.


    It was the Dragon King thatnded the decisive blow.


    The whole night, troops marched in and out of Dugu Xian¡¯s tent reporting the army¡¯s situation, allowing Gu Shenwei to seize an opportunity and change his identity with that of a soldier and hide himself amongst the defending soldiers, not far from the tents of the Princess and Jiang.


    Many of the soldiers had witnessed the Dragon King¡¯s sabre method for the first time but didn¡¯t have much to tell due to the quickness of the strikes. The two killers had jumped high in the air before the Dragon King suddenly sprang up andnded with two sabre strikes that hit their targets in session.


    It was not until three dayster that the soldiers at the scene added scious detail to what they saw. They described the sabre skills of the Dragon King in such divine light.


    However, nothing could make up for the losses of the night. Jiang, thedy of the Great Snowmountain had died, just before she became the Queen of the Dragon King.


    The troops¡¯ cheers turned quickly to endless mourning. The swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain were stupefied at the cruelty of the news.


    Not every general in the camp regarded the swordsmen as friends but that moment was so depressing, they could only sympathize with them.


    No one however, was sadder than Lin Xiaoshan. So sad in fact that he considered stabbing himself with his sword upon waking up. He felt indeed that he had let down the Dragon King as well as the Great Snowmountain swordsmen. The Princess Long Fanyun protected was still alive,but the other person he was supposed to protect had died in his sleep.


    The Dragon King did not allow him anyhow while saying, too in grief, ¡°It is enough for one of you to die. Heal, if you are loyal to me.¡±


    Lin Xiaoshan felt embarrassed, these words were harsh and cruel. He contemted suicide no longer nevertheless, andy on his bed for two days. The day he woke was the burial of Jiang. He stood silently among the crowds and felt himself buried with the coffin.


    Much had happened in those two days.


    Firstly, the wedding of the Dragon King had been postponed. Jiang had already beenbelled Queen- the first queen of the Dragon King, despite there being no ceremony. Everyone was sad and felt she deserved such treatment, nay, the generals of the five countries and soldiers from the Xiaoyao Lake that did not know her expressed.


    Secondly, Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s countless assassinations had shown that there were still many spies hidden within the camp. This was his modus operandi¡ªcooperation between the inner and outer circles, always choosing to strike whenever the enemy felt triumphed. The Dragon King had seen through his trickery but was powerless to save the queen¡¯s life.


    A thorough inspection was carried out throughout the army. Every soldier, those especially that were of the five countries of the Xiaoyao sea had to have two familiar soldiers vouch for their true identity.


    Taking the opportunity, Dugu Xian issued formally his orders and started to reorganize theplex structure of the army.


    For a long time, the army was centered around the swordsmen from the Snowmountains. It was called the ¡®Great Snowmountain Army¡¯ still albeit their proportion lowering. Dugu Xian felt this did not unite the more soldiers of the army and birthed a term hence, unknown to the others¡ªthe Dragon army, or the Dragon King¡¯s army.


    The Great Snowmountain, the Land of Fragrance, the Xiaoyao Lake and other names had been scrapped. The men nheless, were free to choose for themselves, their true alliegances. Dugu Xian and the Dragon King chose ten generals and named themmanders of thousands, seven of whom, were swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, including five old and young chiefs and two generals of the Xiaoyao Sea. Thest ce was reserved for Tuo Nengya, who guarded Wushan.


    By deduction, themanders of the thousands would choose tenmanders of their own who would then choose their soldiers. Each army of the manders of the thousands¡¯ would employ thousands of people.


    This way, the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountains would no longer stand lone yet were still a formidable force and their subjects included soldiers from many other regions.


    Because everyone was ¡°selected¡±, they were less likely to rebel.


    These 10,000 troops became the elite force of the Dragon King, leaving 10,000, from which, a thousand were made guard troops while the rest served either as reserve forces or were sent to train in concentrated groups and others were sent to guard posts that were rtively unimportant. These less significant troops could fight independently or replenish the elite troops at any time.


    These soldiers had ten leaders that became known as ¡®vicemanders of thousands¡¯.


    The vicemander of thousands Gu Shenwei appointed came from the An Kingdom. He was named Wu Zongheng.


    Truly, reorganizing the army was aplex task. There was opposition in the camp much enough that Dugu Xian could be killed by his own people.


    Shangguan Jianyi would not watch on while the Dragon army was established. With the spies and killers that he had assigned bing fewer and the security of the camp ever increasing, after staying silent for ten days, he chose another strategic location.


    News came from the Hui kingdom that on the easternmost part of Xiaoyao Sea, a small infantry loyal to Fort Jin Peng hade from the desert without warning, breached the checkpoint and killed countless soldiers and had set off for the capital of the Hui Kingdom. Without receiving aid, the King would only have to surrender.


    There was yet more unclear word, of how Shangguan Jiangyi himselfmanded the battle in Huiguo. If this was true and everything had gone to n, he would have left the Stone Kingdom after killing the two designated Queens.


    The Dragon army was disroganised, mostmanders of the thousands had not chosen all their soldiers. Gu Shenwei chose thus to rescue the troops himself.


    This time, he had left the Stone Kingdom for another reason. Prime Minister Zhong Heng had started to rush the Dragon King and the Princess to marry to Gu Shenwei¡¯s distaste. Jiang¡¯s bones were not cold and the soldiers from the Five Kingdom had shown signs of stability. There wasn¡¯t a need it seemed, for the wedding to be rushed.


    Zhong Heng, however, did not have patience. He had taken all of Xu Yanwei¡¯s reminders seriously and did not say it but his heart had always rested on the Maid Lotusing back again, driving his patience away evermore.


    Zhong Heng¡¯s focus though was precise. Only he saw through the Dragon King¡¯s ns and said, ¡°Jiang was a good woman. But in truth I say, there isn¡¯t a better time that she would have died. It solved not only, the feud between the Great Snowmountain and the Xiaoyao Lake but also brought numerous benefit. Shangguan Feiyi had no choice than to think more or would have definitely regretted his decision to assassinate.¡±


    Gu Shenwei realised then why a man, cunning like Zhong Heng had not had a smooth time in the officialdom. Sometimes, he knew too much.

 Chapter 438 - Sending off

    Chapter 438: Sending off


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Everyone thought everything seemed normal except Zhong Heng.


    The Dragon King was most sensitive when it came to identifying the killers of Fort Jin Peng but failed at that time to recognize the two men that disguised themselves as servants inspite of guessing Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s target of assassination to be the two Queens. There was a lot of contradiction in this.


    Lin Xiaoyu was loyal but his martial arts were not outstanding in the Dragon army and was far from the battle-hardened Long Fanyun. He had blown his cover inorder to protect Jiang, an act not usual of the Dragon King.


    Finally, Jiang had been killed, and indeed the Dragon King had reaped much benefit. He gave deceased Jiang a title to satisfy the grief and vanity of the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountains, making more with this even, their hatred for Fort Jin Peng while at the same time not offending the generals and civilians of the Xiaoyao Sea.


    Verily, even Zhong Heng couldn¡¯t have thought of a better n to solve a problem like this


    The only victim if truth be told was Jiang, the innocent girl from the Great Snowmountain, perhaps too, Lin Xiaoshan with the sheer helplessness and self-reproach that painted his face. His loyalty towards the Dragon King had intensifiede what may.


    Zhong Heng felt regret towards Jiang and even more respect for the Dragon King. This was the intelligence and determination expected of a hegemon. He was now entirely steadfast.


    Ever since giving up the title of General of the Central ins and bing Prime Minister of the Stone Kingdom, Zhong Heng justly felt uneasiness in his heart from time to time. The Dragon King was too young ad with much hatred in his heart and was impetuous during crucial times. It was proving to be a serious gamble, answering to leader as immature as this.


    This had proven that the Dragon King did not pale in contrast with the Supreme King in terms of cunning, but still had much to learn in terms of disguise.


    Zhong Heng felt the need to express suchpliment in case the Dragon King misunderstood him by humbly bowing and saying, ¡°Before the Imperial Wedding, the Dragon King should hold a formal ceremony to announce his event to the world.¡±


    Gu Shenwei understood that the Prime Minister had suggested this to express hisplete submission, thereby nodding his head firmly and saying, ¡°Not now. Defeat Shangguan Jianyi first.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhong Heng stopped. This suggestion was his no matter what and at every step of the way from then on, would raise it up again. This way, it would be a great contribution once the Dragon King had truly seded in taking over the western region. It would beat the painstaking effort he put in to gather the soldiers, gathering the provisions and fodder and most substantially, governing the Stone Kingdom.


    Zhong Heng had to find another way to impress the Dragon king, knowing just how much his duties werergely unknown when put against the Generals who led the battalions on the battlefield.


    This kind of pandering seemed hasty in the past, but Zhong Heng¡¯s confidence toward taking such risks in life had grown and was even willing to up the ante.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s nerves rxed when Zhong Heng left. The Prime Minister¡¯s attitude was a new reminder to the Dragon King to be wary more of his own future actions, him repeating the mistakes that Shangguan Ru had made was out of question.


    Shangguan Ru was the most promising master of the young killers, everyone believed she would be better than Shangguan Fei at the time when at the beginning, after she left Stone Castle to establish the Kun Society, she disyed indeed much leadership ability. However, after a series of defeats, her heart had softened and she started to doubt the killings. All her subordinates left one after the other as a result and even nned to kill their master.


    Gu Shenwei believed that he would not change a lot so suddenly like Shangguan Ru did, but his subordinates¡¯ demands of leadership in truth, were higher than hers.


    Inadvertently betraying any kind of kindness was seen as a form of weakness, triggering unexpected betrayal.


    Gu Shenwei had to solve the issue as soon as possible, realising at that point the great risk he was taking.


    On the tenth day after Jiang had passed away, the Dragon King led a thousand guard troops and a thousand reserves to attack the invaders of the Hui Kingdom.


    Although the wedding hadn¡¯t been held yet, the princess went to the tower as his future queen, to see him off. She wore a pale green dress to express sadness from the premature death of a Queen and behind her, fanned out like a procession, a row of dense Dragon and Red Raven gs that seemed like she had two wings.


    Those that had confidence in the battle saw a great change in the Princess but the enthusiastic soldiers felt her sadness.


    Fang Wenshi was on horseback and saw only the princess when secretly he looked back among the crowds.


    The Dragon King agreed to the military counselor¡¯s orignal n and decided to send him to Nond but had to spend money first, on ttening the roads. He had to wait till the final battle the following year to decide the victory and without wait start the n to express intentions of an alliance with the Khan of Nond.


    Simply supporting Nond or the Central in would bring undesirable consequence therfore Fang Wenshi believed that there surely was a way of reaping benefit from both sides while at the same time, maintaining independence and safety. He still had to believe though that he had the ability to find that way.


    Gu Shenwei decided to let the military counselor have a try.


    He ced a lone chess piece in a distant position and hoped it would provide the needed strength in the near future even though it did not help then.


    After half a month, the two thousand Dragon troops reached the Kingdom of Hui, just in time when the war was most tense.


    The generals and residents of the Hui kingdom guarded the capital alone and had started to count the time as soon as they had sent the messenger. They were ready to submit to the enemy outside the city even before the rescue period had expired.


    Surrendering to a stronger force had already be the way of survival for the Five Nations of the Xiaoyao Lake.


    Calling the soldiers who were encircling the city the ¡± Army of Fort Jin Peng¡± was a bit of a stretch. This was a group of bandits from the Western Region, Machetemen and refugees that were just about a thousand people, raising their self-made Fort Jin Peng g and had heard that the young men of the Xiaoyao Lake had been captured by the Dragon King to be soldiers and were concentrated at the Stone Kingdom. The guard posts of the other four nations were empty so they came here to kill, loot and burn.


    This was a typical mob whose aim was only to steal the valuables inside the gates that became helpless and could only fight outside the walls when they found that the gates were closed.


    Even so, the King and the ministers of the Hui Kingdom had never thought of initiating the battle. The food within the city nevertheless, had seen be replenished temporarily and they only impatiently waited for the Dragon King¡¯s rescue.


    Therefore, when Gu Shenwei arrived with his army, he realised that the real enemy was not the troops that hadid siege on the tower given they broke up into small bands and fled, immediately retreating at the sight of the huge dust raised by the horses¡¯ hooves.


    It was the king and ministers of the Hui Kingdom who obstructed the Dragon army.


    Upon finding that the besieged army was so vulnerable, they started to regret rescuing the troops, and due to this sent out messengers to give Gu Shenwei gifts then roundly refused to let the troops enter the city.


    Gu Shenwei gathered the energies of the five nations of the Xiaoyao Lake. Only some had gained results in the Stone Kingdom, which did not affect the westernmost areas.


    The enemies could not have beenmanded by Shangguan Feiyi. However, upon discovering this, Gu Shenwei had decided to leave some parts of the garrison, and then return to the Stone kingdom himself but the cold attitude of the Hui Kingdom made him change his mind.


    The Hui kingdom guarded the west of the Xiaoyao Lake, it was still a strategic route even though it wasn¡¯t conducive for the passage of the army. Leaving it to a group of weak and ipetent guards would be a great mistake.


    Gu Shenwei decided to stay longer to plug this hole.


    The Dragon King received with warmth the messengers of the Hui Kingdom and rather than insist on entering the capital, he only requested they provide him with the daily necessities to help destroy the bandits in the nation.


    Once the bandits scattered, many had already jumped into other countries. Gu Shenwei did not hurry to leave but rushed to the fringes of the Sha Kingdom where in the past, there was a humble sentry post whose troops did not number up to a hundred and had left as soon as the bandit army arrived.


    The Dragon king thought he must block that opening therefore ordering the residents of the Hui Kingdom¡¯s capital to stay at the borders. The army did not have to be too big in order to resist the foreign enemies.


    Hence, the troops walked the path that led to the Shu-lik kingdom, until the Livesaver Spring that was seven days away to set up a sentry post. The reason was to light a signal fire as the signal, in order to discover quickly the tracks of the enemies. There were more guards especially in the areas surrounding the Liversaver Spring, their only task therefore was to throw rubbish and poison into the spring as soon as they discovered arge number of enemies.


    It took time building a city, the process of burning bricks and cutting stones was slow. The locals were used to creating walls with earth. These two materials were readily avable and even nearby cities used them. The requirement though was that these cities did not have to be too sturdy or tall because as long as they could be blocked for a while, reinforcements would naturally arrive at the rear.


    During this period, Gu Shenwei sent two teams each consisting five hundred people that each advanced north and south respectively and encircled the Hui Kingdom to kill the scattering bandits around the kingdom.


    Everything went on as nned that Gu Shenwei made time to send off the military counselor.


    Being lobbyist to Nond meant one couldn¡¯t be too shabby but neither too mboyant yet had to go through the territory of Fort Jin Peng. Gu Shenwei had only sent three attendants but had given the military counselors arge sum of bank notes and some gold.


    Fang Wenshi had finally realised his long-cherished wish to act like a proper counselor who could spend the capital at his own will. He did not truly feel happy however, he said. ¡°Dragon King, as I shall wait for your good news at Nond ,await mine at the Xiaoyao Lake too.¡±


    The atmosphere of separation was somewhat somber but Fang Wenshi recovered himself as he advanced into the desert and started to drag his voice, singing the ¡°rustling wind¡± to the Dragon King. However, his rosy mood dissipated suddenly when he turned around and discovered that the Dragon King had left without seeing him off.


    The person that Gu Shenwei wanted to see off was not a military counselor.


    Lin Xiaoshan had be strong and lean after those days of suffering, his appearance had changed and his expression then was fearless and more determined.


    The others were still avoiding death but he only felt like taking the initiative to go up. Only without the Dragon King¡¯s permission was he barred from doing as he wished.


    Fang Wenshi left in the day and Lin Xiaoshan carried out the n at night while knowing nothing about the trip before he left.


    ¡°You kept saying you wanted to die. Have you gotten ready?¡± The Dragon King summoned him alone and asked him bluntly.


    Lin Xiaoshan said immediately as he thought that Dragon King would send him to destroy the encirclement. ¡°I¡¯m ready with my sabre.¡±


    ¡°Very well.¡± said Gu Shenwei as he stared at Lin Xiaoshan. He had found that this young killer had proven his loyalty and dependability after days of observation. It was hard finding another befitting as this, he asked, ¡°I want you to go to the Central ins, conceal your name, and gather intelligence for me then nevere back to the Western Region. It will be like you¡¯re dead. Do you ept this?¡±


    Lin Xiaoshan was extremely staggered by how greatly this differed from the task he had imagined and hesiated, ¡°I¡­¡±


    ¡°I shall find another task for you if you are disinclined.¡±


    Lin Xiaoshao knelt down on one leg. ¡°I ept it, for even to hell I shall go as long as it is to the benefit of the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Your being in the Central ins will be of great value to me.¡± Gu Shenwei in doing this had already ced a chess piece in a further position but had to prove that this piece was not only loyal, but energetic also. ¡°There is also a person that you have to take with you and never return.¡±


    It was this person who became a hot potato in Gu Shenwei¡¯s hands that had to be sent away without anyone¡¯s knowing.

 Chapter 439 - Faking Death

    Chapter 439: Faking Death


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei knew that his actions would be opposed by Zhong Heng and Fang Wenshi.


    Sending spies to the Central ins was a reasonable move. However, the Dragon King¡¯s motive was not about bulling others, but revenge.


    He had promised the Military Counsellor that he would pursue hegemony with all his heart, and up until this day, he had fulfilled his promise. Meeting the disciples of the Shangguan family, he maintained a calm exterior. Even if he was apanied by the Supreme King¡¯s son, he could not hurt him.


    However, deep in his heart, his hatred still existed. It was not something that he could simply remove if he wanted to.


    Hatred was like a banyan tree. The seed had been nted in Gu Shenwei¡¯s body. He nurtured that little thing with everything inside him. In a short time, the tree had grown to the sky, entangling him with many drooping air roots and strangling its enthusiastic host.


    Gu Shenwei did not resist. He let himself be swallowed up by hatred, because he drew from its strength. He needed that after his family was massacred.


    Practising ¡°Death Scripture¡± entwined him with his hatred. Perhaps only Maid Lotus could understand Gu Shenwei¡¯s state.


    Gu Shenwei never really gave up on revenge. As he got older, he felt that there must have been some kind of catch about his family¡¯s destruction. Golden Roc Fort must have been hired to do the killings by someone else. The employer must havee from the Central in, the greatest suspect being Wei Song.


    However, one thing befuddled him: The Gu and Wei family had almost intermarried. Even if Wei Song had abandoned the Gu family and lost some power, he could have easily just withdrawn from the family. Why did he have to kill people?


    He wanted to know why.


    Wei Song was in the Western Region, but Gu Shenwei did not feel as urgent as before. One day, he would interrogate the enemy personally. Right now, he wanted to start from the Central in to understand the truth of the falling out between the Gu and Wei families.


    So, he needed to send someone to the Central in.


    This person had to be sufficiently loyal and trustworthy. More importantly, he needed to be able to endure the loneliness of being far away from home and not reveal his identity because of homesickness.


    Gu Shenwei had been secretly observing, and knew that the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain were all loyal. However, they were simple-minded with a distinctive personality. They could not aplish the task of gathering information. Other people were even more unsuitable. The Xu Shi siblings could not endure loneliness. Zhong Heng and the others would only oppose the Dragon King¡¯s actions.


    Lin Xiaoshan was the perfect candidate. He had lived in Jade City and knew the ways of life there. His loyalty to the Dragon King had already been severely tested. The only problem lie in whether he would be content to vanish into the Western regions and end all contact with everyone, including Lao Hong, a cksmith who was like a father to him.


    His love of Jiang solved thest problem.


    Gu Shenwei once asked Lin Xiaoshan if Lao Hong and Jiang were ever in danger at the same time, who would he save first. Lin Xiaoshan chose Jiang, because he said Jiang needed more help.


    From then on, Gu Shenwei forged a new n.


    The first problem was how to persuade Jiang.


    Jiang liked Lin Xiaoshan. However, the will of the tribe had too much of an effect on her. Refusing to marry the Dragon King was unthinkable. Only Gu Shenwei could trick her.


    ¡°I need you to disappear. This is very important to me and the entire army. You probably also know that the residents of the Xiaoyao Lake and Five countries are strongly guarded against the Great Snowmountain. You are the focal point of the dispute. Without you, there would be no conflict,¡± said Gu Shenwei to Jiang.


    Much of this was true, so Jiang agreed. She was not stupid ¡ª she knew how important the Dragon King¡¯s grace was to her. Making her vanish did not require aplicated n. She knelt down, hoping to repay the king one day.


    ¡°Look towards Lin Xiaoshan. This will be my reward,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    The second question was how to make Jiang vanish without a trace.


    More than a year ago, Gu Shenwei was returning to Jade City when he met an opponent. When he was caught, he swallowed poison. The effect was considerable. Maid Lotus had scoffed at the medicine, iming that New Moon Hall had a better substitute.


    Maid Lotus went to summon the disciples from the same n in Jade City. She left behind arge amounts of pills, including the substitute.


    Jiang followed the Dragon King¡¯s orders and swallowed the medicine at midnight. She quietly ¡°died¡±, and fresh blood flowed out of the corner of her mouth. She looked like she had been killed by some heavy-handed means.


    The danger still existed.


    No one knew how the shocked the assassin who had gone to kill Jiang was. The person that he wanted to kill was already dead. He must have checked carefully and been convinced, because normally he would have even stabbed the person again. In that case, Jiang would have really died.


    The assassin was eager to escape, so did not attack a second time. When he died under the sword of the Dragon King, no one knew that Jiang had actually been ¡°dead¡± for more than an hour.


    To Lin Xiaoshan, Gu Shenwei did not reveal a single word. One, he was afraid of leaving behind any tracks. Secondly, he was scared that Jiang really had died, which would only irritate Lin Xiaoshan.


    The specially-made pills of New Moon Hall lived up to their name. Jiang faked death for three days. Even the ve girl who dressed her up in the undertaker¡¯s clothes did not discover the truth.


    When she was ced into the coffin, Gu Shenwei switched the corpse for a beam of wood that night. Jiang, who finally awakened, changed into men¡¯s clothes and apanied the Dragon King as one of the guard troops of the savages.


    This was the stage when it was easiest to make mistakes, but Jiangpleted her task perfectly. She was a girl of the Great Snowmountain. She was not coquettish, like most women, and yed the part of a man well.


    The most important thing was that no one doubted Jiang¡¯s murder, so naturally, no one looked for any clues.


    Only Zhong Heng saw through the w. He thought that the Dragon King had intentions of assassination. However, he never expected Jiang to fake her death.


    Lin Xiaoshan seemed to have lived a lifetime. Even though he was wearing a military uniform, his skin was dark and he grew a long beard, his familiar nce did not change. One only had to pay attention to feel his presence.


    He thought he was truly stupid. These days, he passed by this guard troops without any doubts.


    He thought he was lucky to be able to see Jiang again in this lifetime, and it was all thanks to the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei did not give the two the chance to talk to each other. He set off immediately, leading a group of soldiers toward a life-saving spring in the desert. That was the westernmost frontier of Xiaoyao Lake. A group of soldiers was building a watchtower.


    The Dragon King was very pleased after inspecting it.


    Lin Xiaoshan and Jiang did not stay. They moved forward as scouts and walked the same path as Fang Wenshi. The whole journey took a day. They also went to Nond and from there, turned to the East. They bypassed Biyu city, and headed for the country nearest to the Central ins ¡ª the Lon Kingdom.


    At the Lon Kingdom, they would first purchase the travel papers to enter the Central in. They would then continue to move forward under pseudonyms until they reached the capital of the Central in to carry out their assignment from the Dragon King: to collect all information rted to the Gu and Wei families.


    However, they did not need to send intelligence reports back to the Western Region. Gu Shenwei believed that one day, he would return to the Central in.


    The two were extremely grateful to the Dragon King, but revealing their emotions would jeopardize ns. If they were to bump into someone like Zhong Heng, they would be recognized immediately. After the two were ordered to leave, Gu Shenwei heaved a sigh of relief.


    In the eyes of Lin Xiaoshan and Jiang, the Dragon King had done a good deed. Gu Shenwei did not feel that way, however. He was not used to judging things as ¡°good¡± or ¡°bad¡±. After seeing countless plots and betrayals, he believed that ¡°good and bad¡± and ¡°right and wrong¡± were illusions. The only real thing in the world is survival, which begets benefits and the transformation of life.


    After sending off Lin Xiaoshan and Jiang, Gu Shenwei stayed a night at the life-saving spring, and then returned to the Hui Kingdom the next day.


    The situation at the Hui Kingdom had already stabilized. The roving bandits had either been killed or had surrendered. The new border town began taking shape, and the troops started to begin their routine patrols.


    News came from the East that everything at Stone Kingdom was stable. After several assassinations there, stabilization began happening on a small scale, with limited outside influence. Shangguan Jianyi gave up on trying tomand personally, and fled back to this camp before winter.


    Gu Shenwei stayed in the Hui Kingdom for some time in order to supervise the construction of the city.


    However, there were too few men. While the outline of the new city had been formed, it was still far from beingpleted. At the rate of the current speed, there was no possibility ofpletion before the winter.


    Gu Shenwei sent a messenger to the Hui Kingdom, asking for morebour.


    It was this incident that triggered doubts on both sides.


    The King of the Hui Kingdom sent messengers to express respect towards the Dragon King, but afterwards, he started toin. From the drought in the spring to the harvest in the autumn, there had been a shortage ofbour in the country, all because the young men had been recruited by the Dragon King into the army.


    The tone of the messenger was ernest, and he almost begged the Dragon King for mercy.


    If he had not already had experience with the An Kingdom, Gu Shenwei could have been cheated.


    The An Kingdom had once provided troops to Golden Roc Fort, but Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had found arge number of young and mature men in the capital of the An Kingdom.


    In the face ofbatants who were not willing to fight, both kings and farmers tried their best to avoid their responsibilities.


    Gu Shenwei had already sent men to investigate, and had found that there were, indeed, not many men in the viges and towns of the Hui Kingdom. Out of every ten rooms, nine were empty. In the past, they had been invaded by roving bandits, and everyone had hidden in the capital. However, after the roving bandits fled, not many people had left the city to go home.


    This saved the trouble of looking all over for people , as they were all concentrated in one ce.


    The only problem was that Gu Shenwei¡¯s troops were too few. Two teams with five hundred people each were now in the encirclement. The remaining 1,000 men were on their way to construct a new city, and had the task of patrolling the borders. There was simply no way of freeing up men to patrol a heavily guarded capital.


    Gu Shenwwei boasted and pretended to gather all his troops and horses to go to the city to talk directly with the King of the Hui Kingdom.


    This move worked faster than Gu Shenwei imagined. The second day after he issued the threat, the King of the Hui Kingdom sent five hundredbor men and pled guilty to the Dragon King, promising that he would send men everyday from then on.


    The construction of the city elerated immediately.


    When the work was about to end, the captain of themanders of the Hui Kingdom asked the Dragon King to name the new city.


    Because the city was built upon local soil and wicker, Gu Shenwei named the city ¡°Willow City¡±.


    It was early winter when the two teams became responsible for suppressing the bandits. Gu Shenwei had nearly two thousand troops on hand, and thus decided to march towards the capital of the Hui Kingdom. This time, it was not to issue a threat, and no one was informed in advance.


    He had not forgotten that the monarch and minister of the Hui Kingdom had previously refused to help soldiers enter the city.


    Gu Shenwei was not a vengeful person, but he had to teach themandant of the Hui Kingdom a lesson: The Dragon King was the real king of Xiaoyao Lake. The kings of the Five Kingdoms could keep the crown on their heads, but to rely on the Dragon King to fight Golden Roc Fort, they had to pay a price.


    Mostly, his suspicious character was issuing this threat. He knew that the capital of the Hui Kingdom was hiding lots of secrets from him.

 Chapter 440 - Enter the Capital

    Chapter 440: Enter the Capital


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The King of the Hui Nation was a fat, old man. Gu Shenwei met him when he formed an alliance with the Five Kingdoms of Xiaoyao Lake. In Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind, he was a sophisticated king who was not as mean and sarcastic as the King of the Stone Nation. Although the King of the Stone Nation was isted, he never thought to seek support from others.


    It had been over a month since the Dragon King hade to the Hui Kingdom, but the King of the Hui Nation had still not shown up. He had only sent a messenger to deliver his words to Gu Shenwei. This time, the King did not please Gu Shenwei as he had done before.


    Gu Shenwei told no one his intentions before he left. After he had breakfast, he summoned the Vice Commander of Thousands, Wu Zongheng, andmanded him to round up the guard troops.


    Wu Zongheng had followed the Dragon King for a while. During that time, he had learned the way his new master dealt with things. So, he carried out the order immediately, without a word.


    The guard troops of the Dragon King included 300 savage archers, 300 swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, 200 ves from the Land of Fragrance, 100 nobles, 100 bandits and the Vice Commander of Thousands. The Vice Commander of Thousands, Wu Zongheng, was the leader of the guard troops, and he had been an officer in the An Kingdom in Xiaoyao Lake. Among these people, some of them the Dragon King trusted and some he did not.


    As for the people in the Hui Kingdom, such an army was odd and scary.


    Most of the soldiers of this army were in high spirits, for they had just eliminated the bandits. With a singlemand, they could enter into a fight soon.


    It was about a two-day journey from Willow City to the capital of the Hui Kingdom, but the guard troops arrived at the capital the next morning, because they marched without resting.


    At the sight of their arrival, the guards at the gate panicked. They dropped their weapons immediately before closing the door and staring at the unknown army with fear. The civilians who were entering or leaving the capital quickly dispersed.


    Wu Zongheng sent a team to take over the gate. In the meantime, hemanded the rest of the soldiers to get down from their horses and rest nearby.


    A minister of the Hui Kingdom ran to the gate hurriedly, having been told that the Dragon King¡¯s army had arrived there. He was unhappy with their behavior, for he thought it would disturb the residents. But at the sight of the Dragon King, he was startled. He immediately knelt down on the ground and kowtowed to the Dragon King respectfully.


    ¡°Your presence tters us¡­ Why didn¡¯t you send your man to inform us in advance, so that we could be ready to greet you?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Take me to your king,¡± Gu Shenwei said, not getting down from his horse, for he had no intention of hearing the minister¡¯s ttery.


    ¡°What?¡± The minister said, notprehending the Dragon King¡¯s words. He then understood and replied, ¡°I see. The Dragon King wants to meet the King. His Majesty will be¡­very d. However, however, the Dragon King has promised¡­¡±


    When Gu Shenwei came here to help the King, he had agreed not to take his army into the capital. He turned around and pointed at the soldiers around the gate and said, ¡°They will not enter the capital.¡±


    <em>¡°I already have a thousand elite soldiers taking over the most important gate of the capital. It¡¯s only a matter of time before I own it,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    The minister was stunned. He suddenly saw the loophole in their former agreement. In the agreement, it only forbade the Dragon Army from entering the capital, but it didn¡¯t forbid the Dragon King to enter, not to mention which army would guard the gate.


    ¡°So does the Dragon King want to see His majesty alone?¡± asked the minister.


    Gu Shenwei, of course, would not take this risk. He waved his hand, and dozens of soldiers behind him walked out. They all carried sharp weapons and resolute expressions. Although they were dressed in civilian¡¯s clothes, they did not look like civilians at all.


    There were fifty soldiers in total. They were personal bodyguards selected by the Dragon King. Their captain was Long Fanyun, a swordsman from the Great Snowmountain.


    Long Fanyun was the chief of Canopy Peak. Although he could have been the Commander of Thousands, he had refused that title and given the post to another man in his n. In this way, he could be the guard of the Dragon King.


    He realized that his martial arts was far from being as good as the Dragon King¡¯s. He knew Maid Lotus and the Dragon King were better partners than he and the Dragon King would have been. But when he heard that the Dragon King was selecting personal bodyguards, he signed up first.


    Long Fanyun was given a saber by the Dragon King in the battlefield. He regarded it as his highest honor, and thought it was his duty to protect the Dragon King for the rest of his life.


    He knew he was no match for Maid Lotus in regards to climbing, flying and assassination. In the battlefield full of knife and spears, however, he was confident that he could kill more enemies than she could. Therefore, he thought he was still useful to the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei epted Long Fanyun¡¯s allegiance. As they would be in a war soon, Golden Roc Fort had attached more importance to him. Given that, he realized that he needed more guards to protect him instead of depending upon Maid Lotus alone. After all, one man¡¯s strength was limited.


    Gu Shenwei rode to the center of the capital with his personal bodyguards, leaving the stupified minister to stand there alone, wide-eyed. Capitals in the Western Region basically had the sameyout, and their royal pces were always in the center of the capital. He knew any road would lead him to the Royal Pce, so he didn¡¯t ask the minister to lead the way.


    There were no civilians in the street. All the doors along the street were closed. Even the newly opened shops had their doors shut, and the owners of the shops, along with their guests peeped outside through the cracks in the doors.


    Gu Shenwei was already ustomed to civilians¡¯ fear towards him.


    All of a sudden, the Dragon Army had appeared from the mountains, most of its soldiers being from the legendary Land of Fragrance and the distant Great Snowmountain. How could civilians in Xiaoyao Lake not be startled?


    To upy Xiaoyao Lake, the Dragon King must change the civilians¡¯ attitude towards him. But that was not his most pressing issue right now.


    Halfway to the pce, another five ¡°civilians¡± joined the guards and whispered in the Dragon King¡¯s ear.


    When they had first arrived at the Hui Kingdom, Gu Shenwei had sent several spies to the capital to collect intelligence. After all, good intelligence was important to him, especially when he arrived in a new kingdom.


    Gu Shenwei had risked sneaking into the enemy¡¯s stronghold before. At that time, only a few knew his real identity, but things had changed since then.


    Shangguan Fei was one of the spies.


    He was willing to stay with the Dragon King. As long as he was safe, he did not mind being an idle man who was not trusted by the Dragon King. However, the Dragon King never kept useless men, so he, the former Ninth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort, had to carry outmon killer¡¯s tasks.


    Shangguan Fei was not amunicative man, but he had a good sense for detecting conspiracies. In this way, he could offset other spies¡¯ weaknesses.


    Gu Shenwei gave Shangguan Fei some small tasks, for he knew that the smart master would not lie to him over trivial matters.


    Each spy would report their intelligence to the Dragon King alone. When it was Shangguan Fei¡¯s turn, he provided some important information: ¡°Everything is going well, except one thing.¡± He told the Dragon King, ¡°Recently the King has promoted several new faces to serve as important ministers. The people have all said that those who have been promoted have close rtionships with the Queen¡¯s childhood family. But I don¡¯t know if this is true.¡±


    After finishing his report, Shangguan Fei started toin, ¡°I have taken great pains to collect intelligence these past few days. Dragon King, you will never know how rough my clothes are. I¡¯m ufortable all day¡­¡±


    He was not a qualified spy, but he had a knack for discovering useful information. That the King had promoted several new faces had not received much attention from the other spies, so they not taken it seriously.


    In his eyes, it was amon court conspiracy.


    <em>¡°Now, the King¡¯s Crown Prince is being held hostage in the Stone Kingdom. His current Queen got her title only a few years ago. The Queen seems to be trying to increase the influence of her childhood family in the Crown Prince¡¯s absence,¡±</em>thought Shangguan Fei.


    <em>¡°But it can¡¯t be the reason for stopping the Dragon Army from entering the capital in a panic,¡± </em>Shangguan Fei continued to muse.


    As Gu Shenwei was arriving at the Royal Pce, the Prime Minister of the Hui Kingdom appeared to greet him. The minister who had greeted the Dragon King at the gate followed behind. <em>¡°He must have taken a shortcut or he couldn¡¯t have gotten to the pce ahead of us. It is the early winter but sweat streams down his face. He must be tired after running all the way,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought.


    Shangguan Fei winked at the Dragon King, suggesting that this minister was newly promoted.


    The Prime Minister was an elderly man who was close to death. Having trotted all the way, he was so tired that he almost bumped into the Dragon King¡¯s horse. He stopped immediately, panting. It seemed that he had exhausted himself on his way to greet the Dragon King.


    ¡°Dragon King, please, please stop now,¡± the Prime Minister said.


    Long Fanyun walked over and dragged the old, bold Prime Minister away. He pointed at the ground, and said, ¡°Stay here.¡±


    The old Prime Minister was surprised and confused. Suddenly, he remembered that the Dragon King never allowed people to approach him within five steps. He realized that he had almost gotten himself killed. He became scared at that thought. Then, he said in a clearer voice, ¡°I beg your pardon, Dragon King. His Majesty is too sick to meet any visitors. Please¡­¡±


    He had not heard of any sickness of the King from his spies. Gu Shenwei patted his horse and said, ¡°I happen to know how to treat illnesses.¡±


    He carried lots of the pills that Maid Lotus had left. <em>¡°Although these pills wouldn¡¯t cure his disease, they can maintain his life. Besides, I don¡¯t believe that the king is really sick,¡± </em>he mused.


    Long Fanyun held the old Prime Minister¡¯s arms, and then dragged him away from the middle of the street to make way for the Dragon King.


    The other minister walked to the old Prime Minister hurriedly. The two looked at each other anxiously.


    The guards in the Pce outnumbered the Dragon King¡¯s personal bodyguards. Even so, they made way for the Dragon King, for they had no intention to show their strength at this moment. The Dragon King and his guards moved forward with no one stopping them.


    Theyout of this pce was simr to the pce of the Stone Kingdom. After they entered the door, they saw the Council Chamber where the Prime Minister usually worked. Inside was the main hall. Bypassing the main hall, the Emperor¡¯s harem could be seen.


    A group of people stood in front of the Council Chamber, awaiting the Dragon King¡¯s arrival. Perhaps they already knew that the old Prime Minister could not stop the Dragon King.


    Among those people, a woman dressed in gorgeous clothes stood out. She was tall and slim. Facing the Dragon King, she was the only one who stood tall while the rest stooped low.


    It was the Queen, herself.


    Gu Shenwei could hardly imagine the stout King with the gorgeous woman in front of him.


    The Dragon King did not get off of his horse. He came here to announce his rights, not to negotiate.


    Noticing that Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t get down from his horse, a bit of anger shed across the Queen¡¯s face. She had an impressive face. Her high cheekbones increased her majesty, but did not affect her beauty.


    ¡°The Dragon Kinges without an invitation. Are you attempting to steal the throne?¡± the Queen questioned, staring at the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei did not respond. Shangguan Fei knew what he had to do now, so he began, ¡°What a rude woman! Give your identity. The Dragon King never talks to insignificant people.¡±


    Now, the Queen¡¯s anger froze in her face.


    A minister said immediately, ¡°She is our Queen. His Majesty is sick in bed, so he has sent the Queen to greet the Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nced over the crowd, and then fixed his eyes on the Queen. He said, ¡°Today, I must see the king, no matter how sick he is, dead or alive. As it¡¯s wartime now, some rules need to be broken.¡±


    <em>¡°Perhaps the Queen is a smart woman but she is not good at hiding her emotions,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought, noticing that the Queen¡¯s expression had changed when he said ¡°dead or alive¡±.

 Chapter 441 - Negotiation

    Chapter 441: Negotiation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The queen and ministers of the Hui Kingdom felt so nervous that they decided to adopt an unconventional measure: inviting the Dragon King to take part in an one-on-one negotiation with the queen inside the Council Chamber.


    Even in Western Region, which was a not very conservative ce, it was not appropriate for a young queen to be alone with a young lord from a foreign country¡ªsuch meeting were bound to invite lots of gossip. However, all of the ministers of the Hui Kingdom seemed to firmly believe that their queen was a decent woman. They insisted on inviting the Dragon King for the private negotiation. If Long Fanyun had not reminded them that no one was allowed to get within five steps of the Dragon King, they would have worked together to physically push the young lord into the Council Chamber.


    The old prime minister, who hurried backter, was the only one who realized how embarrassing the situation would be for the queen. As such, he tried to think of a solution to this problem. He ran into the royal pce, shouting, ¡°Go invite the little prince to join the negotiation.¡±


    One hourter, the negotiation began. In the Council Chamber, the Dragon King stood at one side of a table, while the beautiful queen and a boy, who was about 8 or 9 years old, stood on the other side of the table.


    The boy was evidently full of curiosity and fear of the Dragon King. During the negotiation, he kept lifting up his head asionally to cast a nce at the young lord and then quickly lowered his head again to look at his feet, before unconsciously squirming toward his mother¡¯s back.


    Every time the boy got close to the queen, she would push him aside and fix him with a harsh re as a way to remind him how a royal prince should behave on such asions.


    The negotiation did not begin smoothly. The queen was still holding on to an impractical illusion that she was able to dissuade the Dragon King from meeting the King of the Hui nation. Although her voice sounded much softer that it had been a moment ago when they had been outside the chamber, her attitude was still firm.


    Gu Shenwei listened patiently to her nagging but did not pay much attention to the contents of her words. He counted away the minutes silently and cut her off when he felt that it was almost the time. ¡°Now, it¡¯s my turn to speak.¡±


    The queen¡¯s eyes grew wide in surprise as she swallowed back the words she was about to say. She grabbed the timid little prince¡¯s arm and pulled him close to her, as if he were a vase that she could smash to vent her anger. ¡°Go ahead please, Dragon King,¡± said the queen.


    ¡°I respect the royal family and customs of the Hui Kingdom, and I also take pity on the little prince. Given these, I¡¯ve spent such a long time listening to your excuses, but now, I order you to let me meet the king.¡±


    Upon hearing this, the queen knew that she had failed. The Dragon King was much more ruthless than she had imagined. After a moment of thought, she lowered her head and murmured to the little prince, ¡°Cover your ears.¡±


    The little prince seemed unable toprehend what she said at first. It was only when she gave him an angry look that he quickly pressed his hands on his ears and tightly closed his eyes.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll take you to see His Majesty, but before that, I want to tell you the truth,¡± said the queen.


    ¡°I like to listen to the truth,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    Believing that her words were going to surprise the Dragon King, the queen deliberately paused for a while before saying, ¡°His Majesty has already passed on.¡±


    ¡°When did he die?¡± asked Gu Shenwei, while remaining perfectly calm. He already had a hunch about the state of the king before entering the capital, and the reactions of the queen and the ministers had further confirmed his suspicion.


    It was the queen¡¯s turn to look surprised, but she quickly concealed her amazement and said, ¡°His Majesty left the country to form an alliance with you this autumn, and shortly after he came back, he passed away from an incurable disease.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that he has shown up recently,¡± said the Dragon King.


    ¡°We found a man who looked simr to the king. The people were not allowed to get close to him, so none of them found out that he was not the king.¡±


    ¡°Uhm,¡± Gu Shenwei said, waiting for the queen to give him an exnation, although he had already realized what she was up to.


    The queen lifted her head slightly. She was not sad about her husband¡¯s death, and at the same time, the current situation did not allow her to be consumed by meaningless emotions. ¡°I hope¡­ I mean, the ministers of the Hui Kingdom and I all hope that you can support the prince as the new king,¡± she said.


    The prince was naturally referred to the boy standing beside the queen, not the crown prince, who was still kept as a hostage in the Stone Kingdom.


    ¡°Oh, really? I thought you were nning to drive me away before secretly crowning a new king of your choosing. Wait a minute. Let me see. You didn¡¯t just want to hide the truth from me. The previous king of the Hui nation died long before I came here, and back then, the war in the east would break out at any moment. You must¡¯ve intended to announce the death of the king after that of the crown prince during the war. However, how can you be so sure about that? I think there are only two possible exnations. You firmly believed that the Dragon army would be utterly destroyed in the war. Or, you found another way to ensure that the crown prince would be killed on the battlefield,¡± said the Dragon King.


    The queen blushed a little bit in embarrassment and felt afraid of the young lord for the first time.


    Unlike the ministers outside, she had not feared the Dragon King very much before. They dreaded to see his saber, sword and soldiers, while she somehow instinctively found these things quite appealing. Nevertheless, when she heard the Dragon King say these words to her in an extremely straightforward manner, she began to feel scared.


    The Dragon King¡¯s cold attitude showed that he never treated this good-looking queen as a woman. He regarded her as an ordinary negotiator and put pressure on her without mercy.


    Upon learning that the most effective way tomunicate with the Dragon King wasing straight to the point, the queen also began to speak bluntly. ¡°As long as you can support my son as the new king, I can spare the crown prince¡¯s life.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s toote. You¡¯ve missed the best time to ask for my help.¡±


    ¡°This is our fault. We¡¯llpensate for it to make you feel satisfied, Dragon King.¡±


    The queen repeatedly emphasized that making the little prince the new king was a decision made by her together with the ministers, but Gu Shenwei deliberately neglected this point and never mentioned about them during the negotiation.


    ¡°Speak, how are you going topensate for your mistake? I¡¯m really pressed for time. I¡¯ll give you a reply immediately,¡± said the Dragon King.


    The formal negotiation inside the imperial Council Chamber had turned into mere haggling over the price; the queen did not like it. Compared to this maketce-style negotiation, she was more ustomed to the royal negotiating protocols: hiding the facts behind trivial details and using a set of code words that was known by all parties of the negotiation.


    <em>¡°The Dragon King is such a barbarian,¡± </em>she thought while looking down at her son. <em>¡°I¡¯ll be sacrificing so much for you.¡±</em>


    The little prince was still pressing his hands to his ears and keeping his eyes tightly shut. He seemed to have a bad feeling and went to hide in the shadows.


    The queen walked toward the Dragon King, slowly and gracefully. She still carried herself with great pride and dignity, as she knew that it was these qualities that made her look attractive and unique. In her eyes, only a woman of humble origin would try to seduce a man by smiling obsequiously and throwing herself at him.


    ¡°You can win the loyal support of the Hui Kingdom,¡± said the queen.


    Upon seeing that the Dragon King had no interest in this, she added, ¡°We¡¯ll dispatch more soldiers to fight for you, including the most talented and important noble young men of our country.¡±


    However, the Dragon King still looked dissatisfied.


    ¡°You can appoint a person that you trust as the Prime Minister or even a regent of the Hui Kingdom. As such, you¡¯ll have the whole country under your control. Everyone of us will be your loyal servant, including¡ªme.¡±


    With these words, the queen stopped about five steps away from the Dragon King. She did not act flirtatiously at all, but her charm and grace were enough to make a man¡¯s heart palpitate with excitement. To further stimte the Dragon King, who never allowed anyone toe within 5 steps of him, she took one step forward, looking confident.


    Such strong self-confidence would often make a man, whose status was lower than hers, feel small. A powerful man, however, would feel his authority being challenged and even get irritated. When that happened, he would do anything to overpower her, and thus she would seed in arousing his romantic interest in her.


    She knew from her past experience that this trick always worked on those powerful men.


    She was familiar with them and believed that the Dragon King was just like them except that he was more pitiless. This was one of the reasons why she could always remain calm and collected when faced with the Dragon King.


    However, she did not know that it was not the first time that the Dragon King had dealt with such a confident and seductive woman. Compared to Xiao Fengchai in Pleasure Alley, she was still a beginner. She kept using the same old trick and did not know how to improvise.


    The Dragon King held his saber to her chest without warning.


    The queen¡¯s face changed. She had never been threatened in this way before. She was frightened and subconsciously took a step back, wondering why her trick failed.


    ¡°Here¡¯s my reply,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    The queen had not recovered from the shock. Therefore, she just nodded to the Dragon King with a nk expression on her face.


    ¡°Tomorrow morning, you¡¯re going to tell the people of the king¡¯s death. You¡¯ll tell them that you just wanted to protect the country by hiding the truth from the public and you¡¯ll move out of the pce together with your son to atone for what you¡¯ve done. As for the ministers, you¡¯ll pronounce them guilty and promise to let the crown prince decide how to deal with them when your people bring him back,¡± said the Dragon King.


    ¡°You want to take everything away from me!¡± the queen shouted grumpily. The little prince on the other side of the table started to tremble and pressed his hands against his ears even harder.


    ¡°No, not everything. I spare your lives.¡± Gu Shenwei retorted.


    ¡°That¡¯s meaningless. Once the crown prince bes the king, he¡¯ll kill me and my son immediately. You¡¯ve met him before, and you know what kind of person he is. There are so many ministers in the royal court, but none of them support the crown prince. This fact speaks for itself,¡± said the queen.


    ¡°He won¡¯t kill anyone over this incident. I won¡¯t allow him to do so,¡± Gu Shenwei said assertively. For him, this was an easy choice to make. Now that the queen and the little prince had already won the support of the ministers, the crown prince who had been betrayed by them would surely be willing to pay a higher price to regain his throne.


    ¡°No, no, no¡­¡± the queen said repeatedly while walking backward. When she was close to a corner of the table, she finally stopped and said, ¡°The crown prince can¡¯t return to this country. He can¡¯t be the next king. Tell me what you want, Dragon King. I¡¯ll satisfy all your requirements and promise you anything, as long as you let my son be the king. So will the ministers. They don¡¯t like the crown prince either. You can ask them directly or send your men to investigate this matter. There are really no problems that we cannot solve. Do you agree with me?¡±


    ¡°Let me make this clear. You nned to make your son the king after the war not only because you intended to kill the crown prince first, but also because you didn¡¯t want to suffer the consequences of supporting the Dragon army during the war. You must¡¯ve been 100-percent sure that the Golden Roc Fort would win the war.¡± Upon seeing that the queen was on the brink of aplete emotional copse, Gu Shenwei became even more blunt and remorseless.


    ¡°No, I wasn¡¯t. We just¡­¡± the queen still wanted to talk back but only appeared more panicked.


    ¡°You seemed to be very confident about the oue of the war, but I didn¡¯t see such confidence in thete king of the Hui nation. Where did this confidencee from? I¡¯ve given you a chance to confess, but you¡¯ve wasted it. You kept lying to me. This is the problem that I want to solve tonight,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Guards! Guards!¡± the queen shouted while pushing herself up from the table, but no one rushed in to save her. Even the ministers standing outside the door, who should be loyal to her and her son, seemed to have escaped.


    A momentter, she heard thousands of soldiers hurrying into the pce, but she knew that she did not have so many guards.


    ¡°The crown prince has permitted the Dragon army to enter the capital.¡±


    With these words, Gu Shenwei threw a parchment on the table. It was the permission signed by the crown prince of the Hui Kingdom. Gu Shenwei had not shown it before, since he had been unsure about the situation inside the pce. Before entering the pce, he had made a deal with Wu Zongheng and ording to it, if he did not send a newmand back to his camp in time, Wu Zongheng would lead his guard troops to upy the royal pce.


    ¡°You¡¯re such a sneaky and cruel wretch!¡± The queen¡¯s voice rose hysterically. ¡°But you¡¯ll never get what you want. You¡¯re just a gang leader and can neverpete with the Supreme King.¡±


    When the queen started screaming, the little prince could no longer pretend to hear nothing. He put his hands down and shifted his gaze to her mother. His eyes widened in fear, as he discovered that the queen had already lost control of herself. He walked backward step by step while holding the edge of the table for support. Suddenly, several shiny weapons flew out of his hand toward the Dragon King, who was only a dozen steps away from him.


    Upon seeing that, Gu Shenwei finally knew where the queen¡¯s confidence came from.

 Chapter 442 - Confession

    Chapter 442: Confession


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei had to admit that the little prince did suprise him.


    <em>¡°Some midgets can pretend to be children, and sometimes it¡¯s difficult to distinguish them from real children. However, the little prince is not one of them,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought to himself. He had a habit of observing everyone he came across and had scrutinized the boy¡¯s features as well as his every action. He was sure that the little prince was just a child.


    <em>¡°It¡¯s impossible for a child to have superb kung fu. Besides, the little prince seems to be pampered andck regr physical exercise, as he dosen¡¯t have a good physique.</em>


    <em>¡°It¡¯s really surprising that he¡¯s so good at acting. He¡¯s less than 10 years old but has sessfully tricked me into believing that he¡¯s timid, helpless and bewildered.¡±</em>


    <em>¡°Besides, at that time, my whole attention was concentrated on the agitated queen,pletely neglecting this boy,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei.


    In the blink of an eye, the weapons flew close to him. He did not have time to think about what had happened and immediately began to brandish his saber to fend them off.


    These hidden weapons carried an awful lot of momentum, as if they had been thrown out by a kung fu master who had practiced with them for decades.


    They were 5 prism-shaped darts. Four of them were blocked by Gu Shenwei, and thest one grazed his left shoulder, leaving a bleeding wound.


    ¡°Yes, I hit him!¡± the little prince shouted excitedly and did not look timid or nervous at all.


    ¡°Now, you¡¯re dead.¡± He pointed at the Dragon King and issued an order. He looked so confident as if what he had uttered was a magical spell, which could deprive a person of life.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get close to him,¡± said the queen. Evidently, she was more cautious than her son. She took a step back and carefully observed the Dragon King.


    Upon seeing their reactions, Gu Shenwei knew that the hidden weapons must have been coated with some poisonous substance. Thanks to Maid Lotus, who had left him with lots of pills which could be used to counteract the effects of poison, he was still able to save himself.


    He put his Five Peaks Saber down on the table and took out three small wooden boxes from the front of his coat. He quickly picked up and swallowed some pills of different colors from the wooden boxes, all the while remaining calm and collected.


    If the poison on the hidden weapon was specially made, these pills would hardly work. However, no one else in Western Region was so proficient in making all kinds of strange medicine like the New Moon Hall.


    Soon enough, when the numb feeling around his wound subsided and stopped spreading to the other parts of his body, he knew that he was alright.


    He picked up his Five Peaks Saber again and pointed it at the little prince while saying, ¡°Put that thing down.¡±


    When he discovered that the prince was hiding a steel cylinder in his sleeve, he came to realize that the little prince was indeed an ordinary child and it was this steel cylinder that had fired the hidden weapons.


    Upon seeing that the Dragon King was still alive and well, the little prince was so frightened that the color of his face changed. Nevertheless, he did not freak out and even looked as if he was eager to try again.


    As the tip of the saber was at least a few meters away from the little prince, the boy believed that the Dragon King would never be able to stop him. However, the queen who was standing by the side, thought that the Dragon King had already gained the upper hand.


    ¡°Put it down,¡± the queen said to her son.


    ¡°He¡¯s injured. This is our only chance,¡± the little prince retorted. He did not want to give up and even felt a little regret that he had notunched the second round of attack right after the first round. A cunning look came into his eyes, which made him look somewhat more like a deceitful adult than an ignorant child.


    Nevertheless, he was still a child, and his smarts were not enough to make up for hisck of experience. Instead, it would only bring him trouble.


    ¡°As long as he¡¯s dead, the Dragon army will fall apart,¡± the little prince said while lifting his arm slightly to aim at the Dragon King.


    ¡°No.¡± The queen wanted to stop him, but her clever son had already made up his mind.


    Even a first-rate kung fu master would never dare to throw a hidden weapon at the Dragon King when he or she was clearly at a disadvantage. However, the little prince still refused to back down.


    The next moment, the shining Five Peaks Saber cut across the few meters with unearthly speed, and then the little prince was transfixed by the scene in front of himself: there were only half a steel cylinder on the table and beside itid four tender fingers. They were obviously the little prince¡¯s fingers; only an extremely pampered child could have such spotless fair skin.


    .


    ¡°Argh¡ª¡± the little prince screamed painfully, jumping up and down while holding onto his severed hand.


    The queen ran over to hold the prince tightly, looking absolutely desperate, and then she shifted her gaze to the Dragon King and pleaded. ¡°Don¡¯t kill him. We, We surrender. I¡¯ll tell you everything.¡±


    Upon hearing the screams, Long Fanyun led the guards into the Council Chamber and was greatly surprised to see the wound on the Dragon King¡¯s shoulder.


    Outside the chamber, the Dragon King¡¯s guard troops had already upied the whole pce. They also sent out some teams to take over the other importants ces in the city, intending to have the entire the city under control.


    ¡°Show this parchment to the ministers outside and put up a notice to tell the truth to the public.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Long Fanyun picked up the parchment and walked out. He did not know what the ¡°truth¡± was, but he was certain that the ministers were going to tell him everything.


    ¡°Who gave you this thing?¡± Gu Shenwei asked the little prince, while showing a great interest in the boy¡¯s weapon. He believed that no one in the Hui Kingdom was able to make such a thing and that it must have something to do with the Golden Roc Fort.


    By now, the queen had already finished dressing her son¡¯s wound. She admitted her defeat and only hoped that the Dragon King would spare their lives after she told him the truth. ¡°A man from the Golden Roc Fort¡ª¡±


    Upon seeing that the Dragon King was dissatisfied with such a vague answer, she immediately added, ¡°Shangguan Jianyi. He¡ª¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell him anything. The Golden Roc Fort will take revenge on him for what he did to me. I¡¯ll chop off his fingers and toes,¡± the little prince interrupted, still refusing toe to terms with his failure. As he said this, his blood kept oozing out of his wound, and the pain was so intense that he broke out in a cold sweat.


    Gu Shenwei moved his saber slightly, and the little prince immediately shrank further into his mother¡¯s arms upon seeing that. He panted heavily but did not say anything afterwards. This was the first time that he had behaved so submissively in front of others.


    Upon seeing that, Gu Shenwei thought, <em>¡°This little prince is a pampered and spoiled child. He¡¯s like a wolf cub. Once he grows up, he¡¯ll be very dangerous.¡±</em>


    After that, he nodded to the queen, indicating to her that he wanted her to continue.


    ¡°Shangguan Jianyi came here a month ago, when we were surrounded by bandits. After learning that the king was dead, hepelled us to follow his orders. Hemanded us to try our best to keep the Dragon army away. He said that if you broke into the city, we could use this weapon to assassinate you. He also said that no one was able to escape from it.¡±


    ¡°Divine Spit.¡± The little prince, who now looked like a big baby hiding inside his mother¡¯s arms, added without lifting up his head.


    Upon hearing that, the queen gave the little prince a hard p across his face to stop him.


    The prince was stunned. He found his mother¡¯s action even more shocking than the Dragon King¡¯s sudden attack. He struggled to get out of her arms and went to hide under the table, while watching her balefully.


    Upon seeing that, Gu Shenwei waved to the several guards left by Long Fanyun. Two guards immediately stepped out of their queue to pull the little prince out from under the table and forced him to sit on the table so that the Dragon King could keep him in sight.


    The queen did not interfere upon seeing that. She tried her best to showplete obedience to the Dragon King but was unable to hide all her resentment toward him.


    ¡°Shangguan Jianyi promised to give us half of the Sha Kingdom¡¯snd after the war. He said that he would make my son the actual ruler of all the countries around the Xiaoyao Lake. He said that at that time, the Golden Roc would take the Hui Kingdom as its ally while the other four countries could only be counted as its minions,¡± the queen continued.


    ¡°Is this how he won your trust?¡± Gu Shenwei asked in disbelief. <em>¡°Howe these people were that stupid to believe such airy promises. Even if the queen and the little prince are really foolish, it¡¯s impossible for those sophisticated ministers to be deceived by such a hypocritical liar,¡± </em>he thought to himself.


    ¡°I¡¯ve no choice,¡± said the queen. Her voice rose slightly. ¡°And everybody lies. I¡¯ve discounted most of what he said. Even if he carries out only half of his promises, the throne will still belong to my son, but you, Dragon King, you¡­¡±


    The queen stuttered, as she was clear what would happen to her and her son when the Dragon King, who had only promised not to kill them, failed to keep his words.


    Gu Shenwei gave an order to imprison the queen and the little prince in the pce, and then he selected three ministers, who lookedparatively well-built, to fetch the crown prince of the Hui Kingdom. They immediately left for the Stone Kingdom, apanied by 5 guards.


    After that, he announced that he would let the new king decide how to punish the queen and her supporters and invited several dozen representatives from all walks of life into the pce to mourn the death of the old king. They were allowed to see the king¡¯s remains, which had been stored in an ice house all this while. As many parts of the remains had already decayed, they could barely recognize the old king. When the representatives brought this news to the people outside the pce, they burned with indignation. Thousands of them voluntarily surrounded the pce, demanding that the vicious queen and her supporters be executed.


    As such, the Dragon King¡¯s image changed. He was no longer an invader with an evil intent, but a savior of the royal family of the Hui Kingdom. The Hui people did not hail him as a hero, but at least, they would no longer consider him an enemy.


    This change was positive enough for Gu Shenwei.


    Despite this change, he still lived in his tent outside the city. His guard troops were stationed in several different ces both inside and outside the city and were able to quickly retreat from this ce once the situation changed.


    The city began to trust the Dragon King, but the young lord did not like this city very much.


    He thought that what the queen had said might be true, but it was probably just part of the truth, since he could tell that the queen had disyed an obvious reluctance to tell him everything during the negotiation.


    In order to find out more about the truth, he summoned and interrogated the ministers, the guards of the pce and even the maids of the queen sessively. Surprisingly, these people¡¯s statements were consistent with that of the queen. They told the Dragon King that a big shot from the Golden Roc Fort hade here a month ago and promised them that the troops outside would have never been able break into the city. This big shot had also mademitments to them in exchange for their loyalty.


    Based on their description, he had assured different people of different things and each of his proposals sounded very appealing.


    Gu Shenwei was surprised and thought, <em>¡°Is this Shangguan Jianyi a sorcerer or something? It seemed that he uttered some spells and all of the people in the Hui Kingdom began to take his orders submissively.</em>


    <em>¡°Dugu Xian once mentioned that this Shangguan Jianyi was skilled at gaining trust from others.</em>


    <em>¡°If this is true, it¡¯ll be more difficult than I¡¯ve expected to defeat this man.¡±</em>


    After hearing those people¡¯sments on Shangguan Jianyi, Shangguan Fei, who had stayed with the Dragon King throughout the interrogation process, shook his head in and gasped in admiration, ¡°Wow, I never know that my uncle is so formidable. Howe he was defeated by my mother? Tut-tut, if I had discovered his ability earlier, I would¡¯ve tried my best to get along with him.¡±


    Upon hearing Shangguan Fei¡¯s words, Gu Shenwei realized that he had neglected something. He immediately sent his men to bring all the city gate officers to him.


    There were only three city gate officers. They showed more respect to the Dragon King than they did to the former king of their own country and patiently answered all the young lord¡¯s questions.


    Gu Shenwei asked them when Shangguan Jianyi had entered the city and who hade here together with him.


    The three officers swore to gods that they had never seen anyone from the Golden Roc Fort pass through the city gate during recent months. ¡°He possibly sneaked into the city,¡± they suggested.


    Upon hearing that, Gu Shenwei thought to himself, <em>¡°Evidently, these low-ranking officials haven¡¯t been bought over by Shangguan Jianyi.¡±</em>


    He decided to change his question and asked again, ¡°Since the siege, have you ever seen a strange person or a person who deeply impressed you enter the city?¡±


    Two of the officers immediately shook their heads. The other one also shook his head at first, but gradually he slowed down and said, ¡°I¡¯m not sure if this person can be counted as a strange person. Oh, no, this person entered the city before the siege.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s alright, tell me everything about this person.¡±


    ¡°Ugh, actually, this person wasn¡¯t very strange. It was a woman but she was dressed like a man. She even carried a sword with herself, and her attitude was very cold. At that time, we thought that she was going into the pce to serve the king as a new concubine, but we didn¡¯t hear anything like that after she entered the city. Not long after that, we were besieged. I¡¯m sure that I haven¡¯t seen her leave the city by now.¡±


    <em>¡°A woman who was dressed like a man¡­¡± </em>Shangguan Fei wondered and then asked the Dragon King, ¡°Could she be my sister?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was pretty sure that this person was not Shangguan Ru since now she lived in the Land of Fragrance, which was far away from this ce and she only used a wooden saber instead of a sword. He suddenly thought of another person and his heart skipped a beat. ¡°What does he have to do with Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s plot?¡±

 Chapter 443 - Interrogation

    Chapter 443: Interrogation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei had not heard from Chu Nanping for a long time.


    Nearly a year ago, when he had been deeply dejected by the fact that none of the youths trained by him could be counted as qualified killers, he found Hu Shining in Jade City and hired this retired training tutor from the Carvewood Academy of Golden Roc Fort to instruct his young killers at his secret base in Shu-lik. He also asked the tutor to take his three young bodyguards to Shu-lik for the training.


    <em>¡°Tie Linglong ran away before they set off, and since then her whereabouts has remained unknown, but Chu Nanping and Nie Zeng did leave for Shu-lik with Hu Shining.</em>


    Now that Shu-lik has been upied by the allied forces of Nond and the Golden Roc Fort, the secret base must¡¯ve been exposed no matter how hard they tried to hide it from others. Hu Shining¡¯s loyalty has never been tested. He epted this job just for the money and still harbors deep respect for his former boss, the Golden Roc Fort. Given these, those young killers I entrusted to him probably could not escape their tragic fate,¡± thought Gu Shenwei.


    With this in mind, he made a detailed inquiry about the strange person and confirmed that it was indeed Chu Nanping and that he had arrived here alone. Gu Shenwei considered this an ominous sign.


    <em>¡°Chu Nanping probably heard the news that I¡¯ve conquered the kingdoms around the Xiaoyao Lake and thus came here to find me from the west. He probably considered the Hui Kingdom to be my ally and thus chose to enter the city through the city gate instead of sneaking into it.</em>


    <em>¡°He¡¯s still as simple as a child. The short-term killer training can¡¯t change him too much.</em>


    <em>¡°However, I¡¯ve been in the Hui Kingdom for nearly two months. Howe Chu Nanping has never shown up during the recent two months?¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei, feeling particrly uneasy and confused.


    He could not wait any longer to find out the truth. Although it was already dark, he still led 500 soldiers into the city to upy the pce again and had all the important ministers of the Hui Kingdom brought to him into the pce. Besides, he also arrested many eunuches and court maids holding certain posts. As such, he held more than 100 people in custody overnight and had them imprisoned and interrogated separately.


    When his soldiers went to question the prisoners about the young swordsman¡¯s whereabouts, he personally led a small team of guards to break into the queen¡¯s bedchamber and interrogate her. <em>¡°The game is over, and I don¡¯t want to beat about the bush anymore. I have to make her tell me her deepest secret,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei.


    He had restrained himself for all this while in an attempt to win the Hui nation¡¯s support, but now he did not hesitate at all to take the most hardline measures.


    The queen had predicted that something was going to happen tonight when the Dragon King¡¯s soldiers had been busy arresting people everywhere in the pce. When he broke into her bedchamber, she was fully dressed, waiting for him. The little prince shrank into a corner of the room and did not even cast a nce at him.


    ¡°What makes you storm into my bedchamber, Dragon King? Can¡¯t you wait until tomorrow morning to talk to me?¡± The queen did not sound as proud as she had been during the day, but her tone was somewhat harsh and ironic.


    ¡°You know the reason,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    After that, ten guards behind him unsheathed their swords. This scene was far more threatening and convincing than his words.


    The queen still refused to cooperate. After a moment¡¯s hesitation, she said, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Take the boy out,¡± Gu Shenwei said to his guards.


    Two guards went to the corner and carried the little prince out. Like a cub falling into the hands of a hunter, the boy kept struggling and shouting but still had to surrender in the end.


    The queen¡¯s face color changed, but she didn¡¯t run over to rescue her son. Instead, she spoke softly to the Dragon King, ¡°What do you want exactly? The Hui Kingdom is already yours. Is there anything you¡¯re unhappy about? He¡¯s just a child, and you¡¯ve already punished him.¡±


    Gu Shenwei just stood there, looking as if he was thinking about something else, and made no response to the queen. Soon enough, the little prince¡¯s miserable screams came from outside. This child, who had been pampered since his birth, was suffering the first torture in his life, which far exceeded his imagination.


    ¡°Stop it!¡± The queen could not remain calm anymore and cried out, as every scream from the boy gave her intense pain. She was an ambitious woman, but without the little prince, none of her ambitions could be fulfilled.


    Gu Shenwei looked at her coldly. He thought that he was merciful enough to not torture the boy in front of her.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you everything. Ask them to stop, right now,¡± the queen pleaded.


    Gu Shenwei deliberately waited for a moment before giving a sign to the guards behind him. Soon enough, a guard went out to ask the soldiers to stop the torture, and then the screams subsided.


    At this moment, the queen looked no different from amon woman. She grew pale and red by turns. Her chest heaved, and the fright was evident in her eyes. ¡°He¡­ Shangguan Jianyi had another n,¡± said the queen.


    Despite the fact that this was not what he wanted to hear, he still let the queen continue without saying anything to interrupt her.


    ¡°He intends to instigate a rebellion against you and kill you in the Hui Kingdom.¡±


    The queen had nned to surprise the Dragon King with this secret. However, he reacted nonchntly to it. She felt bewildered and began to ramble.


    ¡°He asked us to make you stay in the Hui Kingdom and away from the main body of the Great Snowmountain troops. He told us that it was not easy to deceive you and we could only achieve this goal by refusing the Dragon army to enter our capital. He said that once your suspicion was aroused, you would not easily leave this ce. He promised us that he would go to contact the kings and military leaders of Kang, Sha and An kingdoms and bring back arge army that would effectplete numerical superiority on the battlefield. ording to our agreement, he¡¯ll return three dayster.¡±


    After hearing that, Gu Shenwei thought to himself, <em>¡°This might be the n that Shangguan Jianyi used to persuade the queen and the ministers into supporting him. His n might work if I hadn¡¯t asked Dugu Xian to reorganize the army, but now, he stands no chance of seeding.</em>


    <em>Now, there are people loyal to me among all the troops stationed around the Xiaoyao Lake, regardless of their size. Shangguan Jianyi might be able to rope in some people for his n, but he¡¯ll never recruit enough qualified soldiers to form an army. As for the Kang, Sha and An Kingdoms, they did hide some of their subjects from me, but they¡¯remon people who don¡¯t know how to fight during a battle.¡±</em>


    The Dragon King had intelligence reports delivered to him every day, which allowed him to understand the situation much better than ministers of the Hui Kingdom did.


    <em>¡°Shangguan Jianyi must be clear about this situation, too. He just said this to ensure that the idiots in the Hui Kingdom would continue to work for him. No army wille to this ce three dayster,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°The queen seems to have revealed all her secrets to me, but she didn¡¯t mention anything about Chu Nanping. Is this because she thinks the young swordsman is not important at all?¡± With this in mind, Gu Shenwei asked, ¡°Do you know anything about a boy who carries a sword around with himself? Everyone says that he looks like a girl. I want to know his whereabouts.¡±


    The queen was stunned and thought that the Dragon King was deliberately making things difficult for her so that he could figure out an excuse to kill her and her son. ¡°I¡¯m speaking the truth. It¡¯s all true, Dragon King. Go ask the Prime Minister. He also knows Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s n. Besides, you¡¯ve promised to spare our lives,¡± said the queen. Based on what he had learned about her today, Gu Shenwei was pretty sure that the surprised look on her face was genuine.


    He wanted to remind her that it was a deal not a promise and the little prince¡¯s sudden attack had already undermined the deal. On second thought, he decided to give up on this meaningless dispute. He stared at the queen with piercing eyes, looking as if he wanted to dig out all her insides and check if she still had some other secrets.


    He was still somewhat anxious since he felt that something was not quite right. He did not know whether it was because of the queen or theck of clues to the whereabouts of Chu Nanping.


    Most powerful men were people with little regard for human life, but even the most ruthless emperor in the world would care about at least a few people.


    In particr, Gu Shenwei needed Chu Nanping, as this young swordsman was most likely to take the ce of Maid Lotus and protect his rear in the future. The boy¡¯s death would constitute an irrecable loss to him.


    Suddenly, Long Fanyun came in and nodded to the Dragon King, hinting to him that they had already found out something during the interrogation.


    Gu Shenwei knew that his brutal behavior would inevitably be known by all the people in the capital of the Hui Kingdom tomorrow morning and this news would damage his recently-built up good image, so he took some measures to remedy the situation immediately after he left the queen¡¯s bedchamber.


    He dered that the queen, the little prince and all the ministers he had arrested tonight were traitors of the kingdom. He used them of plotting to assassinate the crown prince and contended that he would hold them in custody until the crown prince came back and decided how to deal with them.


    This was not a perfect exnation, but many people would ept it.


    During the interrogation, the ministers divulged lots of secrets, such as the secret n of Shangguan Jianyi, the ambition of the queen and her son and even some child molester¡¯s obsession with good-looking boys. However, none of them knew anything about the beautiful youth who always carried a sword with himself. Atst, it was a guard in the pce who offered some clues about Chu Nanping.


    This guard was surnamed Li and he was not among the arrested officials. He was one of the several dozen ones who turned themselves in when they were shocked by the Dragon King¡¯s action. He took the initiative to mention the young swordsman even before the soldiers started to interrogate him.


    ¡°He¡¯s beautiful and looks like a girl, but if you observe him carefully, you¡¯ll discover that he looks much more masculine than feminine.¡±


    Guard Li remembered Chu Nanping well, but as he was eager to disentangle himself from this trouble, he spoke in a quite disordered manner and spent quite a long time straightening the whole thing out.


    ¡°He came here alone and lived in a back-street inn. He attracted a lot of attention. A bunch of hooligans went to harass him and all got knocked down to the ground by the boy. After that, no one thought of him to be a girl disguised as a man and his sword to be decorative anymore.


    ¡°Afterwards, there¡¯s a rumor going around about this good-looking boy. Someone said that he¡¯s the Dragon King¡¯s bodyguard.


    ¡°Upon hearing this rumor, the distinguished guest of the royal family, Shangguan Jianyi, found me and said that he wanted me to investigate this thing for him. That was actually the first time that I had heard about this boy.


    ¡°I dared not to refuse Shangguan Jianyi, so I went to meet the boy alone. I introduced myself to him as a messenger sent by the king and asked him about his identity. I told him that the Hui Kingdom had already allied itself with the Dragon King and would receive him warmly.


    ¡°However, he reacted nonchntly to me. He didn¡¯t tell me his name or whether he was the Dragon King¡¯s bodyguard. He just said that he would stay in the inn for the night and leave early tomorrow morning.


    ¡°After meeting with the boy, I went back to the pce to report to Shangguan Jianyi.¡±


    That was all he knew about Chu Nanping. He guessed that the young swordsman had already left the city and did not know the current whereabouts of the boy.


    If the boy¡¯s good looks and assional murderous look had not left a deep impression on Guard Li, he would have forgotten about this thing a long time ago.


    ording to Guard Li, Shangguan Jianyi had been very satisfied with his performance and given him a lot of silver to thank him, but he had never disclosed his real intention to him.


    Gu Shenwei was 100-percent sure that Chu Nanping had never reached the military camp of the Dragon army. He thought that the boy probably had never left the capital of the Hui Kingdom.


    <em>¡°ording to Guard Li¡¯s description, Chu Nanping probably did not use any make-up to change his looks. Howe he acted so carelessly? This is the most questionable point in the guard¡¯s story. When Chu Nanping, Tie Linglong and I traveled around to evade Golden Roc Fort killers, he always needed to use make-up to disguise his looks. Otherwise, he would attract a lot of attention. If he really came here all the way from Shu-lik, which is annexed by the Golden Roc Fort now, he should¡¯ve behaved more cautiously.</em>


    <em>¡°That boy who declined to tell his name to Guard Li must be Chu Nanping. It¡¯s been two months since then. It¡¯s highly improbable that he is still alive and well,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    Despite that, he still wanted to give it a try and decided to go to the inn where Chu Nanping had lived to investigate this thing. He asked Guard Li to lead him to inn, while thinking, <em>¡°I must keep trying until I find him alive or discover his corpse.¡±</em>


    When he went outside into the cold darkness, he gradually calmed down and thought, <em>¡°Shangguan Jianyi was not quite like himself in the Hui Kingdom. He used the queen to make me stay in this ce, but hasn¡¯t done anything to me since I entered this city. Now the whole area around the Xiaoyao Lake is at peace. That merciless killer seems to have totally forgotten his n.¡±</em>

 Chapter 444 - Investigation at Night

    Chapter 444: Investigation at Night


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Woken up by urgent knocks on his door, the keeper of the inn hurriedly came to the door with antern in hand whilementing in his heart. <em>¡°Times are really bad now. Business isnguishing, and rooms of the inn are upied by a group of refugees who¡¯re oftente with their rent. Some of them probably got desperate and caused trouble somewhere. The people who¡¯re tracking them down will naturallye here.¡±</em>


    The innkeeper believed himself to be fully prepared for the worst situation, but the moment he opened the door, he got so frightened that he nearly copsed to the ground.


    His inn was tightly surrounded by a group of soldiers, and a pale young man was standing at his door. <em>¡°This man seems to be the Dragon King,¡± </em>the innkeeper thought to himself worriedly.


    He stood gaping at the young man for a long time, lost for words, before finally saying, ¡°Sir, do you want to check in now?¡± Even he himself did not understand why he would be asking such a thing as this moment.


    Upon learning that the Dragon King just came here for information, he rxed a little and quickly thought of the handsome teenager. ¡°That was a really strange night. A dozen guests fled without paying their rent. s, it was from that moment on that my business started to go into decline,¡± he said to the Dragon King.


    ¡°The boy paid me when he checked in. He was the only one who paid the rent that night. When the night fell, I went to close the door of the inn, but suddenly, 12 or 13 fierce-looking guests rushed into my inn. They were all carrying weapons and asked for best rooms while banging on the tables.¡±


    ording to the innkeeper, he had spent quite a long time to settle those guests down and had been too nervous to sleep well that night.


    ¡°During the night, I heard a lot of noise. First, I heard somebody kicking a door followed by iprehensible shouting. After a while, I heard them fighting noisily. The fightsted for only less than 15 minutes, and then I heard more people joining in. Some of them started escaping and the others chased after them. When they all left, it quickly quieted down outside,¡± said the innkeeper.


    ¡°I went to notify the authorities about the incident the next morning. The officers havee here twice for investigations without managing to find any clues. Since the siege began, I haven¡¯t seen any of them return. After all, it was just a trivial matter; no one died. Only a dozen guests fled without paying rent.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that the officers haven¡¯t found any corpse here?¡± Gu Shenwei asked while feeling quite puzzled.


    ¡°Yes, they haven¡¯t even managed to find a blood stain here. It was very noisy that night during the fight, but those guys seem to have somehow restrained themselves from hurting one another.¡± The innkeeper spoke much more fluently now, as he discovered that the Dragon King was not as dreadful as he had imagined.


    ¡°That¡¯s all I know about the young swordsman. I¡¯ve never seen him or heard anything about him after that night.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt even more bewildered after hearing the innkeeper¡¯s statement.<em>¡°Chu Nanping¡¯s fighting style is just like mine. No matter how many enemies he¡¯s faced with, he¡¯ll not be making so much noise or fail to kill even a single opponent after 15 minutes,¡± he thought, his lead suddenly gone.</em>


    With this in mind, Gu Shenwei asked the innkeeper about the young swordsman¡¯s looks once again. ¡°He had big eyes, a high nose and thin lips and he always kept his mouth tightly closed. He looks like a girl, but I¡¯m sure that he¡¯s a boy. He¡¯s of medium height, so his sword looks quite long for him. When he walks, his feet barely seem to touch the ground. He usually looks thoughtful, but sometimes when he lifts up his head to stare at you, you¡¯ll feel scared. His cold eyes will make you feel¡­ feel¡­ very ufortable.¡± The innkeeper gave the Dragon King a detailed description of the young swordsman. Evidently, he had once carefully observed the boy.


    Upon hearing that, Gu Shenwei was 100-percent sure that the young swordsman was Chu Nanping. <em>¡°There must be some other reasons for this strange incident,¡± </em>he thought to himself and then asked his men to give the innkeeper a big chunk of silver, which was enough to make up for the loss in revenue suffered during the recent downturn in business.


    When he walked out of the inn, it was already dawn. He rode his horse, looking at the ground contemtively. When he was about to leave the alley, he suddenly looked up, as if struck by a new idea. He said nothing and continued on although he had already gotten a rough idea of what had happened that night.


    He was busy for the rest of the day. Although he thought it unlikely that Shangguan Jianyi woulde back in three days with arge army to besiege him like what the queen and the prime minister of the Hui Kingdom imed, he still sent scouts to the Kang and Sha kingdoms to investigate.


    To pacify the citizens of the country, he appointed some people to handle governmental affairs, as all the ministers of this country were currently in custody.


    The news that the Dragon King was looking for a young swordsman inevitably spread throughout the city, prompting spection amongst the citizens. They showed even more interest in talking about this matter than discussing about the future of their queen and ministers; some of them even began to have weird ideas.


    ¡°Oh, the Dragon King likes¡­¡±


    ¡°No wonder he was reluctant to marry¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    They dared not to be too blunt and could only express themselves by exchanging sly looks and smiles.


    Soon enough, Gu Shenwei heard about the rumors, but he did not take any measures to stop them. In fact, it was reassuring for him to hear that people of this country cared more about amorous affairs than recent political changes in their nation.


    Besides, he also benefited from these rumors, since they made the citizens of the city believe that the Dragon King adored the good-looking boy and would be willing to give handsome awards to the ones who could offer him reliable clues about the boy. As such, lots of people flocked to the Dragon King¡¯s residence to offer information about the young swordsman.


    Gu Shenwei did not have much time to deal with these people, so he put Shangguan Fei in charge of this matter. Once a person offered a credible lead, he or she would be awarded.


    Shangguan Fei spent an entire day listening to these people, but none of them gave him any valuable information. They were all vague, for example someone would im that he or she had spotted Chu Nanping being followed by a mysterious guy in some street and that the boy and his stalker had suddenly disappeared together after making a turn. Their so-called intelligence reports sounded alike except for differences in locations; it seemed as if they had bought this piece of information from the same source.


    ¡°Stop wasting money,¡± Shangguan Fei told the Dragon King while cleaning his ear. ¡°Little Chu is probably dead now. Needless to say, it must be my un¡­ no I mean, Shangguan Jianyi who had him killed and buried somewhere. I¡¯m afraid that we¡¯ll never be able to find his corpse unless we¡¯re lucky.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had thought of this possibility before, but he felt that there were too many loopholes in this theory, leading him to disregard it. ¡°Shangguan Jianyi was indiscrete when he carried out assassinations in the Stone Kingdom, as if he was afraid that the people would not know they weremitted by the Golden Roc Fort. Why would he suddenly change his style in the Hui Kingdom? If he really killed my bodyguard, why didn¡¯t he chop off his head and show it around to boast of his achievement?¡±


    Out of all the people around the Dragon King, only Shangguan Fei was good at scheming. He was also the only one who dared to not filter his speech when talking to the young lord. This was not because he was braver than the others, but rather due to the fact that he had a casual attitude towards everything in his life, which was meaningless to him anyway.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s a good question. Didn¡¯t he know that Little Chu is your bodyguard? No, that¡¯s impossible. The killers would tell him. They¡¯re well aware about this fact,¡± replied Shangguan Fei.


    He had not cared much about this thing in the beginning, but the Dragon King¡¯s question made him reflect seriously. After a while, he added, ¡°He even sent a guard of the pce to investigate the matter. It seemed unnecessary. Besides, it¡¯s not the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s style to send a group of people to check into an inn openly and cause amotion there.


    ¡°Little Chu also seemed so careless. Why did he openly enter the city? Neither party is stupid, but they did something silly sessively. What a strange thing!¡±


    The Dragon King remained silent and gave Shangguan Fei no response. Shangguan Fei frowned and took this as a test; he began to put serious thought into it. A momentter, he suddenly pped his hands together, saying, ¡°I think there¡¯s only one possible exnation for this incident. Little Chu wanted to lure the enemies out and thus deliberately made a public appearance. Shangguan Jianyi pretended to fall into his trap, but actually he intended to take this chance to capture Little Chu. The winner seemed to be Shangguan Jianyi, but why hasn¡¯t he imed his victory? I think it must be because he hasn¡¯t killed Little Chu. He probably still has Little Chu under his control and ns to use him against you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had thought about this possibility before, but at times, he needed somebody to voice out his own thoughts for him; it allowed him to check his theories for loopholes from the perspective of a third party. ¡°Two months have passed since then. Shangguan Jianyi seems too patient. Why hasn¡¯t he taken any action by now?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Hur Hur. You have to get prepared, Dragon King. Little Chu may suddenly pop out, bloodied and wounded, looking as if he¡¯s been through hell and is now turning to you for constion. Once you go soft on him, you¡¯ll fall into his trap. You know the tricks of the Golden Roc Fort. No one can endure that kind of torture for two months. Even if his heart was made of stone, he¡¯ll have cracked,¡± replied Shangguan Fei.


    Gu Shenwei was ready to face betrayal at any time since he always regarded loyalty as a rare quality and never expected anyone, even his most trusted friend, to remain loyal to him all the time.


    It looked as though the investigation would now be stalled for a while, leaving Shangguan Jianyi with a clear advantage. The Dragon King seemed to have only one choice, which was to wait for his enemy, who was in hiding, to make the first move.


    Shangguan Fei thought that this matter did not concern him and thus did not bother to delve too deeply into it; he did not even bother to apply his instincts.


    Gu Shenwei did not want to wait any longer, since it would allow his enemies ample time to get fully prepared. At midnight, he quietly left his residence, nning to search for leads by himself.


    <em>¡°Only people can tell lies. By now, many people have given me their testimonies, and unfortunately, this further blurred the truth. I need to find other sources of information that can¡¯t speak and thus can¡¯t lie to me.¡±</em>


    With this in mind, Gu Shenwei looked down upon the alley, where the inn was located, while crouching on a nearby roof, which was slightly higher than the others. He increasingly felt that the guess he had made during the day was correct.


    The alley was narrow, twisting and led to a dead end. It was only about 50 to 60 meters long but it had three turns. The houses on both sides of it were low, shabbily-built and joined close to each other. The windows on them looked like small square holes, since each of them was just about 0.04 square metersrge. Even in broad daylight, a pedestrian in the alley could not see the insides of the houses. Finally, at the dead end of the alley stood the inn which Chu Nanping had been residing in.


    <em>¡°This is a perfect ce for an ambush if there are enough skirmishers involved. Some of them could block the entrance of the alley, forcing their enemies to ump up onto the roofs to flee. Although the houses along the alley look almost the same, there are three parts which are obviously lower than the others. People with some experience will naturally choose these three ces to flee toward to. Given this, the ambusher can send some other people to ambush the runaways in those ces. They can easily catch and ughter them one by one.</em>


    <em>¡°Perhaps this is the intention of Chu Nanping. Just like Shangguan Fei has said, Little Chu chose to live in this inn just to lure his enemies out. However, he needs many people to set up such an ambush. How could he get so many people?</em>


    <em>¡°Even if Hu Shining didn¡¯t betray me, it would be hard for him and his young apprentices who have just started their killer training to perform such aplicated task,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei.


    He had bought a piece ofnd in a valley outside the capital of Shu-lik and built a secret training base on it for his apprentices. He had about 60 or 70 apprentices. Some of them were bought by him, some were selected from among young beggars, and the others were children from the Great Snowmountain tribes.


    <em>¡°Such arge group of children is very conspicuous wherever they go,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    Right at this moment, he suddenly saw a child sneaking into the alley.


    <em>¡°Howe this child is out here at this hour?¡± </em>Gu Shenwei wondered. The child was walking cautiously and was adept in utilizing the shadows of the buildings to cover himself, indicating that he had received some basic killer training.


    Gu Shenwei did not expect to uncover any leads tonight that would lead him to Chu Nanping directly and was thus vignt against this child who popped out all of a sudden.

 Chapter 445 - Rescue

    Chapter 445: Rescue


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The boy, who was walking alone in the winter night, was about 10 years old. Although his skills looked immature, he was perfectly calm and steady. He quickly found the entrance to the inn at the end of the alley and untied the cord securing the saber on his back.


    He did not carry a sheath and the weapon seemed too long for the boy, but he just casually held it in his hand, as if it were a simple task he was ustomed to perform.


    He leaped over the wall into the inn and walked back out through the door not long after, the saber already on his back again by now.


    He appeared somewhat giddy with satisfaction and thus was light on his feet now. He quickly walked out of the alley and then made a detour toward the northern part of the city.


    Gu Shenwei quietly followed him from a distance, while thinking, <em>¡°The innkeeper must¡¯ve got hold of some very important information unintentionally, but he didn¡¯t think of it when I came to visit him. This might be the reason why he got assassinated tonight.</em>


    <em>¡°As to this boy, he¡¯s probably one of the apprentices trained by Hu Shining. The Golden Roc Fort has so many kung fu masters and will never send a small child to perform an assassination alone.¡±</em>


    Most of the apprentices at the secret base in Shu-lik were selected by Gu Shenwei, but only a few of them had left a deep impression on him. As such, even if the boy had stood facing him right now, he probably would have been unable to recognize him.


    After walking down several streets, the boy believed himself to bepletely safe. He sped up and entered a messy-looking area.


    Upon seeing that, Gu Shenwei immediately shortened the distance between himself and the boy with quick steps, and when he was taking a turn to chase after the boy who had just disappeared into the shadows, he was ambushed. A hidden weapon suddenly flew out from somewhere behind a tree, which was only a few meters away on his right-hand side.


    This hidden weapon¡¯s arrival was sudden, but the level of its speed and ferocity was not that of the hidden weapons emitted by the little prince back in the Council Chamber of the royal pce. Gu Shenwei had guessed beforehand that the boy might be a lure and this might be a trap, so he remained vignt against such surprise attacks all the time when he was chasing after the boy.


    He took a small step forward to avoid the weapon and then leaped to the top of the wall on his right-hand side to stop the ambusher from escaping.


    The ambusher, who was dressedpletely in ck, was evidently surprised by the Dragon King¡¯s action and immediately jumped into the yard of the house. When the ambushernded and was about to get up again, a cold saber was already ced against its neck.


    ¡°Maid Lotus!¡± the ambusher cried in a low female voice, trying to save her life with these two words.


    The moment this ambusher had begun escaping from this ce, Gu Shenwei had found her Lightness Skills very familiar. He predicted that she would jump up and down for many times and abruptly change direction during the vertical jumps to get rid of her follower before quickly leaving this ce following a straight route. Given this, he chose to stand in the way through which she had to pass and prevent her from jumping up again.


    The person sleeping inside the house seemed to be disturbed by the noiseing from outside and gave a little murmur.


    Upon hearing that, Gu Shenwei pressed his saber against the female assassin¡¯s throat and forced her to move backward until her back was against the wall of the yard. She behaved cooperatively and kept silent all this while. She even raised up her hands and ced them beside her ears, as a way to show that she would never fight back.


    The person inside the house coughed several times and then fell back to sleep as there was no noiseing from outside again.


    ¡°I¡¯vee here to save you,¡± the female assassin said while deliberately approaching the Dragon King and blowing air onto his face, acting as if she were a close friend of the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei was familiar with the crazy women from the New Moon Hall and knew their moves well. He slightly raised his left hand to block the airflow and at the same time, put more weight on his saber with his right hand, as a way of warning the woman not to emit a sound.


    The female assassin was very obedient. She immediately stiffened her body and even kept her eyes unblinkingly fixed on him.


    She turned out to be more childish than probably the boy he had been tracking. She seemed not scared at all, as if the saber against her throat were just a toy.


    He waited until the person in the house fell fast asleep and then whispered to the woman, ¡°Evidence.¡±


    He found it very strange that Maid Lotus, who should have returned from the trip to Jade City by now, had not yet shown up. As for this female assassin, she seemed to be a very cheerful person and did not belong among those disciples of the New Moon Hall.


    ¡°Look at my sword,¡± said the female assassin, cordially. In the meantime, she moved her eyeballs downward toward her sword.


    Gu Shenwei did not follow suit. He used his left hand to take out the sword from where it had been stuck in her belt, while looking straight into her eyes.


    When he took the sword off from her, she could not help wiggling and giggling, seemingly as if the scabbard had identally touched some ticklish ce in her waist.


    <em>¡°She¡¯s crazy like all the other disciples of the New Moon Hall, but in a very different way,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    No matter what the female assassin did, he still remained undisturbed. He held his breath to prevent inhaling any knockout powder and then quickly nced at the sword in his left hand under the moonlight. There was nothing special about this sword, and he did not notice any mark left by Maid Lotus on the scabbard.


    ¡°Drew the sword out,¡± whispered the female assassin, somewhat anxiously. She even forgot about the saber against her throat and used both hands to grip the scabbard.


    Gu Shenwei took hold of the hilt and pulled it gently. The next moment, he saw a broken sword.


    Maid Lotus had two swords. The ¡°Huan¡± sword had a character ¡°Huan¡± carved on its the hilt, while the ¡°Yun¡± sword bore a character ¡°Yun¡± on its hilt. The ¡®Huan¡± sword had been broken when they had worked together to ambush Old Man Mu back in the desert. Since then, Maid Lotus kept the broken sword.


    The female assassin¡¯s sword turned out to be the broken ¡°Huan¡± sword.


    ¡°Managing Master treasured it so much that she carried it around with herself all the time. She hesitated for a long time before agreeing to lend it to me. Haven¡¯t you recognized it?¡± asked the female assassin.


    <em>¡°Why does the New Moon Hall send this woman to assassinate me? And this woman even imed that she did this to save me,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought in bewilderment, but he could not talk with the woman at this ce. He inserted the broken sword back into its scabbard, slowly sheathed his own saber, and then jumped over the wall to leave the yard.


    The female assassin seemed to find the Dragon King¡¯s behaviors very funny and shook her head. Knowing that she would never be able to escape from him, she also jumped out of the yard to catch up with the Dragon King,


    As he had already lost track of the boy, he returned to his tent.


    As soon as they entered the tent, the female assassin took out the flint and lit the oilmp on the table. After that, she stepped aside and stood with her hands down. At this moment, she looked more like a maid than a captive of the Dragon King.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Gu Shenwei asked her. As he began to believe her now, his voice sounded a little softer than before.


    The female assassin keenly noticed the change in his mood and started to smile, her eyes curving up into the shape of crescent moons. She tore off her mask, revealing a cheerful smiling face. ¡°My name is Han Fen. ¡®Fen¡¯ as in ¡°Fen Fang¡±(fragrant). I¡¯m a disciple of the New Moon Hall and the most trusted person of our Managing Master,¡± said the young woman.


    <em>¡°If all she has said is true and she has never bragged about herself, Maid Lotus really chose a wrong person to trust,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    ¡°Howe I¡¯ve never met you before?¡± asked Gu Shenwei. He knew quite a lot of disciples of the New Moon Hall in Jade City and was sure that this Han Fen was not one of them.


    ¡°Managing Master said that she wanted her most trusted person to hide in the shadows, so I always hid in the shadows. This is the first time I¡¯vee out to perform a task,¡± replied Han Fen.


    ¡°Why did you attack me?¡±


    ¡°I was helping you out at that time. Besides, I was also curious about your kung fu and so I tried you out. Managing Master is right. You do have superb kung fu.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was struck speechless and thought, <em>¡°It¡¯s easy to say so, but it¡¯s really hard to believe that this woman just wanted to ¡®try me out¡¯. She threw the hidden weapon at me with all her strength. What a crazy woman. No doubt she¡¯s from the New Moon Hall, but why is she so happy and cheerful? Disciples of the New Moon Hall all look depressed, but this woman seems to be able to derive pleasure from nothing.</em>


    <em>¡°Besides, she hasn¡¯t told me the thing that I most want to know.¡±</em>


    He looked coldly at Han Fen, but she was perfectly calm andpletely at ease. She even carefully observed him as if he was a rare animal. After quite a long time, she finally came to understand the situation. ¡°Oh, you want to know more about the boy. Hee-hee, why didn¡¯t you just ask me directly? I thought that you were searching for my vulnerable points. I¡¯m indeed a disciple of the New Moon Hall and the most trusted person of our Managing Master. She has left a mark on me. If you don¡¯t believe me, I can show it to you.¡±


    With these words, she began to undress herself. Gu Shenwei always considered himself to be very patient, but at this moment, he felt that his nerves were worn out. He raised his hand up to stop her, while saying, ¡°No, don¡¯t bother. Let¡¯s talk about the boy first.¡±


    ¡°Alright, well, that boy was trying to lure you into a trap, so I had to stop you,¡± said Han Fen.


    She gave no further exnation about this simple statement. She seemed to believe that the Dragon knew everything that she knew and thus all she needed to do was to drop him a hint.


    After having difficult conversations with Han Fen, Gu Shenwei confirmed two things.


    Firstly, Han Fen was no doubt a disciple of the New Moon Hall. She was totally crazy although she looked normal. She also thought in a different way. She was simple-minded and only able to understand very specific questions. If the query was not specific enough, she would fail to get it and begin to ramble about all sorts of irrelevant matters she saw. For example, she would tell the Dragon King that his clothes looked a little bit worn out.


    Secondly, the boy was indeed a bait to lure him into the trap.


    Han Fen also exined the reason for the dyed return of Maid Lotus. It was a long story and she told it in reverse order. Given this, Gu Shenwei spent quite a long time sorting out the logic and understanding her story.


    The New Moon Hall disciples worked like busy bees all the time. Once they were assigned to a job, they would never stop working. Over the past 8 to 9 months, when their Managing Master had been away from the Jade City, they had still been working methodically.


    During the first few months, the Supreme King had deliberately turned a blind eye to his enemies¡¯ activities in Jade City, while secretly nning to solve all the problems once and for all. Afterwards, when the cavalrymen of Nond began making war on countries of Western Region, the Golden Roc Fort killers also started purging its hidden enemies from both North and South Cities. All the people who favored or sympathized with the Dragon King suffered from the purges, including the disciples of the New Moon Hall.


    Only a few New Moon Hall disciples got killed during this period. This was not because they were smarter than the others, but because their Master and Managing Master had prepared a n B for them beforehand. The moment they noticed the Golden Roc Fort killers acting suspiciously, they dispersed and went into hiding. Some of them escaped from the city, and the others sneaked into North City.


    While they were hiding, they continued to collect intelligence. Although none of them understood why they did this, they still strictly implemented the orders from their superiors. In their eyes, orders must be carried out.


    A few monthster, Maid Lotus sent out a secret code to summon the disciples upon her return to Jade City, and after analyzing all their intelligence reports, she found lots of valuable clues. She became particrly intrigued by one thing: a bunch of bandits who had openly surrendered to the Golden Roc Fort were on the way to the Xiaoyao Lake, and they did not take the shortcut in the east. They were heading for Shu-lik, which was located to the west of Jade City.


    The leader of this bunch of bandits was Chipo, who had once fallen into the hands of the Dragon King and been bought away by some merchant in North City. He had faked his own death back then, but now he did not have to hide anymore.


    Maid Lotus left half of the disciples in the city to continue collecting intelligence and led the other half, which was more than 40 disciples, to leave Jade City in batches. They headed toward the west, chasing after Chipo and his men.


    Chipo changed his name and asked his men to summon their buddies immediately after they walked out of Jade City¡¯s territory. He made generous promises to the neers and thus quickly recruited an army of more than 1,000 soldiers. After that, he led his army to advance toward the Hui Kingdom via the road in the west.


    Before leaving to chase after Chipo, Maid Lotus ordered Han Fen to stay in the city and asked her to prevent the Dragon King from entering the ancestral shrine at all cost. She also left the ¡°Huan¡± sword with Han Fen. Han Fen waited for another two months until she finally met the Dragon King in the capital of the Hui Kingdom, when he was nearly lured into the ancestral shrine by the boy who assassinated the innkeeper.


    Upon learning that, Gu Shenwei asked Han Fen directly, ¡°Where¡¯s this ancestral shrine?¡± Now he had already gotten used to her direct manner.


    ¡°It¡¯s located to the north of the pce, and all the dead kings are buried there.¡± Beyond his expectations, Han Fen had not only answered his question but also provided him some relevant information this time.


    ¡°What trap is there?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but Managing Master warned us not to get close to that ce.¡±


    Gu Shenwei frowned, as he had no idea what Maid Lotus was really up to. He became increasingly suspicious of Han Fen¡¯s intentions but could not help asking her the question that he had asked many people recently. ¡°Have you ever seen a young swordsman who looks like¡­¡±


    ¡°Who looks like a girl, isn¡¯t it?¡± Han Fen interrupted excitedly. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve seen him and nearly mistaken him for some disciple of my own sect. However, he¡¯s not smart enough.¡±


    She pointed at her own head and added with an earnest expression on her face, ¡°He fell into the trap. He was lured into the ancestral shrine and never came out.¡±

 Chapter 446 - Surveillance

    Chapter 446: Surveince


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    ¡°That ¡®little girl¡¯ was lured into the ancestral shrine,¡± said Han Fen. She insisted on calling Chu Nanping a ¡°little girl¡± and did not know any more details about the current situation of the young swordsman.


    Over the past two months, she had obediently followed the directive of her Managing Master and never gotten close to the ancestral shrine situated to the north of the royal pce. She had done nothing else but keep a strict watch over the shrine from morning to night everyday. Therefore she knew all the people inside the shrine and could easily tell a sneaky killer from the priests and handymen at a nce.


    Although she was somewhat crazy just like the other disciples of the New Moon Hall, she was much more observant thanmon people.


    ¡°The little boy was trying to lure you into the shrine. I¡¯ve been spying on this ce all this while and I¡¯ve never seen him before. Upon seeing him tonight, I knew that something was going to happen and secretly followed him. To my surprise, I saw you, Dragon King. I¡¯ve always wanted to meet you, but I didn¡¯t get such a chance back in Jade City. Hee-hee, you¡¯re quite different from what I imagined. I thought you would look as serious and mature as an old man,¡± said Han Fen.


    Gu Shenwei did not know how Maid Lotus had described himself to Han Fen, but this was not an issue for him now. Worrying that Han Fen would start rambling about something irrelevant, he decided to end this topic as fast as he could, so he said, ¡°Well, sooner orter I¡¯ll be an old man.¡±


    Han Fen burst intoughter as if this was the funniest joke she had ever heard. Sheughed so hard that she got tears in her eyes. Gu Shenwei waited for a while, and when herughter subsided, he asked, ¡°I¡¯ve a question. Did you guyse here after the bandits?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we¡¯ve been closely after them all the way, but none of those stupid men discovered us,¡± replied Han Fen.


    ¡°When did you enter this city?¡±


    ¡°At the beginning of the siege, when Chipo sneaked into the city, we followed him.¡±


    <em>¡°All the other people have testified that Chu Nanping entered the city before the siege and lived in the inn before he disappeared for no reason at midnight. However, this Han Fen said that she saw ¡®the little girl¡¯ being lured into the ancestral shrine after the siege. What did Chu Nanping do in the city during those days before he entered the shrine?¡± </em>Gu Shenwei wondered in bewilderment.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Chipo?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± replied Han Fen.


    ¡°Is Maid Lotus still tracking him down?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯re the other disciples of the New Moon Hall?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve been sent out to perform tasks by Managing Master. I don¡¯t know their specific situation.¡±


    As Han Fen was unable to give any detailed answers to his questions now, Gu Shenwei was pretty sure that she had already told him everything that she knew.


    Given this, he let her leave and continue to keep watch on the ancestral shrine.<em>¡°This woman is crazy, but she takes her task very seriously. Besides, she has already told me the whereabouts of Chu Nanping,¡± </em>he thought to himself


    After knowing that Chu Nanping was captured by his enemies, Gu Shenwei thought that the boy was probably doomed but he still felt confident about facing off against his enemies. No matter what, they could notpete with him now, as he had a 1,000-strong guard troop inside the capital and another 1,000-person troop stationed at the border.


    Despite that, he still felt curious about the boy he had been tracking tonight and thought, <em>¡°That boy seems to be an apprentice. However, besides the Golden Roc Fort, only I¡¯m still trying to train young killers.</em>


    <em>¡°The Golden Roc Fort would never send an apprentice to perform such a task outside the fort, so he¡¯s probably one of my apprentices. Why did my own apprentice want to lure me into a trap?</em>


    <em>¡°Han Fen might¡¯ve saved my life, but she also made me lose the chance to find out the truth tonight.¡±</em>


    Now that he knew the whereabouts of his enemies, he decided to act cautiously to avoid alerting them. The next morning, he dispatched his soldiers to upy some important ces in the city on the pretext of strengthening control over the capital. During this process, he inconspicuously surrounded the ancestral shrine.


    A small team of soldiers was ordered to search the ancestral shrine, but they did not discover anything special about this ce. This temple was quite spacious, but there were only 20 or so imperial priests and 50 handymen inside it. They did not find any child or anyone suspicious inside the shrine.


    Gu Shenwei guessed that there might be some hidden passages inside the ancestral shrine, but he could not torture the widely-venerated priests to get the answer. Given that, he decided to find the answer in the royal pce.


    Now, all the important and powerful people of the Hui Kingdom were imprisoned in the pce.


    The first person he summoned in the pce was the old prime minister. Upon seeing the Dragon King, the old man swore that he was forced to serve the queen. ¡°I¡¯ve watched the crown prince grow up. Thete king entrusted him to me just before his death, and I promised him that I would try my best to help the crown prince to ascend the throne. I really feel ashamed of my deeds¡­¡±


    This 70-year-old man sniveled and wept ruefully, showing his deep repentance for his actions. Upon seeing that, Gu Shenwei could not help but think,<em>¡°Compared to the queen of this country, this old man is such a highly sophisticated actor.¡±</em>


    To his disappointment, this old prime minister, who had been in power for decades in the Hui Kingdom and should be very familiar with the ancestral shrine, contended that he had never heard that there was a hidden passage or secret chamber inside the ancestral shrine. ¡°The Hui Kingdom is just a small country with a small poption. We usually don¡¯t build such things. However, no matter how small a country is, the royal family of the country may have some secrets that outsiders don¡¯t know. Unfortunately, I¡¯m just an outsider. The queen may know more about such issues. Thete king trusted her very much.¡±


    By saying so, the old prime minister easily cleared himself of the suspicion. He was well aware that once the crown prince returned to the country, the queen and the little prince would never be back in power. He decided to put all the me on them at this moment, as he did not need to worry about them taking revenge on him in the future.


    Beyong his expectations, the Dragon King was not moved by his acting at all. The young lord ordered his soldiers to send the old prime minister back to his room and keep him under strict supervision. He forbade anyone from talking to the prime minister and only arranged some guards to deliver meals to him everyday.


    After that, Gu Shenwei went to meet with the queen. He discovered that every time he met the queen, her attitude was somewhat different. The queen knew how to enjoy good times very well but found it quite hard to face bad times. After the first two meetings with the Dragon King, she finally came to understand that even if Shangguan Jianyi kept his promise, she would have to figure out a way to keep herself and her son alive before he returned with arge army.


    ¡°Wee back, Dragon King. What can I do for you?¡± She was no longer arrogant or flirtatious and talked in a submissive tone with only a little sarcasm.


    Gu Shenwei could not help wondering whether the crown prince would be a rival to this woman in the future. On second thought, he realized that this fragmentation of the royal family was not necessarily a bad thing for him. He could still make the crown prince the next king, but he did not have to help him in eliminating all his enemies.


    The little prince changedpletely. He was hiding behind his mother throughout the conversation.


    This was the normal reaction of a child under the age of ten in the face of the Dragon King.


    ¡°Is there any hidden passage or secret chamber inside the ancestral shrine?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    The queen was surprised to hear that the Dragon King was interested in the ancestral shrine. ¡°No, I¡¯ve never heard His Majesty mention such a thing, but if you¡¯re looking for a secret chamber, I can let you use the secret chambers inside the royal pce. In fact, they can¡¯t be counted as secret chambers. They¡¯re just secluded rooms known by a few people. As to hidden passages, there¡¯s no such a thing in this city. This isn¡¯t the first time that the capital has been besieged. No one is said to have sneaked out of the city through a hidden passage before,¡± replied the queen.


    ¡°Have you ever heard of Chipo?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    The queen shook her head. Chipo was famous among the bandits in the Western Region, but the royal families had never heard of this name.


    ¡°Did some strangers enter the city during the siege? I need you to think carefully before answering me.¡±


    The queen thought long and hard about the matter and then she lifted up her head while asking, ¡°Is this thing very important to you?¡±


    Upon hearing that, Gu Shenwei thought to himself, <em>¡°It seems that the queen has not yet admitted defeat. She still wants to squeeze every possible benefit out of the negotiation for herself and her son by providing me with the information that I¡¯m interested in. She probably even thinks that she can turn the tables on me by doing this.¡±</em>


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s very important.¡± Gu Shenwei deliberately gave her some hope and tempted her to tell him the truth.


    ¡°You probably have already known this, Dragon King. The Hui Kingdom was not the only one who secretly offered support to the Golden Roc Fort during the war. Many countries were two timing you before the end of the war.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s why I didn¡¯t kill you. You¡¯re just a little bit more hasty than the others. Anyhow, do yourself a favor and don¡¯t trust the Supreme King. He¡¯s not used to sharing his power with anyone else and will feel ufortable when you make a vital contribution to his cause. At that time, he¡¯ll kill you.¡±


    The queen looked at the Dragon King in surprise. She had never expected him to give her such a piece of advice. ¡°Thank you, Dragon King. I¡¯m just a woman and don¡¯t know much about such things. Don¡¯tugh at me.¡±


    After a moment of silence, she added, ¡°One day during the siege, about 10 people suddenly came here to find Shangguan Jianyi. He received them personally and talked with them in private at night. The next day, he left the Hui Kingdom together with them. He said¡­ I mean, Shangguan Jianyi said that they were going to persuade the soldiers from the five countries around the Xiaoyao Lake to betray you.¡± Gu Shenwei was surprised that she told him this thing without asking for anything in return.


    <em>¡°Shangguan Jianyi and about 10 bandits? They can¡¯t stir up much trouble for me. Chipo¡¯s Kung Fu is good, but not superb. When ites to assassination skills, he can hardlypete with an ordinary Golden Roc Fort killer.</em>


    <em>¡°The queen seems to be honest with me now. She even appears to be very willing to cosy up to me. Nevertheless, I still can¡¯t ovee my distrust of her. She seems to have told me lots of important information, but none of these things are convincing enough.</em>


    <em>¡°Maybe I can torture the little prince again to make her tell me the truth. That child is her weakness.</em>


    <em>¡°However, at this moment, I can¡¯t raise any specific question or prove that she has been lying to me all this while. Even if I use the little prince to threaten her, she will possibly lie again,¡± thought Gu Shenwei.</em>


    He carefully observed the queen while gripping the hilt of his saber. He was certain that the queen still had a secret and this secret had nothing to do with Chu Nanping or the other questions he had asked her before. She learned quickly and got increasing better at hiding her true feelings. However, she was still a beginner and would identally reveal her true feelings from time to time.


    After talking with the queen, he left the pce and returned to his camp. He nned to wait another day before sending his troops to upy the ancestral shrine.


    It was not a good idea, especially when he intended to permanently station his troops in the Xiaoyao Lake region and motivate the locals to join his cause against the Golden Roc Fort. He needed the Hui nation¡¯s support.


    The Hui people had not been hard on him when he had thrown their queen and ministers into prison, since those people had deliberately concealed the death of their previous king and nned to make the little prince the next king. However, if he upied a country¡¯s ancestral shrine without giving its people any reasonable exnation, the people would take this as a public humiliation and be filled with righteous indignation.


    Given this, he sincerely hoped that he could solve the problem tonight.


    The only clue he had now was Han Fen, a smiley and crazy girl. She had Maid Lotus¡¯ broken sword in hand and was performing a ridiculous task in the capital of the Hui Kingdom. Gu Shenwei could not deny that she did look like a disciple of the New Moon Hall but he could notpletely trust her, since he remembered clearly that there were some disciples of the New Moon Hall considered Maid Lotus as their enemy. They were determined to kill her and would do anything to achieve that goal.


    Considering that his encampment might be spied upon, Gu Shenwei made some arrangement before his departure. He asked a soldier to pretend to be him and discuss military affairs with Long Fanyun and Wu Zongheng in his tent.


    Upon hearing the Dragon King¡¯s very risky n, both of the two military officials were strongly against his decision. However, they were not Zhong Heng and Fang Wenshi and unable to dissuade him from doing that.


    In fact, Gu Shenwei had not told them his entire n. He never intended to take any risk. Instead, he only nned to create an excuse for the Dragon army to openly search and upy the ancestral shrine tomorrow.


    He spotted Han Fen at about 9 pm. She probably slept during the day and kept watch on the shrine at night, so she looked very energetic at this moment. She crouched on a roof near the shrine and every now and again, she would move to another ce to get a better view of the shrine.


    Gu Shenwei discovered her when she was moving to a new ce but he did not follow her. One hourter, he saw here back to her original position, not alone but being followed by three people.


    Han Fen had stopped the Dragon King from tracking the young killer downst night, and thus had alerted the enemies.


    Gu Shenwei looked coldly at them from afar, not nning to help Han Fen out.

 Chapter 447 - Disease

    Chapter 447: Disease


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The trackers behind Han Fen were three children. They seemed to take this action as a rare experience and all looked very attentive and cautious. They carefully chose the route and covered one another while sneaking behind Han Fen, handling all the details professionally.


    However, they were still children, and at this age, they should devote most of their energies to practicing kung fu and strengthening killing intent rather than participating in actual assassination missions.


    One child had seeded in killing the innkeeperst night, but that man was just an ordinary person, who did not know any Kung Fu. Tonight, these children¡¯s target was a disciple of the New Moon Hall.


    Han Fen still quietly crouched on the roof and attentively looked at the ancestral shrine across the street, seemingly oblivious to the approaching danger.


    Upon seeing that, Gu Shenwei thought to himself, <em>¡°In many ways, Han Fen doesn¡¯t look like a professional killer. Sheughs a lot and is very excitable, curious and extremely ticklish. In Golden Roc Fort, these defects would be considered fatal, and she would be dismissed as an unqualified apprentice.¡±</em>


    That said, he had to admit that he did not know much about the Kung Fu style of the New Moon Hall. He was familiar with only two New Moon Hall disciples¡ªMaid Lotus and Guan Shang, but these two women were actually trained by the Golden Roc Fort and thus were not much influenced by the New Moon Hall.


    Han Fen was going to show him how a real disciple of the New Moon Hall dealt with her trackers.


    The three young assassins quickly took up their positions. One was under the eaves. Another one was lying in wait on the right side of the house, preparing to block and kill the target once she fled. As this ce was rtively spacious, it was the best escape route the target could choose. Thest child was slowly approaching Han Fen from behind.


    Thest child was probably the top dog of the bunch, since it was amon rule that the most skilled killer of the team would be positioned nearest to the target. This child seemed a little supercilious, as he got too close to his target now.


    When he came within seven steps of Han Fen, she still remained still.


    The young assassin held his saber, which had been drawn out a long time ago, gently leaped up and came at his target, like a fox quietly pouncing on a gopher.


    The next moment, he froze.


    From this moment on, the three young assassins kept making mistakes, showing their immaturity.


    A professional killer would always retreat after giving a blow to his or her target regardless of the oue and would never stay there in a trance even if something unexpected happened.


    As for the other killers assisting in the mission, they should immediately tense up when some ident happened, as their enemies were probably lying in ambush somewhere nearby.


    Nevertheless, the two young assassins assisting in this mission looked confused and hesitant at this moment, and one of them even raised up its head to peep at the dazed young killer behind Han Fen.


    Suddenly, another Han Fen popped out. She swiftly jumped on and off the roof, brushing past the three young assassins one by one. While she was moving around, she kept tilting her body and changing direction for every step she took. For on-lookers, it looked like that she was about to fall to the ground at any minute.


    She carried only a broken sword with herself and did not hold any weapon in hand. However, this did not prevent her from killing anyone.


    Gu Shenwei watched the whole process from afar. He felt that it looked somewhat like a mime and puppet show, which was quick, dull, and even a little bit boring. With the quiet night as its backdrop and the moonlight as its lighting, it even looked quite weird.


    Soon enough, Han Fen finished killing the three children and began to collect their dead bodies. She removed the ck clothes that she had left on the roof and revealed a hole there. She threw the corpses down into the house one by one through the hole, while rhythmically shaking her head. It looked as if she was humming a luby to them.


    This was what was called a ¡°cicada shell trick¡±. Han Fen had dug a hole in the part of the roof, where she had stayed. After that, she managed to get out of her outfit and quietly jump down into the room below through the hole. This process could be likened to the skin shedding process of a cicada, and after her departure, her outfit remained in one piece like an old cicada shell. She was so versed in the use of this skill that even Gu Shenwei was unable to detect any w throughout the entire process.


    Both the Golden Roc Fort and the New Moon Hall would force their apprentices or disciples to handle corpses during their training as a way of helping them get used to dead bodies. Han Fen seemed to be exceptionally well-trained in this aspect. Every time she held a corpse, she looked as if she had just received a long-expected new toy.


    After she fit everything in, she waved to the Dragon King.


    He had stayed too long in the same ce, so it was natural for Han Fen to spot him.


    ¡°How long have you been here?¡± asked Han Fen, in a low voice. She sounded somewhat excited as if the Dragon King hade up here to y with her.


    ¡°Not very long,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Hee-hee, Don¡¯t you feel a little bit cold?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°I had only a bowl of cold rice for the afternoon. Now I feel as if my stomach was filled with ice cubes.¡±


    Worrying that Han Fen was going to ramble on and on like this for a long time, Gu Shenwei hurriedly raised a question.


    ¡°Did those three childrene out of the shrine?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, probably. They might¡¯ve sneaked out of the shrine during the day when I was sleeping,¡± replied Han Fen.


    ¡°Are they all dead?¡±


    ¡°Not yet, but they will be dead very soon. They¡¯re poisoned by me and will die within half an hour.¡±


    ¡°I need someone alive.¡±


    ¡°No problem. When someonees out of the shrine again, I¡¯ll capture him or her alive for you.¡±


    ¡°No need. You can just bring one of the three children back to life.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right.¡±


    With these words, Han Fen went down into the house through the hole in the roof. Gu Shenwei spent some time searching the surroundings before entering the house. He had stayed here for a long time and was sure that there was no ambush. However, he could not help doing so, as this was one of his old habits.


    Upon getting into the dark room through the hole, he was shocked by two unexpected facts.


    Firstly, it was not an empty room. A middle-aged couple was sleeping so soundly in bed that even a deafening thunder could not wake them up. Obviously, they must have been fed with some knockout powder.


    Secondly, Han Fen had not yet saved any young assassin¡¯s life. She managed to make the three of them sit on chairs side by side and unmasked all of them. She carefully observed each one of them and then frowned, hesitant to make a decision. Upon seeing the Dragon King, she hurriedly asked, ¡°Which one to save? This one looks honest, this one is pretty and this one is also quite cute. s, it¡¯s so difficult.¡±


    <em>¡°If you don¡¯t get started as soon as possible, you won¡¯t be able to save anyone of them. How could Maid Lotus tolerate such a disciple and even send her to protect me?¡± </em>Gu Shenwei mocked in his heart and then pointed at the child nearest to himself.


    Upon seeing that, Han Fen felt much relieved. She applied something to the boy¡¯s nose with flickering fingers, stuffed a pill into his mouth and then massaged his jaw and throat to help him swallow the pill. Halfway through the process, she suddenly thought of something and asked, ¡°To what extent do you want him to recover?¡±


    ¡°As long as he can speak,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°What? Oh, no. I¡¯ve just wasted a Hundred-herbs Pill. I¡¯ve done too much for him. He¡¯ll be alive for another two or three days. Is that alright?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s alright.¡±


    After getting her work done, Han Fen drew aside and then stared straight at the Dragon King as if he were a statue on disy.


    ¡°You get out and continue to keep watch on the enemies. Alert me as soon as you find something unusual.¡± Gu Shenwei gave orders to Han Fen directly, as this was the most effective way tomunicate with her.


    Han Fen nodded solemnly. After that, she jumped onto the beam and then out of the room.


    The room was dark, and Gu Shenwei could only vaguely see things inside it. He made a tour of the room to make sure that this was not a trap and the couple in the bed were justmon people.


    The next moment, when the young assassin woke up, he was startled to see his partners lying deathly still beside him. After that, he was even more shocked to see the person standing in front of him.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± asked Gu Shenwei, in a calm tone.


    ¡°Ban Tu,¡± replied the boy.


    ¡°Do you know who I am?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°And you were a beggar in a small town before meeting me.¡±


    The boy nodded.


    Gu Shenwei could hardly remember Ban Tu¡¯s face, but he clearly remembered this name. This boy had been apprenticed to him three years ago, and now he was about 11 or 12 years old.


    ¡°What makes you betray me?¡±


    ¡°I want to be a real killer, and only the Golden Roc Fort can make my dreame true.¡±


    Upon hearing that, Gu Shenwei could not help sighing in his heart, <em>¡°It was I who inspired this child to try to be a killer, but now this thing is used against me.¡±</em>¡°Who told you this?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    When he was expecting the boy to tell him that it was Hu Shining, the retired training tutor of the Carvewood Academy in the Golden Roc Fort, the boy surprised him. ¡°He, He¡¯s the best killer in the entire world. You can¡¯t turn us into real killers, Dragon King. You¡¯ve just received a few years¡¯ training in the Stone Castle, and all you¡¯ve mastered is no more than a superficial knowledge of assassination. Only he can help us be professional killers.¡±


    Upon hearing that, Gu Shenwei thought to himself, <em>¡°This child is pretty straightforward and assertive. It sounds like he even has the courage to look down upon me now.</em>


    <em>¡°Although he¡¯s just a boy of about 10, it¡¯s still impressive that this man was able to convert him sopletely.¡± </em>With this in mind, he could not help admiring this mysterious man for his ability. ¡°Who¡¯s this man?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°He¡­¡± Ban Tu stuttered. He was not trying to conceal anything from the Dragon King. It was just that he also felt bewildered.


    Upon seeing that, Gu Shenwei added, ¡°Shangguan Jianyi?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Shangguan Jianyi. He¡¯s the best killer in the entire world, but you, who have thousands of soldiers now, have already lost all your killer instincts. You even dare not to face off against a real killer now. Killing is a disease. If one wants to be a top-notch killer, he or she has to be desperately ill first. Once you cure your own disease, you won¡¯t be a killer any more,¡± said Ban Tu.


    <em>¡°What a strange theory. It sounds somewhat simr to the doctrine of the New Moon Hall¡ªTo get strong, one has to get crazy first. A child like Ban Tu could never think of such a thing by himself, so he must¡¯ve learned it from someone else. It looks like that this ¡®Shangguan Jianyi¡¯ really put a lot of effort into converting these children.</em>


    <em>¡°Besides, what the boy has said must be intended for me. Whichever of them woke up would tell me the same thing,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Where¡¯s he?¡± he asked Ban Tu.


    ¡°I¡¯ll never tell you,¡± Ban Tu said assertively, ¡°Killers kill people and are always ready to be killed. I¡¯m not afraid to die.¡±


    ¡°What about the others? Hu Shining, Chu Nanping and the other apprentices,¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°They¡¯re too stupid to be real killers. They¡¯re going to rot in jail,¡± replied Ban Tu.


    Upon hearing that, he knew that he could not get any information out of this boy anymore. Ban Tu had already been totally converted by his enemy. He took out a pill and made the boy swallow it, while saying, ¡°Well, as you¡¯re not afraid.¡± Soon enough, he saw the boy close his eyes again.


    He thought that he had collected enough information. Now he knew where he should go to find his enemy. This enemy made use of a young apprentice to deliver a message to him and invite him to go into the ancestral shrine.


    He went out to the roof and said to Han Fen, ¡°Give me your sword.¡±


    Han Fen immediately handed Maid Lotus¡¯ sword to him. Gu Shenwei did not draw the sword out. He just nced at the sword hilt under the moonlight and then returned it to Han Fen.


    ¡°You and I will break into the ancestral shrine together, and you just have to protect me from behind,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Great,¡± replied Han Fen.


    If it had been someone else, he or she would have challenged this hasty decision of the Dragon King. However, Han Fen did not appear confused by the sudden decision in the least bit and epted his order without any hesitation. After keeping watch on the ancestral shrine for nearly two months, she felt bored and had an overwhelming urge to fight.


    The two of them set off for the ancestral shrine one after the other, leaving the three corpses behind in the house, which woulde as a shock to the couple when they woke up the next morning.


    The enemy knew the Dragon King very well. When the others firmly believed that the Dragon King was a man who would never yield to an impulse, he passed on a provocative message to him through the apprentice: Let¡¯s duke it out as professional killers.


    Gu Shenwei decided to ept the challenge not just because he was seized with a sudden impulse but also because now he was confident that he could defeat this enemy.


    He was also certain that the enemy was not Shangguan Jianyi.


    This enemy had revealed his real identity to him through the sentence ¡°Killing is a disease¡±. Gu Shenwei was sure that this sentence was from that person. Back then, when he had first heard of this strange theory, that person had still been locked up in the dungeon and felt happy for Shangguan Ru upon hearing that she had cured her ¡°disease¡±. He was 100-percent sure that at that time, this person would have never wanted to be ¡°desperately ill¡±.


    Now, Gu Shenwei also realized what the queen¡¯s deepest secret was. That woman had fallen in love with this man from the Golden Roc Fort and seriously believed that he would help her out.


    Shangguan Yun, the Third Young Master of the Golden Roc Fort and the King of Xiaowan, had left his troops behind ande all the way to challenge the Dragon King to a fight.

 Chapter 448 - A Falling Chamber

    Chapter 448: A Falling Chamber


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei and Han Fen sneaked into the ancestral shrine but found no trap there¡ªno killers were lying in ambush and there was no hidden passage or secret chamber.


    The Dragon King did not find Chu Nanping, Hu Shining or any of his apprentices either.


    Twenty soldiers from the Dragon army were standing watch at the main entrance of the shrine and patrolling in shifts. The priests and handymen inside the shrine were asleep and the entire ce was very quiet.


    Gu Shenwei and Han Fen circled around the ce and searched it twice while avoiding the soldiers, but they found nothing suspicious about this ce.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly realized something. <em>¡°I nearly fell into Shangguan Yun¡¯s trap. He deliberately sent the three apprentices out to irritate me. He wants to spur me into sending my troops to raid the shrine, as this would definitely stir up resentment among the people of the Hui Kingdom.</em>


    <em>¡°Not only did Shangguan Yun deceive me, he also deluded Maid Lotus into believing that there was a trap inside the ancestral shrine. She even ordered Han Fen to keep watch on it.</em>


    <em>¡°He must¡¯ve spotted Han Fen a long time ago and asked his subordinates to sneak in an out of the shrine from time to time to make her believe that this ce was indeed very suspicious.</em>


    <em>¡°As for Han Fen, she might¡¯ve never thought of this possibility. Perhaps she even doesn¡¯t care much about whether there¡¯s a trap inside the shrine. She¡¯s just performing a task given by her Managing Master, which is to remind me that this ce is dangerous and to protect and assist me after we meet.</em>


    <em>¡°Shangguan Yun must¡¯ve assumed that once I knew that he was hiding inside the ancestral shrine, I would send my troops to demolish the building. He never expected that I would take the risk of breaking into the shrine on my own. It turns out that I¡¯ve made a wise decision tonight.</em>


    <em>¡°When ites to scheming, everyone seems to have different knacks. As for Shangguan Yun¡¯s style, I need to spend some time figuring it out,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei.


    Although he always believed that human nature was evil, he still could not help but feel surprised at Shangguan Yun¡¯s change.


    He clearly remembered the night when he had first met with that man. At that time, Shangguan Yun had been locked up in the dungeon and looked at the moon through the window with a smile on his face, behaving like a poet. He was nothing like his father except for their uncanny resemnce. He cared about his little sister and despised merciless killers. He was angry and sad about the misfortunes of his friend and his lover. He even tried to assassinate his ruthless father.


    Back then, Gu Shenwei had often thought that Shangguan Ru would have grown up like her Third Brother, since the values they shared were so irreconcble with the life in the Golden Roc Fort. He had never expected Shangguan Yun to suddenly be a totally different person. Shangguan Yun had once been quite a rebel of his family. He had sworn that he would have never unsheathed his saber, but now he suddenly became the most trusted son of the Supreme King.


    <em>¡°Now, Shangguan Yun is the King of Xiaowan. Why did he even bother to take the risk ofing here personally? Besides, he has spent two months setting up such an intricate trap. Did he just want me to lose the support of the Hui nation?¡± </em>Gu Shenwei wondered.


    Once again he felt confused.


    Han Fen turned out to be a good partner except for one thing¡ªshe was too talkative. The moment she noticed that the Dragon King had let his guard down, she automatically dered that her task had ended and approached him saying, ¡°This shrine is not so spacious as it appears to be on the outside. It would be better if we came here during the day.¡±


    If Gu Shenwei hade here with Maid Lotus, he would have discussed the current situation with her. Unfortunately, now he only had Han Fen. It would cost him a lot of time to rify the situation for her, let alone seeking advice from her.


    ¡°Come with me,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He had already decided what to do next.


    Han Fen seemed to be able to switch freely between being a crazy woman and professional killer. The moment she heard the Dragon King¡¯smand, she immediately became a quiet killer and retreated into the shadows several steps away, faithfully guarding the blind sides of the Dragon King.


    During his previous visits to the royal pce, Gu Shenwei had always entered through the main entrance, but this time, he and Han Fen sneaked in.


    When they broke into the queen¡¯s bedchamber, she was sleeping together with the little prince, who was almost 10 years old. The boy was experiencing a nightmare and would scream assionally.


    The queen slept lightly, and every time her son screamed, she would subconsciously pat him a few times tofort him.


    Suddenly, the little prince sat up and lifted up his head to look at the blurry figure in front of the bed. He then drifted back into sleep for a while before his reason told him that what he had just seen was not a dream.


    He nudged his mother awake.


    The moment the queen opened her eyes, she was filled with uncontroble rage. She was angry that the Dragon King humiliated her increasingly strongly each time, as if she were just a lowly ve woman in the pce.


    ¡°You¡¯re so unworthy of your title, Dragon King,¡± said the queen grumpily. She had decided to give in to the Dragon King but now, as anger rose in her, she totally forgot about the decision she had made during the day. ¡°You¡¯re even unworthy of being called a man. Go out, please, if you still have some respect for thete king of the Hui nation.¡±


    ¡°Respect?¡± Gu Shenwei retorted in a sarcastic tone. He had wasted a lot of time in this country because this woman had provided him with a lot of distorted information. ¡°When you hooked up with him, your husband was still alive, wasn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯re you talking about?¡± the queen sat up abruptly and shouted. Although she was dressed in a proper gown, she still used her nket to cover herself up.


    ¡°Who killed the previous king, you or him?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about.¡± The queen had softened her voice this time, but she had not yet given up resisting.


    ¡°Every time you mentioned the name Shangguan Jianyi, you looked somewhat uneasy. I guess that¡¯s because you have a special feeling for this man and feel quite unnatural to use another man¡¯s name to refer to him,¡± said Gu Shenwei, while thinking, <em>¡°Shangguan Yun probably used his uncle¡¯s name to introduce himself during his talks with my apprentices and the ministers of the Hui Kingdom, and only the queen knew his real name.¡±</em>


    Gu Shenwei had felt that something was not quite right about the queen since the very beginning, but had never thought of such a possibility. He just did not have a sharp nose for this kind of thing like Xu Yanwei did. If Xu Yanwei had been here, she would have figured out the thing between the queen and the mysterious man a long time ago.


    ¡°So you know everything?¡± asked the queen, vigntly.


    ¡°Almost everything. Now, tell me, how did the previous king die?¡± asked Gu Shenwei. In fact, he did not care much about the death of the old king. He just wanted to use this as a conversation starter to get the queen to speak out the truth.


    ¡°It¡¯s none of my business. I didn¡¯t kill him,¡± said the queen, hastily. By her reaction, Gu Shenwei could tell that the old king must have been murdered.


    ¡°So why did he kill the king?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°The king was senile and reacted nonchntly to his proposal, and¡­ he did this for me, so you can also put the me on me. I hate that old fool¡¯s guts. I¡¯m happy that he¡¯s dead,¡± the queen blurted out.


    ¡°Mother,¡± the little prince said quietly. He was pampered but also smart. More importantly, he still had some feelings for his own father and could hardly ept his mother¡¯s attitude toward thete king.


    ¡°Cover up your ears,¡± The queen ordered coldly.


    Just like before, the little prince behaved very obediently upon hearing that order. He pressed his hands onto his ears and closed his eyes. He knew when to behave himself.


    ¡°He¡¯s the only savior of the Hui Kingdom,¡± said the queen. Upon learning that the Dragon King had already known everything, she began to speak truthfully to him. ¡°You¡¯re no match for him. No one in this world is. You want to kill me, don¡¯t you. Go ahead and kill me now, but do yourself a favor, Dragon King. Spend more time arranging a way out for yourself.¡±


    Upon hearing that, Gu Shenwei could not help but exim in his heart, <em>¡°Wow, Shangguan Yun is capable of making all his followers stay faithful to him, such as the queen, his friend, Madman Wu in Hope Alley and even my apprentices who have known him for just two months. Even Tie Hanfeng, myte Master Shifu, who was cynical toward almost everything in the world, always harbored a deep respect toward this Third Young Master.¡±</em>


    ¡°Where¡¯s he?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    <em>¡°Shangguan Yun has disappeared for two months and must¡¯ve returned to the capital of the Hui Kingdom by now. Even though he hasn¡¯s brought back arge army, he won¡¯t easily give up his n against me,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei.


    The queen remained silent for a long time, seemingly determined not to betray her lover. ¡°He,¡± she intoned, elongating the word, ¡°is right here.¡±


    Before she finished her sentence, two killers popped out; one swooshed down from the ceiling, and the other came out from under her bed. They coordinated their actions very well with each other and came at the Dragon King almost at the same time.


    They were not young apprentices but professional Golden Roc killers.


    Gu Shenwei drew out his Five Peaks Saber and struck it at the killer from the ceiling.


    No matter how well coordinated their were, the killer who came out from under the bed would inevitably move slower than the one from the ceiling. As such, Gu Shenwei focused on fighting against thetter and left the former to his partner.


    Han Fen proved her skill and loyalty. When she was serious, she was fit to rece the position of Maid Lotus. Immediately after the Dragon King struck with his sword, she slipped into the room through a crack between a door and its frame, attacking the other killer with her ws.


    Both of the two pairs were busily engaged in fighting, but none of them made a sound.


    The queen got butterflies in her stomach as she watched them fighting. The little prince widened his eyes, his cheeks flushed with excitement, but before he could start to cheer the Golden Roc killers on, one of them had already been defeated by the Dragon King.


    After exchanging four or five moves with the Dragon King, he retreated and then quicklyunched the second round of attack. However, he only ended up brushing past the Dragon King. The first two steps he took looked alright, but after that he was staggering until he bumped into a wall and copsed to the ground.


    By that time, Han Fen had won her fight, too, but the oue of this fight was not that clear to outsiders.


    At first nce, Han Fen seemed to be at a disadvantage, since her opponent was brandishing his saber with an increasing speed. Nevertheless, after a while, even the queen who did not know any kung fu discovered that the killer was just struggling to protect himself. He was unable to see the target at all.


    The New Moon Hall disciples fought and killed their opponents in a way which was very different from that of all the other sects. Gu Shenwei knew some of their tricks, but the queen and the little prince could only perceive Han Fen¡¯s kung fu techniques as some evil enchantment.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get close to us,¡± the queen shouted.


    ¡°It seems that he won¡¯te here to save you. Am I right?¡± Gu Shenwei stepped forward and ced the tip of his saber on the edge of the queen¡¯s bed.


    ¡°You won¡¯t die well.¡± The queen issued a curse and then activated a device, trying to make her prophecye true.


    The next moment, the floor shook violently as if it were going to be turn upside down.


    Gu Shenwei and Han Fen nced around, searching for the enemy everywhere, but found no one.


    Their feet were still on the ground, but they felt that they were falling. Gu Shenwei had seen many secret chambers which could sink into the ground, but none of them were thisrge. The entire room, including the walls and the ceiling, now had sunk into the ground. The room still remained the same except for one thing¡ª its door and windows were all blocked up.


    As the room began to fall, the little prince threw himself into his mother¡¯s arms and screamed with fear, but the queen smiled. Although now she was trapped together with the Dragon King, she was confident that her lover woulde to her rescue and kill the Dragon King very soon.


    The queen¡¯s smiling face quickly disappeared into theplete darkness, and after a while, the room stopped falling,


    Everyone inside the room remained silent except the screaming little prince.


    When the little prince finally quieted down, a rxed voice sounded from outside. ¡°ve Huan, it¡¯s been a while.¡±


    ¡°I still can¡¯t see you inside this dark room,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Take your time. I¡¯ll light up the room for us very soon.¡±


    The next moment, when a small oilmp on the wall was lit, Gu Shenwei discovered that there was no one in front of the light.


    Beside the light, there was a small window. It was opened slowly, revealing a smiling face. ¡°It was you who used to see me behind bars. Now, our positions have switched.¡±


    Shangguan Yun¡¯s face had not changed at all.

 Chapter 449 - True Colors

    Chapter 449: True Colors


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Yun had nearly all the typical facial features of the Shangguan family. He had a long thin face and sunken eyes, and his facial skin tone was slightly dark. In Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes, such a face was only suitable for an expression of indifference or cruelty, and a charming smile should never appear on it.


    Nevertheless, in the queen¡¯s eyes, this was the most handsome face in the entire world, and the innocent smile did not look incongruous with the face in the least bit.


    ¡°Kill him now,¡± shouted the queen while sliding backward and further into her bed.


    ¡°Chop off his hands and feet first,¡± added the little prince, while pointing one of his remaining fingers at the Dragon King. With Shangguan Yun backing him up, he looked much more confident than before.


    ¡°Don¡¯t rush, let¡¯s take our time,¡± Shangguan Yun replied, his eyes still fixed upon the Dragon King. When he had first met the Dragon King several years ago, who had been ve Huan at that time, he had not shown so much interest in this young man.


    ¡°Don¡¯t rush? He¡¯s a cruel beast and will kill me and my son at any time,¡± said the queen, anxiously. Being trapped in the same room with the Dragon King, she could not feel at ease.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my beauty. Now you¡¯re his protective talisman, he won¡¯t harm you guys. Isn¡¯t that right, Dragon King?¡±


    Shangguan Yun particrly emphasized the words ¡°Dragon King¡± but did not sound sycophantic or sarcastic. He talked as if he was greeting an old friend. Even if this friend had just gotten a rise in his status, he still had the right to sweet talk him.


    ¡°I can¡¯t make such a promise, and maybe I¡¯ll chop off a few more fingers.¡± Gu Shenwei said while his saber was only a few meters away from the queen and the little prince.


    Stung by the harshness of the Dragon King¡¯s words, the little prince burrowed into his quilt.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s alright. Just a few fingers. No one will die from that,¡± Shangguan Yun said, pretending not to understand the irony.


    ¡°What¡¯re you talking about?¡± the queen got a little pissed off and said crossly. All this while, she had been putting herself in danger and waiting for Shangguan Yun with pious gratitude. Beyond her expectations, when he finally showed up, he did not show much concern about her. ¡°What do you even bother talking with him? Didn¡¯t you say that you could kill him with just one move?¡± asked the queen.


    ¡°Oh, my beauty is impatient. She¡¯s always short-tempered,¡± Shangguan Yun said unhurriedly and even a little bit sarcastically.


    Despite that, he still pushed the door open and came into the room.


    The queen¡¯s bedchamber was well designed. It consisted of two parts, and when the back part of the chamber sunk into the ground, the front part would remain intact and in its original position. All the doors and windows of the back part would be blocked up when it was below the surface of the floor, but once it fell into its position, a hidden door of the room could be opened and serve as the only entrance to the room.


    When Shangguan Yun was only halfway through the door, Han Fen, who had been hiding behind the Dragon King all this while,unched a surprise attack on him. She moved so fast, and even the me of the small oilmp on the wall flickered because of the sudden airflow. Han Fen kept rapidly swishing her hands, and at the same time, some light-colored powder began drifting out of her sleeves, mouth and hair.


    However, it was herself who copsed to the ground the next moment.


    Shangguan Yun continued to walk into the room, while slightly lifting up his right hand to block the powder. He used his Internal Strength to scatter most of it away while the rest drifted into Han Fen¡¯s nostrils.


    ¡°I hope that she¡¯ll be fine. Why do beautiful women always act so hastily,¡± said Shangguan Yun.


    He did not close the door behind him, so Gu Shenwei could see a long narrow passage outside. He was not worried about Han Fen and was pretty sure that she was just lying unconscious at the door for now. He was certain that as a disciple of the New Moon Hall, she was already immune to all the toxins produced by her own sect, even if it was a lethal toxin formon people.


    The queen was excited to see her lover knock the evil woman down with just a movement of his hand, although she could not figure out how he managed to do that.


    <em>¡°Shangguan Yun has learned many different types of kung fu. He practiced saber skills in the Golden Roc Fort during his childhood. When he turned 13, he swore not to draw out his saber again and went traveling in jianghu. He learned many other kung fu skills during those few years. When he returned to Jade City and joined the Joy Pavilion, his kung fu levels were further improved.</em>


    <em>¡°However, only an exceptionally strong Internal Strength could enable him to block the power with just one movement of his hand. That means he has learned Wayless Qigong,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    Instead of taking the chance tounch a sneak attack on Shangguan Yun, he said, ¡°Congrattions.¡±


    In the Golden Roc Fort, the Supreme King had exclusive use of Wayless Qigong. Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Fei had once stolen the Wayless Book from the Six Kill Temple and stealthily practiced it. Shangguan Yun had always known the whereabouts of the book and even offered Shangguan Ru this information, but he had never been allowed to practice it. Now, he was able to use it adeptly, which meant that his father had already permitted him to practice it.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that great. It¡¯s nothing more than another shackle on me,¡± said Shangguan Yun.


    He did not like Wayless Qigong for a reason. To practice this Qigong, he had to kill people and make himself a lot of enemies. In the meantime, he had to face the inevitable consequence of practicing it, which was the self-destruction process. During such a period of vulnerability, he would be unable to protect himself from his enemies.


    Gu Shenwei seemed to be infected by Shangguan Yun¡¯s rxed attitude. He inserted his Five Peaks Saber back into its sheath and stopped being so tense.


    Upon seeing that these two men, who had a dozen years¡¯ difference in their ages, suddenly gave up confrontation, the queen felt bewildered. She put on airs and said, ¡°Hey, this is my bedroom.¡± Now, she looked as arrogant as she had appeared when she had first met with the Dragon King.


    ¡°Please give us more time, Beautiful. We¡¯ll be done very soon,¡± said Shangguan Yun.


    He always called the queen ¡°Beautiful¡± and made no attempt to conceal his affection toward her, so much so that even Gu Shenwei started feeling very ufortable and experienced goosebumps from time to time. However, the queen clearly enjoyed it very much. ¡°Be quick. I don¡¯t want any other men to see me like this,¡± said the queen.


    Shangguan Yun smilingly nodded and said, ¡°I think the Dragon King will never forget about this moment.¡±


    It¡¯s hard to tell whether he wasplimenting or mocking her. The queen was stunned at first and then quickly chose to perceive it as a nicepliment with a nice rxed smile on her face.


    Shangguan Yun managed to pay equal attention to all the people present, a deep boredom hidden behind his cordial attitude. Even in the face of a dangerous enemy, the Dragon King, he still did not appear particrly cautious.


    ¡°You¡¯re so talkative. It¡¯s not the style of Golden Roc killers,¡± said Gu Shenwei. Golden Roc killers never wasted their time chatting with their targets. For them, killing was just a task toplete and nothing more.


    ¡°So, now you can believe that I¡¯m not nning to kill anyone here,¡± Shangguan Yun said and spread out his arms as a way of showing that he had no hostility toward the Dragon King.


    ¡°Shangguan, you¡¯ve promised,¡± interrupted the queen, anxiously. She got confused, as it was Shangguan Yun who had asked her to fool the Dragon King into this chamber. Shangguan Yun had told her that the Dragon King was a coward, who seldom separated himself from his troops, since this coward needed his army¡¯s protection. He had also told her that only in this chamber could they kill the Dragon King without causing any trouble to her country.


    ¡°You look more attractive when you get anxious, beautiful. However, you¡¯ll lose your charm when you ramble on too much,¡± Shangguan Yun said softly, with a slight twinge of reproach.


    ¡°What¡¯re you saying?¡± The queen was furious and continued, ¡°I¡¯ve given you the entire Hui Kingdom and even myself¡­¡±


    Shangguan Yun came to her bed and gently cradled her head in his arms in front of the Dragon King, while saying, ¡°I know, so I give you my heart, beautiful. Pleasure is transitory like a sweet dream, and once we wake up from the dream, we had to face the harsh reality. Well, let¡¯s stay in the dream forever.¡±


    With these words, he cupped her head with both hands and slowly put it back on the her pillow. The queeny peacefully on her bed and looked as if she were convinced by her lover and fast asleep now.


    The little prince was still hiding under the quilt and oblivious to the fact that his mother was already dead.


    ¡°Now, no one can interrupt our conversations,¡± Shangguan Yun said smilingly and in a somewhat apologetic tone.


    At this moment, Gu Shenwei realized why both Shangguan Fa and Zhang Ji favored Shangguan Yun and waited so many years for him to grow mature enough to be the sessor to the Supreme King. At the same time, he also had a rough idea of what Shangguan Yun was going to say to him.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s talk,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°I owe you a favor,¡± said Shangguan Yun.


    ¡°I was not just helping you at that time. I had my own purpose and I¡¯ve achieved what I wanted, so you don¡¯t owe me anything.¡±


    Several years ago, Gu Shenwei had promised to help Parro Chen and Madman Wu flee from Jade City in exchange for Shangguan Yun telling Shangguan Ru the whereabouts of the Wayless Book. He had kept his promise to help Parro Chen and Madman Wu, although they got assassinated in the end.


    For Shangguan Yun, Parro Chen was the love of his life and Madman Wu his best friend. Their death had severed all his emotional connection with the world, and since then he began to think about returning to the Golden Roc Fort and bing a typical man of the Shangguan family, who was cruel and merciless.


    Reality was harsh and ugly, but he had to face it.


    ¡°Well, I still owe you a favor and I have to repay it,¡± said Shangguan Yun.


    ¡°Alright,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Shangguan Yun remained silent for a while and then shook his head, while saying, ¡°I thought that I would have a chance to repay it today, but now I know that I was too optimistic. Where¡¯s your assistant? Ask him or her to walk out of the shadows. Let¡¯s talk together.¡±


    <em>¡°The Dragon King remains calm and collected all the time even when he¡¯s trapped underground. He must¡¯ve prepared for such a situation beforehand,¡± </em>thought Shangguan Yun.


    ¡°Go ahead. We¡¯re listening,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Come on, Dragon King. Don¡¯t get so defensive. Alright, alright, l¡¯ll get straight to the point. The Golden Roc Fort hopes to make peace with you. We want to work together with you and share power andnd with you in Western Region.¡±


    Although he had already predicted this, Gu Shenwei still could not help but snort upon hearing Shangguan Yun¡¯s words. He could serve either the Central in or Nond for the benefits or make peace with any force in Western Region except the Golden Roc Fort.


    He believed that both the Supreme King and Shangguan Yun knew why this was impossible.


    However, Shangguan Yun seemed to be very serious about this proposal and continued to persuade the Dragon King, ¡°You want to avenge your father¡¯s death, but Dragon King, the Golden Roc Fort was just hired toplete this task. We did this for the money not for some personal grudge against your father Yang Zheng. ¡±


    Without interference from the queen, Shangguan Yun gradually sounded differently. Now, he was calm and sincere and speaking with respect for the Dragon King, treating him as an equal.


    ¡°The Golden Roc Fort will try all possible means to aplish its assassination tasks, but we also have to stick to some principles. We¡¯re running a business and thus have to keep our credibility. We never divulge any personal information about our clients, even when they be our enemies,¡± said Shangguan Yun.


    Gu Shenwei was also clear about this fact. The Golden Roc Fort had stuck to this principle for so many years that no one would worry about their personal information being divulged to any third party when they hired the fort for assassination tasks. The Golden Roc Fort did not even need to emphasize this principle of service in front of its clients now.


    ¡°We¡¯ve stuck to this principle for more than 100 years, but now, we can make an exception for you, Dragon King. The Supreme King can tell you who hired us to wipe out your entire family, and all you need to do is to agree to my proposal,¡± said Shangguan Yun.


    Gu Shenwei would have probably taken this proposal into consideration, if he had never practiced the hatred-enhancing Death Scripture or had the three-year humiliating experience serving the Golden Roc Fort as a ve boy. Even now, this proposal was quite appealing to him. After all, what he wanted was the dominance over Western Region. It was eptable for him to put his revenge n aside and work together with his enemy temporarily.


    Fang Wenshi once had such a strategy but never gotten a chance to implement it.


    <em>¡°Shangguan Yun is indeed skilled at winning the trust of others and discovering the needs of others. He¡¯s always able to find out what they care most about.</em>


    <em>¡°If Fang Wenshi knows that I refuse to make an alliance with the Golden Roc Fort because of my personal hatred toward the fort, he¡¯ll probably be very disappointed,¡±</em>Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    After a moment of indecision, Gu Shenwei realized that he could not let Shangguan Yun gain control of the conversation, so he started another topic by saying, ¡°You¡¯ve been away from this city for two months. What were you busy with those days?¡±


    ¡°Well, just a mere trifle,¡± Shangguan Yun replied smilingly but gave no further exnation.


    Upon hearing this, Gu Shenwei knew immediately that it was definitely no small matter. In the meantime, he also came to realize that the so-called alliance proposal was probably just something that Shangguan Yun had made up to deceive him.

 Chapter 450 - A Death Announcement

    Chapter 450: A Death Announcement


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Yun had sessfully persuaded many people in the past. He did not care so much about asional failures.


    Gu Shenwei felt he had heard enough and the best way to say no to Shangguan Yun was drawing out his Dragon Head Sword.


    Shangguan Yun was worthy enough to be pitted against his swordcraft.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that you intend topete for hegemony in Western Region, so I suggest this alliance between us. Please think twice about it, Dragon King. If we continue to fight against each other, we¡¯ll would only let the third party reap the benefits from the wars between us. Besides, we¡¯re never each other¡¯s biggest enemy,¡± said Shangguan Yun, sincerely and logically, although he had already noticed how impatient the Dragon King was.


    If you had brought this up two months ago, I would¡¯ve probably taken it into consideration, but now¡­ You¡¯ve been to the Land of Fragrance, haven¡¯t you?¡± asked the Dragon King.


    He was pretty sure that Shangguan Yun, the King of Xiaowan, had not been waiting here to form an alliance with him or been nning to secretly instigate a rebellion against him all this while. He deduced that Shangguan Yun must have taken a trip to visit his little sister in the Land of Fragrance.


    ¡°No one is more loyal to you than her,¡± sighed Shangguan Yun, his eyes contained a hint of mncholy.


    This was the first time that he had expressed his disappointment at the failure to persuade someone.


    ¡°She¡¯s not loyal to me or anyone. She just got tired of everything about the Golden Roc Fort.¡± Gu Shenwei exined.


    It was not because of Shangguan Ru¡¯s loyalty that he had decided to leave the Land of Fragrance in her care. Shangguan Ru was the Supreme King¡¯s daughter and a very proud person. She was always ready to receive the homage of others but disdained to give her allegiance to anyone. She just kept feeling homeless since being banished from the fort by her father.


    She had never sworn an oath of loyalty to the Dragon King and thus could never betray him. She took the Land of Fragrance as a property entrusted to her and was always disposed to return it to its rightful owner.


    After hearing the Dragon King¡¯s exnation, Shangguan Yun, who wore a smile on his face all the time, suddenly looked solemn and said, ¡°You know her better than I do. No one in our family is able to understand her change, but on second thought, I think that she has never changed. She just needs more time to figure everything out.¡±


    ¡°Are you suggesting that she¡¯s just like you?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    Shangguan Yun had once hated his father¡¯s guts, but now he was willing to forgive and even assist his father.


    ¡°No, Dragon King. You know the Golden Roc Fort is on the brink of copse, and this is not because of you. Just as it says in the Wayless Book, ¡®as a person gets increasingly stronger and kills more and more people, one day, he or she will have more enemies than friends. At that time, when even his or her own friends start fearing this person, this person is doomed¡¯,¡± said Shangguan Yun, in a quite harsh but caring tone, as if the Dragon King were also one of his close rtives. ¡°You believe it or not. I¡¯ve told my little sister these words as well.


    ¡°I never intend to save the dying Golden Roc Fort. I just don¡¯t want to see too many people going down with it, such as residents of Jade City and you, the Dragon King. Now, you still have time to save yourself, and I¡¯m more than willing to help you out, as a way of atoning for my family¡¯s sins.¡±


    Gu Shenwei discovered in surprise that Shangguan Yun¡¯s words had somehow inhibited his impulse to kill. Moreover, he found that Shangguan Yun was able to intrigue him into mulling over those ideas once he rxed his vignce, even if he did not believe or ept them.


    It was then that he truly understood why this man could persuade his apprentices to betray him. It was just a piece of cake for Shangguan Yun to convert such a bunch of simple-minded teenagers.


    Gu Shenwei nced at the queen in the bed and the two killers on the ground, while thinking, <em>¡°Shangguan Yun never intends to treat them kindly. In his eyes, they¡¯re nothing but sacrificialmbs in his n. So are my young apprentices who died during the previous actions. I have to pin the me for their death on him.¡±</em>¡°Where¡¯re the other people locked up by you?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°They¡¯re just outside. To show my sincerity to you, Dragon King, I didn¡¯t kill anyone of them.¡± Shangguan Yun said, as he looked back at the passage behind him.


    <em>¡°Shangguan Yun probably have spent most of the past two months traveling back and forth between the Hui Kingdom and the Land of Fragrance. It¡¯s not easy to avoid being detected by sentries of the Dragon army along the way while traveling.¡±</em>


    Gu Shenwei thought to himself while secretly channeling his strength and killing intent. All this while, he had been waiting for the best chance to attack, but it kept eluding him. Shangguan Yun talked on and on, seemingly oblivious to the Dragon King¡¯s real intention, but he never let his guard down a little bit.


    ¡°Are they still my people?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Yes, most of them are still yours,¡± Shangguan Yun said smilingly, resuming his rxed and casual tone. ¡°You¡¯ve overestimated my demagogic power, Dragon King. Most of your people are very loyal to you, and only a few of them believed my words. I really admire your ability, Dragon King. I was deeply impressed by two children. There¡¯s enmity between you and them, but they turned out to be your most loyal servants. Tut-tut, even the Golden Roc Fort can¡¯t do this. We can manage to make our apprentices forget about their hatred toward the fort, but we can never make them serve the fort with a deeply-rooted hatred.¡±


    Those two children mentioned by Shangguan Yun were Chu Nanping and Nie Zeng. The Dragon King had killed the former¡¯s elder brother and thetter¡¯s uncle and his entire family.


    ¡°And Hu Shining. That¡¯s incredible. How did you do that, Dragon King? It felt so unreal to see a former training tutor of the Golden Roc Fort unswervingly serve you now, an enemy of the fort. He led such arge group of children to flee all the way from Shu-lik and even tried to assassinate me. s, I¡¯m so envious of you having such a subordinate,¡± said Shangguan Yun.


    Upon hearing that, Gu Shenwei realized what had happened on the night when Chu Nanping had gone missing.


    He thought, <em>¡°Hu Shining probably led all the apprentices to leave Shu-lik for the Xiaoyao Lake region upon hearing that I¡¯ve upied the entire region, but beyond their expectations, when they entered the Hui Kingdom, they heard that the royal family of the kingdom had just received a distinguished guest from the Golden Roc Fort.</em>


    <em>¡°Hu Shining was not likely to know who this guest was, so he decided to lure this person out to determine whether it was just a rumor.</em>


    <em>¡°As such, he sent Chu Nanping strutting into the city without concealing his good looks. The training tutor must¡¯ve believed that if the guest was really from the Golden Roc Fort, he or she would immediately notice that this young swordsman was the Dragon King¡¯s bodyguard and send someone to assassinate him.</em>


    <em>¡°After that, he and the other apprentices set up a trap in the alley where Chu Nanping lived andy in wait for the enemy.</em>


    <em>¡°To his surprise, this enemy was much smarter than he had imagined and had already figured out what he was nning to do, as this was one of the customary tactics used by the Golden Roc Fort.</em>


    <em>¡°The details are not very important, but the result of this rivalty is in to see. Hu Shining and his apprentices must¡¯ve been caught on the spot by their enemy, and Chu Nanping fled. In the following days, the young swordsman must¡¯ve been hiding somewhere in the city, hoping to find a chance to rescue them until he was lured into the ancestral shrine and got captured.</em>


    <em>¡°Shangguan Yun managed to convert some of my apprentices and entice them into doing things for himself. When this was done, he left this city for the Land of Fragrance with Chipo and some other bandits. As a famous bandit and a man of connections, Chipo could create a safe passage for him before he walked out of Wushan.¡±</em>


    Shangguan Yun seemed to be particrly interested in the topic of loyalty and continued, ¡°But when ites to your loyal servants, no one is more faithful to you than Maid Lotus is. Did I guess correctly?¡±


    ¡°Have you met her?¡± Gu Shenwei asked, feeling as if something ominous was happening. <em>¡°Shangguan Yun mentioned Maid Lotus in a very casual tone, which indicates that this is the topic that he most wants to bring up.</em>


    <em>¡°Maid Lotus has been following Shangguan Yun all this time. Now that he has returned to the city, she must be near here already,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei. It was this thought that had given him confidence to break into the ancestral shrine and the royal pce tonight.


    Gu Shenwei was certain that Maid Lotus was somewhere around this ce at this moment, since he had discovered an important fact: Han Fen¡¯s sword was not the ¡°Huan¡± sword anymore.


    When he had first met with Han fen, she had been equipped with the ¡°Huan¡± sword, but tonight he had discovered that her sword looked somewhat different from before and asked her to show him the sword outside the ancestral shrine. He noticed that the character engraved on its hilt was ¡°Yun¡±and took this as a definite sign that Maid Lotus was back in the city.


    As to Han Fen, she probably had never noticed that her sword had been reced by another one.


    <em>¡°Maid Lotus must have a reason for still remaining in hiding,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei.


    Nevertheless, Shangguan Yun suddenly said, ¡°She¡¯s dead.¡± His tone was so deep and solemn, as if he was delivering the news of an important person¡¯s death. ¡°It¡¯s a great pity that she died. She¡¯s such an excellent killer and probably the best killer in the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s history. She followed us for more than 40 days without alerting anyone of us until we returned to Wushan.¡±


    What Shangguan Yun said did not sound like a lie. Gu Shenwei felt his heart throb upon hearing that but still managed to remain calm by thinking, <em>¡°Well, let me see how good Shangguan Yun is at telling lies. The ¡®Yun¡¯ sword hung at Han Fen¡¯s waist is the best proof that Maid Lotus is still alive.¡±</em>


    ¡°In the beginning, I didn¡¯t know that she was Maid Lotus, so I treated her as an ordinary killer. I organized three ambushes, trying to kill her, but I just ended up losing five subordinates. What an amazing killer she was. At that time, the only thing that could put her at a disadvantage was that she was alone, without a capable partner like you to cooperate with her. In the end, I had to put more effort into dealing with her, and finally, she fell into my trap in the Gulping Wind Gorge,¡± said Shangguan Yun.


    ¡°What happened next?¡± Gu Shenwei put a poker face on and asked, trying to delude Shangguan Yun into believing that he really bought this story.


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s nothing much worth mentioning. The locals in the Gulping Wind Gorge were a little bit dissatisfied with you, Dragon King. With their help, I managed to kill all the trackers behind me. I¡¯d never met Maid Lotus before. It was the locals who told me that this woman often appeared around you.¡±


    Shangguan Yun paused for a moment while looking down at the ground to express his sincere condolences and then he continued, ¡°Chipo confirmed that the dead woman was Maid Lotus. He said that among all your bodyguards, she was the one with the most superb kung fu skills and she also looked like the legendary Maid Lotus.¡±


    Shangguan Yun said heavily, but in Gu Shenwei eyes, this only made the situation more hrious. Even so, he still looked calm on the outside. He was much more versed in concealing his emotions than the Queen of the Hui Kingdom was.


    ¡°A killer in my team suddenly thought of a rumor. He said that Maid Lotus and you had once asked a cksmith in Jade City to build you two swords and have your names engraved on the hilts of the swords respectively¡ª¡±


    Shangguan Yun paused all of a sudden, causing Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart to pound again.


    ¡°So I checked the female killer¡¯s sword and found a character ¡®Yun¡¯ on its hilt. It¡¯s Maid Lotus¡¯ real name, isn¡¯t it? I brought the sword back.¡± Shangguan Yun tilted his head to cast a nce at Han Fen, who was lying unconsciously on the floor now, and then continued, ¡°Last night, I reced this crazy woman¡¯s sword with the ¡®Yun¡¯ sword, thinking that I can finally trick you into this trap, Dragon King.¡±


    The Dragon Head Sword was 15 centimeters out of its sheath.


    Gu Shenwei could not help feeling astounded at the news but still managed to control himself not to take any further action, as this was not the best time to attack Shangguan Yun. He felt an emotional upheaval deep inside his heart, which was strong enough to destroy his willpower at any minute.


    <em>¡°Maid Lotus is dead? Is it true?¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought in disbelief. He was unable to fully trust her, but this did not prevent her from bing his best partner. Only under her protection, could he have no worries about attacks from behind and both sides.


    However, now the evidence was certain and the facts were clear. He did fall into Shangguan Yun¡¯s trap.


    Shangguan Yun¡¯s eyes seemed transparently clear, but they were cold and emotionless, so was his heart. He had made an arduous effort to metamorphose himself into a different person. Now, he still had a deep insight into the world, but none of the things that he experienced in this world, such as killing, scheming, loyalty and betrayal, love and affection, could stir his heart anymore.


    The Dragon Head Sword waspletely out of its sheath.


    Gu Shenwei felt that he could not wait any longer. He came to realize that when faced with Shangguan Yun, he could never get an ideal chance tounch an attack.


    ¡°Well, I can finally repay your favor.¡± Shangguan Yun was excited to see that he had provoked the Dragon King and said. ¡°I¡¯ll spare your life as a reward for you helping Wu Shengqing and Parro out.¡±


    ¡°But I want you to repay my kindness with your head,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Thus, the duel began. However, Shangguan Yun and the Dragon King were not the only ones engaged in this fight.

 Chapter 451 - Confusion Settled

    Chapter 451: Confusion Settled


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Yun pped each other simultaneously.


    Gu Shenwei was not confident using the swordcraft in the Death Scripture, nor was it necessary against a foe like Shangguan Yun. Before their next move, Han Fen, lying on the ground near the door, leapt up suddenly and started her second attack on Shangguan Yun. Gu Shenwei watched her, and thought that her skills were above the level of the disciples from New Moon Hall.


    The fight was over in the blink of an eye.


    The p that Shangguan Yun had used on the Dragon King was a feign attack. It¡¯s real purpose was to elude the sword behind him, using his strength to slide to the side of the bed.


    He mmed against the bed violently, and Gu Shenwei and Han Fen were hit by a flying quilt. Next, they heard the young prince shriek with fear next to the door.


    ¡°Dragon King, please think about my suggestion. It¡¯s doesn¡¯t go into effect until next spring,¡± said Shangguan Yun.


    ¡°I¡¯m d that Maid Lotus is still alive. I wish you two can move forward shoulder to shoulder to achieve your big picture soon,¡± he continued.


    ¡°Dragon King, I¡¯ll return your favor one day¡­¡± he concluded.


    After saying these words, Shangguan Yun disappeared into the underground passage.


    After awhile, Han Fen woke up, seeming to transform into someone with high kung fu skills. She entered the passage first to go after Shangguan Yun.


    In fact, she was not the real Han Fen, but Maid Lotus.


    Gu Shenwei followed her closely.


    In the room, the young prince shrieked more loudly, for he had found his mother was dead.


    <em>¡°Shangguan Yun talked while </em>running, <em>as if he wasn¡¯t worried about being caught by us. Did he lead us here deliberately?¡± </em>Gu Shenwei wondered.


    ¡°The Dragon King has strong Internal Strength, but you seemed to be easily attacked by Qigong Deviation. Do you need any help? I can help you get rid of it, and then I¡¯ll owe you nothing,¡± said Shangguan Yun.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t both of you exert Dajue Book of Swordcraft? I thought it was just a legend. It¡¯s destiny. Thousands of people live in the Golden Roc Fort, but only the Dragon King was able to get the secret manuscript in the end. Haha, what a coincidence!¡± he continued.


    ¡­


    The passage was very long and forked off into different directions, but the prison seemed to be at the end. Before checking, Gu Shenwei heard Shangguan Yun¡¯s voice again, ¡°Oh, I almost forgot. Your loyal young killers ate something bad. If you dy for another moment, they might¡­¡±


    Maid Lotus suddenly stopped, and then stepped back. She moved beside Gu Shenwei, and said, ¡°My girls are over there.¡±


    To catch Shangguan Yun, Gu Shenwei elerated his pace immediately. Although he had many doubts, he decided to worry about themter. Now all he thought about was killing the enemy.


    As they were leaving the passage, Shangguan Yun, ¡°Keep him alive. He¡¯ll tell the truth.¡±


    Meanwhile, ¡°he¡± was thrown to the Dragon King in the passage, and cried, ¡°Please don¡¯t kill me, please¡­¡±


    The man was Shangguan Hong.


    Gu Shenwei hit the back of his head with his swordhandle violently.


    Shangguan Hong stopped crying instantly, and fell to the ground, unconscious.


    Suddenly, a light appeared and the door at the end of the passage opened. Shangguan Yun walked out of it, and the Dragon King was stopped by several people.


    Gu Shenwei squeezed through the crack of the door, and as he was rushing through it, stabbed someone with his Dragon Head Sword.


    It was dawn outside.


    They came to some woods outside of the Capital. <em>¡°This is their escape route when the Royal family of the Hui Kingdom is in danger. But this passage wouldn¡¯t work if the enemy appeared inside the Royal Pce,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought.


    Ten attendants were waiting for their master there. The Dragon King stabbed one of them, so the rest drew out their weapons. Gu Shenwei recognized one of them.


    Chipo was an infamous and bossy theif. Having been humiliated by the Dragon King before, he hated his guts. He dashed to attack the Dragon King first, disregarding the great distance in skills between their martial arts.


    To avoid fighting with the Dragon King, Shangguan Yun quickly to left the woods without stopping. His Lightness Skill wasn¡¯t like killers from Golden Roc Fort. He didn¡¯t jump around. Although he moved fast, he didn¡¯t pant.


    Dozens of the disciples of New Moon Hall showed up. They had followed Chipo and hispanions all the way, hiding in the shadows outside for a long time.


    Shangguan Yun wasn¡¯t surprised at the sight of them. Heughed as if everything was in his control. Obviously, he didn¡¯t regard them as a threat.


    He moved very fast. Suddenly he elerated again and passed through two disciples of New Moon Hall. The two disciples, who practiced a unique ultism, lost their target before unleashing it upon him.


    Though Shangguan Yun escaped alone, Chipo and the other attendants weren¡¯t disappointed in him. Instead, they tried their best to stop the Dragon King so that their master would have more time to escape.


    The fight in the woods was brief, but bloody. Because Shangguan Yun escaped, dozens of the disciples of New Moon Hall showed no mercy on the other nine attendants. They flocked to attack them with their hidden weapons and poisons, with assistance from the Dragon King¡¯s sword.


    Within half an hour, another eight attendants were dead. Gu Shenwei left Chipo alive, though.


    <em>¡°Shangguan Yun escaped anyway,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know why the Third Young Master of Golden Roc Fort had made this trap. <em>¡°He knew that it was impossible to kill me with this trap. Is it possible that he did it only to say those words to me? But those words are more like the usualst-minute artful talk that he makes up to obtain my trust,¡± </em>he wondered.


    He stopped guessing blindly, because some people appeared around him that would be able to give him answers.


    The first one he thought of was Maid Lotus.


    She ran out of the passage with a group of people, and caught up with Gu Shenwei. On the way to the capital, she told him what had happened to her.


    Maid Lotus had followed Chipo, and then discovered a distinguished guest from Golden Roc Fort in the Royal Pce. Although she had never seen Shangguan Yun, she recognized him immediately and quickly figured out the truth. Ever since then, she started to follow Shangguan Yun.


    She found that Shangguan Yun was a tough person to get close to, so she followed other attendants. Maid Lotus had seen Chipo set a trap to catch Chu Nanping at the ancestral shrine, but she didn¡¯t stop him.


    There were too many people. To avoid being exposed, Maid Lotus had divided the disciples of New Moon Hall into two groups. A few, including Han Fen, were asked to remain in the town to keep watch on the situation inside. Meanwhile, she followed Shangguan Yun and left the capital with three disciples.


    She had intended to assassinate Shangguan Yun along the way, but she couldn¡¯t find a good chance. It wasn¡¯t easy to assassinate a vignt man like him. Having seen him and his people take a boat across Xiaoyao Lake and move southward to enter Wushan, Maid Lotus resolved to find out their final purpose first before taking the next step.


    They had crossed Wushan, and then entered the Land of Fragrance separately.


    During their three-day stay in the Land of Fragrance, Shangguan Yun had talked with his sister several times. Maid Lotus did not know the content of their conversations, as she had never gotten close enough to them.


    Shangguan Yun¡¯s persuasion seemed to have failed, but he did not look disappointed on his way to the Hui Kingdom.


    After tracing him for a long time, Maid Lotus gradually realized that she could never find an opportunity to assassinate a tough and cunning man like him. Instead, she realized that the enemy had begun to be aware that something was wrong.


    One day, Maid Lotus had eavesdropped on one of Chipo¡¯s conversations with some others. In this conversation, they mentioned Shangguan Yun¡¯s plot against the Dragon King after his return to the Hui Kingdom. Besides that, they also vaguely expressed their fear of Maid Lotus. Upon hearing this, Maid Lotus came up with a good idea.


    A disciple of New Moon Hall altered her appearance and pretended to be Maid Lotus. Then, this disciple was asked to assassinate Shangguan Yun with Maid Lotus¡¯ sword. In the end, she was ambushed and killed instead of the Managing Master.


    Ever since then, Maid Lotus had been considered a ¡°dead person¡±. She came back and arrived at the Capital of the Hui Kingdom the day before Shangguan Yun. Next, she changed her identity and pretended to be Han Fen, aiming to make Shangguan Yun let down his guard.


    Her n almost seeded. She found that Shangguan Yun¡¯s intention was not to kill the Dragon King. He gave the Dragon King a p, and then fled. During the process, Maid Lotus had no chance to use her sword.


    ¡°Ah, Han Fen, no, you¡¯re Maid Lotus¡­ you really fooled me,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He didn¡¯t recognize Maid Lotus until she reached the exit of the secret chamber. Before that, he had never suspected this crazy, but innocent girl.


    ¡°Han Fen is the one I trust the most in New Moon Hall. I know her very well,¡± Maid Lotus said.


    After finishing her story, she walked into the camp of the Dragon Army with them, which startled the soldiers were because they thought that she was dead. Maid Lotus said coolly, ¡°I heard that you¡¯ll marry the Princess soon. Congrattions!¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± replied Gu Shenwei without another word. He sometimes wondered whether he had stayed in the Hui Kingdom for two months just to dodge that wedding. <em>¡°During that period, I received several letters from Zhong Heng. In those letters, he invited me to return to the Stone Kingdom, but I found all kinds of excuses to refuse. Although we didn¡¯t mention the Princess or the wedding ceremony, we both knew that was the reason for our correspondence,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    Chu Nanping was the second one who exined to the Dragon King. Because other people were still weak, he was the only one who could manage to talk.


    ording to Chu Nanping, Hu Shining had hidden in the remote mountains with his many apprentices immediately after Shu-lik was broken. Since then, he had sent disciples to collect information in the city every day. After hearing that the Dragon King was dead, he had asked the disciples to leave, but only a few kids actually did. Most of them were willing to be killers without a master instead of returning to their former lives.


    Later, when he heard about the Dragon King¡¯s return to the Western Region, Hu Shining was overjoyed. He immediately asked his apprentices to pretend to be beggars and sent them to Xiaoyao Lake in groups.


    Things happened as Gu Shenwei had predicted. Noticing that suspicious characters kept entering the capital of the Hui Kingdom, Hu Shining sent Chu Nanping to lure the enemies out. His n failed, though. Those enemies had prepared in advance, so they surrounded them immediately.


    Hu Shining only had about 40 subordinates, all around the age of ten. Given that, they were no match for Golden Roc killers. In the fight, most of them were caught alive, as ordered by Shangguan Yun. A few were killed, and Chu Nanping was the only one who managed to escape.


    Later, those kids were locked up in the dungeon of the Royal Pce. Chu Nanping was also trapped and caught within a couple of days.


    Before leaving the Hui Kingdom, Shangguan Yun spent three days chatting with each of them alone. After that, a couple of apprentices came onto his side. Many hadn¡¯t changed their minds, but their attitude toward the Third Young Master of Golden Roc Fort changed dramatically. Their fear turned to admiration and reverence.


    Shangguan Yun knew that Chu Nanping had been a disciple of the Joy Pavilion. To get close to Chu Nanping, he told him that they had met each once before, when he was learning martial arts at the Joy Pavilion. But Chu Nanping didn¡¯t talk much about that meeting, acting as if he didn¡¯t care about it.


    Chu Nanping was as cold andposed as before. After being rescued, he didn¡¯t seem very surprised, nor had joy appeared on his face at the sight of Gu Shenwei, even though they hadn¡¯t seen each other for days. He briefly told Gu Shenwei what he had undergone, and then asked, ¡°Did you force Tie Linglong to leave?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°But she didn¡¯te back to Shu-lik,¡± said Chu Nanping.


    Their conversation was over.


    Hu Shining begged to meet the Dragon King to remind him of his duty. He said to Gu Shenwei anxiously, ¡°These kids have be a threat to us. After the Third Young Master¡¯s brainwashing, they have changed their minds, even though they don¡¯t speak it. Please find a way to solve this soon.¡±


    Shangguan Yun hadn¡¯t killed all of them. Instead, he left most of them alive and brainwashed them. He wanted to see what decision the Dragon King would make: To kill them all or risk raising them, always being wary of their betrayal.


    Gu Shenwei wouldn¡¯t kill them all. If he did, he would be the loser in this game with Shangguan Yun.


    Shangguan Hong was the third one that the Dragon King questioned. Gu Shenwei captured him in the end. Before that, he had been caught by Shangguan Jianyi and the Third Young Master. None of them treated him as the son of the Supreme King.


    Knowing the situation he was in, his face turned pale. He said with a fawning smile, ¡°Dragon King, it¡¯s useless to kill me. I¡¯m nothing. Besides, the Third Young¡­ Shangguan Yun asked me to tell you, ¡®The glorious era of killers has passed. From today on, no more assassinations. Let¡¯s fight in the battlefield, fair and square.''¡±

 Chapter 452 - Trust

    Chapter 452: Trust


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Yun proposed no assassinations between Golden Roc Fort and the Dragon King. It meant that he intended to have a final fight with the Dragon King on theke instead of thend.


    The killers of Golden Roc Fort could easily defeat Dragon King in assassinations, but they had not made use of all their strengths. Up until now, the Fort had not sent their secret weapons, the ck-masked assassins with the highest kung fu skills. Shangguan Yun had an advantage over the Dragon King in regards to assassinations, so he had no reason to stop fighting.


    Shangguan Yun managed to persuade many people in Xiaoyao Lake, except for his half-brother. In his eyes, Shangguan Hong was just his messager.


    Shangguan Hong thought the Third Young Master¡¯s proposal was strange and unfeasible. He held his breath, and then breathed deeply. Noticing that the Dragon King kept silent, he felt relieved, believing he could guess the Dragon King¡¯s thoughts. Then, he began to tter him.


    ¡°This is Shangguan Yun¡¯s scheme. Golden Roc Fort will spread it everywhere. If the Dragon King agrees, you¡¯ll put yourself at a disadvantage or bebeled as an infamous killer. Besides, the Fort is very likely to organize an assassination, and then frame it on you¡­¡± Shangguan Hong said.


    Shangguan Hong wasn¡¯t very smart, and he was too scared to give a sound exnation for all of this. The more he said, the more terrified he felt, nevering to a conclusion.


    He was deathly afraid of the Dragon King. He had not decided to betray the Dragon King until Shangguan Jianyi gave extremely profitable conditions that he couldn¡¯t refuse. But now these conditions had vanished, and only the Dragon King¡¯s saber was waiting for him.


    Gu Shenwei lowered his head, wondering Shangguan Yun¡¯s real purpose. But Shangguan Hong thought the Dragon King was considering whether or not to take his life. Considering it was hisst chance to save himself, he said, ¡°Dragon King, don¡¯t forget that I¡¯m the only one who knows the way through the secret passage in Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Do you mean the cave on the cliff of Golden Roc Fort? I know about it. That cave leads to theke below. They only use it for the water supply at crucial times,¡± the Dragon King said.


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s face turned pale instantly, bing whiter than the Dragon King¡¯s. Then, he knelt down and burst into tears. He was crying like a child who had been caught doing something wrong.


    He had thought that the Dragon King had been keeping him alive due to his knowledge of the secret passage. But now he could be killed anytime since Gu Shenwei already knew the truth.


    The secret passage that Shangguan Hong referred to had disturbed Gu Shenwei for a while. But after a deep meditation, he only found one way to exin it: Golden Roc Fort was situated on the top of the mountain surrounded by cliffs, so it only had one passage. The Fort was protected by this passage, so they were unlikely to add another secret passage that enemy might find out about.


    <em>¡°The Fort is a tough ce to attack, but it has one fatal defect ¡ª no water source. They rely on the water that is carried by oxcart from the foot of the mountain. Once under siege, it could be taken soon after its water supply was cut off,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei.


    <em>¡°Therefore, if Golden Roc Fort does have a secret passage, the passage will lead to theke below the cliffs,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei guessed.


    After observing Shangguan Hong¡¯s response, he knew that his guess was right. Shangguan Hong had unwittingly told the Dragon King everything, and then begged him to keep him alive.


    Shangguan Hong didn¡¯t know much, but Gu Shenwei could imagine what the secret passage was like based upon his description.


    It was impossible to cut a passage through the mountain from top to bottom. Those who had founded the Fort would have cut a trench along the cliffs, and then covered it with a crust made of thick iron sheets and mud. Some bulges might appear on the crust.


    Having seen the terrace and statue on the cliffs before, Gu Shenwei thought that his idea was feasible. <em>¡°That terrace was perhaps made to cover the secret passage,¡± </em>he guessed.


    <em>¡°The Barren Sect disciples paved a staircase with iron spikes, but they didn¡¯t discover the passage. It might have never urred to them that the secret passage was right under their feet,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought.


    This secret passage was useless to him now, but Gu Shenwei decided to leave Shangguan Hong alive for the moment. As a messenger, he, the son of the Supreme King, might be useful soon.


    Thest one Gu Shenwei questioned was the infamous robber, Chipo.


    Facing the Dragon King, Chipo showed no fear or uneasiness. He answered his questions without hesitation, as he was not hiding any great secrets.


    ¡°The Supreme King paid for my life, so I served him. Then, the Third Young Master set me free, so I volunteered to follow him. It¡¯s my honor to die for him,¡± he said.


    ¡°The Supreme King bought your life because you had a list of bandits of the Western Region. I guess you don¡¯t have the list now?¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    ¡°So what? I gave him the list in exchange for my freedom. It was a good deal,¡± he replied.


    ¡°Golden Roc Fort won the bandits¡¯ support to increase their troops. Now that they¡¯ve achieved their purpose, you¡¯re worthless to them. Shangguan Yun left you here because you¡¯re insignificant,¡± the Dragon King continued.


    ¡°Save your words, Dragon King. The third Young Master is destined to achieve great things, so he will never act indecisively. Even though you¡¯re skilled in martial arts, you¡¯re still just a killer. Killers work for others, while kings have others working for them. Even robbers are better than you. You¡¯re no match for the Third Young Master. Your death will be soon after mine,¡± Chipo said withugh.


    <em>¡°Shangguan Yun won so many faithful followers within only a year,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought.


    ¡°What do you think of the proposal that Shangguan Yun made to stop assassinations between the two armies?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    Chipo was shocked. He thought that the Dragon King would be irritated by his ironic words and kill him immediately. However, the Dragon King did not get angry, instead asking another question politely.


    ¡°It¡¯s a good proposal. The Third Young Master once said, ¡®The Supreme King attained his status as a killer, but his fame as a killer has surpassed his fame as a king. To be a real king, you should weaken killers¡¯ influences. It means to diminish the killers¡¯ numbers and turn them into a group hiding in the dark. As for the fight between kings, the army should be the only force they resort to. Even if Golden Roc Fort sessfully assassinated the Dragon King and the Dragon Army broke up, it would do the Fort no good. Instead, the fight would be regarded as amon massacre in Jianghu, and the Supreme King¡¯s army would be aughingstock,''¡± Chipo replied.


    <em>¡°These sound like the words of Shangguan Yun,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei.


    <em>¡°Others have spent years working out a set of theories, but Shangguan Yun figured out countless theories when he was shut up in the dungeon for years. He could give everyone a theory, and the theory would work on them,¡± </em>he mused further.


    <em>¡°Shangguan Yun belittled killers so that bandits like Chipo would feel important. He was smart to please the bandits without ever mentioning them,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought some more himself.


    Shangguan Yun was a different person in Golden Roc Fort. Even if he was able to return to the Fort and be the sessor of the Supreme King, he probably already had a method in ce to manage it. Gu Shenwei knew a lot about Golden Roc Fort, but he could not use any of it to fight against Shangguan Yun.


    Maid Lotus restored her identity as a guard of the Dragon King. Then, she ordered all the disciples of New Moon Hall who were over forty to head to the periphery to keep watch. The only exception was Han Fen, who was the only one she trusted.


    She had heard about Shangguan Yun¡¯s proposal on assassinations. As Shangguan Hong expected, the news began to spread after dawn. Now, even the soldiers in the military camp had heard about it.


    The soldiers supported this proposal, indeed. Golden Roc killers didn¡¯t kill many of theirpanions, but this had already caused panic among them. Those alive were extremely nervous, thinking they might be killed at anytime.


    They weren¡¯t afraid to be killed in the real battlefield, but they dreaded the killers who took action at night. Even the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, who had fought against Golden Roc Fort for years, did not want to live in fear every day, always wary of the saber which might stab them at anytime.


    ¡°Why did Shangguan Yun do it?¡± Maid Lotus asked with confusion. Since she had traced Shangguan Yun for two months, she had gotten to know him better. She never believed that the Third Young Master would do anything to weaken his strength.


    ¡°He has two purposes,¡± Gu Shenwei replied. He had figured out the game Shangguan Yun was ying. ¡°Firstly, his proposal might be sincere. If Golden Roc Fort wants to show off its strength to Nond, they have victory in the battlefield, using their army. Secondly, he wants to keep Shangguan Jianyi safe,¡± he continued.


    Maid Lotus said with her eyes wide open, ¡°Shangguan Jianyi?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Gu Shenwei nodded. He thought it was Shangguan Yun¡¯s main purpose. He proceeded, ¡°Shangguan Yun hid his identity and pretended to be his uncle. In this way, Shangguan Jianyi has to disappear and can¡¯t show up in public, or he might be in danger. Shangguan Yun ran away from the west. If I can take action immediately, then I can manage to assassinate Shangguan Jianyi before the news gets to the Shuangquan Vige in the east.¡±


    <em>¡°Now Shangguan Yun¡¯s non-assassination proposal makes it hard for me to assassinate Shangguan Jianyi,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei.


    <em>¡°I don¡¯t care about others¡¯ positions, but I have to consider my soldier¡¯s stance,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    ¡°I can go and assassinate Shangguan Jianyi for you,¡± Maid Lotus offered, ¡°since the proposal didn¡¯t reach New Moon Hall.¡±


    Gu Shenwei refused.


    Whether or not to stop assassinations was not the only problem that Shangguan Yun had left to the Dragon King. The trust crisis was even more difficult to solve.


    <em>¡°Hu Shining reminded me that I couldn¡¯t trust the killer apprentices. But in fact, besides the kids, anyone else who met Shangguan Yun might have been persuaded by him,¡± </em>thought Gu Shenwei.


    <em>¡°Did Shangguan Ru really refuse all of </em>herThird <em>Brother¡¯s requests? Was Maid Lotus affected by Shangguan Yun after tracing him for almost two months?¡± </em>he wondered.


    <em>¡°After considering Shangguan Fei¡¯s words, even I, myself, think that Shangguan Yun¡¯s proposal makes sense to some degree,¡± </em>he mused.


    <em>¡°Now my top task is to erase all traces left by Shangguan Yun,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei meditated.


    Later, Chipo was beheaded in public. This time, he indeed died, and no one paid to buy his life.


    Gu Shenwei had kept him alive because he needed to give the citizens of the Hui Kingdom an answer. Chipo was announced as the chief criminal involved in sieging the city, the Queen¡¯s treason and the ministers¡¯ rebellion. His infamous reputation made these crimes seem more credible.


    Then, the Dragon Army took their leave and returned to the Stone Kingdom.


    Gu Shenwei took the young prince with him. The Prince had returned to the Hui Nation and seeded the throne. Given that, the Dragon King decided to hold the Prince¡¯s younger brother hostage as coteral. The new King of the Hui Nation was not afraid that Dragon King would kill his younger brother, and believed he would send him back.


    Soon Shangguan Hong became a messenger again. He left for Shuangquan Vige to deliver a better, non-assassination proposal on behalf of the Dragon King. This proposal mainly expressed that Golden Roc Fort shoud admit that Dragon King possessed Xiaoyao Lake.


    Dugu Xian had once said that it would at least take a year to train a qualified army. Gu Shenwei thought now that he could utilize this chance to buy himself some more time.


    Prime Minister Zhong Heng greeted the Dragon King anxiously. ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s wedding can¡¯t be put off any longer. But how do I mention it to the Dragon King in front of Maid Lotus?¡± he wondered.

 Chapter 453 - Imperial Wedding

    Chapter 453: Imperial Wedding


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Apart from Zhong Heng, the armies and the people of the Five Kingdoms were waiting for the Dragon King¡¯s imperial wedding with the Princess of the Stone Kingdom.


    Golden Roc Army had not appeared yet. Common citizens never expected that their arrival was dyed due to the cold winter. In their eyes, the Dragon Army had gradually stabilized its status among the Five Kingdoms, and all the loyal families began to support them openly. The Dragon King had helped the Crown Prince seed the throne in the Hui Kingdom, which made other kings believe that the Dragon King would be a better ruler than the Supreme King.


    The King of the Stone Kingdom treated the Dragon King in a defensive manner. Recently, this greedy king, whose ruling area was within the Royal Pce, had started to covet the territory of the southern bank of Xiaoyao Lake. Considering the Dragon King¡¯s current prestige and status, the King decided to ask him for help. He sent a eunuch to spell out his intentions to the Dragon King.


    The King was afraid to mention it to the Dragon King in person, so he sent a eunuch to deliver his intention in a roundabout way. The eunuch said, ¡°The King of the An Nation who fled Jade City is unlikely toe back. Now, the An Nation needs a ruler to control its overall situation. The Dragon King should consider it. After you marry our Princess, you¡¯ll take over the Stone Kingdom, and our present King will have nothing to do. You¡¯ll be busy fighting and have no time to manage the kingdom, so you need a trusted assistant to help you with the burden. My King perhaps could be of some help. The Royal Family of the Stone Kingdom has a say in the An Kingdom. Did you know? The ancestor of our King migrated from the southern bank¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t reject him immediately, even though the eunuch had a terrible expression. He just coolly expressed his gratitude to the King of the Stone Nation. As the Dragon King hadn¡¯t refused his proposal directly, the King of the Stone Nation thought that he would receive the An Kingdom from the Dragon King as a gift after his marriage. Because of this, the King showed great concern about his sister¡¯s marriage. He frequently sent people to urge the Dragon King to hold the imperial wedding soon.


    <em>¡°Anyway, the Dragon King¡¯s imperial wedding with the Princess of the Stone Kingdom can¡¯t be dyed,¡± </em>Zhong Heng thought to himself.


    Zhong Heng was the main supporter of this imperial wedding, because Zhong Heng felt it would teach the Dragon King how to pacify others, and he reminded him of this every time they met.


    Due to his fear of Maid Lotus, Zhong Heng did not dare to mention the imperial wedding directly to the Dragon King. He knew that the female killer usually hid nearby, though she seldom was seen with the Dragon King.


    Zhong Heng remembered Xu Yanwei¡¯s warning. After a lot of hesitation, he resolved to risk his life to give advice to the Dragon King, and said, ¡°It¡¯s too bad that Queen Jiang passed away at such an early age. Given that, we should protect Queen Ju well.¡±


    The Princess¡¯ family name was Ju. After marrying the Dragon King, the Princess would be given the title ¡°Queen Ju¡±.


    Zhong Heng was giving a hint to the Dragon King that the Princess might be killed.


    He was startled by Dragon King¡¯s response.


    New Moon Hall had joined the Dragon Army as an ally, so it was treated differently from other organizations. Gu Shenwei asked Maid Lotus for help. He requested Maid Lotus to send her disciples to protect the Princess of the Stone Kingdom.


    Upon hearing this news, Zhong Heng ran to the tent of the Dragon King. As he arrived at the entrance, he stopped suddenly. He raised his headughing, and then left slowly, without meeting the Dragon King. The guards standing outside the tent were shocked by the scene, thinking that the Prime Minister had lost his mind.


    Zhong Hengughed at his foolishness. He should have known that it was the Dragon King¡¯s way of protecting the Princess. <em>¡°No one knows Maid Lotus better than the Dragon King. It¡¯s a smart scheme. In this way, he not only shows hisplete trust of Maid Lotus and New Moon Hall, but also makes it hard for her to assassinate the Princess,¡± </em>he mused.


    Zhong Heng misunderstood the Dragon King, however. Among the Dragon Army, the disciples of New Moon Hall were the only force that could fight against Golden Roc killers in the dark. Chu Nanping¡¯s and Hu Shining¡¯s apprenticescked both experience and strength. Given that, Gu Shenwei had to ask the disciples of New Moon Hall to protect the Princess. It was his only choice.


    Besides, Maid Lotus¡¯s recent behavior convinced him that he could trust her with this matter.


    Tie Linglong had attempted to assassinate the Princess, but failed. Gu Shenwei guessed that it was at Maid Lotus¡¯s instruction, but he let it go. He had been observing her behavior since she had returned from Jade City.


    <em>¡°If Shangguan Yun knew theplicated rtionship between us, he would¡¯ve utilized it to turn Maid Lotus and me against each other,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei pondered. Outsiders could hardly imagine that there was a gap between them. This gap, hiding deep inside their hearts, was covered by superficial trust.


    Maid Lotus did not have any abnormal behaviors since she had returned from Jade City. She just congratted the Dragon King coolly, and then acted as if nothing had happened. Her only concern was the final fight with Golden Roc Fort next spring.


    As for the Dragon King¡¯s request to protect the Princess, Maid Lotus epted it immediately. She sent three disciples, including Han Fen, to enter the Royal Pce.


    Han Fen was a simple girl who couldn¡¯t understandplicated schemes. In Maid Lotus¡¯s eyes, Han Fen was the best one to protect the Princess.


    Eventually, the Dragon King¡¯s wedding ceremony was scheduled to be held on New Year¡¯s Day.


    Soon, Gu Shenwei received two letters of congrattions: one was within his expectations and the other was unexpected.


    The letter of congrattion he had expected was from Shangguan Ru. She had sent an envoy to congratte the Dragon King¡¯s marriage from the Land of Fragrance. The envoy hade with a letter of congrattions and various precious gifts. However, the words in the letter were polite and formal, without showing any emotion.


    The unexpected letter came from a monk of the Four Truths Temple named Fayan. His letter was long. Apart from congrattions and Buddhist doctrines, Fayan also rmended an eminent monk in the capital of the Stone Kingdom. He seemed to think that the Dragon King was interested with that.


    Shangguan Hong had been sent to deliver a message to the military camp of Golden Roc Fort. Now he was back. Even if he got a chance, he would never leave the Dragon King.


    Upon hearing that Shangguan Yun had left Xiaoyao Lake safely, Shangguan Jianyi ended his hidden life and began to show up in public again. He coldly received his nephew, but made noments on the Dragon King¡¯s truce proposal.


    The Dragon King¡¯s attitude towards peace was widely spread. Shangguan Hong had appeared as a messenger of the Dragon King. Ever since then, more people started to believe that the Dragon King was more than just a vengeful man.


    The wedding ceremony was held as scheduled. Everything proceeded as usual before and after the ceremony.


    Shangguan Yun had kept his word. He did not send any killers to start a fight. There were several of his killer strongholds under close surveince in the capital of the Stone Kingdom, but the killers left suddenly, and the strongholds were empty.


    <em>¡°This oral truce is even more valid than most written agreements. The King of Xiaowan isn¡¯t like the masters of the Shangguan family, because the Shangguan family would never do it,¡± </em>many people thought in surprise.


    The grand, but simple, wedding ceremonysted a whole day. On that day, Dugu Xian found an opportunity to show off the results of his training efforts of the past two months. There were 3,000 armored soldiers, in groups of 10 or 100, lined up from the gate to the big camp of the Dragon Army. When the bridal sedan passed, they cheered and congratted in chorus, waving their weapons in the air simultaneously.


    The wedding banquetsted from morning until midnight.


    Xu Xiaoyi and Chu Nanping stayed together these days. They got drunk at the banquet, crying andughing. On the way to toast the Dragon King, they fell down and were carried away.


    Gu Shenwei had spent most of his time staying with the swordsman from the Great Snowmountain. Among all the guests present, only they felt truly happy for the Dragon King. Meanwhile, they also grieved for dead Jiang. They remembered that Jiang was supposed to be there that day.


    The Dragon King granted the swordsmen special privileges that day, which made them feel better. In the end, Long Fanyun and some others pushed the Dragon King to the entrance of the bridal chamber.


    They were forbidden to approach the Dragon King within five steps, but they were allowed to break the rule that day.


    Only a few were allowed to attend the wedding ceremony. Most soldiers still needed to stick to their posts, including Maid Lotus. No one could guarantee that Golden Roc Fort would note to destroy the wedding.


    Maid Lotus was on patrol near the Dragon King, as usual. She would never miss any suspicious signs. Now, with the disciples of New Moon Hall, she could extend her patrol area and ensure the security of the wedding ceremony.


    Xu Yanwei thought that she was supposed to do her duty as the Dragon King¡¯s mother, sister and friend at his wedding ceremony, so she apanied the Princess and did not go for a drink at the banquet. It waste, but the Dragon King still had not shown up. Sheforted the Princess, and kept sending people to urge the Dragon King.


    The Dragon King finally showed up. Xu Yanwei was relieved at the sight of him, greeting him with a smile. Having realized that it wasn¡¯t Pleasure Alley, she hid her smile immediately and left the room. When she passed the Dragon King, she reprimanded him in a low voice, ¡°You¡¯re toote. I¡¯ve never seen a bridegroom as calm as you.¡±


    ¡°Out!¡± he said coolly.


    Xu Yanwei was the only one who dared to disobey the Dragon King. Hearing it, she smiled slightly and whispered to him, ¡°I¡¯m more experienced than you. Would you like me to teach you how to¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei pushed her out of the tent.


    The tent looked different. The ground was covered byyers of carpets. Gu Shenwei walked on them as if he stepped on soft clouds.


    Gu Shenwei was sober because he had not drunk.


    He stood there, staring at his newlywed wife.


    The Princess wore a light and thin veil, so Gu Shenwei could faintly see her face. Although he realized that he had forgotten her appearance, his desire for sex started to surge.


    Even though he was upied by hatred, he was still a normal man. The desire for sex and hatred existed in his mind peacefully. Sometimes, he might be at the mercy of one or the other of them.


    His first was Luo Ningcha, a woman he both despised and admired. After escaping from Golden Roc Fort, he had also had sex with other women. As he made love with them in the darkness, he could barely see their faces. The process was always brief, and he felt empty afterwards.


    Affected by his Master, Tie Hanfeng, he thought that desire should be met instead of hidden. He took having sex for granted and was never content with it.


    There had been a time that he believed his attitude towards sex resulted from the dangerous situation he was facing. Anyone hunted by Golden Roc killers was never rxed.


    After entering the Great Snowmountain, he strictly restrained his desire for sex in order to show others that he was an abstinent man. Only when he was in Jade City did he indulge in sex, but his sexual partner was still Luo Ningcha.


    At that time, he had been in an even more dangerous situation. Gu Shenwei was shocked to find himself satisfied with the sex with Luo Ningcha. Later, he treated that woman ruthlessly to cover up his real thoughts.


    He didn¡¯t know why Luo Ningcha could satisfy his desire for sex. Others took her for just a beauty of the Western Region, but he knew the truth: He was the only person who had witnessed her evil side, and some of that was caused by him.


    After a long time, he concluded that the satisfaction from sex had nothing to do with affection. The desire for sex could be easily satisfied. Tie Hanfeng¡¯s exnation was reasonable: There was no need to fight against it, because you would ultimately be humiliated by it. To satisfy it was the best way.


    Gu Shenwei married for two purposes. First, he wished to utilize this marriage to consolidate his status and help him be the King of the Stone Kingdom. Second, he wished to use the Princess to satisfy his desire for sex.


    Now, he was driven by desire, and became impatient to see her face.


    He lifted the veil, and saw the Princess¡¯ appearance.


    Undoubtedly, she had fine features. Compared to Luo Ningcha, she was even more stunning. With evident trails of tears on her face, she looked at Gu Shenwei with fear and suffering in her eyes. She looked like a victim who had sacrificed herself for the greater good.


    At the sight of the Princess with her pitiful look, Gu Shenwei lost his interest instantly. All his former expectations vanished.


    Maid Lotus raised her head, looking at the cold moon. Though the moon was far from her, she felt she was very close to it. But instead, she thought the uproar in the tents where the others were drinking cheerfully seemed far away.


    She believed it and knew that she woud be the final winner.

 Chapter 454 - Get up

    Chapter 454: Get up


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    It was the first time that Dragon King had gotten upte.


    The high-ranking military officers had not stopped drinking until midnight, but they still appeared in the main tent the following day at dawn to receive the daily roll call.


    The Dragon King had never missed a roll call as long as he was in the military camp. He used to stay until the roll call was over, even if he did not have anything to say. However, General Dugu Xian was responsible for calling the roll today, so the Dragon King did not have to show up.


    Dugu Xian had not earned much prestige or regard from the military officers, so he needed the support from the Dragon King behind him.


    But today, the Dragon King did not show up.


    When the call roll was over, all the military officers grinned. They thought that it was normal for the Dragon King to be unwilling to separate from his new bride.


    On that day, several high-ranking military officers met the Dragon King in person to send their congrattions.


    The next day, the Dragon King was still absent from the roll call. A ridiculous rumor was started that the Dragon King was too exhausted to get up.


    ¡°Nonsense,¡± was many people¡¯s first response when they heard the rumor. As for those swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, they were shocked by the rumor and responded, ¡°The Dragon King isn¡¯t interested in women. He is a cold-hearted man.¡±


    Others also questioned from another perspective, asking, ¡°How old is the Princess? How could such an innocent girl like the Princess do it? No more jokes.¡±


    The rumor soon spread widely. Some believed it, others doubted it, but everybody could understand the Dragon King¡¯s behavior. <em>¡°It is kingly. A king should own more women, but the Dragon King has only one queen,¡± </em>they thought.


    Zhong Heng also heard the rumor, but he gave no response, except tough. He had met with the Dragon King since, finding that he was acting normally. Their meeting was short, but he didn¡¯t suspect anything, because the Dragon King only spoke about important matters during their conversation, as usual.


    On the third day, the Dragon King still did not show up in the main tent. Instead, he sent the Captain of the Guards, Long Fanyun, to supervise the roll call on his behalf.


    Noticing this, Zhong Heng started to be suspicious, thinking, <em>¡°I can understand the Dragon King </em>being <em>absent from the roll call thest two days, but now, he¡¯s sent Long Fanyun to do the roll call. It suggests that he will not attend the roll call anymore.¡±</em>


    <em>¡°He is an ambitious youngd who swore to avenge his family. Was his determination shaken by the Princess?¡± </em>Zhong Heng wondered. After meditating on it, Zhong Heng decided to talk to the Dragon King, as was his duty as Prime Minister.


    Gu Shenwei was surprised by himself, but the Princess surprised him even more.


    On their wedding night, the maid had been panicked, with anxiety in her eyes. She was just like a lifeless toy at the mercy of her husband. But when she touched the scars on his body, she trembled with fear.


    They didn¡¯t enjoy their first love making that night. One endured in sacrifice, while the other acted violently, in pride and anger.


    Neither uttered a single word that night.


    After that, Gu Shenweiid on the bed, intending to send the Princess to the Royal Pce while he stayed there. It was just business. He believed that the Princess would be content with this arrangement.


    But instead, she put her hand on his arm, and slowly moved it upwards. After that, she let her hand linger on a scar on his chest, gently touching it. This was an obvious suggestion that shocked Gu Shenwei.


    On the second round, the Princess seemed to be a different person. This time, she took the initiative and became enthusiastic. After having sex the first time, she had be less afraid of the Dragon King. Overpowered by her desire for sex, she disyed to him another side of herself that she had been shy about.


    For Gu Shenwei, this experience was different. Luo Ningcha had sex with him for flirtation and revenge, while others did it for money. This time, he felt that hepletely owned the woman in his arms. This feeling helped him get rid of the all tension that had disturbed him for years.


    His tension came from the killers behind him and the noble moral sense he was unwilling to admit. That night, he finally was able to leave both of them behind.


    As they got more and morefortable with each other, both of them began to enjoy the process. They became more greedy and desired more after each time. Their desire for sex became too strong to bepletely satiated. As a result, they indulged themselves in it.


    The rumor was true. The Dragon King was reluctant to get up because of the Princess. He had never been so exhausted in his life. During these days, he was even too tired to lift a finger on the bed. Besides, he was also unwilling to leave the woman in his arms. He put his fatigued fingers on her naked body even during rest.


    ¡°I¡¯m Xiuyao,¡± the Princess whispered in the Dragon King¡¯s ear. It was the first time that she had uttered a word during the whole night.


    ¡°Ju Xiuyao ¡ª it¡¯s a good name,¡± Gu Shenwei responded in a cool tone, as if he was making a formal judgment. He was trying to be gentle, but failed.


    Hearing it, the Princess burst intoughter and said, ¡°Why is your name Yang Huan? It doesn¡¯t sound like a Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, my father didn¡¯t expect me to be the Dragon King. He thought that I would take his career and be a guardian,¡± he said.


    The Princess¡¯s hand on the Dragon King¡¯s chest became slightly stiff. His words reminded her that the man beside her was the offspring of a servant, and he had been a servant in Golden Roc Fort. She agreed that a hero couldn¡¯t be judged by his family background, but she was born into the Royal Family, so she had always expected that her future husband would have a more decent birth family.


    She soon forgot it since they barely had time to think about it in bed.


    To receive congrattions from high-ranking military officers, Gu Shenwei had to force himself to get up. Facing them, he pretended to be calm, but was really absent-minded. He was impatient to get back to the tent where the Princess was waiting.


    He always returned to the tent before it got dark. Then, hemanded people to deliver food to them, but they had very little appetite, for all they wanted was sex. They were amazed that they had such a strong desire and so much energy. When their bodies were separated, they felt satisfied, yet disappointed.


    Before Prime Minister Zhong Heng resolved to offer his advice, Gu Shenwei thought that something was wrong.


    <em>¡°I have never behaved like this before. The Princess seems to have been possessed by Xu Yanwei,¡± </em>he mused.


    The day after they got married, Gu Shenwei called Xu Yanwei to him while he had his senses about him. He questioned what she had taught the Princess.


    Xu Yanwei noticed the affection between the Dragon King and the Princess. Although there were a few tents were between hers and theirs, she could vaguely hear their breathing over the shouts from a group of drunk men.


    She wanted to take credit for it, but facing the Dragon King, she did not dare to lie to him. She had intended to teach the Princess how to please a man in bed, just as she had done to Luo Ningcha. The Princess had refused decidedly, though. The Princess was humiliated and offended by her suggestion.


    ¡°How to exin it?¡± Xu Yanwei grinned and asked. Compared to affairs of national defense and administration, she was more interested in sex. She started to exin it to the Dragon King excitedly, ¡°Self-taught. Yeah, no one taught her. The Princess is a woman, and she knows how to please a man. Even a woman without talents can manage to survive as a whore¡­ Don¡¯t think too much. Everything is okay. Haha, I underestimated the Princess. She usually acts elegantly and shyly. When she took off her clothes in front of me, she even blushed¡­¡±


    Xu Yanwei digressed far from the subject, so Gu Shenwei forced her to leave.<em>¡°Something is wrong. It¡¯s strange to ask Xu Yanwei about it. Besides, it¡¯s hard to tell her some of the odd details,¡± </em>he thought to himself.


    Though he was full of doubts, all he thought about was the Princess. As soon as he let down his guard, the Princess would immediately pop into his head.


    It was strange that he could remember her scent, movements and voice clearly even though he almost forgot her appearance. These thoughts nearly drove away his ambition to seek hegemony. As soon as he entered the tent and touched her body, he felt that nothing was more important than her.


    Upon thinking this, Gu Shenwei started to suspect that it was Maid Lotus¡¯s doings.


    <em>¡°If she didn¡¯t want me to marry the Princess, she should have done the opposite. She has no reason to do this. It¡¯s crazy to use an aphrodisiac,¡± </em>he thought.


    Thinking the word ¡°crazy¡±, Gu Shenwei felt sure about his guess. He always took Maid Lotus for a crazy woman.


    <em>¡°Unlike Xu Yanwei, I can¡¯t mention my desire for sex to Maid Lotus. I can discuss the most confidential and important matters with her,¡± </em>he meditated.


    Therefore, Gu Shenwei had to secretly investigate it.


    <em>¡°It¡¯s impossible to find any clues based upon Maid Lotus¡¯ behavior or expressions. She has a knack for hiding her emotions. Even when we were apprentices, she </em>could cancel <em>her feelings better than experienced killers,¡± </em>he pondered.


    She usually stood outside the Dragon King¡¯s tent, but after the Dragon King got married, Maid Lotus had only appeared in front of him once. She was as cold as before, and all she talked about was practicing kung fu skills.


    Her Qigong Deviation had been greatly alleviated by Wayless Qigong, but she was still in danger of being attacked by the Death Scripture. The eminent monk, Fayan, from Four Truths Temple, had given her and Gu Shenwei each a set of Internal Strength. She thought that this might help her ovee her evil thoughts. She nned to practice Internal Strength when there was no more war.


    The Dragon King had asked the Princess to piece together the text in chapter 8 of the Wayless Book. Maid Lotus wanted to know the progress.


    It was not easy to sort out hundreds of scriptures and put them in the correct order. The Princess had finished half, but the sentences made no sense.


    As for the Sumeru Mustard Mantra from Fayan, Gu Shenwei thought that they could learn it. He asked Maid Lotus to try it on others first, though. He didn¡¯t want to be fooled by the old monk, just as they had suffered from Breaking Obsession years ago.


    Maid Lotus showed no interest in the Princess.


    Gu Shenwei investigated their food and the ornaments in the tent. He even got a new tent for the Princess, but he found no suspicious signs. <em>¡°Does this strong desire for sex reallye from our inner minds?¡± </em>he wondered.


    Maid Lotus had told Gu Shenwei about most of the ult sciences of New Moon Hall, but she had not mentioned all of them to him.


    The investigation did notst long. His desire for sex was too strong to deny. Having spent most of his time with the Princess, he did not have much energy to deal with other matters.


    Noticing this, Zhong Heng resolved to advise the Dragon King and solve this matter as soon as possible.


    To figure out the Dragon King¡¯s bottom line, he intended to speak directly and see if the Dragon King would get angry. He said, ¡°Women can only bring temporary happiness. Seeking hegemony is the right way to achieve something great, forever. Dragon King, with all due respect, it¡¯s not the time to indulge yourself in married life. You¡¯re the backbone of the Dragon Army. Once you be ck, others will soon follow suit. A kingdom or women ¡ª those are your choices. After you be the King, you can do whatever you want.¡±


    <em>¡°A Kingdom or women ¡ª those are your choices,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei repeated in his mind. All of a sudden, he realized that that was what Maid Lotus wanted to say herself.

 Chapter 455 - Land

    Chapter 455: Land


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    There would probably never be direct evidence that Maid Lotus had intervened in his sex life. Gu Shenwei could only me himself. He was ashamed at his temporarypse of self-control.


    Zhong Heng¡¯s reminder was timely. There were not much gossip yet about his three days of abnormal behavior. But if it went on like this, the Dragon King would end up just like an ordinary king; he would be no different from the weak royal families of the five countries of Xiaoyao Lake or the kings of the Western Region, whobusted as quickly as they shone.


    He had always thought that his inner demons were superficial, but now, he realized that properly stoked, they could ovee his self-control.


    Now that he had tasted the satisfaction in indulging, it would not be easy to keep it under control in the future.


    It was just like when he had tried to get rid of the influence of ¡°Breaking Obsession¡± back in the day. He had had to resort to building up a more persistent killing desire to break free from the effects of the scripture. He had to defeat the monster of desire with more ruthless means.


    That evening, the Princess was escorted back to the royal pce in the city.


    The clueless Princess was dressed up and waiting for the Dragon King. Though shy, she was looking forward to satiating her own desire. He was no longer a snobbish and murderous demon, but a man who was about to give her pleasure and bring her to nirvana. Even the countless scars that once made her tremble with fear now aroused her. She longed for the feeling of friction and to rub against his coarse body.


    All of a sudden, with no exnation, no constion, no promise and without even bothering to appear, the Dragon King wanted to get rid of her.


    The Princess could not help but ask, ¡°Why?¡±


    Long Fanyun, who was in charge of escorting the Princess to her pce, felt awkward. The Dragon King hadn¡¯t given a reason, but he couldn¡¯t tell her this so bluntly. ¡°Your Highness, the King is very busy. The army of the Golden Roc Fort ising and the barracks are not safe, so¡­¡±


    She had hoped that the Dragon King would tell her himself. Even if the Dragon King lied to her face, she would still feel she was being treated with respect. But now, she was about to be sent away like a prostitute. She was deeply hurt, and every drop of desire turned into anger and confusion.


    She didn¡¯t want to argue with a captain of the guards and would not reason with the Dragon King directly. Instead, she nodded haughtily, ¡°Prepare the carriage.¡±


    That said, she did not ept her fate. The Dragon King was a human being and a man. She did not believe that she had not been able to win his heart after three days of intense lovemaking.


    Xu Yanwei was even more surprised and angry than the Princess at the Dragon King¡¯s rudeness. She barged into more than 10 tents before finally finding him. Panting, she asked, ¡°Why did you drive the Princess away?¡±


    Zhong Heng and Dugu Xian, who were in the tent, excused themselves tactfully. The matter they had been discussing had already been settled and there was no need to discuss it any further.


    Xu Yanwei could not recall exactly when she had begun to feel as if she had an unshirkable responsibility to watch over the personal affairs of the Dragon King as a mother or elder sister would. Simrly, Gu Shenwei could not remember when he had inexplicably epted such a rtionship.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t drive her away.¡± Gu Shenwei answered in a cold tone, but still tried to defend himself. ¡°This is the barracks, and there should not have been a woman living here. As the leader, I should not be breaking the rules while asking my officers and soldiers to abide by them. The wedding is over, that¡¯s it.¡±


    ¡°What about me? I am also a woman, am I not allowed to live in the barracks?¡±


    ¡°Well, you have to go back to the pce with the Queen.¡±


    Xu Yanwei couldn¡¯t control her temper. She couldn¡¯t understand why men in this world always left after having got what they wanted. A woman¡¯s expectations were not high. A few nice words and a small gift was enough to make them happy. She had thought that the Dragon King would be different. She didn¡¯t expect that he too would disappoint her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you realize that now that she has married you the Princess is your woman? How could you let her go back to the pce? The King is a selfish person who has no feelings for his sister. You are pushing her back into the fire.¡±


    ¡°Even if she has to go back to the pce, couldn¡¯t you personally escort her? She is the Princess of a country, and her face is more important than her life. How ashamed she must feel going back to her parents¡¯ home alone!¡±


    Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t meant to embarrass the princess. But he knew how strong his desire was, and it would rear its ugly head again without much prompting. He did not want to visit the Princess because he was afraid he could not keep his hands off her. It was not because he was cold-hearted.


    ¡°As my woman she should think about me. With the Golden Roc Fort still standing, I don¡¯t have time to worry about the matters of women.¡±


    ¡°Ha, women¡¯s matters? You want to be a real man now? What¡¯s the matter with you and Miss Ru? You killed her husband and then gave her a country. And what is going on between you and Maid Lotus? You two are almost inseparable every day, but I don¡¯t see you giving her an official title. Is making women cry a way to show your masculinity?¡±


    Xu Yanwei was outraged. All the cheating men she had suffered over the past years came to her mind at this moment. The Dragon King was their representative now. Even the fact that they had not slept together before became one of his crimes against women. ¡°This is what men are like: a lover at night, and a stranger the next day. What about their promises? So many men promised to take me away from South City, and they all turned out to be cheaters¡­. They beg you to have sex with them even more humbly than the lowest ve. But see what they do to you once they¡¯ve slept with you? If I practiced Kung Fu, I would dig all your hearts out for an inspection¡­¡±


    Xu Yanwei began to digress. It seemed that she was thinking of the Dragon King as her enemy. She was waving her limbs about emotionally and her voice was getting louder and louder.


    Gu Shenwei was surprised at how her petite body could contain so much rage and also at how she managed to me all men for all sorts of transgressions.


    He pped his hands. Two tall guards came in from outside the tent. Both were swordsman from the Great Snowmountain.


    ¡°What are you doing? Now you are using force on me because you know I¡¯m right? Why do men only want to bully women? Think about it. Who carried you in her arms and raised you? Think about your mother. Don¡¯t you blush with shame?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had many things to do. He needed to clear his mind and forget about the Princess and Xu Yanwei, as well as all the other women. Everything was more important than women right now.


    Before Xu Yanwei came in, he had been discussing how to deal with the Golden Roc Fort with Zhong Heng and Du Guxian.


    Before Xu Yanwei came in, he had been discussing how to deal with the Golden Roc Fort with Zhong Heng and Du Guxian


    ording to intelligence gathered by his spy, the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s troops were increasing everyday in Shuangquan Vige across the desert and there were countless stores of grain and fodder. It looked like the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s troops were busy preparing for the war in Spring.


    The Supreme King was determined to take Xiaoyao Lake. Though he had always been confident in defeating the Dragon army, he wanted it done in a fast and impressive way.


    ¡°It will be a big show for Nond to see.¡± Zhong Heng was always insightful, and he was once again correct. ¡°It is said that Nond is making huge ns to fight against the Central ins at the turn of summer and fall. The Golden Roc Fort hopes to y an important role in the battle. In order to do that he will need to show his military strength this spring first.¡±


    With his only arm, Dugu Xian pointed here and there quickly on the map and said, ¡°Although Xiaoyao Lake is easy to defend and difficult to attack, there are only two barriers that can be used as natural strongholds¡ªthe desert and the greatke. Everywhere else is t and smooth, and the outnumbering party has an absolute advantage. The desert is crucial. Only by keeping the desert can the Dragon army retain Xiaoyao Lake. I am worried that if the Golden Rock Fort army keeps expanding, we may end up dying in vain. We are only a little more than 10,000 strong.¡±


    The total number of the Dragon army was close to 20,000. However, they had to be dispatched to guard the 5 countries of Xiaoyao Lake. Therefore the main force that could be mobilized now had only a little more than 14,000 soldiers, far less than that of the Golden Roc Fort.


    ¡°Have the five countries continue to recruit soldiers. We need at least 10 thousand more soldiers,¡± said Dugu Xian.


    Dugu Xian¡¯s proposal was from a military point of view. Zhong Heng identified a few administrative difficulties in this proposal and voiced his opinion. ¡°The 5 countries are all hiding the true number of their poption. Without cooperation from the royal families, it is even more difficult to recruit soldiers. In addition, the more soldiers there are, the more serious the shortage of grain and armor will be.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had been considering this issue for some time. He had seen people who would rather hide in the capital and beg for a living than join the Dragon army. The royal families of the 5 kingdoms turned a blind eye to this. They were all hesitating because they were afraid of what would happen to the most loyal supporters of the Dragon army if it was defeated.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraidpulsory recruitment is not a good choice. Let¡¯s buy an army.¡±


    Arge part of the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s army was employed machetemen. Gu Shenwei believed this could be a possible solution.


    ¡°But where do we find that much money?¡± Zhong Heng asked. As Prime Minister, he was most clear about the economic status of the Dragon army. With Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s stockpile and the wealth in the Land of Fragrance, the Dragon army indeed owned a huge amount of money. However, it was still not enough to cover the daily expenses of the entire army. The swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain and some extremely loyal soldiers had even volunteered to not get paid.


    In the whole Western Region, it was probable that only the Meng family of Jade City could afford to hire 10 thousand soldiers.


    Gu Shenwei came up with an idea. ¡°We have no money, but we havend.¡±


    ¡°Land, whichnd?¡± Puzzled at first and then suddenly enlightened, Zhong Heng replied, ¡°Yes. The Dragon King has arge piece of fertilend.¡±


    Dugu Xian was always slow in such matters. It took him a while to catch on. ¡°Sir, are you talking about the Land of Fragrance? Isn¡¯t it inhabited? Besides, it¡¯s across the mountain. Themon people of Xiaoyao Lake may not be interested in it.¡±


    Before the Dragon King could speak, Zhong Heng exined excitedly that although he had not been to the Land of Fragrance, every few days he received supplies from there. ¡°There are not enough residents in the Land of Fragrance inparison with the vastnd there. Thanks to the narrow-minded nobles, there are many uninhabited areas in the Land of Fragrance. The nobles have been taking various measures to keep the residents within a very limited number because they were afraid it would be too hard for them to control them if there are too many residents.¡±


    ¡°Although there is a great amount ofnd in the 5 countries of Xiaoyao Lake, the terrain is mostly barren. And many people have be refugees since the war. To them, a fertile field is more attractive than gold, silver or jewelry.¡±


    ¡°Then the only remaining problem is the shortage of hay and armor,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He went on exining that this problem could be solved quickly. Wushan¡¯s refined iron was the best in the world. Now that they had the territory in their hand, there was no need to worry about steel or iron. As for hay, the only solution was to collect it gradually.


    ¡°And another thing is training. Without training the recruits are just a motley force, no matter how many they are. It takes time to train them into soldiers. We have to do that.¡± Zhong Heng said. He was most concerned about this issue.


    And that was when Xu Yanwei had rushed in.


    After Xu Yanwei was dragged away, Gu Shenwei caught up with his interrupted idea. There were more problems ahead than ¡°the only problem¡±, grain and armor. One problem would bend distribution, which would not be without issues. Another problem would be the Golden Roc killers, who were currently honoring the ceasefire. However, once war broke out, there would be swarms of them flooding into Xiaoyao Lake.


    The oing attack from the Golden Roc Fort would be unprecedentedly fierce, as the Golden Roc Fort had been saving its strength from the previous wars for this attack.


    Maid Lotus approached him. She was like a shadow, always appearing when he most needed her to solve some tricky problem.


    And she was also one of his problems. Gu Shenwei was wondering what tricks Maid Lotus had used to turn him and Princess voluptuous those days. This was a loophole that must be sealed.

 Chapter 456 - Clues

    Chapter 456: Clues


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    It was moreplicated than expected to recruit soldiers from the Land of Fragrance. Gu Shenwei put forth his ideas, but when he tried to put them into practice, he could do nothing but hand them over to Zhong Heng.


    The Land of Fragrance was wide but sparsely popted, and only a small piece ofnd around the capital was registered. It would take at least a year or two to carry out national measurement.


    Zhong Heng adopted a simple method. ording to the length of service and number of military exploits, the soldiers recruited would be given various plots ofnd with no specific location. The soldiers would receive a certificate with their names printed, noting the exact acreage.


    Only at the end of the service could soldiers get realnd. Their immediate family members could inherit thend if the solders died in war, but they were not allowed to privately buy or sell thend.


    Even before formal recruitment, they had managed to satisfy the existing 20,000 soldiers. Some of them had followed the Dragon King for many years and made outstanding military exploits, but they had not yet received much reward.


    All swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain refused to ept thend of the Land of Fragrance. They liked the women there, but they didn¡¯t like the sultry and humid climate and the overcrowded foliage. They missed their snowy hometown and their biggest wish was to return home one day.


    They also had a request which they were too embarrassed to ask. The Dragon King knew what it was, but he could not publicly ept it because he had already promised Golden Roc Fort to New Moon Hall.


    One of the conditions for New Moon Hall to cooperate with the Dragon King was that he would eventually take possession of Golden Roc Fort. ording to Maid Lotus, Han Wuxian, the Master who had never shown himself, had greater ambitions.


    Gu Shenwei was suspicious of New Moon Hall and didn¡¯t want to leave Golden Roc Fort to join this unpredictable organization. But this idea could never be heard, so he used other methods to appease the thousands of Swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, who, though small in number, were the most trustworthy force of the Dragon King.


    The Swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain had their own unique Kung Fu. Through years of killing each other and fighting with the Golden Roc Killer, the Swordsmen had grasped a set of Kung Fu perfectly effective in fighting alone and in groups. But theirck of advanced Internal Strength is a fatal w. This was the main reason why many outstanding swordsmen made remarkable progress when they were young, but could never be top masters as they grew older.


    Gu Shen personally selected 200 swordsmen under the age of 30 and rewarded them by teaching them the first 6 chapters of Wayless Qigong.


    This was Maid Lotus¡¯ idea. In fact, thanks to her, many disciples of New Moon Hall had been practicing divine kung fu for a long time and achieved great results.


    Wayless Qigong was originally the supreme martial art enjoyed by Supreme King. But with the effort of the two traitors, its influence was spreading.


    The other swordsmen were not awarded divine kung fu. Some of them were too old and had passed the best time to practice Internal Strength; some did not want it because they knew they were not very well talented. Gu Shenweimissioned arge number of weapons from Wushan and gave the best of them to the swordsmen.


    This way, he secured more loyalty from the swordsmen.


    For them, Internal Strength and weapons awarded by Dragon King were far more valuable than thend of the Land of Fragrance.


    Tuo Nengya¡¯s machetemen preferred money andnd. They were the only ones who got realnd, which was just outside the capital of the Land of Fragrance.


    Hundreds of forest savages had gradually epted the outside world. Their idea was simple. They did not covetnd or gold or silver, and their only hope was to return to the forest alive and bring the vigers out to see the world.


    They were illiterate and could not understand the advanced instructions for Internal Strength. Gu Shen made a decision on their behalf, leaving a whole piece ofnd adjacent to the forest for these guard troops.


    When he left the forest, Gu Shenwei also took a group of children and gave them all to Hu Shining for training.


    Soldiers of the five countries could choosend or money, but no matter what, they would receive the credentials, only getting the real thing after the war.


    The royal families of all countries were both worried and reassured by Dragon King¡¯s move. They were worried that they might lose all of their own people but were reassured that the Dragon King would be busy focusing on running the Land of Fragrance and would leave their throne alone.


    In any case, it was true that enough soldiers had been recruited in this way, and Dragon King¡¯s army expanded every day. Zhong Heng even allowed some recruits to send their families to the Land of Fragrance first.


    The nobles in the Land of Fragrance had moreplicated feelings than the royal families in various countries. Land of Fragrance was their country, while it was now given generously to outsiders as a gift by Dragon King.


    As for the ve soldiers, they were very excited about this. They became the most proactive soldiers, training tirelessly, all wanting to make contributions in the battlefield and get morend in the future.


    During this period, there were several plots by nobles to provoke ves to stir up trouble, none of which was sessful. This indicated thatnd was easier to understand than freedom, and it was easier to arouse fighting ambition. Gu Shenwei regretted that he had not realized this earlier.


    The number of the nobles was too small and their Kung Fu was too weak. After fighting a few battles, they were all silenced.


    While Zhong Heng and Dugu Xian recruited and trained new recruits, Gu Shenwei was busy cleaning up the people around him.


    First of all, Hu Shining¡¯s killer apprentices had been ¡°polluted¡± by Shangguan Yun, and their credibility was greatly reduced. But it would be a pity if they were all disbanded.


    Gu Shenwei personally participated in the training, showing his machete skills in front of these apprentices, hoping to offset some of the influence of Shangguan Yun.


    Seeing how Dragon King¡¯s practice had achieved results, Hu Shining also helped borate by telling how the Dragon King had grown from a rejected apprentice to a first-ss killer, arousing more respect from these apprentices. There were some exaggeration in his telling, but he was careful to hide the part where the Dragon King killed his master, which was not the ending he would want.


    The hearts of people were unpredictable. Even children had to be watched out at any time. Gu Shenwei decided to continue to train these apprentices as useful killers, but he would never assign them the most important tasks.


    As for the newly selected group of children, Gu Shenwei reminded Hu Shining to strictly separate them from the previous group.


    Next, Gu Shenwei was to solve his biggest problem.


    Gu Shenwei was puzzled by his excessive indulgence in carnal pleasure with the Princess the past three days. He felt that this was a huge security threat and was determined to find out why.


    He did not need to look for suspects. He knew for sure that it was Maid Lotus¡¯s doing. He even did not intend to take any retaliatory measures. But he needed to know the details.


    Gu Shenwei could live with the fact that there were unfaithful people around him, a wart that even the most imperious emperor could not eradicatepletely. But he must be very clear about their schemes so that he could be prepared with sufficient counter-measurements for the time when the wart became a cancer.


    To others, he could interrogate them directly. To Maid Lotus, he couldn¡¯t even show his intention to investigate.


    The opportunity finally arrived.


    Maid Lotus was very interested in the <em>¡°Sumeru Mustard Mantra¡± </em>left by Monk Fayan. She had been treated by Fayan and therefore felt that this manual was very effective in alleviating her own evil yinqi.


    The scripture was divided into two volumes, hidden under the throne of the Stone Kingdom and protected by the unknowing king day after day.


    Before practicing, they had a big problem to solve. The scripture was too profound and full of transliteration of the Sanskrit and countless parables. Neither of them could understand it.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly understood why among the letters from Fayan congratting him on his marriage, there was one for the rmendation of an eminent monk of the capital.


    At the critical moment before the war, the Dragon King was not able to go to the monk to ask for Buddhist doctrines, and therefore this task fell to Maid Lotus.


    Maid Lotus was ready to leave for the capital to visit the eminent monk, bringing two scriptures and a letter from Fayan with her.


    Knowing Dragon King¡¯s worries, she requested for apanion to go with her as she was afraid of not being able to remember.


    Gu Shenwei did feel ufortable, and therefore he did not pretend to refuse and assigned Chu Nanping to listen to the eminent monk¡¯s speech as well.


    Chu Nanping was one of the key people that Shangguan Yun had tried to convert. This young swordsman¡¯s brother had died under the Dragon King¡¯s sword. In Shangguan Yun¡¯s view, this had caused a rift between the two of them.


    However, after a short conversation with Chu Nangping, Shangguan Yun gave up his efforts. Chu Nanping saw the world in a different way. He was cultivating the Emotionless Doctrine. To him, revenge for his brother was a ridiculous idea. Of course he wanted to kill Dragon King, but it was a goal to demonstrate that his practicing Emotionless Swordsmanship had reached the highest level. At this moment he wanted to protect the Dragon King. Nobody else could kill the Dragon King before he did.


    Shangguan Yun knew what had happened to the <em> ¡°Secrets of Love¡± </em>in the Joy Pavilion, so he stopped trying.


    Chu Nanping was still one of Gu Shenwei¡¯s most trusted people.


    With Maid Lotus not around for the time being, Gu Shenwei decided to investigate.


    Although the Princess felt deeply humiliated, she still abided by her duty as the Queen and sent people to the barracks every day, sending her regards and asking Dragon King toe to the pce to see her.


    The Princess did not expect the Dragon King to ept the invitation. When the news came that the Dragon King was on the way, she was both surprised and delighted.


    But before long, the pleasant surprise turned into disappointment.


    This meeting was more like an interrogation.


    After dismissing the maid, Gu Shenwei threw a series of questions at the Princess, ones that even a husband and wife would blush with shame.


    At first, the Princess refused to answer.


    ¡°It is very important.¡± Gu Shenwei said, believing that the Princess would listen to reason, ¡°someone did something to us. I have to find out the truth.¡±


    ¡°Who did what? What does this mean?¡± The Princess asked in dismay.


    ¡°Think about it. We were not ourselves those three days. We must have been under someone¡¯s control; otherwise we would not have done that kind of thing.¡±


    The Princess blushed. She had never known about her own desires, much less what the former Dragon King had been like, so she had no idea whether they were behaving normally those three days.


    But the Dragon King¡¯s words did remind her that at this very moment, she had no desire for the Dragon King. She had thought it was because she was resentful. With a second thought, she realized this was her natural instinct.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Was the food drugged? ¡±


    ¡°Impossible. I checked carefully. There was no problem with the food. I need you to recall carefully. Did anyone approach you suspiciously around the wedding? The person who put their hands on you was proficient in strange arts. He did not necessarily have to resort to drugs.¡±


    The Princess blushed again; some words were difficult to say. Even in retrospect, she felt embarrassed. But the Dragon King¡¯s eyes bore into her like knives. Her only choice was to tell the truth. ¡°I don¡¯t know who it was, or it might just be a dream. There were some nights when a person came and poked me on some points of my body and I felt ¡­ veryfortable.¡± She said.


    This was a useful clue. Gu Shenwei turned to leave. He knew who to interrogate next.


    The Princess was left alone, and she sighed with relief and sorrow. She missed the life when she had only been someone else¡¯s puppet.

 Chapter 457 - Assistance

    Chapter 457: Assistance


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Han Fen was d to meet Dragon King and treated him as an old acquaintance whom she had not seen in a long time.


    In fact, they had only met once. The one that Gu Shenwei had seen in the capital of Hui Kingdom was actually Maid Lotus who had altered her appearance.


    ¡°Everything is fine in the royal pce. The Queen is fine and she is safe with me. Did you know it, there are some deer here. They¡¯re not afraid of people, and like to lick our hand. It is rather ticklish. I really wanted to break its neck. I have also seen other animals, such as swans, peacocks and horses. They all have long, slim necks. Do you think the Queen will get angry if I break a couple of their necks?¡± Han Fen innocently said.


    Gu Shenwei listened to Han Fen patiently, and said, ¡°Probably not. You like the Queen, so you want to make her happy, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Han Fen nodded and replied seriously, ¡°The Queen is a kind girl. She often sends servants to deliver delicious food to me and to inquire about my sleep. My mother always treated me the same way when I was younger.¡±


    Gu Shenwei fixed his eyes on her. Her eyes sparkled as she reminisced. She raised her head slightly, a sweet smile on her face, humming a terrible tune.


    Gu Shenwei was speechless at this scene. <em>¡°Had her brain stopped developing since she joined New Moon Hall and received training there? But how did she master those profound martial arts andplex ult sciences?¡±</em>


    ¡°To make her happy, you secretly helped her, didn¡¯t you?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Hehe,¡± Han Fen grinned and said. Hanging her head low, she stuck out her tongue, and then asked curiously, ¡°How do you know?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Dragon King,¡± he replied.


    ¡°So you know everything?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°There is a mole on my shoulder. Some think it is good; some think it is bad. I¡¯ll show you, tell me your opinion on it,¡± she said, moving to take off her clothes.


    ¡°There is no need. It¡¯s just a mole. It means nothing,¡± Gu Shenwei said quickly, to stop her.


    ¡°Oh, I see. I always feared that it might mean that I couldn¡¯t achieve something big. Then, I would not be able to help Managing Master,¡± she said with relief.


    Gu Shenwei had noticed on their first meeting that Han Fen was good at changing the subject. So he ignored her words and asked directly, ¡°What did you do to the Queen?¡±


    Han Fen eyes widened, ¡°I thought you knew this.¡±


    If it was someone else, Gu Shenwei must think she was acting. But he knew Han Fen didn¡¯t y dumb.


    ¡°Yes, I know it. I just want to know more details so that I can repay your kindness ordingly.¡±


    Hearing it, Han Fen smiled brightly. She shook her hands and declined, ¡°It¡¯s my duty. You don¡¯t have to.¡± But she was just acting. She yearned for his rewards. Before receiving any response from Gu Shenwei, she began to describe the process, ¡°Queen was afraid of you at that time. I saw her crying every day, and felt sorry for her. Then I thought¡­¡±


    ¡°You thought?¡± Gu Shenwei asked with some doubt.


    ¡°I was the only one who observed the Queen carefully and found her crying every day. Other people were busy preparing her dowry.¡±


    ¡°Go on. What did you think?¡± Gu Shenwei asked, knowing that he would find something fishy here. But he did not pursue that line of questioning.


    ¡°I notice you don¡¯t look well today. Did you not sleep wellst night, or do you miss the Queen.¡±


    ¡°You misunderstand me. I want to know what you thought before the Queen¡¯s wedding ceremony.¡±


    ¡°Oh. At that time, I wanted to find a way to make her happy. After meditating for a long time, I finally came up with a good idea.¡±


    To arouse his curiosity, Han Fen paused suddenly. Gu Shenwei pretended to be confused and asked, ¡°What idea?¡±


    Hearing it, Han Fen felt satisfied and continued, ¡°I finally figured out why she was afraid of you. The Queen was young and had no experience in sex. She didn¡¯t know what to do on the wedding night. Then I remembered a ultism called Delightful Touches, and I thought this might help. This ultism can help a woman ovee her fear and shyness, and enjoy sex with a man. I had tried it before and it worked well. The next morning, that man kept bothering me, so I killed him. Now I felt a little regretful. I should have kept him alive longer.¡±


    Han Fen raised her head, lost into thought again.


    Gu Shenwei had never heard this ultism from Maid Lotus before. <em>¡°She kept it from me because she didn¡¯t want me to look down upon New Moon Hall. But she allowed her loyal subordinate to try it on the Queen.</em>


    <em>That¡¯s why the sects of Western Region despise New Moon Hall.¡± </em>He mused.


    ¡°So you tried it on the Queen?¡± he asked.


    ¡°What do you refer to?¡±


    ¡°Delightful Touches.¡±


    ¡°I did, It worked well, didn¡¯t it? I notice that the Queen isn¡¯t afraid of you at all, besides, she always misses you. She doesn¡¯t know that it was my doing. Don¡¯t tell the Queen about it. I also don¡¯t want any reward from her.¡±


    But her expression betrayed her words. Gu Shenwei knew that she would be disappointed if he did not tell the Queen.


    ¡°You¡¯ll get rewarded. But as for this matter, we¡¯d better keep her in the dark. If she knew it, she would be displeased. Now she doesn¡¯t fear me, so you can stop helping her with that ultism.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t used it after your wedding night. Delightful Touchessts seven days. Today¡­ is thest day. Youe here for the Queen, right? Don¡¯t miss your chance.¡±


    Gu Shenwei interrupted her, and asked the question he cared about most, ¡°Who did it to me?¡±


    Han Fen stared at Dragon King with bewilderment, and said, ¡°Who could do it to you? You think too much.¡±


    Gu Shenwei also couldn¡¯t believe that anyone could do it to him, but he felt something was wrong with himself. He said, ¡°Why do I have the same symptom with the Queen ¨C a strong desire for sex?¡±


    <em>¡°It¡¯s lucky that Han Fen isn¡¯t a normal woman. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t know how to mention it directly.¡± </em>He thought to himself.


    Hearing this, Han Fen burst intoughter, her hands holding her stomach. She was amused by Gu Shenwei¡¯s innocent question.


    Gu Shenwei was infuriated by her response.


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help reaching out to the saber hilt, but stopped himself.<em>¡°She is a crazy woman. I can¡¯t take it seriously.¡± </em>He reminded himself. As she keptughing, he had to wait patiently for her to answer.


    Han Fen had not forgotten his question, and replied,ughing, ¡°You¡¯re a normal man.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Gu Shenwei asked, perplexed. He thought that she had missed out something important.


    ¡°You¡¯re a normal man, and you love women. Even without Delightful Touches, your desire for sex will be aroused once you¡¯re seduced by a woman. Take that man whom I tried the ultism on. He was shy the first night. But then, his desire for sex was aroused and he enjoyed the process. His desire for sex didn¡¯t stop even he was exhausted. After seven days, I lost interest but he still obsessed for it. To get rid of him, I killed him.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt d that he had not been the target of ultism of New Moon Hall. It meant that he hadid perfect security arrangement. But he also felt great shame. That strong desire for sex waspletely from himself. This time, he had set the desire free.


    ¡°You¡¯re clever,¡± Gu Shenweiplimented so as to know more information, ¡°But not clever enough to think of that idea yourself. Before you tried Delightful Touches on the Queen, someone must have told you about it, am I right?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re wrong. It was my own idea. Besides, no one talked to me. I love chatting with you. When I feel bored, I will imagine a partner around me. But you¡¯re more interesting than her.¡±


    Han Fen was the first one who thought Dragon King was interesting.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t think she was lying. <em>¡°Someone must have given her a hint. It might be Maid Lotus. Perhaps I asked with the wrong method.¡± </em>He mused.


    He asked several questions in session, but failed to get any more information. In the end, he had to give up. <em>¡°As I have no intention to get revenge soon, I don¡¯t need to know more.¡± </em>He reasoned.


    ¡°Do you really love chatting with me?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Yeah, you heard me. You¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to you soon.¡±


    ¡°Deal. You cane anytime except at night. I need to protect the Queen at night. During this period, I can¡¯t talk to anyone.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I hope you will keep this conversation to yourself.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll,¡± Han Fen said and shook her head, with her mouth closed tightly.


    ¡°What if someone asks about our conversation?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask them to leave and mind their own business. Or I¡¯ll kill them.¡±


    ¡°What if Managing Master asks? You can¡¯t defeat her.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ I won¡¯t tell a word even she threatens to kill me.¡±


    ¡°You can tell her that Dragon King cares about the Queen and asked you to protect the Queen.¡±


    ¡°This is better. Dragon King cares about the Queen, and he asked me to protect the Queen.¡±


    Dragon King left. Han Fen repeated his words and tried to memorize it.


    Gu Shenwei knew that Maid Lotus wouldn¡¯t believe it. He chose to let it go.<em>¡°Now that war ising, I need assistance from Maid Lotus and New Moon Hall. I¡¯ll get revenge after our alliance ends.¡± </em>He decided.


    Maid Lotus was a jealous woman. She couldn¡¯t tolerate seeing Gu Shenwei with other women. Gu Shenwei told himself that the disciples of New Moon Hall were crazy women, so he didn¡¯t feel that her crazy behavior was odd.


    Han Fen had said it was thest day that Delightful Touches worked. But Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t go for the Queen. Now that he knew what had happened, he wouldn¡¯t let the desire for sex loose again.


    <em>¡°I¡¯m Dragon King, so I can¡¯t do whatever I want, as Old Man Mu does. I need to control all desires properly.¡± </em>He thought.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t care what the Queen thought.


    Hearing that Dragon King left the royal pce, the Princess bawled on the bed.<em>¡°Why? Did I do anything wrong? Why does Dragon King humiliate me over and over again? Do I mean nothing to him?¡± </em>The Princess wondered.


    Seeing the Princess crying, Xu Yanwei took sympathy on the Princess. She wanted to bring Dragon King back, but she knew it was impossible. <em>¡°Now all I can do is to console the Princess gently. Tell her that Dragon King is a man and he has more important matters to deal with.¡±</em>


    The Princess stopped crying. She grabbed Xu Yanwei by the hand, raising her head and asked, ¡°Does Dragon King have other women?¡±


    Upon hearing this, Xu Yanwei¡¯s expression changed. She did not know how to respond. She had never expected such question from the Princess. In her eyes, the Princess was as innocent as a child. Besides, Dragon King¡¯s romantic life wasplicated.


    ¡°Tell me the truth. He is Dragon King, I¡¯ll not mind if he has dozens of women.¡±


    ¡°No, not that many. Dragon King seems to have no interest in females. He only has several intimate female acquaintances. But he has clean rtionships with them.¡± Xu Yanwei exined.


    ¡°Is one of them Maid Lotus?¡±


    Hearing this, Xu Yanwei was shocked. She had never mentioned her in front of the Princess. She asked, ¡°How did you know¡­¡±


    ¡°Everyone knows that Dragon King has a female guard. With skillful martial arts, she is the one that Dragon King trusts most. But he had never arranged for me to meet her.¡±


    ¡°She is a killer who always hides in the dark¡­¡± she said. Xu Yanwei was ignorant of theirplicated rtionship. But she knew that they were more than lovers or enemies. Their rtionship was beyond her understanding.


    ¡°Kung Fu, does Dragon King only care about Kung Fu?¡± the Princess murmured to herself. All of a sudden, she thought of a secret manuscript of Kung Fu in her hand. Dragon King had given it to her and asked her to keep it well.

 Chapter 458 - Contradictions

    Chapter 458: Contradictions


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Maid Lotus came back with Sumeru Mustard Mantra. Though there were exnations beside it, they still found the mantra difficult to practice.


    An enormous Sumeru Mountain could be wrapped up into a small mustard seed. The words from the scripture contained Buddhist doctrines and they were obscure. This sentence was the instruction of Internal Strength. It was the first trial of belief. Anyone who tried to practice this mantra needed to pass it first.


    To pass the trial, the participant first needed to have faith in Buddhist doctrines. Then, he needed to believe that it contained all the Internal Strength in the world; once the participant mastered it, he would be invincible.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus couldn¡¯t even pass the first trial. They only had the most superficial knowledge of Buddhist doctrines. And their principles went against Buddhist doctrines.


    Maid Lotus brought several scriptures, including Diamond Sutra, Lotus Sutra and Hridaya Sutra. After going through several pages, Gu Shenwei felt a headacheing on. Besides, he thought that Buddha exaggerating, forcing the crowd to believe his words. Besides, he doubted the strength of his will.


    <em>¡°It¡¯s impossible that a manual contains all the Internal Strength techniques in the world. Given that, Budda is bragging.</em>


    <em>But I can¡¯t deny that the power of the kung fu skills in this scripture. Both I and Maid Lotus witnessed amazing divine kung fu that Fayan used. Maid Lotus heard that Sumeru Mustard Mantra is one of the treasures of Four Truths Temple.</em>


    <em>In addition, Death Scripture that we trust most has a simr demand on the belief. Most of the content in Sumeru Mustard Mantra doesn¡¯t make sense. This book seems to be from an ignorant person who talked nonsense. But as long as one has faith, he or she can practice it more easily; meanwhile, power will increase as well. In this way, many difficulties will disappear.¡± </em>Gu Shenwei mused.


    They hadn¡¯t made up their mind. But they knew that this manual wouldn¡¯t bring any side effects. Fayan hadn¡¯t hidden Breaking Obsession in it, aiming to expose Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus to Buddhist doctrines through the practice.


    <em>¡°This monk, who has great faith in Buddhist doctrines, thinks that he can turn killers into good people with several scriptures. It¡¯s ridiculous.</em>


    <em>Sumeru Mustard Mantra is written for people like me.¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    The two of them tried practicing the basics. After three days, they had to stop due to an insurmountable problem.


    Whenever they had practiced divine kung fu of Sumeru Mustard, Internal Breath would generate in their body. This Internal Breath was against Wayless Qigong.


    The divine kung fu of Sumeru Mustard owned yang property, but Wayless Qigong had yin property. When two manuals of different properties met, they fought against each other.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus knew that the power of this manual would be weakened and the speed of practice would be prolonged without firm belief. But they resolved to practice first. When a bit of Qi gathered in their body, their initial Internal Breath fought against with it fiercely. As a result, the divine kung fu of Sumeru Mustard triggered their Frosty Qi, instead of curing their Qigong Deviation.


    Gu Shenwei was attacked by Qigong Deviation first, and Maid Lotus second. Their conditions were not serious, so they recovered after a night. Considering the result of their practice, they feared to practice again.


    Since then, their belief towards this manual weakened. Sumeru Mustard Mantra imed to take in all the Internal Strength in the world. After this experience, they knew Wayless Qigong was an exception.


    Just as they were about to give up it, something happened that changed their thoughts.


    One day, an eminent monk gave a lecture on Buddhist doctrines. Hearing this, Chu Nanping and Maid Lotus entered the city to attend the lecture. They saw divine kung fu of Sumeru Mustard. The eminent monk thought highly of Chu Nanping. He also said that he had the root of wisdom.


    Chu Nanping wasn¡¯t interested in the monk¡¯s words. All he wanted was to continue the practice of Emotionless Swordsmanship. He hade to attend the monk¡¯s lecture under Dragon King¡¯s order.


    The youth had no faith in Buddhist doctrines. He also took no interest in divine kung fu. To their surprise, he could practice divine kung fu sessfully without any side effects.


    As Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus were afraid to practice it, they decided to try it on someone else. Gu Shenwei had chosen to teach Chu Nanping part of Wayless Qigong. The Internal Strength Chu Nanping had was simr to Gu Shenwei¡¯s. Both of their Internal Strength belonged to yin property. To their surprise, the youth¡¯s initial Internal Strength did not conflict Qi caused by divine kung fu of Sumeru Mustard. Instead, two strengths helped each other. As a result, the youth learned divine kung fu at a fast speed.


    After they left Joy Pavilion, Dragon King became Chu Nanping¡¯s master and friend. It was the first time that he had asked the youth for help in kung fu skills.


    Facing his question, Chu Nanping simply replied, ¡°When you practice it, stop thinking. Just follow the instruction in the scripture. Like Secrets of Love, you can easily master it.¡±


    It was challenging for them to stop thinking. Dragon King and Maid Lotus were simr in that way. Composed and unreflective as they looked, they never stopped thinking. Even in their sleep, they still kept half wake to meditate. Traps and schemes were always brewing in their mind all the time. For them, putting these thoughts aside meant abandoning the sabers and swords they carried.


    <em>¡°I expected divine kung fu of Sumeru Mustard to improve my Internal Strength. As far as it is concerned, I will meet countless difficulties during the process. Even if I could master it, I have to make great efforts. Besides, it also requires lots of time.¡± </em>Gu Shenwei pondered.


    <em>¡°Spring is on its way, the army of Golden Roc Fort wille soon. Given that, I should set aside the practice on divine kung fu. At this critical moment, I can¡¯t afford to take any risks. Besides, I have gotten ustomed to the pain that Frosty Qi brings every two or three months. Under Maid Lotus¡¯ protection, I don¡¯t need to worry about the enemy¡¯s raid. The pain of Frosty Qi doesn¡¯t matter.¡± </em>Gu Shenwei pondered.


    As for Zhong Heng¡¯s recruitment, things went well as expected. Hitherto, he had enrolled over 10,000 new recruits. Dugu Xian trained soldiers at different stages day and night. For swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, he required them to control their impulse and slow down when attacking the enemy; as for those soldiers from five kingdoms, hemanded them to strictly follow orders and told them that deserters would be beheaded without exception.


    After months of training, Dugu Xian gave manypliments to ve soldiers from the Land of Fragrance in front of Dragon King. In his eyes, they followed orders and behaved properly. So he believed that they could be the realbat power.


    Hearing his excessivepliments ve soldiers, Gu Shenwei disagreed with what Left General had said. Gu Shenwei told him that these 6,000 to 7,000 ve soldier were used to obeying orders and their performance in the battlefield would prove themselves.


    Zhong Heng was in charge of recruitment and supply of army provisions. During the process, he had met many people across the Xiaoyao Lake and collected much information. He sent Dragon King a warning: As they could getnd in the Land of Fragrance, soldiers began to ept the uing war and get ready for it; butmon people still thought that the war had nothing to do with them but was caused by Dragon King.


    Except for running the business for Dragon King, Xu Xiaoyi had also been collecting information. He came to the same conclusion as Prime Minister.


    The tension of the war permeated the whole Xiaoyao Lake. People living in the city escaped to the countryside, while peasants came to the city to seek shelter. Every family had dug a tunnel in their courtyard and room and they hid food in it. In this way, they could hide in the tunnel to escape soldiers when the war began.


    The public outcry did not pose a threat to Dragon King yet. Common people were afraid of Dragon King, his army in particr. They were willing to trade with Dragon army as long as they received reasonable offers at the scene.


    Dragon Army¡¯s supplies were provided by the Land of Fragrance and Xiaoyao Lake. Once Dragon army got into an unfavorable situation or impasse, they wouldpletely lose support from Xiaoyao Lake. In this way, they could only rely on scanty supplies from the Land of Fragrance, which could barely support 30,000 troops and arge-scale battle. That was Zhong Heng¡¯s concern.


    <em>¡°Getting ready for the war goes against winning support frommon people, just like Sumeru Mustard Mantra and Wayless Book. I have to choose one.</em>


    <em>But as long as I win the war, all the difficulties will get settled.¡± </em>Gu Shenwei pondered.


    The soldiers and people from Xiaoyao Lake, even the whole Western Region thought Dragon King would lose the war.


    Zhong Heng had spent half a month for recruitment but only got a little over 10,000 soldiers. And most of them never held a sharp weapon. Golden Roc Army across the desert gained 30,000 new recruits. These people were veterans, machetemen and bandits who had experience in fighting. They could join the war with some training.


    Now, Golden Roc Fort¡¯ troops outnumbered Dragon Army. It had 80,000 troops, while Dragon King only had 30,000.


    Dugu Xianined to Dragon King nearly every day: recruits was progressing slowly, soldiers were in low spirits, they desperatelycked men. Dugu Xian was a down-to-earth general, and he never believed that miracles would work on the battlefield. Though he had read many cases of the smaller and weaker army defeating therger and stronger army, he either doubted its truth or thought it was the coincidence.


    ¡°That¡¯s not true. The party with more troops who lost their war usually didn¡¯t follow the military rules. As a result, they made fatal mistakes. Their failure was caused by themselves,¡± Dugu Xian insisted.


    ¡°The party with fewer troops can work out some ns to lead them to make mistakes,¡± the Dragon King contradicted.


    ¡°Haha, Dragon King read too many stories. The schemes mentioned in the book are made up. If I had an elite troop, I would do nothing but move forward ording to my n. What¡¯s the point of thinking too much as victory is mine? I know Shangguan Jianyi and he won¡¯t be fooled,¡± Dugu Xian said confidently.


    Though Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t met that Shangguan Jainyi, he thought that he knew thatmander better than Dugu Xian. <em>¡°Shangguan Jianyi loves taking risks. He wants a full victory. For it, he would be at all costs, even sacrifice many soldiers.¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t figured out a feasible n yet.


    Dugu Xian was a qualified general. <em>¡°It¡¯s my duty to tell Dragon King of the weakness and holes in our n.¡± </em>Dugu Xian thought. After he walked out of the tent, he became confident instantly. He resolved to enhance morale by all means.


    With the war approaching, spies brought lots of intelligence every day. The intelligence suggested that Golden Roc Army in Shuangquan Vige would attack in the spring.


    upied with business, Gu Shenwei set aside divine kung fu that monk left. Now, a message came from the royal pce: Queen had finished chapter 8 in the Wayless Book.


    Princess had just finished half of the chapter a couple of days ago. Hearing the news, Gu Shenwei was taken by surprise. <em>¡°The scripture is difficult to manage because hundreds of books are out of order. Once they¡¯re rearranged ording to the sequence, it will be easy to sort out the text.¡± </em>Gu Shenwei mused.


    Upon hearing the news, Gu Shenwei rode to the city instantly. Thest time he had seen the Queen was a month ago.


    Princess dressed up to greet Dragon King. Meanwhile, she prepared a good feast for him.


    Gu Shenwei had no time to appreciate the Princess¡¯ efforts for him. After exchanging small talks with the Princess, Gu Shenwei asked her to show him chapter 8.


    Princess was not disappointed for she knew Dragon King was such a person. She slowly took out a pile of papers, scribbled full of words.


    Gu Shenwei went through all the papers. <em>¡°It¡¯s chapter 8. There is no mistake.</em>


    <em>But the content is iplete. There is an important part missing.¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought.


    ¡°Is this all?¡± Gu Shenwei asked with disappointment. <em>¡°I can practice Wayless Qigong bit by bit based on different chapter. But once a part is missing in one chapter, it¡¯s impossible to master it.¡± </em>Gu Shenwei mused.


    ¡°No, I still have some,¡± the Princess replied gently with a smile on her face. Now, she resembled a qualified wife. She continued, ¡°I¡¯m ignorant of these scriptures. But I think chapter 9 is also hidden in these books.¡±


    ¡°Give it to me now,¡± Gu Shenwei urged in slight excitement.


    ¡°Only if you agree to my condition first,¡± the Princess said.


    All of a sudden, that shy Princess changed.

 Chapter 459 - Husband and Wife

    Chapter 459: Husband and Wife


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    It was at this moment that the image of the Princess became clear to Gu Shenwei.


    She was a beautiful girl, but he had never had a deep impression of her before.


    She was his wife, known to the people of the Western Region as the Dragon Queen, but it was a fact that he often forgot.


    The Princess hadrge eyes that reflected the anxiety and fear that had been brewing inside her for the past few days. She could not hide her emotions. It was her first negotiation and her opponent turned out to be her husband, the same Dragon King whom she feared and missed.


    She trembled ever so slightly, her stiff smile barelysting before her facade crumbled. Her eyes were wet and on the verge of tearing.


    Gu Shenwei hoped that she would give up on her own ord. He also wished that this was only a poor joke and that she would hand over the final copy of the documents.


    But she was like a slender de of grass that shook violently in a gale. Her body leaned sideways until it nearly touched the ground, but she was still standing.


    Gu Shenwei turned to look at Xu Yanwei.


    Xu Yanwei was the only maid left, but she could not have expected such a scene to unfold.


    In her imagination, good wine and a little seduction were enough to conquer most men. She had taught the Princess all of her unique skills¡ªthough there were not too many, they would be enough.


    She med herself for adding that reminder: ¡°The Dragon King is a little special and doesn¡¯t easily take the bait, but you don¡¯t have to worry because no matter how long itsts, victory will always belong to the woman in such a battle.¡±


    Xu Yanwei suspected that the Princess had misunderstood her meaning. War was just a metaphor, but it seemed as if she was really drawing out a saber to duel with the Dragon King.


    Xu Yanwei wore a wry smile on her face. She did not think Princess went too far. ¡°That¡­ There¡¯s no wine. I¡¯ll go and get some.¡± She quickly ran out with a full gon in hand, silently wishing the Dragon King good luck.


    The Princess¡¯ persistence finally worked. The Dragon King said, ¡°Tell me your conditions.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was not angered. On the contrary, he was rather amused. He would haveughed out loud had he not already forgotten how to change his expression.


    The Princess held back her tears and took a deep breath. From the descriptions of the Dragon King that others have made, she believed that tenderness would not work on her husband. He believed in concrete benefits rather than the feelings of a married couple whose time together was brief. ¡°It¡¯s very simple. I¡¯m your wife and you¡¯re my husband. We should live like a real married couple. I want to live with you,¡± she said.


    ¡°I live in the barracks,¡± Gu Shenwei replied, reminding the Princess. ¡°There are thousands of soldiers who don¡¯t live with their families. I can¡¯t make an exception and the barracks are a dangerous ce.¡±


    How wonderful it would be to hear these words from her husband before she was ¡°kicked out¡± of the barracks! The Princess could not help crying again. She took another deep breath to restrain her almost unbearable sadness before saying, ¡°You¡¯re the Dragon King. You can¡¯t live in the barracks all your life.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was silent for a moment and decided it would be easier to lie to her. ¡°You¡¯re right. I will build a royal pce outside Xiaoyao Lake, where we¡¯ll live together. I hope the Jade City doesn¡¯t leave a bad impression on you.¡±


    The Princess liked the Jade City. She grew up in the North City and had never seen the dirty and bloody South City before. She failed to realize that the Dragon King was humoring her. It was as if she was a killer who was armed for the first time and so self-conscious that she was unable to discern her opponent¡¯s tricks.


    ¡°The Jade City is great but I will follow you no matter where you go. I don¡¯t care even it¡¯s a deste desert.¡± The Princess quickly expressed her stance, not wanting him to think that she was being a snob.


    Being a person who was used to telling lies, Gu Shenwei was well aware of just how fragile promises were. Most of the time, people did not lie deliberately. They simply did not really understand what they have just said.


    ¡°I will wait ten years for you.¡± The one who said this had no idea just know how long a decade was, let alone one hundred or one thousand years.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to go through fire and water for you.¡± Those who made this oath will not even have a scar on their bodies, thinking that death was distant and easily handled.


    When they failed to keep their promises, they would find all kinds of excuses to defend themselves.


    Gu Shenwei thought that the Princess was probably unfamiliar with the deste desert, for she traveled in a carriage while crossing the desert. She had never seen the power of the gale and sand.


    ¡°In the Jade City, I will defeat the Supreme King so that the city will no longer be under the control of a few countries. It will just belong to me,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    The Princess was a little excited because it was her dream to return to the Jade City as his Queen. But her demands went beyond that. ¡°I believe you can achieve your goal soon, Dragon King, but before that, you have toe over once in a while¡­ to pay me a visit.¡±


    Her voice became weaker and weaker. The words ¡°pay me a visit¡± meant many things that were hard for her to speak of.


    She did not know that her passion on the wedding night was generated with the help of external forces. The Dragon King had once hinted of it but was not explicit about it. She had never heard of secret techniques of the New Moon Hall, nor would she believe that there were such magical and strange martial arts in the world.


    Gu Shenwei frowned. It was easy to lie about the future, but not things that had to be aplished in the near future. ¡°The war is beginning soon. I can¡¯te often.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have toe during the war but there will be always an end to the war.¡± The Princess was not so confident now and there was a hint of pleading in her voice. She was increasingly doubtful and feared that she had gone too far. She worried that her behavior was neither fitting of a Princess and Queen, nor a wife for that matter. ¡°Ten days, twenty days, a month, as long as it¡¯s at least once¡­ Let everyone know that I¡¯m still your wife and the Dragon Queen. That will silence His Majesty, at least¡­¡±


    The King of the Stone nation was her brother. She was still afraid to talk about the ipetent king and immediately dropped the subject. ¡°I don¡¯t want to see people giving me strange looks as if the Dragon King and I are just husband and wife for one night.¡±


    Even the cold-blooded Dragon King began to think that her request was reasonable. ¡°Well, as long as I¡¯m not too busy, I wille back often. Every ten days maximum.¡±


    The Princess felt gratified to finally win once in her rtionship with the Dragon King, even though it made them look even less like a married couple.


    However, this was not enough. The Princess, who had never negotiated before, instinctively understood that it would get harder after making the first request. She was afraid that making the next request first would anger the Dragon King, but it was within her right as his queen. It was also a test of his bottom line.


    ¡°Dragon King, can you¡­ change one of your guards?¡±


    ¡°Which guard?¡±


    The Princess was still inexperienced and too impatient. Had she discussed it with Xu Yanwei in advance, thetter would certainly remind her that the best ce for men to agree with her was not on the dining table but the bed.


    But she was exhausted and not in the mood to think about such matters.


    ¡°Maid Lotus,¡± she said, spitting out these two words as if reciting a short curse.


    Xu Yanwei was waiting outside the house. The longer she waited, the more she felt the Princess had a good chance of winning. She had already figured out how tofort the Dragon King. ¡°Men are like this. People who aren¡¯t afraid of their wives can¡¯t achieve great things. Of course, you¡¯re not afraid of the Princess, but letting her win every now and then will bring you constant victories on the battlefield.¡±


    She had prepared a lot of answers for when the Dragon King asked her for a reason, many of which were well-known figures in the Jade City. Even he would not be able to find a w in that.


    But the married couple had been negotiating for too long. Xu Yanwei began to harbor wild thoughts and pricked her ears to listen, but she could not hear any familiar soundsing from the room.


    Then came a noise which sounded like a cup being thrown on the floor. This did not bode well. Just as Xu Yanwei was about to work up the nerve to stop the fight, the Dragon King came out with a face full of anger.


    ¡°Dragon King¡­ Please don¡¯t get angry, Princess¡­ Queen¡­¡± The words that Xu Yanwei had prepared could not be used. She did not know what to say.


    ¡°You have been apanying the Queen. Where did she hide the other characters?¡± Gu Shenwei asked fiercely, waggling a pile of paper in his hand.


    Xu Yanwei was confused. She had never seen Dragon King enraged like this and was thus not as calm and glib as usual. She thought carefully and shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Didn¡¯t the Princess tell you? I¡¯ll go persuade her.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Gu Shenwei forbade harshly for he did not want to give in to the Princess again. ¡°Gather the books I sent. I want to take them away.¡±


    Xu Yanwei tried hard to keep her big eyes open, giving a nk and timid expression, making herself look extremely pitiful. It was her unique skill that made her famous in the Pleasure Alley. When the guests saw this expression, they would either take out a bunch of taels of silver to give her or leap forward and push her onto a bed. In short, it helped her solve problems without having to say a word.


    She had not used this skill for a long time and involuntarily brought it out at this moment. However, she had forgotten that the Dragon King knew her very well and would never rise to the bait.


    ¡°Where are the books?¡± Fire seemed to be bursting out of the Dragon King¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°I thought you have permitted this, Dragon King,¡± Xu Yanwei said in a low voice.


    Gu Shenwei felt a sense of foreboding. The Princess was more difficult to deal with than he thought because she had made adequate preparation.


    ¡°They are burned!¡± Xu Yanwei narrowed her shoulders and tried to look innocent. ¡°The Princess said¡­ The Queen said that there are important secrets hidden in those books. She has deciphered them and decided that they can longer be kept. She said that they should be burned to avoid future troubles.¡±


    The Dragon King looked like he wanted to kill someone. Seeing this, Xu Yanwei hurriedly added, ¡°It¡¯s the Queen¡¯s idea¡­¡± Suddenly, she remembered that she should not be so afraid of Dragon King as he would not kill her. Things might be different for the Princess, however. ¡°No, no, no! It¡¯s my idea! I persuaded the Princess to do this. Dragon King, please just give in. She has deciphered the code and those books are useless. Moreover, men are all like this. People who are afraid of wives can achieve great things, like that person in the Jade City¡­¡±


    Xu Yanwei finally said what she had nned to, but it was so hastily done that it lost its intended effect.


    The Dragon King went off in a huff.


    Maid Lotus was on the alert outside all the time, not knowing what was happening inside. She was shocked to see Dragon Kinge out in anger. He did not look like amander-in-chief whomanded 30,000 troops.


    ¡°Call on your people.¡± Gu Shenwei gave an order harshly, intending to withdraw the protection of the Princess. ¡°Especially Han Fen. I need to ask her some questions.¡±


    Han Fen might have noticed things that Xu Yanwei did not.


    Maid Lotus epted the order and walked away, but turned back again after taking only a few steps. She exchanged a nce with the Dragon King and came to understand that there was aplex reason behind his anger.

 Chapter 460 - Giving Away the Palace

    Chapter 460: Giving Away the Pce


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Han Fen knew nothing about where the Princess had hidden the book. She was just reluctant to leave the royal pce. ¡°We¡¯ll leave like that? Who¡¯ll protect the Queen?¡±


    No one answered her. Gu Shenwei did not evacuate everyone from the royal pce. He left many guards there to protect it.


    Before he left, he wanted to teach a lesson to the King of the Stone Kingdom.


    Although the Princess had done something wrong, she was still the Dragon King¡¯s Queen. No one was entitled to humiliate her, especially the nominal King of the Stone Kingdom.


    In the empty main hall, only four or five eunuchs stood near the Emperor behind the pirs, waiting to be called.


    The King of the Stone Kingdom curled on the throne sideways, imagining that the court was full of civil and military officials. They were chanting about his virtues and achievements, while he remained dignified and was about to announce his sentence to the Dragon King.


    Just then, the Dragon King walked into the main hall. He came alone, holding onto his hilt with his right hand. His face was pale and sickly.


    <em>¡°The Dragon King isn¡¯t so lofty.¡± </em>The King of the Stone Kingdom was still in his fantasy and did not fear the Dragon King so much. He straightened himself and said coldly, ¡°There you are.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem that I¡¯ve called you.¡±


    ¡°No, you haven¡¯t, I wanted toe.¡±


    As the Dragon King got closer and closer, the sound of footsteps and the sound of a hilt rubbing against clothes were nearly unbearable in the empty hall.


    The King of the Stone Kingdom suddenly woke up from his delusion. <em>¡°He¡¯s the powerful Dragon King who can take away my crown at any moment!¡±</em>


    The Dragon King suddenly seemed to be very formidable, and the King of the Stone Kingdom cringed like a shrimp. ¡°Wee, Dragon King, my brother-inw and the dearest friend of the Stone Kingdom. I was looking forward to seeing you, and here you are.¡±


    The ttery of the King of the Stone Kingdom could not have even convinced a three-year-old child. The resentment in his words was crystal clear. His limited power had been further reduced since the arrival of the Dragon King. He had expected the An Kingdom at the southern bank of Xiaoyao Lake, but received nothing. The Dragon King did not even give a decent dowry, let alone a country.


    ¡°You can meet me at any time.¡± Gu Shenwei could not respect this ipetent king. ¡°Just as long as you walk out of the royal pce and go to the barracks on the outskirts.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll think about it.¡± The King of the Stone Kingdom did not look happy. <em>¡°I won¡¯t leave because you might take thest bit of my things in the blink of an eye.¡±</em>


    ¡°I came today to ask you to do one thing.¡±


    They were both kings, and the King of the Stone Kingdom was a real legitimate one. He would not be happy receiving orders. Even Prime Minister Yang Dou, who used to be the actual ruler, would offer some superficial courtesy to him.


    The King of the Stone Kingdom flushed but suppressed his anger. Finally, he asked awkwardly, ¡°And what thing it that?¡±


    ¡°Tell your sister that you appreciate what she did for the country and that the royal pce is her home. She can do anything she wants at home.¡±


    This was beyond his expectations. <em>¡°She¡¯s always been a good girl, never asks for anything, and never talks back when I scold her. Now just after marrying the Dragon King, she not only lives in my pce, but also uses that advantage to bully me!¡±</em>


    ¡°This is my royal pce, my home. She¡¯s married the Dragon King and only lives here temporarily.¡± The King of the Stone Kingdom raised his head and recoiled back as far as possible from the Dragon King.


    In any other country in the world, the Dragon King would have been standing below the stairs, rather than speaking in front of the throne.


    Gu Shenwei looked down at the thin King of the Stone Kingdom. ¡°Well, then you have to move out, and find yourself another ce.¡±


    ¡°Wha¡­ what? What did you say?¡± The King of the Stone Kingdom clutched at the edge of the throne as if it was his lifeline.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take over the royal pce; you can choose any residence in the city and dere it to be the royal pce of the Stone Kingdom. From now on, this will be the Dragon King¡¯s pce.¡±


    ¡°No, I won¡¯t do that. This is the royal pce of the Stone Kingdom, and I am the King of the Stone Kingdom. No one can drive me away.¡± The King of the Stone Kingdom was more than a decade older than the Dragon King. But now he acted like a mad child, swinging his fists and shouting even if he could not possibly win.


    Atst, an old eunuch worked up the nerve to step forward. He smiled and said, ¡°Your Majesty, you¡¯ve mistaken the Dragon King. You two are family and share the royal pce. He can stay if he wants. And the Queen, your sister, is also the honorable master of the¡­¡±


    The old eunuch tried to ease the situation for the King of the Stone Kingdom, but was interrupted by spittle.


    The King of the Stone Kingdom spat and the spittle flew over the stairs in a perfect curve,nding on the old eunuch¡¯s face. The old eunuch was hit by the unexpected spittle and withdrew humiliated.


    ¡°You shameless traitor, I¡¯m still in the pce!¡±


    The King of the Stone Kingdom was not stupid; otherwise, Yang Dou would not have chosen him over the Prince to take the throne. However, diseases and years of being the puppet of others had consumed all his wisdom. Only the halo of the king remained to support him this far.


    Afterward, the King of the Stone Kingdom finally regained hisposure. He asked coldly, ¡°Can I stay if I apologize to her?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s up to the Queen.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± The King of the Stone Kingdom was too weak to sustain his anger and he quickly calmed down. ¡°I¡¯ll meet with my sister and tell her to stay herefortably. She will have whatever rights I have.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded but did not leave. His eyes were still fixed upon the King of the Stone Kingdom.


    ¡°You want me to do it now?¡± the King of the Stone Kingdom asked anxiously.


    Gu Shenwei nodded again.


    The King of the Stone Kingdom forced himself up and slowly walked down the steps. He looked back at the Dragon King a few times out of fear that he would take this advantage to sit in his ce.


    The King of the Stone Kingdom resolutely left the hall to seek reconciliation with his sister.


    Gu Shenwei remained in front of the throne, as if he was really taking interest in the wooden chair. But he did not touch anything; instead, he snapped, ¡°Come out!¡±


    The old eunuch came out from behind the pir and walked beside the stairs. The others had left with the King of the Stone Kingdom, only he remained.


    ¡°Please tell me your demands, Dragon King.¡±


    He was a servant who knew how to please his master. Therefore, he would naturally bear grudges when he felt unappreciated.


    ¡°Tell me the truth,¡± Gu Shenwei ordered, still staring at the throne. Like his father Gu Lun, he hated eunuchs and thought that they were all treacherous.


    ¡°Yes, Dragon King.¡± The old eunuch knelt on the ground. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t say this, but only you can protect Xiaoyao Lake¡­¡±


    The old eunuch spent a lot of time exining why he had betrayed his master, how he considered not only the King of the Stone Kingdom, but also the Dragon King and the people of the Stone Kingdom. Finally, he disclosed his secret in one sentence: ¡°A court maid is pregnant with the child of the King of the Stone Kingdom.¡±


    Not receiving any response, the old eunuch added, ¡°She¡¯ll be giving birth in less than one month. If it¡¯s a boy, she¡¯ll have the Crown Prince of the Stone Kingdom.¡±


    So many countries paid attention to the Princess because the King of the Stone Kingdom did not have a son. And if the Princess could give birth to a boy, that boy would be the eligible Crown Prince.


    However, the King of the Stone Kingdom had managed to impregnate a woman and keep it secret. He must have feared that the Dragon King would sabotage him.


    But the Dragon King was still silent, thus the old eunuch pushed him. ¡°It¡¯s not toote to do it. There are even few people in the pce that know about this.¡±


    ¡°Out.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s tone was cold and the old eunuch started to sweat before staggering out of the main hall. Standing in the howling wind, thetter suddenly had a realization. <em>¡°How stupid! How could I urge him? He must already have his own n. Why would he discuss it with someone like me?</em>


    <em>¡°Or perhaps, he¡¯ll murder me too!¡± </em>The old eunuch was scared and ran back home. During the next few days, he did not attend the court meetings, iming that he was ill.


    Now only one remained. Gu Shenwei rummaged under the throne, and soon found a roll of carefully wrapped papers.


    Although the Princess might have been good at plotting, shecked experience. She had deliberatelyined about her brother, faltered, and looked sad. She tried to distract the Dragon King away from her brother¡¯s territory. But the w in her expression betrayed her.


    Moreover, under the throne was indeed a great ce to hide things. In the pce, no one except for the King of the Stone Kingdom dared to meddle with it. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus used to hide the ¡°Sumeru Mustard Mantra¡± there as well.


    No one saw Maid Lotuse in, but here she was, walking out from behind another pir. She murmured, ¡°The Princess will be a good Queen.¡±


    <em>¡°Just like the Queen of the Hui Kingdom, the Princess might be a fledgling now, but she¡¯ll be increasingly arrogant and yearn for power more than the Queen of the Hui Kingdom did.</em>


    <em>¡°She really will be a good Queen.¡±</em>


    But Gu Shenwei would not discuss that with Maid Lotus now. He asked her, ¡°Can you imitate the Queen¡¯s handwriting?¡±


    ¡°I guess I can. Given more time, I¡¯ll do better.¡±


    ¡°There aren¡¯t too many words.¡±


    Gu Shenwei carefully untied the roll of paper. He nced through it quickly, and then turned to thest few pages to read.


    ¡°Is this really the ninth chapter?¡±


    ¡°Looks like it.¡± ording to his own practicing experience, Gu Shenwei was positive that it was the ninth chapter of the <em>Wayless Book </em>, the chapter that even the Supreme King did not possess.


    Maid Lotus fetched pens and papers. Shey the white paper on the ground and knelt down, sitting on her feet, ready to imitate the Princess¡¯s handwriting.


    Gu Shenwei picked up a sheet andy it in front of Maid Lotus to transcribe on.


    There were only 500 or 600 words. The Princess wrote neatly, which made it easy for Maid Lotus to imitate her. She only needed to pay attention to the details.


    Maid Lotus copied the entire sheet but altered a few dozen words respectively in seven ces, thus, the meaning waspletely changed.


    Gu Shenwei was tampering with this Divine Kung Fu¡¯s ninth chapter, just like what Maid Lotus had done to him.


    Neither of them revealed that they remembered the past. They both were easily able to cover up that history now.

 Chapter 461 - Teaching the Divine Kung Fu

    Chapter 461: Teaching the Divine Kung Fu


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The Princess knew nothing about Kung Fu; however, she managed to separate the remaining <em>Wayless </em><em>Book </em>into chapters.


    She gave Dragon King only 10 pages of the eighth chapter, without thest page and the 12 pages of the ninth chapter.


    Gu Shenwei had Maid Lotus alter the 10th page of the ninth chapter. Then, he rolled it up again and hid it under the throne.


    Maid Lotus had always known the Dragon King¡¯s motive behind his every act. However, this time she was a little puzzled. ¡°Shall we not keep a copy?¡±


    Gu Shenwei just shook his head without answering. He was thinking that they had already lingered here for too long, so they should leave in case of any future suspicion.


    The King of the Stone Kingdom had already been ¡°forgiven¡± by his sister; however, he did not dare to visit the Dragon King in person. In the end, he hid inside his pce and sent Xu Yanwei to report it.


    ¡°Your Majesty, the Princess has realized her mistake. She wants you to forgive her. Moreover, the King of the Stone Kingdom has reflected on his mistakes too.¡±


    Gu Shenwei still looked angry. He had the King of the Stone Kingdom apologize to her, but that did not mean he had forgiven the Princess. Finally, he marched off with the guards.


    Back in the barracks, Gu Shenwei exined to Maid Lotus, ¡°The ninth chapter is reserved for the Supreme King, so we can¡¯t practice it. He¡¯ll send people to spy on us.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not even keeping a copy?¡± Maid Lotus still found it puzzling. <em>¡°He¡¯s not only giving up the ninth chapter, but also the eighth chapter because of the missingst page.¡±</em>


    ¡°No, the Wayless Qigong won¡¯t benefit any of us.¡±


    Maid Lotus was stunned by his stubbornness, and again, she felt lost. ¡°But you¡¯ve taught the Divine Kung Fu to so many swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain.¡±


    ¡°In that way, they won¡¯t all have self-destruction at the same time. They can protect each other from the assassins if any of them self-destructs.¡±


    Maid Lotus saw the obvious contradiction in his words, but did not ask further.


    She started to get suspicious.


    Gu Shenwei knew what Maid Lotus was thinking: <em>¡°He¡¯s acting weird, as if he is deliberately giving up the eighth and ninth chapters in front of me to cover up something. Maybe he has a copy of them and doesn¡¯t want me to know.¡± </em> Thus, Gu Shenwei could onlyfort her. ¡°I have my reasons, please believe me.¡±


    At that time, Maid Lotus suddenly dropped her suspicion. Their friendship was delicate; all they had was the trust between them. Any strain on that would permanently break their rtionship.


    Actually, she wanted to tell him: ¡°I don¡¯t care even if you keep those two chapters¡±, but in the end, she remained quiet.


    Maid Lotus bowed and was ready to leave.


    ¡°Wait.¡± Gu Shenwei stopped her to discuss something more important. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about the Sumeru Mustard Divine Kung Fu. Chu Nanping is practicing it, so why can¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°Have you found a solution?¡± Maid Lotus¡¯s eyes shed.


    Actually, as long as she refrained from the Death Scripture swordcraft, Maid Lotus had little chance of having Qigong Deviation. However, because of the previous incorrect manual, Gu Shenwei suffered from Qigong Deviation periodically. Maid Lotus was feeling happy for him.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit risky.¡± Gu Shenwei had reflected on it. Finally, he decided to take the risk because he could seize the opportunity topletely get rid of his Qigong Deviation and strengthen his Internal Strength. That was more than he could obtain by practicing the two chapters of the Wayless Qigong.


    ¡°Have you heard of the Yin and Yang Strength from our Gu family?¡±


    Maid Lotus was the only one who knew the Dragon King¡¯s real name; she surely remembered the Yin and Yang Strength well. At that time, Gu Shenwei got rid of ve Yao using that strength and stirred up a deep hatred in her heart. Now, even though she could not recall the victim¡¯s face, her hatred remained.


    She nodded.


    ¡°The Yin and Yang Strength is different, one can¡¯t practice it alone. He must have the aid of another expert. Yin produces yang, and yang produces yin, that¡¯s how the strength grows. To practice the Wayless Qigong, I gave up the Yin and Yang Strength. I thought it was lost forever.¡±


    ve Yao died of Qigong Deviation because Gu Shenwei had just stood by. He did not rescue ve Yao using his Yin Strength. After he abandoned the Yin and Yang Strength, there was no way for him to help others practice it anymore.


    In order to find out the real cause of ve Yao¡¯s death, Maid Lotus had studied the first stage of the Yin and Yang Strength. Now, she quickly realized what he meant. ¡°You want to practice the Sumeru Mustard Divine Kung Fu using the Yin and Yang Strength method?¡±


    It was risky indeed.


    ¡°The Sumeru Mustard Divine Kung Fu contains all the Internal Strength in the world, while the Wayless Qigong has none. These two manuals arepletely opposite each other. One is warm and the other is cold, which resembles the Yin and Yang Strength of the Gu family.¡±


    Maid Lotus could not help asking, ¡°Have you tried it?¡±


    If one wanted to control the Yang Strength at the first stage of the Yin and Yang Strength, he needed another expert who had controlled the Yin Strength to help him. Gu Shenwei had mastered the Wayless Qigong, so he could manage to control both strengths on his own.


    ¡°Not yet, there¡¯s too much risk in practicing on my own. If I were to fail, I wouldn¡¯t know how to reverse it. I need your help.¡±


    Looking at Gu Shenwei, Maid Lotus breathed heavily, emotionless. <em>¡°Not only is he seeking help from me, but he¡¯s also putting his life in my hands.¡±</em>


    ¡°You¡¯ve had an army; you don¡¯t have to beat the Supreme King in Kung Fu. There¡¯s a chance that you may have Qigong Deviation. We can always find a better way to solve the problem, a safer one.¡±


    In fact, she found it too great of a temptation because she could not be sure that she would always keep down those thoughts of vengeance.


    ¡°Armies are indispensable, but they can¡¯t solve all problems.¡± Being the Dragon King for a long time, Gu Shenwei had realized that many hands made light work. At the same time, he found out their shorings, thus he turned to Kung Fu as an alternative. He decided that he would no longer allow one single master, like Old Man Mu, to stall an entire army.


    ¡°We should try it on someone else first,¡± she suggested, rarely appearing hesitant. She knew how risky it was to merge three disconnected sets of Internal Strength.


    Gu Shenwei had thought about that option, but there were few ¡°victims¡±. The victims needed to have practiced the Wayless Qigong, so that alone ruled out all of the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain. <em>¡°They¡¯ve just started practicing. Apart from me and Maid Lotus, there are only Chu Nanping and Shangguan Fei.</em>


    <em>¡°Chu Nanping has just practiced a few chapters, and he¡¯s also been practicing the Sumeru Mustard Divine Kung Fu well. He doesn¡¯t qualify.¡±</em>


    Therefore, Shangguan Fei became the only candidate.


    Shangguan Fei was unreliable, which made him a perfect subject to experiment on.


    And regarding Shangguan Fei, Maid Lotus could not help asking, ¡°Will he steal the ninth chapter?¡±


    ¡°Even if he doesn¡¯t, someone will. After all, the Supreme King has set his eyes on the ninth chapter.¡±


    As usual, Maid Lotus did not ask anything further, so Gu Shenwei continued on his own, half-exining and half-briefing. ¡°Shangguan Yun decided to stop the battle between us after his visit to the Land of Fragrance. He couldn¡¯t have done it on a whim. I think he¡¯d heard about the grand priest, and knew that I was collecting the <em>Wayless Book </em>, thus he wanted to know the results.¡±


    Gu Shenwei believed that no matter how strange a person was, he would follow the normal rules of benefit when making any big decision.


    Shangguan Yun was often unpredictable, maybe it was out of his personality. However, Gu Shenwei did not think the Third Young Master would make a futile attempt since he was the one who both the Supreme King and the teacher Zhang Ji appreciated. He must have had a n.


    ¡°Now, I¡¯ll give him the results and see how he gets them.¡±


    Maid Lotus understood, and even his declining to keep the ninth chapter made sense now. In the end, she did not ask if it was Shangguan Ru who had spilled the beans.


    Shangguan Fei stayed with the guards most of the time. As he was summoned alone, he appeared delighted; or at least he was acting like it. ¡°Your Majesty, what are your orders? I¡¯m so bored, give me something to do.¡±


    The teenage Shangguan Fei had been a master most of his life, receiving praise and ttery. He was the Ninth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort before he turned refugee. But when his life changed, he did not find it too hard to suck up to others. And he did not bear any grudges while doing so as if he had been born a servant.


    ¡°How¡¯s Shangguan Hongtely?¡± Gu Shenwei asked coldly. Although he could pretend to be a servant, he could never ept it.


    ¡°He¡¯s good. I¡¯ve been watching him for Your Majesty. But I think he¡¯s always been plotting a rebellion. To be honest, Your Majesty forgave him too easily¡­ too generously.¡±


    If Shangguan Fei was keeping something in mind, it had to be the affair between Shangguan Hong and his mother. He would never forgive Shangguan Hong because of that.


    ¡°He¡¯ll be useful.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, I appreciate Your Majesty¡¯s foresight.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve helped me a lot, but I haven¡¯t found an opportunity to thank you yet.¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty¡¯s sheltering is my best reward, I couldn¡¯t have asked for more.¡±


    ¡°I have to. Even if you don¡¯t care about it, others may be disappointed in me. Well, I¡¯ve taught the Wayless Qigong to the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, so I¡¯ll teach you some Kung Fu too.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Actually, Shangguan Fei had expected a reward deep down in his heart¡ªhis greatest wish was to go to the Land of Fragrance to block the passage permanently. Then, everything would be fine. He had alwayscked interest in Kung Fu and cultivation methods. He would not even practice the Wayless Qigong if it were not for his mother.


    ¡°The Sumeru Mustard Divine Kung Fu is the best among the Four Truths Temple Kung Fu, you won¡¯t be afraid of those Golden Roc killers after you master it.¡±


    No matter how capable he was, Shangguan Fei could not control his fear. ¡°Well¡­ Your Majesty thinks too highly of me. I¡¯m untalented and ungifted, I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll have Maid Lotus help you.¡±


    Something dawned on him. ¡°Your Majesty, I¡¯ve been loyal. I¡¯ve never done¡­ well, after surrendering, I¡¯ve never done anything that went against your benefit. You don¡¯t mean to kill me, do you?¡±


    ¡°Why would I do that? Even Shangguan Hong is still breathing, let alone you. I do want to teach you the Sumeru Mustard Divine Kung Fu, and Maid Lotus will help as well. We don¡¯t have any bad intentions.¡±


    Shangguan Fei groaned. ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty, for your great kindness! Has Your Majesty practiced the Divine Kung Fu yet?¡±


    ¡°No, I haven¡¯t. However, Chu Nanping is practicing it, and he finds it very helpful.¡±


    Shuangguan Fei requested to leave, feeling a little relieved. He had not foreseen the suffering he was going to encounter.


    The seeds of betrayal had been nted in many people among the Dragon army. The King of the Stone Kingdom¡¯s siblings and Shangguan Fei were the ones most likely to yield to the temptation of the Golden Roc Fort. He had encouraged every one of them to see who would steal the roll of paper under the throne.

 Chapter 462 - A Murder

    Chapter 462: A Murder


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Ju Chi was a guard in the royal pce of the Stone Kingdom. As a branch descendant of the royal family, he was well trusted by the King, maybe the only one trusted by thetter.


    Late one night, he remembered what the Emperor had said a few months prior:


    ¡°Ju Chi, I¡¯m not asking you as your king, but as your brother of the same lineage. I need your help. You know the royal family is at a critical moment, we may be toppled at any time. I entrust you with safeguarding the most important person of the royal family and of the entire Stone Kingdom. I hope that you¡¯ll protect thest descendant of the Ju family.¡±


    This ¡°most important person¡± lived in the house behind him.


    Like themon people in Xiaoyao Lake, Ju Chi had felt a dramatic change in the environment. The five countries of Xiaoyao Lake used to be powerful, but that juststed briefly. Soon afterward, other powerhouses came in. In the beginning, they could manage to coexist. But in the end, they were struggling just to survive.


    To avoid the suspicion from the powerhouses, the royal families of the five kingdoms even voluntarily cut down their standing armies. And finally, they could only recruit Golden Roc Fort mercenaries.


    This strategy was wrong to the extreme.


    As was expected, the Golden Roc Fort gradually influenced the five countries. Eventually, theypletely controlled their governments, to the point where they could almost merge the five countries. At that time, the Dragon King suddenly appeared out of nowhere.


    Ju Chi was young, in his 20s. He hoped that the five countries of Xiaoyao Lake could unite to be independent, even if they could notpare with other powerhouses. They should no longer be held back by others.


    As a descendant of the Stone Kingdom¡¯s royal family, he naturally wanted the Stone Kingdom to be the leader of that unification.


    Unfortunately, the Stone Kingdom was the weakest among the five of them. This made his dream appear to be unrealistic.


    However, Ju Chi had mixed feelings about the Dragon King.


    <em>¡°Indeed, he and his Dragon army are invaders. He¡¯s even more hawkish than the Golden Roc Fort. He¡¯s recruited most of the young men from the five countries. If he fails in the war, the entire Xiaoyao Lake area will be doomed.</em>


    <em>¡°However, it¡¯s due to him that our soldiers are once again equipped withbat skills. For the first time in decades, we have a powerful military force.¡±</em>


    Ju Chi always dreamed that the nearly 20,000 soldiers of the five countries would break away from the Dragon Army. Under themand of the royal family, they would expel invaders, fight the Golden Roc Fort, and gain a reputation among the Nond and the Central ins.


    It was a dream that he carefully preserved. He never made it public because he knew clearly that the Dragon King¡¯s spies were all over Xiaoyao Lake, especially in the royal pce of the Stone Kingdom.


    Now, the King of the Stone Kingdom was having a son, so he felt that he was one step closer to achieving his dream.


    Among the five countries, the people in the Stone Kingdom supported the Dragon King the most because he was the Emperor¡¯s son-inw. Everyone knew that the son of the Dragon King and the Princess would take the crown. Thus, the Dragon King¡¯s control over the Stone Kingdom was legitimate to some extent.


    However, if the court maid were to give birth to a boy, his regime would start to crumble. He could clutch to the throne, but the people would not support him anymore.


    That might be a great opportunity.


    Thus, Ju Chi fully understood how important his duty was. The silent court maid in the house bore the hopes of the Stone Kingdom¡¯s royal family, and even the hope of the entire Xiaoyao Lake.


    He clenched his scimitar.


    Ju Chi was good in Kung Fu; however, he had little confidence. He had witnessed the Dragon King¡¯s machete skills on a few asions. Since then, hepletely dropped the idea of fighting thetter. The Dragon King was like a man of steel, and he was just made of flesh and bone.


    Ju Chi felt deeply honored that the King of the Stone Kingdom had entrusted the pregnant court maid to him. However, he still reminded the King, ¡°Keeping it a secret is the best protection. If word gets out, I¡¯m afraid that even an entire army won¡¯t protect her.¡±


    Ju Chi had not gone home for several months. He had dered that he was assigned to guard the western border.


    The court maid hid in a remote courtyard. The courtyard was shabby because it had been abandoned long ago. Only a maid and an elderly woman looked after her.


    Every 10 days, someone sent a sufficient amount of food and collected their garbage. In that way, the four of them did not need to leave the courtyard at all.


    Even with such a daily routine, Ju Chi¡¯s caution did notx at all. Especially over thest few days, he often felt nervous and that someone was snooping around. However, every time he drew the saber, it only proved to be a false rm.


    He realized that he was making the three women inside nervous as well. And that could hurt the baby. He could possibly even kill thest descendant of the King of the Stone Kingdom. Thus, he calmed himself down and refrained from wielding his saber after that.


    That was how the imperial guard Ju Chi felt when the assassin arrived¡ªHe needed to both fight the enemy and avoid rming the pregnant woman inside.


    Therefore, he hesitated when drawing out his saber.


    The assassin was dressed in ck and moved fast. Like a wild cat looking for food at night, he approached his prey quietly.


    Ju Chi was one of his prey. When he had drawn out half of the saber, the assassin¡¯s saber glided right in front of his face. He could almost see his blood sshing out, forming a red curtain of blood. Through the curtain, he saw a sword around the assassin¡¯s waist.


    That was all Ju Chi could remember.


    The news that a pregnant court maid had been assassinated quickly spread throughout the Stone Kingdom capital, and then over other ces at the speed of a wildfire.


    The King was furious. His angersted from midnight until the next afternoon. Without any evidence, he already decided who the murderer was.


    He strode out of his bedchamber so quickly that the eunuchs almost lost him. The eunuchs were all stunned by the Emperor¡¯s unprecedented energy.


    At the Princess¡¯s ce, he thumped on the door and scolded the puzzled maid. Pushing away Xu Yanwei, who hade out to inquire, he stormed into his sister¡¯s bedroom. He was red in the face with anger but only blurted out three words: ¡°How dare you¡­!¡±


    The Princess had just woken up and did not have a clue about why her brother was so angry. She still remembered the smile on the King¡¯s face when he had asked for her forgiveness the day before.


    When the King finally calmed down and told her the story, she was stunned. Not knowing what to say, she collected her thoughts for a while. ¡°Did someone see that it was the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Even if it¡¯s not him, it must be his man.¡± The King of the Stone Kingdom snarled. ¡°Who else could it be? Well, you¡¯re happy, aren¡¯t you? It must be what you want. My son is gone, and yours gets to take the crown. I won¡¯t let you, I¡¯ll tell the world what you¡¯ve done. Even if I die and the Stone Kingdom dies, you won¡¯t have it!¡±


    The Princess wept bitterly on her pillow.


    Overnight, Gu Shenwei woke up to find himself besieged with public outrage. The only country that considered the Dragon King to be one of their own started to turn against him.


    No one dared to protest publicly yet. However, in every street, alley, and barracks, everyone was talking about the murder in the royal pce. People always tended to invent more details to add to stories. It grew scarier and scarier. Someone even imed that the Dragon King had cut open the pregnant woman and taken the baby out to make sure it was dead.


    Moreover, the baby proved to be a boy.


    When it was noon, more evidence emerged to support that the murderer was the Dragon King.


    First, the imperial guard Ju Chi survived. He had witnessed that the assassin was equipped with a de and a sword, which was a feature of the Dragon King. And as for how the Dragon King had missed his target, people came up with many exnations. The most popr one was that the Dragon King had been nervous. Who would feel at ease while doing something so evil? Moreover, his target was the mother, not the guard.


    Second, a eunuch was used of having had a private conversation with the Dragon King. Then, the old eunuch confessed under pressure that he had revealed the existence of the pregnant court maid to the Dragon King.


    And there was the smoking gun. Even the strong supporters of the Dragon King started to suspect him.


    Zhong Heng visited the Dragon King every two hours, and each time, he brought worse news than before. The Ju family had been out of touch with the people of the Stone Kingdom for a long time, but this murder brought them back into the public eye. Everyone felt deep sadness and anger from the royal family¡¯s perspective.


    Zhong Heng did not think that the Dragon King would do something so stupid. However, when more and more evidence emerged, he became a little confused as well. He felt the need to hear it straight from the horse¡¯s mouth. The fifth time he went to the Dragon King¡¯s ce, he offered suggestions. ¡°Well, it¡¯s getting serious, we need to react. We either capture the murderer, or prove that you¡¯re innocent. Or¡­ we can take measures to stop people from specting. For example, the imperial guard Ju and the eunuch¡­ I think I can change their minds.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡± The Dragon King¡¯s calmness puzzled Zhong Heng. ¡°I already have a n.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good, that¡¯s very nice.¡± Zhong Heng believed the Dragon King, but he always acted on his own¡ªeven Zhong Heng did not know all his secrets. ¡°Last night¡­ did Your Majesty leave the camp?¡±


    Zhong Heng was not snooping or trying to find out the truth. He simply wanted to remind the Dragon King of the unfavorable evidence against him. And if he had noticed it, others might have as well.


    The Dragon King nodded, which greatlyforted Zhong Heng. At least the Dragon King had prepared for this.


    ¡°Pay attention to the camp.¡± Gu Shenwei was going to the city to solve the problem. ¡°Don¡¯t be soft on any riot. You can execute them without my order.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I will.¡± Zhong Heng bowed to leave. He regained his confidence, and even med himself for having suspected the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei arrived in the city in the evening. He could feel the suspicion and vignce from the people along the way.


    He did not visit the King of the Stone Kingdom, but went directly to the Princess¡¯s ce.


    The Princess had been crying since the day before, and it seemed that she would not stop. Upon seeing her husband, she dived at him and eagerly asked, ¡°Was it you?¡±


    Gu Shenwei pushed the Princess away. He did not answer her, but said coldly, ¡°Where are the remaining words? Take it out.¡±


    ¡°It was you! You¡¯re the murderer!¡± The Princess was convinced of her judgment. She had never learned how to pretend, and would pour out her emotions when she was in her deepest despair. ¡°You already have the entire Xiaoyao Lake, isn¡¯t that enough? Why don¡¯t you kill us all, so you can be the King of the Stone Kingdom? Here, this is the only thing you care about!¡±


    The Princess threw out a roll of paper and it fell to the ground without flying far. Gu Shenwei caught it.


    It was thest page of the eighth chapter of the <em>Wayless </em><em>Book </em>along with theplete ninth chapter. The very page that had been forged by Maid Lotusy at the same ce.


    They had not been stolen.

 Chapter 463 - Public Trial

    Chapter 463: Public Trial


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei put away the roll of paper and said to her, ¡°Yes, this is exactly what I want.¡±


    Then, he stared at the Princess as if she was a pretentious suspect who tried to get away with murder, while thetter calmly stared back.


    They stared at each other for a long time, and then she calmed herself down and started to think about the top priority. ¡°Is there anything I need to do?¡±


    ¡°You would do anything?¡±


    ¡°Yes, since I¡¯m your Queen.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded in satisfaction. Indeed, this was the Queen he needed. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s warm invitation startled the Princess¡ªeven in their most intimate moment, he had not talked to her in such a tone. She was about to ask where they were going, but in the end, just bit her tongue. She got up obediently, wiped her tears away, and got ready to leave. She was prepared to make a joint appearance with the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei set the royal pce¡¯s Council Chamber as a courtroom, and sat at one end with the Princess. A dozen Stone Kingdom ministers and high-ranking military officers sat on both sides of the table. There were burning candles on the table and walls, making the room as bright as day.


    The gate opened, and for the first time, the people were allowed to stand outside and listen as observers.


    The audience was lined up from the Council Chamber gate to the streets outside the royal pce. Every move in the chamber would be quickly spread by mouth.


    The Dragon King, who was the prime suspect, conducted a public trial at night himself. It had stirred up quite a sensation. Before the Dragon King could speak, some people had already changed their minds and thought that the murderer had to be someone else.


    ¡°The Princess¡­ the Princess came with the Dragon King.¡± Everyone became excited upon hearing this news. Those standing at the gate stared at the Princess, looking for some clues on her face that would give away her thoughts. They all wanted to know which side she was on¡ªher brother¡¯s or her husband¡¯s.


    In the bright room, the least amount of candles were in front of that couple. And the people outside could not make out their faces at all.


    The tall Long Fanyun spoke as the messenger of the Dragon King. ¡°As we all know,st night, there was a murder in the royal pce. The victim was cruelly murdered; it has been an unforgivable outrage¡­¡±


    ¡°Unforgivable outrage!¡± Someone echoed from among the people outside sarcastically, drawing a round of apuse.


    Long Fanyun ignored him and continued, ¡°The Dragon King has decided that it must be looked into immediately, and be exined to all of our people.¡±


    ¡°Immediately!¡± More voices echoed. They were sure that the murderer was the Dragon King, and the trial was just a y.


    The Princess tilted her body slightly to take a nce at the Dragon King, which then calmed her down. No matter what, the man sitting beside her was more like an Emperor than her brother was. However, it troubled her that, up until this point, she was still unaware of her role in this y.


    The first witness called into the Council Chamber was the elderly woman. She had stayed in the outer room and was an experienced midwife.


    She was really frightened and had been interrogated by countless people on that day. She had repeated the same statement many times and those words were already on her lips. Kneeling down, she quickly confessed them before anyone could ask.


    ¡°It was during the third watch, I heard the maid in the inner room scream and I thought that the pregnant woman was having another stomachache. As you know, sir, she was not in good health, was not able to leave the courtyard, and the food was bad¡­¡±


    The elderly woman started toin about trivial things. One of the ministers frowned and turned to look at the Dragon King, and then coughed. ¡°Well, those things are irrelevant. You heard the scream and went into the room¡­ What did you see?¡±


    The elderly woman paused a little and then continued, ¡°Yes, I went into the inner room. I saw the maid sitting in bed, screaming. Blood was all over her.¡±


    ¡°What about the pregnant woman?¡± asked Long Fanyun.


    ¡°She¡­ was dead, sir. Her stomach was cut open, sir, and blood was all over her, sir. I haven¡¯t seen so much blood before in my life. It was flowing down like a stream, sir. The maid was sitting in the blood.¡±


    The horrible scene described by the elderly woman made the people inside and outside the hall tremble. The candles flickered and no one spoke for a while.


    It was true that the pregnant woman had her stomach cut open. The observers bore so much anger that just a little spark could set them on fire.


    ¡°If the pregnant woman had her stomach cut open, why didn¡¯t she call for help?¡± Long Fanyun first asked. He appeared a little pale, though he had been an experienced soldier.


    ¡°Sir, she was already dead by then, sir. Her throat had been pierced through, sir, and that didn¡¯t shed much blood, sir.¡±


    The elderly woman stumbled over and repeated ¡°sir¡± many times, but no one paid attention to this. There were many legends about the Dragon King, one of which was that he usually killed people by piercing through their throats.


    On both sides of the table, the civil and military officials refrained from turning their heads in the direction of the Dragon King, forcing themselves to look at the elderly woman kneeling on the ground.


    Meanwhile, the people at the gate did not hide their suspicions. They all stared at the Dragon King. If it were not for the guards, the people in front would probably have rushed in.


    The Princess again took a peek sideways at the Dragon King and was amazed by hisposure. For the first time, she had some doubt. <em>¡°Isn¡¯t he the murderer? Is he really good at acting?¡±</em>


    Long Fanyun asked a few more questions, and the elderly woman answered him truthfully. Every sentence of her description of that horrible scene would provoke anger in the crowd outside the hall.


    Long Fanyun felt that the situation was about to get out of control, so he stopped questioning. He had the elderly woman stand by while he summoned the maid who had served the pregnant woman.


    The elderly woman had only been frightened, but the maid had lost her mind. She was shaking and ignored Long Fanyun¡¯s questions. Every time she spoke, she always began by shouting, ¡°Blood! Blood¡­!¡± and then started to answer in broken words.


    The maid had been sleeping next to the pregnant woman, but did not notice the murder at all. She woke up from her sleep and felt something moist, then she touched it and screamed. Except for the blood all over her, she did not remember anything.


    Even the cruelest person would find it torturous to interrogate this badly shaken maid. Thus, Long Fanyun quickly went through it and had her stand by as well.


    The third witness was the imperial guard Ju Chi, who had survived the murder. He had been wounded on his left shoulder, next to his throat. He was supported by two other guards and was allowed to sit in a chair. He spoke weakly and deliberately avoided the eyes of the Dragon King.


    In his ount of the scene, there was thete night, the quiet assassin in ck, and his lightning-fast strike. He did not see the pregnant woman, thus, he did not have much to confess. He was only constantly ming himself for not having saved her.


    There was one key thing that he was missing.


    Long Fanyun exchanged nces with the Dragon King, and then asked, ¡°What weapon did the assassin use?¡±


    Everyone was surprised that the Dragon King¡¯s man woulde up with such a question. Ju Chi¡¯s voice was low, the people outside the hall were eager to hear him. A dozen guards stood in front to stop them from rushing in.


    Ju Chi hesitated and then quietly said, ¡°A saber.¡± After which, he dropped his head even lower.


    ¡°What kind of saber?¡±


    ¡°The¡­ the Golden Roc Fort kind.¡±


    ¡°Did he carry only one weapon?¡±


    ¡°No, I saw¡­ I saw around his wast¡ª¡± Ju Chi looked up and quickly nced at the Dragon King, ¡°there was a sword.¡±


    This stirred the crowd up. Their whispers resounded like a gale, signaling an imminent storm.


    Long Fanyun did not get any hint from the Dragon King. He had had nothing to say up until now. Just when he did not know what he should do, the Dragon King rose up.


    The storm that had been brewing in the crowd weakened immediately, and the guards at the gate all breathed a sigh of relief.


    The evidence waspelling, so what else did the Dragon King have to say? Did he think that he couldpel everyone present with his saber and sword? Most people thought like that, while very few of them worried about the Dragon King and considered conducting a public trial so urgently the wrong strategy.


    However, Gu Shenwei knew what he was doing.


    The Dragon Army had yet to gain full support in Xiaoyao Lake, and meanwhile, the war was imminent. The Dragon King did not have much time to win the people over. However, this murder provided an opportunity for him to win more support in a dramatic way.


    Ever since he entered the Great Snowmountain and acquired the title of Dragon King, he knew that dramatic events were more effective than regr measures. Even if it did not solve the fundamental problem, it was the best ways to quell an immediate crisis.


    Gu Shenwei walked along the table toward Ju Chi. Standing beside him, Gu Shenwei ignored him and turned to ask the elderly woman, ¡°Did you see the dead?¡±


    The elderly woman did not expect this. She shivered with fear and cringed. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°And then? What did you do after you saw her?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I ran out to call for help. I saw that the guard was lying on the ground, so I ran along the valley and shouted. Then¡­ people came to help.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t go to help the maid?¡±


    ¡°No, no, I was too frightened. You don¡¯t know, the blood¡­¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Gu Shenwei interrupted her. ¡°So you were running with a candle?¡±


    ¡°Candle? There was no candle. I got up from the bed as soon as I heard the scream in the inner room. How would I have had the time to light a candle?¡±


    ¡°But you saw the blood on the bed, and the fatal wound on the pregnant woman¡¯s throat.¡±


    She froze, but then continued. ¡°I saw that afterward. A lot of people came when they heard my shout. They lit candles, that¡¯s how I saw it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded as if he had nothing to say. Suddenly, he changed the subject. ¡°What¡¯s the name of the pregnant woman?¡±


    ¡°Hai Tang.¡±


    ¡°Identity?¡±


    ¡°A court maid.¡±


    ¡°Whose child was she carrying?¡±


    The questions were all detrimental to him, which puzzled many people, including the elderly woman. She hesitated for a while before answering, ¡°She was carrying the Emperor¡¯s child.¡±


    ¡°Which Emperor?¡±


    ¡°The King of the Stone Kingdom.¡±


    The rumors were proved true one by one. Moremotion was stirred up in the crowd outside the hall. The guards at the gate remained vignt, but they still feared that they would not be able to stop the angry crowd.


    Gu Shenwei was silent for a moment and then asked, ¡°Did you just learn these things, or did you know about them all along?¡±


    ¡°I knew all along.¡± The elderly woman whispered, as if she was afraid that those words would provoke the Dragon King. ¡°When His Majesty had Hai Tang live there, I knew that it was his child.¡±


    ¡°So, you knew that the court maid was carrying the child of the King of the Stone Kingdom, but you didn¡¯t check on her after the scream? You didn¡¯t try to save her, but ran to call for help? Why?¡±


    Gu Shenwei questioned the elderly woman. However, he did not look at her. He was staring at Ju Chi.


    ¡°I, I¡­¡± The elderly woman was at a loss for words.


    All of a sudden, all the ministers and the crowd were waiting for a reasonable exnation from her.


    The Princess was feeling proud, and never did she expect that she would be called by the Dragon King at this time.


    ¡°My Queen, it¡¯s time to tell the truth.¡±

 Chapter 464 - Alive

    Chapter 464: Alive


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Caught unprepared, the Princess was shocked but did not show it on her face.


    She stood up gravely, sweeping her gaze through the crowd before finally settling on the Dragon King. She knew what he wanted to hear as well as the true motive behind his move.


    This was a test for her. Though she found it to be a little too early, she knew she must act decisively to demonstrate her loyalty and stance to the Dragon King.


    Being a princess, no one would suspect her words and she was much more convincing than the former three witnesses. ¡°Last night,¡± she said calmly, ¡°I saw two people sneaking out of the pce.¡±


    That was all that she said but it was enough to prompt spections and discussions among the crowd. They did not know why the Princess said only these words.


    Gu Shenwei nodded at her to show his respect and support. Then, he turned toward the elderly woman.


    The elderly woman was almost squatting down on the ground because she had no confidence in what she was going to say.


    ¡°Are you done thinking about it? Tell us why you left that court maid pregnant with the king¡¯s child behind and run outside for help?¡± the Dragon King asked.


    ¡°I, I was terrified. I was so terrified. I was at a loss¡­¡±


    ¡°What did you fear?¡±


    ¡°I feared¡­ the Dragon King.¡± The elderly woman¡¯s voice was barely audible when she mentioned his name.


    ¡°Speak louder,¡± the Dragon King ordered, unconcerned.


    ¡°I feared you,¡± the elderly woman said. She grabbed the clothes of the maid near her as if she would copse to the ground at any time.


    ¡°Me? You didn¡¯t see the murderer¡¯s face. Why would you fear me?¡±


    The elderly woman had reached the limits of her endurance. In her preparation for this interrogation, no one told her that she would be subject to such detailed questioning. Those smart people ought to have thought of this! Finally, she said, ¡°Ask him. It¡¯s his fault. He¡¯s the one who always said that the Dragon King woulde and kill the pregnant woman. He influenced me¡­¡±


    Upon hearing this, Gu Shenwei became more curious than angry. Meanwhile, the crowd outside fixed their eyes on the imperial guard, Ju Chi, who had his head lowered. He sat on the chair in low spirits, looking as if he had not heard the elderly woman¡¯s words.


    During the interrogation, Gu Shenwei had spent most of his time observing Ju Chi. Yet, at this moment, he looked away and did not even continue questioning the elderly woman. Instead, he turned to the trembling maid and softened his tone when he said, ¡°I will now ask you some questions. Think properly about what you sawst night.¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± The maid felt her body turn soft and she nearly flung the elderly woman who was holding onto her clothes to the ground. ¡°Yes, I will¡­¡±


    ¡°Are you sure that the dead woman beside you is the same pregnant woman you have been serving in the past few months?¡±


    Gu Shenwei made his question in a loud voice, enunciating every word so that even the crowd outside could hear him. This caused the crowd to flood toward the exit. The guards had to spare a lot of effort before they could stop the crowd.


    Evidently, the panic-stricken maid failed to grasp the hidden meaning behind Dragon King¡¯s question. She thought for a long while in a daze before replying, ¡°It was Hai Tang¡­ There was so much blood¡­ It was everywhere, even on her face. Oh, I¡­ I didn¡¯t see her face¡­ But the baby¡­ How could it possible¡­¡±


    The maid waspletely lost in her thoughts. It was her expression, not her words, that ignited the crowd¡¯s endless imagination.


    Once again, Gu Shenwei nodded at the Princess. He felt apologetic for keeping his own Queen standing for so long but his questions for her were almost over. ¡°When you saw two figures sneaking out of the pce, did you send your servant to follow them to figure out the truth?¡±


    It was the first time the Princess learned the way the Dragon King dealt with matters and, like many people around him, she did not like his way of ambushing her. She would much prefer it if he had guided her beforehand or even just leave her a hint or two; at least, she would not be at a loss.


    But she must now guess the Dragon King¡¯s true thoughts. That was part of the test, a very important part of the test.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Though she was nervous, her reply was solemn. ¡°I won¡¯t allow conspiracies to take ce in the pce, so I must investigate it.¡±


    ¡°Did you figure it out?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I did.¡± The Princess was increasingly confident that she had correctly guessed what the Dragon King was thinking. However, she was still clueless about the oue that he wanted.


    ¡°Did you find them?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Can you bring them here?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    The Princess thought it was a hint from the Dragon King, so she raised her head to look at the door on the left. Witnesses usually enter from that door.


    ¡°Bring them here,¡± the Princessmanded, though she was not sure whether two witnesses woulde.


    Dragon King nodded at her for the third time, this time with amiableness and friendliness. There was even a hint of satisfaction too. This meant that the Princess could take a seat for her mission wasplete.


    The Princess had imed that she had seen two people sneaking out of the pce, but now only one entered from the door. She was a pregnant woman who was so flustered that she could not even stand firmly on her feet.


    The elderly woman shrieked with fear when she saw the pregnant woman and subsequently fell to the ground unconscious. The maid also screamed, nearly fainting as well. She recognized the pregnant woman. ¡°Hai Tang!¡±


    Though Hai Tang was carrying the King¡¯s child, she was still a court maid. Thus, all the maids were ustomed to calling her real name.


    Few people knew the pregnant maid, but everyone present stretched their necks to see her, including the ministers, military officers inside, and the crowd outside.


    This oue was beyond their expectations. The assassinated court maid was now standing in front of them. Then, who was the one who died? Who was the one who escaped the pce with the pregnant woman? What was the motive behind this all?


    Perhaps the Dragon King was the only one who can exin this. After all, he was omniscient and omnipotent. No conspiracy could fool him.


    Their response was what Gu Shenwei had hoped for. He waited for the shock to settle in before waving his hand. Two maids entered, held Hai Tang by the arm, and left with her.


    ¡°Take her to the King and have him identify her in person.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s words were meant for the audience. He could not publicly interrogate Hai Tang due to her unique status after having the King¡¯s child. Moreover, it was unsuitable for the King toe here personally to identify her.


    He still had not found out the purpose behind this murder.


    Ju Chi could no longer sit on the chair without a word anymore. He coughed and intended to talk.


    The Dragon King stood beside Ju Chi and ced his hand on his shoulder as if he did not realize that he was touching a living being. Ju Chi knew why, so he held his tongue in confusion.


    The Dragon King ignored the curiosity of the audience and walked back to his seat slowly, sitting on it as if he had found out the truth.


    All of a sudden, things calmed down. Even the guards were curious about the Dragon King¡¯s next move. They frequently turned around while stopping the crowd.


    Long Fanyun spoke on behalf of the Dragon King again. This time, he was very confident and called loudly, ¡°Shangguan Fei.¡±


    Shangguan Fei walked out of the door and then respectfully bowed to the Dragon King and his Queen.


    There were those who knew him and immediately alerted the people around them that he was the Supreme King¡¯s son who now served the Dragon King. This was a strange thing that was worthy of a discussion.


    ¡°Shangguan Fei, tell us your duty,¡± Long Fanyun said. He was clear how the interrogation should go from here. Out of everyone here, he was the only one who had received instructions from the Dragon King beforehand. While the King did not say much, it was enough to help him grasp the general development of this matter.


    ¡°I protect the Queen under the orders of the Dragon King.¡±


    The Princess trembled a little. She knew that the Dragon King transferred the three female guards, but not him sending someone else to protect her.


    ¡°Tell us what happenedst night.¡±


    Shangguan Fei bowed to the Dragon King and Queen again before saying loudly, ¡°Around 11.00pmst night, the Queen sent her maid to tell me that she spotted two people sneaking out of the pce andmanded me to investigate this. Those two disappeared, but I didn¡¯t give up the investigation and spent the whole day seeking clues. I discovered their identities and whereabouts four hours ago. One is a man, the other a woman. The man kidnapped the pregnant woman while disguised as an imperial guard, so I saved the woman with my subordinates and killed him.¡±


    ¡°Who is the woman that you saved?¡±


    ¡°She said she¡¯s a court maid called Hai Tang. It has been eight months since she got pregnant. Besides, she said that she had been kidnappedst night. Later, we sent her to the pce and told the Queen what we knew. She thenmanded us to wait outside the hall.¡±


    The Princess felt terribly ufortable to be the target of so much attention. Furthermore, she was the only who knew that Shangguan Fei¡¯s description of her involvement was all lies. However, she maintained her impable manner and expression. In terms of grace, she would not lose out to any other queens in the Western Region.


    More and more people were beginning to realize what had happened. As countless guesses kept entering their minds, the crowd began to share their guesses. Their voices covered one another¡¯s, making their discussions essentially inaudible to anyone but themselves.


    Long Fanyun raised his voice and asked, ¡°The pce is well guarded. How could he kidnap a court maid who was under protection on his own?¡±


    ¡°Hai Tang said that he had help in the pce.¡±


    ¡°Who is it?¡±


    Once again, the imperial guard Ju Chi twitched with unease. However, Shangguan Fei¡¯s finger was not pointed at him. He then heard Shangguan Fei saying, ¡°It¡¯s her, the midwife. She colluded with the Golden Roc Fort to kidnap Hai Tang and discreetly rece her with another pregnant woman. She then ruthlessly killed the woman in order to frame the Dragon King.¡±


    The ensuing discussion was so loud that the roof nearly fell. The ministers and generals could not help discussing this development and exchanging their opinions. The crowd outside the pce became even more boisterous, causing conflicts when they tried to inch closer.


    Out of everyone present, the midwife¡¯s response was the most violent. She was supposed to be unconsciousness on the ground but she immediately jumped up after hearing this. ¡°Nonsense! Nonsense¡­ I¡¯m not colluding¡­ I¡¯m not¡­ He was the one who asked me to do this. He gave me silver and told me¡­¡±


    The elderly woman pleaded for herself in a panic but unwittingly exposed her doings. Not many heard her amid the noise. Then, two guards entered from the door, picked her up, and dragged her out of the Council Chamber.


    Toplete his task, Shangguan Fei continued in a loud voice, ¡°The Golden Roc Fort intends to use this assassination to turn the Stone Kingdom and the Dragon King against each other. Then, they will lead their army to attack this ce and have the pregnant court maid make a sudden appearance. That way, they can make her child the puppet king¡­¡±


    To them, the usation was all that more convincinging from Shangguan Fei than other people. After all, he was still the Supreme King¡¯s son despite having betrayed his father. Besides, he presented a series of evidence to prove his words. Most importantly, Hai Tang was alive. This proved that the Dragon King was not the murderer.


    Later, the King proved that Shangguan Fei¡¯s words. He sent a trusted eunuch to publicly announce that the court maid brought to the pce was Hai Tang who was pregnant with his child. The eunuch expressed the King¡¯s deep gratitude to the Dragon King and Queen, who fell on their knees. Many followed suit, no longer suspecting the Dragon King.


    The crowd left and most of them would not be getting any sleep tonight. They would tell their rtives and friends what had happened in the Council Chamber and repeat this anecdote.


    The ministers and generals left without doubts. Even so, they were anxious and humbly kneeled down in front of Dragon King before taking their leave. They hoped to use all means possible to prove that they were ignorant of the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s conspiracy.


    Thus, there were only two people who walked out of the Council Chamber with all sorts of questions unanswered.


    The imperial guard Ju Chi and the Princess knew that the Dragon King would soon summon them.

 Chapter 465 - Utilization

    Chapter 465: Utilization


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Ju Chi sat in the dark room in a daze. He didn¡¯t understand the Dragon King¡¯s behavior, and hated his own cowardice. <em>¡°I should have stood up and taken responsibility for it, then the midwife wouldn¡¯t have been taken away.</em>


    <em>¡°We¡¯re partners.¡± </em>He med himself.


    Soon, heforted himself, ¡°I had no choice. The midwife doesn¡¯t know very many secrets, so she won¡¯t get others involved. But if I got caught, dozens of people would be killed once I failed to withstand torture.¡±


    <em>¡°However, the Dragon King knows everything.¡± </em>Thinking of this, he could feel his heart beat faster. He had once been afraid of the Dragon King¡¯s saber and sword, but now he was more scared of his eyes. The Dragon King seldom fixed his eyes on him, but he found the Dragon King¡¯s eyes were like sharp daggers and his secrets would be exposed to him once their eyes met.


    Ju Chi had considered slitting his throat, but he couldn¡¯t find a weapon. He had also nned to knock himself out against the wall but gave up, for he was being closely watched by the guards at the gate.


    When the Dragon King turned up, Ju Chi was extremely relieved. He wouldn¡¯t have to live in fear and self-reproach much longer.


    The guards left, leaving the Dragon King and Ju Chi alone in the room.


    Standing opposite the injured guard, Gu Shenwei felt sick about what he was going to do next. ¡°Why do people keep secrets? Why can¡¯t we solve problems through a deal or fight?¡± he wondered.


    Knowing this was naive, Gu Shenwei adjusted his mind quickly. He began, ¡°You¡¯re the 14th descendant of the founder of the Stone Kingdom. ording to seniority, you¡¯re the current King of the Stone nation¡¯s uncle.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know the Dragon King is so interested in the genealogy of the Ju family,¡± Ju Chi said. He tried to be calm but failed. He knew no one could save him. He proceeded, ¡°I will tell you nothing. Just kill me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei got closer and whispered to him, ¡°You have no idea what death is. You don¡¯t know the pain a man feels when he¡¯s stabbed by a saber or a sword. Or the fear he feels when he finds himself passing away. You don¡¯t know how panicked and helpless your family will be when they are told of your death. You don¡¯t know if they will be homeless and die in a dirty ditch before next winter. And all of this will happen if you don¡¯t treasure your life.¡±


    Ju Chi¡¯s face convulsed. He stared at the young man in front of him with anger and frustration in his eyes. He shouted, ¡°You¡¯re lying. They¡­ Someone will take care of my family.¡±


    ¡°No, they won¡¯t,¡± Gu Shenwei said, shaking his head. Words were like weapons and they were as difficult to master as Death Scripture. Even after years of practice, he still couldn¡¯t im himself a master in this field. ¡°Anyone who offers a hand to your family is your aplice. Once I find them, I will dere them guilty immediately. In this way, the rest will avoid your family like the gue.¡±


    Ju Chi grabbed the chair¡¯s armrest tightly. He overused his strength; blood gushed out from the wound on his left arm. He cried, ¡°You are a demon and you won¡¯t rule Xiaoyao Lake for long. You will be killed before my family gets hurt.¡±


    ¡°So is this your n?¡± Gu Shenwei asked in a softer tone. He stepped back and said in an amiable tone, ¡°You n to collude with the Golden Roc Fort to defeat the Dragon army and kill me before the war.¡±


    Ju Chi replied in disdain, ¡°Both you and the Golden Roc Fort are invaders. We wouldn¡¯t collude with them. We¡­¡± When he realized he had said too much, he shut his mouth immediately.


    ¡°Do you think you can keep me in the dark?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    Ju Chi was ashamed he had leaked information. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t be irritated by the Dragon King. I¡¯m several years senior to him.¡± He reflected. Then, he lowered his head and decided to hold his tongue.


    ¡°Since you¡¯re reluctant to tell me the truth, I will assume I¡¯m right,¡± Gu Shenwei said confidently. In fact, he didn¡¯t know much about their n.


    A couple of days ago, Xu Xiaoyi and Zhong Heng had collected the intelligence. It was said that recently a hidden force of soldiers from the five kingdoms was nning to take action and fight against the Dragon army. But it didn¡¯t mention specifics.


    If this murder hadn¡¯t taken ce in the pce, Ju Chi would not have been exposed.


    ¡°You should know that civilians in the Stone Kingdom long to live a peaceful life and they hate war. Especially when both parties aren¡¯t kingdoms from Xiaoyao Lake. So you are nning to utilize their dissatisfaction.¡±


    Ju Chi raised his head to glimpse at the Dragon King, and then lowered his head immediately without a word. Observing his response, the Dragon King knew his assumption was correct.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s theory was based on the intelligence he had gotten. Every day he would receive arge amount of information and most of it was regarding civilians and soldiers. Important matters were rarely ever mentioned. But with this intelligence, he could know the real thoughts of the civilians and soldiers of the five kingdoms.


    ¡°In the past, military forces in the five kingdoms were weak. Currently there are approximately 20,000 armed soldiers, but they don¡¯t belong to the five kingdoms,¡± he continued for he had confidence in his theory. ¡°So you thought soldiers in the five kingdoms should fight for their own kingdoms instead of for the Dragon King. You found that many people had the same point of view as you. You joined hands and intended to steal control of the troop of 20,000 soldiers.¡±


    Ju Chi lowered his head so as not to betray his thoughts. He was sure that the Dragon King was a demon who could discover people¡¯s thoughts through their expressions and behavior.


    ¡°You don¡¯t want to see the war break out. If I win this war, it will be very difficult for you to incite civilians to rebel against me. You will face a huge loss in soldiers. You hate both oues. Therefore, you are nning a rebellion before the war.¡±


    Ju Chi trembled with fear. He even suspected there were traitors in their organization.


    ¡°You needed an excuse for the rebellion, one which could arouse rage amongst the masses. Then you found the perfect person, the court maid who had had your king¡¯s child. But as a decedent of the Ju family, you didn¡¯t want to sacrifice the unborn baby who has the blood of your king. So you found another pregnant woman and disguised her as the court maid, and then killed her to arouse public outcry. If your n is sessful and the Dragon King dies, the 20,000 troops will belong to the five kingdoms. At that time, you n to bring the pregnant court maid to the public and no one will mind your little trick.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re wrong,¡± Ju Chi denied in a low voice. In the Dragon King¡¯s eyes, his weak denial was more like an acknowledgment.


    ¡°Oh, I almost forgot. You want to see the gender of the baby first because you think only a boy deserves your protection. If it is a girl, will you kill her?¡±


    ¡°I would never kill an innocent person!¡± Ju Chi shouted with anger. He was losing his control over his emotions. He had taken the bait even though he knew it was a trap.


    ¡°An innocent pregnant woman and her poor unborn baby have died. Can you deny that it wasn¡¯t your doing? Didn¡¯t you hurt yourself on your shoulder out of guilt afterwards? Idiot, sacrifice is necessary if you want to imitate a killer.¡±


    Sweat was streaming down Ju Chi¡¯s face, because he couldn¡¯t forget the pregnant woman. After killing her and opening her belly, he had spread the blood on her face to cover her appearance. It had been a nightmare he would never forget. He hadn¡¯t dared to close his eyes since then for he was afraid of seeing that terrible scene.


    ¡°You bribed the midwife. What about the maid who served Hai Tang? She ate your poison.¡±


    ¡°You know everything, everything¡­¡± Ju Chi murmured. He seemed to be on the edge of losing his mind.


    ¡°You want to be a hero. You want to distinguish yourself,¡± Gu Shenwei continued. ¡°You want to turn me and the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain over to the Supreme King after we die to seek his forgiveness. Even though war is unavoidable, you believe that you can manage to guard critical forts and withstand the enemy with your own strength.¡±


    ¡°But we failed,¡± Ju Chi responded with a bitter smile on his face. Except for names, he had nothing else to hide. ¡°You knew our n, didn¡¯t you? That¡¯s why you unveiled it in the end, to turn a campaign against you into a show that supports you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took it as apliment, but he made no response. In fact, he had just figured all this out. Discovering Ju Chi¡¯s plot was a coincidence.


    <em>¡°Perhaps it wasn¡¯t a coincidence.¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought to himself. He knew more of the matter.


    ¡°Do you know you have been used, all of you?¡±


    If the Dragon King had said it as soon as he came in, Ju Chi would have sniffed at him. But now, he stared at the Dragon King in confusion, considering his words.


    ¡°There is more than one secret in the pce. A pregnant court maid isn¡¯t the biggest secret, but you were told of this and encouraged to take actionst night. In fact, you were actually covering up another plot.¡±


    ¡°No one incited me. It was my own n,¡± Ju Chi said firmly. He was more willing to be an independent loser than a fooled man.


    ¡°You think it¡¯s your n,¡± Gu Shenwei said, emphasizing the word ¡°think¡± in particr. ¡°You can leave now.¡±


    Ju Chi was a mess, because he didn¡¯t understand what the Dragon King had just said. After a while, he asked in amazement, ¡°What did you say?¡±


    ¡°You can leave now.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Ju Chi asked. He couldn¡¯t believe it. He knew that the Dragon King was releasing him for another purpose.


    ¡°I need you to be bait,¡± Gu Shenwei replied straightforwardly. But his answer increased Ju Chi¡¯s doubt. He continued, ¡°Youpanions will wonder why you have escaped punishment when the midwife was caught. I hope they wille to you for answers.¡±


    Ju Chi¡¯s face flushed when he thought of this. <em>¡°The Dragon King not only ns to use me as bait, he told me his n, as if I¡¯m a fool at his mercy with no other choice.¡±</em>


    Gu Shenwei lost interest in Ju Chi¡¯s confession. Many things could be evidence, but words were only a part of it.


    Gu Shewei walked outside and turned back at the gate. He said, ¡°If you find you¡¯re being followed, don¡¯t be nervous. The followers are my men. If someone tries to assassinate you, then he must be the one who was using you. I need to remind you that this fellow is merciless and cruel, and capable of sacrificing several people to achieve his goal.¡±


    Ju Chi found that indeed he had no choice. Although he knew he was bait, he had to stay alive. He had to send a warning to hispanions. He didn¡¯t believe all of the Dragon King¡¯s words, but he started to shake his determination.


    ¡°Is he from the Golden Roc Fort?¡± he asked.


    ¡°You will know soon,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He pushed the door open and left.<em>¡°Both of us will know soon,¡± </em>he thought to himself.


    On his way to the princess¡¯ bedchamber, the Dragon King ran into Maid Lotus. After receiving her task from him, she asked, ¡°The King of the Stone nation probably participated in the plot, didn¡¯t he?¡±


    Facing Ju Chi, Gu Shenwei had avoided shifting the subject to the king. But he didn¡¯t need to conceal it from Maid Lotus. ¡°The royal family is always the main participant in plots. Who else would take it for granted that those 20,000 troops belong to the five kingdoms?¡±


    He went to meet the princess. He wanted to hear the royal family¡¯s plot from her.

 Chapter 466 - Sisters

    Chapter 466: Sisters


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The candle was close to its end.As she watched the melting wax, the Princess was experiencing mixed feelings.


    The Dragon King was more like an opponent than a husband. The Princess regretted threatening him with the remaining chapters of the Wayless Book. Only after this fierce collision did she realize the size of the power gap.


    <em>¡°How could I have been so foolish,¡± </em>she thought. <em>¡°How could the Dragon King let a young woman such as I threaten him? I always thought his anger a bluff. At one time I took it to be true, and it struck fear in me, yet I remained defiant.¡±</em>


    <em>¡°In the end, the Dragon King still knows everything. Dragon King knew everything,¡±</em>the Princess reflected.


    Upon hearing that the Dragon King stayed in the main hall during the day, the Princess had a bad feeling, so she went to the main hall privately. She was relieved when she found that the papers were still there; after all, she had spent months working on them. Although these papers meant nothing to her, they were the only thing she had that Dragon King was interested in.


    As soon as she stepped out of the pce gate, she saw the two men.


    Both of them were wearing cloaks that hung over their bodies so one could not identify the two as men or women, but the Princess was certain that no one had been kidnapped, and Shangguan Fei¡¯s story in this part of the Council Chamber was a lie.


    It was not like her home. Since she married the Dragon King and was sent back, the Princess¡¯s position became increasingly more awkward. She did not want to be nosy, so when they disappeared, she quietly returned to her residence.


    She thought no one tracked her whereabouts.


    <em>¡°I have just realized how naive I am!¡± </em>Thinking of it, sheughed at her foolishness. <em>¡°I¡¯m still a girl. I broke into the game of the grown-ups, and failed spectacrly.¡±</em>


    But she knew how to learn from it. When she sat on the chair awaiting Dragon King, she thought a lot. In the beginning, she felt humiliated, and thenined herself, and at length, she started to analyze the way Dragon King had handled this matter so as to learn from it.


    <em>¡°Dragon King knew everything. But why did he bring me to the Council Chamber and force me to confess,¡± </em>she wondered.


    At first, she thought it was a way for the Dragon King to humiliate her in order to retaliate against her threats. Slowly she realized that things were not so simple. The Dragon King was being suspected by the people all over the country. What he said was all regarded as a lie, but unlike her, as a Princess of Stone Kingdom, it was easier for her to win everyone¡¯s trust.


    <em>¡°Why didn¡¯t he invite the King here as a witness? The King was involved in the conspiracy, so Dragon King didn¡¯t want to embarrass him,¡± </em>she thought.


    <em>¡°That¡¯s all,¡± </em>she thought. <em>¡°I have to make a decision: side with Golden Roc Fort and help mybrother against Dragon King, or take more risks following Dragon King wholeheartedly to gain more.¡±</em>


    She had yet to decide.


    Dragon King had shown his extraordinary wits and stratagems, but winning the war ultimately depended on military force. Golden Roc Fort troops¡¯ number was approximately three timesrger than Dragon King¡¯s. Besides, they had support from Nond. Western Region was no match for Nond. Although she knew little about military affairs, she knew that Dragon King¡¯s chance to win the war was slim.


    <em>¡°Many princesses in the countries of the Western Region have remarried. Some of them even undergo more than two marriages,¡± </em>she thought.


    The Princess¡¯ breathing quickened and her face turned red. She was too young to ept all this. But after many twists and turns since her marriage, she understood at least one thing: the Dragon King did not love her, nor did she love the Dragon King. The passion of the first three days of marriage was only an impulsive mistake.


    Xu Yanwei stood near her silently.


    <em>¡°Xu Yanwei is a good maid. She isn¡¯t skilled in chores and sometimes uses vulgar and obscenenguage, but she is the only one who consoled me gently when I was sad, amused me when I was bored and spoke for me when I was bullied.¡±</em>


    <em>¡°However, she doesn¡¯t serve me,¡± </em>the Princess pondered.


    ¡°Take a seat here,¡± the Princess said to her.


    Xu Yanwei wasn¡¯t a court maid and she never took herself for amon court maid. After hesitation, she sat opposite to the Princess. Noticing that the Princess was in a bad mood, she knew she shouldfort her. So she said, ¡°Men always want to be smarter than women. As a woman, the best method to please them is to y dumb.¡±


    Xu Yanwei had countless mottos regarding rtionships between men and women. When she did not know what to say, she would quote several of them and would usually get the point, but this time she fell short.


    Now the Princess did not care about how to maintain a good rtionship with the Dragon King as his wife.


    ¡°How long have you been with me? It must be a long time,¡± the Princess said.


    ¡°A year and a month, give or take a few days. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a long time, but instead, I think it¡¯s short,¡± she said. Xu Yanwei could be pleasing to either men or women when she chose to be.


    The Princess smiled. She thought Xu Yanwei was the only one she could talk to in her life. However, she had been a whore. She said, ¡°You have helped me a lot. Without you, I wouldn¡¯t have made it through the hard times this past year.¡±


    Xu Yanwei had sessfully changed the Princess¡¯ impression of the Dragon King. Besides, she had spoken for the Princess many times when the king proposed unreasonable demands. Although Xu Yanwei was only three to four years older than the Princess, she was more sophisticated in dealing with matters. She responded, ¡°I¡¯m ttered. It¡¯s my duty to solve those trivial matters for you.¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯ve done so much for me. You¡¯re the most important person in my life besides the Dragon King.¡±


    Xu Yanwei lovedpliments, but the Princess¡¯s praise was overexaggerated. It was as if she absent-mindedly served some guests, butter received a tip beyond her imagination. This happened asionally, and she always felt uneasy. She said smilingly, ¡°Hehe, you tter me. You¡¯re not only the Princess of Stone Kingdom but also Dragon King¡¯s Queen. You will meet more important figures in the future.¡±


    ¡°Big shots are not necessarily important. Besides, I may have no chance to meet them,¡± said the Princess.


    ¡°Ah, what makes you think that? Who would dare hurt you? Dragon King won¡¯t allow it to happen.¡±


    Two teardrops ran down the Princess¡¯ face.


    When Xu Yanwei saw the tears, her uneasiness increased. She asked in a panic, ¡°My Princess, My Queen, what¡¯s wrong? What happened? The pregnant maid is alive, and the Dragon King treats you well. What are you worried about?¡±


    The Princess grabbed Xu Yanwei¡¯s hand on the desk, and said, ¡°Sister, may I call you that?¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course. But¡­ I don¡¯t deserve this,¡± Xu Yanwei replied. She had served Luo Ningcha who was evil-tempered and difficult to please. Since that, she thought there was no mistress she could not handle. But now, faced with the Princess¡¯ sincerity and enthusiasm, she was at a loss and did not know how to respond.


    ¡°You treat me like your younger sister. I used to have two elder brothers, but they only took me for the Princess instead of their younger sister. You¡¯re the only one who has made me feel the kinship.¡±


    ¡°If I had a sister like you, I would be overjoyed,¡± replied Xu Yanwei.


    ¡°My dear sister.¡±


    ¡°My s¨C no, I have to call you ¡®Princess¡¯ or ¡®Queen.¡¯ It frightens me to call you ¡®sister.''¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter as long as you¡¯re willing to be my sister.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my pleasure,¡± said Xu Yanwei.


    ¡°My dear sister, I need you to help me,¡± the Princess said.


    Xu Yanwei was not stupid. She had guessed the Princess must have a reason for being so nice to her. Even still, Xu Yanwei could not refuse her because she was quite fond of the Princess. The Princess was delicate, so she could not help trying to protect her. She said in confidence, ¡°Please trust me. I will keep Dragon King here tonight and try my best to make him sleep with you, at all costs.¡±


    Hearing this, the Princess flushed and interrupted her immediately, ¡°No, you misunderstood me.¡±


    ¡°Did I? I thought¡­ haha. Tell me, who dares to bully you?¡±


    ¡°I betrayed the Dragon King.¡±


    Xu Yanwei was taken by great surprise. She withdrew her hand from the Princess¡¯ hands and said, ¡°You¡­ cheated on him? How¡­¡±


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t,¡± the Princess shook her head repeatedly, and her face became redder, ¡°I don¡¯t have another¡­ It¡¯s about men¡­ My betrayal has nothing to do with infidelity.¡±


    ¡°Then what are you referring to? Are you hiding the papers from him?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not all,¡± the Princess continued.


    ¡°What else did you do,¡± Xu Yanwei inquired.


    ¡°I made another copy and gave it to someone else.¡±


    Xu Yanwei was stunned. ¡°You¡¯ve got some nerve,¡± she said. ¡°Dragon King told you many times¡­ How didn¡¯t I notice?¡±


    ¡°Do you remember that day when the King sent servants to scold me?¡±


    ¡°Of course I remember it; he did it more than once. Your brother likes to meddle and nitpick. He came in person¡­ I see.¡±


    <em>¡°The brother and sister were acting in front of others. They pretended to be on bad terms, but exchanged information privately.¡± </em>Xu Yanwei thought.


    ¡°I had no choice,¡± the Princess cried, ¡°He is not only my brother but also a King. I have to work for him. It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s the rule of the Ju family.¡±


    Xu Yanwei sighed and pitied the poor Princess. <em>¡°She has lived in the pce since her birth. All she learned is how to be a qualified princess and to contribute to her family. For her, the kinship that others value most is a chain that she can¡¯t escape,¡±</em>she mused.


    ¡°When did it begin,¡± Xu Yanwei asked.


    ¡°Two or three months ago when he heard that I was working on a secret manuscript for Dragon King.¡±


    Xu Yanwei scratched her head. She got angry, not because of the Princess¡¯ boldness, but her own dereliction of duty. She asked, ¡°You said you gave the copy to the King. Who did he give the copy to?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I guess he gave it to the man from Golden Roc Fort. He always told me that they were formidable and Dragon King wasn¡¯t equal to them.¡±


    Xu Yanwei became more nervous, and she even regretted agreeing to help the Princess. She asked, ¡°So it was your brother¡¯s plot to kill that pregnant maid, right?


    ¡°Yes,¡± the Princess admitted.


    ¡°Did you have a part in it?¡±


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t. I just¡­ I knew his plot, but didn¡¯t tell Dragon King.¡±


    Xu Yanwei could only smile bitterly, which was not much different from participating in the conspiracy. ¡°You want me to help you,¡± she asked the Princess.


    ¡°Dragon King trusts you. Please tell him that I am very remorseful, and I will go along with whatever decision he makes as I am his wife.¡±


    ¡°Dragon King never takes my words seriously. No one can change his decision.¡±


    The Princess wailed with her head buried on the table. After a while, she raised her head and said, ¡°Then let him kill me. I only beg him to do it himself.¡±


    ¡°I will talk with him and he won¡¯t kill you,¡± Xu Yanwei said and sighed. ¡°Men areplicatedand women are not simple.¡± She thought this motto was insufficient, and added, ¡°Women shouldn¡¯t interfere with men¡¯ matters.¡±


    Gu Shenwei arrived at the Princess¡¯ residence. Before he entered, he was stopped by Xu Yanwei. She begged, ¡°Dragon King, allow me to leave the pce. You can ask me to do anything except collect information. I can¡¯t do it anymore. The Princess is driving me crazy.¡±


    ¡°Did she tell you everything?¡±


    Xu Yanwei nodded and shook her head. <em>¡°I shouldn¡¯t have impulsively agreed to collect intelligence for Dragon King and drank blood wine for no reason,¡± </em>she thought.

 Chapter 467 - Choice

    Chapter 467: Choice


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei discovered that the King of the Stone nation was behind the plot, and that Xu Yanwei yed an important role in it.


    Among five kingdoms, the Stone Kingdom was the most important one to the Dragon army. The court was full of the Dragon King¡¯s men. Therefore, when the Golden Roc Fort looked for traitors around the Dragon King, the royal family of the Stone Kingdom was their best choice.


    The Dragon King would not sleep well at night unless he put a reliable spy in the pce.


    Xu Yanwei had excellentlypleted her task. She was the personal maid of the princess, so she was able to stay in the pce. As she worked for Dragon King, no one dared to bully her. Besides, she had a history with the king, so she could freely leave or enter the pce.


    During that period, she had often argued with Dragon King and caused trouble. Given that, many thought she was losing Dragon King¡¯s favor, which allowed her to gather information in the pce more easily.


    She basically had nothing to do for a long time. At that time, Prime Minister Zhong Heng had gotten everything in control. Nothing special happened in the pce, so Xu Weiyan couldn¡¯t gather any information and felt like she was trapped in a huge prison.


    Even when Golden Roc Fort had besieged the Stone Kingdom, they never attempted to bribe the king and his sister.


    He had thought that the small Stone Kingdom would yield soon, so he didn¡¯t n to waste much energy or time on it. Beyond Supreme King¡¯s expectation, the capital under Zhong Heng¡¯s instructionmand, had withstood his attack for a long time


    Not until the Dragon King returned to Xiaoyao Lake and gave a pile of important ancient scriptures to the princess, did Supreme King pay attention to the King of the Stone nation.


    Xu Yanwei had many friends in the pce, and besides that, she had a knack for discerning truth from the rumors. Therefore, she had been told that a court maid got pregnant and the child¡¯s father was the king soon.


    Xu Yanwei told Gu Shenwei as soon as she heard this. When he had eavesdropped on an old eunuch who was speaking about the king¡¯s secret in the main hall, he knew immediately that it was the king¡¯s trick.


    The eunuch was a good actor, but he couldn¡¯t fool the Dragon King.


    That night, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus snuck into the pce. One kept an eye on the main hall where the secret manuscript was hidden, while the other spied on the pregnant court maid¡¯s residence.


    The two plots began together. While the princess hid in the gate of the main hall, watching the pregnant woman leave, Gu Shenwei was watching her.


    But Xu Yanwei had overlooked the most important piece of information. She had noticed that Golden Roc Fort had sent people to the pce, and she knew that the king had been bribed by them, but she never thought that the shy timid princess became his brother¡¯s partner under her close scrutiny.


    The princess had given the chapters eight and nine to the king. It was meaningless for Gu Shenwei to change the contents of those pages.


    ¡°Allow me to leave the pce, the princess is driving me crazy.¡± Xu Yanwei didn¡¯t mean it seriously.


    She and her brother owed a lot to the Dragon King. They had reached an agreement with him to gather information for him and that they would be free after three years. Now, three years had already passed, but they still worked for Dragon King of their own volition.


    Among all the men that Xu Yanwei met, the Dragon King was the only man who didn¡¯t sexualize her. To her, Dragon King was more like a business partner; she loved their current rtionship and had never considered giving it up.


    ¡°The princess is so smart,¡± Xu Yanwei said in low spirits. She med herself for her negligence. She continued, ¡°Just now, her words almost made me cry. I was used by her again, wasn¡¯t I?¡±


    Compared with this matter, the victory he got from Ju Chi became less important. However, Gu Shenwei became moreposed instead of getting angry. <em>¡°Although anger is a good way to disguise oneself, it can¡¯t solve the problem.¡± </em>he reflected. <em>¡°Things have happened. Now I should figure out a method to remedy it and change this tough situation.¡±</em>


    ¡°No, you have done a good job. You were not used by her. Continue to stay with the princess.¡±


    Gu Shenwei walked towards the princess¡¯s chamber. Compared with his anger, Xu Yanwei was more worried about hisposure. She said, ¡°You won¡¯t¡­ She is your wife and you have slept in the same bed.¡±


    Xu Yanwei knew that her reason wasme. She had slept with plenty of men, but she never loved them.


    Gu Shenwei stopped for a while, and then kept walking. He didn¡¯t give Xu Yanwei a reply because he needed to make his decision based on the princess¡¯s attitude and behavior. In fact, he was confused. <em>He wondered, ¡°Why did the princess ask Xu Yanwei to tell me the truth? Did she decide to side with me? But it is toote.¡±</em>


    Hearing the door open, the princess raised her head.


    At this time, the candle on the table burned out suddenly. The weak light disappeared instantly, leaving a puff of smoke.


    Gu Shenwei immediately put his hand on the hilt of his saber. But it had just been a coincidence. He loosened his hand after making sure that there was no ambush. Besides, he knew that the princess didn¡¯t know Kung Fu.


    The princess was even more nervous than he was. She was standing up but then sat down and said gently, ¡°Dragon King, I¡­ will light the candle.¡±


    ¡°Just let it be,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He thought it wasn¡¯t so bad to sit in the dark. The princess¡¯ appearance had already left a deep impression in his mind, so it didn¡¯t matter if he talked to her without seeing her face.


    ¡°Am I¡­ still your Queen?¡± The princess asked with unrest and expectation.


    Gu Shenwei nodded. Noticing that the princess couldn¡¯t see it, he answered, ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°I never mean to betray you,¡± the princess said. To lessen his anger towards herself, she sent Xu Yanwei to deliver her words first. She believed that it was the only way to let Dragon King listen to her confession with patience. She exined, ¡°I didn¡¯t know the two chapters were important until¡­¡±


    <em>¡°Until I got angry for it,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought. He knew he was also responsible for this. <em>¡°I never exined the source and importance of the Wayless Book to her, so she was ignorant of the importance of it. But why did she threaten me with those papers?¡± </em>He mused.


    ¡°My brother told me that small country¡¯s survival method is to please both parties and mediate between them. He also said that he had waited for the people from Golden Roc Fort to contact him for a long time but those killers lurking in the pce never did it.¡±


    When Gu Shenwei had first returned to the Stone Kingdom, he was attacked in the princess¡¯ chamber. Those assassins had waited in the pce for about a year. In fact, they were killers and they would only implement a task they had received. Their task was to kill the Dragon King, which was why they hadn¡¯t contacted the king.


    ¡°I¡¯m the descendant of the Ju family, and assisting the king is my mission,¡± the princess said without pride. In her eyes, that mission was a heavy shackle. ¡°Though now I finally understand. It was you who let me understand, that no one is born to be a king. I heard simr words when I was young, but I never took them seriously. It was not until now that I realized that you¡¯re a real king and my brother is just a clown. Golden Roc Fort doesn¡¯t take him seriously. Once they kill you, our Ju family will perish.¡±


    <em>¡°Dragon King will discover mine and my brother¡¯s plot soon. When I gave that stack of intact papers to Gu Shenwei, he began to suspect.¡± </em>She thought.


    The princess didn¡¯t expect Dragon King to forgive her immediately, so she continued, ¡°Now I¡¯m your queen and I¡¯m not responsible for the Ju family or my brother, but I was a fool and I still worked for him. I don¡¯t beg your forgiveness. You can punish me, but I only hope you know that I will choose to be your wife and servant forever if I have another chance.¡±


    The princess had changed a lot. Gu Shenwei admired her courage, but he didn¡¯t trust her. He asked, ¡°Who contacted the king?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had strict control over the pce, half of the guards were his men, but the enemy had still managed to find loopholes. He wanted to figure out how the king contacted Golden Roc Fort.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. My brother never told me these matters, he only asked me to behave obediently and never mentioned a word of it. Even that he was bribed by Golden Roc Fort is only my own guess.¡±


    Gu Shenwei believed most of her words, now it was time for him to announce his decision. The decision he made totally depended upon the current situation instead of the princess¡¯s plots and repentance. He announced, ¡°You have two choices, and this is yourst chance. You can sit and do nothing, waiting for the results of the war. If Golden Roc Fort wins, you will get rewards, and if Dragon army wins, you won¡¯t lose your title of Queen, but you will never be allowed to leave the pce. Or you can work for me. If I win the war, you¡¯ll be the real Queen; if I lose, you¡¯ll die with me.¡±


    The princess had considered this problem for a long time. Not until Dragon King had entered and the candled burned out did she make up her mind. She suddenly realized that the best oue for her by siding with Golden Roc Fort was to live as nobody. The Ju family upied a low status in Supreme King¡¯s career. Although it was risky to follow the Dragon King, it was also her only chance to change her fate.


    Compared with the Dragon King, the king was shortsighted. The princess finally understood why cunning people like Prime Minister Zhong Heng and proud men like the swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain were willing to serve Dragon King, who had no background. Those men were isted and they would have never stood out in their former situation. Dragon King was the only one who was able to discover their value.


    ¡°I pledge my loyalty to Dragon King forever,¡± said the princess as she knelt down in the darkness.


    In Gu Shenwei¡¯s world, trust became less important. He only knew one thing¡ª that he needed the princess of the royal lineage. At least she could y a significant role in stabilizing the soldiers¡¯ morale before the war broke out.


    ¡°I ept your allegiance,¡± he responded.


    Their weak rtionship as husband and wife ended at this moment.


    ¡°I have another secret to tell you.¡±


    The princess believed his words. After she made sure that she was safe, she resolved to distinguish herself with this secret.


    It was important to find the proper time to reveal the secret. She had been considering it for a long time. Each meeting with Dragon King was a fresh practice for her. It took a while for her to learn how to make a prompt decision.


    <em>¡°If I had told him this secret when I first saw him, it would have just been a method to beg his forgiveness. In that case, I could only have used this secret to offset my sins. It will be a good deed only after I have been forgiven. Then, it will be a gift that he will value,¡± the princess mused.</em>


    ¡°Tell me.¡±


    ¡°Some of the contents in chapters eight and nine that you have aren¡¯t authentic. My brother gave me some words and asked me to rece the original content with them.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Gu Shenwei said. To be urate, it was only his suspicion. That was why he had no intentions to practice it in the first ce. Besides, he hadn¡¯t told Maid Lotus his doubts as he had not found any proof at that time.


    ¡°However, the contents that I gave my brother also aren¡¯t authentic. The real contents are in my mind.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had no idea about that!

 Chapter 468 - Killing the King

    Chapter 468: Killing the King


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The princess initially did not n to get involved and only wanted to hold onto something valuable. She knew that once she handed over those 20 pages, she would be the princess of a small, unimportant country once again. Her fate was now in the ever-changing hands of ambitious men.


    As for who she wanted to negotiate with for the true version, no one ¡ª perhaps not even the princess herself¨C had any idea.


    In short, she chose Dragon King before he discovered the conspiracy on his own.


    This was reason enough.


    Loyalty was a raremodity, and much more valuable than diamonds or gold. It was something that one couldn¡¯t afford to squander away. . After experiencing many betrayals, Gu Shenwei understood that loyalty must be used with caution and without expectations. Even so, the power that loyalty was able to generate was still far beyond his imagination.


    To others, the princess did not seem loyal. Her allegiance was merely the means to an end, to remove herself from her current predicament. No one believed otherwise. But despite this, Gu Shenwei decided to trust her. He knew her loyalty was solely to save herself, and that was enough for him.


    ¡°Do you know how to tamper with the manual?¡± Gu Shenwei made sure to stress this question because it was so important to the operation. Believably altering a set of top Internal Strength instructions was no easy task. On top of that, the princess had no Kung Fu skills, so what she thought was a good ruse was likely to raise suspicion immediately.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if my edits are correct,¡± the princess said, gaining confidence from the Dragon King¡¯s tone, ¡°Let me read it to you¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei raised his hand to stop her:¡±No, keep this a secret, and hide it along with the correct version. It doesn¡¯t matter if you forget it, but never mention it to anyone ever again ¡ª not even to me.¡±


    The princess was a little confused. So far, everything had gone as she had expected, up until now. The Dragon King seemed to have no interest in the real manual¡­ or perhaps he had too much interest. She thought this over and then said, ¡°I will never mention it again, unless you order it. But I really may forget all of this in the future.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Gu Shenwei said, trying to end the conversation.¡±Pack up your things and be ready to go at dawn.¡±


    ¡°Where will we go?¡± the princess asked.


    ¡°¡±A safe ce, and you will act as a queen,¡± Gu Shenwei replied.


    ¡°Okay,¡± the princess replied respectfully. She felt more secure about her allegiance now.


    When Gu Shenwei finally left the princess¡¯s room, it was already daylight outside. He stood in the courtyard, pressing on his hilt and thinking about the current situation he was facing.


    Xu Yanwei poked her head out of the adjoining room and silently stared at the Dragon King.


    When Gu Shenwei noticed her, he thought that she, indeed, did not look like an enemy of the princess. But Xu Yanwei was still the only choice until a better candidate could be found. ¡°You will apany the princesster,¡±he said to her.


    ¡°Where to?¡± she asked.


    ¡°A safe ce,¡±Gu Shenwei answered simply, and walked away.


    ¡°Does he always have to be so vague?¡±Xu Yanwei whispered to herself.


    Gu Shenwei rushed to the bedchamber of the King of the Stone Nation with Long Fanyun following behind with dozens of guards.


    At the doorway to the bedchamber, Maid Lotus nodded at the Dragon King to signal that it was safe to go inside, and that the guards were not needed.


    The King of the Stone Nation had been up all night. After checking on his pregnant court maid, he mindlessly sat in a chair, his eyes bloodshot. He nodded off and almost fell to the ground several times from sheer exhaustion.


    By the time he saw the Dragon King, his energy was depleted. He just stared nkly at Gu Shenwei, having forgotten what he had intended to say.


    ¡°Congrattions! The Royal Family will soon wee Hai Tang¡¯s son as a new addition,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Certainly,¡± The King of the Stone Nation replied. He felt very strongly that Hai Tang would have a boy. ¡°So, all hope is lost for you. The Royal Family of the Stone Nation will carry on the name Ju ¡ª not Long¡­ or Yang,¡±he continued.


    The King of the Stone Nation was so used to calling him ¡°Dragon King¡± that he had almost forgotten his real name was¡±Yang Huan¡±.


    ¡°You are an idiot,¡± Gu Shenwei said calmly, as if stating a simple fact.


    The King¡¯s face suddenly flushed. Although he knew he was just a puppet, he had never received such a tant insult to his face. ¡°It¡¯s still uncertain who the real idiot is,¡± he countered.


    ¡°The princess told me everything,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    The King¡¯s face reddened even more. ¡°You¡¯re lying¡­¡± he said, wanting to resist, but he just didn¡¯t have the energy and gave up immediately. ¡°She¡¯s a little bitch, and I knew I couldn¡¯t trust her. You can¡¯t trust any woman. But you wouldn¡¯t dare kill me,¡± he said confidently.


    The King of the Stone Nation really believed this. He had been thinking about it all night, sessfully convincing himself that it was true, and that he would convince the Dragon King of the same.


    In truth, the King never possessed any real power. When the former Prime Minister Yang Dou was dismissed at the peak of his life, he issued manymands in a panic ¡ª for he was living in his own fantasy world and would not ept the truth. He really believed he would regain his power, and he held onto that delusion until the day he died.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity that you are redundant now, so you must die,¡± stated Gu Shenwei simply.


    ¡°No, no, you¡¯re just trying to scare me. Do you really think I¡¯m that stupid? Haha, if you wanted me dead, you would have used me in the Council Chamber and called me out publicly for interrogation. But you didn¡¯t do that. I know that you still need me, so you can stop trying to scare me. I can do things for you, for the small price of the safety of me and my unborn child. Additionally, I want¨C¡±


    The King¡¯s confidence soared as he suddenly began to remember all the reasons he hade up with for why the Dragon King could not kill him.


    ¡°I only need a King,¡±Gu Shenwei interrupted, intending to end the conversation as soon as possible. ¡°I think that your unborn son is more suitable than you.¡±


    The King did not understand what he meant. In his mind, his unborn son was in more danger than he was. ¡°What do you want to do? Are you nning to take the throne? My people will not allow that, and neither will the people of Xiaoyao Lake,¡±he said, his confidence shaken.


    It was pointless to talk to the stupid King. Gu Shenwei pped his hands, and four guards surrounded the King.


    The King began to panic at the sudden seriousness of the situation he found himself in. ¡°You¡­ I¡­ maybe Hai Tang will not have a boy¡­¡± he said in desperation.


    ¡°She will have a boy a month from now. I promise,¡± Gu Shenwei said matter-of-factly.


    ¡°I¡­ I still have information you need! Don¡¯t you want to know who¡¯s conspiring against you? Don¡¯t you want to know who my contact at Golden Roc Fort is?¡± the King cried out.


    Gu Shenwei walked out of the bedchamber, leaving the King who was already dazed and confused.


    Long Fanyun approached the Dragon King and said, ¡°Five court maids and ten eunuchs were under our control and will continue to serve the King, while collecting information for us.¡±


    The bedchamber was silent. A short whileter, the four guards came out and stood guarding the door. No one was getting in to see the King.


    Over half of the information that the King had provided was already known by Gu Shenwei, and the rest was of no importance. All he wanted was an army that would fight without any loyalties to anyone.


    Gu Shenwei walked to the gate of the Royal Pce just as Zhong Heng was arriving on horseback.


    As soon as Zhong Heng heard that the Dragon King was investigating the murder at the Royal Pce, he rushed there by horse from the camp. Panting with fatigue he said, ¡°Dragon King, I¡­ let¡¯s take a walk.¡±


    The Council Chamber was empty, making it ideal for a private talk.


    Zhong Heng regained hisposure, bowed to Gu Shenwei and asked, ¡°Dragon King, do you really think the victim was at Golden Roc Fort?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the truth of the matter,¡±replied Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Yes. Will we start a war? We are not fully prepared for that yet. The new recruits need more training, and we¡¯re short on provisions and fodder¡­¡± Zhong Heng said worriedly.


    Zhong Heng was a wise and focused man, but hecked determination. Gu Shenwei reminded him, ¡°Prime Minister, the war has already begun. Shangguan Yun¡¯s proposal for a strike is only a temporary break from the battlefield. Within three days, a riot will take ce inside the Stone Nation, and within five days, the Golden Roc Fort army will cross the desert. Even with the rioting causing a setback, the overall n will not change.¡±


    Zhong Heng¡¯s mouth dropped in surprise. Collecting intelligence was one of his duties, but he had not heard any of this before. Although he had an alliance with Xu Xiaoyi for receiving information, he had never believed he would ever omit something as important as this. ¡°How is this possible? The snow has not melted yet, and the enemy has made no signs of moving¡­¡±he asked in shock.


    ¡°This is going to be a surprise attack. Golden Roc Fort is not going to wait for us to bepletely prepared. The snow has not melted yet, but that isn¡¯t going to dy the march. As for the enemy moving, the Golden Roc Fort army has prepared for winter and can attack at any time,¡± answered Gu Shewei.


    Zhong Heng could notpletely believe it, since the Dragon King had no proof of any of his ims. Everything he had said was based on spection. Still, it did not hurt to seriously think over these possibilities. ¡°What shall we do next? Do you want us to fight to the death?¡±he asked.


    ¡°General Dugu has made a feasible n.¡±


    Zhong Heng¡¯s mouth dropped again. He was the Prime Minister. Although he was officially assisting the King of the Stone Nation, everyone knew that his real master was the Dragon King. But now he had been excluded from making war ns with the Dragon King ¡ª that was uneptable to him given his position.


    Gu Shenwei could tell that Zhong Heng was upset, so he said, ¡°You came at the right time. There are a few things I need you to deal with here, but you should return to the military camp before dark. We need to start making a more detailed n.¡±


    The Dragon King was making him feel more important. Zhong Heng recognized this, and did not ask for more. The Dragon King was in a unique position, and he had his reasons for trusting different people in different positions. ¡°Yes, I will await your orders, Dragon King,¡±Zhong Heng replied respectfully.


    ¡°You will send the princess and the pregnant court maid to the An Kingdom. Please get started as soon as possible,¡±Gu Shenwei began.


    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Zhong Heng.


    ¡°You will draw up invitations asking the royal families of Kang, Sha and Hui Kingdoms to go to the An Kingdom, and you will sign them with the seal of the King of the Stone Nation,¡± continued Gu Shewei.


    ¡°But¡­ they will not go,¡± Zhong Heng could not help but saying. The Royal Families in several countries were still uncertain about their loyalties, and would never give up their positions so easily to the Dragon King.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. They can decide whether to go or not, but I can also make the contents of the letter public,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhong Heng answered, although he still had many questions. He would save them for after he had gotten back to the barracks.


    ¡°The King of the Stone Nation is going to the barracks for inspection, so you should arrange that for him,¡± Gu Shenwei continued hismands.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Zhong Heng replied, having no suspicions about this instruction, as he was still unaware that the King had lost any power he had once had.


    ¡°We need to begin mobilizing all the ships at Xiaoyao Lake, but this is to be done quietly.¡±


    Zhong Heng¡¯s mouth remained agape at thisst surprise order. ¡°Dragon King, are we going to¡­ give up the Stone Nation?¡±


    Since the autumn and throughout the winter, Zhong Heng had made every effort to transport military supplies to the Stone Nation. He thought that the final battle would surely take ce there, and the Dragon King had given no indication otherwise.


    Gu Shenwei remained silent. He had already said that he would not make any detailed ns until that evening.

 Chapter 469 - Companions

    Chapter 469: Companions


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Ju Chi stumbled out of the royal pce. He kept looking back, but found no tracker.


    The Dragon King had put him in a dilemma. He had to tell hispanions that the Dragon King knew about the rebellion, and that the plot was likely to be mercilessly exploited by the Golden Roc Fort. They had to postpone or even cancel their ns. However, they would expose more secrets.


    Ju Chi walked along the deserted streets to avoid everyone. Even stray cats or dogs frightened him in his current state.


    He didn¡¯t know whether to believe the Dragon King¡¯s words or not. He thought again that he was a demon.


    As a royal descendant and the guard of the king of the Stone Nation, Ju Chi had had the chance to meet several important figures. When he looked at them from a distance, they were a group of noble and dignified elites. As the distance shortened, their real faces gradually became apparent and they always turned out to be nothing more than mediocre people.


    On the contrary, when people met the Dragon King for the first time, they were confused by this pale and gloomy young man, and thought that he was deceitful liar. The only terrible thing about him was the saber and sword at his waist. Only after they¡¯d met him in person, did they realize that his heart was truly terrible.


    Just before dawn, probably at the same time the Dragon King wasing out of the Princess¡¯s bedchamber, Ju Chi came up with a perfect solution.


    He still had to die, but he couldn¡¯tmit suicide quietly. He should attract as much attention as possible and die in an unusual way. Someone in the organization was likely to understand this hint, and they would be more careful when carrying out the next n.


    This was the only thing he could do. Future prosperity and an official career were not in his future. It was hard to say whether an independent Stone Kingdom would remember a guard who voluntarily sacrificed his life or not.


    Ju Chiughed awkwardly and then walked to the market in the South City, the most lively ce early in the morning.


    His noble n couldn¡¯t be realized. As expected, he was ambushed when he came around the corner.


    Sticks and other weapons smashed him in the back of the head and then Ju Chi fell to the ground. He didn¡¯t know whether the assants had been sent by the Dragon King or the Golden Roc Fort. He lost consciousness.


    It was neither.


    Ju Chi opened his eyes and found himself in the worst situation.


    The attackers turned out to be his aplices, the ones he had sacrificed his own life to protect.


    There were a total of 14 people, or 15 people including himself. Every three people represented a country of Xiaoyao Lake.


    The other people wore cloaks and masks, but this was pointless, because Ju Chi knew most of them.


    ¡°Idiot!¡± Ju Chi blurted out. He tried to jump up, only to find himself tied firmly to a heavy hardwood chair, ¡°You ¡­ what are you going to do?¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± One of the ¡°idiots¡± said cooly without any apology in his tone. ¡°Until we can determine your position, we have to do this.¡±


    ¡°Idiot.¡± Ju Chi scolded them again. ¡°Don¡¯t you realize this is the Dragon King¡¯s trap? He released me and sent someone to follow me so that he can lead you out and catch you.¡±


    Fourteen associates were silent. It was as if they were not nervous at all. Ju Chi was not sure that he knew these people.


    ¡°Do you think we weren¡¯t watching carefully before we got you? When you were wandering about, there were three trackers behind you. We killed one and cheated two, so you are safe, but you had no idea.¡±


    ¡°You? ¡± Ju Chi asked incredulously. If they were really the partners he had known before, there was no real master-hand among them.


    Some of them had grown tired of these details. Gruffly, they shouted. ¡°Shut up! What benefits did the Dragon King promise you so that you would betray the royal families of the Five Kingdoms?¡±


    ¡°Me? Betrayal? What are you talking about? I didn¡¯t want to bring trouble to you, so I walked around without going straight to the stronghold.¡±


    ¡°The stronghold was abandoned long ago. Do you think we would sit and wait for you to betray us?¡±


    Ju Chi refrained from anger, ¡°I nned to go to the market tomit suicide as a warning.¡±


    ¡°Haha.¡±


    ¡°Hoho.¡±


    Everyoneughed with disdain and contempt.


    ¡°It¡¯s true!¡± Ju Chi couldn¡¯t bear this injustice. ¡°I didn¡¯t reveal a word to the Dragon King. I have a clear conscience to you and to the royal family. I also want to remind you that the Dragon King is well prepared, so you have to cancel your n. He also has spies in the Golden Roc Fort to stir up trouble.¡±


    The aplices looked at each other. It seemed like they believed him a little, but when one of them spoke, he lost hope again.


    ¡°First, why is the Dragon King so well prepared? This is a secret n, so very few people know about it; Second, who told you about the spies in the Golden Roc Fort?¡±


    Ju Chi was dazed. The Dragon King had told him all this, but once he answered this question, it would be tantamount to admitting that he had been persuaded by the Dragon King.


    ¡°There is nothing to say,¡± said a man with a rough voice. ¡°He has taken refuge in the Dragon King. We should kill him. It will not affect our n. I told you the people from the Stone Kingdom cannot be trusted.¡±


    There were still twopatriots from the Stone Kingdom in the room who had not spoken yet. They cried out, ¡°What did you just say?¡±


    This was a tradition that the royal families of the Five Kingdoms of Xiaoyao Lake had continued for many years. They were supposed to work together, but they always quarreled with each other when they met.


    Ju Chi took this opportunity to sort out his thoughts and said loudly, ¡°Please listen to me.¡±


    They gradually stopped quarreling and looked at him. ¡°Please listen to me, you can doubt me, but there is never anything wrong with being cautious. The Dragon King is more sinister than we thought. There must be others following me and waiting for the right moment. We are going to get caught¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him. The Dragon King is preparing now. ording to the original n, we should start at once. The people are on the fence and they will support those who win in the end. We can seed even if they don¡¯t respond.¡±


    So they were divided into two groups, quarreling endlessly. Ju Chi hoped that they would continue to fight, but they soon reached apromise.


    ¡°We knew in the beginning that Ju Chi might get caught. He voluntarily refused to listen to the details of the n, so he would not divulge much information to the Dragon King. The Dragon King can¡¯t possibly know the location or who¡¯s involved. What are we worrying about? Let¡¯s take action. We can¡¯t wait any longer. Get rid of the Dragon King and take over the army to fight against the Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King will still send someone to follow you. As long as he is inmand, the n will be exposed.¡±


    ¡°You said that the Dragon King would catch us all, but now he would track us, right?¡±


    ¡°All, all is possible.¡± Ju Chi¡¯s brain was a mess, but he was sure that the Dragon King would not wait, and their n would surely fail.


    ¡°Wait half a day.¡± A man said briefly in a low voice. It seemed that he was important because no one spoke against him, ¡°We will put our n into action at noon tomorrow. Until then, no one can leave this room.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ we don¡¯t care about eating. What should we do if we need to go to the toilet?¡±


    ¡°Endure it.¡± The man¡¯s voice grew more severe, so no one dared to speak.


    Ju Chi felt slightly relieved. No one came to untie him, and he did not ask for help. However, this was better thanmitting suicide in the market. He still wondered who had been able to distract the Dragon King¡¯s stalker and bring him here.


    The Dragon King¡¯s soldiers did not show up. It seemed that the tracker really had been abandoned, so someone offered to act ording to the original n. However, Ju Chi was bing more and more uneasy. The Dragon King must have set up arger and denser. But his warning would only backfire. No one believed him.


    The man with the deep voice also began to waver. He felt that it was unnecessary to wait another half a day. Originally, they had nned to act just before sunrise tomorrow so that the people would have more time to fully ferment their anger. But the Dragon King had disrupted their deployment, which did nothing for their cause. As a result, they didn¡¯t need to wait until noon tomorrow, never mind today. It seemed to be a waste of time.


    Ju Chi knew most of the people in the room, but he didn¡¯t know the man, and couldn¡¯t remember how he hade in. In short, he was not one of the original initiators, but had quickly be a recognized leader after joining the organization.


    Suddenly, Ju Chi remembered that he was the representative from the Kang Kingdom. The whole n, from framing the Dragon King to acting in the morning, seemed to be his idea. Others were just adding details.


    ¡°What is our n?¡± Ju Chi asked.


    Everyone looked at him again. Some people had sympathy in their eyes, but most showed vignce and suspicion.


    Everyone looked at him again. Some people had sympathy in their eyes, but most showed vignce and suspicion.


    ¡°What are you worried about, then?¡±


    ¡°This is my n too. I worked for it, didn¡¯t I? I was the only one who stood up when you needed someone to y the game. Before I die, I want to know whether we can defeat the Dragon King and whether the royal families of the Five Nations will restore their sovereignty.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t let him fool you.¡±


    ¡°We can tell him. It will be like the meal before the execution,¡± the man with the deep voice said. He was sure that they had gotten rid of the Dragon King¡¯s surveince.


    Everyone was silent. The person who finally spoke was also a noble from Stone Kingdom. ¡°The Five Kingdoms soldiers are naturally loyal to the royal family, but they are also the focus of surveince by swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain. The Dragon King wants to use the Stone Kingdom to fight for him, but he has never trusted us, so-¡±


    This was the key point. Someone said in excitement, ¡°We have conspired against the people surrounding the Dragon King, and the nobles in the Land of Fragrance are also dissatisfied with him, so they are willing to join us.¡±


    ¡°There are not many people among the nobles, and they don¡¯t have muchbat power.¡± Ju Chi don¡¯t think the n was very good.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not that simple. When the timees, the nobles in the Land of Fragrance will disguise themselves as soldiers from the Five Kingdoms andunch rebellions in various ces to attract swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain to suppress them.¡±


    ¡°When the crackdown begins, we will spread the news that the Dragon King is going to kill all the soldiers of the Five Kingdoms before the war begins.¡± Once one spoke, other people were eager to exin the n.


    ¡°When the soldiers panic, we¡¯ll hold up the banner of the royal family, uniting the 20,000 soldiers. And then we could certainly beat more than 1,000 swordsmen, right? The other soldiers will stand by idly and disperse in a hubbub afterwards.¡±


    Before he met the Dragon King, Ju Chi had thought this was a coup. But now he knew what the problem was. The core of this n was not to overthrow the Dragon King, but to induce the Dragon King to kill and weaken the strength of the Dragon army.


    The Dragon King was right. The masterminds behind the scenes did not hesitate to sacrifice arge number of people to achieve their goals, but the royal families of the Five Kingdoms did not gain any benefit from it.


    The Dragon King had guessed it but did not know the details. Once the rebellion began, did he have any choice?


    Having said enough, the man with the deep voice finally changed his mind and decided to act ording to the original n. They would start a rebellion before dawn, so they had to leave for the barracks now.


    He pulled out his dagger and walked up to Ju Chi. He leaned over and whispered, ¡°Death is inevitable, but you have to die first.¡±

 Chapter 470 - Authority

    Chapter 470: Authority


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The Dragon army wasn¡¯t Dugu Xian¡¯s ideal army. He didn¡¯t understand why he, a regr general, had to exin strategy.


    But the Dragon King had asked him to find a way to persuade the whole army, so Dugu Xian was going to try to do that.


    Tenmanders and ten vicemanders gathered in the Dragon King¡¯s main tent with a dozen important generals. They thought that the Left General was about to train his troops for the uing war.


    After several months of contact, Dugu Xian had gradually gained the recognition of all the soldiers. The Five Kingdoms soldiers who had been under hismand were very surprised that he was still powerful. He had not shown it when he besieged the capital of Stone Kingdom.


    Dugu Xian had be very famous, and it had all started with a bet.


    When he was first appointed Left General, he hadn¡¯t had any authority. Besides, he had needed to take precautions against the swordsmen of Great Snowmountain who were anxious to avenge themselves at any time. If he enraged a swordsman, they might have given him a fatal blow.


    Dugu Xian hadn¡¯t excelled in Kung Fu. After losing his left arm, he couldn¡¯t even defeat the mostmon soldier.


    The Dragon King had assigned him dozens of guards, but Dugu Xian still felt he had to rely on himself. If he walked among the barracks, he would have to worry about his safety. How could he train andmand soldiers?


    The swordsmen of Great Snowmountain were the core of the army. Only by changing their attitude could he win the support of the whole army.


    Dugu Xian issued an agreement to the chief of the Greatsword Peak, iming that it would only take ten days to train 100 fresh recruits into qualified soldiers who could defeat the same number of swordsmen.


    Dugu Xian carefully considered his objectives before choosing Long Xiaoshi, the chief of Danduo Peak. He undoubtedly had the highest status among the swordsmen of Great Snowmountain. The former chief of Greatsword Peak had been killed. The new chief was an inexperienced agent, who had a bad temper like the former chief. If Dugu Xian defeated him, he wouldn¡¯t offend too many people.


    The swordsmen had immediately epted the challenge and conceitedly cut their numbers in half. They imed that they could beat 100 fresh recruits led by the Left General with only 50 soldiers.


    The gamble attracted the interest of the whole army. More than half of them bet on it. Most of them bet on the swordsmen. Those who bet on the Left General didn¡¯t actually believe in him but believed in the Dragon King backing him.


    Ten days passed quickly. The harassment of the killers from the Golden Roc Fort continued, but the fight was what upied everyone¡¯s mind. Therefore, several monthster, their memory of the killers was vague, but they were still impressed by the 100 fresh recruits.


    To avoid causing unnecessary casualties, all the weapons were made of wood. Before the fight, the weapons were covered with lime. Once hit in the head or chest, one had to withdraw from the battlefield.


    They hadn¡¯t recruitedmon people from the Five Kingdoms on arge scale, so the so-called ¡°fresh recruits¡± were actually 100 ves from the Land of Fragrance. They had only received basic training on weapons and had never fought in the battlefield. In the eyes of the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, they were too fresh to win.


    In order to ensure fairness, the two parties agreed in advance that fresh recruits could not use crossbows or javelins, and the swordsmen could not attack from the nks. This was a battle of charges.


    Fifty swordsmen stood in a loose shape; the chief of Greatsword Peak stood in the middle; and others lined up on both sides. Their onlyint was that the wooden swords were too light to holdfortably.


    On the opposite side, 100 ve soldiers stood in three rows side by side, with various weapons in their hands.


    The first row of soldiers heldrge shields that were half a man tall. Their shields were closely linked to one another to form a wooden wall with no other weapons.


    The second row of soldiers only held short-sabers that were inserted in their belts. They never pulled them out.


    The third row of soldiers held pikes that were almost the height of two people.


    It was said that Dugu Xian had used very strict means to train the 100 people. In addition, he had actually beheaded two soldiers who disobeyed orders. But few people believed this rumor.


    The fight began.


    Fifty swordsmen, led by the chief of Greatsword Peak, shouted out and charged forward to defeat the enemy (and therefore win the bet).


    One hundred ve soldiers stood still, waiting for orders.


    Dugu Xian didn¡¯t join in the battle himself. Instead, he stayed behind the troops with a drummer at his side.


    With the first sound of the drum, they stepped forward at a gentle pace.


    The second drum sounded, and the soldiers began to trot, only slightly faster than before.


    The two troops met.


    Fifty swordsmen hit the enemy¡¯s shields. If they had been holding real, heavy swords, it would have been enough to split several soldiers and their shields.


    The ve soldiers team was under great pressure, but not scattered. The second row of soldiers pressed hard against the back of the front row, relying on the strength of two men to withstand the swordsmen¡¯s attack.


    The swordsmen were winning. However, the wooden swords in their hands were so blunt that they didn¡¯t win right away.


    The third drum rang, and the third row of soldiers with pikes shot out. Because they were much taller, so they stabbed enemies through the shoulders of the two front rows, hitting the swordsmen and leaving lime marks. Immediately they had to stop.


    When using a spear, timing was extremely important. If you wielded the spear too early, you couldn¡¯t hurt the enemies. But if you did it toote, more than half the soldiers among the first two rows would be ¡°killed¡± or ¡°hurt¡±. They had to go when the two parties gathered together and couldn¡¯t turn around.


    It was easier said than done. Dugu Xian had put a lot of effort into training these 100 ve soldiers to use this skill proficiently.


    So that was how fifty swordsmen were defeated, but they were unwilling to yield. Firstly, they did not possess heave swords, so theirbat power had been greatly reduced. Second, the other side¡¯s pikes weren¡¯t sharp. If they had real weapons, they would only cause minor injuries whereas in this battle they had to leave the battlefield once the lime touched them, which was unfair.


    Dugu Xian gave his exnation: the main force of the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s army had trained for many years, so itsbat power was far stronger than that of ve soldiers. The swordsmen of Great Snowmountain used wooden swords. The soldiers with pikes would be stronger and stronger. If they had enough training time, they could turn their pikes into deadly weapons.


    Through this battle, he wanted to demonstrate that if a group of soldiers with ordinary strength could follow strict military orders, advancing and retreating in a unified way, they would also be able to fight against a powerful enemy.


    Long Xiaoshi, the chief of Danduo Peak, was the first to surrender. He announced publicly that the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain were willing to follow the Left General to the battlefield.


    Since that day, Dugu Xian had gradually established his authority, so the reorganization of the army could proceed smoothly.


    It would be a test for him tonight to see to which extent his authority had been epted.


    ¡°The army of the Golden Roc Fort ising.¡±


    His words caused great excitement. Among the dozens of generals, the swordsmen of Great Snowmountain dominated. They were well-known militants who wanted the war toe as soon as possible.


    But the Left General¡¯s next words disappointed and surprised them.


    ¡°The Dragon Army is not suitable to fight in the Stone Kingdom. It needs to retreat to An Kingdom in the south of Xiaoyao Lake.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought that Dugu Xian was being too straightforward. It was better to say ¡°withdraw¡± than ¡°retreat¡±. However, he sat in his position quietly as usual, trying not to express his opinion.


    ¡°Retreat? Why do you want to retreat?¡±


    ¡°Why isn¡¯t it suitable to fight in the Stone Kingdom? The army of the Golden Roc Fort can fight, so should we.¡±


    ¡°We have been preparing for such a long time¡­¡±


    ¡°If the Dragon army goes to An Kingdom, what about the other four countries?¡±


    The generals questioned noisily. Apparently, they did not support the decision.


    The swordsmen from Great Snowmountain were eager to fight against their old enemy. Besides, the generals of the Shi, Kang, Sha and Hui Kingdoms were unwilling to cross Xiaoyao Lake, and leave their countries to the enemy.


    ¡°Strictly speaking, this is not retreating. In fact, we are just choosing a more suitable ce for our battle ording to the characteristics and strength of the Dragon army. The Stone Kingdom is located in a t area, and the only passage there is through the desert in the north, but there are no high mountains, so it is easy for the enemy to bypass the border and enter directly.¡±


    ¡°There are so many well-trained soldiers in the Golden Roc Fort, and they have cavalry as the main force. While the Dragon army is at a disadvantage in terms of numbers and horses, and have infantry as our main force. Therefore, it is difficult to win. If we want to win, we have to fight in a narrow area and take advantage of the terrain to reduce the enemy¡¯s advantage.¡±


    ¡°It is expedient to go to the An Kingdom. Once we defeat the Golden Roc Fort, we will go back.¡±


    This exnation had not gained much support, but the opposition had intensified, especially among the generals of the four other countries. ¡°The territory can be recovered, but what about people and houses? What will be left after the army of Golden Roc Fortes through?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s messenger has already set out to inform the royal families of all countries to cross towards the south, and the people can also follow them voluntarily. They can provide ships to anyone who is willing to go.¡±


    ¡°Where are we going to get so many ships? After all, there are hundreds of thousands of people.¡±


    ¡°An Kingdom has a narrow terrain, which is suitable for battle, but if so many people go there, where will they live? What would they eat?¡±


    Dugu Xian thought that this was even more difficult than the battle. The Dragon King did not speak, but Prime Minister Zhong Heng was a good helper.


    Zhong Heng had returned to the barracks from the capital. After some contemtion, he had approved the withdrawal n. He knew that it was the only way to defeat the Golden Roc Fort.


    Only he could answer about the many details. Moreover, he had drawn up a general n for ships, provisions and fodder and houses so that they wouldn¡¯t be anxious about the fight. However, he had to admit that all the ns could only be temporary, because An Kingdom couldn¡¯t support 30,000 troops and arger number of civilians who were fleeing.


    He had only told the Dragon King the truth in private. He estimated the Dragon army could only stick to their n for three months once they crossed Xiaoyao Lake and lost the support from the four countries.


    If the Golden Roc Fort army had enough patience, they could win without even fighting.


    The debate started at ten in the evening andstedte into the night. By then, Dugu Xian was agitated. He had still failed to convince all the generals.


    Gu Shenwei listened to them silently. It was much better to let everyone voice their opinions in advance than to vent their dissatisfactionter and withdraw. In fact, he was waiting for the proper opportunity to announce his decision as Dragon King.


    Chu Nanping opened the curtain and came in quietly. The generals were quarreling so fiercely that no one noticed him.


    Chu Nanping was responsible for monitoring Ju Chi. Since he hade personally to the Dragon King, it meant that the guard was dead and the expected riots were about to begin.


    Gu Shenwei hoped that Chu Nanping had gotten the riot n details and that this would be an opportunity to persuade everyone toe to An Kingdom.

 Chapter 471 - The Evidence

    Chapter 471: The Evidence


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Chu Nanping didn¡¯t bring good news. Although he had discovered the whereabouts of another 14 people, he didn¡¯t know the details of the n.


    He had been ordered to follow Ju Chi and not allowed to intervene. In fact, he had been unable to rescue the guard as ¡°14 aplices and seven killers from the Golden Roc Fort were inspecting outside at the time.¡±


    Ju Chi and his associates had made a grand n. They had nned to take control of the Dragon King¡¯s 20,000 soldiers, and then use both carrot and stick to stop the troops from the Golden Roc Fort. However, he didn¡¯t think that he was being well protected by the Golden Roc Fort killers.


    Unfortunately, by the time Chu Nanping entered the room, Ju Chi had already been stabbed to death.


    ¡°They have set off in batches and will arrive at the barracks in about fifteen minutes,¡± said Chu Nanping. He had dozens of apprentices. Their skills were still a far cry from those of the killer¡¯s, but they couldplete simple tracking tasks.


    Gu Shenwei nodded, indicating that everything would be done ording to their original n. After that, Chu Nanping received the order and then left.


    The debate over whether they should cross Xiaoyao Lake was still going on, and it was getting more and more violent. Dugu Xian was eager to get the Dragon King¡¯s support more than ever before.


    The generals of the Shi, Kang, Sha and Hui Kingdom refused to leave, while the general of An Kingdom was carefully on the fence. They hoped that the army could defend their country and didn¡¯t want to fight in Xiaoyao Lake. Moreover, most of the royal family had fled, so they had little qualification to speak.


    Other generals had been persuaded because the location of the battle had little to do with their vital interests. As long as the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain agreed to the n, they would naturally agree. Besides, they were too tired to care about where the fight would take ce.


    The generals of Stone Kingdom were the first to appeal to the Dragon King. They still didn¡¯t know about the plot in the pce and hadn¡¯t been told that the king had died. ¡°Dragon King, when you invaded the Land of Fragrance, in the whole of the Western Region our country was the only loyal one to you and we never believed the rumor of your death. We protected the city and waited for you; it was not easy. Are we going to take the initiative and abandon it before the enemy arrives? Isn¡¯t the Dragon army nowparable to what it was a few months ago?¡±


    He failed to mention that their former enemy had been a few thousand soldiers from Xiaoyao Lake, whereas now their enemy was the powerful army from the Golden Roc Fort. The two weren¡¯tparable.


    In fact, the Stone Kingdom generals and soldiers were indeed loyal to the Dragon King.


    Observing them in silence, Gu Shenwei realized that there was another advantage. He could calmly watch everyone¡¯s reaction and then deduce what they were thinking. This method of identification was notpletely urate, but often experienced veterans could recognize liars and deceitfulness.


    As dawn approached, he saw someone fidgeting.


    ¡°We don¡¯t intend to abandon it.¡± Dugu Xian replied on behalf of the Dragon King, ¡°The Golden Roc Fort will not upy Xiaoyao Lake forever. Once defeated, they will retreat hastily. It¡¯s as if there was a thief stealing things in our houses, but he actually ns to stay there for a while. It doesn¡¯t mean that he actually upies the house.¡±


    ¡°A thief? This thief can kill people and set fire. That¡¯s easy for you to say. After all, this is not your home.¡± A general was very angry and spoke rudely to the Left General.


    ¡°Dragon King, you should say something,¡± the general said. The Dragon King had been silent the entire evening, which convinced several people that going south was not necessarily a sure strategy.


    Gu Shenwei coughed, which meant that he was about to speak. Dozens of generals immediately turned to him and waited for his final decision. However, the first words the Dragon King said had nothing to do with the n.


    ¡°Prince, where are you going?¡±


    The Prince of the Kang Kingdom, who had lifted the curtain, turned back awkwardly. ¡°I, I want to¡­go to the toilet.¡±


    A general from Stone Kingdom said with dissatisfaction, ¡°Can¡¯t you endure it for a while? The Dragon King is about to speak.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll hold it.¡± The Prince returned to his original position and sat down. Surprisingly, the once violent prince had be extremely submissive.


    The Princes from the Kang, Sha and Hui Kingdoms all stayed in the army, but only the Prince of Kang Kingdom served as a vicemander in the Dragon Army. He had oncepeted with the Dragon King for the Princess of Stone Kingdom and also opposed the Dragon King several times in public. Yet he was the only royalty among the many generals of Xiaoyao Lake.


    Gu Shenwei decided to stop the endless debate, because everyone had fully expressed their opinions. He said, ¡°The Dragon army shares life and death with the five countries. I swear that we are bound to return to the north shore of Xiaoyao Lake within three months. If I fail to seed by then, I will be punished.¡±


    As he had made it very clear, the generals of the five countries lowered their heads in disappointment and dared not to speak further. The Dragon King had promised that he wouldplete the task within three months, which allowed them to give an ount to their soldiers.


    Dugu Xian nced at the Dragon King, notpletely satisfied. All¡¯s fair in war. The Dragon King should not have made this promise, for it would give the enemy an expectation. If the army from the Golden Roc Fort didn¡¯t intend to cross Xiaoyao Lake, the n to fight in the narrow area would be aplete failure.


    Suddenly, three ngs came from outside the tent. It sounded like weapons colliding.


    Gu Shenwei stood up, and said in a severe tone, ¡°We must work together. If anyone contacts the enemy before the war begins, he will be betraying me and the entire Xiaoyao Lake.¡±


    When Gu Shenwei talked about betrayal, nobody dared to speak, especially the generals of the five countries. They all lowered their heads for fear of being caught by the Dragon King.


    ¡°In the past few months, I have forgiven many people. But now the war ising. Those who are making contact with the enemy must die.¡±


    Hearing this, the Prince of Kang Kingdom lowered his head as much as he could and began to flush.


    The Dragon King stared at him. So did everyone else.


    The Prince couldn¡¯t pretend to be deaf and dumb. He thought about whether he should confess or resist, and then said, ¡°The five countries of Xiaoyao Lake must remain independent. Unfortunately, the Dragon King is not a native. You once said that the royal families of the five countries have never proven their ability to defend the territories left by their ancestors. But today, we want to prove ourselves.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had said something simr, because he wanted to arouse the Prince¡¯s courage. At that time, it seemed to have too great an influence on the Prince of Kang Kingdom.


    The Dragon King snorted and bent his fingers to knock on the table twice.


    The curtain was lifted, and his guards brought in a group of panic-stricken captives. Most of the captives knelt as soon as they saw the Dragon King, but a few stood upright.


    There were 26 people in total, 13 renegades from the five countries and 13 nobles from the Land of Fragrance who had nned to fight against the Dragon King before.


    But two people were missing.


    Long Fanyun made an unobtrusive gesture, which meant that their people were searching.


    Several people from the five countries had joined in the rebellion, which deeply disturbed the generals. Many regretted that they had talked too much and might be punished for it.


    Suddenly, the Prince of Kang Kingdom stood up with a sigh. He became passionate. He pointed to the captives and said, ¡°They are the elites from the five countries of Xiaoyao Lake, and they only upy a very small part of it. Neither the Dragon King nor the Supreme King can make us yield. Even if you kill us all, more people will fight against you.¡±


    To his great disappointment and indignation, the ¡°elites¡± were not of the same mind. Before he finished his words, they began to beg for the Dragon King¡¯s forgiveness and tried to shrink from their responsibilities.


    ¡°Dragon King, I was forced to¡­¡±


    ¡°We were led by the Prince of the Kang Kingdom.¡±


    ¡°I want to confess. Dragon King, these people pretended to be soldiers from the Five Kingdoms and tried to stir up a rebellion¡­¡±


    The Prince of Kang Kingdom stared at the captives with a scowl and then scolded, ¡°Idiots! We are not afraid of death. Your actions will only make the Dragon King despise you.¡±


    However, no one listened to him. Seeing that the Dragon King wasn¡¯t speaking, the captives thought that maybe he would show them mercy. Thest three or four renegades who had been standing knelt down and asked for mercy.


    The Prince shook his head with a wry smile. He had intended to prove the strength of the five countries, but it seemed that he had grown more cowardly and ipetent. Finally, he believed that he could not bear the responsibility.


    He pulled out his scimitar.


    The guards and generals in the tent also took out their weapons, but the Dragon King sat in silence. He didn¡¯t even intend to touch his hilt.


    ¡°If you want to maintain independence, you have to pay the price. Dragon King, that was what you said before. Since no one wants to be the first to die, I will act.¡±


    ¡°You will die, but not now,¡± Gu Shenwei said coldly. He could not allow the Prince to die in this way and be a hero in the eyes of the soldiers from the five countries.


    The guards rushed to take the Prince¡¯s weapon and pressed him to the ground.


    ¡°Dragon King, let me¡­¡± Before the Prince could finish his words, he was being gagged.


    ¡°You can¡¯t stir up a rebellion. I want more names.¡±


    The captives looked at each other. Several of them gave names in low voices, but it was obvious that they were fabricating the names on the spot to please the Dragon King.


    ¡°It¡¯s him. The list was in his hand.¡± Finally, someone had found one of the missing aplices.


    ¡°Who is he?¡±


    The captives looked at each other, and then pointed to the Prince of Kang Kingdom at the same time. ¡°He is from Kang Kingdom, and was introduced by the Prince.¡±


    The Prince could not helpughing, ¡°I knew you guys were not credible. Dragon King, the royal families of the five countries are not vulnerable. There is still one person you failed to catch. Listen-¡±


    The Prince¡¯s hands were bound behind him, so he moved his ears toward outside with excitement, ¡°The rebellion has begun. Escape now before it¡¯s toote. As for you guys, you are all going to die.¡± He said thesest few words to the captives.


    The uproar outside the tent grew louder and louder.


    One captive, eager to please the Dragon King, took two steps forward on his knees and said, ¡°Dragon King, please don¡¯t worry. They are dozens of nobles from the Land of Fragrance pretending to be soldiers from the five countries, but they can¡¯t stir up a rebellion. We don¡¯t need to worry about them.¡±


    Angry, the Prince struggled to free himself from the shackles of the guards and flew up to kick the captive in the face.


    The two men were immediately separated. Although the captive was full of blood in his face, he endured pain and dared not make any sound.


    The noise outside the tent did not subside. The senior generals gathered and looked at the Dragon King, waiting for his orders.


    Commanders from all parts of the barracks entered the tent one after another and reported the situation outside the tent. There were more than 20 armies of thousands of people; at least eight of them were experiencing riots of different sizes.


    In fact, the Dragon King had it wrong. This was not the instigation of dozens of impersonators. The captives had also been deceived and delivered false messages without intention.


    The Prince of Kang Kingdom became more and more excited. He wanted to see if the five countries of Xiaoyao Lake could prove themselves this time.

 Chapter 472 - Bet

    Chapter 472: Bet


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The mutiny had broken out in the southeast corner of the barracks and soon spread throughout quickly .


    The insurgent¡¯s secret password was ¡°Fearless Xiaoyao People¡±. Most of the agitators appeared in the area where the soldiers of the five kingdoms were concentrated. They broke into the tents andmanded the soldiers inside to join their uprising in the name of the five kings. Whenever they discovered soldiers who were not from the five kingdoms, they attacked them immediately.


    Many of the soldiers picked up their weapons in a panic and left the tents. They had no idea who they ought to fight for, so in the end, it became a massive mutiny with lots of soldiers involved.


    Gu Shenwei had to make a difficult decision. He already knew that the real organization behind this mutiny was neither the military from the five kingdoms nor the nobles from the Land of Fragrance. <em>¡°The more than twenty agitators who have been caught are fools. The enemy¡¯s purpose is to use them to mislead me,¡± </em>he thought.


    <em>¡°But the mutiny, no matter who started it, could escte into a massive rebellion throughout the entire barracks. After all, 20,000 soldiers from Xiaoyao Lake upy two-thirds of the Dragon Army. Among those soldiers, most have only recently joined the army, so their loyalty to me is hard to gauge,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei mused.


    To prove that they were not involved, dozens of high-ranking military officers in the Dragon Army¡¯s main tent proposed to take action to repress the mutiny.


    Repressing the mutiny with force might lead them into the enemy¡¯s trap. What was worse, it might even cause chaos and increase the soldiers¡¯ anxiety. Still, it seemed to be their only choice at the time. As long as they managed to quell the mutiny quickly, some casualties in the process were not a big deal.


    Gu Shenwei was inclined to resort to repression. He believed a few of the insurgents could be removed quickly once the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain took action. He was even prepared to sacrifice 1000 to 2000 soldiers during the repression. In this way, he could take the opportunity to dispose of any unloyal soldiers from his army.


    Maid Lotus, New Moon Hall disciples, Chu Nanping, and killer apprentices were ready for the repression. In fact, it was Gu Shenwei¡¯s n.


    But Dugu Xian changed his mind at the veryst moment.


    Dugu Xian did not believe that the troops trained by him could be incited so easily. He said to the Dragon King, ¡°Please let me have a try.¡±


    His voice was overwhelmed by the noisy shouts for repression, so he raised his voice and repeated, ¡°Please let me have a try.¡±


    The Dragon King was the first to hear his words. The others, including the Prince of the Kang Kingdom and the captives, fixed their eyes on Dugu Xian. They did not know what he was nning to do.


    ¡°There is no need for a ughter. The soldiers are panicked, and I believe that I can convince them. Please give me some time,¡± he continued.


    Several of the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain sneered at his words. They had participated in repressions many times before, so they knew the importance of force. <em>¡°If the swordsmen had not been dispersed among the thousands of troops to supervise the new recruits, the Dragon Army would have fallen apart,¡± </em>they thought.


    Dugu Xian hoped that everything would go well, because then he would be safe. Ever since he had joined the Dragon Army, he had found that he had to take risks from time to time.


    The Dragon Army¡¯s number amounted to upwards of 30,000, but only a small fraction of the troops were swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain. Still, they were the ones who affected the rest of the soldiers the most. The soldiers of the Dragon Army had gradually be more aggressive. There were many reasons to exin their aggression, including admiration, jealousy, obedience and imitation. Despite the reasons, the increase in aggression meant that thebat power of the army had improved. But at the same time, the soldiers started to doubt thepetence of their military officers.


    The Dragon King was the best martial artist in the entire Dragon Army, so no one doubted his capabilities.


    The swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain were fearless and invincible. No one doubted thepetence of the military officers selected from amongst them. Even themon swordsmen were usually treated with respect.


    As for the others, things were different.


    Dugu Xian only had one arm, and he was not skilled in martial arts. Despite that, he had been dered the Left General by the Dragon King himself. Besides, he had shown an outstanding talent in training soldiers. All of these things won him great prestige amongst the army. Even so, he still failed to earn enough respect and prestige amongst the military officers and soldiers. For example, many voices had opposed his proposal to go south across Xiaoyao Lake. It proved that hispetence had not been fully recognized.


    His past fights did not help him. He had led the Golden Roc Army to fight against the Dragon King many times, but he always had failed with serious casualties. In the end, he had yielded to the Dragon King.


    That was why he took risks.


    He could not defeat most anyone by resorting to martial arts, nor by outthinking them with brilliant ideas or strategies. He had to find another way to make himself stand out.


    ¡°I only need ten guards,¡± said Dugu Xian, with his eyes fixed upon the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei did not have much confidence in the Left General that he had appointed.


    Fang Wenshi and Zhong Heng had their weaknesses, but at least they had proved theirpetence in some respect. As for Dugu Xian, who led the army, Gu Shenwei seldommunicated with him. So far, he had not discovered Dugu Xian¡¯s talents.


    Gu Shenwei only chose Dugu Xian to lead the army because he had no other choices. He wanted the Dragon Army to be a real army, but he had never been tutored in warfare. He also could not depend on his soldiers. As for the military officers from the five kingdoms, they could barely instruct an army of thousands. Besides, their stance to serve the Dragon King was still not firm.


    <em>¡°Perhaps this is a good chance to see what Dugu Xian can do. I¡¯d like to see whether this yielded general, who was ignored by the Supreme King, has any skills,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    ¡°Fine. You have one hour,¡± Gu Shenwei agreed. He was taking a risk. Now was the best time to repress the mutiny. Once he missed his chance, the situation would be much more difficult to control.


    As soon as Dugu Xian left the tent, someone reminded the Dragon King, ¡°Your Grace, Left General¡­ used to be the Supreme King¡¯s favorite general. Shouldn¡¯t you send people to keep on eye on him?¡±


    ¡°There is no need. I know what I¡¯m doing,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    Gu Shenwei knew that Dugu Xian could not stop the uprising with ten guards. Even if Dugu Xian was trustworthy, he could be killed by insurgents at any time. He had already asked Maid Lotus, along with several martial artists from New Moon Hall, to infiltrate the ten guards.


    He stared at the Prince of the Kang Kingdom, who was still standing up.


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait for his good news,¡± Gu Shenwei said to him.


    Gu Shenwei acted as if he really trusted Dugu Xian.


    The Prince of the Kang Kingdom hoped that the Dragon King would serve Xiaoyao Lake. However, the Dragon King was still his enemy and an invader. He said, ¡°Now that the soldiers in the five kingdoms have united together, it¡¯s useless to send the Left General to try to persuade them. He¡¯s just an outsider who doesn¡¯t know the traditions of Xiaoyao Lake. The soldiers won¡¯t listen to him.¡±


    Gu Shenwei usually ignored his enemy¡¯s words, but the Prince of the Kang Kingdom was a different story. He used to be as foolish and arrogant as other members of the Royal Families of the five kingdoms. At critical moments, he had often acted like a coward, without any wits. But after joining the Dragon Army, he had changed a lot. He was willing to sacrifice himself for a cause. Few could do that, even among the whole Western Region.


    Golden Roc killers and New Moon Hall disciples were willing to sacrifice themselves at any time, but they were forced to do that. Unlike them, the Prince of the Kang Kingdom volunteered to sacrifice himself.


    ¡°That mysterious guest you invited is probably the Third Young Master of Golden Roc Fort, Shangguan Yun,¡± Gu Shenwei said. <em>¡°Shangguan Yun is supposed to be the one who took the rest of the Wayless Book. After he got it, he hatched a plot. It¡¯s like what the Third Young Master will try to do,¡± </em>he guessed.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. So what?¡± replied the Prince bluntly.


    The shouts outside the tent became louder, only increasing his confidence in his victory.


    Compared to others, the captive insurgents were most surprised by the Prince of the Kang Kingdom. They thought that he was hostile to both the Dragon King and the Supreme King.


    The Prince thought he needed to defend himself, so he continued, ¡°If Xiaoyao Lake wants to survive among strong forces, we must ask the strong for help. This time, I won¡¯t let bandits stay here to take ournd like I did thest time.¡±


    ¡°Who will carry out your n if you die?¡± Gu Shenwei asked. He acted as if he was just a curious outsider who had no interest in the mutiny or plots of the Royal Families of the five kingdoms.


    After pausing for a while, the Prince replied, ¡°Someone else will do it. I won¡¯t tell you who, even if you throw me into a pot of boiling oil.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought with a snort, <em>¡°The Prince is too naive to think of other cruel torture means, except a pot of boiling oil.¡± </em>He said, ¡°Let me guess. Those words were from Shangguan Yun, right?¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯re wrong,¡± the Prince denied immediately, thinking that the Dragon King¡¯s assumption was an insult to him.


    However, Gu Shenwei knew Shangguan Yun very well. The third Young Master was good at putting himself in the target¡¯s shoes. He managed to get into the mind of the target with persuasive theories. When that target was useless to him, he would abandon him ruthlessly.


    ¡°Have you ever considered this possibility? Shangguan Yun would let you get caught and killed deliberately. Then you would all be dead heroes, even if the mutiny seeded, and he could gather another batch of obedient people in your name to steal the troops. In the end, you would get nothing, but he could take the whole Xiaoyao Lake,¡± floated Gu Shenwei.


    The Prince was stunned. Obviously, he had never thought about that. But when he turned around and looked at his 26 captivepanions, he seemed to figure something out.


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible,¡± the Prince said. After finally having the courage to take on a big cause, he could not ept that the cause might be a hoax. He said with augh, ¡°You just want to coax me to tell you our n. I¡¯m not a fool. Besides, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s toote?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not toote. I¡¯ll make a bet with you,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Bet? Bet what?¡± the Prince asked in surprise.


    ¡°Shangguan Yun organized this mutiny in the name of freeing the five kingdoms in the Xiaoyao Lake. That¡¯s why he needs dead heroes, aka you. Besides, he also needs a living hero to be his puppet after the mutiny seeds. You must know some of their names. I¡¯ll bet that you¡¯ll not approve of the living hero that Shangguan Yun has arranged.¡±


    <em>¡°It¡¯s a strange game,¡± </em>the Prince thought, intending at first to refuse.<em>¡°Shangguan Yun showed me a prospective future for Xiaoyao Lake, while the Dragon King revealed a cruel fate for Xiaoyao Lake,¡± </em>he thought, starting to waver. He asked, ¡°What are the stakes?¡±


    ¡°Twenty-seven people¡¯s lives. If Shangguan Yun keeps his word, I will keep you all alive,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    Only the Dragon King could do this.


    Gu Shenwei took the writing brush off the table and quickly wrote down several words on a piece of paper. He folded the paper and gave it to a guard. The guard handed it to the Prince.


    The Prince unfolded the paper and nced at it. He said in relief, ¡°Not this person. Your majesty, this time you are going to lose the bet. I hope that you will keep your word.¡±


    When the 26 captives heard this, they were thrilled. All they wanted was to survive.


    The other generals were confused. They thought the Dragon King¡¯s stake was too big. <em>¡°Why did he bet with an insurgent?¡± t </em>hey wondered.


    Everyone present was curious about the name the Dragon King had written down. <em>¡°No one whispered to the Dragon King. Is it possible that he knows Shangguan Yun¡¯s plot without any intelligence?¡± </em>they wondered.

 Chapter 473 - Stopping the Rebellion

    Chapter 473: Stopping the Rebellion


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    With just a banner Dugu Xian quickly settled the riots in the military camp. He almost got himself killed, but he became a greatmander-in-chief of the Dragon army.


    When he walked out of the main tent, he took only ten guards with him. When he looked around, he knew what was happening.


    The surrounding screams came one after another, but there was no fire, and there was no chaos, indicating that the scale of the riots was far from what he had imagined.


    When he entered the depths of barracks, instead of slogans of murder or arson, he was met with inquiries.


    He was close to his tent, so he came back here first. He summoned his guards, attendants and counselors. They all were panicking. They had heard a rumor that the Left General had died. When Dugu Xian made his appearance, they were very much relieved.


    It was far from dawn. Dugu Xian did not hurry to finish his tasks. He took his time rounding up a team of more than seventy soldiers and asked a soldier to hold his banner.


    The banner was thirty centimeters long and embroidered with arge Chinese character: ¡°Left¡±.


    Dugu Xian led his small team to the military camps nearby. He collected 20 executioners and added them to the team. They began to move through the military camps.


    There were approximately 20 armies of a thousand people in the barracks. The disturbance had already spread to most of the campsites.


    Dugu Xian rode to a camp without disputes. When he arrived, he did not get down from his horse but continued to move forward. He was followed closely by the soldier holding his banner and executioners raising their shining weapons. The executioners looked more dangerous than Maid Lotus or the other guards.


    The soldiers were fearful, and many of them did not even get dressed. When the Left General showed up, they felt relieved.


    When Dugu Xian rode past, the herald started to shout, ¡°Await the order in your tent!¡±


    Low-ranking officers returned to their tents and the camps returned to normal.


    Dugu Xian only had half an hour, so he could not check all the camps. When he found that the situation was starting toe under control, he quickly rode to the southeast corner of the camp. He was immediately attacked.


    ¡°Get out of Xiaoyao Lake!¡± Several attackers yelled. They shot three arrows at him.


    Maid Lotus stayed in her saddle, close to the Left General. She was dressed in guard¡¯s clothing to conceal her identity. Many people knew that the Dragon King had a female guard, but if she wore feminine clothing, she would attract unnecessary attention and gossip.


    She carried amon scimitar. Although it was not particrly convenient, it was more than enough to block an arrow.


    Her task was to protect the Left General from insurgents.


    A head flew out from behind the tent. Then, two men were thrown out. At the sight of this, the executioners got down from their horses and tied the two men up.


    Dugu Xian stayed calm, as if unaware of the dangers around him.


    The heralds were divided into two groups. One team ran ahead to announce that the Left General was on the patrol, while the other team stayed andmanded soldiers to await their orders in the tent.


    Dugu Xian felt confident. He had trained and supervised most of the soldiers himself. He believed that no matter where they were from, the new recruits would not blindly join the rebellion over a few slogans. After all, they were ustomed to following strict orders.


    He was right to some extent, but his reasoning was a bit off. ording to the investigation afterwards, there were two reasons most of the soldiers from the five kingdoms had not joined in the uprising. First, the Left General had appeared in time, which stabilized the soldiers¡¯ morale. Most importantly, they cared about thend in the Land of Fragrance. They were afraid that they would not get thend they had been promised if they joined the rebellion.


    Shangguan Yun was smart, and many of the insurgents were insightful. However, they were held back at the thought of guarding Xiaoyao Lake. They had underestimated the influence the Land of Fragrance had on the soldiers. It had never urred to them that a distant kingdom could make these soldiers desert their homnd.


    The soldiers seldom talked of the distantnd that belonged to them. They carefully kept the receipts and remembered their importance when it was time to make a choice.


    The Land of Fragrance had yed an important role in Dugu Xian¡¯s sess. His strict training and prestige also helped.


    After the first few insurgents were caught, the soldiers who had been driven out of the tents knew what to do next. They took action by capturing the instigators who had been shouting their slogans earlier. They tied them to the ground and handed them over to the executioners.


    Dugu Xian remained silent. As for his counselors, they recorded the names of the captives, and thenmanded them to return to their tents.


    Disturbances had been a frequent urrence since the soldiers from the five kingdoms joined the Dragon army. But this was thest one.


    After this failed rebellion, the Golden Roc Fort and the royal families of the five kingdoms finally had to admit that the Dragon King had won the soldiers¡¯ support.


    When Dugu Xian returned to the Dragon King¡¯s main tent, only an hour had passed.


    The good news had already spread from one tent to the next. The military officers were relieved. As for the Prince and the captives, their faces had turned pale with fear and disappointment.


    Gu Shenwei had been worried, but now he was no longer concerned. He remained calm as if everything was under control. All he needed now was to find the answer.


    He immediately interrogated the insurgents. One of the most important questions was whose name they had used when they incited the soldiers of the five kingdoms to join the uprising.


    Soon after Dugu Xian¡¯s return, the preliminary results of the interrogations came out.


    There were more than fifty rebels disguised as soldiers from the five kingdoms. They were not actually nobles from the Land of Fragrance but a gang of bandits from the Dragon Army.


    When the Dragon King went to the Stone Kingdom to seek a marriage alliance, he had met the gang of bandits in the desert. Maid Lotus had made several of their leaders swallow special pills and forced them to serve the Dragon King.


    After that, the bandits had performed excellently. When the capital was under siege, they had made great contributions. That was why they had gained the appreciation and trust of Prime Minister- Zhong Heng.


    However, they felt that they had been ignored since the Dragon King returned to Xiaoyao Lake. Whether it was selecting senior generals ornd distribution, they were treated only slightly better than themon soldiers.


    As a result, their dissatisfaction towards the Dragon King had increased.


    That was when Shangguan Yun¡¯s messenger had turned up. He had not only promised them arge sum of money, he also imed that the Golden Roc Fort could help free them from the control of New Moon Hall¡¯s ult sciences.


    The bandits had no say in the Dragon Army, so they had agreed to Shangguan Yun¡¯s n. Shangguan Yun had selected five important figures from each of the five kingdom¡¯s royal families. The bandits incited the soldiers from the five kingdoms to rebel against the Dragon King in the name of the five figures. These five figures included the King of the An nation who had fled Jade City; the King of the Stone nation who had formed an alliance with the Golden Roc Fort; the captive Prince of the Kang Kingdom; a nephew of the King of the Sha nation; and the young Prince of the Hui Kingdom.


    The young Prince of the Hui Kingdom was only ten years old. He had been taken to the barracks of the Dragon army by the Dragon King as a hostage.


    Gu Shenwei had written his name down on paper.


    When the Prince of the Kang Kingdom opened the paper, he froze with his eyes wide open.


    The Dragon King had won. Hemanded the generals to return to their campsites and further stabilize the soldiers¡¯ morale, while the Prince of the Kang Kingdom and the 26 captives were left to await their doom.


    ¡°How could it be? He is just a boy,¡± asked the Prince in amazement. He even forgot about whaty ahead of him.


    ¡°Shangguan Yun chose him because he is a child,¡± Gu Shenwei exined patiently.


    The Prince finally understood. In fact, he had already assumed it but refused to admit it.


    Shangguan Yun had not chosen five ¡°heroes¡± at random. The King of the An nation was not in Xiaoyao Lake. The King of the Stone nation was sick. The Prince of the Kang Kingdom and the nephew of the King of the Sha nation would not live long once they got caught. The young Prince of the Hui Kingdom was the only exception.


    The Prince of Kang Kingdom realized that his n had failed. <em>¡°The rebellion failed, and I was used. Only a few soldiers from the five kingdoms joined in the uprising. In just over a year the influence of the royal family has been weakened to this,¡± </em>he mused in despair.


    ¡°You won,¡± the Prince said. But he was reluctant to kneel. His determination to die had been weakened. He continued in a less resolute tone, ¡°Xiaoyao Lake is doomed to fall into outsider¡¯s hands. The short-sighted royal families of the five kingdoms are to me. They should not have epted the soldiers and money from the Golden Roc Fort and the Meng family. Dragon King, you merely have good luck. If the Golden Roc Fort had not weakened the influence of the royal families, you would not have seeded so easily.¡±


    Gu Shenwei waved his hand. The guards walked toward the captives who still held some hope. They dragged the captives out of the tent in preparation for the guillotine. ¡°This is the punishment they deserve. They must die,¡± he thought to himself.


    They began to beg for mercy and cry out names. They imed that they could give more of their associates names.


    Their voices soon disappeared outside the tent. He felt there was no need to pursue the rebellion further. The military officers and the soldiers from the five kingdoms who had not decided yet were unlikely to make trouble in the future.


    With a hint from the Dragon King, the guards left the Prince of the Kang Kingdom there without taking his scimitar.


    The Prince regained his courage. ¡°I will not live alone. I can not let those cowards be sacrificed for the five kingdoms. It¡¯s a bigger disgrace than our failure.¡±


    ¡°You will meet them soon,¡± Gu Shenwei said. Unwilling as he was, he had to kill the Prince. Improper mercy would only give the hidden insurgents hope. ¡°But I need you to do me a favor,¡± he added.


    The Prince was stunned. ¡°Please, tell me. I will help you as long as it does not hurt Xiaoyao Lake.¡±


    ¡°Pick a qualified sessor from among the royal family of the Kang Kingdom.¡±


    ¡°What, what do you mean? Are you going toy hands on my father? The rebellion was my own personal decision. He had nothing to do with it.¡±


    ¡°You misunderstood me. Your father will still be the king. But after his death, I need a new king from your family. This person must bepetent, and I do not care whether he is in your immediate family or not. I have no intention of stealing the throne from any king. The Dragon King¡¯s target is Jade City and the Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    The Prince¡¯s first response was to scold his decision. The throne of the Kang Kingdom was traditionally passed from father to son. Even upon his and his father¡¯s deaths, the throne should be passed to his brother. But then his attitude changed. He and his father were the ones responsible for the royal family¡¯s downfall and following old rules would only leave the throne open to an outsider.


    ¡°I have a distant cousin, Shang Liao. Among all my rtives, he is¡­¡±


    The Prince suddenly realized that he had fallen into a trap. Shang Liao was not only the sessor for the throne but also the one he trusted most. He wished that Shang Liao could help his father fight against the Golden Roc Fort.


    The Dragon King had finally coaxed him to leak his most important secret.


    ¡°Do not kill him. Shang Liao was not a part of the rebellion. He is innocent¡­¡±


    Before he could finish his words, several guards walked up to him, took his weapon, and then took him out of the tent.


    ¡°Promise me that you will not kill him, Dragon King.¡± When he reached the exit, the Prince turned around to plead with the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei did not answer. He could not promise to keep him alive. He could only make that decision when he met Shang Liao in person.


    The Prince of the Kang Kingdom was taken outside to be executed. Two guards brought another person inside.


    The young Prince of the Hui Kingdom red at the Dragon King, putting his broken palm behind him. He seemed to be more difficult to handle than the Prince of the Kang Kingdom.

 Chapter 474 - Chaos

    Chapter 474: Chaos


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Commander Long Kun could feel a bit of warmth from the fierce night wind.


    Lifesaver Spring was located in the western desert of Xiaoyao Lake, about ten days¡¯ travel from the Dragon King¡¯s stronghold, Willow City. As the only water source, it was extremely important to the Dragon King.


    Fifty Dragon army soldiers guarded it under the leadership of Commander Long Kun.


    Long Kun was a swordsman from the Great Snowmountain. Three days ago, he had received a secret order to be on alert because the Golden Roc Fort could attack at any time.


    From that day on, he had remained vignt and patrolled every night.


    Three days had passed, but nothing had happened. He had sent scouts to collect intelligence, but they had not discovered any signs of the enemy.


    But something seemed different tonight. He had never felt such a strong uneasiness. His hairs were standing up and he had goosebumps as if invisible killers were hiding in the air around him.


    It might have been that the moonless windy night was the perfect time for the killers to take action, or perhaps he was too tired, for he had seldom slept in the past few days.


    He stared at the spring from under the watchtower, and then knocked on the wall with a small hammer. <em>¡°Even with the howling wind, the soldiers below should be able to hear the sound, </em>¡± he thought to himself.


    A momentter, he heard the same knock through the wall.


    <em>¡°It¡¯s time to take action,¡± </em>he thought.


    Long Kun picked up a stone and threw it towards the mouth of the spring. He kept his heavy sword against the wall and shouted, ¡°Fall in, fall in¡­¡±


    The Golden Roc killers had finallye, and they had already killed at least one guard.


    When he knocked on the wall, instead of knocking back, the men below were supposed to strike their weapons.


    Long Kun had received the Dragon King¡¯s order, so he did not intend to fight against the killers. Though he shouted ¡°Fall in¡±, the soldiers all knew that they needed to retreat immediately.


    The killers had appeared in advance, but they could not defeat dozens of well-trained soldiers. Their task was to poison the spring and then escape to Willow City.


    Wind and darkness were the killers¡¯ consorts, but now they concealed the escapees.


    Located at the border of the Hui Kingdom, Willow City was the only pass in the western part of Xiaoyao Lake. There were 1,500 Dragon army soldiers guarding it and vicemander Wu Zongheng was in charge.


    Wu Zongheng was from An Kingdom. He was a former low-ranking guard leader from the capital. Later, he had been entrusted with an important task- guarding the western border of Xiaoyao Lake.


    Wu Zongheng was nervous. He feared the uing troops from the Golden Roc Fort. But he was even more scared of disappointing the Dragon King.


    A soldier ran to him hurriedly and reported that the dust beyond the wall had appeared. Wu Zongheng¡¯s anxiety disappeared instantly. He strode towards the gate and gave a series of orders.


    The visitors were not the Golden Roc Army, it was a team of outpost soldiers. Noticing the dust on their faces, he deduced that they had had little rest on the way.


    ¡°The killers came and poisoned the spring,¡± Long Kun reported calmly.


    The small Willow City became busy.


    The enemy army arrived soon after Long Kun and his troops. More dust rose in the desert beyond the wall. When the dust fell to the ground, an army of thousands of soldiers appeared.


    The arrival of the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s army marked that the war had begun. The ice had notpletely thawed, and boats could just barely cross Xiaoyao Lake.


    The capital of the Hui Kingdom, which was about two day¡¯s journey from Willow City, was a mess. The new King of the Hui nation had made his decision.


    News of the battle at the border had reached the capital. The Dragon Army in Willow City had withstood the enemy¡¯s first-round of attacks. However, everyone in the Hui Kingdom knew that the Dragon army would cross the Xiaoyao Lake and go south sooner orter, and the capital would be under siege again.


    The King of the Hui nation held an invitation letter from the Dragon King. The lettermanded him to head for the An Kingdom by boat.


    The young king had almost lost the throne. However, with the Dragon King¡¯s help, he had escaped being killed and having the throne stolen by the Queen and his younger brother.


    <em>¡°But as a king, I have to be ungrateful,¡± </em>he reminded himself.


    ¡°Close the gates. A strict curfew begins in the capital. Tell the soldiers who are guarding the gate that over the next three days they may leave freely; but after that, the rest must obey the king¡¯s order.¡±


    The old Prime Minister had sided with the Queen. But just before the Queen had been killed, he had changed his stance. He had left the capital and gone far beyond the wall to wee the crown prince¡¯s return himself.


    ¡°Wise decision, Your Majesty. The Hui Kingdom should not side with the Dragon King. I heard that the King of the Sha nation and the King of the Kang nation will not go south either.¡±


    Although the king had made his decision, he was still anxious. He could not forget that he had a brother being held captive in the Dragon Army camp and that the Dragon King could dere a new King of the Hui nation at any time.


    The old Prime Minister understood the king¡¯s concern. ¡°Please do not worry, Your Majesty. I heard that the younger Prince joined the rebellion and the Dragon King is going to kill him. Even if the Dragon King lets him live, the troops of the Golden Roc Fort will have no mercy for him. I received news that the Supreme King has made up his mind to kill all the Dragon King¡¯s followers.¡±


    ¡°You received news?¡± the King repeated. He suddenly realized that the cunning prime minister had already sided with the Supreme King.


    ¡°Your Majesty, all I have done is for the sake of our realm. The Dragon army is doomed to fail, so we have to make a wise choice. Side with the strong and do not fight for nothing.¡±


    The King waved his hand impatiently. He knew these theories and could tell who was stronger. When he had returned to take the throne from the Stone Kingdom, the Dragon army had been in a state of disunity. He was sure that the Supreme King would win the war.


    ¡°Tell your friend that I want to negotiate.¡±


    ¡°As youmand,¡± the Prime Minister answered. He bowed and stepped back, with an obsequious smile on his wrinkled face. <em>¡°There is no negotiation with the Golden Roc Fort. A so-called negotiation is to make surrendering sound good.¡± </em>He thought to himself.


    The King of the Hui nation had made up his mind. However, another family in the Sha Kingdom was still wavering.


    Two sons had joined the Dragon army, leaving an old couple, their daughter, two daughters-inw and five grandchildren at home.


    ¡°What should we do? Are we leaving or not?¡± The old woman had repeated this question to her husband all day. However, she had not received an answer yet.


    Lost in thought, her husband squatted on the ground. He ignored his wife.


    ¡°I heard that a family on the front street was robbedst night. They have a son in the Dragon Army. The bandits threatened to kill all of them if their son stayed in the army in the name of the Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    ¡°I heard,¡± the old man replied in a hoarse tone.


    Word of the entire Dragon army going south had spread widely, triggering a division throughout Xiaoyao Lake.


    Some hade to the conclusion that the Dragon army was too weak to fight against the Golden Roc Army. They were going to retreat to the Land of Fragrance soon and never return to the Western Region again. With this in mind, it was a good chance for them to rob and threaten the civilians in hopes of pleasing the Golden Roc Fort.


    Emerging bandits haunted from the countryside to the capital, causing trouble everywhere. No matter how hard the Dragon army tried, there were still countless strong men who had dodged the recruit. Those people had given up their former jobs and be bandits.


    Families involved with the Dragon army or who had men in the Dragon Army were being looted and threatened.


    This was why many civilians had decided to follow the Dragon King south. Some families had already left and headed for thend that the Dragon King had promised them.


    The old man had not made his decision yet because he had many estates in the Sha Kingdom.


    ¡°Why did those two idiots join the army?¡± the old man murmured angrily.


    ¡°They had no choice,¡± the old woman replied. She was angry too. ¡°The King recruited soldiers; when it was our turn, you refused to pay; you said that the Dragon King would not be defeated. Now our sons are stuck in the Dragon Army and they can not evene home.¡±


    The more the old woman spoke, the angrier she got. The old man got up suddenly and shouted at her, ¡°That¡¯s enough. I will go ask the Prime Minister¡¯s butler for help¡­¡±


    ¡°The Prime Minister is in trouble now. What could his butler do?¡±


    ¡°No one can help us. What do you think we should do?¡±


    ¡°Our family should be with our sons. We¡¯ll go wherever they go.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I called them idiots. Why didn¡¯t they escape from the Dragon army?¡±


    When the old couples quarreling ended, their teenage daughter ran in with a panicked look on her face. ¡°We¡¯ve got trouble. Someone posted this on our door.¡±


    It was a white paper with four words on it. The old couple stared at it for a long time, but they did not understand the words.


    Their six-year-old grandson ran to them. Showing off what he had learnt in school, he read aloud, ¡°Dragon¡ª King¡ª must¡ª die. It says that the Dragon King must die. Haha, I know them all.¡±


    The old man¡¯s face turned pale. Realizing that they had be the next target, he said firmly, ¡°Pack up our stuff. We¡¯ll leave in the morning.¡±


    <em>¡°Property is not as important as our lives.¡± </em>He thought. As the head of the family, he had to make this decision. ¡°Damn it. Once we cross Xiaoyao Lake, I will have to ask the Dragon King who willpensate us for our loss.¡±


    There were many people who did not care aboutpensation or even profits.


    The capital of the Kang Kingdom was in the east of Sha Kingdom. The manager of the rice shop treated several soldiers from the Dragon army in a civil manner. But no matter how much the soldiers tried to reason with or threaten him, he only said, ¡°We¡¯re out of rice and noodles. I¡¯m not lying. You can see that the rice bags and noodle bags are empty.¡±


    The soldiers knew he was lying. They had heard a rumor that the Meng family of Jade City had promised that any businessmen who refused to do business with the Dragon army would get doublepensation after the war.


    The Golden Roc Fort and the Meng family had taken over Xiaoyao Lake for years. Although the Dragon King upied the ce, they still had influence here, especially the Meng family who had a huge influence among merchants in Xiaoyao Lake.


    If they had not received orders from the Dragon King, the soldiers would have burnt the entire street down. They had spent a whole day trying to buy rice and noodles, but in the end, they had nothing.


    ¡°Take care. If youe tomorrow, we may have more in stock,¡± the manager said civilly. But to the soldiers he sounded sarcastic.


    When they walked on the street, the soldiers felt hostility from the shops on both sides. One kind manager reminded them as they went by, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you escape? The King of the Kang nation will avenge the Prince.¡±


    The soldiers wanted to leave, but the troops in the capital of the Kang Kingdom were waiting for orders.


    It was not easy to go south. The troops needed to be sent in batches.


    There were five ports in the north shore of Xiaoyao Lake. Countless boats were being used to carry resources and personnel day and night.


    The easternmost port was within the Stone Kingdom territory.


    Most of the Dragon King¡¯s followers were from the Stone Kingdom, so naturally it became the most crowded port. Many days had passed, but less than half the followers had left the port. A rumor came that the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s vanguard had arrived at the border.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The Dragon King is still in the north.¡± That was the civilians¡¯ onlyfort.

 Chapter 475 - Build the Bridge

    Chapter 475: Build the Bridge


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Staring at therge map on the table in front of him, Shangguan Jianyi was thinking about something else. He nced at his nephew Shangguan Yun beside him, dissatisfied with his ckness.


    Shangguan Yun did not seem to take the war seriously at all. He was leaning over in his chair to make himselffortable, holding a ss in his hand; not drinking, shaking the ss gently. He always had an uncaring smile on his face, as if everything going around was not his business and he was merely an observer.


    Many generals, especially young ones, supported and even worshipped Shangguan Yun. However, Shangguan Jianyi did not care for him.


    The uncle and nephew did not have much likeness in appearance. Although Shangguan Yun resembled his father, the Supreme King in the appearance, the two were quite different in manner; Shangguan Jianyi did not look like the masters from the Shangguan family with their sunken eyes and long faces. His gloomy and vicious temperament was almost the same as that of his cousin.


    Shangguan Jianyi could admit that his nephew was a very capable leader. He just wished that he could be more serious in his attitude. ¡°It seems that there are still many people in Xiaoyao Lake willing to follow the Dragon King. It is said that there are not enough ports and ships to carry them,¡± he said.


    Shangguan Yun replied, ¡°That¡¯s not a bad thing. We know people in the south support the Dragon King, while the people in the north are for the Golden Roc Fort. This way it is very clear to tell friend from foe.¡± He could have put on airs when he talked, as he was very skillful in switching tones; instead, he decided to be frank with his uncle.


    Seeing that his nephew was deliberately evading the issue, Shangguan Jianyi decided to be blunt. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have nned the rebellion. Your task was to retrieve the ¡°Wayless Book¡± and avoid unnecessary troubles. In my opinion, the uprising only gave the Dragon King more opportunity to unite the army.¡±


    Shangguan Yun let out a long breath. It sounded like ament of shame but was more like a habitual expression of beingfortable. He responded, ¡°Winning and losing aremon, never mind losing to the Dragon King. My failure can be taken as respect for him.¡±


    ¡°Hmm! He calls himself the Dragon King? He¡¯s just a¡­ ¡±


    ¡°A servant who escaped from the Golden Roc Fort. Yeah. I know where he came from. However, this does not affect his current status. This young man is very interesting, indeed.¡±


    ¡°You are the King of Xiaowan, not a child. Whether he is interesting or boring should not be your concern,¡± Shangguan Jianyimented in a stern tone. He was annoyed by Shangguan¡¯sck of ambition.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m in no better a situation than the Dragon King.¡± Shangguan Yun yawnedzily. ¡°The King of Xiaowan has no real power; otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t have dared to talk to me like that.¡±


    Worded as a joke, Shangguan Yun¡¯s words sent a chill through Shangguan Jianyi.


    Shangguan Jianyi did not know much about his nephew. He had only heard about some imprudent and foolish acts he hadmitted several years ago. It waspletely beyond his expectation that his nephew had been able to gain the Supreme King¡¯s trust and taken on important tasks.


    Thepetition for power within the family would nevere to an end. Lady Meng had been down; the Third Young Master had risen. Shangguan Jianyi even suspected that the Supreme King had released Shangguan Yun from the dungeon to bnce his power.


    ¡°It¡¯s not just you. The Shangguan Family has not yet had a solid foundation.¡± Shangguan Jianyi continued carefully, ¡°That¡¯s why this uing battle is so important. We are not only going to destroy the Dragon King and upy Xiaoyao Lake, we are also going to show the world that the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s army is powerful, not just a subordinate of Nond.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I wish the Dragon King was stronger. How can we show the world how powerful we are by destroying a weak enemy?¡±


    Shangguan Jianyi raised his head slightly and pretended to think seriously about his nephew¡¯s opinion. ¡°Well, it makes sense. Maybe we need to be defeated by the Dragon King several more times or offer him 20,000 soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Hah, hah, hah¡­¡± Shangguan Yunughed. ¡°Uncle, you just can¡¯t forget my failure. You seem to be forgetting that you also failed years ago when you went to the Stone Kingdom and nned a series of assassinations, all of which ended up with no sess.¡±


    ¡°Humph!¡± This was one of the reasons he was not pleased with his nephew. ¡°It¡¯s all because of you. You imed that the Dragon King had the ¡°Wayless Book¡± and insisted on stopping all fights. You dyed my follow-up n, otherwise¡ª¡ªHumph! I hope you¡¯ve got the real one.¡±


    ¡°Only the Supreme King can tell whether it¡¯s real, and he is willing to pay a huge price for it.¡±


    Shangguan Jianyi noticed that when the Third Young Master mentioned his father, he always addressed him as the ¡°Supreme King¡±. Maybe it was out of respect; it also sounded like estrangement. ¡°Then why are you still here? Hurry up and take the remaining chapter back to the Stone Castle. Ask the Lord to examine it.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The Supreme King said I am still young and need to learn more from you. And I don¡¯t think it will take long for us to win the war. Maybe a month? We have 80,000 fighting against their 30,000. Our odds of winning are overwhelming.¡±


    Shangguan Jianyi ignored the irony in his nephew¡¯s words. ¡°War is never easy to predict. Look at Nond. It took them only a few months to upy the whole Shu-lik; however, there are two small towns that have been under siege for more than a year and have not been taken down yet. The Dragon King was not willing to fight in the Stone Kingdom and retreated to the southern bank of Xiaoyao Lake, thus wasting me a lot of time.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t take a year, will it?¡±


    What Shangguan Jianyi really wanted to tell his nephew was: <em>You are not the supervisor of the army; you are not qualified to inquire about these matters </em>. Instead, what he said was, ¡°No. The war will be overe summer, and then the army will march eastward to join Nond in the fight against the Central in.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King chose to retreat to the An Kingdom on purpose, using its narrow terrain to defend our tens of thousands of cavalry fighters. Besides, we have no boats, which is also a problem.¡±


    Shangguan Jianyi didn¡¯t like the word ¡°we¡±. Although the cavalry nominally belonged to the Xiaowan Kingdom, he was the one who had put all the effort into the whole process from establishment to training, while Shangguan Yun sat in a dungeon doing nothing.


    ¡°I have my own way.¡± Shangguan Jianyi moved his fingers here and there on the map to show that he was busy and had no time to keep chatting with his nephew.


    Shangguan Yun was not clever enough to shut up; instead, he stood up and leaned over to Shangguan Jianyi. He peered at the map and said with a smile, ¡°Uncle, are you going to build a bridge?¡±


    Shangguan Jianyi was taken aback. Only a few people knew about the n, and he was sure that no one would dare to divulge the secret. And both his fingers and his looks had avoided the key position on the map.


    ¡°We can give it a try.¡± Shangguan Jianyi understated, unwilling to reveal a word. It¡¯s not that he did not trust his nephew, nor did he suspect his nephew would betray the Supreme King. He just would not share strategy with him. He still believed that he was themander of the 80,000 troops, while Shangguan Yun was just a special guest.


    ¡°Ha ha.¡± Shangguan Yun was determined to poke his nose into the matter. He pointed to the only suitable location for the bridge in Xiaoyao Lake and said, ¡°I wonder if the Dragon King is aware of the importance of this ce. A few hundred soldiers would be enough to station here. It would also be a huge trouble.¡±


    ¡°Then let the Dragon King win again and be happy about it.¡± Shangguan Jianyi was not ready to speak the truth.


    Shangguan Yun smiled in relief. He knew that his uncle was prepared, and the Dragon King would be most unfortunate this time.


    Gu Shenwei indeed did not have much energy to care about a small point on the map. For more than half a month, he had been busy moving everything onto the ship, all the while guarding against any attacks from the Golden Roc Army.


    In the beginning, he and Dugu Xian had kept the going-south n to themselves. In this way, he could avoid any internal controversy as well as prevent the Golden Roc Army on the other side from formting a response n in advance. However, secrecy also had an unwanted effect. Not everyone was ready; especially themon people who had decided to follow him. To these people, going south meant that they would leave their homnd forever. They wanted to tear down their houses and take every piece with them. This had greatly slowed down the transportation progress.


    As a result, there were many conflicts between the army and the people. At one point, the Dragon King had even had to intervene and persuade a stubborn farmer to give up his old yellow cattle himself.


    ¡°I helped with the delivery at his birth. He is like my son,¡± the sincere farmer said. Although he had been offered argepensation, he was still reluctant to part with the old ox.


    Zhong Heng, who had not yet crossed the sea, was standing beside the Dragon King when this happened. He turned to the Dragon King and said, ¡°People are a resource and also a fetter. Sir, I am afraid you can¡¯t be as free as before.¡±


    It was not the first time that Gu Shenwei had won support from people. He had the support of the Great Snowmountain residents too. But they were able to take care of themselves without his protection. These people were different. Without the Dragon army, they were like a group ofmbs to the ughter.


    Most of these people were the soldiers¡¯ family members and were therefore very important for the morale of the army. The Dragon army could not abandon them.


    However, the most difficult times had passed. In another day or two, the transportation of themon people and their belongings would beplete. The next step would be to send the more than 10,000 Dragon soldiers across the sea.


    The Golden Roc Army¡¯s vanguard unit had reached the border, and there had been a fewrge-scale battles, first in Willow City on the west, then at the outpost in the east.


    In both battles the Dragon army was ordered to stay inside to defend. In three days, they would abandon the city, march to the nearest dock, and then cross Xiaoyao Lake by ship with the assistance of the rear army.


    In only three days.


    The Dragon King would be in thest batch to board the ship.


    There was another dispute ahead. Gu Shenwei urged his horse toward it. Using his authority as the Dragon King, with a bit of extra marypensation, was always an excellent way to settle disputes.


    The dispute was between a group of soldiers and an obviouslyrge family, an old couple with women and children, and like many families, without young men.


    ¡°My two sons have gone to war to fight for the Dragon King, and now all of us have to leave our home. If you don¡¯t allow us to take our stuff, how are we supposed to survive once we¡¯ve crossed the sea? Do you think we can rely on the Dragon King to support us?¡±


    The soldiers only smiled wryly. When they saw the Dragon King, they respectfully backed down.


    The old man didn¡¯t recognize the Dragon King. Seeing that the soldiers had backed down but didn¡¯t kneel, he assumed the young man was a low-ranking officer. Angrily, he shouted, ¡°Boy, you have to judge. We need these things to survive. Why can¡¯t we take them with us?¡±


    Gu Shenwei could see why the soldiers were vexed. The family was driving a cart pulled by two cows, carrying pots, bowls, pans and all kinds of appliances, even carrying a big bed. It was difficult to get them on board.


    ¡°Sir, we have these things in the An Kingdom. You don¡¯t have to take them there.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s easy for you to say. How can we afford all new things?¡±


    With a hint from Gu Shenwei, the guard at his side handed a piece of paper to the old man. Gu Shenwei told him, ¡°With this, you will receive daily necessities when you get to the An Kingdom.¡±


    The old man took the paper, looking at both sides over and over. Illiterate, he asked his daughter and grandson for help. It took the three of them quite a while to finally be convinced that the paper was useful. The old man put the credential away carefully, took ast look at the cart, and pulled out a few things to carry by hand.


    ¡°s, this is all we have. If we had known this would happen, we would have chosen to cross the sea from the west.¡±


    The old man sighed repeatedly. Gu Shenwei did not fully realize the true meaning of his words at this moment. He nodded and let them pass. This was one of the biggest mistakes he had made in fighting against the Golden Roc Army.


    ¡°When you see the Dragon King, tell him for me.¡± The old man walked out a few steps and looked back. ¡°Tell him that he must win. The lives of everyone in our entire family are in his hands.¡±

 Chapter 476 - Crowning of Five New Kings

    Chapter 476: Crowning of Five New Kings


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Standing on the bow of the ship, Gu Shenwei could see a huge amount of smoke rising in the distance.


    After abandoning some important materials, thest batch of the Dragon army finally boarded the ship which sailed to the south coast of Xiaoyao Lake.


    The enemy did not follow them closely; they did not seem to be in a hurry to fight on the north shore. Though there had been several small-scale battles, none of them were in full-scale contact.


    Anyway, the Dragon army had gotten a short respite, and Gu Shenwei was able to rx a little.


    However, he didn¡¯t realize it would be so short.


    As soon as their shipnded at the port of the An Kingdom, news came that a group from the Golden Roc Army was bridging the narrow area on the westernmost side of Xiaoyao Lake. And a few military forces had already upied a small piece of territory along the southern bank.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly understood why the old man had said ¡°crossing the sea from the west¡± earlier.


    Xiaoyao Lake was roughly oval in shape, wide in the middle and narrow on both sides, with mountains on the east and west acting as natural impassible barriers. Most people would think that the only way to cross Xiaoyao Lake was by ship.


    However, there was a narrow path among the westernmost mountains. Along the path, sat ake that was only a kilometer or two wide, and the other side was clearly visible. This path was almost impossible to traverse on foot, especially for livestock, so few people knew about it, and no one had imagined that arge army could walk through it.


    But the Golden Roc Army had made it.


    Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s advantage was hisrge number of loyal local advisers, who had been supporting the Golden Roc Fort and Meng family since the early days. The King of the An nation, who had fled Jade City, had also sent his son to lead the way.


    When Shangguan Jianyi heard that the Dragon army was preparing to go south to avoid fighting, he immediately called these advisers to discuss countermeasures.


    The Prince of the An Kingdom had never heard of the path in the mountain. A businessman had casually mentioned it, but he did not think it was useful. He said maybe it was possible for the Golden Roc Army to send a few dozen spies through, but for an army of 80,000 soldiers, a year would not be long enough.


    Shangguan Jianyi didn¡¯t give much attention to the path until the representative from the Hui Kingdom arrived.


    The representative had been sent by the King of the Hui nation to negotiate with the Golden Roc Fort. Shangguan Jianyi was amused. With an army of 80,000 soldiers, the Golden Roc Fort could easily turn Xiaoyao Lake upside down. The King of the Hui nation was just one of the fatter sheep in the pen, and he wanted to discuss his conditions.


    As the representative, the Senior Prime Minister of the Hui Kingdom knew of course that in order to win this negotiation he had to have something in his hand that the other side needed; he offered the passage on the westernmost area of Xiaoyao Lake.


    ¡°The Hui Kingdom can widen the passage in a short time and build a bridge to let the army pass smoothly. If Commander Yi is not interested, the only other option is to cross Xiaoyao Lake and follow the Dragon King.¡±


    The representative from the Hui Kingdom was eloquent. He changed Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s mind with just a few words.


    The Hui Kingdom had tried to develop a shorter road to the south bank many years before. Arge number ofbor forces had been sent to cut stones and move mountains. When the project was half finished, arge-scale war had broken out among the tribes in Wushan and spread to the An Kingdom. The King of the An nation had had to flee to the north bank to save his life.


    The war ended without incident. The King of the Hui nation had learned a major lesson from the war. Although the road could lead them to fortune, it could also bring disaster. It was Xiaoyao Lake that had protected their nation from the wars among the belligerent Wushan tribes. He had ordered a halt to the project, refilled thepleted part with rubble, and set strict orders for future generations to never mention the construction of the road.


    In order to win the favor of the Golden Roc Fort, the new King of the Hui nation, together with the senior Prime Minister, decided to betray this secret against his ancestor¡¯s orders.


    At the time, the Dragon King had been busy moving his army. Once the Dragon King had boarded the ship and the entire Dragon army had left the Hui Kingdom, they made a public statement that they were on the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s side, thus bing the first capittor among the five countries.


    Shangguan Jianyi adopted two strategies. First, he sent a small army to walk through the narrow path. They crossed the sea quickly and upied a small piece of territory on the southern bank for station. Second, he enlisted local forces and a few soldiers andmanded them to carry out construction day and night; continue the unfinished project from years before; and dig a road broad enough for the passage of the army.


    ording to estimates from the Hui Kingdom, it would only take half a month toplete the project.


    This was the situation the Dragon army, who had just crossed the sea, was facing. Everyone was indignant at the ingratitude of the King of the Hui nation.<em>¡°If the Dragon King hadn¡¯t discovered the Queen of the Hui Kingdom¡¯s plot, the Prince would still be held hostage with no chance of returning to his home country, let alone taking the throne.¡±</em>


    Dugu Xian had been leading a few units to the south since early in the morning. As soon as he heard that the Golden Roc Army was crossing the sea in the west, he sent troops to suppress them immediately. They werete. Although the enemy was small in number, they upied a narrow passage and were hard to defeat.


    ¡°We have to attack them from the water side,¡± Dugu Xian said. He was waiting for the Dragon King¡¯s fleet to return. <em>¡°We could attack the enemy from the water side to get closer to the rear nk of their small force. It would be much easier than attacking bynd.¡±</em>


    However, soon there was news that the Hui Kingdom had hidden some ships and handed them over to the Golden Roc Army. Thus Shangguan Jianyi had dozens of light warships. Though it wasn¡¯t that many, it was enough for him to defend the small strongholds onnd from the narrowke.


    Dugu Xian immediately set out to form a fleet. With most of the ships from the five countries in hand, the Dragon Army had an absolute advantage in the water. The only problem was that theycked qualifiedmanders.


    ¡°I canmand by myself, but I don¡¯t know much about naval warfare. We¡¯d better find a person with naval experience from among the five countries,¡± Dugu Xian said.


    Although the five countries were near the sea, in recent years even the regr armies had been small and no naval fleet had been set up at all. The so-called warships were really just civilian ships with minor modifications.


    He had sent his men to find someone, but no suitable candidate was found. Everyone knew that this war was crucial, so no one dared to step up and rmend themselves.


    Dugu Xian started to set up a navy at once. ¡°As long as we have the advantages in number, the odds are still very high. The Dragon army doesn¡¯t have any navymanders, but neither does the Golden Roc Army. All the Golden Roc Army has is a favorable geographical position.¡±


    By the time Gu Shenwei arrived in the An Kingdom, a navy fleet of more than 100 ships of all sizes had been set up. Dugu Xian nned to spend two or three days training the navy before sending it to the battlefield in the west.


    The sessor to the throne of Stone Kingdom had been born at a time of war and chaos, bringing a glimmer of hope as well as a qualified navymander to the Dragon Army.


    The court maid Hai Tang had followed the Princess to the south in the first batch by ship. She was considerably frightened, and the death of the Stone Nation King had made her even more perplexed, resulting in the premature birth of her baby.


    It was a boy. Gu Shenwei¡¯s ¡°promise¡± to the King of the Stone nation became true. There was no need to y tricks. It was indeed a boy.


    The Dragon King came to see the baby. The Princess held the baby in her arms, and the weak woman was supported by a maid. Both knelt down to the Dragon King asking for his blessing.


    Gu Shenwei had been waiting for the birth of the baby. He was not only going to give him a blessing, but also make a move that would surprise the army and civilians of the five countries.


    It was based on Zhong Heng¡¯s idea. When they invited the royal families to go south with them, many had declined. In the meantime, more and more royal families had sent their children to the Dragon King as hostages. Even the An Kingdom which had already surrendered did the same thing. The Prime Minister saw through their tricks. He told the Dragon King, ¡°Betting on both sides has always been the strategy of the royal families and aristocracies. In this way, they can guarantee, no matter which side wins, their family will benefit from it.¡±


    Zhong Heng was not a cynic. He suggested that the Dragon King ept the royal families¡¯ tricks instead of striking them all. ¡°The king is often such a figure: When he is reigning, the people may not care much about him; however, without a king in ce the people would be in bereavement. Even the most ipetent and fatuous king is still a symbol of a country.¡±


    Since then, Gu Shenwei had not killed a single king, except the King of the Stone nation, who had overtly colluded with the Golden Roc Fort.


    As soon as the Dragon King¡¯s shipnded at the port of the An Kingdom, the kings of the Kang and Sha Kingdoms, following on the heels of the King of the Hui nation, surrendered to the Golden Roc Army, too. Their only requirement to the Golden Roc was to keep their thrones.


    Zhong Heng had guessed this oue. So he rmended a response n to select five new kings among the hostages of the royal families in five countries, so as to create a deeper rift between the two sides of Xiaoyao Lake, and at the same time to stir up suspicion between the hostages and their home countries, preventing collusion between the two.


    With the birth of the posthumous child of the King of the Stone nation, the candidates for the five new kings were all in ce


    On the morning after the baby¡¯s birth, the Dragon King made an unprecedented feat in Xiaoyao Lake. He nominated five kings in one day.


    The royal pce was crowded with people from five countries to witness the new kings¡¯ crowning. In many people¡¯s minds, the kings designated by the Dragon King were more trustworthy than the old kings across Xiaoyao Lake.


    The first to be nominated was the baby who had been born the day before.


    The princess held the baby in one hand; her other hand supported the court maid, Hai Tang. They both bowed and epted the seal and crown conferred by the Dragon King.


    The whole process was simple and solemn. The people of Stone Kingdom knelt down one after another to pledge allegiance to the king. Although the king was only one day old, under the guardianship of the Dragon King there was nothing to be afraid of.


    However, Gu Shenwei did not appoint himself as the guardian of the baby king. Before the king came of age, the Princess and his mother would help him with the administration of the nation together. Soon everyone would know who the real master of the two was.


    The second to be nominated as the King of the An Kingdom was a 7 or 8 year old child.


    The royal family of the An Kingdom had fled a long time ago, leaving very few people. The queen mother of the old king, an olddy from the Central ins, who had chosen the sessor from among the family branches, volunteered to act as guardian of the new king.


    The Dragon King granted her request. Among the five kings, this was the only one who wasn¡¯t chosen by the Dragon King himself.


    The third was the king of the Sha Kingdom, and he was the least controversial. As the eldest son of the old king of the Sha Kingdom, he was born with the right to inheritance. As the Dragon King requested, he ascended the throne ahead of time. He did not dare, nor did he intend to refuse the request of the Dragon King.


    The fourth to be nominated was the king of the Hui Kingdom. The one-handed little prince had taken part in the rebellion. The Dragon King did not kill him for rebelling but made him a new king instead to fulfill the wish of his deceased mother.


    When the Queen of the Hui nation died, the little prince had been hiding in the quilt, and therefore he couldn¡¯t tell who the murderer was. In his eyes, the Dragon King was more like a murderer.


    Many of the people that surrounded the Dragon King were surprised that he had chosen this child who was obviously not loyal to the new king. The truth was that Gu Shenwei had his own considerations. With his family background, the little prince was the most qualified topete against the King of the Hui nation in the northern bank. In addition, he was young, without support and resentful, thus easier to control.


    Thest nominee was the King of the Kang Kingdom, who caused the most controversy.


    The Dragon King did not choose the trueborn son of the King of the Kang nation in the northern bank; instead, he appointed a son of a branch family to be king.


    The new King of the Kang nation was named Shang Liao. Before the eldest son of the Kang Kingdom died, he had rmended this man to the Dragon King. Gu Shenwei had then sent a group of soldiers to the capital of the Kang Kingdom, and took him to the An Kingdom almost kidnapping him.


    Gu Shenwei had not been in contact with Shang Liao yet. The nomination ceremony was the first time they met each other.


    On the afternoon of the day the two men met for the second time, Shang Liao would bemander in chief of the navy.

 Chapter 477 - The Navy

    Chapter 477: The Navy


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    As the most promising youth in the Royal Family of the Kang Kingdom, Shang Liao earned the rmendation of thete Prince as hey on his death bed. The first impression he gave others, however, was that he was extremely ordinary.


    Shang Liao was roughly 30 years of age and was short, thin and frail. He looked easy-going, with a slightly dark skin tone. He grew a sparse beard and dressed simply, but neatly. This gave him a look of a cautious, obedient minor government official; it was hard for anyone to believe that he was actually very ambitious.


    The new King of the Kang Nation was, undoubtedly, the least outstanding individual the morning the five kings were coronated. He was even less noticeable than the twodies carrying their babies.


    Only observant onlookers could tell how Shang Liao stood out from the others.


    The new Kings of the other four nations looked scared when facing the Dragon King, and the mother of the King of the Stone Kingdom was terrified to even get close to him. She had to be dragged over by the Princess to receive the Royal Seal and the Crown from the Dragon King. The Kings of the Sha, Hui and An Kingdoms were even more worried and anxious, as if their respective thrones were in jeopardy. Only the new King of the Kang Kingdom was calm andposed, and even though he did not possess much of the air of a king, he did not show any fear.


    Gu Shenwei noticed, and summoned Shang Liao for a personal meeting that very afternoon.


    To avoid going through unnecessary formalities, Gu Shenwei chose a sparsely furnished study room for the meeting. The desk, which was supposed to represent the status of its owner, was ced against a wall and four or five simr chairs were ced randomly around the room.


    ¡°The Prince admired you and believed that you could save the five nations of the Xiaoyao Lake region,¡± was Gu Shenwei¡¯s opening statement. He did not have much time for small talk with Shang Liao, so he did away with the customary introductions and pleasantries.


    ¡°I hope you can address me as ¡®the King of the Kang Nation¡¯, Dragon King. That is, if that was what the coronation ceremony this morning truly meant,¡± Shang Liao replied.


    Even if Shang Liao¡¯s statement was somewhat provocative, his tone was still extremely polite, as if he did not care whether or not his request would be harshly rejected.


    Gu Shenwei was a little surprised, and he secretly trusted the rmendation of the Prince even more. ¡°Now that the army of the Golden Roc Fort is already drawing close, what good ideas do you have, King of the Kang Nation?¡± he asked.


    ¡°As the King of the Kang Nation, I would only have good ideas when nning the defense of my own country¡¯snd,¡± Shang Liao repied confidently.


    ¡°You are defending your nation now. You can only return back to your hometown after defeating the Golden Roc Fort,¡± Gu Shewei stated.


    Shang Liao gave a slight grin. His unassuming external appearance contrasted greatly with his sharp tongue. ¡°This is a war between you and the Supreme King, Dragon King. It actually has nothing to do with me. Except for the Royal Seal and Crown, I have nothing ¡ª I don¡¯t even have the recognition of the citizens of my own nation. Even if we manage to defeat the Golden Roc Fort, I wouldn¡¯t dare return to the Kang Kingdom. Of course, you¡¯ll send soldiers to escort me back, Dragon King. But I don¡¯t see the difference between the Kang Kingdom seeing off the Golden Roc Fort and weing the Dragon Army into hernds. If you want my opinion, there you have it, Dragon King,¡± he said, casually.


    Gu Shenwei was a little irritated ¡ª the new King of the Kang Nation was really pushing it. That said, he was still able to control his temper. Compared to ttery, he preferred to hear the harsh truth. ¡°I told thete Prince something that I wish to tell you, too, King of the Kang Nation. Independence is not a gift. If you really want to have the true authority of a king, you have to earn it and pay the price for it,¡± he said.


    Shang Liaoughed heartily, as if he was clueless that he had just irritated the Dragon King, who could easily have him killed. ¡°This is the reason I was willing to visit you, Dragon King. Let¡¯s talk about the price I have to pay,¡± he replied.


    Gu Shenwei was starting to wonder if Shang Liao was just fond of boasting. He was obviously escorted by armed soldiers of the Dragon Army to visit the Dragon King, yet here he was talking of ¡°being willing¡± to talk, as if he had had a choice in the matter.


    Shang Liao began to realize what the Dragon King was thinking. ¡°To be honest, I was always keen to negotiate with you, Dragon King. That was the reason I remained behind in the city and did not flee. The Supreme King believes that victory is within his grasp and would definitely not allow any country in the Xiaoyao Lake region to gain independence. It was a pity that the Prince refused to listen to my suggestion and wanted to take risks instead. It was such a pity. The Prince had undergone a huge transformation, and with more time, he could have be a great king,¡± he replied.


    ¡°I killed him,¡± Gu Shenwei said coldly.


    ¡°Everyone knows that,¡± Shang Liao replied in an even tone. ¡°His Highness the Prince was willing to die for the independence of the Kang Kingdom, and all of his people still mourn his death.¡±


    Gu Shenwei decided that he would not allow the powerless King of the Kang Nation to provoke him. As such, he nodded and replied, ¡°The Prince was definitely worthy of remembrance. How about Your Majesty? Will you decide to take over his cause or will you choose to walk a different path?¡±


    ¡°I have only inherited his willpower. I disagreed with his methods from the very beginning and will not be repeating his mistakes now,¡± Shang Liao answered.


    It was always hard to tell real talent from false bravado. The Prince of the Kang Kingdom was not very sharp, and it was very likely that he could have been fooled. Gu Shenwei remained silent for awhile, trying to size up his opponent. When he spoke again, he was already on high alert. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about the price you wish to pay,¡± he said.


    ¡°It¡¯s very simple,¡± Shang Liao replied, as if he was an experienced manager of a shop who would not divulge his own bottom line easily. ¡°You give me 10,000 men, Dragon King, and I will help you defeat the Golden Roc Army. As for when I shall return to the Kang Kingdom and who will be her real King, that will be left entirely up to me to decide.¡±


    He was definitely being confident with the Dragon King; the amount of troops he wanted was one-third of the entire Dragon Army.


    ¡°This seems to be the price I have to pay,¡± Gu Shenwei replied.


    ¡°Hehe, it¡¯s normal for you to not trust me, Dragon King. I¡¯ve heard that you¡¯ve built up a navy, and that preparations are allplete, except for theck of amander. Please allow me to humbly rmend myself. If I cannotpletely defeat the Navy of the Golden Roc Fort within two weeks, I¡¯ll dly offer up my life. If, somehow, I manage to seed, we shall discuss further about the prices both of us have to pay,¡± Shang Yiao offered.


    Gu Shenwei had entered into many deals with several people in the past. He had encountered both honest and deceitful people before, but he had never been in a situation in which he had to give something first while the other party did not offer anything in return.


    As his navy controlled many of the ships on water in the region, it was the only front which the Dragon King had an advantage over the Golden Roc Army. If he was to be betrayed now, the consequences would be disastrous.


    ¡°You have to prove yourself with small deeds first, King of the Kang Nation,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He initially intended to reject handing over his navy to Shang Liao.


    ¡°If you want a cat, you can test it by pitting it against mice, Dragon King. If what you want is a ferocious beast, then why start with small deeds?¡± Shang Yiao asked, rhetorically.


    The Dragon King was still hesitant. Shang Liao went even further: ¡°By serving you as the King of the Kang Nation, I¡¯m already degrading myself, Dragon King. My military rank cannot be lower than anyone else, except you. Since you already have a Left General, appoint me as your Right General.¡±


    Gu Shenwei made up his mind suddenly; sometimes you just had to trust your instincts. He rose from his seat and replied, ¡°Right General, you have two weeks.¡±


    There was no way the Dragon King¡¯s appointment would not start a huge debate. The rank-and-file would, at most, be surprised by his decision, but for his Left General, Dugu Xian, it was unbearable. He was usually rule-abiding, but this time he broke with tradition and came to visit the Dragon King to openly oppose the decision. ¡°Of all the five nations, the Kang Kingdom is the least trustworthy. How could you hand over the entire navy to him, Dragon King?¡± he asked, desperately.


    Of course, Gu Shenwei had an exnation prepared: ¡°The oarsmen in our navy arergely from the An Kingdom, and the sailors are mostly from the Land of Fragrance. The King of the Kang Nation cannot seize control of our navy.¡±


    That was not the issue that Dugu Xian was most concerned about. He felt that he had to speak his mind now that these things hade to pass, and said, ¡°Alright. But I have to know if the navy will still ept the orders of the Left General, too?¡±


    Dugu Xian was still not direct enough. What he actually wanted to know was if there was a difference between the authority of the Left and Right Generals.


    ¡°Thend-based troops in the Dragon Army will bemanded by the Left General, while our Navy will be controlled by the Right General. Final victory will still be decided onnd,¡± replied Gu Shenwei. He skirted around the issue, but made it clear that both ranks were equal.


    Dugu Xian hesitated before deciding to ept the Dragon King¡¯s decision. He, himself, was a captive who surrendered and had not proven his capabilities in any battle as of yet, so he felt that he did not have a right to ask anything more. ¡°Everything shall be as per your decision, Dragon King. Even though our navy cannot give us final victory, it will buy much more time for our entire army. It shouldn¡¯t be taken lightly,¡± he said.


    The struggle between both Generals had only just begun and would not end so easily. As his n for dominance progressed, the Dragon King needed more able generals to aid him, and it was impossible to make all of them work together in harmony. The number of internal struggles would only increase in the future. Gu Shenwei was prepared for these issues toe up.


    Dugu Xian took his leave and the Prime Minister, Zhong Heng, also came to question the Dragon King. He was much more tactful and asked, ¡°There are five kings in the Xiaoyao Lake region, and you¡¯ve only given the King of the Kang Nation troops, Dragon King. I¡¯m afraid this will incur the jealousy of the citizens and soldiers of the other four nations.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good for them to be jealous. The morale of our army will increase even further,¡± Gu Shenwei replied.


    Zhong Heng knew very well that the Dragon King would not easily change his mind, so he did not object too much. But as the overseer of military supplies, he had to be clear on an issue. ¡°The King of the Kang Nation¡­¡±


    ¡°From today onward, he shall be known as the Right General,¡± the Dragon King finished Zhong Heng¡¯s sentence.


    ¡°The Right General sent someone over to me with a list of requisitions. How should I reply?¡± Zhong Heng asked.


    ¡°Try to meet his needs as much as possible,¡± Gu Shenwei stated simply.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Zhong Heng.


    Zhong Heng could sense the strong aura of a gambler from the Dragon King¡¯s order and could only hope and pray for luck to be on their side. He then took his leave, as well.


    ¡°Hold on a moment. Let me see the list,¡± Gu Shenwei said as he held the Prime Minister back.


    Zhong Heng had brought the list along with him, and it was written on a few pages of paper. He passed them to the Dragon King to look over.


    Shang Liao¡¯s requisitions were a little unique. Other than the standard weapons, armor and supplies, he had also requested rather weird items, such as lime and pine rosin. They were rarely used in battle.


    ¡°What did he want these items for?¡± asked Gu Shenwei as he pointed to the list.


    ¡°Are you unaware of this, Dragon King?¡± replied Zhong Heng as he nced at the list, a look of surprise on his face.


    ¡°If you have these things, supply them to him,¡± said Gu Shenwei, quickly changing tact as he realized that he had identally exposed his distrust of the Right General.


    Being a ruler took profound knowlege, even if one did not have many surbordinates. As the Dragon King, every word and every decision he said and made could be analyzed over and over again by others to be used as the basis for their actions.


    Zhong Heng¡¯s loyalty was unquestioned, but loyalty could also lead someone to do the wrong things. Xu Yanwei had proved this point on more than one asion.


    Gu Shenwei summoned Chu Nanping after Zhong Heng left.


    ¡°From today onward, you shall protect the Right General,¡± he instructed him.


    ¡°Right,¡± Chu Nanping replied. He had not changed much after the his training to be a killer ¨C he still did not care if things went one way or the other. He treated the Dragon King¡¯s orders as requests ¡ª his agreements were not meant to be taken as servitude.


    ¡°If the Right General leads our navy toward the harbor of the Kang Kingdom or shows intention of surrendering to the Golden Roc Fort, kill him,¡± said Gu Shenwei. He knew that he had to be extremely clear and could not afford to give vague hints when telling Chu Nanping what to do.


    ¡°Would you want his head if I had to kill him?¡± Chu Nanping asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Gu Shenwei still felt that the entire matter was not properly arranged and called Maid Lotus over, as well. She was still the best weapon in his arsenal and rarely disappointed him. With that being said, he changed his mind when she arrived, as he felt that the task she was currently assigned was of more importance.


    ¡°How is Shangguan Fei¡¯s practiceing along?¡± he asked instead.


    While in the midst of preparing for war, Gu Shenwei had not forgotten about the ticking timebomb that was Qigong Deviation. He had a sudden inspiration to use the Yin and Yang Strength as the method to master the divine Sumeru Mustard kung fu. Wayless Qigong would act as the base for the Yin Strength.


    Shangguan Fei was the first test subject of his experiment.


    ¡°It¡¯s still hard to say. The main thing is that Shangguan Fei is highly resistant to it, and is unwilling to practice,¡± Maid Lotus answered.


    It was natural that Shangguan Fei would reject practicing. He was not rejecting the divine kung fu itself, but the excruciating pain that came from the process of practicing it.

 Chapter 478 - Pain

    Chapter 478: Pain


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    If he could choose again, Shangguan Fei would have used every tool avable to earn his sister¡¯s pity so that he could have remained behind in the Land of Fragrance and not have had to fight in the Dragon King¡¯s wars. He also would have never agreed to practice this lousy ¡®divine kung fu¡¯.


    He wanted to question Maid Lotus to find out if she had something against him. She was merciless when forcing him to practice, and no matter how much he screamed, she never showed any pity ¡ª not even once.


    He knew very well that he had never offended this woman before in the Stone Castle.


    The only thing he was guilty of was learning Wayless Qigong secretly, and there was no reason for him to let that be known.


    It was said that the skilled were brave, but this was not true of Shangguan Fei. He was constantly scared, and the only thing that gave him a sense of security was the thick and tall walls of the Stone Castle ¡ª not peerless kung fu.


    Maid Lotus could not care less about that. She was the only killer who had ever undergone the training of both the Golden Roc Fort and the New Moon Hall, and she was numb to her own pain (much less that of others). She was like a mad scientist and kept experimenting on Shangguan Fei, determined to discover the best way of practicing.


    Firstly, she forced Shangguan Fei to practice the divine Sumeru Mustard kung fu using the normal methods. Unsuprisingly, he did not seed. It was as if Chu Nanping was the only one who could blend both types of kung fu.


    Shangguan Fei had not received any warning beforehand, and thought that he would only be spending some of his time practicing, undergoing just a little pain. Eventually, he experienced his first Qigong Deviation when he felt some of the Qi from the Sumeru Mustard technique enter his body.


    Countless needles of ice flowed very quickly from the Dantian through the meridians of Shangguan Fei¡¯s body, then everything became very bright and all of his hairs stood on end. It was as if he were being transported to a new world. Then suddenly, he felt excruciating pain and began screaming like a stuck pig.


    This did not earn him any sympathy from Maid Lotus. The pain both she and the Dragon King had experienced was ten times more intense, but neither of them had so much as grunted.


    Shangguan Fei fainted, and he refused to continue practicing from the moment he woke up. ¡°Even if I cannot be defeated, I will not practice again. No wonder the Dragon King doesn¡¯t want to learn it himself. I knew no good coulde from this,¡± heined.


    ¡°The Dragon King did practice, and so did I,¡± Maid Lotus corrected Shangguan Fei¡¯s mistake. There was no awkwardness when facing the Ninth Young Master, unlike when she was dealing with her old master, Shangguan Ru. She felt that he was no different from most men in the world.


    ¡°So, did you two seed?¡± asked Shangguan Fei.


    ¡°No,¡± she answered simply.


    ¡°But you still want me to practice?¡± he asked.


    ¡°We have to try. If one method doesn¡¯t work, we can try another,¡± Maid Lotus answered.


    Shangguan Fei shook uncontrobly for awhile, and he shuddered as he thought about the feeling of having the shards of ice swimming across his meridians again. ¡°I won¡¯t fall for it again. I don¡¯t care if the two of you n to master the technique or not. I won¡¯t be practicing it again,¡± he said.


    ¡°Neither of us has tried the next method,¡± she responded tly.


    Shangguan Fei turned up his palms, showing that he would notply, no matter what.


    At one point, Maid Lotus had been skilled in making connections, but as her kung fu grew better (and especially after falling under the influence of the New Moon Hall), this skill of hers had slowly deteriorated. Her temper had grown increasingly, like Mama Xue of old, whose way of convincing someone was to point fingers, and bring up the past.


    Maid Lotus¡¯s finger pointing was much worse than Mama Xue¡¯s, though.


    After less than two hours, Shangguan Fei experienced an entirely different kind of pain. He could feel his insides burning up and he kept retching, as if he were going to throw up his organs. The amount of pain he felt now was even stronger than that during his Qigong Deviation.


    ¡°Stop¡­ stop¡­ spare me, my aunt¡­ grandmother. Whatever you tell me¡­ to practice¡­ I will¡­ I will¡­¡± he begged.


    Maid Lotus waited a little while more before removing her finger, filled with debilitating energy, from his body.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s pain had diminished slightly. He groaned as he held his abdomen, then suddenly struck out at Maid Lotus with his fist.


    His kung fu was not weak, but he wascking in self-confidence. Normally, he could not even use one <em>third </em>of his power. However, being in a life or death situation made him perform much better than usual, and his strike was easily seventy or eighty percent of his total strength.


    It was a pity that he was sorelycking in actualbat experience, though. Despite theughable ¡°surprise attack¡±, Maid Lotus¡¯s kung fu was still much more powerful than his. After she had mastered the secret techniques of the New Moon Hall, her skill had increased to an even higher level. Combined with her rich experience from being in constant danger, the difference between the two of them was huge.


    In the same amount of time that it took Shangguan Fei to make one punch, Maid Lotus had already made five strikes with her palm and fingers, and had connected with every one of them. She then took a step back from her opponent.


    Shangguan Fei lost focus and stood rooted to the ground, seemingly unable to grasp the reality of the situation at first. He then felt as if he were stepping on red hot coals and leaped up high into the air, waving his limbs about and screaming until he fell heavily to the ground. There he twitched violently, like an earthworm that had just been dug out of its hiding ce in the soil.


    He could feel all sorts of different pain,ing one after the other: He felt as if he was being burned by fire, then frozen, then pierced by needles, as if being tortured. He was acutely aware of each different type of pain, but he could not call out to plead for mercy ¡ª he could not even pass out to escape the pain.


    During this time, the Dragon Army had still not gone south, so Shangguan Fei was practicing in the barracks. His screams were too terrible to bear and would affect the morale of the soldiers, so Maid Lotus¡¯s solution was to gag him before leaving him with these chilling words: ¡°If you can¡¯t even withstand this pain, how do you n to continue practicing the divine kung fu in the future?¡±


    Shangguan Fei wanted to tell her that he had no intention of continuing to learn the techniques and he did not care if she removed all his kung fu from him, as long as he no longer had to suffer like this. All of his energy was spent on trying to wriggle free, however, and he could not remove the gag fom his mouth to tell her.


    After exactly six hours, Shangguan Fei¡¯s pain started to diminish to a level which he could bear. He ripped the rag from his mouth and breathed heavily. From then onward, he treated Maid Lotus as a demoness and would not dare to reject her orders.


    What made him most afraid was not her ruthlessness, but her indifference. For an entire six hours, she just stood there and showed no emotion, as if the thing wriggling on the ground was not even human.


    For the first time, Shangguan Fei seriously considered fleeing back to the Stone Castle and pleading for the the forgiveness of his father, but he abandoned the idea the very moment the Lord¡¯s cold, harsh face appeared in his memory.


    And so Maid Lotus began experimenting with the second training method and let Shangguan Fei practice the divine Sumeru Mustard kung fu ording to the methods of the Yin and Yang Strength technique.


    Shangguan Fei was terrified as he practiced ordingly, but it ended without any results; wayless Qigong seemed to be ipatible with the method of using a Yin force to create a Yang force.


    Shangguan Fei breathed a sigh of relief to himself. He secretly hoped that Maid Lotus would back off and give up.


    He was wrong. She had a third training method.


    From the very beginning, Gu Shenwei had brought up the fact that it would be easier to master the Yin and Yang Strength method with the help of an outsider, but Maid Lotus wanted to be sure that the first two methods truly did not work . After all, Chu Nanping had learned Wayless Qigong before, but could also practice the Sumeru Mustard technique at the same time.


    The exception proved to be Chu Nanping, not the Dragon King or Maid Lotus.


    The third method was a little moreplicated. Firstly, Shangguan Fei had to control the Wayless Qigong within him and concentrate on practicing the divine Sumeru Mustard kung fu. It was quite simr to the first method, except for the fact that Maid Lotus was assisting him.


    Maid Lotus channeled her own Wayless Qigong, used it as a Yin force (as per the method of the Yin and Yang Strength technique) to control the internal breath of the Sumeru Mustard and began to continuously hit Shangguan Fei.


    On the surface, it looked as if Maid Lotus was obstructing Shangguan Fei from practicing, but this was the essence of the Yin and Yang Strength technique. It helped the practitioner develop a solid foundation, and although the speed of technique mastery was greatly decreased, it was extremely safe.


    It was also the hardest part of learning the Yin and Yang Strength technique. ve Yao had actually died from progressing too quickly while practicing Qigong Deviation.


    Shangguan Fei was suffering again and the piercing chill had be something normal to him. He did not know whether or not he had gotten used to it or if the pain he had felt before was just a benchmark, but he began to be able to bear it, surprisingly. Even so, there was no substantial progress ¡ª the Sumeru Mustard Qi in his body remained only vaguely discernible.


    Maid Lotus was extremely patient. As long as there was no conflict between them, the Dragon King¡¯s idea of merging all three energies into one was still possible.


    That was the backstory when she answered the summons of the Dragon King more than 20 dayster to exin Shangguan Fei¡¯s progress to him.


    Gu Shenwei could not afford to take lightly the hidden danger of his Qigong Deviation. As such, he made sure to set aside time to check the results of Shangguan Fei¡¯s training.


    As the Right General had still not set sail, his guard, Chu Nanping, was called over.


    Shangguan Fei had lost some weight. He was normally quite good at hiding his true emotions, but when he saw Maid Lotus, the fear and hatred in his eyes grew strong.


    Shangguan Fei was a Young Master of the Golden Roc Castle, but he had just begun to enter the initial phase of a killer¡¯s apprenticeship: to use hatred to sustain himself.


    Like Maid Lotus, Gu Shenwei was indifferent about Shangguan Fei¡¯s feelings.


    ¡°Does your Tianchi acupoint have any sensation, as if it¡¯s beating?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    Gu Shenwei asked a few more questions, which Shangguan Fei answered truthfully before requesting something he had been thinking about for a long time: ¡°Dragon King, war has begun. Let me go to assassinate Shangguan Jianyi. Without their Commander, there will definitely be chaos in the Golden Roc Army.¡±


    ¡°Can you kill him?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Hehe, it¡¯ll be a little harder if I went alone, but there are plenty of people from the Stone Castle in the Golden Roc Army that used to be the loyal subjects of my mother. With their help¡­¡± Shangguan Fei began.


    Gu Shenwei was not interested in the ¡°former loyal subjects¡± and shook his head repeatedly, replying, ¡°No need for that. It¡¯s too dangerous. You¡¯ll be safer staying here.¡±


    ¡°Then let me be your advisor, Dragon King. I have plenty of ideas, really. I could tell you a few right now. You¡¯ll definitely¡­¡± Shangguan Fei started to say.


    The Dragon King continued shaking his head.


    Shangguan Fei was close to tears. To him, wherever Maid Lotus happened to be was the least safe ce in the entire world.


    ¡°To be honest, Dragon King, the kung fu you want me to master is too torturous. I would rather die than continue practicing it. When will it ever end?¡± he said, pitifully.


    Shangguan Fei needed a goal to work towards, and Gu Shenwei gave him one: ¡°You can stop learning whenever you¡¯re able to defeat Chu Nanping.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s eyes brightened upon hearing this. Chu Nanping was about three years younger than him and looked frail and friendly. The only thing scary about him was his longsword. ¡°Will wepete with weapons or just our bare hands?¡± asked Shangguan Fei, hopefully.


    ¡°With only fists,¡± answered Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Then what are we waiting for? Let¡¯spete now. I¡¯m in a hurry to serve as an advisor to you and give you my ideas,¡± said Shangguan Fei, enthusiastically.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus cleared a space for the two contestants but it was over before it even began.


    Shangguan Fei had learned about three more chapters of Wayless Qigong as opposed to Chu Nanping, but he had never put in the effort to practice it. To make matters worse, with his impatience to get the fight over with, there were obvious ws in his moves as soon as he struck.


    Even though Chu Nanping focused all his attention on mastering Emotionless Swordsmanship, he had learned plenty of fist and palm techniques before learning swordy. He had also gone through countless life and death situations, which prepared him to be able to react swiftly to his opponent¡¯s moves.


    Chu Nanping did not know the ult sciences that Maid Lotus knew, so only smacked Shangguan Fei down with one palm.


    Shangguan Feiid on the ground for awhile before regaining hisposure and replying, ¡°I¡¯m fine. Let¡¯spete again.¡±


    There was no need to continue. The Dragon King and Chu Nanping left, leaving Shangguan Fei living in hell.


    Shangguan Fei smiled happily as he raised his head to look at the demoness, keeping his hatred in check. ¡°Maid Lotus, I have an idea,¡± he said.


    ¡°Oh?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you return to the Stone Caste with me,¡± he replied.

 Chapter 479 - A Way Out

    Chapter 479: A Way Out


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Fei decided to stake everything on his hunch.


    If he could withstand this torment, he would not trail behind his sister in regards to kung fu and be the weakest of the twins.


    ¡°I¡¯m joking with you. Hehe, the moment I step out of the Dragon King¡¯s military camp, groups of killers wille looking for me. How would I dare return to the Stone Castle?¡± he said to Maid Lotus.


    Maid Lotus¡¯s indifferent attitude made Shangguan Fei panic, so he decided to try outwitting her instead.


    ¡°Everyone says that both the Dragon King and you betrayed the Golden Roc Fort, but I don¡¯t see it that way. The Dragon King and the Stone Castle killed the King. But how are you a traitor? You¡¯re obviously the most loyal killer in the world. In the Stone Castle, both of you were working together, and weren¡¯t you the one who set up the Tattooed Arm Gang? No matter where he went, you followed without question, even if the road ahead was full of danger. That¡¯s loyalty. There¡¯s nock of obedient ves in the Stone Castle, but people like you¡­ tsk, tsk, they don¡¯t exist there.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was trying hard toud Maid Lotus¡¯s aplishments, but he knew nothing about theplicated rtionship between her and the Dragon King. ¡°Loyalty¡± sounded extremely degrading to her.


    ¡°You have it all wrong. I serve the New Moon Hall, and I¡¯m merely cooperating with the Dragon King,¡± she corrected.


    ¡°Eh? This¡­ the subject is different, but it¡¯s still the same loyalty. I bet you were undertaking a huge task for your Hall and sneaked into the Stone Castle just like the Dragon King ¡ª always having its best interest at heart,¡± he said.


    ¡°No. I was sold as a ve to the Golden Roc Fort. Before that, I had never even heard of the New Moon Hall,¡± she replied, emotionlessly.


    Beads of cold sweat started to form on Shangguan Fei¡¯s forehead as he tried his best to recall every tiny detail he knew about Maid Lotus. He could vaguely recall that she had always been easy to deal with. ¡°Forced loyalty cannot be considered; the Stone Castle is full of people like that. Most of them will never have something that they are truly loyal for their entire lives, and they will switch allegiances very easily. You¡¯re different. You possess a rare and unique quality¡­¡± heplimented.


    ¡°Are you saying that I can only be somebody¡¯s follower my entire life?¡± she asked, harshly.


    Shangguan Fei was forced into a dead end. He had originally wanted to please Maid Lotus, but he did not expect the woman to be as unemotional as a rock. ¡°You¡¯re mistaken, you¡¯re mistaken! How could I harbor such a thought? Your kung fu is already on par with the Dragon King, and you have a group of loyal disciples. Who could have the right to be your master now? Even I wish to be your follower. It¡¯s a pity that the New Moon Hall doesn¡¯t ept male disciples,¡± Shangguan Fei said, in desperation.


    ¡°Let¡¯s begin,¡± she replied.


    ¡°Ah?¡± said Shangguan Fei in surprise.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t practiced the manual today,¡± Maid Lotus reminded him.


    All of Shangguan Fei¡¯s ttery was wasted, but he was more determined to bend Maid Lotus with words over focusing on learning kung fu. He did not give up immediately and continued, ¡°Maid Lotus, we know each other well. Before beginning practice, there¡¯s something I¡¯d like to ask you: What are the chances, do you think, that the Dragon King will win this war?¡±


    Maid Lotus remained silent, but she did not force Shangguan Fei to begin practicing just yet. This encouraged him, and so he continued, ¡°To be honest, I really hope that the Dragon King is victorious. He¡¯s my protector, and even though he may exhibit some sadistic tendencies, at least he didn¡¯t kill me. But we can¡¯t afford to overlook the cold, hard facts. If we were fighting on the north coast of the Xiaoyao Lake, I reckon that the Dragon Army would have already beenpletely defeated by now. Going south was definitely a good move, but it will only dy the inevitable, terrible defeat. We keep saying that cavalry are not suited to be unleashed in narrow areas, but there are only a little more than 20,000 mounted troops in the Golden Roc Army. The remaining 60,000 are all infantry.¡±


    Shangguan Fei paused temporarily to observe Maid Lotus¡¯s reaction. He was secretly delighted upon seeing that she was considering his statement. ¡± <em>When dealing with women like Maid Lotus, it¡¯s better to speak truthfully. Right, I should keep talking about the truth as much as possible </em>,¡± he thought.


    ¡°Now, the 30,000 strong Dragon Army is confined in the tiny An Kingdom and cannot escape. Our only form of protection is the Xiaoyao Lake, and once the Golden Roc Army manages to gather enough boats or construct bridges, we¡¯ll be likembs at the ughter. None of us will be able to escape¡­ no, some of us will, but very few,¡± he continued.


    ¡°The Dragon King will never flee,¡± replied Maid Lotus. Even though her tone was calm, she sounded extremely certain of this.


    ¡°Hehe, that¡¯s right. Everyone thinks so. Besides, if they started to doubt the Dragon King, who would be willing to fight for him? Even so, there¡¯s no harm in guessing, right?¡± Shangguan Fei said.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to guess about,¡± Maid Lotus answered.


    ¡°Really? This battle will affect our lives. The difference between the two sides is not negligible. The Dragon King should be directing all of his resources into the fight, but instead, he sent a force of few thousand men into Wushan, and they still have yet to return after all this time. It¡¯s been said that they were sent to protect the passage into the Land of Fragrance, but if there¡¯s no intention to use it, what¡¯s the point of wasting troops to guard it?¡± he queried.


    Maid Lotus lowered her head, seemingly thinking about Shangguan Fei¡¯s question before immediately raising her head back up and replying, ¡°The Dragon King has his ns. Even if he wants to retreat, he¡¯ll bring everyone along with him.¡±


    ¡°I have absolutely zero intention of being disrespectful, but Maid Lotus, your way of thinking is too naive. It¡¯s not that the Dragon King doesn¡¯t wish to bring everyone along with him, but he can¡¯t. Think about it. He left the Land of Fragrance to my sister, one of the people he trusts the most, and he¡¯s relying on the fact that she has no ambition and will return the reins of the country back to him at anytime. I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s some connection between Third Brother personally making a trip to the Land of Fragrance and the Dragon King¡¯s decision to travel south across the Xiaoyao Lake,¡± Shangguan Fei responded.


    Shangguan Fei hoped that Maid Lotus would continue the conversation, but upon seeing that she remained silent, he had no choice but to conclude his own theory. ¡°The Dragon King is worried and therefore wants to get closer to Wushan, so that he can flee at anytime. The Land of Fragrance is a great ce. It¡¯s far from the Western Region and easily defendable¡­¡± he finished.


    Suddenly, Maid Lotus snapped, ¡°Shut up.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was shocked at first but then started to be pleased with himself ¡ª Maid Lotus¡¯s reaction proved that she had been affected by his theory. He decided that not only would he continue talking, he would take the opportunity to convince her further. ¡°The Dragon King married the Princess of the Stone Kingdom, but it¡¯s obvious that he never cared about her. There¡¯s a good chance that he won¡¯t be bringing her along when he flees to the Land of Fragrance. Honestly, I predict that he won¡¯t bring any woman along, just to please my sister. From a young age, he knew how to please¡­¡± he continued.


    In an instant, the sharp tip of a swoard was pointed at Shangguan Fei¡¯s throat. He opened his mouth and dared not move any other part of his body except for his eyes.


    Even though he did not understand theplexity of the rtionship between Maid Lotus and the Dragon King, he could very clearly see there was something going on between them.


    ¡°I dare you to speak another word,¡± she threatened.


    Maid Lotus did not seem to be the type of person that gave empty threats, and Shangguan Fei could feel the intent to killing from her. So, he kept his mouth shut and did not say another word.


    He knew that she would let him speak againter.


    Maid Lotus sheathed her sword, feeling dejected at her own impulsiveness. ¡°Begin practicing. If you cannot generate any Sumeru Mustard Qi, I¡¯ll still kill you, anyway.¡±


    Shangguan Fei blinked his eyes and remained still.


    ¡°Cut it out. You can move now,¡± she said, sharply.


    ¡°I can?¡± he asked.


    Maid Lotus¡¯s silence emboldened Shangguan Fei even more. ¡°Then l shall ask you another question. Between men and power, which would you choose?¡± he asked.


    Maid Lotus¡¯s palm came flying toward him. It was not too quick, but Shangguan Fei still could not evade it, even after trying to dodge it about five times. It struck him on the chest, and he flew backward with a cry before falling heavily to the ground. There was a sharp pain at the front of his chest, and he seemed to have broken a few ribs. He could feel fresh blood seeping out from his lips as he wiped the corner of his mouth.


    That said, he felt no pain and realized that he could withstand the blow. He then forced himself to grin and said, ¡°I was trying to take care of your interests, but you tried to kill me, anyway.¡±


    ¡°Take care of my interests?¡± asked Maid Lotus, her intent to kill undiminished.


    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s for my own sake. I don¡¯t want to continue learning this technique. I think you know that, just as you know that all of my words are true. You can kill me with one blow of your sword and serve the Dragon King loyally, or you can learn from him and have a few escape ns of your own. Since you entered the New Moon Hallter in life, why do you care about its hatred toward the Golden Roc Fort? Isn¡¯t it better to have your own power?¡± he asked.


    ¡°You can¡¯t even protect yourself, but wish to think of an escape n for me?¡± she said.


    Shangguan Fei was afraid of being attacked by Maid Lotus again, so decided that he might as well lie down on the ground. He reclined on his left elbow and felt around the front of his chest with his right hand, secretly relieved upon finding that none of his ribs were broken.


    Due to his persistence, Maid Lotus was beginning to waver. Shangguan Fei decided to take the risk ¡ª as long as he could stop practicing this torturous ¡°three-in-one qigong¡±, he was willing to do anything. ¡°In fact, I already have an escape n,¡± he ventured to say.


    Maid Lotus grunted, obviously unconvinced. If Shangguan Fei really did have an escape n, he would have fled long ago, and would not have stayed behind in the Dragon King¡¯s Army to be tortured.


    He let out a long sigh, relieving the pain in his body, and began to reminisce, ¡°It was slightly more than a year ago when I left the Stone Castle toe to the Xiaoyao Lake, hoping for the Princess¡¯s hand in marriage. Mother had predicted that the Lord might n to kill me, and so we both came up with a contingency n, just in case. In the end, most of it didn¡¯t work, but Mother told me- ¡±


    Shangguan Fei suddenly stopped talking as he sized up Maid Lotus. Then he began again, ¡°This is my secret. You won¡¯t tell the Dragon King about it, will you?¡±


    ¡°That will depend on whether you can convince me,¡± she replied.


    That was enough in Shangguan Fei¡¯s mind to continue. As long as there was a little hole in the rtionship between Maid Lotus and the Dragon King, he was confident of prying them apart. ¡°Mother said that all rtionships are built on self-interest, even those of married couples and mother and son. She has a way to regain the trust of the Lord, but first I have to aplish a unique feat before I can return to the Stone Castle safely. She needs the help of her son ¨C me, that is ¨C and will arrange everything for me,¡± he went on.


    ¡°So you faked your surrender to the Dragon King and are nning to aplish your feat?¡± Maid Lotus asked.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t put it that way. It won¡¯t be easy to aplish my task. I have to y it by ear. If the Dragon King had not been so ambitious and had remained behind in the Land of Fragrance, thereby isting himself from the Western Region, I wouldn¡¯t have remembered this matter about the Stone Castle. But, he insists on fighting to the death with the Lord and I don¡¯t wish to apany him in death,¡± Shangguan Fei continued.


    ¡°You really trust your mother that much?¡± asked Maid Lotus, incredulously.


    ¡°You¡¯ve seen her yourself. What do you think about her?¡± said Shangguan Fei, boldly.


    Maid Lotus remained silent. Lady Meng was one of the most scheming people she had ever met, and it was not entirely impossible for her to regain her old glory. That said, she made the grave error of having an affair with one of the Supreme King¡¯s sons, and it was something that could not be easily erased with a few words.


    ¡°I believe her,¡± Shangguan Fei answered his own question, ¡°And I have proof that she seeded.¡±


    Shangguan Fei stood up carefully and dusted the dirt off his clothes. He only continued speaking after feeling that he had aroused Maid Lotus¡¯s curiosity sufficiently. ¡°You can find out for yourself if there¡¯s a Meng Mingshu in the Golden Roc Army. He¡¯s the Second Young Master of the Meng family in North City, and he was always helping my mother. The Lord knew this as well, and I believe it was because of my mother that Meng Mingshu managed to regain the favor of the Lord,¡± he said, casually.


    ¡°There¡¯s also a possibility that he regained the Lord¡¯s favor by betraying your mother,¡± Maid Lotus replied. There was no need for her to check out Shangguan Fei¡¯s information ¡ª she had long known about the Second Young Master Meng joining the Golden Roc Army.


    ¡°Hehe, if my mother was out of favor all this time, what credit could he have gotten for betraying her?¡±ughed Shangguan Fei.


    Maid Lotus lowered her head again to consider his statement. This time, she took a very long time to think and Shangguan Fei tactfully remained silent. He had already said what needed to be said.


    ¡°What feat do you n to aplish? What does it have to do with me?¡± she finally asked. Her intent to kill had diminished substantially and was close to non-existent now.


    ¡°Securing your safe return to the Stone Castle is already a feat in itself. There¡¯s also a task that only you can do,¡± replied Shangguan Fei, mysteriously.


    ¡°I won¡¯t harm the Dragon King. I¡¯m not capable of it, anyway,¡± she replied.


    ¡°I know. He¡¯s surrounded by guards, and, besides, there¡¯s no need to take that risk,¡± Shangguan Fei replied. He hesitated for a moment, knowing that victory was at hand, but he still did not know if he could trust Maid Lotus. That said, once he thought about the pains of learning kung fu, he decided that no matter what, he had to take the risk. ¡°The Dragon King has a copy of a few iplete chapters of the Wayless Book that has been partially falsified. Third Brother also has a copy that also has probably been partially falsified. I know where the real copy is, if you can get it¡­¡± he began.


    This was the real feat he had to aplish.

 Chapter 480 - Fierce Bomb

    Chapter 480: Fierce Bomb


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shang Liao,the new Right General, had promised Dragon King that he would repel the enemy from Xiaoyao Lake within half a month. However, he did not seem anxious. In the first few days after he was appointed as Right General, he did not evene to check on his naval forces. Instead, he selected a batch of craftsmen andmanded these craftsmen to forge weapons in secret.


    This was one way to put it; another way was that he set up a shrine secretly, intending to invite the immortals toe down to earth to help him. What is more, a malicious spection would be that the Right General was wasting half a month of the Dragon Army¡¯s time so that the Golden Rock Army could build a bridge calmly.


    Gu Shenwei could not ignore these rumors. He pretended to trust the King of the Kang nation Shang Liao on the surface, but in private he had kept a close eye on him.


    The rumors were exaggerated. Although Shang Liao had not been to check his naval forces, he had summoned high-ranking military officers daily to inquire about their situation and give detailed orders.


    Shang Liao had destroyed more than half of the old and unqualified ships, and only about fifty ships were retained. Each ship had thirty to fifty oarsmen and the same number of soldiers. Under hismand, workers were working overtime to transform the ships.


    The bows were covered with iron to help with collisions, which meant that Shangliao did know a little about naval warfare, but his following measures confused many of his subordinates.


    He had selected ten best ships among the naval forces and equipped each with a new set of weapons, one being a catapult used for the siege, but on a much smaller scale. It took workers great time to fix them on the hull of the ships.


    Once facing the Dragon King, several high-ranking military officers of the Navy held the same opinion: The chances for a rock from the catapult striking an enemy ship was about the same as hitting a mosquito with a crossbow from one hundred paces away.


    If that was what Right General had prepared to defeat the enemy, there was not much confidence. An impulsive general told Dragon King, ¡°We don¡¯t need these tricks. Our ships outnumber the enemy¡¯sships. It would be more effective to rush over and have our soldiers solve this battle with their swords.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was losing confidence in Shang Liao, but he did not show it in public.


    <em>¡°Why did I put him in such an important post? Because the Prince of the Kang Kingdom rmended him. Shang Liao should be an intelligent figure if the Prince still believed that he could change their kingdom¡¯s current situation before his death.¡± </em>Gu Shenwei mused.


    Besides, Dragon King appreciated the King of the Kang nation-Shang Liao. Every time Dragon King met him, he always showed his superior insight and convincing manner.


    Gu Shenwei hoped that the Prince of the Kang Kingdom had known Shang Liao better than himself.


    On his fifth day in office, Shang Liao sent for the Dragon King. Gu Shenwei epted his invitation immediately, curious to know the Right General¡¯s n.


    The workshop Shang Liao had built was located in a remote location beyond the capital. There were no residents within miles of the workshop.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s escort of hundreds of men surrounded the workshop. After Long Fanyun checked inside, he invited Dragon King to enter.


    Gu Shenwei was unwilling to be followed by many people. But since the war began, Golden Roc killers had frequently shown up to attempt assassinations. To keep assassinations from barracks, sentry posts, disciples of New Moon Hall and killer apprentice spared no efforts to guard and defend against those killers.


    Golden Roc killers were full of tricks. Even though Shang Liao was loyal to Gu Shenwei, he could be manipted.


    Before Dragon King decided to go south, the number of his personal guards increased to over 200. Surrounded by these guards, Gu Shenwei could not sneak out.


    Shang Liao¡¯s main purpose to invite Dragon King there was not to show off his achievement. He said to Dragon King, ¡°I have something very troublesome.¡±


    ¡°Tell me, and I will try to solve it,¡± said Dragon King.


    ¡°The spies reported that more than thirty warships of Golden Roc Army were holed up in the fjord, trying their best to protect the bridge, and it seemed that they would note out to fight.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± In fact, Gu Shenwei was already aware of this.


    ¡°The problem is that the enemy ships are too close to the shore. If our warships rush over, they will be attacked by archers on shore.¡±


    In front of them was a map of Xiaoyao Lake, Gu Shenwei pointed at the westernmost narrowke on the map. He said, ¡°The naval forces¡¯ task is not to destroy the bridge. They need to bypass thiske to attack the Golden Roc Army who is tryingto reach the southern bank. There are only five hundred soldiers.¡±


    As it went west, the Xiaoyao Lake became a big river running into Wushan. Before it formed a river, the north of Xiaoyao Lake was a high mountain which was a natural barrier. But with the assistance from the Hui Kingdom, Dragon King was working on an unprecedented project. They were digging a wide road which led to the bank of theke.


    A t narrow area was in the east of the southern bank where soldiers of the Golden Roc Army who had crossed the sea were guarding. They set up barriers to stop the Dragon army from getting close to their unfinished bridge bynd.


    Dugu Xian had sent troops there to attack guards. But they had failed due to the crowded terrain.


    However, the naval forces could easily attack the nk.


    It was a simple n. But Shang Liao shook his head and said smilingly, ¡°Dragon King is unaware, the warships of the Golden Roc Army and the soldiers in the southern bank have each other¡¯s back. Once one gets attacked, the other will help them out. Although these ships stay in ce, they will fight against our soldiers with all their strength as soon as they notice our troops arending.¡±


    Gu Shenwei understood what Shang Liao meant. The most direct way was to send more warships so they could attack two sides. However, the waters could not hold a hundred ships. Once their ships were trapped there, they could be the target of archers on shore.


    ¡°So you want to lure the enemy ship to fight,¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°It¡¯s not me, but you. I¡¯m only responsible for working out a n to kill enemies.¡±


    Hearing this, Gu Shenwei doubted his choice again. He did not say a word.<em>¡°Ignoring casualties, I can send a great number of ships to upy western Xiaoyao Lake. Once we take the enemy position in the southern bank, we can destroy the bridge and force Golden Roc Army to carry their soldiers in batches.</em>


    <em>In this way, all the sacrifice will not be in vain,¡± </em>he thought.


    Shang Liao had confidence in managing to persuade Dragon King, so he continued, ¡°Dragon King, this way please.¡±


    The Right General was going to reveal his secret weapon. After all, he had convinced the Prince of the Kang Kingdom with it.


    They came to the backyard where all the houses were demolished. Several craftsmen were awaiting there with three round objects. The objects looked like painted animal¡¯s stomachs, full of fluid.


    ¡°With this, we don¡¯t have to sacrifice our soldiers to fight with their weapons.¡±


    Shang Liao nodded and the three craftsmen bowed to the Dragon King first and then carried the round bags to the middle of the yard, dozens of steps away from the onlookers.


    ¡°Are you a good archer,¡± Shang Liao asked Dragon King.


    ¡°Kind of,¡± he answered.


    Another craftsman brought a bow and arrow.


    The bow wasmon, but the arrow was a little different. It came without an arrowhead, but instead, a cotton cloth tip soaked oil.


    This was a fire arrow.


    When Gu Shenwei was ready to shoot, the craftsman held a tinder and lit the arrowhead.


    The target was not far. Gu Shenwei aimed at it and shot.


    ¡°Excellent!¡± Shang Liaoplimented and apuded. He knew when to tter.


    Gu Shenwei had guessed the contents of the sac, but he was still amazed at the result. When the sac was shot, mes towered into the sky. Then, lots of kes fell to the ground, which lit the other two sacs. The strong mes did not extinguish immediately, but instead, covered arge area. Although the onlookers stood far from the sacs, they could still feel the heat.


    ¡°That¡¯s why you asked me for ck kerosene?¡±


    ck kerosene was one of the resources unique to Xiaoyao Lake and could be found in many ces. Gu Shenwei had used it to threaten Shangguan Jianyi and had a full stock of it. In fact, he had nned to use it to handle the enemy¡¯s cavalry, but most of it had been given to Shang Liao.


    ¡°ck kerosene isbustible, but it doesn¡¯t have much power. Therefore, I have added many ingredients to it with the proper amounts. I got this recipe from a foreignnd. Nond and the Central in don¡¯t have it. I named it ¡®Fierce Bomb¡¯,¡± Shang Liao exined with slight excitement. He pointed at the burning fire, and said, ¡°Dragon King, you can imagine the scene with more mes. It has many other functions. Please forgive me that I can¡¯t show all to you.¡±


    The scene did increase Gu Shenwei¡¯s confidence in Shang Liao. He said, ¡°How do you n to throw it at the enemy ships? With a catapult?¡±


    ¡°I have my own way. As for detail, I¡¯ll keep it to myself for now. No one can guarantee that there is no spy from Golden Roc Fort. In a word, if Dragon King can lure the enemy ship out, I promise to kill all of them, no matter how many they are.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pondered for a while then answered, ¡°Wait for my news.¡±


    ¡°I will lead the troops to battle the day after tomorrow. I hope to receive your orders as soon as possible.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    Fierce Bomb was new, so Gu Shenwei decided to think about it carefully. <em>¡°If used incorrectly, it could prove useless,¡± </em>he considered.


    Gu Shenwei left the workshop on horseback. He started to imagine all of the possibilities, but one problem could not be solved. When cavalry led the charge, even excellent archers could only shoo three to four arrows within a certain distance. If they needed to shoot the Fierce Bomb, they probably could only shoot once.


    <em>¡°Shang Liao concealed the Fierce Bomb¡¯s full power. Perhaps the enemy ships in the western bank of Xiaoyao Lake would force him to show its real power. Only actualbat was the most reliable test.</em>


    In this way, we still have to find a way to draw out dozens of the Golden Roc army¡¯s warships.


    <em>¡°It¡¯s time to put Shangguan Fei to use,¡± </em>Gu Shewei thought.


    Although the ¡°three-in-one qigong¡± experiment had not achieved perfect results, Gu Shenwei thought it was enough. As long as the two divine kung fu did not go against each other, they could be integrated. He thought it unnecessary to turn Shangguan Fei into a kung fu master.


    Gu Shenwei did not only keep Shangguan Fei and Shangguan Hong in the Dragon army to embarrass the Supreme King. The reason Gu Shenwei had saved their lives was for them to pay a great price for what they had done. In Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes, it was far from enough.


    Shangguan Fei dwelled in a remote house, and Maid Lotus came to supervise his practice three times a day.


    When Gu Shenwei arrived with guards, Maid Lotus was not there.


    Shangguan Fei was apparently surprised by the Dragon King¡¯s arrival. He disguised it with exaggerated enthusiasm, ¡°It¡¯s a great honor to have the Dragon King here before us. When I got up this morning, I felt that something would happen. Dragon King, I am practicing every day. It was said that strict masters produce excellent disciples. If I don¡¯t be an excellent disciple, I will fail to live up to your expectations.¡±


    Shangguan Fei sessfully hid his surprise, but he betrayed another thing.


    ¡°Did you challenge Chu Nanping to a duel?¡±


    ¡°Unh, not yet. I am in no hurry, because I know I am not his equal. I need more practice¡­¡±


    That was not Shangguan Fei¡¯s character. In Gu Shenwei¡¯s impression, Shangguan Fei could think of several schemes to defeat Chu Nanping overnight. But now he even did not even try, which meant he concealed a more important scheme.


    ¡°How many days have you failed to practice,¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s face suddenly changed.

 Chapter 481 - Leak

    Chapter 481: Leak


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Thinking of his conversation with Maid Lotus several days ago, Shangguan Fei worried that he might get into big trouble. He knew that he could not leak a word of their intercourse to the Dragon King.


    As for women, Shangguan Fei admired but despised them. He admired their good looks and being spoiled by them. But he despised that they were always affected by romantic love. Even an indifferent, cold-hearted killer like Maid Lotus couldn¡¯t escape this fate.


    ¡°The original chapter 8 and 9 of the Wayless Book are still in the princess¡¯ hands, specifically speaking, in her mind. The Dragon King knows, but he asked the princess to keep it a secret.¡± Shangguan Fei had shaken Maid Lotus¡¯ mind with these words.


    Upon hearing these words, Maid Lotus had remained calm as if it were in her expectation. But soon she said in a different tone, ¡°You are lying. The Dragon King would¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei followed immediately, ¡°The Dragon King should have told you about this but he did not. Obviously, he has other concerns. Perhaps he still doubted the Wayless Qigong that the Princess rearranged. Or he thought you had mastered too many secret manuscripts to consume another one¡­¡±


    ¡°Maid Lotus doubted my words before and she tried to get more information from me. But now her shock is real,¡± Shangguan Fei thought. He was good at assessing people¡¯s emotions.


    ¡°So did he get the original chapter 8 and 9?¡±


    ¡°No, not yet. He asked the princess to keep it a secret, but he did not ask her to tell him original chapters. I guess that he doesn¡¯t want to feel guilty when he sees you.¡±


    Shangguan Fei appreciated Maid Lotus for she had never betrayed her real thoughts on her face. <em>¡°If she tried harder and got rid of her love, she could be a person like my mother,¡± </em>he thought to himself. That was Shangguan Fei¡¯s highestpliment for women.


    ¡°But how do you know this?¡±


    ¡°As for this, please allow me to keep it a secret.¡±


    When he saw Maid Lotus show her fingernails, Shangguan Fei continued immediately, ¡°I will not tell you even if you kill me. The real secret manuscript is in the princess¡¯ mind. If you can make her tell you, you can keep it for yourself or give it to the Supreme King. No matter what you choose, it will only do you good.¡±


    Maid Lotus snorted.


    ¡°I have a suggestion. You can keep one copy for yourself, and then give another to the Supreme King. With the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s assistance, you canpletely establish your own career. At that time, the New Moon Hall, the Dragon King or even the Supreme King would not be able tomand you. You do not need to serve anyone but yourself.¡±


    To capture the tiny changes on her face, Shangguan Fei slowed down. ¡°At that time, you will need my assistance. I can introduce you to the Lord and ask my mother to join hands with you. We are¡­ You are women, so you are supposed to help each other.¡±


    ¡°If you know everything, why didn¡¯t you get the information from the princess?¡± Maid Lotus asked doubtfully.


    ¡°I have been looking for a chance. The princess serves the Dragon King, so she will not tell this to me easily. But you have ways to make her talk. Don¡¯t you have ult sciences? You will find a way to make her talk.¡±


    ¡°When did Shangguan Yun tell you this?¡± Maid Lotus asked.


    Unlike Maid Lotus, Shangguan Fei did not excel in hiding emotions. He asked in surprise, ¡°How did you know?¡±


    ¡°Last time Shangguan Yun paid a visit to his sister. So I assume he must have met with you.¡±


    ¡°Well, now I have no secrets. The third Brother is great, and he knows everything. But he did not want to alert the enemy, so he asked me to find an opportunity to redeem what I have done. He told me if I finished this task, he would beg the Lord to keep me alive. With my mother¡¯s help, I could be the Ninth Young Master again.¡±


    When he mentioned his dream, Shangguan Fei became thrilled.


    Maid Lotus was not interested in his matter. She only knew that the Dragon King had hidden something from her. There was no agreement between them, but regarding certain topics, they discussed everything, and the Wayless Book was one of them.


    Gu Shenwei had found all kinds ofme excuses not to keep chapter 8 and 9 of the Wayless Book. But all of a sudden, Maid Lotus had discovered his real reason and she could not ept it.


    Maid Lotus had not pushed him to practice that day, but she left earlier than usual. In the following days, she had gone there on time. But she had just made her appearance and then left without a word. Her expression was still profound andposed.


    Shangguan Fei had spent fivefortable days, putting three-in-one qigong aside. He was waiting patiently for the result of Maid Lotus¡¯ investigation.


    Although Maid Lotus had never agreed to cooperate with him, Shangguan Fei did not feel anxious. He knew the Dragon King and Maid Lotus would not kill him for he was useful to them. <em>¡°Once I can do something for Stone Castle, I will be really safe,¡± </em>he mused.


    He was not expecting the Dragon King¡¯s uninvited arrival. Moreover, he had not thought that the Dragon King would notice that he had stopped practicing.


    ¡°Well, Maid Lotus said¡­ that I haven¡¯t been performing welltely and she was afraid that excessive practice would have side effects. So she asked me to take a break for a few days.¡±


    The Dragon King doubted this, but he did not pursue it further. He said, ¡°I need you to do something for me.¡±


    In the past, he would have been rejoiced to hear these words because he could escape from the torture that practice brought him. But now things had changed. He still pretended to be d and said, ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for this day. Please give me yourmand. What do you want me to do for you? As for how to defeat the Golden Roc Army, I¡¯vee up with several ideas.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was interested in his ideas, so before telling him his task he asked, ¡°Oh? What are your ideas?¡±


    Shangguan Fei replied excitedly, ¡°Do you have much inmmable ck oil in stock? I think we can make the Golden Roc Army cross Xiaoyao Lake to fight with them on thend. Before theye, we bury the ck oil in the soil. When they run towards us, they will catch on fire. Then we can easily kill all of them.¡±


    <em>¡°This n is not only simple but naive. The Golden Roc Fort has countless spies. It¡¯s impossible to bury ck oil in arge area without being noticed. Besides, generals are not foolish enough to send all of their troops to join the vanguard. Even if we managed to bury the ck oil without being noticed, it could at most kill a small number of cavalry,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought in disdain.


    ¡°Your idea¡ª ¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it great?¡± Shangguan Fei asked with a smirk.


    ¡°You want me to make way for the Golden Roc Army, don¡¯t you?¡±


    Shangguan Fei shook his hands and exined, ¡°No, absolutely not. You misunderstood me. It is just my suggestion, but it¡¯s your call to ept it or not.¡±


    ¡°Well, go on. What else did you think of?¡±


    Shangguan Fei swallowed and replied, ¡°Even if we don¡¯t let them cross theke, they wille sooner orter. A fight with them cannot be avoided.¡±


    ¡°Go on.¡±


    ¡°I think¡­ I suggest we send an elite army to bypass and hide in the mountains. When the battle starts, they attack from the nk and force the Golden Roc Army into Xiaoyao Lake.¡±


    Gu Shenwei frowned, ¡°You have been to Wushan. Do you think your suggestion is feasible?¡±


    Shangguan Fei thought,ughing, <em>¡°Wushan has an exceedingly tough terrain. Most of the paths are sinuous and narrow. There is only a barely feasible road. If you want to enter Wushan, you have to go through Gulping Wind Gorge. It is difficult to find another way.¡±</em>


    ¡°So, what about¡­?¡±


    Shangguan Fei wanted to provide more ideas, but Gu Shenwei was impatient to hear more. He interrupted Shangguan Fei, ¡°Mine is better.¡±


    ¡°You have a good idea? That¡¯s better. Compared with mine, yours must¡­¡± Shangguan Fei shut his mouth instantly for he knew that he must be a part of the Dragon King¡¯s n.


    ¡°You will meet with Shangguan Yun and try to make him send warships out of the gulf to fight with our naval forces.¡±


    Dragon King said it in a casual as if this task was simple and Shangguan Fei couldplete it with ease.


    ¡°What!?¡± Shangguan Fei asked. He tried to hide his shock and fear. <em>¡°Did Maid Lotus lie to me and tell the Dragon King everything? Otherwise, why would the Dragon King mention the Third Brother?¡±</em>


    At this moment, Maid Lotus appeared, interrupting their conversation.


    ¡°Hello, Maid Lotus,¡± Shangguan Fei greeted her, ¡°The Dragon King came here to check my practice, and I told¡­¡±


    ¡°He showed a sign of being attacked by Qigong Deviation, so I allowed him to take a break for two days,¡± Maid Lotus said calmly.


    Shangguan Fei admired Maid Lotus more and more. <em>¡°Without even discussing it in advance, her answer matched what I said. Besides, she said it with so muchposure that even the most paranoid person would believe her,¡± he mused.</em>


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s doubtpletely disappeared. He said, ¡°Then he doesn¡¯t need to practice. I want him to meet with Shangguan Yun.¡±


    Maid Lotus did her duty as a guard. She never expressed her opinions on the Dragon King¡¯s ns in the presence of others. She nodded slightly and left.


    Shangguan Fei knew how to answer the Dragon King, ¡°Well, it¡¯s easy to meet with the Third Brother for he still regards me as his brother. But how can I persuade him to send warships?¡±


    The Dragon King had cold stern eyes at that moment. Shangguan Fei found that the Dragon King and Maid Lotus were very much alike in some respects. Thinking of this, he felt more uneasy. He had had enough confidence to convince Maid Lotus to join hands with the Golden Roc Fort, but now he was less sure about it.


    ¡°It¡¯s simple. Just tell him the truth. Tell him that the Dragon army has a new weapon and they will want to see its power. As the Commander of the Golden Roc Army, he should have a look too.¡±


    ¡°Actually Shangguan Jianyi is the Commander.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Gu Shenwei did not want to argue with him on who the real Commander was.


    ¡°The one thing I fear most is that I will get caught before meeting him. The Dragon King knows that in other people¡¯s eyes I am still the son of the Golden Roc Fort Supreme King who betrayed his father¡­¡±


    ¡°Ask him to meet with you.¡±


    ¡°Well.¡± Shangguan Fei¡¯s uneasiness increased. <em>¡°The Dragon King seems to know many things.¡± </em>He continued, ¡°Third Brother¡­ How will it be possible for Shangguan Yun toe and meet with me?¡±


    ¡°I heard that in recent months a woman who looked like the disciple of New Moon Hall sometimes snuck out of the military camp. I¡¯m guessing that girl was you. Am I right?¡±


    Shangguan Fei did not know if he should be fearful or rx. It was good news that Maid Lotus had not told the Dragon King. But the Dragon King had already known that he¡¯d met with the spy from Stone Castle in the disguise of a woman. He was startled by his silence.


    ¡°The Dragon King has¡­¡± Shangguan Fei had intended to let it go with a smile, but then he realized that it would not work. He kneeled down and said in a trembling voice, ¡°Dragon King, I swear that I met with Shangguan Yun but I did nothing for him¡­ I, I just want to gain his trust and find a chance to distinguish myself in front of you. I should not¡­ should not have concealed it. I want to give you a surprise¡­¡±


    ¡°I believe you.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Shangguan Fei dared not believe the Dragon King.


    ¡°But I do not want your surprise. Now it is your time to distinguish yourself.¡±


    <em>¡°Distinguish myself again?¡± </em>he thought, <em>¡°Being useful is hard.¡±</em>

 Chapter 482 - The Unnecessary

    Chapter 482: The Unnecessary


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    There was a type of person who, when present, was ignored as if he didn¡¯t exist. However, when he was about to leave, he would be used of ruining the vibe. Therefore, he could only awkwardly observe the people he hated in the ring.


    Shangguan Hong was that kind of person.


    He had not only failed the Dragon King, but also received little appreciation from the Golden Roc Fort. When all was said and done, he finally realized that he had been used by the teacher Zhang Ji, the Dragon King, Shangguan Jianyi, Shangguan Yun, and so many others. He was a disposable tool, no one was even grateful for what he had done.


    In his 20s, Shangguan Hong had lost all his ambition. Fighting for something was hard. It seemed that the less he did, the safer he would be.


    Hey in the shabby tent, reminiscing about the mellow wine he used to drink. His tongue was nd, reminding him that he could not even afford a shot of swill now. Ever sinceing back to the Dragon King after his betrayal, he was no longer wee among the Dragon army. He was treated like a pig, fed only tasteless rations.


    He hated everyone. In a world of lies, why was he the only one who had tried and failed?


    To keep himself from going mad, Shangguan Hong dug deep into his memories, trying to find something delightful to savor. Suddenly, a wind blew away the fog, and Lady Meng appeared in front of all the other women.


    <em>¡°That ruthless woman.¡± </em>Shangguan Hong raised his lips and recalled her in detail both with resentment and passion.


    In his fantasy world, it was different. Though the world was still full of lies, conquest, and betrayal, he was not aplete loser. He had something he could take pride in here: He used to own the proud and powerful woman. That was the only golden time in his life.


    However, thinking more clearly, Shangguan Hong recalled that it hadn¡¯t been much fun. Lady Meng had treated him like a toy. Even in bed, she dominated. He could only ept and try hard to suppress his cravings, lest he provoked her.


    Shangguan Hong did not want this. He was like an obsessed sculptor, putting the final touch on his work, his memory. In that world, he dominated. The proud and beautiful Lady Meng begged and praised him in the humblest way with the most jubnt attitude.


    It was so fake that even he found it too much.


    Just when he was about to revise for the second time, his half-brother lifted the curtain and broke in.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Shangguan Fei froze, looking suspiciously at Shangguan Hong in bed. It was the middle of the day.


    ¡°I¡¯m, I¡¯m not, I was tired¡­ and sleeping.¡± Shangguan Hong stumbled. He was never good at solving a crisis. Right now, he could only fiddle with the quilt. Then, he suddenly realized that this was his ce. ¡°What are you doing here? Why didn¡¯t you knock?¡±


    ¡°Hmph.¡± Shangguan Fei was not a kid. He had led a brief but rakish life in the Jade City. He knew clearly what he had seen. Though he bore a great amount of disdain, he was much calmer. He spoke casually. ¡°The Dragon King wants you to do something with me.¡±


    ¡°Like what?¡± Shangguan Hong got up from the bed. He was fully dressed. It did not seem that he had been sleeping.


    ¡°Juste with me.¡±


    Here came the real world in all its cruelty. Shangguan Hong was resentful. Once upon a time, he and Shangguan Fei had been equal in the Dragon King¡¯s eyes. Now he could only follow Shangguan Fei¡¯s orders obediently.


    Shangguan Fei brought two horses, and they rode into the city. The Dragon King had never set a boundary to stay within. If they had to stay in the camp, it was because they dared not to leave the Dragon King¡¯s protection.


    As they approached the city gate, Shangguan Hong could not help suggesting, ¡°There¡¯re a lot of people in the city. It¡¯s not safe there.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s a good ce to stay safe if we want to benefit the Dragon King?¡±


    Shangguan Hong fell silent. Though most areas in the An Kingdom were protected by the Dragon army, but there were always weak points. Golden Roc killers were good at finding those.


    <em>¡°Shangguan Fei isn¡¯t afraid, I shouldn¡¯t be either.¡± </em>Shangguan Hongforted himself, but soon he remembered that he was not as good as his brother at Kung Fu. He might not be able to run as fast as him if they were in danger.


    In a nervous state of mind, Shangguan Hong stayed closely behind Shangguan Fei.


    The capital of the An Kingdom was a mess.


    Arge number of refugees had settled in and the city was packed with people. The siblings could only get off their horses and walk slowly forward in the crowd.


    Shangguan Fei casually fastened the reins onto a parking stone in front of a house and dove into the crowd.


    Shangguan Hong followed him. He did not want to be left behind. <em>¡°The horses will be stolen in a short while.¡± He was thinking. ¡°Such a shame. We should have traded them for money.¡± </em>Then suddenly, he realized that it wasn¡¯t him, Shangguan Fei was trying to ditch someone else.


    He was growing more and more nervous.


    After five turns and seven blocks, Shangguan Fei slowed down to a normal speed.


    Shangguan Hong was panting, as he finally caught up to his brother. ¡°Have we lost him?¡±


    ¡°Who knows?¡±


    ¡°Where on earth are we going?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re close.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was even colder than usual. Feeling guilty about the daydream involving his mother, Shangguan Hong did not argue.


    After another hour, they had walked deep into the southeast of the capital. It was far away from the docks and refugees, thus less crowded. The small alley they were in was nearly empty.


    Judging from the facades on both sides, residents here were either rich or powerful.


    Shangguan Fei seemed to be familiar with this ce. He suddenly pushed open a side door and walked into the house. There was no one else in the alley.


    It was a garden, but gardeners and guards were nowhere to be seen.


    With Shangguan Fei leading the way, they arrived in front of a room. Again, he pushed the door open as if everything had been arranged.


    There was wine and tters of food on the table. They were still steaming and looked delicious.


    Shangguan Hong began to drool. No great memory was greater than the taste of wine.


    Shangguan Fei seemed to ignore the food and muttered, ¡°What¡¯s holding him up?¡±


    ¡°Who? Let¡¯s eat while we wait.¡±


    Shangguan Hong sat down on his own. Just as he was about to raise his ss, the door opened.


    Few people in the world could stop Shangguan Hong from sipping his wine. However, the very person who could hade in.


    ¡°Third Brother, howe you came on your own?¡± Shangguan Fei was surprised. He usually met with the killers in the Stone Castle. He had only met with Shangguan Yun in the very beginning.


    Shangguan Yun hade in person, deep into the center of the Dragon army territory. Moreover, he was not in disguise. He showed his real face and was not even wearing a cloak.


    Shangguan Hong rose awkwardly, unsure how to greet him.


    In terms of their family line, he was the Third Brother. However, Shangguan Yun did not consider him a brother. The Third Young Master liked to win people over, but had never tried with Shangguan Hong. To send an unimportant message, he had left Shangguan Hong with the Dragon King in the Hui Kingdom.


    Moreover, he feared Shangguan Yun. Most people could only see the charming and amiable side of Shangguan Yun; he felt great cruelty.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have much to do in the camp, so I decided to take a walk.¡± Shangguan Yun smiled affectionately, ignoring Shangguan Hong.


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that I didn¡¯t bring good news.¡± Shangguan Fei looked upset.


    <em>¡°A pair of liars,¡± </em>thought Shangguan Hong resentfully, <em>¡°as if you two were actually good brothers. You wouldn¡¯t hesitate to you turn against each other.¡± </em>But that was just in his mind; he still looked as obedient as a servant. He wondered,<em>¡°What does the Dragon King want Shangguan Fei to do? How will I be helpful in this case?¡±</em>


    ¡°That¡¯s alright; you just make sure he¡¯s alive. He¡¯ll talk when the war is over.¡±


    Shangguan Hong did not know who ¡°he¡± was or why he was important. Once again, he felt the familiar feeling that he was the unnecessary one in the room, but he did not dare to interrupt or move.


    ¡°The Dragon King saw through me and wanted me to send you a message,¡± Shangguan Fei said calmly, without shame for the failed task.


    ¡°Really? He must have been putting up with it, what does he want to tell me?¡± Shangguan Yun seemed more indifferent.


    ¡°He has a new kind of weapon and wants to try it on the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s navy warship. He wants you to send all the warships out of the strait in time for it.¡±


    Shangguan Hong was confused. He failed to see what the plot was.


    ¡°I can try.¡± Unexpectedly, Shangguan Yun agreed. ¡°What kind of new weapon is worth sending you out?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, probably something that uses fire.¡±


    Well, I hope it works out and Shangguan Jianyi can sober up.¡±


    Then, Shangguan Yun left, without touching the wine or food on the table.


    Shangguan Hong felt increasingly surprised. <em>¡°Why is Shangguan Yun agreeing to the Dragon King¡¯s n? How can the Dragon King be sure that he will agree? More importantly, what use am I in this whole thing?¡±</em>


    ¡°Is it over?¡± asked Shangguan Hong. As soon as the Third Young Master left, he felt relieved.


    ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll leave after we eat.¡±


    ¡°Did you invite me just to have a meal?¡±


    ¡°I want you to be my witness. When we return to the barracks, report the entire conversation to the Dragon King.¡±


    <em>¡°That seems typical of the Dragon King.¡± </em>Shangguan Hong felt greatly relieved and tore down a drumstick. He raised his ss and drank it up. ¡°Gee, this is some good wine. My brother, what should I tell the Dragon King? I want to do something for the Stone Castle.¡±


    ¡°The truth. I¡¯m afraid you aren¡¯t capable enough to fool him.¡±


    Shangguan Hong only wanted the wine and food. He ignored the sarcasm and mumbled, mouth full of food. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you eating? You won¡¯t have such dishes in the barracks.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the appetite.¡±


    If he had been smarter, Shangguan Hong would have guessed that there was something wrong with the food. However, he had given up on his life. He thought no one would set eyes on a hopeless man like him.


    In the middle of the meal, he passed out. In the seeming state of being tipsy, he did not worry and kept on eating and drinking in his dream.


    The banquet never seemed to end. His stomach was like a bottomless pit that could never be filled. When he finally woke up, the hunger suddenly went away. Instead, he felt a sharp pain in his loins and there came the muffled voice of Shangguan Fei.


    ¡°Your Majesty, I¡¯ve found a eunuch for you, since the Queen needs servants.¡±

 Chapter 483 - Eunuch

    Chapter 483: Eunuch


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Indeed, Shangguan Fei could be predictable sometimes, when even Gu Shenwei failed to see through him.


    For example, this time, Shangguan Hong was supposed to be a witness. However, when he returned, he had been crippled. The two of them had followed the Dragon King for a long period of time, and Shangguan Fei had chosen to seek his revenge at this point in time.


    Shangguan Fei had his own reasons. Unlike his half-brother, he considered it a good thing that he had been used by others, it meant he was still valuable. Before he ceased to be that way, he would request a few rewards within a reasonable range.


    Crippled Shangguan Hong was one of the rewards.


    Thetter started to realize where the pain wasing from. He bolted upright and screamed in terror and anger.


    Shangguan Fei gentlyid him down. ¡°Stay still, the wound is still fresh. Be careful or you¡¯ll bleed.¡±


    However, Gu Shenwei had to admit it was good timing. He was testing the ¡°three-in-one qigong¡± and acting as a middleman between himself and Shangguan Yun. In that case, Shangguan Hong was of no use to them for the time being.


    ¡°Wh-why?¡± Shangguan Hong was more puzzled than angry.


    ¡°This is for your daydream,¡± Shangguan Fei whispered. His smiling face was more ferocious than that of an angry man. ¡°My machete skills are not so good, but the doctor is professional. You¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    Shangguan Hong was red in the face. Never had he expected to get into such trouble over a daydream. <em>¡°How did he know? He didn¡¯t ask, and I didn¡¯t say anything about it. Well, this is not important. What¡¯s important is my thing is gone. I¡¯ll be more useless than a cripple for the rest of my life.¡±</em>


    The smile on Shangguan Fei¡¯s face was gone; he looked down at the brother who had led to his wretched life in Jianghu. ¡°From now on, you can¡¯t.¡±


    Shangguan Hong felt a rush of blood and nearly passed out.


    Gu Shenwei did not know how to mediate and decided to stand by. ¡°So, you¡¯ve met with someone from the Golden Roc Fort?¡±


    Shangguan Fei turned around respectfully. ¡°Shangguan Yun came by himself; I told him what you wanted. Shangguan Hong will testify it, and I can guarantee that he¡¯ll never cover up for me.¡±


    Something dawned on Shangguan Hong. He could never seek his revenge on Shangguan Fei on his own. He had to rely on someone stronger. ¡°Don¡¯t believe him, Your Majesty. He¡­ Shangguan Yun is plotting, they¡¯re colluding¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei advised without turning his head. ¡°Tell the truth, Shangguan Hong. His Majesty is not someone you can fool. The first thing a eunuch must learn is that you don¡¯t lie to your master.¡±


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s eyes widened. He med himself for this. It had been unexpected, and he had been angry from the very beginning. He did not have the quick wit to make up a feasible scheme. The stories were just floating around him, and he could catch none of them.


    ¡°Shangguan Hong, I need you to tell the truth.¡±


    The Dragon King spoke, without any sympathy. ¡°He wants to use me one more time.¡± Shangguan Hong was ming the Dragon King as well. Thus, he just breathed heavily and decided to keep his mouth shut.


    Shangguan Fei smiled at the Dragon King, to signal that he would handle it. He turned around at the bedside, put Shangguan Hong¡¯s hand in his, and affectionately persuaded his half-brother. ¡°You have to think for yourself. You¡¯re now worse than a beggar. You can hate me, but you must serve His Majesty well, otherwise, how are you supposed to live the rest of your life? Do you want to rot in the gutter, bathed in dirty bugs¡­?¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Shangguan Hong¡¯s voice cracked and he pulled his hands back from Shangguan Fei¡¯s. He was now both afraid and angry. However, deep down in his heart, he knew that his enemy was right.


    ¡°They¡­ they¡­¡± Shangguan Hong repeated their conversation with teeth gritted. The session was short, thus he remembered it clearly.


    Shangguan Fei rose up. ¡°That¡¯s how it went. I hope Your Majesty is satisfied. My brother Shangguan Hong really wants to serve the Dragon King.¡±


    <em>¡°He¡¯ll only be someone, if he uses his wits on important matters.¡± </em>Gu Shenweid nodded. He was ready to leave, to leave the siblings to their game.


    ¡°Your Majesty, can I ask one more question?¡± Shangguan Fei was talkative today. He must have been extremely pleased to have Shangguan Hong crippled. He finally had his revenge.


    ¡°Yes, you can.¡±


    ¡°How did you know¡­ that Shangguan Yun would help?¡± Shangguan Fei considered himself smart, but he failed to understand this, and his Third Brother had not hinted either.


    Gu Shenwei had not nned to tell him, but after a short while, he pointed out the obvious truth. ¡°Shangguan Yun doesn¡¯t want me to lose, especially to Shangguan Jianyi anytime soon.¡±


    Shangguan Fei realized in fact, his Third Brother had hinted at it; he just failed to catch it. He respected the discerning Dragon King more.


    <em>¡°I don¡¯t have much to do in the camp.¡± </em>What Shangguan Yun had said casually was actually himining about Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s power.


    ¡°The Shangguan family is good at turning against each other.¡± Shangguan Fei turned to look at Shangguan Hong in bed. ¡°From now on, I¡¯ll be more convinced that the Dragon King will win the war.¡±


    Shangguan Yun was more than good at turning against his family. After running into him in the Hui Kingdom, Gu Shenwei had seen his biggest enemy in this war. However, until the Golden Roc Army Commander Shangguan Jianyi fell from power, the Dragon King and the Third Young Master still had amon enemy.


    Gu Shenwei was busy. He ignored Shangguan Fei¡¯s ttery and turned to the door.


    Shangguan Fei winked at Shangguan Hong in bed.


    Shangguan Hong failed to read the hints at first and stared back. Then, Shangguan Fei pointed to the Dragon King leaving, and he finally realized. Though still angry, he needed to follow the hints. ¡°Dragon King, could you please hold on, I¡­ I have a request.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stopped but did not reply.


    ¡°Let me serve you in the pce, I¡¯m¡­¡± Although it concerned the rest of his life, he could not continue because of a sudden rush of sadness.


    Gu Shenwei lifted the curtain and left.


    Tears dripped down his face. He clenched his fists and felt a hot burning pain in his heart, even the physical pain seemed less serious now.


    ¡°Well.¡± Shangguan Fei relished the revenge like an alcoholic drunk on wine. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Since the Dragon King didn¡¯t say anything, that means he agreed. It¡¯s good to be a eunuch, you don¡¯t have to fight in a battlefield, or worry about being seduced by women. You just serve your master well and save money, aren¡¯t you always in need of money¡­?¡±


    ¡°I swear, one day I¡¯ll rip you apart, while you¡¯re alive.¡±


    ¡°Haha.¡± Shangguan Fei could not care less about his threats. ¡°Then you have to fight harder. Keep it up, until you¡¯re the most powerful eunuch in the Western Region.¡±


    After he finished ying, he left the tent, took a few turns and came face to face with the captain of the guards, Long Fanyun. ¡°Please report to His Majesty that I want to meet with him.¡±


    ¡°You just met with him.¡± Long Fanyun sounded stiff; he had always thought very little of Shangguan Fei.


    ¡°Let His Majesty decide that, you just have to report.¡± Shangguan Fei made light of it. He was in a good mood. He was usually more patient when dealing with physically strong men like Long Fanyun.


    As expected, the Dragon King agreed to meet with him.


    Shangguan Fei had other things on his mind, things that would have been inconvenient to say out loud in front of Shangguan Hong. ¡°Your Majesty, I think that we¡¯d better let Shangguan Hong serve the Queen.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve had a lot of ideastely.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re all for the Dragon King¡¯s benefit.¡± Shangguan Fei paused a little while and added, ¡°And for my benefit as well.¡±


    ¡°Well, go ahead. What¡¯s your idea this time?¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Yun likes to win people over. We¡¯ll give him a chance. Shangguan Hong is the best candidate.¡±


    Shangguan Fei had deliberately put it simple because the Dragon King was not stupid. What he meant was that if Shangguan Yun wanted to rope in the Stone Kingdom royal family, the Queen would be one of his targets, and Shangguan Hong could be the best messenger.


    At the moment, Shangguan Hong was very easy to buy. As long as he was promised he could seek his revenge, he would take the risk.


    ¡°How about I send more people the next time you meet with Shangguan Yun? It¡¯s easier.¡±


    ¡°That works too, but it would destroy thest bit of trust the Stone Castle has in me. I still want to do great things for the Dragon King in the future.¡±


    ¡°It seems that you really fell apart with the Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d rather not if I didn¡¯t have to. I hope Your Majesty wins this war, and I¡¯ll lead a peaceful life in the Jade City under Your Majesty¡¯s governance.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll consider your suggestion.¡±


    Shangguan Fei bowed to leave, knowing that he had already persuaded the Dragon King.


    A clever rabbit had three burrows, but still thought his burrows were not enough. It was the pain of practicing Kung Fu that prompted him to make up his mind: He had to make himself a warm, cozy, and safe home. As for the Western Region, he could not care less who finally took it.


    No one was reliable, he had to rely on himself.


    Shangguan Fei did not know that this was the motto of every previous Supreme King.


    Gu Shenwei stood inside the tent. He needed to revise his n. Shangguan Fei¡¯s volunteering brought both opportunities and risks.


    As if connected through spiritual wiring, Maid Lotus knew it was time for her to show up. ¡°Who does Shangguan Fei work for?¡±


    ¡°Like most people, he works for himself. He¡¯s waiting for the end winner of the war too.¡±


    ¡°Does Kung Fu still matter when we already have troops?¡±


    ¡°If the Supreme King thinks it matters, we have to as well.¡±


    Maid Lotus was restless. She wanted to rip his heart open and see what he was thinking deep down. ¡°Can we really not practice the eighth and ninth chapter of the Wayless Qigong?¡±


    ¡°No, we can¡¯t,¡± the Dragon King answered simply. After a while, he added, ¡°Until the war is over, and the Princess takes a stand, we¡¯d better not mention this again.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Maid Lotus suppressed her agitation.


    ¡°Get ready. I need you to go to Wushan. The ending of the war likely depends on your visit.¡±


    Maid Lotus epted again.


    Gu Shenwei intended to set up an ambush in Wushan.

 Chapter 484 - Risk

    Chapter 484: Risk


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Fei had once proposed that they should set up an ambush in the mountain and attack the Golden Roc Army on the nk. At the time, though Gu Shenwei had not seemed too enthusiastic, he was actually impressed: This was the very strategy he had conjured up with Dugu Xian.


    Dugu Xian was making every effort to try to win the imminent war because like the Dragon King, they were both traitors of the Golden Roc Fort. He knew very well that the ending of the war would lead to his survival or death.


    In front of the troops, Dugu Xian was a spiritedmander. He inspected them every day, helped them to resolve problems and boosted the morale. Compared to the Dragon King who seldom showed his face, the approachable Left General was bing increasingly popr.


    However, in private, Dugu Xian was not so confident. Alone, with the Dragon King, he told the truth, ¡°In addition to the right timing and ce, what matters most is the soldiers. We have 30,000 Dragon army soldiers versus 80,000 Golden Roc Army soldiers. Even if Xiaoyao Lake was 10 timesrger and the An Kingdom became one man wide, there would still be gaps between us.¡±


    Dugu Xian was not a believer in miracles either. ¡°Indeed, smaller forces have defeatedrger forces in the past. However, that was an exception, based on the enemy¡¯s major mistakes. Otherwise, even the greatest general wouldn¡¯t have been able to defeat an army more than twice the size of his.¡±


    Sometimes the Left General was too pessimistic. Gu Shenwei asked, ¡°So, why did we go south to the An Kingdom? To lose as slowly as possible?¡±


    ¡°We have to do it even though it¡¯s difficult. We are less in numbers, so we have to strive for every advantage we possibly can. Every one of them helps us win. We¡¯ve raised the chances of winning, it¡¯s in progress, but it¡¯s not enough. Unless Shangguan Jianyi makes a major mistake, 30,000 soldiers still can¡¯t beat 80,000 soldiers.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was not waiting for the enemy to make mistakes either. Thus, before heading south, he had been reflecting on the tactics of the final battle.


    nk attacks were normal but very effective tactics. In most cases, a general would take great precautions against raids on his nks, unless there were already natural barriers.


    Wushan was a natural barrier, its steep slope fronted on the An Kingdom. A few dozen kung fu masters could be set up there, but it was impossible for a troop.


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly why it¡¯s called an ambush, attacks from Wushan that surprise them,¡± Gu Shenwei exined to the Left General.


    Dugu Xian thought little of the n. ¡°Well, we can surprise them. But how can we manage to hide 3,000 soldiers in an impossible spot, and go unnoticed at the same time?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had studied several maps, and asked An Kingdom natives and Wushan soldiers about every secret passage and undeveloped track before finally, choosing a ce.


    ¡°Here.¡± Gu Shenwei pointed it out on the map. ¡°This is Gulping Wind Gorge, there¡¯s a gentle slope five kilometers away in the west. The roads are not too rough there; we can set up 3,000 to 5,000 people.¡±


    Dugu Xian thought for a long while and started to question. ¡°First of all, we need to lead the Golden Roc Army here for the final battle.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Did Your Majesty ever consider that, in that case, we¡¯ll give up half of the An Kingdom territory? The Golden Roc Army wille in easily. We¡¯ll be running out of advantages.¡±


    ¡°Since we¡¯re most likely to lose with a regr strategy, we have to take risks.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s quite conspicuous here, I¡¯m afraid he won¡¯t take the bait. Or perhaps he¡¯ll take the top of the hill beforehand, and our people will be stuck behind the hill.¡±


    ¡°You said no matter how well prepared we are, if we want to beat stronger enemies, we have to make them make mistakes. That¡¯s what I¡¯m going to do.¡±


    Dugu Xian was surprised, but slowly gained confidence from the Dragon King¡¯s cold and resolute look. The Dragon King¡¯s scheme might work; all he had to do was hold the enemies in the frontline battlefield.


    However, there was something he needed to make sure of. ¡°Which troop will you send?¡±


    During the establishment of the Dragon army, they had built more than 20 armies of thousands of soldiers. In the expansion, they had built a few more, amounting to 36 troops at present. Some troops fell short of 1000 soldiers, but were still referred to as armies of thousands.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. ¡°Since we want to surprise them, we can¡¯t be conspicuous. There¡¯re spies all over the barracks. We can¡¯t possibly deploy them in secret. Moreover, we¡¯re already less in numbers; I don¡¯t think we should divide our forces.¡±


    Du Guxian agreed and wondered where the troops woulde from.


    Gu Shenwei circled Wushan on the map. ¡°We have a troop here.¡±


    Du Guxian thought about it for a while. ¡°Tuo Nengya?¡±


    Soon after he returned to the Western Region, Gu Shenwei appointed machetemen Tuo Nengya and Ha Chilie of the Wushan tribe to annihte the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s remaining forces in Wushan. The two of them went deep into the mountain and cooperated with other forces to make a safe way toward the Land of Fragrance.


    It was not an easy task. The two of them brought only a few people with them. Over the past few months, they had taken over some of the remaining forces, and annihted others. In the end, they had taken a third of the area. Moreover, they had recruited more soldiers. There were already more than 3,000 people, and the number could be more than 5,000 if they recruited more.


    Gu Shenwei had been in touch with Tuo Nengya through letters. When he first restructured the Dragon army, he immediately appointed Tuo Nengya as themander of thousands, and Ha Chilie the vicemander of thousands, when they were both away from Xiaoyao Lake.


    Gu Shenwei had thought about transferring the troop out of Wushan. However, taking the way to the Land of Fragrance into ount, he did not. Later, when he decided to set up an ambush, Tuo Nengya¡¯s army immediately crossed his mind.


    When Tuo Nengya entered the mountain under the Dragon King¡¯s orders, Dugu Xian had not yet been appointed the Left General. Thus, he was not familiar with the old machetemen. ¡°Wushan tribes and mine thieves, are indeed brave. Several of them, or a dozen of them at most, is strongbat power, but a bunch of them is more of a mob.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had fought with the tribe troops, thus he had more confidence in them than Dugu Xian did. ¡°Tuo Nengya can train them.¡±


    After a long while, Dugu Xian spoke. ¡°To be honest, Your Majesty, these are not tactics I like. There¡¯re too many uncertainties, one wrong step and we¡¯ll lose. Especially if we give up half of the An Kingdom, we may see a great decrease in our morale.¡±


    The conversation took ce before they went south, when the Dragon army¡¯s most reasonable tactics were to take the An Kingdom and attack the Golden Roc Army who had justnded ashore. The Dragon Army should have eliminated the enemy¡¯s main force at the shoreline to pave the way for the final battle.


    However, the Golden Roc Army had developed a passage on the western bank of Xiaoyao Lake. They had built bridges and sent troops to seize part of the southern bank. So far, the Dragon army¡¯s initial n was failing. So, Dugu Xian decided to take a risk by carrying out the Dragon King¡¯s n.


    From east to west, he visited the entire An Kingdom in the name of scouting and setting up checkpoints. During his trip, he took the opportunity to study the ce the Dragon King had chosen.


    ¡°It¡¯s indeed a good ce for a nk attack.¡±


    After going south, the two of them discussed the n further. Dugu Xian had gained more confidence and bore more questions. ¡°Will Shangguan Jianyi notice us? The gentle slope is rather conspicuous. Moreover, I¡¯ve asked about it, the road behind the hill is rough. The An Kingdom tried to develop a track there but failed.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly why tribe soldiers living in Wushan can use their dexterity on the rough road, and Shangguan Jianyi won¡¯t bother to take precautions there.¡±


    Dugu Xian agreed, but then he pointed out the biggest loophole in the n. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, the entire Dragon army will depend on a newly-recruited tribe troop that Your Majesty hasn¡¯t even met.¡±


    Gu Shenwei admitted it was true. This was his biggest concern as well. He trusted Tuo Nengya, and believed in Ha Chilie. However, as for the Wushan tribe, he was not so sure.


    ording to practice, outside the Gulping Wind Gorge and into Wushan, did not belong to the Western Region anymore. Previously, the Wushan tribe had been on its own. They hated mine thieves from the Western Region. It was indeed questionable if Tuo Nengya could turn them into loyal soldiers and have them fight in thend of the Western Region.


    ¡°I should go to Wushan myself.¡± The Wushan Tribe would y an unexpectedly important role in this fight. Gu Shenwei was indeed worried and wanted to make sure they were willing to fight for the Dragon army.


    Dugu Xian immediately opposed. ¡°No, you shouldn¡¯t. If Your Majesty leaves, our 30,000 soldiers will be at a loss. It would do more harm than good.¡±


    To keep it confidential, the ambush was never revealed to a third person. Even Tuo Nengya was not aware of the responsibility he was going to take.


    Thus, Gu Shenwei had the Left General rmend one man to pass the secret order to Tuo Nengya. The man needed to have knowledge of tactics so as to help Tuo Nengya organize the troop.


    ¡°Wu Zongheng.¡± Dugu Xian immediately had a candidate.


    Wu Zongheng had been a guard leader in the An Kingdom. He¡¯d been promoted to vicemander because of his leadership. In the Willow City at the border of the Hui Kingdom, he had resisted the Golden Roc Army, organized an orderly retreat, and gone south. He had lived up to the Dragon King¡¯s expectations.


    Another reason Dugu Xian chose him was that the Dragon King trusted him.


    If not for the Dragon King, the civilian Wu Zongheng could never have achieved what he had done today. Therefore, he was one of the most reliable people in the five countries.


    Indeed, Gu Shenwei believed in Wu Zongheng, but not as much as Dugu Xian imagined. He needed to assign one more person, one who he trusted whole-heartedly.


    Maid Lotus¡¯s task was easy. She protected Wu Zongheng along the way and made sure he was truly trustworthy at critical moments.


    Maid Lotus was brought back to the days when they were killer apprentices in the Stone Castle. At that time, ve Huan and she had suspected each other but had to ally againstmon enemies in the end. They had built the ¡°Tattooed Arm Gang¡± together. She was not only the best partner, but also the most resourceful advisor. She advised on almost every one of Gu Shenwei¡¯s ns and participated in them.


    Now, she was purely a guard.


    The Dragon King discussed different things with different people. Sometimes she could hear them, sometimes not. In the end, she seldom took part in them.


    It was normal for the Dragon King since Maid Lotus was not war savvy. She only missed the old times once in a while.


    ¡°Yes.¡± She epted the task as usual, but Shangguan Fei¡¯s words kept echoing in her mind. She started to wonder if the Dragon King was deliberately sending her away.


    Gu Shenwei was also thinking about Shangguan Fei. He decided to give thetter an unexpectedly important role as well.

 Chapter 485 - On the Same Boat

    Chapter 485: On the Same Boat


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Fei was terrified knowing that he was going to the northern bank of Xiaoyao Lake.


    ¡°Your Majesty, are you seeking revenge for Shangguan Hong? As soon as the Golden Roc Army sees me, they¡¯ll happily kill me and report it to the Supreme King for credit.¡±


    ¡°I believe in you, you won¡¯t be discovered.¡±


    It was good to be recognized, but Shangguan Fei could only force a smile. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m not making excuses, but what kind of mission is this? Do I have to go? I¡¯d actually rather stay with Your Majesty and contribute ideas.¡±


    ¡°Your ideas are indeed great, but you¡¯re the best person for the mission. I can¡¯t trust anyone else.¡±


    ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t know I was that important. Your Majesty, you¡¯re ttering me.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re close to the second master Mingshu of the Meng family in the Jade City, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    Shangguan Fei was so astounded that shock nearly escaped him. A few days prior, in order to convince Maid Lotus of his mother¡¯s returning to power, he had imed that Meng Mingshu was Lady Meng¡¯s confidant. Now the Dragon King was suddenly dropping the name, as if he had eavesdropped on them, or Maid Lotus had confessed everything to him.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not¡­ sort of, I call him uncle. We¡¯ve been in touch, and we¡¯re acquaintances.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough. Meet with him and send my greetings.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ and then?¡±


    ¡°Then youe back.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Shangguan Fei did not expect the mission was to say hi, but he soon realized that he could not make it sound easy. ¡°I mean, go through all the Golden Roc Army¡¯s traps, all the risks, just for a word? It doesn¡¯t necessarily have to be me, does it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s important, I don¡¯t want to borate. If you don¡¯t go, I¡¯ll have to send Shangguan Hong, though I trust you more, to be honest.¡±


    Shangguan Fei cursed the Dragon King in his heart. He had just turned Shangguan Hong into a eunuch, he could not let his enemy have the chance to fight back. He gritted his teeth and put on a solemn face. ¡°Alright, since Your Majesty said it¡¯s important. You can¡¯t trust Shangguan Hong, I¡¯ll do it.¡±


    Thus, Shangguan Fei boarded a small boat and set off overnight. He was filled with doubts about the Dragon King¡¯s true purpose.


    Leading 10 soldiers and five New Moon Hall disciples, Maid Lotus and Wu Zongheng set off on the same night. They had promised that they would take Tuo Nengya¡¯s troops to the destination in 15 to 20 days. Then, Maid Lotus would bring back the news.


    Six hourster, the Right General Shang Liao left the port leading 50 warships. It was dark and not many were on the dock. Few people noticed that the first Dragon army was marching toward the enemy.


    At the same time, the main force of the Dragon¡¯snd army was shifted to the west.


    Gu Shenwei had cast a, but he could only cast in a certain direction. No one knew what he would reap in the end. He might get what he wanted, or something the mission performer had smuggled.


    After daybreak, the Dragon King came to the frontline in person. Prime Minister Zhong Heng stayed in the An Kingdom capital. Since the war was about to begin, he felt the need to advise the Dragon King, ¡°It takes more than one day or one battle to win, I hope Your Majesty is covering all the bases. As long as we have the Land of Fragrance, we can still win in the future.¡±


    Zhong Heng hoped the Dragon King would protect himself, but Gu Shenwei had cut off all means of retreat, at least that¡¯s what he said. ¡°The Land of Fragrance is far from the West Region. For now, while it¡¯s unknown to the world, it can invade Xiaoyao Lake quietly. Once it¡¯s exposed, a sneak attack will be impossible. We¡¯ll do our best this time.¡±


    The Dragon King had not bid farewell to the Queen. They exchanged nces when the ships set off.


    From east to west, they put three batches of 10,000 soldiers each in the An Kingdom; each of them was a half days walk away from others. Thest batch was in the ce Gu Shenwei had chosen. The gentle slope had a name¡ªthe seaside slope. It implied that things could roll from the top of the hill into Xiaoyo Lake.


    The metaphor was often exaggerated; the seaside slope was several kilometers away from the real seaside. The slope was t; nothing could roll into the water.


    The Dragon Army set off with more than 200rge ships. Shang Liao led the best 50 to meet the enemy, and the rest patrolled offshore to protect their right nk with the Dragon army.


    On the fifth day, which was also thest day of the 15 days Shang Liao had promised, the war began.


    In the meantime, Shangguan Fei¡¯s boat hadnded. Maid Lotus and Wu Zongheng went deep into the mountains via Gulping Wind Gorge.


    Although Shangguan Fei reluctantly epted the task, he had refused to take the risks alone. He requested a guard from the Dragon King. ¡°I¡¯m not asking for too much. Yes, I can use Kung Fu, but someone has to protect me in the dark, it¡¯s a must in the Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    He did not choose a New Moon Hall disciple because they bore too much hatred toward the Golden Roc Fort. They would not protest him wholeheartedly. He did not take the young swordsman Chu Nanping or any other apprentice assassins. ¡°Little Chu is conspicuous, others are too young.¡±


    After careful consideration, Shangguan Fei picked the captain of the guards, Long Fanyun.


    Long Fanyun did not look happy when he first received the order, but refrained from showing it in front of the Dragon King. Once the ship had left the port, he coldly negotiated with Shangguan Fei, ¡°Don¡¯t talk to me. I¡¯m only in charge of your safety; I will not meddle in other matters.¡±


    Shangguan Fei looked serious. ¡°We go to the north, everything changes on the way. I just want to do my task to merit His Majesty¡¯s trust. I have no other intentions at all.¡±


    Slightly embarrassed, Long Fanyun nodded. He looked at the dark night outside; two boatmen¡¯s figures were moving regrly, driving the boat forward.


    However, Shangguan Fei did not take the negotiation seriously. After a short while, he spoke. ¡°My Third Brother¡¯s name is Yun, the same as yours.¡±


    Shangguan Fei had been living in the barracks for a long time. The old soldiers all knew his taste, and Long Fanyun especially hated it. He snapped. ¡°I said don¡¯t talk to me if it¡¯s not necessary.¡±


    ¡°It is necessary¡­ ¡± Shangguan Fei was polite; he even sounded a little aggrieved.


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Long Fanyun had to lower his tone.


    ¡°Here¡¯s the thing. We have to stay together for a few days; we have to call on each other, right? Most people in Great Snowmountain are named Long, Brother Long is toomon, and Brother Fan is unpleasant, Brother Yun sounds like my Third Brother. So, what do you want to call me¡­?¡±


    Long Fanyun failed to control himself. He punched the roof of the cabin, causing the boat to swing. Boatmen on the outside were startled. ¡°What a big fish, you two inside be careful.¡±


    ¡°I call you Shangguan Fei and you call me Long Fanyun, that¡¯s it.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was rmed as well, but he managed to hide it. He nodded. ¡°Alright, it¡¯s simple, no mistaking.¡±


    The silencested for an hour. Shangguan Feiy on the bed and seemed to be asleep. Long Fanyun felt relieved, until Shangguan Fei brought up another thing. ¡°What if someone recognizes us, what should we do?¡±


    Long Fanyun sat at the door of the cabin, holding his heavy sword. He did not turn or say a word.


    ¡°I am not a big shot, but I¡¯m still the Supreme King¡¯s son, many people have heard of me. As for you, you are the Great Snowmountain kung fu master, the Canopy Peak chief, and the captain of the guards. The entire Western Region knows your name. If I call out your name in the north, a bunch of assassins are likely to show up. I¡¯m not afraid of death, but the mission¡­ ¡±


    Shangguan Fei was nagging, Long Fanyun ran out of patience again. If he had known it would be like this, he would have refused the trip in the first ce. The boat was slow, they were not too far away from the port, he even thought about swimming back to the southern bank.


    ¡°I have an idea. I¡¯ll call you the elder brother, and you call me the ninth younger brother, what do you think?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Long Fanyun spat the word. He would rather die than call him brother.


    ¡°What about we pretend to be master and servant? Do you want to be master or servant?¡±


    ¡°Master.¡± Long Fanyun wished Shangguan Fei would just shut up as soon as possible.


    ¡°Good.¡± Shangguan Fei answered immediately, but soon he had another question. ¡°When you say master, are you calling me? Or do you want to be the master?¡±


    ¡°The Great Snowmountain doesn¡¯t have servants.¡± Long Fanyun said resentfully, but he soon realized there was a loophole and added, ¡°Unless they were seized by your Golden Roc Fort when they were young.¡±


    ¡°s.¡± Shangguan Fei sighed, as if they were chatting. ¡°It¡¯s not my Golden Roc Fort anymore, how I wish they had seized¡­¡±


    Long Fanyun pulled his heavy 30 centimeter long sword out of its scabbard. Shangguan Fei immediately corrected himself. ¡°Me¡­ I wish the Great Snowmountain had captured me, so I could be one of you.¡±


    Long Fanyun snorted, thinking that Shangguan Fei would notst one winter in the Great Snowmountain. ¡°The Great Snowmountain only kill, they don¡¯t capture.¡±


    ¡°Right, you never know¡­¡±


    Long Fanyun suddenly realized they were talking. He put the sword back into the scabbard heavily. ¡°Sleep, stand guard in two hours. You say one more word; I¡¯ll keep your mouth shut.¡±


    Shangguan Fei immediately fell silent and soon began to snore in his sleep.


    After two hours, Long Fanyun woke him up.


    Shangguan Fei was really asleep. He mumbled. ¡°We¡¯re on a boat in a sea, how can there be any enemy? Brother Fanyun, we don¡¯t keep guard, okay?¡±


    Long Fanyun looked angry. He was not tired at all, but he could not let Shangguan Fei have his way. He pressed the scabbard hard against Shangguan Fei. ¡°Get up and keep guard.¡±


    Shangguan Fei immediately woke up and for a moment thought Maid Lotus was here. He yawned feebly and looked outside the cabin in ce of Long Fanyun.


    Long Fanyun soon regretted it because Shangguan Fei was more annoying when he was awake.


    ¡°Sleep, I¡¯ve warmed the bed.¡±


    Long Fanyuny at the edge of the bed, away from where Shangguan Fei slept. He was not even covered.


    ¡°Speaking of the address, you really look like a master. I¡¯m weak and look weak, do you think people will take me as your¡­¡±


    Long Fanyun rose up, grabbed Shangguan Yun and threw him inside. He sat outside the cabin alone.


    For a few days straight, Long Fanyun kept guard all by himself. Even when he slept, he stayed as far away as possible from Shangguan Fei.


    Five dayster, the boatnded.

 Chapter 486 - Behind

    Chapter 486: Behind


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The skiff reached shore at dusk. The boatman dared not to enter the harbor and stopped at a deserted beach. Shangguan Fei and Long Fanyun had no choice but to get down earlier than nned and wade through thest portion of their journey.


    The boatman hurriedly pointed northward and said, ¡°Continue walking forward and you shall find a town there.¡± After speaking, he immediately started rowing again, embarking on his journey back to whence he came.


    Shangguan Fei kept griping and he spent a lot of time re-arranging the bundle of necessities and clothes that he was carrying after reachingnd. When he was finally ready to move again, it was already dark.


    After bickering over their n for a few days, Shangguan Fei emerged the victor. It was decided that he would pretend to be a young master while Long Fanyun, his bodyguard. Thetter adamantly refused to act as a servant. As he was of big build and his eyes were full of vigor, he did not fit the profile of an ordinary attendant.


    Long Fanyun left his heavy sword on the skiff; the weapon was the trademark of a Great Snowmountain swordsman and too conspicuous. Instead, he carried a scimitar with him, a weapon that wasmonly seen in Western Region.


    Shangguan Fei did not bring any weapon with him. ¡°I¡¯m not very well versed in the use of weapons. From a young age, I had been learning how to use a saber, but I never really got the hang of it. Furthermore, we¡¯re not on an assassination mission; it¡¯s best for everyone if it goes smoothly and we don¡¯t have to use our kung fu. Elder Fan, you¡¯re so skilled in swordcraft, but are you used to a scimitar?¡± he asked.


    ¡®Elder Fan¡¯ was Long Fanyun¡¯s fake name and he had gotten a little used to Shangguan Fei¡¯s nagging and apple-polishing. In fact, the swordsman had even discovered a way to handle him: unless absolutely necessary, he would not reply and usually acted as if he had not heard the younger man.


    Shangguan Fei was even more used to answering his own questions, and it did not reduce his enthusiasm in the least bit. ¡°Of course you¡¯ll be ustomed to using scimitars. I heard that swordcraft from the Great Snowmountain should be called machete techniques instead, as they¡¯re mainly focused on shing and hacking. Besides, you have the patronus¡¯s saber. I heard that the Dragon King gave it to you on the battlefield. Tsk, tsk, even I would feel brave when seeing a person of your caliber fighting with such a great weapon.¡±


    Long Fanyun could feel his temples beating and hoisted his own bundle, walking ahead of the younger man with big strides.


    Shangguan Fei followed closely behind, saying, ¡°Say, Elder Fan, you have to walk slower. My leg is busted and I can¡¯t keep up with you.¡±


    He had no inhibitions when talking about his own busted leg. ¡°It happened many years ago. I was crushed under a huge piece of rock and it destroyed my leg. Come to think of it, it was the Dragon King who saved my life and a legendary physician that treated my wounds. I¡¯ve recovered pretty well, you can¡¯t even notice my injuries normally, right? But I can¡¯t walk too fast. In the past, I usually rode a horse, and if it was really impossible to find one, someone would carry me.¡±


    After walking in the dark for a while, Long Fanyun stopped. It was pitch ck in front of him and he could not see any light; he did not know which direction to proceed in.


    Shangguan Fei caught up and let out a long stream of breath. ¡°Let¡¯s rest, let¡¯s rest for a while. I¡¯m actually a little tired. I don¡¯t know how far my cultivation of Internal Strength had progressed and perhaps I¡¯m a little not used to walking on foot¡­¡±


    ¡°Do you know the way?¡± asked Long Fanyun. It was the first words that he had spoken since reaching shore.


    ¡°My god. I¡¯ve made a mistake,¡± said Shangguan Fei as he pped his hands together. ¡°Both of us are not locals from the Xiaoyao Lake region, and I should have requested for a guide from the Dragon King. What should we do now? Why don¡¯t we set up a tent and rest first.¡±


    Long Fanyun had never thought that he would be capable of such cruelty. He raised his head and looked at the stars in the night sky, striding away once he had roughly determined where north was.


    Shangguan Fei was already limping but could still manage to keep up, albeit barely. ¡°Elder Fan, if we were to meet someone now, who would believe that you¡¯re my bodyguard? I say we needn¡¯t be hasty. All we have to do is to pass on the Dragon King¡¯s message and it¡¯s going to be very simple. Besides, we have three days¡¯ time to do that.¡±


    Long Fanyun, however, was not feeling so carefree. He was in a hurry to return back to the An Kingdom to take part in the impending battle. It would be a disgrace to him if he missed it, and he would not be able to look the people of his own tribe in the eye ever again.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s leg was busted, but his mouth was working pretty well. He spoke about everything: from constetions to the weather and from weapons to famous tailors in Jade City. He did not allow Long Fanyun any peace and finally forced the swordsman to speak for the second time since theynded.


    ¡°Are you really the son of the Supreme King?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Of course. Do I not look like him? Well, I look more like my mother, but if you were to observe closely, you would find features of the Shangguan family in me. Let me tell you, the Supreme King is very particr about such matters¡­¡±


    This was the only topic that he had inhibitions about, and he remained silent for a while.


    Both of them managed to locate the town mentioned by the boatman when it was close to midnight.


    It was not a big town and there were only about a hundred or so families in it. War had left a visible impact on the town and many families had already moved away. Some of them travelled southward to turn to the Dragon King, and a few of them moved to the city to escape from danger. Those that remained behind kept the doors of their houses tightly shut and did not venture out when it was dark.


    Even so, there were quite a number of people in the streets of the town.


    A unit of soldiers from the Golden Roc army had passed by the town and the two taverns at both ends of it became their favorite hangouts. Even though the quality of drinks there was not very different in both watering holes, the soldiers still walked drunkenly from one to another, creatingmotion all along the way.


    ¡°One look at them tells me that they¡¯re machetemen hired from Jade City,¡± observed Shangguan Fei as he took in a deep breath. ¡°It¡¯s starting to smell like South City here.¡±


    Long Fanyun grunted disdainfully. There were so many soldiers drinking uncontrobly when the battle was not over, and even though there were many people in the streets, none of the soldiers were in sentry posts outside of the town; they had just allowed two strangers to walk in during the middle of the night.


    He looked forward even more to hurrying back to take part in the battle.


    Whether they wanted to ask for directions or to purchase a horse, there was only one ce they could go to¡ªeither of the taverns located at the east and west ends of the town respectively.


    The two tavern managers were in an equally foul mood. Their young counterjumpers had been conscripted into the army and they could only hire small, inexperienced children. There were times when the managers themselves had to serve the customers themselves, and it did not help that these foreign soldiers were not an easy bunch to handle. Fights broke out frequently and things kept getting broken. What was most infuriating to them was that there were always some of the soldiers who refused to pay up.


    As both Shangguan Fei and Long Fanyun walked into the tavern located at the east of the town, they managed to catch an argument in progress.


    A soldier who was peach red and wobbly had grabbed onto the cor of the tavern manager, shouting, ¡°I, your father, came from so far away to help you fight the Dragon King, yet you wish to collect payment from me? I will be putting my life on the line in a few days¡¯ time, yet you still want to get money from me? I¡¯ve been drinking eight times a day at your tavern and only been on your tab once. Yet you want me to pay up?¡±


    Most of the onlookers were soldiers and acted as if they had not seen anything. The tavern manager knew that he could not afford to offend them and apologized profusely, managing to soothe things over and get the offended soldier to leave after much effort. He then chastised the newly hired youth softly for having ack of judgement.


    The manager was extremely delighted to see guests who were not soldiers but was a little uneasy and perplexed upon noticing that they were strangers. ¡°Are you two guests here for a drink? Let me pick a spot for the both of you.¡±


    Long Fanyun had originally not wanted to enter the town, but unexpectedly, Shangguan Fei, who was usually timid, grew brave at that moment. ¡°Let¡¯s go in to ask for directions. Furthermore, it¡¯ll be less conspicuous if we were to bump into soldiers of the Golden Roc Army in a tavern than outside of town.¡±


    Once they entered the town, Long Fanyun had no choice but to put in more effort to act like a bodyguard. As such, he followed behind Shangguan Fei and let his ¡®master¡¯ speak.


    ¡°No need for that. We¡¯ll have a couple of drinks standing up,¡± Shangguan Fei replied to the tavern manager. He had actually never been to a small tavern like this. He spent most of his time in Jade City hiding in North City and the Stone Castle, but strangely, he was unafraid in his first trip behind enemy lines. He was extremely calm, and even he himself was perturbed by his own behavior.


    Shangguan Fei immediately gave the tavern manager a good impression by paying up first and looking amicable. It took him just a few words to get the manager to tell him about everything in the town.


    ¡°The Hui Kingdom is not far away in the northwest, and it¡¯ll take only slightly more than half a day¡¯s travelling on horseback to reach there. However, trying to buy a horse will be difficult. They¡¯ve all been expropriated. You could hire two donkeys the next day, though. They¡¯re pretty fast.¡±


    When the manager was talking to Shangguan Fei, a soldier suddenly crashed into the bar counter and reached a finger out, saying, ¡°Give me another jar.¡±


    The manager dared not to say anything and hurriedly ordered a counterjumper to fetch a jar of wine out.


    The soldier turned and cocked his head sideways as he looked at Shangguan Fei. ¡°Why are the two of you not in the army?¡±


    Most men in the Xiaoyao Lake region who were fit and young enough had either joined the Dragon army or been forced into hardbor by the Golden Roc Fort. Those that hid themselves dared not to show themselves in public. As such, Shangguan Fei and Long Fanyun, who were in their youth, were very conspicuous.


    ¡°I¡¯m working for the Meng family,¡± replied Shangguan Fei casually. To the machetemen in Jade City, only the Meng family, aside from the Golden Roc Fort, could act as a deterrent.


    The soldier hugged the jar of wine on the bar counter in one swoop, his gaze still fixed on Shangguan Fei. He asked coldly, ¡°Do I know you?¡±


    ¡°Who knows. If you¡¯re from Jade City, we might¡¯ve met before.¡±


    The soldier felt that it was a reasonable exnation and grunted. He then stared at Long Fanyun and took a good measure of the swordsman before hugging the jar of wine back to his table.


    Long Fanyun did not speak throughout the entire incident, but he no longer considered Shangguan Fei purely as a good-for-nothing anymore.


    The tavern manager was probably enamored of Shangguan Fei or afraid of courting trouble. When the soldiers in the tavern were not looking, he whispered very softly to Shangguan Fei, ¡°That person was pretending to be drunk.¡±


    The manager was the person who best knew who had drank the least wine in his tavern. The soldier had just arrived and was holding his liquor well; he was definitely that drunk to be walking unsteadily.


    Shangguan Fei grinned a little and handed a silver nugget to the tavern manager before drinking up the wine in his cup.


    Without horses, the two men could only continue walking on foot. What gave Long Fanyun constion was that Shangguan Fei was no longerining about aching legs. ¡°That person recognized me. It¡¯s strange. I seldom showed myself in Jade City, so how did he know me? He must¡¯ve heard about me from someone else.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible that he didn¡¯t recognize you. Most probably, he was just suspicious. Even if he did, it¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll hold them off and you just focus on escaping.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± asked Shangguan Fei, moved. ¡°Actually I have one or two moves up my sleeve as well.¡±


    Long Fanyun did not reply; he did not have much faith in those ¡®one or two moves¡¯.


    As the two of them were afraid of losing their bearings, they had to take the risk of using the main roads. However, it was a quiet night, and it seemed that the soldier had believed Shangguan Fei¡¯s exnation and treated them as merchants working for the Meng family.


    It was only until daybreak when Shangguan Fei started to act up again and he began toin about his aching body. Just as he could not walk any further, a group of soldiers caught up with them.


    Shangguan Fei was surprised with his own behavior again. Unexpectedly, he was not really afraid and only took cover behind Long Fanyun subconsciously. As he gazed at the broad shoulders of the swordsman, he felt more assured.


    A total of 20 cavalrymen surrounded them.


    The ¡®drunk¡¯ soldier from the night before was amongst them and he whispered something into the ear of his leader.


    Their leader was dressed differently from the others and did not wear any armor. He was d entirely in ck and the logo of a Golden Roc was embroidered on the shoulders of his shirt, expressing his identity.


    ¡°Long Fanyun,¡± said the man in ck.


    It turned out that the person the soldier had recognized was not Shangguan Fei, but the Dragon King¡¯s captain of the guards.


    ¡°It is I,¡± replied Long Fanyun as he drew his scimitar. He would not lie when faced with an enemy.


    The man in ck¡¯s move fluidly as he dismounted, drew his own saber and attacked; it was as if his feet had not touched the ground.


    Long Fanyun met his attack nearly simultaneously.


    A direct frontal attack was not the style of the Golden Roc Fort, and just as Shangguan Fei was about to remind the swordsman, two other soldiers suddenly leaped up from their saddles. The level of agility and teamwork was not that of ordinary soldiers or machetemen.


    Shangguan Fei suddenly felt a surge of bravery. Since he was standing behind Long Fanyun, he should take up the responsibility of protecting his back. That said, he was not armed and could only face the enemy with his bare fists.

 Chapter 487 - The Price to Pay

    Chapter 487: The Price to Pay


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Jianyi looked into the distance at the aftermath of the naval battle. It was a weird and terrible scene: a fire was zing on the surface of theke and dozens of warships were engulfed by the mes. They looked like sacrificial offerings made of paper when seen from afar. The terrible cries of his soldiers, as they were attacked with fire and water, were frighteningly heart-wrenching.


    ¡°So, this is the Dragon King¡¯s secret weapon?¡± asked Shangguan Jianyi. He was nonchnt about the huge loss suffered by his navy; he had merely lost a few dozen warships, and even the oarsmen and soldiers on those vessels were mostly freshly supplied by the four nations on the north coast of the Xiaoyao Lake.


    The advisor standing next to him was feeling a little uneasy. He was the person who had provided Shangguan Jianyi with the intelligence report that said the Dragon King had gotten hold on a new type of weapon and suggested that they should attack pre-emptively to find out what it was. He had not expected the turn of events. The warships of the Dragon army had a huge advantage and had won the battle even before both sides had barely made contact with each other.


    What was most strange was that the liquid, which looked like ck oil, was mmable on water and in fact the fire grew stronger as the battle went on. As such, the round projectiles containing such liquid hurled from the catapults on the enemy ships could set their targets on fire without requiring much aiming.


    The intelligence report was passed on to the advisor by word of mouth and it would never be possible to trace it back to its source.


    Shangguan Yun did not appear on the battlefield personally. Even though he did not have any rank or title in the Golden Roc army, he was being increasingly proactive and wandered all around. It was gettingmon for him to go missing for a few days.


    Shangguan Jianyi silently epted his nephew¡¯s shenanigans; as long as the Third Young Master did not interfere in military matters, he could freely order his devoted followers and the Golden Roc killers around.


    ¡°Prepare to engage the enemy.¡±


    Commander Yi¡¯s order was quickly executed.


    The main body of the Golden Roc Army was deployed on the north coast of the Xiaoyao Lake and its right nk was close to a mountain peak. To the north of that peak was the sea-crossing bridge, which was in the final stage of repair.


    The first rank of the army was just a few steps away from the levee and made up of a closely packed row of ballistas, followed by another row of huge catapults. Compared to them, the devices on the warships of the Dragon army that flung the ¡®Fierce Bombs¡¯ were no more than small toys.


    In this manner, Shangguan Jianyi waited for the enemy warships tounch their attack on the bridge.


    The two opposing forces were separated by theke, with the Golden Roc army situated at the southeast corner. The soldiers of the Dragon army had also seen the results of the naval battle and discussed about it excitedly amongst themselves. All of a sudden, victory did not seem so distant to them anymore.


    To the surprise of both armies, the Dragon King unexpectedly ordered his troops to retreat 15 kilometers before the fire raging on the Lake had even died down.


    When the Right General Shang Liao arrived back to shore, he realized that he had be a hero. The soldiers of the Dragon army formed two rows, lining the path to wee him back. The soldiers from the Kang Kingdom were especially excited and they disyed the respect a subject orded to his or her ruler toward the newly crowned king of the Kang Kingdom.


    ¡°Your Majesty, Your Majesty¡­¡± Shang Liao was feeling a little smug as he heard them address him in a way that he had not gotten used to yet. That said, when he entered the main tent of the Dragon King, the only expression he wore was that of indignation.


    ¡°May I ask why are we retreating, Dragon King? The fire will soon die down and our forces can go straight for the bridge during that time to raze everything to the ground.¡±


    The high-ranking military officers of each camp were present and even though they were surprised by the Right General¡¯s performance, they were not pleased by his aggressiveness.


    ¡°We¡¯ve decided that the decisive battle will be onnd and that there¡¯s already no need to destroy the bridge,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    Shang Liao understood that he had been too rude; perhaps it was because he had sensed the faint hostility from the other officers. As such, he bowed and replied, ¡°Everything will be carried out as per your orders, Dragon King.¡±


    He was the Right General and newly crowned king of the Kang nation. As such, he did not have to kneel before the Dragon King.


    Next, the Dragon King delegated tasks and duties to his army and navy respectively. Shang Liao was to produce even more Fierce Bombs and supply them to both the army and navy.


    The meeting was thus concluded and Shang Liao found an excuse to remain behind; he wanted to voice his displeasure to the Dragon King in private.


    ¡°Dragon King, we¡¯ve used the Fierce Bombs just to destroy only dozens of enemy warships. Aren¡¯t we a little overdoing things?¡±


    ¡°I believe we¡¯ve already reached an agreement. The purpose of the battle is to test the effects of our new weapon. It¡¯s all good, I¡¯ve seen it now.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s nonchnce caused Shang Liao to feel even more displeased. He hesitated before saying what was really going on in his mind. ¡°Do you trust me, Dragon King?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded his head. He had already more or less grasped what sort of person the new king of the Kang nation was. Shang Liao was a person who looked amiable and low-key but was inwardly proud. He was also the type of general the Dragon army sorelycked at the moment. Dugu Xian was overly conservative and the military officers of the Great Snowmountain were too rash. The others were too mediocre and Shang Liao¡¯s character was a beneficial addition to the Dragon army.


    ¡°I trust you and therefore I want to discuss about the issue about ¡®price¡¯ with you,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    During his first official discussion with the Dragon King, Shang Liao had boasted of helping the Dragon King to defeat the Golden Roc army at the price of giving him 10,000 soldiers. He had also requested forplete independence of the Kang Kingdom and that it would not be under the control of any foreigner.


    Shang Liao was extremely surprised to hear the Dragon King bring up the matter again. It was because he had originally just wanted thetter to quickly value his importance, but he had not expected the Dragon King to treat it seriously. ¡°I¡­ still the same. Give me 10,000 soldiers and the independence of the Kang Kingdom.¡±


    Shang Liao immediately regretted after speaking. From observing the Dragon King, he realized that he should have requested for better terms.


    Gu Shenwei was even clearer on what sort of person Shang Liao was now. He was extremely smart but stillcking in negotiation experience. ¡°I¡¯ll offer you an even better ¡®price¡¯,¡± he said.


    ¡°Ah?¡±


    ¡°You can have 10,000 soldiers, or even more, but you have to recruit them by yourself. Other than our navy or ships, the Dragon army won¡¯t part with a single soldier for you.¡±


    ¡°Let me think about it.¡±


    Indeed, Shang Liao needed to think about it. The Dragon King was only offering him an empty title and staffing structure, but even so, they were important things. Without them, even if he had managed to gather more soldiers, he had to divide them into units of thousands and could notmand them directly. That said, the vast Xiaoyao Lake region was sparsely popted, and there were not many potential recruits left since most able-bodied males had been swooped up by the Dragon and Golden Roc armies respectively.


    ¡°Alright, I agree, but I wish to add on one more condition.¡±


    Shang Liao was learning about negotiation fast. He was already aware of the technique of giving in to achieve more.


    ¡°Speak.¡±


    ¡°After the war, I hope the Dragon King will allow me to expand the territory of the Kang Kingdom. I won¡¯t need your help, nor your interference. The Kang Kingdom will aplish it with its own troops and effort.¡±


    Shang Liao¡¯s ambition was not small and increasing all the while. Gu Shenwei was wary of this fact, but before the inevitable falling out, he needed this ambitious man to serve the Dragon army. He considered it before replying, ¡°Sooner orter, I¡¯ll lead my army to seize Jade City. After that, you can expand the territory of the Kang Kingdom, but I¡¯ll only allow you to move westward.¡±


    To the west of the Kang Kingdomy the Sha and Hui Kingdoms; Gu Shenwei had no second thoughts about sacrificing these two small nations.


    Shang Liao also considered the Dragon King¡¯s reply, before saying, ¡°I hope you¡¯ll keep your promise, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°As long as you can recruit a 10,000-strong army, I¡¯ll keep to any promise.¡±


    Shang Liaoughed. All of a sudden, he understood what was unique about the Dragon King. This man, who was considerably younger than him, possessed a self-confidence of unheard of levels, and it gave his surbodinates free rein to disy their capabilities.


    From Gu Shenwei¡¯s perspective, allowing Shang Liao more room to perform was a makeshift stratagem that he was forced to go ahead with.


    Gu Shenwei was extremely certain that there were still talents yet to be unearthed in the Xiaoyao Lake region. He was sure that both the Dragon and Golden Roc armies could not reach into every corner of the five kingdoms to recruit every avable able-bodied male. That said, perhaps Shang Liao had a way to aplish it. He was a descendant of the royal family of the Kang Kingdom and familiar with local customs, but was only willing to put in all his effort when fighting for his own benefit.


    Looking at the matter from another angle, even if Shang Liao failed, all the Dragon King would have given was just a verbal promise.


    Gu Shenwei had a rough idea about how his n to achieve hegemony should go: when both Nond and the Golden Roc Fort ruled over their upied territories, he should do his best to support these territories¡¯ independence cause. After his army grew stronger, he woulde up with a way to get rid of all the unnecessary kings.


    Currently, there was only Shang Liao worth supporting. Gu Shenwei felt that it was too little.


    Shang Liao¡¯s tone was warmer considerably after they had reached a deal. ¡°Dragon King, there¡¯s something that I have to dere first. I cannot produce so many Fierce Bombs¡ªthere is a seriousck of materials, manpower and time. It¡¯s up to you to decide whether to use them in one setting or to split them between the army and navy.¡±


    ¡°Did youe up with the idea to make them?¡±


    ¡°No, it came from the Great Qin Kingdom of the far west. They treat it as a national treasure and a closely guarded secret. I managed to get the form by luck.¡±


    ¡°If you show the form to more people, I¡¯m sure the rate of production will increase.¡±


    Shang Liao was silent for a while. ¡°I can pass it to you, Dragon King, but I hope you understand that there¡¯s a reason why the Great Qin Kingdom kept it a closely guarded secret. Once it spreads, it¡¯ll be hard to prevent the form from falling into the hands of the Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    It was another way of rejecting the Dragon King; Gu Shenwei did not wish to insist. Even though the bombs were devastating, they had a w that could not be overlooked. During the naval battle, it was clearly exposed.


    The highly mmable liquid was contained in a leather sack and theunchers had an effective range which was smaller than that of a catapult. Besides, the sack could be easily shattered and the only warship lost by the Dragon army was destroyed by the mes from the Fierce Bombs it was carrying.


    Also, the unique property of the Fierce Bombs was that it burned stronger in the presence of water; its power would be greatly diminished when used onnd.


    ¡°Try to mass produce as much of it as possible, with the priority to supply our army.¡±


    15 minutes ago, Shang Liao would violently object to such an arrangement, but now, he bowed and acknowledged the Dragon King¡¯s order. He even came up with a reason for the Dragon King: that the Dragon army already hadplete dominance on the water and that the decisive battle would eventually be fought onnd.


    Gu Shenwei kept calcting the time and his odds while waiting for Maid Lotus toe back with good news.


    At the moment, both armies would have believed that the only way for the Dragon army to emerge victorious was to make use of the Fierce Bombs. As such, the special forces led by Tuo Nengya could create an even bigger surprise.


    This was the main objective of today¡¯s battle.


    The old macheteman, Tuo Nengya, was many miles away, hidden deep in the mountains. He still did not know that he would be undertaking a task of huge importance.


    Before the Dragon King¡¯s messengers had even arrived, the sharp Tuo Nengya had sensed that a battle was going on. He gathered his scattered troops and appealed to each tribe in the name of the Dragon King, promising them huge rewards if they sent their soldiers to take part in the battle.


    There were tribal warriors joining his forces everyday and it grew steadily. Ha Chilie, was incredibly pleased with this turn of events, as most of the tribes had supported the Dragon King because they trusted his father and him; the Ha family had thus gained recognition in the Wushan mountain region.


    Tuo Nengya grew vignt even as he felt pleased. With the addition of many new soldiers, it gave the killers of the Golden Roc Fort a chance to sneak into his forces while it was being bolstered.


    That very morning when the warships of the Dragon army achievedplete victory, Tuo Nengya was up especially early. He was preupied with a premonition that something bad was going to happen. He had many simr experiences from venturing in jiang hu. That said, his hunch was not always urate. In fact, it turned out to be even lesser than 50 per cent true.


    Premonitions were usually another way that rich experiences could be expressed in. Tuo Nengya remained deep in thought by himself for a while, before deciding to go with his instincts. He began a round of thorough investigations into all of the new soldiers in his camp.


    He believed that if there were really Golden Roc killers who had sneaked into his unit, none of them could escape from his scrutiny.

 Chapter 488 - An Expert

    Chapter 488: An Expert


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    It had been dozens of years since Shangguan Fei started practicing kung fu at the age of five, but he had never understood the profundity of it.


    To him, kung fu was filled with danger, and no matter how skilled one was in it, one could still be killed by someone weaker or even untrained in kung fu due to a moment¡¯s carelessness.


    He wished that there was a type of kung fu in this world that would allow its practitioner to stop practicing upon mastery. Whether being attacked directly or facing a sneak attack, it would help its practitioner to react immediately, even when he or she was asleep.


    It was a pity that there was no such type of kung fu that could aplish that; the more powerful the kung fu, the more it needed its practitioner to be on all alert.


    The manuals given to the killers of the Stone Castle were nearly all simr, but the disparity between the killers themselves became increasingly evident with time. What separated them was not kung fu but their level of vignce.


    Killers had to spend arge portion of their lives at different levels of vignce and rarely slept soundly. Also, almost all of them had the habit of being afraid of being attacked from behind and would subconsciously turn their heads around frequently, even under broad daylight.


    It was this fact that made Shangguan Fei lose all interest in kung fu. His Master Shifu had forced him to learn boxing, palm and machete techniques, while his mother had insisted on him learning Wayless Qigong. As for the ¡®three-in-one qigong¡¯, he practiced it after suffering much torment from the fingers of Maid Lotus.


    Therefore when he decided to proactively engage his opponent for the first time in his life, the first thought that came to his mind was what type of kung fu he should use.


    He was not carrying a saber, so there was no way for him to use one. He knew a few fist and palm techniques, but he did not seem to recall any that would enable him to block a saber attack.


    Long Fanyun leaped forth to engage the killer d in ck, and the other two assants, who were obviously killers dressed as soldiers,unched a sneak attack toward his back. At this decisive moment, Shangguan Fei was hesitating on what move to make.


    There was no kung fu in the world that would lead its practitioner to engage his or her opponent automatically, but constant practice would allow him or her to react instinctively. Shangguan Fei had not made his decision but his limbs began to move on their own ord.


    He sidestepped the attacks and struck at one of the assants with his fist.


    He managed to block one of them, but there was still another killer. It was, however, the most he could do at the moment.


    Shangguan Fei did not know if his opponent was too weak or his kung fu was better than he thought; he could not help but feel surprised and ted when his fist connected.


    To retreat immediately after striking and not be entangled with the opponent was one of the core principles of kung fu from the Golden Roc Fort. Shangguan Fei managed to recall and execute it, but in the wrong direction.


    As such, he directly leaped into the other assant. To observers, he was preparing to strike again.


    The reaction of the second assant was extremely quick and he immediately changed his target from Long Fanyun to Shangguan Fei.


    Shangguan Fei was stunned. He seemed to be cornered by the harsh re of his opponent¡¯s saber in all directions and there was no way for him to escape.


    Long Fanyun saved his life.


    As the chief of Canopy Peak and the Dragon King¡¯s captain of the guards, he was always very vignt and especially so after drawing his weapon. He had already noticed the two assants attempting a sneak attack, but he did not expect Shangguan Fei to engage them on his own volition.


    After exchanging a blow with the killer d in ck, Long Fanyun retreated along with his momentum and gave the second assant a backhand sh. It was so urate that it made him seem as though he had eyes growing on the back of his head. It forced his opponent to give up attacking Shangguan Fei.


    He then moved forward again to do battle with the assassin in ck.


    Long Fanyun could be considered as one of the most skilled swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain and he had received considerable insight all this while by following the Dragon King. As such, he was even more familiar with the saber techniques of the killers from the Golden Roc Fort than before.


    He did not have many scimitar moves, but he attacked his opponents from different angles with amazing speed and ferocity.


    The three killers were cut down within 10 moves. What was perplexing to Long Fanyun was that the first to fall was one of the sneak attackers. After being hit by Shangguan Fei¡¯s fist, he did not get up.


    The three killers made a fatal mistake of assuming that simple coordination would enable them to kill the swordsman from the Great Snowmountain. It cost them their lives.


    Shangguan Fei had only made one move. He spent the rest of the battle making various poses and looking for another opponent to engage with, but in reality, he was drawing further away from the fight. He had exhausted his reserves of bravery and did not wish to engage in risky behavior again.


    There were still dozens of soldiers surrounding them, and in theory, if they all came at once, they stood a very high chance of winning, but they were all machetemen and they were more concerned about the fact that Long Fanyun was more skilled than expected and that they would suffer many casualties even if they managed to win.


    The precious lives of machetemen were meant to enjoy the pleasures of drink and women. As such, not only did none of theme forward, instead, all of them turned their horses around and fled, not even wishing to collect the assassins¡¯ dead bodies.


    ¡°Without a killer to supervise them, machetemen are weaker than even an ordinary mob,¡±mented Shangguan Fei. He had noticed this fact back when he and Shangguan Ru, his sister, were fighting for dominance over South City. As such, he was not surprised at the performance of his opponents today.


    Long Fanyun had wanted to kill all of them to keep their presence a secret, but after consideration, he felt that he did not have the ability to kill dozens of fleeing machetemen by himself and thus only ran over to rein in the two horses left by the dead killers.


    ¡°You¡¯re hurt,¡± reminded Long Fanyun after he came back.


    Shangguan Fei had not felt any pain up till now. He lowered his head to observe his own body, finally noticing fresh blooding from the left side of his abdomen.


    ¡°I really am,¡± replied Shangguan Fei, trying to be nonchnt; he even reached out to touch his wound. The next moment, however, he saw the blood stains on his palm and could not pretend any longer. He sat down, feeling weak at the knees. He began to feel the fiery pain from his wound now.


    Long Fanyun looked suspiciously at Shangguan Fei. Where he came from, one did not feel afraid even when sustaining more serious wounds; to him, Shangguan Fei¡¯s reaction was akin to acting.


    It was only until when he saw that the face of Shangguan Fei began to turn pale, as if he could faint at any instant, that he walked over to observe the wound. ¡°It¡¯s just a flesh wound, you¡¯ll live,¡± he said. After which, he quickly bandaged up the young man¡¯s wound.


    ¡°I won¡¯t die?¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t die even from an injury 10 times more serious than this.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ will it leave a scar?¡±


    The little bit of good impression that Long Fanyun had on Shangguan Fei was now dissipating. ¡°All practitioners of martial arts have scars on their bodies. Look at the Dragon King, he¡¯s covered with them.¡±


    ¡°I, I¡¯ve never seen the entire body of the Dragon King before. Have you?¡±


    Long Fanyun¡¯s expression turned grim and he raised his scimitar. ¡°Watch your mouth or else I¡¯ll leave a few more scars on your body.¡±


    Shangguan Fei immediately followed the swordsman¡¯s instructions and kept his mouth tightly shut. After standing up and taking two steps, however, he could not control himself again. ¡°Elder Fan, your bandaging technique is really not too bad. I don¡¯t feel pain anywhere now. Tsk, tsk, I wouldn¡¯t have thought that a big, strapping man such as yourself will have such nimble fingers.¡±


    Long Fanyun could not be bothered with his nonsense and lowered his head to observe one of the corpses. ¡°How did you kill him?¡± he asked.


    The deceased was a killer, and even if his kung fu was mediocre, he was no ordinary person. It was unimaginable for him to have been killed by only one blow from Shangguan Fei¡¯s fist. The fact that Long Fanyun could quickly finish off the other two killers and scare off the other soldiers was connected with the shock that their opponents had felt.


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know. Did I really kill him?¡± replied Shangguan Fei as he came over for a look too. He could not believe that this was someone killed by him. ¡°Who knows, his old illness could have acted up¡­¡±


    Long Fanyun looked at Shangguan Fei harshly. Compared to timidity in the face of battle, the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain were even more intolerant of someone lying to their face.


    That said, there was indeed something weird about this particr corpse. There were no visible wounds on it and its bones were all intact. It really looked as if the killer died from a sudden onset of illness.


    Long Fanyun found it hard to believe that there could be something so coincidental in this world, but he did not get to the bottom of the matter. No matter how skilled Shangguan Fei¡¯s kung fu was, he was a coward who would panic during a fight. He would need the swordsman¡¯s protection if he wanted to survive the mission.


    Now that they had horses, Shangguan Fei was finally free from the torment of walking. Very quickly, he forgot about his wound and turned to praise Long Fanyun, ¡°Elder Fan, you¡¯re really something. Even the nameless knockout powder from the Golden Roc Fort can¡¯t trouble you.¡±


    Even though the assassin in ck was careless, he had note unprepared. After his sixth move, he unleashed the knockout powder, but it did not have any effect on his opponent and instead exposed his w and caused him to be cut down by Long Fanyun¡¯s scimitar.


    Shangguan Fei was extremely familiar with the knockout powder of his family and had spotted the assassin¡¯s trick with one nce.


    ¡°Right,¡± replied Long Fanyun. He did not wish to exin further¡ªit was a secret the Dragon King had taught him.


    ¡°But, it¡¯s strange. The machetemen and killers did not recognize me but you. It seems that I¡¯ve really been overlooked. Sigh, I wish I could¡¯ve beenpletely overlooked. That way, I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about being assassinated again.¡±


    Shangguan Fei kept harping about the issue for half of the entire day, and Long Fanyun had no choice but to exin. ¡°I guess that the soldier probably came from the Great Snowmountain army before defecting to the Golden Roc Fort, and therefore he recognized me.¡±


    When the Great Snowmountain army had dominated the western border of Jade City, some machetemen had volunteered to join it and quite a number of them had fled afterwards when things had gone bad for the Great Snowmountain. Because of this fact, Long Fanyun came up with his theory.


    Shangguan Fei pped his hands together, giving an expression of great rm over nothing. ¡°Right, Long¡­ Elder Fan, you¡¯re too smart. You¡¯ve both brains and brawn, it¡¯s my luck to have you along with me for this mission. I bet the Dragon King can¡¯t bear for you to¡­¡±


    Long Fanyun secretly swore that he would not speak a single word for the remainder of their journey.


    It was a promise that was hard to keep. After travelling for a short while, Shangguan Fei gave him a question that he had to consider and reply. ¡°I¡¯ve thought about something. Elder Fan, our identities have been exposed. Should we continue to fight our way to our destination, or do wee up with a way to go around them?¡±


    Long Fanyun thought about it carefully, After all, the Dragon King had sent them to the north coast of the Xiaoyao Lake not to kill but to deliver a message. Long Fanyun could not think of any other solution and could only reply, ¡°You decide.¡±


    ¡°I decide? After thinking again, let¡¯s disguise ourselves.¡±


    Long Fanyun had a feeling that Shangguan Fei had already came up with a solution, but was waiting to share it now.


    That said, disguising themselves was a workable n.


    Shangguan Fei was the one who set up their disguises. It was one of the basic trainings that he had received since a young age in the Stone Castle, andpared to kung fu, it was something he was better at. He had even carried the materials needed along with him.


    Long Fanyun was willing to go through tribtions but did not agree to Shangguan Fei touching him.


    Shangguan Fei did not insist and worked on his own make up. Before 15 minutes were over, he had already turned into a frowning elderly man and Long Fanyun still found it hard to believe his eyes even after staring at him while he did it. That said, the swordsman eventually agreed to be assisted by Shangguan Fei.


    That evening, two travel-worn elderly men entered the capital of the Hui Kingdom and snuck into the crowd of fleeing citizens. For the moment, no one took notice of them.


    Far behind them, a demaster hurried over to the assassin, who died from taking one fist of Shangguan Fei, to check out the situation. It turned out that the death of the assassin had not only aroused the suspicion of Long Fanyun, but also made the demaster very surprised.


    The demaster had a duty to get to the bottom of things and thus drew his saber and started dissecting the corpse slowly.


    About eight killers and dozens of soldiers stood around him. The killers were indifferent to the scene but the soldiers could not stand it and turned their heads away. Very quickly, their curiosity made them look again, and they could not turn their gaze away again.


    The corpse looked perfectly fine from the outside but was a mess inside. The assassin¡¯s organs were all shattered and the demaster could not seem to fine one that was still perfectly intact.


    ¡°An expert. It¡¯s no wonder Long Fanyun dares to venture into the north coast of the Xiaoyao Lake alone. He has a true peerless ace with him.¡±


    Amongst the soldiers were a few of those that had fled from the very scene, and they were stunned speechless upon hearing the demaster¡¯s diagnosis. How could the youth, who was panicking and ducking everywhere after only making one punch, be a peerless ace?

 Chapter 489 - The Exchange

    Chapter 489: The Exchange


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    A small fleet of skiffs reached shore in the wee hours of the morning, bringing shocking news with them.


    The huge bridge at the westernmost part of the Xiaoyao Lake was already set up and huge groups of soldiers from the Golden Roc army were crossing theke to set up camp. Its vanguard units were only about 10 kilometers away from the Dragon army and each side could see the dust and smoke billowing from the opposing camp.


    Shangguan Jianyi did not think highly of the power of the Fierce Bombs and the next day after his troops crossed the bridge, he sent messengers to officially invite the Dragon army to a battle.


    Gu Shenwei had every intention of epting the offer and before he could give an official reply, more than 30 skiffs came sailing over in the night.


    Engaging in battle earlier than nned would be beneficial for both parties.


    No matter how strategically important going south was, to themon soldiers and people, it was still a form of fleeing frombat and it was a little cowardly to them. Their support for the Dragon King could be counted by the days and the longer it took for the decisive battle to begin, the more their confidence in him began to waver. He could only secure their trust by achieving sess on the battlefield.


    The boost to the morale of his troops brought by the Fierce Bombs was temporary, and Gu Shenwei hoped that he could test out thebat power of the Dragon army before it dissipated.


    The opposingmander, Shangguan Jianyi, was also under immense pressure. His 80,000-strong army had already waited for an entire winter, and if he could notpletely crush the Dragon army, not only would he not be able to demonstrate the ability of the Golden Roc Fort to Nond, he would be too disgraced to face the Supreme King again.


    Like Lady Meng, he was taking part in the internal struggle of his own family members but unlike her, who was only capable of pitting the family members against each other, Shangguan Jianyi hoped to establish his own position by defeating a foreign enemy.


    Gu Shenwei had not slept for nearly the entire night and woke up early the next morning to discuss with Dugu Xian if he should ept the offer. The Left General opposed to starting war earlier than nned from a purely military perspective. ¡°The new weapon developed by the Right General is very effective but there are too few of them. They wouldn¡¯t have much of an effect.¡±


    ¡°The greatest use of the Fierce Bombs would be to boost the morale of our troops. That¡¯s more important than the number of enemies killed by them.¡±


    Just as the two of them were breaking down the pros and cons of immediately going to war for analysis, a guard hurriedly dashed in to inform them that a group of refugees had appeared at the coast and were moring to see the Dragon King.


    There were about 40 to 50 refugees, and they were mostly elderly folk, or women and children. At the moment, they were reasoning with the soldiers of the Dragon army in an agitated fashion.


    ¡°The Dragon King arrives!¡±


    The soldiers automatically split themselves into two rows, leaving an aisle between them. They then bowed their heads respectfully to him.


    An elderly man walked forward, supported by a crutch. He stopped ten steps away from the Dragon King at the signal of a soldier. The old man had not expected that the Dragon King would actually arrive to meet him personally and was a little flustered. He felt that he was being too rude just as he was about to speak and slowly kneeled down while trying to support his body weight on the crutch. The soldiers to his side stopped him midway and one of them said softly to him, ¡°There¡¯s no need for such formalities in the presence of the Dragon King. You can tell him directly what¡¯s on your mind.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a citizen of the Kang Kingdom,¡± said the old man, his voice extremely loud and clear, a sharp contrast to his trouble with walking. ¡°The people behind me are from the Kang, Sha and Hui Kingdoms. We took the risk to travel southward to plead for your protection, Dragon King. We implore you to lead the Dragon army back to the north; the Supreme King wants to kill us all, and only you can stop him.¡±


    The soldiers got a shock upon hearing this. Out of the 10,000 troops in the frontline of the Dragon army, more than half them were from the five nations of the Xiaoyao Lake region, and even though most of their families had went south as well to escape from war, there were still a significant number of their friends and rtives who had stay in the north coast. As such, they were especially attentive toward news about the other coast.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head, helping everyone to voice their suspicions. ¡°The Golden Roc army is fighting against our Dragon army and the Supreme King would not want to kill everyone on the north coast for no good reason.¡±


    Seeing that no one believed his words, the elderly man grew increasingly agitated and started to appeal to his audience. ¡°The situation is not like that, Dragon King. Even though most of the Golden Roc army is engaged in war with the Dragon army, arge number of their soldiers are piging the assets of the civilians in our countries. There are made up of¡­ men who carry machetes and love to drink and assassins dressed in ck. They took everything with them: our money, provisions, metal tools, livestock and even our children. Children who¡¯re about 10 years of age have to be conscripted. They im that after defeating you, Dragon King, they¡¯ll be waging war with the Central in. Please save us, Dragon King. We fear that the four nations on the north coast will be razed to the ground if you dy for another few days.¡±


    The soldiers were deeply moved. They were all natives of the Xiaoyao Lake region, and no matter where they followed the Dragon King to war or how muchnd they could have in the Land of Fragrance, their still dreamt of returning to their homnd one day. As such, they definitely did not want their homes to turn into a wastnd.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s voice was not loud, but his reply could be heard clearly by the old man and the other refugees behind him. ¡°Each nation has its own king. You should be looking for them first.¡±


    The elderly man started to cry before barely managing to control his sadness again. ¡°The kings are in danger themselves. They¡¯re all gathered in the capital of the Hui Kingdom and do not even dare to make requests of the mostmon soldiers in the Golden Roc army. They¡¯re no longer kings but house ves of the Golden Roc Fort. We heard that new kings of our nations were crowned on the south coast, and we only recognize them from now on.¡±


    Out of the five new kings crowned by Gu Shenwei, only the King of the Stone Kingdom, who was still in his infancy, remained in the capital of the An Kingdom. The other four moved along with the Dragon army, and besides, the King of the Kang nation, Shang Liao, held the meaningful post of Right General.


    The four of them were standing behind the Dragon King: the King of the An nation, who was about eight, the King of the Hui nation, who was a little over 10, the King of the Sha nation, who was around 20, andstly, the King of the Kang nation, who was 30 plus.


    Gu Shenwei stepped aside, revealing the four new kings.


    Unexpectedly, the elderly man recognized Shang Liao. He cast his crutch away and kneeled down with a flurry; it happened so fast that the soldiers at his side did not even have time to stop him. ¡°One of your ordinary citizens pays his respect to Your Majesty. I implore Your Majesty to return to your kingdom to save your people from disaster.¡±


    After the soldiers of the five nations quickly made signs toward the refugees, dozens of them swarmed forward and kneeled behind the old man, kowtowing to their kings and pleading for help.


    Shang Liao managed topose himself, but the other three newly crowned kings were a little flustered; they had not expected that their titles could incur real recognition from their own people. As such, all of them looked at Shang Liao, waiting to see how he would react.


    Shang Liao knew what he had to do. He had been waiting for this moment since making the deal in private with the Dragon King and earning the right to organize his own army. Now he had to demonstrate his loyalty to the Dragon King publicly.


    The King of the Kang nation kneeled down on one knee, and the other three kings immediately followed suit. ¡°The entire Kang nation is willing to serve the Dragon King, no matter how humbly, as long as we can fight the Golden Roc army sooner by even one day.¡±


    The Kings of the An, Sha and Hui nations simultaneously said something of about the same connotation.


    Gu Shenwei twisted his head to give his Left General, Dugu Xian, a nce. Thetter nodded; the refugees had picked the best time to arrive. As news about the state of their homes across theke spread across the entire military camp, the officers and soldiers of the five nations were all enraged, and the morale of the Dragon army rose to an unprecedented height since their journey south; it exceeded even the effects of the Fierce Bombs.


    <em>¡°The Dragon King always has a way,¡± </em>Dugu Xian thought.


    Gu Shenwei ordered his guards to help the four new kings up to their feet. He did not make a decision on the spot but instead promised to summon all of his high-ranking military officers immediately to discuss when the battle should begin.


    The results of the discussion were soon announced.


    They would go to war during thete afternoon tomorrow.


    As the order was passed down the chain ofmand, all of the soldiers cheered. A few messengers hoisted their colors high up as they rode forth toward the opposing camp, loudly announcing the Dragon King¡¯s decision at the gates of the Golden Roc army.


    It was all Gu Shenwei could do. Dugu Xian would be responsible for the actual battle n.


    During noon time, he received an unexpected request for his audience.


    It was from the King of the Hui nation. He looked down on the young King of the An nation, while he was not used to the ways of the King of the Sha nation, who was much older than him. In his eyes, thetter two were destined to be puppets and there was no visible way out for them. His role model was Shang Liao, the King of the Kang nation.


    Gu Shenwei was a little wary of the King of the Hui nation, who was a little more than 10. He was extremely scheming and possessed smarts that were far beyond his age. When he was still the young prince of his kingdom, he had made a sneak attack on the Dragon King; he paid for it with a palm.


    The Dragon King was the person he feared and hated the most, but also the only person who could help him right now.


    ¡°You¡¯ve made a very shrewd move,¡± said the King of the Hui nation. His voice was a little immature, but already as slick as an adult.


    ¡°Right,¡± replied Gu Shenwei. He was a little curious as to what the sneaky child was actually thinking.


    ¡°Give me a unit tomand, Dragon King. Let me join the battle.¡± The King of the Hui nation was still a little incapable of restraining himself. He had pleaded for three times before finally getting a chance to meet the Dragon King privately and he did not wish to waste his breath.


    ¡°You¡¯re too young.¡±


    ¡°A king is not measured by his age. Besides, I¡¯m smarter than those adults,¡± boasted the King of the Hui nation without even blushing. ¡°Take those refugees, for example. I know that their arrival was arranged by you, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re wrong. They were truly refugees who hade here to seek for help,¡± said Gu Shenwei indifferently. The King of the Hui nation may be smart, but his way of thinking was still too naive.


    ¡°Are you telling me that it wasn¡¯t staged?¡± the King of the Hui nation replied, blushing a little. He had lost a little traction and wanted to get to the bottom of the matter. ¡°Their arrival was extremely coincidental, and our navy didn¡¯t bar them from docking. The old man from the Kang nation seemed to be an ordinary civilian but could speak eloquently in your presence, Dragon King. If it were up to me, I would¡¯ve let him show a little fear.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still wrong,¡± replied Gu Shenwei, sounding like an extremely patient teacher who was tirelessly guiding his student. ¡°Facades will always be exposed some day, and when that timees, the entire plot will backfire on the mastermind. Your role is to guide. They were truly refugees and the old man spoke from his heart. They¡¯re staying outside our camp, and no one can squeeze out any ¡®conspiracy¡¯ from them.¡±


    The King of the Hui nation grew even redder, but he did not give up his ambition. ¡°I was too naive. But, I can aplish great things. Please believe, Dragon King. I¡¯ll let the Hui Kingdom be your most loyal supporter.¡±


    ¡°Do you feel that the Dragon army will win?¡±


    Rulers were always good at going with the flow, and without true confidence in the Dragon army, the King of the Hui nation would never have openly expressed his stand.


    ¡°I believe that the Dragon army will win, and I also know that I can return to the Hui Kingdom as a king only if it wins.¡±


    ¡°Right, it¡¯s good that you have such thoughts. But, you¡¯re still too young and I don¡¯t have any unit to assign to you. Wait for news of our victory patiently.¡±


    <em>¡°To await patiently for the results is to be a puppet under the control of others,¡±</em>thought the young king, so he said, ¡°Everyone thinks I¡¯m a child and therefore looks down on me. They don¡¯t even look me in the eye when talking to me. Sometimes, this can be an advantage.¡±


    There was a hidden meaning in the King of the Hui nation¡¯s words, but Gu Shenwei did not want to engage in a war of words with him. As such, he replied coldly, ¡°Firstly, you have to demonstrate your loyalty in order to win my trust. You cannot keep being secretive around me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll trade a secret for your soldiers. Since you¡¯ve a Right and Left General in your army, you can have a Front and Rear one too.¡±


    The King of the Hui nation was finally getting to the point. He was prepared for this meeting.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s tone turned even more chilly, as if he had no interest whatsoever in the ¡®secret¡¯. ¡°I don¡¯t have additional general posts for you. Tell me your secret and pledge your loyalty to me. Otherwise, get out of here and you can wait for me to deal with you once I realize what the secret is.¡±


    The King of the Hui nation¡¯s confidence was momentarily shattered and his fear of the Dragon King took center stage again. ¡°I, I want to pledge my loyalty to the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    The king was extremely unsatisfied at having to divulge his secret without securing any promise or benefit from the Dragon King. That said, he gave up his struggle after exchanging stares with thetter. ¡°It¡¯s about Shangguan Yun.¡±


    ¡°What about him?¡±


    ¡°I know that Shangguan Yun has made someone in the Dragon army his mole using bribery and that that person is someone close to you.¡±

 Chapter 490 - Disbanding

    Chapter 490: Disbanding


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Maid Lotus, Wu Zongheng, and the others arrived safely at the military camp in Wushan. Only a little mishap happened throughout the journey, where Miss Ming Zhen of the Gulping Wind Gorge and her personal maid Han Xuan had asked to follow them.


    Ming Zhen was Ha Chilie¡¯s fianc¨¦e. She did not know martial arts and looked delicate, but she was stubborn. She was shy about speaking certain things, so she asked her maid Han Xuan to speak on her behalf. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with a woman wanting to visit her fiance? If you don¡¯t want to take us with you, we can walk on our own. We will just be taking the same road. We don¡¯t need you to take care of us.¡±


    Wu Zongheng was the leader among them. He agreed to take them with a bitter smile but proposed, ¡°The mountain roads are rugged and difficult to walk on foot. We won¡¯t wait for you if you can¡¯t follow our pace.¡±


    Han Xuan patted her chest and promised confidently, ¡°I will carry Miss Ming if she bes too tired to walk. You have my word that we won¡¯t bother you.¡±


    The fact was that Ming Zhen did not be a burden for them. On the way, she never onceined whether on horseback or on foot. She was tough and tolerant, unlike like ady from a respected family. Han Xuan, on the other hand, brought them so much more trouble. She was one to directly voice her feelings andints, leaving Wu Zongheng unsure what to do with her.


    There was only one person who could make her keep quiet among them.


    When Ha Chilie had selected his fianc¨¦e among countless women, it was Maid Lotus who pinpointed Ming Zhen. Thus, she was sort of their matchmaker. She and several disciples of the New Moon Hall kept their distance from Wu Zonghan and the rest and showed Ming Zhen and Han Xuan no concern during the day. Neither did they stay in the same ce at night. Some of them would often disappear out of the blue before showing up again.


    The New Moon Hall was always mysterious. Gu Shenwei was ustomed to it, but his subordinates were not. Ignoring the six female guards, Wu Zongheng only ordered his ten soldiers to pitch tents, prepare meals, march, and take a break.


    The ten soldiers were as skeptical about the New Moon Hall disciples as their leader. One swordsman from the Great Snowmountain who had been following after them for some time murmured, ¡°They¡¯re scarier when Dragon King isn¡¯t around.¡± The rest shared his opinion.


    The New Moon Hall disciples never built a fire, asked them for food, or put up a tent in the evening. No one knew what they ate or where they slept. These soldiers were afraid of them, and they ignored the soldiers. Sometimes when these disciples walked through the team, they ignored the team with apathetic and confused expressions as if they were sleepwalking.


    Miss Ming might have once intended to get on Maid Lotus¡¯ good side but gave up the minute she saw Maid Lotus. However, her maid had different thoughts and was always trying to blend in with the New Moon Hall disciples.


    Han Xuan had a mysterious story. She was sold to the Gulping Wind Gorge as a little girl. One day, a mysterious woman appeared and taught her martial arts. This woman waster discovered to be a New Moon Hall disciple but what she taught Han Xuan was not martial arts from the hall. Moreover, she also refused to take Han Xuan with her.


    Since then, Han Xuan considered herself as a partial New Moon Hall disciple. But the renegade of the New Moon Hall who upied the Gulping Wind Gorge did not recognize her and thus, Maid Lotus and the rest did not consider her theirpanion.


    However, Han Xuan was a tenacious person. Each time when they pitched tents, she would take the initiative to approach these disciples regardless of others¡¯ warning and Ming Zhen¡¯s pleading.


    Besides, she had a talent. Besides Maid Lotus, she could trace the hidden disciples of New Moon Hall with her sensitive nose. The other five could never hide without her finding them. Therefore, she often interrupted them when they were performing their tasks.


    The disciples would go somewhere else once Han Xuan found them. No one would treat her nicely, but their behavior never frustrated her. She told Ming Zhen, ¡°I think they¡¯re friendly. I like them better than the former disciples of the New Moon Hall.¡±


    Ming Zhen did not know what to say when she heard this. She became afraid at the thought of her maid bing stranger and more simr to the mad women of the New Moon Hall. But she dared not tell Han Xuan this and only prayed to meet her fiance soon.


    One day, Han Xuan finally pissed off a New Moon Hall disciple and a fight broke out between them.


    The soldiers were far away from them when their fight began. They were about to cook with ingredients. But when they saw their fierce fight, they took aback and stood still, looking at them. Ming Zhen covered her mouth, stopping herself from crying out at the sight of them fighting.


    It was not an ordinary spar. The two were serious about their fight and were trying to kill each other.


    Wu Zongheng could not ignore the New Moon Hall disciples anymore. Being the leader of the team, he had to stand out and stop the fight.


    ¡°Stop! Both of you!¡± Wu Zongheng shouted in a calm and solemn voice, hoping they would listen to his order as he was the vicemander of thousands.


    However, his title meant nothing to the two mad women and their fight became even fiercer. That New Moon Hall disciple scattered some powders of different colors and they swiftly spread through the air.


    Wu Zongheng was afraid to approach them. He had tomand in an embarrassed voice, ¡°I need you to stop immediately in the name of Dragon King!¡±


    <em>¡°They fear Dragon King!¡± </em>he thought. Wu Zongheng was relieved after seeing the two mad women stop fighting, despite their angry res at each other.


    Suddenly, he felt a chill down his back and tried to turn around to see what was behind him. But he found that his body became too stiff to do that as if an evil spell had struck him.


    Maid Lotus walked past him. So it was not Dragon King but the Managing Master of the New Moon Hall who stopped their fight.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Maid Lotus asked.


    The disciple who fought with Han Xuan was Han Fen, whom Managing Master trusted most. ¡°It¡¯s her fault. I hid well, but she kept pacing back and forth in front of me. I can¡¯t even breathe because of her!¡± Han Fen said.


    Han Xuan retorted in anger, ¡°You¡¯re the one who didn¡¯t hide well! How can you me me for it? If you can¡¯t pee one day, are you going to say it¡¯s my fault too?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t be able to pee if you¡¯re standing next to me! Of course it¡¯s your fault!¡±


    Compared to the New Moon Hall disciples, Han Xuan was less formal and held lesser admiration for Maid Lotus. She became furious after hearing Han Fen¡¯s words and ran toward her, trying to attack her even with Maid Lotus around.


    Han Xuan and Han Fen ran to each other with their full strength as if they wanted to tear each other to pieces.


    This time, they were stopped before they could use their skills.


    Maid Lotus dashed forward and stood between them, easily separating them with her hands.


    This was the first time Wu Zongheng saw Dragon King¡¯s personal guard using her martial arts. He did not recognize many of the secret techniques that she used. He simply found her to be amazing for stopping their fight without getting hurt.


    Han Xuan was much more shocked. After Maid Lotus pped her, she had to take several steps backward before she could regain a firm footing. Her Internal Breath was in disorder and it took her a while to recover. She said in surprise, ¡°You¡¯re¡­ that strong?¡±


    Han Xuan began to admire her.


    ¡°Managing Master is the best martial artists in the world,¡± Han Fen said, not at all minding the fact that she was forced to step off. ¡°You¡¯re not bad yourself. You can withstand my ult sciences.¡±


    With that, their dispute came to an end. Han Xuan befriended Han Fen after the fight, getting one step closer to her goal. No one had expected this oue.


    Wu Zongheng and other soldiers found it to be amazing but Ming Zhen was terrified. She feared that her maid would be as ruthless as the New Moon Hall disciples.


    However, she had overestimated Han Fen¡¯s influence. When they finally reached the military camp of Tuo Nengya, Han Xuan was still the same as she always was.


    Their smooth-sailing journey was over but before they even entered the military camp, they could feel that something bad had happened.


    The barracks were located in a cramped valley, with there was only a single path that led inside. On the seventh day¡¯s afternoon since parting with Dragon King, a soldier in the team as a guide excitedly pointed at the front. ¡°It¡¯s over there, just a few miles away!¡±


    Wu Zongheng felt uneasy because he did not know Tuo Nengya. From Dragon King¡¯s words, however, he got the impression that Tuo Nengya would be a considerate old machetemen. However, he was taken aback when he saw no sentry posts near the barracks. That was too careless of Tuo Nengya.


    When they bypassed the foot of the mountain, they finally saw people.


    A group of twenty to thirty cavaliers in tribe¡¯s clothes speedily rode to them. They did not slow down at the sight of them, so Wu Zongheng had to make way for them.


    ¡°Excuse me¡­¡± Before the guide could ask them anything, the group was already far away. The guide murmured in confusion, ¡°What the hell is going on?¡±


    Everyone realized that something was wrong.


    As they walked on, a dozen people walked up to them from the direction of barracks. They looked like mine thieves, with ragged clothing and long sabers carried over their shoulders. Even from a distance, they were already staring at the women in the team, especially Ming Zhen.


    Before Wu Zongheng could speak to them, one of the mine thieves said loudly, ¡°Go back! You don¡¯t have to go the barracks anymore.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Nothing,¡± some of them replied. They kept walking, but their eyes were fixed on the women. ¡°Perhaps Dragon King disbanded the army because he couldn¡¯t afford the soldiers¡¯ pay and provisions.¡±


    ¡°I thought that I could earn some money and get thend from him.¡±


    ¡°Keep an eye on your women. They¡¯re not safe in the barracks.¡±


    Wu Zongheng had lots of doubts. <em>¡°My mission is to send Dragon King¡¯s secret order and assist Tuo Nengya in heading for the ambush location with his troops. If the troops are disbanded, I won¡¯t be able to summon enough soldiers within a short time.¡±</em>


    They walked faster and encountered many small groups on the way. Most of them wore a displeased expression in silence. Even those who were willing to talk were trying to persuade him to return.


    Soon, they arrived at the barracks. They saw that the gate of barracks was open and no guard could be seen.


    It was a mess inside the barracks. The only ones left were good people who did not want to make trouble. Most soldiers chose to stay behind and encircled the main tent while shouting in anger.


    ¡°We want to see Tuo Nengya!¡±


    ¡°How can you break your promise? Where are our money andnd?¡±


    ¡°If you want us to leave, first fulfill your promise!¡±


    Wu Zongheng was the first to squeeze into the crowd. The rest followed him in a line. Ten soldiers were divided into two groups, with some standing in front and the others bringing up the rear. The eight women were in the middle.


    The appearance of Maid Lotus and the other women caused a small riot and the crowd shifted to let them pass. They whispered in one another¡¯s ear and discussed those strange guests. Suddenly someone shouted, ¡°Give me a woman, then I won¡¯t ask for a reward.¡±


    The crowd roared withughter, their anger seemingly subsided.


    The New Moon Hall disciples did not react after hearing this. Instead, it was Han Xuan who got irritated. She red at the men around them while keeping the startled Ming Zhen away from the crowd.


    The main tent was under the protection of hundreds of guards. All of them stood still, with their sabers and swords out.


    ¡°I¡¯m Dragon King¡¯s messenger, here to meet themander of thousands, Tuo Nengya, and vicemander of thousands, Ha Chilie.¡± Wu Zongheng did not give his name because he had a bad feeling about the whole thing.


    The guards did not let them in, but one of them entered the tent after hearing his words. When he walked out of the tent, he indicated for his fellow guards to move out of the way.


    Wu Zonghengmanded the soldiers to stay outside and entered the tent with Maid Lotus and Ming Zhen. Han Xuan was worried about Ming Zhen, so she entered as well. Han Fen followed after her.


    There were four to five men inside the tent. Ha Chilie walked to them in a hurry. When he caught sight of Maid Lotus, his eyes sparkled. ¡°Lady Maid Lotus, did Dragon Kinge himself?¡±


    Then, he saw the shy Ming Zhen. He paused momentarily before asking, ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    Maid Lotus introduced Wu Zongheng to him.


    ¡°What happened? Why are the troops disbanded? Where¡¯s themander of thousands?¡± Wu Zongheng raised a series of questions without making small talk.


    Ha Chilie did not immediately answer for he was unfamiliar with Wu Zongheng. However, he trusted Maid Lotus and thus replied, ¡°There was a Golden Roc killer who hid in the barracks and assassinated themanders of thousands.¡±

 Chapter 491 - Precious Treasure

    Chapter 491: Precious Treasure


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Fei again reminded Long Fanyun to stay low. ¡°Don¡¯t raise your head so high. Walk more casually. Don¡¯t always have your knife in your hand. Mind your eyes in particr¡ªyou have to look less defensive. Okay, that¡¯s better,¡± he said.


    Shangguan Fei had a set of well-established disguising skills. Long Fanyun, however, could still be recognized as a swordsman from the Great Snowmountain no matter how much he tried to disguise himself. After all, his pride was difficult to hide.


    ¡°Even the Dragon King does not put on airs as you do,¡± Shangguan Fei grumbled. He disguised himself perfectly as an elder who looked sad. His facial expression came naturally when he thought to himself that he was in the enemy¡¯s territory, and he might be killed at any moment.


    He, however, regained hisposure when he walked into a shop. The ce was full of businessmen, but none recognized that he was the son of the Supreme King.


    When he entered the shop, Shangguan Fei shouted, ¡°You finally came back. We barely survived after you closed your shop.¡±


    He did it deliberately to attract everyone¡¯s attention.


    The shop was where the Meng family purchased and sold goods. There was arge flow of people daily. Those that heard his words nodded. Some even thought that he was an old client of the Meng family, so they nodded and greeted him kindly, and Shangguan Fei responded warmly to their greetings.


    The manager of the shop was stunned. He had been in charge of the shop for years, but he did not recognized these two clients. Besides, he did not understand Shangguan Fei¡¯s words. He responded, ¡°Erm, we have always been here. You¡¯ve not been to our shop for a while, have you?¡±


    When the manager saw that they hade inmon civilians¡¯ clothes and had no goods, he paid little attention to them. Sometimes conmen woulde in with fake jewelry, thinking that they could fool the managers and swindle money out of the Meng family.


    Shangguan Fei thought that all the shops of the Meng family had been closed after the Dragon King¡¯s arrival. He did not expect that this shop had been operating the entire time. However, he was smart and said, ¡°Haha. What could you guys do when the Dragon King came? At that time, all the major clients were scared away. Only peopIe from the Meng family are worthy to talk to clients like me who have priceless goods.¡±


    The manager was sure that Shangguan Fei was an experienced cheater. Therefore, he reached out his hand and said coldly, ¡°Show me. Is it an antique or jewelry? Forget about showing me a fine jade. Last time, the conman that came here with a so-called ¡®fine jade¡¯ had his leg broken and he still needs a stick to support him to this day.¡±


    The manager hoped that his words could scare the cheaters away. This experienced cheater, however, was bold. Not only did he stay, he groaned in disdain. He took out a small wooden box and ced it on the table, asking, ¡°Does this deserve a leg?¡±


    Hearing this, the two hired thugs behind the manager began to walk towards them. The manager waved his hand and stopped them. <em>¡°There are so many clients. We cannot create any trouble. Even they are cheaters, we cannot beat them in public. If they are reluctant to leave, I will just give them several taels of silver to make them go away,¡± </em>the manager mused.


    When he opened the small box, he was shocked. <em>¡°Several taels of silver? This deserves thousands of taels. He¡¯s an important guest!¡± </em>he thought to himself. He stuttered, ¡°This¡­ This is¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. This, however, is just a sample,¡± replied Shangguan Fei.


    The manager¡¯s strange expression attracted some of the people¡¯s attention. He was on the alert and closed the small box immediately. After hesitating for a while, he reluctantly gave it back to Shangguan Fei and whispered to him, ¡°Please follow me inside.¡±


    Soon, the news had spread widely. It was said that a client was going to sell a priceless treasure to the Meng family, and the treasure¡¯s final price was much likely to be ridiculously high. No one, however, could exin what the precious treasure was. The two thugs behind the manager swore to others that they had seen nothing except a fleeting light when the manager had opened the box.


    Long Fanyun had not seen it, either. He had no idea that Shangguan Fei had been carrying anything valuable. <em>¡°When the Dragon King came back to Xiaoyao Lake with the army from the Land of Fragrance, he must have brought many priceless treasures. This must be one of them,¡± </em>he guessed.


    They were treated with fine tea, exquisite pastries andfortable chairs. Shangguan Fei slowly tasted the fine tea without mentioning the treasure.


    The manager tried to inquire about their identity. The colder Shangguan Fei acted, the more polite the manager became. He finally understood this client¡¯s thoughts, deciding to himself, <em>¡°He must be thinking that I¡¯m not qualified to be in charge of such important business. Perhaps he wants me to deliver this message to my master.¡±</em>


    ¡°Please wait for a moment. I¡¯ll go invite my master toe here,¡± the manager said before leaving the room. <em>¡°He must be referring to the Meng Family. Only a ve or servant who had been hired since childhood has the right to call the Meng family ¡®master¡¯,¡± </em>Shangguan Fei thought.


    Now that only Shangguan Fei and Long Fanyun were in the room, Long Fanyun could not resist his curiosity and asked, ¡°Is he intending to invite Meng Mingshu?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. The Meng family isrge. Meng Mingshu is not the only one who came to Xiaoyao Lake,¡± said Shangguan Fei.


    ¡°Our task¡­¡± said Long Fanyun.


    ¡°Hee-hee, there¡¯s no need to rush. There are so many things here to eat and drink. We can wait here patiently until Meng Mingshu appears. He is so rich that he will not mind us eating this,¡± Shangguan Fei chuckled.


    The manager returned alone. He said in a polite manner, ¡°Please follow me to a more appropriate ce for doing business.¡±


    Shangguan Fei held the treasure close to his chest and asked defensively, ¡°What are you nning to do? Do you want to lead us to some remote ce to kill us and steal my treasure? I warn you that I brought dozens of my men with me, and they are waiting outside the city.¡±


    The manager replied with a smile, ¡°Please do not worry. The Meng family would never do that.¡±


    Shangguan Fei did not worry about his safety, for he knew the Meng family well. They thought highly of money, simr to Shanggguan family¡¯s reliance on their knives. If they could solve a problem with money, they would not resort to force. If they needed to use force, they would ask Stone Castle for help. It was their tradition, and had been for many years.


    The manager led the way, leaving the shop from the backdoor with Shangguan Fei and Long Fanyun. They headed for the destination in a carriage.


    The destination was not far from the shop. As soon as they got out of the carriage, they immediately recognized the ce.


    It was the back garden of the Royal Pce of the Hui Kingdom. They had been here with the Dragon King several months ago.


    Many guards were scattered across the garden. They were the Meng family¡¯s own machetemen. Their leader, on the other hand, was a Golden Roc killer dressed in standard ck clothing


    The killer was about forty years old and was rather old for a Golden Roc killer. He nced over them, and then walked to Long Fanyun. He reached out his hand and said, ¡°Hand over your scimitar.¡±


    Long Fanyun gripped his hilt tightly. He did not want to enter a room unarmed.


    ¡°He¡¯s my bodyguard. Although he¡¯s a little old, he¡¯s good in martial arts. So please stop staring at him. Hand your scimitar over to him. It¡¯s their territory,¡± Shangguan Feimanded.


    Long Fanyun reluctantly handed over his scimitar.


    The killer took the scimitar and kept an eye on Long Fanyun.


    Soon they entered a small study. When the manager went to invite his master, Shangguan let out a sigh of relief. He said to Long Fanyun, ¡°I was terrified.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Long Fanyun asked while he stretched out his hand to pull out his scimitar subconsciously, forgetting that he had handed it over to that old Golden Roc killer.


    ¡°That killer¡¯s family name is Wen, and he¡¯s a demaster of Golden Roc Fort. He knows me. Fortunately, my disguise saved me. The fact that Meng Mingshu is able to ask the demaster of Golden Roc Fort to protect him shows that he¡¯s likely to take over the Meng family.¡±


    A year prior, the eldest son of the Meng family had been assassinated and Meng Mingshu was the biggest beneficiary.


    The master did not appear, and Shangguan Fei began to worry that the demaster outside had recognized him. He hid behind the window and looked outside. He murmured, ¡°Wait, Meng Er is out there. He lives here and is seeing an old man off. That man must havee here to borrow money from him. The old man seems toe from a respected family, but he still bowed before Meng Mingshu. That is why I said I do not understand Old Meng. He is so rich and lives a luxurious life. Why did he want to learn Kung Fu?¡±


    Long Fanyun did not understand what Shangguan Fei meant.


    ¡°He ising!¡± Shangguan Fei shouted, immediately running back to his seat and sitting down with a serious look.


    Meng Mingshu came in with the demaster. He said, ¡°It has been a long time since I met a rare, precious treasure and an unknown, respected guest. I¡¯m sorry to have kept you waiting.¡±


    ¡°No amount of waiting is too long as long as we can make a deal. Can you tell me your name?¡± asked Shangguan Fei.


    ¡°I¡¯m Meng Mingshu,¡± he replied.


    ¡°I have heard much about you,¡± said Shangguan Fei.


    They had a long exchange of pleasantries, and both were reluctant to take a seat first.


    Finally, they sat down at almost the same time. They were still talking about current events and the weather. After an hour had passed, Meng Mingshu finally introduced the subject and asked, ¡°Mr. Guan, can you show me your precious treasure now?¡±


    Shangguan Fei had imed that his family name was Guan. He did not give an answer and sipped his tea silently.


    Meng Mingshu knew his guest¡¯s intention, so he said, ¡°Mr. Guan, would you prefer to have a private talk with me?¡±


    Shangguan Fei also understood the hidden meaning behind his words, thinking, <em>¡°I¡¯m protected by a tall bodyguard myself, so he must have wanted to keep the demaster with him, just in case.¡± </em>Shangguan Fei, however, was nervous facing that demaster who might be able to recognise him. So he turned around and said, ¡°Elder Fan, go have a look around the back garden. It has beautiful scenery and you might even encounter some queen or princess there.¡±


    Long Fanyun was reluctant to leave, not because he worried about Shangguan Fei¡¯s safety, but because he did not trust him.


    His identity now, however, was that of a bodyguard. He had to obey Shangguan Fei¡¯s order in front of others. So he agreed to the order in a low voice and left the room.


    Meng Mingshu also ordered the demaster to leave.


    Now, only the two of them remained in the room. Meng Mingshu¡¯s smile gradually disappeared and he said, ¡°Let¡¯s get straight to the subject. Where did you get those goods? We have the money to buy your goods, but we do not buy goods with unknown origins.¡±


    ¡°My goods are clean,¡± Shangguan Fei replied. He had always been on good terms with his uncle, and he could not pretend anymore. He grinned and asked in his own voice, ¡°Uncle, don¡¯t you recognize me?¡±


    Hearing the word ¡°uncle¡±, Meng Mingshu was surprised. He stood up immediately and stared at Shangguan Fei. After pausing for a while, he said, ¡°You, you¡¯re¡­¡±


    ¡°Uncle, what do you think of my disguise? Even demaster Wen could not recognize me,¡± Shangguan Fei boasted.


    Meng Mingshu¡¯s face changed . He walked to the window and looked outside. Then, he turned around and asked, ¡°How dare youe here?¡±


    ¡°I had no choice. The Dragon King forced me toe here,¡± replied Shangguan Fei.


    ¡°The Dragon King?¡± Meng Mingshu replied with a confused expression. He had reached a secret agreement with the Dragon King. However, he thought that since the Dragon King¡¯s influence in Jade City had ended, their agreement was invalid. He never expected that the Dragon King would send people to him again. He asked, ¡°Why did he send you to me? We don¡¯t even know each other.¡±


    Obviously, Meng Mingshu was lying. Shangguan Fei did not expose his lie and said coldly, ¡°Nothing. The Dragon King asked me to send you his greeting. That¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°Did he mention anything else?¡± Meng Mingshu asked, as he could not believe his ears.


    ¡°Nothing else. I havepleted my task. Uncle, you will not sell me out to the demaster Wen, will you?¡±


    Meng Mingshu asked in bewilderment, ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard the news?¡±


    ¡°What news?¡± Shangguan Fei asked. He and Long Fanyun had spent more than half a day waiting for Meng Mingshu, so they had not heard anything from the outside.


    ¡°Thetest news said that the Dragon Army lost their first battle and the Golden Roc Army is continuing their chase. In a few days, the Dragon King will have no way to escape,¡± Meng Mingshu exined.

 Chapter 492 - First Battle

    Chapter 492: First Battle


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Just as Left General Dugu Xian had expected, the number of fierce bombs was too small to pose a lethal threat to the enemy; besides, once it left the water, its burning range and duration diminished a great deal.


    Even so, their new weapon yed arge role in the battle. The first wave of the Golden Roc Army suffered heavy casualties and struggled in the patches of fire. The tragic cries were more terrifying than the death itself.


    For a time, everyone felt that the Dragon army was going to win.


    They forgot, or neglected, that there were countless soldiers in the hands of Shangguan Jianyi, and the second wave of soldiers came quickly. Besides weapons, every soldier was carrying a bag of mud.


    The fierce bomb was resistant to water, but mud was its natural enemy.


    When they covered the ground with mud, the third wave of the Golden Roc Armyunched their attack. They were the real main force.


    The Dragon Army morale was high after its first victory. Most of the soldiers had joined the army only five months ago and had only received the most basic training; they had never held a real saber or spear before. To protect their homnd and families, they rushed onto the battlefield with great passion.


    The battle was extremely fierce. Soon, the two sides slid into a melee. The reserve soldiers joined the fight, stepping over corpses only to add more to the battlefield.


    From the scene, it was difficult to predict the victor; but Dugu Xian knew that the Dragon Army was unsustainable and had few remaining men to send to the battlefield, while the Golden Roc Army kept sending a steady stream of reinforcements. If this situation continued, the Dragon Army would be defeated indeed.


    So without permission from Dragon King, Dugu Xian ordered the troops to retreat.


    Left General was themander of the troops, so Dragon King could not openly intervene during the war.


    Gu Shenwei wanted to join the battle several times, but he resisted his impulse.<em>¡°One man could not change the situation on the battlefield. Even if I killed hundreds of enemies, it would make no difference. Besides, the situation is changeable. Perhaps before I rode to the field, the situation there may reverse.¡±</em>


    The retreat was difficult and risky. During the withdrawal, the troops were prone to lose heart. Moreover, they maypletely loseposure if they were pursued by the enemy.


    That was why Dugu Xian reserved some of the most powerful, strongest soldiers. When the frontline soldiers managed to retreat to the encampment, those soldiers formed a defensive line to fend off the enemy soldiers.


    Shangguan Jianyi seemed eager to fight this decisive battle. When the Dragon Army retreated, he immediately sent more men tounch a more fierce attack; their horses even trampled the corpses of the Golden Roc Army soldiers.


    It was at that point that Gu Shenwei joined the battle. He personally led a thousand of his guard troops to join the defensive line. Like a screen, they allowed their soldiers to pass while killing the enemy soldiers in pursuit.


    The retreat process was nearly as fierce as the previous battle. In this situation, only the toughest and most disciplined soldiers could keep calm and strictly follow the order. They stepped back at the same pace to give the enemy no chance to destroy their defensive line. Even Dragon King with high martial skills could not take action on his own, let alone leaving the defensive line to chase after the enemy.


    Golden Roc Army did not give up pursuit until the first wave of the Dragon Army managed to retreat to their heavily guarded encampment.


    The news of Golden Roc Army¡¯s victory reached the northern shore; naturally, Shangguan Jianyi did not stop the news from spreading. But when he was alone with his trusted follower, hemented, ¡°Dugu Xian is apetent general. It¡¯s a pity that he does not work for us.¡±


    However, no one thought highly of Left General in the Dragon Army encampment.


    In this battle, over two thousand soldiers of the Dragon Army were killed or injured. Approximately one-third of them had been killed during the retreat. Therefore, many people in the Dragon Army believed that withdrawing troops at that time was not just a mistake, but a disaster.


    It was rumored that the withdrawal was Dugu Xian¡¯s idea and Dragon King had not agreed on it. After hearing this, the other generals of the Dragon Army became more dissatisfied with themander-in-chief.


    At critical moments, Gu Shenwei openly gave his full support to Left General, and he even refused to meet those generals who hade toin about the withdrawal.


    The situation on the battlefield wasplicated. Dugu Xian thought he had prevented an even bigger loss, but he could not provide much clear evidence; therefore, he decided not to say a word about it.


    He waited for the final victory. Countless generals in ancient and modern times fell under the criticism of civil servants for the same reason. They could not wait until the day of victory to wash away the previous humiliation. Dugu Xian felt very lucky to meet the Dragon King alone.


    The following morning, the Dragon Army abandoned their first defensive line, and then slowly retreated to their second one. This time, Shangguan Jianyi did not send soldiers to chase after them closely¨C he just dispatched men to follow the Dragon Army at a distance.


    Dugu Xian was still in charge of military affairs, while Gu Shenwei was busy solving other issues. His most pressing task was to find out the traitors around him.


    When the King of the Hui nation had been the Prince, he once overheard Shangguan Yun¡¯s conversation with his mother.


    The Queen of the Hui nation had feared Dragon King very much and was unwilling to take risks. Shangguan Yunforted her by saying, ¡°Dragon King is only amoner. Now that he has betrayed Golden Roc Fort, naturally, people around him will betray him. No matter how powerful he is, he must have a weakness. As long as we find it, we can easily defeat him.¡±


    The Queen asked for details, but Shangguan Yun did not reveal more¨C he only shared some words of wisdom, ¡°Only from loyalty can you find betrayal. The sharpest weapon is not saber or sword, but¡ª¡± Shangguan Yun pointed at his head. Then, he discovered the Prince and pushed him out of the room smilingly.


    The King of the Hui nation was young, but he had many tricks in his mind. Gu Shenwei used to distrust his information, but not this time. ¡°The sharpest weapon is not saber or sword, but the mind.¡± He had heard simr words before, so he knew that the Prince did not make up these words.


    <em>¡°Shangguan Yun is the proudest and favorite disciple of Mr. Zhang Hui. They have simr ideas, which is not surprising at all.</em>


    <em>Most importantly, those words that Shangguan Yun said suggested that his n was to buy off betrayers surrounding me, or that he has already bought them.</em>


    <em>The King of the Hui nation spoke confidently. It means that Shangguan Yun had confidence in his n and he had found traitors for him.</em>


    <em>That conversation had taken ce after Shangguan Yun returned from the Land of Fragrance,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei mused.


    The first betrayer Gu Shenwei suspected was Shangguan Ru. <em>¡°She has been away from her ¡®side¡¯ for a long time, not to mention her ¡®loyalty.¡¯ Even if she was the traitor, at most she could close the gates of The Land of Fragrance to prevent the Dragon Army from entering, but she could y a major role to reverse the war situation.</em>


    <em>Moreover, the Golden Roc Army has the advantage in numbers and weapons. The whole Western Region does not believe that I will win the final victory. It is useless for Shangguan Yun to buy off people around me.¡±</em>


    However, Gu Shenwei had to take precautions. When he worked out the ambush n with Dugu Xian, he reminded himself to take all the factors into consideration¨C one mistake in a link could ruin the entire n.


    However, the King of the Hui nation could not provide more leads. Gu Shenwei took people around him into consideration, including Maid Lotus, Chu Nanping, Xu Yanwei, Xu Xiaoyi, Zhong Heng and even the princess of Stone Kingdom and generals of five kingdoms. He discovered that all of them had the possibility of betraying him. <em>¡°If I thought more, I would lose the confidence in the whole Dragon army.</em>


    <em>Perhaps that¡¯s Shangguan Yun¡¯s purpose,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought.


    Another man, across the Xiaoyao Lake, was considering this problem for the Dragon King.


    Dragon King did not suspect Shangguan Fei for he had never considered Shangguan Fei as ¡°the people around him.¡± Besides, Shangguan Fei¡¯s betrayal would have very little influence on Dragon King.


    When Chengguan Fei had sent Dragon King¡¯s words to Meng Mingshu, he had recieved news of the Dragon Army¡¯s failure in their first battle. He was aware that Meng Mingshu would not give Dragon King any response at that time.


    Meng Mingshu left Shangguan Fei and Long Fanyun in the pce. Meng Mingshu said it was for their safety, but they knew that they were imprisoned.


    They were locked up in a room. Shangguan Fei was okay with this arrangement, but Long Fanyun was much displeased. However, he could not change it. In others¡¯ eyes, he was just a bodyguard who had no right to make requests.


    ¡°It¡¯s not so bad.¡± Shangguan Yun tried to be positive to their current situation. He continued, ¡°Meng Mingshu did not turn us in, which means that the Dragon Army has not lost the war. He must wait until the battle is decided before he makes a decision. This man is quite insidious. I underestimated him.¡±


    ¡°What will he do if the Dragon Army fails,¡± Long Fanyun asked.


    ¡°Well, I am going to have a good night¡¯s sleep, so do not let me imagine such a miserable ending. I can finally sleep on a bed. I missed the bed so much.¡±


    Long Fanyun intended to sleep on the floor¨C however, he sat there restless. He said, ¡°I need to go back. I can¡¯t stay here during the decisive battle.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not about staying out of the way. It¡¯s about preserving strength. Maybe the Dragon King intentionally kept us here to keep hope alive for the first-line of the Dragon Army.¡±


    Long Fanyun did not think so. As for Shangguan Fei, he did not see any hope. He said, ¡°I have to go back. I need you to find a way to help me escape.¡±


    He had to ask Shangguan Fei for help, as his knife had been taken away. Faced with the guards outside, he was like a tiger with its ws removed.


    Shangguan Fei presented a series of ideas, but none would work. He just wanted to chat with Long Fanyun.


    When he recognized Shangguan Fei¡¯s intention, Long Fanyun stopped talking. His heart had decided: He could no longer stand by waiting for the result of the battle.


    In an attempt to tease Long Fanyun into talking, Shangguan Fei said, ¡°Ah, I remember. That old man is quite the character.¡±


    Long Fanyun kept silent. Shangguan Fei continued, ¡°Do you know the man that Meng Mingshu sent away? He is the King of the An nation. Although I have never met him, I am sure he is the King because I saw his attendant hold the King¡¯s banner. Why didn¡¯t he stay in Jade City? I don¡¯t think he is anxious to return to his kingdom.¡±


    Noticing that Long Fanyun was not interested in the King of the An nation, Shangguan Fei knew that he had to talk about the Dragon Army of the southern shore to attract his attention. He paused for a while, and said, ¡°The King of the An nation has no soldiers, horses, money or crops. All he has is his title. A man like him is perfect to be a puppet who could coax his former ministers and people to serve him and question whether Dragon King is right or not. The soldiers in the Dragon Army are unreliable.¡±


    Shangguan Fei thought that this case was much likely to happen. He frowned and murmured, ¡°Dragon King must realize this and continue to fight longer.¡±


    Long Fanyun was thinking about his escape n, so he did not think too much about Shangguan Fei¡¯s words. He only remembered that Vice Commander of thousands, Wu Zongheng, who had been assigned a task, was from the An Kingdom. But he did not know how important Wu Zongheng¡¯s task was.

 Chapter 493 - Dividing Troops

    Chapter 493: Dividing Troops


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Tuo Nengyaid down on the ground after he was pierced through his chest . He was found an hourter at the entrance to his tent, surprisingly still alive.


    It was Ha Chilie who found him. Though he was taken aback, he was calm and immediately dealt with Tuo Nengya¡¯s wounds.


    When Tuo Nengya regained his consciousness, he found out that Ha Chilie had not revealed the news of his assassination. ¡°Disband the army, especially the new recruits,¡± he said in a weak voice.


    There was a shortage of supplies in the barracks, meaning only veterans were equipped with armor. The new recruits were mostly dressed in their own clothes.


    Tuo Nengya caught a glimpse of the assassin while he was escaping from the tent. He was sure that the assassin was a new recruit.


    Tuo Nengya realized that he did not have much time left. He did not want to hand over an army that wasden with spies and assassins to the Dragon King.


    In his life, he had narrowly escaped being killed many times, so he understood that one would eventually lose in a battle against death. No matter how many times he dodged death, it would still eventually find him.


    That time had finallye for him. He was d that he was still calm and fearless in the face of death. That meant a lot to him.


    Tuo Nengya was a proud macheteman. People like him were rare in Jade City and throughout the Western Region.


    Technically, he had never pledged his allegiance to anyone. Though he had worked for the First Master of Golden Roc Fort and the Dragon King, they were not his masters. He was merely returning their favor.


    The favor might not be significant to those men, but Tuo Nengya held himself to a higher standard. He would decide how and when to return the favor based upon his own judgment.


    Before dying, he reflected on his considerably long life. Though he still had many regrets, he could confidently say that he would be leaving this world without owing anyone anything.


    Death was steadily approaching. Tuo Nengya was prepared for it, but he would not give up prematurely. He soldiered on until he saw Maid Lotus.


    Maid Lotus was a symbol of the Dragon King. They were like mirrors that reflected each other. When he saw her, he finally knew what he was waiting for. There was something that he wanted to tell the Dragon King. ¡°Ten years, Supreme King¡­¡± he said.


    More than five years ago, Tuo Nengya stopped himself from killing the spineless Shangguan Fei. He had told the ve Huan that the Supreme King was the only one who was worthy of being his opponent, and that he would upy the Golden Roc Fort within ten years.


    While Gu Shenwei had not taken these words seriously, the old macheteman had always remembered it.


    Maid Lotus did not understand what Tuo Nengya said, but she knew who these words were meant for. ¡°I¡¯ll ry your message to the Dragon King,¡± she said.


    The old macheteman exhaled his final breath.


    ¡°I want revenge,¡± Ha Chilie said angrily as he clenched his fists. His respect for the old man had grown day by day in the past few months of them working and fighting together. Tuo Nengya¡¯s death was a huge blow to him.


    When he looked at Maid Lotus, he saw her as a manifestation of the Dragon King. He waited for her to make a decision.


    Maid Lotus felt no grief, for death wasmon to her. Besides, as a killer, she instinctively suspected that the murderer was Ha Chilie.


    It was very likely that the war beyond the mountains had already begun. Their most crucial task was not avenging Tuo Nengya. Maid Lotus turned to Wu Zhongheng and said, ¡°With Tuo Nengya dead, you¡¯re the leader here now.¡±


    Her words shocked Ha Chilie.


    Feeling somewhat awkward, Wu Zongheng immediately gave them a brief overview of the Dragon King¡¯s raid n. ¡°Lord Tuo¡¯s death is a huge loss to our army but we can¡¯t disband the troops yet. We must leave immediately so we can make it to the final battle as soon as possible,¡± he said.


    ¡°But¡­ But there are spies from the Golden Roc Fort hiding in the army¡­¡± said Ha Chilie.


    It was Wu Zongheng¡¯s calmness in critical moments that earned him the Dragon King¡¯s favor. However, he realized that he did not enjoy being in these kinds of situations. He came here thinking he would be aiding Tuo Nengya, but this burden had unexpectedly fallen on his shoulders.


    ¡°Lord Wu, please tell us what you¡¯re thinking. Now isn¡¯t the time to be polite,¡± Maid Lotus said, trying to encourage him after noticing that he was hesitating. Being the Dragon King¡¯s most trusted guard, her wordsmanded quite a bit of respect.


    Ha Chilie and Wu Zongheng were both vicemanders of thousands. Wu Zongheng was formerly an interior officer in the An Kingdom, so he was particrly sensitive to titles. He had just arrived in the barracks and did not want to give the impression that he was trying to usurp power.


    Ha Chilie understood that avenging Tuo Nengya was not the most pressing task, despite his fervent desire to do so. He bowed his head and said, ¡°Lord Wu, please give yourmand. We will follow it.¡±


    After pausing for a moment, Wu Zongheng said, ¡°I am not familiar with the current situation here. Lord Ha, this matter will be in your hands.¡±


    Ha Chilie casted a nce at Maid Lotus, and Maid Lotus nodded to him. <em>¡°If they continue to act like this, I will make a decision for them,¡± </em>she thought.


    ¡°My advice is to divide the troops in two,¡± Ha Chilie said.


    <em>¡°We have over 3,000 veterans in total. Wu Zongheng can take them to the ambush location ahead of time. Most of them are from the tribe, so they are more trustworthy. The rest of the more than 1,000 new recruits will stay here. After I find and remove the spies from them, I will immediately take the rest to meet Lord Wu and join the final battle.¡± </em>Ha Chilie decided.


    Wu Zongheng had the same idea, so he agreed to it. He also suggested that Maid Lotus stay here. He said, ¡°If there are killers from Golden Roc Fort, Lord Ha might need a helper.¡±


    Maid Lotus excelled in handling killers from Golden Roc Fort. <em>¡°If I went to the field, I would be of less help,¡± </em>she thought and, therefore, agreed.


    ¡°Three days. I only need three days. I will set out after three days, no matter whether or not I have rooted out all the spies. If possible, please wait for us for a little longer. I do not want to miss the final battle,¡± Ha Chilie said, wanting to avenge Tuo Nengya as well as dying to join the battle.


    Several of them were discussing military affairs. Han Xuan became impatient. She walked up to Ha Chilie and said, ¡°Mr. Ha, was that dead man your father?¡±


    Ha Chilie turned around and replied in surprise, ¡°No, you¡¯ve misunderstood. He was a macheteman¡­¡±


    ¡°Why did you be so excited then? Miss Ming is standing right here. Why are you always staring at other women?¡± she asked candidly.


    Ming Zhen flushed instantly. She quicklymanded in a low voice, ¡°Han Xuan, do not talk nonsense. Lord Ha has important matters to deal with.¡±


    Han Xuan was fearless. She groaned, ¡°Even a man who has important matters to deal with should not ignore his fianc¨¦e. A man¡¯s eyes deliver his thoughts. He¡­¡±


    Ming Zhen was so embarrassed and angry that tears streamed down her cheeks. She turned around and ran out of the tent. Han Xuan hurriedly followed her in confusion.


    Han Fen thought that this was interesting. She grinned and said, ¡°Miss Ming acted like a child. She burst into tears¡­¡±


    Observing the Managing Master¡¯s harsh eyes, she shut up immediately. Han Fen did not dare to disobey her master¡¯s orders as Han Xuan did.


    Ha Chilie was extremely embarrassed. <em>¡°The old macheteman¡¯s body is still warm. The Dragon King needs me to achieve his goal, but now I have been humiliated by a maid,¡± </em>he thought.


    They settled things quickly.


    As Tuo Nengya¡¯s death had not been revealed to the army, Ha Chilie assumed that the assassin was probably still in the camp. Therefore, he stopped demobilizing the new recruits, and then announced that Lord Tuo had been assassinated. Wu Zongheng swore to them that the Dragon King would honor Tuo Nengya¡¯s promises to the troops.


    At night, the army was divided into two parts. Wu Zongheng took charge of the veterans for a night¡¯s rest before taking leave the next morning, while Ha Chilie was in charge of the new recruits. Ha Chilie imed that they would stay here for the time being to handle some things.


    Maid Lotus brought five disciples from New Moon Hall. She sent the five disciples, including Han Fen, to follow and protect Wu Zongheng. She would stay here to help Ha Chilie.


    Ha Chilie patiently persuaded his fianc¨¦e to return to Gulping Wind Gorge.


    He had a sound reason: now only the new recruits were left in the military camps, and some of them might be killers from Golden Roc Fort. If she insisted on staying here, she would be in danger.


    Hearing his words, Ming Zhen was devastated. <em>¡°I have no status in Gulping Wind Gorge. Since the fat chief¡¯s death, I have been isted. That¡¯s why I overcame my shyness toe up here to meet you¡­</em>


    <em>¡°However, you were not delighted to see me, which disappointed me the most. Han Xuan was right. A man¡¯s eyes can expose his thoughts,¡± </em> she thought to herself. When Ha Chilie looked at Maid Lotus, Ming Zhen saw something in his eyes. Although she was an inexperienced girl, she knew that Ha Chilie had feelings for Maid Lotus.


    Ming Zhen finally agreed to go back to Gulping Wind Gorge.


    Han Xuan was outraged. <em>¡°If Miss Ming had not threatened me with her life, I would have rushed to fight Mr. Ha,¡± </em>she thought to herself.


    Tuo Nengya was very prestigious among the generals and soldiers. His death pervaded the whole barracks, casting a sad atmosphere over everyone. That night, a bonfire burned in the barracks, and many people stood vigil for him. The machetemen who had followed him for years were ovee with grief. Among them, ten had been chosen as representatives to enter the tent and bid farewell to Tuo Nengya¡¯s remains.


    Han Xuan could not tolerate such atmosphere. She was still angry. Crazy as she was, she was simple-minded. She had served Ming Zhen for years. Although she was just ten years junior to Ming Zhen, Han Xuan had always treated her as her daughter. She believed that it was her duty and responsibility to protect Ming Zhen.


    Han Xuan spent a long time coaxing Ming Zhen to stop crying. After Ming Zhen fell asleep, she walked out of the tent quietly.


    To prevent spies from Golden Roc Fort from escaping at night, they fortified the defenses in the military camp. Even so, no guards dared to stop new guests.


    Han Xuan had a sensitive nose. She walked around, and then stopped in front of a tent with a shadow on it. She said, ¡°I see you.¡±


    Han Fen appeared with a look of anger on her face. She said, ¡°You said that you would not interrupt my task.¡±


    ¡°I came to you for help. I¡¯m going to kill Maid Lotus so that Mr. Ha wille back to Miss Ming. Tell me, will you help me?¡± Han Xuan asked.


    ¡°If you kill the Managing Master, I will kill you,¡± Han Fen replied.


    ¡°Why?¡± asked Han Xuan, confused.


    ¡°I can help you with anything, except this. No one can hurt the Managing Master,¡± answered Han Fen.


    Han Xuan then understood that Han Fen served Maid Lotus. She asked, ¡°So what should I do? I cannot defeat the both of you. Mr. Ha is a yboy, and he has broken Miss Ming¡¯s heart.¡±


    ¡°I can help you. A man will fall in love with a woman once he has sex with her¡­¡± exined Han Fen.


    ¡°What? You mean Mr. Ha and Maid Lotus had¡­¡± Han Xuan began.


    ¡°No, you misunderstand me. I am not finished yet. As long as Mr. Ha sleeps with Miss Ming, he will not love another woman, including the Managing Master,¡± Han Fen continued.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± asked Han Xuan, suspiciously.


    ¡°Of course I am. I can help you,¡± Han Fen said smugly. She had mastered Delightful Touches, which could be of great help for this.


    After a discussion, they hid in the shadows. No guard on patrol saw them.


    Han Xuan and Han Fen nned to kidnap Ha Chilie, but they found that someone else had done it before them.

 Chapter 494 - Desertion

    Chapter 494: Desertion


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Two reports were ced in front of Gu Shenwei, one from Zhong Heng and the other from Xu Xiaoyi. Despite the differing details, the suspicion of betrayal was ced on the same group of people.


    In the group of more than fifty, all of them shared amon characteristic: their families had escaped from Xiaoyao Lake that had been under the control of the Dragon Army in the past few months.


    Most of the troops have never managed a country before, including Dragon King. Both Zhong Heng and Xu Xiaoyi established their respective independent intelligenceworks but mainly focused on tracing the Golden Roc killers and the popr support. Though they had ced spies around the main generals in the army, their scope was notrge enough to epass their families.


    However, both systems were highly efficient. After they received a secret order from Dragon King in the front, it took four or five days to hand in reports in tandem. Besides, they ssified them for Dragon King to look through quickly.


    By investigating the traces of their families, Gu Shenwei narrowed down the scope of suspects. It was not an urate way to do so because of the high possibility of idental omission. Fortunately, he found something.


    But those people who were close to Dragon King had no family or their family were not residing in Xiaoyao Lake. Therefore, they could only use the most awkward way to investigate: to observe what they were doing and saying.


    Gu Shenwei almost summoned all his early followers with various excuses but got little information out of them. After all, everyone had a reason to betray him but had a better chance before, but they withstood the test.


    Gu Shenwei did not care for them but he must choose to trust a group of people before he could deal with another group of people.


    There were more than fifty suspects, several of whom who were crucial to the battle of the Dragon Army. Gu Shenwei knew he must immediately identify the suspects.


    ¡°I¡¯m leaving,¡± Gu Shenwei said, surprising Zhong Heng and Dugu Xian.


    The war of the second defense line was about to start. The fact that Dragon King would abandon his army and leave at this critical moment confused them.


    Zhong Heng had just arrived at the frontline camp from the capital of the An Kingdom and knew nothing about what he would do. Even so, he was shrewd. He merely frowned without making an immediate response.


    On the contrary, Dugu Xian said at once, ¡°Those soldiers are anxious at this time. You mustn¡¯t leave, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°I believe you can calm the soldiers.¡± Though he was surrounded by betrayal, Gu Shenwei must choose to trust someone.


    ¡°But¡­¡± Dugu Xian had always been conservative and often thought of the worst case scenario. He greatly doubted his ability to calm the soldiers.


    Gu Shenwei waved his hand to stop his Left General from persuading him, indicating that he had made up his mind. He knew the reason, so he did not have to waste time. ¡°General Dugu will be entirely responsible for military affairs after I leave. I asked Prime Minister Zhong to take care of my troops and other affairs.¡±


    Zhong Heng bowed to him, understanding that he was not only responsible for being Dragon King¡¯s regent but also bncing Dugu Xian¡¯s power.


    Dugu Xian could only agree with Dragon King, but he cared about one question. ¡°Would everything go ording to the original n?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I will appear with troops on time.¡±


    ording to the n, the Dragon Army still would not fight a decisive battle with the Golden Roc Army in the second defense line. Instead, they would try to buy time and then retreat to the third defense line to fight in the selected ce. The oue would then depend on whether the soldiers on the nks would appear in time.


    Gu Shenwei would take charge of Tuo Nengya¡¯s army in person because several people on the list of suspects were rted to that army.


    Had their n been already exposed so that the Golden Roc Fort needed to bribe these people? But Gu Shenwei immediately denied this spection because Shangguan Yun had already bribed them since several months ago. Meanwhile, intelligence showed that the rtives of the suspects left Xiaoyao Lake at that time, but Gu Shenwei had not worked out this sudden attack n.


    Either way, Tuo Nengya¡¯s army was indispensable because the betrayer of the army would producerger destructive power.


    As for the rest of the suspects, Zhong Heng had a list in his hand and he would prioritize monitoring them.


    Dragon King suddenly left the frontline in the public name of returning to the capital of the An Kingdom, but people thought that he was going to the north shore. Some said that he would return to the Land of Fragrance, causing a greatmotion in the barracks.


    Dugu Xian tried his best to appease soldiers. Apart from the official news, he said nothing about Dragon King but went to the barracks to ask something carefully. He had decided to fight a second battle with the Golden Roc Army tomorrow.


    It was actually a battle for dying time, but Dugu Xian changed his mind and intended to fight a hard battle to show his strength. Therefore, he temporarily brought more troops from the rear.


    In terms of calming the soldiers, the victory was of equal value to Dragon King.


    Many people thought that Dragon King headed to the north shore by crossing Xiaoyao Lake because someone saw Chu Nanping boarding a small boat.


    In fact, many people had no idea that Chu Nanping had begun guarding Right General Shang in the past few days.


    This time, they headed to the north shore with a task.


    The Golden Roc Army had hardly deployed soldiers in the water region. Therefore, Shang Liao¡¯s warships had little influence but served as a guard. He nned to carry out his agreement with Dragon King: to organize another army.


    Unlike Shangguan Fei and Long Fanyun, the two men were much more serious. Shang Liao needed Chu Nanping¡¯s protection, but he also understood that this young man was someone Dragon King dispatched to keep an eye on him.


    They left for the capital of the Hui Kingdom afternding. Nearly every royal family was gathered there, including the person Shang Liao wanted to look for.


    Shang Liao was more careful than Shangguan Fei. After arriving at the destination, they were provided with horses and uniforms of the Golden Roc Army, so they disguised asmon people and then arrived in Hui City without any trouble.


    However, they could feel the strange atmosphere before even entering the city.


    The soldiers were all walking hastily. One officer yelled at them when he saw Shang Liao and Chu Nanping wandering and asked them to return to their armies immediately.¡±We¡¯ll be soon at war. How dare you two wander around!¡±


    The people in the street pick up their speed and lowered their heads as if they were preupied.


    The second battle between the Dragon Army and the Golden Roc Army came to an end while they were still on the boat.


    It seemed that the Golden Roc Army had won the war because the Dragon Army had to give up the second defense line and continued to retreat. However, it was unexpectedly difficult for the Golden Roc Army to continue the battle and they lost a lot more than people could imagine.


    There were nearly 10,000 casualties in the war. Shangguan Jianyi expected the decisive battle to happen in thest defense line of the Dragon Army, but Dugu Xian¡¯s counterattack shocked him. He had to admit his fault for he had not fully prepared for the war.


    However, he did not retreat. He ordered his soldiers to fight to the death, causing a disastrous result.


    Before long, Shang Liao and Chu Nanping heard the remarks in the city. Even soldiers thought that their general wanted to win with using the lives of soldiers. Moreover, the Golden Roc Army had many more soldiers. Even if they lost 10,000 soldiers, they still had the upper hand and the Dragon Army had also suffered casualties. It was a profitable business to exchange one life with two lives.


    Therefore, though the soldiers of the Golden Roc Army were confident in winning, they began doubting about their own safety.


    Shang Liao was so overjoyed that he even took the initiative to speak to Chu Nanping. ¡°This is great! This is the kind of atmosphere I want.¡±


    After that, Shangliao met with a cousin of his. Although the Golden Roc Fort was at war with Dragon King and the royal families of Xiaoyao Lake had been divided into two factions, they were still in contact with each other. In terms of their families, they were working for their own interests, and some people would certainly enjoy the fruits of victory.


    Due to this reason, Shang Liao was not wary of his cousin, but he ignored an important problem. He was not amon son of royal families, but the new king of the Kang Kingdom conferred by Dragon King.


    It was a secret talk, so Shang Liao decided to met his cousin alone and asked Chu Nanping to stay in the rented inn.


    In fact, Shang Liao had misunderstood Chu Nanping. The youngster had never tried to monitor his words and deeds.


    In his life, there was only one thing in his heart¡ªimproving his swordsmanship. He cared about nothing else, not how high the status of Left General was nor who the man was loyal to.


    After Shang Liao left for a while, Chu Nanping found himself surrounded by troops.


    Chu Nanping was disguised as amoner, as were those people. However, they were a group of strong youngsters. They had forgotten that the eligible men in Xiaoyao Lake had all already been recruited into the army.


    Although Chu Nanping had only been trained as a killer for several months and had not learned a lot, it did change some of his habits and thoughts. This time, he did not use his sword to fight against his enemies in a siege. He pretended not to know it and fled through the window after returning to the room.


    Walking in the street, Chu Nanping thought that there were certainly no Golden Roc killers among those people.


    He was simple but not at all stupid. At this time, the Kings and royal families of all countries were forced to gather in a ce like prisoners. So it was natural for Shang Liao to go there to discuss with his cousin.


    Chu Nanping sneaked into the pce when night fell. His idea was simple. Since Dragon King asked him to protect Shang Liao and kill him at a critical time, he would strictly follow the order.


    The Kings of the Hui, An, Sha, and Kang Kingdoms all stayed in the royal pce under extremely strict supervision.


    Chu Nanping, once prisoned in the underground secret chamber of the royal pce, knew that it was a ce to prison people. So he went to the back pce first, only to find that the entrance to the secret chamber had disappeared. Besides, the former queen¡¯s bedchamber had been razed to the ground, reced with flowers and nts.


    But Chu Nanping was not discouraged and walked carefully in the dark. He had enough patience. Since the royal pce was not veryrge, it would just take him a few days to find the person he was looking for.


    It was out of the sudden that he came across the intruder in thetter half of the night. Both of them were trying to avoid the guards and happened to choose the same route.


    Chu Nanping did not have the time to unsheathe his sword and decided to directly hit the man. He then made a surprised noise after discovering that that man seemed to have learned Wayless Qigong.


    The other man behind him asked in a small voice, ¡°Is that Little Chu?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    These two men were Shangguan Fei and Long Fanyun who finally managed to escape from house arrest but met acquaintances before leaving the royal pce.


    It was not a good ce to talk, so they left the royal pce. Shangguan Fei asked excitedly, ¡°Did Dragon King send you to save us?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m here to look for someone.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Shangguan Fei was a little disappointed. ¡°There are spies around Dragon King, so we must return and inform him.¡±


    ¡°But Dragon King has left and we don¡¯t know where he has gone.¡±


    ¡°Ah, could he have entered Wushan? There¡¯s a trap waiting for him there!¡±

 Chapter 495 - Entering the Mountain

    Chapter 495: Entering the Mountain


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Since the Dragon Army showed great strength in the second battle, Meng Mingshu changed his attitude immediately. Therefore, Shangguan Fei and Long Fanyun had a chance to escape.


    They turned their residence into arger one with two rooms. As a result, Long Fanyun did not have to listen to Shangguan Fei¡¯s chatter and the food obviously became more exquisite with fewer guards outside.


    Shangguan Fei pursed his lips. ¡°The Dragon Army must be winning. Otherwise, Meng Er won¡¯t be this generous.¡±


    Long Fanyun thought the same but was not sure how urate it was. He did not feel relief until Meng Mingshu personally showed up. He was even more determined to flee and join the army.


    Since the two messengers were under house arrest, it was the first time for Meng Mingshu to visit his nephew Shangguan Fei. He brought his nephew to the inner room and whispered for a while. Then, he left calmly as if he was just chatting.


    Long Fanyun did not want to eavesdrop on their conversation, so he sat somewhere far from the wall. Meng Mingshu nced at him as he walked. ¡°You¡¯re a swordsman from the Great Snowmountain? Dragon King sure is lucky.¡±


    ¡°No. We¡¯re the lucky ones.¡± Long Fanyun seriously corrected his mistake. Outsiders seemed to know the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain very well, but few people knew the truth of killing among the five peaks so that they could not realize the changes that Dragon King brought.


    After Meng Mingshu left, Shangguan Fei came out of the room with a strange smile on his face as if he had learned a big secret. ¡°One has infinite ambition¡­¡±


    Long Fanyun stopped him immediately, knowing that Shangguan Fei was likely to chatter on for a long time. ¡°We must run away this evening.¡±


    ¡°Do you have a n?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°How will we run away? Go out directly?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was just joking so this unexpected answer stunned him. He shook his head and said, ¡°It¡¯s impossible. Even though there are few guards outside, there are more hiding in the dark.¡±


    ¡°As long as I get a weapon, I will run to the depths of the pce to attract attention and then came back secretly. I still remember the way toe, so I won¡¯t get lost.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was still shaking his head. ¡°It¡¯s too risky. Others also live in the pce except for Meng Er. If we run into other guards, they will kill us immediately. I won¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re like the others, aren¡¯t you? You want to decide who you¡¯ll be loyal to after for the war is concluded.¡± Long Fanyun nced at him. He was indeed a little reckless but not stupid. He knew that Meng Mingshu respected Lady Meng and wouldn¡¯t send his nephew to the enemy no matter if Dragon King would win or fail, so it was a very safe ce for Shangguan Fei. ¡°I will go alone and won¡¯t trouble you. Besides, you¡¯re also a burden for me.¡±


    In the past year, Shangguan Fei was mostfortable under house arrest in these past few days. He really did not want to leave at once. However, Long Fanyun was a swordsman of the Great Snowmountain and nobody could change his mind, so he ground his teeth and said, ¡°Well, I¡¯ll go with you as your burden. But you should know that I would do this for you¡­¡±


    Long Fanyun clenched his fist, frightening Shangguan Fei.


    In fact, Shangguan Fei had a much more detailed n. In recent days, he had been secretly observing the situation and had almost learned the shift time of the guards outside, so he nned to carry out his n at that moment.


    As a result, they did not meet the guards. They ran into Chu Nanping instead.


    After Shangguan Fei said that Dragon King was tricked, Chu Nanping and Long Fanyun were all confused. ¡°Who tricked the Dragon King? What do you know? Is it Meng Mingshu¡¯s doing?¡±


    Shangguan Fei nced at Long Fanyun unhappily, envying his concern for Dragon King. He deliberately coughed and said, ¡°Maybe it has nothing to do with Meng Er, but he indeed told me that my third brother Shangguan Yun has secretly entered into the mountain before the war started. Dragon King happened to just arrive at the mountain at this time, so¡­¡±


    ¡°This is just a coincidence?¡± Long Fanyun did not believe that Dragon King would be easily tricked.


    ¡°Who knows? However, my third brother and Shangguan Jianyi have been secretlypeting for the best performance. Now Shangguan Jianyi is taking charge of the army, he¡¯ll naturally take credit for defeating the Dragon Army. My third brother can only im credit for getting Dragon King¡¯s head. I suppose he was eager to enter Wushan to set traps and wait for the Dragon King when he has nowhere to go.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was specting, but he had previously contacted Shangguan Yun and got a lot of information from Meng Mingshu. This assumption seemed reasonable.


    Long Fanyun and Chu Nanping nced at each other. They believed in Shangguan Fei¡¯s words.


    ¡°Head to Wushan immediately.¡± Long Fanyun was so anxious that he wanted to fly there with the wings. ¡°Little Chu, how long has it been since Dragon King entered the mountain?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe three or four days.¡± Chu Nanping was also a little worried as he did not want the Dragon King to be killed by someone. ¡°If we go after him now, maybe we can catch up with him.¡±


    But Shangguan Fei was very calm. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Even if Shangguan Yun sets a trap, the Dragon King isn¡¯t an ordinary man who will be easily tricked. Little Chu, you¡¯re looking for someone, right? Why are you here in the pce?¡±


    ¡°Right General Shang Liao might also be in the pce. Have you seen him before?¡±


    Shangguan Fei and Long Fanyun had been under house arrest these days, so they had no chance to meet outsiders. After a while, Shangguan Fei realized that Shang Liao must be trying to persuade the royal family of the Kang Kingdom to give up. ¡°You needn¡¯t worry about this. As long as the Dragon Army wins, Shang Liao won¡¯t be killed. You¡¯re looking for him everywhere, but maybe he¡¯s enjoying delicacies and beauties.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the captain of Dragon King¡¯s guards. Anyway, I will enter into Wushan immediately. What about you, Little Chu?¡± Long Fanyun asked Chu Nanping at first.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you,¡± Chu Nanping said without hesitation.


    ¡°You two sure are brave butck strategies. You¡¯ll bring me trouble sooner orter.¡±


    Long Fanyun was responsible for escorting Shangguan Fei to the north shore. Now he hadpleted his task, he said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to go with us. You either return to the Dragon Army or go to your uncle, which is safer.¡±


    ¡°The swordsman from the Great Snowmountain also knows how to abandon his benefactor after achieving his goal. We¡¯re still in hostile territory but you¡¯re already trying to abandon me?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the one who said you didn¡¯t want to go into Wushan.¡± Long Fanyun frowned, finding this task to be more trouble than it was worth. It seemed that he would have a hard time ditching Shangguan Yun in the future.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that.¡± Shangguan Fei stared at them. ¡°I¡¯m just a little cautious. Think twice before you act. But now only I am thinking, but you¡­¡±


    While Shangguan Fei was stillining, they found a secluded ce to hide and left the city after dawn.


    Unexpectedly, there was truth to Shangguan Fei¡¯s words earlier. Shang Liao was not holding beauties, but he was not in danger either.


    Meanwhile, Shang Liao¡¯s cousin was shouting at the leader of the imperial guard. ¡°You fools! You¡¯re dozens of men strong but you couldn¡¯t even catch a child? You haven¡¯t found him yet after more than half a day?¡±


    The leader of the imperial guard blushed and replied in a low voice, ¡°This is the capital of the Hui Kingdom. We¡¯re not familiar with¡­¡±


    Shang Liao¡¯s cousin, the prime minister of the Kang Kingdom, scolded the leader of the imperial guard out of the room before turning to Shang Liao who was watching silently. He smiled and said, ¡°I apologize for the embarrassing scene. I can¡¯t even do such a little thing well.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t be a stranger. We¡¯re a family.¡±


    ¡°Haha, but now you¡¯re the King of the Kang Nation.¡±


    The Prime Minister especially emphasized the word ¡°the King of the Kang Nation¡± and waited for his reaction.


    Shang Liao became serious.¡±Prime Minister, please don¡¯t say that. It¡¯s just a title. Once the war on the southern bank ends, I will announce the cancetion of the title immediately. I hope you can tell His Majesty that I¡¯ll be forever loyal to him.¡±


    The Prime Minister nodded with satisfaction. He did not acim the position of Shang Liao but praised his cautious attitude. ¡°If the war ends and Dragon King wins, it¡¯s difficult for you to give up the title, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Shang Liao shook his head and said with great certainty, ¡°Dragon King won¡¯t win. The Dragon Army is tenacious, but it¡¯s useless. They have given up their front, making their territories be smaller and smaller. As long as the Golden Roc Army keep moving forward, they¡¯ll still be the victors. That much is certain.¡±


    ¡°There are always idents. Dragon King has met a lot of unexpected situations before, so we should be more cautious.¡±


    Shang Liao shook his head. ¡°There are some things we can¡¯t imagine as officials of the Kang Kingdom.¡±


    They were like martial artists of simr strength testing each other but not daring to be the first to show their unique skill.


    ¡°The Kang Kingdom needs to organize its own army, so does the entire Xiaoyao Lake. If the five countries are divided into several parts, they¡¯ll be upied by the enemy one after another,¡± Shang Liao said. He did not intend topete for the throne. He was sober and knew what the most important power was.


    ¡°We have to consider the unexpected situation again. If the Golden Roc Army fails, the Kang Kingdom would have a chance to recruit soldiers and buy horses.¡±


    After the Prime Minister shared his original n, he continued to induce Shang Liao to state his true position.


    But Shang Liao avoided this topic and said instead, ¡°The Kang Kingdom has other opportunities. As long as he put in more effort, he won¡¯t have to rely on other countries¡¯ forces.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°We can depend on the bridge.¡±


    ¡°The bridge?¡±


    ¡°I have most ships of Xiaoyao Lake, and the only bridge is managed by Hui Kingdom. Therefore, no matter who wins or loses on the southern bank, we just need to¡­¡±


    ¡°As long as we destroy the bridge and remove ships, all troops can only be trapped on the southern bank and can¡¯t cross the Lake at once!¡± the Prime Minister continued with excitement. ¡°Then the Kang Kingdom can¡­¡±


    ¡°Right. But we need to prepare ahead of time. We should have troops in our hands and persuade the Hui Kingdom or abandon them to directly upy the bridge.¡±


    ¡°Good idea.¡± The Prime Minister finally agreed with him. The former King of the Kang nation would not be able to carry out the bold n because he would be frightened to death just by hearing about it. ¡°Your Majesty, the task of reviving Xiaoyao Lake rests on your shoulders.¡±


    The Prime Minister knelt to his cousin, wanting to be the first minister to show loyalty to the new King.


    Shangguan Fei had a good idea about Dragon King¡¯s n butcked the details of it.


    When night fell, Gu Shenwei silently crossed the Gulping Wind Gorge. Instead of directly going to Tuo Nengya¡¯s military camp to rescue the soldiers that might have been caught by spies, he chose to take another route.


    Dragon King¡¯s soldiers were from different countries and had their own interests, so Gu Shenwei did not think that they would be absolutely loyal to him. Before Dragon King possessed the real strength, those soldiers would inevitably be on the fence. Therefore, Gu Shenwei calmly epted the truth and was not angry with them. He was only making preparations for the first possibility, as well as the second and the third.


    That way, he knew that there was always a way he could choose when the crisis came.

 Chapter 496 - Distrust

    Chapter 496: Distrust


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    If they had some ns, Han Xuan and Han Fen would sneak into Ha Chilie¡¯s tent and kidnapped him to Ming Zhen¡¯s bed. After that, Han Fen would use her Delightful Touches to make her mistress faint.


    Han Fen was very confident in her ult sciences because she tested it in person and seed by using it on Dragon King and the Princess. She promised to Han Xuan, saying, ¡°It¡¯ll absolutely be effective.¡±


    Soldiers had been patrolling in the barracks strictly and it was not until thetter half of the night that they gradually lowered their guards. With the death of Tuo Nengya, themander-in-chief, military discipline was inevitably affected and orders were not fully implemented.


    Han Xuan and Han Fen nearly stayed in wait for an hour. Han Fen was willing to wait because she was trained as a killer in the New Moon Hall. She could continue waiting for several hours. However, Han Xuan felt a little anxious and kept quiet because she wanted topete for tolerance with her partner.


    Therefore, when they saw two figures sneaking into Ha Chilie¡¯s tent, Han Xuan could not help pouncing on them before muttering in a low voice, ¡°Don¡¯tpete with my mistress.¡±


    Han Fen was stunned. It was the first time that she had seen someone more unruly than herself, so she also followed her.


    The two killers lurked around for half an hour and decided to act only after finding nothing strange. They did not realize that there were other people that had been hiding earlier than them.


    Han Xuan thought that she couldn¡¯t be able to defeat them because her martial arts was much worse than them. She only learned the simplest martial arts of the New Moon Hall since young, not ult sciences. Naturally, she would lose.


    Fortunately, Han Fen constantly used all kinds of hidden weapons, preventing them from getting hurt.


    Those two men were unwilling to fight them. They waved their sabers to force the two women backward before fleeing. But after taking only several steps, they smelled a strange fragrance. It was toote to escape from it. Instead, they stumbled back.


    Han Xuan did not notice anything unusual. She was stubborn and always tried her best to fight even when she was at a disadvantage. She tried her best tond a palm stroke on the nearest killer and sent the man flying. Han Xuan was shocked. Why was this powerful man suddenly this vulnerable?


    Han Fen realized that the two killers had been caught by knockout powder, but refused tog behind because of her child-likepetitive mind. She grabbed the other killer with poisonous finger-cot in her five fingers.


    With this, Maid Lotus¡¯ n was destroyed.


    She made the two men faint with the Indra Fragrance, but the men died before they could get any important information out of them.


    ¡°You!¡± Maid Lotus scolded them in a low voice, her tone unusually severe.


    Han Fen was loyal to the Managing Master but was also afraid of her. She could not help flinching. She pointed to Han Xuan and said, ¡°It¡¯s her.¡±


    The patrolling soldiers noticed something strange was going on and quickly came up to them. ¡°Sweep,¡± Maid Lotus ordered before entering Ha Chilie¡¯s tent.


    Sweeping meant that they should get rid of the corpses, but Han Xuan did not understand the order. She began to frown to see Maid Lotus so casually entering Ha Chilie¡¯s tent.


    Han Fen immediately carried two corpses alone and followed after Han Xuan. Together, they entered the tent.


    Ha Chilie was not in bed. He was standing in front of his bed, fully clothed.


    When the patrolling soldiers outside left, Maid Lotus said again, ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Her tone was not as severe as before, but it was still as cold as usual.


    The more aloof Maid Lotus was, the more afraid Han Fen became. She was much older than Maid Lotus, but she was now like a child who had made a mistake. She nervously dragged at her skirt and whispered, ¡°I¡­ I followed her. She asked me for help. I think since we¡¯re friends, I should¡­¡±


    Han Xuan did not fear the Managing Master and asked suspiciously, ¡°I asked her toe, and we came to tie¡­ well, protect Ha Chilie. However, Miss, why are you in a man¡¯s tent at night?¡±


    Ha Chilie stopped her immediately and said, ¡°Don¡¯t say nonsense. Maid Lotus knows that there¡¯d be assassins tonight and came to protect me personally.¡±


    In order to make this trap credible, Maid Lotus did not even ask the New Moon Hall disciples to follow her. She did not expect this decision to ruin the whole n.


    ¡°She¡¯s Maid Lotus. Why are you calling ¡®Lady¡¯? You never call Miss ¡®Lady¡¯.¡± Han Xuan was increasingly suspicious. She did not care that Maid Lotus was the superior martial artist between the two; she just wanted to seek justice for her mistress.


    Ha Chilie blushed. Han Xuan did not stop speaking, but this time turned to address Maid Lotus. ¡°Lady Maid Lotus, you won¡¯t have worry about this anymore. I¡¯ll protect him so no sly woman would dare approach him again.¡±


    Han Fen held her breath and looked at her new friend in horror. Words failed her.


    Despite being humiliated, Maid Lotus did not kill Han Xuan. Instead, her tone became more gentle as she asked, ¡°You¡¯ll protect him?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s my mistress¡¯ husband. Of course, I should be the one¡­¡±


    She could not even finish her sentence because Maid Lotus suddenly used her fingers to lightly sh across her chest. Han Xuan felt as if arge stone was weighing on her chest, preventing her from breathing, let alone speaking.


    ¡°Please be merciful!¡± Ha Chilie shouted. He turned even redder when he realized that Han Xuan appeared fine. He lowered his head and retreated.


    Maid Lotus returned to her original spot, but Han Xun was like a drowning person that could not breathe. She became much better after her Internal Breath worked for a while.


    Partially due to the suffocation, partially due to the fright, Han Xuan¡¯s face was redder than Ha Chilie. ¡°You¡­¡±


    ¡°Her martial arts is¡­¡± Han Fen was trying to boast about Maid Lotus but immediately closed her mouth when she saw Maid Lotus¡¯ eyes.


    ¡°You have good martial arts. Why don¡¯t you stealing another person¡¯s man instead of getting your own?¡± Though Han Xuan was weaker than Maid Lotus in terms of martial arts, she still had something to say.


    ¡°Ha Chilie is your mistress¡¯ husband and has nothing to do with me. I don¡¯t have any need to steal him.¡±


    Han Fen found it surprising that Maid Lotus was willing to exin herself. She secretly shot Han Xuan a warning nce but Han Xuan continued to ask, ¡°Really?¡±


    Maid Lotus nodded.


    ¡°Then¡­ I apologize to you. I¡¯m the meddlesome one, but this is all my own idea. It has nothing to do with Han Fen and my mistress.¡±


    Han Fen repeatedly nodded.


    Ha Chilie felt the uneasiest despite it being his tent. They were so straightforward that Ha Chilie could not bear it. Besides, Maid Lotus¡¯ words also disappointed him a little.


    Her n failed, leaving only two corpses. Maid Lotus checked for a moment and confirmed that they were not Golden Roc killers. Ha Chilie imed that they were mine thieves. The Wushan tribe fought with the mine thieves all the year round and could identify each other.


    Han Xuan also looked at the corpses but found nothing. She stole nces at Maid Lotus from time to time, gradually feeling relief that Maid Lotus did not seem offended.


    The moment dawn arrived, Wu Zongheng led 3,000 veterans to continue on their journey. The four New Moon Hall disciples, including Han Fen, acted as guards. Ming Zhen and Han Xuan were also ready to return to the Gulping Wind Gorge, so they took the same route as the army.


    Ha Chilie felt that he was a little unfriendly toward his fiancee yesterday, so he personally saw her off for 5,000 meters. However, they spoke little along the way. When it was time to leave, Ha Chilie calmly said, ¡°Well, goodbye. Please travel safely.¡±


    Before Ming Zhen could reply, Ha Chilie was already returning to the camp on his horse.


    It was difficult to find spies among more than remaining 1,000 new recruits. Ha Chilie did not know how to do, so Maid Lotus had to do that in person. However, hermands were made in the name of vicemander of thousands of soldiers.


    The most important thing was that they shouldn¡¯t make everyone in the army feel under suspicion, which was untrue and could easily cause a disturbance.


    Under the order of Maid Lotus, Ha Chilie secretly summoned the tribesmen with higher status among the soldiers. He revealed to them that spies must be mine thieves and asked them to look for spies.


    Meanwhile, Maid Lotus disguised as Dragon King¡¯s messenger and met with several of the respected representatives of the mine thieves. She conveyed Dragon King¡¯s doubts about the tribe.


    They hinted that those who provided clues leading to the discovery of the spies would receive a great reward.


    With this, the animosity between the two parties who had old grievances deepened even more. They strived to tell Maid Lotus and Ha Chilie the truth.


    Once one began giving secret information, the rest would follow him. The tribesmen and mine thieves not only disclosed each other¡¯s secrets but also began distrusting their acquaintances and rtives.


    That day, Maid Lotus and Ha Chilie received countless clues, most of which were of no value except for several clues.


    Though the two assassins diedst night, their identities were quickly discovered. They were indeed mine thieves. Then, their organizations that contained dozens of people were gradually revealed. By the middle of the night, Maid Lotus had gathered a rough list. The question now was when to catch them.


    In order to confirm the evidence, Maid Lotus decided to wait for the right moment. She would start acting after the spies be anxious under pressure.


    Even after getting Maid Lotus¡¯ promise, Han Xuan was notpletely at ease because Ha Chilie was still indifferent to her mistress. He did not stand and look at her mistress for a while after saying goodbye. Instead, he had rushed to the barracks as if someone was waiting for him.


    Ha Chilie was too suspicious. When the army took a nap at noon, Han Xuan asked for Han Fen¡¯s help. ¡°Return to the barracks with me.¡±


    Having learned a lessonst night, Han Fen immediately shook her head. When she saw that Han Xuan was about to speak, she shook her head in advance.


    Han Xuan was notpletely brain-dead. She knew what could induce Han Fen to take risks. ¡°Your Miss is in danger.¡±


    ¡°Miss? Do you mean the Managing Master?¡±


    ¡°Well, Miss, the Managing Master, and Maid Lotus. Whatever her title is, it¡¯s her.¡±


    ¡°Her martial arts is first in the world. There¡¯s no need to fear.¡±


    ¡°What will happen if many people besiege her?¡±


    Han Fen frowned and thought for a while, ¡°What do you want to say?¡±


    Both of them were far away from the soldiers. Han Xuan looked around before saying in a low voice, ¡°Do you know why my mistress and I are looking for Ha Chilie?¡±


    Han Fen shook her head before immediately adding, ¡°To sleep with him?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Han Xuan said, but she did not get angry. ¡°Several days ago, my mistress overheard her rtives plotting to do something over in Ha Chilie¡¯s ce. She came here to warn her out of worry but couldn¡¯t say anything in front of the stone-faced Ha Chilie. Moreover, I noticed that everyone from the Gulping Wind Gorge stayed behind in the barracks instead of following us.¡±


    ¡°So, Ha Chilie is in danger.¡±


    ¡°No, no. My mistress heard clearly that they would deal with Dragon King¡­ and Maid Lotus.¡±


    Han Xuan seemed to be credible, so Han Fen did not doubt her. She stared at Han Xuan and asked, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say so earlier?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m giving you a chance to make a contribution. That way, I can make up for the trouble I caused youst night.¡±


    Han Fen decided that she was going to protect the Managing Master. She did not consider the strangeness in Han Xuan¡¯s words.


    More than 5,000 meters away, Maid Lotus was ready to catch spies.

 Chapter 497 - Exhortation

    Chapter 497: Exhortation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Maid Lotus and Ha Chilie were under sudden attacks.


    Back then, they had been leading more than 20 trustworthy veterans to catch spies, most of which tried to plead innocence. Three tried to escape but were caught by ambush outside the encampment.


    The n did not go well. Maid Lotus thought that more spies would flee in panic and deliberately caught them in public but it brought little effect. Besides, she had not enough evidence to convict the others.


    They were heading for another camp when three veterans ambushed them from behind. One targeted Ha Chilie while the other two surrounded Maid Lotus.


    Ha Chilie was the person mainly responsible for this oue. He was the one who affirmed the credibility of the veterans.


    Ha Chilie fell to the ground with a hum but Maid Lotus was not one to be so easily tricked. Even if she had the New Moon Hall disciples following her, she would not let down her guard.


    Nobody knew how she pulled out her sword. It seemed to be impossible that she could take her sword at a close distance in such a short time.


    Yet, she managed to do so and stabbed one of the ambushers.


    Maid Lotus immediately realized that he was neither amon swordsman nor even Golden Roc killer. He acted quickly beyond expectation and used a different set of martial arts.


    Maid Lotus failed to stab his heart and instead hit his left arm. The man screamed and then jumped into the distance.


    But another ambusher took advantage of the opportunity to use the rare acupoint technique of the Western Regions and seed.


    Nobody was good at using acupoint techniques in the Western Regions. Although the manual of each sect required learning somemon sense of acupuncture point, few people specialized in this skill.


    Stunned, Maid Lotus soon felt numbness rapidly spreading through her body. She applied several instructions of Internal Strength, but failed to unlock her acupoint.


    Maid Lotus was surprised, but the person who hurt her was even more shocked. This martial arts made him famous in Jianghu for decades and seed easily, but he had never met such a strong opponent who seemed to be fine. Moreover, he was warned in advance to use all his strength without hiding anything.


    Maid Lotus did not think for long before stabbing the man again. Outsiders still thought the sword was sharp, but her movement had actually slowed down considerably.


    Three ambushers surrounded her but were in a dilemma as they carefully tried to avoid her sword.


    Maid Lotus used more than ten skills and did not fall despite being hit in her acupuncture points again. The ambushers looked like they had seen a ghost yet were unafraid because they noticed that her movements were getting slower.


    When using 16th or 17th skill, Maid Lotus was hurt again. She could no longer resolve her blocked Internal Breath. She staggered and sat on the ground, holding her sword in hand.


    ¡°I have never met such a tough woman.¡±


    ¡°The reputation of the three Xia brothers was almost destroyed.¡±


    The three ambushers felt relieved at that time. The man who was hit in his left arm scolded Maid Lotus and tried to kick her, but hispanions quickly stopped him. ¡°We should respect her a little because she¡¯s¡­¡±


    The other person used his acupoint technique in the back of the Maid Lotus¡¯s head.


    Maid Lotus began to fall unconscious, but she still had many things to think about. She had never heard of the three Xia brothers. Even more surprising to her was that the other soldiers were just watching without trying to save her.


    <em>¡°How many spies are there in the barracks?¡±</em>


    Herst thought was that she would certainly not be tricked if she was ve Huan.


    The martial arts of the New Moon Hall was special. Instead of gradually waking up after fainting, Maid Lotus became instantly clear-headed. She did not move or even open her eyes because she noticed that there were people around her.


    She applied her Internal Breath silently, but failed. After she was unconscious, they sealed her acupoints just in case. Therefore, she could barely move, but could not take her sword.


    The three Xia brothers were chatting.


    ¡°There should be kung fu masters in the Western Region.¡±


    ¡°There are indeed many masters in the Western Region, including Supreme King, Dragon King and Old Man Mu whose life or death isn¡¯t certain.¡±


    ¡°I meant the women.¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re right. In fact, few women in the world can be called masters.¡±


    ¡°Women are naturally not good at kung fu.¡±


    Theyughed obscenely and their words gradually became vulgar. In the end, the one who seemed to be their leader felt that the conversation had gone out of hand. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about doing anything to her. He specifically ordered us to keep her alive, and I think that maybe he¡¯s interested in her.¡±


    ¡°Well, she has good kung fu and beautiful looks. That¡¯s very rare. Cloud King has good taste, but it¡¯s not easy to subdue this woman.¡±


    ¡°It isn¡¯t difficult to do that. She has fainted without any resistance. Anyone can take advantage of her. Should I give you a demonstration?¡±


    ¡°Haha! You¡¯re just holding a grudge because she stabbed you.¡±


    Maid Lotus learned several things from their conversation. The three Xia brothers were not from the Western Regions, but rather the Central ins. Besides, she had been unconsciousness for about fifteen minutes and they would not expect her to awaken so quickly. Given enough time, she would be able to unlock all acupoints herself.


    As for the ¡°Cloud King¡± they mentioned, Maid Lotus immediately thought of Shangguan Yun. Didn¡¯t he get the title of the King of Xiaowan through marriage?


    What she guessed was right. Shangguan Yun entered the room and said in a familiar voice, ¡°You three idiots, I bet you won¡¯t dare to look down on the women of the Western Region anymore.¡±


    Maid Lotus followed Shangguan Yun to the Land of Fragrance from the Hui Kingdom and returned in the same route. She knew it was him the moment she heard his voice.


    Though Shangguan Yun was scolding the brothers, his tone was rxed and casual as if they were close friends. The three men were not afraid of him, butughed and warmly greeted ¡°Cloud King¡±.


    Maid Lotus could not help admiring Shangguan Yun. He had been locked up in a dungeon for many years and had little contact with outsiders. Aftering out, he still looked like the slickest person in the Jianghu and presented different attitudes in front of different people.


    Shangguan Yun¡¯s early experience was a little helpful.


    ¡°Well, your kung fu has regressed. She has already woke up.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense!¡± the three men refuted together.


    Thinking that she did not have to keep lying down, Maid Lotus opened her eyes and turned over to sit up. She looked coldly at the four people in the tent.


    Before dawn, the oilmp was ignited in the tent.


    The three Xia brothers were all surprised and pounced on Maid Lotus at the same time. Each of them used acupoint technique toward her before returning to Shangguan Yun¡¯s side with cold sweat on their faces.


    ¡°You¡¯re so sharp-eyed. You saved us again.¡±


    ¡°You know too little about the kung fu of the Western Region. You should familiarize yourselves with it in the future.¡±


    Shangguan Yun looked at Maid Lotus with a smile. ¡°Please allow me to introduce them. They¡¯re the famous masters of Qingcheng Sect in the Central ins: Xia Yingxiong, Xia Wenxiong, and Xia Gouxiong. No, this one is Xia Shouxiong. In short, they¡¯re the three stupid bears called the three Xia brothers.¡±


    Shangguan Yun made fun of their names, but they seemed very happy and looked at Cloud King with more respect and intimacy.


    Maid Lotus must admit that Dragon King was no match for Shangguan Yun in winning the hearts of people.


    She fell into the enemy¡¯s trap and thus had nothing to say.


    ¡°This is Maid Lotus, the Managing Master of the New Moon Hall and Dragon King¡¯s bodyguard. Moreover, she¡¯s also the first-ss female kung fu master in the world.¡±


    Shangguan Yun had mentioned this to them in the past but they doubted him then. Now they all nodded in agreement.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s enough.¡± Shangguan Yun pped his hands as if a thoughtful host had just introduced two groups of strangers to each other. ¡°Go and get a drink, you three stupid bears. You¡¯vepleted your tasks sessfully. Let me deal with this from now on.¡±


    The brothers happily walked out of the tent. While at the door, Xia Shouxiongughed and said, ¡°Cloud King, you¡¯d better pay attention to your body. It¡¯s not easy to deal with a beautiful female master.¡±


    Shangguan Yun pretended to kick him, so they immediately left.


    When Shangguan Yun turned to look at the Maid Lotus again, his expression changed. He showed her a mysterious and pitying smile as if he knew everything about her. He seemed to feel nothing but respect and sympathy for her.


    ¡°I¡¯mmitting a taboo of the Golden Roc Fort by not killing you.¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯ll regret your decision today.¡±


    ¡°Haha! It doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯ve done many regrettable things all my life, more than the number of people in the Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    Maid Lotus stopped talking. She knew that Shangguan Yun wanted to persuade her to surrender, but that was impossible. She was just curious what reason Shangguan Yun would use.


    ¡°Maid Lotus, Dragon King. Dragon King, Maid Lotus.¡± Shangguan Yun raised his hands as if he was holding the two people in his palms. ¡°I¡¯ve always been confused about your rtionship. I almost inquired everyone who knew you in Jade City but learned nothing but nonsense. It wasn¡¯t until I met Younger Sister Ru in the Land of Fragrance that I discovered some credible clues.¡±


    Shangguan Yun suddenly paused for a while, but Maid Lotus¡¯ interest was piqued. She wanted to know what Shangguan Ru thought about she and Dragon King.


    ¡°She said that both of you were sacrifices of ¡®Dajue Sword Book of Swordcraft¡¯. You helped each other as two drowning persons, so you didn¡¯t sink in the river immediately.¡±


    Maid Lotus and Gu Shenwei had been calling the sword technique ¡°Death Scripture¡±. Even after knowing its real name, they still kept their habit. She felt surprised that Shangguan Ru should make such a conclusion. At first, she was dismissive, because the rtionship between her and Dragon King was moreplicated. In the end, she agreed with Shangguan Ru because ¡°Death Scripture¡± did promote theirmunication most of the time.


    Shangguan continued to smile. ¡°You¡¯re in charge of Dragon King¡¯s life at this moment, and he needs your help.¡±


    Maid Lotus restrained her feelings at once. ¡°I can only do what I can do, which doesn¡¯t include Dragon King¡¯s life.¡±


    Shangguan Yun¡¯s smile faltered. Maid Lotus was a formidable enemy with tight defense, so he could not force her to do something. Rather, he would wait for her to make mistakes.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to listen to my n? That¡¯s a set ofplicated ns, costing me quite a bit of energy.¡±


    When Maid Lotus did not speak, Shangguan Yun continued, ¡°First of all, more than half of the soldiers in this barracks are my men. Haha, there are quite a lot of soldiers loyal to me. Secondly, the 3,000 soldiers Wu Zongheng took still belonged to Dragon King. Unfortunately, Wu Zongheng wouldn¡¯t take them to the selected ce. After all, hees from the An Kingdom and is more willing to be loyal to the King of the An nation. Finally, Dragon King will enter the mountain in person very soon, probably alone, because he doesn¡¯t trust any of his subordinates.¡±


    Shangguan Yun paused for a moment, giving her more time to think about the truth. ¡°I possess 15 masters like the three Xia brothers whoe from different ces, none of whom are Golden Roc killers. Very few of theme from the Western Region. Dragon King is too familiar with the kung fu of the Golden Roc Fort, so I¡¯m changing strategies. Maid Lotus, to tell the truth, should I kill or only catch him in this situation?¡±


    If Shangguan Yun was sincere, Dragon King was indeed in trouble. ¡°You¡¯re making great efforts to induce me. Just what are you nning to do?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Shangguan Yun said simply. ¡°You should think about what you can do for me.¡±

 Chapter 498 - Service

    Chapter 498: Service


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Yun had aplicated n and was willing to exin it to Maid Lotus in detail.


    ¡°I have kept you alive so that you can see the situation more clearly. Why would I hide it from you?¡± he said.


    Maid Lotus¡¯s vignce had not been lifted. She had witnessed what Shangguan Yun was capable of. He never hesitated to tell lies for his own benefit, and his lies were always buried in some truth. Both believing himpletely and not believing him at all was always a mistake.


    Shangguan Yun knew how to make his opponent hesitate and slip.


    ording to the n that he shared with Maid Lotus, many people inside the Dragon Army had already betrayed the Dragon King: Wu Zongheng would lead the army marching around Wushan, awaiting Shangguan Yun¡¯s next instruction; the new King of the Hui Nation would reveal some important information to the Dragon King to lure him into Wushan; a high-level general in the Dragon Army was also waiting for a chance to make a move. As soon as the Dragon King was captured, he would immediately hand over his army to Shangguan Yun instead of surrendering to the Golden Roc Army.


    These ns were so outrageous that Maid Lotus did not believe even ten percent of them. She knew that not everyone around the Dragon King was loyal to him, but if so many had betrayed him, the army would have already fallen apart. If that had happened, Shangguan Yun would not have needed to make anyplicated ns at all.


    Shangguan Yun could tell that Maid Lotus had doubts, so he said with a smile, ¡°I actually exaggerated a little bit. In fact, many people have not decided yet and are hesitating because they still believe in the Dragon King. However, this is exactly the problem of the Dragon Army ¡ª its morale is dependent on the Dragon King instead of its own strength. If the Dragon King dies or is identally captured, who is willing to fight under the banner of the Dragon Army?¡±


    The core of Shangguan Yun¡¯s n was to lure the Dragon King to Wushan to kill or capture him, and then bring the whole Dragon Army under his control.


    ¡°You want me to wait and see, like those people?¡± asked Maid Lotus.


    ¡°No. I hope you can take a little more initiative than they do. You have learned the three Xia brothers¡¯ kung fu. The Dragon King alone will not be able to deal with you, plus 12 other people. I know him well. He is a lone killer at heart. He can, at most, cooperate with one or two other people. Ruling an army with tens of thousands of soldiers is neither his wish nor his ability. He still wants to act alone whenever he has the chance. Because of that, he wille to Wushan alone, although he knows the danger is great. He wants to recapture the army of Tuoneng by himself,¡± Shangguan Yun exined.


    Maid Lotus believed that the Dragon King was very wary and would not be easily fooled, but she also knew that some parts of Shangguan Yun¡¯s judgments were correct. And the Dragon King was likely to choose to go into the trap alone, just because of his wariness.


    ¡°If you keep silent, I¡¯ll take it as acquiescence and order the killing immediately. If you are willing to interfere, I¡¯ll catch the Dragon King alive and hand him over to you, but I have to nullify his kung fu. After that, how you deal with him in the future is up to you,¡± continued Shangguan Yun.


    <em>¡°The Dragon King would rathermit suicide than ept total loss of his kung fu,¡±</em>Maid Lotus thought. She suddenly regained her confidence in the Dragon King. She knew the purpose of Shangguan Yun¡¯s long speech was to make her lose her confidence in him. She would not let him win, so she said, ¡°I told you once that you would regret not killing me. You seem to have forgotten that I am a disciple of New Moon Hall.¡±


    The feud between New Moon Hall and Golden Roc Fort was more far-reaching and persistent than the Great Snowmountain.


    Shangguan Yun had been waiting for Maid Lotus to say this. He replied, ¡°I know you are a disciple of New Moon Hall, but I also know more. For example, Master Han Wuxian has made great efforts to make changes to New Moon Hall over the years, and she stole Wayless Qigong at all costs. She has asked various kung fu masters to help transform the kung fu of New Moon Hall and has given some outside men the title of disciples. She even epted a disciple from another family, which she had never done before. She also promoted you to Managing Master, despite opposition. All these things indicate that she has ambitions.¡±


    ¡°Maid Lotus, you should know better than me that Han Wuxian has had enough of her obscure life in the desert. She wants to dominate the world and be famous. To her, revenge on Golden Roc Fort has be insignificant. It¡¯s just a means for her to gather more disciples. You were ordered to unite with the Dragon King. Wasn¡¯t it at Han Wuxian¡¯s behest? Is there any other purpose?¡± he continued.


    It seemed that Shangguan Yun knew a lot. Some it may have just been guesses, but he was still close to the truth. Maid Lotus looked down, thought for a while, and then said, ¡°I think what you want is New Moon Hall.¡±


    ¡°New Moon Hall and Golden Roc Fort were originally one family, each with its own specialty. Only bybining can they be the strongest. I hope we can be one sect again,¡± Shangguan Yun replied.


    Maid Lotus raised her head and said, ¡°New Moon Hall took pains to put lots of pawns among the different forces in Jade City. Even in the most secret ces of Golden Roc Fort, there are our people. Do you want the list?¡±


    ¡°A little bit,¡± Shangguan Yun knew what Maid Lotus would say next, but still answered.


    ¡°No way,¡± said Maid Lotus.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to answer in a hurry,¡± Shangguan Yun said, not caring about her attitude. Persuading Maid Lotus was a challenge to him. It was also kind of fun. He continued, ¡°Listen to the prospect I am going to describe to you first.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King will set up an ambush on the sea slope. His n is toe out suddenly and attack the wings of the Golden Roc Army during the decisive battle. This is, indeed, a good n, but it¡¯s also very risky. Now that I have 3,000 Dragon soldiers under my control, the Dragon King¡¯s adventure is over. But I have a better idea: I¡¯m going to have Wu Zongheng lead his troops to the sea slope,¡± he continued.


    Maid Lotus was a little surprised. She asked, ¡°Do you want Wu Zongheng to attack the Dragon Army?¡±


    ¡°No, no, no. Wu Zongheng is my man, while the 3,000 soldiers still think they are working for the Dragon King. Why would I expect them to change their position suddenly? By the way, I have no doubt I can defeat the Dragon Army, so there is no need for surprise attacks. No, no. I want them to attack Golden Roc Army, just as the Dragon King has nned,¡± Shangguan Yun said.


    Maid Lotus was surprised again, but she kept her mouth shut and did not ask any more questions. She knew Shangguan Yun liked to talk, so she decided to let him go on.


    ¡°Most of my ns have been carried out secretly. Even if all are sessful, the greatest credit will still be capturing or killing the Dragon King. In others¡¯ eyes, my ns are only skirmishes to cooperate with Golden Roc Army. To tell you the truth, I have always been a little unhappy about that. I worked so hard, only to be a decoration for Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s feats. But now? The Dragon King¡¯s surprise attack n actually helped me a lot,¡± he went on.


    Shangguan Yun showed a little excitement for the first time. It was a great aplishment that he had been able to counter his opponent¡¯s n. ¡°When the Dragon King is arrested, I will announce the news first and make it public at the most crucial moment. Let Golden Roc Army face a fiasco, and let Shangguan Jianyi feel helpless. At thest minute, I, Shangguan Yun, will make the radical change that brings victory to Golden Roc Army again,¡± he boasted.


    Though a disciple of New Moon Hall, Maid Lotus could not help butment, ¡°You¡¯re a lunatic.¡±


    ¡°No. I just have ambition, like your Master,¡± he said, pausing a second, then adding, ¡°Same as you, too.¡±


    Shangguan Yun had said enough. He had revealed all that he wanted Maid Lotus to know, and the rest was for her to contemte. He said to her, ¡°There are still a few days to go, so you can take your time to think about my suggestions. You not only can save the life of the Dragon King, but can also realize all of your and New Moon Hall¡¯s ambitions. It¡¯s your choice.¡±


    Maid Lotus knew she should not believe Shangguan Yun, but she still followed the train of thought he had provided.


    It was not long before the three Xia brothers came in with another prisoner.


    It was Ha Chilie, who did not seem to be suffering much, except the shackles around his hands and feet. At the sight of Maid Lotus he apologized, saying, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s all my fault.¡±


    Xia Shouxiong came over and poked Maid Lotus¡¯s body a few times. His fingers stayed on the acupoints of her body a little longer, and there was a satisfied smile on his face.


    Maid Lotus said to herself that if her condition to surrender was to be allowed to kill the three men, Shangguan Yun would certainly ept it.


    After the acupoints had sealed, the three men were still not at ease, so they took out a set of shackles to lock the hands and feet of Maid Lotus.


    ¡°The Cloud King should not have hoped she would surrender. This woman is as hard as stone. We should just kill her with one stab to eliminate any future trouble,¡± Xia Shouxiong said. He could never forget his sword wound from Maid Lotus.


    ¡°You don¡¯t even have one percent of the Cloud King¡¯s intelligence. Why not leave her to his disposal and go have a drink,¡± the eldest brother said, and took his younger brothers out of the tent.


    There were only two people left in the room then. Maid Lotus¡¯s face was expressionless. She had experienced many things and knew that anger and impatience were a waste of time and energy. She looked at Ha Chilie, who was a few steps away, and asked him, ¡°Shangguan Yun asked you to be his lobbyist, didn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Ha Chilie admitted frankly. He looked around and listened for a while to make sure there were no eavesdroppers nearby, and then added, ¡°But I lied to him. I won¡¯t betray the Dragon King, and the soldiers in this camp are not all Shangguan Yun¡¯s men.¡±


    Ha Chilie nodded slowly for implication, because some words still could not be said.


    Maid Lotus understood what he was trying to say and asked silently by moving her lips, ¡°When?¡±


    Ha Chilie answered in the same way, ¡°Tomorrow night, at the third watch.¡±


    <em>¡°Shangguan Yun is not so easy to fool,¡± </em>Maid Lotus thought. Whether those soldiers that were still loyal to Ha Chilie could sessfully rescue them was still unknown.


    It was already bright outside, so the only thing they could do was wait.


    Ha Chilie stealthily nced at Maid Lotus from time to time, then immediately looked away.


    After sitting for almost four hours without saying anything, Maid Lotus suddenly asked, ¡°Do you like me?¡±


    Ha Chilie blushed. Although he had previously experienced the bluntness of the New Moon Hall disciples, he was still not used to it. He coughed several times, mumbled something and could not say a word.


    ¡°I won¡¯t be angry. Being liked is always a good thing,¡± Maid Lotus encouraged him.


    ¡°I know¡­I don¡¯t deserve it. Mydy¡­¡± Ha Chilie stuttered.


    ¡°I¡¯m not ady,¡± replied Maid Lotus tly.


    ¡°Maid Lotus, I don¡¯t have wishful thinking. I just hope¡­I can help you, and can¡­often see you¡­that makes me happy,¡± Ha Chilie said, stumbling over his words.


    Having the courage to say these things, Ha Chilie¡¯s eyes zed, and then he immediately bowed his head to avoid the eternal indifference of Maid Lotus.


    ¡°Come over and sit down. Shangguan Yun sent you to persuade me. If we don¡¯t talk we¡¯ll arouse his suspicion,¡± she said.


    Ha Chilie looked up at Maid Lotus in surprise and immediately understood that she had no affection for him, and was purely trying to deceive others.


    He slowly moved over to her in his shackles and did not dare to expect anything. He stopped a few steps away from Maid Lotus and stood nervously, like a humble servant.


    ¡°Sit down. I don¡¯t want to look up to you while talking,¡± Maid Lotus said. Her acupoints were sealed, so she could only keep a sitting posture.


    Ha Chilie knelt in front of Maid Lotus and said, ¡°I think we can pretend to surrender to make Shangguan Yun rx his vignce.¡±


    ¡°He is not easy to cheat,¡± Maid Lotus said, moving her body slightly and then ordered Ha Chilie, ¡°Help me move the chains on my feet. I¡¯m not veryfortable.¡±


    When Ha Chilie stretched out his hand to reach for the chain on the ground, Maid Lotus raised her arm, as if to move her messy hair. Instead, she pressed her hands on Ha Chilie¡¯s head.


    ¡°Have you ever heard about Divine Rotation? Do you want to help me? Now it is your opportunity,¡± she said.


    Ha Chilie had never heard about Divine Rotation. He felt that Maid Lotus¡¯s hands were controlling his head like iron hoops. <em>¡°She should be weak,¡± </em>he thought. ¡°Mydy, I¡­¡± he gasped.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have betrayed the Dragon King,¡± she whispered.


    The people that Shangguan Yun mentioned were not necessarily traitors, but those who weren¡¯t mentioned were likely to have been bought. That was what Maid Lotus was thinking at the time.

 Chapter 499 - Release of Blockage on the Acupoints

    Chapter 499: Release of Blockage on the Acupoints


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    In terms of kung fu, the New Moon Hall was considered mid-level. Even after the transformation efforts of Old Man Mu and other top experts, it still barely entered the top ranks. However, generations of the New Moon Hall¡¯s disciples had studied all kinds of ult sciences.


    One of the most profound ult sciences of the New Moon Hall was the Divine Rotation. It was not used to improve the practitioner¡¯s skills, nor were the moves particrly clever. It had only one effect on its practitioner ¡ª healing quickly, as long as the practitioner was holding a victim that had the Internal Strength.


    Maid Lotus had used this skill on her way across the desert to the Stone Kingdom a year ago. Even the old monk, Fayan from the Four Truths Temple, was surprised by its effect.


    Despite its miraculous effect of healing, the Divine Rotation had two big defects. Firstly, victims with stronger Internal Strength provided better healing effects to the practitioner, but it was very difficult for a wounded practitioner to such find a target. Secondly, it resulted in some irreversible damage to the practitioner¡¯s mental state. asionally using it was barely harmful, however if frequently used, it could make the practitioner demented.


    Maid Lotus did not yet feel the negative influence of the Divine Rotation, so she decided to use it for a second time.


    Ha Chilie was a tribal warrior. His Internal Strength was of a medium level, so he was the perfect victim for Maid Lotus. She was too weak at that moment to fight high level masters like Shangguan Yun and the three Xia brothers, let alone control them by performing the Divine Rotation.


    Ha Chilie felt that he was slowly losing his weak Internal Breath, but the truth was that a cold and icy Qi was gradually upying all of his meridians.


    He could not lift his head and could only maintain a kneeling position. After a moment of panic, he calmed down and said to Maid Lotus, ¡°As soon as I shout out, people will rush in.¡±


    Maid Lotus rxed her palm a little, and Ha Chilie felt his Internal Strength drain more slowly. Maid Lotus asked him, ¡°Why did you betray the Dragon King? I thought the men of the Wushan tribes were as upromising as the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not doing it for glory, wealth or the Wushan tribes. I am only doing it for you,¡± he replied.


    Maid Lotus did not respond, but the force of her hand seemed to loosen a little. Ha Chilie felt some hope in his heart, even though he was well aware that she was not the kind of woman to be moved by sweet words.


    ¡°The first time we met, I¡­ liked you. The Cloud King has lots of ns, and I don¡¯t think the Dragon King will win. Even though I will follow the Dragon King until death, I can¡¯t watch you die¡­. The truth is that I only agreed to join the Cloud King on the condition that you were to be kept alive¡­¡± said Ha Chilie.


    If Ha Chilie had any knowledge of the Divine Rotation, he wouldn¡¯t have been so calm. He knew nothing about the secret techniques of the New Moon Hall and was hoping to persuade Maid Lotus. Although the chill in his body continued to get worse, and his arms supporting his body were trembling, he kept talking in a hoarse voice.


    ¡°You really like me?¡± Maid Lotus asked, softening her voice, which was rare to hear.


    ¡°Yes, I would die a million times for you, without hesitation,¡± Ha Chilie answered ecstatically. His voice trembled a little from the chill.


    ¡°There is no need to die a million times. I just need you to make a little sacrifice,¡± Maid Lotus replied.


    ¡°I would love to,¡± answered Ha Chilie hopefully.


    ¡°I need your help to release the acupoint on my body, because I don¡¯t like to negotiate with people while being bound by them. During the process, you will feel a little pain for a short time. Can you refrain from shouting?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I can,¡± Ha Chilie answered, not knowing what kind of pain he would have to endure.


    All of a sudden, he felt like he was being stung by thousands of needles in his head. He had to clench his teeth to keep from making any noise. The pain became even worse. At the same time, the chill in his meridians suddenly intensified, and he felt as if his soul had left his body.


    Ha Chilie could not hold on any longer. A cloud of foul air rushed into his throat from his abdomen so fiercely that no human force could resist it. He opened his mouth involuntarily, but did not make any noise.


    Only one part of Maid Lotus¡¯s promise was true ¡ª that the pain wouldst ¡°for a short time¡±. The fact was that since Ha Chilie¡¯s Internal Strength was not strong, he could onlyst for a short time.


    Luckily, he had kept his head down during the whole process, so he could not see what Maid Lotus looked like when she practiced this skill. If he had, he would have screamed out.


    During the whole exercise, theplexion of Maid Lotus¡¯s face changed many times. Her eyes protruded violently, looking ferocious and frenzied, like those of a beast cornered by a hunter. Her body shook violently, hands firmly pressing on the victim¡¯s head.


    Ha Chilie passed away, his vow to ¡°die without hesitation¡± realized.


    At the moment of his death, Maid Lotus was struck by a powerful force and fell backwards.


    Ha Chilie was still kneeling down, his body stiff. Only by breaking his bones could his posture be changed.


    Maid Lotusid on her back for a while and then sat up slowly. Her appearance was back to normal, but she was exhausted. Her whole body was drenched in sweat.


    ¡°Die a million times without hesitation? This is only the first time,¡± she murmured as she looked at the body coldly, without a trace of regret in her heart. Even if Ha Chilie were not a traitor, she would have still used him to perform the Divine Rotation in this emergency.


    Maid Lotus did not want to wait until the evening. She suspected that Ha Chilie¡¯s story of ¡°trusted people to rescue¡± was just another trick to make her lose her trust.


    She was counting the hours. At a certain time, one of the three Xia brothers woulde in again to repeat the blocking of her acupoints. They were very cautious, because they were afraid that she would release the blockage on her own.


    The shackles on her hands and feet were made of the finest steel of Wushan. Maid Lotus tried to break them, but was only able to deform them slightly and soon gave up the struggle. Although she had released the blockage of her acupoints, her skills had not fully recovered. She could not waste the little energy she had left unwisely.


    Xia Shouxiong, who was not at all a small man, came in. He was strong, with a fierce look, despite the trace of desire in his eyes.


    He was from the Qingcheng Sect of the Central ins and had never cared about the kung fu masters of the Western Regions. Therefore, he felt humiliated after he had been stabbed by Maid Lotus, despite being warned by Shangguan Yun more than once that Maid Lotus was a first ss master.


    He wanted to retaliate. In his eyes, there was only one way to retaliate against a woman. When he found out that the person who really liked Maid Lotus was Ha Chilie, not Shugguan Yun, he felt that he could do whatever he wanted to her.


    Shangguan Yun hoped that Ha Chilie could soften Maid Lotus a little, but Xia Shouxiong had a better idea. He came in shouting, ¡°Little bitch, I will make youfortable.¡±


    Upon seeing Ha Chilie¡¯s strange kneeling posture, he became startled and called out, ¡°What are you doing? Vowing your eternal love?¡±


    ¡°Get out,¡± Maid Lotus ordered, her voice weak.


    ¡°Hey, what tricks are you two ying? Why are you sweating?¡± he asked, confused.


    The sweat moistened Maid Lotus¡¯s clothes, revealing the shape her body. Xia Shouxiong was attracted, and stared at her greedily, ignoring the stiff and motionless Ha Chilie.


    ¡°Let me wipe the sweat for you. The Qingcheng Sect has a unique skill to make youfortable,¡± he said.


    Xia Shouxiong decided to adopt the most extreme means ¡ª he decided to force himself upon her, no matter how mad the Cloud King would be. He told himself that Maid Lotus was just a stubborn woman with no real importance, and the worst oue for him would be a reprimand from the Cloud King.


    He also thought that if this woman knew the high status of the Qingcheng Sect in the Central ins, she mighte to him voluntarily. In any case, Xia Shouxiong felt no danger in his n.


    ¡°You stabbed me with a sword. Now I will stab you, too,¡± he said to her.


    Xia Shouxiong stood in front of Maid Lotus, and looked down at her. In his eyes, even the most powerful female kung fu master was still just a woman. She seemed to understand what she was facing and looked terrified. Her body was as soft as a pool of mud ¡ª even more of a temptation to Xia Shouxiong, as he felt that she was too weak to resist anything he did to her.


    ¡°Gee,¡± Xia Shouxiong said, not seeing that something was wrong. He only felt that this female kung fu master had suddenly changed into another person. Her killer temperament disappeared, leaving only pure flirtatiousness. ¡°I will be very gentle,¡± he said. His voice became unconsciously softer.


    To his disgust, Ha Chilie, who was kneeling on the ground, was blocking his way.


    ¡°Get out of my way,¡± Xia Shouxiong yelled to Ha Chilie, whom he had never taken seriously. When he kicked him out of the way, he discovered something strange: the part he kicked was as hard as stone.


    Xia Shouxiong¡¯s emotions were like a rollercoaster, going from up to down and back up again. Although he had a wide range of experiences in his life, it still took him quite a while to respond to the current situation.


    Unfortunately, it was toote. Kung fu masters, regardless of whether they are men or women, are always full of surprises. Maid Lotus had been holding herself back to wait for this exact moment.


    Although she did not know acupoint techniques, she had learned another trick.


    It was the Heart Stopping Finger with Seven Circles and Seven Apertures, a finger technique that had been invented by Old Man Mu. This technique could make opponents lose their fighting abilities without hitting their acupoints. It worked best on the New Moon Hall disciples, but it also worked well on others.


    Xia Shouxiong plopped down on his knees, right beside Ha Chilie. While he could still straighten his back and raise his head, he cried out, ¡°Damn it!¡±


    Maid Lotus grabbed Xia Shouxiong¡¯s throat with her right hand to prevent him from shouting for help. Meanwhile, her handcuff chain was just long enough for her to raise her left hand and press her finger into one of his eyes. ¡°The key,¡± she ordered.


    Xia Shouxiong had never experienced this kind of weird kung fu that caused his powers to disappear instantly, without hitting any acupoints. He could feel himself bing weaker, but he was not very worried, thinking he would recover shortly. He squeezed out the words, ¡°Go to hell, you bitch¡­¡±


    Maid Lotus squeezed her right hand tighter around his throat to stop Xia Shouxiong from shouting. Then she slowly pressed down with her left hand to gouge out his eye, making him suffer as much pain as possible.


    Xia Shouxiong wanted to shout loudly to beg for mercy and hand over the key, but he could not say a word. He could only wave his hands wildly, trying to pull open Maid Lotus¡¯s fingers in vain.


    The New Moon Hall had been in seclusion for many years from the Central in and the Western Region, so the cruel methods of the women there had long been forgotten. At the Dragon King¡¯s side, Maid Lotus rarely showed the influence of her sect. In this moment, however, her true self was revealed.


    The pain of others was like a feast to her. Xia Shouxiong¡¯s pain so far was not enough for her, so she gouged out his other eye more slowly.


    Killers normally do not torture their targets unless they have to. However, the New Moon Hall was no longer a purely killer sect. All of the hardships they endured in the training process, they took out on their victims.


    ¡°You can go to hell now,¡± Maid Lotus whispered.


    Then she removed her hand from Xia Shouxiong, and the body fell, still bleeding from the eye sockets.


    She wiped the blood from her hands on his body and quickly found the key to the shackles to free herself.


    Should she stay in the camp to kill and avenge herself, or should she go to the Dragon King immediately to save his weakening army?


    Maid Lotus¡¯s killing spree had only just begun, but she slowly calmed down at the thought of the Dragon King. Suddenly, she remembered Shangguan Ru¡¯s words, as told to her by Shangguan Yun: they were both sacrifices of the <em>Death</em><em>Scripture </em>. Only by helping each other could they survive.


    <em>¡°Part of what Shangguan Ru said was right,¡± </em>Maid Lotus thought. However, she and the Dragon King had not ¡°fallen¡± at all. They would rule together, and no one could stop them ¡ª not even the ghost of ve Yao.

 Chapter 500 - Rendezvous

    Chapter 500: Rendezvous


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    There were only three bodies left in the tent: Ha Chilie, who knelt eerily, as stiff as a stone, Xia Shouxiong, whose eyes were gouged out in pools of blood, and the soldier who came to deliver food as per the schedule.


    The prisoner had disappeared.


    Shangguan Yun looked at the scene in front of him in disbelief and frowned, which was very uncharacteristic for him.


    The remaining two Xia brothers of the Qingcheng Sect stood at his side, eyes glowering, fingers rattling. ¡°We must get revenge! We must find the bitch and avenge our brother, even if the whole Qingcheng Sect has to die,¡± they eximed.


    Shangguan Yun turned to the two brothers. He raised his eyebrows, and his tone was not as casual as usual as he said, ¡°Go get your revenge. You¡¯d better hurry up. I told her all of our ns. You don¡¯t want me to look like a fool, do you?¡±


    The Xia brothers were taken aback, blushed, immediately bowed down to obey, and were ready to leave for the hunt.


    It seemed that Maid Lotus had first killed two people and then waited. When the soldier hade in to deliver food, she ambushed him and put on his clothes to get out of the barracks. No matter how she escaped, her target was the 3,000 soldiers that Wu Zongheng had taken away.


    ¡°Wait,¡± Shangguan Yun said, stopping the two brothers and asked, ¡°How are you going to get revenge?¡±


    ¡°Kill the woman! ¡°the eldest brother said ruthlessly.


    ¡°Cut her into pieces!¡± the second brother added, gritting his teeth.


    ¡°Good idea, but before you get your wish, can you bring her to me alive first?¡± Shangguan Yun said. It sounded like a request, but was actually an unquestionablemand.


    Xia Yingxiong and Xia Wenxiong were taken aback again. ¡°Sir¡­¡± they said in unison.


    ¡°I have ced a high stake on her. I can¡¯t afford to lose my money. At least wait until I have talked with the Master of Xiaoyue Hall. Then Maid Lotus will be at your disposal,¡± said Shangguan Yun.


    The two brothers looked at each other, then reluctantly replied, ¡°Yes, Sir, we will bring her to you alive.¡±


    Shangguan Yun watched the two brothers as they left the tent, and shook his head slightly while saying to himself, ¡°Why do I have all these fools around me? The two of them thought they were a match against Maid Lotus? And they think that Maid Lotus is most concerned about the army?¡±


    He looked at the bodies again with a frown and left.


    After a while, several soldiers were ordered to dispose of the bodies. They were even unhappier than Shangguan Yun had been when they saw the bodies. One body was lying in a pool of blood, while another was kneeling in a weird way. Only the third body looked normal.


    Even corpses can be divided into good ones and bad ones. Everyone rushed to the good corpse of the soldier.


    Two short soldiers were the fastest to get to the soldier¡¯s body. One of themforted the others after they grabbed the body. ¡°You are all carrying big bosses. Maybe you will get gratuities for that.¡±


    The treatment of the three dead bodies was different. Ha Chilie would be delivered to the tribe soldiers in the camp. Xia Shouxiong would be properly preserved until his two brothers returned. Only the soldier¡¯s body would be carried directly to the outside of the camp and buried in a pit.


    Two days passed. Nobody cared about the smell of the dead bodies. But when the tent was upied by soldiers, and a fourth corpse was discovered hidden under the bunk. It was toote by then, though. The Xia brothers had already set out, not knowing their target was actually behind them.


    Shangguan Yun smiled and shook his head. It was useless to count on the Xia brothers. The core of the n was to wait for the Dragon King to walk into the trap. As long as the Dragon King was removed from power, Shangguan Yun would not need to pay anything, and everyone ¡ª including Maid Lotus ¡ª would rush to support him.


    The dead body of the soldier was actually yed by Maid Lotus. She knew that holding her breath to y dead would have been seen through by top masters, so she had taken a pill to appear dead for a short period of time.


    She had hidden some pills well from the Xia brothers, who had searched her roughly and took away most of the pills when she was captured.


    She was sure that no one would pay attention to what a soldier delivering meals looked like. Besides, she had helpers.


    Maid Lotus woke up slowly and heard two people talking.


    ¡°How did you know Maid Lotus would feign death?¡± one of them said.


    ¡°Of course I knew. All disciples of the New Moon Hall learn this tactic. <em>¡®When being surrounded by enemies, hiding amongst bodies is the safest way to escape¡¯.</em>Nobody taught you that?¡± said the second voice.


    ¡°No. She didn¡¯t teach me that.¡± Han Xuan said with palpable admiration. She was mentioning the mysterious woman who had taught her Kung Fu.


    The ¡°corpse¡± sat up. ¡°Managing Master!¡± Han Fen happily called the ¡°corpse¡±, who had been disguised as a man. The appearance of Maid Lotus had changed greatly, but her sparkling eyes were the same as usual.


    Han Xuan had disguised herself, too. But at that moment, she removed the disguise from her face and returned to her original appearance. She looked at Maid Lotus coldly and asked her, ¡°Why did my master die so awfully? Did you kill him?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Maid Lotus answered simply, feeling a little weak. After taking Han Fen¡¯s antidote, she had woken up sooner than expected. Now she needed a little more time to recover.


    Han Xuan suddenly waved her hands and said indifferently, ¡°Bad men deserve to die. I just do not know how to exin it to my Lady.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s easy. Find her a better man.¡± Han Fen gave her a simple answer.


    <em>¡°It is not that simple.¡± </em>Han Xuan contemted. However, that was not her biggest concern at the moment. ¡°How did you know that the two of us woulde to carry away the body?¡± she turned to Maid Lotus and asked.


    Maid Lotus felt much better. She stood up and pointed to Han Fen, saying, ¡°I knew she would, but I didn¡¯t expect you toe, too.¡±


    Han Xuan looked doubtfully between the two, vaguely realizing she had been fooled.


    Han Fen was embarrassed. She said, ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to fool you. The Managing Master asked me to sneak back to the barracks. I couldn¡¯t tell you in advance.¡±


    Han Xuan kept silent with anger. When she persuaded Han Fen to make the move, Han Fen pretended to be unwilling. It turned out they had nned this beforehand.


    ¡°She trusts you, otherwise she wouldn¡¯t have let youe here with her.¡± Maid Lotus said patiently, knowing Han Xuan had close ties with her sect.


    ¡°I led her here.¡± Han Xuan corrected, feeling better.


    Maid Lotus originally arranged one disciple of the New Moon Hall to stay with her. However, she still felt insecure, and so she ordered Han Xuan to return secretly. At that time, she did not have a clear target of suspicion. She only meant to make the defense measures tighter.


    She had learned a lesson early in her life that a helper hiding in the dark was ten times more useful than the one standing in the light. She had been following this principle all her life.


    This principle was proven to be true yet again. The disciple whom Maid Lotus had originally chosen died protecting her during the attack.


    Han Fen imed that she knew the Managing Master would be disguised as a corpse. Actually she exaggerated a little. The fact was that she and Han Xuan were in the barracks for more than half a day, and were nning to rescue Maid Lotus at nightfall. She did not realize Maid Lotus¡¯s n until she heard that the captive had killed three people and fled.


    Han Fen was not clever enough to make such a spection. Her reaction was just her instinct based on the long-term training of her sect.


    ¡°Where are we going next?¡± Han Xuan asked the Managing Master about her n, unaware of the rules of the New Moon Hall.


    ¡°We are going to find the Dragon King. You can go back to your Lady,¡± answered Maid Lotus.


    Han Xuan hesitated. She did miss her Lady, but she also wanted to go on adventures with the disciples of the New Moon Hall. Finally, she shook her head hard and said, ¡°Well, the Lady has military protection. You two are too rash. Someone must take care of you. I¡¯ll go with you.¡±


    Maid Lotus was amused by the way Han Xuan used others of being reckless. Still, she was hoping that Han Xuan would stay with them. Both she and Han Fen were not familiar with Wushan, so they needed a guide.


    Maid Lotus did not know that Gu Shenwei had entered the mountain secretly. They traveled day and night unceasingly, hoping to meet him at Gulping Wind Gorge to tell him about Shangguan Yun¡¯s plot.


    Every once in a while, they would hear information from ces that were habitated. They learned that the Dragon Army had lost the first battle and were retreating from the second battle. They also heard that the Dragon Army was making a great effort to retain the third line of defense, and the final decisive battle was just around the corner.


    Then news came that the Dragon King had left the army and gone away alone. Although the rumors were that the Dragon King was staying in the capital of the An Kingdom, Maid Lotus knew for sure that he had really entered the mountain.


    The Dragon King had walked into the trap, just as Shangguan Yun had nned.


    Maid Lotus, with her party, ran into a group of three people in a small vige.


    Both groups were disguised. Without special attention, they would not recognize each other, even if they walked shoulder to shoulder. However, Shangguan Fei revealed himself by making an involuntary noise.


    Shangguan Fei, Long Fanyun and Chu Nanping had passed Gulping Wind Gorge less than two days prior. Ever since they had entered the mountain, Shangguan Fei had been highly alert, constantly reminding the other two to keep low profiles and not reveal themselves. He warned, ¡°My third brother, Shangguan Yun, is no ordinary person. He is sinister, vicious and ruthless. If he finds out, he will not spare us, even though I am his biological brother.¡±


    It was Shangguan Fei who exposed his identity after warning the others to be quiet.


    They were sitting in the tea shed when they saw three ordinary-looking tribal womening in. Shangguan Fei felt something was wrong and looked them over a few more times. All of a sudden, he realized that one of them looked like Maid Lotus, and he couldn¡¯t help crying out loud.


    He had suffered a lot when Maid Lotus forced him to practice skills. Like a mouse meeting a cat, he sensed danger when she was close.


    Maid Lotus came into the tea shed to get some water and ask for information.


    The hostility was immediately eliminated after they recognized each other. Maid Lotus and Long Fanyun whispered almost at the same time, ¡°Where is he?¡±


    They said ¡°he¡± instead of ¡°the Dragon King¡±, because there were other guests in the tea shed.


    Although knowing that Maid Lotus would not force him to practice the skills at the moment, Shangguan Fei still hid behind Long Fanyun and said, with his head poking out, ¡°He must have entered the mountain to look for the mole. As long as we can find the mole, we can find the Dragon King. However, the mole may have been fabricated by Shangguan Yun, but as long as the Dragon King believes it, the mole is¡­¡±


    A look from Maid Lotus worked better than a sword drawn by Long Fanyun. Shangguan Fei immediately shut up and felt once again that it was a good thing to have a man with wide shoulders and a thick back standing in front of him.


    Of everyone there, only Chu Nanping had met with the Dragon King recently, but he could not provide any clues as to his whereabouts.


    ¡°We should go to Tuo Nengya¡¯s camp to look for him first,¡± Long Fanyun said, looking somber when mentioning Tuo Nengya. The news of the assassination of the old macheteman had been widely spread. All of the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain had great respect for him. When they heard about his death, they were sad.


    Maid Lotus shook her head. Most people would guess that the Dragon King had entered the mountain to take over the army. However, she did not believe that the Dragon King would be fooled so easily.


    Where the hell was the Dragon King?


    Shangguan Yun had the same question. The trap was set, but the prey was nowhere to be found. He doubted his n for the first time.

 Chapter 501 - Courier

    Chapter 501: Courier


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The Dragon King had disappeared. It was not until seven or eight days after he left the barracks that his people started to realize that he was missing when he needed to be there the most.


    Most people believed that the Dragon King left to look for reinforcements to rescue the army, but there were different guesses as to where he had gone. The most likely ce was Wushan since the tribes in the mountain had not yet gotten involved in the war officially and were most likely to provide arge number of troops. The most optimistic view was that the Dragon King was having a secret talk with the Central ins. There was also a more exaggerated im that the Dragon King was going to invite the magic warriors from the sea.


    Even though Commander Dugu Xian looked calm, he was more anxious than anyone else. Whenever someone mentioned the Dragon King, he always nodded confidently, as if he had some secret ns with him.


    Indeed, only a few people, including Dugu Xian, knew that the Dragon King had not only left to get reinforcements, but was also nning a surprise attack. The chance was very low that the Dragon Army would have fundamental sess with only the help of the reinforcement army from Gulping Wind Gorge. In order to bring about a radical change to the war situation, arge-scale attack had to beunched from the enemy¡¯s nks at the time of the decisive battle.


    It was already the time of the nned attack. The Golden Roc Army was pressing closer and closer, and the morale of the Dragon Army was getting low. However, there was no sign of either the Dragon King or the army that should have reached the designated point.


    No wonder Dugu Xian panicked. The Dragon Army had nowhere to retreat. Gulping Wind Gorge was not far behind. It was the key pass that he must hold fast. The terrain behind it was arge tract of ins, which led to the capital of the An Kingdom. People in the city, old and young, sick and disabled, were fearfully awaiting the result of the war.


    This was an unequal war. If Golden Roc Fort lost, it still had the strength to make aeback. However, if the Dragon Army lost, everything would vanish and countless people would die.


    Gulping Wind Gorge became busier than ever. Arge number of refugees were trying to flee to the Land of Fragrance where the Dragon King had promised safety. Dugu Xian had to send massive forces to set up checkpoints to prohibit anyone from entering or leaving freely. The Dragon King was mobilizing troops in the mountains. Thest thing he needed was for refugees to divulge these secrets.


    Dugu Xian was facing increasing pressure. You could imagine how unhappy he was when he heard that the Queen was in the barracks. At this time, he was in no mood to deal with trivial matters that had nothing to do with the war.


    However, the arrival of the Queen might also have a bright side. She could be used to boost morale. By making a public appearance at such a life-or-death moment, the Queen could convince the soldiers that the Dragon King did not abandon his army.


    Few people knew about the delicate rtionship between the Dragon King and the Queen.


    The Queen brought arge number of attendants, both men and women. They all dressed in military uniforms, and her dress was very simple. She got off at the gate and walked into the barracks. Instead of heading straight to the main tent, she took a detour to meet as many ordinary soldiers as she could. She inquired about their welfare, and promised that the Dragon King was leading arge army back.


    Although there was not a very strict protocol between men and women in the western regions, the Queen¡¯s actions were still quite unusual and a bit shocking. The anxious soldiers were deeply moved and their confidence was regained.


    The Left General, Dugu Xian, waited at the gate of the main tent, watching from a distance. He saw arge number of soldiers kneeling on the ground and saluting the Queen. He was both relieved and alert, especially when he heard the Queen¡¯s promise to the army.


    As a professional general, he did not like any outside interference. Even the Dragon King had never openly shown that he owned the army. Seeing that the Queen had won over the soldiers with such great fanfare, themander-in-chief felt his authority had been challenged.


    Dugu Xian turned to Prime Minister Zhong Heng.


    Zhong Heng returned him a wry smile. Knowing the Queen well, he was aware that she was not as simple as she looked. When the Dragon King was around, she looked gentle and demure and would never stand out. However, she could do amazing things in times of crisis.


    During the siege of the Stone Kingdom¡¯s capital, when she was still a princess, she had walked into the city at Xu Yanwei¡¯s instigation to inspire people. Zhong Heng hoped that this time her purpose would be the same.


    It took half an hour for the Queen toe to the exit of the main tent. She apologized to the Left General and the Prime Minister, who had been waiting for quite a while, ¡°Sorry that I¡¯ve kept you waiting so long. I hope my arrival did not cause too much trouble,¡± she said.


    The young Queen looked more mature and proper than ever before. It was hard to believe that she was less than twenty years old.


    Dugu Xian made a few casual remarks dryly. Zhong Heng was much more enthusiastic. The Queen was not threatening the authority of the Prime Minister, so he had nothing toin about.


    Xu Yanwei, who was still the Queen¡¯s maid, made a helpless expression to the Prime Minister, indicating that this was not her idea.


    Zhong Heng saw Shangguan Hong among the guards of the Queen. He seemed to have epted the fate of being a eunuch and looked calm.


    As soon as she entered the main tent, the Princess asked, ¡°Left General, what are the arrangements for our army?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King and I had worked out a perfect n and everything is in order,¡± Dugu Xian said, avoiding a direct answer. Even Prime Minister Zhong Heng only knew a little about the surprise attack n. It was impossible to tell the Queen. ¡°The frontline is full of danger. Your Majesty really shouldn¡¯t havee,¡± he continued.


    The Queen answered softly, ¡°General Dugu, what is the difference between the frontline and rear now? The Golden Roc Army is less than 30 miles away from our army and only a little more than a day¡¯s walk to the capital of the An Kingdom. If there is a crisis, it is everywhere.¡±


    Dugu Xian did not know how to respond to the Queen. He was not good at analyzing the hidden meaning of her words, either. The frontline was indeed close to the rear, but the difference was obvious. Anyway, it was the 20,000 soldiers in the front who would affect the final oue of the war, not the 100,000 people in the rear.


    Zhong Heng decided to be the mediator, interjecting, ¡°We are impressed that the Queen cares about the frontline soldiers. General Dugu didn¡¯t mean to oppose the Queen¡¯s visit. He is only worried about how to face the Dragon King if anything happens to your Highness.¡±


    The Queen nodded, saying, ¡°Where is the Dragon King?¡±


    Dugu Xian and Zhong Heng nced at each other and did not answer.


    ¡°As the Queen, am I not qualified to know the whereabouts of the Dragon King?¡± she asked.


    Zhong Heng coughed dryly and said, ¡°We do not mean to hide. It is really¡­¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know where the Dragon King went,¡± Dugu Xian broke in, ¡°That is the truth. I haven¡¯t told anyone else.¡±


    ¡°Then guess. You two have followed the Dragon King for so long. You must have some clue,¡± the Queen said.


    What Dugu Xian was thinking was: ¡± <em>You are the one sleeping with the Dragon King. How can we know something that even you don¡¯t know </em>?¡± But rather, he said, ¡°As a subject, it is a crime to specte about the whereabouts of a king.¡±


    The queen was not irritated. Despite the stiff tone of the General, she said in a soft voice, ¡°General Dugu is very correct, but this is a special time. The Dragon King is likely to be in danger now.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is excellent in Kung Fu, outstanding in intelligence and has survived numerous dangers. He will be fine.¡± Dugu Xian said, having never spoken such ttering words in front of the Dragon King himself.


    The Queen smiled and then said seriously, ¡°If you two knew what I knew, you wouldn¡¯t be so calm.¡±


    Dugu Xian remained silent. He did not believe that the Queen could know anything more than he did. Zhong Heng showed his interest, asking, ¡°Can the Queen express it?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King entered Wushan,¡± she replied.


    This was nothing. Many people guessed that the Dragon King must have gone to Wushan.


    ¡°The Dragon King is looking for the army that Tuo Nengya and Ha Chilie recruited,¡± she continued.


    This was also nothing. Since she knew about Wushan, she would naturally know about the two generals sent by the Dragon King earlier.


    ¡°But the two men have died in mysterious ways, and the army is missing,¡± she went on.


    The news of Tuo Nengya¡¯s and Ha Chilie¡¯s death had only just spread outside of the mountains. Although not many people knew it, it was natural that the Queen had heard about it already.


    ¡°General Dugu wants tounch a surprise attack on the sea slope, but maybe it¡¯s a little difficult now,¡± she said.


    Dugu Xian suddenly stood up and snapped, ¡°How do you know that?¡±


    ¡°So to speak, what I said is right?¡± the queen said, calmly.


    Dugu Xian¡¯s heart was beating like a drum as he thought, <em>¡°Even the Queen knew about the surprise attack n. Did the Dragon King identally reveal it, or was there another reason? What if the Golden Roc Army also knows about this n¡­¡±</em>


    Zhong Heng came to the rescue again, ¡°The Dragon King is not here, and the three of us are the core of the Dragon Army. Now is the time for us to trust each other.¡±


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s trust each other,¡± the Queen said expectantly.


    Although Dugu Xian had more and more doubts, he had to admit the truth. ¡°The Dragon King did enter Mount Wushan. He suspected that there was a mole from Golden Roc Fort in the mountain, and therefore he meant to take over the army¡­.Your Highness, please tell me the truth. How do you know¡­?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I got it from the Queen Mother of the An Kingdom,¡± she replied.


    Dugu Xian and Zhong Heng looked at each other, startled.


    The Queen Mother of the An Kingdom had originallye from the Central ins. Her son, the old King of the An Nation, had fled Jade City with his followers to seek refuge, but she had stayed and personally chosen a candidate from her royal family to be the new king. However, the Central in had shown no interest in the war, and the old king had sent messengers to contact her. When she got the messages from her son, she decided to break her oath to the Dragon King and started nning a rebellion. Her plot started before the first battle between the Dragon Army and the Golden Roc Army. She made an attempt to control the entire capital and keep the Dragon Army out of the city when the Dragon Army was defeated on the frontline.


    However, the Queen and Xu Yanwei had set up an intelligencework in the pce and discovered the plot. They always pretended to not know anything, though. But in actuality, none of the letters exchanged between the Queen Mother of the An Kingdom and the Golden Roc Army had escaped the Queen¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°The man named Wu Zongheng revealed the news to the Queen Mother,¡± said the Princess, intending to make a long story short. ¡°The Queen Mother is going to tell the Golden Roc Army,¡± she finished.


    She took out a letter and handed it to Zhong Heng, who took it respectfully, hastily read it, and then passed it to Dugu Xian.


    The letter contained every detail of their n. Dugu Xian¡¯s face turned as white as a ghost. ¡°Wu Zongheng. How could it be? Dragon King trusted him so much¡­.This letter¡­¡± he gasped.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t sent out,¡± the Queen said, relieving the Left General with one sentence. At this moment, nothing was more important than keeping the surprise attack n a secret ¡ª not even the fact that Tuo Nengya and Ha Chilie had been killed and Wu Zongheng had betrayed the Dragon King. As long as the n was safe, the Dragon King would get the army back sooner orter. The key was to keep it secret.


    Dugu Xian immediately changed his opinion about the Queen and looked up to her. He was about to say something to show his loyalty when he was informed that a messenger had asked to meet him.


    Before, Dugu Xian would have politely asked the queen to take a rest to keep her from the messenger. Now he decided to meet the messenger in front of her.


    The messenger was dusty with mud and sweat. He bowed to the Left General and handed over a sealed letter with both hands, not saying a word.


    There were only five words in the letter: ¡°the fifth day of March.¡±


    Dugu Xian was excited, but he remained calm and simply asked, ¡°Where did youe from?¡±


    The messenger pointed out the direction of Wushan and opened his mouth to show he was a mute without a tongue.


    Dugu Xian turned to the Queen and the Prime Minister and said, ¡°The final battle will be on the day after tomorrow.¡±


    Even though he was excited, the Left General also had some doubts. The original n was that Maid Lotus would send the letter. How could she have been reced by a mute?

 Chapter 502 - Group Discussion

    Chapter 502: Group Discussion


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Maid Lotus asked everyone to prove their loyalty to the Dragon King.


    Six people left the teahouse in batches and reunited in a hidden valley nearby. Like members of a secret group, they stood around and shared their known information with each other. Then Maid Lotus said, ¡°Shangguan Yun likes to bluff, but he must have bought off many people. There may be traitors among us. So, everyone should say the reasons you will not betray the Dragon King. ¡±


    The other five people were all staring at Shangguan Fei. He was Shangguan Yun¡¯s younger brother, and they had been in contact with each other for a long time, seemingly in semi-public collusion.


    Shangguan Fei red at them with surprise, dissatisfaction, and disappointment in his eyes and said, ¡°Why does it have to be me? The Dragon King didn¡¯t doubt me and sent me to do important tasks. Besides, with Shangguan Hong¡¯s experience, I would definitely not seek refuge in Golden Roc Fort. The Supreme King would never forgive me.¡±


    ¡°That is a reason,¡± Maid Lotus said, approvingly. Shangguan Fei sighed with relief and looked to the others.


    Since Shangguan Fei was the first to speak, Long Fanyun standing beside him went next, saying, ¡°I am a swordsman from the Great Snowmountain.¡± This sentence was enough.


    There was once a swordsman who secretly colluded with the enemy. In the end, he conducted a suicidal attack to atone for his crime. He asked only that the Dragon King not disclose his crime. None of the six people knew about that, so they still had full confidence in the words ¡°swordsman from the Great Snowmountain¡±.


    Chu Nanping was next. He thought for a while and then said, ¡°I haven¡¯t finished practicing the swordcraft with the Dragon King yet.¡±


    Everyone was surprised and none of them could understand how this could be a reason. However, Chu Nanping was, indeed, trusted and could not keep secrets. Besides, the Dragon King rarely gave him any particrly important task, so he was of little value to be bribed.


    The next one was Han Fen, who was the happiest of the six, like a naughty child who was finally invited to join the game after waiting a long time. ¡°It¡¯s my turn. I won¡¯t betray the Dragon King because¡­ because he is awesome at Kung Fu. He is handsome and likes to talk to me,¡± she gushed.


    Even Han Fen herself could tell from the others¡¯ expressions that her answer was not good. She scratched her temples anxiously and suddenly thought of a new reason. Her face lit up with happiness as she said, ¡°I won¡¯t betray the Dragon King because I never pledged loyalty to him. Without loyalty, there can be no betrayal, right? I am loyal to the Managing Master, and her choice is my choice. ¡±


    Finally, Han Fen¡¯s answer gained approval. She breathed a sigh of relief and immediately pushed Han Xuan next to her, saying, ¡°It¡¯s your turn.¡±


    Han Xuan was not sure what to say, but Han Fen reminded her. ¡°I never pledged loyalty to the Dragon King, either. How can I betray him? Unless he is willing to marry my Miss, but he already has a wife¡­¡± she reasoned.


    Han Xuan was only a maid in Gulping Wind Gorge. She was of little importance, so Shangguan Yun wouldn¡¯t pay attention to her. That was the best guarantee for her reliability.


    Thest one was Maid Lotus. ¡°I have had countless opportunities to kill the Dragon King, so why would I have waited until now?¡± she said simply.


    Shangguan Fei felt very indignant. Among the six people, only he gave a solid reason, and the others simply resorted to loose arguments. ¡°It¡¯s no use at all. How can a traitor admit it in public?¡± he wondered aloud.


    ¡°I was checking everyone¡¯s attitude. The next task is the real test,¡± said Maid Lotus.


    Maid Lotus¡¯ tone was nd. Shangguan Fei suddenly felt that he had been tricked. Since he had already pledged his loyalty to the Dragon King, he had to ept whatever order Maid Lotus issued in the name of the Dragon King.


    This woman was really cunning and unwittingly forced everyone to agree to her n. In Shangguan Fei¡¯s memory, Maid Lotus was always cold and secretive, hiding around the Dragon King and drawing no attention. She asionally poked people with the Iron Finger, but was not the kind of person to y tricks.


    ¡°What task?¡± Han Xuan asked, her enthusiasm running out. She had started to lose interest these past few days. It was so boring, and she didn¡¯t have any interest in any ¡°task¡±. ¡°Don¡¯t take too long. My Miss must be missing me. I have to get to her quickly,¡± she said.


    Maid Lotus had gotten used to Han Xuan¡¯s candour. She answered, ¡°Soon, in a few days, the task will be finished with Shangguan Yun¡¯s death.¡±


    ¡°Kill Shangguan Yun?¡± Shangguan Fei asked, shocked ¡ª not because he was brothers with Shangguan Yun, but because he thought the n was too risky.


    ¡°Well, Shangguan Yun set a trap for the Dragon King. We don¡¯t know the detailed n, and we can¡¯t find the Dragon King. The simplest solution is to kill the leader, and then his underlings will naturally disperse in an uproar, so the trap will no longer exist,¡± she exined.


    ¡°Um, um, Shangguan Yun has many kung fu masters as guards¡­¡± Shangguan Fei reminded her.


    ¡°You said you are loyal to the Dragon King,¡± Maid Lotus said in a slightly harsh tone.


    Shangguan Fei already knew that Maid Lotus would shut him up with this sentence. As long as she red at him, he could feel the pain of practicing kung fu return to his body. He took a step closer to Long Fanyun, and muttered in a low voice, ¡°I didn¡¯t say no. Just be careful¡­¡±


    No one else had an opposing opinion, especially Han Xuan. She followed Maid Lotus with the purpose of adventure and was looking forward to this assassination n.


    If there was such a n, that is.


    ¡°First of all, we have to figure out Shangguan Yun¡¯s n as much as possible and find out the loopholes to be able to attack,¡± Maid Lotus began. Time was limited, and she hadn¡¯t thought of a thorough n. It was always the Dragon King¡¯s responsibility to make the ns, and she only helped to improve them.


    No one wanted to be the first one to speak. Long Fanyun raised his hand to Shangguan Fei, as if to introduce him, but instead he pushed him away, saying ¡°Come on, you have the most ideas. Your guesses are usually quite urate.¡±


    ¡°Everyone can guess right once or twice,¡± Shangguan Fei said with a wry smile, regretting having been smug in front of Long Fanyun.


    ¡°He is your brother, so you should know his mind,¡± Maid Lotus said.


    ¡°We¡­we haven¡¯t seen each other more than ten years. He doesn¡¯t treat me as his younger brother,¡± Shangguan Fei replied.


    ¡°At least you know him better than we do,¡± Han Xuan added, putting more pressure on him.


    Shangguan Fei was overwhelmed by their pressure, and responded defensively, ¡°Well, I¡¯ll guess, but it¡¯s only a guess. If I get it wrong, it¡¯s not my intention, so don¡¯t me me for setting you up in the end.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was good at considering problems from the perspective of others. This capability came from his insecurity deep down inside and a persecutory delusion. After thinking for a while, he outlined the general situation.


    ¡°If Shangguan Yun wants to lure the Dragon King into a trap, he must have bait. His best choice is the 3,000 troops Wu Zongheng took away. But the Dragon King has been on the mountain for several days and still hasn¡¯t appeared. It indicates that he is already alert and is probably hiding in the dark to observe things. If this is the case, Shangguan Yun must change the bait,¡± he mused.


    Shangguan Fei stopped talking and looked at the others, except Maid Lotus, one by one. After fully piquing everyone¡¯s curiosity, he continued, ¡°The bait is himself.¡±


    ¡°The current situation is obvious. The Dragon Army wants to win and needs the 3,000 troops. The Dragon King wants to avoid the trap and take over the army. He must pass through Shangguan Yun first. So Shangguan Yun has to use himself as the bait. We have the same idea as the Dragon King. Therefore, assassinating Shangguan Yun at this time is tantamount to walking right into the trap,¡± he exined.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s speech was a little bit like a puzzle, but everyone understood his point. After beating around the bush, he still opposed the assassination, and any risk was not worth it, in his mind.


    ¡°How many prey can you catch with one?¡± Maid Lotus asked.


    Shangguan Fei knew that Maid Lotus was setting him up again, but he didn¡¯t dare to keep silent, ¡°One or two, but that¡¯s not the same thing¡­¡± he answered.


    ¡°Let¡¯s kill Shangguan Yun before the Dragon King does. We can break the trap for him.¡±


    ¡°The sacrifice will be huge,¡± Shangguan Fei said, not understanding why the Dragon King had been so obsessed to enter Wushan willingly. He should have stayed at the Royal Pce of the Hui Kingdom.


    ¡°For the sake of the Dragon King,¡± Long Fanyun said, believing these words could beat any excuse.


    ¡°I don¡¯t object, I just hope we can be cautious¡­¡± Shangguan Fei said as he lowered his head, avoiding eye contact with everyone, and wishing he could disappear into thin air.


    ¡°I have a n. It¡¯s simple. We divert his attention. One group creates chaos and the other group seeks a chance to assassinate, no matter if he has a trap or not,¡± Maid Lotus outlined her idea. Although she was not elected, Maid Lotus was undoubtedly the leader of the six, so her n was immediately approved by the others.


    Or rather, approved by everyone, except for Shangguan Fei. Rather, he hoped to avoid Maid Lotus¡¯s attention by hiding behind Long Fanyun.


    ¡°But we do need to be careful. The person who is going to assassinate Shangguan Yun must be a person he wants to keep alive. In case the assassination fails, that person will remain safe,¡± Maid Lotus added.


    No matter how much Shangguan Fei shrank his body, all eyes still focused on him.


    ¡°Shangguan Yun never treated me as a brother, and he won¡¯t spare me,¡± Shangguan Fei begged.


    ¡°Even though he wants to kill you, he won¡¯t do it immediately. He will take you back to Golden Roc Fort,¡± Maid Lotus said confidently. The ease of Maid Lotus¡¯s words made Shangguan Fei even more scared. ¡°You don¡¯t have to take this risk alone. I¡¯ll go with you while the others stay outside to create a diversion,¡± she added.


    ¡°But you just escaped, ¡± Han Xuan couldn¡¯t help saying.


    ¡°Shangguan Yun didn¡¯t kill me the first time, he won¡¯t do it this time, either,¡± Maid Lotus responded assuredly. She was well aware that not everyone could break the trap for the Dragon King. Among those few that could, only her kung fu skills were equal to the Dragon King¡¯s.


    ¡°I¡¯m in,¡± Long Fanyun dered, eager to join.


    Before Maid Lotus spoke, Shangguan Fei shook his head. ¡®No, Shangguan Yun will definitely kill you. If he threatens me with your life, I¡­¡± he began.


    Shangguan Fei swallowed the second half of the sentence when he saw the rage in Long Fanyun¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°No, two people are enough for the assassination. It is not the style of the Dragon King if we have any more than that,¡± said Maid Lotus.


    The assassination n was passed, but many details needed to be worked out. The six people took their time to discuss them on their way.


    Although Shangguan Yun hadn¡¯t been seen in public, his whereabouts were assumed to be within the military camp of Wu Zongheng. So the six people rushed to the mountains behind the seaside slope.


    To the soldiers and civilians outside the mountain, the disappearance of the Dragon King had brought them great disappointment. But to the six people in the mountain, this was a sign of hope, indicating that the Dragon King hadn¡¯t fallen into the trap yet.


    Shangguan Yun had arranged everything properly, but the Dragon King was a huge mystery for him. Still, he was not particrly worried. The Dragon King had to make a choice between his own safety and saving the army. Either option would lead to a fiasco.


    ¡°Dragon King, ve Huan,¡± Shangguan Yun murmured these two names, hoping tobine the two images into one, but never quite capturing the right image.


    This was what he was doing when the assassin showed up.

 Chapter 503 - Kidnap

    Chapter 503: Kidnap


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Yun made himself the bait. With more time passing, the Dragon King still hadn¡¯t shown up. Shangguan Yun was more and more convinced that he should be the target.


    He was curious and even a little bit excited about what kind of tactics the Dragon King would use.


    The valley behind the seaside slope used to be a mining area that was abandoned many years ago, leaving bothrge and small mineshafts crisscrossed throughout. Wu Zongheng used this ce as the military camp.


    Three thousand veterans and more than one thousand recruits had joined together. Shangguan Yun¡¯s residence was in a small mineshaft outside, as there had been a copse here, and it was isted from the others. After a little tidying up, Shangguan Yun was able live a little morefortably there.


    The decisive battle was in two days. If the Dragon King wanted to retake the army, he had to make a move either today or tomorrow.


    ording to Shangguan Yun¡¯s standards, there was no difference between so-called ¡°lies¡± and the truth. For example, he might say that someone was a traitor when, in fact, this person might be bought a few dayster. He thought that was different from the truth. On the contrary, when he told Maid Lotus that he had 15 kung fu masters from outside the Western Region protecting him, he did not mention that arge number of killers were rushing in as reinforcements. It was not exactly a lie.


    Shangguan Yun felt a little sorry that Maid Lotus escaped so early and killed Ha Chilie, the spy. But as long as she reported the necessary information to the Dragon King, the cost was eptable.


    ording to Shangguan Yun¡¯s expectations, the Dragon King¡¯s n was as follows: The Dragon King and Maid Lotus (with one or two helpers at most) would assassinate Wu Zongheng first, and then watch the kung fu masters like the two Xia brothers to see where they would report to. In this way, they could find out the location of the target. As soon as Shangguan Yun got out of the mineshaft, a person ¡ª maybe even someone he knew ¡ª would stab him with a sword.


    The subtlety of the trap didn¡¯t depend on the density or sharpness of the spikes below, but on the authenticity of the upperyer of earth above the trap.


    Shangguan Yun had 15 foreign kung fu masters. After Xia Shouxiong¡¯s death, there were 14. These days they were disguised as ordinary soldiers. Half of them hid around Wu Zongheng and the other half were scattered around the military camp. Shangguan Yun never showed up himself.


    The Dragon King would take the bait, because he had no other options. Even though he knew it was a trap, he would take the risk. Shangguan Yun thought he understood the Dragon King¡¯s character and believed that he would never give up the Dragon Army that he had assembled with difficulty.


    Not far from Shangguan Yun, there was another isted mineshaft where Wu Zongheng lived. He was anxiously pacing back and forth inside.


    A guard came in to report, saying, ¡°Your Honor, Miss Ming Zhen¡­ wants to see you. ¡±


    Wu Zongheng had to keep Ming Zhen in the army. Her maid, Han Xuan, and a disciple of the New Moon Hall had run away suddenly and he had to take her as hostage.


    Ming Zhen had the decency to never cry or scream, but she always felt numb, all day long. Sometimes there was panic in her eyes, like a child abandoned by its parents. Wu Zongheng felt that he might have been too cruel to her.


    ¡°Sote? ¡± Wu Zongheng asked, frowning. It waste at night, which was not a good time for a single man and a single woman to meet.


    ¡°Yes. ¡± The guard responded simply. It was none of his business. He wished a woman would like to meet himte at night.


    Ming Zhen¡¯s residence had been cleaned up, but there was still cold water dripping down the wall. It was alreadyte spring outside the mountain, but it was still as cold as winter in here.


    In order to prevent the soldiers from gossiping, Wu Zongheng asked all three disciples of the New Moon Hall to stay with Ming Zhen at all times. This time, they stood by the wall, expressionless and barely even blinking their eyes, like ghosts buried in the mineshaft.


    It had to be hard for Miss Ming Zhen to live with these three women. Wu Zongheng was more sorry about her situation but still spoke to her tly. He was the general of the army and could not have any tenderness towards a woman. ¡°What can I do for you, Miss?¡± he asked dryly.


    It seemed that Ming Zhen had been crying. Although her cheeks had been wiped carefully, her eyes were still swollen. ¡°General Wu, please tell me the truth,¡± she said.


    ¡°What? ¡± Wu Zongheng asked, getting nervous because he already knew what she wanted to know.


    The news of Ha Chilie¡¯s death had arrived two days prior. Wu Zongheng asked several informed people to keep it a secret. On the one hand, he was worried that the tribe soldiers might rebel. On the other hand, he was worried that Miss Ming Zhen might not take it well. Although the rtionship between the two seemed to be a little cold, they were an unmarried couple, after all.


    ¡°Ha Chilie ¡­ was killed? ¡± asked Ming Zhen, obviously having heard the rumors.


    Wu Zongheng was not used to and did not want to lie. He pondered for a moment and said, ¡°Yes, Lord Ha died at the hands of a spy. My condolences, Miss.¡±


    ¡°I thought ¡­¡± Ming Zhen couldn¡¯t help sobbing.


    Once the tears began, they could no longer be controlled. Ming Zhen cried so sadly and began shaking. If there was a maid to serve her, she would havee over to hold her. But there were only the three New Moon Hall disciples, standing like the living dead in the room. Wu Zongheng was touched and did something uncharacteristic for a general ¡ª he stepped forward, nning tofort the heartbroken beauty.


    Someone moved faster than him, but she held him instead of Ming Zhen.


    A New Moon Hall disciple grasped his left arm firmly and put a dagger against his back, saying in a low voice, ¡°Don¡¯t move, or I will kill you.¡±


    Wu Zongheng was shocked, and stared at Ming Zhen in front of him.


    Ming Zhen¡¯s cry was out of true feelings. She had been lonely and helpless from an early age and was pushed aside by her family. Finally, she got a fiance of excellent birth and appearance, but he was killed before they were married.


    She ran to the bed, bent over and wept bitterly, as if she had not just seen Wu Zongheng get kidnapped.


    Han Xuan was the one who caught Wu Zongheng, but she still cared more about her Miss. ¡°Han Fen, you take him,¡± she said.


    Another New Moon Hall disciple came over with a dagger in her hand and said discontentedly, ¡°Why do you always expose me?¡±


    Han Xuan pushed Wu Zongheng to her and ran to her Miss. Sheforted Ming Zhen with a gentle voice, holding her in her arms.


    Wu Zongheng got more and more confused and angry, and asked ¡°What the hell is going on? Didn¡¯t you two run away?¡±


    Han Fen and Han Xuan had exchanged identities with two disciples of the New Moon Hall. They were in the army for only two hours or so. The New Moon Hall disciples seldom showed up at ordinary times and preferred to hide in the shadows. With just a little disguise, no one could tell.


    ¡°Behave, you traitor,¡± Han Fen said, holding him harder. Wu Zongheng was unable to resist since his kung fu was not strong enough.


    ¡°Traitor? Who are you talking about?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s you,¡± said Han Fen.


    Wu Zongheng calmed down when he heard this and said, ¡°You have made a mistake. How can I be a traitor?¡±


    ¡°Well, how do I know? Anyway, you¡¯re a traitor. When the timees, you just scream, and then I¡¯ll kill you,¡± she answered.


    For the first time, Wu Zongheng learned that the New Moon Hall disciples could not be reasoned with. With a wry smile he said, ¡°You can kill me, but you should give me a reason, right? Why do you call me a traitor? ¡±


    ¡°Eh, you still dare to talk back? The Managing Master said you are a traitor. How dare you deny it?¡± Han Fen replied.


    Han Xuan still held the youngdy in her arms. Although she was a bit reckless, she was more worldly than Han Fen. She added, ¡°Because you colluded with Shangguan Yun.¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Yun? The Third Young Master of Golden Roc Fort?¡± Wu Zongheng asked, finally understanding,¡±I have never even seen him. How could I have colluded with him? ¡±


    ¡°Bah, you are shamelessly lying. Shangguan Yun is hiding in the military camp. When you scream, someone will report to him, and then ¡­ hum, I can¡¯t tell you.¡± Han Fen said, holding the dagger in her right hand and pinching Wu Zongheng¡¯s shoulder hard.


    Wu Zongheng blushed, not because of shame, but because of pain. He had to resist it forcibly in front of all the women in the room. ¡°You have been fooled and have fallen victim to the enemy¡¯s n to sow discord¡­ Miss Ming Zhen can prove my innocence,¡± he said.


    Ming Zhen was still crying, and Han Xuan asked, ¡°What can Miss prove? ¡±


    ¡°I found three spies from Golden Roc Fort hidden in the army and carried out the execution on the spot. If I were a traitor, why did I kill my own people? Miss Ming Zhen, please testify for me,¡± Wu Zongheng said.


    Ming Zhen looked up and kept sobbing. ¡°General Wu¡­General Wu did kill three people, but ¡­I don¡¯t know if they were spies,¡± she managed between sobs.


    Wu Zongheng panicked because her words clearly implied that the people he killed were probably not spies. ¡°I want to see the Dragon King. The Dragon King trusts me, and you can¡¯t¡­¡± he began.


    Han Fen pped Wu Zongheng on the face to stop him from arguing any further. ¡°Smelly traitor. You wish to trick me to tell you the whereabouts of the Dragon King. No way,¡± she said.


    Clear fingerprints showed on Wu Zongheng¡¯s face immediately from the p.


    The guards outside heard the noise and asked, ¡°Lord Wu, is everything all right?¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± Wu Zongheng said, being more cooperative after he was pped. After the guards walked away again, he decided to reveal the truth.¡±You really made a mistake. I pretended to collude with the enemy at the orders of the Dragon King, but it has nothing to do with Shangguan Yun. I have never seen him and I didn¡¯t know he was hiding in the military camp.¡±


    Han Fen didn¡¯t believe him. If she hadn¡¯t been waiting for the signal, she would have already killed him with the dagger.


    Although Ming Zhen was devastated, she felt a little sympathy for Wu Zongheng and said, ¡°General Wu may not be a traitor.


    Han Xuan said in surprise, ¡°Miss, you can¡¯t fall for a bad guy again. You finance is dead, but we can find you another one. But this guy can¡¯t be your fiance.¡±


    Ming Zhen was flushed, but stopped crying, ¡°No, no. Don¡¯t be ridiculous. I have noticed several soldiers walking around General Wutely. They seem to know each other, and they are not like people from the Western Region. They are probably spies,¡± shemented.


    ¡°Exactly! Isn¡¯t this evidence of his betrayal to the Dragon King?¡± asked Han Fen.


    ¡°But those people are always watching General Wu and seldom appear in front of him, so I think ¡­ maybe they are not together.¡± Ming Zhen said.


    Wu Zongheng was ashamed of himself. He kept a watchful eye all the time, but had not seen what ady saw.


    He ignored one thing: As amanding general of the army, he was the focus of the enemy¡¯s attention. But Ming Zhen was different. She was a harmless little girl who was too shy to look up at the others. Who would care too much about her?


    Han Fen was stubborn and said, ¡°Whatever. Just scream when I say so, and then I¡¯ll kill you. If I wronged you, don¡¯t me me. Anyway, you are making a contribution to the Dragon Army.¡±


    Wu Zongheng was dumbfounded and couldn¡¯t believe that he would die in such a bad way.


    Han Xuan got up and let go of Ming Zhen. ¡°It¡¯s almost time. You two take Miss and leave first,¡± she said.


    ¡°Hey, you ¡­¡± Han Fen said. She didn¡¯t like to change the n suddenly.


    ¡°I want to switch the task. Can¡¯t I?¡± asked Han Xuan.


    ¡°Sure, you don¡¯t have to be so strict. You¡¯re not the Managing Master.¡± Han Fen said in a voice that got lower and lower. She helped Ming Zhen up with the other New Moon Hall disciple and walked out.


    Wu Zongheng had no idea how the three women evaded the guards outside.


    Han Xuan had been staring at him and finally said, ¡°Don¡¯t you dare call anyone to rescue you. I can kill you with one move. ¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t call anyone, because I¡¯m not a traitor,¡± Wu Zongheng replied carefully.


    After Han Fen and the other two left had been gone for a while, Han Xuan suddenly asked, ¡°Are you really not a traitor?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not. God knows,¡± said Wu Zongheng, exasperatedly.


    ¡°Look at my eyes,¡± said Han Xuan.


    The two looked at each other for a moment. Wu Zongheng did not even dare to blink.


    ¡°Well, I won¡¯t kill you. But remember, you owe me one. You¡¯ll have to return the favor,¡± she said.


    ¡°Yes, definitely,¡± he replied.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t married yet?¡± she asked him.


    Wu Zongheng couldn¡¯t keep up with her thoughts. He thought for a while before he said, ¡°I did, but she passed away.¡±


    He regretted telling the truth immediately, because the expression in Han Xuan¡¯s eyes was a bit strange.


    Fifteen minutester, Wu Zongheng shouted, ¡°Assassin!Assassin!¡±


    Hearing the cry, Shangguan Yun was refreshed.

 Chapter 504 - Reminder

    Chapter 504: Reminder


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Yun walked out of the temporary residence, expecting a deadly sword from the Dragon King.


    When Shangguan Fei¡¯s face appeared in the night, he took it as the Dragon King in disguise. A thought shed through his mind: <em>¡°This was, indeed, a brilliant idea.¡±</em>


    Shangguan Fei always wanted to return to Golden Roc Fort and had been in contact with his Third Brother. His appearance at this time could be very deceptive.


    Shangguan Yun and two ck-masked assassins attacked at the same time.


    The disguising tactics of the Golden Roc Fort were unrivalled. The Dragon King was good at it, and so was Shangguan Yun as the Third Young Master of the Golden Roc Fort. This substitute of Shangguan Yun was not a random person, but a carefully selected one in Jade City who had a very simr appearance and temperament. No one could see the w if he got disguised after training a little.


    The fake Shangguan Yun had even appeared in front of his uncle, Shangguan Jianyi. They had some small talk, and his uncle never doubted a thing.


    The assassin did not suspect anything unusual, and pounced on the fake Shangguan Yun, falling right in between the two ck-masked assassins.


    As for the other kung fu masters, they were hidden further away. Their task was to encircle the Dragon King when he fled. Dozens more killers were scattered and hidden, trying to wipe out all thepanions of the Dragon King.


    The two ck-masked assassins were Shangguan Yun¡¯s ace in the hole.


    For a long time, the Supreme King had been reluctant to send out ck-masked assassins for the assassination of the Dragon King. In his view, it was totally unnecessary to pay such a high price for dealing with a traitor of the Golden Roc Fort.


    Previously, there was a female ck-masked assassin named Guan Shang who was secretly used by Lady Meng and Shangguan Fei. Strictly speaking, she was only entry level.


    Shangguan Fei was timid and rarely set foot in dangerous ces, so it was really unnecessary to protect him with the strongest Shadow Guards.


    But this time, Shangguan Yun paid extra attention to the Dragon King from the verry beginning and regarded him as a close opponent, so he insisted on getting two real ck-masked assassins.


    The Dragon King thought himself as a kung fu master because he had defeated and killed many Golden Roc killers. It was time for him to understand the top strength of the Golden Roc Fort.


    Shangguan Yun was well prepared and spent a lot of time designing the trap. However, his excitement was fleeting. He immediately discovered something unusual with the assassin.


    It was impossible for the Dragon King to reveal such a panicked expression, even when he was pretending. It looked like he was being forced to perform the task instead of doing it voluntarily.


    Shangguan Yun blew a short whistle, and the two ck-masked assassins immediately disappeared. Even the people with the sharpest eyes couldn¡¯t notice them, since they only showed up for a short moment in the night.


    Shangguan Yun took a few steps back. Even if the opponent was Shangguan Fei, he had to keep his guard up.


    But the fake Shangguan Yun wasn¡¯t so calm. After a scream, he turned around and ran back to the residence.


    The eldest brother and the second brother of the Xia family from the Qingcheng Sect acted much faster than all the others. But they were new at cooperating with Shangguan Yun and failed to see his hint, still pouncing on the assassin.


    They didn¡¯t know Shangguan Fei. Besides Shangguan Yun had warned in advance that the Dragon King might pretend to be anyone.


    ¡± I ¡­¡± Shangguan Fei only had time to say this one word before the enemies approached and pointed at him with their fingers.


    At this critical moment, Shangguan Fei had only one choice ¡ª to fight back with a punch.


    The two Xia brothers didn¡¯t even think about why the Dragon King, who was best at using sabers, would fight with his bare hands.


    The eldest brother, Xia Yingxiong, decided to fight the enemy with fists. He did not believe that the Qingcheng Sect¡¯s kung fu was worse than that of a Western Region kung fu master.


    Apparently, Xia Yingxiong had the upper hand in this fight. Shangguan Fei¡¯s moves were fast, butcked variety, indicating that he was too panicked to remember his moves. Xia Yingxiong attackedst, but ended the fight first. While he punched back against Shangguan Fei¡¯s fist, his left hand was prepared to hit the acupoint of his opponent in the second move.


    Everything happened so fast. Shangguan Yun figured that something had gone wrong and asked the ck-masked assassins to step down. Before the fake Shangguan Yun could run away, the two Xia brothers arrived and took down the assassin with one move. Behind them, more masters were on guard and preparing to intercept the assassin if he escaped.


    However, the kung fu level of the assassin surprised everyone. After only one move, the assassin¡¯s acupoint was hit by Xia Wenxiong, who attacked from behind. He couldn¡¯t fight back and fell down, seeming to be either dead or seriously injured.


    Everyone was stunned, especially Xia Yingxiong, who was in front of the assassin. It seemed like he was unable to grasp what had happened. He thought for a moment and fell down, too.


    Xia Wenxiong was smug, but then found that his eldest brother was behaving strangely. He jumped over the assassin to check on his brother. But Xia Yingxiong stood up and impatiently pushed his younger brother away. ¡°It¡¯s okay, ¡± he said, but he also wondered why he fell down with the weak strength of his opponent.


    Xia Wenxiong had just lost his younger brother and didn¡¯t want to lose his eldest brother, too. He said with concern, ¡°Brother, your mouth is bleeding. ¡±


    Xia Yingxiong wiped his mouth and saw the blood. He red at his younger brother, ming him for meddling and shaming him in public. But capturing the assassin alive was, indeed, very praiseworthy. ¡°Cloud King¡­¡± he began to say.


    The Cloud King was not as happy as he was, though.


    Shangguan Yun waved his hand and a guard went over to lift up the fallen assassin.


    Shangguan Fei had been severely hurt from falling, with his nose and forehead bleeding. He drew a long face and said, ¡°Third Brother, I was forced and betrayed. ¡±


    Maid Lotus promised to carry out the assassination mission with him. She also said that if Shangguan Yun didn¡¯t kill her the first time, he wouldn¡¯t kill her the second time. However, her only contribution was to shove him into the trap and leave him there, alone.


    Shangguan Yun snorted with a smile. This move of the Dragon King was too strange. He asked Xia Wenxiong to release Shangguan Fei¡¯s acupoint and issued an order to the others, ¡°There are more assassins hidden here. Find them out.¡±


    After entering the mineshaft and lighting the oilmp, Shangguan Fei got morefortable. The attitude of the Third Brother was as kind as before, and he sent away his substitute to see Shangguan Fei alone, as an act of trust.


    Before Shangguan Yun could ask, Shangguan Fei confessed everything and especially emphasized that all his actions were forced.


    After hearing this, Shangguan Yun finally realized that the assassination attempt had nothing to do with the Dragon King. He was not the only one who couldn¡¯t find the Dragon King ¡ª neither could Maid Lotus.


    Shangguan Yun¡¯s question thus became,¡±What is the intention of Maid Lotus?¡±


    ¡°That bitch,¡± Shangguan Fei finally let it out after feeling oppressed for so long, and then felt much better. ¡°She betrayed me, betrayed everyone. She said she would break the trap for the Dragon King. But she ran away, leaving everyone else behind. ¡±


    The guards kept reporting news from outside, and Shangguan Fei listened carefully to each one of them. The guards reported that another assassin had been caught, but didn¡¯t described the appearance of the captive. Finally, Shangguan Fei mustered up some courage, gnashed his teeth and then said, ¡°There is a swordsman from the Great Snowmountain named Long Fanyun. If you catch him, please hand him over to me. He took me as a hostage and forced me to go across the sea and enter the mountain. By the way, Third Brother, you have to be careful. Meng Mingshu has some connection with the Dragon King¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei had confessed his mission of sending a message to Meng Mingshu and was about to telll him more just as the temporary wooden door of the mineshaft was knocked open, and Xia Wenxiong broke in. His face was red as blood and furious. He pounced on the transfixed Shangguan Fei and shouted, ¡°I¡¯m gonna kill you! ¡±


    Shangguan Fei had just started feeling safe and was totally defenseless. There was no way he could dodge Xia Wenxiong.


    Shangguan Yun stepped to Xia Wenxiong¡¯s side fast and put his left hand on his shoulder to stop him from advancing. He said, ¡°This is my brother, Shangguan Fei. Take it easy.¡±


    Xia Wenxiong was outraged and forgot that the Cloud King was his master. He pointed to Shangguan Fei, gnashed his teeth, and growled, ¡°This bastard killed my eldest brother!¡±


    Shangguan Yun was a little surprised. Xia Yingxiong just fell down and bled a little, and he had been speaking loudly moments ago. ¡°Your brother died?¡± asked Shangguan Yun.


    Xia Wenxiong nodded indignantly, saying, ¡°He kept vomiting blood until he died ¡ª nobody could stop it. Someone said his guts were all broken into pieces. This bastard is ruthless, I ¡­ I ¡­¡±


    Xia Wenxiong¡¯s hands were covered with blood, and he was eager to take revenge. He didn¡¯t care if it was the Cloud King¡¯s brother. But the hand on his left shoulder seemed to be the weight of a thousand stones. He tried several times but couldn¡¯t move under it. He looked back and found that the Cloud King¡¯s face was stern. That made him sacred, and he restrained himself immediately.


    Shangguan Fei kept stepping back and ended up with his back against the wet and cold wall. He kept shaking his head and said,¡±That¡¯s impossible, impossible¡­ you all want to frame me. Third Brother saw it ¡ª I was beaten.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s you. You pretended your kung fu skills were low, but secretly, you used the evil tactics,¡± Xia Wenxiong said, not backing down.


    Shangguan Yun suddenly remembered something and asked, ¡°I received information that someone killed a killer with one punch on the north shore. Was that you? ¡±


    Shangguan Fei instinctively denied it, ¡°It was not me. It was Long Fanyun. He ¡­¡±


    Third Brother¡¯s eyes were not so kind anymore. Shangguan Fei was too scared to keep lying and confessed,¡±It might have been me, but I only punched him once and didn¡¯t use full strength at all. He fell down because of a sudden illness, which had nothing to do with me. ¡±


    Shangguan Fei became less confident. He had doubted before that he had killed the killer himself. How could he have that skill? Now another piece of evidence was in front of him. Xia Yingxiong had better Internal Strength, so he had stayed alive longer.


    Shangguan Fei opened his mouth and slowly understood the whole story.


    Shangguan Yun didn¡¯t know what his ninth brother was thinking, but he knew that it was right to spare Shangguan Fei¡¯s life.


    Suddenly there were very loud noises outside, as if thousands of troops and horses wereing to kill him.


    A panic guard rushed in and said, ¡°Soldiers have mutinied, saying they want to kill the Cloud King to avenge Ha Chilie.¡±


    Ha Chilie died at the hands of Maid Lotus. Shangguan Yun revealed his death to the outside, but med a Golden Roc killer for his death. Ha Chilie was a useful traitor. Even though he had died, he had to retain the image of a loyal minister of the Dragon King for the time being.


    This arrangement also posed a problem. Many tribe soldiers still considered themselves members of the Dragon Army.


    ¡°No need to panic. Block all the entrances. Kill all the soldiers who have already run out.¡±


    Shangguan Yun did not worry about the mutiny of soldiers. There were many spies in the army, and they were able to control the situation. The soldiers were stirred up, but without any unification. They were just a mob.


    What he couldn¡¯t understand was Maid Lotus.


    The mutiny outside was apparently provoked by her, but in this way, the Dragon Army would suffer heavy losses, regardless of the oue. The army would definitely be exposed and the so-called ¡°surprise soldiers¡± would never exist. The decisive battle would happen the day after tomorrow. The main force of the Dragon Army, which was at a disadvantage, would never win.


    This move of Maid Lotus¡¯s almost destroyed all of the hopes of the Dragon Army, and the only use of it was to remind the Dragon King of the trap.


    Shangguan Yun finally realized that he had made a big mistake. Maid Lotus was a woman, and a woman from the New Moon Hall. She was already insane enough to sacrifice tens of thousands of people to save the life of the Dragon King.


    Did she know that the Dragon King would hate her to the core for this?


    Shangguan Yun never thought that his n would be destroyed at the hands of a crazy woman. Maid Lotus had said he would regret not killing her, and at this moment he did.


    However, he was still the winner, and the whole Western Region would know afterwards that he destroyed the ambush, and that was why the Golden Roc Army would win in the final battle.


    The Dragon King, hiding in the dark, was probably helpless.

 Chapter 505 - The Decisive Battle

    Chapter 505: The Decisive Battle


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Soon, the weather would be hot and humid and mosquitoes would rage and, wearing helmets and armour would onlymultiply the suffering. Shangguan Jianyi hoped to return to Jade City before the summer came.


    InStone Castle, the temperature was low all year round. Winter mighthavebeen harsh, but summer was indeed cozy.


    Shangguan Jianyi believed he would be the Supreme King¡¯s mosttrustedright-hand manand would stay in Stone Castle to make the long-term n.The cooperation with Nond on the other hand,was Shangguan Yun¡¯s job, the ambitious young man had tobe given opportunity to prove his strength publiclyrather than hidein the dark and make useless plot as he was did then.


    The army, like neat crops, was spread out in front of him with colorful gs serving asndmarks, totaling to more than 70,000 people. The army of Fort Jin Pengstill hadmost of its strength even after two battles, theDragon armydefeating such arge and well-trained army was almost impossible.


    Shangguan Jianyi was trained solely as akiller, but the longer hemanded the FortJin PengArmy, the less he thought of the so-called peerless kung fu.


    True it is indeed that a soldier stands no chance againsta killer, but when thousands of soldiers gathered together, obeying onmand turn theirsabres, spears, swords, bows and arrowtoward the same enemy,a killer shall seethe living day no more. His speed, strength, and agility would be madegreatly inefficientin the imprable bloody jungle.


    After all, of what use is sharp hearingwhen surrounded by theenemy? To retreat immediately after a blow, one of the basic principles of a killer, wouldkillthe killer faster if used on the battlefield as the retreatingmotion itselfmight result in hitting the sabre of an unconscious soldier.


    Shangguan Jianyi was eager to share his experience with theSupreme King. The series of assassination he had nned the previousautumnhad beena waste of energy andwanted to persuade the Supreme King into giving uppathless Qigong and concentrating on expanding thearmy so that he would finally confront theNond and the Central in like the three legs of a tripod.


    Supreme King saw the future of the Shangguan family and began to make major changes, but the changes were not thorough enough, even deciding to defer the war for the sake of Chapters 8 and 9 of Wayless Qigong, under Shangguan Yun¡¯s advice, which was unwise indeed.


    Military drums were hit rhythmically and the vanguard units began to move forward,both sides sending out their infantries first. The Dragon army had too few horses, and the Fort Jin Peng Army cavalrywas to be used elsewhere.


    The previous evening, Shangguan Jianyi received a personal letter from his nephew Shangguan Yun that revealed the Dragon army¡¯s n to attack the Fort Jin Peng Armyfrom the seaside slope, and how he had foiled the plot. ording to him, more than 3,000 soldiers were either killed or locked up in abandoned mineshafts, leaving no further threat to the war.


    Shangguan Jianyi handed the letter to his trusted advisor and sneered saying, ¡± Look at my good nephew, he shares my worries.¡±


    The advisor also smiled after reading the letter. They were only two, so he didn¡¯t worry about any leak of their conversation. He could boldly belittle anyone that hismander-in-chief disliked, he said,¡± The Third Young Master is still too young and still thinkswith a killer¡¯s instinct. It¡¯s understandable that he thought he made great discovery becauseactually, Commander Yi had already foreseen the seaside slope as a good location for a surprise attack and had made several sets of countermeasures to leave no chance for the Dragon army.¡±


    ¡± Hey, we can¡¯tentirely count on anticipation. An army, even if stationed next to Iron Mountain, should not leave itsnk vulnerable,it ismon sense.¡±


    ¡± Yes, exactly. Readiness is all. ¡±


    Although the advisor was ttering him, Shangguan Jianyi didn¡¯t think the ttery was ridiculous.The Fort Jin PengArmy would certainly take care of the nks without Shangguan Yun¡¯s warning and help. He would keep his nephew¡¯s letter and hand it over with the recent documents ,but anyone with eyes could see how unnecessary Shangguan Yun¡¯s ¡°post-event¡± warning was.


    The two armies now were engaged in the battle, the sh of weapons and the shouting of soldiers sounded so exciting indeed. Killing, endless killing. There were probably more people dead in this war than all those Fort Jin Pengassassinated over the years.


    The Supreme King used the divine kung fu as sabre and sword, teacher Zhang Ji used strategy as a sharp weapon andShangguan Jianyi, wielded a huge de made up of 70,000 people. Of the three, only he was invincible.


    War is like ying chess. You can¡¯t throw all chess pieces on a chessboard at one time or ce them randomly without purpose but rathery one step after another, inflicting constant pressure on the enemy.


    Shangguan Jianyi could only see the general situation of the battlefield from far away andheld his horsewhipto judge the situation from time to time. Soon guard troops rushed back and confirmed his judgment.


    Advisors and assisting generals didn¡¯t miss the perfect timing to tter him, but only one of them made the pointand said,¡±Commander Yi is a genius, you mastered everything in one year yetthe otherstake their entire lives. We can only admire you.¡±


    Shangguan Jianyi enjoyed these tteries but didn¡¯t show any feelings. No one dared mention the original founder of the Fort Jin Peng Army, Dugu Xian.


    Shangguan Jianyi in fact admired Dugu Xian secretly. The Army of Fort Jin Pengwasexpanded on the basis of the original 10,000 or 20,000soldiers andDugu Xianid the foundation for the army from theorganizational structure to daily training.


    But unfortunately, the Supreme King didn¡¯t make good use of the general and gave him to the Dragon King as an assistant for no reason.


    When the war was over, Shangguan Jianyi would order to capture Dugu Xian alive in a bidto give Dugu Xian another chance and forgive his crime of treason in public with magnanimity.


    He had a lot of ideas about the arrangements after the end of thewar.


    But was now only thinking about how many troops were still left on both sides, he ordered,¡± Send out the main troops.¡±


    This was an orderthat woulddecide thebattle because the facts were clear, the battle on the frontlinewas at stalemate and the Dragon army didn¡¯t have areserve force. Shangguan Jianyi wanted to send out the main force to wipe out the enemyin one attack. He hadwanted that evening, to celebrate with wine in theDragon army¡¯s encampment.


    On the other side of the battlefield.


    Only Dugu Xian himself knew how hard it wasto maintain calm on his face.


    Scouts reported that a brief sh had taken ce on the seaside slope the night before, The origin of both sides unknown andso the result.This was not a good news thus Dugu Xian¡¯s first response wasto pull out from the imminentbattle.


    Neverthless, he did not have much choice. If the sh at the back of the seaside slope was an ident, the Dragon King¡¯s army would have shown up on time and with thebattle having beencanceled, the consequences would be unbearable.


    He sent out arge number of scouts, but none of thembrought back the exact news.


    Dugu Xian decided not to wait any longer asDragon army¡¯s morale fluctuated andany further dy would make it worse.


    In the face of endless killing and shouting on the battlefield, he had little excitement andcalcted carefully the best time for the surprise attack to begin.


    Driven by the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain,theDragon armywerefull of valour and vigour, especially in thisdecisive battle. They tenaciously resistedthe FortJin PengArmy¡¯s repeated attacks and moved forwardsignificantly,fillingthose watching thebattle with even more eagerness.


    ¡°The Fort Jin PengArmy is not that strong.¡±


    ¡± They will win. ¡±


    ¡°Of course they will.¡±


    ¡­


    This was not exactly judgment of the situation but the expectation of all.


    The Queen stayed at the frontline and did not return to the capital. Shewas seatedin a nearby tent with five guards running back and forth reporting to her, mostly good news,the progress of the situation.


    In the Dragon King¡¯s absence, the presence of the Queen on the battlefield greatly boosted morale but only Dugu Xian and Zhong Heng knew that she had a routethrough which she wouldretreat.


    The Queen naturally, hoped theDragon army would win, but her visit to the military camp was not just a morale boost. By thwarting the plot of theQueen Motherof the An Kingdom, she had gained the trust of Left General and Prime Minister. She thenmade a request saying, ¡°The King of the Stone nation was thest of thebloodline of the Ju family. Heis only an infant and cannot affect the oue of the war. I hope to send him to the Land of Fragrance.¡±


    Dugu Xian didn¡¯t think too much at first. But at the suggestion of Prime Minister Zhong Heng, he realized that the Queen was the aunt and guardian of the King of the Stone nation. Sending away the King of the Stone nation also meant arranging a retreat route for her.


    Dugu Xian still didn¡¯t have much choice.


    Zhong Heng was responsible for the specific arrangements and sent his trusted followers to secretly send the King of the Stone nation and his mother to theGulping Wind Gorge, from where they would wait for the result of the war. If theDragon army won, they would be sent back to the capital of the An Kingdom but if it were defeated, a group of designated guards would escort the princess to the Gulping Wind Gorge immediately to join them and set out for the Land of Fragrance. The troops stationed in theGulping Wind Gorge wouldguard it for at least three days, providing the Queen with enough time to escape.


    Zhong Heng and Dugu Xian thoughtthe Queen could never be captured by Fort Jin Peng Army andhad hadanother idea that they had never spoken outfor fear that theDragon King might have already been hiding in the Land of Fragrance.


    As the battle on the frontline became evermore bitter, it seemed for a moment that theDragon armyhad crushed the enemy, untilthe frontline was soon stabilized. It was at that moment, the enemy¡¯s g fromfarther away began to move closer and the cavalry slowly started marching forward.


    Dugu Xian first noticed the enemy¡¯s movements, but didn¡¯t have enough reserves to reinforce.


    It was time for the surprise attack from the nks.


    ¡± Light the beacon-fire.¡± He said.


    This was the signal theDragon King hadagreed with him in advance. When the beacon-fire lit, anarmy was to appear on the seaside slope, an army capable of changing the situation.


    When no one showed up, Dugu Xian could still keep calm because the beacon-firehad just been lit and the ambush needed some preparation. But the next scene made him lose whatever confidence he had of victory indeed.


    The Fort Jin Peng army suddenly divided into two parts in the process of moving forward, one part continuing to move forward to the Dragon army while the other part, with no less than 10,000, formedinto columns from horizontal lines and turned to the seaside slope. When they reached, they all raised theirnces towards the top of the slope.


    Even ambush soldiers would not seed with the surprise attack.


    Shangguan Yun imed that he had foiled the surprise attack n of the Dragon King but Shangguan Jianyigiving him a deaf ear,didn¡¯t take it seriously and still sent his response troops ording to the original n.


    Dugu Xian understood that the situation was hopeless and became more calm and ready to make the necessary decisions.


    He turned to look at Prime Minister Zhong Heng and nodded, indicating to him to escort the Queen away. He was goingto die withhis army if it cameto it.


    Shangguan Jianyi was close enough to the battlefield to see the ferocious expressions of the soldiers, andraised his headto lookat the seaside slope, hoping to spot a surprise attack to make his victory more perfect.


    His wish came true then whena lone g that seemed to be theRed Raven gof the Dragon Kingwas raised at the top of the slope.


    Then there were more gs and soldiers, and more, and more.


    The ambush came on time, but Dugu Xian thought their use had passed. There were at most 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers in Wushan who even though atamanding height, still couldn¡¯t break the frontline made ofnces.


    The soldiers who were fighting on battlefield couldn¡¯t notice anything, but everyone else could see clearly the difference at the top of the slope, especially the right-wing response soldieryofthe Fort Jin Peng army that had been looking up and was closest.


    ¡± The people up there¡­are they all women? ¡°They kept saying to each other.They were also the first to see the differenceamong the soldiers at the top of the slope.

 Chapter 506 - Mines

    Chapter 506: Mines


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Han Fen¡¯s greatest pleasure was arguing with Han Xuan because she was able to say whatever she wanted. She dreamed of thisfor many yearsand finallyhad a chance to achieve it.


    She did not care even if it meant being locked up in a dark and abandoned mine surrounded by nervous tribal soldiers.


    ¡°What about Maid Lotus? Wasn¡¯t sheing to save people? It¡¯s almost a day past, why isn¡¯t she here yet?¡± Han Xuan carried the Miss in her arms as she looked warily at the soldiers afar. The three of them, including the other disciple from the New Moon Hall, were the only ones there.


    Han Fen was not worried at all and said, ¡°the Managing Master couldn¡¯thave forgotten if he didn¡¯t have something upying him.¡±


    ¡°Forgotten? Then we¡¯ll die here?¡± Han Fen asked incredulously.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t itgood here, where even the graves have been saved.¡±


    Ming Zhen trembled. Han Fen hugged her tightly and red at Han Fen saying, ¡°you are not allowed to scare the miss, besides the words you spoke at the New Moon Hall do not count at all. You are traitors.¡±


    ¡°If what was said counted, wouldn¡¯t we be tired?¡± Han Fen said looking steadily back without flinching, her eyes ratherfilled withcheeriness than anger and asked,¡±I said that I was going to have noodles in the afternoon. I¡¯m changing it to rice now, can¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°This¡­ this is not the same,¡± said Han Fen who was a little reckless but her mindset however, the same as most people¡¯s. She continued,¡±we are not going to have rice because The Maid Lotus treats you like a meal. Are you happy now?¡±


    ¡°Happy,¡±Han Fen answered.Other people might have thought that Han Fen was taking advantage of the situation, but after allthose days of getting along, Han Fen had understood that the only disciple who was fond of talking, had not understood what lying meant. She said,¡±this means that I am still of some use to the Managing Master. It would only be upsetting if she didn¡¯t lookat me or find me when she needed help. The Managing Master I tell you, shelikes me. When practising her kungfu, she was very strict with me to the extent that there are still some scars left on my body by her. Do you want to see ?¡­¡±


    Han Fen¡¯s happiness seemed toe from her heart butHan Xuan pursed her lips because she would turn against her immediately if the Miss dared use that method to express her ¡°love¡±. She turned her head to look at a disciple of the New Moon Hall who wassilent and asked, ¡°Is she speaking the truth?¡±


    The disciple did not expect that she would be speaking to anyone as she looked very awkward.She swept ateralnce, before she nodded her head in silence.


    ¡°You two. One of you never stops talking yet theother is like a mute. Are you both disciples at all?¡± Han Xuan was very interested in the New Moon Hall but nowfelt like backing out.


    ¡°Of course,¡± she said. Only Han Fen would reply. ¡°She was a disciple butwas eliminated. She is no mute. She just doesn¡¯t like to talk. I was almost eliminated too beforeI left her, butthe Managing Master brought me out. More proof that she bears preference for me.¡±Han Fen added.


    ¡°You are so good at the martial arts, do you also want to be eliminated?¡± she asked, surprising Han Xuan. The other party¡¯s kungfu was not only better, but the ult sciences that she dabbled in were iprehensible to others.


    ¡°I love to talk. The masters dressed in red said I didn¡¯t follow the teachings and almost threw me into the pit of corpses. Have you smelled the pit? It¡¯s strange, a bit like¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up.¡± Han Xuan ordered angrily as the Miss in her arms trembled. A few soldiers around them looked on embarrassingly. It was thanks to the defence of Wu Zongheng and Long Fanyun that they had not dashed over.


    The assassination n the previous night had not seemed to differ too much from what had been agreed in advance.


    Han Fen and hispanions sent the Miss out of the house andtold the guards that they were sending the general to his residence. They passed the border sessfullyand whateverhadgone on was history.


    Han Xuan did not kill Wu Zongheng like ording to n. After forcing him to scream, she took him into the hut where outside, Long Fanyun had already in a few guards. Seeing Wu Zongheng wasstill alive, he could not help but be dazed.


    On the other side, the Maid Lotus pushed Shangguan Fei to Shangguan Yun yetshe herself had run away and disappeared.


    There were two other disciples of the New Moon Hall and onthe orders of the Managing Master, instigated some soldiers to revolt. This was very easy. Saying ¡°Fort Jin Peng¡± would prompt the three young masters to hide in a mine. Moreover, Ha Chilie was also killed by Shangguan Yun.


    Facts had proven that the disciples of the New Moon Hall were not always gloomy as ghosts. As long as they had orders, they would do something out of the ordinary, including winning the trust and favour of others.


    Afterwards, these two disciples, including Chu Nanping, who also had another task, along with Maid Lotus, never appeared again.


    The two disciples of the New Moon Hall though, were only in time to gather a small number of troops. Shangguan Yun had made preparations early andimmediately ordered guards to seal the entrance, and kill the dissidents outside.


    Most of the soldiers were in the blue of what went on around them. They wereunable to know the facts and to decide thus whether to join the mutiny, before they were stuck inthehole.


    Han Xuan and the others had also entered the cave andinitially, had wanted to merely seek shelter from the wind, they did not expect the enemy to react so quickly.


    The cave was blocked by boulders that had been prepared earlier on anter rammed with earth. Unlessthey werea deity, no one would be able to open it.


    Wu Zongheng hoped that he could be able to be a small official in peace and quiet because he had revealed his leadership urgings early on in front of the rioting crowdandhence had been picked by the Dragon King. But from then on, he had had to face unexpected events which caught him off guard everytime and this time, he was forced into a life-and-death situation.


    This army was made up of tribes from Wushan and small groups of mine thieves. The formerwasloyal towards the Ha familybut not the Dragon King and thetter, only to profit. Wu Zongheng hadn¡¯t been deeply involveddespite taking over the task. There were over four thousand troops in total,with several hundreds of hiddenspies so even though he felt something wasn¡¯t right, he did not have any solution at all.


    When the mine was first sealed, the troops had treated him as a vicemander of the thousands. However, notmuchter, someone from outside shouted. ¡°People on the inside, Ha Chilie is already dead. He was killed by the guard Maid Lotus, who was beside the Dragon King. Before he died, Ha Chilie had already pledged allegiance to the Dragon King. I¡¯ll let you out if you make the same decision as he did, killing everyone loyal to the Dragon King.¡±


    This was an obvious attempt to sow discord and was indeed effective. The troops descended into panic, not even knowing who the Cloud King was. They separated themselves into factions and were eager toget towork.


    Wu Zongheng could only stand up, and persuade others not tokill each other. He said,¡±Shangguan Yun wouldnever let us out. Listen, the people outside are still filling the hole. He would not reopen the hole even after killing one person.¡±


    ¡°What should we do? Die?¡± They asked angrily.


    ¡°I¡¯d rather die early andbe happier.¡±


    ¡°Wait for the Dragon King.¡± This was Wu Zongheng¡¯s reply to every question. ¡°The Dragon King wille and save everyone, I guarantee you. This was the captain of the guards of the Dragon King, Long Fanyun. He hade in the name of the Dragon King.¡± He continued.


    Long Fanyun nodded authoritatively at his surroundings, expressing hisidentity was real albeit not seeing the Dragon King in a long time and defying his orders.


    The soldiers hadcalmed downslightly, not in the mood to consider their loyalties and only thinking of one thing, that whoever saved him, would be their master.


    Wu Zongheng concentrated everyone in the deep part of the mineshaft that was also slightly spacious, in case they formed secret groups. He then walked through, answering every one of the soldiers¡¯ questions.


    Long Fanyun kept following him and rarely spoke. Thisgentled the people around him as the captain of the Dragon King¡¯s guards was also trapped there. Hopes for his rescue immediately rose.


    It was pitch-dark in the cave and everyone felt that time passed very slowly thus their uneasiness increased considerably. Wu Zongheng observed carefully and spoke few words of encouragement, usually of the Dragon King¡¯s arrival in mind. He did not know for how long his promises would hold.


    The cave was rather humid and most of the resources of the military were trapped outside. In a few days, the people would starve.


    Hunger sored tempers, better than Shangguan Yun¡¯s 10,000 words.


    ¡°What if the Dragon King was defeated?¡± Suddenly a voice rang when the crowd quitened down.


    The soldiers knew a decisive battle was about to take ce outside of the mountains. If the Dragon King were to be defeated,he would either be killed or be forced to flee and no one would bother about their lives.


    ¡°The Dragon King will not be defeated.¡± Long Fanyun rose, his voice bright. He was not easily shaken.


    But still, somecked belief. ¡°The army of the Dragon King is small and greatly outnumbered by the Fort Jin Peng Army. I heard that we were going tounch a surprise attack. Now without us, how would the Dragon King win?¡± One shouted.


    Everyone nodded, their hopes gradually diminishing. Wu Zongheng racked his brainbut could not think of anything to increase his and their confidence.


    And suddenly, a faint voice spoke,¡±If the Dragon King were to be defeated, he woulde and save us.¡±


    Ming Zhen did not know when she stopped crying and said this.


    Wu Zongheng understood whatshemeant and said immediately, ¡°The Dragon King has ns of his own. He will definitely win the battle and even if he loses, he wille to save us. Becausewe would be thest of his army.¡±


    There were many loopholes in this statement. Even if the Dragon King had wished to save this army. He had to pass Shangguan Yun. Butthe crowd was panicked,they heaved a sigh of relief and calm wasrestored.


    Han Xuan looked at the two men¡¯s backs and asked softly. ¡°Miss, which one do you like? Long Fanyun is taller and more handsome. I don¡¯t know if he already has a wife. Wu Zongheng¡­¡±


    ¡°Stop spouting nonsense orI will never carefor you again.¡± Ming Zhen flushed and cried uncontrobly.


    Wu Zongheng only thought about calming people down andneglected an important link- torches.


    Poof, one torch went out, andsoon, many more torches followed. When everyone had realised that the cave had gotten darker, it was toote to save the remaining torches.


    Darkness was an excellent provocateur. Wu Zongheng wanted to say something in advance before asound emerged from behind. It was Fan Fen. ¡°Wow, it would be spectacr if everyone were to die together. No one would dare provoke us in our graves.¡±


    However, just then, when several torches had gone out, the darkness and Han Fen¡¯s strange words came into effect. Suddenly, a band of soldierscharged uncontrobly towards the tunnel, screaming, ¡°I want to get out! Let me go! I don¡¯t want to die!¡±


    There was no worse example than this, of whathad not been easy to calm down. The soldiers be that as it may, panicked for an instant and ran towards every tunnel as if the exits had already been opened.


    ¡°Listen to me!¡± Wu Zongheng¡¯s voice drowned in a sea of voices, not even able to hear himself.


    Outside, Shangguan Yun did not care about the lives of the people living in the cave and he hesitatedwhetherto leave or not. The Dragon King would not throw himself into the trap and neither would Maid Lotus. He could only climb to the top of the mountain now and watch Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s army triumph.


    The spies at the top of the mountain said that the two armies had begun to line up outside. The war was about to begin.


    Shangguan Yun wassatisfied but he thought to wait because when the war was over, he could walk out of Wushan from the seaside slope, saving him a lot of time.


    No way the Dragon King would give up like that, Hide and wait for ae back. Shangguan Yun still felt by this time, that this was not the usual Dragon King.


    Unexpectedly, there was a cry outside of the valley, as if someone had been attacked.


    Shangguan Yun rose up, jumpinga few steps of the mountain top and looked outto seeTen or moresentinels running towards him, falllingone by one as they were shot by the deadly arrows from behind.


    Finally one reached near and shouted, ¡°the enemy ising¡±.


    ¡°Who? The Dragon King?¡±Shangguan Yunasked flustered, and wondered from where the Dragonking could get an another army.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t know. All women, all women¡­ tens of thousands of them.¡± The sentinels said, still in theirshock.


    Shangguan Yun¡¯s heart skipped, he understood where his mistake and that of the othersy. The Dragon King had secretly prepared a force to fight back the enemy and no one had expected it.

 Chapter 507 - Female soldiers

    Chapter 507: Female soldiers


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    A group of women? Looking at the shocked sentry andthe string of corpses behind him, the people in the valley looked at each other.


    <em>¡°Has New Moon Hale to kill?¡± </em>Some thought of Maid Lotus.


    New Moon Hall had disappeared in the Western Regions for a long time andthe sentinel did not have clear conceptof this. He only muttered in the face of numerous inquiries, ¡°Women, many women.¡±


    If the sentinel had expressed delight, the people around him might not havefound it odd.


    ¡°Do you want the Cloud King alive or dead?¡± AskedXia Wenxiong. His mentor and brother had just died buthe still wasraring to achieve meritorious service.


    ¡°Do it at your own discretion,¡± Shangguan Yun said with a smile as hehad decided to take a step.


    The women outside the valley had shot and killed more than a dozen sentries, which seemed to satisfy them. Hence, they did not immediatelye in.


    Shangguan Yun managed more than 700 people in the valley, where there were people like the three Xia brothers and other highly skilled killers who had been hired from all over the country, they included the ck-masked assassin and killers from Fort Jin Peng. More people came from Wushan- they were the mine thieves and tribal children, who mostdid not know whom they were working for and all their decisions weremade by their ten leaders.


    ¡°Line up, line up, prepare for battle. Take up the fight, put in all in yourstrength, attack, capture the Cloud King and you¡¯ll be rewarded. Capture him alive and you¡¯ll already have your reward.¡± The leaders started joking as they addressed, and they quickly assembled their teams. They were no soldiers and did not care about military formation, loosely arranged in a few columns andall rubbing their hands like they were about to engage in mass fighting.


    Shangguan Yun¡¯s most trusted men winked, pretending to stay farther away from the battlefield andslowly walked toward the ces they had prepared to flee to.


    Keeping asaferetreat path was one of Shangguan Yun¡¯s most basic principles of survival.


    He would not escape from the seaside slopebecause this way, his cowardice would be known to everyone, including Shangguan Jianyi, who would use itto his advantage.Hehad arranged therefore another route.


    There was a cliff to the east of the valley along which fiverge baskets connected with ropes were ced where by the n was thepeople from below to shake the ropes slightly, thenthose from above pull up the baskets with each holding onlyfive.


    This was set up by the men of Wu Zonghen,however the idea came from Shangguan Yun. Through the spies in the camp, he had delivered his ideas to the vicemander of the thousands. Watch posts could not set up on high to monitor everything around, including the battlefield.


    Shangguan Yun did not immediately enter the basket, he had to look at this amazing women¡¯s army.


    Standing beside him were tenor morekillers among which hecould recognize the ck-masked assassin and six other highly-skilled killers, including Xia Wenxiong. Hewanted to shout loudly but came over quickly instead and did not expect to take away his brother¡¯s body upon seeing that the Cloud King had wanted to leave.


    The number of people had exceeded the standard, whoeverwas tograb this bigbasket would have to prove theirskills. Shangguan Yun thought of defeat asa terrible thing. But how theDragonKing had been able to hidefrom so manyeyes and cross the sea was admirable truly.


    However the battle, was not over yet. The final victory could cover up allprevious failure, the Dragon King would win this battle, and the greatest loser wouldn¡¯t be Shangguan Yun. Itwould beShangguan Jianyi, who was outside the mountain.


    Shangguan Yun gleaned asense of victory from his failure thenruminated on it and found it funny. Afterwards, he saw the army.


    Even thoughfrom far away, the physiques and postures of the soldiers were definitely of women.


    They looked like normal soldiers, wearing helmets and light armor, carrying crossbows in their hands though and only a few carrying swords.


    In the valley, the leaders whostood in thest row smiled to their followers saying, ¡°don¡¯t fight, one for each person is enough.¡±


    They had overrestimated the women¡¯s army, itdid not strike immediately aftering in. Instead theylined upinto two rows, formingan encircling formation andstreamed in without stopping. The men¡¯s expressions changed after about two thousand of them came in. They had wanted to attack them alittlewhile back but this time started to retreat involuntarily.


    Doubtsarose in Shangguan Yun¡¯s mind and made him stepquickly into the big basket, shaking the string to sound a signal.


    The others began to scramble for the four other big baskets, the impatient ones scufflingfor their ropes and climbing to higher ground. Few fell down because of their good martial arts skills.


    When the big basket had risen to four or five feet, Shangguan Yun saw that the women soldiers had started to work.


    The arrows covered the sky like a huge fishing, capturing miserable prey. These men only wore crude armour and werearmed with a few shields. They didn¡¯t have a trump card and were defenseless against the attacks from the sky.


    Many people made a ridiculous gesture, raising their left hand to block their hands, as if holding an invisible iron shield in their hands.


    The people who had responded faster turned around and fled. Some fled to the south, where there were simpledder roads that had been built with thick ropes and wooden stakes and others climbed to the top of the hill and escaped along the seaside slope.


    Shangguan Yun had risen to the top of the cliff and looked downat the scene below, confirming that he was right to escape in time and realising that this women¡¯s army was not sentby the Dragon King at thest minute. They seemed to havea discpline, to havetrained for a long time, shooting and chasing.


    <em>¡°Why had Fort Jin Pengsent its most valuable soldiers?¡± </em>Shangguan Yun thought, and med the situation on the Dragon King.


    ¡°Hail to the Dragon King.¡± Shangguan Yun said to the people around him, his face lit up with smiles. He would not be defeated by a single unfortunate event.¡±Hail to my sister, you will soon see that those that that defeated the Fort Jin Pengwereof the Shangguan family.¡± He continued.


    Few understood Shangguan Yun¡¯s words and when the Dragon King turned to leave for the mountains, no one stayed to watch ¡°the Shangguan family¡±.


    No one in the valley would escape from the arrows. Only a few hid in the nearby caves to save their lives, surrendering their weapons and kneeling on the ground.


    The women seemed to have a n, marching towards and standing by the southern slope to await orders while others searched every hole to capture prisoners.


    The troops from the mineshaft were already in a mess, Wu Zongheng and Long Fanyun could not hold them back at all. They rushed out of the exit and suddenly shouted, ¡°quick, hear, hear, a battle has started outside.¡±


    When the people outside had started to move the stones, those inside weptwith joy, never wishing to enter another cave even though being held for less than two days.


    The biggest stones had not been moved away yet. A few rays of sunshine prated from the outside asa voice rang, a female voice,¡±people inside, say who you¡¯ll be loyal to.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King, the Dragon King,¡± everyone shouted, notdoubting their loyalty.


    Han Xuan was so surprised that she could not stay quiet. Han Fen only smiled, asthough this was within her expectation.


    Outside, spearmen of Fort Jin Peng waited sternly. This was a battle. There was no distinction between men and women, toeach ofthemit was onlyhim and the enemy.


    More and more people noticed thata new band ofsoldiers had appeared on the top of the seaside slope. Even the soldiers who had been ying on the battlefield had stopped their fighting and looked doubtfully above them.


    No one was more surprised than the Commander of the Dragon Army, Dugu Xian. These werenot the tribal soldiers that the Dragon King had promised but female soldiers whose origins no one knew of. He wondered whetherthese soldierswould turn the tables.


    The Prime Minister Zong Heng had first received the hint and prepared to leave after sending the Dragon King off but he hesitated and moved closer towards Dugu Xian, seeking his advice. He said,¡±General Left¡­¡±


    Dugu Xian made his decision quickly and could not reveal howshocked he wasor any hint of hesitation. The red g was erected at the top of the slope meaning these men were clearly sent by the Dragon King, he had only to cooperate. He could not trust these women soldiers, but he had to believe in the Dragon King. He ordered, ¡°Send themand. Launch a general attack.¡±


    Dugu Xian pulled outhis sabre with his otherarm. Even though unable tofight, he had to go to the battlefield.


    The Dragon army had only five thousand troopsleft andhearing the order, they marched for the frontline in synchrony. After this, Dugu Xian had no option of retreat. He would either emerge victorious or lose the battle.


    Zong Heng used to be a military official but was now a Prime Minister anddid not have to go to the battlefield. He hesitated slightly, before asking fora soldier¡¯s sword, thenurged the horse to move forward.


    This was a big gamble indeed, allchips had been yed,there wasno harm thus in losing another life. After all, loyalty has nothing to do with the heart butproven by actions, especially in momentsmost critical. That day, those thatwere the most enthusiastic would win the Dragon King¡¯s greatest trust.


    The Queen was seated in the tent, putting on an indifferent expression to mask the uneasiness in her heart. The curse of her family would never end. Of what good would she, the Princess of the Stone Kingdom be, if she had left the Xiaoyao Lake?


    Shangguan Hong ran in panting, saying, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s reinforcements areing andare all female soldiers.¡± It was hard to say fromhis look,whether he was happy or disappointed.


    The Princess froze. Xu Yanwei, who was beside her, asked: ¡°Where did theye from?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Tens of thousands of them, all standing on top of the hill andabout torush down now. The Left General has issuedthe orderto attack. Everyone has entered the war and even the Prime Minister has takenwith him hissword, to battle.¡± He answered.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Everyone is going to join the fight.¡± The Queen said, hereyes brightened, asshe stood up. ¡°Including us.¡±


    Since women could fight, she wondered why she couldn¡¯t,afterallshe andher servants werein military uniform too that had originally though, just beenfor disguise and had nowe in handy.


    ¡°Queen¡­¡± Xu Yanwei said with worry. Out of the many people, only Xu Yanwei knew her n of retreat. Hence, she needed this reminder.


    ¡°No need,¡± The Queen replied,understanding Xu Yanwei¡¯s thoughts. ¡°The Dragon King will win,¡± she added.


    The Queen did not have the ability to predict the future andhad not seen the realities of the battlefield either. She was able however,to discern changes in thesituation from everyone¡¯s reactions. Zong Heng was a sly old prick, if he were willing to join the battle then they hada good chance.


    On the other side of the battle, Shangguan Jianyi did not think he would lose. Fort Jin Pengstill held superiority in numbers despite being fighting on two fronts. The Dragon King seemed to have no options left, even asking the women to go into battle whose fighting capacity was weak even though their numbers were higher than expected.


    The first wave of arrows onto the hilltop changed Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s thinking. It caused the expression of the Left General, the advisors and staff to change.


    Fort Jin Peng had prepared to face the surprise soldiers of the seaside slope but hadn¡¯t expected to face so many archers and such dense arrows.


    Shangguan Jianyi was able to keep his calm andwas about to order a change in the defence troops when he felt a chillthroughhim, his killer instinct reminding him of the danger that was at hand.

 Chapter 508 - Unearthed

    Chapter 508: Unearthed


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Ru had never thought of building an army.


    She stayed in the Land of Fragrance withplicated feelings. She felt self-pity about her homelessness, but she still harboured some vague hope. Since she was here, she hoped to do something for the people, no matter what.


    She had never seen herself as the ruler of the Land of Fragrance. She felt it was like a child that someone had entrusted her to take care of at thest minute. It required dedicated care, but it had to be returned eventually.


    At first, her work was simple. She set an example by leading the noble women and ves to work together and invited the female ves to take turns joining in the family gatherings. This approach was different from that of the Dragon King¡¯s ¡ª she hoped to break the barriers between the ves and nobility.


    Early on, things went smoothly. The Land of Fragrance even transformed into the picture of peace, like a paradise. Very soon, she understood that this scene was unrealistic, and, as if by an undercurrent, most of her efforts were destroyed.


    The greatest resistance that Shangguan Ru met was not from the noble women ¡ª their status was not that high ¡ª but from the aristocrats.


    There were about a hundred aristocrats. They were too old to be enlisted into the army. Their numbers were not high, but they had great influence. They were also the most stubborn. They governed the women of their own houses and secretly gave orders to the ves. The ves who had interacted with the nobility were all punished. They were sent to kneel for a long time at the altar in the suburbs.


    Shangguan Ru learned from the new scars on some of the female ves that she could take stronger measures. The Dragon King¡¯s remaining army in the Land of Fragrance was small, but there were still a few hundred of them left. It was still the biggest force within the country and could easily defeat the stubborn aristocrats.


    However, those old men were not afraid of death. Sometimes, they had even volunteered to take punishments. Moreover, many women, nobles and ves were fiercely loyal to their old masters. No matter how badly they had been treated, they would never betray their masters.


    Governing the Land of Fragrance was a random job at first, but now it seemedplicated.


    Shangguan Ru had a headache.


    Just then, a few women who were in charge of nting flowers discovered a ¡°treasure¡±.


    In order to get rid of Old Man Mu, the Dragon King had set fire to thest Flower Soul Forest in the deserted Royal Pce. This left the earth there ck and scorched. Some people found it a shame and nted all kinds of flowers in the ground, ording to the country¡¯s traditions. They no longer created a maze, but let the nts grow freely.


    nting flowers did not require digging deep holes, so not many of the flower girls had discovered the treasures buried underground. However, these treasures were truly extraordinary and expanded slowly day by day. At first, they just looked different from the surrounding ground. On the second day, they had grown half a foot high. And on the third day, they had already risen a foot above the ground, like a small tomb.


    The flower girls were afraid at first, but soon their fear gave way to reverence as they thought this was some kind of Flower God deity. They knelt down and attentively cared for the flowers, watering them day and night, clearing the ckened soil on the surface, and waiting for an extraordinary Flower God deity to grow out of the ground.


    The drum kits grew day by day, but no seeds ever germinated.


    When Shangguan Ru heard about this strange incident, she decided to check it out for herself. She nced at it once and ordered the digging to start. She waspletely focused, and she would not relent.


    There was a giant ¡°seed¡± inside the earthen bag. It was covered with a shiny, metallic exterior ¡ª a huge surprise to many of the local women who had rarely seen metal.


    ¡°The Flower God¡¯s seed is a gift from the Gods to the Master,¡± the flower girls said, insisting on calling Shangguan Ru ¡°Master¡±.


    ¡°This is a man, not a deity,¡± Shangguan Ru said. She knew what they were really digging up.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s body, however, was not found. After two weeks, he miraculously appeared out of the ground as a seed. The ¡°seed¡± was huge but still small,pared to the size of a human.


    Very soon, the truth was revealed. One of the flower girls turned the ¡°seed¡± over carefully with her spade. The outer shell was only half of the seed, and the remaining was Old Man Mu, clothed in rags and dying.


    Old Man Mu was a highly skilled kung fu master. However, he was still very careful and wore an imprable soft armor. When he was captured, no one dared to talk to him. The 30-centimeters-long soft armour did not fit a regr-sized man, and so he was allowed to keep it and wore it all the time.


    The Flower Soul Forest had been set on fire. Old Man Mu could not protect himself from above and could only sink deeper and deeper, seven feet into the ground. He leaned on his soft armour and used both hands to dig a hole in the ground. Using his Internal Strength, he shook the loose earth and buried himself before the great fire came. Using turtle breath, he controlled his breathing, but he did not have the strength toe back out of the ground.


    After the fire, all traces of him had disappeared. Later rescue groups had note to this area for their digs, nor had they dug so deeply.


    Old Man Mu was buried alive.


    Being able to live underground for over two weeks and then slowly rise up from under the earth made people revere him like a deity.


    Shangguan Ru faced a difficult choice again. She did not want to kill anyone. Thest time, Old Man Mu was ¡°burned to death¡± because he fell for her trap. She did not want to kill him again, but letting this old devil get away scot-free was unimaginable.


    She ordered her men to send Old Man Mu into an underground prison, where nobles held disobedient ves. There were only three iron prisons in the Land of Fragrance.


    Food and water were ced before Old Man Mu, and he was left alone to die.


    That was all Shangguan Ru could do. She did not even know whether she, herself, wanted him dead or alive.


    Old Man Mu proved how tenacious he was yet again. After three days, he faintly said, ¡°I¡¯m hungry¡­¡±


    The food had already been taken away.


    Once he had recovered his physical strength, the old man started to rant. Sometimes, the guards got sick of hearing it and walked far away. He continued speaking confidently anyway, saying, ¡°Chew the grass roots, eat the worms, and hide in the dark. Ah, I understand it now. I understand the real mystery.¡±


    When Shangguan Ru heard the watch guards¡¯ reports, she felt remorseful. Not killing him, but letting him suffer a fate worse than death, seemed more cruel.


    She decided to visit Old Man Mu.


    Old Man Mu appeared changed. He looked smaller, like a wrinkled baby. His expression seemed clearer. He did not look proud of his martial arts skills, nor as if he had lost them. He looked like someone who had been through a lot and had finally achieved enlightenment.


    ¡°Good girl, I¡¯m very happy to see you again,¡± he said, not seeming to be bothered by these ten days of imprisonment. He sounded calm and smiled faintly.


    ¡°Sorry I¡¯ve hurt you, but I can¡¯t let you kill anyone,¡± said Shangguan Ru.


    ¡°I know. I kill people in your name. It¡¯s unreasonable, and it is self-deception. Every single drop of blood and every life that I¡¯ve taken contributes to my own sin, and I will not pin that on anyone else,¡± he replied.


    Shangguan Ru had seen Old Man Mu¡¯s skills of deception before. Hence, she would not believe his words now. ¡°This ce is your home. I will not kill you. I will let people deliver food to you, but I won¡¯t free you from here,¡± she exined.


    ¡°I would like to stay here, good girl, as a form of repentance for my past actions,¡± Old Man Mu agreed.


    Shangguan Ru left, still not believing his words.


    The rumor of the Flower God died down after awhile, and few knew that Old Man Mu was alive again.


    Shangguan Ru went to visit Old Man Mu asionally. This was done in order to safeguard the secret and also to have conversations with him. She had no friends here ¡ª the soldiers and ves treated her like a high-ranking ruler and did not speak to her. Meanwhile, the nobility watched her carefully.


    Old Man Mu was as talkative as before. Even if it was to put on show, he was a good performer, and they got along well. He even advised Shangguan Ru to teach some kung fu skills to the female ves as the first step to building an army.


    ¡°The problem of the Land of Fragrance is that the ves do not want to resist. It has been the culture of the ves for the past hundred years, so it is deep-seated. But if we were to try to counter it by teaching them kung fu skills and giving them a sense of their own strength, we could stir defiance in them ¡ª as long as they didn¡¯t train too hard and get off-track,¡± he said.


    Shangguan Ru smiled but did not agree. However, two things that happenedter caused her to consider Old Man Mu¡¯s proposal seriously.


    The first thing involved a fight between two ve women. They grabbed, punched and kicked each other, fighting almost to the point of death.


    The cause of the fight made Shangguan Ru blush ¡ª they had actually been jealous of each other over a soldier.


    The soldier was initially a swordsman under Tuo Nengya. Because he was old and his body frail, he stayed behind in the Land of Fragrance. Here, he became a dies¡¯ man¡± and got into rtionships with ten different women. However, he was not the only one, as most of the other soldiers also enjoyed the attention of the women.


    Shangguan Ru was not a child anymore, but she could not understand such a thing. Old Man Mu had a wealth of life experience and could immediately diagnose the problem: ¡°Men need women, and women need men. It¡¯s natural. The people in the Land of Fragrance have too much free time, so this kind of thing ismon here.¡±


    Indeed, the Land of Fragrance was rich from its trade and the poption was sparse. Most crops did not require too much attention, and the primary job of the ves was to tend to the flowers and grasses. These were the goods that the country traded with the outside world, and they did not require much attention to care for.


    Learning martial skills to kill time seemed like a good idea.


    Then, a more pressing thing happened.


    The Dragon King had brought hundreds of savages out of the big forest on the northwest side of the Land of Fragrance. Some of them had continued to follow him into the Western Region, while others had returned to the forest. Those who had returned home described the Land of Fragrance to be like a kingdom in heaven, encouraging the barbarian vigers to invade.


    The nobility of the Land of Fragrance had once relied on ying tricks to keep barbarians from invading. This time, this strategy did not seem to be working.


    Fortunately, the number of barbarians was low. The viges had very little contact with each other, as well. Dozens of these people came and targeted the food, lifestock and women as their plunder.


    Relying only on a few hundred soldiers obviously could not stave off the savages in the forest. Shangguan Ru therefore decided to establish a women¡¯s army.


    After all, women had a disadvantage in terms of their physical ability, and the Land of Fragrance did not have many troops or weapons. Shangguan Ru remembered the story of ¡°Liuhua the Silencer¡±. Bows and arrows seemed to be the best weapon for these physically weak female soldiers.


    Shangguan Ru maintained correspondence with the Dragon King. Their exchanges were basically official, and even after the Dragon King¡¯s grand wedding, their connection had remained. Sometimes, it was just a word or a schedule, informing him that the supplies had arrived. The Dragon King¡¯s replies indicated that they had been received.


    Naturally, the establishment of the women¡¯s army wasmunicated to the Dragon King in a letter.


    Like the reactions of most of the people, Gu Shenwei did not value this army very much at first. He saw them as a ything of Shangguan Ru, feeling that she just wanted to recover her status as the Tenth Young Master.


    However, a monthter, Gu Shenwei finally changed his attitude. He began encouraging Shangguan Ru to expand the women¡¯s army, even sending fifty savage guard troops skilled at the longbow to serve as instructors.


    At that time, Gu Shenwei had not thought about a surprise attack on the seaside slope. He only thought that as long as he had a hidden reserve force (no matter how weak it was), it woulde in handy sooner orter.


    Shangguan Yun went to the Land of Fragrance to persuade his sister and found out this secret.

 Chapter 509 - A War Game

    Chapter 509: A War Game


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Yun had a grand dream that the Land of Fragrance upied an important position. He envied the Dragon King¡¯s good luck before he unexpectedly encountered that blessed country during his escape.


    In his dream, Jade City was taken as the centre and the whole of the Western Region, from Shu-lik to the Lon Kingdom, was merged together. Xiaoyao Lake was upied as a transit, and the Land of Fragrance was used as the most stable area.


    Shangguan Yun fled to the Land of Fragrance despite the danger. Persuading his sister to return was one reason to go. However, his most important reason for going was to see thisnd with his own two eyes.


    What he saw on his way shocked him. The Land of Fragrance was, arguably, a ce that was very habitable. It hadrge tracts of fertile and undevelopednd. Under the rule of the stupid nobles, its poption was pitifully small.


    The forests, high mountains and rivers were the Land of Fragrance¡¯s best defense. From its position on the ground, it did not belong to the Western Regions. Only two roads were connected to it. One was located in the Northwest and to get to that, one had to cross the vast swamps and forests. The second road was the trail in Wushan.


    Shangguan Yun did not n to seal this road again. Instead, he was thinking about opening a smoother road. Bringing more people into the Land of Fragrance would allow the country to be populous within two or three generations. It could then provide the Golden Roc Fort with an endless supply of soldiers. Only then would the Western Region be able topete with the Nond and the Central ins.


    Shangguan Ru did not have a chance to mention his grand dream to his sister, however.


    Shangguan Ru was a changed man. His transformation was different than that of his Third Brother. From a gentle person who would have never thought of killing others ¡ª let alone using military weapons ¡ª to someone who was willing to jump into the deep abyss of an assassin, he never looked back.


    However, Shangguan Ru had not changed at all ¡ª she was still fiercely ambitious. She had not realised it, but Shangguan Yun recognised it immediately.


    The capital in the Land of Fragrance was governed well under her. The nts in the city were kept neat and trim and a great number of free spaces had be residential areas once again, having been given to former ves. When Shangguan Yun arrived, she was organizing manpower to repair the city¡¯s crumbling walls.


    Shangguan Yun could see that his sister had inherited the traits of the Shangguan Family after all ¡ª she had the blood of a ruler, no matter time or ce, rain or shine.


    The disciples of the Ganju people were not worthy of the Shangguan name.


    After the first meeting, Shangguan Yun knew that he would never be able to persuade his sister to leave.


    Shangguan Ru was very happy to see her third brother, but was also quite shocked that he had decided to leave prison. She was direct about it, saying, ¡°Third brother, you are betraying yourself.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you, too?¡± he replied.


    ¡°I was young and ignorant. I did not think for myself. I didn¡¯t care about betrayal,¡± she answered.


    ¡°Young and ignorant?¡± Shangguan Yun smiled and remembered his own youth. Though he might have been young, he was not ignorant. He already had his own ideas when he was thirteen. No matter who it was ¡ª the teacher Zhang Ji or the Supreme King ¡ª no one could persuade him to change his mind back then.


    Therefore, he truly had betrayed himself, so much so that he felt a little sad sometimes. It was as if the old him had been killed. ¡°You have already made up your mind?¡± he asked his sister.


    Shangguan Ru nodded. She did not say what her idea was, and Shangguan Yun did not ask. He gave up trying to persuade her as a way of showing his respect for her. The two let go of their ambitions, and became just brother and sister again, talking about the past and their rtives and friends.


    Shangguan Yun could walk freely in the capital. His arrival with the guards had aroused amotion among the women. Shangguan Yun let his men do their own thing. He, himself, resisted all temptation, observing the local customs, and focused on making ns for the future.


    Shangguan Yun made up his mind that he would conquer the Land of Fragrance at any cost. Initially, he wanted tounch a coup, but he gave up that idea. The situation had changed drastically since the Dragon King hade. The happenings in the capital quickly spread to Xiaoyao Lake. It would take only a small group of Dragon Army troops to surround himpletely.


    He did not want to lose right after he had gained thend.


    Shangguan Ru was training the Dragon King¡¯s Army, and Shangguan Yun knew it. However, he pretended that he did not take it seriously.


    Then, something of coincidence happened. Several savages ran out of the forest on the northwest side to harass the residents on the outskirts of the city. Shangguan Ru hadpleted the preliminary training of several thousand female soldiers that she had been nning to send out. They were to drive the savages back into the forest and build fortifications on the edge of the forest as a long-term defense.


    Shangguan Fei only saw a group of chirping women shing around with crude and primitive knives, much like children ying games in the Stone Castle.


    He did not think that this was the prototype of an army. Training swordswomen might have seemed unusual to others, but as for Shangguan Yun, it was perfectly normal.


    Shangguan Yun left very quickly. Shangguan Ru¡¯s training of the soldiers continued. She had be a little addicted. For she had not only cultivated a force that could defend the country, but had also achieved many of her goals, including getting the ves and nobility to gel with each other. This greatly reduced thepetition and jealousy amongst the women.


    The strange thing was, both of these things werepletely expected by Old Man Mu.


    ¡°This is the human heart,¡± Old Man Mu said, like a philosopher. After recuperating for a short time, his physical health became normal, but his skills did not recover beyond sixty or seventy percent. He was still a kung fu master, but he never regained the strength to cross the Western Regions again.


    ¡°Many people realise things in hindsight. The more capable they are, the more ideas they have. Like me, when my kung fu skills were weak, I sought out the masters. The higher my skills, the more temperamental I became. When I became invincible, I wanted to conquer the world. So, keep an eye on your female soldiers, and don¡¯t let them be too strong,¡± he warned.


    Shanggun Ru did not need Old Man Mu¡¯s warning. After all, she could not teach high and sophisticated kung fu. She taught the female soldiers only the most basic sword skills, and abandoned all the training methods of the Golden Roc killers. She trained them hard in saber techniques, giving the women in the country something to do.


    The women¡¯s army increased in size.


    Gu Shenwei supported the army whole-heartedly. He not only sent over fifty masters, but also sent many iron arrowheads. As for shortbows and arrow shafts, local materials were used to craft them.


    Fifty of the archery masters were the savage guard troops of the Dragon King. Their arrival alone solved the problem of harrassment by the barbarians in the Northwest. After negotiating, both parties reached an agreement and set up a bazaar on the border. After ten days of exchanges, the Land of Fragrance acquired another batch of ready-made bows and arrows.


    With the threat of invasion gone, Shangguan Ru kept training her women soldiers on the pretext of making them independent.


    Old Man Mu sat in his prison with plenty of time to analyze every single action made by Shangguan Ru. Eventually, he pointed out Shangguan Ru¡¯s real n: ¡°This is your way of keeping in touch with the Dragon King.¡±


    The Dragon King already had a wife. Shangguan Ru had forgotten about that, but she was reminded by Old Man Mu. Suddenly, she could see her hidden expectations.


    Training the women soldiers had be the main subject of her letters to Gu Shenwei. They were all simple like, ¡°a woman shot 100 paces away today, and even if she did not hit the target sack, her strength was excellent.¡± Her letters never mentioned the number of soldiers or equipment.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s replies were simple, as well. He would always describe the current situation on Xiaoyao Lake in a few sentences, and then casually mention the growing female army. He would drop bits of wisdom, such as ¡°the archer is the first to seek far, and the leader is the second¡±.


    Under Gu Shenwei¡¯smands, those letters had all been secretly transmitted and were mixed amongst other documents. Even if a few of the letters were stolen by spies, they would still not know the number of women soldiers, since that had been glossed over ¡ª in fact, they had increased to an rming number.


    In order to prevent people from leaking secrets unintentionally, Gu Shenwei also gradually reduced the passages leading into the Land of Fragrance and the delivery of materials. Only the most trusted people were allowed to travel.


    Shangguan Ru kept all of Gu Shenwei¡¯s letters. After getting reminded by Old Man Mu, she took them out again and looked at them alone. She took a small mouthful of wine after reading each letter. Soon, a smile emerged from the corners of her mouth. After reading all of them, she cried heartily, getting drunk until dawn.


    Afterwards, she hid the letters securely and started fanatically devoting herself to her training.


    The women of the Land of Fragrance were no longer emotional beings.


    She began to think that the women she had trained would be used by the Dragon King on the battlefield sooner orter to take part in endless killings. Only Old Man Mu could help her clear her mind.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have a choice. The Land of Fragrance is no longer a paradise. The Dragon King has been defeated and the Golden Roc Fort, Nond, and the Central in will fight to im this territory. Their methods will be a hundred times worse than the Dragon King¡¯s. You will lose your foothold, and the women you protect will be taken by the invaders. At that time, they will not be fighting for the Dragon King ¡ª they will be fighting for their own lives,¡± he exined.


    Not only that, Old Man Mu also taught them the secrets of war games and stategies to arrange their troops. ¡°These are things that I learned once upon a time. How you use them is up to you,¡± he told her.


    Old Man Mu was meek and modest. Shangguan Ru even felt apologetic towards sorry for him sometimes. However, she hid her kindness and pity to prevent being tricked by him again.


    Finally, Gu Shenwei decided to use the women troops, which had been kept secret from the entire Western Region.


    From the start of the surprise attack, he suspected that Tuo Nengya¡¯s troops were unable to keep any secrets at all. He, nor anyone else watching the situation unfold, ever imagined that the Dragon Army could be in a precarious position. Punishments and making alliances would not change anything now.


    All he could do was to prepare his fortifications.


    Gu Shenwei left, saying he was going to go track down the mole to take over the army. But in reality, he went to meet the women soldiers from the Land of Fragrance.


    The total number of soldiers (more than 8,000) far exceeded his expectations. Even though there wasn¡¯t much time for training and the soldiers were not fully primed, as long as they could keep the enemy out of closebat with their arrows, they would not lose to any of the male troops on the battlefield.


    Gu Shenwei nned the route in detail. He sent out the vanguard to encircle the enemy troops after ordering the people of a tribal vige not to leave their home for several days.


    Finally, 7,000 troops reached the seaside slope.


    Shangguan Ru did note. She refused to join the war and meet the Dragon King at this time. She sent Old Man Mu, whose kung fu skills had decreased considerably, instead. ¡°You are not allowed to kill anyone. Just protect the Dragon King¡¯s safety,¡± she instructed him.


    Old Man Mu suppressed his inner excitement and solemnly epted the task.


    Gu Shenwei had long learned of his rebirth in the letters, so he was not surprised . However, the first assignment he gave Old Man Mu involved killing. ¡°Go with me to assassinate the enemy Commander,¡± Gu Shenwei ordered him.


    Apart from stabilizing the morale of the army, the Dragon King was not very useful. Gu Shenwei thought, ¡°why not disy my own abilities?¡± He was a killer. That was a fact.


    He knew that this decision would be opposed by the people around him and yet surprise the enemy.

 Chapter 510 - Entering the Camp

    Chapter 510: Entering the Camp


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Security in the Golden Roc army camp was extremely tight, and it would not be an easy task to sneak in.


    All this while, the Dragon army had been focused on self-preservation and trying to prevent assassins of the Golden Roc Fort from infiltrating into its ranks, and Gu Shenwei had never attempted to send any of his people into the enemy camp to carry out assassinations. He was clear that the disparity between his army and the enemy in terms of assassination ability was even greater than that of military capability.


    Shangguan Jianyi had not used this fact as a reason to let his guard down. He always had at least 50 killers encircling him, forming a three to fiveyer thick barrier around him which covered a radius of roughly 60 meters. Only those with permission could pass through said barrier.


    He never worried about being assassinated, but since the Supreme King sent him huge numbers of assassins, he felt that he might as well make use of them. They were guards of honor as well as a status symbol that represented his importance to the Supreme King. He had 100 killers dispatched to his army, a number that was unprecedented in previous expeditions.


    Killers were uninterested in being in the front line, no matter whether it was before or during a battle. Or rather, they presented themselves as such¡ªit was as if they werepeting amongst themselves to see who was the hardest. Even the officers in the Golden Roc army did not dare venture near them, and when the soldiers had no choice but to approach them, they did so cautiously, as if they wished they could strip to prove that they were unarmed.


    Undoubtedly, the killers were a special bunch inside the military camp. The biggest contribution they could give was to ensure that everything remained peaceful. They took no part in military affairs and were instead judged by how safe Commander Yi remained.


    Thus, Gu Shenwei had not faced any obstacle upon entering the gate of the Golden Roc army camp yesterday evening, but after entering the camp, he soon met withyer afteryer of questioning by the killers.


    ¡°Who goes there?¡± asked a killer.


    ¡°The messenger of the Cloud King,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    After traveling with the unit of female archers for some time, Gu Shenwei had found the high-ranking military officers rmended by Shangguan Ru very reliable. He left them a map with detailed directions and synchronized his daily route with them. After which, he set off with Old Man Mu to find out what the situation was in the enemy camp first. During this journey, he seized the chance to catch Shangguan Yun¡¯s messengers and thus could masquerade as a messenger to enter the Golden Roc army camp.


    Back in the valley, Shangguan Yun had turned the tables against the Dragon King¡¯s subordinates and taken control over Wu Zongheng¡¯s army secretly, and Maid Lotus had tried to assassinate Shangguan Yun. Gu Shenwei had watched these things happen but never intervened, as he had been looking for bigger fish.


    Afterwards Maid Lotus destroyed Shangguan Yun¡¯s trap and intended for it to remind the Dragon King not to fall for the enemy¡¯s tricks, but there was an unexpected side effect¡ªrealizing that his n would fail, Shangguan Yun sent out two messengers at the veryst minute to im credit from Shangguan Jianyi.


    As such, Gu Shenwei, who had been thinking about how to sneak into the enemy camp all this while, finally got his chance.


    The messengers crossed the estuary in the wee hours of morning and they took the long way round to avoid detection by the Dragon army. Beyond their expectation, they were ambushed midway and one of them was killed on the spot while the other taken captive by Old Man Mu. The Dragon King needed this captive to provide him with some useful information.


    Now, Old Man Mu refused to kill anyone and only agreed to help the Dragon King interrogate the captive. ¡°I¡¯ve sworn to the good girl that I¡¯ll never kill again. Even if anyone tries to bully me, I can only teach him or her a lesson lightly. Don¡¯t give me that look. I¡¯ll never lie again after being reborn. I¡¯m telling the truth, and my oath stands true as well.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not believe Old Man Mu in the least, but he had tested thetter and found that he had indeed not regained all of his powers. It was also very possible that he could never return to being a kung fu master ever again, and if he still dared to behave as domineeringly as before, he would notst more than three days.


    The current Old Man Mu was not only tasked to protect the Dragon King, but in reality he was under the younger man¡¯s protection as well. He had enemies all over Western Region, and if they heard that he was less powerful now, they would dly take turns to have their revenge.


    As such, when Old Man Mu was tasked to seize and torture the captive, even though the second task was also his hobby, he had to apologize before acting to keep up with his current act of being humble and thankful. ¡°Young brother, I¡¯m going to dismember you alive not out of pleasure but because it¡¯s my task. I don¡¯t have a choice. I feel your pain, and if I can, I¡¯ll make it quicker to allow you to die morefortably.¡±


    Old Man Mu, who was only slightly taller than 90 centimeters, already looked like a demon, scaring the captive badly even before the torture began. When the captive heard him say about ¡®feeling his pain¡¯, he noticed that the old man¡¯s eyes shone brightly. It was then that the captive realized his pain would bring his captor great pleasure.


    ¡°Please No! I¡¯ll tell you everything,¡± the captive pleaded.


    As such, Gu Shenwei got the intelligence he wanted, but Old Man Mu was only slightly pleased; the torture was stopped just when it barely began. He had no choice but to had over the captive to the Dragon King regrettably and witness the former getting killed after divulging all the useful information. To him, it felt as if a delicious dish was being thrown away.


    ¡°I want to confess, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t control my demonic thoughts just now and kept picturing gory scenes. Sigh, I beg of you not to give me such tasks in the future. I¡¯m afraid that I¡¯ll sumb to my desires.¡±


    The incident was actually Gu Shenwei¡¯s test of Old Man Mu¡¯s desire to change. He had seen the scary look in Old Man Mu¡¯s eyes along with the captive, and it was enough for him to confirm that the old devil had been pretending all the while since emerging from the ground¡ªhis real goal must be trying to regain his powers.


    Perhaps, he was still eyeing Wayless Qigong.


    Gu Shenwei knew how far and long he could make use of Old Man Mu.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s distinctive features were too obvious and could not be disguised. Therefore, Gu Shenwei had to dress up as a messenger on his own and entered the Golden Roc army camp alone. He was searched thoroughly by the killers; any w in his disguise could lead to his death.


    ¡°Present your waist token and tablet,¡± asked a killer.


    The waist token was the symbol of the Golden Roc Fort, while the tablet served as a travel document in the Golden Roc army. Gu Shenwei presented both of them.


    He was stopped after taking another 10 steps. A few killers pulled him back and kept taking measure of him; he felt as if their gaze could pierce through his clothes. ¡°Show us your weapon.¡±


    Gu Shenwei drew out a dagger. He had left his saber and sword under Old Man Mu¡¯s care and had only the dagger with him.


    There was a demaster present at the third pass. This time round, the check was even more thorough, especially that of the letter he showed to them. The killers only returned it back to him after repeated verifications that the seal on it was from the Third Young Master himself.


    Gu Shenwei strode forth, before the demaster suddenly asked him, ¡°There are usually two of you. Howe it¡¯s only one messenger this time?¡±


    ¡°We met with an ambush by the Dragon army and Zhao Biao was killed,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    Zhao Biao was a killer from the Golden Roc Fort, and the demaster was slightly shocked to hear the news. ¡°Zhao Biao was killed, but you managed to survive?¡±


    ¡°I was luckier. Their first target was him, and I didn¡¯t stop but urged my horse on. It kept me alive.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not exin further. The demaster would understand that experienced skirmishers always picked off the strongest targets first.


    The demaster still seemed a little suspicious. ¡°Since you fled so quickly, how did you know Zhao Biao was killed?¡±


    ¡°I guessed. How could he have survived after falling into the hands of the Dragon army? The Cloud King¡­ Third Young Master values this letter very much, and if you want to know the details of the ambush, send someone to pass it to Commander Yi first,¡± replied Gu Shenwei, faking irritation and anxiety. He had also purposely addressed Shangguan Yun vaguely. He had known from the captive that the trusted followers of Shangguan Yun addressed him as the ¡®Cloud King¡¯, and also that they knew it was still better to call him ¡®Third Young Master¡¯ in the presence of other people from the Golden Roc Fort.


    The demaster grunted. It was unclear whether he was dissatisfied with the messenger¡¯s attitude or thought little of the ¡®Cloud King¡¯. ¡°Go deliver your letter,¡± he replied.


    It was not the first time Gu Shenwei was deep behind enemy lines. Earlier on, when he was still receiving training in the Golden Roc Fort, he had used the same tactic during the incident of apprentices fighting amongst each other, but now, it was much harder toplete his task.


    The path to Shangguan Jianyi did not get any smoother after Gu Shenwei had received the demaster¡¯s approval to proceed; he went through another four obstacles. Atst, an advisor from the Whiterobe Academy requested the letter and inspected it visually before personally sending it into the main tent. The ¡®messenger¡¯ could only wait outside, surrounded by guards and killers. Even though he was only separated from Commander Yi by a tent, he could not move an inch.


    It was not the best opportunity for an assassination, and Gu Shenwei could only wait patiently. If the letter managed to arouse the interest of Shangguan Jianyi, it was possible that he would summon the messenger for a few words with him.


    It was soon proved that Shangguan Jianyi thought little of his nephew. The advisor walked back out and passed an acknowledgement message to Gu Shenwei before waving his hand at the ¡®messenger¡¯, telling him, ¡°Commander Yi received the letter. You may leave now.¡±


    The ¡®messenger¡¯ had nowhere to go. The decisive battle was taking ce tomorrow and he definitely could not return back to the Third Young Master by following the estuary, but it was pointless to tell that to the advisor. As such, Gu Shenwei obeyed the order and left, only exining the situation to an officer after he had left the protective ring surrounding themander.


    ¡°Stay behind. Tomorrow¡¯s battle will be the type that will only happen once a century, and rarely will there be a war of such scale in Western Region. I¡¯ll assign you to Commander Yi¡¯s guard unit, so that you¡¯ll be able to witness the victorious sight of the Golden Roc army achievingplete victory. You may even receive some award for the victory without actually taking part in the battle, haha.¡±


    The officer was being tactful. He could not differentiate between the many factions of people from the Golden Roc Fort, and felt that it would be prudent to treat the Third Young Master¡¯s ¡®messenger¡¯ as a killer. Besides, this person had passed the various tests and it would not be his responsibility should the ¡®messenger¡¯ turn out to be an enemy.


    In this way, Gu Shenwei remained behind in the enemy camp. During noon on the next day, he was wearing the armor of the Golden Roc army and standing 20 steps behind Shangguan Jianyi on the battlefield.


    It was an interesting thing to be observing a life and death battle from the enemy¡¯s perspective.


    Gu Shenwei increasingly agreed with Dugu Xian¡¯s view that it would be impossible to defeat an enemy withrger amount of troops unless they made mistakes.


    The fearsome Dragon army was holding on to a slight advantage on the battlefield, but they kept sustaining losses, and even if each of its soldiers could take on two enemybatants at the same time, it would lose the war of attrition.


    Even so, the Golden Roc army made a few mistakes. Shangguan Jianyi had expected a surprise attack from the estuary, but he had grossly underestimated the strength of the Dragon army. Also, Shangguan Yun¡¯s letter had made him lower his guard and his spearmen were conscripted servants from various nations in Western Region. Naturally, their morale andbat power were very weak.


    It would be a grave mistake.


    He even less expected that the enemy leader would be standing near him at this crucial moment, and that the Dragon King could assassinate him by rushing up a few steps.


    This was a fatal mistake.


    Suddenly, on the estuary, thousands of arrows rained downed upon the spearmen like a storm. They had nothing to shield themselves with and could only watch the arrows flying toward them or choose to flee.


    They were forcibly conscripted, their homnds had fallen into the hands of a foreign power, and they were far from home. They were under the impression that it was a battle that they would surely win, and there was only a logical choice open to them when faced with the threat of death.


    The high-ranking military officers leading them ordered them to attack, but they were standing at the bottom of a slope which was steep in some areas. As such, it was suicidal to try to charge up toward the enemy, especially when they were all archers.


    The spearmen on the right nk of the Golden Roc army were the first to rout, while those that held the line mostly perished under the torrent of arrows.


    Shangguan Jianyi still had an option. If he could withdraw his troops to draw the female archers down from high ground, he could smash them with a round of cavalry charge. He believed that the ws of the female enemybatants would be exposed in closebat.


    The assassination took ce at this instant from someone hiding inside a wine barrel. It was ced with the other barrels not far behind Commander Yi; the high-ranking military officers who had been withdrawn from battle after making a positive contribution on the battlefield could receive a bowl of good wine from Shangguan Jianyi.


    The barrel split open into many pieces and a short, old man leaped out of it.


    The killers were not in position and the guards were panicking. They drew their weapons in a flurry and charged toward the assassin who had suddenly appeared.


    Gu Shenwei was also among the guards and drew the scimitar he was given. He had a chance to reach Shangguan Jianyi before anyone else when charging toward Old Man Mu.

 Chapter 511 - Collapse

    Chapter 511: Copse


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    There would still be people fishing out rusting pieces of armor many years after the battle. They would take the opportunity to start a huge discussion about the legend of that battle, especially the parts about the femalebatants from the Land of Fragrance and the mysterious death of the Commander of the Golden Roc army.


    Like all legends, the two portions of the battle werergely exaggerated by the story-tellers. The audience, regardless of gender, loved even more to hear about how ferociously the femalebatants charged into their enemy, as if they were divine soldiers who hade down from heaven, and hacked their way through an opposing force many timesrger, defeating them. As a result, the ferocity of the women from the Land of Fragrance became so widely known that even the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain were slightly less on par with them, much less the ordinary men from their own nation.


    Reality was much more different; the female soldiers from the Land of Fragrance did not leave their high ground to engage the enemy in meleebat for the entire battle. They were archers and had to rely on the distance between them and their enemy as cover. It was the regr Dragon army troops, including the male soldiers of the Land of Fragrance, who engaged the Golden Roc Army in bloody closebat.


    Even so, they gave a huge shock to both armies. Western Region consistedrgely of t ground, and the nations in it usually relied on cavalry as their main force. It was hard to ensure the safety of stationary archers when facing a cavalry charge, thus, no power in the region had built up a crossbow unit which traveled on foot of such a scale. Even Nond, whose soldiers specialized in the use of the bow, had their archers on horseback.


    When the 7,000 or so female archers released their arrows at the same time, it was akin to a torrential downpour. Each corpse of a in Golden Roc Army soldier had at least three arrows stuck on him; even a peerless kung fu master would have unable to escape from such an attack.


    The female archers held the high ground and in this way, they evaded the attack of the Golden Roc Army¡¯s cavalry, which was its greatest strength. They had received the Dragon King¡¯s strict orders to never leave their position at the start of the battle.


    After breaking the defensive posture of the enemy¡¯s right nk, the archers advanced by only slightly more than 100 steps and halted once they reached the halfway mark of the seaside slope, before continuing to unleash volley after volley of arrows on the enemy. They only came down to join up with the main body of the Dragon army after the battle was over.


    The Golden Roc army still stood a chance originally. Shangguan Jianyi could have ordered his left nk to retreat out of the effective range of the enemy archers, so that they would be rendered meaningless to the battle if they insisted on remaining on the seaside slope. If they came down from their high ground, they would be forced to engage in meleebat, thus exposing theirck of physical strength.


    However, at that time, Shangguan Jianyi was unable to give out any orders.


    Rumors about his death sounded even more imusible. Some suspected that it was caused by the Dragon King, but no one could understand how he could have arranged for the enemymander¡¯s death by never showing himself. It made him seem as though he had some otherworldly ability to y someone without evening into contact with him or her.


    It could be confirmed, though, that Old Man Mu was not the killer. He hid in the wine barrel for nearly 12 hours and kept to his promise, refusing to kill. His sudden appearance gave everyone a shock and he quickly melded into the scores of soldiers, scampering between the countless legs in the battlefield; he was incredibly agile and hard to capture.


    Of course, he could not have continued fleeing like this forever, but no one paid him any attention after the copse of the Golden Roc Army.


    He had sessfully created chaos nearby Shangguan Jianyi, and as nearly all of the 100 killers chased after him into the throng of soldiers, they found that they could not use their kung fu and thus remained stationary and ordered the panicking soldiers back to their stations harshly.


    It was during this time that the advisors and high-ranking military officers beside Shangguan Jianyi noticed that Commander Yi, who was usually quick to react, was unexpectedly still. He seemed to have not noticed the chaos unfolding around him and that his troops were routing.


    ¡°Commander Yi¡­¡± whispered his most trusted advisor, as he touched him lightly. It was at that moment he realized that themander of the Golden Roc Army had died. The shock caused him to make the biggest mistake of his life, as he lost control and shouted in surprise, ¡°There¡¯s an assassin!¡±


    The chaos around them, which had just died down, now began spreading incredibly quickly toward their surroundings again. After the advisor¡¯s exmation, even the person who held the most senior rank or was able to improvise the quickest would have no way to calm the soldiers of the Golden Roc Army down.


    The killers who were supposed to protect Shangguan Jianyi were now in big trouble, but it was them who remained calm. Two demasters worked together to salvage the situation, as one of them protected Commander Yi¡¯s corpse while the other drew his saber and ordered loudly, ¡°Everyone remain where they are. Those that disobey will be beheaded!¡±


    His authoritativeness worked its magic, and the area surrounding themander¡¯s g returned back to calmness after about 15 minutes.


    This, however,id waste to the Golden Roc Army¡¯s battle ns. The killers only had one goal: to apprehend the assassin. Old Man Mu¡¯s tactics could not fool them, and they knew that the actual assassin was someone else. They also knew that he or she had not escaped and was currently hiding amongst their own soldiers.


    In such dire situations, the most urgent need was for a leader to emerge, a leader who could rece themander and give out orders to salvage the desperate situation of his copsing army. Even if defeat was inevitable now, this leader could still organize an orderly retreat, thereby preserving what was left of the Golden Roc Army¡¯s main body.


    There were three deputymanders in the Golden Roc Army who had such skills. Two of them were organizing their troops at the frontline, while thest one of them remained beside Shangguan Jianyi. Logically, he could have openly took over as temporarymander, but before he could say more than ¡°I¡±, he was stopped by the killers.


    There was an uncontroble panic hidden behind the calm of the killers. ording to the customs of the Golden Roc Fort, killers had to be buried along with their masters, and there was no way that their lord would let them off after the death of such an important figure such as Shangguan Jianyi.


    Other than their kind, the killers did not trust any high-ranking military officer, advisor, guard or attendant anymore.


    The two demasters had their back up against a wall now, and the only way they could possibly avoid their fate would be to capture the assassin. At this moment, they were like beasts in death throes, and rank, title and war meant nothing to them anymore. Even if the sky came copsing down, or even if the earth caved in, they were bent on finding the assassin.


    Unfortunately, their area of control only covered a very small radius, and the effect of their army¡¯s copse at the frontline came crashing back like a tidal wave.


    The tens of thousands of reserve troops in the Golden Roc Army, who were standing behind the killers, had now either heard or witnessed the surprising turn of events on the battlefield and at the area surrounding themander¡¯s g. The fear and panic they felt was even stronger than anyone else.


    All of a sudden, they threw down their colors and weapons on the ground in unison, as if there were a voice that had appeared at the back of their minds at the same time, urging them to flee. Those on horseback turned their mounts around and galloped away quickly, while those on foot stripped off their armor as they ran, trying to reduce the load they were carrying.


    The area surrounding themander¡¯s g became the only peaceful zone in the entire battlefield.


    One of the demasters halted, his murderous re fixed on one of the guards.


    Under huge pressure, he suddenly understood that the assassin was the ¡®messenger¡¯ sent by the Third Young Master, Shangguan Yun. He himself had even interrogated this person the previous evening.


    At that time, he felt strangely wary of the messenger, not because he had came alone and looked foreign, because everyone knew that Shangguan Yun loved to get his subordinates from outside of the Stone Castle, but because of some vague instinctive awareness. He had not caught onto his feeling and subsequently forgot about it, but now he understood.


    The ¡®messenger¡¯ was a killer in disguise. Even though he disguised himself really well and there was not a hint of him being an assassin from his mannerism, it was impossible for one to get rid of some qualities that had been ingrained since a young age. Also, it took someone who was also used to killing and death to be able to sense it as well.


    ¡°He¡­¡± began the demaster. He had wanted to call the ¡®guard¡¯ out as an assassin, but he was suddenly inspired to change it to ¡°He¡¯s the Dragon King¡±, while thinking that if his deduction was correct, both the killers and himself would have a chance of surviving.


    The demaster was so excited that he turned red. Nevertheless, before he couldplete his sentence and as he was searching desperately for the assassin, the effect of copse at the frontline was cascading back with a ferocity that no one could stop. Even if the Supreme King had appeared now, he could do nothing to help.


    The soldiers standing near themander¡¯s g had reached their breaking point, and they decided to flee even if the killers were holding their sabers on their necks.


    The messenger ran faster than anyone else, further proof that he was no ordinary guard.


    The demaster gave chase, as if he had not noticed the utter defeat of his army. His only goal was to catch up with the ¡®messenger¡¯ and kill him to prove that he was the Dragon King. He did not even think of requesting for help from hisrades.


    His steps were still light and agile, and he believed that his kung fu was on par with the Dragon King. The fleeing troops could not obstruct him. No one could escape from his unflinching gaze.


    The small old man re-appeared, but the demaster would not fall for the same trick twice. He kept his eyes firmly fixed on his target.


    Old Man Mu passed by the ¡®messenger¡¯ and then rushed toward the demaster, darting between the horde of legs and hooves with even nimbler steps. He did not strike, however. ¡°I just came to deliver weapons,¡± he said smilingly before disappearing in the clouds of dust made by the fleeing soldiers.


    The demaster did not understand the meaning behind the old man¡¯s words and did not feel that there was a need to consider them. Other than the messenger, nobody could draw his attention away at this point.


    Gu Shenwei discarded the scimitar in his hand as he received his sword and saber. They made him feel at ease once again, as if he had just caught onto the breeze after enduring the worst of winter.


    No matter how huge an army was, without leadership and organization, it was just a mere mob and nothing to be afraid of. He did not turn back to engage the enemy soldiers or slow down. Neither did he speed up.


    Just as the demaster was drawing close, Gu Shenwei darted underneath the belly of a warhorse galloping past and suddenly stopped. All of a sudden, the two men had exchanged positions and Gu Shenwei was standing to the right of the demaster.


    One stroke of his sword was enough. When he had assassinated Shangguan Jianyi, he did not use any weapon, and it left him feeling deeply unsatisfied. This stroke finally gave him a little of the pleasure that had eluded him.


    In the ensuing chaos, no one noticed the move. The only person who had found out the truth behind Commander Yi¡¯s death was now dead, and the Dragon King personally assassinating Shangguan Jianyi became a secret as a result.


    Gu Shenwei would definitely not brag about the incident afterward, but Old Man Mu was more than willing to take the credit for it. There were instances whereby he over-exaggerated and forgot that he had sworn not to kill again.


    Even though the killers knew that they would face death by returning to the Stone Castle, none of them fled or surrendered. A few of them died in the stampede of fleeing soldiers, while most of them stuck to their duties and kept Commander Yi¡¯s corpse safe from further harm while embarking on the tough journey back to ask for the Supreme King¡¯s forgiveness.


    There were very few rumors as to how the Supreme King dealt with them; everyone were more concerned about the cause of Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s death.


    Themander of the Golden Roc Fort was killed by a rare poison; his assassin had stuck a needle at the back of his neck, and the poison took effect immediately.


    The New Moon Hall became the biggest suspect, especially Maid Lotus, who had gone missing during the battle. Her skill in kung fu and the ult sciences were more than enough to carry out such an assassination.


    However, Maid Lotus was not even present at the battlefield. She had brought Chu Nanping and two of the disciples of the New Moon Hall along with her to keep a close watch on Shangguan Yun¡¯s whereabouts.


    She had been captured by the New Moon Hall andter joined them. She was also drugged along with Shangguan Ru in the Land of Fragrance and was very nearly immted, but the nation was soon destroyed. She had no way of taking revenge from either party and now, the only enemies left that she had to kill were Shangguan Yun and the second eldest of the three Xia brothers.

 Chapter 512 - Fleeing

    Chapter 512: Fleeing


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Dugu Xian could not remember from which senior general he had heard of the theory that the real battle began when an army was routing; he had always used it as a guiding principle.


    As such, when he brought an army out to battle, he always retained a reserve unit if possible. In this way, he could ensure that his army could retreat in an orderly fashion if needed and that it would not be routed.


    When he was young, he encountered a scene whereby a routine retreat started to flee mindlessly for some unfathomable reason, as if they were being chased by devils.


    The generals would usually me their soldiers, while the ministers behind the scenes would use themander of being ipetent. All of them would debate endlessly in front of their king.


    Dugu Xian knew what had happened. At that time, he was just a low-ranking military officer who was fighting along with themon soldiers in a bloody battle with the enemy.


    Battlefields are always chaotic, and none of thebatants could control the entire situation. Their own fates, as well as that of therades around them, were usually used to judge the performance of the entire army: if the soldiers around them charged forward valiantly, it meant that victory was at hand; but if they were constantly being cut down, it meant that the army was faring very badly.


    The personal impressions of the soldiers and officers who had just retreated back from the frontline usually caused them to fail to understand why theirmander wanted to regroup. It took just a little provocation, for example, for someone to trip or if the orderly to run a little faster, to spark off an unexpected rout.


    Dugu Xian preferred to retain a reserve unit. The soldiers in this unit would stand behind the battlefield and could observe the entire proceeding like themander. During a retreat, they would not be distraught and panic, thereby giving a huge constion to the soldiers who had actually taken part in the battle.


    The theory also meant that if it was the enemy that was routing, one should expend every effort to give chase. Everyone usually overlooked the fact that the number of casualties on a battlefield was usually smaller than imagined; nobatant would willingly give up his or her life when the enemy was trying to y him or her.


    When chasing down a routing enemy, this concept was not applicable. The chasing party could put in all its effort in attacking and cut down their enemies from behind. It was the part of a battle whereby one party could kill the most enemies.


    This optimal opportunity would only be open for a short while. After it had past, the enemy would either be too far to chase down or have regrouped to fight to their deaths.


    The party that was originally winning could be defeated by the fleeing enemy who had regrouped; it was not unprecedented.


    When the Golden Roc Army began to rout, Dugu Xian¡¯s first action was to hold his entire army back to prevent them to give chase mindlessly. He then dispatched individual units to start giving chase.


    He ordered the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain to form three lead units, each a thousand strong, and they were to advance swiftly on horseback. They were not allowed to stop and attack even if they passed their enemies by; their role was to quickly reach the pre-determined second defense line and to turn back only after they did so, thereby cutting off the routers.


    The other units, each a thousand strong as well, were divided into two waves, and they set off at different timings, one after the other to give chase at a steady pace. These units formed a huge encirclement around their enemies and were to y as many foes as they could.


    Dugu Xian could not control the fact that there would definitely be a group of enemy soldiers that managed to escape from the encirclement before it was fully formed. Even though they were routing, the enemy troops still had a numerical advantage, and by letting this group off, it would instead aid his soldiers in wiping out the remaining foes.


    Dugu Xian viewed of himself as a professional general, but he could not help but feel a little excited at this moment. He had finally realized his dream of leading a proper army and had even defeated a tough opponent. Perhaps, he was not a smart general or even a great one, but he made fewer mistakes than anybody else.


    The idental chaos caused by the female archers from the Land of Fragrance within the Golden Roc Army were the deciding factors in the Dragon army¡¯s victory. Of course, Dugu Xian understood the importance of both events, but they were considered as a surprise. The Dragon army was still the main driver, and only it could chase after the fleeing enemy. It was now up to them to perform at the most crucial part of the battle.


    All of the Dragon King¡¯s efforts would have been for nothing had it not been for the Dragon army, or had it not performed up to expectations. The routing Golden Roc Army would have regrouped sooner orter once its soldiers calmed down and realized that they still had the upper hand. If they started another huge battle, it would be entirely impossible for the Dragon King to win by surprise again.


    Unexpectedly, the most fearsome soldiers during the chase were not the female archers from the Land of Fragrance (they obeyed the Dragon King¡¯s orders to remain on high ground) or the soldiers from the Dragon army. They were also not the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, but the tribal soldiers formed by Tuo Nengya in the Wushan mountain range.


    The unit of 3000 soldiers had joined the Dragon King¡¯s army because of Ha Chilie, the son of the tribal chief of the Eastern Mountains. They had not expected that he had defected long ago to the Golden Roc Fort and were nearly suffocated to death in the abandoned mine; they decided to faithfully serve the Dragon King when they were rescued.


    Loyalty had to be proved by actions, not words.


    As the female archers could not leave their post, the high-ranking military officers of the Dragon army unleashed the tribal warriors.


    They were eager to demonstrate their loyalty, especially after they realized that the enemy was defeated.


    They did not have any horses, so they gave chase on foot. They leaped up onto any horse that they could snatch and continued giving chase even if separated from the others,pletely fearless.


    Some of the warriors were a little too excited and rode forth into the ranks of their enemies alone, brandishing their long-sabers as they shed away. Their self-confidence made them seem as though there was a huge army behind them, and it frightened the fleeing Golden Roc soldiers greatly, so much so that they immediately surrendered, daring not to resist, even though there were only dozens of tribal soldiers around them.


    The chase finally winded down as it reached evening time. Dugu Xian paid a personal visit to the tribal soldiers and praised them before rewarding them generously. He then immediately broke them up and absorbed them into the other units; they were too impetuous and were already a bad influence. Given that, he had to keep them under tight control.


    The chase was a wild affair and there was no room for an individual to unleash his full range of abilities. There was no need for Gu Shenwei to take pride in butchering and subduing the enemy soldiers as tribal soldiers did. There were more important matters for him to handle.


    The Dragon army¡¯s victory was the beginning of another battle for him. He had to make sure that Dragon army still belonged to him and that the four nations on the north coast of the Xiaoyao Lake would not be stolen by some ambitious person.


    He hid at the foot of the slope andmanded the main body of his army to pass him by before circling to the back as quickly as he could, seeking out his guard troops. This army of thousands usually did not take direct orders from the Left General and still remained at their original positions, awaiting the Dragon King¡¯s orders.


    Old Man Mu followed closely behind him. The corpses strewn around the battlefield were a huge temptation for him, causing him to keep groaning in agony.


    ¡°Remember your oath and shut up,¡± Gu Shenwei told him. He did not appreciate the old man¡¯s constant groaning.


    ¡°I can remember my oath, but shutting up will be a little hard,¡± replied Old Man Mu. He was standing on top of a horse, but it did not affect his ability to lead it. From a distance, he even seemed like a rider on horseback. ¡°Dragon King, do you know how a deity feels like after he or she has been banished to earth and lost all of his or her sorcery? I feel like that now, I¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei acted swiftly and demonstrated great hand-eye coordination as he stuffed his horsewhip into the old man¡¯s mouth. He needed to focus on catching up with his guard troops, instead of listening to an old man exin his feelings.


    Old Man Mu remained silent for a while before spitting the horsewhip back out, muttering, ¡°What sort of taste is that? Now I¡¯ve lost even the desire to kill¡­¡±


    The guard troops were indeed still at their original spot. Even the Queen had made a symbolic appearance on the battlefield, but they were still waiting in the camp. Dugu Xian had drawn a line at using this unit only in critical life and death situations.


    Their vicemander, Wu Zongheng, had still not returned, and Gu Shenwei had appointed a centurion to temporarily take overmand. He ordered the centurion to set off immediately. ¡°Take boats and cross theke. Seize the capital of the Kang Kingdom as fast as you can and shut its gates. Do not hand the city over to anybody unless you get orders from me.¡±


    All of the guard troops were incredibly overjoyed to see the Dragon King, believing that they could take part in the chase and contribute to the battle finally. They did not expect to receive orders to seize a nearly defenseless capital.


    Gu Shenwei could not explicitly tell them his ns and could only try to encourage them. ¡°The entire Dragon army will return to the north coast very shortly. You are our vanguard unit and bear a heavy responsibility. Please remain frosty and take care.¡±


    ¡°Shall we seize the other three capitals?¡± asked the high-ranking military officers of the guard troops, as they began to get excited. There were not many soldiers from the Golden Roc Army on the north coast and they consisted mainly of scattered and small units. As such, they would definitely not be able to withstand the 1000 strong guard troops.


    ¡°Secure the Kang Kingdom and don¡¯t let anyone in. You are not to leave the city as well.¡±


    After he had given them his strict order, Gu Shenwei led a little over 100 of the guard troops to catch up with the main body of the Dragon army.


    Most of the battle-ready ships in the Xiaoyao Lake were in the hands of the Right General, Shang Liao. There were still many civilian bots docked at the harbor on the south coast, and the guard troops immediately sail to the north coast, unimpeded throughout their entire journey.


    Gu Shenwei arrived at the temporary encampment set up by the Dragon King after midnight. The fatigued soldiers were already mostly asleep.


    Nobody dared to stop the guard troops as they marched into the camp, holding the Dragon King¡¯s banner up high. They immediately passed on the Dragon King¡¯s instructions to the other soldiers, ¡°The soldiers and officers have suffered today, and no one is to wake anybody up.¡±


    Gu Shenwei entered the main tent alone and lit the candles up. He secretly admired Dugu Xian¡¯s discipline; even at such a chaotic time, the tent was organized neatly, as if the army had already set up here for many days.


    The first thing he did was to look through the reports of the past few days. All of Dugu Xian¡¯s orders were recorded in them, and through the dry documents, he quickly understood what had happened for the past few days when he was away.


    Gu Shenwei frowned as he read about the Queen¡¯s making a personal appearance in the military camp.


    A guard standing watch outside lifted the p to his tent and walked in. ¡°Your Majesty, the Prime Minister is asking to see you.¡±


    It was uncertain as to whether Zhong Heng was the first to notice the Dragon King¡¯s arrival because he could not fall asleep or whether there was somebody who had disobeyed orders and reported it to the Prime Minister.


    Zhong Heng had originally wanted to kneel and offer his congrattions upon seeing the Dragon King, but immediately changed his mind after really meeting him. He asionally forgot that he was dealing with the Dragon King not the officials from the Central in that he used to work for.


    ¡°There are still 20000 enemy soldiers that have fled west. The Left General felt that it was not suitable to press them too tightly, and the Right General is nowhere to be found. It would be a great help to us if we had his boats and Fierce Bombs.¡±


    Zhong Heng went straight to the point and exined the situation with a few words. Gu Shenwei nodded. Since the Prime Minister was already here, he got his guards to wake Dugu Xian up.


    The Right General arrived very quickly and was slightly surprised to see the Prime Minister. He then immediately kneeled down on one knee as he addressed the Dragon King. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that you¡¯ve arrived, Your Grace, and thus missed weing you. Please forgive me.¡±


    Dugu Xian had never behaved so respectfully toward the Dragon King. He had just won an important victory but was behaving as humbly as a defeated general. Zhong Heng secretly approved; he thought that the Left General was not entirely unaware of the rules of court.


    ¡°How do you n to deal with the remaining 20000 Golden Roc soldiers, General Dugu?¡± Gu Shenwei asked the most pressing question in his mind, as he readily epted the show of respect.


    Dugu Xian rose as he replied, ¡°Our army should slowly advance and force them to flee the north coast. We¡¯ll then send out another army from the capital of the An Kingdom to travel northward, creating a stranglehold on the exit on the northeast portion of the Xiaoyao Lake. As such, the enemy can only return to Jade City through the passage on the northwest. The desert will take care of the remaining 20000 enemy soldiers as they did not bring enough food and water with them.¡±


    It was about the same as Gu Shenwei¡¯s n, but he pointed at the map in front of him, saying, ¡°What about this bridge? After the Golden Roc Army returns back to the north coast, they will definitely destroy it. Our troops will then be unable to pursue them.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s indeed a valid problem,¡± replied Dugu Xian. He was a little nervous as he had not thought of a solution.


    What he did not know was that many people tried to destroy that bridge.

 Chapter 513 - Protecting the Bridge

    Chapter 513: Protecting the Bridge


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    News of the battle spread like wildfire, and after only one night, without even a single defeated soldier having made it to the north coast of the Xiaoyao Lake, news about the terrible loss of the Golden Roc Army had already reached the capital of the Hui Kingdom. The rumor-mongers sounded extremely convincing, leading everyone in the city to believe them. The entire capital immediately fell into an apocalypse-like state of chaos.


    It was a unique city that was filled with the royal families of each nation as well as spectors withplicated backgrounds. Most of them had ced huge stakes on the Golden Roc Army winning and never prepared themselves for the probability that things could turn out the other way.


    As dawn just began breaking, a coach raced through the city gates. The horsekeeper was dressed shabbily and seemed to have been dragged out of bed into the driver¡¯s seat. The guards at the gates were perturbed, but very quickly, one of them managed to recognize the coach. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that belong to the King of the An Kingdom? Could it be that the Dragon King has been defeated and he¡¯s in a hurry to snatch the throne back for himself?¡±


    The truth could not be further away from his theory.


    The old King of the An nation created a fleeing frenzy with his actions. Before noon, the gates were already packed with people as coaches jostled past each other. There would assionally be valuable items falling to the ground from all themotion.


    Those that managed to leave with their possessions were considered lucky. Many more who hade to try their luck now found themselves in a dilemma. They were already robbed of their livestock, which had not amounted to much anyway, and most of their goods were left behind in the city. If they left, they would be left with nothing, but it was also too dangerous to stay.


    War could also serve as a business opening that, needless to say, was snapped up by the bigger suppliers, but it was also beneficial for the smaller businesses. Soldiers, who were literally putting their lives at stake in a bid to earn a living, were always feeling particrly generous before and after battles, attracting businessmen and prostitutes who were smart enough to sense a business opportunity.


    Everyone was worried and tried to encourage each other. ¡°The Dragon army also needs its share of good wine and women. We¡¯re unlike the Meng family; we don¡¯t have to serve only the Golden Roc Army. As long as they¡¯re paying customers, we¡¯ll treat them equally well. The Dragon King has no reason to ill treat us.¡±


    It just so happened that the Meng family of Jade City reacted even more quickly than the old King of the An nation. A few days ago, they had sent out arge shipment, and rumor had it that it was made up entirely of chests full of silver and gold. It turned out that the sry doled out to the soldiers of the Golden Roc Fort had quickly returned back into the coffers of the Meng family.


    At that time, there were still some people who scoffed at Meng Mingshu, thinking that it was against what being a big businessman was all about. Now, they knew that the Meng family had not be the wealthiest merchants in the entire Western Region by luck; they were always adequately prepared for any incident.


    Soon, rumors abounded that the Meng family managed to avoid huge losses not because of their skill in business but rather because they were double agents. ¡°Have you heard? Second Young Master Meng personally met with the Dragon King in private and knew how the battle would turn out before it even began. It was due to this reason that he hurriedly ordered huge amounts of his family¡¯s money to be shipped away.¡±


    ¡°Really? But¡­ why would the Dragon King let such an important source of funds slip from his grasp? Wouldn¡¯t it make more sense to make Meng Mingshu¡¯s money stay in this ce?¡±


    ¡°About that¡­ that¡­ both parties are bound to have reached an agreement. How did the Dragon army win? Who knows if the Meng family yed a part in its victory.¡±


    Meng Mingshu was also pondering the same question. He had not fled and was at the garden in the royal pce, dispatching his people to various shops and banks to prepare theirst shipment of goods. When the others in the city could not purchase pack animals even though they had money, the Meng family had scores of these animals. They could sell off the animals now at prices more than 10 times their original value, but it was pointless to get more money at this point in time as they did not have enough time to pack it along with them.


    Meng Mingshu had been wondering for a few days about why the Dragon King had sent Shangguan Fei over secretly to greet him, but he still could not understand why. He could sense the Dragon King¡¯s self-confidence through the meeting with Shangguan Fei and thus settled his customers¡¯ outstanding ounts beforehand. He also reduced the prices of his goods and expedited his shipments, finally managing to collect most of the outstanding payments two days before the decisive battle. He then entrusted it to a unit of machetemen from the Golden Roc Fort to escort back to Jade City.


    As such, the Meng family managed to earn a considerable amount of money from the war, even though it was slightly lesser than expected.


    What Meng Mingshu could not figure out was, <em>¡°Why would the Dragon King do me such a big favor?¡±</em>


    They had indeed cooperated in Jade City before¡ªhe had helped the Dragon King poison his own Fifth Brother, while the Dragon King assassinated his eldest brother at his behest. This paved the way for Meng Mingshu to advance his n of inheriting his family¡¯s fortune in the future. They even had ns to build up a businesswork together, but ultimately, it was put on hold due to the Dragon King¡¯s defeat at that time.


    On paper, neither of them owed the other party anything now.


    Meng Mingshu could not figure the Dragon King out and hoped that somebody else would offer a fresh perspective as he returned to his quarters in the evening.


    There would have been amotion in Hui City, had the arrival of Xiao Fengchai, the most famous prostitute in Jade City, been discovered. She had just arrived the previous night, unfortunately coinciding with the terrible defeat of the Golden Roc Army.


    Meng Mingshu told her everything. Their rtionship was growing stronger everyday, and they were no longer simply lovers; she was more like his aplice and advisor now. She would provide him with ideas and plot, already having be his right-hand person.


    Also, her beauty was peerless.


    Even Meng Mingshu himself did not know her true age, but it was unimportant to him. He had already passed the age where men would dream of romance, and he admired her elegant bearing instead. He felt that she was more charming than all of the prostitutes of Pleasure Alley put together.


    Xiao Fengchai was reading a letter. It was onlyprised of one page, but she seemed to have spent a long time reading it.


    ¡°Who sent you the letter?¡± asked Meng Mingshu casually, in a tone so normal that made them seem like an old couple.


    ¡°The Dragon King,¡± she replied simply. She did not even try to use any tactic to attract his attention¡ªin fact, this was an even more advanced technique of hers.


    Meng Mingshu took out his handkerchief, momentarily stunned.


    Xiao Fengchai was a smart woman, and it was her that pointed out to Meng Mingshu the moment she stepped down from her coach that he had made a grave mistake.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have shipped away your goods and money so hastily,¡± she told himst night, before news about the result of the decisive battle had traveled to Hui City. ¡°If the Dragon King really manages to win, you¡¯ll be in deep trouble. There are many ears in the Stone Castle, and news of Shangguan Fei¡¯s visit to you will surely reach there.¡±


    Meng Mingshu regretted his moment of greed, but he could not order his shipments to be returned back. He could only remedy the situation by finding a proper excuse.


    She had also been clueless as to the Dragon King¡¯s true intentions by offering his goodwill, right until she opened the letter.


    Strictly speaking, the letter was not written by the Dragon King but a merchant with business connections to the Meng family. He had instructed his servant to pass it to Second Young Master Meng, but as Meng Mingshu had been busy at that time, the servant had passed it to Xiao Fengchai instead¡ªhe knew that she was trusted to make decisions on Meng Mingshu¡¯s behalf.


    The writer of the letter reminded Second Young Master Meng of ¡®their deal about number one and five¡¯ and also stressed the importance of the huge bridge at the Hui Kingdom, which spanned across the Xiaoyao Lake.


    Meng Mingshu understood the meaning behind ¡®one and five¡¯; it was obviously referring to his cooperation with the Dragon King and the assassinations of the Fifth and Eldest Young Masters of the Meng family. He had kept the matter a secret from Xiao Fengchai until the Dragon King¡¯s escape.


    As such, Xiao Fengchai also understood the meaning of the letter. It was also how she managed to deduce that the Dragon King who was behind it.


    ¡°Is the messenger reliable?¡± Meng Mingshu asked, a little anxious. He was worried that the Golden Roc Fort was setting him up.


    ¡°I¡¯ve sent people to check him out; he seems fine. Nobody else knows about ¡®one and five¡¯ as well. I¡¯m more concerned about the bridge mentioned in the letter. The Dragon King seems to value it greatly.¡±


    After all, Xiao Fengchai did not have an in-depth understanding of war and knew little about the strategic importance of the bridge. Meng Mingshu, however, was enlightened. ¡°So this was what the Dragon King wanted me to do for him¡ªhe wanted me to protect the bridge.¡±


    ¡°I thought the Dragon army was thinking about destroying it.¡±


    ¡°In the past, yes. But now that the tables have turned, so have the positions of each side. Now, the party that wants the bridge destroyed is the Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    Smooth passage was something coveted by victors. For losers, they would logically want the paths leading to them destroyed as much as possible.


    Meng Mingshu did not feel relieved in the least bit after realizing what the Dragon King¡¯s true intentions were. He did not wish to breakpletely from the Golden Roc Fort now, since it would put his life in danger.


    ¡°The Dragon King is giving you a choice. He¡¯s made his stand known, and now it¡¯s your turn,¡± Xiao Fengchai told him. She had managed to guess what he was thinking about.


    Meng Mingshu lowered his head as he remained deep in thought and raised it only after a long while, still undecided. ¡°What should I do?¡±


    ¡°The best way to handle this would be to protect the bridge without anyone knowing that it was you who did it. I believe there will be a fair share of people in Hui City wanting to get in the Dragon King¡¯s good books now?¡±


    Meng Mingshu suddenly thought of an idea on the spot.


    At the same time, in a room not far from Meng Mingshu, another group of people were plotting to destroy the bridge before the Golden Roc Army.


    ¡°We¡¯ll let them kill each other at the south coast. The revival of the Kang Kingdom and the Xiaoyao Lake region shall be decided by the fate of the bridge,¡± said the Prime Minister of the Kang Kingdom. He was so excited that his cheeks were red from exertion.


    He waspletely siding with Shang Liao, the new King of the Kang nation, now. They hade up with a drastic n together: to destroy the bridge before the arrival of the defeated Golden Roc army and to send out ships to patrol theke in an attempt to stop anyone from crossing theke. Then, they would quickly gather troops and block the two passage ways leading in and out of the Xiaoyao Lake, so as to regain the sovereignty of their kingdom.


    ¡°What about those people in the Hui Kingdom?¡± asked Shang Liao. He was much moreposed; he did not feel the need to get overly happy before their n seeded. It was hard to predict its oue, and they would have to be ready to improvise.


    ¡°The King of the Hui nation is already close to being driven insane with fear; all he thinks about is escaping along with the Golden Roc Army to Jade City. Everyone under him is worried about their future, and a few high-ranking military officers are willing to serve Your Majesty. I¡¯ve tested them¡ªthey¡¯re even willing to support your bid to be the ¡®king of the Xiaoyao Lake region¡¯.¡±


    Shang Liao grunted softly. The title had been thought up by the Prime Minister; he had already begun dreaming of bing the ¡®Prime Minister of the Xiaoyao Lake region¡¯ even before their n had taken shape.


    ¡°We¡¯ll make our move between 1 to 3 a.m., otherwise, it¡¯ll be toote. I still feel a little insecure,¡± said Shang Liao. He had been hiding in the royal pce for many days, almost always staying indoors; he was talking about being insecure about something else.


    ¡°Please rest assured, Your Majesty. I assure that Your Majesty will be ¡®safe¡¯ when we¡¯re destroying the bridge,¡± said the Prime Minister.


    ¡°I want to see solid proof of that.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you¡¯ll be able to see it very quickly, Your Majesty. At most in another two hours¡¯ time, in fact.¡±


    The proof Shang Liao was referring to was the head of the old King. He did not wish to return back to his life of an ¡®ordinary¡¯ member of the royal family after seeding with his other ns. If that happened, he might even be in trouble for having aplished more feats than the old King of the Kang nation.


    The Prime Minister respectfully took his leave to prepare the ¡®proof¡¯. He needed the only navy in the Xiaoyao Lake as well as the new king¡¯s smarts; it was crucial to the sess of his entire n.


    Immediately after the Prime Minister left, Shang Liao took out the secret report again. It said that the Dragon King had sent out a 1,000-person unit to set sail across the Xiaoyao Lake, their likely destination the Kang Kingdom.


    <em>¡°It¡¯s not easy to deal with the Dragon King. He acted even sooner than I had expected, but to realize my ambitions, I guess I have to undertake a huge risk at some point in time,¡± </em>With that in mind, Shang Liao decided that he would go all in.


    <em>¡°After all, how many people in this world would have such a chance?¡± </em>he thought.


    That very same night, both parties who wanted to protect and destroy the bridge respectively were kept busy.

 Chapter 514 - Men with Machetes.

    Chapter 514: Men with Machetes.


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    There was a group of swordsmen that carried machetes and knew how to intimidate others. They were also eloquent and intelligent. Even so, they still could not find stable jobs, because they were too smart for their own good and always on the move.


    Basically, they were all talk, no action.


    To them, fighting was more like a game. Two partiespeted against each other showing off their machete skills and trash talking. The party with the better performance won the game. The loser, if they obeyed the rules, left willingly, epting the oue publically after the game was over.


    However, if they met any aggressive foes who were willing to fight to the death, they would run away immediately, even if they outnumbered the enemy.


    These soldiers were independent, and never worked for any one organization for very long. They joined or left organizations freely. As they never actually fought against others with their sabers (as their swords were just for show), they were widely known as the ¡°Men with Machetes¡±.


    ¡°Life means everything,¡± was their motto.


    The Men with Machetes needed money to support themselves, and there were people willing to hire them. Their purpose for hiring these men was just to show off their strength, not to actually fight.


    Unfortunately, the employers were rare. Therefore, the Men with Machetes had to pretend to be swordsmen just to get jobs.


    War was supposed to be a good opportunity for swordsmen, and Golden Roc Fort had lowered their requirements for new recruits. They had alreay taken in almost half of the swordsmen in the Western Region. Even inexperienced, youngds who had never held a saber could join them. However, they refused the Men with Machetes.


    Like swordsmen, the Men with Machetes carried their sabers. Their real identities would only be exposed in a fight, when it became obvious that they had no battle skills. So, inexperience employers were fooled by them often. These employers paid the Men with Machetes, but did not get any protection when they were in danger.


    Bodyguards in Jade City volunteered to provide the identities of the Men with Machetes to Golden Roc Fort. They were willing to help the Supreme King keep these spineless, cowardly Men with Machetes out of the Golden Roc Army so as not to ruin the entire army.


    Although the Men with Machetes were outraged and insulted by this, they did not dare toin openly.


    The Men with Machetes all had one thing inmon ¡ª they liked and believed gossip. One day, they heard the rumor that several of the kingdoms would have a shortage of soldiers for guarding the capital gates after Golden Roc Army entered Xiaoyao Lake. This job would be easy, and the requirements to get hired were simply being a man with a saber.


    The Men with Machetes made up their minds to try for the jobs while sitting together in a small tavern, asked the manager for their bills, and left. A few of them gathered together and headed for Xiaoyao Lake. They followed the main force of the Golden Roc Army on the way there. By the time they arrived at the capital of the Hui Kingdom, their numbers had grown to a little over 200.


    However, they did not get the jobs they sought. In his youth, Shangguan Jianyi had fought together with Shangguan Fa to clear the hooligans from the streets, so he knew all about the Men with Machetes. He would rather hire 50 or 60 year old farmers than ept these outcasts.


    The Men with Machetes were in a desperate situation. They had not brought much money with them to Hui City, and what little they had was already gone. They had no money to return to Jade City.


    After their departure, the managers of the taverns in Jade City were very relieved. It wasn¡¯t long before the managers of the taverns in Hui City realized that the Men with Machetes were penniless. Eventually, they made a rule for the Men with Machetes: no credit.


    One night, a few dozen of the Men with Machetes bought a bottle of cheap liquor together. They yed games in low spirits. Half of them couldn¡¯t afford any liquor at all.


    Most of the other soldiers were fighting in battle. The Men with Machetes were the only male guests in the tavern at the time.


    ¡°We can¡¯t continue to live like this,¡± shouted one of the Men with Machetes angrily (for he had not been able to afford any liquor at all). He pounded on the table violently and stood up, putting on a good performance.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. We have sabers, just like the swordsmen. Why do they deserve to live a luxurious life while we have to fight for liquor here?¡± asked one of the other men.


    ¡°The Golden Roc Army didn¡¯t ept us, and look what became of them ¡ª they lost the battle,¡± the first man said.


    The Men with Machetes became angrier and angrier. ording to them, the Golden Roc Army had lost the battle solely because they had not been allowed to join.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you join the Dragon Army?¡± someone asked.


    ¡°Why? Because we never take a loser¡¯s side, even if we get handsome rewards,¡± they all responded. They had never even considered joining the Dragon Army.


    But to their surprise, the Dragon Army won the battle. The Men with Machetes regretted their decision a lot. They even med some of their friends for talking them out of joining the Dragon Army.


    Then, they started to talk about the Dragon Army. They were only interested in how much money the soldiers could make, not the battle itself.


    ¡°I heard that the Dragon King is so selfish that he keeps all the money to himself,¡± one of the men said.


    ¡°You idiot. He used to be selfish. He didn¡¯t put much money in the battle because he thought he would lose. But now he¡¯s won the battle and imed a huge fortune from the Golden Roc Army. If he didn¡¯t give some of it to the soldiers, no one would follow him,¡± replied another.


    They imagined a scene in which the soldiers of the Dragon Army were dividing the spoils.


    ¡°Is it toote to join the Dragon Army now?¡± one of the men asked.


    ¡°The war is over, so there¡¯s no use joining now. How can you get paid if you don¡¯t fight on the battlefield?¡± someone else answered.


    ¡°No one said that the war was over. The Golden Roc Army is escaping, and the Dragon Army is pursuing them. Everyone knows it,¡± another of the men argued.


    No one responded. The Men with Machetes were all thinking the same thing: ¡°Pursuing the defeated army is dangerous, and that goes against our rules.¡±


    ¡°I have an idea. We can not only serve the Dragon King while remaining safe, but also take revenge on the Golden Roc Army,¡± one of the men said, suddenly.


    ¡°Tell us, and hurry,¡± the others begged.


    ¡°The bridge isn¡¯t far from here. Both the southern and northern shores set up checkpoints. Luckily, these checkpoints are guarded by timid, local soldiers. We can easily scare them away and take the bridge. As long as we don¡¯t let the Golden Roc Army pass for several days, they can¡¯t cross Xiaoyao Lake, and their entire army will be annihted. Don¡¯t you think it would impress the Dragon King, and get us a big reward?¡± he said.


    The Men with Machetes were lost in thought again. This time, they were thinking about this new idea.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do it,¡± they all agreed.


    The Men with Machetes pulled out their sabers and banged them on the table violently. Then, they rushed out of the tavern suddenly, deciding to take the bridge and get revenge on the Golden Roc Army right away.


    They were too excited to even notice which man had originally proposed the idea.


    In Jade City, the experienced tavern managers were not scared by their exaggerated behavior. Rather, they watched them quietly, and sold the information they collected from the men to whomever wanted it.


    But this was Hui City, not Jade City. The managers here did not dare to get involved.


    Meng Mingshu¡¯s n was to sell out the Men with Machetes. However, when his aplice told him that the men had already started their takeover, he thought he might be toote. He had heard a lot about the Men with Machetes. He asked, ¡°Will they¡­ seed?¡±


    His aplice lowered his head silently.


    Compared to Meng Mingshu, Xiao Fengchai knew the Men with Machetes better. Sheughed, ¡°Don¡¯t expect too much. It doesn¡¯t matter, even if they fail. Right now, any man who stands out is likely to get himself in trouble.¡±


    Meng Mingshu understood her words, and smiled. He thought, ¡°The Dragon King will need me and the Meng family in the future. It doesn¡¯t matter whether my n works or not.¡±


    Hui City was in disarray. The city gates were still open by nightfall, and the civilians escaped from the city with their families. When a hundred of the Men with Machetes flooded through the city gates, no one stopped them.


    To the Men with Machetes, it was a good sign.


    At first, they felt confident that they would seed. They robbed anyone that they encountered who had horses or mules, and none tried to fight against them because of being outnumbered.


    The Men with Machetes became more and more confident of their n.


    Checkpoints were set up at each end of the bridge. The checkpoint on the southern shore was tall and thick, while the one on the northern shore wasparatively smaller. Shang Liao arrived there before the Men with Machetes did. The general of the Hui Kingdom in charge of the checkpoint opened the gate. At the first sight of Shang Liao, the general and his soldiers knelt down, and shouted, ¡°Your Grace.¡±


    The Prime Minister had done a good job. The generals and soldiers of the Hui Kingdom all supported Xiaoyao Lake¡¯s independence, and they were willing to take risks for it.


    There were dozens of Golden Roc Army soldiers guarding the checkpoint, and they all slept soundly without noticing that they were being tied up by ropes. They had never suspected that some of theirpanions would secretly add knockout powder to their food.


    At around 11:00 pm, two boats made their way from the east. Half of the troops guarding the shore abandoned their posts out of fear. The rest let them pass, promising to im they had seen nothing if questioned.


    Shang Liao went to the watchtower. He waved a torch tomand the boats toe ashore. He did not ask them to unload the boats immediately, though.


    Powerful bombs were inside the two boats. Shang Liao would not hand them over until the Prime Minister of the Kang Kingdom fulfilled his promise.


    After fifteen minutes, a group of soldiers rode towards them from Hui City. The Prime Minister of the Kang Kingdom was amongst them, and dismounted his horse hurriedly, shouting, ¡°It¡¯s me! Open the door!¡±


    Obviously, the Prime Minister was frightened.


    Some things are easy to talk about, but difficult to do. Regicide did not only require weapons and courage, but also the willpower to abandon loyalty and tradition.


    Looking at the king he had knelt before daily, the Prime Minister started to panic. After hesitating for awhile, he gave the signal to his bodyguard. The bodyguard was a professional and killed the king quickly.


    The Prime Minister cut off the king¡¯s head himself to hide his anxiety. He took the scimitar from the bodyguard, and violently chopped off the king¡¯s head, as if the king were his foe.


    He knelt before the new king, and raised the disembodied head in the air. His hands were covered in blood.


    When he watched the Prime Minister holding the former king¡¯s head, Shang Liao was very angry for a moment. ¡°The Prime Minister is from the Royal Family. He is supposed to show respect to the old King of the Kang Nation instead of holding his head excitedly,¡± he thought to himself.


    Now that Shang Liao was the King of the Kang Nation, his attitude towards the Prime Minister had changed quite a bit.


    ¡°Rise,¡± Shang Liao replied coldly. He turned around and waved the torch to give his second signal.


    The men on the boats carried the bombs to the bridge very carefully and arranged them on the bridge evenly.


    The generals and soldiers guarding the bridge remembered their first fight on theke. They looked at the bombs with fear, too afraid to even approach them.


    All the soldiers guarding the checkpoint of the southern shore retreated to the northern shore. Soon, those who had escaped from the Golden Roc Army would gather here and watch the bridge burn.


    Shang Liao hoped that these army deserters at least had the courage to return and engage in a final fight with the Dragon Army.


    The Dragon King sent an army of thousands to take the Kang Kingdom, which was Shang Liao¡¯s biggest threat. But Shang Liao had a n for victory: At dawn, he would return to his navy. He would take into custody all the soldiers who weren¡¯t from the five kingdoms of Xiaoyao Lake, and then he would block every way onto theke.


    This would force the Dragon King¡¯s army of thousands to be isted. They could either surrender or die.


    Everything went as nned. Shang Liao began to envision a bigger future for himself.


    The sound of hooves and shouts awakened him from his daydream.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± the Prime Minister of the Kang Kingdom asked, turning around anxiously.


    No one knew what was happening.


    In the darkness, hordes of troops and horses seemed toe down on them from out of nowhere. It came as aplete surprise to them, as there was norge army in the capital of the Hui Kingdom.


    The Men with Machetes fully utilized their acting talents. They managed to create a terrifying scene to intimidate the enemy.


    ¡°We are the Dragon King¡¯s troops. Fight or surrender!¡± they shouted.


    The Prime Minister, generals and soldiers guarding the checkpoint were shocked, but Shang Liao was more stunned than anyone else.


    He had been thinking about the Dragon King¡¯s army of thousands. But all of a sudden, the army directly attacked here instead of heading for the Kang Kingdom, as he had expected.


    ¡°The Dragon King is smarter than me. All of my ns have been in vain,¡± he thought.


    Shang Liao did not want to give up now, though. He drew his scimitar and cut off the Prime Minister¡¯s head. He said to the terrified generals and soldiers, ¡°If you believe me, you will follow me to serve the Dragon King. He promised me that he would allow Xiaoyao Lake to be an independent country. As for this man, he murdered the king, so he had to be punished.¡±


    Shang Liao only had a dozen guards serving him, while there were a hundred generals and soldiers serving the Hui Kingdom. Terrified by the scene, they held onto their weapons tightly, not knowing what to do.

 Chapter 515 - Intelligence

    Chapter 515 Intelligence


    Gu Shenwei began to suffer from insomnia.


    The war hade to an end. Dragon army was chasing after the enemy troops. Given that, he had lots ofplicated matters to deal with. All of a sudden, he was at a loss for he had no idea where to start.


    It was important to reward subordinates for their loyalty. After all, the Dragon Army consisted of troops other than just those from the Great Snow Mountain. The rest of the soldiers had their own reasons to serve the Dragon King, one of which was money.


    How to deal with the soldiers who had surrendered was also a problem. There were about 30,000 enemy soldiers who had surrendered, which outnumbered the current Dragon Army. Dugu Xian thought it was good to have as many enemy soldiers as possible, but none of them could be trusted. On top of that, Zhong Heng raised a more serious issue: ¡°The whole of Xiaoyao Lake can¡¯t afford arge army like this. The Dragon Army will have to steal food from the civilians within a month.¡±


    In addition, it needed to be determined who was loyal and who was a traitor. Ever since the Dragon Army had won the war, it was like everyone who had ever been close to Gu Shenwei was a suspect. Now everyone was trying to expose everybody else, which only created more and more suspects.


    ¡°I have plenty to time to solve those problemster. Right now, my biggest problem is Shang Liao- the new King of the Kang Nation on the northern shore,¡± Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    Zhong Heng had been faithfully gathering intelligence. Within three days, he had collected a thick stack of information.


    ¡°Shang Liao has taken the bridge in the Hui Kingdom to stop the deserters of the Golden Roc Army from passing,¡± he reported.


    ¡°In the name of the Right General of the Dragon Army, Shang Liao epted enemy soldiers who surrendered and banished the old King of the Hui Nation. Additionally, he took Hui City by force and sent a messenger to the Sha Kingdom to recruit anyone willing to yield to him,¡± he continued his report.


    ¡°Shang Liao epted all the soldiers who surrendered, promising them that they would not be treated as prisoners. He allowed them to join the Dragon Army, and now the number of them has reached about 10,000¡­¡± he went on.


    Gu Shenwei and Dugu Xian were nning to force the escaped Golden Roc Army to the northwest desert and then cut their water and food supplies. But now, Shang Liao had taken action before they had.


    Shang Liao was one of the reasons that Gu Shenwei could not sleep. Gu Shenwei had always known that he was an ambitious person ¡ª otherwise, he would not have sent his army of thousands to take the capital of the Kang Kingdom. However, he had underestimated Shang Liao¡¯s true level of ambition.


    Zhong Heng stayed by the Dragon King¡¯s side nowadays and hardly ever left him. He slept very little, and even when felt drowsy, he insisted on staying. He said, ¡°The new King of the Kang Nation is bold. He dared to increase the number of troops in the name of the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°I allowed it,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    Zhong Heng looked at the Dragon King in surprise.


    Gu Shenwei had reached an agreement with Shang Liao once upon a time: Once Shang Liao helped the Dragon King defeat the Golden Roc Army, the Dragon King would allow him to recruit troops at his will. However, as it turned out, Shang Liao had not yed as an important role in the battle as Gu Shenwei had imagined.


    ¡°How¡­¡± Zhong Heng did not understand why the Dragon King would have made such an unwise decision. He continued, ¡°You must have some other n.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head and thought, ¡°I have no other ns for now except to take the capital of the Kang Kingdom.¡± He said, ¡°The Dragon Army will march on Jade City soon, and I need someone to take over at Xiaoyao Lake.¡±


    ¡°We have so many loyal generals and soldiers at yourmand,¡± replied Zhong Heng.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head again. Zhong Heng was a smart man, but he did not think the way the Dragon King did. He continued, ¡°I hope this man that I chose will consider Xiaoyao Lake as his homnd. I hope he is even willing to sacrifice his life for the sake of it. I also hope he is able to summon a group of like-mindedrades who would rather die than surrender to protect the five kingdoms of Xiaoyao Lake.¡±


    ¡°But in this way, Xiaoyao Lake¡­ would not belong to you, Dragon King.¡± Zhong Heng became more confused. Since he started following the Dragon King, Zhong Heng had been more like a teacher who often gave him useful advice. But now, he did not understand the Dragon King¡¯s reasoning behind this move.


    Gu Shenwei took a deep breath and asked, ¡°Who dominates the Western Region now?¡±


    ¡°Nond,¡± Zhong Heng replied cautiously, trying to follow the Dragon King¡¯s thoughts. ¡°I must get some sleepter. Unlike the Dragon King, I am not young and energetic anymore,¡± he thought to himself.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. At present, the real master of the Western Region is the Nond Cavalry. For the Dragon Army, Xiaoyao Lake and the Western Region, the biggest threat is not each other. The biggest threat to all of us is Nond and its servant, Golden Roc Fort,¡± exined Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Do you mean that any force you support is really just a pawn against Nond and Golden Roc Fort?¡± asked Zhong Heng.


    ¡°It depends. Shang Liao will not be obedient, but sometimes he is more useful than a loyal general. For example, he dared to build an army under the pretense of freeing Xiaoyao Lake. Later, he will be able to recruit more local citizens than we or the Golden Roc Fort could ever get,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Zhong Heng understood now, and thought to himself: ¡°The Dragon King not only needs loyal generals and soldiers, but also strong allies.As a minister, I should not be discussing this issue any further. However, there is another problem that I must remind the Dragon King.¡± He asked, ¡°What if the new King of the Kang Nation turns to Golden Roc Fort to fight against the Dragon Army at a critical moment, just as the old king did? Don¡¯t you worry about that?¡±


    Gu Shenwei did worry about it. He had been considering this question for several days now and had finally figured it out. ¡°Allies can betray, just like enemies. Even my most trustworthy subjects might betray me. Anyone could turn traitor as long as I am seeking to rule the Western Region. I can¡¯t trust anyone but myself,¡± he thought.


    ¡°Given all this, why should I bother to worry? I need people¡¯s obedience and cooperation, not their love. As long as I have power, most of them will not dare to betray me,¡± he continued in his thoughts.


    Gu Shenwei would never tell these thoughts to his loyal Prime Minister. It would show weakness. He raised his head, and paused for a moment. Then, he said, ¡°I am going to hold a memorial ceremony for the generals and soldiers that died on the battlefield at the seaside slope. Get everything ready, and then send invitations to the five kings.¡±


    ¡°Of the five kings of Xiaoyao Lake, four are in the An Kingdom and only the new King of the Kang Nation, Shang Liao, is on the northern shore. These are not invitations, but summons. It¡¯s a test and trial for Shang Liao. If hees, it means that he is still the Dragon King¡¯s ally. Otherwise, the Dragon Army will need to get ready for another battle before the enemy bes a threat to them.¡± Zhong Heng mused.


    Zhong Heng bowed, answered ¡°yes,¡± and then left. ¡°I will arrange this matter before sleeping,¡± he decided.


    Gu Shenwei still couldn¡¯t sleep. He tried lying on the bed and closing his eyes, but he could not fall asleep. Instead, he became more restless.


    ¡°Dragon King, may Ie in?¡± someone asked outside his tent.


    ¡°Come in,¡± Gu Shenwei said, as he knew who it was. In the entire Dragon Army, only one person had such a privilege as to walk into his tent without permission.


    Xu Xiaoyi came in, looking energetic. He said, ¡°I saw the light in your tent was on, so I stopped by.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Gu Shenwei replied.


    Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s duty was to gather intelligence, as was Zhong Heng¡¯s. Because of this, some conflicts between the two of them had taken ce. Eventually, they decided to divide their job responsibilities to avoid such conflicts.


    As Prime Minister, Zhong Heng openly gathered intelligence. But Xu Xiaoyi had secret sources, ranging from nobles to beggars and hooligans. These people provided intelligence to him confidentially.


    After taking this job, Xu Xiaoyi had changed a lot. Within a year, he had aged quite a bit, growing his beard out, but he was still a man short in stature. Xu Xiaoyi was only a few years older than Chu Nanping, but now he looked like his uncle.


    ¡°Dragon King, did you read what I turned in?¡± Xu Xiaoyi asked courteously.


    Gu Shenwei nodded yes. The pile of intelligence Xu Xiaoyi had sent was ten times thicker than what Zhong Heng had sent. The intelligence contained many important leads, which also contributed to his insomnia.


    There were three piles of intelligence on the desk. Each pile was nearly 33 cm high. The Dragon King had read all of them.


    Xu Xiaoyi lowered his head quietly. He was only responsible for collecting information. As for how to deal with the intelligence, that was the Dragon King¡¯s call.


    ¡°I thought that the Queen Mother Wang of the An Kingdom was the real Princess of the Central in,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Hearing this, Xu Xiaoyi grinned and said, ¡°When I first heard that she was the Princess of the Central in, I doubted it. I didn¡¯t believe the Princess of the Central in would be married to the king of a small country in the Western Region. Fortunately, she is from the Royal n. She thought the Central in would send troops to intervene, so she chose to side with her son, the King of the An Nation. We have evidence and witnesses that can prove she colluded with the Golden Roc Army.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t Wu Zongheng work for her?¡± Gu Shenwei asked. He had read through the intelligence Xu Xiaoyi had turned in, and he trusted his information. He just felt a bit disappointed in Wu Zongheng.


    ¡°Yes, he does, but Wu Zongheng seems ignorant of the Queen¡¯s colluding with the Golden Roc Army. Perhaps he¡­ did not know about it,¡± answered Xu Xiaoyi.


    Xu Xiaoyi seldom spoke in favor of a stranger. Gu Shenwei could not help but say, ¡°He must have known about it, but he may not have been a part of the colluding with the Golden Roc Army directly. Like Queen Mother Wang of the An Kingdom and many others, he probably has a back-up n to keep himself alive. Xu Xiaoyi, have you ever thought about having one yourself?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    Xu Xiaoyi was terrified. He shook his head desperately, revealing his naivety. He gushed, ¡°No, never. I just¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei waved his hand to interrupt him, saying ¡°I don¡¯t doubt your loyalty. You and your sister are my most trusted people.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi was relieved. But he suddenly realized the mistake he had made, thinking:¡±Those three piles of intelligence concerned nearly all the people around the Dragon King, including Maid Lotus, Zhong Heng, Dugu Xian, the Queen and many swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain. My sister and I were the only ones not mentioned. Perhaps that¡¯s why the Dragon King suspects me.¡± Instead of this he said, ¡°You tter me.¡±


    ¡°No, I do not,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He was angry. Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s intelligence let him understand one thing.


    ¡°Betrayales from two things: One is hatred, like why Golden Roc Fort was betrayed. The other is self-interest. Strictly speaking, betrayal swings one way or the other. It is a normal instinct when people face danger. Anytime the situation changes, their loyalties will change, too,¡± Gu Shenwei reflected to himself.


    ¡°If I insist on the truth, I will incur more traitors,¡± he added to his thoughts.


    ¡°Burn all the intelligence. Do not let others know a word of it,¡± Gu Shenwei instructed.


    Xu Xiaoyi was shocked and said, ¡°Dragon King, the intelligence is true. I have proof of everything.¡±


    ¡°You did a good job, and your intelligence is useful. That¡¯s why I want to burn it. I cannot risk letting anyone else find out about it and using it against us,¡± Gu Shewei exined.


    Xu Xiaoyi said, ¡°As youmand, Dragon King.¡± He walked to the desk, and then turned around and said, ¡°Dragon King, Little Chu has been gone for too long.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded, acknowledging that he heard him.


    Both Chu Nanping and Maid Lotus had note back, as if they had just disappeared.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly became aware of the true reason for his insomnia: Maid Lotus was not with him. He felt insecure without her by his side.

 Chapter 516 - Middleman

    Chapter 516: Middleman


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The Dragon King had notpletely defeated Golden Roc Fort in the battle of the seaside slope, but he had changed people¡¯s attitudes towards him in the Western Region. Gu Shenwei turned from the infamous and unwee Dragon King into a popr and prestigious hero overnight. Many highborn, powerful people began to inquire about him.


    However, these people were afraid to do so publicly, in case of being rejected by him. They instead would find someone acquainted with both sides to pass their intentions to the Dragon King. Only when they got a positive response would they send their own man.


    It was a rule ¡ª anyone who broke it suffered a bad oue.


    The Central in was the first to send people to inquire about the Dragon King.


    Like the businessmen in Hui City, the Central in merchants had not expected the Dragon King¡¯s victory. They had ignored their former ally, and never showed any support to him.


    Gu Shenwei and Zhong Heng knew that there were two reasons for this: At the time, the Dragon Army had been weak. More importantly, Wei Song was hostile to the Dragon King. Due to that alone, his personal hatred influenced the kingdom¡¯s strategy.


    Despite that, the Dragon King had won the war, so Wei Song had to earn the Dragon Army¡¯s support. Otherwise, he would be charged with a serious dereliction of duty.


    Wei Song selected two middlemen.


    Realizing that her colluding with the Golden Roc Army had been discovered, Queen Mother Wang of the An Kingdom was terrified when the war ended. Thus, she paid a visit to the Queen of the Dragon King. During the visit, she subtly inquired about information while keeping a smile on her face.


    The Queen received her warmly. Then, she pretended to leak several secrets unintentionally, scaring Queen Mother Wang a lot.


    A few dayster, Queen Mother Wang cheered up, for she had good news. An officer of the Central in, who had almost forgotten about her, sent a messenger to her privately. This messenger made many tempting promises to her, asking in return that she do one thing for her homnd: figure out the Dragon King¡¯s stance on the Central in.


    He told her that the Central in hoped to restore their friendly alliance with the Dragon King.


    The messenger had been at Xiaoyao Lake for quite a long time aready. He had been staying on the northern shore, observing the war, and not taking any actions until the war ended.


    Queen Mother Wang gave great importance to this task. She invited the Dragon King several times, but he refused. Given that, she had to visit the Dragon King¡¯s queen again.


    The Queen was about to leave for the Stone Kingdom across theke, so the court maids were packing up her things. At the sight of Queen Mother Wang, she did notmand the maids to leave. The Queen received her warmly, but Queen Mother Wang felt embarrassed.


    During the conservation, Queen Mother Wang did not mention the Central in¡¯s intentions. She just expressed her surprise at the Dragon King¡¯s not asking the Commanding Officer of the Western Region for help. She said that winning the support of the Central in was crucial if the Dragon King wanted to defeat Golden Roc Fort and Nond.


    Having been given instructions by the Dragon King, the Queen dared not make a decision on her own. She said smilingly, ¡°I am not interested in it. Besides, the Dragon King has never discussed this with me. But I overheard him say it was useless to ask the Central in for help since they are so far away from us.¡±


    ¡°The Central in could be of great help,¡± the Queen Mother Wang said desperately. Having lived in a small kingdom for years, she was inexperienced with plots and conspiracies. She continued confidently, ¡°Even if the troops of the Central in could not cross theke, they could help fight against the main force of Nond in the east. In this way, the Dragon King could concentrate on handling Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    ¡°It does make sense. I will talk to the Dragon King about it, but I do not know whether he will listen to me or not. Your Majesty, you are the Princess of the Central in. If the Dragon King intends to work with the Central in, we will need your help,¡± the Queen said inly.


    Xu Yanwei supervised the court maids to do their work. Looking at the Queen¡¯s calm expression, she nodded and thought, ¡°This youngdy is really clever. Perhaps she¡¯s been learning this since childhood. She did not show her talents because of her shyness and being overshadowed by her brother.¡±


    After the visit, Queen Mother Wang awaited news from the Dragon King for two days. At first, she was excited, then she became disappointed and uneasy as time went on. She had witnessed the bloody scenes of the Dragon King¡¯s war, and she couldn¡¯t forget that. At the time, she thought that the Golden Roc Army would win the war. That was why she had followed her son¡¯s advice to surrender to Golden Roc Fort. She never expected that the Dragon King would be victorious.


    ¡°If I do not get any news from the Dragon King, I will be forced to beg for the Dragon King¡¯s mercy through the Queen,¡± Queen Mother Wang thought to herself.


    Gu Shenwei only lightly punished those who had colluded with Golden Roc Fort during the war. His intention was to let them know that the Dragon King was merciful, but not ignorant.


    Queen Mother Wang was an insignificant person, so Gu Shenwei just gave her a small punishment. Soon the Queen invited her for another meeting. The Queen told her, ¡°The Dragon King said, ¡®It is good to form an alliance with a great power, but we have lost touch with the Central in. We do not know what to do to quickly regain trust.''¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem. As long as the Dragon King sends a messenger to the Central in, the Commanding Officer will treat him as a distinguished guest,¡± the Queen Mother said. She was very relieved after receiving the Dragon King¡¯s positive message. All of her former fears and anxiousness disappeared immediately.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say. What if the Commanding Officer refused to meet our messenger? No one can guarantee anything,¡± said the Queen doubtfully.


    ¡°No, he would not. Things have changed. The Dragon King dominates the Western Region, so no one would dare to reject his messenger,¡± the Queen Mother Wang persuaded. She almost revealed that a messenger from the Central in was already in the city.


    The Queen pretended to be indifferent. She changed the subject and began to talk about the jewelry of the Queen of the Sha Kingdom.


    Queen Mother Wang was just an unimportant middleman, and no one would listen to her. Knowing that the Central in was only using her to find out his stance on them, Gu Shenwei had no intention of negotiating with them through her.


    Once they learned that the Dragon King intended to restore their alliance, the Central in chose another middleman immediately.


    To Gu Shenwei¡¯s disappointment, the lobbyist they chose was Zhong Heng.


    Zhong Heng used to be an inferior officer in the Central in. Later he offended the Wei family, so he was forced to serve the Dragon King. Unlike Gu Shenwei, he did not take revenge. All he wanted was to make peace with the Wei family.


    Before the war, Zhong Heng was in touch with the Central in on and off. Xu Xiaoyi had noticed that. Even though he had never posed a threat to the Dragon King, Xu Xiaoyi still actively reported his activities to the Dragon King.


    This time, Zhong Heng met the Dragon King as a lobbyist. He did not mention his meeting with the messenger of the Central in the night before.


    Gu Shenwei was a little upset about Zhong Heng¡¯s concealment, but still, Zhong Heng had not crossed any lines.


    ¡°Golden Roc Fort lost 80,000 troops, so they are unlikely to take actions for another year or two. That¡¯s good news for us. But there¡¯s also some bad news. Facing such a great loss, the Supreme King now has no choice but to work with Nond. Otherwise, the Dragon Army could face a stronger enemy soon. We have to drag the Central in into it. We cannot let them benefit for nothing,¡± said Zhong Heng


    Zhong Heng cleverly made it necessary for the Dragon Army to actively contact the Central in.


    ¡°Wei Song will never forget that I killed his son,¡± Gu Shenwei said, understanding the power of such hatred. It was the reason the Central in deserted the Dragon King a long time ago.


    ¡°I heard that there will be a new Commanding Officer in the Western Region,¡± said Zhong Heng.


    ¡°That¡¯s good news. Keep an eye on it, but don¡¯t take any actions,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    Zhong Heng said no more.


    Gu Shenwei was not eager to form an alliance with the Central in, for he had received another intelligence report.


    Last year, Fang Wenshi had volunteered to head to Nond to be a lobbyist. While there, he sent a letter to Gu Shenwei confidently reporting that Nond did not fully support Golden Roc Fort. He said many powerful figures in Nond opposed forming an alliance with a killer organization. Besides, he was on good terms with several of them. As long as the Dragon Army won the war or kept the standoff situation with Golden Roc Fort, Nond would slowly change their stance.


    When Fang Wenshi had written this letter, the war had not broken out yet. Gu Shenwei, of course, did not believe that Nond would abandon Golden Roc Fort based on this one letter. But the day before Zhong Heng¡¯s visit, he met with an important middleman of Nond.


    Dugu Xian had spent most of his military time in Nond. His former mothend, Xiaowan, was a vassal kingdom of Nond.


    Compared with the Central in, Nond had sent a more outspoken middleman. Dugu Xian said straightforwardly, ¡°A leader of 1,000 soldiers from Nond is in my residence. We are best friends, and we have helped each other on the battlefield. But now, we serve different masters. As for how to deal with him, I am awaiting yourmand. I will follow it without hesitation.¡±


    ¡°So far, Nond is not our enemy,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    Dugu Xian had said those things to test Gu Shenwei¡¯s response. When he heard his answer, he was relieved.


    ¡°He asked me to send a message to you. I will repeat his words without my own opinion. Ever since youmanded me to serve as Left General, I strictly follow your orders.¡±


    Later, Gu Shenwei felt strange about these meetings. Outspoken Dugu Xian had ttered him that day. But Zhong Heng, who knew the Dragon King very well, had stupidly tried to conceal his rtionship with the Central in.


    Everyone makes mistakes.


    Gu Shenwei motioned for Dugu Xian to continue.


    ¡°Nond only forms alliances with the strong. Dragon King, you have proved that you are strong. Therefore, you have one month to decide to fight or cooperate. Your decision needs to reach Nond within a month. Basically, you have ten days to make a decision, at most, to get your answer there by the deadline,¡± Dugu Xian said.


    This sounded like a threatening ultimatum.


    Dugu Xian had to exin, ¡°People from Nond talk in this manner. Don¡¯t worry about it too much.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had not given answers to either side. He was awaiting better terms and offers.


    ¡°Although the thousands of soldiers in the Dragon Army are enough to annihte Golden Roc Fort, we are far frompeting against a real strong power. But still, I have many choices. I could side with one party, work with both of them, or ignore thempletely, and let Nond go to war with the Central in first,¡± Gu Shenwei pondered to himself.


    ¡°I should base my final decision based upon the benefits instead of personal opinion,¡± he continued thinking.


    It was the first time that Gu Shenwei realized that a king was lonely. ¡°Ministers have many choices to survive, but a king only has one way or death,¡± he thought to himself.


    Three days passed since Zhong Heng had be the lobbyist for the Central in. The King of the Kang Nation, Shang Liao, was recruiting troops on the northern shore of Xiaoyao Lake. Finally, he came to attend the memorial ceremony for the fallen soldiers.


    Gu Shenwei decided to solve this imminent threat first. If he could handle Shang Liao properly, he could be a great help to the Dragon Army.


    At the same time, a special guest from the distant west arrived. Like the Central in and Nond, he hoped to form an alliance with the Dragon King. His arrival sparked Gu Shenwei toe up with a good n to handle Shang Liao.

 Chapter 517 - Meeting

    Chapter 517: Meeting


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    After hesitating a lot, Shang Liao had originally decided to fight the Dragon King¡¯s army on the southern bank.


    But due to the brazen group of the Men of Machetes, he changed his mind at thest second. He decided to protect the bridge and serve the Dragon King instead. He seriously exined to the generals and soldiers of the Hui Kingdom, ¡°To be frank, this was the Dragon King¡¯s clever n all along. Now, you have two choices: surrender to me, and I will let you join the Dragon Army, or kill me, and the soldiers outside wille in and kill all of you.¡±


    Beyond the checkpoint, the shouts of the Men with Machetets became increasingly louder. It seemed that they would break through the checkpoint at anytime. Besides, Shang Liao had be their hero after all he had said and done. Facing this seemingly life-and-death situation, the leader of the guards removed his hand from his sword, and the soldiers hemanded immediately knelt down and surrendered.


    Shang Liao breathed a sigh of relief, but thought, ¡°I cannot revive Xiaoyao Lake relying on these men.¡±


    Hemanded the soldiers to open the checkpoint, and a hundred of the Men with Machetes came in. At the sight of them, Shang Liao immediately realized that he had been fooled. He flushed with shame, but in the darkness, no one noticed.


    He could not change his n again, though. After all, he had changed his mind once, shocking the generals and soldiers of the Hui Kingdom. They did not kill him, but only because they feared the so-called ¡°Dragon Army¡±.


    Shang Liao could not show his embarrassment. For an ambitious king, a farce was more destructive than a hundred defeats.


    Therefore, he had to seriously receive these men who imed to be the Dragon King¡¯s soldiers. He told them that he was the Right General of the Dragon Army and required them to follow his orders.


    The Men with Machetes did not realize that Shang Liao was a better actor than they were. Since their n had seeded, they were surprised and delighted. In fact, a dozen of the Men with Machetes had run away out of fear before even reaching the bridge.


    When they met him, they felt that they were on the same level as Shang Liao. But the Men with Machetes did not know Shang Liao¡¯s real intent, and so they unwittingly believed the Right General. They greeted him warmly, and became the first force of Shang Liao¡¯s army.


    Soon Shang Liao realized that he could recruit more soldiers for himself in the name of the Dragon King. A big group of deserters from the Golden Roc Army flooded to the checkpoint. Shang Liao also epted these army deserters. He imed that they would not be taken as prisoners, as long as they surrendered to him and joined ¡°the Dragon Army¡±.


    The deserters had almost been driven crazy by the Dragon Army, who had pursued them closely. Now, they only wanted to survive. Upon hearing that they could join the Dragon Army, they knelt down to surrender immediately.


    Within a single day, Shang Liao had built his first army, bringing him closer to his dream.


    He quickly realized what a wise decision he had made. He gave up his n to leave the Dragon King for now. Instead, he continued to recruit more soldiers in the name of the Right General of the Dragon Army.


    The royal families in Hui City made their choices. Some, including the King of the Hui Nation and the old Kings of the Sha Nation and An Nation, fled to Jade City. As for the rest, they eagerly surrendered to Shang Liao.


    Before long, Shang Liao upied Hui City. Next, he sent people to convince the Sha Kingdom to surrender. Meanwhile, he did the same to the Kang Kingdom, but his men were forbidden from entering. Thousands of the Dragon King¡¯s Army had already taken the capital of the Kang Kingdom, and they coldly refused to let his men in, saying, ¡°Show us the Dragon King¡¯s decree.¡±


    Shang Liao did not dare to upy his homnd by force. Instead, he pretended to draft troops in the Hui Kingdom. Soon after that, he received an invitation from Zhong Heng.


    ¡°Five kings gather together to mourn the fallen generals and soldiers,¡± Shang Liao repeated with a sneer. He was sure that it was a trick by the Dragon King. He came up with several excuses to decline the invitation: the new recruits were not yet stable, there was still danger at the border, and the civilians¡¯ fears needed to be pacified. However, in the end, he made up his mind to attend the memorial service after all.


    Shang Liao was afraid of the Dragon King, even though he was several years younger than him. The Dragon King seemed like an easy-going person who always entrusted his subordinates with important matters. But in actuality, he was a cold-hearted, ruthless man. Shang Liao had never seen the Dragon King kill people, but he had heard rumors about it. At first, he did not take these rumors seriously, but after meeting the Dragon King several times, he began to believe them.


    Gu Shenwei never expected what happened in the Hui Kingdom. Except for sending arge army to the Kang Kingdom, he had only sent his messenger to the Second Young Master Meng to order him to protect the bridge. He had never imagined that Shang Liao had nned to destroy the bridge.


    He had a lot to consider. Shang Liao was just one of his many problems.


    So, when Shang Liao came to meet the Dragon King, it was clear that they both feared each other.


    The memorial service was grand, yet grim. A trapezoidal tform was built on the battlefield of the seaside slope. Thousands of soldiers¡¯ corpses were ced on the tform. The bodies were surrounded by firewood, and three warlocks from the Great Snow Mountain sacrificed horses and cows. Then, they chanted an incantation that no one understood.


    Gu Shenwei ignited the tform on fire himself.


    Then, he knelt down on one knee. Following suit, thousands of generals and soldiers behind him knelt down to pay tribute to their deadrades.


    A wise man read an impassioned memorial essay that he hadposed. Gu Shenwei thought that the writing was not as good as that of Fang Wenshi, but he kept silent. He repeated these words in his mind, ¡°The soul rises to the Ninth Heaven, and the spirit falls to the Ninth. The living suffers in grief, and the dead settle in peace.¡±


    After the memorial ceremony, the Dragon King awarded the soldiers ording to their achievements. He had discussed the rewards in advance with his ministers.


    The female archers from the Land of Fragrance received the highest reward. No one disputed it. Even Dugu Xian, who thought the main force in the battle was the male soldiers, agreed to this arrangement.


    After awarding them ordingly, the Dragon King announced an unexpected decision ¨C the nearly 10,000 female archers would return to the Land of Fragrance the very next day.


    Upon hearing this, the generals and soldiers let out a sigh of disappointment.


    Gu Shenwei could not keep these female archers in the army. He had previously reached an agreement with Shangguan Ru to not allow the female archers join in hand-to-handbat, but let them return to the Land of Fragrance once the war was over.


    The female archers had only been given a small amount of training. They could be a surprise force to assist the Dragon Army in the battle, but they could not be expected to y a simr role in future wars.


    Besides, male and female soldiers living in the same barracks had given rise to many problems. There had been too many incidences of harassment and misbehavior happening between them. Gu Shenwei could ignore this for now, but he knew if he allowed it to continue, it would be a serious issue in the future.


    Gu Shenwei only hoped that Shangguan Ru would not be too angry when she discovered all of the pregnant female archers once they returned back to the Land of Fragrance.


    The following afternoon, Gu Shenwei met many people, including Old Man Mu.


    ¡°You want me to return to the Land of Fragrance? Honesty, Dragon King, I would be of greater use to you here,¡± Old Man Mu tried to convince him.


    In her letter to Gu Shenwei, Shangguan Ru had decribed how much Old Man Mu had changed. Gu Shenwei did not agree, though. ¡°Although he is less skilled in martial arts than before, he is still talkative and likes to speak in riddles, just as Han Fen does,¡± he thought to himself.


    Gu Shenwei did not believe that Old Man Mu would be of any use to him, so he sent him back to the Land of Fragrance. ¡°Now that Shangguan Ru wants to keep him alive, let her be responsible for him,¡± he thought. He replied, ¡°Maid Lotus will be back soon. If you stay here, I will hand you over to her.¡±


    Old Man Mu became uneasy, for he had aplex past with the New Moon Hall. ¡°Unlike Shangguan Ru, Maid Lotus is an insensitive and ruthless woman, and I have still not recovered my strength. If I was left in her hands, I would suffer great pain,¡± he thought to himself. He grinned at Gu Shenwei and said, ¡°The good girl doesn¡¯t even have anyone to talk to her there. I¡¯d better go back to keep herpany. Do you have any letters or gifts for her? The good girl would be excited if I took those to her. Then perhaps she would not always be drinking alone, depressed.¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t,¡± Gu Shenwei answered coldly.


    At nightfall, the Dragon King summoned Shang Liao.


    The others were eating and drinking at the feast, but he had to meet the Dragon King alone and hungry. He walked into the tent anxiously, realizing only then that it was not a private conversation. Left General Dugu Xian, Prime Minister Zhong Heng and another unknown young man were there, too.


    Shang Liao became more anxious, but he pretended to stay calm, slightly bowing his head to the Dragon King.


    The Dragon King did not introduce the unknown young man to Shang Liao, nor did he offer him a seat. Rather, they stood around a table that had a map on it.


    ¡°Nice to see you, Your Grace. We are discussing how to incorporate the soldiers from Golden Roc Army who surrendered. Now you can give us some advice,¡± said Zhong Heng.


    Shang Liao understood now, thinking, ¡°The Dragon King is interested in getting my army. Without troops, my goals can¡¯t be achieved.¡± He said to Gu Shenwei, ¡°Dragon King, I thought we had a deal.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had been staring at the map. At Shang Liao¡¯s words, he raised his head and asked, ¡°What did you say?¡±


    Shang Liao became slightly more anxious, thinking, ¡°I only have an oral agreement with the Dragon King. If he denies it, I have nothing to prove it.¡± He said, ¡°You allowed me to recruit soldiers freely.¡±


    ¡°Yes. I said that to you,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    Shang Liao was very relieved, and thought, ¡°The Dragon King is a man of honor. He might plot against the enemy, but he would never break his promise to his own men.¡± He said, ¡°Actually, it was you who made them surrender, not me.¡±


    ¡°I see. Are you still my Right General?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    Shang Liao was so afraid that he almost knelt down. He answered in a panic, ¡°Of course, I am. Why would you ask that?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Since your soldiers belong to the Dragon Army, and you are my Right General, I need you to carry out an important task for me,¡± Gu Shenwei went on.


    ¡°As youmand,¡± Shang Liao replied with a sense of dread.


    ¡°This is the Crown Prince from Shu-lik,¡± Gu Shenwei introduced. The young man was Tie Linglong¡¯s half brother. He had managed to escape during the the copse of his homnd. Like others, he had kept an eye on the war across theke. After the war ended, he immediately paid a visit to the Dragon King.


    Shang Liao nodded at the man and said, ¡°Your Highness.¡± He mused to himself, ¡°Why did the Dragon King summon this man? Shu-lik used to be the strongest kingdom in the Western Region, but it copsed a long time ago. Even if the King of Shu-lik was resurrected from his grave today, he would still not be able to revive Shu-lik.¡±


    ¡°I want you to lead the army and help the Crown Prince retake Shu-lik,¡± Gu Shenwei said inly, as if this were a simple task.


    Shang Liao was stunned. He could finally see just how cunning the Dragon King really was. ¡°I¡¯m from a royal family in Xiaoyao Lake. Taking Shu-lik does me no good. On the contrary, it will greatly slow down my expansion and influence in Xiaoyao Lake,¡± he thought.


    ¡°I¡­¡± he began, but at the sight of the Dragon King¡¯s serious expression, Shang Liao did not know what to say.

 Chapter 518 - Guarantee

    Chapter 518: Guarantee


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shang Liao could not ept such an arrangement. Leaving Xiaoyao Lake would destabilize its uncertain foundations. Recovering a country asrge as Shu-lik would take a long time. Moreover, fighting directly against the cavalry of Nond would not be an easy task.


    ¡°Dragon King, you are killing people with someone else. Do you want to get rid of me and the Golden Roc Fort? You don¡¯t have to go through the trouble. I will stand here. The army and soldiers on the north shore are notplete. They are all fish in your and ready to be killed at anytime,¡± he said.


    Anger and courage rose in his heart. Shang Liao did not care anymore. He held his head high. He had abandoned his scruples.


    Dugu Xian and the Crown Prince of Shu-lik seemed slightly embarrassed. They shifted their gaze to one side. Prime Minister Zhong Heng stared at Shang Liao with interest. They thought that the Dragon King was right. He was someone who would spare no expense at achieving his own interests. He saw Xiaoyao Lake as his own possession and was vehement towards anyone who wanted topete with him for it.


    Gu Shenwei raised his head, too. He would not be threatened in front of the others. ¡°You and your army are not fit to be targets of mine. Return to your north shore. I will give you two weeks to get ready. We will meet on the battlefield. If you don¡¯t want to be fish meat, then show me your capability. Nond, the Golden Roc Fort and the Central ins are all behind you. Whoever you want to rely upon, that¡¯s up to you,¡± he said.


    The two men glowered at each other. Dugu Xian was even more embarrassed. He had never seen the Dragon King express his anger, so he was not used to this.


    The Crown Prince of Shu-lik was a guest. The quarrels started with him. He felt inevitably ill at ease. He cleared his throat lightly and wanted to say something to ease the tension. Looking at Zhong Heng, who winked at him from the opposite side of the room, he kept his mouth shut.


    Shang Liao was submissive. He was clear that as long as he dered himself to be an enemy of the Dragon King, his newly formed army would be divided. Without the army, which country would hold him in regard?


    Falling out with the Dragon King was foolish. He was careless and was not able to control his emotions. To this, he had to salvage things. After a short hesitation, Shang Liao got down on one knee uneasily and said, as he lowered his head, ¡°Forgive me, Dragon King. I have repaid your kindness with evil. I am the Left General of the Dragon King. The army of the north shore will always be a part of the Dragon Army. Please give your order. I will lead the army towards Shu-lik immediately.¡±


    ¡°Rise,¡± Gu Shenwei nodded. Zhong Heng and the rest understood his meaning and excused themselves together.


    The Crown Prince Shu-lik would need to rely on Shang Liao¡¯s army to return to the country. When he passed Shang Liao with a kind smile, Shang Liao¡¯s face was cold and he pretended not to see him.


    These two generals were already hostile towards each other, even before cooperating.


    Shang Liao stood motionless. He did not know what else the Dragon King had to say to him in private.


    Gu Shenwei went to study the map again. After a while, he said: ¡°Your mission is not only to capture Shu-lik.¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty, please,¡± said Shang Liao.


    ¡°Firstly, training the army. Your army¡­¡± began Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Your troops,¡± Shang Liao interjected, not daring to think that the north shore army was his own.


    ¡°Well, the troops that you have epted are in panic and confusion. They are also not loyal to you. Staying in Xiaoyao Lake could be a tragedy. You will bring them to Shu-lik, showing them your trust. That way, you would have a chance of gaining their loyalty in the war,¡± exined Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Your Majesty is right,¡± Shang Liao replied courteously. But he was indifferent. These words were just meant to save money. Anyone could have thought of them.


    ¡°Secondly, Xiaoyao Lake is sparse in poption and cannot afford so many soldiers. Going to Shu-lik now would ce all responsibility on the Crown Prince. This will resolve a burdensome issue,¡± continued Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Actually the north shore army has not reached ten thousand people. It is still possible to keep these soldiers,¡± Shang Liao suggested, struggling a little.<em>¡°These soldiers might be beyond your means, but I can afford them. Even if the costs were twice as much, the influence of the Royal Family on Xiaoyao Lake is unmatched by any outsider. Those blinded old men sitting on the Jinshan are oblivious to this, however, and have blindly wasted the King¡¯s status and title. I will not repeat this mistake,¡± </em>he mused.


    ¡°Not ten thousand, but thirty thousand,¡± said Gu Shenwei. He did not think to simply ask Shang Liao to fork over Xiaoyao Lake. ¡°There are over thirty thousand troops on the south bank. Very soon, they will be incorporated into the Dragon King¡¯s army. I will allocate 20,000 to you,¡± he continued.


    Shang Liao was shocked. The Dragon King had just shown his utmost cruelty, but now he gave him 20,000 soldiers. This was akin to cutting his own flesh and giving it to other people. Even if the soldiers were problematic, there were many ways of resolving that. Sending them to the Land of Fragrance to reim thend was certainly more beneficial than simply giving them away.


    ¡°Dragon King¡­¡± Shang Liao was wavering between trust and suspicion. He was speechless for some time.


    ¡°I need not only the Right General but also an ally. You have this ability,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Shang Liao got down on one knee again, his heart pounding. As someone from the Royal Family, he knew that the king¡¯s praises usually had hidden agendas and did not bode well. ¡°Shang Liao is a shallow man with small ambitions. I cannot afford to be an ally. I only want to serve the Dragon King wholeheartedly,¡± he pleaded.


    <em>¡°The arrogant andckadaisical Shang Liao whom I first met is gone. He was penniless and had nothing then and would have wanted to use ttery to attract my attention. Since he mastered a big, but unstable power, he has started to weigh his costs and benefits,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei reflected.


    ¡°Being an ally of the Dragon King, or being my henchman- just say what you want,¡± Gu Shenwei said, wanting to let Shang Liao recoup Shu-lik with his energy and enthusiasm. He could not force him, but must bait him.


    ¡°Except supplementing the necessary weapons and armor, I don¡¯t have any other requirements,¡± Shang Liao answered carefully as he rose.


    ¡°You only have one chance. Once you walk out of this tent, you will not be able to ask me for anything else,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Shang Liao grit his teeth. ¡°After recovering Shu-lik, I hope Your Majesty will allow me to return to Xiaoyao Lake and implement the agreement we first reached, which is to let the Kang Kingdom expand its territory to the West,¡± he added.


    ¡°You will get your wish. But before this, you have to send troops from the West and join us in conquering the Golden Roc Fort,¡± answered Gu Shenwei.


    Shang Liao had no contempt for the Dragon King. He had be cautious. ¡°You have a deal. I hope that this agreement will not be an empty promise,¡± said Shang Liao carefully.


    Feeling that this sentence was amiss, Shang Liao quickly added, ¡°I¡¯m not asking for a witness to sign a public agreement. I just need a piece of paper with a few lines of words written by the Dragon King. I will keep it a secret. It will not be known.¡±


    Half an hourter, Shang Liao left the Dragon King¡¯s tent with satisfaction, feeling that he had gained more than he had lost. About recovering Shu-lik, he started bing impatient.


    The Dragon King gave him a secret agreement. Even though it was deliberately worded ambiguously, two things were clear. First, that Shang Liao could possess and mobilize the troops. Secondly, that he owned the Kang Kingdom and if the kingdom was ¡°threatened¡± and wanted to fight back, the Dragon King would support his actions.


    Shang Liao¡¯s only regret was that he was unable to return to the capital of the Kang Kingdom right away. Only after he recovered Shu-lik would the army of thousands leave. However, the gates would be open from then on, and he could inspect the city in his capacity as the King of the Kang Nation and live in his Royal Pce.


    Shang Liao finally asked if the Dragon King had any more orders. Gu Shenwei gave him a death order, ¡°Never give a single soldier to the Crown Prince of Shu-lik.¡±


    Gu Shenwei allowed a capable general to retake thend, and would not need to take control of the army on the north shore anymore. He already had a rough idea and would improvise on it.


    Night had descended. Gu Shenwei had to meet a series of guests. The Dragon King was about to set off to Xiaoyao Lake. In the name of honoring the fallen troops, various soldiers had gathered together on a rare asion. Many did not require special arrangements. They only wanted to see the Dragon King onest time before leaving, as a form of showing their respect.


    This was especially so for the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain. After the reorganization carried out by Dugu Xian, they were no longer an independent army, but scattered amongst thousands of troops. They each carried a certain responsibility and became the skeleton of the Dragon King¡¯s army. The Dragon King trusted and highly regarded them. However, this also led many people to feel sad, as the chances of the Great Snowmountain swordsmen fighting side-by-side had decreased.


    Gu Shenwei spent two hours meeting the representatives of the Great Snowmountain in turns, congratting them for their performance in the war, and mourning the unfortunate dead. He remembered their names.


    After this, Gu Shenwei summoned thest person of the day ¡ª his queen.


    Since going south, he had not been alone with the Queen. Things between them were usually conveyed through Xu Yanwei.


    Thete-night meeting was the Queen¡¯s request. She wanted to protect her reputation and wished everyone to see that she was still the wife of the Dragon King.


    The Queen¡¯s exploits during the war, including her preparations for the escape route in advance, was known to Gu Shenwei. He did not chastise her for it, but only warned her sternly not to enter the military camp or interfere in the Right General¡¯s affairs from now on.


    When they looked at each other in the eyes, both of them were actually speechless. The passions of the first few days after their wedding had disappearedpletely. The Queen, to Gu Shenwei, was just like Shang Liao, a force that needed to be used carefully. To the Queen, the Dragon King was, however, her source of strength.


    ¡°I am ready to bring the King back to the Stone Kingdom the day after tomorrow,¡± she said.


    ¡°Well, take good care of him so that he can be a qualified king when he grows up,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    After these perfunctory remarks, the Queen added, ¡°We still don¡¯t have a child, after all. Don¡¯t you¡­ want to have your own heir?¡±


    ¡°Now is not the time to think about that,¡± Gu Shenwei spoke calmly. The map on the table was the only thing he could see.


    The Queen had guessed this answer. She bit her lips. Her hint could only go so far. ¡°If we can¡¯t have any children, I hope that the Dragon King would give me some assurance,¡± she said.


    ¡°Guarantee about what?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°To guarantee that I will not be obsolete in the Stone Kingdom,¡± she replied.


    ¡°You are the Princess of the Stone Kingdom¡­¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°That means nothing,¡± the Queen interjected. ¡°When the King of the Stone Kingdom is several years older, his birth mother will disown me, and he will also see me as a hindrance. I¡¯m thinking you¡¯ll not stay at Xiaoyao Lake for long. I am here, alone and helpless,¡± she continued.


    ¡°Tell me, what guarantees do you want?¡± asked Gu Shenwei again.


    ¡°Bequeath to me the title of Queen of the Stone Kingdom. After all, I don¡¯t have any children. In the future, the throne will still be passed onto my nephew,¡± she requested.


    Gu Shenwei was a little shocked and said, ¡°The people of the Stone Kingdom will not ept a queen.¡±


    ¡°But as long as it¡¯s your decision, everyone in the Western Region would approve,¡± she argued.


    ¡°Nonsense. No country in the Western Region would have a queen. After all, you are not doomed to be childless. Now is just not the time,¡± he went on.


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you set up a queen in the Land of Fragrance?¡± The Queen asked, knowing that she had almost no favor from her husband. She knew she was not entitled to be pampered, either, but some words must still be said.


    ¡°She is not a queen,¡± Gu Shenwei replied coldly. ¡°You may leave,¡± he ordered.


    The Queen turned red as she noticed that the Dragon King had used ¡°she¡± instead of ¡°Shangguan Ru¡±. She turned to leave the tent and at the door, she turned around again and said, ¡°I recite those verses every day, only for you.¡±


    The Queen¡¯s mind was now the only carrier of the Eighth and Ninth chapters of the ¡°Wayless Book¡±. She believed that the Dragon King would be touched by this.


    ¡°I will remember this,¡± he said.


    That was the Dragon King¡¯s only reply.


    As soon as she left, she saw a woman and a young man enter the king¡¯s tent without needing to seek permission from the guards.


    ¡°Who are those two people?¡± she asked Xu Yanwei, waiting outside the tent.


    Xu Yanwei did not wish to speak the truth, but could not think of a lie either, so he said, ¡°Chu Nanping, the Dragon King¡¯s guard. That woman¡­ is Maid Lotus. She is the guard of the Dragon King.¡±


    That was Maid Lotus. The Queen had heard rumors about her ¡ª that she was as cruel a killer as the Dragon King. It turned out that she was also a beautiful woman.


    Women were jealous. She wondered if Maid Lotus was also as secretly unhappy with the ¡°queen¡± of the Land of Fragrance as she was.

 Chapter 519 - Supper

    Chapter 519: Supper


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Maid Lotus led Chu Nanping and two disciples of the New Moon Hall, tailing Shangguan Yun for seven days and eight nights. They had killed nine highly skilled kung fu masters, including Xia Wenxiong from the Qingcheng Sect, whom she hated the most.


    Everyone else had died quickly, without a word. Only Xia Wenxiong was the exception. He had fallen victim to some unknown disease that caused soreness in his muscles. His right arm had a small, needle-like hole in it and the color of ckness started to spread outward from it. It began to fester under the eyes of everyone. No amount of gold medicines could stop it.


    He begged the Cloud King and hispanions not to abandon him. However, his voice (which was hoarse beyond recognition) and his blood-shot eyes had frighetened everyone. No one dared to approach him, and everyone left hurriedly for fear of being infected.


    It was not until they had passed two hills that his shrieks finally faded awaypletely.


    Shangguan Yun had never been so humiliated. However, he still ran away, using the technique of the golden cicada to disappear into the surroundings of the Gulping Wind Gorge.


    Maid Lotus used few words to describe her experience. ¡°We killed nine people. Shangguan Yun escaped and the two disciples were killed.¡±


    Maid Lotus¡¯s expression was as cold as usual, as if she had just spent an hour carrying out a trivial task. However, Chu Nanping looked different from before. A killer¡¯s temperament seemed to emerge from him ¡ª a force that even the training tutor had not been able to instill in him for nearly a year.


    Following Maid Lotus to carry out the task brought him great satisfaction. When he left, he was even more in awe of Maid Lotus than he was of the Dragon King.


    ¡°Is there anything else?¡± Gu Shenwei asked, knowing that Maid Lotus had something to stay since she had stayed behind.


    ¡°The three-in-one qigong is effective. You should see Shangguan Fei¡¯s current kung fu skills. It¡¯s shocking. He had only trained a little. I think we can start now,¡± she stated.


    Shangguan Fei had been abandoned when he was with his third brother, Shangguan Yun. When the other kung fu masters escaped after protecting the Cloud King, they scattered away from each other. Only he stood where he was, panting with exhaustion. Seeing Maid Lotus and Chu Nanping, he smiled to greet them. ¡°Hey, are youing here to save me? You don¡¯t have to answer. Give me some ideas, or better yet, give me something to eat,¡± he said to them.


    He also came back to the camp of the Dragon Army. He thought there was no need to visit the Dragon King, so he found a tent and went to sleep.


    Shangguan Fei killed Xia Yingxiong with a single punch. Maid Lotus went to examine the corpse deliberately, and what she saw shocked her.


    Gu Shenwei raised his head and thought for a while. ¡°No rush, let¡¯s observe him for a while more,¡± he decided.


    Maid Lotus¡¯s expression did not change. Gu Shenwei knew that she had her doubts. Ever since submitting the Death Scripture, the two had be practice partners in honing their kung fu skills. In terms of the great matter of the country, Gu Shenwei could ignore her. In terms of kung fu however, they had reached an agreement not to keep anything from each other.


    Gu Shenwei owed her more than one exnation.


    This was the night to resolve the problem. It must have been a result of being influenced by meeting the others before. Gu Shenwei felt that he had to exin himself now.


    ¡°Both Yin and Yang Strength and the Wayless Qigong are Internal Strengths that can easily go wrong ¡ª Yin and Yang Strength in particr. The faster progress one makes, the more dangerous the situation one is in. Shangguan Fei did not look right. I will have to check it myself,¡± he exined.


    Maid Lotus could still remember how ve Yao looked before his death. Suddenly, his abilities had seemed powerful ¡ª his Internal Strength, which grew from nothing to high strength, even took Mama Xue by surprise. Therefore, the Dragon King¡¯s guess could be right. Shangguan Fei was, indeed, ¡°not right¡±.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Maid Lotus nodded as she was about to leave.


    ¡°Wait,¡± Gu Shenwei called to stop her. He wanted to exin something else. ¡°The Eighth and Ninth chapters of the Wayward Qigong¡­¡± he began.


    Maid Lotus grunted and waited for him to continue. This was a sore spot for her ¡ª a secret that Gu Shenwei should have told her from the beginning.


    ¡°If someone tries to tell its contents to you, don¡¯t ever believe it,¡± he said.


    ¡°Including the Queen?¡± Maid Lotus queried.


    ¡°So someone has looked for you?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Shangguan Fei,¡± she replied simply.


    ¡°Yes, including the Queen. She has memorized two chapters. There was no adulteration, but I had a guess,¡± he continued.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s guesses were usually very urate. Maid Lotus knew what he meant immediately. ¡°The Queen thinks that is the real scripture. However, it was a trap from the start. Only, it had not been activated in time,¡± she concluded.


    Gu Shenwei nodded his head. In the story that the priests of the Land of Fragrance had narrated, he could feel the resentment of a hundred years. The Golden Roc Fort¡¯s original owner was bitter towards the betrayal of the Shangguan family. He had hidden his most powerful divine kung fu in a pile of books. It happened to be the two missing chapters of the Golden Roc Fort. Since then, he had ignored them and had not allowed future generations to sort them out.


    The plot of a hundred years ago was not much different from today.


    ¡°That is just my guess. Shangguan Fei was very interested in the eighth and ninth chapters. This is very good. You can help him with another experiment,¡± he said to her.


    Outside the eighteen tents, Shangguan Fei sneezed in his sleep. If he had known that the Dragon King had such high hopes for him, he would have fled at all costs. He would rather be banished to the Jianghu than to practice two unknown chapters of the Wayless Qigong.


    Maid Lotusughed softly. Gu Shenwei was puzzled and baffled. He did not know what he said that was so funny.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± Maid Lotus said, steadying herself immediately. Herughter had nothing to do with the Dragon King, but she felt a knot in her heart vanish easily. ¡°You wish for Shangguan Fei to train the Eighth and Ninth chapters voluntarily?¡± she asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s best to do that. I don¡¯t want to push him too hard,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Have you ever considered the possibility that the three-in-one kung fu has no hidden dangers and the Eighth and Ninth chapters have no issues? Shangguan Fei¡¯s kung fu would increase so rapidly and surpass yours and mine. Then, he would not be so obedient,¡± Maid Lotus warned.


    Gu Shenwei considered this possibility. He felt that there was only one way to resolve this. ¡°The best oue is that the two sets of Internal Strength cane into use. We only have to get rid of Shangguan Fei himself. Watch him closely. He is good at disguising himself. Shangguan Yun must have taught him many things,¡± he said.


    Maid Lotus finally realised why the Dragon King wanted to choose Shangguan Fei as his trial target. Kung fu skills were not restricted to age and would not remain static on someone¡¯s body. Once a person learned the supernatural manual, and even if he was unable to continue with his training or sustain his vignce, he would still be an expert. Shangguan Fei¡¯s timidity would always be his Achilles¡¯ heel, no matter how great his kung fu skills were.


    ¡°I will keep an eye on him,¡± she agreed.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Gu Shenwei said, feeling that he had more words he should say. However, he could not think of them. ¡°Go rest,¡± he finished.


    Maid Lotus excused herself.


    Gu Shenwei did not feel like admitting it, but was forced to: the anxiety that had gued him for days had vanished. But he was so drowsy that he could barely lift his head.


    He needed a good rest.


    Maid Lotus was not sleepy at all. In this quiet night, she had more worries than anyone else. She refused toin because that was a sign of weakness.


    In the days while she was away, the tents in the camp were kept reserved for her. The disciple, Han Fen of the New Moon Hall, cleaned it for her every day.


    Even though Han Fen keptining that Maid Lotus had betrayed everyone, she did not really believe that. She believed that the Managing Master had her reasons. She did not have to think about it, even if she did not understand everything. Worrying too much would cause her a headache.


    ¡°Managing Master,¡± Han Fen said, standing at the door¡¯s entrance, a light gleaming in her eyes, but not daring to say another word.


    ¡°Well, how did you know I had returned?¡± Maid Lotus asked, surprised.


    ¡°The Queen sent men to send supper, saying that the Managing Master must be tired and asked you to pay attention to your health,¡± she replied.


    Maid Lotus was shocked. She could not understand why the Queen would try to pander to her. Moreover, it was the Dragon King who let her help Shangguan Fei steal the Eighth and Ninth chapters.


    The Queen did not know that Maid Lotus had organized an assassination to kill her two years ago.


    ¡°Take them away,¡± Maid Lotus said.


    ¡°Huh? Not eating anything? There is chicken soup¡­¡± Han Fen said, then felt that she had said too much again. She shut her mouth immediately and picked up the food bowl, leaving the tent. She thought for a while and decided to wake Han Xuan up to share the meal. She didn¡¯t even think to ask if it was toote.


    Maid Lotus¡¯s doubts were answered the next day at noon. It happened in the tent of Miss Ming Zhen.


    Ha Chilie was dead, and Ming Zhen had not figured out any of the details. So, she sent Han Fen to invite Maid Lotus over. On the surface, it was to thank her for her care after all these years, but in actuality, it was to find out the cause of her fiance¡¯s death.


    Maid Lotus refused twice, but finally agreed the third time. She heard Han Fen say that Ming Zhen now served the Queen.


    Ming Zhen had no desire to return to Gulping Wind Gorge. After Gu Shenwei found this out, he handed her over to the Queen and let the two be acquainted with each other as sisters. Ming Zhen knew her identity now and was willing to be the Queen¡¯s maid. In the end, she stayed with the Queen as a ¡°female officer¡±.


    The meeting was a little awkward. Maid Lotus had forgotten how to chat with a normaldy. ¡°Ha Chilie was killed by Shangguan Yun. I¡¯m sorry that I failed to save him,¡± she remarked.


    Maid Lotus skipped over details of how she killed people with her bare hands. She did not want to lie deliberately, but to protect Ha Chilie¡¯s image and the tribal soldiers from rebelling, she had to.


    Ming Zhen resisted her grief. She only had a vague impression of Ha Chilie, and her feelings towards him were even more vague. She was sadder about her own fate. ¡°He¡­ didn¡¯t suffer, did he?¡± she asked.


    Maid Lotus fell silent for a while. She had killed Ha Chilie with the Divine Rotation. That was like torture to the living. It was hard to use ¡°suffering¡± to describe it. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she answered instead.


    The two had nothing more to say. The meeting should have ended there, but as Maid Lotus expected, the Queen ¡°happened¡± toe in.


    This was a deliberately nned encounter. The Queen had found an excuse to hold off Xu Yanwei in order to speak with Maid Lotus alone.


    Ming Zhen was unaware that she was being used, but when the Queen came in, she understood at once who the extra people were. She immediately excused herself to serve tea and handed the tent over to these women, whom she dared not provoke.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know ifst night¡¯s supper suited your pte. It was made at thest minute. There weren¡¯t many choices avable,¡± the Queen said, smiling. Her tone was warm and gentle. Obviously, she did not treat Maid Lotus as a normal guard.


    ¡°Very well, thanks for your care and concern, Your Highness,¡± replied Maid Lotus.


    The two were both worried and kept quiet for a time. The Queen felt that Maid Lotus was simr to the Dragon King, so she resisted the temptation to ask other questions and started to broach the main issue. ¡°By the way, have you heard? The Dragon King has handed the glory of the Seaside Slope victory to the women archers of the Land of Fragrance. This is a glory to us women. In the future, who could say that women are unfit for battle?¡± she began.


    ¡°Yes, women are fit for the battlefield,¡± Maid Lotus said perfunctorily.


    ¡°That ¡®queen¡¯ of the Land of Fragrance, named Shangguan Ru- I heard she is the daughter of the Supreme King. The Dragon King actually trusts her very much. That is strange, isn¡¯t it? I have never met her. Can you tell me about her?¡± she asked Maid Lotus.


    The Queen pretended to be curious, but Maid Lotus was furious. This woman had crossed her bottom line. She could not allow herself to be used and taken advantage of.

 Chapter 520 - Uncertainty

    Chapter 520: Uncertainty


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Since the Central in and Nond were both working hard to win the Dragon King¡¯s support, Gu Shenwei decided to ask Prime Minister Zhong Heng and Left General Dugu Xian to debate on behalf of the two great powers and to summon several high-ranking military officials to hear this head-to-head debate.


    Dugu Xian and Zhong Heng were surprised to hear the Dragon King¡¯s request. Their first reaction was to reject it, but they finally assured the Dragon King that they were absolutely loyal to him and had no ulterior motives on behalf of the other countries.


    Although they both appeared quite reluctant, Gu Shenwei still insisted on them having a debate. ¡°This has nothing to do with your position on this question. It¡¯s just that I can¡¯t force my troops to join either of the great powers without giving them a reasonable exnation. They have to know the reason,¡± he said.


    Zhong Heng and Dugu Xian refused repeatedly, but upon seeing that the Dragon King was adamant about it, they reluntantly agreed. However, in front of the high-ranking military generals, the two men went head-to-head and were not friendly to each other at all.


    Zhong Heng was the minister, so the obligation to speak first was on him. ¡°Why should we ally with the Central in? The most important issue is not with the Central in, but whether Nond will easily give up his current ally, Golden Roc Fort. News just came that a great number of cavalrymen from Nond were heading toward Golden Roc Fort to assemble, clearly in order to support the Supreme King till the end. Negotiating with the Dragon Army seems like a stalling tactic that would not cost them anything. As long as Nond and Golden Roc Fort are still friends, the Dragon Army can only rely on the strength of the Central in,¡± he argued.


    ¡°Striking an alliance with the Central in gives another advantage. Since the Central in and the Western Region are separated far apart by the Gobi Desert, a big army would not be able to cross the border, and no more than 10,000 troops would be able to be stationed there. The Dragon Army would easily be able to fend it off. As for Nond, it borders the Western Region and already controls all the crucial roads leading east to Jade City. Ten thousand Nond cavalrymen can enter the Western Region at any time, and this should be the Dragon King¡¯s greatest concern. As the saying goes, friends living far apart will have fewer conflicts, those living near each other will have greater conflicts, and a friend living close by must be defeated,¡± Zhong Heng continued.


    Dugu Xian felt somewhat irritated by Zhong Heng¡¯s words. It was not that he was eager to speak up for Nond, but that he did not want to be seen as a simpleton who did not understand simple logic. So he stood up, took a deep breath, and started to exin his reasons.


    ¡°You must remember that the Dragon King once made an alliance with the Central in. And what did this ally do to us? When the Dragon King was fighting against Golden Roc Fort alone in the Xiaoyao Lake region, the Central in didn¡¯t provide us with any manpower or resources. It ditched us without any consideration. That¡¯s the Central in¡¯s modus operandi ¡ª in the Western Region, where the various countries constantly seek to sabotage each other, it secretly sows dissension and urges fights between countries. It always tries to reap the most benefits at the lowest cost. Is it worth making such an ally?¡± Dugu Xian countered.


    Zhong Heng appeared much calmer than the Left General. While Dugu Xian was taking a breath, he quickly interjected, ¡°Nond expressed its intentions of forming an alliance with the Dragon King when Golden Roc Fort had just lost a battle. How different is that alliance from the Central in? The powerful countries are all like that ¡ª ming them is useless.¡±


    Dugu Xian stared angrily at the Prime Minister. He was not used to debating, so just kept repeating his original ideas. ¡°Befriending countries from afar and attacking those that are nearby is a good strategy, but a big country can only do that if it¡¯s dealing with weaker and smaller countries than itself. Compared to our neighboring country, Nond, we are a very small country. How can we use this strategy when dealing with Nond? More importantly, once we¡¯re in danger, allies from distantnds can¡¯t offer us help in time. By the time they came to our rescue, we¡¯d have already been destroyed by our enemies. Let¡¯s face the reality that Nond has already upied most of the Western Region. The forces of the Central in have diminished to only a few countries in the eastern part of the region. If we make an alliance with the Central in now, Nond will treat us as its enemy. Once it¡¯s detemined to eliminate us, we¡¯re doomed. We can¡¯t resist such a powerful country, even if the Central in sends all of its garrison troops in the Western Region to help us. Not to mention that the Central in would never do such a thing, anyway,¡± he said.


    Zhong Heng smiled and shook his head. ¡°The Left General thinks that the troops from Nond are too numerous and too powerful for us to provoke. The truth is, in the eyes of Nond, the biggest enemy is not the Dragon Army, but will always be the Central in. The heroes of the Central in are aplenty, and even if a great number can¡¯t be moved to the Western Region, they¡¯d still be able tounch an attack on Nond¡¯s border outside of the Western Region. Eighty to ny percent of Nond¡¯s cavalrymen are confronting the Central in along the borders, so only a small number of them could be deployed to the Western Region. After we establish an alliance with the Central in, we can work together with them tounch a two-front war against Nond. Once Nond is defeated, we¡¯ll be safe forever,¡± he exined.


    ¡°The prime minister has just mentioned forming distant alliances and attacking neighboring countries. He seems to have forgotten that Nond knows this trick, as well. If I were the General of Nond, I would never fight a war on two fronts. I would retreat from the fight with the Central in for a while to focus on conquering the Western Region. I¡¯d just need about a month to seize the region, and once I dominated it, I¡¯d have more power and advantages to defeat the Central in,¡± Dugu Xian replied.


    The high-ranking military generals listened intently to the Prime Minister and the Left General¡¯s debate. Sometimes, they felt as if they were being persuaded by one of them, but most of the time they couldn¡¯t decide who was right. Eventually, a few of them could not help but think of a third idea.


    Commander Long Xiaoshi stood up and nced around with his only eye, indicating that he had something to say. He was the tribal chief of the Danduo Peak, and one of his eyes had been taken by the giant red-crowned roc. In the battle of the seaside slope, his left shoulder had been seriously injured and still needed to be bandaged.


    ¡°You say that this country is strong, while he is of the opinion that the other is. The Golden Roc Army used to be described as invincible. Wasn¡¯t it defeated by the Dragon King? We fought on the battlefield, not caring about losing our lives. We didn¡¯t do that to tter ourselves before our new master,¡± said Long Xiaoshi.


    Themanders who were swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain nodded their heads. Because of this battle, their confidence had increased. They felt that Dugu Xian and Zhong Heng were overestimating the enemies¡¯ strength.


    Zhong Heng strongly disapproved of Long Xiaoshi¡¯s views, but since he did not know military affairs as well as Dugu Xian did, he was happy to oblige to him. In the blink of an eye, the two transformed from debate opponents to allies.


    ¡°Old Commander Long, have you ever fought against the cavalry of Nond?¡± asked Dugu Xian.


    There were several men in the tent who could be referred to as Commander Long or Vice Commander Long. In order to differentiate them, a word was usually added in front of their titles. ¡°Old Commander Long¡± meant Long Xiaoshi. Other than ¡°Old¡±, there was also big, small, ck, white, left, right, et cetera.


    ¡°No,¡± Long Xiaoshi said proudly. ¡°That¡¯s the luck of the cavalry from Nond. Even if they were iron horses, I would¡¯ve been able to cut them in two,¡± he boasted.


    Because of the Dragon King, Dugu Xian was respectful toward the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, so he did not rebut him immediately. Instead, he slowly said, ¡°The heavy sword of Old Commander Long is something that I admire very much. However, if the other party used bow and arrows like the female archers of the Land of Fragrance, how would you fend them off with a heavy sword?¡±


    ¡°The female archers did not upy thend with their skills. If I were to meet them, I would retreat to levelnd and bait them into going down the mountain. Then, I would rush towards them and ughter them with my heavy sword,¡± Long Xiaoshi said.


    Dugu Xian smiled and nodded his head, expressing his assent and said, ¡°That is where the problem lies. Nond uses its cavalry as its main force. In contrast with the female archers of the Land of Fragrance, they have horses that allow for easy advance and retreat. They wouldn¡¯t be stuck in a single ce, let alone make any contact with the enemy.¡±


    ¡°How is it possible to fight without any contact? Is it a fight of endurance to see who would copse out of physical exhaustion from the chase?¡± asked Long Xiaoshi.


    The cavalry of Nond was famous, but most people only saw its sess because of its reputation, not the effort that it had put in. After all, Nond had won every fight it had ever fought, and as for the tactics that it used, they were hardly scrutinized by anyone.


    Amongst the people in the tent, only Dugu Xian had served for both Nond and the Central in. As he was the only one here who understood the strengths and weaknesses of both parties, he decided to use a metaphor to illustrate the problem.


    ¡°Have you ever hunted in the snow mountains, Old Commander Long?¡± asked Dugu Xian.


    ¡°Of course. That is the daily work of the men of the Great Snowmountain,¡± replied Long Xiaoshi.


    ¡°With a sword or a bow?¡± asked Dugu Xian.


    ¡°With¡­ a bow most of the times, and a sword at other times, when the prey falls into a trap and tries to resist,¡± he said.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you use a sword during ordinary times?¡± pressed Dugu Xian.


    Long Xiaoshi creased his eyebrows and found these questions to be irrelevant to the topic at hand. ¡°Because beasts will be beasts. They¡¯re extremely alert and not easy to get close to. Moreover, they always struggle in their final dying hours. During that time, they may identally hurt the hunter. Are you suggesting that I am a beast and the cavalry of Nond is a hunter?¡± said Long Xiaoshi.


    Old Commander Long got a little angry and drew his sword out of habit, but put it halfway back. <em>¡°The Left General is a good man, and he¡¯s one-armed. He¡¯s in the same boat as me. I can¡¯t bully him,¡± </em>themander thought.


    Dugu Xian said, ¡°I am full of respect towards the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain, but I¡¯m just trying to say that your hunting techniques resemble the strategies used by Nond in their battles. The boys in that country follow their fathers into hunts as soon as they¡¯ve learned to draw a bow. They go hunting on an evenrger scale when they¡¯re older. That¡¯s how they develop their battle tactics.¡±


    Dugu Xian took a few steps forward and stopped directly in front of Long Xiaoshi. ¡°We¡¯ve all seen the cavalry of Golden Roc Fort. They hold pikes and rush toward their enemies in a group. Then, they turn around and rush forward again. However, the strategies of Nond¡¯s cavalry is different. The army does not rush in front of you immediately, butes at you from an angle. Their bodies face you indirectly, which allows them to not only maintain a distance, but also to draw their bows more easily,¡± he said.


    ¡°The principle of Nond¡¯s cavalry is not to rush into the crowd, but to turn at an angle within twenty steps of the enemy so if the enemy has archers, the distance will be increased. They surround you from three angles, leaving only one exit and using a rain of arrows to scare their enemies away. As soon as their enemies are scared off and trying to escape through the only exit, they run parallel to the enemy and fire their arrows, still maintaining a distance. In short, all of their strategies are the same as hunting strategies, only carried out on arger scale,¡± continued Dugu Xian.


    Everyone knew what Dugu Xian meant now. The Dragon Army was skilled at close-rangebat. Facing the riding skills of Nond, they were limited in their abilities.


    ¡°We can defend the city,¡± A vicemander said, putting forth his own idea.


    ¡°If there was only the cavalry of Nond to consider, this might be a good idea. However, Nond is the eader of the north and controls many countries. Attacking the city would not require a cavalry from its own country,¡± replied Dugu Xian.


    ¡°Then how does the Central in fight Nond? I heard the Central in has been victorious in many battles,¡± asked the Vice Commander.


    ¡°Firstly, the Central in has many horses. It uses the cavalry to assault Nond¡¯s encampment frequently, wiping out the whole army before Nond has a chance to get ready. Secondly, the Central in has a lot of manpower. Once its army conquers an area, it builds a city on it and sends people to fill it. It only stops advancing when thend is barren and no longer arable. Look at us. We don¡¯t have nearly as many horses or people,¡± Dugu Xian exined.


    Zhong Heng was a man from the Central in. He quickly added, ¡°Not only that, but the Central in trains a wide variety of soldiers ¡ª infantry, cavalry, archers and engineering troops. They¡¯re well-equipped and notcking in anything. As such, the troops of the Central in are good at close-range battles, long-range attacks, charging, and raiding. Not a single skill iscking.¡±


    After hearing Dugu Xian and Zhong Heng exin the tactics of Nond and the Central in, the people in the tent fell quiet. Even after banding together, it seemed that the countries in the Western Region would still be unable to confront arge country.


    The topic returned to its original issue: Out of the two parties, with whom should the Dragon Army side?


    The debatested for the whole day. Not only did Dugu Xian and Zhong Heng hold onto their own opinions, but the other generals had their own inclinations, too. They moured among each other and could not reach an agreement.


    Gu Shenwei had not interfered in anything from the start. He had not started this debate to achieve unity. As the Dragon King, the final decisionid with him. However, through the quarrels, he could find out everyone¡¯s thoughts while letting everyone know the opinions of others. The most important thing was to recognise the current situation and not be overconfident just because of a recent victory.


    In the evening, Gu Shenwei concluded the debate, saying he would announce his decision the next morning.


    Judging from the scene, the ones who preferred to ally with Nond and the ones who wanted the Central in as their ally could not convince each other. No one knew what the Dragon King really thought.


    On top of this, an unexpected guest had secretlye to the Xiaoyao Lake region, bringing uncertainty to the debate between Nond and the Central in. Gu Shenwei never expected this visitor, and this person had even evaded the surveince of Xiaoyi¡¯s intelligence.

 Chapter 521 - Bygones

    Chapter 521: Bygones


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Themanding officer of the Western Region, Wei Song, knew perfectly well why the Central ins had given up the alliance with the Dragon King halfway through.


    Revenge was a natural instinct, even more so when the dead was one¡¯s own son. If this had been the Central ins, he would have cut ve Huan and Zhong Heng into pieces and never let them live another day. But he was in the Western Region, and the power of the Central ins waxed and waned. During thetter, it was weaker than an organization of killers.


    When the Dragon Army gained victory in Xiaoyao Lake, he faced an awkward choice. Should he continue to ignore the existence of the Dragon Army and foster the suspicion of his colleagues in the court? Such suspicion stopped him from arguing and caused a crisis of trust. He could imagine that the Dragon King must, at this moment, be more inclined towards Nond than the Central ins.


    The vital interests were always the most important. This was another, even stronger form of human nature. Wei Song first had to preserve his own position.


    Therefore, he came alone to Xiaoyao Lake.


    The messengers from the Central ins who had kept contact with Zhong Heng, the King and the Queen of the An Kingdom hade to the north shore long before the war had erupted. They had watched the conflict from their safety zone, and amongst their five followers, there was a butler who looked genteel and reserved. Many thought he followed the rules and was nondescript. Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s intelligence had actually missed this ¡°big fish¡±.


    Wei Song¡¯s original purpose was to witness the death of his enemy. When the Dragon King gained victory, he changed his mind.


    Sinceing to the southern bank, Wei Song became more and more reclusive. Zhong Heng had only seen his messenger and had never interacted with this old supervisor. When the messenger said he wished to talk to the Dragon King privately, he was taken aback. ¡°I don¡¯t think this is a good idea. On the surface, the Dragon King will never know you havee,¡± said Zhong Heng.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± the messenger said, smiling confidently. ¡°This will save even more time. The Central ins wille up with terms that the Dragon King will never be able to refuse. Then, what the Prime Minister has done will be an act of meritorious service,¡± he continued.


    Zhong Heng was still hesitating. However, after public debate, he felt it would be better for the messenger toe forward. The calvary of the North Court had impressed the people, and he was scared that the Dragon King would be affected.


    Gu Shenwei agreed to see the messenger of the Central ins. He thought of a way to deal with this untimely lobbyist. He and Zhong Heng were the first to be surprised.


    The messenger retreated to a corner after lifting his cape, respectfully making way for the attendant who was standing behind him. ¡°Please allow me to introduce the Commanding Officer to the Dragon King,¡± said the attendant.


    Zhong Heng felt betrayed, and his face had a look of uncertainty. Moreover, he discovered that he had seemed significantly shorter standing in front of Wei Song. Wei Song was his former boss, and neither time nor hatred could erase his former habits and memories.


    When Wei Song was young, he was a handsomed. Now however, he was an average-sized, old man with white hair. He did not seem different from a few years ago. If he wished, he could still exude an outstanding air of majesty.


    ¡°Dragon King, please forgive me for my rudeness. Prime Minister Zhong Heng knows nothing about this. Dragon King, please don¡¯t me him,¡± said Wei Song.


    Zhong Heng¡¯s expression showed his ignorance. Wei Song hinted at him ¡ª not knowing that the Western Region¡¯s Commanding Officer was a close rtive of Xiaoyao Lake had its benefits, as it could lessen the Dragon King¡¯s suspicions.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s hatred rose suddenly from within his bosom. After so many years of concealment and suppression, it still zed.


    However, it did not show on his face. He was no longer a teen hellbent on revenge, but the Dragon King with a thousand troops and horses. ¡°Lord Wei was a rtive of the Xiaoyao Lake, and I wascking in my hospitality. How could I me the Prime Minister?¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    Formalities were unavoidable. Zhong Heng adjusted his mood, and they returned to normal conversation very quickly. He was the Prime Minister of the Stone Kingdom, whose title was given by the Dragon King. In theory, he was on par with the Commanding Officer of the Western Region. There was nothing to be afraid of.


    Zhong Heng and the messenger from the Central ins were responsible for the first-stage of the ice-breaker meeting. When both sides were at ease, the two left, leaving Wei Song and the Dragon King to their private meeting.


    This was an enemy who delivered himself to his doorstep. Gu Shenwei thought,<em>¡°Wei Song has nothing that canpel me to let him go.¡±</em>


    ¡°After so many years, the Dragon King is still so elegant. Not like an old man like me who barely even has the energy to walk,¡± Wei Song said.


    Wei Song yawned, showing his approachable side deliberately. In his eyes, the Commanding Officers of the Western Region were still a lot taller than the Dragon King.


    Wei Song was a crafty old man. Those years when he was still the Governor of Jade City, he feigned ignorance despite knowing ve Huan could have killed his own son. Instead, he treated the Meng family of the North City as his enemy and hired ve Huan to assassinate the Meng Zuyun¡¯s son. Then he pretended to promise to let ve Huan leave Jade City with him. After gaining his trustpletely, he fled quietly.


    Gu Shenwei was doubly careful negotiating with such a character. Hence, he showed himself to be even more easy-going and even leaned his body on a high pillow. ¡°It¡¯s rare that Lord Wei still remembers the old me. The youngd back then was innocent. I must have made the Lord Weiugh,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    Wei Song looked as if he truly wanted to smile, but stifled it into a sigh halfway through. ¡°The Dragon King is young, but not ignorant at all. Otherwise, my unworthy son would not have died so tragically in the desert,¡± he replied.


    Wei Song touched the key issue so quickly. Gu Shenwei was slightly surprised. Even though both parties were well aware of the assassination of Wei Lingmiao, they had never talked about it in public.


    Since Wei Song had something to say, Gu Shenwei did not wish to conceal it anymore, and said coldly, ¡°Master Wei begged multiple times for mercy before he died, showing he still cherished his life very much.¡±


    Wei Song¡¯s face transformedpletely. In a sh, the elegant old man became a beastly avenger. But it happened only in a sh and then turned back to normal. He was not here for revenge. In Xiaoyao Lake, there was no room for revenge. ¡°I am willing to forget about this matter. What about you, Dragon King?¡± Wei Song asked.


    ¡°Were it not for you mentioning it, I would not have thought of Master Wei. I¡¯ve killed too many people, and there¡¯s simply no way for me to remember them one by one,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Wei Song deliberately ignored the provocation and sarcasm in Gu Shenwei¡¯s words. ¡°The Dragon King must be someone from the Central ins?¡± he asked instead.


    ¡°That was when I was a child,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°You grew up in the Gu family?¡± asked Wei Song.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s true identity was Yang Huan, the son of Yang Zheng, a servant of the Gu family in the Central ins.


    ¡°I believe that you must also be aware that the Wei and Gu family were originally closer, as rtives. The Gu family¡¯s death saddened me deeply,¡± said Wei Song.


    ¡°Yes, but I never saw how good the two families were with each other from Lord Wei and his son,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Wei Song looked pale, as if he had received a major blow. If this was an act, Gu Shenwei had to admit that he performed well. ¡°People help themselves in the officialdom. At that time, the Central ins and Nond were fighting for the Golden Roc Fort. It was a matter for the Imperial Court. How could I dare take personal revenge? However, in my heart, the Supreme King was always my enemy,¡± said Wei Song.


    <em>¡°He finally got to the point.¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought. Following this, Wei Song, in the name of revenge, asked the Dragon King for an alliance with the Central ins.


    ¡°You killed Lingmiao because he did not avenge the Gu family?¡± asked Wei Song.


    ¡°No, revenge was a personal choice. No one has a right to interfere. Wei Lingwei cooperated with the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s killers to kill the Miss of Gu family. That is why I killed him,¡± Gu Shenwei exined.


    Wei Song stared wide-eyed, revealing hisplete shock. ¡°How is this possible? She was an unwed wife,¡± he asked.


    ¡°Unfortunately, this was true. He identally revealed the truth to the people around him and admitted it to me before he died,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°He should be killed!¡± Wei Song shouted, pping his thigh vehemently and pretended to be angry. ¡°I see how it is. I can¡¯t believe I was sad for him for so many years. No wonder¡­ he was such an unloyal son,¡± he went on.


    Gu Shenwei was tired of ying along with Wei Song¡¯s act, but he had no other choice. Wei Song was willing to admit some things at this time, and he still had his saber. He became even more stubborn.


    ¡°So, you were unaware of this?¡± asked Gu Shenwei, suspiciously.


    ¡°Of course! How could I have allowed this? Cuilian is a good girl, sensible from a young age. I thought that she would be able to restrain Lingmiao¡¯s temper. All these years, I have been investigating the Gu family¡¯s murder and had never heard of that¡­¡± said Wei Song.


    Speaking of the elder sister, Gu Shenwei¡¯s hatred grew but he still managed to control it. ¡°Lord Wei had not thought of asking, and naturally no one would have asked. However, I am not happy. Why would the Golden Roc Fort want to kill the whole Gu family, including the servants? What did Lord Wei find in his investigation?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    Wei Song looked at the young man in front of him with a single nce, as if considering if he should say something. ¡°The Golden Roc Fort has been extremely secretive about the assassination. The Gu family did not mention a single word about the case. I found some information that was relevant to Nond,¡± he finally said.


    Gu Shenwei almostughed scornfully. In order to court the Dragon Army, Wei Song would do almost anything, even redirecting his hatred for the Gu family to Nond.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Gu Shenwei said, a little surprised.


    ¡°Lord Gu Lun has been in Nond for many years. I¡¯m sure the Dragon King knows this?¡± Wei Song responded.


    Gu Shenwei did not know this. He had never heard it from his father.


    Wei Song realized the Dragon King¡¯s confusion. He briefly narrated Gu Lun¡¯s early experiences.


    Gu Lun could only be made a general in the eyes of the Imperial Guard. This was not because he had once caught a famous thief, but because he had once apanied the Seventh Prince as a hostage to Nond. He had stayed there for ten years, which was almost the entirety of the Seventh Prince¡¯s childhood.


    After ten years, Gu Lun apanied the Seventh Prince back to their homnd. After a series of events, the Seventh Prince became emperor. Afterwards, Gu Lun was quickly promoted and given the title of Brilliant General after a meritorious act. The Gu and Wei families were married at this time, as well.


    Unfortunately, the Seventh Prince was only in power for a few years and did not suppress the power of the several factions before he died of an illness. He left behind a crown prince who was only a few years old. Gu Lun retired bravely, left office and migrated to the Western Region with his entire family.


    The events in theter years were vaguely remembered by Gu Shenwei. It was precisely for this reason that he had sent out Lin Xiaoshan and Jiang to the Central ins to find out more about what had happened in the past.


    However, ording to Wei Song, the Gu family¡¯s death had nothing to do with the imperial court of the Central ins. The curse was buried in Nond.


    ¡°When thete Emperor stayed in Nond, he once shed with a crown prince. Lord Gu killed his master identally, but was spared from punishment due to the Khan¡¯s interference. However, the father and brother of this prince held a grudge,¡± Wei Song exined.


    Gu Shenwei was silent. Wei Song had an agenda. This made his words less credible.


    ¡°Believe me,¡± Wei Song said, wanting to win the trust of the Dragon King and using his trump card. ¡°Nephew Shenwei, I know your true identity. I have been hiding it for you from Nond all this while,¡± he continued.

 Chapter 522 - Military Resources

    Chapter 522: Military Resources


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Wei Song had never doubted the true identity of ve Huan back in Biyu City. However, when Gu Shenwei went against Golden Roc Fort by iming to be the son of Yang Zheng (a servant of Gu family), Wei Song suddenly realized who ve Huan really was.


    Wei Song¡¯s rtionship with Gu Lun had been closer than Gu Shenwei had imagined. He was only a child at the time and had rarely participated the affairs of adults, so he had never witnessed the frequent exchanges and mutual support between Wei Song and Gu Lun in the Court.


    Wei Song also knew Yang Zheng ¡ª so well so that he knew the old servant had never married nor had any children. He also knew that Gu Shenwei¡¯s nickname was Huan¡¯er.


    Wei Song exined why he had not said anything since realizing the truth.


    ¡°I was afraid. You were full of hatred at the time, razing people down like weeds, and neverpromising. I thought you¡¯d see me as another object of your revenge. And¡­ And I also hated you for killing my son,¡± he exined.


    Gu Shenwei listened to Wei Song¡¯s story calmly. ¡± <em>This is not a bad thing </em>,¡± he thought. Since Wei Song knew his true identity, both of them could do away with unnecessary tricks and talk more directly. ¡°You¡¯re still a suspect. And I know you still hate me,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    Wei Song¡¯s lips quivered. Barely squeezing out a smile, he said, ¡°I know. Lingmiao did such a heinous thing. I understand your suspicion, but I swear to God I didn¡¯t know that Golden Roc Fort might have allowed him to take part in it because of me. No one ever told me anything,¡± said Wei Song.


    Wei Song said a lot more. He said that he had conducted a thorough investigation over the years, and confirmed that it was the Royal Families of Nond that had hired Golden Roc Fort to exterminate the entire Gu family.


    Gu Shenwei did not say whether he believed it or not. He had been watching the changes in Wei Song¡¯s facial expressions. This was a sophisticated man who had spent many years in the Central in¡¯s Court. In terms of putting on a show, the conspirators in the Western Region were rookiespared to him.


    However, there was a fatal w in Wei Song¡¯s story. Gu Shenwei quickly noticed that Wei Song had avoided one thing in his story. Waiting until Wei Song finished talking, Gu Shenwei pointed it out, saying, ¡°It seems that in Mr. Wei¡¯s opinion, the rtionship between the Wei family and the Gu family was never broken, and the two families are still close.¡±


    ¡°If that wasn¡¯t true, our two familes wouldn¡¯t have intermarried . s, I didn¡¯t know Lingmiao¡­¡± said Wei Song.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been curious about one thing: when my father decided to send my sister and me away back then, why did the honorable Governor ask Yang Zheng to take us to Marshal Yang in Shu-lik City?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    Wei Song was like a dumb, but over-confident brute who tried to crack a stone with a sword. Exhausted and sweating as he was, the rock would not move. Having tried with all his might, but still failing to crack the Dragon King, Wei Song could only exin, ¡°Mr. Gu didn¡¯t ask you toe to Jade City to find me? He knew that I was going to be the Governor.¡±


    ¡°Hum, my father never mentioned you. During the first two years in Jade City, I didn¡¯t even know the Governor was an old acquaintance of my family,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Wei Song turned pale. He lowered his head to avoid Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes. All of a sudden he looked much older. ¡°It seems that Mr. Gu had not forgiven me,¡± he admitted.


    <em>¡°Heree the old stories again,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei said to himself.


    But this time, there seemed to be more truth in Wei Song¡¯s story.


    ¡°Mr. Gu and I were both old ministers promoted by thete Emperor. We had been in serious opposition to the other faction of old ministers. When thete Emperor passed away unexpectedly, Mr. Gu wanted to stay away from the Central in rather than collude with the former enemies¡­ but I ¡ª The Wei family was arge one in the Central in ¡ª and I couldn¡¯t abandon it, so I surrendered. Yes, I surrendered. I pledged loyalty to the Empress Dowager and bowed my head to my former political enemies. Mr. Gu didn¡¯t like that. Before he left the Central in, we had an argument¡­¡± he said.


    <em>¡°And Gu Lun still wanted to marry his daughter to the Wei family,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei said to himself. He could not help but want to pull out the Five Peaks Saber and dig out Wei Song¡¯s heart while it was still beating to see what it contained.


    ¡°Mr. Wei, have you ever suspected that the Golden Roc killer was hired by the Central in?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Child ¡ª please allow me to call you that ¡ª if you had any knowledge of the Court of the Central in, you would understand that the ministers would never think of hiring killers to assasinate political opponents and their families. Besides, Mr. Gu had already left the Central in by that time and had no influence on the power of the Court. No, no one would take such a risk. Court disputes were more political disagreements than personal grudges. Otherwise, I would not have been promoted after having changed my political position,¡± said Wei Song.


    ¡°In fact, after returning to the Central in from Jade City, I carried out a thorough investigation. Mr. Gu¡¯s murder caused great repercussions in the Central in. Many ministers, including former political opponents, urged the King to send troops to punish Golden Roc Fort to at least to teach the Supreme King a lesson. Butter, another faction believed that the Central in was not strong enough in the Western Region at that time. They were afraid that starting a war rashly would offend Nond, so the matter was left unsettled. Anyway, I didn¡¯t discover any ministers connected with the Golden Roc Fort. Now that the Golden Roc Fort has basically turned against the Central in openly, I have no reason to cover for the ministers,¡± continued Wei Song.


    ¡°So, Mr. Wei, you are sure that Nond is the enemy of the Gu family?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    Wei Song had been avoiding the Dragon King¡¯s eyes . Upon hearing this question, however, he suddenly looked up and answered loudly, ¡°Child, I can understand if you don¡¯t believe me after Lingmiao did such an evil thing that would incur the wrath of all gods and men. You can investigate and collect evidence yourself, and I will provide you the clues. If there is even one bit of a lie in my words, may heaven strike me dead,¡± answered Wei Song.


    He paused for a moment, and then continued in an eased tone, ¡°Dragon King, please inquire a little about the Nond King Rizhu. Then you will see that he has been supporting Golden Roc Fort with all his strength, and that his support started just after Mr. Gu¡¯s death. You can also inquire about the causes and consequences of his feud with Mr. Gu. Many people in Nond know about it,¡± he continued.


    Wei Song changed the name he¡¯d been using for Gu Shenwei from ¡°child¡± to ¡°Dragon King¡±, then closed his mouth to indicate that he had finished talking, and it was the Dragon King¡¯s decision whether to believe it or not.


    Gu Shenwei still didn¡¯t believe him. His father might have really had a vendetta against the nobles in Nond, and King Rizhu might have really been behind the massacre, but Gu Shenwei did not believe that Wei Song was innocent of any involvement.


    Why was the young son of a senior officer from the Central in involved in an assassination ordered by Nond?


    Still, he suppressed his feelings. Wei Song was not like Wei Lingmiao. To get the truth from the old fox¡¯s mouth, swords were not enough.


    ¡°I will investigate it. But Mr. Gu, you¡¯vee a long way to get to Xiaoyao Lake and have taken a lot of risks along the way to pass through the area upied by enemy. I believe you did note all this way just to tell me these things,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Wei Song had to admit that his attempt to move the Dragon King with family ties and secrets was aplete failure. He had underestimated the Dragon King by assuming that he was just a young man who was full of hatred and relishing in a great victory. In reality, he saw a killer more profound than an emperor and calmer than a general.


    Gu Shenwei was still a killer. He would never make a move until he found the best attack position.


    Nond had learned the art of war through the frequent hunting of game, while Gu Shenwei had sought dominance using killers¡¯ principles.


    ¡°I will say it again: I can¡¯t put personal affairs above affairs of the Court,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s talk about the Court first,¡± said Wei Song.


    Wei Song finally learned his lesson and stopped beating around the bush. ¡°The Central in hopes to realign with the Dragon King,¡± he said.


    ¡°What¡¯s the benefit for the Central in? What¡¯s the benefit for me?¡± Gu Shenwei asked, also cutting to the chase, as if the prior emotional drama had never happened.


    ¡°The Central in hopes that the Western Region will remain stable and not pose a threat to its nks. In this way, we can employ all our strength to the war on the northern line. As for what we can offer the Dragon King, you can have silver, provisions, fodder, weapons, armor ¡ª almost anything, except troops. Additionally, the Central in will even openly acknowledge the title of ¡®Dragon King¡¯,¡± Wei Song replied.


    When it came to thisst sentence, Wei Song slightly lowered his voice.


    He was concerned that he had brought up a sensitive subject.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s title of ¡°Dragon King¡± and the full name ¡°Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks¡± were both bestowed upon him by the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain. Strictly speaking, he was not a real king, just like the Supreme King of Golden Roc Fort. In the eyes of the leading powers, they were just jianghu nicknames.


    In the Western Region, there were only two ways to be a real king ¡ª pureblood or acknowledgment by the leading powers. There were only two leading powers: Nond and the Central in. Even Shu-lik was not a leading power before it perished.


    Although Shangguan Yun married the Princess of the Xiaowan Kingdom and imed the title of King, he had only taken a half-step. He still had to win the acknowledgment of Nond.


    Likewise, Gu Shenwei had married the Princess of the Stone Kingdom without snatching its throne. It was like he had lifted one foot in the air, but had not touched the ground yet.


    To an ordinary person, Wei Song¡¯sst promise would be priceless and more valuable than thousands of troops. But Gu Shenwei scoffed at it, because he did not need the acknowledgment of Nond or the Central in. He had already appointed five kings in Xiaoyao Lake and would appoint more in the future.


    The people of the Great Snowmountain believed that the Dragon King was a gift from heaven. Gu Shenwei also believed that his power had originated from ¡°divine will¡± and had had nothing to do with secr emperors.


    ¡°The Dragon Army indeed needs provisions, fodder, weapons and armor, but I want soldiers more than any of that,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    Gu Shenwei had sent his Right General, Shang Liao, to Shu-lik, because he currently could not afford too many soldiers. If he had enough provisions and fodder, he would prefer to own as many troops as possible, just like Dugu Xian.


    Wei Song was a little surprised that Gu Shenwei was not interested in the title. He immediately changed the subject, saying, ¡°The Central in does not have many soldiers in the Western Region. I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t help the Dragon King in that matter, but I can point out a way for you to expand your army. Countless soldiers are waiting there, depending on whether the Dragon King is willing to take the initiative.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt that Wei Song was finally getting to the point after stalling all night.


    ¡°Let me hear it. Maybe I¡¯ll be interested,¡± said Gu Shewei.


    ¡°There are not many soldiers in the Western Region. Most of the people there are cowardly and afraid of war. Even if we forced them to join the army, it would take a lot of time to train them before they could be sent to the battlefield,¡± replied Wei Song.


    The soldiers in the Dragon Army were mostly from the Western Region, more than half of them being recruits who had joined the army the year before. Gu Shenwei believed that they were excellent soldiers, but he did not refute Wei Song. Besides, the Western Region was short on people and could not provide many soldiers.


    ¡°Nond has hundreds of thousands of cavalry. And itsmon people are also good at riding and shooting, both the men and the women. They¡¯re ready to fight at any time. They¡¯re the best source of soldiers,¡± said Wei Song.


    This idea sounded even more inconceivable than using the Nond King Rizhu of killing the entire Gu family. However, Wei Song was excited, as if he had just pulled this excellent scheme out of his hat. He nodded his head and began to exin, ¡°The Khan won¡¯t live much longer. Once he dies, Nond will be torn apart. And whoever controls those troops the soonest will have a slice of the pie.¡±


    ¡°No matter how they are torn apart, it is still an internal issue among the Royal Families of Nond. How can outsiders step in?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°If this ¡®outsider¡¯ can exert a little effort on the death of the Khan¡­¡± began Wei Song.


    Gu Shenwei finally understood why Wei Song had risked his life to see him.

 Chapter 523 - Answers

    Chapter 523: Answers


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Wei Song and the Central in¡¯s wishful thinking was to let Nond fall apart as soon as possible. Whomever benefited from its division was not particrly important.


    For a long time, the main threat to the Central in had been Nond. No other power, whether it be the Dragon King or the many small kings inside Nond, was more powerful than the entirety of Nond. So, no one alone was a deadly threat.


    Wei Song had long been wishing to prove his power. Naturally, he thought of resorting to assassinations. The Central in had quite a few skillful kung fu masters, but he had learned over the years that martial arts were not the only requirement to be a killer, nor was it even very important for the job.


    He needed a professional killer.


    Golden Roc Fort was an impossible choice. The only remaining candidate he could think of was Gu Shenwei, the ¡°son of a friend¡±, who met all the requirements of an outstanding killer.


    Before the Dragon Army won the battle, Wei Song had not been able toe up with a reason to persuade the Dragon King to abandon his existing troops in pursuit of a different army. Since he was on the northern bank of Xiaoyao Lake, he had hoped the Dragon Army would win this crucial battle more than any of the Dragon King¡¯s other ¡°friends¡±.


    Now that the Dragon Army had won with a brilliant (yet not very strong) army, Gu Shenwei¡¯s biggest enemy changed from Golden Roc Fort to Nond. A good opportunity had finallye for Wei Song to offer his conditions and reasons to the Dragon King.


    ¡°He said that some people in Nond are secretly supporting the Central in, and those people control arge number of soldiers. As long as I can do it, these soldiers will pledge their loyalty to me.¡± Gu Shenwei told Prime Minister Zhong Heng and Left General Dugu Xian after he had summoned them to discuss the matter.


    Gu Shenwei continued, ¡°Of course, this is an assassination. We must make sure it will not be linked back to me. He said he believed in my ability.¡± The reason that Gu Shenwei had not imprisoned or killed Wei Song was that he had been observing the killer principle during his pursuit of revenge. He would never make a move hastily unless he was sure all the enemies would be eradicated without any errors.


    To kill Wei Song at that time would have been tantamount to a public revolt against the Central in. Without any connection to the Central in, the Dragon Army would no longer be important to Nond, which would impact his seeking revenge on Golden Roc Fort.


    Zhong Heng and Dugu Xian were relieved by the trust given to them by the Dragon King. However, both of them doubted the feasibility of Wei Song¡¯s bold n and opposed it at almost the same time.


    Zhong Heng was eager to make up for his fault of ¡°introducing¡± Wei Song. He spoke first, ¡°Wei Song is a crafty, old scoundrel. He can¡¯t be trusted. It¡¯s highly probable that he is waiting to betray you once you aplish it. His real n is to have the Dragon King bear the crime so that he can kill two birds with one stone.¡±


    Dugu Xian also thought Wei Song was unreliable. ¡°I know the Nond troops very well. In the past few hundred years, although there have been many splits within Nond, the soldiers have never turned against the Khan family, and those who finally reunite Nond are always the descendants of the Khan. I don¡¯t believe that the soldiers can ever be owned by the Dragon King,¡± he argued.


    The two men then put forward many other reasons to not to follow Wei Song¡¯s persuasion. Zhong Heng even had a long term n, saying, ¡°We should close Xiaoyao Lake to separate it from the Western Region, and then widen the road to connect more closely with the Land of Fragrance. Then we should wait patiently to allow the people to flourish. In ten to twenty years, the Dragon King will have a rich source of soldiers. If the two leading powers fight endlessly during this period, it will be a godsend.¡±


    For the first time, Gu Shenwei hesitated. He expressed his concerns, ¡°I am afraid that Wei Song¡¯s information about the imminent split of Nond is urate. If that¡¯s the case, Golden Roc Fort has probably already taken action.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had been fooled once. When he first came to the Stone Kingdom to propose marriage, he thought it was a ce that the Supreme King would fight for. He had not expected the Supreme King would just use the Stone Kingdom as bait to attract the other forces, while Shangguan Yun secretly crossed the border of the Xiaowan Kingdom to the north. Both the Dragon King and the Central in had been fooled.


    Wei Song had inadvertently reminded Gu Shenwei of one thing ¡ª everyone thought that Golden Roc Fort woulde back with borrowed troops from Nond, while the Supreme King had probably already shifted his strategic focus to Nond itself.


    Gu Shenwei vaguely saw the figure of Mr. Zhang Ji, the teacher.


    ¡°Golden Roc Fort will not get its wish. Once it is found out that the Khan was assassinated by Golden Roc Fort, even with the smallest sign, all the Lords in Nond will immediately take revenge instead of falling apart,¡± Dugu Xian said affirmatively. He knew the Nond soldiers respected the Khan and his family lineage to the point of infatuation. Compared to the loyalty of swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain to the Dragon King, the Nond soldiers¡¯ loyalty was only greater in number and longevity.


    ¡°Golden Roc Fort will not do such a stupid thing as an assassination. The Supreme King may choose to bind himself with Nond more firmly through marriage or by controlling the powerful ministers through ckmail,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    Gu Shenwei was talking about the Supreme King, but he was thinking about Zhang Ji. He had analyzed his opponent and learned his tactics. ¡°A counsellor is the sharpest sword,¡± Gu Shenwei said, as he had always remembered this motto. Assassination was not Zhang Ji¡¯s strong point. As long as he had influence over the Supreme King, the Supreme King would not resort to assassination.


    ¡°Your Grace, what are you going to do?¡± asked Zhong Heng. After giving his opinion, he was waiting for the Dragon King¡¯s decision.


    Gu Shenwei looked up, thought for a moment, and then said, ¡°I want to meet the Nond messenger.¡±


    The messenger of Nond had sent messages via Dugu Xian in the past. He had never talked directly to the Dragon King. Gu Shenwei wanted to find out Nond¡¯s bottom line in this negotiation. Between alliance and assassination, he wanted to make aparison and choose the one that would benefit him the most.


    Zhong Heng and Du Guxian excused themselves. It waste, so the meeting with the Nond messenger was scheduled for the next afternoon.


    Gu Shenwei sat in the tent, rubbing his fingers gently on his scabbard, not realizing that the candle had gone out.


    ¡°You have revealed your intentions in this matter. Now it is even harder to take action. You know they will not keep the secrets forever,¡± a voice said. In the dark, Maid Lotus¡¯s voice sounded ethereal and unreal, as if it were a hallucination in Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind.


    While the others might still be specting about the Dragon King¡¯s thoughts, Maid Lotus had guessed most of them. The only thing she did not understand was why he had discussed these things with the two officials. That was not typical behavior for a killer.


    ¡°Secrets can¡¯t be kept forever. Even if those two do not reveal the secret, Wei Song will let it out sooner orter. Therefore, it is better to let them hear it from me,¡± Gu Shenwei said, seeming to be talking to himself.


    Maid Lotus understood Gu Shenwei¡¯s intentions. He had pretended to be hesitant because he was waiting for Nond and the Central in to up the ante and gradually show their real hand.


    ¡°Are you going to calcte like this forever?¡± she asked.


    Gu Shenwei turned to look in surprise at the figure of Maid Lotus in the dark. Even when the trust between the two of them was at its peak, she had never talked to him like this.


    ¡°Forever,¡± Gu Shenwei answered coldly. ¡°The enemy is all-pervasive. I don¡¯t have advantages in martial arts or troop numbers. The only way to beat them is by always thinking a step ahead of them,¡± he continued.


    Gu Shenwei looked cold, hard and heartless. These were all things that were attractive to Maid Lotus. ¡°What do I need to do?¡± Maid Lotus asked, softening her voice.


    Gu Shen sat silently for a moment as if he hadn¡¯t heard her question. ¡°Last time, I let Wei Song run away and almost couldn¡¯t catch him again. This time, I still have to release him, but I hope he will deliver himself to me one day when I want to catch him again,¡± he said.


    ¡°I can do it,¡± Maid Lotus whispered and disappeared.


    Gu Shenwei had only a little knowledge and understanding of the secret techniques of the New Moon Hall. Still, he trusted Maid Lotus¡¯s promise.


    Wei Song could y all the tricks he had plotted, but one day he would regret using them on the Dragon King in a way he could never imagine.


    Gu Shenwei could not remember how long it had been since he had thought about his dead rtives. Wei Song¡¯s arrival had opened the door to these memories. His father had left too many things unknown to him, leaving him with the truth wrapped in mystery.


    Zhong Heng often said that ¡°solving problems is different from finding out the truth¡±. It was true. Gu Shenwei had been trying to solve all kinds of problems for a long time, but regarding the matter of his family¡¯s extermination, he only needed the truth.


    The next afternoon, Gu Shenwei met the Nond messenger.


    The messenger apparently had heard that the Central in had sent someone unusual, who had likely already persuaded the Dragon King. He looked a little impatient and went straight to the point without formalities.


    ¡°The Dragon King must have heard that the Khan doesn¡¯t have much time, and once he dies, Nond will be torn apart,¡± the messenger said.


    ¡°Well, many people think so,¡± answered the Dragon King.


    ¡°Does the Dragon King know that during nearly 300 years since the founding of Nond, the country has split up almost every time a long-serving khan has died? The divisionssted from several months to several years, but Nond continued growing stronger and stronger. Why? Because this is the way we choose a new Khan ¡ª only the best prince with the most supporters will be eligible to rule the whole grasnd. Naturally, the Northern Court continues to be stronger. If the Dragon King only sees the split, but ignores the unity behind it, he will make a big mistake. If anyone says something like that to you, you should kill him immediately, because he is setting you up,¡± continued the messenger.


    The messenger was a young man that that looked to be less than 30 years old. He imed to be in the same n as the Governor of Jade City, indicating that he was also a noble. But he looked rough, like a person who had been through a lot of ups and downs his whole life. On top of that, his words were blunt and always sounded a litle like a threat.


    Perhaps this was the style of the Nond people. Gu Shenwei remembered that the old man Mo Chu had also spoken this way.


    ¡°I understand what you mean. Over the years, everyone said I wouldn¡¯t live to see another day, but I not only survived, I lived better and better,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    The messenger of Nond paused, and then burst outughing, as if he liked the Dragon King very much.


    This meeting did not do much to help. The status of the Nond messenger was too low to be able to make any real decisions. He could not do anything to really woo the Dragon King except give lofty speeches.


    Nond was either ying tricks to dy the war, or it had made a hasty decision without a well thought out n. In short,pared to the Central in, it showed little sincerity.


    Gu Shenwei summoned Wei Song for the second time that evening. The meeting was brief and direct.


    ¡°I agree with your n,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°The Dragon King will benefit from it,¡± replied Wei Song.


    ¡°But in addition to the support of provisions, fodder, weapons and armor, I want to add a condition,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Please say what you want,¡± said Wei Song.


    ¡°Bring me Shangguan Nu¡¯s head,¡± Gu Shenwei said tly.


    Shangguan Nu was directly responsible for the massacre of the Gu family and had been hiding under the wings of the Central in for years.


    Wei Song agreed without hesitation. The Eighth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort had long lost his value and was of no use to him.


    After sending Wei Song away, Gu Shenwei summoned Dugu Xian immediately and said, ¡°Tell the Nond messenger that I am willing to form an alliance with Nond, and tell him about Wei Song¡¯s n. Since we are forming an alliance, we should be open and honest.¡±


    For the time being, Gu Shenwei had given both messengers affirmative answers.

 Chapter 524 - Invitation

    Chapter 524: Invitation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Queen Ju was absent-mindedly sitting at the window. She had finally be the Master of the Royal Pce of the Stone Kingdom, but she was not happy at all.


    Behind her, several court maids were busy doing their jobs, as silently as ghosts. Or maybe they were just pretending to be busy ¡ª there was not much work for them to do. All they had to do was easy work, like making beds, sprinkling a little incense and tidying up. She used to only have one maid to do this work, and she had done it easily alone.


    But as the guardian of the Dragon King¡¯s Queen and the King of the Stone Nation, she was now entitled to these luxuries. Besides, there were many maids in the pce, and they needed to be kept busy.


    Being a master felt good. People who had ignored her before now bowed before her in fear. Many people praised her in public, saying she had always been a special girl, as if they were the Queen¡¯s old acquaintances. They hoped she would hear these nice words and be pleased. In truth, though, they had only met the Queen a few times.


    Queen Ju was afraid of losing everything she had fought so hard for.


    She tuned and looked at the maids in the room, asking the oldest of them, ¡°How long have you been in the pce?¡±


    She didn¡¯t mention her name because she could not remember it. The maids were all focusing on their work, but they intuitively knew who the Queen was talking to.


    The old maid stopped her work at once. She bowed respectfully and replied, ¡°Twenty one years, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°Twenty one years. That¡¯s older than my age. So, you must have known all the masters of this pce,¡± the Queen said.


    ¡°Your Highness, the pce has always belonged to the Royal Family. Its master has never changed,¡± the maid answered very carefully, for she could not fathom the new master¡¯s intention in asking her this.


    ¡°I¡¯m different from my brother. Save these sweet lies for your next master. I want to hear the truth,¡± the Queen demanded.


    The other maids began to work even harder. One was making the bed. Although the quilt cover had been tidied as smooth as a marble floor, she continued gently sweeping it with her hands, as if trying to ease out every wrinkle.


    The old maid knelt down with fear and said, ¡°Yes, Your Highness. I¡¯ll tell you the truth. In the past twenty one years¡­including you, there have been five masters total.¡±


    Five masters in twenty one years. The average duration for each master was only a little more than four years. ¡± <em>Wow, my ipetent brother stayed longer than the average. And I have just started </em>,¡± she thought to herself.


    <em>¡°Who have been the real masters? The kings who eventually lost their power, or the maids who were wasting their time in this ce?¡± </em>she wondered.


    Queen Ju came back from her thoughts. She turned her head to look through the window, and stared at the darkness in silence. The old maid was still kneeling behind her.


    Xu Yanwei winked at the old maid to let her know that she could get up and go back to her work.


    The old maid was relieved. Everyone knew that Xu Yanwei was not just an ordinary maid to the Queen. The Queen was the King¡¯s guardian, and Xu Yanwei was like the Queen¡¯s guardian.


    However, Xu Yanwei did not like her position very much. She¡¯d rather just be an ordinary maid. She was even willing to leave the pce and live freely on the streets, but she had to stay beside the Queen and live a life with endless spections.


    The Queen trusted her, relied on her, but was also wary of her. Since Xu Yanwei was sent to her by the Dragon King, the Queen was afraid that she would tell the Dragon King and the Queen¡¯s brother everything.


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s gettingte. Please take a rest. It¡¯s as dark as ck paint outside. There is nothing to see,¡± said Xu Yanwei, as if she was the Queen¡¯s mother or older sister. Truthfully, Xu Yanwei was not a caring person. In the past, she had pretended to look pathetic to attract men¡¯s attention and desire.


    ¡°Well, immediately,¡± said Queen Ju, as naughty as a child. But she sat for a while longer, before getting up slowly. A maid helped her to her bed.


    The maid put down the gauze curtain and then removed her shoes. When she was going to close the window, Queen Ju said, ¡°Leave it open. It¡¯s a little hot.¡±


    ¡°You will catch a cold at night. Better shut it,¡± Xu Yanwei said. Only she dared to disobey the Queen, but only ¡°slightly disobey¡±.


    ¡°No, leave it open. I¡¯ll call you when it¡¯s cold,¡± the Queen insisted, still acting like a spoiled child.


    Xu Yanwei sighed silently, walked over and closed most of the window, leaving only a small part open. Then, she led the maids out.


    Queen Ju could not fall asleep. Sheid on the bed with her eyes open, listening to the nighttime sounds. The early summer insects were chirping. She was annoyed and thought, ¡± <em>If I gave an order, crowds of maids and eunuchs would rush out with candles in their hands to catch the insects. </em>¡± Maybe when she gotplete power, she would do that. But for now she only listened to the chirping until she heard the voice she was waiting for.


    ¡°What can I do for you?¡± the voice asked.


    The voice was cold and rude. The speaker obviously did not regard her as a master. Queen Ju¡¯s thoughts suddenly snapped back to reality from her rambling fantasy. She had to be careful when dealing with this woman.


    ¡°I heard that the Dragon King will go to Nond?¡± the Queen asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Maid Lotus replied, knowing that this was only the opening remark. The Queen must have summoned her for more important things, besides such a trivial matter.


    After Nond agreed to send a prince as a hostage, Gu Shenwei decided to go to there in person to participate in the negotiations. Zhong Heng was skeptical about Nond, but Dugu Xian vouched for it by saying, ¡°Unlike the Golden Roc Fort, Nond will not break their word in front of the whole world. The Supreme King could sacrifice his son, but the Khan will not. Even if the hostage is not his favorite Prince, all of the Khan¡¯s bloodline is sacred in Nond. I believe it will be very safe to take the Prince as a hostage.¡±


    ¡°Did you know one of the King¡¯s concubines in Nond even wrote to me, inviting me to visit there?¡± Queen Ju said scornfully.


    ¡°I know,¡± Maid Lotus said, as she had read the letter.


    During the seaside slope battle, the whole world had been impressed by the female soldiers from the Land of Fragrance. Although they had only shot a few rounds of arrows on the slope and had not been involved in the chasing of the deserters, they were still incredible in everyone¡¯s eyes.


    In the past, although a king would asionally set up a women¡¯s army on a whim, it had never been anything more than fun. Since then, female soldiers were only a myth in the Western Region and even the whole world.


    The Dragon King¡¯s move was, indeed, beyond everyone¡¯s imagination. It had also resulted in unexpected effects for him.


    The King¡¯s ¡°Lady of Nond¡± mentioned by Queen Ju was not an ordinary woman. She was the esteemed second wife of the Khan. She was very interested in the women soldiers of the Land of Fragrance, so she had invited queens and princesses from all over the world to gather in the grasnd. The meeting was supposedly for wine tasting and appreciating flowers, but its real purpose was to discuss war and martial arts.


    Many people suspected that the topic of the party would probably end up being about wine tasting and flower appreciation, anyway, though.


    ¡°The Dragon King has forbidden me to go,¡± Queen Ju said, trying her best to sound emotionless. Still, she could not hide the disappointment and resentment in her voice.


    ¡°No one can change the Dragon King¡¯s mind,¡± said Maid Lotus.


    Queen Ju did not intend to ask Maid Lotus for help. Although she had not met the Dragon King very frequently, she knew him well. She had something else to discuss with Maid Lotus. ¡°I guess the ¡®Queen¡¯ of the Land of Fragrance will attend,¡± she said.


    ¡°Not necessarily. She doesn¡¯t like that kind of thing,¡± answered Maid Lotus.


    ¡°She will go¡±, Queen Ju sounded even more sure, as if she knew everything about the ¡°Queen¡±, whom she had never met. ¡°Because the Dragon King is going to Nond,¡± she concluded.


    Maid Lotus was amused and thought, ¡± <em>She is so naive, and she is trying to use me.</em>¡± She simply asked, ¡°That¡¯s why you summoned me?¡±


    Queen Ju did not say anything. She could not say it directly because she was a little afraid of Maid Lotus. As the Dragon King¡¯s female guard, Maid Lotus was different from any other woman she had ever met. Sometimes, she could see the shadow of the Dragon King behind Maid Lotus and worried that her efforts to win her over would amount to nothing.


    ¡°Those two chapters of scripture are always on my mind. I swore to the Dragon King that I would never reveal a word to other people, but you are the person the Dragon King trusts most, so you are an exception. So¡­if you want, I can recite it to you,¡± Queen Ju teased.


    Maid Lotus was a wise person. Queen Ju believed that she would understand her implication of ¡± <em>if you want something, you must offer me something in return.¡±</em>


    ¡°You¡¯re wasting your time. She won¡¯t go to Nond,¡± Maid Lotus answered coldly, but her interest was aroused.


    Thousands of miles away in the Land of Fragrance, Shangguan Ru was thinking about the invitation, too. She, indeed, did not want to go to Nond. The Land of Fragrance was not subject to the jurisdiction of Nond. She did not have to please the wives of the Khan. In addition, she was concerned that if she epted the invitation, people might think she wanted to be the ruler of the country. She did not want that to happen.


    Old Man Mu kept his promise and stopped killing in Xiaoyao Lake. He had been released from prison. At that moment, he was standing on a chair, reading through the simple letter again and again.


    ¡°You should go¡±, he said in a low voice, acting as a philosopher in front of Shangguan Ru. ¡°Not for yourself, but for the people of the Land of Fragrance, and also for the Dragon King,¡± he continued.


    The Dragon King was just another reason that she did not want to go to Nond. ¡°I¡¯ve done everything I can. He is better at martial arts than I am, and much smarter than me. He doesn¡¯t need my help,¡± she said.


    Old Man Mu shook his head while saying seriously, ¡°Not necessarily. The Dragon King is good at martial arts, but he is not the best martial artist in the world. He is very smart, but sometimes he can be too smart for his own good. I believe he must have made detailed ns for his trip to Nond, but I¡¯m worried that something could happen, unexpectedly. He may fall into a trap and need your help,¡± he said.


    ¡°If something can trap the Dragon King, then it¡¯s beyond my help,¡± Shangguan Ru answered.


    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for your help, the Dragon King would have suffered a crushing defeat at the seaside slope battle,¡± Old Man Mu reminded her.


    ¡°That was all his idea, I just¡­ forget it. I don¡¯t want to go to Nond,¡± she said.


    Old Man Mu knew that the good girl could be very stubborn. He changed the strategy and said, ¡°Well, let¡¯s forget about the Dragon King¡¯s life. But what about the people of the Land of Fragrance? You don¡¯t care about them, either?¡±


    ¡°Nond¡¯s power can¡¯t reach here,¡± Shangguan Ru answered.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, if the Land of Fragrance was still a legend like before. But now the situation is different, and the Dragon King is to me. He sent women to the battlefield, causing the Land of Fragrance to be famous all over the world. Originally we only needed to defend against a few wolves around us, but now lions and tigers are on their way,¡± Old Man Mu warned.


    Shangguan Ru said nothing. Old Man Mu decided to strike while the iron was hot. ¡°The second wife of the Khan has invited queens and princesses from all over the world. In fact, you are the most important guest. If you don¡¯t go, you will offend powerful countries. On top of that, people will think that you are taking the time to train more women soldiers in the Land of Fragrance to help the Dragon King in the field,¡± he said.


    ¡± I¡¯m not¡­¡± began Shangguan Ru.


    ¡°I said that¡¯s what other people will think. If you don¡¯t show up, they will believe that. So, you need to give a little exnation,¡± Old Man Mu said.


    ¡°You seem to want to go to Nond very much,¡± she said.


    ¡°Nond is kind of my hometown. But if you¡¯re suspicious of me, just lock me up in the dungeon again. I don¡¯t have to go with you,¡± he said.


    Old Man Mu prayed in his heart, <em>¡°Good girl, you must take me there. My freedom for the rest of my life depends upon this trip.¡±</em>


    ( End of this Volume )

 Chapter 525 - Pass

    Chapter 525: Pass


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Nu looked old. Gu Shenwei was surprised to find that time had been so cruel to him.


    Shangguan Nu was around the age of thirty, but he looked even older than the Supreme King with sunken eyes surrounded by dark circles and a forehead engraved with deep lines. He often looked around in paranoia, as if living in fear.


    He had a reason to be scared.


    After betraying his father and killing Bighead Kingpin, Shangguan Nu had escaped to the Central in. However, the politics of the Central in were moreplex than those of Golden Roc Fort. He felt trapped and helpless, and lived every day in fear .


    At first, he did receive some benefits from killing Bighead Kingpin, his father-inw. At that time the Supreme King still needed him to maintain a good rtionship with the Central in. Both the Supreme King and the Ambassador Officer of the Central in treated him well and made some attractive promises. However, the Supreme King¡¯s ambition soon swelled, and he wanted to annex the whole Western Region. From that point on, Shangguan Nu lost his value to the Supreme King.


    Although the Central in did not need him anymore, they did not kill him or desert him right away. Instead, they started to attach less importance to him.


    At first, Shangguan Nu followed the troops to the easternmost Lon Kingdom since there was only a desert between it and the border of the Central in. Shangguan Nu was appointed as an advisor to the Commanding Officer of the Western Region. He epted the appointment happily, assuming he would soon be admitted into the Central in and ignoring any ominous sign about it at all.


    The Commanding Officer was transferred back to the Central in without taking Shangguan Nu with him. He told Shangguan Nu, ¡°You need to be patient. If you go to the Central in now, you won¡¯t get anything.¡±


    Shangguan Nu could not believe that he would get nothing after paying such a big price. ¡°I have done so much for the Central in¡­¡± he said.


    The Commanding Officer said, ¡°I know that, but the court does not. Put yourself in the Court¡¯s shoes ¡ª the ministers are thousands of miles away. They learn everything through official documents. You said you¡¯ve done a lot, but the fact is that the Supreme King still sides with Nond.¡±


    Heforted Shangguan Nu saying, ¡°But don¡¯t worry. The Central in values its position as the master of the world. You have made your contribution, and you will be rewarded. After I return, I¡¯ll report your merits to my superiors and try my best to get you transferred to the Central in at the right time.¡±


    <em>¡°When is the right time? Maybe it will be when I have been assassinated by the Golden Roc killer,¡± </em>Shangguan Nu thought to himself.


    Since then, Shangguan Nu had been living in fear of the Golden Roc killer. Any news of the progress of the Golden Roc Army only increased his panic and regrets.


    Within a year, Shangguan Nu looked ten years older than his actual age.


    Although he was the advisor of Wei Song, the new Commanding Officer of the Western Region, Shangguan Nu seldom had a chance to talk to him. He could note up with anything of value to please his boss,and finally realized that he had made a terrible mistake by giving away all of his value all at once.


    No word had evere from thest Commanding Officer, either. Shangguan Nu had sent many letters to him, but received nothing in response.


    Then all of a sudden, the Commanding Officer took the initiative to contact him, but he did not know he was going to die because of it.


    He was assigned a simple task. He was asked to deliver a letter to the General in Jade City in the west. The letter was to protest against their troops¡¯ harassment of a group of the Central in¡¯s messengers.


    The Officer contacted him to exin the real task, saying, ¡°Your true mission is to inspect the details of their garrison troops. You are the best candidate for this task because you are familiar with the area.¡± In actuality, this task was nothing short of turning him over to Golden Roc Fort.


    However, it was not Golden Roc Fort that the Commanding Officer had intended to turn him over to ¡ª it was actually the Dragon King. Shangguan Nu did not realize this until he had reached the Tongtian Pass.


    The Tongtian Pass had beenpleted in less than a year. It was one of the two portals of Jade City, and also the main way to Nond. It was named Tongtian Pass, meaning ¡°way to heaven¡±.


    Gu Shenwei was very familiar with this ce¡ªhe had been sold as a ve on this road. To the west, which was less than a day¡¯s journey, was the Gu family¡¯s former manor and the Great Snowmountain encampment.


    Escorted by an army of 3,000 soldiers, Gu Shenwei arrived at the Tongtian Pass in early May. It had been almost 2 months since he had epted the negotiation invitation from Nond.


    A lot of things had to be taken care of before he started. The first important thing was his safety. A detailed n had to be made. Zhong Heng and Dugu Xian had been busy meeting Nond messengers of all ranks to discuss the details rted to the negotiation.


    A Nond prince, whose identity had been verified by Dugu Xian, had been sent as a hostage to the Dragon Army encampment in Shu-lik. A truce order was issued by Golden Roc Fort in the name of the Supreme King, promising that the Dragon King would not be harmed by the Golden Roc Fort during his entire visit. The Golden Roc Fort even promised that it would not carry out any assassinations on anyone.


    The assassination business of Golden Roc Fort was temporarily put on hold.


    Gu Shenwei started from Xiaoyao Lake, passed through the Northwest Passage and arrived in Shu-lik, where he inspected the barracks of Right General Shang Liao. Then, he personally picked 3,000 soldiers to escort himself to the Tongtian Pass.


    Shang Liao had established a solid military base in the desert area southeast of Shu-lik.


    The army had been transferred from Xiaoyao Lake step-by-step. The scale of each transfer had depended on the water supply along the way, the reserves of provisions and fodder in Shu-lik, and the attitude of Nond.


    Shu-lik had been conquered. However, the influence of the Royal Family still existed. The Crown Prince of Shu-lik had kept in touch with local forces in his country, and these people all supported him to restore the country. They were willing to offer everything but troops, because they were afraid of standing against the Nond Cavalry.


    The Crown Prince had set up several bases in the south, where the enemy¡¯s forces wereparatively weak. Enough provisions and fodder to feed tens of thousands of people for a year had been secretly hoarded in these bases.


    To enter Shu-lik, the biggest obstacle for the Dragon Army was not the Gobi Desert, but Nond.


    Nond considered Shu-lik as its own and would not share it with others. Dugu Xian had to personally negotiate with Nond many times before they finally agreed to allow 8,000 of the Dragon Army into Shu-lik.


    Nond thought that 8,000 soldiers would not cause a threat to them. Even if something went wrong, 8,000 Dragon Army soldiers could be suppressed easily by the Nond troops.


    Shang Liao, Commander of Shu-lik¡¯s Restoration Army, advised the Dragon King, ¡°We need at least 30,000 soldiers in Shu-lik to defeat the Nond Cavalry here. To put 8,000 soldiers in a war against the Nond Cavalry is suicide. And it will take too long to send a rescue army with over 20,000 soldiers through the narrow path in Xiaoyao Lake.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was well aware of the risks of all of this. He promised to solve the problem before he returned from Nond, ¡°Build a secure camp. I hope you can hold it for at least a month once the enemy attacks,¡± he said.


    Among the 8,000-soldier army, 6,000 were Golden Roc soldiers who had surrendered, and most of them Shu-lik folks. The remaining 2,000 were trustworthy soldiers, including the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, the soldiers from the Land of Fragrance, and the Dragon King¡¯s most trusted 1,000 guard troops.


    The 1,000 guard soldiers were at Wu Zongheng¡¯smand. After a short stay in the capital of the Kang Kingdom, this army marched directly on Shu-lik. When Shang Liao and the other soldiers saw theming, they were much more relieved, believing that the Dragon King had not abandoned them.


    Gu Shenwei stayed for a few days in the military barracks of the Restoration Army. He had met with all of the high-ranking officers, ranging from those of the top ranks to themanders of only dozens. He had also met with the Nond Prince being held hostage.


    The Khan had dozens of sons. The Prince being held hostage was one of them. He was an arrogant man in his thirties who acted as if he was not a hostage, but a guest in the Army. Further, he disdained the strength of the Restoration Army.


    Gu Shenwei was almost sure that the Prince was one of the Khan¡¯s favorite sons, which made him an even better hostage.


    Gu Shenwei made a smart decision. Instead of using his guard troops, he appointed 3,000 Shu-lik soldiers as his escort army to the Tongtian Pass. After spending a few days with the Dragon King, the Shu-lik soldiers considered themselves as part of the Dragon Army ¡ª not fighting for Shang Liao, not fighting for the Crown Prince, but fighting for the Dragon King.


    All of this was owing to an incident on the way to the Tongtian Pass. When they were less than 30 miles from the Tongtian Pass, a coalition force of Nond and Golden Roc Fort soldiers stopped them, saying only the Dragon King and his attendants could pass.


    It was unknown who had initiated the interception. Maybe it was Nond, who wanted to test the Dragon King, or maybe it was Golden Roc Fort, who wanted to take revenge after the seaside slope fiasco. Maybe it was both of them, working together to y tough.


    The Dragon King¡¯s soldiers were indignant. Dugu Xian argued with the other side. He told them, ording to the agreement, the Dragon King could take 3,000 soldiers to the Tongtian Pass, and then the Nond Cavalry would escort him further.


    The chief of the coalition force was a demaster from Golden Roc Fort. He replied with a straight face, pointing in the direction of the Tongtian Pass and saying, ¡°Now that you¡¯ve seen it, you can go back.¡±


    Dugu Xian¡¯s face turned pale with anger. He waved his only arm, demanding to speak to the Nond General. A group of Golden Roc killers in soldiers¡¯ costumes blocked his way.


    Gu Shenwei rode over. When he saw the way the demaster stood and held his knife, as well as the other killers at his back, he immediately realized that this was a very experienced killer with high martial art skills.


    So, he drew his sword immediately after he dismounted.


    It was just a basic sword move, but it was quite unexpected. The demaster did not expect the Dragon King would resort to force without a word during a truce, especially since the coalition forces outnumbered the Dragon King¡¯s men.


    The demaster flopped down to the ground, with his hand still holding the hilt. Although he had high martial art skills, it was toote for him to strike back once he had lost the opportunity to strike first.


    More than 20 killers pulled out their knives all at once.


    Dugu Xian was too shocked to say anything.


    Only one person present immediately understood the Dragon King¡¯s intentions. He urged his horse to stay between the Dragon King and the killers, shouting, ¡°The Supreme King promised not to harm the Dragon King. Who dares to disobey his orders?¡±


    Many people recognized this man as Shangguan Fei, the son of the Supreme King. ncing at the dead demaster, Shangguan Fei continued, ¡°But the Dragon King never promised he would not kill. The Dragon King is an honored guest in Nond. Whoever dares to get in his way deserves to die.¡±


    The focus of the negotiation had been on ensuring the safety of the Dragon King. Both Nond and Golden Roc Fort had neglected to have the Dragon King make correspondingmitments.


    Gu Shenwei got back on his horse and ordered his army to move forward.


    The Nond troops retreated first, and then the Golden Roc Army stepped aside to let the Dragon Army pass.


    As soon as Gu Shenwei arrived at the Tongtian Pass, an envoy from Nond came to apologize for the road blocking incident, and then asked for a supplementary agreement. From that point on, the Dragon King was bound to the samemitment, too.


    3,000 of the Dragon Army stayed overnight outside the Tongtian Pass and returned the same way they hade early the next morning. Excited, they greatly exaggerated the scene of the Dragon King killing when they reached the southern camp.


    Rumors always spread fast. Before Gu Shenwei entered the Nond border, the story of the Dragon King singlehandedly killing dozens of killers had spread across the grasnds.


    When Shangguan Nu heard the news, he realized that he was a gift from Wei Song to the Dragon King.

 Chapter 526 - Mark

    Chapter 526: Mark


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Nu still remembered that afternoon. The youth had been practicing desmanship. He turned around, anger and hatred emerging on his face. For a second, it seemed that he was about to dive at Shangguan Nu, but he quickly managed to collect himself as a servant.


    They were not well-matched at all in those days. Today, the situation was still the same, only the stronger one had be the weaker one.


    <em>¡°He used to be my servant.¡± </em>Shangguan Nu reminded himself. He walked into the Dragon King¡¯s room, stood upright, and did not offer his salute. He just stood there, and for a moment, it seemed that he had be the cocky Eighth Young Master again.


    The Dragon King had invited him. He thought that since he could not run away, he might as well pay him a visit. After all, he had no one on his side now. If it was not the Dragon King, Golden Roc Fort would try to capture him as well.


    At thest moment, the fear of death faded away.


    Gu Shenwei never considered Shangguan Nu his master. Seeing Shangguan Nu¡¯s face, he was surprised by how old he looked. ¡°Long time no see. I¡¯m d that you¡¯re alive.¡±


    Shangguan Nu failed to understand the words at first, but then he realized that the Dragon King was threatening him. ¡°You just promised that you wouldn¡¯t kill anyone in Nond.¡±


    Before walking in, Shangguan Nu expected himself to be calm. However, the moment he opened his mouth, he was searching for justifications to keep him alive.


    Gu Shenwei had just spoken with the Nond messenger. The messenger tried to close a loophole in the agreement by forbidding the Dragon King from killing randomly in public. Thus, Shangguan Nu would never try to provoke him.


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Gu Shenwei admitted. Thanks to Zhang Ji¡¯s teaching and his reading in the Whiterobe Academy, he could now y with words better than most people, although the ability was often overshadowed by his killing capability. ¡°But that only applies to Nond and Golden Roc Fort. Do you still belong to Golden Roc Fort?¡±


    Shangguan Nu used to dream that he would seize Golden Roc Fort and be the Supreme King with the support of the Central ins. He thought that he was the refugee master of Stone Castle. However, when the lord showed his exceptional ambition, Shangguan Nu¡¯s dream and his faith both fell apart at the same time. He no longer belonged to Stone Castle.


    Golden Roc Fort had been his protection once upon a time. Since then, Shangguan Nu broke away from them. He did not want toin or give in. Gathering all his courage, he pulled out his saber. ¡°Come on, ve Huan, let me see if you¡¯re as capable as legend has it.¡±


    Shangguan Nu tried to provoke his opponent with an old name. Killers usually tried provocation first when they had to face an enemy.


    However, apparently he was wrong. The Dragon King remained indifferent and did not even draw his saber, as if Shangguan Nu was just a harmless kid waving his toy.


    Gu Shenwei rolled up his sleeve and revealed a brand on his right arm. It was an ugly mark, the non-erasable character ¡°Huan¡±. Regardless of their status, every Golden Roc Fort servant had the same brand but with different characters.


    ¡°I look at it every day and find it very funny how Golden Roc Fort thinks that a mark can bind people. Then, I remind myself that I¡¯ll never make the same mistake.¡±


    When they first met, Shangguan Nu did not see the excitement of an uing revenge in the Dragon King. Time had changed his face and seemed to have eroded his hatred. But now, Shangguan Nu finally saw that his hatred had been hiding under his skin. He did need not any mark of hatred on the outside.


    Shangguan Nu¡¯s left hand was shaking. He held out his right arm, showing his right hand, which had been cut off by the lord. That was his mark; however, he did not dare to look at it twice. Thest thing he wanted to do was show it to others because sometimes just a curious nce could provoke his killing desire.


    When he first stepped into the room, he had expected to see a servant. Now, he had lost all his confidence. He was not only weaker than him in Kung Fu, but also in willpower. It urred to him that maybe his failure was due to his weak willpower.


    He was not ambitious enough. His wish to return to Golden Roc Fort as the Supreme King was pettypared to his father¡¯s ambition.


    His hatred was not deep enough, he even avoided the fact that his hand was cut off. Before the Dragon King¡¯s mountain-like hatred, he was like a small rock. Even just a small force would drive him away.


    Shangguan Nu suddenly realized something. Then heughed hysterically with both madness and sadness. When he stopped, he said, ¡°Killing a man doesn¡¯t have to beplicated. Killing and being killed is actually the same thing. I don¡¯t want toin, and I don¡¯t need any teaching from you.¡±


    ¡°What if I have a ¡®teaching¡¯ that can keep you alive?¡± Gu Shenwei remained calm no matter how his opponent acted. However, Shangguan Nu could not contain himself anymore. He was no longer a killer.


    Shangguan Nu knew that the Dragon King would say something like this. He lowered his saber and stood upright, as if he were a few years younger. ¡°Zhong Heng asked me; two Commanding Officers asked me; many people asked me. My answer is still the same: I won¡¯t tell you who was behind your family¡¯s massacre. Even in front of the King of Hell, even if I have to suffer the entirety of hell¡¯s punishment, I won¡¯t tell.¡±


    During a mission, Golden Roc killers did everything to kill their target, and when the mission waspleted, loyalty came first. The killers had to be loyal to Stone Castle to keep their employers¡¯ secrets.


    In the seaside slope battle, even though they would be beheaded by Stone Castle, the killers still carried Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s corpse to the Supreme King. They probably had been thinking the same as Shangguan Nu was now.


    That kind of loyalty was traced back to the first day they entered Golden Roc Fort. After years of enving education, loyalty was branded on their hearts.


    Maybe it was hisst bit of pride. Shangguan Nu had lost everything¡ªhis identity, status, Kung Fu, and ambitions. Pride was the only thing he had left.


    Even so, as long as one used the right kind of methods, you could open up a killer¡¯s mouth. Gu Shenwei had been sessful. It was hard to erase the brand on one¡¯s heart, but it was possible.


    ¡°You won¡¯t tell me because you don¡¯t know.¡± Gu Shenwei broke in and continued, ¡°Because, in Shangguan Fa¡¯s eyes, you¡¯re too ordinary. You¡¯re just a demaster, a tool for his missions. He uses you and doesn¡¯t feel the need to tell you important secrets.¡±


    Shangguan Nu¡¯s face seemed to be on fire. The Dragon King was right. His father¡¯s contempt greatly influenced his fate. Deep down in his heart, he dreamed that his father would cry in front of him, saying that he had misjudged his Eighth Son.


    It was his deepest secret, but the Dragon King had just blurted it out.


    Shangguan Nu brandished his saber.


    It was a strong strike. Time had eroded his looks and mood, but strengthened his saber and arm. Shangguan Nu was in his 30s and had the best physique. His left hand already surpassed the missing right hand after years of practice.


    Finally, he saw the legendary Dragon King¡¯s machete skills. They were simple and fast. One who did not practice Kung Fu would consider them ordinary, and only experienced killers could appreciate them.


    Machete skills were just one aspect. Other important qualities of Kung Fu, such as vignce and timing, could not be acquired by solely practicing machete skills.


    Sometimes, being ¡°fast¡± could be deceptive. A well-timed strike would give one the impression of being slow. It was like catching flies¡ªa random catch seemed faster than aimlessly swinging your hands in the air, even though the former could have just been lucky.


    A real Kung Fu master could turn luck into certainty. He could keep the blessing forever with him.


    Shangguan Nu thought that luck had never liked him.


    His saber fell to the ground and he staggered backward, losing hisst bit of confidence. And as the fear of death crept in, he began to savor hisst moment.


    His blood ran cold and seemed to be pouring out through arge hole. He looked for the scar, but could not find it.


    Gu Shenwei walked toward Shangguan Nu andy the Five Peaks Saber t on his shoulder.


    Shangguan Nu knelt down involuntarily, hisst shred of pride finally lost. He was in a daze and could not help looking at the Dragon King. He moved his lips, as if he was going to beg for mercy. However, he did not say a word, but swallowed something in the end.


    Gu Shenwei put a pill into his mouth and stepped back, saying, ¡°I¡¯ll let you live today. Next time, I¡¯ll kill you.¡±


    It took Shangguan Nu a while to understand the Dragon King¡¯s words. Then, he scrambled back to his ce on all fours. He shivered on his bed and did not even think what that pill might have been.


    This was his real self, and Shangguan Nu hated it.


    Gu Shenwei had not released Shangguan Nu out of pity, but because of his agreement with Wei Song. Pity was an emotion he had abandoned long ago.


    Wei Song arranged for them to meet, but he could only take Shangguan Nu¡¯s life after Khan had been assassinated. Any early action meant the end of the agreement.


    Though the hatred grew stronger, Gu Shenwei controlled it better than before. Imminent and long-term benefits were always contradictory, and by now he had learned how to make something a priority.


    Like Wei Song, Shangguan Nu could not run away from Gu Shenwei either. If Gu Shenwei wanted to kill them, he could make them knock on his door, even if they were a thousand miles away.


    Just after Shangguan Nu ran out, the guards reported that Shangguan Fei had requested to meet him.


    Shangguan Fei looked surprised. ¡°Is that my Eighth Brother? How did he¡­ He¡¯s changed a lot, I bet my Eighth Sister-inw wouldn¡¯t even look at him.¡±


    Shangguan Fei always thought little of family ties. He felt more surprise than sympathy toward his Eighth Brother Shangguan Nu.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Gu Shenwei did not remember summoning him.


    ¡°What a coincidence! Shangguan Yun is here and wants to visit Nond. He wants to travel with us.¡± Shangguan Fei acted as their messenger. He was used to the role and did not even need to exin when delivering messages.


    ¡°Great.¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Yun brought another person, Zhang Ji, who used to teach at the school. I don¡¯t know if Your Majesty remembers him. He used to be cocky, and now he¡¯s more arrogant than ever, saying ¡®Bring that Dragon King to me, I want to meet him¡¯. Funny, right?¡±


    On the contrary, Gu Shenwei did not find it funny at all. He became even more vignt than when he faced the armed Shangguan Nu.

 Chapter 527 - Favor

    Chapter 527: Favor


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    ¡°No, I quit drinking a long time ago.¡±


    Zhang Ji might have been the only one in the world that could bring the Dragon King to his door easily. However, Zhang Ji still gave his salute at the door, waiting for the Dragon King. When the Dragon King was approaching, Zhang Ji immediately spotted the wine jars in the arms of the guard.


    There was a time when Gu Shenwei regrly had people send wine to Zhang Ji as a gesture of respect. And now, he continued that practice. ¡°What a shame! Those are Nu¡¯er Hong from the Central ins; they¡¯re not often seen in the market now.¡±


    Since the war began, the roads to the Central ins had been blocked, and goods from the Central ins were no longer avable. These expensive jars of wine had been stored in a tavern in Jade City. Gu Shenwei hardly drank; he bought a few of them because he heard that the Nond people were all good drinkers. He was going to present them as gifts on certain asions.


    Zhang Ji was tall and had a serious face. He was used to the absolute power at the school, even the Supreme King¡¯s sons and daughters were afraid of him. Now he licked his lips and was acting reluctantly. ¡°You¡¯re the distinguished guest; it would be impolite to decline. Put it down, we can all share.¡±


    It was a small party. The guard put down the jars, made his salute, and left. Five people sat at a round table.


    Zhang Ji took the seat of the host. On the left were Shangguan Yun and Shangguan Fei, and on the right were the Dragon King and Maid Lotus.


    At first, the atmosphere was a bit awkward. Shangguan Fei felt out of ce like a double agent sitting between his two masters, restlessly.


    Shangguan Yun still wore thatzy look with a tired smile. He deliberately avoided Maid Lotus¡¯s eyes because he still recalled how miserable he was when Maid Lotus hunted him in those days.


    Maid Lotus found it puzzling that she had been invited. No matter where she was, she always looked indifferent as if everyone around her did not exist. For example, she did not even lift up her chopsticks now.


    Only Zhang Ji and Gu Shenwei chatted casually, without the slightest bit of intensity that existed between enemies.


    Zhang Ji picked up his ss and gulped the wine down, smacking his lips. ¡°Good wine. He who makes this kind of wine should be beheaded, in case he uses it to seduce people.¡±


    Then, he looked disapprovingly at the ss. Putting it away, he fetched arge bowl. Shangguan Yun immediately filled the bowl.


    ¡°Today¡¯s an exception. If you should give me more of this wine, I might betray Golden Roc Fort and fight for you.¡±


    ¡°That would be most wee.¡± Gu Shenwei did not take it seriously, while Shangguan Yun turned his head, looking slightly displeased.


    Zhang Ji gulped down a few bowls of wine in a row. When his appetite was finally satisfied, he started to get into the business. Looking at Maid Lotus, he said, ¡°You¡¯re enemies, but you¡¯re all somebodiesing from Stone Castle.¡±


    Maid Lotus did not look up or speak, while Shangguan Fei giggled.


    Zhang Ji looked at Shangguan Fei sternly. ¡°Yes, I take you as a somebody because you¡¯re theziest and most shameless guy in Stone Castle.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s face immediately flushed. Though he was still afraid of Zhang Ji, he would not respect Zhang Ji as the Dragon King did. ¡°How¡­ how could you insult me? I¡¯ve broken away from the Shangguan family.¡±


    Shangguan Yun came to the rescue with a smile. ¡°Mister Zhang is right, but I¡¯ll be the ziest¡¯; moreover, I¡¯m also the ¡®most despicable¡¯.¡±


    The atmosphere was eased immediately, and Gu Shenwei broke in as well. ¡°Then I guess I¡¯m the ¡®most sinister¡¯.¡±


    These derogatory words could also be used to praise people. Shangguan Fei became delighted. He pointed at Maid Lotus and said, ¡°I know what she is¡­ the most ¡®vicious¡¯.¡±


    As Maid Lotus red at him, Shangguan Fei added at once, ¡°And the most beautiful.¡± Then, he turned to Zhang Ji. ¡°Mister Zhang has to im one word as well.¡±


    Zhang Ji put his palms on the table and sighed. ¡°Well, I have no talent. I deem myself the most ¡®thick-skinned¡¯.¡±


    Shangguan Fei did not think that the word was appropriate at all and added, ¡°How could Mister Zhang be the most ¡®thick-skinned¡¯? That should be Shangguan Hong. As long as you feed him, he¡¯ll be your dog.¡±


    Zhang Ji snorted. He once pretended to assist Shangguan Hong but abandoned him in the end. In his eyes, Master Hong was never a somebody. ¡°I¡¯m the most thick-skinned because even though we¡¯re enemies, I still have the audacity to ask a favor from the Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei respected Zhang Ji. Under the guidance of Zhang Ji, he quit being a killer and stepped into the Great Snowmountain. He decided to seek his revenge by bing the sovereign of the Western Regions. Looking back, he realized that Zhang Ji had been more than an ordinary teacher to him.


    ¡°Please go ahead, Mister Zhang. Your student must obey.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not my student, you¡¯re the Dragon King.¡± Zhang Ji stood up and returned a salute. ¡°Thank you for treating me as a ¡®teacher¡¯, and especially for your wine. It has been my best meal this year.¡±


    Gu Shenwei helped Zhang Ji sit down. When Zhang Ji mentioned ¡°favor¡±, he guessed what Zhang Ji wanted, more or less.


    As expected, Zhang Ji cast his eyes on Maid Lotus again. ¡°I hope Maid Lotus can stop pursuing Cloud King Shangguan Yun.¡±


    Maid Lotus remained silent, as if she had not been spoken to.


    ¡°I thought that we have achieved a truce in Nond. As forter, we¡¯ll still be enemies,¡± Gu Shenwei answered on her behalf.


    ¡°Forget about the future, I just hope Maid Lotus can stop her pursuit during this time.¡± Zhang Ji naturally would not expect so much as making the Dragon King and Maid Lotus stop forever. ¡°I noticed that the agreement is among Nond, Golden Roc Fort, and the Dragon King. New Moon Hall isn¡¯t included.¡±


    Maid Lotus was both the Dragon King¡¯s personal guard and the New Moon Hall¡¯s Managing Master. Most people valued that first identity, while Zhang Ji cared about thetter title.


    Gu Shenwei recalled that Zhang Ji detested and despised New Moon Hall¡¯s methods. He was surprised that Zhang Ji took Maid Lotus so seriously today.


    When Zhang Ji mentioned New Moon Hall, Gu Shenwei was not able to defend Maid Lotus anymore. The Dragon Army coborated with New Moon Hall. But that did not include meddling in the other¡¯s internal affairs.


    Zhang Ji was really thick-skinned. When all was said and done, he was actually asking a favor from Maid Lotus.


    It was no wonder that Shangguan Yun had been looking so awkward. Being the ¡°Cloud King¡±, he had to be very embarrassed to ask a woman to spare him. Even being the ¡°most despicable¡±, he could not help blushing.


    Finally, Maid Lotus seemed to feel everyone¡¯s gazes on her. She raised her head and spoke for the first time. ¡°If he apologizes, I can spare him temporarily.¡±


    Zhang Ji imed to be ¡°thick-skinned¡±, but it turned out that he was trying to please Maid Lotus. Who would have known that she would be so rude as to suggest that?


    Shangguan Fei had no business here. He observed them secretly with excitement in his heart. He med himself for not having recognized the crafty Zhang Ji earlier. It was no wonder that the Supreme King, Dragon King, and Cloud King all respected him so much.


    Zhang Ji turned to Shangguan Yun and scolded thetter sternly like a teacher holding a ruler to his student. ¡°Apologize to Maid Lotus.¡±


    Shangguan Yun was really blushing this time, but he managed to cover it up with a smile. He stood up, raised his ss, and slightly bowed to Maid Lotus. ¡°It¡¯s all my fault that I let subordinates treat you disrespectfully in Wushan. Would you please be so kind as to forgive me?¡±


    Maid Lotus stood up as well. She stayed silent and sipped from her ss as a gesture of eptance.


    Shangguan Yun gulped it down and looked calmer. He said with a smile, ¡°I remember that Maid Lotus said I¡¯d regret not killing her. To be honest, I really regretted it.¡±


    ¡°But you won¡¯t regret your apology today,¡± Maid Lotus replied.


    Zhang Ji ignored their little spat and pped his hands. ¡°OK, it turns out that being thick-skinned is really helpful. Cloud King, you should thank the Dragon King. Without him, Maid Lotus wouldn¡¯t have let you off.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Dragon King. It¡¯s a shame that you don¡¯t drink; otherwise, I¡¯d propose a toast to you.¡±


    ¡°As Mister Zhang said, today¡¯s an exception.¡± Gu Shenwei raised his ss, checked the wine, and drank it.


    Shangguan Yun raised his eyebrows and fetched a bowl as Zhang Ji did. Then, he gulped it down. ¡°The Dragon King is really broad-minded.¡±


    While the chemistry was good, Shangguan Fei knew what he was. He was the negotiator between them. None of them trusted him but they had to use him. On such asions, his mission was to use his quick wit to break the ice.


    Shangguan Fei had sessfullypleted the task.


    Maid Lotus was still silent, but her face lit up a little. After a couple of drinks, her glowing face seemed lovely.


    Shangguan Yun was really surprised to find that when his Ninth Brother called Maid Lotus the ¡°most beautiful¡±, he had not been merely ttering her.


    It was evening when the party was drawing to an end. Zhang Ji seemed to care about Maid Lotus very much today. When he stood up to leave, he spoke to her again. ¡°Since we¡¯re having a truce, you¡¯ll have a good rest and stop watching Cloud King for tonight, right?¡±


    ¡°I suppose I¡¯ll be too tipsy to do that.¡± Seldom had Maid Lotus spoken as straightforward as she did now. Shangguan Fei was stunned again.


    Gu Shenwei found it surprising as well. Shangguan Yun and hispanions arrivedst night, and Maid Lotus never mentioned that she would watch them.


    The five people merrily separated. People who spotted them were shocked and spread various absurd rumors that night.


    Maid Lotus went to rest, while Shangguan Fei could not sleep. He wanted to talk to someone. He especially wanted to talk to the Dragon King. Without an invitation, he directly followed the Dragon King into the room and quickly came up with an excuse to stay. ¡°Everyone used their unique skills at the party.¡±


    ¡°Well, what did you see?¡± Gu Shenwei happened to need to organize his thoughts with someone else.


    ¡°Zhang Ji and Shangguan Yun must have been plotting a big n, otherwise they wouldn¡¯t have begged Maid Lotus.¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡±


    ¡°Maid Lotus deliberately embarrassed Shangguan Yun to see how much they were willing to pay. The more they would pay, the bigger the plot is.¡±


    ¡°Zhang Ji doesn¡¯t appreciate you for nothing.¡±


    Shangguan Fei sighed. He wished he had received the teacher¡¯s guidance earlier so that he would not have to drift through jianghu now. ¡°But what¡¯s their big n? I think my lord must have already known it at the party table.¡±


    ¡°If you were any smarter, I¡¯d have to kill you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not answer Shangguan Fei¡¯s question. He certainly had guessed Zhang Ji and Shangguan Yun¡¯s n because, just like him, they wanted a share when Nond fell apart. It was their methods that differed.


    They were still enemies; they just switched to other battlefields and changed methods.

 Chapter 528 - Woman

    Chapter 528: Woman


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Zhang Ji and Shangguan Yun¡¯s big n soon revealed itself.


    It was not suitable for women toe along during the trip to Nond. Gu Shenwei chose Maid Lotus, Chu Nanping, Long Fanyun, and Shangguan Fei, along with 50 guards. Maid Lotus brought one-and-a-half New Moon Hall disciples.


    The one disciple was Han Fen. Although she was talkative, she spared no effort delivering the Managing Master¡¯s orders. Most of the time, she hid like Maid Lotus and showed up only when it was necessary.


    The half-disciple was Han Xuan. Actually, nobody had asked her toe along. However, she saw no danger in letting Miss Ming Zhen stay alone in the royal pce, so she sneaked out for this adventure. Thus, without any prior consent or permission, she quietly joined the Dragon King¡¯s procession on her horse. Many people hade to see them off, therefore no one paid much attention to her. The people thought she was merely sticking around because of her best friend, Han Fen.


    At the Tongtian Pass, all of the well-wishers had returned, only she remained. Han Fen was touched, so she held Han Xuan¡¯s hand and tried to persuade her. ¡°Go back, we¡¯ll separate here. The next time you go on a trip, I¡¯ll apany you farther than you have today.¡±


    ¡°Go back? To where? I¡¯m going to Nond with you.¡±


    Han Fen had a one-track mind, but she was a New Moon Hall disciple and following rules was in her blood. Han Xuan¡¯s recklessness really shocked her. ¡°But¡­ but do the Dragon King and the Managing Master know?¡±


    ¡°Who knows? They¡¯re smart, they can probably guess.¡±


    Han Fen decided to report it, so she fetched Maid Lotus. In front of the New Moon Hall Managing Master, Han Xuan appeared more justified in exining her recklessness. ¡°No, I won¡¯t go back. Look at your team, they¡¯re all kids. I have to look after them. What if you push Han Fen into a fire and she doesn¡¯t fight back? I¡¯m the one who will save her!¡±


    Maid Lotus had ditched herpany in a mineshaft. Han Fen soon forgot about it, but Han Xuan was constantly upset about it.


    Han Fen was both touched and shocked to the bone by her best friend¡¯s kindness. Han Fen would not dream of being so disrespectful to the Managing Master.


    More surprisingly, the Managing Master approved. ¡°You¡¯re a half-disciple of New Moon Hall. From now on, you obey my orders.¡±


    ¡°Normal orders, yes; into a fire, no.¡±


    Maid Lotus did not take offense or give orders to her, but let Han Xuan wander on her own in the procession.


    This half-disciple was more conspicuous than any other disciple. She failed to understand the rules or the necessity of concealing herself. She rode around on her horse and yfully plucked Han Fen from the team. Finally, if she was really bored, she would talk to whichever stranger, familiar or not, in the name of gathering intelligence.


    Therefore, Han Xuan became out of tune with the messenger team. No one could see how this woman was necessary, but they never revealed an obvious surprise for the sake of the Dragon King.


    However, it was the seemingly unwanted Han Xuan who discovered something strange in Golden Roc Fort¡¯s team.


    Actually, Golden Roc Fort did not bother to hide. Golden Roc Fort and the Dragon Army had seemingly reached a truce, yet they were like cats and dogs. They even avoided each others¡¯ eyes to prevent any unnecessary spection. Moreover, the two teams were separated by the Nond cavalry in between them. On the first day of the journey, Gu Shenwei did not obtain a single piece of information.


    Nevertheless, Han Xuan was an exception. During her ¡°intelligence gathering¡±, she first inspected her team of more than 50 people, then a few hundred Nond guard cavalrymen, who always teased her with ¡°intelligence¡± that she could not quite understand. And Han Xuan had to cross through them to get into Golden Roc Fort¡¯s team.


    Soon after, she was kicked out. Thus, she rode up to the Dragon King¡¯s side. ¡°No wonder you hate Golden Roc Fort, they¡¯re indeed lousypany.¡±


    ¡°Yes, they are.¡± Other people put up with Han Xuan for his sake, while the Dragon King himself had kept the strange woman because of Maid Lotus.


    ¡°Golden Roc Fort outnumbers us. There are 106 of them. But don¡¯t worry; I can take four or five of them at one time. You and Maid Lotus can take five or six respectively. The odds are in our favor.


    ¡°We have a truce.¡±


    ¡°For real?¡± Han Xuan asked out loud. ¡°I thought it was just a rumor. I¡¯ve prepared all kinds of plots and schemes. And you just quit?¡±


    It was only half a day since they left the Tongtian Pass and Gu Shenwei was beginning to think about ditching her. For example, he could tie her up and throw her into the grass in the middle of the night. Some passer-by would save her. And when she asked about itter, he would me it on Golden Roc Fort.


    ¡°You can¡¯t mess around with everything.¡± However, it could only be in his imagination. Han Xuan had shown her face in the Dragon King¡¯s team. She probably could not make it to Xiaoyao Lake alive.


    Han Xuan nodded seriously. ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d better¡­ go hide with Han Fen.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°There are many men in the procession and the Nond men are up to no good. Aren¡¯t you afraid?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s there to be afraid of? Moreover, there are many other women besides men in the team. Maid Lotus, Han Fen¡­ and Golden Roc Fort women, plenty of them.¡±


    Gu Shenwei held onto his reins. ¡°Golden Roc Fort women?¡±


    ¡°Yes, one, two, three¡­ seven of them in total, all wearing men¡¯s clothes. They drove me away immediately. However, the moment I approached them, I smelled women. Immediately, I thought that it must be ady and her six servants. After all, Golden Roc Fort is richer than Gulping Wind Gorge, so six servants for ady, veryvish!¡±


    Shangguan Fei was also riding along with them. Hearing Han Xuan¡¯s words, he looked the Dragon King in the eye and nodded, signaling that he would find out more about it.


    In the evening, Shangguan Fei rode close by the Golden Roc Fort team under the guise of expressing gratitude for the party the previous night. He insisted on throwing a party for them as well when they arrived at the Khan¡¯s royal court. After that, he got what he needed.


    ¡°Han Xuan¡¯s right. She¡¯s got a better nose than most of the men. You know who that woman is?¡± Shangguan Fei asked jokingly because he had been following the king for a long time and started to think that maybe he could act a little rxed.


    Gu Shenwei already had somewhat of an idea. ¡°The Supreme King¡¯s daughter is too old for a political marriage, maybe he sent one of his granddaughters.¡±


    It was easy for the Dragon King to guess since political marriages were pretty normal. Shangguan Fei felt a little disappointed. ¡°It¡¯s my elder brother¡¯s daughter, about 16 or 17 years old. I remember that she¡¯s just a little younger than me. Well, I don¡¯t know which old man she¡¯ll be given to. I wish it won¡¯t be the Khan, with half of his body already in the grave.¡±


    Shangguan Fei showed sympathy for his family. Gu Shenwei was surprised and gazed at Shangguan Fei thoughtfully.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong.¡± Shangguan Fei blushed as though it was something shameful. ¡°It¡¯s just that¡­ elder brother died a tragic death. His children¡­ might be better off marrying people in Nond.¡±


    Shangguan Fei and Gu Shenwei had driven the dagger together into Young Master Shangguan Chui¡¯s heart. Shangguan Fei never felt sorry about killing people, but he seemed to be unable to let go of Shangguan Chui¡¯s death.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s sympathysted only briefly. He could not even control his own life; he had no intention of interfering in somebody else¡¯s. ¡°Well, again it¡¯s getting connected through marriage. It¡¯s been long-standing, and apparently, it¡¯s effective. Can Your Majesty guess who Zhang Ji is sucking up to?¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. Before Fang Wenshi fed him with more information about Nond, he did not want to judge arbitrarily. That would be misleading.


    ¡°Women¡­ I don¡¯t understand how women can be so powerful. Can one guarantee his loyalty after marrying the Supreme King¡¯s granddaughter?¡± Shangguan Fei shook his head in doubt, casting his eyes over Long Fanyun nearby.


    The fact was women were not that powerful. Most of the time, they were special gifts, tokens of trust. What connected the two parties remained unknown to the world, so people had to focus on women and marriages.


    Gu Shenwei was getting more interested in Zhang Ji¡¯s ¡°big n¡±.


    It had only been the first day. The trip to Nond would take them nearly 20 days, so there was plenty of time for them to spy on each other.


    The Nond people lived near brooks and grasnds, they did not build cities. And where the Khan lived was the ¡°royal court¡±, like other countries¡¯ capitals.


    Nond and the Central ins were on the verge of a war. So to protect the bed-ridden Khan, the royal court was set in the center of the grasnds, away from the borders.


    There were about 500 Nond cavalrymen leading the way. Regardless of having women in the team, they rode fast. It was not that they were anxious, but they had to hurry to reach the next supply point on the same day.


    A so-called supply point was just a temporary vige in Nond. The vigers who received them warmly held the Khan¡¯s g.


    Gu Shenwei soon discovered that what Du Guxian said was right. Although there were many ethnic groups and differentnguages, all of them worshipped the Khan royals. Everywhere they went, the Khan¡¯s g was carefully preserved. Herdsmen often came from far away and worshipped the g, praying for the Khan¡¯s health and the well-being of their cows and sheep.


    The chief of the Nond cavalry was a leader of 1,000 soldiers. He also took great pride in his mother being one of the Khans and talked a lot about it, which always made the vigers jealous.


    Troops that were made up of people like that were really unlikely to be traitors, let alone pledge loyalty to other royal families.


    Thus, it left having a puppet as the only choice. The Supreme King¡¯s granddaughter was probably marrying a puppet of Golden Roc Fort.


    Gu Shenwei had a puppet also; however, Wei Song had provided the candidate. Thus, at the end of the day, it was the Central ins¡¯ puppet.


    He hoped that Fang Wenshi had built the military base during the past months. He refrained from confessing everything in letters and intended to discuss the matter in person.


    Considering the herdsmen¡¯s worship toward the Khan, Gu Shenwei decided that assassination would be a bad idea. Once word got out, no matter howrge the Dragon Army was, it would be devoured by the muchrger Nond cavalry. A safer way would be for the Khan to die naturally.


    Before finding out about Nond, Gu Shenwei¡¯s n would remain like scattered pearls. In the end, he would need a practical thread to string them together.


    Just a few of them would be sufficient, and Gu Shenwei was convinced that no one could guess his intentions, not even Zhang Ji.

 Chapter 529 - Meet

    Chapter 529: Meet


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    They had set off from the Tongtian Pass. On the 10th day of the journey, Gu Shenwei encountered Shangguan Ru.


    It was purely idental. Shangguan Ru wrote a letter saying that at the invitation of the second wife of the Khan, she would start from the Land of Fragrance, go via the northeast entrance of Xiaoyao Lake, and finally enter Nond through the Qianji Pass at the eastern border of Jade City.


    There were stories behind the name Qianji Pass. At that time, Shangguan Nu and Bighead Kingpin¡¯s coalition forces were stationed near the Jade City border. Later, it turned into a military camp of the Central ins. When the Supreme Kingunched a coup attempt, Shangguan Yun led a thousand Xiaowan Kingdom cavalrymen to raid the military camps and sessfully drove away the hidden danger at their doorstep. Then, they built a checkpoint at the mountain pass and called it ¡°Qianji Pass¡±.


    Shangguan Ru had set off earlier. When she arrived in Xiaoyao Lake, Gu Shenwei was in Shu-lik. Gu Shenwei waited for a few days on purpose so she would outrun him.


    Therefore, if everything went right, the two teams taking different routes were not supposed to meet.


    Something wrong happened during the night at the Qianji Pass. Shangguan Ru¡¯s team spent the night at the border. It was during the third watch that five intruders lurked into a tent. Before they could act, a female soldier was awakened and let out a scream that the entire checkpoint could hear.


    Thus, the intruders fled and no one was hurt. Shangguan Ru deployed more guards and all the tents soon returned to peace. However, one man became riled up and swore that he would catch those daring intruders.


    Old Man Mu said, ¡°There aren¡¯t many men in the team, I must take the responsibility.¡± And then, he scurried off and went on the hunt for five days and six nights.


    On that early morning, Shangguan Ru was already impatiently waiting. She intended to leave the next day. And that was when Old Man Mu returned.


    In front of him were five men in ragged clothes. Every 10 steps they took, they knelt down and kowtowed. Their foreheads were bleeding from it. They looked like devoted believers praying to the gods. Arriving at the encampment, they shouted hoarsely that they were animals and begged the female soldiers for forgiveness.


    Old Man Mu had captured them in one day, and during the rest of the time, he made the five of them kotow.


    The five of them were all machetemen who asionally robbed people. And upon hearing that all the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance were beautiful, they could not keep their lecherous thoughts at bay.


    They were young; otherwise, they would not have carried out the n once they heard the name.


    Old Man Mu circled the five people and kicked whoever was cutting corners on the movements. ¡°If I hadn¡¯t promised the good girl¡­¡±


    Everytime Old Man Mu blurted out that sentence, a macheteman was about to get hit. Thus, they became fearful of the ¡°good girl¡± and also hated her. They wondered what oath this wicked old man had taken.


    That was how the ¡°Queen¡± of the Land of Fragrance became known for being vicious. After being released, the five people bragged about their adventure. At first, they tried to convince people that they almost seeded, but the bumps on their foreheads greatly discredited their stories. Thus, they started to talk about how vicious the female soldiers were, hinting that their mere survival had not been easy.


    Unexpectedly, they became popr in taverns and bonfire encampments. Shangguan Ru and her 1,000 female archers had gained themselves a reputation of being ¡°vicious¡±.


    When the stories traveled to Jade City, the residents there were all quick to take the stories for granted. ¡°It¡¯s the Tenth Young Master. She tried to burn Jade City before. Who would be that desperate to mess with her?¡±


    After the seaside slope battle, the Land of Fragrance female soldiers became known for being gant, which was a stereotype that was hard to change.


    But Shangguan Ru did not ever want that to change. First, she did not care about other people¡¯s opinions; second, she was never a dainty girl. Furthermore, the reputation yielded some benefits. The 200 guarding Nond cavalrymen who were leading the way never for a second had a wild thought.


    Shangguan Ru brought 1,000 female archers, not to protect herself¡ªshe was included in the truce agreement between the Dragon King, Nond, and Golden Roc Fort¡ªbut to demonstrate at the invitation of the second wife of the Khan.


    Old Man Mu took the demonstration more seriously than Shangguan Ru. ¡°The Queen of Nond is called Yanzhi. Nond is different from other countries; it has two queens, the first Yanzhi and the second Yanzhi. The Khan usually doesn¡¯t get to choose his first wife; severalrge tribes take turns choosing the Queen for him. But for the second wife, he can choose whoever he likes.¡±


    Old Man Mu lived in northern Tianshan for years. He was familiar with Nond and had formed his own opinions. ¡°So, the second wife usually enjoys a favored position. It¡¯s said the current second-Yanzhi exceeds all previous Yanzhis. She married the Khan as a teenager, and gained a title in less than a year. She also has her own troops. It¡¯s no wonder that she¡¯s interested in you, you two would surely get along.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not my troops, I¡¯m just¡­


    ¡°¡­ breaking them in for the Dragon King. But don¡¯t you think you have imed more responsibility for them than His Majesty? The soldiers already enjoy a reputation in the world, we might as well make it big; otherwise, their ambition and greed wille after us.¡±


    The incident at the Qianji Pass echoed Old Man Mu¡¯s opinions. The more renowned the soldiers were, the safer they would be.


    The two teams met in a tribe¡¯s territory. There were some who were surprised and others who were shocked, and although the hosts were in a hurry, they still treated them with courtesy and prepared abundant food for them. The only problem was properly setting up the encampments.


    The Dragon King had to be separated from Golden Roc Fort. Though a truce was in ce, it was unnecessary to test its reliability. The female archers had to be separated from the rest of the people. The reputation of being vicious was, after all, a name. They needed practical protection.


    After setting up the encampments, it was alreadyte at night. For Nond people, everything could be skipped except for the weing banquet. Even if it was in the early morning, they would serveyers uponyers of food to satisfy the appetites of their guests.


    The two teams had converged several hours prior. It was not until this point that Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Ru finally met and nodded to each other. Shangguan Ru smiled as a gesture of greeting. After that, they were crowded around by different people and never got the chance to talk.


    ording to Nond tradition, women were not allowed in banquets. So, they unavoidably acted a little awkward in front of Shangguan Ru and her subordinates. However, soon afterward, they discovered that the female soldiers were real straightforward guests.


    Gu Shenwei seldom drank and often had Long Fanyun and Shangguan Fei drink on his behalf. The swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain got along with the Nond cavalrymen and matched them at drinking. Among the crowd, Long Fanyun took to it like a duck to water. Shangguan Fei echoed by the side and was doing fine. However, being the main guest, if the Dragon King did not drink, the rest of the guests would feel a little awkward.


    On the other hand, Shangguan Ru drank a lot, and she would reciprocate anyone¡¯s toast. She was forthright and did not act coyly in the least. Her girls were also extraordinary. They did not lose to any man in drinking.


    At the height of the party, identity and status did not matter anymore. Nond high-ranking military officers with weather-beaten faces danced with joy, the Land of Fragrance female officials burst intoughter, and even the usually serious Zhang Ji was ying rowdy drinking games with a low-ranking soldier. He seemed to have left behind his oath of staying away from alcohol.


    For Zhang Ji, some things were not worth the effort, and some people were not worth roping in. ve Huan in those days did not get a chance to witness Zhang Ji¡¯s good acting, but the past few days had made Gu Shenwei see a new side of the teacher.


    He was exactly the military counselor that the Dragon King needed. However¡ª¡±however¡±, that was all Gu Shenwei could say about his regrets.


    The people around him were bing fewer and fewer. Long Fanyun was introduced to Shangguan Ru by several Nond hosts; naturally, Shangguan Fei followed them and greeted his younger sister while he was at it.


    If he had known that drinking was so important, would he take to alcohol abuse following his Master Shifu Tie Hanfeng? Gu Shenwei did not think so, there was often a trade-off. Tie Hanfeng became a prudent businessman, but was no longer a first-ss killer. That was not a price Gu Shenwei was willing to pay.


    He quietly stared at the crowd nearby, asionally ncing at the center of the party. He was going to leave soon.


    Maid Lotus never attended banquets like this unless she was invited. Not that she was born cold; she could adopt a brand new attitude to enjoy great poprity if she wanted to.


    Gu Shenwei wanted to see his real self. If he had not suffered his family tragedy, he would have been different. However, he was unable to picture that. Looking back, his memories before 14 seemed to be from another life; that youth in his memories had be a vague figure with just the name remaining.


    Shangguan Yun came over to his side uninvited. He held a gon in one hand and a goblet in the other, his face reddish. He looked at the excited crowd, remained silent for quite a while like an old friend, and said, ¡°Look at her. If she were a boy, I¡¯d give up everything to help her take the throne. She, of all people, would be the greatest king because she carries all the good traits of the Shangguan family, and the thing our family mostcks¡ªkindness.¡±


    For the Supreme King¡¯s son to say something like this was a little ironic, but Shangguan Yun was serious. In the end, he just shook his head. ¡°However¡­¡±


    In less than 15 minutes, another one had uttered ¡°however¡±. Gu Shenwei rose. ¡°However, Shangguan Fa didn¡¯t punish you.¡±


    Shangguan Yun forced a smile. ¡°Why should he punish me? It¡¯s Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s fault. I disagreed with him in the first ce. If I had my way, we wouldn¡¯t be having a war at all. You and I would be sitting side by side partitioning the Western Region.¡±


    ¡°You like to fantasize.¡±


    Shangguan Yun stopped smiling. ¡°When the entire world is false, only fantasy remains. What do you think is real? Hatred? Then tell me, how badly have you deviated from hatred in order to gain the power to seek revenge? Exactly how far will you go? In this very tent, there are three people named Shangguan, so why don¡¯t you act?¡±


    Shangguan Yun had this talent of making his argumentspelling, tricking others into adopting his mindset. Gu Shenwei immediately reminded himself to be careful. He walked out of the tent, ignoring Shangguan Yun¡¯s questions.


    It was pitch ck outside and the early summer air was warm and cozy. He saw stars in the distance swaying unusually. Soon after, he realized that they were not stars, but countless torches.


    A Nond sentinel hurriedly arrived on a horse. As he dismounted, he nearly bumped into Gu Shenwei. He dashed into the tent and shouted, ¡°Enemy strike! Enemy strike!¡±

 Chapter 530 - Night Assault

    Chapter 530: Night Assault


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The banquet was suddenly stopped by the assault.


    Long Fanyun had drunk a lot of wine, but when he realized what was happening, he immediately woke up and rushed to the door to protect the Dragon King. Shangguan Fei staggered behind him. Even though he had not drunk much, he seemed more drunken than Long Fanyun.


    Meanwhile, Shangguan Yun and Zhang Ji seemed to have no reaction. One was still sitting on the nket appreciating his wine ss, while the other was falling asleep on the ground. Several attendants quietly got close to them to protect them by forming a ring around them.


    Shangguan Ru was sober, but her female officers were asleep. Therefore, she had to pull them aside and wait to see if the circumstances would change. Old Man Mu was barely affected by the good wine. He only went to the toilet several times, but he wasn¡¯t drunk.


    Most people in Nond were confused, and some hadn¡¯t even heard the sentry¡¯s call because they were still drinking heavily and having fun.


    They were puzzled about one thing: this ce belonged to the hintend of Nond, and the mounted bandits only robbed single travelers or small-scale trade caravans. Moreover, after the death of Bighead Kingpin, no bandit gang had such powerful strength or dared to invade the Nond troops and tribes.


    ¡°There are at least 3,000 enemiesing,¡± a sentinel said again, nervously.


    The leader of the tribe who was responsible for receiving guests threw his wine bowl on the floor and shouted, ¡°Who dares toe and make trouble while we¡¯re drinking?¡±


    The sentinel shook his head in awe. At the sight of the enemies, he rushed to report at once, but he knew nothing of their identities.


    The crowd in the tent was scrambling to run out, shouting all the while, ¡°Wake up, we are ready to fight. Wake up!¡±


    The people of the Shangguan family walked to the back and asked others to go out the door. Zhang Ji was awake and sober, though he was held by his attendant.


    Gu Shenwei returned to his own encampment with very few people. He reacted very quickly. Meanwhile, patrol guards, along with the Nond sentinel, found the enemy and immediatey woke up theirpanions, forming an array. When the Dragon King arrived, they were ready to fight.


    Gu Shenwei only brought 50 soldiers, which was not enough to fight with, so he allied with 1,000 female archers from the Land of Fragrance¡¯s camp.


    The women soldiers were slightly rattled, and some of them were not even wearing their armor. All of them were holding shortbows in their hands and carrying arrow bags on their shoulders, though. Shangguan Ru ordered someone to look after the drunken female officers, and then rode to the barracks alone to give orders and quickly arrange a formation . Although they all had horses, they were better at shooting while standing, so they did not mount their horses.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s fifty people acted as cavalry, and stood in front of the women soldiers for support.


    Maid Lotus and some others didn¡¯t show up. They prefered to hide in the dark at that moment. Han Xuan also followed and hid, taking the opportunity to learn something from the disciples of the New Moon Hall.


    Compared to them, the Nond Cavalry was more rattled, many of them shouting. The first round of cavalry had rushed to the door, and many people were chasing their horses in the back.


    Gu Shenwei knew what was happening, but he couldn¡¯t see the Golden Roc Fort in the distance, as there was no sound and no torches were lit.


    However, no one believed in the quality of the Nond Cavalry. Dugu Xian was the General of troops in Nond and the Central in, so he told the Dragon King in detail all he knew. He had his own opinion about the difference between the two troops.


    ¡°The Central ins troops are scrupulously trained, and have their own signal gs, code words, drums, gongs and so on. In the first half of the year, recruits are asked to memorizeplicated military orders and must follow the General¡¯s orders. But if their Generalmands something by mistake or gets into trouble, the soldiers don¡¯t know what to do and naturally fail. It is said that one only needs to destory the leader and the gang will copse,¡± said Dugu Xian.


    ¡°However, the Nond Cavalry is different from that of the Central in. They have simple military orders, such as ¡®advance¡¯ and ¡®retreat¡¯. They regard hunting as training and have simple tactics. The Commander takes charge of many small troops that fight separately, from a few dozen people to more than a thousand soldiers. Each troop will be given its position in the battle ording to its own strength and practice. If themander dies, the soldiers won¡¯t be too affected. But the Nond Cavalry is afraid of night assaults, because they are used to being hunters. If they turn into prey, they be panicked,¡± he continued.


    Gu Shenwei nned to attack them at night, because he wanted to see what the Nond Cavalry would do.


    Over 700 of the Nond Cavalry was divided into two groups, and ordered to escort the guests separately, leaving only 20 or 30 soldiers in the barracks. In terms of sheer numbers, the thousands of female archers from the Land of Fragrance were the powerful army here, but they stayed in the rear because they were considered guests.


    After that, another two sentries ran to report the situation and the estimated number of the enemy. They said, ¡°There are at least 3,000 soldiers, and they seem¡­ seem not to be bandits.¡±


    The enemy arrived before the Nond Cavary made full preparations. Under the light of many torches, they found that the enemies were not bandits, but another cavalry of Nond.


    The leader of the Nond Cavalry who had escorted the Dragon King and guests from the Golden Roc Fort was a leader of the highest status. He was known to have a bad temper, because his mother came from the Hanwang family. When he realized that the enemy was his own people, he became even angrier, and rode to ask them, ¡°Who are you? Don¡¯t you see the King¡¯s g standing here?¡±


    As expected, the troops didn¡¯t continue to rush to them, but stopped their mounts. However, the troops at the back spread to the two sides, surrounding the entire encampment.


    Gu Shenwei guessed that the troops numbered about 5,000 people.


    The leader of 1,000 soldiers turned pale and then shouted again, ¡°Which tribe are you from? Who can speak on your behalf?¡±


    Finally, a general who was dark and fat said, ¡°We are from the Naihang Tribe. Today we havee to visit the King¡¯s g and catch an enemy.¡±


    The leader of 1,000 soldiers felt relieved and then said slowly, ¡°You are General Zhe Su, right? I am the leader of 1,000 soldiers of the Khan, and I have been ordered to escort the guests to the Royal Court. However, you scared them by arriving here like this.¡±


    There were some soldiers who were not on horses and who did not carry any weapons standing behind Zhe Su, but those ¡°scared¡± guests were still prepared for a battle.


    Gu Shenwei learned a lot of information about the Nond military from Dugu Xian, but he had no idea about the ¡°Naihang Tribe¡±. He seemed to have heard the name ¡°General Zhe Su¡± before, but could not remember any specific details about him.


    Old Man Mu told him the truth. When he met the Dragon King with Shangguan Ru, he exined, ¡°The Naihang Tribe is one of the three ns in Nond, and it¡¯s where the big Queenes from. I¡¯m guessing that something bad will happen.¡±


    He stopped talking as the atmosphere at the gate of the encampment became tense.


    ¡°Surrender the enemy? We are the Cavalry of the Khan, so we haven¡¯t any enemy of the Naihang Tribe, do we?¡± asked the leader of 1,000 soldiers.


    ¡°Find him among your guests,¡± said Zhe Su.


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk recklessly. The Khan promised to guarantee the safety of the guests. Who dares to disobey his order?¡± asked the leader of 1,000 soldiers.


    For the Nond people, what the Khan said was more important than some written agreement. Most Nond people, including members of the Royal Family, were also illiterate, so they didn¡¯t believe those strange written words.


    ¡°We don¡¯t intend to disturb the guests, but we want to ask the guests to help us,¡± Zhe Su said and then suddenly raised his voice to say, ¡°Dragon King, pleasee out.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was stunned. He had never heard of the Naihang Tribe, so how could he have offended them? He quickly nced at everyone around him, and then focused on Old Man Mu, who was the only person associated with Nond since the ce was once his ¡°territory¡±.


    ¡°What I guessed is right,¡± Old Man Mu said, sitting on his horse and shrugging his shoulders, as if he didn¡¯t care.


    Gu Shenwei rode out without taking soldiers, but he nodded at Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Ru followed him, as did Old Man Mu.


    ¡°How did you offend them?¡± Shangguan Ru whispered.


    ¡°I have killed so many people before, but I can¡¯t remember them,¡± answered Gu Shenwei.


    Shangguan Ru frowned. She still remembered that Old Man Mu had happily described every detail of killing in those days, as if it were treasured in his heart, and he couldn¡¯t forget it easily.


    ¡°Well, I remember¡­¡± Old Man Mu said, seeming to think of something, but they had arrived at the gate of the encampment, so he didn¡¯t continue.


    ¡°I am the Dragon King,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    Zhe Su quickly looked him up and down, a little surprised. Like most people, he believed that the Dragon King was more like a devil rather than the pale and gloomy young man before him.


    ¡°Are you really the Dragon King?¡± Zhe Su asked.


    ¡°Yes, he is.¡± The leader of 1,000 soldiers answered immediately. ¡°He is the distinguished guest of the Khan,¡± he continued.


    Zhe Su nced at the Dragon King again. When he saw only one woman and a strange old man behind the Dragon King, he was even more disdainful. He didn¡¯t say anything, just raised his whip to cross the Dragon King and then asked, ¡°Are you Old Wood?¡±


    ¡°Well, I am Old Man Mu, not ¡®Old Wood¡¯. You¡¯re making a mistake,¡± said Old Man Mu.


    But Zhe Su ignored him and continued, ¡°Old Wood, I heard that you changed your appearance. I didn¡¯t think that you would be such a creature as this. God has eyes, and you will suffer endless torture.¡±


    The enemy of the Naihang Tribe was Old Man Mu.


    Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Ru had ignored this problem. Over ten years ago, Old Man Mu was the powerful devil of the north of Tianshan. He had killed many people, but some of his enemies were still alive now.


    Gu Shenwei was also regarded as a devil, so he wasn¡¯t surprised by the name. Shangguan Ru did not have a lot of experience, so she thought that Old Man Mu was just a man that had been vicious once, but hadter be a good person.


    Old Man Muughed for a while. He had vowed to Shangguan Ru that he would not kill anyone, but he was also no saint. ¡°By Heaven, you were pretty handsome before, but now you are a fat, ck man, aren¡¯t you? Compared to you, I¡¯d rather be shorter and smaller,¡± he said to Zhe Su.


    ¡°Stop chattering. We are going to avenge ourselves today. Dragon King, will you surrender our enemy or not?¡± he asked Gu Shenwei, threatenly.


    The Nond people were used to speaking straightforwardly, but this time, Gu Shenwei thought that he was really being threatened.


    ¡°Wait,¡± Old Man Mu said before Gu Shenwei could answer. He jumped off of his horse and stood facing the Dragon King. ¡°During the war of the seaside slope, I followed you to rush into the encampment and kill the General, didn¡¯t I?¡± he asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Gu Shenwei said, admitting that Old Man Mu had yed a very important part for him at that time.


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Old Man Mu, and then in full public view, he made an amazing move. He knelt in front of the Dragon King and triple kowtowed to him saying, ¡°I, a small soldier of the Dragon Army, pay a visit to the Dragon King. Long live the Dragon King.¡±


    Upon hearing this, both Zhe Su and his cavalry became confused. It was said that Old Man Mu was a devil who could kill countless people. If someone so much as blocked his sight, he may be killed. No one had ever heard him be submissive to anyone before, but today he kowtowed to the Dragon King to publicly show his loyalty.


    Old Man Mu had his own idea. After showing his loyalty, he stood up without permission from the Dragon King and then shouted to the Naihang Tribe, ¡°I am a soldier of the Dragon Army, and the Khan promised to protect my safety. If you want to hurt me, then you don¡¯t care about the words of the Khan.¡±


    Old Man Mu was trying to depend upon the Dragon King to live, but Gu Shenwei was unwilling to be entangled by such a poisonous vine.

 Chapter 531 - Acupoint

    Chapter 531: Acupoint


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Old Man Mu kowtowed to the Dragon King in public to express his loyalty so that he would be protected by the Khan. After that, he did something surprising.


    ¡°You must think that I am brazen and afraid of death. I can be cursed, but I need to consider the reputation of the Dragon King, so you shouldn¡¯t scold him. Now, I am willing to give up the protection of the Khan voluntarily and temporarily so that you can take your revenge on me. However, the promise is only effective before dawn and I have just one requirement: you must fight with me one-on-one, with no limit to the number of duels. We shouldpete fairly and without regrets, not caring about life or death!¡± said Old Man Mu.


    Gu Shenwei intended to find an excuse to drive him out of the Dragon Army, but after hearing his impassioned speech, he didn¡¯t know how to do it.


    At that time, Old Man Mu¡¯s skills had been greatly reduced to 67%. He was not an invincible kung fu master, so agreeing to fight was a concession.


    The people of the Naihang Tribe knew that Old Man Mu was not the same as before. They had caught the five fanatics who had burst into the camp of women soldiers at night, and from detailed interrogations of them, had learned two things: Firstly, Old Man Mu had changed his appearance to be a dwarf. Secondly, the skills of the old devil had fallen dramatically, and those five machetemen had been able to resist him for a while.


    Nobody knew whether Old Man Mu¡¯s skills had actually fallen or not, but when General Zhe Su saw Old Man Mu tter the Dragon King, he began to believe it.


    Zhe Su agreed to Old Man Mu¡¯s proposal, because doing so would not only avenge his people, but also avoid offending the Khan. He wagged his horsewhip and said, ¡°Well, I agree with you. I know that your skills have dropped a lot, but I admire you for returning to the North Court and fighting. However, I must take revenge, so prepare to die.¡±


    After that, Zhe Su turned to the Dragon King and bowed to him twice asking, ¡°What do you have to say?¡± He tried to be polite, because he didn¡¯t want to create any more problems deliberately. He just wanted to kill his enemy as soon as possible.


    ¡°It is God¡¯s truth that one should seek revenge for himself. As long as thepetition is fair, you can do anything,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Gu Shenwei drew his reins to let his horse take a step back, allowing thepetitors to y.


    Old Man Mu looked up at Shangguan Ru and said, ¡°Good girl, I kowtowed to the Dragon King, but I am entering the kung fupetition for you, because you have turned me into a better person. No matter if I live or die, I have no regrets. Even if I have no chance of winning, I will never resort to using the killing desire again.¡±


    Old Man Mu was like a great actor. He could be shameless, impassioned, and pitiful. Although Shangguan Ru had been cheated by him before and didn¡¯tpletely trust him, she was still a little touched, so she nodded at him and then turned to look at Gu Shenwei.


    Gu Shenwei remained silent as usual. Still, despite having spent very little time with him these past few years, Shangguan Ru immediately understood what he was thinking: Old Man Mu would never be in danger.


    Shangguan Ru felt a little relieved and then retreated back.


    The leader of 1,000 soldiers of Nond also felt relieved. The forces of the Queen¡¯s family were very strong, so it was the best way for both sides to resolve the matter. As for who would live or die, that was not important.


    The Naihang Tribe Cavalry carried a lot of torches, which illuminated the field like daylight. Zhe Su and several leaders gathered to decide who would be the best person for the firstpetition.


    A gust of cold wind swept through the field, making Shangguan Fei sober up a lot. He hid in the back until he found out that the people seeking revenge had nothing to do with the Golden Roc Fort or the Dragon King. Relieved, he rode out to the Dragon King. Seeing the performance of Old Man Mu, he was deeply shocked and thought that Old Man Mu must be the most shameless, contemptible, and insidious person in the world.


    ¡°Well, this old guy is really¡­ I almost want to worship him as a teacher,¡± Shangguan Fei admired him sincerely to the Dragon King.


    ¡°What did you see him do?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Old Man Mu kowtowed to the Dragon King so that the enemies would not fight against him all at once. He proposed to hold a kung fupetition, which gave the Dragon King dignity, yet still forced you to ept his loyalty. Moreover, the sun is rising. His opponents can send at most three or four people to fight him, so he will bepletely safe as long as he can hold them off for a little while. It¡¯s only a small risk. I admire him for his ability to adapt to the situation so cleverly,¡± answered Shangguan Fei.


    Shangguan Fei was bright-eyed and became very excited about what was happening, but Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t like her brother¡¯s attitude and she said, ¡°There is something brewing in your eyes. What¡¯s really going on?¡±


    ¡°Well, sister, you are too naive. Old Man Mu kowtowed to the Dragon King mainly because he wanted to please you,¡± he replied.


    Shangguan Ru blushed and then whispered, ¡°Enough of your nonsense.¡±


    Shangguan Fei stuck out his tongue and didn¡¯t say anything else. Thepetition had already begun, but Shangguan Ru was still thinking about what her brother had said. She moved her horse to keep a few steps away from the Dragon King.


    The people of Nond were skilled in riding and shooting, but they also liked kung fu. There were a few decent sects in the grasnd that had recruited several kung fu practitioners from different countries, but the Naihang Tribe was very powerful and had first-ss kung fu masters. This time, they brought more than half of them along to catch Old Man Mu.


    The firstpetitor was a young macheteman in his twenties and very slender, with a short-saber. He walked very steadily. It seemed that he was a master of Lightness Skills.


    ¡°I am Ye Buluo, the Flying Dragon of Tianshan, and I¡¯m here to ask Senior Mu for some advice,¡± he said.


    This man was very young, but he was very worldly. He had heard many rumors about Old Man Mu, so he was very polite to him.


    Old Man Mu curled his lips and said, ¡°You are Ye Buluo, and I am Old Man Mu. What a coincidence! I advise you to change your nickname, and remove the words ¡®Tianshan¡¯ and ¡®Dragon¡¯ because they sound tacky. There are many good words in the world, but people alwayspete for them and they often get hurt. Why? Dragon King, I¡¯m not talking about you, or the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountains. You are the real dragon, but he is a fake dragon.¡±


    Ye Buluo wasn¡¯t unknown to the public. Upon hearing this, he became very angry and said, ¡°Old Man Mu, I called you senior, but you shouldn¡¯t be too proud of yourself. It¡¯s not the time for you to dominate the jianghu so¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu had said what he wanted and began to take action. He curled up and then rushed towards Ye Buluo. He was not like wood, but instead like stone.


    Ye Buluo was stunned, but he reacted very quickly. He tiptoed and then jumped backward several steps, like a rabbit. As expected, he was a master of Lightness Skills.


    The people of the Naihang Tribe had a very simple idea. First, they sent a person with good Lightness Skills to test Old Man Mu¡¯s kung fu, and then they sent a kung fu master to kill him.


    One chased while the other eluded, and for quite some time, they did not fight with each other at all. Only the cheers of the people in the Naihang Tribe added any excitement to the kung fupetition.


    Shangguan Fei was very confused. ¡°I thought that Old Man Mu would dy the fight, but he has been chasing Ye Buluo. Is he really that eager to win?¡± he asked.


    Gu Shenwei was focused on watching thepetition so he did not respond. Shangguan Fei was very smart and could always talk about strategies, but when it came to martial arts, he was clueless.


    After thepetition stopped, Shangguan Fei finally understood the tactics of both parties. Old Man Mu had used offensive tactics as a means of defense. Although he had been chasing Ye Buluo, he did not show his real kung fu skills. Ye Buluo, however, deliberately showed his weakness, waiting for a chance to fight back.


    Old Man Mu and Ye Buluo chased each other for almost fifteen minutes, but thepetition was won with a single move.


    Ye Buluo was good with his Lightness and machete skills. After awhile, he found the best time to pull out his saber, and instead of retreating, went forward to hit his opponent.


    Old Man Mu was chasing after him and could not escape.


    They brushed past each other. The kung fupetition stopped, but the scene surprised everyone.


    Ye Buluo stood in a lunge position. His right arm was stretched straight out as if he was prodding forward with a short sword, but there was nothing in his hand, so his pose looked ridiculous.


    His scabbard was empty.


    Old Man Mu stood behind Ye Buluo, and appreciated the short sword. He nodded and praised, ¡°It really is a good saber, which must have been customized. I think that it must have been made by a famous craftsman. It¡¯s too bad that the saber belongs to Ye Buluo.¡±


    Then, he looked up at Zhe Su and the huge cavalry of the Naihang Tribe behind him and said, ¡°Look, my skills haven¡¯t regressed too much, and he is very disappointing. Quick, get someone else. There is still time.¡±


    Old Man Mu was ruthless and tough, and that had caused him to have many enemies. But now, he had little hope of recovering his skills, so he wanted to speak more.


    Zhe Su¡¯s ck face turned reddish. He shouted, ¡°Ye Buluo, get out!¡±


    ¡°Yes, my Lord,¡± Ye Buluo answered with respect, but he didn¡¯t move. The crowd soon realized that he was unable to move and too embarrassed to ask for help.


    In fact, Old Man Mu had seen through the intentions of Ye Buluo early so he deliberately showed some ws to trick him. A few people knew his skills, but they were confused by the fact that the Old Devil had not poked the key acupoint. So what had made Ye Buluo freeze?


    Only Shangguan Ru knew the truth. During the time when Old Man Mu had lived in seclusion to heal, inspired by the kung fu of the New Moon Hall, he created a set of seven circles and seven apertures using the Heart Stopping Finger technique. With this, he could transfer strength to targeted acupuncture points. There were seven moves, most of which were fatal. Only one move could make the opponent freeze, which showed Old Man Mu¡¯s mercy.


    Ye Buluo blushed more but Old Man Mu ignored him and continued to appreciate the short saber, tossing and turning it. He really seemed to be admiring it.


    ¡°Unlock his acupoint, and return the saber to him,¡± Shangguan Ru ordered.


    In order to please Shangguan Ru, Old Man Mu bowed to her and then slowly moved towards Ye Buluo. ¡°I will unlock your acupoint, but you should stay still and quiet. Don¡¯t try to fight against me again as soon as you can move. Remember that you are a famous macheteman, not a mad dog,¡± he warned.


    Ye Buluo grinded his teeth and then shouted, ¡°Old Devil Mu, you should get out of here. I¡­¡± He couldn¡¯t move, so he didn¡¯t know what else he could do.


    Shangguan Ru sighed, and understood why Old Man Mu had so many enemies. He killed people at random, but the biggest reason was that he had a big mouth. He went over to release Ye Buluo when suddenly a man came out of the Naihang Tribe Cavalry. He patted the body of Ye Buluo, and then unlocked the unique acupoint technique of Old Man Mu.


    Both Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Ru knew this man. He looked strange ¡ª his eyes were too far apart, and he only had one arm. He was the killer Wildhorse with the half-tongue who had been abandoned by the Golden Roc Fort and had previously served Old Man Mu.

 Chapter 532 - Delay

    Chapter 532: Dy


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Old Man Mu and Wildhorse seemed to be master and apprentice before, but they actually utilized each other¡¯s strength. At that time, they didn¡¯t like each other very much.


    ¡°Wildhorse? Are you still alive? How did you lose one of your arms? I guess that it was cut off by the Dragon King. Why did you bother him? Come on, you should apologize to the Dragon King. If he will forgive you, I¡¯ll adopt you as my pupil and teach you one-handed sword skills. In fact, killing a person is like killing a pig, so you can still make a living by killing people,¡± Old Man Mu said.


    Wildhorse was unable to speak, so he took out his saber, ready to fight. He had lost his left arm, but he could still hold his saber with his right hand.


    Old Man Mu didn¡¯t care about his actions, but shouted at Ye Buluo, who had retreated to Zhe Su¡¯s side,¡±Take your saber.¡±


    The saber quickly flew towards Zhe Su like a bolt of lightning, and Ye Buluo quickly jumped in front of the General¡¯s horse to protect him, and then reached for his saber.


    The promise of Old Man Mu was to not kill people, but it was very difficult for him to return the saber to Ye Buluo calmly. He intended for Ye Buluo to jump out to grab the saber, and he seeded.


    Lightness Skills was one of best skills of the Yuqing Sect. Although his skills had weakened, he could still prevail over themon kung fu masters of jianghu.


    Ye Buluo failed to grab his saber and froze again. He held out one hand as if he was holding something.


    Old Man Mu wagged the saber in front of Ye Buluo, but ignored Wildhorse, who was still waiting for him to fight.


    General Zhe Su was scared and backed up. Meanwhile, a group of guards rushed forward to protect him.


    ¡°Good girl asked me to release the blockage of acupoints, so it was pointess to let someone else do that. I have to hit you at certain acupoints again. If anyone tries to release you again, I will have to hit you repeatedly,¡± Old Man Mu said, not caring that Zhe Su had retreated backward, only wanting to follow the order from Shangguan Ru.


    Ye Buluo blushed even more. Hearing this, he became more angry and said, ¡°Old Devil Mu, I¡­¡±


    ¡°I know you hate me,¡± Old Man Mu said, taking his time and circling around Ye Buluo. ¡°Young man, when you are the same age as me, you will realize that it is extremely important to recognize the true situation around you. Your kung fu is worse than mine, so it is hard to say whether you will reach my age. I advise you to go away from Jianghu to raise chickens and ducks, and then marry several wives¡­¡± said Old Man Mu.


    Old Man Mu was stalling. He neither released the blockage acupoints from Ye Buluo nor fought with Wildhorse. Wildhorse was holding his saber to wait silently, as if he had also been hit in the acupoints.


    ¡°Old Devil Mu, are you afraid?¡± a man from the Naihang Tribe said.


    ¡°I heard that you were absolutely fearless, but now you look like a Jianghu conman. Your skills have weakened, which took away your courage, right?¡± another man continued.


    ¡°Who? Come out.¡± Old Man Mu pointed his saber at the group of cavalry from the Naihang Tribe with dissatisfaction.


    But the two men told the truth. Everyone could see that Old Man Mu was scared and stalling.


    Old Man Mu had never taught Willdhorse all his skills, but Wildhorse knew him very well after staying with him for a long time and could guess his ws. Besides, he was able to release his seven circles and seven apertures Heart Stopping Finger, which made Old Man Mu a little nervous.


    The crowd noisily began calling Old Man Mu a coward, so he fought against them one by one with the short-saber. It became more obvious that he was stalling, and he still dared not fight Wildhorse.


    The people of Nond were displeased by his actions. If they hadn¡¯t promised to fight with him one-on-one, a group would have all rushed to fight him together.


    Zhe Su shouted at the Dragon King, ¡°Is this a soldier of the Dragon Army? It¡¯s no wonder that people said that the Dragon King depended on women to beat his opponents in the battle of the seaside slope.¡±


    Gu Shenwwei raised his head to look at the sky. The sun was about to rise, so he said, ¡°Old Man Mu, stop talking and continue yourpetition.¡±


    Old Man Mu wanted to argue when he realized that he had already imed to be a soldier of the Dragon King, so he had to follow the order. He stopped talking, and returned the saber to Ye Buluo carefully. He kept the point of the saber pointed downward, and then hit his body at random points. After that, he retreated several steps back.


    Ye Buluo had been humiliated and was very angry, so he immediately turned his saber de up and used all his strength to chase after Old Man Mu. He was determined to kill the old man in front of everyone.


    He still hadn¡¯t learn to recognize the true situation.


    They began to chase and elude each other again. However, this time was different from before. Ye Buluo was chasing Old Man Mu now.


    Old Man Mu kept his mouth shut. He had been ordered not to provoke the opponent with words, so he chose to use Lightness Skills to trick him. He always stayed ahead by three or four steps. He was like a bouncing ball and flew everywhere, seeming to be disorganized, but keeping his distance from Wildhorse.


    It was another tactic of stalling.


    Zhe Su regretted asking Ye Buluo to fight. If he had known this would be the result, he would have chosen Wildhorse from the beginning. He ordered, ¡°Ye Buluo,e back!¡±


    The General said that harshly, so Ye Buluo orally agreed. However, in his eyes, his saber was very close to Old Man Mu, and he needed only a little time to avenge himself and keep his dignity. Therefore, he decided to chase him several more steps.


    Ye Buluo thought that it would only take a little time to kill Old Man Mu, so he didn¡¯t see it as breaking the General¡¯s order. He didn¡¯t realize that the General was livid, and had sent a hint to Wildhorse.


    Wildhorse took several steps toward the right front. He lowered his head slightly and stared at thend in front of his feet as if he was not interested in the two people who were several steps away. When he began to make his move, everyone was very surprised, even those who had been expecting it.


    Wildhorse was far away from Ye Buluo, and made a mistake regarding the direction. He hit nothing, and his mark wasn¡¯t even close to Ye Buluo or Old Man Mu.


    It was only Wildhorse who could predict the wild steps of Old Man Mu¡¯s Lightness Skills, so he knew that he must seed.


    With a thud, Ye Buluo was hit. Wildhorse kept the promise of fighting alone, so he should make Ye Buluo leave the field first. Now that the General was angry, he had to follow his orders.


    Ye Buluo flew into the air as if he had been hit by the strongest giant crossbow. He flew out vertically andnded sideways with a thud. If he survived that, everyone would be surprised.


    Gu Shenwei was even more surprised. The skills of Wildhorse were obviously stronger than they werest year. He thought that it could only be Wayless Qigong that had so improved his Internal Strength in such a short time.


    ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t kill him¡­¡± Old Man Mu tried to defend himself, and then closed his mouth again. He used all his strength to elude Wildhorse. He moved very quickly, only leaving small wisps of smoke where he¡¯d been.


    He was really afraid of Wildhorse, so he didn¡¯t care about his status of being a senior and a devil. He only wanted to live until dawn.


    Wildhorse¡¯s Lightness Skills were much better than those of Ye Buluo, and about the same as those of Old Man Mu. He held his saber and pressed forward at every stage. During the secondp of the field, everyone realized that Old Man Mu couldn¡¯t continue to escape. He could either attack directly or make a counterattack, but no matter which method he chose, he wouldn¡¯t seed.


    Everyone was focused on the present situation in the field except Gu Shenwei. He only paid attention to Wildhorse¡¯s kung fu. Wildhorse had not only improved his Internal Strength greatly, but had also transformed his Lightness and machete skills significantly, which were much stronger than before.


    Gu Shenwei realized that the machete skills of Wildhorse were different from those of other killers before Wildhorse even drew his saber. Wildhorse didn¡¯t choose to attack his opponent from the rear side, but approached the front to fight Old Man Mu several times.


    Where did he learn so many first-ss kung fu skills in only over a year?


    Gu Shenwei turned around and whispered to Shangguan Fei. Shangguan Fei looked very surprised, and then nodded and said loudly, ¡°Wildhorse and Old Man Mu used to be master and apprentice. You have no great hatred for each other, so you needn¡¯t to fight to the death, right? I know that you were working togetherst year. As a result, Old Man Mu was caught, but Wildhorse kept following him to try to save him at any chance. Unfortunately, he had his left arm cut off by the Dragon King. Old Man Mu did not avenge him, but was loyal to the Dragon King ¡­ ¡±


    Shangguan Fei spoke of the rtionship between Old Man Mu and Wildhorse emphatically.


    Old Man Mu seemed to be an invisible man around Wildhorse. Nobody knew his real identity except a few people, like the Supreme King.


    Gu Shenwei figured that Wildhorse probably hid their true rtionship when he sought refuge with the Naihang Tribe of Nond.


    In fact, when Old Man Mu saw Wildhorse, he had asked lots of questions, showing that they were very familiar with each other. However, few people took it seriously. Others thought that Old Man Mu was just stalling and wanted to provoke dissension. It was not until Shangguan Fei told the truth that everyone knew that they had very deep ties.


    Wildhorse was unable to speak, so he lost the chance to defend himself.


    Old Man Mu immediately understood the intention of Shangguan Fei, and he said, ¡°yes, my little Wildhorse. You cooked for me and washed my clothes for me while I taught you how to behave. We were very good, but how¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu was careless at that moment, because he forgot that his Lightness Skills were damaged when his skills had weakened, making it difficult to run and speak at the same time. If Ye Buluo were chasing him, he could have done it easily, but his opponent was Wildhorse, whose Lightness Skills were about equal to those of Old Man Mu.


    Wildhorse began using his saber to fight. In a short time, Gu Shenwei knew that he wasn¡¯t using the machete techniques of the Golden Roc Fort.


    However, Old Man Mu seemed familiar with these machete techiques and was able to escape at the critical time, but his left arm was broken. He dared not speak, but ran away instead. He cursed the sun in his heart, hoping it would appear quickly.


    Previously, he had been afraid of the sun and always hid in his knapsack during the daytime. However, he had changed since he lost his kung fu skills in the Land of Fragrance. Now, the sun was his life.


    Old Man Mu couldn¡¯t say a word, so Shangguan Fei continued for him, ¡°oh, that was a close call. Old Man Mu, you should thank Wildhorse. He didn¡¯t hurt you just now because of your rtionship.¡±


    Zhe Su became confused and spoke some words in his nativenguage. It was obvious that he was reprimanding Wildhorse.


    There is no way to kill two birds with one stone. Wildhorse was chasing Old Man Mu wholeheartedly, so he didn¡¯t have the energy to listen to Zhe Su carefully.


    Old Man Mu jumped a few steps, and then returned to the Dragon King¡¯s side. He jumped onto his horse, pointed to the sky, and said, ¡°It¡¯s dawn, so thepetition is over.¡±


    Wildhorse pretended to ignore his words and continued to follow him closely.


    Suddenly, Gu Shenwei took out his Five Peaks Saber. He had stayed vignt. When Wildhorse was ten paces away from him, he could see that Wildhorse wanted to kill him rather than Old Man Mu.


    Wildhorse was eager to avenge for his lost arm. In addition to that, antagonism and hatred against the Dragon King had been instilled in him at the Carvewood Academy of the Golden Roc Fort.

 Chapter 533 - Dirty Fighting

    Chapter 533: Dirty Fighting


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    ording to Wei Song, Gu Lun became enemies with King Rizhu of Nond very easily.


    At that time, the Seventh Prince, who acted as a hostage, was not supported by all the parties of the Imperial Court in the Central in. He seemed not to be very king-like. He was like a small beast who was not loved and was forced to leave his mother. Naturally, he would not be weed by other beasts.


    They had the argument at the wine table. The son of King Rizhu regarded the Prince as a noble of a small country in the Western Region, who had asked for asylum while behaving rudely. On top of that, he had instigated trouble while pouring wine into his guest¡¯s mouth.


    If he had done the same thing towards the Nond people, those people would have been friendly. But for the Seventh Prince who grew up in the pce, it was an unprecedented insult.


    At that time, Gu Lun was the Imperial Guard of the Seventh Prince, but he was not very calm or cautious. When he saw his master being humiliated, he rushed to rescue him, making King Rizhu¡¯s son very angry.


    In the hubbub of the crowd, the dispute had turned into a kung fupetition.


    ¡°And then Gu Lun won thepetition fair and square. King Rizhu¡¯s son got hurt, but it was nothing serious. But then his wound became infected, and he died several dayster, so King Rizhu thought it was Gu Lun¡¯s fault,¡± Wei Song had said, simply telling the truth and not leaving out the main facts.


    Old Man Mu didn¡¯t know about the rtionship between the Gu family and Nond, nor did he care about it, so he seemed to ignore the story. He only cared about himself.


    In the Land of Fragrance, Old Man Mu thought that he had only his fellow male junior apprentice, Taoist Yu, to ask for help if he wanted to restore his kung fu since he had many enemies in Nond. That was why he had tried his best to ask Shangguan Ru to ept the invitation of the second wife of the Khan, hoping that she and the Dragon King would protect him on his way to seeing Taoist Yu for help.


    At the Qianqi Pass, the five fanatics who had made a night attack on the barracks did Old Man Mu a great favor. After some torture and deception, those five promised to send a message to Taoist Yu for him. Unfortunately, they were caught by Naihang Tribe before they could do so.


    Taoist Yu was presently just the teacher for the Royal Family of the Naihang Tribe.


    ¡°My fellow male junior apprentice said he could help me restore my kung fu, but he heard that you had gotten hold of the Dajue Book of Swordcraft. He was very interested in it, so he wanted to check it, but not to kill you. Dragon King, you can protect me, so I am more eager to see you alive than anyone else. In fact, Wildhorse is not a disciple of Taoist Yu. My fellow male junior apprentice wanted someone to work for him, but feared that others thought that he was not serious about receiving a disciple, so he carelessly omitted several training guides. Wildhorse learned them on his own.¡±


    Old Man Mu nned to tell the truth about how Wildhorse found Taoist Yu, so he continued, ¡°I sent him to find Taoist Yu a year ago. At first, I wanted him to be a spy for me, but I didn¡¯t think that Taoist Yu woud appreciate him or teach him any of the skills of the Yuqing Sect. Therefore, Wildhorse immediately told him of all my ns and was loyal to Taoist Yu. But he¡¯s ungrateful, he will¡­ Well, he has very good kung fu skills, and he knows my weaknesses, so I have to avoid seeing himter.¡±


    Old Man Mu was also ungrateful, but he still felt justified in ming others.


    ¡°Tell me about your weaknesses,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He realized that Old Man Mu knew little about the plots of King Rizhu, so he couldn¡¯t ask him anything about that.


    Old Man Mu blushed. Finally he realized that he¡¯d said too much, but he¡¯d rather speak than die, so he said, ¡°Dragon King ¡­ you are killing me.¡±


    ¡°You have kowtowed to me in public, but you are not willing to tell me your weaknesses? How can such loyalty convince me?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    ¡°Well, both Wildhorse and Taoist Yu know them, so I guess I can tell you. There is a set of instructions for the Internal Strength in the Yuqing Sect called the Amber Qigong, which is the foundation of all kung fu in this school. In the Land of Fragrance, you set a fire¡­ which was really serious. I hid myself underground to save myself with the Amber Qigong. I saved my life, but I lost my kung fu skills, and the worst thing was-¡±


    Old Man Mu shook his head, sighed, stamped his feet and beat his chest. After a while, he said, ¡°Now, my Internal Breath always stagnates for a while after woking for a day. It seems that I can use all my kung fu normally. However, if I ever meet a kung fu master who forces me to fight with Internal Strength, it will be enough to kill me many times over.¡±


    After saying that, Old Man seemed depressed. He had been pursuing unlimited freedom his whole life, but his Internal Strength had became his one weakness, which kept him trapped inside, due to fear of death. If the only people he could bully were the ipetent people with weak kung fu, how could he have his freedom or fun?


    ¡°Wildhorse used a saber to fight you, because he wanted to conceal the secret for you, right?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    Old Man Mu spread his hands and then said, ¡°Yes. In fact, I don¡¯t know what happened between you and Wildhorse before, but Wildhorse hates your guts now. I have never seen how strong a person¡¯s hatred is until now.¡±


    If the hatred could be seen by others, it was not strong enough, so Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t take Wildhorse¡¯s kung fu seriously. Over the past year, Wildhorse had enhanced his kung fu, but it was far from perfect. He wanted to test the Dragon King, but revealed his own background by doing so.


    Gu Shenwei was still holding the Dragon Head Sword, and suddenly stabbed Old Man Mu without any warning.


    Old Man Mu was so stunned that he jumped to the left, but he only ran into the Dragon King¡¯s fist. As a result, he had to use both hands to fight the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei had never learned advanced kung fu punches, so he intended to force Old Man Mu to fight him with his saber.


    ¡°Dragon King, you are fighting dirty¡­¡± Old Man Mu said.


    Old Man Mu didn¡¯t finish his words. The Dragon King was using his Internal Strength to fight, so he needed to do whatever he could. Talking was useless at this time.


    Gu Shenwei wanted to see if what Old Man Mu had said was true or not.


    When he drew back his fist, Old Man Mu fell to the ground and almost died. He gasped and said, ¡°Dragon King¡­ you, you are malicious. I have never seen anyone use the Internal Strength like you. You are so surprising. However, if you meet an expert in this field, you will get into trouble. Let me teach you something.¡±


    Upon hearing this, Gu Shenwei was stunned.


    The Gu family in the Central in was famous for ¡°excellent use of saber and spear¡±, which depended on Yin and Yang Strength. The Internal Strength was divided into Yin and Yang, which was also reflected in the use of the machete and the spear. It focused on strength.


    Gu Shenwei was practing the techniques in the manual of the Golden Roc Fort, but had abandoned his original kung fu and almost forgot the benefit of strength.


    Suddenly, Gu Shenwei realized that what he did was wrong. In fact, he justbined Wayless Qigong with Sumeru Mustard Divine kung fu. Yin and Yang Strength was a way to practice kung fu, and would be useless after he finished this step. He thought that it was a huge waste, because the martial arts and strength skills of Yin and Yang Strength were of great use.


    The Internal Strength of the Gu family was difficult at first, but then became easy. Shangguan Fei had learned it very smoothly and made very good progress. On the contrary, Gu Shenwei had worried about it and dared not to try it. In fact, it taught how to slow down the practice of kung fu and find strength in the foundation of Yin and Yang Strength, which was separated elsewhere. Gu Shenwei had never connected any of this.


    Gu Shenwei began to realize the value of Old Man Mu. The old man could not only help the disciples of the New Moon Hall improve their kung fu, but he also may be helpful to him.


    Gu Shenwei had the idea of three-in-one Qigong on a whim. If he had been the disciple of arge sect or was taught by a serious-minded master, the idea would have been refuted as soon as he put it forward.


    Every sect had its own unique system and training method in Internal Strength. Even if one practiced kung fu ording to the normal process, he could still be hit by the Qigong Deviation at any time. Therefore, it was almost suicide tobine three kinds of Internal Strength into one kung fu.


    The reason why Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t die was that he had good luck and practiced the kung fu for only short times.


    ¡°Well, you can teach me something,¡± Gu Shenwei nodded.


    Hearing that, Old Man Mu stopped his heavy wheeze immediately and said, ¡°Are you ¡­ are you kidding me? I only made fun of you just now. I¡¯m not qualified to teach you, am I?¡±


    ¡°I can teach you, then. You tell me your manual and then I will tell you the weaknesses in it,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    A bitter smile appeared on Old Man Mu¡¯s face. The Yuqing Sect had a longer history than the Golden Roc Fort. But Gu Shenwei, an inexperience boy, thought that he could teach him something.


    He couldn¡¯t bear that Gu Shenwei was as shameless as he was and was even more arrogant that him, so he said, ¡°Dragon King, you must be kidding. If anyone can find ws in the kung fu of the Yuqing Sect, I promise to kowtow to him and call him father.¡±


    ¡°Nobody wants you to be his son. However, I did find a w of the Yuqing Sect. Your Amber Qigong is one example, isn¡¯t it?¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°That¡¯s different!¡± Old Man Mu retorted. He didn¡¯t care about much, but he wouldn¡¯t allow others to challenge the kung fu of his sect. Surprisingly, he pulled his body up from the floor with his arms, and stood up. ¡°The w belongs to me rather than the Amber Qigong. You can beat me, but you shouldn¡¯t ignore the power of the Amber Qigong. If you don¡¯t believe it, you can challenge Taoist Yu. His skills are worse than mine, but you will still lose,¡± he said.


    ¡°I won¡¯t challenge anyone, because I¡¯m only good at assassination,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Old Man Mu immediately woke up. What he needed to do now was to y up to the Dragon King, but not offend him. Besides, Taoist Yu should not die, because Old Man Mu ced all his hope on Taoist Yu to help him to restore his kung fu. He pretended to smile and then said, ¡°You needn¡¯t assassinate him. After all, Taoist Yu seldom fights with others, so he couldn¡¯t avoid being hurt by the Dajue Book of Swordcraft¡¯s invisible techniques. It¡¯s mine and the Yuqing Sect¡¯s honor for you to be interested in the manual of our sect. Where do you want to start? The Amber Qigong, the Five Hole Punch, the Heart Stopping Finger, the Moon Seizing Machete Technique¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu named more than ten kinds of kung fu, and then asked the Dragon King to choose one.


    However, Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t interested in that. His purpose was not to learn the kung fu of the Yuqing Sect, but to perfect three-in-one Qigong using the experience of Old Man Mu. He couldn¡¯t tell his idea directly and said, ¡°Well, you learned the Amber Qigong before, and then practiced the Seven Rotation Skill in the New Moon Hall. Is there anything strange in your body?¡±


    Old Man Mu nodded seriously, ¡°You are really extraordinary and can be called a prodigy of martial arts. You have pointed out the main question. As we all know, if one practices two sets ofpletely different Internal Strengths, he disobeys the taboos of martial arts. One Internal Strength asks people to close their eyes for rest, while the other wants people to stay awake. One allows people to absorb the essence, but the other wants him to vomit foul air. There are a lot of contradictions between them,¡± said Old Man Mu.


    Speaking of this, Gu Shenwei thought for a while and then said, ¡°It¡¯s tooplicated to make it clear to you in a short time. Shall we have a rest? I¡¯ll organize my thoughts and then speak to you, ok?¡±


    In fact, Old Man Mu wanted to have more time toe up with a perfect lie. The instructions of Internal Strength were precise andplex, so he was unable to immediately respond to the Dragon King without looking suspicious, even though he was good at telling lies.


    Gu Shenwei continued to ask questions until Long Fanyun said from outside the tent, ¡°Dragon King, the military has arrived and wants to report to you some emergencies.¡±


    After finishing speaking, Fang Wenshi opened the curtain toe in. He was sweating heavily and looked really worried. He had ridden very quickly to meet the Dragon King, but he had note just to please him.

 Chapter 534 - Fat, White Man

    Chapter 534: Fat, White Man


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Fang Wenshi wanted to stop the Dragon King before he offended the Naihang Tribe, but it was toote.


    As soon as Fang Wenshi entered the tent, he said to the Dragon King, ¡°I heard what happenedst night. This time, you made a mistake. You should not have offended them over a thuggish devil. I should have arrived earlier to stop it. Now¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu had never met a man who dared to speak to the Dragon King like this. Stunned, he asked, ¡°Who is this fat, white man?¡±


    Gu Shenwei and Fang Wenshi had not seen each other for six months. Fang Wenshi had gained a lot of weight.


    This was the first time he had achieved his dream to be a counselor. He had brought arge sum of money to the hostile kingdom and lobbied for his master.


    On his way to the Royal Court, he had considered running away with all the money. However, he never thought about it too seriously and continued on his way to the Royal Court. Every time he got scared or dispirited, he would think of the Princess of the Stone Kingdom, now Queen Ju. Thinking of her always cheered him up again.


    Things change quickly, as does one¡¯s mind. Fang Wenshi had been disturbed by his feelings for Queen Ju. He had lost his appetite and could not sleep because he missed her so much. But as soon as he reached the Royal Court, he got rid of his frustrations. He thought that it was time to achieve his goal, so he resolved to make full use of this opportunity to impress the Dragon King or his life would be meaningless.


    The Royal Court was the capital of Nond, and the encampment of the Khan was surrounded by all kinds of people, ranging from nobles to beggars. In the beginning, Fang Wenshi was worried that he might be in danger since he was the Military Counselor of the Dragon King. Soon he found that he had thought too much. Like other courts, the people serving the Khan had different attitudes towards the Golden Roc Fort. Some sided with the Golden Roc Fort, while some (including many powerful figures) were hostile towards them.


    To find out who was hostile to the Golden Roc Fort, he deliberately told people that he was the messenger sent by the Dragon King. One night, he received a response. First, an unknown middleman came to him, then the manager of a tavern, next a butler, and finally King Kuari.


    There were ten kings inferior to the Khan of Nond. All of them had a right to take the throne. ording to their ranking, King Kuari was the fourth rightful heir, and King Rizhu was thest rightful heir. As for their power and prestige, it depended on their talents and supporters.


    King Kuari was hostile to the Golden Roc Fort because the Supreme King¡¯s supporters were his political opponents.


    By that time, the Dragon Army had not started a war with the Golden Roc Army, and no one in Nond believed that the Dragon King would defeat the Supreme King. However, King Kuari summoned Fang Wenshi and expressed his hope that the Dragon Army would fight with the Golden Roc Army. Actually, he was just using the Dragon King as an excuse to belittle the Supreme King in front of the Khan.


    Fang Wenshi promised that the Dragon King would be the final winner in the battle of Xiaoyao Lake. He thought that he¡¯d be better off dead if the Dragon Army was defeated. After all, he would never meet a wise master like the Dragon King again.


    Soon, he heard the news that the Dragon Army had won the war. That night he received many invitations, most of which were from high-ranking bigwigs that he had not been qualified to meet before. Before he made any decisions, King Kuari took action. He sent people to escort him to his encampment, asked him to live there and treated him nicely.


    Fang Wenshi never thought that he would receive such treatment. Suddenly, he had be an important figure overnight. He received four or five invitations daily. He epted all of them so as not to offend anyone.


    That was why the handsome Fang Wenshi had gotten fat and pale. Now he looked more like a sophisticated officer than a well-read schr. He still dressed like a schr, though.


    <em>¡°In the past, I would have sent Fang Wenshi away if he looked like this,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought.


    The fat Fang Wenshi was still an intelligent, insightful and ambitious man. Besides, his eyes had been opened ever since he got here. Within six months, he had learned more about Nond than he ever knew before. It wasn¡¯t long before Gu Shenwei realized that it was wrong to judge a person by his appearance. He hade to find out that his investment in his military counselor was not in vain.


    Fang Wenshi stared at the man who had interrupted him and said, ¡°I¡¯m Fang Wenshi, the Military Counselor of the Dragon King. Where are you from, you little, dark man?¡±


    Old Man Mu did not have a darkplexion, but he had a wrinkled face. He replied, ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m the subordinate, guard, friend and military counselor of the female leader of the Land of Fragrance, whom the Dragon King trusts the most.¡±


    Old Man Mu gave himself a series of titles, and then red at Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°So you¡¯re Old Man Mu?¡± Fang Wenshi said, nodding. He then turned to the Dragon King and said, ¡°I heard a rumor that King Rizhu intends to find an excuse to defame you in front of the Khan. That¡¯s why I hurried here. However, I failed toe in time.¡±


    Old Man Mu felt uneasy. <em>¡°That fat, white man hinted that I got the Dragon King into trouble. If the Dragon King takes his words seriously, all my former efforts to please the Dragon King would have been in vain.¡± </em>So he said, ¡°Wait. The Naihang Tribe came to provoke us. We did nothing wrong. How can King Rizhu want to defame the Dragon King over that?¡±


    Fang Wenshi did not expect to have to exin to the dark, little man. But considering that the Dragon King might have simr doubts, he exined, ¡°Here¡¯s the thing ¡ª King Rizhu couldn¡¯t care less about affairs happening in the Western Region, but he is wary of the Dragon King over that matter with the Naihang Tribe.¡±


    After having learned about his father¡¯s experience in Nond from Wei Song, Gu Shenwei had written to Fang Wenshi immediately. In his letter, he had asked Fang Wenshi to collect information on the hatred between King Rizhu and the Gu family.


    Fang Wenshi hadpleted his task. But he did not want to unveil it in front of Old Man Mu, so he did not mention it just yet. In the meantime, he wanted to let Old Man Mu know that the Dragon King and he were on intimate terms.


    Fang Wenshi paused for a moment, and then continued, ¡°King Rizhu wants to prove that the Dragon King came here with a plot. And he¡¯s using Old Man Mu as evidence of that.¡±


    ¡°Did I do anything wrong?¡± Old Man Mu asked. In the past, Old Man Mu would have ripped Fang Wenshi¡¯s heart out, but now he had to resist his impulse.


    Fang Wenshi had no idea of Old Man Mu¡¯s desire to kill him. He did not exin to Old Man Mu, but turned to the Dragon King and said, ¡°You must know Old Man Mu¡¯s infamous reputation. He has the nickname of ¡®Ferocious Old Devil¡¯ in Nond. He once bragged that he could take the Khan¡¯s head anytime if he wanted. After what happenedst night, everyone knows that he¡¯s using the Dragon King for refuge. This¡­ is prone to incurring suspicion.¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s eyes sparkled. He said, ¡°¡®Ferocious Old Devil¡¯? I like that name but¡­ I¡¯ve turned into a good man. Who dared to say that I am evil? Besides, did I mention killing the Khan? Why don¡¯t I remember that?¡±


    ¡°You talked too much in the past, so you must have forgotten it. But others have remembered your words,¡± Fang Wenshi said in a tough tone. Before meeting Old Man Mu, Fang Wenshi had a bad impression of him. Now he was even more hostile to Old Man Mu because he had called him ¡°fat, white man¡±.


    ¡°I have lost half of my powers. How could I kill anyone?¡± Old Man Mu sighed. ¡°Everyone knows it, including King Rizhu. How could he frame me?¡± he asked.


    Fang Wenshi snorted, and said coldly, ¡°You¡¯re hiding something.¡±


    ¡°You mean that I¡¯m lying?¡± Old Man Mu asked, clenching his fists. His impulse to kill Fang Wenshi grew stronger.


    ¡°King Rizhu will say that you are acting, and that you pretended to lose your powers just to get rid of the charge. Otherwise, why would you risk your life returning to Nond?¡± exined Fang Wenshi.


    Old Man Mu blinked before saying, ¡°I did whatever I wanted my whole life. Now, I have not only lost my powers, but also been charged with imagined crimes. All of a sudden, I have to answer for these crimes. Perhaps my fellow male junior apprentice, Taoist Yu, is responsible for this.¡±


    ¡°What the hell? Did my fellow male junior apprentice turn evil? He learned to frame others with his doings. How¡­ how could it have happened?¡± Old Man Mu murmured, forgetting to argue with Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°You go out now. I want to talk to the Military Counselor alone,¡± Gu Shenweimanded. <em>¡°It is more urgent to solve the current problem than remedying the loophole in the three-in-one Qigong,¡± </em>he thought.


    Old Man Mu walked towards the exit absentmindedly. Before he reached the exit, he turned around and said, ¡°Dragon King, I have nothing now. Please don¡¯t sacrifice me at this critical moment. If you can¡¯t think of any other options, please just allow me to return to the Land of Fragrance alone. As for the kung fu of the Yuqing Sect, you cane to me anytime you¡¯re ready to learn.¡±


    ¡°No, you cannot leave. If you leave Nond, their suspicion of the Dragon King would increase,¡± Fang Wenshi said. Sacrificing Old Man Mu seemed to be the best choice, in his opinion.


    Old Man Mu shot a imploring nce at the Dragon King. Soon, he realized that it was not working on him. <em>¡°I need to find the good girl. She is the only one who can protect me in Nond,¡± </em>he thought. He said, ¡°I will not leave.¡± Then, he walked out of the tent and ran to Shangguan Ru.


    ¡°Well, tell me what you know.¡± Gu Shenwei said, knowing that Fang Wenshi had some information. <em>¡°King Rizhu will not utilize Old Man Mu to use me in front of the Khan. He would never make such a mistake,¡± </em>he mused.


    ¡°Dragon King, please tell me your real thoughts first. Do you really intend to negotiate with Nond?¡± asked Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°To be honest, I have not decided yet. It depends on the situation in Nond and the response from the Central in. I can¡¯t hand the Dragon Army¡¯s fate over to a great power easily,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Fang Wenshi nodded with admiration, and then said cautiously, ¡°I¡¯m d to hear that. However, under this situation¡­eh¡­if King Rizhu was the one who killed all the people in the Gu family, would you take revenge on him? In fact, your family name is ¡®Yang¡¯, so you don¡¯t really have a deep hatred towards King Rizhu.¡±


    ¡°I have already expressed my stance about this,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He didn¡¯t have the patience to exin it to his military counselor over and over again. <em>¡°I can control my hatred, and I do not need to prove it to others,¡± he thought.</em>


    ¡°Yes, you said that nothing was more important than seeking dominance,¡± Fang Wenshi said in relief. He did not pursue the subject further, but said, ¡°Old Man Mu is not the important evidence against you that King Rizhu has. I heard ¡ª King Kuari told me himself ¡ª that a traitor from the Central in has imed that the Dragon King and Commanding Officer Wei Song have nned an assassination. The traitor is with King Rizhu now.¡±


    ¡°I have revealed Wei Song¡¯s plot to the messenger of Nond. What else could that traitor say?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°He¡¯s special. He¡¯s a killer, and he stole several important letters from Wei Song. You know this person. He¡¯s the son of the Supreme King ¡ª Shangguan Nu,¡± revealed Fang Wenshi.

 Chapter 535 - Three Alliances

    Chapter 535: Three Alliances


    Before things got worse, Gu Shenwei took actions on both sides. He had revealed Wei Song¡¯s n to the messenger of Nond two months ago, so Shangguan Nu¡¯s testimony could pose no threat to him.


    Shangguan Nu must have discovered that he had been sold out, so he had utilized his identity as the advisor of Wei Song to steal several letters between Wei Song and the Court of the Central in. Among these letters, Wei Song had vaguely mentioned his n to assassinate the Khan in an attempt to divide Nond.


    One of the key figures in his n was the Dragon King.


    ¡°It was wise to have revealed Wei Song¡¯s n to Nond,¡± Fang Wenshi said tteringly. Since he had failed to stop the Dragon King and the Naihang Tribe from regarding each other as enemies, he started to work out other ns. He said, ¡°We have not lost this game yet. King Rizhu¡¯s n will not seed easily. I¡¯ve found a reliable ally for you. As long as he is on our side, we can easily defeat King Rizhu and the Golden Roc Fort.¡±


    Although they had been writing to each other, Fang Wenshi could not include everything in his letters. Therefore, Fang Wenshi took every chance to report all the information about the situation in Nond to the Dragon King. Even when he dined with the Dragon King, he didn¡¯t stop talking. Sometimes, he wouldment on his own information.


    Gu Shenwei slowly began to understand the overall situation in Nond through these talks.


    There were over thirtyrge tribes in Nond. After years of coboration, they had formed three strong alliances. Fang Wenshi named the three alliances, based on their stance and purpose, ¡°The elder son party ¡ª King Dari is the leader, ranking first out of the ten lords in Nond. ording to their tradition, he is the rightful sessor of the Khan. He has the biggest influence among the ten lords, and about half the tribes overtly support him. Unfortunately, King Dari protected the Golden Roc Fort, and therefore he is an enemy to the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°The Spoilt son party ¡ª King Kuari ranks fourth, but he is the Khan¡¯s favorite grandson. On top of that, he has won the support of most of the civilians. As far as I know, although some tribes openly support King Dari, they privately serve King Kuari. Once the Khan passes away, the two lords will fight for the throne,¡± he continued.


    ¡°The Bystanders ¡ª For self-preservation, some tribes volunteered to step away from fighting for the throne. They will also not get involved in the plots and fights between the other two parties. Whomever wins the fight will be their new Khan. At present, King Dari and King Kuari are in a fiercepetition. Both parties want to rope in new allies from this party, so these bystanders are receiving lots of attention,¡± he went on.


    Fang Wenshi sighed and continued, ¡°King Rizhu happens to be the leader of the Bystanders Party. He has a special identity. He is the only lord from the Queen¡¯s family, while the other nine are from the Royal Family. He is called a lord, but he has no im to sit on the throne, so he will be a crucial figure. Whichever party wins his backing will be invincible. Therefore¡­¡±


    ¡°Therefore, I must improve my rtionship with King Rizhu,¡± Gu Shenwei finished his sentence. He finally understood what the Military Counselor had meant.


    ¡°Just for now. Don¡¯t make others think that King Rizhu will turn his support to King Dari due to his hatred towards the Dragon King. Otherwise, perhaps King Kuari would desert us,¡± Fang Wenshi said.


    ¡°Do you have any ns?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°I think the hatred and revenge between you and King Rizhu is easily solved. Gu Lun was the one who killed King Rizhu¡¯s son, so the King only hates the Gu family. But yourst name is Yang. Besides, your father worked for the Gu family, so there should be no hatred between the two of you. I am wondering whether the Dragon King could openly im that the Golden Roc Fort is your only enemy. After all, it was the Golden Roc Fort that killed your father. No matter who was behind the scenes, they never intended to kill a servant from the Yang family. Do you agree with me?¡± said Fang Wenshi.


    ¡®¡±If I told my Military Counselor my real identity, he¡¯d be greatly surprised,¡± Gu Shenwei mused. He said, ¡°I thought that you were opposed to my revenge.¡±


    ¡°Things have changed. Our former goal was the Western Region, and the Golden Roc Fort was just a strong force in it. It did us no good to challenge the Golden Roc. But now our goal has expanded to the whole world, and the Golden Roc Fort is just a small force that blocks us. Overtly iming our revenge on the Golden Roc Fort might distract the attention of the bigwigs in Nond,¡± Fang Wenshi exined.


    ¡°But I heard that King Rizhu had the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s back. If he instructed the Supreme King to kill all the people in the Gu family, the two of them must have been on good terms,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Even if that were true, King Rizhu and the Golden Roc Fort can¡¯t trust each other. Now that the Golden Roc Fort is under King Dari¡¯s protection, they¡¯re involved in King Dari¡¯s fight for the throne. King Rizhu is eager to cut off his connection with the Golden Roc Fort. ording to the information I gathered, King Rizhu hasn¡¯t cooperated with the Supreme King in the past few years,¡± said Fang Wenshi.


    After musing for a while, Gu Shenwei said, ¡°Well, I can im that the Golden Roc Fort is my only enemy. That¡¯s easy.¡±


    ¡°One more thing ¡ª as for Old Man Mu, I advise that¡­we¡¯d better turn him in,¡± said Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°Old Man Mu openly pledged allegiance to me. If I turned him in now, others will think that I¡¯m a spinless master who betrays his subordinates. It¡¯s not a wise thing to do,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    In Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes, Old Man Mu was still useful to him, so he did not want to hand him over to anyone. Besides, he had a good reason for this: the majority of the Dragon Army were from southern Tianshan. They had no idea what evil deeds Old Man Mu had done in northern Tianshan, as they had only heard that the dwarf had rendered outstanding service in the battle of the seaside slope. In their eyes, Old Man Mu was a loyal soldier of the Dragon King, not a devil.


    ¡°Of course we can¡¯t turn him in openly. We can¡­figure out a n to satisfy both parties,¡± said Fang Wenshi. Before he met the Dragon King, Fang Wenshi had thought that Old Man Mu was a ck sheep. He had confirmed that opinion about Old Man Mu after seeing him in person.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head and said, ¡°We¡¯d better not. However perfect the hoax is, it will be exposed one day. We¡¯ll keep Old Man Mu with us. When we negotiate with King Rizhu, it will give us one more bargaining chip.¡±


    ¡°But King Rizhu will never negotiate with you. All the people in Nond know his violent temper. He¡¯s a narrow-minded man obsessed with achieving revenge on his enemies. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t still hate people from the Gu family now,¡± argued Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°Are you sure that Gu Lun was sent to Nond on a diplomatic mission thirty years ago?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Yeah, I am. Gu Lun stayed in Nond with the Seventh Prince of the Central in for years,¡± Fang Wenshi answered. Then, he asked why the Dragon King suddenly cared about such trivial details.


    Gu Shenwei did not answer. ¡°If the information Fang Wenshi collected is true, then my sister and I were born in Nond. That¡¯s terrible,¡± he thought.


    When talking about the Gu family, Fang Wenshi briefly described what he had heard about King Rizhu and Gu Lun.


    As remembered by the people in Nond, the fight between the Seventh Prince of the Central in and King Rizhu¡¯s son was exciting and romantic, because it was all due to a woman.


    ¡°Both King Rizhu and his son got into trouble over women, so women are dangerous to them,¡± Fang Wenshimented.


    It was said that the woman was engaged to King Rizhu¡¯s son, but the Seventh Prince tried to steal her from him. He thought he could do whatever he wanted here, just as he had done in the Central in. King Rizhu¡¯s son was humiliated. ording to the custom in Nond, King Rizhu¡¯s son had challenged the Seventh Prince to a duel. King Rizhu¡¯s son had kicked his ass in the duel.


    The Seventh Prince intended to get revenge. A few dayster, he provoked King Rizhu¡¯s son deliberately at a feast. At his master¡¯s order, Gu Lun pretended to stand up to protect him from the attack. Then he waited for his chance, and stabbed King Rizhu¡¯s son.


    Perhaps the Seventh Prince and Gu Lun had never meant to take his life, but King Rizhu¡¯s son still died at the hands of Gu Lun. King Rizhu swore to avenge his son, but it happened that Nond and the Central in were in a tense situation. The Khan did not want to start a war when he was not ready, so hemanded King Rizhu to stay calm. Several monthster, the Seventh Prince was released from being a hostage and went back to the Central in with Gu Lun.


    Gu Lun had stabbed King Rizhu¡¯s son in the back, which had irritated the people in Nond more than anything else. In their eyes, it was an assassination. They thought that Gu Lun should have defeated his opponent fairly in a tournament.


    ¡°The Nond people hate to kill people dirty. As long as it is fair and square, killing is eptable to them. That¡¯s why the Golden Roc Fort publicly imed to stop all assassination business. They wanted to please the nobles in Nond,¡± said Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°King Rizhu asked the Golden Roc Fort to kill all the people in the Gu family. That was not ¡®fair and square¡¯,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Firstly, King Rizhu thought that Gu Lun had started it. Secondly, it¡¯s not certain whether King Rizhu atually ordered this. In my opinion, it¡¯s not like him,¡± said Fang Wenshi.


    Gu Shenwei ended their talk quickly. ¡°I can¡¯t let Fang Wenshi discover that I am interested in Gu Lun¡¯s past,¡± he thought to himself.


    Gu Shenwei held a feast. He and his men left the next afternoon to continue to head for the Royal Court.


    Long Fanyun hade back to Gu Shenwei. Long Fanyun was a good drinker, but he was not eloquent. Shangguan Fei was talkative, but he was not the type the Nond people liked. Fang Wenshi was able to blend in in Nond from the moment he set foot there. He was an eloquent person who could drink a lot. One night, he even promised seven men that he would find a way to be sworn brothers with them, but no one ever mentioned it again after the feast.


    Compared to Zhang Ji, Gu Shenwei thought Fang Wenshi was a better choice to be his Military Counselor. Although Zhang Ji was all-around better than Fang Wenshi, he was too proud to think highly of the young Dragon King.


    On their way to Nond, Gu Shenwei found time to ¡°learn¡± from Old Man Mu. He told Maid Lotus his n that the two of them would put stress on Old Man Mu to keep him from lying to them when he answered their questions.


    Asking questions was not an easy task. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus did not want to expose their idea of three-in-one Qigong, so they divided a small question into countless unconnected questions. Old Man Mu answered every question. He could vaguely guess their purpose, but he did not ask because he wanted to stay alive.


    Gu Shenwei usually asked questions in the evening, for he did not want Shangguan Ru to know anything about this.


    They were able to figure out many of the probems in three-in-one Qigong. It was a wise decision for Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus to have not practiced it. Shangguan Fei had not died of three-in-one Qigong practice, and Maid Lotus guessed that the reason was because he had not practiced very hard. Whenever Maid Lotus was not supervising him, he would immediately stop practicing.


    That was why Shangguan Fei was still alive.


    It had been seven days since they had left for Nond again. They arrived at a ce that was four to five days from the Royal Court when they were forced to stop.


    King Rizhu, who seldom made concessions, asked to meet the Dragon King before the other nobles in Nond. This was beyond Fang Wenshi¡¯s expectation. He asked in surprise, ¡°How¡­ is it possible?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was notpletely surprised. He was only concerned about one thing: whether or not Shangguan Nu had guessed his real identity and told it to King Rizhu.


    When he thought of their meeting in Tongtian Pass, Gu Shenwei found that Shangguan Nu¡¯s behavior was suspicious.

 Chapter 536 - Old Cha

    Chapter 536: Old Cha


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    King Rizhu¡¯s encampment had just been built, and weeds inside the tents had not yet been removed. Horses trampled muddy paths between the tents, leaving them soft like carpets.


    The air was filled with the smell of urine from livestock and noises from soldiers. Those who were ignorant of the rules of the grasnd would be taken aback at the scene, thinking that they had entered the territory of savages.


    Gu Shenwei came to meet King Rizhu with a squad of guards. Those guards were swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain. Dragon King had not taken Maid Lotus with him at the suggestion of Fang Wenshi. ¡°It would not matter in the Western Region. However, the customs in Nond are different, and it may give rise to contempt,¡± Fang Wenshi advised.


    At the gate of the encampment, a Naihang cavalry caught a glimpse of them. He raised his arm and then pointed toward the inner encampment. He told them in his poor Central ins Chinese, ¡°There. Go.¡±


    No one informed King Rizhu of their arrival.


    The encampment seemed to be in disorder. The cavalry rode around recklessly. If they managed to stop their horse or swerve at a critical moment, those who were nearly hit would shout angrily while the troublemaker rode awayughing as if nothing had happened.


    The whole army was undisciplined and coarse. Even untrained swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain could not ept their behavior.


    The behavior of soldiers reflects the character of theirmander. Gu Shenwei began to form an impression of King Rizhu. Although Fang Wenshi had spoken of King Rizhu, he had not given a specific description. All Gu Shenwei could remember was that King Rizhu was a bad-tempered, violent man.


    Some soldiers recognized the Dragon King and pointed him out to their fellows. Soldiers on horseback kept passing in front of the Dragon King and his team, staring at the Dragon King without fear.


    At first, some mistook Long Fanyun for the Dragon King. When they were told that the pale young man was the real Dragon King, they were taken by great surprise. Later, theymented loudly. Although they spoke their localnguage, their tone was full of scorn.


    Fang Wenshi had reminded the Dragon King, ¡°Nond is a great power, so people in Nond are proud. Unlike people from the Central in, they do not know courtesy or hide their emotions. If you feel offended by someone, please do not get angry; they may not have malicious intentions.¡±


    Fang Wenshi had not mentioned the most important part: Like Supreme King and Cloud King, Dragon King had not been recognized by Khan yet; so far, their titles were only self-dered.


    Gu Shenwei did not mind this. He had been despised in the five kingdoms of Xiaoyao Lake. He was prepared to face overt neglect and disdain. Besides, he knew how to earn respect.


    On the surface, Gu Shenwei was warmly received along the way. However, this was mostly because of the king¡¯s banner. The owners of every encampment wanted to please the leader of one thousand soldiers and the generous guests from Golden Roc Fort.


    <em>¡°If Fang Wenshi saw this, he must attribute it to my not drinking. But I believe this has nothing to do with drinking. Without powerful strength, I can not win their respect,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought to himself.


    King Rizhu¡¯s tent was not much different from that of an ordinary soldier. It was only built on three sides, with one side open to the north¨C more like a shelter than a tent. The ground inside was not covered byyers of carpets as those of Nond nobles were. The weeds were only slightly cleared, and the ground was uneven and lightly trampled.


    Two topless soldiers were washing a strong, handsome stallion with hair as red as fire. Even a man ignorant of horses would admire it.


    ¡°Pretty,¡± Long Fanyun praised. In this encampment, everyone talked freely without fearing punishment.


    A soldier washing the horse stroked its body gently, looking like a youth in love for the first time. He said, ¡°You could never find an equal to this. me Foal is the best horse in the world.¡±


    Fang Wenshi nodded; however, he was not attracted by this horse as others were. He poked his head in the tent and looked around, but he found no one inside. He asked, ¡°May I ask whether His Highness King Rizhu lives here?¡±


    The soldier continued to gaze at the horse as if he had not heard his question.


    The other soldier standing on the other side of the horse came forward and replied, ¡°You must be the Dragon King. King Rizhu is taking a nap. I will wake him up.¡±


    When they saw the soldier¡¯s face, Gu Shenwei and the rest were amazed. He was not amon soldier, but General Zhe Su who had led his men to beset Gu Shenwei¡¯s encampment a couple of days ago. They never expected that Zhe Su would do such work as washing a horse.


    Zhe Su was a fat, tall man with dark skin. When he walked, he stumbled as if he lost his bnce. He entered the tent, walked around a table, and stopped in a shady corner. He kicked two feet and shouted, ¡°Old Cha, wake up! You have a visitor.¡±


    Moans inside the tent reached Gu Shenwei¡¯s ear. It seemed that King Rizhu refused to get up. Zhe Su kicked him again and raised his voice. Then me Foal gave a loud neigh from outside the tent.


    ¡°Ah, who? Who arrived?¡± King Rizhu asked in azy voice.


    ¡°Dragon King. You invited him here,¡± Zhe Su yelled out as if he was speaking to a deaf person.


    King Rizhu Chake Lege, called Old Cha by his subordinates, finally got up. He snatched a big bowl from the table and drank all of the liquor inside. Then he walked out of the tent, stripped off his clothes from his upper body, and pushed aside the soldier washing the horse. Old Cha grabbed the wooden bucket and then poured the water over himself, washing from head to foot. He shook his head vigorously, shaking the water from his body like a lion. Then he pulled me Foal in close whispered in its ear.


    So far, King Rizhu had not cast a nce to his visitor.


    Fang Wenshi felt embarrassed, so he coughed and intended to make an introduction. Gu Shenwei shot a nce at him to stop him, for this was an opportunity for observation, not a moment of contention.


    King Rizhu Chake Lege was tall, and not as fat as Zhe Su. The muscles that once bulged up had shown signs of loosening under the wear and tear over years, but he was still strong. His hair was still ck, but his thick beard was pale grey, and his face was t and broad, like a fierce dog, although his nose was not as long.


    King Rizhu got dressed. Zhe Su thought King Rizhu let the Dragon King wait too long, so he walked up to King Rizhu, and forced him to look towards the Dragon King. He said, ¡°Look, this is the Dragon King. You¡¯re not inviting him here to appreciate the horse.¡±


    King Rizhu¡¯s eyes turned sharp immediately. He fixed his eyes on Gu Shenwei and asked, ¡°Are you the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am.¡±


    Fang Wenshi moved to dismount, but once he noticed that the Dragon King and his guards did not move, he sat back and said, ¡°Your Highness¡­¡±


    ¡°Call me Old Cha.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Fang Wenshi puzzled.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you understand me, you son of a bitch? There is no pce. Where did ¡®Your Highness¡¯e from?¡±


    Fang Wenshi had reminded the Dragon King not to mind Nond people¡¯s rudeness. But when he faced it, his face turned red. His eloquence did not work on such an asion.


    ¡°Well, Old Cha,¡± Gu Shenwei said as he jumped off his horse. He then walked towards King Rizhu and said, ¡°You can call me Dragon King.¡±


    King Rizhu was stunned, and then he burst intoughter. He said to Zhe Su, ¡°I like this guy. Go get him a bowl of liquor.¡±


    ¡°I never drink,¡± Dragon King replied.


    King Rizhu was surprised. He looked at him with despise and said, ¡°It¡¯s notmon to meet a man who does not drink.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d that I do not need to prove that I am a man,¡± Dragon King countered.


    King Rizhuughed again and said, ¡°You must be from the Central in. You are an articte man.¡±


    Fang Wenshi had just got over the shock. He got off the horse, trying to join their conversation but finding no chance. King Rizhu walked to the Dragon King, gripped him by the arm, and walked towards the tent. He ignored the rest and said, ¡°Come on. It does not matter if you do not drink. Let¡¯s talk about something more important.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was not ustomed to being gripped, so he gently withdrew his arm.


    Fang Wenshi and Long Fanyun were about to follow Dragon King, but Zhe Su stretched out his fat arm and stopped them. He said, ¡°Although Dragon King does not drink, you must want one.¡±


    Before Fang Wenshi refused his advice, he was pushed to a nearby tent. Long Fanyun did not leave with the guards until he received the hint from the Dragon King.


    ¡°Dragon King, are you used to living in the grasnd? Nond is not like the Western Region, let alone the Central in. All the generals and soldiers here have suffered a lot. If you ask me to sleep on a soft bed, I will not fall asleep,¡± King Rizhu said with augh.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine here. I am not particr about beds,¡± Dragon King replied.


    ¡°I see,¡± King Rizhu said with a nod. He put on a coat, and shouted at the soldier beside the horse, ¡°Take it out for some exercises.¡± Then, he exined to the Dragon King, ¡°Horses should not always live in afortable environment, same as us humans. Look at Zhe Su. If he bes fatter, no horse could carry him. If he can not ride, he is not qualified to be a man in Nond.¡±


    Gu Shenwei gave a superficial ¡°hum.¡± Until now, straightforward, rude King Rizhu had note to the point.


    The soldier rode away on me Foal. King Rizhu stared at the Dragon King with his small eyes. He became more stern, even a little fierce. King Rizhu said, ¡°Gu Lun and Old Man Mu are my enemies; I can¡¯t imagine that they are connected to you.¡±


    ¡°I have no choice.¡±


    ¡°No, you do. Gu Lun was dead, so my hatred towards him disappeared. I could let it go. But Old Man Mu, that bastard! He slept with my woman and humiliated her in public. He made me aughingstock in the grasnd. Dragon King, would you not get revenge if you were me?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I would.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. Now you have a choice. You can turn Old Man Mu over to me, and we will be friends. Or you can continue to protect him, and you will be the enemy of Naihang Tribe.¡±


    ¡°You does not give up avenging you concubine. I will also not forget to avenge the Gu family. It is widely said that you hired killers from Golden Roc Fort to kill the Gu family. Is that true?¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not listen to Fang Wenshi¡¯s advise. On the contrary, he proposed to avenge the Gu family in front of King Rizhu. King Rizhu had meant to let the Gu family go, but Gu Shenwei had mentioned it deliberately.


    Obviously, King Rizhu was astonished after hearing his words. He never cared for courtesy and treated his subordinates as his family. But no one dared to challenge his authority. After pausing for a while, he lost his temper.


    King Rizhu overturned the table, and roared, ¡°You are a fucking asshole! Do you think you¡¯re a big shot with the title of Dragon King? Whatever your n is in Nond, it will never seed! When you return to the Western Region, you will find that all of your soldiers have been killed. Son of a bitch! Even my shit is nobler than you! You are just a son of a servant. You¡¯re meant to be a servant.¡±


    Their negotiation broke down in this way. Before Fang Wenshi and others drank a half bowl of liquor, they had been thrown out of the tent in astonishment.


    Gu Shenwei and his men went back to their encampment. On their way, Fang Wenshi kept pursuing what had happened, but Gu Shenwei refused to answer. After they rode for several miles, Gu Shenwei told Long Fanyun, ¡°I want that me Foal. Bring it to me tonight.¡±

 Chapter 537 - Steal the Horse

    Chapter 537: Steal the Horse


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Long Fanyun worked with Old Man Mu for the first time, so he was nervous.


    Long Fanyun did not know much about Old Man Mu, but these days he had heard many rumors about him from people of Nond. He considered Old Man Mu as a devil, and his hatred and fear towards the old man increased. However, Long Fanyun was curious about Old Man Mu.


    Now, Old Man Mu did not look like a bad guy. Instead, he seemed to be a poor old man who had not experienced many happy things. Long Fanyun could hardly connect this old man to that merciless Ferocious Old Devil.


    Long Fanyun looked at Old Man Mu.


    ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Old Man Mu stared at Long Fanyun as he asked. He pretended to be an amiable man to please Dragon King and Shangguan Ru. However, facing swordsman from the Great Snowmountain, he exposed his bad temper. He continued, ¡°Do you have a crush on me? You already have girlish Shangguan Fei to entertain you.¡±


    All of a sudden, Long Fanyun became flushed. He reached for his long-saber, but he did not draw it. Until now he had not realized that he had not brought a weapon. He eximed, ¡°I want to challenge you to a duel now!¡±


    Long Fanyun could not stand this shame. He had a wife in the Great Snowmountain, so he could not tolerate being used as a gay. Otherwise, he would have no face to return to his hometown.


    Old Man Mu raised his head and looked at the furious swordsman. Suddenly he burst intoughter, his sinister smile hidden in his wrinkles. He replied, ¡°Do not get angry. I¡¯m just kidding. Everyone knows that only applies to Shangguan Fei. He is not good enough for¡­ I know Lord Long is straight and not interested in men.¡±


    Long Fanyun¡¯s anger subsided. He understood he was no match to this old man. But if this old man continued to provoke him, he would fight even he would be defeated.


    Old Man Mu continued, ¡°I finally understand why Dragon King chose you to pretend to be Cavalry Hang. You two not only look alike, but also have a simr temper. Listen to me. When we reach the encampment, you¡¯d better pick out a soldier inside and fight him. I promise that no one dares suspect you.¡±


    At this time, just after the second shift, the night was thick, and there was a man lying in the grass. Long Fanyun had stripped the man¡¯s coat and put it on himself. The cavalry in Nond seldom wore undergarments. The man was not dead, only knocked out by Old Man Mu.


    Old Man Mu was right. When Long Fanyun wore his coat, he looked like Hang Cavalry.


    Long Fanyun got on the horse and opened a leather sack. He told Old Man Mu, ¡°Hide in here.¡±


    ¡°Old Mu took a deep breath. For years, he had to hide in his leather bag as long as he acted during the day. But the only advantage of his loss of power was that he was no longer afraid of the light and that the leather bag was no longer a suitable shelter. He took a deep breath and murmured to himself, ¡°I used to sleep with your woman, today I will steal your horse. I used to sleep with your woman, today I will steal your horse¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu entered the leather sack. He looked around through the peephole, but he saw nothing. Therefore, he leaned backward to make himself morefortable. <em>¡°It¡¯s not bad. Instead, I feel a sense of safety as if I were on my way home,¡± </em>he thought.


    Old Man Mu did not have a home. The home he referred to was where he had learned kung fu from his master. His skillful master, envious fellow male apprentices and master¡¯s beautiful wife stayed there. In fact, he did not remember the appearance of his master¡¯s wife. But when he thought of her, Han Wuxian, the Master of Xiaoyue Hall, would enter his mind and then he would immediately drive those thoughts out.


    Old Man Mu thought a lot in the leather sack. Long Fanyun was not asposed as Old Man Mu. The task Dragon King had assigned to him was difficult and dangerous. He did not fear being killed during the task; however, he was afraid of failure: in which case he would be scoffed by hispanions, and Dragon King¡¯s n would be ruined.


    Dragon King wanted to teach King Rizhu a lesson.


    Long Fanyun had heard that King Rizhu had cursed Dragon King, so he had supported Dragon King¡¯s revenge. But when Fang Wenshi had heard Dragon King¡¯s n, he was stunned and tried to stop him. He said, ¡°Please do not act on impulse. We have not reached their royal court yet. We can not offend King Rizhu. We¡¯re here to negotiate instead of¡­¡±


    Dragon King had taken him aside and whispered to him. Fang Wenshi reluctantly changed his mind and no longer opposed stealing the horse.


    There were two reasons why Long Fanyun worshipped Dragon King who was several years younger than him. For one thing, Dragon King was skilled in martial arts. For another, although he showed no mercy to his enemy, he seldom forced his subordinates to follow his orders; instead, he could always find a proper reason to persuade others, which Long Fanyun admired most.<em>¡°Dragon King and I rarely speak orugh, but Dragon King could be eloquent if necessary, while I can not.</em>


    <em>Compared to Dragon King, Shangguan Fei is just a talkative joker,¡± </em>Long Fanyun mused.


    Long Fanyun spat towards the ground at the thought of Shangguan Fei. <em>¡°Why did I think of Shangguan Fei? It¡¯s a huge disgrace to Dragon King topare Shangguan Fei to him,¡± </em>he thought.


    Dragon King¡¯s n was simple. Old Man Mu made was in charge of knocking people out, while Long Fanyun stole the horse. Long Fanyun had a simr temperament to cavalry from Nond. Besides, he knew horses so he could tame me Foal.


    The defenses at the Naihang Tribe encampment were loose. Compared with the men there, the horse would be more difficult to handle. ording to his observation, this horse could wake up dozens of soldiers including King Rizhu with a single neigh. Therefore, this task mainly depended upon Long Fanyun.


    Old Man Mu could easily knock out soldiers. Even if he was in danger, he could quickly run away. As for Long Fanyun, Old Man Mu would not help him. After all, Dragon King had not asked him to keep Long Fanyun safe.


    When they were approaching the Naihang Tribe encampment, Old Man Mu reminded Long Fanyun, ¡°Hurry! Rush in!¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Rush in, idiot. Are you waiting to be questioned? I just said you looked like people from Nond. Have you forgotten their style?¡±


    Long Fanyun understood what Old Man Mu meant. He galloped up to the encampment and shouted around, acting like a drunk.


    Several guards rushed out to the gate of the encampment. They questioned Long Fanyun in the local tongue, but Long Fanyun ignored them. Instead, he rode faster and broke into the encampment, nearly hitting the guards.


    He entered the encampment. The guards cursed him angrily, but no one chased after him.


    King Rizhu had his reason to have such a loose defense. No one dared provoke him in Nond. Although he rankedst among ten lords, even King Dari, who ranked first, needed to pay some respect to him.


    He thought himself a sensible man. ¡°I pretended to be on a hunt. I intend to meet Dragon King before the other lords do. I will not meet danger during the hunting or the meeting. Therefore, I do not need my men to be on patrol day and night. The war ising, and I will have my opportunity to strike.¡±


    Long Fanyun and Old Man Mu wouldeter. For the cavalry in Nond, midnight was the best time for them to drink. The whole encampment was holding a feast. Soldiers with wine bowls and meat on their hands rode around aimlessly. They saddled their horses even if they only needed to enter the tent next to theirs.


    Soon Long Fanyun blended in with the crowd. He often got a big bowl of liquor, which was strong and hot. When he drank it, he felt like his throat and stomach were on fire. Particr drinkers might dislike it, but Long Fanyun enjoyed it.


    After he finished ten bowls of liquor, Long Fanyun had the same thoughts as people born in Nond. ¡°A man should drink. It¡¯s a pity that Dragon King does not drink,¡± he thought.


    Long Fanyun managed to approach the tent of King Rizhu in a roundabout route. However, he could not find an opportunity to steal the horse.


    Lights inside King Rizhu¡¯s tent were on. At least thirty men stayed inside. They drank and sang without order. Sometimes they spoke their localnguage, and sometimes they spoke Central ins Chinese.


    me Foal was chained up in front of the tent. Under the light, it looked bloody red. The horse ate fine cereals, receiving attention from the crowd. The horse raised its head and gave a neigh now and then. Every time it would neigh, it would win praises from the crowd.


    King Rizhu was in good mood. He raised his bowl of liquor and cried in Central ins Chinese, ¡°It¡¯s a pity that me Foal is not a man. Otherwise, I would pass my title to it. Look at it. It looks like a king. Except for Khan, who deserves to be a king better than it? The king of the Central in is not even qualified to feed it.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. As for that boy toy who imed himself as Dragon King, it is his honor to catch a glimpse of me Foal. He dared¡­¡± someone followed.


    King Rizhu downed a bowl of liquor and threw the bowl out of the tent. The bowl did not hit me Foal, but it almost hit Long Fanyun, who was pretending to have lost his way.


    ¡°Bastard. He dared make terms with me. I guarantee that he will kneel on the ground to beg my forgiveness at dawn tomorrow. Do not treat him nicely. If I do not teach him a lesson, he will mistake Nond for a small kingdom in the Western Region.¡±


    They freely cursed and insulted Dragon King when they drank. Everyone took pleasure in abusing Dragon King loudly. They used all swear-words they could think of.


    Long Fanyun was irritated by their words, so he intended to ride forward. At this time, Old Man Mu¡¯s voice reached his ear, ¡°What are you going to do? Do you intend tomit suicide? Let me get out of the leather sack first.¡±


    Long Fanyun was reminded by the old man¡¯s words. ¡°Even if I died here, I could not hurt King Rizhu The best retaliation is to steal his favorite horse,¡± he pondered. However, he could not stay here to hear them curse Dragon King, so he said to Old Man Mu, ¡°I will ride around, and thene back hereter.¡±


    ¡°You are a fool. We can not wait to steal the horse until they go to sleep. I will cause chaos, and you can take this chance to steal the horse. I will meet you outside the encampment,¡± Old Man Mu suggested.


    ¡°King Rizhu hates you so much. Once you were discovered¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha. What do you think turns me from a tall, strong man into a short man? Although I am a good kung fu master, I have a handsome look that even the king¡¯s concubine did not want to miss me. That¡¯s why I altered my appearance¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu did not stop bragging. Long Fanyun opened the leather sack and let Old Man Mu jump out.


    Old Man Mu instantly disappeared into the darkness, leaving Long Fanyun waiting alone anxiously. He had no idea how Old Man Mu was going to attract the attention of King Rizhu.


    Soon he knew.


    The disturbance took ce far away from the encampment. But soon an increasing number of Nond cavalry called their buddies and rushed to where the disturbance had broken out. When they arrived, they joined in the fights.


    The sounds of fights overwhelmed everything, and it soon reached King Rizhu¡¯s tent.


    ¡°What the hell is happening?¡±


    A soldier rode to them and said with a red face, ¡°Fights! They are fighting against each other. I do not know who started it.¡±


    King Rizhu said, his eyes sparkling with anger, ¡°A group of little shits dared fight in my encampment. Let¡¯s go. I will kick their ass.¡±


    Everyone followed King Rizhu, except me Foal.


    Long Fanyun had already gotten down. Hey on the ground and pretended to be asleep; no one paid attention to him.


    As soon as King Rizhu and his men left, Long Fanyun immediately got up. He took out a ck cloth from the leather sack, tied it to his belt and walked up to me Foal. Instead of taking the action hastily, he stretched out his left hand to stroke the horse, and then grasped a handful of grain with his right hand to feed me Foal.


    After that, he opened his ck cloth and tied it on me Foal. It did not resist.


    King Rizhu called a group of people to appreciate the horse daily, so it had lost its vignce to humans.


    Long Fanyun was still angry when he was about to ride me Foal. He walked into the tent of King Rizhu and urinated into two jars of liquor.


    King Rizhu thought it was a perfect day. That group scuffle erased the displeasure Dragon King had brought to him in the day.


    ¡°Did you see how I kicked that kid¡¯s ass? He knelt on the ground, crying for his mother. Who dared look down upon me for my age? Even after ten years, I can defeat kids around twenty!¡±


    King Rizhu poured a bowl of liquor for himself and took a swallow of wine. It tasted odd. When he raised his head, he saw his subordinates gazing at the empty plot where me Foal had been chained up. He turned around, and found his favorite me Foal disappeared. When they had returned to the tent, they were too excited to notice the horse was gone.


    Long Fanyun awaited Old Man Mu at the rendezvous. He saw the cavalry of Nond rushing out of the gate madly towards Dragon King¡¯s encampment.


    Long Fanyun had no idea how Dragon King was going to handle King Rizhu who had lost his mind. He was not good at schemes, but he believed that Dragon King could handle it properly.

 Chapter 538 - Confrontation

    Chapter 538: Confrontation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    He was just an ordinary cavalry leader of 1,000 soldiers, carrying out an ordinary task: escorting guests from Western Region to the royal court, walking on Nond territory, backed by the Khan g. He never expected to encounter such aplicated situation.


    The Naihang Tribe cavalry came again, with more people than thest time, led by furious King Rizhu.


    ¡°Your Highness, how do you ¡­¡±


    Before the leader of 1,000 soldiers could finish his sentence, he was kicked down by King Rizhu, ¡°Back off! You idiot!¡± King Rizhu had never been so angry. Even when Old Man Mu humiliated his concubine, he did not feel such an urge to kill.


    me Foal was far more important than a hundred concubines. Perhaps Dragon King was ignorant of Nond traditions and took it as an ordinary animal. King Rizhu wanted him to understand a brilliant horse was far more important than a human life to Nond people.


    ¡± Ask Dragon King toe out. I want to see him.¡± King Rizhu shouted. The drunk soldiers behind him waved their weapons and shouted along, ¡°Come out!¡±


    The leader of 1,000 soldiers bore the pain and stood up. He was an officer under Khan, but worthless in the lord¡¯s eyes. He only dared to me Dragon King secretly for causing the trouble, ¡°I¡¯ll go get him for you.¡±


    The leader of 1,000 soldiers ran back to his tent and ordered a trusted attendant to summon Dragon King. He decided to stay away from the trouble and refused to get up from his bed again. Since King Rizhu came here in person, it was none of his business from now on.


    At the crack of dawn, a small team rode out of the camp. King Rizhu took a look but did not see Dragon King with them. The leader was a young woman.


    ¡°Dragon King is such a coward. Ask him toe out. Don¡¯t hide behind a woman.¡±


    Shangguan Ru raised her head and said, ¡± I am the archer coach of the Land of Fragrance, not anyone¡¯s shield. ¡± Since she refused to ept any prominent title, ¡°archer coach¡± was the only title she agreed with.


    King Rizhu frowned and looked again at the young woman in front of him. This was the ¡°Queen¡± in which the second wife of the Khan was interested. But she looked like a young girl who had just grown up. ¡°You are Shangguan Ru?¡± King Rizhu asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Whom do you serve? Golden Roc Fort, or Dragon King?¡±


    This problem troubled many Western Region and Nond people. They could not understand why Supreme King¡¯s favorite twins would serve Dragon King.


    ¡°Neither.¡± Shangguan Ru said coldly.


    King Rizhu¡¯s brows twisted, and he turned to general Zhe Su next to him, ¡°It seems that Dragon King can¡¯t control his own woman.¡±


    His voice was not loud but could be heard from far and near. Soldiers nodded in favor of King Rizhu¡¯s statement. Words like ¡°boy toy¡± and ¡°henpecked¡± gushed out from all directions.


    Shangguan Ru did not say a word. She picked up the bow, pulled the string and released the arrow in one second. Before King Rizhu and his men could respond, a sharp arrow was shot at him. Although Zhe Su was fat, his response was the fastest. He urged the horse to jump in front of King Rizhu and he reached out for the arrow but missed it.


    The arrow flew over King Rizhu¡¯s head and hit the gpole behind him.


    The soldier guarding the g was given a shake. He looked up at the arrow in astonishment: the thick wooden pole was shot through.


    Nond people were renowned for brilliant riding and shooting skills. The uracy and strength of Shangguan Ru¡¯s shot were beyond everyone¡¯s expectation. ¡± Bravo.¡± Someone could not help but praise aloud but immediately shut his mouth, because King Rizhu¡¯s face was turning red, which was a sign of his intent to kill.


    ¡°Fuck! Even Dragon King¡¯s woman has the guts to look down upon me. Go get the little bitch alive¡­¡±


    King Rizhu only finished half of his sentence.


    After the shot of Shangguan Ru, hundreds of female archers came out of the nearby tents. They lined in the shape of an arc, all prepared to shoot. Their target was King Rizhu.


    As the cavalry was about to rush up to protect King Rizhu, a female archer shouted, ¡°Stop! We¡¯ll shoot anyone who goes one step further.¡±


    King Rizhu realized that he was caught in a trap. His soldiers had the advantage in number and skill, and they could wipe out this group of women. But he was too close to the enemy to avoid being hurt. If the women shot indiscriminately, no one could protect him.


    If he died under a woman¡¯s arrow, he would be a joke in the whole grasnd. King Rizhu took a look at Zhe Su. Zhe Su knew the king¡¯s mind best and spread out his arms, ¡°You are guests, King Rizhu is the host. Is this how you people from the Land of Fragrance behave in the host home?¡±


    A female official next to Shangguan Ru quipped, ¡°Ask your lord to watch his mouth, and we will watch our arrows. ¡±


    King Rizhuughed with extreme anger, ¡°Ha! In the grasnds, no woman has ever asked a man to do anything.¡±


    Zhe Su gave his lord an out, ¡°They are guests from far away and do not understand the rules of our Nond.¡±


    King Rizhu snorted, ¡°I don¡¯t have time to chat with women. Ask them to hand over Dragon King and me Foal.¡±


    Before Zhe Su passed the word, the female official already heard King Rizhu and said,¡±Dragon King is not here.¡±


    ¡°Dragon King is not here¡­¡± He was startled and repeated it to King Rizhu.


    ¡°Dragon King is not here?¡± King Rizhu was more surprised and asked as if he misunderstood what was said.


    ¡°Where did Dragon King go?¡± King Rizhu asked directly.


    Finally, a man emerged from the female soldiers. Fang Wenshi cupped his hands over his chest and addressed King Rizhu and his men, ¡°Dragon King left for the royal courtst night. He was in a rush and couldn¡¯t say goodbye to King Rizhu. Our apologies.¡±


    King Rizhu¡¯splexion suddenly changed once he realized his n had been ruined by Dragon King. He really looked down on the pale young man with a sickly face.


    When Gu Shenwei decided to steal the horse, he persuaded his military counselor in this way, ¡°King Rizhu is bluffing, deliberately making it look like I am begging him, but in fact, he is begging me.¡±


    ¡°Begging you for what?¡± Fang Wenshi was confused by the confidence of Dragon King.


    ¡± I don¡¯t know. I think the answer is in Nond. Something must have happened there in thest few days when you left. Otherwise, why did King Rizhue all the way to see me? He must be anxious. In your impression, is King Rizhu a reckless person?¡±


    Fang Wenshi pondered for a moment and felt that Dragon King had a point. ¡°Right, King Rizhu does have a short temper, but he is never reckless. He is from the Queen¡¯s family and eventually became one of the ten kings of Nond. He has wits. There must be something big going on in the royal court.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯m going to steal his horse and teach him a lesson. Then I¡¯m going to the royal court overnight to find out what happened there.¡±


    ¡°You should go immediately, but stealing the horse¡­is that necessary?¡± Fang Wenshi was frightened by the savage-like King Rizhu and really worried about the consequences.


    ¡°Hey.¡± Gu Shenwei sneered, ¡°If I don¡¯t do this, I won¡¯t be able to break his bluff. Don¡¯t worry. He hates me the most. When I leave, you will be safer.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not worried about my own safety.¡± Fang Wenshi was blushing a little,¡± But, but if you do so, you will offend King Rizhu for sure. There will be no turning back.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not think so, but he had exined enough. He did not want to reveal his spection, ¡°Let¡¯s see. Besides, I need this horse.¡±


    Fang Wenshi did not dare object.


    Now standing in front of King Rizhu, his fear gradually dissipated. He started to believe Dragon King¡¯s words that King Rizhu was bluffing.


    ¡°Where is my horse?¡± King Rizhu repressed his anger since Dragon King had already gone and he could not fight with a group of women. Shangguan Ru was a distinguished guest invited by the second wife of the Khan; it was worthless to offend her for no reason. Now he just wanted to have his me Foal back.


    ¡°What horse? Aren¡¯t you riding a horse, and followed by a group of horses now?¡± Fang Wenshi was ying dumb, and he also wanted to retaliate for his contempt.


    ¡°me Foal. Its whole body is red. Didn¡¯t you see it yesterday?¡±


    ¡°It is a great honor to be remembered by you. Well, it is an awesome horse. I also told Dragon King on the way that such a good horse could not be found anywhere else except in Nond¡­¡±


    ¡°Hand it over!¡± King Rizhu huffed, interrupting this fat, white schr¡¯s nagging.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°The horse.¡±


    ¡°me Foal?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°You must be joking. How can we have your me Foal? Maybe¡­¡± Fang Wenshi turned back and looked at the female soldiers, ¡°Whose naughty mare seduced King Rizhu¡¯s precious horse here?¡±


    The female soldiers restrained fromughing and shook their heads, ¡°No, no, our horses are behaving themselves.¡±


    Fang Wenshi nodded his head and said, ¡°It seems that your highness is barking up the wrong tree. There is abundant water and luxuriant grass here, maybe there are also wild horses nearby. me Foal may be ying with them now.¡±


    Dragon King was gone, so was the horse. King Rizhu was like a furious lion trapped in a cage, having nowhere to vent his anger.


    Zhe Su always read his mind but made a mistake this time. He asked in a low voice, ¡°Do you want me to go in and search for it?¡±


    ¡°Search for what?¡± King Rizhu finally found a ce to vent his anger, ¡°He has already ridden the horse to the royal court, you fucking idiots! You have thousands of people. You know nothing but drinking and fighting. You didn¡¯t even know the horse was stolen. Go back, I will rectify the military discipline. If you dare to let one fly in or out, I will chop you all into ground meat¡­¡±


    King Rizhu turned back and rode away. The Naihang Tribe cavalry were all hanging their heads in dismay, and many of them regretted not having enough to drinkst night. It seemed that the rectification wouldst for several months.


    Fang Wenshi was smug, feeling like he defeated the enemy with clever words.


    Shangguan Ru secretly took a sigh of relief. For a while, she could clearly feel the killing intent of King Rizhu, which was a sign that a maniac was ready to put all his eggs in one basket.


    As before, Dragon King¡¯s n was like walking on the edge of a cliff. Even though the executors knew it should be safe, they still felt scared.


    Shangguan Ru had an unnoticeable smile.


    Long Fanyun and Old Man Mu returned to the campter. They packed up their belongings and prepared to depart with the others. They all rode on ordinary horses.


    me Foal was being ridden by its new owner and running fast like the wind. Gu Shenwei had to take a rest once in a while, waiting for Maid Lotus and Chu Nanping to catch up.


    Two dayster, the three arrived at the unprepared royal court.

 Chapter 539 - Draw a Saber

    Chapter 539: Draw a Saber


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Royal court was a mobile city. People new here would be confused by the countless tents and chaotic paths, mistaking it as a filthy ce that sheltered evil people and condoned evil practices.


    Those who had this idea would soon pay a steep price for it.


    Gu Shenwei received a great deal of valuable information from military counselor Fang Wenshi, so he would notmit a blunder.


    Although Fang Wenshi had only been there for half a year, he had already figured out the moving rules of royal court. ¡°Generally speaking, it moves from south to north along with the season. In the winter, it moves slightly east. In the summer, it moves slightly west. It can also adjust position if it encountered special circumstances, such as a war with the Central in.¡±


    In order to improve efficiency and keep everything in order, there were many rules in royal court. For example, the north was always the main tent of Khan. From that point further north, within one day¡¯s journey by horse, no one was allowed to live or pasture, as with the upper reaches of the river.


    The nobles who followed royal court had their encampments in the east, west, and south, surrounding and protecting Khan. Merchants, craftsmen, and low-level officials had their residences on the periphery. Everyone had a residence permit recording their name, identity, and status.


    It was not until after more than ten miles that the mobile city showed signs of losing control: trade caravans transporting goods, strangers looking for opportunities, servants looking for short-term jobs, and mysterious people operating secret businesses were all randomly mixed together. The gap between one tent and another often allowed only one horse to pass.


    This chaotic area had thus be the first line of defense of royal court, usually called slums. People living here were like insects on the grasnd¨C dirty, ugly, but indispensable.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s first foothold in royal court was here.


    They arrived in the evening and could not venture into the noble area. Gu Shenwei went first to find a contact named Senior Shou, and Fang Wenshi guaranteed that the person was extremely reliable.


    Zhu Shou was originally from the Central in but had been moving around with royal court for a living since he was a teenager. He earned the title of ¡°Senior Shou¡± at the age of 40. At first, he was only called this by people in a small circle. Five yearster, even the northern nobles referred to him by this title. Now he was in his fifties. If someone called him by his original name, he would not be able to respond in time.


    ¡°All you need to seed is time.¡± This was a famous saying of Senior Shou. He had been doing only one kind of business for decades since the first time he sent the information on behalf of others: acting as a middleman for all kinds of people, introducing them to each other and never asking about the reasons and results.


    This business was not as easy as it seemed. If he introduced an assassin or an abominable counselor to a noble, he would not be paid and would instead lose his life.


    Zhu Shou was able to survive because he had never mistaken anyone. But this time he could not make a judgment even after staring at the young man for a long while.


    The young man looked pale and sick. He seemed to be a timid and broken master. But he had a saber on the waist, and his eyes looked firm and never flinched.


    Senior Shou stopped looking at him and secretly concluded that this man was dangerous, but he knew how to control himself.


    ¡°Yes, Fang Wenshi.¡± Senior Shou pretended to recall this familiar name, and after a while, he continued, ¡°I remember him. Whom do you want to see?¡±


    ¡°King Kuari.¡±


    Senior Shou lowered his head and said nothing. He was not frightened. He had seen someone who wanted to see Khan. He was just considering the price.


    The bigger the status gap between the two sides, the higher the price would usually be. Senior Shou was unsure about the young man¡¯s identity and thought for a moment, ¡°You must tell me your real name.¡±


    Like all new strangers, before Fang Wenshi met Senior Shou, he once lived in the slums for a while. He looked around for ways to meet dignitaries but misspent some money.


    Senior Shou left a good impression on Fang Wenshi. Although the intermediary cost was high, it was worth the money in the end. Fang Wenshi met the butler of King Kuari andid his first foothold in royal court. Soon he moved into the craftsman¡¯s area and then was invited to live in the noble area after the war on the seaside slope.


    Senior Shou was discreet in speech. After confirming that Fang Wenshi did not know kung fu and was not pedantic or annoying, he never asked any more questions. Dragon King¡¯s military counselor was famous in Western Region, but unknown in Nond.


    If everything went ording to n, Fang Wenshi would have acted as the middleman for Dragon King. Instead, he stayed behind, so he rmended Senior Shou.¡±You will first meet the butler of King Kuari, a short and fat eunuch. He has a mole on his chin, which is very easy to recognize. He might put on a fake beard, but he will never hide the mole. You can reveal your identity to him, and he will lead you to King Kuari.¡±


    Now, Senior Shou wanted to know the name of the young guest, because he was not only equipped with a saber but also a vignt killing spirit. That spirit was not a manifestation of his will when he fought with others, but a unique temperament of a person who had killed numerous people and was numb to life. Just like the difference between nobility and the newly-rich, they could be easily distinguished from their attitudes towards servants: the former is natural, and thetter emphasizes everywhere.


    Gu Shenwei reported his ¡°name¡± in another way: he took off a small leather bag from his waist, put it on the counter, and slid it towards Senior Shou.


    Senior Shou ran a small grocery store in slums without a residence permit. All the goods had been stored for at least ten years and had never sold. They were all covered with dust. The dust also moved with the migration once in a few months.


    Senior Shou opened the leather bag and took a look inside. Then he weighed it in his hand, and all the problems were solved. The young man might be dangerous, but Senior Shou could keep himself safe as long as he took necessary preventive measures.


    ¡°Come by the day after tomorrow,¡± Senior Shou instructed.


    ¡°I want to see him tonight,¡± Gu Shenwei requested.


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t tried yet. How do you know it¡¯s impossible?¡±


    This man was used to giving orders. Senior Shou looked at the guest again until he could no longer stand the coldness in his eyes. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll try it. You wait for me here. If there is no news in two hours, don¡¯t wait any longer; juste by the day after tomorrow.¡±


    Senior Shou was headed out when the young man grabbed him by the arm. The guest, who did not look strong, had a grip as strong as an iron sp. ¡°It has to be tonight,¡± the guest insisted.


    ¡± I ¡­¡± Senior Shou was slightly miffed, but softened his tone, ¡°I will try my best. Maybe I can¡¯t make it happen, but I won¡¯t lie to you or fool you. Fang Wenshi must have told you that.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Gu Shenwei let go of Senior Shou. When Senior Shou was close to the door, Gu Shenwei said, ¡°Thank you for leaving me a person to chat with.¡±


    Senior Shou¡¯s face was stiff. He paused for a moment but said nothing. Then he lifted the curtain and headed out. <em>¡°This young man is so different,¡± </em>he thought.


    Gu Shenwei turned around and looked at the pile of parcels by the door. Soon, a macheteman emerged from the shadow behind the parcels.


    The macheteman looked around eighteen, even younger than Gu Shenwei. He had a round but slightly square face, and bright eyes. The thin mustache above his lips showed his immaturity. His neck seemed bigger than his head, and his body was as strong as a bull in heat, which could easily turn over the whole tent when angry.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    The macheteman hesitated for a moment. He should not speak in front of a new guest, but there was an irresistible force in this man¡¯s words that prevented him from sticking to his position. ¡°Bo Sang,¡± he answered.


    ¡°Saber or sword?¡±


    Bo Sang¡¯s face was a little red. It was a fashion nowadays to wear a saber and a sword simultaneously. Especially after the war on seaside slope, there were more and more imitators of Dragon King. ¡°I use the saber,¡± Bo Sang replied.


    Bo Sang¡¯s saber and sword were about a foot longer thanmon weapons, and they looked very threatening. In fact, he had never used the sword and did not even know how.


    ¡°Pull out your saber,¡± Gu Shenwei told Bo Sang.


    ¡°Why?¡± Bo Sang became vignt.


    ¡°It maye in handyter. Drawing the saber quickly may not be your strongsuit.¡±


    Bo Sang was infuriated since he was at an age of extreme sensitivity to dignity and could not bear even the slightest public humiliation. He drew his saber, resting his right hand on the scabbard. Twisting his body to the left, he slightly dropped his head, holding the hilt with his right hand, lifting it up high. It was indeed a clean posture, which obviously had been practiced many times.


    ¡°Pull out yours.¡± Bo Sang¡¯s tone was stern. He was eager to teach the new guest a lesson before Senior Shou returned, and let him know that imitating Dragon King also required some strength.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. ¡°My saber will not be pulled out for showing off.¡±


    Bo Sang¡¯s face was bing redder and redder. ¡°Maybe you don¡¯t even know how to use it,¡± he quipped.


    ¡°It is possible. Why don¡¯t you throw away the scabbard?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Your saber is too long. Throwing away the scabbard while pulling out the saber would be faster.¡±


    Bo Sang was confused and thought to himself, <em>¡°Why throw away the scabbard? The posture is neither beautiful nor useful at all. After drawing the saber, the two sides must confront each other for a while before they begin fighting. Nobody will start fighting immediately after drawing the saber, right?¡±</em>


    ¡°Don¡¯t pretend you know how to use a saber. That will get you killed.¡± Bo Sang said contemptuously, returning the long saber to the scabbard.


    The two never spoke after that.


    Gu Shenwei leaned on the counter and remained motionless for a long time as if he would never be bored with this posture.


    Bo Sang impatiently paced back and forth. The guest¡¯s suggestion had taken root in his heart and could not be removed. He especially wanted to give it a try now and throw away the scabbard when pulling out the saber. Would it really be faster?


    The opportunity came.


    Two assassins cut through the tent and rushed in from different directions to pounce on the defenseless guest.


    Bo Sang felt obliged to protect anyone in the tent.


    He pulled out the saber with his right hand and pulled the scabbard out of the belt and threw it away with his left hand. It was indeed a little faster, and the whole process was more smooth and easy. His right hand used to be lifted too high and could change the move immediately. Now, he could sh immediately.


    Bo Sang raised his head and found his help unnecessary.


    A saber and a sword were ced on the assassins¡¯ necks. By the time Bo Sang drew his saber, the guest had already finished his counterattack.


    Bo Sang finally understood the importance of drawing the saber quickly.


    Gu Shenwei did not kill them because he knew it was a test.


    A man came in the tent, dressed in a robe, with his hands behind his back. He assessed the situation inside the tent and said, ¡°Dragon King¡¯s fame is indeed deserved.¡±


    Bo Sang was surprised that the young man was Dragon King. And even more to his surprise, Dragon King asked to see King Kuari, here stood King Dari.


    In royal court, everyone knew that King Dari and King Kuari were deadly foes.


    .

 Chapter 540 - The Yellow-faced Servant

    Chapter 540: The Yellow-faced Servant


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    There were ten lords in Nond. In the ranking of session, King Dari was on top, but it did not mean his status was secured.


    ording to the tradition of Nond, session ranking could onlye into use if thest Khan did not directly designate a sessor. Khan could choose anyone to inherit the throne, including descendants other than the ten lords. His words were above everything else.


    The heir had be a sensitive topic for the current Khan. With the aggravation of his illness, he became reluctant to talk about this issue. Anyone who dared to rashly mention this matter in front of him would bear the risk of losing his head.


    That should be a good thing for King Dari. As long as Khan did not designate anyone, King Dari would be the next Khan for sure. But in recent years, his self-confidence had dwindled, and his anxiety and fear had grown.


    Nobles usually judged a person¡¯s favor in the simplest way: the number of times he receives a private call from King Khan.


    Fortunately, it must be face to face. This was an irrefutable truth. It did not require profound knowledge, and Nond nobles could find its uracy.


    The number of calls for King Dari had not decreased. What scared him was that the number of summons for King Kuari increased steadily. Especially in thest one year or two, it had a trend of surpassing.


    More than one noble had reminded King Dari to pay attention to this matter, and more than one noble, once on the fence, had tilted his center of gravity towards King Kuari.


    This was a life-and-deathpetition. The loser would die with Khan or leave home, disappear in the vast barrennd, and could no longer participate in any affairs of Nond.


    This was also a hand-to-hand fight, and no one could back down. They had to do their best in every inch of territory and every trivial matter untilplete upation. The victor could barely take a breath before immediately jumping into the next battle.


    Dragon King was their battlefield at this moment.


    Gu Shenwei was aware of this. He wanted to find out the reason but soon found that King Dari, exactly like King Rizhu, was hiding the truth.


    Although King Dari had always been the most important supporter of Golden Roc Fort, Gu Shenwei did not discriminate against him. Before he found out the true baseline of the all-powerful figures, he would not pick a side by his impression alone.


    Loyalty and betrayal only existed in the inferior towards the superior. The dignitaries were always rightfully confident when they abandoned their ves and followers. King Dari showed up in slums and his first sentence to Dragon King was, ¡°I hope Golden Roc Fort will not be a barrier between you and me. Every decision I make depends on whether it can bring benefits to Nond. As for my personal preference, it does not matter at all.¡±


    ¡°I also hope that I didn¡¯t let you down when I asked to see King Kuari first. It¡¯s my principle to do easier things first and harder thingster. The difficulty to meet King Dari is a little high for me,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Ha ha!¡± King Dari had a heartyugh characteristic of Nond people. ¡°After this meeting, you will no longer feel that meeting me is difficult.¡±


    Words were straightforward, but topics were circuitous. Both sides were still testing each other in order to quickly form an impression.


    In Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes, King Dari was a slim old man of medium height, about 50 years old. Beneath his generous and approachable appearance, there was the stateliness which could only be possessed by a dignitary that had held power for many years. It had be a part of King Dari, and would not vanish even if he became a prisoner.


    However, Gu Shenwei noticed that King Dari¡¯s speech was somewhat incoherent with asional pauses as if he suddenly lost hisnguage ability and returned to normal in a blink of an eye. He did not seem to notice it.


    In the eyes of King Dari, Dragon King was confusing. With King Dari¡¯s status and his history of supporting Golden Roc Fort, his appearance in slums and greetings to his former enemy should be very surprising and impressive to Dragon King. But this young man had a calm demeanor and did not regard him as the first king of Nond.


    ¡°I¡¯m getting old.¡± King Dari¡¯s enthusiasm weakened considerably after finding that his unexpected visit did not achieve the desired effect. ¡°Standing is burdensome for me. Would you like to have a drink in my tent?¡±


    ¡°My pleasure.¡± Gu Shenwei epted the invitation, but his tone was still insipid, without the feeling of ¡°pleasure.¡±


    A group of guards was waiting outside the tent. So were Senior Shou and his subordinate Bo Sang.


    Gu Shenwei stopped in front of Senior Shou and said, ¡°I wille again the day after tomorrow. ¡±


    Senior Shou was embarrassed and did not know how to reply in the presence of King Dari.


    King Dari did not care, ¡°Tell Fourth King that I have invited Dragon King. Let him wait for two days.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Senior Shou replied respectfully, knowing that his business was about to be finished. Since the battle for the throne had be fierce, he had to pick a side. This was a secret bet. After exposure, it would greatly damage his reputation. From then on, no one would believe his impartiality, not to mention the anger of King Kuari.


    King Dari¡¯s personal visit to the slums did not surprise Dragon King but dealt Senior Shou a lethal blow. He did not even dare to give a hint to his lord, because that would make him die faster.


    Bo Sang looked at Dragon King excitedly. His round face was full of admiration. Because he was so nervous, the blue veins bulged from his neck. Any outsider would consider it as a sign of hatred.


    To his regret, Dragon King did not speak to him or look at him again.


    Compared with the humble tent of King Rizhu, the residence of King Dari could be called a pce. It was spacious enough to be divided into ten rooms. Stepping on the thick carpet was like stepping on the clouds. Pretty female ves delivered corresponding utensils and food before the master thought of them.


    The liaison between the lord and ves was a yellow-faced young man of around twenty. He seemed to be malnourished from childhood, causing him not only to be slim in figure but also slightly retarded. But this humble man had an amazing skill: he could foresee every single thought of King Dari.


    It took Gu Shenwei a while to realize the importance of this person. All the female ves were staring at the yellow-faced servant and immediately performed their duties through observing his eyes and subtle movements.


    The yellow-faced servant joined the conversation when it had already been going on for a while, which was both abrupt and natural. He said, ¡°Our lord loves talented people. He often can¡¯t sleep for several nights when he sees young talents like Dragon King. He always wants all the world¡¯s outstanding talents to be used by Nond.¡±


    King Dari nodded with a smile and epted the servant¡¯spliment. But then something weird happened. King Dari fell back on a thick pillow that had already been put in ce. From then on, he rarely said aplete sentence, ¡°I think¡­¡±, ¡°this matter¡­¡± and ¡°in my opinion¡­¡± All the words after that were added by the yellow-faced servant. The connection between them was very natural, and the situation of sudden pause was thus not seen.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes remained on King Dari, and he never asked the name and identity of the yellow-faced servant.


    ¡°Dragon King must be wondering why our lord invited you toe here, right?¡±


    ¡°A little bit.¡±


    ¡°Well, I want to do a little exnation for my lord first. Our lord is selfless and devoted to the overall situation of Nond. Everyone says that he supports Golden Roc Fort, which is actually a misunderstanding. Our lord only supports Nond. As for the situation in Western Region, he will lend a helping hand if it is beneficial for Nond.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense¡­¡± Dragon King replied.


    ¡°So, Dragon King is willing toe to Nond to negotiate and our lord is very d¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei now understood the origin of King Dari¡¯s speech in Senior Shou¡¯s store. The yellow-faced servant said it again, more smoothly and reasonably.


    Slowly, the yellow-faced servant got to the point and his attitude became a little disdainful. ¡°You should have long vision. Our lord will be the Khan of Nond. Western Region is only a small pond. You can do whatever you want in it, but you must get the approval of Nond, that is, the approval of our lord.¡±


    Gu Shenwei said less and less. In the end, he remainedpletely silent and did not even make a sound.


    ¡°Our lord said that Dragon King is a wise man and a wise man should do smart things.¡± The yellow-faced servant apparently saw silence as yielding, ¡°You seized a good opportunity and chose to ept the shelter of Nond. It was very wise. But it is unwise to ce your hope on King Kuari. Do you need an ally for a couple of years or an ally for the rest of your life? In Nond, our lord is the only person who can shelter you forever¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s only purpose in epting the invitation was to find out what happened to royal court. The lords were eager to meet him but were hiding something. He did not expect to meet such a talkative yellow-faced servant.


    King Dari would never be the sessor if Khan still had any sanity.


    Gu Shenwei stood up and walked up to King Dari.


    The yellow-faced servant was speaking excitedly and did not expect Dragon King¡¯s action. He paused for a moment and said, ¡°Please stop, our lord¨C¡±


    ¡°King Dari, if you don¡¯t wake up, no one will ever talk to you.¡±


    King Dari was apparently more surprised. He nced at the yellow-faced servant uneasily and sat up straight, ¡°I¡¯ve been awake the whole time.¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked at the decrepit and muddleheaded lord, ¡°Ask someone to escort me out.¡±


    ¡°You can stay here, we¡­can¡­¡± King Dari seemed to forget what to say.


    ¡°Dragon King, you are challenging our lord.¡± The yellow-faced servant finally reacted by jumping in front of King Dari. ¡°You have made a huge mistake. If you apologize immediately, you may be forgiven. Otherwise, our lord will raze the whole Western Region, let alone a small Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei finally moved his eyes to the yellow-faced servant, ¡°I¡¯m very concerned about whether King Dari will ever be able to speak his own mind.¡±


    After offending the second Nond lord, Gu Shenwei headed out, leaving behind a bewildered King Dari, a pale yellow-faced servant, and stunned ves in the tent.


    No one escorted him. Gu Shenwei went into the night looking for Maid Lotus who was hiding in the shadows.

 Chapter 541 - Bodyguard

    Chapter 541: Bodyguard


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Senior Shou had been packing up for a while, but he eventually gave up. He did not want to leave.


    This ce was not just his home. It was everything to him. In royal court, he was middle-ss. He could live a decent life without superb skills or peerless kung fu. He did not know what to do if he left royal court.


    Stay on the grasnd? He knew nothing about pasture; Go back to the Central in? Border garrison would probably regard him as a spy. He didn¡¯t look like a Central in resident except for his Central ins Chinese.


    Senior Shou took a sigh and sat on a high stool. He decided not to leave, andforted himself: King Kuari might not retaliate. There was no point in an elephant trifling with a rat.


    There was a hint of reason in his heart reminding him how hypocritical thisfort was, but Senior Shou could not let it show. ¡°One hundred and two taels, take it, it¡¯s the sry andpensation for this month. Now go.¡±


    ¡°Where,¡± asked the macheteman Bo Sang uneasily.


    Senior Shou sighed again. In his career, his self-protection relied on urate judgment and eliminating danger as early as possible. So he rarely used bodyguards. That was why he hired Bo Sang, a mediocre but loyal macheteman.


    ¡°I will shut down the business. Go find another job.¡±


    ¡°Why? The business is going well.¡± Bo Sang was still confused.


    <em>¡°Loyal people aren¡¯t very smart,¡± </em>Senior Shou thought to himself. Then a rage suddenly rose in his heart: why was King Dari was so stupid that he came to see Dragon King in person andpletely exposed the middleman? Why did Senior Shou defect to King Dari? He was reluctant to recall the reason: money.


    That yellow-faced person who imed to be a confidant of King Dari was willing to pay 5,000 taels of silver each year to buy all information. And he would have an extra reward if he performed meritorious service.


    Senior Shou could not resist the temptation and betrayed his decades-old principle for only 5,000 taels of silver.


    In the end, his judgment was wrong and he failed to recognize Dragon King. He knew this young man was somebody, and that was why he told King Dari in advance. But he never thought it would be Dragon King himself.


    On the contrary, the yellow-faced servant immediately confirmed the identity of the young man and taught King Dari a set of rhetoric.


    It was all his own fault and he resented himself because of that. But he was only an ordinary person and did not want to abuse himself or even me himself, so he projected his anger on somebody else, ¡± Idiot! ¡®Going well¡¯? Don¡¯t you have eyes? We let King Dari meet Dragon King! Don¡¯t you think King Kuari will be furious? He will never allow us to stay in business! Take the silver and get out of here!¡±


    Bo Sang waspletely unprepared for the storm and stunned for a moment. He was all flushed, ¡°I¡¯m your bodyguard, and I won¡¯t let anyone hurt you, not even Khan.¡±


    Senior Shou sighed again. Loyal people were really not smart. He wanted to ask Bo Sang what he could do to protect his master, but the anger in his heart was extinguished and he felt a little sorry instead. ¡°Then you can stay. Maybe I am just overthinking. Maybe everything will be fine.¡±


    It is human nature to hope that someone stays by your side in a time of crisis. It is better to die together than die alone.


    Bo Sang nodded, ¡°I¡¯ll stay, but you can¡¯t call me idiot anymore.¡±


    Senior Shou almostughed out loud. He never knew the young bull-like macheteman had a strange self-esteem. ¡°I made an indiscreet remark. You are not an idiot.¡± Senior Shou thought to himself, <em>¡°Just not smart enough.¡±</em>


    Bo Sang solemnly nodded again, then drew his saber and threw the extra sword and scabbard to the ground. Senior Shou was frightened, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Preparing to fight.¡±


    ¡°There is no need to draw your saber so early. Like I said, maybe everything will be alright.¡±


    ¡°Dragon King said I am slow in drawing out my saber, so I must prepare in advance. Assassins may attack at any moment, so I can¡¯t afford to waste any time.¡±


    Senior Shou whispered, ¡°Do as you please.¡± He did not practice kung fu but he knew Bo Sang was at best a middle-level macheteman. Drawing out the saber faster made no difference.


    As the candle burned shorter and shorter, Senior Shou had an ominous premonition, as if it represented his own life. When the candle died, he quickly found a new candle and lit it. Just then, the people he feared came uninvited.


    A tall, thin macheteman lifted the curtain and entered the room. He looked around, but not at the two men. He then stood aside.


    Bo Sang held the hilt tightly, ¡°Who are you looking for?¡±


    The thin macheteman did not answer, and a second one entered. He stood opposite to the first macheteman, also ignoring the tent¡¯s owner.


    In all there was a total of six machetemen, split into two lines. The tent immediately appeared cramped and crowded.


    Bo Sang stood in front of Senior Shou and stared warily at the enemy. He never considered the issue of strength disparity, he only knew one thing: he was a paid bodyguard and had to protect his master.


    Thest intruder was not a macheteman, but looked like a butler.


    Senior Shou knew this man and realized that he was doomed. He began to regret not running away, ¡°Mr. Han, I can exin.¡±


    Mr. Han was around thirty. He was one of the butlers in King Kuari¡¯s residence, and well-trusted. He was responsible for external contacts and had dealt with Senior Shou. Fang Wenshi was introduced to him by Senior Shou.


    Butler Han shook his head, ¡°No need. The fact is that the prey has been taken away and you didn¡¯t even leave us any scraps.¡±


    Senior Shou forced himself to remain calm. ¡°I am willing to work for King Kuari. King Dari trusts me, I can provide¨C¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± Butler Han smiled and shook his head. ¡°Another betrayal. You didn¡¯t even give me the chance to bribe you.¡±


    ¡°Heh heh.¡± Senior Shou smirked. It was a chance to stay alive, ¡°No need. I¡¯m willing to¨C¡±


    Butler Han waved impatiently, ¡°Take him back.¡±


    Senior Shou¡¯s face changed. Bringing him back to the residence of King Kuari meant that his value in use was only on the information that he already knew. He would be of no use in the future, ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡±


    ¡°Dragon King wille to see Senior Shou again the day after tomorrow. You should let him stay,¡± Bo Sang interjected.


    Senior Shou nearly knelt down to his bodyguard and wondered how he could forget such an important thing. ¡°Yes, right! Dragon King said he wants to meet King Kuari and wille the day after tomorrow.¡±


    Butler Han looked cold. ¡°We have our own way of finding Dragon King. It¡¯s not your business anymore.¡±


    The atmosphere stagnated for a moment. Butler Han was enjoying the fear he had caused. Senior Shou was anxiously thinking of means to save his own life. The six imperial guards of King Kuari hesitated to arrest the people immediately, but Bo Sang took the initiative.


    Bo Sang believed that it was his fastest move ever.


    But it was still not fast enough.


    The guards in front stepped away, and the guards at the rear leaped towards him, hitting the back of his head with stone-like fists.


    Bo Sang fell down but continued struggling. Then he was hit again on the head and finally cked out.


    The guards held their hilts and turned back to Butler Han, awaiting further orders.


    Butler Han enjoyed knowing that with a wave of his hand a life could be ended.


    Senior Shou held the counter tightly, as if he could avoid being taken away by doing so. He did not take a look at Bo Sang, and seemed to forget about the existence of his bodyguard.


    Then, the most disgusting thing happened to Butler Han: someone interrupted his order.


    ¡°It is better to let him live.¡± No one found out when the man came into the tent. All the six guards were surprised and pulled out scimitars almost simultaneously, much faster than Bo Sang.


    Senior Shou was full of fear and surprise at the same time. He could no longer bear it. He called out ¡°Dragon King,¡± and fell down to the ground. Although he did not faint, he did not have the strength to remain standing.


    Butler Han looked at the neer and immediately put on a kind smile. ¡°That¡¯s great. It is Dragon King.¡±


    The six guards did not immediately put away their scimitars or rx their vignce to Dragon King until the butler gave a clear indication.


    ¡°I thought Dragon King was with King Dari.¡±


    ¡°I was, but I left. King Kuari was the one I wanted to meet.¡±


    ¡°Have you already seen Military Counselor Fang,¡± asked Butler Hang.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°I knew Dragon King was hard to fool. King Dari was thinking wishfully.¡±


    ¡°Take me to King Kuari,¡± Dragon King requested.


    ¡°Er¡­¡± Butler Han was put in an awkward situation, ¡°Lord didn¡¯t give that order¡­Dragon King, please wait here. I¡¯ll report to him immediately.¡±


    ¡°I thought King Kuari was eager to meet me,¡± Gu Shenwei said coldly.


    ¡°I dare not to specte his highness¡¯ mind. Please allow me to report it. It will only take a moment.¡±


    Either the ButlerHan was too rigid, or King Kuari was extremely strict. Gu Shenwei started to form a new impression of this lord and it was different from what Fang Wenshi had said. In the eyes of the military counselor, King Kuari was a perfect noble, treating worthy men with courtesy, friendly to others, and knew how to adjust to changing circumstances. He would never keep talking about the interests of Nond like King Dari.


    All of a sudden, Gu Shenwei turned back and drew his saber.


    An imperial guard had been kneeling in front of Bo Sang. The order he received was to kill the bodyguard. He waited for a while and Butler Han did not revoke the order. ording to his understanding, the order should be executed.


    But the scimitar in his hand was gone and stabbed onto the counter. The shock in his mind was beyondprehension; he did not even know where the force came from. Dragon King turned his back on him and did not seem to look back at all.


    ¡°I say, let him live.¡± Gu Shenwei looked at Butler Han and spoke in the tone of amand, which was the only effective way tomunicate with King Kuari¡¯s subordinates.


    The other guards raised their scimitars again.


    Butler Han was stunned for a while, ¡°Put your scimitars down. Just leave him there.¡± Then he made the decision, ¡°Well, pleasee back to the pce with me. I believe our lord will make an exception for Dragon King.¡±


    Senior Shou sat on the ground, thinking it was time to end his middleman business and buy a batch of cattle and sheep. He figured Bo Sang would be a good candidate to pasture for him.


    The night was not over yet. On the way to King Kuari¡¯s tent, Butler Han kept ttering Dragon King. It made him feel that King Kuari really thought highly of him.


    So he asked about the yellow-faced servant next to King Dari, and Butler Han smiled. ¡°His name is Fu Yuan. King Dari treats him as a brilliant military counselor and trusts him. But he was only a ve captured from the border of the Central in a few years ago. Who would have thought that he could win the favor of King Dari?¡±


    Wei Song once imed that there were supporters of the Central in in Nond, but he refused to reveal the identity. He made it as one of the rewards for Dragon King¡¯s assassination n. Gu Shenwei was eager to get this reward in advance.

 Chapter 542 - King Kuari

    Chapter 542: King Kuari


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    In the Royal Court, it was widely known that King Kuari was the Khan¡¯s favorite grandson. The most convincing evidence of this was that he was conferred with the title of ¡°King Kuari¡± soon after his father¡¯s death. Now, he was the fourth rightful heir to the throne.


    Those who met with King Kuari gave him manypliments. Fang Wenshi was one of them, and he told the Dragon King, ¡°The future of Nond is bound to be in the hands of King Kuari. He is an exceedingly important figure. We only have two choices: side with him or kill him.¡±


    Gu Shenwei discovered that King Kuari was different from others by observing one detail.


    Gu Shenwei entered the noble area with Butler Han and his six guards. No one had gone ahead on their way to King Kuari¡¯s encampment to inform him of their arrival. However, as soon as they walked into the encampment, Gu Shenwei saw a man of about thirty years opening his arms to wee them. He seemed to have foreseen their arrival in advance.


    ¡°Dragon King, you are finally here. I thought I would not have the honor of your visit,¡± greeted King Kuari.


    King Kuari had a handsome, genteel look. He was more like a well-read, highborn master from the Central in than a rude illiterate born in Nond who spent most of his time on horseback. Now Gu Shenwei understood why Fang Wenshi thought so highly of him.


    ¡°It¡¯s natural to visit the most important people,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    King Kuari burst intoughter when he heard these words. Hisughter was lively and sincere, typical of the Nond style.


    Butler Han came forward, bowed and said, ¡°I beg your pardon, My Lord. I brought the Dragon King here without your permission.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is a distinguished guest. How could I punish you?¡±ughed King Kuari.


    Butler Han was very relieved, with a bright smile on his face. He bowed to King Kuari, and then dismissed himself.


    The tent of King Kuari was neither as luxurious as King Dari¡¯s nor as simple as King Rizhu¡¯s. Sets of armor, bows and arrows, and sabers and swords were disyed in the tent. A brass incense burner of the Central in style stood in the corner. The light scent of the incense pervaded the entire tent.


    Gu Shenwei thought, <em>¡°It¡¯s a strangebination of decorations.¡± </em> He decided to make a judgment about King Kuari after more observation.


    ¡°You must wonder why King Rizhu and King Dari were so eager to meet you,¡± said King Kuari straightforwardly.


    Gu Shenwei liked King Kuari¡¯s frankness. He replied, ¡°Yes, I did. I was confused, especially when they dodged my questions.¡±


    King Kuariughed again. During the whole conversation, he alwaysughed at the proper time. He seemed to consider the Dragon King as his ally. Avoiding small talk and persuasion, he went straight to the point.


    For the past six months, Fang Wenshi had been paving the way for the Dragon King to seek an alliance in Nond. King Kuari thought that there was no reason for the Dragon King to refuse to form an alliance with him.


    ¡°There is only one person who can change the Nond lords¡¯ attitudes,¡± King Kuari said. He was the first man from Nond who was honest with the Dragon King. ¡°A few days ago, the Khan summoned ten lords and gave them an order: anyone who persuaded the Dragon King and the Supreme King to make peace with each other and work together to fight against the Central in would be the Lord of the Western Region,¡± he told Gu Shenwei.


    Gu Shenwei admired King Kuari. He was not supposed to be trusted here, as he had just left King Dari¡¯s encampment. However, this lord neither showed any displeasure nor inquired about his conversation with King Dari. Instead, he openly told him the secret that the others had concealed.


    Even so, Gu Shenwei could not ept Khan¡¯s order. He asked, ¡°Do you mean that the Khan will turn the Western Region into a dependency of Nond?¡±


    King Rizhu and King Dari did not want to irritate the Dragon King too soon, so they had hidden this from him.


    King Kuari said, as if he had no such concern, ¡°You do not need to take these words seriously. The Khan¡¯s real purpose is to select his sessor.¡± After pausing for a while, he continued, ¡°This is the way that the Khan handles matters. He asks you to do one thing, but he actually has another n. Haha, he is getting old.¡±


    King Kuari was also the first who dared to show disrespect to the Khan. Gu Shenwei had discovered that no one in Nond dared to tease the Khan behind his back.


    The people of Nond regarded the Khan as the leader of the gods.


    ¡°Even if the Khan had another n, he would take the Western Region as well. Am I wrong?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Dragon King, don¡¯t worry about it,¡± King Kuari said with a grim look. ¡°There is a border between the Western Region and Nond that no one can cross. It¡¯s not the natural moat, the pass or the strong troops, but the lifestyle,¡± he continued.


    ¡°The people in Nond go out on horseback, while the people in the Western Region go by carriage; the people in Nond eat meat and drink horse milk, while the people in the Western Region plow thend and eat pancakes and pastries. If the people from Nond resided in the Western Region, they would have no ce for their horses. If the people from the Western Region lived in Nond, they would have nond to plow. Since ancient times, the two kingdoms have been on good terms for these very reasons,¡± King Kuari went on.


    ¡°Now thousands of cavalry from Nond are galloping into the Western Region,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°It¡¯s temporary. Dragon King, you are from the Western Region. You coulde to Nond and stay months, or even years. However, you would eventually go back, because no one here woud treat you as a Dragon King. If you insisted on staying here, you would slowly be a man of Nond, abide by our rules, and serve the Khan. In the end, you might be granted with the title of Lord, but do you want to lead such a life?¡± quipped King Kuari.


    King Kuari was an eloquent master. Compared to him, Fang Wenshi was a clown.


    Still, Gu Shenwei was a practical man who only cared about his own interests. He asked, ¡°Are you saying that the cavalry from Nond will withdraw someday?¡±


    ¡°Sooner orter. If I could make the call, I wouldmand them toe back to Nond immediately. Once our soldiers stay there too long, they get ustomed to the lifestyle and be like the people of the Western Region. That¡¯s my main concern,¡± he replied.


    ¡°What about the Central in? People there make their livings as farmers,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°That¡¯s why the Central in is the biggest threat to the Western Region. Actually, the Western Region has been under Nond¡¯s protection, but everyone has ignored that fact. If Nond had not been fighting against the Central in for years, the whole Western Region would have be a county of the Central in within a year,¡± exined King Kuari.


    King Kuari paused again to give his guest time to think about what he had said. Then, he continued, ¡°Nond will be in a war with the Central in one day, but any victory by either will notst long. Tens of thousands of people from the Central in live in tents within the range of the Royal Court. They came to Nond for various reasons. As times passes, they will be the true people of Nond. I have never doubted their allegiance to the Khan. Meanwhile, many people from Nond escaped to the Central in to plow thend, leaving their livestock behind. Among these people, I can hardly find anyone who is willing to be a spy. It is the endless fights between the Central in and Nond that keeps the Western Region independent,¡± he exined further.


    Gu Shenwei knew that he was almost convinced by King Kuari. He had met countless eloquent people, including Zhang Ji, Shangguan Yun and Fang Wenshi, but none of them could manage to set his mind at ease the way King Kuari had.


    He did not entirely trust King Kuari, but he had to admit that most of what he¡¯d said made sense.


    ¡°In this way, the Western Region has no need to pleaserge countries,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    King Kuariughed and replied, ¡°Independence is a long-term goal, while survival is much more pressing. Nond and the Central in may not be able to upy the Western Region forever, but they can easily invade and destroy several kingdoms and crush their Royal Crowns. I believe that your purpose to seek out new alliances in Nond is for the sake of your survival, and not about the future of the Western Region,¡± King Kuari said.


    Gu Shenwei looked down and pondered, <em>¡°I did not n to make a decision so early. But he showed his sincerity, so I must give him something.¡± </em>He then asked, ¡°You want me to reconcile with the Golden Roc Fort, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Apromise betweenmoners is simply cowardice. However, apromise between leaders is strength. Dragon King, if you made peace with the Golden Roc Fort once, you can do it again. But this time, you should both show more trust and cooperation with each other. As for who gets to rule the Western Region, I will be on your side, and you have my word,¡± King Kuari said.


    ¡°King Kuari, how do you n to persuade the Golden Roc Fort to agree to this?¡± Gu Shenwei asked, for he wanted to postpone giving an answer.


    ¡°I heard that the Third Young Master, Shangguan Yun of the Golden Roc Fort, and his teacher, Zhang Ji, are wise and sensible men. I think I can persuade them. Well, actually you are the key to me persuading them. As long as you refuse to be roped in by any other lords, the Golden Roc Fort has no choice but to negotiate with me. Dragon King, you will win a perfect victory. Now, it only remains for the Golden Roc Fort to ept my offer.¡±


    Having realized that King Kuari was forcing him to show his stance, Gu Shenwei became more alert. His paranoia caused him to find something suspicious about King Kuari.


    <em>¡°Did King Kuari say the same thing to the messenger from the Golden Roc Fort? He must have promised them that he would be on their side,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei mused.


    Gu Shenwei knew that there were many sharper weapons than sabers and swords that could kill people. Nice, friendly words was one of them.


    Soon, he realized the problem. <em>¡°He tried to convince me that I did not have any other choices, which means that he has no intention of making any offers to me,¡± </em>he thought.


    Gu Shenwei preferred practical benefits over empty promises.


    ¡°I think I must havee too early,¡± Gu Shenwei said, shrugging his shoulders, with a look of confusion. He quickly hid his doubt and said, ¡°Most of what you said is beyond my understanding. I am better at weilding swords than thinking. I never considered the big picture, as you described it,¡± hemented.


    King Kuari frowned in exasperation, and said, ¡°I thought Military Counselor Fang¡­¡± Then he immediately changed the subject and said, ¡°It¡¯s my fault. I should not have expressed suchplex ideas. Anyway, please stay. When your military counselores back, we can discuss the big issues together.¡±


    ¡°As you ask, King Kuari. I have to think about what you said. Perhaps I will have a better understanding after I get some sleep,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    King Kuariughed loudly and lively again, and then said, ¡°I¡¯m a terrible host. My guest came here after a long journey, but I kept him up, chatting. Where is my hospitality?¡±


    When Gu Shenwei walked out of the tent, it was almost daybreak. Two attendants of King Kuari were waiting outside the tent to escort the Dragon King to his tent.


    There were two tents; one was big, and the other was small. The two tents were close together.


    One attendant said, ¡°Therge one is for you, Dragon King, and the small one is for your guard.¡±


    The two attendants left, showing no curiosity towards that mysterious guard.


    Maid Lotus walked out of the shadows and told the Dragon King, ¡°There is something that you should know.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°The butler who brought you here was killed. The reason was because he brought you here without his lord¡¯s order,¡± she said.


    <em>¡°King Kuari treats his subordinates in a cruel and strict way. If I want to be his ally, I must follow his orders. Any small mistake may get me killed,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei mused.


    At that moment, Gu Shenwei was thankful to have not been persuaded by King Kuari.

 Chapter 543 - Get Horse Back

    Chapter 543: Get Horse Back


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The news of the Dragon King¡¯s early arrival had been widely spread throughout the Royal Court. Ever since, people began guessing the reason that he had arrived ahead of time. Some even imed that they had seen the Dragon King riding a giant roc in the sky.


    King Kuari was willing to boastfully show that he had the Dragon King in his grip. So, he held a grand weing banquet the next night. He invited all the nobles of Nond.


    Gu Shenwei felt like a rare and valuable animal from some exotic ce. He received lots of attention andpliments, but no respect.


    For the people in Nond, ¡°the Dragon King¡± was just a nickname. Like ¡°the Machete King¡±, ¡°the King of the Spear¡± and ¡°the Mighty King¡±, this nickname meant nothing to them. It was not until attending the banquet that he realized entirely that what Fang Wenshi had warned was true.


    King Shengri, the second rightful heir, was said to be indifferent to gaining the throne. When he saw the Dragon King, he took his arm warmly and asked, ¡°Where is your giant roc? Show it to me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei replied, ¡°The giant red-crowned roc left me a while ago.¡± When King Shengri heard this, he let go of the Dragon King¡¯s arm with a disappointed look, and walked away.


    Gu Shenwei received simr treatment from other guests. Some of them greeted him warmly, and others treated him coldly. In a word, no one treated him as a real king.


    Compared to Gu Shenwei, King Kuari was treated very differently. He was not only the host, but also the focus of the whole banquet. The crowd, regardless of age or ranking, was eager to tter King Kuari, the Khan¡¯s favorite grandson. Even his uncle, King Shengri, tried to get his attention. He moved his stout body, and pushed away the crowd around King Kuari. He drunkenly shouted to King Kuari, ¡°King Kuari, you have displeased me. Why have you refused to marry my daughter? Do you think she is not pretty enough to be your wife?¡±


    It wasmon for the Royal Family to wed their cousins in Nond. So, no one was surprised at King Shengri¡¯s words.


    King Kuari always pretended to be an easygoing, amiable person in front of outsiders. He downed a bowl of liquor and replied, ¡°My dear uncle, whomever marries your daughter will be lucky. But as you know, I have asked the Khan to choose a wife for me. Without his permission, I dare not even touch a female ve. My stones have even started to hurt because I have not used them for so long.¡±


    That was a joke that the people of Nond loved. His words set the crowd in a roar inside the tent. Gu Shenwei thought that he would lose his hearing from their deafeningughter.


    King Shengri was touched by his words. He raised his bowl and hollered, ¡°The Khan is a wise, insightful man who knows everything. Therefore, he must have realized that King Kuari is the hope of Nond. Those who are fighting for the throne should stop now and support King Kuari for the sake of Nond.¡±


    His words were meant mostly to openly tell King Dari to give up the throne.


    King Dari did not attend this banquet, but some of his supporters were in the tent. Few responded to his words. Many kept drinking with the others, and some walked up to the Dragon King with some questions, acting as though they had not heard King Shengri¡¯s words.


    Gu Shenwei was a patient observer. He was not in a hurry to establish his authority in a new environment, for he thought it was both unnecessary and vain.


    Hepared King Kuari¡¯s men with his own subordinates. Soon he found that his original opinion was right: when two forces fight against each other, most people chose to try to make peace between the two forces.


    Gu Shenwei had previously made those who were on the fence trust him and make up their mind with a victory. Besides, he had not punished those who had conspired with the Golden Roc Fort. He never expected loyalty from others. Whether his subordinates served him faithfully or not made no difference to him and his n.


    King Kuari did not think the same way as the Dragon King did. When he noticed few responded to King Shengri, he stayed calm, but nced at some people. Some of them had ignored King Shengri¡¯s words, some had shown their contempt, and some had not expressed their agreement.


    Those people were put on King Kuari¡¯s cklist.


    King Kuari was born into a royal family. He had witnessed people¡¯splete loyalty to the Khan since he was a boy. So, he took people¡¯s loyalty to the Khan for granted. Once they showed any disloyalty to the Khan, King Kuari was on alert and angry.


    Although he did not sit on the throne, he began to test the loyalty of his supporters.


    In Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes, King Kuari¡¯s approach was unwise. King Huari might scare away some of his potential supporters, who might then turn to follow his enemies.


    But even so, King Kuari still had an advantage in fighting for the throne. King Dari had gradually exposed his incapability and weakness. Perhaps King Dari, himself, had noticed that he had already lost the battle with King Kuari.


    Gu Shenwei had his own defect: he did not drink.


    He did not drink at the banquet in Nond, which was an insult to the host. King Kuari overlooked this, but others could not forgive it so easily. When they raised their bowls and saw that the Dragon King did not move, they showed surprised expressions, and then walked off angrily.


    Gu Shenwei lost some potential allies over it.


    Hunting game and war were what the people in Nond always talked about after drinking. Men in Nond were more interested in hunting and war than in good wine and women. Soon everyone started to talk about the uing war between Nond and the Central in.


    King Kuari was right that there would be a war between Nond and the Central in one day. At least, the nobles in Nond were ready for the war. They had already sent their soldiers to the rendezvous point andmanded them to wait for orders. Everyone in Nond thought that this was going to be the mostrge-scale war in decades.


    But not all the nobles in Nond had the same thought as King Kuari. Most of them longed to graze their horses in the Central in. ¡°Eat all of their crops and steal their women and livestock. All the locusts in the Central in would die out within ten years. In the end, thend would be fields for us to graze our horses,¡± was what most of the nobles wished.


    There were two main battlefields: one in the east and one in the west. Even the westernmost battlefield was still thousands of miles away from the Western Region.


    For the tworge kingdoms, the Western Region was just a small obstacle. The Western Region could be a helpful force for them, but losing its assistance would not pose a fatal impact on winning the war.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly understood why he had been despised. He started to reconsider his n and found that he needed to make some adjustments to it.


    Halfway through the banquet, King Rizhu arrived with a squad of his most trusted soldiers.


    Although he had ridden his fastest horse, his arrival was still 48 hourster than Gu Shenwei¡¯s. If Gu Shenwei had not waited for Maid Lotus and Chu Nanping, he could have been here even earlier.


    me Foal was a good horse, indeed. Under its leadership, the other two horses ran even faster than usual. King Rizhu¡¯s furious look to Gu Shenwei showed this.


    King Rizhu held his horsewhip and walked into the tent, sweat trickling down his forehead. He took a bowl from someone beside him, and raised his head to drink the liquor. When he swallowed it, he threw the bowl away. He ignored greetings from other guests, instead seeking his target.


    Soon he found him.


    ¡°Where is my horse?¡± King Rizhu asked in a low voice as he walked up to the Dragon King. He looked angry.


    ¡°Perhaps it is chained up outside,¡± Gu Shenwei replied, standing up. He pretended as if he had no idea that King Rizhu¡¯s horse had been stolen.


    ¡°Come on. If you do not hand over me Foal, one of us will die today,¡± said King Rizhu.


    As soon as King Rizhu entered the tent with an angry look, many people watched him closely. When he raised his voice to question the Dragon King, all eyes fixated upon the two of them.


    As the host, King Kuari thought it was his obligation to break the deadlock between his guests. He came forward and said delightedly, ¡°Old Cha, did not you go hunting? Why did youe back so early? You must not have met the Dragon King yet. Let me introduce him to you.¡±


    It was no secret that King Rizhu had left the Royal Court to meet the Dragon King and the other Royal Families of Nond. King Kuari pretended to be ignorant of this, because he did not want to ruin his rtionship with King Rizhu.


    King Rizhu obviously only cared about his horse. He nced at King Kuari, and then stared at the Dragon King furiously. He said, ¡°Fourth King, you must forgive my rudeness. This guy stole my me Foal, and you know it is my favorite horse. If I do not take revenge on him, I will be aughingstock in Nond.¡±


    King Kuari was taken aback, but he did not show it. He would have never expected that theposed Dragon King would have acted so rashly as to offend a Nond King.


    Everyone was startled when they heard the King¡¯s usation. King Rizhu liked showing off his me Foal. Everyone knew that Old Cha loved me Foal more than he loved his sons.


    King Shengri had drank too much. He told the Dragon King as he stumbled up to them, ¡°Dragon King, you must not know that me Foal is King Rizhu¡¯s favorite horse. As long as you hand over me Foal, I promise that King Rizhu will not give you a hard time.¡±


    King Rizhu wanted to kick this old drunk¡¯s ass. ¡°I will never spare the Dragon King unless the sun rises in the west,¡± he thought. However, he only wanted to get his me Foal back. Therefore, he resisted his anger and waited silently for the Dragon King¡¯s reply.


    Gu Shenwei opened his arms and replied, ¡°I came here by the Khan¡¯s invitation. I thought people in Nond would keep their promise. Now, it seems that the Khan will break his promise.¡±


    ¡°Do not try to frighten me with¡­¡± King Rizhu shut up immediately before he said anything offensive about the Khan. If he showed any disrespect to the Khan in front of the nobles in the tent, the Khan would soon find out. In Nond, offending the Khan was a great crime.


    King Kuari said seriously, ¡°The Khan¡¯s words are the imperial decree, and no one in the grasnd will break his will. Dragon King, please do not say such words again.¡± Then, he turned to look at King Rizhu and said, ¡°I hope that the Tenth King can be a role model in front of our guest.¡±


    King Rizhu almost lost his temper. He had a violent temper, but he was not stupid. He would never offend the Khan openly. Instead, he asked in a low voice, ¡°Will you swear that you did not steal my horse?¡±


    ¡°I did not steal your horse,¡± Gu Shenwei replied tly.


    King Rizhu was stunned. He could tell that the Dragon King was not lying from his expression. King Kuari stood aside and thought with a snigger, ¡°The Dragon King only said that he, himself ,did not steal the horse. He did not mention his subordinates.¡±


    King Shengri burped in the Dragon King¡¯s face, and the smell of alcohol permeated the air around him. He asked, ¡°If you did not steal me Foal, how did you arrive at the Royal Court so fast?¡±


    King Rizhu nodded, ¡°How do you exin this?¡±


    Gu Shenwei raised his head, and he said as he looked at the nobles, ¡°I ran here.¡±


    King Shengri blinked his eyes, and suddenly burst outughing. The rest of the nobles burst intoughter, too, as if the Dragon King had told the funniest joke at the banquet.


    ¡°How can you prove it?¡± King Rizhu asked with a grim expression.


    ¡°I can prove it,¡± Gu Shenwei said calmly. He was neither frightened by King Rizhu, nor did he feel embarrassed by the nobles¡¯ughter.


    King Kuari finally realized that he had underestimated this pale-looking Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei was thinking about something else. After meeting several Lords of Nond, he had selected his allies.

 Chapter 544 - Banquet

    Chapter 544: Banquet


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei almost had to run a race against King Rizhu¡¯s horse.


    Everything was ready. Gu Shenwei and King Rizhu were in a heated debate about the race. The crowd stood around them, shouting and adding to the tense atmosphere. People in Nond were always keen to watch entertaining and amusing things. The nobles¡¯ faces turned red with excitement, for they were interested in a human-horse race. If someone dared to stand up and go against the crowd, he was likely to get punched in the face.


    King Shengri was more excited than anyone else. He slightly recovered from his drunkenness, and then named himself as the judge without asking anyone else¡¯s permission. He yelled out, ¡°Who is more qualified to be a judge than me? Just stand up.¡±


    King Kuari stood aside and looked at the Dragon King and King Rizhu with a smile on his face. He wanted to know how the Dragon King would handle this.<em>¡°King Rizhu can easily win this race as long as he proposes to increase the distance. Even a kung fu master with excellent Lightness Skills can only take the lead for a miles or two. Once the distance increases, he will be fatigued and eventually lose,¡± </em>he mused.


    The crowd came up with ideas for betting on the race. They thought me Foal was not enough of a payment to the winner of the race. They suggested adding hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to the bet. Some even proposed the two rivals should add their lives and limbs to the bet.


    Gu Shenwei made no response, but stared at King Rizhu silently. <em>¡°I believe that he will drop out of the race soon,''¡± </em>he thought.


    Within about half an hour, King Rizhu¡¯s expression had changed a lot. To begin with, his face turned ck with anger, and then red with fury. As the bet increased, his face turned pale with anxiety. By the end, the crowd was in a frenzy. However, he managed to put on a pleasant expression, opened his arms to stop the noise and announced that he was quitting the race.


    ¡°It¡¯s my fault. I should not have used the Dragon King of stealing my horse without any proof. I think it was a coincidence, or maybe the Dragon King was framed,¡± exined King Rizhu to the crowd.


    ¡°That makes sense,¡± Gu Shenwei responded.


    Rude as King Rizhu was, he knew how to concede at critical moments. He knew it was time to retreat by the look the Dragon King gave him.


    <em>¡°This young man was a killer. Although he dered himself as the Dragon King and built an army, he still acts like a killer. Now that he has dared to steal my most precious horse over some small conflict, who knows what else he will do,¡± </em>pondered King Rizhu.


    <em>¡°Not to mention that if I lose the race, I will be in an embarrassing situation, while the Dragon King will strengthen his reputation. If I win the race, I do not know what he will do to me Foal,¡± </em>King Rizhu thought further.


    ¡°I quit the race. No more games. The Dragon King is a distinguished guest of Nond. Dragon King, please forgive my rudeness. Attention, please. Anyone present who helps me find me Foal will get ten thousand taels of silvers and ten female ves from me. Besides¡ª¡± he continued as he gazed at Dragon King and added, ¡°he will be my friend.¡±


    The nobles were disappointed when they heard this news. But they did not dare embarrass King Rizhu, so they kept unhappily silent . However, King Shengri stood up and shouted, ¡°You quit the race? Are you kidding me? I have already made my bet. No, you cannot quit the race. You must continue the game.¡±


    King Rizhu was upset with King Shengri¡¯s words. When King Kuari noticed the anger on King Rizhu¡¯s face, he thought that he, as the host, should intervene to keep things from bing any worse. He said, ¡°King Shenri must have had too much to drink. We will have a match soon. The Tournament of the Royal Court will be held in ten days. We can enjoy exciting games every day then.¡±


    ¡°The Tournament of the Royal Court,¡± King Shengri murmured. He then turned to look at the Dragon King and asked, ¡°Dragon King, will you join it?¡±


    Fang Wenshi had not mentioned it before, so Gu Shenwei did not respond. However, King Kuari replied for him, ¡°Of course the Dragon King will join it. It¡¯s a magnificent event. How could he miss it?¡±


    King Shengri staggered away, intending to leave. After several steps, he turned around and told the Dragon King, ¡°Dragon King, bring your giant roc next time. That roc is more interesting. People in the Golden Roc Fort are fools. They caught two rocs and killed them. How stupid of them!¡±


    The crowd dispersed and started drinking and bragging. King Kuari whispered to the Dragon King, ¡°King Rizhu is fond of horses, while King Shengri is obsessed with birds. Please do not me them if they have offended you.¡±


    ¡°I think that the two Lords are blunt, but interesting men,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Haha, the Dragon King is an open-minded man,¡± replied King Kuari.


    ¡°As for the Tournament of the Royal Court ¡ª¡± began the Dragon King.


    ¡°Well, I made another mistake. I thought that everyone in the world had heard of it. The Tournament of the Royal Court is an annual festival in Nond. It used to be held in autumn, but this year will be different. Once we go to war with the Central in, we do not know when the war will end. Therefore, we will hold it in June, ahead of schedule. Itspetitions will include kung fupetitions, war games, horse races, dog races, and so on. I am sure that the Dragon King will win the bravery contest this year with your brilliant martial arts skills.¡±


    King Kuari made this ¡°mistake¡± deliberately. In this way, he openly dered that the Dragon King was his ally before Gu Shenwei could oppose it.


    ¡°I¡¯m not good at kung fupetitions. Besides, I¡¯m an outsider. It¡¯s not proper for me to join this tournament,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    King Kuari looked around, grabbed Gu Shenwei¡¯s arm, and pulled him into a quiet corner. King Kuari whispered to him, ¡°Your Majesty, please do not me me for making the decision for you. I have my reasons for letting you participate in the bravery contest.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± asked Gu Shenwei, surprised.


    ¡°You¡¯re an honored guest of the Khan, so you were supposed to have been summoned by him. You must know that many people in the Royal Court are hostile towards you. That¡¯s why you have not met the Khan yet,¡± exined King Kuari.


    Gu Shenwei was slightly surprised, for he had foreseen many things, but not this. <em>¡°I thought I could meet the Khan as expected. What is it? Who can stop the Khan from meeting me?¡± </em>he mused.


    King Kuari noticed the confusion on the Dragon King¡¯s face and continued with a bitter smile, ¡°It¡¯s unbelievable, isn¡¯t it? Everyone thinks that the Khan is regarded as a god in Nond. But even the god can¡¯t do anything he wants. A court needs more than two pirs to support it. As the Khan, he has to bnce the powers in Nond or his realm will be in danger. What the Khan cares about is not the speaker¡¯s words but his identity and status.¡±


    King Kuari started to speak in obscure andplex words again. Although Gu Shenwei did not understand his words, he realized that this young lord considered himself as the Khan of Nond. That was why he saw things from a different perspective.


    ¡°What could they gain if they managed to stop the Khan from meeting me?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°More than you can imagine. They can benefit greatly from the Golden Roc Fort, alone,¡± answered King Kuari.


    <em>¡°The one who is summoned to the Khan will be the one who dominates,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought. He suddenly realized that he had simplified the matter. He asked, ¡°Do you mean that the winner of the bravery contest will be summoned to the Royal Court by the Khan?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s our tradition. No one can oppose it. Besides, if anyone questions your qualifications for the Tournament, then the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s qualifications will also be questioned,¡± King Kuari said, winking his eyes at the Dragon King. He then continued, ¡°ording to the information I¡¯ve gathered, the Golden Roc Fort will send its men to join the bravery contest. They will be your firstpetition. I believe that you can easily win the contest.¡±


    King Kuari patted Gu Shenwei¡¯s shoulder, then walked off to greet other guests.


    Fang Wenshi was easily persuaded by King Kuari, and even Gu Shenwei almost lost his wariness towards him. However, his doubt was once again raised by King Kuari, so Gu Shenwei continued to be suspicious. He did not like the way King Kuari talked. <em>¡°King Kuari seemingly treated me with sincerity, but he said nothing important. He did not mention who was hostile to me or who would support me,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei mused.


    King Kuari had begun to make decisions for the Dragon King, which caused Gu Shenwei great concern and distress.


    Nothing could stop a banquet in Nond unless a disaster or ident took ce. Everyone talked and drank with each other, regardless of their rank or status.


    The Dragon King, who did not drink, did not blend in with them. Although he received attention for a second, he was soon forgotten. Compared with the three most important Lords, the rest of the nobles and lords paid less attention to the Dragon King. They stuck to an unspoken agreement: treat the Dragon King nicely, while keeping a safe distance from him.


    Gu Shenwei did not leave, because he had not solved his conflict with King Rizhu. Although King Rizhu apologized to him, he knew that their conflict needed to be fixed.


    As a result, King Rizhu got drunk before midnight, which was rare to see. He kept vomiting everywhere, so the other guests kept away from him.


    King Rizhu was taken away by his attendants.


    Gu Shenwei stayed for a little while longer, then bid farewell to King Kuari and left the banquet.


    When he returned to his tent, Gu Shenwei saw King Rizhu somberly drinking alone.


    ¡°You¡¯re brave,¡± King Rizhu said, as he continued to drink without raising his head.


    ¡°I¡¯m ttered,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°No, I mean it. You have guts. Even the Khan never tried to steal me Foal from me, but you did. On top of that, you even embarrassed me in public,¡± said King Rizhu.


    ¡°I said that I did not steal me Foal,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Yeah, you did not steal it yourself. You have so many good kung fu masters at yourmand. Where is Old Man Mu? I haven¡¯t met that bastard yet,¡± King Rizhu said.


    Gu Shenwei did not answer him.


    King Rizhu sighed and said, ¡°I considered killing you, but then I would be scolded by the Khan.¡±


    ¡°I believe that you are able to kill me,¡± answered Gu Shenwei.


    The Dragon King¡¯s words sounded weak and cold, but they were tough, like him. King Rizhu looked up at the Dragon King with a fierce look, as if he wanted to kill the Dragon King. Then he calmed down and changed the subject. He said as he gnashed his teeth, ¡°Gu Lun killed my son, putting me into an awkward situation, just as you did. I hate his guts.¡±


    King Rizhu finally got straight to the point. Although he still looked angry, Gu Shenwei thought it was a good start to bettermunication.


    ¡°He was killed, and so was his family,¡± Gu Shenwei stated tly.


    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. Gu Lun and his entire family are dead. But I¡¯m still unhappy because it wasn¡¯t me who killed them. You have enemies, too. Are you willing to see your foes killed by others?¡± asked King Rizhu.


    Before entering the Golden Roc Fort, Gu Shenwei had dreamed of killing his foes himself at every waking moment. However, at the time, he had no strength to kill them. After being strictly trained as a killer, he learned to control his hatred and change his thoughts. He believed that he did not have to kill his enemies himself, and a killer might lose his mind if he became obsessed with the idea for too long.


    Gu Shenwei could not exin this clearly to a lord of Nond, so he nodded without saying a word.


    ¡°My n was to lead my army to take the Western Region, seize Gu Lun and behead him in public. To carry out my n, I encouraged the Khan to invade the Western Region early. However, the Golden Roc Fort took actions before I did. Those sons of bitches killed my enemy, and they even tried to get a reward for it from me. The Golden Roc Fort sent a messenger to bring Gu Lun¡¯s head to me. What was I supposed to do? I reprimanded that messenger harshly, but I kept the head and used it as my chamber pot,¡± King Rizhu continued.


    Fury suddenly overwhelmed Gu Shenwei. He could not help but to put his hand on his saber hilt. It had been a long time since he¡¯d had such a strong impulse to kill someone.


    King Rizhu continued coldly as he noticed the Dragon King¡¯s move, ¡°Your real family name is not Yang, but Gu. As the old saying goes, ¡®When enemies meet, they re at each other furiously.¡¯ These words are true. What do you want, to avenge your family or to dominate the Western Region?¡±


    To Gu Shenwei¡¯s surprise, King Rizhu asked a simr question to what Fang Wenshi had proposed.

 Chapter 545 - The Death of King Rizhus Son

    Chapter 545: The Death of King Rizhu¡¯s Son


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    After remembering the scene when he had met Gu Shenwei in Tongtian Pass, Shangguan Nu connected that he was the little ve who had caused him to get his hand chopped off.


    ¡°He said that he was the son of Yang Zheng, the servant of the Gu family. But I¡¯m sure that he¡¯s not the son of a servant,¡± Shangguan Nu had reported to King Rizhu after he had fled to Nond.


    ¡°At that time, he was already the Dragon King,¡± replied King Rizhu.


    ¡°No, he hasn¡¯t changed. When he first the joined the Golden Roc Fort, he pretended to be obedient, but his eyes and actions were suspicious. I should have suspected him at the time. But I never thought¡­¡± Shangguan Nu trailed off.


    ¡°There were so many things that you missed,¡± King Rizhu responded in disdain and thought to himself, <em>¡°A man¡¯s first betrayal can be forgiven. But if he betrays over and over again, then he is a man without honor. Shangguan Nu is an underdog. He is an almost useless man, so he does not deserve my respect.¡±</em>


    King Rizhu could not make his conclusion based only upon a traitor¡¯s words. Therefore, he decided to meet the Dragon King first to figure out whether or not he was Gu Lun¡¯s son. Everything went as expected, except that the Dragon King had stolen his me Foal. He had no other choice but to get straight to the point.


    He was really fond of that horse.


    ¡°What do you want, to avenge your family or to dominate the Western Region?¡± he had asked Gu Shenwei.


    King Rizhu asked bluntly, as he was tired of talking in circles. Gu Shenwei was overwhelmed by his anger and hatred, which made it difficult for him to focus on King Rizhu¡¯s question.


    His inner hatred had never lessened. He had been forcing himself to oppress it all this time, but every once in awhile, he would be overpowered by it, like now. Killing the Lord of Nond became an irresistible temptation for him. He even imagined the ecstatic scene after he killed his foe. A voice deep inside of him kept urging him to take revenge now.


    ¡°Give me his skull,¡± Gu Shenwei said calmly, without a shiver in his voice. Atst, he had ovee the temptation of hatred. After a fierce battle in his mind, he was exhausted, as if he had just fought ten top masters, one after the other.


    The Dragon King¡¯s emotions had softened, and King Rizhu noticed. He regarded it as a good opportunity to make peace with the Dragon King. He replied, ¡°Of course, I will. It is useless to me now. I take no pleasure in torturing a dead man.¡±


    ¡°So you did not hire the Golden Roc Fort?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    ¡°Believe it or not, I did not kill him. I did intend to kill Gu Lun and even worked out a n, but the Golden Roc Fort took actions before I did. They did not kill your family for revenge. Avengers want to watch their foes die slowly, and they enjoy torturing them as they die. However, paid killers only care about the results instead of process.¡±


    Although Gu Shenwei was an avenger, he only cared about results. Even so, King Rizhu¡¯s words made sense. After all, mostmon avengers had the same thoughts as King Rizhu, but killers were an exception.


    Simpleminded as King Rizhu looked, he was actually better at leading a person¡¯s thoughts than the cunning Wei Song. He had never mentioned the Central in, but he still managed to attribute Gu Lun¡¯s death to the people there. Apart from King Rizhu, the Minister of the Central in (who¡¯d had conflicts of interest with Gu Lun) was also a suspect in his death.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t Wei Song¡¯s son involved in that assassination?¡± King Rizhu suggested, as he had heard this from Shangguan Nu. He did not give any more hints, though, leaving the rest for the Dragon King to consider.


    ¡°How did Gu Lun, my father¡­ kill your son?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ording to the well-known story, the Imperial Guard from the Central in had assassinated King Rizhu¡¯s son as ruthless assassins were known to do. But Gu Shenwei could hardly believe this. He remembered his father as an honorable man confident in his martial arts skills, who would never resort to an assassination.


    King Rizhu hated Gu Lun. When he reflected upon his son¡¯s death, his rage overcame him. However, he quicklyposed himself. He lowered his head, lost in thought. After awhile, he began to tell what he knew.


    ¡°I know what others say happened. Out of their respect to me, many witnesses imed that Gu Lun led a raid to kill my son. But in fact¡ª ¡± King Rizhu sighed with a pause, as if he was unwilling to continue. ¡°Those rumors are not true. My son was an excellent rider and archer, but he was not a good swordsman. If a man wanted to kill my son, he would not need a sneak attack.¡±


    Belittling his dead son and defending his foe was against King Rizhu¡¯s conscience. He took the wine bottle with his hands, poured a bowl of wine for himself, and then swallowed the wine in one gulp. Then, he proceeded to tell his story in a more emotionless manner, as if it didn¡¯t involve him at all.


    The rumor was that the incident was caused by a woman, who had almost married King Rizhu¡¯s son. However, King Rizhu¡¯s story was different from that rumor. ording to him, the Seventh Prince of the Central in had never even dated her. He was a Prince who had been held hostage for years in Nond. Aware of his status there, he always kept a low profile and never made any trouble. It was impossible for him to provoke a Prince in Nond.


    King Rizhu had investigated their rtionship. It turned out that his future daughter-inw was a virgin, and had never even met the Seventh Prince.


    So, he had to admit that his son was the instigator of the whole thing.


    Like most men in Nond, King Rizhu¡¯s son loved bragging after drinking. That day, he had been overly excited and loud. After talking about war and horses, he led the conversation to his fianc¨¦e. He praised her beauty, and then dered that he had slept with her sister and personal maid.


    ¡°Women in her family are as tough as mares. Common men cannot satisfy their needs in bed,¡± he¡¯d said.


    It was still a mystery why King Rizhu¡¯s son had publically humiliated his fianc¨¦e¡¯s family. Perhaps he had lied because he had drank too much, which wasmon among young men in Nond. Some of them even bragged that they had sex with their father¡¯s favorite concubine just to show off their sexual prowess.


    People usuallyughed about these kinds of things. However, the Seventh Prince of the Central in could not understand their humor, even though he had lived in Nond for years. He responded by scoffing, which started the entire incident.


    When King Rizhu¡¯s son heard this, he saw the expression of the Seventh Prince so he decided to tease him. He said to the Seventh Prince, ¡°Your Highness, tell us about the women of the Central in. I heard that the emperor of the Central in has thousands of women. How many of them have you slept with? I almost forgot that you came to Nond as a teen. Perhaps you have not even seen your birth mother¡¯s breast, and only your nanny¡¯s nipples.¡±


    King Rizhu¡¯s son was amused by his joke. Still, he was not satisfied after having augh, so he continued, ¡°Little boy, do not get impatient. I will take you to my fiancee¡¯s house tomorrow and find a pretty little female ve. After I fuck her, I will leave her to you.¡±


    The men in Nond usually talked freely after drinking, but King Rizhu¡¯s son had crossed the line. King Rizhu basically repeated his son¡¯s exact words to the Seventh Prince. He said shaking his head, ¡°He was an outstanding, fearless soldier who never feared death. I had worried that he would get himself in trouble with his mouth. But no matter what he said, he bore no ill will.¡±


    The son of King Rizhu saw it as just a joke, but the Seventh Prince could not control his anger. He jumped on King Rizhu¡¯s son for humiliating him.


    Although King Rizhu¡¯s son staggered drunkenly, he could still fight. To his surprise, the Seventh Prince knew some kung fu. They fought each other, before finally being stopped by the crowd. The Seventh Prince was beaten ck and blue, while his opponent only got a few scratches on his chest.


    ¡°You scratched me. That¡¯s what women usually do,¡± King Rizhu¡¯s son said with a sly smile.¡±It seems that you are not interested in women. Do you have a crush on me? I will introduce¡­¡± he continued to tease.


    At that moment, Gu Lun stood up. He asked King Rizhu¡¯s son to apologize to the Seventh Prince, or they would hold a kung fupetition with the loser making an apology.


    Gu Lun was less than forty at the time, but he was calm and sophisticated. He proposed apetition to both uphold his master¡¯s respect as well as not offend the royalty of Nond. He was also supposed to fight a bodyguard sent by King Rizhu¡¯s son.


    However, King Rizhu¡¯s son had drank so much that he misunderstood Gu Lun. He thought that the Imperial Guard was challenging him to a duel. Feeling insulted, he immediately drew his saber and ran towards Gu Lun.


    It was not apetition, and no one used sneak attacks or tricks. Gu Lun kept dodging without taking out his saber in the beginning. But soon, the Seventh Prince urged him to pull his saber and fight back. So he did, and stabbed the King Rizhu¡¯s son.


    King Rizhu¡¯s injured son was taken home, and died a couple of dayster.


    ¡°Gu Lun was a master. Knowing that he could easily defeat my son, he could have chosen to keep my son alive. Instead my son died in front of me. Before he died, he stared at me, coughing up blood. Although he could not say a word, I knew what he was thinking. I held him tight in my arms and swore to avenge him. He was my son, so I could not allow him to die at another¡¯s hands. Atst, I ended his pain forever myself,¡± King Rizhu recalled sadly.


    The more calm that King Rizhu became, the deeper his hatred towards Gu Lun also became.


    Gu Shenwei was speechless.. He had heard many things that he had not known before, the most shocking being that King Rizhu had killed his own son himself.


    However, he realized that something was wrong. Gu Shenwei knew his father¡¯s machete techniques very well. <em>¡°He had many techniques to kill his opponents, but nobody could survive several days without speaking a word after being struck by him,¡± </em>he mused.


    ¡°Was the saber sprinkled with poison?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    King Rizhu gnashed his teeth, and admitted it reluctantly with a nod.


    ¡°It was not my father¡¯s doing. He was ignorant of how to use poison. You said that he could easily defeat your son, so he had no reason to poison him. Besides, his intial target was your son¡¯s guard,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    After pausing for a while, King Rizhu opened his mouth, ¡°I invited many famous doctors from Nond, the Central in and the Western Region in other people¡¯s names. They did not know my son. After examing the body, they all said that my son had died from poisoning. In fact, I had guessed this before inviting them. I had kept my son¡¯s corpse for about six months. The third day after his death, his wound began to swell, and the seventh day the wound festered and broke,¡± he recalled.


    Gu Shenwei did not know whether he should trust King Rizhu, but he believed his father. He said, ¡°My father would never poison anyone.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps you are right,¡± King Rizhu said in a low voice, as if he were exhausted. ¡°Your father stabbed my son, and the Seventh Prince wanted my son dead. They were both my foes and now they¡¯re dead. However, they did not die in front of me or at my hands,¡± he continued.


    ¡°Thepetition was unexpected. You need to apply the poison to a saber beforehand,¡± Gu Shenwei said, continuing to defend his father.


    ¡°Perhaps he had prepared the saber and the poison beforehand? As for the ident, my dead son always got himself into trouble with his big mouth,¡± replied King Rizhu.


    King Rizhu said impatiently as he rose, ¡°Enough! That¡¯s how my son died. Now my two foes are dead. Although I am not satisfied with the results, I can¡¯t do anything to change it. I will not me their offspring for what they did. You know the way to my encampment. I am waiting for your visit, and bring my horse with you. me Foal is more important to me than my son. After I get my horse back, we can talk about something else.¡±


    King Rizhu strode off, leaving Gu Shenwei to his thoughts: <em>¡°Something he mentioned is wrong, but I do not know what it is.¡±</em>


    Maid Lotus was eavesdropping on their conversation. She showed up behind Gu Shenwei and whispered to him, ¡°The wound began to swell three days after death, and broke open after seven days. It seems to be the New Moon Hall¡¯s doing.¡±

 Chapter 546 - Hidden Traitor

    Chapter 546: Hidden Traitor


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Fang Wenshi and his men arrived at King Kuari¡¯s encampment the day after King Rizhu. Before he could rest, he was given lots of tasks from the Dragon King.


    After observing the current situation in the Royal Court, Gu Shenwei started nning to take measures of his own.


    He decided to use Fang Wenshi first. Fang Wenshi paid an official visit to the court in Nond on behalf of the Dragon King. The Dragon King¡¯s arrival had been widely known, but it wasn¡¯t until now that he was officially recognized by Nond.


    Nond provided a campsite for the Dragon King and his subordinates. Located in the east of the Noble District, the Dragon King¡¯s encampment was next to the craftsmen¡¯s area. His campsite was separated from the Khan¡¯s main tent by many densely packed tents.


    The Dragon King¡¯s encampment was south of the road, while the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s was north of the road. Their encampments were divided only by a low, wooden fence. Both parties were close enough that they could stand in front of their camps and wave their hands to greet each other. Of course, no one actually did that.


    When Shangguan Ru epted the invitation from the Khan of Nond¡¯s second wife, she asked that her encampment not be mixed with the Dragon King¡¯s. So, she and her soldiers from the Land of Fragrance lived to the west of the Royal Court. As a result, she kept a distance from both the Dragon King and the Golden Roc Fort.


    Gu Shenwei thought that this was a good arrangement.


    As soon as Gu Shenwei was given his encampment, he left King Kuari¡¯s camp. Although King Kuari tried to persuade him to stay, he firmly refused.


    Fang Wenshi continued to meet with the ministers of Nond. His task was to figure out when the Khan would summon the Dragon King and to get more details about the Tournament of the Royal Court. Gu Shenwei had a hunch that the Tournament would be his first trial in Nond.


    Shangguan Fei was sent to the craftsmen¡¯s area and slums to gather information on King Rizhu¡¯s past. Gu Shenwei neither believed King Rizhu¡¯s words nor the rumors, so he resolved to build his own intelligencework in Nond. He knew that Shangguan Fei was a smart guy who seldom lied to him, unless it threatened his self-interests.


    However, Shangguan Fei feared to take actions alone. When he heard about the traditions in the slums that were simr to those in the South City of Jade City, he became scared to carry out the tasks alone. Therefore, he decided to ask the Dragon King for one of his bodyguards for help. He asked carefully, ¡°What about Little Chu? Well, he is implementing a task. How about Old Man Mu? He cannot show up in public. Maid Lotus? Never mind. She needs to protect you. Your Highness, please send me several swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain. I heard that Long Fanyun does not have any tasks right now. Last time, we worked well together.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s n did not seed. Gu Shenwei sent Han Fen, a disciple of the New Moon Hall, and Han Xuan to protect him.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡­ I heard that women are despised in Nond. If I take female bodyguards with me, they will¡­¡± said Shangguan Fei reluctantly, for he was not happy with this arrangement.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. You can disguise yourself as a woman, while they disguise themselves as men,¡± replied Gu Shenwei. He did not care whether or not Shangguan Fei was satisfied with this n.


    ¡°Come on, Your Highness. Don¡¯t make fun of me¡­¡± said Shangguan Fei in an embarrassed voice.


    Han Fen was delighted with the Dragon King¡¯s n. She winked at the Dragon King to show her content. Han Xuan, however, said with a frown, ¡°I¡¯ve never disguised myself as a man before. I¡¯m not sure if I can do it.¡±


    Han Fen was good at disguises, so she turned to Han Xuan and said confidently, ¡°It¡¯s a piece of cake. I¡¯ll help you. You already look like a man when you frown.¡±


    When Long Fanyun was told that he did not have to help Shangguan Fei, he was very relieved. He waited for a task of his own from the Dragon King.


    On their way to Nond, Long Fanyun had shown how simr he was to the people born in Nond. For one thing, he could drink a lot like them. Therefore, Gu Shenwei asked him to stay with the soldiers and nobles of Nond. His task was to discover their opinions, especially King Rizhu¡¯s, on the future Khan. Long Fanyun was not very social, so Gu Shenwei had to remind him to listen carefully without asking too many questions.


    The men in Nond talked freely after they drank a lot. Given that, Gu Shenwei believed that Long Fanyun could gather a great amount useful information.


    As for Chu Nanping, he and me Foal were hiding in a deep corner of the grasnds. He went to the rendezvous point to check daily. He would not enter the Royal Court unless he got orders from the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei had no intention to meet any dignitaries of Nond before he had gotten enough information.


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s mission was the simplest one. He was told that the Khan could not summon the Dragon King to the Royal Court due to sickness. So, he bribed some officers from Nond. It turned out that some big shot had stopped the Khan from meeting the Dragon King.


    ¡°I have not traced that man¡¯s identity yet. I guess he is most likely King Dari. But I know the reason the Khan refused to meet you. He was told you¡¯d try to assassinate him during your meeting,¡± Fang Wenshi reported.


    Gu Shenwei gave a snort and thought, <em>¡°Even if I intended to kill the Khan, I wouldn¡¯t assassinate him in public. I¡¯m not a fool.¡±</em>


    ¡°It¡¯s ame usation, but many people believed it,¡± Fang Wenshi sighed. ¡°The civilians fear you in the Western Region, but in Nond, people are wary of you,¡± he continued.


    Gu Shenwei received many benefits from his terrifying reputation, but now he began to see the downsides of it. When it came to the usation that Dragon King would kill the Khan, no one doubted its authenticity, even if it was weak and ridiculous.


    As for the Tournament of the Royal Court, Fang Wenshi had received lots of intelligence and King Kuari had been the one to leak most of it. ¡°It includes a diverse variety of matches. Horse races, war games and kung fupetitions are the three most important events. ording to the rules, the winners will be summoned by the Khan. Among these threepetitions, you have an advantage in the bravery contest. The Golden Roc Fort will join it, but I don¡¯t know who they will send,¡± Feng Wenshi said.


    The Military Counselor did not know any kung fu, so Gu Shenwei could not exin the difference between killing andpetition. Like other killers from the Golden Roc Fort, the Dragon King excelled in raids and assassinations. Once killers fought at a tournament in public, they lost their advantage in real fights, because they exposed their weaknesses during the game.


    Gu Shenwei had once participated in an officialpetition and defeated his opponent. However, his opponent was weak.


    <em>¡°Horse races, war games and kung fupetitions,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei repeated to himself. All of a sudden, he disovered a problem. He said to Fang Wenshi, ¡°King Rizhu has me Foal, so he will take first ce in the horse race. With excellent kung fu masters like Wildhorse and Taoist Yu at his disposal, one of them will be the winner of the bravery contest. He¡¯s allowing his soldiers to indulge themselves in eating and drinking so that they will perform well in the war games. Obviously, he intends to take all of the prizes of these threepetitions. Is he being forbidden from meeting the Khan?¡±


    Fang Wenshi realized what the Dragon King said was true. As the Military Counselor, he had failed to think of this. He replied, blushing, ¡°You¡¯re right. King Rizhu is meant to win these matches. That was why he was so furious when we stole his me Foal.¡±


    Fang Wenshi paced to and fro in the tent. He thought he was close to the truth. When it came to the rtionship between Nond and the Central in, he had lots of insightful opinions, but he was bad at analyzing things that dealt with powerful people.


    Gu Shenwei came up with an idea, ¡°Perhaps King Rizhu¡¯s motive is not to win thepetition, but to stop others from winning. In this way, King Dari and King Kuari would be more interested in him.¡±


    It sounded reasonable, but Fang Wenshi still didn¡¯t think that was exactly right. He went on, ¡°It¡¯s an unwise move to threaten the future Khan. If King Rizhu was smart, he woudn¡¯t do it. Does he want to be the Khan? That¡¯s impossible. He has no im to the throne. What¡¯s he trying to achieve?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was about to reveal to him his real identity, but after pondering for a while, he changed his mind. <em>¡°King Rizhu has a grand n, which is unlikely to have anything to do with the son of his enemy,¡± </em>he thought.


    Fang Wenshi still couldn¡¯t understand King Rizhu¡¯s real reason, even after considering it for a quite awhile. So he changed the subject and said, ¡°King Kuari¡¯s subordinates seem to be unhappy with you. They said¡­¡±


    Fang Wenshi did not continue, for he was afraid of offending the Dragon King. Gu Shenwei followed, ¡°They said that the Dragon King was an ungrateful guy who dared to refuse King Kuari¡¯s advice.¡±


    ¡°More or less,¡± Fang Wenshi replied. In fact, what they had said was more blunt and even more offensive.


    ¡°What kind of person do you think King Kuari is?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°King Kuari is inclusive to outsiders but strict to his own men. He is an extremely intelligent, insightful man who is qualified to be a king. However, he acts tyrannically and never listens to other¡¯s advice and suggestions, which has made him many enemies,¡± answered Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°But you still think that he will be the future Khan?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°King Kuari¡¯s opponent is weak. King Dari has waited too long, and most of the otherpetitors around his age have either died or given up on the throne. He is no longer young, so he cannot defeat his energetic opponent. But that¡¯s not only my opinion ¡ª most of the dignitaries in Nond think that King Kuari will sit on the throne,¡± replied Fang Wenshi.


    After meditating for a moment, Gu Shenwei asked, ¡°What about King Shengri?¡±


    ¡°Do you mean King Shengri, who is the second rightful heir?¡± Fang Wenshi asked in surprise, as he had never thought that the Dragon King would be interested in this lord. ¡°He¡¯s a drunk who keeps more birds than soldiers. He stepped out of the fight for the throne years ago,¡± he continued.


    Gu Shenwei had a feeling that King Shengri had notpletely lost interest in the throne. However, he could not find proof to support this opinion, so he led the conversation back to King Kuari, asking, ¡°Do you think we should form an alliance with King Kuari?¡±


    ¡°I have said that King Kuari is our only choice if we intend to forge a new alliance in Nond. But if you have another n, then everything changes,¡± said Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°But he wants the Dragon Army and the Golden Roc Fort to make peace with each other,¡± Gu Shenwei went on.


    ¡°The Khan has a clever n,¡± Fang Wenshi said in an admiring tone. ¡°He asked for the Dragon King to reconcile with the Supreme King, but his real purpose was to let King Kuari and King Dari make peace. In my opinion, you cannot disagree,¡± said Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°Why?¡± Gu Shenwei asked, a little surprised, as he thought that Fang Wenshi had beenpletely convinced by King Kuari.


    ¡°If Your Highness made peace with the Supreme King, King Kuari would be the only beneficiary. Meanwhile, it would be a fatal blow to you. The Dragon Army would no longer be a small team of only a few thousand men. Instead, it would consist of tens of thousands of soldiers, most of which would be rebels from the Golden Roc Fort. If we reconciled with the Golden Roc, the soldiers would go home, because they¡¯d feel there was nothing left worth fighting for. If that happened, the only way to keep them around would be by paying them. Your Highness, I do not think you are rich enough to afford that kind of money,¡± exined Fang Wenshi.


    When Fang Wenshi had first met the Dragon King, he¡¯d had no idea of the Khan¡¯s n. Otherwise, he would have never suggested the Dragon King side with King Kuari.


    ¡°What should we do next? If we do not make peace with the Supreme King, we can¡¯t get King Kuari¡¯s support. Now, he¡¯s just using me as a pawn,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Just Fang Wenshi and the Dragon King were in the tent. Still, Fang Wenshi was on alert. He walked to the exit of the tent and looked out. Then, he came back and said to the Dragon King with a frown, ¡°Your Highness, can you tell me your real thoughts? What are the terms the Central in is willing to offer?¡±


    Knowing that Fang Wenshi had not entirely been persuaded by King Kuari, Gu Shenwei decided to tell him without reservation. ¡°They promised to give me an army. They told me that they had a hidden traitor in Nond of high status, and that this person¡¯s army would be mine ¡ª as long as I killed the Khan to make Nond unravel. I don¡¯t know if I can trust them. Besides, they wouldn¡¯t tell me who this ¡®hidden traitor¡¯ is,¡± Gu Shenwei revealed.


    Fang Wenshi said, his frown disappearing, ¡°I think I know who this ¡®hidden traitor¡¯ is.¡±


    ¡°I also have a guess¡­¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Fang Wenshi put some pens and paper on the table, and said with a smile, ¡°Let¡¯s write down their names and see if we have the same thought.¡±


    Fifteen minutes passed, and two pieces of paper were ced on the table. The names on them were different, though. They both thought that each other¡¯s guess was wrong.

 Chapter 547 - Asking for Help

    Chapter 547: Asking for Help


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    They had written down the names of King Dari and King Rizhu. Gu Shenwei chose the former, while Fang Wenshi thetter.


    ¡°We should have written down the same name,¡± Fang Wenshi said with a bitter smile, shaking his head. He thought that a counselor and his master were supposed to write down the same name, look at each other with a satisfied smile, and then suddenly be on more intimate terms.


    However, the Dragon King and Fang Wenshi had different ideas.


    ¡°Why do you think that King Dari is the Central in¡¯s hidden traitor? He¡¯s the first rightful heir to the throne,¡± Fang Wenshi began.


    ¡°King Dari has a yellow-faced servant named Fu Yuan. Have you heard of him?¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Yes. He seems to be a yes man. He should take some responsibility for King Dari failing to sit on the throne,¡± replied Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°Fu Yuan is not just a yes man. He is controlling King Dari. If my guess is right, King Dari is just a puppet who has lost his ability to think properly. It is Fu Yuan who tells him how to act,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°So the rumor is true? King Dari is only around fifty. How could he suffer from senile dementia earlier than the Khan?¡± asked Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°Yes, the rumor is true. But more importantly, Fu Yuan is from the Central in,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    After thinking about it for a while, Fang Wenshi was still not convinced. ¡°That doesn¡¯t prove that King Dari is the hidden traitor,¡± Fang Wenshi retorted. ¡°It¡¯s risky to use a servant from the Central in to control a lord of Nond, because he¡¯d be too unreliable. If I worked for the Central in, I would never choose such a hidden traitor,¡± said Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°Tell me your reason. Although King Rizhu acts suspicious, he could not be the hidden traitor of the Central in. Have you forgotten? His son died at the hands of the Emperor of the Central in,¡± argued Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°His enemy is the former Emperor, not the current one. Your Highness, your words have reminded me. Perhaps the reason that King Rizhu intends to win the three most importantpetitions is to spoil something else. I have a hunch that the Central in will be thergest beneficiary if King Rizhu wins these matches,¡± said Fang Wenshi.


    Both of their guesses were based on weak foundations. Fang Wenshi regarded this as an interesting game. He patted his thigh and continued, ¡°What about us making a bet? We spend three days looking for evidence, and then see whose guess is right.¡±


    ¡°What if both of our guesses are wrong?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, you should make a concession since you are my master. If it turns out that both of our guesses are wrong, you still lose the bet,¡± said Fang Wenshi.


    Gu Shenwei became interested in the bet, so he asked, ¡°Okay, so what are the stakes?¡±


    Fang Wenshi replied, looking awkward, ¡°The stakes need to be within my reach. Your Highness, I promise you that I am not rich, so I don¡¯t have much money.¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked at the fat Fang Wenshi, and he knew that his money must have been spent on food. After thinking for a while, he said, ¡°Then, ten taels of silver. We can both afford that.¡±


    Fang Wenshi couldn¡¯t help bursting intoughter. He returned, ¡°The stake is too small.¡± After awhile, he proposed, ¡°How about this? If you win, I will not be paid for the work I¡¯ve done for you in Nond. It would save you a lot of money.¡±


    ¡°What if you win?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Hehe. I will receive my pay. On top of that, I need you to make me a promise,¡± Fang Wenshi said, looking at the Dragon King with a sly smile. ¡°If I offend you one day, I hope ¡ª you will spare my life. After all, it¡¯s dangerous to keep a king¡¯spany. I might displease you some day. No one knows what will happen in the future,¡± he said.


    This stake was bigger than Gu Shenwei had expected. Besides, Fang Wenshi¡¯s stake was also suspicious. He had chosen an optimal time to propose it. Gu Shenwei mused for a while, and then nodded yes. So far, he believed his Military Counselor, and also he knew that death was not the only form of punishment. He said, ¡°Okay. Whatever crime youmit in the future, I will spare your life ¡ª but only once.¡±


    It was midnight when Fang Wenshi left the tent. He walked back to his tent ted. He wasn¡¯t nning to betray the Dragon King, but the deal he¡¯d made was a counselors¡¯ rule to guarantee his safety. He took a chance in proposing it, and he took pride in his sess.


    Gu Shenwei was not sleepy at all. Now that he was in a foreign environment and faced unknown challenges, he was much more excited than usual.


    Gu Shenwei stayed calm in front of others. When he was alone, he preferred to let his mind wander. He analyzed several lords of Nond he had met, trying to detect any suspicious signs. Still, he could not decipher who the hidden traitor was.


    He wanted to discuss it with Maid Lotus, but she was not around. She was busy in a secret location making a poison that would cause the same symptoms King Rizhu¡¯s son had after his death.


    All of sudden, the tent was hit with a small stone.


    To Gu Shenwei¡¯s surprise, someone dared to provoke him the first day he moved into his new encampment. He immediately pulled out his Five Peaks Saber, stood still and listened closely. It was unwise to leave the tent to see what was happening.


    Then another stone was thrown into the tent. It seemed that this person was trying to attract the Dragon King¡¯s attention.


    Gu Shenwei did not move, listening carefully. There was no noise outside the tent, though, proving that this person excelled in Lightness Skills. Gu Shenwei silently made arge slit in the tent and wormed his way through the hole. Then, he turned right, walked forward and stopped where the stones were being thrown.


    The third stone flew towards him, and he caught it. Gu Shenwei found that the stones were not being thrown with much force.


    The person who flung the stones stood beyond several tents, covered with a cloak. Suddenly, she waved her hands at Gu Shenwei, turned around, and disappeared instantly.


    Soldiers of the Dragon Army were sound asleep after their long journey. Several guards on night duty did not notice what had happened near the Dragon King¡¯s tent.


    Gu Shenwei followed the person. He felt no danger, for he knew whom he was pursuing.


    Flinging stones was one of his methods, and this person had obviously learned it from him.


    It also seemed that she was not familiar with this ce. She frequently leapt to high ces, looking around. However, she had excellent Lightness Skills, and moved freely in the air, as if she were a bird. She leapt and jumped with ease, as effortlessly as ordinary people walked on the ground.


    Gu Shenwei made great efforts, but was barely able to catch up with her. Although he had made progress in Lightness Skills these past few years, they were still his weakness, and theygged behind hers.


    Shangguan Ru paused behind a suburban hill, her lower body camouged with grass. Under a faint, starlit night, her dark eyes twinkled with concern.


    Gu Shenwei was ten steps away from her.


    The atmosphere surrounding them was awkward. Since their meeting on the grasnds, Gu Shenwei felt Shangguan Ru was a stranger every time they met since. Some people changed with time, while others always remained the same. Shangguan Ru was like the former, seeming to have transformed into apletely different person from years ago.


    Gu Shenwei could hardly connect the woman in front of him with that bossy, kind, smart and gullible maid who had always dressed like a boy. In his eyes, the Tenth Young Master he had known had disappeared.


    Gu Shenwei tried, but couldn¡¯t see Shangguan Ru as anything other than her former self.


    Even so, he still felt embarrassed. For him, Shangguan Ru was a temptation that he was trying to resist. Eventully, he failed to resist his impulse to approach her.


    Shangguan Ru opened her mouth first, looking awkward. It was not the scene she had imagined. She said, ¡°I hope you will do me a favor.¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Despite the fact that she had thrown stones into his tent, they were excessively polite to each other in this open grassand, which suddenly felt crowded.


    ¡°Save Shaomin,¡± said said, simply.


    ¡°Who is Shaomin?¡± Gu Shenwei asked in surprise. It never urred to him that Shangguan Ru would seek him out to beg him to help a stranger he had never even heard of.


    ¡°My eldest brother¡¯s daughter,¡± she replied.


    Gu Shenwei remembered this girl. Han Xuan had discovered women in the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s team when they left the Tongtian Pass. Shangguan Fei had investigated these women and found that one was Shangguan Chui¡¯s daughter. He told Gu Shenwei that perhaps she was going to wed to some dignitary in Nond to solidify the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s alliance with Nond.


    Marriage was amon means to consolidate two parties¡¯ alliance. Gu Shenwei had married the Princess for that reason. At that time, he had not paid much attention to this girl, nor did he ask his men to further investigate her.


    Shangguan Shaomin was two or three years younger than Shangguan Ru. They had known each other since they were little girls. When Shangguan Ru had been kept indoors, she always yed with Shangguan Shaomin.


    All of the Shangguan family members learned a lesson: never try to take revenge on family. Otherwise, you¡¯d get yourself killed fast.


    Shangguan Chui¡¯s children had received good care since his death. If everything went well, they would return this kindness back to the Supreme King, and Shangguan Shaomin would be the first one to do so.


    ¡°Why are you asking me to save her?¡± Gu Shenwei asked, looking confused. <em>¡°It¡¯s this maid¡¯s best fate to wed to someone important in Nond,¡± </em>he thought.


    ¡°Do you know who the Golden Roc Fort intends to give her to?¡± asked Shangguan Ru.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± Gu Shenwei replied. He did notice, however, that Shangguan Ru mentioned ¡°giving¡± instead of ¡°marrying¡±.


    ¡°A servant of King Dari,¡± she replied.


    <em>¡°King Dari is the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s most important supporter, so it¡¯s natural for the Supreme King to try to please his trusted follower,¡± </em>he mused. Besides, Gu Shenwei did not like the tone Shangguan Ru used when mentioning ¡°servant¡±. ¡°Are you referring to Fu Yuan? He¡¯s King Dari¡¯s favorite servant. It does her no harm to marry him,¡± he replied.


    Shangguan Ru flushed and said, ¡°You don¡¯t know. They aren¡¯t going to marry Shaomin to him, but give her to him as a gift. It¡¯s not a big deal. If she is sent to him, she can live a better life there than in the Stone Castle. But¡­ but¡­¡± After pausing for a while, she finally went on, ¡°Fu Yuan is a eunuch, and he has¡­ many entricities. Shaomin would be at his mercy once she was sent there.¡±


    ¡°How do you know this?¡± Gu Shenwei asked as he thought, <em>¡°Shangguan Ru just arrived here today. How did she get this private intelligence that I do not know?¡±</em>


    ¡°I asked Old Man Mu to investigate Fu Yuan. He¡­ he saw many things. When he came back, he told me that it was better to kill Shaomin than to let her live with that man,¡± she said.


    Shangguan Ru flushed redder as she thought, <em>¡°Old Man Mu has a big mouth. He must have told me everything he heard and saw.¡±</em>


    All of a sudden, Shangguan Ru seemed to have turned into the Tenth Young Master that had asked ve Huan for help. When Gu Shenwei noticed her tone and expression mixed withmand and trust, he almost nodded yes.


    ¡°You saved Parro. Do you remember her?¡± Shangguan Ru asked as she softened her voice. <em>¡°This man is my biggest hope. Only he can think of the perfect n to save her,¡± </em>she thought.


    ¡°She was killedter,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Yes, she was. But that was not your fault. This time, I will send Shaomin to the Land of Fragrance privately, and not let anyone know it,¡± Shangguan Ru said.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s words reminded him: <em>¡°The Land of Fragrance is far away from Nond. If they need to reach the Land of Fragrance, they must pass the area under the Golden Roc Fort¡¯s control. It¡¯s impossible not to alert the Golden Roc Fort.¡±</em>


    <em>¡°The current situation in Nond is moreplicated than I have foreseen. I do not want to cause more problems,¡± </em>he thought and then said, ¡°Forget about it. It¡¯s her fate and no one can change it. Since her father¡¯s death, she was doomed to suffering. There are people who are worse off than her. So many people suffer from pains and hardships, but we cannot save them all.¡±


    ¡°But you changed your own fate. I always thought that you would understand these things better than others,¡± responded Shangguan Ru as she stared at the Dragon King with shock in her eyes.


    Gu Shenwei found it difficult to refuse someone¡¯s request for the first time in his life.

 Chapter 548 - Threat

    Chapter 548: Threat


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Atst, Gu Shenwei turned down.


    He did not want to offend the bigwigs in Nond. ording to his rule, he never took actions unless he was confident in his n. He would rather be called a coward than break this rule.


    In the meantime, he regarded Shangguan Ru¡¯s request as a personal test. He reminded himself that she was his foe¡¯s daughter. Although he could trust her, he could not cross that invisible and subtle line.


    Refusing Shangguan Ru¡¯s request reminded him of that boundary. It was Gu Shenwei¡¯s personal struggle.


    ¡°I cannot help you. This is Nond. I cannot take the risk,¡± he said to her.


    Shangguan Ru red at the Dragon King angrily. Before she lost her temper, she overcame her anger. After all, she was not the Tenth Young Master or a little girl anymore. Sheposed herself as she said, ¡°Why did you risk stealing the horse?¡±


    ¡°That was different,¡± Gu Shenwei replied, as he tried to find a good reason to exin, but failed. In fact, the two matters were very different, indeed.


    ¡°I forgot that you are the Dragon King. You never help anyone or do anything unless it benefits you or the Dragon Army,¡± said Shangguan Ru, as she took a deep breath and looked up.


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Gu Shenwei responded, as he did not want to exin. What Shangguan Ru said was the real reason that he refused her request.


    ¡°Fine,¡± Shangguan Ru said as her eyes turned cold. ¡°What about the archers from the Land of Fragrance? Aren¡¯t they are useful to you?¡± she asked.


    Gu Shenwei was stunned and asked in a panic, ¡°What¡­ do you want to do?¡±


    ¡°Even without your assistance, I will use a thousand female archers to save her,¡± announced Shangguan Ru.


    Gu Shenwei had not expected that Shangguan Ru would threaten him with the archers from the Land of Fragrance. He kept silent for quite awhile. Shangguan Ru tightened her lips and looked at the Dragon King with resolute eyes.


    The first ray of sunshine broke into the sky.


    ¡°You do not own the Land of Fragrance,¡± Gu Shenwei retorted, though he knew his argument was weak.


    ¡°I know. Neither the Land of Fragrance nor those archers belong to me. They are part of the Dragon Army, and I am just a¡­ coach. However, if I ask them for help, they will not refuse me as you did,¡± she said confidently.


    To those female soldiers, Shangguan Ru was not just an archery coach. She was their savior, guardian, and ruler. She could be the Queen of the Land of Fragrance anytime she wanted, with their support.


    Gu Shenwei did not think that Shangguan Ru would take the Land of Fragrance from the Dragon Army. However, he could not ignore her threat, for he knew she was serious.


    ¡°This is not a game,¡± he said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a little girl anymore. I am¡­ a married woman,¡± she said. Shangguan Ru had never admitted that she was the wife of the Fifth Young Master Meng before. Now she announced it deliberately to irritate the Dragon King. She continued, ¡°You killed my husband, so you owe me a debt.¡±


    They had never talked about this before. Both of them were aware who had killed the Fifth Young Master Meng. In Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes, Shangguan Ru was the one who owed him a debt in this matter.


    ¡°Have you made up your mind to save Shaomin?¡± he asked.


    ¡°She is only sixteen. She was terrified when she learned that she would be married off to Nond. If she falls into the hands of Fu Yuan.. she¡¯ll die,¡± she exined.


    ¡°I need to see her first,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Are you referring to Shaomin?¡± asked Shangguan Ru.


    ¡°Yes. Some people have said that the Shangguan family members are wolves. I need to know what kind of person she is,¡± he answered.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s words were angry and sarcastic, but Shangguan Ru did not get upset. ¡°I promise that she is a littlemb,¡± she answered with a bright smile on her face.


    Gu Shenwei doubted Shangguan Ru¡¯s judgment of people. He said with a snort, ¡°You try to buy me some time. I don¡¯t have a n yet, so I need to observe for a couple of days first.¡±


    ¡°Shaomin is safe up until the beginning of the Tournament of the Royal Court. Third Brother¡­ Shangguan Yun will not hand her over easily until he gets Fu Yuan¡¯s promise,¡± Shangguan Ru replied.


    It suddenly urred to Gu Shenwei that he could utilize this opportunity to find out the true identity of this yellow-faced servant. He warned Shangguan Ru, ¡°Do not act rashly. Keep an eye on Old Man Mu and do not let him out in public. This is Nond, and he has many enemies here.¡±


    ¡°I will not act rashly,¡± Shangguan Ru replied seriously with a nod, ¡°I will arrange for you to meet Shaomin.¡±


    It was almost dawn. They returned to their encampments the same way they hade. Gu Shenwei took the lead, and Shangguan Ru was ten steps behind him. He could not help but turn around to look at Shangguan Ru, for he thought that she was acting strangely.


    She seemed to have turned into the confident, spoiled and innocent girl who aimed to achieve her goals at any cost.


    Gu Shenwei still remembered that. When Shangguan Ru was told at Xiaoyao Lake that her parents nned to sacrifice her, she was depressed. Her sad mood didn¡¯t go away, even when she first set foot in the Land of Fragrance.


    When he had met Shangguan Ru on the grasnd, she looked better, but still seldom spoke. At that time, she would have never threatened the Dragon King.


    <em>¡°There must be something that changed her,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought. He did not want to ask her this, but he was very curious about it. When they reached the border of the Royal Court, he stopped and turned to her to say, ¡°You¡¯ve learned how to threaten others. It must be Old Man Mu¡¯s doing.¡±


    Shangguan Ru seemed to be insulted by his words. She raised her head as she replied with a grave expression, ¡°I will never learn from him.¡± Then, she pretended to put on an evil look as she added, ¡°Be careful. I could be more wretched if I wanted to.¡±


    She ran away immediately, snuck into a mob of shepherds and then vanished instantly. Her different attitude showed that she seemed to have finally found a proper way to handle the Dragon King.


    <em>¡°What would Shangguan Ru look like if she became more wretched?¡± </em>Gu Shenwei wondered. He felt his heart beat faster and became thirsty at the thought of this. If he¡¯d had a bowl of wine, he¡¯d have drunk it without hesitation.


    When he returned to his encampment, he calmed down. He was ashamed of his rash actions. ¡°I¡¯m a killer and the Dragon King. I not only need to avenge my family, but also take responsibility for those tens of thousands of soldiers of the Dragon Army. If I can¡¯t control my personal emotions, how can I propose strict rules for my followers?¡± he berated himself.


    He needed to solve two problems: firstly, how to free Shangguan Shaomin to satisfy Shangguan Ru; secondly, how to keep the Land of Fragrance under his control. He did not want to be threatened again.


    When he entered his tent, he saw Maid Lotus sitting in a chair. The slit he had made with the Five Peaks Saber had been stitched up. Maid Lotus began, ¡°It¡¯s right here. We can try it on someone any time.¡±


    Maid Lotus had not changed at all. She still kept silent and did things without questions. Even so, Gu Shenwei thought Shangguan Ru was more trustworthy than her. No matter how Shangguan Ru changed, he could read her mind. However, Maid Lotus was always aplex woman. If it hadn¡¯t been for her former betrayal, Gu Shenwei would have never figured out Maid Lotus¡¯s thoughts.


    A small porcin bottle was on the table. This bottle only contained a few drops of liquid. A poison simr to this one had been applied to Gu Lun¡¯s saber, which had caused the death of a prince in Nond.


    ¡°Mix the water with the poison in a ratio of 10 to one, heat the mixture, and then apply the mixture to the weapon evenly. The poison is effective for three days,¡± exinedd Maid Lotus.


    ¡°What about its antidote?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°No need to use any antidote for this poison since it¡¯s not very strong. It will not kill a man if it is sucked out within an hour. This poison¡¯s only merit is that it is not easy to detect, so people can use it in advance,¡± she said.


    Gu Shenwei took the porcin bottle, and observed it for a while. Then, he gave it back to Maid Lotus and said, ¡°Keep it well. We don¡¯t need it right now.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± replied Maid Lotus. As she was about to leave, Gu Shenwei called to stop her, ¡°Wait. Did the New Moon Hall send spies to Nond?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea about that, because it was twenty years ago. I doubt it, though. The New Moon Hall has its specific targets: the Golden Roc Fort and Jade City,¡± Maid Lotus said.


    ¡°Your Master ¡ª when can I meet her?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    Maid Lotus seldom mentioned her. It seemed that the New Moon Hall¡¯s master- Han Wuxian did not exist. All the disciples of the New Moon Hall and its spies in Jade City took orders from the Managing Master, Maid Lotus.


    However, that tall and pretty woman had left a deep impression on Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Perhaps soon,¡± Maid Lotus replied, a little surprised. Obviously, she did not expect Gu Shenwei to suddenly mention her Master. She continued, ¡°The Master will not show up until the Golden Roc Fort has no more influence. Like you, she prefers to give her enemy a fatal blow.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not further push the subject since he did not know Maid Lotus¡¯s real thoughts.


    Gu Shenwei thought that Shangguan Ru would bring Shangguan Shaomin to him in a couple of days. To his surprise, he saw Shangguan Shaomin that same afternoon.


    A female official from the Land of Fragrance brought him some presents that Shangguan Ru had received from the second wife of the Khan. They had not met yet, so they sent gifts to each other as a greeting.


    Shangguan Ru had sent the second wife of the Khan some herbal medicine, fragrances and precious flower seeds. The second wife of the Khan had given her gold, silver, jewelry and lots of food in return.


    Shangguan Shaomin was disguised as a female soldier among the female archers from the Land of Fragrance.


    An hour earlier, Shangguan Ru had gone to the encampment of the Golden Roc Fort, iming that she wanted to show her niece around. Shangguan Yun and Zhang Ji had not stopped her.


    That afternoon, attendants from the Golden Roc Fort followed Miss Ru and Miss Min at a distance. Shangguan Ru rode while Shangguan Shaomin sat in a carriage. They never thought that Shangguan Shaomin would disappear under their close watch.


    Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Shaomin were surrounded by more than a hundred female soldiers. Shangguan Ru attracted the most attention from the attendants, which created a diversion for the real Miss Min to leave.


    Shangguan Shaomin was Shangguan Chui¡¯s eldest daughter. As her father had been dead for several years, she had be child-like and timid. She trembled with fear in front of the Dragon King, as if she was more scared of him than the eunuch she would soon serve.


    Although Shangguan Fei stabbed Shangguan Chui, Gu Shenwei was the one who had pushed the saber to pierce his heart. Everyone in the Stone Castle knew it.


    Their meeting was short. Gu Shenwei only wanted to see if Shangguan Shaomin had learned kung fu and received the training that killers did.


    No matter how good an excellent killer was at hiding, he or she would still leave some signs that exposed his or her real identity. Gu Shenwei observed Shangguan Shaomin discreetly and found that she was just amon maid. Although she had lived in the castle with killers for sixteen years, she knew nothing about kung fu or killing.


    In fact, it was a tradition in the Golden Roc Fort. Only the male descendants of the Shuangguan family were allowed to received training as killers, so the Shangguan family faced a problem: the girls who trained to be killers were difficult to marry off.


    Shangguan Ru was an exception. Even though she had been trained as a killer, her training was iplete.


    Another reason for their short meeting was Old Man Mu. Shangguan Ru had asked him to arouse the Dragon King¡¯spassion. Therefore, Old Man Mu told the Dragon King, ¡°That yellow-faced eunuch is a monster who uses crueler means than I ever did. He is fond of those highborndies and takes pleasure in torturing them. Within a year, six or seven concubines serving him hadmitted suicide by various means. His means¡­¡±


    Before Gu Shenwei¡¯s sympathy was aroused, Shangguan Shaomin fainted from fear.


    Old Man Mu was taken aback when he saw her pass out. He continued, ¡°I have not even mentioned the worst part. She is too timid. It¡¯s not a bad thing that she passed out, though. Now I can speak to Your Highness alone. I did not tell the good girl all the details. Fu Yuan is not a simple guy. He not only uses those women for fun, but he utilizes them to practice some mysterious kung fu.¡±


    His words aroused Gu Shenwei¡¯s interest immediately.


    Thanks to the support of all the readers. It was not easy for this book to go this far. It¡¯s not because I have a strong will, but because you are reading this book that I can continue to write it.

 Chapter 549 - Young Macheteman- Bo Sang

    Chapter 549: Young Macheteman- Bo Sang


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Nothing happened for the following three days. People in Nond paid very little attention to the Dragon King. The war with the Central in and the uing Tournament of the Royal Court became the hottest topics amongst the people. The female archers from the Land of Fragrance were also a topic of interest. Among all the invited guests, Shangguan Ru got far more attention than the Dragon King or the Golden Roc Fort did.


    Gu Shenwei did not visit any more Lords.


    He had not met with King Kuari again since the banquet. Instead, he sent Fang Wenshi to contact King Kuari, and they reached an agreement: the Dragon King would not forge an alliance with King Kuari unless he helped the Dragon King get a summons to the Khan before the Golden Roc Fort did.


    King Kuari stayed calm, but Fang Wenshi knew that he was furious. As the Dragon King was not his subordinate, he could not treat him in the same cruel manner that he treated his men. He needed to maintain his rtionship with the Dragon King, so he sent his servant with gifts daily to show his concern.


    King Dari, as well as the yellow-faced servant, Fu Yuan, took simr actions with the Golden Roc Fort as King Kuari did with the Dragon King. He wanted to show the Dragon King that joining him was his only choice.


    Shangguan Yun and Zhang Ji visited King Dari, and returned drunk to their encampment past midnight every night.


    Shangguan Ru sent Old Man Mu to inform the Dragon King that Shaomin might be handed over to Fu Yuan ahead of schedule.


    Gu Shenwei did not believe that Shangguan Shaomin would be handed over ahead of time. In his eyes, Zhang Ji was not the kind of person who would pay before he got his goods. Therefore, Shangguan Shaomin was still safe until the Golden Roc Fort benefited from King Dari.


    King Shengri seemed to be a drunkard, indeed. He was only interested in the Dragon King¡¯s giant roc. Fang Wenshi paid a visit to King Shengri¡¯s residence, hoping to meet him. However, King Shengri¡¯s attendant responded rudely, ¡°If the Dragon King has a giant roc, our Lord will pay him a private visit. Otherwise, don¡¯te here again.¡±


    King Rizhu was eagerly awaiting the Dragon King¡¯s visit. Of course, he hoped that the Dragon King would bring his me Foal with him when he came.


    However, Gu Shenwei had no such intention now. King Rizhu treated him nicely only because he wanted me Foal. If he gave in now, he would lose his advantage. Given that, he resolved to observe and wait.


    His bet with Fang Wenshi was still on. They were both collecting intelligence in their own ways. As they collected more information, they each became more confident in winning the bet.


    Long Fanyun and Shangguan Fei met some difficulties while carrying out their tasks. For one thing, they were in a strange ce and did not know anyone here. For another, they were not as good at gathering information as Xu Xiaoyi was. Two days passed, but they had only reported some gossip to the Dragon King.


    For these reasons, Gu Shenwei decided to ept a guest¡¯s visit. This guest had waited at Gu Shenwei¡¯s encampment gate all day and all night.


    The Royal Court¡¯s attention to the Dragon King was declining. Only a macheteman called Bo Sang admired the Dragon King. In the beginning, he just imitated the Dragon King. The third morning after Gu Shenwei moved into his encampment, Bo Sang went there and begged to visit the Dragon King.


    Bo Sang had spent almost all of his money on this visit.


    He was a macheteman in the slums. Even though he could asionally enter the craftsmen¡¯s area, it was hard for him to get into the noble¡¯s area. Only if he had a travel document would the guards allow him to enter.


    Fortunately, he was able to buy a travel document. He purchased one with a hundred taels of silver, which had taken him years to umte. The document was a white piece of paper printed with the pattern of a gray steed carrying a dagger, which indicated that it was valid for ten days.


    Bo Sang stood at the Dragon King¡¯s encampment gate for an entire day. In the morning, he was exposed to the burning sun. In the afternoon, he was drenched by the pouring rain. He felt much better by the evening. However, he met the drunken Shangguan Yun, who had juste back from King Dari¡¯s residence. The two almost fought each other, for Bo Sang was in a position that an assassin would normally choose.


    After Shangguan Yun figured out why Bo Sang was waiting there, he burst intoughter. Since he was drunk, he shouted towards the Dragon King¡¯s encampment, ¡°Dragon King, you have a fan in Nond. Come here. Hurry! He is waiting for you. Otherwise, he¡¯ll be taken away by others.¡±


    Gu Shenwei refused to meet Bo Sang, not because he wanted to test his sincerity, but because he thought that it was unnecessary. <em>¡°This strong young man seems to have no talent for martial arts. I could instruct him asionally, but he does not deserve me spending my time training him,¡± </em>he thought to himself.


    Not until Long Fanyun and Shangguan Fei had made almost no progress did Gu Shenwei realize that Bo Sang was useful to him.


    He was overjoyed when he was granted a meeting with the Dragon King. Before the guards led him to the Dragon King¡¯s tent, he tidied his clothes and adjusted his long-saber and longsword to look proper.


    He nodded at the Dragon King and began, ¡°I have finished with my duties to my former employer. Your Highness, please ept my allegiance and allow me to join the Dragon Army.¡±


    Then, he kneeled, lowered his head and waited for the Dragon King¡¯s response. He had spent a long time thinking of these words.


    Fang Wenshi stood aside and watched them. He was more interested in the Dragon King¡¯s response than he was in the young macheteman.


    Gu Shenwei stood beside the table with a cold expression, his left hand pressing his saber hilt and his right hand resting on the table. After a while, he said, ¡°Rise.¡±


    Fang Wenshi approved of the Dragon King¡¯s actions towards Bo Sang and thought, <em>¡°The Dragon King even treats amon macheteman well. To show his respect, he spoke to that macheteman with a serious expression while standing. That macheteman must be feeling excited and grateful now.¡±</em>


    Bo Sang rose slowly as his face turned red, and kept silent (since he did not know what to say next). He kept his head down, for he did not dare to look at the Dragon King.


    Fang Wenshi coughed to break the silence. Compared to the Dragon King, he was much more enthusiastic towards the young man. He asked, with a smile on his face, ¡°Is Bo Sang your name?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Bo Sang.


    ¡°We met in Senior Shou¡¯s shop. Do you remember me?¡± asked Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°A¡­ a little,¡± Bo Sang replied as he raised his head and gave Fang Wenshi a quick nce. They had met six months ago, and at that time, Fang Wenshi was not as fat as he was now.


    ¡°Why did you leave Senior Shou?¡± asked Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°Senior Shou closed his shop. He was intending to buy some sheep and cows and leave the Royal Court. He asked me to leave with him to take care of his livestock, but I don¡¯t know how to graze. So I¡­ left,¡± he exined awkwardly.


    Bo Sang blushed more. The truth was that he had quarreled with his former employer. During their quarrel, Senior Shou had even angrily used him of being an ingrate.


    Fang Wenshi nced at the Dragon King. They both knew why Senior Shou had closed his business. King Kuari was a narrow-minded man. Although he had not taken measures to take revenge on Senior Shou, he would never spare this old man who had sided with King Dari. When he sat on the throne, all the people in Nond would be his subordinates, and he would punish anyone who had supported his opponent.


    When their small talk ended, Gu Shenwei asked,, ¡°Do you know much about the Royal Court?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Bo Sang replied, his voice trembling. After pausing for a moment, he added, ¡°I often go to the slums and the craftsmen¡¯s area. As for here¡­ this is my first time entering.¡±


    ¡°If I ask you to collect some information, can you do it?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Yes, I can,¡± Bo Sang raised his head with a pleasant look. ¡°Your Majesty, please give me your orders. I know many people who have a lot of influence in Nond. Their status¡­ is lower than yours, but they know many things,¡± he said.


    Gu Shenwei nodded and decided to send him to Shangguan Fei. He said, ¡°After youplete this task, I will consider whether or not to ept your loyalty.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. I will not fail you,¡± Bo Sang solemnly promised.


    Their meeting came to an end. There were only some trivial matters left to deal with, such as arranging a tent for Bo Sang, introducing him to Shangguan Fei, and so on.


    Bo Sang headed towards the exit, but he looked hesitant, as if he had something else to say.


    Gu Shenwei understood what the macheteman was thinking and called to stop him. ¡°Bo Sang, would you like to learn machete skills from me?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    This time Bo Sang knelt down on the ground with an excited expression. His biggest dream was to be a first-rate macheteman. Before he had met the Dragon King, he had thought that he was close to achieving his dream. However, it had turned out that he was far from being a top macheteman. His purpose for this visit was to ask the Dragon King to teach him kung fu. But when he stood in front of the Dragon King, he thought that he was not worthy of making such a request. So when the Dragon King proposed it himself, he became ecstatically happy.


    ¡°Your Majesty¡­ I really long to¡­ I will practice hard¡­ you can ask me to do anything. My saber¡­¡± Bo Sang was too excited to reply coherently. Soon, heposed himself and said, ¡°Your Highness, I have spent all my life practicing machete. You can show me real machete techniques. I know I¡¯m not very talented or smart, but I¡¯m willing to practice hard. I promise that I will not disgrace you, as long as you will teach me. I will do anything to acquire great machete techniques.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was much older than Bo Sang. Hearing the young man¡¯s words, he curled his lips and thought in disdain, <em>¡°He is less than 20. It¡¯s ridiculous to hear him say that he spent his whole life practicing machete skills.¡± </em>But he knew that the Dragon King had just acquired another loyal guard.


    ¡°Prove your fidelity first. We will talk about machete techniquester,¡± Gu Shenwei said, his trial for his new follower just beginning. No matter how innocent he looked, Gu Shenwei would not trust him easily.


    Gu Shenwei adhered to one principal: one¡¯s loyalty depended upon acts, not thoughts. He cared little about his subordinates¡¯ thoughts, for he was only concerned what they had done for him and their decisions at critical moments.


    Bo Sang considered the Dragon King¡¯s words as a promise. A big smile appeared on his round face, and the veins on his neck stood out, making him look a little scary. He said, ¡°Your Highness, you¡¯re the best macheteman in the world. You will win the bravery contest. No one in Nond can defeat you. Even if the Central in and the Western Region send lots of kung fu masters to join the contest, you will still be the winner with your brilliant martial arts.¡±


    Bo Sang stood there with his red cheeks saying these ttering words, not just to please the Dragon King, but because they were his real thoughts.


    Fang Wenshi shook his head smilingly. He really wanted to tell the young macheteman that the Dragon King did not like ttery, and that the only way to get the Dragon King¡¯s approval was to bring him useful information.


    However, he immediately found that he was wrong. The Dragon King seemed to be interested in his ttery, and he even took a step forward. Soon Fang Wenshi understood the Dragon King¡¯s abnormal behavior, so he quickly asked Bo Sang (before the Dragon King could), ¡°Do you mean that the Central in and the Western Region are sending kung fu masters to join the bravery contest?¡±


    Bo Sang did not know why Fang Wenshi would ask this question. He replied in confusion, ¡°Every year, people from the Central in and the Western Region participate in the Tournament of the Royal Court. This year¡­the number of their contestants has increased.¡±


    ¡°How many?¡± asked Fang Wenshi eagerly.


    Facing Fang Wenshi¡¯s eager question, Bo Sang was even more confused. After thinking for a while, he replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know the exact number. But everyone is saying that the tournament will be exciting because the contestants from the Central in and the Western Region are real masters. But once the Dragon King joins the tournament¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei and his Military Counselor looked at each other. They finally understood why so many people paid so much attention to the Tournament of the Royal Court.


    ¡°This is your first task,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He changed his mind and decided to let Bo Sang collect information alone. He continued, ¡°I need to know the names of the kung fu masters who have joined the bravery contest, especially those from the Central in and the Western Region.¡±


    ¡°As youmand, You Majesty. I will not let you down,¡± Bo Sang replied happily, for he knew that he couldplete his mission perfectly.


    When Bo Sang left the tent, Fang Wenshi told the Dragon King, ¡°It¡¯s a brilliant n. Promises from Nond and the Golden Roc Fort will be invalid at the tournament. Am I right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Gu Shenwei answered. He became aware that the uing Tournament of the Royal Court would provide for legal killings.

 Chapter 550 - Strong Wine

    Chapter 550: Strong Wine


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Fei prepared to return to that tavern that night to catch rumours after spending the night safely, that he would handover to the Dragon King as part of his assignment.


    His two bodyguards disagreed.


    Han Fen was irritated. He said,¡±why do we have to go there? It¡¯s not interesting. Let¡¯s go somewhere else.¡±


    Han Fen was well suited for men¡¯s wear and did not need make-up at all but onlya fake beard. She looked more like her part when she was angry but only her voice remained a girl¡¯s.


    Theywere standing in the streets of the craftsman¡¯s area, surrounded by tents and pedestrians whenShangguan Fei anxiously looked around and said, ¡°Han Fen, are you afraid that people don¡¯t know you are a woman? I¡¯m sorry if you dont care.¡±


    ¡°No one recognises you. What¡¯s there to be embarrassed about. Why do you alwayseto this ce anyway?¡± He added.


    Han Xuan looked angry but Shangguan Fei was not afraid of anything. After days of getting along, he had understood these women¡¯s characters. Han Xuan was direct and there was no wayone wouldbe rough with her, she had to be persuaded and was very easily fooled whileHan Fen was just like a child, few words of praise could make her smile.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to tell you this, but I will say little if you need to know. Some of the customers of that tavern are very suspicious. They might betroops close to the court. Make friends with them and you¡¯ll have all the information. alright ?¡± He said to her.


    Han Fen hesitated to believe and asked,¡±which ones? why don¡¯t I recognize them?¡±


    ¡°The tall and heavily builtyoung man thatshakes his head everytime he drinks.¡± Shangguan Fei said as he tossed his head forcefully nearly hurting his neck, rubbed it wice and continued, ¡°That one too that everyone¡¯s pretty afraid of. Not too tall, very strong and strikes the table each time. Then there¡¯s that one, slightly older but very stable, barely drinks.Ifit¡¯snothing, the three are very reputable and worth understanding.¡±


    Shangguan Fei looked at the two women dressed up as bodyguards intently.


    Han Fen grew up in Tunfeng Gorge and had never entered a tavern. He admitted hisck of experience and thus believed them almostpletely. ¡°Yes,their very special those three, I was still thinking which one Miss would choose. I would prefer the first. Tall and young.¡± He said.


    The youngdy¡¯s fiance was dead and Han Xuan had been wanting to choose another one for her.


    Shangguan Fei almost blurted out, asking Han Fei not to fight with him for it butsmiled strangely and said,¡±I am confident that I will be able to make friends with one of them tonight and makehim spill the beans on everything,pleting the Dragon King¡¯s task.¡±


    Han Xuan was persuaded and turned to her good friend, Han Fen to ask,¡±what do you say? Do we still go there?¡±


    Han Fen was not a beauty by conventional standards but still, she had to dress up carefully to be a man. Even so, she had been trained and was able to emte a man¡¯s voice well, speaking gruffly when she needed. She answered,¡±Anywhere is fine with me. Shangguan Fei has worked hard for days. We must let him sleep with a man.¡±


    Shangguan Fei had thought that those two bodyguards must have beenunder his control and did not expect Han Fen toe up with such a sentence. He blushed and moved his hands without stopping, as if batting a flying insect. ¡°You, don¡¯t speak nonsense. I did not think of sleeping with anyone.¡± He replied.


    Han Xuan¡¯s doubts rose again and asked,¡±Shangguan Fei is a man, how can he sleep with another man? He is no child, can¡¯t he sleep alone?¡±


    Romancewas one of the trainings of the New Moon Hall. Though Han Fen was innocent, she knew aboutthese things. She said, ¡°No, two men sleeping together would be like¡­ the Miss in your house and uncle doing that thing after they are married.¡±


    ¡°This¡­ how is this possible?¡± Han Fen was shocked and said loudly thata few passers-by turned to look around them ,curious about this bearded man.


    Shangguan Fei blushed and turned red as blood said angrily,¡±You two, shut up. How can a woman say such a thing. It¡¯s unthinkable.¡±


    Han Fen was puzzled and said, ¡°What can I say, I always do what I can and always help. Delightful touches are usually used on women. I¡¯ve been wanting to know ifthey worked on men. Let¡¯s try.¡±


    Han Fen was so eager that her voice changed toa female oneagain.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not go there tonight, let¡¯s go somewhere else.¡± Shangguan Fei said angrily. He finally understood why everyone said New Moon Hall was filled with crazy women. This Han Fen was not easy to deal with at all.


    Han Fen was puzzled and did not understand where shehad gonewrong and added, ¡°Not going anymore? I see that the short fat shopkeeper seems to be very interested in you.¡±


    Shangguan Fei did not wish to go anymore.


    Han Fenhad partially understood butintended to be scornful and continued,¡±No, where we will go tonight is upto us to decide even though you have your own agendas.¡±


    ¡°You two are bodyguards and I¡¯m only¡­ forget it, you guys decide.¡± Shangguan Fei was stressed and only wished to leave the ce as they were getting more and more conspicuous.


    ¡°Han Fen, where do you want to go?¡±


    Han Fen¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°Wang Zhang, I want to see what Lao Hanwang¡¯s concubines look like.¡±


    ¡°We are collecting information for the Dragon King, not here to y,¡± Han Fen said sternly.


    Han Fens martial arts were far superior to hers but this time, she was like a child who had done something wrong, and shrinking herself, she said: ¡°Yes, then you decide.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s walk around in the craftsman area. We have not gone to the slums of the south. Let¡¯s go there tonight.¡±


    Shangguan Fei regretted giving up the choice to others and said quickly,¡±Tonight? Why don¡¯t we wait for the day, it¡¯s not quite safe there.¡±


    ¡°No, I have decided. Follow me.¡± Han Xuanreplied as shetook big strides and took the lead,Han Fen following closely behind.


    Shangguan Fei sighed and trotted, running after his own bodyguard and said softly. ¡°About the tavern¡¯s business, don¡¯t spout nonsense when you¡¯re back, especially not in front of Long Fanyun.¡±


    The three entered the slums¡¯ area in the wee hours. Most of the ce had turned dark and was dead quiet as if everyone had slept already. Shangguan Fei sighed a breath of relief and said, ¡°You see, the shops in this area don¡¯t open at night, we should havee in the morning like I said.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was not to be luckythat night. Just after he had spoken, someoneflew from a tent nearby, then burly man poked his head out, spat heavily and said hoarsely, ¡°If you want to eat for free, don¡¯te here.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s here.¡± Han Xuan said delightedly. She had been upset thinking she had made a wrong decision.


    Shangguan Fei did not like this ce. In the past, he had hated the squalor in the Southern City when he was still in Jade City. The slums¡¯ area was even worse than this. They had only walked a short distance and had already stepped three times into puddles, his boots were getting wet.


    ¡°What information can there be?¡± Shangguan Feiined in a low voice, following the bodyguards and peeking left and right.


    The man who hadflown out was still lying on the ground like he¡¯d been badly beaten and suddenly struggled to lift his head, revealing a face dripping with blood which shocked Shangguan Fei. He grasped Han fen¡¯s arm tightlyand asked worryingly,¡±Your martial arts skills are not bad, are they?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Well, in fact, my Walking Cloud Rain technique¡­¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need it for tonight. We can talk about itter. Remember theDragon Kingassigned you to be my bodyguard so you have to protect me all the time.¡± He continued.


    The old tent was dimly lit, and the atmosphere therewaspletely different from that of the craftsman¡¯s area. More than a dozen guests sat at the table in silence and drank sullenly. People at the same table even seemed to be strangers to each other. The shopkeeper was the big burly fellow who threw people and stared at the guests expressionless as if they owed hima year¡¯s worth of wine money.


    Shangguan Fei pretended to be rxed, leaned in and said, ¡± Business looks good. Serve what good wine you have. We brothers will be drunk tonight!¡±


    The shopkeeper was vignt, taking out three big bowls from the under the counter, carrying them and filling each of them and said, ¡°Fivecoins of silver.¡±


    Shangguan Fei did not know the market price and felt it was cheapbutdid not quite understand how three bowls of wine could amount to five silver coins. He nodded and took out three or four taels of silver andsaid generously. ¡± Everyone will get a bowl, allon me.¡±


    This was very effective in the slum area¡¯s tavern and won apuse everytime. But the people here did not seem to understand the ways of the world and everyone did not seem to hear or say a single word of thanks.


    The shopkeeper frowned, picked up the silver and looked at it carefully under the light before holding the wine jar reluctantly and pouring wine for each one of his guests.


    Shangguan Fei felt increasingly ufortable and said in a small voice. ¡°The people here do not like to talk, let¡¯s go somewhere else.¡±


    Han Xuan did not like the strange atmosphere of this ce eitherand agreed, given they had alreadye to the slums.


    Only Han Fen did not care and was looking at the shopkeeper with enthusiastic eyes. He was pouring wine for his guests and sizing each of them up.


    Shangguan Feigulped downa mouthful of wine that was sour and puckery, almost puking. He said loudly,¡±Tonight, Old Li is giving us a treat, how could we have forgotten? Stop drinking, it¡¯s still not toote to go.¡±


    Shangguan Fei walked out of the tent and no one sent for him or stood in his way. He finally put down his worries and realised there was nothing amiss about this small tavern. It was a false rm. As long as he had money,he wasnot afraid of being unwee anywhere.


    He lifted the curtain halfway and found that the bodyguards had not followed.


    Han Xuan was still standing near the counterand Han Fen had walked infront of a table of customers. Before Shangguan Fei started to give orders, she spoke in a man¡¯s voice asking, ¡°Aren¡¯t you a killer of Fort Jin Peng? What are you hiding here for?¡±


    Shangguan Fei was shockedhow they had chosen a nondescript tavern so randomly, this being the first time they hadbeen in a slum. They had actually bumped into a their killer, but didn¡¯t know it yet.


    He knew Han Fen would not admit her mistake. The disciples of New Moon Hall were experts at identifying killersof Fort Jin Peng.


    Theguests who had been questioned by Han Fen looked to his left and right saying,¡±You have gotten the wrong person. Where did you find the killer?¡±


    It was toote, the killer¡¯s identity had been revealed and no one had given the orders, not even a voiced hint. Theguests stood upand pulled out their weapons.


    Shangguan Fei didn¡¯tfor the duel to start. He¡¯d already jumped out of the tent and ran towards the slum without regard for his life. The two bodyguards howeverdid not, because they could defend themselves.


    A terrible scream that rang from the tent behindShangguan Fei frightened him thathe slipped and almost fell.


    This screamwas like an incantation that lifted the banas suddenly, everyone ran out of their tents, brandishing their sabres, hackingone anotherlike madmen.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s path was blocked, there were people everywhere. His heart almost stopped, he did not anticipate that his sudden change of mind would have brought such dire consequences.


    It was not till the next morning that Shangguan Fei, who was covered all over with blood knew the truth: He had beencaught in thergest riot , the slum district of the Dragon Court had seen in decades.


    That night, the cries of the killings were heard from near and far indeed,Gu Shenwei and his subordinates¡¯ guards waited sternly and were ready to guard the camp of Fort Jin Peng acrossthe road.

 Chapter 551 - Being Surrounded

    Chapter 551: Being Surrounded


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The news spread like snowkes and stopped suddenly in the wee hours.


    Fang Wenshi had spent considerable money on the officials of the Nond Court which had reaped benefits, he and the Dragon King were able to learn about the situation at the slums first hand.


    At first, it did look like a rebellion. Rumours spread aboutthe great number of soldiers who took part and about the details of the ident, Wang Fenshi had started to formte an emergency n thathad not been carried outwhen yetmore news came that there was no revolt butjust a riot. Various parties in the slums area had shed and soldiers went to suppress it.


    However this riot was not small. Half the slum had been affected, including the craftsman area. A congration and the sound of panicking horses rang throughout the night, causing much insomnia. The Nond officials estimated that fatalities were in thetens of thousands. Even thosethat had spread the news found it hard to believe, and advised Fang Wenshi to hearwhat news daybreak would bring.


    The timing of the riots was unfortunate. In order to attend the Dragon Court Conference and prepare for the war with the Central ins, officials and dignitaries from the North Court had gathered together and brought arge number of soldiers and hencewere able to respond quickly and suppress the riots in just two or three hours andpletely close ess to the entire area. No one was to enter or leave.


    The news hadstopped by that time. Officials who had gained benefits from Fang Wenshi felt that they had paid their debt and retreated unterally, without even saying their farewells.


    It was not only the Dragon Kingthat was snubbed. The camp from Fort Jin Peng, opposite the road that was originally visited by many people ,too was forsaken.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Fang Wenshi asked in disbelief. ¡°I¡¯m going to find out what is happening; can¡¯t be being paid for nothing.¡± He added.


    ¡°No need, they wille knocking on our doors soon.¡± Gu Shenwei interrupted, still not clear on what had happened but one thing was for sure, the riots in the slum had ended and the remaining vagabonds would be dispersing to the aristocratic areas.


    Immediately, he called out Shangguan Fei, Han Fen and Han Xuan.


    Shortly after the three men had returned to their camp, the blood stains on Shangguan Fei¡¯s body had not been cleaned. He was shocked and was assisted by Han Fen all the way, running back. He trembled the whole way and only giggled sheepishly upon seeing the Dragon King without saying a word. He had to be represented by two bodyguards who narrated what had happened in the slums, including hisst-minute decision to go there.


    ¡°Many, many people,¡± and so saying, Han Fen was ted. ¡°You cut me and I cut you- I wanted to start cracking but Han Fen pulled me away.¡±


    ¡°We are there to protect Shangguan Fei not to fight.Nevertheless, isn¡¯t it sothat we should fight in secret even though we wanted to ?¡± They said.Han Fen had an advantage- she treated her responsibilities seriously. She said,¡±I saw a killerfrom Fort Jin Pengwho ran as fast as Shangguan Fei. That is a reaction a killer should have.¡±


    Usually, it was Han Xuan who taught Han Fen butshe was neglected this time and knew she was wrong. However, the elder was not happy and said, ¡°I know, I know but Shangguan Fei had run too fast and was caught. Had we not caught up in time, we would have been chopped up into meat paste.¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked at Shangguan Fei who was covered in blood and asked, ¡°Did you take action?¡±


    Shangguan Feiughed lightly and replied, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me who pulled a few punches. He made me do it.¡±


    Han Xuan could not believe it and asked in vicious awe,¡±You punched? Why did I not see?¡±


    Han Fen seemed to remember something, pointing at Shangguan Fei to say, ¡°did you hit that person? The body was torn apart and the intestines were all over the floor. Wow, you are really¡­ super¡­ look, there seems to be an intestine on you.¡±


    Shangguan Fei shivered, twisted and pped like he was on fire, in abidto get rid of the ¡®intestine¡¯. Han Fen came over to help and picked up something from his back and said,¡±I¡¯m wrong. It¡¯s not an intestine.¡±


    Shangguan Fei sighed in relief before Han Fen threwit in front of him saying, ¡°It¡¯s like human liver.¡±


    Shangguan Fei grasped his stomach and threw up, Han Fen taking a few steps backward in disgust and pping her body several times, scaredof his vomit.


    Han Fen was puzzled and said,¡±What¡¯s there to be afraid of ? It¡¯s justa body organ. Look, even the Dragon King is not afraid.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was not afraid but his strategists were. They took the food on the table and almost spit it out, swearing to themselves never to share a bed with thedies of New Moon Hall, even if seduced.


    ¡°Change your clothes immediately and clean off the blood stains. Don¡¯t leave any. Hide in the tent and don¡¯t move a muscle without my order.¡± Gu Shenweisaid quickly.


    Shangguan Fei heard the severity of the issue andstopped vomitting, raising his head to ask, ¡°We only happened to pass by and won¡¯t be implicated right?¡±


    ¡°Hard to say,¡± Gu Shenwei replied, he felt that the North Court officials had suddenly stopped sending news andfeared itwasn¡¯t as simple as receiving orders.


    Shangguan Fei turned paler than the Dragon King and said, ¡°Dragon King, I am working for you. You have to¡­¡±


    ¡°Clean yourself up first.¡± The Dragon King silenced him.


    Shangguan Fei ran into his tentas the two Hans walked out too beforeHan Fen remembered an important question while she was at the door. She asked,¡±Can I poke my head out of the tent?¡±


    ¡°No,I will cut anything that pokes out of my tent with a knife.¡± He replied.


    This time the order was clear enough. Han Fen spat out her tongue and threw away whatever was in herhand and decided to carry outher mission faultlessly whileHan Xuan decided to ask how New Moon Hall trained its disciples.


    ¡°This time, the disturbances are really odd.¡± said Fang Wenshiwho was far away from the filth and tried his best to follow the Dragon King¡¯s thoughts even wanting to surpass him.


    ¡°Well.¡± Gu Shenwei looked at the two guards shovel away the filth and said after waiting for them to leave, ¡°There are many martial arts figures from the Central ins and the Western Regions who havee, they could probably be rted to the riots.¡±


    ¡°Moreover, the officers ofthe North Courthad reacted too quickly. Do you still remember, at the very beginning, there was news saying that there were soldiers at the scene of the riots. This could not be a coincidence and was more like a deliberate trap.¡± He added.Fang Wenshi thought about this and felt increasingly suspicious of how things had gotten odd. He asked,¡±And what were the killers from Fort Jine Pengdoing there? Was it a coincidence too?¡±


    The problems grew and before the two men could analyze an oue, a bigger problem came from the camp.


    The two cavalrieshad surrounded both the camps of the Dragon King and Fort Jin Peng.


    Fang Wenshi went to the door of the camp and talked to a leader of a thousand soldiers, questioning the other party¡¯s motives.


    ¡°We are here to protect the Dragon King,¡± the leader of the thousands said politely,whilegiving the soldiers around him a nasty look, ordering them to enter the camp.


    The camp inFort Jin Peng had encountered the same problem thus causinga squabble. Fang Wenshi opened his arms and shouted, ¡°Stay outside the tent to protect the Dragon King, there is noneed toe inside.¡±


    The soldiers only listened to the order of the leader of a thousand soldiers and dozens of people rushed in, eyeing the tent in the camp, apparently searching the ce.


    Fang Wenshi gave his suggestions angrily but did not seem to achieve any sess. Finally, it were the guards of the Dragon King whostopped the soldiers of the North Court.


    Gu Shenwei had only brought tensto this trip, most of whom were swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain. This time, it was up to Long Fanyun to lead, as they lined up, shing the heavy swords in their hands.


    ¡°This is the Dragon King¡¯s camp. Outsiders are not to enter.¡± Long Fanyun held the patronus¡¯ sabre in bothhis hand anddid not care if there were many people or not, or whose territory this was. He would not let anyoneenter as long as the Dragon King did not givethe order.


    The soldiers of the North Courtalso pulled out their swords, they had never been threatened in this way on the grasnds and were extremely dissatisfied towards the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountains.


    Fang Wenshi protested with his both hands. ¡°I am not responsible for the fighting. This is the camp of the Dragon King. You provoked me first. I would like to know if the promise ofLao Hanwang still stands and whetherthe NorthCourt treated the Dragon King as its guest oras its prisoner.¡±


    Fang Wenshi had already discovered that the words ¡°Lao Hanwang¡± had magical powers inthe North Court. As long as someone said it, the atmosphere would turn stern no matter what the other side looked like.


    The leader of the thousand soldiers was clearly hesitated by saying, ¡°No, we did not provoke¡­ we shall stay outside sincethe Dragon King feels he could protect himself.¡±


    Fang Wenshiughed coldly asking, ¡± What Dragon King would you be if you couldn¡¯t even protect yourself ?¡±


    The leader of the thousand soldiers pretended not to listen and ordered the soldiers to retreat from the camp as the security outside tightened rather than disperse.


    Fang Wenshi looked at Fort Jin Peng¡¯s camp opposite, seeing soldiers ofthe North Court that wereholdingtorches search the tent.


    Before long, the day had brightened and one North Courtofficial wanted to see the Dragon King. The official had received bribes from Fang Wenshi and had secretly passed him the news anhour ago. This time, he looked steely,like he had important business to tend to.


    Immediately after entering the tent and talking privately with Dragon King and the military counselor, he smiled and said, ¡°I have offended you, please don¡¯t me me. I have no choice.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was slightly irritated andblocked thefront of the Dragon King, feeling the moneyhe had spenthadn¡¯t been worth it. He asked¡±What exactly happened? Hadn¡¯t the disturbance outside been suppressed? Why do we have to be surrounded?¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, the riot was quelled but¡­but¡­,¡± the official replied.


    The official hemmed and hawed asFang Wenshi became increasingly impatient and asked, ¡°But what? Don¡¯t tell methe North Courtsuspects that the Dragon King had nned the disturbance? We have a total of fifty people here.Are we capableof upyingthe royal court in one masterstroke?¡±


    ¡°No, no.¡± the official waved his hand. ¡°The Dragon King would not do such a thing and no one suspects him either. But I ask, did the Dragon King send someone to infiltrate the slums area yesterday night?¡± He asked.


    The other party was a low-ranking official and Gu Shenwei did not speak but let the military counselor do the work for him. The official knew his own status as well and even though he talked to the Dragon King, his gaze turned towards Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°No.¡± Fang Wenshi replied justly.


    The officials seemed puzzled andsprang up suddenly, changing their tone. ¡°Did someone sent by the Dragon King enter the slums area yesterday night ?¡±


    Removing a ¡°faction¡± word madethe meaning appeared different and Fang Wenshi did not have the means to refute ityet the other party seemed to be armed, but he replied, ¡°Yes, someone went to drink because he did not know the way and walked identally into the slums area. What¡¯s the matter with that ?¡±


    The officials pped their hands seeming relieved saying, ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re not clear about it again, I will throw out all the money that you have kept.¡± Fang Wenshi threatened harshly.


    The officials enthusiastically gathered around Fang Wenshi and one of them said, ¡°I have to hand up half of those taelsyet what I have is really little.¡±


    Fang Wenshi nced at the Dragon King and said unwillingly, ¡°I will make up the other half for you, but will kill you, with silver, if you don¡¯t tell the truth again.¡±


    The officials were all smiles and as long as there was silver, even the most unpleasant words could make one happy in his heart. ¡°I have long prepared against the riots and sent out countless mento ambush the slums. There was a prince who was the biological sibling of the King Kuari and wanted to join but was found out and beaten to death. He died such a horrible deaththat hewas torn to parts. Someone said the Dragon King¡¯s surbodinate and the killers of Fort Jin Pengwere in the vicinity hence I came to ask- just to ask. This matter would not have anything to do with the subordinates of the Dragon King.¡±


    Fang Wenshi did not know how to answer the question and thusturned to the Dragon King with pleading eyes.


    Outside a few tents, Shangguan Fei, who had changed into his new clothes, was still shivering. He lowered his head to look at his own fist, as if it no longer belonged to him whilehis blood surged and his breathran faster than ever, which made him jumpy even more.


    What kind of kung fu did the Dragon King and Lotus girllet themselves practise ?

 Chapter 552 - Treatment

    Chapter 552: Treatment


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The seige of Fort Jin Pengwas dispelled very quickly, it was said that the King Dari had contributed a lot to it.


    Fang Wenshi watched the soldiers ofthe North Courtretreat one after the other, returning to the camp, said tothe Dragon King, ¡°there are only two options.Either we hand over Shangguan Fei or we go plead with King Kuari to get his protection. I suggest the former.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t hand over Shangguan Fei, he is very important now.¡± The King replied.


    The Dragon King¡¯s answerconfused Fang Wenshi. The Supreme King¡¯s ninth son was not only fickle but alsowastimid and cowardly and could not distinguish what was important from what was not. He could defeatan opponent in a single blow, which was formidable, but would tremble thereafter. Fang Wenshi was a only a schr besides being a killer and did not have to be afraid.


    ¡°More important than the siege soldiers outside?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Gu Shenwei was very sure. After observing for so long whether the three in one kungfu experiment was sessful, Shangguan Fei did not seem to be able to survive the day.


    Training was hard to exin to the military advisor because ording to Fang Wenshi, theDragon King owned thousands of soldiers and could be called thelegend of swords. Spending moretime training withswords wouldbe a waste of time.


    ¡°How? We havepletely offended King Kuari.¡± He wondered.


    ¡°So be it. As long as we are able to see Lao Hanwang, King Kuari is not so important.¡± The King affirmed.


    The Dragon King¡¯s thinking was often different from others, evident here whenalmost everyone believed that King Kuari would win the battlebut hestill thought he was ¡°unimportant¡±.


    Fang Wenshi realised that he was unable to keep up with the Dragon King¡¯s thoughts and asked, ¡°So we¡¯ll just wait?¡±


    ¡± Goout to the West immediately, to find Shangguan Ru.¡± The king replied.


    ¡°What can she say? Don¡¯t tell me-¡± Fang Wenshi said, not able tounderstand the Dragon King¡¯s thoughts and added,¡± Has the Dragon kingdecided to support the second wife of the Shi family?¡±


    ¡°Why not? I heard that she was well-loved and could surpassplex obstacles and even arranged a meeting between me and Lao Hanwang. She is a woman, and does not have to take part in the battle. There is no need to force a reconciliation between the Dragon Army and Fort Jin Peng.¡±


    Fang Wenshi opened his mouth and thought for a while, <em>¡°I can¡¯t say whether the Dragon King¡¯s idea is right or not. But it is a wonderful move that couldseed or fail yet very risky if it fails. But for Shangguan Fei alone, Dragon King, please think carefully whether it is worth it.¡±</em>


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Gu Shenweimade a decision.


    Fang Wenshi bowed and quit and thought as he walked whether he should change his principles to follow the princess who was too young, butwould have to acquire some devilish techniques.


    Fang Wenshi thought hard and spent a lot of time but this saved him a lot of money.


    Leaving the camp would require bribing the smiling tiger-like officials but the soldiers outside, in the end, retreated on their own before he had set a number of bribes.


    The officials and Fang Wenshi were equally surprised sayingit were onlyorders, but when he finally reacted and wanted to take advantage of this time to retreat and reap benefits, it was already toote to fool the military counselor of the Dragon King.


    ¡°You treat silver as food? How many times do you want to eat in a day? Quick, go, tell me about the truth and let me know immediately,¡± saidFang Wenshi whofully experienced the pleasure of having money. He could order officials of the Northern Court here and there althoughprivately, the other party had to ept it with a smile.


    It was all for money. Fang Wenshi sighed in his heart and felt that whatever he had done would not be enough.


    The news had spread very quickly and this shocked Fang Wenshi.


    The order to withdraw had beenissued by Lao Hanwanghimself. The official had received a sum of money in the morning and was extremely diligent when he did his work, hence he heard a little more information. He said,¡±I heard that the second wife of the Shi family had pleaded for mercy before Lao Hanwang.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was suddenly impressed by Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei did not think that the second wife of the Shi family would be so proactive when, before he expressed need, the other party had already provided help.


    Before old man Mu came to the Dragon army¡¯s encampment hidden in a group of female soldiers, the mystery would not be revealed.


    The second wife of Shi wouldn¡¯t bepassionate for no reason. The moment Shangguan Ru heard that the Dragon Army camp had been surrounded, shesoughtShi¡¯ssecond wife immediately, the two talked secretly andShi¡¯s secondwifeagreed to intercede for the Dragon King.


    It was somewhat a difficult matter, that would only get simpler after the camp of Fort Jin Peng had been encircled. Shi¡¯s second wifereminded Lao Hanwangthat the North Court wasnot to treat their guests differently. There was no need to send troops for house arrest.


    ¡°Dragon King, there are some things a good girl does notsay but thinks in her heart. I will make it clear for her. She helped you once, you should do yourbest for her.¡± She said.


    Old man Mu did not say but Gu Shenwei understood Shangguan Ru. She remembered the niece whohadhad a hard life. This was a tacit thing but after the Old Man Mu had pointed out, it seemed like a straight deal.


    ¡°What help? Why don¡¯t I know?¡± said Fang Wenshi, alert. He was a military strategist and understood all the Dragon King¡¯s operations, but had never heard of the king and Shangguan Ru helping each other.


    Old man Mu did not have a good impression of the white fat man. He pursed his lips wantingto show he knew more secrets. Looking at Dragon King¡¯s hinting eyes, he said, ¡°Why do you ask so much? This is a good girl¡¯s affairs. How can I tell such a lecherous man? Yes, a good girl toohas something that is inconvenient to say- every female soldier of the female army is a good girl and keep their bodies like jade and you are not to vite them.¡±


    ¡°You, you talk nonsense and nder others.¡± Fang Wenshireplied flushed, not seeming tohave lost his fighting spirit.


    ¡°Is that it?¡± Old man Mureplied. Hewas someone who remembered wrongs and used other strategies to seek vengeance even though swearing not to kill. He continued,¡±There are a few women fromthe North Courtwith pregnant bellies who said they kept harboring descendants of the Dragon King. Were they spreading rumours and ndering?¡±


    Fang Wenshi even more flushed answered, ¡°You, you, you¡­¡±


    Small matter.¡± interrupted Gu Shenwei, not wanting tohaggleover suchsmall matters. ¡°Go be busy, military counselor.¡± He continued.


    Fang Wenshi had not wanted to let Dragon King and old man Mu talk in private but wished to leave. After walking several times, he turned around and said sternly, correcting, ¡°just one, and not several¡±.


    ¡°Then continue working hard. The expansion of the Dragon Army depends on you.¡± saidold man Mu, his logic unparalleled. This time, he was prepared and every word hit its target.


    Fang Wenshi was brimming with hatred but did not dare speak and started to escape.


    Old man Mu was over the moon until he realised that the Dragon King had been staring at him, then he said humbly, ¡°Dragon King, do you have anything else? I shall go if there is nothing else.¡±


    ¡°You seem to like digging out other people¡¯s secrets.¡± The Dragon king said.


    Old man Mu was shocked. He did not expectthis reaction of the Dragon King, heaping suspicion on himinstead of venting his anger on the lecherous military counselor like the rest. Hereplied quickly,¡±No no, it was just a coincidence. White Fat Man was not conscientious. He did not wipe up after himself. Many people in the North Courtknow this.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought about whetherto use old man Mu togather intelligence, Long Fanyun and Shangguan Fei were clearlynot qualified. But this idea was aborted the moment it was birthed, old man Muwas ofgreater use. It was not good to put him atrisk.


    ¡°Follow me.¡± Hemanded them without any emotion as usual.


    ¡°For what? I am busy. There is not many people that a good girl can use, it¡¯s just me¡­,¡± Old man Mu reacted.


    Gu Shenwei did not care about Old man Mu¡¯s ranting and walked out of the tent, old man Mu only followed at the back. The Dragon King was not easily duped like Shangguan Ru, he would rather leave as far as he could.


    The two people walked, front and back, into a neighboring tent.


    Old man Mu saw theLotus womanand held his breath immediately, his vignce increased and then realised someone lying on the bed.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that Shangguan Fei? Why is he like that now?¡± he asked.


    It was indeed Shangguan Fei. He looked very strange, his face reddened like charcoal and perspiration formed on his forehead. His body shook violently and he gritted his teeth as if lying on ice.


    ¡°He went wayward in his Qigong Deviation.¡± She said.Gu Shenwei had realised Shangguan Fei¡¯s abberation for half an hour already as the Lotus maidkept on observing silently at the side.


    The two had not gained the teaching of the good master. They had dependedand encouragedeach other whilepractising ¡°Death Scripture¡± and the Wayless Qigong. The three-in-one qigong was something that no one had tried before and there were too many loopholes they couldn¡¯t solve.


    On the way to the royal court along with the Lotus maid, Gu Shenweisought help rather circuitously from Old Man Mu andthey did not reveal information about howhe looked like. After guessing for a bit andseeing Shangguan Fei, they immediately understood the most part.


    ¡°That he can surviveuntil now is a miracle,¡± he said.


    Gu Shenwei had no means of concealing anddid not care about Shangguan Fei¡¯s life, but the person who was to be tested was about to die. This meant that the three-in-one qigong had failed thoroughly andalso hadno means of extract the poison in his body.


    The needle piercing pain had onlye once every three months, and Gu Shenwei¡¯sendurance had only grown. He was not incapacitated but knew that this did not mean that the Qigong Deviation was decreasing yetthe poison seeped into his body and he did not have more time to defend himself against this.


    Shangguan Fei had to live.


    Gu Shenwei introduced his ns to reconcile the Wayless Qigong, Yin and Yang Strength and the Sumeru Mustard Wayless Qigong divine kung fu.


    Although old man Mu had prepared long ago, he gaped in astonishment for almost half a day upon listening and said, ¡°Good strategy! Dragon King, I absolutely¡­admire you. Inparison to you, my ways of tormenting people in the past were like a joke. Haha, indeedit will befeared when you are gone. I do not deservebeingbelled <em>the Ferocious Old Devil.¡±</em>


    It would be sarcasm if it were someone else, however old man Mu was sincere. Looking at Shangguan Fei in agony felt like appreciating a sophisticated work of art.


    ¡°I want you to revive him?¡± The king asked.


    ¡°Why?¡± Old Man Mu askedraising his head and looking up at the Dragon King, feeling as if he had turned over a new leaf. He took a deep breath and exhaled saying, ¡°Yes, I promised the gooddy to be a good person. Not killing is a first step and Saving people the second. Moreover, he is the gooddy¡¯s brother¡­ yes, let me try.¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s experiment onlysted for a second. After keen observation and pulse gas transmission, he rose and nodded his head saying, ¡°The Dragon King had inadvertently opened a new frontier of martial arts. Even if Shangguan Fei were dead, it¡¯llbe worth it.¡±


    Shangguan Fei heard his name vaguely linked with ¡°dead¡± thushis mind suddenly cleared for a momentas he stretched out his arms towards Gu Shenwei, saying, ¡°Dragon King, save me.¡±


    Old man Mu pressed down Shangguan Fei¡¯s arm replying,¡±Rest assured, you are saved,¡± and then turned towardsthe Dragon King and continued, ¡°The person who can save him is not me, it is myyounger brother, Taoist Yu. Let us go find him.¡±

 Chapter 553 - Nightmares

    Chapter 553: Nightmares


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Fei had a series of nightmares. In order to escape from that terrible scene, hespent thest of the will power he had, fighting to transformthe dreaminto a Stone Castle, somewhere which once made himfortable.


    However, theStone Castle had changed. No matter how much he tried, he could not control the falling stones of the castle, the crowds who were mutually killing each other, the blood that covered the sky, the father, and even the Supreme King wholoomedrger now than ever before. He walked slowly towards him while slicing any one that he came across, his mother seemed near yet far, and enthusiastically shouted, ¡°you have not killed enough!¡±


    In his dreams, no one cared about Shangguan Fei, even his mother. Only the Supreme King walked closer and closer, killinga person at every step.


    His feet were firmly rooted to the ground and it was hard to move¡­


    Shangguan Fei with abruptly, sweating profusely, his skinburning hotyet his internal organs felt like falling ice cubes. His chest started to heave dramatically when saw the people before him, seeming even more frightening than his dream. He said,¡±Supreme King, you are the Supreme King!¡±


    He saw the first face ovepping with the Supreme King¡¯s face in his dream and from then on, could not remember who that face belonged to.


    Old man Mu gave Shangguan Fei a tight p and said hastily. ¡°Wake up, this is Dragon King not Supreme King.¡±


    Shangguan Fei finally woke uppletely, remembering how he had wanted to escape the dream in order to escape the external heat and inner freezing. But the reality of thetorment now returned, even though weakened but even more frightening that that of the dream as he cried out, ¡°Dragon King, save me.¡±


    Shangguan Fei cried out so desperately thattheDragon King seemed to have be an omnipotent god.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s had suffered for years, so it was hard sympathizing with thatof another so he said just calmly,¡±You won¡¯t die, just endure it.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±Shangguan Fei replied in disbelief.


    ¡°It¡¯s true.¡± said Old man Mu whilebeaming, the only happy person in the tent. ¡°Once every few orseveral days, or even a few years, you would be possessed once, it will get worse and worse and you might even be an addiction when you get usedto it.¡± He continued.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to get possessed,¡± Shangguan Fei said,looking like a child who hadgot shocked and wanted to stubbornly protest the adults¡¯ arrangements.


    ¡°Your martial arts skills are now the best, why would you be afraid of Qigong Deviation? After all, you won¡¯t die after an hour and a half. You can enjoy slowly and pursue your freedom¡­¡± said old man Mu as he stopped in time. He had always forgotten how he had changed himself and not be a devil. ¡°Be a good human, stay on the righteous path, and strive for eternal fame and prestige.¡± He added.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want mystical power or fame. Dragon King, take these things away quickly. I have already trained for you.¡± Shangguan Fei said as he held his chest with two hands, as if the true qi in his body was a wart and could be cut off at any point in time to give to someone.


    He knew the reasons behind Qigong Deviation but did not dare to use the two culprits. His thoughts were simple. Dragon King andthe Lotusdycould let themselves suffer and naturally wouldrelieve the pain.


    ¡°Give me a punch,¡± saidGu Shenwei, wanting to see how strong Shangguan Fei¡¯s ¡® <em>divine </em><em>powers </em>¡® were.


    Shangguan Fei curled into a body, yieldingas heclearly remembered the scene the previous night of a living human body being torn apart into four or five pieces with flesh and blood strewn all over him.


    He had beaten someone to death beforebut the other party suffered internal organ damage and looked okay on the exterior which wasn¡¯t frightening.


    ¡°The Dragon King is healing you. Give him a punch.¡± TheLotusdy said,understanding Shangguan Fei¡¯s thoughts, her tone effective even though cold.


    ¡°Really?¡± said Shangguan Fei witheyes brightenedas he saw theDragon King andnodded. He stood up finally and punched the Dragon King.


    This blow was so weak, Old Man Mu could not bear seeing it any longer thus he questioned, ¡°What are you doing? Teasing the Dragon King? Use force so your illness canbe diagnosed.You can¡¯t even kill a fly like this.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s second blow did not increase in speed butthe strength it contained was extremely huge. Gu Shenwei crossed his arms and received the blow.


    ¡°Look, the Dragon King is the Dragon King, do you wish topunch him todeath? Don¡¯t dream¡­¡± Old man Mu said with histtery stopped because he saw that the Dragon King looked bad.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s face shed red then became pale, his whole body turning to ice.


    ¡°I, I didn¡¯t mean to, Dragon King let me.¡± Shangguan Fei said, shirking his responsibility quickly at the same time worryingthat the Dragon King was really dead, who else would be able to save themselves.


    Momentster, Gu Shenwei recovered and his face turned normal, butknew thatit would be brought forward the next time he went into Qigong Deviation. Shangguan Fei¡¯s entric and strong force ignited the icy power in his body which made it almost unbearable.


    Gu Shenwei looked at the Lotusdy in the eye,understanding each other¡¯s thoughts.This set of strange powerswas to be practised soon but the loophole had to be closed before that.


    ¡°Yu Zhen Ren can cure Shangguan Fei¡¯s Qigong Deviation?¡± Gu Shenwei said, heonly knew the name of this immortal from the North Courtbut did not more.


    ¡°Of course, that¡¯s my younger disciple. He got along so well in the North Court, all thanks to a set of life-saving martial arts skills.¡± Old Man Mu said, brimming againwith self-satisfaction, as if basking inhis younger disciple¡¯s light.


    ¡°Yu Zhen Ren! He¡¯s your younger disciple?¡± Shangguan Feisaid ecstatically. He knew the name but this was the first time he hadknown this world-renowned Taoist was actually from the same sect as the old man Mu. Later, he thought of a question and asked, ¡°Yu Zhen Ren is your younger disciple so why was he able to save me not you?¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Old Man Mu was speechless and became angry with embarrassment. He was deep in thought for a while and then said in grumpily. ¡°The contents of what we studied were different. I killed people while he saved lives. There was a time I could kill ten people in a dayyet he could not even save a single person in the same time. Who do you say is more capable?¡±


    ¡°Well, you are more capable.¡± Shangguan Fei said, opposing what heactually intended tosay, considering whoever could save instead more capable.


    Shangguan Feihoped to setout immediately to see Yu Zhen Ren, buthad been ina for more than half a day and it was already nearing the evening when he woke up. He could only wait for another night.


    Old Man Mu remained in the camp of the Dragon Army and spentall night longtalking with Gu Shenwei and the Lotusdy. He talked the whole timeas the other two stood by listening. ¡°I can¡¯t imagine you could think of thebination of three kungfu skills. But you were lucky, the wayless qigong and mustard are one yin and yang, being able to find such diametrically opposite kungfu is already very difficult but the most important of all must be harmony. Without such yin yangplementary methods, there is nothing to talk about.¡± He said.


    ¡°Yu Zhen Ren had a strange temper but his medical skills are unparalleled, especially intreating strange diseases. He is the only person to go to if you encountered evil or ghosts, the reason the people of the North Court treat him like a deity.¡± He added.


    ¡°You two havended Shangguan Fei in trouble. This boy should take some me, but withthat timid look, letting him train in three-in-one kungfu skills would be a little unreliable. You should find a stronger and more sacrificial person.¡± He chuckled.


    Old man Mu looked at the two small devils expectantly but did not receive any reply. Gu Shenwei and the Lotusdywere very clear that as soon as old man Mu had regained his capabilities, he would not be as obedient as then.


    Gu Shenwei did not doubt Yu Zhen Ren¡¯s capabilities but worried about something else, asking, ¡°You once said that Yu Zhen Ren was interested in my swordcraft and also taught Wildhorse many kungfu. Can he treat Shangguan Fei¡¯s illness?¡±


    ¡°Hehe.¡± Old man Mu chuckled, wanting to find a few words to conceal but changed his mind. Before the Dragon King,he needed tobe forting. ¡°Because he was interested in the Dajue Book of Swordcraft so he was willing to help.¡± He added.


    Old man Mu imed that Yu Zhen Ren could heal the Qigong Deviation of Shangguan Fei but had harboured ulterior motives. If the younger disciple would achieve a certain form of agreement with Dragon King, he would have achieved a meritorious service. Hence, he asked Yu Zhen Ren to help him restore his capability.


    ¡°I will never hand over the sword technique.¡± Gu Shenwei swore, hehad only revealed the secrets of the Death Scripture to one person and that person now sat beside him. After so many years, he thought what he had done those days was a great mistake.


    ¡°No need,¡± old man Mu said, after already thinking of an idea for the Dragon King. ¡°The real Dajue Book of Swordcraft can never be handed over, if there was a set of skills that looked very real¡­ heh heh, Dragon King you should know what I mean.¡± He said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not so easy to cheat Yu Zhen Ren,¡± the Dragon King replied.


    ¡°That is not aproblem with myhelp, my younger disciple is very gullible and easy to cheat,¡± old man Mu continued.


    In the words of old man Mu, the younger disciple Yu Zhen Ren seemed to havehad a thousand faces, he could be cunning at one moment and innocent the next. Gu Shenwei could not believe either too much.


    However, he decided to try it and when treating Shangguan Fei, he wanted to hear Yu Zhen Ren¡¯s views on internal kung fu yet he had alreadypleted a preliminary repair of the three-in-one kungfu, and only wanted to verify his skills with the real master of the internal kungfu.


    ¡°Yuqing Sect sounds like a decent sect. Howe your kung fu skills are all so diabolical?¡± Gu Shenwei asked,wantingto dispel the doubts in his heart despite there being time.


    ¡°Noble sects and their diabolical kung fu are not contradictory at all. Kung fu is used to kill and bully, where is the distinction in good or evil?¡± Old Man Mu said practically but changed his way of speaking afterjudgingthat the two people before him weren¡¯t inpliance and thus changed his way of speaking, saying, ¡°I am smarter and I think that the kung fu that Master Shifu teaches is too weak. I therefore made changes privately in order to surpass my master. For instance, the Five Hole Fist and the manual mentioned rity but I want to wear such a big hole. With this change, the power actually increased. Also, the Amber Skill and Yuqing Sect used this very set of qigong instructions, used purely for self-defence and could not be used in attacks. After my modification, it actually became an extraordinary skill, slightly worse than the Wayless Qigong but not by much.¡±


    Old man Mu was extremely proud of his ability to change his Kung Fu skills thatcould no longer restrain himself. Hecontiued,¡±also there is New Moon Hall and me, those women¡­¡±


    ¡°Hold on.¡± Gu Shenwei stopped Old Man Mu¡¯s long speech, ¡°Yuqing Sect only has a single set of qigong instruction, the Amber Qigong?¡±


    ¡°Yes, this sect is good at external kung fu and not too adept at internal kung fu. But I am too clever, what can I say¡­,¡± he continued.


    The Dragon King interrupted old man Mu again, asking,¡±Amber Qigong is used for self-defence, then how did Wildhorse¡¯s internal strengthe about?¡±


    When they traded blows, Gu Shenwei realised that Wildhorse¡¯s strategies not only underwent great change butalso his skills had increased drastically. He had always thought that it was Yu Zhen Ren¡¯s efforts.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t Wildhorse¡¯s internal strength learnt fromFort Jin Peng?¡± Old man Mu asked in astonishment, he had also realised that Wildhorse¡¯s strength had truly astonished everyone but he ced the responsibility on Fort Jin Peng.


    ¡°No,¡± Gu Shenwei and maid Lotus answered in unison. Even though the Internal Strength of Golden Roc Fort had its unique points, it was only the tip of the Wayless Qigong and one could never see its capability in the short term.


    ¡°I have not seen you in years, you have changed alot, disciple brother.¡± Old man Mu said, even more astonished, ¡°This brat, ying tricks with me. Imust interrogate him properly.¡±


    Gu Shenwei realised more that Yu Zhen Ren was nota simpleperson.

 Chapter 554 - A Fake

    Chapter 554: A Fake


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The residual effect caused by the disturbance in the slums had notpletely ended, the entire area was blocked off by a wooden fence. Large numbers of cavalrymen kept watch outside, and tens of thousands of people had been fenced up for an entire day thus their emotions grew increasingly unstable, and many small-scale acts of resistance broke out.


    While the North Court was hesitated to act, many other parties debated endlessly about the issue.


    The slums were like warts that had be part of the royal court system over time. Without the residents of the slums to do their dirty work, thefort in which the nobles lived would diminish drastically, this became more evident the longer the blockade continued.


    The symptoms of Qigong Deviation werepletely gone from Shangguan Fei but he still rode unsteadily on his horse, bending over like a shrimp, as if not to have recovered from dire illness. He patted himself on the chest as he looked at the slums, only separated by a wall. ¡°What luck. I was nearly trapped inside there. I can¡¯t listen to Han Xuan and Han Fen ever again,¡± he said.


    It was early morning and dozens of people were snaking through the Craftsmen District to pay Taoist Yu a visit outside the city walls.


    Taoist Yu was the teacher of the royal family of the Naihang Tribe but did not reside in the royal court. Instead, he had set up his quarters in a quiet spot half a day¡¯s journey away from the city.


    Shangguan Fei though looking weakened, was still very talkative and kept looking back, saying to Long Fanyun, ¡°Do you see that? We¡¯re being followed.¡±


    The swordsman only grunted and spurred his horse on, leaving Shangguan Fei behind.


    Shangguan Fei rode up to the Dragon King and asked softly, ¡°Can we handle the situation with just so little people?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had only brought about eight guards with him as he was not worried about being ambushed during this trip. ¡°It¡¯s alright. If we really find things hard to handle, we¡¯ll just hand you over and we¡¯ll be fine.¡± He replied.


    Shangguan Fei nearly dropped off his horse upon hearing that. ¡°Don¡¯t scare me, Dragon King. I¡¯m extremely weak now and in risk of facing Qigong Deviation anytime,¡± he replied, before looking behind again. ¡°Did I really kill a prince of the North Court?¡± he continued.


    ¡°That seems about right,¡± replied Gu Shenwei. He¡¯d already told Fang Wenshi to check things over and the deceased was without a doubt a prince despite his insides being shattered. He had brought along guards, but they did not expect that the young man, who was panicking, could kill their master with just one punch and when they came to their senses and wanted to take revenge for their dead master, the killer was already whisked away by his bodyguard.


    ¡°Why am I so unlucky,¡±mented Shangguan Fei who was extremely troubled and gradually came to understand the reason for his bad luck, ¡°It¡¯s because of those two women. Dragon King, I¡¯m not trying to bad mouth anyone, but the New Moon Hall is inauspicious and always brings bad luck along with it. You should be more careful.¡±


    Shangguan Fei dared to badmouth the New Moon Hall becausetheLotus maid was not anywhere near them but even so, lowered his voice in fear that someone else would hear him.


    Gu Shenwei could not be bothered with such an obvious attempt to sow discord.


    There were a total of five people tailing them, and they did not put in much effort in covering their tracks. After the Dragon King and his retinue left the city, the five merged with another small group, forming a bigger group of 13 people. They still kept their distance from their targets, seeming as though their task was just to monitor the Dragon King¡¯s tracks and did not appear to have any intention of attacking.


    Shangguan Fei was still extremely terrified. The people following them were obviously from the North Court and could very well be subordinates of King Kuari, perhaps on the hunt for a particr ¡®killer¡¯.


    He only turned happy upon meeting up with their first group of reinforcements, saying,¡±So you were prepared all this while, Dragon King.¡±


    Shangguan Ru had set off much earlier with dozens of female soldiers from the Land of Fragrance and they were waiting at the pre-determined rendezvous point for the Dragon King. Old man Mu also with her, was originally hiding in a leather sack, but at that point, had already popped out and was horseback looking around.


    ¡°Sister, I thought¡­ I¡¯ll never see you again,¡± Shangguan Fei blurted out, trying to hold his tears in but to no avail. From a young age, aside from special moments, he was always her follower, and when he saw her, all the torment and suffering he had endured came gushing back, like a frequently bullied child who was finally reunited with his parents.


    ¡°What happened? Why did you experience Qigong Deviation for no good reason? You must have cked off during practice and channeled your Internal Breath wrongly,¡± said Shangguan Ru. She sounded harsh, but in fact, she had hurried over upon hearing about her twin brother¡¯s condition.


    Shangguan Fei did not dare to borate on his suffering, it was obvious that he was expected to keep it a secret even though nobody told him to. The Dragon King, the Lotus maid and Old man Mu had all known why he experienced Qigong Deviation, but none of them exined it to Shangguan Ru either therefore he could not simply tell her the truth, and could only reply bitterly, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s all my fault.¡±


    The trailing group increased the distance between them and made Shangguan Fei be a little more at ease.


    They were joined by another person after riding for two more hours, Chu Nanping, who had been away for quite sometime. He rode an ordinary horse and nodded to the Dragon King, remaining silent, like as though usually.


    Shangguan Fei was feeling particrly friendly now and greeted the young swordsman warmly, ¡°Hey, Little Chu, how have you been? How do you maintain such a high level of cleanliness, as if you shower everyday?¡±


    Chu Nanping muttered something, not bothering to reply him.


    ¡°Why is Little Chu like the Dragon King now? They¡¯re getting colder,¡± said Shangguan Fei to himself, desperately looking for somebody to speak to.


    Long Fanyun was farway, the Dragon King was always scaring him, and his sister liked to lecture him. As for the guards, they were all swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain and none of them liked to talk so after observing his party, Shangguan Fei¡¯s gaze finally fell upon Old man Mu.


    Old Man Mu also stared at him with a look of umon warmth, a vague grin on his wrinkly face, making him seem more evil than usual. Shangguan Fei got a shock and quickly turned his face away.


    Previously in the Land of Fragrance, he had chosen to recognize Old man Mu as his master and called him ¡®Master Shifu Granddad¡¯ just to get his protection, but in truth Shangguan Fei would die before ording to any of the short and ugly devil¡¯s lewd requests. No matter how handsome Old man Mu used to be, he was now a wrinkly old fellow and looked very much different from Long Fanyun.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s weird thoughts and desire to chat with somebody else soon dissipated as it neared noon, just as he saw the Lotus maid.


    The Lotus maid, Han Xuan and Han Fen had set off two hours earlier to act as an advance scout team, making sure that the main body would not be entering an ambush.


    Shangguan Fei was no longer afraid of the trailing party, the Lotus maid scared him even more, bing even more silent than the other members of his party.


    Soon, Taoist Yu¡¯s temporary temple was in front of them.


    Three huge tents were erected on a raised mound, a ring made up of dozens of smaller tents surrounding them. The entire campsite was nearly covered with fluttering streamers, and burning incense could be smelled even from a distance.


    Dozens of devout pilgrims were tasked to clean up the camp grounds and did not pay any special attention to the Dragon King and his party. The camp was frequently visited by important officials and people of the North Court who brought many more people than these who had just arrived.


    Three young Taoist priests came over to the group. One of them gave off a cough and was getting ready to begin asking questions when he suddenly spotted Old man Mu amongst them. The priest¡¯s face immediately changed color as he blurted out, ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    ¡°This is Yuqing Sect territory, and as the eldest disciple, Ie as and when I wish,¡± replied Old man Mu with much conviction. He spurred his horse to the front of his group, shouting, ¡°Fellow male junior apprentice! Taoist Yu! Little Wing! Come out quick, your elder male apprentice is here to see you, along with the Dragon King!¡±


    The three Taoist priests looked embarrassed, while the other pilgrims minding the camp grounds felt rather unhappy about themotion. One of them tried to shush Old man Mu down, but he lifted his finger to his lips, signaling for the pilgrim to keep quiet as well, before continuing to shout in an even louder voice, ¡°Kid,e out to wee the Dragon King quickly, or else I¡¯ll tell everyone about your past¡­¡±


    The ¡®kid¡¯ came out from the big middle tent. He was an elderly man withpletely white hair who looked very immortal like. His robes floated around him and he wore a towering crown. Four young male attendants followed him, carrying a Ruyi scepter, horsetail duster, sword and cbash respectively.


    Gu Shenwei had met many people who imed to be immortal, but Taoist Yu¡¯s type was the most superficial kind he had encountered. Many years of experience had taught him to be extra vignt around such people.


    Taoist Yu in fact, did not look very old and at most was over 40 years of age. He began by apologizing for this elder fellow male disciple, ¡°Our sect has failed to discipline our students well thus we¡¯ve produced such a rebellious student. Please don¡¯t take it to heart, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei led the others to dismount, leaving the guards to stand watch at the perimeter of the camp. He brought only the Lotus maid, the Shangguan twins and Chu Nanping along with him to exchange greetings with Taoist Yu.


    Old Man Mu acted as if he was back to where he belonged and introduced both parties to each other. He then pped his hands together and told everyone, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go in for a good chat.¡±


    After observing Taoist Yu, Gu Shenwei began to have an impression of him. He felt that the old man was a very ordinary Taoist priest and had earned the title of ¡®the Immortal of the North Court¡¯ not from his skill in medicine but by putting on a front. From his walking stance, Gu Shenwei guessed that he knew some basic kung fu and was probably not a master.


    Gu Shenwei started to have increasing doubts about the Taoist priest. <em>¡°How could such a person make Wildhorse¡¯s kung fu increase by leaps and bounds within just one year, and why would he have an interest in the Death Scripture?¡± </em>he thought.


    When they reached the entrance to one of the smaller tents, Old man Mu stopped the others, saying, ¡°Hehe, the Dragon King wishes to talk about private matters with my fellow male junior apprentice. Those that feel they have nothing to do with it should take a walk. Maybe pray to some deity or make a wish, I hear it¡¯s very effective here.¡±


    The Lotus maid was the first to leave, followed by Shangguan Ru and Chu Nanping. Shangguan Fei wanted to follow the Dragon King in, but was pushed away by Old man Mu. ¡°I¡¯m referring to you. Go seek protection from the three Supreme Deities. The fake immortal can only cure you after you¡¯ve passed through the real ones.¡±


    As for the four young attendants, Old man Mu pushed and shoved them out of the tent.


    Only three people were left in the tent. Gu Shenwei and Taoist Yu sat facing each other, still trying to observe each other. Both of them remained silent, and it was Old man Mu, who sat in the middle, who directed the conversation. He started, ¡°Fellow male junior apprentice, the Dragon King does not like people to beat around the bush with him. I think you should speak directly.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯vee from afar, Dragon King¡­¡±


    Old man Mu interrupted his fellow apprentice just as he began speaking, ¡°Sigh, stop pretending. I¡¯ve told the Dragon King everything. You desire the Death Scripture, while he needs your help to cure Shangguan Fei. Both of you need each other, so let¡¯s stop wasting each other¡¯s time.¡±


    Taoist Yu wanted to grin disdainfully but changed his mind immediately and stared at the Dragon King for a while before asking, ¡°Is that so?¡±


    Old man Mu was a little hasty, but it suited Gu Shenwei¡¯s n as he replied, ¡°Right, the scripture is embedded in my mind. May I ask you, Taoist, about your medical skill?¡±


    Taoist Yu stroked his beard andughed saying, ¡°You¡¯re indeed forting, Dragon King. I shall not continue bluffing then. Our sect has many skills, and all in all, we¡¯re better in external-style kung fu. The Dajue Book of Swordcraft is the peak of that type of kung fu in the entire Western region and has been lost for generations. Who knew that it would resurface in jianghu with your help? Therefore, I want to see it. What about you, Dragon King? What ails you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been gued by problems of the heart.¡± The King replied.


    ¡°Problems of the heart?¡±


    ¡°Yes, doubts, to be exact.¡±


    Gu Shenwei rose from his seat before he had even finished speaking and kicked Taoist Yu down to the ground with one foot. He ced his hand on the hilt of his saber, saying, ¡°I want the real Taoist Yu to appear before me. As for this fake one, I¡¯ll pass.¡±


    Oldman Mu was even more surprised than the prone ¡®Taoist Yu¡¯, ¡°Dragon King, he¡¯s indeed my fellow male junior apprentice; I can¡¯t be wrong about that.¡±


    The white-haired Taoist priest shifted his body weight onto his right elbow and lifted his head to look at Gu Shenwei, a bitter smile on his face, asking, ¡°Dragon King, who told you I¡¯m fake?¡±


    Gu Shenwei remained vignt as he replied, ¡°Old man Mu.¡±


    The color on the faces of both ¡®Taoist Yu¡¯ and Old Man Mu immediately changed, they did not know how they had given themselves up.

 Chapter 555 - The Royal Child

    Chapter 555: The Royal Child


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    It was mostly Old Man Mu¡¯s actions that gave the two of them away.


    Old Man Mu loved to prattle, and about 80 percent of his words were exaggerations. Therefore, when he described his ¡®fellow male junior apprentice¡¯ in a vividly weird way, Gu Shenwei was not suspicious, thinking of that as normal of the old man, but it was something Shangguan Fei said that alerted him.


    Shangguan Fei had asked Old Man Mu, ¡°If Taoist Yu is your fellow disciple, why did he save me not you?¡±


    Old Man Mu was thenangry from embarassment but this too was normal of him; he was rarely kind to Shangguan Fei.


    Gu Shenwei immediately grew suspicious and tried looking at the entire affair from Old Man Mu¡¯s perspective. That was, the Old Man Mu of the past, the one who had peerless kung fu skills, loved to kill and was bent on achievingplete freedom.


    He was suddenly enlightened when he realized where it looked fishy. The previous Old Man Mu would never have allowed a ¡®fellow male junior apprentice¡¯ to remain alive, it would be a challenge and restriction for him. Just like when he stubbornly refused to cross over Tianshan when he felt he was no match for the Supreme King, he would not hesitate to kill a fellow disciple who disliked him and even wanted to take revenge for their master.


    Gu Shenwei came to understand that Taoist Yu was not the fellow male junior apprentice of Old Man Mu. In fact, it was highly usible that both of them had never met before. Old Man Mu had used every trick up his sleeve to draw the Dragon King over because he desiredthe Dajue Book of Swordcraft. The talk of creating a fake scripture was just a temporary measure to win over the Dragon King¡¯s trust and as the negotiations went on, he would naturally tempt the Dragon King to hand over the real scripture, at the very least to him.


    It was stillspection at that time but when Old Man Mu arrived at the Taoist temple and started to shout for Taoist Yu loudly, Gu Shenwei¡¯s doubts were further confirmed. The old man was evidently trying to make sure he did not talk to the wrong ¡®Taoist Yu¡¯.


    As for the so-called ¡®Taoist Yu¡¯, he was obviously a jianghu conman, most probably hired by Old Man Mu to put up an act.


    When he was fleeing, Gu Shenwei had encountered all sorts of characters from the Western Region, especially those that formed the underss of its jianghu. As such, he was no stranger to the act of impersonating an immortal, he even suspected whether Taoist Yu¡¯s white hair was real.


    ¡°I will spare whoever confesses to me first,¡± offered Gu Shenwei whohad made the trip even after suspecting a trap, as he wanted to know how Old Man Mu managed to make contact with the outside world.


    ¡°Confess what? Dragon King, if you act like this, my fellow male junior apprentice will be unable to cure Shangguan Fei,¡± replied Old Man Mu, still trying to keep his act up.


    Taoist Yu was lying prone of the ground ashe stared at the right hand of the Dragon King which was on his saber. He said¡± I swear that I¡¯m Taoist Yu. Take me back to the royal court if you don¡¯t believe me, King Rizhu will vouch for me.¡±


    The Taoist priest¡¯s eyes looked extremely sincere althoughhe was secretly afraid. The aura of an immortal that he had been giving off was already greatly diminished, and he was no more than a ssic slippery character of the jianghu now.


    Gu Shenwei grew even more distrustful of the two tricksters and just then, the sound of horse hooves came thundering, as if an army drew near their tent.


    ¡°Very good. This is the army of King Rizhu, and I believe they will be able to differentiate between the real and fake Taoist Yu. We will even get to fight the kung fu masters in the camp.¡± Gu Shenweisaid while listening carefully with his head turned toward the sounds, already discovering the identity of the riders even before leaving the tent.


    ¡°Dragon King, you¡­¡± Old Man Mu was finally showing signs of cracking, his eyeballs turning in anxiety.


    ¡°Chu Nanping,¡± exined Gu Shenwei.


    Old Man Mu pped the back of his own head, replying, ¡°I¡¯m really foolish. Chu Nanping took the me Foal with him, and King Rizhu would naturallye asking for his horse back after the youth reappeared. So, the party that had been following us were not King Kuari¡¯s men. I¡¯m really stupid. Alright, Dragon King, I admit defeat.¡±


    Taoist Yu sniggered as he said, ¡°There¡¯s nothing keeping me here now, is there?¡± He dusted himself off and was just about to stand up when the Dragon King shot him a nce, forcing him to lie on the ground obediently again.


    Old Man Mu sighed as the sounds of the horse hooves drew nearer, admitting¡±I really overestimated my capabilities and tried to trick you, Dragon King. How did you see through our actions?¡±


    ¡°You always had been interested in the Dajue Book of Swordcraft that suddenly you never mentioned, but nowpositioned your ¡®fellow male junior apprentice¡¯ as the interested party. I¡¯ve had my doubts about you from long ago nevertheless,¡± replied Gu Shenwei. He lied slightly that he had not noticed the ploy that early.


    It was a useful tactic. Old Man Mu remained silent for a while, evidently believing that the Dragon King had ample time to investigate the matter thoroughly. Hereplied, ¡°In that case, you know about everything?¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not answer, showing with his hand that he had had enough, and it was now time for Old Man Mu to talk instead.


    Old Man Mu still lookedlike he wanted to conjure up more lies, but the thundering sound from the horse hooves that drew ever closer made him give up the childish idea. He eked out a smile, believing that it expressed ttery, but it made him look grotesque and devious. He started, ¡°I can¡¯t hide anything from you. Hehe, I don¡¯t have any ill intentions actuallybut I only wish to have a look at the Dajue Book of Swordcraft. Those that love kung fu¡­¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s face turned even more grim, leading Old Man Mu to stop his nonsense thus he corrected himself saying, ¡°There are five masters of the Yuqing Sect outside that can really cure someone of Qigong Deviation. They also truly intend to exchange the cure for the Dajue Book of Swordcraft with you, Dragon King. It¡¯s true. If any word I¡¯m saying now is a lie, I¡¯ll be struck down by lightning from the Heavens. Let menever regain my powers and be bullied everyday.¡±


    Thest curse sounded more like something the old man feared.


    ¡°What about him?¡± Gu Shenwei askedlooking sharplyat Taoist Yu.


    ¡°This esteemed priest is really Taoist Yu. Er, you are, aren¡¯t you?¡± Old Man Mu asked. He had actually neverid eyes on the priest.


    ¡°I am, I am,¡± replied Taoist Yu, as if he had been greviously wronged. ¡°Perhaps the Dragon King feels that I¡¯m not the real deal, but the people of the North Court, a few lords included, believe me. I don¡¯t have any special talents except for drawing talismans, subduing ghosts and acting as a medium. Those that wish to pass a few words to their dead friends and rtivese to me for help.¡±


    It turned out that the famous immortal ofthe North Courtwas just a warlock from the jianghu. Gu Shenwei was deeply surprised, but still chose to believe the fact. He chalked it down to the fact that the rumors were grossly exaggerated and also due to the simple-mindedness and gullibility of the people of the North Court.


    ¡°He¡¯s not your junior apprentice, is he?¡± The Dragon king asked.


    ¡°No, how could I have such a useless fellow disciple?¡± scoffed Old Man Mu. He had turned against Taoist Yu very quickly and had condemned the conman to trash the moment his act was up. ¡°I had other reasons for making use of him. Firstly, he¡¯s famous, and I thought I could use his fame to trick you, Dragon King. Secondly¡­¡±


    Before he could give his second reason, the cavalrymen had already arrived at the camp anda rough voice shouted, ¡°Shangguan Fei! Let Shangguan Fei out.¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s ¡®ttering smile¡¯ was immediately swallowed by wrinkles as he said, ¡°These aren¡¯t King Rizhu¡¯s men.¡±


    Gu Shenwei grunted and was about to continue with his interrogation when Shangguan Fei burst into the tent and hurriedly knelt down. He was momentarily stunned to find someone else groveling even more devotedly beside him, but there was no time to waste. ¡°Dragon King, King Kuari is here to take revenge for his brother. You have to save me.¡±


    ¡°You lied to me, Dragon King!¡± eximed Old Man Mu, full of indignation. He loved lies, as long as they were his own. That said, he hated being lied to the most.


    Gu Shenwei could not be bothered with Old Man Mu¡¯s ¡®pain¡¯ and walked out of the tent, nning to resolve the problem brewing outside of the tent first.


    Shangguan Fei was scared stiff upon hearing somebody calling him out and had immediatelygone to seek the Dragon King¡¯s help without even identifying who it was. In fact, the leader of the riders was not King Kuari, but a young nobleman in his 20s, leading 300 cavalrymen in a face off with the Lotus maid, Shangguan Ru and 20 other people in the Dragon King¡¯s retinue.


    ¡°Who are you? How dare you behave so impolitely in the Dragon King¡¯s presence?¡± questioned Long Fanyun as he stepped in front of the others.


    The youth measured the other party disdainfully and had even less respect for the Dragon army after noticing that half of them were women. ¡°I¡¯m Tuo Sai, son of King Riyao, andI¡¯vee here today to seek revenge for my good friend. I want whoever Shangguan Fei is, to step out now!¡± he said.


    King Riyao was the seventh of the 10 kings ofthe North Court, and he was said to be part of the moderates in the struggle for the title of Khan. His son, Tuo Sai, was very close to King Kuari however, and especially friendly with the king¡¯s brother.


    Shangguan Fei hid in the tent, not daring toe out. Taoist Yu felt that there was no need for him to risk an appearance and patted Shangguan Fei on his shoulder in sympathy saying, ¡°Tuo Sai is well known for behaving brashly, don¡¯tworry about him, we¡¯ll remain lying down inside this tent and let the Dragon King handle the matter.¡±


    Old Man Mu followed the Dragon King out,extremely unhappy at having been lied to, but he had divulged most of his secret and still had to rely on the Dragon King¡¯s help in the near future. As such, he stepped ahead of Gu Shenwei and ran in front of Long Fanyun, saying, ¡°Hey, ¡®stripped and dried¡¯ (a pun from the Mandarin pronunciation of the youth¡¯s name), get off your horse. The Dragon King is a guest of the Khan, andyou¡¯re just his grandson. What right have youtoe hollering? You should worry about getting spanked by your grandfather.¡±


    Old Man Mu had actually wanted to make fun of the royal child, but his words were too vague for Tuo Sai to understand. He nced at the old man twice before replying, ¡°I¡¯m Tuo Sai, not whatever you¡¯re calling me. You¡¯re Old Man Mu, aren¡¯t you? That¡¯s good. I¡¯ll take care of you today as well for humiliating the royal family of the North Court.¡±


    Old Man Mu was in a hurry to repair his image infront of the Dragon King. ¡°I¡¯ll see how you n to do that,¡± he replied and leaped in front of Tuo Sai while wing at his neck. He nned to grab the young man and throw him to the ground.


    Old Man Mu did not manage to grab hold of the youth¡¯s neck, insteadexchanged a blow with an enemy soldier who suddenly leaped forward.


    The soldiernded steadily after the exchange and retreated behind Tuo Sai respectfully, with his arms lowered.


    Old Man Mu made a few somersaults back to his original spot, evidently surprised. ¡°Eh, you¡¯re a kung fu master. Which sect are you from? Who¡¯s your master? Who are your apprentices? Who¡¯s your wife?¡±


    The soldier, whowas in his 40s and of wiry build was unmoved by Old Man Mu¡¯s taunting and focused on being a cautious servant.


    Tuo Sai ignored Old man Mu and turned his eyes to Gu Shenweiand said, ¡°Dragon King, the North Court regards you as an honored guest, but you harbor an enemy of the royal family and allowed your surbodinate to kill a royal child. How do you exin this?¡±


    Gu Shenwei stepped forward to stand beside Long Fanyun andlooked straight at Tuo Sai as he replied, ¡°I didn¡¯te to the North Court as a friend, so I don¡¯t have to exin myself.¡±


    Shangguan Fei had already sneaked out of the tent by this time, and was greatly encouraged by the Dragon King¡¯s reply. He steeled himself and joined in the conversation, ¡°Yes, what¡¯s there to exin? Show proof of what you im, that I killed a child of the royal family.¡±


    He still harbored the hope that no one could remember how he looked like as it was dark when the incident happened.


    ¡°Stop hiding behind lies if you¡¯re a man. A killer ofFort Jin Peng personally saw you at the scene.¡±


    Shangguan Fei immediately shrank behind his sister. He had forgotten that the recent riot was sparked off by Han Fen¡¯s discovery of a killer of Fort Jin Peng, he had been betrayed once again by the Stone Castle.


    Tuo Sai leaped off his horse and walked up close to the Dragon King, saying sternly, ¡°Fine, don¡¯t exin yourself then. We shall have a duel, the winner will get his revenge and the loser will confess to his crimes.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt a wave of emotions rise within him. Many years ago, his father, Gu Lun, had probably shed with King Rizhu¡¯s son under simr circumstances.


    Old man Muughed, ¡°You, win? The Dragon King can crush you with just one finger.¡±


    Tuo Sai may have been famous for being rash, but he was not foolish at all. He said,¡±It is not I and the Dragon King that shall duel. He¡¯s a guest, and we have orders from the Khan to leave him unharmed. Instead, each party will nominate seven contestants, and the side that clocks four wins first shall win. I have to announce beforehand that we shall not fight with women.¡±


    The Khan¡¯s grandchild hade prepared. Besides Gu Shenwei, the Lotus maid and Shangguan Ru, only Old man Mu, Shangguan Fei, Chu Nanping and Long Fanyun could be considered as kung fu masters. If just one of them lost, the Dragon King¡¯s team wouldn¡¯t stand a chance.


    Seven soldiers of the North Court had already dismounted and formed a single file, epting the offer of a duel on the Dragon King¡¯s behalf.


    Gu Shenwei turned his head toward Old man Mu. The old devil at once knew his intention and swallowed his saliva before replying, ¡°This won¡¯t work.¡±


    There were still five kung fu masters hidden in the Taoist temple, but Old man Mu knew that it was entirely impossible to get them to fight on the Dragon King¡¯s team.


    ¨C

 Chapter 556 - Admitting Defeat

    Chapter 556: Admitting Defeat


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    People of the North Court loved to duel, and the way they went about it was not entirely simr to other nations.


    Gu Shenwei could still recall how the kung fu practitioners of the Central in duelled. Theirs was more of a ritual and preparations could take days or even months. Both sides would gather close ones to provide support and at least three respected elders of the martial artsmunity would be invited to be moderators. The time and ce would be fixed beforehand, as would a list of prohibitions during thepetition itself.


    On the actual day ofpetition, both contestants would endorse a liability contract which indemnified them from any responsibility. It would be stated clearly that neither party, regardless of the result of the duel or their condition, find fault with their opponent after the duel. They could also choose to announce that theirs would be a friendly duel with neither party intending to harm the other. Under the second type ofpetition, the contestants would not be gunning for each other¡¯s lives but are attempting to subdue each other with moves that did not seem harmful but show the judges clearly which of them was the stronger.


    The elders would not only be expected to watch closely, but they also had to spread the achievements and glory of the victor elsewhere.


    There were many possible factors that could cause the entirepetition to fail midway. Many times, it was thesepetitions that never happened which became the most famous, as a hero would always be behind the sessful diffusion on a duel.


    The way people dueled in the Western Region was somewhat simr, but more simplified. The biggest difference would be no one would be willing to act as a ¡®hero¡¯ and try to diffuse the situation; everyone would be expecting a proper duel and be unhappy if there was even a slight dy.


    The audience, most of which do not even know kung fu, reced the usual roles of elders and closed ones in a Central in duel and would cheer both parties on. They were also the ones to determine the winner, and would go absolutely wild with betting.


    In the Western region, kung fupetitions were business opportunities and everything about them had to do with money. The winner would receive a mary reward, and everyone treated fame as just a side effect of victory that would be quickly forgotten.


    In the North Court, kung fupetitions or duels were a form ofmunication. When things gotplicated and it was hard toe to a conclusion about certain matters, the parties involved wouldpete in kung fu. Victory not only meant power and glory.


    Kung fupetitions of such nature could take ce anywhere, without any agreement made beforehand, audience or judge. They were left to be witnessed ¡®by the gods and the ancestors of thepetitors¡¯, expressing the idea that even the bloodshed that was about to begin had some divine aspect to it.


    Tuo Sai, the son of King Riyao, was about to enter into a North Court-style kung fupetition with the Dragon King. To him, the act was not against the Khan¡¯s promise but the best way to settle his problem.


    ¡°May the Gods and our ancestors witness this,¡± Tuo Sai swore to the heavens. ¡°The blood of a long line of Khans will not be spilled in vain. Let our enemies rot in the grasnd and our foes be trampled upon by horses.¡±


    To the people of the North Court, it was an ordinary curse, but it sounded extremely disrespectful to the Dragon King and his party. None of them however, could think of ae back. Old man Mu was from the North Court, but he seldom took part in kung fupetitions and was not familiar with suchnguage as well. At this crucial moment, it was Long Fanyun, who rarely spoke but acted.


    He pointed to the heavens as well and spoke in a voice that was firmer and reverberated even more than Tuo Sai¡¯s, ¡°By the Empyrean above, the Dragon King¡¯s name shall not be sullied. Let those who take him lightly eat their own words and may those who challenge him be destroyed.¡±


    As such, the battle between the ¡®Gods and ancestors¡¯ and ¡®the Empyrean¡¯ began.


    Shangguan Fei looked at the huge and erect frame of Long Fanyun with admiration, so moved by the swordsman¡¯s words that he nearly cried.


    Each side took 20 steps back to clear out a t grassy area between them, thepetition was about to begin.


    The firstpetitor sent out by theNorthCourtwas the soldier who exchanged blows with Old man Mu earlier on. Even though he wore the standard uniform of a cavalryman, he drew out a long sword, a weapon hardly ever seen in the North Court or the Western region.


    ¡°I¡¯m Gu Da, a lowly soldier serving under King Riyao. I humbly invite the masters from the Dragon army topete with me.¡±


    The way the ¡®soldier¡¯ spoke betrayed his roots. He was obviously from the Central in and was using a fake name.


    Long Fanyun stepped forward and replied loudly, ¡°I¡¯m Long Fanyun, a swordsman from the Great Snowmountain and the Dragon King¡¯s guard. I shall fight you.¡±


    The twopetitors did not waste any more time talking and immediately began.


    Long Fanyun¡¯s skills had improved by leaps and bounds, he had benefited the most from the Dragon King¡¯s instructions among all the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, and not only was his machete technique much better, his internal strength had improved greatly after practicing five chapters of Wayless Qigong.


    It was hard to determine the kung fu level of Gu Da, the swordsman from the Central in who had changed his name. Even Old Man Mu, who exchanged blows with him, could not deduce his background and strength. He could only throw a meaningful nce to the Dragon King, signaling that he felt Long Fanyun would not be a match.


    His prediction turned out to be correct, Long Fanyun did not lose because his machete technique was inferior, but because of the huge gap in their Lightness Skills. After giving more than 30 blows, he was struck by his opponent¡¯s sword with a backhand move, the sword pierced him on his wrist and his arm was now involuntarily lowered by about 30 centimeters despite still holding on to his saber.


    Long Fanyun still had an opportunity to counter, and in fact he was already preparing to, but his opponent had already retreated by a few steps. ¡°Thanks for allowing me to win,¡± Gu Da said, expressing that he had already won.


    Shangguan Fei was extremely disappointed. He was the reason for thepetition and was more afraid of losing than anyone else. He shouted, ¡°Hey, how could you say that even before the fight is over?¡±


    Swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain were used to putting their lives on the line and their legends were full of precedents where a severely injured swordsman would sessfully strike back, but they also did not like to lose face. If Long Fanyun chose to fight on after his opponent had imed victory, he would be viewed of as shameless. ¡°You¡¯ve won,¡± he replied after a moment¡¯s hesitation.


    Gu Da nodded and disappeared back into his party and was soon nowhere to be seen.


    ¡°We can¡¯t let them win like this,¡± Shangguan Feimented, scratching himself out of anxiety. Long Fanyun however, apologized to the Dragon King. ¡°Please forgive me, Dragon King,¡± he said.


    Gu Shenwei nodded, not ming the captain of his guards and then signaled for Old man Mu to step forward.


    Tuo Sai, who was standing at the opposite side, grunted coldly. Old man Mu was one of his chief targets that day, and he had brought along a kung fu master just to handle the old man.


    The master was also dressed like a soldier and had been standing in thest row. He spurred his horse through the crowd and leaped onto the ground and after greeting Tuo Sai, he turned to face Old man Mu.


    He was also an old man, but his physique was entirely different from that ofOld man Mu. He was huge and looked extremely authoritative, and in his hand was a broad sword which was even longer than his opponent.


    ¡°Old devil Mu, we haven¡¯t seen each other for a while.¡±


    Old Man Mu wass hocked upon seeing his opponent and took a leap back. ¡°Aren¡¯t you the Giant Machete King, Feng Tianhe? Why are you still alive?¡± He asked.


    Feng Tianhe had been Old man Mu¡¯s enemy for many years and was the leader of the pack that chased Old man Mu dozens of years ago. The old devil could remember clearly that each of his fist had struck a vital spot of the Giant Machete King, and that he had personally seen him die. He did not expect that his opponent would still be alive.


    ¡°You¡¯re not dead, so of course I¡¯m still alive,¡± replied Feng Tianhe, his voice full of suppressed hatred. A few of his close ones had been killed by Old man Mu, and he had retired for many years after thinking that revenge had been served but on hearing that Old man Mu was still alive, he immediately epted an invitation to make aeback in the jianghu.


    Old man Mu very well knew his opponent¡¯s skill level. He would not be afraid of Feng Tianhe only if he had all of his powers back, but now he was notpletely sure of winning. ¡°Since both of us are alive, let¡¯s call it even,¡± he suggested.


    Feng Tianhe scoffed at the suggestion and began tough with hisughter sounding increasingly bleak as he continued, ¡°Even? My two sons and three brothers died just like this. Do you seriously think that I will agree to call it even between us now?¡±


    Old Man Mu turned and looked atShangguan Ru and said,¡±I¡¯m no longer the Old man Mu you used to know. Look at me, I¡¯ve be short and have turned over a new leaf. I¡¯ve not been killing for almost¡­ a year now, really.¡±


    Feng Tianhe¡¯s expressions turned grim as he replied, ¡°Are you trying to fool me? You¡¯ve always liked to toy with your prey before killing them. That hasn¡¯t changed.¡±


    Old man Mu turned to nce atShangguan Ru again, looking as if he was trying to proim innocence. ¡°Alright, I don¡¯t me you for not believing me, but I won¡¯t fight with you.¡± He replied.


    ¡°What?¡± Grunted Feng Tianhe.


    ¡°I admit defeat. You win this round.¡±


    ¡°No way!¡±


    Two voices rang out at the same time, belonging to the enraged Feng Tianhe and also Shangguan Fei. Even though weakened, Old man Muwas still a top notch kung fu master. If he conceded defeat, they would not have much hope of winning the best of sevenpetition.


    Old Man Mu did not care about what both of them thought however, and asked¡±I can concede defeat, can¡¯t I, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°As you wish.¡± The King replied.


    After receiving the Dragon King¡¯s approval, Old man Mu hurried back to Shangguan Ru¡¯s side and smiled at Feng Tianhe as he said, ¡°There will be many more chances for revenge. Don¡¯t need to be hasty, aren¡¯t I well and¡­¡± He shut up upon seeing Shangguan Ru¡¯s harsh look and muttered to himself instead.


    ¡°Old devil Mu, to think that you used to dominate the north of Tianshan. I didn¡¯t expect you to turn into a coward,¡± Feng Tianhe said, still wishing to provoke Old man Mu.


    ¡°I¡¯ve changed. Being a good man means being cowardly¡­¡± Old man Mu could not help but return the favor.


    Feng Tianhe¡¯ssword remained in his hands, still considering rushing into the opposite side to kill his sworn enemy directly when Tuo Sai¡¯s order came, ¡°We have won two rounds. Get ready for the third.¡±


    Feng Tianhe retreated indignantly as he thought that Old man Mu was right, that there would be many more opportunities for revenge.


    The nextpetitor to emerge from Tuo Sai¡¯s camp was a dark and huge man who called himself Yang San. He wielded two sabers and was obviously also from the Central in and had wanted to keep his real name secret.


    Gu Shenwei gazed at Shangguan Fei and told him, ¡°It¡¯s your turn.¡±


    Shangguan Fei looked to his sides to make sure that the Dragon King was speaking to him, ¡°I, I¡­ still haven¡¯t been cured of Qigong Deviation.¡±


    ¡°Then admit defeat.¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute,¡± replied Shangguan Fei, starting to suspect that the Dragon King was making use of thepetition as an opportunity to betray him to the North Court, ¡°Dragon King, I¡¯m part of the Dragon army, aren¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°You can be considered as one of us, yes.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t ¡®consider¡¯. I would like you to confirm it.¡±


    ¡°I confirm.¡± The king replied.


    ¡°Right. Younger sister, I¡¯m still your brother, aren¡¯t I?¡± He asked Shangguan Ru.


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    Shangguan Fei walked into the makeshift arena after being doubly assured. He was originally trained in the machete technique of Fort Jin Peng, but his punches were even more deadly now. ¡°Yang San, or whatever your real name is, let me warn you, dozens have died at my fist and if you are killed, do not me me, you asked for it.¡±


    Yang Sanughed derisively. The kid in front of him looked extremely cowardly and there was no way he could have been a kung fu master. <em>¡°Most probably he managed to kill the royal child by ident,¡± </em>he thought.


    Shangguan Fei sighed and spoke directly to Tuo Sai, ¡°I didn¡¯t know the deceased was of royal lineage. Why did he have to take the risk of entering the slums anyway and since he did, why me anyone for killing him? Are you saying that he could attempt to kill someone, without his opponent striking back?¡±


    His argument was sound but would be more convincing if his voice was not so shaky.


    The muscles on Tuo Sai¡¯s face twitched as he replied, ¡°The bloodline of the Khan is different from you people. You¡¯re right. As long as it¡¯s on grass ins, only we are allowed to kill, and the other party is not supposed to retaliate.¡±


    <em>¡°In the past, it was most probably because my father could not take this kind of provocation that he struck out in anger,¡± </em>Gu Shenwei thought.


    Even Shangguan Fei was incensed now, clenching his fists tightly and striding up to his opponent.

 Chapter 557 - Spitting

    Chapter 557: Spitting


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee


    Since this was the first time Shangguan Fei had ever formallypeted in kung fu with others, he was actually more nervous than if he had encountered an unavoidable enemy. He stopped a dozen steps away and assumed an attacking posture, hoping to end the fight with one punch.


    ¡°You are more formidable than him,¡± Shangguan Fei kept whispering to himself.


    Yang San, double sabers in hand, despised his timid opponent, but he didn¡¯t lower his guard. The grandson of the Khan had been smashed away with one punch, and even if his kung fu was mediocre, the attacker¡¯s internal energy should not be taken lightly.


    As the two sabers slowly spun like a windmill¡¯s des they buzzed with a low whistling sound; Yang San pressed forwards at Shangguan Fei step by step.


    Shangguan Fei suddenlypletely lost his confidence. He could find no openings to attack as Yang San¡¯s body was fully covered behind his dual sabers.


    His pose began to break apart as a strong instinct was urging him to turn and flee.


    ¡°Idiot,¡± cursed Old Man Mu. The fact that he had just admitted defeat to his opponent didn¡¯t bring about any feelings of shame and neither did it affect his criticism of others. ¡°You¡¯re scared but he¡¯s scared too. He¡¯s actually defending by quickly moving the double sabers. You have no chance to hit him but neither does he. Lure him to attack, get a chance to punch him and¡­ Forget it, it¡¯s not good to kill. Just beat him ck and blue.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s heart rxed a bit and his legs were not as soft anymore. He carefully moved to avoid the dual sabers while keeping Old Man Mu¡¯s reminder in mind, ¡®Lure him into attacking.¡¯


    Yang San was not actually a nobody. After being called out of being afraid of a young junior, he felt a bit embarrassed and pressed forward two more steps before he suddenly attacked.


    The move was rather abrupt. The saber in his right hand was still rotating which acted like an iron shield protecting his vital parts and only left a very short gap every two rotations. The saber in his left hand suddenly struck out like a snake¡¯s flickering tongue which avoided the other saber with perfect timing.


    Shangguan Fei was startled and made arge jump to the right, thinking that his situation was bad. Although the other side had finally made a move, the defense had not been lowered, so how could he find a w? He could only ask for help, ¡°Old Man Mu¡­¡±


    ¡°You fool, fight! What¡¯s the point of running away? Force him to attack and reveal a w. Do not let him attack you to his heart¡¯s desire. If you want to live, you have to dash at him.¡±


    To force him into attacking and to lure him into attacking; although it was just a difference of one word, the meaning was quite different. Shangguan Fei secretly med Old Man Mu for not saying it clearly, but it was rather difficult for him to approach the enemy in the face of the two sharp short sabers.


    As soon as Yang San realized that the opponent¡¯s fear was not a pretense, he seized the moment and attacked even more fiercely with his dual sabers. After ten more exchanges, he simply abandoned all defense and brandished the two sabers at his opponent like the tide surging at the shore, each wave higher thanst.


    In the eyes of kung fu experts like Old Man Mu, this was the best chance to counterattack. Shangguan Fei, however, was so frantic that he wished he had wings to fly away with, not to mention fighting back.


    In the first fight, neither side killed the other. But this Yang San showed no mercy as if he really wanted to kill Shangguan Fei.


    Tuo Sai stared at the two¡¯s moves. As long as the kid was killed, his vengeance today would be considered sessful and the followingpetitions would not matter.


    Shangguan Ru, after all, cared about her brother, so she couldn¡¯t help reminding, ¡°Hit him in the left rib, watch out for your right side, poke him in the chest¡­¡±


    But Yang San¡¯s attack was too fast for her to call out the fleeting ws. His subsequent cuts had already made up for the ws by the time she finished her words. Shangguan Fei always hesitated in the heart and couldn¡¯t seize the opportunity, which made him be even more flustered.


    Yang San became more and more assured. He was determined to cut his opponent into pieces to avenge King Kuari¡¯s younger brother.


    Gu Shenwei paid more attention to Yang San. This man¡¯s sabersmanship was quite special and it had to be a unique skill of one of the well-known sects in the Central ins. Gu Shenwei vaguely remembered that he had heard about it from his father, but he couldn¡¯t recall it now.


    At this stage, the crowd was already able to figure out the oue of the contest, and the only suspense was how many cuts Shangguan Fei would receive.


    ¡°Give it up, brother.¡± Shangguan Ru sighed.


    Shangguan Fei wanted to admit defeat, but the other side¡¯s sabers were getting faster and faster, so his dodging speed had to increase correspondingly, which prevented him from speaking. He didn¡¯t even notice that his lightness skill was good enough that he had already dodged forty or fifty moves.


    Under pressure, miracles often happen. Shangguan Fei had not been able to ¡®force¡¯ Yang San to attack, but in his mind, he had ¡®forced¡¯ an idea to save his life.


    He attacked, but he still dared not get close to his opponent. Instead, he waved his hand and shot out a hidden weapon.


    Yang San was experienced. Although he was a bit surprised, he was not as flustered as Shangguan Fei. With the saber in his right hand blocking out the hidden weapon, he continued to attack with the saber in his left hand.


    It had taken a long while for Shangguan Fei to think of this trick. Seeing that it could slow down Yang San¡¯s offensive a bit, he seized the moment and simultaneously threw over a dozen hidden weapons with both hands.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s kung fu was better than he had thought. Once he had an idea, his actions were actually quite steady and fast. Yang San was within five steps of him now but couldn¡¯t move any further. He had to wave his double sabers to block the hidden weapons.


    Unfortunately, Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t have unlimited hidden weapons. His reaction speed was good but his skill was poor. All of the hidden weapons he had shot out were straightforward andcked any variances. He couldn¡¯t hit the opponent at all.


    Old Man Mu kept shaking his head. He knew he shouldn¡¯t say this but still couldn¡¯t hold it back. ¡°Prepare to collect his corpse. I¡¯m afraid there won¡¯t be much left to collect though,¡± he said as he looked up to Shangguan Ru.


    Anxious at her heart, Shangguan Ru couldn¡¯t help but look at the Dragon King, hoping that he could think of a way to save her brother. But the Dragon King was staring at Yang San as if he were fascinated and didn¡¯t care about Shangguan Fei¡¯s safety at all.


    ¡°Dragon King¡­¡± Annoyed, Shangguan Ru pleaded. But before Gu Shenwei coulde to his senses, thepetition was over.


    Not only Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t die, but he had also spat on Yang San¡¯s face.


    With dual sabers, Yang San was able to block all the hidden weaponsing from the opponent¡¯s hands. But he wanted a bit more. He had wanted to take one more step forward to kill this coward. If not so, he would not have been careless and hit by a ¡®hidden weapon¡¯ from the third direction.


    Astonished, Yang San thought that the mouth-spitting hidden weapon was Shangguan Fei¡¯s unique skill. He immediately retreated several steps and wiped his face. When he found that it was only saliva, he felt relieved but then became furious.


    Meanwhile, Shangguan Fei also retreated. He moved back even further to Old Man Mu¡¯s side. Only then did he stop and slightly bow, saying, ¡°I thought I was going to lose.¡±


    Everyone was stunned. How could he say that when the contest was obviously not yet finished?


    ¡°Come over, I¡¯ll chop you into pieces in three moves.¡± Yang San ordered, grinding his teeth.


    ¡°What? I¡¯ve won, why are you still pestering me? Can¡¯t you afford to lose?¡±


    ¡°You won? How? By spitting?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Shangguan Fei appeared to be surprised. ¡°If what I spat out was not saliva but a poisonous weapon, wouldn¡¯t you be dead by now?¡±


    ¡°Cut the crap, what you assumed doesn¡¯t make any sense. Saliva and hidden weapon are two different things. As long as I¡¯m still alive, it¡¯s not over.¡±


    Shangguan Fei looked even more surprised, ¡°In that case, how could Gu Da call it a win in the first contest? Long Fanyun didn¡¯t die, and the cut he received was even tinier than a mosquito bite.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s different. Are a sword and salivaparable?¡± Yang San grew angrier as he rebuked. He would rather be stabbed than spat in the face.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I said ¡®if it was a poisonous weapon¡¯. I don¡¯t want to injure or kill any more people.¡±


    Old Man Mu was impressed with Shangguan Fei and regretted that he had not taken him as a disciple in the Land of Fragrance. So he echoed of his own ord, ¡°Even saliva can kill people. Let me spit at you to see if I can kill you. If not¡­ I¡¯ll never spit again.¡±


    No matter if spitting could kill or not, Yang San would not let anyone spit on him again. ¡°Shameless¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m shameless? I was showing mercy to you.¡± Shangguan Fei, though a coward in action, was a general in the war of words. Yang San wasn¡¯t his match in a verbal battle, especially when they were separated by a safe distance.


    ¡®The Central ins and the Western Regions people are the same, they only talk big,¡¯ thought Tuo Sai with a livid face. ¡°Step down. The Dragon King wins this round, and we¡¯ll get ready for the fourth round.¡±


    Yang San blushed but dared not to disobey the order. It was rather humiliating for him to admit defeat like this, so he pleaded, ¡°I am sorry, your highness. Please allow me to continue the fourth round.¡±


    After spending so much effort recruiting an expert like Yang San, Tuo Sai was also quite unreconciled to the ridiculous defeat, so he nodded and agreed.


    ¡°Hey, didn¡¯t we agree to offer seven people on each side, how can he¡­¡± Shangguan Fei had just blurted out his objection before he noticed the Dragon King¡¯s stern eyes, so he quickly shut his mouth.


    As long as the Dragon King didn¡¯t say anything, Tuo Sai and Yang San pretended to be deaf.


    Yang San came onstage again with his dual sabers and was determined that no matter who his opponent was, he would use his unique skills and finish the other side in ten cuts to restore his image.


    Knowing that the Dragon King would not let himpete again, Shangguan Fei offered to fight, ¡°Dragon King, do you want me to spit in his face again?¡±


    Gu Shenwei ignored him. He called Chu Nanping out and asked, ¡°How many moves do you need to defeat him?¡±


    ¡°Three.¡±


    Although the two spoke in a low voice, both sides could hear them. Tuo Saiughed first, and then the soldiers behind him alsoughed out loud. Only Yang San, who was already on the court, burst out in anger and shame with his face enshrouded in a killing aura.


    Before he came to the Dragon King, Tuo Sai had investigated the backgrounds of the Dragon King¡¯s men. Amongst them, Lotus had the highest martial arts skills. It brought him no honor to defeat this woman, however, and if he lost, he would lose his face. So he proposed to not topete with women. As for the others, Old Man Mu was a master but he had lost his edge. Long Fanyun, the captain of the guards, was good at fighting on the battlefield but not as well in a one-on-one duel. Shangguan Fei¡¯s kung fu was peculiar, but he was a coward. So there was nothing to be afraid of.


    Chu Nanping had once been a personal guard of the Dragon King but he had seldom stayed with him in the past two years. He had encountered with the Golden Roc killers in the Hui Kingdom of Xiaoyao Lake but ended up being taken prisoner. What Tuo Sai had learned so far was that this young man¡¯s swordsmanship was good, but he wasn¡¯t a top-notch expert.


    Tuo Sai became even surer of his judgment when Chu Nanping stood out.


    Chu Nanping had grown up and was now a boy of sixteen or seventeen years old and had be even more delicate and pretty. But no matter how cold he looked, he still appeared to be tender and weak. The sword at his waist was more of an essory than a sharp weapon tailored to kill.


    Ignoring theughter, he drew out his sword and looked down for a moment before turning to Lotus, ¡°Can I borrow your sword?¡±


    Lotus was stunned a bit. She didn¡¯t expect that Chu Nanping would borrow the sword from her. She had two swords with her at all times, amongst which the sword with the character ¡®Huan¡¯ had broken but hadn¡¯t been discarded. What she used the most was the sword with the character ¡®Yun¡¯.


    After a moment¡¯s hesitation, Lotus drew her sword and handed it to Chu Nanping with the tip pointing at herself.


    Dual swords versus dual sabers.


    The reason why Gu Shenwei had agreed to the contest was that he was putting all his hopes on this teenager. But he was also surprised as Chu Nanping had never practiced dual swords before. Why would he suddenly change his mind andpete with a kung fu expert with an unfamiliar martial arts skill and still im that he could win in three moves?

 Chapter 558 - Double Swords

    Chapter 558: Double Swords


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The technique consisted of seven different states: ¡®Bing Lighter than the Sword¡¯ , ¡®the Sword is Heavier than the Mountain¡¯ , ¡®Bing One with the Sword¡¯, ¡®Intention Follows the Movement of the Sword¡¯, ¡®Heart and Intent are One¡¯, ¡®Containing Emotion in the Heart¡¯ and ¡®Not Allowing Emotions in the Heart¡¯. Each state dealt with a different type of kung fu, targeting the practioner¡¯s Lightness Skill, strength, speed, concentration, reaction, killing intent and determination. In the end, one would be an extension of one¡¯s sword when striking.


    After that, he learned a little of theDeath Scripture and Wayless Qigong from the Dragon King, and then received strict training as a killer. Six months ago, he began to practice ¡®Sumeru Mustard Mantra¡¯, which made him profit a lot.


    But he was unable to forget ¡®Emotionless Swordsmanship¡¯.


    When he was eight years old, he entered the Joy Pavilion, and became the disciple of Immortal Peng. He was the only person to be willing to practice kung fu from the beginning although being taught only for three years. At that moment, his heart was open to Immortal Peng without reservation and he had epted every word in the ¡®Secret of Love¡¯.


    After Immortal Peng died, his disciples went their separate ways. Some were led by the next Immortal Peng, while others came to Jianghu and only Chu Nanping was different. In his heart, the dwarf Immortal Peng was alive and still taught him to practice Emotionless Swordsmanship in the hidden corner.


    Chu Nanping waited patiently for his practice partner to change his mind and then they could continue to practice the kung fu towards the fifth level. During this period, hepared every kung fu he saw and learned with Emotionless Swordsmanship. He knew more and more essence after analyzing them but couldn¡¯t make theme true. He was like a schr that had studied very hard for many years, and thought he had known lots of things about ancient and modern times, but had no money to attend the imperialpetitive examinations in the capital.


    When Yang San, with double swords in his hands, appeared, things had changed. He drew a circle for protection with one hand and attacked quickly with another. Therefor, a new idea suddenly came into Chu Nanping¡¯s mind. Yangsan was like a good man, who not only subsidized the fare to the poor schr, but also gave him the easiest way.


    Why didn¡¯t he practice Emotionless Swordsmanship alone?


    Chu Nanping had been believing that most disciples of theJoy Pavilion should have practiced kung fu together but now changed his mind because he had waited his partner for so long. When heprehended Swordsmanship alone, he also considered that of his partner and if the Dragon King could agree with him, he would save a lot of time.


    Unconsciously, he was doing the duties of two persons and practiced Emotionless Swordsmanship at the same time. When he saw Yang San using double sabers, he realized that he could practice Emotionless Swordsmanship alone and perhaps get better result.


    Two persons needed to practice Secrets of Love together in order to grasp it. If one practiced it alone, he not only had two minds and got half the result with twice the effort, but also would easily gothe wrong way. Fortunately, Nanping had passed through the most difficult stage smoothly, because he held the idea of ¡°training for the Dragon King¡±.


    Therefore, he borrowed a sword from the Lotus maid to verify whether his idea was right or not at once.


    Among the crowd, Gu Shenwei seemed to know the change of Chu Nanping,while the others thought that he had gone mad.


    So did Shangguan Fei. Because his own life was rted with thepetition, he had won, and didn¡¯t want to lose the result. He asked, ¡°Little Chu, what are you doing?¡±


    Chu Nanping shook his head slightly and answered, ¡°I have to try.¡±


    ¡°Ah? We can try itter. You can join thepetition carefully, okay?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Chu Nanping said. He entered into the field with double swords, and stared at Yang San thensuddenly bowed deeply to him and said, ¡°thank you.¡±


    ¡°Thank me for what?¡± Yang San retreated, feeling that the handsome young man had evil spirit in his body.


    ¡°I thank you for making me understand the true essence of being emotionless. Next, I will show two kinds of swordcrafts at the same time. I want to use my sword mainly with right hand and use my left as aid. I¡¯m not used to using the sword with my left hand, so I¡¯ll beat you within three moves.¡±


    ¡°Haha,¡± Yang San didn¡¯t know how to express his own feelings. He was a famous kung fu master in the Central ins and had met some insolent and malicious men, but had never seen such an arrogant young man. He didn¡¯t look at Chu Nanpingandsaid to the Dragon King, ¡°Is there any normal person? If you don¡¯t want him to die, you¡¯d better ask him to retreat.¡±


    Many people couldn¡¯t know why Chu Nanping thanked Yang San save for Gu Shenwei who nevertheless could figure out many things.


    Wayless Qigong was an extremely domineering internal skill. It asked the learner to have no internal skill foundation or give up his previous kung fu. By doing this, he was unable to practice other internal skills thus the swordsmen from the Great Snowountain could learn it because their internal strength was poor.


    But Chu Nanping was an exception. After he learned Wayless Qigong, he could still practice Sumeru Mustard divine kung fu smoothly. For him, there was no sign of Qigong Deviation .


    Gu Shenwei finally knew why Chu Nanping could do that. Chu Nanping did not practice ¡°two kung fu alone¡±, but practiced ¡°two kung fu by two persons¡±. This was as dangerous as three-in-one qigong, but he seeded and tried to make better achievement.


    ¡°I advise to care about your life.¡± Gu Shenwei said to Yang San, ¡°Besides, you¡¯d better keep calm in the face of death because someone is supposed since it is apetition.¡±


    Old man Mu liked the impudence of Shangguan Fei, and even appreciated the ¡°boldness¡± of Chu Nanping. He said, ¡°Yes. We learn kung fu for the purpose of killing others. Those people who were killed had worse kung fu and stewed in their own juice, so theyhave no right tome others.¡±


    Hesaud tgus to justifyhis previous behavior. However, when he found that Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t look himself, he chose to stop his talking in time andthought to himself that he would have to make up rhetoric to fool the good girl.


    Yang San was unable to defeat them orally, so he also didn¡¯t speak and stared at the young swordsman hard. He nned to end the fight with one move, which could make his opponent¡¯s¡±three moves¡± a big joke.


    Yang San threw out the sabre in his right hand and flew out,meaning to stab the face of his opponent.


    Surprisingly, Yang San was faster than his sabre andalmost jumped to the front of Chu Nanping at the same time it did then intended to sh his opponent with his left hand.


    In fact, Yang San was good at using his left hand to fight and never failed in this respect.


    But as soon as Chu Nanping began his action, everyone was surprised.


    He seemed to stand still, but indeed moved. He used his long and short swords to stab Yang San¡¯s heart and side abdomen respectively, the crowd only feeling that something had flown through,yet no one saw the figure of the swordsman.


    Yang San was even more scared. He used one move to attack the upper and lower parts of the enemy, but the enemy stabbed him from all around. He didn¡¯t think that one could do that alone.


    Besides, it was obvious that his sabre touched the enemy, but missed at thest moment. He even didn¡¯t know how the youth avoided being stabbed.


    ording to practice, Yang San should havegrabbed the throwing knife and then take back his weapon, which was thest step of the move. However, he had to roll on the ground to avoid being killed in panic and there was only one sabre in his hand.


    Chu Nanping didn¡¯t chase him but allowed another sword to fall to the ground beside him. He raised his head and then was lost in thought, seeming not very satisfied with that move.


    ¡°This, is this Dajue Book of Swordcraft?¡± Yang San asked without thinking and kept the shocked expression on his face for half a day.


    Hearing this, Gu Shenwei and the Lotus maid looked at each other. Recently, the four words¡±Dajue Book of Swordcraft¡±, and everyone seemed to be interested.


    ¡°No.¡± Chu Nanping woke up and said, ¡°I blocked all your roads. How did you escape from that?¡±


    No one dared look down on the young swordsman, but Yang San still said, ¡°What? You¡­ blocked the upper part, but ignored the lower part.¡±


    It was a simple problem, but Chu Nanping spent a lot of time thinking about it and came to the conclusion, ¡°Yes, I can use both hands to disy two sets of swordcrafts at the same time, but my legs and feet still exist. Okay, I will solve the problem in the second move.¡±


    Yang San then felt regretful for what he had just said. He knew that he was supposed to fail in thepetition, but it was a shame to admit defeat at this moment, so he moved slowly and waved his short sword, preferring to protect himself rather than attack the young man.


    Chu Nanping suddenly began his second move, which did fill up the loophole in the lower part, but they were still two swords from different directions. Each sword covered an enormous area and then enveloped Yang San.


    Yang San had to fight hard against Chu Nanping because the only loophole had gone.


    This time, he focused on guarding against the sword in the youth¡¯s right hand.


    He did it, but was hurt by the short sword.


    Yang San staggered backward with the only saber on the ground, using both hands to cover his right rib tightly.


    Chu Nanping still didn¡¯t chase him, but said to himself, ¡°I need to perfect the skill of using the left hand,¡± and then loudly to Yang San, ¡°Pick up your knife and I¡¯ll make the third move. This time I will solve the problem of my left hand.¡±


    ¡°I want to give up.¡± Yang San said caring least about his dignity with blood was oozing from his wound and hence wanted to get bandaged immediately.


    ¡°But the third move¡­¡± Chu Nanping was very stubborn about thepetition. He had known how to fill up the w and want to verify that immediately.


    ¡°I¡¯ll fight with you.¡± A man said.


    He was Gu Da who had disappeared after fighting with Long Fanyun.


    Gu Da was also good with his sword, and he thought Chu Nanping¡¯s swordcraft was extremely novel so wanted to learn it.


    ¡°Two wins and two losses.¡± Tuo Sai, the grandson of the king, dered the result with dissatisfaction, looking very angry. The Dragon King had such a superior kung fu master yet nobody told him. After he returned, he med those who provided the information for ignoring Chu Nanping.


    Gu Da bowed to Tuo Sai before he took out his sword into the field and said to Chu Nanping, ¡°Will you disy two sets of swordcraft at the same time?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°But I think that these two swordcrafts are very simr.¡± Gu Da replied.


    ¡°This is Emotionless Swordsmanship. In fact, it asks two persons to practice and then pours what they have learned into the body of one. Therefore, the swordcrafts look simr. However, they are mutually reinforcing. If one disys one set of swordcraft, its power will drop a lot.¡±


    Chu Nanping answered all the questions and didn¡¯t conceal any secrets.


    ¡°I am indeed surprised that you have grasped such a magical swordcraft at such age.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s far from perfect. I only practice it on the fourth level and hope that I can make new achievement within a year.¡± Chu Nanping replied.


    ¡°I hope your wish wille true.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    They were bing more and more polite, which made Old man Mu feel ufortable so he shouted, ¡°Come on, I want to see the third move of Chu Nanping.¡±


    Gu Da shook his head and said, ¡°I also admit defeat.¡±


    The crowd were stunned with this. Gu da offered toe out to fight with Chu Nanping making people think he was unique. But that he gave up even before thepetition started, showed he was worse than Yang San who fought with the enemy for a while.


    Tuo Sai was even more difficult to ept the fact, ¡°Mr. Gu, what do you mean?¡±


    ¡°We are careless today.¡± Gu Da answered. It seemed that he was very respectful of Tuo Sai yet he also dared to make his own decision. He continued, ¡°the more people we send to fight with the young man, the more we fail. I suggest we stop thepetition and fight with him during the Tournament of the Royal Court.¡±


    Tuo Sai still hesitated. But Shangguan Fei felt relieved as if the big stone in his heart had fallen to the ground and immediately said, ¡°If you stop thepetition, you admit defeat. Don¡¯t bother me in the future.¡±


    Tuo Sai stared hard at Shangguan Fei, and turned his horse to leave as the cavalry followed him in panic.


    Gu Da still stayed where he stood and asked, ¡°Will you take part in the contest of the brave?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t heard of it.¡± Chu Nanping answered.


    ¡°You can meet many kung fu masters there, which will be of great help to the promotion of your swordcraft.¡±


    Chu Nanping turned around to look at the Dragon King. Seeing the Dragon King nod, he said, ¡°I will.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Gu Da looked up again and said to the Dragon King, ¡°I hope that I can learn the Dragon King¡¯ssword skills by that time.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t respond, ¡°The war ising. The chivalrous people of the Central ins are working for the North Court, no wonder you prefer to use pseudonyms.¡±


    Gu Da began to panic, ¡°haha, you also are of the Central in, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    After that, Gu Damounted his horse and left. TheLotus maid guessed, ¡°he is from the Qingcheng Sect of the Central in, and intends to avenge the three Xia brothers.¡±

 Chapter 559 - Two

    Chapter 559: Two


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Taoist Yu was not the fellow male junior apprentice of Old Man Mu, but had a rtionship with the Yuqing Sect, which came from the Central in. Old Man Mu had found out about it recently.


    When talking about the rtionship between the Central in and Nond, people only mentioned it vaguely. They either were ashamed to talk about it or only knew a little about it, because it had happened 70 or 80 years ago.


    The result of the split was obvious. The Nond took away a lot of external-style kung fu, while the Central in possessed all Internal Strength. Neither side benefited, but rather lost their good reputations gradually and became unremarkable sects.


    Old Man Mu was the only disciple of Nond left today, but he brought new hope to the Yuqing Sect.


    Old Man Mu was very famous in the north of Tianshan, but he had since be well-known in the Central in. When the people of the Yuqing Sect heard that a man with excellent kung fu imed to be the disciple of their sect in Nond, they were very surprised and sent someone to check it right away, but they were toote. When they arrived in Nond, Old Man Mu had been chased by his enemies and ¡°buried¡± in the desert. As a result, they had missed their chance to meet him.


    However, they discovered something: Old Man Mu was, indeed, the disciple of the Yuqing Sect, and had learned external-style kung fu .


    The Yuqing Sect of Nond had disappeared for many years and did not have any kung fu masters. Why was Old Man Mu so different? This confused the Yuqing Sect, but encouraged its people to revive its prestige.


    They were disappointed with the ¡°death¡± of Old Man Mu, but gained confidence because of the battle of the seaside slope .


    Old Man Mu had been back for some time, but he did not tell many people who he was, so few knew that he was still alive. When he stirred up trouble in the Land of Fragrance, some isted locals and only a few in the Dragon Army recognized him. In the war of the seaside slope, he helped the Dragon King kill Shangguna Jianyi, the Commander of Golden Roc Fort, and finally became known to people.


    After that, the news spread to the Central in quickly.


    The five elders of the Yuqing Sect decided to go to the Western Region to try to find the amazing external-style kung fu that they thought had died out. They believed that if they could learn the kung fu andbine it with their own advanced Internal Strength, the Yuqing Sect would rise from the ashes.


    The Yuqing Sect of the Central in did not care about the notoriety of Old Man Mu, simply because they had not heard about it, as it had happened long ago. Now, they only knew that a disciple of their sect was dominating Nond with amazing kung fu.


    After the elders arrived in Jade City, they heard that Old Man Mu had been invited to go to Nond with the ¡°Queen¡± of the Land of Fragrance. Therefore, they waited for him in Qianji Pass and finally met him when he chased a rogue who broke into the encampment.


    Old Man Mu was very surprised about it. He did not have any friendship with them and only cared about one thing: The people of the Yuqing Sect had a good Internal Strength, so they could help him restore his skills.


    So, the five elders checked his wounds and then admired him more. They had never heard of New Moon Hall. In fact, they thought that he had learned his amazing kung fu from the Yuqing Sect.


    Atst, they reached an agreement. Taoist Yu was chosen as their spokesperson, because he was very famous and had a rtionship with the Yuqing Sect.


    The elders hoped to keep their identities hidden. When they gradually became more acquainted with Old Man Mu, they did not want to make public contact with him. Moreover, they were from the Central in, so they did not want to be used of coborating with the enemy during these sensitive times. After Old Man Mu confessed to the Dragon King, one elder came out, but the other four elders still did not show up.


    The elder was short and thin, with a little ck and white beard and hair. He looked very friendly. He was dressed in the robes of Nond, but behaved like a Taoist priest and did not want to speak his real name.


    After listening to his story, the crowd became more confused.


    The Yuqing Sect hoped to negotiate with the Dragon King alone, but Gu Shenwei still brought his people.


    Shangguan Ru was extremely angry with Old Man Mu, saying, ¡°You had ulterior motives in persuading me to go to Nond.¡±


    ¡°No, no, no¡­¡± Old Man Mu denied immediately. If the speaker had not been Shangguan Ru, he would have admitted that he had ulterior motives happily. However, when faced with the good girl, he needed to defend himself, so he said, ¡°When I was in the Land of Fragrance, I did not know that I had so many ¡®rtives¡¯ in the Central in. If I had known that fact, I would have encouraged you to go to the Central in instead of Nond.¡±


    Shangguan Ru snorted. She knew that Old Man Mu had something to say, but it was not the time for it.


    Shangguan Fei admired Old Man Mu, but still mocked him, ¡°Wow, you plotted to trick us. You said that the Yuqing Sect had no Internal Strength to the Dragon King¡¯s face before, but I think that you deliberately increased your mystique to gain his the trust.¡±


    Old Man Muughed with embarrassment. The Dragon King was suspicious, so he intended to increase doubts in some irrelevant things, and attract the Dragon King¡¯s attention to hide the most critical secrets. He said, ¡°But I failed to fool the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I regard the Dragon King as my teacher now,¡± Shangguan Fei said, taking the opportunity to please the Dragon King. Then asked about what he really cared about: ¡°Those elders are able to restore his skills, so can they also help me treat the Qigong Deviation?¡±


    ¡°We can talk about it,¡± the elder said, unwilling to make any promises casually so he would not look like a chatan. After looking Shangguan Fei up and down for a while, he decided to give him a little hope, saying, ¡°We are good at Internal Strength. If the Qigong Deviation hasn¡¯t entered your heart, I may be able to cure you, but¡­¡±


    Then the elder looked at the Dragon King. His purpose was to negotiate with the Dragon King, so he would not cure anyone unless he got the Dajue Book of Swordcraft.


    Shangguan Fei still wanted to ask more questions, but the elder wanted to negotiate with the Dragon King, so he stopped talking immediately. He looked at the Dragon King and Shangguan Ru, hoping that it would be a sessful negotiation.


    Gu Shenwei continued to ask more questions, such as, ¡°Where did Wildhorse learn his kung fu?¡±


    Old Man Muughed and said, ¡°I¡¯ll take the me for that. I wrote several books on the basis of understanding martial arts for many years and hid them in different ces. I didn¡¯t think that Wildhorse, the dumb man, found the secrets of that kung fu. But I don¡¯t know how much he got.¡±


    Wildhorse was unable to speak, so he naturally couldn¡¯t ¡°incite¡± the Old Man Mu to tell those secrets. In fact, it was Old Man Mu who offered to give him his secrets.


    ¡°You guessed that Wildhorse helped King Rizhu test my kung fu, right?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Haha, what I guessed was right. It¡¯s obvious that Wildhorse used to take refuge with the bigwigs of Nond, and he still does that now,¡± said Old Man Mu.


    Old Man Mu was crafty in that he made Taoist Yu be more important by saying that. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t know that Taoist Yu only had very general kung fu. The more he boasted, the more ws he made.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t continue to ask Old Man Mu, but turned to the elder and said, ¡°You came to look for Old Man Mu. Why are you interested in the Dajue Book of Swordcraft all of a sudden?¡±


    Hearing this, the elderughed with embarrassment. Old Man Mu interrupted and said, ¡°It was also my idea. When we talk about the external-style kung fu, the most powerful is the Dajue Book of Swordcraft. People who learn martial arts all have curiosity. Dragon King, never mind. I have nothing to exchange with you, but these elders are experts in curing Qigong Deviation.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew that Old Man Mu had been eager to learn the Death Scripture for a very long time, so he wasn¡¯t surprised. He continued, ¡°What happened to the people of the martial arts world in the Central in? I¡¯m very confused why some kung fu masters from the Qingcheng Sect disguise them as the soldiers of King Riyao. It is said that more masters wille to Nond. Have they betrayed their loyalties and taken refuge with their enemies?¡±


    Only Gu Shenwei was surprised about that matter. The others felt it was normal. For the people from the Western Region, it wasmon for them to change their masters temporarily whenever war broke out. Therefore, they took it for granted that the people of the Central in could work for Nond.


    When he was 12, Gu Shenwei moved to the Western Region from the Central in, but he still received his education from his father and brother. A man from the Central in must be loyal to his own court no matter where he went. Otherwise, he betrayed his court.


    However, Gu Shenwei learned what he had thought was wrong after staying in the Western Region for many years. He met many people from the Central in, who were always affected by the locals and ended up changing loyalties after some time. They weren¡¯t loyal to their countries, and did not feel any allegiance for their homnd. Sometimes, they may attach to some powerful person, but they did not serve any court.


    In the Central in, people had apletely different idea. They regarded this kind of behavior as betrayal and thought that it was immoral to take refuge with their enemy.


    The elder was also watching the kung fupetitions now, and he sighed and said, ¡°Gu Da and Yang San are masters of the Qingcheng Sect. In fact, the real name of Gu Da is Gu Feng, and he was good at the acupuncture technique. Yang San was called Yang Yingshu, and used to use double halberds. But now they have changed their names and weapons, probably because they¡¯re afraid of being recognized. Gu Feng was called ¡®A finger making the universe¡¯, but he hid his skills today. In addition, I know why they and other people of the martial arts world from the Central in came to Nond.¡±


    He paused for a moment. It seemed that he was hesitant to tell the truth, but then he went on, ¡°It is said that the Court of the Central in has issued a secret order that any man who can take the head of the Khan will be rewarded with millions of silver taels and also be awarded a grand title.¡±


    ¡°Haha,¡± Shangguan Fei couldn¡¯t helpughing loudly upon hearing this. He said, ¡°Because of that reason, the people of martial arts world havee to assassinate the Khan, right? It¡¯s too ridiculous. Do they know how many masters there are in Nond and how tightly they¡¯re protecting the Khan? If they can assassinate the Khan, anyone could be the owner of Golden Roc Fort, right?¡±


    The elderughed and then said, ¡°That¡¯s their idea. Our people don¡¯t want to join them. We only want to bring our external-style kung fu back to the Central in and learn the Dajue Book of Swordcraft. What do you think, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t agree with you. I won¡¯t exchange the Dajue Book of Swordcraft with you, because it is an unfair deal,¡± Gu Shenwei said, refusing directly.


    Suddenly, Shangguan Fei was surprised. ¡°No. Dragon King, please think about it some more. Sister, you should give some advice to the Dragon King, because Qigong Deviation will kill me,¡± he said.


    Shangguan Ru agreed with the Dragon King, however, and said, ¡°The Dajue Book of Swordcraft shouldn¡¯t be spread in the future.¡± She thought that ¡°Death Scripture¡± was a most suitable name. The kung fu had turned ve Huan and Maid Lotus into devils, so no one else should be able to use it to hurt others.


    ¡°But¡­¡± Shangguan Fei said anxiously, as the Dragon King stood up to leave. He said, ¡°Qigong Deviation is not so terrible.¡±


    In fact, Old Man Mu was as anxious as Shangguan Fei, but he knew to hide it. He just gave a hint with a wink to the elder.


    ¡°We only need ten days,¡± the elder also stood up and said. ¡°In ten days, we will leave Nond. I hope that the Dragon King will reconsider,¡± he said.


    ¡°You won¡¯t get the Dajue Book of Swordcraft,¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t change his idea and said. ¡°Besides, you can¡¯t take Old Man Mu and his kung fu. He is a soldier of the Dragon Army, so he has to follow all my orders. He is my only bargaining chip here,¡± he finished.


    ¡°What?¡± Old Man Mu asked, finally knowing what the Dragon King was thinking. If he had known it before, he would have agreed to the deal of exchanging healing with external-style kung fu when he had first met the elders.


    However, when he thought of the Dajue Book of Swordcraft and the amazing swordcraft of the Dragon King and Maid Lotus, he still became very excited.

 Chapter 560 - Treasures

    Chapter 560: Treasures


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee


    It was already dark by the time they returned to the Royal Court. Along the way, Shangguan Fei seemed very restless, constantly muttering to himself, saying things like, ¡°The Jade Pure Sect may not get the Grand Enlightenment Sword Sutra. They didn¡¯t even know it existed before. It was Old Man Mu who instilled this idea in them, wasn¡¯t it?¡±


    Old Man Mu, whose scheme had been exposed and whose image was now tarnished in front of the good girl, became very upset. Grumpily, he said, ¡°Yes, the Jade Pure Sect didn¡¯t ask for the Grand Enlightenment Sword Sutra, they only wanted me. But what does that have to do with you? Find a way on your own if you want them to cure you.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s face instantly paled. He was dependent on others now, and he didn¡¯t have anything of value to offer, even when his life was hanging by a thread. After a quick nce at the Dragon King, he knew that there was no hope, so he could only turn to his sister for help.


    Shangguan Ru sighed, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The Dragon King has had Qi deviation for so many years, yet isn¡¯t he still fine?¡±


    Shangguan Fei now knew why the Dragon King¡¯s face was always pale and bloodless, and couldn¡¯t help but think that just because Dragon King could bear it didn¡¯t mean it was alright. But he didn¡¯t dare to speak what he thought, and he could only whisper, ¡°If mother was¡­¡±


    Agitated, Shangguan Ru sternly interrupted, ¡°I don¡¯t think that the people of the Jade Pure Sect are good people. Their exchange for the sword sutra is also done to kill andmit evil. Neither of us should make a deal with them, especially you, Old Man Mu. You¡¯d better not think about restoring your power. We¡¯re good now, otherwise¡­¡±


    Shangguan Ru really didn¡¯t know what she would do otherwise.


    Old Man Mu wanted to tell the good girl that this was the trouble that arose when one tried to be a good person; they would make others unhappy and also feeling bad themselves. But what he blurted out instead was, ¡°It¡¯s not up to me anymore. Since I joined the Dragon Army, I¡¯ll just listen to the Dragon King. He¡¯s the one in charge.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll find a way.¡± These were the only words Gu Shenwei had said. He had endured the Qi deviation for many years and didn¡¯t mind waiting a few more days. The secret to being a good negotiator was to not reveal one¡¯s bottom line until thest moment. Gu Shenwei still had several negotiations pending in the Nond and he held the same attitude towards them.


    ¡°Ehh, the siege has stopped,¡± said Han Xuan out loud. She did not even understand what these people were talking about, so she was the first to notice the changes in the Royal Court.


    Indeed, most of the soldiers on the outskirts of the slums had been evacuated, leaving only a few people behind. A number of checkpoints had been set up to control the ess. It seemed that the old Khan had no intention of punishing all of the peasants in the slums.


    Fang Wenshi was anxiously awaiting the Dragon King. ¡°The Royal Court¡¯s Tournament needs all the manpower it can get. Who would supply them with good food and wine and clean the garbage if all the peasants are killed? So the siege stopping is inevitable. What happened there has nothing to do with us. King Kuari has just sent someone here to invite Dragon King to have a meeting tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°He can¡¯t wait.¡± King Kuari¡¯s importance had gone down in Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes. Losing patience at such a crucial moment meant that this young king wasn¡¯t mature enough. He might be eloquent and ruthless to the point that even the servants who swept the floors did not dare to say anything randomly, but he still had serious ws.


    ¡°It¡¯s even harder to deal with an impatient king. This is the Royal Court; we don¡¯t have too much room to maneuver.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, what did you say?¡±


    ¡°I took the liberty of saying yes for the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Gu Shenwei stopped at the tent door, ¡°I¡¯ll go to the appointment tomorrow. Go ahead with what you¡¯re doing.¡±


    Fang Wenshi paused. The Dragon King was actually not anxious at all in the face of such a big matter and even wanted to send him away. ¡°Yes,¡± Counsellor Fang answered and turned to leave. But before leaving, he looked puzzledly at Old Man Mu and Shangguan Ru behind the Dragon King, not understanding what these two people were doing here.


    Old Man Mu grinned and said, ¡°Take care. I¡¯ll discuss some important things with the Dragon King. It¡¯s private, so you¡¯d better go a little further.¡±


    Old Man Mu wouldn¡¯t be smiling soon after.


    Gu Shenwei sent all the others away and only allowed Shangguan Ru and Old Man Mu into the tent.


    Old Man Mu knew why the two of them had kept him alone, so he took the initiative and spoke first, ¡°Through the grace of Dragon King, I am now able to join the Dragon Army. This old man has nothing to repay the kindness except with a treasure that may interest the Dragon King. I have treasured it for a long time and have never revealed it to others, not even to the good girl.¡±


    Old Man Mu knew very well that the Dragon King might not be satisfied if he pleased Shangguan Ru. But there would be no problem if the Dragon King was satisfied, so it was better for him to tter the Dragon King.


    ¡°So you came to Nond for this treasure?¡± Shangguan Ru coldly asked. Although she was no longer the Tenth Gongzi and she knew that Old Man Mu was full of cunning tricks, she still did not like to be used.


    ¡°It¡¯s only part of the reason. I really came here for your good¡­ Uhh, for a double purpose. Anyways, you¡¯ve got nothing to lose.¡±


    Old Man Mu had met the elders of the Jade Pure Sect at the Thousand Horsemen Pass, which was a happy surprise but not a part of his original n. So Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Ru were sure that he was keeping other secrets, which they should have guessed long ago. But they had never gotten a chance to force Old Man Mu to tell the truth.


    ¡°Tell me more about your treasure.¡± In Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind, there was nothing that could be called a ¡®treasure¡¯. He was actually more concerned about whether Old Man Mu was colluding with the enemy and nning to sabotage the Dragon Army¡¯s grand n.


    As soon as he saw that his plot didn¡¯t work, Old Man Mu changed tactics and straightforwardly told the truth at once. ¡°It¡¯s three pills refined by the Waning Moon Hall. They gave it a wicked name ¡ª Bone Shrivelling Pills. Well, I call them Life Sustaining Pills. I stole them when I ran away from Waning Moon Hall, and¡­ Uhh, actually Han Wuxian sent me these pills. There were seven in total, and I ate four and these three are left. They are very effective in treating internal injuries and might cure Dragon King¡¯s Qi deviation.¡±


    Old Man Mu had originally intended to eat them himself but now he could only reluctantly hand them out. Without the Dragon King¡¯s protection, he would immediately die at the hands of countless enemies.


    ¡°Give them to me.¡± Gu Shenwei wouldn¡¯t be too polite with Old Man Mu.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t gotten them back yet.¡± Afraid that the Dragon King didn¡¯t believe him, Old Man Mu even swore to Heaven, ¡°Seriously, I wanted to fetch the pills as soon as I reached the Royal Court, but I never got a good chance. You didn¡¯t let me wander around, and the good girl also kept a close eye on me. I had no chance at all.¡±


    ¡°Where did you hide them?¡±


    Old Man Mu would have nothing left once he told this secret. ¡°Heh heh, even a good guy can be selfish, right? I can¡¯t tell you where I hid them. The Dragon King can go with me to get them. It will be a lot easier for the two of us to work together. Tonight seems to be a good time to do it, so let¡¯s do it.¡±


    ¡°Can you guarantee that Wild Horse won¡¯t act first?¡±


    ¡°Yes yes, it¡¯s my biggest secret, and I wouldn¡¯t spill it even in my sleep.¡±


    ¡°And what¡¯s going on with Wild Horse¡¯s internal energy?¡±


    Wild Horse had received Old Man Mu¡¯s kung fu manual, but that still couldn¡¯t exin why his internal energy had improved so fast.


    ¡°I really don¡¯t know.¡± Under a series of questioning, even Old Man Mu was a little anxious, ¡°Wild Horse must have had other adventures. He learned my techniques but his internal energy is definitely not the same as mine.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was just about to ask again when a guard reported that there was a visitor outside. When he came back, he changed his mind and said to Shangguan Ru, ¡°Keep an eye on him and we¡¯ll talk about it tomorrow.¡±


    After Shangguan Ru took Old Man Mu back to the camp of the Land of Fragrance, Gu Shenwei called Lotus out immediately and asked her if she knew about the Bone Shrivelling Pills.


    ¡°Old Man Mu still has the Bone Shrivelling Pills?¡± Lotus asked back in surprise, which was tantamount to admitting that there was such a thing in Waning Moon Hall. ¡°The Bone Shrivelling Pill is a holy pill of Waning Moon Hall. It¡¯s said to have the effect of reviving the dead. The refining process is very long andplicated and it usually takes two or three generations of people to make it. That¡¯s where its namees from. In total there were only seven of them in Waning Moon Hall which were all stolen by Old Man Mu. I thought that he had eaten them all long ago.¡±


    ¡°There are three left.¡±


    ¡°Three is still good stuff. It may be useful in curing your Qi deviation. But be careful, I don¡¯t know much about Bone Shrivelling Pills. It¡¯s hard to say if it has any hidden dangers.¡±


    Gu Shenwei would naturally be very careful with things from Waning Moon Hall, but this was not the matter he cared about most tonight. ¡°Come with me to the slums.¡±


    Lotus nodded without asking anything.


    The man who hade to see the Dragon King before was Senior Shou. He was also trapped in the slums and had just been set free. He came to return the deposit. ¡°I can¡¯t take money from you without the deal being done. It¡¯s what you left behind, and I¡¯m giving it back.¡±


    It was the same small leather bag with all the gold in it.


    Senior Shou bowed in apology, ¡°I¡¯ve switched trades and bought some cattle and sheep. It¡¯s the third house on the northern street in the livestock market on the east side of the slums. Please don¡¯t ask me again if the Dragon King wants to find someone. I can only help if you want to hold a banquet. I¡¯ll offer the cheapest price if you need fresh groceries.¡±


    Senior Shou took his leave. Gu Shenwei found a note in the small bag with a few scrawled words written on it: Information, Bo Sang.


    Bo Sang used to be Senior Shou¡¯s bodyguard. He had sought refuge with the Dragon King after the resignation and the first mission he had received was to go back to the slums to find out what kung fu experts from the Central ins and the Western Regions hade to join the warrior contest.


    It was a reckless act for Bo Sang to entrust his former employer to pass the news along instead ofing in person. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t even believe this sturdy saberman, let alone Senior Shou who had deceived him before.


    But he still decided to find Bo Sang. The riots in the slums were not simple. Something had to be figured out.


    Chu Nanping was also called on by Gu Shenwei. This teenage swordsman had shown unexpected martial arts skills and was qualified to serve as his personal guard again.


    Cattle and sheep were some of the most important goods in all of the Nond. The livestock market, therefore, yed an important role and almost upied one-third of the slums. It was also one of the important reasons why the siege had been removed.


    Senior Shou really seemed to want to change his trade. He had bought several thousand cows and sheep, expanded his corral, and even recruited over a dozen guards. He wanted to take the chance that the Royal Court¡¯s Tournament provided to do big business.


    Chu Nanping was in charge of monitoring the tents outside the corral. Gu Shenwei and Lotus circled around the livestock market, searching it twice before finally leaving to look for Bo Sang after making sure there was nobody following them.


    Bo Sang¡¯s tent was easy to find. He lived alone in a corner and only he would ce a crossed saber and sword above the entrance.


    Gu Shenwei entered alone, while Lotus and Chu Nanping stood guard outside.


    A small candle was lit in the tent, emitting a dim light. Bo Sang was anxiously pacing back and forth with his sturdy legs. His eyes brightened at the sight of the Dragon King, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.


    There was another man sitting in the corner who was tied up with his mouth stuffed. He struggled from time to time, appearing extremely angry.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know this person.


    Blushed with excitement, Bo Sang whispered, ¡°Dragon King, I¡¯ve got a ¡®treasure¡¯ for you. He knows the most about the warrior contest.¡±


    ¡°Who is he?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s Kuo Zhen, grandson of Khan, and the younger brother of King Kuari. Everyone said that he was dead, but actually, he¡¯s in my hands.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was taken aback and thought that it would be interesting to meet King Kuari tomorrow.

 Chapter 561 - Hostage

    Chapter 561: Hostage


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee


    Just from a random, whimsical idea of King Dari¡¯s, the reputation and status that Senior Shou had spent decades building had suddenly turned to ashes overnight. Even so, he still didn¡¯t expect that for only a moment¡¯s hesitation, he could be trapped by his former bodyguard and couldn¡¯t escape yet again.


    In fact, Senior Shou could continue his old businesses. Now that everyone knew that he had joined the fight for the throne on King Dari¡¯s side, many spectors and hedgers, came one after the other, begging him to be their referrer, some of whom were even willing to pay a high price. It was Senior Shou himself who had turned down all these businesses and decided to quit.


    He had gotten used to conducting business secretly. Once it became public, he felt ufortable and uneasy like an underground mole that was suddenly forced into the sun.


    King Kuari was that sun. Senior Shou had nned to leave the Royal Court and stay far away from the maelstrom of right and wrong as soon as he doubled his savings through buying and selling cattle and sheep.


    But King Dari, as well as his yellow-faced attendant, Fu Yuan, did not feel that they had done anything wrong and still insisted that he should continue to provide them information. And he perfunctorily agreed to do so.


    But what was on his mind was, ¡®It¡¯s better to avoid trouble. It¡¯ll be perfect if there¡¯s no trouble.¡±


    In the end, it turned out that his former bodyguard Bo Sang would cause him big trouble.


    The two had gotten into a bit of a heated contention when Bo Sang had resigned. Senior Shou felt that he had treated Bo Sang quite well for the past few years. This saberman had mediocre kung fu skills and wasn¡¯t very smart, and it was only with his help that had enabled Bo Sang to gain a foothold in the Royal Court, so he deserved Bo Sang¡¯s unconditional allegiance. Bo Sang, however, thought differently. He believed that his allegiance was terminable; he would fight desperately to protect his lord before the contract ended, but once it ended, he was free.


    These two free men were no longer lord and bodyguard, but they could still be friends. At least Bo Sang had thought this way. So, the first secret and safe ce that crossed his mind after he caught the ¡®treasure¡¯ was Senior Shou¡¯s new home in the livestock market.


    ¡°What are you doing here? I¡¯ve got more than enough people.¡± Senior Shou was telling a dozen or so workers what to do when Bo Sang arrived. In fact, he listened more and said less because he had little experience in raising cattle and sheep. Upon noticing the former bodyguard arrive, he intended to speak in a sharp tone to teach him a lesson before deciding whether to ept an apology or not.


    Unaware of the discontent of in his former lord¡¯s words, Bo Sang excitedly whispered, ¡°I have some¡­ private property. I want to leave it with you.¡±


    At that time, it was just after dark. It was not until two hourster that the riots that would envelop more than half of the slums would begin, and Shangguan Fei would kill a ¡®Khan¡¯s grandson¡¯ by mistake.


    Bo Sang was leading a thin horse with a few tattered bundles on it. He looked like a refugee but his expression was different. It was as if he had dug up a treasure and his eyes were glistening from its shining radiance.


    Senior Shou didn¡¯t believe that Bo Sang could have any valuable ¡®private property¡¯, and never believed that he would dare to do anything out of the norm. Partly out of curiosity, and partly out of magnanimity, he pointed to an isted tent in the distance while saying, ¡°Put it there. I have to be clear that I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯ll be safe. I may leave the Royal Court at any time, and you¡¯ll have to keep an eye on your own stuff.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Bo Sang led the lean horse happily to the tent.


    Thergest bundle on the horse caught Senior Shou¡¯s attention because not only was it big but it was also a little odd in shape. It seemed to be a man inside.


    Senior Shou¡¯s curiositysted only a short while. He continued tomunicate with the workers focused on breeding and herding. During the riots, he was so busyforting people and protecting the animals that he nearly left his former bodyguard behind. As the riots gradually spread to the livestock market, he suddenly remembered that Bo Sang was useful right now. It was better to have a saberman guarding the corral than a dozen or so workers who could only add grass and pick up dung.


    Bo Sang was shocked by the uninvited ¡®intruder¡¯ and had drawn out half his saber which also startled Senior Shou. ¡°Are you crazy, you ¡­¡±


    Then he saw the hostage in the corner who was hastily tied with a rope and had bloodstains on his forehead, more dead than alive. It looked as though he had fainted.


    The candlelight was dim and Senior Shou only had a quick nce so he hadn¡¯t recognized the hostage¡¯s identity. ¡°You¡¯re crazy, daring to kidnap a person in the Royal Court. Aren¡¯t you afraid to die for money? Take him away, don¡¯t get me involved. I don¡¯t do this kind of business anymore.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a kidnapping. Look at who he is.¡±


    As a middleman who hadmunicated with many different sses, Senior Shou knew more people than anyone else. He leaned over and looked closely for a moment, then his heart started beating so violently that it nearly jumped out of his mouth. ¡°This is¡­¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Bo Sang clenched his right fist and waved in the air, obviously thinking that he had done a big deal.


    This was indeed a big deal, a deal so big that Senior Shou couldn¡¯t bear. With his legs feeling like jelly, he sat by the hostage¡¯s side, ¡°You¡­¡±


    ¡°I found him in a small tavern. He exchanged clothes sneakily with his entourage. Then everyone else left, leaving him alone.¡± Bo Sang went to help his former lord up and continued, ¡°I thought he was useful so I knocked him out and brought him back.¡±


    Senior Shou shook off Bo Sang¡¯s hand with great anger and pointed outside, saying, ¡°What¡¯s that noise? Is that the Nond Cavalry looking for him?¡±


    ¡°It can¡¯t be, I saw a lot of strangers before I came. Maybe they were fighting.¡±


    Although the two had recently left their old trade, the number of news that reached their ears had already sharply decreased. Neither of them knew that the unrest outside was premeditated.


    The reason why Senior Shou had changed his trade at such a time was that he didn¡¯t want to take risks, not to even mention getting involved in the kidnapping of the Khan¡¯s grandson, especially when this Kuo Zhen was King Kuari¡¯s brother. So his first reaction was to take the hostage away to a remote ce and release him while the hostage was still unconscious. This way, the problem would be solved without surfacing.


    Unfortunately, Kuo Zhen was unlucky enough to wake up at that moment and he happened to be bad-tempered. He had been beaten on the head and tied up, so one could imagine the extent of his rage. The first thing he said after opening his eyes immediately made Senior Shou change his mind. ¡°So it was you. I knew you son of a bitch was a loyal dog of King Dari¡¯s. My brother would have killed you long ago if he¡¯d listened to me.¡±


    ¡°Misunderstanding, it¡¯s all a misunderstanding, I didn¡¯t ¡­¡±


    Kuo Zhen didn¡¯t care if it was really a misunderstanding. As the grandson of Khan, no one in the whole prairie dared toy a finger on him. These two little bugs of the slums had dared to jump on the lion¡¯s face, they were really daring. So he cried out, ¡°Help, I am Kuo ¡­¡±


    Out of instinct, Senior Shou dashed onto the hostage and covered his mouth. The more Kuo Zhen struggled, the harder Senior Shou pressed. Bo Sang also came to help. Soon after, the grandson of Khan fainted again.


    Senior Shou finally realized what he had done. After checking Kuo Zhen¡¯s breath and reaffirming that he was still alive, he felt relieved a bit. But his extinguished anger with the hostage situation soon red up again, he pped back at Bo Sang while shouting, ¡°You little bastard, you want to kill me!¡±


    Bo Sang dodged and asked with surprise, ¡°Why would I want to kill you?¡±


    Senior Shou was so angry that he wanted to cry. From the moment the Dragon King had shown up, everything had gone wrong for him. Even for this flock of sheep he had just bought, he had been cheated out of hundreds of taels. ¡°Are you from Nond?¡±


    ¡°No, Ie from the Western Regions,¡± answered Bo Sang puzzledly.


    Senior Shou let out a long heavy sigh. He was very familiar with this former bodyguard of his but didn¡¯t know much about his background. He should have thought of it earlier; how could a man of Nond not know how to herd? And nobody from Nond wouldy their hands on a member of the royal Khan family no matter how whimsical they were.


    ¡°What should we do next? Ask for a ransom from King Kuari?¡± It was the first time Senior Shou had asked Bo Sang for advice, but his voice was so harsh that it sounded like he was grinding his teeth while spitting out the words.


    ¡°No, send him to the Dragon King. Kuo Zhen must know a lot of things. If the Dragon King is in a good mood, he may let me join the Dragon Army or even take me as his disciple,¡± Bo Sang said happily.


    Senior Shou now knew the source of his bad luck. It was all because of that pale-faced young man. He really was a malicious star. ¡°The Dragon King asked you to kidnap Khan¡¯s grandson?¡±


    ¡°No, I decided to do it myself.¡±


    For a moment, Senior Shou was so furious that he wanted to strangle his former bodyguard, and the next he was so afraid of King Kuari¡¯s revenge that he wanted tomit suicide. In a daze, he ran out of the tent and sent someone to see what the riots were all about.


    The rioting in the slums didn¡¯t affect the livestock market much because its focus was on the people, not the animals. When it was confirmed that the purpose of the riots was not about Kuo Zhen, the huge ¡®rock¡¯ hanging in his heart finally settled down, but the one above his head was still slowly falling, and sooner orter it would break his head.


    ¡°Go to Dragon King and give him the man. I can¡¯t keep him with me,¡± Senior Shou ordered his former bodyguard after he went back to the tent.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go first thing in the morning.¡±


    The result was that no one from the slums was allowed to leave the next morning.


    With a strained heart, Senior Shou didn¡¯t even close his eyes at all times. He tried to use his old connections and seek out some news in a roundabout way. He was very surprised when he learned that King Kuari had imed that his brother had been killed in the riot.


    Nothing happened. Although the slums were blockaded, there was no sign that King Kuari was secretly searching for his brother. It seemed that everyone believed Kuo Zhen had really died and the murderer was the Dragon King¡¯s subordinate.


    Although Senior Shou¡¯s life had always beenplicated and treacherous, the current situation was still beyond his understanding. He could sense that a conspiracy was brewing, but couldn¡¯t uncover any clues rted to it.


    Kuo Zhen had not yet epted his identity as a hostage and began cursing as soon as he woke up. Senior Shou had no choice but to stuff his mouth with a rag which made him go further and further out the way to offend King Kuari.


    Senior Shou had tried to tell him the truth and even tter the other side, only to receive angry stares of disbelief.


    The hot potato had to be transferred to someone else as soon as possible. Therefore, when the encirclement was lifted, Senior Shou immediately ran to the Dragon King to inform him.


    Senior Shou was worried about the Dragon King¡¯sing but also worried that he wouldn¡¯te. He was particrly worried about whether that young man would be like King Dari who acted on his own will and without any care for the safety of others or if he was even someone who sold others out in the blink of an eye. At a loss, Senior Shou simply stayed away from the tent where the hostage had been hidden and left all the trouble to Bo Sang.


    After two days and nights without food and only a little water, Kuo Zhen had nearly died of hunger. But when he saw the Dragon King, he immediately sat up, showing that he knew the young man in front of him.


    Seeing the dead man who had been smashed by Shangguan Fei sitting intact here, Gu Shenwei suddenly understood many things. He beckoned for Bo Sang to pull the rag out of the hostage¡¯s mouth before asking, ¡°What do you have to say?¡±


    Kuo Zhen didn¡¯t shout this time. Instead, he grunted and turned his head.


    ¡°Golden Roc Castle didn¡¯t finish the task, and King Kuari is very unhappy.¡±


    Upon hearing this, Kuo Zhen¡¯s expression suddenly changed. Gu Shenwei then knew he had gotten it right. Han Fen had found a Golden Roc killer near the scene of the murder, and now that he thought it over carefully, he found that it was no coincidence.

 Chapter 562 - Ultimatum

    Chapter 562: Ultimatum


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    In front of the Dragon King, King Kuari¡¯s younger brother, Kuo Zhen, stopped yelling, but he also refused to talk, as though he had seen through this kidnapping game and that the mastermind behind it was the Dragon King.


    ¡°Many Kung Fu masters from the Central ins and Western Region visit him first in the royal court. If he talks, we¡¯ll have all the information.¡± Bo Sang regretted notpleting the Dragon King¡¯s mission.


    ¡°He is the best information.¡± Gu Shenwei did not expect such a surprise from Bo Sang. The hazy situation in the royal court finally revealed itself a little bit.


    However, Gu Shenwei still needed Kuo Zhen to talk.


    Unlike his handsome elder brother, he looked more like a typical Nond man. He had a t and reddish face, a pair of beady and narrow eyes, and a broad chest, as though he could break free at any time.


    He was not easy to deal with. He was a born into royalty and disdained people outside of his royal family. The Dragon King, in his eyes, was just some self-proimed leader of a bandit gang.


    ¡°Who died in ce of you? A ve or a soldier?¡±


    Gu Shenwei started with the simplest question, but Kuo Zhen only snorted in reply. Kuo Zhen frequently used snorts to convey his various emotions during the conversation.


    ¡°The Golden Roc killer was supposed to kill your substitute, but was scooped up by my people.¡±


    ¡°Hmph.¡±


    ¡°On the surface, King Kuari and Golden Roc Fort are rivals. Secretly, they colluded to let you slip away to vanish in public, at least temporarily.¡±


    ¡°Hmph.¡±


    ¡°Although the Golden Roc killer has been exposed, hepleted the mission, in a better way. Your substitute was butchered; even his closest friend wouldn¡¯t recognize him now. However, you failed; you didn¡¯t vanish and were captured by a macheteman. I¡¯m afraid that King Kuari must be distraught now.¡±


    Thatst sentence made Kuo Zhen talk. ¡°You vowed that you wouldn¡¯t touch a Nond man during the negotiation period.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I did vow. And I intend to keep my exact promise. Bo Sang, are you a Dragon Army soldier?¡±


    Bo Sang failed to understand the Dragon King and appeared disappointed. ¡°No, I¡¯m not. I have to pass your test to join the Dragon Army.¡±


    ¡°Did I order you to capture any Nond man?¡±


    ¡°No, Your Majesty ordered me to investigate Kung Fu masters who attend the Tournament of the Royal Court. The capturing was my decision.¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked at Kuo Zhen. ¡°Look, I¡¯m not involved. I¡¯ll, at most¡­ just stand by. I won¡¯t break my promise.¡±


    Kuo Zhen¡¯s face turned more reddish. ¡°You¡¯re like the other Central ins conmen, ying with words. Hmph.¡±


    ¡°Should I torture him?¡± Bo Sang¡¯s muscles bulged out. He came from the Western Region. He bore only envy and jealousy toward the Nond nobles, there was no deep-seated respect or obedience.


    Gu Shenwei did not nod or shake his head. He had to keep his ¡°promise¡± and refrained from giving any specific orders to Bo Sang. Thus, he asked Bo Sang in reply, ¡°Why did you fetch me?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Bo Sang reacted slowly and failed to see the Dragon King¡¯s intentions. He thought that the Dragon King was ming him. ¡°Well, I thought Your Majesty wanted¡­¡±


    ¡°Go get Senior Shou.¡± Gu Shenwei needed someone who could read thoughts.


    Senior Shou was not willing toe. He had already rubbed King Kuari the wrong way. If he should have anything to do with the Dragon King, all other lords, including King Dari, would see him as a renegade.


    However, he could not hide from Bo Sang. He was almost dragged to the front of the Dragon King. <em>¡°Fickle boy who serves two masters.¡± </em>Senior Shou was judging his old bodyguard in his heart.


    ¡°What did you want to see me about, Your Majesty?¡±


    ¡°We have a problem.¡±


    ¡°Well, Your Majesty had better take that problem to someone else. I¡¯d like to run away as far as possible. I don¡¯t want my cows or sheep anymore; I just want you to grant me a chance to live.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t. You have to fight, to strive for yourself.¡±


    Senior Shou was stunned; soon after, he realized what the Dragon King meant. He smelled something bad. ¡°I¡¯ve quit, I don¡¯t do that kind of thing anymore¡­¡±


    ¡°Then where will you go? Soon, the Nond cavalry will be everywhere.¡±


    Senior Shou knew that his future looked bleak, but he constantly bore a shred of hope in his heart. Now, the Dragon King announced it out loud. Senior Shou had to think for a moment and grit his teeth. ¡°To hell with it, I¡¯ll do something big. I no longer need my cows and sheep. I¡¯ll follow you from now on.¡±


    Having lived for years on the grasnd, Senior Shou had nearly turned into aplete Nond resident, except that he would not worship the Khan royals.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. ¡°No, I don¡¯t intend to ept you two yet. I have an agreement with Nond. I can¡¯t kidnap the Khan¡¯s grandson.¡±


    After a few seconds, Senior Shou knew what he and Bo Sang were. He thought those big shots were all the same. It would be hard to serve any of them. As long as the Dragon King was smarter than King Dari, he would follow the Dragon King. ¡°You can rest assured that you won¡¯t be involved in this. They¡¯ll be my and Bo Sang¡¯s decisions. Just tell me what you want to know.¡±


    ¡°I wonder what Kuo Zhen is up to with this little game of disappearing.¡±


    Bo Sang had been standing by, and he now finally understood the rules of this game. Thus, he broke in, saying, ¡°Well, it seems that he will travel somewhere far away. Look, he¡¯s got all his stuff.¡±


    Bo Sang had taken all of Kuo Zhen¡¯s belongings when he kidnapped the grandson. He poured them around the hostage. There were clothes, solid food, gold, and silver. It looked as if Kuo Zhen did want to travel far, and go somewhere that he could avoid people, because he had even brought food.


    Gu Shenwei tried onest time. ¡°King Kuari allied with Golden Roc Fort, which I found regrettable. But, we¡¯re not enemies. So, what do you say? Can I bring a message to King Kuari for you?¡±


    Kuo Zhen raised his head and opened his mouth, but bit his tongue in the end. ¡°Hmph.¡±


    Gu Shenwei left. The hostage would be safer in the slums.


    Senior Shou¡¯s bad luck had returned, and this time he was not going to beg for its mercy. ¡°First, we need to find a private ce. I¡¯ll see how tough the Khan¡¯s grandson can be.¡±


    Bo Sang was getting ready to torture. If it were up to him, he would have already been torturing the hostage. ¡°Right, we¡¯ll see if he¡¯s really tough, or just stubborn.¡±


    Kuo Zhen sensed something wrong and was about to call for help. However, they soon put the piece of cloth back into his mouth. They had pulled out the cloth in the Dragon King¡¯s presence, and now the cloth was covered in dust and became more disgusting.


    Gu Shenwei went back to the encampment and told the military counselor what he had seen. Fang Wenshi was as surprised as him. ¡°It turns out that Golden Roc Fort is secretly relying on King Kuari, which is a surprising move. What¡¯s wrong with the Supreme King? He¡¯s made great efforts allying with Nond, sucking up to his new master, giving away his granddaughter, and even helping to kill people. What? He wants to serve two masters at the same time?¡±


    ¡°Nond lords aren¡¯t fools. They won¡¯t let Golden Roc Fort do that. I¡¯m afraid the Supreme King has other fish to fry.¡±


    ¡°The Supreme King is smarter now. I thought he would hire a bunch of killers to kill everyone in his way.¡±


    That was what the old Supreme King would do. Gu Shenwei knew the reasons behind the change. ¡°In the opposite encampment, there¡¯s a man called Zhang Ji. He was a teacher in Golden Roc Fort, now he is considered to be the Supreme King¡¯s military counselor. You should pay attention to him, he¡¯s also a counselor. And¡­ he¡¯s the smartest counselor that I¡¯ve ever seen.¡±


    He needed to stimte Fang Wenshi to make him more useful, and it worked. Fang Wenshi immediately cocked an eyebrow. ¡°Zhang Ji? I might¡¯ve heard of him. Leave him to me; you¡¯ll see who¡¯s better.¡±


    Gu Shenwei wanted to give more advice but changed his mind in the end. It was a battle without a clear direction. He could not find a solid ce to rely on. It did not matter if Fang Wenshi was willing or not, and it did not matter if he was capable enough, the military counselor had to fight on his own.


    ¡°Be careful.¡± Gu Shenwei could only say these two words. He had to focus on King Kuari.


    The meeting was arranged for around one to three p.m. the next day. Normally, people did not receive guests at this time in Nond because they had just eaten lunch, and they would not be having dinner soon. Without drinks and meat, the atmosphere would be awkward.


    In this way, King Kuari was expressing his dissatisfaction to the Dragon King because, after all,pared with the ultimatum he was going to give, this little embarrassment was nothing.


    The Dragon King was supposed to cooperate with King Kuari. They had prepared for this for half a year. During this time, the Dragon King¡¯s military counselor even got fatter here, which was a good sign. However, when the Dragon King visited King Kuari in person, he was cold and vignt as if their previousmunication and efforts had been nothing.


    King Kuari decided that he would not put up with him anymore.


    ¡°You don¡¯t seem worried.¡±


    ¡°About what?¡± Gu Shenwei yed dumb.


    King Kuari forced a smile. ¡°Well, I¡¯m anxious to tell the truth. For example, the Khan wants you and the Supreme King to cooperate, and all the other lords are trying to make this work, etc. So, you probably think that Nond is begging you.¡±


    ¡°I came because I¡¯ve been invited to ally with you, but I haven¡¯t gotten to meet the Khan even one time. With all due respect, I fail to see Nond¡¯s sincerity. As for Your Highness, I appreciate your honesty and teachings, but only after a meeting with the Khan will I decide which lord to ally with.¡±


    King Kuari chortled. ¡°It turns out that you don¡¯t have faith in me.¡±


    Abruptly, the chortling ended. King Kuari put on a serious face that he did not often show to others. ¡°But you are mistakenabout one thing. Only the stronger one gets to choose and test the other. Since I¡¯ve been honest, I won¡¯t lie to you now either: Dragon King, you¡¯re the weaker one, and you need Nond¡¯s protection; more specifically, you need my protection. Other than that, you¡¯ll need me in many other ces. Go think about it; the Tournament of the Royal Court is five days away, and I¡¯ll have a n for that. You must decide if you¡¯d like to be in my n in advance. Excuse me.¡±


    King Kuari¡¯s anger was obvious, and it might have had something to do with his missing younger brother. Kuo Zhen must have had an important mission.


    Gu Shenwei did not disclose his knowledge of the missing Kuo Zhen. He had a secret weapon, and he decided that he would show it at the right time.


    However, he thought very little of King Kuari.


    <em>¡°You¡¯ll need me in many other ces.¡± </em>King Kuari was hinting about something. In the evening, a few soldiers from the Land of Fragrance hurried in.


    Shangguan Ru had been missing for a whole day, and Old Man Mu was with her as well.

 Chapter 563 - Marry to another One

    Chapter 563: Marry to another One


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Ru was probably trying to help Old Man Mu. Gu Shenwei could even guess what Old Man Mu had said.


    ¡°The Dragon King has a special status now. He¡¯s restricted in many ways in the royal court. The ce I hide my pills is a bit dangerous. If the Dragon King was discovered, he wouldn¡¯t be able to justify himself. And what about you and me? We fetch Bone Shriveling Pills and give them to him. How convenient for him!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s easy, just fetch three pills. There¡¯s no murder or killing. We sneak in and slip out.¡±


    Old Man Mu must have stirred up the adventurous spirit in Shangguan Ru. It was something she had cultivated since she was young. Even though she had been through hardships, it still survived in her heart.


    Old Man Mu had a lot of experience in jianghu. In the past, he was a Kung Fu master and went anywhere he wanted. No one discovered him or dared to stop him. Now, his Kung Fu was impaired, and he did not have much experience walking defenselessly at night.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s adventuring rangey within Golden Roc Fort. Her so-called experience was just the result of her opponents throwing the fight. It was like a rich master versus his bodyguard; it did not matter if he won or lost, he did not feel the tension of having his life at stake.


    These two people had set off confidently but had both been trapped by others.


    Things got hazy from there, but Gu Shenwei had three suspects.


    The first suspect was King Kuari. <em>¡°You¡¯ll need me in many other ces.¡± </em>It would sound like a threat or hint to anyone.


    The second one was Wildhorse. Old Man Mu might have leaked more secrets that he thought. And Wildhorse might have been waiting for an opportunity. However, he served King Rizhu and did not deal with King Kuari directly. In most cases, he would not transfer his hostages to King Kuari.


    The third one was Old Man Mu. The old devil had actually not changed much; he could sell his protector at any time for his own benefit. To regain his power, he would be willing to sell Shangguan Ru to anyone or swap her for the Death Scripture.


    The three soldiers from the Land of Fragrance were distraught. They had only been away from home two times; one was the seaside slope battle, and the other was the trip to Nond. The world was strange and dangerous in their eyes, and the coach was their only beacon of light. Without Shangguan Ru, they were immediately at a loss.


    Gu Shenwei promised them that he would find Shangguan Ru soon, then he had them return to their encampment. He also told them to keep it a secret. No other people should learn about the coach¡¯s disappearance.


    All he could do then was wait. No matter who set up the trap, he would probably ckmail the Dragon King with it. King Kuari had given a hint, but it was not enough. Gu Shenwei was waiting for more specific information.


    This kind of problem should be kept inside a small circle. Gu Shenwei trusted only Maid Lotus and Chu Nanping.


    Maid Lotus asked, ¡°If he wants your Death Scripture, what will you do?¡±


    ¡°Then he¡¯s definitely not one of the Nond lords.¡± Lords did not take interest in Kung Fu, they cared only about the throne. Gu Shenwei paused and added, ¡°I won¡¯t give it to him.¡±


    Shangguan Ru needed to be responsible for her own actions. She was not a child, and he was not the old ve Huan. He would try to rescue her because he needed to keep the Land of Fragrance stable.


    That was what Gu Shenwei thought. He convinced himself again and repeated, ¡°I won¡¯t give it to him. Never.¡±


    He had built an army, and he would recruit more soldiers in the future. In Fang Wenshi¡¯s words, that was the peerless, invincible sword. However, Gu Shen could not give up his sword now. It was his base and his important method to solve problems.


    ¡°Should I talk to Wildhorse?¡±


    Wildhorse had shown his face once on the way, and since then, he never showed up. He was the biggest suspect in Shangguan Ru¡¯s abduction. However, both Maid Lotus and the Dragon King were new in the royal court. Looking for an agile killer here was like looking for a needle in a haystack.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need, the enemy will show up himself.¡± Gu Shenwei did not want too many confusing leads.


    Chu Nanping did not say a word. He had been constantly in a daze since he mastered using two swords at one time. He seemed to have many unresolved problems.


    Gu Shenwei decided not to wake him up. He wanted the youth toprehend the Kung Fu on his own. In time, he would step into a new realm of martial arts and be a capable helper of his.


    Waiting was a killer¡¯s basic Kung Fu. Gu Shenwei had waited in dark corners countless times. He could wait for hours or even days consecutively for a chance to attack. That kind of chance was not necessarily better than directly brandishing a sword at the enemy, and it did not work all the time. However, any little advantage couldrgely save a killer¡¯s life.


    This wait was different, however. He was in public view while the enemy was in the dark.


    Moreover, he could not keep calm.


    <em>¡°Everyone has a chance to trust someone in their lives, and I¡¯ll give this chance to you.¡± </em>Every time Gu Shenwei tried to steel himself about the abduction, this sentence echoed in his head.


    Shangguan Ru had kept the promise she made when she was 20. Even though she had been through betrayal and hatred, and even though everything had changed, she still trusted that someone.


    Gu Shenwei found this emotion uneptable. He had already abandoned all the civil rules, but he sometimes obeyed them just to convince people. Thus, he hated all kinds of emotions and deemed them to be signs of weakness. Waiting, he persuaded himself, was the only sensible way right now. It was good for both him and Shangguan Ru.


    He stayed in the encampment the entire day.


    Fang Wenshi was busy. He did not know that Shangguan Ru was missing, and was busy figuring out why King Kuari summoned the Dragon King without a proper reason.


    ¡°King Kuari suspects you.¡± With all the information he could buy, Fang Wenshi concluded that evening. ¡°He knows his younger brother is still alive, but can¡¯t send people to find him publicly. Thus, he can only guess. Well, we don¡¯t have to worry. After all, Kuo Zhen is in your hands. King Kuari can bluff, but he¡¯ll surrender soon.¡±


    Fang Wenshi had witnessed King Kuari¡¯s charisma. Once King Kuari discovered a trap, he reacted to it soon afterward.


    Gu Shenwei did not want to tell his military counselor that he also had something in other people¡¯s hands. Fang Wenshi could not help him.


    King Kuari did react soon afterward; however, he did not surrender.


    After one hour, Fang Wenshi hurried back with thetest news. ¡°I heard that King Kuari will soon visit Golden Roc Fort¡¯s encampment. They¡¯re going to propose a marriage. We¡¯ve been fooled! The Supreme King¡¯s granddaughter won¡¯t marry the yellow-faced eunuch, but King Kuari!¡±


    Gu Shenwei was surprised as well. In his memory, Zhang Ji was never a man who changed horses midstream. Every one of his steps was nned. Shangguan Shaomin would marry another one, which was like an open break with King Dari. Zhang Ji must have nned this; nevertheless, Gu Shenwei could not see through his purpose.


    ¡°It¡­ it¡¯s just strange.¡± Fang Wenshi still found it unbelievable. ¡°The lord who will very probably take the throne marries the Supreme King¡¯s granddaughter. It¡¯ll be an unsuitable match!¡±


    In the Nond people¡¯s eyes, neither the Supreme King nor the Dragon King was a real king. Neither of them was equal to the Khan¡¯s sons or grandsons.


    ¡°I guess the granddaughter isn¡¯t going to be the king¡¯s concubinedy.¡± This spection was soon confirmed.


    Fang Wenshi became busier and sent more people to collect information. He hid in a tent at the border of the encampment. He lifted the curtain and peeked at the opposite encampment, as if he could grow a pair of ears that could help him hear the voices within.


    King Kuari¡¯s proposal messenger arrived. Maybe they were trying to draw the Dragon King¡¯s attention because there were many messengers and wedding gifts. The numerous chests alone made Fang Wenshi envious.


    ¡°Well, why didn¡¯t King Kuari try to rope in the Dragon King with these things?¡± Fang Wenshi murmured to himself. ¡°Empty promises for us and the real deal for Golden Roc Fort. That¡¯s unfair.¡±


    Shangguan Yun and Zhang Ji weed the messengers inside the tent. Fang Wenshi looked as if he was going to grow another pair of eyes and ears. In the end, money was the most useful tool. Before the messengers left, here came the news: Shangguan Shaomin was not going to be the king¡¯s concubinedy, she would be a concubine.


    It was supposed to be a normal trifle. Although King Kuari did not have an officialdy, he had several women, even a few acknowledged sons and daughters. To marry the Supreme King¡¯s granddaughter as a concubine was just normal.


    However, King Kuari wanted to make the trifle big. He not only brought excessive wedding gifts, but also dered that he would hold a grand wedding to serve as themencement of the Tournament of the Royal Court.


    Other than the title of the king¡¯s concubinedy, Shangguan Shaomin received nearly everything of a king¡¯s concubinedy.


    Therefore, even the dumbest person knew that the situation was changing. The Dragon King had lost a lord¡¯s protection and he was nearly alone in the royal court.


    However, Gu Shenwei did feel a little relieved because he did not need to save Shangguan Shaomin anymore. Even Shangguan Ru could not have found a better home for her niece.


    Fang Wenshi was both jealous and angry about the wedding. He had to hide inside his tent to let off some steam before he visited the Dragon King. He was the military counselor, who was responsible for solutions in times of crisis. ¡°This time, King Dari will try to rope us in, but we can¡¯t ept it. Golden Roc Fort has made themselves known for being changeable; we¡¯ll do it the other way around. We don¡¯t make Nond people think we¡¯re faithless. Moreover, King Dari¡¯s future looks bleak, following him looks like a dead end.


    ¡°Therefore, I suggest Your Majesty reconcile with King Rizhu by returning his me Foal. King Rizhu has been neutral; allying with him is like dering that we won¡¯t intervene in the power game.¡±


    Gu Shenwei agreed with his military counselor, but he did not want to rush. ¡°Wait.¡±


    King Rizhu owned Wildhorse, thus he also became one of the suspects. <em>¡°You steal my horse, and I will steal your woman.¡± </em>This was typical of King Rizhu.


    Gu Shenwei kept waiting, but the abductor seemed to be more patient than him. After one day and one night, no signal had been released.


    On the next day, when the entire royal court was talking about the unexpected marriage between King Kuari and Golden Roc Fort, Gu Shenwei was a little impatient thinking about the enemy in the dark.


    Just after noon, female officials from the Land of Fragrance visited again and brought the first signal of the abductor.

 Chapter 564 - Screens

    Chapter 564: Screens


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s abductor finally let out the signal for negotiation. Moreover, the abductor had remained mysterious and gone out of his way to do it. For example, he sent the letter directly to the Land of Fragrance encampment even though he knew that Shangguan Ru would be absent.


    ¡°A maid sent the letter. She said that her master is an acquaintance of the coach and was unwilling to say anything more than that.¡±


    The letter was neatly written, like that of an ountant. The content was simple, saying that he would visit in the evening, and he did not anticipate a disappointing meeting, etc. There was no signature.


    ¡°He wants to see me.¡± Reading the letter a number of times, Gu Shenwei drew that conclusion.


    The three female officials nodded together. ¡°That¡¯s why we presented it to you. Please, you have to save the coach. Our people and treasures are all at your disposal.¡±


    If the abductor only wanted that, things would be easier.


    Gu Shenwei decided to meet the visitor.


    Currently, there were many flies on the wall around the encampment. After sending away the three officials, Gu Shenwei brought five guards with him to the district of the craftsman. The Tournament of the Royal Court was around the corner; the shops were all packed. Two hourster, five guards returned, followed by a bunch of disheartened spies. They had all lost their target; no one knew exactly how the Dragon King disappeared.


    Spies were still watching the Land of Fragrance encampment, but there were a thousand people on this broadnd. If they really wanted to cover every corner, they really should send out a small troop.


    At sunset, Gu Shenwei easily slid into the encampment through a ce that was not being watched. Maid Lotus and Chu Nanping had arrived earlier and had been patrolling in disguise. At night, they would lurk into the dark to protect the Dragon King.


    The three officials were a bit nervous. Although the youngest one was already in her 30s, they had lived in a reclusive country since their early times. They were supposed to be servants for their entire lives. When the royals in their country were brought down, they became flustered. And now that their coach was missing, they felt like the world was crumbling.


    Moreover, they were a little scared of the Dragon King. They all waited outside the tent and reported every trifle that seemed dangerous to them. They even reported on passing horses that ran startled in front of their encampment.


    The enemy had finally made his move, so Gu Shenwei was able to calm down. His biggest concern was that the enemy would directly send a human head and such without prior warning.


    When night fell, the visitor arrived. It was another woman draped in a long cloak. She did not seem surprised at all in the presence of the Dragon King. ¡°I¡¯m happy to be at your service.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s guess was proved correct. The visitor did actually want to see him; however, this woman was apparently not the real visitor.


    The woman presented another letter with both hands. As soon as Gu Shenwei took the letter, the woman walked away, disregarding the officials who tried to stop her.


    There was a simple map on the letter. The writer had circled the words ¡°royal court¡±, and smeared a thick ink mark on the northwest outside the circle. Apparently, he was inviting the Dragon King there.


    The map was so obscure that Gu Shenwei did not think he would find it even if he were to spend days and night searching. Moreover, he remembered clearly that in the north of the royal court, there was arge portion ofnd that was a forbidden zone.


    However, the female officials recognized this ce.


    ¡°It looks like the Flower Camp.¡±


    ¡°Flower Camp?¡± Gu Shenwei had a hazy memory of it.


    ¡°The second wife of the Khan invited the Western Region Queens and Princesses to her party in Nond. The Khan designated an area in the north to amodate them. Well, the Land of Fragrance was an exception. The coach brought us there, and it looks just like the ce on the map.¡±


    Things gotplicated. The northern area was a forbidden zone, and all prestigious women lived in the Flower Camp. If the Dragon King should be discovered there, he would be butchered and no one would me Nond at all.


    The three officials volunteered to gather information. ¡°We¡¯re women, and we¡¯ve made a few friends there. We won¡¯t be suspected.¡±


    Gu Shenwei agreed and taught them some tricks to get rid of possible followers. Then, the three officials went straight to the northern encampment. They met a group of female soldiers on the way and exchanged greetings. After that, all three of them went back; however, one official had been switched out for a soldier.


    It was dark and the switch worked.


    At midnight, the official who had been switched returned. As soon as she entered the tent, she murmured, ¡°Weird, they seem to have guessed that I wasing. Somebody stopped me on my way and recognized me. Look, another letter.¡±


    The visitor seemed to love ying games.


    Gu Shenwei was not sure about his three suspects anymore. The Nond lords and Old Man Mu would not y tricks like this; they would directly dere their conditions and threats, leaving no time for him to think.


    The letter had another address on it. This time, the address was back in the district of the craftsman in the southwest. There was also a postscript that read ¡°any time¡±.


    If the abductor wanted to wear down the Dragon King¡¯s patience, he was thinking too little of thetter. Gu Shenwei snuck out of the Land of Fragrance encampment alone and fetched Maid Lotus and Chu Nanping. Then, the three of them went to check out the ce that was mentioned in the letter.


    It was the most crowded ce in this area, thus suitable for an ambush. One could hardly say which tent was definitely safe unless he had a pair of eyes that could see through things.


    During the fourth watch, when dawn was about to break over the area, Gu Shenwei was still waiting outside the target tent.


    ¡°I¡¯ll check.¡± Maid Lotus volunteered. ¡°As long as you don¡¯t show up, they won¡¯t kill me even if I get trapped.¡±


    But they would probably hold her hostage as well, so Gu Shenwei disapproved. ¡°No, wait until dawn.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡± Chu Nanping, who had remained silent the entire time, dashed out so fast that neither of them could stop him.


    Gu Shenwei was stunned. Looking at Chu Nanping¡¯s figure, he realized that it was the first time that the young swordsman had acted on his own. Before today, he only dared to asionally do this with encouragement from Xu Xiaoyi and Tie Linglong.


    ¡°He¡¯s worried,¡± Maid Lotus whispered, looking at the fleeting figure of Chu Nanping.


    ¡°He¡¯s worrying about Emotionless Swordsmanship.¡±


    ¡°No, something else.¡±


    Gu Shenwei could see through people¡¯s plots and schemes, but he could not read their worries. Afterlistening to Maid Lotus, he realized that something was different about Chu Nanping, and that change happened long ago. The youth was quieter and colder than before. People said that he was more and more like the Dragon King, and Gu Shenwei believed that this was the result of the killer¡¯s training lessons. But now, he thought Maid Lotus was more urate.


    Gu Shenwei decided to ask the youth in person about his worriester. This youth was different. If Gu Shenwei could only trust one man among the people around him, he would choose Chu Nanping without hesitation.


    Chu Nanping would never betray him because he had never served anyone in the first ce. The youth had a different mindset and almost no one except Gu Shenwei understood him.


    After a quarter hour, Chu Nanping returned and said only one word: ¡°Safe.¡±


    Then, he added, ¡°I¡¯m positive.¡± He probably thought that the Dragon King and Maid Lotus were looking at him in doubt.


    It was near daybreak. Gu Shenwei said, ¡°I¡¯ll go by myself.¡±


    When the Dragon King had left, Maid Lotus asked, ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°I promised I wouldn¡¯t tell anyone.¡±


    The enigmatic visitor really loved puzzling games. ¡°So, it¡¯s someone we all know?¡±


    Chu Nanping hesitated, searching for a way to keep his promise. After a while, he nodded. ¡°It¡¯s safe, I promise.¡±


    The tent was not tall and it looked normal from the outside as well. But when he walked inside, he found that it was actuallyrge. The tent was not lit, and Gu Shenwei spent some time looking at itsyout.


    A dozen different screens wereid out to separate the tent into various interlinked booths, making the tent a tiny maze. The ground was padded with a fewyers of carpet that amounted to about 30 centimeters thick. Standing on the carpet, Gu Shenwei felt himself shaking. He wondered how the screens could remain still.


    Soon after, he discovered that the carpets had all been cut out to match the bases of the screens. In this way, it would be hard to move any of the screens.


    It seemed that the owner of the tent not only liked games, but was also into screens. As far as Gu Shenwei could remember, there was only one person that could not go without screens, but that one person should not and could not appear in Nond.


    ¡°You¡¯re slow. I thought I would see you during the third watch.¡±


    The voice came from the deep part of the tent. Gu Shenwei was astounded because it was really that one person¡¯s voice.


    Passing by five or six screens, Gu Shenwei saw Luo Ningcha leaning on a padded couch.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you answer me? Do you hate me that much?¡±


    Thest time they met each other was in Jade City. At that time, Gu Shenwei did not consider her as a mistress and treated her roughly. And he thought he would never again have anything to do with this woman.


    Luo Ningcha rose up, lit up the oilmp on the side table, and smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t be embarrassed, there are no secrets between us.¡±


    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Gu Shenwei coldly asked and checked out every nearby screen.


    ¡°There is no one else here, it¡¯s just the two of us.¡± Luo Ningcha¡¯s tone sounded different, less insolent than before, and more like that of a¡ªGu Shenwei thought maybe Xu Yanwei had wielded too much influence on her.


    ¡°You can do whatever you want, just like thest time.¡± Luo Ningcha lowered her voice and sounded more seductive. At this moment, she was even less like Bighead Kingpin¡¯s daughter.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t answer my question.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s been more than a year; you¡¯ve really cultivated yourself as a ¡®king¡¯. Why am I here? Of course, I was invited. The second wife of the Khan sent invitations to Golden Roc Fort, and I¡¯m the first one to arrive. And, I¡¯m more or less a confidant of hers now.¡±


    Luo Ningcha was obviously unting when she spoke thest sentence, and that resembled the old her. At that time, ve Huan was her plot teacher, and she would unt every little victory to him.


    ¡°Why did she invite you?¡± Gu Shenwei found it suspicious. Even if the second wife of the Khan invited Golden Roc Fort, that invitation should be sent to Lady Meng.


    ¡°Because I have an army.¡±


    Finally, Luo Ningcha got the reactions she wanted from the Dragon King¡ªsurprise, disbelief, appreciation, and praise.


    Gu Shenwei was not that expressive. However, he was really shocked. ¡°You have an army?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I established it earlier than the Land of Fragrance!¡± Luo Ningcha looked even more proud. ¡°The previous subordinates of Bighead Kingpin have not done well in recent years, so they came to me. And I asked them to recruit more people to build an army. Now we have nearly 2,000 people.¡±


    The Supreme King had actually allowed Luo Ningcha to do that, so it seemed that she did hold a prestigious position in the fort.


    ¡°Congrattions. But why did youe to me?¡± Gu Shenwei was not desperate for a 2,000-soldier troop yet.


    ¡°It¡¯s not me.¡± Luo Ningcha really had changed because she actually stayed calm after being cold-shouldered. ¡°It¡¯s a woman who is more prestigious than me that wants you.¡±


    At that moment, Gu Shenwei thought of Lady Meng, but he soon crossed out the possibility because, in Luo Ningcha¡¯s eyes, Lady Meng was not more prestigious at all. ¡°So, it¡¯s the second wife of the Khan?¡±


    ¡°Right. She¡¯s got something you want, and she¡¯d like to trade it for your help.¡±


    Never had Gu Shenwei expected that Shangguan Ru would fall into the hands of the second wife of the Khan in Nond.

 Chapter 565 - Borrowing Another’s Sword

    Chapter 565: Borrowing Another¡¯s Sword


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee


    Luo Ningcha had had the busiest year of her life, and yet in a sense, she should thank her former servant.


    Servant Huan¡¯s change of attitude had had a huge impact on her which even outweighed thebined impact of her being forced to marry a disabled husband and her father dying. Although the shock she felt was not emotional, since she had never been emotionally invested, it had finally forced her to recognize how much power could change a man.


    The former conspiracy teacher who always behaved humbly and racked his brains trying to please her had be a ruthless man that had mistreated her when they met again. How did thisplete 180 change happen? Her breathtaking beauty hadn¡¯t abated, and neither had her bad temper grown worse, or at least, most men didn¡¯t notice it being any worse.


    ¡®So it¡¯s not my problem,¡¯ thought Luo Ningcha. She had managed to climb out of the mud of self-pity and arrived at the conclusion that there was one thing that Servant Huan had gotten wrong. Female power and status didn¡¯t solelye from their husband and father. Power produced power, and power could only be born from power; all other methods were merely mirror images and illusions.


    Lady Meng, for example, used to be dominant in the castle but had been left in the cold in the blink of an eye. People like the Unique King and Big Head God could be defeated over and over again or even killed, but no one could deprive them of their power at will.


    It took Luo Ningcha about a month to realize all this.


    She was slow to think but quick to act.


    Actually some of Big Head God¡¯s former subordinates hade to her seeking refuge, but she didn¡¯t take any of them seriously and made them leave after giving them several taels of silver. She had never met any of them in person. Now, she had realized how foolish she was, as she had actually refused the most important legacy left behind by her father.


    After this epiphany, she immediately had her maidservant summon those seven or eight sub-chiefs of Iron Mountain who still remained in Jade City. Then she went down the mountain in person to meet them as the lord.


    The Miss¡¯s abrupt behavior startled the sub-chiefs, but they were all veterans and knew how to appropriately cater to powerful entrics that were willing to pay them.


    Luo Ningcha was rich. She used to regard gold and silver as one of the sources of power, and every year she would ask for arge sum of them from the Big Head God. Now, she still valued them as a fertilizer of power, as only with them could the flower of power bloom faster and more vigorously.


    The sub-chiefs were given the order to gather the former men of Iron Mountain. As for whether they would continue living as bandits or seek a new trade, Luo Ningcha hadn¡¯t decided yet. It was a bit too difficult for her to think of a long-term n.


    The sub-chiefs promised readily, as they only cared about one question: Whether the Miss¡¯s action had the permission of the Unique King.


    Luo Ningcha nodded without hesitation. She didn¡¯t tell her first batch of men that she had not seen the Unique King for a long time, but she had a trump card in her hand ¡ª the tenth son of the King Lord. From this, she felt that she could not be punished in any way by virtue of her son¡¯s status as a future young master.


    The Unique King soon discovered this woman¡¯s mischievous act but didn¡¯t stop her. Instead, he acquiesced at her mischief and even sent a deputy saberlord to help her with property management and to control the growing number of old subordinates of the Iron Mountain.


    Luo Ningcha was overjoyed and thought that the King Lord still lusted over her appearance. So for a period of time, she dressed up every day in the hopes of receiving favor once more, but all she got was a disappointment.


    Luo Ningcha finally realized that she had been used when Golden Roc Castle suddenly swept across the Western Regions. But that deputy saberlord had firmly gripped the former subordinates of Iron Mountain in his hand, leaving her as the nominal lord of these people.


    So when she bragged to the Dragon King that she had built an army, she was actually full of bitterness.


    But this army still brought her some benefits. She was listed when the Second Consort of Nond invited all the prestigious women of the various Western Regions¡¯ countries and all the Prairy tribes.


    Luo Ningcha didn¡¯t want toe all the way to see the so-called Second Consort because in this world the most unbearable thing for her was to lower her head to another woman.


    But after being persuaded by various people around her, she changed her mind. She would not only go to see the Second Consort but also be the first guest to reach the Royal Court.


    The impact of Gu Shenwei using female archers in the Land of Fragrance far outweighed what he and Shangguan Ru had imagined. Even Luo Ningcha suddenly came to understand that women could also be generals and soldiers. Such an army would surely be more loyal to a female lord than those rude men of the former Iron Mountain.


    Luo Ningcha went to the Royal Court but had uncharacteristically kept a low profile, so only a few people in the castle knew about her visit. The Unique King was one of the few who knew but still tacitly approved and indulged her.


    The Second Consort of Nond was surprised at this guest who had arrived early and treated her with special courtesy and enthusiasm.


    Luo Ningcha also proved herself capable of pleasing women. She had little experience in this respect, as the only person she could imitate and learn from was Xu Yanwei. She somewhat missed that maid and former prostitute and didn¡¯t understand why Xu Yanwei would choose to follow the Dragon King rather than stay by her side.


    In short, she did it very well. The two even lived under the same roof and ate at the same table. The prestigious women who cameter didn¡¯t even know the beautiful woman around the Second Consort was also a guest, and they instead treated her as another important consort of the royal family and ttered her, which Luo Ningcha enjoyed very much. The only person she avoided was Shangguan Ru.


    ¡°I¡¯m talking to you on behalf of the Second Consort. She knows that we have a special rtionship.¡± Luo Ningcha had changed her way of looking at the Dragon King, thinking that all powerful men were almost the same. Servant Huan was bing more and more like the Unique King in temperament except that he was much younger and more handsome. If she could gain his assistance, it would be more helpful than a great army.


    Gu Shenwei had severed all the past views he had held about Luo Ningcha. This was a negotiation, and like any other he had to deal with it calmly. ¡°Very good, what does she want?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to know what she can offer first?¡±


    Gu Shenwei actually knew already, but he still nodded and said, ¡°Tell me.¡±


    ¡°It depends on your purpose in Nond.¡± Seeing the Dragon King¡¯s attitude, Luo Ningcha turned reserved instead, ¡°Did youe here for an alliance, shelter, horses, money, or ¡ª the army?¡±


    ¡°What about Shangguan Ru? The Second Consort didn¡¯t put her on the list?¡± Gu Shenwei suddenly blurted out.


    ¡°Shangguan Ru? What about her?¡± Luo Ningcha appeared very surprised, then suddenly understood, ¡°Oh, I see. I was wondering why the people I had sent to her all said that she wasn¡¯t there. Is she missing? Look at you ¡­ What¡¯s the rtionship between you two?¡±


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s tone couldn¡¯t help be harsh.


    Gu Shenwei realized that he had made a low-level mistake. He had put focused solely on the negotiation and neglected the simple fact that the Second Consort was unlikely to kidnap her guest, let alone ckmail him after the kidnapping.


    He turned to walk towards back outside. This woman could not be reasoned with. The fact that the Second Consort had trusted her meant she was also unreasonable. So it was useless to negotiate with them.


    ¡°Wait a moment.¡± Luo Ningcha changed her tone at once. She would not be jealous for any man because that was the stupidest thing a woman could do. And she thought herself wise. ¡°I don¡¯t want to interfere in your business, but the Second Consort may be able to help if you want to find someone in the Royal Court.¡±


    Gu Shenwei paused and turned to say, ¡°I don¡¯t like to beating the bush. Just cut to the point so we can save some time.¡±


    ¡°In the past ¡­¡± Luo Ningcha controlled her temper and smiled, ¡°Well, to put it bluntly, the Second Consort can provide you with an army of no less than ten thousand people. It would all be cavalry. She can also help you to find Shangguan Ru.¡±


    Luo Ningcha was waiting to see how surprised the Dragon King was, but Gu Shenwei was more concerned about the price, ¡°Mm, what do I have to pay in return?¡±


    Luo Ningcha was a little disappointed but then became happy again. She looked upon the Dragon King as a disciple observing her Master and found that his attitude was impable. The more he wanted something, the more indifferent he appeared, which was exactly one of the keys to negotiating. ¡°Your sword.¡±


    ¡°Trading a sword for an army, this is really a good deal.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s you who told me to be straightforward, so you should not y dumb with me. You know what I mean.¡±


    Gu Shenwei, of course, knew it, ¡°Who does she want the sword pointed at? The Khan?¡±


    Luo Ningcha burst intoughter, ¡°You are so daring. Everyone wishes for the Khan to die early except the Second Consort. She doesn¡¯t have a family to support her like the Chief Consort and also can¡¯t inherit a fortune like the other kings. In a word, your sword won¡¯t be aimed at the Khan, but unless you ept the deal, we ¡­ the Second Consort will not tell you the target.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s past identity as a killer had left its impress upon her, and no one could ever forget that.


    ¡°Tell her I¡¯ll consider about it. As for Shangguan Ru, leave it to me.¡±


    ¡°Whatever, but don¡¯t take too long. Opportunities won¡¯t stop and wait for you.¡± Luo Ningcha didn¡¯t expect an immediate answer from the Dragon King. He was not under enough pressure, and he would naturally ept all the conditions they demanded when he had no other ce to go. This was the result that the Second Consort had anticipated beforehand.


    No wonder the Second Consort would agree to Shangguan Ru¡¯s plea to help lift the siege of the Dragon Army encampment ¡­ Gu Shenwei decided to do a thorough investigation of her.


    Before this, he, like most people, had thought that the Second Consort was a concubine who had been favored by the Khan and that she was gathering those prestigious women just for a fling. Now it seemed that the matter was far from being that simple. Gu Shenwei regretted not asking Shanguan Ru more about it.


    He was just about to leave when Luo Ningcha stopped him again, ¡°Onest thing, what do you think about ¡­ my performance today?¡±


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s eyes sparkled. She knew she had to stay calm but she couldn¡¯t help wanting ament from her ¡®Master¡¯.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know what to say.


    ¡°Look, I didn¡¯t hold a grudge for yourst rude behavior, which means that I can take it easy and control my temper; I was able to gain the Second Consort¡¯s trust, indicating that I already know the way of the world; I wanted your help, but instead of just asking for it, I gave you an offer hard to refuse, which means that I¡¯ve learned how to negotiate. I¡¯ve learned all of these skills from you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought the Miss hadn¡¯t changed at all. ¡°Very good,¡± he said, leaving the happy Luo Ningcha alone to savor the praise.


    Luo Ningcha wasn¡¯t a smart person but sometimes she could say something smart. Those words might have been instilled into her mind by someone else but it did contain the truth. Gu Shenwei was still not sure who had snatched Shangguan Ru away, but he seemed to have suddenly stumbled upon a bigger conspiracy.


    Luo Ningcha would never imagine that the negotiation terms hadn¡¯t aroused the Dragon King¡¯s interest, but the words she had casually said had enlightened him.


    Ever since the first day he entered the prairie, he had made a series of mistakes and been led around by the nose. He could only passively wait for the enemy to make a move. But now, he didn¡¯t want to wait any longer.


    No matter if it was saving others or saving himself, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to wait around anymore.

 Chapter 566 - Challenges

    Chapter 566: Challenges


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Although Fang Wenshi knew the Dragon King¡¯s hunch was urate most of the time, he was still shocked by the Dragon King¡¯s bold spection, which sounded very unrealistic.


    One thing that happened at noon that day added a little support to the Dragon King¡¯s theory.


    The Military Counselor reported some news to the Dragon King. He told the Dragon King to walk out of the tent and take a look at the opposite camp.


    Over at the opposite camp, King Dari¡¯s yellow-faced servant Fu Yuan, followed by a group of attendants, was demanding a marriage with the Supreme King¡¯s granddaughter. Fang Wenshi exined to the Dragon King, ¡°It¡¯s a bride-snatching ceremony ¡ª amon thing in Nond.¡±


    Fu Yuan stood at the gate of the camp, talking loudly, refusing to enter the tent to discuss the matter in private. In the meantime, his attendants were rushing around under hismandments. Shangguan Yun looked very awkward, trying to persuade Fu Yuan in a low voice, while Zhang Ji was nowhere to be seen.


    ¡°Ha, Golden Roc Fort has lost face terribly this time,¡± Fang Wenshi said, having lifted up the curtain a little bit to watch the scene through the opening. The quarrelling voices and the abusive words of Fu Yuan could be heard clearly by the people in the Dragon King¡¯s tent. Fang Wenshi turned to the Dragon King in excitement, saying, ¡°Sir,e and take a look. There are a lot of people watching outside.¡±


    ¡°Supreme King! Bring me your granddaughter, as you promised. A promise is a promise. Don¡¯t worry about whether I have my manhood or not. I¡¯m going to take her virginity anyway. Shangguan Yun, move aside, or I¡¯ll take yours, as well,¡± Fu Yuan yelled and then started swearing, saying even filthier things.


    The Dragon King had been calm and showed no interest in what was happening at the other tent. Fang Wenshi finally stoppedughing. Looking at the Dragon King, Fang Wenshi was ashamed of his reaction, and then started to realize that things were not that simple.


    Fang Wenshi realized there must be more truth hidden below the surface.<em>¡°Golden Roc Fort made a terrible mistake. It¡¯s well known that King Dari is on bad terms with King Kuari. And Golden Roc Fort promised a marriage to both of them. Now he has not only offended the favorite minion of King Dari, but also King Kuari. King Kuari will be notorious for fighting a eunuch over a bride,¡± </em>he thought.


    Gu Shenwei used the writing apparatuses on the table to analyze the matter, imagining them as several lords and saying, ¡°Zhang Ji would never do such a stupid thing, and he certainly has a different purpose.¡±


    ¡°But what¡¯s the benefit of doing so? To earn a reputation? It¡¯s better to not,¡± said Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°This is just the beginning,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Fang Wenshi decided to stop watching. ¡°Wait for my news,¡± he said as he ran out of the tent, mounted his horse and went directly to learn more from several familiar officials.


    The farce ended soon after Fang Wenshi left, almost escting to a tragedy. Arge brigade of King Kuari¡¯s cavalry galloped over from afar. They drew out their swords and bows, denouncing Fu Yuan for his rudeness, and iming that no one could touch the granddaughter of the Supreme King.


    Seeing that he was outnumbered, Fu Yuan withdrew with a lot of threats.


    Even the well-disciplined guards of the Dragon King could not help butugh at the funny drama. Long Fanyun kept saying while shaking his head, ¡°Shame. Shame for men. Shame for killers.¡±


    He was not referring to Fu Yuan. He felt ashamed for Shangguan Yun. The Cloud King who had been able to keep his countenance in big battles, was now forced into a dilemma by a eunuch.


    Shangguan Fei, who was standing beside Long Fanyun, sighed and said, ¡± I thought the men of the Stone Castle¡­ the Shangguan family are not like that.¡±


    Long Fanyun looked Shangguan Fei up and down in disdain. He had never regarded him as a ¡°man¡±.


    Gu Shenwei was indifferent to what happened outside. He was busy with something else. He had written three letters, all with basically the same contents, and ordered Long Fanyun to distribute them. ¡°Be careful. They may not be happy to receive the letter,¡± he had warned.


    Long Fanyun nodded in understanding. Shangguan Fei volunteered to be one of the ten guards to deliver the letters. He nced at the three letters and noticed they were respectively addressed to King Dari, King Kuari and King Rizhu. He was interested to see what how a true ¡°man¡± would react to threats and insults. Especially the first two, who were in a fit of anger at the moment.


    The first letter was delivered to King Dari. The Lord was standing in his tentmbasting the Supreme King for Golden Roc Fort¡¯s betrayal when he received the letter from the Dragon King. He took the letter, unfolded it, and then became furious after reading over it. He tore the letter into pieces, yelling, ¡°The Dragon King is crazy! Go back and let him hear my words: Prepare a coffin. Don¡¯t dream about getting any support from Nond.¡±


    Long Fanyun stood straight, head forward, and said, ¡°I¡¯ll take the message to the Dragon King. But what kind of wood would King Dari like for his coffin, please?¡±


    King Dari had not expected that a messenger guard would dare to be so disrespectful to him. He was too shocked to say a word. His personal guards reacted quickly, though. More than 10 of them pulled out their knives at the same time, reprimanding him loudly.


    Long Fanyun ignored the guards, bowed to King Dari slightly, and left.


    Shangguan Fei had mixed feelings of admiration and fright. He was too scared to make ament until they were over a mile away from King Dari¡¯s camp. ¡°Wow¡­you¡­what did the Dragon King say in that letter to make King Dari so angry?¡± he asked.


    The second letter was delivered to King Kuari. Compared with King Dari, King Kuari¡¯s reaction to the letter was quite moderate. He took the letter in his hand, sneered, and thenughed. Then he folded the letter carefully, saying, ¡°Well, I ept it, and I hope the Dragon King will not let me down.¡±


    He did not say what he epted. Shangguan Fei became more curious, and he wished he could open thest letter to see its content. His wish was soon realized.


    When they delivered thest letter to King Rizhu, they were forbidden to enter the camp. General Zhe Su was standing at the gate like a ck tower. The military discipline here had taken on a new look, with heavily armed soldiers lined up in a neat row. Anybody who dared to resist anymand here would be chopped into meat paste immediately.


    ¡°King Rizhu will not see visitors. He only wants his horse back,¡± General Zhe Su said, looking lofty in his armor. He refused to let the messengers in, and also rejected the letter.


    Long Fanyun did not argue with him. He unfolded the letter and read it out in a voice so loud that he could be heard both inside and outside the camp.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s curiosity was finally satisfied.


    In the letter, the Dragon King made challenges to the three most powerful lords of Nond. The duels would happen four dayster, at the venue of the Tournament of the Royal Court, and the wager for King Rizhu was ¡°the best horse on the grasnd¡±.


    The letter did not mention the words ¡°me Foal¡±, but everyone knew it was that horse.


    After stealing King Rizhu¡¯s most cherished horse, the Dragon King was now using it to bet against him. Both Zhe Su and King Dari were stunned.


    King Rizhu came in person to the camp gate, stiff-faced. ¡°I ept the bet. Add another rule: The loser must kneel down in public, bow his head three times to the winner, and call himself ¡®bastard¡¯ three times,¡± he said.


    ¡°Good,¡± Long Fanyun said, handing the letter to Zhe Su, who took it for King Rizhu.


    Rumors spread fast in the Royal Court. Everybody was talking about the two big events that had happened recently. One was the big scene made by the eunuch at the camp of Golden Roc Fort, and the other was the challenges made by the Dragon King against the three lords. When more and more people, ranging from those living in the slums to those in the main tent of the Khan, started passing around the news, some even added that the Dragon King wanted topete for the granddaughter of the Supreme King.


    Gu Shenwei had set up different wagers when he challenged the three lords: for King Rizhu, it was the horse; for King Kuari, it was ¡°the best saber in the world¡±; and for King Dari, it was ¡°the best bow for the greatest archer in the world¡±.


    Horses, sabers and bows were the three things that the Nond people valued the most. As a native of the Western Region, the Dragon King dared the bet on them in Nond. To the Nond people, the Dragon King had obviously made a provocation.


    Fang Wenshi came back, sweating profusely. He had found out a lot of news, only to realize that the real blockbuster had been created by the Dragon King, himself.


    ¡°Sir, you really challenged the three lords?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°This was¡­too fast¡­I think¡­you should have discussed it with me first,¡± said Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°We can discuss it now. Tell me about what you¡¯ve heard,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Fang Wenshi shook his head as he usually did. He had just turned 30 years old, but he always felt like a conservative old man standing in front of the Dragon King. ¡°There are many things. It is said that King Dari and King Kuari have had a fight, and their guards have even drawn out their knives. King Dari used King Kuari of being too shameless to fight their uncle¡¯s eunuch over a woman. King Kuari used King Dari of being insolent enough to despise a useful ally. He also said humiliating the Supreme King in this way will only harm the interests of Nond.¡±


    Fang Wenshi had spoken too fast. He let out a breath and wiped the sweat off his forehead as he continued his speech, ¡°It¡¯s a mess in the court. Most officers are afraid of being implicated. A few loyal ones have gotten into fights with each other trying to protect their respective lords. I heard that four or five duels took ce this morning, alone. Nobody died yet, but in my opinion, it won¡¯t be long.¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Yun and Zhang Ji should be d that Golden Roc Fort has finally gotten the ¡®attention¡¯ of Nond,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Speaking of attention, there is one thing I find most strange,¡± said Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°The granddaughter of the Supreme King, named Shangguan Shaomin or something, is now the most well-known person in the Royal Court. I think she has even gotten more attention than your challenges to the three lords. Everyone says she is a girl of unprecedented beauty. It¡¯s said that King Kuari has been desperate to marry her since he saw her beauty at a chance meeting. He is even willing to give up his old grudge with Golden Roc Fort for her hand,¡± said Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°Unprecedented beauty?¡± Gu Shenwei frowned. He had seen Shangguan Shaomin once. She was a thin girl, trembling, and stunned by Old Man Mu¡¯s words. She was absolutely not ugly, but speaking of beauty¡­ Gu Shenwei had to admit that he could not remember how the girl looked. At that time, he had been focused on observing the current situation and specting about other people¡¯s thoughts, with little energy left for other things.


    ¡°In short, King Kuari will marry the granddaughter of the Supreme King, and maybe he will make her his concubine in the future. However, that won¡¯t be easy. If King Kuari wants to inherit the throne, he must choose his wife from among the three families of the Queen.¡± exined Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°I bet it¡¯s Zhang Ji¡¯s idea,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m getting more and more interested in this teacher, but what is the purpose of his move? To change to a more promising lord?¡± asked Fang Shenwei.


    ¡°Zhang Ji will not reveal it until thest minute,¡± Gu Shenwei said as if he could see the dignified teacher calmly watching the developments of the situation to make sure that everything was under his control.


    ¡°Well, Golden Roc Fort seems to have a conspiracy. I¡¯m beginning to believe the Dragon King¡¯s theory that everything was just a show, and Golden Roc Fort must have an important role in it,¡± Fang Wenshi continued.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Fang Wenshi shook his head again. He still could not fully ept the Dragon King¡¯s conjecture. ¡°The three lords really want to assassinate the Khan?¡± he asked, increduous.


    ¡°Not just the three of them,¡± Gu Shenwei corrected Fang Wenshi. He had thought about it thoroughly and continued, ¡°All the Nond bigwigs want the Khan to die as soon as possible, but no one wants to bear the murder charges. That¡¯s why I was invited to the Royal Court. They took turns to provoke me and force the masters around me to be exposed one by one. Their purpose was to prepare for false usations of murder. Zhang Ji must know about it, and the trick of promising a woman to two different men is also probably rted to it.¡±


    Luo Ningcha had casually remarked, ¡°Everyone wishes the Khan would die as soon as possible. Only his second wife wants him to live any longer.¡± It was obvious that the Khan¡¯s second wife had told Luo Ningcha to say that to help her look innocent.


    Gu Shenwei had not found answers to his other questions yet, especially who had taken Shangguan Ru. And the spy who worked for Wei Song in the Royal Court ¡ª the first person who had suggested that the Dragon King should kill the Khan ¡ª had still not revealed himself.

 Chapter 567 - Divine Kung Fu

    Chapter 567: Divine Kung Fu


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Killers belonged to the night. In the daytime, they did what normal people did and interacted with others normally. But only in the night did they really feel free. They owned the night.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus moved very fast in the night. They were like two fish swimming swiftly and freely in the ocean of the city, able to go almost anywhere they wished, and steering away from any formidable dangers. The biggest danger for them was the Khan¡¯s main tent.


    Some smaller tents surrounded the main tent, and lords and nobles of different levels lived in them. Some were well armed, while others were not. Gu Shenwei decided to take down one of those tents that night.


    He had a bold hypothesis that the nobles of Nond would kill the Khan and then frame him for the killing. He needed evidence to prove it, so he decided to start at the weakest point.


    The weakest link was Fu Yuan.


    Fu Yuan had an independent encampment due to special treatment from King Dari. Old Man Mu had peeped into this encampment several times and discovered that Fu Yuan was using ignorant girls to practice evil Kung Fu. The security of his encampment was not very tight.


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus reached Fu Yuan¡¯s encampment, which was not far from King Dari¡¯s camp. The security was loose, having only two guards: one in the front, the other at the back. Neither of the guards was vignt and looked like they were falling asleep while standing.


    There was a big tent in the middle, surrounded by seven small tents. Maid Lotus took care of the vigil guards first by putting them into a deep sleep. When they woke up the next morning, they would not remember anything.


    A light was on in the big tent, and there were faint voicesing from it. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus lurked in all directions for a while to listen carefully. Finally, they both agreed there were between five to seven people inside.


    The ideal situation was that when Fu Yuan fell asleep, the killer would go into the tent to control him. He would be panicked when he woke up.


    Gu Shenwei had done this before. But this night he had a big problem: Fu Yuan liked to stay upte. It was past midnight, yet he still did not look like he would be going to sleep anytime soon.


    There was no use in using the knockout powder of New Moon Hall, as the drug would dilute quickly in the spacious tent. Not only the efficacy of the drug would be reduced, but the people inside would also be alerted.


    After waiting for nearly an hour, Gu Shenwei decided to go into the tent directly.


    Maid Lotus stayed outside, hiding near the southeast corner of the tent. If Gu Shenwei got into any danger, he would cut his way out from there.


    Gu Shenwei had seen many tents of various styles, ranging from humble ones to luxurious ones. Fu Yuang¡¯s tent was the most bizarre of them all.


    The front half of the tent had been changed into a tearoom, with a small, empty space behind it. Fu Yuan was sitting on a chair at the entrance of the tent facing five people in the empty space, and there was a small candle lit near him.


    Gu Shenwei lifted the curtain and came inside. To his surprise, nobody in the tent paid attention to him. He stood in the corner and observed for a while, feeling that the tearoom was a bit familiar.


    Fu Yuan whispered disappointedly, ¡°It¡¯s too difficult. It¡¯s too difficult.¡±


    Five people stood in front of him: three children, aged eight or nine, and two teenaged girls between 16 and 17. All looked numb, with scars on their faces. Their clothes were torn, as if they had been getting beaten up all the time.


    Gu Shenwei did not remember ever hearing any fights.


    Fu Yuan silently held up a crutch and touched a boy with it. The boy walked over to another child and said in a strange voice, ¡°I can do anything.¡±


    Then the boy turned to Fu Yuan, raised his hands and scratched himself violently, as if his body did not belong to him at all, without any cries of pain.


    This must be the evil kung fu that Old Man Mu had seen.


    The boy trembled and stopped the self-muttion. Fu Yuan withdrew the crutch and muttered to himself again, ¡°It¡¯s too difficult. It¡¯s too difficult.¡±


    ¡°It is, of course, very difficult to practice alone,¡± Gu Shenwei said, stepping out of the shadows.


    Fu Yuan suddenly turned around, surprised, andughed. ¡°It¡¯s you, Dragon King. Why do youe here at night? Do you know the divine kung fu I practice?¡± He asked, not at all afraid. He knew that the Dragon King was bound by the agreement and would not dare to kill anyone at the Royal Court.


    ¡°The person who taught you didn¡¯t mention me?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Haha, the Dragon King recognizes my kung fu. He did tell me that the Dragon King was thest disciple of Master Immortal. He also said that you killed the Master and destroyed the Joy Pavilion along with your bright future. The divine kung fu was nearly lost,¡± said Fu Yuan.


    ¡°Nearly?¡± Gu Shenwei asked, not believing that someone else could inherit the weird kung fu of the dwarf, Immortal Peng.


    After he killed Immortal Peng, the disciples in the Joy Pavilion split up into two groups. One group selected a new Master Immortal, while the other group left Jade City. Gu Shenwei did not know that they hade to the Royal Court, recruited disciples, and controlled an obsessed lord.


    Most kung fu in the Joy Pavilion needed to be practiced by two people together. Gu Shenwei had observed it for a while, but found no one else in the tent.


    ¡°Is the Dragon King disappointed that Immortal Peng¡¯s kung fu was passed down?¡± Fu Yuan gloated.


    ¡°No, I have already killed two. I don¡¯t care to kill a third,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Fu Yuan¡¯s face immediately went cold. ¡°We disciples of the Joy Pavilion only want to carry forward the divine kung fu and do not want revenge, but if the Dragon King keeps pushing¡­¡± he warned.


    Gu Shenwei began ¡°pushing¡± harder. Hilt in hand, he passed the desks and chairs, and walked quickly towards Fu Yuan until he was within five steps of him. ¡°The Joy Pavilion really likes cutting people,¡± he said.


    ¡°You¡­ you can¡¯te here. This is the Royal Court, and you promised¡­¡± Fu Yuan said, suddenly scared.


    ¡°Yes, I promised,¡± Gu Shenwei said as he pulled out his Five Peaks Saber andid it t on the table. ¡°Nond has also made a promise and broken it. Who broke the promise? You know better than I do. So, I am not bound by any restrictions now,¡± he said.


    Fu Yuan looked at the saber on the table, ¡°You dare not¡­do you want to be called¡­¡±


    The saber shimmered in the glow of the candle light. Fu Yuan could not say for sure whether or not he was dazzled or if the knife really moved. He felt his face go cold, raised his hand to touch it, and saw his hand was covered in blood.


    ¡°I¡¯m not good at, nor do I like, torturing people. My approach is simple, but usually effective. How long can you bear it?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    Fu Yuan was trembling, not because of the bleeding, but because of fear and humiliation. He was silent for a moment and then asked coldly, ¡°What do you want to know?¡±


    ¡°Where is he?¡± Gu Shenwei asked, meaning the partner who was practicing kung fu with Fu Yuan (as there should have been one). Maybe he was hiding in the dark, waiting to strike at the right moment?


    ¡°He is not here,¡± replied Fu Yuan.


    ¡°You know how to control the elderly, women, and children, but you don¡¯t know how to answer questions,¡± Gu Shenwei said, threateningly.


    The saber seemed to rise again. Fu Yuan became more humiliated. He answered quickly, ¡°They really aren¡¯t here. They left to perform other tasks,¡± he answered pitifully.


    ¡°How many of them?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    Fu Yuan evaded the question and asked warily, ¡°If I tell you the truth, you won¡¯t kill me, will you?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± answered Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of my lord taking revenge on you?¡± asked Fu Yuan.


    ¡°You and your lord need me to live until the day I die, so why should I be afraid?¡± asnwered Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Everybody says the Dragon King is not easily fooled, and that¡¯s true, sure enough. Since you already know that, I have nothing to hide,¡± said Fu Yuan.


    After the disciples of the Joy Pavilion had been split up, there was a fight between the two groups. In the end, most people turned to the new Master Immortal. Only eleven of the disciples refused and left. ¡°They were the most powerful ones, and they were the best disciples of Immortal Peng. Had they not left, it wouldn¡¯t have been easy for the Dragon King to destroy the Joy Pavilion,¡± exined Fu Yuan.


    The eleven disciples did not have a clear goal, so they just walked around aimlessly. Gradually, the influence of Immortal Peng on them became weaker and weaker, and they finally began to see the real world instead of the illusion they¡¯d been living in.


    They realized that their previous life was aplete hoax.


    They discussed what to do next, and then reached an agreement: they should revive Immortal Peng¡¯s tricks. Before long, they stopped calling them ¡°tricks¡± and renamed them ¡°divine kung fu¡±.


    But first, they needed a ce to stay. Just like the other disciples of the Joy Pavilion, they were also eunuchs. So, the best ces for them to go were to the various lords¡¯ residences in Nond.


    Fu Yuan became one of their disciples in King Dari¡¯s tent. ¡°They collected more than 20 disciples in total. I was the only one that stuck to the end and understood the kung fu. Everyone else failed,¡± exined Fu Yuan.


    Fu Yuan did not mention what had happened to those who had failed. Gu Shenwei did not ask him, either.


    Fu Yuan had only learned a little Internal Strength before and did not master other forms of martial arts. Having learned the divine kung fu from the eleven disciples of the Joy Pavilion, he could manipte others to do things for him. Therefore, it did not matter whether he had other skills or not.


    The eleven disciples did not have the ambition to control the world. The biggest reason for choosing King Dari was that the Lord was bing ipetent and easy to control.


    However, divine kung fu was not very helpful for Fu Yuan in manipting King Dari. Most of the time, he had to please the Lord through sweet talking and observing his needs.


    Besides, the eleven disciples had never learned hypnotism directly from Immortal Peng. They could only revive it based upon their memory and understanding. For that reason, Fu Yuan needed naive children and teenaged girls, who were as easy to control as the simple-minded King Dari.


    ¡°It¡¯s not very sessful. See, they are dull and can¡¯t feel any pain. Except for this, I can¡¯t make them do anything else. We¡¯re talking in front of them, but they are like the blind and deaf ¡ª no different from the walking dead,¡± Fu Yuan said.


    Fu Yuan¡¯s words were full of disappointment and regret, as if the five victims were to me for the failure of the divine kung fu.


    He refused to reveal the names and whereabouts of the eleven disciples, saying, ¡°I can¡¯t tell. I won¡¯t tell, even if you kill me. Besides, they never wanted to seek revenge upon the Dragon King. They also had nothing to do with the n, which is a matter for Golden Roc Fort and the lords to consider.¡±


    ¡°The n¡± was to assassinate the Khan and then frame the Dragon King for it.


    Gu Shenwei was supposed to keep pursuing for information about the n, but he could not help but ask a question: ¡°What about the hostage you took? Where did you hide him?¡±


    ¡°Hostage?¡± Fu Yuan looked very surprised. ¡°Somebody took the Dragon King¡¯s man?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Answer my question first,¡± demanded Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Dragon King, you are a smart person. How could you misunderstand this? The lords need the Dragon King alive to bear the charges of killing the Khan. None of them would kidnap your man to put you in danger, because nothing good woulde from that,¡± Fu Yuan said.


    Gu Shenwei thought he had always been calm, but now he realized he had made a big mistake. The three suspects he had in mind were all wrong, and the major suspect had been omitted all along.

 Chapter 568 - Understanding

    Chapter 568: Understanding


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Fu Yuan was a very realistic person. He had profitted a lot with the hypnotism taught by the eleven disciples. He also secretly supported King Kuari, and King Dari had no idea about that.


    The eleven disciples only wanted to pass down their master¡¯s divine kung fu. They did not care about what purpose it was used for.


    ¡°King Dari has no hope. Thanks to me, he didn¡¯t expose the n to the Khan. But the fact is that he has lost his mind and will only get worse. I can¡¯t put my future in his hands,¡± said Fu Yuan.


    Fu Yuan did not feel guilty about his betrayal, saying, ¡°I earned King Kuari¡¯s trust a year ago, but he asked me to stay with King Dari and pretend to be against him. The Khan doesn¡¯t like one lord to be stronger than the others, so King Kuari needs an enemy that looks powerful, but is actually weak. King Dari fits that standard.¡±


    ¡°So, you can understand why King Kuari also wants the Khan to die early. In case King Dari is exposed, King Kuari will have to face the new rival appointed by the Khan. And the newly emerging forces are always difficult to deal with. You, for example, Dragon King,¡± he continued.


    As the ¡°confession¡± went on, Fu Yuan became more and more rxed. From time to time, he would drink some water or touch a test subject with his crutch to manipte them to abuse themselves, not caring that the Dragon King was watching. It was like a bored child torturing insects, not for fun, but to kill time.


    ¡°Snatching the granddaughter of the Supreme King was a show. We nned it for three purposes. First, it would show people that the two lords were still on bad terms with each other. Second, Golden Roc Fort would get a bad reputation from it, which is still better than obscurity. Third, King Kuari and Golden Roc Fort believed that it was about time to let people know that they were allies. As far as I know, Golden Roc Fort has been working for King Kuari for a long time. In my opinion, it must have been Golden Roc Fort¡¯s idea to invite the Dragon King to Nond only to frame the assassination on you,¡± Fu Yuan went on.


    Golden Roc Fort would certainly benefit a lot from the alliance, but Gu Shenwei could not figure out what King Kuari would gain from it. Fu Yuan swore that he also had no clue, saying, ¡°King Kuari is the only mutual contact in the alliance. He talked with each ally separately, and the allies avoid talking to each other as much as possible to avoid suspicion.¡±


    Atst, Fu Yuan advised the Dragon King, as if he were a close friend, ¡°This is how things are. Everything has been arranged and the Khan will not live much longer. Many people, including several lords, are involved in the assassination plot. As for the details such as time and means, they have nothing to do with me, and I won¡¯t inquire about them.¡±


    ¡°Dragon King, face the reality. Even if you run away, you will still be suspected of the Khan¡¯s death. It¡¯s well known that you have the best killers. Winning the tournament against the three lords will make you look even more guilty,¡± he advised.


    ¡°In my opinion, you¡¯d be better off running away, though. Guilty or not, at least you can save yourself. After the Khan dies, Nond will be in chaos for several years. Everyone will surely talk about revenge, but they will fight against each other first topete for the crown. The Dragon King will still have time to find a way to protect himself in the chaos. If I had a good ce like the Land of Fragrance like you do, I wouldn¡¯t be afraid of anyone,¡± he continued.


    Suddenly Gu Shenwei raised his saber for the second time, and another cut aappeared on Fu Yuan¡¯s face. He was terrified again and cried, ¡°You, you¡­¡±


    ¡°No more tricks! Answer my questions honestly,¡± Gu Shenwei demanded. He was familiar with the tricks of Immortal Peng. Fu Yuan had only learned a little of it and was now trying to use it on the Dragon King, who had seen through him from the very beginning.


    Fu Yuan was both angry and scared. He wiped his face with his hand, looking at the blood on his hand and trembling. As King Dari¡¯s favorite eunuch, he was used to special treatment. Even King Kuari treated him with respect in order to win his loyalty.


    ¡°What else do you want to know?¡± Fu Yuan asked, trying to sound tough, but he could not help trembling.


    ¡°What¡¯s special about the Tournament of the Royal Court this year? Why does everyone want to be the champion?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    Fu Yuan did not want to answer, but the shining saber forced him to. ¡°It¡¯s very simple, in fact. The Dragon King would understand the importance of this year¡¯s tournament if you knew more about the customs of Nond. In the past several hundred years, every time a Khan died, Nond has fallen into division and chaos. There have been no exceptions. The people on the grasnd respect the strong. Even the heir designated by the Khan needs to prove his strength in a real fight,¡± he answered.


    ¡°This year¡¯s Tournament of the Royal Court is a good chance. The champion will win admiration and respect from the Nond people, thereby gaining a huge advantage in the melee that is about to begin. I didn¡¯t understand this kind of thing when I first arrived in Nond, either. But now, I have to preach to King Dari these titudes every day and I¡¯m finding that they are really useful. King Dari can¡¯t beat King Kuari, but there are still many people who are unwaveringly loyal to him,¡± he continued.


    ¡°But then again, honor, admiration, and respect ¡ª these things only work for the offspring of the Khan. It¡¯s useless for the Dragon King to have them here. In my opinion, the Dragon King has been unwise in challenging the three lords,¡± he concluded.


    ¡°King Rizhu is not of the Khan¡¯s bloodline, but he is also very enthusiastic about the Tournament,¡± Gu Shenwei pointed out.


    ¡°True, but he is the brother of the Khan¡¯s first wife. The Queen¡¯s family needs him to guarantee their position in the court. I am sure that on King Kuari¡¯s crowning ceremony he will have to announce that he will marry a woman from the Naihang Tribe as his first wife,¡± exined Fu Yuan.


    ¡°What about the riots in the slums?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°That was a prelude to the Tournament of the Royal Court. The lords have recruited too many kung fu masters to participate in the Tournament, and some have to be eliminated in advance,¡± Fu Yuan answered.


    ¡°Who was the winner?¡± asked Gu Shenwei


    ¡°Each had his own gains and losses. After all, it was only a prelude. Real masters don¡¯t live in the slums,¡± said Fu Yuan.


    ¡°What was King Kuari¡¯s brother, Kuo Zhen, doing in the slums?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    ¡°You got me. King Kuari doesn¡¯t tell me everything. I don¡¯t talk to his other allies,¡± said Fu Yuan.


    The blood on Fu Yuan¡¯s face was dry now, giving him a ferocious look. He had given up his efforts to control the Dragon King with his tricks. Having been the spokesperson for King Dari for a long time, there was a lord¡¯s tone in his speech. It was as if his statements were all voluntary, rather than being forced out by a saber.


    Gu Shenwei decided to stop his questioning. Although he had not gotten all the answers he wanted and was sure that Fu Yuan had not told theplete truth, he had to let it go. If he kept pushing, the eunuch would have to die.


    The five victims were still standing there, dumb and stiff. They had been tortured for so long that they would probably never be normal again.


    Gu Shenwei raised his saber for the third time, and Fu Yuan¡¯s crutch was broken in two.


    Daylight had broken when he returned to the Dragon Army¡¯s encampment. He summoned Fang Wenshi and told him what he had learned from Fu Yuan, omitting that Shangguan Ru was missing. Fu Yuan had no information about that matter, anyway.


    Fang Wenshi was convinced that the Dragon King was correct again, but he found some errors in Fu Yuan¡¯s story. ¡°Fu Yuan must have lied. I don¡¯t believe Golden Roc Fort is just a minor factor in their plot. The Supreme King must have bigger ambitions. The lords need someone to kill the Khan, and Golden Roc is the best candidate to do that. The price for the killing must be very high,¡± he said.


    ¡°Yeah. Fu Yuan tried to persuade me to run away from Nond. He also tried to talk me out of the Tournament of the Royal Court. It seemed like he had already prepared those words in his mind. Andst night¡¯s action was incredibly sessful, but probably not because of my luck,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Fang Wenshi thought for a moment, then said, ¡°So, there won¡¯t be a war between Nond and the Central in.¡±


    All the forces in Nond were busy preparing to grab the legacy of the Khan. Under those circumstances, they wouldn¡¯t want tounch arge-scale war.


    ¡°It makes sense,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Who is the mole that was bought by the Central in?¡± asked Fang Wenshi.


    They had betted against this. Gu Shenwei said it was King Dari and Fu Yuan. Fang Wenshi believed it was King Rizhu. The appointed date had passed, and no one had found clear evidence of either.


    ¡°Anyway, you won,¡± Gu Shenwei admitted. Their original agreement was that if both of them were wrong, then the Dragon King would lose the bet. Fu Yuan was obviously not a mole, otherwise, he would not have tried to persuade the Dragon King to escape from Nond as soon as possible.


    Fang Wenshi smiled without any joy. He was still thinking about the current situation. ¡°It¡¯s such a mess. I actually think Fu Yuan¡¯s words are very reasonable. Maybe fleeing back to the Western Region is, indeed, the only viable option,¡± he reasoned.


    ¡°That will only stall the crisis, and make me seem more guilty of the Khan¡¯s death,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Fang Wenshi shook his head, as if denying some ideas, one after another. Finally, he said, ¡°Then there is only one choice left.¡±


    He looked at the Dragon King, and the Dragon King looked at him. Then both of them said at the same time, ¡°Protect the Khan.¡±


    Fang Wenshi smiled, shook his head, and said, ¡°What are we doing? The so-called ¡®most loyal¡¯ Nond people are nning to assassinate their own Khan. We outsiders even haven¡¯t met the Khan in person, but we still have to find a way to save him.¡±


    Despiteining, Fang Wenshi immediately conceived a n. ¡°The Khan¡¯s second wife wants to bring the Dragon King to her side. The timing is perfect. We should use her to send out a warning message, and with her help maybe we will be able to meet the Khan in person before Golden Roc Fort does,¡± he suggested.


    ¡°But she also wants to use me to kill,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°So what? As long as she does not ask us to kill the Khan, the other people don¡¯t matter. In a crucial time like this, only extreme measures can be taken. But, we have to take advantage of a woman again. The Dragon King won¡¯t care too much, will he?¡± said Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°I¡¯m not from Nond,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    Fang Wenshi understood Gu Shenwei¡¯s meaning and smiled. Then he said, ¡°The second wife of the Khan is not a simple person. The Dragon King asked me to inquire about her background, so I have acquired some information about her. At first, nobody in Nond dared to talk about her¡­ until they saw the money. Actually, this woman has a small connection to the Dragon King.¡±


    He stopped for a minute to let the Dragon King be more interested, and then continued, ¡°She is the woman who almost became the daughter-inw of King Rizhu, and the reason why the Seventh Prince of the Central in fought against King Rizhu¡¯s son. She also benefited the most from Gu Lun¡¯s murder of Wang Sun.¡±


    Fang Wenshi still thought that the Dragon King was named Yang Huan and that his father was a servant of the Gu family, so he had not taken this information very seriously.


    Gu Shenwei, however, was alerted by the information. He remembered that New Moon Hall¡¯s poison was involved in Gu Lun¡¯s murder case. The woman who had benefited most from the murder was exactly the person he should have suspected.

 Chapter 569 - Return the Favor

    Chapter 569: Return the Favor


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    The second of wife of the Khan was born into a small tribe on the grasnd. Her family was an ally of King Rizhu, and she had been promised to his son. However, a death had changed her marriage n.


    In the story told to Gu Shenwei by King Rizhu, the second wife of the Khan was an unimportant person, and had made no acquaintances with the Seventh Prince of the Central in. However, Fang Wenshi had heard a different story from other people. Rumors were that she was so beautiful that the Seventh Prince and King Rizhu¡¯s son had gotten into a terrible fight over her. After that, no one dared to marry her, except the Khan.


    Less than a month after she married the Khan, she was named his second wife. Ever since then, she had been his favorite and had gained a high status in the court.


    After talking with his Military Counselor, Gu Shenwei called Maid Lotus in and again asked her if New Moon Hall had a disciple in Nond. Maid Lotus¡¯s answer was the same as thest time: ¡°No, Nond has never been included in any ns of New Moon Hall.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Gu Shenwei asked, a little surprised. Maid Lotus, like him, was a suspicious and cautious person. She did not usually give such a definite answer. After all, she had only been in New Moon Hall for a few years.


    ¡°As the Managing Master, one of my duties was to assist the Master in making ns. Believe me, I have seen the ns of New Moon Hall for the past 30 years and the next 10 years, and there is not a word about Nond in any of them,¡± she said.


    Gu Shenwei could only believe Maid Lotus.


    To prepare for the alliance with the second wife of the Khan, Fang Wenshi collected more information that day. All information indicated that she was a disciple of New Moon Hall. In addition, she was a passionate and lively woman who had shot tigers, organizedrge-scale banquets and even led an army of the Khan¡¯s to suppress the rebellion.


    Therefore, when she invited the queens and princesses from various countries in the Western Region toe together in Nond, the Nond people did not feel it was a strange thing. They were used to it, because this was exactly what she had always done.


    The second wife of the Khan was certainly a little crazy, but her craziness was not like the unpredictable madness of New Moon Hall disciples. Rather, it was an excessive enthusiasm. Gu Shenwei suddenly thought of Shangguan Ru. If she had not changed her temperament, she would have been like this.


    There was still no news about Shangguan Ru. Her kidnappers seemed to think that the time still had note to give him a sign. Gu Shenwei would have liked to act immediately, but he had to solve the crisis of the Dragon Army first.


    He needed help from Luo Ningcha, who was no longer living in the tent full of screens. As a dy¡± of the Khan¡¯s second wife ¡ª her new identity ¡ª she had moved to the Flower Camp. Gu Shenwei delegated the female officers from the Land of Fragrance to send gifts to her new residence to show his friendship.


    There was no immediate response from Luo Ningcha or the Khan¡¯s second wife. Gu Shenwei understood, due to their special position at the Court, that they must be cautious in their contact with the Dragon King. In the process of waiting, Gu Shenwei decided to invite Zhang Ji and Shangguan Yun to his encampment for dinner.


    ¡°Why shall we invite them?¡± Fang Wenshi asked, surprised because the two sides were in a state of war.


    ¡°We should show our manners, even to the enemy. They invited me at Tongtian Pass, and I should return the favor. Moreover, I want you to meet Zhang Ji and know him better,¡± Gu Shenwei exined.


    Fang Wenshi nodded gravely, but rejected the idea in his heart. Fang Wenshi considered Zhang Ji a teacher in a worse position than him, who had only gotten appreciated at an old age. He did not think Zhang Ji would be better than him, and decided to show him some smart tricks during the dinner in front of the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei had another purpose for the dinner. He had not mentioned it to Fang Wenshi, but he had switched his suspicion about who had kidnapped Shangguan Ru from the Nond lords to Golden Roc Fort.


    Fu Yuan was a liar, but like all other liars, nine out of ten of his words were the truth. He had said that the lords of Nond did not want to have any connection with the Dragon King. Kidnapping the ¡°Queen¡± of the Land of Fragrance would not only damage the reputation of Nond, but would also be considered a connection with the assassination of the Khan in the future.


    Gu Shenwei felt that these words were reasonable, and then he suddenly realized that neither Shangguan Ru nor Old Man Mu were average people, but both had disappeared quietly. This might mean that the kidnapper had set a perfect trap, but it was more likely that the kidnapper was someone that Shangguan Ru and Old Man Mu knew personally.


    Shangguan Yun and Zhang Ji epted the invitation and came to the dinner that evening.


    Just like thest time, there were only five people at the dinner, except Fang Wenshi was present this time instead of Maid Lotus. Shangguan Fei was an extra guest, the same asst time, but he looked listless and drank silently. He had been living miserably since he had gotten into the Qigong Deviation and did not sleep well.


    Shangguan Yun appeared even morenguid and bored, as if he had been forced to attend the dinner. He stared at his ss and did not touch the food.


    ¡°He hasn¡¯t recovered from the blow,¡± said Zhang Ji, who had started drinking again sinceing back from Tongtian Pass. He quaffed down a ss of wine and continued, ¡°No one can stand being humiliated in public by a eunuch, let alone a King.¡±


    Shangguan Yun sneered, ¡°Of course, especially when the King has no one to help him save face.¡±


    ¡°A King does not need to save face,¡± Zhang Ji started to preach, as if he was strictly scolding a student who was misbehaving. ¡°Saving face is for the weak. A king needs strength. With strength, you can control everything and earn people¡¯s respect. Being humiliated is perseverance, andpromise is wisdom,¡± he went on.


    Shangguan Yun smiled and said nothing. He seemed unconvinced, but did not want and dared not to argue.


    From the way they talked, it looked like they had not heard about Fu Yuan¡¯s confession, which Gu Shenwei deeply doubted.


    Fang Wenshi had been observing them quietly, thenmented, ¡°¡®Humiliation is perseverance,promise is wisdom¡¯. Well said, through the ages, the founding kings¡­¡±


    His voice was loud enough, but Zhang Ji did not seem to hear him. Ignoring him, he turned to the Dragon King and asked, ¡°I heard that you made challenges to the three lords of Nond?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Gu Shenwei answered tly.


    ¡°Whose idea was that? It was a really bad one,¡± Zhang Ji replied.


    Fang Wenshi felt awkward at being interrupted. His face turned red. Although he did not like the Dragon King¡¯s approach at the beginning, he decided to speak for him. He suppressed his anger, shook his head and said, ¡°No, no. It¡¯s a coup ¡ª a clever move.¡±


    Zhang Ji seemed to notice the Military Counselor of the Dragon King for the first time. He looked Fang Wenshi up and down, picked up his ss with his long fingers, took a sip, tasted it for a while, and then asked coldly, ¡°What¡¯s so good about it?¡±


    Fang Wenshi knew the principle of promise is wisdom¡±. He had said simr phrases to people before. But these principles were only useful to kings or those who want to be kings. He was just a military counselor ¨C an ordinary person. Topromise, he would lose and be humiliated, so instead, he fought back.


    ¡°First, the Dragon King was invited toe to Nond, but stilll hasn¡¯t been able to meet the Khan due to obstructions by several lords. The winners of the Tournament of the Royal Court are likely to be received by the Khan,¡± Fang Wenshi began.


    ¡°Second, Nond advocates force. The winner can gain respect and support from the people,¡± he continued.


    ¡°Third, some people have spread rumors that the Dragon King has secretly colluded with other forces of Nond to plot an assassination of the Khan. The Dragon King has challenged the three lords to show the world, especially the Khan, that the rumor is not true,¡± Fang Wenshi concluded.


    Even Gu Shenwei could not have said it better than the Military Counselor. Fang Wenshi was pleased with himself and wanted to continue listing more of the Dragon King¡¯s good ideas. Then Shangguan Yun, who had been indolent, suddenly pped his hands and said, ¡°What a good speech. Why didn¡¯t I realize it was such a good idea? What do you think, Mr. Zhang?¡±


    Zhang Ji only stared at the Dragon King and then asked, ¡°Sir, would you rather me be polite or honest?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Zhang, please be straightforward,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Zhang Ji nodded, and then turned to Fang Wenshi and said, ¡°Are you going to let the Dragon King take part in the tournament in person?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Dragon King¡¯s kung fu¡­¡± began Fang Wenshi.


    He was interrupted by Zhang Ji again.


    ¡°Fool!¡± shouted Zhang Ji.


    Fang Wenshi was taken aback, almost throwing his cup of wine into his opponent¡¯s face. He suppressed his anger and asked, ¡°Well sir, you were, indeed, straightforward. Can you exin why this is a bad idea? Don¡¯t you think the Dragon King¡¯s kung fu is good?¡±


    ¡°First, the Dragon King¡¯s a killer. He¡¯s good at assassination, not kung fupetitions,¡± said Zhang Ji.


    Fang Wenshi wanted to debate, but he changed his mind and just hummed. He did not know much about kung fu and could not tell the difference between assassinations and tournaments. So, he did not have any good arguments to support his opinion, but he still believed in the Dragon King.


    ¡°Second, although by challenging the three lords the Dragon King could sever the connection with the forces of Nond, it would also confirm the rumor that the Dragon King was bought and paid for by the Central in. The better the Dragon King¡¯s kung fu is, the more suspicion he will garner,¡± he continued.


    ¡°That¡¯s not so,¡± Fang Wenshi said, shaking his head violently. He had a lot more to say about this.


    Zhang Ji had been a teacher for more than ten years, so he was not easy to interrupt. Before Fang Wenshi could say anything else, Zhang Ji quickly finished his speech, ¡°Third andst, it is the worst idea to let the Dragon Kingpete in person.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡± Shangguan Yun asked next, not giving Fang Wenshi the chance to talk.


    ¡°There are a lot of races during the Tournament of the Royal Court. For example, the horse race, the dog race, the soldiers¡¯petition and the warriors¡¯petition. Though winners of each race will be awarded titles and fortunes, the real beneficiaries are their masters. When people talk about the race, they will not mention thepetitors¡¯ names, but who their masters are,¡± Zhang Ji said.


    ¡°So what? After the Dragon King wins¡­¡± began Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°Well, haven¡¯t you learned anything during your days in Nond? Don¡¯t you understand that warriors, like horses, dogs and soldiers, are all pawns of noble people? Have you heard any lord take part in thepetition in person? If the Dragon King participates in thepetition, he will surely win the title of warrior, but he will lose his precarious status as a king. Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s a stupid idea?¡± asked Zhang Ji.


    Fang Wenshi was speechless. He did not care about the first two points. However, Zhang Ji had made a good argument for the third point, which he had missed before. Although the Nond people advocated forces, it was just a kind of affection for fine horses and fierce dogs. Young nobles might try their skills in a tournament, but real lords would never dare topete in person.


    But Fang Wenshi still did not want to throw in the towel.


    ¡°Sir, you¡¯ve made valid arguments. I¡¯m convinced,¡± he said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it,¡± Zhang Ji said, picking up his cup and taking a sip.


    ¡°I got your point, sir. You mean the Dragon King should give up the tournament and flee from Nond. This sounds familiar to me. Oh, I remember now¡­ The eunuch who almost married a Shangguan woman and quarreled with the Cloud King put forth a simr suggestion. It seems that you two think alike,¡± Fang Wenshi said.


    Gu Shenwei silentlyplimented his Military Counseler in his heart. Yes, Zhang Ji¡¯s purpose was the same as Fu Yuan¡¯s, only more tactful and reasonable.


    Zhang Ji devoted himself to wine tasting and did not even raise his head. Shangguan Yun, the King of Zhang Ji, had to step in to help. ¡°Fu Yuan has met the Dragon King? The eunuch was crafty. The Dragon King should have been careful of him. But the good thing is that his life was short and he can never harm anyone again,¡± he said.


    Fang Wenshi was taken aback. ¡°What does that mean?¡± he asked.


    ¡°He¡¯s dead,¡± Shangguan Yun said. He had beennguid all night, as if waiting for this moment. Suddenly he changed from a messy drinker back to the great Cloud King. ¡°It just happened. The women of the Shangguan family bring bad luck. I¡¯m sure the Dragon King probably feels the same way,¡± he said.


    Gu Shenwei finally got a clear signal about the whereabouts of Shangguan Ru.

 Chapter 570 - Glamour

    Chapter 570: mour


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee


    Fu Yuan had just been about to serve King Dari when the assassin broke in and killed him. Those five children and maidens whom he had used to practice kung fu, easily broke free and tore one of their master¡¯s leg and arm each into pieces. In their state of iprehensible insanity, they might even have eaten part of them.


    This was all Gu Shenwei had heard of the whole process. The assassination had taken ce a quarter of an hour before Shangguan Yun and Zhang Ji went to the feast, and the two reported the news with incredible speed. The Dragon King and his counselor, however, were unable to keep up with thetest news because they were preupied by their preparation for the guests.


    Fang Wenshi felt ashamed because he had failed to defeat the school teacher in front of the Dragon King. And the intelligence system he had built himself also did not work in time.


    The feast ended hastily, and Fang Wenshi left the camp that very night. After wandering around aimlessly, he found that the situation was much more serious than he had previously thought. But he could only get a general idea of the assassination process from street gossip, and those officials who had taken gold and silver from him had suddenly became honest and reserved. Not only did they refuse to ept any more bribes, but several of them also did not even show up.


    ¡°It must have been King Kuari who interfered,¡± Fang Wenshi said indignantly, thest bit of favorable impression he had of King Kuari gone. ¡°We are isted.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve always been isted.¡± Gu Shenwei did not feel any pain from the betrayal. In his eyes, the reactions of the Nond officials were rather normal because the assassination of King Dari¡¯s favorite minion was like a deration of war. Who would want to take a stand carelessly at such a time and possibly incur a fatal disaster? What confused him was why Fu Yuan had been abandoned so quickly when he was still useful to King Kuari in helping him set up a seemingly powerful opponent.


    The death of Fu Yuan also caused a series of side effects. There was no need for the officials to report this because the rumors were already everywhere. Long Fanyun had just gone out one time but with just that he brought back more news than the counselor, most of which had questionable authenticity.


    It was said that the death of King Dari¡¯s favorite minion had scared him out of his wits. At first, he intended to lead his army to attack King Kuari and avenge his attendant, but then he wanted to run to the pce toin to the Khan. Atst, motivated by his fear of King Kuari, he actually escaped from the Royal Court. Some said that he was going to a tribe that was loyal to him, while others said that he wanted to mobilize the army toe back to fight with his opponent.


    At first, Fang Wenshi was still able to leave the camp and ask around for information, but soon the streets became unsafe. Brigades of cavalry rampaged about, and no one could tell which king they belonged to. The residents of the Royal Court hid in their tents and put away all their necessities. People were all well dressed, ready to move. The horses were already tied up in the doorway so that they could flee at any time.


    That night, the whole Royal Court was in turmoil. The internal war had seemed to break out in advance, even though the Khan was still alive. It was not until noon the next day that everyone finally realized that they had all overreacted, especially King Dari.


    King Dari thought that it was his nephew who was going to attack him. But actually, in less than two hours after the assassination of Fu Yuan, an assassin also appeared in King Kuari¡¯s pce, his target precisely the king. This time, however, the assassination failed, and the assassin was captured alive.


    King Kuari¡¯s reaction was calm and steady. Instead of making a fuss, he immediately took the assassin into custody and asked the officials of the Khan to interrogate him personally. And it was this man¡¯s confession that convinced the Khan that the whole riot was a huge misunderstanding.


    After receiving the assurance of the Khan, the runaway King Dari quickly returned to the Royal Court. He then sent his trusted men to participate in interrogating the assassin until he finally admitted that the assassination was not a conspiracy nned by his nephew.


    The assassin was Shangguan Shaomin¡¯s lover.


    Lots of people couldn¡¯t ept the statement when it first came out and thought it was just a cover to conceal the truth. But more and more people began to believe it as the details came out. As a result, a great turmoil which had nearly divided the Nond was now a murderous crime of passion.


    The assassin was a killer disciple who had given up halfway. He was rmended to the East Castle by the big young master Shangguan Chui. After Shangguan Chui¡¯s death, he voluntarily quit and returned to his lord¡¯s house as a servant. It was in this process that he fell in love with the miss and decided to marry her for the rest of his life.


    His servant name at the castle was Servant Ke. In order to marry the miss publicly, he gathered arge sum of money, bought his own freedom two years ago and then started wandering outside. He also went back to his original name, Feng Qin.


    Not many people knew what Feng Qin had been doing exactly in the past two years, but it was more or less raiding and piging. Either way, he had amassed a great fortune and nned to wash his identity clean outside Jade City before returning to the castle to seek a marriage alliance from his former lord.


    Their idea was very simple. Since Shangguan Chui had already died, the youngdy was like a superfluous person to the Shangguan family. As long as they had enough money, their marriage shouldn¡¯t have been a big problem.


    But when Feng Qin hurried back to Jade City, the news he received was like a thunderbolt from the blue. Even so, he didn¡¯t give up and instead ran all the way to the Royal Court.


    Two years of making a living by wandering from ce to ce had washed away his killer¡¯s mindset developed from the brutal training in East Castle, but his killing techniques had remained. The boy had grown into a ruthless robber. He could have snuck the youngdy out, but he couldn¡¯t bear that his woman had been insulted, even if the insult was only verbal.


    Fu Yuan paid the price for his excessive performance. He shouted a lot of obscenities at the gate of Golden Roc Castle camp, each of which was enough to irritate Feng Qin into hacking him to pieces.


    Feng Qin, who already easily indulged in killing, then rushed to King Kuari¡¯s pce during the chaos and nned to kill the man who was coveting the youngdy. But the protection of the King was not the same as that of a servant, and he was captured alive by arge group of bodyguards.


    Golden Roc Castle was suddenly thrust into the eye of the storm. Shangguan Yun and Zhang Ji, along with the many killers they had brought along, were all called in for questioning to corroborate Feng Qin¡¯s confession.


    Golden Roc Castle, however, shed all suspicion in less than a single day. Although the culprit was still among the people of the castle, Feng Qin had been under the jurisdiction of the castle since a long time ago.


    The best evidence was from those several wandering bandits who hade to the Royal Court. They all imed to know Feng Qin, and described him as, ¡°He is ruthless and only cares about money. I never would have thought that he would touch a woman. So it¡¯s still because of women.¡±


    These people were arrested quickly and then interrogated by several of the kings¡¯ men at the same time. Finally, they were able to draw a convincing conclusion that Feng Qin had severed his connection to Golden Roc Castle as early as two years ago.


    Everyone believed it except for Fang Wenshi. He believed that it was all a conspiracy and that the most favorable evidence for his judgment was the fact that Shangguan Yun heard of the assassination so quickly without being surprised. But he could not speak of this to others, and no one would believe him even if he did.


    ¡°How old was the granddaughter of the Unique King two years ago? She was only thirteen or fourteen years old at that time, so how could she possibly privately decide to marry a lowly servant without her parents¡¯ permission?¡± Fang Wenshi saw many ws in this, but he could only say them to the Dragon King, ¡°Ridiculous, this is really ridiculous. It¡¯s understandable for King Kuari to believe this bullshit as he is on Golden Roc Castle¡¯s side now, but why does King Dari also believe it? He¡¯s such a fool.¡±


    Coincidentally, Gu Shenwei actually knew this Feng Qin.


    Along with memories of Lotus, he had many recollections of the boy who was called Servant Ke at that time.


    Servant Ke had entered the Furnace Yard one yearter than Gu Shenwei. During the ughter amongst the two generations of disciples, he and several other servant-born disciples had joined the Tattooed Arm Gang at the same time. He was clever and good with kung fu. His biggest shoring, however, was that he was somewhat impatient and couldn¡¯t stand the long boring wait before acting, which meant that he could never be an outstanding killer.


    Gu Shenwei remembered that he had once pointed this out frankly and sincerely, and Servant Ke had taken it seriously and swore to correct his shoring. Soon afterward, Gu Shenwei and several others had started assisting the two young masters and spent less and less time in East Castle. His connection with Servant Ke was severedter after the Tattooed Arm Gang was disbanded.


    Yearster, Feng Qin, who had reverted back to his original name, was even impatient than ever.


    Gu Shenwei also did not believe that the assassination was a coincidence, but it was a little bit too exaggerated to imagine that Golden Roc Castle had nned all of this two years ago. The most important thing was what was the purpose of killing a favorite minion of King Dari¡¯s?


    ¡°It¡¯s easy, actually.¡± Fang Wenshi was anxious for the officials in Nond, ¡°The whole truth wille out if they interrogate the Unique King¡¯s granddaughter. I don¡¯t believe they had an affair that early on, let alone that Feng Qin killed for her two yearster. Of course, the woman of the Shangguan family will speak for her own family, but as long as they torture her, I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll break.¡±


    Fang Wenshi let out a long sigh. Since Shangguan Shaomin was now King Kuari¡¯s woman, no one could torture her and force out the truth.


    If Shangguan Ru were still here, Gu Shenwei would have wanted to meet Shangguan Shaomin again through her to find out the truth. But Shangguan Ru would probably beg him to save people again, and not just to save one, but two this time.


    Matters like people who loved each other yet couldn¡¯t be together always moved her heart. That was how it was years ago.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t mean to save people, not even considering it. Dangers were everywhere, and he would never meddle in another¡¯s business.


    The real matter came soon, and Gu Shenwei finally figured out Golden Roc Castle¡¯s scheme.


    Just on the afternoon of the second day since the assassination, when Feng Qin and the people from Golden Roc Castle were still being interrogated, Luo Ningcha conveyed her intention to meet the Dragon King again through a female official of the Land of Fragrance.


    This time, instead of deliberately mystifying things, she directly provided an address. The appointed time was on the second night watch period, at a tent full of screens.


    Gu Shenwei thought that the Second Consort must be a remarkable woman, for she could make Luo Ningcha whole-heartedly run errands while feeling that she was gaining a lot of benefits from it.


    Exuberant, Luo Ningcha seemed to have returned to the happy and carefree state she had been in back at Iron Mountain. ¡°Something big is about to happen.¡± She deliberately said in a mysterious tone and hooked her fingers at Gu Shenwei to beckon him toe closer.


    ¡°Because of the death of a eunuch? ¡°Gu Shenwei leaned slightly forward but did not move.


    ¡°He¡¯s an insignificant minion, and it doesn¡¯t matter if he¡¯s dead or not. Someone just wanted to use him to achieve certain purposes. As a smart guy, can you guess anything about this situation?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had no clue at all in the beginning but he actually figured out many things the moment he received Luo Ningcha¡¯s invitation. But he still shook his head.


    Luo Ningcha was happier, ¡°Actually I should not have told you. After all, I am also a person of Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s right, you are still the eighth young mistress, and Shangguan Nu is in the Royal Court right now. ¡±


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s smile immediately disappeared at the mention of her husband. ¡°Don¡¯t mention him to me. I don¡¯t want to see him even if hees to me step by step kowtowing and begging. I feel disgusted just thinking of him.¡±


    Luo Ningcha was much less enthusiastic about guessing games. ¡°If you think about the Second Consort, you¡¯ll know Golden Roc Castle¡¯s purpose of ying these tricks.¡±


    More than twenty years ago, the Second Consort had also be famous for her mour following an incident, which was that she had failed to marry the grandson but got married to his grandfather instead.


    Luo Ningcha sighed and leaned on the soft couch, staring at the Dragon King with the misty eyes Xu Yanwei had taught her and whispered, ¡°Men are all lecherous. The more power they have, the more lecherous they be no matter how old they are. What about you? You¡¯re the Dragon King and you have a lot of power.¡±

 Chapter 571 - Covenant

    Chapter 571: Covenant


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee


    Luo Ningcha liked powerful men. For her, they were an irresistible temptation. The reason why she loathed her husband Shangguan Nu was not simply because of his broken palm; that was the least of reasons. The main point was that he was like ame dog now! He couldn¡¯t even save his own life, not to mention being powerful.


    At the same time, she resented men who remainedpletely unmoved to her beauty. Even if it was only a beggar on the street that didn¡¯t stare in amazement as she passed by, that would leave her in a bad mood all day. Fortunately, she had hardly ever experienced such a thing.


    When the two principles shed as never before, she was at a loss as to which face to show.


    ¡°I do not hate you. I came to the door on my own initiative, but you didn¡¯t even look me in the eye. What¡¯s the matter with you? Were you been scared senseless by the Royal Court that easily? And even can¡¯t do ¡­ that thing? This is not the Servant Huan I remember, remember when you were ¡­¡±


    In just a few words, Luo Ningcha alternated wildly between talking in a resentful, angry, threatening, and heartbroken tone, and totally forgot about her task. The more she talked, the looser her lips became.


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t let her go on speaking. ¡°It¡¯s different now. You have your own army and you¡¯re a confidant of the Second Consort. The power is all in your hand, and I do not deserve you.¡±


    Luo Ningcha smiled, ¡°I know you are lying to me, but lies are always sweeter than the truth. At that time you were merely a servant, while I was the lord. Yet didn¡¯t you ¡­¡±


    ¡°I never treated myself as a servant in my heart.¡±


    ¡°No wonder Mama Xue always said you were unique. I also felt that you were different from the other servants. It turns out you had always wanted to be the Dragon King. Oh, I feel a lot better hearing you say that. To tell you the truth, sometimes when I thought of you as the son of a servant and you also as a servant in the castle, I couldn¡¯t help but feel ufortable.¡±


    Luo Ningcha possessed a unique ability, one that seduced people into sighing in admiration and sympathizing with her, before causing them to toss these good impressions of her far into the distance. She believed she had made great progress in her character. However, there were some aspects of her character that she was not conscious about, which naturally made it impossible to change.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about the Second Consort. We can gain more power from her.¡±


    The word ¡®we¡¯ made Luo Ningcha happier, so she straightened up and seriously said, ¡°Yes, she¡¯s the most important. But before we talk about her, let¡¯s talk about ¡®us¡¯. I¡¯m not someone who works pro bono.¡±


    ¡°Of course, a smart person like you will definitely not waste such a good chance. Tell me, what do you want?¡±


    Luo Ningcha, instead of recognizing the sarcasm in the Dragon King¡¯s tone, became even more ted and revealed an expression specially crafted for negotiation, which was ¡®expressionless,¡¯ but she was so excited that even her fingertips appeared restless. ¡°What do I want? I want power and status that willst forever so that I won¡¯t have to rely on any man.¡± She then suddenly smiled and added, ¡°Except you.¡±


    ¡°My little power might be lost at any time, and yet you want to rely on me?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s you who taught me to take refuge in the strong and win over the weak. You are weak right now but you¡¯ll be strong with my help. By that time, you will not give and take away power at will like Unique King. Uh, will you?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Gu Shenwei solemnly shook his head, ¡°I¡¯m willing to share my power with my allies.¡±


    ¡°I knew I was right. Shangguan Ru is your enemy¡¯s daughter, but you still sent her to the Land of Fragrance, not to mention that I¡¯m not your enemy.¡±


    Gu Shenwei could not help asking, ¡°Does the Second Consort have any news about her?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll answer all your questions as soon as you agree to my terms.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, go ahead.¡±


    ¡°I also want to own a country in the Western Regions. Anyone will do but it can¡¯t be too remote. I don¡¯t like grasnds.¡±


    ¡°As long as I have the power to do so.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t fool me. You own all five kingdoms of Xiaoyao Lake. You can give them to whomever you want. Even that little girl Shangguan Ru can get the Land of Fragrance, so why can¡¯t I get something?¡±


    ¡°Okay, I agree.¡± Gu Shenwei wanted to get straight to the point as soon as possible.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Now satisfied, Luo Ningcha suddenly found that this made her even more excited than having sex. So her little bit of discontent with the Dragon King disappeared entirely. ¡°I don¡¯t care who wins the war, you or the Unique King, Golden Roc Castle and Jade City all must belong to my son. Either he inherits the title of the Unique King or gets another title, as long as it doesn¡¯t coincide with the country I own.¡±


    Everyone wanted to have the declining castle on the mountain top. Gu Shenwei had already offered it at least twice and didn¡¯t mind doing it one more time. ¡°Deal.¡±


    Luo Ningcha pressed her hands against her belly and took a deep breath as if proposing the two conditions had exhausted most of her strength. She felt tired, yet more satisfied than if she had indulged in carnal pleasures all night.


    Although sensual pleasure between the two was inconsequentialpared to power and status, it was a guarantee, a guarantee that Luo Ningcha still needed. So thest term she demanded was, ¡°After defeating Golden Roc Castle ¡ª with my help, of course ¡ª you have to marry me as your queen.¡±


    On the other terms, Gu Shenwei could respond perfunctorily or even lie but this one was a bit out of his expectations, so he could not even think of a good lie for a moment, and responded, ¡°You ¡­ I already have a queen.¡±


    ¡°I know, it¡¯s the princess of the Stone Kingdom. I will not contend with her. You can have two queens like Khan as long as you treat them as equal consorts. And my country should not be too close to the Stone Kingdom.¡±


    Luo Ningcha stared at the Dragon King with a determined expression, her eyes appearing bigger than usual. She had put this term at the end because she remembered Servant Huan once said that important goals should be put in the end. Since the negotiators had agreed to the previous terms, they would naturally find it difficult to reject thest term.


    ¡°You really think I can defeat Golden Roc Castle?¡± Gu Shenwei was a little confused about what Luo Ningcha was thinking about. Even after the victorious battle on the seaside slope, the overwhelming majority of people still believed that the Unique King had the upper hand. She was the only one who believed in the Dragon King with such certainty.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be even more confident than I am when you learn about the Second Consort¡¯s n.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I agree to this condition as well, but I want to see ¡®you help out¡¯ first. If you are just running errands for Second Consort, I¡¯d rather marry her. The old Khan won¡¯t live for long anyway.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Luo Ningcha startedughing so hard that she doubled up withughter.


    Gu Shenwei knew that what he had said sounded funny but he did not expect it to be this funny, which helped him understand a bit more about the n Luo Ningcha had yet to reveal.


    All of a sudden, Luo Ningcha¡¯sughter ceased. ¡°You will definitely notice my help. By the way, I want to add one more term to my previous one. You can only have two queen consorts, and can¡¯t marry more princesses from another country after you taste the benefits.¡±


    ¡°Well, not everyone is as optimistic about the future of the Dragon Army as you are.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m d you understand. You were supposed to sleep with me tonight as a ¡®down payment,¡¯ but I¡¯m really not interested right now and am also a little tired. So, you can write the formal covenant.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t write anything like that. It¡¯s nothing to me but a mortal threat to you. Once exposed, the Unique King won¡¯t let you go even if you have give him a son.¡±


    ¡°Do you think I don¡¯t know? It¡¯s your business to write it, and mine to keep. Besides, with this covenant, you can also be reaffirmed that I¡¯m not a spy of Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    Gu Shenwei believed that the Unique King would not tell Luo Ningcha his true purpose even if he wanted to make use of her, just as he did now.


    On the road of vengeance and hegemony, deception was everywhere like a paved stone. But deceiving Luo Ningcha, a woman whose mind was so simple that she couldn¡¯t even see the danger, still made him feel a little guilty. So he carefully chose his words when writing the covenant, and pressed his handprint in the end.


    Luo Ningcha watched and nodded her approval when he finished. But as she was about to put away the covenant, Gu Shenwei snatched it first and said, ¡°I have to know the Second Consort¡¯s n first, if it¡¯s not worth it I can still tear up these pieces of paper.¡±


    Luo Ningcha didn¡¯t sit back on the soft couch but instead stood three steps away from the Dragon King. Her eyes were fixed on the covenant in his hand as if she were a kung fu master who could snatch it when he was off guard. ¡°Which one do you want to hear first, Second Consort¡¯s n or Shangguan Ru¡¯s whereabouts?¡±


    ¡°The former.¡±


    Luo Ningcha was very satisfied with the Dragon King¡¯s answer. ¡°Hmm, let¡¯s start with Golden Roc Castle. The Unique King has racked his brains to help the little girl of the Shangguan family rise to fame as soon as she arrived at the Royal Court. The purpose is to, you know, attract the attention of the lecherous Khan. Of course, fame alone won¡¯t work. They need someone to spark the fire. Some people around the Khan have already taken action, and the Second Consort hopes that you can stop this marriage.¡±


    ¡°I thought she wanted to borrow my sword.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you just don¡¯t understand. She will naturally use your sword when killing Shangguan Shaomin.¡± Luo Ningcha knew this ¡®little girl¡¯, but she had left all her sympathies to herself and didn¡¯t feel sorry at all when saying the word ¡®killing¡¯.


    ¡°What¡¯s the purpose of all this?¡±


    ¡°It was actually part of the deal that Shangguan Shaomin would marry the Khan. So that Golden Roc Castle would be able to join the partition of inheritance rightfully after the Khan dies. This also means that they are about to make a move.¡±


    ¡°They?¡±


    ¡°King Kuari and several other kings want to murder the Khan and then pin it on you. The Golden Roc killer will imitate your style. That¡¯s the whole n.¡±


    ¡°She wants me to protect the Khan?¡± This was actually the strategy that he had discussed with Fang Wenshi, and yet it had happened to coincide with hers. Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help but be suspicious.


    ¡°Right, she¡¯s the only one who doesn¡¯t want Khan to die.¡±


    ¡°But he will die, sooner orter. He won¡¯t live many years even if an assassination doesn¡¯t take ce.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t take many years. Within another year or two, Second Consort will be able topete with King Kuari.¡±


    By that time, like the other kings, the Second Consort would hope that the old Khan would die right away.


    ¡°She¡¯s a woman. Can she alsopete for the throne?¡±


    ¡°No, her n is simr to mine. It is to support a man who is now in a weak position who will marry her when he bes the Khan.¡±


    Gu Shenwei finally understood where Luo Ningcha¡¯s resourcefulness came from.


    ¡°This ¡®weak person¡¯ must also be a descendant of the Khan, isn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°Of course; without a royal lineage it will be useless no matter how hard she supports him.¡±


    ¡°She can marry someone from her younger generation?¡±


    ¡°The customs here are different from those of the Western Regions. It doesn¡¯t happen very often, but there is nock of precedent.¡±


    ¡°How can I benefit from this?¡±


    ¡°First, you won¡¯t be framed as long as the assassination doesn¡¯t ur. Second, the Second Consort will lend you a hundred thousand cavalrymen,another twenty thousand after foiling the assassination plot, and eighty thousand more after the heir she has chosen inherits the title of Khan. With these forces, you can sweep the entire Western Regions.¡±


    It seemed that the Second Consort knew the Dragon King¡¯s thoughts very well.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Shangguan Ru?¡± Gu Shenwei suddenly asked.


    ¡°Second Consort doesn¡¯t know her whereabouts but she received some news that two people, one tall and the other short, broke into the residence of King Zhuri and then disappeared. This must be helpful to you, no?¡±

 Chapter 572 - Loyalty

    Chapter 572: Loyalty


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee


    The so-called ¡®help¡¯ Luo Ningcha was offering was to not let the Dragon King meet with the Second Consort. She also refused to disclose who the Second Consort was supporting in order to inherit the title of Khan. Perhaps Luo Ningcha herself did not even know.


    ¡°Alliances require a lot of give and take. The Second Consort has expressed her sincerity, and it¡¯s your turn now. You¡¯d better figure out the assassination n of Golden Roc Castle, and then everyone will be happy.¡±


    Luo Ningcha walked close to Gu Shenwei, stopping when she was just about to cling to him. She gently took the covenant away as her fingers softly caressed his chest before she suddenly pushed him away forcefully and giggled. ¡°Stop dreaming. I won¡¯t let youy a finger on me unless you marry me as your queen openly.¡±


    Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t intended to touch her but for a moment, his breath became heavy. It was an instinctual response that appeared regardless of whether its owner held deep grudges, was in a crisis, or had fallen in love. When it was time, it always dominantly established its existence like a pet who never had enough to eat.


    He would satisfy it every now and then, but this time he just wanted to viciously kick it back down.


    ¡°How should I contact you in the future? It will be way too troublesome if we do this every time.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ll be staying here for two nights, so you cane to me at any time then but don¡¯te toote.¡± Luo Ningcha was very pleased because she had achieved all her goals. She was particrly excited by the fact that she was a key figure in a conspiracy that would change the world.


    Gu Shenwei left without asking any more questions as he couldn¡¯t get the information he wanted from her. Luo Ningcha thought that she was very important, but she was really just a pawn in the Second Consort¡¯s hands, a pawn that could be casually discarded after being used.


    The night was deep and dark, a killer¡¯s favorite time to act. Gu Shenwei stood in the shadow for awhile, and Lotus appeared.


    ¡°Keep an eye on her. See where she¡¯s going, who she meets, and who serves her.¡±


    Lotus gently nodded. She was just about to leave when Gu Shenwei added, ¡°She¡¯s still useful.¡±


    Lotus had tried to assassinate Luo Ningcha on herst day at Golden Roc Castle. As time passed, she had be much more in control of her feelings than before. She nodded again without showing any signs of emotion.


    The night was not yet over, and Gu Shenwei did not want to return to the camp just like this.


    The whole Royal Court was shrouded in conspiracies so thick that he could almost swim in it. By following the clearest evidence trail, he went to the residence of King Zhuri alone.


    Gu Shenwei assumed that Shangguan Ru and Old Man Mu had left to fetch the three Bone Shrivelling Pills. The Office of King Rizhu was indeed a good ce to hide something. Everyone knew that Old Man Mu was the enemy of King Rizhu, so naturally, no one would think that he would keep his most important treasure here.


    Another important reason for Gu Shenwei toe was the Second Consort, who had nearly be King Rizhu¡¯s daughter-inw. Luo Ningcha thought that the Second Consort¡¯s n and Shangguan Ru¡¯s disappearance were of two different matters, but Gu Shenwei had found a hint from the two events.


    King Rizhu had had his me Foal stolen because of his army¡¯sck of discipline. From that day on, he strengthened his vignce and arranged patrols ording to wartime standards. At that point, even a small mouse could not enter or leave his office freely.


    But this evening, Gu Shenwei soon found a loophole, which confirmed his idea that King Rizhu was ¡®inviting¡¯ him in.


    This might be a delicately designed trap to lure the Dragon King into the, as breaking into the king¡¯s office at night was obviously a breach of the agreement. With this as an excuse, the Nond could dispose of the Dragon King at will without fearing any loss of political credibility.


    Gu Shenwei snuck into the camp. He had watched long enough, and it was time for him to take action.


    The heavily guarded campsite had left a single passage, which was difficult for outsiders to spot. In this passage, there were still guards on patrol, but every quarter of an hour or so the two teams of soldiers would turn around and leave a momentary gap in which a daring killer could seize the opportunity to pass.


    The one who had set up this passage knew the Dragon King¡¯s style very well. Gu Shenwei immediately thought of Wild Horse. The two of them had hunted each other in the ruins for a day and a night, and as a result knew each other¡¯s habits well.


    At the end of the passage was a small tent near the main tent, which was still lit in the middle of the night.


    This was a well-arranged ¡®audience¡¯s path to the king¡¯ and only open to one person.


    King Rizhu was sitting alone in the humble tent with a carefully crafted jewelry box on his knee. From time to time he took out an essory and observed it carefully.


    In front of him was ced someone¡¯s memorial tablet, with incense smoke curling up and amp shining as if it were eternal.


    While contemting the essory, King Rizhu reminisced upon the past and almost forgot that there was an important visitoring tonight.


    ¡°Wild Horse told me, of course through someone who knew signnguage, that the Dragon King would always appear behind my back no matter how vignt I remained.¡± King Rizhu said as he put a hair ornament made from gold flowers back into the box without looking up.


    ¡°Who is she?¡± Gu Shenwei asked while standing behind King Rizhu. The person beingmemorated in the tent was obviously a woman.


    ¡°My princess consort.¡± King Rizhu stayed silent for a moment, and with a rare sadness, he added, ¡°Not the one killed by Old Man Mu.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± There were many different views about what had caused that Princess¡¯s death. Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t concerned about it at all.


    ¡°She was the Khan¡¯s little sister. We grew up together and got married when I was seventeen and she was fifteen years old. We encountered many obstacles before marrying. The other tribes feared that the Naihang Tribe would take the chance to expand their influence so they tried every means to oppose it. It was the Khan who had stood out in the end and allowed us to marry each other.¡±


    King Rizhu and the Dragon King had been on the verge of breaking into a fight when they had first met. On their second meeting, he talked of Gu Lun¡¯s past. This time, he actually started talking about his dead wife. Gu Shenwei could not get a word in edgewise and could only listen in silence.


    ¡°The Khan is much older than me. The year I married, he had already received his title, quelled the rebellion, and consolidated his power. There was no need for him to please Naihang Tribe, let alone a silly boy like me. But he appreciated me and treated me like his own son. My princess died before she was twenty, and I begged the Khan, hoping that he could use his divine power to save my wife. But even he couldn¡¯t bring someone back from the dead. But he gave me the title of King Rizhu, which by convention belonged to his favorite son.¡±


    King Rizhu closed the box and turned to face the Dragon King. ¡°So you can understand that I will protect the Khan at all costs. I won¡¯t allow anyone to touch him even if he only has one breath left.¡±


    ¡°Was it you who sent the Second Consort to the Khan?¡±


    ¡°My useless son died. She was very sad and had vowed to never marry again. She also asked me to be her adoptive father. I agreed but asked her to marry Khan, so that we could protect his safety together.¡±


    The two¡¯s alliance was secretive. On the surface, the lecherous Khan had ¡®snatched¡¯ the Second Consort who had just lost her fianc¨¦ away, and King Rizhu had appropriately showed discontent and anger.


    For more than twenty years, the two had actually been exchanging information and like this, thwarted many plots revolving around the Khan.


    This time, however, they had faced a conspiracy so vast that they had to seek help from outsiders.


    ¡°Son of a bitch, bastard.¡± All of a sudden, King Rizhu burst out with a series of curses. This was simply his way of releasing pressure and had nothing to do with the Dragon King. ¡°We¡¯ve only met three times, and I¡¯ve already revealed my biggest secret. I really don¡¯t understand why the Second Consort values you so much.¡±


    Initially, King Rizhu was a well-deserved leader in a small alliance formed to protect the Khan. But with the rise of the Second Consort¡¯s status, their rtions gradually reversed. Now King Rizhu was the one epting her suggestion.


    Gu Shenwei also didn¡¯t understand. He had some wild spections but didn¡¯t want to mention any of them. ¡°The situation calls for prompt action.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± King Rizhu sighed helplessly. ¡°Golden Roc Castle was originally a grasshopper. Those so-called killers didn¡¯t dare to set foot in the Royal Court even though they were disguised. But now, someone would rather set the wolf free to save the sheep. Swarms of killers wander around the Khan and pretend to be harmless. The reason why the Second Consort needs you is most likely this reason; after all, you know them best.¡±


    It was hard for King Rizhu to have a good impression of the Dragon King. He held a grudge against Gu Shenwei¡¯s father. Besides, he was still rankled by the theft of the horse, not to mention that the me Foal hadn¡¯t been returned until now.


    ¡°Since I¡¯m here, you have only told me that you are loyal and desire to keep the Khan safe. You haven¡¯t told me what you want me to do.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s simple, just kill a few people.¡±


    The Dragon King was treated like a killer. Gu Shenwei could feel the obvious contempt in the tone. ¡°Whether it¡¯s simple or not has nothing to do with the number of killings but instead depends on who the targets are.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, it also depends on who does it. If the Dragon King¡¯s sword and saber are really as powerful as the legend say, everything will be very simple.¡±


    King Rizhu rarely praised the Dragon King, though he was still a bit skeptical about his ability. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t care, responding, ¡°The first target is Shangguan Shaomin.¡±


    This was the target that Luo Ningcha had revealed.


    ¡°Right. If she dies, Golden Roc Castle will lose an importantyer of security when it receives the reward, but this can only dy the assassination, and not end it.¡±


    ¡°If you want to assassinate the Unique King next, I can only tell you I can¡¯t make it.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. If I wanted to get rid of the Unique King, I¡¯d send my cavalry. He¡¯s a stooge, and the whole Golden Roc Castle ys a very small role. My second target is King Kuari.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew there would be such an answer. King Kuari was the core of the Khan¡¯s assassination. As long as he was still alive, the plot would change and continue evolving. ¡°There must be a third target.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but I can¡¯t tell you until these two are dead.¡±


    ¡°It sounds simple; kill a woman and a king to be the enemy of the whole prairie unless you and the Second Consort think of a way to save me?


    ¡°Everyone says the Dragon King is suspicious, and it¡¯s indeed true. But you are not acting alone. I¡¯ll send two of my people to assist you. These two will be able to prove that all your actions have my approval.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought for a moment before saying, ¡°I have to see the Second Consort.¡± He didn¡¯t like doing things in such a roundabout way. If he really had to form an alliance with someone, he wanted to talk to them face to face.


    ¡°As Dragon King wishes; you will see her right away.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was a bit surprised.


    King Rizhu stood up, ready to invite the Second Consort in. As he walked by the Dragon King, he handed him the jewelry box. ¡°This is what Old Man Mu and your woman came to steal, but I assure you, they¡¯re not in my hands.¡±

 Chapter 573 - Laughter

    Chapter 573: Laughter


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee


    The Second Consort was a beautiful woman, but after hearing so much about her legendary appearance, it actually was somewhat disappointing to anyone who met her for the first time.


    She had only been a teenager when she had gotten married to the Khan, and now she was in herte thirties. Like most women of the prairies, she was beginning to put on weight and now looked resolute. She walked very fast and shed into the tent like a gust of wind, showing her manliness.


    Fang Wenshi had found out lots of information about the Second Consort, all of which all rushed through Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind at the moment.


    The most important information they got was that she had no children, and on the surface, she stayed at an apt distance from all the kings. Many people of Nond believed that in the future, the Second Consort would either be buried alive with the dead Khan or exiled to the bitter cold North. No one had heard that she was helping a king¡¯s son seize the title of Khan.


    The Second Consort had an independent cavalry of ten thousand soldiers, which had been given to her by the Khan many years ago. This army had always been one of the important defensive forces of the Royal Court, but it was far from enough to control the whole situation.


    There were many rumors about her, most of which were of course false, such as that she was eight feet tall, could lift a man with one hand, and throw him a hundred steps away. The real Second Consort, though valiant and heroic in bearing, didn¡¯t look like a kung fu practitioner. Hermanding walk was not a disy of her physical strength, but rather of her pride in her power.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind immediately visualized a scene: The Second Consort was heading towards her destination with vigorous strides, leading a crowd of entourage that hurried along behind. With sweat oozing from their foreheads, they not only had to hear and execute everymand of their lord but also had to guess where her next move would lead.


    ¡°You¡¯re quite different from what I thought.¡± The one who said this was the Second Consort. She hadn¡¯t brought along her entourage, and the one behind her was King Rizhu, who held a look of indifference and vignce. Obviously, he didn¡¯t support this meeting.


    ¡°Rumors are misleading,¡± Gu Shenwei said casually, eliciting a burst ofughter from the Second Consort.


    ¡°Ah, right, we all know the power of rumors.¡±


    After a moment¡¯s worth of awkward silence, King Rizhu stepped forward to break the ice, saying, ¡°The Dragon King is still doubtful, and is waiting for the Second Consort to convince him.¡±


    King Rizhu¡¯s tone was strange, as it swayed between respect and control. He thought that he had covered it up well, but it was very clear to the ones present.


    The Second Consort said with spread arms, ¡°Honestly, the most important reason why I choose to ally with the Dragon King is that you have no way out, right?¡±


    King Rizhu revealed a faintly bitter smile. Gu Shenwei, however, didn¡¯t care about what she had said. He had heard many simr words in Nond. Everyone who wanted to court him would point out the Dragon King¡¯s plight either explicitly or secretly. ¡°¡®No way out¡¯ is very close in meaning to ¡®everywhere.¡¯ This is the prairie, and I can go whatever direction I like.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re so proud. Indeed, you¡¯re Gu Lun¡¯s son.¡±


    King Rizhu knew the Dragon King¡¯s true identity, as did the Second Consort.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t intend on replying.


    ¡°I want to talk to Dragon King alone,¡± said the Second Consort to King Rizhu.


    ¡°This¡­¡± King Rizhu was a bit reluctant but only spat out one word before he nodded and slowly left the tent. As he lifted the curtain to exit, he shot a serious nce at the Dragon King.


    ¡°I knew your father. He always followed the seventh prince closely, not like a guard but rather like an elder brother.¡±


    Since the Second Consort had taken the initiative to mention the past, Gu Shenwei also no longer evaded the topic. ¡°King Rizhu said to me that you and the seventh prince didn¡¯t meet each other.¡±


    ¡°Haha, he¡¯s right. We hadn¡¯t met before that incident. But we met frequently after I married the Khan. By that time, the seventh prince had be a strong contender for the Emperor of the Central ins, and the Khan naturally wanted to befriend with him, and I usually stayed around the Khan.¡±


    This exined why the Khan had wanted to gloss over Gu Lun killing a king¡¯s son.


    ¡°You two are ¡­. very familiar?¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know how to exactly ask his question without appearing too rude.


    The Second Consort replied with what Gu Shenwei had said before, ¡°Rumors are misleading.¡±


    She did not seem to want to borate in detail but after a moment of hesitation, she began to exin, saying, ¡°The prince of the Central ins and the Khan¡¯s favorite woman flirted with each other and then secretly had an affair. What a beautiful legend! Even those honest herdsmen who worshiped the Khan as a god delighted as they talked about it. No one could image that I, only a teenage girl who had just married the Khan, the greatest Lord of the Prairie could do such a thing. My position was unstable, I was threatened by rumors, ndered all the time, and lived under the watch of dozens of eyes from morning till night. I didn¡¯t even dare to breath heavily, so how could I possibly have an affair with the prince of the enemy country?¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know her living conditions at that time, but judging from how she was now, it seemed like it would have been easy for her to have an affair with someone. ¡°People just want to hear what they want to hear.¡±


    The Second Consort still appeared indignant. Suddenly, she asked, ¡°How old are you?¡±


    ¡°Twenty¡­ one.¡±


    ¡°s, you are so young. When I was your age, I still had to please a bby by any and all means. In order to numb myself, I drank lots of wine every day. I was so drunk that I couldn¡¯t feel dirty no matter what I put in my mouth. I don¡¯t even know how I managed to survive.¡±


    It was distance that created a godly image. The closer she got to god, the more realistically she saw and heard him. But Gu Shenwei still admired her courage that she dared to describe the Khan like this to someone she had met for the first time.


    ¡°King Rizhu wants to protect the Khan, but I just want to solidify my position. I¡¯ve paid too much and I don¡¯t want my hard-earned rewards to be taken away by others.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s almost exactly what Luo Ningcha told me.¡±


    ¡°That stupid woman, I suppose she¡¯s not such a bad messenger after all. Have you slept with her?¡±


    The Second Consort seemed to already regard the Dragon King as an acquaintance. Gu Shenwei was a bit ufortable at the beginning but soon changed his attitude and briskly nodded, ¡°She¡¯s very beautiful.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, such a beautiful woman, even I¡¯d like to have her.¡± Herughter dissolved the obscenity in her words. ¡°I hide her, lest she is seen by the Khan, as this woman wants to offer her services very much.¡±


    If there was a chance, Luo Ningcha would certainly be willing to rece Shangguan Shaomin and marry the Khan. Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t surprised at all. ¡°Her task is over.¡±


    ¡°Yes, she just doesn¡¯t realize it yet.¡± The Second Consort put away her smile to show that she wanted to get down to business. ¡°I heard that you¡¯ve been sending someone around to ask about me these days, especially about that incident of many years ago.¡±


    ¡°I want to know the truth about my family¡¯s death.¡±


    The Second Consort coldly stared at him and said after a moment of silence, ¡°And you also want to know whose son you are.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s concern had beenid out. He had calcted the time and found that when he was born, his father Gu Lun should have still been in Nond guarding the seventh prince. In that case, his father could not have taken his mother with him.


    The Second Consort¡¯s mouth corner turned up a bit, revealing a sly smile like a teenage girl, ¡°If I said that you are my son, would you believe it?¡±


    Perhaps the custom of Nond was more open or perhaps the Second Consort had been in power for a long time and could hand it with ease, but she didn¡¯t have the shyness or arrogance that Gu Shenwei had imagined. Her words were so bold that Gu Shenwei found it hard to answer.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head, ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be able to hide your pregnancy in front of the Khan.¡±


    ¡°Haha. That¡¯s what normal people should think. But then again, if I really wanted to deceive the Khan, I wouldn¡¯t have to hide my pregnancy. I could say that it was his child. When the baby was born, I could give him a dead baby and send my baby to his real father.¡±


    It was easier said than done. At that time the Second Consort had not yet ascended in power and was monitored everywhere, so it was impossible for her to carry out the actions she had just described. She was just joking, and soon revealed it. ¡°I wish I had a son, in that case,¡± she sighed. ¡°Things would be easier. I wouldn¡¯t have to foster anyone, and my son would be the Khan.¡±


    ¡°In that case, you would have been involved in the fight for the throne, which would have led to even more rumors and nders, and the situation would bepletely different from the one now.¡±


    Although the Second Consort was greatly favored by the Khan, one of the important reasons why she could gradually remove herself as an assassination target was that she had no children. And she knew this herself, saying, ¡°I¡¯m like one of those eunuch freaks who knows that there¡¯s no hope of receiving an inheritance, and thus wants to gather everything into his own hands twice as much.¡±


    ¡°As it is with all sentient beings. Some can hold it, and some can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°I must be too boring for you to start talking like a monk.¡± The Second Consort curled her mouth in disdain. ¡°You are not my son. Your father was a righteous man and had no women in Nond. He had to return to the Central ins once a year to pass along messages and pave the way for the seventh prince. During this time, he couldn¡¯t not have gone home. So it was normal for him to have several sons. You would know this if you can still find your old rtives and neighbors and ask them.¡±


    The rock that had upied a tremendous space in Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart was suddenly shattered. He was not entirely convinced by the Second Consort¡¯s exnation, but she did dispel his greatest doubt. As he recalled the attitude his parents and brothers held towards him, he did not understand where he had thought of such a ridiculous suspicion.


    ¡°Thanks, but that won¡¯t persuade me to work for you for free.¡±


    The Second Consort indifferently waved her hand, ¡°Of course, if I wanted you to work for me for free, I¡¯d have lied and said you were my son and that you would be the future Khan or something. But I want this to be a good deal for both sides, even though there is neither doubt nor trust between us. When it¡¯s all over, you will get the Western Regions, and I¡¯ll take the Nond.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°I need a promise.¡±


    ¡°When you see the helper King Rizhu and I send to you, you will know my promise is true.¡±


    Gu Shenwei admired this woman even more. She had barely spoken about the alliance from beginning to end, of which all the details had been spoken by Luo Ningcha and King Rizhu. She was only responsible for breaking the Dragon King¡¯s suspicion.


    The Second Consort hadrgely seeded. The Dragon King seemed to have been conquered by her and was willing to join the team that protected the Khan.


    It was at this moment that Gu Shenwei asked her an unexpected question, ¡°How did you poison my father¡¯s saber?¡±


    He still hadn¡¯t forgotten the incident of more than twenty years before. Gu Lun had been trying to teach the son of King Rizhu a lesson but had ended up killing the other side due to some poison on his saber.


    The Second Consort paused for a moment. She had obviously understood the meaning of his words, so her expression changed a bit but instantly returned to normal. ¡°What¡¯s poisonous is a person¡¯s heart, not the saber.¡±


    She had also learned to reply with abstract phrases, after which sheughed out loud. Gu Shenwei finally understood that herughter was a clever cover-up that could turn sharp words into smooth, vulgar jokes, and additionally, made concealed secrets seem like the flow of the soul.


    ¡°It had nothing to do with either Gu Lun or you. Give it up. Your enemy is surely not in Nond. Draw your sword, kill for me, and win the Western Regions for yourself.¡±

 Chapter 574 - Trust

    Chapter 574: Trust


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    ¡°Can I have my horse back now?¡± King Rizhu asked. Although he did not want to make an alliance with the Dragon King, he had to ept it. He was well aware that if he did not do it, the second wife of the Khan would do it without him. Since they were allies now, he decided to make his first request as a friend.


    ¡°No,¡±Gu Shenwei said, shaking his head.


    ¡°Why not?¡± King Rizhu asked in surprise.


    By then, there were only the two of them in the tent. The second wife of the Khan had left after she got what she wanted.


    ¡°As I told you before, I didn¡¯t steal your horse,¡± insisted Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°No, you didn¡¯t, but your people did,¡± King Rizhu said, quite upset. ¡°I¡¯ve been honest to the Dragon King since the very beginning. I wish the Dragon King would be the same to me. That horse is very important to me. I need it to win the Tournament in two days,¡± he whined.


    ¡°Why do you want to win? Do you want to show the other lords your strength so that they will be appalled and have second thoughts about the assassination plot?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s obvious. It¡¯s the same reason I killed Golden Roc Fort¡¯s woman ¡ª to sabotage the enemy¡¯s deal and make them feel that they¡¯d get little to no profit from it,¡± King Rizhu replied.


    Gu Shenwei gave it a thought for a minute, and then shook his head again. ¡°No,¡± he said.


    King Rizhu was known for being hot-tempered. He had been holding it in front of the Dragon King, but now he could not hold it in any longer. He asked the Dragon King furiously, ¡°Does the Dragon King really think he¡¯s that important and irreceable?¡±


    ¡°Many people can rece me. That¡¯s why I need to hold onto something that¡¯s not receable. If I had me Foal, I¡¯d hold it until the deal waspleted,¡± he said.


    King Rizhu squinted at the Dragon King like a lion observing its prey, ready to pounce at any time. ¡°The Dragon King seems to like making enemies,¡± he sneered.


    ¡°Enemies help keep my mind clear,¡± Gu Shenwei said, returning the jewelry box to King Rizhu and walking to the door. He had examined the box. There was an inteyer, and the object in it was gone.


    Before Shangguan Ru and Old Man Mu went missing, they had been here and had taken the Bone Shrivelling Pills. Now that King Rizhu would not admit that he had detained Shangguan Ru and Old Man Mu, Gu Shenwei would not admit that he had me Foal, either.


    Gu Shenwei did like to make enemies. The more enemies he made, the more important people would think he was. He knew he was only regarded as a killer by his enemies. Some took advantage of him, some wanted to get rid of him, but none of them really saw him as an ally. Even the second wife of the Khan was just using him as a sharp sword, even though she was acting like a confidant.


    Although killers did not pursue fame, sometimes fame was good for profit and power. In order to keep himself in a controlling position, Gu Shenwei decided to go directly into the center of trouble.


    The more enemies the better. In fact, Gu Shenwei did not think he had enough enemies. He needed to make all his enemies reveal themselves, especially those who had been pretending to be neutral.


    When Gu Shenwei returned to his encampment, daylight had just broken, and his excitement and safe feelings had gone away with the night. He was not sleepy at all, so he sat in his tent and scrutinized the ns for the next two days.


    He needed to get rid of Shangguan Shaomin at once as a gift to his allies. As for King Kuari, actions would be made during the Tournament of the Royal Court.


    Fang Wenshi lifted the curtain and was happy to see the Dragon King in the tent. ¡°I thought you might be back,¡± he said.


    ¡°Yeah. I just got back,¡± Gu Shenwei replied.


    Fang Wenshi looked like he had not slept the whole night, either. He was not used to being up all night, like killers. His hair was a mess and his face was bloated.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking. I don¡¯t think the second wife of the Khan is trustworthy,¡± he said.


    ¡°I just met her,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Fang Wenshi was surprised. ¡°What did she say?¡± he asked.


    Gu Shenwei told him what Luo Ningcha, King Rizhu, and the second wife of the Khan had said. He omitted the part about Shangguan Ru and his father, Gu Lun, though.


    ¡°One hundred thousand Nond cavalry in exchange for the Dragon King¡¯s sword, three people to kill, and the third thing will remain secret for now,¡± Fang Wenshi summarized the deal quickly.


    Gu Shenwei nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s it.¡±


    ¡°Have you agreed?¡± asked Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Gu Shenwei replied.


    ¡°With all due respect, the Dragon King shouldn¡¯t have agreed so early. King Rizhu and the second wife of the Khan im to be protecting the Khan. Who knows whether that is the truth or not? What if they are actually taking advantage of the Dragon King? Maybe after the Dragon King kills their enemies and they be the most powerful, they will still kill the Khan and frame the Dragon King for it,¡± said Fang Wenshi.


    This was why Gu Shenwei needed a person like Fang Wenshi, who was always doubful and thinking ahead. In this way, Fang Wenshi not only helped him with new ideas, but also criticized his ideas from a different perspective.


    ¡°Keep going,¡± encouraged Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Maybe there¡¯s not a third target. Maybe that¡¯s only a trick yed they¡¯re ying to ease your mind. Maybe the only person they want to kill is King Kuari, and the death of the Supreme King¡¯s granddaughter is just coteral. The second wife of the Khan made us believe that we¡¯re a part of the big picture, but actually it¡¯s quite simple. It¡¯ll be over once King Kuari is dead,¡± theorized Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°That¡¯s possible,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°I even suspect the woman you met was a fake. King Rizhu could¡¯ve easily found a woman to pretend to be the second wife of the Khan. In Nond, a man like King Rizhu is not likely to work for a woman willingly,¡± Fang Wenshi went on.


    Gu Shenwei did not agree with his military counselor on this point. ¡°It¡¯s really the second wife of the Khan,¡± he affirmed. Average people might be fooled by a fake, but not him. He was quite sure the woman he met was the one with the real power, which could not be faked easily.


    ¡°It¡¯s not important whether she is the real wife of the Khan or not. I just think it¡¯s weird. The way she and King Rizhu are protecting the Khan is suspicious. To put it bluntly, it¡¯s to kill the lord who is the most eligible to take the throne,¡± said Fang Wenshi.


    Gu Shenwei pounded his fist on the table and said, ¡°Exactly! But we need to find out one thing first. Both King Rizhu and the Khan¡¯s second wife are not eligible to take the throne. The wife even told me directly that she needed to find a new heir that she could trust, and she would marry that person when time came. We need to find out who that person is and then¡­.¡±


    ¡°Then we can take the initiative,¡± Fang Wenshi said, picking up where the Dragon King left off. As the Military Counselor, his duty was to solve problems for the Dragon King, although he would have preferred making bigger ns as opposed to weaving through tangled tricks and plots. ¡°Leave it to me. I will find out who this person is. He must be an offspring of the Khan. If the second wife of the Khan has been assisting someone, there must be some evidence,¡± he said.


    ¡°There¡¯s another thing. Go to the livestock market and pick out some cows and sheep from Senior Shou. Tell him you want the best,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± Fang Wenshi said, understanding the pun. He took the order and left.


    Gu Shenwei hoped Senior Shou and Bo Sang had been able to get more information from King Kuari¡¯s brother, who had been under their detention.


    Maid Lotus came in immediately after Fang Wenshi left. Gu Shenwei had not noticed that she was back. She came to report her findings about her tracking from the night before.


    Soon after Gu Shenwei had left the night before, Luo Ningcha had lit a torch that was ced at the tent¡¯s entrance. Her three maids got the message and rushed to her within a minute. They walked for about half a mile before getting on a coach escorted by ten Nond guards. The coach did not return to the Flower Camp at the north, but entered an encampment in the noble area.


    That was the encampment of the Khan¡¯s second wife.


    Luo Ningcha did not go to the encampment of the Khan¡¯s second wife directly. She took precautions to change their direction several times along the way.


    Maid Lotus knew the three maids. They were among the dowries of Luo Ningcha when she was married. Originally there were four of them¡ªChen, Xin, Sui, and Yi. Sui had died, and Luo Ningcha took the remaining three as confidants.


    If the Supreme King wanted to watch and control his daughter-inw, he certainly needed to do it through the three maids. Although Luo Ningcha had learned all the tricks and conspiracies from ve Huan, she never suspected her most-trusted maids, whose loyalty she took for granted.


    ¡°Watch the three maids,¡± Gu Shenwei had said.


    ¡°Han Fen has been watching them,¡± replied Maid Lotus.


    When Gu Shenwei was with Maid Lotus for the first time, he used to discuss with her his thoughts. Over time, the two of them had be more and more alike. Despite three years of not seeing each other, their thoughts were even more simr. Most of the time, talking to each other was like talking to themselves.


    He told her everything about the three meetings he had had the night before in just a few words.


    ¡°Shall we make the move tonight?¡± Maid Lotus only asked this one question.


    No matter whether the second wife of the Khan had other conspiracies with King Rizhu, Gu Shenwei needed to kill Shangguan Shaomin first. Only by doing this could he win the trust of his allies and have a chance to ess their deepest, hidden secrets.


    ¡°Wait until King Rizhu sends help. I need to think of a safe n,¡± he told Maid Lotus.


    ¡°Okay,¡± she replied.


    The matter was determined. The assassination they talked about was certainly a breach of the truce agreement, and therefore Gu Shenwei could not do it by himself. Maid Lotus understood what he meant. She would make a safe n that would keep the Dragon King unconnected to the assassination.


    Maid Lotus did not leave as she usually did. She made one morement, saying, ¡°You promised Shangguan Ru.¡±


    She meant Gu Shenwei had promised Shangguan Ru that he would save Shangguan Shaomin and send her to the Land of Fragrance. Now he was going to break his promise. ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± he said, not knowing what else to say.


    Gu Shenwei then changed the subject. He had made an important decision and wanted to let Made Lotus know. ¡°I think it¡¯s the time to practice three-in-one Qigong,¡± he said.


    ¡°All the problems have been solved?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Not yet,¡± he admitted.


    ¡°If only the Yuquing Sect could help¡­¡± Maid Lotus said.


    ¡°They wouldn¡¯t be much help. With their help, the problems could be reduced, but not eliminated. I can¡¯t wait any longer. I need to hurry up. Soon the time maye when swords are useless,¡± Gu Shenwei exined.


    Shangguan Fei had only learned the lowest skill of three-in-one Qigong, and he had been able to generate incredible force with only one punch. Gu Shenwei needed to own that kind of power so that he could make a surprise move without using his sword.


    ¡°We need to hurry,¡± Made Lotus said, emphasizing the word ¡°we¡±.


    Three-in-one Qigong could not be practiced by one person alone. The practioner needed a partner, who would use her Wayless Qigong (which was simr to Yin Strength) to force out the practioner¡¯s Sumeru Mustard divine kung fu (which was simr to Yang Strength). However, the Yang Strength must be controlled carefully so that it would not grow too fast. Shangguan Fei failed to control the Yang Strength. That was why his kung fu had advanced quickly, but he had also gotten into Qigong Deviation at an early stage.


    Maid Lotus did not just want to be the partner, though. She wanted to practice three-in-one Qigong, too.


    Gu Shenwei looked at her. The troubles inside his body had not been removed, so he did not care to add more to them. However, Maid Lotus had almost no troubles in her body, so was far from self-destruction, other than a little Qigong Deviation every once in awhile. The loss would outweigh the gain if she practiced the kung fu, since it was still crude.


    ¡°Have you thought it through?¡± he asked her.


    ¡°This is the manual that you and I created together,¡± Maid Lotus said.


    Indeed, Maid Lotus had made a lot of contributions to three-in-one Qigong. She had ess to more manuals than Gu Shenwei did, and the secret techniques of the New Moon Hall was a special one amongst them. It had been very enlightening during the creation of three-in-one Qigong.


    Maid Lotus insisted on practicing three-in-one Qigong together with Gu Shenwei. It was not because she wanted to take credit for it or that she was greedy, but because she hoped to rebuild the trust between her and Gu Shenwei. They had had the trust before, but then lost it because of betrayal.


    Gu Shenwei was not sure if he was ready for that.

 Chapter 575 - Mutual Help

    Chapter 575: Mutual Help


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus spent an entire day practicing three-in-one Qigong. Chu Nanping and Long Fanyun were responsible for guarding outside. Shangguan Fei was invited to observe.


    Shangguan Fei still held grudges for being forced to practice the manual before, but he was too scared to show that now. When he saw that the Dragon King and Maid Lotus were practicing the same way as he had, he felt much better. From time to time, he even made a fewments as a senior practitioner. However, there was one thing that he did not know ¡ªthe Dragon King and Maid Lotus had made a lot of reparations to three-in-one Qigong, so it was now quite different from what he had practiced. These reparations had mainly involved the techniques of moving the Internal Strength, so there was no noticeable difference to the observer.


    Gu Shenwei took the lead, with the assistance of Maid Lotus. Both were very careful. With the skills of New Moon Hall, Maid Lotus used her genuine Qi to guide Gu Shenwei. She poked her fingers here and there around Gu Shenwei¡¯s body, or patted softly around his Dantian, using her Wayless Qigong to help him generate Sumeru Mustard Qi.


    During the whole process, Gu Shenwei kept the basic rule of ¡°Yin and Yang Strength¡± in his mind, practicing slowly but steadily. He kept his original Wayless Qigong under control, while focusing on producing Sumeru Mustard Qi.


    This was an unusual way of practicing. Wayless Qigong and Sumeru Mustard were from different sects and had conflicting characteristics. The former was based on Taoism and emphasized a purely Yin approach. Thetter originated from Buddhism and advocated Yang Qi. To integrate the two was like to force water to live with fire.


    The manual of ¡°Yin and Yang Strength¡± was like a bridge to link the two of them together.


    The Internal Strength of the Gu family was also based on Taoism. It contained two different strengths of Yin and Yang, but they were practiced with different approaches from other manuals. Gu Shenwei removed the skill itself and only retained the coexistence of Yin and Yang. Under the guidance of Old Man Mu, he had also created a method to retain the two different Qi in his Dantian.


    He hoped that one day he couldpletely integrate the two Qi using the sped-up technique of ¡°Yin and Yang Strength¡±. If everything went well, he would be able topletely remove the hidden dangers of Qigong Deviation. But if anything went wrong, it would be suicide.


    After an hour, the first Qi of Sumeru Mustard was sessfully generated faster than Gu Shenwei had imagined. At the same time, the conflict between Sumeru Mustard and Wayless Qigong was also unexpectedly strong. He immediately stopped practicing. In the meantime, Maid Lotus sped up the input of her genuine Qi into Gu Shenwei¡¯s body, not to generate his power, but to suppress the Wayless Qigong inside him. The purpose of this was so that it would not defeat thest little bit of genuine Qi that had just been generated.


    This was the most important reason that three-in-one Qigong must be practiced with a partner. The confrontation of two different Qi in the Dantian was an inevitable instinctive opposing reaction, which was beyong the practitioner¡¯s control and could only be mediated by an outside force.


    It was a very ufortable experience, as if the whole body had been torn to pieces and then pieced back together, over and over again. Shangguan Fei had had a painful experience of this. He looked at the Dragon King with sympathy, feeling that his Qi was also reacting in his Dantian. He prayed in his heart, wishing the Dragon King would seed so that he would also be saved.


    It took an hour to produce the first genuine Qi, and nearly another two hours to retain it. At the end, both of them were sweating profusely.


    Gu Shenwei made even faster progress than Shangguan Fei did. Both he and Maid Lotus were worried about this.


    Shangguan Fei felt that it was suitable for him to talk now that the Dragon King stopped practicing. ¡°Wow, you¡¯ve made so much progress in such a short time. The Dragon King is indeed impressive. Well, have you found a way to stop Qigong Deviation?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Well,¡± began Gu Shenwei.


    Shangguan Fei was exultant, but became disappointed when he heard what the Dragon King said next: ¡°Endure, and then it will pass.¡±


    The feeling of being hot and cold at the same time was hard to endure. Shangguan Fei would rather die than suffer from that inhumane pain again. He said with a sulking face, ¡°The Dragon King can bear the pain, but I can¡¯t. That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s like an endless cycle of being beaten half dead and thening back to life.¡±


    ¡°Come and help,¡± Maid Lotus ordered, as if she had not heard theint from Shangguan Fei.


    ¡°Help?¡± Shangguan Fei asked. He had an ominous feeling.


    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re here for?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I thought¡­¡± Shangguan Fei began, but did not know what to say. He was still hoping that he would only need to provide verbal help.


    But he was so scared of Maid Lotus that he did not dare to stay still, so he slowly walked to the Dragon King.


    ¡°Come to me,¡± Maid Lotus said harshly. Shangguan Fei had to force himself to move towards her with heavy steps, as if his feet were attached to heavy stones and every step needed a great effort.


    ¡°Dragon King, I have been hiding it from my sister. I never told her that you forced me to practice the kung fu. You¡­ you have to remember that,¡± Shangguan Fei said, still not knowing that his sister had disappeared. In the past few days, he had been only thinking about himself.


    Maid Lotus did not care what he had to say. She poked on Shangguan Fei¡¯s lower belly with one finger, and input a strong Qi.


    Shangguan Fei had been too ck in practicing the kung fu. With the same Wayless Qigong, plus an extra few months of Sumeru Mustard, he was still far worse than Maid Lotus in terms of skills. He did not even dare to implement his fierce fist position. Even if he had dared, he would not have had enough time to use it.


    He felt like the temperature plummeted ¡ª as if it had changed from a hot summer to a cold winter. Shangguan Fei had barely cried out before he fell into unconsciousness. That was not bad for him, since there was be no pain in being unconscious.


    Maid Lotus was still very weak. She wobbled after the poking. ¡°It¡¯s different,¡± she said.


    She meant the two genuine Qi inside Gu Shenwei was different from those inside Shangguan Fei. After thinking about it for a while, she exined, ¡°The two different Qi are entangled in him, while yours are distinct from each other.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because my genuine Qi is too weak,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°That might be the reason, but I think the repairs we made are effective. Shangguan Fei¡¯s genuine Qi was not pure enough from the beginning, and there were signs of entanglement with Wayless Qigong at an early stage with him,¡± said Maid Lotus.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s next task was to strictly control the Sumeru Mustard Qi, making it more pure, and preventing it from growing too fast.


    ¡°It¡¯s your turn to practice,¡± Gu Shenwei said, keeping his promise and offering to help Maid Lotus practice.


    ¡°No hurry. You need to rest,¡± she replied.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. He did not need a break. He needed more time.


    They each sat for a moment, exerting their Internal Strength to heal and restore their strength.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s kung fu was rtively pure. He had never learned to input genuine Qi into the other person by poking. So he sat on the chair, putting his hands on Maid Lotus¡¯s belly to input his genuine Qi into her.


    It was the first time they had been so close to each other since their reunion.


    For a moment, Gu Shenwei was embarrassed. He could feel her warm and smooth skin under her clothes. He lowered his eyes to avoid eye contact with her.


    Maid Lotus had undergone twopletely different trainings from Golden Roc Fort and New Moon Hall. In Golden Roc Fort, she had to regard herself as a man, senseless to any touch of the body, which she only made use of when necessary. At New Moon Hall, she had to learn how to increase the sensitivity of her body.


    The purpose of both kinds of training was to regard her body as a foreign object. She had to learn to tame it and use it until it became a weapon as sharp as a sword.


    Maid Lotus had long been able to handle it with ease.


    Gu Shenwei quickly managed to control his mind, too, focusing on inputting his genuine Qi.


    Surprisingly, Maid Lotus could not produce Sumeru Mustard Qi. An hour passed, and she had made no progress, with only Wayless Qigong in her Dantian.


    Not only that, but the original Qi inside her body was also constrained and she could not control it as much as before.


    Gu Shenwei could feel her skin under his palms bing hotter and hotter. Her breathing became more and more rapid, as if something in her body was going to leap out.


    He retracted his genuine Qi and removed his hands from her belly. ¡°Let¡¯s call it a day and try again tomorrow,¡± he said.


    Maid Lotus did not speak. Gu Shenwei raised his head to check on her. Her cheeks were as red as the freshest roses, and there were confusion, pain and madness in her eyes.


    He had seen her charms before, but never like this. A simple glimpse made his heart beat like a little beast. The beast had been leashed firmly all this time, but now was struggling to break free.


    Eye to eye, they wished they could forget everything and stay in this moment.


    However, they were both true killers ¡ª calm and ruthless killers. The eye contactsted only a moment before both of them turned their heads at the same time to look at Shangguan Fei, who hade back to his senses.


    The rosiness on Maid Lotus¡¯s cheeks quickly disappeared.


    ¡°I just woke up,¡± Shangguan Fei said, emphasizing the word ¡°just¡± with a scared face. He even forgot the residual pain of the Qigong Deviation.


    He did not want to see or know any secrets. Secrets were curses, and he wanted to stay away from them.


    The look on the Dragon King and Maid Lotus¡¯s faces were both scary. One was gloomy, the other was cold, but both were ruthless. He knew they could both take a life as easily as taking a breath.


    Shangguan Fei barely squeezed out a smile and said,¡±Do you still need me? Please help yourself.¡±


    ¡°You can leave,¡± said Maid Lotus.


    Shangguan Fei was so d to hear those three words that he almost cried. He immediately stood up and said, ¡°Call me when you need me.¡± Before thest word came out of his mouth, he was already outside the tent.


    There was still a bit embarrassment between the two. Maid Lotus took a step back. Gu Shenwei stood up and walked to the table as if he was going to organize the objects on it. Suddenly he figured it out. ¡°I¡¯ve got it,¡± he said.


    ¡°What?¡± Maid Lotus asked, for she could not fathom the Dragon King¡¯s thoughts at that time.


    ¡°I had my meridians opened up in the Joy Pavilion. That¡¯s why I could produce genuine Qi in such a short time,¡± he exined.


    The method of increasing the internal strength in the Joy Pavilion was extremely peculiar. Dozens of people sat in the teahouse and drank a bitter, nourishing tea while listening to percussion sounds made by Immortal Peng upstairs with his crutch. In the process, the meridians were opened up so that genuine Qi could flow through more rapidly, and one¡¯s power could be increased at a faster rate.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the reason, then I don¡¯t have to worry,¡± Maid Lotus said, as she knew about the experience of Gu Shenwei in the Joy Pavilion and understood what he meant.


    The two were silent for a while, and then a voice came from outside and said, ¡°Dragon King, can Ie in?¡±


    Maid Lotus walked to the corner, almost bing invisible. Fang Wenshi came in and did not even notice her. ¡°Dragon King, are you by yourself? I have important news,¡± he said.


    Fang Wenshi looked very excited. He had collected a lot of information that day. He was sure the Dragon King would be pleased.


    ¡°Speak,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    The Dragon King was as expressionless as usual, but Fang Wenshi was used to it. ¡°Kuo Zhen confessed. I don¡¯t know what Senior Shou did, but Kuo Zhen told everything. Although he doesn¡¯t know much, we can guess King Kuari¡¯s ns through spection,¡± he said.


    Fang Wenshi paused, waiting for the Dragon King to ask questions. But the Dragon King just listened, so he continued, ¡°Nond troops are not being mobilized the same way as the Central in and the Western Region¡¯s troops. The Nond soldiers only listen to the Army Commander or his kin, and they have to give the orders to the troops in person. A seal or decree won¡¯t work.¡±


    Fang Wenshi looked at the Dragon King firmly, eyes shining. ¡°King Kuari is going to mobilize the troops for a rebellion,¡± he said.

 Chapter 576 - Helper

    Chapter 576: Helper


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Actually, the confession of Kuo Zhen had been thanks to Bo Sang. Senior Shou barely deserved any credit for it.


    Bo Sang was from the Western Region and did not have an inherent reverence for the descendants of the Khan like the Nond people did. In fact, he was very curious and wanted to find out how special these so-called ¡°descendants of gods¡± really were. Kuo Zhen was a timely test subject to satisfy his curiosity.


    He was not good at intimidation, nor did he possess professional torture techniques. His torturing method was simple and crude: he just punched the prisoner with both fists, starting from the head and continuing to punch downwards.


    Bo Sang kept beating the poor prisoner until he was tired, and then he continued with the beating after a short rest. He even started to be fond of his new job, finding it safer and more interesting than wielding a sword.


    Kuo Zhen was tough. His eyes and nose bled and his teeth were knocked out, but he did not beg for mercy. He swore a lot, iming that he would take revenge in Nond some day. He even described the torture methods he would use on Bo Sang and Senior Shou. Every time he described one method, he would add one sentence after it: ¡°I know you, Bo Sang and Senior Shou.¡±


    Bo Sang was persistent. He just kept going, ignoring the threats.


    So the beating went on. When Bo Sang¡¯s punching reached below Kuo Zhen¡¯s waist, it was so painful that he could not help but swear out again , saying, ¡°I will kill everyone in your family! I will¡­¡±


    A seasoned torturer would know that this was the moment that his prisoner was on the verge of copse, and those empty threats were hisst struggle. But Bo Sang did not know that, nor did he care. He rested for a while, then stood up, ready to start a new round of beating.


    Kuo Zhen finally broke down. ¡°Stop beating. I¡¯ll talk,¡± he said.


    ¡°Well,¡± Bo Sang was a bit disappointed. ¡°I thought that the grandson of the Khan wouldst longer than others,¡± hemented.


    It turned out that Kuo Zhen had an important mission.


    The Nond Cavalry had been gathering on the southern border and preparing to fight against the Central in, under themand of the Khan. All the nobles had to contribute their soldiers, and they were only allowed to keep a few thousand guards at home.


    Kuo Zhen was really supposed to be ¡°dead¡±. He was supposed to leave the Royal Court secretly and go to the south to lead his army back on the appointed date.


    The truth that Kuo Zhen was alive was a top secret. If the other lords had found out about it, they would have immediately figured out King Kuari¡¯s n. Therefore, Kuo Zhen had to secretly hit the road alone. Unfortunately, he hade across Bo Sang, who was collecting information for the Dragon King. When King Kuari discovered that his brother was missing, he did not dare to send people to look for him, even though he was very worried.


    This information would shock all of Nond, but Bo Sang did not care. He threw another volley of fists onto Kuo Zhen until he pleaded for mercy again. Only then did Bo Sang call in Senior Shou to tell him about Kuo Zhen¡¯s confession.


    Senior Shou was stunned, finding himself being involved in the most terrible conspiracy of the Royal Court. He asked Fang Wenshi to take Kuo Zhen away, but was refused. The Dragon King¡¯s camp was even more insecure.


    That was the information that Fang Wenshi reported to the Dragon King.


    King Kuari¡¯s n gradually became clearer: Golden Roc Fort would kill the Khan and frame it on the Dragon King. Kuo Zhen would lead the army back and take control of the whole situation when the Royal Court fell into chaos. Thus King Kuari would be able to make all the nobles surrender at the least cost.


    Fang Wenshi, however, did not have much sess in finding out the plot of King Rizhu and the Khan¡¯s second wife. Despite of all his efforts, he could not get any officials or nobles to talk, and the information he got from ordinary Nond people was just hearsay.


    Among these rumors, some said the Khan¡¯s second wife was a heroinemanding thousands of soldiers. Others said that she was an adulteress, cheating with several North lords. None of the rumors were reliable, though.


    Plus, Fang Wenshi could not identify the offspring of the Khan that the second wife was particrly close to.


    ¡°This woman is not simple. From the day that she married the Khan, she has been constantly challenged and vilified by many forces in the Court. But she has ovee all difficulties and has be more and more favored by the Khan. Most people believe that she stays away from the fights for the throne. Almost no one knows her rtionship with King Rizhu, and many people even think that they are enemies,¡± Fang Wenshi reported.


    Fang Wenshi rarelyplimented a woman for her abilities. He then asked the Dragon King, ¡°What should we do next? Continue our alliance with her?¡±


    ¡°Tell me what you think,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Fang Wenshi took a deep breath. ¡°We should remove the granddaughter of the Supreme King. It is said that the Khan has been interested in her, but it has not been made public. Now is the best chance to kill her. We can leave King Kuari alone for now, and let the second wife arrange for the Dragon King to meet with the Khan. After we get the guarantee of the alliance, we can proceed to the next step,¡± he said.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s thoughts were simr. He did not have much choice now. Whether he chose to be an oberver or flee from Nond, he would be charged with the assassination, anyway. His best choice was to get deeper into the conspiracy and wait for a chance to fight back.


    ¡°I need someone familiar with the inside story of the Royal Court. Find this person, no matter how much money they want,¡± Gu Shenwei said, deciding to get help.


    Fang Wenshi thought seriously for a while. ¡°The subordinates of King Dari are living in fear everyday. Maybe one of them is willing to make some money,¡± he said.


    Gu Shenwei tapped on his scabbard with his finger and thought for a moment.¡±No, find someone from King Kuari¡¯s residence, preferably one of his trusted followers,¡± he said.


    ¡°This¡­ King Kuari treats his subordinates more harshly than prisoners,¡± Fang Wenshi said, not following the Dragon King¡¯s thoughts.


    ¡°Prisoners are even easier to buy off,¡± Gu Shenwei said, suddenly remembering the words that Zhang Ji had said to him. The minions always count how much they have contributed. When the payment is less than the contribution, or there is no payment, they willl betray. ¡°Try it,¡± he said.


    Compared with Zhang Wei, Fang Wenshi was younger and simpler. After thinking for a while, he slowly nodded and said, ¡°Well, I¡¯ll try.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not want a ¡°try¡±. He corrected his military counselor, ¡°Although it is a ¡®try¡¯, it must be sessful and fast. You have three days. I have to see this person with my own eyes.¡±


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s face turned a little red. This was the first time that the Dragon King had given him apulsive order. He used to take the initiative to ask for tasks. ¡°Yes, sir,¡± he said walking to the door. Still, he felt that his guarantee was not clear enough and turned to say, ¡°If I fail to buy a traitor of King Kuari, I¡­ I¡¯ll retire and no longer call myself a counselor.¡±


    To the Military Counselor, this oath was as serious as promising his life. The word ¡°counselor¡± was of great significance to him. Removing it from his name was like taking away half of his life.


    Gu Shenwei responded with a hum.


    Maid Lotus stepped out of the corner and asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid he¡¯ll betray you?¡±


    Although Fang Wenshi was not a person who talked about loyalty and principles, Gu Shenwei trusted him. This was because the Dragon King and the Counselor had something inmon: both had worked very hard in their lives, but had never been treated with much respect by the highborn. Even after the seaside slope battle, and after they had taken the five countries of Xiaoyao Lake and the Land of Fragrance, they were still looked down upon.


    To the Nond lords, one of them was a killer on the run and the other an unsessful schr, and it would always be this way. They would never take such a team seriously. When they needed to forge an ally, Golden Roc Fort was always the first candidate in their minds.


    The second wife of the Khan and King Rizhu came to the Dragon King for an alliance, but that was only an alliance in nominal terms. In fact, it was more like employment, and Gu Shenwei was uncertain if he would even be paid.


    ¡°I would rather that he betray me. It¡¯s better than being kept in the dark,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    The two helpers that King Rizhu had promised arrived in thete evening.


    They came to the tent through a hidden passage that Gu Shenwei had set up for special visitors to see him without having to go past the guards.


    As he had guessed, one of them was, indeed, Wildhorse. The other one was a young man Gu Shenwei had met before. On the day when Gu Shenwei went to King Rizhu¡¯s camp, he saw this young man cleaning me Foal with General Zhe Su.


    ¡°My name is Liman, son of General Zhe Su,¡± he introduced himself with a smile. He looked like a kind young man, curious to the world, and very different from his father, who was as sullen and strong as a ck tower. ¡°We are both here at the Dragon King¡¯s disposal,¡± said Liman.


    It was well known that Wildhorse, and especially Liman, were the subordinates of King Rizhu. King Rizhu sent them to participate in the assassination as proof to the Dragon King that he would not abandon him after the mission waspleted.


    Liman was not upset with this new identity, even though he was almost a hostage. He had only seen the Dragon King once, and had taken him as just an ordinary, pale young man until me Foal was stolen. Then he realized that he had underestimated the Dragon King, so he was very happy to have the opportunity to cooperate with him.


    Wildhorse was not happy at all.


    He held onto his hilt with his only remaining hand, stood at the door, and stared at the Dragon King with vignce and coldness, the fierce killing intent emitting from every pore of his body.


    Liman sensed the tension in the tent. One of his tasks was to ease the rtionship between Wildhorse and the Dragon King. ¡°I heard that killers have no private hostility. Anyway, we are all in the same boat now. If there is no trust, I¡¯m afraid that the ship will capsize,¡± he said.


    Wildhorse softened and made several stiff gestures. Liman smiled in embarrassment. ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t understand you,¡± he said.


    Gu Shenwei understood part of it. Maid Lotus gave it an urate interpretation. When she was in Golden Roc Fort, she had acted as an ¡°interpretor¡±. ¡°Let¡¯s have a duel on the day when the mission ispleted, and the loser will have to die,¡± she interpreted.


    ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s hope it will be quick this time. One of us has to die,¡± Gu Shenwei answered.


    The two had no deep hatred, but their mutual aversion grew worse and worse. Wildhorse was particrly ufortable about this alliance. As a killer, he preferred to act alone and felt he could handle Golden Roc Fort andplete the task without the help of the Dragon King.


    However, his broken arm was his fatal w. King Rizhu preferred to let the Dragon King lead the mission, because he had been hunted for years, but only became stronger and stronger.


    Liman seemed to not care about their pact. He said, ¡°Time is short. The Dragon King can give us an order now.¡±


    ¡°From today on, you and Wildhorse shall take orders from her,¡± Gu Shenwei said, pointing to Maid Lotus.


    Wildhorse had no objection. He had a slightly better impression of Maid Lotus than Liman, who was hesitant. As a nobleman of Nond, he had always been contemptuous of women. It was hard to tell whether he was the same way towards the second wife of the Khan, as he had never talked to her directly. Still, he felt ashamed of being asked to take orders from Maid Lotus.


    ¡°O¡­ kay,¡± he answered reluctantly.


    With a few words, the Dragon King left the two to Maid Lotus, and then turned and walked out.


    Now it was Liman¡¯s turn to have the feeling of ¡°contemption¡±.


    ¡°The first task for you two is to assassinate the granddaughter of the Supreme King,¡± Maid Lotus ordered. She had made an assassination n that ensured that the Dragon King would not be connected.


    Liman was stunned. He could not understand why they had suddenly be the instruments of the Dragon King when the original n had been the other way around.

 Chapter 577 - Clean

    Chapter 577: Clean


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Wildhorse could smell a trace of ve Huan in Maid Lotus¡¯s assassination n. Although he had an unresolved hatred towards ve Huan, he had to admit that the guy with tatoos on his arm was sometimes very clever as a killer from Golden Roc.


    A typical Golden Roc killer was like knife manipted by its master, who decided how and where to stab. The Supreme King had trained these killers in this way so that they would be easy to control, although sometimes it was less efficient.


    ve Huan was a differect case. He was too clever to be controlled. In the end, he had to leave Golden Roc Fort and start his own business.


    Mute as he was, Wildhorse always talked to himself. ¡°ve Huan is like the other clever men in this world ¡ª born rebellious. He betrayed the Stone Castle, the Supreme King, the Eighth Young Master, Mama Xue, and the Tenth Young Master,¡± he thought. ve Huan had also betrayed Wildhorse.


    In the past, they had discussed how to create an ¡°ident¡± to kill Shangguan Ru and get themselves a new master. But at thest moment, ve Huan betrayed Wildhorse, causing several people to be killed and Wildhorse to be expelled.


    The expulsion hadpletely changed Wildhorse¡¯s fate. His promising career in Stone Castle was gone forever, and he was forced to live a nomad life on the grasnds.


    Wildhorse would never forgive ve Huan for that betrayal. When ve Huan cut off one of Wildhorse¡¯s arms, he hated ve Huan, but the feeling of being betrayed had been far more unbearable.


    Now Wildhorse was on a mission under themand of the Dragon King. He told himself he must be especially cautious to not be betrayed again.


    Shangguan Shaomin did not practice kung fu, but it was not easy to assassinate her. She was protected by dozens of Golden Roc killers. Many of them were experienced and had taken all necessary precautions to prevent any mishaps.


    Therefore Maid Lotus¡¯s n was to lure them out of their encampment and simply walk into the traps she had set.


    ¡°It must be ve Huan¡¯s idea,¡± Wildhorse thought.


    At noon the next day (just one day away from the Tournament of the Royal Court), Yi, one of the three maids most trusted by the Eighth Young Mistress, Luo Ningcha, came to the encampment of Golden Roc Fort. She came on behalf of her mistress to invite Miss Min for a get together.


    Wildhorse recognized that the maid was a disguised subordinate of Maid Lotus.


    Han Fen had been watching Luo Ningcha and her three maids, as ordered. Just as Gu Shenwei had expected, Maid Yi was working for Golden Roc Fort. Everything about the Eighth Young Mistress had been reported to Shangguan Yun and Zhang Ji.


    But Maid Yi had never been to the encampment of Golden Roc Fort herself. She had passed the messages via a shop manager while pretending to discuss with him about his wares. The manager woud then report the messages to a responsible Golden Roc killer, who would take them to Golden Roc Fort.


    Therefore, neither Shangguan Yun nor Zhang Ji had ever seen Maid Yi in person. When they heard that Maid Yi was asking for a meeting, both of them were surprised.


    Han Fen was good at disguises, and even her voice sounded authentic. Of course, given only one day of observation from afar, the disguise was not perfect. Still, apart from the shop manager, who was not present, no one in the encampment of Golden Roc Fort could tell that she was not the real Maid Yi.


    ¡°Maid Yi,¡± repeated the invitation from her mistress, hinting that Shangguan Yun should ept it.


    Although the invitation was a bit surprising, it seemed normal from the Eighth Young Mistress. So, Shangguan Shaomin left the encampment that afternoon and headed to the temporary residence of Luo Ningcha in the noble area. ¡°Maid Yi¡± was with her in the same carriage.


    ording to tradition, it was not appropriate for a man to meet his sister-inw. Therefore, Shangguan Yun could not go to Luo Ningcha¡¯s ce himself. He sent a demaster, ten killers, and twenty machetemen to escort Shangguan Shaomin, who was so important that he could not afford to make any mistakes thesest few days.


    The encampment of Golden Roc was in the east, while the residence of Luo Ningcha was in the southwest. On their way, they had to pass a craftsman¡¯s area, which was on a bustling street. Wildhorse and Liman nned to take action there.


    The time and ce was not preferred by Wildhorse, as a killer. A killer was more used to remote ces and dark nights. Although Wildhorse had picked up kung fu from the Yuqing Sect, his killer¡¯s instinct had remained intact. Still, he did not object to Maid Lotus¡¯s choice. ¡°A change of the habit may not be a bad thing. There could be some unexpected benefits,¡± he thought.


    Wildhorse and Liman arrived at the appointed location fifteen minutes ahead of time, hiding in the carriage. The driver lost himself in the crowd. No one paid any attention to the carriage, which stopped temporarily on the side of the road.


    The other carriage came by. When the two carriages were almost side by side, Wildhorse and Liman jumped out.


    It waste in the evening. Even the vignt Golden Roc killers were surprised by the two masked assassins in ck who suddenly rushed out of the unattended carriage, let alone themon people walking on the street.


    People were still living in fear of the riots in the slums. The sound of a needle dropping onto the ground would be enough to scare them away.


    Wildhorse and Liman had made a much louder noise than that, though. Each of them held a crossbow and shot wildly at the carriage of Shangguan Shaomin simultaneously. Then they dropped their crossbows and drew out their sabers.


    The chaos spread to the surrounding area an extremely quickly. Shop owners along the street started closing their doors frantically. The pedestrians began running around in a panic. The people in Nond advocated militarism, so even though nearly half of the pedestrians in the street were equipped with weapons, they still ran while staring.


    Although the Golden Roc killers were taken by surprise, they did not panic at all. Two killers blocked the arrows; four killers rushed towards the assassins; another four killers guarded the whole ce; and the demaster observed the situation while trying to make a decision, and then gave orders to the 20 macheteman to take action.


    ¡°An assassination against Golden Roc killers is like apetition of riding and shooting against the Nond Cavalry¡ªridiculous,¡± thought the demaster, who soon formted a response n.


    The two assassins were even faster, though. Wielding their sabers, they did not turn away and flee, but kept running forward through the enemies. Before the demaster could make up his mind about his next move, they had already made their way out by stepping on people¡¯s heads and quickly blending into the crowd.


    Losing the assassins would be a shame for Golden Roc Fort. The demaster sent half of his men to chase after the assassins, and instructed the rest to guard the carriage, just in case it was a trick to lure them away from Shangguan Shaomin.


    Golden Roc Fort was destined to bear the shame. The pedestrians on the street were in a panic, and a group of cavalry hade over to try to restore order in the street. The calvarymen were quite confused about the situation, though, so they just whipped anyone they ran into. The Golden Roc killers in ck were even more suspicious targets to them.


    The killers did not dare resist. They had received strict orders, and were not allowed to make trouble in the Royal Court. Even when they were provoked, they had to try their best to withhold.


    The Nond people did not respect killers. They despised them.


    The disturbance began and ended quickly. ¡°It was just a small incident. Two assassins tried to do a killing, but failed and had to run away,¡± most of the people thought.


    Shops opened again and the street returned to normal. Then the Nond soldiers realized that Golden Roc Fort was not the one that had started the trouble. Surprised, they immediately let Golden Roc Fort¡¯s men pass.


    After they walked out of the street and the pedestrians dispersed, the demaster realized that thedy in the carriage must be frightened, so he rode up beside it and stooped to call out, ¡°Miss Min?¡± He called three times, but did not get a response, so he opened the curtain to check on her.


    Both Shangguan Shaomin and Maid Yi were gone, and there was a huge hole in the floor of the carriage.


    The demaster took a while to react, realizing that he was in big trouble. He knew that he still had to do something, so he sent the killers in three directions: two macheteman were assigned to return to the encampment to report the situation to the Third Young Master; five killers and five machetemen were assigned to go back to check for clues along the road they had taken; and the demaster would lead the rest of the men straight to the residence of the Eighth Young Mistress.


    Luo Ningcha was both surprised and angry at the unexpected visit. She had no knowledge of the assassination plot, and regarded being questioned to her face as an insult. She stood behind a screen with her three maids standing in front, and criticized the demaster, using the Third Young Master of looking for an excuse to bully her.


    Shangguan Yun soon arrived. He reprimanded the demaster and apologized to his sister-inw. When he saw the real Maid Yi, he knew that he had been deceived.


    The killers who had been sent back to the original road brought back the truth: after the disturbance ended, the Nond soldiers questioned the people in the other carriage, and asked them to move the carriage to the side. It was moved right next to the assassins¡¯ carriage. Miss Min must have been taken away at this time. She had either been drugged or had run away on her own.


    The truth was that Shangguan Shaomin had left the carriage willingly. Han Fen persuaded her with only one sentence: ¡°Shangguan Ru asked me to take you away.¡±


    It was a lie, but Shangguan Shaomin had believed it. She had been waiting for her little aunt to save her from her misery.


    A few streets away, Wildhorse and Liman changed their apparel. After about half an hour, Han Fen and Shangguan Shaomin arrived, too.


    Wildhorse was anxious during the waiting. ¡°The Dragon King could have let Han Fen take the granddaughter of the Supreme King away and then frame King Rizhu,¡± he had been thinking. Therefore, he had secretly assigned several men to watch Han Fen.


    Wildhorse¡¯s influence in the Royal Court had surpassed that of Golden Roc Fort, not to mention thepletely isted Dragon King.


    Shangguan Shaomin was finally delivered. Wildhorse was relieved and said to himself, ¡°The Dragon King is, indeed, special. He will not take risks for an insignificant girl. He will only betray his allies at the most critical moments.¡±


    Han Fen hadpleted her mission. She did not say anything and just left.


    Shangguan Shaomin felt that things were not right. She did not know the two men, and Shangguan Ru was nowhere to be seen. ¡°Who are you? Where is my little aunt?¡± she asked.


    Liman looked at the girl who was so famous in the Royal Court. She was beautiful, but not as stunning as the rumors made her out to be. He felt it a pity to have to kill her, so he turned his head away, waiting for it to be finished soon.


    Wildhorse could not answer the girl¡¯s questions. He pulled out his saber, nning to kill her on the spot. The grass at his feet was perfect for a burial afterwards.


    For him, to kill a person was a piece of cake. He did not care what kind of person the target was.


    Shangguan Shaomin looked confused, as if wondering what the saber was going to be used for. Suddenly, she said, ¡°Don¡¯t leave too much blood.¡±


    Wildhorse was surprised by her words. ¡°Why did she say that? Is she hoping she can die cleanly?¡± he wondered.


    The saber cut through her thin neck. He satisfied the girl¡¯s wish. As long as the angle and strength were right, there would be little blood. It would be clean and without the pain of death.


    The girl fell down, eyes wide open, as if not realizing the horror of death until thest moment.


    It looked as if she was not willing to die.


    Wildhorse took away his saber. He felt a little lost, not because he pitied the girl, but because he felt that the entire n was too sessful to be real. So he bent down and rubbed her face with his cuffs.


    This was somebody in disguise ¡ª a young woman, but someone much older than seventeen.

 Chapter 578 - Making A Name

    Chapter 578: Making A Name


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Transn <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Transn


    Wildhorse flew into an uncontroble rage. The inner corners of his widely-parted eyes titled toward the nose, making his eyes two very nted lines. He never trusted ve Huan. It was just that he had never expected that ve Huan dared to y tricks right under his nose.


    Liman was upset as well, but he thought of another possibility. ¡°It¡¯s not necessarily the Dragon King. The Golden Roc Fort is more likely to rece the girl with another one. The Dragon King didn¡¯t have a chance to do so, since we¡¯ve been monitoring the whole process all this while,¡± said Liman.


    Wildhorse rapidly made a number of hand signals and Liman could only get a general idea of them. ¡°You believe that it must be the Dragon King, don¡¯t you? But we have no proof. Don¡¯t forget that our task is to assist the Dragon King. This assassination task is just the beginning, and in the future, we¡¯ll have more important things to do together. I suggest you¡¯d better not make a fuss about this incident.¡±


    Upon hearing that, Wildhorse could only forcibly suppress his anger. For him, Liman¡¯s suggestions were pretty muchmands, as this man was a son of Zhe Su, the most trusted general of King Rizhu.


    Liman decided to downy this incident, but he still had a few questions that he wanted to ask the Dragon King. As such, he and Wildhorse returned to the camp of the Dragon army and waited for the Dragon King in his tent.


    After about 15 minutes, Maid Lotus came to the tent alone to receive them.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the Dragon King?¡± Liman asked, somewhat grumpily. As son of a Nond general, he always found deception and betrayal intolerable. After dissuading Wildhorse from making a fuss about this incident, he himself had somehow felt less calm than before. He felt more irritated as the Dragon King seemed to deliberately avoid and belittle him now.


    ¡°He¡¯s not here.¡± Maid Lotus said tly and gave no exnation for the current situation.


    ¡°This woman is as evasive as the Dragon King. It looks like that I can only ask her more specific questions,¡± thought Liman. ¡°That woman is not the Supreme King¡¯s granddaughter.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Maid Lotus replied calmly, as if she had expected this to happen.


    ¡°Did the Dragon King know it beforehand?¡± asked Liman.


    ¡°How could he know? The Golden Roc Fort deceived all of us,¡± replied Maid Lotus.


    ¡°Where¡¯s your assistant? That woman is an expert at changing a person¡¯s looks with make-up. She was in the same carriage with that woman. Don¡¯t tell me that your assistant is unable to discover her disguise,¡± said Liman.


    ¡°My assistant is well-versed in using makeup, but it doesn¡¯t necessarily mean that she¡¯s able to discover what a person really looks like under his or her make-up. Besides, she¡¯s never met the Supreme King¡¯s granddaughter before,¡± retorted Maid Lotus.


    Liman still refused to believe Maid Lotus and thought, ¡°Even Wildhorse noticed that the woman had disguised her looks. Howe a disciple of the New Moon Hall failed to notice it?¡± ¡°You¡¯d better go invite the Dragon King to join us,¡± said Liman.


    ¡°He¡¯s not here.¡± Maid Lotus slightly lifted up her chin and gave the same answer.


    Wildhorse stepped forward and said to Maid Lotus in signnguage, ¡°You had the Supreme King¡¯s granddaughter reced by another woman during the trip.¡±


    Maid Lotus remained silent for a moment and then said, ¡°Well, it¡¯s easy to say so, but how could I find such a sacrificialmb in this ce at such short notice? After all, it¡¯s neither the Dragon King¡¯s nor my territory.¡±


    ¡°The sacrificialmb, yes. That woman clearly didn¡¯t know that she was going to be killed. s, Wildhorse moved too fast to kill her. Otherwise, we could¡¯ve interrogated her to find out the truth,¡± Liman thought ruefully


    ¡°Maybe the real Shangguan Shaomin never came to Nond. The Golden Roc Fort is nning to use a fake Shangguan Shaomin to deceive the Khan. Now that we¡¯ve killed her, the Supreme King¡¯s secret n is undermined.¡± Maid Lotus finally offered the two men an exnation.


    ¡°Maybe?¡± Liman retorted, while pacing back and forth restlessly. ¡°You can¡¯t fob me off with a ¡®maybe¡¯. This thing is of great importance to the n of my lord.¡±


    ¡°Our enemies aren¡¯t some dumbasses. They would set up traps for us, and we would be fooled by them once in a while. That¡¯s not a big deal. Now we just need to find out the truth. Shangguan Shaomin will appear on a public asion sooner orter, no matter who she¡¯s going to marry. An invisible girl can never be a consort of a lord,¡± said Maid Lotus.


    ¡°Is the Dragon King still able to assassinate her at that time?¡± asked Liman.


    ¡°Yes, otherwise why did King Rizhu choose to make an alliance with the Dragon King?¡± replied Maid Lotus.


    Liman was still dubious about what Maid Lotus had said. He had been looking forward to learning some clever moves of the Dragon King before the mission, but at this moment, he? thought that the only he had learned was that he could not trust anyone.


    Wildhorse lost his cool and angrily swished his hands to make quite a lot of signs. This time, even Liman could fully understand what he meant.


    What Wildhorse had just said was ¡°The granddaughter of the Supreme King must be with the Dragon King now¡±.


    However, his guess soon proved to be wrong. Early next morning, both Liman and Wildhorse heard what the Dragon King had done yesterday night: he had apanied Chu Nanping all the night, when the boy went around to challenge different Kung Fu masters into duels and made his name overnight.


    Chu Nanping thought of another way of mastering the Emotionless Swordsmanshipa€¡±practicing it alone by using two swords at the same time. He needed arge amount of practice and experiment to prove his idea and refine his skills, so he had gone on an outing with the Dragon King that night.


    Early that evening, Gu Shenwei asked him, ¡°Are you ready?¡±


    The boy nodded and picked up two swords. One of them was recently bought from a local cksmith shop. It wasrge and heavy and not easy to use, but he had no choice.


    At this ce, it was uneasy to find a long sword which wasmonly seen in the Central in.


    They sneaked out of their camp, through the craftsman region and into the slums. A great number of Kung Fu practioners from foreign countries lived in this region now, and some of them were perfect opponents for Chu Nanping.


    Tournament of the Royal Court had many different events, and winner of these events would be awarded a certain number of cattle or sheep. These things were attractive only to the local herdsmen. People from Western Region and the Central in would never perceive them as a good attraction.


    This year, the rules of the tournament remained the same, but all the 10 kings of Nond promised to give arge sum of money to the ones who could wIn the games for them.


    As such, many people were attracted here by those juicy offers and worked for different lords. Some of them were boastful bandits, and some of them were well-known Kung Fu masters who deliberately had their names changed.


    Several days ago, these people had stirred up arge-scalemotion in the slums, which caused many people to be killed before they even got a chance to join the events. It was also during thismotion that the real Kung Fu masters were exposed and recognized by everyone.


    Gu Shenwei nned to ask Chu Nanping to practice his sword techniques with these Kung Fu masters.


    The first person that Chu Nanping picked off was a swordsman from the Central in. His name was Gong Ziying, which was probably a fake name. No one had heard of his name before, and he himself imed to be a deserted disciple of a famous sect, who could not no longer sustain himself back in his home country and thus came here to seek opportunity.


    He had shot to fame during themotion, where he had taken on 7 bandits at the same time, cutting down 6 of them and then defeated 11 challengers in a row, killing 7 of them.


    He had not yet been hired by any of the kings living in noble region, He was said to have charged the lords too much.


    Unlike the other machetemen, Gong Ziying was not an alcoholic. He lived in a cheap tent that he rented and never ventured out at night.


    The ce where he lived was quite out-of-the-way and the only lighting there was the crescent moon in the sky.


    ¡°Pleasee out, Mr. Gong Ziying,¡± said Chu Nanping. He hade here to practice his skills with this Gong Ziying not to assassinate him.


    After a long time, the tent was finally flipped open. Gong Ziying walled out, and firstid his eyes on the Dragon King in the shadows instead of his young challenger tonight.


    He was in his early thirties. Although he looked haggard, he had all his facial hair shaved. It seemed that he had not yet adapted to the life on the grasnd. ¡°Who is looking for me?¡± said Gong Ziying.


    ¡°It¡¯s me. Chu Nanping from the Joy Pavilion of Jade City,¡± replied the young swordsman.


    Chu Nanping had to introduce himself like this because Gu Shenwei forbad him from mentioning ¡°the Dragon King¡±.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of you. Are you from the Western Region?¡± asked Gong Ziying. People from the Central in always looked down upon the sects in the Western Region. ¡°What about you?¡± he asked the Dragon King, vigntly.


    ¡°I¡¯ve juste here to watch the fight for the fun of it,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°And to collect his dead body?¡± asked Gong Ziying.


    Many years ago, collecting dead bodies had been one of Gu Shenwei¡¯s routine jobs, and he had gotten tired of this job a long time ago. As such, he said, ¡°There is no need to collect anyone¡¯s dead body. I¡¯ll let it stay where it is.¡±


    Gong Ziying snorted and then began looking the young swordsman up and down, while thinking, ¡°He seems too young to be a skilled swordsman, and his face is almost as beautiful as a girl¡¯s. Under the moonlight, he looks more like an attractive actor than a swordsman, and the swords in his hands looked like props he uses to attract the attention of his audience.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the fifth challengers today,¡± said Gong Ziying.


    ¡°Hum,¡± replied Chu Nanping.


    ¡°Among the four people before you, three of them were carried away by others.¡±


    ¡°Great.¡±


    After telling Chu Nanping all he had to say, Gong Ziying drew his sword and was prepared to end this fight quickly.


    Movements of Gong Ziying could only be described as ¡°flowing¡±. While he was moving his limbs and sword tounch an attack at Chu Nanping, the corners of his clothes were also fluttering in the wind. This was not a shy trick but a method of disguising his real attack direction and concealing his own vulnerable points.


    In Gong Ziying¡¯s eyes, it was weird enough to use two swords at the same time, not to mention that this beautiful young man dared to attack with both of his swords without doing anything to protect himself. To bystanders, it seemed that Chu Nanping had already left life and death out of consideration.


    Chu Nanping had once practiced sword techniques with the Dragon King and inevitably gotten influenced by thetter¡¯s fighting style. Besides, many ideas in the Death Scriputre did tally with the principles of the Emotionless Swordsmanship.


    Usually, a person holding two weapons in hands would use one of them to attack and the other to defend, sometimes alternately. Nevertheless, Chu Nanping used both of his weapons to attack.


    For an instant, Gong Ziying felt as if the boy had suddenly split into two people who used different moves to attack.


    He pulled back his sword to defend himself and thus had lost his advantage in the fight since this moment. He retreated five steps and then suddenly felt his back against his tent. His heart jumped as he stopped.


    His long sword was still in his hand, but he could not wield it anymore.


    He looked down at a small wound on his left chest and eximed, ¡°Great sword skill.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve not yet mastered it,¡± said Chu Nanping. He was not trying to appear humble but just telling the truth.


    ¡°The sword in your left hand is not fit for you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve bought it recently.¡±


    ¡°Use my sword. Let it drink more blood.¡±


    ¡°Do you want money for it?¡± Chu Nanping just did not have the habit of taking someone else¡¯s belongings without paying.


    Gong Ziying shook his head, as he said, ¡°Take my sword. If someone asks you where did you get it, you can just tell them that it¡¯s Gong Xinghui¡¯s sword. If someone tries to snatch it, you should kill him or her.¡± Gong Xinghui hade here for the money, but now he knew that he would not have a chance to use it anymore.


    In jianghu, a person seldom left his or herst words to a stranger. Nor would a person easily make a promise to a stranger.


    Nevertheless, Gong Xinghui left his dying words to Chu Nanping and thetter promised him by nodding and saying, ¡°Yes, I will.¡±


    Gong Xinghui handed his sword to Chu Nanping with its tip pointed at the young swordsman; this made him look somewhat indomitable. However, Chu Nanping did not doubt his sincerity at all and stepped directly toward him to take the sword.


    After Gong Xinghui let go of the sword, his arm was somehow still lifted up in the air. A momentter, his knees gradually fell to the ground, and his blood began oozing out of his wound.


    ¡°Let¡¯s find you another opponent and try your new sword out. Pay attention to your steps. That¡¯s your weakness,¡± said Gu Shenwei, while showing no feeling for the death of Gong Xinghui. ¡°This is just the beginning. Chu Nanping needs to kill more people to master the sword technique,¡± thought Gu Shenwei.


    Chu Nanping threw the heavy sword away and picked up the new sword, pleased to find out that it was easy to use. He turned his gaze at the dead body on the ground and said, ¡°He should not be dead. I failed to control my strength precisely.¡±


    ¡°No one should be dead,¡± said Gu Shenwei, taking the lead to leave for another ce.


    That night, Chu Nanping had challenged 7 people into duels, killed four of them and heavily wounded the rest of them. All his opponents were Kung Fu masters who had risen to fame during the recentmotion. This news about the young swordsman got around the region at a speed which was even faster than that of the spread of themotion. When Chu Nanping started his seventh duel, there were more than 100 people standing around and watching the fight.


    These people had survived themotion and none of them had gotten cold feet during that period of chaos. However, many of them started to consider whether to participate in the contest of the brave tomorrow after they saw the young swordsman¡¯s techniques.


    When Gu Shenwei and Chu Nanping returned to their camp, it was almost dawn. It was from this day on that Chu Nanping was widely known as ¡°The Double Sword¡± in this ce.


    For Gu Shenwei, the night that had just passed was a fruitful night, and Chu Nanping¡¯s progress was not the only achievement. ¡°Did you get it?¡± he asked Maid Lotus.


    ¡°You¡¯d better meet with her. This thing is moreplicated than we expected it to be,¡± Maid Lotus replied, her countenance was inscrutable.

 Chapter 579 - Invisible

    Chapter 579: Invisible


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee


    The Royal Court¡¯s Tournament had officially begun now, and the city¡¯s poption had suddenly more than doubled in size as a result. The situation was exacerbated sincerge areas on the outskirts had been set aside specifically for variouspetitions.


    The Nond locals were naturally bold and unrestrained. For them, skills like writing and arithmetic had always been ignored as headaches, so there was no way for them to managerge gatherings efficiently. The officials were, therefore, only responsible for the zoning and allocation of space, and the games were organized by the nobles, bothrge and small.


    Although the Royal Court was also scattered, it was still divided into streets andnes. And each time they moved, they were kept in the original style. In the countryside, there were no roads at all, so any ce could be crossed at will as long as there were no obstacles.


    For the people of the Western Regions and the Central ins who were attending the Royal Court¡¯s Tournament for the first time, they were bewildered by the sight of an endless cluster of tents. And like how a man viewing the sea for the first time would feel shocked and dazed, they didn¡¯t even dare to walk around casually.


    In the eyes of the prairie people, however, everything was spread out but in order. They knew where to buy and sell goods as well as whichpetitions they should attend. With a quick glimpse at the fluttering gs, they could immediately tell who was the owner of thend.


    It was not surprising, then, that many herdsmen were followed closely by a number of outsiders.


    Amongst the many events, the warrior contests, horse races, and war games had always been the most popr because they were sponsored by the Khan and thus had the most generous rewards. The registration teams had already formed a long queue.


    Anyone who wanted to earn a prize had to register their name on the first day. But the really excellent yers usually served the nobles, so their names were had already been registered long ago, and they didn¡¯t have to bear the hassle of waiting in line. They were simply waiting for the events to begin.


    The list quickly spread. To many people¡¯s surprise and disappointment, the Dragon King, who had publicly challenged the three kings, had not signed up for the Warrior Contest and had simply sent a teenager to attend on his behalf.


    Chu Nanping had just risen to fame, though, which somehow satisfied everyone¡¯s curiosity a little.


    Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t going to take part in any games because Zhang Ji¡¯s argument was irrefutable. Warriors, like horses, dogs, and soldiers, were all pawns of the nobles. If he participated in apetition, he might win the title of ¡®warrior,¡¯ but would simultaneously lose his precarious title of ¡®king.¡¯


    Even Fang Wenshi had to admit that his enemy¡¯s words were reasonable.


    Gu Shenwei was still confident. He had almost blundered, but Chu Nanping could help him to correct his mistake.


    The teenager¡¯s swordsmanship improved with every fight. Besides, the martial arts of the Essence Pavilion was more suitable for a kung fupetition.


    ¡°We must win, Dragon King. We have to win. We¡¯ve bet with the three kings and if we lose, our reputation will be ruined, and we won¡¯t have a chance to meet with the Khan.¡± Anxious and fearful, Fang Wenshi didn¡¯t have too much confidence in Chu Nanping.


    ¡°If I lose, doesn¡¯t it mean that I¡¯m incapable of assassinating the Khan?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not the same. First, Dragon King isn¡¯t attending the contest. Second, Old Man Mu won¡¯t show up. The news of his disappearance with Shangguan Ru has already started to spread. This¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei was ying a little joke with the counselor, but his expression was too cold. Fang Wenshi didn¡¯t understand and treated it as a serious question and refuted it point by point.


    But there were many other things for Fang Wenshi to worry about. The Dragon King was a guest of the Nond and had to participate in the official activities. So that afternoon, as he stood among a group of nobles and foreign kings, Gu Shenwei saw the Khan¡¯s carriage hurriedly passing by from afar.


    This was the closest distance that Gu Shenwei had evere to the Khan since his arrival in the Royal Court, a distance that included countless well-armored cavalrymen and vignt guards.


    Whether it was to kill or to save, Gu Shenwei had epted conflicting tasks from Wei Song and the Second Consort, but he had yet to decide which one he would carry out. But after seeing the Khan¡¯s armed escort, he couldn¡¯t help but judge the situation from a killer¡¯s perspective.


    There was little chance of sess through an ordinary assassination. The cavalry guard was airtight and formed an insurmountable sea of sabers and spears. Even if someone luckily broke through, one would run into dozens of bodyguards, who were all first-ss experts. Any of them, if singled out, was qualified topete for the first ce of the warrior contest.


    Killers were more cautious than ordinary kung fu practitioners, sometimes to the extent of timidness. With a quick nce, Gu Shenwei knew that he would never risk his life to assassinate that aging Khan.


    This was probably the reason why Zhang Ji hade to Nond.


    When the killer¡¯s saber and sword didn¡¯t work, it was time for the counselor toe on stage.


    Gu Shenwei had tried to form an assassination n from the school teacher¡¯s point of view and gradually, a general idea had grown in his heart.


    He wished for the ceremony to end soon so he that would have some time to meet with Shangguan Shaomin.


    The panic-stricken Shangguan Shaomin was sitting in a small tent. Little did she know that a woman had walked on the death road for her, much less the tribtions of the road ahead.


    Gu Shenwei had promised Shangguan Ru to save Shangguan Shaomin. After Fu Yuan¡¯s death, he abandoned the idea of saving people, but his surveince of Golden Roc Castle had never ceased.


    Shangguan Yun had brought a fake niece and deliberately revealed her in the camp to test the public¡¯s reaction. Most people were deceived, but Han Fen noticed the problem with a simple nce across the road. ¡°Her walking posture isn¡¯t the same as before.¡±


    Han Fen couldn¡¯t tell whether others¡¯ words were praise or censure, and also couldn¡¯t discern who was good-looking and who wasn¡¯t; all she noticed were some strange details such as walking postures, which actually turned out to be very useful sometimes.


    Gu Shenwei still held onto the realistic idea that Shangguan Shaomin had to die and that no one could save her even when he asked Lotus to make an assassination n.


    What had eventually changed his mind was not his promise to Shangguan Ru, but the words of his counselor.


    ¡°The Unique King¡¯s granddaughter is also a smog of death.¡± Fang Wenshi thought that the person the Second Consort and King Rizhu really wanted to kill was King Kuari. Gu Shenwei had agreed with him in the beginning but gradually he hade up with other ideas.


    Shangguan Shaomin might be very important. Golden Roc Castle valued her very much, King Kuari had cooperated personally, and even the Second Consort had been very concerned about her. In addition, wasn¡¯t a weak girl who knew nothing about kung fu easily neglected, exactly the ¡®saber and sword¡¯ Zhang Ji that liked the most?


    All these added together made Gu Shenwei believe that Shangguan Shaomin shouldn¡¯t be killed too quickly until he found out the truth.


    Gu Shenwei then changed the n. Lotus followed the new order without asking, but her expression revealed a trace of suspicion. Even Gu Shenwei himself was wondering whether he was making an excuse to fulfill Shangguan Ru¡¯s wish.


    Wild Horse and Liman¡¯s participation made the whole n even more perfect.


    When ¡®Maid Yi¡¯, who was actually Han Fen, went to the Golden Roc Camp to send an invitation, the niece Shangguan Yun handed out was the fake one, regardless of whether he doubted the invitation or not.


    The fake niece had the impression from Shangguan Yun that even in case of an ident, the other side was someone sent by her ¡®little aunt,¡¯ who only saved people and never killed. So she was willing to follow Han Fen to escape and nned to go deeper into the tiger¡¯s den for information, which, if sessful, would be a great contribution.


    Wild Horse¡¯s saber, however, was too fast for her to even beg for forgiveness when she realized that she was not facing a false threat but a real death.


    Shangguan Yun probably thought that it was an opportunity to hide Shangguan Shaomin better, so he went out in person and pretended to try to find the ¡®truth.¡¯ And to make it look more realistic, he took many people with him away from the camp.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s real n, which was to lure the tiger away from the mountain, was sessful.


    Although Zhang Ji was resourceful and could appropriately use killers, he himself didn¡¯t know kung fu and had no strength to fight back when facing a killer¡¯s attack.


    If he were not bound by the agreement, Gu Shenwei really would have wanted to take this chance to get rid of Zhang Ji. In the end, he resisted the temptation and asked Lotus to only take away Shangguan Shaomin.


    Shangguan Shaomin was in a state of ¡®invisibility.¡¯ She lived alone in an inconspicuous tent and like a prisoner, wasn¡¯t allowed to leave. Even the number of guards around her was pitiful, which was also a form of protection to confuse the enemy.


    What Shangguan Yun and Zhang Ji hadn¡¯t expected was that they would encounter an enemy with a keen sense of smell.


    Han Xuan came in handy. Just like how she liked to observe such details as walking postures, Han Xuan was very sensitive to smell. She could always find the hiding ce of the disciples of Waning Moon Hall. As soon as she arrived in Nond, she smelled the scent of rouge and powder used by the women of Golden Roc Castle.


    She had always been critical of Lotus and reluctant to go on a mission with her, while Lotus was surprisingly tolerant, ¡°We¡¯re going to save a youngdy. She¡¯s as in control as your miss.¡±


    Han Xuan was immediately moved. ¡°We must save her, and also help her find a good husband after rescuing her.¡±


    The whole rescue process was smooth and quiet. Lotus roughly guessed the target¡¯s hiding ce while Han Xuan ¡®sniffed¡¯ out the specific tent. Shangguan Shaomin was also very cooperative. Seeing the woman in ck who appeared from nowhere, she was only startled at first but soon calmed down and asked in a low voice, ¡°She sent you here?¡±


    The ¡®she¡¯ referred to Shangguan Ru; Shangguan Shaomin was carefully avoiding mentioning the name.


    ¡°Shangguan Ru,¡± Lotus mentioned the reassuring name and helped Shangguan Shaomin escape through the gap.


    It was not until early next morning that someone who delivered food found that the tent was empty. But at that time everyone¡¯s attention was focused on the Royal Court¡¯s Tournament which was about to begin. Meanwhile, Chu Nanping¡¯s new nickname, ¡®Dual Wielder,¡¯ was circting everywhere. The disappearance of the Unique King¡¯s granddaughter, together with the failed assassination attempt at dusk yesterday, were both concealed from them, and few people heard of it.


    Zhang Ji flew into a rage for the first time. As a teacher, he had actually been defeated by his student. Now he finally understood why the Dragon King had taken a teenager with him during midnight to make his name known; the purpose was to clear any suspicion of him. So if he wanted to use the Dragon King of kidnapping, he had to present direct and irrefutable evidence.


    The Golden Roc killers acted secretly. The not too big Dragon Army camp was closely monitored, and even the servants who worked to clean up messes were followed.


    Shangguan Yun wasn¡¯t surprised about the incident at all because he noticed that Lotus had disappeared when the Dragon King started showing up everywhere in public.


    Lotus was standing guard by Shangguan Shaomin¡¯s side, showing her amiable side. With the help of Han Xuan, she finally dug out a secret that even Shangguan Shaomin herself wasn¡¯t aware of.


    So, when she met the Dragon King in a hurry, she said, ¡°You should meet her in person. It¡¯s moreplicated than you think.¡±


    Standing among a group of princes and nobles, Gu Shenwei was dwelling on the strange phrase Lotus had told him ¡ª Female Gu <sup>1</sup> .


    Shangguan Shaomin was a female Gu.

 Chapter 580 - The Unspeakable

    Chapter 580: The Unspeakable


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee


    It was only a few months ago that Gu Shenwei had first received the invitation from Nond and then begun intensive negotiations, and it was around then that he had asked Xu Xiaoyi to set up an intelligence system in the prairie.


    The task was not going well. Xu Xiaoyi had appeared before the Royal Court as a businessman but realized there that the method he had always used to deal with the people of the Western Regions didn¡¯t work well for people of the Nond. He tried several times, but before he could get familiar with the rules here, he was already in danger of being betrayed and had to flee hastily.


    Fang Wenshi had actually gained a firm foothold in Nond at that time, but Gu Shenwei still asked Xu Xiaoyi to stay away from him, partly because he didn¡¯t fully trust his counselor. He hoped that his three hideouts would be independent of each other.


    Xu Xiaoyi had failed, but one fallout from the failed n was that he had left three of his men behind to continue lurking around and look for an opportunity to open a path to sess.


    After he went to the Royal Court, Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t contacted these three people until he desperately needed a ce to hide someone.


    Senior Shou was already keeping a member of the royal family at his ce, so Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t intend on putting more people there, so he asked Lotus to find one of Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s men.


    This man, who also lived in the livestock market, was nominally a cattle and sheep dealer. Although he had made no progress towards building an intelligence system these past several months, he had done well in terms of business and had made a small fortune.


    From the very beginning, he was ready to offer the Dragon King a temporary hiding ce, and so he had ced his corral on the periphery of the Royal Court. He had many tents, several of which were even equipped with underground chambers. If not from fear that the Royal Court was always moving, he would have dug an intricate undergroundwork of roads to connect all the chambers.


    After confirming the identity of Lotus, he offered a tent, the exterior of which looked like an abandoned utility room. However, it actually contained enough essential suppliesst three people seven or eight days. The excrement could be directly poured into the excavated underground space, and only the water needed to be separately transported.


    The conditions weren¡¯t very goodpared to the ¡®prison¡¯ in the camp of Golden Roc Castle, but Shangguan Shaomin was quite satisfied. She had been looking forward to this day after her little aunt, Shangguan Ru, promised to save her.


    The only thing that made her nervous was that she had to stay with two strange women in one room. When she could no longer beat it anymore, she finally meekly whispered that she needed to pee. After which, she rushed out blushing red with a racing heart, barely making it to the bathroom in time.


    Lotus began to ask questions after the tension in the atmosphere had diffused somewhat, but Shangguan Shaomin knew nothing about her mission. The Unique King and other ordinary killers had never asked anything of her, so she could only serve her time and wait for her family to arrange her marriage.


    ¡°Thank you for saving me ¡­ heroines, I don¡¯t know how to repay your great kindness.¡±


    Lotus was briefly stunned upon hearing the word ¡®heroine¡¯ and felt quite strange about it. But Han Xuan was very happy. She proudly nodded, sat down close to Shangguan Shaomin, and affectionately put her arms around her as if she were her own youngdy.


    Shangguan Shaomin gratefully looked at her, her eyes full of tears. She had not enjoyed such care for a long time. Even since her father died, even her own mother had be cold and nervous, not to mention those snobbish rtives and servants.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to thank us. We¡¯re all working for the Dragon King,¡± Lotus said in a gentle tone that she herself felt was unfamiliar. She had already determined this girl had no ill intentions, so in order to uncover more clues, she had to guide rather than coerce her.


    ¡°Mm, I¡¯m very grateful to the Dragon King, and also my little aunt. Did she ¡­ note?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not yet the right time for her to show up right now.¡±


    Shangguan Shaomin nodded understandingly but she was still a little nervous. From Lotus, she felt an oppressive aura simr to the majesty of the Unique King.


    ¡°You are not safe yet. Only by thoroughly thwarting the conspiracy of Golden Roc Castle can you be sent to the Land of Fragrance.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know. I wish I could help, but ¡­¡± Shangguan Shaomin hated her ignorance andck of ability.


    ¡°Just think about it carefully. Has anyone said anything to you? It may be a hint or a reminder, anything that made you feel a bit weird could be a clue.¡±


    Shangguan Shaomin carefully thought for a while, ¡°No, actually the castle ¡­ no one in Golden Roc Castle wanted to talk to me, and even the maidservants avoided talking with me unless it was necessary.¡±


    ¡°Oh, poor you.¡± Han Xuan¡¯s sympathies grew, and her eyes began to moisten. ¡°You¡¯re even more miserable than my miss. After all, you are the granddaughter of Unique King, I can¡¯t even imagine how you got through it all.¡±


    Shangguan Shaominy her head down on Han Xuan¡¯s shoulder and finally released all her pent up tears. After a while, she found that she had wet the other¡¯s clothes. Very embarrassed, she repeatedly apologized while wiping it carefully with a handkerchief. Han Xuan, however, grabbed it and wiped the tears away for her instead.


    Lotus waited in silence. She might not have had many emotions left in her heart, but she still knew when was the best time to open her mouth. ¡°Tell me about Feng Qin.¡±


    Feng Qin used to be a servant of Golden Roc Castle, who had secretly pledged to spend the rest of his life with the youngdy. For her sake, he was willing to be a robber and even came to the Royal Court to assassinate King Dari¡¯s favorite minion and King Kuari himself. This whole incident caused a sensation. Both Gu Shenwei and Lotus, however, were skeptical about it and thought that it was a made-up story from Golden Roc Castle.


    Shangguan Shaomin blushed and lowered her head again, and curtly said after a long while, ¡°He¡¯s the only one in the castle who would like to talk to me, but I didn¡¯t expect ¡­ expect that he is still joking around as always.


    This was what Han Xuan admired about Shangguan Shaomin, ¡°You¡¯re better than mydy. You were only fourteen years old two years ago, weren¡¯t you? And you¡¯ve already set yourself up a good man who is affectionate and faithful. You are so unlike mydy, who has finally found one except that he¡¯s dead. It really worries me.¡±


    Shangguan Shaomin¡¯s face became redder, ¡°No no, I never said anything about ¡­ marrying him. That was just his own wild idea. He suddenly redeemed himself two years ago, I thought ¡­ he had forgotten about me.¡±


    ¡°But he has been putting you in the heart and willing to die for you, except that he acts a bit silly. Why kill people, when rescuing and eloping with you would have been just as effective? s, men are always like this.¡± Han Xuan felt sorry for him. Then she looked up at Lotus and said, ¡°We¡¯vee this far, so what are your thoughts about saving Feng Qin?¡±


    Lotus shook her head, ¡°Feng Qin is kept in the prison of the Nond, and no one can rescue him. Miss Min, I¡¯m sorry, but neither the Dragon King nor your little aunt can help you with this.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± Shangguan Shaomin said in a low voice. ¡°I hope he will not suffer too much.¡±


    Lotus finally found a w, ¡°Feng Qin used to be reckless?¡±


    ¡°Ahh? No, he worked in the castle, how could he be reckless?¡±


    Two years as a robber was enough to change a teenager¡¯s temperament, but for a servant of the castle, it still felt a little bit short.


    ¡°I have a question for you.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead, I¡¯d very much like to help my benefactor.¡±


    ¡°How close were you to Feng Qin?¡±


    This question was still a little too straightforward. Shangguan Shaomin¡¯s heart pounded rapidly, not knowing how to answer.


    ¡°How can she reveal out?¡± Han Xuan unconsciously stood on Shangguan Shaomin¡¯s side and treated her as if she were her youngdy. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. You don¡¯t have to answer that.¡±


    But in Lotus¡¯ mind, the other side had to answer the question, but she didn¡¯t speak it out. Shangguan Shaomin hesitated for a while before she looked up and said, ¡°I know what you mean. Feng Qin and I are innocent. While we did share ¡­ our feelings with each other, we never crossed the bottom line, not to even mention secretly pledging to marry each other. He ¡­ he¡¯s a servant after all.¡±


    Shangguan Shaomin¡¯s voice became lower and lower. She knew that her two life-saviors and the Dragon King had all been servants before.


    But she was telling the truth. As a youngdy, no matter how low she fell, there was a sense of identification that could not be removed.


    ¡°Are we meddling in your business? You actually had the chance to marry the Khan and be a princess consort.¡±


    ¡°No no.¡± Shangguan Shaomin hurriedly defended herself, ¡°I never wanted to be a princess consort. Golden Roc Castle was always sending me back and forth like a gift. Even if I were married to the Khan, they would still not let me go. They would continue to make use of me whenever there was a chance. I would rather follow my little aunt to the Land of Fragrance.¡±


    Shangguan Shaomin saw everything clearly but she still didn¡¯t know that the man she was going to marry would probably be the Khan.


    Feng Qin appeared more and more suspicious, but she couldn¡¯t ask any more out of Shangguan Shaomin. As she looked at the girl in front of her, Lotus felt the girl still had some secrets. ¡°I need you to think again ¡­¡±


    Han Xuan bluntly interrupted Lotus, ¡°She¡¯s startled and frightened and must be very tired already. It won¡¯t be toote to ask her again tomorrow.¡±


    Shangguan Shaomin nodded at Han Xuan with relief, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. As long as I can repay the Dragon King even a little bit, I¡¯ll do whatever I can, It¡¯s just that ¡­ I¡¯m too dumb, I haven¡¯t even heard of any gossip in the castle.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be something they said. Is there anything that you felt weird about, like if they asked you to learn a seemingly insignificant skill, or gave you something to carry around with you all the time?¡±


    Lotus changed her way of asking. Killing people wasn¡¯t always done though a saber or sword. Golden Roc Castle might have trained Shangguan Shaomin in the art of poison without telling her.


    ¡°No, I can¡¯t do anything except recognize a few characters and do some simple needlework. ¡­ Um ¡­ nothing.¡±


    ¡°What do you remember?¡± Lotus immediately caught the other side¡¯s momentary hesitation.¡±


    ¡°Nothing, I ¡­¡± Shangguan Shaomin blushed and could not go on.


    ¡°The Dragon King and your little aunt have taken great risk to save you. If we can¡¯t expose Golden Roc Castle¡¯s plot in the Royal Court, no one will get out of here alive.¡± Lotus moderately pressed on her.


    ¡°It¡¯s all right,¡± Han Xuan softlyforted, ¡°We¡¯re all women, so what can¡¯t you say in front of us?¡±


    Shangguan Shaomin almost curled up in Han Xuan¡¯s arms, kept her head lowered, and said in a voice that couldn¡¯t be smaller, ¡°They¡¯ve been forcing me to eat something very ¡­ disgusting and scary. And every once in a while, they forced me to ¡­ take a bath.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with taking a bath?¡± Han Xuan didn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°They, they ¡­¡± Shangguan Shaomin couldn¡¯t speak it out, so she whispered into Han Xuan¡¯s ear.


    Han Xuan¡¯s eyes widened in surprise and turned to look at Lotus, ¡°Apply things down there? Do all the women in Golden Roc Castle bathe like that?¡±


    Lotus finally found a clue. Then she asked a series of questions, asking in detail about the vor and shape of the food and medicine. Shangguan Shaomin didn¡¯t know the name, but after the initial shyness, she tried to describe the procedure as vividly as possible. She couldn¡¯t help crying when re-mentioning the traumatic experience and could only speak intermittently.


    She had been tortured for more than a year until ten months ago, and if it had not been for Lotus¡¯s inquiry, she would have died without mentioning it.


    Han Xuan was filled with indignation as she listened and repeatedly scolded Golden Roc Castle for being shameless. And Lotus finally understood the assassination means of Golden Roc Castle.


    ¡°Shangguan Shaomin¡¯s body will be the murder weapon.¡± She said to the Dragon King, ¡°Female Gu was originally a secret art of Waning Moon Hall. It¡¯s mentioned in one of the books I read and I thought that it had been lost long ago. I didn¡¯t expect that Golden Roc Castle had secretly kept it. To put it simply, the man who sleeps with a girl who¡¯s been imnted the Gu has to pay the price of his life.¡±


    ¡®Zhang Ji and Shangguan Yun must be furious and are trying to counterattack. This is our chance to turn the table on them, and the opportunity to ascertain Shangguan Ru¡¯s whereabouts,¡¯ Gu Shenwei thought.

 Chapter 581 - Subduing Power

    Chapter 581: Subduing Power


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee


    Two years ago, the Unique King was determined topete for hegemony in the Western Regions instead of continuing to conquer women. Meanwhile, the school teacher Zhang Ji had be the military counselor of Golden Roc Castle. Ever since then, they had been nning and preparing the assassination n while secretly borrowing troops from the Nond.


    In contrast, Gu Shenwei deeply felt that his preparation was too hasty.


    Shangguan Shaomin knew nothing about ¡®female Gu¡¯. She believed the lies of her coercers and thought that she really was terminally ill and had to take this odd and sometimes creepy medicine. She never could have imagined that her body would be turned into a murder weapon.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t go to see her after talking with Lotus. He did not want to deceive her, but neither did he want to tell her the truth.


    Lotus only knew a little bit about the ¡®female Gu¡¯. She hadn¡¯t even thought of it before Shangguan Shaomin described her experiences in detail. As for treatment, nothing was mentioned in the book that she had read.


    ¡°That should be their n. The refining method of the female Gu is quite unique, and I can¡¯t think of any other possibilities.¡±


    ¡°But then everyone would know the assassin was from Golden Roc Castle; how would they frame the assassination on me?¡±


    Lotus could only guess. ¡°The female Gu may not be effective right away. It could lie dormant for a while before breaking out, during which they would find some way to frame you.¡±


    That was the most probable case. As for the specific method, they couldn¡¯t figure it out at the moment. But those were minor details and didn¡¯t affect Gu Shenwei¡¯s judgment.


    Most of King Kuari and Golden Roc Castle¡¯s n had been revealed thus far. They would use Shangguan Shaomin to assassinate the Khan and create chaos in the Royal Court before deploying troops to suppress the riots and then seize the title of Khan, which could also greatly shorten the natural process of internal fighting.


    Gu Shenwei suspected that King Rizhu and the Second Consort might have realized the importance of Shangguan Shaomin but had deliberately treated her as if she were just Golden Roc Castle¡¯s guarantee for a share of the profits in the Nond, an insignificant part of the plot, so that the Dragon King would be more likely to carelessly kill her.


    But both Shangguan Shaomin and Kuo Zhen, key figures in the assassination and the eventual mobilization of soldiers, were now in Gu Shenwei¡¯s hands. This was not only the lifeblood of King Kuari which could destroy him but also his reverse scale, which would bring death upon those who touched it.


    Dealing with these two people had, therefore, be quite a challenge.


    Lotus saw the whole matter coldly from a killer¡¯s perspective. ¡°The easiest way is to kill them. King Kuari will bepletely defeated, and the threat will no longer exist.¡±


    ¡°Then King Rizhu and the Second Consort will rise and take the initiative, while I still know too little about their n.¡±


    ¡°If so, just keep them alive to ckmail Golden Roc Castle and King Kuari. The problem is hiding them well enough so that even if news leaks out, we can handle their retaliation.¡±


    A prince of the Nond was still kept hostage in the Dragon Army camp in the Western Regions but King Kuari, who was determined to seize the throne at any costs, probably wouldn¡¯t care about the life and death of a family member.


    In the end, Gu Shenwei decided to keep them alive. His stance was the same as that of the Khan for now. He didn¡¯t want any of the kings to dominate the Royal Court for the time being, because that would be no good in regards to the interests of the Dragon Army.


    It was already the second night watch period when he returned to his own camp. The first day of the Tournament of the Royal Court was about to end. Only several small-scale games had been held that day and the results were of no surprise to anyone. What interested everyone was still the big events that would not start until the next few days.


    Wild Horse and Liman had been waiting impatiently at the Dragon King¡¯s tent for a long time. As soon as Gu Shenwei appeared, Liman rushed to him, ¡°Dragon King, the thing ¡­¡±


    Seeing Gu Shenwei holding his saber hilt, Liman abruptly stopped, his anger and resentment also reducing a lot. He said in a slow, soft voice, ¡°Dragon King, since we are cooperating, we should have a minimum level of trust.¡±


    ¡°I trust you guys.¡±


    ¡°But you asked us to kill a fake granddaughter of Unique King while you and your men went aroundpeting in kung fu without telling us the reason or what the next step is.¡±


    Gu Shenwei slightly raised his head, ¡°This is the way I do things. I trust you, but I won¡¯t change my ways because of you. Ask Wild Horse, he knows my methods very well.¡±


    Wild Horse nodded, showing that he knew.


    After the course of nearly a day and a night¡¯s waiting, Wild Horse¡¯s fury and impatience had gradually faded away as he reflected on the situation in his mind. Compared to the Dragon King, he was like a reckless teenager. He had to turn back into a cool killer, if only so that he could defeat his opponent in a future duel.


    So he appeared more restrained than Liman.


    Liman calmed down and revealed a conciliatory smile. ¡°Please forgive me, Dragon King. I¡¯m too impatient.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    ¡°Then what¡¯s Dragon King¡¯s next n? Uh, what do we need to do?¡±


    ¡°Come to the kung fupetition with me.¡±


    ¡°Kung fupetition? The warrior contest begins the day after tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s in the slums. I have to continue training my swordsman.¡±


    Liman looked reluctant, ¡°Well, neither Wild Horse nor I are suitable to be seen in public.¡±


    King Rizhu had sent the two to help the Dragon King but didn¡¯t want it to be widely known.


    ¡°Hide in the dark, and watch my back.¡±


    Liman¡¯s kung fu wasn¡¯t bad, but he was not a killer. So the one Gu Shenwei was truly relying on was still Wild Horse.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Lotus?¡± Wild Horse gestured.


    ¡°She has other duties.¡±


    Liman finally epted the Dragon King¡¯s style and didn¡¯t ask more. He knew it was a test, and that he and Wild Horse had to use the opportunity to gain the Dragon King¡¯s real trust.


    So he could only keep his doubts to himself and carry out the Dragon King¡¯s orders.


    The ¡®Dual Wielder¡¯ hade again to the slums to challenge people. As soon as the news spread, someone rushed to ept it. Chu Nanping didn¡¯t have to run around this time. He found an open space and patiently waited for his opponents.


    Gu Shenwei stood in the dark to watch. After eachpetition he would call Chu Nanping over and whispered a few words, pointing out some mistakes and ws.


    Liman and Wild Horse stood guard about ten steps behind the Dragon King, back to back, each watching different directions. To prevent them from being recognized, the two of them were wearing long cloaks.


    To Liman¡¯s surprise, although thepetition had no rewards, there were many participants. And as time went by, the challengers that showed up grew more and more powerful. They were not here to make a name for themselves because the names they announced were all fake. Some of them even made a move as soon as they entered the field and left just as quickly after being defeated, all without saying even a word.


    The boy¡¯s sword techniques surprised him even more. Liman had heard about what happenedst night, and he thought that Chu Nanping¡¯s sword techniques would be extremely fierce and swift, but what he saw was rather nd and obvious. The teenager randomly waved his sword out of order, but he could still win every time.


    Within two hours, Chu Nanping had fought eight rounds and won all of them, but he didn¡¯t kill even one person.


    More and more people started to gather. From the pointing and whispering of the onlookers, Liman found that the others had the same doubts as him. Just after one day, why would the teenage swordsman who had fought so ruthlessly yesterday be so polite today?


    Chu Nanping was following the Dragon King¡¯s suggestion.


    Gu Shenwei had long since given up the Emotionless Swordsmanship. He was instead teaching Chu Nanping a fundamental truth that to really master a power, one must be able to control and use it at will. Chu Nanping had released his powerst night to feel its strength, and now he wanted to bring it under control.


    This was why he had held it back for each sword move so that he could choose to kill or not kill. Chu Nanping chose to not kill because the Emotionless Swordsmanship required the practitioner to sever all emotions, even the murderous heart.


    As Liman¡¯s doubts rose, he almost forgot his duty as a guard. He focused on watching thepetition and listening to the crowd, and then asked himself again and again what was so peculiar about the teenager¡¯s swordsmanship? Did the Dragon King have other motivations behind this besides training the swordsman? Among the onlookers, there were many experts who didn¡¯t intend topete; why they were standing there and wasting time?


    Actually, Liman wasn¡¯t able to tell who were real kung fu experts, but he had recognized over a dozen people from the crowd, who were all ¡®warriors¡¯ recruited by the kings. Those people didn¡¯t live in the slums. They hade all the way here to watch the fight but didn¡¯t join it.


    ¡®The Dragon King is preparing bait.¡¯ Liman finally came to his senses. But as for the target, he was still confused.


    As he looked at the Dragon King who was of a simr age to him, Liman was filled with both curiosity and admiration. He suddenly felt a chill in his heart and regretted every disrespectful gesture he had made before. He had to warn his father and King Rizhu that the Dragon King was not that easy to deal with.


    Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t able to catch the target. There were many people there who harbored ill intentions, but most of them were just watching without acting. The effect caused by Chu Nanping was not big enough.


    He called the boy to his side and murmured a few words.


    Chu Nanping didn¡¯t say anything, but after the Dragon King left, he went straight to the crowd and pointed to one of them and said, ¡°I want to fight with you.¡±


    The crowd quickly stepped aside, revealing the ninth participant of the evening.


    The man, also in a cloak, stood awkwardly where he was. Surprised by his exposure, he coughed and seemed to have no intention of epting the fight.


    Chu Nanping had got the hint from the Dragon King, so he loudly added, ¡°Essence Pavilion Swordsman Chu Nanping would like to challenge Gu Feng of the Qingcheng Sect of the Central ins. Please enlighten me.¡±


    Gu Feng was a kung fu master invited by King Riyao, and he called himself Gu Da. Several days ago, he had followed the son of King Riyao to challenge the Dragon King¡¯s men under the pretense of avenging the royal prince Kuo Zhen. It was also this Gu Feng who had defeated Long Fanyun and then suggested for the son of King Riyao to admit defeat after watching Chu Nanping¡¯s swordsmanship.


    The Qingcheng Sect was one of the most famous sects in the Central ins, and Gu Feng had earned great fame and was known as the ¡®Universal Edict Finger.¡¯ Amongst the spectators, there were many kung fu practitioners from the Central ins. Upon hearing this name being called out, they all gasped in surprise.


    The two countries were on the verge of war, but as a man of the Central ins, he had actuallye to the Nond to fight for a prize. No matter what his purpose was, it wasn¡¯t something pleasant to be known. Gu Feng felt more and more embarrassed and in the end, he steeled himself and untied his cloak, saying, ¡°Let¡¯s have some fun then.¡±


    Amongst the audience, there were several people who were Gu Feng¡¯s acquaintances. They now all quietly retreated to the back of the crowd, fearing that they too would be recognized.


    Gu Feng was good at striking acupoints, and his swordsmanship was also superb. He drew out his sword and flicked the body of the sword several times. As the ringing sound of the metal propagated, he said, ¡°The soft can ovee the hard.¡±


    As these strange words finished, he attacked, not with the sword in his hand but rather with a narrow saber appearing out of nowhere. Meanwhile, another person jumped out of the crowd andunched an attack from Chu Nanping¡¯s back.


    Those who knew the saber technique eximed in unison, ¡°Golden Roc Castle!¡±


    The targets he was expecting had finally shown up. Gripping the saber hilt, Gu Shenwei was fully on guard.


    Ten steps away, Liman didn¡¯t find anything abnormal. But he suddenly felt Wild Horse tightening his muscles, which told him that danger was nearby.

 Chapter 582 - Suppressing the Riot

    Chapter 582: Suppressing the Riot


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee


    In the face of the enemy¡¯s sneak attack, the Dragon King and Wild Horse reacted so quickly that Liman felt like a clumsy child.


    This must have been a trap set well in advance. Gu Feng and another person had attacked Chu Nanping from both sides, while three masked assassins hiding in the nearby shadows suddenly made a move, targeting the Dragon King.


    Between vengeance and protection, Wild Horse chose thetter. He was still a killer in his bones and devoted to his task. Since he was now the Dragon King¡¯s bodyguard, he would not fail at carrying out his duty.


    Liman finally reacted along with the others after the initial chaos. He drew his machete, ready to join the fight.


    The Dragon King and Wild Horse¡¯s cooperation was very smooth. In just a few moves, they had already killed one assassin and thrown the other two into confusion.


    As Gu Shenwei passed by Liman, he ordered, ¡°Go help him.¡±


    Liman had no doubts about the Dragon King now. He immediately followed the order and ran towards Chu Nanping who was not very far away.


    Chu Nanping didn¡¯t seem to be taking the two¡¯s converging attack as a sneak attack and was still treating them with the attitude that he was in apetition. He coped with it calmly, ignoring the chaos developing around him.


    Gu Feng deftly waved his narrow saber as he swiftly moved back and forth like a grasshopper dancing in the dark.


    Liman arrived just in time as another five or six people jumped out from the retreating onlookers and rushed at Chu Nanping.


    Liman had learned his martial arts skills from a great master and was a bit famous among the aristocratic circle of the Royal Court. He roared once and swung his machete to open a path for him to guard behind Chu Nanping.


    Five movester, Liman found the problem. Although these people attacked eagerly, their moves were not ferocious. Instead of killing, their purpose was to capture the opponent alive. Their target was exactly Chu Nanping; Gu Feng was obviously looking for the chance to strike an acupoint.


    Not only this, but the attackers also seemed to be giving the general¡¯s son a way out. Limanunched several attacks, but the other side always either dodged or blocked, none of them counterattacking.


    Liman¡¯s heart suddenly throbbed with fear that he was making a terrible mistake.


    Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t unsheathed his saber for a long time, so he did not rush to kill. Instead, he carefully circled around searching for the right feeling. Then all of a sudden, he jumped out of the battle and rushed to Chu Nanping. He knew what these people¡¯s real target was.


    Chu Nanping had gained a lot of experience in the process of fighting as one versus many. He was still on the upper hand at the moment but would fall into a deep siege soon.


    The short-term killer training hadn¡¯t changed his nature as a swordsman. And still, in his consciousness, he wanted to defeat the strongest opponent first rather than removing the weak and driving the rest into disorder so that he could break the siege.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s choice was the exact opposite. No matter how dangerous the person to be saved was, his first cut was always aimed at the weakest besieger and he would never enter the innermost circle on his own initiative.


    He jumped more nimbly and disorderly than Gu Feng, which made it hard for his opponents to defend against his attacks. Three people fell after three cuts. The siege encircling Chu Nanping immediately loosened. Everyone started protecting themselves and nervously chasing the Dragon King,pletely forgetting about the main task of their trip.


    Soon, only Gu Feng was left to brawl with Chu Nanping. He attacked more fiercely and no longer conceal the purpose of his left hand. With the cover of the narrow saber in his right hand, he started striking his opponent¡¯s acupoints with his left hand.


    It was the first time that Liman had experienced a real assassination and he was learning much from it. But soon he would learn another lesson, that a fierce offensive was often the prelude before an escape attempt.


    In fact, Gu Feng had already epted the failure of the mission, and he wasying the groundwork for a safe escape. As an experienced veteran in Jianghu, he knew best how dangerous it was if they were closely followed as they retreated.


    He fooled his franticpanions, the indecisive Liman, even Chu Nanping, but couldn¡¯t fool the more experienced Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei was still jumping around at the periphery. He seldom waved his saber, but every time he did so, someone would fall. Everything urred like it had been rehearsed, with Gu Feng turning to flee and his first jumpnding exactly where the Dragon King had jumped towards.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know how to strike acupoints, so his only method of capturing the enemy alive was to hit him on the back of the head with his saber hilt.


    Gu Feng fell heavily. With his kung fu, he wouldn¡¯t have been knocked out in a single move., but he thought that he had sessfully retreated and the unexpected blow, had turned into a surprise attack.


    The few who survived no longer hesitated; they fled in all directions and mingled once again with those who were watching from afar.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t run after them. He had captured a prisoner who could provide him valuable information and that was enough.


    Gu Feng awoke soon. The pain behind his head was still clear, but the narrow saber on his throat was more frightening.


    He was a famous figure in Jianghu of the Central ins. It was already contemptible for him to serve the nobles of the Nond, and the assassination and kidnapping attempt was abhorrent, but he still had his own bottom line, rasping out, ¡°I won¡¯t say anything ¡­¡±


    Gu Feng indeed said nothing. When he breathed hisst, he did not even realize that death hade.


    Wild Horse thrust the saber into Gu Feng¡¯s heart and nced at the Dragon King before walking away.


    Liman tried to control his pounding heart. Wild Horse had reacted faster than he did, but he was the one who had made the mistake, so he exined, ¡°It seems that this man is an expert hired by King Riyao. He¡¯s dead but his appearance hasn¡¯t changed. With this, the Dragon King can file a suit against King Riyao, and Golden Roc Castle too. Those people were are all Golden Roc killers.¡±


    Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t able to stop Wild Horse in time, which was a small mistake but this didn¡¯t affect the overall situation. ¡°Those people are not Golden Roc killers, and Gu Feng is probably not King Riyao¡¯s man anymore.¡±


    ¡°They are not Golden Roc killers?¡± Liman¡¯s surprise was real. To him, those people who held a narrow saber had used a distinct style of Golden Roc Castle.


    ¡°They¡¯re not killers, but ordinary sabermen.¡± The one spoke was Chu Nanping, who hadn¡¯t killed anyone. ¡°Killers wouldn¡¯t have been thrown into confusion so easily.¡±


    Liman blushed with shame, though fortunately, no one could see his face in the dark. ¡°No matter what, it must be rted to King Kuari and King Riyao. The Dragon King should fight back. They have openly defied Khan¡¯s promise, this is outrageous.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t say anything. These people apparently wanted to capture Chu Nanping alive, as they had either came for the swordsmanship or the me Foal. And Liman¡¯s full efforts to cover this up seemed to prove that King Rizhu was more suspicious.


    The struggle with the Royal Court was much moreplicated than that of Golden Roc Castle and no one would take their stand until thest moment when things became more obvious.


    Most of the onlookers were martial arts practitioners. Although they were rmed, they were not at a loss. Seeing the end of the fight, they slowly drew closer.


    ¡°Excellent sabersmanship, Dragon King,¡± someone suddenly shouted. Although the young boy¡¯s sword techniques were remarkable, it was a little dull and profound and was, therefore, not as interesting as the Dragon King¡¯s swordsmanship that only killed.


    The crowd kept silent for a moment as if a voice of assent would offend someone, and then cried out in unison.


    ¡°Dragon King, are you taking new disciples? I¡¯ve been practicing my saber techniques ever since I was five ¡­¡±


    ¡°Dragon King, do you need any more people? I don¡¯t care about the pay ¡­¡±


    This was not the effect Gu Shenwei had wanted to achieve tonight. He put away his Five Peaks Saber and beckoned to Chu Nanping that thepetition was over and that it was time to leave.


    A thunderous sound of horse hooves came, and those who had experienced the riots and encirclement in the slums a few days ago immediately changed their faces, while those who wanted to work for the Dragon King also ran away in a blink of an eye.


    Liman said in a panic, ¡°Dragon King, I can¡¯t be seen ¡­¡±


    He and Wild Horse hadn¡¯t revealed their names during the fight so they were at best suspects. But if faced with the formal Nond Cavalry, he would have to reveal his identity.


    Gu Shenwei nodded understandingly. Liman and Wild Horse immediately blended into the fleeing crowd.


    Before long, there were only two people left in the vacant field.


    Large numbers of Nond Cavalry had arrived, but they did not directly rush to the front of the two but instead surrounded them from dozens of steps away to form a dense encirclement like a thick wall with legs.


    Hundreds of arrows were aimed at the Dragon King and Chu Nanping, and with just a single order, even an immortal could not escape.


    The cavalry automatically opened a narrow passage, and more than a dozen generals filed in and lined up seven or eight steps in front of Gu Shenwei. Amongst them was a stocky old general.


    ¡°Dragon King, you really know how to cause me trouble.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew him. It was King Shengri, who was ranked second amongst all the kings of Nond. The two had once met at the banquet of King Kuari. At that time, King Shengri looked like a typical drunkard who was only interested in the Dragon King¡¯s roc. After hearing that the roc had note, he never looked him in the eye since then.


    Today, dressed in his armor and towering headdress, he actually gave off an air of awe and even a sense of being above everyone else.


    ¡°I thought that King Shengri hade here to help me solve the trouble.¡±


    ¡°Haha.¡± King Shengri let out the characteristic chipperughter of all men of the Nond before he frowned, ¡°Who are these corpses?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m also waiting for that answer.¡±


    ¡°Did you kill them all?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Well, I seem to remember Dragon King promising not to kill anyone in Nond at will.¡±


    ¡°Right, as long as I am not attacked. I can find a lot of witnesses to prove that these people started the fight.¡±


    ¡°No need.¡± King Shengri suddenly became angry, shouting, ¡°I don¡¯t get it, as an honored guest of the Nond, why would the Dragon Kinge to a ce like this? Do you need someone to practice saber techniques with? I can find you an opponent. Are the women serving you not good enough? I can help with that too. Why would youe here and fight a bunch of rabble?


    ¡°Don¡¯t you, King Shengri, alsoe to this ce personally with a band of horsemen?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s different, I¡¯ve been ordered to straighten out the slums to make sure there won¡¯t be another riot. And the Dragon King almost started a riot just now.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took a turn and looked at the heavily armed cavalry, ¡°It¡¯s strange that we went through the slums and didn¡¯t bump into King Shengri. It¡¯s really unpredictable, that is the fate of our lives.¡±


    King Shengri¡¯s face darkened, ¡°Cut the crap. You two have toe with me. I don¡¯t care what kind of king you are, or what those foolish officials have promised you, but you¡¯ll be dealt with by me as long as you make trouble on my territory.¡±


    ¡°I can ept the invitation of King Shengri, but my follower can¡¯t.¡±


    King Shengri snorted coldly. ¡°Invitation? Nobody can refuse my ¡®invitation,¡¯ including your flowery follower. We men of Nond are not interested in men, but it isn¡¯t a problem to try something new sometimes.¡±


    The cavalryughed out loud. Many of them had actually never seen such a pretty-looking young man before. They looked at Chu Nanping without any scruples, suspecting that he might be a girl dressed in a man¡¯s attire.


    They shouldn¡¯tugh, because it not only spoiled the seriousness of the situation but also weakened the strength of their arm and rxed the bowstring.


    The two that were deeply encircled acted at the same time. Chu Nanping waved his dual swords to ward off any possible rescue attempts, while Gu Shenwei sat behind King Shengri and drew aside the troublesome headdress, whispering, ¡°Take me to honestly meet the people of Essence Pavilion, and it¡¯ll make life easier for both of us.¡±


    Chu Nanping was able to use two different sets of swordsmanship alone. Gu Shenwei believed that those who were most interested in the matter in the Royal Court would be the eleven disciples of the Essence Pavilion.


    He wanted all of his hidden enemies to show up.

 Chapter 583 - Contending for the Dragon King

    Chapter 583: Contending for the Dragon King


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee


    Sometimes timing was more important than speed. Gu Shenwei and Chu Nanping exhibited this idea perfectly after seizing the moment and cooperating perfectly.


    There were actually some experts next to King Shengri, but the two who had reacted the fastest were blocked by Chu Nanping¡¯s dual swords. And the others had only managed to bend their bows and draw their sabers by the time Gu Shenwei had gotten into position. No one dared to make a move at that point, for fear of injuring the king by mistake.


    Although King Shengri was subdued, he appeared calmer than his subordinates. He would not believe that the Dragon King would really dare to use his saber on him, so he raised his hand to stop the senseless shouts of the crowd. ¡°Ever since my tenth birthday, this has been the first time someone has hugged me from behind. Dragon King, do I look like a woman to you? I¡¯m afraid that I¡¯m a bit too old and not as fresh and tender as the kid you¡¯re fostering.¡±


    ¡°To me, King Shengri is more attractive than any woman.¡±


    ¡°Haha, how sweet. s, women love it, and so do men.¡±


    The cavalrymen looked at each other in mute amazement. The Dragon King, who was known for killing, and their lord, who was ranked second in the Nond, were actually flirting with each other in public. They did not remember their lord having such a hobby.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s voice was low when he mentioned the disciples of Essence Pavilion before, so his words werepletely drowned in the noise. King Shengri was the only one who had heard it. He neither acknowledged nor denied it. Instead, his jokes had changed the atmosphere while also being a hint.


    Gu Shenwei jumped off the horse. He had never drawn his saber from beginning to end. ¡°King Shengri needs a better horse.¡±


    ¡°Even the best horse can¡¯t bear two ¡®kings.''¡± King Shengri held up the feather on his helmet, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s attendant really can¡¯te with me?¡±


    For the disciples of Essence Pavilion, the most important figure was actually Chu Nanping, who hadprehended how to practice the Emotionless Swordsmanship alone.


    Gu Shenwei firmly shook his head. ¡°He¡¯s timid. Unless I forge the way ahead, he¡¯s not going anywhere.¡±


    ¡°What a pampered attendant. The Dragon King is really kind to him.¡±


    ¡°I have no choice. It¡¯s not easy to find an irreceable entourage.¡±


    Chu Nanping was used to being judged on his appearance, so he turned a deaf ear to everything and instead focused on decoding the Dragon King¡¯s hint. He knew that he could leave now, so he put away his dual swords and slowly retreated.


    The impregnable wall of cavalrymen did not make way for him. They all looked at King Shengri, waiting for his order.


    King Shengri kept staring at the Dragon King and finally nodded when Chu Nanping was about to run into a horse in his way. ¡°It¡¯s been an honor to meet the Dragon King.¡±


    The cavalry also understood their lord¡¯s intention and immediately gave way. Chu Nanping melted away into thest bit of dark before dawn and didn¡¯t worry about the Dragon King¡¯s safety at all.


    Someone offered a horse to the Dragon King. As they traveled, King Shengri now appeared more genial. He kept making vulgar jokes all the way, and Gu Shenwei responded now and then, which always resulted in King Shengri¡¯sughter.


    If someone hadn¡¯t blocked them on the way, they would have reached the destination in peace and harmony, and the cavalrymen would have thought that the previous tension was just a joke.


    It was already bright now, but strangely enough, there were not many pedestrians on the road. They soon understood the reason.


    A great troop of cavalry, muchrger than that of King Shengri, had blocked the entrance to the slums.


    King Riyao, who ranked seventh in the Nond, had alsoe in person.


    Gu Shenwei had met this king once before but they had never had a chance to talk that time. He only knew that he was King Shengri¡¯s younger brother, and that he had been a centrist in the fight for the throne. As the final moment approached, his tendency began to manifest itself. He wholeheartedly supported his nephew, King Kuari.


    King Riyao, who was nearly fifty years old, was as stocky as his brother King Shengri but there was no trace of an excessive drinking problem. With a serious look, he said, ¡°Second brother, I¡¯m here to beg you.¡±


    The two kings rode to greet each other with friendly faces. The cavalrymen behind them, however, behaved as if they were facing a formidable enemy, readying themselves for battle.


    ¡°Hey little bro, don¡¯t you have any more wine at home? You came to the right person.¡± King Shengri couldn¡¯t remember how many younger brothers he had, so he called all of them ¡®little bro¡¯.


    ¡°Hehe, that¡¯s true. Second brother has tons of good wine at home, I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s no one who has more wine than you. But I¡¯m not here to ask for wine, rather a person.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s also not a problem. All the women in my family, except the princess consort, are at your disposal. I have four or five daughters who are not yet married, and I¡¯m kind of worried right now.¡±


    Wine and women were the two shields of King Shengri. He could use them to fend off all disagreeable topics.


    King Riyao didn¡¯t want to beat around the bush anymore. ¡°Second brother, please give the Dragon King to me.¡±


    ¡°Eh? The Dragon King is neither a woman nor a good wine, so why would little bro want him?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King killed one of my men. I need to know why.¡±


    King Shengri had seemed to know nothing about the corpses on the ground not long ago, but now he seemed to know all about them, ¡°Is it that guy who calls himself Gu Da but his real name is Gu Feng?¡±


    ¡°Exactly. He¡¯s a master who I spent a lot of money to hire and yet he died for no real purpose. Do you think that I don¡¯t care? The Dragon King is our honored guest, and he has promised to not kill ¡­¡±


    King Shengri waved his hand, ¡°Well, little bro, you¡¯re so easily offended. It¡¯s just a warrior, like a dog or horse, there¡¯s no big deal in losing one. I know you have a lot more.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not about how many I have. I would have nothing to say if he died in the arena, but ¡­¡±


    King Shengri made up his mind not to let his brother finish, so he waved his hand again while saying, ¡°Well, it¡¯s all about face. I¡¯ve investigated carefully. Gu Feng, with a group of idiots, were nning to assassinate the Dragon King. The Dragon King just wanted to defend himself and didn¡¯t provoke them. I¡¯ve also looked into this matter, and it has nothing to do with you, my brother. But I have to tell you one more thing; you were fooled. That Gu Feng is from the Central ins. He was being paid by you, a king of the Nond, but worked for others. You¡¯d better go back and check your men, as there could be more spies.¡±


    King Riyao¡¯s facial color vacited between red and purple. The fact that King Shengri was iming that Gu Feng was a spy was tantamount to belittling hisck of strict discipline and vision.


    Tuo Sai, the son of King Riyao, came out of the crowd to his father. He raised his horsewhip and said indignantly, ¡°King Shengri, my father respects you, but that doesn¡¯t mean you can be insatiable. We must take the Dragon King away.¡±


    King Shengri usually appeared in public as a drunkard and he was the weakest among the ten kings, so even the younger generation didn¡¯t put him in their eye. But today, he seemed to have be a different person. He not only wore his armor, but his temper had also grown. He spat at his disrespectful nephew and cursed, ¡°Who¡¯s this brat, talking like a wild dog? Who took the chain off of his neck?¡±


    Tuo Sai was furious upon hearing this and immediately drew his single saber. But in the blink of an eye, he had fallen to the ground with one of his feet stuck in the stirrups, his weapon thrown aside, and his hands scrambling.


    It took him a long while to break free and stand up. Tuo Sai felt shamefully puzzled.


    The one who knocked him off the horse was his father King Riyao.


    ¡°Little bastard, how did you speak to your uncle? Your uncle said that you are a little brat, and you¡¯ve really lost all face for me.¡±


    Tuo Sai blushed, not understanding why his father had suddenly be courteous to his impotent second uncle. ¡°Uncle, please forgive me ¡­¡± he muttered.


    King Shengri ignored the insincere apology, ¡°Little bro is as valiant as he was then. I¡¯m too weak to p people off their horses now.¡±


    King Shengri tried to change the subject again, but King Riyao assumed the episode was over and said, ¡°Second brother, please save some face for me. For better or worse, please call the Dragon King out and let me ask him a few questions.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had been looking on. He had finally figured out who was behind Gu Feng. Earlier, he had guessed in his heart, but only now was he sure of it.


    King Kuari¡¯s original n was to iste the Dragon Kingpletely and force him to flee the Royal Court so that he could imter that the Dragon King had left a kung fu master like Old Man Mu to assassinate the Khan. But the Dragon King¡¯s reaction had exceeded his expectations, as he had pressed forward step by step instead of running away.


    After losing his two key pieces, Kuo Zhen and Shangguan Shaomin, King Kuari had finally made a proactive move.


    King Riyao was the spokesman for King Kuari. He had sent Gu Feng to kidnap Chu Nanping so that he could exchange hostages with the Dragon King.


    Gu Feng had once fought for King Riyao. In order to cover his trail, he had made the following n: Find some sabermen to impersonate the Golden Roc killers. If the Dragon King took the bait and went to argue with Golden Roc Castle, he would be used of false charges and it would be more difficult for him to identify Gu Feng. The sabermen had received strict orders to deliberately pull their punches towards Liman to make him think that the kidnapping hade from King Rizhu whose purpose was to get the me Foal back.


    Both Liman and Wild Horse were fooled, and thetter had even killed Gu Feng without any doubt.


    The n would have been impable, but after two nights¡¯ practice, Chu Nanping¡¯s swordsmanship was beyond Gu Feng¡¯s expectation. The kidnapping failed to seed quickly, and even the kidnapper was killed and left evidence that was hard to conceal.


    King Shengri, who had suddenlye out to intercept the fruit, stuck out even more. All of a sudden, Chu Nanping was no longer important. King Kuari dreaded all those who were qualified topete for the title of Khan, so he immediately spected that King Shengri and the Dragon King were colluding with each other.


    King Riyao was intent on ridding himself of the suspicion, but in order to take the Dragon King, he had to admit that Gu Feng was his man.


    This was the guess in Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart. Theplex situation of the Royal Court had gradually revealed itself to his eyes.


    ¡°Dragon King, King Riyao would like to ask you a few questions.¡± King Shengri could not continue to be tough. His troops numbered less than King Riyao¡¯s, so he had to quit while he was ahead and make an appropriate concession.


    Gu Shenwei finally got what he wanted. He had turned himself into a hot ticket, which was a very dangerous n and not in line with his usual style of action. But in the unfamiliar Royal Court, it was basically the only option. Otherwise, he would have to wait in silence for the usation of the Khan¡¯s assassination to fall on his own head.


    Gu Shenwei pped his horse to trot over. Then he looked King Riyao straight in the eye without any greetings.


    ¡°You killed my man.¡±


    ¡°I was defending myself.¡±


    ¡°If there was a misunderstanding, I can understand. Would Dragon King like to talk further in


    private?¡±


    ¡°I am now a guest of King Shengri, so I have to respect my host¡¯s wishes.¡±


    King Riyao turned to his elder brother and threatened in a sincere tone, ¡°Second brother, I¡¯m not being demanding at all. Please let the Dragon King say a few words to me in the nearby tent. I¡¯ll keep my promise and return himter. Please, don¡¯t force me into a corner.¡±


    ¡°Why do you say that? It¡¯s as if I¡¯m being inconsiderate. As long as the Dragon King is willing to, what can I say?¡± In front of someone more powerful, King Shengri could only choose topromise, ¡°But as you said, you have to send my guest back intactter.


    The two kingsughed heartily at the same time, hiding all grievances.


    It was no surprise to Gu Shenwei that when he entered the makeshift tent, the one waiting for him was King Kuari.


    ¡°I want to apologize to the Dragon King.¡± On the surface, King Kuari, who was wearing his trademark cordial smile, wasn¡¯t in a hurry at all. ¡°It¡¯s my fault for looking down on the Dragon King; I hope that we can renegotiate.¡±


    ¡°That couldn¡¯t be better, but what are you going to use to negotiate with me?¡±


    King Kuari¡¯s smile grew bigger, ¡°A woman, a woman the Dragon King cares most about.¡±

 Chapter 584 - Master

    Chapter 584: Master


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee


    ¡®Why did they send Gu Feng to kidnap Chu Nanping if they already had Shangguan Ru in their hands?¡¯ Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help but ask himself this.


    King Kuari didn¡¯t have time to exin all this, but instead offered a direct transaction. ¡°It¡¯s a reasonable trade to exchange a woman of interest to the Dragon King for two people who are useful to me, and I¡¯ll even add on one more privilege: the Dragon King can meet the Khan and leave Nond safely. There will be no charges against you, your throne will be recognized, the five kingdoms of Xiaoyao Lake and the Land of Fragrance will all belong to you, and Golden Roc Castle will make a vow to never invade yournd.


    If King Kuari had made such a condition at the outset, then Gu Shenwei would be in a dilemma.


    epting the conditions would mean giving up his hatred. If he clung to the territory and interests he already had, the ones that would oppose his choice the fiercest would be the swordsmen of Big Snow Mountain who were also the core of the Dragon Army.


    Rejecting the offer meant continuing to war with little chance of sess, resulting in the other soldiers of the Dragon Army bing dissatisfied. The reason they had attached themselves to the Dragon King wasrgely due to the fear of reprisals from the Unique King. Once they hear that the opportunity of reconciliation was refused by the Dragon King, the morale of the army would fall greatly.


    But right now, it was much easier for Gu Shenwei to make a choice. He shook his head and said, ¡°I suggest that we start with a confidence-building step. Your deal makes perfect sense, but I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll have a chance to enjoy all of its benefits.¡±


    King Kuari also shook his head, his smile undiminished. ¡°You know, I don¡¯t have to promise anything extra. If the Dragon King really cares about that woman, there will be no other choice.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s reply was short and vague. No one knew whether it was a refusal to the deal or a refusal that he ¡®cared about that woman¡¯.


    ¡°No?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°You have one day to think it over. If I don¡¯t hear anything from you by morning, I¡¯ll have to hurt that woman.¡± King Kuari didn¡¯t think that the negotiation hadpletely broken down. ¡°I know it¡¯s despicable and totally against my principles to do this, but please trust me. As long as I still have even a little choice in this, that situation won¡¯te to pass.¡±


    Gu Shenwei walked towards the door, showing the negotiation was over. King Kuari casually added, ¡°Dragon King, you must be careful if anyone ims to be protecting the Khan. They are merely using your saber.¡±


    The meeting was quite short, and King Riyao had listened to the whole conversation without interrupting. After leaving the tent, he asked, ¡°Does the Dragon King feel that you have got something on King Kuari?¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure before, but I am now, considering what you¡¯ve said.¡±


    King Riyao¡¯s temper abruptly red up, ¡°The Dragon King really knows what to say, but you don¡¯t know much about Nond. Go back and talk it over with your military counselor and listen to his opinions. Also, let me personally remind you; don¡¯t trust eunuchs. They are all selfish monsters.¡±


    It seemed that the eleven disciples of the Essence Pavilion had not fully concealed themselves nor did they remain neutral. They had already involved themselves in the fight for the throne and surprisingly supported the weakest King Shengri, who, except for a nominal second rank, had no reputation and not many troops, resulting in him withdrawing from thepetition years ago.


    King Shengri had pretended to be worried about the Dragon King and looked him up and down before nodding with satisfaction and saying, ¡°Little bro is really a man of his word. The Dragon King is intact.¡±


    The mission was nowplete, so King Riyao immediately turned impolite, saying, ¡°Humph. Second Brother should focus on drinking in the future, not only for your own sake but also for the birds you raise. Won¡¯t you feel heartbroken if your birds are skewered and roasted?¡±


    ¡°Roasted birds? Haha, that¡¯s good advice. Little brother, you can rest assured. My birds won¡¯t be eaten by others. I will eat them all myself before I die.¡±


    King Shengri was well-known in the Royal Court as an avid bird lover. After the brothers threatened each other through the metaphor of birds, they didn¡¯t say another word.


    This was court politics. Regardless of north or south,rge or small, it was full of internal life-and-death drama. King Riyao thought that the Dragon King knew little about Nond, but Gu Shenwei thought that he had seen too much.


    King Shengri then took the Dragon King back to his camp and invited him to the main tent. The feast was already set, but he was the only one sitting with the Dragon King. Around them were dozens of birdcages,rge and small, so the conversation was carried on over the background chirping of birds.


    Speaking of these birds, King Shengri talked on and on, ¡°I have to say this before we begin. I¡¯m not trying to show off my bird, so don¡¯t steal them as you did to King Rizhu¡¯s horse.¡±


    ¡°The Tournament of the Royal Court doesn¡¯t have a bird game, so I have no interests in your birds.¡±


    ¡°So is the Dragon King going to attend the horse race? Isn¡¯t that today? With me Foal, the Dragon King will win for sure. Well, I didn¡¯t hold you up from business, did I?¡±


    ¡°Not at all. A good horse needs a good rider to drive, and since I¡¯m not a good rider, I¡¯ve decided to let others do the work for me.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. There¡¯s no need to concern yourself with everything as a king. As long as you can find the right people, why do you have to do it all by yourself? After all, the power of one¡¯s own is limited, and those who can drive tens of millions of people are true heroes. The Dragon King is a true hero.¡±


    ¡°Heh, the small amount of people Imand is not worth mentioning in King Shengri¡¯s eyes.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s different. Although Nond is big, the people I can move are all our own. But Dragon King has the ability to move even your enemies, and I admire you for this.¡±


    ¡°I canmand others, and naturally, someone can alsomand me. King Shengri, please invite them out.¡±


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t be in such a hurry. The Dragon King has been busy all night and must be hungry by now. Please help yourself to some food.¡±


    ¡°They won¡¯t be able to catch Chu Nanping.¡± Tired of the veiled conversation, Gu Shenwei tantlyid it all out on the table. He had finally managed to force the disciples of the Essence Pavilion to show up on their own initiatives and didn¡¯t want to waste any more time.


    ¡°The Dragon King is very confident in your attendant.¡±


    ¡°I would say that I know more about the Essence Pavilion. They don¡¯t have the ability, otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have run away and taken refuge in Nond.¡±


    ¡°They said ¡­¡± King Shengri felt like he had been insulted and anxiously exined, but then changed his mind at thest moment, ¡°There¡¯s no use arguing. Let¡¯s just wait and see what the results are.¡±


    Gaining the trust of others and inculcating an idea that they could perform incredible miracles in others¡¯ mind was what the Essence Pavilion was best at. It seemed that King Shengri had been tricked. Gu Shenwei suspected that the reason why this king, who was an alcoholic bird-lover, had suddenly changed his mind and joined the fight for the throne was probably due to this.


    The facts showed themselves soon but were not what King Shengri had expected.


    The eleven disciples of the Essence Pavilion did not show up together. Instead, they sent two representatives, who had nearly identical hunchbacks, smooth chins, and sparse but ck and shiny hair. With simr tall crutches, they moved soundlessly. All one heard was the sound of crutches poking the ground.


    ¡°You and he are both disciples of the Essence Pavilion,¡± said one hunchback, his voice hoarse as if he had a piece of red-hot charcoal in his throat.


    Gu Shenwei turned to King Shengri, ¡°See, these are the most presentable disciples of the Essence Pavilion.¡±


    King Shengri regarded the Dragon King¡¯s words as an insult to himself. At one point, he almost burst out but on second thought restrained himself by picking up the bowl of wine. ¡°I¡¯d rather listen to King Riyao¡¯s counsel and focus on drinking.¡±


    King Shengri was calmer than Gu Shenwei expected. He wasn¡¯t enraged, and also didn¡¯t reveal how much he had been influenced by the disciples of the Essence Pavilion.


    ¡°You and he are both disciples of the Essence Pavilion,¡± repeated the other hunchback in a shrill voice, showing the difference between the two.


    ¡°Yeah, I remember you two. What¡¯re your names? I don¡¯t think you¡¯ve ever mentioned that.¡±


    ¡°Names don¡¯t matter.¡±


    The two hunchbacks spoke in turn, one with a hoarse voice and the other shrill, which was nearly torture to the listener¡¯s eardrums. Gu Shenwei had to guide his Qi with great concentration to withstand the destructive force of the sound.


    ¡°Right, you¡¯re all called Immortal Peng.¡±


    ¡°Immortal Peng is dead.¡±


    ¡°I killed him. It was one of the toughest and best decisions I have ever made.¡±


    ¡°You should be Immortal Peng then, not that white-faced schr.¡±


    ¡°The people of the Essence Pavilion are all too ugly, I don¡¯t want to be your head.¡±


    ¡°Then hand over Chu Nanping, don¡¯t hide him.¡±


    One of the purposes of Chu Nanping entering the slums to practice kung fu for two nights in a row was to show off his ability to cultivate the Emotionless Swordsmanship without a partner to draw out the disciples of the Essence Pavilion. Afterpleting his task, he immediately followed the escape route set by the Dragon King and quickly disappeared. The disciples of the Essence Pavilion had actually lost track of him.


    ¡°He, like me, thinks that you are too ugly to meet.¡±


    The two hunchbacks did not seem to understand what the Dragon King was saying. They showed no reactions to the verbal provocation at all.


    ¡°You must hand over Chu Nanping.¡±


    ¡°Give me a reason.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll let you see the Khan.¡±


    ¡°So you are eunuchs serving the Khan now?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was slightly surprised for the first time since the hunchbacks had shown up.


    King Shengri felt that he had to exin a bit, so he put down the bowl and coughed twice before saying, ¡°The immortals are Masters hired by the Khan. Dragon King, please don¡¯t just guess randomly.¡±


    ¡°Masters?¡± Gu Shenwei was mildly admiring of these Essence Pavilion disciples. It was understandable for the addle-brained King Dari and drunken King Shengri to be tricked, but how could the Khan be deceived as well? From all the rumors he heard, although the Khan was old and ill, his mind was still very clear and sharp.


    ¡°We can help the Dragon King bypass all the official procedures and meet the Khan directly,¡± the hunchback said confidently.


    ¡°It seems it was a good thing for you to leave Jade City, but I¡¯m sorry. We all know what Immortal Peng was best at. I can¡¯t give anyone to you until I see the Khan first.¡±


    The two hunchbacks exchanged a nce, which revealed that they hadn¡¯t reached the highest level of minds thinking like one.


    ¡°You must hand him over,¡± one hunchback said.


    ¡°You must hand him over,¡± repeated the other hunchback.


    Gu Shenwei kept silent. It was useless to argue with the disciples of the Essence Pavilion. Sooner orter they would have to resolve their conflict with sword and saber.


    ¡°The Unique King¡¯s daughter is in our hands,¡± the hunchback with a hoarse voice continued.


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help but snort. Not long ago, Shangguan Ru¡¯s whereabouts was still a mystery. All of a sudden, King Kuari and the disciples of the Essence Pavilion all imed to be the kidnapper.


    ¡°Really? I won¡¯t believe a word of yours unless I see her.¡±


    The hunchback with a hoarse voice retrieved a saber from behind and threw it at the Dragon King.


    Instead of catching it, Gu Shenwei let the saber fall on the desk in front of him.


    It was a wooden saber in the style of Golden Roc Castle. It looked rather old and had obviously been used for a long time, just like the one frequently used by Shangguan Ru.

 Chapter 585 - Champion

    Chapter 585: Champion


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee


    Gu Shenwei stood up and nced down at the wooden saber on the table before saying, ¡°There¡¯s no more need to talk unless I see her.¡±


    He had realized the purpose behind this meeting with the disciples of the Essence Pavilion and since he also now knew where they were hiding, that was enough. As for where Shangguan Ru was, he just had to keep pressure up until one of the sides could no longer bear to keep the cat in the bag.


    It was like a close kung fu match where the most patient person won.


    Yet at the same time, it was a risk, a desperate gamble in which Shangguan Ru¡¯s life was at stake.


    Although the disciples of the Essence Pavilion were good at confusing people¡¯s minds, they obviously did not know how to negotiate well. Surprised at the Dragon King¡¯s coldness, the two hunchbacks exchanged a nce and then threw out threats one after another.


    ¡°At this time tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°We have to see Chu Nanping.¡±


    ¡°Otherwise, you will see the owner of the saber.¡±


    ¡°Part of her.¡±


    The two groups of people coincidentally used Shangguan Ru for ckmail, even giving the same deadline.


    Gu Shenwei looked at King Shengri who was still serving a bowl to drink and coldly said, ¡°Any harm done to anyone of the Dragon Army is an act of breaking the agreement, and I will respond ordingly.¡±


    It was nearly noon when he left the King Shengri¡¯s office. The streets were strangely empty as if the whole court had been deserted.


    The first high point of the Tournament of the Royal Court was today.


    The Nond people¡¯s love of horses was extraordinary, even to the extent of feverish worship. So, horse racing was naturally extremely popr.


    The ten guards were waiting not far away and immediately bobbed up to greet the Dragon King as soon as they saw him.


    Gu Shenwei got on his horse and rode towards the racetrack on the outer suburbs. He had been thinking the whole way and suddenly shivered for no reason. He couldn¡¯t help but nce back. Those ten guards were still following closely behind without incident.


    Without Lotus and Chu Nanping¡¯s apaniment, Gu Shenwei began to feel the emptiness behind.


    Neither was he ustomed to galloping around in broad daylight in a strange and hostile city. Without the protection of the dark night, he felt like was charging towards flying arrows without any armor or shield.


    Even his mind wasn¡¯t as sharp as it was at night. He wanted to find a loophole in the threats of the Essence Pavilion¡¯s disciples and King Kuari so that he could determine Shangguan Ru¡¯s whereabouts. But his mind was in aplete turmoil, and he couldn¡¯t think of anything except for the words he had heard over and over again repeating inside his head.


    The horse race was nearly finished when Gu Shenwei arrived at the outskirts.


    There was actually more than one horse race in the Tournament of the Royal Court, and theoretically, everyone could organize a race as long as they provided the corresponding rewards and racetracks. But only the first one was the most looked after because it was set up under the name of the Khan, and there were strict restrictions on the qualifications of the yers. Only nobles and invited honored guests could send riders to participate in this game.


    Unsurprisingly, the best horses and riders always appeared under the nobles¡¯ names.


    As an honored guest, the Dragon King was naturally invited. But he only sent five riders to join the game which appeared a bit humble and miserable. The other nobles took full advantage of their qualifications and appointed ten to fifty yers. The glory would fall to the lord as long as one of them did well.


    The contestants carried gs three or five feet high to indicate whom they belonged to.


    Gu Shenwei happened to catch up with the end of the game. The riders had turned back from the turning point which was about six miles away and was back in view of the home audience.


    Like all the other games, the nobles had their own viewing area at the best position. When standing on the tform, one could look farther, but Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t go there. Instead, he stopped behind a group of herdsmen where he could hardly see anything but instead could hear the excited chatter of the crowd in front.


    ¡°It¡¯s so disappointing that the me Foal isn¡¯t running this year. I came from hundreds of miles away just to see it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, the Dragon King is so rude to steal the best horse on the prairie.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter with King Rizhu? Why doesn¡¯t he take the horse back? Is he afraid of a man from the Western Regions?¡±


    The discontent with the Dragon Kingsted for a while. Many people spoke thenguage of the Nond which Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t understand, but the words ¡®Dragon King¡¯ was frequently mentioned in unfriendly tones.


    ¡°They¡¯re turning back, they¡¯re turning back.¡±


    The crowd swarmed forward like a tide and huddled into a ball. Many people¡¯s mounts didn¡¯t like the denseness of the environment. They restlessly whinnied and trampled wherever they were, making a great noise that even surpassed the mor of the crowd¡¯s voices.


    But the audience¡¯s voice of amazement grew louder and louder and soon surpassed the sound of the horse¡¯s hooves.


    ¡°Look, look!¡±


    ¡°How can it be so fast?¡±


    ¡°The horses behind it have not even appeared.¡±


    ¡°Whose horse is this?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. The g looks weird, ck, and something red in the middle. I¡¯ve never seen such a g, whose is it?¡±


    ¡°A crow, a red crow, that¡¯s the Dragon King¡¯s g! The Dragon King¡¯s horse!¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned his horse and headed towards his camp with the guards. He could still hear the cries of surprise even from far away.


    ¡°It¡¯s like a second me Foal, a ck me Foal.¡±


    ¡°Idiot, that is the me Foal, the me Foal covered with charcoal!¡±


    Although the prairie wasrge, it was hard to find a safe ce to hide the horse, especially for strangers. King Rizhu had sent out hundreds of soldiers and servants to search for the horse like they were hunting a fugitive. The herdsmen near and far had also been ordered to find the me Foal. Anyone who found a clue and immediately reported to the men of King Rizhu would be generously rewarded.


    In this case, Gu Shenwei¡¯s only option was to hide the me Foal in his own camp.


    After arriving at the Royal Court, Chu Nanping didn¡¯t stay but instead returned the same way he hade. He avoided King Rizhu along the way and met Long Fanyun who was behind him. After handing over the me Foal, he hid for a few days before showing up in the Royal Court, leaving an impression that he had hidden the horse very far away.


    Long Fanyun rode the me Foal back, painted it ck overnight, and left it with the ordinary horses. And from then on, someone was responsible for adding color every day. In this way, they not only hid it from King Rizhu, even the people of Golden Roc Castle, who traveled with them, didn¡¯t find anything unusual.


    With the me Foal, Long Fanyun won the race easily. It was not until then that the sharp-eyed man recognized the true identity of the horse.


    Gu Shenwei left early and didn¡¯t see the scene of chaos. The crowd flocked to look closely and inquire curiously with cries of surprise rising everywhere, which almost prevented the riders behind from reaching the finish line.


    King Rizhu saw it and became part of the chaos. He directly jumped out from the stands, swung his sturdy body over, and rushed at Long Fanyun like a madman, shouting, ¡°My horse! You bastard, that¡¯s my horse!¡±


    The cavalry, who was in charge of keeping order, rushed to the crowd and drove them off, almost trampling the king. And a small group of cavalrymen of King Rizhu¡¯s rushed to the me Foal, trying to surround it.


    After crossing the finish line, Long Fanyun did not follow the Nond¡¯s tradition of greeting the nobles and the general audience, and instead quickened his speed and drove away while everyone was stunned.


    Having been held back in the camp for many days, the me Foal finally had a chance to run so it galloped happily. In its state of excitement, it still ran very fast after the race,pletely ignoring its old master¡¯s gut-wrenching cry.


    Just like that, the me Foal disappeared into the depths of the prairie, bing the most sensational andsting news of the day. It would have continued to spread if it were not for the more eye-catching warrior contest the next day.


    Gu Shenwei had just entered the tent and didn¡¯t even have a chance to drink some water before the ¡®chaos¡¯ came all the way from the racetrack. Fang Wenshi was just about to open his mouth and say something when an angry voice came from outside.


    ¡°Get out of there, you bastard!¡± King Rizhu had endured long enough and finally broke out. Together with a dozen or so cavalrymen, he broke into the Dragon King¡¯s camp with great momentum. The guards in the camp had no time to stop him.


    ¡°King Rizhu, aren¡¯t we allied?¡± Asked Fang Wenshi in dismay.


    Hardly had his voice faded away when King Rizhu strode into the tent, pushed the fatty in the way aside, and waved the horsewhip in his hand, cursing, ¡°Dragon King, I thought you were something, but your boy is harder than a tortoise¡¯s shell. yacting and making a fool of me in public, fuck it, our alliance is over. Even if Khan intercedes in person, you can¡¯t escape ¡­¡±


    ¡°King Kuari wants to rebel.¡± Gu Shenwei interrupted.


    The effect of Gu Shenwei¡¯s words was stronger than a pot of cold water. King Rizhu felt like he had been drenched from head to toe. Tongue-tied, he nced at the frightened Fang Wenshi who was lying on the ground, then paused for a moment before saying, ¡°Get out of here.¡±


    ¡°Ahh?¡±


    ¡°I asked you to get out.¡±


    Fang Wenshi always thought that he was not a coward. If he had some time to prepare, within just a few moments, his dignity as a counselor would prevail. But he wasn¡¯t good at dealing with emergencies and he was very afraid of King Rizhu. Being snapped at, his heart almost came to a stop. He immediately got up and walked away quickly with his head lowered.


    Standing outside the tent, Fang Wenshi was regretful, annoyed, ashamed, but not angry. He had missed the best opportunity and it was pointless to go back in now.


    ¡°Do you have evidence?¡± Inside the tent, King Rizhu asked, his tone still stiff. Although he had temporarily forgotten about his horse, he was still full of anger.


    ¡°King Kuari has a younger brother named Kuo Zhen.¡±


    ¡°He was killed by your men.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not dead.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°This is a part of King Kuari¡¯s n, to fake his brother¡¯s death and then to quietly go to the border and gather arge number of soldiers.¡±


    King Rizhu raised his horsewhip and mmed it heavily onto the table beside him, ¡°I knew that kid was up to something. How did you find out? Kuo Zhen confessed?¡±


    ¡°He confessed a few days ago.¡±


    ¡°And you didn¡¯t tell me until now?¡±


    ¡°I want to take a look first and see how close the alliance is between us.¡±


    Umonly, King Rizhu¡¯s face flushed a bit. Horse or information? After a short but fierce struggle in his mind, he said, ¡°The Dragon King really likes the me Foal?¡±


    ¡°Who doesn¡¯t like a matchless treasured horse?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s yours now.¡± King Rizhu gnashed his teeth. He wouldn¡¯t feel so bad even if he had to give away his most beloved concubine. ¡°But I may have to borrow it for two days.¡±


    ¡°So you can call back your army before the other kings.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had figured out the most important role yed by the me Foal. It was not only King Rizhu¡¯s most treasured possession, but also the best mount with which to race against time.


    King Rizhu didn¡¯t respond. Some things were better off left unsaid. ¡°Give me Kuo Zhen and your task is half done or perhaps more.¡±


    ¡°All right, but you¡¯d better be quick. I¡¯m afraid Kuo Zhen is no longer safe.¡±


    King Kuari was desperate tounch a counterattack. As long as he sent out more people to search, he could find his brother¡¯s clue soon. After all, this was his territory.


    Gu Shenwei also wanted to fight back, and save his people.

 Chapter 586 - Bribe

    Chapter 586: Bribe


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee


    This was an assassination, neat and clean. After some careful investigation, Gu Shenwei had a rough picture of what had happened.


    There were four main killers, perhaps with another one or two men waiting outside as lookouts, but the ones that did the deed were those four.


    From behind the tent, the first killer shot a flying dagger which was collected and taken awayter, leaving an indistinct crack. The people in the tent were startled and immediately understood that something was wrong.


    Senior Shou was a man of much worldly wisdom but he was the first to panic in the face of death. He had slipped and left clear boot prints on the ground when he desperately ran to the door.


    The second killer was already waiting at the door. Instead of shing at the target as usual, the attacker simply stabbed at Senior Shou¡¯s heart and finished him off in only a moment. The cut was very deep, almost piercing his chest, but the wound was very small, indicating that the killer was ruthless and swift.


    Senior Shou had then fallen to the ground without a sound. Half of his body was already outside the tent. He waster dragged back inside.


    The saberman Bo Sang had been practicing drawing his saber quickly these days, so when the enemy appeared, he immediately unsheathed his de and held it fast in his hand, and didn¡¯t let it go even after he was dead. But he had been confused by the hidden weapon flying in from behind the tent. Not knowing which direction the next attack woulde from, he had hesitated, and shifted the center of gravity of his left foot once, leaving a deep footprint.


    It was probably at the time when Senior Shou was cut that Bo Sang realized the intruder¡¯s identity. He had immediately made the right decision and ran to the hostage, trying to silence him.


    The third killer had already burst into the tent at that moment and attacked without hesitation, making a long cut in Bo Sang¡¯s back.


    Bo Sang fell but did not die at once. He turned over but just received another stab in the heart.


    Kuo Zhen must have been overjoyed. He had suffered a lot these days and was already very weak. At the sight of the rescuers, he immediately burst out with strength and writhed with all his might, moaning with his gagged mouth to show that he was still alive. He would never have imagined that the purpose of these people, like Bo Sang, was to silence him.


    The fourth killer came in, whose existence Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t even sure of. Because the killers had left almost no footprints, the fourth person might not have existed and the one acting might still be the first two killers.


    Gu Shenwei felt that if he had been the ymaker, there would have definitely been a fourth person to ensure the assassination process was swift and smooth.


    Either way, this person walked up to Kuo Zhen and stabbed him in the throat.


    Kuo Zhen had died instantly.


    Next, the killers methodically vandalized the corpses, especially those of Senior Shou and Kuo Zhen, who was destroyed beyond recognition to create the illusion of fulfilling a vendetta.


    ¡°This is Kuo Zhen?¡± King Rizhu frowned. He was very familiar with his nephew, but he couldn¡¯t even recognize him now.


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s not the real Kuo Zhen.¡± King Rizhu still couldn¡¯t believe that King Kuari was so ruthless to even kill his own brother.


    ¡°It must be him. Look at the color of the rope on the corpse, it¡¯s the same as that of the ground. And these marks show that he was lying there for a while before the killers arrived.¡±


    ¡°Are the killers from Golden Roc Castle?¡±


    ¡°No, it might have been Golden Roc Castle who made the n, but it wasn¡¯t them who carried it out.¡± Gu Shenwei recognized the familiar process but the saber wound on the corpses didn¡¯t look like a Golden Roc killer¡¯s style.


    ¡°When did it happen?¡±


    ¡°Probably this morning. I guess it was about six or eight hours ago.¡±


    That was exactly the time when King Kuari had stopped the Dragon King and invited him to renegotiate in the small tent.


    Gu Shenwei finally realized what a mistake he had made.


    The enemy¡¯s strategy had been to iste and drive the Dragon King away all this time. Except for bluffing tentative attacks, the enemy rarelyunched a frontal attack. Gu Shenwei, therefore, unconsciously lowered his vignce and had be ck, and King Kuari¡¯s offer to renegotiate also made him think that he still had some time.


    He had guessed Bo Sang and others were in danger, but in order to prevent the enemy from following him to find them, he had not informed them, but revealed the information to King Rizhu, hoping that he could protect the three.


    But King Kuari was more decisive than he had imagined.


    ¡°We are a bitte.¡± King Rizhu sighed with a bit ofint. ¡°You should have told me earlier.¡±


    Too many things had happened that ¡®should¡¯ not have, but King Rizhu had also concealed information, so how could Gu Shenwei believe him easily?


    ¡°We¡¯re in the same boat now, so we¡¯d better be honest to each other.¡± King Rizhu quickly stopped ming the Dragon King who he still needed to rely on. ¡°King Kuari has killed Kuo Zhen, so it means that he¡¯s probably thought of other ways to mobilize his troops. I can¡¯t dy any longer, so give me ¡­ lend me the me Foal. King Kuari has soldiers, but so do I.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t answer right away. What he was thinking about now were the other three people. Bo Sang had exposed himself; how long could Lotus hide?


    ¡°I want to see the Second Consort.¡±


    A gleam of anger shed on King Rizhu¡¯s face. He knew it was a mistake to have let the two meet. ¡°Does the Dragon King think that I can¡¯t decide?¡±


    ¡°You can decide the arrangement of the meeting,¡± insisted Gu Shenwei. ¡°I hope that King Rizhu will be present, so that we can be ¡®frank and above-board¡¯.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just wasting time.¡± King Rizhu suppressed his anger. ¡°The enemy is on the move, and we are still going to have a meeting?¡±


    ¡°This is very important.¡±


    As for why it was important, Gu Shenwei also didn¡¯t know. But he was sure that the bond between King Rizhu and the Second Consort wasn¡¯t unbreakable and he didn¡¯t want an indirect alliance.


    ¡°I¡¯ll arrange it as soon as possible,¡± said King Rizhu, his face cold as a rock. ¡°When ites, I want you to hand over the me Foal, and alsoe up with a genuine ¡®n¡¯.¡±


    The n was to kill King Kuari.


    Gu Shenwei returned to his camp and silently waited for the arrival of night. He was a guest of the Royal Court during the day, alone and unable to move an inch. When the night fell and countless tents blocked out the light of stars and moon, numerous hidden paths would show themselves. Only then would he be the master of the Royal Court.


    Lotus was far more alert than Bo Sang. Even if she was sneak-attacked, she would not be easily hurt.


    As for Shangguan Ru, Gu Shenwei had two clues now. Both King Kuari and the disciples of the Essence Pavilion had suggested that they had kidnapped her, which meant that one of them must be lying. But this wasn¡¯t his biggest doubt. What puzzled him the most was the two parties¡¯ purposes in kidnapping Shangguan Ru in the first ce?


    Threatening the Dragon King with a woman? The person who hade up with this idea must have lost his mind. Gu Shenwei admitted that he had a special affection for Shangguan Ru, but when it came to the future of tens of thousands members of the Dragon Army, he would never lose his presence of mind through personal feelings. Both King Kuari and people of the Essence Pavilion should have understood this.


    Most importantly, King Kuari and Golden Roc Castle had always wanted to force the Dragon King to leave, but kidnapping Shangguan Ru would only cause the opposite effect. If this was the case, it seemed that they wanted the Dragon King to stay.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart moved a bit.


    Fang Wenshi came in. He hadn¡¯t freed himself from the humiliation of King Rizhu, so the first thing he said was, ¡°King Rizhu is deceiving Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°What have you got?¡±


    Fang Wenshi grinned slyly. ¡°I found a talkative person from King Kuari¡¯s Office.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had ordered Fang Wenshi to buy a mole from King Kuari¡¯s side within three days. It seemed that the counselor had fulfilled his task ahead of time.


    Fang Wenshi didn¡¯t agree with the Dragon King¡¯s idea of bribing people at first, but he still faithfully tried.


    He was once a guest of King Kuari and naturally knew who was the most favored person around the king. He made a list of ten people but soon eliminated six people who were triumphant for the time being and would not risk their future for a small sum of money.


    The remaining four had their own reasons for resenting their lord which Fang Wenshi only knew a little bit about and could not investigate in detail.


    Fang Wenshi took the Dragon King¡¯s order very seriously and racked his brains to apply the strategies he had learned on those four one by one, looking for opportunities to make a move.


    After several hours of contemtion, however, he still wasn¡¯t able to draw a solid conclusion. Although the four of them were likely to betray their King, they also had reasons to stay loyal. And their fear of King Kuari alone was enough to make them endure all the humiliations they had born.


    When Fang Wenshi was feeling deeply remorseful and for the first time felt that he wasn¡¯t fit to be a counselor, he had a sudden sh of inspiration and determined the target of the bribe.


    The man was not among thest four at all, he was actually one of the first six Fang Weishi had excluded.


    ¡°I finally figured it out.¡± Fang Wenshi couldn¡¯t help bragging in front of the Dragon King, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter whether the man has been loyal or humiliated. No matter how big the humiliation is, he can still bear it as long as there are enough benefits. So, there¡¯s no need to analyze his rtionship with King Kuari. We only have to look at how much he loves money.¡±


    Everyone loved money, but the risks they were willing to take were different depending on how much they loved money.


    Wei Chun had a name from the Central ins, but even he didn¡¯t know his parents¡¯ origins. As one of the eunuchs around King Kuari, he was not actually a real confident of the king. But he had been castrated and entered the Office since he was little and had served his lord so long that he had enough information to sell.


    The most important thing was that he loved money to an extreme and had never refused the gold and silver that Fang Wenshi sent him no matter how much it was.


    Fang Wenshi had found a reliable middleman to arrange a meeting with Wei Chu which had been a test. If Wei Chun refused, the buy-out n could only stop and Fang Wenshi had to try it out on others.


    At the appointed spot, Wei Chun came and said loftily, ¡°Do not try to bribe me. I have informed the lord of this meeting, and I¡¯ve been ordered to see what tricks you ¡®re up to.¡±


    Upon hearing this, Fang Wenshi¡¯s certainty increased from thirty percent to sixty percent.


    ¡°The Dragon King has brought a lot of money with him.¡±


    ¡°So what? The Dragon King has offended my lord; does he still want to leave the prairie alive with this money?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s impossible.¡± Fang Wenshi sighed, ¡°Dragon King is too proud, which will kill him. So much money can¡¯t be spent out, what a pity!¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Wei Chun seemed to understand something.


    ¡°We, after all, are servants. We serve people for money. Since the Dragon King doesn¡¯t care about me, I have to care about myself, right?¡±


    ¡°Go on.¡± Wei Chun was attracted.


    ¡°The Dragon King ordered me to buy some information, at all costs.¡± Fang Wenshi paused a moment to stress the words ¡®at all costs¡¯ before saying, ¡°So I was wondering that if someone were willing to cooperate with me, give me some less important information, and also give me a little kickback ¡­ It¡¯s not gonna hurt anybody, is it?¡±


    ¡°This was only the beginning. Once Wei Chun got addicted, he began to say more and more, until sooner orter he will be a real mole.¡±


    Fang Wenshi had only brought back two pieces of information. Wei Chun believed that not only would they not have a fatal impact on King Kuari but might even be helpful to his lord.


    First of all, King Rizhu was no longer a secret protector of the Khan. The reason he was able to marry the Khan¡¯s sister and win the title of king was because of his firm control of many tribes in the western part of the Nond. In fact, the Khan had tried to break King Rizhu¡¯s monopoly over the power there but failed.


    Second, King Kuari¡¯s men had brought back a womanst night, who was said to have been transferred from the side of Golden Roc Castle.

 Chapter 587 - A Night Visit

    Chapter 587: A Night Visit


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee


    Draped in a thick cloak of darkness, Gu Shenwei felt quite at ease.


    Han Fen was sitting in her tent and happily sewing with a handful of rags while humming simple, merry nursery rhymes.


    But the lyrics sent shivers down one¡¯s spine upon hearing them: Peel off the skin, open the chest, ce the viscera in a row. Slice the flesh, cut off the head, find the heart ¡­


    She turned her head and smiled with joy as she said, ¡°Ehh, it¡¯s the Dragon King. How are you? I¡¯ve had a little too much for supper tonight. The mutton took up too much room in my stomach. Can we find a way to get some vegetables?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll find a way.¡±


    ¡°Hee, that¡¯s great. Look, I made this.¡±


    Han Fen held up what she was sewing. It was a doll over a foot tall which was nearlypleted. The facial features of the doll had been drawn in advance, but the brushwork was as childish as something drawn by a three year old. It had ferocious eyes, arge bloody mouth that was most of its face, and sharp teeth that still seemed to be dripping blood.


    ¡°Not bad,¡± praised Gu Shenwei insincerely.


    ¡°This is the Master Commander. I¡¯ll keep it with me when it¡¯s done.¡±


    Han Fen smiled from the bottom of her heart like a good kid who had prepared a secret gift for her parents.


    ¡°Hmm, very good. Come with me. I need your protection.¡±


    Han Fen put down the unfinished doll and seemed to transform into apletely different person as she stood up. She started carefully observing with her peripheral vision even when standing in her own tent. She had changed roles and be the killer behind the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei was very satisfied even though Han Fen¡¯s madness always left a deep impression on him. He often wondered how Lotus had withstood the crazy training of Waning Moon Hall while still remaining rational without showing much of a change.


    They were followed right after leaving camp. After circling around for a while, the two lost their tails at the craftsmen district before moving to the slums of the livestock market, where they were still being spied on. Gu Shenwei found three hidden sentries, who were watching the trap with rapt attention.


    Gu Shenwei knew what had happened without going inside. Lotus had run away with Han Xuan and Shangguan Shaomin, leaving a sign that only Gu Shenwei could read. About ten steps away, a stick was ced by the left side of the tent.


    He even knew where Lotus was hiding, but there was no need to find her right now.


    Next, Gu Shenwei nned to cross the entire Royal Court and go to the Flower Camp in the northernmost area. He had decided to visit the Second Consort at night. Time was urgent, and he couldn¡¯t wait for King Rizhu to make an arrangement.


    As he passed through the noble district, Gu Shenwei found the atmosphere had dramatically changed. All the camps were on high alert and armed soldiers were patrolling in droves, making the whole area look like a pre-war barracks.


    But it was a barracks in disarray. The different camps guarded against each other more than they did outsiders. And each time the patrolmen, who belonged to different lords, approached or faced each other, they generated ¡®sparks¡¯ even brighter than that of the torches nearby.


    There had always been a delicate bnce between the Khan¡¯s life span and the fight for the throne. King Kuari¡¯s action, however, had broken the bnce. Now every royal member of the Nond was afraid that arge-scale war would break out soon.


    But it was a good thing for the night-walkers. Due to the tension between the various camps, the safe paths were wider and smoother than usual. Gu Shenwei, therefore, was able to reach the northern forbidden area quickly.


    The Flower Camp was located in the forbidden zone, where the guarding method had not changed. Except for a small number of the Khan¡¯s direct troops patrolling the periphery, the soldiers on sentry guard were all female.


    These female soldiers were all servants of the Second Consort. They had changed into a military uniform because of their lord¡¯s whims and had only been irregrly trained for a very short time. Therefore, they could not bepared to the female archers of the Land of Fragrance.


    They were even reluctant to put a helmet on their buns. Although they kept a decent watch at the guard post, they did not look out of the camp. Instead, theybed each other¡¯s hair, tidied the corners of their clothes, murmured, and chuckled from time to time.


    Such a defense was futile.


    But Gu Shenwei acted more carefully than he did when crossing the noble¡¯s district. This was the Flower Camp, where all the prestigious women and female servants lived. Once exposed, even if it were just rumors, his reputation would be seriously damaged.


    So Han Fen reced him as the pathfinder. She had to first make sure there were no ambushes inside the camp and then she would notify the Second Consort of the Dragon King¡¯s visit. About an hourter, Han Fen quietly came out of the camp and motioned for the Dragon King toe in. She wore a faint smile on her face as if she had really enjoyed the task the Dragon King gave her.


    The tent of the Second Consort was very conspicuous. Located in the center of the camp, it was thergest and most luxurious tent in the entire camp. The outeryer of the tent was made from pale yellow silk, which glistened under the light of the fire. Even if the other prestigious women had brought better tents with them, they dared notpete with the host.


    However, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t enter the main tent. Han Fen led him to a remote small tent where there was no fire around. It was inconspicuous and easy to hide from others.


    Han Fen stood guard outside.


    Dressed in a loose casual long dress and no make-up on her face, she seemed to have been roused just when she had fallen asleep, but she did not look annoyed at all. On the contrary, she was full of interest, reminiscent of the scene in which Gu Shenwei had called up Shangguan Ru in the middle of the night.


    ¡°Your subordinate is really interesting.¡±


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t understand the rules.¡±


    ¡°But she¡¯s very able. She made my servants sleep like dead men and directly walked to my bed.¡± The Second Consort smilingly shook her head and didn¡¯t appear as panicked as ordinary women. She even looked a bit regretful, ¡°The whole Royal Court is like a rutting buffalo, ready to gore everyone else to death. Only, my ce is like an unguarded sheepfold, and any wolf can break in. You are such a wolf.¡±


    ¡°In the Royal Court, only the Khan is a wolf. I¡¯m merely another sheep looking for more of my kind to protect myself.¡±


    The Second Consortughed and said, ¡°Anyway, I have to strengthen the defenses after you leave. Why my female soldiers are not as good as those of the Land of Fragrance?¡±


    ¡°They haven¡¯t been to war.¡±


    ¡°Tell me really now.¡± The Second Consort suddenly ended the friendly banter and became serious. ¡°I¡¯ve heard enough gossip, but surely the Dragon King doesn¡¯t want to be discredited?¡±


    Of course Gu Shenwei did not want that. He had spent all that time crossing the Royal Court, so he also had to finish this conversation as quickly as possible. He responded, ¡°I don¡¯t trust King Rizhu.¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± replied the Second Consort ambiguously. She seemed to agree with Gu Shenwei but also looked a bit doubtful.


    ¡°King Rizhu imed to be the protector of the Khan, but I heard that the Khan wants to weaken the power of the Naihang Tribe. Besides, both you and Chief Consort are from the Naihang Tribe, and since you already hold such arge advantage, there¡¯s no need for King Rizhu to ask me for help.¡±


    ¡°Why would you believe me if you don¡¯t believe King Rizhu?¡±


    ¡°Because you hate him.¡±


    ¡°Haha.¡± The Second Consortughed heartily but wasn¡¯t able topletely hide the flutters in her heart. ¡°The Dragon King is really a goodedian. Where did you hear this gossip? From a herdsman who¡¯s too old to move except to whisper rumors?¡±


    ¡°I guessed.¡±


    ¡°Guessed?¡± Second Consort¡¯s smile suddenly disappeared. ¡°Save your breath if you are trying to trick me. King Rizhu and I are united bymon interests. He needs to ensure the power of the Naihang Tribe while I need to retain my position. That¡¯s all. There¡¯s no such thing as hating him or not hating him. Whether he wants to protect the Khan or not is not important to me, nor is it to you. All you need to know is that your enemy is King Kuari.¡±


    The Second Consort¡¯s series of words made Gu Shenwei even more sure of his guess. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to trick you into anything. Please let me finish first. If I¡¯m wrong, you can drive me away. I¡¯ll go to King Rizhu and kowtow to him as an apology.¡±


    ¡°Say it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s spection wasn¡¯t entirely imaginary. Although the officials were reluctant to offer the Dragon King more information, Fang Wenshi still could learn a lot of hearsay from various channels. Lots of the rumors were useless, but Gu Shenwei could still extract some useful information, thusying the foundation for his guess.


    It was a bold conjecture but it could exin a lot of the doubts he had.


    ¡°The poison on the saber that killed King Rizhu¡¯s son was not applied by my father.¡±


    ¡°You really know how to defend Gu Lun, but what does that have to do with King Rizhu and me? Anyway, his son was dead and I was married the Khan.¡±


    ¡°It was King Rizhu who applied the poison. He killed his own son so that he could legitimately present you to the Khan. The Khan has had his eye on you long before you became famous; the only obstacle was that you were engaged.¡±


    The Second Consort¡¯s expression changed with each word Gu Shenwei said, between being surprised, confused, and finally furious. ¡°Who do you think you are? A god? Get out!¡±


    For the first time, Gu Shenwei felt that he had seen the Second Consort¡¯s true face instead of being kept in a dark thick fog and forced to ept her guidance.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a god. I¡¯m like you, someone who has made up their mind for revenge.¡±


    The Second Consort breathed heavily. For a moment, she seemed to want to shout and wake up the whole camp, but her voice dropped when she spoke next. ¡°Your enemy is Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    ¡°The poison on the saber was provided by Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°The poison was very special, and not many people in the world can produce it, of whom Golden Roc Castle is one of them. If the rumor is right, King Rizhu used to be very friendly with Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    The Second Consort fell silent.


    Gu Shenwei had already figured this out from Shangguan Shaomin. The previous generation¡¯s Unique King had vowed to give up all secret arts yet they had kept the production method of the Female Gu, which meant that Golden Roc Castle might have more techniques hidden away.


    Since Lotus was quite sure that the Waning Moon Hall hadn¡¯t sent anyone to Nond, the most reasonable source of poison would be Golden Roc Castle.


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t guarantee the uracy of the guess, but he appeared quite confident in front of the Second Consort.


    The Second Consort paused for a long while before saying, ¡°You are very clever, but beware of being too clever. It will cause you big trouble.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had heard simr words before, but this time he wanted to say that he had been causing trouble this whole time and that the solution to big trouble was to cause bigger trouble.


    ¡°I think we can unite again, a real alliance.¡±


    ¡°You believe me, but I don¡¯t believe you.¡± The Second Consort showed a slight contempt smirk, and then continued, saying, ¡°You only brought fifty or so people with you. How can youpete with the kings of the Nond?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t, but with your strength, we can, and I also have a thousand female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance.¡±


    The Second Consort was still hesitating. She was very surprised that the Dragon King had figured out her secrets. She had to slowly ept all this. ¡°Help me save a person, lend me the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance, and then we will be united.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°Luo Ningcha. She was taken away by King Kuari. I made a big bet on her, and I can¡¯t just give that up for nothing.¡±

 Chapter 588 - Crush

    Chapter 588: Crush


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee


    As one of the Khan¡¯s many descendants, Tuo Sai wouldn¡¯t be surprised if his grandfather didn¡¯t know him at all if nothing had happened.


    His father, King Riyao, was ranked seventh for seeding the throne, though it was said that the seventh king had never inherited the title of Khan in all of Nond¡¯s history. There were exceptions of lower-ranked kings bing the Khan, such as the eighth, ninth, and tenth kings, but the seventh king had never seeded the position of Khan. King Riyao had tried to break the cycle but was soon defeated. After years of observation, he went down the same path as all the previous seventh kings, which was to support a more promising king.


    Tuo Sai had always followed his father¡¯s orders, so he had naturally joined King Kuari¡¯s side. He had even be friends with King Kuari¡¯s younger brother Kuo Zhen even before his father openly stated his stance.


    This was themon pattern of an alliance. No one would bluntly say that ¡®as long as you give me these benefits, I¡¯ll support you from now on.¡¯ They would always try to develop a deeper bond first before coating the ugly exchange of interests with the glory of kinship and friendship.


    Tuo Sai thought that he had done a good job. Although he and Kuo Zhen disliked each other and each thought that the other side wasn¡¯t smart enough, the uncle and nephew duo, who were of the same age, had still be best friends and always helped each other.


    When Kuo Zhen was killed in the slums, Tuo Sai¡¯s first reaction was ¡®this guy has finally paid for his foolishness.¡¯ Then he felt really sad. It wasn¡¯t easy to build a friendship, especially a good one. It had taken him a long time to find someone he had a good impression of and shared amon interest with. Now that Kuo Zhen was dead, he would have to do it all over again but he would have difficulty in finding another rtive in King Kuari¡¯s circle who would see eye to eye with him.


    Several dayster, Tuo Sai found out that Kuo Zhen had probably not died from the riots in the slums. He felt that he was close to undercovering a great conspiracy. But his nervousness and excitement soon turned to disappointment because he had not been invited to the core of the plot. As a minion, he was unwittingly asked to do some whitewashing chores.


    So, with overweening arrogance, Tuo Sai went to the Dragon King to avenge Kuo Zhen but failed halfway. He had tried to argue for his father, but was pped in public and had fallen off of his horse, leaving a stigma on his face that was likely tost a lifetime.


    Tuo Sai was full of anger. Wasn¡¯t he the eldest son of King Riyao? Hadn¡¯t he shown enough resourcefulness? Of all the things that angered him, the most was that King Kuari had kidnapped that woman.


    Ah, that woman. Even if he were just imagining it in his mind, the beauty of that woman was incredible.


    It had all happened about a few months ago. At that time, the atmosphere of the Royal Court was not as tense as it was now. No matter how much the kings hated each other, they still visited each other normally. Tuo Sai followed his father¡¯s order to send a gift to the Second Consort and there, he met a beautiful woman who had touched his heart.


    All in all, he had only met that woman three times and talked once.


    ¡°I like men with power.¡± That woman had a kind of boldness quite different from that of the prairie women, which made Tuo Sai, the Khan¡¯s grandson, feel both ashamed and a heart-throbbing yearning.


    The Second Consort had appeared at the right moment and asked him to pass on a message for her: ¡°I¡¯m just a weak woman with no one to depend on. When I was young and ignorant, I offended many people. As soon as the Khan dies, I will be trampled underfoot. I have no other ambition. I just want to know in advance who can inherit the throne so that I can plead with him for his protection.¡±


    ¡°Luo Ningcha is the Unique King¡¯s daughter-inw, but she was very unhappy in Golden Roc Castle. Her father died, her husband abandoned her, now she hase to me for help. I have to protect her and arrange the best way out for her.¡±


    Tuo Sai understood the obvious hint of the Second Consort and secretly sent her messages from then on.


    Tuo Sai didn¡¯t think he had betrayed his father and King Kuari. The information he offered were not secrets. On the contrary, he was constantly trying to prove to the Second Consort that the final winner of the fight for the throne would be King Kuari.


    He had offered help to the Second Consort for the sake of Luo Ningcha and did not expect that the woman he had a crush on would one day be a hostage of his own side.


    It wasn¡¯t yet bright outside, and Tuo Sai sat fidgeting in his tent. He had learned of King Kuari¡¯s ability and therefore, dared not to save the important hostage. But that woman¡­ At the very thought of her rare appearance, Tuo Sai couldn¡¯t help but feel restless and an impulse to leave far away with his beloved.


    The hard part was that Tuo Sai had to stay calm on the surface. And in less than four hours, he had to go with his father to watch the warrior contest as if nothing had happened. There would be an interesting gamble today. The Dragon King and King Kuari would send their warriors topete with one another and whoever won the contest would also win the ¡®unparalleled swords¡¯. Considering that the two had had a series of fights, either openly or secretly, the kung fu contest would cause a big stir.


    ¡°Dragon King,¡± Tuo Sai muttered withplicated feelings, his voice full of jealousy and resentment. So when the Dragon King was standing right before him, Tuo Sai almost thought it was an illusion of his own mind.


    He reached for the weapon near him but changed his mind the moment he touched the saber hilt, shouting, ¡°How dare you!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here to help you.¡±


    ¡°The Second Consort sent you here?¡±


    ¡°Mmm.¡±


    Tuo Sai¡¯s jealousy suddenly red up, even his eyes grew fierce, ¡°What¡¯s the rtionship between you and Luo Ningcha?¡±


    ¡°A misunderstood rtionship.¡±


    ¡°But people of Golden Roc Castle said¡­¡±


    ¡°Most of the misconceptions about mee from Golden Roc Castle. Do you believe all of them?¡±


    Tuo Sai didn¡¯t know who to believe, but Luo Ningcha had said that she only liked powerful men, and the Dragon King wasn¡¯t even close to that standard. ¡°Then why do you want to save her?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not me, but the Second Consort. She swore to protect those who sought refuge with her, but she can¡¯te so she sent me here. But I won¡¯t meddle in her business unless you help me.¡±


    ¡°Huh, her business? King Kuari will use her to threaten you, and you are still taking this as ¡®business¡¯?¡±


    If he could make his own decisions, Gu Shenwei would rather stay out of it all. It was really ridiculous that King Kuari and Golden Roc Castle actually believed that they could coerce him with Luo Ningcha.


    Time was running out but Tuo Sai was full of caution, so Gu Shenwei had to remind him. ¡°Luo Ningcha isn¡¯t a stubborn woman. There¡¯s no need to torture her, as putting her under house arrest for two or three days will be enough to get her to confess to everything. It¡¯s actually you who the Second Consort wants to save, not her.¡±


    Tuo Sai gaped and realized he was as foolish as Kuo Zhen. He had only thought of the beauty of that woman and had ignored the crucial fact that Luo Ningcha¡¯s confession would kill him.


    ¡°Can you save her?¡±


    ¡°With your help.¡±


    Once he found himself in danger, Tuo Sai¡¯s fiery love in his heart immediately cooled. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better for the Second Consort to take up this matter herself? Luo Ningcha is her guest¡­¡±


    ¡°Luo Ningcha is also a young mistress of Golden Roc Castle. The Second Consort can¡¯t do anything if Shangguan Yun doesn¡¯t agree to her demands.¡± Gu Shenwei paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t want to take risks. I also don¡¯t want to take risks, so forget it. King Kuari may not really force her, and she may not confess.¡±


    Tuo Sai had given up all resistance before Gu Shenwei even turned around. ¡°Wait, I¡­ I¡¯ll help.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew that King Riyao¡¯s son would be firmly controlled by the Second Consort from now on. In the past, he had only provided some trivial information but now he had to pour his heart out and take a stand.


    Tuo Sai only had a general idea about King Kuari¡¯s n, but the parts he did know were the most important parts.


    ¡°King Kuari doesn¡¯t want to kill you. He¡¯ll let you take Luo Ningcha away. When you two try to run away, he¡¯ll openly pursue you while making a greatmotion. After that, he¡¯ll pretend it¡¯s just a misunderstanding, and then he¡¯ll tell everyone that you two ¡­ are having an affair.¡±


    What would happen next was easy to guess. Shangguan Yun and Zhang Ji would show appropriate anger, and may even bring Shangguan Nu out to ask for justice as a husband, causing the Dragon King to lose his reputation.


    King Kuari still wanted to drive the Dragon King away so that he could frame him upter.


    ¡°The Dragon King has to make a move now if you want to save her. King Kuari wasn¡¯t joking. He¡¯ll really y hard if the Dragon King doesn¡¯t agree to exchange hostages after dawn.¡± Tuo Sai trembled with fear. He couldn¡¯t believe such a beauty could endure being beaten.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t act at once; he didn¡¯t want to take risks for Luo Ningcha. He was telling the truth.


    The Tournament of the Royal Court was more boisterous than ever today. The arenas where the warrior contest was held were crowded with spectators. Less than one percent of the audience could see what was going on inside, but that did not affect the enthusiasm of the crowd.


    Gu Shenwei went to the viewing area for nobles with guards, and under the deliberate arrangement of the organizer, his seat was next to King Kuari¡¯s.


    Gu Shenwei arrived first. The nobles around all looked askance and none of them greeted him. They all kept a low voice as they talked with each other.


    About a quarter of an hourter, King Kuari showed up. He spread his arms and approached Gu Shenwei with unusual enthusiasm. ¡°Let us thank the Dragon King. If it weren¡¯t for him, how could today¡¯s warrior contest have such arge audience?¡±


    His words were like a magic incantation. The nobles who were whispering suddenly had a mood change from dreary to boisterous. Theyughed in unison and crowded around the Dragon King, subtly steering the conversation towards the real important figure, King Kuari.


    ¡°Is the Dragon King really from the Western Regions? You really know the customs of the Nond well. The warriors under King Kuari haven¡¯t met any worthy opponents for many years. Can the Dragon King open my eyes today?¡±


    ¡°What about the bet? Take them out for everyone to have a look. I heard that the Dragon King¡¯s saber and sword were made by a famous craftsman in the Western Regions. I don¡¯t know if they can bepared to any in King Kuari¡¯s collections.¡±


    ¡­


    King Kuari ordered someone toy out his ten weapons, seven sabers and three swords, all of which were ced in exquisite caskets of different styles. They were indeed the works of famous craftsmen from all over the world.


    To the exmations of the crowd, Gu Shenwei drew his Five Peaks Saber and Dragon Head Sword with both hands and stated, ¡°That¡¯s them.¡± Before the people around could see it clearly, he put them away again, causing discontent andin.


    While everyone was admiring the weapons, King Kuari came over and whispered, ¡°I haven¡¯t received your answer yet, do you agree or disagree?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s up to the warrior contest. If your warriors win, I agree to ally. Otherwise, I¡¯d rather find a more powerful king.¡±


    King Kuari still wore his trademark friendly smile. ¡°Good idea. Don¡¯t let the audience down then. Let¡¯s send our warriors in the first game. Is the Dragon King going to y in person?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Gu Shenwei waved at one of the guards behind him, ¡°This is my warrior.¡±


    Shangguan Fei walked out, his face filled with terror. ¡°Dragon King, don¡¯t me me if I lose,¡± he blurted out.

 Chapter 589 - Signal

    Chapter 589: Signal


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee


    Shangguan Fei forced himself to take a step forward, immediately drawing lots of attention from the crowd.


    He was the Unique King¡¯s son but he served the Dragon King. He had a strange but powerful kung fu skill, and had killed King Kuari¡¯s ¡®younger brother¡¯ with it. All these factors added together had given him a reputation totally against his own will.


    King Kuari showed his hatred that only an elder brother could have and nced at Shangguan Fei. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect for the Dragon King to offer me such a big gift.¡±


    The nobles all heard the hidden killing intent in his words and coldly looked at the Dragon King¡¯s warrior as if he were a dead man walking.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s heart was pounding wildly with fear and indignation. Just yesterday evening, he had heard that the man he had killed was not a royal child at all. King Kuari knew better than anyone, but now he was putting on airs.


    ¡®This king is really good at framing others,¡¯ thought Shangguan Fei, deeply aware of the pain from being wronged.


    But he couldn¡¯t afford to lose the game today, as the Dragon King had given him two reasons to win. ¡°To cover the killing of his own brother, King Kuari will do anything to get rid of you. Instead of waiting for him to do it in secret, it¡¯s better to openly ept the challenge in the warrior contest. The people of Nond respect this kind of thing. As long as you win, King Kuari will have no choice but to deal with you during the duel from now on.¡±


    Shangguan Fei knew this, but he couldn¡¯t toughen up. ¡°King Kuari has numerous kung fu experts under him. I¡­ I¡¯m not their match.¡±


    Gu Shenwei gave him another reason, ¡°I¡¯ve also started practicing the Three-in-One Power.¡±


    Shangguan Fei nodded. He was there and had been tortured a bit.


    ¡°After practicing it for a few days, I think I have nearly perfected the training method.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s eyes brightened up, ¡°The Dragon King has thought of a way to avoid the Qi deviation?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, why else would I practice it?¡±


    Shangguan Fei wasn¡¯t a credulous person, but he believed what the Dragon King had just said. ¡°Dragon King, please save me.¡± Shangguan Fei¡¯s knees softened and he nearly knelt down before he recalled that the Dragon King didn¡¯t like people begging. So he put his hands on his thighs, barely remaining standing even though his body had already leaned over.


    ¡°It depends on your contribution.¡±


    These were the two reasons why Shangguan Fei had to win today. He had to fight with his life on the line and win the favor of the Dragon King.


    It was a dangerous move for Gu Shenwei, but there wasn¡¯t much of a choice left for him. He couldn¡¯t join thepetition himself. Zhang Ji was right that it would only degrade his status as the Dragon King. As for others, Shangguan Ru and Old Man Mu were still missing; Lotus, Chu Nanping, and Long Fanyun had their own respective tasks and were all hiding; Han Fen was a pure killer, and most of her techniques were not suitable for a publicpetition, leaving only Shangguan Fei.


    ¡°One set?¡± Gu Shenwei asked. The letter of challenge he had sent was brief and had little detail.


    King Kuari nodded with a smile. ¡°The Dragon King can pick and take two weapons away from here if you win. If I win, I will take both the swords and the people.¡±


    To the nobles, the ¡®people¡¯ that King Kuari wanted was Shangguan Fei, and only Gu Shenwei knew that it meant himself and Shangguan Shaomin.


    The mission Shangguan Fei shouldered was much heavier than he had imagined.


    It was King Kuari¡¯s turn to call out his warrior. He didn¡¯t give the order at once but waved to a man who was far away.


    Shangguan Yun came over. He was also invited to watch the warrior contest, but his seat was quite remote. Like the Dragon King, his title of ¡®Cloud King¡¯ had not been acknowledged.


    ¡°What¡¯re your majesty¡¯s orders?¡± Shangguan Yun still wore his trademark smile, which, however, was destroyed by his slightly ttering tone and wasn¡¯t as mysterious and confident as it used to be.


    Shangguan Fei and his third brother didn¡¯t have a close friendship, and neither did they have much contact in the past, but Shangguan Fei still felt some reverence towards this elder brother who had changed from a prisoner to the Cloud King. Now seeing Shangguan Yun speak in such a humble manner in front of the nobles, he couldn¡¯t help but feel sympathy and bitterly disappointment.


    Deep down, Shangguan Fei still regarded himself as the ninth young master of Golden Roc Castle.


    Soon, his little bit of sympathy for his third brother would vanish.


    ¡°Who do you think I should send to join the fight?¡± King Kuari asked.


    Shangguan Yun nced at his younger brother as if he didn¡¯t know him at all. ¡°This guy¡¯s internal energy is strange and powerful but his fist techniques, sabersmanship, and lightness skills are all mediocre. And he¡¯s always timid in a fight. Your Majesty should send a master who is good at the saber or sword to fight him. As long as one avoids his fist, one can win easily.¡±


    Shangguan Fei really wanted to hurl a torrent of abuse at Shangguan Yun. His elder brother had actually revealed all his weaknesses, leaving nothing to chance.


    ¡°Bie Yan.¡± King Kuari called out a name.


    Shangguan Fei felt an ominous foreboding in his heart. He didn¡¯t know who this Bie Yan was, but judging from the expressions of the nobles around, he knew the other side must be a well-known kung fu expert.


    When Bie Yan came out to salute King Kuari, Shangguan Fei groaned in despair.


    Unlike those kung fu experts from the Central ins who hid in cloaks and used false names, Bie Yan was a native saberman of the Nond and didn¡¯t have to cover himself.


    Bie Yan was tall and stood head and shoulders above others even when bowing and saluting. What was rare was that he was extremely well-proportioned and didn¡¯t have even a little bit of b. He wasn¡¯t quite handsome in appearance but looked tough and rather manly.


    He was just like a dreamy image of a god in Shangguan Fei¡¯s mind. He had noticed this person from the very beginning but didn¡¯t expect that the other side would be his opponent.


    Gu Shenwei had heard of this Bie Yan, and knew that he was one of the best-known kung fu experts of the Nond and had been crowned champion of the warrior contest three times. Even if half of the rumors were credible, Shangguan Fei would not be his match. Even the Dragon King himself might not have much chance of defeating him in a face to facepetition.


    The nobles were not in a hurry but the audience was a bit impatient. The call for the kung fupetition grew louder and louder until it finally reached King Kuari¡¯s ears. ¡°Let¡¯s get started. You two are the first game and as such should not let the audience down. It¡¯s actually easy to please them. As long as they see some blood, they will be satisfied.¡±


    ¡°Ahh?¡± Shangguan Fei felt his feet were no longer his own. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we start with the rules? Like how we should not intend to harm each other.¡±


    He had tried his best to speak loudly but his voice was as low as a whisper in the noise of the crowd, and he received no responses.


    Bie Yan bowed and retreated. Shangguan Fei did not move. Gu Shenwei nudged him and whispered, ¡°Dy for some time, and you will win.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s face immediately glowed like the reflection of the dying man. He hopefully stared into the Dragon King¡¯s eyes. Seeing that the eyes were firm and sincere, Shangguan Fei suddenly felt confident and regained some strength. Although his body was still swaying slightly, he was able to take a step forwards now.


    ¡®The Dragon King is full of tricks. He said I would win and I will definitely win.¡¯ Shangguan Fei¡¯s guesses were like bubbles forming in a pot of boiling water, scrambling to float upward from the bottom of his heart. ¡®Poisoning, bribing, threatening, plotting, which trick will the Dragon King use?¡¯


    Under normal circumstances, the contestants should approach each other from different directions, but Shangguan Fei and Bie Yan had to walk up the same flight of stairs.


    As he walked in the back, Shangguan Fei admired the figure of the man in front of him and felt that even Long Fanyun was outssed. Meanwhile, he wondered what the Dragon King¡¯s winning strategy was.


    Under the stage, arge crowd of entourage and guards stood there. Seeing Bie Yan, they cheered in unison, and upon seeing Shangguan Fei behind him, they all curled their lips.


    ¡°I thought the Dragon King would join the fight himself.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what we were waiting for.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s this guy? Why does he look like he¡¯s on death row?¡±


    The crowd chattered, stifling the confidence that Shangguan Fei had just mustered.


    A guard forced his way through the crowd and handed over a weapon to Bie Yan. Shangguan Fei gasped at the sight of that weapon. It was a five foot long saber that matched its master¡¯s height well. Simr to Long Fanyun¡¯s long saber, it could be wielded and waved to keep the enemy at a distance of more than ten steps. How could he reach his opponent with his fists?


    The Dragon King also had guards off to the stage. Someone came to Shangguan Fei and said something out loud, but Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t hear it clearly. After being pushed forward a few steps, he found he also had a saber in his hand. It was a narrow saber of Golden Roc Castle, which looked like a needlepared to Bie Yan¡¯s saber.


    As they stood side by side at the entrance of the field, Shangguan Fei looked up at Bie Yan with the tender smile he was best at, hoping to gain a little affection. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Shangguan Fei. Did you get King Kuari¡¯s hint? He wants us alive, so let¡¯s not y too hard, especially you¡­¡±


    Bie Yan looked down at his opponent who had a strange grin on his face and gruffly spat several words out of his mouth in thenguage of the Nond.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s heart skipped a beat. How could he dy the game without knowing what the other side had said? And ¡­ Bie Yan¡¯s teeth were so ugly. Half of his teeth were ck while the other half were yellow and uneven. Besides, it seemed that one or two were missing.


    Long Fanyun became the No.1 man in Shangguan Fei¡¯s heart again.


    Someone pushed him from behind, Shangguan Fei entered the field first. He stumbled and almost fell. After he stood up straight, he recalled the game he had yed in school for no reason.


    At that time, he was still fighting with his sister for the title of ¡®Ninth Gongzi¡¯. During the ss, he often called a servant to join the kung fupetition. Who could have thought that, a few yearster, he was now the one being forced to call to y?


    The crowd cheered loudly. Shangguan Fei moved forward with his head lowered, knowing that the enthusiasm had nothing to do with him.


    The kung fupetition field was quiterge, in the shape of a square with each side being about fifty paces long, the boundary of which was a thin human wall formed by soldiers from the Nond. Most of the crowd were herdsmen. Many people simply stood on horseback as they shouted with excitement.


    And their voices quickly converged into the clear words ¡®Bie Yan.¡¯ It turned out the name was pronounced the same way in differentnguages. Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t understand why he kept thinking about all these useless things, as the most important thing for him at present was to dy the game.


    The referee was a nobleman whose task was simple. He would call out the titles of the yers and then the names before retreating out of the field and blending into the crowd.


    As for the criteria of victory or defeat, it was much simpler. The game would not end until one of them either conceded defeat or fell to the ground. There was no draw. If both of them fell, the winner would be the one who stood up first. If both of them died, the winner would be the one who had fewer wounds.


    ¡°Wait.¡± Shangguan Fei stopped the referee who was about to leave the field. ¡°I have a question. Bie Yan can¡¯t speak thenguage of the Central ins, so what if he admits defeat and I don¡¯t get it?¡±


    The umpire snorted contemptuously and said ¡®I give up¡¯ in thenguage of the Nond. ¡°Now you understand?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I got it. Hold on, I have another question ¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei took ahold of the umpire while looking up at the nobles¡¯ viewing area, waiting for the Dragon King¡¯s signal to start thepetition.


    Gu Shenwei was also waiting for the signal.


    A guard walked to the Dragon King and nodded before withdrawing immediately.


    Gu Shenwei turned to King Kuari and said in a low voice, ¡°A man has imed that King Kuari was nning a rebellion. Fortunately, he has fallen into my hands.¡±


    King Kuari smiled with disdain, and replied, ¡°It happens all the time. The Dragon King can deal with it however he pleases.¡±


    Kuo Zhen was dead, and King Kuari didn¡¯t believe that anyone could have enough evidence to use him.


    ¡°He¡¯s a Golden Roc killer. He said he had been ordered to kill someone in the slums. Does King Kuari still remember him?¡±


    King Kuari¡¯s expression immediately changed. In his original n, the one in charge of killing Kuo Zhen was exactly a Golden Roc killer, but the result was that Shangguan Fei had gotten to him first. But how could this killer have fallen into the Dragon King¡¯s hand?


    King Kuari abruptly turned his head to look at Shangguan Yun, who was also ncing at him in disbelief and astonishment.

 Chapter 590 - Acting

    Chapter 590: Acting


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee


    The crowd turned rowdy. What was the Dragon King¡¯s warrior doing? Why did he grab the referee and keep asking questions without going near his opponent?


    The referee was also very angry. He had tried his best but still couldn¡¯t get rid of Shangguan Fei who was pulling at him. ¡°Whatever, do whatever you want. You can knock him out, or make him fall down. The one who can¡¯t get up will be the loser.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s taller than me and has a long saber. It¡¯s a bit unfair. Can you tell him to put down his saber and only fight with his fists?¡± Shangguan Fei racked his brain toe up with strange questions while looking at the viewing area of the nobles.


    The two people he cared about the most were talking to each other in a low voice. King Kuari¡¯s expression seemed to have changed. Shangguan Fei was overjoyed. It turned out that the Dragon King was pulling firewood out of Bie Yan¡¯s stove by directly ckmailing his lord and forcing him to hold back when fighting.


    Shangguan Fei turned a deaf ear to the referee and still didn¡¯t let go, wholeheartedly waiting for the Dragon King¡¯s signal.


    Finally, some of the audience could no longer bear his tant behavior and took action to vent their anger.


    Something fell close to Shangguan Fei, which startled both him and the referee.


    It was a dirty old boot.


    ¡°Well, as you can see, someone just threw out a hidden weapon. It¡¯s unfair, I demand ¡­¡±


    Before he finished, another ¡®hidden weapon¡¯ hurtled at him. This time it was a horsewhip. Shangguan Fei deftly dodged, but the referee was unlucky. He was hit and cried out in pain. Meanwhile, he took this chance to run to the edge of the field, d that he had gotten free of the entanglement.


    Once it started, the impatient spectators followed suit. Various ¡®hidden weapons¡¯ flew down into the field like raindrops. Shangguan Fei dodged from ce to ce and even though he wasn¡¯t hit by anything except for some drinks sshing out from nowhere, he was still retreating step by step. When he looked back, he happened to see Bie Yan lift his five-feet-long saber and coldly stare at him.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s feet softened, and it was then that he finally saw the Dragon King¡¯s signal. A guard standing behind the Dragon King was waving to him.


    At the same time, King Kuari made an ambiguous gesture to Bie Yan, and the look on his face showed that he was very reluctant to make such a decision.


    It was time to act. Shangguan Fei waved his narrow saber and rushed at Bie Yan like he was reuniting with his lover after a short absence.


    After three moves, the audience immediately stopped throwing things. After seven strokes, the crowd nodded. The spectators cheered loudly after the two exchanged ten bouts, and a few of the cheers were even surprisingly rooting for Shangguan Fei.


    Since it was all acting, Shangguan Fei, of course, didn¡¯t want to screw up. With the intention of showing off his kung fu, he brandished his saber quickly and moved even swifter as if he were a badger fighting a viper, circling around his prey and looking for a w from the back and the side.


    Shangguan Fei had undergone aplete and rigorous training as a killer, and it was the first time he was showing it outside of the castle.


    As a warrior doomed to lose, Bie Yan¡¯s performance was pretty good. He spun his long saber like a windmill, his steps firm and steady. For each step he took, he would roar with great momentum, showing not even the slightest sign of holding back.


    Only Shangguan Fei knew that the warrior of King Kuari had not tried his best and had deliberately revealed a w. Although it was fleeting and even the experienced audience couldn¡¯t notice, it gave him many opportunities to take advantage of it.


    Shangguan Fei liked this kind of close fight without any danger. It was like the kung fupetition he had organized with his sister when he was little. No matter how the servants tried their best, used all their unique or ferocious moves, and panted, the winner was always the twins in the end.


    Bie Yan was a servant of King Kuari and had no choice but to ept his lord¡¯s order.


    With victory in hand, Shangguan Fei was as cheerful as a bird.


    King Kuari always thought he was shrewd and resourceful and could be at ease in the face of idents, but this time, he could hardly contain his anger. The Dragon King had chosen thest possible moment before the start of the warrior contest to threaten him as if his authority were a castle floating in the air that could be pushed down at will.


    If Kuo Zhen was still alive, King Kuari admitted that it was not a small hidden danger. But who would believe a Golden Roc killer, even if he knew the overall n? The key was who would dare to believe it.


    The Dragon King hadn¡¯t realized that more than half of the Royal Court had fallen into his hands, and what he needed was just to create a reputation that he had nothing to do with the death of the Khan.


    King Kuari had decided to teach the Dragon King a lesson, so he signaled for Bie Yan to kill Shangguan Fei.


    Next, he would send someone to cut off a palm of that woman and give it to the Dragon King.


    He must be tough towards the Dragon King. Since he couldn¡¯t trick him into leaving the Royal Court, then he would scare him away.


    Gu Shenwei felt that Shangguan Fei could win. Even if he had no amazing fist techniques, he still had an eighty percent chance of winning just by virtue of years of practice of the Daoless Divine Power and his dozens of years of training as a killer.


    Timidity was his only obstacle, and this was the limiting factor that often suppressed Shangguan Fei to around fifty percent of his real power.


    Gu Shenwei had yed a little trick but he wasn¡¯t sure if it worked because Bie Yan was also a kung fu expert. Once Shangguan Fei discovered that something was wrong, his panic would kill him.


    Behind over a dozen nobles, Shangguan Yun was trying to figure out how to solve the current dilemma.


    One of his killers had been kidnapped by the Dragon King¡¯s men, but he could not use the Dragon King of breaking the agreement because the Dragon King was sitting nearby and the kidnappers were also a bit special.


    Shangguan Yun then also received the news that just now more than three hundred female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance had suddenly stormed into Golden Roc Castle¡¯s camp, iming to look for their instructor, and turned all the tents inside out.


    Zhang Ji was full of schemes but the only thing he didn¡¯t know how to deal with was women, especially arge group of women.


    The female soldiers went and left without even an apology. Afterward, they discovered that nothing was missing except a man.


    This killer had been identified by Han Fen, the disciple of Waning Moon Hall, on a secret mission, which resulted in his failure.


    Shangguan Yun wasn¡¯t concerned that the killer would say something he shouldn¡¯t, but rather that King Kuari would be displeased.


    Just as Shangguan Yun carefully observed King Kuari¡¯s expression, more news came that the killer had been released, who swore that he had been drugged but said nothing, and that the female soldiers had not mistreated him.


    But this made Shangguan Yun feel even more uneasy.


    The kung fupetition in the field had been going on for more than thirty moves but was still dead even. King Kuari grew more and more discontent as time passed because he had heard that Shangguan Fei was a little rat that could be easily dealt with and should have been killed within ten moves.


    ¡°I hope that the Dragon King doesn¡¯t get spooked by the rumors here.¡± King Kuari controlled his anger and smiled. ¡°The winds howl around the highest peaks, so a person in a high position like a member of the royal family is liable to have false rumors abound. All I can do is ignore it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a good idea to observe but not pay attention, which can solve many problems. By the way, that Golden Roc killer looked like he was talking nonsense, so my people just kicked him out.¡±


    ¡°Heh, the Dragon King changes and acts so fast.¡±


    ¡°Things are changing all the time. When I first came to the Royal Court, Golden Roc Castle was still ourmon enemy. In a blink of an eye, everything has changed, hasn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because the Dragon King is too narrow-minded. Nothing has changed for the Nond. We¡¯ve always been defending our own interests. If the Dragon King can¡¯t ept this, the road ahead will only be more and more narrow.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m already at a dead end. Should I not be thankful that now I will be able to walk down a narrow road?¡±


    King Kuari nced coldly at Shangguan Yun from a distance. The nobles around them were cheering for the warriors on the field, and as such, either consciously or unintentionally forming a barrier for their conversation. asionally a few words were heard, and even if they were meaningless words, the listeners would immediately warn themselves in their minds to forget them quickly.


    ¡°The road is unchanging, but man adapts. Dead ends, narrow roads, or paved roads, it¡¯s just an idea. It depends on whom and how closely you follow them.¡±


    ¡°Somebody has to hit a dead end.¡±


    ¡°Right, anything is possible before thest moment. I only know one thing; those who follow me will stay far away from the dead end.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stayed silent in the face of King Kuari¡¯s hint. When he spoke again, he avoided the topic about the road. ¡°Which two swords does King Kuari dislike most? I¡¯m going to start choosing.¡±


    King Kuari was stunned. Bie Yan obviously held the upper hand and seemed to only be a few moves away from winning. How could the Dragon King think he was going to pick from his swords?


    Shangguan Yun happened to walk over, and said, ¡°The Dragon King is really capable and can turn my unworthy brother into a kung fu expert. Golden Roc Castle feels ashamed.¡±


    The anger King Kuari took great effort to suppress rose again. He didn¡¯t specify who would enter the ¡®dead end¡¯ when talking about it, but Golden Roc Castle¡¯s bad luck and trouble as well as Shangguan Yun¡¯s misjudgment about his brother made him seriously consider for the first time who would take the ¡®dead-end road¡¯.


    Shangguan Fei began to wonder if this Bie Yan was acting too much. It had been forty or fifty moves, yet why was he still not showing any signs of defeat?


    Soon, the chance came. In Shangguan Fei¡¯s eyes, Bie Yan created a clever loophole. Instead of pretending to be flustered, he attacked faster and more ruthlessly, but his defense was lowered. Although his sabersmanship was still fierce and swift, it had lost its airtight defense.


    If it were during normal times, even if Shangguan Fei saw the w in his opponent¡¯s defense, he would not dare to take advantage of it. But today he felt no fear because he knew he was safe, so there was no ¡®risk¡¯ that he dare not take.


    Even the frightening roar of Bie Yan was like a bluff to deceive the audience. The real meaning was actually to urge Shangguan Fei to do it quickly.


    Shangguan Fei decided to not wait any longer and to finish the act impably.


    He passed his narrow saber to his left hand and held it against the back of his arm before he rushed at Bie Yan while making aplete turn in the air, perfectly blocking Bie Yan¡¯s long saber with his narrow saber.


    To the audience, Shangguan Fei seemed to have blocked the saber with his arm, so they eximed in unison. The boy who dawdled before the game had won the approval of many people with his strength.


    Shangguan Fei had deliberately yed a dangerous trick by continuously spinning his body. When he was face to face with Bie Yan again, he entered the inner circle for the first time and punched at the chest without hesitation.


    The huge body slowly copsed. Shangguan Fei returned the narrow saber to his right hand and held it high to solemnly greet the Dragon King on the noble seat, thinking that he could carry out such a good mission a few more times.


    Rarely had his hopes been fulfilled so quickly, when another saberman entered the field before the excited cries of the audience ceased.


    Shangguan Fei looked around to search for the referee and asked him as soon as he saw himing, ¡°What¡¯s going on? I won, didn¡¯t I?¡±


    The referee¡¯s attitude was a lot respectful, ¡°Yes, you¡¯ve won one game, and you have to win two more games to qualify for the next round.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was dumbfounded. He had just won the bet of the Dragon King and King Kuari but was still far from the champion title of the warrior contest.


    He looked up at the Dragon King, hoping for a hint, but to his disappointment, the Dragon King was gone.


    Gu Shenwei left in advance, leaving it up to the guards to choose the swords of King Kuari. He had to go to see Luo Ningcha. If the n went well, she should be back at the Flower Camp.

 Chapter 591 - Husband and Wife

    Chapter 591: Husband and Wife


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee


    Luo Ningcha was scared out of her wits. Ever since she had gotten married, she had suffered many setbacks and hardships, but this was the first time she had been physically threatened. She had always thought that she was enshrouded in a mysterious aura that insted her from physical pain such as kidnapping, torture, and injury.


    There was nock of torture scenes in her memory. With a simple dream, she could feel herself being tortured, which made her jumpy and even lose some confidence in her own charm.


    Therefore, there was no wonder that she trembled and was determined to confess everything at the sight of King Kuari, and that she would only side with the strong and was willing to offer everything for it.


    But would King Kuari ept her? Luo Ningcha felt quite uneasy about it. Not all men would voluntarily submit to her, as Shangguan Yun was such an example. When he had picked up his sister-inw as the third young master of Golden Roc Castle and handed her over to the guards of King Kuari, he didn¡¯t appear reluctant at all.


    Luo Ningcha quickly passed through the stage of self-pity which was foreign and not worth her nostalgia, and started cursing everyone, from the Unique King and the Second Consort to the Dragon King and Shangguan Yun. Her swearing didn¡¯t ease her panic but it did make her feel better.


    ¡°Calm down,¡± she said to herself. ¡°What would Servant Huan do in this situation? The first thing is to calm down. Even in the Nond, I¡¯m a beautiful woman. I can feel it from the guards¡¯ eyes. But why does Shangguan Yun seem indifferent? It must be because I didn¡¯t bother to flirt with him. King Kuari is bound to fall in love with me because I¡¯ll use all my tricks on him.¡±


    Luo Ningcha gradually recovered her confidence. She leaned on the soft couch and assumed a panic-stricken but coy posture. She had learned it from Xu Yanwei and only used a few times in front of the Unique King. It had turned out very effective.


    ¡°Call a guard in.¡±


    She needed a trial target.


    Those three maids standing at the door wished that they could merge into the tent. They were just venting tools for the youngdy. Ever since the Miss had been put under house arrest, they had been punished to varying degrees. Seeing that she had changed her attitude, they were both surprised and relieved.


    Maid Yi rushed to fulfill the order, quickly lifting the curtain and stepping out, as if she was trying to stay as far away from the youngdy as she could.


    She did note back for a long time. Luo Ningcha¡¯s anger rose and her cute expression almost copsed. ¡°Why does it take so long to call someone? Did she leave her feet behind or forget where her mouth is?¡±


    A man came in from outside.


    Luo Ningcha immediately lowered her head and said in her tender and pitiful voice, ¡°Someone help me please¡­¡±


    The man came up to her with almost silent footsteps, but when Luo Ningcha saw the man¡¯s steady and confident gait from the side view, she judged that he was by no means an ordinary guard.


    She raised her head, and it took her a while to recognize that it was her husband.


    ¡°Howe it¡¯s you?¡± Luo Ningcha bounced up and returned to her original voice, which was full of surprise and disdain. Although she had heard long ago that Shangguan Nu was also in the Royal Court, she had never thought that the two would meet again.


    ¡°When did you turn from a bandit¡¯s daughter to a whore?¡± Shangguan Nu looked at her with no warmth in his eyes.


    Shangguan Nu was forced to save his wife.


    He had been betrayed by Wei Song, the Governor of the Western Regions, and became one of the bribes to buy over the Dragon King. So he had no choice but to choose betrayal again.


    Shangguan Nu¡¯s original n was to take refuge with King Dari or King Kuari but he ran into King Rizhu¡¯s army as soon as he entered the prairie. And he changed his mind after exchanging a few words with the lord and decided to pledge allegiance to King Rizhu.


    His stay in the Nond was no better than that in the Central ins. At least he had a period of a honeymoon with thetter. Under King Rizhu, however, he was almost immediately thrust into disfavor, though he had one repeated constion. ¡°It¡¯s not yet time. You will have the chance to make a great contribution soon.¡±


    Shangguan Nu patiently waited for the day and didn¡¯t expect that the first task he would receive from King Rizhu was to take back his wife Luo Ningcha.


    Outside the tent, King Rizhu¡¯s subordinates were confronting King Kuari¡¯s guards face to face. Liman and Wild Horse were standing by watching.


    Liman suddenly chuckled inappropriately and turned to Wild Horse, ¡°Have you noticed that it should be the Dragon King working for King Rizhu but every time it is the two of us performing the task? Not only does the Dragon King avoid suffering a loss but he also reaps all the advantages.¡±


    Wild Horse couldn¡¯t speak and could only make a few simple gestures with one arm.


    ¡°You mean that we shouldn¡¯t ally with the Dragon King? We¡¯d better not guess at the king¡¯s decision. Let the Dragon King take some of the advantages, as he will return with interest at the end of the day.¡±


    Shangguan Nu came out with his wife. Liman unconsciously nodded and praised inwardly, ¡®This woman¡¯s fame is well-deserved, it really would be difficult to find a beauty in Nond who canpare with her.¡±


    King Kuari¡¯s guards were too few to stand in the way, allowing the eunuch Wei Chun to run over, panting. He quickly nced the crowd and recognized Liman, the son of a general, and rushed over to him, snappily screeching in a shrill voice, ¡°How dare you snatch the people in King Kuari¡¯s office?¡±


    Liman, with a look of great surprise, reached out to hold the swaying Wei Chu. ¡°Chief Wei, where did you get this idea? See, that is Shangguan Nu, the eighth young master of Golden Roc Castle. We came with him to pick up his wife. The reunion of husband and wife is a matter of great joy. How can you say that we are snatching people?¡±


    Wei Chun struggled a few times but Liman¡¯s grip only tightened further. ¡°Shangguan Nu has ceased being a man of Golden Roc Castle long ago.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but even so, they¡¯re still married, right? Is King Kuari going to break the couple up?¡±


    Wei Chun blushed with embarrassment but could not think of a word to refute Liman. King Kuari had ¡®invited¡¯ Luo Ningcha under the banner of Shangguan Yun of Golden Roc Castle, but it was not as fair and aboveboard as taking her away under Shangguan Nu¡¯s banner.


    Seeing Luo Ningcha enter the carriage, Wei Chun was at a loss as to what he could do. He suddenly shook off Liman¡¯s hand, turned around, and ran to a horse.


    ¡°He¡¯s gone to report this to his lord. Let¡¯s get out of here,¡± said Liman.


    All went well. Although King Rizhu¡¯s action would greatly offend King Kuari, the enemy could not find any reason to retaliate openly as long as King Rizhu still held the pawn, Shangguan Nu, in his hands.


    ¡®Why could only the Dragon King have thought of such a simple thing?¡¯ Liman admired in puzzlement. Then he realized that the rtionship of the husband and wife, Shangguan Nu and Luo Ningcha, had existed in name only for many years now. Even the people of Golden Roc Castle no longer regarded them as a couple. Only the Dragon King, who was once a servant to both the eighth young master and eighth young mistress, still remembered it in his heart.


    Next, Luo Ningcha would be escorted to the Flower Camp in the northern area and the task would be sessfullypleted. But before long, Shangguan Nu, who had always been obedient, was now causing great trouble.


    ¡°Sent to your ce? What do you mean?¡± Liman¡¯s surprise was real this time.


    ¡°She¡¯s my wife. Of course, she should be sent to my ce. Is there a problem?¡±


    ¡°The king ordered ¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to the king about this.¡±


    Shangguan Nu¡¯s face was cold and gloomy, and he seemed intent on fighting with all those who disagreed. Liman found himself also obliged to report this to the lord. ¡°Whatever, but you¡¯d better give an exnation to the king.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be long before I send her to the Flower Camp.¡±


    Liman revealed an understanding smile. If that was his woman, he would probably also do the same thing when they met again after several years of separation. After all, how could a husband resist exercising his legitimate rights in the face of such a beauty?


    Luo Ningcha was puzzled. Shangguan Nu¡¯s appearance had disturbed her mood. As she sat in the carriage, she did not know what to make of her husband.


    She was helped into the tent by three maidservants, and it took her a long while before she came to herself, asking, ¡°What is this ce? What are we doing here?¡±


    The maids looked at each other in bewilderment. Like the youngdy, they did not know where they were.


    Just as Luo Ningcha was about to attempt breaking out, Shangguan Ru walked inside and waved at the three maidservants who felt like they had been granted amnesty and hastily exited the tent.


    ¡°Where is this?¡± Luo Ningcha asked coldly. She was safe now, as she remembered how much she hated her husband who had a broken palm.


    ¡°This is my living ce, and it¡¯ll be our living ce from now on.¡±


    Luo Ningcha frowned. It was amon camp tent, low and narrow with shoddy carpet. The decoration was simple, and most importantly, there was no screen, not even a single one. ¡°Don¡¯t try to make me live here. I have my own ce in the Royal Court.¡±


    ¡°A wife has to live with her husband,¡± said Shangguan Nu tly while he took off his saber and put it on the table.


    ¡°Humph, now you want to live together. You didn¡¯t hesitate or even think of taking me away when you ran away.¡±


    ¡°So you slept with the King Lord and gave birth to a brother of me.¡±


    The affair between the eighth young mistress and the Unique King was a taboo in Golden Roc Castle, and no one dared to talk about it in private, let alone use her in person.


    Luo Ningcha blushed, not because she was ashamed but because she was angry. ¡°You should have thought of that when you killed my father. Yes, I slept with the King Lord and he wasn¡¯t the only man I slept with. They were all better than you. Even though the King Lord was old, he could still get me pregnant, but you couldn¡¯t leave anything¡­¡±


    Shangguan Nu pped her in the face. Luo Ningcha fell to the bed like a puppet but she sat up straight away. With fingerprints imprinted on her face and her hair disheveled, she became even more insubordinate. Full of anger, she put the plot and seduction techniques she had learned from Servant Huan and Xu Yanwei entirely out of her mind.


    ¡°You call yourself a killer, so why don¡¯t you kill me in one move? Huh, because you dared not, so what are you now? You¡¯re a dog of King Rizhu, a dog that has escaped from his former lord, a stray dog. You follow whoever¡¯ll give you a bone. Look at the ce you live, it¡¯s like a doghouse, no wonder¡­¡±


    Luo Ningcha spoke very fast. Shangguan Nu couldn¡¯t get a word in, and he didn¡¯t want to talk either.


    He directly went to the bed and grabbed Luo Ningcha¡¯s neck with his left hand, revealing the iron hook of his right hand, which was the part of him Luo Ningcha most feared and hated.


    But the former daughter of the Big Head God¡¯s temper red up, though even she could not control herself. Luo Ningcha struggled and scratched but could not move a hair.


    Shangguan Nu tore at his wife¡¯s clothes with his iron hook, his anger and desire each rising in turn. Years of humiliation and failure seemed to have concentrated themselves in this perfect body, waiting for the opportunity to vent, retaliate and destroy.


    ¡°Go to hell.¡± Shangguan Nu increased the strength of his left hand, and his iron hook skillfully unbuckled his belt.


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s face turned blue due to ack of air, but she did not give up resisting as if the one pressing upon her was not her husband but the vilest and despicable beggar.


    For the first time, she felt that she would rather die than submit.

 Chapter 592 - Manipulation

    Chapter 592: Maniption


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Nu¡¯s instinct as a killer kicked in. He turned and jumped to one side as his iron hook pulled up his trousers and his left hand reached out for his saber.


    But the saber was not there.


    Ity on the table a few steps away, next to which stood a woman, another woman.


    Shangguan Nu did not foolishly ask ¡®who are you¡¯ or ¡®how did youe in.¡¯ He was instead preparing to attack. Thanks to his father who had cut off one of his hands and reced it with a weapon, the hook did more than just hook his belt.


    Luo Ningcha coughed violently a few times with her chest in her arms before she grabbed the cor of her dress to cover herself. Although she hadn¡¯t broken free from the shame and anger, she angrily stared at her husband. It took her a long time to notice there was another strange woman in the room who had shown up from nowhere. Although she had no feelings for her husband at all, she still felt a strong feeling of jealousy. ¡°Who the hell are you? How did you get in?¡±


    Han Fen looked at the couple with great interest. ¡°I¡¯m Han Fen. I walked in. You guys ¡­ want some help?¡±


    Luo Ningcha was stunned, eximing, ¡°What?¡±


    Han Fen lowered her voice a little bit and as if she were peddling some mysterious merchandise, said, ¡°I can make you feel like a fish in water, full of joy and happiness. Seriously, just a few pokes¡­¡±


    Luo Ningcha could barely believe what she was hearing. Not only did Shangguan Nu want to rape her but he had also found a crazy woman to add to the fun.


    ¡°You are a disciple of Waning Moon Hall.¡± Shangguan Nu finally realized who this inexplicable woman was.


    ¡°Yes, now you believe me?¡± Han Fen raised her right hand, her fingers squirming like the legs of a spider. ¡°It¡¯s very easy.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King sent you here?¡±


    ¡°Mm. What you just did wasn¡¯t right. You were acting like you were enemies fighting. Caressing, loving¡­ You two didn¡¯t have those emotions at all ¡­¡±


    After hearing that this mad woman was sent by the Dragon King, Luo Ningcha finally realized that she was safe, so she loudly said, ¡°I¡¯m not gonna make love to him. He¡¯s ¡­ He forced me to do it. Quick, kill him.¡±


    Luo Ningcha regarded Han Fen as the Dragon King¡¯s servant, so naturally, she treated her as her servant too. She finally remembered that this woman wasn¡¯t as obedient as her maidservant after she blurted out the order, so she immediately added, ¡°He¡¯s the enemy who killed the Dragon King¡¯s father.¡±


    Han Fen didn¡¯t think it was a serious matter, shaking her head and saying, ¡°The Dragon King only told me to keep you safe. He didn¡¯t ask me to kill anyone.¡±


    ¡°How did you protect me when he nearly seeded in attacking me?¡± Luo Ningcha indignantly questioned. She had been nearly killed by Shangguan Nu, but this woman did not worry at all.


    ¡°You were safe. I saw it clearly. He wouldn¡¯t strangle you, some men are just like that. It¡¯s nothing. If you don¡¯t like it, just tell him.¡±


    Luo Ningcha was speechless. She even suspected that this woman had not been sent by the Dragon King to protect her, but rather was a trick Shangguan Nu was deliberately ying to tease her. She moved back a bit and held the cor of her dress more tightly.


    Shangguan Nu didn¡¯t find the opportunity to make a move. The disciple of Waning Moon Hall was good at using secret techniques, and he wasn¡¯t able to figure them out in a short time.


    Han Fen smiled, ¡°This is your saber?¡±


    Shangguan Nu nodded with caution.


    Han Fen gripped the saber hilt as if holding a dirty branch and handed it to Shangguan Nu, ¡°Here you are.¡±


    ¡®Pointing the saber tip at me while returning it so she can draw the saber and attack when I grasp the scabbard. The disciple of Waning Moon Hall has used such a naive trick.¡¯ Shangguan Nu snorted with disdain in his mind. He stuck out his left hand to take his narrow saber while preparing the iron hook of his right hand to attack.


    As soon as Han Fen moved, Shangguan Nu swung out his iron hook.


    Han Fen had not drawn the saber out to attack. On the contrary, she stuffed the narrow saber into Shangguan Nu¡¯s hand before she bounced back to avoid the iron hook. Then she stared at Shangguan Nu¡¯s crotch and nodded with satisfaction.


    Golden Roc Castle forced female killers to give up all senses of shame but had not taught male killers how to face these kinds of awkward situations. Out of instinct, Shangguan Nu held back his moves and pulled up his trousers with the hook.


    ¡°Wow, you¡¯re really good with that iron hand, not hurting yourself at all,¡± said Han Fen, turning to the shocked and puzzled Luo Ningcha. ¡°I really don¡¯t know why you¡¯re unwilling to, he¡¯s not bad.¡±


    Shangguan Nu and Luo Ningcha both had the same idea in their minds for the first time, and perhaps only time in their whole lives, blurted out the same word in unison, ¡°Lunatic.¡±


    Han Fen smiled as her expression grew even happier. ¡°Let me try a little trick. I¡¯m sure you two will be even crazier than I am.¡±


    Shangguan Nu¡¯s left hand shook once and like magic, the saber was now unsheathed. ¡°Get out,¡± his voice echoed with the sh of the scabbard falling on the ground.


    Han Fen seemed to finally understand that she was an extra person here. After all, she might not be the eighth young master¡¯s match if theypeted for saber or sword techniques. So she retreated while smilingly saying, ¡°All right, I won¡¯t meddle in your business, so you guys can continue.¡±


    The ¡®bodyguard¡¯ sent by the Dragon King was going to leave. Luo Ningcha could not believe her eyes, ¡°Hey, do not go ¡­ take me with you.¡±


    Standing in the doorway, Han Fen responded, ¡°Women are all like this. Resisting at the beginning and pestering afterward. Rx, you¡¯ll be happy. He¡¯ll be at your mercy. You can do it.¡±


    Without waiting for Luo Ningcha to speak again, Han Fen had disappeared as fast as the wind, like she was never in the tent.


    Luo Ningcha felt that she had fallen into the clutches of the evil again, but this time she was a lot more sober than before. ¡°I am a noble guest of the Second Consort, while you are just a dog of King Rizhu. As long as I say something, I can decide your life and death.¡±


    Shangguan Nu¡¯s desire had actually died out but his wife¡¯s threat just now revived it. It had nothing to do with lust. It was pure revenge and conquest as if all his dignity woulde back to him afterward.


    This time, instead of throwing away the narrow saber, he pointed it at Luo Ningcha and ordered, ¡°Right now it¡¯s up to me to decide whether you live or die. Take off your clothes.¡±


    Luo Ningcha hesitated. She loathed being forcefullymanded but was more afraid of death. Struggles and threats were of no use now, and a voice in her heart rose tofort her: This was your husband, and won¡¯t be the first time doing it, so why suffer a loss right now?


    Although she had persuaded herself to not resist, she didn¡¯t want to undress in front of him, wasting her seduction skills.


    As he felt his wife¡¯s submission, Shangguan Nu¡¯s desire miraculously red up again. The fire of lust was getting hotter and hotter, so hot that his hand was sweaty as if he had never touched a woman in his whole life.


    Shangguan Nu took a step forward before he suddenly retreated two steps and threw away his narrow saber as if he had stepped on a hot brazier or been stung by an insect.


    The center of his palm was frighteningly red as if he was holding a pool of blood.


    ¡®Waning Moon Hall.¡¯ Shangguan Nu¡¯s heart trembled, realizing how foolish he was. Ever since he was a child, he had heard of the wicked means of Waning Moon Hall. He had even led the army to destroy those crazy women before, how could he have been so careless ande into contact with the things that Han Fen had touched?


    In fact, what he had destroyed was only the Great Deste Sect, a branch of Waning Moon Hall. Han Fen was the first kung fu expert he had ever met from Waning Moon Hall.


    ¡°Ho ¡­¡± Dry-mouthed, Shangguan Nu could not help but squeeze out a strange sound from his throat and then start swaying like a drunkard.


    Baffled, Luo Ningcha asked, ¡°You, what are you doing?¡±


    Shangguan Nu was unable to speak. The paralysis together with the burning sensation was spreading quickly from his left arm to his whole body. Soon, his right arm was not at his beckoning, the iron hook trembled, and his trousers dropped to the ground again.


    Luo Ningcha let out a scream while turning away her face and closing her eyes. She epted her fate. She was in no hurry to get revenge. Servant Huan had waited for so many years, so she herself could also wait. As long as she was still in the Royal Court, she had the ability to persuade many powerful men to kill for her.


    But the fate that she was imagining didn¡¯te. Luo Ningcha closed her eyes for a while, and nothing happened except for the gruff gasping of Shangguan Nu.


    She opened her eyes.


    Shangguan Nu was lying on the ground and twisting like a live fish waiting to be ughtered. The thing under the crotch, however, was as straight as a serpent with its head held high on guard.


    Luo Ningcha was stupefied, and suddenly she recalled what Han Fen had said when she left, ¡®He¡¯ll be at your mercy.¡¯


    Han Fen had kept her promise.


    ¡°She¡¯s really a lunatic,¡± Luo Ningcha muttered, thinking that Han Fen was a formidable lunatic.


    Luo Ningcha was free now. She could either summon the maidservants to punish them for betraying her at a critical moment and then let them punish Shangguan Nu, or she could just go out and ask the guards to send her to the Flower Camp immediately. She would cry to the Second Consort and also find a chance toin to Tuo Sai, the son of King Riyao because the two of them were able to avenge her.


    But none of these means could satisfy her desire for revenge right away.


    Luo Ningcha cleaned up her clothes and jumped out of bed. She took a nce at Shangguan Nu¡¯s blood-red left hand and understood how he was poisoned. Then she looked around, found some outerwear of Shangguan Nu¡¯s, and tore off a small piece before crouching down, carefully wrapping the hilt of the saber and lifting it up.


    Though she had heard many people say that Golden Roc Castle¡¯s narrow saber was light, she felt that the saber in her hand was rather heavy.


    Shangguan Nu¡¯s face turned red, mostly out of humiliation. He had not only fallen in front of his wife but was also behaving in such a disgusting manner. Even all the contempt he had received from the Central ins and the Nond added up couldn¡¯t make him feel as embarrassed as he was now.


    Luo Ningcha held the saber out towards Shangguan Nu¡¯s chest and abdomen. Looking at the thing between her husband¡¯s legs, sheughed out contemptuously. ¡°That mad woman is really inexperienced. She called this ¡®not bad¡¯? It¡¯s just a stiff little earthworm. It must take a rather long time for you to pee, since the passageway is so thin.¡±


    Shangguan Nu¡¯s breath grew louder and his eyes fiercer. If he could stand up, he would definitely not hesitate to kill his wife.


    Luo Ningcha felt the rapture of revenge so she was not anxious to make a move. When stabbing an enemy, words were just as effective as sword or saber, sometimes even more so.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t expect this day woulde when you killed Big Head God, did you? Shangguan Nu, you treacherous wretch, my father protected you, helped you, and even wanted to pass the Iron Mountain to you one day. But instead of repaying the favor, you stabbed him in the back. Huh, the Heaven has eyes, and you got nothing in the end. The Iron Mountain fell apart and your lord, the Central ins, hasn¡¯t even given a bone to you.¡±


    Luo Ningcha missed her childhood in the Iron Mountain camp, when she could have done whatever she wanted under Big Head God¡¯s protection. But she had little enthusiasm for getting revenge on behalf of her father, and she found it really hard to understand Servant Huan¡¯s obsession with revenge.


    Her sole purpose of raking the past was to humiliate Shangguan Nu, her husband, whose right palm was broken. She was disgusted with him long before the marriage, and after more than a year¡¯s of conjugal life, not only had her disgust not abated but it had even turned into hatred.


    ¡°You¡¯ve always treated me as the daughter of a bandit, but look at you. You¡¯re not even as good as a bandit. Although you are thick-skinned enough to work to the bone for your lords, you are still given the cold shoulder.¡±


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s saber swayed to Shangguan Nu¡¯s crotch. With disdain, she curled her mouth and then smiled smugly. ¡°The King Lord is so old but his thing is still better than yours. Just look at that father and son pair; the people of the Shangguan family are getting weaker and weaker with each generation.¡±


    Shangguan Nu¡¯s face was even redder than his palm now.


    Luo Ningcha bent down and whispered, ¡°Even Servant Huan is better than you. He was a hundred times better than you even when he was a kid. Now he¡¯s the Dragon King, you are only fit to eat his dust.¡±


    In a fit of rage, Shangguan Nu spat out a mouthful of blood. Then he suddenly found himself able to move again.

 Chapter 593 - Hero

    Chapter 593: Hero


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Luo Ningcha was still unaware of the situation¡¯s seriousness. She pointed the saber at Shangguan Nu¡¯s vitals but didn¡¯t act. Instead, she watched as he spat out blood and lifted his iron hook.


    The narrow saber fell, and Luo Ningcha¡¯s body swayed backwards. She suddenly came to her senses and realized the severity of the situation. But she had forgotten the name of the Waning Moon Hall disciple. Tongue-tied, she was actually still trying to recall her name.


    Shangguan Nu rose from the ground and wiped the blood from his mouth. He wobbled towards his wife with his right iron hook held high. He wanted to kill this woman, even if the whole world was against him.


    Of all the people who had humiliated him, from the officers of the Central ins, nobles of the Nond, the Unique King, to even the Dragon King, they were all so high in the air that their faces were blurred. Only this woman could be seen clearly and was close enough for him to exact vengeance wantonly.


    Luo Ningcha was stunned. She neither begged for mercy nor shouted. She was still brooding over the name of that madwoman as if it were a magic spell that could reverse the imminent danger as long as she said it out aloud.


    Shangguan Nu stopped five steps away, his iron hook still held high.


    Luo Ningcha suddenly remembered the name. ¡°Han Fen.¡± She raised her voice and called out again, louder this time, ¡°Han Fen!¡±


    The ghostlike madwoman did not appear. Shangguan Nu also did not move, but his eyes grew fiercer and the veins on his forehead twitched as if he were going mad.


    Luo Ningcha suspected that he was losing his ability to move again but dared not to verify her theory herself. She moved backwards step by step and finally decided that it was better to order someone else to do something like murder while she watched by the side.


    When she hit something behind her, Luo Ningcha, who was in extreme fear, almost fainted. Her body softened and copsed.


    Gu Shenwei held her waist while fixing his eyes on Shangguan Nu. It was the first time they had met after Heaven¡¯s Pass.


    As Luo Ningcha looked up at the Dragon King, her whole heart suddenly melted. Just like how the little her had done so when asking her father for help when things didn¡¯t go her way, she held onto him, sputtering out, ¡°He, he wants to kill me,¡± between sobbing sounds.


    But Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t the Big Head God, and he pushed her away while saying, ¡°Go back to the Flower Camp.¡±


    ¡°No, I want to see you avenge me. He killed the Big Head God ¡­ And your father.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not the time for revenge. Leave now.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s tone was a bit harsh, so Luo Ningcha was very displeased. ¡°Why are you always so grumpy? You weren¡¯t like this in the castle.¡±


    Luo Ningcha turned her head and nced at Shangguan Nu who was obviously in a state of panic and alert. She suddenly put on a cheerful smile and added in a seductive tone, ¡°But I love it.¡±


    As she said that, she ambiguously caressed the Dragon King¡¯s chest before slowly walking out of the tent. She paused for a moment at the door to see the damage caused by her harsh blow.


    Shangguan Nu was like a wild animal driven to the edge of a cliff by a pack of hounds, full of desperate terror and savagery, wielding his iplete ws, and trying to make a deadly counterattack.


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s heart skipped a beat, frightened yet satisfied.


    ¡°Did you sleep with her?¡± asked Shangguan Nu, his iron hook still held high in the air.


    Gu Shenwei even felt a bit ofpassion for him, an emotion that had long be unfamiliar. In less than a month, Shangguan Nu¡¯s characteristics of a killer, which were actually not much anyways, had almostpletely disappeared, leaving behind only pure hatred and rage. Such a person, no matter how advanced his kung fu was, was no different from amb to be ughtered.


    ¡°Put your pants on.¡±


    Shangguan Nu looked down and frantically pulled up his trousers at once, the iron hook almost scratching his thigh.


    Humiliation was a magical feeling. It might seem weak, but it often overwhelmed a deeper feeling like love and hate. Shangguan Nu immediately felt like a clown. He didn¡¯t even know what he was jealous of. He had never loved that woman. He had killed the Big Head God himself. What did it have to do with him whether she was a slut or a good wife?


    Frustrated, he slumped to the bedside in a daze, and said after a while, ¡°What are you waiting for? Avenge yourself now.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not the time for revenge now.¡± Gu Shenwei repeated what he had said to Luo Ningcha.


    ¡°Heh, you¡¯re going to keep torturing me until I can¡¯t bear it andmit suicide myself?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no point in torturing. Killers don¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°You still think you¡¯re a killer?¡± Shangguan Nu sneered, ¡°Funny words, such sheer hypocrisy. Killers are just another kind of ve that dominates in their own world but can only beckeys when they meet real strength.¡±


    After the double blow he had suffered in the Central ins and Nond, Shangguan Nu had be cynical, but this was the first time he had said such words.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to exin. It was a waste of time to argue with a man who had lost his dignity and fighting spirit. Besides, he didn¡¯t want to fall into nothingness along with the other side¡¯s topic. ¡°The Central ins has bought over a Nond noble, who¡¯s now acting as a mole. I want to know who he is.¡±


    Shangguan Nu was stunned for a moment, and thenughed. ¡°So you didn¡¯t kill me because I am still useful.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still useful enough to buy your own life.¡±


    ¡°The identity of the mole is a secret of the Central ins. Why would I know?¡±


    This was an obvious fact. Shangguan Nu knew that the Dragon King had been invited to the Nond as a guest. If he himself didn¡¯t have some valuable information, he would not have dared to seek refuge with the nobles.


    As for detailed information, Gu Shenwei had made a guess and Shangguan Nu¡¯s performance had proven his guess was correct.


    Gu Shenwei also didn¡¯t want to exin. ¡°Tell me who the mole is, and I can spare your life.¡±


    ¡°Spare my life? Haha, you wish to spare my life while your own life is at stake? You only have one chance to kill me. After today, you will die before me.¡±


    ¡°You still have time to think about it.¡± Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t in a hurry. The mole couldn¡¯t hide for long. As soon as the situation changed, he would soon show his true colors.


    Gu Shenwei started walking outside. All of a sudden, he paused, as if he had remembered something important, turned around, and said, ¡°You should use your internal energy less frequently; it¡¯s not good for your health.¡±


    The Dragon King just left after that, leaving the shocked and puzzled Shangguan Nu alone. When they had met at Heaven¡¯s Pass, Shangguan Nu was forced to swallow a small pill, which made him nervous for a long time. Later he found nothing unusual and had finallyid his worries to rest not long ago. Now this fear was stirred up again by the Dragon King¡¯s words.


    He secretly guided his internal Qi and found that the internal energy in his Dantian really seemed to have changed slightly.


    Luo Ningcha was sent back to the Flower Camp while Gu Shenwei led the guards back to his own camp. The day¡¯s warrior contest was not over yet, and he was still interested in watching it.


    Without the Dragon King¡¯s permission, a small banquet was being held in the camp. Theughter from the tent could be heard from afar. The guards on duty looked back admiringly. When they saw the Dragon King, they all greeted with a smile, ¡°Congrattions, Dragon King.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was making heroic remarks in the tent. Over thirty soldiers of the Dragon Army were listening with wine sses in hands. Surprisingly none of them showed any signs of impatience.


    ¡°I won!¡± Shangguan Fei couldn¡¯t restrain his joy, and shouted to the Dragon King, ¡°Three straight wins!¡±


    ¡°Bring everyone in for a drink.¡± It was daytime, so Gu Shenwei thought there was no need to be so vignt.


    The Dragon King¡¯s order was met with a unanimous wee. To Shangguan Fei, it sounded like direct praise, so he became even more ted. He was immersed in a strange sense of contentment. Ever since childhood, this was the first time someone had sincerely admired his martial arts skills. These swordsmen of Big Snow Mountain, who usually tried to avoid him, were all drinking with him on their own initiative today.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s only regret was that Long Fanyun was not here. He had simply disappeared after riding the me Foal into the horizon and winning the horse race yesterday. The Dragon King was probably the only one who knew his whereabouts.


    Shangguan Fei came over with two sses of wine before he remembered that the Dragon King did not drink, so he poured all of them into his mouth and said in a low voice with a wink, ¡°Of course, it¡¯s all to the Dragon King¡¯s credit.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, it¡¯s good you know that.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t intend on pointing out the truth. ¡°Get ready for the contest¡¯s second round.¡±


    ¡°Me again?¡± Shangguan Fei was taken aback and sobered up.


    ¡°You are the only yer of the Dragon Army. Of course you have topete to the end. If you don¡¯t get first ce, the hard work you¡¯ve done will be in vain.¡±


    ¡°Ehh? That¡¯s not what the Dragon King said earlier.¡±


    ¡°Alright, you don¡¯t have to beat everybody.¡±


    Shangguan Fei heaved a sigh of relief. Although he had won three times in a row and enjoyed the feeling of being a hero, he firmly believed that his opponents had been forced to show their ws and he still did not want to put himself in real danger. But what the Dragon King said next pushed him into the abyss of suffering once again.


    ¡°I¡¯ve bet with three lords and only won one of them. There are two bets left now, so you have to win.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was waving his hand so Gu Shenwei walked towards him, leaving Shangguan Fei alone to himself, as he muttered, ¡°The Dragon King has arranged everything, right?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯vepletely offended King Kuari this time,¡± Fang Wenshi, who also had a cup of wine in his hand, felt happy for winning the bet yet worried for the tricky situation. ¡°Now more people will have the impression that the Dragon King has many kung fu experts under him.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s inevitable.¡±


    ¡°King Kuari is really patient. He has invited so many kung fu experts from the Central ins and the Western Regions but doesn¡¯t use them, and insists on using the sabermen of his own country. Even I know that the people of Nond are good at riding and shooting but have nothing worthy of praise in martial arts.¡±


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s words were a bit exaggerated. There were indeed not many famous sects in Nond, but it didn¡¯t mean that all the kung fu practitioners here were worthless. Experts like Bie Yan could still win a ce even if he was put in the Central ins.


    The one with better martial arts skills was actually Shangguan Fei. It was just that he didn¡¯t have confidence in himself and naturally, others would despise him.


    Although King Kuari had hidden his power in the warrior contest, the oue of this fiasco was probably not what he had expected.


    Fang Wenshi pointed at the saber and sword on the table and said, ¡°These are the earnings from the bets we won.¡± Then he pointed at two pieces of wood beside the saber and sword, and continued, saying, ¡°Someone delivered those just now. I don¡¯t know what it means.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew that this was the wooden saber that the disciples of the Essence Pavilion had shown him. It was very simr to the weapon Shangguan Ru used.


    The deadline for the Essence Pavilion had passed but they didn¡¯t deliver ¡®part of the hostage¡¯ as they had threatened except for the broken wooden saber. Gu Shenwei snorted with disdain. The people of the Essence Pavilion were good at confusing the mind, and perhaps because of this, theycked a profound understanding of the heart and appeared very naive when they resorted to all sorts of schemes and intrigues.


    As long as one¡¯s willpower was strong enough, one could resist their hypnosis and see through the fog. The disciples of the Essence Pavilion were also ordinary martial arts practitioners.


    Gu Shenwei beckoned for Shangguan Fei toe over. ¡°Go take a rest, we¡¯re going on a mission tonight.¡±


    ¡°What mission?¡± Shangguan Fei¡¯s face paled. The Dragon King¡¯s missions had always been dangerous, which he had tried to avoid every time.


    ¡°To save your sister.¡±

 Chapter 594 - The Mole

    Chapter 594: The Mole


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    News of the ¡®Queen¡¯ of the Land of Fragrance¡¯s disappearance had already started spreading several days ago, but Shangguan Fei had not heard of any news rted to that at all. He had been too busy worrying about his Qi deviation to listen to anything else.


    ¡°Will she be all right?¡± Shangguan Fei asked. Then he suddenly realized he was being too indifferent, so he immediately threw away his wine ss and clenched his fist, ¡°Who¡¯s so audacious, to dare mess with my sister? I won¡¯t spare him; the Dragon King will not spare him.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡±


    The Dragon King was obviously satisfied with his performance. Shangguan Fei immediately had a bad feeling that he had overacted.


    ¡°Uhh¡­ I have to attend the kung fupetition tomorrow. It¡¯s very important for the Dragon King, so I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m a bit at a loss for what I should do.¡±


    ¡°No worries. You need to rest now. If all goes well, the rescue mission tonight won¡¯t take very long.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s victory party ended just like this.


    Gu Shenwei also needed to rest, he hadn¡¯t had a full night¡¯s sleep for several days.


    And even in his dreams, his thoughts did not settle down. Countless people and events appeared and melded together like the bubbles in a pot of boiling water, scrambling to appear only to vanish in an instant, leaving behind no clear clues.


    Gu Shenwei opened his eyes, which were not the hazy and fretful eyes of someone who had just woken up and more aggressive than those of the usual Dragon King. It was as if he had never fallen asleep. Fang Wenshi, who had followed the order to wake him up, was startled.


    Fang Wenshi was immediately reminded of the story of an ambitious and ruthless lord who had ordered his attendant to wake him up but still killed his attendant. Then the lordy back down again to sleep. When he woke up, he wept aloud for the dead man, iming that he didn¡¯t know anything at the time. From then on, he had a reputation for ying people in his dreams, and no one dared toe near again when the lord slept <sup>1</sup> .


    ¡°I have important news,¡± said Fang Wenshi immediately, thinking that if the Dragon King really wanted to y such a trick, he would not sacrifice his military counselor. Fang Wenshi¡¯s heart calmed down a bit as he thought of this.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s thoughts weren¡¯t as clouded. He did just wake up after all. ¡°Is King Kuari angry?¡±


    It had been just half a day, and the only ¡®important news¡¯ Gu Shenwei could think of was King Kuari, who had lost both the game and the hostage in the morning.


    ¡°He¡¯s more than angry, he¡¯s almost furious. But the Dragon King is not the one he¡¯s most angry about, but rather King Rizhu and the Second Consort. His guy Wei Chun was really unlucky. He was punished for not being able to keep that woman of Golden Roc Castle hidden, and was whipped so badly he probably won¡¯t be able to leave his bed for a few days.¡±


    ¡°What is he going to do?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard news that King Kuari is making every effort to remove obstacles and to facilitate a meeting between Dragon King and the Khan,¡± said Fang Wenshi in a calm tone. He was deliberately not showing that he was surprised by the unexpected news. It was as if he was ying a guessing game with the Dragon King. He had already told the riddle, and it was time for the other side to guess the answer.


    But suddenly, Gu Shenwei changed the subject. ¡°The officials of Nond are willing to speak to you again?¡±


    ¡°Heh heh, these people are all fence sitters. As soon as they heard that the Dragon King had a backer, they came over to reestablish a rtionship with us, iming that they had secrets to offer. Actually, they wanted to ask for information from me, but how can I be so easily fooled?¡± Fang Wenshi was very proud because he had gotten lots of urgent information without paying any price.


    ¡°King Rizhu isn¡¯t my backer. Did they forget about yesterday¡¯s horse race?¡±


    ¡°Golden Roc Castle used to be the enemy of King Kuari, yet didn¡¯t they ally with each other in a blink of an eye? The Dragon King doesn¡¯t have a backer now but there¡¯s no need to tell anyone about it. Who are they to me for their own misunderstanding?¡±


    ¡°King Kuari is about to make a move in advance.¡± Gu Shenwei returned to the topic just now.


    Fang Wenshi nodded with satisfaction and wasn¡¯t surprised at all that the Dragon King could guess the answer. The reason he yed this minigame was to experience the wonderful moment when the counselor and the lord understood each other without saying a word. ¡°The Dragon King has sharp eyes. King Kuari is not qualified to inherit the throne. He¡¯s too impatient and is always the first to be thrown into confusion at the critical moment.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Gu Shenwei waited for his counselor to continue his analysis.


    ¡°Let me exin the current situation of the Royal Court.¡± Fang Wenshi had not been idle these days. He had made every effort to gather information and had formed aplete view. ¡°King Dari¡¯s senile dementia has been exposed so he has actually withdrawn from the power game. The second-ranked King Shengri, therefore, is now restless, but he has a shallow foundation. He has wasted all these years drinking and raising birds and doesn¡¯t have many supporters. As the Dragon King said, he has ced his hopes on a bunch of fortune tellers, and is bound to lose.¡±


    ¡°The third king, King Zuori, who was once a vassal of King Dari, is now in a constant state of anxiety. It is said that he has voluntarily surrendered his of king in order to lead his people to move to the no man¡¯snd and expand thend for the Nond.¡±


    ¡°The fourth king, King Kuari, who originally nned to use Golden Roc killers to assassinate the Khan and frame the Dragon King while mobilizing his soldiers to suppress his foes but failed his attempt. Even his most important tool of killing was taken away. Now he can only take desperate measures; we¡¯ll talk more about himter.¡±


    ¡°King Rizhu is ranked tenth and is the only one who¡¯s not a lineal descendant, so he can¡¯t inherit the throne no matter what. He has remained neutral for many years, when all of a sudden, he wooed the Dragon King and semi-openly confronted King Kuari, which can only mean one thing: that he has chosen a person to support. And this person will reward the Naihang Tribe handsomely after he bes the Khan.¡±


    ¡°Among the other five kings, the seventh king, King Riyao, showed his stance too early to side with King Kuari. His future is bleak. King Nari, the fifth king, King Riying, the sixth king, King Riming, the eighth king, and King Rixin, the ninth king, who were losers of the power game earlier, now have hope again.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was almost finished when Gu Shenwei interrupted, ¡°The premise all lies upon King Kuari¡¯s failure. But he¡¯s more likely to seed even if he makes a reckless move.¡±


    ¡°Yes. If I may guess, King Kuari¡¯s desperate n is like this. He has no time to mobilize the soldiers in the frontline, but he still has eight or ten thousand of his own men in the Royal Court. Compared to the other kings, he is far from amassing an overwhelming majority even when adding in the force of King Riyao, so he has to find another path to victory.¡±


    As his exnation continued, Fang Wenshi exined with the ¡°schr¡¯s four jewels¡± (writing brush, ink stick, ink b, and paper) on the table, ¡°Who is the most powerful force in the Royal Court now? An interesting way of examining the situation is to say that the kings mutually restrict each other, making the cavalry under theirmand immobile pieces, which makes the swarming kung fu practitioners the only remaining force that can change the power bnce between the various forces.¡±


    Fang Wenshi nced at the table and picked up a brush pen. ¡°This year¡¯s Tournament of the Royal Court has attracted a particrlyrge number of martial artists, so much that they form a force that can ¡®write freely¡¯ in the Royal Court. King Kuari has probably bet all of his fortune on this ¡®pen¡¯. The fact that he would rather risk losing to Dragon King than send a real expert to attend the contest was a cover-up. Although he was trying to mask his true intentions, unfortunately this move exposed them instead.¡±


    ¡°If so, Golden Roc Castle will be more important to King Kuari.¡± Gu Shenwei went along with his counselor¡¯s line of thought. ¡°The Unique King has a high position in the martial arts world of the Western Regions. He¡¯s able to rally multitudes of people for King Kuari at his call.¡±


    ¡°So too does the Central ins. Dragon King once said that there was a mole in the Royal Court. Before you guessed it was Fu Yuan, the mastermind behind King Dari. I guessed it was King Rizhu. Now it seems we were both wrong. The mole is actually King Kuari.¡±


    ¡°King Kuari is the most powerfulpetitor of the title of Khan, so why would he seek refuge in the Central ins?¡± Usually, Fang Wenshi was the one who asked questions and Gu Shenwei the one answering. Now they had changed the roles so they could think from different perspectives.


    Like the Dragon King, Fang Wenshi also put himself into the world of conjecture and spection, and he was extremely confident of his conclusions. He took a deep breath and stated, ¡°There are two reasons.¡±


    Fang Wenshi raised his right thumb before he hesitated and felt that King Kuari wasn¡¯t worthy of it, so he reced it with his index finger. ¡°The experts of the Qingcheng Sect defected anonymously to King Riyao. I¡¯ve asked around carefully and the sects in the Central ins cared very deeply about loyalty and filial piety, and if even one person coborates with the enemy, the whole sect will feel ashamed. The Qingcheng Sect has a high status in the Central ins, and there is no need for them toe to the Nond topete for silver, and it is not only the Qingcheng Sect that concealed themselves. There are also other people from various sects hiding in the Royal Court, most of whom work for King Riyao and King Kuari. There can only be one reason for this. They were sent here by the authorities of the Central ins.¡±


    Fang Wenshi raised his middle finger, ¡°As for why the mole is King Kuari, and not King Riyao, we need to examine the second reason. In fact, I was too stupid. King Kuari has long since revealed hints at it, but I ignored them. The Dragon King must have heard of his argument that the Nond people would be people of the Central ins and vice versa.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Gu Shenwei did hear it before and was very impressed.


    ¡°Ever since I learned that the spy Central ins had nted in Nond was probably a king, I¡¯ve been wondering what kinds of benefits the ruler of the Central ins can offer that would seduce a king into betraying his own ancestors and country. In fact, King Kuari¡¯s idealistic speech has exined it. Among all the kings, only he did not worry about the invasion of the Central ins. He believed that the boundless grasnds were the most effective means of resistance. Therefore, he was able to trust the Central ins and make use of it with confidence.¡±


    ¡°In the view of the Central ins, he¡¯s a mole. In King Kuari¡¯s mind, however, he probably feels that he has taken advantage of the situation. Look, he will use the power of the Central ins to seize the throne and afterward he will give up a part of his territory in the name of pacifying internal strife. After a few years, when his position is secured, the army of the Central ins will be either be assimted by the prairie or will have declined due to the hardship of the frontier life. By that time, he will take the chance to reim everything and be a ¡®great¡¯ Khan.¡±


    Fang Wenshi put down the brush pen and mmed the table with his right hand as if his statement had been refuted, and he was about to make an impassioned speech and confirm his victory. ¡°I know it sounds a bit odd, but it doesn¡¯t matter what you and I think. King Kuari believes this so he¡¯ll think it¡¯s irrevocably logical.¡±


    ¡°Counselor Fang can¡¯t be more right.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was actually a bit disappointed that the Dragon King had epted his guess so quickly. He could have voluminously talked on the subject for another two or four hours.


    ¡°As for how to deal with it, I also have an idea. The People of the Central ins are sensitive towards their reputation. How about we expose the real identities of the so-called disciples of the famous sects? After all, they do dare not to argue now. As long as half of them feel ashamed and run away, King Kuari¡¯s power will be greatly weakened.


    After arguing eloquently that King Kuari was the mole who had been nted by the Central ins, the solution put forward by the counselor was a bit of a joke. Gu Shenwei pretended to think for a moment before shaking his head, and replying, ¡°No, that will only force King Kuari to act earlier.¡±


    ¡°What should we do then?¡± Fang Wenshi was a little unconvinced.


    ¡°We are not here to protect the Khan.¡± Gu Shenwei reminded Fang Wenshi.


    Fang Wenshi was stupefied for a moment. He had been thinking of a way to deal with the current enemy and in the process forgotten that the most important purpose of this trip was to use the chaos in Nond to seek profits for the Dragon Army.


    ¡°The Dragon King means¡­?¡±


    ¡°After all this time, I think we can finally make an offer.¡±


    Shangguan Fei stuck his head into the door. ¡°Dragon King, I think something is wrong. I seemed to have used too much strength during the daytime and will have Qi deviation again.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was still trying to avoid going on the Dragon King¡¯s mission, but Gu Shenwei was thinking that he could not just act to save people tonight as there were many other tasks that needed to be taken care of. As such, he needed Shangguan Fei¡¯s help.

 Chapter 595 - Internal Energy Competition

    Chapter 595: Internal Energy Competition


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Fei quickly changed his attitude from being reluctant to cheering for saving her sister, because the Dragon King had given him a reason that was hard to refuse.


    Just as Shangguan Fei and Fang Wenshi stayed in the Dragon King¡¯s tent, three female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance came to visit.


    Since the disappearance of Shangguan Ru, the three of them almost came to the Dragon King¡¯s camp every day, reporting on the situation of the army and seeking advice and orders from the Dragon King. And this time they had brought important information.


    This was one of Gu Shenwei¡¯s agreements with the Second Consort. He was responsible for saving Luo Ningcha and the Second Consort helped him find Shangguan Ru¡¯s whereabouts. It was not convenient for the two to meet so the female officers of the Land of Fragrance worked as their messenger.


    The eleven disciples of the Essence Pavilion were indeed living in the royal pce and they were very popr around the Khan. But the Second Consort assured that the Khan was not deluded. He was only hoping to extend his life with the help of the powers of these entrics.


    Like all the emperors, the Khan wasn¡¯t able to get rid of the pattern of the pursuit of longevity. As death approached, he became more anxious and obstinate.


    But just as Gu Shenwei had expected, Shangguan Ru wasn¡¯t in the hands of the disciples of the Essence Pavilion.


    ¡°Second Consort got news that the instructor was kidnapped by people of the Central ins and was kept in the craftsmen¡¯s area.¡± One of the female officers said. Then she produced a simple map and pointed out the location.


    Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t surprised that the Second Consort could find out the detailed result so quickly. She had secretly plotted for many years in the Royal Court and had a lot of connections, which were no less than King Kuari¡¯s.


    As for the people of the Central ins she mentioned, they were either the disciples of the Essence Pavilion or pawns of a certain king. In this way, they could circumvent the truce agreement between the Dragon King and the Nond.


    ¡°There are not many kidnappers, about a dozen or so. Second Consort said they might be the elders of the Jade Pure Sect.¡± The female officer continued.


    Fang Wenshi left. Shangguan Fei had been listening nearby. Upon hearing this, he blurted out, ¡°It¡¯s them!¡±


    The Jade Pure Sect had sent five Taoist priests from the Central ins to the Nond, whose purpose was to take back those external kung fu manuals from Old Man Mu. But they soon became interested in the Dragon King¡¯s Grand Enlightenment Sword Sutra and imed that they could help remove the hidden danger of Qi deviation but wanted to trade his martial arts manual.


    They had given a ten-day deadline. The time hadn¡¯te yet, they had surprisingly acted first and kidnapped Shangguan Ru.


    As to whether Old Man Mu was a kidnapper or a hostage, the Second Consort wasn¡¯t able to find it out. Gu Shenwei also couldn¡¯t figure it out.


    But this somehow exined why the kidnappers didn¡¯t make any requests, they were actually waiting for the tenth day.


    ¡°Very good. You can go back now, I¡¯ll get your instructor out.¡±


    The three officers exchanged a nce and said in unison, ¡°Dragon King, we also want toe to the instructor¡¯s rescue.¡±


    To the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance, Shangguan Ru was not only their instructor but also a leader and protector. Therefore, they were eager to help.


    ¡°No need. Just wait for my news.¡±


    The officers had obviously guessed that the Dragon King would have such an answer, so they had worked out a countermeasure in advance. One of the officers said, ¡°Dragon King, we know our kung fu is poor and we¡¯ll be a burden to you. But saving the instructor is the most important thing for us. If we don¡¯t offer any help now, the soldiers of the Land of Fragrance willin that we¡¯re not doing our best and we would be too ashamed to see them after we return home. So please take us to the rescue, even if Dragon King only chooses one of us¡±


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t refuse, especially when Shangguan Fei was gesturing actively nearby to suggest him to agree. Shangguan Fei would prefer all the one thousand female soldiers to participate in the mission.


    Gu Shenwei had concealed the news of Shangguan Ru¡¯s disappearance and didn¡¯t openly admit it even when the rumors were widespread. So, he also didn¡¯t want to make a big fuss about saving people. ¡°Alright, you can suggest one persone with me.¡±


    The women soldiers had already got a candidate. Two officers stepped aside and pointed theirpanion in the middle, ¡°She¡¯s the best fighter in our army. Please take her with you, Dragon King.¡±


    The rescue team changed from two to three.


    The other two female officers took their leave. Gu Shenwei looked at the simple map and pondered on a detailed rescue n.


    Shangguan Fei was rarely interested in the female officer of the Land of Fragrance. He himself needed to be protected so he didn¡¯t want to bring another burden that needed to be taken care of. Therefore, he had to ascertain this woman¡¯s martial arts skills.


    ¡°You are not used to the life here, aren¡¯t you?¡± Shangguan Fei chatted with feigned enthusiasm.


    The female officer nodded. She was in her twenties and was one of the youngest officers of the Land of Fragrance. She had the typical appearance of a barbarian with a long, natural curly hair that couldn¡¯t even bepletely covered with a helmet. Well-mannered, she didn¡¯t speak much to the Dragon King, not to mention Shangguan Fei.


    ¡°Who did you learn kung fu from? Is it my sister?¡±


    The female officer looked puzzled, Shangguan Fei had to exin, ¡°I mean your instructor. We¡¯re twins. I¡¯m her elder brother, she¡¯s my little sister. Well, can¡¯t tell?¡±


    The female officer looked at him carefully for a while and nodded with a smile. ¡°You two look a bit alike if checked carefully.¡±


    In fact, Shangguan Fei and Shangguan Ru were very simr in appearance but very different in temperament. This was why many people could not see that they were twins.


    ¡°Did you learn kung fu from my sister?¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not very long. Maybe more than a year, less than two?¡±


    ¡°One year and three months.¡±


    ¡°Have you learned kung fu before?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s interest in her stopped here. He turned to the Dragon King and kept winking at him. His idea was either to bring dozens or hundreds of female archers or none at all.


    The Dragon King ignored Shangguan Fei¡¯s hint. He raised his head and said, ¡°These five men of Jade Pure Sect are very useful.¡±


    ¡°Ahh?¡± Shangguan Fei was stunned, then his face lit up, ¡°Right, they know how to treat the disease. Let¡¯s save my sister first, and then kidnap them ¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head, ¡°No, I have a better idea.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was even happier, and for the first time he became enthusiastic about the rescue, ¡°Dragon King is going to trick them into curing the Qi deviation for me ¡­ And you.¡±


    ¡°There are two strands of internal Qi in your Dantian, one yin, and one yang. They can¡¯t be fused and therefore, may cause Qi deviation. I¡¯ve thought of a way to fuse the two with the help of external forces. The Taoist priests of the Jade Pure Sect are good at internal energy which is actually a ¡®good medicine¡¯ to cure your disease. I¡¯ll pass you an internal Qi manualter. Direct your internal Qi as I said when youpete internal energy with them, it may be very effective.¡±


    Shangguan Fei immediately became wary of the ¡®solution¡¯ the Dragon King just came up with. ¡°Dragon King clearly said yesterday that the loophole of the Three-in-One Power had been eliminated ¡­¡±


    ¡°The original method works too slowly. This one will get effect instantly.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯m going to wade in for the Dragon King again?¡± ¡°Mm, is there a problem?¡±


    Shangguan Fei had a bellyful of grievance but became happy again after a second thought, ¡°No problem. At least this time is to cure the disease, not practicing kung fu.¡± That was all he could say for himself.


    Gu Shenwei turned to the female officer, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    He had always been careful in his dealings with the women soldiers of the Land of Fragrance. Although these three female officers visited him every day, he never asked their names.


    ¡°Red Bat.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was only asking casually. Hearing the answer, he was stunned.


    ¡°My old name was tooplicated, this is my new name given by the instructor,¡± exined the female officer.


    Shangguan Fei muttered, ¡°Sister always gives weird names.¡±


    For Gu Shenwei, the name wasn¡¯t weird at all. He was actually very familiar with it. He had once told Shangguan Ru a story about a lone great thief, in which the protagonist was called ¡®Red Bat¡¯.


    ¡°So you must be quite good at lightness skills?¡±


    Hearing the Dragon King¡¯s praise, the female officer Red Bat was a bit surprised but very pleased, ¡°The instructor said I¡¯m talented. I have been learning for so long but I¡¯m still not even close to the instructor.¡±


    The women officers knew their strengths and weaknesses well and did not send the Dragon King an unqualified helper.


    On the second night watch period, the three of them put on their full set of night suits and set out from the camp. The Red Bat proved that her martial arts training for more than a year had not been in vain. She knew the rules of stealth very well, and her movement was almost wless.


    Even Shangguan Fei had to admit that his sister¡¯s disciple was excellent.


    The Taoist priests of the Jade Pure Sect, who originally lived in the Taoist temple in the suburbs, moved into the craftsman¡¯s area a few days ago. They rented a small camp on the edge with more than a dozen tents of various sizes, which looked no different from their neighbors.


    The early investigation was no different from an assassination mission of Golden Roc Castle. The three went out separately to check and moved closer to the camp in circles, searching for hidden sentries and ambushes.


    They found nothing. The Taoist priests of the Jade Pure Sect seemed to be especially confident orck of experience. They didn¡¯t arrange anyone to guard outside.


    When the three of them met again, Shangguan Fei whispered, ¡°Could it be a trap?¡±


    ¡°We have to jump in even if it¡¯s a trap.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the Dragon King¡¯s n?¡± Shangguan Fei always admired the Dragon King¡¯s astuteness and resourcefulness. The Dragon King had thought for a long while before they acted so his n must be foolproof.


    Gu Shenwei gave the order to the Red Bat first. ¡°Stay on the periphery and keep an eye on whether anyone sneaks out of the camp.¡±


    The Red Bat nodded and turned, quickly disappearing into the night.


    Then Gu Shenwei said to Shangguan Fei, ¡°Go challenge them, I¡¯ll protect you in the back.¡±


    ¡°Challenge directly ¡­ like this?¡± Shangguan Fei was taken aback. This wasn¡¯t like the Dragon King¡¯s style at all.


    ¡°Yes, force them topete internal energy with you. Remember to use the method I taught you.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s confidence fell to the rock bottom. Before setting out, the Dragon King did pass onto him a method of guiding the internal Qi, which was simple and easy to learn. It was simr to the Bnced Power Lotus had taught him, so he didn¡¯t doubt it. But the Dragon King had too many whims on the Three-in-One Power, it was still unknown whether it was effective and would bring more hidden dangers.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you believe me?¡± Gu Shenwei stressed.


    Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t dare to say that he didn¡¯t believe him. Gritting his teeth, he only asked one question, ¡°Dragon King will save me if I¡¯m in real danger, right?¡±


    ¡°You are very useful to me.¡±


    That was enough. As he mustered all his courage, Shangguan Fei walked out of the shadow and went straight to the camp of the Jade Pure Sect. He stopped at the door and said loudly, ¡°Come out, you curs of Jade Pure Sect. Let your granddaddy teach you a lesson!¡±


    There was no response in the camp, but someone in the nearby tent looked this way.


    Shangguan Fei raised his voice, ¡°Curs of Jade Pure Sect, you dared toe to Royal Court but dared not to show yourselves?¡±


    Finally, a Taoist priest came out, who was thin and small, and not the type Shangguan Fei feared.


    ¡°Who are you? What do you have against us?¡±


    ¡°Huh, I would have snuck inside and avenged myself if I have a grudge. I¡¯m just in bad mood tonight and want to blow off steam on a Taoist priest.¡±


    Before he finished speaking, Shangguan Fei leaped to the Taoist priest andunched a palm strike. Since they were going topete with the internal energy, he didn¡¯t want to waste time.


    The Jade Pure Sect of the Central ins had lost their external kung fu manuals but their internal energy was very powerful. So the Taoist priest also stuck out his palm to take the blow.


    The two palms collided, and both sides infused a great deal of internal energy at the same time.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s body swayed, and he inwardly cursed the Dragon King, his timidity rising again.


    The Taoist priest¡¯s internal energy was unexpectedly powerful. Shangguan Fei immediately changed from attack to defense. He could barely protect himself, not to mention use the healing method the Dragon King had taught him.

 Chapter 596 - Dogfight

    Chapter 596: Dogfight


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The two who involved in the internal energypetition were astonished for the same reason.


    In the Western Regions, there were not many advanced internal energy training manuals. The Daoless Divine Power of Golden Roc Castle and several internal energy manuals of the Four Noble Truths Temple were only highly admired and rmended by their own disciples. If they talked about it in front of the disciples of the famous sects in the Central ins, what they got would definitely be a sneer of disdain. Therefore, the internal energy was far less attractive than the external martial arts skills like the Death Sutra Swordsmanship to the kung fu experts from the Central ins.


    Shangguan Fei had never been to the Central ins. In the castle, everyone told him that the internal energy training method passed down in the family was invincible. And he believed it. Later, when he made remarkable progress in the practice of the Three-in-One Power, he attributed it to the effect of the Daoless Divine Power and became more confident about it. In a word, the internal energy was the only thing he was proud of.


    As a result, he didn¡¯t expect that the internal energy of a small, thin, and unknown Taoist priest from the Jade Pure Sect of the Central ins could be so profound and powerful that the first wave of internal Qi poured in with the force of andslide and the power of a tidal wave, and had almost invaded and crushed his Dantian.


    The Taoist priest was more surprised. In his view, the external martial arts skills of the Western Regions were somehow unique and worth learning from. As for the internal energy training method, they were just following suit from the Central ins and not worth mentioning. He had recognized that Shangguan Fei was the young man who came to cure his Qi deviationst time so his internal energy couldn¡¯t be very powerful.


    But it was this nervous young man, who not only blocked a series of offensives he had exerted with all his might but also seemed to be able to fight back. And he had two different kinds of internal Qi, one yin and one yang, which waspletely against the principle that a practitioner could only cultivate one type of internal energy.


    The Taoist priest had heard of what the Dragon King was doing but had no idea of how the Three-in-One Power worked. It was not until he experienced it himself that he was bewilderedly amazed and muttered ¡®impossible¡¯ in his heart.


    In the eyes of the outsiders, internal energypetition was a very boring scene. Shangguan Fei asionally moved a bit but the Taoist priest stood still like a sculpture. One could only see the touch of four palms and was totally unaware of the fierceness of the fight.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s fatal drawback was his timidity. Once he found himself unable to defeat the enemy in an overwhelming manner, the idea of retreat would upy his mind. But unlike ordinary kung fupetition, one couldn¡¯t use the unique skill like lightness skill to run away during the internal energypetition. The only thing he could do was to try his best to protect himself.


    Shangguan Fei felt that he was walking on the edge of a cliff and the only thing he wanted to say was ¡®give up¡¯, but the thought of the Dragon King behind him made him dare not to speak it out.


    The Dragon King was like abination of a stern father and a ruthless Master, Shangguan Fei felt fear as much as respect towards him. He was really afraid that the Dragon King would abandon him and he would not live another day by wandering alone in the crisis-ridden Jianghu.


    ¡®A bit longer, hold on a bit longer, then admit defeat. Let the Dragon King try himself, then he will understand my difficulty.¡¯


    After setting a standard for giving up, Shangguan Fei became less nervous. Now he just wanted to take the defensive position in a down-to-earth manner instead of wanting to snatch a victory out of defeat.


    All of a sudden, he found himself able to practice the Dragon King¡¯s healing method.


    The Taoist priest had kept hisposure. Although the young man¡¯s internal energy was unexpectedly powerful, it was still inferior to the internal energy he had diligently trained for decades. The young man¡¯s internal energy was full of vigor only at the very beginning but soon ceased to be inactive which was obviously unsustainable.


    The Taoist priest suddenly found something strange. Shangguan Fei had two strands of internal Qi which originally worked together to barely defend themselves against the enemy, but now the yin energy ¡®defected¡¯ and guided the Taoist priest¡¯s internal Qi to attack the yang energy.


    Wouldn¡¯t that make him lose quicker? Puzzled, the Taoist priest could only think of one exnation that Shangguan Fei¡¯s Qi deviation broke out. But soon he found he was wrong, his opponent, who had changed the strategy, not only didn¡¯t break down, but also his yang energy became more refined instead of being dispersed, though it was gradually weakened under the internal and external attack. Its resistance increased as it retreated every inch in the meridians.


    ¡°Strange!¡± The Taoist priest couldn¡¯t help crying out. He felt that he might have been tricked so he immediately adjusted his internal Qi to attack the yin energy that was ¡®helping¡¯ him.


    Shangguan Fei strictly adhered to the method the Dragon King had taught him and adapted himself to the opponent¡¯s change by turning his yin energy into a defensive position while using his yang energy to ¡®help¡¯ the external force.


    This was the healing method Gu Shenwei thought of. He had been inspired by the Bnced Power handed down in the family.


    Dual cultivation of the yin and yang energy was, after all, dangerous, so the Bnced Power focused more on safety rather than speed. The family inherited manual recorded lots of tricks about how to suppress the increase of power, which once puzzled Gu Shenwei a lot but now became a lifesaving trick to him.


    With the Taoist priest¡¯s internal energy, Shangguan Fei was slowly refining the two different internal Qi, making them purer and easier to fuse.


    It was hard for Shangguan Fei to understand the truth, but he knew that the Dragon King¡¯s method seemed to be effective. He could barely resist when he used the two strands of internal Qi, now he felt it much easier by ¡®turning one of the Qi into a traitor¡¯. The only price was that his internal Qi kept contracting in the meridians and if the enemy seized the moment to invade his Dantian, he would be maimed if not be killed.


    Shangguan Fei was worried and indecisive, so was the Taoist priest. He had determined that his internal energy was being used by the enemy and therefore, wanted to take the chance to push forward to destroy Shangguan Fei¡¯s Dantian. But he also wanted to break free from this eerie internal energypetition while everything was still under control.


    ¡°Really strange.¡± The Taoist priest shouted again with a louder voice. Just while he was thinking, his internal energy had entangled with the enemy¡¯s internal energy and it became more and more difficult to attack. That ¡®defected¡¯ Qi had revealed its true colors as a ¡®spy¡¯, which insidiously weakened its ¡®allies¡¯ while leading the way.


    It was impossible to retreat now. No matter how he dealt with it, there would be a strand of internal Qi, either yin or yang, following to enter his body when he withdrew his own internal Qi, which would bring him great harm.


    ¡°How strange!¡± The Taoist priest¡¯s cry became louder and louder, and instead of expressing his bewilderment at heart, he was actually asking his fellow disciples for help in a subtle way.


    Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t understand why the Taoist priest was screaming. The one who couldn¡¯t bear it any longer was obviously he himself, why the Taoist priest cried out first before he did?


    ¡°I ¡­ I¡­¡± Shangguan Fei felt that he had persisted long enough, but wasn¡¯t able to speak out the words ¡®give up¡¯. It was not that he felt ashamed but because the way the Dragon King taught him was too energy consuming and he couldn¡¯t take a breath to speak it out.


    Four Taoist priests walked out from different tents. Shangguan Fei had met one of them before so he became more anxious and timid. It wasn¡¯t important about whether to admit defeat or not, he only hoped the Dragon King could save himself.


    ¡°What happened?¡± asked one of the Taoist priests who came outter.


    ¡°This kid ¡­ This kid ¡­ Just get me out of here.¡± The small Taoist priestined inwardly that his fellow disciples were really inconsiderate. The four of them actually had time to ask questions when he was so anxious.


    The four of them finally realized the problem. A tall Taoist priest acted first. With no intentions to hurt anyone, he stuck out his palms and pressed on the two, trying to peacefully separate them.


    ¡°Ehh, strange.¡± The tall Taoist priest also cried out.


    He not only wasn¡¯t able to separate the two who werepeting internal energy but also got his own palms stuck to them.


    The friendly-looking Taoist priest came forward. It was him who had negotiated with the Dragon King on behalf of the Jade Pure Sect and proposed a ten days deadline. ¡°Shangguan Fei, what¡¯re your motives for breaking into our camp at night? Where¡¯s the Dragon King? Did hee with you?¡±


    If he could speak, Shangguan Fei really wanted to beg for mercy while swearing. It was more and more difficult for him to direct those two strands of internal Qiing from the Taoist priests. How could he have any ¡®motives¡¯?


    The friendly-looking Taoist priest was more cautious. Seeing his two fellow disciples got stuck, he naturally didn¡¯t want to act recklessly. He circled once around the three.


    The tall Taoist priest was impatient and hot-tempered, he actually called out what Shangguan Fei wanted to say, ¡°Dao Sheng, quick, help now, or I¡¯m gonna swear!¡±


    ¡°No hurry, no hurry.¡± Dao Sheng didn¡¯t get annoyed. ¡°And we¡¯ve agreed to not call each other¡¯s Taoist name in the Nond.¡±


    ¡°Fxx ¡­ Come and help! The kid¡¯s internal energy is really strange. It¡¯spletely a mess. How can he be able to cultivate two different internal Qi? And it¡¯s really strange that those two internal Qi are fighting each other ¡­ Ehh, why am I fighting with senior brother Dao Huo¡¯s internal Qi? Being nervous, the tall Taoist priest called out everyone¡¯s true identity.¡±


    Unconsciously, Shangguan Fei became more and more skillful with the Dragon King¡¯s method. He not only could guide the external force to refine one of his internal Qi but also incited one Taoist priest¡¯s internal Qi to suppress another.


    The fourth Taoist priest who had a long beard came over and proposed the easiest solution, ¡°Hold on, junior brothers. Let me get rid of this kid and you¡¯ll be free.¡±


    Although the tall Taoist priest just got entangled in the fight, he was the most impatient and immediately nodded to agree. ¡°Do it now.¡±


    The Taoist priest with a beard produced a dagger from his sleeve. With just a simple throw, he could end the tangle.


    Shocked, Shangguan Fei almost lost control of his internal Qi. ¡®Dragon King, Dragon King,¡¯ he muttered the name over and over in his heart, cing all his hope on the Dragon King.


    The one who saved Shangguan Fei¡¯s life was not the Dragon King but Dao Sheng, ¡°Wait a moment.¡±


    ¡°Wait fart!¡± The tall Taoist priest finally couldn¡¯t help it and cursed, but immediately blushed and lowered his head to reproach himself.


    Dao Sheng didn¡¯t mind. He pointed to Shangguan Fei while speaking to his fellow disciples, ¡°This kid is a genius. It¡¯s a waste to kill him. Although our sect is rich in internal energy manuals, none of the manuals tell how to practice two different internal Qi, if we can take him back ¡­¡±


    The Taoist priest with a long beard came to his senses, ¡°Right, do not kill him.¡±


    The tall Taoist priest¡¯s suppressed anger rose again. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about thatter, pull him away now.¡±


    The fifth Taoist priest looked courtly like a schr and the youngest but seemed to have the highest position. ¡°I¡¯ll block his acupoints, junior brothers may retreat in time.¡±


    ¡°Good idea, senior brother.¡± The tall and the small Taoist priests praised at the same time.


    Even Shangguan Fei was relieved. He had wanted to end thispetition long ago but suffered from theck of a way out. He could afford to be struck the acupoints, at least he wouldn¡¯t have to die.


    Just at the moment, the Dragon King jumped out to make trouble. He didn¡¯t show up when Shangguan Fei urged repeatedly at heart but appeared when everything was about to end.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to let thispetition of internal energy end too early. Although Shangguan Fei had proved the method of ¡®borrowing the internal energy to practice his own¡¯ was feasible, he had to try it himself.


    Gu Shenwei struck out at the genteel Taoist priest with one hand and simultaneously attacked the small Taoist priest with another hand. Meanwhile, he kicked at the Taoist priest with a long beard.


    The four of them instantly entangled in the fight. Before the Taoist priests could react, their palms had touched the Dragon King¡¯s body.


    Gu Shenwei had practiced the Bnced Power before, so he was much more skillful than Shangguan Fei. In the blink of an eye, he had firmly controlled the three strands of internal Qi of the Taoist priests.


    ¡°Strange!¡± The Taoist priests shouted in unison.


    Then they helplessly watched a figure sh into the camp and headed straight for where they had hidden the people.


    There were many people in the camp but only the five of them were kung fu experts, all the others were supply servants who had honestly kept their heads down to avoid the trouble since they heard the noise outside.


    ¡°We¡¯re fooled.¡± The tall Taoist priest cried out again but none of them could get away.


    A momentter, the female officer Red Bat reappeared with a thing in her hand. Full of surprise, she said, ¡°The instructor is not here.¡±


    But Gu Shenwei could see clearly that the thing the Red Bat carried was Old Man Mu who had curled into a ball.

 Chapter 597 - Despicable

    <hr><span>Chapter 597: Despicable


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Ru had never wanted to train killers in the Land of Fragrance, so although Red Bat had learned the lightness skills and the rules of performing missions at night, she didn¡¯t have the ability to improvise ording to changing circumstances that a killer had.


    She came here to rescue the instructor but found that the things were not quite the same as expected. Flustered, she had surprisingly carried Old Man Mu and run to the Dragon King to report the situation.


    ¡°Go.¡± Gu Shenwei ordered.


    Red Bat followed the order and left. The tall Taoist priest who waspeting with Shangguan Fei shouted, ¡°You can¡¯t go, leave Old Man Mu behind.¡±


    Well, there was nothing he could do about it.


    The elegant-looking Taoist priest said, ¡°Dragon King, Old Man Mu is a disciple of the Jade Pure Sect and we have no grudge against you. He has done so many evil things, why Dragon King asks for trouble? Give him to us, and the Jade Pure Sect owes you a favor from now on.¡±


    This was the way people of the Central ins spoke. The word ¡®favor¡¯ was a magic word. Its importance could be significant or trivial, not only depending on the sincerity of the speaker but also depending on the degree of cooperation of the other side. People who were well-mannered to others would receive kindness and favors. The so-called ¡®courtesy demands reciprocity¡¯ worked this way.


    After moving to the Western Regions for many years, Gu Shenwei still remembered the rules of his homnd, so he thought for a while before saying, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s stop at the same time, we can talk about Old Man Muter.¡±


    The five Taoist priests nodded. Although the Dragon King and Shangguan Fei¡¯s internal energy had been in a defensive position and couldn¡¯t pose a threat to their lives, it was really eerie and they would rather get away from it as soon as possible.


    The elegant-looking Taoist priest was obviously the leader of the five, ¡°I¡¯ll count the numbers one, two, and three and all of us withdraw at the same time. Is that okay, Dragon King? Shangguan Fei?¡±


    Gu Shenwei said ¡®yes¡¯ for the two of them. Shangguan Fei could barely nod but he was very pleased with the suggestion at heart.¡±


    ¡°One.¡±


    Shangguan Fei felt that the old Taoist¡¯s counting was too slow.


    ¡°Two.¡±


    The elegant-looking Taoist priest deliberately spoke in a dragging voice to buffer time for everyone.


    ¡°Three.¡±


    Thest call was clear and decisive. Regardless of whether it was a plot or not, Shangguan Fei immediately withdrew both the yin and yang internal Qi, which caused him to stagger back and almost sit on the ground.


    The seven people finally broke free. The disciples of the Jade Pure Sect all heaved a sigh of relief. The elegant-looking Taoist priest coughed and got ready to ask for Old Man Mu. Since the Dragon King knew to quit while he was ahead, he believed the negotiation would go well this time.


    Although Gu Shenwei knew the Jianghu rules of the Central ins, he didn¡¯t want to abide by the rules.


    He attacked again before the elegant-looking Taoist priest opened his mouth and spat out a word.


    This time, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want topete for the internal energy, so he drew the Five Peaks Saber.


    The weakness of the Jade Pure Sect¡¯sck of external martial arts skills was shown clearly at the moment. Breathless, they were all flustered, showing no elegance of kung fu masters at all in the face of a sneak attack. The tall Taoist priest was the most talkative, his mouth not idle while he was jumping up and down, ¡°Cheat! You cheat!¡±


    Gu Shenwei, however, didn¡¯t think he was cheating, or he didn¡¯t think it was wrong to cheat. From the moment he entered Golden Roc Castle, he had been rolling in the mire of conspiracy and had long ustomed to the smell of the mud and regarded it as good medicine for the body and mind.


    The tall Taoist priest had the weakest kung fu and therefore, became the breaking point for Gu Shenwei.


    Ten movester, when the five Taoist priests had just stabilized their foothold, the tall priest got cut and shouted ¡®I¡¯m dead¡¯, and fell.


    Other Taoists hesitated a bit between saving people or fighting back, revealing more ws.


    In a moment of time, Gu Shenwei had rushed behind the elegant Taoist priest and knocked him out with the saber hilt and dragged him to retreat quickly. In several jumps, he had disappeared into the night. It was toote for the disciples of the Jade Pure Sect to catch up when they finally realized what had happened.


    Shangguan Fei did react but he was a bit slow. Early in the Dragon King¡¯s first move, he had thought of the fact that his task had finished and he could run away, but he was afraid of being med by the Dragon King so he waited for a while, which resulted in being left behind by the Dragon King.


    Shangguan Fei was just about to jump up before he was surrounded by three Taoist priests. The Jade Pure Sect¡¯s external martial arts skills were poor but Golden Roc Castle didn¡¯t pay much attention to fist and foot techniques, so it would be a close match for both sides. It was just that Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t want to fight at all when facing three kung fu experts alone.


    ¡°Heh heh.¡± Shangguan Fei hoped his smile could show a little kindness and also cover his miseries at the moment. ¡°Dragon King knows you¡¯re not going to kill me. I¡¯ll go join the warrior contest tomorrow for him, so he will exchange me with the old Taoist.¡±


    The tall Taoist priest didn¡¯t die. He touched his ear and found half of it was missing and it was bleeding, so he covered it with his hand and jumped up, ¡°Dragon King has taken senior brother away!¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Dao Huo, the Taoist priest who first came out topete with Shangguan Fei, said impatiently. Then he turned to Shangguan Fei, ¡°You said Dragon King would save you but I don¡¯t think so. You are all despicable people who don¡¯t keep their promises.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re despicable, but you can¡¯t call yourself fair and square by kidnapping Old Man Mu.¡± Shangguan Fei smilingly argued, not wanting to offend these people or to be despised without cause.


    ¡°Old Man Mu is a disciple of our Jade Pure Sect ¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei seemed to suddenly understand and nodded, ¡°I see. You can be more strict with your fellow disciple.¡±


    ¡°Of course, just as parents discipline their children, beat them up or scold them if they have to.¡±


    ¡°Needless to say, Dragon King must have taken you as his own sons.¡±


    Shangguan Fei regretted as soon as the words were out. The Taoist priests weren¡¯t like jokers and didn¡¯t have the mood to win a verbal fight when their senior brother was kidnapped. His quick wit could only turn their shame into anger.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take you to the Dragon King.¡± Shangguan Fei had no intention of suffering an immediate loss, ¡°I have to remind you that the Dragon King is a snobbish man. If I¡¯m injured and can not attend the warrior contest tomorrow, he will definitely abandon me and you won¡¯t get your senior brother back.¡±


    It was much easier for the Jade Pure Sect to control a captive. The long-bearded Taoist priest came forward and poked an important acupoint in Shangguan Fei¡¯s chest before he could resist. Shangguan Fei immediately found his internal Qi stagnated in the meridian. Although he could still walk, he couldn¡¯t use his internal energy to attack or run away.


    ¡°That¡¯s cool.¡± Shangguan Fei praised sincerely. ¡°We don¡¯t have such acupoint striking techniques in the Western Regions. Look at Dragon King, he can only knock out people with the saber hilt, it¡¯s really inferior to the divine kung fu of your honored sect.¡±


    ¡°Lead the way!¡± The long-bearded Taoist priest ordered, uninterested in his ttery.


    Shangguan Fei walked towards the Dragon Army camp in the noble district while thinking about how to get away. He couldn¡¯t guarantee that the Dragon King would agree to exchange him with the Taoist priest. ¡°You¡¯ve seen my internal energy. It¡¯s not bad, is it?¡±


    ¡°Unorthodox, just so so.¡±Shangguan Fei chuckled without arguing. He had heard it clear that that guy named Dao Sheng admired the Three-in-One Power very much and it was not ¡®just so so¡¯ at all. So he insinuated that he was willing to hand over the manual if the Taoist priests made a reasonable offer.


    Shangguan Fei not only talked in a roundabout manner but also walked in a zigzag way. Dao Sheng realized the problem first and questioned, ¡°Stop. Where are you going to find Dragon King? We already went through this ce once.¡±


    ¡°Really? I¡¯m not familiar with the road here, and now it¡¯s dark ¡­¡±


    The tall Taoist had his ears bandaged and scowled at Shangguan Fei, ¡°Dragon King has acted treacherously and you love to cheat as well. I¡¯ll cut you up into pieces if I can¡¯t get my senior brother back.¡±


    ¡°Taoist Master, don¡¯t get mad and break your discipline because of people like me. Although Dragon King is a little treacherous, he is very reasonable and values the friendship between us very much. Actually, he kidnapped senior brother to inquire about my sister¡¯s whereabouts and had no evil intentions. Otherwise, he would have killed people long ago for his temper.¡±


    ¡°Your sister, the woman of the Land of Fragrance?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we came together to check my diseasest time, you¡¯ve peeped at her.¡±


    The Taoist priests frowned. They did see her at that time, but they didn¡¯t like the word ¡®peep¡¯, not to mention that they were mainly looking at the Dragon King, not the woman.


    ¡°What does it have to do with us if your sister is lost?¡±


    ¡°Ehh? Old Man Mu was my sister¡¯sckey. Since he was in your hands, my sister was obviously kidnapped by you too.¡±


    ¡°Jade Pure Sect never kidnaps!¡± The tall Taoist priest shouted, agitated. Maybe he was too agitated that he fell to the ground heavily.


    Having suffered setbacks all night, the Taoist priests were all filled with pent up anger. So they reacted much faster when being attacked again. They jumped to their feet and rushed off in three directions. Everyone felt that their judgment was the most urate.


    Shangguan Fei spat out his tongue and thought, ¡®No wonder I¡¯ve heard it since I was a kid that an excellent killer can kill martial artists who had much better kung fu. The curs of the Jade Pure Sect are so careless. They even forget to leave a man to guard the captive after being tricked.¡¯


    The tall Taoist priest was still alive and was struggling to get up. Without hesitation, Shangguan Fei immediately ran away. Although his internal energy did not work now, his intuition told him to head straight for the camp with densest tents and hide in shadow. Then he quickly moved away from where he was like a nocturnal cat and found another rtively better ce to hide and kept still.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s heart thumped wildly. This was the first time for him to cooperate with a killer, so he was really afraid that he did it wrong.


    Ever since he left the camp of the Jade Pure Sect, he had been looking for a suitable ambush site. As soon as he found it, he began circling around. If the Dragon King wanted to save him, he would get the hint left by him and set a trap at the road junction.


    As expected, the trap was triggered when he circled back to the junction.


    This was a means of Golden Roc Castle. Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t understand the specific process, but he knew that his acupoint had been sealed and running away randomly would only expose him. He must hide somewhere and wait for the Dragon King¡¯s rescue.


    The four Taoist priests angrily searched the enemy and captive around. The nearest distance between them and Shangguan Fei was actually within ten steps. If they stayed a little longer, they could even hear Shangguan Fei¡¯s uncontroble gasps.


    A patrol of the Nond Cavalry wasing. The horses¡¯ hooves sound very clear in the quiet night.


    The Taoist priests of the Jade Pure Sect could only retreat.


    Shangguan Fei finally heaved out a sigh of relief after the cavalry passed. Actually, he could walk back to the camp himself, he just hoped that the old Taoist priest had used an ordinary acupoint striking techniques to seal his acupoint and would not leave any further aftereffect.


    The cavalry rushed by. Shangguan Fei turned abruptly and looked with amazement at the sudden appearance of a man, who was not the Dragon King. ¡°Shangguan Yun ¡­ Third brother.¡±


    Shangguan Yun held up his finger to his lips and said in a low voice, ¡°Little brother, Golden Roc Castle hase to save you.¡±


    Not far away, Gu Shenwei silently watched. He did return to rescue Shangguan Fei but didn¡¯t expect that Golden Roc Castle had taken action before him.

 Chapter 598 - Torture

    Chapter 598: Torture


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    In the camp of the Land of Fragrance, Old Man Mu opened his eyes. Looking at the figure he seemed to be familiar with, the first thing he said was, ¡°Am I dead?¡±


    Outwardly, the wrinkled Old Man Mu seemed to have not suffered much, except that his face was pale and his skin was more bby as if it were a borrowed ill-fitting garment.


    The Jade Pure Sect was famous for its internal energy, even its means of torture was not visible. When Red Bat saw Old Man Mu, he was untied but was moaning in pain. He could not even open his eyes at that time.


    Gu Shenwei looked at him for a while and said, ¡°You¡¯re lucky, you¡¯re still alive.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Old Man Mu closed his eyes again, wondering who he was, who was the man speaking to him, and what ¡®alive¡¯ meant.


    ¡°You are Dragon King?¡± Old Man Mu was already half awake when he opened his eyes again.


    Red Bat had long been impatient, interrupted, ¡°Where¡¯s the instructor? Where¡¯s she? Why isn¡¯t she with you?¡±


    Old Man Mu couldn¡¯t ept so many questions at once. He nkly stared at the woman in front of him, suddenly sat up and said, ¡°Good girl is missing!¡±


    ¡°Yes, the instructor is missing. Didn¡¯t you go out with her?¡± Red Bat anxiously asked.


    Old Man Mu turned to the Dragon King and shook his head, ¡°I didn¡¯t encourage her, good girl insisted on going with me.¡±


    Old Man Mu said he had three Bone Shrivelling Pills, Shangguan Ru was very interested. She suggested as soon as they came back to the camp, ¡°Let¡¯s go fetch the bills. Dragon King has an agreement with the Nond, it¡¯s not easy for him to break in randomly.¡±


    So on the third night watch period of that night, the two moved out and sneaked into King Rizhu¡¯s Office, and took out the Bone Shrivelling Pills from the jewelry box of the dead princess consort. The whole process went smoothly except that they caused the attention of one hidden sentry when they retreat. But they managed to flee out of the camp before the night guards had reacted.


    As to why the two did not return safely, Old Man Mu could not tell clearly. ¡°I, Old Man Mu, have overrun the whole world and gone anywhere as I please for decades, but I haven¡¯t had such a shameful experience ¡ª I¡¯ve been drugged. You know, I used to eat pills like eating candy at Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    ¡°What happened then? Did both of you get caught by the old Taoist priests?¡± Red Bat just wanted to know the final result.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. When I woke up, I¡¯ve already fallen in the hands of those five bastards. After being yed by them like a tortoise egg for days, I¡¯m as miserable as a ghost now. Almost all of my acupoints were sealed, uh, even now they are still blocked. I had asked about the good girl¡¯s whereabouts too, but they didn¡¯t tell me. Every day they just forced me to hand over the martial arts manuals. I tried to plead them with tactful words. I said that we had an agreement that they had to help me restore my power before I taught them the martial arts. I didn¡¯t expect them to turn against me ¡­ ¡±


    Old Man Mu wanted to continue talking about how he fought a battle of wits and courage, but Gu Shenwei became uninterested and gently push him down, ¡°Take a rest, I may need your helpter.¡±


    ¡°Dragon King, I didn¡¯t betray you. The good girl¡¯s missing has nothing to do with me. When I¡¯m getting better, I¡¯ll help you find her out even if I have to toss the Royal Court upside down.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, very good.¡± Gu Shenwei ambiguously replied. About Old Man Mu¡¯s story, he hadn¡¯t decided how much he would believe, ¡°Amongst the disciples of the Jade Pure Sect, what¡¯s the youngest one¡¯s Taoist name?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s called Dao Nian. He¡¯s a monster. He looks young, actually, he¡¯s seventy-eight years old now. He¡¯s the big brother and has the strongest internal energy. Dragon King must be careful dealing with him.¡±


    Gu Shenwei would be careful, of course, in interrogating him.


    In the tent next door, Dao Nian still sat upright even when tied to a chair. As a respectable elder of an esteemed sect, it was quite normal for him to be unprepared for dirty tricks, so it was not a disgrace to be caught. He made up his mind that he would not say a word to the Dragon King and his junior brothers woulde to his rescue sooner orter.


    Gu Shenwei interrogated the captive alone. The female soldiers taught by Shangguan Ru were all normal people and were not suitable to watch some of his means.


    The old Taoist didn¡¯t want to talk, so Gu Shenwei also didn¡¯t want to waste his breath. He slowly walked to the prisoner, took out a dagger, and put it on the prisoner¡¯s right thumb.


    The two looked at each other for a while. Dao Nian was confused. In his imagination, the other side would go through the process of verbal sparring before forcing him to speak and would only act ruthlessly when the other side got annoyed. But looking at the Dragon King¡¯s appearance, he seemed to be more reticent than him.


    ¡®He¡¯s bluffing,¡¯ Dao Nian looked away, thinking that even if the other side was ying it real, with his dozens of years¡¯ cultivation, couldn¡¯t he bear this little torture?


    The dagger slowly cut down, and the pain was more severe than Dao Nian had imagined. Cold sweat oozed from his forehead but he could still stand it. He believed that he would be at least better than Old Man Mu but to his great disappointment, those holy scriptures he recited daily actually didn¡¯t work and wasn¡¯t able to ease his pain at all.


    Gu Shenwei waited for a while before producing several small boxes from his robe, which were all felt by Lotus. He wasn¡¯t good at torture, but when he had to do it, he still wanted to do it as best as he could.


    He pinched Dao Nian¡¯s nose. The old Taoist was very good at holding breath, it took him a long while to force his mouth open and quickly flicked a small pill into his mouth.


    Dao Nian blushed with anger and almost asked what it was. But thinking that it was tantamount to admitting defeat if he spoke, he swallowed his doubts.


    The Waning Moon Hall had many kinds of pills, many of which were powerful enough to make the strongest person break down. But most of them were either expensive and rare or slow to be effective. The one Gu Shenwei used was rtively simple, which was to make the user¡¯s senses sharper.


    For the killers who couldn¡¯t take a rest for several days and nights, it was necessary medicine to stay awake. To the victim, however, it would multiply the pain.


    With the dagger pressing on the index finger of the right hand, it felt like thousands of daggers piercing the body from both the inside and outside. Dao Nian couldn¡¯t bear it any longer when it was cutting down less than half an inch, ¡°I am seventy-six years old now.¡±


    Even Dao Nian himself didn¡¯t know why he said this. Was he hoping the Dragon King to respect the old?


    Gu Shenwei stood upright and left the dagger on the old Taoist¡¯s index finger, ¡°Well-maintained. You looked only in your forties.¡±


    Dao Nian stunned and suddenly wanted to cry out loud. He managed to hold it back with full strength but his voice still trembled, ¡°Jade Pure Sect is an esteemed orthodoxy of the Central ins. You are against the whole martial arts world of the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°So, you should understand how much I¡¯m willing to pay to get you to talk.¡±


    Dao Nian finally understood that all the Central ins rules he was familiar with did not work for the Dragon King. The sect, Status, Martial arts, none of them could help him here. ¡°What do you really want to know?¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s Shangguan Ru?¡± Gu Shenwei should have left the question until the end, but he also failed to maintainplete calmness and throw it out first.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Dao Nian shook his head desperately. Once he opened his mouth, his dignity and cultivation all became illusory. And his only thought was to end the pain on his body as soon as possible, ¡°Even Old Man Mu was not caught by us, he was sent to us.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°They left him at the door without leaving the name.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had to cut off the old Taoist priest¡¯s forefinger.


    ¡°It¡¯s Golden Roc Castle, it must be them. They were dressed in ck,ing and leaving without a trace.¡± Dao Nian screamed and his muscle tightened. He almost jumped up from the chair.


    ¡°Why does Golden Roc Castle send Old Man Mu to the Jade Pure Sect?¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t know. They didn¡¯t make any requests.¡± Dao Nian racked his brains but can¡¯t think of any information of Shangguan Ru. Flurried, he began to confess other secrets, ¡°You can¡¯t hurt me. I¡¯m also an honored guest of the Nond, a Master hired by the Khan. The truce agreement you agreed is also valid for me.¡±


    This was indeed some information that Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t expect, ¡°Master?¡± He still remembered that the disciple of the Essence Pavilion also imed to be a ¡®Master¡¯ granted by the Khan.


    ¡°Yes, the Khan admired Jade Pure Sect¡¯s way of keeping healthy and had sent invitations to us years ago. We didn¡¯t want toe, but this time, we epted the invitation in order to get our external kung fu manual back.


    ¡°The imperial court of the Central ins allows you to do so?¡±


    ¡°Jade Pure Sect doesn¡¯t pursue fame and fortune. We just hope the Khan can be influenced through lectures so the two countries can turn hostility into friendship and people of the world won¡¯t suffer from war.¡± The elders of the Jade Pure Sect had said this many times so it was easy for them to say it again.


    The curtain of the tent door was lifted, Old Man Mu wobbled up like a prisoner half-dead from hunger who suddenly smelled the food and desperately tried to crawl over, ¡°I heard screams of pain.¡±


    Torturing others had always been Old Man Mu¡¯s favorite, he had restrained himself since he followed Shangguan Ru. But upon hearing the screams of pain, especially when it seemed toe from an elder of the Jade Pure Sect, he couldn¡¯t helping to have a look.


    ¡°Ahh, is Dragon King avenging me?¡± Seeing Dao Nian, Old Man Mu was surprised and pleased, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier? This old Taoist is the worst. He not only didn¡¯t help restore my power but nearly destroyed the rest of my power. He said I was evil and deserved it, but I hadn¡¯t done so even when I was at my worst.¡±


    Old Man Mu had the intention to pour out all of his grievances. Gu Shenwei stopped his nagging, ¡°This old Taoist is yours now.¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s eyes sparkled. No one knew it was tears or excessive excitement. ¡°Seriously?¡±


    ¡°But you can¡¯t kill or maim him.¡±


    ¡°Ah, what¡¯s the point of keeping him then?


    Gu Shenwei walked out of the tent.


    Those three female officers and a dozen or so female soldiers were waiting for him, all looking scared and afraid to speak. They also heard the screams of the captive, but unlike Old Man Mu, they were filled with fear.


    ¡°Your instructor is not in the hands of the Jade Pure Sect.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to exin.


    The crowd nodded and urged each other to return to their own tents, leaving only Red Bat behind who had no intention to leave.


    ¡°You have something to say?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Red Bat faltered and finally said it, ¡°We all want to get the instructor back right away, but ¡­ but ¡­¡±


    ¡°But is it necessary to torture the old Taoist?¡± Gu Shenwei finished the question for her.


    Embarrassed, Red Bat smiled, ¡°I know there¡¯s no other choice. When I was in the Land of Fragrance, the lords¡¯ means were crueler. No no, I¡¯m not saying that Dragon King is the same as my old master. Dragon King has saved us and we are all grateful. Well, the Taoist priest is very bad and it¡¯s reasonable to give him a lesson, but should we leave the instructor¡¯s brother behind like this?¡±


    Red Bat talked a bit incoherently. Obviously, she wasining for Shangguan Fei and what she said had been discussed by the female soldiers in advance.


    Gu Shenwei wanted to tell her the truth about the world but felt it unnecessary before he spoke out. They were Shangguan Ru¡¯s subordinates. There was no need for them to understand the ruthlessness of killers. Be angry at betrayal and cruelty, and stay away from them, wasn¡¯t this the ideal of Shangguan Ru?


    So he said, ¡°Shangguan Fei is not in danger and will be back soon.¡±


    It was like Shangguan Fei had been hiding nearby and waiting for the Dragon King¡¯s words, he really came back. Puzzled, he said, ¡°Dragon King, third brother ¡­ Shangguan Yun wants to see you. He¡¯s outside.¡±

 Chapter 599 - Threatening

    Chapter 599: Threatening


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Golden Roc Castle¡¯s plot in the Royal Court was close to a fiasco but Shangguan Yun looked neither anxious nor annoyed as if it were a trivial matter that had nothing to do with him.


    ¡°Living among a thousand of women, is Dragon King looking for the feeling of being emperor?¡± Shangguan Yun joked in the tone of an old friend, wearing a smile that Gu Shenwei was familiar with.


    In fact, Shangguan Yun¡¯s trip to the Nond wasn¡¯t easy this time. Like the Dragon King, he had been looked upon everywhere. Although some of them were acting, fundamentally, that was part of the reality. He had put up with all of the humiliations, or, he didn¡¯t care about them at all.


    ¡°Walking in the night, you must be regaining your killer¡¯s feeling.¡± Gu Shenwei cautiously replied, always remembering that the words of the third young master were more offensive than the saber in his hand.


    Alone, Shangguan Yun looked up at the starry sky and did not seem to take the Dragon King¡¯s words as sarcasm, ¡°I¡¯ve never been a good killer, even the feelings I¡¯ve revived are merely afterimage. My kung fu instructor once told Unique King that I was always absent-minded and couldn¡¯t concentrate on what I was doing, which would be a fatal w in the future. He was really right. How can I turn a blind eye to the beautiful stars high above and patiently wait for the best moment to unsheathe my saber?¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t like mysterious talks. They were like the tricks yed by the enemy inbat, the more one paid attention to, the easier one would be misled. ¡°You¡¯re not a good killer, and I¡¯m not a good listener. What¡¯s your purpose here?¡±


    Shangguan Yun still looked up at the starry sky as an extension of the topic, and when he spoke again, there was not a trace of sarcasm, ¡°I¡¯m here to talk about my sister with Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to give any hint to the other side about his feelings.


    ¡°She was in my hands, once.¡±


    ¡°What about now?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s in a secret ce, which even I don¡¯t know. All I can tell you is that her final destination is the main tent of the Khan.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart sank. This was the result he worried most and was most reluctant to see, ¡°Golden Roc Castle really takes their own women seriously.¡±


    ¡°Nah, everyone knows that sister Ru is Dragon King¡¯s woman. She has been driven out of the castle long ago and even helped you defeat the Golden Roc Army.


    Shangguan Yun sighed. He had also joined the seaside slope battle. No matter how to cover it up, it was a fiasco for him. ¡°I like sister Ru very much. She¡¯s the only person I like in the whole family. She¡¯s like me, a rebel of Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help snorting lightly. Shangguan Yun changed his statement in time, ¡°She¡¯s like the old me, but she¡¯s an enemy now. Even so, I do not want to hurt her, but I have no choice. Golden Roc Castle has been cornered by Dragon King, we can only act unscrupulously.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that what Golden Roc Castle always does?¡±


    ¡°You see, I told you I wasn¡¯t a good killer, and I have to beat around the bush even when I threaten others.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯vee to threaten me?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m threatening you, with my own sister.¡± Shangguan Yun finally discarded thest bit of cover-up, and he didn¡¯t seem to be particrly embarrassed. ¡°Our original n was to let the Khan infect ¡­ a strange disease through Shaomin, but he wouldn¡¯t die right away. Ten dayster, he would die suddenly beside sister Ru, so sister Ru would be the only murderer, from whom the mastermind would undoubtedly fall on Dragon King¡¯s head.¡±


    ¡®Then Shangguan Ru would be killed immediately, leaving all the deaths unarguable.¡¯ Gu Shenwei felt irrepressible anger and a strong impulse to draw his saber, ¡°Good n.¡±


    ¡°Good n, perfect n, vicious n, now all be an unsustainable n. Dragon King stole Shaomin and disrupted the deployment of Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    ¡°So you and Zhang Ji then made a new n.¡±


    ¡°The new n isn¡¯t that perfect. We can only resort to the most traditional methods to send out killers and sneak into the main tent to kill the Khan with King Kuari¡¯s help. When sister Ru wakes up, she will find herself with a bloody narrow saber in her hand. Both Zhang Ji and I don¡¯t like this n. Because we have to rely on the ability of one or two killers, any mistake will result in aplete failure. Unlike the original n, the executors were all unaware of the n and therefore, couldn¡¯t reveal any of it even if they wanted to.¡±


    Shangguan Yun looked very regretful. Golden Roc Castle had begun to change Shangguan Shaomin two years ago but didn¡¯t expect that she would be taken away halfway.


    ¡°Go on, I haven¡¯t heard any threats yet.¡±


    ¡°I have another idea, and Zhang Ji and King Kuari also agree with me. Since we are going to carry out the venture n, we might as well take a little more risks to put the murderer of the Khan on the Central ins, though this will cause some trouble because the first thing that King Kuari doesn¡¯t want was to go to war with the Central ins after he inherited the throne.¡±


    Fang Wenshi had spected that King Kuari had secretly colluded with the Central ins. Gu Shenwei felt the counselor¡¯s analysis was bing more and more credible.


    ¡°It was me again to make a suggestion.¡± Shangguan Yun slowly said as if he were telling a story full of twists and turns. ¡°There¡¯s no need to nt it on the Central ins. Putting it on a certain sect of the Central ins is enough. Later we can say that they acted in private and the emperor didn¡¯t know it at all. Then we can send a group of experts to sneak into the Central ins and wipe the sect out, that is, to take revenge.¡±


    ¡°In this scheme, there¡¯s no need for Shangguan Ru to appear.¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    ¡°I said I like my little sister very much and would save her if I could. But it would require Dragon King¡¯s cooperation.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had already guessed what Shangguan Yun¡¯s ¡®threat¡¯ was. He hummed and motioned him to go on.


    ¡°King Rizhu is a nuisance. King Kuari is very unsatisfied with but also a bit afraid of him. If Dragon King can solve this trouble, King Kuari is willing to make a concession and let go of sister Ru. But if Dragon King chooses to stay loyal, to avoid more trouble, King Kuari would have no choice but to let sister Ru appear at the scene of the assassination, and Dragon King would be the one to me for.¡±


    ¡°Or I can find a way to thwart the assassination plot and keep the Khan alive while seeing King Kuari¡¯s true colors.¡±


    ¡°Of course you can, but that won¡¯t save sister Ru, and you can¡¯t defeat King Kuari. Even King Rizhu and Second Consort, who can visit the Khan at any time, can¡¯t tell the truth, who will believe you?¡±


    Indeed, in the Royal Court, not only one people had the ominous foreboding that the Khan was going to die unnaturally. Some people even took action to stop the assassination but no one could frighten and stop King Kuari.


    As a stranger here, this was the most iprehensible thing for Gu Shenwei. The Khan seemed so stolid and did not react at all to his arrogant descendants.


    ¡°If I ept your threat, what do you guarantee?¡±


    ¡°I am the guarantee.¡± Shangguan Yun appeared indifferent even when talking about himself as if he himself no longer belonged to him. ¡°I will stay as a hostage. Once it¡¯s done, you can kill me if King Kuari doesn¡¯t let go of sister Ru.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was hesitating. Meanwhile, at the camp of the Land of Fragrance, Old Man Mu was also hesitating.


    ¡°I can¡¯t kill you or maim you. s, how should I deal with you?¡± Old Man Mu muttered while rubbing his hands. Although his acupoints were still sealed, he was dancing with joy.


    The sharp pain slowly relieved. Feeling embarrassed by his own weakness, Dao Nian murmured, ¡°Kill me, please kill me.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was standing by and watching. With his acupoints also blocked, he was more than happy to drop stones on the miserable old Taoist, ¡°You old cur, he has said it clearly that he can¡¯t kill you, now you want to pretend to be as brave as a hero, how hypocritical you are.¡±


    Very satisfied with his help, Old Man Mu nodded and said, ¡°Right, but it¡¯s normal, the whole Jade Pure Sect is so hypocritical.¡±


    ¡°Jade Pure Sect is an orthodox sect. Old Man Mu, are you going to speak ill of your own sect?¡±


    ¡°Huh,¡± Old Man Mu seemed to have heard the most ridiculous joke, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what I have done to my ¡®own sect¡¯. I fell in love with my My Master¡¯s wife, killed my Master, and remade all the martial arts manuals. You old fool, don¡¯t you want to know the secret of my martial arts skills? I tell you, it is nothing but being ¡®merciless¡¯. The external kung fu of Jade Pure Sect values oveing firmness by gentleness and following nature. I prefer oveing hardness with hardness and against nature. And it turns out I¡¯m sessful. Even the ordinary moves be formidable and peerless in my hands.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s how you master your unique skills.¡± Shangguan Fei cooperatively praised.


    ¡°Of course, you¡¯ve seen my Five Hole Punch. In the fists technique manual, it says ¡®Prating the mystery and introspecting the five viscera¡¯, which refers to heart, liver, spleen, lung, and kidney. Can old man be so pedantic? I changed it to be ¡®Prating¡¯ the enemy¡¯s five viscera with one punch. Haha, the power of my fist technique immediately doubled.¡±


    Shangguan Fei admired wholeheartedly, ¡°Old man is really formidable, no wonder no one can beat you.¡±


    Dao Nian recited a few verses in a low voice, and said, ¡°Old Man Mu, you have done too many evil things, what goes aroundes around.¡±


    ¡°Old dog, you¡¯ve forgotten you are a disciple of the Three Pure Ones and do not seek eternal life, now you are talking about karma to me like the baldies? Speaking of immortality, look at you, you look younger as you grow older, your kung fu of plucking yin and nourishing yang must be formidable. Tell me, how many women have you plucked?¡±


    ¡°Stop the nonsense, Jade Pure Sect is an esteemed orthodox ¡­¡±


    ¡°The more orthodox you are, the more you like to lie. Plucking yin to nourish yang isn¡¯t something amazing, do you think I haven¡¯t practiced it? s, if it had not been the harm done by Waning Moon Hall, I would have been younger than you.¡±


    Dao Nian refused to say anything.


    Shangguan Fei, however, became interested, ¡°is it really that magical?¡±


    ¡°Of course, but you can only pluck the yang, a winding path leading to a secluded spot. You can¡¯t nourish yourself though.¡±


    It was rare to see Shangguan Fei blush, ¡°I, I haven¡¯t ¡­ done that for a long time.¡±


    ¡°No need to exin. What haven¡¯t I seen before? Don¡¯t think you are special, there are plenty of men like you. The Nond men looked to be forthright but there are quite a bit of that going on behind the scenes.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s eyes brightened up, wondering why he hadn¡¯t found anyone like him in the Nond.


    Old Man Mu looked at Shangguan Fei and Dao Nian several times before saying, ¡°This is really a good idea. Since I can¡¯t kill or hurt you, how about this, Shangguan Fei, I¡¯ll do you a favor, go ¡®pluck¡¯ this old Taoist.¡±


    The two cried out ¡®no¡¯ in unison. Old Man Mu, however, became happier thinking about it. He ignored Dao Nian and only persuaded Shangguan Fei, ¡°It¡¯s a rare opportunity. The Jade Pure Sect¡¯s kung fu in nourishing themselves is superb. Look at this old Taoist, he looked to be in his forties and his skin is like in its thirties, some parts of his body appear to be younger. Do you think he hasn¡¯t gained anything after taking away so many girls¡¯ virginity?¡±


    Shangguan Fei shook his head, ¡°What¡¯s his real age?¡±


    ¡°Uh, whatever it is. Fairies are all thousands of years old when they marry to the mortals, I¡¯ve never heard of any mortals who would not be willing to ept them.¡±


    Dao Nian wasn¡¯t willing, so he anxiously said, ¡°I¡¯m seventy-six years old now.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was even less interested. Old Man Mu was about to persuade again before the Dragon King lifted the curtain and came in, just in time to save the chastity of the elder of the Jade Pure Sect.


    Dao Nian desperately begged, ¡°Dragon King, please let me go, I¡¯ll do whatever is asked of me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was very surprised, he didn¡¯t expect Old Man Mu was more skillful in interrogating than him which saved him lots of time.


    ¡°I want to see the Khan.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± Dao Nian¡¯s answer was resolute and decisive.


    Gu Shenwei had to see the Khan. He wanted to know why an obvious assassination had been overlooked by the demigod-like lord of the prairie.

 Chapter 600 - Friendliness

    Chapter 600: Friendliness


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Full of doubts, Fang Wenshi didn¡¯t know what to ask.


    ¡°Dragon King has kept Shangguan Yun in the camp of the Land of Fragrance?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better to have him as a hostage than to have nothing.¡±


    ¡°Why not trade him for Shangguan Ru?¡±


    ¡°It will not work. The Unique King doesn¡¯t care about the lives of the Shangguan family, neither Zhang Ji. So we can¡¯t threaten them with Shangguan Yun.¡±


    Fang Wenshi kept flipping his finger in front of his chest, ¡°This is exactly the problem. First, it¡¯s very suspicious for Shangguan Yun toe to the door himself. Second, what¡¯s the use to keep him as a hostage if the Unique King and Zhang Ji don¡¯t care about him at all? So it¡¯s more suspicious. Third, does the Dragon King ¡­ care too much about Shangguan Ru?¡±


    Fang Wenshi carefully put forward the third doubt. In his opinion, this was actually the core of all the troubles. If the Dragon King didn¡¯t care about it, the Dragon Army would not be affected, no matter whose hands Shangguan Ru fell into.


    Gu Shenwei understood the meaning of his counselor, and he had already thought of an answer, ¡°She¡¯s very important to stabilize the morale of the army of the Land of Fragrance, the Land of Fragrance is crucial to the Dragon Army, so she has to be alive.¡±


    Fang Wenshi touched the taboo topic and withdrew in time. He didn¡¯t want to continue arguing with the Dragon King, but in his mind, he still insisted on his original view that Shangguan Ru wasn¡¯t irreceable. The Land of Fragrance could ept her meant they could ept another woman or man as their ruler.


    ¡°Anyway, Shangguan Yun¡¯s behavior was strange. Does Dragon King really want to assassinate King Rizhu?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t assassinate any nobles of the Nond unless I¡¯m attacked.¡±


    ¡°What do we do then? Both King Kuari and King Rizhu want to use Dragon King to kill each other, we have to make a choice.¡±


    ¡°So before making a choice, I want to meet the Khan and find out what he is thinking. The Royal Court is in such a mess and he seems to ignore it, unless ¡­¡±


    After these days together, Fang Wenshi was finally able to catch up with the Dragon King¡¯s thinking, he immediately guessed what he was going to say, ¡°Unless the Khan is already dead?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. This had actually been a whim of his but it had be more and more reasonable as time went by. He had been in the Royal Court for some time but he had never seen the Khan himself and had only looked far away to see the carriage pass by.


    ¡°Impossible, that¡¯s impossible.¡± Fang Wenshi shook his head, ¡°This kind of thing cannot be kept secret. The lords are ipatible as fire and water and each of them can get close to the Khan. It¡¯s impossible that they all keep it as a secret after knowing it.¡±


    ¡°This is just my guess. Anyway, I must see the Khan right away no matter he¡¯s dead or alive.¡±


    Fang Wenshi felt that the Dragon King was a little paranoid, so he reminded, ¡°Has Dragon King ever thought of that Golden Roc Castle is actually waiting for you to meet the Khan in person and throw yourself into the snare? King Kuari is arranging a meeting, he canplete all the procedures within three days.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait. I have to run ahead of my enemy. Even if it¡¯s a trap, I have to get on top of it first.¡±


    Fang Wenshi looked puzzledly at the Dragon King, wondering what he could gain by being so eager, ¡°Is it because of ¡­ Shangguan Ru?¡±


    ¡°Hey, because that is my principle.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s tone suggested that he was going to end the topic, Fang Wenshi could only agree. He had understood the Dragon King¡¯s temper that no one could persuade him to change his mind once he had determined to do something.


    ¡°It isn¡¯t easy to handle this morning¡¯s warrior contest with King Rizhu¡¯s subordinates. The loser not only has to lose the treasured horse but also has to call oneself ¡®bastard¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Has the meeting been arranged?¡±


    Fang Wenshi was also busyst night. He had gone to see King Rizhu on behalf of the Dragon King, hoping to meet with him in private before the tournament.


    ¡°It has been arranged. There are still two hours left, Dragon King can go now.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s meeting with King Rizhu was arranged as a chance encounter, which was witnessed by dozens of officials of the Nond as well as many more average people.


    It was in the early morning at the noble district of the West of the Royal Court. The road was crowded with passers-by who were going to the suburbs to watch the warrior contest. Yesterday, King Kuari lost one saber and one sword, but today¡¯s loser was going to be humiliated in public, which greatly intrigued the audience.


    The entourage of King Rizhu and the Dragon King came from different directions and stirred up a flurry of excitement before they met. Many people stopped and thought they could enjoy forey. They knew nothing about the alliances amongst the nobles of the Royal Court and only wanted to see King Rizhu losing his temper.


    The meeting on the road was short, and the result was unexpected and a great disappointment to the interested audience.


    ¡°Dragon King is an honored guest of the Nond and also a friend of the Naihang Tribe. We have some minor misunderstanding before, but now it has been exined. The kung fupetition will be held as usual, but the challenge is canceled. As for calling oneself ¡®bastard¡¯, it¡¯s all my fart.¡±


    King Rizhu canceled the awkward challenge like this, causing the catcalls of displeasure and sighs of disappointment.


    In order not to hinder the passage of the road, the two groups of people proactively stepped aside. The camp of the Land of Fragrance was nearby, so King Rizhu was invited to watch the female soldiers perform shooting and then remained for a brief private talk with the Dragon King.


    For the nobles of the Royal Court, the alliance of King Rizhu and the Dragon King had been an open secret. But it was not until this morning that the whole Royal Court realized that there had been a major change in the division of power of the ten kings. In the past, it was King Dari whopeted with King Kuari but now the former was reced with King Rizhu who had remained neutral for many years.


    The warriors of King Rizhu set out ahead of time while the Dragon King¡¯s warrior, Shangguan Fei, was still sitting in the tent, hoping for a miracle.


    He had never been so busy. He had just removed the seal of the acupoints not long ago. After a busy night¡¯s work, he didn¡¯t even close his eyes, but now he was about to enter the kung fupetition field under the watchful eyes of the crowd. Although the challenge was lifted, he was still demanded to win the contest by the Dragon King.


    ¡°You have to be the champion of the warrior contest.¡± The Dragon King dropped the words, regardless of whether he was willing or unwilling, able or unable to do so.


    Caught in the middle of a crowd of guards and entourage, Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t have a chance to express his attitude to the Dragon King. It seemed that the kung fupetition today hadn¡¯t been arranged in advance so he wasn¡¯t sure he would win. In addition, the after effect ofst night¡¯s internal energypetition hadn¡¯tpletely disappeared, he felt like he could only exert half or so of his power.


    The Dragon King had given him a pill, he held it in his hand but dared not to eat it.


    Old Man Mu, who was unrecovered and lying on the bed next to him, became dispirited again for not being able to torture the old Taoist as he pleased. But his attitude toward Shangguan Fei was much friendlier than before, ¡°That¡¯s a good thing. The disciples of Waning Moon Hall use it to keep awake with life and vigor for several days straight.¡±


    ¡°And then what?¡± Knowing that this was a pill of Waning Moon Hall, Shangguan Fei became more unwilling to eat it.


    ¡°Then take a good rest. Give it to me if you don¡¯t want it.¡± Old Man Mu licked his lips. The only thing he missed about Waning Moon Hall was the pills, so sweet and delicious that he could eat them for dinner.


    Shangguan Fei handed the pill to Old Man Mu but suddenly retracted his arm and threw the pill in his own mouth. ¡°Whatever, I¡¯ve already had Qi deviation.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s really unreasonable of you to be afraid of killing people in an aboveboard manner.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have advanced kung fu skills like you, I might be the one to be killed.¡±


    The guard outside was calling Shangguan Fei. The Dragon King and King Rizhu were still talking but they had to move out ahead of time too.


    ¡°The Dragon King doesn¡¯t even go to the game but asks me to win.¡± Shangguan Feiined, full of discontent, especially the one who saved himst night was Shangguan Yun instead of the Dragon King, which made him feel bitterly disappointed.


    ¡°Are you a toddler?¡± Old Man Mu said in surprise, then burst outughing.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s more or less support to me if the Dragon King is there.¡± Shangguan Fei was really in the same mood as a child, feeling that his performance had not been valued by his parents.


    ¡°Hey, your performance depends on your own kung fu level, it has nothing to do with other¡¯s support.¡±


    The guard outside called again, Shangguan Fei stood up and muttered, ¡°You have better martial arts skills, of course, you would say so.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to learn it?¡±


    Shangguan Fei had gone to the door before turning around upon hearing this, he appeared to be more puzzled than surprised. ¡°You gotta be kidding me. You must be bored and have nothing to do.¡±


    During his stay at the Land of Fragrance, Shangguan Fei had wholeheartedly wanted to worship Old Man Mu as his Master, hoping to use his power to protect himself. Unfortunately, Shangguan Fei, who had called ¡®Master and Grandpa¡¯ for more than a dozen times, had received nothing in the end.


    ¡°Who says I¡¯m free? Even if I wanted to make fun of anyone, it wouldn¡¯t be you.¡±


    Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t have much enthusiasm at the moment. After all, he didn¡¯t want to learn kung fu but to find a backer in the first ce, but Old Man Mu had now lost most of his power, who could still be considered as a kung fu expert, but wasn¡¯t the ¡®big tree¡¯ in Shangguan Fei¡¯s mind anymore.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to quench my thirst with water far away. Let¡¯s wait until today¡¯s fight is over.¡±


    ¡°Idiot, old man is very capable. Can¡¯t I make you master it faster?¡±


    Shangguan Fei was skeptical and said, ¡°There are less than three hours before the kung fupetition starts.¡±


    ¡°Go out and tell them to wait a quarter of an hour, I¡¯ll make you a top-ranked expert, and even a hundred warriors are no match for you.¡±


    ¡°Howe you ¡­¡± Shangguan Fei still had a lot of doubts in his mind but now he didn¡¯t want to waste time, so he ran out of the tent to exin the situation to the guards.


    Lying in bed, Old Man Mu thought that he was so stupid that he didn¡¯t think of Shangguan Fei until now.


    Shangguan Fei ran back in high spirits, ¡°Master¡­ Mu.¡±


    ¡°Just call me by my name.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Old Man Mu, let¡¯s get started now.¡±


    ¡°No hurry. Although old man has sworn to the good girl to not kill again, I haven¡¯t reached the point of bing a Buddha or saint who would offer free help.¡±


    ¡°Heh heh, of course. You want the Daoless Divine Power, don¡¯t you? Let me be an expert and defeat the other warriors. No, not tonight. I¡¯ll pass it to you after I be the champion of the warrior contest.¡±


    Shangguan Fei also knew how to bargain.


    Old Man Mu stretched himself out and yawned, ¡°That¡¯s no hurry. Besides, I don¡¯t want the Daoless Divine Power. Teach me the Three-in-One Power of the Dragon King.¡±


    Shangguan Fei scratched his head, revealing a confused expression, ¡°There are hidden dangers in this set of internal energy manual. Even I have got Qi deviation, do you still want to learn?¡±


    ¡°I have to try it myself and find out what the hidden danger is in order to help cure you.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was overjoyed but became more dubious. Today¡¯s Old Man Mu was like a different man, so friendly as if he had an ulterior motive.


    Seeing that Shangguan Fei was still puzzled, Old Man Mu could only make it clear, ¡°Idiot, don¡¯t you realize it? The fists technique you have after mastering the Three-in-One Power is a heaven-made match with my Five Hole Punch. Once we master them all, who would be a match of you and me?¡±


    Thinking of the heart-rending fist technique, Shangguan Fei¡¯s heart trembled and he couldn¡¯t tell whether he really wanted to learn it or not.


    Outside several tents, Gu Shenwei was also beating around the bush in talking with King Rizhui, hoping to find evidence about whether the Khan was dead or alive.

 Chapter 601 - Bygones

    Chapter 601: Bygones


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei had an open and honest talk with King Rizhu, and both sides were anxious to expose the truth.


    Gu Shenwei said that Shangguan Yun hade to threaten him into killing the lord and that he was in the camp right now. While expressing his surprise, King Rizhu imed that King Kuari¡¯s desperate move showed that his ns had already been thrown into disorder.


    The two then made several vows and pushed the alliance to a deeper level.


    In a sincere atmosphere, Gu Shenwei raked up the past again, saying, ¡°I beg your pardon for my frankness, but this matter has be a wall in my heart, and I can¡¯t help but ask. I heard a rumor that the poison on my father¡¯s saber twenty years ago was secretly smeared on by someone else.¡±


    King Rizhu stayed silent for a while and took the Dragon King¡¯s question as a test. To show his sincerity, he decided to tell the truth. ¡°This matter has also upied my mind for more than twenty years. Well, if the Dragon King wants to know the truth, I¡¯ll tell you the truth.¡±


    King Rizhu, who always looked rude and straightforward, let out a long sigh, revealing an expression of deep sadness that did not suit him. When he opened his mouth again, he regained his true colors. ¡°That son of mine is aplete bastard. When he was just seven or eight years old he was already a ckout drunk, and by the time he was a teenager, he had learned to sleep with women. He slept with everybody he was interested in, even with my concubines and female ves.¡±


    King Rizhu spat on the ground and looked still furious after so many years. ¡°He¡¯s my son from the first princess consort, the Khan¡¯s younger sister. I have endured and indulged him for the sake of his mother¡¯s face. But no matter how perverse his actions were, I only whipped him at worst. But this kid was soft in the mouth and hard in the crotch. He begged for mercy when I beat him but raped my favorite female ve before he had even recovered.¡±


    These words were not worth mentioning in front of outsiders, but they had been simmering in King Rizhu¡¯s mind for many years, and once a crack appeared, they immediately spilled out.


    ¡°I have always been wondering if this is a punishment of Heaven. I have killed countless people when I was young, so Heaven sent an unworthy son to torture me. Fuck it, you can send him to me, so why can¡¯t I send him back? Yes, I killed my own son. Dragon King, you don¡¯t need to listen to the rumors. Your father did cut him, but there was no poison on the saber. I put the poison on the brat¡¯s wound myself.¡±


    King Rizhu¡¯s eyes widened with anger and showed no sign of remorse. He seemed to not have yet vented all of his hatred, so he continued. ¡°The Dragon King must have heard many rumors that you didn¡¯t say for my sake? Some people must have said that I killed my son and sent my daughter-inw to please Khan. Yes, I did, but look at what my son did to the Second Consort¡¯s family. He regarded one of the most important tribes of the Naihangs as a brothel and slept with women almost every day like a stallion in heat, tossing his thing all over the prairie.¡±


    ¡°The Second Consort¡¯s father knelt down and begged me, hoping to relocate to a remote ce and saying the women in his tribe were left to my son to choose and he could keep as many as he wanted. But could I agree with him? If I allow the Second Consort¡¯s tribe to leave, the whole Naihang Tribe would fall apart. All the branch tribes relied on my protection, yet only to be trampled upon by my son.¡±


    ¡°And the Second Consort used to be my daughter-inw, so who else could she marry? The Khan was her best destiny, and also mypensation to her whole family.¡±


    This wasn¡¯t the thing that concerned Gu Shenwei most, but King Rizhu talked on and on and didn¡¯t calm down after another round of confessions. ¡°I can¡¯t help it. Dragon King, please understand an old man¡¯s nagging. Anyway, the truth is, your father and I never really hated each other. I pretended to be angry but I never tried to ¡®avenge¡¯ myself.¡±


    ¡°The poison was supplied by Golden Roc Castle?¡±


    ¡°Mmm. By Shangguan Jianyi, an ambitious kid, a typical scion of the Shangguan family. He sniffed around like a hound in the Royal Court. Nobody knows how he found out my secrets and offered to help, thinking that he had obtained some ¡®evidence¡¯ in his hands from then on. Hey, he didn¡¯t expect that I¡¯d betroth my daughter-inw to the Khan and the ¡®evidence¡¯ immediately became much bigger than the whole Golden Roc Castle. He was clever and never mentioned it to me again.¡±


    ¡°I still support Golden Roc Castle greatly, but we were not allies, ever. The reason is very simple. I have witnessed the effect of Golden Roc Castle¡¯s poison and will never let people who have this kind of thinge near me. In fact, it is due to my efforts that the Nond forbids Golden Roc killer from moving freely in the Royal Court. The Dragon King has actually helped me greatly by eliminating a hidden danger through killing Shangguan Jianyi.¡±


    Gu Shenwei mostly believed King Rizhu¡¯s story, which unraveled the knot in his mind that his father Gu Lun had been a despicable and vicious poison user, and maintained the impression he had formed about his father as a child, which was righteous, serious, dignified, and especially aboveboard and never injuring people by underhand means.


    As a killer, Gu Shenwei regarded underhand means as a matter of course, but deep down, he still had a bottom line. This line separated the normal people from the killer, the majority from the minority, the good from the bad, and the righteous from the evil. He epted his depravity and was proud of it, but he would never take the killer¡¯s point of view of despising all sentient beings, and had to change his good impression of his father because of this.


    When it came to controlling emotions, the young killer was much more skilled than the old king. Gu Shenwei continued talking, with the topic being about Golden Roc Castle. ¡°Shangguan Yun has brought many killers with him this time. Does the Khan not worry about this at all?¡±


    ¡°The Khan has too many things on his mind to worry about and it won¡¯t be the Golden Roc Castle¡¯s turn for awhile.¡±


    All of a sudden the atmosphere of frankness vanished. King Rizhu avoided the question and immediately put forth his demands. ¡°It¡¯s urgent, since King Kuari will make a move at any time. If he doesn¡¯t die, we will have to go to war and the Nond will be thrown into chaos by that time. The Central ins will be the only superpower, and the whole Western Regions will be annexed into the Emperor¡¯s territory. Has the Dragon King thought it through?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. ¡°Within three days.¡±


    ¡°All of Nond will be grateful to the Dragon King,¡± said King Rizhu, with a satisfied smile.


    ¡°I hope King Rizhu won¡¯t regard my sword as Shangguan Jianyi¡¯s poison after the event.¡±


    King Rizhuughed merrily. He seemed to appreciate the Dragon King¡¯s remark so much that the ceasing of hisughter appeared quite abruptly. ¡°To tell you the truth, the Dragon King must leave the Nond immediately after it¡¯s done. The Western Regions will be yours but you and your men must never set foot on the prairie again. Am I clear on this?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded again.


    The outwardly boorish King Rizhu was actually a master of negotiation. He had made a promise that sounded like a threat to show that he would never betray the Dragon King halfway.


    Although the doubt of whether the Khan was dead or alive remained unsolved, at the end of the talk, both sides had taken a big step forward on the bridge of cooperation, and not a single mention was made of the me Foal of which King Rizhu was deeply concerned about at heart.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the Dragon King going to watch today¡¯s warrior contest?¡± King Rizhu climbed on his horse and began to speak to the Dragon King in a friendly tone.


    ¡°Since the bet has been canceled, there¡¯s nothing to expect regarding thepetition.¡±


    After King Rizhu and his entourage left, Gu Shenwei returned to camp and became lost in his thought. He was nning aplete assassination n when the Second Consort came in.


    ¡°Thank you for letting me know the truth.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t guarantee everything King Rizhu said was true.¡±


    ¡°A few lies won¡¯t affect the truth.¡±


    The Second Consort had stayed in the camp of the Land of Fragrancest night to hear King Rizhu admit to killing his own son. Now her wish hade true but she didn¡¯t know what to do with it. ¡°It has been twenty-three years now, longer than my age back then and the same age as Kunya when he died.¡±


    This was the first time Gu Shenwei had heard the name of King Rizhu¡¯s son, a detail that no one seemed to care about before.


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had listened to an old man¡¯s long story and didn¡¯t want to listen to a woman¡¯s reminiscences. But the Second Consort, like King Rizhu, was full of the desire to tell her story.


    ¡°Kunya wasn¡¯t as bad as his father said. He was always polite to me and never did anything outrageous to me.¡± The Second Consort was silent for a moment as she recalled the various behaviors of Kunya¡¯s parents and the servants and sighing before continuing. ¡°Maybe I was deceived.¡±


    The sad Second Consort made Gu Shenwei feel a bit embarrassed. Fortunately, she quickly wiped the shadows of the past way from her heart and became outspoken again. ¡°Huh, it¡¯s just so-so. Everyone believes that the things they can¡¯t obtain are the best, when actually the things they grip in their own hands are the most valuable. He couldn¡¯t gain support from his father and would be a useless man even if he were still alive, so it¡¯s better for him to die young. The Khan is at least a real man, with power in his hand and a ¡®spear¡¯ in his crotch.¡±


    Gu Shenwei found himself even more embarrassed. He had never seen such a vulgar prestigiousdy in either the Central ins or the Western Regions.


    The Second Consort didn¡¯t care at all. Without even noticing the Dragon King¡¯s silence, she continued, ¡°My only regret is that Khan¡¯s ¡®seed¡¯ became moldy and didn¡¯t make me pregnant. King Rizhu is really unlucky. Although both the big and second consorts are from the Naihang Tribe, neither of us has given birth to a son or daughter. The Big Consort shouldn¡¯t be med for this because the Khan has refused to see her. I was greatly favored by the Khan. We tossed and turned all day and night in bed for the first few years after we got married. s, it was all fruitless. You know, The Khan has more than fifty sons, but it was from me onwards that he never got another woman pregnant again.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s really regrettable,¡± replied Gu Shenwei perfunctorily.


    ¡°Hehe, you¡¯re not interested in these things. Well, I¡¯ll keep my promise. You let me know the truth, and I¡¯ll also tell you the truth. Who do you want to hear first, the Khan, King Rizhu, King Kuari? Or the little girl of the Land of Fragrance?¡±


    A gleam of cunning shed in the Second Consort¡¯s eyes as if she was expecting the Dragon King to ask about Shangguan Ru first.


    ¡°The Khan.¡± Gu Shenwei neither let her nor himself get what they wanted.


    ¡°The Khan is in closed-door cultivation.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was stunned. He knew that the Khan had invited many ¡®masters¡¯, but still couldn¡¯t imagine that the so-called ¡®closed-door cultivation¡¯ would be associated with the Lord of the Prairie.


    The Second Consort smiled dismissively before saying, ¡°The Khan wants to live forever. He¡¯s so afraid of death it¡¯s as if a virgin girl heard that she¡¯s going to be raped by the ugliest beast in the world. He has invited many people like Monks, Taoists, and chatans. Do you know why he agreed to invite you here?¡±


    ¡°To settle the disputes in the Western Regions and to prepare for a decisive battle with the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°Huh, the Khan has left all the great things in the world behind. Actually, he was not inviting you, but the female guard around you. Because he heard that Waning Moon Hall can revive the dead and rejuvenate the old.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was really astonished, then he realized that he had made a big mistake at actually letting Lotus out of his sights.

 Chapter 602 - Eternal Life

    Chapter 602: Eternal Life


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    For years, the Khan¡¯s only disease had been ¡®old age.¡¯


    He was very old now ¡ª too old even to recognize all his great-grandsons. But his body was still strong; even if he was ¡®lying in bed¡¯, it was not because he was ¡®ill¡¯ but rather because he was fighting a protracted and costly war against death of which he disregarded any costs for his desired oue.


    The main force fighting his ¡®war¡¯ was originally famous doctors from all over the world, and this was also coincidentally the main reason why everyone thought the Khan was ¡®seriously sick.¡¯ Over time, even the Khan himself believed that there was some mysterious disease inside him, a vanguard of death. If he lost to it, he would directly face death; if he could defeat it, it would help stop or even frighten away that cruel enemy.


    The ¡®war¡¯ was so bitter that after some small victories, those famous doctors of the mortal world began to retreat. Then the ¡®godly doctors¡¯ came on stage, followed by a string of monks, Taoist priests, prophets, and fortune-tellers.


    But the Khan had not lost his head through all this. He soon found that most of the people he had invited were chatans who couldn¡¯t even take good care of themselves, not to mention others. So he applied his rich experience of running a country towards this ¡®war,¡¯ and sent his most trusted subordinates to countries all over the world to investigate so-called ¡®living immortals.¡¯ Only those masters who were well-known and well-tested would be offered arge sum of money and invited to Nond.


    It was under this sort of situation that the disciples of the Essence Pavilion and the Taoist priests of the Jade Pure Sect had been courteously invited to the Nond. The former hade earlier and thus had a more solid foundation, while thetter was still being tested and was not fully trusted.


    As to how the inconspicuous Waning Moon Hall had reached the ears of the Khan, the Second Consort could only make a guess. ¡°The Khan probably learned of it through Golden Roc Castle. He had paid special attention to Waning Moon Hall but the Hall Leader Han Wuxian is very mysterious and very few people have ever seen her. Naturally, he couldn¡¯t find her, so the only one he could invite was Lotus.¡±


    At this point, the only thing the Khan cared about was ¡®eternal life,¡¯ and he had left all the state affairs, even the war with the Central ins, for several kings and counselors to deal with.


    ¡°The Nond was now in a state of co-administration. Ten kings together with three high-ranking counselors decided all the affairs. Everyone has their own ulterior motives, while they fear each other and hold onto each other¡¯s secrets. This is why no one dares to reveal the truth to the Khan because the result of such a revtion would be everyone suffering without exception.¡±


    The Second Consort kept her promise and exined the situation in the Royal Court to Gu Shenwei, saying, ¡°In fact, there is no real powerful main contender. King Kuari is young and daring, and he has attracted arge group of people, but their loyalty is very questionable. As far as I know, many of them have even pledged allegiance to multiple lords. There is no doubt that every lord is ambitious, even King Rizhu.¡±


    Upon speaking of this king, the Second Consort hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°He¡¯s not qualified to inherit the title of Khan and therefore wants to divide the Nond into two parts, the East and the West. The Khan will still be the supreme ruler and upy the East while the West will belong to him. He wants to have a title like ¡®the Western Khan¡¯, which is a little higher than a king in status but a bit lower the Khan.¡±


    ¡°Second to the Khan,¡± Gu Shenwei interrupted.


    ¡°Exactly, that¡¯s what I mean.¡±


    ¡°Which group can help him realize the goal?¡±


    ¡°King Riying¡¯s, but not him personally. It¡¯s his grandson who is also King Rizhu¡¯s grandson. He¡¯s twelve years old, just fit to be manipted by his two grandfathers.¡±


    King Riying was the sixth rightful heir. ording to the information Fang Wenshi collected, King Riying had actively involved in the fight for the throne but had been quickly defeated. After that, he remained neutral on the surface but in fact, he had already chosen an ally.


    ¡°Is it true about protecting the Khan?¡±


    ¡°Well, the Dragon King doesn¡¯t have to take it so seriously. Even if it¡¯s true, it may be false in the future. Anyway, King Kuari wants Khan to die as soon as possible, and King Rizhu wants to foil his n. That¡¯s it.¡±


    ¡°What about you? What do you really want?¡±


    ¡°As Luo Ningcha told you, I will follow my heart and raise a new Khan, he will marry me as his Main Consort, and I will expand my cavalry to a hundred thousand men. That¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°A female Khan behind the curtains.¡±


    ¡°Haha, sort of. I wish that all the men in the world had the Dragon King¡¯s wisdom. Your woman governs the Land of Fragrance well, yet why can¡¯t the women of Nond rule openly? Fortunately, I am not that ambitious to want to change all men¡¯s view. I¡¯ll just sit behind the curtain.¡±


    ¡°May I know who is the heir chosen by the Second Consort to inherit the title of Khan? It¡¯s always better to please a future Lord of the Prairie sooner.¡±


    When uncovering other people¡¯s plots, the Second Consort answered all the questions, but when it came to herself, she was not that straightforward. ¡°You¡¯ll find out sooner orter, and I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll hear of it earlier than others. You can start ttering me if you want to ¡®please¡¯ the future Lord of the Prairie.¡±


    The Second Consort winked ambiguously at the Dragon King, as clever and lovely as a teenage girl.


    ¡°Mm, an alliance is the beginning of ttery.¡± Gu Shenwei cast his eyes slightly down.


    ¡°I thought that the Dragon King was an ambitious hero and would never shy away. Why do you avoid looking at me? Am I too old for you? Speak out what you think without pretending to be a saint.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t even understand why the topic had turned to this, but the Second Consort was right. As a killer and a man fighting for supremacy, he should not be coy. ¡°You¡¯re a little old for me but amongst the women I¡¯ve met, you are still in the top three. The Khan wasn¡¯t wrong with his choice, but my eyes are only looking at the Western Regions. I have no interest in any woman until I have it firmly grasped in my hand.¡±


    ¡°Haha.¡± The Second Consort¡¯s body slightly trembled fromughter. She didn¡¯t think the Dragon King¡¯s words were inappropriate, ¡°Top three? Haha, the Khan praised me as a fairy sent by Heaven, and you only rank me as ¡®top three¡¯? Who are the first two? Shangguan Ru and Lotus? Don¡¯t tell me Luo Ningcha is one of them.¡±


    Gu Shenwei refused to answer this question. ¡°Shangguan Ru is not in the hands of the Taoist priests of the Jade Pure Sect. If the Second Consort wants to borrow the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance, you would be well-advised to help me find her.¡±


    The Second Consort stoppedughing and shook her head. ¡°You really don¡¯t like to joke. Well, then let¡¯s talk about Shangguan Ru. It¡¯s really a strange thing. In the Royal Court, even news of a mouse getting married can¡¯t escape from my informants, but this little girl disappeared without a trace. I know that she and that small old man broke into the Office of King Rizhu, and I also know someone sent that old man to the Jade Pure Sect as well as a wooden saber to the Essence Pavilion. But only Shangguan Ru, this little girl, haspletely disappeared and remains unfound, dead or alive.¡±


    ¡°Golden Roc Castle imed that they had her.¡± Gu Shenwei then briefly retold Shangguan Yun¡¯s threats, including Shangguan Shaomin¡¯s identity as a ¡®female Gu¡¯, and the n that the Khan would die at Shangguan Ru¡¯s side.


    The Second Consort thought for a while before saying, ¡°Shangguan Yun either knew sorcery or he was lying. It¡¯s a bit exaggerated to say that I can monitor the whole Royal Court, but Golden Roc Castle, especially those killers, can¡¯t escape from my informant¡¯s eyes and even then, they¡¯re being watched by more than one group of people.¡±


    ¡°Did your informants see Lotus take Shangguan Shaomin away?¡±


    ¡°They reported the news to me.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, but did they see it by themselves?¡±


    ¡°No, they didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Lotus and I used to be Golden Roc killers, though I would not say we were the best. There are other killers in Golden Roc Castle who are better at hiding their tracks than we are.¡±


    The Second Consort seemed unconvinced but she smiled without refuting his statement. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll send more people to look for the ¡®Queen.¡¯ Honestly, I like this little girl too. I¡¯m afraid the Dragon King has ced her in the first rank.¡±


    The Second Consort still hadn¡¯t forgotten the ¡®top three,¡¯ but Gu Shenwei also refused to respond. ¡°King Rizhu and King Kuari want to kill each other, and I¡¯m curious as to which side Second Consort supports?¡±


    ¡°Dragon King already knows I have been allied with King Rizhu for many years and still asks this?¡±


    Gu Shenwei answered from the opposing viewpoint. ¡°¡®Even if it¡¯s true now, it may be false in the future.¡¯ Unless I hear it from you myself, I won¡¯t make any guesses about Second Consort¡¯s stance.¡±


    The Second Consort revealed a meaningful smile, ¡°Let me tell you my n first.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m all ears.¡±


    ¡°The grandson I¡¯m supporting ¡­ Oops, I identally let it slip. Well, same like King Rizhu, I have chosen a grandson of the Khan to support. Do not say a grandmother marrying a grandson is incestuous ¡ª I have no blood rtionship with him. Things like this are rare but not unheard of. The kings of the Western Regions and Emperor of the Central ins dare to even marry their own sisters.¡±


    ¡°I have no cares about this,¡± Gu Shenwei said tly. He was actually telling the truth. He knew very well that there were many things in the world that he would never do and that there was no need for him to tell others what to do.


    ¡°Hey, I don¡¯t care about what other people think. Anyway, I¡¯m secretly supporting a grandson of the Khan, one different from the one chosen by King Rizhu. He¡¯s only twelve years old, so he¡¯s still too young right now. Even if the two kings tell the world they want to be maniptors¡­ Oops, am I narrowing the scope down?¡±


    ¡°The Khan has many grown-up grandchildren.¡±


    ¡°Well, take your time then. The grandson I choose is very promising but doesn¡¯t have many achievements at the moment. He needs support, an army and ¡ª chaos. You know what I mean, don¡¯t you?¡±


    Gu Shenwei definitely understood. This was also why he had wanted to ally with the Second Consort. The Dragon Army also needed an environment of chaos in order to grow and expand.


    The chaos and disunion of the Nond would make the Central ins the only superpower and thus threaten the survival of the Western Regions. But it was only one aspect of such a situation; if the Dragon Army could draw strength from the dying behemoth, even if only a bit of it, it would be enough for the Dragon Army topete with the strong enemy. And since this force belonged to the Dragon King alone, he wouldn¡¯t have to rely on others from then on.


    This was Gu Shenwei¡¯s idea.


    In order to cause this chaos, the Khan had to die, and those powerful kings had to die too.


    ¡°I need a visible promise.¡±


    ¡°To promise that I won¡¯t betray the Dragon King after this? To promise I¡¯ll keep my promise to give you an army?¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll see it, but not now.¡±


    ¡°The sooner the better.¡±


    ¡°The sooner the better.¡±


    Both of them felt a sense of intimacy in their conspiracy, indicating that this was not a false alliance that they were using to deceive each other.


    ¡°Right, I said that I was not the only one watching the Royal Court. That Lotus, though I don¡¯t know whether you rank her as first or second, has been found. To save her, you¡¯d better hurry up. If you are even one step behind, she may be sent to the Khan as a gift.¡±

 Chapter 603 - Exchanging Kung Fu Pointers

    Chapter 603: Exchanging Kung Fu Pointers


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    On the first day of thepetition, Shangguan Fei had won three games in a row and earned a small reputation. But there were no deaths and no stters of blood, so the audience was more interested in the Dragon King who had left early and King Kuari who had been forced to hand over the gambled items.


    The next day, the grumpy King Rizhu had unexpectedly relented and canceled the bet, which caused the audience¡¯s expectations about the contest to plummet. They didn¡¯t expect that Shangguan Fei would bring them a surprise.


    He won yet again, three games in a row.


    In the first contest, he still appeared frightened and only circled around the enemy, eliciting the catcalls of countless scorners. Only after a dozen or so moves did he gather enough courage to fight back. Feeling that his opponent was not that strong, he slowly calmed down and gradually shortened the distance between him and his opponent, and finally hit the target with his thirty-fifth move.


    The most hesitant punch was also the most powerful one. Half of his opponent¡¯s body had disappeared, leaving only two legs supporting a mangled body, standing stiffly.


    Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t run away from the flesh and blood spraying at him and instead stood there in a daze, his heart bursting with fear. He didn¡¯t expect that thebination of his internal energy and the Five Hole Punch technique taught by Old Man Mu would exert such a horrific power.


    The Five Hole Punch, which was originally a set of Taoist kung fu moves to build one¡¯s body, had been transformed into a ruthless killing move by Old Man Mu. This set of fist technique was very hard to practice, and even Old Man Mu hadn¡¯t reached the highest level after spending so many years practicing. But Shangguan Fei¡¯s internal energy was unique and the two strands of internal Qi, one yin and one yang, greatly eased the difficulty level of the most intricate portions of the Five Hole Punch.


    Time was short so Old Man Mu only taught him some simple theories of the fist technique, which he had tried out and they really were powerful.


    Anxious and doubtful, Shangguan Fei had a bloodstained faced, but to the audience, it looked indescribably ferocious.


    The silence respect given to the dead onlysted three breaths. When the legs copsed, loud cheers rang out across the western suburbs of the Royal Court. This was the kind of scene they had wanted to see and this was the kind of scene that worth postponing work and making a special trip for.


    It was not that Shangguan Fei had not received any praise or appreciation before. Praise from servants and rtives was actually a part of his daily life in the castle. After following the Dragon King, he had asionally been praised for his service, but even all this added up together was not as real and exciting as the cheers that filled his ears now.


    When he was very little, he already knew that the praise of the servants was not reliable because that was their job. Even if the lord fell, they would firstpliment and then start thinking up excuses. Ever since he had been abandoned by his family, his sess was due to the Dragon King¡¯s n and none of it could be attributed to himself.


    This time, he was sure that the Dragon King hadn¡¯t made any arrangement. This time, the cheers of the strangers were all for him.


    Shangguan Fei still felt fearful, but under the fear, there seemed to be ayer of something that could repel the fear and prevent it from spreading all over his body.


    The next two contests were shorter and cleaner than the first one. Shangguan Fei beat his opponents to death in the twenty-first and twelveth moves respectively. He had better control of his internal energy and as a result, the scenes caused by his fist techniques were not as bloody as the first, but the crowd nheless cheered more generously than before.


    ¡°This is the man who killed the brother of King Kuari!¡±


    ¡°This is the fist technique he used to kill the brother of King Kuari!¡±


    For the first time in his life, Shangguan Fei felt like a ¡®hero.¡¯ Like a teenager who had taken his first drink and was experiencing his first bout of drunkenness, he felt dazed yet wide awake simultaneously. He seemed to be floating among the clouds, up and down, looking down upon the human masses and drawing delicious nourishment from their feelings of respect, fear, fondness, disgust, and so on.


    He couldn¡¯t describe the feeling, only wishing that the Dragon King could give him some suggestions, but the Dragon King was not there. The guards of the Dragon Army all came up to push and shove him affectionately but could not say anything meaningful.


    Back at the camp of the Land of Fragrance, he finally found a soul mate.


    Old Man Mu was still lying in bed and munching on arge bone. With a simple nce at Shangguan Fei, he immediately described how he felt with pinpoint urately. ¡°Have you had your first taste of freedom?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s freedom?¡±


    ¡°Haha, of course not. If that is freedom, isn¡¯t it too easy to get? You¡¯re not even close. There were no so-called ¡®martial arts experts¡¯ on thepetition field. On top of you, there are still a lot of guys who can shit on your head and piss all over your body as they wish. If you want real freedom, you gotta beat them all.¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s ¡®outlook on freedom¡¯ had had no effect on Shangguan Ru but it caused a storm in Shangguan Fei¡¯s mind.


    ¡°I can defeat everyone if I master the Five Hole Punch?¡± His voice was quivering.


    Old Man Mu pointed at Shangguan Fei with the bone in his hand. ¡°If the old me, who had an average amount of power, wanted to shit on your head, would you dare resist?¡±


    Shangguan Fei really didn¡¯t like this kind of metaphor, shaking his head in response. ¡°No. Even others would not dare.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it. I can live freely with my Five Hole Punch. Why can¡¯t you?¡±


    Shangguan Fei giggling asked, ¡°I want to learn your fist techniques.¡±


    Old Man Mu nibbled thest bit of meat on the bone, threw it on the ground, and held up his oily hands. ¡°Do you know how I mastered my peerless kung fu skills so well at the beginning?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°By carrying a urinal and running errands for my Master. I had to figure out what my Master was thinking with a simple nce and I had to get what my Master wanted even if I had to risk my life and pretending that it was easyter. If you want to be free, you have to start with envement. To put it bluntly, you have to be more humble than the lowliest ve, and more shameless than the most shameless bitch.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s face paled. If he could bear such pain and humiliation, he wouldn¡¯t have been abandoned by his father. ¡°Do I have to suffer so miserably?¡±


    Old Man Mu looked at him gravely as though he had been insulted. ¡°I licked my Master¡¯s feet and wiped his bottom. Are you ready?¡±


    Shangguan Fei retched a few times, his face turning paler. ¡°I, I ¡­ Can¡¯t I do it step by step and not do something so disgusting in the first ce?¡±


    Old Man Mu jumped out of bed and pointed at Shangguan Fei,ughing out loud. ¡°Idiot, I had nothing at that time so I could only give up my dignity to please my Master. But since you have an amazing martial arts manual, we can just trade it for it. We are making a deal, not bing Master and disciple. Of course, if you are unwilling to hand over the martial arts manual, you can choose to be my disciple.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m willing.¡± Shangguan Fei was overjoyed. As long as he didn¡¯t have to touch Old Man Mu¡¯s shit and urine, he was willing to give up anything. ¡°I¡¯m not trying to hide it but I have only learned the basics. There¡¯s still a lot of material that Dragon King and Lotus haven¡¯t taught me.¡±


    ¡°Hey, even the Dragon King has only figured out a little bit of this kung fu. Well, he¡¯s too stupid.¡± Old Man Mu nervously looked around and made sure there was no anyone else nearby before continuing, ¡°If I were him, I would have fixed all the loopholes by now.¡±


    This was exactly what Shangguan Fei wanted to hear the most, but he was still cautious, warningly saying, ¡°Do not let the Dragon King know. He won¡¯t be happy.¡±


    ¡°Do I look as stupid as you?¡±


    Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t know what to answer, so he reluctantly shook his head.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The Dragon King doesn¡¯t have time for our business right now. He¡¯s almost gone crazy looking for your sister. Soon he¡¯ll start killing in the Royal Court. By that time, he won¡¯t have time to watch you.¡±


    ¡°Right, but who has caught my sister?¡±


    ¡°You want to save her, too?¡±


    Shangguan Fei immediately shook his head, ¡°When I am invincible ¡­ No no, until I¡¯m second only to Old Man Mu.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, now you¡¯re talking. Well, tell me the Three-in-One Power you¡¯ve learned.¡±


    ¡°Uhh ¡­ Won¡¯t you teach me more skills of the Five Hole Punch first?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t teach you now. Let¡¯s wait till tonight.¡±


    ¡°Why do we have to wait until nightfall?¡± Shangguan Fei was on guard at once. He had never liked the dark night.


    ¡°If you want to practice my fist technique, you have to kill. The more the better. You¡¯ve killed three today but that was not enough. You have to kill at least ten people a day. Since we two are not invincible at the moment, we can only sneak out at night to kill. Since the Royal Court is now packed with second or third-level kung fu practitioners, it¡¯ll save us a lot time spent target-hunting.¡±


    Old Man Mu said all that in a t tone as if killing ten people was as simple as hitting ten sandbags, but Shangguan Fei couldn¡¯t bear it any longer. If not for the cheers of the audience, he would have copsed at the end of the contest. ¡°I have to practice and master the fist technique before ¡­¡±


    ¡°Idiot!¡± Old Man Mu snapped, ¡°Killing people is not only for practicing your fist technique, but also for cultivating your heart. If you don¡¯t uproot your fears from the bottom of your heart, you won¡¯t beat anyone even if you practice for a lifetime.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was already suffused with fear. He had heard his sister talking about the way the Great Deste Sect and Waning Moon Hall trained their disciples. ¡°Old Man Mu, what you said ¡­ Did you learn it from Han Wuxian?¡±


    Old Man Mu paused a bit, scratching his head. ¡°It seems so. Never mind where I learned it from, anyway. The more you are afraid of something, the more you have to touch it to get over it. You are afraid of blood, so I have to have you drink blood every day.¡±


    Shangguan Fei finally vomited. ¡°I ¡­ I¡¯m going to look for the Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was so busy that Shangguan Fei couldn¡¯t find him in a short time.


    Of the three hidden ces left by Xu Xiaoyi in the Royal Court, the first one had been destroyed. Lotus had sessfully fled and moved to another ce; the Second Consort had actually underestimated Lotus by thinking that she was in danger.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t like acting during the day time, but today was an exception. He led a group of guards and went openly to the slums.


    Indeed, the remaining two strongholds were destroyed, and none of Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s men were spared.


    But Lotus did not get caught. She had left a mark, indicating that she had safely transferred Shangguan Shaomin to another ce with Han Xuan.


    He was seldom disappointed by Lotus, and he would never forget the only time she had betrayed him.


    Gu Shenwei rushed back to the camp of the Dragon Army and happened to meet with the officials of the Nond who hade to ask for Dao Nian. ¡°It¡¯s a misunderstanding, as Taoist Dao Nian has been hired as a master of the Royal Court. The Dragon King may not know ¡­¡±


    This was a standard official negotiation, which Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t join and left everything to the counselor Fang Wenshi. After a lengthy talk where both sides set aside their responsibilities, Dao Nian was set free.


    The elder of the Jade Pure Sect looked solemn. No one noticed his broken fingers in the sleeve and no one could understand the fear in his heart. The price of freedom was very high. He had swallowed five pills. Only when he sessfully arranged a meeting between the Dragon King and the Khan could he receive the antidote.


    The Royal Court was like a strong castle which Gu Shenwei had observed it for long enough on the periphery. This time he wanted to move straight to the core.

 Chapter 604 - Competing Once Again

    Chapter 604: Competing Once Again


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The five Taoist priests were seated in a circle while looking at the Dragon King who was in the middle, all five of them wearing gloomy expressions, and none of them speaking for a long while.


    There was a futon at Gu Shenwei¡¯s feet but he didn¡¯t sit down. Instead, he stood silently, his hand on his saber hilt.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got a lot of nerveing here.¡± One Taoist priest finally spoke out, his voice cold and ethereal as if the gods were speaking to their humble believers.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what I have to be afraid of,¡± Gu Shenwei said as he stared at Dao Nian who was in front of him.


    Dao Nian had finally freed himself from the panic and pain of his broken fingers. He still looked elegant but his schrly-looking face was shrouded in ayer of frost that might never be dispelled. He kept staring at the Dragon King without saying a word throughout the conversation, hoping to use this as a means to restore his dignity that had been lost in the camp of the Land of Fragrance.


    The other four Taoists took turns talking, their tone growing harsher, which made Gu Shenwei recall the old tricks yed by the disciples of the Essence Pavilion.


    ¡°You¡¯ve kidnapped our elder and injured him. It¡¯s an outrageous sin, and even you dying a hundred times wouldn¡¯t make up for it.¡±


    ¡°As cultivators, we stand aloof from the worldly affairs, but the Dragon King is obsessed with evil thoughts and challenges the orthodox sects. To remove the evil spirit, we, the Jade Pure Sect, as a representative of the orthodox sects, regardless of young and old, will consider the Dragon King as the primary enemy of the world.¡±


    ¡°The nine famous sects of the martial arts world are of the same breath and branch in the Central ins and the Jade Pure Sect is one of them. As long as we issue a call for action, all of the sects will set out to y the dragon.¡±


    ¡°We could have made a request to the Khan. As long as we said something, the Dragon King would have died that day and the tens of thousands of the Dragon Army would have been destroyed.¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Do you want me to kneel down and beg for mercy?¡± Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t been threatened with such a righteous and strict speech for a long time so he listened until the Taoist priests had nothing more to say.


    The five Taoist priests recognized the Dragon King¡¯s sarcasm. ¡°You¡¯ve already lost the chance to repent.¡±


    ¡°Exorcising the devil is ¡­¡±


    The Taoists seemed to want to start a long speech again, but Gu Shenwei had grown tired of it. He turned to Dao Nian, who had remained silent this whole time, and asked, ¡°You¡¯ve found the antidote?¡±


    The tent immediately grew quiet.


    Dao Nian had been forced to swallow a few pills of the Waning Moon Hall. After he came back, he, together with his junior brothers, had immediately tried to force out the toxins but had made no progress in several hours. Although the Jade Pure Sect was experienced in refining pills, the pharmacology between the Central ins and the Western Regions was quite different and they couldn¡¯t do anything about it in a short while.


    ¡°We can give the Dragon King a chance,¡± said one of Dao Nian¡¯s junior brothers.


    Dao Nian still didn¡¯t open his mouth but his facial muscles twitched slightly, apparently trying hard to control his impulses.


    ¡°Hand over the antidote, Old Man Mu, and the Grand Enlightenment Sword Sutra, and the Jade Pure Sect can forgive your insolence and even help you meet the Khan.¡±


    Even at this stage, they hadn¡¯t forgotten the true purpose of their trip to the Nond.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a chance too.¡± Gu Shenwei uncrossed his arms and slowly turned around, ¡°Keep your promise and take me to see the Khan, and I can let you return to the Central ins alive.¡±


    The tall Taoist priestughed first and then the others soon followed. Theughter ceased with Dao Nian, as he finally spoke, ¡°We want topete with you again. This time we won¡¯tpete in sword or fist techniques. Only in internal energy. The winner takes all.¡±


    Well-known for its internal energy, the Jade Pure Sect had actually lost to two insidious kung fu practitioners of the Western Regions in crooked ways, which was really a great humiliation to them. So much was said that their purpose was still trying to regain their face.


    ¡°The Dragon King may invite as manypanions as you need. As long as we are going topete in internal energy, the Jade Pure Sect is not afraid of a numerical disadvantage,¡± added one Taoist priest, whose voice sounded much less callous and ethereal, though a bit urgent.


    ¡°Okay, I agree to a rematch but you have to wait for a while. Since the Jade Pure Sect isn¡¯t afraid of being overwhelmed by the number of opponents, I¡¯ll go back and bring those one thousand female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance here.¡±


    The Taoist priests were all tongue-tied. What they had said was just a conventional verbal exchange between martial artists in Jianghu. Usually, even if the other side would invite friends to help, it would be no more than five people in total. They didn¡¯t expect that the Dragon King would take their words seriously and really wanted to call a thousand people to join the fight.


    ¡°We are Taoist priests, and we do not fight with women.¡± An excellent excuse suddenly urred to the small, thin Taoist Dao Huo¡¯s mind at the crucial moment.


    ¡°Hmm, you don¡¯tpete with women, only practice kung fu with them.¡±


    ¡°Evildoers have no right to sit in judgment of our orthodox cultivation method.¡±


    ¡°Cut the crap. I¡¯m only going topete with one person. Pick your representative now.¡±


    The five Taoist priests exchanged a nce before the tall Taoist priest stood up and said, ¡°Dao Xiu would like to challenge the Dragon King.¡±


    The other Taoists also got up and walked to the back of Dao Xiu with their futons to make room for thepetition.


    Gu Shenwei was a bit surprised. Duringst night¡¯s internal energypetition, Dao Xiu had acted recklessly and was obviously not the strongest of the five, so why was he chosen as the representative to fight with him?


    A cautious Taoist priest came forward and said, ¡°This is a fair kung fupetition, and the loser has to ept the winner¡¯s terms. If Jade Pure Sect loses, we are willing to risk the death penalty to take Dragon King to the Khan but the Dragon King has to hand over the antidote. If the Dragon King loses, you have to hand over the antidote, Old Man Mu, and the Grand Enlightenment Sword Sutra. Do you agree?¡±


    ¡°Just one more thing. I want to see the Khan tonight.¡±


    The five Taoist priests looked at each other again, nodded, and agreed in unison.


    Dao Xiu formed sword hand-seals with both hands and his lips quivered as he silently chanted. In less than the time it took half an incense stick to burn, he suddenly looked up and roared, ¡°Dragon King, take this!¡±


    Since it was an internal energypetition, Dao Xiu pushed his palms out slowly. The sleeves of his robe seemed to have been filled with the wind and bulged like two big drums. He had obviously exerted his full strength.


    Although Gu Shenwei hadbined three different sources of power into one, the Daoless Divine Power was still the foundation, which also originated from the Daoism though its training method differed from the meditation method used by the Jade Pure Sect. Gu Shenwei waved his fists to receive the blow with his feet slowly moving.


    When the fist was about a foot away from the palm, the two felt like they had bumped into a wall. With a momentary pause, their bodies shook at the same time. Dao Xiu didn¡¯t move, but Gu Shenwei took a step back before moving forwards and punching out again.


    Their moves were ridiculously simple, nd, andcked any variations. For five exchanges in a row, the two weren¡¯t able to touch each other. Gu Shenwei retreated every time but when he moved on, the distance between them would shorten.


    The five elders of the Jade Pure Sect were very dissatisfied withst night¡¯s defeat. Both the Dragon King and Shangguan Fei were very young, so their internal energy couldn¡¯t be as powerful as that of the Taoist priests even if they had started practicing in their mother¡¯s womb. After all, the Taoists had delicately cultivated their internal energy for several decades and the two had only practiced for no more than twenty years. The only peculiar thing that amazed them was the yin and yang energybination, which could defeat the strong even when it itself was weak through directing the other side¡¯s internal Qi.


    After a long discussion, they found a loophole in the Three-in-One Power and formted a strategy ordingly before they dared issue a challenge.


    The tactic was very simple. They decided to change from attacking continuously with an output of internal Qi to attacking sporadically with a small sh of internal energy. Although it was less powerful this way, they could avoid being controlled by the enemy.


    The method worked. Although Gu Shenwei could quickly dissolve a single strand of internal Qi, his technique of using the yin and yang energy to direct the enemy¡¯s internal Qi lost its effect once the other side¡¯s internal Qi disappeared. The fight had turned into a purepetition between their internal energy reserves.


    If it went on like this, Gu Shenwei would lose for sure.


    Compared to other internal energy manuals, the Daoless Divine Power was actually easy to practice and one could achieve notable results in a short time. Gu Shenwei¡¯s progress was even faster because he had unblocked his meridians in the Essence Pavilion. The main problem was that his training time had been too short. He had practiced the Daoless Divine Power for five years and the Three-in-One Power only for several days. So, he was inferior to the elder of the Jade Pure Sect in a pure internal energypetition.


    His solution was, therefore, to reach for a yard after taking an inch until he could touch the other side¡¯s palm and force Dao Xiu to continuously revolve his internal Qi so that he could make use of it.


    However, the deceptively reachable distance was hard to cross. Gu Shenwei had been stalled in each of his give attempts to take a step forward. The internal Qi of Dao Xiu was bing more and more powerful which came and went in an instant together with the ws.


    In the next three attacks, Gu Shenwei could no longer shorten the distance by an inch. The other four Taoist priests saw it clearly and were all beaming with joy.


    Solemn-faced, Dao Xiu still acted cautiously even when he already held victory in his hands. He didn¡¯t rush to make a move even if he found a great opportunity to attack.


    This kung fupetition was of great importance. Dao Xiu kept reminding himself to put away his usual recklessness.


    Only in one case would he lose his coolness: If he were on the verge of death.


    The Dragon King unsheathed his saber, or at least Dao Xiu thought that the Dragon King was going to draw his saber. He saw the Dragon King grip the saber hilt with his right hand, and he knew how fast the cut woulde and that he couldn¡¯t stop it no matter how powerful his internal energy was.


    ¡®This is against the rules; we agreed to not use a saber or sword.¡¯


    Dao Xiu wanted to say this but his instincts told him that cing his hopes for survival on apetition rule would be a vain attempt. His body also became uncontroble with his legs trying to move to dodge and his hands intending to fight to the end.


    In a moment¡¯s hesitation, the Dragon King¡¯s attack arrived again and he was actually not using his saber but his fist.


    Gu Shenwei had yed a little trick by pretending to draw his saber but in fact, his finger hadn¡¯t touched the hilt at all.


    The fist and the palm finally bumped into each other. In the face of both yin and yang internal Qi, Dao Xiu could no longer use his tactics now.


    Gu Shenwei had won a small victory and immediately entangled his internal energy with the opponent¡¯s.


    Afterst night¡¯spetition, not only had he enhanced his internal energy but he had also figured out many ways to use it such as to ¡®control¡¯ instead of ¡®guide.¡¯ Gu Shenwei had finally gotten the hang of it. After careful and slow testing, he could not only lead Dao Xiu¡¯s internal Qi to flow in his meridians but could also force it to turn around and attack its master.


    Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t in a hurry. In the Western Regions and the Nond, it was rare for him to meet a master with powerful internal energy to ¡®help¡¯ him practice the Three-in-One Power. If possible, he wished he could keep these five old Taoists and use them to practice his kung fu every day.


    But before long, Gu Shenwei found that he had also made a mistake. He should have fought a quick battle because long dy always caused new trouble.


    All of a sudden, Dao Xiu¡¯s internal Qi surged, not a mere once or twice fold increase, but actually six or seven fold.


    With the yin and yang internal energybination, Gu Shenwei could defeat strong opponents with a rtively weak internal energy pool, but all the skill in the world was useless in front of absolute power.


    In just an instant, the powerful internal Qi followed Gu Shenwei¡¯s meridians and rushed towards his Dantian like whirlwind sweeping across the ground.


    The result of the kung fupetition was no longer victory or defeat but life or death.


    Dao Xiu¡¯s face grew red and gradually revealed a grim smile. He didn¡¯t want to kill the Dragon King but rather wanted to render him powerless; a dead man was useless but a powerless man would be at his mercy.


    Between the Five Hole Punch and Grand Enlightenment Sword Sutra, the Jade Pure Sect would soon have both the best fist technique and swordsmanship in the world.


    Behind him, the other four Taoist priests were frozen like puppets, expressionless and seemingly unaware of the imminent victory of Dao Xiu.


    Gu Shenwei finally understood that what he was fighting was not Dao Xiu alone but all five Taoists of the Jade Pure Sect.


    And this time they were not fighting in a hurry but were well-prepared to havebined five strands of internal Qi into one. They wanted to sweep the Dragon King¡¯s internal energy with an overwhelming force in one go.


    When the pressure went beyond the limit, the frosty Qi that had been dormant in Gu Shenwei was stimted and began to stir.

 Chapter 605 - Infection

    Chapter 605: Infection


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    In the past year, Gu Shenwei¡¯s Qi deviation had actually stabilized, settling into a regr pattern of uring every forty or fifty days. It was like a reasonable parasite which had made a tacit agreement with its host and agreed to lower the amount of torture its owner had to suffer before dying.


    But it couldn¡¯t be stimted, neither internally nor externally.


    This was also one of the drawbacks of the Death Sutra Swordsmanship, which focused on exerting one¡¯s full strength and killing in one strike. If one¡¯s power was not fully released, the force would turn on the wielder. Lotus who was fine now had once suffered through Qi deviation due to it. Gu Shenwei still had this hidden danger and therefore, was more sensitive to being pressured.


    Thebined force of the five Taoist priests was a heavy pressure.


    Dao Xiu was big and tall. Behind him, the thinnest Dao Huo was pressing his palm on the vital acupoints of his back and continuously pouring out his internal energy, while the other three Taoist priests were also helping out through the conduit Dao Huo.


    This was a clear vition of the rules of the kung fupetition, and the cover-up was very poor. But Gu Shenwei could already think of their excuse, ¡°To deal with the insidious heretic, we had to use insidious means.¡±


    As a matter of fact, he had guessed beforehand that the five were going to fight together, but what surprised him was that the five¡¯s internal energy could be blended into one harmonious whole.


    Gu Shenwei shuddered. The familiar little devil reappeared. It was done going through its understanding and reasoning and only wanted to make a scene as it pleased, regardless of its master¡¯s fate.


    The chill fell upon him, and the ice needles in his Dantian came into being. Usually, at such moment, Gu Shenwei would exert all his internal Qi to protect his heart meridian before leaving the rest of his body to the ice needles.


    This time, however, the internal trouble again rose before the foreign enemy was removed. He was immediately caught in a dilemma.


    It was a life-or-death moment. The five Taoist priests¡¯ had formed a crushing force, and yet the millions of ice needles in his Dantian had always been dominant, neither of them leaving any time for Gu Shenwei to dwell on his situation.


    Just at that very moment, a sh of inspiration perhaps umted through years of experience and struggle inspired Gu Shenwei to gamble his life on a single stake.


    This wasn¡¯t the only path open to him but it was the one least considered. Yet now even though he hadn¡¯t reasoned out why he should take this path, he just felt that this was the only way to go forward and that he had to go along it.


    He withdrew both his yin and yang energy, and not only let the foreign enemy toe in, but also allowed his internal ice needles to expand at will.


    Dao Xiu¡¯s face grew even redder. He had finally broken into the enemy¡¯s Dantian. With a final blow, he could wipe out all of the other side¡¯s internal energy, which the Dragon King had umted through years of hard training, and make him a powerless man.


    The internal Qi of the orthodox sect had met the stealthy but tyrannical ¡®ice needle¡¯. If both sides were masters of martial arts, they would be in a state of shock at first, and then a state of utter amazement, followed by a sense of strangeness, and finally a mindset of extremely stubbornness. Half-like youths seeking to prove themselves, and half-like beasts in heat the two forces circled each other, red-eyed, and viciously bumping into each other in a fight to the death, both feeling themselves to be the stronger side.


    Both had their own reasons.


    The elders of the Jade Pure Sect thought that they were very powerful in terms of their internal energy. Even a single one of them was already a bit stronger than the Dragon King, so thebined power of them five should be nearly invincible throughout the whole world.


    The ice needles inside Gu Shenwei¡¯s body was like a country boy who had dominated the vige for many years and had never met a worthy opponent. Running amok had be a deep-rooted instinct.


    Only Gu Shenwei, whose body had be the war field, was the weak maiden.


    When pain surpassed the limit, it was not pain anymore. Like a pessimistic personmitting suicide, Gu Shenwei coldly watched the blood gurgling from his wound, not intending and also powerless to help.


    He felt that he had lost consciousness for some time, and though his thoughts were coherent, the scene in front of him was broken. One moment ago, his left fist was still touching Dao Xiu¡¯s palm. And then in less than a blink of an eye, he had fallen to the ground and the other five Taoist priests were also lying in disorder on the ground several steps away.


    As the pain in his body suddenly turned crystal clear, Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help but groan. Besides the pain of the familiar piercing chill, there was an even deeper pain born from fractures and emptiness.


    His body seemed to have been cut into pieces, but his consciousness, the bearer of the pain, had remained intact.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s body wasn¡¯t damaged at all. What was broken were his meridians.


    Every time he had fallen into Qi deviation, Gu Shenwei would guide his internal Qi to protect his heart meridian, but this time, he couldn¡¯t find his internal Qi at all. His Dantian hadpletely be the territory of the ¡®ice needle¡¯, which had also paid a heavy price for its recklessness. It was dying under the impact of the outside forces and had greatly reduced its ability to inflict pain.


    ¡°Heh.¡± Gu Shenwei forced himself to stand up. As an expert in enduring pain, he wouldn¡¯t break down easily in front of the newly popped-up ¡®little guy¡¯.


    But his hands were trembling slightly. He gripped his saber hilt, drew it out, and shed. It was still fast but its speed had fallen far short of what it used to be. The only constion for him was that his internal Qi which had been both internally and externally attacked had finally emerged from the ruins, weak and fragile, like a bud in cracked concrete, but the sensation proved its existence.


    Gu Shenwei had been trying to control the growth of his power, hoping that his yin and yang energy could be refined to an even purer point before fusingpletely. Now his n hade true but it was quite different from what he imagined.


    The Daoless Divine Power was a type of yin energy which Gu Shenwei had practiced for a long while and was the foundation of his internal energy. The Sumeru Mustard Divine Power was a type of yang energy which he had practiced only a few days and was very weak. But all of a sudden, the two became equally powerful, or more urately, equally weak.


    So was his Bnced Power. Gu Shenwei tried the three sets of internal Qi manuals one by one but none of them worked. None of the methods could force his internal Qi to flow through his broken meridians.


    He was already acquainted with Qi deviation. Although he had a new opponent this time, his way of dealing with it was the same, which was to leave it as it was.


    The Taoist priests on the ground were also groaning but they were not dead yet.


    There was no victor in thispetition.


    Gu Shenwei walked over with his saber. He had to kill all the enemy before they came to their senses. In the face of life and death, seeing the Khan was not as important.


    Amongst the five of them, Dao Nian was the most powerful so he woke up first. When he saw the Dragon Kinging over with a saber, he bounced up halfway before falling as he tried to straighten his legs. Then he spat out arge mouthful of blood and began to tremble. As time went by, his trembling got worse like a sheep recognizing theing of its butcher.


    The other four Taoist priests woke up one by one with the same reaction, vomiting blood, trembling, and shaking violently.


    The faces of the five all turned pale without exception.


    Gu Shenwei stopped. These people looked exactly like him now.


    The frosty Qi that lurked in Gu Shenwei¡¯s Dantian had learned how to ¡®infect¡¯ people. The people of the Jade Pure Sect who had never learned the Daoless Divine Power were now also suffering from Qi deviation.


    ¡°What ¡­ What is going on? I ¡­ feel so cold.¡± The tall Dao Xiu asked in such a trembling voice that the blood Dao Nian had spat out didn¡¯t deserve any attention at all in contrast.


    ¡°Exert all your power to remove the chills,¡± Dao Nian, the leader, softly said before he looked up at the Dragon King. Whether they could use their internal energy to drive away the coldness depended not only on their own wishes now but also on the Dragon King¡¯s attitude.


    ¡°You win,¡± Dao Nian said dismally. The five elders of the Jade Pure Sect had fought together but still wasn¡¯t the match for a younger generation, which was really a fiasco to them.


    In the eyes of the five Taoist priests, the Dragon King had won and won thoroughly. They did not know that their opponent¡¯s meridians were severely damaged and that he had actually suffered more than themselves. What they saw was the seemingly intact Dragon King, proven by the fact that he didn¡¯t even vomit blood.


    ¡°I win.¡± Gu Shenwei, of course, would not tell the truth. He also gave up the idea of killing people for the time being.


    ¡°Such a magical internal energy actually exists in the world. We, the Jade Pure Sect, are really ignorant. We are sincerely convinced and will not refute the Dragon King from now on.¡±


    Dao Nian admitted defeat while his junior brothers all closed their eyes to concentrate on driving the cold chill out.


    Gu Shenwei nodded and said, ¡°Very well, take me to see the Khanter.¡±


    ¡°As the Dragon King pleases,¡± Dao Nian replied in a humble tone. After staring at the Dragon King for a while and making sure that he would not attack, he also closed his eyes.


    Gu Shenwei could easily kill the five one by one but he didn¡¯t do so. He just watched in silence. He was confident that these people would not dare to disobey him afterwards.


    The tall Dao Xiu was really the weakest. He opened his eyes first and spat out a mouthful of blood, with his arms folded across his chest. His face had turned blue due to the coldness and his lips were purple. ¡°I ¡­ I can¡¯t suppress it anymore.¡±


    ¡°It seems as if tens of thousands of ice-needles have gathered in your Dantian and spread out through your meridians to the whole body.¡± Gu Shenwei helped describe the state of his body.


    ¡°Yes, yes. The more I resist it, the faster it spreads. My internal energy is ¡­ not powerful enough.¡±


    Gu Shenwei no longer said another word until the other Taoist priests gave up one by one.


    ¡°What kind of kung fu is this?¡± Dao Nian was thest person to be defeated by the ice-needles in his body. He finally realized that only the Dragon King could save them.


    ¡°The Daoless Divine Power.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t the Daoless Divine Power.¡± Dao Nian already had some understanding of the yin and yang Qi after two internal energypetitions.


    Gu Shenwei put away his saber. The pain of the broken meridians had started to ease. Although he still couldn¡¯t direct his internal Qi, he knew he had escaped from another disaster. ¡°This is the transformed Daoless Divine Power due to Qi deviation.¡±


    ¡°Qi deviation?¡± The five Taoists asked in unison as if they had never heard the term before.


    In their mind, the Jade Pure Sect was an orthodox sect, and evil things like Qi deviation would never ur to them.


    ¡°Thank you for taking the hidden trouble from me.¡± The frosty Qi in Gu Shenwei¡¯s Dantian made a weak protest but got no response from its master.


    The five Taoist priests were dumbfounded. They had never heard such a strange thing where Qi deviation was transferred to other people¡¯s body. But the Dragon King always had strange, fanciful ideas. The Three-in-One Power was already like barking at the moon, so it was normal for him toe out with another fantastic idea.


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe it.¡± Dao Xiu¡¯s voice would sound very moving and tragic if it were not trembling so much.


    ¡°Believe it or not, all I can say is that using your internal energy to resist it is useless and will backfire.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell us that earlier?!¡±


    ¡°No one asked. I thought that the Jade Pure Sect had other divine powers to protect yourselves. There¡¯s only one way to control the Qi deviation.¡±


    ¡°Quick, tell us now. We don¡¯t have any divine power left.¡± The trembling in Dao Xiu¡¯s voice grew worse.


    Gu Shenwei kept silent. His body told him that he should rest and recuperate as soon as possible but his mind decided that he must finish this tonight.


    ¡°The Dragon King must see the Khan?¡± Dao Nian was very clear about the Dragon King¡¯s intentions.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°But the chill in our bodies ¡­¡±


    ¡°Do not use your internal energy. Suck it up. You won¡¯t die in a short while.¡±


    This was the deal that Gu Shenwei gave them. He wanted to see the Khan. Even if what the Second Consort had said was true, he wanted to hear and see it with his own ears and eyes from the Lord of the Prairie.

 Chapter 606 - Encirclement

    Chapter 606: Encirclement


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    This was the first wooden house that Gu Shenwei had ever seen in the Nond. Although it was only pieced together by a few thin nks, it still carried with it a touch of luxury.


    The inside was built exactly to the specification of a pill refining room¡¯syout. As soon as Gu Shenwei entered, he could smell the fragrant aroma mixing with the strong medicinal smell, thebination creating an almost suffocatingly sticky air.


    ¡°This was specially built by the Khan for the Jade Pure Sect,¡± Dao Nian boasted tly. ¡°We can only bring the Dragon King here for now. I¡¯ll go to the Khan first and see if he would like to meet you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. He felt very ufortable with a fake long beard sticking to his chin. He was now the long-bearded Dao Lun, not the Dragon King.


    The mobile pce of the Khan upied the northernmost part of the Royal Court, which meant it was almost half of the city if the transitional zone in the middle was considered. So it was not easy to bring an outsider in. Otherwise, the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect would have hidden Old Man Mu inside there.


    Amongst the five Taoists, Dao Nian and Dao Lun were the most simr in stature to the Dragon King. The former was responsible for dealing with the Khan, so the responsibility of exchanging identities and acting as a hostage fell to Dao Lun.


    As he cut off the long beard he had developed over the years, Dao Lunmented, ¡°Twenty-five years, twenty-five full years.¡±


    Dao Lun didn¡¯t need to heavily disguise himself. When apanied by Red Bat, the female officer of the Land of Fragrance, the old ¡®Dragon King¡¯, who was dressed in night clothes, directly returned to the camp of the Dragon Army. Fang Wenshi then stayed with him.


    If anyone had been watching, they would have only observed a very quiet night.


    On the other hand, it was a bit troublesome for Gu Shenwei. Fortunately, the beard was the most eye-catching trademark of Dao Lun and Gu Shenwei immediately changed after gluing it on.


    The process of entering the Khan¡¯s camp was easier than he expected. Although he had passed seven or eight checkpoints and had to follow a new guide after each one, no one doubted his identity. Dao Nian¡¯s waist token and long beard were the best permits possible.


    The rules became stricter after they entered the pill refining room. No one was allowed to leave at will except for Dao Nian.


    ¡°The Khan has no fixed abode. I must go first to the steward and ask if the Khan wants to see me tonight.¡±


    Dao Xiu interjected, ¡°Senior brother¡¯s requests are rarely rejected. The Khan is very respectful to senior brother.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is really lucky; the Khan has just finished his close-door cultivation and is able to see you.¡±


    Dao Xiu once again interrupted, ¡°The Khan listened to senior brother¡¯s advice and has practiced forty-nine days of ¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Dao Nian scolded and stopped his junior brother from saying the name of the practice manual.


    Dao Xiu walked to the side embarrassed, his pale face flushing red.


    Dao Nian then left, alone, leaving behind his three junior brothers who sat upright on the futon as if they were meditating. Their eyes, however, remained opened by a slit and they kept peeping at the Dragon King who was standing at the door.


    Gu Shenwei stood with his back towards the three. What made him feel ufortable was not only the long beard but also his empty hands. He had handed over his saber, sword, and dagger to Red Bat. He was now unarmed, his meridians hadn¡¯t recovered yet, and he was solely relying on the fear of the Jade Pure Sect¡¯s elders to keep himself safe.


    It was a very risky move but he didn¡¯t think it was very dangerous.


    The Second Consort had imed the Khan¡¯s real goal was to invite Lotus from the Waning Moon Hall, but Gu Shenwei believed that it wasn¡¯t that simple. It was not that he was confident in the title of ¡®Dragon King¡¯ but that the unusual behavior of the lords had given him a hunch that the Khan had no intention of killing him.


    It was almost bright outside now but there was still no news from Dao Nian. Even his junior brothers were growing impatient. The chill in their bodies broke out from time to time, and they desperately wanted the Dragon King to tell them how to remove it.


    ¡°Is the Khan practicing the ¡­ and has no time to meet senior brother?¡± Dao Xiu couldn¡¯t sit still any longer and also went to the door to listen.


    ¡°Knowing the masculine and keeping to the feminine,¡± Gu Shenwei softly said.


    Dao Xiu was startled, his face turning paler. ¡°How do you know?¡±


    Those two Taoist priests behind him also opened their eyes and looked surprised. ¡°Did Old Man Mu tell you that?¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t respond. On the way to the Royal Court, he had talked with Old Man Mu in detail. Old Man Mu didn¡¯t know much about the internal energy manuals of the Jade Pure Sect, but he had practiced two of them and highly rmended them to the Dragon King, ¡°Amber Power, although it¡¯s not very helpful in improving internal energy, is a life-saving unique skill. The reason I could ovee danger so many times is all due to it. s, it¡¯s been shattered by the fire of the Dragon King. I don¡¯t know when I¡¯ll be able to master it again.¡±


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t practice it because the Amber Power conflicted with the Daoless Divine Power.


    ¡°There¡¯s another internal energy manual with a long name. It¡¯s called the ¡®Secret Arts of Returning to Simplicity Through Ten Stages of Knowing the Masculine and Keeping to the Feminine¡¯. Well, you know, the old Taoists especially like to make up words in the name. We can call it ¡®knowing the masculine and keeping to the feminine¡¯ or simply ¡®Arts of the Masculine and Feminine¡¯. Well, it has amazing effects after you practice it such as extending your life and staying young. The Dragon King is so young and has so many women around. Haha, this is the perfect manual for you.¡±


    The core of the set of manual was plucking yin to nourish yang, which was simr to the ¡®sex manual¡¯ but moreplex and tedious. It was divided into ten levels or the so-called ¡®ten stages¡¯, or Bhumi. ¡®Returning to simplicity¡¯ meant returning to one¡¯s original nature. The mystique of the nine heavens was not worth telling to outsiders, so it was called ¡®secret arts¡¯.


    ¡°Honestly, just forget it if you want to let off steam and have fun. I didn¡¯t want to suffer any more, so I quit after reaching the fifth level. But the Dragon King can practice it. You have more control than I do. And the key is that a lot of women are willing to offer themselves to you, which means thergest obstacle isn¡¯t an obstacle for you at all.¡±


    After listening to the introduction from Old Man Mu, Gu Shenwei tly refused to practice this kind of kung fu, not for fear of losing sensual pleasure, but for hisck of a strong desire for immortality and women.


    Ever since he had heard that the Khan was pursuing immortality, he immediately thought of the Arts of the Masculine and Feminine of the Jade Pure Sect.


    ¡°Do not listen to Old Man Mu¡¯s nonsense.¡± Dao Xiu anxiously made an excuse.


    ¡°Hmm, the Jade Pure Sect is an orthodox Taoist sect.¡±


    ¡°The universe is a furnace stoked by Nature, with yin and yang as fuel, and the myriad beings as metal. We didn¡¯t kill or harm anyone, they were all voluntary¡­¡± Dao Xiu wanted to exin more.


    ¡°Junior brother, no more talking.¡± Dao Huo¡¯s tone was as harsh as that of Dao Nian. ¡°It¡¯s enough as long as we are clear about it. The Dragon King won¡¯t understand no matter what you say.¡±


    The conversation ended at the moment, and Dao Xiu retreated somewhat resignedly.


    Still standing in the doorway, Gu Shenwei heard a faint sound of steps. Dao Nian coughed outside and said, ¡°I¡¯m back.¡±


    His words seemed superfluous because everyone in the tent could hear him. Gu Shenwei stepped aside and quietly guided his internal Qi. He had spent lots of time repairing his broken meridians. Although he had not yet fully seeded and his yin and yang energy was still weak, it was enough for him tounch a blow.


    That was, if the blow was necessary.


    Dao Nian entered, his face paler than it had been when he left.


    Gu Shenwei looked at the two hunchbacks behind him.


    ¡°The Dragon King has finallye.¡±


    They were the disciples of the Essence Pavilion whom Gu Shenwei had seen in King Shengri¡¯s ce. Perhaps they sensed the enmity of the Dragon King, so the other hunchback immediately said, ¡°Please follow me to see the Khan.¡±


    Dao Nian blocked the doorway and did not make way immediately. ¡°I want to ask first, what¡¯s the Dragon King¡¯s purpose of seeing the Khan?¡±


    It seemed a bitte to ask for his intention at this point. Gu Shenwei tore off the fake beard, and dered, ¡°To protect his safety and seek an alliance for the Dragon Army.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had only said part of his intentions but Dao Nian was eager to ept the whole statement and said, ¡°Good. Now is a good opportunity to prove the Dragon King¡¯s intentions.¡±


    Dao Nian stepped aside from the doorway and said to his three junior brothers, ¡°Get ready. Someone is going to assassinate the Khan. We must protect him even if we have to fight to the death.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s so daring?¡± Dao Xiu bounced up and looked suspiciously at the Dragon King.


    ¡°Arge bunch of killers sent by the Central ins,¡± one hunchback said.


    ¡°They pretended to attend the Tournament of the Royal Court but actually have ulterior motives,¡± the other hunchback added.


    All the Taoist priests were taken aback except for Dao Nian. They had alle from the Central ins, and if they were suspected, they would probably die here. No wonder their senior brother had to say something like ¡®fight to the death to protect the Khan¡¯.


    Gu Shenwei was also a bit surprised. As far as he knew, most of the kung fu experts of the Central ins had joined the kings. If Fang Wenshi was correct in his analysis and King Kuari was a mole of the Central ins, then the assassination would be his first preemptive action, which was taking ce much earlier than most people, including him, were expecting.


    As soon as it was dawn, those two disciples of the Essence Pavilion led them in to protect the Khan.


    Dao Nian walked behind and whispered to the Dragon King, ¡°There may be a battle of life and deathter. The chill in our body ¡­¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be a problem. Just do whatever is necessary.¡±


    The four Taoists of the Jade Pure Sect were a bit disappointed but didn¡¯t ask again.


    Gu Shenwei felt that something wasn¡¯t right before they had gone far. First, there was no tension in the camp. The guards were patrolling and the early female ves came and left as usual. Secondly, they were moving away from the center of the camp and walking towards the forbidden zone in the northern area.


    He was not the only one who had noticed the anomaly. Dao Xiu asked in a low voice, ¡°Where are we going? The Khan doesn¡¯t seem to live here.¡±


    Dao Nian didn¡¯t utter a sound. One of the hunchbacks walking in the front coldly said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to be by the Khan¡¯s side to protect him.¡± Another hunchback added, ¡°You have to prove that you¡¯re not working with the assassins first.¡±


    Now everyone understood that the Khan didn¡¯t trust either the Jade Pure Sect and the Dragon King, and they could only guard the perimeter of the Khan¡¯s camp.


    The reality was much worse than they had thought.


    The northern forbidden zone used to be a vacant lot but now there were thousands of men forming over a dozen or so big circles. All the soldiers were aiming at the inner circle with their arrows set against the strings, ready to shoot.


    Lots of noise came from inside as if many people were quarreling.


    King Shengri was themander of the operation. Seeing the Dragon Kinge, he smiled in greeting. ¡°Wee. I thought the Dragon King was inside the trap. I¡¯m so d to see that you¡¯re on the outside. I heard that the Dragon King has the sharpest saber in the Western Regions. I wonder how many people you can kill today?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see how many I need to kill.¡±


    ¡°Haha, there are many needs today.¡±


    The soldiers made way for a narrow passage. Gu Shenwei and the four Taoist priests of the Jade Pure Sect looked inside. Nearly a thousand people were trapped in the core. It looked like all of them were kung fu practitioners. Over a dozen vacant lots were cleared in the gap between the inner and outer circles, and bloody kung fupetitions were going on.


    There was no victory or defeat, only life and death.


    ¡°Go inside and fight at will,¡± King Shengri said happily. ¡°The Khan has given the order. Today the people who kill the most will be rewarded, and will be summoned.¡±


    A voice rang out, which was louder than anyone else. ¡°Hey, that¡¯s not fair. We¡¯ve won. Why don¡¯t you let us go?¡±


    Old Man Mu was actually trapped inside. Gu Shenwei followed the voice and looked. The first person he saw was Shangguan Fei who was covered with blood and trembling. Behind him were surprisingly Chu Nanping who had disappeared for several days, Red Bat, the female officer of the Land of Fragrance, Dao Lun, whose beard was cut off, and more than a dozen soldiers of the Dragon Army.

 Chapter 607 - Bumping Into Someone

    Chapter 607: Bumping Into Someone


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Old Man Mu was dumbfounded after listening to Shangguan Fei recite the first chapter of the Daoless Scroll.


    ¡°Disperse the internal energy? I have to disperse my internal energy before practicing such a piece of crap? What does it think it is? So domineering.¡±


    ¡°It has been this way¡­ the whole time.¡± Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t understand why Old Man Mu was surprised. ¡°Golden Roc killers are forbidden from practicing the internal energy of other sects from the very beginning.¡±


    ¡°I know that,¡± Old Man Mu said rather impatiently. He paced back and forth while scratching his head, thinking about the new problem ahead of him. ¡°I thought it was a trick you Golden Roc Castle used to scare killers. I didn¡¯t expect it to actually be true.¡±


    ¡°Uh, that¡¯s why the Dragon King has tobine the three powers into one.¡±


    Old Man Mu raised his head and stared at Shangguan Fei with ferocious eyes. ¡°Do you think that I¡¯m as stupid as you?¡±


    ¡°No, no.¡± Shangguan Fei shook his head in a hurry, thinking that it really was rare that Wild Horse could endure this for several years. He didn¡¯t know how long he could bear this for.


    ¡°The Daoless Divine Power and the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power, one yin and the other yang, one Taoist and the other Buddhist, havepletely opposite properties, so it¡¯s normal that they are ipatible. Usually, one doesn¡¯t have to disperse their internal energy before practicing a different one because the stronger internal energy can always suppress the weaker one and convert it into itself.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no other way,¡± muttered Shangguan Fei, worried that Old Man Mu would lose interest and ¡®drive him out of the sect¡¯ again.


    ¡°Motherfucker, I¡¯m such an idiot. I don¡¯t have much internal energy left anyways, so it¡¯s better to disperse it. What am I waiting for? Haha, the Daoless Divine Power is tailor-made for my current situation.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Shangguan Fei pped his hands and echoed.


    Old Man Mu frowned again. ¡°Am I bing stupid by being next to you for too long?¡±


    ¡°No no, you¡¯re just stupid for the moment ¡­ Uh, you¡¯re not stupid at all. It¡¯s just that you didn¡¯t think of it at the moment. And I¡¯m also not stupid. I fooled the Dragon King and my sister once.¡±


    ¡°Seriously?¡±


    Shangguan Fei proudly told how he had killed his cousin Shangguan Yushi. ¡°No one thought that it was me who did it. You can¡¯t even imagine how surprised they were.¡±


    It was the pinnacle of Shangguan Fei¡¯s life, and even the reminiscent memories still tasted good.


    Old Man Mu nodded approvingly, and said, ¡°I said you were talented but you were always dumbfounded when people took you seriously.¡±


    Downhearted, Shangguan Fei sighed.


    ¡°It¡¯s gettingte. Come on, let¡¯s go kill somebody.¡±


    ¡°Ahh.¡± Shangguan Fei¡¯s voice trembled. He still needed to kill more than five people to meet the quota of killing ten people a day.


    Fighting at will was not allowed in the noble district and most of the people in the craftsman area were also under protection. So Old Man Mu chose the slums like when the Dragon King was training Chu Nanping.


    ¡°It¡¯ll really be a good time. It¡¯s packed with fools from the Central ins and idiots of the Western Regions here. Even if we kill them at will, nobody will care.¡± Looking at the mass of tents in the night, Old Man Mu suddenly sighed with emotion. ¡°Back then, this was my city. I could go wherever I wanted, beat or kill whoever I wanted. Do you know that feeling?¡±


    Shangguan Fei shook his head in a daze. Even during his mostfortable days at the castle, he was constrained by his father and mother, and even by his little sister and cousin.


    ¡°That was like ¡­ that was like ¡­ being a god. All the obstacles in the world are nothing to you; you can wander around and destroy at will. You were even more free than the Khan. He has to figure out how to increase the number of his soldiers but I only cared about ¡®reducing¡¯ it. You know, when I was young, I even slept with his women. It¡¯s just that he didn¡¯t know, haha.¡± After theughter came a long sigh. ¡°s, things flow away day and night, and now it¡¯s gone forever.¡±


    Shangguan Fei felt that Old Man Mu was bragging. As far as he knew, this devil dared not enter the territory of Golden Roc Castle, and also dared not speak out of the Khan¡¯s women he had supposedly slept with. Obviously, he was still far away from doing whatever he wanted.


    But he knew what the right reaction would be. Surprise, delight, envy, and sympathy. And as long as he showed these expressions, he could please Old Man Mu without saying anything.


    Old Man Mu was indeed very satisfied. He patted Shangguan Fei¡¯s waist and said, ¡°You¡¯re my future hope, so do it now.¡±


    ¡°Now? Here?¡± Shangguan Fei was taken aback.


    They were standing at a crossroad, surrounded by simple taverns that were still open at the moment. Customers went in and out, most of whom were sabermen speaking thenguages of the Central ins and the Western Regions.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we look for a ce with fewer people?¡± Killing tantly like this was still a bit beyond Shangguan Fei¡¯s reach.


    ¡°I said you were stupid and you¡¯re really stupid. With more people here, fighting and killing will cause less attention. See, there are people quarreling over there. They¡¯re even drawing their saber and no one gives a shit about it.¡±


    In the distance, there were indeed two big men standing in the lights who had drawn their sabers at each other, but all they did was shout and beside them stood a few rtives or friends who were cheering loudly. It seemed that none of them would make a move past arguing even by tomorrow morning. The crowd of passers-by all turned a blind eye to it as if it were a botched puppet show not worth watching.


    ¡°Who should I kill?¡± Shangguan Fei nervously asked.


    ¡°Kill whoever you want. Give them a punch if you don¡¯t like them. If you really can¡¯t do it, just go forward with your eyes closed and punch whoever you bump into.¡±


    Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t have the audacity to kill as he pleased. He looked around to search for the right prey. The first thing he did was to rule out those tall and strong men who had a fierce look. After taking a nce at Old Man Mu, he then ignored all the men who were little but appeared confident. Even so, there were still a lot of choices left.


    ¡°This one will do.¡± Shangguan Fei said in a low voice.


    It was a teenage boy who was dirty, thin, and tired like a beggar. Only the saber hanging by his waist indicated that he was also a saberman.


    ¡°You really know how to pick them. Hurry up, a bit longer and he will probably fall to the ground and die himself.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not twenty years old either.¡± Shangguan Fei argued in a low voice while producing a ck cloth to cover his face skillfully.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Old Man Mu looked up in amazement.


    ¡°I can¡¯t be recognized. I¡¯ve attended the warrior contest and I¡¯m a little ¡­ famous.¡±


    Old Man Mu sniffed disdainfully before suddenly crying out loudly like a bully pressing someone to pay off a debt. ¡°Shangguan Fei! Shangguan Fei!¡±


    Shangguan Fei was startled and quickly bent down to cover Old Man Mu¡¯s mouth before nervously looking around. Fortunately, his name didn¡¯t cause a stir. The customers who came out of the tavern directly went for their next destination ¡ª another tavern without caring about the cries at all.


    Shangguan Fei heaved a sigh in relief and finally realized that Old Man Mu was struggling in his own hands. Seeing that his palm was not only covering Old Man Mu¡¯s mouth but also his nose, Shangguan Fei anxiously let go and apologized.


    Red-faced, Old Man Mu panted. Almost half of his power had been burned off at the Land of Fragrance, and the other half was destroyed by the torture of the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect. He was so weak now that he couldn¡¯t even push Shangguan Fei¡¯s hand away. ¡°Burning the bridge before even crossing it. You little bastard really has balls.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to.¡±


    ¡°Cut the crap and get on with it. At this rate speed, it¡¯ll take a night to kill seven people.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes. Howe the people here don¡¯t know me? Didn¡¯t they watch the kung fupetition these two days?¡±


    ¡°The warrior contest is a game of the lords. The audiences are all herdsmen of the Nond. These people are foreign saberman. They can only take part in the ordinary kung fupetition, so who cares about you?¡±


    Shangguan Fei was both pleased and disappointed. He gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Good, I won¡¯t cover my face then. I¡¯ll do it now.¡±


    The beggar-like teenage saberman had long since disappeared. Shangguan Fei had to look for another target.


    Old Man Mu was too impatient to wait any longer. He looked around and shoved Shangguan Fei¡¯s butt.


    Being touched at a sensitive part, Shangguan Fei seemed to have identally sat on a brazier. He leaped out before Old Man Mu could exert more strength.


    Shangguan Fei bumped into three strong men walking side by side, who were the targets Old Man Mu had chosen for him.


    The man with a full beard grabbed Shangguan Fei¡¯s shoulder and asked, heavily stressing each syble, ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°He wants to fool around with you,¡± the red-faced man who wasn¡¯t hit bantered back.


    ¡°Be careful that he doesn¡¯t steal from you,¡± said the other ck-faced man.


    ¡°Sorry, I slipped.¡± Shangguan Fei hastened to apologize, his legs turning into jelly, not to mention punching him.


    ¡°Do you know who I am?¡± The full-bearded man¡¯s anger didn¡¯t abate, as he grabbed Shangguan Fei with more strength and his voice growing fiercer.


    Shangguan Fei shook his head, and the confidence he had built in the warrior contest over the past two dayspletely vanished.


    ¡°Kowtow in apology!¡± The ck-faced man cried out, his breath carrying with it a strong smell of alcohol.


    ¡°Let him crawl between your legs.¡± The red-faced man emanated the same smell of wine, saying, ¡°This pretty boy looks quite delicate. Big brother, you might as well take him as your concubine, haha.¡±


    The man with a full beard loosened his hands, ¡°You¡¯re lucky I¡¯m in a good mood today. Kowtow ten times and pay a hundred taels of silver, and I¡¯ll let you off.¡±


    Shangguan Fei struggled to swallow the bitter saliva in his mouth and turned to look at Old Man Mu.


    Old Man Mu looked even fiercer than those three big men. He kept gesturing that he should strike at once.


    ¡°I¡­¡± Shangguan Fei¡¯s mind waspletely nk. Without crowds of servants and killers following behind, he felt powerless and much less confident. So even he himself felt surprised when he blurted out the following words, ¡°I¡¯m also in a very good mood today. Kowtow a hundred times to me, p yourself a hundred times, and pay a thousand taels of silver, and then I¡¯ll let you off.¡±


    Looking at the pretty boy who said the harsh words like a schoolboy reciting a passage, the three burly men were surprised at first, thenughed out loud, and finally reached to draw their sabers.


    Shangguan Fei hit the bearded man with a punch. As the huge body flew out, part of the fear in his heart disappeared. It was too easy, surprisingly easy. The big man was not even as powerful as a second-rated fighter in the kung fupetition field.


    The man with a full beard fell to the ground with arge bloody hole between his chest and abdomen. His body was almost torn into two sections.


    ¡°It¡¯s not right. You used too much yang energy and the yin energy is not enough. Do it again.¡± Old Man Mu was not satisfied.


    The red-faced and ck-faced men, however, held apletely different view. The two stared with their mouth agape and the sabers in their hands fell to the ground.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know him very well. I just met him this morning.¡± The red-faced man retreated one step.


    ¡°Young hero, I have three kids¡­¡± The ck-faced man took two steps back.


    Old Man Mu imed that no one cared about fighting and killing here which was obviously not the case. Not long after, they were surrounded by arge group of people. Almost every tavern had a saberman running out, who stared at the corpse on the ground with unreadable expressions.


    Shangguan Fei also retreated, thinking that this was bad. The few couldn¡¯t fight the many, not to mention that he was alone and there were over forty people surrounding them.


    ¡°People of the Western Regions?¡± Asked a voice in the crowd.


    Shangguan Fei nodded, trying to say something but his throat seemed to be bunged up.


    ¡°Your kung fu is good, so let¡¯s go kill together,¡± said another voice.


    ¡°Ah?¡± Shangguan Fei waspletely confused.


    ¡°The Central ins are allies with the Western Regions. The more people we kill, the more rewards we¡¯ll get.¡±


    Hesitating, Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t say a word, but Old Man Mu suddenly jumped up and shouted, ¡°Let¡¯s do it!¡±

 Chapter 608 - Frenzy

    Chapter 608: Frenzy


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Like the walking dead, Shangguan Fei sat down beside the cheerful Old Man Mu and listened to the strangers excitedly introducing the situation.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got some inside information and it¡¯s absolutely urate. The Khan is already dead. The one living in the pce is just a zombie controlled by a group of masters, giving off the image that he¡¯s still alive. He can asionally make some gestures and speak through another man¡¯s mouth.¡±


    ¡°The kings and counselors are all angry, but they are bound by oath to not use weapons in the pce, so they thought of us.¡±


    ¡°Tonight, at the third night watch periods, you can rush into the pce and kill anyone you like. Remember to cut off the nose, as the rewards from the kings are a thousand taels of silver for one nose.¡±


    ¡°You have to cut off the head if it¡¯s a master. That¡¯s worth a hundred thousand taels. Did you hear me? A hundred thousand taels.¡±


    ¡°Take whatever women and treasures you want, as long as you can carry them away.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m confused. Do I have to kill the women or take them away?¡±


    ¡°Silly boy, you take the ones you like and kill the ones you don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡­


    The crowd was in a state of frenzied chaos. They had a few more drinks in a nearby tavern. No one was willing to pay, and they even smashed all the utensils. Many people came to Shangguan Fei and made a toast to him, intending to form a group with himter. ¡°You can punch anywhere except for the nose. How about we do it like this? You focus on killing and I¡¯ll help cut the nose off. At the end of the day, let¡¯s split it as seventy-thirty. You seventy, and me thirty.¡±


    Shangguan Fei chuckled to pretend that he was interested. As soon as he was free he turned to Old Man Mu and said, ¡°Do you believe them? Something¡¯s wrong.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with it?¡± A drunk saberman rushed to exin before Old Man Mu could open his mouth. ¡°Just think about it, how long has it been since you¡¯ve seen the Khan? Every year the Khan watches several importantpetitions of the Tournament of the Royal Court, but this year, he didn¡¯t watch any, and only went around once in the carriage. Besides, there¡¯s about to be a war with the Central ins but the Khan is still behaving as if everything is all right and didn¡¯t even organize a proper parade ¡­¡±


    The drunkard listed many reasons and when he got to the one he thought the most credible. He lowered his voice and softly spoke, ¡°I heard from a friend¡­ ¡± He stressed the word ¡®friend¡¯ but lowered his voice even more, creating a sense of mystery, and even the smell of alcohol in his mouth weakened as if his ¡®friend¡¯ was an immortal. ¡°The ten kings have made an agreement to kill the masters first before selecting a new Khan. It¡¯s not good for them to do it personally, so they can only hire outsiders like us.¡±


    Shangguan Fei could not help curling his lips, thinking that he knew more than these chatans. The Dragon King was working so hard every day to dig up information that if he hadn¡¯t heard of anything about this information, it had to be false.


    Old Man Mu did not care. He pushed the drunkard under the table, and asked ¡°What¡¯s there to be afraid of? Let¡¯s just follow behind so that we can run away even if it¡¯s a trap. You just focus on killing and you¡¯d better not stop until you feel excited about it. I said that it might take you ten days or more, but now it seems that you can thoroughly recast yourself tonight.¡±


    ¡°The people of the pce don¡¯t even know kung fu. Will it be useful to kill them?¡± Shangguan Fei was still not sure and tried to look for excuses to avoid participating in the riot.


    Old Man Mu stared nkly at Shangguan Fei as if he had said something particrly foolish before he sincerely asked, ¡°Are you and the good girl really children of the Unique King? Could it be a mistake? Look at you two, one good-hearted and the other cowardly. What temperament of the Shangguan family do you have? Your mother¡­¡±


    This was Shangguan Fei¡¯s most taboo topic, so he immediately stopped Old Man Mu. ¡°My mother is perfectly fine. My sister and I look more like people of the Meng family, but if you look carefully, our eyes, nose, cheekbones, and especially the earlobes, are just like those of the King Lord.¡±


    ¡°You have to be ruthless if you are the Unique King¡¯s son.¡± Old Man Mu looked around and after pressing down the drunkard who had barely emerged from under the table, whispered, ¡°Idiot, who said we were going to kill the eunuchs and maids in the pce? Once you¡¯ve mastered the peerless martial arts skills, all the silver in the world will be yours. I meant killing these people.¡±


    ¡°Kill them?¡± Shangguan Fei looked around in terror for fear of being heard.


    ¡°Of course, do you think I¡¯m stupid? Even if it¡¯s not a trap tonight, it¡¯s a capital crime to kill anyone in the pce. They want to take noses to get a reward, but I¡¯m afraid they are going to get cut, heh heh. The sabermen of the Central ins and the Western Regions are so easily fooled. Since the Royal Court is going to be in chaos, it¡¯s also a good chance for you to kill. Aren¡¯t you afraid of people seeking revenge? In this case, who will know that you did it?¡±


    As soon as Old Man Mu finished talking, someone nearby asked, ¡°You¡¯re Shangguan Fei? And you¡¯re Old Man Mu?¡±


    Old Man Mu kept hisposure and looked askance at the one who asked him, forgetting that he actually had little power left and was probably not the other side¡¯s match. Shangguan Fei almost jumped out of his chair, saying, ¡°It¡¯s me ¡­ No, who are you?¡±


    It was that red-faced man who, from the look of him, had no intention of avenging the man with a full beard. He sat beside Shangguan Fei with a smile on his face. ¡°I was wondering who could have suchmanding appearances and excellent martial arts skills, and it turned out that you two are the Dragon King¡¯s right-hand men, the famous Senior Mu and young hero Shangguan.¡±


    Shangguan Fei couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. It was so awkward to hear someone say ¡®young hero¡¯ before his surname.


    Old Man Mu was very discontent with the title ¡®senior,¡¯ so he frowned and said, ¡°Come off your high horse if you want to say something. Otherwise fart around somewhere else.¡±


    More than a decade ago, Old Man Mu had been a well-known devil in the Nond. Shangguan Fei hade from the Western Regions and even though he had won the warrior contests two days in a row, the two were not currently famous in the grasnd. So the sabermen from the Central ins actually knew nothing about them. The red-faced man had tried to kiss their asses but kissed the wrong ass.


    Although Old Man Mu and Shangguan Fei were not famous, the Dragon King had be well-known with the efforts of several kings. Even people from the Central ins knew about this ambitious lord of the Western Regions who used to be a killer by now.


    The red-faced man didn¡¯t care about being scolded and smilingly continued, saying, ¡°It¡¯s really like the flood dashing against the Temple of the Dragon King ¡­ Sorry, sorry, I was wrong again¡­ Actually, we are family <sup>1</sup> .¡±


    Old Man Mu nced at him twice and said, ¡°Are you my long-lost son? We don¡¯t look alike.¡±


    The man¡¯s smile became more and more ttering. ¡°Senior Mu is so funny. I mean, we are working for the same lord,¡± said the red-faced man, clenching and shaking his fist as he spoke.


    ¡°What, you wanna fight? Come on.¡± Old Man Mu rolled up his sleeves and pointed to Shangguan Fei, ¡°You go.¡±


    The red-faced man hurriedly waved his hand. He didn¡¯t want to end up with his corpse in a mess. ¡°Ten, that¡¯s ten. I was invited by King Rizhu, the tenth lord, and the Dragon King is a friend of King Rizhu¡¯s, so aren¡¯t we a family?¡±


    Old Man Mu and Shangguan Fei looked at each other in bewilderment. The Dragon King had changed allies so fast, the two didn¡¯t have the feeling of ¡®family¡¯ yet.


    ¡°You¡¯re both here on a mission tonight, aren¡¯t you? Heh heh, to tell you the truth, I¡¯m more confident after seeing your kung fu.¡± The red-faced man reverently stared at Shangguan Fei and suddenly dropped his voice low as he said, ¡°I hear that the Dragon King will be part of the main force tonight, is that true?¡±


    Seeing that neither of them spoke, the red-faced man nodded tacitly and withdrew, satisfied.


    ¡°What¡¯s the Dragon King doing tonight?¡± Old Man Mu asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. He always appears and disappears mysteriously.¡±


    ¡°That is really strange. Why would King Rizhu want to spread news that the Dragon King is the main force? Isn¡¯t it obvious that he¡¯s framing the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go back the camp for now to see if the Dragon King is there.¡±


    ¡°Hold on, I have a question for you. Are you going to stay loyal to the Dragon King the whole time?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Shangguan Fei answered without hesitation, but his heart beat wildly a few times.


    ¡°Hmm, well done. That¡¯s a good lie.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t lie. The Dragon King keeps me safe so I owe him my allegiance,¡± Shangguan Fei said more naturally.


    ¡°Right. He protects you, and you serve him. What if he can¡¯t protect you?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°We have to be part of tonight¡¯s operation. If this really has something to do with the Dragon King, we can act ordingly by either making a big contribution in front of him or ¡­ heh heh ¡­ We have to find out what will happen to the Dragon King before the others do, right?¡±


    Shangguan Fei quickly looked around and said excitedly in a low voice, ¡°Actually, that¡¯s also what I was thinking of doing.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Old Man Mu¡¯s voice suddenly became stern as he said, ¡°I¡¯ve finally tricked you into revealing your true thoughts.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was shocked and nearly fell off his stool. ¡°You ¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just kidding. I¡¯m helping you grow some balls.¡± Old Man Mu stood up and then said, ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Shangguan Fei felt that he had already lost his nerves. Reluctantly, he stood up and saw the people in the tavern calling for their friends and walking out of the tent confidently. As he did so, the red-faced man cupped his fists to show respect to him as if they had known each other for a long time.


    The drunkard stuck his head out from under the table and indistinctly said, ¡°Dragon King ¡­ Act ordingly ¡­ Take me with you.¡±


    Old Man Mu gave Shangguan Fei a signal with a wink.


    Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t feel reluctant because even he himself felt the urge to silence that man.


    Shangguan Fei punched out without a sound. He was bing more and more skillful at controlling the yin and yang energy and the Five Hole Punch. The drunkard was unharmed on the surface and didn¡¯t even shed a drop of blood.


    When counting thepetition in the day, Shangguan Fei had killed five people before midnight. He felt very strange. He had also personally killed people in the castle in the past but the more he killed the more timid he became. Why was it the opposite effect after he started following Old Man Mu?


    ¡®It¡¯s freedom,¡¯ he thought. He had been touched by the description of freedom given by Old Man Mu. Back in the castle, killing was a breadwinner¡¯s craft. One couldn¡¯t have any passion when learning it and would never reach a higher level after mastering it.


    More and more people joined the mob. No one knew who was leading the way, and the crowd walked around the craftsman area and the noble district on the east and west side and went straight to the northern forbidden zone. There were free horses provided on the roadside that everyone could take at will.


    The sound of the horses¡¯ hooves and the noise from the hordes of people were much louder than thest riot in the slums, but everything went smoothly and no cavalry of the Nond came out to stop them.


    Initially, most of the sabermen thought the same as Old Man Mu, that they should walk in the back so they could immediately run away when something unexpected happened. But the peaceful situation brought them great confidence. It seemed that the rumors were more and more likely to be true, and the kings of the Nond really controlled most of the cavalry, and that the only thing they were unwilling to do was to rush the pce.


    The crowd began to pick up speed as if there was a treasure ahead that could be imed on a firste-first-served basis.


    Old Man Mu wasn¡¯t in a hurry. He and Shangguan Fei dismounted as soon as they reached the suburbs and hid in the grass, patiently waiting to choose the next target from the sabermen galloping by.


    ¡°This group is too big, this one looks too weak, this ¡­ Well, he¡¯s already gone. These two people look okay, kill!¡±


    Shangguan Fei leaped out and punched at theing rider while silently muttering ¡®not afraid.¡¯


    The rider counterattacked with a sword with incredible speed, and Shangguan Fei¡¯s newly established confidence crumbled at the same time. He threw himself on the ground and rolled over into the grass.


    ¡°Stop, stop, he¡¯s one of us.¡± Old Man Mu jumped out, and eximed, ¡°Isn¡¯t this Little Chu? Long time no see, what are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for the Dragon King.¡± Chu Nanping put his sword away.


    Shangguan Fei scrambled out of the grass, ¡°Fortunately, I recognized you in time. We almost killed each other.¡±


    Old Man Mu looked at the person behind Chu Nanping, ¡°Who is this little girl? Is it my eyes or do her pupils look really strange? Little Chu, are you haunted by a ghost?¡±


    As the little girl¡¯s green eyes looked over at him, Old Man Mu felt a fierce killing aura. His heart shivering, he immediately knew that this was a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall.

 Chapter 609 - Cloud Shadow

    Chapter 609: Cloud Shadow


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    It had taken Chu Nanping two whole days and nights to capture that drifting shadow.


    He followed the Dragon King¡¯s requirement of avoiding the disciples of the Essence Pavilion, though not out of fear. As the only lone practitioner of the Essence of Perceiving Passion, his kung fu was already better than most of his fellow disciples, and Gu Shenwei hoped to strike a bnce so that even if those weirdos had Shangguan Ru in their hands, they would not dare to make a move.


    Chu Nanping had actually been hiding in the Royal Court. In the boundless grasnds that were as t as a pancake, the perfect ce for him to hide was actually the tented city. So he had been lurking around the Dragon Army¡¯s camp while on the lookout for other lurking shadows.


    Outside the camp, there were always some sneaky fellows, who either overtly or covertly watched every movement of the camp day and night. Chu Nanping¡¯s task was simple. Instead of disturbing these people or warning the camp, he only had to ensure that there were no ¡®tails¡¯ following the Dragon King when he quietly went out.


    This never happened.


    But on the first night, he noticed something strange.


    Formless and soundless, it was like a cloud¡¯s shadow quickly drifting away. Chu Nanping suddenly felt something passing by fleetingly, as light as if it were just an illusion.


    Those who were constantly in a state of alert often heard danger in every sound but this time it was different. Chu Nanping had a strange feeling that the illusion would turn into reality if he could rewind time.


    He should have stayed in the tent he had rented beforehand in the day, but he couldn¡¯t fall asleep. So he put on a disguise and started circling the camp. And as time went by, he started expanding his searching range.


    He had never mastered the killer techniques, but he was patient and observant. After a whole day¡¯s worth of scouting, he had finally figured out a hidden route that would allow him to keep an eye on the Dragon Army¡¯s camp without being seen.


    That night, Chu Nanping quietly patrolled along the nned route while changing directions every two hours.


    The feeling of a cloud¡¯s shadow drifting away appeared again, but when he turned and leaped towards it, he missed and nearly exposed himself.


    Two disciples of the Essence Pavilion jumped out, and Chu Nanping quickly fled.


    After this, patrolling became much more difficult. There were originally four disciples of the Essence Pavilion watching outside the Dragon Army¡¯s camp, but after that incident, they sent another four to guard at different positions after discovering the target¡¯s whereabouts. Chu Nanping could only stop using the best route and go around in a bigger circle.


    During the second day, Chu Nanping didn¡¯t leave the tent. He took a much needed rest and spent the rest of the time improving his sword techniques.


    He felt no fear, so he continued searching for that strange shadow that night.


    But this was evening was the one where the Dragon King and the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect sneaked into the pce after thepetition, Old Man Mu and Shangguan Fei confusedly participated in a riot, and Chu Nanping found himself beset with a crisis twice.


    The disciples of the Essence Pavilion had sworn to capture this young swordsman who had a peculiar perception. So besides those eight disciples, they also invited a few other helpers.


    Chu Nanping¡¯s first encounter was with a masked man who dressed like a golden roc killer but hadpletely different kung fu skills. With a machete in the style of the Nond, he had rushed out suddenly like a stray bison.


    Chu Nanping only remembered a few killer principles, one of which was that if the enemy abruptly jumped out, the best way to deal with it was not by turning around or dodging to the side because there was probably a trap waiting ahead, but rather to charge forward as the real safe ce was actually behind the enemy.


    This principle wasn¡¯t always right but this time it worked out. Chu Nanping unsheathed his sword to block the enemy and passed by him at the same time. Then he quickly slipped into the shadows and fled down a route he was already familiar with. Behind him, several lurkers pursued him for a while before soon giving up.


    After he had gotten away, Chu Nanping circled back to the periphery of the camp. He never wavered from the tasks he had epted and the things he wanted to do and didn¡¯t even make a change about it. To an outsider, it was a kind of foolish obstinacy. To him, however, it was very simple. His mind was always this simple, so simple that he never thought that there were other alternatives.


    It was this character that had kept him from bing a qualified killer no matter how much professional training he received. Sometimes he could be easily deceived by way of his character. But it was also this character that enabled him to find the faint shadow that had only appeared twice during his relentless pursuit.


    If it was Gu Shenwei, he might have ignored it or he would¡¯ve be suspicious, and then set trap and wait for the other side to step in it.


    Chu Nanping was in danger for the second time now. He felt the drift of the cloud¡¯s shadow for the third time, this time the feeling so strong that he could not help but let the curiosity get the better of him, speeding up to pursue it. And as he did so, he just happened to run into four disciples of the Essence Pavilion.


    They consisted of a pair of one-eyed men who used single sabers and a pair of one-eyed men who used short halberds.


    The confrontation was extremely short. Chu Nanping wielded two swords, simultaneously blocking and attacking while not slowing down his pursuit at all.


    The shadow was not far ahead. He knew it, and he could feel it. Following his instinct, he ran eastward with four ¡®tails¡¯ still chasing behind him.


    The shadow suddenly disappeared into the wilderness, and Chu Nanping felt disappointed and sad for the first time in his life. He didn¡¯t even have such feelings when the Dragon King refused to practice the Emotionless Swordsmanship with him.


    Those four disciples of the Essence Pavilion were now surrounding him. They had ran too fast to inform theirpanions, but they believed that they four could easily capture the target.


    They were very familiar with Chu Nanping, especially the younger Chu Nanping in his teens, so they naturally underestimated him.


    ¡°Why are you running away?¡±


    Chu Nanping¡¯s personality seemed to return to home, a home of indifference and self-destruction. Even after decades together, they were still calling each other ¡®you¡¯ or ¡®me¡¯, even while they only had one name ¡ª Immortal Peng. Even if the dwarf was already dead, they would never be able to regain their sense of independence and always felt that part of them was missing from the inside out.


    Chu Nanping suddenly realized how lucky he was. Amongst all the disciples of the Essence Pavilion, only he had chosen a different path by following the murderer who had killed Immortal Peng and as a result, had gone further than anyone else in the search for his own self.


    ¡°I¡¯m not running, but chasing.¡±


    The one-eyed and one-armed men were stunned a bit and said, ¡°You are a disciple of the Essence Pavilion.¡±


    ¡°I was, but not anymore.¡±


    ¡°You will always be one.¡±


    Both sides fell silent, and then both sides made their move.


    Chu Nanping¡¯s advantage was that he could wield dual swords alone while his disadvantage was that he hadn¡¯t broken through the fourth level. Ten movester, the five of them had allnded in hot water.


    Chu Nanping was trapped because the martial arts skills of the disciples of the Essence Pavilion all originated from the Essence of Perceiving Passion, which meant that all of them knew each other¡¯s moves well. His subtle and swift sword moves were nothing special in the other side¡¯s eyes.


    Those four disciples of the Essence Pavilion were also trapped. They had seen with their own eyes that a man could actually wield two sets of swordsmanship more smoothly than that of the dual cultivators who held a tacit understanding between each other.


    They were so intoxicated that they couldn¡¯t bear to bring down their opponent and only wanted to force Chu Nanping to continue showing it until they themselves figured it out too.


    Chu Nanping suddenly changed his swordsmanship on the fifteenth move. He disappeared in a sh and stabbed out like lightning.


    A one-armed man quickly retreated with blood oozing from his shoulder and his face gleaming with excitement. The individually-trained swordsmanship of the other side was more powerful than he had imagined.


    In fact, what Chu Nanping used was a modified sword technique of the Death Sutra.


    Gu Shenwei had chosen some key ideas and theory of the Death Sutra Swordsmanship and taught Chu Nanping, which was very helpful to him. It always had an amazing effect when he asionally used it in his Emotionless Swordsmanship.


    Each disciple of the Emotionless Swordsmanship had their own special skills. They had seen the Emotionless Swordsmanship before and were familiar with it but they had no deep understanding of it. So they naturally attributed this move to the martial arts of the Essence Pavilion when they suddenly saw a powerful sword technique.


    ¡°You can¡¯t keep it all to yourself,¡± said the wounded one-armed man.


    ¡°You and it both belong to the Essence Pavilion,¡± another one-armed man said while attacking with his short halberd.


    Those two one-eyed men followed to say, ¡°You can be Immortal Peng. You should be Immortal Peng.¡±


    The four of them were thinking the same. Since this young boy had surpassed all the disciples of the Essence Pavilion, he was fully qualified to be the new Immortal Peng.


    Chu Nanping hesitated a bit. What tempted him was not fame and status but the familiarity of that way of life. One as all, and all as one. He wouldn¡¯t have to make his own decisions anymore.


    Chu Nanping only hesitated for a moment of time before jumping to the nearby grass. He had tasted reality and could never return to that dreand anymore.


    The disciples of the Essence Pavilion did not hesitate at all. They followed closely like shadows, and even the circle formation surrounding Chu Nanping retained its shape.


    The four men fell one by one as if they had lost control of their bodies. A ckbird-like assassin leaped from the grass and killed three people with three pecks. The fourth peck was blocked by the long sword.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to kill him.¡± Chu Nanping said.


    The ¡®ckbird¡¯ crouching the ground suddenly turned around and stared at Chu Nanping.


    It was a pair of green eyes he was familiar with, both stubborn and persistent, and also a pair of eyes he felt strange about, a bit mad and ferocious. ¡°Get out of the way.¡±


    Tie Linglong used to be fond of ordering Chu Nanping to do this and that, mostly in jest, and sometimes in a coquettish manner. She had never acted like this as if it were amand that could not be disobeyed.


    ¡°Nice to see you again.¡± Chu Nanping didn¡¯t care and also didn¡¯t step aside.


    Tie Linglong¡¯s eyes rolled and her face also rxed a bit as if she had just recognized the teenager in front of her. But a momentter she became vicious again. ¡°I¡¯ll make you unhappy if you get in my way.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t,¡± Chu Nanping said while putting away his long sword.


    In the blink of an eye, Tie Linglong had pressed her dagger against the young boy¡¯s chest. The two of them were so close that they could hear each other¡¯s heartbeat.


    Chu Nanping didn¡¯t know why he smiled, but he smiled heartily. After a long time of waiting and boring chasing, he finally reached the end.


    Tie Linglong put down the dagger together with her fierceness, revealing the chagrin Chu Nanping was most familiar with. ¡°It¡¯s all your fault for breaking my murderous heart.¡±


    ¡°This man may be useful to the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°So what? I¡¯m not his subordinate anymore. I¡¯m a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall now.¡±


    ¡°That matters not. You¡¯re not fit to kill.¡±


    Tie Linglong took his words as an insult and raised her dagger again, ¡°I can kill you and the Dragon King if I have to.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you use your old saber?¡± Chu Nanping did not seem to hear the threat and continued asking about what he wanted to know.


    If she hadn¡¯t gotten used to the way Chu Nanping spoke, Tie Linglong would have thought that the other side was tricking her. She wanted to show indifference but couldn¡¯t help answering, ¡°I don¡¯t want to use the saber techniques taught by the Dragon King¡­¡±


    A burst of strangeughter suddenly rang out behind Chu Nanping. It was the sole surviving one-eyed man lying on the ground. He had a few needles stuck in the soles of his feet, which prevented him from standing up. ¡°You don¡¯t like the Dragon King? Very good, he¡¯ll die soon in the pce and you¡¯ll never see him again.¡±


    Tie Linglong¡¯s face paled right away, showing no trace of joy at all.

 Chapter 610 - Siege

    Chapter 610: Siege


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Tie Linglong did not say a single word about why she had appeared in the Royal Court, and neither did Chu Nanping ask.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go find the Dragon King.¡± Chu Nanping invited.


    ¡°Why? He himself said that he didn¡¯t want me to appear before him again.¡± Tie Linglong¡¯s tone was still fierce but her whole personality was changing in subtle ways. The hard shell covering her was disintegrating, and with every word she uttered, she took one step closer to the little girl that Chu Nanping was familiar with.


    ¡°The Dragon King said that just to vent his anger, and he already forgave you a long time ago.¡± As usual, Chu Nanping yed the role of being aforter which he wasn¡¯t very good at.


    ¡°Forgive? I¡¯ve done nothing wrong. Why do I need him to forgive me? He should have apologized to me.¡± The more Tie Linglong spoke, the angrier she became and the harder it was for her to maintain her cold demeanor. Eyes glistening, she tried hard not to let the tears out.


    Chu Nanping was at a loss as to what he should say. He couldn¡¯t even understand his own feelings, let alone understand theplex emotions of others.


    After a moment of silence, it was still Tie Linglong who was the first to speak up. ¡°I can go with you to find the Dragon King, but I won¡¯t show up or help.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± Chu Nanping revealed a smile.


    The one-eyed man looked at the young boy and girl and felt inexpressibly astonished, eximing in disbelief, ¡°You are a disciple of the Essence Pavilion and the attendant of Immortal Peng.¡±


    ¡°I was, but not anymore.¡±


    The two repeated what they said but the meaning was different this time. The one-eyed man shook his head andmented, saying, ¡°How can you fall in love with a woman when you mastered the Emotionless Swordsmanship alone? Is she the tool you will use to sever your emotions and break through to the fourth level?¡±


    Chu Nanping was slightly stunned by thisment. He did have a ¡®tool¡¯ in mind, but it had always been Xu Xiaoyi ever since he was eleven years old. It was not until the one-eyed man pointed it out that he suddenly realized that his best ¡®friend¡¯ had be the girl in front of him.


    As a matter of fact, his friendship with Xu Xiaoyi had alreadye to an end naturally. The two had walked further and further apart, to the point that they could only see an obscure outline of each other. They still treasured their former feelings but neither of them intended on reluctantly maintaining them.


    Chu Nanping had been trying to break through the fourth level this whole time, but it was also under the one-eyed man¡¯s questioning that he suddenly found that he had lost interest in such a goal. ¡°No.¡± He hesitated for a moment before exining his answer. ¡°I¡¯m not in love with her and she isn¡¯t a tool either. This is the end of the Emotionless Swordsmanship, as I will not practice it anymore.¡±


    The one-eyed man looked at Chu Nanping with his mouth agape as if a miser had heard that someone was giving away his great fortune without any reasons. ¡°You¡¯ll be a disciple of the Essence Pavilion after all.¡±


    ¡°No, I won¡¯t.¡±


    Tie Linglong, who was listening aside, felt puzzled and also a little shy. ¡°Let me kill him.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not necessary.¡±


    ¡°Why? They are masters hired by the Khan; do you want to leave him alive so that he can tell on us?¡±


    ¡°Will you tell on us?¡± asked Chu Nanping.


    ¡°Huh.¡± Tie Linglongughed aloud. She was just about to tell Chu Nanping that he would not get the truth with such a question when the one-eyed man lying on the ground said without hesitation, ¡°Yes.¡±


    With his head lowered, Chu Nanping thought for a moment before speaking to Tie Linglong, ¡°But you still can¡¯t kill him.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just gonna let him go?¡±


    Chu Nanping turned around, drew his sword, and stabbed out, killing in an instant. ¡°From now on, I¡¯ll kill you for you.¡±


    Tie Linglong felt despised and proudly raised her head, before dering, ¡°Do you think my kung fu is so poor that I¡¯m not qualified to kill?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Chu Nanping¡¯s voice was unexpectedly soft. ¡°Rather, because you are kind-hearted and always regret it after killing.¡±


    Tie Linglong¡¯s killing aura grew heavier once again. ¡°I just killed three freaks and I don¡¯t feel regretful at all.¡±


    ¡°This is not who you are.¡±


    Tie Linglong frowned. The teenage boy in front of her was all good except that the words he said were always mystifying and he still seemed under the influence of the Essence Pavilion. Rolling her eyes, she asked, ¡°There are a lot of people I want to kill.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll kill all of them for you.¡±


    ¡°What if I want to kill the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Same.¡±


    Chu Nanping¡¯s answer was so definite that Tie Linglong was actually startled. She stared into his eyes for a while and said with her lips curled, ¡°You won¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Neither will you.¡±


    Tie Linglong looked a little fidgety. ¡°I¡¯m really tired after talking with you. I almost forgot what I said. Let¡¯s go. The Dragon King might be killed by someone if we are a bitte.¡±


    The two were just in time to catch thest batch of kung fu practitioners who were heading towards the pce. So they took two horses from the roadside and galloped northward, and just happened to run into Shangguan Fei and Old Man Mu who were practicing by killing people.


    Old Man Mu disliked all the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall. He looked the green-eyed little girl up and down and said, ¡°It¡¯s not right, it¡¯s not right at all.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s not right?¡± Tie Linglong withdrew her left hand into her sleeve and could take out her dagger at any moment.


    ¡°Han Wuxian has always only let the sessfully trained disciples wander Jianghu while she kills those semi-finished products. You are a semi-finished product, so why are out here?¡±


    Tie Linglong was so angry that she smiled instead. ¡°You must be Old Man Mu?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. So, Han Wuxian mentioned me? The people of the Waning Moon Hall are all heartless, and your Hall Leader is the leader of heartlessness. But she¡¯s not that heartless to me.¡± Old Man Mu was quite proud of himself.


    Tie Linglong turned to Chu Nanping, ¡°This is the man I want to kill. You can do it now.¡±


    Old Man Mu helplessly watched the long sword rush at his chest. He wasn¡¯t familiar with Chu Nanping but the handsome young boy he remembered hadn¡¯t been so violent. How could he act at once without a word? Even the Dragon King couldn¡¯t change his face so quickly.


    Old Man Mu had a quick mind. He immediately thought of ten ways to dodge the sword, four of which he could even fiercely counterattack from. But with his current internal energy, he couldn¡¯t use any of them, so he could only resort to his eleventh ¡®unique skill¡¯ ¡ª plopping down on his knees and begged, ¡°Miss, have mercy on me please!¡±


    Chu Nanping¡¯s longsword stopped barely an inch from his forehead.


    ¡°Have mercy?¡±


    ¡°Heh heh, I was being stupid and just put my foot in my mouth. More than a decade ago, the Waning Moon Hall always drove their disciples mad, but now it¡¯s different. Hall Leader Han has great foresight by helping to build a good foundation for the disciples¡¯ martial arts skills except for teaching them the secret arts. As soon as I saw the youngdy, I knew your kung fu skills must be good enough to wander in Jianghu.¡±


    ¡°No matter how good I am at kung fu, I don¡¯t need to show you any mercy.¡±


    ¡°But Hall Leader Han certainly wants me alive. Heehee, I¡¯m wondering if she ever mentioned that I¡¯ve made a small contribution to the martial arts of the Waning Moon Hall. Well, I¡¯ve actually put in a lot of sweat rather than effort. By the way, you can ask Lotus. She¡¯s always wanted to capture me alive and present me to your Hall Leader.¡±


    Tie Linglong did not seem to believe what he was saying. Shangguan Fei, who had just recovered from the panic, thought that Old Man Mu could not die now, so he ventured to speak for him. ¡°I can prove that Lotus has had several chances to kill ¡­ Old Man Mu, but never did it.¡±


    Tie Linglong wasn¡¯t ignorant of the things that happened around the Dragon King, so her actions were more to test if Chu Nanping would really kill Old Man Mu. ¡°I¡¯ll spare your life, as long as you follow me to the Waning Moon Hallter.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s for sure.¡± Old Man Mu calmly stood up, having neither the concepts of being a senior nor feeling shame after kneeling down to beg for mercy. ¡°I also miss your Hall Leader a lot. How is she? Has she be younger and prettier than before? Over the years, I have collected a lot of new martial arts findings and am preparing to have a good conversation with her.¡±


    Shangguan Fei became more and more respectful to Old Man Mu, thinking that he was not following the wrong person and that sooner orter he would have to learn both his ability to kill and skill of being shameless.


    Chu Nanping put away his long sword as if nothing had happened and asked, ¡°Are you also going to the pce to help the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Old Man Mu and Shangguan Fei answered in unison while exchanging a nce. Both of them were satisfied with each other¡¯s answer. Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t forget to exin, saying, ¡°It was all a misunderstanding. I knew you two were experts as soon as I saw you from afar and I thought you were the assassins sent by one of the kings.¡±


    Without thinking too much, Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong urged the old and the young to get on the horses and move on.


    The two who wanted to follow behind quietly to practice killing followed them into the northern forbidden zone just like this. With a guilty conscience, they did not dare to ask anything and therefore, werepletely unaware that those two teenagers wanted to save the Dragon King simply because they had listened to a threat and didn¡¯t actually have a clear n.


    Shangguan Fei finally asked when they had caught up with therge number of kung fu practitioners ahead, ¡°Little Chu, do you know where the Dragon King is?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Chu Nanping never lied.


    ¡°He¡¯s not in a crowded ce for sure. We used to be his bodyguards¡­ Anyway, we know his habits and we¡¯ll find him soon.¡±


    The Dragon King usually liked to lurk on the periphery of the crowd but the four didn¡¯t find any clue even after going around in a big circle. Instead, they only saw a dozen or so timid followers who immediately jumped into the grass like rabbits at the sight of their approach.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Was that one-eyed man a liar?¡± Tie Linglong said that she didn¡¯t want to see the Dragon King but she appeared more impatient than anyone else when they didn¡¯t find him.


    She was not the only one toin. Those thousand or so kung fu practitioners were moving more and more slowly, and many of them were simply walking alongside their horses now.


    It was a good sign that there were no guards in the northern forbidden zone but the closer they got to the pce, the more nervous the crowd became, and the more eagerly they wanted to elect a leader.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the Dragon King? Why hasn¡¯t he shown up yet?¡± Most people who said this were from the Western Regions.


    ¡°Where are the nine famous sects? Where are all those kung fu masters?¡± People of the Central ins held more faith in the eminent martial artists of their own country.


    ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t that someone from the Qingcheng Sect?¡±


    ¡°Kongdong Sect!¡±


    ¡°Taishan Sect!¡±


    Before long, the kung fu practitioners of the Central ins had divided into over a dozen groups, each following a different leader.


    There were not many sabermen from the Western Regions, only about three hundred people. Some of them joined the small groups of the Central ins while the others persisted in searching for the Dragon King or golden roc killers.


    The four of them gave up hanging around the periphery and tried to find some information in the crowd. And soon they found arge group of sabermen gathering around them.


    ¡°Shangguan Fei¡­¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s subordinate, he also won the warrior contest two days in a row ¡­¡±


    ¡°The Unique King¡¯s son ¡­¡±


    ¡°He killed a bunch of people in one punch ¡­¡±


    Before Shangguan Fei could react, he had be the leader of the sabermen of the Western Regions, without anyone asking for his opinion. In short, there were more than a hundred people following him everywhere he went.


    With the help of the firelight, Old Man Mu saw an acquaintance among the small groups of the Central ins. ¡°Red Bat, why are you here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯vee to look for the Dragon King.¡±


    Red Bat, together with the ten guards of the Dragon King, hade with the hostage, Dao Lun. They didn¡¯t expect that Dao Lun would somehow assume the leading role. Just like Shangguan Fei, Dao Lun had arge group of followers as soon as he was identified.


    Old Man Mu didn¡¯t like the scene, so he whispered to Shangguan Fei, ¡°We¡¯ve got big trouble. We won¡¯t be able run awayter even if we want to.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, what if these guys keep following us?¡±


    ¡°No, they are following you, not us, so ¡­¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t go.¡± Shangguan Fei objected before Old Man Mu could even say it.


    Old Man Mu was just about to force Shangguan Fei to ept it when a loud noise came from ahead. ¡°It¡¯s started! No cavalry! No cavalry!¡±


    The crowd broke into a feverish excitement and rushed forward like the advancing tide. Shangguan Fei couldn¡¯t get away and in a blink of an eye, he had lost track of Old Man Mu.


    Although Old Man Mu didn¡¯t have much internal energy left now, it was still easy for him to escape from a crowd of disorderly sabermen.


    So he was the first to break away from the main crowd. But before he could take a long breath, he also became the first to findrge groups of cavalry advancing from the rear and nk. Without any torches, the cavalry moved like a great serpent in the dark night and was rapidly encircling its prey.

 Chapter 611 - Choices

    Chapter 611: Choices


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    When the cavalry first arrived, many people assumed that they were helpers.


    It wasn¡¯t entirely fair to me these kung fu practitioners for being careless. They were not gullible fools but rather martial artists who strictly followed the rules of Jianghu. They only trusted the news they heard from their friends. Otherwise, even the senior officials of Nond who had invited them here in person would be severely questioned and doubted.


    The arrows fired by the tens of thousands of Nond Cavalry poured down in torrents, forcing the crowd to move closer to the center. Soon, nearly a thousand people were huddled into a ball. Panicking, they didn¡¯t understand how things could have turned out this way. They were actually working for the kings of the Nond, so why were they under siege?


    The cavalry stopped just outside the area filled with arrows and didn¡¯t continue their offensive, which reassured the besieged martial artists a bit, allowing them to finally find out the truth.


    So, one after another, the ¡®friends¡¯ of the ¡®friends¡¯ were exposed. In the end, they all pointed to the kung fu masters from several well-known sects of the Central ins, signifying that they had been the ones to first spread the news and promise with an assurance that the operation was perfectly justified and risk-free.


    There were, in total, nine famous sects in the martial arts world of the Central ins, seven of which had sent disciples to the Nond. They had then changed their names to be an honored guest of the kings. They had witnessed and participated in the chaos of the fight for the throne. Therefore, when the kings hinted that the Khan was already dead and that they needed outsiders to remove the ¡®masters,¡¯ they immediately felt it was fifty or sixty percent credible. When they learned that the news was confirmed by the others kings who were extremely opposed to each other, the news became eighty or ny percent credible.


    The appearance of the cavalry, however, proved that everything was a hoax.


    The dozens of disciples of the seven sects quickly became the targets of public criticism, and the recriminations were far tenser than the arrow rain of the Nond Cavalry.


    The reaction of the seven sects was very fast, who soon all gathered together to strengthen themselves. After stabilizing the panicking crowd, they selected a representative to talk to the soldiers to find out what was going on. When they found out that themander in chief was King Shengri, they finally understood that this could not be a misunderstanding.


    Among the ten kings of the Nond, only this alcoholic and bird-lover had never hired a kung fu expert from the Central ins or the Western Regions.


    King Shengri watched all this from a distance. These people had already fallen into his snare. No matter how they struggled, there was no way for them to escape. It would be too boring to just shoot them to death; he had a much better method in mind.


    ¡°Your Majesty, there must be a misunderstanding. We are loyal to the Nond.¡± The representatives of the seven sects were in the midst of ¡®struggling¡¯ for thest time.


    King Shengri snorted. Half of these kung fu experts of the Central ins hade to fish in troubled waters and the other half wanted to bring back the Khan¡¯s head for a big reward from the Emperor of the Central ins. How could they possibly be loyal?


    ¡°Loyalty cannot be achieved by mere talk. You have to show it.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°If you want to prove yourself a wolf, go kill a few cows and sheep. If you want to show your loyalty to the Nond, kill all of the people from the Central ins for me. The more you kill, the more loyal you are. Do it now, as I¡¯ll only keep thest fifty people.¡±


    Everyone was stupefied when the news spread through to the core of the crowd. The Nond actually wanted them to kill each other to demonstrate their loyalty. But there were nearly a thousand people who were either friends or fellow disciples. How could they do such a thing?


    Dozens of sabermen from the Western Regions suddenly threw away their weapons and ran towards the outside, shouting, ¡°We are not from the Central ins.¡±


    The answer of the Nond calvary was a round of shots, telling the group of sabermen that they were not from Nond either.


    More than a dozen people fell to the ground. Those who wanted to break out of the circle immediately dispelled the idea from their minds. Faced with tens of thousands of bows, even immortals could not escape.


    It was already impossible to run away. Mutual suspicion among the crowd was getting worse. Everyone felt that they had been tricked by their ¡®friends¡¯. So those whom they had felt reluctant to attack were now the most damnable person.


    The killing covertly began. No one talked about showing loyalty, and instead the pretexts they used were something like ¡®tricking me into this death operation,¡¯ ¡®borrowing too much money from me,¡¯ and ¡®staring at me for no reason¡¯.


    The cavalry of the Northern forbidden zone had started many torches and they now lit up the northern forbidden zone as if it were daylight. But King Shengri still felt that it was not clear enough. If not for fear of his own personal safety, he would have run to the inner circle to watch it more closely.


    There was a tendency for the killing to spread into melee range, but King Shengri¡¯s excitement did notst long. People of the Central ins always seemed able to find a way to make rules quickly even in the face of danger. Although the seven major sects had lost their credibility, there were still other prominent figures who stood out to stop the meaningless ughter and instead turn it into a rotating kung fupetition.


    King Shengri was bored and wanted to force the prey to fight more fiercely. But he soon changed his mind and thought that it wouldn¡¯t bad this way as the killing would continue until dawn, at which point he could see it more clearly. He only sent one message to the crowd: those who acted earlier were more loyal to the Nond.


    Old Man Mu had at least achieved one of his purposes; Shangguan Fei could now kill at will.


    He didn¡¯t run away. If it was the old him, he was sure to safely break through the horse hooves even when facing ten times the cavalry. But now he was too weak to do what he wished and had no choice but to rely on the protection of others.


    Shangguan Fei tried to exin that he was the Dragon King¡¯s man and was not an aplice of these conspirators, but he only received contemptuous replies from the underlings of King Shengri. ¡°Who is the Dragon King? There¡¯s no such king in the Nond.¡±


    After being forced by Old Man Mu, he could only join in on the kung fupetition. One round after another, until he had killed nine people in a row. At the end, he was so bloody that no one dared challenge him again.


    This was the situation that Gu Shenwei and the four elders of the Jade Pure Sect had arrived at. It was just dawn but nearly a hundred people had already been killed. King Shengri also issued the order to put out all the torches and was ready to apply more pressure to make the killing be bloodier.


    The Dragon King was exactly the man he wanted.


    ¡°Why are my men trapped in there?¡± Gu Shenwei asked, already understanding the general situation at heart.


    King Shengri made a surprised expression as he exined, ¡°Dragon King¡¯s men are also in there? How did this happen? They¡¯ve disgraced the Dragon King by taking part in the rebellion behind your back.¡±


    The four elders of the Jade Pure Sect also saw Dao Lun but didn¡¯t dare to utter a sound. Instead, they moved aside to hide behind the cavalry.


    ¡°There must be some misunderstanding. Let theme out to exin themselves.¡±


    King Shengri sat on his horse and looked at the two hunchbacks leading the way before turning to the Dragon King and smilingly saying, ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t let them out no matter if there¡¯s a misunderstanding or not. This is the order of the Khan. I¡¯m not as bold as the Dragon King¡¯s men who dared to disobey the Khan¡¯s orders.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to see the Khan.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t mention the truce between him and the Nond because that would be a waste of time and energy. The ones who surrounded Shangguan Fei was the Nond Cavalry but those who were fighting were the kung fu practitioners of the Central ins and the Western Regions.


    ¡°The Khan also would love to meet the Dragon King. But the Dragon King has to undergo a test first. As for the reason, I think you know why. There will only be experts left in the circleter. When the timees, the Dragon King will be called upon to help the Khan kill the usurpers. You don¡¯t have to kill too many; ten people will be enough.¡±


    King Shengri then turned to the four elders of the Jade Pure Sect but this time there was no smile on his face. ¡°So too for you all.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve seen the Khan, and our loyalty has already been verified.¡± Afraid and angry, Dao Nian could barely keep hisposure.


    ¡°As long as you¡¯re not a man of Nond, you have to be tested again. No exceptions. And you¡¯ve brought an outsider inside without permission, so I don¡¯t think you¡¯re as loyal as you proim to be.¡±


    ¡°What about them? The people of the Essence Pavilion are also not from Nond.¡± The tall Dao Xiu pointed to the two hunchbacks and questioned, appearing more defiant than his senior brother.


    Although they were all the masters hired by the Khan, thepetition between them was quite fierce.


    ¡°We¡¯ll kill, too,¡± One of the hunchbacks said.


    ¡°And we¡¯ll definitely kill more than you,¡± said the other hunchback.


    It wasn¡¯t just the Dragon King and the people of the Jade Pure Sect who had been called to prove their loyalty. Not long after, more and more people were brought there. There were seven sects who had been more cautious and left some of their disciples behind to not attendst night¡¯s operation. Like the Dragon King, they could only watch their fellow disciples being trapped as they stood there at a loss for what to do. They didn¡¯t even dare ask for mercy.


    The cavalry made a wider passageway. There were now in total thirty-seven kung fu experts who had to make a choice between the Nond and theirpanions.


    The people were all present now. King Shengri was very happy because this was the wonderful show he had been looking forward to for a long time. ¡°Everyone.¡± He spoke to the thirty-seven kung fu experts as if he were chatting freely. ¡°I have no doubt of your loyalty. You can treat the killing as a test or as due diligence. The Nond simply needs you to show your saber and sword skill, as the Khan admires blood-stained soldiers. So, this is actually your chance to win honor and glory.¡±


    The besieged had seen their acquaintances and fellow disciples on the outside and couldn¡¯t help but hope that they could save them. So they stoppedpeting in their kung fupetition one by one. While not daring to rush out, they all shouted out where they were.


    Old Man Mu and Shangguan Fei had noticed the Dragon King long ago so they shouted louder than anyone else, ¡°Dragon King, we are here to help you. Somehow we¡¯ve been trapped here. Get us out of here please.¡±


    None of the thirty-seven kung fu experts responded.


    The hope of the besieged gradually turned into confusion, and then into anger. Someone started cursing loudly, some sighed, and only Old Man Mu nodded with admiration. ¡°I always thought that the Dragon King was shameless, but it seems that I underestimated him. See, all the others are lowering their heads and pretending to hear nothing. Only the Dragon King holds his head high and doesn¡¯t feel embarrassed at all.¡±


    ¡°Ahh, won¡¯t the Dragon King save us?¡± The nervous Shangguan Fei tried hard to get up only to fall down again.


    ¡°Rubbish. If you are standing outside, will you risk your life to save the people inside?¡± Although Old Man Mu didn¡¯t want to die, he didn¡¯t take it to heart. ¡°Try to kill as many as you canter and be one of thest fifty people.¡±


    Shangguan Fei felt that he was going to vomit. He looked back at Chu Nanping, Red Bat and the Dragon King¡¯s guards, who appeared even calmer than Old Man Mu. It seemed that the heartlessness of the Dragon King was a normal thing to them.


    Only Tie Linglong, who stood behind Chu Nanping, snorted coldly.


    Dao Lun, who had lost his long beard, didn¡¯t give up hope. The five elders of the Jade Pure Sect had been practicing martial arts together since they were little. And they had been friends for more than decades. So Dao Lun believed that their friendship was unusual and unbreakable, so he still kept calling out ¡®senior brother¡¯.


    Dao Nian¡¯s anger suddenly red up. Was his junior brother a fool? Couldn¡¯t he see how dangerous the situation was? Why did he have to shout so loudly to get the other four into trouble?


    ¡°Dao Lun.¡± Dao Nian came out of the crowd and snapped, ¡°How dare you call me your senior brother? The Khan has treated you well and yet you took part in the rebellion without telling us. Do you still want us to forgive you?¡±


    Dao Lun¡¯s expression immediately changed. Dumbfounded, he stood motionless there and couldn¡¯t even believe his ears. Old Man Mu patted him twice on the waist as he said, ¡°Wee to the real Jade Pure Sect.¡±


    Since Dao Nian had yed a leading role, the other kung fu experts began to berate their besieged partners vehemently with a distinctly moral tone one after another. They only wanted to show that they knew nothing of the rebellion and they were loyal to the Nond and the Khan.


    King Shengri watched the first climax of the show contentedly and imagined the rest of the scene. ¡°All right, the fight continues. Before lunch, only the truly loyal ones will be left here, and the Khan¡­¡±


    King Shengri¡¯s well-prepared speech was cut short by an ident.


    Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the Dragon King started walking towards the inner circle neither fast nor slow as if the tens of thousands of cavalry did not exist.

 Chapter 612 - Release

    Chapter 612: Release


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    As he stared at the Dragon King¡¯s back, King Shengri was both amazed and shocked to the point that he could not speak for a long while, as if the Dragon King¡¯s were ame joke and he would turn around at any moment.


    Of the thirty-seven kung fu experts standing outside the siege, King Shengri thought that the Dragon King was the least likely to subvert his orders.


    The reason was simple. It was just a simple personal choice for other people, but the Dragon King was responsible for the future of the tens of thousands soldiers of the Dragon Army and therefore, it was normal for him to abandon a dozen or so underlings.


    King Shengri had once been held hostage by the Dragon King, so he was on the lookout for a surprise attack and had ced several real kung fu masters from the Nond among themon cavalry. He didn¡¯t expect that the trap he had set beforehand would turn out to be useless.


    The four elders of the Jade Pure Sect found the Dragon King¡¯s behavior particrly uneptable. But they didn¡¯t want to appear morally inferior, and especially didn¡¯t want topletely lose all chances of solving the hidden danger within their bodies. ¡°The Dragon King is ying tricks,¡± said Dao Nian with great certainty to King Shengri.


    Even the people on the other side did not believe it. Most of the Central ins¡¯ people didn¡¯t even know the Dragon King. When they saw a pale-faced maning towards them, they thought that he was a servant of King Shengri, who wasing over to urge everyone to continue fighting.


    ¡°The Dragon King is here to show his loyalty.¡± Old Man Mu proposed his most likely guess. If he were in the Dragon King¡¯s position, he would have done this for sure. ¡°Smart move. It¡¯s better to be proactive than to be forced to fight. If you wanna be shameless, you should not hesitate.¡±


    As soon as he finished saying these words, Old Man Mu immediately turned around and dove into the crowd. He did not want to stand in the first row and be the Dragon King¡¯s target.


    Woosh. Arge fan-shaped gap appeared in front of the Dragon King. Only a dozen or so people remained motionless in their ces.


    Chu Nanping didn¡¯t move, as he nodded at the Dragon King and said, ¡°I found Tie Linglong.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded back, ¡°Good.¡± Then he passed by the teenager, turning a blind eye to the little girl behind him.


    Tie Linglong also turned her head and sealed her lips, her hands still tucked in her sleeves.


    Neither did the ten guards of the Dragon King move. They drew out their weapons and raised them high at the same time to show respect to the Dragon King. They were all swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain, who never believed that their leader would abandon them in the first ce.


    Red Bat, who was standing in front of the guards, looked both a little excited and confused. The Dragon King just happened to stop in front of her.


    ¡°Starting with the women, huh. The Dragon King is really fierce,¡± Old Man Mu whispered to Shangguan Fei who was only half a pace behind him.


    ¡°The Dragon King hase for his weapons.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s guess was more urate. After a moment of panic, Red Bat finally remembered that she had the Five Peaks Saber and Dragon Head Sword with her, and her purpose here was to return them to their owner. She anxiously took them out and presented the swords to him with both hands. Then she lowered her head, wanting to say something but remaining silent in the end. She was not as confident as the swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain.


    Gu Shenwei hung the weapons by his waist and felt much relieved. Then he ordered, ¡°Come with me.¡±


    Red Bat followed closely behind with the ten guards. Chu Nanping walked in the right rear of the Dragon King, and Tie Linglong, who was hesitating a little, walked in the left rear. These were their old positions.


    Shangguan Fei became anxious. ¡°What should we do now? The Dragon King doesn¡¯t seem to want to kill anyone.¡±


    ¡°Idiot, he¡¯s going to take his men to the people of the Nond so that they can see it more clearly.¡±


    The people of the Central ins and the Nond were all whispering and nine out of ten people were thinking the same as Old Man Mu. But Old Man Mu himself became hesitant now. The Dragon King had always acted unexpectedly, so who knew if he had another n this time?


    The Dragon King and his party had walked a dozen paces when Old Man Mu frowned, gnashed his teeth, stamped his feet, leaped out of the crowd, and shouted, ¡°Wait for me!¡±


    Shangguan Fei followed Old Man Mu in every move. ¡°And me!¡±


    The more he watched, the more King Shengri thought that things were not quite what he had thought they were. ¡°What the hell? Prepare to shoot.¡±


    Hundreds of sharp arrows were aimed and drawn at the small group of people approaching them, yet the four elders of the Jade Pure Sect couldn¡¯t help but move several steps back.


    Gu Shenwei paused and said with a loud voice, ¡°I have Immortal Peng¡¯s secret manual and he has the manual for practicing the Emotionless Swordsmanship alone. Come and get it if you want.¡±


    During theirst meeting, it was clear that King Shengri had been manipted by the disciples of the Essence Pavilion. And the people of the Essence Pavilion were most concerned about two things, which were the roll of paper taken away by Gu Shenwei before Immortal Peng had died and the method Chu Nanping had identally discovered to practice the Emotionless Swordsmanship alone. Gu Shenwei, therefore, believed that King Shengri would also be touched by them.


    Once Old Man Mu and Shangguan Fei decided to follow the Dragon King, they approached him much more closely than the others and heaved a sigh of relief at the same time. One of the two said, ¡°So Dragon King had something to rely on afterall.¡± The other said, ¡°Do not hand them over easily, Dragon King. You gotta ckmail them.¡±


    Looking on from afar, King Shengri lowered his head and seemed to seek advice from the two hunchbacks of the Essence Pavilion. But when he raised his head, the words he spat out were, ¡°Release the arrows!¡±


    Old Man Mu and Shangguan Fei were shocked and immediately wanted to run away, but they were too close to the Dragon King and were almost under his nose. Gu Shenwei took a nce at them, and the two immediately froze in ce and couldn¡¯t move a step no matter how much they wanted.


    Upon seeing the flying arrows, even though the surrounded crowd knew that they were not the target, they still retreated uncontrobly and the small circle became even more crowded.


    The Dragon King didn¡¯t move, and neither did the guards behind him. Only Old Man Mu and Shangguan Fei took half a step back to stand between the Dragon King, Chu Nanping, and Tie Linglong.


    It was a tentative bluffing shot. The cavalry officers had understood the king¡¯s real intentions. More than a thousand arrows fell in a narrow area about five paces in front of the Dragon King, standing erect like grass that had suddenly sprouted.


    The Nond Cavalry had shown their excellent archery. The others saw this scene and it only caused their heart to be flustered. Only Red Bat sincerely admired it. This female soldier from the Land of Fragrance had also practiced the bow and crossbow but her skills were far from being as refined as those of the people of the Nond.


    One officer rode forward and shouted, ¡°The Khan¡¯s descendants do not ept threats. Please retreat, Dragon King. One more step, and the arrows won¡¯t have eyes.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was sixty or seventy percent sure that King Shengri didn¡¯t dare to really shoot him but he didn¡¯t want to risk it. ¡°If you don¡¯t take any threats, then let¡¯s follow the rules of the Nond and have a kung fupetition. If I lose, the manuals and lives are all at your disposal. If I win, King Shengri should release me and my men.¡±


    King Shengri consulted with his entourage and nodded. The officer in the front immediately said, ¡°All right. Dragon King. Please move back to make room for thepetition. One round per life.¡±


    The previouspetition was to kill until thest fifty people were left, but now winning one game could save one person. King Shengri had actually made a great concession. The Dragon King¡¯s image immediately grewrger. Many kung fu practitioners greatly envied the subordinates of the Dragon King and regretted not joining the Dragon Army earlier.


    Old Man Mu was not satisfied and jumped out to argue, whining, ¡°Unfair, it¡¯s unfair. We have over a dozen people, so should we let the Dragon King fight more than a dozen times? Let¡¯s decide on one go, with the winner taking all!¡±


    Without even asking King Shengri for directions, the officer simply replied, ¡°Old Man Mu is not in the pool. He humiliated the Khan¡¯s family and must pay the price today.¡±


    ¡°Hey, hey, even King Rizhu spared me. Who do you think you are to spew bullshit here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the brother of King Rizhu¡¯s princess consort.¡± With that being said, the officer rode back to the soldiers.


    Old Man Mu winked andined in a low voice, ¡°When will this be over? Will the princess consort¡¯s bastard son alsoe to me to avenge her in a couple of days? It¡¯s not me who killed her.¡± When he looked up at the Dragon King, he put on a walnut-like smile and said, ¡°Thank you for saving me just now. I¡¯m too ashamed to say anything now.¡±


    ¡°Then don¡¯t.¡± Gu Shenwei beckoned for the other people to back off while he himself drew his Five Peaks Saber, ready to face the first opponent.


    Old Man Mu still wanted to say something when Shangguan Fei exhorted, ¡°Let the Dragon King focus on thepetition. He¡¯ll find a way to save your life in the end for sure.¡±


    ¡°What if the princess consort¡¯s parents and brothers alle out against me?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all under the Dragon King¡¯s control. You just have to put your hopes on him. The Dragon King won¡¯t give up on anyone, even the most useless man of his, right? Why are you asking for trouble ¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei pushed Old Man Mu away, hoping that the Dragon King would notice his ttery.


    King Shengri took a nce at the thirty or so kung fu experts of the Central ins and said, ¡°Armies are to be maintained for years but used on a single day. Who will be the first to fight for me?¡±


    Those who killed their rtives or friends would eventually bear a heavy burden butpeting with the Dragon King of the Western Regions wouldn¡¯t be such a problem. So the kung fu experts all rushed forward to show their willingness to fight and almost started a brawl in front of the lord.


    King Shengri was very satisfied. Although the Dragon King¡¯s action had been unexpected, it had made the game more interesting. ¡°You go.¡±


    Yang Yingshu of the Qingcheng Sect strode towards the Dragon King with two short halberds.


    He had oncepeted with Chu Nanping under themand of Tuosai, the son of King Riyao. At that time he used the false name ¡®Yang San¡¯ and wielded dual swords. Now that his identity had been revealed, there was no need to cover up anymore. Actually, the weapon that he was the most proficient in was a double halberd.


    ¡°I am Yang Yingshu from the Qingcheng Sect. Dragon King, the hatred between us wille to an end today. I won¡¯t let the Xia brothers and senior brother Gu die in vain.¡±


    Old Man Mu put his worries aside for the moment and began to educate Shangguan Fei on the spot, ¡°You see, the people of the Central ins are really good at talking. Instead of trying to save his fellow disciples that are still alive, he is trying to avenge the dead and is speaking with fervor and assurance. This is also a kind of freedom. It¡¯s a bit low-leveled, but at least it can help reduce his self-reproach.¡±


    Shangguan Fei nodded approvingly.


    Upon hearing these words, Yang Yingshu blushed slightly but didn¡¯t move his eyes from the Dragon King.


    ¡°s, he¡¯s just one step short of sess. His level drops a bit when he blushed. It¡¯s really a pity.¡± Old Man Mu shook his head.


    ¡°Let mepete in the first round,¡± Chu Nanping requested.


    Zhang Ji had once said that a king should not abase himself to attend the warrior contest and Gu Shenwei agreed with him. But today was different. It would be very important for him toe forward and save the lives of all his subordinates.


    ¡°No, this guy is easy to deal with.¡±


    Yang Yingshu was both impatient and irritable. For one thing, he felt that it was a disgrace to openly fight for the Nond. For another thing, he was very concerned about his own life. He was, therefore, eager to finish this quickly so that he could render some outstanding services to King Shengri and perhaps even take advantage of that opportunity to rescue some of his fellow disciples of the Qingcheng Sect.


    Being impetuous, greedy, andcking any nning, he hadmitted all the taboos of a kung fupetition. Even so, the audiences both inside and outside were still astounded when he wasn¡¯t able to block the Dragon King¡¯s saber in the first exchange. He threw his halberds down, wed at his throat, and slowly fell down.


    It was from this moment on that the fame of the Dragon King would spread among the people of the Central ins, but it would take a few more months for it to reach the Central ins.


    King Shengri¡¯s face darkened. These so-called kung fu experts of the Central ins boasted loudly when rmending themselves, but he didn¡¯t expect them to be so vulnerable.


    The herald admired the Dragon King very much, as could be seen when he rode forward and said, ¡°The Dragon King can let one person go.¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned around and looked at his fifteen subordinates.


    Shangguan Fei looked excited. The Dragon King had won so fast that he didn¡¯t even have any time to cheer for him, so he could only mutter in his heart, ¡°Choose me please.¡±


    ¡°You.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s eyes fell on Tie Linglong instead.


    Tie Linglong stubbornly raised her head. She wanted to say that she was not his subordinate and didn¡¯t need him to save her but she quickly understood the meaning of the Dragon King¡¯s eyes. Although they had not interacted for over a year and she was full of resentment towards him, she still had a tacit understanding with the Dragon King as she did before, which was one of the lessons she had learned as a bodyguard.


    She had to find Lotus, and the Dragon King¡¯s message could not be clearer: only Lotus could save all of them.

 Chapter 613 - Crushing

    Chapter 613: Crushing


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    In total, the Dragon King¡¯s party had fifteen people, which were the Dragon King and his fourteen subordinates, which meant there were fifteenpetitions waiting ahead.


    King Shengri felt that he didn¡¯t need to be in a rush. Looking at the slightly panicking kung fu experts of the Central ins, he ordered, ¡°I hope the next fighter can be a little more powerful, so as not to make it look so bad.¡±


    More than thirty experts volunteered to fight, but their enthusiasm could not hide the fear lurking in their hearts. The Dragon King¡¯s saber was faster than they had expected. Although Yang Yingshu was not a top disciple of the Qingcheng Sect, he was not mediocre either. They were surprised that he couldn¡¯t even receive a single blow, and now their confidence against the Dragon King had also waned.


    Only a few people knew that the Dragon King¡¯s attacking speed was just one of the causes of Yang Yingshu¡¯s death. The leading cause was his own mistake. He had made the wrong move at the wrong time bypeting in speed with the enemy who was best at attacking quickly, and he had also happened to be distracted and absent-minded, which meant he could only exert sixty to seventy percent of his real kung fu strength.


    All martial arts required the practitioners to cultivate their mind once they reached a certain level. No matter what means one used, how much one had to suffer, one had to remain calm. The contemtion and visualization of Taoism, the meditation of Buddhism, the ughter of Golden Roc Castle, the madness of Waning Moon Hall; they all had the same purpose of calming the mind down. The Qingcheng Sect was no inferior to other sects in this respect. Rather, it was Yang Yingshu who had failed.


    Finally, one of the kung fu experts of the Central ins made up his mind to take practical actions in addition to his lip service. Without the lord¡¯s order, he directly pushed his way through the crowd and walked into the field.


    King Shengri nodded approvingly.


    Some of the subordinates behind Gu Shenwei also found a problem. Puzzled, Chu Nanping murmured to himself, ¡°Why was the Dragon King¡¯s saber slow?¡±


    Everyone felt that the cut the Dragon King had used to kill Yang Yingshu was as fast as lightning except for Chu Nanping. He didn¡¯t think that it was up to the mark and was puzzled because the Dragon King had a firm principle that he would never hide his power and would always treat his enemies as a powerful foe and attack with the fastest speed regardless of the other side¡¯s kung fu level.


    Old Man Mu also noticed this, and he noticed more details than Chu Nanping, whispering, ¡°Is the Dragon King suffering from internal injuries?¡±


    Shangguan Fei was startled to hear this. He kept shaking his head as he said, ¡°No, that¡¯s impossible. Who could inflict internal injuries upon the Dragon King¡­¡± Then he remembered that there really was one person who could do such a thing, the Dragon King himself.


    ¡®If the Dragon King¡¯s Qi deviation breaks out at a critical moment¡­¡¯ Shangguan Fei did not dare to think further. He looked at the Dragon King¡¯s guards and sighed in his heart. Based on his status in the Dragon King¡¯s mind, he probably wouldn¡¯t be rescued until thest or the secondst. King Shengri seemed well-prepared and the experts he was sending out could only be stronger and stronger, and thus no one knew how long the Dragon King wouldst.


    Among the trapped subordinates, there was no Lotus, Shangguan Ru, or any generals who could influence the whole situation, so why the Dragon King was willing to stand up for them? Shangguan Fei mulled over this thought again and again, all the while in disbelief that this was the leader of the Dragon Army he had once thought he knew.


    Chu Nanping and Old Man Mu were right. Gu Shenwei really had be slower in his moves. And it was not just that, but he had almost exhausted all of his internal Qi in thest blow.


    The Death Sutra Swordsmanship didn¡¯t have a high requirement for the practitioner¡¯s internal energy. He and Lotus could stillunch fierce attacks when they were still weak in terms of internal Qi several years ago. But the improvement of their internal energy did bring them benefits. Although there was no limit to improving one¡¯s attack speed, the practitioner needed lots of internal Qi to improve it by just a small level after reaching a certain level.


    The broken meridians had not yet recovered, and the out of whack yin and yang internal Qi had barelypleted one cirction in his body, bringing great pain to their master. From head to toe, Gu Shenwei felt that all of his acupoints were violently pulsating as if they could explode at any moment.


    But Gu Shenwei endured the pain. Like a child who could taste some sweetness from the bitter pills, he had also gained some benefits.


    The internal Qi ran through the broken meridians like a stone wheel crushing through a rough road, a bumpy ride yet one that also ttened the road as it rolled.


    Gu Shenwei had conceived of this method after seeing the two hunchbacks of the Essence Pavilion. He had tried the Daoless Divine Power, the Sumeru Mustard Mantra, and the Bnced Power, but none of them could speed up the recovery of the meridians. Another method, therefore, came across his mind when he saw the two.


    The Essence of Perceiving Passion summarized all kinds of martial arts which, of course, included the practice method of internal energy. Gu Shenwei had once sat on the first floor of the Essence Pavilion, sipped bitter tea, and listened to the sound of the crutching from upstairs, and gradually released all his meridians, which was of great help to hister practice.


    Afterwards, he had been so fearful of the experience of almost being controlled, Gu Shenwei had not only given up the Emotionless Swordsmanship but had also forcefully sealed his memories of the Essence of Perceiving Passion, never wanting to touch it again.


    His broken meridians and the timely appearance of the disciples of the Essence Pavilion reminded him of this simple method once again, and he suddenly had a bold idea: instead of driving his internal Qi to smoothly flow through his meridians, he could force it to leap through his acupoints, which was exactly one of the characteristics of the Essence of Perceiving Passion¡¯s training methods.


    He had seeded. The two strands of internal Qi, which were huddling inside his Dantian, had actually circted in a grand circle and helped their master tounch a quick strike. Although the acupoints were beating violently, his meridians were now slightly restored.


    It was an extremely violent remedy, one that ordinary people couldn¡¯t bear, even if they could think of it. Only Gu Shenwei, who had suffered from the pain of Qi deviation for years, could dly endure a churning stomach while showing no traces of pain on the surface. Even the experienced Old Man Mu could not see the torment that the Dragon King was suffering through.


    The next challenger drew near. It was a middle-aged man in his thirties with nted eyebrows, a frowning face, and a longsword. He bowed to the Dragon King without saying a word.


    Being almost powerless, the only thing Old Man Mu could do was to act as a eulogist for the Dragon King. ¡°Who is that that¡¯sing along? State your name,¡± demanded Old Man Mu. ¡°Did you only learn martial arts and no manners in your sect?¡±


    The swordsman slowly shook his head as he replied, ¡°The humble one¡¯s name is not worth mentioning as it can only bring disgrace to my sect. The Dragon King¡¯s righteousness is really admirable. Please enlighten me.¡±


    Old Man Mu turned to the kung fu practitioners of the Central ins and gestured, asking who this fellow was. Many people wanted to please the Dragon King so they immediately gave a lot of answers, which puzzled Old Man Mu even more. By the time he could try to choose one of them to cheat the truth out of the swordsman, the kung fupetition had already begun.


    The nt-browed swordsman had obviously learned a lesson from Yang Yingshu, as he fought steadily and surely from the very first move. He mainly focused on defense and never approached within five steps of the Dragon King. Even if he asionally attacked, it was just probing moves.


    Gu Shenwei moved at a fast pace, also looking for opportunities. The opponent¡¯s sword and bodily movement techniques were not swift, but his judgment was top-notch. As soon as he made a move, the other side was ready to meet him, not blocking or dodging, but rather attacking at the same time even at the expense of being defeated and wounded together with the Dragon King.


    This was the swordsman with nted eyebrows¡¯ way of defense, a simple trade ¡ª a nobody¡¯s life for the Dragon King¡¯s life.


    Gu Shenwei had wandered Jianghu for many years but this was the first time where it seemed impossible to attack. No matter which vital part he stabbed at, he would draw a reactory counterattack from the other side. He was not facing an ordinary kung fu practitioner. The sharp eyes and the direction the sword pointed at all times showed that this nted-eyebrowed man was expert at finding ws.


    Most onlookers didn¡¯t feel the same as the Dragon King. What they saw was a rather boringpetition, in which the two parties kept circling each other while making probing attacks and stances, but without any real shes of saber and sword.


    The Dragon King had shown his speed in the first fight so everyone put the me for the dullness on the nted Eyebrows andined about him.


    Old Man Mu was one of the few people who genuinely agreed with the tactics of the nted Eyebrows, which was why he had to do something to sabotage the match and do the Dragon King a favor.


    ¡°Sour-faced, you can¡¯t be shameless just because you look so ugly. No wonder you didn¡¯t dare to say your name. Your Master must have gone mad watching such a cowardly fighting style as yours.¡± Then he imitated the Master of the nted Eyebrows in a voice dripping with sarcasm, ¡°My disciple, our rabbit sect is a famous sect of the Central ins, so how did I take a rat like you as my disciple¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei had not yet learned Old Man Mu¡¯s ways of humiliating others, so he could only seize the moment to echo. ¡°Exactly, exactly.¡±


    The nted Eyebrows was moreposed than Old Man Mu had imagined, as he turned a deaf ear to the insults and remained on the defensive instead of taking the offensive. He waspeting in patience with the Dragon King.


    Old Man Mu wouldn¡¯t admit defeat that easily. Seeing that he was unable to irritate the nted Eyebrows, he immediately changed the object of his satire. ¡°King Shengri, I really worry for you. The Sour-faced said that he was loyal to the Nond and the Khan but he was not even willing to reveal his real identity. Obviously, he¡¯s hiding something from you. Ahh, I see. It¡¯s called the Battered-Body Trick, pretending to be helpless and miserable to gain trust while secretly looking for a chance to kill the lord. Tut tut, If the old Khan dies at his hand, King Shengri can go to the Central ins to receive a reward.¡±


    Upon hearing Old Man Mu¡¯s words, King Shengri, who alreadycked trust in the kung fu experts of the Central ins, became more suspicious. And what he wanted to see was a neat and swift killing, not the conservative style of the nted Eyebrows.


    ¡°What sect is this man from?¡±


    Some of the kung fu experts knew the background of the nted Eyebrows but didn¡¯t directly answer. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Your Highness, please calm down. This man is good at counter-attacking. He will kill the Dragon King soon.¡±


    ¡°How soon is soon? He is representing the Nond right now, not his own sect. And a prairie man doesn¡¯t y so slowly.¡±


    The man pleaded guilty again before returning to the field, raising his voice and ordering, ¡°Junior brother, don¡¯t wait any longer.¡±


    The nted Eyebrows¡¯ heart trembled. He didn¡¯t expect that the most effective tactic would be ruined by the hands of his own allies.


    The long sword thrust like the snake¡¯s tongue. The slowish nted Eyebrows proved that he was also good at a speed attack.


    But the Dragon King was also very fast. The two exchanged a move and retreated at the same time, now ten steps apart.


    Few people could say exactly who was faster. King Shengri was perplexed; his interest had just been roused and he was about to call out ¡®bravo¡¯ before thepetition surprisingly stopped. ¡°What happened?¡±


    The master who was speaking for the nted Eyebrows sadly lowered his head. ¡°The Dragon King won.¡±


    The nted Eyebrows flopped onto the ground, adding a second corpse to the field.


    Gu Shenwei turned to his subordinates, ¡°You can go now.¡±


    Shangguan Fei could hardly believe his ears. He looked around, especially at the Red Bat not standing far away, and felt that the Dragon King must misspoke. ¡°Me? Is it really me?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s you.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s reasoning told him that he should refuse out of modesty, and give an excuse like saying that the Dragon King should give the chance to the only female subordinate, Red Bat. But his true and powerful instinct forbade him from doing so, for fear that the Dragon King would really agree with his suggestion.


    ¡°Thank you ¡­ I ¡­ Dragon King ¡­¡±


    ¡°You have to go to the warrior contest. Today is my bet with King Dari and you can¡¯t lose.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Shangguan Fei had forgotten about such a thing a long time ago and didn¡¯t expect the Dragon King would still remember the bet in such circumstances.


    ¡°I won¡¯t let the Dragon King down!¡± Shangguan Fei jumped onto the horse, his voiceing from afar.


    King Shengri¡¯s discontent was written on his face, ¡°Are you really kung fu experts of the Central ins? Not a bunch of liars?¡±


    No one dared to contradict him. One of the officers close to King Shengri said, ¡°The real masters of the Central ins won¡¯te to serve the Nond. The Shaolin Temple and the Luo Vige are the most powerful among the nine major sects. But they didn¡¯te this time. Neither did the sect leaders of the seven sects. These people are all third-rate, and it¡¯s no wonder my lord is unsatisfied.¡±


    Such humiliation was only a bit better than death. All the kung fu experts of the Central ins blushed but were unable to refute the officer¡¯s statements. What the officer had said was generally correct but calling them ¡®third-rate¡¯ was underrating them too much.


    Dao Nian had originally nned to capture the Dragon King alive and force him to hand over the antidote as well as the method for removing the frosty Qi, but he had no time to consider all this now. ¡°I have a way to defeat the Dragon King,¡± he said.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon Kingpeted in internal energy with mest night and both of us were injured. As long as Your Highness can send out an expert who¡¯s good at internal energy, we can win easily.¡±


    After observing two fights of Gu Shenwei, Dao Nian finally realized that the Dragon King was also recovering from a severe internal injury just like him.

 Chapter 614 - Bickering

    Chapter 614: Bickering


    Trantor: Henyee Trantions Editor: Henyee Trantions


    After being greatly influenced by the disciples of the Essence Pavilion, King Shengri was very wary of other masters being around the old Khan. The Taoist priests of the Jade Pure Sect, who had been favored by the Khan as soon as they arrived, were the highest profile characters he was on guard against.


    ¡°You¡¯vepeted with the Dragon King in internal energy? And both of you were injured?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Dao Nian humbly replied with his head lowered.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll give you a chance to go out there and beat the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Uhh, this Taoist still has an internal injury¡­¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King also has an internal injury but he still sliced and diced his opponents apart like melons and cabbages. Why can¡¯t you do that?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ Our sect focuses on cultivating internal energy and building up our body, unlike the Dragon King, whose internal energy is injured but his saber techniques are not affected.¡±


    What Dao Nian said sounded usible but it was just a trick to fool outsiders. In fact, internal energy and external martial arts were codependent and mutually conditional. Gu Shenwei was able to exert the Death Sutra Sabersmanship because his endurance was much greater than that of an ordinary kung fu practitioner. The speed of his saber had actually slowed down a lot.


    King Shengri couldn¡¯t find the w in his reply but was very dissatisfied with his attitude of being unwilling to fight and offering up all kinds of excuses. Frowning, he said, ¡°Let one of your junior brothers y then.¡±


    Dao Nian blushed. In order to boast a little, he hadn¡¯t mentioned his junior brothers when he had brought up the fight with the Dragon King, which was now an embarrassing loose end. None of them were the Dragon King¡¯s match even when they were healthy, not to mention that they still had the frosty Qi inside their bodies.


    While Dao Nian was at a loss for words, his junior brother Dao Xiu stepped forward and requested, ¡°Your Highness, please let me fight for you!¡±


    ¡°You can do it?¡±


    ¡°Our Jade Pure Sect is good at using internal energy, not fist and sword techniques. But the Dragon King is so arrogant and wants to challenge all the experts in the Nond on his own. I can¡¯t stand it anymore. I¡¯d rather die if I can¡¯t defend the dignity of the Nond. I just hope that Your Highness can remember the loyalty of our brothers.¡±


    Dao Xiu¡¯s words were touching and sad, but King Shengri felt that they were quite out of ce. ¡°Damn, why would I send you if you can¡¯t beat the Dragon King? Who else has volunteered?¡±


    Although Dao Xiu failed to please the king, he had managed to avoid the embarrassment of his senior brother¡¯s lies being exposed. Dao Nian cast a grateful look at his junior brother. He didn¡¯t expect Dao Xiu, who was usually the most reckless, to be more useful than the others at this critical moment.


    The officer who had belittled the kung fu experts of the Central ins said again, ¡°My lord, let¡¯s send our own warriors out to decide the victory or defeat in one go, and open the eyes of these third-rate disciples of the Central ins.¡±


    King Shengri pretended to consider the officer¡¯s suggestion. In the very end, he would, of course, send out the most capable master to ensure victory, but he still enjoyed watching those that he didn¡¯t like kill each other and didn¡¯t want the show to end so fast. In fact, he had hoped the Dragon King would win the first few rounds. What annoyed him was that the kung fu experts of the Central ins were so weak that they weren¡¯t able to make the scenes any fiercer.


    ¡°Please give the Kongdong Sect a chance, Your Highness.¡±


    The volunteer was an old man in his forties, with a darkplexion and a frowning brow, as if he were both a thoughtful wise man and a poor man who worked day and night.


    ¡°Are you sure that you canst a bit longer?¡± King Shengri¡¯s expectations for the kung fu experts of the Central ins had been greatly lowered.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure how many moves I need, but I¡¯m confident in defeating the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Haha, so the Kongdong Sect is the most formidable among the nine major sects of the Central ins?¡±


    ¡°Every sect has their own expertise, and I happen to know a bit of saber technique that may be able to restrain the Dragon King.¡±


    King Shengri looked at the short saber hanging by the man¡¯s waist and said, ¡°Just go and have a try, but you have to promise me something.¡±


    ¡°I do not aim to lose to the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Boring, boring. It¡¯s no different from the first two. Um, is there anyone else from the Kongdong Sect here?


    Two middle-aged men walked out and saluted King Shengri, ¡°Your Highness, I am¡­¡±


    ¡°Stop, stop. I can¡¯t remember so many names of people from the Central ins. The two of you will be his promise. If he wins, the people of the Kongdong Sect will be treated as top-notch warriors of the Nond and you will be rewarded with a high position and great wealth. If he loses, and the Dragon King kills one on the field, then I¡¯ll kill two off the stage.¡±


    The three disciples of the Kongdong Sect were astonished. They looked at each other for a few moments before the man with furrowing brow said, ¡°As Your Highness wishes.¡± Then he walked out to the field.


    ¡°I¡¯m Shen Yongjiu of the Kongdong Sect, and I¡¯m here to ask the Dragon King for some advice regarding saber technique. Please enlighten me.¡±


    The kung fu experts of the Central ins in the Nond were all unwilling to reveal their real names but this Shen Yongjiu was obviously an exception. Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t heard of this name, but behind him, the hundreds of besieged let out a slight exmation of surprise. It was clear that this in saberman was quite famous in the Central ins.


    Seeing that Shangguan Fei was the second person to be let go by the Dragon King, Old Man Mu¡¯s confidence was greatly boosted, and he became a bit more willing to act as a eulogist. The Kongdong Sect was close to the Nond, so he had some cursory knowledge of it, but didn¡¯t recognize this Shen Yongjiu. He suddenly remembered something when he saw the short saber under Shen Yongjiu¡¯s belt. ¡°Hey, Shen, do you know Old Immortal Dog Butcher?


    ¡°Senior Dog Butcher is my Martial Uncle.¡±


    ¡°Huh, that¡¯s easy then. Dragon King, it won¡¯t take long to kill this Shen Yongjiu. Like Old Immortal Dog Butcher, this guy uses a boning saber which seems unique. But actually, he¡¯s not good at saber techniques at all. Just watch out for his leg techniques. Keep an eye on his feet and you¡¯ll win for sure.


    Even the people of the Central ins had never heard of ¡®Old Immortal Dog Butcher.¡¯ At first, they had thought that Old Man Mu was deliberately humiliating the other side. When Shen Yongjiu admitted that ¡®Dog Butcher¡¯ was his Martial Uncle, they finally believed that the Kongdong Sect really had a master whose name was this strange.


    Shen Yongjiu drew his short saber, and it was indeed a boning saber, which was about one or two times wider and longer than a boning knife but less than two feet long. It was still much shorter than a normal saber. ¡°Martial Uncle Dog Butcher was defeated by Your Excellency at the Great Border Pass. He has never forgotten it in the past decade and has devoted himself to improving his saber techniques. Sooner orter, Martial Uncle will challenge Old Man Mu again.¡±


    The Great Border Pass was one of the passes at the border of the Central ins. Few people knew that duel. Old Man Mu still remembered it but was shocked. ¡°Old Immortal Dog Butcher is still alive?¡±


    ¡°Fortunately, Martial Uncle is still alive.¡±


    ¡°And he still calls himself ¡®Old Immortal¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Martial Uncle Dog Butcher has admitted his defeat and removed the words ¡®Old Immortal.''¡±


    Old Man Mu nodded with satisfaction. ¡°He can just remove the word ¡®Old¡¯, and keep the word ¡®Immortal.¡¯ Immortal Dog Butcher, what a nice name.¡±


    The listeners finally understood that they had had a fight because the two shared the same word ¡®old¡¯ in their names.


    King Shengri, who was listening from the opposite side, became impatient. The officer under him immediately shouted, ¡°Cut the crap and start fighting now.¡±


    ¡°Well, then let¡¯s cut the crap.¡± Old Man Mu didn¡¯t have as much internal energy left and his only pleasure was bickering on the spur of a moment. So he wouldn¡¯t let the chance slip by easily. ¡°I wish the old Khan a hundred years of life. Oops! He¡¯s almost a hundred years old. I wish him a thousand years old. Wish the Khan a long long life! Follow me and chant along if you are loyal to the Khan, and please keep silent if you think it¡¯s crap.¡±


    He said it again in thenguage of the Nond, and some of the Nond Cavalry really repeated what he said. Once someone responded, the others also followed. The voice grew louder and louder, until even King Shengri moved his lips. The officer around him looked embarrassed but did not dare say it was crap.


    ¡°Wish the Khan a long long life!¡± Some of those encircled kung fu practitioners also echoed, hoping that the kindness they were showing could help change their situation a bit.


    While Old Man Mu was challenging the opponent with his mouth, his eyes had remained focused on the Dragon King, afraid that his wordiness would make his savior unhappy. When he realized that not only had the Dragon King not be angry but rather had taken two steps back to give him more space to speak, he finally understood that the Dragon King wanted to dy for time.


    Gu Shenwei did need some time to allow his pulsating acupoints to subside, and he needed more time to change the Khan¡¯s mind or to wait for a miracle.


    The cries gradually subsided. Knowing what to do now, Old Man Mu pointed at Shen Yongjiu and said, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you wish for the old Khan to live long? Do not think that you can cheat by having your back face King Shengri. There¡¯s something above you. You can¡¯t hide it.¡±


    Shen Yongjiu knew he was no match in bickering so he simply refused to answer, and instead took a stance and looked at the Dragon King.


    ¡°Tut tut.¡± Old Man Mu wouldn¡¯t withdraw from the verbal fight so easily. He could keep on chattering for a while. This was the case when he had gone into seclusion alone to recover, not to mention the current situation where he had thousands of audiences. He continued loudly, saying, ¡°This is really odd. The Dragon King came in good faith to seek refuge with the Khan, but the son of the Khan has sent a very suspicious spy to join the kung fupetition. Was it because he feared that the Nond had a new ally or that the old fool had been deceived?¡±


    Because of the matter of King Dari, the words ¡®old fool¡¯ had be taboo in the Royal Court. King Shengri, who hated it especially, snorted, his face livid. But as a king, he couldn¡¯t demean himself to speak back against Old Man Mu, so he merely shot a stern nce at the two disciples of the Kongdong Sect and the officers near him.


    The life of the disciples of the Kongdong Sect depended on the contest, so Shen Yongjiu didn¡¯t want to start the fight too early. But he was also afraid of upsetting the lord, so he had no choice but to go out on the field.


    ¡°No more bullshit, Old Man Mu. King Shengri is wise and responsible and is also the Khan¡¯s most reliable right-hand man. Everyone can clearly see who is loyal and who harbors evil intentions. There¡¯s no need to say¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha.¡± Old Man Mu immediately caught onto the exposed loophole. ¡°All the kings of Nond are wise and responsible, and even the Khan himself finds it hard to make a choice. So you have appointed an heir for the Khan. Now, in front of everyone, will you tell us what you are colluding with King Shengri towards?


    The heir of the Khan was an even more sensitive topic than ¡®old fool.¡± The disciple of the Kongdong Sect didn¡¯t mean to mention it but it had been implicated by Old Man Mu. The disciple was speechless and could only say, ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it.¡±


    ¡°Shut up,¡± ordered King Shengri, grinding his teeth. Obviously, he was the one who had the Dragon King surrounded with cavalry, the one in an absolute advantage, so why did it look like he was on the losing side?


    The officer immediately shouted, ¡°Let the tournament begin.¡±


    Old Man Mu was still nagging, using the Kongdong Sect and King Shengri of being guilty, but no longer able to attract any attention.


    Shen Yongjiu moved. Although his physical strength was no longer in peak condition, and the boning saber was also half step shorter than other sabers, he was more confident than he had been in his youth, and he was more steady than he had been in his prime.


    Old Man Mu had said that Shen Yongjiu¡¯s strong point was not his saber techniques but rather his foot techniques and sure enough, Shen Yongjiu moved so fast that his whole body was a sh of a grey shadow, which advanced and retreated around the Dragon King like a giant, agile insect.


    Shen Yongjiu also imed that Martial Uncle Dog Butcher had improved his sabersmanship and he was telling the truth. The short saber was like the tooth of a venomous snake, lethal in every move.


    In an instant, the two of them had exchanged more than ten moves, each faster than the other. The audience all had their hearts in their mouth and didn¡¯t even have time to shove it back down.


    King Shengri pped his thigh, ¡°This is really something. The Kongdong Sect knows their stuff.¡±


    Gu Shenwei rarely shed so many times with an opponent. His desire to defeat the enemy suddenly surged and he struck faster and faster with every blow no matter how hard his internal Qi circted.


    The two shed again and when they brushed past, Shen Yongjiu said in a very low voice, ¡°Lord Wei sends his regards to the Dragon King.¡±

 Chapter 615 - Kneeling

    Chapter 615: Kneeling


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The kung fupetition had reached its most crucial moment, when Shen Yongjiu suddenly mentioned lord Wei Song, the Governor of the Western Regions. There were many reasons for him to do so. He might want to signal goodwill and hope for the Dragon King to show mercy, test the Dragon King¡¯s stance on behalf of King Shengri, or simply disturb his opponent and find an opportunity to win.


    No matter his purpose, he didn¡¯t achieve any of them.


    Although Shen Yongjiu¡¯s sabersmanship and bodily movement techniques were top-notch, he was not good enough to speak while fighting the Dragon King.


    Like an over-exerted runner who couldn¡¯t suddenly stop, he wasn¡¯t able to halt until he was ten steps away from the Dragon King, his right hand gripping the sharp saber and his left hand covering his stomach. He looked down at the blood oozing from between his fingers in amazement because this was quite different from how he had imagined it would end.


    ¡°Good sabersmanship, Dragon King.¡± Shen Yongjiu actually showed a smile at this time, and even his tightened eyebrows stretched a little.


    ¡°Your saber technique is also not bad.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m far from that level.¡± Shen Yongjiu shook his head. He was no match even when the other side¡¯s internal energy was impaired, not to mention if it were in a normal state. ¡°I do not represent the real strength of the kung fu practitioners of the Central ins, and neither do these people.¡±


    More and more blood flowed from between his fingers but this kung fu master of the Kongdong Sect had spent thest part of his life defending the martial arts practitioners of the Central ins.


    ¡°I understand.¡± Gu Shenwei was also from the Central ins. He had heard many Jianghu legends from his father and his old servant Yang Zheng, and naturally believed that the real ability of the martial arts world of the Central ins was more than this. But that was something irrelevant to the situation at hand.


    Shen Yongjiu fixed his eyes on the Dragon King¡¯s face without blinking. Revealing his true identity had earned him a lethal cut, but he still wanted to know what position the Dragon King held. ¡°I wish for the Dragon King to promise me one thing,¡± he said.


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°Those two are my junior brother. If I fail, they will be killed by the king. Please save their lives.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try my best.¡±


    Shen Yongjiu had hoped to exin to the Dragon King the importance of saving his two junior brothers without arousing any suspicion but suddenly felt that it was unnecessary. So he took a deep breath and solemnly said, ¡°The Kongdong Sect will appreciate what the Dragon King has done.¡±


    Everyone was puzzled by the conversation. Shen Yongjiu¡¯s request was quite improper and the Dragon King didn¡¯t have to agree to it. Old Man Mu especially could not understand Shen Yongjiu¡¯sst words, and wondered out loud, ¡°Is this fellow threatening the Dragon King?¡±


    No one responded. Shen Yongjiu fell while still holding the boning saber in his hand.


    King Shengri looked a bit better. He could afford a few more losses as long as the scene was fierce, and he would be very disappointed if the Dragon King was really defeated by a kung fu expert of the Central ins.


    Those two disciples of the Kongdong Sect nervously looked at the king. Their senior brother had lost and died but he had also performed well, so maybe the lord would be lenient and spare them. As for the fact that their senior brother had asked the Dragon King for help before his death, they wouldn¡¯t even mention it in front of the lord.


    King Shengri seemed to have really forgotten about them. Looking at the Dragon King, he was wondering whether or not to send out a real expert in the next game.


    The officer under King Shengri, however, didn¡¯t forget. He waved his hand, and immediately, twenty or so cavalry adjusted their positions and surrounded the targets, ready to shoot.


    Other kung fu experts from the Central ins moved back right away. Some of them had a long-standing friendship with the Kongdong Sect, so they retreated even further than the others.


    ¡°My lord¡­ please allow us to fight for you.¡± This was the only excuse they coulde up with, and though they would still die, it was still better than being shot to death.


    King Shengri turned his head as if he had just seen the two and was amazed that they were still alive, ¡°Allow you to fight? Hmm, let me see¡­ No.¡±


    It was both a refusal and an order, and the cavalry let loose their arrows.


    The disciples of the Kongdong Sect fought back. They might not be top-notch masters, but they weren¡¯t mediocre kung fu practitioners who could be killed by a dozen or so arrows either. And they had reacted faster. They had jumped up before King Shengri had even formed the word ¡®No¡¯ in his mouth.


    The arrows fell on the ground but the targets were missing. This, however, wasn¡¯t what surprised the calvary the most. Just at the moment when they were stupefied, one of the two disciples of the Kongdong Sect fell to the ground. The whole process was not like an arrow shooting a man but more like a man crushing an arrow.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got a lot of nerve, but your kung fu is terrible.¡± King Shengri coldly gave a judgment. The kung fu master of the Nond he had arranged to be next to him had finallye in handy when he killed the attacker in one shot with a speed no slower than the Dragon King.


    The kung fu experts of the Central ins had seen it more clearly than the Nond Cavalry and were all surprised, but not because of the behavior of the disciples of the Kongdong Sect, but rather because they finally realized that the Nond had some real hidden kung fu experts.


    Another disciple of the Kongdong Sect had made a different choice: running towards the Dragon King.


    King Shengri looked at the escaper¡¯s back with interest and didn¡¯t issue an order to shoot. He had also heard Shen Yongjiu¡¯s plea before his death and wanted to see if the Dragon King, who had readily agreed, would keep his promise or not.


    ¡°I¡¯ll try my best,¡± the answer given by the Dragon King was, of course, a vague one. It might even be merely a perfunctory reply.


    The disciple of the Kongdong Sect didn¡¯t have much confidence either. He paused at a distance of seven or eight paces from the Dragon King and didn¡¯t know how to speak to the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei looked over the help seeker and said to the officer opposite, ¡°I won and I¡¯ll let one of my men go.¡±


    ¡°Please appoint, Dragon King.¡± The officer¡¯s attitude seemed to grow a little more respectful every time the Dragon King killed a man.


    Gu Shenwei turned to the disciple of the Kongdong Sect, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°Fan Yongda.¡±


    Old Man Mu couldn¡¯t help interrupting, ¡°Why you are not called Yongliu or Yong Qi to follow your senior brother?¡±


    Extremely nervous, Fan Yongda suddenly felt that Old Man Mu¡¯s words were reallyughable and couldn¡¯t help but give out a dryugh.


    ¡°Kneel down and say that you will join the Dragon Army.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s tone was t and had no intent of coercion but Fan Yongda, who seemed like a puppet controlled by a string, kneeled immediately. ¡°I am willing to join the Dragon Army.¡± He didn¡¯t realize what that meant until after he said it.


    Kneeling was not an etiquette of the Dragon Army, but rather was the simplest and most obvious way to pledge allegiance in front of the people of the Nond.


    ¡°You can go now,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    It all happened so fast that Fan Yongda knew that he seemed to have been saved but stood still, not understanding what the word ¡®go¡¯ meant and where he should go.


    ¡°No.¡± The astonished Nond officer finally came to his senses and barked, ¡°This man is not the Dragon King¡¯s subordinate.¡±


    As a master of a verbal fight, Old Man Mu would never let the others steal the show. Although he didn¡¯t quite understand the Dragon King¡¯s behavior and thought that it was unnecessary to save people, he still went forward to speak for the Dragon King. ¡°Hey, he was obviously kneeling down to swear allegiance, and even the dust on his knee hasn¡¯t been swept clean. How can you say that he¡¯s not the Dragon King¡¯s subordinate?¡±


    ¡°He¡­ just joined, so it doesn¡¯t count.¡±


    ¡°So, are you saying that a newborn son doesn¡¯t count as a son and he has to wait for a year before he can take his father¡¯s surname?¡±


    The officer ignored Old Man Mu¡¯s quibbling and looked back at King Shengri, waiting for his instructions.


    King Shengri was surprisingly not angry. He urged his horse to move a few paces forward and spoke to the Dragon King directly. ¡°The Dragon King is acting like a Bodhisattva today. Do you want to save everyone?¡±


    ¡°Saving lives can sometimes be addictive.¡± Gu Shenwei also took several steps forward. The cavalry immediately raised their bows and arrows.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity that killing is more addictive. The Dragon King¡¯s wish is good but I can¡¯t agree.¡±


    King Shengri raised his hand, and over a hundred arrows were directed at the frightened Fan Yongda who was standing to the right and back of the Dragon King. But in the midst of the encirclement, nothing could keep him safe.


    King Shengri pointed at Fan Yongda and after a pause, he then pointed to Old Man Mu. ¡°And this bbering freak.¡±


    Old Man Mu was startled and dodged between the two guards of the Dragon Army, ¡°Hey, easy, easy, you might hurt the Dragon Army by mistake, you might¡­¡± As for what ¡®they might,¡¯ he didn¡¯t know.


    ¡°Please recall your order, King Shengri,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    As long as King Shengri¡¯s hand fell, the two men who he wanted to kill would die under the random rain of arrows. But he was not in a hurry. He had drunk and kept birds for so many years and hadn¡¯t had the pleasure of deciding other¡¯s lives for a long time, so he chuckled and hummed. ¡°Well, give me one good reason and I might spare their lives for the time being.¡±


    ¡°I will soon see the Khan, and I will not mention the Essence Pavilion in front of him.¡±


    ¡°Are you threatening me?¡±


    ¡°King Shengri can also take this as a show of goodwill. I¡¯ve known the disciples of the Essence Pavilion for a long time. No one knows more about them than me.¡±


    King Shengri¡¯s smile disappeared, ¡°That¡¯s not a very good reason. Now I want to kill even more people, including the Dragon King. I¡¯m going to cancel the tournament.¡±


    ¡°You have the right to.¡± Gu Shenwei stopped speaking as if he had given up all efforts at persuading King Shengri.


    But not everyone could be as calm as the Dragon King. Old Man Mu squatted at the feet of the guards and shrank his body as small as possible while at heart, he was constantly guessing at the reasons why the Dragon King could be so fearless. Fan Yongda waspletely frozen, standing there speechless.


    The cavalry and the kung fu experts of the Central ins on the outer circle together with the besieged at the inner circle all looked at the King Shengri¡¯s raised right arm. Everyone knew that killing the Dragon King would be the beginning of a greater ughter.


    King Shengri coldly regarded the Dragon King and burst outughing. ¡°Haha, everyone says that the Dragon King is bold, and now I see it. You obviously know that I don¡¯t want to give up this wonderfulpetition and deliberately said that to annoy me. The Dragon King¡¯s saber techniques are a hundred times more interesting than the warrior contest, so you must show them all to me today. All right, you can release whoever you want. One round, one person, as long as you win. If you are capable enough to win a thousand times, you can release all the people here.¡±


    King Shengri¡¯s statement surprised everyone. Those quick-witted amongst the eight or nine hundred kung fu practitioners that were surrounded heard a gleam of hope from these words. They immediately forced their way through the crowd and knelt towards the back of the Dragon King, shouting, ¡°I want to join the Dragon Army! I want to join the Dragon Army!¡±


    Flop! More than half of the besieged fell to their knees and requested to join the Dragon Army. Only a small fraction of people were concerned about their face and didn¡¯t kneel down. They thought that the Dragon King could not save all the people and even if he could save of them, it might not ever reach their turn so there was no need to lose face in public.


    Old Man Mu was the happiest. He jumped up andughed, pointing to the King Shengri, ¡°A promise is a promise. What Your Highness said was not a fart. Since you¡¯ve said ¡®all the people,¡¯ it also includes me.¡±


    King Shengripletely ignored him.


    Only Gu Shenwei understood this lord¡¯s intention. King Shengri was using the kung fupetition to hide his true purpose. The disciples of the Essence Pavilion had finally cornered the Dragon King and they were determined to obtain the relics of Immortal Peng and Chu Nanping. As for the victory of the contest, King Shengri already had a well-thought-out n.


    Gu Shenwei nced back at the masses of people kneeling down and had a pretty clear idea of what to do now. He didn¡¯t intend to save the irrelevant ones but suddenly realized that the choice he had made today might be very important to the future.


    Of course, he couldn¡¯t save everyone one by one; he had to think of another way.


    ¡°King Shengri, please spare the Dragon King!¡± A cavalryman shouted from a distance, followed by a group of cavalry galloping from the South.


    One of the miracles Gu Shenwei had been waiting for hade atst.

 Chapter 616 - Time

    Chapter 616: Time


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    This was the most boring day of the Tournament of the Royal Court. The variouspetitions were still rich and wonderful, the fight of the warrior contest was as bloody as ever, but none of these events were enough to attract the audience¡¯s enthusiasm. Even the busiest trading area was deserted. Everyone was talking about the siege in the northern forbidden zone.


    The most exaggerated rumor was that the old Khan had set up a tight encirclement and the forbidden zone had already be a bloodbath. More than a hundred thousand people of the Central ins had been killed and the corpses piled even higher than the mountains. Many people actually ran to the river near the forbidden zone and thought that they could see blood-red water and towering mountains of corpses but they only received great disappointment.


    The encounter of the people of the Central ins was the source of the rumor, as the sabermen of the Western Regions had received little attention except for the Dragon King. It was in him that the opinions divided, with one group iming that the Dragon King had already died in the forbidden zone, and another trying to defend him by saying that the Dragon King was a besieger, not the besieged.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s appearance at the warrior contest, though one hourte, was strong support to thetter group, as they used the argument: how could the Dragon King¡¯s man still take part in the contest if he had an ulterior motive.


    Questions came like rain in a storm, and Shangguan Fei was quite at a loss for what to say because he also didn¡¯t know whether the Dragon King was the besieged or a besieger, so he could only answer, ¡°Uhh, everything¡¯s normal.¡± That was the only reply he could give.


    Actually, nothing was normal. Even the dullest audience had found that the viewing area of the nobles, though full of people, was devoid of any of the ten kings.


    Shangguan Fei felt that he was alone and helpless. The task given by the Dragon King weighed on his head like a mountain. So he went to look for the official who organized the game, and stammered, ¡°Where are the warriors of King Dari? There¡¯s a bet today¡­¡±


    The official looked at him in amazement, ¡°You¡¯re still concerned about the bet at such a moment?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King said¡­¡± If he had followed his instinct, Shangguan Fei would have ridden a horse as fast as the me Foal and galloped all the way out into the wilderness. But it was these four words that determined that he must persevere in his efforts.


    The official puzzledly shook his head and ran to ask his superior. He looked even more puzzled when he came back. He handed an exquisite bow and arrow set to the Dragon King¡¯s warrior, ¡°This is the bet that King Dari promised to give the Dragon King. There¡¯s no need topete. He concedes defeat.¡±


    Winning without fighting. Shangguan Fei heaved a sigh of relief, thinking that this was really a lucky day for him. He had not only identally escaped from death but had also won a fight without striking a blow. The only regret was that he could not ask the Dragon King to recognize his efforts.


    His emotional sigh wasn¡¯t over when the official said, ¡°You¡¯vee at the right time. More than half of today¡¯s warriors are absent. As such, the lord has decided to shorten thepetition. You only need to win three more games to be this year¡¯s champion of the warrior contest.¡±


    The kung fupetition style of the Nond was rather simple and crude, and there were no strict rules or schedule. Many warriors quit after a game or two, and some were banned from the next round because they didn¡¯t perform well in a game no matter if they won or lost. So, few people could win three rounds.


    ¡°Ahh? Do I have to be the champion?¡±


    ¡°How would I know? It¡¯s up to you. And of course, it depends on your ability,¡± the officer said scornfully. Although Shangguan Fei had won two days in a row, it was not so easy for him to defeat the warriors of Nond today.


    Several games were going on at the same time, and Shangguan Fei was already behind the schedule, so he was immediately pushed onto the field. Like the past two days, he was in the main arena that was the most-watched.


    ¡°Is the Dragon King dead?¡± The audience outside the field asked aloud in thenguage of the Central ins. This was the topic of most interest to them.


    ¡°No.¡± Shangguan Fei answered robotically without turning his head.


    As he waited, there were more and more questions from the audience, most of which were rted to the Dragon King. And his opponent still didn¡¯t show up. Puzzled, Shangguan Fei looked around for the referee and the officials and found nothing.


    Slowly, the audience also noticed that something wasn¡¯t right because the news from the nearby crowd said that several ongoing games were paused halfway as if something big was about to happen.


    Shangguan Fei silently prayed and hoped that he could pass the day threatening but not engaging in any danger and afterwards just stay in the camp of the Dragon Army and never again run away randomly with Old Man Mu.


    The crowd suddenly quieted down. Most of them were from the Nond and familiar with the local customs and rules, and therefore, had already figured out what was going to happen while Shangguan Fei was still perplexedly standing in the field.


    A group of cavalry entered the main arena and lined up in front of the viewing area of the nobles.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s heart thumped. This cavalry looked very special. From people to horses, they were all equipped with dazzling golden armor, indicating that their master was no ordinary nobleman.


    The sound of the first raindrops falling on the ground came from all directions. Shangguan Fei looked around and found that the audiences were kneeling down in droves. Many even forced their horses to kneel while they themselves already prostrated as if the golden armor knights were heavenly warriors.


    In the meantime, the audiences in the seats of honor also hurried to the two sides, kneeling humbly like a minion, to make room for arger area.


    An old man walked alone into the viewing area of the nobles, his head bowed as if he were strolling in his own courtyard.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s knees softened and he also knelt. Then, in a state ofplete bewilderment, he called out a few words, which sounded quite loud in the quiet arena. ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s warrior pays his respects to the Khan. The Dragon King wishes the Khan longevity, felicity, prosperity, fertility¡­¡±


    The auspicious words he had learned since he was little had finallye in handy. Almost without thinking, they automatically jumped out of Shangguan Fei¡¯s mouth until he couldn¡¯t think of another word. He closed his mouth and found the surrounding atmosphere eerily quiet as if he had done something very inopportune and reckless.


    ¡°Tell me your name, Dragon King¡¯s warrior.¡±


    It was the voice of a eunuch. Shangguan Fei dared not raise his head. Tremblingly, he said his name.


    ¡°The Khan said the Dragon King¡¯s warrior is very good at talking and hoped that your kung fu skills would be just as wonderful. Focus on the tournament. If you win, you¡¯ll be handsomely rewarded.¡±


    Shangguan Fei wanted to have a look at this legendary Khan, but the weight of his neck seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, heavier even than the task the Dragon King had given him, and he dared not look at any ce except for the ground under his nose.


    The vanishing official and referee reappeared who quietly trotted to Shangguan Fei and spoke in a low voice, ¡°Shangguan Fei, the game has changed a little. You still have to win three consecutive games to be the champion, but your opponents have changed into the warriors under the Khan. Prepare yourself.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was stunned. No one told him whether he should win or lose when fighting the Khan¡¯s warriors.


    Several miles away, the Dragon King¡¯s choice was much easier than Shangguan Fei. He had to win. The contest would have a muchrger influence on the lives of the soldiers of the Dragon Army now.


    The small group of cavalry galloped nearer. The one in the lead was Liman, son of the general Zhesu under King Rizhu, and besides him was Wild Horse.


    Liman, whose face was bathed in sweat, jumped from his horse and knelt before King Shengri, holding a roll of paper with both hands. ¡°My lord asks for King Shengri to spare the Dragon King¡¯s life. He¡¯s on his way to meet the Khan and will soon get the royal decree of mercy.¡±


    King Shengri hummed and did not take the letter out of Liman¡¯s hands. ¡°King Rizhu has overreached his authority. Does he take the whole Royal Court as his Naihang tribe?¡±


    ¡°My lord never meddles in others¡¯ businesses. King Shengri will know that after reading this letter.¡±


    King Shengri seized the letter from Liman¡¯s hands and with a quick nce, his expression immediately changed. ¡°How dare you¡­¡±


    ¡°Please think twice, King Shengri. The Khan¡¯s royal decree wille soon.¡±


    Gu Shenwei listened from a distance and began to wonder what was written in the letter which could make King Shengri both angry yet intimidated enough to not vent openly.


    Wild Horse made a few gestures with his remaining arm, showing that he had been ordered to do the deed. But he was unwilling to do so, so his gestures were stiff and simple.


    Gu Shenwei was a little surprised at what he learned.


    Those one thousand female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance had rushed into the Office of King Shengri and kidnapped several disciples of the Essence Pavilion.


    And the letter Liman brought was not written by King Rizhu but the Second Consort.


    King Shengri tore up the letter, turned his head, and again seeked hints from the two hunchbacks.


    Gu Shenwei found that the situation had be more dangerous.


    The Second Consort knew that the disciple of the Essence Pavilion had a great influence on King Shengri but she knew nothing about those freaks. She might be able to ckmail King Shengri if she could kidnap all of them in one fell swoop, but catching only a few might just backfire.


    The disciples of the Essence Pavilion didn¡¯t care about others¡¯ lives nor their own. In order to get the legacy of Immortal Peng and Chu Nanping, those two hunchbacks would not mind sacrificing several of their fellow disciples.


    ¡°King Shengri, I have a suggestion,¡± Gu Shenwei shouted. He had to take back control of the situation before the hunchbacks could make a decision.


    ¡°Say it.¡± King Shengri¡¯s short answer didn¡¯t hide his hesitation.


    ¡°We might as well suspend the fight to save lives, as I want to bet on the time.¡±


    ¡°Bet on the time?¡±


    ¡°One match. If I win, please don¡¯t take any action for the time being until the Khan issues a royal decree. If I lose, I will first hand over the legacy of Immortal Peng.¡±


    King Shengri knew exactly what to do without the two hunchbacks¡¯ hint. Like the disciples of the Essence Pavilion, he believed that the treasure the Dragon King had taken away from Immortal Peng was the secret scrolls of the highest level of hypnosis, with which he could control more people.


    ¡°Two hours, I will only wait two hours.¡±


    Liman nodded slightly to the Dragon King, indicating that two hours were enough.


    ¡°Two hours,¡± Gu Shenwei agreed.


    Old Man Mu leaned forward and whispered, ¡°Dragon King, are you sure that the Khan will let us go? You can actually save several people in two hours. I don¡¯t care, but look at Red Bat. She¡¯s so scared that she¡¯s about to cry. And those ten guards, they are very loyal to you, It would be a heartbreak to lose any of them.¡±


    Before Gu Shenwei could say anything, King Shengri had already sent out his yer. This time, he had given up on the dead silent kung fu experts of the Central ins and instead chosen a Nond warrior who was well-prepared.


    The man was dressed as an ordinary cavalryman, but he was the one who had killed the disciple of the Kongdong Sect in one blow when the other side was trying to attack King Shengri.


    Gu Shenwei asked Old Man Mu, ¡°I heard that you¡¯ve invented a set of finger technique called the Seven Circles Seven Apertures Heart Stopping Finger and that you can inject a strand of Qi into the other side¡¯s body from a position other than the acupoints?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve taught the good girl and the good girl passed it to Lotus. Does the Dragon King also want to learn it? I can teach you at any time, anywhere. I will not hide anything.¡±


    ¡°Now.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Old Man Mu didn¡¯t quite understand the meaning of ¡®now.¡¯ The warrior appointed by King Shengri was pressing forward step by step, and there was not much time to even recite a few words of the manual, not to mention practice it until one could use it skillfully.


    The warrior stopped ten paces away and said in a hoarse voice, ¡°Saber, fist, and internal energy. Please choose one, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Internal energy.¡± Gu Shenwei immediately decided.

 Chapter 617 - Kunlun

    Chapter 617: Kunlun


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The Dragon King had surprisingly chosen topete in internal energy. The other people didn¡¯t feel that this was strange but King Shengri and the people around him were all amazed. They all turned their eyes to Dao Nian of the Jade Pure Sect at the same time.


    No one was more astonished than Dao Nian. Although there was no direct evidence, he had clearly seen and also thought very clearly that, nine times out of ten, the Dragon King had been injured in thepetitionst night.


    ¡°You are not fooling me, are you?¡± King Shengri asked bluntly.


    ¡°The Dragon King is bluffing. I can¡¯t be wrong.¡± No matter how hesitant he was, Dao Nian¡¯s expression and tone were resolute. He¡¯d rather gamble once more and he even felt that he had a good chance of winning this time. But he still had to leave himself a way out, so he said, ¡°I¡¯m just not sure about this warrior¡¯s internal energy¡­¡±


    All the internal energy in the world originated from the Taoist sects of the Central ins. From the viewpoint of the Jade Pure Sect, there were few kung fu experts who were good at using internal energy in the Nond and the Western Regions. The Dragon King could be considered as one, but still, it was not because how powerful his internal energy was but rather because of how weird it was.


    Disgruntled, King Shengri turned his head. The officer at his side immediately snapped, ¡°You frog in the well, do you think that he¡¯s an ordinary soldier? Iron Harrier is the Khan¡¯s close wing guard, one of the seven Eagle ws of the Royal Court. If he wandered Jianghu, he would have been famous all over the world. Do you think that you nine major sects of the Central ins are the only powerhouses in the world?¡±


    Different from the customs of the Central ins, ¡®Eagle w¡¯ was apliment in the Nond. However, those kung fu experts of the Central ins didn¡¯t say anything. But deep in their hearts, they were all unconvinced and even secretly hoped that the Dragon King would win.


    As for the wing guards of the Khan and the Eagle ws of the Royal Court, many people had heard of them and knew that they were seven top-notch masters who had been named after the Raptors, who were dedicated to protecting the old Khan. The Nond people were extremely proud and mystical when talking about the seven masters.


    ¡°Hold on, Iron Harrier.¡± King Shengri was in a bad temper now and felt the need to convince the kung fu experts of the Central ins.


    The officer called a halt to the tournament.


    King Shengri looked at these people and asked, ¡°Which of you has the strongest internal energy?¡±


    No one uttered a sound. They had all vaguely guessed at the king¡¯s intentions and none of them wanted to do such a thanklessly foolish thing.


    King Shengri revealed a lenient smile. ¡°Well, the Dragon King can save a person by winning a game. I will do things fairly, and give you the same treatment but be even more generous. If any of you can defeat Iron Harrier in terms of internal energy, I can pardon your whole sect, all of your fellow disciples both inside and outside the circle.¡±


    A lot of people became excited all at once. They all had a lot of fellow disciples trapped in the inner circle who were still in grave danger. They could only turn a blind eye to them when there was no way out. Since they had an opportunity now, none of them wanted to miss it.


    The four elders of the Jade Pure Sect exchanged a nce and sighed. Without removing the frosty Qi in their body, none of them dared to ask for a fight to save the trapped Dao Lun.


    ¡°My Taishan Sect focuses on internal martial arts. Let me have a try.¡±


    ¡°The swordsmanship of the Taishan Sect is not bad, but when ites to internal energy, our Dragon and Tiger Mountain is the most authentic.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon and Tiger Mountain used to be very strong, but it has been going downhill all these years. How can it beparable to the Kunlun Sect?¡±


    ¡­


    Annoyed and perplexed, King Shengri shouted, ¡°Shut up, all of you!¡± Then he asked the officer next to him, ¡°You know them well. Tell me, which of them has the strongest internal energy?¡±


    The officer thought for a while before saying, ¡°The Jade Pure Sect was supposed to be best at internal energy, but these Taoist priests are¡­ The Kunlun Sect¡¯s Lu Tianfeng is said to be one of the three masters of his sect. He should be a bit stronger than those third-rate figures from the other sects.¡±


    The officer showed no mercy when he mentioned the sects of the Central ins. Even the appointed Lu Tianfeng felt ashamed but dared not refute.


    King Shengri didn¡¯t even know who Lu Tianfeng was. He pointed to Iron Harrier in the field and said, ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡±


    Lu Tianfeng strode to the field and waved to several fellow disciples of his who were still trapped from afar.


    King Shengri had never lowered his voice, so many people heard what he said. The disciples of the Kunlun Sect immediately felt hopeful and shouted out ¡®Senior Brother Lu¡¯ excitedly.


    As one of the three masters of the Kunlun Sect, Lu Tianfeng was actually not very old. He was in his thirties and wore a long sword. As he went to Iron Harrier, he untied his long sword and put it on the ground. ¡°I¡¯m Lu Tianfeng of the Kunlun Sect, and I¡¯m just following Your Highness¡¯s order to ask Lord Tie for some advice about my internal energy. Please enlighten me.¡±


    Iron Harrier wasn¡¯t surnamed Tie (Iron), but he didn¡¯t care. He also untied his saber and slightly nodded, showing that the fight could start.


    Gu Shenwei was taking advantage of this opportunity to learn a new martial arts skill. He wasn¡¯t interested in the specific moves of the Seven Circles Seven Apertures Heart Stopping Finger but rather wanted to know how to transfer his internal Qi into the enemy¡¯s meridians without going through the acupoints.


    Although he had learned three different sets of internal energy manuals, Gu Shenwei actually knew very little about internal Qi. asionally he wouldpete in internal energy with his enemy but whenever that happened, it was the enemy who attacked and him following to counterattack. When he and Lotus instilled internal Qi into each other¡¯s body, he had to carefully determine the location of the acupoints first and test once or twice before he could seed.


    Old Man Mu didn¡¯t understand why the Dragon King wanted to learn this kung fu right now. Without the various changes of the Seven Circles and Seven Apertures, it was almost harmless to instill internal Qi into the meridians of the other side. But he knew that the Dragon King was very resourceful, so instead of asking more, he beckoned for a guard to hold him up before he whispered the manual of the finger technique he had created into the Dragon King¡¯s ears.


    Without the introduction of the changes of the seven moves, the length of the manual was less than half of its full version. Old Man Mu had barely finished reciting when Lu Tianfeng went onstage. As the Dragon King was still dwelling on it, Old Man Mu had turned his attention to other matters. Upon hearing the words ¡®Kunlun Sect,¡¯ he couldn¡¯t help but interrupt, saying, ¡°It¡¯s really ridiculous. The Kunlun Mountains is obviously in the Western Regions. As a man of the Central ins, how can you call your sect the ¡®Kunlun Sect¡¯?¡±


    Lu Tianfeng snorted and ignored this strange and noisy old man. The Kunlun Sect was one of the nine major sects of the Central ins and was located near the capital city. As a holy mountain of Taoism, the Kunlun Mountains was said to be the living ce of the Queen Mother of the West, where mortals cultivated and ascended to heaven. The name of the Kunlun Sect originated from this, but it had little to do with the location of the real Kunlun Mountains.


    Old Man Mu still didn¡¯t give up. ¡°Ah, I see. You are a man of the Western Regions. You felt that your own country was too weak so you joined the Central ins, only to find that the Central ins was also not powerful enough, so you quickly turned to the Nond. Fortunately, there are only these two big countries in the world. Otherwise, the Kunlun Sect wouldn¡¯t even have enough time to catch a breath.


    Lu Tianfeng lost his cool for a moment and replied, ¡°I am a man of the Central ins, and the Kunlun Sect is one of the sects of the Central ins. It has nothing to do with the Western Regions.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so you and your sect all belong to the Central ins. Hmm, you remember that well. I have nothing more to say.¡±


    Lu Tianfeng was taken aback. He had only been a bit careless and immediately fallen into the strange old man¡¯s verbal trap. Actions speak louder than words, so he could only recover through action.


    Lu Tianfeng looked at the opposing Iron Harrier and seemed to want to concentrate on the contest but his first move actually fell onto Old Man Mu.


    Old Man Mu was being careless. He had asked the guard to put him down after telling the Dragon King his finger technique. In order to not disturb the Dragon King, he even took a few steps aside.


    Lu Tianfeng¡¯s move was crystal clear in Old Man Mu¡¯s eyes, which he had countless methods to block and counterattack, but his hands and feet were too slow to react. He couldn¡¯t even use his ¡®unique skill¡¯ of kneeling and asking for mercy. Because unlike Chu Nanping, Lu Tianfeng was going at it hard.


    ¡°Your son has no ass¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu only had one ¡®move,¡¯ but before he could finish saying it, he was hit by a blow and fell down at the foot of the Dragon King¡¯s guard.


    Lu Tianfeng hummed. Judging from Old Man Mu¡¯s arrogance and his experience in defeating a master of the Kongdong Sect, he thought that he was a master hidden. It turned out that his internal energy was so mediocre that it was no better than his junior brothers who had joined the sect four or five years after him. ¡°Your Honor, Old Man Mu has offended the nobles, so please forgive me for getting rid of him without your permission.¡±


    As soon as the words fell, he heard a long, weak voice, ¡°hole ¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu stood up with the help of Red Bat and spat out a mouthful of blood on the ground. ¡°Are you using the boasting techniques of your Kunlun Sect? How can you say that you¡¯ve gotten rid of me when I¡¯m not dead yet? Come on, let¡¯s fight again.¡±


    Lu Tianfeng was startled. Even a top-notch expert who was good at internal energy couldn¡¯t directly take a blow like this, not to mention a person with average internal energy. This Old Man Mu really had his own unique methods.


    But he had found out the ins and outs of Old Man Mu and knew the other side had no ability to fight back, so he rushed forward for the second time with full strength and tried to kill him once and for all.


    Old Man Mu didn¡¯t expect that this expert of the Kunlun Sect was different from the others and would rather act with his hands than speak with his mouth. Oops! He muttered while dodging behind Red Bat. Hearing a scream from the crowd, he hurriedly stuck out his head and saw that the Dragon King had acted.


    Gu Shenwei had understood Old Man Mu¡¯s internal energy method and just needed some practice.


    The palms of the two collided, and both of them realized one thing.


    Lu Tianfeng found that Dao Nian was right. The Dragon King had internal injuries and his internal Qi was in such a mess that it was almost on the verge of Qi deviation, so the Dragon King would be no match for him.


    On the other side, Gu Shenwei found that the finger technique Old Man Mu told him was right. He could really instill some internal Qi into the opponent¡¯s meridians without identifying the exact position of the acupoints. The only regretful part was that the internal Qi he instilled every time was too weak to be lethal.


    ¡°Do not hit the wrong person. The Kunlun spy should be fighting against the Eagle w of the Nond.¡± Old Man Mu¡¯s mouth never idled. He started shouting again as soon as he was out of danger.


    King Shengri, however, wanted more chaos. He called out ¡®Iron Harrier¡¯ and ordered him to join the fight.


    Iron Harrier was a little younger than Lu Tianfeng and was at the peak of his power. Although he was submissive and reticent in the presence of the lord, he was as powerful as a thunderbolt when making a move, with both palms attacking his two opponents at the same time.


    Three people with six palms intersected to form a tripod, each of them against two and none of them willing to ally with another.


    Unfortunately, the exciting scene ended in the blink of an eye, with the three of them stuck like woodcarving. Few people could see the violence of the fight.


    King Shengri asked the officer near him, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°They arepeting in internal energy which is nd on the surface. In fact, it¡¯s more dangerous than fists and swords, and the loser may be severely injured.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± King Shengri was a little happier but still felt that the scene wasn¡¯t as interesting as the Dragon King and Iron Harrier¡¯s sharp sabers. ¡°How long will itst?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to be long because Iron Harrier¡¯s internal energy is very powerful.¡±


    The officer got it right. As soon as he finished speaking, the first man who could not stand it had withdrawn from the fight.


    Lu Tianfeng let out a shout and jumped back. He couldn¡¯t even take a firm stand when hended. Stumbling like a drunkard who had drunk too much, it took him a long while to find his feet. His whole body, however, was still shivering severely as if he were in the middle of a cold winter instead of the hot summer.


    ¡°Good.¡± King Shengri pped his hands. This was the scene he wanted to see, ¡°Iron Harrier is really¡­¡±


    Before he could finish speaking, Iron Harrier also roared and leaped back a few steps. Hended fairly steady but his whole body was also shivering just like Lu Tianfeng.


    The Dragon King had won several rounds but the people of the Nond just admired him normally and were not surprised until Iron Harrier was also defeated. King Shengri and those thousand of cavalry were all taken aback at what they saw.


    The Dragon King looked better than ever, and even his pale cheeks carried a faint red glow.


    ¡°King Shengri, it¡¯s so boring topete in this way. How many masters do you have? Send them all out.¡±


    It was like a heavy burden of many years had finally been removed, Gu Shenwei felt so rxed it was like he was a light feather and could fly up at any moment.

 Chapter 618 - Evil Qi

    Chapter 618: Evil Qi


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The frosty Qi remained deeply entrenched in Gu Shenwei¡¯s body like an overbearing bully, who came and messed around as it wished, and hid in the depths of his Dantian at its whims, never listening to its master¡¯s orders.


    Until it was crushed by a foreign internal Qi of greater dominance.


    It wasn¡¯t groundless for the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect to im that their internal energy was the most authentic. Theirbination of the five¡¯s internal Qi could definitely reach the highest level in the world. Under such a powerful force, Gu Shenwei¡¯s meridians were smashed into pieces and most of his yin and yang Qi together with the frosty Qi were destroyed.


    Anyone caught in such a blow would likely be killed on the spot under normal circumstances. The reason Gu Shenwei could keep his life was exactly due to his Qi deviation. As a side effect of frequently resisting the chill, he not only developed super endurance but also became adept at guarding his heart meridian. Even if he had only a little bit of internal Qi left, he was still able to ensure the rtive integrity of his heart meridian.


    Wholeheartedly guarding his heart meridian was exactly Gu Shenwei¡¯s method for fighting the frosty Qi.


    In the past series ofpetitions, Gu Shenwei had followed the method of the Essence of Perceiving Passion and repaired his meridians as his internal Qi jumped through his acupoints, a violent yet very effective method. Old Man Mu had bought him a lot of buffer time, and after he passed through the most difficult stage, the yin and yang energy started to recover. The frosty Qi in his Dantian, however, also grew stronger.


    Gu Shenwei soon discovered the anomaly. The frosty Qi used to be very arrogant and couldn¡¯t take any stimtion. Once disturbed, it would immediately pour out of the Dantian and rushed through his meridians, tormenting its owner half to death. This time, however, it was more obedient and moved slowly through the half-repaired meridians. It still caused stinging pain but was actually helpful for the first time.


    Once the meridians were clear again, the piercing pain gradually disappeared, and the chill again upied its master¡¯s body.


    As usual, Gu Shenwei protected his heart meridian while letting the chill wreak havoc in his body. But he was in the middle of a kung fupetition and he had to mobilize part of his internal Qi to wield his saber. During which, he had suddenly had a sh of inspiration that he could view the frosty Qi as an external force and try to use his yin and yang energy to guide and control it.


    He had seeded. Although his pain wasn¡¯t alleviated, the frosty Qi no longer aimlessly rushed forward. Instead, it followed Gu Shenwei¡¯s directions, and the only thing it needed now was to find an outlet.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s Seven Circles Seven Apertures Heart Stopping Finger helpedplete this final step.


    Strictly speaking, the frosty Qi was also a kind of internal Qi, but it was a rebellious Qi produced by Gu Shenwei when he practiced the Daoless Divine Power in reverse unknowingly. It tortured its master but refused to be used by its master, and was ipatible with all types of internal Qi in the world. Its most notable characteristic was stubbornness. Gu Shenwei¡¯s internal energy was improving almost every day and was already far more powerful than it but he still could notpletely purge it from his body.


    The five elders of the Jade Pure Sect had led a wolf into their own house, but doing so had indirectly paved a brand-new path for the Dragon King. Gu Shenwei had turned his hidden danger into a weapon and could use it to defeat more powerful enemies.


    This was a lose-lose tactic, though. Gu Shenwei¡¯s only advantage was that he had endured the chill for many years and could feel a bit morefortable after ¡®sharing¡¯ it.


    Although Gu Shenwei was unable to fully transfer the chill to others¡¯ body, he felt a lot better nowpared to the painful torture of the past.


    Lu Tianfeng of the Kunlun Sect and the wing guard Iron Harrier, who had been invaded by such a peculiar frosty Qi for the first time, took for granted that they should exert full strength to resist it and therefore, made the same mistake as the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect. What¡¯s worse was that their internal energy was inferior to thebination of those five elders.


    So, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the experts of the Central ins and the Nond who both held a high prestige, were now shivering as if they were afraid of the Dragon King after their defeat.


    ¡°King Shengri, there are two hours left. Send more people to fight so that you can enjoy Immortal Peng¡¯s means to the full.¡±


    The disciples of the Essence Pavilion knew nothing about what Servant Huan had taken from Immortal Peng so naturally, they didn¡¯t know that the Dragon King was lying.


    King Shengri looked like his treasured wine had been poured onto the ground or if his precious birds had all been boiled. With tens of thousands of cavalry backing him, he should have been the one in the dominant position but it had all been ruined by the Dragon King.


    He needed someone to vent his anger on.


    ¡°You dog Taoist! How dare you fool me!¡±


    Dao Nian also began to tremble. He had tried to gamble big but lost everything in the end. ¡°Well¡­ there must be a catch to his power.¡±


    ¡°Yes, there¡¯s a catch; none of the things you say are urate. I have to remind the Khan that he¡¯d better not practice the crap you told him.¡±


    Deeply troubled, Dao Nian was at a loss for what to say. Fortunately, another junior brother saved him. Amongst the five of them, Dao Sheng was the most quick-witted, and was the person who often handled foreign affairs on behalf of the Jade Pure Sect. He had been quietly thinking about the countermeasures and didn¡¯t say anything before. But now he stood out and said, ¡°Your Highness, please forgive me. It¡¯s really beyond senior brother¡¯s expectations, but I¡¯ve already thought of a way to deal with it. Please give us another chance to fight for Your Highness. Together, the five of us will surely defeat the Dragon King and have him bow to Your Highness.¡±


    The Taoist priests, who had been reluctant to join the fight, were now surprisingly asking for it. King Shengri naturally did not have much faith in them. ¡°What? Do you think that the Dragon King hasn¡¯t released enough people? Five people a time. That¡¯s very generous of you.¡±


    King Shengri knew nothing about internal energy, and it was useless to argue with him. Dao Sheng understood the urgency of the situation, so he made a bolder move and loudly spoke to Lu Tianfeng and Iron Harrier on the field. ¡°Hey, do not resist the frosty Qi injected by the Dragon King. Guard your heart meridian, let it be, and it will soon disappear.¡±


    Dao Sheng had finally found the right way to cope with it.


    The frosty Qi that originated from Gu Shenwei¡¯s Dantian was somehow not limatized to people¡¯s meridians. If the other party tried to expel it with force, it would take the chance to take root and germinate. Dao Sheng instead chose to let nature take its course and it had happened to die on its own.


    As a man of the Nond, Iron Harrier didn¡¯t believe the advice of the Taoist priest of the Central ins. Lu Tianfeng, who was familiar with the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect, knew that they would not plot against him in public, so he followed the advice. And not long after, the shiver of his body really alleviated. A momentter, he jumped up and said angrily, ¡°Come on, let¡¯s y again.¡±


    Gu Shenwei gently shook his head and said, ¡°You are no match for me. Call more people.¡±


    Though hard-mouthed, Lu Tianfeng was actually timid at heart. He stared at the Dragon King and hesitated to move forward.


    Old Man Mu felt it was time for him to show up again, especially since this Lu Tianfeng had struck him. If it were in the past, he would have killed his entire family from the men, women, and children to the chickens, ducks, geese, and dogs. But now he could only retaliate through his words.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be bashful. Use the many to defeat the few if you are no match for your opponent. This is supposed to be the unique skill of your Kunlun Sect. There are tons of kung fu experts behind you, so go kowtow to them. They will be too embarrassed to refuse you and may agree to help you fight.¡±


    Agitated, Lu Tianfeng snorted and rushed to the Dragon King, wanting to fight with him alone.


    Old Man Mu hurriedly said, ¡°King Shengri, this is a new game. If you lose, you¡¯ll have to let another one of us go.¡±


    It was no longer a pure internal energypetition. Lu Tianfeng¡¯s palm moves were swift and full of changes. Gu Shenwei had only learned some basic fist and foot techniques and immediately fell onto the losing side, and could only rely on his agility to deal with the opponent.


    Fan Yongda of the Kongdong Sect who had freed himself but dared not leave was standing with the guards of the Dragon King. Old Man Mu knew little of the martial arts of the Central ins, so he turned to Fan Yongda and asked in a low voice, ¡°What kind of kung fu is the kid of the Kongdong Sect using?¡±


    ¡°Ahh?¡± Fan Yongda didn¡¯t expect that Old Man Mu would ask him. In his mind, this old man was an enemy of his sect, but he couldn¡¯t feel any enmity towards him in such a dangerous situation. So he also whispered back, ¡°It looks like the Yang Scattering Palm of the Kunlun Sect. It is said that this set of palm technique is so fierce that nothing canpare with it¡­¡±


    ¡°Stop, stop, does it have any ws?¡±


    ¡°Uhh¡­¡±


    ¡°There are no perfect martial arts skills, so don¡¯t hide it. If the Dragon King is defeated, you will be worse off than anyone. Both sides will kill you on the charge of treason.¡±


    Fan Yongda gritted his teeth and bent to whisper a few words to Old Man Mu, ignoring the friendship of the nine major sects of the Central ins.


    The scenes King Shengri was looking forward to finally appeared. Thepetition turned into a lively show full of blows and kicks. From the experts¡¯ point of view, however, the Dragon King and Lu Tianfeng¡¯s moves were too shy and of no practical use. No one had exerted their full strength.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s disadvantage was his average fist techniques while Lu Tianfeng¡¯s was his timid heart. The two were testing each other to find the biggest w of the other side.


    Old Man Mu found it first.


    Fan Yongda actually didn¡¯t say anything too useful, but the few words he had said together with the moves Lu Tianfeng had shown were enough for Old Man Mu to quickly grasp the w of the Yang Scattering Palm. ¡°The palm techniques of the Kunlun Sect is as hypocritical as its disciples. Although his right palm sways back and forth, all of them are feints, while his left palm sneakily tries to hit you below the belt. How dare you call it Yang Scattering Palm, it¡¯s obviously the Left Underhanded Palm. ¡±


    All martial arts skills had their own changes, and Old Man Mu¡¯s Five Hole Punch actually had more changes. Based on what he had just said, they were all dirty moves. But his judgment about the left and right hand was very urate.


    Lu Tianfeng was taken aback and thought that it was a waste of time to fight on. He had to outwit the Dragon King in terms of internal energy, as only then could he avenge the humiliation he had suffered. Anyway, the evil frosty Qi was not deadly and he could still bear it. So he changed his palm techniques and wanted topete with the Dragon King again in internal energy.


    The Frostpalm Technique Gu Shenwei had just created was not something he was skilled in using, so he also wanted to test it again.


    The palms of both sides met, not once but more than a dozen times and all as fast as they wielded the saber. And each collision produced a thud-like sound as if a giant underground beast were murmuring.


    ¡°Bravo!¡± King Shengri loved to watch such scenes, but he deliberately kept his voice down to avoid the awkwardness of thest time when his men were utterly defeated as soon as he made a sound.


    Lu Tianfeng earned some honor for the lord andsted a bit longer.


    ¡°It¡¯s over.¡± Even King Shengri could see it now.


    Lu Tianfeng had overestimated his endurance. It was true that he could bear the frosty Qi once, but after more than a dozen exchanges, he felt his mind was nearly frozen.


    For thest several palm strokes, Lu Tianfeng did not resist at all. He let the Dragon King hit him and then stiffly copsed. Thest question he could think of was why couldn¡¯t he stop the evil frosty Qi when his internal Qi was clearly stronger than the Dragon King¡¯s?


    ¡°Dead?¡± King Shengri asked unsurely.


    ¡°Dead.¡± The officer near him nodded.


    Iron Harrier stood up. He was actually more powerful than Lu Tianfeng but he had waited a little longer before following the Taoist priest¡¯s suggestion so he recovered a littleter.


    The wing guard of the old Khan bowed respectfully to the Dragon King, ¡°Your Excellency has opened a new path in martial arts and has really amazed me. I¡¯m not your match, so please allow me to ask for pointers.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead, that¡¯s just what I want.¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned to Red Bat and said, ¡°Take this disciple of the Kongdong Sect with you and leave.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll stay¡­¡± Red Bat wanted to give this chance to others but the Dragon King¡¯s eyes told her that she had no choice.


    Iron Harrier said to King Shengri, ¡°My lord, I would like to choose a few men to challenge the Dragon King with me.¡±


    King Shengri found it really hard to believe that an Eagle w of the Royal Court was no match for the Dragon King. He shook his head in disbelief while saying, ¡°Take your pick.¡±


    ¡°Taoists of Jade Pure Sect, please join me in this contest.¡±


    Only Dao Sheng and his fellow Taoists could answer the question of Lu Tianfeng. The Dragon King not only had the evil frosty Qi but also the yin and yang energy.


    With great confidence, Dao Sheng thought that he had found a solution.

 Chapter 619 - Thirteen

    Chapter 619: Thirteen


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The fact that the Dragon King had confidently requested to have more than one enemy stood in stark contrast to his previous attempts to dy the process as much as possible, which made King Shengri suspicious. So, when Iron Harrier chose the elders of the Jade Pure Sect as his helpers, he didn¡¯t immediately agree, instead looking for hints from the two hunchbacks of the Essence Pavilion.


    Old Man Mu was just as perplexed as King Shengri. The Dragon King¡¯s victory or defeat was a matter of his own life and death, so he leaned forward and waved. When the Dragon King looked down, he lifted his cor a little, revealing a soft armor inside, and slyly winked.


    This soft armor was one of Old Man Mu¡¯s life-saving tricks. Ever since he had been hunted down and nearly killed by the crowd more than a decade ago, he made up his mind to wear this soft armor no matter how good his kung fu was.


    He didn¡¯t forget to take the soft armor with him even when Red Bat rescued him from the camp of the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect.


    It was actually the first time he had shown such generosity to lend this treasure to others, and he prefaced it by saying, ¡°Let¡¯s be clear. I¡¯m just lending it to you, and you have to give it back to me after we leave the forbidden zone.¡±


    ¡°No need.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s martial arts skills were different from Old Man Mu¡¯s as they focused on attacking rather than defending. If he wore soft armor, it might actually affect his fighting spirit.


    As they stood closer, Old Man Mu finally found a problem. Although the Dragon King had a robust color in his cheeks, the pink on his face was unstable. It flickered like the image of a sunset over a ripplingke.


    The Dragon King was eager to y short-handed because he could not hold out much longer.


    The Frostpalm Technique was, after all, a lose-lose way to fight. No matter how high Gu Shenwei¡¯s endurance was, it had a limit. He knew his Qi deviation all too well and had a premonition that a violent outburst woulde soon.


    Old Man Mu immediately knew what he should do after finding out the truth, so he loudly said, ¡°No, I can¡¯t let the Dragon King fight a pack of wolves all by himself. I want to go out and help!¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± The Iron Harrier didn¡¯t care. He had discovered Old Man Mu¡¯s kung fu was poor at the moment and wouldn¡¯t help much even if he joined the fight.


    Seeing that they had an advantage, Dao Sheng, the elder of the Jade Pure Sect, immediately said, ¡°We, the five elders of Jade Pure Sect, will also join. So there will be six people in total including the lord wing guard. The Dragon King can also choose five helpers, and then we can fight fair and square.¡±


    Anyone with a discerning eye could easily see the thoughts of Dao Sheng. Of all the people currently on the Dragon King¡¯s side, Chu Nanping was the only one who could be considered a kung fu expert. Old Man Mu and those ten guards were rather mediocre and couldn¡¯t help much even if they participated in the game. Whereas, the Nond side was able to remove the suspicion of them using the many to defeat the few.


    King Shengri didn¡¯t think it was a good idea. He no longer trusted the Jade Pure Sect so he shot a stare at Dao Sheng and ordered him to shut up.


    The wing guard Iron Harrier nodded, ¡°That¡¯s fine. I¡¯ve a few extra men on my side, so the Dragon King can also send some more people.¡±


    This was not the final goal of Old Man Mu, who hastened to reply, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s helpers will be me and Little Chu. That can be considered as two people. As for the ten guards, they always go in and out together, eating and sleeping together, and even go whoring at the same girl together, so they count as one. In total, the Dragon King has four men fighting the six people of the Nond. We¡¯ll let you take the advantage in this match.¡±


    The ten guards all coldly looked at Old Man Mu, very displeased with his description.


    Iron Harrier had a high opinion of himself and thought that it didn¡¯t matter even if all of the Dragon King¡¯s men joined the fight. The officer around King Shengri, however, didn¡¯t want to let their side take a beating. ¡°They are ten people, and even if they are tied together they are still ten people. If the Dragon King wants to fight in groups, we must send the same number of warriors on our side.¡±


    ¡°Ehh, it¡¯s you again. Juste at me if you want to avenge the princess consort of King Rizhu, but you¡¯re under King Shengri¡¯smand now, and you seem to be using your position for your own private revenge.¡±


    The officer was the younger brother of the former princess consort of King Rizhu. Instead of seeking refuge with his brother-inw, he had joined King Shengri¡¯s side and was now deeply trusted. He ignored Old Man Mu¡¯s provocation and snorted, ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I have in mind.¡± Then he turned to King Shengri and requested, ¡°Your Highness, please allow me to join the fight if Old Man Mu goes onto the field.¡±


    King Shengri was actually eager to see a brawl, but he became more cautious after losing several times. Looking at the kung fu masters of the Nond nearby, he directly asked, ¡°How is it?¡±


    The kung fu masters all nodded. They clearly understood that the more yers on the stage, the more disadvantageous it was for the Dragon King.


    King Shengri also nodded and said to the brother of King Rizhus¡¯ princess consort, ¡°Forget it, someone will avenge you.¡± Then he cleared his throat and announced himself, ¡°Well, let¡¯s make it a big game. Thirteen people from the Dragon King¡¯s side against thirteen people from my side. The rules are simple. Whoever kills seven first will win.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you¡¯ve gone too far. Everyone knows that the Dragon King¡¯s guards have average kung fu skills and you want to fight thirteen against thirteen. That¡¯s obviously bullying.¡±


    One of the guards couldn¡¯t bear it anymore and gruffly said, ¡°We don¡¯t know until after thepetition. It¡¯s a great honor for the swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain to fight alongside the Dragon King.


    ¡°You¡¯re not swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain, but instead chunks of ice. Whatever, I don¡¯t care if you want to seek death. No one can care about otherster in thepetition, and none of you will get protection from me.¡±


    Another guard proudly said, ¡°We can protect ourselves.¡±


    Old Man Mu shook his head in mock indignation and winked at the Dragon King which meant, ¡®If you want to settle it at once, I¡¯ll help you realize your wish.¡¯ His real meaning was, ¡®the Dragon King must treat his men equally. Do not leave OId Man Mu behind if you want to save everyone¡¯.


    ¡°Good.¡± Gu Shenwei ignored Old Man Mu and said, ¡°King Shengri, you can send your men out now.¡±


    King Shengri was still deep in thought when Dao Sheng volunteered, ¡°The five of us have fought with the Dragon King and know his weakness. We would like to fight for Your Highness.¡±


    King Shengri hesitated for a while before reluctantly nodding. ¡°If you lose, just die on the field together. Don¡¯te back.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Dao Sheng readily agreed and then stammered, ¡°Your Highness¡­ One of our junior brothers was kidnapped by the Dragon King¡¯s subordinates and forced to enter the forbidden zone, and he¡¯s still inside¡­¡±


    Frowned, King Shengri stared at the Taoist priest, ¡°Are you really kung fu masters? One of you was kidnapped and another¡¯s internal energy was injured. You all seem so mediocre.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is good at using dirty tricks. He will not be the Jade Pure Sect¡¯s match if he fights openly.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, the Dragon King is not a match for the five of you, of course.¡± King Shengri said sarcastically but agreed in the end. ¡°Well, let your junior brother take part in thepetition and kill one of the Dragon King¡¯s subordinates with his own hands to prove his innocence.¡±


    Dao Sheng bowed to show his gratitude. ¡°You Highness is wise and kind-hearted, we¡­¡±


    While Dao Sheng was still racking his brains for more ways to tter King Shengri, his senior brother, Dao Nian was already waving to the distant Dao Lun, suggesting that he coulde over now.


    Dao Lun was anxiously awaiting for his fellow disciples to save him. Upon seeing his senior brother beckoning towards him, he couldn¡¯t even believe his own eyes. After pointing to himself and getting the nodding confirmation from his senior brother, he excitedly left the core of the crowd, walked around the Dragon King and cautiously proceeded to King Shengri.


    Halfway through the journey, seeing that the cavalry really didn¡¯t fire an arrow, he felt at ease at once and held his head high.


    When he came near, Dao Lun stammered thanks to King Shengri and then held Dao Nian¡¯s hand. ¡°Senior brother, you saved my life.¡±


    Dao Nian and Dao Sheng exchanged a nce with a grudge in their hearts.


    Dao Shengined inwardly that his senior brother had taken his credit. It was he who had beat his brains to save Dao Lun while his senior brother calmly epted the thanks and did not even mention him.


    Dao Nian, on the other hand, was angry with his junior brother for his greediness in taking all the credit, as he had found a way to get rid of the chill long ago but didn¡¯t tell him in advance and embarrassed him in front of King Shengri.


    King Shengri didn¡¯t pay attention to the little farce of the Jade Pure Sect. He was instead carefully selecting his own warriors.


    The kung fu experts of the various sects of the Central ins were still enthusiastic and many of them had the same idea with Dao Sheng, hoping to take this opportunity to rescue their trapped fellow disciples.


    King Shengri refused, saying, ¡°Five Taoists are enough. I won¡¯t take any more people of the Central ins.¡±


    This was a crucial game. Once lost, he would lose the ground to pressure the Dragon King, and Immortal Peng¡¯s magical relics and the young swordsman would slip away under his nose.


    Thirteen warriors were quickly selected who consisted of the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect, the wing guard Iron Harrier, the two hunchbacks of the Essence Pavilion, and five Nond kung fu experts. King Shengri believed that even if the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect were aplete waste, the other people could still easily defeat the Dragon King and his subordinates.


    The kung fupetition was about to start. Old Man Mu had to find himself a reliable protector so he could survive the next melee. Obviously, he couldn¡¯t rely on the Dragon King, so he turned to look at the teenager nearby. ¡°Little Chu,¡± he said with a big smile, ¡°You do have great taste. In this old man¡¯s entire life, that little girl is the prettiest I¡¯ve ever seen.¡±


    Chu Nanping didn¡¯t respond. He had heard the word ¡®pretty¡¯ too often long before he was eight years old, so he was not interested no matter if the other side was praising himself or anyone else.


    ¡°s, what a pity.¡± Old Man Mu hoped to attract Chu Nanping¡¯s attention and he wasn¡¯t disappointed after failing to do so. Instead, he continued, ¡°Such a good girl, why must she join the Waning Moon Hall? Even if she isn¡¯t mad or dead, she will be vicious and cruel and disown all her rtives and friends. Eventually, she will not even recognize herself and be a walking dead under Han Wuxian¡¯s control.¡±


    Chu Nanping lowered his head, ¡°You¡¯re talking nonsense.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m talking nonsense?¡± Old Man Mu asked back in surprise, ¡°Look at Lotus, look at the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall around her. Do anyone of them look normal? I¡¯ve spent a lot of time at the Waning Moon Hall. Do you know how they train their disciples? First, they let you like something such as a cat or dog, then they force you to dismember it. They will then slowly use people instead of a cat or dog. Han Wuxian nearly dissected me. So, you¡¯d better be careful.¡±


    Chu Nanping was a little confused. He didn¡¯t expect that the means of the Waning Moon Hall were simr to that of the Emotionless Swordsmanship, but he had already given up and never wanted Tie Linglong to tread on his old road.


    Old Man Mu knew it was the right time to persuade him. Besides, the warriors appointed by King Shengri was filing into the field, leaving him no more time to speak. So he lowered his voice and said, ¡°This old man has a way of correcting the little girl on the wrong path. I don¡¯t have time to tell you how to do it now. Protect meter and we¡¯ll talk about itter.¡±


    Chu Nanping thought for a while and nodded.


    Gu Shenwei was ready, and the ten guards stood behind him with their heavy swords in their hands.


    The fighting was imminent but was interrupted by the sound of hooves. It was not a squad of cavalry but as many as three or four hundred men.


    The kung fu experts of the Central ins, who remained by the side of King Shengri, immediately recognized that the neers were the kings whom they had taken refuge with.


    The voice of King Rizhu was the loudest, which rang out from afar. ¡°Nobody is watching the warrior contest anymore after hearing that the Dragon King is having a kung fupetition here. King Shengri, why didn¡¯t you call everyone here toe and see such a good show?¡±


    King Shengri had a horrible expression, and Gu Shenwei knew that something drastic must have taken ce behind the scenes regarding the fight for the throne.

 Chapter 620 - Eyes

    Chapter 620: Eyes


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    King Shengri found that his perfect day was starting to be shrouded in dark clouds.


    Yes, the Dragon King had won a few games, so neatly and swiftly that it had embarrassed him, but it wasn¡¯tpletely out of his expectation as the ones the Dragon King had let go were all trivial figures. The n was still perfect, and the Dragon King had not actually changed his situation.


    The sudden appearance of several kings, however, hadplicated the matters.


    Of all the kings, only King Dari and King Kuari didn¡¯te. As loutish and unconstrained as usual, King Rizhu rode in the front, followed by his entourage that numbered in the dozens. He galloped all the way to King Shengri before suddenlying to a halt. Frightened, the horses around them all neighed uneasily. He himself, however, pretended to not have noticed, leaned over, and put hisrge hand on King Shengri¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Second King, you really are having a good time here while forgetting to call your brothers to have fun together.¡±


    King Shengri¡¯s face darkened. He shook his shoulder hard to get rid of that annoyingrge hand but failed. So he could only force himself to let out a burst of harshughter. ¡°Well, it¡¯s just a tough task of the Khan¡¯s; you guys didn¡¯t want to take it so it fell onto my head. How am I having fun? Where¡¯s the fun in this?¡±


    The other kings arrived one after another, all of them with their ownrge entourage. The cavalry and experts of the Central ins, who had clustered around King Shengri like a myriad river of stars surrounding the moon, were immediately pushed aside.


    The scene suddenly turned chaotic. In such an asion, voices became meaningless noises and were not even as useful as the incessantughter that expressed oneself. The most effective means ofmunication was the eyes.


    Seeing the arrival of the kings, the kung fu experts immediately ¡®made eyes¡¯ at the lords they had pledged allegiance to, expressing their panic, grievance, doubt, expectation, and other feelings. While the followers of different masters stared at each other and drew an invisible line between each group, each upying an appropriate territory, the kings looked much more restrained yet also absent-minded. It was as if they were looking at everyone, but also at the same time, the distant scenery.


    The focus of attention had suddenly changed from the two sides who preparing for the contest on the field to the audience. Standing beside the Dragon King, Old Man Mu curled his mouth, shook his head, and sighed. ¡°Dragon King, have you ever been to a brothel? You know, those big brothels with dozens of bitches and where you can choose whoever you want?¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. He had once owned a brothel but that had been in the Retention Alley of Jade City and it only had one prostitute, Xu Yanwei. Although he had entered low-leveled brothels that focused on their numbers, he had only done so to avoid pursuers and had never slept there.


    The nearby Chu Nanping suddenly said, ¡°I¡¯ve been to one.¡±


    Old Man Mu was taken aback and forgot what he had to say. Full of disbelief, he asked, ¡°You¡¯ve been there? You and those women, who whored who?¡±


    ¡°Xu Xiaoyi took me there. The people there were very kind. Sometimes they offered us free food and shelter.¡±


    During the first year of the Dragon King¡¯s escape from Golden Roc Castle, Xu Xiaoyi had hid himself in Shule with Chu Nanping. The two visited almost all the brothels big and small in the city and nearly squandered all the gold and silver umted by the Dragon King.


    ¡°Judging people by their looks, even bitches are no exception. Back then, I also didn¡¯t have to pay for food and shelter¡­ Forget it.¡± Old Man Mu didn¡¯t want to talk about his past. ¡°See, these lords are like the courtesans in a brothel, wishing to have everyone¡¯s eyes on them. They always ce sisterly affection on the tips of their tongues, but deep in their hearts, they arepeting with each other. Their eyes look elusive and drifting, but are actually full of a determination to get rid of each other. Tut tut, it¡¯s not easy for the Khan to act as a pimp. See, this is why I preferred to be alone back then.¡±


    Due to the noises of the crowd, Old Man Mu¡¯s vulgar metaphor did not reach the kings¡¯ ears.


    ¡°So you¡¯ll be a loner until you die.¡± Gu Shenwei was also watching the gathering of the kings not far away but drew a conclusion that was theplete opposite of Old Man Mu¡¯s. All the people around him envied the statuses of the kings, who had garnered the most attention with just a single appearance, much more than the attention the Dragon King had busted his ass to receive.


    ¡°Yeah, being alone has always been my goal. What¡¯s the problem with that? Unfortunately, I¡¯ve lost my power and I can¡¯t be a loner even if I want to.¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked down and Old Man Mu looked up. The two stared at each other for a while and both were at a loss for what to say since they both couldn¡¯t understand why the other side would make a mistake on such a simple issue.


    ¡°You want to be a courtesan too,¡± whispered Old Man Mu.


    Gu Shenwei did indeed want to be a ¡®courtesan.¡¯ As a killer, obscurity was the best cover. But as the Dragon King, he had to attract attention by all means like a prostitute as described by Old Man Mu. He had worked hard for years to seed in the Western Regions. As a neer in the Nond, there was still a huge gap between what he had received and what he wanted.


    Fame was a kind of power that no one could directly measure or hold. But when one had enough fame, one would gain twice as much with half as much effort in the struggle for power.


    The fact that Golden Roc Castle required their killers to not make a name for themselves was simr to a bandit chief asking his subordinates to not be tempted by money. Because both fame and money were so important that they could only be the exclusive property of the masters.


    The next fight would be an opportunity for Gu Shenwei.


    The battle of drawing attention amongst the kings of the Nond hade to an end and everyone got their fair share based on their power and positions. King Kuari didn¡¯te so King Rizhu, the only king with a foreign surname, received the most attention. Just by ncing sideways, he almost overshadowed the leading role of King Shengri. ¡°Are these the opponents that the Second King has chosen for the Dragon King? Let me see. Hmm, Iron Harrier is great, and Silver Condor is even more outstanding. The Nond only has seven Eagle ws and you¡¯ve got two of them. That is quite impressive.¡±


    King Shengri¡¯s face turned purple with rage. Silver Condor was the most powerful weapon in his hands. He had nned to mix him in with the other kung fu experts and give the Dragon King a surprise attack. But now that it had all been pointed out by King Rizhu, whose voice so loud that it could be heard from afar. Unable to stop the other side, he could only say with a sardonic smile, ¡°Do not say that ¡®I¡¯ve got them.¡¯ They¡¯re the Khan¡¯s wing guards and they are not working for me.¡±


    Old Man Mu nced at the opponents and said, ¡°The one with a piece of white cloth on his head must be the Silver Condor. It¡¯s strange, why isn¡¯t the Iron Harrier wearing a piece of ck cloth? Seven Eagle ws? I never heard of them when I was young. I had once¡­¡± He lowered his voice and continued saying, ¡°I had once wandered around the pce and I never saw any experts step out to stop me.¡±


    King Rizhu hadn¡¯t finished hisments yet. He pointed his whip at the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect and said, ¡°I know these Taoists. They are swindlers touting sex techniques. They once came to me to seek refuge but was driven away by my men. How have they fallen into the hands of the Second King? Do you want to have a son again?¡±


    King Shengri¡¯s face turned from purple to ck. In front of the crowd, however, he couldn¡¯t say that these five Taoist priests were ¡®masters¡¯ invited by the Khan. He hummed and hawed, arguing, ¡°I¡¯m afraid Old Cha misjudged them. These five Taoists are quite capable of fighting, and the Dragon King was internally injured by themst night.¡±


    In a twinkling of an eye, the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect had changed roles from ¡®abandoned ones¡¯ to King Shengri¡¯s ¡®favorite officers.¡¯


    ¡°Who are those two hunchbacks? They can¡¯t even walk well with crutches? Can they also fight?¡±


    ¡°They are the Khan¡¯s men,¡± said King Shengri coldly. The disciples of the Essence Pavilion had been favored for a long time, and King Rizhu had no reason to not know of them.


    There were four more warriors left, and King Rizhu didn¡¯t intend to let them go either. ¡°Who are these fellows? They seem so arrogant. Are they more powerful than the Nond Eagle ws?


    ¡°They are my guards.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so there really are the Second King¡¯s men amongst these thirteen experts.¡±


    King Shengri could no longer bear it. ¡°Chaqueleg, no one asked you to make carpingments about my warriors. This is the Royal Court, not your Naihang Tribe. The thirty thousand cavalries are under mymand, you¡­¡± King Shengri rebuked, gritting his teeth.


    Upon being challenged, King Rizhuughed instead of bing angry. He fully yed into the role of having a reckless and frank nature, and struck King Shengri¡¯s shoulder with a blow that seemed very intimate but actually nearly knocked the old Second King off his horse. ¡°Good old boy, you are getting grumpy. I¡¯ve just received a batch of good wine from the Central ins. I¡¯ll send it to your houseter as an atonement. So don¡¯t be angry, or I¡¯ll be scared to death.¡±


    King Shengri held onto his horse and swayed several times before stabilizing himself. Then he squeezed out a smile and said, ¡°I¡¯m just kidding. We¡¯re brothers, so how could I be grumpy?¡±


    The officer, who was King Shengri¡¯s confidant and also King Rizhu¡¯s brother-inw, leaned forward to smooth the matter over. ¡°Your Highnesses are family ¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut the fuck up, little bastard. You are not entitled to talk here.¡± King Rizhu was not at all kind to his ¡®traitorous¡¯ brother-inw.


    Blushing, the officer embarrassedly retreated.


    King Rizhu kept his voice down a bit as he asked, ¡°Second King, please do me a favor.¡±


    King Shengri immediately shook his head, ¡°I¡¯m following the Khan¡¯s orders, and I can¡¯t be partial in the presence of so many people.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I will not interfere with your serious business. See that little old man besides the Dragon King? My beloved princess consort was humiliated andmitted suicide because of him. My life won¡¯t be worth living if I don¡¯t take my revenge on him! He has joined the Dragon Army so I can¡¯t touch him openly. But now I finally have a chance. Please free up a ce for me so I can send someone to kill him. I¡¯ll owe you a big favor.¡±


    King Shengri had been dormant for a long time and had just decided to join the fight for the throne again. So he hadn¡¯t got used to the infighting amongst the kings. Being overwhelmed by King Rizhu¡¯s incessant attack, he just hoped to get rid of his entanglement as soon as possible, so he said ¡®okay¡¯ without even thinking about it. When he turned and saw the officer¡¯s anxious looks, he finally understood that he had been tricked. The alliance between King Rizhu and the Dragon King was public knowledge, and it was unnecessary for King Rizhu to ask him if he wanted to kill Old Man Mu.


    But it was toote to change his mind because King Rizhu had already beckoned to his warrior. ¡°Go kill Old Man Mu. Don¡¯t bother keeping your another arm if you can¡¯t make it.¡±


    Wild Horse silently nodded and walked into the field with his saber, recing one of King Shengri¡¯s warriors.


    Hearing King Rizhu¡¯s words from afar, Old Man Mu shouted, ¡°Wild Horse, don¡¯t go soft on me. You are my half-disciple. It¡¯s part of our sect¡¯s tradition for the disciple to kill the Master.¡±


    Old Man Mu knew very well that his sect¡¯s ¡®tradition¡¯ was outrageous in the eyes of normal people. As long as Wild Horse still cared about his reputation, he would not y too hard in front of the public.


    He then turned to Chu Nanping, ¡°Little Chu, the little girl¡¯s future is in this old man¡¯s hands, and this old man¡¯s life is in your hands, so do as you see fit.¡±


    Once again, King Rizhu stole the host¡¯s show and excitedly shouted, ¡°What are you waiting for? Go fight! I¡¯ll reward those who kill the most!¡±


    The thirteen experts of King Shengri¡¯s side marched forward together with heavy killing intent. They all knew that the fight was of great importance and that if they were defeated, it would be a dead end for all of them.


    ¡°Line up.¡±


    Gu Shenwei ordered. The ten guards of the Big Snow Mountain immediately formed a closed circle with their grand swords pointing outward.


    But the one being protected was neither the Dragon King nor the weakest Old Man Mu, but rather the puzzled Chu Nanping who had drawn his dual swords.


    Being isted from the protection circle, Old Man Mu was dumbfounded. ¡°Good gracious, Dragon King, are you going to kill me with another¡¯s hand?¡±

 Chapter 621 - Giveaway

    Chapter 621: Giveaway


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    All ten guards of the Dragon King had been trained by the old saberman Tuo Nengya. They took the Dragon King¡¯s hint and immediately centered around Chu Nanping to protect him, which surprised everyone.


    Old Man Mu was excluded from the circle. He ran around the protective circle, hoping to find a gap. But it was so closely surrounded that not only was he unable to break in but he was also forced to retreat several steps under the pressure of the guards¡¯ grand formation.


    ¡°Whoa,e on. We¡¯re all on the same side. Dragon King, are you offering me to King Rizhu as a gift? Why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier? I canmit suicide by myself. Wild Horse, do you still remember? I even did back trampling for you.¡±


    The thirteen kung fu experts of King Shengri were also very surprised. Although the circle of the ten guards was watertight, it waspletely defensive, which meant that the attackers left were just the Dragon King and the useless Old Man Mu.


    Iron Harrier was presumed to be the leader of the small group, and his tactics were simple. The five elders of the Jade Pure Sect were to join forces with the disciples of the Essence Pavilion to detain the Dragon King while the rest of the people tried to finish their goal of killing the seven guards as quickly as possible. As for Wild Horse, he could do whatever he wanted to hunt down Old Man Mu.


    The Dragon King¡¯s deployment slightly upset his n. Although the martial arts skills of the ten guards were not first-rate, they became much more powerful with the sword formation and therefore, brought trouble to his rapid annihtion n. He winked at the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect to signal them to join in on the siege of the guards while he himself would fight alone with the Dragon King.


    Although he had been defeated by the frosty Qi in thepetition of internal energy, Iron Harrier was still very confident. He had been observing the Dragon King¡¯s saber techniques for the first several games and felt that he held an advantage over the Dragon King, or at least he could fight with him for a while.


    Unfortunately, although King Shengri¡¯s impromptu team was full of experts, it was a mob when they were all gathered together. Nobody cared about Iron Harrier¡¯s hints at all.


    The five elders of the Jade Pure Sect, who were determined to render the greatest service, were unwilling to change their target. So they pretended not to understand Iron Harrier¡¯s eyes and rushed at the Dragon King at the same time.


    The two hunchbacks of the Essence Pavilion also changed their original n and rushed at the guards, aiming for Chu Nanping in the center. They jumped around with their crutches and tried to break through the protective circle but just ended up wasting their time.


    The three warriors of King Shengri understood their lord¡¯s present state, so they set their mind on pleasing the Essence Pavilion and following the hunchbacks to jump up and down.


    Only Silver Condor, another wing guard of the Khan, followed the n and directly rushed at the guards, but he was impeded on his way. No one knew whether they had done so intentionally or not, but Old Man Mu and Wild Horse, one running as the other pursued, always shed in front of him.


    Gu Shenwei had realized his purpose of baiting the two hunchbacks through the protection of Chu Nanping.


    For the Essence Pavilion, the importance of Chu Nanping was no less than that of Immortal Peng¡¯s ¡®legacy.¡¯ The Dragon King suddenly putting him under close protection meant that he would never give up the boy easily. As expected, the two hunchbacks were fooled, and they persisted in trying to take Chu Nanping away on the spot.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s move was likely to have no effect on ordinary people because as long as the other side randomly killed seven people, they would win and by that time, the Dragon King could only hand over the legacy and the young swordsman as agreed. Why would they resort to snatching right away?


    But the minds of the disciples of the Essence Pavilion were different from that of ordinary people. The fact that they were good at confusing others¡¯ mind actually made them bad at understanding their own. Their thought process was simple and direct: Since the Dragon King was protecting Chu Nanping, it meant that he didn¡¯t want to hand him over, so they must grab him in advance.


    The thirteen experts of King Shengri were divided into three or four groups and each fought on their own. Gu Shenwei refused to fight with any of them. Like Old Man Mu, he also ran and leaped around the ten guards¡¯ sword formation, and the ones following him were the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect.


    ¡°What do you mean, Dragon King?¡± Old Man Mu shouted loudly.


    ¡°Old Man Mu, I¡¯ll drive you out of the Dragon Army if you fail to kill two people,¡± said Gu Shenwei as they passed each other by.


    Old Man Mu paused for a moment before suddenly turning around to catch up with the Dragon King, during which he easily slipped past Wild Horse. ¡°You found out?¡±


    ¡°Humph.¡±


    ¡°What on earth gave me away?¡±


    As he spoke, Old Man Mu didn¡¯t slow down. No matter how the Dragon King changed directions he could keep abreast of him. He wasn¡¯t like a man whose power had been seriously damaged at all. Although the situation was severe, he had to figure out the problem.


    The poor five elders of the Jade Pure Sect who had average lightness skills scattered and wanted to surround the Dragon King but always failed when they were on the verge of sess.


    Wild Horse was in hot pursuit but he misjudged every now and then. When Old Man Mu and the Dragon King made sharp turns, he continued moving forward and would asionally bump into his partners.


    Gu Shenweiunched a feint attack at Iron Harrier and Silver Condor to prevent the two from approaching the sword formation and then leaped away quickly before he found time to reply Old Man Mu. ¡°You are full of ws.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Old Man Mu didn¡¯t understand.¡±


    ¡°Would you have dared to take Shangguan Fei to the forbidden zone if you were powerless?¡±


    ¡°Uh ¡­ It¡¯s really not like me at second thought. Heh heh, but I might be influenced by the good girl and change myself.¡±


    Gu Shenwei hummed again. Old Man Mu would never change. In order to heal himself, Old Man Mu had lived in seclusion for more than a dozen years without revealing any news. For a person who could tolerate anything to ensure his own safety, he would not risk his life unless he had something secure to rely on.


    He had imed that he had little power left after being tortured by the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect but right after, he had actively gone into a ce difficult to reach with the unreliable Shangguan Fei. His change was a little too much if everything he had said was true.


    ¡°You overdid it when you showed me your soft armor.¡± Gu Shenwei added another reason.


    Old Man Mu had been hit by Lu Tianfeng of the Kunlun Sect. He pretended to be unable to dodge and had taken the blow, but he was not dead and was not even seriously injured. To conceal it, he had deliberately showed off his soft armor and indicated that he could lend it to the Dragon King. He thought that he had hidden everything well, but it had only confirmed Gu Shenwei¡¯s judgment that he was lying.


    Old Man Mu looked helpless. ¡°Do I really look like a bad guy? Well, forget it. I¡¯m not a good person. But please, Dragon King, let me fool you once. Please do not see through me every time. I feel so ashamed.¡±


    Old Man Mu changed his attitude fast and he praised cleverly. With self-ridicule simr to a kind of entreaty, he not only avoided apologizing but also praised the Dragon King. In fact, he had only lied twice since he hade to the Nond.


    ¡°Do it now.¡± Gu Shenwei ordered and made an example by running toward Silver Condor who was said to be even better than Iron Harrier.


    Old Man Mu had hidden his kung fu to evade responsibility. Since he had been exposed, he knew that he must exert all his strength to kill two of his opponents in order to obtain the Dragon King¡¯s forgiveness.


    His lightness skills were even better than that of the Dragon King. Without even a stop, he went straight back at the Taoist priests of the Jade Pure Sect while shouting viciously, ¡°Let me have my revenge first.¡±


    The fact that Old Man Mu was willing to stay in the Dragon Army was obviously because he hadn¡¯t recovered to his full power yet. He still had sixty to seventy percent internal energy left but it was enough to cope with some average kung fu experts.


    As soon as the Dragon King and Old Man Muunched a counterattack, the enemy reacted. Silver Condor was tired of being blocked every time he ran at the guards¡¯ sword formation. He was pleased to see the Dragon King attack him so he also took the chance to press forward. Iron Harrier¡¯s tactics had failed so he also ignored the others and decided to join Silver Condor in defeating the core figure of the enemies.


    The five people of the Jade Pure Sect were a bit scared of Old Man Mu. Upon hearing that the other side still had power, they immediately fanned out into a battle formation. And they would have surrounded the target if Wild Horse didn¡¯t rush ahead.


    It was the first time the experts of the Nond and the Central ins experienced how the Dragon King fought alone with his opponents. They had misjudged many things in the moment, which they were deeply impressed by when they recalled it afterward. As for the onlookers, they werepletely dazzled. The Dragon King had only said a few words with Old Man Mu, which immediately changed the whole situation on the field.


    The two Eagle ws, Iron Harrier and Silver Condor, had had a chance to take the initiative if they had coordinated their target at the very beginning but the two had hesitated between the Dragon King and the guards and lost their best opportunity.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s tactics coincided with those of Old Man Mu. The two staged a diversionary attack by suddenly turning to attack the three warriors of King Shengri without even touching their oing opponents. The three warriors were the weakest part of the thirteen opponents and had always been the first target of the two from the outset.


    ¡°Do notpete with me.¡±


    Old Man Mu blurted out and punched over a dozen times in a row, striking one of the warriors into flight. Then his expression suddenly changed, ¡°Damn, I promised the good girl to not kill again.¡±


    The warrior spat out a mouthful of blood after falling to the ground and obviously looked more dead than alive. When he heard Old Man Mu¡¯s words, thest thing on his mind was that his luck was so bad.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s saber was much quicker. The other two warriors fell down dead before they could even have ast thought.


    ¡°Today is an exception,¡± said Gu Shenwei after the kill.


    ¡°You are the boss.¡± Old Man Mu was actually waiting for this. With the Dragon King¡¯s permission, the good girl would not say anything even if she found outter.


    Old Man Mu rushed towards the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect again with the same words, ¡°Let me have my revenge first.¡±


    The three warriors under him had died so easily that King Shengri immediately lost all face. What made it worse was that King Rizhu who was beside him refused to keep his mouth shut. ¡°Ouch, who can tell me how the three people died? Well, they should at leastst two or three moves so I that can see it clearly.¡± King Rizhu then turned to talk to the other kings, saying, ¡°Had I known so, you should have lent Second King several experts like I did.¡±


    ¡°Old Cha is farsighted. We didn¡¯t think of that.¡±


    Most of the kings gloated. King Shengri swore at heart that he would avenge himself sooner orter.


    Just as the kings stopped talking, the situation on the field changed again.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s second revenge statement wasn¡¯t a bluff, he was fighting with the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect but wasn¡¯t able to finish the fight soon anymore. Although the Taoists¡¯ fist and foot techniques were far inferior to those of their opponent, with thebination of the five, their palm attacks were so fierce that Old Man Mu couldn¡¯t even approach within five paces of them.


    And Wild Horse was even more ferocious and looked as if he really wanted to kill Old Man Mu. The secret order he had received was to help the Dragon King in secret but it didn¡¯t include this old enemy of King Rizhu¡¯s.


    Soon, Old Man Mu fell into a losing position. ¡°Dragon King,e and help!¡±


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t get away. In the face of several enemies, his style was to lure the enemy into pursuing him and counterattacking when facing a lone opponent. But Silver Condor and Iron Harrier were not ordinary kung fu practitioners. Gu Shenwei was entangled by the two after exchanging only one move and actually couldn¡¯t break free.


    After five moves, Gu Shenwei struck with his left palm and exchanged a p with Silver Condor.


    The frosty Qi did not work this time. Silver Condor neither trembled nor lowered his speed and instead wielded his saber faster and faster. He had taken the blow withplete confidence.


    Even King Shengri could see the Dragon King¡¯s defeat now. His expression, therefore, returned to normal and he said with a smile. ¡°Old Cha, now you can see clearly?¡±

 Chapter 622 - Melee

    Chapter 622: Melee


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    When he was twenty-four years old, the young saberman who hadn¡¯t yet changed his name to ¡®Silver Condor¡¯ faced the biggest and most difficult choice of his life: whether to continue leaving his mark in the martial arts world or to ept a mysterious man¡¯s invitation and live in seclusion with wealth and honour forever.


    He had just defeated eleven famous sabermen in a high-profile tournament. Three months ago, in order to vie for territory in the southern area, he had spent three days and nights killing dozens of experts, eventually earning a popr nickname ¡ª Invincible Saber King, while the people of the Central ins called him ¡®Dark Saber.¡¯ Ten months before that, with only a dozen or so brothers, he had swept a prairie tribe of more than a thousand people and ughtered almost all of the adult men to avenge the death of his father and brothers.


    He was a rising star on the prairie, gaining poprity so fast that he could not believe it himself. Countless people came to his door to either worship him as a Master, take refuge with him, or to bond with him. Gold, silver, women; all the beautiful things that used to be out of reach fell unavoidably from the sky like raindrops.


    Each morning he woke up with a bewildered expression, struggling to recognize the sleeping women beside him, recalling how much wine he had drunk, and how many people he had killed the night before.


    That was when the mysterious man had appeared. Without the usual ttery or generous offerings, the man onlymunicated a point to him: a reputation in martial arts world neversted long.


    He wasn¡¯t the first saberman to suddenly rise. In fact, every three to five years, a new talent would spring up, bringing with them a great blood-shed before they stepped on the bodies of their predecessors on their way to the top.


    If the emerging neers were really powerful and lucky enough, they could make it for another three or five cycles but it was always less than twenty or so years before they fell, and the fame faded faster even than the rot of their bodies.


    The mystery man finally said to him, ¡°Come to me if you want to break the cycle.¡±


    He was attracted because he was going to challenge an old master, and just as the mystery man had said, he held no personal grudge against this senior. But many irrelevant people were helping to facilitate the challenge and their reasoning was simple: Two tigers cannot share one mountain. If the Invincible Saber King wanted to dominate the grasnds and consolidate his territories, he must defeat or even kill the seniors who were standing in his way.


    He saw his destiny of several yearster. Another young saberman would challenge him at the instigation of the same group of people. He might win, but the challengers wouldn¡¯t stop there. They woulde one after another until he died under someone¡¯s saber.


    All of a sudden, all his family, friends, and brothers of the martial arts world looked hideous, like a giant parasite sucking away his blood and flesh while at the same time ready to abandon him and attach themselves to a new host.


    Without drinking wine, touching women, or his saber all day, he meditated and realized what he wanted. So he went to see the mystery man in the second half of the night, saying that he would ept the invitation.


    He left a letter iming that he was quitting the martial arts world from now on.


    After a year¡¯s trial and preparation, he became a wing guard of the Khan and was renamed Silver Condor.


    Silver Condor originally thought his disappearance would cause a great storm in the martial arts world, but the result was just as the mystery man had said. It was almost undisturbed. Only a very small number of people were affected, and the general situation of the martial arts world was almost unchanged. In less than a month, a new person had reced his position.


    In less than five years, the nickname of ¡®Invincible Saber King¡¯ was rarely heard, and Silver Condor didn¡¯t even need much disguising anymore. His reputation had withered and fallen like a flower, and could never return to its former branches. Instead, it had be the nourishment for another branch of fame: When the Invincible Saber King was asionally mentioned. It was all about how one defeated him and forced him to retire.


    More than a decade had passed, and Silver Condor felt that he had made the right choice. Although his life would no longer be hot-blooded and the ¡®Jianghu¡¯ around the Khan wasn¡¯t easier than any other ce, he had everything a man could want: a stable position, the right amount of money, a good and loving wife and children, and a stable future.


    If he could sit down and talk to the Dragon King, these were the words that Silver Condor wanted to say.


    The mystery man who had gone to him was one of the Khan¡¯s wing guards, and now it was his turn to y that role.


    The Dragon King¡¯s kung fu was much better than he had expected but it was far from being invincible. The peculiar frosty Qi was quite unique, but he had a countermeasure ready. All he had to do was notpete with it and immediately retreat after releasing a strand of his own internal Qi. Even if a little bit of frosty Qi took the chance to enter his body, there was no need to worry. Just as the Taoist priest of the Jade Pure Sect had said, just put up with it and leave it alone, and it wouldn¡¯t be a problem afterwards.


    For the first time, Gu Shenwei had encountered an extremely tough opponent.


    Golden Roc Castle also had many experts, some of whom might even have kung fu skills that were a little more powerful than Silver Condor, but in those killers¡¯ rules, they never got entangled in a fight. If they couldn¡¯t finish it in several moves, they would immediately retreat or find another good chance or day to fight again. But it was a regr kung fupetition today and someone had to lose.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know what Silver Condor was thinking. He just felt that this man¡¯s saber techniques were fierce and swift and that his internal energy was very pure and powerful. Although the other side only shot out a little internal Qi each time their palms touched, it was a great blow to him. If it went on like this, he was sure to lose. And this was not even mentioning Iron Harrier, who was waiting aside.


    In a very short period, he had exchanged more than twenty moves with the two wing guards of the Khan, but the cheers he won were more than the previous games added together.


    Gu Shenwei felt like it was almost the right time. If the fight went on like this, he might fall into Qi deviation on the spot.


    ¡°Old Man Mu!¡±


    Old Man Mu had spent most of the time circling around the sword formation, refusing to fight with the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect and Wild Horse. He knew very well that if he fell into the siege, he would have little chance of escaping.


    The Dragon King¡¯s call gave him a headache. Both Silver Condor and Iron Harrier had much more advanced kung fu skills than the others and were exactly the tough opponents he was trying to avoid. But the Dragon King was obviously ordering him to go and help.


    Old Man Mu was really envious of Little Chu¡¯s good luck, who was well protected in such a dangerous situation. The two hunchbacks of the Essence Pavilion couldn¡¯t even get close to him. Old Man Mu himself, however, could only follow the Dragon King¡¯s order and dash towards the most dangerous ce.


    ¡°Coming!¡± Old Man Mu¡¯s voice was cheerful as if he had been waiting for this chance to make a contribution.


    Gu Shenwei and Old Man Mu quickly approached each other without many interruptions. And the ce where they met was exactly at the edge of the sword formation.


    It was the most chaotic moment of the tournament. With more than twenty people constantly crisscrossing and jumping, the audience could not even tell who was fighting whom, only hearing the short, secondmand of the Dragon King: ¡°Attack.¡±


    ¡°Attack.¡±


    Many people had said the word and many more had heard it but never before had it caused as much shock as now.


    The Dragon King¡¯s voice was neither loud nor solemn, but it reached far away with indescribable confidence as if it were not just a few men who would carry out the order but instead a hundred thousand cavalries that no one could see.


    Tens of thousands Nond Cavalry drew their bows together and nervously looked around.


    There was no invisible army, and the ones who followed the order were only the ten guards and Chu Nanping.


    In an instant, the guards changed from defense to offense, and the ten grand swords waved like a sharp windmill, pressing at Silver Condor and Iron Harrier. Even the wing guards of the Khan had no choice but to avoid their momentum for the time being.


    Chu Nanping, who had been in the protection circle for a while until now, had patiently waited, not knowing what the Dragon King was up to, or what the Dragon King wanted him to do. When the guards withdrew, the only enemies left in front of him were those two hunchbacks.


    The two long swords abruptly shot out.


    The hunchbacks had been looking for an opportunity to approach Chu Nanping but when the long swords came, the two were caught unprepared and could only jump away into a crowd of people to avoid the attack.


    No one clearly saw what had happened at that moment, but Old Man Mu suddenly jumped out of the battle group and shouted as he ran, ¡°Two! Two!¡±


    He had killed the second target andpleted the target the Dragon King had given him.


    As an experienced kung fu master, Old Man Mu would naturally look for the weakest gap in the enemies¡¯ lineup without the Dragon King¡¯s reminder. So he started first with the three warriors of King Shengri and then the two hunchbacks of the Essence Pavilion.


    He and the Dragon King each killed one.


    Silver Condor and Iron Harrier alsounched a counterattack in the meanwhile but their achievement was covered by the loud cry of Old Man Mu.


    Three guards of the Dragon King had died, as Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t have time to save them.


    The real melee began, but it didn¡¯tst long. Before the audience could focus on the center of attention and count how many people had died on each side, everyone involved in the melee seemed to have suddenly stepped into a trap, all of them either jumping or running away, all of them rushing out in a hurry.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± King Rizhu craned his neck and swung his body to look around, and moved his horse back and forth, pushing King Shengri¡¯s horse aside.


    King Shengri didn¡¯t care because he was so pleased with what he saw. Full of joy on his face, he said, ¡°The Dragon King has been struck. He even threw his saber away. Fall down!¡±


    The Dragon King did seem to have been struck, as he was stumbling around uncontrobly, but he didn¡¯t fall as King Shengri had wished and ordered.


    The Qi deviation had finally broken out in advance. The frosty Qi was tired of being driven by its master and had suddenly turned hostile. It broke free of the control of the yin and yang energy and galloped across the meridians that had just been repaired.


    Gu Shenwei just wanted a little bit more time.


    He threw away his Five Peaks Saber and unsheathed the Dragon Head Sword, and lowered his head to feel the chaotic living energy.


    It had been a long time since he had used the pure Death Sutra Swordsmanship. In a daze, he couldn¡¯t differentiate between enemy and friend, so he could only stab at the ones with the most powerful living energy.


    He stabbed out three times with the sword and struck twice with his palm.


    With that, Gu Shenwei stabilized himself, his face turning pale again.


    Surrounded by a dead silence, he started counting the corpses.


    ¡°The Dragon King has won,¡± Silver Condor said bitterly. Although he had left the Jianghu for a long time, he still couldn¡¯t ept such a defeat. He had been hit in the shoulder by the sword and his body was shivering. He was the only one who had directly taken the blow of the sword and palm and still survived the fight with the Dragon King.


    Iron Harrier was lying on the ground with blood streaming from the chest and his body still shaking, unlikely to survive. He had received the second sh from the sword.


    Dao Sheng was lying straight-backed on the ground with hardly a drop of blood, as the person who had received the third blow from the sword. He actually had a chance to retreat but had been pushed by his senior brother Dao Nian and thus bumped head-on into death.


    Chu Nanping was also shivering. He had been staying around the Dragon King, so he was hit by the indiscriminate palm attack.


    King Shengri was dumbfounded. The disciples of the Essence Pavilion were dead, and the Dragon King had surprisingly won. But this was also the best time to capture the Dragon King alive who had obviously lost most of his strength and couldn¡¯t hold out for much longer.


    Looking at the thirty thousand horsemen who were under hismand and the other kings who were by his side, he decided to put all his eggs on one throw.


    ¡°Capture the Dragon King alive, and kill the others!¡±


    King Shengri quickly gave the order and rode into the cavalry, staying away from King Rizhu¡¯s big hand.


    ¡°Second King¡­¡± King Rizhu was shocked.


    Then both lords were in even greater shock.


    The thirty thousand Nond Cavalry, who were strictly trained to follow military orders, actually did not carry out King Shengri¡¯s order. Instead, they all looked at the man standing besides the Dragon King.


    Silver Condor held a small g of order of the Khan as his other hand covered the wound, the g issuing an order different from King Shengri¡¯s. ¡°Protect the Dragon King.¡±

 Chapter 623 - Going Too Far

    Chapter 623: Going Too Far


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    For the Nond people, obeying military orders was a part of their nature, a custom, especially for the Nond Cavalry who took even a moment of hesitation as cowardice as they carried out their orders.


    As themander-in-chief, King Shengri was astonished that his order had not been carried out. King Rizhu and the other kings also felt surprised until they noticed the g of order in Silver Condor¡¯s hands.


    King Shengri was in a daze. He was themander-in-chief appointed by the Khan, so why would the wing guard be holding a g of order in his hand? The disciples of the Essence Pavilion were dead, so he couldn¡¯t even find someone to ask for a hint now. So he cast his eyes on the staff officer.


    The officer was even more surprised than he was, but his duty did not allow him to retreat. So he made up his mind to ride forward to find out what was going on.


    The truth was right there, but few people dared to pour salt on King Shengri¡¯s wound. King Rizhu didn¡¯t care and chuckled. ¡°The old Khan is still in the mood to have fun and always has a hidden card or two, treating us like little kids. Well, a father¡¯s love for his son will never change. Second King, I really envy you.¡±


    The kings all nodded, ¡®envious¡¯ of the favor their older brother had received. King Shengri, whose face was livid, forced out a smile. Back then, he had voluntarily withdrawn from the struggle for the title of Khan and devoted himself to wine and birds because he couldn¡¯t bear the strife and infighting among the kings. He, therefore, had enjoyed a few years of a peaceful and quiet life. Usually, he was the one who satirized and ridiculed others, especially when he was drunk. The other kings did not want to make enemies, and all deferred to him out of courtesy.


    He didn¡¯t expect that on the first day of his public return to the fight for the throne, he would be repeatedly humiliated and blown away.


    Silver Condor¡¯s order of ¡®Protect the Dragon King¡¯ was quickly carried out. After watching the Dragon King¡¯s contest, the Nond Cavalry preferred obeying Silver Condor¡¯smands to King Shengri¡¯s.


    Therge circle did not change. Several hundreds of cavalry moved out of the line to line up in front of the Dragon King and his men facing towards King Shengri and his entourage. Apparently, they all knew where the danger was from.


    The officer of King Shengri could only ask over the wall of people, ¡°Lord Silver Condor, may I ask what this is all about?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Khan¡¯s order. The Dragon King must be kept safe.¡±


    The Khan¡¯s order to protect the Dragon King actually carried with it a condition. It wouldn¡¯t take effect until the Dragon King¡¯s real martial arts skills were figured out, though Silver Condor felt that there was no need to dere that part.


    ¡°Then my lord ¡­¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s still themander-in-chief of the army. The prisoners are at his disposal but I¡¯m taking the Dragon King and his men with me.¡±


    It was time for the Dragon King to go now. The fight that had just ended had exhausted all his energy.


    Gu Shenwei had triggered his Qi deviation in public for the first time. He would have no choice but to sit down if it were a year ago. But now he was able to barely stand but his pale face and trembling body all revealed that he was in great pain.


    This was also the first Qi deviation he had received after he mastered the yin and yang internal Qi. Gu Shenwei had tried to used his yang energy to harmonize with the frosty Qi and it was quite effective. Although he could not use his internal Qi for the time being, he could walk and talk normally now.


    The guards were about toe up to help him, but he shook his head to hint that there was no need. While the officer was talking to Silver Condor, he finally stopped shivering. But his face remained as pale as before.


    Old Man Mu, who had been staring at the Dragon King, patted his chest and yelled, ¡°The Dragon King is alright. The Dragon King is alright. Who else wants to court death? Come and fight!¡±


    No one wanted to court death.


    The wound in his shoulder was no longer bleeding. Silver Condor took a nce at the corpse of Iron Harrier not far away and couldn¡¯t understand his own feelings. As wing guards of the Khan, the two were actually not familiar with each other. What made him a little sad was that the road he had chosen more than ten years ago was still full of killing, and he, once the Invincible Saber King, and now the Silver Condor, had actually feared death.


    ¡°Please follow me, Dragon King. You¡¯ve won the admiration of the Khan. He wants to see you.¡±


    His anticipation was bing a reality and his goal ofing to the Royal Court was about to be achieved, but Gu Shenwei did not show the slightestcency. Since a new field had unfolded in front of his eyes, he had to take extreme measures to quickly find out where the border was.


    How much was the Khan willing to pay to win over the Dragon King? This was a fact that Gu Shenwei must find out.


    ¡°What about my subordinates?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll follow the Dragon King, of course.¡±


    Old Man Mu clenched his fists and silently cheered, then he looked up and winked at Chu Nanping. He had escaped and kept his life again, though his trick of hiding his power had been discovered by the Dragon King.


    ¡°My men are many.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t they these¡­ nine people?¡± Silver Condor paused for a bit. The Dragon King had twelve subordinates left but three of them had been killed so there were only nine left who were all standing behind him.


    Gu Shenwei turned to look at the trapped crowd not far away. ¡°Many people wanted to join the Dragon Army just now and I agreed.¡±


    As soon as this remark was made, it caused quite a stir among the listeners.


    His voice wasn¡¯t loud and couldn¡¯t reach far without the help of internal energy, but it quickly circted by word of mouth and in almost an instant, all the people from the inner circle to the outer circle all heard what he had said. Some people were shocked, some scornful, but few people believed that the Dragon King¡¯s action would be approved in the end.


    The first to react was King Shengri¡¯s officer who had been about to leave and had to hasten to restrain the horse. ¡°No, this will not do. The Dragon King must be kidding, right? These people wanted to conspire against the Nond, and are therefore our enemies. They are also our captives. How can you ept these people joining the Dragon Army?¡±


    The second to react was Old Man Mu who scratched his ears and cheeks with anxiety, whispering, ¡°Dragon King, let¡¯s mind our own business. Those people won¡¯t be loyal to you. How many people in the world can be as loyal as me?¡±


    Chu Nanping, who seldommented on the Dragon King¡¯s decision, surprisingly opened his mouth and said, ¡°The Dragon King should save these people. They are innocent. They were framed and lured into the forbidden zone. They thought that the Khan was dead and had no intention of conspiring against him at all.¡±


    ¡°Hey, Little Chu, do you have another lover in the crowd? Call her out, there¡¯s no problem saving one or two, why¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve decided.¡± Gu Shenwei shot a stern look at Old Man Mu. The process of pestering and stalling for the time was over, so he needed to be quiet.


    Old Man Mu shut up mouth but refused to hold his eyes back. He kept winking at the Dragon King and Chu Nanping, hoping to wake them up.


    The news had reached the core of the besieged ones. Although few people really believed that the Dragon King could save everyone, this was the only hope for them who were drowning in despair. What if the Khan showed mercy and allowed the Dragon King to take one or even a dozen more people?


    The crowd fell to their knees and shouted in unison, ¡°I want to join the Dragon Army!¡±


    There were many people who felt ashamed and didn¡¯t kneel likest time, but this time only a dozen of them remained standing, and even they vacited between kneeling and straightening up.


    Old Man Mu couldn¡¯t hold back and muttered, ¡°See, these guys are so afraid of death. Does the Dragon King expect them to repay your favor? Forget it. It was already a miracle for them to not return kindness with ingratitude.¡±


    Silver Condor was particrly surprised. The Dragon King was highly skilled in martial arts, but he was too proud of himself, which was not a good sign. He was waiting for the Dragon King to swallow his words. Seeing that he was bing more and more insistent, he said, ¡°The Dragon King may have misunderstood, so we can me me for not being clear. The Khan pardoned the Dragon King¡¯s men but didn¡¯t give the Dragon King the right to act recklessly. You are going too far.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took a deep breath. At this very moment, he was the most vulnerable he had ever been as he couldn¡¯t even defeat an average kung fu practitioner. But he was also the most confident. ¡°I remember that I¡¯ve won two hours from thest game, and now there¡¯s still more than an hour left, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Silver Condor could only agree.


    ¡°That is to say, there¡¯s still time to consult the Khan.¡±


    ¡°The Khan won¡¯t ¡­¡±


    ¡°Let the Khan decide for himself.¡±


    Silver Condor grew even more surprised. He thought that the Dragon King had many simrities with the Invincible Saber King, but now he realized that they werepletely different. And it was almost impossible for this young man to join the wing guard.


    Silver Condor turned a bit colder as he did not want to do useless work. ¡°I will go ask for instructions.¡±


    Liman rode over. He represented King Rizhu so the cavalry made way for him.


    ¡°The lord is very unhappy¡­¡± Liman jumped off the horse and said. He could only talk openly as there was no room for a private talk here.


    ¡°He¡¯s always unhappy.¡±


    Liman paused for a moment before saying, ¡°In order to¡­ The lord has taken a lot of risks. It¡¯s unwise for Dragon King to act like this, and it¡¯s also a waste of the lord¡¯s goodwill.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t say anything. Old Man Mu who was around cut in again. ¡°What goodwill? If the Dragon King hadn¡¯t won a series of battles, I¡¯m wondering if the lord¡¯s goodwill would havee in time or not?¡±


    Liman refused to argue with Old Man Mu for there was nothing to argue about. A lord was a lord and everyone had to prove their worth before they could receive the lord¡¯s favor. The Dragon King should know that.


    Gu Shenwei knew this very well so he had never put his hopes on any of the kings. ¡°The Khan¡¯s decision is often unexpected, and maybe this time will be no exception.¡±


    ¡°Well, since the Dragon King insists, I will go ask the Khan for instructions,¡± Silver Condor coldly said, thinking that the deal was doomed to failure before he could even begin to talk about it.


    Liman felt it was nearly impossible. But based on what he had seen and heard these days, each decision the Dragon King had made was againstmon senses yet they always worked wonders in the end. ¡°The Dragon King cares about his subordinates and will receive corresponding rewards from his men for sure. I hope that the Dragon King can tide over these difficulties and form a solid allegiance with the Nond.¡±


    Liman¡¯s wish was sincere. He no longer tried to persuade the Dragon King but returned to King Rizhu to exin the situation.


    ¡°It¡¯s over. You¡¯ve offended King Rizhu and he ignored you and left straight away.¡± Looking at the kings who had gone away, Old Man Mu continued saying, ¡°But it¡¯s not bad to stay away from that old bastard. He never kept his word. He said that he would cut off Wild Horse¡¯s other arm if he couldn¡¯t kill me. I¡¯m still waiting to see the show, but he hasn¡¯t even mentioned it since.¡±


    As time went by, King Shengri kept his word and did not take any further action. The trapped kung fu experts remained on their knees like a group of prisoners waiting to be dealt with.


    Silver Condor didn¡¯te back but another subordinate of the Dragon King¡¯s came, who was escorted by Liman and therefore, went to the Dragon King¡¯s side sessfully.


    ¡°The white fat fellow was bought off by King Rizhu,¡± said Old Man Mu disdainfully.


    Fang Wenshi was sweating and didn¡¯t have time to bicker. He drew Dragon King aside and whispered, ¡°Does the Dragon King really want to save these irrelevant people?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Fang Wenshi looked at the Dragon King seriously and suddenly smiled. ¡°What a brilliant idea. What can I do for Dragon King?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nced back for a moment. Old Man Mu immediately yelled out loud and he grabbed everyone he could to talk.


    ¡°The Nond has a prince who remains a hostage in the Western Regions, remember?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Check him out. I¡¯ve underestimated him, and also underestimated the Khan.¡±


    Confused, Fang Wenshi thought for a while before smiling again. ¡°So it¡¯s the Khan who¡¯s ying tricks this time.¡±

 Chapter 624 - Not Good

    Chapter 624: Not Good


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Seeing Silver Condor approaching from afar, King Shengri felt an ominous omen hang over his heart. The wing guard of the Khan, who had always been calm, was dismissive of the Dragon King¡¯s demands when he left but had returned at high speed as if he had some very urgent news.


    The promised two hours had just passed. King Shengri nced at the cavalry under him and found that all of them were staring at the approaching Silver Condor. He suddenly realized that this army didn¡¯t belong to him at all.


    What caused him to hallucinate before? King Shengri felt uneasy. After the hunchbacks of the Essence Pavilion died, his ambition for power had gradually cooled down, and been reced by a creeping fear in his heart.


    ¡°The Khan has given his order.¡± Silver Condor brought his horse to a halt, raised a g of order in his left hand, and with an indifferent voice, trying to not reveal any information, through his shock was clear, said, ¡°Release all the conspirators and repatriate all of them. Act on it immediately without any mistakes.¡±


    Although he was prepared, King Shengri still couldn¡¯t help but groan and sigh. What he was going to let go of was not only a group of kung fu practitioners from the Central ins and Western Regions, but also his dignity, status, right of control as a lord andmander-in-chief, and most importantly, the Khan¡¯s trust.


    His sweet dream of inheriting the title of Khan had suddenly shattered into pieces with those two sentences.


    In the next short period of time, Gu Shenwei had a chance to appreciate the myriad ways of the world.


    Nearly eight or nine hundred kung fu practitioners, who survived after twists and turns, found themselves in a very awkward situation.


    Some people, mainly the sabermen from the Western Regions, immediately knelt down to thank the Dragon King for saving their lives, and began calling themselves soldiers of the Dragon Army from that day on. However, very few people actually joined the Dragon Army when theyter returned to the Western Regions. Most people only stayed under the banner of the Dragon Army for no more than half a month.


    The kung fu practitioners of the Central ins pretended that they had received the favor of the Khan because they didn¡¯t want to join the Dragon Army, which, if they did, would have meant that they would have to follow the Dragon King to the Western Regions sooner orter. It was no different from being banished from the frontier of the Central ins.


    Some people weighed and considered the decree passed by Silver Condor and found that the Khan had not acknowledged them as the Dragon Army and yet still called them ¡®conspirators,¡¯ so they ignored the Dragon Army with their mind set at ease.


    Anyhow, most of the people of the Central ins still took turns bowing to the Dragon King and made many empty promises like how they would serve the Dragon King if he ever came to the Central ins one day.


    Old Man Mu still didn¡¯t understand why the Dragon King would do this. He shook his head and said, ¡°I told you that they can¡¯t be trusted. They will strive to add brilliance to your present splendor but will never send charcoal in snowy weather even if they are dying of heat.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was more skillful at disagreeing and he shook his head several times. ¡°Not really, not really. You only see the ungratefulness of the people of the Central ins and are neglecting the great impact that the Dragon King¡¯s move has had on the Western Regions.¡±


    Old Man Mu gave the counselor a quick sidelong nce, ¡°Right, you are taller than me so you can naturally see a little further than I can, but can you see the Western Regions from here? I¡¯d say it¡¯s more useful for you to practice staring at your toes.¡±


    Fang Wenshi inhaled and sucked in his stomach sharply. The toes were right in front of his eyes but were soon blocked by his bulging belly again. ¡°You know nothing. The naked eye can only see as far as it can reach, but the mind¡¯s eye can amodate the whole world. The longer the Dragon King stays away from the Western Regions, the more unstable the morale of the tens of thousands of the Dragon Army. Since these people of the Central ins survived, especially the people of the Western Regions, the righteous deeds of the Dragon King sacrificing his life to save others, will soon be spread throughout the world. Once the soldiers of the Dragon Army hear of it, they will know that the Dragon King will not forget them, and their morale willst for a long time.¡±


    Old Man Mu knew that the counselor was right but he didn¡¯t have a good impression of this fat, white, fellow. He tutted and said, ¡°Yeah, you have the mind¡¯s eye, but I don¡¯t know how many worlds you can put in your eyes. It¡¯s too dangerous to be a good person, so you¡¯d better not instigate the Dragon King into saving people again. He lost half of his life this time, and next time he might lose all of it.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s face seemed pale and gloomy as usual, so Fang Wenshi was unaware that the Dragon King¡¯s life was in danger. ¡°Fighting for hegemony has always been risky, so how can you seed without taking risks?¡±


    ¡°You are tough enough to keep yourself fat and white while pushing the Dragon King into the fire. He must have lost his mind to hire a counselor like you, humph¡­¡±


    The two continued bickering with each other, but Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t stop them. He was actually focusing on dealing with the crowd¡¯s farewell. He knew what the ties of the friendship of the martial arts world were all about even without Old Man Mu¡¯s reminder, but he still kept it close at heart and tried to keep it in mind when he found someone who might be trustworthy.


    The trip to the Nond had made Gu Shenwei realize how important it was to pave the way in advance. Fang Wenshi hade toote to the Royal Court and he wasn¡¯t a native either, so he didn¡¯t help much this time, leaving the Dragon King in a very unfavorable situation.


    Although his aim was to dominate the Western Regions, Gu Shenwei knew that the Central ins was a barrier that could not be ignored or bypassed. He had to seize every opportunity to win the people¡¯s support. As long as there were several people among the hundreds of people of the Central ins were willing to help him in the future, everything he did today would be worth it. And as the counselor had said, his act would have an immeasurable impact on the Western Regions.


    Gu Shenwei was a bit worried about the situation in the Western Regions because he had not received any information from the Dragon Army ever since he had entered the Prairie. Was Xiaoyao Lake¡¯s situation stable? Was there any progress made in the Shule Kingdom? He didn¡¯t know.


    Prime Minister Zhong Heng, the General of the Left Dugu Xian, and the General of the Right Shang Liao should have sent letters to the Dragon King on a regr basis, but Gu Shenwei had not received any.


    King Shengri was utterly defeated but he still had to serve out his duty; he appointed officers and soldiers and urged them to move out at once, not wanting to see the Dragon King being revered any longer than he had to.


    Silver Condor came over and said, ¡°Dragon King, please take the champion of the warrior contest with you and enter the pce together tomorrow at noon.¡±


    Meanwhile, old Man Mu was still bickering with Fang Wenshi. Hearing this, he paused and interrupted, ¡°The champion of the warrior contest? Shangguan Fei? He actually won?¡±


    ¡°Yes. The old Khan watched the contest himself and appreciated him very much.¡±


    Old Man Mu was surprised, ¡°Heaven is blind.¡±


    Chu Nanping, who was quietly standing beside the Dragon King, suddenly asked, ¡°The old Khan also has the word ¡®old¡¯ in his name, so howe you didn¡¯t force him to remove it?¡±


    Just because they had the same word ¡®old¡¯ in their names, the Old Immortal Dog Butcher of the Kongdong Sect had been beaten badly by Old Man Mu and subsequently forced to live in seclusion for so many years.


    Silver Condor also heard the story so he immediately looked warily at Old Man Mu.


    Old Man Mu blushed. ¡°I¡¯ve given up evil and returned to good. Even if someone has the same name as me, I can take it now and will noty a finger on him. It is the good girl¡¯s purifying influence over me.¡±


    As soon as Silver Condor left, Old Man Mu whispered to Chu Nanping, ¡°You know, when I reigned over the Nond, the Khan was just the Khan, and there was no word ¡®old¡¯ in his title. He¡¯s sensible and lucky, too. I¡¯ve changed my temper now, but otherwise¡­¡±


    Chu Nanping was easy to deal with but Fang Wenshi still had the ability to pick out a bone from an egg, and he shook his head and curled his mouth, saying, ¡°I¡¯m confused. When you were hanging out with Wild Horse the year beforest, you still had your old temper and you were at full power. But I¡¯ve never heard of you being dissatisfied with the ¡®old¡¯ Khan; you must be afraid of him?¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s face became redder as he continued to hum and haw for a long while before returning to normal and seriously saying, ¡°I was a man of the Nond, and of course, I paid special regard to the Khan just like how I respect the Dragon King now. I once swore to join the Dragon Army, and I am loyal andmitted to the Dragon King. You will never understand such things as loyalty¡­¡±


    On the way back to the camp of the Dragon Army, the two kept on fighting until Fang Wenshi finally left to contact the authorities of the Nond about the specifics of the meeting tomorrow.


    Inside the camp, Shangguan Fei was about to go mad with excitement. It was the third time he had grabbed the guards of the Dragon King to tell the story of what happened in morning. When he saw the Dragon King, he dashed to him at once. ¡°The Khan spoke to me¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei cared little for the title of the champion because he knew that the most powerful masters had not taken part in the contest, but he was still impressed by what the Khan had casually said after the contest and wanted everyone to know about it.


    Gu Shenwei had lots of work to do, so Shangguan Fei had no choice but to give up his bragging and bent over to Old Man Mu. Just as he was about to speak, Old Man Mu jumped aside and cried out, ¡°How desperate are you, to grab an old man like me¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei was in a good mood today so heughed Old Man Mu¡¯s sarcasm off. ¡°Do you know what the Khan said to me?¡±


    ¡°He said that you were a good-looking guy and that you were going to sleep in his tent tonight?¡±


    ¡°Heh heh, of course not. He said ¡®You y well. Heroes of the world will envy the Dragon King for having a warrior like you.¡¯ Did you hear that? He praised me for ¡®ying well.''¡±


    The atmosphere of the whole camp was diametrically opposed to the excitement of Shangguan Fei. The three dead guards of the Dragon King were cremated ording to the tradition of the Big Snow Mountain. Gu Shenwei presided over the event himself and felt a genuine sense of grief. He was gathering more and more soldiers under hismand but the swordsmen from the Big Snow Mountain who followed him became fewer and fewer.


    After the funeral, he sent someone to summon Fan Yongda of the Kongdong Sect.


    Fan Yongda was tired of the suffering these days and just wanted to return to the Central ins as soon as possible. ¡°I know what the Dragon King wants to ask about so I won¡¯t cover it up. Anyway, the n has failed. We came to the Royal Court on orders of the Imperial Court of the Central ins. We sought refuge with the kings on the surface but our ultimate goal was to bring back the Khan¡¯s head. It was said that at least one of the kings was an inside man of the Central ins, but I don¡¯t know who. He was supposed to show upst night. s, we were too stupid. The people of the martial arts world should not join the political conflicts of the court. Everyone says that the people of the Nond are simple and easy to deal with, but who would have thought¡­¡±


    When interests were within reach, even simplicity could be a means. People like Fan Yongda shouldn¡¯t havee to the Royal Court.


    ¡°I will never forget the Dragon King¡¯s salvation. The disciples of the Kongdong Sect are all grateful. Please send a letter if the Dragon King has any orders. I will run toplete it without giving excuses no matter how far away it is.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was not interested in the promise of the future, so he perfunctorily said some words of acknowledgement and ordered someone to send Fan Yongda out of the Royal Court.


    Fan Yongda wasn¡¯t able to provide much useful information.


    Thest people that Gu Shenwei met were a group of female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance who were loyal to the Dragon King and had even ¡®kidnapped¡¯ several disciples of the Essence Pavilion to help him. They didn¡¯t release the hostages until they heard that the Dragon King had left the forbidden zone.


    Dispatching soldiers to take action in the Royal Court could be a serious or trivial matter. King Shengri seemed to have lost interest in making a fuss and hadn¡¯t actually protested. But being ¡®bullied¡¯ by a group of women had made him aughingstock.


    The female soldiers left after seeing the Dragon King themselves, leaving only Red Bat behind. She was now the spokeswoman for the Land of Fragrance and was responsible for conveying almost all the ideas of the female soldiers to the Dragon King.


    ¡°The sisters are bing more and more worried about the instructor. It has been so long and there¡¯s still no news of her.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I already know where your instructor is, and she¡¯s not in any danger.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    Red Bat breathed a sigh of relief, ready to leave. She had retreated two steps but then stopped again. There was something she had wanted to ask for a long time. ¡°Dragon King doesn¡¯t remember me, does he?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was stunned. He didn¡¯t really remember ever seeing Red Bat. There were so many female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance and it was normal for him to have no impression of her. ¡°Sorry¡­¡±


    Red Bat blushed a bit and said with a smile, ¡°The Dragon King doesn¡¯t have to say sorry, as even I can¡¯t recognize the former self. When the Dragon King first came to the Land of Fragrance, he scared me with a saber.¡±


    Gu Shenwei now remembered. Shili Molo, the real controller of the Land of Fragrance, had sent a mboyant ve to seduce him but she had been rejected by him.


    She was a female ve who knew how to please a man and was as skillful as the famous prostitutes of the Retention Alley. It was hard to imagine that the female ve and the bright and valiant Red Bat in front of him were the same person.


    ¡°You¡¯ve¡­ changed a lot.¡± Gu Shenwei was very surprised.


    ¡°It¡¯s all because of the instructor. I¡¯m willing to die for her, and so are all my sisters, so¡­¡±


    ¡°I will send her back to you safe and sound soon.


    Red Bat smiled, revealing a bit of charm of the past, but she didn¡¯t intend to seduce anyone at the moment. Before she respectfully withdrew, she said onest word at the door. ¡°We all believe in the Dragon King and have never wavered in that belief.¡±


    As soon as Red Bat disappeared, Tie Linglong appeared at the door as if she were a recement for Lotus, but what she said was something that Lotus would never say. ¡°This woman is not good.¡±

 Chapter 625 - Prince

    Chapter 625: Prince


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Fang Wenshi had arranged everything regarding the meeting between the Dragon King and the Khan and had also brought back some information about the hostage prince.


    The prince¡¯s name was Duodun, and wasn¡¯t as old as he looked. He was twenty-six years old and was one of the youngest sons of the Khan. Thest batch of the Khan¡¯s sons and daughters were all born one after another in thest half month, and even the Khan himself couldn¡¯t remember who was the youngest.


    Prince Duodun, who had been favored and living with his father, had fallen out of favor at the age of seventeen because of a reckless act. After nearly ten years, the insiders still had to hold back their smiles and keep their voices down when mentioning the incident.


    Duodun was said to be very bold, even at a young age of three or four years old he would catch snakes with his bare hands and put them into his mouth. As soon as he learned to ride and shoot, he wanted to hunt wolves. He finally realized his wish by the time he was nine years old. But his boldest act was the crazy bet of the summer when he was seventeen years old.


    He was drunk and reckless back then, but that couldn¡¯t be used as an excuse. Because for ordinary Nond people, even if they were dead drunk, deep at heart, they would still have a bit of respect for the Khan, and would never dare to act like Prince Duodun had. They would not dare to even think about it.


    When nobody was looking, Duodun had reced a full wine pot with urine, just to prove that a bunch of drunkards, including his father, the old Khan, could not tell the difference between alcohol and urine when they were drunk.


    He had lost the bet. Although several nobles noticed the prank after a second sip, the old Khan immediately knew it wasn¡¯t right after sniffing it.


    Of course, this was the story told by the Nond people. By convention, the Khan always found the problems beforehand and solved them through his intelligence.


    The details were unimportant here. Either way, the Khan was furious. Not since he had ughtered those five tribes against him at the age of forty-three had he been so angry.


    The one who proposed the bet was dismembered, and the prince himself was sent to the southern frontier as an ordinary cavalryman, and was only allowed to return to the Dragon Court after five years, though he could no longer live with his father, and could not even meet the Khan.


    ¡°He was said to have be obedient and remained obscure from then on. So when the Dragon King needed a hostage, he was chosen. Everyone said that it was a punishment from the old Khan, who hadn¡¯t forgotten the incident of the urine prank.¡±


    The situation immediately changed when news that the Dragon King was to be summoned tomorrow came. Fang Wenshi found that the officials of the Nond became friendly again, that they were doubly as friendly, and all of them warmly offered information without even asking for a bribe.


    ¡°It is also possible that the Khan hasn¡¯t forgotten this son and has ced great expectations on him. But Duodun has arge disadvantage. He has no background and no supporters. His mother is a ve, unlike the other kings whose mothers are all from important tribes. This prince Duodun, however, has a rabble of friends, but none of them are really powerful and not many of them are even ordinary nobles.¡±


    Fang Wenshi finished talking and looked at the Dragon King. Seeing that the other side still didn¡¯t say anything, he gave his judgment first. ¡°It would be difficult for the Khan to hand over the throne to Duodun. But the Nond is a country where only real power matters. It¡¯s not enough to just have the bloodline of the Khan. I¡¯m not looking down on the Dragon King, but to be honest, with our present strength, it is far from enough to support a foundationless prince.¡±


    Gu Shenwei asked him, ¡°How about the Second Consort? How¡¯s their rtionship?¡±


    ¡°There are few rumors about them. Just going by age, Duodun was only one or two years old when the Second Consort married the Khan. Since he grew up with his father, he should have been very familiar with the Second Consort.¡±


    ¡°The Second Consort said that she would marry the new Khan.¡±


    ¡°Huh, then it will be more unlikely for this Duodun to¡­¡± Fang Wenshi found that he had made a mistake so he corrected himself in time. ¡°It is possible for the royal family. Such things have happened in many countries before, but the key is whether the old Khan is willing to allow it to happen or not. If Duodun is really his chosen heir, why would he leave the new Khan to be controlled by the Second Consort?¡±


    ¡°I may know the answer after meeting with the Khan tomorrow.¡±


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s face turned pale with fear. ¡°Dragon King, you are not going to ask the Khan about this directly, are you? It is as dangerous as¡­ stroking a tiger¡¯s whiskers.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll act ordingly.¡±


    ¡°Well, if the Dragon King is right, all the kings¡¯ efforts will be in vain. What else can I do for the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Now that the people of the Nond are willing to talk, go ask if there are any messengers of the Dragon Army that were intercepted.¡±


    ¡°Yes, there has been no news from the Western Regions for too long.¡±


    ¡°And¡ª¡± Gu Shenwei thought for a moment before saying, ¡°Duodun has a rabble of friends. I want to know where they are.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King suspects that they¡¯ve been sent to the Western Regions too?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, the Shule Kingdom is ruined, and the Dragon Army is too weak. The Nond seems to have no need to deploy such arge army there. In short, try to figure out all these things as soon as possible.¡±


    It was already dark outside when Fang Wenshi took his leave. Gu Shenwei then spent some time directing his internal Qi. After the cold Qi was subdued and channeled back to his Dantian, he practiced the newly created Frostpalm Power for several times. He found that there was still much room for improvement; specifically, he needed aplete set of palm techniques to exert the frosty Qi.


    Old Man Mu was the most appropriate one to help remedy this issue.


    But Gu Shenwei temporarily put the idea of creating a set palm technique aside. Something big was going to happen in the Royal Court, and he had to get ready at once.


    Liman brought in the news of King Rizhu. Beside him was Wild Horse, who looked quite cold. He was very reluctant to protect the one he hated, especially after seeing the Dragon King¡¯s kung fu skills in thepetition, which made him jealous and even broke his killer¡¯sposure.


    ¡°My lord said that the siege in the forbidden zone was a n made by the Khan and all the kings had to cooperate. No one dared to reveal anything in advance. He hoped the Dragon King would understand that.¡±


    ¡°I understand King Rizhu¡¯s difficulty.¡±


    ¡°And the lord also said that the Dragon King is a risk-taker. Now that danger is right there, when will the Dragon King make a move?¡±


    ¡°After meeting the Khan.¡±


    Liman stayed silent for a while before changing his tone. When he spoke again he was not representing the lord, but he himself. ¡°King Kuari was thwarted several times and he may act at any time. Is the Dragon King prepared?¡±


    ¡°Now that the Khan has re-established his authority, King Kuari probably won¡¯t have enough courage to do anything outrageous.¡±


    Liman was a bit anxious. He winked at Wild Horse and thetter turned and left the tent.


    Now that only the two of them were left in the tent, Liman bowed to the Dragon King to show his respect before saying, ¡°Dragon King, you are a great hero. I sincerely wished that I could serve you if I weren¡¯t bound by my family¡¯s oath.¡±


    As the son of a general of the Naihang Tribe, Liman had assumed allegiance to King Rizhu from the moment of his birth to his death.


    Gu Shenwei was a bit surprised. He nodded gravely, and replied, ¡°You and I can still be friends.¡±


    Liman bowed once more. It was not a gesture of allegiance, nor an expression of friendship, but rather something in between.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already passed the lord¡¯s words to you. Since the Dragon King thinks highly of me and treats me as a friend, I¡¯ll venture to say a few honest words as a friend.¡±


    Liman paused a moment as if he were considering whether it was appropriate to say this. ¡°I have a feeling that the Khan is deliberately stirring up fights between the kings and encouraging them to take risks.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Gu Shenwei became a bit interested. If this really was Liman¡¯s own idea, he had underestimated him up till now.


    ¡°Of course, the Khan has his own ideas such as his limited time left, so he hopes to choose the most powerful king to be his heir. The kings are also taking advantage of this, each one more ruthless than thest. No offense, but no matter which side Dragon King helps, you will be in danger.¡±


    ¡°Including King Rizhu?¡±


    Liman nodded with hesitation, knowing clearly at heart that his behavior was skirting the lines of betrayal.


    ¡°I need the support of the Nond. And even if I stay out of it, there will be charges falling on me.¡±


    Liman looked a bit excited as if he were younger and more impulsive than the Dragon King. ¡°Why doesn¡¯t the Dragon King go back to the Western Regions? Seal the passageways and proim yourself the king. The Nond will be in chaos soon and no one will be able to stop the Dragon King.¡±


    Another man who was persuading him to leave the Nond. Gu Shenwei raised his vignce and pretended to think for a moment. ¡°The reason why I need the Nond¡¯s support is because the Western Regions don¡¯t belong to me. Golden Roc Castle has a deep foundation and the Nond Cavalry roam the Shule Kingdom. Neither of the two passageways are controlled by the Dragon Army.¡±


    Liman almost couldn¡¯t wait to say, ¡°I want to rmend a person. If the Dragon King contacts him, the Nond Cavalry in the Western Regions will not be a problem and the eradication of Golden Roc Castle will also be a piece of cake.¡±


    ¡°Who has such great ability?¡±


    ¡°Actually he¡¯s in the army of the Dragon King, it¡¯s just that Dragon King has no knowledge of him.¡±


    ¡°Prince Duodun?¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked at Liman. So this was one of Duodun¡¯s ¡®bad friends,¡¯ and one of the few nobles.


    He expressed proper surprise with his silence. Liman believed it and eagerly exined, ¡°Please believe me, Dragon King. Duodun is by no means ordinary. If everything goes well, he has probably even secretly gained control of the horsemen stationed in the Western Regions, and even the Dragon King¡¯s army might have willingly joined the prince.¡±


    ¡°In that case, what else do you need me to do?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King misunderstood me. Duodun is aiming at the Prairie, and the Western Regions will still belong to the Dragon King. In fact, he didn¡¯t ask me to tell the Dragon King this. I made the decision myself and thought that the two of you should join hands. I would like to write a letter for the Dragon King. Give it to Duodun and he¡¯ll believe you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei found that there were many things that Fang Wenshi didn¡¯t have to inquire into now. ¡°How many Nond Cavalry are stationed in the Western Regions now?¡±


    ¡°Initially, it was thirty thousand. But then the Central ins sent arger army so the Nond also increased the number of their troops. Now it¡¯s probably about seventy thousand soldiers overall, and there may be more in the future.¡±


    ¡°Why are these horsemen willing to follow Duodun¡¯s order?¡±


    Liman became hesitated again. In the end, he felt that only by telling the truth could he gain the Dragon King¡¯s trust. ¡°This is a grand n. Themander of the horsemen in the Western Regions has a group of bodyguards, but more than half of them are Duodun¡¯s men. They are willing to do anything for the prince. ording to the tradition of the Nond, once the army loses its leader, the nearest descendant of the Khan will automatically take over until the Khan appoints a newmander.¡±


    If the old Khan was dead and the new Khan had not yet seeded the title, and the newmander was dyed in taking office, Duodun would have enough time to firmly take control of the army until they were fully loyal to him. Then he would wait patiently and return from the Western Regions to the Nond as the new Khan after the kings had killed and wounded each other in the infighting.


    This was the n of a group of young people. What Gu Shenwei wanted to know was whether the Khan was aware of it and whether he supported it.


    ¡°I¡¯m honored to be part of the n.¡± Gu Shenwei stretched out his hand.


    Very excitedly, Liman firmly grabbed the outstretched arm and took the Dragon King¡¯s words as a sign of assent.

 Chapter 626 - Taming

    Chapter 626: Taming


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Silver Condor thought for a long time but still couldn¡¯t find the right words to describe the young Dragon King. The Khan wasn¡¯t in a hurry, but he himself felt he was guilty of dereliction of duty, for which he secretly med himself.


    He revered the old man in front of him, not as a god or the Khan, but more as a father or elder brother. The two were separated by a great difference in age and status but that didn¡¯t affect the trust and tacit understanding between the two.


    This wasn¡¯t a friendship between an old King and a young guard because Silver Condor would never forget his identity and the old Khan would also never treat him as someone of equal status, even in private.


    Many years ago, Silver Condor had thoroughly reflected on this and finally drawn a conclusion that he had been tamed.


    He had transformed from a vicious wolf and a soaring bird, into a watchdog and falcon attached to his master.


    He had once been frustrated by the changes in his personality and he missed the lost freedom, easiness, and satisfaction for a short while. The old Khan had seen everything in his eyes but instead of reprimanding him, he was given a year¡¯s holiday.


    He had returned to the southern area and reexamined the former martial arts world he used to wander, this time as a bystander. Three monthster, he returned to the Royal Court, canceled his holiday, andpletely abandoned his old name. From then on, he called himself Silver Condor even at home.


    He found that there was no such thing as freedom. The Jianghu was yet another, chaotic and broken, which, ifpared with the Royal Court, did appear to be more free. But it was actually an illusion, and there was nothing substantial worth showing off.


    The so-called avenging and satisfying oneself without hesitation was just another word for bullying the weak and fearing the strong. There was always an invisible line separating those they could kill and those they would be better off not touching.


    Even the brotherhood of Jianghu was like a minuscule court, which appeared fair on the surface while concealing extreme inequality. There was always one person who above the crowd, and below him were those eulogists, supporters, profligates, and brokers who had their own ce and could never overstep their line.


    The one on top was also far from free. Many ¡®brothers¡¯ joined together like an indestructible system and bound him to their desires. The character and image of the ¡®Invincible Saber King¡¯ were determined by those around him and he himself was merely a tool that wielded the saber.


    Since freedom was illusory, Silver Condor decided to be a down-to-earth wing guard of the Khan. The rtionship between him and the Khan was like that of a loyal hound and a good master. He fully epted his position without feeling any shame or pride.


    It was exactly because of this rare and peaceful mindset that made the Khan think highly of him and ce in him unusual trust, exemplified by that fact that he had been entrusted with the task of testing the Dragon King.


    ¡°There¡¯s a kind of dog that can¡¯t be tamed by temptation or coercion, and even if bones are ced on a te, it will still eat while staying on guard, and may even bite its master¡¯s hand at some point.¡±


    ¡°This kind of dog is called a mad dog.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, while the Dragon King is not a mad dog, he is a little crazy, and he¡¯s channeled the madness into power.¡±


    The Khanughed out loud, his voice fading but his smile still holding on as if he had lost the strength he needed tough. Numerous people had told him that the Dragon King was insidious, cruel and heartless and that he did not act like a man in his early twenties. Only this wing guard around him described the Dragon King¡¯s most defining characteristic as ¡®madness.¡¯


    ¡°You make him sound like a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    Silver Condor was stunned for a short moment. He knew very little about this sect that was dominated by female disciples and didn¡¯t understand the analogy.


    With his mouth open, the Khan continuedughing soundlessly. Then he said, ¡°A madman may not be a hero, but all heroes are madmen. Without a crazy will and ambition, no one can bear the loneliness, the setbacks, and the weight of killing that all takes ce along the path of a hero. You have keen eyes. The Dragon King is a madman. How many men can build an army for revenge? How many vengeful people can keep their enemies¡¯ children close by? I was also a madman when I was young, and maybe I still am, but there isn¡¯t much madness left now.¡±


    Silver Condor¡¯s cold face also showed a smile. This was the most important reason why he had chosen to be the Khan¡¯s wing guard; He was not a madman, and could not be a hero.


    ¡°Can a man like the Dragon King be tamed?¡± Silver Condor didn¡¯t understand the psychology of the madman. And the things he felt were impossible might be possible for the Khan.


    ¡°Yes, death tames all. And the Dragon King is probably not as crazy as you think.¡± The old Khan kindly winked, indicating he had also observed the Dragon King through his own means.


    Silver Condor still had to talk to the Dragon King. It was a necessary process. Just like the mysterious man who had sought him out, he was responsible for revealing the truth to the Dragon King, but it was up to the Dragon King to decide if he could ept it or not.


    Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Fei arrived at the pce right on time and realized that this wasn¡¯t the meeting they had imagined. As many as two hundred people had been invited, most of whom were winners of the various games of the Tournament of the Royal Court. At least half of them were ordinary herdsmen, someone who had had the fattest sheep or cattle, or someone who had the most excellent herding skills.


    There were quite a few nobles present, but none of the ten kings attended.


    It was more like a feast to bask in happiness with themon people.


    Fang Wenshi had warned the Dragon King in advance that the real private meeting might be after the banquet and asked him to wait patiently.


    As an honored guest, the Dragon King was arranged to sit very close to the main seat with Shangguan Fei on his left and a royal member on his right.


    Shangguan Fei was so excited that he hardly touched the dishes and wine on the table and instead kept his eyes fixed on the Khan, hoping to hear apliment or two. Unfortunately, the Khan seemed to have forgotten about this champion of the warrior contest in a moment and didn¡¯t even look at him, not to mention praising him.


    The Khan also only stayed for a very short amount of time. The eunuch beside him said a few words of encouragement on behalf of him when he raised his wine cup, then he sat down for a short while, and soon after left the table.


    Shangguan Fei sighed deeply with disappointment etched into his face.


    After the luncheon, he became happy again because most of the guests had left the pce to boast to their friends and family about how close they had sat to the Khan, but Shangguan Fei and the Dragon King had been informed to stay to attend a smaller dinner.


    Gu Shenwei had been able to closely observe the Khan for the first time but still wasn¡¯t able to form a clear impression.


    He was a small old man whose back was not too hunched considering he was over seventy years old, but the patches on his face had obviously showed that he was very old and only those who admired him could ignore the obvious traces of death.


    In the hearts of the Nondmoners, this was a godlike ruler; in the description of his descendants, this was a ruthless oppressor; in the mouth of his consorts, this was a lustful man; in the eyes of the masters, this was a dying man who sought immortality at all costs.


    Gu Shenwei saw none of those descriptions.


    The Khan covered up his true self so well that Gu Shenwei even began to doubt his original guess. Perhaps the Khan had no intention of buying him over at all, and he had been ttering himself.


    During the intermission, the wing guard Silver Condor dispelled his doubts.


    Shangguan Fei and several warriors that had performed well were called upon to take part in a smallpetition and everyone would be rewarded regardless of win or loss. Shangguan Fei knew very well that he had to control the power of his fists and needed to avoid hitting someone to the point of death or injury.


    Gu Shenwei was sitting alone in the tent. Several female ves brought in arge number of desserts and fruits, and not long after they left, Silver Condor came in uninvited.


    Before he walked in, Silver Condor had prepared a polite plea in the vein of what he had learned from wandering in Jianghu, and was something that hadn¡¯t changed for over ten years. But he changed his mind after seeing the Dragon King.


    ¡°Iron Harrier is an excellent wing guard.¡±


    ¡°Not as excellent as you.¡±


    Silver Condor poured out a ss of wine. Gu Shenwei stopped him when he was about to fill the second cup, saying, ¡°I don¡¯t drink.¡±


    Silver Condor finished the wine in his cup and continued talking. ¡°The Khan has seven wing guards, whose names are passed down from generation to generation. It seems that the name of Iron Harrier has always been unlucky. Since I first entered the pce, three Iron Harrier have died in the line of duty.¡±


    ¡°What about Silver Condor?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, I don¡¯t know. No one told me the end of the previous Silver Condor. I hope that he died naturally in bed.¡±


    ¡°Many people would rather die by the saber. Wine cups and women¡¯s arms are also good endings that many people yearn for.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the difference between fantasy and reality. I¡¯ve seen many people who defied death yet panic and even kneel to beg for mercy in the face of death.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was also very familiar with such people. He had forced many of them to open their mouth using death.


    ¡°If I could save my life through begging, I would do the same.¡±


    Silver Condor nodded and poured himself another cup of wine. The more he learned about the Dragon King, the more blurred his image became. He had wanted to tell his story regarding his many years of experience but it felt redundant before he even opened his mouth. They were two different kinds of people. What had worked on him might be a joke to the Dragon King.


    ¡°The Khan¡¯s family has ruled the Nond for nearly three hundred years.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s quite long.¡±


    ¡°iming the title of Khan is also a long process, it usually takes at least three generations. There were still unconquered tribes in the prairie when the old Khan seeded the throne.¡±


    ¡°There are also examples of a rapid rise. It only took the ancestor of the Central ins¡¯ Emperor twenty years to unify the whole country.¡±


    ¡°Which way does the Dragon King think he¡¯ll go?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going the way that¡¯s right in front of me.¡±


    Silver Condor smiled and finished off a third ss of wine before taking his leave. He had wanted to tell the Khan that the Dragon King was not only a mad but also a dangerous man. If he could not tame him, he had to kill him at once.


    Shangguan Fei returned. He had had a good time. It wasn¡¯t a formal kung fupetition but more like a bunch of young people having fun together, which was a great temptation to him.


    ¡°I¡¯ve just learned that the dinner is different. It was said that all the important nobles and counselors will attend, and it¡¯ll also schedule the troop trainingpetition that starts tomorrow. This is the most important show of the Tournament of the Royal Court. The warrior contest is a close second in terms of importance among all the games of the tournament.¡±


    ¡°The ten kings will also attend the evening dinner?¡±


    ¡°Of course. The war games are obviously about training their soldiers. It¡¯s said that the ten kings haven¡¯t been together for a long time. Every time there was one or two absent, but tonight all of them have to attend the dinner, since the Khan personally issued the order.¡±


    ¡°Will you execute my order at once, on mymand?¡±


    Shangguan Fei was surprised that the Dragon King would suddenly ask such a question. He looked at the Dragon King and said, ¡°Of course, I¡¯ve¡­ I¡¯ve never said no to the Dragon King¡¯s orders.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s different this time. I want you to execute it immediately without asking why.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Shangguan Fei answered with certainty, looking at the Dragon King in reverence and also having confidence in himself.


    ¡°Get ready. Don¡¯t let your fists go soft.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was startled, wondering why he hadn¡¯t thought that the gathering of the ten kings might be a dangerous thing.

 Chapter 627 - The Khan

    Chapter 627: The Khan


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    After hearing Silver Condor¡¯s report, the Khan, who smiled and said nothing, gestured for the wing guard to help him up. Then he paced about slowly in the spacious andfortable bedchamber with his gaze sweeping across the pretty ves¡¯ faces.


    ¡°Go and get the Dragon King. Let me see if I can persuade this unconvinced madman.¡±


    Silver Condor would have been surprised if the words hade from someone else, but towards the Khan, he could only unconditionally obey. He bowed and retreated without making a judgment or wondering how would the Dragon King react to the strange scene.


    Gu Shenwei habitually reached for his saber but touched nothing with his right hand, instantly remembering that he had left his weapon in the Dragon Army¡¯s camp. He nodded to greet the Khan without kneeling down.


    Although the Khan was the Lord of the Prairie and the real maniptor of the Western Regions, and was therefore rightfully worshiped by all the kings, Gu Shenwei still felt it was unnecessary for him to kneel, especially since the Khan was receiving him on such a casual asion.


    The Khan sat on the edge of his bed and was dressed in only a loose robe with an open front that revealed a gaunt, hairy chest. He was surrounded by five female ves. One was at the back providing support and massaging his shoulders, two on each side rubbing his hand, and the remaining two softly pounding his legs. All of them did their duties with great care as if what they touched was a precious and fragile porcin antique.


    The ves themselves wore simple dresses, leaving most of their bodies bare. They fixed their eyes on their fingers and turned a blind eye to all other things as if there was nothing in the world more valuable than the old Khan¡¯s skin that was in front of them.


    The Khan rose and walked slowly towards the Dragon King. ¡°The Taoist priests of the Central ins said that I could gain longevity from women. I loved hearing that but I don¡¯t believe it. Good medicine is always bitter. I¡¯ve gained too much pleasure from women so such happiness should have hidden poison; how can it bring me longevity? I¡¯ve tried their method, but unfortunately, I can¡¯t reach the realm of plucking yin to nourish yang. So I understand that the Taoists are making excuses for indulgence. With a goal that is hard to achieve, what they are obsessed with is actually the repeating process of the failure. If all failures are so pleasurable, then no one would want to seed.¡±


    Having said these words, the Khan happened to stop by the Dragon King, so he naturally raised his arm and allowed the Dragon King to assist him before he paced back and forth again in his bedchamber. ¡°There¡¯s not much pleasure for an old man. I already feel very happy when I open my eyes every morning and find myself still alive and able to get up with the help of others. If my ¡®spear¡¯ is still able to rise, it is a happy day for me. I don¡¯t have too many happy days anymore, but today is one. See, it¡¯s her who brings me happiness.¡±


    The Khan¡¯s eyes fell on the female ve who had knelt by the bed and massaged his shoulder. The female ve lowered her head and blushed a bit.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know what to say, but he finally understood where the Second Consort¡¯s style of speaking hade from. She must have learned a lot in her career of pleasing the Khan.


    ¡°She hates me.¡±


    The Khan¡¯s casual remark frightened all five of the ves, who immediately fell to their knees at once, trembling but not daring to argue.


    ¡°Fear is the vanguard of hatred. So you see, they all hate me.¡±


    The Khan turned and paced to the door again, continuing, ¡°It¡¯s quite normal. They¡¯re from tribes that used to be hostile to me. As a punishment, these tribes have to offer me a different number of maidens every two or three years. They alle from prestigious families, who were served at home but the only thing they can do here is to serve me. I have to thank those tribes who brought me many disasters when I was young. Even while the pleasures I can enjoy dwindle, my hatred towards them never abates. And the thought that they are the daughters of my enemies makes me feel alive again and even hardens my ¡®spear,¡¯ and it¡¯s all due to them that I can still prove that I¡¯m still a man.¡±


    Gu Shenwei still wasn¡¯t able to say anything in response, so he focused on maintaining his posture of supporting the Khan. And he suddenly realized that he didn¡¯t have an aversion to it, and even vaguely felt satisfied that he was valued by the Venerable. Under its influence, he still respected the Khan even when the other side revealed his cruel andscivious side.


    ¡°Someone once told me about the way the Golden Roc Castle trained their killers. They instilled hatred in the mind of the disciples since they were little, making them hate their lords, their Masters, each other, and even themselves. Is that true?¡±


    ¡°Pretty much.¡± Gu Shenwei spoke for the first time.


    ¡°The method isn¡¯t bad but it¡¯s too extreme. The essence has the benefit of the essence but that doesn¡¯t mean that all the dregs are all useless. Golden Roc Castle grinds iron rods into sharp needles but that still can¡¯t beat a thick iron bar in the end.¡±


    The Khan easily changed the topic from women to administering a country, and Gu Shenwei was finally able to interject with a few of his own words, ¡°What if one has an iron bar in one hand and a needle in the other?¡±


    ¡°This is the view of many. The sessive emperors have tried to do this numerous times. They recruit extensively and build up a huge army, then sift out the best of the best. With this method, they can maintain it for¡­ about two or three generations. In the end, the dregs are still the dregs, but the essence is no longer the essence. Those who used to be warriors have degenerated so fast, and you will be filled with righteous indignation that they betrayed you. In fact, they are just like you, who got tired, cked off, and wanted to rest.¡±


    ¡°There is no solution?¡±


    ¡°One can only use a riskier way of dividing the army and entrusting them to opposing parties. In a life-and-death environment, they dare not cken, and the soldiers will naturally not degenerate.¡±


    ¡°This is really risky.¡±


    ¡°Haha, yes. With an army in hand, everyone feels entitled to climb to the top, and that ambition is even stronger when the highest is an old man who is not dead when he ought to be.¡±


    ¡°The Khan won¡¯t let that happen.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± The Khan¡¯s answer was surprisingly firm, and not at all as wordy as his previous responses. Then he sighed and pointed to the bed, beckoning for the Dragon King to help him back to his original position. ¡°But I¡¯m old, and I feel increasingly powerless to stop it.¡±


    The Khan sat down, his back hunched and his outline no difference from that of an ordinary old man¡¯s.


    The five female ves came up. The Khan¡¯s right hand, which was holding onto the edge of the bed, moved a bit, and the female ves immediately took the hint. They retreated to the corners and stood there silently, observing the Lord¡¯s every move with their peripheral vision.


    ¡°Let me ask you a few questions.¡±


    ¡°Please.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stood in front of the Khan like a humble student, as he did believe that he could learn a lot from this old man.


    The Khan did not ask right away but instead looked up at the Dragon King and suddenly said, ¡°Sit down.¡±


    Two female ves quietly appeared like a ghost and brought a campaign chair forward. Gu Shenwei then sat down so that the Khan didn¡¯t have to look up at him.


    ¡°When you fought with the Golden Roc Army at Xiaoyao Lake, many of your men, including those you thought most loyal, were secretly sending messages to the Nond. There was so much information sent over that I haven¡¯t even finished reading it yet.¡±


    ¡°I know that.¡±


    ¡°Do you know about it generally or the details?¡±


    ¡°Half-and-half.¡±


    ¡°But you didn¡¯t execute any of them, and some of them were even rewarded, which made me very curious. It was one of the topics I wanted to ask you about the most and it is also the reason why I invited you here.¡±


    ¡°The rewards were handed out aspensation for the ones who garnered merit during the fight.¡±


    ¡°What about those who were not executed?¡±


    ¡°Just as the Khan said, the dregs are not all useless. The Dragon Army is too weak and there¡¯s not much I can waste.¡±


    ¡°Huh, you¡¯re hiding the truth. I don¡¯t think that you would have thought of that before I said it. Curiosity is one of the few pleasures I have left, so tell me the real reason.¡±


    The Khan had taught him a lesson and so he should return the favor. Gu Shenwei thought for a moment before saying, ¡°My world is different from the Khan¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Mmm.¡±


    ¡°The Nond people have an innate sense of loyalty to the Khan, and they feel an obligation to live ordingly. Betrayal is actually an abnormal act, and everyone has the right to punish the betrayer.¡±


    ¡°Right, this is my world. Even before I could speak, people had already pledged allegiance to me. So, what¡¯s your world like?¡±


    ¡°In my world, everyone is self-interested and there¡¯s no so such thing as loyalty or betrayal. I can¡¯t protect everyone, and they won¡¯t be loyal to me unconditionally. To me, loyalty is an aberration, and I will cherish it whenever I can find it. As for asional betrayals, I can tolerate them as long as they are not tant. After all, it¡¯s a natural reaction that normal people have in the face of a crisis. Everyone will leave themselves an extra way out, as do I. I must have at least one backup whenever I make a n.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t sound like a good world, but the Dragon King doesn¡¯t seem to mind it at all.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the use of being angry? It will onlypletely drive those half-hearted subordinates into joining my enemies.¡±


    ¡°Weakness and kindness also encourage betrayal; you should not take it for granted that your good intentions will be rewarded.¡±


    ¡°I have no good intentions. The Khan said that I didn¡¯t execute any of the betrayals, that¡¯s not urate. I killed several overt traitors, and I have always believed that strength is the mostpelling reason for loyalty, which is also why I came to the Royal Court.¡±


    The Khan sighed wearily. ¡°I have experienced many betrayals. But even in my most miserable and difficult moments, there was still someone I could trust.¡±


    ¡°The strength of the Khan is inherent.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, it¡¯s all thanks to my ancestors for bequeathing their power to me. I¡¯ll also enhance it and leave it for the next Khan.¡±


    ¡°The new Khan must be grateful for that.¡±


    ¡°Maybe. I don¡¯t even remember what thest Khan, my father, looked like. Does the Dragon King like women?¡±


    The Khan suddenly switched the topic back to women, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know how to reply. ¡°Well, within the normal range.¡±


    ¡°That means that you like them. I heard that the Unique King used to be a lecherous person but decided to abstain from lust a few years ago in order topete for the Western Regions, which was the right decision. Can you imagine it if I couldn¡¯t do whatever I pleased until I was forty-five years old? But Heaven is fair. Although my ¡®seeds¡¯ can¡¯t blossom and bear fruit anymore, it has not dried up, which is a kind ofpensation.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t say anything. He didn¡¯t feel that he had personally suffered any losses so therefore, he did not want anypensations.


    ¡°Can the Dragon King also abstain from lust like the Unique King?¡±


    It was more like an expectation than a question. The Khan had not even suggested an invitation but had already assumed that the Dragon King was his subordinate, and this was a request.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Gu Shenwei found it impossible to refuse.


    A female ve came out with a wooden tray and a paper folded in half on it.


    ¡°Golden Roc Castle always goes to the extreme in everything. You don¡¯t have to abstain from lustpletely. Choose the one you like most and take her along with you.¡±


    Confused, Gu Shenwei picked up the paper, opened it, and saw a series of familiar names: Shangguan Ru, Lotus, Queen Ju, Xu Yanwei, Luo Ningcha, Tie Linglong, Red Bat¡­¡±

 Chapter 628 - Banquet

    Chapter 628: Banquet


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The Khan silently observed the young man in front of him with curiosity showing on his weary face, as if the list were a joke that even he himself foundme.


    But Gu Shenwei knew that this was not a joke. He folded the paper back in half, put it back in the tray, and after the female ve walked away, said, ¡°I am prepared to give up everyone, but I won¡¯t ept any threats.¡±


    The Khan abruptly rose up as swiftly as a young man, and even his slightly hunched back straightened up a bit, though only for a short while. ¡°It¡¯s really a pity that you would take this as a threat. I just wanted to help a young hero find himself. Believe in a dying man¡¯s experience. The things you see as more important than your life now will soon be as light and worthless as dust. Do not be fooled by women; all you love is their body, and there are countless beautiful bodies out there for you to explore.¡±


    The Khan spread out his arms, and the female ves quickly came forward and deftly changed his robe into a light military uniform. Then he stretched out his right arm, waiting for the Dragon King¡¯s help.


    Gu Shenwei felt his right hand be restless. No matter how reasonable the Khan¡¯s words were, they were a threat to him.


    He stepped forward to support the weak old man.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to make a choice now. Let¡¯s go to the banquet. I don¡¯t want anyone to think that we¡¯re up to something. The Royal Court is wilder than a bull in heat. Even a little ominous sniff could drive it mad.¡±


    ¡°The Khan knows everything?¡± Since he didn¡¯t have to make a choice right away, Gu Shenwei pretended that the list didn¡¯t exist at all and took the chance to change the topic.


    ¡°Oh, I know everything I need to know about.¡±


    The two walked out of the tent. The summer evening was strangely bright outside.


    Hordes of servants, guards, and cavalry were waiting outside, the vast majority of whom were born as nobility but had chosen to serve the Khan between the ages of fifteen to twenty-five. Like the female servants in the tent, they had left theirfortable homes, put on whole sets of armors, and stood guard in the dust of the summer days to wait for an old man. The only difference was that they all felt honored about it.


    Gu Shenwei could feel the zing eyes staring at him without even raising his head. It seemed he was getting more attention than the Khan from the crowd, the eyes of whom, were full of envy and indignation. As a man of the Western Regions and a nominal king, he was actually able to walk side by side with the Khan and could even hold the Khan¡¯s arm. Whereas these hundreds of well-dressed guards might not be able to get a single nce from the Khan even up to the day they retired.


    The Khan¡¯s left hand stayed in the air for a few more moments in order to dismiss the crowd. The close bodyguards like Silver Condor retreated first, then the noble servants, and finally the loyal cavalry.


    Gu Shenwei held the Khan as they slowly walked forward. About ten steps ahead of him, two eunuchs directed the road like sneaky thieves, making sure they were not noticed by the Khan. Far behind him was his group of bodyguards and calvary.


    All of them were on horseback. They tried to control the mounts in order to keep pace with the Khan while being ready to rush in at the fastest speed if necessary, which rarely happened, though they were still ready at all times.


    The Khan continued what he was saying as if he were still pacing in his tent, indifferent to the tension he had caused. ¡°It¡¯s very difficult to find a suitable heir. It was said that the process of my inheritance of the title of Khan was the smoothest in the past hundred years, but I still had to kill many people.¡±


    Anyone would go mad with jealousy if they heard the Khan talking about session to a foreigner. Gu Shenwei, however, was speechless. He had graduallye to understand the Khan¡¯s way of speaking and knew that this was only the beginning and that his real intention had not yet been revealed.


    ¡°Now it¡¯s finally someone else¡¯s turn to try to kill me.¡±


    ¡°They can only think about it.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, wanting to do it is only half a step away from really doing it. I used to have a sharp nose that could smell out even the slightest smell of conspiracy, but it has lost its keen sense recently because there are so many plots that it¡¯s impossible to distinguish them from one another. The women in my bed, the guards outside my tent, the counselors and people who have sworn allegiance to me and my families who have my blood flowing in their bodies: all of them are counting the days until my death. I¡¯m very happy to look at their disappointed faces. But they¡¯ve blocked my nose and let some of the more intrepid fishermen fish in troubled waters.¡±


    ¡°The Central ins once entrusted me to assassinate the Khan.¡±


    ¡°I know. You are smart for revealing it before you came here. I also know that you didn¡¯t refuse the Central ins. Don¡¯t try to exin. I¡¯m a stubborn old man and I don¡¯t like others disagreeing with my guesses. You did the right thing. You are not from the Central ins and also not a man of the Nond, so why should you be loyal to one side for no reason? ¡®It¡¯s a natural reaction for normal people to leave themselves an extra way out in the face of a crisis.¡¯ See, I still remember your words. You can forgive your men, and I also have no reason to punish you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need a route of retreat anymore.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, young man, don¡¯t feel wronged and desperate about your present situation. You are still young and it¡¯s normal to walk on a path nned by others. Ever since I inherited the title of Khan when I was less than twenty years old, I have been moving forward in the cracks. My enemies led the way and my friends pushed behind me. It was like they were my legs and had decided where I was going. I finally found some freedom and was able to take my own way and could asionally arrange a way for others when I was nearly fifty years old.¡±


    ¡°The Khan has arranged a way for me?¡±


    ¡°Strictly speaking, it¡¯s not for you. But I hope I to see you on this road: you and a woman.¡±


    The Khan especially emphasized the word ¡®a,¡¯ then he broke away from the Dragon King¡¯s hold and straightened his back, epting the many kowtows of his descendants and nobles.


    They had gone to the banquet.


    Gu Shenwei moved five steps to the right, a delicate position that seemed to be the foothold of the servant and the guard, and also a position where he could avoid the ritual of kowtow.


    The ten kings did gather together, but only King Rizhu nodded to him. The rest of the kings all seemed preupied and none of them looked at the Dragon King.


    The Khan raised his arm, and Gu Shenwei came over to hold it again. The eyes fell on him fiercer and hotter than the scorching sunshine.


    Dozens of tables full of dishes had been set up in the broad tent, and each table had been carefully arranged for the guests; the whole setup was so ingenious that it didn¡¯t resemble the style of the Nond.


    The Dragon King¡¯s position was arranged under the ten kings, and the one apanying him was a counselor. Shangguan Fei could only sit in the doorway with a group of nervous and excited young warriors.


    Everything was well-arranged but the Khan had suddenly made a move that astonished the crowd. He kept the Dragon King by his side.


    ¡°Do not walk around, just sit here.¡±


    It was not until the Khan finished speaking his words that the shocked eunuch rushed to fetch a nket and ce it on the side of the Khan¡¯s short table. Gu Shenwei obeyed and sat down, knowing that he would henceforth be the target of everyone and that the only safe ce of refuge was the way the Khan had arranged for him.


    It was a custom of the Nond to be bold and unconstrained, especially when the Khan was present. With King Rizhu leading the way, the atmosphere soon became lively. Everyone worked hard to show their rough side like a filial son trying to please their elders and they did all kinds of childish things.


    The carefully arranged pecking order was soon disrupted. Many people came to propose a toast to the Dragon King with kind remarks. Some of them even sang and danced in public, more than half of which was performed for the Khan.


    ¡°I don¡¯t drink.¡± Gu Shenwei knew what he should say.


    The Khan took a sip of the wine and said, ¡°It¡¯s okay to drink a little bit sometimes. Only when you are drunk can you feel the joy of the feast. Otherwise, what¡¯s the point of watching a group of drunkard y mad while in a dispassionate manner?¡±


    Gu Shenwei finished the first bowl and from then on the bowl was never empty. A female ve knelt beside him and filled it up diligently. She was the so-called ¡®dispassionate observer¡¯ mentioned by the Khan, who remained as silent as a puppet amid the mor of men.


    All the female ves in the tent looked like this, and only when harassed did they smile as they should.


    The Khan was right. Gu Shenwei was soon drunk and his vision blurred. Those wild scenes which had seemed rather false in his eyes suddenly became real. With the power of alcohol, the nobles could break the strict hierarchical boundaries, perhaps not just to please the old Khan, but also to satisfy their inner desires.


    After three rounds of drinking, King Rizhu had punched four people, one of whom was King Shengri. It was not serious and more like ying a joke. King Shengri, though red-faced, could only drink more wine to make himself smile more naturally.


    Shangguan Fei was affected and rarely made a bold move. He got up, staggered through the crowd and walked up to the Dragon King. ¡°I¡¯d like to¡­ propose a toast¡­ to the Dragon King¡­ Without you, I¡¯m nothing.¡±


    Gu Shenwei held up his wine bowl and symbolically touched it to Shangguan Fei¡¯s. Just like everyone else, Shangguan Fei wasn¡¯t here to propose a toast to him but rather to show himself in front of the Khan. But he didn¡¯t know the rules and dared to directly speak to the Khan. ¡°Your Majesty, the Dragon King doesn¡¯t actually like to drink. I¡¯m his subordinate and I can drink on behalf of¡­¡±


    Before he had finished, the Khan coldly snapped, ¡°You called me ¡®Your Majesty.¡¯ Do you think that I¡¯m the Emperor of the Central ins?¡±


    Shangguan Fei shivered and immediately sobered up. The bowl in his hand fell, and he also fell onto his knees.


    The Khanughed heartily and said, ¡°Your kung fu is very good and you also y hard. Why are you so timid?¡±


    Shangguan Fei was unable to open his mouth now, so in ce for him, Gu Shenwei said, ¡°Who isn¡¯t afraid of the awe-inspiring and illustrious Khan?¡±


    The Khan¡¯s smile didn¡¯t diminish as if this coward had pleased him more than all the stunts of the evening. ¡°You are Shangguan Fa¡¯s son?¡±


    Crawling on the ground, Shangguan Fei nodded his head repeatedly.


    ¡°Then how did you be the Dragon King¡¯s subordinate?¡±


    ¡°I, I¡­¡± Shangguan Fei looked at the Dragon King in mute appeal.


    ¡°Shangguan Fa didn¡¯t like this son and wanted to get rid of him with my saber.¡±


    ¡°So you kept him and made him into a fierce warrior instead. Interesting, it¡¯s really interesting.¡± The Khan repeated while his eyes moved away from Shangguan Fei, obviously thinking it wasn¡¯t interesting anymore.


    A group of young warriors had been secretly watching and, at the hint of the eunuch, knew that they should carry the impudent young man away, so they rushed forward and pulled Shangguan Fei up. ¡°With so little wine you are already drunk? No, you have to drink more¡­¡±


    The word ¡®drink¡¯ was a signal. The seven or eight warriors suddenly dropped the faint Shangguan Fei, produced pocket daggers, and pounced on the old Khan who was close at hand as he shouted, ¡°Dragon King, run!¡±

 Chapter 629 - Assassination

    Chapter 629: Assassination


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Like the Khan, Silver Condor also sensed a big conspiracy. He was standing seven steps away to the rear side of the Khan, where the candlelight and the shadows happened to intersect, and was watching every movement of all the people in the tent, including the ten kings.


    When King Rizhu got drunk and started punching others without any reason, the crowd was riled up, but Silver Condor became nervous. Fortunately, nothing had happened. When Shangguan Fei stumbled to offer a toast, Silver Condor became nervous again but his eyes were fixed on the Dragon King.


    The young man had a desperate madness. The Khan had imed that all heroes were madmen and that he could persuade the Dragon King to lower his head and pledge allegiance. Silver Condor didn¡¯t say anything but deep at heart, he was still skeptical about the Khan¡¯s ns. In his view, the Dragon King was hard to control and predict, and the safest way to deal with him was to kill him.


    Even when Shangguan Fei was frightened to the point of copsing onto the ground and the young warriors at the same table with him came to help, his eyes were still on the Dragon King.


    ¡°Dragon King, run!¡± When the warriors shouted this, Silver Condor suddenly roused himself and rushed forward with his saber.


    There were only ten men with sabers in the tent. Nine of them were standing at the door, and even though Silver Condor was the nearest to the Khan, he was still not close enough.


    A total of seven warriors dashed at the Khan like mad men but in a disordered fashion, who had apparently drilled their movement many times before.


    Silver Condor was capable of killing two of them in an instant but as long as one of the warriors escaped, a pocket dagger in their hands might kill the Khan.


    Gu Shenwei was already very drunk but his mind was strangely clear and his hands and feet were still at his beck and call. As soon as the seven warriors acted, he turned the wine table over.


    The Khan had described the Royal Court, which was full of plots, like a bull in heat. The plot had finallye to light, but the bull¡¯s response was a little slow.


    The whole thing happened so quickly that only Gu Shenwei and Silver Condor could react on the spot. The guests still wore a smile on their faces, with one hand holding the wine bowl and the other hand restlessly fondling the female ves¡¯ breasts. It was just that all of a sudden, the sound disappeared.


    At this delicate moment, everyone was thinking rapidly. Should they keep silent or rush forward to show loyalty? Jump at the enemy to take the initiative or just faint and y dead?


    The whole matter ended quickly which saved everyone present from making a decision. The Khan wasn¡¯t dead, and not even a little wounded, so the choice suddenly became simple.


    The overturned wine table had blocked the four warriors. Gu Shenwei made two straight punches and knocked down the fifth and sixth warriors. Thest warrior was pulled down to the ground by Shangguan Fei who clung to the warrior¡¯s feet and didn¡¯t let go.


    Silver Condor¡¯s duty was not to kill. He took hold of the Khan and retreated several steps until his back touched the tent while pointing the saber in his right hand towards the front. He didn¡¯t trust anyone here.


    ¡°Protect the Khan!¡±


    No one knew who called it out first, but the tent was immediately filled with shouts. Everyone rushed to the Khan while pushing the others down. The ves screamed, and the drinks were spilled everywhere. The guards with sabers at the door were blocked by the crowd and could only run over people¡¯s head.


    Then the crowd suddenly stopped as if they had stepped in front of a deadly dividing line, on the other side of which was the Dragon King and the assassins he had knocked down, and a little further inside was the Khan and Silver Condor.


    ¡°Silver Condor, don¡¯t do anything stupid.¡± The one who spoke was King Shengri, whose hands were outstretched as if he were rescuing a drowning man.


    Silver Condor suddenly came to his senses. He was so nervous that he had put the Khan in his arms like a baby but his right hand was still holding a saber, which gave off the image that he was kidnapping the Khan in the outsiders¡¯ eyes.


    Silver Condor anxiously let go with his left hand but didn¡¯t lower the saber in his right. The crowd swarmed forward like a pack of wolves and he feared that the Khan would be swallowed by them.


    The other nine guards had finally made it to the front line. They shed their sabers and sessively killed the six assassins who were still struggling to get up. The only assassin that survived the first round of massacre was the one whose feet were tightly grabbed by Shangguan Fei and couldn¡¯t get up.


    The guards raised their sabers again, ready to kill the two on the ground, and three of them even had their sabers pointed at the Dragon King.


    It was exactly the environment Gu Shenwei disliked the most. He was in narrow space with numerous enemies surrounding him, and he didn¡¯t even have a weapon at hand.


    But he still punched out, a little faster than the guards with sabers.


    The guards who stayed in the tent were no ordinary kung fu experts, but the narrow space also limited their performance. Besides, three steps away were those kings and aristocrats, and the Khan was also not far away. They could only stab up and down, not daring to brandish their sabers freely.


    Gu Shenwei took this chance to defeat three guards, saving himself, Shangguan Fei, and also that warrior.


    The other guards all turned to the Dragon King, and the Khan, who had been attacked, finally opened his mouth. ¡°Stop.¡±


    The guards lowered their sabers and lined up in front of the Khan. Judging from their standing postures, the one they were mainly guarding against was still the Dragon King.


    The atmosphere in the tent was heavy. Everyone was nervously wondering whether they were guilty or not. King Shengri suddenly eximed, ¡°The Dragon King is up to something¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up, idiot.¡±


    The Khan had regained hisposure. He pushed aside the guards in the way and looked at the corpses on the ground. ¡°Take him for interrogation. Not the coward but the one in his arms. Spread out. I¡¯m not dead yet, so you don¡¯t have to make that face.¡±


    The crowd dispersed but their uneasy hearts didn¡¯t rest yet. The plot to assassinate the Khan had finally happened, and no one knew how much blood would be needed to close this incident.


    The female ve besides Gu Shenwei tasted the vor of the blood first. After six warriors being in near her, the blood had sttered all over her face. She gratefully looked at Gu Shenwei when he helped her up.


    Looking at the nervous faces, the Khan suddenlyughed, ¡°Look at you, you all look like you¡¯ve never seen a dead man before. Where¡¯s your mettle as men of the prairie? Who still remembers the first time I was the target of an assassination attempt?¡±


    Not too many people in the tent had experienced the youth of the Khan. King Rizhu took a bowl of wine and said, ¡°I heard that the Khan drank and danced on the corpses.¡±


    ¡°Well, now I can only drink a little wine, and I can hardly lift my feet to walk, let alone dance.¡±


    It was King Rizhu who again brought the atmosphere alive. The nobles in the tent followed in performing the toast dance and war dance of the Nond. The jubnt atmosphere returned in an instant, and even more fervent than before. Everyone understood that this was Khan¡¯s attitude towards the case and that the blood in many people¡¯s bodies could flow as usual again.


    Even though it was noisy, everyone clearly heard the Khan¡¯s words. ¡°The Dragon King saved my life. He¡¯s the greatest hero today.¡±


    The Khan didn¡¯t mention Silver Condor and other bodyguards as that was their duty and there was no need for him to point it out.


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s warrior didn¡¯t forget to save me even when he copsed on the ground, so he¡¯s the second greatest hero.


    Shangguan Fei flushed with shame but also felt proud of himself as he stood up. His legs were still weak, so he clumsily raised his hand and waved in the manner of a noble.


    ¡°These stupid kids wanted to frame the Dragon King and even shouted loud his name; they didn¡¯t even think about who would believe them.¡±


    King Shengri believed it, or he wanted to lead the suspicion to the Dragon King. Anyway, hearing the Khan¡¯s words, his face became particrly red. He drank more wine than usual this evening.


    The guards took the only captive away and the servants quickly carried away the corpses and the overturned short tables out, but the blood was left where it was.


    ¡°Blood can cheer people up.¡±


    The Khan raised his arm again and motioned for the Dragon King to help him.


    For him, the dinner was already over.


    ¡°Regarding the war games tomorrow, deal with it yourself.¡±


    The crowd stopped making noises and stepped to the side, making a path for the old Khan.


    The Khan left the tent. Before he could walk any steps further, two kings caught up and said in unison, ¡°Let us interrogate the captive.¡±


    ¡°These warriors are from the Nond. They dared to assassinate the Khan, so they must have a strong support directing them,¡± said King Kuari, who seemed very calm.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure I can find out who¡¯s behind it before dawn,¡± King Rizhu added.


    Gu Shenwei was a bit surprised. He didn¡¯t expect that these two lords would join hands to ask for a trial. He soon realized that the two were using theirpletely opposing stance to gain the trust of the Khan so that they would not be affected by the incident.


    Gu Shenwei had a feeling that the Khan already knew who the mastermind was and also knew that King Kuari and King Rizhu would join hands to take over the case, but he still thought it over for a while before indifferently saying, ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you. Do not disturb me too early. I may have to sleep a little longer.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The two kings bowed and retreated.


    Looking at the retreating figures in the dark, the Khan poked the Dragon King¡¯s waist like a naughty child telling a secret, ¡°About these two, who do you think will win in the end?¡±


    ¡°The trial? I think¡­¡± Gu Shenwei pretended not to understand.


    ¡°You are wasting my trust. You are not even a man of the Nond, so you don¡¯t have to be afraid of offending a king of the Nond.¡±


    Gu Shenwei helped the Khan slowly walk forward while Silver Condor closely followed five paces behind, clearly able to hear the two¡¯s conversation.


    ¡°The decision rests with the Khan. Whoever you point at will win.¡±


    ¡°s, if that¡¯s what you think, then you are no different from the most ordinary herdsmen of the prairie. Yes, I have supreme power in my hands, and I can even arrange a way for some people, but I am not omnipotent.¡±


    The Khan paused for a moment andined of his backache before he continued. ¡°The Nond has three major forces from the consorts¡¯ side, and the most powerful force among them is the Naihang Tribe. My mother, the Chief Consort, and the Second Consort are all from the Naihang Tribe. The western part of the grasnd almost became independent and I¡¯m still looking for an offspring topete with them. I once had high hopes for King Kuari, but he treats his people too harshly. I want to gain the support of the people but he doesn¡¯t curry favor with the public at all.¡±


    Their long talk had finallye to the core issues. Gu Shenwei found that the chain around his neck was getting tighter and tighter but he didn¡¯t have choice, and nor did he find it painful.


    From behind the two, Silver Condor admired his master from the bottom of his heart. The Khan had imed himself to be a madman and he had proved this through his actions. Who would be so bold as to use assassination to win over a subordinate? The Dragon King had saved the Khan in public, which would cause him to lose the trust of the Central ins and be more involved in the infighting of the royal family. He had no way out but to hold onto that decrepit arm.


    Gu Shenwei was also aware of this so he decided not to conceal the information he had learned. ¡°So the Khan has ced your hope onto Prince Duodun?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, that¡¯s the real Dragon King. It must be the Second Consort who revealed a clue.¡±


    ¡°She didn¡¯t say anything. I guessed it myself.¡±


    ¡°Right. But if she had kept her mouth shut, you wouldn¡¯t have guessed at all.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t deny it.


    ¡°But your guess is not wild enough.¡±


    ¡°Not Duodun¡­ Not just Duodun?¡±


    ¡°Three.¡± The Khan stretched out three fingers of his left hand and shook. This was the pir he had established for the Nond. ¡°Their mothers are all ves. It¡¯s time to reap the power of the Consorts¡¯ side. The Prairie needs the son of a humble woman.¡±

 Chapter 630 - Reward

    Chapter 630: Reward


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Inside the tent, the ve girls had already prepared the bedclothes along with water, milk and other things for bathing.


    The old Khan wearily leaned on a soft couch and without any orders being given, two female ves came forward to massage his legs. Gu Shenwei wanted to take his leave but was stopped.


    ¡°Let me finish. Old people are all very talkative, especially this old man when he is in a good mood. It would be cruel torture to shut him up suddenly.¡±


    The Khan kept the Dragon King there but didn¡¯t continue talking about the previous topic right away. Instead, he devoted himself to enjoying the service of the ve girls and only waved them away after a long while. Then he pointed to one of the figures and said to the Dragon King sitting in the chair, ¡°You can take one with you tonight.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t have a ce for her to stay.¡±


    The Khanughed out loud. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard amer excuse for refusing a woman. What ¡®ce¡¯ does a woman need to stay? Their body is the ¡®ce¡¯ of a man.¡± As hisughter died down, he added, ¡°It seems that you are really in love. This is a real hassle.¡±


    Gu Shenwei refused toment. He didn¡¯t think that anyone had the right to interfere in his private affairs and also didn¡¯t intend to have an intense introspection in front of an outsider.


    ¡°It seems that I¡¯m meddling too much.¡± The Khan sighed and adjust his position in the chair to make himself morefortable. ¡°Duodun is more aggressive and simr to the younger me.¡±


    The Khan started to introduce his most favored descendants that he secretly supported. ¡°You must have heard of the story of him trying to trick me into drinking urine. He¡¯s really an asshole. I took a gulp and I wouldn¡¯t have figured it out if I hadn¡¯t seen the looks of the guests. I taught him a good lesson, but it appears he was only acting obedient while he was secretly busy, colluding with his henchmen. Now, he has gathered a group of people, mostly the same as him, as they have no background but are full of vigor and vitality. They are dead set on following him. No one has noticed him except for the Second Consort, but he has a bright future. I left him a hundred thousand cavalries in the Western Regions, and if he¡¯s really capable, he will fight his way back to the prairie sooner orter.¡±


    ¡°The Second Consort¡­ is very supportive of him.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, talking in such a roundabout way really departs from your image. Just say what you want to say.¡±


    ¡°The Second Consort said that she would marry the new Khan and be the Chief Consort.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s her dream. Duodun was raised by her. Before he was even eleven years old, the two were almost living together. This is a lesson for me. Never let a woman and man spend too much time together no matter how different their age or statuses are because attachment will always grow between the two. And when you are not firm enough, you will mistake attachment for love.


    Gu Shenwei felt that some of these words were directed at himself. ¡°Does the Khan have no intention of interfering?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not necessary. The Second Consort is from the Naihang Tribe, and this alone is enough to turn the two of them against each other. Old Cha has his own ns and he will never let Duodun inherit the throne. The Second Consort is a smart woman but she¡¯s too short-sighted and doesn¡¯t understand that no matter which side she chooses, it¡¯ll be a mistake. If she chooses her lover, she will lose the support of her family and she¡¯ll have nothing. Duodun is no longer a teenager, and he will not hesitate to abandon her; if she chooses to support her family, Duodun will hate her and Old Cha will also slowly turn her into a figurehead. The Prairie will never belong to a woman. No matter how hard she works, the end is the same. Is there a more ideal punishment than this? The only regret is I won¡¯t be able see it myself.¡±


    The Khan talked about his hatred so lightly and casually but his means of revenge were so profound and insidious that Gu Shenwei was awed and also a bit chilled. Whether he liked it or not, the Khan had gained his approval within less than half a day, which he seldom gave to strangers.


    ¡°Duodun won¡¯t be punished?¡±


    ¡°Merely joining the fight for the throne is punishment for him. All his contempt and humiliation for me will sooner orter fall on his head.¡± After a pause, the Khan smiled. ¡°This is just self-deception. I¡¯m just like any other old man in the world. I always see the younger me in my children so I desperately dote on them. I like this son and if I could, I¡¯d just leave the throne to him rather than force him to fight for it.¡±


    ¡°Duodun will fulfill the Khan¡¯s wishes.¡±


    ¡°Not really, so I have to have a backup n.¡± The Khan turned and winked at the Dragon King. ¡°This man is of humble origin, and he¡¯s a bastard of King Dari. That woman brought the baby to the door of the camp, left a few words, and never showed up again. For the first ten years, no one thought of him as my grandson. He grew up among the servants and had to earn his own living by the time he could walk. Later, it was his appearance that told the story; the boy looked just like his father.¡±


    The ¡®bastard¡¯ was named Luoluo. Because he had raised the horses and cattle well since he was little, he had earned the nickname ¡®horsewhip.¡¯ After his origin was proven by his appearance, King Dari exined everything to the Khan and acknowledged Luoluo¡¯s identity even though he never showed any care for him since then.


    The horsewhip Luoluo continued grazing but on a muchrger scale, as he came to own one of thergest herds of cattle in all of Nond before the age of twenty. The Khan noticed him at that time and drafted him into the army but didn¡¯t give him a position.


    Luoluo was promoted entirely based on his battle achievements. In less than ten years, he had been promoted step by step from an ordinary cavalry, to captain of ten people, a hundred people, a thousand people, until he finally took charge of the army independently as a general.


    Like Duodun, the Khan had secretly manipted Luoluo to push him away from the chaotic Royal Court and send him to the southeastern frontier to fight the Central ins.


    Gu Shenwei had never heard of this person. Amongst all the important princes and grandchildren collected by Fang Wenshi, there was no name of horsewhip or Luoluo. In the eyes of an ordinary noble, a ¡®bastard¡¯ could not inherit the throne.


    ¡°Luoluo has an advantage over Duodun.¡± The Khan coolly analyzed his son and grandson. ¡°He has been leading the army all these years and has a group of loyal soldiers instead of reckless friends. Of course, it¡¯s a small army of just ten thousand people, but their loyalty can greatlypensate for itscking numbers and they can defeat enemies many times of itself. Besides, if Luoluo wants to, he can rapidly expand his army in the southern area.¡±


    Duodun and Luoluo, a son and a grandson, one in the west and the other in the east. No matter which one seeded, the monopolistic power gathered in the consorts¡¯ side would be shattered.


    ¡°To tell you the truth, I don¡¯t like Luoluo. He¡¯s a savage. Even when he became a general, there was always a smell of cattle about him. But that¡¯s exactly the smell that the Nond people should have and is also the smell of my ancestors. Many descendants of mine and I myself are unable to ept it but that disposition really was inherited by a bastard. Maybe this is the will of Heaven.¡±


    ¡°Both of them are still very weak.¡± Gu Shenwei pointed a hole in the Khan¡¯s ns. Even if Duodun and Luoluo each had a hundred thousand horsemen, it was still not enough for them topete for the title of Khan.


    ¡°This is indeed a dilemma. In the Nond, anyone who¡¯s powerful enough will be noticed by the ten kings and they will reap the new risers like reaping the crops. But power is a wonderful thing. Soldiers and horses are only part of it. Since I¡¯ve decided to support the two of them, I have a way to greatly improve their strength in a very short time.¡±


    ¡°Three people.¡±


    ¡°Right, three.¡±


    All of a sudden, the Khan fell silent like the addle-brained King Dari who had suddenly forgotten what he was going to say and just nkly stared at the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei was really taken aback this time. ¡°Me?¡±


    The Khan nodded.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s approval for the Khan, which he had just been built up, vanished in an instant. Before that, the means the Khan was using to draw him over were just right, but now it was overdone. ¡°I¡¯m really ttered.¡±


    ¡°Hear me out, and you may not think so.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had a premonition that his origin and the experience of his father Gu Lun at the Nond would be discussed again.


    ¡°Your real name is Gu Shenwei and you are the son of Gu Lun, a man of the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t surprised at all that the Khan knew his past. After all, even the Second Consort knew it.


    ¡°Then you are probably half a Nond man.


    Gu Shenwei kept silent because this wasn¡¯t what the Second Consort had said several days ago, and he couldn¡¯t help but be skeptical no matter if the other side was telling the truth or not.


    ¡°I still have some impressions about your father so I sent someone to investigate and found that I had been very generous back then. In order to not let the hostages feel lonely, I had arranged female ves for them. One of the ve girls gained your father¡¯s favor and gave birth to a boy and a girl. And your father took them away when he returned to the Central ins. If there were no idents, you should be one of them.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe it,¡± said Gu Shenwei stiffly. He didn¡¯t like that the Khan always used ¡®women¡¯ to skirt around a topic, but he could bear it. But he couldn¡¯t ept that the other side was using his own origin to deceive him.


    The Khan smiled. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, there¡¯s no princess and princess consort in this story so you think that I¡¯m lying to you. Well, forget it. Anyways, that¡¯s not why I chose you.¡±


    The Khan stood up and started slowly pacing again. But he didn¡¯t ask the Dragon King to help him this time.


    ¡°There was no ce for you in my original n. There were many rumors about you but I wasn¡¯t interested until you went south into the wilderness with a band of a rabble, discovered the Land of Fragrance, and then returned to the Western Regions. Only then did I realize that I might have overlooked a hero.¡±


    The Dragon Army was still very weak at that time so the Khan had continued to observe. If the Dragon Army had been defeated by Golden Roc Castle, it would be the Unique King who was talking face to face with the Lord of the Prairie at the moment.


    ¡°Duodun and Luoluo have no support from the consorts¡¯ side. That¡¯s what I value about them, but that¡¯s also their most fatal w. The whole Royal Court is like a castle built on numerous stones. Now that most of the stones are from the consorts¡¯ side, they will not open the door for an outsider easily. I need someone to help me eradicate this castle and give the new Khan a chance to rebuild.¡±


    The third finger of the Khan turned out to be a destroyer, not a pir of stability.


    ¡°What can I get?¡± Gu Shenwei asked bluntly. The Khan¡¯s n was strangely simr to that of several kings, but his reward should be more generous.


    ¡°Two posthumous edicts. One for Duodun and the other for Luoluo. It¡¯s up to you to make a choice. You can tear off one and keep one, and then bring it to your new master. That¡¯s your reward.¡±


    This was also the ¡®strength¡¯ that the Khan had left for his son and grandson. A posthumous edict from the Khan had a greater influence on the grasnd than thousands of horses and soldiers.


    This reward was indeed more generous than that of the kings. There was no greater credit or reward than helping a new Khan inherit the throne with a posthumous edict.


    ¡°I¡¯m tired.¡± The Khan surprisingly ordered his guest to leave, neither asking the Dragon King to keep the secret nor trying to persuade him to ept the task as if the problem had been solved and there was nothing more to say.


    ¡°Come see me at this time tomorrow night to take the edicts. Choose a woman¡¯s name, perhaps you can choose two. No matter if you believe it or not, the ve who was favored by your father is still alive.¡±


    ¡°I have to leave the pce the first thing in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Then find yourself a way. Take it as myst test for you.¡±

 Chapter 631 - Calm

    Chapter 631: Calm


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Fang Wenshi had so many doubts it felt like he could stuff his rotund belly with them until they spilled out through his face.


    But he was a military counselor, and answering questions and drawing conclusions were his duty, so he suppressed his curiosity and methodically analyzed the situation based on the Dragon King¡¯s ount and the information he had heard. ¡°I¡¯ve heard about the assassination in the pce. It was said that King Kuari and King Rizhu joined hands to lead the interrogation and in the end, the culprit confessed that the masterminds behind the scenes were the disciples of the Essence Pavilion who told the young warriors that the Khan had been possessed by demons and that only by killing him could they save the soul of the Khan and the future of the Nond.¡±


    Fang Wenshi thought for a moment, stroking his chin. ¡°Now that the Dragon King mentions it, the Khan seemed to know about the assassination beforehand. Strange, very strange. I¡¯d guess that the Khan arranged the assassination himself and that his true purpose was to lure the Dragon King into saving him as a public disy of loyalty. King Kuari and King Rizhu are wise men who recognized what was going on in the initial moments, so they took the chance to strike at their opponent. Who is themon opponent of the two? Naturally, it is King Shengri who had been deluded by the Essence Pavilion.¡±


    ¡°The Khan probably also intended to remove the ¡®masters¡¯ around him.¡± Gu Shenwei had called his counselor in to discuss thetest situation as soon as he returned to the Dragon Army camp. He had many ideas which he couldn¡¯t reveal in front of the Khan.


    ¡°The old man finally came to his senses and realized that the so-called immortality was a lie?¡± Fang Wenshi¡¯s tone was filled with irony but also of understanding. The great desire and pursuit of ¡®immortality¡¯ had developed under the patronage of the emperors of the past dynasties, and there were many records left in the long history of time. The old Khan was no exception.


    ¡°Or he found a more powerful ¡®master¡¯ and the old ones became redundant.¡± Gu Shenwei had a different guess.


    Fang Wenshi shook his head and didn¡¯t care much about it. ¡°It¡¯s hard to guess what the Khan is thinking. On one hand, he¡¯s busy trying to extend his life. On the other, he is secretly supporting two unknown royal children, preparing to destroy and rebuild the Nond. Does he want to bury the whole Royal Court with him?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it.¡± Gu Shenwei felt that the counselor had said something very important. ¡°From what I¡¯ve seen, the Khan is the kind of man who clings to what he has and isn¡¯t willing to let go. He¡¯s still afraid of death, but if he can¡¯t live forever, he must want to continue controlling the people and things he¡¯s familiar with in the other world. That¡¯s why he is looking for help from outside the Nond because the real Nond people have always had some sentiments and interests attached to the Nond and may be reluctant to destroy itpletely. But an outsider, either me or Golden Roc Castle, can obtain some benefits from the destruction.¡±


    ¡°And the Dragon King and the Unique King will never have the right to rule the grasnds and therefore will concentrate on assisting the new Khan.¡± Fang Wenshi added one more reason but shook his head even harder as he said his next statement. ¡°Madman, the Khan is a madman.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a sane madman; he shows his ugliest side first, and after that your impression of him will get better and better, and then he¡¯ll naturally arrange everything so that you don¡¯t have a chance to say no.¡±


    Fang Wenshi looked at the Dragon King carefully. This wasn¡¯t like the lord he remembered. The Dragon King¡¯s pursuit of being in control had reached the point of paranoia. ¡®Having no chance to say no¡¯ was usually a reason for him to say no. ¡°If we could really gain power in the prairies, it would be easy to defeat Golden Roc Castle and dominate the Western Regions.¡±


    This was a great temptation. The future was clear. Everything might not go as smoothly as one wished but it was no longer a foggy road ahead. Duodun and Luoluo were all in urgent need of help. With the edicts in hand, the Dragon King would certainly be greatly valued and put in an important position.


    The Khan knew their value, so he had made no promises to the Dragon King. He was leading a man who had no way out on a paved and ready road, believing that this was the greatest reward.


    ¡°I need more reasons.¡±


    Fang Wenshi nodded his head, a rare asion. ¡°Anyhow, those two posthumous edicts are good things. The Dragon King has to get them tonight and I¡¯ll find out the information as soon as possible. Duodun and Luoluo, heh, the Khan has hidden them well. I¡¯m afraid that very few people in the whole Royal Court have taken them seriously.¡±


    There were some things that Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t told the counselor such as the Khan letting him only pick one woman and the false story of his origin, especially the former, which was, in fact, a precondition for the collection of the posthumous edicts.


    The Khan¡¯s emotions had long been consumed during his long career of ruling the Nond, but it had made him see the way of the world more clearly. To walk on the well-arranged road, the Dragon King had to make a choice and pay a price. Only in this way could he treasure and hold onto it.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡± Gu Shenwei still hoped to go on his own way.


    This was another busy day. Although he had been invited, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t go to the suburbs to watch the war games of the ten kings. When he walked out of the tent, he found that the sun was shining brightly and that everything was clear, but it was still not easy to notice the details.


    Two tents away, Shangguan Fei was excitedly talking with the six guards about how he had bravely saved the Khan, and he then generously distributed the gold and silver he had received to the audience and only kept a string of Buddha beads. ¡°The Khan used it. There¡¯s divine power in it,¡± imed Shangguan Fei.


    Beside Shangguan Fei stood Old Man Mu, who was watching on with disdain but in rare fashion did not interrupt him.


    Only the six guards were on sentry duty, and most of them had been permitted by the Dragon King to attend the Tournament of the Royal Court. There were many small-scale kung fupetitions, at which they could rx or perhaps even win some drinking money.


    Chu Nanping was standing beside the Dragon King. With his head lowered, he seemed lost in his own thoughts and wasn¡¯t as vignt as usual.


    Fang Wenshi was leading a horse and two guards outside the camp.


    Across the road, the muchrger Golden Roc Castle camp appeared much quieter. It seemed that everyone was out searching for fun except for a few bored sabermen.


    Unknowingly, Gu Shenwei was impressed with this ordinary scene and couldn¡¯t forget it for a long time. Whenever he reminisced back to this sight afterward, he felt that it was particrly unreal.


    It was like the impressive calm before the storm.


    Gu Shenwei waved to Shangguan Fei.


    ¡°What can I do for you, Dragon King?¡± asked Shangguan Fei cheerfully.


    ¡°Well, go over to the other side.¡±


    Shangguan Fei nced back, ¡°Ah? What am I supposed to do there? Nobody¡¯s there.¡±


    ¡°Send Zhang Ji a bottle of good wine. You must hand it to him yourself and not let anyone else do it for you.¡±


    ¡°Okay, but I think Zhang Ji is also watching the tournament right now.¡±


    ¡°Then wait till he returns. Anyway, you have to give the wine to him yourself.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± Shangguan Fei agreed hesitantly and didn¡¯t understand the Dragon King¡¯s intentions.


    Old Man Mu hade along uninvited, and he couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°Idiot, the Dragon King suspects that this guy surnamed Zhang has fled and is letting you take advantage of the pretense of delivering wine to confirm it.¡±


    Shangguan Fei suddenly came to understand and patted his forehead. ¡°Right, I¡¯m really stupid. I drank too muchst night and haven¡¯t sobered up yet.¡±


    There was no risk in seeking information so Shangguan Fei was relieved. It wasn¡¯t easy to get such an easy task from the Dragon King, so he solemnly pledged, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Dragon King. I will find out Zhang Ji¡¯s whereabouts for sure.¡±


    Shangguan Fei turned to fetch the wine. Old Man Mu curled his mouth, ¡°Inexperienced kid, what¡¯s the big deal about the Khan? He¡¯s just a dying old man. Look at him, he will probably brag about his heroic deeds after he goes into Golden Roc Castle¡¯s camp and forget about his business of the Dragon King. I will go supervise him.¡±


    Without waiting for the Dragon King¡¯s permission, Old Man Mu had already rushed at Shangguan Fei. This was the tool he had found first and he would not let another old man take it away.


    Gu Shenwei saw two female officers of the Land of Fragrance meet with Fang Wenshi at the camp gate, exchange a few words, and then anxiously walk to him. ¡°Where¡¯s Tie Linglong?¡± He suddenly asked.


    Chu Nanping looked up nkly, ¡°She¡¯s gone.¡±


    ¡°Where did she go?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Get her back, and if she¡¯s disobedient, tie her up and bring her to me.¡±


    Chu Nanping was stunned at first then showed a look of gratitude, which was already a rare emotional outpouring for him. ¡°Hmm.¡± He agreed and set off at once.


    The two female officers came to the Dragon King and said, ¡°Dragon King, there¡¯s something strange¡­ Red Bat is also missing.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Red Bat often runs back and forth between the east and west camps but she didn¡¯t return after leaving the camp yesterday. We thought that she had stayed herest night, but we realized that couldn¡¯t be right after a second thought. The Dragon King had followed the orders to enter the pce, so why would she stay here?¡±


    What they said sounded a bit ambiguous, but Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t care. He thought for a while and said, ¡°I know where she is. Don¡¯t worry. She¡¯s not in danger.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s calmness andfort dispelled most of the two female officers¡¯ worries. Their brows stretched out but they were not entirely reassured. One of them asked, ¡°Dragon King, is the disappearance of Red Bat rted to the instructor? Could it be that she found some clues?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible. I¡¯ll get them back as soon as I can.¡±


    The two still had a lot of questions, but they believed the Dragon King and therefore, didn¡¯t ask more.


    ¡°Is Shangguan Yun still there?¡±


    Shangguan Yun had volunteered as a hostage and remained in the camp of the Land of Fragrance.


    ¡°Yes, he is behaving well.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go and see him.¡±


    Shangguan Yun seemed to be quite satisfied with the living environment. The tent was not big and the decoration was somewhat feminine but he calmly epted it all. ¡°Sister Ru trained these female soldiers well. I really can¡¯t believe that she had such an ability.¡±


    ¡°I want to talk about the future of Golden Roc Castle.¡± Gu Shenwei went straight to the point.


    ¡°The future of Golden Roc Castle?¡± Shangguan Yun¡¯s smile didn¡¯t change at all. ¡°The Unique King will die naturally and I¡¯ll inherit the throne. By then, the title will probably have been recognized by the Nond and the Central ins. That¡¯s it. As for any greater ambitions, I¡¯ll leave it to my children and grandchildren to consider.¡±


    ¡°What a coincidence. My future is almost the same as that of Golden Roc Castle; it¡¯s just that there¡¯s no such title as ¡®Unique King¡¯ in mine.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, it seems that only one of the two futures can be realized.¡±


    ¡°Is the bastard of King Dari satisfied with you?¡±


    Shangguan Yun¡¯s expression suddenly changed for an instant but returned to normal in the next. ¡°The Dragon King is really clever. I haven¡¯t seen him yet.¡±


    ¡°Zhang Ji will help you gain his favor.¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± Shangguan Yun leaned on the rolled up quilts and put his hands behind his head, revealing anguid look. ¡°I¡¯d like to just sit back and have the others find a way out.¡±


    ¡°And you also like others¡¯ protection. Tell me, who are you hiding from?¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t the Dragon King know?¡± Shangguan Yun pretended to be surprised. ¡°I already told you at the Heaven¡¯s Pass.¡±


    It was Lotus. Zhang Ji had asked Lotus to stop spying on Shangguan Yun at that party.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s spection was finally confirmed.


    ¡°Lotus is too vindictive, I really regret offending her at that time, and I regret even more not killing her. Only the Dragon King, hehe, only the Dragon King could possibly be forgiven after offending her, right? So I have to hide in your ce for a while.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had finished all his questions. ¡®It¡¯s not certain yet who will be the one to be spared,¡¯ he thought.

 Chapter 632 - War Preparation

    Chapter 632: War Preparation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The war games had always been the climax of the annual Tournament of the Royal Court, and especially so when the war between the Central ins and Nond was about to start. But this year¡¯s war games were extremely disappointing.


    The kings seemed to have little enthusiasm, and their men were also in low spirits, as represented by their humble behavior on the court. The officials who were responsible for judging the oue were struggling to find reasons to praise the teams.


    In the end, King Shengri¡¯s army, which had been at the bottom of the list for more than a decade, had the fewest number of soldiers fall off of their horses as they charged and thus won the race.


    There were very few cheers from the audience. Most people had left before the game was over.


    The Dragon King¡¯s guards, who had gone to the tournament, however, returned with fruitful results. Most of the kung fu experts of the Central ins and the Western Regions had been expelled. The Nond people, though full of vim and vigor on horseback, were poor at fist and saber techniques on the ground. The swordsmen of Big Snow Mountain had easily won all kinds ofpetitions and brought back many horses and cattle, some of which were sold on the spot and changed into gold and silver.


    Gu Shenwei divided the guards into two groups, appointed captains, and ordered them to take turns to be on duty tonight. Although he did not exin, the fifty or so swordsmen understood that the battle was about to begin.


    The guards remained undaunted even in a foreign country. They drew their grandswords and honed them carefully.


    Shangguan Fei and Old Man Mu brought back the news that Zhang Ji had left the Royal Court with only three killers and that no one knew where he had gone. Gu Shenwei already knew this so he didn¡¯t inquire any more into it.


    Fang Wenshi returned thetest and it was already dark when he came to see the Dragon King. As soon as he entered the tent, he cried out, ¡°This is not good! This is not good!¡±


    ¡°Which lord is going to make a move first?¡±


    ¡°All of them at the same time.¡± Fang Wenshi took out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead before continuing. ¡°Rumor has it that King Kuari and King Rizhu have agreed to fight to the death tonight and that the cavalry on both sides are ready. The officials are all panicking and looking for an excuse to move out of the Royal Court temporarily but they can¡¯t do so openly. They can only sneak away, and several of them want to stay in our camp. Dragon King¡­¡±


    Liman and Wild Horse came inside uninvited before Fang Wenshi could finish talking.


    Although Liman was Prince Duodun¡¯s good friend, he remained ostensibly loyal to King Rizhu. With a full military uniform and a serious look, he nodded to the Dragon King and said with a businesslike tone, ¡°King Rizhu has ordered the whole army to be on guard, and the lord wants to know if the Dragon King would like to be the vanguard.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯d like to.¡±


    ¡°Tonight at the third night watch period, the Dragon King and Wild Horse will go to assassinate King Kuari. My own men will join with the Dragon King¡¯s guards to storm into the camp of Golden Roc Castle and wipe them all out.¡±


    ¡°Great.¡±


    Liman was a bit surprised that the Dragon King would agree so readily. Fang Wenshi, who was even more surprised, interrupted. ¡°The Khan¡¯s side ¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the Khan. He will support the winner of tonight, and the victory will surely belong to King Rizhu,¡± Liman said with certainty.


    ¡°Really?¡± Fang Wenshi asked in a low voice.


    ¡°My lord has won the support of four kings and another three kings who are remaining neutral have already withdrawn from the Royal Court with their soldiers. King Kuari is a loner except for King Riyao who¡¯s dead set on following him. So, who do you think will win?¡±


    ¡°King Rizhu will win.¡± Gu Shenwei answered for Fang Wenshi before he gave an order. ¡°Counselor Fang doesn¡¯t know kung fu, so it¡¯s better for him to hide in the camp on the west for a while.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Fang Wenshi still wanted to say something but immediately changed his mind when he saw the Dragon King¡¯s stern look, and acquiesced without a struggle. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get you some guards.¡±


    Gu Shenwei walked out, and Fang Wenshi followed closely behind. Liman and Wild Horse followed them to the door, their eyes on the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei assigned five guards to escort Fang Wenshi, saying, ¡°Tell the female soldiers to stay alert and to not panic. No matter what happens outside, they must keep the camp under a strict guard. Do not let anyone go out and do not allow anyone toe in.¡±


    Fang Wenshi tacitly nodded.


    Liman had really brought a group of about three hundred people with him, who were not Nond Cavalry. Instead of being equipped with bow and arrows, they were armed with different types of sabers and swords. Part of them crowded into the Dragon Army while the rest stopped outside the camp in a formation that seemed to surround Golden Roc Castle¡¯s camp on the opposite side.


    Most of the kung fu practitioners of the Central ins and the Western Regions had been banished. No one knew where these people hade from but Gu Shenwei felt a strong sense of banditry from them.


    All of the guards walked out of their tents to guard the Dragon King¡¯s tent while keeping a watchful eye on the intruders. It was not until the Dragon King nodded to them that they moved their hands away from their sword hilts.


    The camp of Golden Roc Castle appeared to be even quieter than the day time, but Gu Shenwei knew that it was because the killers were preparing for battle.


    In the midst of the tension, only Old Man Mu looked rxed and carefree. He looked around and walked to the Dragon King, asking loudly, ¡°So we are going to have a fight? Dragon King, how many people can I kill tonight?¡±


    ¡°None.¡±


    ¡°Ah? I was hoping that I could show my capabilities and make a big contribution for the Dragon King.


    ¡°Your mission is to protect General Liman.¡±


    Old Man Mu nced at Liman in armor and coldly said, ¡°I? Protect him? Will King Rizhu be happy?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need his protection,¡± answered Liman unyieldingly. Old Man Mu was the enemy of King Rizhu, and naturally the enemy of the whole Naihang Tribe.


    Without giving either of the two a choice, Gu Shenwei sternly said, ¡°This is my order. Keep General Liman safe and sound or I¡¯ll drive you out of the Dragon Army.¡±


    Old Man Mu jumped up, and eximed, ¡°You¡¯re not being serious, are you?¡± Then he put on a ttering smile. ¡°Please rest assured, Dragon King. He¡¯ll definitely be unscathed with me around.¡±


    Liman, who originally wanted to refuse, was also affected by the Dragon King¡¯s sharp tone. He opened and closed his mouth several times but didn¡¯t utter a sound. He secretly made up his mind that he would never ept any protection from Old Man Mu.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s excitement was long gone. As he followed behind Old Man Mu, he seemed to want to say something but stopped on second thought, flinching and cowering.


    Looking at him, Gu Shenwei¡¯s tone was sterner. ¡°Shangguan Fei, tonight¡¯s mission is to attack the Golden Roc Castle¡¯s camp. Can you do it? If you dare not go, then hide in the women¡¯s camp.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I can,¡± Shangguan Fei hastily replied. Feeling that his voice was a bit shaky, he straightened up and added, ¡°Dragon King, please give me a number. I¡¯ll ask for punishment if I can¡¯t make it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei ignored him. ¡°Old Man Mu, I¡¯ll give you another task. Keep an eye on Shangguan Fei for me. If he¡¯s double-minded or hesitant, he¡¯ll be the only one you can kill tonight.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± Old Man Mu readily agreed and patted the dumbfounded Shangguan Fei on the legs twice. ¡°If you really want to please me and make me happy, just show some disloyalty so that I can kill you.¡±


    Shangguan Fei felt both aggrieved and perplexed. ¡°Dragon King, you still don¡¯t believe me after I¡¯ve done so much¡­¡±


    ¡°All the things you¡¯ve done have nothing to do with Golden Roc Castle. I can¡¯t trust you unless you can prove that you¡¯vepletely broken ties with Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    Shangguan Fei hung his head in dismay, wanting to argue but not daring to open his mouth.


    The Dragon King was bing harsher. He ordered the guards to follow Liman¡¯s orders before he turned to Liman and asked, ¡°Has General Liman already made a detailed n for the attack?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Liman was a little flustered as if the questioner was King Rizhu, and he was not well prepared.


    The Dragon King appeared quite different from before when he behaved as if he were faced with a formidable enemy. Liman was unconsciously influenced. He had been ordered to control the guards of the Dragon King but he was now more like a subordinate under themand of the Dragon King.


    ¡°Call all the chieftains over. I¡¯d like to hear your n.¡±


    Wild Horse nced at Liman and motioned him for not to fall into the trap, but Liman had decided to not confront the Dragon King.


    The attack n was drawn up in great detail. The three hundred people were divided into ten teams with ten chieftains, and each had their own responsibilities. Gu Shenwei made many specific suggestions, especially reminding them to pay attention to the killer¡¯s habits, always beware of their nks, and to always act ruthlessly.


    Wild Horse had been standing in the doorway and watching outside while listening to the Dragon King¡¯s instructions. He had to admit that there was no subtle plot, so he nodded to Liman.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go now.¡± Gu Shenwei gave orders to Wild Horse atst.


    There was still some time to go before the third night watch period, but since it was an assassination, they had to prepare thoroughly in advance. After all, it would be doubly difficult to sneak into the camp of King Kuari tonight.


    ¡°Wild Horse has a clever assassination n.¡± Liman rushed to say, not wanting the Dragon King to think that they were merely taking a risk.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask him on the way.¡± Gu Shenwei left the tent first.


    Liman was relieved that things went more smoothly than he had expected. The Dragon King was really somebody and if Prince Duodun could win him over, he would be a great aid.


    As the night wore on, the Royal Court became strangely quiet. The ordinary people did not know of theing riots, and the officials and nobles who had premonitions waited patiently as the victor of tonight would still need their support regardless of who it was.


    Fang Wenshi had ridden away at top speed. He had understood the hidden meaning of the Dragon King back in the camp and was even surer after thinking it through during his ride.


    ¡°There¡¯s probably a surprise attack tonight.¡±


    The female officers appeared quite calm. Upon hearing the counselor¡¯s reminder, one person immediately went to order the guards to improve their vignce while the other left to inquire more details.


    ¡°There¡¯s going to be a war in the Royal Court tonight, and the Dragon King thinks that Golden Roc Castle will probablye to snatch Shangguan Yun away.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t Shangguan Yun staying here voluntarily?¡± The female officer was a bit surprised.


    ¡°That was then and this is now. Anyways, tie him up as hard as you can and send more people to keep an eye on him. We should work hard and not rest during the evening to prepare for the attack.¡±


    ¡°Is this what the Dragon King¡¯s meaning is?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King gave the order himself.¡± Fang Wenshi was full of confidence in this. The Dragon King had made it very clear to ¡®not let anyone out¡¯. As for the word ¡®anyone¡¯ in the phrase, the counselor also understood that it meant people of their own side could enter.


    The camp of the Land of Fragrance quickly entered a state ofbat readiness.


    In the Dragon Army camp, Old Man Mu also believed that he had figured out what the Dragon King really meant, so he walked towards Liman with his hands behind his back and a smile on his face.


    Liman was staring at the Golden Roc Castle camp across the road. Although he was not part of the main fighting force tonight, the thought of facing a group of strange killers still made him a little nervous. ording to King Rizhu¡¯s n, he would order the Dragon King¡¯s guards to rush in first and wait until the two sides had worn each other out. Then he would send the three hundred people he had brought here to clean up the mess.


    Although he supported Prince Duodun who was far away in the Western Regions, he would never openly break with the lord of his own tribe.


    Liman barely noticed Old Man Mu. Seeing that he was waving his hand under his nose, Liman couldn¡¯t help but cast a look of disgust.


    Old Man Mu continued waving his hand, and Liman reluctantly bent down.


    ¡°The Dragon King asked me to keep you safe,¡± whispered Old Man Mu.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need ¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu interrupted Liman and said, ¡°But I don¡¯t think it¡¯s safe here, so I¡¯d better take you somewhere else to hide for a while.¡±


    ¡°You ¡­¡± Liman could barely spit out a word in anger before he found that it was hard to breathe and the rest of the words got stuck in his throat.


    Almost at the same time, Gu Shenwei and Wild Horse approached King Kuari¡¯s Office. Wild Horse looked at the Dragon King, and his eyes were obviously asking, ¡°When are you going to show your true colors?¡±


    To his amazement, the true colors revealed by the Dragon King were not what he had expected at all.


    ¡°You and I are going to assassinate the Khan,¡± replied Gu Shenwei in a low voice.

 Chapter 633 - Game

    Chapter 633: Game


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Five men sat in the same tent and nkly stared at one another in silence, each with their own thoughts.


    Shangguan Yun was bound with ropes, and his ankles were chained. Even then, he was still smiling and the first to break the silence. ¡°With four experts watching me, there¡¯s no need to tie me up like this, is there?¡±


    Fang Wenshi appeared a bit more nervous than the others. He carefully listened to the sounds outside and jerked up at the slightest noise. ¡°I¡¯m not a kung fu expert. I actually think it¡¯s not tight enough.¡±


    Old Man Mu was the calmest among the five. He took the opportunity to say, ¡°You must be feeling ufortable?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Shangguan Yun smiled bitterly.


    ¡°Why not let me retie it? I¡¯ll make youfortable ¡ª no, I¡¯ll make you feel like you¡¯re floating in the air.¡±


    Old Man Mu rubbed his hands while looking up and down. Shangguan Yun felt a chill run down his spine, so he shook his head while maintaining his smile. ¡°Thank you for your kindness, but I¡¯m not qualified to enjoy Old Man Mu¡¯s unique skills.¡± Then he turned to his younger brother and looked at him for a while before saying, ¡°I don¡¯t know if I remember clearly, but I seem to have saved you once earlier.¡±


    ¡°You, you were trying to use me,¡± Shangguan Fei refuted, red-faced. Thest thing he wanted to do right now was talk to his own brother.


    ¡°Right. ¡®Using¡¯ you to pass on a message to the Dragon King; you really are useful.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s face turned even redder and he suddenly saw Old Man Mu shoot him a meaningful look, reminding him to stop being so soft-hearted when he was still being tested by the Dragon King. Old Man Mu was a man who yed fast and loose. He might be teaching kung fu with great enthusiasm at one moment and then kill without blinking an eye the next moment. Shangguan Fei would be better off not offering him an excuse. ¡°Shangguan Yun, save it. No one here will sympathize with you, not to mention letting you go. You¡¯ve thrown yourself into a trap and can¡¯t me others.¡±


    Shangguan Yun didn¡¯t say anything. It was actually Old Man Mu who med Shangguan Fei. ¡°Shangguan Fei, do not overact too much. You two are brothers. It¡¯s actually understandable to show some slight affections.¡±


    Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t dare to argue, and he knew that he wasn¡¯t Old Man Mu¡¯s match if he argued. So he just kept his head down without looking at anyone.


    Old Man Mu was about to continue nagging at him when Shangguan Yun changed the topic in time and saved his younger brother from embarrassment. ¡°Your Excellency must be Liman, the son of General Zhesu under King Rizhu?¡±


    Liman wasn¡¯t tied up but he appeared much angrier than Shangguan Yun, making a sound with his nose. No one knew it was a ¡®hum¡¯ or a ¡®hmm.¡¯


    ¡°Oh, so you were also caught and brought here. Did the Dragon King break his alliance with King Rizhu? Tsk, life is really unpredictable, but the Dragon King is even more unpredictable.¡±


    ¡°You seem quite talkative. Do you want to mess with me?¡± Old Man Mu grabbed a piece of rope as he asked.


    ¡°How could I have the guts?¡± Shangguan Yun appropriately showed some surprise. ¡°Before I came here, the Unique King reminded me that the Dragon King is nothing to be afraid of, and that Old Man Mu was the one I should pay attention to, as he has the best kung fu skills and a resourcefulness rarely seen in the world.¡±


    ¡°The Unique King really said that my kung fu is the best in the world?¡± Old Man Mu knew it was impossible but he still asked with his face beaming full of joy.


    ¡°Why would I lie to you?¡± Shangguan Yun made it sound more and more like a true story. ¡°The Unique King also said that it was really a great fortune of Golden Roc Castle and the people of the world that Old Man Mu doesn¡¯t intend on participating in the fight for hegemony.¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s smile grew bigger and his eyes almost disappeared amongst the wrinkles. He got up and walked to Shangguan Yun, saying, ¡°The elder brother is really a talker and the younger brother is as stupid as a turd.¡± As he finished, he swung his arm and tried to p Shangguan Yun¡¯s face with force.


    Shangguan Yun managed to dodge the sneak attack even though he could only move his head. Old Man Mu looked at his empty palm in amazement as he eximed, ¡°You dare dodge?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a coincidence. There was a bug on my neck.¡± Shangguan Yun behaved as humbly as a young man facing his father or teacher.


    Old Man Mu did not care. He raised his hand to p again when all of a sudden a great noise came from outside. It sounded like thousands of troops and horses were galloping over, and the ground was trembling from the sound of the horses¡¯ hooves.


    Although they could not see anything, all of them still looked at the door. Old Man Mu¡¯s hand froze in the air, forgetting to hit Shangguan Yun.


    The noise grew louder and louder. Fang Wenshi and Shangguan Fei¡¯s expression changed, and the two of them stood up at the same time when the curtain was lifted.


    The one who came in was a female officer. ¡°King Rizhu¡¯s cavalry just passed by the gate of the camp.¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t harass the camp, did they?¡± asked Fang Wenshi nervously.


    ¡°No.¡±


    Old Man Mu couldn¡¯t refrain himself from interrupting. In order to express his emotions, he even lowered his arm in the air. ¡°Don¡¯t be careless. A thousand female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance are here; what man wouldn¡¯t covet such a ce? When the kings finish fighting, they will probably send you to their men as trophies.¡±


    The female officer¡¯s expression changed, then she straightened up and said loudly, ¡°We have bows and arrows in our hands. We are not war trophies.¡±


    ¡°Nobody wants to be a trophy.¡± Old Man Mu spread out his hands. ¡°We¡¯re all forced to be one.¡±


    Fang Wenshi sternly rebuked, ¡°No more nonsense. This is a war between the lords of the Nond, so what does it have to do with the Land of Fragrance? The Dragon King will act ordingly, and no matter who wins, they have to treat the Dragon Army well.¡±


    Old Man Mu pointed at Fang Wenshi with an expression that seemed as if he had caught a thief red-handed. ¡°Look, this white, fat man is interested in you and in trying to please you. Be careful, as I heard that over a dozen pregnant women are offering a reward in return for him.¡±


    The female officer grunted, ¡°Without the instructor watching you, you are more annoying than before.¡± And she just walked away after she finished talking.


    Old Man Mu looked surprised. ¡°Is she talking about me? I said that with the best of intentions, unlike this white fatty who is full of lecherous ideas.¡±


    Fang Wenshi hadn¡¯t intended to bicker with Old Man Mu, but he couldn¡¯t bear it anymore. ¡°This is all your fault. Why didn¡¯t you just bring the guards of the Dragon King here? Why did you kidnap King Rizhu¡¯s man? It¡¯s all your fault if wend in trouble.¡±


    ¡°Huh, what a wonderful foresight, Counselor Fang. Just me it all on me if ¡®trouble¡¯ reallyes to the door. Maybe they¡¯ll give you a few taels of silver as a reward.¡±


    The two glowered at each other, one couldn¡¯t fight while the other didn¡¯t dare to fight, both wanting to defeat the other with their eyes.


    Shangguan Yun mediated, saying, ¡°Well well, why not meet each other halfway? We should cherish our fate of staying in one tent. How about this? Let¡¯s y a game so as to reduce the tension and divert ourselves from boredom.¡±


    Old Man Mu was still staring at Fang Wenshi but he couldn¡¯t suppress his curiosity and asked, ¡°What game?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, it¡¯s very simple. Let¡¯s guess which side the Dragon King will be on tomorrow morning. King Rizhu? King Kuari? Or another king?¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that the Dragon King is double-faced?¡± Fang Wenshi was ready to stand firm in defending the reputation of the Dragon King.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a game. Can¡¯t we just guess at who¡¯s going to win the Dragon King¡¯s support?¡±


    Fang Wenshi wasn¡¯t in the mood to y any games but Old Man Mu was very excited. He rubbed his hands as if he were holding dice in his palms, saying, ¡°Who¡¯s first?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t have you making unverified guesses about the Dragon King.¡± Fang Wenshi still thought that this game was disrespectful to the Dragon King.


    Old Man Mu pointed to Fang Wenshi, dering, ¡°You go first.¡±


    ¡°I said ¡­¡±


    ¡°Right, you said that we couldn¡¯t make unverified guesses, so make some ¡®verified¡¯ guesses. You are the counselor and you know the Dragon King best, unless ¡­ heh heh ¡­ The Dragon King doesn¡¯t trust you and you don¡¯t know anything, so you dare not y this game.¡±


    Fang Wenshi opened his mouth, about to say something but only snorted in the end, showing that he disdained such usations.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go first.¡± Liman in the corner was actually the first to join the game, his face still livid. ¡°The Dragon King will definitely join King Rizhu¡¯s side. He wille to apologize to me in person tomorrow morning and punish you for what you¡¯ve all done. Especially you, Old Man Mu.¡±


    Old Man Mu did not care at all. Although this was a game put forward by Shangguan Yun, he had appointed himself as the arbitrator. ¡°This is not enough. You have to give me some reasons.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious? The two kings will fight and the winner will be the real lord. The Dragon King will naturally follow whomever controls the Royal Court.¡±


    ¡°Well, that makes sense, but it¡¯s still a bit too short-sighted. Shangguan Fei, it¡¯s your turn.¡±


    ¡°Ahh?¡± Shangguan Fei raised his head, revealing that the blush on his face had not gone away. ¡°I, I have no idea about that. I¡¯ll follow the Dragon King wherever he goes.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t try to be opportunistic. You are a bit stupid but you are not aplete fool. How do you have no idea? Come on, don¡¯t make me force you.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was ¡®forced¡¯ and became helpless, so he thought for a while before saying, ¡°Neither King Kuari nor King Rizhu can obtain the Dragon King¡¯s support.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± The other three didn¡¯t care much, and only Old Man Mu seriously asked to propel the game along.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s just my feeling. I feel that these two kings have lost the favor of the Khan. The Khan¡¯s consent for their fight in the Royal Court is not so much an indulgence as an instigation. The Khan will solve everything himself when the two are worn out.¡±


    Hearing this, Liman was anxious and doubtful while Shangguan Yun began to look at his younger brother with meaningful eyes. Even Fang Wenshi turned to Shangguan Fei and said, ¡°You have a lot of confidence in the Khan.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s just fallen in love with the Khan and this is his audition to be a concubine,¡± said Old Man Mu in a knowing tone.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s face, which had just returned to normal, turned red again. ¡°I¡­ didn¡¯t. It¡¯s obvious. The fact that the Khan dealt with the sabermen of the Central ins and the Western Regions himself is already a warning. The wise kings have all hidden their capacities and are biding their time. King Kuari and King Rizhu must have lost their minds to start a decisive battle at this time.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you know nothing,¡± Liman refuted. ¡°My lord hasn¡¯t lost his mind, and neither has King Kuari. No matter who wins, they¡¯ll have their own way of dealing with the Khan.¡±


    Old Man Mu liked arguing so he immediately chipped in. ¡°Assassination, what a simple move.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was by no means a ¡®fool¡¯ as referred to by Old Man Mu. He actually had lots of thoughts in his mind. ¡°It¡¯s still about fabricating a charge against others. If King Rizhu wins, the murderer will be Golden Roc Castle and if King Kuari wins, it will fall on the Dragon King. The two kings have tried every means to buy over the forces of the Western Regions just for this day, haven¡¯t they?¡±


    Old Man Mu pped his hands and praised, ¡°Little Feifei said the truth. See, you are getting wiser by staying with me.¡±


    Liman¡¯s facial color vacited between red and purple. He was not a confidant of King Rizhu, but he had a general guess about his lord¡¯s ns, and it was almost the same as what Shangguan Fei had just said.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t told us which side the Dragon King will take.¡± Old Man Mu hadn¡¯t forgotten the rules of the game.


    ¡°The Khan. The Dragon King will definitely choose the real master of the prairie.¡± Shangguan Fei said confidently.


    Old Man Mu looked at Fang Wenshi, ¡°So, feeling itchy? Just say something to prove that you¡¯re the Dragon King¡¯s most trusted counselor.¡±


    Fang Wenshi did have an urge to express his opinion. He hummed several times before saying, ¡°The Dragon King will never ept being controlled by others. The stronger the rule of the Khan, the less chance there is of obtaining the Dragon King¡¯s loyalty.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that the Dragon King wants to seize the throne himself? That¡¯s impossible; the people of Nond won¡¯t acknowledge him.¡± Old Man Mu coaxed the counselor to continue talking.


    Fang Wenshi knew that the other side was goading him to talk more but he couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if I tell you because everything will be clear tomorrow morning. The Dragon King will ally with the Second Consort. She¡¯s a woman, and thus easier to control. The Dragon King will also receive the maximal benefit through her.¡±


    Fang Wenshi held the bottom line and didn¡¯t mention Duodun and Luoluo.


    ¡°Hmm, the Dragon King is good at dealing with women.¡± Old Man Mu admiringly nodded. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that his pale face is quite popr with women.¡±


    Without waiting for Fang Wenshi to reprimand him, Old Man Mu had already turned to Shangguan Yun. ¡°This is your game, and now it¡¯s your turn to talk.¡±


    Shangguan Yun coughed and moved a bit to make himself morefortable. ¡°Mr. Fang is indeed the Dragon King¡¯s most trusted counselor, but you¡¯ve hidden something. Let me point it out. What¡¯s on the Dragon King¡¯s mind is a prince in the Western Regions, a prince who¡¯ll be very important in the future. But he¡¯s very anxious because he fears that the prince won¡¯t be able to escape from the narrow saber of the golden roc killers.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was shocked and blurted out, ¡°So you know!¡±


    Shangguan Yun smiled and nodded.


    Shangguan Fei already liked the game so he interrupted, ¡°Do not underestimate the Dragon King, Third Brother. You are forgetting about a person, Long Fanyun, and a horse, the me Foal. Golden Roc Castle dares not make a move if the Royal Court is not in chaos. If it really does happen, the news can¡¯t outrun Brother Long, who has already been away for several days.


    Shangguan Yun¡¯s smile froze. ¡°Well, if so, then there will be another tough battle.¡±


    The Dragon King did everything for a purpose. The fact that Long Fanyun had ridden the me Foal to flee from the field was not just to avoid King Rizhu. ¡°So Golden Roc Castle is nning to seek refuge with the Khan¡¯s grandson in the east? Changing three masters in less than a month, Golden Roc Castle is really hard working.¡±


    ¡°Like the Dragon King, Golden Roc Castle doesn¡¯t like to be controlled by others,¡± replied Shangguan Yun tly.


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t change the topic. I haven¡¯t said anything yet. As the wisest man, my guess is different from all of yours.¡±


    When the other four turned to look at him, Old Man Mu became reserved instead. He held his head high with his eyes closed as if he were possessed by an immortal. He finally opened his eyes after a while and said, ¡°You guys are too naive and were fooled by the Dragon King. Actually, he doesn¡¯t care about who will seize the throne at all. All he is thinking about is how to save the good girl and beat the bad girl.¡±

 Chapter 634 - Leader

    Chapter 634: Leader


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    There were many dangers hidden in the dark, and even the neers could feel the heavy killing aura emanating off of the pitch-ck tents.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to advance anymore. He didn¡¯t want to take any more risks no matter how precise Wild Horse¡¯s n was. Besides, the most important figure for tonight was not King Kuari at all.


    ¡°You and I are going to assassinate the Khan.¡±


    When Gu Shenwei said this, the two were about a quarter of a mile from King Kuari¡¯s Office. As experienced killers, they all knew that this was the boundary between safety and danger.


    Wild Horse¡¯s pupils constricted slowly, and his wide apart eyes seemed to miraculously move together to meet in the middle. He knew that the Dragon King could y tricks so he gripped his saber hilt with his only remaining hand.


    Without any gestures, he hadmunicated his stance that he did not agree.


    ¡°That¡¯s what King Rizhu meant,¡± said Gu Shenwei calmly, his hands away from the weapon by his waist.


    If Wild Horse could speak, he would tell Servant Huan that he didn¡¯t believe a word of it, but for now he just held onto his saber hilt.


    ¡°Call out your helpers and skip the meaningless ¡®test.¡¯ This¡¯ll save us a lot of time.¡±


    Wild Horse remained silent but his hand slowly moved away from the hilt. He bent his fingers and knocked three times on the scabbard, causing one long and two short sounds to ring out. This was his original n that had been bluntly pointed out by the Dragon King in advance.


    One of the tent¡¯s curtain was lifted but it was dark inside and nobody came out.


    Wild Horse took the lead, and Gu Shenwei followed behind. The two walked into the prearranged stronghold.


    It was a small adventure for Gu Shenwei, but he gave off quite the casual air after entering the tent. He even stayed within two steps of Wild Horse, at the center of the tent, and said, ¡°Rx, we¡¯re all in this together.¡±


    There were five other people hidden in the tent who were sitting in a circle and apart from each other. After a moment of silence, one of them lit up themp and adjusted the light to the minimum which only illuminated a very small area.


    This was enough for Gu Shenwei to immediately recognize that the man opposite him was Shangguan Nu, who had also been sent out by King Rizhu to help and supervise the Dragon King.


    The other three were sabermen that Gu Shenwei did not know, and thest person was one of King Kuari¡¯s close followers, whom he had some impression of. The man¡¯s name was Wei Chun and he had once epted Fang Wenshi¡¯s bribe and revealed some unimportant information. When Shangguan Nu took Luo Ningcha away, he was the one punished by his lord.


    Amongst the five men, Wei Chun appeared to be the most nervous as his body was trembling. King Kuari had always been cruel to his own men, and what Wei Chun had done was enough to cause him to be hacked into pieces.


    The three sabermen, like Wild Horse, all had their hands on the hilt of their saber and guarded against the Dragon King. Only Shangguan Nu¡¯s hands were on his knees. Obviously, he was the leader of this small group.


    ¡°It¡¯s time to reveal King Rizhu¡¯s real order.¡± Gu Shenwei held his hands in front of his chest to demonstrate that he was keeping them away from his saber and sword.


    Shangguan Nu seemed to have turned into a mute. Not long ago, he was the one who was waiting to be sliced up by the Dragon King, and now he had the power to decide the life and death of the other side. ¡®Life really is unpredictable,¡¯ he thought, and he suddenly felt that he had be the eighth young master of Golden Roc Castle again and the Dragon King was the panicked Servant Huan.


    This wonderful feeling vanished in a blink of the eye. He had very limited power in his hand and couldn¡¯t even make decisions of his own. Besides, the Dragon King showed no signs of panic.


    ¡°You know the lord¡¯s real order?¡± Shangguan Nu kept hisposure. He had lost his face twice in front of the Dragon King and hoped that he could regain some dignity by showing seriousness and indifference.


    Gu Shenwei did not know King Rizhu¡¯s ideas. He was just guessing and saying so based on what he saw. Since he already knew the skeleton and veins of the Royal Court, it became quite easy for him to add flesh and blood.


    ¡°We can act ording to King Rizhu¡¯s n by proving my loyalty first and then changing the assassination target, but not only is that a waste of time, it is also very risky. We all clearly know this Wei Chun is using the Battered-Body Trick and that he will lead us into a trap.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not¡­¡± Wei Chun bounced up and tried to defend himself. A saberman on the left leaned over and pulled him back to his seat, and scolded in a low voice, ¡°Shut up.¡±


    Shangguan Nu nced at Wild Horse who was also a former killer of Golden Roc Castle and hated the Dragon King even more than he did.


    Wild Horse was just a killer, and he didn¡¯t know whether King Rizhu had secret orders or not but he agreed with the Dragon King that Wei Chun was not reliable, so he stiffly nodded.


    Shangguan Nu¡¯s carefully designed scene had been ruined. The Dragon King had disclosed the secret one step before him which made him feel embarrassed. After vaciting between saving his face andpleting the task for a while, Shangguan Nu chose thetter. ¡°Kill him.¡±


    Wei Chun looked up at the Dragon King, feeling both excited and nervous. When he realized that there were sabers stabbing into his abdomen from each side, he actually did not feel the slightest pain. He wanted to beg for mercy and confess everything but when he opened his mouth, what poured out was only blood.


    ¡°King Kuari thought he was clever, but his tricks had long been discovered by our lord.¡± Shangguan Nu pushed off his knees and stood up. He paused a bit when saying ¡®our lord,¡¯ so he sounded a bit stiff. Obviously, he hadn¡¯t gotten used to it yet. What he said next, however, sounded more natural. ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡±


    Three sabers were drawn at the same time, and the three sabermen fell sideways before they realized what had happened, two of them still holding sabers stained with Wei Chun¡¯s blood.


    Shangguan Nu had to admit that only by working with his own killers could it be so perfect. The Dragon King and Wild Horse all understood what he meant and had acted without hesitation, not killing the wrong targets either.


    ¡°The people of Nond can¡¯t participate in the rest of the mission.¡± Shangguan Nu gave the simplest exnation.


    The three sabermen were all from the Nond and their task was to supervise the Dragon King. If anything unusual appeared, they would kill him. If they couldn¡¯t kill him, then they would sound an rm so that the Dragon King would be exposed to the enemy.


    What they didn¡¯t know was that if the Dragon King was trustworthy andmitted, they all had to die.


    The assassination of the Khan could never be mentioned in front of the ordinary people of Nond.


    The three killers who had betrayed Golden Roc Castle looked at each other, and their sabers did not yet sheath. This was a delicate moment when there were killers but no leader. It was like three strange wolves had identally met on the prairie and they had to quickly determine their ce in the pecking order through some sort of magical intuition.


    Shangguan Nu had a built-in advantage. He was the eighth young master and he had a secret order from King Rizhu, so he took it for granted that he would be the one in charge. But as soon as they killed the three sabermen, he knew that he was wrong. Not only did the Dragon King refused to acknowledge him as the lord, but even Wild Horse showed signs of eagerness to be the leader.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Shangguan Nu coughed and cleared his throat but was once again overtaken by the Dragon King.


    ¡°I¡¯ll strike thest blow. You two okay with that?¡± said Gu Shenwei who sheathed his saber first.


    Shangguan Nu found that if he did not fight for it, he would most likely be a follower than the leader, so he stressed, ¡°I have not yet revealed the secret order of King Rizhu.¡±


    ¡°Maybe King Rizhu didn¡¯t want you to say it at all.¡± Gu Shenwei stared at Shangguan Nu and said in a matter-of-factly tone, revealing a trace of usation.


    Shangguan Nu¡¯s suppressed resentment was suddenly stirred up. The contempt at the Heaven¡¯s Pass and the humiliation of Luo Ningcha all crowded into his mind. ¡°Do not think that you know everything.¡±


    ¡°This is why King Rizhu didn¡¯t give the task to you alone.¡± Gu Shenwei had ovee the psychological barrier of his old lord long time ago. In his eyes, the person standing in front of him was just a juvenile loser. ¡°You are not like a killer at all when you are impulsive.¡±


    Shangguan Nu shed with the narrow saber he had yet to put away even though he knew that it was a hopeless move; he just couldn¡¯t help it.


    The one who blocked the saber was Wild Horse. As soon as the two opened their mouths, he had decided to withdraw from the fight for leadership. And he finally chose themander of the assassination when Shangguan Nu angrily brandished his saber. Although he hated the Dragon King, following the other side was the only reasonable choice in the face of a risky mission.


    The eighth young master of Golden Roc Castle was indeed not like a real killer when he lost his cool.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t draw his saber and instead firmly gripped Shangguan Nu¡¯s right wrist. The ugly iron hook was right in front of his eyes but couldn¡¯t move forward at all.


    Shangguan Nu had hidden his ability to use the iron hook as a weapon. He had practiced for many days but still couldn¡¯t change the situation. The Dragon King¡¯s palm seemed harder and even colder than the iron hook. The frosty Qi entered his body and he began uncontrobly shivering, which made him feel extremely ashamed of himself.


    After struggling for a while in a futile attempt to shake off the Dragon King¡¯s grip, thest thing Shangguan Nu wanted to see happened, and the chill stoked his fear towards the Dragon King again. ¡°Let me go.¡±


    Gu Shenwei waited for a while before he let go, knowing that everything was fine. ¡°I have a n, and I need both of you to cooperate.¡±


    The chill inside Shangguan Nu slowly subsided, but his body shook more and more violently. When he finally managed to regain control over himself, he had lost all his chances and could only listen with his head bowed.


    Wild Horse had not yet fully epted the Dragon King¡¯s position as a leader and he still had a knot in his mind that he couldn¡¯t entrust his trust to the other side until he was free of it.


    ¡°You¡¯re worried I¡¯ll rat you out at thest minute?¡± Gu Shenwei guessed his thoughts.


    Wild Horse stiffly nodded.


    ¡°If that assassination had been sessful, would you have kept the secret and never betrayed me?¡±


    The n at that time had been to kill the twins and ce the me on another young master. Both Servant Huan and Wild Horse had secrets that they could use against each other but the animosity and hatred between them had never abated. It was only a matter of time before betrayal urred.


    Wild Horse had never asked himself that question but he knew the answer and he was sure that if Servant Huan hadn¡¯t gotten a head start, he would also have found a way to get rid of all the insiders afterward.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to believe me. I¡¯ll always strike first to gain the initiative. You should trust your saber.¡±


    Wild Horse cast his eyes down. Right. Even if the Dragon King was loyal and reliable, he still had to be on alert as it was one of the most basic rules of the killer. After all, he had been driven out of the castle because he had acted toote. The so-called ¡®betrayal¡¯ was just another means of killing.


    ¡°Everybody¡¯s head is the same, let¡¯s go kill someone.¡±


    The three of them left the tent with Gu Shenwei leading the way, Wild Horse following in the left rear and Shangguan Nu in the right rear. They temporarily put down the intrigue against each other, ready to carry out an assassination that was about to shock the whole world.


    With the crescent moon hanging over the western sky, the horsemen of King Kuari and King Rizhu started a decisive battle in the noble district of the Royal Court. Their cries spread far away, especially during the quiet midnight hours.


    Gu Shenwei pointed at the Flower Camp not far away and exined to his two temporary partners his n in a low voice. ¡°The person hiding here is very important in the eyes of the Khan, and she¡¯s also our only chance to sneak into the pce.¡±

 Chapter 635 - Palace

    Chapter 635: Pce


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The Second Consort was sitting alone in her tent. It waste at night but she was still dressed and felt sleepless. And every once in a while someone woulde in and report with news.


    The Royal Court was like a great pride of lions, in which the young lions were openly fighting to be the new king while the old king was showing signs of death but had not expired yet.


    The Second Consort clearly felt her inherent weakness as a woman at this moment. She had the ambition, the army, and even the supporters but she could only remain inactive. At such sensitive times, her intervention would only bring her disputes whether she won or lost.


    Like the pride, the male lionspeted for the throne while the lionesses looked on. They always had a way to control the new lion king but never interfered or choose the king.


    The Second Consort wished she could have a choice.


    A female soldier dressed in leather armor and a scarf walked in. ¡°The armies of King Rizhu and King Kuari have joined the battle. As you predicted, the other lords are so timid that they are all staying in the craftsman¡¯s area as onlookers.¡±


    ¡°This means that the two kings haven¡¯t finished fighting yet.¡±


    ¡°King Rizhu has many generals and ample soldiers and is sure to win.¡±


    The Second Consort smiled. The female soldier chose what she wanted to hear and didn¡¯t understand that what she badly needed right now was the truth. If King Rizhu was sure to win, then the other kings would not choose to simply look on. ¡°Is there anything unusual happening in the north?¡±


    ¡°Nothing unusual so far. The state of alertness in the pce was raised but there¡¯s no sign of cavalry being mobilized. The lords have all kept their promises and haven¡¯t transferred any soldiers to the north. The protection of the Flower Camp is even stricter than that of the pce, not even a fly could enter.¡±


    The Second Consort waved the female soldier away and continued to consider the various possible results of the current situation as well as the most advantageous countermeasures.


    ¡°She thought that the Second Consort wanted King Rizhu to win.¡± A voice came from behind.


    The Second Consort looked back and wasn¡¯t particrly surprised. She smiled instead, and replied, ¡°Even a fly could not enter but the Dragon King can. Is your kung fu too good or did my subordinates betray me?¡±


    ¡°Your subordinates don¡¯t think I¡¯m a threat, and it¡¯s in your best interest to have it so.¡±


    ¡°The first signs of betrayal are when the servants begin to think for their master and act on their own. Haha, why does that sound like something the Khan would say? s, I¡¯ve learned a lot from him.¡± The Second Consort shook her head. ¡°I knew I shouldn¡¯t have let my subordinates hang around the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance too much.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here to end what should have ended then.¡± Gu Shenwei revealed his purpose.


    The Second Consort turned around and looked at the young Dragon King. ¡°We haven¡¯t started yet. What¡¯s the so-called end of it?¡±


    ¡°Our alliance is already dead because of your lies, so it doesn¡¯t matter if it has really ¡®started¡¯ or not.¡±


    The Second Consort was neither angry nor ashamed of the usation. ¡°Yes, I sent Luo Ningcha to the Khan. It was an order I had to follow. I didn¡¯t tell the Dragon King because the Dragon King didn¡¯t seem interested in that woman.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just about her.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, the Dragon King is trying to trick me into confessing but I don¡¯t understand. Why not just say it? You can give me a cut if I don¡¯t tell the truth. The Royal Court is very lively tonight and I will not die alone anyway.¡±


    ¡°The Nond has been intercepting the messengers of the Dragon Army.¡±


    ¡°Believe it or not, but I¡¯ve never heard of such a thing and I don¡¯t know what intercepting a messenger would do.¡±


    ¡°Was it your idea to send Duodun to the Western Regions?¡±


    ¡°The old man told you? Yes, it was my idea. And it is also my credit that brought this son into the Khan¡¯s attention. No matter how that old man thinks or how he envies, I¡¯ll marry Duodun, as a result for all the years I¡¯ve served him and for all the suffering I¡¯ve endured.¡±


    The Second Consort put it bluntly with a firm expression as if those who opposed her would be her enemy. Then she softened her tone and continued, ¡°It¡¯s not bad for you and has no effect on our alliance. Once Duodun bes the Khan, you will be the king of the Western Regions. We can continue to join hands and wage a war with the Central ins. Weren¡¯t you a man of the Central ins before? You can be the emperor of the Central ins.¡±


    This scene was so far away that even the Second Consort felt it was too illusory, so her eyes lit up, hoping to strengthen her persuasion with an expression of excitement.


    Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t interested in it so he went straight to the next question, a question he was very concerned about. ¡°The Khan has arrested several people rted to me. I think that they are kept here.¡±


    ¡°Women?¡± The Second Consort¡¯s eyes became brighter. All of a sudden, this news seemed to be more important than the battle of the kings that was going on in the Royal Court.


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    ¡°I knew that the Dragon King was an affectionate man. That¡¯s why I chose to ally with you.¡± The Second Consort showed real excitement and even took a step towards the Dragon King, forgetting that the other side was a killer. ¡°I heard that you beat Golden Roc Castle with the help of the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance. Ever since then I thought that you were special. You trust women, and in particr, you trusted your enemy¡¯s daughter. You two fell in love, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not why I came to you.¡± Gu Shenwei poured cold water onto the Second Consort¡¯s fantasies with a cold tone. ¡°I need a reliable ally in the Nond, not a woman who cares more about love than strength.¡±


    The Second Consort put away her smile but her expression was still ambiguous. It was as if she had found something inmon with the Dragon King, and with that, the two had suddenlye to understand each other. ¡°I hope that I can help you, and I¡¯ll spare no effort to help you. Shangguan Ru has been missing for a long time but she¡¯s not in the Flower Camp. Indeed, hiding women in my ce would be the most convenient but you forget that the Khan is the most cunning fox on the prairie who has at least twenty or thirty caves, and each of them can hide over a dozen women. But you are right to ask me for help. No one knows the Khan better than I do. Give me a day, and I¡¯ll find them no matter how many there are.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t ask her for help but the Second Consort took everything upon herself. And then with a little discontent, she said, ¡°You know, you should have told me earlier. But you pretended you didn¡¯t care about Shangguan Ru, so I thought I was wrong in my previous guesses.¡±


    Gu Shenwei wanted to exin but changed his mind on second thought. It was better if the Second Consort retained her present idea and attitude, as it would only bring him benefits. ¡°I hope to hear the results before dawn.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the rush? What happened?¡± The Second Consort didn¡¯t understand why the Dragon King, who was cking in his handling of Shangguan Ru¡¯s disappearance, had suddenly be so impatient.


    ¡°The Khan is about to make a move.¡±


    Gu Shenwei lied, but the Second Consort was quite convinced, ¡°I¡¯ll try my best, so just wait here for my news.¡±


    ¡°No, I want you to find a way to get me into the pce right now.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do?¡± The Second Consort became alert at once as if her enthusiasm had never existed before this.


    ¡°The Khan invited me to see him tonight but he didn¡¯t leave me a way in.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like another one of that old fellow¡¯s tricks. But you have to understand that the Khan is very afraid of being controlled by others, and he would not spare me if he knew that I could take you into the pce.¡±


    ¡°He will not punish you. He has already arranged an ending for you.¡±


    ¡°Haha, the Khan is always the Khan. The whole prairie regards him as a god and he really thinks that he¡¯s a god that can treat everyone as a pawn and manipte them at will.¡±


    The Second Consort looked very contemptuous but it onlysted a short while before her expression turned somber. ¡°What did he say?¡±


    ¡°He said that you and Duodun were never meant to be together.¡±


    The Second Consort didn¡¯t continue asking questions. She kept silent for a moment and said, ¡°He¡¯s not always right. Well, I¡¯ll take you into the pce myself.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just me. There are two more of us.¡±


    ¡°I hope they do things as cleanly and swiftly as the Dragon King.¡±


    Firelight could be seen from the east and west side of the noble district, though it was beginning to weaken, and the cries of the battle were fading. ¡°The kings who are watching the battle are about to join in.¡± The Second Consort behaved as if she were talking to herself, but she was actually speaking to the Dragon King behind her.


    Gu Shenwei, Wild Horse, and Shangguan Nu were the Second Consort¡¯s guards at the moment. There were originally no men in the Flower Camp, the Second Consort had brought five hundred horsemen of her ownst night to guard at the outer periphery of the camp.


    They had failed to find that three killers had sneaked into the camp.


    The pce was more strictly guarded than usual. It was not even easy for the Second Consort to get in, but she used a very simple method of scolding and taking the lead to rush inside. ¡°No one can stop me from seeing the Khan,¡± she snapped.


    No one could stop her, and neither did anyone dare to touch her. The real obstacle was the countless tents. The Khan¡¯s living ce was constantly changing, which was very secretive especially whenmunicating with the gods or holding a secret ceremony.


    This was especially true tonight. The Second Consort had broken into severalmonly used bedchambers but couldn¡¯t even find a clue of the Khan¡¯s location and all she did was wake a few ve girls. The guards and eunuchs behind her begged her to not make trouble but they refused to help her.


    The Second Consort angrily left the pce while shouting, ¡°I have something very important to discuss with the Khan. Let¡¯s see how the Khan punishes you tomorrow.¡±


    The guards all heaved a sigh of relief, believing that they were definitely not the ones who would be punished tomorrow. No one had noticed that three guards had disappeared while the Second Consort was constantly entering and leaving the tents.


    The three killers would act on their own, which was the agreement they had reached before entering the Flower Camp. Since no one trusted the others, none of them were willing to expose their back to another in this dangerous ce, so the only choice left was to carry out their own ns independently.


    Gu Shenwei had solved one of the biggest difficulties of the assassination which was to bring them into the pce. Next, they had to rely on their own abilities to act.


    Shangguan Nu was the weakest in terms of martial arts skills but he wasn¡¯tcking in confidence at all. He believed that sabersmanship wasn¡¯t the most important in an assassination. This was from the experience he had umted as a young master, as he had participated in more missions than the other two. He was very experienced and knew how to make the best use of his advantages and lessen his disadvantages.


    Wild Horse had always been unwilling to submit to the Dragon King and he had a unique advantage as well. He had been in close contact with the masters around the Khan and had learned many secrets of the Khan from these people.


    It was hard to tell whether Gu Shenwei was confident or not, but he knew that the Khan was waiting for him and he also knew where to find the target. He had to find a ce to hide first, and he wouldn¡¯t act until the pce quieted down again.


    The tent where the Khan had received the Dragon King was empty, and there was no guard outside either. But he found a jar of wine in the middle of the tent.


    Gu Shenwei made a detour and went to the tent where the banquet had been held. There was also no guard there as if it were empty. But as soon as he entered, he knew that someone was standing in the dark.


    ¡°Please choose a name, Dragon King.¡± The cold voice was not the Khan¡¯s, but rather a woman¡¯s.

 Chapter 636 - Women

    Chapter 636: Women


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The torches around the tent instantly ignited like how the best killers sprang into action when their target was unprepared.


    The giant tent had beenpletely reconstructed, and there was no longer any trace of the banquet. The tent, which could hold hundreds of people, was empty. There was a newly-built tform in the innermost section of the tent which had five steps. Purple drapes hung from the ceiling, and there seemed to be arge bed hidden behind it.


    One of the close ve girls of the Khan was standing on the first step and coldly looking at the Dragon King.


    The torches were lit but the one who had kindled them remained unseen.


    Gu Shenwei slowly walked forward.


    The ve girl again asked, ¡°Please choose a name, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stopped when he was ten steps away. ¡°Please call the Khan out so that we can talk.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King should choose a name first,¡± insisted the ve girl.


    Gu Shenwei started moving forward again, which caused the ve girl to turn a little flustered. ¡°Please stop, Dragon King.¡±


    There was no response. The Dragon King had alreadye up to her. The ve girl suddenly tore off her loose clothes and waved her left hand across the air while revealing her breasts.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t care about either the visible or invisible weapons. He gently blew out, the invisible knockout powder flying back towards its owner and the visible breasts slowly falling.


    There was no pause in his steps.


    With a gentle tug, the drapery drooped down like quicksand. And for a moment, Gu Shenwei¡¯s right hand¡¯s yearning for the hilt reached its zenith as if danger were imminent.


    It was a false rm. The scene in front of him was frightening but not dangerous.


    There was indeed a bed behind the curtains. Although it was not asrge as one might imagine, it was wide enough for six or seven people to lie down side by side.


    Four nearly-naked ve girls sat on the bed with a yellow copper te in the middle. On top of the te was a slightly raised head with closed eyes and a nk open mouth.


    The ve girls looked at the Dragon King with blood on their mouths and faces.


    ¡°The Dragon King has not yet given the Khan a name,¡± said one of the ve girls. Then the four of them nced at the head on the te at the same time.


    Gu Shenwei also looked at the head. ¡°I don¡¯t think that he can hear me.¡±


    A ve girl raised her right hand and shook it over the head, replying, ¡°The soul has just arrived. He can hear everything in the tent.¡±


    ¡°His power is also not entirely lost. We swallowed it so now it is ours.¡±


    ¡°I can feel him struggling in my stomach, but this time he won¡¯t be able to torture us anymore.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had seen deaths far more terrible than this, but none of them had disturbed him in the same way as these ve girls¡¯ words. They spoke in a rx and casual manner as if what they had done was normal.


    Without speaking anymore, he looked across the bed, moved to the opposite side of the bed, lifted the bedclothes, and saw the mutted corpse. But there was no sign of the posthumous edicts.


    He was still a little toote.


    ¡°Where is she?¡± Gu Shenwei went off the stage and softly asked.


    The ve girls exchanged a nce and did nothing to stop him from beginning to end. ¡°She¡¯s waiting for us toplete the ritual and be one of the sisters.¡±


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t exactly describe what he was feeling. It was abination of resentment, sympathy and a little bit of anger. The five ve girls were descendants of the enemies of the Khan, who had been sent here to let him vent his desire and hatred. They had finally avenged themselves but still couldn¡¯t escape from their fate of being used.


    And this time they had been used more thoroughly and had lost almost all of their humanity.


    Gu Shenwei turned back and saw her.


    ¡°You won¡¯t choose a name after all.¡±


    Lotus appeared without a sound as usual.


    ¡°That¡¯s meaningless.¡± Gu Shenwei tried his best to feel her emotions, hoping to find something warm in them.


    But Lotus was like a statue made of metal which deflected all his probes. No one knew whether the inside of the shell was empty or full, cool or warm.


    ¡°Right, it¡¯s pointless. It¡¯s just a wishful thought of mine. Forget it.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    ¡°You knew it was me since long ago?¡±


    ¡°Not long ago. Shangguan Yun guessed that you had the ability to make big moves in the Royal Court, but he doesn¡¯t know much about you. I added a little spection myself.¡±


    ¡°That coward was quick to react. He thought it would be safe to hide in your ce, though I¡¯ll let him off for now. The funny thing is, he has been trying to buy me over and at one point he thought he had seeded.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing funny about that. A lot of people are trying to buy you over.¡±


    ¡°King Rizhu, King Kuari, King Shengri, and even your Queen Ju.¡±


    ¡°They are all foolish.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. If I really could be bought over, why I choose the second best? The Khan was one of the most powerful men in the world and was more generous than others. Compared to him, Golden Roc Castle and the kings are just inexperienced little kids.¡±


    ¡°Let me see. The Khan had already sent someone to observe the situation as early as the seaside slope battle and was ready to invite me to the Nond. In this case¡­ It was a year and a half ago while we were still in the Stone Kingdom that you had already decided to ept the bribe of the Khan.¡±


    Lotus revealed a faint smile and shook her head. ¡°You are mistaken. I didn¡¯t ept a bribe.¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked back at the head and the expressionless female ves on the bed and said, ¡°Excuse my foolishness. You decided to manipte the Khan a year and a half ago.¡±


    Lotus nodded. ¡°I sent several of my disciples here and thought that this would be a very difficult maneuver but it turned out to be easy. The Khan was infatuated with women. In order to keep himself as strong as a young man, he was willing to pay any price, even the price of his ¡®longevity.''¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of any female masters around the Khan.¡±


    Lotus smiled again. ¡°The killer likes the darkness and will walk in the shadows even at night. How can I let my people appear before the Khan? He¡¯s the Lord of the Prairie and also a master at bncing the powers of different forces. Even for the court jesters under him, he would make them envy each other andpete for his favor, never letting any of them alone win all his favor.¡±


    ¡°No wonder I haven¡¯t seen Han Fen before. She¡¯s been in the Nond this whole time.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Han Fen is very loyal and worthy of my trust. With her help, these five ve girls won the favor of the Khan.¡±


    Han Fen was skilled in a set of finger techniques called the Delightful Touches which could even fascinate Gu Shenwei for three days to the point that he was almost unable to extricate himself, let alone the Khan who was almost defenseless and had a strong lustful nature.


    Lotus raised her left hand. It was a simple gesture but appeared quite dignified as if she was already the owner of this ce.


    Han Fen walked in with a happy smile on her face. ¡°How are you, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m good; you are good. We are all good.¡±


    Han Fen nodded earnestly. Gu Shenwei found his sarcasm to be redundant. Han Fen always faithfully followed her orders and never thought about or tried to understand the oue. She had never meant to hide it. Whenever the Dragon King asked, she would tell the truth. It was just that Gu Shenwei had never thought that Han Fen, who was as simple as a baby, had taken on such an important task.


    The four ve girls on the bed knelt to Han Fen instead of Lotus, their eyes filled with unspeakable reverence as if they were about to be moved to tears by simply looking at her.


    Gu Shenwei had taken their ¡®she¡¯ to be Lotus, but the ve girls¡¯ answer actually been directed towards Han Fen.


    He could guess what had happened next. The five ve girls had be the favorites of the Khan but their status was even lower than the eunuchs and therefore, hadn¡¯t been noticed by any forces.


    The Khan attributed his sexual ability to the masters and his hatred towards the enemy, and had never guarded against these five ythings on his bed, and thus known nothing about Han Fen who was hiding behind the five.


    Han Fen could disguise herself as a courtdy. She didn¡¯t have to be the one who rmended the secret arts of the Waning Moon Hall to the Khan and induced him to invite the Dragon King. There were other disciples of the Waning Moon Hall who were responsible for enticing the nobles and having them make the suggestion to the Khan.


    The Royal Court is a man¡¯s world and what the kings guarded against were also men. The Dragon King who had only brought some dozens of people with him, received their full attention while the women were neglected. Lotus had benefited a lot from the situation. Many had tried to buy her off, but no one had valued her properly.


    Lotus continued, ¡°You are the Dragon King, and yet you can¡¯t imagine know how many women hate the men around them in the world. The Waning Moon Hall has expended all of its energy on looking for suitable baby girls to train, have them kill, and then drive them mad. In fact, the whole world is filled with women¡¯s hatred and madness, and there¡¯s no need to deliberately cultivate them. See, Han Fen has done precisely that. She has taken on five outstanding disciples. Although they are still weak and not a match for even your pinky finger, they can easily kill the Khan when you had to take a great risk in sneaking over here. So what is power? Martial arts is just a form of power. Waning Moon Hall has actually taken the wrong path by focusing on practicing kung fu instead of fully exploiting its own advantages.¡±


    Lotus¡¯s expression remained cold but she was apparently feeling more talkative than usual. Her desire to talk prevailed over her natural disposition, not to mention that the one standing in front of her was the only audience she cared about.


    ¡°So, turns out the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s ambition is more than just Golden Roc Castle and Jade City.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a stupid ambition. A broken castle and a dirty city; what¡¯s there that¡¯s worth fight for?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded in agreement. ¡°What¡¯s next in your n?¡±


    ¡°King Rizhu and King Kuari thought that the decisive battle between them had been approved by the Khan. But the kings who watching the battle will receive a secret order issued by the Khan before his death, which says that whoever can wipe out the two will be the new heir of the Khan. Every king will think that the order he received is unique, so the Royal Court will fall into a chaotic melee.¡±


    ¡°Developing your own force in the ruins. Not a bad n.¡±


    ¡°Not bad, but not good enough. Men will ride roughshod over women whenever they have a chance. Why would I develop a new force? Just let the war burn across the prairie and spread to the Central ins and the Western Regions. When most of the men are dead, then women will control the world.¡±


    ¡°You are insane.¡± Gu Shenwei finally told the truth in his heart.


    Lotus smiled and replied, ¡°I¡¯m not insane. I won¡¯t let all the men die out. I have to keep some for reproduction, just not too many. Look at the Khan; he got dozens of women pregnant and had more than a hundred children. That¡¯s the wish of all men, right? So, reducing the number of men is good for both sides.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had guessed at the grand n behind Lotus¡¯s many actions but he had never imagined that she had such a crazy idea in her mind.


    ¡°You won¡¯t seed.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know till you try, and if you help me, the chances of sess will increase greatly.¡±


    ¡°I am a man too.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a man of value and are worth keeping alive. There¡¯s not much risk in my n, and we will always be behind the scenes, enjoying the benefits of the shadows. There¡¯s no need to reveal ourselves even if all goes well.¡±


    There was a sh of enthusiasm in Lotus¡¯s eyes, which stood in stark contrast to her cool n.


    Gu Shenwei kept silent for a moment before asking, ¡°What about Han Wuxian? Does the Hall Leader agree with your n?¡±


    Lotus was also silent for a while, then replied, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter whether she agrees or not. But as long as you hand her over, I¡¯ll give back all your women.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s mouth corners turned slightly up, which was the closest he could get to a smile. After a long while, he had finally regained the initiative. He would never allow himself to be deceived a second time, especially not by Lotus.

 Chapter 637 - Gift

    Chapter 637: Gift


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The sounds of killing and death rang through the air like raindrops halfway to the earth. They were so far away yet so close that it could envelop him in the blink of an eye.


    ¡°Listen.¡± Lotus put a finger up to her mouth and pretended to listen. ¡°The kings who have been watching have finally made their move. They are crying out so loudly because they think the Khan can still hear them.¡±


    Lotus knew that the Dragon King would not easily reveal the whereabouts of Han Wuxian, so she simply did not mention it.


    ¡°The Nond won¡¯t devolve into chaos that easily,¡± said Gu Shenwei casually as if the two were still like before when they had a mutual and tacit understanding for each other and were working out a n together.


    They were not friends, lovers, partners, or even enemies.


    ¡°As soon as the new Khan appears, the chaos will soon be over. This is the tradition. Many people of the Nond say these things as if it is their own choice. In fact, it¡¯s just an excuse to cover up their unrestrained greed and ambition. No one can stop them so they have to add a seemingly good reason to their actions.¡± Lotus was smiling a lot tonight. Although the indifference on her face didn¡¯t diminish by much, it did make their conversation less tense. She was trying to do everything she could to keep their rtionship from turning hostile.


    Lotus¡¯s dispassionate analysis surprised Gu Shenwei, who had rarely heard Lotus make such a judgment about the world¡¯s situation.


    ¡°It¡¯s actually easy to keep the chaos going.¡± Lotus continued to exin her view. ¡°Just never let a new Khan rise.¡± She nced at the head on the bed as she continued, ¡°Kill all the rising ones. The winner of tonight¡¯s melee will be assassinated first thing tomorrow morning.¡±


    ¡°The assassination will expose Waning Moon Hall sooner orter.¡±


    ¡°So the assassin can¡¯t be one of mine.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, then it can only be Old Man Mu.¡±


    ¡°Old Man Mu is a wise man. He knows who he should be loyal to.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t trust him too much. He¡¯s only loyal to himself.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be careful.¡±


    The two gradually became courteous to each other again. Behind Lotus, Han Fen smiled cheerfully and mouthed something at him. Gu Shenwei waspletely bewildered and gave no response.


    ¡°When all the kings are dead, the situation in the Nond will be less tense, and then sooner orter one of the Khan¡¯s descendants will be recognized as the new Khan.¡±


    Lotus raised her hand and Han Fen took out a rectangr wooden casket from behind her and presented it to the Master Commander with both of her hands. She was a bit disappointed because the Dragon King wasn¡¯t able to read her lips.


    ¡°These are the edicts of the Khan. There are two of them: one for Duodun and the other for Luoluo. The contents are the same except for the name. The Khan¡¯s original n was to let you assist Duodun and Golden Roc Castle Luoluo. And the winner will take all. But I will change the n a bit. Duodun in the Western Regions will get the edict first and lead his army to the prairie. When he¡¯s about toplete pacifying the chaos, Luoluo, who¡¯s at the southeast frontier, will receive his edict. Naturally, he will rebel and dere that Duodun¡¯s edict is fake. That¡¯s my n for now. Do you have a better idea?¡±


    ¡°Your n is already perfect. If you want the chaos to continue after Luoluo ys his part, you have to find a way to use the three tribes from the Consorts¡¯ side, especially the Naihang Tribe. King Rizhu will die but his ambition won¡¯t. Set some puppets aside for the ambitious schemers on the prairie.¡±


    ¡°Good idea. We¡¯ll kill all the grown men of the royal family and only leave the children under fifteen years old alive. They¡¯ll run to their uncles, and in a few years¡¯ time they will return as new contenders.¡±


    ¡°And the Central ins. The Emperor will take advantage of this chaos and send his troops. Be careful, do not be the cat¡¯s paw.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already sent someone to the Central ins but I don¡¯t know if the little emperor also likes women as much as the Khan did. I know nothing about the Central ins.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought for a moment and said, ¡°I also don¡¯t know much, but if I remember correctly, the Central ins will not be easily controlled as the Nond. On the surface, the Emperor wields supreme power, but the real power is actually shared among many counselors. Even if the Emperor is obsessed with women, he can¡¯t interfere the army.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a bit of a problem, I¡¯ll have to consult with you again.¡± Lotus¡¯s voice showed a rare tenderness, which she seldom showed in front of the Dragon King.


    Behind her, Han Fen smiled even more merrily, not sensing the hidden killing intent in the friendly atmosphere.


    ¡°Let the Nond people surrender.¡±


    ¡°What kind of idea is that?¡± Lotus was slightly surprised but wasn¡¯t angry; she knew that the Dragon King must have a reason behind his suggestion.


    ¡°I remembered a court dispute in my childhood. For three days, my father talked about the same thing when he came home. Back then, a Nond tribe had surrendered, but the situation in which they had done so gave the imperial court a headache regarding how to deal with them. These people knew nothing about farming, as they always moved from ce to ce in search of water and grass. By keeping them, they would be a nuisance to the local people; if they banished them, the imperial court was worried that the other countries would be bitterly discouraged and no one would ever surrender again.¡±


    ¡°What happened in the end?¡±


    ¡°They decided to ept the tribe and provide them with money and food on a monthly basis, disallow them to graze, and slowly teach them how to farm.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a good idea. Teaching the Nond people to farm is as difficult as teaching a soldier embroidery. And it¡¯s going to cost a lot, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°The cost was tremendous. My father said that fortunately there weren¡¯t many surrenders. Otherwise, the treasury might have been emptied out to let the wolf in.¡±


    ¡°Bringing a wolf into the house,¡± repeated Lotus, the faint smile on her face vanishing. ¡°Waning Moon Hall needs someone like you.¡±


    ¡°Well, you know my temper. It¡¯s hard for me to ept a sudden demotion from ally to vassal.


    Lotus fell silent. Han Fen, who had been bottling up what she wanted to say for a long time, finally got the hint and said cheerfully, ¡°You won¡¯t be a vassal, Dragon King. Master Commander is willing to let you be the Hall Leader. She¡¯s actually¡­¡±


    ¡°Again, I am a man, too.¡±


    ¡°As I said, I didn¡¯t mean to kill all the men. You¡¯lle in handy, and you¡¯ll be very useful.¡±


    Gu Shenwei carefully thought about her proposal for a while before shaking his head. ¡°Sorry. For me, the Waning Moon Hall is too mysterious and strange. I¡¯m afraid that I will end up with nothing.¡±


    ¡°No, as long as you¡­¡± Han Fen¡¯s words came to an abrupt end once again, which made her feel even more ufortable.


    After being refused, Lotus didn¡¯t be discouraged but neither did she continue persuading him. ¡°This is the Dragon King¡¯s decision. Maybe you¡¯ll find that the Waning Moon Hall is not that mysterious and strange after a while. Let¡¯s look at the edicts of the Khan first. After all, you¡¯vee for them specifically.¡±


    The lock of the casket was sealed with y. Lotus easily crushed it, opened the lid and looked at the inside for a moment before taking a roll of paper out. She spread it and took a quick nce before handing it to the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei went over and took the posthumous edict. They were now only separated by three steps, the distance so close that he could instantlyunch a quick blow.


    The edict was written in the twisted characters of the Nond, which Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know a word of.


    Han Fen asked the four ve girls in the bed. ¡°Which of you know these strange characters?¡±


    The ve girls shook their heads. They were born in noble families, but in the Nond even the kings themselves couldn¡¯t read, not to mention the daughters of the ordinary nobles.


    What Gu Shenwei cared about was not the characters. The wooden casket was right in front of him, and he could see that it was empty.


    There was only one posthumous edict, not two.


    ¡°The Khan held back a trick.¡± Gu Shenwei put the edict back into the box.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I guess it¡¯s for Duodun, so I¡¯ll just change the n and let Luoluo sweep the royal children of the Nond first before having Duodun rise in rebellion.¡± Lotus looked at the Dragon King with sincere and brooding eyes, not at all like a young woman. ¡°Then the Waning Moon Hall will need you even more. Only you can help Duodun survive and grow to the point of being able topete with Luoluo one day.¡±


    Gu Shenwei slowly stepped back. He was afraid that he would be tempted to draw his sword and stab the woman in front of him.


    He shook his head again, saying, ¡°You know me.¡±


    A clear sound of hands pping came from outside the tent.


    Lotus smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯ll give you a gift anyway.¡±


    Three masked women came in from outside the tent, each carrying a man bigger than themselves.


    These three men¡¯s heads were all covered with ck cloth and their hands were tied behind their back, and they were dropped heavily onto the floor after being brought in. They twisted around a few times but none of them were able to stand up. Obviously, they had been drugged.


    The masked women nodded to show respect to Lotus before they left the tent right away.


    Han Fen couldn¡¯t control her excitement and she immediately lifted the ck head cover of the first man after receiving the hint of the Master Commander.


    Gu Shenwei recognized him as one of seven Eagle ws around the Khan who seemed to be called Green Falcon and was a top-notch kung fu master of the Nond. But now his mouth was full of cloth strips and he knelt on the floor, powerless to resist.


    He was still unconvinced because he had not been defeated by saber or sword but rather by a sneak attack. He stared at the Dragon King with fierce eyes and then turned to Lotus and Han Fen.


    Soon he saw the scene on the bed.


    With his eyes wide open, he let out a muffled growl and actually staggered to his feet but only managed to hold on for a moment before he fell to the ground again.


    ¡°His name is Green Falcon and was bribed over by King Kuari. Hemitted the heinous crime of killing the Khan and was discovered by the guards. Then he went mad and died under a random saber in the chaos.¡±


    Lotus announced the role of the first captive not at all like a gift to the Dragon King.


    Upon hearing this, the Green Falcon wanted to rise again but was poked by Han Fen and fell again. This was her favorite game.


    ¡°Even if there¡¯s a murderer, they¡¯ll be buried with the Khan.¡± Gu Shenwei cast a nce back at the five ve girls on the bed and ground.


    ¡°The n has nothing to do with them. I just don¡¯t want people to suspect the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    Han Fen couldn¡¯t wait to remove the hood of the second captive.


    This man was young and handsome and looked strong, but Gu Shenwei did not recognize him.


    ¡°This is Feng Qin,¡± Han Fen introduced.


    Gu Shenwei was stunned for a moment before remembering that Feng Qin was Shangguan Shaomin¡¯s ¡®lover¡¯ who had killed King Dari¡¯s favorite minion and had been arrested while trying to kill King Kuari.


    Feng Qin did not seem to have been tortured.


    ¡°Shangguan Shaomin is in my hands. Would you like to trade your life for her?¡±


    Han Fen pulled out the cloth in Feng Qin¡¯s mouth to let him answer the Master Commander¡¯s question.


    Feng Qin didn¡¯t know what was going on and also didn¡¯t know what the question meant. Panic-stricken, his eyes roamed about the tent, ¡°I, I ¡­¡±


    ¡°His not knowing how to answer is beneficial for him because his love for Shangguan Shaomin is fake.¡± Lotus seemed a little disappointed.


    ¡°No, I really¡­ like her.¡± Feng Qin said in an urgent voice.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a little bit and not enough to die for her. You came to the Royal Court under the orders of the Golden Roc Castle, and the Unique King assured you that you would be safe.¡± Lotus had no doubts, she was simply making a statement.


    Feng Qin hesitantly nodded.


    Han Fen immediately stuffed the rag back into his mouth and threw him out of the tent.


    ¡°He can¡¯t die here,¡± said Lotus tly.


    Han Fen then ran back and lifted the hood of the third captive.


    Shangguan Nu had avoided the pce guards but wasn¡¯t able to escape from disciples of the Waning Moon Hall.


    ¡°This is my gift to you. He came to assassinate the Khan on behalf of King Rizhu but died at the hands of the Green Falcon. You may draw your saber.¡±


    Behind Lotus, Han Fen beamed with joy and kept winking at the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei still didn¡¯t understand.

 Chapter 638 - Demonstrating Loyalty

    Chapter 638: Demonstrating Loyalty


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    From outside the tent, the noisy sound of horses¡¯ hooves could be heard.


    ¡°The chaos ising,¡± Lotus said in a soft voice. ¡°We should go somewhere else.¡± Then she looked at Shangguan Nu, waiting for the Dragon King¡¯s reaction.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t move, and Lotus also didn¡¯t urge him. It was Han Fen who was busy arranging everything.


    Han Fen first forced the wing guard Green Falcon to take a few pills, and then untied him after he fainted. Soon this man would wake up feeling inexplicably restless and believe that everyone around him was a threat. He would ughter everything around him in a hallucination.


    Next, Han Fen woke up the ve girl who had breathed in the knockout powder and helped her sit on the bed. Six women, all hugging each other¡¯s shoulders, were murmuring quietly with their heads lowered as if they were engaged in a mysterious psychic ritual.


    When it was over, everyone was smiling. Four of the ve girls still had blood on their faces but they were beaming with satisfaction from the bottom of their heart.


    ¡°They know they are going to die.¡± There was an unusual awe in Lotus¡¯s voice as if these five ve girls were heading down a path of sacred sacrifice. ¡°Only suffering can make a person calmly face death. It is more effective than all the training methods of the Waning Moon Hall and Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    The five ve girls were responsible for serving the Khan on a full-time basis and therefore, could not escape death no matter if they were suspects or not.


    Han Fen walked over to the Master Commander with a smile that was not the same as usual, one with less simplicity and more pride.


    Both of them looked at the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei walked to Shangguan Nu and untied his hands. A few years ago, he would have long since killed the other side, but now he had to recall the blood feud of his family¡¯s extermination to arouse his killing desire.


    He was very adept at it. The hatred was just sealed away at the bottom of his heart and it could be summoned at any time and was still as strong as when he was fourteen years old.


    Shangguan Nu took out the cloth in his mouth himself. He was a bit confused and didn¡¯t understand the rtionship between Lotus and the Dragon King, but he was more worried about his own fate. After a full circle, he had fallen into the hands of Servant Huan again.


    If he had to die, he hoped that the one to kill him would not be his former servant.


    ¡°King Rizhu¡­¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s hardly able to protect himself.¡±


    ¡°Lord Wei Song ¡­¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll follow your footsteps.


    ¡°I know which king has been bribed by the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°King Kuari, I already know.¡±


    Shangguan Nu¡¯s face turned pale. He finally realized that the Dragon King had no intention to kill during their few meetings before and that the tension and pressure had been entirely self-imagined. But now he felt that the whole world had turned upside down, the ground seemed to turn into the sky, and he was about to flip head down.


    Was this the effect of the knockout drugs of the Waning Moon Hall or his own fear? Shangguan Nu could not tell. He only knew that his legs could no longer bear the weight of his body as he pleaded, ¡°Please¡­ I can find the mastermind behind this¡­¡±


    Back at the Heaven¡¯s Pass, Shangguan Nu had imed that he would not tell the truth even after meeting the King of Hell. Gu Shenwei already knew at that time that the eighth young master actually knew very little about who had ordered his family¡¯s ughter.


    Gu Shenwei produced a dagger. Revenge was revenge. He had nothing to ask, so naturally, there was no need to torture the other side. Even those words seemed superfluous.


    ¡°There was a guest who recognized that the head was wrong¡­¡± Shangguan Nu suddenly realized that even a lowly life was good enough for him to fear death. So he racked his brain for anything rted to the topic that could postpone his death. ¡°He¡¯s from the Central ins. I¡¯m sure about it. I can¡­¡±


    As the dagger pierced into his heart, Shangguan Nu let out hisst breath along with a few blood bubbles which burst and dissipated as soon as they came into contact with the outside air, leaving almost no trace that he had died.


    Gu Shenwei searched his heart for the joy of vengeance but found nothing. There was no satisfaction, only pure hatred there. The barely restrained excitement that had appeared when he killed his enemies like Han Shiqi and Wei Lingmiao was hard to find now. Perhaps only the death of the Unique King and the mastermind behind the scenes deserved that exuberant fire of vengeance.


    At the moment when Shangguan Nu fell, Lotus¡¯s eyes were almost full of tenderness and love. Killing was themon ground for her and the Dragon King and also the line that connected the two. That moment of death was like a blossoming flower she had sent to her lover.


    The flower bloomed and faded, and the Dragon King turned around. Themon ground was gone and the connecting line had also disappeared. Lotus¡¯s manner restored itself to its natural impassive state and she took the lead to leave.


    Shangguan Nu¡¯s corpse was left in the tent as evidence of assassinating the Khan. This was not a framing operation, just an arrangement.


    Like the Khan, Lotus also had the power to decide the fate of others now.


    The torches in the tent were all extinguished at the same time.


    The melee of the kings was bigger and fiercer than everyone thought it could be. The pce guards began to feel threatened and a great number of cavalry moved south in response. Although everyone hoped that the Khan woulde out and settle the chaotic situation, no one grew suspicious of his absence.


    It had be a norm for the Khan to hide and manipte everything behind the scenes, and his not showing up meant that the chaos was not yet beyond control.


    The three of them went to a simple temple where the original monks had moved away, and it was now one of the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s strongholds.


    The temple was built on the highest earth mound in the camp of the royal pce. Just by standing in the doorway, one was just able to see the growing fire in the Royal Court.


    ¡°How is itpared to that fire?¡± Asked Lotus.


    Gu Shenwei knew what she meant. Several years ago, when the two of them were still disciple killers, the ambitious Shangguan Ru had led the members of the Kun Society to fight for territory in Jade City and while doing so, burnt down the base camp of the Horned Dragon Society.


    At that time, Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Ru had watched the fire from a pavilion in the Northern Jade City. Today, the person next to him was different. ¡°It¡¯s much bigger,¡± he said in a matter-of-factly tone.


    After watching for some time, Lotus took out a mask and covered her face. Gu Shenwei and Han Fen followed. They always had one on them.


    Arge crowd of people had already gathered in the courtyard of the temple. There were thirty or so rows, and each row had a different number of people ranging from four or five to more than twenty, which seemed scattered but was strictly graded.


    Everyone in the crowd lowered their heads simultaneously when Lotus showed up.


    ¡°This is the fruit of the Waning Moon Hall from cultivating at the Royal Court. Not too many people are here but they are all very loyal. Some people are still on duty and are not here.¡± Lotus casually introduced the group. She seemed intent on showing the secrets of the Waning Moon Hall.


    Without stopping, she went straight to thergest tent, where several disciples took turns to report the current situation. Han Fen was left outside with several of the most senior disciples to assign tasks to the rest of the people.


    Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t invited so he stood where he was and nced at the crowd. Although most of these new disciples were covered with masks, he could still discern that almost a third of them were men.


    The Waning Moon Hall still had to rely on men¡¯s power to control the Nond for the time being.


    His eyes rested on two masked disciples for a moment.


    Han Fen waved to him, indicating that he could enter the tent now.


    With the help of the warm candlelight, he could see a monk¡¯s utensils all piled up in a corner and a long table was ced in the center. With one of her hand pressing on the table, Lotus was looking down at something. She had already taken off her mask.


    Gu Shenwei also took off his mask. In a light trance, he found her posture so familiar, then he suddenly realized that this was actually his normal appearance.


    Lotus did not feel anything. When she turned her head and looked up, she actually revealed a stern expression that was the same as the Dragon King¡¯s. ¡°The kings intend on stopping the fight. It seems that they are not that stupid.¡±


    ¡°They want the throne of the Khan, not piles of corpses. No one wants their final power to be weakened.¡±


    ¡°I can only move the assassinations forward.¡± Lotus seemed to mimic the Dragon King¡¯s every mannerism, even his serious look when making a decision. ¡°General Zhesu seems to be a loyal man of King Rizhu¡¯s. If his lord dies, he will take revenge with all his might.¡±


    ¡°Good idea, but you have to find an assassin who¡¯s familiar with the style of Golden Roc Castle so that King Rizhu¡¯s subordinate will immediately suspect King Kuari.¡±


    ¡°Who else knows this better than a golden roc killer?¡±


    Gu Shenwei now understood where Shangguan Yun¡¯s fear of Lotus hade from. He must have found his own killers suspicious but couldn¡¯t find any detailed evidence, so he would rather hide in the camp of the Land of Fragrance.


    Gu Shenwei had nothing more to say. He hadn¡¯te to the Royal Court to maintain the stability of the prairie, nor did hee to assist a king in seizing the throne.


    He was waiting for the best time to make a move.


    Lotus also had nothing to say. The atmosphere gradually changed. She used to be the Dragon King¡¯s partner. Nominally, they had equal statuses, but she had actually been in a subordinate position. Now she wanted it to change and she was ready, but the Dragon King had no intention of epting this change.


    She pped her hands, and Han Fen came in with two disciples.


    Gu Shenwei recognized them instantly even through the ck mask.


    The two disciples showed their true faces at the same time; one was Chu Nanping and the other was Tie Linglong.


    Chu Nanping had finally found Tie Linglong but wasn¡¯t able to take her away.


    ¡°They¡¯re your people,¡± Lotus said tly as if they were two lost children who were about to return to their own parents.


    Chu Nanping didn¡¯t utter a sound but Tie Linglong appeared to be quite surprised. Her training was too short and she couldn¡¯t control her emotions. ¡°I¡¯m not¡­¡±


    Han Fen raised her right index finger to signal Tie Linglong to not speak.


    No one was allowed to speak unless they were permitted by the Master Commander in this tent.


    ¡°I almost believed her.¡± Lotus meant Tie Linglong but looked at the Dragon King. ¡°You two put on a good show and stole Han Wuxian from me. I don¡¯t understand. Why did you still let her stay at the Waning Moon Hall?¡±


    Tie Linglong almost wanted to argue back again but controlled herself at thest moment.


    ¡°I also don¡¯t understand why you kept her. She¡¯s obviously not fit to be a killer, let alone a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall,¡± Gu Shenwei said as he looked at Tie Linglong who had red cheeks.


    Lotus turned to the little girl who felt grievously wronged. ¡°Perhaps I¡¯d like to see what it would be like if I didn¡¯t join Golden Roc Castle or Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    Even if she hadn¡¯t received any training as a killer, the teenage Lotus waspletely different from Tie Linglong. They had nothing inmon in terms of their characters.


    The two had only one thing inmon; both of them had a strong jealousy towards the women around the Dragon King, although their reasons were different. One¡¯s was simr to love while the other¡¯s was more like the exclusive possessive desire for a father. But the jealousy was the same.


    Gu Shenwei softly sighed, ¡°She¡¯s not the one who revealed the whereabouts of Han Wuxian. Someone else did.¡±


    Lotus believed she could recognize the Dragon King¡¯s lies, but this time she failed. But she still had a way to force the truth out. ¡°Kill him to prove your loyalty.¡±


    Tie Linglong looked at the teenager besides her in surprise, and her hands unconsciously retracted into her sleeves.

 Chapter 639 - Hall Leader

    Chapter 639: Hall Leader


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Tie Linglong had a dream. She hoped that she could be a saberman like the Dragon King.


    The Dragon King had a sword and used his saber more like a sword as his style had a lot of stabbing moves. But she only liked the saber as she preferred the few extra pounds of weight.


    She would never forget the scene of their first meeting: the Dragon King fighting over a dozen bandits alone as he led them around in a circle. And each time he turned around he would kill one person. Simple and direct, unhurried and ruthless.


    Her saber techniques were already very good but still far away from the Dragon King¡¯s. She could also be ruthless and calm, but she just couldn¡¯t do both at the same time.


    When Lotus had shown up and reced her with Chu Nanping as the Dragon King¡¯s bodyguard, Tie Linglong suddenly understood that what shecked was a killer¡¯s training. The Dragon King had never forced her to practice kung fu. He didn¡¯t even urge her. It was all voluntary.


    After being banished by the Dragon King, Tie Linglong epted Lotus¡¯s invitation. Following the address she had received, she crossed the desert and entered the city before receiving another address. After a few times of winding her way through various ces, she finally managed to reach the headquarter of the Waning Moon Hall in another desert with the Master Commander¡¯s order.


    Without even a warm wee, the first thing a thin middle-aged woman had said after confirming her identity was, ¡°Throw away your saber.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Tie Linglong gripped her saber hilt. This was also the word she said the most in her first half year at Waning Moon Hall.


    ¡°No asking why.¡± The skinny woman ¡ª the disciples all called her the Master Trainer ¡ª never gave an exnation.


    Tie Linglong refused to hand over her saber. So, she had a fight on the first day she entered the Waning Moon Hall, which, however, was very short because she fainted as soon as she unsheathed her saber.


    When she woke up, she heard the mantra of the Master Trainer for the first time. ¡°If this had been in the past¡­¡±


    It was from the dailyints of the Master Trainer that Tie Linglong learned of the changes of the Waning Moon Hall.


    In the old days, the Waning Moon Hall rarely took in any disciples over the age of eight. Most of them were brought here as babies so that even the goat¡¯s milk they drank was mixed with blood. As they grew older, they would join in on the killing, the targets of which slowly changed from animals to people. It was not to practice their killing skills but rather to develop an attitude of extreme contempt for life.


    Children who refused to kill or couldn¡¯t face blood and stench emotionlessly were failures and would be the other¡¯s training targets.


    Now, the Waning Moon Hall no longer robbed babies. Many disciples were already grown-up when they joined the Waning Moon Hall and some of them were even older than the Master Trainer. But they all had one thing inmon; they were full of resentment and hatred.


    These women, either abandoned by their parents, mistreated in their husband¡¯s family, or reviled by the world after being humiliated by men, had been taken in by the Waning Moon Hall when they were at their most desperate. But the Waning Moon Hall never helped avenge them.


    After a month or two, the hatred in most women¡¯s hearts would be relieved. They would lose their desire for revenge and would rather return to their old life environment. They were treated as failures and would be the training targets of a junior disciple as soon as they left the ¡®shelter¡¯ of the Waning Moon Hall.


    In the old days, the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall learned the secret arts and knockout drugs before they learned the martial arts skills but now they learned kung fu first, then the secret arts, and finally the knockout drugs.


    Of all the martial arts skills of the Waning Moon Hall, there was no sabersmanship. They had to learn the dagger, then the steel thorn, and finally the finger techniques, the goal of which was to kill the enemy bare-handed in one shot.


    Tie Linglong epted the change in technique and practiced faster than anyone else. Even the Master Trainer who wasn¡¯t satisfied with the current situation would asionally shake her head and say, ¡°If it were the old days, you would have been sent to the Great Deste Sect.¡±


    The Great Deste Sect used to be the outer sect of the Waning Moon Hall and was better at martial arts than secret arts.


    Three monthster, the Master Trainer began to conduct the killing training in much the same way as the ¡®old days¡¯ of the Waning Moon Hall, but not so frequently.


    The Waning Moon Hall had many ¡®human targets,¡¯ the majority of whom were men. They were either abducted or lured here and became ¡®cattle and sheep¡¯ waiting to be ughtered. Their disappearances were usually attributed to demons and monsters, and it was here that.


    Tie Linglong couldn¡¯t make it. She asked a lot of ¡®whys¡¯ but never received a single answer.


    She refused to kill, and the Master Trainer did notpel her to.


    Three dayster, a disciple simr to her age whispered to her, ¡°If you don¡¯t kill, they will kill you. That¡¯s the rule.¡±


    Like strangers, the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall seldommunicated with each other. Even if they all lived with one another, they regarded each other as air. A word of warning was already the most friendly gesture of showing kindness.


    Tie Linglong was taken aback but she still couldn¡¯t kill innocents.


    Two dayster, the Master Trainer called her out alone and gave her an exnation for the first time. ¡°I¡¯m telling you this because you were rmended by the Master Commander and your kung fu is not bad. But kung fu skills are not the only important factor when you carry out a kill; your habits are also very important. If you always waver between killing or not killing, your actions will be indecisive and this will get you killed. Women are born with less strength than men, so it¡¯s very difficult to surpass the men in martial arts. If you want to be a first-rate killer, you have to be one step ahead in every detail. Make your choice now. Either go kill the target in that room or die now. I don¡¯t want to waste my time.¡±


    Tie Linglong was already on guard against the secret arts and knockout drugs but she didn¡¯t resist this time. She remembered what the Dragon King had said to her during their first meeting. ¡°Killing is simple. As long as you have a saber, just hack at the one you want to kill.¡±


    This was the reason why the Dragon King and Lotus always appeared calm. The two of them had already broken through the barrier and never thought about the difference between killing and not killing.


    Tie Linglong joined the killing training but couldn¡¯t remove the disgust in her heart. She learned to cover up her true feelings and began to look indifferent, full of vignce against everyone else.


    The next stage of training was in the style of Golden Roc Castle: The disciples were sent to a valley withplex terrains to try to kill each other and only the ones who brought back two heads could walk out.


    Many people achieved the goal but still weren¡¯t able to walk out of the valley.


    Tie Linglong survived and became more and more like a killer. asionally when it was quiet and she had confirmed that there was no one monitoring around, she would rx a bit and feel that her patience was reaching its end. Meanwhile, she was full of sympathy for the Dragon King and Lotus.


    Over a yearter, Tie Linglong finally met a real test.


    ¡°The body is a woman¡¯s weapon and a female killer¡¯s unique skill. You must learn to skillfully use it and intoxicate a man with it while you yourself are awake and sober. Remember, you are killing people, not making them.¡±


    The Master Trainer was not telling a joke, and the male targets came in again.


    Tie Linglong killed the man who was alone with her in the room and didn¡¯t let himy a finger on her. She was only fifteen or sixteen years old and couldn¡¯t ept such dirty training. She wouldn¡¯t even think about it.


    The Master Trainer no longer exined and only coldly told this disciple, ¡°One month, you only have one month.¡±


    Within ten days, Tie Linglong decided to run away. She was the only disciple who refused to join the training and worried that she might be influenced. Over forty female disciples werepeting to see who could go from shyness to euphoria to apathy at the end of the day.


    The protection of the Waning Moon Hall wasn¡¯t tight. Tie Linglong sessfully escaped but became lost in the boundless desert.


    She couldn¡¯t find her way but she did find a woman.


    It was three days after she had left the headquarters of the Waning Moon Hall. With the experience she had gained from more than a year¡¯s worth of training, she followed a hidden stream of water to a low bushy spot.


    Lying in the shade, she decided to take a nap but unknowingly slept till midnight before she suddenly opened her eyes and saw a cold round moon and a tall, beautiful woman standing in the moonlight.


    The woman¡¯s long hair fell down to her knees like a waterfall, and she was carefullybing it through with her fingers.


    Tie Linglong was attracted and walked over half-awake, asking, ¡°Who are you? A fairy?¡±


    ¡°My name is Wuxian. How can I be a fairy?¡±


    ¡°Wuxian (No fairy),¡± Tie Linglong repeated in a low voice. Unknowingly, she wasn¡¯t alert towards this woman at all as if all her training had been in vain. ¡°You are¡­ the Hall Leader?¡±


    ¡°I used to be.¡±


    ¡°You still are?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a prisoner now.¡±


    Tie Linglong was perplexed. She looked around and found that there were no guards and no walls, only a stout growth of low, prickly nts that couldn¡¯t stop anyone.


    Han Wuxian lifted up the corner of her dress and exposed her ankle. A thin chain ran through it and disappeared into the sand, the other end of which was probably fixed to some weight.


    Tie Linglong¡¯s eptance of cruelty had indeed improved so she wasn¡¯t particrly rmed, but was confused. ¡°Does Lotus¡­ the Master Commander know of this?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s the one who put me in captivity.¡± Han Wuxian¡¯s voice was full of motherly gentleness. Tie Linglong took a step forward again.


    ¡°Why?¡± This was the word she said most in the Waning Moon Hall.


    ¡°No asking why.¡± Han Wuxian gave the standard answer and then added a few words. ¡°I wanted her to be a real disciple of the Waning Moon Hall, but she didn¡¯t want that. So one day, about a year and ten months ago, she stabbed me when I was unprepared. Her sword technique is very good and I wasn¡¯t able to block it, so I became a prisoner.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ She still calls you the Hall Leader.¡±


    ¡°Lotus is very smart. She was afraid that the disciples would be disobedient so she imed that I entered closed-door cultivation and then she took control of the Waning Moon Hall as the Master Commander. She must have changed a lot of the rules? I heard that the Waning Moon Hall epts all kinds of disciples now and even allowed some who failed to pass the test survive. Lotus wants to build her own powerbase so she wouldn¡¯t have to lead under my banner anymore.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why. So, is this your cell? I don¡¯t think I saw anyone during the day.¡±


    ¡°No, today is the fifteenth day of the month. I have toe out to practice my kung fu or I¡¯ll die. Lotus doesn¡¯t want me to die.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Tie Linglong took another step forward.


    ¡°She took my Blood Coagtion Pill and has to make an antidote with the blood in my body. The antidote can onlyst three to five years. So if she wants to live, she has to keep me alive.¡±


    ¡°You have the antidote that can cure her thoroughly, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯m the only one who knows about it. For this reason, many of my old disciples wille to my rescue.¡±


    Tie Linglong nodded and suddenly remembered one thing, ¡°Lotus¡­ Was it because she also didn¡¯t want to do that kind of¡­ training?¡±


    Han Wuxian smilingly shook her head, her long hair shing like a flowing ck satin strip. ¡°She doesn¡¯t need ¡®that kind of training.¡¯ She¡¯s an expert in indifference and indulgence. I think most of this is natural for her. She just doesn¡¯t want to be controlled by others. This is the strange part. As a servant killer of Golden Roc Castle, she actually doesn¡¯t want to be controlled by others. I made a mistake exactly at this point.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Han Wuxian was obviously hearing the name for the first time.


    Tie Linglong knew who had influenced Lotus¡¯s character of being unwilling to be controlled by others. She took another step forward, trying to tell the story of the Dragon King.


    Han Wuxian casually held her shoulder, and her voice was still as gentle as the doting mother. ¡°Little girl, you are a failure of the Waning Moon Hall, so why not let me use you to practice my kung fu?¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Tie Linglong softly. Then she suddenly raised her foot and the chain buried in the underground followed, flying into the air.


    Han Wuxian cried out and loosened Tie Linglong, falling to the ground, her long hair covering the whole face.


    Tie Linglong jumped aside, ¡°No wonder no one is looking at you. You are so bad.¡±


    Han Wuxian smoothed away her long hair and revealed a beautiful smiling face. ¡°So you are a clever little girl. Do you want to learn some formidable secret arts? I can teach you.¡±

 Chapter 640 - Jueyin

    Chapter 640: Jueyin


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Tie Linglong was no fool. She might have fallen for it but she wouldn¡¯t be moved by just a good word or two. ¡°Why would you want to teach me the secret arts? I am a ¡®failure¡¯ of the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    The expression of any man, even the Dragon King who had a strong endurance, would change if the chain piercing through their ankles was pulled, but Han Wuxian¡¯s did not. Although she fell to the ground, she seemed to not have felt any pain and continued to wear a smile that looked even tender than before. ¡°I don¡¯t know how long I can live, so I¡¯m always thinking of a way to pass down the most advanced secret arts of the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    ¡°Even so, it¡¯s not my ce to learn them. I¡¯ve only joined the Waning Moon Hall for over a year and now I¡¯m trying to escape. Where¡¯re the guards? They must all be qualified disciples.¡±


    ¡°They are too qualified to defy Lotus in any way, and even without that, they are afraid of my Psychotic Divine Drain and dare not to approach me.¡±


    Tie Linglong vigntly circled around Han Wuxian and also didn¡¯t want to walk closer to this Hall Leader. ¡°Lotus hasn¡¯t been a part of the Waning Moon Hall for too many years, has she? Why do all your disciples all listen to her instead of you?¡±


    Han Wuxian tried to stand up but failed so she simply sat on the ground and supported herself with her right hand, her hair touching the ground. ¡°These guards are all new disciples. They used to be semi-finished products and wouldn¡¯t have qualified to graduate. More than half of them should have been eliminated but Lotus said that they were valuable people. Not only did she let them keep their lives, but she also taught them the higher level secret arts. So they all treat Lotus as a savior and naturally all listen to her.¡±


    Tie Linglong frowned. ording to her standards, Lotus was right to do so anyway. ¡°You are a bad person,¡± she said.


    ¡°What is a bad person?¡±


    Tie Linglong was stunned. She had never carefully thought about this question. ¡°Bad people are bad people. They kill the innocent for no reason, rob other people¡¯s things, and bully the weak.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s bad about being a bad person?¡±


    ¡°Uh, no one should be a bad person either way. If everyone bes a bad guy, then the world will go to chaos.¡±


    ¡°A lot of things that shouldn¡¯t have happened happened. You are an orphan, aren¡¯t you? Your parents shouldn¡¯t have died but they died; you should have avenged them but you couldn¡¯t. And not everyone is qualified to be a bad person. With your current kung fu skills, I¡¯m afraid you can¡¯t even do so if you want to kill people wantonly.¡± Han Wuxian had sharp eyes, and she had quickly figured out the general situation of the little girl.


    Tie Linglong took several steps back, ¡°I can¡¯t win in an argument against you, but I won¡¯t learn your secret techniques.¡±


    ¡°Once you master this set of secret arts, you will be invincible and can kill whoever you want. It¡¯ll be as easy as winking for you to seek revenge.¡±


    ¡°Hee, do you think I¡¯m still a young kid? If it is really so formidable, how were you defeated and imprisoned by Lotus?¡±


    ¡°The secret arts are like kung fu skills. Learning them doesn¡¯t mean that you can automatically make use of them after you master it. I am powerful and so is she. It depends on who can seize the moment and strike first. I was careless and Lotus seized the chance, and that was all. But if you are not powerful enough, it will be useless even if I give you the chance, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Tie Linglong suddenly found herself being led by the nose again. ¡°Lotus is very kind to me, so why would I sneak attack her?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s kind to you now but that doesn¡¯t mean that she will be kind to you forever. What¡¯s the harm in mastering a secret technique? After all, It¡¯s up to you to use it or not.¡±


    Tie Linglong was convinced. Perhaps she had been tempted from the very beginning but it felt a bit strange to her that a good thing would suddenly fall on her head. ¡°I can not save you and I do not want to save you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a swap. I¡¯ll teach you the secret arts of my own ord.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± Tie Linglong revealed a childlike smile, seeing no danger in this at all.


    If the Dragon King were here, he would tell her that a lot of martial arts could do harm if slightly changed; for example, a modified internal energy manual. Tie Linglong didn¡¯t know about the old scores of the Dragon King and Lotus so she naturally knew nothing about the possible pitfalls.


    ¡°I only have one small request.¡± Han Wuxian was well versed in the art of negotiation and had thus patiently waited for the other side¡¯s consent before offering terms.


    ¡°Ehh, you just said it wasn¡¯t a swap.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll pass the secret arts to you regardless if you agree to this or not.¡±


    ¡°Well ¡­ Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°Tell me more about ¡ª the Dragon King.¡±


    When the name had first reached her ears, Han Wuxian was a bit confused but after a little thinking, she realized that this ¡®Dragon King¡¯ must have an unusual rtionship with Lotus.


    This was a request that Tie Linglong could ept. So she spent more than two hours retelling the deeds of the Dragon King, some of which she had been personally involved in and some of which was hearsay. She was ted at first but gradually became full of resentment as she talked. But she knew little about the rtionship between the Dragon King and Lotus, so she could not speak anymore on it.


    Han Wuxian learned more from her talking than just the information Tie Linglong had provided. ¡°No wonder,¡± she said. ¡°Lotus is particrly interested in records of Qi deviation because she¡¯s not just collecting the information for herself. Unfortunately, the Waning Moon Hall has little experience in this area.¡± Han Wuxian wore a faint smile even when she was lost in thought.


    ¡°But Lotus is with the Dragon King again. But to tell you the truth, I think that Sister Ru and the Dragon King are a bit morepatible ¡­¡±


    ¡°Is the Dragon King a womanizer?¡±


    ¡°Of course not¡­¡± Tie Linglong let out a long sigh that did not match her age. ¡°But there¡¯s still some things he can¡¯t decide for himself, like marrying the princess of the Stone Kingdom.¡±


    ¡°Once you¡¯ve learned my secret arts, you will be as powerful as Lotus, or even better than her. Then the Dragon King will ept you and listen to your advice.¡±


    Tie Linglong nodded in earnest.


    ¡°You¡¯ve heard of the Manual of Seven Secret Techniques, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Of course, this is the most profound secret manual of the Waning Moon Hall. The Master Trainer has learned one of these techniques and always shows it off in front of us.¡±


    ¡°She learned the Seven Magical Tones, the weakest and the most useless of them all.¡±


    ¡°The Seven Rotations skill is the most powerful, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°It is very powerful but I didn¡¯t practice it and I¡¯m guessing you also don¡¯t want to practice it.¡±


    There was no need for any other reason except that Tie Linglong would never want to practice a secret art that Han Wuxian hadn¡¯t practiced.


    ¡°What do you want to teach me?¡±


    ¡°There are actually more than a dozen secret techniques in the Manual of Seven Secret Techniques. Only the top disciples of the Waning Moon Hall are qualified to learn one or two of them. Of course, that was before. Now that Lotus is in charge, I¡¯m afraid more people are learning them now.¡±


    ¡°Then teach me one that no one else knows.¡± Tie Linglong became interested but she still stayed vignt and didn¡¯t approach Han Wuxian at all.


    ¡°I¡¯ll teach you a set of Jueyin Finger Technique.¡±


    ¡°Jueyin Finger Technique? This is the mostmon finger technique in the Waning Moon Hall, and I¡¯ve already learned it.¡± Tie Linglong couldn¡¯t help but be disappointed.


    ¡°Then give me a poke and let me have a look.¡±


    ¡°Heehee, I¡¯m not falling for it.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing I can do about you as long as you¡¯re holding onto the chain in the ground.¡±


    Tie Linglong slowly approached and carefully grabbed the chain on the ground, trying not to have it affect Han Wuxian¡¯s ankle before she quickly poked the other side.


    Han Wuxian¡¯s smile grew bigger. ¡°You¡¯ve only achieved the first level and you said that you¡¯ve learned it?¡±


    Tie Linglong was surprised and said, ¡°No one told me there was a higher level of the Jueyin Finger Technique.¡±


    ¡°Of course there is. There are nine levels of the Jueyin Finger Technique, and it¡¯s already quite impressive if someone can reach the fifth level. This is because it can restrain most kung fu skills in the world and is especially effective for those who practice the Manual of Seven Secret Techniques.¡±


    ¡°Which level are you at now?¡±


    ¡°The seventh level.¡±


    Although not yet aware of the power of this set of finger technique, Tie Linglong was still awed.


    ¡°Jueyin means extreme yin. Forming a small amount of frosty Qi and making people itchy is only the most elementary stage. After the first three levels, you will be able to control the internal energy and secretly nt it in any acupoint of the enemy, even the most inconspicuous acupoints. And at the fifth level, you can control the onset of the internal Qi, and the types of the internal Qi increases to ten after you reach the seventh level. You can then make your enemy feel painful, itchy, mad, dizzy or nauseous.¡±


    Tie Linglong thought it was a really fun secret technique. ¡°Doesn¡¯t it have nine levels? What if you reach the ninth level?¡±


    ¡°The pure yin energy will turn into yang energy. You¡¯ll be invincible but will also burst apart and die.¡±


    ¡°The seventh level is fine.¡± Tie Linglong was startled.


    During the rest of the night, Han Wuxian passed on the second level of the Jueyin Finger Technique to Tie Linglong and attentively instructed her. ¡°You can master it in seven to fifteen days if you do it fast. Come back to me on thest day of the month.¡±


    Tie Linglong cleared the scattered footprints on the ground and hid in the bushes. She saw four disciples of the Waning Moon Halle in the early morning. Two of them carried a long stick with Han Wuxian sitting in the middle while the other two held the iron chain. Together they escorted the Hall Leader back to the prison, each of them maintaining a distance of at least five steps away from her.


    Tie Linglong felt a bit sorry for the Hall Leader and her impression of Lotus fell slightly.


    Tie Linglong then found her way back to the headquarter of the Waning Moon Hall. The Master Trainer didn¡¯t reprimand her. Instead, she coldly reminded her, ¡°There¡¯s still half a month left.¡±


    She hade back just to find a ce to live, still refusing to undergo the training with her body. In less than ten days, she tried to escape for the second time, but this time she encountered an obstacle.


    The Master Trainer had acted herself. ¡°Five days from now, you¡¯ll have to leave your life here.¡±


    Tie Linglong still ran away. She poked the Master Trainer and paralyzed an expert of the Waning Moon Hall for more than one hour with the second level of the Jueyin Finger Technique.


    Tie Linglong seized the moment. The Master Trainer had been caught unprepared.


    With plenty of water and dried food, Tie Linglong wandered in the desert for several days andpleted the appointment with Han Wuxian on thest day of the month. ¡°Please teach me the rest of the levels. I¡¯ll escape from the desert and nevere back.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Han Wuxian was very easygoing. She taught the levels little by little but stopped after teaching the sixth level.


    Tie Linglong, however, was already obsessed with it. She bit her lips and said, ¡°I know it, you want something in return. Say it. As long as I can do it, I won¡¯t refuse.¡±


    ¡°I have a daughter.¡± Han Wuxian¡¯s voice was as sweet as syrup. ¡°If you bring her to me, I¡¯ll teach you the seventh level.¡±


    ¡°Deal.¡± Tie Linglong readily agreed. This condition was much easier than she had imagined. The most important thing was that it didn¡¯t vite any of her principles. ¡°I¡¯ll bring her here for sure.¡±


    ¡°Her name is Han Xuan and she lives in the Gulping Wind Gorge of Xiaoyao Lake.¡±


    ¡°Do you have any token or something?¡±


    ¡°No, and she doesn¡¯t know about me. I used to send people to see her.¡±


    Tie Linglong felt that Han Wuxian was not like a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall at all. She suddenly felt an urge to save her but held back in the end. Han Wuxian wasn¡¯t an ordinary disciple. Her disappearance would attract crowds of Waning Moon Hall disciples. But Tie Linglong secretly vowed that she would definitely bring Han Xuan here.


    ¡°By the way, my name is Tie Linglong.¡±


    ¡°You are a very good little girl.¡±


    The smile on Han Wuxian¡¯s face was like an unrealistic aesthetic fantasy, which haunted Tie Linglong¡¯s mind from then on. Tie Linglong went to the Xiaoyao Lake and found that Han Xuan had already left with the Dragon Army to go to the Nond. So she also went deep into the grasnd and wandered around the camp of the Dragon Army. She wasn¡¯t able to find Han Xuan but had been discovered by Chu Nanping.


    She didn¡¯t know that Han Wuxian had already been rescued by the Dragon King so she didn¡¯t tell the others anything. During the days she had reunited with the Dragon King, she never mentioned Han Wuxian of the Waning Moon Hall in front of anyone.


    Lotus didn¡¯t mind her escaping from headquarters, but Tie Linglong¡¯s feelings towards this sister-like Master Commander had changed. She was in awe of her now, and as soon as the order to kill Chu Nanping came out, she instinctively revealed the steel thorns in her sleeves.

 Chapter 641 - Confession

    Chapter 641: Confession


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei felt that the time to strike had not yete but he was still ready to unsheathe his sword. ¡°The one who revealed the whereabouts of Han Wuxian was Guan Shang.¡±


    Lotus stared at the Dragon King, measuring the credibility of Gu Shenwei¡¯s words in her heart. Guan Shang used to be a spy nted in Golden Roc Castle by the Waning Moon Hall and was a genuine senior disciple who was more loyal to the original Hall Leader than her. She had tried to assassinate the Master Commander in the An Kingdom of Xiaoyao Lake but ended up dying at the hands of the Dragon King in the end.


    From beginning to end, Lotus could see no sign that Guan Shang had ever revealed the secret.


    ¡°When we were still in Jade City, Guan Shang felt that she could use me against you, so she told me where Han Wuxian was. I refused to help her, but I did send someone to keep looking for Han Wuxian in the desert until I finally found her.¡±


    Lotus stayed silent. No one knew the Dragon King better than she did. At this moment, she could almost feel every tiny thought that ran through the man¡¯s head.


    Guan Shang could have taken the chance to sow discord but she hadn¡¯t mentioned it before she died. Thinking of this, Lotus made up her mind.


    Han Fen felt a bit regretful because she had a small crush on Chu Nanping, but killing the person that one loved was precisely the standard training method of the Waning Moon Hall. ¡°Little girl, why haven¡¯t you done it yet?¡±


    Chu Nanping did not draw his sword or evade. His eyes had always been locked on Tie Linglong, except for when he had turned to the Dragon King once, hinting to the other side to not interfere.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall and also don¡¯t have to take orders from anyone.¡± The boy¡¯s voice was gentle and seemed to have changed into apletely different person who made Gu Shenwei felt somewhat strange.


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand.¡± Tie Linglong appeared quite restless. She hadn¡¯t found Han Xuan. Thus, Tie Linglong thought that Han Wuxian¡¯s daughter must be in Lotus¡¯s hands though she hadn¡¯t shown up yet.


    She cared a lot about her promise to Han Wuxian, not just for the training method of the seventh level of the Jueyin Finger Energy, but also to fulfill a seemingly sacred mission.


    Although they had only met twice, that tall, beautiful and motherly woman had firmly taken hold of a corner in Tie Linglong¡¯s heart.


    She had to help the mother and daughter meet each other. Tie Linglong almost took this matter as if it were her own reunion with her deceased mother.


    Chu Nanping didn¡¯t understand her n but he understood very well that this teenage girl was not fit to be a killer, let alone a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall. Her heart hadn¡¯t yet been destroyed, and his job was to extricate her from the shadows.


    All of a sudden, what Tie Linglong was proving was not her loyalty but rather how effective the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s training actually was.


    Lotus spoke. She had thought it all through and what she said was almost a replica of the Dragon King¡¯s n. ¡°You put a tail on Tie Linglong and you knew that I would take her in so you deliberately drove her away. You had fooled everyone; I didn¡¯t even think of checking the tail behind her.¡±


    Tie Linglong turned to the Dragon King, her eyes full of surprise and perplexion.


    Gu Shenwei nodded and admitted, ¡°Yes, someone followed her and found the headquarters of the Waning Moon Hall in the desert, and then spent another year uncovering Han Wuxian¡¯s whereabouts.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯ve hidden such an expert all this time.¡± Lotus knew all the Dragon King¡¯s men and did not remember anyone who had suddenly disappeared for more than a year.


    ¡°Not one, but five. They are not kung fu experts but they performed very well under Xu Xiaoyi. They are especially good at long distance tracking and are indeed experts in this area.


    Lotus hummed. She had never taken Xu Xiaoyi seriously and never thought that he had people this capable under him.


    What had happened next was clear. The five trackers had done their duty. They did not dare to get too close to the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s headquarters, so they had conducted a slow search around it. Thus, it had taken them a year to find Han Wuxian, who had been actually run into Tie Linglong who had been three days into her escapade.


    The news was immediately sent back to Xiaoyao Lake.


    While Gu Shenwei was on his way to the Nond, another team had set out to rescue the Hall Leader of the Waning Moon Hall.


    Lotus smiled and looked very happy as she stated, ¡°You never trusted me.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t trust anyone. We are the same.¡±


    When they were at Xiaoyao Lake, Lotus was secretly giving orders to the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall while Gu Shenwei was also quietly working on his own n. The two of them could entrust their backs to each other but there was not much trust between them and each of them had something of the other side¡¯s.


    Bing the one in ultimate control was something that Gu Shenwei persevered to be in his lifetime and was also the greatest goal of Lotus.


    ¡°Look, this is the Dragon King.¡± Lotus wasn¡¯t annoyed; she was merely pointing out the facts to Tie Linglong. ¡°He will try to take advantage of everything, even your own feelings. Well, I don¡¯t me you for not knowing it, but you have to make a choice between following the Dragon King and waiting to be used again or bing a real disciple of the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    This ultimatum was how she would deal with Chu Nanping.


    Tie Linglong¡¯s mind was in chaos. The awe she held towards Lotus, themitment to Han Wuxian, and her obsession with of the Dragon King were all strung together and fighting each other to the death, each trying to gain absolute superiority.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been tricked by the secret arts of the Waning Moon Hall,¡± Gu Shenwei reminded though he didn¡¯t try justifying his ¡®using her.¡¯ Tie Linglong had followed him for several years and should understand the truth that he used all means, regardless of right or wrong, to strike the enemy. Tie Linglong could only keep a secret when she was unaware of it which was also a form of protection for her.


    Gu Shenwei had confidence in his status in the little girl¡¯s mind and therefore knew that her restlessness must be the product of some secret arts.


    Lotus¡¯s eyes twitched a bit and seemed to have realized something.


    Instead of reaching out for his sword, Chu Nanping stretched out his hands and kept them far away from the sword hilt. He had never thought that he would say this in public, but the words had suddenly risen in his mind and they were so powerful that they broke through the ¡®hard shell¡¯ of the Emotionless Swordsmanship. The boy had no choice but to submit to it. ¡°Come with me. There¡¯ll be no Dragon King and Lotus, just the two of us. I think I¡¯m in love with you.¡±


    Silence fell upon the tent. Gu Shenwei and Lotus didn¡¯t expect the young swordsman who always regarded himself as ¡¯emotionless¡¯ to say such words. Chu Nanping had shown great concern for Tie Linglong, but Gu Shenwei thought that it might take the boy at least ten years to break the barrier in the heart.


    Han Fen was so excited that she almost burst into tears as if the person epting the love confession was herself. ¡°Kill him,¡± muttered Han Fen. For her, such a beautiful scene was the perfect time to pursue the great Dao of the Waning Moon Hall.


    Tie Linglong was caught unprepared. This wasn¡¯t what she had expected and was also quite out of the ce given the current situation. During her time at the headquarters of the Waning Moon Hall, she had refused to ept the training of seducing a man with her body and instead developed an instinctive aversion to men.


    The Dragon King and Chu Nanping had no gender in her mind, so the confession immediately transformed the teenager into a stranger in her eyes.


    ¡°You¡­ Nonsense¡­¡± She took a step back, her voice trembling.


    ¡°I¡¯m not talking nonsense. You¡¯re not fit to be a killer. Let¡¯s leave this world.¡±


    It was exactly these words that struck the sore spot of Tie Linglong. She had heard something simr from the Dragon King on the first day he had taught her sabersmanship. And this was also not the first time that Chu Nanping had pointed it out, but this time it made her particrly angry.


    ¡°I am a killer.¡±


    The dagger thrust into the teenager¡¯s chest. The real killers had retreated to a safe distance but Tie Linglong could not move. Her wrist was grasped tightly by Chu Nanping, who not only didn¡¯t pull out the dagger but helped her add more strength.


    And he looked neither angry nor sad, only having a smile of relief as if to say, ¡°I was right, you don¡¯t like killing at all.¡±


    Tie Linglong became angrier. Lotus¡¯s voice suddenly prevailed in her heart and the little girl¡¯s killing intent was aroused. But the reaction of her arm and her body was totally different. She couldn¡¯t exert any strength at all.


    The moment Tie Linglong had produced a dagger, Gu Shenwei almost drew his sword but he stopped when Chu Nanping refused to dodge and held onto Tie Linglong¡¯s wrist.


    The teenage duo was going through the most important choices in their lives. He didn¡¯t want to interfere, and neither did he want to ruin it. Even if the two really wanted to leave, he would never stop them.


    He had used them but he didn¡¯t feel ashamed because he had never forced them to do anything even while practicing martial arts. He had simply passed onto them the skills and left them by themselves to figure it out.


    Lotus made her move, as nimble as she always was.


    Gu Shenwei drew his Dragon Head Sword at the same time.


    After the long wait for this moment, what he struck out with was a simple sword move.


    Gu Shenwei drew his sword but didn¡¯t use the Death Sutra sword technique because he felt that Lotus had no killing intent.


    Lotus easily avoided the Dragon King¡¯s attack and pushed the two teenagers away, her voice unprecedently harsh. ¡°You¡¯re no longer a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall, and I forbid you two from following the Dragon King from now on. Get lost.¡±


    Tie Linglong¡¯s face was almost transparently pale as if she had just woken up from a nightmare. Han Wuxian¡¯s image blurred and even Lotus¡¯s voice turned vague, her anger like rain falling on and dying of drought, quickly sinking down and disappearing.


    ¡°I¡­ I won¡¯t follow anyone anymore,¡± Tie Linglong said defiantly like a child with tears coursing down her cheeks. And she was a child, a child who thought she could wear a killer¡¯s mask.


    Lotus suddenly turned around and left the tent. When she reached the door, she put on her mask in such a hurry that it seemed there was something unbearable here to the point she had to stay as far away as possible.


    Chu Nanping covered the wound with one hand and held out the other as he said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Tie Linglong began crying even harder. ¡°Who told you to say such nonsense? And in front of so many people?¡±


    Chu Nanping looked around and thought that there were actually not that many people present, but he didn¡¯t argue because Tie Linglong hade over, covered his wound with a silk handkerchief, and then immediately retreated three steps.


    The two looked at the Dragon King.


    ¡°Go.¡± That was the only word Gu Shenwei said to them.


    To Tie Linglong, such a farewell was too simple. With tears on her cheeks, she revealed a smile. ¡°No one can force me to do anything. I¡¯ll go but I maye back in the future.¡±


    She also had her own secret. She had only reached the second level of the Jueyin Finger Energy so far but sooner orter, she would surprise everyone.


    As the two started walking outside, Tie Linglong suddenly turned around and said, ¡°Han Xuan is Han Wuxian¡¯s daughter. The Hall Leader really misses her.¡±


    The Dragon King nodded to show that he understood.


    Disappointed and confused, Han Fen didn¡¯t understand why the little girl had missed such a good opportunity and also didn¡¯t understand the Master Commander¡¯s abnormal behavior. Frowning, she thought for a long while before she could understand the reason a little.


    Han Fen came over and grabbed the Dragon King¡¯s arm, her face full of excitement as if they were still ¡®friends¡¯ instead of rivals. Then she lowered her voice with great difficulty and said, ¡°The Master Commander is waiting for you to marry her. You be her man and she your woman, and then all problems will be solved.


    Gu Shenwei froze. So this was what Han Fen had been trying to say to him.

 Chapter 642 - King Kuari

    Chapter 642: King Kuari


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    King Kuari had no counselors. Looking at the silent and frightened general and servants, he suddenly sighed with emotion. He thought that he had seen everything clearly, but he was still defeated by the vulgarians.


    The vulgarians were the people in front of him, who seemed loyal and willing to risk any danger to do their duty, but were utterly useless at the critical moment.


    ¡°Tell me what¡¯s happening out there.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± replied the general, as he trembled with perspiration and poured out the hard-won words, ¡°Our army is tenaciously defending the eastern part of the noble¡¯s area and we also have five strongholds in the craftsman area. We can still hold on for the time being. King Rizhu is like a spent arrow now and there¡¯s no need to worry about him, but ¡­¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just say ¡®but¡¯ right away?¡± King Kuari said in a slow and soft tone, like a parent who was patiently educating his child in the simplest truths. ¡°Defend, defend, defend. Have we hit a dead end already?¡±


    The general was terrified, and more sweat beaded on his forehead. It was midsummer and the nights were no longer cool, let alone the fact that he was in full armor. ¡°Please forgive me, my lord. Our army can still attack but a few traitors are watching from the sides. I¡¯m afraid¡­¡±


    ¡°How many?¡±


    ¡°Four¡­ Five. King Shengri, King Nari, King Riying, King Riming, and King Rixin. Our connection with the craftsman area was cut off by them.¡±


    ¡°Have the five kings brought their armies together?¡±


    ¡°No, no, they shouldn¡¯t have.¡±


    ¡°Then ¡®should¡¯ I believe you or not?¡±


    King Kuari¡¯s tone was as patient as an old woman¡¯s but the general grew more and more uneasy. He lifted his hand to wipe away the waterfall-like sweat trailing down his face and firmly said, ¡°The five kings are not yet allied. They are afraid of each other and haven¡¯t exerted all their strength.¡±


    King Shengri smashed the table suddenly and with a harsh tone, which shocked all the people in the tent, said, ¡°The five kings would have seized the throne long ago and wouldn¡¯t have waited until now if they were willing to ally with one another. It¡¯s very simple. The opportunity to make arge contribution is right under your nose but you guys don¡¯t want to seize it. Instead, you are talking about so-called ¡®defensiveness.¡¯ There¡¯s no such thing as being defensive for tonight¡¯s battle. Being defensive means admitting failure and being destroyed. Defeat King Rizhu and the other kings will naturally lower their heads. Being defensive will only encourage coward like King Shengri to be bold. Go attack. Now.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The general hastened to follow the order. ¡°I¡¯ll issue an order and send eight thousand cavalries straight at the camp of King Rizhu.¡±


    ¡°Eight thousand? I thought we had fifteen thousand cavalry units.¡±


    ¡°There were some casualties, and there are thirteen thousand left.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    The general was stunned for a while and then waveringly asked, ¡°All-out attack?¡±


    ¡°Is there a problem?¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Seeing the king¡¯s stern eyes, the general swallowed his words.


    ¡°Order King Riyao to send at least half of his army.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± the general reluctantly replied, wondering whether the king¡¯s only ally would ept the order or not.


    The general retreated from the tent and climbed onto the horse with the help of his entourage. The cool breeze came and carried away the nervousness in his heart and all the submissiveness in his face. ¡°Stay here, all of you. Do whatever you can to protect the lord. If anything happens to the lord, neither you nor I will not live.¡±


    King Kuari couldn¡¯t see the loyalty shown by the general but only felt that there was ack of avable talented people under hismand, especially when he was full of emotion and there was no one he could talk to. He waved for everyone in the tent to withdraw, leaving only one guest.


    The guest looked ordinary and stood in thest row, hardly attracting any attention. He was a Golden Roc killer.


    ¡°The Dragon King didn¡¯te, and neither did the Cloud King,¡± King Kuari said tly, trying to tamp down the discontent in his heart. Strictly speaking, the Golden Roc Castle killer was not yet his subordinate.


    The killer appeared much calmer than the general. ¡°The Dragon King has already set out from the camp. He¡¯s just waiting for the right moment. A killer always acts when the target thinks it¡¯s impossible for him to make a move. As for the Cloud King, he is more patient because he¡¯s the master of the killer.¡±


    King Kuari appreciated the killer¡¯s way of speaking who was always confident even though nothing had been done yet. So he smiled and nodded slightly. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°Killers don¡¯t have names.¡±


    ¡°Good habit. How long have you been a killer for?¡±


    ¡°Fourteen years.¡±


    ¡°Fourteen years? You don¡¯t look that old.¡±


    ¡°I received the title of ¡®killer¡¯ when I was neen.¡±


    King Kuari stayed silent for a while before he suddenly asked, ¡°Do you think I will win?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness will be the Lord of the Royal Court before dawn.¡±


    ¡°Haha, I didn¡¯t know that the killer¡¯s kung fu of ttery wasn¡¯t weak either. Can you beat the Dragon King?¡±


    The killer hesitated for a moment before replying, ¡°A killer doesn¡¯t say ¡®beat¡¯ or ¡®defeat¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Oh, what do you say then?¡±


    ¡°Who can kill who?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡±


    ¡°When we say ¡®beat¡¯ or ¡®defeat,¡¯ we areparing kung fu skills, but when ites to ¡®kill¡¯ or can¡¯t kill,¡¯ we areparing methods, all kinds of methods, of which kung fu is just one.¡±


    King Kuari seemed to understand a bit. ¡°For example, if I don¡¯t know kung fu, I naturally can¡¯t beat you. But if I can kill you by poisoning, then I¡¯m a good killer.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡±


    The herald rushed in, his face beaming, ¡°My lord, our army has stormed the Office of King Rizhu and will end the battle soon.¡±


    King Kuari felt refreshed by the news but didn¡¯t show it on his face. ¡°Any reactions from the other kings?¡±


    ¡°The four lords are holding their troops still. King Shengri has advanced forward one mile and is within a bowshot¡¯s distance from us now.¡±


    ¡°The bird-king has some nerve. Go order King Riyao to wave him into flight.¡±


    The Herald left with the orders. King Kuari thought for a long while with his chin resting on his fist before he took a nce at the killer, seemingly surprised that the other side was still standing there. ¡°I¡¯m really curious. The Dragon King is a traitor to Golden Roc Castle, but why hasn¡¯t the Unique King killed him?¡±


    ¡°Yang Huan is lucky.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s been lucky for several years in a row?¡±


    ¡°Some people have better luck, and the King Lord has never sent out his strongest killers.¡±


    ¡°Haha.¡± King Kuari was in a good mood, so he was willing to chat and pass the time. ¡°The Unique King underestimated Yang Huan. He made a mistake, thinking that Yang Huan was an insignificant figure and that he could get rid of him at any time so he was never in a hurry. To his surprise, the Dragon King grew strong and even defeated his army. Now it is toote.¡±


    The killer kept silent with his head lowered.


    ¡°Does it upset you that I belittled your King Lord?¡± asked King Kuari coldly. He wasn¡¯t used to people turning a cold shoulder to him.


    ¡°The lowly me dares not to. I¡¯m not qualified to participate in such things so I don¡¯t dare toment on it.¡±


    ¡°Heh, not only are you a good killer but you are also a good servant. Let me tell you something; the rules of war are the opposite of the killer¡¯s rule. You have to defeat your enemy; killing is not the purpose but the process. Sometimes war won¡¯t end even if you kill themander.


    ¡°With all due respect, I know nothing about war.¡± The killer appeared even more humble.


    King Kuari hadn¡¯t fully expressed his views yet, but he didn¡¯t want to talk about his thoughts with a stiff killer anymore as it was tantamount to showing off pearls before swine.


    But the silence was really distasteful and he didn¡¯t want to harp on about it in front of his servants and subordinates so he asked, ¡°How are you going to kill the Dragon King when hees?¡±


    ¡°Uhh.¡± The killer felt a bit reluctant to reveal the assassination n because it didn¡¯t conform with Golden Roc Castle¡¯s rules. But he gave up his reservations on second thought. This was the future Khan of the Nond, and even the Unique King would have to lower his head in front of this man here, not to mention himself. ¡°The Dragon King won¡¯t bring too many helpers with him, maybe two or three people. They will circle around You Highness¡¯s tent, find the hidden killers, remove a few of them, and secure a safe retreat route. Then they¡¯ll sneak into the tent andunch a deadly blow. They¡¯ll retreat immediately after that no matter if it¡¯s sessful or not.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like a good n.¡±


    ¡°This tent is the most heavily guarded ce right now. There are killers acting as guards on all sides. If the Dragon King takes a risk, he will fall into a siege before he can approach Your Highness. If he gives up the n at thest moment and retreats from the route he¡¯s arranged, he¡¯ll also fall into a trap. That¡¯s our n.¡±


    King Kuari looked around as if he wanted to find a trace of those invisible guards. ¡°I¡¯d rather take the Dragon King alive.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll try but the Dragon King is very dangerous¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying that. I¡¯m fine with the head as well.¡±


    The Herald ran in for the second time but this time there was no gleam of joy on his face. ¡°Our army is surrounded at the camp of King Rizhu, and the two sides are fiercely fighting.¡±


    King Kuari still kept hisposure but his interest in the Dragon King and the killer had vanished. ¡°Move King Riyao¡¯s whole army to the rescue.¡±


    ¡°King Riyao is currently confronting King Shengri¡­¡±


    ¡°Never mind King Shengri, just go pass my orders.¡±


    The Herald left in a hurry, not daring to say another word.


    ¡°That¡¯s war, a mixture of truths and falsehoods.¡± King Shengri said to the killer, ¡°King Shengri is a coward who drinks wine and keeps birds. He won¡¯t actually dare to make a move if King Riyao¡¯s army retreats.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a smart move. I admire You Highness¡¯s wisdom.¡±


    ¡°Heh, so if you wanted to scare the Dragon King away, why not remove the guards around the tent and set traps on his way out?¡±


    ¡°Well ¡­ Your Highness¡¯s safety is more important than anything else ¡­¡±


    ¡°Again, I¡¯m just saying it. It¡¯s up to you to how to get rid of a killer.¡±


    Another herald ran in, puzzled. ¡°King Shengri hase to see my lord.¡±


    King Kuari snorted. ¡°The old bird king is indeed the first to get cold feet.¡±


    The killer took a step forward and cautioned, ¡°Be careful of a catch, Your Highness.¡±


    King Kuari shot a stern nce at the killer, very dissatisfied with his transgression. A killer should not speak up without permission, let alone meddle with a coboration between the lords.


    The killer understood the king¡¯s meaning so he anxiously knelt on one knee and exined, ¡°Yang Huan may take the opportunity to sneak in.¡±


    ¡°How many men did King Shengri bring with him?¡± asked King Kuari.


    ¡°A dozen or so guards, less than twenty.¡±


    ¡°Keep the guards outside the camp, let hime in alone.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    The killer returned to his original position, maintaining a high level of vignce in his mind.


    King Shengri came, and he was sweating profusely. This night seemed particrly hot. Without even noticing the killer in the corner, he walked straight to King Kuari.


    The killer was relieved to ascertain that this fat old king was definitely not a killer in disguise.


    ¡°My dear nephew, you¡¯ve really made a scene this time.¡±


    ¡°Oh, really? I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a big scene.¡±


    King Shengri looked around and finally noticed the lone killer. ¡°Who¡¯s this man? Is he trustworthy?¡±


    ¡°Feel free to speak your mind.¡± King Kuari avoided the question.


    King Shengri coughed twice before saying, ¡°The Khan has an order.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a secret order and we¡¯ve all received it. It says that whoever can stop your fight with Old Cha will be the heir.¡±


    King Kuari still contained hisposure. He finally understood why several kings who had originally fallen to his side had changed their stances and be neutral in the war. It turned out that they were still thinking of the title of Khan. ¡°What are you doing here then? Did youe just to tell me this?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here to try to persuade you to call a truce.¡±


    ¡°You want to end the battle without joining it and let the Khan appoint you as his heir?¡± King Kuari felt that his uncle¡¯s brain was even more confused than King Dari¡¯s.


    ¡°Yes, and when I am the Khan, I¡¯ll pardon you and Old Cha. You can still keep your title and status but cannot stay in the Royal Court any longer.¡±


    ¡°Huh.¡± King Kuariughed with extreme anger, ¡°I¡¯ll also give you one condition. Join my group, hand over your title as a king. You can keep yours birds and wine, and find a grasnd to retire to. Otherwise, I¡¯ll share your wine with the soldiers and drink all of them with the roast bird.¡±


    King Shengri shook his head, ¡°s, my dear nephew, things are moreplicated than you think. Listen, the messenger ising. I bet it¡¯s a crow, a big crow.¡±


    The crow wasn¡¯t alone, but actually a murder (the saying for a group of crows is a murder of crows). Seven or eight soldiers carried a stretcher in, on top of which was the general who was covered with blood and already unable to speak.


    No one reported the situation of the battlefield.


    King Kuari stepped down from his seat and walked toward the seriously wounded general.


    The killer had a sense of crisis from the start but he did not dare to shout out a warning, and all of a sudden, his sense for crisis reached its zenith. ¡°Watch¡­¡±


    The second word was left unsaid forever, as the dizziness had kicked in at that moment. The killer reached out for his saber hilt but was cut at the heart.


    The attacker raised her head, it was obviously a woman¡¯s face under the helmet.


    King Kuari stopped and recognized that one of the guards was the Dragon King himself. But the Dragon King seemed to be a bystander. Everyone, including the Dragon King, gave way to a woman who, though dressed in the guard¡¯s suit, was not disguised.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± King Kuari was bewildered and surprised by the sudden appearance of the enemy, especially when he saw that even King Shengri was acting deferential to the strange woman.

 Chapter 643 - King Rizhu

    Chapter 643: King Rizhu


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The men were killing each other while the women were secretly taking control of the Royal Court. Gu Shenwei was willing to be an observer and wait for an opportunity; additionally, he was very curious as to how far Lotus could go.


    There was no need for Lotus to act personally and join in on any assassinations taking ce in the Royal Court, but she had still invited the Dragon King to join her in hopes of convincing this stubborn killer through reality.


    She believed that the Dragon King belonged to the dark night, the shadows, and her.


    Gu Shenwei saw that the chaos of the Royal Court had gradually gone out of control as Lotus had expected. The lords had tried to call for a truce but the messengers they sent were either killed or had disappeared, causing more panic.


    But Lotus felt that it wasn¡¯t enough. She wanted to unleash an inferno of vengeance, regardless of the consequences.


    Looking at the fallen killer, King Kuari suddenly understood why Golden Roc Castle wasn¡¯t able to kill the Dragon King. The killers of the Unique King had a deep-rooted preconception that Yang Huan was from the castle so his thinking and behavior must conform to the killer¡¯s principles. In fact, from the very day of his defection, the Dragon King had already broken past the yoke of the killer.


    The killer had said that the Dragon King woulde and so he did. The killer had also said that he would only bring two or three people with him but he hade with seven or eight. The killer had said the assassins would approach in circles but they had simply walked straight in. The killer said the tent was heavily guarded but he had copsed with none of the hidden guards he mentioned showing up.


    ¡®I¡¯m really stupid.¡¯ King Kuari med himself for the first time in his life in his heart. ¡®I knew that we should not have underestimated the Dragon King but I was still influenced by Golden Roc Castle and only treated him as a rtively formidable killer¡¯.


    He leaned over and looked at his general. ¡°You¡¯ve done your best. It¡¯s just that you¡¯re not that capable.¡±


    The badly wounded general was full of urgency and shame. Not only had he failed to fulfill the task assigned by the lord but he had also became a tool for the assassins before he died. He wanted to say something but didn¡¯t want to waste his energy on words, so he staggered to his feet and spread his arms to protect the lord.


    No one did anything. The general took a deep breath but wasn¡¯t able to breathe out, and then fell to the ground, dead.


    King Kuari straightened himself and looked at King Shengri, the only person who had a status equal to him in the tent. ¡°This is a great empire, and I hope you can live up to its reputation. Think about the lineage of the Khan which hassted for over three hundred years when you bow to an outsider.¡±


    He turned to the Dragon King next. ¡°Loyalty is a good thing but it may not be useful. Now I understand what the Dragon King has done in the Western Regions. You left your loyalty aside when you sit at the chessboard and you are right to do so. I underestimated you and I apologize for that. If I could do it again, I would choose you as my ally.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded slightly. He had seen many scenes of people about to die and King Kuari was undoubtedly the calmest one, not debasing his status as a king. Although Gu Shenwei still would not choose to ally with him if everything happened all over again, that didn¡¯t affect his respect towards this king.


    King Kuari turned again, this time to to the beautiful but indifferent strange woman. ¡°Let me guess, you must be Lotus, the Master Commander of the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    Nobody answered, which meant that his guess was right. ¡°Is the Khan dead? s, I thought that the Waning Moon Hall hadn¡¯t infiltrated the pce. Excuse me, how did I lose?¡±


    Lotus began to exin, mostly because she wanted to tell the Dragon King. ¡°Your Herald betrayed you long ago. He never passed any orders to King Riyao. That lord is still waiting for your orders to make a move. The battle situation in the frontline wasn¡¯t good so your entourage also defected and colluded with the assassins to plot against your general, which created the fiasco your army is in.¡±


    King Kuari nodded, ¡°The loyalty earned at one¡¯s prime time bes the price of betrayal when one falls into decline. It¡¯s really of little use.¡± But he was still a bit confused and asked, ¡°Why? I wonder.¡±


    King Kuari spread his arms and pointed at Lotus and King Shengri, not understanding why a pure-blooded son of the Khan would bow to a woman who was not even a herdsman of the Nond.


    King Shengri, who was silent and wearing a sympathetic smile on his face, suddenly said, ¡°My nephew is very talkative. He can preach about his big ideas for three days and nights, but are we going to wait the whole time?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay to wait a little longer.¡± Lotus had no intention of taking King Shengri¡¯s request. ¡°The Nond holds great power but doesn¡¯t have the right person tomand it. That¡¯s why.¡±


    King Kuari felt humiliated and then said thest words of his life. ¡°Who¡¯s going to kill me?¡±


    A woman with a smile came up to him. King Kuari was affected and habitually smiled back. But he still wanted to protest, hoping the other side could have the Dragon King do it so that his death would be worthy of his identity, but the woman acted faster than he expected.


    King Shengri¡¯s face stiffened. ¡°A scion of the Khan, a king,¡± he muttered as if he were the only living person in the tent. ¡°There¡¯s a saying, ¡®The blood of the Khan will never end, a drop of it will always flow and grow into a river¡¯.¡±


    ¡°That prophecy wille true,¡± said Lotus coldly. She had chosen King Shengri as her temporary puppet because he was the weakest and had no choice but to ept her harsh conditions. ¡°Blood will flow over the ground like water soon in the Royal Court. Will King Riyao avenge King Kuari?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± King Shengri came to his senses. This was not the time to feel sad about the loss of his family members. ¡°Although King Riyao is an elder, he worshipped this nephew and believed everything he said.¡±


    ¡°Cut off his head and send it to him, and then spread the news that the Dragon King was the assassin.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was one step closer to being forced to join the Waning Moon Hall and he began to seriously consider whether to marry Lotus or not. He had been thinking about this matter ever since Han Fen had told him the truth.


    Lotus obviously hadn¡¯t said anything like that. Han Fen¡¯s understanding was quite different from others so her words were not often worth believing. But marrying Lotus was indeed a solution. He had married the princess of the Stone Kingdom for benefits so naturally, he could do it again. If the military counselor were here, he probably would have thought that it was a great idea.


    Lotus¡¯s mind wasplex and her feelings towards the Dragon King were particrlyplicated. Perhaps even she herself could did not fully understand them. She had concocted a crazy n to kill most of the men in the world but was slow to take action against the Dragon King. Instead, she had been surprisingly patient in persuading the Dragon King to join the Waning Moon Hall.


    That did seem like a hint.


    Gu Shenwei thought calmly. He saw this as a possibility and then ssified it as an unlikely backup ns. He was not at the end of his rope and wasn¡¯t being forced to do anything.


    ¡°The next one is King Rizhu,¡± Lotus said as if she were an enthusiastic host and were introducing the beautiful scenery of her hometown to the guests.


    The sky turned bright. King Rizhu poured out arge mouthful of spirits, wiped the sweat on his face, and despised his opponent in his heart. ¡°King Rizhu really lives up to his title; this boy always indulges in empty talk and does nothing practical. He doesn¡¯t even have the guts to go to the battlefield himself.¡±


    The soldiers all admiringly looked at King Rizhu and approvinglyughed. One of the veterans cried out, ¡°Our lord fought with us and is covered with blood. King Kuari sent his general out to fight while he himself is hiding cowardly instead. He¡¯s probably covered in tears by now. How can our lord not win?


    ¡°Win!¡±


    King Rizhu gulped down another bowl of wine and believed that he was worthy of thepliments of his men.


    The ck tower-like general Zhe Su pushed his way to King Riyao, who didn¡¯t look as excited as the ordinary soldiers. ¡°My lord, the battle is not over yet. I¡¯m afraid King Riyao will attack soon and the other lords have already begun to seize territory. We must find a way to stabilize them.¡±


    ¡°I see. There is a lot to do but I worry about the Dragon King most. That boy has too many wicked ideas, and Wild Horse and Shangguan Nu may not be able to keep an eye on him. And your son¡­¡± King Rizhu grew serious. ¡°I heard he was kidnapped by the Dragon King¡¯s men and taken to the women¡¯s camp?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhe Su¡¯s ck face flushed like a piece of hard iron being heated.


    King Rizhuughed out loud and patted the general on the shoulder, ¡°You¡¯re afraid I¡¯ll punish Liman? Don¡¯t worry. When the battle is over, he can choose any of the women of the Land of Fragrance he likes. He can take revenge on whoever bullied him in a bed and he won¡¯t be allowed to stop his revenge until he¡¯s satisfied. That¡¯s my punishment.¡±


    The soldiers¡¯ughter grew louder. ¡°My lord, I want to be ¡®bullied¡¯, too.¡±


    ¡°Everyone will have their chance.¡± King Rizhu stood on the edge of the battlefield and nced over the corpses and broken gs, his voice loud and clear. ¡°The Nond, the Central ins, the Western Regions, and the Land of Fragrance. There are many women in the world. Do I still deserve to be King Rizhu if I can¡¯t let each of you have at least ten women?¡±


    The morale of the soldiers immediately rose, and they, who had just finished a battle, were anxious to start the next one.


    The soldiers all mounted their horses, replenished their arrows, reced their sharp sabers, roared shrilly, and followed their generals across the messy battlefields to kill in the east of the nobles district.


    King Rizhu¡¯s face fell as he said to Zhe Su, ¡°I can forgive your son. It depends on the contributions you can make to make amends for him.¡±


    ¡°My lord, thank you for having mercy on me.¡± Zhe Su was about to kneel down when King Rizhu held him up and said, ¡°We¡¯re brothers, so just cut that out. Never soften your knees on the battlefield.¡±


    Zhe Su solemnly nodded, climbed onto the steed, and decided that he had to win the battle for his lord King Riyao even if he had to die today.


    The cavalry set off one after another, and King Rizhu also climbed onto his horse. His body was tired but his heart was full of excitement. The blueprint he hadid out for many years was about toe true. Soon he would no longer be the only ¡®foreign king¡¯ of the Nond.


    King Rizhu looked northward and slowly took a deep breath as if he could feel the life or death of the Khan by doing this.


    ¡°Dragon King.¡± He muttered the name. From this day on, there was no need to indulge this ungrateful fellow¡¯s requests; only hacking this guy into pieces could soothe his anger and save his face. ¡°The me Foal is my horse.¡±


    King Rizhu urged his horse to move forward. Compared to the missing me Foal, this horse was annoyingly slow.


    Unlike King Kuari who had sat and waited for the results of the battle, he would go to the battlefield and even join it in person when necessary, letting the whole prairie know who the real king was.


    A small group of cavalry rushed towards the camp, carrying King Rizhu¡¯s g and calling out from a distance, ¡°King Kuari has been killed by the Dragon King.¡±


    The guards cheered in unison but King Rizhu was stunned. ording to his n, the Dragon King should have been with Shangguan Nu and Wild Horse at the pce in the northern area. Was he so efficient that not only had he gotten rid of the Khan but had also killed King Kuari on his way back?


    ¡°Stop them,¡± King Rizhumanded because he didn¡¯t know any of theing horsemen, and he knew his own men very well.

 Chapter 644 - Settling

    Chapter 644: Settling


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Looking at King Kuari in the morning sunshine, Lotus said in a low voice, ¡°King Kuari would not be his match even if he were still alive.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stood beside her, three paces apart, as if they were still close partners. ¡°He has fatal ws too.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, he trusts his men too much and thought that none of them would betray him.¡±


    Standing behind the two, Han Fen stared at their backs and felt that they were a perfect match, and couldn¡¯t help but wear a happy smile on her face.


    As Gu Shenwei quietly appreciated the assassination that Lotus had nned, he gradually beganpeting with her in his mind, secretly thinking about how he would have gotten rid of King Rizhu if he were Lotus.


    As soon as the small group of horsemen was recognized, they immediately turned their horses around and fled northward. More than a hundred men of King Rizhu followed closely behind, while another hundred men turned southwest, ready to intercept any assassins.


    It was like hunting. Gu Shenwei thought of what Dugu Xian said about the Nond Cavalry and realized that he was right. The fighting style of the Nond army had evolved entirely from their hunting tactics and required littlemand. Everyone knew their own position and role.


    The tents were like dense trees, and the horsemen of King Rizhu were obviously more familiar with the terrain, as they galloped back not long after leaving. ¡°It¡¯s Golden Roc Castle; they were all killed.¡± The officer reported the result to the king, and the soldiers behind him threw several narrow sabers onto the ground.


    ¡°Heh, the people of Golden Roc Castle are really stupid. They have changed several lords but none of them are decent.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to Wild Horse.¡± The officer didn¡¯t forget the meritorious statesman that had helped them surround the assassins.


    Wild Horse came forward on foot and knelt down on one knee to show his respect to the lord.


    A bit surprised, King Rizhu waved for the crowd to move on. The battle in the East seemed to have broken out, and the sounds of the fighting could be clearly heard. One of the guards gave Wild Horse a horse and let him ride beside the lord.


    King Rizhu raised his right hand with a whip in-hand, wanting to make a few gestures before he suddenly remembered that this mute killer wasn¡¯t deaf. ¡°Done?¡±


    Wild Horse nodded and made several gestures with his single arm. King Rizhu understood the general meaning that the n was sessful.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Shangguan Nu and the Dragon King?¡±


    Wild Horse pointed to the camp of King Kuari in the East.


    ¡°Heh, those two are really anxious to win back some honor. You came back just in time. Stay with me as a bodyguard.¡±


    The army¡¯s vision was obscured by the forest of tents. Gu Shenwei walked out of his hiding ce and admiringly said, ¡°You won Wild Horse over? When did that happen?¡±


    ¡°When you put Wild Horse under mymand and we went out to rescue the granddaughter of the Unique King.¡±


    ¡°What terms did you offer him?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll be able to set up a real killer organization, pick his own disciples, and train them himself. I¡¯ll provide some disciples of the Waning Moon Hall to help him.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s his dream.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, he¡¯ll be more sessful than Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    ¡°How many people has the Waning Moon Hall ced in the Royal Court?¡±


    ¡°Not too many, only about a hundred people.¡±


    ¡°Much better than me.¡±


    ¡°The Waning Moon Hall wouldn¡¯t have had such a good chance if you hadn¡¯t attracted everyone¡¯s attention and the Nond hadn¡¯t despised women so much.¡±


    The two behaved as courteously as a newly-married couple. They spoke while secretly moving forward. Lotus didn¡¯t say where she was going and Gu Shenwei also didn¡¯t ask. Behind them was Han Fen alone.


    After a long silence, Gu Shenwei suddenly said, ¡°King Shengri¡¯s army is too weak and he himself is also unreliable.¡±


    The Dragon King seemed to be thinking from the perspective of the Waning Moon Hall and wasn¡¯t satisfied with the puppet chosen by Lotus.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. He¡¯s just a nominal head. It¡¯s fine as long as he can stir things up when the different parties are about to call truce.¡±


    After that, the three of them no longer spoke and soon arrived at the camp of the Land of Fragrance.


    This ce was like an ind, around which smoke still rose in many ces. The torrent of war, which had washed away the surrounding tents, had left it alone and swept past its shores.


    The defense of the female soldiers was so tight that King Rizhu didn¡¯t want to divide his forces to draw out the nail for the time being.


    Lotus waited for a while, and a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall galloped over. ¡°Wild Horse did it.¡±


    King Rizhu was ¡®luckier¡¯ than King Kuari. When he was cut in the throat, what he saw was a victorious army. His guards could only watch him fall from his horse, and even the closest man could note to his aid.


    Wild Horse had chosen the best moment to act ¨C when King Rizhu decided to go to war on his own and was deep in the battlefield. Wild Horse had finally made a move when the king was surrounded by chaos. When he fled, many on the periphery didn¡¯t even know he was an assassin and also didn¡¯t recognize the head in his hand but instead gave way for him to enter the camp of King Riyao.


    All of King Rizhu¡¯s men believed that Wild Horse had betrayed their lord to join King Riyao.


    It was then that the battle of the kings went out of control as Lotus had predicted.


    Although King Riyao wanted to avenge King Kuari, he didn¡¯t lose his reasoning. Zhe Su, the general under King Rizhu, however, was outraged by what he had seen and issued a kill order, the targets of which was exactly Wild Horse and King Riyao.


    The newly extinguished fire red up again and this time it was even more vigorous than the night before. Even the people hiding in their tents in the hopes of escaping from the chaos couldn¡¯t keep theirposure anymore. Like a flock of ants whose homes had been trampled apart, they mounted their horses and fled to the outskirts in panic.


    There was no need for Lotus and the Dragon King to hide now. People were everywhere and had formed a torrent heading the opposite direction, which also bypassed the camp of the Land of Fragrance in its sweep westward.


    ¡°Is this what you wanted? Most of the people who can escape are still men, and the women are left on the battlefield.¡±


    Lotus smiled, ¡°This is exactly what I want; abandoned and injured women. I¡¯ll endow them with the power they desire.¡±


    The three of them walked towards the camp together, and the female soldiers, who remainedbat-ready, cheered in unison at the sight of the Dragon King and opened the door to let them in right away.


    This was the Dragon King¡¯s territory. As long as Gu Shenwei issued an order, the female soldiers would shoot Lotus and Han Fen without hesitation.


    Gu Shenwei believed that the female soldiers had not been bought over by the Waning Moon Hall. They were free and independent and not the type of women that Lotus wanted.


    Lotus wasn¡¯t afraid at all. She had hostages in her hand and she was sure the Dragon King dared not act rashly.


    Old Man Mu and Shangguan Fei were smilingly greeting them at the door.


    ¡°It¡¯s really noisy outside.¡± Old Man Mu felt itchy to go outside. He was usually the bringer of chaos but today he wasn¡¯t even an onlooker. Very disappointed, he said, ¡°Everyone is so happy that you two returned safely together¡­¡±


    ¡°Old Man Mu, you disobeyed the order,¡± said Lotus coldly. ording to her n, Old Man Mu should have been responsible for assassinating King Kuari.


    Old Man Mu looked surprised. He nced at the Dragon King and said, ¡°Already¡­ Made public?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to pretend anymore.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s voice was even colder and harder than that of Lotus.


    ¡°So you guys have decided to help each other forward? Congrattions. Lord Lotus, it¡¯s not that I was loafing on the job; it was just there was an identst night. Golden Roc Castle wanted to snatch Shangguan Yun away, and they sent several rounds of people at usst night. So I was thinking, which one was Lord Lotus most concerned about? With all due respect, I felt that Shangguan Yun had offended you before and I must keep him intact to give to you, so¡­¡±


    ¡°Bring him out.¡±


    ¡°Ok. Uhh, Shangguan Yun is tied up tight. Should I carry him out or would you rather go in and teach him a lesson yourself? Would you like me to cut a piece of him off for you first?¡±


    Lotus grunted and looked around. The female soldiers were stationed on the edge of the camp, and hardly anyone could be seen in the tents.


    ¡°No rush. I want to have a word with the Dragon King.¡±


    Old Man Mu and Shangguan Fei knowingly stepped aside, bowing while retreating as if they were submissive minions.


    ¡°It¡¯s time for you to make a choice.¡± Lotus decided to not wait any longer.


    Gu Shenwei looked around and said, ¡°A lot of things have not been made clear yet.¡±


    ¡°Why stick to the details?¡± If you want revenge, we can destroy Golden Roc Castle together. If you want to find the mastermind behind the scene, we can kill to the Central ins together. If you want to seek hegemony, the whole world is at your disposal. This is just the beginning. I can give you anything you want. And you don¡¯t have to join the Waning Moon Hall; we can still be allies.¡±


    It was just that the primary and secondary rtionship was the opposite of what it used to be.


    Han Fen winked again at the Dragon King, but Gu Shenwei pretended not to notice. ¡°The price I need to pay¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a price at all. Just hand over Han Wuxian to me.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, I haven¡¯t met Han Wuxian yet. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s appropriate to hand her over to you.¡±


    ¡°The truth is simple. When I joined the Waning Moon Hall, I took the Blood Coagtion Pill. Han Wuxian¡¯s blood is an ingredient that must be used to make the medicine, so she¡¯s very important to me and useless to you unless you want to use her to control me.¡±


    ¡°No one can control you.¡± Gu Shenwei meant what he said. ¡°And you¡¯ve arrested many people around me.¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Ru, Queen Ju, Xu Yanwei, Red Bat¡­ Well, they¡¯re all in my hands and kept somewhere in the Red Bat. Just think of it as a little game, and when we are allies again, they¡¯ll all be at your disposal.¡±


    Han Fen could no longer bear it, so she came forward and said with a smile, ¡°Let me kill them all. Dragon King, one woman is enough for you ¡­¡±


    The Master Commander¡¯s eyes were so stern that Han Fen couldn¡¯t help but tremble, and her smile vanished. Like a little beast being reprimanded, she flinched and retreated to the back.


    ¡°I told you, it¡¯s just a game. As for what you want to do with these women, it¡¯s your own business.¡±


    This wasn¡¯t his ¡®own business.¡¯ Gu Shenwei clearly knew in his heart that if he wanted to fully gain Lotus¡¯s trust, he had to get rid of those women.


    ¡°What if I refuse to ally with you?¡±


    ¡°Then you are just another ordinary man in the world.¡±


    To fight and be destroyed in chaos was the destiny that Lotus had set for ordinary men.


    ¡°You¡¯ve made one mistake.¡± Gu Shenwei was like a strict teacher who was giving ast evaluation on his favorite pupil, ¡°You created the chaos but you may be not the only one who can benefit from it. ¡®The Nond has lost its ruler, and now everyone has a chance to seize the control.¡¯ Your n is too simple. Dark nights and shadows are a good cover but there are some things that one can never do by hiding in them. What I want is more than killing.¡±


    Han Fen was both surprised and disappointed. If it had not been for the presence of the Master Commander, she would have asked the Dragon King why he had refused such a good thing. She had already clearly told the Dragon King the real intentions of the Master Commander.


    A smile slowly appeared on Lotus¡¯s impassive face, unfathomable but gorgeous. ¡°I¡¯m d that you didn¡¯t lie to me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had told many lies and might tell many more in the future. It was a part of his entire life, but he was not lying at that moment.


    He could have lured Lotus into that tent, but he didn¡¯t.


    ¡°Draw your sword and call out your men. Let¡¯s settle this once and for all,¡± Lotus said proudly, not at all caring that she was surrounded.


    The time Gu Shenwei had been biding for had finally came.

 Chapter 645 - Fire

    Chapter 645: Fire


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    It was June 29th, Year 289 of the Nond calendar. The people of the prairie would always remember this day for years toe.


    The old Khan had died, and the news was spreading. The residents of the Royal Court, who always thought that the chaos would stop at thest moment, had finally given up all hope. Some fled, some joined in the killing and looting, and many more became a sumptuous feast for the chaos.


    In this feverish atmosphere where they were still trying to confirm and find their enemies, the kings lost their coolness and used each other of being the chief culprit of the old Khan¡¯s death, andunched a merciless massacre.


    Two kings died from assassinations. The tribes of King Kuari and King Rizhu became sworn enemies. And another three kings died in the chaos caused by war, sowing more hatred.


    Aside from all the chaos, it was particrly hot that day. Even in the early morning people felt that the air was suffocatingly hot and irritable. Even if there were no chaos of war, many people would have ridden out into the wilderness on the outskirts.


    The mes leaped rapidly from one dry tent to another, and had soon spread from the noble area to the surrounding areas until it finally devoured the entire Royal Court, including even the Khan¡¯s main tent.


    The Royal Court had be scorched earth before noon but the fire wasn¡¯t over yet. It spread into the wilderness for dozens of miles before it finally came to an end.


    The big fire left a deep impression on the survivors, who naturally associated it with the death of the Khan. They even inadvertently distorted the sequence of the events to form the narrative that the Khan had died as a result of the divine fire.


    Countless rumors were flying left and right at the beginning of the chaos. A great mor had gathered around these rumors and the idea of enchantresses was quite eye-catching. Many people believed that not only had they killed the Khan but they had also spread hatred and anger everywhere.


    In the end, the enchantresses failed to fight off the divine fire, and the rumors gradually melded into one consistent story: The Khan was the divine fire of heaven and when he returned to his original form, he took away all the people he liked.


    The image of the old Khan became loftier, and the transition from demigod to god wasplete. The people of the Nond preferred this rumor to the truth and treated it as a fact. From then on, many tribes even burned the living as a sacrificial offerering to the Old Khan every year on that day.


    This rumor was more lethal than the big fire in the Royal Court. The five surviving kings felt the mounting pressure. A monthter, one of themmitted suicide in public to prove that he was a son that the Khan liked.


    In the series of events, few people knew of or followed the skirmishes that took ce in the camp of the Land of Fragrance. Although the female soldiers were inevitablybeled as ¡®enchantresses,¡¯in a few rumors, this special army from a faraway country had also been engulfed in the congration.


    asionally someone would talk about that dual between top-notch experts, and the audience would listen with gusto and thenugh in disdain, ¡°How can a man run while on fire? You are so good at making up stories. The Dragon King is also a mortal. It¡¯s possible if you are talking about the Khan, but the Dragon King¡­ Haha, don¡¯t drink too much. You are already drunk.¡±


    Old Man Mu spared no effort in publicizing the duel but no one believed him. He was very angry because he had seen it with his own eyes.


    The surrounding fire grew more and more intense but it hadn¡¯t yet reached the camp of the Land of Fragrance. Lotus had challenged the Dragon King but at the same time didn¡¯t. She then turned to Old Man Mu and Shangguan Fei instead. ¡°Choose.¡±


    Without saying a word, Old Man Mu poked Shangguan Fei¡¯s leg.


    ¡°Ah, choose now?¡± said Shangguan Fei, flustered, ¡°Can¡¯t I wait until you¡¯re finished?¡±


    Shangguan Fei wouldn¡¯t have said that if he had time to think twice. He was very clever but always became bewildered when he was nervous, and he would blurt out his true thoughts when confused.


    Compared to him, Old Man Mu was much more tactful. He pretended to seriously consider it before firmly saying after Shangguan Fei opened his mouth, ¡°Dragon King, it has always been the Dragon King. Even when I was forced to join the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s side, my heart was still with the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Me too.¡± Shangguan Fei found that he had made a mistake and quickly followed it up with another statement. Feeling that it wasn¡¯t enough, he added on, ¡°Lotus is ruthless, there won¡¯t be a good ending for me if I follow her.¡±


    Shangguan Fei rxed a bit, but when he looked down and saw Old Man Mu¡¯s surprised eyes, he immediately knew that he said the wrong thing again. It was enough to show his loyalty to the Dragon King, but had he offended Lotus for no reason? If the Dragon King was defeated, he wouldn¡¯t even have any room to maneuver.


    It was toote to correct it now. The Dragon King and Lotus had already drawn their swords.


    A few men came out of the tent, who had been waiting for Lotus toe into the trap, but there was no need to hide now.


    Long Fanyun walked in the front with a grandsword in his hand. He had finallye back in time with the reinforcements and lived up to the Dragon King¡¯s trust.


    The opportunity Gu Shenwei had been waiting for was precisely him.


    The most important purpose behind Long Fanyun¡¯s escape from the Royal Court with the me Foal was not to avoid King Rizhu, and neither did he run back to the Western Regions to remind Prince Duodun to guard against the assassination of Golden Roc Castle, but rather to bring in the reinforcements previously arranged by the Dragon King.


    The reinforcements had set out on the east road almost at the same time as the Dragon King, saved Han Wuxian, and then slowly moved to the prairie before waiting for the Dragon King¡¯s orders.


    Gu Shenwei wanted to make sure that Han Wuxian was really under his control.


    Although Lotus had said it very casually, Han Wuxian was rted to her life and death for several years toe and therefore, was a powerful weapon that he could use to bnce out the advantage that Lotus had gained and the hostages she had seized.


    Gu Shenwei had to have a well-thought-out n before he could unsheathe his sword unperturbed. He didn¡¯t want to bear the pressure that the hostage might be killed during his duel with Lotus.


    The two were equal in their martial arts skills, and even the slightest fluctuation in their mind could determine the oue.


    The two struck at the same time, one aiming at the heart while the other targeted the throat. They had learned the same kind of swordsmanship but took different ideas away from the very beginning. The difference had eventually grown sorge that it seemed like they were using two different sword techniques now. The only simrity was that both of them were incredibly fast.


    Shangguan Fei rarely had a chance to stand aside and watch the Dragon King use his sword without taking any personal risks, but he didn¡¯t see anything special about it. ¡°Did they even strike? Who do I feel like they only shook the sword a bit?¡±


    Although the two had been circling around after exchanging one move, Old Man Mu was still fascinated by it. ¡°You know nothing. This is the best sword technique in the world. They are looking for each other¡¯s ws but both of them have no w so they could only shake their swords a bit. Do you know how hard it is to ¡®shake it¡¯? A little more is too much, and a little less is too bad, both are deadly¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s incessant talk was interrupted by Lotus¡¯s sessive attacks.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s face turned pale. ¡°I¡¯m doomed, the Dragon King is going to lose. One, two, three, four¡­ Ah, I can¡¯t even count how many times she¡¯s thrusted out.¡±


    ¡°Fourteen.¡± Old Man Mu¡¯s face turned stiff, not in fear, but in envy.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t the Dragon King make a move?¡± Long Fanyun also came to ask. Amongst all the people, only Old Man Mu could answer this question.


    ¡°He did. You just didn¡¯t see it.¡± Old Man Mu¡¯s eyes were fixated on the two locked in the duel with a gleam of greed.


    He had fought against them before. At that time his power was intact, and not only was he able to escape from their swords but he also sure that he could kill them in a surprise attack. Now, more than a yearter, even if his power was restored to its former glory, he wasn¡¯t sure if he could do it.


    Lotus¡¯s swordsmanship pursued swiftness and fierceness to the extreme. With a heavy killing aura, each of her strokes seemed to be exerted with all her might. Another person might have to take a breath to perform a second stroke, but she had stabbed fourteen times in a row with almost no interval in between.


    With the same kind of sword technique, the Dragon King had gone the other way, and restrained all his killing aura. Lotus attacked fourteen times and he also counterattacked fourteen times. It was just that each stroke he made disappeared before reaching its extreme like an everchanging cloud. Shangguan Fei and others saw the ¡®cloud,¡¯ but only Old Man Mu saw the ¡®change¡¯.


    ¡°How could it be so different?¡± Old Man Mu¡¯s eyes still didn¡¯t blink even as sweat oozed down from his forehead.


    The female soldiers guarding the camp also couldn¡¯t help but look on. And what they saw was much less. They could only see two people jumping and barely touching the ground like two whirlwinds shing into together.


    ¡°There are enemy soldiersing! A lot of people!¡± shouted a female soldier.


    Neither of Gu Shenwei and Lotus could stop, nor did they have time to listen to the cries of anyone else. They had never paid this much attention to each other, only having the other person in their eyes and nothing else.


    Han Fen felt sad for the first time as if a child had realized that her two best friends had gone their separate ways, and she could only follow one of them.


    The choice had already been made. She swung her arms with force, and from her sleeve a thick dark smoke shot dozens of feet into the air which lingered in the air andsted for a long time. Even though it was surrounded by countless mes, it was still clearly visible.


    Old Man Mu, who was the first to react, shouted, ¡°Kill her!¡±


    Long Fanyun swung his sword and rushed out, several sabermen following. Shangguan Fei hesitated a bit and also followed. Old Man Mu moved but his eyes were still on the Dragon King and Lotus. He was really reluctant to stop watching the duel.


    Han Fen was like an experienced conjurer. Colorful smokes came from her sleeves, hemline, mouth, and even from nowhere. Soon the pursuers behind her had fallen into a fog, coughing and hurriedly retreating for fear that it might be poisonous.


    The mboyant smoke formed a circle and surrounded the Dragon King and Lotus. Han Fen then disappeared.


    ¡°It¡¯s the female soldiers of the Flower Camp!¡± The female archers of the Land of Fragrance felt a little relieved, and then dozens of them cheered in unison, ¡°The instructor! It¡¯s the instructor!¡±


    The one thousand female soldiers immediately turned their attention from the smoke and the duel. The instructor Shangguan Ru was the one they cared most about.


    Gu Shenwei and Lotus hadn¡¯t yet reached the level of turning a deaf ear to the surroundings. Upon hearing the word ¡®instructor,¡¯ both of them were surprised and even their sword moves slowed down.


    The swordsmanship that lost its killing momentum was no longer the Death Sutra Sword Technique.


    Old Man Mu sighed but then cheered up. ¡°Good girl has escaped by herself. The bad girl is going to bite the dust.¡±


    Outside the camp came a familiar voice that was not loud but carried far, ¡°Retreat, retreat now, the big fire ising!¡±


    Most people¡¯s attention had been attracted by the Dragon King and Lotus¡¯spetition. Upon hearing the reminder, they finally came to their senses and found that there were mes in all directions which, though still some distance from the camp, would be a catastrophe once it reached the camp.


    The appearance of Shangguan Ru greatly increased the morale of the female soldiers, who jumped down the woodendders, led the horses, and lined up to retreat to the outside of the camp, busy but in good order.


    Old Man Mu shouted towards the center of the smoke, ¡°Stop fighting and start running for your life.¡±


    Both Gu Shenwei and Lotus refused to stop. The sword moves, which had slowed down, soon became deadly again. Both of them wanted to end it today.


    A group of female soldiers tried to rush into the smoke to help but retreated as soon as they got close. A zing fire red up inside the colorful smoke, which crackled and looked very frightening.


    Looking from afar, Shangguan Ru saw two small figures jumping and moving swiftly over the gorgeous fireworks, who seemed less like enemies fighting to the death and more a pair of spirits dancing in unison.


    ¡°Dragon King¡­¡± Shangguan Ru cried out.


    The spirits fell into the mes.

 Chapter 646 - Monks

    Chapter 646: Monks


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Ru had a long dream. When she woke up, she thought that the houseful of monks was still part of the strange dream. Then she saw a thin old monk smiling kindly at her.


    ¡°I know you.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve met before.¡±


    ¡°Oh, at the Stone Kingdom of Xiaoyao Lake. You are Fayan of the Four Noble Truths Temple, also the Martial Uncle of Master Lianhua.¡± Shangguan Ru blurted out a series of titles and immediately came to her senses and sat up from the nket. She was surprised to find that all of these monks were real.


    She was in arge tent and surrounded by monks and nuns either sitting or lying down, all listless. asionally they whispered to each other but they remained silent most of the time.


    ¡°What is this ce?¡± Shangguan Ru was in a daze and could not recall any memories after she had fainted.


    ¡°The forbidden zone of the Northern Royal Court,¡± replied Fayan.


    ¡°The forbidden zone? The Flower Camp?¡±


    Fayan smiled and shook his head, ¡°No, this is the prison of the forbidden zone.¡±


    ¡°Ah.¡± Shangguan Ru bounced up then fell to the ground, aghast. ¡°My internal energy¡­¡± Then she remembered everything.


    She and Old Man Mu had sneaked into King Rizhu¡¯s office and taken out three Bone Shrivelling Pills, but they had been surprise attacked on their way to the camp. ¡°It¡¯s her,¡± whispered Shangguan Ru. She hadn¡¯t seen the attacker but was familiar with the knockout drug. It was basically a modified Indra Fragrance of the Land of Fragrance that could make people lose their internal energy without turning them into the walking dead.


    There was only one person who knew how to make and modify such a drug: Lotus.


    ¡°Why?¡± Shangguan Ru was confused. Then she turned to Fayan. ¡°How did you alsoe to the Royal Court and get locked up?¡±


    Before Fayan opened his mouth, a middle-aged monk standing behind him angrily said, ¡°Who else could it be except for the Khan? He invited us here but after Master said a few words about not indulging in sensual pleasures, he actually listened to the nders of the wicked and said that my Master was the one who was ndering and imprisoned us all, saying that no one would be released unless we provided him with a way to live forever or some sex techniques. We are Buddhist disciples, so how could we know these things? It¡¯s the Taoist priests who¡­¡±


    ¡°Lianqing, you¡¯re being too testy.¡±


    ¡°Amitabha. Yes, Master.¡± Lianqing sat down onto the futon in a lotus position and started chanting a sutra in a low voice.


    Shangguan Ru also remembered this monk who used to be a robber. In order to kill the Dragon King to avenge his brother, he had entered the temple and be a monk but was eventually inspired by the Dharma and became a real monk even though his temper was as hot as before.


    ¡°Your kung fu is very good. Why don¡¯t you run away?¡±


    ¡°Forty-three monks are being held here. I won¡¯t be able to take them all away with me. If I run away, they will get into trouble because of me,¡± Fayan said in a soft tone and didn¡¯t seem anxious at all.


    Lianqing opened his eyes and couldn¡¯t help but interrupt again. ¡°Master is merciful, but unfortunately the others don¡¯t appreciate it at all.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was also aware of this. Although the monks were confined to the same tent, they were not united. They had their own little cliques and didn¡¯t always talk to each other. This was quite different from the image she had in her mind that all monks were in harmony with the rest of the world.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? The Khan couldn¡¯t have been so foolish as to keep the monks and the nuns together.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Lianqing pped his thigh, still unable change the old habits from when he had been a robber. ¡°And he also put you, a pretty little girl here. He¡¯s trying to tempt us into breaking the precept.¡±


    Shangguan Ru blushed. ¡°I¡¯m not a little girl.¡±


    Lianqing put his palms together devoutly and said, ¡°I won¡¯t break the precept for you but I¡¯m not sure about the others. Be careful.¡± Lianqing nced at several monks in the opposite corner with a contemptuous look.


    ¡°Lianqing, do not talk nonsense.¡± Fayan appeared to be quite kind even when scolding his disciple as if he was politely discussing something with the other side. Lianqing, who was very obedient, closed his eyes and restarted chanting the sutra, no longer speaking for a long time.


    The monks who were used by Lianqing came over, but their target wasn¡¯t Shangguan Ru but rather Fayan.


    ¡°Fayan, it¡¯s been a month now. You¡¯d better hand over the secret manual. Saving us from the abyss of misery is also a charitable deed for you.¡± The man who spoke was a tall, thin monk of forty or fifty years old who looked dignified and seemed to have held a high position both before and after he became a monk.


    ¡°Master Kumie, I don¡¯t have the secret manual, and thus I really don¡¯t know how to hand it over. As for how to get everyone out, I¡¯ll figure it out.¡± Fayan had said this many times but the other side just didn¡¯t believe him.


    The monk whose Buddhist name was Kumie sneered scornfully. Lianqing opened his eyes and red at him but didn¡¯t join in the dispute.


    Shangguan Ru, who had learned the Essay of Severing Obsession from Master Lianhua of the Four Noble Truths Temple, had gotten rid of all of her killing desire. Even now, she still recited a chapter of it almost every day. So, she had a rather good opinion of Fayan. Seeing that he was embarrassed, she couldn¡¯t help but defend him, ¡°You are really a boring monk. Fayan is an eminent monk of the Four Noble Truths Temple, do you think he will lie to you?¡±


    Kumie shot a cold nce at Shangguan Ru, ¡°Who are you? What makes you think you can grant him the title of ¡¯eminent monk¡¯?¡±


    ¡°My name is Shangguan Ru. Where did youe from? What makes you think you can force others to hand over a secret manual?¡± Although Shangguan Ru¡¯s murderous heart had been abolished, her pride didn¡¯t diminish by much. She had been depressed for a while after being abandoned by her parents but she had recovered back to normal long ago.


    ¡°This is Master Kumie of the National Temple of the Nond. Show your respect, little girl,¡± a young monk near Kumie said in a hurry.


    ¡°He is Master Kumie, and you must be Master ¡®ttery¡¯? I¡¯ve never seen a monk as obsequious as you.¡±


    The young monk flushed with shame and only at Kumie¡¯s signal did he control his temper.


    ¡°Are you also from the Western Regions?¡± asked Kumie.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Shangguan Ru replied with her head held high. She didn¡¯t like these monks from the very beginning.


    ¡°What¡¯s your rtionship with the Unique King Shangguan Fa?¡±


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t know what to say. Her father used to be the person who loved her the most but had nheless still sacrificed her for nothing in the end. Every time she thought of this she felt heartbroken, so she was very reluctant to mention him.


    Kumie was from the Nond and knew little about the rumors of the Western Regions, but he realized that the woman in front of him must be a niece or daughter of the Unique King. ¡°Young benefactor, you may be not aware of this. Fayan hid the secret manual of immortality somewhere and refuses to hand it over, and therefore, angered the Khan. All of us were implicated, and even the whole of Buddhism might be affected.¡±


    ¡°How could a secret manual of immortality exist? You are a Master and yet you still believe such nonsense?¡±


    The young monk around Kumie interrupted again, ¡°Heh heh, you are from the Western Regions, but have you never heard of Fayan¡¯s ultra long-life? He¡¯s over 140 years old this year. If he doesn¡¯t have a secret manual of immortality, he must be a monster.¡±


    Lianqing red at the young monk but remained silent.


    Fayan revealed a bitter smile. ¡°Honesty does not lie. I¡¯m actually sixty-seven years old this year. I entered the temple since I was little, so maybe outsiders have some misunderstanding about me.¡±


    Instead of saying whether he had misunderstood or not, Kumie lowered his voice and said, ¡°Could the heterodox doctrines of immortality be true? Your honored temple has many manuals; aren¡¯t there any that can help people achieve longevity? Hand them over to the Khan and we will all be free.¡±


    Kumie actually said this sarcastically but Fayan didn¡¯t get it. He took it seriously and thought for a while before saying, ¡°We do have several manuals that can keep people fit and healthy but it can¡¯t extend people¡¯s life. Besides, the Khan is too old to practice them now.¡±


    ¡°When all is said and done, it¡¯s not that you don¡¯t have it. It¡¯s that you¡¯re just unwilling to hand it over.¡± Kumie raised his voice, and the monks and nuns in the tent all cast a disapproving look at Fayan.


    Shangguan Ru was just about to defend Fayan when a middle-aged officer entered from outside the tent. Following him were a dozen or so servants who carried food. ¡°Hey, baldies, it¡¯s breakfast time. Do not rush. Nuns in the front, and monks in the back. Ehh? Howe one of them even has hair? And it¡¯s pretty beautiful. Come over and let me have a look.¡±


    Shangguan Ru blushed crimson. Since she was powerless now, she could only swallow the humiliation. The young monk around Kumie gloated over her misfortune.


    Seeing that his order didn¡¯t work, the officer became angry and strode forward, pushing and kicking all the way, during which several monks and nuns fell down.


    ¡°ying dumb? Let me check.¡±


    The officer reached out to touch her cheek. Shangguan Ru, though she had lost her internal energy, could still exert ten or twenty percent of her bodily movement technique, and easily dodged it.


    The officer didn¡¯t expect that he would miss. After a pause, he waved his arm and continued trying to catch the agile woman. Finally, he did it, though it was just that he had grabbed the wrong person.


    The young monk near Kumie covered his face and embarrassedly looked at the officer.


    ¡°Damn it, damn bad luck.¡± The officer pushed the monk away, spread his arms and said to Shangguan Ru who was several steps away, ¡°No one will eat today unless I have you.¡±


    Although the tent was not small, it still appeared quite crowded with over forty people. Shangguan Ru had dodged several times in a row. She was thinking about how to extricate herself when she suddenly tripped and almost fell.


    The officer leaped forward. ¡°Let me see if you are a cross-dresser¡­¡±


    The officer flew out and fell into one of the big buckets before he could finish the words. Two servants anxiously carried him out but he was already stained with rice grains, and it wasn¡¯t easy to clean the mess up.


    ¡°Who? Who was it?¡± The officer drew his saber and barked viciously. He had clearly seen that it was not the little girl who had kicked him.


    Shangguan Ru also saw it clearly. The person who had saved her was Lianqing.


    Lianqing had experienced a lot of setbacks before he became a monk and because of this, he took the Buddhistmandments very seriously. The officer¡¯s scious behavior made him so angry that he didn¡¯t even care about breaking the precept of abstaining from anger. He clenched his fists and red at the officer, stating, ¡°It¡¯s me.¡± ¡±


    The officer raised his saber but changed his mind on second thought. Lianqing had shown his kung fu before when the monks and nuns were being held, and the officer knew that he was no match for him. So he pointed his saber at Lianqing while retreating to the door, ¡°Good, you lecherous monk, daring topete with me for a woman. I¡¯ll give you the chance, you wait and see.¡±


    The servants left with the buckets. Breakfast was over.


    Shangguan Ru thanked Lianqing, but Lianqing confessed his sin to Fayan. ¡°Master, I failed to hold back again.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s right for a man to give his hand to save others. You are not viting the precepts.¡± Fayanforted his disciple and then turned to Shangguan Ru, ¡°Your lightness skills are very good.¡±


    Before Shangguan Ru could speak, Kumie grunted, ¡°It¡¯s right for a man to give his hand to others. There are over forty people here, but I haven¡¯t seen you save anyone.¡±


    The atmosphere in the tent wasn¡¯t very friendly. Shangguan Ru sat behind Fayan and Lianqing and focused on guiding her internal Qi, hoping to recover soon. One had to take the antidote to remove the effect of the Indra Fragrance before they could use internal Qi again, but Lotus had made some changes to the Indra Fragrance, so the drug effect seemed to have been greatly weakened.


    The officer was back again before noon, and this time a woman hade with him. With a cold face, the woman had an obvious temperament of a killer. Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t know her personally but knew that she was a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall.


    ¡°By the order of the Khan, whoever breaks the Lust Ring in this tent will be released and promoted to be an official of the Nond, and won¡¯t have to be a monk from now on.¡± The woman said, looking meaningfully at Shangguan Ru while the officer lightly shook his head in disappointment.

 Chapter 647 - Breaking the Precept

    Chapter 647: Breaking the Precept


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t believe this was all Lotus¡¯s idea.


    ¡°I want to see your Master Commander.¡±


    The disciple of the Waning Moon Hall stared at her coldly for a moment before saying, ¡°You¡¯ll see her soon.¡± Then she turned away and left.


    The monks and nuns could hardly believe that this was an idea of the Khan¡¯s. Many of them had seen this Prairie Demigod and felt that he would not do such a degrading thing.


    The officer regretfully shook his head. ¡°Now you regret it; seems like I¡¯m better than these baldies after all.¡± Then he turned to everyone else to say, ¡°The higher-ups know that there are too many monks and too few nuns. The so-called problem of ¡®too many monks and too little gruel,¡¯ so I¡¯ll add some ¡®gruel¡¯ for you.¡±


    Proud of his metaphor, the officer chuckled and also left.


    The ¡®gruel¡¯ wasn¡¯t sent right away. The first that arrived was a few buckets of rice. The Nond People didn¡¯t farm so the rice had been imported from the Central ins and other ces and was naturally very expensive. The monks were actually given preferential treatment and therefore, many people believed that the Khan would not force them to break their precept of abstaining from sexual misconduct.


    ¡°It must have been the officer ying tricks all along, and he will soon be stopped. Amitabha, this person will surely go to hell after death¡­¡±


    While the monks and nuns talked about the matter. Shangguan Ru went to the door, lifted the curtain, and found that there were no guards outside.


    They were in a small square camp with a total of seven or eight tents surrounded by a dense picket fence, amongst which the tent that imprisoned the monks and nuns was thergest. Outside was a separate picket fence that only had a single small door.


    Shangguan Ru was standing in what looked like a courtyard and was immediately noticed by the guards outside.


    There were many watchtowers around the small camp, with four in each of the four corners, two on each side, and one in the middle of the camp for a total of thirteen watchtowers. Each watchtower had three to five soldiers in it, who immediately drew their bows and aimed at Shangguan Ru as soon as she walked out.


    She observed it all for a moment and felt a little strange. This ce wasn¡¯t like a temporary ce of detention. It seemed to be the official prison of the Royal Court. How could Lotus have the clout to bring her here? But if the one who had kidnapped her was another person, then what could exin the familiar knockout drugs and the woman with the unique temperament of a Waning Moon Hall disciple?


    Shangguan Ru returned to the tent. She couldn¡¯t figure it out for the time being but deep in her heart, she knew that as long as her internal energy was restored, she could easily escape from this ce and that she could then go to the Second Consort and the Khan to ask for an exnation.


    As for Lotus, Shangguan Ru had always felt that something wasn¡¯t right.


    In this short period of time while Shangguan Ru was out, the monks and nuns in the tent had split on their opinions, which had been simmering for many days and had boiled over today.


    Over thirty monks were gathered near the tent door where it was a little cooler, the head monk of this group being Kumie.


    Eight or nine nuns sat on one side and kept their distance from the monks. One of the nuns waved at Shangguan Ru when she appeared.


    Shangguan Ru smiled back but walked to the two monks in the innermost section.


    Fayan and Lianqing were isted with no one around them within ten steps. Upon seeing Shangguan Ru walk towards them, Lianqing was very happy. But he knew it was inappropriate, so he stood up and said in a low voice, ¡°It¡¯s better for you to sit over there.¡±


    Most of the monks were eating and chatting which was a perfect cover for their talks. Shangguan Ru smilingly said, ¡°That¡¯s all right. I¡¯ll sit here. We¡¯re all from Jade City and we should take care of each other.¡±


    Lianqing was thinking the same and cast a challenging look at other monks.


    ¡°Hey monk, it seems easy to get away from here,¡± Shangguan Ru eagerly said to Fayan. ¡°And the Khan thinks that you have the secret manual of immortality. If you run away, the others will be all right.¡±


    Lianqing interrupted before Fayan spoke. Although he appreciated Shangguan Ru¡¯s choice, he still couldn¡¯t change his tone of banditry, which always sounded full of anger and ferocity. ¡°Do you think that we don¡¯t understand that? But this is the Khan¡¯s territory. As long as he wills it, the whole of Nond and half of the Western Regions will be a prison. If my Master runs away, the monks here will take the me. The Four Noble Truths Temple and even all of Jade City will suffer no matter how advanced your father¡¯s kung fu is.¡±


    Shangguan Ru hadn¡¯t thought so far. ¡°The Khan is so unreasonable. How can he lock up others just because he can¡¯t live forever?¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Lianqing punched the center of his left palm with his right hand, showing his agreement. ¡°But you can¡¯t me the Khanpletely. He did this because he was misled by the viins.¡±


    ¡°The viins?¡±


    ¡°Of course. I was really pissed off. These people are also from Jade City but have no neighborliness at all. It was exactly them who told the Khan that my Master was over a hundred years old and also them that taught the Khan sexual techniques, attracting a lot of evildoers.¡±


    Lianqing looked really angry, his eyes wide open and his fists clenched. Shangguan Ru immediately had an image of a bandit getting furious and ready to kill in her mind. ¡°From Jade City? Do I know them?¡±


    ¡°The weirdos of the Essence Pavilion; you must have heard of them even if you haven¡¯t seen them before, right?¡±


    Shangguan Ru nodded. Unlike the Dragon King and Lotus, she didn¡¯t have an instinctive reaction to intrigue and craftiness. She just felt strange. She thought for a while before finally understanding. ¡°So it¡¯s not the Khan who wants the secret manual of immortality but rather the disciples of the Essence Pavilion who want to force the Four Noble Truths Temple to hand over the martial arts manuals?¡±


    Fayan smiled without a word. Lianqing, however, jumped up over a foot high and scratched his head afternding, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it! Little girl, you really are smart. Why didn¡¯t I think of that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a little girl.¡±


    ¡°Right, how should I address you then?¡±


    She had a lot of identities, some of which she disliked and some that she felt too embarrassed to say out aloud. ¡°You can call me Shangguan Ru.¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Ru. Hmm, that¡¯s strange. So why did the Khan send you here? Do you have the method to achieve immortality?¡±


    ¡°No, no.¡± Shangguan Ru hastily denied it but refused to give the reason.


    The young monk, who had been serving Kumie, felt that the name ¡®Shangguan Ru¡¯ was very familiar. He muttered her name over and over until he finally remembered, loudly eximing, ¡°Shangguan Ru, isn¡¯t that the Queen of the Land of Fragrance?¡±


    The monks and nuns had been held for nearly a month and knew little about what had urred in the Royal Court. They didn¡¯t know the news of the Dragon King¡¯s visit. Upon hearing this, all of them were surprised and simultaneously turned to look at Shangguan Ru, whispering to each other.


    ¡°No, you don¡¯t look like a queen,¡± Lianqing said in a matter-of-factly tone.


    ¡°I was never a queen in the first ce.¡± Shangguan Ru flushed. She didn¡¯t like being stared at by so many people.


    The attentionsted for a quarter of an hour, and when the lunch was over and the servant packed it all up and left, she was finally free because what the officer had called ¡®gruel¡¯ had arrived.


    This was a woman that wasn¡¯t a nun judging from her dress. The escort took off her hood and left without a word.


    Standing in the doorway, the woman nkly looked at the baldies in the tent, her body swaying and seemingly unable to support herself. She looked very tired, and her hair was a little disheveled but it extruded a peculiar elegant disposition and seductive charm. The monks couldn¡¯t take their eyes off of her and even the nuns couldn¡¯t help but be jealous.


    Shangguan Ru was also very pretty but whether she admitted it or not, she still seemed immature and was quite different from this mature and gorgeous new woman.


    The woman seemed to be used to these kind of stares and showed no trace of shyness and timidity. Instead, she grew more and more bewildered. ¡°Where is this?¡± she asked. Then she took a step forward but nearly fell.


    Over a dozen monks stuck out their hands at the same time but also drew back at the same time. Some turned around, some coughed, and others even continued chatting sutras, all feeling very embarrassed.


    ¡°Xiao Fengchai!¡± Shangguan Ru finally recognized this woman.


    ¡°And you are?¡± Xiao Fengchai didn¡¯t recognize Shangguan Ru.


    Several years ago, Shangguan Ru had kidnapped the courtesan of the Retention Alley for a short time. But she had been wearing a mask and was very young at that time and therefore, hadn¡¯t left an impression on her.


    Shangguan Ru was very happy to finally meet someone that she knew. She walked over and helped Xiao Fengchai to Fayan¡¯s side and let her sit on a futon.


    Before Xiao Fengchai could ask, Lianqing suddenly patted his head and said, ¡°Xiao Fengchai, aren¡¯t you the number one prostitute in the Retention Alley of Jade City?¡±


    His voice wasn¡¯t small. Everyone in the room heard him. The monks, who had ducked their heads, secretly peeped while the nuns nced at her with obviously disdainful eyes and even their impression of Shangguan Ru grew worse.


    Unaware of how long she had been in the carriage, Xiao Fengchai still felt shaky but she gradually calmed her mind and looked up at the monk, and coldly said, ¡°So, you¡¯ve been to my ce before? I don¡¯t remember ever having a monk customer like you.¡±


    Lianqing blushed, ¡°Amitabha. Before I became a monk, I visited the Retention Alley a few times but never had the luck to meet Miss Xiao.¡±


    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s fine. I thought that you¡¯d spent all your money on me and had no choice but to be a monk.¡±


    Lianqing¡¯s face turned even redder. Xiao Fengchai¡¯s customers were either rich people or nobles. He was indeed not qualified to meet her but like many men, he also had many fantasies about the most popr woman in the Retention Alley.


    ¡°Amitabha.¡± Lianqing felt that his cultivation over the years was in danger of being destroyed in one day. Ashamed, he turned his back to Xiao Fengchai and chanted sutras in a low voice, not daring to look at her again.


    To those who knew her and helped her, Xiao Fengchai, however, was very polite. ¡°Who are you, little girl? How do you know me?¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Ru. We¡¯ve¡­ met before.¡±


    Thinking of that childish kidnapping, Xiao Fengchai suddenly realized who the little girl was and said with a smile, ¡°I was wondering which little girl would have such gantry. So it¡¯s the Tenth Gongzi of Jade City.¡±


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s face was as red as Lianqing¡¯s. Neither ¡®little girl¡¯ nor ¡®Tenth Gongzi¡¯ were titles that she liked. ¡°How did you get here?¡±


    Xiao Fengchai skillfully arranged her hair and said, ¡°I was also wondering this. Who could have imagined that an experienced person like me would be careless and be drugged in my own house? I don¡¯t know why I was brought here, and no one told me the reason along the way. I¡¯m really confused, to the point that my puzzlement is almost killing me.¡±


    ¡°This is the Royal Court. We are all in the Khan¡¯s prison.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai was dumbfounded. She had tens of thousands of ways to deal with women and money but she still didn¡¯t understand why she would end up being thrown into a group of monks and nuns. ¡°The Khan? If he invited me, I definitely would havee. Why did he kidnap me?¡±


    Fayan, who had been silent all the time, opened his mouth. ¡°I¡¯m afraid it has nothing to do with the Khan. He¡¯s just providing a ce.¡±


    ¡°If it has nothing to do with him, then who kidnapped me?¡±


    Shangguan Ru was even more confused than Xiao Fengchai. If Lotus had kidnapped her out of jealousy, then why did she kidnap Xiao Fengchai from the far-away Jade City? After all, Xiao Fengchai had nothing to do with the Dragon King.


    A young monk at the door suddenly stood up and started tearing his robe, shouting, ¡°I can¡¯t bear it anymore. I¡¯m going to break the precept!¡±


    The monk fixed his greedy eyes on Xiao Fengchai like a hungry wolf.


    Although Xiao Fengchai was confident about her appearance, she didn¡¯t expect that she had such a huge draw. Shangguan Ru¡¯s heart moved a bit and she blurted out, ¡°The rice!¡±


    The young monk was not the only monk who had be restless. Over a dozen monks¡¯ eyes changed. Although the rest of the monks managed to sit quietly and meditate, they weren¡¯t able to stop theirpanions.


    They were all people with a strong degree of self-control who would rather die than act like a fool in public if not having been stimted by drugs.

 Chapter 648 - Committing Evil

    Chapter 648: Committing Evil


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Ru felt more and more that this wasn¡¯t something Lotus would do. Kidnapping and espionage weren¡¯t at all a part of the killer¡¯s style. Yes, the Waning Moon Hall was well-versed in all kinds of fantastic secret arts and knockout drugs, and they made full use of them to kill, sometimes even outdoing the Golden Roc Castle. But it was exactly because of this that they rarely wasted them on anything other than killing.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s impression of Lotus was that of a person with a bottom-line. Everyone said that the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall were all crazy, but throughout all the tough times Shangguan Ru had spent with her in the Land of Fragrance, she hadn¡¯t found anything unusual.


    In spite of the repeated betrayals she had suffered and the fact that those closest to her kept secrets from her, Shangguan Ru still persisted in trusting her own judgment.


    But this was not the most urgent problem at hand.


    There were already twenty or so monks who were on the verge of losing control, each acting as a catalyst for the others. Everyone had the same idea in mind: Why can¡¯t I do it if he can?


    Most of the nuns on the other side were very old and therefore could still keep theirposure, but there were two younger nuns whose hearts were beginning to beat faster and their bodies heating up. They couldn¡¯t help but look up at the monks near the door. Though they didn¡¯t get up, their eyes said everything implicitly.


    But most of the monks were still focused on Xiao Fengchai. These people were disciples of the famous temples and had little contact with the mundane world. Just the word ¡®prostitute¡¯ was enough to make them blush and their hearts beat fast, not to mention the one in front of them who was a real courtesan and looked more gorgeous than the enchantress that asionally entered their dreams.


    Xiao Fengchai¡¯s face turned pale. Although she was a prostitute, she wasn¡¯t humble, and she was even more reserved than many high-born maidens. ¡°Tenth Gongzi, your kung fu is very good, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Shangguan Ruforted her, saying, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t let themy a finger on you.¡±


    Having said that, she was actually unsure about if she could keep her promise. If there were only one to two monks, or even three to four, she was sure she could handle it even if she had no internal energy left. But with so many people grouping up, it was hard to protect herself, let alone others.


    The best course of action would have been to rush out of the tent as the courtyard had more room to maneuver, but the monks happened to have barricaded the door.


    ¡°Masters, it¡¯s time to get up and help.¡± Shangguan Ru could only ask the senior monks of the Four Noble Truths Temple for help. But she was taken aback at what she saw when she looked down.


    Fayan was all right. Though his smile was a little stiff, he looked normal with his eyes closed, still meditating. Lianqing, however, was staring at Xiao Fengchai and Shangguan Ru with his eyes wide open and a posture of a hungry tiger, whose eyes roved over their bodies as he whispered to himself with a low voice, ¡°She¡¯s a prostitute, there¡¯s nothing I can¡¯t touch. This is not the Retention Alley, and there¡¯s no need to worry it about even if I don¡¯t have money¡­¡±


    The monks looked at each other. When one person took a step forward, those next to him would take a step as well and half-like a multi-footed monster, the group slowly pressed forward towards the two women who were in the innermost of the room.


    Perhaps feeling that Shangguan Ru was also trembling in fear, Xiao Fengchai knew that this ¡®Tenth Gongzi¡¯ might not be able to protect her, so she steeled her heart and stood out in front of Shangguan Ru instead. She held her head high and asked, ¡°Who¡¯s in charge here?¡±


    Xiao Fengchai, who had just arrived, hadn¡¯t exchanged much more than a few cursory words with Shangguan Ru and didn¡¯t know what was going on, so she thought that as long as there was someone in charge here she could subdue him.


    No one answered her question. The monks were engaged in a fierce struggle. Like normal people, they had to find a suitable excuse before breaking their precepts and doing evil. The servant monk of Kumie straightened his justifications first, and he pointed to Xiao Fengchai and loudly said, ¡°She¡¯s a whore, a demon that hase to bewitch the world, and we are going to subdue the demon.¡±


    ¡°Subdue the demon, subdue the demon¡­¡± The other monks echoed and shuffled forward a little.


    ¡°If even the Buddha was seduced by the enchantress, then how can we persist? We don¡¯t have the Buddha¡¯sposure, and we are thus forced to break the precept.¡±


    ¡°We are forced, forced¡­¡± The monks were eager to try, leaving only a thinyer of obstacles in their hearts.


    ¡°Women are all demons!¡± Nobody knew who yelled this out, but it was the signal for the monks to rush up in a crowd, falling over one another. Only Lianqing who was sitting besides the two had a favorable position, and therefore wasn¡¯t affected. He jumped to his feet, shouting, ¡°That¡¯s what prostitutes do!¡± Then he stretched out his arms though he tried to grab both Xiao Fengchai and Shangguan Ru at the same time.


    ¡°Amitabha!¡± A thunderous chant rang out, which rumbled in everyone¡¯s ears. The crowd tottered and almost fell. Lianqing¡¯s kung fu, however, was very good and therefore, he was hurt the most, falling to the ground and fainting after a short yelp.


    Shangguan Ru and Xiao Fengchai supported each other and therefore were the ones who stood the firmest in the tent.


    Fayan¡¯s smile wilted, and he began reciting a sutra that all the monks and nuns were unfamiliar with. Its pronunciation was strange and the tone equally dull, but it had the power to directly reach a person¡¯s heart. It was like thunder, sessive and endless, and also like the ocean, wave upon wave, reaching for the sky.


    The monks had never heard of the scripture but Shangguan Ru was very familiar with it. It was precisely the Essay of Severing Obsession that she had learned from Master Lianhua and recited every day. But Fayan¡¯s pronunciation of it was very different from what she had heard before and the effect was also quite different. She could only use it to remove her murderous heart but the old skinny monk could influence others with it, and he could also remove more than just killing desire.


    Shangguan Ru involuntarily followed along in reciting it in a soft voice and gradually calmed down and was no longer disturbed no matter how Fayan¡¯s voice changed.


    Xiao Fengchai was probably the only person in the room who was not influenced by the old monk. She found the chanting of the sutra to be dull and toneless and worst of all, it was incredibly loud. So she was amazed when Shangguan Ru actually began chanting along with the monk. Although she had experienced countless hardships and obstacles in her life, never once had she been so bewildered as now, not even knowing who her enemy was.


    The chantingsted for a quarter of an hour and didn¡¯t stop until the officer burst in with several soldiers. ¡°It¡¯s fxxking noisy, shut up!¡±


    Fayan stopped. Over forty monks and nuns, except for the unconscious Lianqing, all sat upright as if they had been enlightened and became Buddha.


    The officer, who hade with the intention of seeing something unsightly, didn¡¯t expect it to end up like this. ¡°I have to bring more women. I guess these two are not enough.¡±


    The officer left. The monks and nuns started meditating again, none of them thanking Fayan. Shangguan Ru admired the senior monk very much and kneeled respectfully while facing him, trying to say something several times but stopped every time she opened her mouth.


    Fayan slowly opened his eyes and smiled again. ¡°The early deaths of Lianhua and Lianxin really was a great loss to Buddhism.¡±


    Thinking of the Tiger Monk who had helped cure her disease and Lianhua who had taught her the Essay of Severing Obsession, Shangguan Ru suddenly felt sadness well up in her heart and almost burst into tears.


    Xiao Fengchai, who didn¡¯t understand what the monk had said, interjected, ¡°Many thanks to the old monk who knows magic. I¡¯ve seen monks visit the Retention Alley before but I¡¯ve never seen any monks as impatient and lustful as they are.¡±


    ¡°Someone drugged the rice,¡± Shangguan Ru exined in a soft voice.


    ¡°I see. I didn¡¯t know the tricks of the Retention Alley are also popr in the Royal Court.¡± Xiao Fengchai who looked solemn continued sitting on her knees side by side with Shangguan Ru, ready to listen to the eminent monk¡¯s speech. She had already taken Fayan to be the one in charge of the tent.


    ¡°Master has such an amazing technique; why don¡¯t you use it to enlighten the world?¡± Well-versed in the Essay of Severing Obsession, Shangguan Ru was immediately intrigued after finding that it had such a magical effect. It was like someone who had practiced a set of sword techniques for decades and suddenly heard that it had another set of formidable moves, and was naturally overjoyed at the news.


    The unconscious Lianqing happened to wake up at the moment. Hearing this, he was so ashamed that he hid behind his Master and dared not even look at the two women.


    Fayan smiled and shook his head. ¡°People¡¯s mind are alwaysplicated and unpredictable. Each influences may bring unexpected results, and today¡¯s cleansing may be tomorrow¡¯s evil thoughts. And as you¡¯ve just heard, people can still find an excuse to break their precepts even after years of studying Buddhism.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai was more experienced than Shangguan Ru and therefore, was deeply touched by the senior monk¡¯s words. She sighed and said, ¡°It¡¯s not just the monks. This kind of thing happens every day in the Retention Alley. The more sanctimonious they look, the more vicious they are to our sisters. And they often act under the banner of benevolence and righteousness and morality, as if them going out whoring with prostitutes is a great act of benevolence. They always treat us as nothing good or sometimes don¡¯t even treat us as humans at all so that they can justify treating us inhumanly. He who does evil to prostitutes thinks he¡¯s performing righteous acts on behalf of Heaven.¡±


    Fayan nodded. ¡°Benefactress is quite right.¡±


    Spellbound by what the other two were saying, though Lianqing was too embarrassed to turn his head, he could not refrain from interjecting, saying, ¡°There are plenty of people everywhere doing evil deeds with good cause. Just look at those emperors. They obviously want to satisfy their own desires of conquering newnd but always list several serious crimes of the other side and call their opponents worse than pigs and dogs. s, even bandits are the same. Back then, my brothers and I always said that the rich people were heartless and we had to rob them to feed the poor. But in fact, no matter if they were kind or unkind, we would rob them as long as they were rich but powerless. We would hide far away if the ones we met were from Golden Roc Castle or the Meng family. As for assisting the poor, that was a joke. If we gave a beggar a few pieces of silver, we would keep mentioning it for a lifetime.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was shocked to the core upon hearing these words because what the three had just said were strangely simr to that of Old Man Mu, and she had never taken Old Man Mu¡¯s crooked heretical ideas seriously. ¡°There¡¯s a¡­ devil who told me once that there were four levels of viiny in the world. The lowest viins make up reasons for doing evil like what you¡¯ve just said; the average viins are forced by reasons provided by others to justify their actions. For example¡­ revenge; the advanced viins create their own reasons; and the top viins don¡¯t need reasons at all, so these devilsmit all manners of evil¡­¡±


    Lianqing let out a long sigh. ¡°It turns out I used to be the lowest of the evildoers.¡±


    Fayan actually didn¡¯t think this theory was all nonsense and praised instead. ¡°The benefactor who said this is a man of greatprehension, but it¡¯s a pity that the conclusion he drew ispletely wrong.¡±


    ¡°What else can be concluded from these words?¡± Xiao Fengchai couldn¡¯t believe it. She felt that her level was a bit higher than Lianqing¡¯s but hadn¡¯t yet reached the level of needing no reason at all.


    ¡°That benefactor saw that good and evil are inseparably interconnected and therefore believed that doing evil was the root of the world. But what I see is that good will always exist just like how the shadows always follow behind you. Everything has the heart of the Buddha, and that¡¯s what the saying ying down the butcher knife and bing Buddha¡¯ means. If needing no reason is the reason, then what¡¯s the difference between the top viins and the lowest viins?¡±


    Shangguan Ru suddenly understood. She had never thought about Old Man Mu¡¯s words seriously. Now after thinking it carefully, Old Man Mu was actually ¡®making up¡¯ excuses to do evil deeds. It was just that his excuses were moreplicated and more reasonable but essentially they were no different from the lowly viins he had despised.


    ¡°Can the evildoer ever change into a well-doer?¡± Shangguan Ru¡¯s voice was trembling. This was the long haunting secret and expectation of her: ¡®If the Dragon King could get rid of his evil thoughts¡­¡¯

 Chapter 649 - Women

    Chapter 649: Women


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    ¡°Can an evildoer ever change into a well-doer?¡±


    Fayan smiled without answering the question. Shangguan Ru¡¯s enthusiasm gradually dissipated when she realized that the monk had actually answered her question. Since ¡®the good always exists like how the shadows always follow behind,¡¯ it didn¡¯t matter whether the evildoer ever changed into a well-doer; the most important thing was that one could only rely on oneself to discover the good inside their hearts, not external forces and that subsequently meant that even the Essay of Severing Obsession should not be used often, let alone other means.


    Upon unintentionally revealing what was in her heart, Shangguan Ru couldn¡¯t help blushing while simultaneously feeling a bit disappointed. But she was able to quickly regain control of herself and put her shyness aside, saying, ¡°Anyways, we¡¯ve gotta get out of here, everybody.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai was more interested in the topic of flight than the topic of good and evil. ¡°Do you have a solution? Oh right, you¡¯re the Queen of the Land of Fragrance and you have an army. They wille to save you, won¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a queen, just an instructor of a group of female soldiers. They don¡¯t know that I¡¯m being held here and can¡¯te to the rescue even if they want to. As for the solution, there will be one sooner orter.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai revealed an understanding smile. The shaky and bumpy feeling of the long journey was fading and she slowly returned to her charming and graceful bearing as fit for the most popr courtesan of the Retention Alley. Although the whole matter was really odd, since the other side hadn¡¯t killed her right away, there was still some room to maneuver. ¡°Instructor Shangguan, I actually have a n.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Shangguan Ru was very surprised. Lianqing also could not help but turn his head around to look at her.


    ¡°Whoever it is, since he had me kidnapped from far away, will meet me one day. I will ask him to release you and these two masters. As for the others, let them figure out a way themselves.¡± Xiao Fengchai hadn¡¯t intended to save Lianqing but included him in the end for the sake of Fayan.


    Unaware of the reluctance of the other side¡¯s words, Lianqing asked, ¡°That¡¯s your n? Why would they listen to you?¡±


    Without even raising her eyebrows or her head, Xiao Fengchai simply smiled, and Lianqing immediately felt ashamed and lowered his head, which made her following words very convincing. ¡°As long as he¡¯s a man, he¡¯ll agree with me.¡±


    Lianqing waspletely convinced while Fayan didn¡¯t object. Only Shangguan Ru sighed and said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that the one who kidnapped you is not necessarily a man.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai was stunned. ¡°Not a man? Why would a woman kidnap me? Could it be¡­¡± She immediately remembered that she had been kidnapped by the ¡®Tenth Gongzi¡¯ before in order to lure a customer out. ¡°Could it be the Second Brother¡¯s lover?¡±


    Xiao Fengchai¡¯spanion was Meng Mingshu, the second son of the Meng family of Jade City. Upon hearing that the kidnapper might be a woman, the first reason she thought of was him.


    Shangguan Ru still had many doubts in mind and couldn¡¯t answer Xiao Fengchai¡¯s question, but she knew that Xiao Fengchai¡¯s guess was definitely wrong.


    The monks all followed the precept of taking no food after midday so supper was only a bucket of water. However, they were afraid that the water was also drugged and hesitated for a long time until they couldn¡¯t bear it any longer. But they all looked at Fayan while drinking, expecting to receive help from him but reluctant to ask for it.


    Shangguan Ru and Xiao Fengchai were hungry but they were still able to resist it, which actually helped them reduce the embarrassment of going to the washing room. Although there were twotrines outside the tent for men and women respectively, they were extremely rudimentary and smelly. It was so disgusting that on Xiao Fengchai and Shangguan Ru¡¯s first visit there, they returned before they even went inside. And this famous courtesan of the Retention Alley had then wept for the first time since the age of thirteen.


    ¡°This really isn¡¯t a ce for humans. Who the hell kidnapped me!?¡±


    The next afternoon, ¡®more clues¡¯ arrived. ¡®Adding some gruel,¡¯ as the officer put it.


    Three people stood at the door of the tent, bewildered after their hoods were taken off. Just like how Xiao Fengchai had arrived, they had no idea why they hade here.


    The monks automatically stepped aside and concentrated on chanting, fearing that the guards would y new tricks.


    Shangguan Ru felt that the identities of the three neers was both expected and surprising. She recognized two of them, from which she guessed the identity of the third person.


    Xu Yanwei came to her senses first. As she nced through the baldies, her eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°Miss Ru! Howe you¡­ Ehh, Xiao Fengchai? Oh my God, am I back in Southern Jade City?¡±


    Shangguan Hong was so embarrassed that he really wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it, but at the same time, he felt burning hate inside of him. The one who had castrated him was Shangguan Fei but he regarded both of the twins as mortal enemies.


    Frightened, angry, and puzzled, Queen Ju didn¡¯t understand how things like abduction and kidnapping could happen to her. She had never thought that of all the miserable experiences like death, serious illness, and the downfall of her country and home, she would have a humiliating experience like this.


    They sat in a circle and looked at each other, judging and sizing each other up like kung fu experts who were carefully examining their opponents before apetition.


    The atmosphere was a little tense. Xu Yanwei was the only one that could break the ice, so she smiled harder than she had ever done before, saying, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to meet anyone I knew in a ce like this. Let me introduce you all one by one. This is Xiao Fengchai, a famous figure in Jade City. She¡¯s really remarkable. Many men have spent thousands of taels of silver just to see her.¡±


    Although Queen Ju grew up in Jade City, she had lived inside a big mansion in Northern Jade City and to her, the Southern Jade City was as far away as a myth. She had never heard of Xiao Fengchai¡¯s great name and from Xu Yanwei¡¯s introduction, she understood that the other side was a prostitute. She immediately felt contempt for her and skimmed over her without even a nod.


    Xiao Fengchai snorted in her heart but did not immediately strike back.


    Looking at Shangguan Ru, Xu Yanwei was a bit at a loss regarding how she should introduce her. She had never imagined that the two would meet one day. Apart from the embarrassment, she wondered how the Dragon King would react if he were here.


    ¡°I¡¯m Shangguan Ru, the instructor of the Land of Fragrance,¡± said Shangguan Ru of her own initiative.


    Queen Ju¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t move. So this was that legendary ¡®Queen¡¯ who had taken back the entire country from the Dragon King¡¯s hands but always called herself the ¡®instructor¡¯.


    With her head tilted, Xu Yanwei enjoyed herself despite the unfavorable situation and secretly judged the two simrly-aged women as an onlooker.


    Queen Ju was getting bossier. The timid and shy princess had long disappeared. Now she could remain dignified in the face of adversity as if she was humbling herself toe here and that this was an incognito visit to buy over people.


    Miss Ru, who she hadn¡¯t seen for a long time, had changed a lot. She appeared much less sad and depressed than when she was at the castle, and her smile was quite graceful and confident, somewhat seemingly resembling that of a real queen. It was just that she still possessed the innocence of childhood and looked too young.


    ¡®If I were the Dragon King¡­¡¯ Before Xu Yanwei¡¯s mind could drift away, Queen Ju opened her mouth. ¡°The Dragon King often talked to me about you.¡±


    The Queen¡¯s voice was approachable but Xu Yanwei immediately understood that the duel had begun. Queen Ju was lying. Xu Yanwei knew this more clearly than anyone else about how hard it was for the Queen to see the Dragon King even once. Even the ordinary soldiers of the Dragon Army saw the Dragon King more often than her. How could the Dragon King ¡®often¡¯ talk to her?


    Shangguan Ru responded better than Xu Yanwei had thought she would, not showing the slightest emotion. ¡°You must be the Queen of the Stone Kingdom. I really didn¡¯t expect to see you here.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai suddenly realized something, ¡°Wait a minute, all of you are the Dragon King¡¯s women. Did his enemies kidnap you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± Shangguan Hong spoke up for the first time after entering the tent. He had been standing beside Queen Ju and behaved no differently from a submissive servant.


    ¡°Pooh, they wouldn¡¯t have tied you if you hadn¡¯t shamelessly insisted oning.¡± Xu Yanwei bluntly pointed out the truth.


    Shangguan Hong really regretted it. As the Queen¡¯s close aide, he wanted to show his loyalty at the critical moment but didn¡¯t expect that the kidnapping would really seed and that no one woulde to save them.


    The words ¡®women of the Dragon King¡¯ had a subtle effect on both Queen Ju and Shangguan Ru. The two bowed their head and said nothing, but in Xiao Fengchai¡¯s eyes, it was just an intermission before even fiercer moves were revealed next. She had to do something to stop it, so she said to Xiao Fengchai, ¡°That¡¯s strange. What do these young and old baldies have to do with the Dragon King? And what¡¯s your rtionship with the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°I have nothing to do with the Dragon King,¡± the two said at the same time. One of them was Lianqing, who had been sitting behind his Master as an onlooker, and inwardly sighing about the Dragon King¡¯s good fortune in love affairs. ¡°We have been imprisoned here for a long time. It was the Khan¡¯s order, and it had nothing to do with the Dragon King.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai also denied this, saying, ¡°There must be a mistake or there are some other reasons. I have nothing to do with the Dragon King at all.¡±


    Xu Yanwei pursed his lips. ¡°Xiao Fengchai, we used to be in the same trade and neighbors, so you don¡¯t have to hide from me, do you? Can you swear that you¡¯ve never seduced the Dragon King? Can you swear that you¡¯ve never done it?¡±


    Although Xu Yanwei had long since retired from her old job, she was still a little jealous of Xiao Fengchai and didn¡¯t believe that any man could resist the charm of this woman.


    Unannoyed, Xiao Fengchai replied with a straight face. ¡°While living in the brothel, it¡¯s unavoidable that I seize a chance wherever there is merrymaking. But I swear to the Heavens that the Dragon King and I are innocent. He knows who I really love and therefore has always treated me with courtesy. He¡¯s a worthy gentleman.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai deliberately raised her voice in the hopes that the words would reach the kidnapper¡¯s ears.


    Xu Yanwei smiled and proudly nced at Queen Ju and Shangguan Ru before she said to Xiao Fengchai, ¡°Well, we all have someone we love. It happens all the time. You don¡¯t have to care too much about it. Every man will be picky once they have two beautiful women like these two, let alone the Dragon King.¡±


    The Dragon King had actually met Xiao Fengchai before he got married at the Stone Kingdom. Xu Yanwei didn¡¯t care about the loophole in her words as she simply felt that the gap between her and the most popr courtesan of the Retention Alley wasn¡¯t as big as she had thought.


    Xiao Fengchai didn¡¯t want to argue with Xiao Fengchai. She smiled and turned to Shangguan Ru, ¡°That¡¯s right. The Dragon King and Miss Ru were childhood sweethearts. Together, they manged the Kun Society well. The residents of the whole Jade City still remember them.¡±


    Upon hearing this, Queen Ju abruptly raised her head, trying to say something but paused, though her expression had changed. She turned to Shangguan Hong and snapped, ¡°What are you doing standing around here? Go and ask what¡¯s going on and get me a ss of water while you¡¯re at it.¡±


    None of the two tasks was easy toplete but Shangguan Hong dared not object. He nodded and ran to the monks, intending to make up some lies and sneak outter. He knew that the Queen just wanted to vent her anger on him but didn¡¯t really expect anything.


    The four women fell silent, and Lianqing wasn¡¯t aware of theirplicated rtionship and the battle of words at all. He could only think of one question. ¡°Does the Dragon King only have this few women? It seems a bit too few.¡±


    Xu Yanwei immediately said, ¡°Of course not, there¡¯s more, like¡­¡± She held back the name of Luo Ningcha in time. ¡°Lotus. Right, if this is really a kidnapping of the Dragon King¡¯s women, she should be the first to be kidnapped.¡±


    Queen Ju sneered as she revealed, ¡°I¡¯m afraid the kidnapper is exactly her.¡±


    Just then the officer came in and said, ¡°One, two, three, four women,e with me. Someone wants to see you.¡±

 Chapter 650 - Brilliant Idea

    Chapter 650: Brilliant Idea


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    It was suffocatingly hot outside, but this man was wearing a thick coat as if he had a bad cold. It seemed like he didn¡¯t have many days left to live and couldn¡¯t be moved even with four beautiful women standing right before him.


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s women,¡± he said. Except for a slight movement of his lips, the muscles of his face was as stiff as iron. And he indeed couldn¡¯t be moved by the beauties in front of him; his shrill voice and beardless chin had clearly given away his identity.


    The four women who had been at loggerheads just moments ago exchanged a nce. Being in the same dangerous situation made them put aside their disputes for the time being. Shangguan Ru stood out and asked, ¡°You are a disciple of the Essence Pavilion?¡±


    ¡°The pavilion is gone, and there are no disciples anymore.¡±


    Shangguan Ru knew that she was right but what was strange was that this disciple of the Essence Pavilion was alone. His dual-cultivator was nowhere to be found, and the one standing behind him as a guard was that disciple of the Waning Moon Hall. ¡°Don¡¯t you always appear in pairs? Where¡¯s your partner?¡±


    ¡°Dead. He became seriously ill as soon as he entered the prairie, but like the others, his death is also on the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°What does that have to do with the Dragon King?¡± Xu Yanwei stuck out her head and asked. Hearing that the other side was from the Essence Pavilion, she wasn¡¯t that afraid. After all, she had visited them to have her fortune-told before.


    ¡°He killed Immortal Peng and broke apart the Essence Pavilion. He¡¯s the origin of all tragedies, so he has to ept all the consequences.¡± The stiff-faced man looked low in spirits and said his story that should have been full of hate weakly as if he had been forced to do so.


    Xu Yanwei was slightly stunned and didn¡¯t understand the connection between the two matters, but she knew one thing for sure. ¡°Well, let¡¯s say you really hate the Dragon King. So why not just go kill him to avenge yourself? What¡¯s all this about capturing a few women who don¡¯t even know kung fu?¡±


    The stiff-faced man shook his head. ¡°Just killing the Dragon King is not revenge. What goes around muste around, and since he killed the one I love, I¡¯ll just return that feeling to him.¡±


    The Essence Pavilion was located in the City View Alley which was a den of iniquity and even Xu Yanwei didn¡¯t want to ask for more detail. She frowned and said, ¡°In that case, please release me first. The Dragon King doesn¡¯t love me and I also don¡¯t love the Dragon King.¡±


    Faced with the gaze of the other three women, Xu Yanwei was bold and straightforward. ¡°We have to tell the truth, don¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t even met the Dragon King that many times,¡± Xiao Fengchai rushed to say. ¡°My man is Meng Mingshu and he lives in the Northern Jade City. You must know him. Just let me go; he can afford any amount of money.¡± She carefully concealed the fact that she herself was very rich.


    Shangguan Ru and Queen Ju remained silent for a long while and it was Shangguan Ru who spoke first in the end. ¡°I¡¯m the daughter of the Unique King, an enemy of the Dragon King. I¡¯m also the instructor of the Land of Fragrance, a guest invited by the Second Consort.¡±


    Only Queen Ju continued wearing a cold face with her head held high, neither asking for mercy nor saying anything.


    Xu Yanwei sighed inwardly, knowing that the Queen would rather die than openly admit that her husband and wife rtionship with the Dragon King only existed in name.


    The stiff-faced man¡¯s chest heaved. He breathed heavily as if he had been persuaded but when he opened his mouth, he said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. As long as the Dragon King cares about you, it¡¯s enough. Just like the disciples of the Essence Pavilion who¡¯ve died, they might not care about me but I still will avenge them.¡±


    Queen Ju grunted and finally spoke up. ¡°Where¡¯s Lotus? Why didn¡¯t you bring her in? She¡¯s the one the Dragon King cares about the most.¡±


    The disciple of the Waning Moon Hall behind the stiff-faced man said, ¡°Master Commander hates the Dragon King to the core. The only reason she acts courteously with him is that it¡¯s just a disguise. She¡¯s actually waiting for the opportunity to avenge herself. The Essence Pavilion has joined the Waning Moon Hall, and what we carry out are the orders of the Master Commander.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe it.¡± Shangguan Ru took a step forward as she stated, ¡°Lotus would not do such a despicable thing.¡±


    The facial muscles of the stiff-faced man were like dried bacon even when he smiled. ¡°Hehe, ¡®despicable.¡¯ I like this word. Unfortunately, I can¡¯t think of any more despicable means to deal with you so I can only let the monks take advantage of you first. As for the Master Commander, she has something more important to do and doesn¡¯t have time to deal with you herself. But she has given me a list which is actually very helpful. So, forget about her. Your fate is in my hands now.¡±


    The more Xiao Fengchai listened, the more confused she became. She had a vague impression of the name ¡®Lotus¡¯ and only knew that she was a female killer and the Dragon King¡¯s bodyguard, and that she herself seemed to have never met her before. ¡°Wait a moment. Let¡¯s get this straight first. I don¡¯t know anybody who is called Master Commander or Lotus. Why did you put me in the list? You must be mistaken.¡±


    The disciple of the Waning Moon Hall snorted, ¡°What is done by night appears by day. You tried to seduce the Dragon King back in Jade City; do you think no one saw your ugly wriggling in bed?¡±


    Xiao Fengchai was dumbfounded. First, she couldn¡¯t imagine when such a secret thing had been seen. She actually couldn¡¯t control herself after the Dragon King had left. Second, she was a prostitute, and the fact that she had made those poses after failing to seduce the Dragon King was like being a calligrapher who couldn¡¯t show her talent in public and then privately creating her calligraphy works for self-entertainment. How could someone even get jealous of this?


    Xu Yanwei curled her lips, thinking of something to say but holding back.


    Xiao Fengchai quickly adjusted herself and ignored the eyes of the other three women. ¡°Well, now that you have seen it, you should know that the Dragon King never epted me. He didn¡¯t take me seriously at all, let alone care about me.¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t care about you? You are still in charge of transferring the money of the Dragon Army, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s business.¡± Xiao Fengchai couldn¡¯t understand how anyone in the world could be so unreasonable. She and the Dragon King did have an agreement to help him deliver gold and silver but that had stopped for a year before resuming after the fight at the Xiaoyao Lake. But she had never met the Dragon King in person and the one she had been in touch with had always been Xu Xiaoyi.


    The stiff-faced man who hadn¡¯t spoken for a while interrupted the two¡¯s argument, ¡°This isn¡¯t important either. As long as you are still useful to the Dragon King, that¡¯s enough. I want the world to know that the Dragon King can¡¯t protect his own women.¡±


    The conversation ended like this and the four were taken back to the tent.


    For the first time in her life, Xiao Fengchai flew into a rage. Not only had she been kidnapped, but she had also failed to put her invincible seduction techniques into good use, except for that trivial officer who kept winking at her.


    Xu Yanwei was also very angry because all she had done so far was take care of women for the Dragon King, and she had always been polite to Lotus. She didn¡¯t expect that she would also be on the list. ¡°Lunatic, she¡¯s really a lunatic. It¡¯s such a pity I used to be so good to her.¡±


    Queen Ju was lost into her own thoughts with her head lowered when she suddenly looked up and said to Shangguan Ru, ¡°Do you think there¡¯s a problem, too?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Of course there is. As I said, Lotus has gone crazy.¡± Xu Yanwei didn¡¯t understand the meaning of the two.


    Xiao Fengchai suppressed her anger and also came to understand. ¡°Yeah, it seems unnecessary for the zombie face to call us out and just say something like that.¡±


    ¡°He isn¡¯t here just for revenge. There¡¯s something he couldn¡¯t say under the supervision of the disciple of the Waning Moon Hall.¡± Although Queen Ju was still young, her experience had been greatly enriched in the past several years and she was now very good at reading people¡¯s faces. But she still looked at Shangguan Ru instead of Xiao Fengchai when she spoke.


    Xiao Fengchai patted her chest and let out a long breath. ¡°It¡¯s okay, but what does he want? If he wants sex, I can make a sacrifice for everyone once. If he wants money, then I¡¯ll have no choice but rely on you, Xiao Fengchai.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a eunuch; how can he have sex? And I don¡¯t think he loves money either. Those disciples of the Essence Pavilion are all weirdos, and the things he wants must be also very weird.¡± Xiao Fengchai looked around and lowered her voice. ¡°He¡¯lle to us again whenever he wants, so don¡¯t worry about it. These monks are the ones we actually have to be careful of.¡±


    The monks looked quite honest sitting on the futon and doing meditation with their eyes closed. Once in a while, someone would open their eyes but immediately closed them again.


    Xu Yanwei was very clear about what was hidden in the shing eyes and couldn¡¯t help but be a bit worried. ¡°Honestly, I can take on two or three monks but there are so many of them here, you¡¯d better not push me into the pit of fire alone.¡±


    ¡°No one will push you.¡± Xiao Fengchai turned to Fayan and said in an admirable tone, ¡°With this head monk, we won¡¯t be in danger. Can you recite the sutra you did before? Wouldn¡¯t it be better to take precautions?¡±


    Fayan shook his head. ¡°The result will only grow worse and worse. Some people may sever their evil thoughts from now on but some may also backfire. The Essay of Severing Obsession will destroy thest bit of virtue they had ever cultivated. So it¡¯s better to not use it if there¡¯s any other way.¡±


    Fayan was answering Xiao Fengchai¡¯s question but Shangguan Ru felt that he was talking to her.


    Lianqing leaped to his feet and said in a loud voice, ¡°I¡¯ll protect you. I¡¯ll knock out the teeth of anyone who darese near you.¡±


    The threat was so powerful that several monks who frequently opened their eyes dared not to peep again. But Xiao Fengchai, who had seen this robber monk poor self control, didn¡¯t trust his words much and contemptuously said, ¡°What if you lose your reasoning first? Who¡¯s gonna knock your teeth out then?¡±


    Lianqing blushed and rebutted, ¡°I won¡¯t eat or drink so they won¡¯t have any way of tricking me again.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai didn¡¯t trust him much but Xu Yanwei winked at her to signal her not to offend the backer who had voluntarily promised to protect them.


    Queen Ju hadn¡¯t experienced danger and didn¡¯t have any experience of observing men like Xu Yanwei did, so she was the least afraid of the four women. She beckoned Shangguan Hong toe over and said, ¡°Do the monks know who I am?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I already told them.¡± Shangguan Hong respectfully replied.


    ¡°Go tell them again that when I return to my country I¡¯ll build thergest temple in all of Xiaoyao Lake and they will be wee to join it. I¡¯ll make offerings to them and also leave the position of the head monk to them.¡±


    Shangguan Hong followed the order to pass the message. Queen Ju loftily looked around to show that the problem had been solved.


    Xiao Fengchai smiled. ¡°That¡¯s what a queen does. You are so rich that wemoners just can¡¯tpete. But a temple may not be enough. These monks are all like hungry wolves after taking the aphrodisiac. I¡¯m afraid that they are not interested in the offerings. Your Highness, you might as well promise them a brothel.¡±


    Queen Ju¡¯s expression changed slightly. She turned around her head, still refusing to speak to Xiao Fengchai directly.


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t join their conversation but had something in her mind that she had to say. Sitting on her heels while opposite Fayan, she asked, ¡°You are very good at kung fu and also have the will to help others. Why are you willing to stay in prison and watch the enemy strike?¡±


    Fayan¡¯s smile seemed to have never moved and his eyes seemed to be able to pierce into a person¡¯s heart. ¡°Aren¡¯t you willing to stay in the ¡®prison¡¯ and wait for a miracle to happen, too?¡±


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s heart trembled and all the words in her mind turned to dust. For her, the ¡®prison¡¯ was not this tent, but rather the whole world.


    Xu Yanwei didn¡¯t understand what the two were talking about. Seeing Shangguan Ru¡¯s face change slightly, she couldn¡¯t help but sympathize with her and walked over, saying, ¡°What prison? Such a broken ce can¡¯t imprison Miss Ru at all. Monk, if you are really capable, just help Miss Ru restore her power so that she can fly out like a bird and call for the Dragon King and her female soldiers to get us all out.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai just said it casually but Queen Ju and Xiao Fengchai cried out ¡®brilliant idea¡¯ in a low voice at the same time. Then the two of them exchanged a nce, all surprised by this coincidental tacit understanding.

 Chapter 651 - Conditions

    Chapter 651: Conditions


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    What the four women needed most now was a secret ce to discuss their ns but there was no such magical corner in the tent. Their only alternative was the rudimentarytrine outside.


    So, Xu Yanwei went inside while the other three lined up outside. The four of them pinched their noses and discussed for some time until they all turned pale from ack of air. When they returned to the tent like that, the monks and nuns felt uneasy as they thought that there was something wrong with the food again.


    Lianqing knew that they were nning an escape so he looked at Shangguan Ru anticipatorily, hoping to be a part of the n. But before he could say anything, Xu Yanwei asked him a question. ¡°Why are the nuns¡¯¡­ things so stinky? Aren¡¯t you all vegetarian?¡±


    Lianqing was shocked and speechless for a long time. If he was still a robber, he could answer this question easily by either scolding her rudely or telling a dirty joke, but he was a monk now and had to take the question seriously. Scratching his head, he thought for a while but failed to think of any rejoinder like the ones in the ssics he had read, so he said, ¡°You don¡¯t know anything. The monks¡¯ are way stinkier.¡±


    Xu Yanwei waved her hand in front of her nose, trying to drive away the imaginary stink. ¡°I can¡¯t wait any longer. Let¡¯s do it now.¡±


    Lianqing was surprised yet again. ¡°Do it now? You¡­¡±


    Three of the four women didn¡¯t know kung fu, and one of them had lost almost all of her internal energy. Lianqing couldn¡¯t figure out how they would escape.


    But he could only be a bystander.


    Queen Ju called Shangguan Hong over and asked, ¡°Are the monks all obedient?¡±


    ¡°Yes, they all revere Her Majesty very much, saying that it was a great feat of merit and virtue that Her Majesty is willing to propagate the Dharma.¡±


    Queen Ju already saw a note of respect in the eyes of the monks and she just wanted to confirm this with Shangguan Hong while also using this chance to indirectly announce it to the other three women. ¡°Good. Now that I¡¯m in distress, I need thefort of the Dharma the most. I hope that they will recite sutra to me, and the louder the better.¡±


    This requirement was very easy to achieve. These monks would quietly chant sutra when they had nothing else to do, not to mention when the Queen had appointed them to do so. It only took some time to select which sutra to chant. In the end, Kumie made the decision and all the monks started chanting the Vimkirti Sutra.


    Lianqing was disdainful at first but when he saw his Master Fayan following along with the crowd, he also sat down and chanted with a voice louder than anyone else¡¯s.


    Queen Ju, with her hands sped, also followed in chanting in a low voice.


    This trick worked well, and Buddha soon helped her achieve her true purpose.


    The officer rushed in and shouted, ¡°Quiet down you baldies. It¡¯s really a waste of money to keep you all alive. I could have bought as many good horses as you all with the money I¡¯ve spent on rice. Why are you chanting sutra in the middle of the night? Are you courting death?¡±


    The chanting abated a little but rose soon again. Seeing that the voice of the chanting would annoy the warden, the monks, long trapped and humiliated, had even more motivation to chant now.


    The officer lifted his leg and was just about to kick a person when Shangguan Ru went forward and said, ¡°I want to see the person in charge here.¡±


    The officer put his foot down and looked at her suspiciously. ¡°That¡¯s me. So, you want to talk to me alone? My tent is morefortable than this one.¡±


    ¡°I want to see the man of the Essence Pavilion.¡±


    The officer paused for a moment before asking, ¡°You mean the immortal master? Why would he have time to see you? Be a good girl ande with me.¡±


    The officer reached out to grab Shangguan Ru¡¯s arm, but Shangguan Hong, who had been sitting down on his knees with the monks, suddenly leaped out, tackled the officer, drew his saber, andid it across the other side¡¯s neck.


    Shangguan Hong didn¡¯t really want to save his half-sister, but he didn¡¯t dare disobey the Queen¡¯s order.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do anything stupid!¡± shouted the officer.


    Seeing the matter was now significant, the monks all shut up and gave way.


    ¡°Now we can see that immortal master?¡± Shangguan Ru, who didn¡¯t like to kill, was d to take a small revenge on this vulgar officer.


    ¡°If youy a finger on me, you¡¯ll¡­¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll still be fine. Will the Khan and the immortal master kill for taking a lowly warden¡¯s life?¡±


    The officer stammered, at a loss for words, and when he opened his mouth again, his voice had softened. ¡°The immortal master doesn¡¯t live here. Where can I find him?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s your business. If you really don¡¯t know, you can send someone to pass on a message.¡±


    ¡°Fine, you win. Why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier that you just want to send a message? Could you move the saber away first?¡±


    Shangguan Hong looked at the Queen while still pressing down with his saber.


    ¡°We have a few requests. First, a distinction has to be made between men and women, and monks and nuns. We need separate tents.¡±


    Before Shangguan Ru made the second request, Xu Yanwei rushed to say, ¡°There must be a bed in the tent. I can¡¯t sleep on the ground.¡±


    ¡°I need to bathe and change my clothes. It¡¯s stinky now.¡± Xiao Fengchai raised her sleeves and sniffed at it, showing a look of disgust.


    ¡°I need at least one maid.¡± Queen Ju actually had two people around her but Shangguan Hong was a eunuch and it was inconvenient to order him around sometimes. Nominally Xu Yanwei was a servant, but her status was almost at the level of her lord¡¯s, and she might help support her lord at most and wouldn¡¯t do anything else.


    ¡°Clear thetrine outside and have a chamber pot in the tent,¡± Xu Yanwei added.


    The four of them continued listing requirements until no one could remember how many requests they had made. One of the nuns was encouraged and also requested in a low voice, ¡°We need a fan that everybody can take turns using; it¡¯s too hot here.¡±


    The officer, who was in a daze and could hardly remember any of the requests, frequently nodded and said, ¡°All right, I¡¯ll take the message. Let me go now.¡±


    ¡°You are a hostage. We can¡¯t let you go. Just order your men to pass on the message.¡±


    This was the most humiliating moment for the officer. Over a dozen soldiers rushed in and were surprised and amused at the scene because these monks had always been very obedient and there was almost no need to supervise them. The prison guards, therefore, had be careless. No one had expected that the four women would cause such trouble as soon as they arrived.


    The officer sat on the ground and coldly ordered the soldiers to make the listed requests to the immortal master. It wasn¡¯t until he snapped at them that one clever soldier finally understood what he really meant and left the tent in a hurry.


    The two sides were caught in a standoff now.


    Queen Ju asked the monks and nuns to continue chanting the sutra. The Sanskrit chanting started again but in a much quieter voice.


    ¡°This is your n?¡± asked Lianqing in a low voice.


    ¡°Just wait and see,¡± Shangguan Ru whispered. ¡°If anything happenster, will you help me?¡±


    Lianqing nced at his Master before nodding.


    The time for him to offer help came soon after. That soldier didn¡¯t go to look for the immortal master at all. Instead, he summoned fourpanions who gathered outside the tent and then secretly went to the back. They cut out an opening with a sharp knife and swarmed in, nning to take back the hostage.


    Lianqing had endured for many days and finally had his chance to let off some steam. Fortunately, he still remembered that he was a monk and didn¡¯t act too ruthlessly though he still beat the hell out of the intruders. Before the soldiers in front of the door could react, the women were holding several more hostages.


    The revolt in the prison couldn¡¯t be resolved. And in the end, the soldiers had no choice but to report to their superiors. In the second half of the night, a noble officer who was very polite came to the tent. He first expressed his shock and surprise regarding the practice of keeping the men and women together and also the living conditions of the prison, iming that this wasn¡¯t the Khan¡¯s intention at all. Then he carefully noted the tedious demands of the women, and said that he would try to satisfy them all.


    The revolt which was aimed at improving the living conditions had seemed very dangerous in hindsight, but it was fairly unimpressive in that moment. The soldiers had tried to save their people only once and then did nothing else. Most of the time it was verbal confrontation and waiting. In the end, Shangguan Hong even removed his saber away from the officer¡¯s neck.


    Except for the officer who was worried about his own future and refused to talk while maintaining a livid expression, even the captured soldiers joined in on the chitchat. ¡°This Monk is really strong.¡± was the phrase they said the most frequently.


    The noble officer returned in the early morning and fulfilled most of the requirements of the four women. They could have a separate tent, the nuns could have another, but the monks would still be kept together. Thetrines would be cleaned every day and bath water would be supplied once every three days. In addition, the lecherous officer was also transferred out and reced with an officer who worshipped the Buddha.


    This was a great victory, and the mutual trust between the four women had considerably increased. Queen Ju even spoke directly to Xiao Fengchai now, though her request for a maid had not been fulfilled. The officer did send an old biddy, but Queen Ju would never allow someone like that to touch herself.


    The victory also made them believe that the so-called immortal master, the zombie-faced man of the Essence Pavilion, must have other ulterior motives. Everyone had their own ideas in mind but none of them were willing to speak out about it, so they just kept guessing wildly.


    The immortal master came at night when the four had bathed, changed into new clothes, felt at ease, and were willing to ept any conditions as long as they were not too excessive.


    The zombie-faced man was still wearing thick clothes and his voice was faint and weak, but this time there was no disciple of the Waning Moon Hall standing nearby so he could get straight to the point.


    ¡°You are those who were called by the Master Commander to be taken, and I can¡¯t let go of any of you.¡± He drew a bottom line for the negotiations first.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to release anyone but don¡¯t hurt people again. It must have been your idea to put aphrodisiac in the rice to try to force the monks to break their precepts?¡± Xu Yanwei snorted.


    ¡°It¡¯s amon trick in City View Alley.¡± The immortal master neither denied it nor did he think it was going too far. ¡°It won¡¯t happen again. You can rest assured and eat and drink freely now.¡±


    The four looked at each other until finally, it was still Xu Yanwei who spoke out. ¡°There¡¯s no need to hide it from us. Just list your conditions. We may or may not agree.¡±


    The immortal master¡¯s eyes swept back and forth and finally stopped on Shangguan Ru, ¡°You have the first seven chapters of the Daoless Divine Power.¡± Then he turned to Queen Ju and said, ¡°You have the eighth and ninth chapters.¡±


    ¡°You seem to know everything,¡± Queen Ju coldly said. Those two chapters of verses were one of her most important assets and would not be easily given to anyone.


    ¡°As for you two.¡± The immortal master looked at Xiao Fengchai and Xu Yanwei before saying, ¡°You are useless at the moment.¡±


    Xu Yanwei raised her eyebrows in anger. She wanted to say that she was very useful but on second thought, shut her mouth in time.


    ¡°I need the Daoless Divine Power of the both of you.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re trading for it with this?¡± Queen Ju pointed to the humble tent, full of disdain.


    ¡°I can¡¯t let any of you go but I can spill the beans.¡±


    The hint of the immortal master couldn¡¯t be more obvious. Queen Ju¡¯s heart moved a bit but couldn¡¯t help but take a look at Shangguan Ru, wanting to see how she would answer it.


    ¡°We need to consider this.¡±


    The immortal master hadn¡¯t expected to receive the manual of the divine power at once. He walked towards the outside while saying, ¡°I¡¯m not in a hurry. Just make more requests if you have any, and I can meet all of them as long as I don¡¯t have to let anyone of you go.¡±


    They actually couldn¡¯t think of more requests at the moment, but Shangguan Ru suddenly became excited and said, ¡°Get me a jar of good wine.¡±


    She needed to get drunk and then figure out a way to recover her internal energy.

 Chapter 652 - Drunkenness

    Chapter 652: Drunkenness


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    ¡°The Dragon King never drank.¡±


    Looking at Shangguan Ru who had drank almost half of the pot of wine, Queen Ju coldly reprimanded her. But her words couldn¡¯t hurt the other side¡¯s feelings at all now.


    The taste of the wine was quite hot and coarse. Queen Ju did not drink, and Xu Yanwei and Xiao Fengchai had given up after a few sips. Shangguan Ru, however,ined about ack of fun as she spat out with her tongue.


    She was in a perfect state: intoxicated yet sober, cognizant enough to feel all the good feelings and numb enough tough at the hurtful words of Queen Ju.


    Shangguan Ru held the wine pot alone and went back to the original big tent, where there were only monks living. The monks smelled the alcohol and all of them became flustered in their rush to make way for her. She went straight up to the two monks of the Four Truths Temple and asked, ¡°Monks, are you interested in drinking?¡±


    Fayan¡¯s smile was bigger than usual but Lianqing anxiously waved and hid his hands in his sleeves, pushing Shangguan Ru outside. ¡°Ridiculous, it¡¯s really ridiculous. How old are you? Such a heavy smell of alcohol¡­¡±


    Out of the tent, Lianqing sped his hands, saluted, and sighed, ¡°Little girl is really bold and forthright. It was worth getting to know and making friends with you. If it had been before¡­ s, please do note again. My ten years of cultivation has been ruined by the smell of the wine.¡±


    ¡°Ehh, haven¡¯t you only been a monk for two or three years?¡± Shangguan Ru¡¯s mind was still clear.


    ¡°My Master said that I have the root of wisdom and I had been a monk for ten years in my previous life, so¡­ s, Amitabha, what kind of wine is this?¡±


    Shangguan Ruughed and left, letting Lianqing keep his ten years of cultivation of his previous life.


    But she did not want to drink alone, and also did not want to go back to the tent to listen to Queen Ju¡¯s sarcasm, so she held the pot and turned around on the spot, walking towards the soldiers¡¯ tent. She shouted to the archers on the watchtower when she was halfway there, ¡°Come down and have a drink.¡±


    Over a dozen arrows were immediately pointed at her. The soldiers looked at each other and none of them wanted to be the first to shoot.


    The soldiers who were resting in the tents all came out after hearing the voice. Looking at the half-drunk little girl, they all couldn¡¯t help but smile.


    Shangguan Ru also smiled. This wasn¡¯t the first time she had gotten drunk, and also wouldn¡¯t be thest time. ¡°Come on, it¡¯s my treat.¡±


    The soldiers all looked at the new chief.


    The new chief, the only one who didn¡¯t smile, surveyed the tents where the prisoners lived before saying, ¡°What kind of trick are you ying? No one is allowed to go over there. There may be a trap.¡±


    ¡°Haha,¡± Shangguan Ruughed out loud, lifted the wine pot with both hands and gulped down a mouthful before saying, ¡°Everyone says that the men of the Prairie will drink whatever winees to them. You are really disappointing.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s just a little girl¡­¡± Some of the soldiers defiantly argued.


    ¡°Can she get us all drunk?¡± More soldiers were ready to try.


    The chief grunted and turned back to the tent.


    Seven or eight soldiers went forward, and each of them produced a wooden bowl from their bags and looked at Shangguan Ru with a smile, feeling a bit embarrassed.


    Shangguan Ru filled the bowls with wine and finally lifted the wine pot to her ear and shook several times, smiling, ¡°Oops, there¡¯s only a little left. It seems that we can¡¯t fully enjoy ourselves.¡±


    The soldiers did not care. One of them drunk up first, smacked his lips and said, ¡°Good wine. Share the wine and drink as you like, that¡¯s how we¡¯ll enjoy ourselves to the fullest.¡±


    The crowd held a bowl in their hands and drank it up all at the same time.


    Shangguan Ru threw away the wine pot, her body already swaying a bit. ¡°I owe you one. I¡¯ll make up for itter.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll pay you back.¡±


    Seeing that the prisoner and the prison guards¡¯ little wine banquet was about to end, the chief came out of the tent with a wine jar under each arm, which was much bigger than the one that Shangguan Ru had brought. Then he said with a cold face, ¡°The people of the Nond are not so stingy, and we¡¯ll pay you back now. Those who can¡¯t drink much walk away now. Do not let the little girl embarrass you.¡±


    No one would admit their drinking capacity was small. The chief ordered someone to bring out some clean bowls. The host and the guest then stood drinking in the courtyard. At first, it was a bit dull but after drinking two bowls of wine, the soldiers quickly reached the same state as Shangguan Ru, talking andughing, and some were even singing and dancing.


    ¡°Drinking wine without meat is like¡­ is like¡­¡± A soldier could not think of anything to finish hisparison so Shangguan Ru helped him. ¡°It¡¯s like a steed without a saddle, a hero without a treasured sword, a beauty without a dowry, a king without a counselor, a general without a soldier, or¡­¡±


    ¡°A woman without a man.¡± The one who said this was kicked and punched and bore the burden of going to a nearby camp to ask for meat.


    The prison in the forbidden zone covered arge area which included over a dozen camps and kept many prisoners. The camp where Shangguan Ru was imprisoned was actually the best one.


    The soldier who went out to get meat soon finished his task and brought back a leg of beef and four legs ofmb which were all prepared and ready to eat, with four curious soldiers following him.


    The soldiers were all experienced and they quickly built a simple rack with their long spears and hung those five chunks of meat. Then they took out a knife and sliced the meat of to eat. Shangguan Ru also ate a little but continued to drink most of the time.


    Seeing this, the soldiers on the watchtowers protested and requested that the chief should treat them equally by having them take turns to guard and drink.


    So the banquet in the courtyard became even more lively. Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t remember how many toasts she had made and also didn¡¯t remember what she had said or heard. But she was very happy because everyone was very friendly to her. They were prison guards and prisoner, and also at the same time, hosts and guest. There was no such loyalty as master and servant, and neither was there any of the so-called betrayal either.


    The two pots of wine were soon finished off, and the man who went out to borrow wine brought back more soldiers.


    By the middle of the night, there were already eighty or ny people gathered in the little camp. The ones who cameter didn¡¯t even know why the party started. When they saw a little girl drinking like a man in the crowd, they were all stunned. But after only a bowl of wine in their stomachs, they all treated her like a close friend.


    This was about the time when the previous officer of the camp came, who was also holding a small pot of wine. ¡°What a crowded party! Count me in!¡± He hade as he had heard that there was wine and meat being served here, though he didn¡¯t expect to see Shangguan Ru here. Stupefied, he thenughed, ¡°So, you like drinking. Why didn¡¯t you say so earlier? Come, apany me in having a few drinks.¡±


    Since she was drunk, it took Shangguan Ru a long while to recognize who the person was in front of her. Then she pointed at him and said, ¡°You are not good, bullying women. Definitely not a good man of the Prairie.¡±


    The drunkards in the camp were all in high spirits, and a few slices of mutton and beef was no longer enough for their appetites. Full of energy, they were ready to fight each other. Shangguan Ru¡¯s words had provided them with a perfect opportunity to let off their steam.


    The officer reached out with his hand but suddenly found that the eyes of the people around were not right. He hurriedly took three steps back and said, ¡°Hey, calm down. Do you want to offend my superior?¡±


    The new chief of the camp forced his way out of the crowd and said with a strong smell of wine, ¡°What kind of superior are you? A woman-bully, and an ass-kisser who can¡¯t even ride a horse properly? I¡¯m gonna offend you today.¡±


    The officer¡¯s face paled, and he suddenly turned around and ran desperately towards the camp gate. An arrow swished past his ear and then he was kicked in the butt. He was being treated like a fugitive.


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t see the whole process. She fell down but didn¡¯t fall asleeppletely. And there was a joyful uproar in her ear as if many people were passionately urging her to drink again, ¡°Have another bowl of wine¡­¡±


    When she opened her eyes again, she felt a splitting headache and was limp as if she had been torn into pieces, and then barely glued back together by a crude craftsman. ¡°Am I dead?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Almost.¡± said a disgruntled voice.


    Shangguan Ru finally recognized the person in front of her, ¡°Where is this?¡±


    ¡°Where else could it be? The old ce.¡± Xu Yanwei peevishly said while holding a silk handkerchief in her hand. She was carefully wiping Miss Ru¡¯s forehead.


    This was the tent that had held those monks. Shangguan Ru was lying in the very inside portion with her head resting on Xu Yanwei¡¯s legs. Five steps away sat the smiling Fayan and Lianqing with a look of reverence.


    ¡°How did we get back here?¡± Shangguan Ru wanted to sit up but was pinned down by Xu Yanwei. ¡°How do you have the brass to even ask? You were dead drunk, and if it wasn¡¯t for me, you¡¯d be trampled to death by a bunch of Nond men. And no one was willing to take you in except for these kind-hearted monks. Otherwise, you¡¯d have slept with a bunch of stinky men and what would happen if the news got out? Now you¡¯d better lie down for a while. You are a youngdy, and even the bitches of the Retention Alley¡­ I never saw you drink so much in the castle.¡±


    Shangguan Ru stuck her tongue out and smiled, then closed her eyes and fell asleep again. It was a sound sleep, without noise or nightmares.


    Xu Yanwei looked down at the delicate jade-like face and wiped more gently, suddenly thinking that she was really lucky to not be in a rtionship with the Dragon King. Looking at his women, none of them were happy, or even normal.


    Shangguan Ru woke up in the afternoon and felt much better. Fayan and Lianqing epted her thanks but another group of monks red at her. The tent was filled with the smell of wine and probably wouldn¡¯t dissipate for two or three days.


    The effect of thest night¡¯s impromptu feast was great. As soon as she left the tent, Shangguan Ru found that there were many soldiers in the camp, many of whom smiled at her with a bruised face but dared not speak.


    ¡°Howe the people from the other camps were left behind?¡± Shangguan Ru felt very strange.


    Xu Yanwei held the youngdy back and really wanted to pat her to wake her up. ¡°Obviously it¡¯s to prevent them from letting out the secret. I don¡¯t know what to say. You just focused on drinking and didn¡¯t even look for someone to pass along a message. If the Dragon King knew that we are here, he¡¯lle right away to save us.¡±


    Shangguan Ru knocked herself on the head, and eximed, ¡°What an idiot I was to forget all about it.¡±


    The young noble officer, who had once negotiated with the four women, came over, followed by two armed soldiers. ¡°Pleasee with me, Instructor Shangguan.¡±


    Xu Yanwei stood in front of Shangguan Ru like a petite and aggressive female bird. ¡°What for? If you dare to touch Miss Ru, the Dragon King will rip out your heart and lungs and feed it to the dogs.¡±


    The noble officer smiled, ¡°I dare not touch yourdy. Even without the Dragon King, the soldiers here can beat me half-dead. The man they beat upst night will never be able to walk again.¡±


    Xu Yanwei had watched the whole incident herselfst night so she moved aside a little. Shangguan Ru, however, didn¡¯t remember much about it. She stared at the officer for a moment before saying, ¡°Did we have a drink togetherst night?¡±


    The noble officer¡¯s face flushed a little, ¡°Two bowls.¡±


    ¡°Pfft.¡± Xu Yanwei wouldn¡¯t let Miss Ru be fooled by a man. ¡°Two bowls of wine and you got as drunk as a madman? I got you out of his handsst night.¡±


    The noble officer¡¯s face turned even redder. Shangguan Ruughed aloud, thinking that the scene must have been very interesting.


    Their destination wasn¡¯t far away, just in another tent of the camp. The soldiers withdrew but Xu Yanwei was determined to not leave, and the noble officer didn¡¯tpel her to do so.


    ¡°My name is Azheba. I hope you will not ept any requests from the immortal master. I will find a way to get you out.¡±

 Chapter 653 - Advantage

    Chapter 653: Advantage


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Azheba was from a small tribe, one of the few families not controlled by the ten kings of the Nond. By convention, he had joined the Court Attendants Army of the Khan at the age of sixteen and after serving for eight years, was appointed to the position of centurion in a prison in the forbidden zone. The position was neither high nor low; it was more relevant that the position was far away from the core power structure, which meant that he had actually been relegated.


    Without a strong backer or a strong rtionship with the powerful, any lower noble like Azheba had almost no chance of getting promoted. Azheba himself had served at the prison for over a year now, and in just another year, he would be able to end his term and return to his tribe. Because he hadn¡¯t made a name for himself in the Royal Court, his future was bleak even when he did go back to his own family.


    Azheba didn¡¯t want to disappear into nothingness like this. He had made a bunch of friends who were all young men without an influential family background. They also felt the unfair treatment of the nobles in the Royal Court and were worried about the future of the Prairie.


    Aside from the lords who were fighting for the throne of the Khan, they were one of the few people who dared talk and criticize the Khan. ¡°He¡¯s very old now and more interested in women and longevity than ruling the country. The Nond needs a young leader who is dynamic and capable of breaking the shackles.¡± These were their core views.


    However, King Kuari, the youngest of the ten kings, did not receive their allegiance. ¡°King Kuari is only young on the surface. His heart is as rotten as the old men¡¯s.¡±


    So this group of young people had chosen their own leader: Prince Duodun.


    Strictly speaking, they didn¡¯t have a clear orplete n. Everyone worked for Duodun ording to their own understanding and ability. Due to their low positions, their efforts had attracted little attention from any of the other forces.


    Azheba had been moved by Shangguan Ru and felt that she could be an important asset to the Prince in the future.


    At first, she was just a pretty woman that had suddenly been dumped into a prison from out of nowhere, and though she was the ¡®Queen¡¯ of the Land of Fragrance, it seemed like her title was a favor from someone strong. It was not until the banquetst night that Azheba realized that this little girl, who had been so intoxicated, had a natural charisma for leadership, and that her acquiring the Land of Fragrance was no coincidence.


    This changed his opinion of the one thousand female soldiers stationed at the Royal Court, and many more in a farawaynd, as they were no longer just ornamental flowers, but rather barbed weapons.


    The female archers of the Land of Fragrance had helped the Dragon King defeat the Golden Roc Army. This irrefutable fact, which had been spread by word of mouth, had be an absurd rumor after trekking mountains and rivers before arriving at the dragon court. Azheba, however, saw the hidden authenticity in the rumors from Shangguan Ru.


    He exined to her the small group¡¯s view of the situation and their ideals about the future while taking extra care to avoid mentioning any names, especially Duodun¡¯s. In the end, he said, ¡°The masters are one of thergest pest swarms on the prairie. If we let them continue controlling the Khan, the Nond is not far from falling apart. I don¡¯t know what he wants from you, but I don¡¯t want him to seed.¡±


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t expect that her past-time of drinking to relieve boredom would have such an effect. But she still felt a bit dizzy at the moment and therefore did not immediately respond to the other party¡¯s offer. Xu Yanwei, however, widened her eyes and asked, ¡°We are more unwilling to let the zombie-faced men seed. Honestly, can you really get us out?¡± She had heard nothing else clearly except for the words ¡®get you out¡¯.


    ¡°There¡¯s always a way.¡±


    ¡°It should be simple. Pass the news to the Dragon King, someone will naturallye get us out, and then all the credit will go to you.¡±


    Azheba bitterly smiled while shaking his head. ¡°It might have been possible a day ago. But now the whole prison area is sealed off. There are at least two passes outside the camp that can¡¯t be bypassed. So I can¡¯t even send out a message. And I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be easy for anyone to save people from here, even for the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°He always has a way,¡± Shangguan Ru casually replied before suddenly realizing that she had never felt panic ever since she was caught. It was because she had a deep faith in him. From when he was Servant Huan to the Dragon King, he had saved her many times.


    Azheba coughed twice before he continued. ¡°Actually, I have another way. Just report this matter to the Khan. How can the Nond treat an honorable guest like this? The Khan will definitely set you free and then punish the Immortal Master.¡±


    ¡°You just said that the masters control the Khan, but how can you be sure that the kidnapping is not the Khan¡¯s intention?¡± Xu Yanwei asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s not just the masters but also the Waning Moon Hall. How would they collude with the masters?¡± Shangguan Ru asked as a followup.


    Azheba could not answer any of her questions. After pausing for a moment, he said, ¡°I¡¯ll get you out of here either way. But before that, I¡¯ll try to make your situation morefortable. Regardless, I hope that you won¡¯t give it to him no matter what the Immortal Master wants.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Xu Yanwei stood in front of Shangguan Ru, ¡°We know what we should do and who¡¯s good and who¡¯s bad. If you really want to help us live a bit morefortably, get us two more tents and some¡­ makeup powder.¡±


    As soon as Azheba took his leave, Xu Yanwei turned around and said, ¡°This boy has an ulterior motive, Miss Ru. Don¡¯t be fooled by him.¡±


    ¡°What ulterior motives could he have?¡± Shangguan Ru was amused by Xu Yanwei¡¯s vignce.


    ¡°He¡­ he could fall in love with you.¡± Xu Yanwei stared into Shangguan Ru¡¯s eyes as if this was all the youngdy¡¯s fault.


    Shangguan Ru smiled and said, ¡°You call this an ulterior motive? It¡¯s not a bad thing to be loved.¡±


    Xu Yanwei¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t grow any wider. ¡°You are a youngdy, how can you say this kind of words? And the Dragon King¡­¡±


    ¡°What has it to do with the Dragon King? Does he have the right to interfere with whether others love me or not?¡±


    Xu Yanwei was stupefied. She touched Shangguan Ru¡¯s forehead and said, ¡°You are really outspoken today. I¡¯m embarrassed for you, so you¡¯d better quit drinking. Even if the Dragon King has no right to meddle in your affairs, you still have a dead husband¡­¡±


    Xu Yanwei shut up in time. Shangguan Ru lost her good mood and started walking towards the outside, saying, ¡°I can quit anything except for alcohol. Life is short, so I hope to be free and drink whenever I can¡­ Ehh, I¡¯ve always thought you were free and easy, but why do you look like an old grandma today?¡±


    Shangguan Ruughed and left, leaving the confused Xu Yanwei behind, who touched her own forehead and wondered when had she be so garrulous. ¡°It¡¯s all the Dragon King¡¯s fault,¡± she murmured. She would have been the one who was carefree if she wasn¡¯t always taking care of the Dragon King¡¯s women.


    Queen Ju and Xiao Fengchai were sitting with their backs facing against each other, pretending that the other did not exist.


    The tent finally woke up from the boredom after Shangguan Ru and Xu Yanwei came in one after the other.


    ¡°We¡¯ll find a way out on our own.¡± Shangguan Ru nced at the three women, no longer drunk.


    Xiao Fengchai looked at her in amazement, ¡°Weren¡¯t we clear on this? When you recover your power and run away, you go tell the Dragon King and then he¡¯ll get us all out.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not safe. Even if I do manage to run away, the Immortal Master and the Waning Moon Hall will transfer you away, and the Dragon King also doesn¡¯t have too much manpower here. It won¡¯t be easy for him to save all of us alone. What I¡¯m saying is that we have to find a way to escape together.¡±


    Shangguan Ru hadn¡¯t proposed a specific n yet but just that idea alone already made the other three feel frightened and uneasy.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know kung fu. I can¡¯t run fast even if I want to.¡± Xu Yanwei unconsciously resorted to her old means and said this in a soft voice as if a gust of wind could blow her down.


    ¡°This is the forbidden zone of the Royal Court. There are soldiers everywhere, and one loose arrow¡­¡± Xiao Fengchai shivered. She wasn¡¯t afraid of any men in front of her but it would be difficult for her to deal with them if they were far away.


    The two objected in a mild tone but Queen Ju surprisingly agreed, saying, ¡°Shangguan Ru is right. We can¡¯t count on the Dragon King. He came to the Nond to form an alliance and will not offend the dignitaries here easily. It¡¯s better to think of our own way than cause him trouble.¡±


    Actually, the Dragon King had already provoked many people, but Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t mention these things.


    ¡°What can we do then? I heard that the outside is a big grasnd, at least half a day¡¯s journey from the closest popted area even with a horse. Besides, there are horsemen patrolling on the periphery, guarding so closely not even a rabbit can run out.¡± Xu Yanwei raised many difficulties.


    Shangguan Ru revealed a confident smile. ¡°You heard? From whom?¡±


    ¡°From the monks¡­¡± Xu Yanwei tried to lie but changed her mind halfway. ¡°You¡¯ve drunk with arge group of men but you won¡¯t allow me to talk with them?¡±


    Queen Ju failed to conceal her disgust and took a step back, maintaining her distance with the ¡®bad woman¡¯. If she had power in her hands right now, the first thing she would do would be to drive Xu Yanwei away. Not only was this woman born low but she was also disloyal. She had forgotten about the present Queen as soon as she met her former youngdy.


    Xiao Fengchai, however, took a step forward and appeared quite excited. ¡°Yes, we don¡¯t know kung fu but that doesn¡¯t mean we are useless. The Immortal Master is not a real man, but all the guards here are men. Isn¡¯t that an advantage for us in dealing with them?¡±


    Xu Yanwei suddenly came to understand. ¡°Right, the men here are easy to deal with. One coy look at them will make them obedient. But there¡¯s one thing that¡¯s strange. Miss Ru, how could youe up with this idea? It should have been Sister Fengchai and me.¡±


    Queen Ju looked even worse. She even regretted agreeing to Shangguan Ru¡¯s proposal. ¡°I quit. It¡¯s sphemy to even let these men look at me.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai¡¯s eyes changed at the very thought of using her charm. She ogled Queen Ju and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You are the Queen, so how could you do such a lowly thing? Just leave it to me and Sister Yanwei. Your Highness can just sit here and wait for the Dragon King to gracefully rescue.¡±


    Queen Ju hummed and found herself being ganged up upon so she held her tongue in anger.


    ¡°We have to run away together. We won¡¯t leave anyone behind.¡± Shangguan Ru made this rule.


    Queen Ju quickly adjusted her mentality. She had already been isted, so if she kept being so reserved, even her noble identity would be forgotten. If they really had to run away from the prison on their own, she should be the well-deserved leader. ¡°Well, Xiao Fengchai and Xu Yanwei will be in charge of¡­ dealing with the men and asking about the situation. The more detailed the better. As for Shangguan Ru, you should find a way to restore your kung fu and if you can, you can drink a few more times with the prison guards¡­¡±


    ¡°Your Highness has issued an edict, so how dare this little woman not obey?¡± Xiao Fengchai said with no intention of obeying orders at all.


    Queen Ju said with her head held high, ¡°I won¡¯t be idle either. I¡¯ll deal with the Immortal Master. Isn¡¯t he trying to get the Daoless Divine Power? I¡¯ll give him a copy to let his guard down.¡± She pointed at her heart and continued, ¡°I¡¯ve got a few copies here.¡±


    Shangguan Ru also had a n. She really needed to restore her internal energy. ¡®The senior monk of the Four Noble Truths Temple may help,¡¯ she thought.

 Chapter 654 - Transferring Internal Energy

    Chapter 654: Transferring Internal Energy


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The prison camp in the forbidden zone changed locations seasonally like the rest of the Royal Court, so the facilities were very poor. Most of the prisoners were subjects who had merely offended the Khan for some reason and might be pardoned at any time, so the prison was not heavily guarded. Unless the supervisors were particrly stressed, the torture equipment like the chains were rarely used. So it was very easy to leave the tent, and one might even be able to visit friends and rtives at another camp if one greased the wheels enough.


    But it was very hard to run away. There were cavalry stations every three miles within a ten-mile radius of the camp, and every station had fierce dogs with keen senses of smell. And if a prisoner was ever found fleeing, a manhunt would beunched.


    ording to the rules of the Nond, attempting to escape was a capital crime and the resulting punishment was to be shot to death immediately.


    Xu Yanwei trembled in fear, saying, ¡°The guards said that no one has ever escaped from here.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai was responsible formunicating with the new chief. ¡°Our camp is the strangest. All the monks and nuns were delivered here without a charge. The officials never asked. It was the Immortal Master who gave the orders.¡±


    Later, the Immortal Master came again. This time, Queen Ju bargained hard with him. Although no agreement was reached, it made the other side feel that the four women had no intentions of escaping.


    But it was a bit difficult for Shangguan Ru to recover her internal energy to the level she desired.


    After hearing her general description of the Indra Fragrance, Fayan shook his head. ¡°Your internal energy is sealed with the drug. If I do something rashly to save you, you may lose your internal energy forever.¡±


    But he taught Shangguan Ru a simple set of method to guide her internal Qi. ¡°Although it can¡¯t help you restore your internal energy, it can calm your mind. You¡¯ll inevitably receive internal injuries if the drug effect persists for too long. But this manual may be able to help you avoid that.¡±


    As they spoke, several monks, ignoring Lianqing¡¯s re, listened from a distance. Instead of shying away, they listened even more attentively when Fayan taught the manual.


    Fayan didn¡¯t lower his voice. Instead, he spoke up loudly, saying, ¡°This set of manual is not a secret one. Those who are fated can learn it.¡±


    As a Buddhist manual, it had certain requirements for meditation. Luckily, Shangguan Ru had once followed Master Lianhua in learning the Essay of Severing Obsession and had also gained some basic skills in meditation, so it was very easy for her to get started.


    But just as Fayan had said, this manual was easy to learn but wasn¡¯t useful in recovering one¡¯s internal energy. Shangguan Ru practiced it for several days but her Dantian remained devoid of internal energy.


    During these days, the noble officer Azheba kept his promise and tried every mean at his disposal to make use of his former connections in the Court Attendants Army and tell the Khan the truth. From top to bottom, all the prison guards liked Shangguan Ru¡¯s frankness and helped smooth things over, but the feedback was disappointing.


    The Khan knew that there were four imprisoned women since long ago. The efforts of Azheba backfired, and orders came from the pce that said that anyone who dared to talk about the four women would be killed without mercy and that his or her family and tribe would also be implicated.


    Now few people dared to help Shangguan Ru no matter how highly they thought of her.


    Azheba felt quite guilty and hid in his tent. For days he did not dare see her.


    The escape n was put on hold for the time being.


    ¡°Well, the guards thought that the Khan didn¡¯t know about us being here and therefore were willing to help us. Now they are afraid to even talk to me.¡± Xu Yanwei was the first to be discouraged.


    ¡°We still have to send a message to the Dragon King.¡± Queen Ju had once said that she would not trouble the Dragon King, but now she changed her mind. ¡°The Khan asked everyone to keep a secret, which means that he knows he is in the wrong. The Dragon King doesn¡¯t have to rush to rescue anyone. As long as this whole situation made public, the Khan will probably release us and put the me on someone else while iming that he didn¡¯t know anything about it.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t easy to achieve this goal even when the guards were drinking with Shangguan Ru. Queen Ju turned to Shangguan Ru and said, ¡°That officer Azheba seems to have some contacts. If Miss Ru can persuade him¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± Shangguan Ru wasn¡¯t too sure about it. The more she learned about the soldiers of the Nond, the more she found that these people revered the Khan. Azheba was no exception. Although he asionally spoke some veiled criticism about the Khan, they were the kind of words that only the faithful would speak.


    The main point being that she couldn¡¯t even see Azheba now.


    Things changed on the seventh afternoon after Shangguan Ru was captured.


    Lianqing rushed in in a panic which startled Queen Ju, who immediately drew Xu Yanwei to the front to block him.


    ¡°My Master is sick, seriously sick. The guards don¡¯t care. Little girl¡­ Instructor¡­ Queen, you are familiar with them. Please ask them to send a doctor here. And also, my Master wants to meet you.¡±


    Shangguan Ru and Xu Yanwei went to see the head of the camp first. The head appeared quite reluctant to cooperate but couldn¡¯t bear Xu Yanwei¡¯s sarcasm and in the end agreed to find a doctor.


    Then the two went into the big tent to visit Fayan.


    Fayan was still wearing his iconic smile but his face was very dark, his lips purple, and his eyes bloodshot, which made him look very old and not like an eminent monk at all.


    Several monks were standing nearby gossiping like unconcerned bystanders. ¡°There will always be visions when an eminent monk passes away. Look at this one, there are many visions but none of them are normal.¡±


    ¡°Buddha is not gullible. One can cover himself up in ordinary times but will be exposed when one is dying. ¡±


    ¡­


    Lianqing knelt before his Master with tears in his eyes. His eyes were fixed on his Master and he didn¡¯t even refute the monks¡¯ taunts.


    Shangguan Ru was surprised and asked, ¡°Has the master been poisoned?¡±


    Lianqing shook his head, ¡°Impossible. Master hasn¡¯t eaten for four or five days. The food we ate before that was the same, so it¡¯s impossible for him to be poisoned while I¡¯m still fine.¡±


    Fayan¡¯s voice was weak and his tone was as calm as ever, as if every word he said carried with it heavy significance. ¡°You are here.¡±


    Shangguan Ru sat down on her knees on a futon. ¡°I¡¯m here, but the monk is not ill.¡±


    Lianqing, who had been flustered, finally realized the problem and asked, ¡°Master, what is going on? Someone stabbed you in the back, didn¡¯t they? Tell me who is it, and I¡¯ll avenge you¡­¡±


    ¡°Silly disciple. Favor is illusory and so is hatred. I asked you to give up avenging your brother, so how could I let you avenge me?¡±


    ¡°But¡­ But¡­¡± Lianqing was choked with sobs and could no longer speak.


    ¡°You can go out for a while. I need to have a word with the benefactress.¡±


    Lianqing was very reluctant to leave but he could not disobey his Master¡¯s order. So he got up and said to the rest of the monks, ¡°All of you, get out if you don¡¯t want to be beaten.¡±


    The monks did not move. Lianqing growled and stormed towards them, causing more than half of the thirty or so monks immediately ran out. Only Kumie relied on his identity and didn¡¯t move, and his fellow disciples also followed in staying motionlessly.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t cultivated much in this life, so I don¡¯t care if it¡¯ll be ruined or not,¡± Lianqing shouted with his eyes wide open. It seemed that he did not care even if he had to kill someone.


    Kumie retreated half a step and said to Fayan who sat behind Lianqing with a trembling voice, ¡°Are the senior monks of the Four Noble Truths Temple all so arrogant?¡±


    While struggling to speak, Fayan took a few deep breaths before saying, ¡°Lianqing, do not disturb the senior brothers.¡±


    Lianqing shot a vicious nce at Kumie and strode out of the tent, guarding the door and not letting anyone else in.


    Shangguan Ru asked in a low voice, ¡°Is it the disciple of the Essence Pavilion?¡±


    ¡°Yes and no,¡± Fayan replied.


    Xu Yanwei frowned and said, ¡°Old monk, you are so sick now; can you please stop talking ambiguously.¡±


    ¡°I have no intention of revenge, so it doesn¡¯t matter who injured me. It was more than a month ago that I had a kung fupetition with him. I was defeated and I admitted it, but I couldn¡¯t hand over that thing. I could only promise to stay in the prison and not leave without permission.¡±


    Shangguan Ru nced back at Kumie and his fellow disciples before asking in a very small voice, ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°The Sumeru Mustard Mantra.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was slightly stunned, ¡°But in the Stone Kingdom¡­¡±


    ¡°I gave it to two young people.¡±


    Gu Shenwei and Lotus had almost effortlessly gotten this internal energy manual, and it was exactly this manual that hadid the foundation for the Three-in-One Power.


    Shangguan Ru learned of this when she was still keeping up a regr correspondence with the Dragon King and thought that the monk did not care.


    Fayan had been defeated in a kung fupetition and received a very serious internal injury. He thought that he could recuperate on his own, but did not expect that the issue would break out a monthter and ferociously attack him. He knew that he would notst long so he tried to exin the situation as briefly as possible. ¡°The Dragon King and Lotus still have goodwill between them so the mantra is good for them, but some people are lost and hard to change, and the mantra will only help them perpetuate wicked deeds.¡±


    ¡°The Sumeru Mustard Mantra is like the Essay of Severing Obsession?¡± Shangguan Ru was surprised and delighted. This was actually her wish. She didn¡¯t expect that the old monk had already secretly fulfilled it for her.


    Fayan slowly shook his head, ¡°The mantra doesn¡¯t have the effect of changing a person¡¯s heart, and neither does the Essay of Severing Obsession. It only has a temporary effect. You must already know of the Grand Enlightenment Sword Sutra?¡±


    Shangguan Ru nodded. She also knew that the Dragon King and Lotus called it the Death Sutra.


    ¡°I have¡­ a guess. The Grand Enlightenment Sword Sutra might be part of the reason why they are acting so evilly, so I wanted to use the mantra to counteract the effects of the sword sutra.¡±


    ¡°Is it really possible?¡± Shangguan Ru was so eager that she almost forgot about Fayan¡¯s serious ¡®illness.¡¯


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s just a guess but unfortunately, I won¡¯t be able to see it through. I¡¯ll leave the rest to you.¡±


    ¡°To me?¡±


    The smile on Fayan¡¯s face suddenly became bitter. ¡°I¡¯m just like Lianxin and Lianhua. Even though I know that people¡¯s minds are very unpredictable, I still persist in reforming it. After all, I can¡¯t escape the mortal rut.¡±


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t know what to say. She very much wished that everyone could give up hatred and cruelty, especially the Dragon King.


    Fayan did not speak for a while and his smile looked a little stiff. Xu Yanwei whispered, ¡°Did he¡­ pass away?¡±


    Kumie and three disciples approached, ¡°What did the senior monk say? What did he leave to you?¡±


    Fayan suddenly let out a breath. Then a low humming sound came from his thin chest, which was not loud but it clearly reached everyone¡¯s ears, making the listener feel bothfortable and heavy at heart.


    Shangguan Ru suddenly came to her senses and found Xu Yanwei, Kumie, and other people looking dull. Although they were standing still, it seemed that they had lost their consciousness. Fayan was the opposite, sweating profusely and dying.


    ¡°The timing is just right.¡± Fayan couldn¡¯t even keep his smile up now.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Shangguan Ru was surprised and even a bit frightened. She felt that she had only fainted for a moment, and could not have imagined the monk would do such a thing, ¡°You¡¯ve transferred all your internal energy to me?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t help you recover, so I can only give you mine. I¡¯m sorry, but your original power will never be restored.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was stupefied. She did not care about the original Daoless Divine Power but felt that the senior monk¡¯ behavior was really unbelievable.


    ¡°Promise me one thing.¡± Fayan appeared to be in a bit of a hurry.


    ¡°Please go ahead, master.¡±


    ¡°The Grand Enlightenment Sword Sutra can turn people into demons but also can make people be Buddhas. You need¡­ you need to¡­¡± Fayan seemed powerless to go on.


    ¡°Send it to the eminent monks of the Four Noble Truths Temple?¡± Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t quite understand why the Death Sutra could make people be Buddhas, but she knew that many people were interested in this set of sword techniques and perhaps the monks were no exception.


    ¡°Destroy it.¡± Fayan let out a long breath and finally finished what he wanted to say. ¡°A man of understanding doesn¡¯t need it. Those who have no understanding will only use it to do evil. I¡¯m d that I did not see this scripture when I was alive. To be a Buddha was my greed and even I cannot resist it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try my best, but the Dragon King and Lotus¡­¡± The scripture had been so deeply imprinted on the two¡¯s mind that Shangguan Ru couldn¡¯t get rid of it.


    Fayan decided to spend thest parts of his life in confession. It was not until he reached the state of absolute nothingness did he finally realize that his desire was no less than amoner¡¯s, just in a different direction. He looked at Shangguan Ru who had no more killing desire and believed that his choice was right.


    The manual that he had taught Shangguan Ru a few days ago wasn¡¯t an internal energy manual, but rather the groundwork of epting another¡¯s internal energy. From then on, Fayan had made the decision that he couldn¡¯t pass his internal energy to his disciple. Although Lianxin was loyal and trustworthy, he still had a killing desire and enhancing his internal energy would only incite him into taking revenge.


    Looking at the old monk, Shangguan Ru felt that she already understood what the other side had meant. If the Sumeru Mustard Mantra didn¡¯t work on the Dragon King and Lotus, there would be only one way to destroy the Death Sutra, the way that she was most unwilling to use.

 Chapter 655 - Shadow

    Chapter 655: Shadow


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The bted doctor did note in handy. All he did was remind the chief of the camp to burn the body as soon as possible because the old monk¡¯s death was somewhat abnormal.


    Indeed, Fayan was like amp that had run out of oil, his thin body as skinny as a skeleton. Kumie and several others were so scared out of their minds by the sight that they ran out of the tent and chanted sutras, regretting that they hadn¡¯t obediently left earlier.


    The monks, who didn¡¯t remember that they had lost consciousness for a moment, were under the impression that Fayan¡¯s appearance had changed in the blink of an eye.


    Xu Yanwei was also scared, as she dragged Shangguan Ru away while running away.


    As night fell, a deep Sanskrit chant came from the big tent. Shangguan Ru liked the sound but could not calm the confusion in her mind. She began to doubt whether she had really understood Fayan¡¯sst request.


    Why did Fayan want to destroy the Death Sutra through killing when he had always opposed all killing? Shangguan Ru felt that she might have thought too much. Even if Fayan really had the intention of doing so, she didn¡¯t have to do it. Like the senior monk, she intrinsically believed that the Dragon King and Lotus weren¡¯t incurable devils.


    And the more salient point was Shangguan Ru was no match for the two at all.


    Fayan¡¯s internal energy was very powerful but the portion he had transferred into Shangguan Ru¡¯s body was only seventy or eighty percent of his total power. Although it was much more powerful than the Daoless Divine Power that Shangguan Ru had before, it had not yet reached the peak and Shangguan Ru couldn¡¯t use it right away. She could clearly feel that there was a hard core inside her Dantian, and with each grand cycle of her internal Qi, the hard core would melt a bit and turn into internal Qi. ording to a rough estimate, it would take at least a few months to finish the whole process and right now she could only exert ten to twenty percent of the power.


    Even if she could regain full control of power in the end, Shangguan Ru was not a match of the practitioners of the Death Sutra Swordsmanship. There was no chance of winning for a person who had no killing desire when he fought against two people who were full of killing intent.


    Fayan had given her his internal energy but also a task that she could notplete.


    Shangguan Ru shook her head and temporarily cast away the burden in her mind. As the bitter taste lingered in her mouth, she missed the wine again.


    It waste at night, and the other three women were fast asleep. Queen Ju was tossing and turning as if she wereining about the harshness of the conditions even in her dreams.


    Shangguan Ru slipped out of the tent. She couldn¡¯t find any good wine so she could only use another way to relieve her depression.


    Regaining the ability to leap onto roofs and vault over walls was so pleasurable for Shangguan Ru that she even felt a little guilty about Fayan who had just died.


    Ten or twenty percent of internal energy was enough for her to perform forty or fifty percent of her lightness skills but she was still careful to not rm the guards in the camp as she leapt out of the outer picket fence and left the poorly defended prison.


    Although she was unwilling to ept it, Shangguan Ru had to admit that Old Man Mu¡¯s saying that kung fu could really make a person free was true.


    She made arge circle around the prison area and checked the terrain before she followed the original route to return. She would keep her promise and escape with the three women.


    Just then she noticed a man sneaking out of the camp. Shangguan Ru¡¯s first reaction was to not meddle in others¡¯ affairs, but the bald head made her change her mind.


    With the dim moonlight, Shangguan Ru could recognize that the man was Kumie from the big tent.


    Kumie was also a prisoner, so how could he walk out of the camp freely?


    He had no idea that there was someone watching him nearby and he walked quickly, obviously very familiar with the route. After several turns, he arrived at the smallest camp in the prison area, which was also the only vacant camp.


    The Immortal Master had waited for a while. Though expressionless, the silence itself showed his impatience.


    ¡°Fayan¡­ Fayan is dead.¡± Kumie appeared a bit timid.


    ¡°I know.¡± The Immortal Master was apparently not interested in the news.


    ¡°But he¡­ didn¡¯t leave anything.¡± Kumie¡¯s voice was trembling.


    ¡°It was your idea to keep all the monks together, and it was also you who assured me that you could persuade Fayan to hand over the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power.¡±


    ¡°Fayan is very cunning¡­¡±


    ¡°I thought you were more cunning.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes¡­ Well¡­ Oh, I see, Fayan has secretly given the divine power to the woman of the Land of Fragrance.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    ¡°Women are easy to deal with. As long as we do something¡­ I¡¯m pretty sure she will hand it over soon.¡±


    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s because of my kindness that I¡¯ve been doing nothing these days?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have to do anything special.¡± Kumie wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand and continued, ¡°It¡¯ll be just like the first day. Just use a bit of aphrodisiac¡­ Fayan is dead now, and no one can stop the effects of the drugs.¡±


    ¡°Try to find another way. Do not use these means anymore.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Kumie was surprised.


    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business. Go to those women, pretend to help them escape and beguile them into handing over the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power and the Daoless Scroll. If you can¡¯t do it, prepare to stay here forever.¡±


    Kumie, like a wild dog wounded in a fight, stooped low and stumbled away.


    The Immortal Master held his thick coat about him and didn¡¯t move for a long time.


    ¡°Women,¡± he muttered, ¡°are unpredictable.¡±


    A shadow came out of the tent behind him, ¡°Will we always be controlled by that woman?¡±


    ¡°She likes to hide in the shadows, so let¡¯s just hide in her shadow. Since she wants the whole world to be in chaos, it¡¯s also a good chance for us.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s she gonna do to the Dragon King¡¯s women? Arresting them, but not punishing them.¡±


    ¡°Do not guess. Whatever choices she makes, she¡¯s going around in circles. It doesn¡¯t matter to you or me.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King has killed six more families.¡±


    ¡°s, there are only six people left. The Essence Pavilion is almost gone.¡± The Immortal Master turned around and then said with a rare touch of excitement in his voice, ¡°You may be the only one left in the end. Are you ready?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Your kung fu will grow stronger and stronger. When you kill the Dragon King, remember to tell him that the Immortal Peng will never die. When you kill that woman, tell her that no matter how divided the Essence Pavilion is, it is still one.¡±


    ¡°I will.¡±


    The Shadow held the Immortal Master and walked to the tent.


    Shangguan Ru felt a chill in her heart.


    She recognized that the person was Wild Horse, and the weird thing was that the voice hade from the Immortal Master alone, even as she knew that the woman they were talking about was Lotus.


    Six of them had died and there were still six left. It turned out that Wild Horse had joined the Essence Pavilion and be the Immortal Master¡¯s dual cultivator. They had sought refuge with the Waning Moon Hall but in the meantime had made ns to kill Lotus.


    Shangguan Ru snuck back to her tent and woke the other three up one by one.


    ¡°I have a n to escape from the prison, and I¡¯ll do it tomorrow night.¡±


    Queen Ju immediately sobered up and asked, ¡°Can you guarantee the safety?¡±


    Xiao Fengchai firmly believed in the ¡®Tenth Gongzi.¡¯ ¡°No matter what the others do, I¡¯ll go with you.¡±


    Xu Yanwei yawned, ¡°Tomorrow night? Let me sleep for a while first.¡±


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s n was to leave the prison as a nun.


    Early the next morning, Queen Ju brought Xu Yanwei and Shangguan Hong with her to personally visit the nuns in another tent. She listened to their preaching and promised to support them.


    After this meeting, the nuns¡¯ respect for the Queen had reached the point of ttery.


    Xiao Fengchai tactfully made the chief of the camp produce his waist token and show it off. ¡°With this, you can go anywhere in the Royal Court, even the pce.¡±


    Though the chief¡¯s words were a bit exaggerated, Xiao Fengchai was sure that this waist token would be very useful.


    In the end, stealing the waist token was left to Shangguan Ru. She didn¡¯t tell the other three that she had regained some of her powers but instead said that she had received the relevant training before and that she was sure of seeding.¡±


    Shangguan Ru wasn¡¯t idle either while Queen Ju and Xiao Fengchai were busy.


    That morning, Fayan¡¯s body was cremated in the camp. Not many people attended the funeral, and Shangguan Ru was the only woman among them.


    Lianqing knelt down and wept bitterly. Kumie sighed while shaking his head.


    Shangguan Ru thought that Kumie would take this chance to approach her and perform the task the Immortal Master had assigned him but it turned out that he didn¡¯t even look at her.


    Shangguan Ru finally understood the Kumie¡¯s whole n at the end of the cremation.


    After several monks took their leave, Lianqing stood up and that hoped he could find the Sarira of his Master but only found a few charred bones. He put them into his robe before putting his palms together to salute Shangguan Ru. ¡°Benefactress, please show some mercy.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, eminent monk?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not an eminent monk. I can¡¯t settle the score. So please tell me who injured my Master. I want revenge.¡±


    Shangguan Ru shook her head and responded, ¡°Fayan didn¡¯t want revenge, so he didn¡¯t tell me anything.¡±


    In fact, she had already figured out who did it. As a very powerful kung fu master, very few people could injure Fayan in a normal kung fupetition. Only an unscrupulous killer might be able to sneak attack him sessfully. Amongst all the disciples of the Essence Pavilion, only Wild Horse had a chance to do so.


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t give her spection, because this was against thest wishes of Fayan.


    Lianqing looked down and thought for a while, ¡°I can always find out. But I have one more presumptuous request. Did my Master¡­ give you something before he died, or tell you some secrets?¡±


    Shangguan Ru immediately understood that Lianqing was asking for Kumie.


    ¡®Has Lianqing betrayed his Master?¡¯ Shangguan Ru quickly understood that Lianqing had no need to betray his Master and that he was just being used.


    Kumie clearly knew that he couldn¡¯t gain the trust of the four women, so he used the idea of revenge to persuade Lianqing. And he would find a way to snatch it away after Lianqing got the manual of the divine power.


    ¡°Uh, your Master did give me something,¡± Shangguan Ru deliberately said in a hesitating tone. She didn¡¯t lie, but what Fayan had given her couldn¡¯t be passed on to anyone.


    ¡°I know that Master doesn¡¯t want me to improve my kung fu, but I have to rely on it to get revenge. The one who injured my Master must be an expert, so¡­¡± Lianqing plopped on his knees and bowed his head in silence. He felt ashamed of his request but believed that he didn¡¯t have a choice.


    Shangguan Ru appeared to be in a very awkward position and finally said, ¡°I can¡¯t just hand over the legacy of Master Fayan, but¡­ If you can find a way to get us out of here, I can tell you an important secret.¡±


    Lianqing¡¯s eyes lit up, and he stood up and said, ¡°Master has passed away so I don¡¯t have to stay here any longer. Just wait for me to figure out a way to get you all out of here.¡±


    The one who was going to ¡®figure out a way¡¯ was Kumie. He would set a trap, wait until the four women believed they were safe and told him the secrets, and then take them all back to prison.


    Shangguan Ru just wanted to use the first half of the trap as she would carry out her own n in the second half.


    Everything went just as nned. Shangguan Ru suddenly thought of the Dragon King, wondering whether he would have a better idea in such circumstances.


    In the evening, ¡®Lianqing¡¯s way¡¯ had note out, and a few others things happened as well, which spoiled Shangguan Ru¡¯s n.


    Two more women were sent to the camp, causing a stir. And Azheba, who had not shown up for several days, appeared at the same time and imed that he had a way to save them, but only one.

 Chapter 656 - At Night

    Chapter 656: At Night


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s anger overwhelmed her fear. This was the second time she had been kidnapped in the Royal Court, and this time¡¯s treatment was even worse than thest time because no one had exined to her why she had been kidnapped.


    The moment her hood was taken off and her hands untied, she was bewildered and at a loss for what to do, but she soon started looking around with ring eyes, searching for someone to vent her anger on.


    Four strange women¡­ No, there¡¯s one¡­ two she was familiar with. Luo Ningcha¡¯s gaze swept between Shangguan Ru and Xu Yanwei. Instead of greeting or asking them the reason why she had been sent here, she said to Xu Yanwei viciously, ¡°You traitor, you dare toe back and see me?¡±


    Xu Yanwei had once served Luo Ningcha for a long time. This threat immediately brought her back to that unbearable period of time. Although Luo Ningcha liked her and sometimes even relied on her, she wasn¡¯t so soft-hearted when she was angry.


    Luo Ningcha had chosen the weaker one amongst the two acquaintances to vent onto. Xu Yanwei, however, would choose the strongest of the three women to be her protector.


    Shangguan Ru, Queen Ju, and Xiao Fengchai. Xu Yanwei looked them over, and half out of instinct, and half out of judgment, she jumped behind Shangguan Ru like a rabbit being chased.


    Luo Ningcha strode within two steps in front of Shangguan Ru and glowered at her. ¡°Give me back the maid.¡±


    ¡°Eighth Sister-inw, why are you so angry?¡±


    ¡°Neither you nor Shangguan Nu are people of the castle anymore, so why are you still calling me your ¡®sister-inw¡¯? Get out of my way!¡±


    Luo Ningcha still had the ability to annoy the other side in just one word. Shangguan Ru smiled. ¡°Okay, there is no rtionship between us. However, Luo Ningcha, this isn¡¯t your ce. You don¡¯t have the authority to force anyone out of the way.¡±


    Luo Ningcha suddenly came to her senses and realized that she had been kidnapped. ¡°You, you kidnapped me because you are jealous¡­¡± She pointed at Shangguan Ru, stepped back in horror, and bumped into someone.


    It was an indifferent-looking woman. Shangguan Ru and others already knew she was a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall, but it was Luo Ningcha¡¯s first time seeing her. Startled yet foolhardy, Luo Ningcha raised her hand and was ready to strike. ¡°You are also a slut of the Dragon King?¡±


    Before she could react, the disciple of the Waning Moon Hall had pped her in the face and coldly said, ¡°This is for the Master Commander.¡± Then she pped a second time. ¡°This is for Maid Cui.¡± The third p rang out. ¡°This is for me. I¡¯m Han Qin, ¡®Qin¡¯ for ¡®celery.¡¯¡±


    It turned quiet again after three crisp ps. Han Qin turned and left, leaving Luo Ningcha to slowly ept the humiliation and ponder who the Master Commander and Maid Cui were.


    Then she remembered. Wasn¡¯t the Master Commander the hateful Lotus who had tried to assassinate her? And Maid Cui was that dumb and blind maid who had been dead for a long time.


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s heart trembled. She was afraid of ghosts, but the humiliation of being beaten publicly eventually prevailed. She covered her face to sob, which then escted into wailing.


    ¡°Who is she?¡± Queen Ju asked in surprise and displeasure. Luo Ningcha¡¯s words of ¡®slut of the Dragon King¡¯ really annoyed her because only she had the right to say that.


    Shangguan Ru and Xu Yanwei didn¡¯t utter a sound but Xiao Fengchai had already guessed who this was. She hummed and said, ¡°The number one beauty of Jade City, the eighth young mistress of Golden Roc Castle, Luo Ningcha.¡±


    Both Jade City and Golden Roc Castle were former strongholds of the Dragon King, so Queen Ju was filled with suspicion.


    The more Luo Ningcha cried, the sadder she felt. All the grievances she felt since her birth welled up in her heart and she immediately saw herself as the most innocent and miserable woman in the world.


    She had finally won a little sympathy from Xu Yanwei.


    Xu Yanwei remembered that this former lord of hers had always had a high opinion of her and never acted hard on her, so she walked out from behind Shangguan Ru, took out a handkerchief and pass it to Luo Ningcha. ¡°Miss, don¡¯t cry. It¡¯s more important to find a way out.¡±


    As she grabbed the handkerchief with her right hand, Luo Ningcha pped Xu Yanwei in the face with her left hand, which caused a loud ring. ¡°You wretch, traitor, betraying your master for the sake of glory¡­¡±


    Xu Yanwei covered her face, retreated to one side, and said to the others with a bitter smile, ¡°That¡¯s me.¡±


    Queen Ju coolly turned away as her way of punishing Xu Yanwei for choosing the wrong lord.


    Xu Yanwei let out a long sigh. She had been worried that Lotus would dump Luo Ningcha here and didn¡¯t expect her nightmare toe true. And the scene was more awkward than she had imagined. ¡°There¡¯s only one more left,¡± she muttered. Besides Lotus, the Dragon King¡¯s women were all here. She really wanted to see how that pale-faced boy would cope with the current situation. Thinking of this, Xu Yanwei felt much better at heart.


    Luo Ningcha stopped crying. She looked around once before her eyes fell on Shangguan Ru. ¡°What the hell is going on? Didn¡¯t you kidnap me?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Shangguan Ru hadn¡¯t vented her anger yet but then she felt that it was not worth taking this woman seriously, so she softened her tone. ¡°We were all kidnapped by Lotus.¡±


    ¡°Lotus? Isn¡¯t she the Dragon King¡¯s guard? Why did¡­¡± Luo Ningcha suddenly became alert. ¡°What¡¯s your rtionship with the Dragon King?¡±


    No one said anything. Queen Ju, however, couldn¡¯t bear being ignored any longer. She held her head up high and said, ¡°I¡¯m the only Queen of the Dragon King. Who are you? Why did Lotus kidnap you?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King and I¡­¡± Luo Ningcha shut up just in time. She was not stupid enough to spread that secret. ¡°He used to be my servant, and now is my ally. Lotus kidnapped me because I had an unfaithful servant killed. I suppose that was her friend.¡±


    Queen Ju¡¯s face darkened. The word ¡®servant¡¯ stung her, and Luo Ningcha¡¯s ambiguous tone especially enraged her. It turned out that the Dragon King had been so dissolute outside but he always avoided her like the gue.


    Xu Yanwei could only venture to break the ice. ¡°Can we count her in?¡±


    Queen Ju and Xiao Fengchai didn¡¯t seem to have much enthusiasm, and Shangguan Ru reluctantly nodded before saying, ¡°Ask her first to see if she wants in.¡±


    Luo Ningcha already understood their intentions so she hastily said, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m willing. I¡¯ll get revenge on Lotus after I get out and then I¡¯ll give each of you a big reward.¡±


    Now everyone liked the most beautiful woman in Jade City even less now.


    Xu Yanwei had thought that amongst all the women of the Dragon King, Lotus was the only one missing but thest hostage delivered here was someone she didn¡¯t know at all.


    Of all the prisoners, Red Bat was the most confused but she was very excited to see her instructor here. ¡°The Dragon King said that you were all right. You are indeed all right.¡±


    The Red Bat insisted that she had nothing to do with the Dragon King except for some contact with him in her search for instructor¡¯s whereabouts. The others were skeptical about it but Shangguan Ru trusted her subordinate, though she knew Red Bat had once seduced the Dragon King at the Land of Fragrance. She naturally would not say so. ¡°Lotus is mad. I hope the Dragon King is on guard.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King must know already.¡± The Red Bat¡¯s confidence increased the women¡¯s suspicion. Queen Ju even needed Xu Yanwei¡¯sfort now.


    Shangguan Ru, however, suddenly became so calm that even she herself was surprised. All the years of entanglement and fantasy suddenly seemed like a joke, much like her current feelings towards her former identity of ¡®Tenth Gongzi¡¯, which now seemed redundant and strange.


    She finally knew what she had been expecting and how to get there step by step.


    First, she had to take these women with her to escape from prison.


    The arrival of the Red Bat was a great assistance but Red Bat had also lost her internal energy and couldn¡¯t help in urgent situations.


    Shortly after nightfall, Lianqing finally came back with a reply. ¡°Tonight at the third night watch period. Just wait for my news.¡±


    Everything happened on the same day. Not long after the monk left, Azheba sent someone to invite Shangguan Ru to have a talk.


    Xu Yanwei tagged along. The young noble officer made her feel uneasy.


    Azheba made a serious apology because of his failure to keep his promises. ¡°Tonight is our chance. Something big is going to happen in the Royal Court and it may be chaotic for the next few days. The Immortal Master will soon lose his power. I can get one person out and send her to inform the Dragon King.¡±


    His tone made it clear that he hoped for this person to be Shangguan Ru.


    Azheba had just been ordered to lead a hundred soldiers to the edge of the forbidden zone to assist in the defense. These a hundred soldiers were appointed by the superiors and he had no right to intervene, but all the noble officers had private escorts whose identities were left to themander¡¯s own discretion.


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to pretend to be my entourage and find a chance to run away after we get to the edge of the forbidden zone.¡±


    Shangguan Ru epted the offer of the other party but she couldn¡¯t escape alone, and neither could she tell him that she had other ns. ¡°I can¡¯t go. If you really want to help me, then take another person with you.¡±


    Azheba was very surprised and without bothering about the presence of Xu Yanwei, whispered, ¡°Once the masters have lost their favor in the Khan, they might do anything.¡±


    ¡°Precisely because of that, I can¡¯t leave the others and run away alone. After all, it¡¯s just to send a message to the Dragon King after getting out of here, and anyone else can do it.¡±


    Azheba nkly stared at Shangguan Ru for a while and bowed deeply, ¡°As you wish. I¡¯m leaving in half an hour.¡±


    Back in the tent, there was a controversy over who should run off with the officer. Compared with Shangguan Ru¡¯s n which was unpredictable, Azheba¡¯s n was simple and seemed more reliable and secure.


    Shangguan Ru rejected all the opinions and appointed Xu Yanwei.


    ¡°Me? Why me?¡± Xu Yanwei couldn¡¯t believe it herself. In fact, she had been staying out of it and letting Luo Ningcha and Queen Jupete for it.


    Shangguan Ru felt that she couldn¡¯t let things be. They were risking their lives to escape and needed a decisive leader, and only she fulfilled all the requirements. ¡°She¡¯s the only one who cares about everyone in this tent. Who better to inform the Dragon King than she?¡±


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s words were not entirely urate. Xu Yanwei didn¡¯t know Red Bat and likewise, she also had no feelings towards Xiao Fengchai, but it was true that she had no intentions to harm anyone here.


    The proposal was passed.


    Perhaps it was due to the nervousness of the impending flight or the weak position they held after Red Bat joined, but Shangguan Ru¡¯s status as the leader was confirmed with this. Even Queen Ju gave up fighting and had no objections to the task when it was her turn to take over.


    Xu Yanwei, who was disguised as a small attendant, followed Azheba out of the camp.


    On the second night watch period, Shangguan Ru sneaked into the chief¡¯s tent and found the waist token ced on a small table. A smallmp was lit beside the table which made the waist token more conspicuous. And the chief was snoring loudly.


    Shangguan Ru thanked the chief in silence, hoping that tonight¡¯s events would not cause him much trouble.


    It was a quarter to the third night watch period. Lianqing arrived on time but appeared to be in a hurry. ¡°We can go now, but give me my Master¡¯s manual of the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power first.¡±


    He no longer wanted to hide his true purpose.

 Chapter 657 - Escape

    Chapter 657: Escape


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Lianqing was eager to retrieve his Master¡¯s Sumeru Mustard Divine Power, but Shangguan Ru shook her head and refused. ¡°This isn¡¯t the right time. We are not out of danger yet.¡±


    Lianqing¡¯s eyes widened. For a moment, he looked like a reckless bandit instead of a monk but he soon wrestled his temper back under control. ¡°Please forgive me, young benefactress. Ever since my Master passed away¡­ Let¡¯s get going.¡±


    This was an ¡®arranged¡¯ escape, so the first half of the n went very smoothly. More than half of the soldiers had been transferred out, while the remaining guards had rxed their vignce and only had a few people standing on guard. Lianqing stroked their acupoints one by one and didn¡¯t rm anyone. He called such a coincidence ¡®luck.¡¯


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t believe in luck. ¡°We have to take the nuns away.¡±


    ¡°What? How is that possible?¡± Lianqing¡¯s anxiety was on the verge of exploding.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with that? You are a monk and they are nuns. Are you going to leave them in jail?¡±


    Lianqing grinded his teeth in impatience. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s it though. No more people.¡±


    But he himself also brought several more people with him. Kumie and six other monks had joined the escape team, pretending to be frightened and knowing nothing about Lianqing¡¯s n.


    ¡°They know the way,¡± Lianqing exined.


    There were not many horses in the camp. Most of them had to share a horse with others. Shangguan Ru, however, rode a horse alone and followed Lianqing and Kumie closely.


    Of course Kumie knew the way and they soon got out of the prison area. After another mile or two, Shangguan Ru stopped and demanded further information on the next stage of the n. Lianqing had no idea so Kumie said in a low voice, ¡°The cavalry of the forbidden zone are all stationed in the South, so let¡¯s head north. We¡¯ll turn east at dawn, make a detour and then head south. We¡¯ll probably reach the Royal Court by nightfall.¡±


    ¡°Brilliant idea,¡± Shangguan Ru agreed as she nodded. ¡°But I also have a n. Let¡¯s divide into two groups. One will go north while the other goes another way.¡±


    Lianqing didn¡¯t care one way or another but Kumie wasn¡¯t able to cover up his surprise and discontent. ¡°This will not do. It¡¯s too dangerous. This is the forbidden zone of the Royal Court, and there¡¯s cavalry everywhere. Only the northern side is a bit safer than the rest.¡±


    ¡°So, you go to the safe north, and we¡¯ll go in an unsafe direction.¡±


    Kumie was at a loss for word when his nearby disciple approached and said, ¡°Well, you are all women, so it¡¯s better for you to traverse the safer northern path, and we¡¯ll find another way¡­¡±


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t want to waste her breath. She beckoned for Shangguan Hong toe over. ¡°Protect the masters as they go north.¡±


    This was the order that had been given by Queen Ju before, so Shangguan Hong nodded to ept it. He neither spoke nor looked at Shangguan Ru.


    The brother and sister would rather not talk to each other.


    Although Shangguan Ru felt her brother Shangguan Fei¡¯s means were a bit cruel, she really didn¡¯t have a good impression of Shangguan Hong.


    ¡°No, no¡­¡± Seeing his n falling apart in front of him, Kumie kept shaking his head and even his voice grew louder.


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s kung fu was average and he had been caught as a eunuch, so he was not qualified to ¡®enjoy¡¯ the knockout drugs of the Waning Moon Hall and therefore, still retained his internal energy. Although he couldn¡¯t defeat any kung fu experts or a group of soldiers, it was easy for him to deal with several monks who knew absolutely no kung fu.


    With his wrist being gripped, sweat sprang up on Kumie¡¯s forehead,and he almost cried out in pain. He could only anxiously say, ¡°Let¡¯s do it your way and get going. Let¡¯s not waste any time. And we don¡¯t need protection.¡±


    The protection was necessary. Shangguan Hong would walk the monks three miles northward and then he would confiscate their horses and head out west to catch up with Queen Ju and others.


    Shangguan Ru decided to go west and her destination was the Flower Camp of the Second Consort.


    At first, Luo Ningcha was very happy when she heard the n, ¡°Right, the Flower Camp is also in the forbidden zone. The Second Consort trusts me the most and takes me as her confidant. We will be protected at her ce.¡±


    The other women exchanged a nce and in the end, it was Xiao Fengchai who pointed out the truth without mercy. ¡°I¡¯m afraid it was exactly the Second Consort who handed you over.¡±


    Luo Ningcha was stunned. She carefully thought about what had happened to her and finally came to understand. After that, she kept a straight face as she tried to hatch a revenge plot but wasn¡¯t able to think of anything even when they were almost half-way through their journey.


    Kumie and several others were forced to travel northward while Shangguan Ru led more than ten women including the nuns to go westward. Lianqing volunteered to follow her and she didn¡¯t object.


    The team hadn¡¯t gone far before they stopped. The nuns took out several extra nuns¡¯ clothes for the five women, who were all unwilling to cut their hair and thus could only cover it up with a hat. Fortunately, it was inconspicuous at dark night.


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t change her dress. Her current identity was that of a female officer of the Flower Camp.


    Less than three miles from the prison, the small party encountered the first cavalry patrol which only had seven people. In order to guard against the unrest in the South, the defense of the forbidden zone had been reduced to the minimum.


    Shangguan Ru took out the waist token of the chief and calmly imed that she was following the Second Consort¡¯s order to take several nuns from the prison to the Flower Camp.


    The cavalry had no suspicions towards them. They were just surprised that there were nuns kept in the prison, but they did not dare ask any more questions and let them go at once.


    A few miles away, the second cavalry patrol wasn¡¯t so gullible. The leader was a noble officer who had somehow heard the rumor that there were special female prisoners in the prison area. He carefully checked the waist token and then began to check those female nuns, especially Lianqing, the only monk among the nuns.


    Seeing that the disguises of Queen Ju and others were about to be exposed, Shangguan Ru winked at Lianqing.


    The monk¡¯s heart was full of anger and resentment. His Master was injured and dead but refused to tell him who was the enemy. Instead, his Master had trusted an outsider and even gave his most important secret manual to the strange woman. He didn¡¯t dare toin about his Master but the hidden persona of the bandit in his heart had begun to stir.


    The only thing he could guarantee was that he would not y too hard. Before long he had poked the acupoints of all six soldiers and the officer and gotten a few more mounts for the procession, but the resentment in his heart was not yet dispelled. Full of fierceness in his eyes, he asked Shangguan Ru, ¡°You will surely give me the divine power, won¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I will give you your master¡¯s secret for sure.¡± Shangguan Ru carefully worded her response to avoid being unable to fulfill it in the future.


    The crowd approached the Flower Camp in the early morning, and they could see that the fire in the south was getting fiercer and fiercer and that it did not look like a general riot, but rather arge-scale war.


    Thedies changed out of their nuns¡¯ clothes. Knowing that the Second Consort had betrayed her, Luo Ningcha¡¯s fierceness was aroused. She felt a need to question this most powerful woman of the Nond face to face so she took the lead and stormed into the Flower Camp.


    The Flower Camp had be a real military camp. The Second Consort had dispatched all ten thousand of her horsemen here with one thousand people guarding the camp while the remaining nine thousand lined up in the south. The one thousand or so female soldiers who had not yet been well trained were also fully armed, trembling as they prepared for a possible battle.


    The prestigiousdies who hade from various countries hid in their tents and prayed to Buddha instead.


    Most of the guards recognized the beautiful woman galloping towards them and knew that it was Luo Ningcha who was a favored guest of the Second Consort¡¯s but what they didn¡¯t know was that she had been betrayed. Seeing that the ones following her were all nuns, monks, and women who did not appear to be a threat, the guards let them pass without much hindrance.


    The Second Consort had put on a military uniform and looked stone-faced. It had actually been within her expectations for the Royal Court to fall into disorder, but the scale of the chaos was beyond her imagination and it was quickly devolving from an opportunity into a crisis.


    Seeing Luo Ningcha storming in, the Second Consort was stunned a bit before immediately standing up to greet the other side with a smile. ¡°You escaped on your own? Great. I was just about to send an army to save you. The Khan forced me to hand you over, but he¡¯s dead, and now there¡¯s no one who can restrain me in the Nond from now on.¡±


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s anger was extinguished instantly. She thought that the Second Consort would deny everything, and didn¡¯t expect the other side to honestly tell the truth, and she even seemed to be apologizing and still acted very warm to her. This made her a bit confused and at a loss for what to do. She thought for a while before asking, ¡°You were really going to send an army to save me?¡±


    ¡°See, I¡¯ve got my army here, and I was just about to issue an order. Good sister, tell me. How did you get out? I was so worried.¡±


    Luo Ningcha was convinced. She had always chosen to believe in the strong. The enthusiasm and sincerity shown by the Second Consort had only yed a small part, as her words that no one could restrain her in the Nond from now on were the mostpelling force behind Luo Ningcha¡¯s smile.


    ¡°It was really a scary day. It¡¯s the monk and Shangguan Ru¡­¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Ru?¡± The Second Consort was not in the mood to listen to Luo Ningcha¡¯s nagging. She turned her eyes to the crowd, swept the nuns and monks and then slightly stopped at the strange women before she finally looked at the Red Bat, ¡°Where¡¯s your instructor?¡±


    The Red Bat didn¡¯t utter a sound, and Luo Ningcha looked around in surprise. ¡°She was just here.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was still there but was already standing behind the Second Consort. Her bodily movement was so fast that it astonished Lianqing, whose eyes gleamed with a sh of greed.


    Ever since the Dragon King had ¡®visited¡¯ her at night, the Second Consort no longer stayed alone and always had two guards at her side. They saw Shangguan Ru first and immediately made a move without mercy.


    Although Shangguan Ru could only use ten or twenty percent of the internal energy she had received, it was enough for her to use the Subtle Shadow Lightness Skill and the Seven Circles Seven Apertures Heart Stopping Finger. The lightness skill and acupoint striking technique were more suitable for this kind of non-murderous fighting.


    After the Second Consort finished turning around and before the screams of the crowd had dissipated, the two guards were already standing there stiff on the spot, their faces flushed. Not only had they beendefeated by a woman, but they had also put their lord in danger.


    The Second Consort shot a nce at the ipetent guards, her smile undiminished. She pped her hands and praised, ¡°Excellent move. Unfortunately, there¡¯s no such amazing woman like Instructor Shangguan in the Nond. No wonder the Dragon King thinks highly of you and even assassinated the Khan in order to save you.


    ¡°The Dragon King killed the Khan!¡±


    The women cried out in surprise but the Second Consort only looked at Shangguan Ru. ¡°It was me who brought the Dragon King into the pce and promised to bring your message to him before dawn. Now this better, I can give you to him in person.¡±


    Queen Ju couldn¡¯t help but be jealous, who took a step forward and asked, ¡°Where¡¯s the Dragon King? I¡¯m his queen.¡±


    The Second Consort turned and looked at her with obvious surprise, ¡°I was wondering who this dignified woman was, as there are no such eminent figures in the prairie. You don¡¯t know how regretful I felt when you refused my invitation before.¡±


    ¡°It was the Dragon King¡­¡± Queen Ju became the one who felt a little embarrassed instead.


    ¡°You know, a man always hides his best things, so you can¡¯t me him for being selfish.¡±


    The Second Consort left a good impression on the three women in a few words. Xiao Fengchai secretly gasped in admiration and that if Xu Yanwei were here she would definitely worship the Second Consort like a god.


    ¡°I heard that the Dragon King and his bodyguard left to kill King Kuari. I don¡¯t know where they are hiding now and who¡¯s going to be the next unlucky guy.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is with Lotus?¡± Shangguan Ru was very surprised because she believed that the Dragon King shouldn¡¯t have been fooled.


    ¡°I think so. He¡¯s going around killing people right now.¡±


    ¡°Lend me your army; a thousand men will do.¡±


    ¡°Do you know where the Dragon King is?¡±


    Shangguan Ru did not answer. A quarter of an hourter, she set off with a thousand horsemen towards the camp of the Land of Fragrance. Her guess was that the Dragon King might eventually return here and that she should rescue her female soldiers anyways.


    She arrived just in time to see the Dragon King and Lotus fighting in the mes and falling at the same time.

 Chapter 658: - Awakening

    Chapter 658: Awakening


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    As Gu Shenwei fell into the roaring me and awakened from the icy chill, he opened his eyes. The coldness from the inside to the outside was simr to the symptoms of Qi deviation but without the stinging pain.


    In his ear came Old Man Mu¡¯s boastful voice. ¡°You should all thank me. If I hadn¡¯t rushed in at the nick of time, you¡¯d all have gone home and cried with a handful of cremated remains.¡±


    Then he really heard a faint cry.


    He sat up and felt a burning pain which even overshadowed the chill in his body. He looked down and saw the thick bandage on his bare left chest ¡ª another scar on his body.


    ¡°Where¡¯s she?¡± This was the first and foremost concern of Gu Shenwei.


    Old Man Mu, who didn¡¯t even have time to express his pleasant surprise, was stunned a moment before he asked, ¡°You mean Lotus? I don¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t see the corpse either way. She was probably taken away by that madwoman Han Fen. There was fire everywhere and I was busy saving people and didn¡¯t notice anything else.¡±


    ¡°I want to see the Second Consort.¡± This was Gu Shenwei¡¯s second sentence. He had to take advantage of the chaos to collect the remnants of the Royal Court, and the Second Consort was one of the most important pieces.


    Long Fanyun took one step forward and said, ¡°Counselor Fang already went there. He said that the Dragon King could rest assured.¡±


    Fang Wenshi knew the Dragon King¡¯s strategy so it would be alright for him to meet the Second Consort, but Gu Shenwei still didn¡¯t feel at ease. Not only was the chaos full of opportunities but it was also full of change. One step wrong, he might fall from the hunter to prey.


    Queen Ju motioned for Old Man Mu, Long Fanyun, Red Bat, and the crying Xu Yanwei to withdraw from the tent, leaving the couple alone.


    They had rarely met in the past year. Looking at her, Gu Shenwei felt very strange and even couldn¡¯t even remember her name. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for dragging you into this.¡±


    Queen Ju smiled. The apology showed that they were, after all, truly an estranged husband and wife. This man would never have feelings for her, and she just wanted to hold onto her status. The Ju family of the Stone Kingdom was in a very unstable situation and the only thing she could use to save herself was the title ¡®Queen.¡¯


    She knew her ce.


    ¡°The world is falling into chaos now and no one can avoid it. I¡¯m happy to be with you at a time like this.¡±


    The twopsed into silence for a moment, and Queen Ju started to talk about thetest situation in the Nond. ¡°The Royal Court had been reduced to ashes, but all of the forces are still fighting in the ruins. The fact that you¡¯re still safe has made the Dragon Army an important force. Red Bat and Long Fanyun will brief the Second Consort and Tuosai respectively. They are waiting for your news of your condition.¡±


    ¡°Tuosai?¡± Gu Shenwei knew him as King Riyao¡¯s son who used to be loyal to King Kuari. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t understand why he would care about his condition.


    ¡°Hmm. King Riyao is dead, and Tuosai announced his session to the title while having more than ten thousand cavalries under him. The frontier army is said to be on its way back. Eventually, he may have more than a hundred thousand horsemen in total and will be an important figure of the Nond. Counselor Fang and the Second Consort all consider him their most important ally at the moment.¡±


    ¡°In fact, the whole Royal Court has been waiting for news of your status. King Kuari has nothing left, and his remnants joined Tuosai¡¯s army; King Rizhu¡¯s troops were almost wiped out, but his general Zhesu fled back to the Naihang Tribe in the West with part of their army and he will definitely stage aeback. He sent a letter saying thank you for taking care of his son Liman; King Dari and his whole family all fled to the East and it is said that they are taking refuge with one of his sons; the other several kings either ran away or left to continue fighting for the throne. King Shengri is now the most powerful but neither does he have the absolute advantage.¡±


    ¡°How long have I been asleep?¡± Gu Shenwei was surprised. He felt that his duel with Lotus was not too long ago and that so much shouldn¡¯t have happened so fast.


    ¡°Three days and two nights.¡±


    Gu Shenwei jumped out of bed which pulled at his wound and forced his body to stiffen. He had missed too much and had to make it up as soon as possible.


    Queen Ju carried out her duty as wife by helping him put on his clothes.


    ¡°How did you get out?¡±


    ¡°The Royal Court was not heavily guarded during the melee. We concocted a n and ran away.¡± Queen Ju paused a moment and felt that there was no need to conceal it, so she added, ¡°Instructor Shangguan yed a key role in the n.¡±


    Without saying anything, Gu Shenwei grabbed the saber and sword on the table and walked out of the tent.


    Over forty guards were waiting outside. It was a group of silent swordsmen from the Big Snow Mountain. Ever since the Dragon King had been wounded, they had hardly left the tent. Now after seeing him walking out, they still didn¡¯t say anything but instead lined up to escort the Dragon King to the main tent as usual.


    This was a mixed camp built in the wilderness. More than half of the soldiers were female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance, while the other portion were the horsemen of the Second Consort. In total, there were over two thousand soldiers, a small but well-guarded army.


    The soldiers saw the Dragon King and all bowed to show their respects, as more and more people surrounded him. As Gu Shenwei walked to the gate of the main tent and stood facing the crowd, a shout of joy suddenly broke out in the camp.


    Fang Wenshi came up in a hurry with a smile on his face. He opened his arms and seemed to want to give the Dragon King a bear hug but put his arms down when he was three steps away from him, and wiped his forehead. ¡°What a coincidence. I¡¯ve been out for thest few days and just came back today. And even before I got to the camp, I happened to hear the great news that the Dragon King has revived.¡±


    The situation reported by the military counselor was simr to that of Queen Ju¡¯s but in more detail.


    During the period when Gu Shenwei had been unconscious, the rtive bnce of power had constantly changed. In all, there were four kings who imed control of the capital city and proimed themselves as Khan but were driven away by another force in just half a day. In the end, the different parties reached a tacit understanding that no one would send troops into the ruins.


    At this moment, the distance actually represented strength. The camp of King Shengri was close to the south of the ruins. Tuosai and another king were stationed more than three miles from the east and west side, and a dozen miles further out were the remnants of the other kings.


    As for the Second Consort and the Dragon Army, they were too few and could only camp thirty miles away and ¡®watch the fire¡¯ from a distance.


    ¡°But the most powerful force in the Royal Court is not the kings but rather the hundred thousand Court Attendants Army left by the Khan who have taken over the pce, which is the only remaining part of the Royal Court. The generals im that they would not recognize anyone as the new Khan until the real murderer is captured.¡±


    ¡°Real murderer?¡±


    Fang Wenshi sighed, ¡°This is the source of chaos in the Royal Court. As for how the Khan died, there are many different opinions. All the kings seem to be suspect, and even the Court Attendants Army are no exceptions. Many people are even using others with the reason that they are ying the trick of a thief crying ¡°Stop, thief!¡± And some people even say¡­¡±


    ¡°Some people even say that I am the assassin.¡±


    Fang Wenshi bitterly smiled and nodded. ¡°Theyuded the Dragon King to the skies, saying that you threw a short sword from ten miles away which flew into the tent and killed the Khan. But it¡¯s alright because this way, not many people believe it.¡±


    The counselor stared at the Dragon King, obviously still having some doubts at heart.


    ¡°I did not kill the Khan.¡± The main tent was empty, and Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help look around. There was no protector behind him now, and he had to rely entirely on his own abilities to protect himself. ¡°It¡¯s the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    Gu Shenwei briefly introduced Lotus¡¯s n and actions.


    Fang Wenshi was stunned by what he heard. ¡°This is¡­ This is really strange. What¡¯s Lotus got against men? Or she¡­¡± He gave the Dragon King a suspicious look and did not continue guessing. ¡°So King Shengri is actually the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s puppet. No wonder he always attains a narrow victory even when his strength is not the strongest. His opponent¡¯s leading generals have either suddenly died or be betrayers every time. So it was that group of madwomen ying tricks behind the scenes.¡±


    ¡°Has Lotus ever shown up?¡±


    ¡°No. But there¡¯s a saying that the Khan was killed by a couple of enchantresses. Though very few people are taking that seriously, it turns out that that¡¯s the truth. The Nond was destroyed by a group of women¡­¡± Fang Wenshi kept shaking his head and suddenly said in a very firm tone, ¡°So there¡¯s a reason behind the saying that women are disasters and that it¡¯s better to stay far away from them.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew what the counselor really wanted to say. Fang Wenshi had been trying to express this idea from the very first word in their meeting. ¡°Dragon King, I¡¯ve been telling you not to be sentimental but I¡¯ve done a very bad job myself. But I¡¯ve got rid of it now. Seriously, I swear to Heaven that to any women I¡­¡±


    Fang Wenshi couldn¡¯t think of the right word to express his feelings. When he saw Queen Ju again, his former infatuation hadpletely disappeared. His youthful love hadete but left quickly. It seemed as if it were a memory of another person.


    The only thing he cared about now was the attitude of the Dragon King.


    ¡°I believe you.¡± Gu Shenwei quickly ended the conversation to avoid further embarrassment on either side.


    Fang Wenshi heaved a great sigh of relief and inwardly vowed to be loyal to the Dragon King but kept hisposure on the surface. As a counselor and a military adviser, he could not show his loyalty on his lips like a reckless young boy. ¡°The Second Consort is a woman so she¡¯s not reliable. She only wants to use the power of the Dragon King to go to the Western Regions to meet that Prince Duodun. She may cross the river and then tear down the bridge.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get to the river together first.¡± As an outsider, Gu Shenwei had to ally with the nobles of the prairie if he wanted to establish a foothold in the Nond or even merely have a finger in the pie. ¡°What¡¯s going on with this Tuosai?¡±


    ¡°s, it is still because of women. Tuosai was charmed by that Luo Ningcha and would do anything for her. He even forgot about avenging his father. As a new king with no future, his only value is his title as the old Khan¡¯s grandson and the army under him, I¡¯m afraid we may go our separate ways before even arriving at the river.¡±


    Things were better than Gu Shenwei had imagined, and even if he had never been asleep, this was probably the best he could have gotten.


    ¡°The Land of Fragrance has been of great help,¡± Fang Wenshi suddenly said. ¡°Especially Instructor Shangguan. The Second Consort wanted to break up the alliance before the Dragon King woke up, and it was all her mediating that created this stalemate. Not only did she confirm the safety of the Dragon Army and choose this camp, but she also borrowed a thousand soldiers from the Second Consort to station here.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s she?¡±


    ¡°She has been staying with the Second Consort. Honestly, that¡¯s the only reason I believe the Second Consort.¡± Fang Wenshi ignored the fact that Shangguan Ru was also a woman and he was unaware that he had been advising the Dragon King to stay away from the Unique King¡¯s daughter all this time until now.


    Gu Shenwei was slightly surprised that the counselor showed an extraordinary respect for Shangguan Ru, one that was neither love between a man and a woman, nor veneration among the unequal, but rather a kind of empathy as if Shangguan Ru was a leader who stood head and shoulders above the crowd.


    ¡°Very good.¡± Gu Shenwei had enough information now. ¡°Many people are interested in the Court Attendants Army left by the Khan, aren¡¯t they?¡±


    Fang Wenshi solemnly nodded. ¡°All the forces are trying to win the support of the hundred thousand horsemen. In fact, the Court Attendants Army has the sole ability to decide who can be the new Khan.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s also join in.¡±


    The hundred thousand soldiers were not only a powerful force but also the Nond¡¯s foundation that could restore stability as soon as possible. The Waning Moon Hall wouldn¡¯t let them y their part to their hearts¡¯ content.


    Gu Shenwei clearly remembered that he had hit Lotus with his palm which would severely injure her if not kill her.


    Gu Shenwei hoped that he had revived earlier than Lotus, as he wanted to meet the real Hall Leader of the Waning Moon Hall before their next duel.

 Chapter 659 - Pride

    Chapter 659: Pride


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Nobody knew when Han Wuxian had formed her habit ofbing her hair as she could do it for almost a half day, fully concentrating on the task and enjoying it as if it were the only thing worth doing in the world.


    Old Man Mu thought it was a very beautiful scene, but it was a little annoying to watch for too long. And he felt that he had been neglected. Strictly speaking, it was worse than neglect; he felt like he didn¡¯t even exist in the other side¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Ahem.¡± Old Man Mu wanted to grab Han Wuxian¡¯s attention. Seeing that his cough didn¡¯t work, he could only speak up. ¡°It wasn¡¯t easy to see you. If the Dragon King hadn¡¯t woken up, those guys wouldn¡¯t have let me in. Actually, with our rtionship¡­ Hehe, they¡¯d be jealous if they knew about our rtionship.¡±


    Han Wuxian seemed to have just noticed that there was another living person in the tent. She slowly turned her head and wore a faint smile on her face, which was the exact same smile that Old Man Mu remembered. His heart, which rarely found stimtion, began to beat faster.


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Me? Old Man Mu. We met three days ago, didn¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°Oh, really? Old Man Mu, that sounds like a very familiar name.¡±


    ¡°Very familiar? We couldn¡¯t be more familiar with each other because I indulged myself so much with you that I¡¯m not interested in any other women for the rest of my life.¡±


    Han Wuxian smile on her face spread even wider as she seemed to have remembered something from the past. ¡°Why didn¡¯t I kill you?¡±


    ¡°I got away.¡± Old Man Mu was very proud of this. ¡°I am the only one who slept with a woman of the Waning Moon Hall and sessfully ran away.¡±


    Han Wuxian held up her long hair and sized up Old Man Mu with her head tilted. ¡°You didn¡¯t seem to be like this before.¡±


    ¡°Now you remember?¡± Old Man Mu excitedly walked towards the beautiful woman, ¡°I was much taller and handsome than I am now. I became like this after practicing the Seven Rotation Skills. But it¡¯s all right, as I have an idea. Aren¡¯t you also injured? You¡¯ve eaten a lot of unknown pills and are chained down by your ankles. Why don¡¯t you practice the Seven Rotation Skills too? In this way, not only can you cure yourself but you will also match me well. You don¡¯t have to be afraid of being short. Have the others get down on their knees, and then we¡¯ll be tall.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea, but the secret manual of the Seven Rotation Skills is not in my hands anymore.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all here.¡± Old Man Mu patted his chest and almost cried out with joy at the thought that Han Wuxian would be like him.


    He cried out, not in joy this time, but from pain.


    Han Wuxian had made a move without warning and the weapon she had used was her long hair. The smile on her face was still enchanting which made people feel that it would be discourteous to dodge her attack.


    Old Man Mu ¡®discourteously¡¯ jumped seven steps back and covered his neck as hended, shocked. He had nearly been strangled by hair. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and immediately attacked Han Wuxian¡¯s vitals to force her to stop. Even so, a thin wound had been left on his neck and blood was slowly oozing from it.


    He remembered Han Wuxian was good at secret arts but her kung fu wasn¡¯t as formidable. It seemed that his modification on the martial arts manuals of the Waning Moon Hall was quite sessful. ¡°I understand how love can turn to hatred but you are going too far. I only have one neck!¡±


    Han Wuxian carefully put the broken long hair down beside her and turned her head tob her long hair again as if nothing had happened just now. She behaved as innocently as a newborn baby and did not say a word before a long while. ¡°You embarrassed me.¡±


    ¡°Do you think I want to be like this?¡± asked Old Man Mu indignantly. Now he was firmly opposed to judging a person by their appearance. ¡°It was you who taught me the Seven Rotation Skills and didn¡¯t tell me the oue.¡±


    ¡°It has nothing to do with that. Among all the men I¡¯ve slept with, only you¡¯ve escaped from the Waning Moon Hall, which humiliated me among my sisters.¡±


    ¡°Do I have to die to satisfy you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a bitte but betterte than never. It would be a bit helpful after all.¡±


    ¡°Heh heh.¡± Old Man Mu looked at the thin chain under Han Wuxian¡¯s dress. It was this chain that prevented the horrific woman from moving. ¡°Han Wuxian, save it. Other men would be enchanted by you and die either ted or confused. I am Old Man Mu, and your little tricks are useless against me. In fact, you don¡¯t have to feel too ashamed. You are not the only woman I slept with at Waning Moon Hall and I had sex with the others in your bed several times, haha.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Han Wuxian held her long hair in her arms like a newborn baby, her smile growing bigger. ¡°Several of them even had your babies.¡±


    Old Man Mu felt ashamed that he had been used. ¡°Lunatic. Where are those babies? Did you kill them all?¡±


    ¡°I thought that your children would be better, and I was wrong. They were all eliminated. Maybe I let you practice the Seven Rotation Skill too early. All the kids had your current appearance.¡±


    ¡°Heh heh, it¡¯s not easy to provoke me. This Old Man is carefree.¡±


    This was when Gu Shenwei walked in. He saw Han Wuxian holding her long hair in her arms while Old Man Mu looked like a timid little beast that wanted to attack but dared not to. With his breath held, he was staring at the other side with fierce eyes.


    ¡°Careful, she can kill with her hair,¡± reminded Old Man Mu. And he added one more reminder as he walked to the door, ¡°Don¡¯t be fooled by her appearance. This old hag is no younger than me.¡±


    Old Man Mu left the tent, wondering if he could restrain the present Han Wuxian with the Seven Circles Seven Apertures Heart Stopping Finger he invented and that he must try it when he had the opportunity to do so.


    Han Wuxian looked at the strange young man and asked, ¡°You are the Dragon King?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded and said, ¡°We¡¯ve met before, a long time ago.¡±


    ¡°Both you and Lotus used to work for Mama Xue.¡± Han Wuxian still remembered him. It was also because of her behavior that day that finally delivered to her the Daoless Divine Power she had dreamed about and also Lotus, the biggest hidden danger in the future.


    The reminiscing of the past was over as it wasn¡¯t why Gu Shenwei had racked his brains to save this Hall Leader. ¡°It would be a good choice to kill you.¡±


    Lotus had eaten the Blood Coagtion Pill, and Han Wuxian¡¯s blood was one of the most important ingredients of the antidote.


    ¡°In that case, Lotus would only have three or five years left at most, enough for her to kill many people, many people the Dragon King might care about,¡± Han Wuxian replied with confidence.


    ¡°You seem to have a better choice.¡±


    ¡°That depends on how much you believe me.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe you at all but I know that you and Lotus are enemies, so we can work together against her.¡±


    ¡°Ah, Lotus. It has been many years since a disciple as outstanding as she has appeared. She¡¯s even more powerful than me, the Hall Leader. I really feel reluctant in killing her.¡±


    Gu Shenwei waited for her next words. Perhaps he had gotten used to the garrulous prairie woman like the Second Consort, but Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t like the Hall Leader standing before him much. He thought that she wasn¡¯t direct enough and he could never be sure whether there was any deeper hidden meanings in what she said. He had to constantly remind himself that this was a madwoman who simply looked sane.


    ¡°We can join hands if you are willing to hand her over to me and let me do as I please.¡± Han Wuxian¡¯s voice was like her smile, as illusory as a dream. And it was no exception even when she was conducting a meticulous negotiation.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head and refused. ¡°I don¡¯t want to leave any loose ends. If I can get you out, maybe someone can get her out.¡±


    ¡°What if I can make sure that all they get out is a breathing piece of garbage?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not good either. Lotus has won the support of many people. The enemy will unite under her banner.¡±


    Han Wuxian gave out a clear and girlishugh. ¡°The Dragon King really is a killer trained by the Golden Roc Castle. Besides, you love her, don¡¯t you?¡±


    This was one of the troubles brought by women. In a way, Gu Shenwei agreed with the military counselor. No matter what kind of answer he gave, Han Wuxian would always believe that it was because of love. She and the Second Consort, though they hadpletely different personalities, were strangely simr in this aspect.


    Han Wuxian refused to let go of this interesting topic. The Dragon King didn¡¯t say anything, so she continued specting herself.


    ¡°You¡¯d rather kill her than let her suffer at my hands. Very good. Do you know Lotus¡¯s final n?¡±


    ¡°She wants the world to be in chaos and for the men kill each other. When all the men left are either dead or exhausted, the women will rule the world while she continued to hide behind the scenes.¡±


    Han Wuxian smiled, not the mysterious smile she had been wearing on her face. Instead, she burst into wildughter, even more frantic than a drunken Nond man, showing clear and unmistakable signs of madness. If Old Man Mu saw such a scene, his good memories would be wiped out for sure.


    Theughter suddenly stopped. Han Wuxian lowered her head and stroked her long hair as if she had forgotten what she had said and she didn¡¯t look up for a long while. ¡°Lotus is very proud. I¡¯ve never met anyone as proud as she is.¡±


    ¡°You mean she has other ns?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a n. The so-called letting men kill each other is just a slogan. When she came to power, many women filled with hatred were brought in. Of course, the targets of their revenge were all men. Hatred and madness are the two ways of training disciples of the Golden Roc Castle and Waning Moon Hall. Lotus wants tobine the two so she must instill a strong belief in her new disciples that killing a man is faith. It involves both vengeance and madness. Isn¡¯t Lotus smart?¡±


    ¡°What does this have to do with her pride?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s trying to imitate a man who looks down upon her and to even surpass him. That¡¯s her pride.¡±


    Gu Shenwei never thought that he had looked down upon Lotus. It was actually her who held grudges towards him from their first meeting, which had not dissolved until a long timeter.


    Han Wuxian was obviously a madwoman but that didn¡¯t mean her words werepletely wrong.


    In just an instant, Gu Shenwei understood the so-called ¡®looking down upon her¡¯.


    He had the ability and experience of pleasing women, all of which he had used on Shangguan Ru and Luo Ningcha. For him, it was a means of self-protection, and Lotus should have seen it very clearly for what it was but what she felt was just contempt.


    Gu Shenwei forbade himself from thinking further. Knowing oneself as well as the enemy was one thing but thinking only from the other¡¯s point of view was dangerous. That would make him weak and indecisive.


    ¡°She¡¯s my enemy, be she smart or proud.¡±


    ¡°Love can turn to hatred easily.¡± Han Wuxian remembered the words said by Old Man Mu. ¡°But I like it. Okay, I¡¯m in. I¡¯ll tell you Lotus¡¯s biggest weakness. And I have only one request: I have to be there when you kill her.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll see it. I¡¯ll send someone to have the chain taken outter.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had already walked to the door and lifted the curtain when Han Wuxian suddenly said with certainty, ¡°Remember, I am much younger than Old Man Mu.¡±

 Chapter 660 - Reconstruction

    Chapter 660: Reconstruction


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The news of the Dragon King¡¯s awakening spread quickly. The Second Consort and the new King Riyao Tuosai immediately sent an invitation over to discuss important matters. Fang Wenshi smilingly said, ¡°They want to see a live and well Dragon King. And they will be even happier if you can kill someone in public.¡±


    Gu Shenwei asked the counselor to deal with it for now. ¡°I¡¯ll leave in two hours.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was growing more and more familiar with the Dragon King¡¯s mind and routine, as he responded, ¡°I¡¯ll exin to them that the Dragon King was seriously injured and hasn¡¯t fully recovered yet. The Dragon King will have time to move slowly behind. Take care.¡±


    Gu Shenwei still had to see a few other people. These people were like old weapons that had been preserved and hung up for a long time that could be turned back into sharp weapons with a simple polish.


    The first was Hu Shining, the former training instructor of the Carving Wood Yard of Golden Roc Castle, who had been reduced to living in the slums of Southern Jade City and eventually taken in by Gu Shenwei as an instructor for young killers. Due to the chaos of the war, the task was not done well and he was once again considered a failure, this time of the Dragon King¡¯s.


    Gu Shenwei, however, firmly believe that this training instructor wasn¡¯t mediocre and that all that he needed was time. So while he was at Xiaoyaoke, he didn¡¯t use any of the immature killer teams even in his times of greatest need. Instead, he had sent all the good candidates he brought from the Savage Forest and the Land of Fragrance to Hu Shining and asked him to train them wholeheartedly.


    After a year of training, Hu Shining had finallypleted a full training cycle undisturbed and unmotivated. He reported the results to the Dragon King with the message, ¡°Twenty people are usable.¡±


    So far Gu Shenwei had sent him nearly two hundred teenagers and only twenty people were usable at the end, which actually met the original expectation. ¡°I need proof.¡±


    So Hu Shining and the twenty teenage killers left Xiaoyao Lake and went deep into the eastern desert of the Western Regions, and with the help of the guide, rescued Han Wuxian from the Waning Moon Hall and killed four disciples of the Waning Moon Hall without losing any of the teenage killers.


    Inside the tent, Hu Shining greeted the Dragon King respectfully and called the twenty killers inside in groups to perform a simple allegiance ritual.


    The killer must have a master and there was no way about this. Without restrictions, they would be mad dogs and harm others, and subsequently die very early.


    Gu Shenwei noticed that the young boy named Nie Zeng was also among them. This teenager that hade to the Dragon King to avenge his uncle¡¯s family had ended up as a killer disciple.


    The ritual of allegiance was simr to that of Golden Roc Castle. The killers knelt on one knee, gave their names, and made a few conventional oaths. When they were ready to drip blood from their fingertips into a bowl of water, Gu Shenwei halted the ceremony.


    ¡°Hold on, let¡¯s do the blood oathter.¡±


    Seeing Hu Shining reveal a surprised look, Gu Shenwei added an exnation. ¡°I¡¯d like to use another way ¡ª a more ancient way.¡±


    He still remembered the books that he had read in the castle, which clearly recorded that many years ago, the golden roc killers had to kill an enemy together with their master before the blood oath. Drinking a bowl of water with both the killer and the master¡¯s blood was merely a simplified ritual of the original.


    Few people of Golden Roc Castle still remembered these things, but Hu Shining actually remembered a little of it. ¡°If you mean swearing by the enemy¡¯s blood, I think they are ready.¡±


    The ritual of allegiance was finished halfway soon. Hu Shining reported to the Dragon King what had happened in the past few days, ¡°I¡¯ve arranged for some hidden sentries to be in most of the necessary positions and haven¡¯t found anything abnormal so far. As far as I can tell, the enemy has never tried to sneak into the camp. But there are still several holes that haven¡¯t been filled simply because there aren¡¯t enough people.¡±


    Hu Shining only had twenty teenage killers under him. Even if one included the forty swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain, there were still less than one hundred people and that number was far too small to truly defend a camp of two thousand people.


    Gu Shenwei made a note of the matter and said, ¡°Remove the chains from Han Wuxian¡¯s feet.¡±


    Hu Shining always adhered to the killer¡¯s principle and seldom questioned the master¡¯s intentions. But this time he couldn¡¯t help but warn, ¡°Han Wuxian is very dangerous. We rescued her, but she has tried to kill anyone whoes near her.¡±


    ¡°Not anymore. Have her make a vow before removing the chains.¡± Gu Shenwei spected on the behavior of an abnormal woman in a normal state of mind. In fact, he was not sure about what would happen at all. But this was a risk that he had to take. ¡°Send half of your manpower to find two people for me; one is Han Xuan and the other is called Shangguan Shaomin.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Hu Shining didn¡¯t ask any further because he knew who these two people were. As to their importance, there was no need for him to worry about it. After allocating more people to search for the two, it would be harder for the rest of them to guard against the possible ¡®visit¡¯ of assassins, but this was also not his responsibility.


    After pacing back and forth a few times, Gu Shenwei issued the third order. ¡°I need a personal guard. Go call Nie Zeng here.¡±


    Hu Shining abruptly raised his head, an action so drastic that even he himself felt disgraced. The Dragon King was very different from the previous masters he had served and each of his orders came as a surprise. ¡°Even at Golden Roc Castle, Nie Zeng would be a qualified killer. But he has one fatal w. He has not yet fully gained control of the hatred in his heart.¡±


    And the object of the hatred was exactly the Dragon King.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Gu Shenwei had already gotten used to the fact that his bodyguards all had varying degrees of hatred towards him. They were like a thorn with sharp ends on both sides, one side damaging his enemies and the other side warning Gu Shenwei to be on his guard at all times.


    Hu Shining didn¡¯t understand the Dragon King¡¯s idea, so he gave up dwelling on it and answered, ¡°Yes.¡±


    Nie Zeng soon arrived to see the Dragon King. Compared to their meeting two years ago, he was much taller and looked more determined, his puerile naivety had almostpletely disappeared. Hu Shining said that he was not yet fully in control of the hatred in his heart, but he covered it up well.


    Gu Shenwei had had such a guard ever since then.


    The second person he wanted to see was Shangguan Yun. This third young master of the Golden Roc Castle and king of the Xiaowan Kingdom of the Western Regions was being held in the camp of the Land of Fragrance. The golden roc killers had taken away King Dari¡¯s entire family but had not seriously rescued their real lord.


    Shangguan Yun had fewer ropes binding him but his hands and feet were still tied, and his acupoint had been struck by Old Man Mu. He could only move freely two or three times a day. ¡°I probably couldn¡¯t stand the treatment if I hadn¡¯t lived in a dungeon for years.¡± He seemed cynical even as heined.


    Gu Shenwei beckoned for Nie Zeng to untie the rope.


    Shangguan Yun stood up and stretched himself out. ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s pain seems to have been borne by me while he was unconscious.¡±


    ¡°You know my temper,¡± Gu Shenwei responded tly. Then he looked down, having no intentions of saying another word.


    Shangguan Yun stared at the Dragon King with an amused smile. It seemed that his curiosity had never diminished no matter how many times he met the Dragon King. ¡°Remember, I once said that if I was in charge, I would have formed an alliance with the Dragon King in the first ce.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Now I am in charge.¡±


    ¡°No wonder the killers of Golden Roc Castle ran away so fast.¡±


    Shangguan Yun pped his hands in agreement. ¡°The Dragon King may rest assured. There will always be someone left.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I need a reason.¡±


    The Dragon King changed the topic so abruptly that Shangguan Yun was stunned for a while before he understood. ¡°The reason is simple. We are all from the Western Regions and all want the chaos in the Nond to develop so that we can fish in troubled waters. Meanwhile, we also don¡¯t want the chaos tost too long because when the big hand of the Central inses in, we won¡¯t have a chance to fish anymore.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t give up my revenge.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t share the Western Regions with others.¡±


    Some alliances were destined to be temporary from the very beginning. Shangguan Yun didn¡¯t lie about it at least.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have my counselor talk to you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll wait.¡± Shangguan Yun stretched as he yawned again as if he were quite enjoying this limited freedom. ¡°Only with the help of the golden roc killers could this camp be considered truly safe.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t give Shangguan Yun too much of a chance to show off. He immediately left with Nie Zeng to meet the third person, who was also a hostage like Shangguan Yun.


    Liman was treated much better than Shangguan Yun. There was no rope on him and the tent was also clean and tidy. But he seemed very nervous and jumped out of bed as soon as he saw the Dragon Kinge in.


    Shangguan Yun had revealed his goal from the very beginning, but Liman had been following others blindly this whole time. The development of everything that had happened in the Royal Court was out of his expectation and nning.


    ¡°Dragon King¡­¡±


    ¡°General Zhesu has written me a letter,¡± said Gu Shenwei. In that letter, Zhesu thanked the Dragon King for taking care of his son, which was both a plea and a threat but wasn¡¯t something that Gu Shenwei cared about. ¡°You are free now. You can go back to the Naihang Tribe at any time. I will provide you with a horse and food.¡±


    Liman was dazed by the news. He stunned for a while before repeatedly asking, ¡°I am free? You won¡¯t kill me?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, King Rizhu is dead but the Dragon Army and the Naihang Tribe are not enemies. You can tell your father that he can choose to be either the Dragon Army¡¯s friend or enemy.¡±


    Liman suddenly felt more rxed than ever and even felt about guilty about the whole situation. He should have shown more relief and indignation at King Rizhu¡¯s death. ¡°I¡¯m not going back to the Naihang Tribe. I¡¯ll go to the Western Regions. Prince Duodun is the one I truly serve.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stared at him for a while and felt that it was the right time, so he said, ¡°The road of the Prairie is no longer the same as before. If you like, we can go together.¡±


    Liman was no longer that nervous. Although the Dragon King in front of him still looked sick and blood could be vaguely seen oozing from his chest, he appeared as hard as a stone and gave off the aura of a long saber firmly stabbed into the ground instead of a man casually standing there.


    ¡°I will only regard Prince Duodun as my lord after I get to the Western Regions.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have more requests.¡±


    ¡°Did you kill the Khan?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    Liman solemnly knelt on one knee. He had seen the guards of the Dragon King perform this ritual many times before. ¡°The Nond is going to copse, and only a hero like the Dragon King can turn the situation around. I would like to follow the Dragon King and do all I can do to serve him.¡±


    Gu Shenwei epted Liman¡¯s temporary allegiance and used him immediately. ¡°Come with me. Let¡¯s go to see the Second Consort and King Riyao.¡±


    Liman hesitated a bit because the new King Riyao Tuosai was thergest enemy of the Naihang Tribe now. After a second thought, he immediately dropped the ideas in his head. King Rizhu was dead and his allegiance to him had ended. Just as the Dragon King had said, he was free.


    ¡°Is everyone trying to enlist the support of the Court Attendants Army?¡± Although Liman had been captured and imprisoned, he could still learn of the released news so he was very familiar with Royal Court¡¯s current situation.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s probably why the Second Consort and King Riyao want to meet with me.¡±


    ¡°I think I can help. I have a lot of friends in the Court Attendants Army.¡±


    Friends? This was a somewhat strange word to Gu Shenwei now. He had just allied himself with his enemy and he knew very well that in times of turmoil, friendship might be the strongest rtionship but it might also be the most fragile.


    He didn¡¯t tell Liman these thoughts of his.

 Chapter 661 - The New King

    Chapter 661: The New King


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei arrived at the Second Consort¡¯s camp two hourster than the appointed time, but it turned out that he had stille early. The new King Riyao Tuosai had not yet appeared.


    The Second Consort personally came out to greet him. She was dressed in a light military uniform and wearing a sparkling tiara covered with colorful jewels. The dress and jewelry really suited her, making her suddenly appear several years younger.


    She extended her arms like a man would wee a guest, and then took the Dragon King by the arm and announced, ¡°The resurrection of the Dragon King is a blessing for the Nond and good fortune for the prairie. He¡¯s a messenger sent by Heaven to quell the war and restore the power of the Nond.¡±


    Many soldiers gathered on either side heard the words of the Second Consort and cheered in unison, the momentum of which was far beyond that of the camp in the Land of Fragrance.


    The two camps were not far apart so they could help each other under urgent situations. Old Man Mu, who had appointed himself as a protector of the Dragon King, had followed him here. Amid the cheers, he pointed at himself and shouted, ¡°I saved the Dragon King from the fire! Risking my life all the while!¡±


    Shangguan Fei now always followed Old Man Mu everywhere. He walked over and revealed the truth in a low voice, ¡°Where was the danger? It was all false mes.¡±


    Old Man Mu poked Shangguan Fei¡¯s waist and simrly replied in a low voice, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you dare to jump into the false fire then?¡±


    Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t dare to say anything more but was still not convinced at heart. How could he have known in advance that Han Fen would release a special fire which looked like it was burning fiercely but was actually just light and smoke without much actual heat? But Old Man Mu knew the secrets of the Waning Moon Hall and was naturally familiar with this trick. Otherwise, based on his temper and principles, how could he risk his life to save others?


    Nobody paid attention to the two¡¯s conversation. As the cheers gradually died out, the Second Consort and the Dragon King walked into the tent side by side. ¡°The Dragon King needs to restrain himself a bit when greeting the new king.¡±


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t think of anyone who was more restrained than himself. ¡°Hmm,¡± he mumbled in acquiescence.


    The two entered the tent and before they finished sitting down, King Riyao Tuosai arrived.


    A rion¡¯s call rang out to announce the arrival of an important figure. The Second Consort smilingly invited the Dragon King to greet the new king. As he stood at the door, Gu Shenwei saw over a hundred horsemen ride into the camp, all dressed in silver-white armor from head to toe, including their horses. The cavalry quickly split up and lined up to form two parallel lines that bordered a special passageway for the lord.


    The Nond had always taken riding and archery as the country¡¯s foundations. Most of the soldiers wore light leather armor and only the vital parts were adorned with metal. Therefore, the silver-armored knights appeared very out of ce and did not actually seem to be of much practical use.


    After another wait, Tuosai finally appeared, riding a white steed and being followed by an entourage a dozen or so in size. He didn¡¯t wear any heavy armor. Instead, it seemed that he deliberately wanted to show the forthright side of the nobles of the prairie, as he rode in all the way like a gust of wind. It was not until he was within ten steps of the Dragon King and the Second Consort that he suddenly came to a halt.


    The white horse raised its forelegs, almost standing up straight, and Tuosai, who was attached to the horse¡¯s back, lifted the whip in his right hand for a moment ¡ª just long enough to impress the onlookers.


    Gu Shenwei felt that it was more natural for King Rizhu to do this kind of thing.


    Tuosai was no longer a prince tortured by secret passions and under multiple sources of pressure. The chaos of the Royal Court had brought him great benefits, as the remnant forces of King Kuari and King Riyao all belonged to him now. All of a sudden, he had be a prominent figure and was even entitled to the Khan¡¯s throne.


    And Luo Ningcha, that matchless beauty, had finally acknowledged him as strong and was willing to ept his love.


    Tuosai, who had suddenly ascended to the throne of King Rizhu, had not yet grasped the great power of smiling so he made himself look majestic, to the extent of arrogance. ¡°The Dragon King looks good. That¡¯s very good.¡±


    The tone of his voice was also not the same as it had been before. The words jumped out of his mouth one by one in a stato pattern as if they were lethal weapons and too many words being said would hurt the innocent.


    The Second Consort was good at making use of smiles. From smiling toughing, she was able to use at least fifteen different types of expressions while disguising different emotions. And now she was wearing a subtle smile with her eyes slightly wide, showing just the right amount of surprise and admiration, while maintaining the same enthusiasm as usual.


    ¡°Herees the most handsome man on the prairie. Tuosai, can¡¯t you keep your profile a little lower? Dragon King, please do not let him go to your camp. Otherwise, those female soldiers would not be in the mood to fight.¡±


    Everyone called Tuosai ¡®Your Highness¡¯, but only this grandma-like Second Consort called him by his name, showing intimacy and favor. He held no antipathy to it at all and even felt a bitcent about it.


    Smiles and wine were two important means of interpersonalmunications but Gu Shenwei had neither of them. Not only that, but he had once broken into Tuosai¡¯s tent and witnessed the prince¡¯s bewildered and frightened appearance and therefore, would not be someone the new king liked.


    Gu Shenwei coughed twice for a moment andid his right hand on his heart. Fang Wenshi, who had arrived earlier, immediately came forward to hold his left arm and said, ¡°I beg your pardon, Your Highness. The Dragon King just came to his senses earlier and has not yet fully recovered from his wounds.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Gu Shenwei pretended to seem displeased and pushed the counselor away, but his steps were unsteady and there was a hint of blood oozing from his chest.


    Tuosai jumped off the horse and patted the Dragon King on the shoulder with concern. ¡°You were hurt badly, so you should have a good rest. The Second Consort and I were too careless.¡±


    Tuosai¡¯s pat wasn¡¯t light. Gu Shenwei swayed and Fang Wenshi hurried to support him again.


    As soon as they entered the tent, Tuosai abandoned the facade of friendliness. While the others sat down, he stood in the middle and said in a host¡¯s tone, ¡°This is a private talk.¡±


    The servants and entourage obediently left. Fang Wenshi got up and was also about to leave when Gu Shenwei motioned for him to sit down. ¡°Counselor Fang is the brains of my army. I just woke up and need to consult him about many things. I hope that King Riyao won¡¯t mind him staying here.¡±


    Tuosai thought for a moment with his head held high and quickly nodded forcefully. ¡°All right.¡±


    When there were only four people left in the tent, Tuosai took over the host¡¯s right to speak, saying, ¡°The Second Consort and I are only concerned about one thing. Is the Dragon King¡¯s saber as sharp as ever?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know till I try.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t give a direct answer.


    ¡°Hmm, I thought so too. King Shengri has raised many killers who are possibly from Golden Roc Castle. They assassinated many important generals everywhere and are a great threat. Can the Dragon King try it on them?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but I need time¡­¡±


    ¡°Three days,¡± Tuosai interrupted the Dragon King. ¡°The current situation is changing very fast, and there¡¯s no time to formte a careful n. In three days, I want to see the heads cut off by the Dragon King which can be those of the killers or generals of the enemy. The more the better.¡±


    ¡°Well, I just want to point out that the killers of King Shengri have nothing to do with Golden Roc Castle. They are all disciples of the Waning Moon Hall, and I also need to know who the enemy is.¡±


    Tuosai raised his head and cast a look at the Dragon King, ¡°All those who are not on my side.¡± After pausing for a while, he asked again, ¡°Isn¡¯t it true that people of the Waning Moon Hall were once under themand of the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Instead of asking further, Tuosai turned his head to nce at the Second Consort and hummed softly.


    Fang Wenshi tried to break the awkward atmosphere by saying, ¡°The Dragon King is very concerned about the hundred thousand Court Attendants Army. He came today to¡­¡±


    Tuosai seemed to be fond of interrupting people. Without even looking at Fang Wenshi, he loudly said, ¡°Just leave the Court Attendants Army to me. They are real Nond Cavalry and will only obey the strongest descendant of the Khan. They will know who they should be loyal to after I defeat all my enemies.¡±


    An issue of the utmost importance under discussion was over before Tuosai had even taken a seat. He grabbed the wine cup and drained it with one gulp. Then he nodded to the Second Consort and merely took a nce at the Dragon King before turning around and striding off.


    Even when facing Tuosai¡¯s back, the Second Consort kept smiling. ¡°Power gives a man everything, and the only thing it takes away is wisdom. Heh, once again, this seems to be something that was said by the Khan. That old dog is still haunting me even after he died.¡±


    ¡°Fortunately, I don¡¯t need his wisdom that much.¡±


    ¡°Haha.¡± The Second Consort smiled happily. ¡°The Dragon King doesn¡¯t need his wisdom but he needs the Dragon King¡¯s woman. Tuosai went to please Luo Ningcha. If not because of this woman, he wouldn¡¯t have evene here.¡±


    ¡°Luo Ningcha is not my woman.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. She¡¯s useful now anyway, and she¡¯s be smart enough to y hard-to-get with a man. She¡¯s got a tent full of screens and only lets Tuosai hear her voice. I have to say that this trick is very effective. Our King Riyao has bepletely enamored with her and has even promised to make her the Chief Consort the moment he bes the Khan.¡±


    ¡°King Riyao is very generous.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, when he¡¯s generous enough to hand over the army, all our problems will be solved.¡±


    ¡°Will he gain the allegiance of the Court Attendants Army?¡±


    Hearing this question, the Second Consort put away her smile for the first time, revealing her serious side. ¡°The Court Attendants Army has now be the key force in turning the Royal Court around. Everyone wants to win their support and Tuosai has oversimplified the whole situation. The Court Attendants Army isn¡¯t unbreakable, and they can be grouped into two parts. One is themon soldiers who all have a clean personal record. They are loyal only to the Khan or his heir. The other part consists of the eldest scions of the nobles, who, from the age of fifteen, are obliged to join the Court Attendants Army and start with the title of a junior officer while having to serve for at least ten years. Theye from different tribes and have their own background and backers, and have formed many internal groups, which actually control the Court Attendants Army. Even the Court Attendants Army can¡¯t ignore their opinions. These are the people who make thingsplicated.¡±


    ¡°I know a man who ims to have many friends in the Court Attendants Army.¡±


    ¡°Liman, General Zhesu¡¯s son. I saw him. Hmm, he¡¯s right but you can¡¯t expect him to bring over the entire army. Send him to pry around and find out information about the real intentions of the Court Attendants Army¡¯s generals.¡±


    ¡°What kind of man is the Commandant?¡±


    The Second Consort¡¯s smile reappeared. ¡°The Dragon King can make his own judgment for himself when he sees the Commandant.¡± After a pause, she exined, ¡°The Commandant has invited all the forces of the Royal Court to a meeting the day after tomorrow at noon. The Dragon King is also invited.¡±


    ¡°I hope that this is not a trap to wipe out all his enemies.¡± The first thing that came to Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind was that this was a trap because the Court Attendants Army was iming to avenge the Khan, and all the forces, including the Dragon King, were suspicious.


    ¡°You can rest assured. The ce was carefully selected, the Commandant will only take a few men with him, and the army will remain where they are. If the Dragon King can prove that the assassin was from the Waning Moon Hall, it will be a crushing blow to King Shengri.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be very hard.¡± Gu Shenwei had seen the truth himself but he clearly knew that his words were not very convincing to the dignitaries of the Nond and that he had no direct evidence in his hands.


    ¡°Then we can only take one step at a time and see what happens.¡± The Second Consort heard the horse¡¯s hooves outside the tent and smiled. ¡°There¡¯s a person that the Dragon King must meet. She has helped you a lot.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart flipped. He hadn¡¯t seen Shangguan Ru in the Second Consort¡¯s camp.

 Chapter 662 - Lightness

    Chapter 662: Lightness


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    In the eyes of the Second Consort, the person who had really helped the Dragon King was not Shangguan Ru, but rather Luo Ningcha.


    Without Luo Ningcha, there would be no reason for King Riyao Tuosai to ally himself with the Second Consort and the Dragon King. If that were the case, then it would be difficult for the two of them to gain a foothold in the Royal Court, let alone travel thousands of miles to the Western Regions and join that Prince Duodun.


    Luo Ningcha, who had just sent Tuosai away, was in a state of triumph. ¡°See, even you are notpletely right sometimes. The best way to conquer a man is not to sleep with him, but rather to not sleep with him. But I don¡¯t me you. You are a man but you have no experience in such things, and perhaps you had ulterior motives at that time.¡±


    Luo Ningcha had a slight change of mind and had subverted the temptation incident a few years ago, now believing that the seducer was Servant Huan rather than herself, and that he had other purposes behind teaching her the seducing techniques, and that once he had achieved them, he had turned cold and started ignoring her.


    One of the purposes she called the Dragon King here was to illustrate it.


    Luo Ningcha was sitting behind a screen. From now on, any man who tried to break through the barrier in front her had to pay a heavy price, even the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei was very happy about this situation. He actually breathed a sigh of relief, so to speak, as he never regretted the first time he had indulged himself in his boyhood, but he would not be proud of it either. If he had the chance to do it all over again, he would have found a way to say ¡®no¡¯ to the Miss.


    ¡°Nothing can escape your eyes.¡±


    ¡°And my hands.¡± Luo Ningcha¡¯s tone grew serious as she had not called the Dragon King here to reminisce about the old days. ¡°Lotus must die. She tried to assassinate and kidnapped me, and even her underling beat me. She¡¯s the one I hate the most in the world. She used to be your guard but is now your enemy, so I want you to kill her with your own hands, as well as that Han Qin. Bring their heads to me as a gift.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t King Riyao help you?¡±


    ¡°Lotus is a rat on the run, and Tuosai is a tiger. He¡¯s powerful enough to defeat other tigers, but not necessarily able to catch a rat. You are the cat, as you are the best person to do this.¡±


    Luo Ningcha giggled at her vivid metaphor but then felt very dissatisfied with the silence of the Dragon King. ¡°So, are you still in love with Lotus? I heard that you almost died at her hands. Do not try my patience and do not think that I¡¯ll treat you differently just because of our former rtionship.¡±


    Power also brought women a lot of things. Luo Ningcha had already be domineering even before she really possessed a reliable power. Gu Shenwei suddenly felt that she and Tuosai were a perfect match.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m thinking of a n. Lotus hid very well; I have to find a way to draw her out.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that simple, you¡­¡± Luo Ningcha swallowed her words, before smilingly saying, ¡°You are a killer, and looking for people and killing them is your expertise. Satisfy my desires and bring those two heads to me, and you¡¯ll receive a lot of rewards. A lot.¡±


    Gu Shenwei wanted only one ¡®reward,¡¯ which was also the Second Consort¡¯s goal. ¡°After helping you get revenge, I hope to borrow some troops from King Riyao and return to the Western Regions.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Do you think that I want to live in a tent on the prairie forever?¡± Luo Ningcha chuckled. ¡°I know. It¡¯s a deal. You help me kill Lotus and Han Qin, and I¡¯ll help you borrow troops from King Riyao. After all, you are the Dragon King, and everything is a deal to you, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Gu Shenwei could only repeat what he had said earlier. ¡°Nothing can escape your eyes.¡±


    Luo Ningcha, of course, did not understand that eradicating the Waning Moon Hall was the most urgent task for Gu Shenwei at present. If she thought a bit more, she would know that she did not need to ask the Dragon King for help at all, nor make any deals. She just had to wait and watch.


    Gu Shenwei stood in the doorway and took in a deep breath of the evening mellow air before he walked to the guards, took the reins from Long Fanyun and leaped on his horse.


    He finally understood how hard it was to get rid of the killer¡¯s identity. He had barely been awake for half a day and almost everyone was beckoning him to kill at once and kill more.


    The current Royal Court was like the East Castle during the ughtering period of the disciples; killing was allowed and encouraged. It was just that this time, no one had the right to call a stop to it.


    Looking at it from a killer¡¯s perspective, everything was not only simple but also exciting.


    Gu Shenwei met Shangguan Ru on his way back to the camp.


    Shangguan Ru was riding the me Foal at a normal speed so that the hundred or so guards behind her could follow along. The terrain was bumpy and she also rose and fell rhythmically. Gu Shenwei recognized her with a simple nce and suddenly thought of the time he had first seen her when he returned to Jade City.


    Half of Shangguan Ru¡¯s guards were female soldiers from the Land of Fragrance and the other half were horsemen of the Second Consort. They had heard the good news that the Dragon King had awakened on the way, so the female soldiers were all in great delight while the horsemen were solemn and dignified, greeting the Dragon King in unison.


    Like the Second Consort, Shangguan Ru was dressed in a light military uniform except for the exaggerated headdress. Instead, she wore a simple scarf like the female soldiers.


    Her cheeks reddened slightly as she galloped along, and her eyes shone strangely in the evening light of the sunset.


    She was smiling. ¡°I¡¯m very happy to hear that you are awake.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. I heard that you went to see the Commandant. How did it go?¡±


    ¡°Not bad. The Commandant also hopes to put an end to the chaos on the prairie as soon as possible and hoped that the meeting of the kings the day after tomorrow would result in a solution.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was carrying out a n that was doomed to failure. She wanted to persuade the forces to give up the fight and elect the new Khan in a peaceful manner. Although the Second Consort didn¡¯tment on it, she had clearly indicated that fighting for the title of Khan by force was a tradition in the Nond that had existed for hundreds of years, and would not change because of a woman, especially when this woman was a foreigner.


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help but think that she was as stubborn as she was little and that she would follow her heart and never stop until she had achieved her goal. Unfortunately, the prairie was not the castle, and she was no longer the Tenth Gongzi. The influence she could wield here was negligible.


    She was like a proud child who demanded to y her own game in front of all the children.


    Gu Shenwei nodded at her and did not think that he was qualified or capable of changing her mind.


    The two suddenly felt that there was nothing left to say. There were a few people nearby who, however, looked them expectantly and was amazed at the politeness and silence of the two.


    Old Man Mu coughed and imitated Shangguan Ru¡¯s voice, ¡°Dragon King, is your chest still hurting? I¡¯ve been worried a lot.¡± Then he replied in the Dragon King¡¯s tone, ¡°It¡¯s all right. It doesn¡¯t hurt anymore. I dreamt about you often too.¡±


    His imitation was vivid but he didn¡¯t get the results he had expected. He thought that Shangguan Ru would be shy and that the Dragon King would show his manhood at the right time to tell him to shut up.


    But it turned out that the one who told him to shut up was Shangguan Ru, and she wasn¡¯t shy at all. ¡°Old Man Mu, are you trying to perform ventriloquism? Shut up and follow me.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I don¡¯t have to protect the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s awake, and doesn¡¯t need your protection anymore.¡±


    Gu Shenwei politely said good-bye to Shangguan Ru and noticed that there was a familiar-looking monk in her party. It was the disciple of Fayan, Lianqing, who had once sought revenge on him.


    Lianqing lowered his head and tried not to look at the Dragon King. He could notpletely forget the hatred tied to his brother¡¯s death.


    Old Man Mu didn¡¯t care who he should follow, so he turned to the Dragon King and loudly said, ¡°Take good care of Hall Leader Han. Say hello to her for me, and tell her to watch her hair!¡±


    Shangguan Fei hesitated about who to follow. He hadn¡¯t mastered Old Man Mu¡¯s Five Hole Punch and the Dragon King was nominally his lord. Soon, he decided to chase after the Dragon King.


    A few pacester, Old Man Mu¡¯s voice rang out behind, ¡°Wait a moment, Dragon King, wait!¡±


    ¡°The good girl has something to tell you, alone.¡± Old Man Mu winked. When the Dragon King turned around to meet Shangguan Ru, he nodded meaningfully.


    ¡°What is my sister is going to say?¡± Shangguan Fei curiously looked around.


    ¡°You will never understand such things.¡± Old Man Mu scornfully said while looking Shangguan Fei up and down as if seeing him for the first time, ¡°You and your sister were born mistakenly. Howe you¡¯re a sissy, and she¡¯s¡­ you know¡­ valiant and heroic in her bearing.¡±


    Shangguan Fei blushed and whispered, ¡°I¡¯m not a sissy¡­¡± As he said this his eyes uncontrobly turned to the nearby Long Fanyun.


    Long Fanyun¡¯s tall body was like a stone carving, showing no reaction to his attention.


    The more Old Man Mu looked, the more he became confused, ¡°Something isn¡¯t right. Why does it seem like these two are ming each other?¡±


    Shangguan Ru actually became more polite. She wanted to return the me Foal. ¡°I forgot. It¡¯s your horse.¡±


    ¡°Just keep it. I hardly ever use it anyway.¡±


    He was a killer and he indeed didn¡¯t have many chances to gallop with it.


    Shangguan Ru affectionately scratched the me Foal¡¯s neck. ¡°Thanks. I¡¯ll borrow it, and you can take it back at any time.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    The sun was setting, and night was covering the prairie at a perceptible speed. Shangguan Ru¡¯s hands and eyes still remained on the horse¡¯s neck, ¡°I overheard some news. Wild Horse has joined the Essence Pavilion and be a dual-cultivator of one of the disciples. They pretended to join the Waning Moon Hall but actually, they are making use of them, and Lotus¡­ is in danger.¡±


    ¡°Her danger is not Wild Horse, but me.¡±


    Shangguan Ru felt a touch of enmity and vignce in the Dragon King¡¯s voice, and she knew that she was crossing a delicate line, and with only half a step further, she would be interfering in the Dragon King¡¯s affairs.


    ¡°Killing is not the only way to solve problems.¡±


    ¡°Of course not, but it¡¯s the most effective way.¡±


    ¡°That is Lotus¡¯s view.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was suddenly boiling over with rage for no reason. ¡°Do you still remember that we stole the Daoless Scroll together?¡±


    ¡°Mmm.¡±


    ¡°Before you, Lotus also gave me a copy of chapter seven, but it was another version. It was because of her that I received Qi deviation and still can¡¯t resolve it even now. I can makepromises when necessary, but now I can¡¯t think of a reason to not kill her.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was stunned. She knew that the Dragon King¡¯s internal Qi had a problem but didn¡¯t know it was because of Lotus.


    In fact, she was bing the only outsider that had learned of the feud between the Dragon King and Lotus.


    Gu Shenwei felt that he had been too impulsive. There was no need for him to exin everything, so he softened his tone. ¡°Now that you¡¯ve decided to refrain from killing, you should never get near it again. There¡¯s no stone wall here to protect you and you might get caught up in it at any time.¡±


    Staying away from killing meant staying away from the Dragon King.


    ¡°Fayan said that the Grand Enlightenment Sword Sutra¡­ could turn someone into a devil, but could also make one a Buddha¡­¡±


    ¡°There are many ways to practice the Death Sutra; the monk might be right but I can only practice the one that suits me the best. You will never understand because you constantly have a choice, but I do not. I am destined to move forward on the narrow road decreed by Heaven. Even only a little doubt and hesitation will doom me.¡±


    After experiencing so many betrayals and tribtions, Shangguan Ru had thought that she was fully mature, but now she realized how childish she still was. She and Servant Huan had walked farther and farther apart on different paths, creating an impassable chasm between them, and the familiar figures they saw of each other were just an illusion.


    Gu Shenwei turned his horse around, feeling a stinging and painful, yet light heart.

 Chapter 663 - Meeting

    Chapter 663: Meeting


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The situation wasn¡¯t as chaotic as Gu Shenwei had imagined it would be.


    Ever since the news that the Khan was seriously ill had reached the general popce, the people who were familiar with the Royal Court¡¯s traditions had begun making their preparations. This was especially apparent with the herdsmen whose wealth was mainly livestock that were left in the suburbs to breed. For them, as long as they could leave the city, they would not suffer a great loss if an emergency urred.


    Many people had died, most of whom were old and sick, along with some inexperienced foreigners. All of the tents had burnt down except for the royal pce camp in the north, but the base of the Royal Court remained standing. This was a city on the move, so it could be rebuilt at any time. All it required now was a new Khan.


    The meeting ce of the kings was at the southernmost area of the Royal Court. Anybody entering the temporary camps could still see the bare ruins, around which smoke still coiled towards the sky in many ces. Most of the dead had been taken away by their rtives and friends but there were still some corpses left on the spot. The remains of the flesh and blood had attracted many carrion birds circling in the air.


    The Commandant of the Court Attendants Army seemed to want to influence the kings through this method but it turned out to be aplete failure. At this critical moment, all of the kings were trying to show their brutal and ruthless sides by looking at the ruins with admiration. Some of them even took a few deep breaths and coldly remarked, ¡°What a glorious smell of flesh.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was also looking at the ruins but in his mind, he was wondering where Lotus was hiding. As he turned his head, he noticed the Commandant of the Court Attendants Army, one of if not the most important figures of the Nond as he was perhaps the only one who could turn the tide and stabilize the situation.


    The Commandant was the Khan¡¯s half-brother and had been in charge of the Court Attendants Army for nearly thirty years. His position was so firm that many people even suspected that he had brainwashed the Khan.


    Fang Wenshi had investigated the situation and the truth was that the Commandant had paid a heavy price for his position. He had never married, not to mention children. He volunteered to live like a eunuch, seldom attended the frequent banquets of the nobles, and never express any opinion on the battle for the throne even on the most private asions.


    In short, he was a nearly invisible Commandant, someone who would have probably never shown up if the kings had not wounded each other during the tangled warfare.


    Dressed in heavy armor, the Commandant was a grave old man who looked slightly hefty but was still very vigorouspared to his peers in sixties. He was standing at the door of the tent to greet the iing guests.


    This was a capable man who had hid all his strength under an unattractive appearance. Gu Shenwei secretly appraised the Commandant as such while walking towards him.


    The Commandant obviously recognized the Dragon King. Without needing an introduction, he nodded and said, ¡°The Dragon King is early. Pleasee inside and have a rest.¡±


    nd greetings indicated that the negotiationster would be a fierce battle.


    Gu Shenwei was the fifth to arrive. The tent was veryrge, and a dozen or so female ves were nervously setting up the table with wine and meat as well as serving tea and water to the guests. Fang Wenshi took advantage of the asion and introduced the four people already there to the Dragon King in a low voice. ¡°The fat guy there is King Zuori¡¯s son. He immediately imed the title of King Zuori the day his fathermitted suicide. It¡¯s said that several of his brothers arepeting with him. That bearded man is the son of King Rixin who died in the battle¡­¡±


    Before Fang Wenshi could finish his words, more participants had arrived. Some of them were not kings of Nond but instead powerful counselors who either had control of a remnant army ormanded deep reverence among the people and were therefore invited to participate in this meeting that would decide the fate of the Royal Court.


    Regardless of if they hated or supported each other, theymunicated mostly by eye contact and rarely spoke.


    Finally, King Shengri and the Commandant entered the tent together and broke the hostile silence.


    For this rare gathering, King Shengri¡¯s army had drawn back ten miles and he himself, as previously agreed upon, had brought only two people in his entourage: one guard and one staff officer, the same as the others.


    ¡°Aha! There are quite a lot of people!¡± cried King Shengri as if this were a regr,mon feast of the Nond. ¡°The Dragon King has arrived, haha. Be careful everyone. He has the least soldiers outside, but inside here, he¡¯s the most dangerous person. We are no match for him even if all of our strength is added up.¡±


    Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t brought his saber with him but King Shengri¡¯s words weren¡¯t exaggerated. He could kill many of the people present here even with bare hands.


    One of Fang Wenshi¡¯s tasks was to save the Dragon King from embarrassment, so he said with a smile, ¡°But as soon as the Dragon King leaves the tent, he will not be able to escape the pursuit of the Nond people even if he runs to the ends of the earth.¡±


    King Shengri wanted to hold the meeting in a rxed and pleasant atmosphere but like the Commandant, he had failed at the very beginning. No oneughed with him, and the hostility only became more apparent.


    The fat new King Zuori challenged the authority of King Shengri first. His position in his tribe wasn¡¯t stable so he was eager to gain some prestige at this meeting. ¡°Now that everyone¡¯s here, let¡¯s cut the crap and choose a Khan now. Please allow me to rmend myself, as for the reasons¡­¡±


    ¡°Because you weigh the most?¡± The big bearded King Rixin interrupted with disdain, saying, ¡°I don¡¯t care if we choose a Khan or not right now. My father was killed by a viin, and I must take the revenge first. I need an exnation, King Riming.¡±


    Although King Riming had escaped the melee, his losses weren¡¯t small. When he was questioned by his nephew, his suppressed anger was stirred and he became so incensed he couldn¡¯t help but m the table and rise to his feet. ¡°Little bastard, do you know who you are talking to? Damn it, this is war. It¡¯s perfectly normal to die. How can you me others when your father just had bad luck? Let¡¯s fight again if you are unconvinced, to see who¡¯s the real loser.¡±


    King Riying, one of the surviving kings, got up and said, ¡°We¡¯re family, so what¡¯s this hatred all about? The Central ins has already amassed arge force on the border and will march in at any moment. That¡¯s the biggest threat the Nond is facing. If you ask me, I¡¯d rather not fight among ourselves and we may as well wait some time before choosing the new Khan. Let¡¯s fight against the Central ins together, and whoever earns the most credit will be the new Khan.¡±


    A counselor ventured to interject, ¡°But without the Khan, we can only fight the enemy separately and we¡¯ll certainly be no match for the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°The Central ins people are timid and overcautious. One of our soldiers can fight ten of theirs. Give me a hundred thousand Court Attendants, and I¡¯ll bring back the Emperor¡¯s head.¡±


    ¡°Give you a hundred Court Attendants? Huh, the first thing you would do is kill all of us.¡±


    ¡°Revenge!¡±


    ¡°Choose the new Khan!¡±


    ¡°Fight the Central ins!¡±


    ¡­


    The female ves all retreated to the side to give more room to the quarrelsome kings, some of whom had already rolled up their sleeves and were ready to fight.


    King Shengri seemed to like the scene very much, as he continued to fan whatever mes his words could reach. ¡°Your father died too miserably; I don¡¯t want to be the Khan so choose whoever you like except for me; the Central ins is our biggest enemy, how can we not fight them?¡±


    Gu Shenwei watched on silently and listened to Fang Wenshi introduce the rtionship and strength of the various parties present. As the only outsider here, his words carried little weight. In fact, the main reason that he was able to attend the meeting was that the Second Consort couldn¡¯t join it due to her being a woman.


    ¡°King Riying,¡± Gu Shenwei whispered.


    Fang Wenshi nodded slightly in affirmation and said, ¡°That¡¯s him.¡±


    Both Gu Shenwei and Fang Wenshi had noticed the same man in the battle of words. The old King Riying wasn¡¯t dead, though he had given his title to one of his sons. Of all power transitions of the ¡°king¡± title, this was the smoothest and least controversial.


    The new King Riying was in his thirties and had a t facemon for the Nond. He didn¡¯t talk much but each time he spoke he could always win agreement from one or two people. Unawaringly, he had be the new king with the least enemies, and it was him who eventually put an end to the meaningless quarrels while simultaneously ttering the strongest. ¡°Everyone, we¡¯ve all been invited by the Commandant, so why not let him say a few words first?¡±


    Behind the Commandant stood ten thousand Court Attendants, the most powerful force in the Royal Court at the moment, so his words were naturally of great weight. All the people closed their mouths one after another, leaving only a few still ring at each other.


    The Commandant, like the Dragon King, had been watching in silence and waiting for the time to speak. And his first words startled everyone. ¡°I feel ashamed of you.¡±


    Some pretended not to care, some jumped up in anger but finally sat down obediently. After all, of the ten thousand Court Attendants Army, just half of them was enough to destroy either side.


    All of the main armies of the kings were stationed on the frontier, and it would take at least a month to deliver the message and dispatch the troops, during which the Court Attendants Army had the absolute advantage.


    ¡°I heard the cry for revenge,¡± the Commandant continued. Amongst the people present, he wasn¡¯t the oldest but had the highest seniority in the family, and that gave him the right to criticize others, ¡°But no one mentioned the Khan. Have you all forgotten? Just five days ago, the old Khan was assassinated and beheaded, and the whereabouts of his head is still unknown.¡±


    King Shengri coughed and said, ¡°I remember that we made a rule not to mention it for the moment.¡±


    The death of the Khan had caused so much controversy that everyone was suspected. No conclusion had been drawn because no one had clear evidence in their hands. So before the meeting, everyone had agreed to avoid mentioning the Khan, but no one had expected that the first person to break the rule was the meeting¡¯s sponsor ¡ª the Commandant of the Court Attendants Army.


    ¡°But we¡¯ve also made the rule that we would talk it out and we would put an end to the chaos in the Royal Court, but I¡¯ve seen the chaos getting worse,¡± the Commandant said coldly.


    The atmosphere solidified again. The Commandant, who rarely participated in the court discussions, suddenly became aggressive, which surprised the kings and counselors who knew him.


    Everyone thought of the hundred thousand Court Attendants, and even King Shengri no longer raised any objections but agreed instead. ¡°Who doesn¡¯t want to avenge the Khan? But who did it?¡±


    ¡°The murderer is sitting among us.¡± The Commandant scared the others again.


    ¡°Who is it? Please point it out, Commandant. I¡¯ll kill him!¡± cried King Zuori sternly. But he was the only one whose voice echoed through the tent. Lonely and embarrassed, he slowly sat down, his face bing ghastly.


    ¡°The murderer thought he was clever and wanted to frame the five maids of the Khan.¡± The Commandant continued and seemed to already have all the answers. ¡°But he overacted. The scene was too clean and the stupidest thing was that he took the head away.¡±


    The Commandant paused for a moment, ncing over everyone in the tent, but his eyes not staying on anyone. ¡°I would say, it had to be done by a professional killer.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was more surprised than anyone, for he clearly remembered that it was the five ve girls who had killed the Khan. Lotus had left the corpse of Shangguan Nu and the poisoned wing guard Green Falcon to frame King Kuari.


    Why then did the Commandant say that the scene was clean?


    ¡°Dragon King,¡± The Commandant called a name for the first time. ¡°You¡¯re a killer, aren¡¯t you?¡±

 Chapter 664 - Questioning

    Chapter 664: Questioning


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    When he heard the Commandant call out the Dragon King¡¯s name, Fang Wenshi stood up in preparation to argue for his lord. But Gu Shenwei motioned for his counselor to sit down and decided to face the challenge himself.


    ¡°I was a killer once.¡±


    The Commandant ignored the word ¡®once¡¯ and stared at the Dragon King¡¯s face with a stern expression, asking, ¡°Do you think I am right? That the Khan was killed by a professional killer.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. The Commandant gave too little information.¡±


    The tent was dead quiet. No one wanted to make a fuss about such things because any word could cause disaster to fall onto their heads.


    ¡°What else do you need?¡± The Commandant¡¯s voice grew harsher.


    Gu Shenwei steadfastly stared back. It wouldn¡¯t be this easy if the Commandant wanted to test the Dragon King¡¯s true feelings. ¡°For example, the five maids. Since they were there, they should have seen some clues.¡±


    ¡°Of course they are dead, the Dragon King definitely thought of that, didn¡¯t he?¡±


    King Zuori who had just imed his title let out a shortugh as if he thought the scene was very interesting. Under the puzzled gaze of the others, he coughed twice in embarrassment but didn¡¯t say anything.


    ¡°As for the truth, it is whatever the Commandant says. I will not ¡®think¡¯ randomly because even if I think of a hundred possibilities, it won¡¯t change the facts at all.¡±


    The Commandant was silent for a moment and seemed very dissatisfied with the Dragon King¡¯s answer and on the verge of breaking out. But when he spoke again, his tone had softened a lot. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll just say what I saw then. The five maids of the Khan were sitting on the bed in a circle, equidistant and naked. They all had knives in their hands and blood on their bodies, especially on their lips. In the center of the circle was the Khan¡¯s remains, headless and some parts missing. This is the scene that I saw with my own eyes, without any opinions of theories added in.¡±


    Everyone knew that the Khan was dead but very few people knew of the details of the murder scene. As generals who had gone to war themselves, they had seen countless corpses and even killed many people with their own hands, but they were still stupefied by some the Commandant¡¯s hints.


    ¡°Are you saying that they ate the body of the Khan?¡± The fat King Zuori asked in a low voice with a look of disgust.


    ¡°I think so.¡± The Commandant stressed the word ¡®think¡¯ while his eyes remained resting on the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei was one of the few who remained unmoved. ¡°Who identified the remains of the Khan?¡±


    ¡°It was me myself.¡±


    ¡°On what grounds?¡±


    The Commandant put out two fingers. ¡°First, those five ve girls were the Khan¡¯s maids and that isn¡¯t something that can be debated. Second, I¡¯m the Khan¡¯s brother and I recognized his thing. I can assure you that you would never find another one that is as big as his in the whole prairie.¡±


    The second basis, which was said by the serious Commandant, had an extraordinarilyical effect, and everyone burst outughing. King Shengri patted his forehead and cried, ¡°Yes, I saw it once when I was little. It was huge. I was so scared that I couldn¡¯t sleep for days. If I were the five maids, I probably wouldn¡¯t be able bear it and would have wanted to kill someone too.¡±


    The atmosphere became more active. King Zuori jumped to his feet and said, ¡°I heard that a real hero¡¯s thing is different from amoner¡¯s. So it¡¯s true. I say let¡¯s not argue anymore. Let¡¯s just take off our pants here andpare whose is bigger, and the one who has the biggest will be the new Khan.¡±


    Before his voice had died away, King Zuori knew that he had said the wrong thing again, though he did not know what. Theughter suddenly all stopped and the eyes shooting towards him all became cold as if he were a fool.


    King Zuori sat down with his head low and kept swishing the bowl of wine in front of him, feeling that he might be a real fool.


    The Commandant continued to steer the conversation. ¡°What else do you want to ask, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°The head was missing?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we can¡¯t find it anywhere.¡±


    What Gu Shenwei had seen appeared in his mind; he clearly remembered that the head of the Khan was sitting on a bronze te and that the corpse had been casually stuffed underneath the quilt.


    ¡°It¡¯s really strange.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so strange about it?¡± The Commandant seemed to know that the Dragon King was an insider and questioned him closely.


    ¡°It¡¯s odd that a killer who had carefully ced the five maids there to nt the crime onto would take away the head and leave an obvious loophole.¡±


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s something even stranger. I was told that the Dragon King had sneaked into the pce on that night. I wonder if it is true.¡±


    The Commandant¡¯s questioning made everyone turn to the Dragon King. King Zuori tried to speak again but held back, his face turning red.


    Heart thumping, Fang Wenshi didn¡¯t know how the Dragon King would answer.


    ¡°Yes, I went to the pce that night.¡±


    The Dragon King had just admitted it. The Commandant was lost in his own thoughts. The participants either didn¡¯t care or looked at each other with anger and suspicion, all thinking that blood might be shed at this meeting. Their guards all became vignt and were ready to save their lords in time of danger.


    King Zuori felt that he couldn¡¯t be wrong this time so he jumped up and pointed to the Dragon King, shouting, ¡°I knew it was you, little king of the Western Regions. You¡¯ve been at the Royal Court for a long while and continued to linger around and wouldn¡¯t leave. You must have evil intentions. I was wondering how you could be qualified to join today¡¯s meeting, and it turns out that even the Commandant suspects you.¡±


    King Shengri looked at his nephew with contempt. Now that all the powerful kings were dead, he could easily stand out from the crowd. ¡°My foolish nephew, do not use others randomly. You and your bodyguard are no match for merely a finger of the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s fight together and avenge the Khan!¡±


    King Zuori¡¯s bodyguard had no choice but toe forward and support his lord¡¯s decision, but he was pleased to see that none of the kings had responded.


    King Zuori blushed, turned his head, and red at his staff officer, ¡°Of course, the Commandant is in charge here today. I¡¯ll listen to him.¡±


    King Shengri put his hands on his belly and looked at his uncle who was a year or two younger than himself, ¡°With a hundred thousand Court Attendants in your hand, your words carry the same weight as that of the Khan. Commandant, please go ahead, do you think that the Dragon King is the murderer?¡±


    ¡°No, he isn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± King Zuori asked in surprise and began to wonder whether all of them had banded together to make a fool of him.


    ¡°Because he hasn¡¯t gained any benefits from it so far.¡±


    It was true that Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t received any benefits. The Khan had died a bit early and his alliance with the Second Consort was not promising. In the eyes of the nobles of the Nond, it was more like that he had taken shelter at a random refuge when there was no way out. Even the Second Consort had to be sheltered by King Riyao for her to barely keep her position.


    ¡°King Riyao works together with the Dragon King, they¡­¡± King Zuori frowned because the old King Riyao was King Kuari¡¯s ally but King Kuari was said to be assassinated by the Dragon King. The rtions between the two were even moreplicated than he had imagined.


    King Riyao Tuosai snorted. He would not speak for the Dragon King, but he had to guarantee his own interests. ¡°My father didn¡¯tmit suicide for fear of punishment, and my army was shattered afterwards. What benefits did I get?¡±


    The old King Zuori killed himself out of fear but this only caused more gossip to spring up. Gossip that King Zuori was the most scared to hear. He smote the table and rose to his feet then sat down with his hands on his knees, wheezing. He was not afraid of Tuosai but rather the stern gaze of the Commandant.


    The Commandant had focused his attention on the Dragon King, and no one would let him change the subject. ¡°But I want to know. What was the Dragon King¡¯s purpose behind entering the pce that night?¡±


    ¡°The Khan had invited me to talk about something.¡± Gu Shenwei told the truth.


    ¡°Since you were invited, why did the Dragon King sneak in?¡± asked one of the kings.


    ¡°The Khan wanted to see if I was capable enough.¡±


    ¡°You saw it?¡± asked the Commandant.


    ¡°No, I went into the pce but wasn¡¯t able to find the Khan, so then I left.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t intend to tell the truth in public because that would only arouse more suspicions.


    The Commandant looked down as if he was going to pick up the wine bowl in front of him, then casually said, ¡°After leaving the pce, you assassinated King Kuari.¡±


    King Riyao Tuosai knocked down a te of meat by ident in his surprise and interrupted, ¡°King Kuari wasn¡¯t killed by the Dragon King¡­¡±


    He had to make that clear so as not to give the impression that he was betraying his father and cousin by sheltering the Dragon King.


    ¡°Let the Dragon King exin himself,¡± replied the Commandant, his voice not loud but more than powerful enough.


    ¡°King Kuari was killed by the people of the Waning Moon Hall. I was there but I didn¡¯t partake in the assassination. If you did a serious investigation, you might still be able to find some witnesses.¡±


    ¡°Waning Moon Hall?¡±


    ¡°A killer organization, of which most of the members are female.¡±


    ¡°There aren¡¯t many female killers. The Dragon King has a few under hismand, right?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, the Waning Moon Hall used to be an ally of the Dragon Army¡¯s but we broke with them on the night of the Khan¡¯s assassination.¡±


    ¡°Lies, it¡¯s all lies. How could it be that coincidental?¡± King Zuori was always unable to keep his mouth shut.


    The Commandant stayed silent for a moment before turning to the other participants. ¡°It¡¯s true that there are female assassins in the Royal Court. Not one, but many, at least fifteen. They were involved in the assassination of the generals of the kings.¡±


    ¡°A bunch of women?¡± This time it was not just King Zuori, as the others were also surprised.


    The Commandant nodded. ¡°I have definite evidence which I can¡¯t take out at the moment. King Shengri may be willing to give an exnation.¡±


    King Shengriughed aloud and grabbed the knife that was used to cut the meat and stuck it on the table. ¡°So, after all this roundabout way of talking, the Commandant is actually suspecting me just because I now have thergest number of cavalry and the widest territory in the whole Royal Court? That¡¯s a great way to get rid of a dissident.¡±


    ¡°It has something to do with the cavalry and the territory, but that¡¯s not all. Those female killers are hiding in your camp and after each assassination, you are always the direct beneficiary. I¡¯ve been wondering who could approach the Khan without any hindrances? Probably only a woman.¡±


    The Commandant¡¯s conjecture was a little off but was very close to the truth. Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help but admire him.


    It was obviously much easier to gain the trust of the kings by forcing the Dragon King to reveal the name of the Waning Moon Hall instead of directly telling the truth himself. Although the Commandant had stayed away from the insidious andplex court discussions for many years, he didn¡¯t seem unfamiliar with it at all.


    King Shengri pulled the knife out and held it in his hand, ¡°Everyone, haven¡¯t you noticed it yet? Today he¡¯s going to get rid of me and tomorrow it will be King Riyao¡¯s turn, and who will it be the day after tomorrow? It¡¯s the one who has the greatest power. The Commandant wants to destroy everyone and be the Khan himself.¡±


    The Commandant let out a roar like a furious lion. ¡°You rebellious thief of the Nond, traitor of the Prairie. Stop your discord, and hand over all the female killers within two days. We will easily know who killed the Khan after an interrogation. You¡¯d better not escape, and do not waste any time relying on the power of the devils. I will chop all the killers you send into two pieces and send them back to you! ¡±


    Everyone was astonished by the Commandant¡¯s rage. King Shengri was stupified at first but then fiercely hurled out the knife in his hand.


    The only guard behind the Commandant flew forward, grabbed the knife, andid it lightly on the table, swiftly and neatly, obviously demonstrating that he was a top-notch master.


    Gu Shenwei heard Fang Wenshi whisper, ¡°The Commandant is in danger.¡±


    He was thinking of the same thing as the counselor.

 Chapter 665 - Opportunity

    Chapter 665: Opportunity


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The meeting of the kings hade to a quick end. King Shengri, who had just maneuvered himself into a powerful position, found that there was still an impassably high mountain that blocked his way.


    The Commandant, like the others, only had a staff officer and a guard with him but when he issued an ultimatum and threat, it was as if a hundred Court Attendants were standing behind him. King Shengri wished that he could roar with equal force, but his years of timidity finally prevailed. ¡°I¡­¡± He was only able to blurt out one word before he was defeated and could not raise his voice in any way.


    But King Shengri was still very angry. He was fully aware of his advantages but just couldn¡¯t show it. It was like if he owned a priceless treasure but still flinched like a beggar, which just incensed him more. He kicked over the wine and meat and pushed down the staff officer, eventually starting to walk outside. It was not until he reached the door of the tent that he turned around and maliciously said, ¡°Do not think you are safe just because you have more soldiers and do not think that the Dragon King can protect you!¡±


    ¡°You only have two days,¡± replied the Commandant cooly.


    To leave or not to leave. Such a simple choice suddenly became a momentous decision with deep implications. The fat King Zuori felt that he should seize the opportunity so he ignored the hints of his staff officer and became the first to rify his position. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect King Shengri to be so rebellious that he wanted to kill everyone. I have nothing more to say. Commandant, please count me in when you send troops to suppress him two dayster.¡±


    ¡°Right, right, do not let go of King Shengri,¡± the others echoed his sentiment and then took their turn to leave. Soon they would secretly send men tomunicate with both sides at the same time.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t rify his stance. Instead, he asked Fang Wenshi to bid farewell to the Commandant while he himself left with his guard Nie Zeng.


    As he sat on horseback, King Riyao Tuosai looked down at the approaching Dragon King and said, ¡°Not a bad n. Now that you have the Commandant to back you up, I¡¯m afraid that you won¡¯t need my protection anymore.¡±


    Before the Dragon King could answer, Tuosai had patted the horse and left.


    Fang Wenshi happened to catch up right at that moment. Looking at the back of King Riyao, he shook his head and said, ¡°Everyone thought that the questions and answers were all arranged by the Dragon King and the Commandant and that the purpose as to throw King Shengri off guard. s, it seems that we won¡¯t be able to cast off the impression that we¡¯ve joined the Commandant¡¯s fraction.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    After getting on the horse, Fang Wenshi continued, ¡°Well, for what it¡¯s worth, the Commandant did dere war on King Shengri, and the battle between the two sides will one way or another force the others to break and choose a side. The only thing that I¡¯m worried about is that someone may try to fish in troubled waters.¡±


    ¡°What do you think of King Riyao?¡±


    ¡°Him? He would do anything for that woman including hitting someone when he¡¯s down. Dragon King, he has probably heard some rumors and is a little jealous of you. When we formed an alliance with him, you were still in aa. He seems a little too disappointed to see you wake up.


    ¡°Do we have any other choices?¡±


    In order to gain a foothold in the Nond, one must find a descendant of the Khan as a backer or puppet. No one is an exception to this rule.


    Fang Wenshi thought for a while and said, ¡°There¡¯s¡­¡±


    Just as he was about to say something, the sound of the hooves rang out behind them and another king caught up to them.


    The new King Riying was a man who knew how to make use of his smile. With an amicable smile that was neither excessive nor pretentious, it was easy for him to gain the favor and trust of the other side ¨C and he had received the attention of Gu Shenwei and Counselor Fang at the meeting just now.


    ¡°Please, wait a moment, Dragon King.¡±


    Seeing that King Riying¡¯s two followers had been left twenty or so paces behind, Fang Wenshi signaled Nie Zeng, and the two of them galloped to a simr distance ahead.


    ¡°What is the matter, King Riying?¡±


    Unlike the other nobles who maintained themselves well, King Riying already had a weather-beaten face that looked like amon herdsmen¡¯s in his early thirties. Looking at the ruins not far away, he let out a long sigh. ¡°Everyone says that the Nond people are used to internal strife and will always choose the most suitable Khan. Unfortunately, a new Khan means nothing to those who have already died.¡±


    Gu Shenwei politely declined toment on the traditions of the Nond. He looked up at the sky and thought that he was just like the vultures circling in the air, waiting to devour the huge corpse of the Nond. But the empire was notpletely dead yet, and he could not feel the same sentiments as King Riying¡¯s.


    Perhaps King Riying felt the topic was too heavy, so he widened the smile on his face. ¡°The Commandant appreciates you very much.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, looking at the way he questioned me just now, I thought that I was going to die here.¡±


    ¡°Haha, the Dragon King is worrying too much. King Shengri is just an old liar, but he¡¯s right in saying that no one is a match for the Dragon King in this small area.¡±


    ¡°Please help me thank the Commandant then. The Court Attendants Army is the foundation of the Royal Court. I hope that he will make good use of this power.¡±


    ¡°Everyone wants to gain the support of Court Attendants Army. Doesn¡¯t the Dragon King want to take a slice of it?¡±


    ¡°King Riying is kidding. I¡¯m an outsider, so how could I be qualified to take part in the family affairs of the Nond?¡±


    King Riying put away his smile and leaned forward on the horse to get close to the Dragon King, ¡°The fight for the throne is not only a family affair of the Nond but also a major world event. It will have an immeasurable influence on the Western Regions as well. So everyone in the world is entitled to participate in it. The Dragon King may not know that you have a very good reputation among the soldiers, especially the Court Attendants Army, one that is even better than our several kings.¡±


    ¡°You are being too modest.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, the Dragon Army thinks that I¡¯m just being polite.¡± King Riying pointed to the ruins of the Royal Court and said, ¡°This is the end for a city without protection. The chaos has arrived, and even the bravest soldiers are aiming to grab the treasure and protection of themanders. Unfortunately, the kings are just driving them to fight dauntlessly while always ready to sacrifice thousands of people for their own benefits. But the Dragon King is different. You fought for dozens of ordinary soldiers while besieged by tens of thousands of cavalry, and even saved thousands of men who only had temporary allegiances. The tens of thousands of horsemen were all Court Attendants, and they all saw this with their own eyes and all grew to admire the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°If the Khan didn¡¯t show mercy¡­¡±


    ¡°But before that, no one knew that the Khan would show mercy.¡± King Riying¡¯s eyes sparkled as if he were also one of the Dragon King¡¯s admirers. ¡°Under that situation, anyone, including me, would try to disassociate ourselves, or even kill a few subordinates to prove our innocence. In fact, all the other kings did this. Only the Dragon King was willing to risk himself and stand out for his subordinates.¡±


    King Riying spoke so highly of him that Gu Shenwei felt a bit ashamed, a feeling that he hadn¡¯t felt for a long time. In fact, before he was willing to risk his life to save others, he had already known that Lotus held a great influence over the Khan at that time. After that, Lotus had begun to create chaos but he didn¡¯t stop it. He waited and didn¡¯t draw his sword to duel her until he was sure that Han Wuxian was in the hands of the Dragon Army.


    But there was one thing King Riying was right about. The reason Gu Shenwei was willing to risk himself for the protection of his subordinates was that he had very few people under him and that he couldn¡¯t afford to lose any of them. And the most important reason he didn¡¯t stop Lotus was that the Royal Court didn¡¯t belong to him.


    ¡°King Riying¡¯s praise makes me feel like I haven¡¯te to the Royal Court in vain.¡±


    King Riying lowered his voice and agreed, ¡°Of course wasn¡¯t in vain. The Commandant really admires the Dragon King and hoped to join hands with the Dragon King to restore order in the Nond. As for me, I¡¯m your admirer. As long as the Dragon King says a word, my several thousands of soldiers will be at your service at any time.¡±


    ¡°Wow.¡± Gu Shenwei had to admit that the ttery from a king carried more weight than an average sycophant¡¯s and was a hundred times more powerful than that of Old Man Mu and Shangguan Fei¡¯s. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say. I¡¯m very happy that King Riying and the Commandant trust me. Please do not say ¡®join hands¡¯ as I¡¯m not able to ept the honor, but I¡¯m eager to serve in the future in any way you two deem useful.¡±


    King Riying smiled heartily. ¡°There are many things worth talking about but there¡¯s no hurry now. Two dayster, when the Commandant is avenging the Khan, I hope that the Dragon King can join us, and we¡¯ll have a drink then.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s settled then.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but please allow me to say one more word. The Waning Moon Hall has already pervasively integrated themselves into the Royal Court. The Commandant should be very careful, especially with women. Even women who don¡¯t know kung fu can be assassins.¡±


    When King Riying went away, he seemed to care a lot about the Dragon King¡¯s warning.


    Fang Wenshi shook his head while smiling. ¡°Speak of a backer and a backer appears. We just offended King Riyao and immediately got King Riying. And it¡¯s really a coincidence as I think he¡¯s the most suitable person.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    The two rode side by side ahead, and Nie Zeng, who was following, warily looked around, not neglecting the slightest sign of disturbance or trouble. There were still about three miles before they would meet with theirrger group of guards, and he would never allow any idents to happen along the way.


    ¡°In fact, I didn¡¯t think highly of King Riyao at the very beginning. He¡¯s proud, reckless, and short-minded. These weaknesses, however, are not big problems. The main issue is that he¡¯s too obsessed with a woman and doesn¡¯t even conceal it. Of course, heroes can be lustful, but he isn¡¯t even a hero yet. The Khan could have countless concubines because he had aplished both sess and fame and his status was extremely firm. But King Riyao has seeded the title for only a few days. The current situation is so chaotic and just needs someone to charge forward but he has exerted all his energy on pleasing Luo Ningcha as if it¡¯s a natural duty for the ten thousand or so soldiers to fight for him.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was a bit surprised because he rarely saw the counselor be so indignant, but he soon came to understand. King Riying was too arrogant. He didn¡¯t even put the Dragon King in his eyes, let alone a trivial counselor. ¡°Do you also think King Riying¡¯s ttery is reasonable?¡±


    Fang Wenshi smiled. ¡°It¡¯s reasonable, very reasonable. The Dragon King is like the opposite of the childish Tuosai. The adventure you took was well worth it but do not take it too seriously. The fame of the moment is notparable to a pedigree of hundreds of years. I¡¯ll carefully investigate to see what impression the Nond Cavalry has of the Dragon King, especially of how much they are willing to change it.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get your hopes up.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Fang Wenshi looked down and thought for a while before saying, ¡°Both King Riying and the Commandant are so eager to win over the Dragon King and are heavily concerned about the influence of the Dragon King among the soldiers. I guess the morale of the Court Attendants Army isn¡¯t that stable.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt that the counselor¡¯s analysis made sense. ¡°It may also be the same reason why the Commandant invited the kings and challenged King Shengri openly.¡±


    Revenge could always be a leading reason for unity.


    ¡°I think that our best opportunity is right in front of us.¡± Fang Wenshi appeared very excited,as he continued, ¡°It¡¯s right in front of us, but I haven¡¯t figured out how to grab it and use it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei also hadn¡¯t sorted it out but there was one task he had to do at once.


    Nothing had happened along the way, and therge group of guards could already be seen ahead. Gu Shenwei turned to the killer Nie Zeng and said, ¡°Let¡¯s do it tonight.¡±

 Chapter 666 - Cooperation

    Chapter 666: Cooperation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Most of King Riyao¡¯s army was stationed on the western edge of the Royal Court,peting with the other kings for control of the ruins. Meanwhile, it also doubled as his first line of defense. Behind it were the camps of the Second Consort, the Dragon King, and his own, all of them equidistant from each other. Bymunicating through torches and horns, they could support each other at any time.


    Tuosai believed that his camp was impregnable and refused the protection of the Dragon King. He had his own way of guarding against assassins. Since the assassins loved the darkness, he had ¡®ordered¡¯ for darkness to never fall.


    So in the camp of Tuosai, the torches were lit all night long which made the night as bright as the day. And he would go so far as to make sure that all the torches in the main tent remained lit even on rainy days.


    This move could not be said to be entirely useless. Gu Shenwei saw it as an insurmountable obstacle and also a test for the twenty young killers.


    He and Hu Shining personally led the team and divided the killers into several groups with each group containing three to five people. They would sneak into the camp in batches, leave a mark at the farthest point they could reach, and then return safely without disturbing any of the sentries.


    This wasn¡¯t a foolproof drill. King Riyao¡¯s guards would not spare any exposed killers and if anything happened, the Dragon King would also deny that the assassin had been one of his men.


    The first few groups returned sessfully. Thest group, which Gu Shenwei joined in person, had five members and their leader was Nie Zeng.


    This group was assigned the special task of checking the marks left by the previous groups. This meant that they had to repeat all the routes of the previous groups while going as far as possible.


    Sneaking directly into a target area could be very risky and Gu Shenwei seldom resorted to such means. He preferred to having outside forces help him get in freely, such as following the Second Consort and sneaking into the pce. But sneaking into the target area was a basic skill of the killer and was always a choice when there was no other way, and also a skill of his that had never rusted.


    Nie Zeng and those teenagers appeared quite mature and didn¡¯t say a word the entire trip. Everyone knew where to be and also knew how to change the formation to ensure that there were no blind spots for the group when encounteringplex road conditions.


    The marks left by the previous groups of killers were simple such as a deep mark carved on one of the torches. The results were almost the same, and the group that went the farthest was still a stone¡¯s throw from King Riyao¡¯s bedchamber, which was surrounded by many tents so that one couldn¡¯t even throw a secret weapon.


    The torch was a threat to the killers but it wasn¡¯t as effective as King Riyao Tuosai had expected it to be. The so-called ¡®as bright as day¡¯ was just a description because even if it really were daytime, there were still lots of shadows left to be a killers¡¯ hideout.


    The most direct threat was still people. The steady stream of patrolmen were the biggest obstacles keeping the killers at bay.


    But even the best patrols had loopholes. The soldiers would eventually repeat their routes. As time went on, they would be more and more distracted until the patrols finally became a normal task and almost no one would spend any effort looking around. Sometimes even a living man would not be noticed as long as he stoodpletely still.


    It would be very risky, of course, to rely on the fatigue andxness of the soldiers on patrol. But with meticulous observation and enough patience, the risk could be minimized.


    Gu Shenwei had nned and performed many assassinations in his life. And from the very first day, he had understood the fact that there was no perfect n in the world but the good news was that there was also no target that wouldn¡¯t make a mistake in the world.


    A n was like the red line of a map. One had to rely on it to find the direction and determine the strategy but when one really started walking, one had to adjust the route ording to the actual terrain, which was based on experience and intuition and could never be nned in advance.


    A good killer knew only how to find loopholes and exploit them. In this respect, the training instructor could only provide some limited help.


    Nie Zeng had proved that he was a qualified killer leader. He sessfully found the carved marks left by the previous groups of killers; now, he had to prove his excellence.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t make any requests for the mission, it was entirely up to Nie Zeng to make decisions on the spot. Therefore, when the teenager was secretly approaching the bedchamber of King Riyao, he and three other killers closely followed behind.


    It was always darkest right before dawn and also usually the most rxed time for the patrol teams. Nie Zeng had chosen the right moment but the short distance still took them nearly half an hour to pass through undetected. The five killers were so close to the main tent now that they could even see a blurred sleeping figure in it.


    The secure location was changing all the time, and the five killers could only stay for a very short period of time, which was enough tounch a quick assassination but not enough to observe for too long.


    Nie Zeng didn¡¯t move. For a moment, he seemed to really want to cut through the tent and rush in to kill King Riyao who he was not at all familiar with.


    Gu Shenwei could even feel the sudden rise of nervousness of the three teenage killers.


    At thest moment before the patrol soldiers appeared, Nie Zeng turned around to retreat.


    It was the only ident of the night, and though it was fleeting and did not cause any trouble, Gu Shenwei still felt that it was necessary to correct.


    Back in the Dragon Army camp, Hu Shining understood the Dragon King¡¯s hint, whomented on the performance of each group of killers and left Nie Zeng alone.


    Nie Zeng was Hu Shining¡¯s proudest disciple but as a killer he also felt the most difficult toment on. Gu Shenwei could feel the training instructor¡¯s ambivalence. The teenager was so skillful with his saber techniques that even the picky instructor couldn¡¯t find any fault but his expression wasn¡¯t rarely correct.


    A killer should always try to be inconspicuous. Although it was hard to do so it with the power expansion technique of Golden Roc Castle, concealing one¡¯s spirit and killing aura were still mandatory lessons for the killer. As an excellent killer, it was actually one of the reasons why Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t get the attention he deserved when meeting with an outsider for the first time.


    In Fang Wenshi¡¯s view, this was a major w. So he had tried to instill in the Dragon King the art of hegemony over and over again in the hope of making him look a bit domineering but failed.


    It was at this point that Nie Zeng appeared to differ from the killer. He was only sixteen years old but he already looked as determined as a martial hero who had gone through the vicissitudes of life. His heart was filled with roaring fire and his eyes asionally shed, revealing a dazzling light.


    Gu Shenwei knew the name of the roaring fire because he himself also had one. It was hatred.


    From Servant Yao to Lotus, Chu Yangjun to Chu Nanping, Tie Hanfeng to Tie Linglong, all of the bodyguards of Gu Shenwei had someone that they cared about die in the hands of the Dragon King. But these three people also somehow liked and were loyal to the Dragon King to varying degrees which offset or even surpassed the hatred.


    But Nie Zeng was different. The Dragon King had spared him several times but he still only had hatred in his heart. The only reason he didn¡¯t make a move was that he knew he couldn¡¯t beat the Dragon King.


    ¡°Why did you stay a little longer just now?¡± Gu Shenwei asked, ready for a duel. His opponent, however, was not the narrow saber by Nie Zeng¡¯s waist but the hatred in the teenager¡¯s heart.


    ¡°I wanted everyone to feel the real assassination, lest they think it was just a game.¡± Nie Zeng couldn¡¯t pretend to be obedient. He had tried very hard but just couldn¡¯t do it.


    ¡°Do you think you are better than all of them?¡±


    Nie Zeng didn¡¯t utter a sound, obviously thought so.


    Gu Shenwei ceded the right to teach to Hu Shining.


    ¡°You work harder and performed better than everyone else.¡± Hu Shining didn¡¯t deny Nie Zeng¡¯s excellence. ¡°But do you think you can carry out the assassination alone?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Nie Zeng blurted out but immediately added, ¡°Under normal circumstances.¡±


    ¡°So you decide to be an average killer?¡±


    ¡°I was not refusing to cooperate with others. I just ¡­¡±


    ¡°You just didn¡¯t want them to take assassination as a game?¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve seeded but you¡¯ve lost their trust. From now on, when other killers work with you, they have to keep an eye on you just in case you have any whimsical ideas.¡±


    Nie Zeng¡¯s face darkened and his inner struggle revealed itself. In the end, he finally failed to control the impulse and said, ¡°The Dragon King often works with those who he doesn¡¯t trust but he has never made a mistake.¡±


    Hu Shining, though always steady and calm, couldn¡¯t help but frown. Nie Zeng behaved like an ordinary stubborn boy and didn¡¯t have a killer¡¯s temperament at all which greatly disappointed him.


    But he couldn¡¯t refute Nie Zeng¡¯s words. As a strict training instructor, he had never inquired about the Dragon King¡¯s affairs and would not make any arbitrary judgments about it.


    Gu Shenwei knew that it was time to open his mouth again. He didn¡¯t like doing this but he did not want to give up on the teenager in front of him. Nie Zeng had a lot of potential that deserved to be nurtured and he would be a real killer one day, which Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong could never achieve no matter how hard they tried.


    ¡°I¡¯ve worked with a lot of people I don¡¯t trust, including you.¡± Gu Shenwei was only a few years older than the teenager but his mentality was decades ahead. He even wondered whether the other side would be able to understand what he meant or not. ¡°But I¡¯ve never doubted the ability of my partner, and I will never use a mission to simply test you, for that would be contempt, an insult.¡±


    Gu Shenwei still had a lot to say but he stopped. Nie Zeng seemed to not fully understand, so he could only rely on himself toprehend this idea without anyone helping him.


    ¡°I won¡¯t do it again,¡± Nie Zeng reluctantly promised, though he still seemed unconvinced at heart.


    The teenager left. Hu Shining sighed. ¡°He¡¯s a very good candidate. It¡¯s a pity¡­¡±


    Nie Zeng believed that he could be a lone killer but the experienced Hu Shining knew that it was a dream that would nevere true. Even people like the Dragon King and the Unique King had at least one guard behind their back. Acting alone meant risk, and risk meant a short life.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to give up. He thought for a while and said, ¡°Give him a special partner.¡±


    ¡°Who? It wouldn¡¯t be the golden roc killers of the third young master would it? It¡¯s very dangerous to hang out with them.¡±


    The Dragon Army and the Golden Roc Castle had allied. Although both sides knew it was temporary, that had actually increased their mutual trust. Shangguan Yun was still under house arrest but he had called in his killers hidden in the Royal Court and ordered them to listen to the Dragon King¡¯smands.


    Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t assigned many tasks to them yet.


    ¡°No, not a golden roc killer.¡± Gu Shenwei also thought that the two groups of killers should bepletely isted. He would arrange another killer for Nie Zeng, a killer that Nie Zeng couldn¡¯t find any fault or even speak out against.


    ¡°Could it be her?¡± Hu Shining was surprised once again by the Dragon King¡¯s fancy idea but felt that it might be a very good idea on second thought. ¡°If Nie Zeng can survive through her hands, he¡¯ll definitely be a top-notch killer.¡±


    Nie Zeng, who had already returned to his living ce, was still disdainful of the performance of hispanions. He would never imagine that he was about to be partnered with a grandmotherly female killer.

 Chapter 667 - Head

    Chapter 667: Head


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    This morning, when it was still cool, several new and old kings started three skirmishes at the ruins of the Royal Court. King Riyao Tuosai¡¯s soldiers won one of these fights which greatly excited him.


    ¡°Both of you were smart enough to be on my side first,¡± he said to the Second Consort and the Dragon King, who were invited to share the fruits of victory and patiently listen to his description of the glorious future. ¡°The Court Attendants Army will fight King Shengri tomorrow and King Shengri will bepletely defeated. Oh, don¡¯t ask me why, I just know. Then the Commandant will hand over the army to me and within ten days, I¡¯ll inherit the title of Khan. You actually have done nothing, but I won¡¯t forget your loyalty from before. Second Consort, you will have the priority to decide ranch allocations, your horsemen will be doubled, and you can marry any noble in the Nond that you wish. I can give you whatever you want for a small caveat; you must give up your current title.¡±


    The Second Consortughed so sincerely and happily as if Tuosai¡¯s promise had far exceeded her expectations. ¡°I¡¯m getting a reward without deserving it. I feel like I¡¯m being really thick-skinned.¡±


    ¡°Choosing the right side is its own merit.¡± Then Tuosai turned to Gu Shenwei. ¡°As for the Dragon King, honestly, I prefer the unconscious you. Do you think that the Commandant is more powerful? But you forget that he will never seed the Khan. As the Commander of the Court Attendants Army, he has already publicly sworn to give up the throne. He can only choose the most powerful of the kings, and that¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°The weaker side has to put the eggs in different baskets. That¡¯s an inevitable truth of life.¡± Gu Shenwei did not deny it. He had no interest in gaining Tuosai¡¯s trust anymore.


    ¡°Well, that only makes sense when everything is still unsettled. Do you still want to be a fence-sitter even now?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Gu Shenwei said, shaking his head. ¡°I¡¯ve decided to choose the most promising side.¡±


    The Second Consort chuckled while Tuosai sneered. ¡°Unfortunately, because you are half-hearted, the previous bets have all been canceled. You have to prove your loyalty to me again.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m happy to, but how?¡± The more deferential the Dragon King¡¯s attitude, the more subtle the smile of the Second Consort. It seemed like she was fascinated by the show and she herself would even begin to hum a few words along with it.


    Tuosai raised his head, a gesture he liked very much now, and pretended to think for a while before saying, ¡°As you¡¯ve heard, the Khan¡¯s head was taken away. Needless to say, someone wants to bring it to the Central ins to im credit for the kill. If the head appears in the Central ins, not only will the Khan be unable to have a dignified burial, but the whole Nond will also suffer great humiliation because of this.¡±


    Tuosai frowned as if he had already be the Khan and was bearing the suffering the humiliation of the Nond alone. ¡°I will never let this happen. I¡¯ll forgive your former infidelity as well as credit you if you can retrieve the head. Although the Western Regions is small, there¡¯s a lot of trouble there and I do need someone to help me manage it.¡±


    Instead of making a promise, Tuosai gave an obvious hint. Then he paused a bit before unnecessarily asking, ¡°You know what I mean?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded to show that he had understood. ¡°But it has already been six days since the Khan¡¯s death. I¡¯m afraid that the assassin has already run hundreds of miles away with the head.¡±


    ¡°Then it will depend on the Dragon King¡¯s luck. The first day was a bit chaotic, no one could have stopped him if the assassin truly ran away on that day. But from the next day on, all the parties have been recruitingborers. I don¡¯t think that any adult man has escaped from the Royal Court yet.¡±


    If an assassin could take the Khan¡¯s head away without being noticed by anyone, it was naturally not that hard to get it out of the chaotic Royal Court either. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t point out this obvious fact because he knew King Riyao was deliberately giving him a very difficult task.


    ¡°I¡¯ve always been lucky and I¡¯ll be even better off now with the protection of King Riyao.¡±


    ¡°This is no joke,¡± Tuosai said, holding the saber hilt. He was the only man with a weapon in the tent; Gu Shenwei¡¯s saber had been left outside the tent. ¡°Military orders are imperative and cannot be disobeyed. We have to decide the time frame and responsibility.¡±


    ¡°Ten days. If I can¡¯t bring back the head of the Khan by then, I¡¯ll send my own head back.¡±


    Tuosai loosened the handle of the saber and spread his fingers. ¡°Five days.¡±


    On their way back to the camp, the Second Consort beckoned for her entourage to leave so that she could speak to the Dragon King alone. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that Tuosai would be so jealous. Shall I ask Luo Ningcha to help?¡±


    ¡°That would only make Tuosai hate my guts.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± The Second Consort smiled and then seriously said, ¡°The Khan¡¯s head is even more important than what Tuosai said. I¡¯m sure that the Dragon King knows this, right?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ve heard that arge number of soldiers from the Court Attendants Army and many people of the pce are hoping to bury the Khan properly. They even let out word that any descendant of the Khan could be the new Khan as long as he retrieved the head and that it didn¡¯t matter whether he was a king or not.¡±


    The Second Consort smiled again and then shook her head, saying, ¡°Tuosai is really silly. He actually thought he could outwit the Dragon King on such a big issue.¡±


    ¡°Anyways, he cares about my head the most.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, the Dragon King is really patient.¡±


    ¡°If you are used to walking on the tip of a saber, you won¡¯t think that the tip of the saber is a scary thing before long. I¡¯ll try my luck, and maybe I can get the head back.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King isn¡¯t a man to take chances.¡± The Second Consort was trying to sound the Dragon King out now as she continued asking, ¡°You were in the pce that night. You must have seen something, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I saw something, but I don¡¯t think that anyone would believe me even if I said it.¡±


    The Second Consort wanted the Dragon King to reveal it but bit her tongue in the end. ¡°In times like these, trust is more precious than all the gold and silver in the Royal Court. But I trust the Dragon King. I¡¯ve already received some news and I¡¯ll ask someone to send it to youter.¡±


    Fang Wenshi looked at the two from afar. When the two groups of people departed, he asked, ¡°The Second Consort also wants the head?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. Because of the words of the Court Attendants Army, the Khan¡¯s head had suddenly be a priceless treasure, and the Second Consort naturally didn¡¯t want to let go of this opportunity. In her mind, the throne of the Khan should, of course, belong to Prince Duodun, who was still far away in the Western Regions.


    As one of the very few that knew exactly what Gu Shenwei had experienced in the pce, Counselor Fang had thought it over for several days. ¡°Could the Commandant be lying? The head is not lost at all but rather given to someone he wants to support, like King Riying?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible.¡±


    ¡°Well, anyways, even if the Dragon King can find the head, it¡¯s not much use because you are not a descendant of the Khan. I¡¯ve made a careful investigation, and not only the Court Attendants Army but the generals and soldiers under the lords also all have a very good impression of the Dragon King and think of you as amander who was able to protect his subordinates, but that¡¯s all. They would never pledge allegiance to an outsider, not even if the sky falls.¡±


    ¡°Even so, I have to find the head and bring it back.¡±


    ¡°To give to King Riyao?¡± Fang Wenshi was very surprised, ¡°Nevermind the five-day deadline. If there are no idents, Tuosai will lose in five days. He¡¯s an idiot. He doesn¡¯t have the strongest strength but still wants the best territory. This morning his men won a victory and moved forward a lot. Now they are stuck between the Court Attendants Army to the North and King Shengri¡¯s army to the South. No matter who wins the battle tomorrow, they will take the chance to get rid of him.¡±


    ¡°I at least need to know what¡¯s going on with the head and who has it.¡± Like the counselor, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t have a positive view regarding King Riyao¡¯s future and also did not regard this arrogant new king as a noticeable threat. ¡°This is really strange. If the Commandant did not lie and I didn¡¯t take it, and neither did the Waning Moon Hall, then there must have been an ident afterwards.¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked around but saw nothing except the luxuriant grass and tents. ¡°The Waning Moon Hall is hiding in the shadows, and I¡¯m afraid that there¡¯s one more shadow in the Royal Court.¡±


    Fang Wenshi looked up at the sky for a moment. He was so obsessed with his idea that he nearly fell off the horseback. ¡°A suitable puppet, obedient and young with pure blood.¡±


    Gu Shenwei paused a moment, not understanding how the counselor hade up with the idea of ¡®puppet.¡¯


    Fang Wenshi habitually shook his head and said, ¡°Sorry, I was thinking about something else. The Dragon King can go look for the head, and I¡¯ll try to see if I can find an ideal scion of the Khan, not Tuosai or King Riying. The former is too stupid, and thetter too clever. Neither are a good choice.¡±


    Fang Wenshi didn¡¯t seem quite sure about his idea yet so he didn¡¯t intend to disclose it now, and neither did Gu Shenwei ask any further questions. He had many things on his mind and had to delegate some important tasks to his men.


    The Second Consort had kept her promise of sharing information and sent the Red Bat to deliver a message. There was not much valuable information but Gu Shenwei noticed that the Commandant had been secretly looking for the head and had even sent out his cavalry to hunt down any suspects within hundreds of miles, indicating that he had not lied, and that the head was indeed missing.


    As soon as the Red Bat took her leave, Shangguan Fei also brought some news.


    The temporary alliance between Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Yun was still a secret, and it was still Shangguan Fei who was responsible for delivering messages between them. ¡°It¡¯s true that not all of the people of the Central ins have left the Royal Court.¡±


    Instead of making full use of the golden roc killers, Gu Shenwei had instead sent them to either assist in the defense of the periphery of the camp or to seek information.


    ¡°Most of them have no fixed abode, but there¡¯s a party of twenty or thirty people who meet in different ces every night, and the venue of tonight has been determined.¡±


    ¡°Very good.¡± Long before the meeting with Tuosai, Gu Shenwei had been concerned about the whereabouts of the head and the first thing that hade to his mind was naturally the kung fu practitioners of the Central ins. The golden roc killers had indeed found a clue.


    This would be another busy night. After sending Shangguan Fei away, Gu Shenwei also left the tent and went to another tent after several turns.


    The teenage killer at the door nodded slightly to show that nothing had happened inside.


    Inside the tent, Nie Zeng, however, did not think so. He was standing in the corner with his right hand tightly holding the saber, not hiding his vignce at all. The woman opposite, though rescued by them, had tried many times to kill the one who approached her. Now that the chains on her feet had been removed, it only made her all the more dangerous.


    Han Wuxian wasbing her hair as if no one else was nearby. She did not respond even when the Dragon King walked in.


    ¡°There¡¯s a task tonight for the two of you.¡±


    ¡°She can¡¯t walk.¡± Nie Zeng hoped to use this chance to rid himself of this madwoman.


    Han Wuxian¡¯s foot injury had not yet recovered and she could only sit on the bed. Hearing the two speak, she finally turned her head and said, ¡°You can carry me on your back.¡±


    If it were not for the fact that there was no way out behind him, Nie Zeng would have jumped back ten steps. ¡°No, I won¡¯t.¡±


    Han Wuxian seemed not to hear the boy¡¯s refusal. She turned to the Dragon King and softly said, ¡°How many people can I kill? I don¡¯t want to move if it¡¯s less than ten.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say but it has something to do with Lotus.¡±


    ¡°Then I can make an exception.¡± Han Wuxian¡¯s smile bloomed like a morning flower. But when Nie Zheng saw that expression, it only sent chills crawling up his spine.

 Chapter 668 - Cane Chair

    Chapter 668: Cane Chair


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Nie Zeng¡¯s wish was to be a lone killer with no fixed partners or encumbrances. Everyone said it was impossible but he persisted in this goal because one day he would betray his mentor, the Dragon King, and challenge him.


    There was still a resolute pride in the teenager¡¯s heart. He didn¡¯t want to dedicate his life to caring for others and felt that being alone would save him a lot of trouble.


    Both the Dragon King and the training instructor Hu Shining were well aware of Nie Zeng¡¯s goal but they had still epted him as a killer disciple and even appointed him to the role of personal bodyguard. This perplexed the teenager and struck deeply at his heart. He had diligently practiced for two years and put in twice as much effort as his fellow disciples, but in his enemy¡¯s heart, he was not even a threat.


    So he doubly cherished the chance to guard the Dragon King and watch his every move more carefully than even the most avid admirer, hoping to both learn from him and also look for loopholes.


    In these three days, Nie Zeng had learned only one thing: The Dragon King was good at concealing himself. Had he not seen his sabersmanship with his own eyes, Nie Zeng, like many people who saw the Dragon King for the first time, would have thought that the pale-faced young man¡¯s reputation was undeserved and that his present fame was merely a fluke of nature.


    Nie Zeng believed that under this simultaneously delicate and hard cover, the Dragon King must have some weakness.


    He was eager to continue following the Dragon King but it turned out that the Dragon King had shackled him with a very dangerous ¡®burden.¡¯


    It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to call Han Wuxian a ¡®burden¡¯ because no matter how good her kung fu was and how amazing her secret arts were, she couldn¡¯t walk with her injured feet which was a fatal w.


    As he looked at the modified cane chair, Nie Zeng¡¯s face turned pale. He looked up twice at Hu Shining but in the end tied the cane chair to his back obediently. Hu Shining was a good instructor, which meant he would never be soft-hearted. Nie Zeng knew that his begging would have no effect.


    The teenager turned his back to Han Wuxian and kelt on one knee, regarding this humiliation as one of the prices that had to be paid during the process of revenge.


    When Han Wuxian sat down in the rattan chair, Nie Zeng felt his hair bristle and stand on end as if a hairy spider was crawling from the back of his head towards his heel.


    Han Wuxian was tall, sitting a head taller than Nie Zeng while in the chair. And she was heavy, at least twice as heavy as Nie Zeng had imagined. He had to circte his internal Qi to get up.


    It seemed that he was not carrying a female killer but rather a bronze statue.


    Han Wuxian didn¡¯t care about her weight at all. She put one leg on the chair while the other leg naturally hung down and swayed gently with his movements, without even wearing any shoes. Her feet, as white as polished jade, stood in stark contrast to the ugly scars on her ankles. Hu Shining shuddered at the sight and quickly turned his head, secretly congratting himself for being lucky enough to not have to carry out Nie Zeng¡¯s mission.


    Nie Zeng couldn¡¯t see the foot and its scar, but something about Han Wuxian did bother him. ¡°Hey, your hair, it¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s touching me.¡±


    Han Wuxian didn¡¯t seem to hear him. She didn¡¯t speak until Nie Zeng¡¯s patience had reached its end and he was about to remind her again. ¡°Does it feel good?¡±


    The long hair cascaded down in front of Nie Zeng like a waterfall.


    The teenager instinctively dodged and only after two moves did he understand how silly his actions were. He was just about to get angry when the long hair moved away.


    Han Wuxian gathered her long hair in front of her and put her hands around it as if it was a valuable lute. ¡°This is my treasure. I won¡¯t allow others to touch it casually.¡±


    Gu Shenwei entered the tent and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    It was already dusk outside. Nie Zeng¡¯s onlyfort was that few people could clearly see him in his current state. What surprised him was that the Dragon King had brought more than just two killers for tonight¡¯s mission.


    Riding on a horse, Shangguan Fei looked at the oddbination with curiosity and hesitated for a long time before asking, ¡°Will she fall off?¡±


    ¡°How do I know?¡± said Nie Zeng angrily. Then he turned over to get on the horse, intentionally tilting his body in the hopes of getting rid of the burden shouldered onto him.


    For a moment, Nie Zeng thought that he had seeded. The weight on his back suddenly lightened, so much so that he almost leaped over his horse¡¯s back. But when he sat down, he immediately realized that it had just been an illusion and that Han Wuxian was still sitting in the cane chair, as heavy as a stone.


    Nie Zeng couldn¡¯t see behind him, but Shangguan Fei, who had witnessed it all, was amazed and awed. This was the first time he had seen the Hall Leader of the Waning Moon Hall and also the first time he had seen such amazing lightness skills. It had looked like Han Wuxian was floating in the air and that Nie Zeng¡¯s swing had no effect on her at all.


    Han Wuxian smiled at him.


    Shangguan Fei could not help but smile back. He had no special feelings for women but Han Wuxian was different, as her smile was charming but not flirtatious and was strangely like her mother, Lady Meng.


    Before he realized it, Shangguan Fei had patted his horse and approached the duo.


    A shadow swept past him.


    If he hadn¡¯t attended kung fupetitions these past couple of days and learned a lot of martial arts skills from Old Man Mu, Shangguan Fei would have died just then. But even so, he still fell to the ground in an embarrassing fashion. When he crawled up and touched his face, he found several bloodstains on his hands.


    You ¡­ you ¡­¡± Shangguan Fei felt like he had wandered in Jianghu for quite a while now yet had never seen a devil who killed so casually. Old Man Mu was ruthless but what he relied on was his martial arts skills and he would never seduce someone into approaching him before killing him for no reason at all.


    Han Wuxian, still holding her long hair, pulled out a few hairs alone and looked carefully at them in the bright moonlight as if she had forgotten about the sneak attack just now.


    Shangguan Fei climbed onto the horse and warily kept a wide distance from Han Wuxian, asking Nie Zeng in a low voice, ¡°Why would the Dragon King take her out with him?¡±


    The Dragon King had already set out. Nie Zeng, who could have patted the crupper to urge the horse to move forward, dared not to make such a simple move, so he urged the horse on with his legs instead. ¡°Use your ears more over your mouth.¡±


    ¡°Pfft.¡± Shangguan Fei patted the horse and rode in front of Nie Zeng, having no good impressions of this teenager. Not long after they left camp, he slowed down again. ¡°The Dragon King is sure to have a kung fupetition with the others again.¡±


    ¡°How do you know?¡± Nie Zeng had slowly gotten used to the shifting weight of the burden behind him and his tone was less stiff now.


    ¡°Use your ears more over your mouth.¡± Shangguan Feiughed and chased after the Dragon King again.


    The four of them finally reached their destination after the third night-watch period.


    From afar, one could see several shes of fire hundreds of paces away, and the noise of people drinking wine could be faintly heard. It seemed like they had returned to a Royal Court before the chaos.


    A man in ck appeared in the grass, and Shangguan Fei recognized him as a golden roc killer. Although he already knew that the two sides had allied up again, seeing the killer paying respects to the Dragon King and ignoring the young master still made him feel very depressed.


    ¡°It¡¯s about to start. The leader is Dhuta Kingkong.¡± The killer disappeared into the night as he finished speaking.


    Instead of running straight into the firelight, Gu Shenwei circled around again. The second killer appeared then. Nie Zeng recognized him as another teenage killer under Hu Shining. Being seen by an acquaintance, Nie Zeng couldn¡¯t help but blush.


    ¡°Everyone under the Heavens is part of one family,¡± the teenage killer said softly, ncing furtively at Nie Zeng as he retreated.


    Gu Shenwei began to exin tonight¡¯s mission. As soon as the golden roc killers had discovered the whereabouts of the Central ins kung fu practitioners, he sent more people to uncover information. ¡°A man named Dhuta Kingkong has offered a hundred thousand taels of silver in sponsorship of a contest. It¡¯s said that the winner will get more benefits. I need to know the details.¡±


    Shangguan Fei gave a look to Nie Zeng, indicating that his guess was right. He knew that the Dragon King had brought him out for nothing else. But the Dragon King¡¯s next decision surprised him.


    ¡°You two go attend the kung fupetition. Shangguan Fei, your only duty is to keep them safe.¡±


    ¡°What? It¡¯s better to have me join¡­¡± Shangguan Fei quickly changed his mind on second thought. ¡°Is the so-called contest a trap?¡±


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s a trap. I need you to set it off.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to conceal such an obvious scheme.


    The Dragon King¡¯s ns were never safe and easy. With a grim face, Shangguan Fei said, ¡°I can protect them but the Dragon King will secretly protect us, won¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try but I have to find out who set the trap and who the target is. So, you¡¯d better rely on yourselves.¡±


    Han Wuxian suddenly interrupted, ¡°Will Lotuse?¡±


    ¡°As long as you show up, the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall will naturally follow suit.¡±


    ¡°s, I really miss my girls. I wonder how well Lotus trained them and if they can even block a move of mine.¡±


    The Dragon King left the horse where it was and also hid himself in the darkness.


    Looking at the expressionless Nie Zeng, Shangguan Fei whispered after making sure the Dragon King had gone far away, ¡°You are willing to be used just like this?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this what killers do?¡± Nie Zeng puzzledly looked back. ¡°Are you really a young master of Golden Roc Castle?¡±


    Shangguan Fei scratched his head. Indeed, golden roc killers often had to perform very risky tasks and pave the way for their masters. He had taken it for granted back then but when it was his turn to be used, he couldn¡¯t help but feel that it was strange and couldn¡¯t change his mindset even after following the Dragon King for so long.


    ¡°Well, I hope the target of the trap is not the Dragon King. Otherwise, the two of us will be in trouble.¡±


    Shangguan Fei deliberately ignored Han Wuxian. Although this woman¡¯s hair was very formidable, she couldn¡¯t move and was bound to lose when encountering a swift opponent. He had made up his mind to not fight for these two burdens before they even walked into the crowd.


    ¡°Code words!¡± asked someone in the dark.


    ¡°Everyone under the Heavens is part of one family,¡± Shangguan Fei answered at once.


    The identity check of thepetition was obviously not very strict. After giving the code words, no one stopped them. It was not until they reached the light of the fire that a middle-aged man came up with a brush pen in his right hand and a nk covered with paper on his left hand. ¡°I¡¯m Ruan Doni. May I ask for¡­ Your Excellency¡¯s names?¡±


    Ruan Doni was shocked to see a pile of ck hair on top of Nie Zeng¡¯s head but came to his senses in time and realized that it was a woman. He didn¡¯t show the timidness in his heart but could not help looking at these three people strangely.


    ¡°This is Nie Zeng, and this is Han Wuxian My name is¡­ Nie Tian.¡± Shangguan Fei gave two real names and a fake name.


    Ruan Doni frowned slightly. He was from the Central ins but he had never heard of these three names before. After writing down them one by one, he politely said, ¡°I¡¯ve heard so much about you all. Pleasee in. The contest will begin soon.¡±


    There were a lot of people present. The two or three hundred people had divided up into several groups and were drinking around the bonfire. Shangguan Fei and his partners hade just in time at the beginning of the contest, and everyone was starting to gather towards the bonfire in the middle.


    Han Wuxian immediately attracted the attention of many people. Although these people were experienced in the martial arts world and had seen many odd people, they still couldn¡¯t help nce twice at her.


    Nie Zeng lowered his head and told himself that he was a killer and didn¡¯t need to be famous. Han Wuxian, however, still behaved as if no one was nearby, though she asionally raised her head and smiled at those who were looking at her.


    ¡°Dhuta Kingkong, Dhuta Kingkong!¡± The crowd shouted, weing the big sponsor of the night.


    A slightly hoarse voice called out, ¡°I have countless gold and silver coins in my hand. I will share it with whoever has the best martial arts skills. Come!¡±


    Shangguan Fei followed behind Nie Zeng and Han Wuxian, which was a good position to protect them as well as one that was easy to run away. He looked around and suddenly noticed a seemingly familiar man. Instead of keeping his eyes on that man he bowed his head and thought about it, and soon remembered that the man was one of the Khan¡¯s wing guards and that he had seen him once before.


    ¡®It is indeed a trap,¡¯ he thought.

 Chapter 669 - Poisoning

    Chapter 669: Poisoning


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Dhuta Kingkong was actually not a monk at all. Although he had a bald head, the dirty open leather jacket and his single saber in a shabby ck scabbard clearly indicated that he was a wandering saberman who asionally changed jobs to that of a robber.


    After his appearance, Shangguan Fei found that he was not the only one who was unfamiliar with this Dhuta Kingkong.


    Thepetition hade up quite suddenly and unexpected, but everyone epted it since the sponsor was very generous. Not only was there the prize of a hundred thousand silver taels, but there was also the allure of free wine and meat. All of this, however, came under suspicion after people saw this Dhuta Kingkong, who had a weather-beaten face, in person.


    ¡°Today¡¯s kung fupetition¡­¡± Dhuta Kingkong was interrupted by a random voice before he could finish his words. ¡°Where¡¯re the hundred thousand silver taels? Take it out so that we can have a look.¡±


    ¡°Hundred thousand taels! Hundred thousand taels!¡± It seemed like a mistake to have supplied plenty of wine and meat, as the half-intoxicated bold kung fu practitioners of the martial arts world began to jeer without caring about the host¡¯s feelings.


    Dhuta Kingkong was not tall, though his body seemed as sturdy as a calf¡¯s. The most prominent part of his body was his hands which were almost as big as an average man¡¯s head and looked very intimidating when they were fully opened. ¡°Listen up, everybody!¡±


    ¡°Listen to him, listen to him.¡± The crowd gradually quieted down after themotion.


    ¡°Some people know me.¡± The crowd cheered. ¡°There are also many new friends here, so please allow me to introduce myself. I¡¯m called and known as Dhuta Kingkong and my home is in the west of the Yellow River, which is why I don¡¯t oftene to the Royal Court. No matter who goes there in the future, just look for me. I dare not boast about anywhere else but I am the king of that ce. I can satisfy you with money, wine, and women; anything you can name and you¡¯ll have it!¡±


    Cheers rang out everywhere. This was the kind of grandiloquence that was needed when people had dined and wined to their satisfaction.


    However, someone would always question, ¡°Hey, look at you, you are dressed no better than a street beggar. How could you offer all that stuff that you promised? And a hundred thousand silver taels? You must be bragging, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    In an attempt to ward off such usations, the dozen or so sabermen, all holding their saber hilt, menacingly looked around as if they would attack anyone who dared mention the silver.


    Shangguan Fei secretly curled his lips. This had turned out to be kung fupetition among a group of reckless sabermen, which was a far cry from the standards of the Tournament of the Royal Court. If he went out topete, he would definitely take first ce in just several punches and kicks.


    But the Dragon King valued this contest and there were other unexpected figures also interested in it. Shangguan Fei couldn¡¯t help but nce at the guard again, not knowing who he had pledged allegiance to after the Khan¡¯s death.


    The guard nodded slightly, indicating that he also recognized Shangguan Fei and hoped that he would not expose him.


    Shangguan Fei tacitly showed a serious expression. He liked the smell of intrigue.


    Dhuta Kingkong¡¯s bold ims and the sabermen¡¯s demonstration of strength still couldn¡¯t dispel everyone¡¯s suspicion regarding the hundred thousand silver taels. And there really was someone who had the courage to openly question the validity of the tournament. ¡°I¡¯m not here to drink wine or eat meat. Where¡¯re the hundred thousand taels? Show it, and I¡¯ll be the first to go out there and fight.¡±


    The dozen or so sabermen quickly found the speaker and was just about to rush out to teach him a lesson when Dhuta Kingkong waved hisrge hand to stop themotion. He then took a deep breath and said something that surprised everyone. ¡°I really don¡¯t have a hundred thousand taels, at least not yet.¡±


    The audience¡¯s gratitude towards the hospitable host quickly turned to anger, and curses could be heard everywhere. A dozen people could no longer hold it in. Finally, a high-pitched voice cried out, ¡°Shut up, shut up, all of you. Just listen to the Baldy. I don¡¯t think he¡¯s trying to trick us.¡±


    Dhuta Kingkong sped his hands to show his thanks, as he said, ¡°This bro is right. But if you dare call me ¡®Baldy¡¯ again, I¡¯ll smack you in the face. Well, I don¡¯t have a hundred thousand silver taels but neither am I tricking you. With all this wine and meat, do you think that I¡¯m azy person? I have a priceless treasure and I will share it with whoever has the best kung fu skills.¡±


    Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, ¡°What treasure?¡±


    Dhuta Kingkong looked around and finally said after the crowd waspletely quiet. ¡°A head.¡±


    The answer was obviously unexpected to most people, many of whom even asked each other, ¡°What did he say? A head? What kind of treasure is that?¡±


    Ruan Doni, who was in charge of recording the names and still holding the paperboard and brush pen in his hand, came out of the crowd and bowed to show his respect before saying, ¡°Brother Baldy, you must be kidding. Who can I sell it to if it¡¯s a head?¡±


    Dhuta Kingkong didn¡¯t like others calling him ¡®Baldy¡¯ but he didn¡¯t care about being called ¡®Brother Baldy.¡¯ ¡°The wealthiest man in the world.¡±


    His words raised a lot of spections. Some people even mentioned the Meng family of Jade City.


    An extremely gentle voice rang out in the crowd¡¯s ears. Everyone heard it but no one felt that it was loud. ¡°It¡¯s the head of the Khan. Only the little Emperor of the Central ins would be willing to buy it. Isn¡¯t he the wealthiest man in the world?¡±


    In fact, many had thought of this before but dared not say it.


    The crowd was quiet again with both fear and hope floating in the air.


    Dhuta Kingkong got a hint from Ruan Doni and loudly said, ¡°This Heroine Han Wuxian is right. I do have the Khan¡¯s head but I do not dare keep it for myself. I want to share it with a hero.¡±


    ¡°You are afraid that you won¡¯t be able to take it out of the prairie,¡± Han Wuxian calmly said as shebed her hair.


    In order to let her face Dhuta Kingkong, Nie Zeng had to turn his back to the crowd. He was really curious about where Han Wuxian had learned all of this information as almost no one had spoken to this enchantress. And what she had just said was well organized and reasoned too. She didn¡¯t seem to be mad at all.


    ¡°Heh heh, to tell you the truth. Heroine Han got it right. I have the treasure in my hands but the Central ins is thousands of miles away. No one knows how many obstacles are waiting along the way. So I thought for a long while before deciding to find a real hero to be my helper and bring the head to the Central ins. The reward and credit will be divided equally. Don¡¯t you think that it¡¯s worth a hundred thousand taels?¡±


    It was worth much more than that. The number was buzzing around in everyone¡¯s head, and some people had lost track of the amount of money and could only murmur, ¡°It¡¯s worth it, it¡¯s really worth it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too tiring to trek across mountains and rivers to send the head to the Central ins.¡± Han Wuxian was one of the few people who remained unmoved. So far, she had not even looked up at Dhuta Kingkong, and was just concentrating onbing her long hair. ¡°It¡¯s better to sell it to the kings of the Nond on the spot. You will certainly get arge sum of money.¡±


    This remark angered the crowd.


    ¡°We are all from the Central ins. How can we turn it over to the kings of the Nond?¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s this woman? Is she a spy from the Nond?¡±


    Many people drew their sabers. Han Wuxian looked quite calm but Shangguan Fei anxiously stepped forward and said, ¡°She¡¯s from the Western Regions and has nothing to do with the Nond.¡± That being said, he continued to think, ¡®I¡¯ve done my duty to protect her. Now the Dragon King should have no excuse to me me.¡¯


    ¡°People of the Western Regions. No wonder.¡± The crowd put away their sabers. They could ept it as long as it was not said by the people of the Central ins.


    ¡°It turns out that the Central ins people are actually so loyal to their Emperor. I¡¯m wondering if the people who kowtowed in front of the ten kings of the Nond were real Central ins people or not.¡± Without holding back, Han Wuxian continued haranguing them. Nie Zeng was kind of in admiration of this woman by now. This woman had juste to the Royal Court for a few days but seemed to have already known everything.


    Ruan Doni squeezed through the crowd, stood opposite Han Wuxian, and said on behalf of the crowd, ¡°There are both loyal and treacherous people of the Central ins. Thetter was driven away by the Khan and we are all loyal to the Emperor.¡±


    ¡°Mm, did you write down the names of the people to ask the Emperor for credit?¡±


    Embarrassed, Ruan Doni admitted, ¡°It¡¯s not impossible.¡±


    ¡°So you mean that it¡¯s also possible that you¡¯ll give it to people of the Nond?¡±


    Those who took part in the contest were mostly reckless sabermen. Some people had given false names as Shangguan Fei did, but most of them had said their real names. Now they all came to their senses and surrounded Ruan Doni in the blink of an eye.


    ¡°Hand over the list.¡±


    ¡°Destroy it, now.¡±


    Han Wuxia, who seemed to quite enjoyed the scene, softly stated, ¡°This is loyalty.¡± Her voice was not loud but Nie Zeng had a feeling that these words had actually been directed at him.


    Flustered, Ruan Doni could only produce a roll of paper and tear it up in public. ¡°No offense was meant, it was just a convenient way to keep a record of thepetition. I¡¯ll just tear it up if you don¡¯t want me to keep it.¡±


    Dhuta Kingkong pped his big hands and drew the attention back to his side, ¡°Let me just say one more word for why we can¡¯t sell the head to the kings of the Nond. First, they will kill those who hand over the head by burying them alive with the Khan. Second, there are so many kings in the Nond fighting against each other at the moment. Who knows who will rule in the future? Choosing the wrong person to trade with means dying¡­¡±


    ¡°Fuck it, somebody¡¯s really dead!¡±


    Shangguan Fei was startled because the man who had spoken was standing beside him, and the dead was not far behind him.


    The victim was a small man who had just copsed.


    Dhuta Kingkong¡¯s face changed, and he walked over to examine the corpse. ¡°Motherfucker, don¡¯t worry. He probably drank too much. It¡¯s a sudden death, not assassination.¡±


    Dhuta Kingkong returned to the campfire, and two sabermen carried the corpse away. Not long after they stepped out of the crowd, the two suddenly fell to the ground. Many people were looking back at the corpse and all saw it. After waiting for a while, they saw that the two men were also motionless. Only then did someone shout, ¡°Poison, there¡¯s poison on the corpse.¡±


    The crowd dispersed at once.


    In the face of an obvious assassination, everyone was fast looking for the murderer.


    ¡°Dhuta Kingkong, you poisoned the wine and meat!¡±


    The crowd was immediately divided into two groups, Dhuta Kingkong and his twenty or so fellow sabermen near the campfire, and the two hundred or so ambitious and bold kung fu practitioners who surrounded them.


    As he stood in the middle of the two groups, Ruan Doni loudly said, ¡°Let¡¯s not panic. The poisoner couldn¡¯t have been Dhuta Kingkong. He was drinking and eating with the rest of us. Besides, the men carrying the corpse were also his men.¡±


    Thetter reason was more trustworthy than the previous one. The game of finding the murderer continued, and Dhuta Kingkong appeared quite calm, saying, ¡°Everybody, do not move. The poisoner is among us. Do not let him run away.¡±


    After a moment of silence, a saberman suddenly pointed at Shangguan Fei and said, ¡°It¡¯s them. Fifth brother just walked around them ¡­¡±


    The saberman suddenly put his hands around his neck, constantly retching as if something had gotten stuck in his throat and his face quickly turned red due tock of air. Before the ones around him could even react, he flopped onto the ground, twitched a few times, and ceased moving forever.


    Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t expect that trouble would catch up with him so fast, so he hastily said, ¡°Everybody saw that. It has nothing to do with us. We were separated by several people.¡±


    Four men had died one after another, each death odder than the ones before. The atmosphere of fear spread rapidly, and everyone had drawn their weapons at this point and vigntly stood guard, yet they did not know who the enemy was.


    Dhuta Kingkong came over again and stooped to examine the fourth victim. The people next to him all reminded him to be careful about the poison but he didn¡¯t care. After pulling the hands away and checking the neck for a while, he abruptly stood up and turned to Han Wuxian, asking, ¡°Who the hell are you?¡±


    ¡°A woman.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ Which sect are you from?¡±


    ¡°Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    The Waning Moon Hall wasn¡¯t a famous sect even in the Western Regions, so people of the Central ins had never heard of it. Dhuta Kingkong frowned, thinking that it might be a made-up sect name. ¡°Did you kill them?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    Seeing the murderer admit to it so calmly, all the people were astounded. An acquaintance of the dead came forward and questioned, ¡°Did he have a grudge against you? Why did you act so viciously?¡±


    Han Wuxian revealed a beautiful smile. ¡°Isn¡¯t this a kung fupetition? I¡¯ve already defeated four people, and I want to see who¡¯s next.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s legs softened and his heart trembled, thinking that he might be unable to escape tonight. Then he realized that Han Wuxian had actually shown mercy to him in the Dragon Army camp. Otherwise, just the few bloodstains on his face were more than enough to kill him on the spot.

 Chapter 670 - Secrets

    Chapter 670: Secrets


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei believed that this was all a simple game of pointing out the walnut hidden underneath one of three cups. The game¡¯s schemer must have wanted to lure a target into appearing, but now, it seemed that the prey was following the scent so quickly that it was probably beyond the hunter¡¯s imagination and ability to ovee.


    Five golden roc killers and five teenage killers had followed the Dragon King¡¯s order to explore this area before the second night-watch period. Afterwards, Gu Shenwei found them one by one and carefully listened to their reports. He had learned that there were at least seven groups of people hiding in the grass outside the field of the contest. There were seventy or eighty people in total, but the number varied from group to group.


    Gu Shenwei ordered the killers to retreat several miles to set up an ambush at two ces that he had chosen while he himself would try to approach the trap alone.


    As he moved along, Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help but wonder if Nie Zeng would act rebelliously again if he saw that the Dragon King was taking risks alone. But the facts were simple. The Dragon King¡¯s martial arts skills were way better than the teenager¡¯s, and the simple truth was that he couldn¡¯t find a suitable partner at the moment.


    The void that had been left by Lotus was not something that an average killer could fill.


    Gu Shenwei soon found the groups of lurkers. The killer¡¯s judgment had been right. These men didn¡¯t know each other and had various levels of kung fu skills. Some of them were too conspicuous like arranged decoys while some were so secretly hidden that Gu Shenwei wouldn¡¯t have found them in a short time if he had not been warned in advance.


    The seven groups of people were acting separately without anymunication between them. If this was a formation designed to encircle, there were many loopholes.


    The two ambushes that Gu Shenwei had arranged were designed to block the loopholes. Though not all the loopholes would be blocked, the two that he thought were the most likely to be used were covered.


    The contest had started in a way that was out of the organizer¡¯s expectations. Gu Shenwei was only halfway there at the moment and still more than a hundred feet away from the campfire.


    From afar, the crowd in the firelight had suddenly fallen into chaos and were trying to kill each other like madmen.


    Han Wuxian had given a far better-than-expected proof of ability on their first cooperative mission. She was obviously the core cause of the chaos, as nearly half of the sabermen there were chasing her though no one dared to get close. She didn¡¯t seem nervous at all. With an asional simple wave of her hand, the crowd would immediately retreat several steps.


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t see Nie Zeng but estimated the two were cooperating very well. Han Wuxian¡¯s long hair fluttered everywhere, but she was always able to avoid the most concentrated encirclement, which was definitely the work of the youthful killer.


    Gu Shenwei soon looked away.


    The chaos was clearly beyond the expectations of the seven groups of lurkers, who leaned forward one by one, each trying to figure out what was going on.


    Clearly, not all of them professional killers.


    Then these people suddenly discovered each other¡¯s presence. Fearing each other, they reached a stalemate and remained silent for a while before someone said in a low voice, ¡°King Shengri.¡±


    So they then all reported their lord¡¯s title one after another, and in the end all were titles of the kings of the Nond. They had reached a tacit agreement and started approaching the chaos of the crowd slowly. A few people even passed by Gu Shenwei without noticing him.


    As the seven groups of people drew nearer, one person suddenly fell down, and hispanion beside him, shouted ¡®hidden weapon¡¯ before pouncing on the nearest groups of lurkers.


    This was how the chaos of the outer circle began. The kings were already mortal enemies, and even the slightest disagreement could ignite the mes of war, let alone an assassination.


    Gu Shenwei immediately made a move. He clearly saw that the hidden weapon hade from an unounted lurker. This person had hid himself very well and hadn¡¯t exposed himself even after shooting out a hidden weapon as he had framed someone else instead. Neither the golden roc killers nor the teenage killers had noticed him.


    Both the contest and the trap became a chaotic scuffles, and no one noticed that two figures were flitting across the grass like birds that soon vanished into the darkness.


    In less than a mile¡¯s pursuit, Gu Shenwei had been attacked seventeen times. The person in the front of him was like a set of boxes filled with all kinds of strange hidden weapons, bouncing and firing away endlessly. Some of the hidden weapons were even invisible powders; Gu Shenwei would have been drugged if he hadn¡¯t held his breath most of the time during his pursuit.


    The pursuit wasing to an end. Gu Shenwei¡¯s lightness skills might not be first-rate, but his judgment was excellent. The more the other side tossed and turned, and changed direction, the less he could escape Gu Shenwei¡¯s grasp.


    ¡°I surrender.¡± The one who spoke out was actually a woman who had suddenly stopped and stretched out her arms to show that she would no longer activate any hidden weapons.


    Gu Shenwei pressed his Five Peaks Saber against her throat and asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Lotus?¡±


    Han Fen smilingly looked at the Dragon King as if the deadly hidden weapon was just a harmless joke. ¡°I¡¯m so d to see you again. You were so well hidden that I didn¡¯t notice you at all.¡±


    ¡°You hid well too, and I wouldn¡¯t have found you if you hadn¡¯t made a move so early on.¡±


    ¡°Those people are really stupid. Dragon King, is the sword wound on your chest all right now?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not dead. So you can say that I¡¯m all right.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s good. Can you move your saber a little? Honestly, I¡¯m a little scared.¡±


    ¡°I can only move it forward.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll be stabbed to death?¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t feel scared anymore if you¡¯re dead.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be more scared after I¡¯m dead,¡± Han Fen said with her eyes wide open, obviously taking the question very seriously. ¡°We all go to hell when we die. The people we killed before are waiting for us there. They will avenge themselves before reincarnating.¡±


    ¡°You will die sooner orter.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s another thing. When I¡¯m ready, I¡¯ll disfigure myself first, and then Master Commander will divide my body into hundreds of pieces and throw each into a different ce. Heehee, by that time even the King of Hell won¡¯t recognize me, so how would those evil spirits take revenge on me?¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt a chill crawl up his spine and immediately got rid of the meaningless idea in his mind. He would not be led astray by a madwoman. ¡°Tell me where Lotus is.¡±


    ¡°Will you kill her?¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    ¡°But she hasn¡¯t recovered yet.¡±


    ¡°Would you kill a wounded man?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Uh, but the Master Commander is another thing. Anyway, I won¡¯t kill her. You don¡¯t know. She was hit by you and hasn¡¯t recovered yet. She could only hide and heal herself. She said that she didn¡¯t trust anyone except for me.¡±


    This seemed like something that Lotus would say. She had suffered through Qi deviation once and would rather believe the newly allied Dragon King than her fellow disciples. As for her new allies such as King Shengri and Wild Horse, it was even less likely that she would trust them.


    ¡°Then I shall have to kill you. It will be easier to kill Lotus if your help is removed.¡±


    Han Fen¡¯s eyes widened more and more. ¡°Are you really going to kill me?¡±


    ¡°We are enemies now.¡±


    ¡°Maybe not in the future.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll burn some paper money to apologize to you.¡±


    Han Fen winked. Gu Shenwei warned her, ¡°Do not move, or I won¡¯t be able to control my saber.¡±


    ¡°But I really can¡¯t tell you the whereabouts of Master Commander.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. As I said, killing you will make Lotus lose ¡®the only person she trusts,¡¯ which is also good.¡±


    ¡°Wait a moment.¡± Han Fen finally took it a bit seriously. ¡°Don¡¯t kill me, I¡­ I can sleep with you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not interested.¡±


    ¡°Ehh, howe? Men are all interested in this kind of thing. I have a lot of unique skills that are different from the others. After you try it¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei slightly pressed the saber forward, and Han Fen followed to lean back and said, ¡°Okay, okay, you are not like other men and you are not interested at all. Let me think about it. I¡¯ll tell you a secret if you don¡¯t kill me.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°Promise not to kill me first.¡±


    The shouts in the distant suddenly weakened, and the scuffle seemed to have ended. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t turn to check. ¡°I can¡¯t wait any longer.¡±


    ¡°Well, you won. Umm, do you remember Han Qin?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s also a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall. She¡¯s been having an affair with a man.¡± Han Fen lowered her voice and whispered the secret in a mysterious tone.


    ¡°This is your ¡®secret¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, why don¡¯t you get it? Han Qin slept with a man and didn¡¯t kill himter. That¡¯s so abnormal.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was d that he had not epted Han Fen¡¯s first condition to spare her. ¡°This secret cannot save your life.¡±


    ¡°Ahh? You¡¯re not interested in this either? That¡¯s a headache. Master Commander is the same as you. She¡¯s not interested in anything. You two are really a perfect match. s¡ª¡± Han Fen sighed, full of regret and mncholy. ¡°Just wait another moment, I have other secrets¡­ Other secrets¡­¡±


    The noises around the campfire werepletely gone now. The scuffle of two or three hundred people would have never ended so quickly. Gu Shenwei felt that he should take action now. In some ways, Han Fen was a very lovely person but her loyalty to Lotus,bined with her martial arts skills and secret arts, had be a big threat.


    ¡°Shangguan Ru!¡± Han Fen suddenly blurted out.


    Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t fooled; his eyes and the tip of the saber didn¡¯t move at all.


    ¡°That little girl is not bad.¡± Han Fen didn¡¯t seem to be trying to distract the Dragon King, ¡°But she was drugged by Master Commander¡¯s specially made Indra Fragrance and has lost all her internal energy. I can help you get an antidote.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. She has recovered.¡±


    ¡°How?¡± Han Fen was taken aback.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know the details but he had met Shangguan Ru and clearly seen that she didn¡¯t seem to have lost her internal energy at all.


    Sweat oozed on Han Fen¡¯s forehead. She was like a student who had forgotten the answer when called on the spot. If the one standing in front of her wasn¡¯t the Dragon King, she would have calmly faced death and then found a way to deal with the evil spirits in the hell. But she instinctively felt that the Dragon King wasn¡¯t an enemy which gave her hope. But hope and fear always went together.


    ¡°What should I do? What should I do? I only have one secret left. Actually, it¡¯s not a secret. I¡¯m not sure if you are interested in it or not.¡±


    ¡°Tell me about it.¡± Gu Shenwei knew that Han Fen¡¯s criteria was quite different from normal people, so he decided to hear it out.


    ¡°It¡¯s also rted to Shangguan Ru. She¡¯s always been going to the Court Attendants Army these days and has formed many friendships with the men, but instead of killing any of them, she has kept them with her¡­ The Dragon King must have known about this a long time ago. What I want to say is ¡ª ¡± Han Fen unconsciously lifted her hand to wipe the sweat off her brow and didn¡¯t even notice that the tip of the saber had left her throat by an inch or two. ¡°King Shengri wanted Shangguan Ru to join him and said that she was very helpful in getting the support of the Court Attendants Army. Wild Horse said, oh, I mean, he gestured that he had an idea. But I really don¡¯t know what method he has. Dragon King, that¡¯s all I know. Please do not kill me. I¡¯ll go back and persuade Master Commander to be friends with you again¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei put away his saber.


    ¡°You¡¯ll let me go? I promised to persuade Master Commander, but I can¡¯t guarantee that it will work.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. Just get me an antidote for the Indra Fragrance.¡±


    Han Fen heaved a breath and said, ¡°You should have told me this earlier, Dragon King. You really scared me to death.¡±


    Poof, a puff of smoke spurted out of Han Fen¡¯s mouth and pounced at Gu Shenwei, who was well within its range.

 Chapter 671 - Hint

    Chapter 671: Hint


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s previous alliance with Lotus hadn¡¯t been in vain. From it, Gu Shenwei had probably be one of the few outsiders knowledgeable about the secret arts of the Waning Moon Hall, on par with Old Man Mu¡¯s level, but more vignt.


    As soon as Han Fen exhaled that plume of blue smoke, Gu Shenwei breathed out in response.


    Han Fen screamed and rolled back several times before disappearing into the grass. Then like a frightened bird, she leaped into the air, jumping and giggling as she ran away.


    Gu Shenwei decided to spare her life in the end. This woman was very strange; although she was loyal and devoted to Lotus, she didn¡¯t understand what a secret was. As long as he used some specific methods, he could always dig up a lot of information from her.


    The information might be false, but even false information was a clue.


    Gu Shenwei tried to approach the bonfire once again.


    The men lying in ambush had broken their concealment and were now simply taking part in the contest openly, after leaving seven or eight corpses in the grass behind them.


    The quiet ending to the scuffle puzzled Gu Shenwei. In an attempt to clear his confusion, he tried to get as close to the crowd as possible to listen in on their conversation.


    ¡°He¡¯s got a point. If we continue fighting like this, then all of us will die and no one will get any benefits.¡±


    ¡°Avenge yourselfter. There¡¯s no need to fight and waste your lives here.¡±


    ¡°Right, we¡¯re all here for the hundred thousand silver taels. Why do we have to fight each other to the death?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re all martial heroes, so howe we¡­ We were tricked into killing each other by just a few words from her?¡±


    Everyone nodded and even cupped their hands to salute each other as if they had developed some kind of friendship through the scuffle just now.


    Actually, everyone knew this simple truth but they still needed someone to wake them up at a critical moment, and this person was Dhuta Kingkong.


    As the organizer of the contest and the owner of the head, he was naturally obligated to restore the order.


    He stopped the people chasing after Han Wuxian for vengeance and clearly showed the crowd the meaninglessness of the whole melee.


    Han Wuxian wanted to go on killing but Nie Zeng, who was carrying her, wouldn¡¯t move anymore. ¡°Enough, we are here topete in kung fu. There¡¯s no need to kill so many people.¡±


    ¡°Topete is to kill, and to kill is topete.¡± This aphorism made sense to Han Wuxian but failed to move Nie Zeng.


    When Gu Shenwei arrived, Dhuta Kingkong was still negotiating with Han Wuxian. The sight of him standing over a dozen steps away and not daring to even breathe heavily was something to watch. ¡°Fairy Han¡¯s kung fu is matchless and really opened my eyes. I believe that Fairy Han¡¯s fame will spread across the Central ins and the Nond due to today¡¯s fight.¡±


    Han Wuxian, with her ruthlessness and disregard for the rules of the martial arts world, really didn¡¯t fit the image of a ¡®heroine,¡¯ so Dhuta Kingkong called her ¡®Fairy¡¯ instead.


    Han Wuxian seemed to be quite satisfied with her new nickname and softly said, ¡°You really know what to say. You are actually the person with the best kung fu here, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not,¡± Dhuta Kingkong hastily denied. ¡°We will only know who¡¯s the best after thepetition but it¡¯s certainly not me. I think that Fairy Han is the most promising.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, you are getting better at talking. You know, your bald head looked quite annoying before, but it looks much better now.¡±


    Dhuta Kingkong stroked his head and revealed a bitter smile, ¡°Thanks for your kind words, Fairy Han.¡±


    ¡°Then what are you waiting for? Since you admit that my kung fu is the best, give me the head of the Khan now.¡±


    Dhuta Kingkong didn¡¯t expect that the other side would take his ttery seriously. ¡°Well ¡­ I don¡¯t have a problem with that, but there are so many friends here today. It¡¯s better to have apetition so that everyone is convinced.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that you think my kung fu is the best but others might not think so?¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± As soon as he blurted out the word, Dhuta Kingkong knew that he had made a huge mistake. This woman appeared a bit crazy. Who would have thought that she was so good at setting verbal traps?


    Sure enough, before Dhuta Kingkong could find a way to fix his mistake, Han Wuxian had raised her voice and said, ¡°Baldy Kingkong has admitted that I am number one. Anyone who¡¯s unconvinced cane here and have a life-or-death fight with me.


    The crowd looked askance at Dhuta Kingkong, all thinking that he was ying two-faced tricks.


    Dhuta Kingkong didn¡¯t want to waste time on the matter so he winked at a saberman beside him. The man took one step forward and loudly said, ¡°I¡¯m not convinced. The point of this contest is to choose a hero who is fair and righteous, but you are disgracefully using poison to kill. If you are really capable¡­¡±


    Han Wuxian spread her arms and smiled heartily as if the man standing opposite was the most handsome saberman in the world. ¡°I can¡¯t use poison anymore even if I want to. I haven¡¯t restocked my pills yet and the borrowed poison has all been used up.¡±


    Few people believed Han Wuxian¡¯s story but that saberman took another step forward and said in a soft tone. ¡°I see. I¡¯m sorry I wronged you.¡±


    Dhuta Kingkong dragged the saberman to where he was andughed out loud, ¡°So Fairy Han will not use poison anymore in the followingpetitions?¡±


    The saberman struggled a few times in Dhuta Kingkong¡¯s hand and even almost drew his saber in anger. A few momentster, he suddenly came to his senses and blushed, hiding himself in the crowd and nevering out again.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not a real fairy. The poison is already used up. Do you think I can make some with magic?¡±


    Dhuta Kingkong smiled obsequiously. He wasn¡¯t a fresh shrimp in Jianghu and would not be seduced in public. ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve been meaning to say this, but hidden weapon and poison are not allowed in the contest.¡±


    ¡°Ehh, that¡¯s strange. If poison is not allowed, then why would someone bring poison with him? I borrowed it from him.¡±


    ¡°Who? Who else has poison?¡± Dhuta Kingkong spoke with the mind of the crowd. When Han Wuxian said ¡®borrowed poison,¡¯ everyone thought that she had borrowed it from one of her friends beforeing here.


    ¡°It¡¯s the guy who was recording everyone¡¯s name. What¡¯s his name again? The ink he used was a very good poison.¡±


    ¡°Ruan Doni?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s him. You have a good memory. You must be the smartest baldy in the world, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°You tter me.¡± Dhuta Kingkong would have be angry long ago if others were joking about his baldness like she was doing. But when faced with this woman, he could only reveal a bitter smile and quickly change the subject. ¡°Ruan Doni,e out and exin!¡±


    No one answered.


    ¡°Ruan Doni! Ruan Doni!¡± He called twice but still got no response.


    ¡°Is he dead?¡± someone guessed but that was immediately refuted. ¡°No, I just saw him¡­ Ah, the kid got away.¡±


    Ruan Doni had really run away. As soon as he heard the words ¡®borrowed poison,¡¯ he had begun slipping away. Several people had seen him, but did not care at that time.


    Dhuta Kingkong was very embarrassed because Ruan Doni was an old friend of his and had offered to help him organize this contest. He didn¡¯t expect that the other side had hatched a plot, but as a veteran in Jianghu, he was very good at concealing his embarrassment. Heughed loudly and cupped his hands, saying, ¡°Fairy Han has sharp eyes to expose the wicked. Who would dare say that you are not a real celestial being from now on? Everybody listen up, those who were poisoned tonight should be counted as dying to that bastard Ruan Doni!¡±


    Revenge was aplicated thing. The crowd quickly weighed this issue in their heart and everyone knew which way was easier to go, so they vomited Dhuta Kingkong¡¯s words back. ¡°Go find Ruan Doni and cut him into pieces to avenge ourselves.¡±


    Dhuta Kingkong waited for the crowd to vent their anger for a while before he raised his big hand and said, ¡°The contest is back on and the first yer on the field is¡­ Wise Eye Fairy Han Wuxian of the Western Regions. Who¡¯s going to challenge her?¡±


    Han Wuxian smiled more charmingly and touchingly after getting her first nickname in Jianghu. ¡°And this little brother who¡¯s carrying me. He¡¯s also very powerful.¡±


    Nie Zeng was so embarrassed that he really wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it. He was a killer, and it would really be a shame if he was given a nickname.


    ¡°Fairy Carrier!¡± Someone shouted. Nie Zeng found that he was being too naive. Compared to the shame of being nicknamed, the fact that nickname really sucked was even worse.


    No one cared about Nie Zeng. And since he was standing with his back against everyone, very few people could see his face turning red.


    What the sabermen were concerned about most was who wouldpete with Han Wuxian. They looked at each other until, finally, a saberman who was in his thirties walked out and the first thing he said was, ¡°Can you promise to not use poison?¡±


    ¡°I promise you, you will never use a saber again.¡± Han Wuxian was smiling and speaking in a soft tone even when she made threats.


    The saberman snorted and suddenly attacked without giving a name. He had found Han Wuxian¡¯s biggest w ¡ª the teenager carrying her.


    As long as he killed the boy, this woman would be helpless no matter how advanced her kung fu skills were.


    Nie Zeng slightly turned his head and saw the sabermaning at him from the corner of his eye, so he gripped his saber hilt, believing that his next move would fend off the attacker with one cut and earn Han Wuxian a chance to make a move.


    But before he could unsheathe his saber, Nie Zeng felt the load on his back suddenly lighten, and then heard the crowd cry out in surprise. He turned around uncontrobly and saw the saberman standing there stiffly with few strands of blood flowing out from the top of his head and just reaching his forehead.


    The weight on his back returned.


    Shangguan Fei, who had been hiding in the distance, quietly walked out and stayed within ten steps of Han Wuxian and Nie Zeng, because he understood that he might be the one needed to be protected.


    Gu Shenwei saw the whole process clearly from afar. Han Wuxian, who was not only good at using poison and secret techniques, had just shown her first-rate lightness skills and finger energy. Flying up, inserting her five fingers into the head of the saberman, and then jumping back with the rebounding force; Han Wuxian had easily killed her first challenger.


    Gu Shenwei quietly retreated as there was nothing to worry about anymore.


    He had ordered the golden roc killers and the teenage killers to set up ambushes, and the former had already caught something.


    A middle-aged man had run into the trap. The man looked elegant and had no saber on him, as if he was a schr who had strayed into the area by ident during night.


    The golden roc killer left him to the Dragon King for questioning.


    ¡°Ruan Doni?¡±


    Ruan Doni appeared very surprised, ¡°I never thought¡­ You must be the Dragon King, I never imagined that you would know this humble person¡¯s name.¡±


    Gu Shenwei winked, and a golden roc killer quickly searched Ruan Doni and took out a lot of items. Gu Shenwei picked up an inkstone, of which the ink had not yet dried, and sniffed it. ¡°Do you wanna try?¡±


    Ruan Doni¡¯s expression immediately changed, ¡°No no, Dragon King, please don¡¯t. Actually ¡­ Actually, we are on the same side.¡±


    ¡°Oh, really? I don¡¯t remember you.¡±


    Ruan Doni looked around and signaled the Dragon King to send away the killers. After his failure, he said, ¡°I work for King Riyao. The lord nned this contest to lure the snake out of its hole ¡­ I didn¡¯t expect the Dragon King was attracted.¡±


    ¡°Who were you trying to lure?¡±


    ¡°The one who took away the head of the Khan. My lord came up a brilliant idea. He said that as long as that person was still staying in the Royal Court, he would definitelye to check once he heard there was another head.¡±


    ¡°Where about the ambush of King Riyao?¡±


    ¡°In order to not leak the plot, there wouldn¡¯t be any ambush. It should have just been me and Dhuta Kingkong along with twenty-five sabermen. To tell you the truth, there are too many people here today. I¡¯m afraid¡­¡±


    ¡°Since we are all working for King Riyao, do you think I will sit back and do nothing?¡±


    Dragon King was overjoyed, ¡°Yes, yes. If we can make it, the main credits will be the Dragon King¡¯s. I¡¯ve already found the most suspicious target. He used a false name but I recognized him.¡± He took one step forward, staying away from the golden roc killers and mouthing out a name.


    Gu Shenwei nodded to show that he understood who he was talking about, thinking that it was really possible that the Khan¡¯s head had been taken away by this person.


    The golden rock killer also understood the Dragon King¡¯s hint, so he pierced Ruan Doni¡¯s heart from the back with the narrow saber in his hand.

 Chapter 672 - Wing Guard

    Chapter 672: Wing Guard


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Fei admired Han Wuxian from the bottom of his heart, thinking that only Old Man Mu was worthy of Han Wuxian. When the two joined hand in hand to kill, that must be the two devils¡¯ most affectionate moment.


    Han Wuxian had defeated seven opponents in a row since the start of the contest and ordingly left behind seven corpses. So far she hadn¡¯t used more than three moves each time and all of her moves were abnormal. After she strangled someone with a strand of her long hair, no one dared to challenge her anymore.


    Han Wuxian, who never touched the ground with her feet, had to jump back on the cane chair after killing people, but Nie Zeng did not obediently wait in the original ce. Each time, he would move at thest moment. In the beginning, he did so secretly. On thest two times, however, he did everything he could but still couldn¡¯t shake off the woman on his back.


    In the onlookers¡¯ eyes, the two were deliberately showing off their first-rate lightness skills, and only Shangguan Fei knew that Nie Zeng really wanted Han Wuxian to make a fool of herself.


    Like a street peddler, Dhuta Kingkong spared no effort in roping in new challengers. ¡®One hundred thousand taels of silver,¡¯ ¡®glory and wealth,¡¯ as well as ¡®the wealthiest sponsor¡¯ were his mostmonly used words, but it was bing less and less effective.


    Shangguan Fei gently shook his head and felt that tonight¡¯s contest¡¯s first ce could only go to Han Wuxian.


    The Khan¡¯s wing guard on the opposite slightly nodded at him.


    Shangguan Fei confirmed what he saw but was a bit hesitant because he didn¡¯t like trusting anyone at such times. But when the wing guard slowly retreated behind the crowd, he pretended that he badly needed to use the toilet, and then pushed his way through the crowd.


    The two went in half a circle and met in the dark. The wing guard cupped his hands to salute him while saying, ¡°Thank you for not pointing out my identity in public, young hero Shangguan.¡±


    Shangguan Fei felt no hostility and rxed a lot, as he especially liked the title ¡®young hero.¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s nothing, you¡­¡±


    The Khan was dead so the guards would naturally seek out a new lord now.


    ¡°We are like wanding ghosts now; no one wants us.¡±


    ¡°Us?¡±


    ¡°Heh, there are five of the seven wing guards left, living the life of fugitives.¡±


    Shangguan Fei suddenly remembered this man¡¯s name. He had only seen three wing guards: Iron Harrier, who was dead, Silver Condor, the real bodyguard of the Khan, and this Red Kite, whomanded the ordinary guards in guarding the periphery of the pce.


    ¡°How can that be?¡± Shangguan Fei was very surprised. ¡°Brother Kite¡¯s kung fu is beyond ordinary. Not only is it top-notch in the Nond but also in the whole world. The lords should all be fighting over you right now.¡±


    ¡°s, the Khan was assassinated. How can we, the wing guards, have the face to seek refuge with the kings?¡±


    Shangguan Fei sympathetically nodded. ¡°In fact, what does this even have to do with the wing guards? I heard that the Khan often hid his whereabouts, and even those who were close to him didn¡¯t know where he was, let alone you guys. Did you alsoe here to fight for the head?¡±


    ¡°The Khan was very kind to us, and we have a duty to bury him whole,¡± Red Kite said gloomily. He had lost so much that he might never get it all back.


    Shangguan Fei suddenly understood the other side¡¯s purpose. ¡°You want Han Wuxian to give up the first ce?¡±


    Red Kite took Shangguan Fei¡¯s arm and looked around, saying, ¡°We don¡¯t want to make enemies with the Dragon King for no reason. If the Dragon King can do us a favor this time, then the wing guards of the Khan will always remember his great kindness. As for young hero Shangguan, you will have really done us a great favor¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s heart moved. Red Kite wasn¡¯t his type. He wasn¡¯t tall and good-looking, but he was a wing guard and his kung fu was naturally not poor. Although he might not be as good as the Dragon King, his kung fu was certainly far superior to that of Long Fanyun¡¯s.


    The point was that he was afraid of misunderstanding the other side. Ever since he had lost his title as the ninth young master of Golden Roc Castle, he had never seeded in such a thing. ¡°Hmm, the Dragon King is not here, but he has left a word behind¡­¡± He finally remembered to hide the Dragon King¡¯s whereabouts.


    Red Kite put his right hand on Shangguan Fei¡¯s shoulder and said in a low voice, ¡°Everyone admires the young hero, and I¡¯ve always wanted to make friends with young hero Shangguan. Unfortunately, we left each other in haste in the pce and didn¡¯t have the chance to have a deep conversation ¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei steeled his heart and said, ¡°I¡¯ll find a way but you must exin to the Dragon King clearly afterward. Do not get me in trouble.¡±


    Red Kite sped his fists and said with a smile. ¡°The Dragon King needs more helpers now than ever. The five of us are like stray dogs and we hope that the young hero Shangguan will introduce us to the Dragon Kingter.¡±


    Shangguan Fei ventured to stroke Red Kite¡¯s face and said, ¡°I don¡¯t care about the others as long as you remember me.¡±


    Red Kite didn¡¯t avoid him. The smile on his face could not have been more clearly expressed.


    Shangguan Fei took a deep breath and forced himself to turn around and go back to the bonfire. Red Kite looked at his back as his smile faded away and he murmured to himself, ¡°Idiot. The Dragon King must be blind.¡±


    A figure suddenly shed out of the grass like a ghost and stood behind Red Kite. ¡°Be careful; the Dragon King is nearby.¡±


    ¡°None of them will escape.¡± Red Kite returned to the kung fupetition field from the other direction.


    Han Wuxian had defeated the eighth challenger and added one more corpse on the field. This time, no matter how much Dhuta Kingkong coerced or pleaded, no one dared to fight.


    Dhuta Kingkong¡¯sughter was unable to hide his embarrassment. ¡°Haha, it looks like the title of first ce for tonight¡¯s contest will go to the Wise Eye Fairy. We, heroes of Jianghu, are going to be humiliated.¡±


    Even reverse psychology didn¡¯t work anymore. Everyone was quietly asking each other about the Waning Moon Hall and Han Wuxian and even a few words would be discussed for a long while.


    Shangguan Fei took the chance to persuade Han Wuxian, ¡°This is the new n, and you have to follow it.¡±


    As they were surrounded by people, Shangguan Fei kept his voice as low as possible. Han Wuxian, however, wasn¡¯t as careful as he was and asked without even raising her head, ¡°Really, the Dragon¡­¡±


    ¡°Shh, don¡¯t mention it here.¡±


    Han Wuxian held a strand of her long hair and pointed at Shangguan Fei with the hair tip, smilingly saying, ¡°If you dare lie to me, I¡¯ll stick these into your head.¡±


    ¡°How would I dare?¡± Shangguan Fei¡¯s heart thumped as he grew scared. But what was done was done; it was toote for him to change his mind now. Without any other choices avable, he could only say, ¡°I¡¯d rather lie to the Dragon King than to you.¡± Then he secretly made up his mind that he would exin the situation to the Dragon King the moment he saw him and that it was better to not let Han Wuxian think he was lying.


    Dhuta Kingkong wiped the sweat from his forehead. ¡°If so, the¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait a moment, I want to challenge her.¡±


    Dhuta Kingkongughed heartily, ¡°Ninth, tonight¡¯s ninth challenger.¡±


    Red Kite walked out and drew the scimitar at his waist. As the Khan¡¯s wing guard, he seldom wandered around Jianghu, so very few people of the Nond actually knew him, not to mention the sabermen of the Central ins and the Western Regions.


    ¡°I¡¯m Hong Feihan, and I¡¯m here to ask Fairy Han for advice. Please show mercy to me.¡±


    ¡°Heh, I¡¯m afraid that you aren¡¯t able to afford to enjoy the ¡®mercy¡¯ of the Waning Moon Hall. Well, you look like an expert, maybe I¡¯ll actually have the chance to use a few more moves.¡±


    As soon as Red Kite made his first move, Shangguan Fei¡¯s heart calmed down a bit. The wing guard did live up to his fame of using a sabersmanship that was both fierce and swift; it wasn¡¯t something the previous eight challengers couldpare to. The rumor of a falsepetition would finally be disproven.


    The onlookers were also refreshed. There was finally a man who could potentially defeat this unknown and vicious woman.


    At almost the same time, Gu Shenwei found his target on the periphery.


    When the golden roc killers had intercepted Ruan Doni, they had also exposed their whereabouts and now the five of them were the targets of the others.


    Gu Shenwei had spent some time concealing his traces, and when he circled back, he had happened to find the praying ¡®mantis¡¯ that was ready to hunt the ¡®cicada¡¯.


    No offense meant no victory, but the moment one attacked was also the moment when one had the weakest defense. And thus, Gu Shenwei was waiting for this moment.


    The target acted, and Gu Shenwei instantly threw himself at it.


    Thepetition near the bonfire had attracted everyone¡¯s attention. Even if someone asionally looked back and saw the scene in the distance, they would think that it was just a frightened resident bird.


    Everything happened too fast. The five golden roc killers guarded each other and immediately acted when being attacked, but before they could brandish their sabers, the two figures had disappeared, and the killers couldn¡¯t even distinguish which one of the two had been the Dragon King.


    As killers, they were always undaunted and were confident in their assassination techniques, even in the face of someone whose kung fu was superior to theirs. However, they had never been so disoriented and at a loss for what to do. The figures passing by them seemed to belong to another world, a world that was far beyond their capability and reach.


    The lightness skill of the target waspletely different from the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall. There was no jumping like a ckbird nor any frequent turns, but the movements were rather from side to side like an undting snake. The dense grass seemed to give way automatically, leaving only faint ripples on the surface, almost no difference from the way a gentle breeze parted the grass.


    Gu Shenwei was also crossing the grass in hot pursuit. Long-distance tracking wasn¡¯t his specialty and neither was it consistent with the principles of the killer, but he was just unconvinced. Ever since he had be a killer, this was the first time he had been stimted and felt the need to overtake the opponent.


    His assassinations were not always sessful but they have never failed due to the target being alerted the moment he made a move and then escaping under his nose.


    The gap between the two had been steadily widening. Gu Shenwei¡¯sck of skill was his most obvious weakness and he could only rely on his powerful internal energy to maintain his speed.


    All of a sudden, his body crouched lower but his speed abruptly quickened. In the blink of an eye, he was within three paces of catching up with the target and he was ready to cut.


    Gu Shenwei had unexpectedly used the Foxlike Movement Skill taught to him by Old Man Mu.


    On their way to the Royal Court, Old Man Mu had introduced all the martial arts of the Jade Pure Sect to the Dragon King to show his loyalty. When mentioning the Foxlike Movement Skill, he had said, ¡°The good girl is all good except that she cares about her appearance too much. Can you imagine it? She refused to learn the Foxlike Movement Skill, a first-ss lightness skills, just because she thought the posture was too ugly.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know why, but Old Man Mu¡¯s words had stirred his interest in the Foxlike Movement Skill. Every time he thought of Shangguan Ru shaking her head to refuse to learn this lightness skill, he felt likeughing about it, though he never did.


    But he had been too busy as whenever he was free he had focused on practicing the Three-in-One Power instead. Although he still knew the form of the Foxlike Movement Skill, he had never actually practiced it.


    This was actually his first time trying it out and it had turned out to be surprisingly effective.


    The target didn¡¯t turn back though he felt danger approaching. If he ran a few more steps, the Dragon King, who hadn¡¯t mastered yet the Foxlike Movement Skill, would immediately be left further behind. But he didn¡¯t want to run any further and suddenly stopped instead. He turned around and drew his scimitar as if he had always been standing there and had never run away.


    The narrow saber and the scimitar collided, letting out a shrieking whistle. In an instant, the two had exchanged over a dozen moves, and were fighting neck to neck.


    The two parted and silently looked at each other for a moment as if they were connected by a thin thread that was stretched to the utmost and would break if even a speck of dustnded on it.


    It wasn¡¯t dust that broke the string but rather another three sabermen whom all suddenly appeared.


    The four wing guards of the Khan had finally surrounded the Dragon King.

 Chapter 673 - Siege

    Chapter 673: Siege


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The wing guards were not killers, so none of themunched a sneak attack and neither did they attack altogether after showing up. They merely stood at the four corners of a square formation to prevent the Dragon King from escaping.


    Killers were not ashamed of running away, and they were very good at avoiding fights when the situation was not favorable.


    Gu Shenwei was no exception. It was thanks to these escaping skills that he had lived to see this day.


    But this time, he couldn¡¯t escape easily.


    There were only four men besieging him but the area controlled by each was more than that of ten ordinary sabermen. Although it seemed like there was a huge gap between them, their formation was actually airtight. Gu Shenwei already felt the pressure before he had even made a move.


    He actually had no intention of running away this time.


    He was trying to change his killer¡¯s instincts, and this face-to-face kind of fight was one of the habits he had to pick up.


    Five people, four scimitars, and one narrow saber; no words, only gazes.


    Silver Condor was the first to act. He was the one who had lured the Dragon King here and was also the only one here who had ever fought with the Dragon King and thus knew how strong the young man¡¯s kung fu was.


    The two weapons no longer collided frequently. The two werepeting with their bodily movement techniques, swiftly moving back and forth before touching each other as if they were dancing. No one wanted to strike before they found a w.


    On his eleventh retreat, Gu Shenwei attacked a wing guard behind him. The fact that he wanted to eliminate his instincts of a killer didn¡¯t mean that he wouldpletely give up on all the killer¡¯s means, such as surprise attacks. It was a tactic that he had been using for years and was already engraved into his body.


    The Dragon King¡¯s ¡®sneak attack¡¯ was indeed a little bit out of the wing guards¡¯ expectations, but they were not flustered by the move.


    Gu Shenwei turned around the moment hended, swinging his saber to block Silver Condor¡¯s attack while also striking the wing guard in front of him with his palm. The other side instinctively received Gu Shenwei¡¯s blow with his fists.


    The frosty Qi immediately took effect. The wing guard unsheathed his saber and adopted a defensive posture while retreating, giving off a steady feeling even though he couldn¡¯t stop moving back. As a result, a small hole had appeared in the encirclement ring.


    Gu Shenwei would never let such an opportunity escape him. Before the other three wing guards could react and fill the gap, he had already rushed out of danger.


    He was very experienced in fighting againstrger numbers. His most basic principle was to bait several enemies into following him run around so that the enemy¡¯s formation would break apart, and then he could take advantage of the chaos to defeat them one by one.


    But it was very hard to apply this strategy to the four wing guards. Gu Shenwei had attacked three of them in a row but wasn¡¯t able to break their cooperation. Although he had escaped the encirclement, the ¡¯ was still in hot pursuit behind him.


    The internal energy of the wing guard who had taken Gu Shenwei¡¯s palm strike wasn¡¯t bad. He got rid of the effect of the frosty Qi and returned to normal in the twinkle of an eye. Perhaps feeling that he had made a mistake that let the Dragon King escape the besiege, his offense was fiercer than the others¡¯.


    The hands of the four wing guardsbined were like a hard boulder, and Gu Shenwei¡¯s was byparison only a small hammer, the strike of which could merely shake off a few grains of dust.


    Gu Shenwei felt a bit overwhelmed but the other four were appalled at heart. With their martial arts skills, any of them was able to dominate the martial arts world of the Prairie. But now, after having exchanged over a dozen moves, they were actually in a stalemate with the Dragon King. The young man¡¯s kung fu was much more powerful than what Silver Condor had described.


    Silver Condor was even more astonished than all the others. The Dragon King¡¯s kung fu seemed to have improved a great deal in only a few days.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s martial arts skills had actually not improved much. These days he had been busy almost all day and night, and when hisa was taken into consideration, he did not even have time to practice the Three-in-One Power much. What he had been inspired by was potential.


    He was treating the four wing guards as a singrbatant with four heads and eight hands and feet, each hand and foot of which was unique. In response, he pulled at a string in his heart. This string of tension was wound tighter and tighter, but had not broke.


    His saber was faster than ever and his steps were swifter than ever as if he were flying on the grass.


    However, the string of tension could not, after all,st long. Gu Shenwei gradually reduced the frequency at which he waved his saber and began once again relying on his swift moves to avoid being surrounded. The fight, therefore, turned into a pursuit.


    The wing guards, who were obviously on the upper hand, suddenly came to a halt and watched the Dragon King retreat ten paces away without pursuing further. The distance was exactly the key as to whether they could kill the Dragon King or not. Their n had failed when it was on the verge of sess.


    ¡®It¡¯s really a pity,¡¯ thought Gu Shenwei. Not only were these four people highly skilled in martial arts, but they also extremely alert and cautious. It was very difficult to lure them into a trap.


    The five teenage killers were lurking nearby. As long as the enemies moved four or five more steps forward, the killers would have an ideal opportunity to make a move. Even if they couldn¡¯t kill the wing guards, they would ¡®dismember¡¯ the integrated entity, giving the Dragon King a chance to break through.


    This opportunity would note again, but the teenage killers were still lurking there.


    The nerve-racking tension of the duel vanished. And even before Silver Condor opened his mouth, Gu Shenwei knew that the other side had given up on tonight¡¯s mission.


    Silver Condor felt disappointed that such a good opportunity had slipped away from his hands, but he couldn¡¯t afford to take risks. ¡°Very good moves, Dragon King. But even if you escape tonight, you can¡¯t run away from the entire prairie.¡±


    ¡°The wing guards of the Khan do live up to their reputation. But may I ask why? I don¡¯t remember bearing a grudge against you.¡±


    ¡°So the Dragon King ns to deny that he killed the Khan?¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. ¡°You¡¯ve got the wrong person.¡±


    ¡°Heh, the Dragon King can trick the Kings into trusting him because their minds are all focused on fighting for the throne, but you can¡¯t fool us. Even if the whole world forgets about how the Khan died, we, his wing guards, will avenge him.¡±


    ¡°I admire your loyalty, but I don¡¯t understand why you would think that I am the murderer.¡±


    Silver Condor revealed a faint smile but soon his face turned cold. ¡°Because I saw you go into that tent, I saw those enchantressese and go, and also saw you leave with them. That was the biggest mistake of my life. I thought that you¡¯d be grateful for the Khan¡¯s summons. I didn¡¯t expect that you would take the opportunity to kill him and even want to frame the wing guard.¡±


    On the night of the murder of the Khan, Han Fen had put a few pills into the wing guard Green Falcon¡¯s mouth. When he came to his senses he would go on a rampage of killing, but Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t heard of his whereabouts afterward. And neither had he appeared tonight.


    ¡°So it was you who took the head of the Khan.¡±


    Gu Shenwei finally realized the truth. The Khan liked to conceal his whereabouts from everyone except for one person. Silver Condor was actually near the tent that night. Neither the Dragon King and the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall had found him.


    Silver Condor did make a mistake. The mistake was that he knew too many things about the Khan. He knew that the Dragon King had been summoned that night and also knew that Lotus and several others were the new favorites on the Khan¡¯s way to immortality so he had rxed his guard.


    He had actually grown suspicious when the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall had carried three captives into the tent but he hadn¡¯t recognized the hooded Green Falcon and his suspicion soon disappeared. In order to pursue immortality, the Khan had tried many strange methods, some of which were quite bloody. Silver Condor was disgusted with these things, but it was the Khan who was doing this so he could only turn a blind eye to those activities.


    It was exactly because he turned a blind eye that had caused him to lose his one and only chance to protect his lord.


    As time passed, Silver Condor finally couldn¡¯t bear it anymore. He had walked into the tent and beheld the thrilling scene.


    ¡°Yes, I took the head because I knew that once the Khan was buried, the nobles of the Nond will quickly forget their hatred and will be busy fighting for the throne and divvying up thend. The missing head is a wake-up call and signifies that they still have an unresolved vengeance.¡±


    Gu Shenwei could understand Silver Condor¡¯s eagerness for revenge. He turned his head towards the distant bonfire and found that thepetition seemed to be over and could vaguely hear the voices of the crowd. ¡°Is this a trap set by you?¡±


    Silver Condor shook his head, ¡°No, I¡¯d like to know how they got their head.¡±


    ¡°King Riyao. He guessed that the person who took the head woulde and check, and he was right.¡±


    Silver Condor didn¡¯t say a word. He didn¡¯t believe the Dragon King. Besides, Red Kite would soon find out both the truth and the mastermind behind the Dragon King.


    The four wing guards started retreating. Silver Condor was a cautious man. He would do whatever it took to avenge the Khan but would not take unnecessary risks. The wing guards were the core force behind the Khan¡¯s vengeance and he couldn¡¯t afford to lose any of them.


    ¡°Those ve girls were killed by you?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Theymitted suicide. I only put the Khan¡¯s body in the middle.¡± Silver Condor said as he retreated. The Dragon King¡¯s calmness made him a little confused.


    ¡°But you killed Green Falcon.¡±


    ¡°He was driven crazy by you.¡± Silver Condor didn¡¯t directly admit it as Green Falcon was his colleague. Forcing him to personally kill a wing guard was one of the reasons why he wanted revenge.


    ¡°Not me.¡± Gu Shenwei raised his voice. He had to say this no matter if the other side believed it or not. ¡°The Waning Moon Hall has a bigger plot. If you want to avenge the Khan, then you should ally with me. What you saw wasn¡¯t the whole truth.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought of Zhong Heng¡¯s famous saying: Solving problems and discovering the truth were two different things.


    But in the eyes of the avenger, the two were the same thing.


    The other three wing guards had disappeared by now. Silver Condor stopped and shook his head again. ¡°You can¡¯t fool me. The Waning Moon Hall was loyal to you before and they still are now. The so-called breakup and betrayal are just tricks of yours. You can¡¯t-fool me.¡±


    It was really hard for Gu Shenwei to exin theplicated rtionship between him and the Waning Moon Hall, especially since the Hall Leader Han Wuxian was fighting for him and the disciple Han Fen had just escaped from his hand. Anyone who saw this would believe that there was no real break between the two sides.


    ¡°Believe it or not, but in order to prove that I am not lying, I¡¯ll give you three chances. You can use any means to kill me but I will spare your life. You and your colleagues all have this right.¡±


    Silver Condor was so angry that he smiled instead. The Dragon King had just escaped with his life by a prearranged ambush and in the blink of an eye, he was boasting without shame that he would have mercy on his life. ¡°You can¡¯t fool me and you are not invincible throughout the world.¡±


    Silver Condor left with a deeper hatred, and Gu Shenwei began to consider how to ¡®spare his life¡¯ three times in a row.


    The five teenage killers came out of the ambush position without saying a word. They all bowed to salute the Dragon King. They had seen the Dragon King¡¯s sabersmanship and it had filled their hearts with admiration.


    In the distance came the triumphant voice of Shangguan Fei. ¡°Idiot, how dare you seduce me with your looks? Haha, Fairy Han is matchless and can kill and catch at will. Sending this wing guard to the Dragon King will be a big contribution.¡±


    Then Han Wuxian¡¯s sweet voice could be heard. ¡°I don¡¯t care if I¡¯m making a big contribution or not. I just want to see the Khan¡¯s head. Baldy, you are not lying to me, are you?¡±


    ¡°I dare not, I dare not. Let¡¯s go get the head right now.¡± Dhuta Kingkong¡¯s voice was trembling.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t expect that his ¡®n for mercy¡¯ would be realized so soon.

 Chapter 674 - Release

    Chapter 674: Release


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Red Kit was a practical man; if there was a tiger standing in the way, he would always choose to take a detour around even if he were able to defeat the beast.


    ¡°Save your energy for more important things.¡± It was a principle that he often talked about. He never expected that one day, the detour that he always took would be a trap.


    He had never put Shangguan Fei in his eyes. This so-called champion of the warrior contest had trembled with fear on thepetition field and abased himself while trying to ingratiate himself with the Khan. All of it had left Red Kite with the impression that he was an indecisive wimp.


    There was no need to make any further inquiries. Red Kite had determined Shangguan Fei¡¯s preference at first sight. He didn¡¯t mind taking advantage of it to bypass Han Wuxian, the ¡®tiger¡¯ blocking his way.


    As the Khan¡¯s wing guard, he was confident that he could defeat this strange woman with his own power, but wouldn¡¯t it be safer and more efficient to let the other side make way herself?


    And so he had fallen for the trap.


    Red Kite felt so ashamed with himself afterwards. He could have defeated Han Wuxian with dignity, or at least he thought he could. But instead of having a straightforward fight, his carelessness and hisck of resolution to fight with all his strength had caused his wrists to be bound by the woman¡¯s hair and then loosen grip of his scimitar. Then after his acupoints were struck, he fell to the ground, lying prostrate as if he could not resist the temptation of the beauty and had automatically gave up.


    Heaven and Earth knew that Red Kite would never prostrate in front of a woman.


    The contest ended and the crowd dispersed. Han Wuxian raised her head and sniffed the air several times before pointing out the direction of the Dragon King with absolute certainty. ¡°This way, the Dragon King is not far from us.¡±


    Soon after, the Dragon King came walking towards them alone from the direction Han Wuxian had pointed out, surprising Shangguan Fei. With admiration in his voice, he asked, ¡°Can you really smell where the Dragon King is?¡±


    Han Wuxian turned her back to the Dragon King and carefullybed her hair like a valiant soldier cleaning his weapon. ¡°When a man bes a real king, he¡¯ll smell different from the rest.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Shangguan Fei had never heard of such a magical thing, and he breathed in hard himself, trying to smell this unique scent. ¡°Maybe one has to have a unique nose like Fairy Han¡¯s to smell it, right?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, lovely kid, would you like to learn my ¡®sniffing skill¡¯?¡±


    Shangguan Fei was actually interested, though not because he wanted to use it to look for the Dragon King. ¡°Fairy Han¡¯s ¡®sniffing skill¡¯ is so useful. The Nond is in chaos right now, and many people are fighting for the throne of the Khan. If one could ¡®smell¡¯ the result in advance¡­¡±


    The Dragon King had arrived, so Shangguan Fei hastily shut up and said, ¡°Dragon King, we¡¯ve carried out your orders and captured this wing guard named Red Kite. Please let us know if there¡¯s anything else we can do for you.¡±


    As he said this, he kept winking at the Dragon King. He had given out a fake order under the name of the Dragon King because he had no other choice. Without using the name of the Dragon King, he had no other method of forcing Han Wuxian to seize Red Kite alive as the other side was already addicted to killing.


    The Dragon King didn¡¯t show an unexpected look as if everything had gone ording to n. Shangguan Fei¡¯s nervous heart calmed down, as now he could rest assured that his little lie would not be exposed.


    Gu Shenwei still remembered Red Kite. After staring at him for a while, he said, ¡°Unseal his acupoints.¡±


    This order was a bit strange. Both Shangguan Fei and Dhuta Kingkong were surprised. Although Han Wuxian did not care, she also did not act right away. ¡°You said that the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall would show up, so why didn¡¯t I see any of them?¡±


    ¡°There was one. She was probably too afraid to meet her former Hall Leader and fled in fear.¡±


    ¡°Former? I am the Hall Leader even at this moment. That little girl Lotus doesn¡¯t have to guts to take my position yet.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, either way, the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall are all afraid of you.¡±


    Shangguan Fei secretly nodded. It turned out that the Dragon King was so good at lying that he could casually make up lies on the spot without mincing words. It seemed that he still had a lot of things to learn from the Dragon King.


    It was hard to tell whether Han Wuxian believed it or not. ¡°Next time the Dragon King will fight openly and I¡¯ll hide and capture people,¡± she stated tly.


    ¡°All right.¡±


    Shangguan Fei had discovered a rule. The more charming Han Wuxian¡¯s smile was, the heavier her killing intention was in her heart. She seldom smiled in front of the Dragon King. When he realized this, Shangguan Fei couldn¡¯t help but take a few steps to the side.


    Red Kite¡¯s acupoints had been unlocked but without a saber in his hand, he could only vigntly looked at the Dragon King, not knowing what the other side was going to do with him.


    ¡°You can leave now.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You are very lucky, as I¡¯ll spare your life this time. Go back and tell Silver Condor that you¡¯ve already used one of the three chances.¡±


    Red Kite was tongue-tied, but he wasn¡¯t the only one surprised. Shangguan Fei had finally devised a clever n and caught a big fish, and didn¡¯t want to let go free so easily. ¡°Dragon King, he¡¯s a wing guard of the Khan and must know a lot of secrets. It¡¯ll be very useful for us to keep him.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shot a stern look at him and Shangguan Fei immediately shut his mouth.


    Dhuta Kingkong felt that it was time for him to tell the truth. ¡°Wait a moment, Dragon King. May I have a few words with you privately?¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t move. Dhuta Kingkong embarrassedly looked at the Dragon King¡¯s subordinates before beckoning for his dozen or so sabermen to retreat before whispering, ¡°Dragon King, this man can¡¯t be released. At least have him reveal the whereabouts of the head of the Khan first.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have it?¡± Gu Shenwei pretended not to understand.


    ¡°In fact, this is all King Riyao¡¯s plot. I work for him, and so does the Dragon King. We are actually serving the same lord.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t speak right away. Han Wuxian smiled and softly said, ¡°You little baldy. You really lied to me.¡±


    Shangguan Fei moved another few steps to the side. If he were Dhuta Kingkong facing Han Wuxian¡¯s smile, he would never have calmly smiled back with ttery, let alone take two more steps forward. ¡°Please forgive me, Fairy Han. I had to follow the king¡¯s order and aplish my mission. Fortunately, we are on the same side. After seeing King Riyao, I¡¯ll personally make amends to Fairy Han for sure.¡±


    Han Wuxian suddenly shook her long hair which caused it to gently brush past Dhuta Kingkong¡¯s face as she turned her head, leaving behind a beautiful side view of her face as it portrayed a look of indifference and resentment.


    Dhuta Kingkong had controlled himself well up to then but for some reason, at that moment, he lost almost all self-control and copsed, begging for mercy. His knees were still shaking, but when he saw the Dragon King¡¯s eyes, he suddenly came to his senses, blushed and turned to say, ¡°Please forgive me, Dragon King. Let¡¯s go see the king together. All the credit will go to the Dragon King. Just leaving a bit for me and my brothers¡¯ hard work will be enough.¡±


    ¡°Are you really a man of King Riyao¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°I can swear in the name of Heavens.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you from the Central ins?¡±


    Dhuta Kingkong chuckled. ¡°The area west of the Yellow River has always been a battlefield between the Central ins and the Nond since ancient times. Today we belong to the Central ins and tomorrow we may belong to the Nond. Everyone from my homnd is pledged to money. The Dragon King is from the Western Regions and I¡¯m sure he knows as much about this as well as I do.¡±


    ¡°I see. You can go now. I still have to release this man. As for King Riyao, I¡¯ll exin this to himter.¡±


    Dhuta Kingkong¡¯s face reddened even further but this time it had nothing to do with Han Wuxian. ¡°Dragon King, the lord is very concerned about this n. You¡¯ve already made a big contribution, so what¡¯s the point of releasing it for no reason?¡±


    Shangguan Fei couldn¡¯t smell the Dragon King¡¯s kingly scent but he could smell the alliance breaking apart on the spot so he said to Red Kite, ¡°Idiot, are you waiting for the Dragon King to give you a ride?¡±


    Confused by the series of matters, Red Kite finally came to understand the situation and retreated step by step, ready to defend himself at any time. It was not until he had retreated ten steps away that he suddenly turned around and used his lightness skill to flee, quickly disappearing into the night without a word.


    Dhuta Kingkong helplessly watched Red Kite leave, feeling humiliated. ¡°Dragon King, I have to trouble you toe with me. Anyhow, we have to exin this to the lord.¡±


    Shangguan Fei impatiently replied, ¡°The Dragon King is very busy. He¡¯ll naturally go see the lord when he¡¯s free. How dare you ¡®trouble¡¯ the Dragon King when your identity is still unclear as of now?¡±


    Dhuta Kingkong turned around and walked towards his men, his face livid. After meeting with his sabermen, he cried out, ¡°Dragon King, don¡¯t me me for being disloyal. I¡¯ve said what I had to say. It was your decision to release him.¡±


    As he watched King Riyao¡¯s subordinates walk away, Shangguan Fei bowed to Han Wuxian respectfully. ¡°Fairy Han, your ¡®sniffing skill¡¯ is good, and your eyes are even sharper. How long do you think this Baldy Kingkong has to live?¡±


    Han Wuxian sighed and said without looking up, ¡°Who knows? But judging from his face, he¡¯ll have to thank Heaven if he lives to see daybreak.¡±


    Han Wuxian did not smile and her tone was also t. Shangguan Fei was overjoyed in his heart. He touched the fine scars on his face and felt that he was safe now.


    Gu Shenwei heard what Han Wuxian had said when he came over but he didn¡¯t believe in her so-called ¡®sniffing skills.¡¯ ¡°How did you find me?¡± he asked.


    This was very important as he didn¡¯t want his whereabouts to be known to anyone.


    Han Wuxian smiled and didn¡¯t seem to want to answer. The ground was shining with moonlight, and it also formed an illusory halo over her. Shangguan Fei stared at her in a daze and had to keep reminding himself over and over again that she was a woman, just a woman.


    ¡°I left a hair on you and I¡¯m the only one who can smell it. You¡¯ve been around us the whole time, so of course I can smell it.¡±


    Seeing that the Dragon King had a serious expression, Han Wuxian giggled uncontrobly. This time she was justughing and had no killing intent. ¡°It¡¯s just a little trick. Does the Dragon King want to learn it?¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t care about her tricks. He just wanted to find that hair and throw it away. The first thing he had to do after returning to camp was to take off his clothes and wash himself from head to toe.


    But he couldn¡¯t go back to camp yet. The four of them found their horses and joined up with the golden roc killers and the teenage killers before riding eastward. In less than six hours, the final battle between the Court Attendants Army and King Shengri would begin at the ruins of the Royal Court. Gu Shenwei did not want to miss the opportunity to watch the fight.


    It was dawn now and they were halfway there. Gu Shenwei saw five kung fu practitioners on horseback from afar who had also joined inst night¡¯s contest but gotten nothing. They were probably going to observe the battle and fish in troubled waters.


    Gu Shenwei adjusted his direction, intending to avoid those people in front of him. But before he had ridden too far away, he looked up again and saw that the five figures were gone.


    The prairie was not really a t stretch ofnd. It had some topography to it and one¡¯s view being blocked was normal. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t care about it too much but Han Wuxian, who had been sitting in the cane chair suddenly loosened her long hair and said, ¡°Waning Moon Hall members are really audacious, daring to show up in front of me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart was agitated a bit and he galloped towards the ce where the five people had disappeared.


    The discovery the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s traces had transformed Han Wuxian into another person. She ¡®flew¡¯ up.


    Nie Zeng felt the weight on his back suddenly disappear. Before he could react, Han Wuxian had leaped over him and was jumping through the grass at a very high speed. Each time shended, she would advance a long distance, and the horses behind her would fall farther and farther away.


    ¡°She could walk the whole time!¡± Nie Zeng angrily cried out, feeling that he was really a fool.


    Gu Shenwei urged the horse to gallop faster. He yearned somewhat for the me Foal at this moment.


    Not only was he was concerned about the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall, but the disappeared Jianghu wanderers also worried him. The simple lure set by King Riyao might have attracted some really big fish, big enough to affect the whole Royal Court.

 Chapter 675 - Officer

    Chapter 675: Officer


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    When Gu Shenwei got closer, he only saw five corpses.


    Han Wuxian was like a low-flying falcon, constantly rising and falling above the grassline. This was the golden roc killers and the Dragon King¡¯s killers first time cooperating, but they acted in perfect harmony. Without any previous arrangements ormands, they immediately dismounted and fanned out, either pursuing or intercepting on their own like a pack of loyal hounds hunting for hidden birds.


    One of the corpses was wearing a hood. Shangguan Fei broke off arge piece of grass straw and used it to prop up the hood. ¡°It¡¯s a nobleman of the Nond,¡± he said.


    Gu Shenwei sighed. ¡°He¡¯s the Commandant of the Court Attendants¡¯ Army.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was taken aback and threw the grass straw away. ¡°What is the Commandant doing here? Isn¡¯t the Court Attendants Army and King Shengri about to go to war?¡±


    Gu Shenwei also didn¡¯t understand. The contest held by King Riyao was a very simple trap. The Commandant shouldn¡¯t have been fooled and also should have brought much more than four guards with him.


    ¡°King Shengri must be very happy now.¡± Shangguan Fei hadn¡¯t met the Commandant before but he was very well aware of his importance. ¡°The next round of the chaotic fight in the Royal Court is about to begin.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had long since spected that the Waning Moon Hall would do anything to assassinate the Commandant. But during the meeting that had taken ce the day before yesterday, the Commandant appeared to have well-thought-out ns regarding his own safety as if he had a way to guard against the female killers. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t expect that he would actually be so careless.


    ¡°Ahem.¡± One of the corpses made a sound. Shangguan Fei was startled again and jumped back three steps before he drew his saber. Realizing that his fists were fiercer, he threw away the saber and took a fighting posture.


    The wounded man seemed unable to stand up, and all that came out with his cough was blood from his mouth.


    Gu Shenwei went to the victim and knelt down on one leg to check his condition.


    ¡°Be careful, Dragon King,¡± Shangguan Fei warned. These people had been killed by people of the Waning Moon Hall. Shangguan Fei would rather stay far away from them for his own safety.


    It was an external injury. There were five small bloodstained holes in the lower part of his heart. In the process of avoiding Han Wuxian, the assassin had left hastily and actually left a man alive.


    But he couldn¡¯t live for long.


    The wounded man looked at the Dragon King and seemed to recognize him. Gu Shenwei recognized this man as the only bodyguard of the Commandant present on the day of the kings¡¯ meeting; he had caught King Shengri¡¯s flying knife and was a kung fu expert.


    This expert probably didn¡¯t even have the slightest chance to make a move before the knockout drugs of the Waning Moon Hall had taken effect.


    He vomited up some more blood and finally decided to trust the Dragon King. ¡°There¡¯s¡­ a mole¡­ Tell¡­ Tell¡­¡±


    As for telling whom, he wasn¡¯t able to say.


    The killers returned with more eight corpses. Han Wuxian returned to the cane chair on Nie Zeng¡¯s back and hummed a melody in a low voice.


    The five golden roc killers acted discreetly. They quietlyy down the corpses and stepped aside. However, the six teenage killers of the Dragon King, including Nie Zeng, couldn¡¯t suppress the excitement in their hearts. Before this, their only formal mission had been to rescue Han Wuxian, which they had plotted for many days but in the end, had mostly been Hu Shining¡¯s work.


    The five teenagers knelt down. Nie Zeng hesitated a little and also followed in kneeling down. Han Wuxian could only sit in the chair with her legs crossed. She wasn¡¯t able to stand on the ground yet. The lightness skills she had just shown had mainly relied on the support of her hands and couldn¡¯t be used all the time.


    Gu Shenwei understood what the teenagers expected and agreed that they deserved the honor. So he produced a dagger, gently cut the palm of his left hand, and smeared his blood on the foreheads of the six young boys. Then he dipped his right hand in the blood of the enemy and smeared their foreheads again to cover his blood.


    The six teenagers had learned the procedure from their training instructor and knew what they should do next. They drew their narrow sabers and stabbed them into the ground. With their left hands holding onto the hilt and their right hands running across the de, they smeared their forehead with a thirdyer of blood.


    The blood oath made up of the blood of the master, enemy, and the disciple killers waspleted. Although it was a lot simpler than the more primitive rites, it still possessed an air of mystery and solemnity. Even Han Wuxian turned around and watched curiously.


    Shangguan Fei felt his heart tremble. He wasn¡¯t an impulsive person. If anyone had spoken of such rituals in front of him, he would have dismissed them as ¡®shy.¡¯ But at the moment he felt that this was true allegiance and he even wanted to kneel and take the blood oath together with the young boys.


    But he wasn¡¯t a killer, so he controlled his knees.


    The five golden roc killers witnessed all this, their faces impassive. No one knew what effect the scene would have on themter on.


    Gu Shenwei examined the eight corpses. There were two women who he was familiar with and had to be the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall. The others were all men.


    Han Wuxian also recognized the two. ¡°When they were little, they used to take candy from me. Of course, it was not real candy but rather nauseating drugs. They survived my training but turned to Lotus in the end. Well, I liked these two little girls. Killing them with my own hands made me feel twice as happy.¡±


    Nie Zeng could no longer bear it. ¡°Don¡¯t you have any feelings?¡±


    Han Wuxian was as soft as a snake. She twisted her body and stuck out her left foot over Nie Zeng¡¯s shoulder and swayed it under his nose in a position that seemed nearly impossible to outsiders.


    The bare foot was close to his face, and the scar on her ankle was horrifying. Nie Zeng¡¯s face was redder than the blood on his forehead. ¡°Take it away, what are you doing?¡±


    Han Wuxian paused for a while before moving her foot back. ¡°When the chains went through my ankles, they were there. Did you ever hear the screams and begging of the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s Hall Leader? Hey kid, who are you to talk about ¡®feelings¡¯? When you fall in love with someone, I¡¯ll let you know what true feelings are.¡±


    Nie Zeng red but unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t see the person behind him. He was a killer and would not fall in love with anyone.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t pay any attention to the two. Everything had changed so fast. He had changed from being a war-watcher to a war-taker, and now he had to solve all the problems at hand quickly. So he ordered Nie Zeng, Han Wuxian, and the five golden roc killers to immediately return to the Dragon Army camp and bring back some soldiers. He and the five teenage killers would stay at the site to guard the corpses while Shangguan Fei followed the request to tell someone from the Court Attendants Army.


    Liman had been staying at the camp of the Court Attendants Army, meeting with friends, and seeking information for the Dragon King these past two days. Gu Shenwei hoped that he woulde in handy today.


    The first to arrive was not the Court Attendants Army but rather King Riyao Tuosai who had alsoe from the west to watch the battle.


    Tuosai quickly approached the scene while under the protection of one hundred guards in silver armor, one thousand ordinary horsemen, and dozens of kung fu masters.


    Gu Shenwei and the five teenagers remained lurking in the grass. They were barely able to cover up the dozen or so corpses before the army passed by just a few dozen paces away. The rumbling of the horses¡¯ hooves shook the ground. And they could be exposed as long as a single soldier turned his head to look around.


    As the troops passed by, a distinct trace of trampled grass was left on the prairie. Gu Shenwei heaved a sigh of relief.


    Shangguan Fei finally returned, followed by seven or eight officers.


    The officers jumped off of the horses and ran straight to the corpses, and all turned silent after examining them.


    Liman, who was among them, pointed at the other eight corpses and asked, ¡°Were they the assassins?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    An officer who appeared to be the leader of the crowd also asked, ¡°No one was left alive?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Everything happened too fast. It was already difficult for Han Wuxian and the killers to catch up with the assassins, not to mention the fact that the other side were disciples of the Waning Moon Hall. So it was very hard to keep them alive.


    The officer questioningly looked at the Dragon King, ¡°You were here just in time to catch up to the assassins but didn¡¯t have the time to save or capture anyone alive?¡±


    ¡°Sometimes things just happen.¡±


    Liman came over and introduced him, saying, ¡°This is the Dragon King, and this is the chiliarch of the Court Attendants Army, Azheba.¡±


    Gu Shenwei remembered this name. Xu Yanwei had escaped from the prison with this person but at that time he had just been a centurion.


    Xu Yanwei had said some weird words, suggesting that Azheba was fond of Shangguan Ru. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t take it to heart at that time, but now he suddenly felt a surge of anger after seeing the other side and being impolitely questioned by him.


    Azheba seemed to feel the anger, so he softened his tone, ¡°Please forgive me, Dragon King. The Commandant was assassinated and I am acting flustered.¡±


    The officers gathered around Azheba. ¡°What should we do? King Shengri is still challenging us over there, and the whole army is waiting for the Commandant.¡±


    ¡°Take the body back. Do not release the news. Let¡¯s do as we see fit.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be hard. We are just a bunch of centurions and chiliarchs, and we can¡¯t control the whole army. We need a general to takemand,¡± said one of the officers.


    Azheba was silent for a moment. He had just been promoted to chiliarch and had little prestige in the army. Although he had many friends, most of them were young men without a high rank. ¡°It¡¯s the only thing we can do. Let¡¯s choose a suitable general, hand the body of the Commandant over to him, and then let him announce the news. Then we¡¯ll all take him as our new leader.¡±


    The officers obviously had to discuss some secret affairs so Gu Shenwei and Liman walked away. The five teenage killers who had been lurking nearby had never showed up.


    ¡°s, this situation troublesome. We just gained the trust of the Commandant and were about to persuade him to support Prince Duodun. How could this happen? How could he leave the camp with so little people?¡± Liman looked quite frustrated.


    ¡°His guard imed that there was a mole before he died.¡±


    Liman took a nce at the officers and said, ¡°It¡¯s very possible. Not many people could persuade the Commandant to venture outside of the camp. I¡¯m sure that we¡¯ll find the mole soon.¡±


    ¡°The key is who will seed the Commandant¡¯s position.¡±


    Liman nced back again and said, ¡°Right. As the Dragon King knows, there¡¯s a serious rift within the Court Attendants Army and only the Commandant could suppress it. Now that he¡¯s dead, it will be very hard to maintain the integrity of the Court Attendants Army. All we can do is to try to retain the biggest fraction.¡±


    What Liman hadn¡¯t said was that if they really wanted a piece of the pie, then just the Dragon King¡¯s title and the identities of several noble officers were not enough. They had to choose a royal heir.


    The officers finished the discussion but didn¡¯t reveal the results of their discussion. Azheba invited the Dragon King to go with him to the camp of the Court Attendants Army. ¡°There are rumors everywhere in the Royal Court right now. It would be better if the Dragon King went there in person just to prevent the soldiers from gossiping.¡±


    Gu Shenwei agreed. He didn¡¯t verbally call out the hidden teenage killers, and instead hinted for them to follow far behind.


    The ruins of the Royal Court were not far away now. Gu Shenwei could even see the two armies currently locked in confrontation as well as a few small armies looking on from the sides.


    A group of hundreds of horsemen ran at them head-on and began to separate dozens of steps away, encircling the team carrying the bodies.


    What Gu Shenwei did not want to see had happened. The scouts had discovered Azheba and the other officers which then attracted the attention of King Riyao. Naturally, he led his troops there to investigate the cause in person.

 Chapter 676 - Help

    Chapter 676: Help


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Tuosai raised his head and squinted at the clear sky, believing that it would be a perfect day.


    ¡®How fortunate I am,¡¯ he thought. His cousin King Kuari and father King Riyao had actually both died on the same day, and as a result he had inherited both of their powerful forces. From that moment on, he felt that he was destined to eventually be the Khan. The feeling only grew stronger until it finally reached a climax on this special day.


    The two most powerful forces leftover from the remnants of the Royal Court were about to have a decisive battle. The Commander-in-chief of one side had surprisingly been assassinated and the corpse was now in his possession.


    King Riyao looked at the Dragon King who was beside him and felt a great sense of satisfaction and superiority. This man might have an ambiguous rtionship with Luo Ningcha, but after today, he would no longer be a threat. A self-proimed little king of the Western Regions actually wanted topete for power in the Nond. What a ridiculous thought that was.


    ¡°The Dragon King has done a great service today, but you let the wing guard Red Kite escape, your faults outweigh your contributions. You¡¯ll have to think it over and give me a reasonable exnationter.¡±


    King Riyao¡¯s voice grew stern as he evaluated the Dragon King¡¯s actions and his riding speed increased correspondingly. By the time he was finished with his words, he was a horse¡¯s distance ahead of the Dragon King.


    Distance was power. Tuosai had put into practice the royal families of the Nond¡¯s rules for the first time and was very satisfied.


    The entourage swarmed to catch up, forming a tight circle between King Riyao and the Dragon King. They were more familiar with the rules than their lord and knew that the Dragon King had been banished and would perhaps never be able to rise up again.


    Azheba and the other officers, however, approached the Dragon King.


    The corpses had been taken away by King Riyao. Now, they were in the same situation where they might be relegated or even banished from the royal court after the newmandant took office.


    ¡°What is Tuosai going to do?¡± Liman asked first. He was not used to calling the other side ¡®King Riyao¡¯ yet.


    ¡°He will go to the Court Attendants Army and announce the death of the Commandant himself.¡± Azheba sighed. Choosing who to announce the news was a subtle political maneuver. Ideally, they would have used the opportunity to support a newmander who was inclined towards Prince Duodun, but they had failed.


    ¡°Will the Court Attendants Army pledge allegiance to Tuosai?¡± Gu Shenwei had a few questions in his heart as well.


    ¡°No.¡± Azheba was quite certain about this. He had spent eight or nine years in the Court Attendants Army and had a thorough knowledge regarding the thoughts of the generals and soldiers. ¡°The Commandant of the Court Attendants Army cannot inherit the throne. This has been the rule for many years and will not change just because of Tuosai. But Tuosai can demand for an immediate election of the newmandant when he returns the corpse. And with his interference, it will be clear who the newmandant will be loyal to.¡±


    ¡°Tuosai has been very invested in winning over the Court Attendants Army. He might have already have a candidate in mind,¡± Gu Shenwei guessed.


    ¡°Wucuo.¡± The officers called out a name in unison.


    ¡°Wucuo is a captain of the Court Attendants Army and also from King Riyao¡¯s tribe. He¡¯s Tuosai¡¯s uncle, though not a particrly close one,¡± Liman exined.


    Gu Shenwei stayed silent for a while before asking, ¡°Who would you choose?¡±


    All the officers turned to Azheba, who bit his lip and replied, ¡°Gulun, the vicemandant of the Court Attendants Army. He is one of the previous Commandant¡¯s most trusted men. He came from a small tribe and has no background to speak of. We usually contacted the Commandant through him.¡±


    ¡°When you enter the camp, immediately go to Gulun and tell him to not take part in the uing fight for the position.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Azheba and others were taken aback. They had actually hesitated beforeing to win over the Dragon King and did notpletely trust him yet, and thus were not used to the sudden orders he had a habit of giving.


    ¡°At least do not join in for the first round.¡± Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t exin the reasoning behind his orders, because much of his decision-making process was based on guesses.


    ¡°First round? Won¡¯t themandant be elected right away?¡± Azheba asked on behalf of the crowd.


    ¡°I suppose not. Does King Shengri have any supporters in the Court Attendants Army?¡±


    The officers listed off several names. King Shengri had been silent in the Royal Court for a long time and held little influence. Although these three or four people had a connection with him, they were not really supporters.


    Gu Shenwei had a feeling that King Riyao Tuosai was walking into a trap.


    If the Commandant had really been persuaded to leave the camp by a mole, the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall would have had many opportunities to kill him, but they had supposedly coincidentally chosen to do so in the early morning and also on the path Tuosai had to take. If it had not been for Han Wuxian who had discovered the assassination, the body would have been in Tuosai¡¯s hands since long ago.


    Gu Shenwei was familiar with Lotus¡¯s means because these were all his old tricks.


    The news of the Commandant¡¯s assassination was already been spread by the soldiers of King Riyao. The soldiers of the frontline remainedbat-ready, but the camp behind had opened up to Tuosai who was returning the bodies.


    Both the Dragon King and those officers were minor characters now. Azheba and others went to see vicemandant Gulun while Liman led the Dragon King to rest in a tent.


    ¡°They have to consult with Commandant Gulun. Although the death of the Commandant is very sad, it¡¯s also an opportunity that they won¡¯t easily let go of.¡± Liman believed in the Dragon King but he was not even an officer in the Court Attendants Army. He was staying in the camp as a friend and had little influence.


    Gu Shenwei nodded to show that he understood. If he were Azheba and others, he would also find it hard to give up fighting for themander¡¯s position just from a stranger¡¯s word.


    Standing at the door, Gu Shenwei lifted the entry p and looked around for a moment. ¡°The soldiers are lowering the g.¡±


    In front of each tent stood gs marking their subordination. As Gu Shenwei watched, the gs fell down one by one, and all the soldiers stood at the door with their sabers unsheathed and bowed their heads in silence around the gs.


    ¡°As always, the soldiers who are not familiar with the Commandant will grieve as much as they can, but the generals who talked with him every day are in a hurry to forget him.¡± Liman sighed with emotion. ¡°Sometimes I feel that this whole situation is so unbelievable. When the Khan was alive, everyone thought that no one would dare touch even a hair of his. But he was killed by several women. He died so easily. I knew that this is the truth, but I just can¡¯t believe it even now. Those ve girls were also from the Nond.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was also very surprised. Many of Lotus¡¯s tricks had been adapted from his but her plot to assassinate the Khan had been done in a bolder manner than he could have ever imagined, and that n had even seeded.


    The difference between him and her was that little bit of madness.


    Liman also went to the door and looked out for a while before returning to his original ce and continuing to vent. ¡°Do you know what scares me the most? The god-like Khan died, and no one is trying to avenge him or even uncover who the real culprit is. The ming and framing of each other is nothing more than a means to seize power. Dragon King, no offense, but please let me say something impolite. If I were the Khan¡¯s son, I¡¯d have killed you already. Because you were in the Khan¡¯s tent and that alone is enough.¡±


    ¡°A lot of people think the same as you.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t tell Liman that the wing guards had already tried to kill the Dragon King.


    ¡°Well, the royal families believe that you have something to do with the death of the Khan, but they have no desire to take revenge. On the contrary, it¡¯s the ordinary soldiers outside who are willing to bury themselves with the Khan if given the order. But they don¡¯t believe the Khan was killed, and instead think that he ascended to Heaven and became a god. What I see is a great schism in the Nond andpared to that, the battles between the lords is a mere trifle.¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked at Liman with a somewhat surprised expression. He didn¡¯t expect him to say such a thing.


    Liman looked back up at the Dragon King and seriously asked, ¡°Is the Nond really going to perish? Will the Central ins Army soon sweep across the prairie and reduce us all to ves?¡±


    ¡°There will always be a man of the Nond that reunites the prairie. Don¡¯t you trust Prince Duodun?¡±


    ¡°That was before, and the divide between the royal family and soldiers was not so clear then, but now¡­ Now I doubt anyone can save the Nond.¡± Liman covered his face with both hands and sighed in dismay. He had bottled these words up in his heart for a long time and dared not seek sce from his friends. He could only confide in the less familiar Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei thought that there must be other reasons for Liman¡¯s negativity. He was just about to ask when Azheba came in. Liman immediately stood up, showing a look of eagerness. ¡°How is it?¡±


    ¡°Commandant Gulun wants to see you,¡± said Azheba. Limanplied with the order and left, and Azheba stayed behind this time. ¡°Commandant Gulun has decided to take part in the election, and many of the officers support him. But he thanked the Dragon King for reminding him and hoped that the Dragon King will stay in the Court Attendants Army afterward.¡±


    King Riyao Tuosai¡¯s attitude to the Dragon King was very clear now. So, Gulun was actually making a promise to protect the Dragon King euphemistically.


    Gu Shenwei neither rejected nor agreed to the proposal. He thought for a while and changed the topic. ¡°I hope that I¡¯m wrong. Anyways, the assassination was ordered by King Shengri. He will not simply sit back and watch the position of the Commandant fall into the hands of outsiders. Watch out for his moves; Tuosai and his supporter are nothing to be afraid of.¡±


    The officers were all skeptical when Gu Shenwei had made the suggestion on the road, and Azheba had been no exception. But this time, he appeared very serious and even slightly deferential towards the Dragon King¡¯s words. ¡°The Dragon King is right. King Shengri has proposed a truce and said that he would personallye to express his condolences to the former Commandant with several other lords.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like he has a well-thought-out n.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not clear who he supports. Several potential candidates are being watched, but this is not aplete solution.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew why Azheba had sent Liman away and stayed alone now.


    ¡°Instructor Shangguan oftenes to the camp.¡± Instead of getting to the point, Azheba pivoted to Shangguan Ru. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen a girl be loved by so many soldiers. Ah, I didn¡¯t mean anything by that¡­¡±


    Perhaps thinking that the word ¡®love¡¯ was inappropriate, Azheba was somewhat anxious to exin. Gu Shenwei interrupted him, saying, ¡°I see what you mean. She¡¯s a good officer and deserves to be loved by the soldiers.¡±


    Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t surprised. Shangguan Ru had always been vigorous and unrestrained in her behavior ever since she was little; she had even gotten along very well with the bandits of the Iron Mountain as if she were a fish in water, which was a small wonder. She had the unique ability to make people look past her appearances and pay more attention to her other virtues, even though she was as good-looking as Luo Ningcha.


    Azheba smiled. ¡°Instructor Shangguan is very loyal to the Dragon King. Many soldiers of the Court Attendants Army have been influenced by her and have a very good impression of the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Just say what you think. It¡¯s better for us to speak our minds at a time like this.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to talk to Azheba again about Shangguan Ru.


    ¡°Commandant Gulun and I hope that the Dragon King can draw his saber to help us if the results of the election are not satisfactory.¡±

 Chapter 677 - Mutiny

    Chapter 677: Mutiny


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Ru had arrived at just the right time. Shortly after her arrival, the Court Attendants Army closed the camp and forbade anyone else from entering. The senior generals at the frontline were brought back while the two hundred thousand cavalrymen remained in ce.


    ¡°King Riyao wants to keep the Court Attendants Army all to himself so he won¡¯t let the other lords enter the camp and take part in the selection of the new Commandant. Azheba and others are trying to work another way out,¡± said Liman, who was frequentlying and going from the tent as a message carrier.


    Shangguan Ru had only brought a few people with her as she had also came to watch the war. When she heard of the great misfortune, she had hurried here as fast as she could. ¡°The Commandant is a good person,¡± she said. She was probably the only guest who was sad about it.


    Red Bat solemnly nodded at the Dragon King and pulled the tent curtain open with the help of another female soldier, and then stood guard at the door. On the surface, she was doing this to make it easier for Liman to get in and out, but actually, it was to avoid gossip.


    Gu Shenwei was sitting on a low stool while he rested his elbows on his knees. He was facing the door and could see what was going on outside. Liman¡¯s had some truth to it. The officers who held a position higher than centurion were all brewing up a storm. The ordinary soldiers, however, were indifferent to it all. They simply mourned the Commandant and paid no heed to the hurrying officers as if they were invisible ghosts.


    ¡°Good people are redundant at such times.¡± Gu Shenwei stared at a group of soldiers who were standing around the fallen g with their head lowered. Although it was a little far away, Gu Shenwei could see that the soldiers were making asional eye contact and someone seemed to be whispering secretively.


    Shangguan Ru stood near the door, holding a wooden saber. She was also looking outside. Upon hearing the Dragon King¡¯s words, she turned her head and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s really strange. I seemed to have known you were going to say something like that. You sound as if you have got a grudge against ¡®good people.¡¯¡±


    Gu Shenwei disguised his anger with a cold look. He was very vulnerable to unnecessary emotional fluctuations in front of her. ¡°Hatred has nothing to do with good and bad. Even heroes who help the poor have enemies. You said that the Commandant is a good person, but he¡¯s dead. And as a result, the hundred thousand Court Attendants Army has be spoils of war. The Royal Court, which could have restored order, will fall back into chaos again. This is what ¡®good people¡¯ bring about. So now do you think that it¡¯s more important to be a ¡®good person¡¯ or a strong person who¡¯s not quite as good?¡±


    Shangguan Ru, who had turned her head away and was still listening to him the whole time, turned around revealing that the smile on her face had faded away. ¡°Do you also want the Royal Court to return to order?¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t expect Shangguan Ru to be concerned about this. He paused a moment and answered, ¡°No, at least not now.¡±


    Lotus was his enemy, and her whole n was crazy and unfounded. But the beginning of the n had been no difference from Gu Shenwei¡¯s. It was not surprising because much of Lotus¡¯s idea was born from him.


    Liman ran inside and interrupted their conversation. The situation was growing more and more urgent with the hour and he had no time to sigh with emotion, only able to do whatever he had to. ¡°This is bad. Tuosai has gained the support of several captains. Not only did he prevent the other lords from entering the camp but he also decided to elect the newmandant right away. And now only ten captains and two vicemandants will be able allowed to attend. The person that they¡¯ll elect can only be Wucuo.¡±


    Liman nced back and said in a low voice, ¡°Azheba and several others are ready to start a mutiny at any time.¡±


    ¡°Mutiny?¡± cried Shangguan Ru in a low voice, ¡°but the soldiers don¡¯t seem to want to be part of this.¡±


    Liman shook his head, ¡°Of course, they can¡¯t get the ordinary soldiers involved. That would only make things worse. There are more than a hundred chiliarches and even more centurions in the Court Attendants Army who serve as the backbone of the force. As long as they can convince just thirty percent of them, the whole situation can be changed.¡±


    Liman, who had just sighed at the split of the Nond, was deservedly excluding the ordinary soldiers from the decision-making circle. Hearing this, Gu Shenwei found it very interesting. ¡°Tuosai has brought more than a thousand guards.¡±


    ¡°Tuosai will not dare act recklessly before he¡¯s really in charge.¡±


    ¡°Beware of being retaliated against after the event is over. Even if your favorite captain Gulun is elected, he may not appreciate a group of officers who once offended their superior.¡±


    Liman gloomily said, ¡°It¡¯s for this reason that many officers are unwilling to join our mutiny.¡±


    ¡°Then in this case, it¡¯s better to ally with the enemy. The more officers get involved, the less retaliation they¡¯ll receive afterward.¡±


    ¡°Ally with the enemy?¡±


    ¡°Forget about making Gulun the Commandant. Ask the other officers about what they think and add then all the people they support to the list, even if that person is a puppet of King Shengri.¡±


    Liman obviously felt that the idea was not very reliable. He opened and closed his mouth several times as if he had many reasons to refute but in the end, did not say a single word. Instead, he hurried out of the tent to convey the Dragon King¡¯s message to Azheba and the others.


    Shangguan Ru looked on with great interest, and a smile appeared on her face again. ¡°So that¡¯s the Dragon King¡¯s ns. I¡¯d better keep that in mind.¡±


    Gu Shenwei hummed in his heart. He wasn¡¯t in a good mood because staying calm was bing more and more difficult. ¡°This is the only method avable to the weak and humble. You¡¯ll certainly feel strange about doing this.¡±


    Shangguan Ru appeared apologetic and then heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°You forget, my brother and I joined you at Xiaoyou Lake and have been fighting against Golden Roc Castle, so I am not surprised of the idea behind an ¡®alliance with the enemy.¡¯ It¡¯s just that¡­ I¡¯m just¡­ not used to it yet.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s anger vanished into thin air. When they had been exchanging letters back and forth at the Xiaoyao Lake like they were rallying balls, he waspletely trusting of Shangguan Ru and had even ced thest hope of the decisive battle on her. But when he met her in person he always felt that she was an enemy rather than a partner.


    This was not fair to Shangguan Ru, nor to the dead rocs.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s mood fluctuated again but he firmly suppressed it atst. ¡°I¡¯m very used to it. It¡¯s what I have done so far to live on. Big Snow Mountain, Tuo Nengya, the Land of Fragrance, the Xiaoyao Lake, Golden Roc Castle, and the queen I married; all of that was for an alliance. I am the most treacherous person in this world.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was proud when he said this.


    Shangguan Ru seemed influenced by him as her eyes were shining too now. But she shook her head and said, ¡°No, you are not. Because you protect all of your allies. There aren¡¯t many people in the world who can do that. Third Brother¡¯s killers are under yourmand now but you haven¡¯t taken advantage of this chance to get rid of them.¡±


    ¡°I will.¡±


    ¡°But you won¡¯t as long as the alliance is not over, so you are not treacherous at all.¡± Shangguan Ru¡¯s eyes became more and more bright. ¡°Everyone admired you when you were willing to stand up for your dozen or so subordinates in the forbidden zone of the Royal Court.¡±


    ¡°I was willing to stand up because I knew¡­ Anyway, it was a risky but not dangerous decision.¡±


    ¡°No matter what, you are not the bad guy that you think you are. I know that you¡¯ve killed a lot of people but you¡¯ve never killed innocent people without reason. You are not Old Man Mu.¡±


    Old Man Mu coughed twice outside. He was now a faithful follower of the good girl.


    Shangguan Ru smiled. ¡°You are not the former Old Man Mu. You don¡¯t kill for pleasure.¡±


    Gu Shenwei vaguely felt that a was falling around him which made him suddenly grow alert. ¡°If you are pleading for Golden Roc Castle, it¡¯s toote.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was stunned. She looked down and tried to distinguish between her ideas and what she had just said. And she suddenly realized that she actually did have that hope somewhere in the back of her mind. It was a sweet dream, a dream she had never dared to even recognize, but sometimes she couldn¡¯t help and try to achieve it.


    Liman excitedly rushed in like a swirl of wind, blowing away the faint sense of embarrassment in the air. ¡°They were sessful. At least seventy chiliarches and five hundred centurions are willing to join the mutiny.¡±


    There was no more need to say what would happen next. Outside of the tents, groups of military officers were moving toward the main tent but no one was armed in order to avoid any further criticism.


    The soldiers seemed to have anticipated this and hung their heads lower, ignoring the officers who passed by.


    ¡°Very smooth.¡± Liman looked at the Dragon King with admiration. ¡°It turns out that not only did Azheba and his fellow officers form a group, but there are also at least three or fourrger groups. They found the leader and are nowing in easily. It won¡¯t be so easy for Tuosai to get what he wants today. Does Azheba wants to ask the Dragon King as to what should they do next?¡±


    Tuosai¡¯s desire to elect a man of his own to be Commandant was hard to achieve, and so was Azheba and his fellow officers¡¯ desire. Gulun was now just one of the candidates and didn¡¯t have an absolute advantage.


    ¡°What about Azheba¡¯s idea?¡± Gu Shenwei had no intention in being a military counselor for a group of officers.


    ¡°He has decided to continue leading the alliance¡¯s strategy and will work to win over several captains and the officers under them with the position of vicemandant.¡±


    ¡°Very good.¡±


    Liman steadfastly nodded as if he hadpletely forgotten his emotional sigh of the split of the Nond.


    He was just about to leave when Gu Shenwei stopped him. ¡°Wait, the alliance with the other officers went very smoothly?¡±


    ¡°Very smoothly. And almost without needing any persuasion. It seemed like everyone was against Tuosai. Heh, he didn¡¯t have that many supporters among the officers that are ranked lower than the chiliarches.¡±


    ¡°Be aware of the group of officers with the most initiative. They may be the next big enemy.¡±


    Liman was surprised again. He nodded again and hurried out of the tent.


    Gu Shenwei looked at Shangguan Ru and said, ¡°See, you are wrong. Tuosai and I are allies but I just don¡¯t want to help or protect him.¡±


    ¡°The one allied with Tuosai is the Second Consort, not you.¡± Shangguan Ru had gotten rid of the entangled mess in her heart. ¡°Everybody knows that Tuosai is jealous of you and desires to kill you.¡±


    A gleam of cunning shed in the Second Consort¡¯s eyes. ¡°Eighth Sister-inw is really capable.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s a stupid woman who thinks she¡¯s capable.¡±


    Shangguan Ruughed out loud. ¡°Men all like stupid women and often fall into the hands of stupid women.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t speak as if you know about this kind of thing. That¡¯s what Xu Yanwei would say.¡±


    Shangguan Ru seemed to suddenly understand. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have realized if didn¡¯t mention it, but¡­ That is exactly what Xu Yanwei told me. She said¡­¡± She stopped in time but her face had turned a little red.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t pry any further. What surprised him was that the officers¡¯ mutiny outside was a matter of life and death to him but he wasn¡¯t nervous at all and also did not want to go out and check. He liked staying inside the tent.


    ¡°How long has it been? This seems to be the longest conversation we¡¯ve ever had.¡± Shangguan Ru turned around to look at the soldiers who were still mourning in silence, her head slightly tilted to one side, leaving Gu Shenwei a solitary figure.


    The noise in the distance suddenly arrived. It was a mixture of anger and grief, and immediately awakened Gu Shenwei from a newly-formed dream.


    The mutiny plotted by the officers did not seem to have worked out well.

 Chapter 678 - Choice

    Chapter 678: Choice


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    King Riyao Tuosai¡¯s beautiful day was being overshadowed.


    In his original n, he would have first sent in a decisive force to decide victory when the Court Attendants Army and King Shengri¡¯s army were in the heat of battle. Then he would have worked with Captain Wucuo to divvy up the Court Attendants Army and absorb thergest fraction of it for himself.


    Things had started out more smoothly than he expected. The Commandant had beewn assassinated. With the excuse that he was returning the body, he was able to enter the camp and with that, he had a chance to take over the whole army. He could not have possibly imagined that a group of junior officers would be able to crucially harm his grand n.


    Outside the tent, hundreds of officers were shouting to get revenge for the Commandant. Inside the tent, ten captains and two deputymandants were whispering to each other. They all wore serious expressions, but they hadn¡¯t thought of a single n even after half a day had passed.


    As the only onlooker, Tuosai, with a sullen look on his face, could not help but smash the table with his fist and stand up. ¡°The Court Attendants Army is the most powerful force in all of Nond. It has always been known for its loyalty. Since when were a group of ves allowed to be so arrogant?¡±


    ¡°They are not ves,¡± corrected one of the captains, ¡°but rather outstanding noble scions of various tribes. They came to serve the Khan, and in the future¡­¡±


    ¡°In the future, they will be the backbone of their family and the basis for the unity of the Nond,¡± Tuosai coolly interrupted. He had heard all this since he was little. ¡°Didn¡¯t anyone teach them to obey orders in the Court Attendants Army? Or is today¡¯s Court Attendants Army not the same as before? Can officers provoke their superiors now?¡±


    ¡°The officers may be expressing themselves in an inopportune way, but there¡¯s nothing wrong with their desire to avenge the Commandant.¡± The deputymandant Gulun also stood up. He was a middle-aged man in his forties who had a stern long face and a unique kind of courteousness in his speech. He seemed to think that he was equal in status to Tuosai.


    Tuosai had expected Gulun to be his enemy. What surprised him was that the twelve generals, who could decide the fate of the Court Attendants Army and had been submissive to him, had changed their attitudes and became perfunctory as soon as they heard the cries from outside.


    He nced at his own spokesman Wucuo, who needed to show his stance and loyalty at a time like this.


    Wucuo was about the same age as Gulun with a broad, stout figure, a bushy beard, and a bold look. His appearance was unbing, as only those who knew him well knew that he was a very prudent man.


    Prudence, however, was a useless quality today. It was all because of the King Riyao¡¯s family¡¯s support that he had be a captain in the first ce, so he had no choice but to firmly stand on Tuosai¡¯s side. ¡°Ahem, well, of course we have to avenge the Commandant and the Khan. Otherwise, we¡¯d all be disgraced. However, to avenge, we must have someone in charge as the army won¡¯t be able to function is without amander-in-chief. This means that our most pressing task is to elect a newmandant. With an order from the newmandant, the officers outside will naturally obey.¡±


    It sounded quite reasonable. Tuosai nodded and defiantly looked at Gulun to see what else he could do.


    Gulun didn¡¯t say a word and the other generals also remained silent.


    Tuosai thought that he was about to win when the noise outside suddenly rose as if the officers had lost control and were about to rush into the tent.


    The curtain was lifted and a guard entered, looking flustered and hurriedly saluting. ¡°The officers have asked to meet the lords.¡±


    ¡°Huh,¡± Wucuo gave a shortugh. ¡°How many people are out there?¡±


    ¡°About¡­ about five or six hundred.¡±


    ¡°Tell them that the main tent is too small for them.¡±


    ¡°The officers will send a few representatives¡­¡±


    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Wucuo scolded. Then he remembered that he was still only a captain and there were still two deputymandants above him. ¡°The officers are reaching out for a yard after taking an inch. We have to put a stop to this. Please make a decision now, my lord.¡±


    The two deputymandants exchanged a nce and seemed to have the same idea. Gulun now had some more confidence. ¡°This is a special period, so we can¡¯t simply blindly stick to conventions. Why not let the representatives of the officerse in and talk? There¡¯s no Khan in the Nond now, so regardless of who bes the newmandant, their position will not be justified. The acknowledgment and support of the officers are very important.¡±


    Tuosai was lit ame with indignation. He was the grandson of the Khan and the future Khan. With him present, all things were already justified. What Gulun said was tantamount to openly opposing him.


    Just over a dozen tents away, Gu Shenwei was still sitting on a stool and listening calmly while Shangguan Ru were standing on their tiptoes and peering into the distance. ¡°Will Azheba and his fellow officers seed?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s answer was so firm that it confused Shangguan Ru and caused her to turn to look at him.


    ¡°Tuosai is arrogant but he is not foolish enough to force his way through. He can only ept the officers¡¯ requests whether he likes it or not.¡±


    Just then, Shangguan Fei, who had been running around the camp, rushed in and nodded to his sister before excitedly speaking to the Dragon King. ¡°The officers are acting out. It¡¯s real this time. The other officers also rushed to support them. Anyone who stays out of it will be regarded as cowards and traitors. Hehe, I didn¡¯t expect the assassination of the Commandant to bring such consequences.¡±


    Shangguan Ru had had previous contact with the officers so she knew their thoughts better. ¡°In the Nond, the Court Attendants Army is a unique army. All the other armies, from themander-in-chief to the soldiers,e from the same tribe and are loyal to the same lord. In the Court Attendants Army, however, only the source of the soldiers are stationary; more than half of the officers are from noble families from any of the tribes. They will serve a maximum of ten years and then return to their own tribes¡¯ armies. By the standards of the Nond, they are not particrly ¡®loyal¡¯ to the Court Attendants Army.¡±


    Shangguan Fei became even more excited. ¡°If so, why can¡¯t the Dragon King take this army? With a hundred thousand men at hismand, he will almost be strong enough to sweep across the prairie, let alone¡­¡±


    ¡®Let alone break through Jade City and Golden Roc Castle.¡¯ But Shangguan Fei couldn¡¯t finish his words.


    Shangguan Ru answered the question on behalf of the Dragon King. ¡°Because these officers are loyal to their own tribe, not to outsiders. And some of the officers who were promoted to their current position from ordinary soldiers are more resolute and will stay loyal to the new Khan.¡±


    Shangguan Fei wasn¡¯t convinced. He tried to persuade the Dragon King when Old Man Mu¡¯s voice suddenly came from outside. ¡°Shangguan Fei, you little brat, get out now. I¡¯m going to check your fist technique¡¯s progress and I¡¯ll break your bones if you startgging behind.¡±


    Shangguan Fei stuck his tongue out in fear. He had never been the model of a hard-working disciple and Old Man Mu was also not a soft-hearted and wise Master.


    Even though Shangguan Ru was the younger sister, she had always yed the role of a father or elder brother in front of her twin brother. She already knew about Shangguan Fei¡¯s practicing of the Five Hole Punch, so she seriously reminded him, ¡°Don¡¯t kill anymore people to practice your kung fu. Old Man Mu, anybody he kills from now on will be on you.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Old Man Mu felt like he had been wronged so he said in a sterner voice, ¡°Shangguan Fei, if you kill anyone again, I¡¯ll¡­ cut off your little thing and send you to City View Alley to serve customers.¡±


    Shangguan Fei obediently walked out, not daring to utter a word inint.


    Upon hearing Old Man Mu¡¯s vulgar threat, Shangguan Ru blushed a little and turned her head away, happening to see the Dragon King was starting at her intently. His eyes had never been softer and he was close to a shallow smile. ¡°Are youughing at me?¡±


    Seeing Shangguan Ru scold her elder brother, Gu Shenwei felt like he had suddenly returned to Golden Roc Castle. That was a humiliating experience but there were asionally rays of sunshine in the thick suffocating mist of darkness.


    The noise and excitement in the distance turned into a cheer, reminding Gu Shenwei that he was living in the real world.


    Liman ran in, sweating. ¡°They¡¯ve seed. The chiliarches also have the right to participate in the election now.¡±


    Tuosai had agreed with great reluctance. He knew full well that the so-called getting revenge for the Commandant was just an excuse and the officers had ulterior motives, but he had no choice. Among the senior generals, only Wucuo was his staunch supporter, and all the others, either overtly or covertly, sided with the officers. All of a sudden, King Riyao was on the losing side, as the thousand or so guards he had brought with him were less than therge number of officers.


    ¡°The captains and the deputymandants will propose four candidates. The officers can put forward one candidate. The newmandant will be elected from these five people. It¡¯s not perfect but that¡¯s the best they coulde up with.¡± Liman was a bit disappointed and thought the victory was notplete enough.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that it will take a long time.¡± At present, the camp of the Court Attendants Army was kind of in a tumultuous state, and the situation might change in the blink of an eye. Gu Shenwei was worried that something bad might happen if the election took too long to finish.


    Liman sighed, ¡°There¡¯s no choice. The officers have temporarily allied together and only one candidate slot is avable. The Dragon King can imagine how heated thepetition will be. The election is scheduled for midnight tonight and the results will be announced in the early hours of tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°What about the other kings outside?¡±


    ¡°They will be let in at the second night watch period. The lords will only be permitted watch and are not allowed to propose a candidate.¡±


    It sounded so reasonable that Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help but have some doubts gather in his heart. Had Lotus and King Shengri anticipated this military mutiny? Where was the trap that they had set up for King Riyao Tuosai?


    Liman appeared quite nervous when he left the tent. The alliance of the officers was too freshly formed, and a fierce fight among them would begin soon. He wasn¡¯t too confident in obtaining a favorable oue.


    Gu Shenwei refused to give an opinion, though he did have some ideas. In a chaotic situation like this, every choice could produce unexpected results and turn him from a ¡®mastermind¡¯ with wonderful foresight to a ¡®sinner¡¯ who had failed.


    ¡°The Dragon King has great prestige among the officers,¡± Shangguan Ru said softly.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t feel it. He had doubts in his heart so he took the chance to express them. ¡°Are you familiar with the officers here?¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Shangguan Ru bluntly admitted, ¡°I¡¯ve met some in the prison and through them met more and more people. They are very easy to befriend.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Why what?¡±


    ¡°What do you want from the Court Attendants Army?¡±


    ¡°Is there anything that the Dragon King cannot guess? Shangguan Ru smiled.


    Gu Shenwei had actually already guessed but he didn¡¯t understand, especially after hearing what Shangguan Ru had said to refute her brother. ¡°It¡¯s useless. You know very well that the soldiers of the Nond will not join the Dragon Army.¡±


    ¡°We gotta try. Everyone thought no one dared to kill the Khan, how did that turn out?¡± In Shangguan Ru¡¯s eyes, the Dragon King and her brother werepletely different types of people. So she didn¡¯t think that there was anything inconsistent in what she had said.


    ¡°But you¡­¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know what to say. He didn¡¯t understand why Shangguan Ru would volunteer to do such a thing for him.


    Shangguan Ru obviously understood what he meant so her expression softened and the remaining childishness in her face disappeared without a trace as she said, ¡°You will protect the people whoe to you. I don¡¯t want the prairie to be a killing ground, and so I want the Court Attendants Army to be your men.¡±


    Recalling the reaction of Azheba and his fellow officers, Gu Shenwei felt that this n was as impractical as Lotus¡¯s. ¡°The only thing that I benefit from is killing.¡±


    ¡°I will fight for another choice for you.¡± Shangguan Ru¡¯s tone was firm, revealing the pride of the ¡®Tenth Gongzi.¡¯


    Gu Shenwei untied the Five Peaks Saber andid it across his knees. ¡°If the oue of the election isn¡¯t Gulun, then Azheba hoped that I would use my saber to solve the problem and I agreed; Tuosai wants to get rid of me but I¡¯ll strike first. He¡¯ll run away from the Court Attendants Army but die in his own camp. Lotus and King Shengri are already on my kill list. Look, everybody wants me to draw my saber except for you. This is my only path. Choice? You have one, but I don¡¯t.¡±

 Chapter 679 - Impulse

    Chapter 679: Impulse


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    As a descendant of the Khan, Tuosai had the privilege of being able to im any tent on the prairie as his home, and even the camps of the Court Attendants Army were no exception.


    One attendant helped him remove his gorgeous body armor while the other wiped the sweat from his face with a cold wet towel.


    ¡°It¡¯s so stuffy,¡± Tuosai casually said, trying to show that he was amiable and easy to approach.


    Gu Shenwei nodded approvingly but said nothing. The captain Wucuo pulled at his cor and fanned himself with his great shaggy, hairy hands. ¡°My flesh is melting. This year is hotter than any other. Everyone says that the Khan became the Fire God and ascended to heaven, and I think it makes sense now. To me, the big fire in the Royal Court doesn¡¯t seem to have gone out yet.¡±


    Tuosai pushed away his two attendants and bowed his head in silence. Wucuo hurried to straighten up his armor and join him in solemn silence.


    ¡°Eight more hours.¡± Tuosai went straight to the point without the slightest bit of hesitation; his tone only carried with it a slight sense of urgency and mostly consisted of confidence. ¡°This is a battle, a decisive battle betweenmander-in-chiefs. The vast majority of soldiers can only watch, as only a few people will have the honor of fighting alongside theirmander-in-chief.¡±


    ¡°I hope to be among the honored men.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s cold look was a good cover that made him appear calm even when lying.


    Tuosai let out a long breath. Instead of giving an immediate answer, he carefully sized up the Dragon King. ¡°I¡¯m not a man of the Central ins, so I¡¯ll just cut straight to the point.¡±


    ¡°That would be best,¡± the Dragon King replied.


    ¡°The Dragon King has really disappointed me.¡± Tuosai stared at the other side with keen, sparkling eyes, trying to pierce through the Dragon King¡¯s enigmatic and emotionless face. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to know who you are or what is even going on. You act on your own while under my protection, defying or even sometimes disobeying my orders.¡±


    Gu Shenwei raised his head slightly. He was good at telling lies but he had a bottom line. Since Tuosai had crossed that line, he also bluntly said, ¡°I think that there¡¯s been a misunderstanding. I don¡¯t know what the Second Consort said to you, but this is an alliance between equals. King Riyao is themander-in-chief of course, but the Dragon Army and I are not your subordinates.¡±


    Tuosai was stunned. In just a few days, he had gained the demeanor of a king but it was the first time he had encountered such a direct rebellion, and in his opinion, the king should not have experienced such an attitude.


    This angered him to the point that he grabbed a saber from his entourage and strode towards the Dragon King.


    Wucuo held King Riyao back in time. ¡°Please calm down, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°How dare he?¡± Tuosai asked in amazement and didn¡¯t insist on going forward.


    Wucuo gently took the saber back from Tuosai and handed it to the flustered entourage, meanwhile patting the young king on the back. ¡°No offense, my lord, but the Dragon King is telling the truth. He¡¯s a king of the Western Regions and a guest of honor. And as such, he can sit as an equal with the Khan at the same table.¡±


    Tuosai seemed like he wanted to vent all his anger onto Wucuo, but he forced himself to suppress all his anger at the other side¡¯s hint. He raised his head andughed out loud, saying, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s habit of being straightforward is really like a prairie man¡¯s. Yes, we are equal allies and should focus on helping each other, not deciding whomands whom.¡±


    ¡°King Riyao is a well-deservedmander-in-chief and of course has the right tomand. The head of the Khan has been found, and the covenant of the five days agreement is still in effect.¡±


    Tuosai waved his hand, saying, ¡°There¡¯s no hurry for that.¡±


    The guard at the door came in and reported, ¡°The generals are here.¡±


    Twenty-seven chiliarchs filed in and the tent immediately became very crowded. Tuosai, who had been looking forward to this moment, politely asked the Dragon King to stand beside him. He then coughed twice and said, ¡°You are all subjects of my family, and your fathers are serving in my army at the moment.¡±


    Someone wanted to get down on their knees but the ce was so narrow that amotion ensued from the attempted bows. Tuosai pped his hands and stopped them. ¡°The rules can be neglected today¡­¡±


    Captain Wucuo motioned for the Dragon King to leave the tent with him.


    Outside, it was even hotter. Wucuo angrily nced at the sun before immediately giving up. He pulled the Dragon King a few steps away and said, ¡°The Highness is still young and he¡¯s not quite used to being a king yet, so let me tell you something.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    ¡°The Court Attendants Army has a hundred and twenty-one chiliarchs in total. Thirty-four of them are permanent officers, and the rest of them are from various tribes who will only serve in the army for ten years.¡±


    Gu Shenwei already knew all this. He also knew that not all of the twenty-seven chiliarchs summoned by King Riyao were subordinates of the King Riyao¡¯s family; some of them were from King Kuari¡¯s side.


    Wucuo had said all this just to emphasize a fact. ¡°The Court Attendants Army will definitely be my lord¡¯s. This is dictated by the general trend. He will be the future Khan.¡±


    ¡°I never doubt that.¡±


    Wucuo smiled. The Dragon King¡¯s lies couldn¡¯t fool him but he didn¡¯t want to expose them either. ¡°Anything can happen. If I fail to be themandant, my lord will be unable to gain the support of the Court Attendants Army. It¡¯s the worst thing that can happen and I will never let it be so.¡±


    Wucuo¡¯s hint couldn¡¯t be more obvious. Gu Shenwei patted the scabbard by his waist. ¡°I hope that my saber can help.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, that saber is very useful but what¡¯s more useful is people. Instructor Shangguan of the Land of Fragrance seems to be very familiar with the officers,¡± Wucuo said in a casual tone but his eyes were firmly fixed on the Dragon King¡¯s face, capturing his every twitch and facial change.


    Gu Shenwei lowered his voice a little before saying, ¡°Instructor Shangguan will exert her influence as far as possible.¡±


    Wucuo nodded with satisfaction but he knew how unreliable so-called loyalty and trust were. A real threat was like salt in a dish, a little of which could make a nd dish tasty or a promise concrete. ¡°Great. There¡¯s one thing that I think my lord may have forgotten to tell the Dragon King. No matter who bes themandant tomorrow morning, a scuffle in the Royal Court is inevitable. For the sake of safety, my lord personally decided to bring the Dragon King¡¯s Queen and the females of his family to his tent and have an army to protect them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m very grateful to the lord for freeing me from worries.¡±


    The Dragon King took his leave. Looking at his back, Wucuo felt that this young man was hard to control, but when he thought of the hostages in his hands, he felt relieved.


    In the closed tent, Shangguan Ru was engaged in a heated discussion with Azheba and his fellow officers as if she were a member of the Court Attendants Army. At least, the officers seemed to think so.


    When they saw the Dragon Kinge in, they momentarily paused their discussion. Shangguan Ru stood up and waved at him. ¡°Youe back just in time. We need your advice.¡±


    The officers looked on guard, and Azheba asked first, saying, ¡°Dragon King, how was your talk with King Riyao?¡±


    ¡°He summoned twenty-seven chiliarchs and asked them to swear allegiance to him.¡±


    ¡°Taking measures only when in urgency, King Riyao¡¯s reactions are really fast,¡± one officer said with disdain. The kings had long begun winning over the chiliarchs or even centurions, and Tuosai was thest to act.


    ¡°And he needs my saber.¡±


    No one spoke. If two armies were confronting each other, no one would be afraid of the Dragon King. But no one could stay calm when his saber within ten paces of them.


    ¡°King Riyao also hopes that Instructor Shangguan can persuade you to serve him.¡± Gu Shenwei revealed the whole truth. He believed that the rumor would soon spread everywhere, so it was better for him to show it all on his own initiative.


    Shangguan Ru curled her lips and contemptuously said, ¡°Tuosai really thinks highly of me. I¡¯ve never pledged allegiance to him.¡±


    ¡°What did the Dragon King say?¡± Azheba asked, unnaturally.


    ¡°I agreed.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s answer caused an uproar in the crowd. Azheba stopped his fellow officers and said, ¡°Of course the Dragon King would say yes in front of Tuosai. Aren¡¯t we all the same?¡±


    The officers calmed down and one of them asked, ¡°What does the Dragon King really think?¡±


    ¡°My real thoughts are that I will help those who can help me the most in the future.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s answer was snobbish and straightforward. Most of the officers were of his age and were not quite used to his talking style. They preferred to listen to grandiose words about friendship and loyalties. Someone questioned, ¡°The Dragon King only has one saber. What can he offer as help?¡±


    ¡°If the result of the election is not Commandant Gulun¡­¡± Azheba was more mature than the other officers and had also been the first to win over the Dragon King.


    ¡°Can¡¯t we do it ourselves? Must we use someone else¡¯s saber?¡± One officer defiantly said.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you understand?¡± Azheba looked a little edgy, ¡°No matter who bes themandant, there will be a group of dissenters. They will try to protect their candidate just as we protectmandant Gulun. In that case, who in the camp is more suitable than the Dragon King to¡­¡±


    Azheba didn¡¯t say the word ¡®assassinate.¡¯ After pausing for a brief moment, he continued, saying, ¡°We only have a brief window of opportunity. Once the newmandantes out of his tent to receive the soldiers¡¯ allegiance, killing him would cause a riot in the army, and no one wants to see such a thing.¡±


    The officers fell silent for a moment. Then the youngest officer among them asked, ¡°Won¡¯t the Dragon King be punished for killing in public?¡±


    Gu Shenwei exined, ¡°First, I need someone to bring me into the tent where the result will be announced. This is simple. King Riyao will find a way; Second, I need a little chaos, either cheering or opposing moves. Either way, as long as the area is crowded, it¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°And then what?¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked at this noble officer who was two or three years younger than him and said, ¡°There are many ways to kill a man, and several of them leave no traces. I will use one of those methods, and no one will suspect me as long as you don¡¯t sell me out.¡±


    ¡°We will never betray the Dragon King,¡± the officers promised incoherently. Most of them had met the Dragon King for the first time this morning and weren¡¯t particrly confident in this pale-faced and dispirited man of their age. They felt that the rumors and Shangguan Ru¡¯s description of him had both been exaggerated. But when the Dragon King said these couple of sentences in a t voice, they were suddenly filled with confidence and even a touch of fear.


    ¡®There are many ways to kill a man.¡¯ Only the Dragon King could speak these words and give off a unique and powerful deterrent.


    ¡°So, the Dragon King is still on our side,¡± said Azheba excitedly.


    ¡°I want to hear now about what you can do to help me in the future.¡±


    The officers all turned to Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Ru had lost all desire to kill, but hearing the Dragon King¡¯s words still made her heart beat wildly. It was hard to tell whether she was afraid or excited. ¡°They will follow the Dragon King to the Western Regions to wee Prince Duodun back, and also give the Shule Kingdom to you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s also what Commandant Gulun meant,¡± Azheba added. This meant that the hundred thousand Court Attendants would head to the Western Regions, which was a muchrger army than Gu Shenwei¡¯s original n of borrowing twenty thousand soldiers.


    ¡°You shall have my saber.¡±


    Another alliance. Gu Shenwei felt that this would not be thest time.


    Azheba and others took their leave. Red Bat wanted to hang up the curtain but stopped at Shangguan Ru¡¯s signal.


    When there were only the two of them left in the tent, Shangguan Ru asked, ¡°Did you really mean what you said just now?¡±


    ¡°You know that I won¡¯t join hands with Tuosai, so it doesn¡¯t matter whether I¡¯m telling the truth or not. With the current situation, I can only stick with them.¡±


    Shangguan Ru heaved a sigh of relief and revealed a rxed smile. ¡°I always can¡¯t see clearly in these situations.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m about to kill somebody. Don¡¯t you mind?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a nun,¡± Shangguan Ru replied as she had thought of this question long ago and had prepared an answer ahead of time. ¡°And you are also not a devil who kills the innocent. So I have nothing to worry about.¡±


    The entanglement of intrigue, the intensity of theing kill, and the meaningful smile between the pair of eyes all mingled and blended into a subtle atmosphere like the subtle hidden fragrance at midnight. Before Gu Shenwei even realized it, he had lost his control of himself and was holding Shangguan Ru in his arms, not having even heard what she just said.

 Chapter 680 - External Force

    Chapter 680: External Force


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The long-umting flood of emotions had burst through the dam, wiping away everything in its path with devastating force.


    Gu Shenwei felt that he was both the flood and a victim of the flood. The body in his arms was struggling but it was nothingpared to his desire and soon they merged and fell headfirst into the flood together.


    The solid logical line of defense built by his reason over the years had been destroyed. He didn¡¯t want to think or even dare to think because he knew what the results of reasoning would be. At this moment, his instincts had prevailed, and he deliberately filled his mind with nkness, leaving no room for reason.


    Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t a desireless ascetic monk, and he had experienced most of the pleasures a woman could offer a man. In all of his short-term rtionships, he had always resided on the dominant side. He had never been aspletely lost in desire as he was now. There was no so-called feeling of domination, or even a feeling of joy. Everything came naturally and fell into ce without instruction.


    It was a wonderful journey into the bottomless abyss, where death went hand in hand with revelry, and the end gazed at the beginning.


    The two had lost the will to control themselves, and only external forces could separate them at this point.


    And a very small external force indeed came. It was merely the faint sound of the curtain lifting, but this was the trigger for his reason to finally turn the tide.


    Gu Shenwei took two steps back. Everything his emotions had destroyed was rebuilt in an instant, and not even a speck of dust was reduced.


    Shangguan Ru remained where she was, her lips fiery-hot and the burning sensation spreading throughout her whole body. Her reasoning, which had never been strong, had not fully taken backmand yet.


    Azheba awkwardly stood in the doorway with mixed feelings. He knew it would be like this, but he still did not want to know about it, or at least not see it personally. ¡°I, uh¡­ I¡¯lle backter.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­ What can I do for you?¡± In his world of reason, Gu Shenwei was lucky to have such an intruder.


    ¡°Nothing¡­ Actually¡­¡± Azheba was at a loss as to what he should say. His eyes felt like a burning piece of charcoal that he had tried to throw away but just remained stuck to his hand. In the end, he looked at the Dragon King again and finally calmed down. ¡°Well, the chiliarchs are entitled toe up with a candidate and we are fighting over it. I¡¯m wondering if the Dragon King has any suggestions.¡±


    Before Gu Shenwei had walked into the tent, Shangguan Ru and the officers were actually having a heated discussion about it. He had been asked to give advice but he had quickly forgotten all about itter.


    ¡°Four candidates will be put forward by the generals who are above the captains. Will Commandant Gulun be one of the candidates?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the news we are waiting for. I think so. He¡¯s a deputymandant, and one of the most qualified sessors.¡±


    ¡°Then just select a candidate with the fewest supporters. That way, it¡¯ll be easier to reach apromise between the officers, and he also won¡¯t pose a threat to Gulun.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s probably the best solution. Thank you, Dragon King, and uh, Instructor Shangguan.


    Shangguan Ru nkly looked at Azheba and, quite unlike herself, remained silent.


    Flustered, Azheba walked outside. As he was holding the entry p of the door, he hesitated a moment, and was just about put it down when Gu Shenwei said, ¡°Please leave it up for me.¡±


    Azheba blushed and hurried to hang the p up. Then he awkwardly nodded towards the inside before turning around and hurriedly striding away. This perplexed Red Bat, who couldn¡¯t help turn and look inside.


    This time, it was Gu Shenwei¡¯s turn to feel embarrassed. He gripped his saber hilt and loosened his left hand three times but still couldn¡¯t find the right words to say.


    Shangguan Ru revealed a sly smile. ¡°It¡¯s no use. The rumor will spread faster than the election of themandant, and you can¡¯t deny it either.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was a bit regretful that he had Azheba hang the p up because he didn¡¯t expect Shangguan Ru to start discussing the matter now. ¡°Azheba seems tight-lipped¡­¡± As soon as he blurted it out, Gu Shenwei knew this was not her point at all and that he was just avoiding the topic. ¡°Let¡¯s just forget about it.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Shangguan Ru¡¯s cheeks showed ayer of pink, which had nothing to do with shyness but was rather an embodiment of her stubborn personality.


    ¡°Why?¡± Gu Shenwei really didn¡¯t want to answer this question but he had to, so he kept his voice down and said, ¡°Because I have a queen. Because¡­ you caused the death of the two rocs and killed my family for the second time.¡±


    For a moment, that long tamed anger and hatred violently surged, almost as powerfully as the lust that had just calmed.


    Shangguan Ru stepped back in fear. She knew that every word the Dragon King had said was true, but he had controlled his hatred so well that she gradually began to ignore the true color of his feelings. And when it finally appeared, it was a hundred times more terrible than she could have ever imagined.


    ¡°Drink! Drink! Eat meat! Eat meat!¡± Old Man Mu¡¯s voice came from afar, and once again, the external force broke apart the dilemma that could not end on its own.


    Old Man Mu was carrying a big wine-jar in each hand that were sorge they made it look like three Old Man Mus were walking side by side. Right behind him, Shangguan Fei was holding severalrge pieces of skewered barbecued meat and happily walked into the tent. Old Man Mu called to the guards outside. ¡°Let¡¯s eat together. We¡¯ve been hungry all day. We¡¯d have to keep starving if it weren¡¯t for my quick hands.¡±


    Red Bat looked at the instructor worriedly but didn¡¯t enter the tent with five guards until Shangguan Ru waved at her.


    Shangguan Fei warily watched the dripping fat off of the roast. ¡°It¡¯s too bad. Even the servants in the camp are not working anymore. If you ask me, I¡¯d say that even if the Commandant is dead, the rest of the men are still alive. If they all starved, who¡¯s going to fight?¡±


    Someone kicked Shangguan Fei¡¯s left leg in the crook and he almost fell. He stumbled until he found a firm footing again, but he was already stained with grease. He turned his head and looked at Old Man Mu in amazement but dared not to scold him. ¡°What? You said the Commandant was a fool just now¡­¡±


    At the suggestion of Old Man Mu, Shangguan Fei finally noticed that something wasn¡¯t right with her sister. Her eyes seemed to be welling up with tears. ¡°Ehh, why are you¡­¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s drink and eat meat, regardless of the others.¡± Shangguan Ru loudly interrupted her brother, demanding, ¡°Get me a bowl, a big one.¡±


    It was a very lively little party. In order to not disturb the nearby soldiers who were still mourning, they didn¡¯t make a noise. Only Old Man Mu did not care who toasted to the good girl, and he forced Shangguan Fei to perform the toast dance, and praised Red Bat for her beauty whenever he had a chance. ¡°I don¡¯t get it. What¡¯s wrong with the men of the Nond? If I were a dozen years younger, hehe, you¡¯d have to have the good girle after me to avenge you.¡±


    Red Bat obviously didn¡¯t care much for Old Man Mu flirtatiousments. She was a concubine of the noble family back at the Land of Fragrance. Following her master¡¯s orders to serve men was a part of her job. It was only after joining the army that she broke away from her former lowly status but she was willing to cooperate with Old Man Mu to fix the atmosphere in the tent. ¡°How do you know that there are no men of the Nond who like me?¡±


    Gu Shenwei ate a few small pieces of meat but drank no wine. He had quickly broken free of theplicated emotional disturbance and redoubled his efforts towards the current situation at hand. He had made several assassination ns but the death of the Commandant had disrupted their deployments. If the candidate announced that tomorrow morning was not to his liking, it would be useless no matter how many assassination ns he had made.


    Liman came at dusk and ate a bit of meat with them. Everyone knew that he had something to say so Old Man Mu took Shangguan Fei with him and wandered off again. Red Bat and the other men continued to keep watch outside the tent.


    ¡°Have Azheba and the other officers already chosen a candidate?¡± asked Shangguan Ru. She had drunk lots of wine but only eaten a few pieces of meat. After getting slightly intoxicated, her mind was actually more clear and rational than before.


    ¡°Not yet, but the main tent has already decided on their four candidates, whom include both Commandant Gulun and Captain Wucuo. Thepetition among the chiliarchs is very fierce. There are many centurions who feel that they have rendered great service and should express their opinions. In other words, it¡¯s a mess. I don¡¯t think that the result wille out before the kings enter the camp at the second night watch period.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew that Liman¡¯s purpose here was not simply to report the results so he carefully observed his expression. Azheba seemed tight-lipped, and Liman didn¡¯t seem to know it. So he asked, ¡°How¡¯s the investigation into the mole going?¡±


    Liman looked up at the Dragon King in surprise because the other side had guessed what was on his mind. ¡°That¡¯s the most troublesome thing.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± Shangguan Ru was also very concerned about this matter.


    Liman looked out of the tent. Shangguan Ru called out, ¡°Red Bat, could you please help us light themp.¡±


    Red Bat came inside to light themp and lowered the door p on her way out.


    Liman lowered his voice, ¡°From the morning of the day before yesterday tost night, the Commandant met with a total of fifteen groups of men. Two officers and I investigated each group and found that the meetings were basically about military affairs. It¡¯s already confirmed so there¡¯s no doubt about that. But there¡¯s one meeting yesterday afternoon. Four generals met the Commandant but nobody knows what they talked about and we can¡¯t verify it either.¡±


    ¡°So you think the people who instigated the Commandant to leave the camp and leak the information are likely to be the four generals?¡± asked Shangguan Ru.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Liman seemed to have a secret sorrow that was too embarrassing to mention so he hadn¡¯t said a word in a long while.


    ¡°Commandant Gulun is one of the four generals,¡± Gu Shenwei guessed.


    Liman nodded, feeling sad. ¡°You know, we should have thought of that. One of Gulun¡¯s responsibility is to lead the guards. Azheba asked him, he also said that he was a victim of the fraud. Protective measures were carefully nned but the tent he protected is empty.¡±


    ¡°Could there be a misunderstanding?¡± Shangguan Ru thought that it was too soon to assume that Gulun was the mole.


    Liman let out a long sigh. ¡°Both Azheba and I hope that this was a misunderstanding. We tracked down all the guards of all the shifts in the past two days to make sure there were no omissions. We are pretty sure there are only these fifteen shifts of people and for each shift, there are at least two witnesses. Only Gulun ¡­¡±


    ¡°Who are the other three generals?¡±


    ¡°To tell you the truth, I am nowpletely bewildered. The other three are all captains, one of whom is Wucuo. And it couldn¡¯t be more coincidental. These four men are exactly the four candidates the generals have just decided.¡±


    Even Shangguan Ru felt that the situation was suspicious by now. ¡°But, howe¡­ Wucuo is a man of King Riyao¡¯s and Gulun has always been inclined towards Prince Duodun. Instead of allies, they behave more like enemies ¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt that everything was clear now. ¡°That¡¯s it. Tuosai isn¡¯t aware that he¡¯s on the way to death and that the one will give him a ride is exactly Wucuo.¡±


    ¡°They were all bought over by King Shengri?¡± Although Liman had discovered out the truth, he could not believe it.


    ¡°King Shengri is good at both bribing and threatening.¡± Gu Shenwei had no doubts about it.


    ¡°What should we do now?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see if the chiliarchs cane up with a capable candidate.¡± Gu Shenwei turned to Shangguan Ru, which was the first time he looked at her since dinner. ¡°Did Wild Horsee to you?¡±


    Han Fen was very loyal to Lotus but she would not lie. She said Wild Horse would win over Shangguan Ru for King Shengri and this probably had already happened. Shangguan Ru hadn¡¯t mentioned it yet, so Gu Shenwei could only ask her directly.

 Chapter 681 - Practicing Fist Techniques

    Chapter 681: Practicing Fist Techniques


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The officers were all too distressed to suddenly realize that the man they supported was a hidden mole.


    They were all nobles and were favored in their respective families. Joining the Court Attendants Army was not only a duty for them but also a chance towork and establish connections with others.


    Although intrigue and collusion were a normal part of life here, they still valued honor and loyalty. And once a clique was formed, betraying and leaving it was rare.


    As a result, the four generals¡¯ act, which included Gulun, of betraying the Commandant was offensively conspicuous.


    Not long after Liman told them the truth, Azheba and a group of officers came without invitation. There were fifteen of them which was twice as many as there had been during the day. They were the core of the clique, and there were over a hundred chiliarchs and centurions on the periphery of their organization. Truly, they were a force that could not be trifled with in the Court Attendants Army.


    Azheba was usually their epted leader but this time he appeared a bit quiet and the one stood out to speak was another chiliarch.


    Thest officer in closed the tent p. The tent was so small that the fifteen officers could only stand in three rows with the chiliarch standing in the very middle of the front row. After nodding stiffly at the Dragon King, he began to state his hopes. ¡°We are delighted to hear that the Dragon King is going to stand on Prince Duodun¡¯s side. With a great helper like the Dragon King, His Highness¡¯s great cause can be expedited soon. Since you are one of us now, I won¡¯t beat around the bush. The situation is critical at the moment, so we hope that the Dragon King can draw his saber and aid us right away.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by drawing the saber and aiding you?¡±


    ¡°Gulun and the other three are obviously the culprits of the assassination of the formermandant. We can never let them take over the position of Commandant. We would like to avenge ourselves now and then lead the loyal soldiers to His Highness in the Western Regions.¡±


    This was a desperate n but the officers were full of confidence. Everyone was looking expectantly at the Dragon King, including Azheba.


    Gu Shenwei looked down for a moment, indicating that he was seriously considering the n and the invitation. Then he looked up at the crowd and said, ¡°Thank you for your trust, but unfortunately, I cannot draw my saber under these circumstances.¡±


    ¡°Under these circumstances? What circumstances?¡± The chiliarch staggered back in shock. The Dragon King¡¯s refusal was really beyond his expectations.


    ¡°The Dragon King agreed to assassinate the newmandant this afternoon¡­¡± The other officer was also confused and didn¡¯t understand the difference between the two assassinations.


    Gu Shenwei exined, ¡°The n we discussed in the afternoon was an assassination and I¡¯m sure I can make it happen without anyone growing aware. But the n now is actually a bloody mutiny which I¡¯m not too good at. I am an outsider and cannot afford to be charged with the crime of inciting half the Court Attendants Army into rebellion. I am sorry to disappoint you.¡±


    The officers were indeed very disappointed. The Dragon King¡¯s saber was of great value in a small riot. Some people wanted to continue persuading the Dragon King while the others had already given him the cold shoulder in their minds. The chiliarch belonged to thetter. ¡°In that case, the Dragon King can just wait for the results. We will still wee you to visit the Western Regions and join His Highness.¡±


    ¡°With pleasure.¡±


    The chiliarch turned to squeeze his way out. One of the officers whispered, ¡°Beware of the Dragon King. He may leak the news.¡±


    Azheba rushed to reply, ¡°The Dragon King will not do such a thing, I promise.¡±


    The officers left one after another, and a faint murmur of discontent could still be heard as someone said, ¡°The Dragon King didn¡¯t keep Tuosai¡¯s secret.¡±


    Liman stood still awkwardly for a moment and said, ¡°I¡¯ll check it out¡­¡±


    Again, Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Ru were the only two left but the atmosphere this time waspletely different.


    ¡°You must still have other reasons,¡± Shangguan Ru said.


    ¡°Hmm. The main reason is that these people are not going to make it. If Gulun is really the mole, then they will lose for sure. I was wrong about them before.¡±


    ¡°How did you arrive at such a conclusion?¡± Shangguan Ru became more confused.


    ¡°They invited a man on a life-or-death adventure but didn¡¯t probe him in advance. Instead, they came with arge group of people. They might have wanted to show their strength, but to me, it seemed like a very reckless move. Unsurprisingly, the news of the mutiny was revealed and what awaits them will be a trap.¡±


    ¡°You mean there¡¯s a mole among them?¡± Shangguan Ru knew most of them quite well and could hardly believe that any of those officers would act treacherously.


    ¡°Maybe, maybe not. I only know that a rash man cannot keep a secret.¡±


    Shangguan Ru bit her lip and thought for a moment before saying, ¡°I have to warn them.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t answered my question.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Did Wild Horsee to you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Though it wasn¡¯t him, but his men. As you said, it was just a ¡®probe,¡¯ and they hadn¡¯t even offered any terms yet. And just like you, I have to know the benefits before I can make a decision.¡± Shangguan Ru mischievously winked at him with her right eye and hurried away.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t understand how Shangguan Ru could still be so rxed after he poured out his anger as if the three obstacles he had mentioned did not exist.


    And Shangguan Ru had lied. About Wild Horse, she had intentionally hidden something.


    Gu Shenweiposed himself again and organized his thoughts. Either way, he believed that Shangguan Ru would never conspire against him behind his back. What he had to consider now was how to best protect himself if the mutiny failed.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s close contacts with the officers and the Azheba and his fellow officers¡¯ visits were no secret in the camp. It wasn¡¯t easy for Gu Shenwei to remain aloof from the general situation.


    Old Man Mu stuck his head in and peeped inside the tent. Seeing that Shangguan Ru was not there, he walked in gracefully and calmly, followed by Shangguan Fei.


    The people in the camp were all either mourning in silence or hiding somewhere whispering. There was no fun to be had at all, so the two of them could onlye back.


    ¡°I hear that someone¡¯s going to rebel. Won¡¯t the Dragon King go and join in on the fun?¡± Old Man Mu clearly knew that that could not be done without involving the Dragon King.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just sit here and wait for the news.¡±


    The two were almost as disappointed as the officers. They thought that they would have a chance to kill and practice their fist techniques.


    ¡°Simply wait? Do nothing?¡± Shangguan Fei especially needed this opportunity.


    Indeed, there was no point in simply waiting. ¡°Let¡¯s practice our fist techniques then,¡± suggested Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°What?¡± Neither Old Man Mu nor Shangguan Fei understood the Dragon King¡¯s meaning.


    ¡°Shangguan Fei, let me try your Five Hole Punch.¡±


    Shangguan Fei shook his head desperately and tried to slowly move out of the tent. ¡°There¡¯s no need to try. I¡¯m not even close to the Dragon King¡¯s skill.¡±


    ¡°The kung fu skills taught by Old Man Mu shouldn¡¯t be as bad as you said.¡±


    That was the phrase that had gotten Shangguan Fei punched in the waist earlier. Old Man Mu stared at him and said, ¡°Even the Dragon King thinks highly of me, so how dare you humiliate the Five Hole Punch of our sect?¡±


    Shangguan Fei began to miss Lotus. Although that devil was ferocious, she was at least reasonable and unlike Old Man Mu, who always acted unexpectedly. He was highly suspicious that Old Man Mu was just using him as a convenient outlet for his excessive energy.


    ¡°Just practice and not hurting each other?¡± Shangguan Fei rubbed his waist and slowly walked toward the Dragon King.


    ¡°Practicing kung fu is not dancing, so how can you hold back? Exert all your strength, your full power.¡± Old Man Mu hadn¡¯t admitted Shangguan Fei as a disciple but he liked to put on the airs of a Master.


    Gu Shenwei took off his sword and saber and put them on the table nearby. ¡°Right, I¡¯m not going to hold back either.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s eyes lit up. Since the Dragon King wasn¡¯t using his saber, he felt that it wouldn¡¯t be that dangerous.


    Red Bat had followed Shangguan Ru away. Outside the tent, the other five guards who had nothing to do leaned over the door and acted as curious audiences.


    Shangguan Fei took in a deep breath and quickly went through all the key points of the Five Hole Punch in his mind. He knew the style of the Dragon King, whose first move was naturally the fiercest, so he had to deal with it with all his might.


    Gu Shenwei had only learned a few shallow fist techniques. After a second thought, he decided to give it all up and only use his agility to approach the enemy and punch at him with his strength without employing anything new.


    Like students who had been called upon by their teacher to answer a question, the two racked their brains pouring over every part of the ssics they¡¯d learned for fear of being ignorant and making a fool of themselves.


    ¡°Start¡­¡± Old Man Mu had just uttered one word when the two seemingly clumsy students dashed out with iparable speed.


    Shangguan Ru and Red Bat happened toe back at the right time and saw the sh. What surprised them wasn¡¯t the Dragon King but actually Shangguan Fei who was no longer the same timid Ninth Gongzi. He had acted with thunderous momentum, neither timid nor hesitant, and had at least exerted ny percent of his full power.


    ¡°My brother is¡­ Old Man Mu, you are a good teacher.¡±


    Hearing the praise of the good girl, Old Man Mu was very proud of himself. ¡°That¡¯s for sure. There are no poor soldiers under an able general. Even a fool can be an expert under my instructions¡­¡±


    As Old Man Mu chattered on, Shangguan Fei and the Dragon King had already engaged. The wind caused by the fists and palms grew more and more violent until even the tent was shaking and the oilmp almost blew out. Although the tent was not big, that didn¡¯t affect the twp¡¯s performance.


    The soldiers in front of several nearby tents all turned their heads and looked over as well.


    With a sickening thud, Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Fei hit each other at the same time and retreated. The fight was over.


    Old Man Mu immediately changed from boasting to judging. ¡°Shangguan Fei¡¯s fist technique is not bad but stillcks the ferocity which is the essence of the Five Hole Punch. The Dragon King¡¯s bodily movement technique is impressive and internal energy powerful. As for the palm technique, actually, he didn¡¯t use a palm technique at all¡­¡±


    ¡°Are they injured?¡± Red Bat asked worriedly.


    It was a hot summer, but Shangguan Fei was shivering. Gu Shenwei¡¯s face frequently switched between pale and dark phases, which vanished and reappeared like the shadows of a ck cloud shing by.


    Shangguan Ru also felt that something wasn¡¯t right. She was just about to go forward to check when Old Man Mu stopped her. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Let him resolve it himself. It¡¯s also part of the training.¡±


    The Dragon King was the first to return to normal. ¡°The Five Hole Punch is already really fierce when Shangguan Fei has only reached the stage of the Metal Lungs.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had listened to Old Man Mu¡¯s introduction of the Five Hole Punch before so he had a minor understanding of the characteristics of the different levels, knowing that the Metal Lungs belonged to the primary stage. It was strong but not soft enough, so the practitioner could not exert all his power at this level.


    ¡°Right. Shangguan Fei is too stupid. If he were the Dragon King, he would have mastered the Water Kidney or even Wooden Liver. Honestly speaking, do you want to learn it, Dragon King?¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head, ¡°This set of fist technique isn¡¯t for me.¡±


    He had learned the potential of the Five Hole Punch but found that it conflicted with the frosty Qi in his body. Both relied on manipting internal energy but they could not be fused. What he needed was a set of fist or palm technique that focused on subtle moves so he could quickly force his internal Qi into his opponent¡¯s body.


    Shangguan Fei finally stopped shaking and knew that he had lost. Although the Dragon King also been hit, it had little effect on his movement. But he himself couldn¡¯t help shivering and couldn¡¯t move anymore. Even if for a moment, he couldn¡¯t resist the next attack. ¡°I quit. No more fight. This feels like no different from Qi deviation.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t tell him that this was exactly what Qi deviation felt like. Then he turned to Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Ru shook her head. Her persuasion didn¡¯t work. Even if the rumor had ran all over the ce, the officers still insisted onunching a second mutiny, and this time they were going to take up arms.


    The soldiers were still mourning silently around the gs. The rioting among the officers seemed to have no effect on them.

 Chapter 682 - Releasing the Blocked Acupoints

    Chapter 682: Releasing the Blocked Acupoints


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The night was deep and dark, and the camp lights which were normally brighter than the stars were unlit tonight. Most of the camp was immersed in darkness so pervasive that the faint yellowish halo of the Dragon King¡¯s tent was very conspicuous.


    There was no officer urging the soldiers and servants to work. This evening, they mourned in the dark.


    While Liman was running over, he had happened to see the Dragon King fighting with Old Man Mu, and an audience numbering in the dozens standing in the doorway. In addition to the guards of the Dragon King, there were also curious soldiers from the Court Attendants Army.


    He squeezed into the tent and initially wanted to say something but stopped on second thought. Instead, he sat down and quietly watched the unexpected kung fupetition.


    It was not so much apetition as Old Man Mu¡¯s performance. He was showing off all of the fist and foot techniques he had learned. And instead of using all the skills of a set of technique, he would change from one to another after a dozen or so moves. As he performed them, hemented on each one mainly for the Dragon King¡¯s edification. The audience also learned a lot from the demonstration and kept nodding in agreement.


    The only problem was that he spoke so quickly that the many people who were trying to follow along could not enjoy thepetition in front of them.


    ¡°This¡¯s the Five Form Fist, and has nothing to do with the Five Hole Punch, nor the five elements of metal, wood, earth, water, and fire. It¡¯s the five styles of tiger, leopard, bear, wolf, and crane. The tiger form functions as themander-in-chief, the leopard the vanguard, the bear the main force, the wolf the auxiliary force, and the crane the ambusher. When all these forms are added up, they be apleted army, grand and magnificent¡­ Ehh, if you don¡¯t like it, then¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei still didn¡¯t draw his saber. He was focusing on adjusting his tactics based on what he had learned, from relying on his nimble footwork to having steady movement patterns. The style of his palm attack was still very simple and nd but it was slowly bing more and more powerful. Old Man Mu actually had less and less room to twist and turn as they continued battling.


    ¡°Not bad, not bad. You should have tried this earlier. You are still ying around like a killer. It¡¯s alright if you have a saber because then you can kill the enemy in one attack, so the faster you move the better. But you are barehanded now and can¡¯t finish the opponent off in one move, so you have to y both the offensive and defensive lines. Now, look at my ¡®Seven Circles Flower Picker.¡¯ Just from the name, you can tell that it¡¯s a kung fu skill of the madwoman of the Waning Moon Hall. It¡¯s called a ¡®picker,¡¯ but it¡¯s actually a hidden steel needle. The needle is poisonous so I won¡¯t show it off here, but this set of techniques has a lot of unique andplicated moves like a woman¡¯s heart. Do not let my finger touch you or you will be the one to lose¡­¡±


    Liman watched for a while and felt that it was the time to pass his message on. He raised his voice slightly, and called out, ¡°Dragon King, the lords wille into the camp soon and the candidate to be nominated by the officers has been decided.¡±


    These were the two most pressing matters in the camp and even the fanciest martial arts skills couldn¡¯tpare to news of their resolution. Most of the soldiers who were watching dispersed and the guards brought by Shangguan Ru also began whispering to each other.


    Seeing that the audiences were gone, Old Man Mu also lost his interest, crying out, ¡°Take my Heart Stopping Finger, it¡¯s over!¡±


    The cry drew a lot of people back in.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s skills in fist and foot were much better than Gu Shenwei¡¯s. As he finished his words, he had already made aplete turn around the Dragon King and poked out seven times in a row. After using all his techniques, he leaped to Shangguan Ru and breathed out, ¡°Heh heh¡­¡±


    He had a bellyful of boastful things to say but was only able to let out a shortugh before he flopped to the ground and shivered. He used his right hand to prop himself off the ground, stood up, and eximed in a hoarse voice, ¡°Strange!¡±


    Old Man Mu could only exert sixty to seventy percent of his full power but his fist and foot techniques were still far ahead of the Dragon King¡¯s. Gu Shenwei had removed several of the fiercest finger energy instilled into his body but he still had two acupoints that were sealed.


    Gu Shenwei stood still, so no one knew that he had been frozen. He channeled his internal Qi several times to unblock it but failed, so he could only order, ¡°Help me restore my acupoints.¡±


    Only then did the crowd know that the Dragon King had been defeated. Shangguan Fei was particrly surprised, who took a deep breath and wondered if he should give up the Five Hole Punch to learn the Heart Stopping Finger.


    Old Man Mu was not at ease either. He had struck seven times but as a price received seven strands of frosty Qi in return. Daring not to fight against it, he guarded his heart meridian. There was still a bit of it remaining, so he feebly said, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s internal energy is too strange, and I, Old Man Mu can¡¯t use his internal Qi. Good girl, I can only bother you for a favor because of everyone here, only you know the Heart Stopping Finger besides me.¡±


    Seeing that Shangguan Ru was still skeptical about it, Old Man Mu shivered again, his face seemingly frosting over. He pointed to his throat as if he suddenly could not speak.


    Shangguan Ru walked to the Dragon King, feeling calm but also feeling her body heating up for no reason. She first poked the Dragon King in the chest to check the sealed acupoints and also the nature of the internal energy. Then she poked twice to restore them and immediately retreated to the side.


    Gu Shenwei nced over Shangguan Ru¡¯s head and held his breath for fear of blowing her hair or inhaling that familiar smile.


    He could move now, and the first thing he did was to take back his saber and sword. With them, kung fu masters like Old Man Mu would no longer dare to approach him.


    Without noticing the little drama hidden in the scene, Liman immediately walked up to him and said, ¡°The lords may have arrived at the camp by now.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, who¡¯s the new candidate?¡±


    ¡°A captain called Tuershan.¡± There was a hint of dissatisfaction in Liman¡¯s voice. ¡°He¡¯s the least controversial, but he¡¯s not a¡­ nobleman.¡± Liman lowered his voice as he said thest word but his discontent became even more evident.


    Most of the officers of the Court Attendants Army were from noble families and upied almost the entire upper echelon of the army. The ordinary soldiers could only rise to the rank of centurions at most no matter how many contributions they made. But by tradition, one of the ten captains was always picked from ordinary soldiers since he would have no support from a noble family and though would be the weakest in the Nond, would also have the fewest enemies.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that for the best? He may be the best person to mend the division.¡± Gu Shenwei pointed out the contradiction in Liman¡¯s excuse. Liman had realized the split between themoners and the nobles of the Nond but he himself ced lots of importance on pedigree.


    Liman sighed. ¡°I hope so. Anyway, he won¡¯t be chosen¡­ Azheba and the others are on the move.¡±


    If the mutiny was sessful, then the Court Attendants Army would be divided and no one could be the Commandant; if the mutiny failed, the Commandant would be one of the other four, and Tuershan wouldn¡¯t even have a chance.


    ¡°Everybody, stay in the tent and light up anothermp,¡± Gu Shenwei ordered. ¡°Let¡¯s continue practicing the fist technique. Shangguan Fei, go fight with Old Man Mu.¡±


    The first two orders were fine, but the Dragon King¡¯s insistence on continuing to practice the fist technique really baffled everyone.


    Shangguan Fei liked to guess at the Dragon King¡¯s ideas so he was the first to get it, whispering, ¡°If they make trouble, then we¡¯ll practice kung fu. This is the so-called self-concern, so that no one can me uster.¡±


    That was pretty much what Gu Shenwei meant, and he also really wanted to patch his weakness in fist techniques. Though it still caused pain to its master, the frosty Qi had turned from a hidden danger to a weapon,. He had gotten used to it, and the biggest problem for him was that hecked the subtle techniques to easily infuse it into the enemy¡¯s body.


    The soldiers who were watching the fight all dispersed, and the remaining dozen or so either sat or stood in a ring. Twomps were lit on the left and the right side. Old Man Mu rubbed his hands and said, ¡°Well, Old Man Mu can y again. Shangguan Fei, get ready to be beaten.¡±


    Shangguan Fei understood the Dragon King¡¯s goodwill, but he really didn¡¯t want to fight with Old Man Mu because it would be troublesome for him no matter if he could defeat the other side or not. Standing at where he was, Shangguan Fei stammered, ¡°I¡¯ve already fought with the Dragon King. My sister hasn¡¯t yed yet, and her kung fu has always been better than mine¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu began to stare at him, and the skin around his eye sockets became much smoother. ¡°How dare you disobey me? How dare you! Come, before I have to enforce militaryw¡­¡±


    Two riders dismounted from their horses in front of the tent and rescued Shangguan Fei from his predicament.


    Dressed in a monk¡¯s attire, Lianqing waspletely out-of-ce in the military camp. He looked ferocious as if he was full of pent-up anger. Without greeting anyone, he directly strode to Shangguan Ru. No one knew he was going to protect or fight her.


    Fang Wenshi was full of sweat and panted heavily. He nced at the monk and ran straight to the Dragon King while muttering ¡®All is well¡¯.


    The kings had entered the camp. The two of them finally slipped inside as part of his entourage. Instead of going to the main tent, they directly came looking for the Dragon King.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have a word with the counselor. Everybody stay outside and don¡¯t wandertoo far.¡±


    Shangguan Fei heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°Let¡¯s go. It¡¯s cooler outside.¡±


    Gu Shenwei then turned to Shangguan Ru, ¡°Please stay.¡±


    Shangguan Ru, who had taken a step out , was a bit surprised but still stopped.


    Liman hurried to ask, ¡°What does the Dragon King want me to do?¡±


    ¡°You have to make your own decision.¡±


    Liman did face a choice. If he stayed, he would be the Dragon King¡¯s man and have nothing to do with the mutiny; if he helped, he would get involved in a battle that had little chance of winning.


    ¡°They are my friends,¡± said Liman with difficulty.


    ¡°I understand.¡± Gu Shenwei did not regard Liman as a subordinate so he would not order him around.


    Looking at the rapidly disappearing Liman, Shangguan Ru was a bit hesitant. Those officers, in a sense, were also her ¡®friends,¡¯ but she decided to stay.


    Fang Wenshi came into the camp with Lianqing but now he just looked at the other side and refused to talk.


    Lianqing red back and said, ¡°What? You want me to leave here? No way!¡±


    Shangguan Ru could only open her mouth. ¡°Monk, I¡¯ll just stay here in the tent. Do you think that I can disappear into thin air?¡±


    Gu Shenwei said nothing but Lianqing defiantly shot a nce at him before reluctantly walking out of the tent.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with this monk?¡± Fang Wenshi asked in a low voice, ¡°He insisted on entering the camp and said that he would kill anyone who dared to stop him.¡±


    Shangguan Ru smiled bitterly. ¡°It is all my fault, because¡­ For some reason, he believes that part of his Master¡¯s soul is on me, so¡­¡±


    ¡°So he wants to keep an eye on this part of the soul to prevent it from getting away?¡± Fang Wenshi felt it was unbelievable.


    ¡°Pretty much.¡± Shangguan Ru did not care. She didn¡¯t tell anyone that Fayan had transferred his internal energy to her, and only ambiguously revealed a little bit to Lianqing, which was what had caused the other side¡¯s misunderstanding.


    Fang Wenshi shook his head. ¡°Do the monks also believe in this kind of stuff?¡± Then he turned to the Dragon King, ¡°May I say it?¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Gu Shenwei replied.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s heart moved a bit, knowing how much trust there was in those two simple words.


    ¡°King Riying epted the Dragon King¡¯s proposal to form an alliance. He had hoped to raise the price but changed his mind as soon as the Commandant died.¡±


    Fang Wenshi had been busy with finding a new ally these two days and had finally fished up some good results. Gu Shenwei was relieved because he could carry out his original n now, which was a series of killing.

 Chapter 683 - Operation

    Chapter 683: Operation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Rather than the scimitar in his hand, Azheba much preferred to use a bow. He had a strange supposition that a saber might hurt him while a bow and arrow would not.


    He still remembered how excited he was to receive his first little bow at the age of five. He didn¡¯t let go of it even when he ate or slept. In just three days, the tents were riddled with arrow-holes. He destroyed his mother¡¯s favorite clothes and the servants covered their butts while telling on him. But his father onlyughed, took him in his arms, and proimed, ¡°This is my son, the marksman of the prairie!¡±


    Remembering the scene in the past, a faint smile appeared on his face. When he grew up, he had be a marksman. Unfortunately, ever since he had left his family ande to the Royal Court, the title had been worthless.


    When he noticed that Liman was staring at him quizzically, Azheba put away his smile and whispered, ¡°Nothing. I¡¯m just being absent-minded.¡±


    This wasn¡¯t the time to be absent-minded. There were over thirty officers sitting in the tent, and it was so crowded that it was almost impossible to find a solid foothold. Although there was still some time left before the operation, everyone was gripping their saber hilts as tightly as if there were an enemy standing right in front of them.


    The people they were about to kill were not just their enemies but also their former superiors, three captains, and a deputymandant.


    The n was divided into two steps. First, they were going to kill the mole and publicly list his crimes. Second, they would call and convince the soldiers to refuse to acknowledge a newmandant and to follow them in joining the real wise lord.


    Considering that the assassination operation was very risky, the officers decided to leave ten men behind as a reserve force, and had drawn lots for this position. Azeba had gotten the ¡®safety straw¡¯ but given it to another chiliarch. ¡°Everyone has their own strengths. I¡¯m not good at making long-term ns. It¡¯s better for me to do the simplest tasks. ¡±


    Liman knew that Azheba was not telling the truth. He was a smart young officer with the potential to lead thousands of men; it would be a great loss for Prince Duodun if he died.


    But he understood his good friend¡¯s thoughts.


    Liman wasn¡¯t an officer of the Court Attendants Army and so he didn¡¯t have to join the assassination tonight. But he was so eager to do something about the situation that, inwardly, he was somewhat grateful for the chaos. If it had not been for the Khan¡¯s death, and that there was no clear sessor to the prairie, their group of ordinary noble officers would not have received any attention at all.


    The sessful mutiny earlier in the day gave them confidence and they decided tomit further.


    The Dragon King didn¡¯t have a positive view of this operation and his judgment was always urate, but everyone could make a mistake. When Liman told the officers that news of the assassination might have been leaked, not many people were worried at all. A centurion exined what was everyone was thinking by saying, ¡°There are rumors everywhere in the camp. I even heard that King Riyao was going to order his one thousand guards to kill off all of the officers. Our n is at best a little rumor and no one will take it seriously.¡±


    Azheba also appeared quite confident at that time. ¡°All the soldiers are in mourning and they will not protect any of the generals. As for the officers of the other factions, they only talk big. No one is as serious as we are. Gather up all your courage and fight for His Highness.¡±


    Fighting for Prince Duodun in the Western Regions was the greatest motivation for these young officers.


    A sound of metal crashing against metal came from the door.


    The officers rose to their feet at the same time and filed out in silence. Azheba was thest one to walk out. He paused at the doorway and looked up at the stars when suddenly all his faith evaporated. He despised his weakness and gripped the handle of his saber even more tightly with his right hand.


    There were more lights lighting up in the camp tonight for the kings who hade to fight for power. The kings had just entered the camp and drawn the attention of the vast majority of the soldiers. The twelve main generals were alone in the main tent, defenseless. It was the best moment to assassinate them.


    Azheba overcame his momentary weakness and steadily walked on. But he allowed himself a singlepse in strength as he could not help but look in a certain direction and take a dim light as her position, and boldly say in his heart, ¡°I am fighting for you, too.¡±


    Shangguan Ru raised her head and somewhat abruptly asked, ¡°Do they really have no chance of sess?¡±


    Fang Wenshi was about to discuss their new ally King Riying with the Dragon King. But upon hearing Shangguan Ru speak up, he became confused and asked, ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°A group of officers want to assassinate the four candidates as they were said to have betrayed the Commandant.¡± Gu Shenwei exined.


    Fang Wenshi shook his head. ¡°Nonsense. Even if the assassination is sessful, the Court Attendants Army will be divided. If the officers can assassinate the generals, then the soldiers can naturally assassinate the officers.¡±


    ¡°These officers have great prestige among the soldiers.¡± Shangguan Ru believed that she understood the situation more clearly.


    Fang Wenshi continued shaking his head. ¡°When the Court Attendants Army is a whole, the officers will certainly have prestige. Not only the soldiers, but even the kings have to try to win over them. Just wait and see what happens when the army is divided. A thousand ordinary soldiers will be more wee than a thousand officers with bloodstained hands.¡±


    Fang Wenshi didn¡¯t understand how the topic had be the current one, but once he started exining, he had to finish. ¡°This is the same as a servant¡¯s respect towards their master. Instructor Shangguan must remember that back when you were at Golden Roc Castle, all the servants seemed to respect you from the bottom of their hearts. But when you were banished, did that respect still exist? When you are serving the lords, you have to pretend that you respect them even to the extent that you yourself believe it. But falsehoods are false, and it will all be exposed at a critical moment. The Dragon King is quite different in this respect¡­¡±


    The counselor took the chance to tter the Dragon King with words that seemed to be ¡®from the bottom of his heart.¡¯ Shangguan Ru already understood what he meant and sighed. ¡°Is the chaos really inevitable?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. The more chaotic, the better. By the time everyone gets bored with fighting for the throne, the Dragon King will be able to clean up the mess.¡± Fang Wenshi revealed his true thoughts on the matter. Since the Dragon King trusted Shangguan Ru, there was no need for him to hide anything from her.


    ¡°Which candidate will King Riying support?¡± Gu Shenwei moved the topic back on track.


    ¡°King Riying was not well-prepared for the sudden death of the Commandant, so he decided to support the candidate put forward by the officers.¡±


    ¡°Tuershan.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s him; I don¡¯t even remember his name. After all, he¡¯s just a temporary puppet. We can¡¯t do anything about it so let¡¯s leave it alone for now. What about King Riyao? He took the Queen and many female soldiers away and then surrounded the camp of the Dragon Army. I was told that even the Second Consort was under house arrest. It seems like he¡¯s really going to make a move.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was taken aback. ¡°You already know everything?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    ¡°King Riyao keeps the hostages and forces you to kill for him? You¡­ Aren¡¯t you worried?¡± Shangguan Ru was very angry, especially when she heard that the female soldiers were also involved, but she softened her tone as she asked questions. The Dragon King was under great pressure, and she did not want to add more pressure onto him.


    ¡°It¡¯s no use worrying about it. This is King Riyao¡¯s n. When Wucuo bes the Commandant, he will announce that I murdered the formermandant and then behead me in public. It will be the same no matter if I kill for him or not.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was the first to find the corpse and retrieve it. An usation made by the newmandant and a lord who used to be the Dragon King¡¯s ally would be widely acknowledged.


    ¡°So you want to strike first.¡± Shangguan Ru still remembered what the Dragon King had said to her.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for me to get rid of Tuosai. Wucuo has already been bought over by King Shengri, and he also has his own ns. When he takes office, He¡¯ll announce that I am the murderer and that King Riyao is the mastermind and then kill both of us.¡±


    Shangguan Ru suddenly smiled. ¡°You haven¡¯t changed at all. You can guess the enemy¡¯s n by simply sitting in a tent.¡±


    ¡°Without the information provided by the officers, I couldn¡¯t have guessed anything.¡±


    Fang Wenshi coughed twice to show his existence. ¡°How does the Dragon King n on getting away?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you toe and save me.¡±


    Fang Wenshi chuckled. Although he knew that this was not the Dragon King¡¯s style, he was still very proud. ¡°Tuosai made a big mistake by not letting the other kings enter the camp ahead of time. He is busy buying over the people in the camp but none of the kings are idling their time away outside. The longer they wait, the more grudges they will develop against Tuosai. And once they have amon enemy, an alliance will naturally be made.¡±


    Fang Wenshi paused for a moment and nodded with confidence before continuing. ¡°King Shengri will also not gain any benefits. He¡¯s so strong that all of the other kings are afraid of him. King Shengri has united the other kings and intends to have all the chiliarchs of their own tribes support Tuershan.¡±


    The counselor didn¡¯t say what role he had yed, but judging from his expression, he must have contributed a lot.


    ¡°Then does it mean that the assassination nned by the officers is meaningless?¡± Shangguan Ru was still worried about the new friends she had made.


    ¡°It helps a bit.¡± Fang Wenshi always considered the situation from the point of view of the Dragon Army. ¡°Even if the operation fails, it can prove that the four candidates are unpopr and that Tuershan will receive more support.¡±


    Shangguan Ru bowed her head slightly. She was a bit distracted by the endless conspiracies but she wasn¡¯t confused. ¡°Tuershan will be the Commandant. Tuosai and King Shengri¡¯s n will fail, but they will not die here. Especially Tuosai, since he still has the hostages in his hands.


    ¡°So I need your help.¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    Shangguan Ru froze and understood why she had been left behind.


    The tent p was violently lifted. ¡°You can¡¯t go in¡­¡± said Red Bat in an urgent voice.


    Gu Shenwei signaled to Red Bat that there was no need to stop the intruder.


    Dhuta Kingkong smilingly looked at the three people in the tent. He had entered the camp as a guard of King Riyao and no longer had to hide his identity and the lord he was loyal to. ¡°So the Dragon King is still here. My lord can rest assured this time.¡±


    ¡°I have been here the whole time,¡± Gu Shenwei corrected tly.


    Fang Wenshi stared at the intruder who was dressed like a kung fu practitioner and stiffly asked, ¡°Who are you? Which lord are you working for?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Dhuta Kingkong, King Riyao¡¯s guard. I¡¯m here to tell the Dragon King one thing. Several officers wanted to make some trouble and have been caught.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s tent wasn¡¯t far from the main tent. The assassination attempt had actually failed before they even made a sound.


    Dhuta Kingkong regarded the three¡¯s silence as surprise and fear andughed a few times before saying, ¡°That bunch of officers are really stupid. They believed that the soldiers would not protect the general but they forgot that the generals have bodyguards with them. Haha, they were easily defeated by only five guards and all of them are now either dead or injured.¡±


    Gu Shenwei exchanged a nce with Shangguan Ru. The two knew very well that Azheba and his partners would never make such an obvious mistake. Those five guards who had suddenly appeared were definitely not soldiers of the Court Attendants Army.


    ¡°Male or female guards?¡±


    Dhuta Kingkong was stunned slightly, wondering why the Dragon King would care about such a random question. ¡°Of course they are men. How could a general of Court Attendants Army use female guards? Oh, the Dragon King has many women around him so does he thinks that other people are the same?¡±


    Gu Shenwei ignored the ironic barb of the other side. He wondered whether these five guards were disguised disciples of the Waning Moon Hall.

 Chapter 684 - Seeking Help

    Chapter 684: Seeking Help


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The mutiny started by Azheba and his fellow officers had ended without a sound. Most of the soldiers didn¡¯t even know that an attempted assassination had taken ce. After Dhuta Kingkong announced the results to the Dragon King, no one mentioned it for a long time.


    ¡°The generals want to gloss over it.¡± When only three of them were left in the tent, Fang Wenshi broke the silence with his thoughts and guesses on the situation. ¡°Now, the officers won¡¯t even be able to affect the morale of the army.¡±


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t look too good, but when she looked up, she was still smiling as if the problem had been resolved. ¡°Well, Tuosai can be proud for one more night. Tomorrow morning, he and King Shengri will be surprised to find that the most unlikely person has be the newmandant. What shall we do next? What do I need to do?¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked at Shangguan Ru quietly, his eyes full of doubt rather than trust. ¡°I¡¯d like to ask again, what did Wild Horse promise you?¡±


    ¡°Nothing. As I said, he just sent someone to show his friendliness. That¡¯s it,¡± Shangguan Ru replied curtly.


    ¡°All right, let me ask you another question. Why are Wild Horse and King Shengri trying to buy you over? It¡¯s as if they don¡¯t care about the officers.¡±


    Shangguan Ru regarded the Dragon King¡¯s doubts as an offensive aggressive line of questioning. She sealed her lips, a gleam of anger shing in her ck eyes.


    Fang Wenshi had been observing them quietly. Although he felt it was a bit awkward, he was pleased to see that the Dragon King was staying strong and calm.


    ¡°The man sent by Wild Horse didn¡¯t say why¡­¡± Shangguan Ru finally answered but in a defiant tone.


    ¡°They didn¡¯t say it, but that doesn¡¯t mean you don¡¯t know it. King Shengri is more cunning than I thought and Wild Horse has always been clever; you know very well why they are trying to befriend with you.¡±


    Shangguan Ru grew more and more obstinate and even showed a trace of vignce. Fang Wenshi, who was good at reading people¡¯s faces, coughed and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go and see King Riying¡­¡±


    ¡°No need, I¡¯ll just say a few words about this.¡± Shangguan Ru stopped the counselor while staring at the Dragon King. ¡°There¡¯s something I didn¡¯t say because it involves someone irrelevant to the situation and has nothing to do with the situation of the Nond. Regardless of if Wild Horse knows or not, I will not ept his entreaties, let alone reveal any secrets. A promise is a promise. I¡¯ll keep my word.¡±


    For a moment the two didn¡¯t say a word, and Fang Wenshi became worried again. The scene before him was very much like a couple¡¯s quarrel, not a confrontation between a king and his men. ¡°Uh, I have an idea. Instructor Shangguan can go back to camp to ready the female soldiers for war, the Dragon King can get rid of Tuosai, and King Riying will send his troops to attack. If these three measures are taken, our problem will be solved. Tuosai¡¯s men have little faith. When their lord dies, they would surelyy down their arms and hand over the hostages.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Gu Shenwei had no objection to the n.


    ¡°Hmm, good.¡± Shangguan Ru also nodded in agreement.


    Fang Wenshi was secretly relieved, thinking that he had to find a chance to enlighten the Dragon King about staying away from women. ¡°I have to go to see King Riying, as he¡¯s still waiting for my news. The Dragon King should stay here.¡±


    The two were left in the tent looking at each other, one cold and the other stubborn.


    ¡°Do you really want to know what Wild Horse promised me?¡±


    ¡°I thought that his men just came to express friendliness and didn¡¯t say anything.¡±


    ¡°I lied.¡±


    Shangguan Ru directly admitted it. Gu Shenwei suppressed his anger as he asked, ¡°Now you want to tell me the truth?¡±


    Shangguan Ru stayed silent, her dark provocative eyes sparkling.


    Old Man Mu lifted the curtain and came inside, ¡°The white fatty as gone. Can wee in now? There¡¯s really not much fun out there.¡±


    ¡°Ok,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    As soon as Shangguan Fei stuck out his head, Old Man Mu rudely waved at him, ¡°Get out.¡± Then he turned to the Dragon King and smiled. Even the wrinkles on his face were trembling as he smiled. ¡°Dragon King, Good Girl, you have to praise me. I¡¯ve made another contribution.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t follow my orders.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had asked everybody not to stay away from the tent, but Old Man Mu had obviously vited that order.


    ¡°Heh Heh, my good service can make amends for my fault. Just now, when I was wandering around alone, I felt that the camp of the hundred thousand people was really big. Our thousands of people could notpare with them. Besides, the Court Attendants Army is really pampered; they have at least fifty thousand ves and servants to serve them, and so there are more people¡­¡±


    ¡°What a load of crap.¡± Shangguan Ru interrupted.


    ¡°Right, the good girl has to lose her temper asionally so as to not bottle up too much anger.¡± Before Shangguan Ru could respond, Old Man Mu quickly added, ¡°But she has to know when to stop and to pick the right targets. Well, I¡¯ll cut straight to the point. A fellow iming to be Commandant Gulun¡¯s attendant, though I don¡¯t know if he was lying or not, asked me to send a message to the Dragon King and the good girl.¡±


    The mutual surprise melted away the animosity between Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Ru. Old Man Mu smiled demurely and thought that he had rendered yet another service. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t say this out loud as he didn¡¯t know whether the two would be grateful or not.


    ¡°Go on,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°I have to rify that I don¡¯t know that man¡¯s real identity. If there¡¯s a trick or something, do not me me. This old man is just passing along some words.¡±


    Seeing that Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Ru were bing impatient, Old Man Mu didn¡¯t ask them to make a promise, and hurried on with his story. ¡°Gulun said that he was not a mole and the officers had misunderstood him. He had evidence but couldn¡¯t reveal it at that moment. He has to wait until tomorrow morning but those thirty or so officers might not be alive to see that, so he is appealing to the Dragon King and Instructor to lend him a helping hand.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s the vicemandant and I am just a foreign guest. How can I help him?¡± Gu Shenwei and Fang Wenshi had alreadye up with aplete n so he didn¡¯t want to stir up any trouble and also didn¡¯t think that this deal could bring him any benefits.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m just the messenger.¡± Old Man Mu shrugged and no longer mentioned the word ¡®contributions¡¯ again. ¡°You¡¯d better ask Gulun yourself if you have any questions.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like a trap.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was a bit surprised that Shangguan Ru was actually suspicious, but he very much agreed with this judgment. ¡°Right, perhaps King Shengri just can¡¯t wait to get started.¡±


    ¡°I told you that the message might be a trap, but I¡¯m loyal and not a traitor.¡± Old Man Mu tried to clear up the situation and stay away from any usations.


    No one med him. And Shangguan Ru seemed to forget the incident in a moment, her stubborn expressionpletely gone. ¡°Does the Dragon King still want to practice kung fu? My hands are itchy too.¡±


    Before Gu Shenwei could speak, Shangguan Ru had shouted to the people outside that she would have apetition with the Dragon King.


    ¡°Watch out for my Heart Stopping Finger; you shouldn¡¯t lose to it for a second time.¡±


    Her words aroused Gu Shenwei¡¯spetitive spirit but startled Old Man Mu. If his unique skill was cracked and restrained by the Dragon King, it would be a great loss for him. Old Man Mu uncontrobly pped his forehead and ferociously red at Shangguan Fei who was nearby and poked him in the thigh.


    Shangguan Fei was well prepared but he didn¡¯t dare dodge. Instead, he exerted his Daoless Divine Power to shake off most of the finger energy and tried to look as if he were in pain and innocent.


    Shangguan Ru rarely showed off her kung fu. And all the martial arts skills she had imparted at the Land of Fragrance were basic form, so Red Bat was the most delighted to see her y.


    The scene was very much like that of when the two had first met. It was just that their statuses were now very different and their state of mind had also changed greatly.


    Shangguan Ru made the first move.


    Fist and foot techniques were always despised in Golden Roc Castle and looked down upon as basic skills. But Shangguan Ru started off with a set of fist techniques that Gu Shenwei had never seen before.


    Only Old Man Mu and Red Bat were familiar with it, especially the former. ¡°The Flower Soul, a very good fist technique. The High Priest of the Land of Fragrance is just an armchair strategist. After being enlightened by Old Man Mu, this set of fist techniques immediately transformed into a treasure from a waste. This set of fist technique focuses on swift and elegant movements. Combined with the Subtle Shadow Lightness Skill and the Heart Stopping Finger, it will¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu spoke unceasingly and exined all of the strengths and weaknesses of this fist technique.


    Gu Shenwei had learned a little of the Flower Soul fist technique from the letters Shangguan Ru wrote to him and had thought that it was just a whimsical idea of hers when she had been bored. Now, after exchanging a few moves, he couldn¡¯t help but feel deeply impressed.


    The High Priest of the Land of Fragrance kept many books which had all been taken away by Gu Shenwei and handed over to Queen Ju for her to figure out the eighth and ninth chapter of the Daoless Scroll. The disciples of the High Priest had remained in their own country.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s original idea was to train these teenagers and turn them into real kung fu practitioners. But she didn¡¯t want to teach them the sabersmanship of Golden Roc Castle that was specially designed for killing. So she instead asked the teenagers to tell her about all the kung fu arts they had learned, hoping to discover a valuable kung fu skill or two from it.


    Her knowledge of martial arts was too shallow, so the progress of modifying the new kung fu arts was very slow. She finally an excellent great helper when Old Man Mu reappeared.


    Old Man Mu had done excellent work, but Gu Shenwei could still see the obvious features of Shangguan Ru in this Flower Soul fist technique. As a set of hard-to-block fist technique, it actually possessed little lethality. It always avoided the vitals and its ultimate goal was just to strike an acupoint, not to kill.


    The Seven Circles Seven Apertures Heart Stopping Finger had seven moves in total, all of which had different effects. Shangguan Ru had focused on only learning the Allpassing Finger of Immobilization and abandoned the rest of the moves.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s palm technique was just the opposite. As it was the simplest most unsophisticated. It depended on the frosty Qi to defeat the enemy. Shangguan Ru could only avoid touching his palms.


    The two exchanged dozens of moves. Shangguan Ru had hit the Dragon King several times and seemed to hold the upper hand but the internal energy she had instilled into the other side¡¯s body was all easily shaken off and she hadn¡¯t been able to seal any of histhe acupoints.


    Old Man Mu was still boasting about the important role he had yed in modifying the Flower Soul fist technique, which annoyed an onlooker.


    Lianqing roared and joined the fight, ¡°Allow me!¡±


    Lianqing¡¯s palm technique was from yet another style, simple yet subtle, bold and unconstrained. and yet very flexible and bnced. Each move seemed like it could split a boulder.


    After a dozen or so moves, Gu Shenwei was hit in the chest.


    For a moment, Lianxin angrily stared at his opponent as if remembering his brother¡¯s death. In the twinkleof an eye, he rposed himself and did not continue to pursuing. Instead, he saluted and returned to his original ce.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s blood and internal Qi surged and it took him a long while before he could restore his breath aggain. ¡°What palm technique is this?¡±


    ¡°Formless Prajna Palm,¡± replied Lianqing.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know how to say it but this was exactly the palm technique he wanted. It was more suited to his frosty Qi than any of the martial arts skills presented by Old Man Mu.


    After being pushed aside by Lianqing, Shangguan Ru seemed to be quite unconvinced and stood out again. ¡°We¡¯vepeted on most of our fist and palm techniques. Now let¡¯spete in lightness skills. Dragon King, I just wanted to let you know that you¡¯ve already lost twice today.¡±


    Shangguan Ru held out two fingers and wagged, showing off a mischievous smile she had often wore when she was little. Then she turned around and leaped out of the tent.


    Gu Shenwei followed closely behind, knowing that she would take the risk tonight anyways.


    Old Man Mu spread his two short arms and blocked the door, ¡°Let¡¯s continuepeting. Shangguan Fei, go fight with the monk.¡±


    Of all the people here, he was the only one who knew what the two¡¯s real purpose was.

 Chapter 685 - Paper Slip

    Chapter 685: Paper Slip


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    With less than an hour to go before the midnight election, the kings who had entered the camp not long ago were busy wooing the forces of their own tribe while the twelve generals were back in their tents resting. They had done everything they could and only needed to wait for the final result.


    Shangguan Ru looked at the tents for a while before retreating into the darkness, whispering in a low voice. ¡°You see, there are no traps.¡±


    She had spent too short a time observing and even if there was a trap, she wouldn¡¯t have found it. Without uttering a sound, Gu Shenwei quickly moved to another hidden position and continued observing the camp.


    The camp was full of soldiers mourning in silence, which caused a lot of trouble for the hunters in the night. The upside was that the soldiers were fully absorbed in offering their condolences. They might asionally whisper to each other for the most part, didn¡¯t even raise their heads. The lighting was also dim and far and in between, leaving plenty of shadows for the nightwalkers.


    Ever since she was a little kid, Shangguan Ru hadn¡¯t been a good co-operative killer. And this became even clearer after she stopped her killer¡¯s training for many years. Instead of defending their back back, she watched alongside the Dragon King.


    ¡°Liman is very loyal to you; you should save them for his sake.¡±


    Gu Shenwei withdrew to a rtively quiet ce. ¡°I¡¯ll go and meet this Commandant Gulun first.¡±


    In the darkness, Gu Shenwei could still feel Shangguan Ru¡¯s happy smile, so he continued, saying, ¡°Wait, there¡¯s a condition.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King never suffers a loss in any deal.¡± Shangguan Ru¡¯s muffled voice was full of dryughter.


    ¡°And he¡¯s very stubborn,¡± added Gu Shenwei.


    Shangguan Ru knew right away what the Dragon King¡¯s condition was now, so her smile disappeared just as fast. ¡°Do you have to know everything?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s one of the main reasons why I¡¯ve survived to this day.¡±


    Shangguan Ru kept silent for a while and seemed very annoyed when she spoke again. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll tell you what Wild Horse¡¯s promise was.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Gu Shenwei decided to take it one step a time. He did not like being kept in the dark, and wanted to fully know everything even if the other side was acting in good faith.


    Shangguan Ru stayed silent for another period of time before saying very quickly in a low voice, ¡°Wild Horse promised you to me.¡±


    ¡°¡­ What?¡±


    ¡°Wild Horse said he would soon have the ability to kill you but he would spare your life once, and then after that I could make a decision. But I don¡¯t believe he can do that, so¡­¡±


    The more Shangguan Ru talked, the more annoyed she became. She hated being forced to reveal her secret, and did not want to admit that she had seriously considered Wild Horse¡¯s promise.


    ¡°I see. Wild Horse indeed doesn¡¯t have the ability to do that.¡± In the dark came out a gentle voice, Shangguan Ru almost mistakenly thought that it was Servant Huan rather than the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t ask any more questions. He turned around and prepared to approach Gulun¡¯s tent. ¡°If you don¡¯t want me to be bought over, you¡¯d better live well,¡± said Shangguan Ru, who still appeared a bit annoyed.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Gu Shenwei paused slightly before moving on.


    Shangguan Ru froze instead of being happy. She suddenly wanted to stop the Dragon King because Gulun¡¯s appeal might really be a trap.


    Gulun was sitting upright with his hand holding the saber hilt without any attendants nearby. When he realized that two extra people had appeared in the tent, he raised his head with an expression so solemn it seemed as if he was about to draw his saber at once.


    ¡°Can you feel the disappointment and anger of the soldiers?¡±


    ¡°A little bit,¡± Shangguan Ru replied in a low voice and secretly sighed with relief. There was no trap here after all.


    ¡°That¡¯s what they¡¯re showing now, and more emotions are hidden deep in their hearts. How powerful do you think it will it be when they reveal it all?¡±


    ¡°Loyalty will help them control their emotions,¡± Gu Shenwei replied.


    ¡°The person the Court Attendants Army was willing to pledge their allegiance to is gone. In the soldiers¡¯ eyes, the Khan ascended to heaven and became a god. The rumor of assassination is merely a lie made by the kings in order to defeat their opponents. In fact, the Commandant was the one the hundred thousand soldiers really cared about. The one who assassinated him was so stupid that they thought that another obedientmandant would be able to gain the allegiance of the whole army in due course.¡±


    ¡°Is it not so?¡± Gu Shenwei felt that Gulun had revealed some very important information which coincided with his own ideas, which made him willing to continue listening, even if time was running out.


    ¡°The Court Attendants Army is a special army unique throughout the whole prairie. The soldiers here aren¡¯t born to be loyal to any lords, and the reason why the Commandant had gained their trust was not due to his status and identity but was rather because of years of sharing of joys and sorrows. The outsiders didn¡¯t understand it and thought it was because the Commandant was the Khan¡¯s younger brother. Everyone took it for granted that that could be the only exnation. Most of the officers didn¡¯t understand this either. They only serve the army for ten years and are counting the time till they can go home from the day they enter the camp. They spend all their energy on making friends and forming cliques, and never care about what the soldiers really think.¡±


    ¡°The soldiers want revenge for the Commandant?¡± Shangguan Ru asked with great care in her voice.


    ¡°Listen, listen to the silence of the camp.¡± Gulun¡¯s thin face showed a touch of excitement and fanaticism. ¡°This is the first step of revenge, but the kings and generals see this as obedience,pletely unaware of the danger around.¡±


    ¡°Tuershan, he was promoted from ordinary soldiers. He must know the true feelings of¡­¡±


    ¡°One¡¯s origin doesn¡¯t mean everything. The Commandant came from the royal family but he could be one with the masses. Some people forget their former origins as soon as they take one step forward.¡±


    Gulun didn¡¯t seem to think highly of Tuershan who had been chosen by the officers, which greatly confused Shangguan Ru.


    Gulun pulled out a folded strip of paper from his wristguard. ¡°This is thestmand that the Commandant gave me. Please take it, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stepped forward but didn¡¯t take the paper right away. Instead, he asked, ¡°Why me?¡±


    ¡°The Commandant trusted King Riying, and King Riying trusts you. It¡¯s as simple as that.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took the paper and knew clearly what it signified.


    Gulun produced another piece of paper and rolled it up. ¡°This is an order I issued under the name of the deputymandant. With it, the Dragon King can kill anyone in the camp who¡¯s not a member of the Court Attendants Army as long as his position is lower than mine.¡±


    This was an unusual deal because neither side had made a promise. But Gu Shenwei felt that these unspoken promises were more worth keeping than any other. He took the slip of paper with him and turned to walk out of the tent.


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t move. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell the truth to Azheba and other officers?¡±


    ¡°They are also officers and only have Prince Duodun in their mind, not the ordinary soldiers. Even so, they are still the best youths in the Nond and should live on, to leave some hope for the prairie.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was horrified by the smell of death.


    Gulun revealed a smile. ¡°Decay and chaos are temporary. The people of the Prairie know how to get through this.¡±


    Shangguan Ru caught up with the Dragon King and could feel the fierce saber aura from a few steps away.


    ¡°Go back.¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°You have to show them we are stillpeting in our lightness skills.¡±


    ¡°But ¡­¡±


    ¡°If you have decided to stay away from blood, then don¡¯t near it regardless of your excuses.¡±


    The Dragon King disappeared into the darkness like a wisp of smoke. Shangguan Ru suddenly felt frightened but she immediately adjusted her mindset and ran towards the Dragon King¡¯s tent with her lightness skills.


    The reason Gu Shenwei was willing to ept this unexpected task from Gulun was notpletely due to Shangguan Ru. In fact, she had yed a stimting role only in the very beginning. When he had decided to take the paper slip, all he had in mind were those five bodyguards.


    Those five guards had quietly subdued more than thirty officers. Gu Shenwei felt that they were a threat to him, and decided to settle the matter quietly. There was no need to use Gulun¡¯s order right now.


    The captured officers were being held in the vicinity of the main tent. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t directly go to the rescue but instead went around the camp in a great circle.


    Old Man Mu was right. The camp of a hundred thousand people was huge and almost felt like a small city. Gu Shenwei was walking on a nned route so he soon found the help he really needed.


    Five teenage killers had sneaked inside the camp as soon as night fell, waiting for the call of the Dragon King.


    The solemn sound of the drums was heard, both in tribute to the assassinatedmandant and to announce the beginning of the election. More than a hundred chiliarchs and the twelve leading generals could each cast a vote. The kings supervised the whole process and counted votes personally. The result would be announced at dawn.


    Old Man Mu stood at the door and shouted to the figure who had passed for the third time, ¡°Dragon King, give up. You¡¯ve won first ce in saber and sword, so just leave the first ce of lightness skills to the good girl. Everyone has their own strong points. For example, I am smart and Shangguan Fei is stupid. This is destined¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei stopped in front of Old Man Mu, ¡°It seems like I still have a lot of things to learn.¡±


    Shangguan Ru returned soon after. ¡°I don¡¯t have the strength to run any longer.¡±


    The three of them had just entered the tent when Fang Wenshi ran all the way to the tent, panting. He wasn¡¯t qualified to enter the main tent and had to wait for the news with the Dragon King. ¡°Some people said that the Dragon King was jumping up and down in the camp, and I said it couldn¡¯t be ¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true. Instructor Shangguan and I werepeting in lightness skills and I lost.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was dumbfounded, ¡°Uh ¡­ This is the camp of the Court Attendants Army, it¡¯s kind of ¡­ too tant?¡±


    ¡°No one cared. Some people even cheered for us.¡± Shangguan Ru smiled.


    Fang Wenshi kept shaking his head. He would probably never understand the rtionship between the Dragon King and this woman.


    A group of people hade in a hurry, seemingly even more anxious than the counselor but not wheezing as hard as he was. The leader was King Riyao¡¯s subordinate, Dhuta Kingkong. ¡°The Dragon King is not¡­ Oh, there you are.¡±


    Seeing Gu Shenwei standing in the tent, Dhuta Kingkong looked very surprised and embarrassed. He coughed twice before asking, ¡°Where did the Dragon King just go after leaving the tent?¡±


    Shangguan Fei rushed to stand out before Old Man Mu. ¡°Baldy Kingkong, even your lord would not dare to be so rude to the Dragon King.¡±


    Dhuta Kingkong blushed and red at Shangguan Fei but his tone softened. ¡°Please forgive me, Dragon King. I was in a hurry. But this is very important. Has the Dragon King left the tent?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I was absent for a while.¡±


    ¡°What a coincidence. Five people died in the camp during the period that the Dragon King left.¡±


    ¡°Quite a coincidence indeed. Regardless of who died, please convey my condolences to their master.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t kill those five people?¡± Dhuta Kingkong was exasperated.


    Shangguan Ru interrupted, ¡°The Dragon King and I werepeting in lightness skills. A lot of people saw us. How could he have had the time to kill?¡±


    Dhuta Kingkong got fed up and waved his hand. Five followers carried out five corpses and put them on the ground. ¡°Isn¡¯t this the sabersmanship of the Dragon King?¡±


    Old Man Mu took a nce andughed out loud. ¡°Hey, Baldy. Are you blind? Everyone knows the Dragon King always kills in one stab at the throat. These corpses were cut at least dozens of times and you are saying that that was done by the Dragon King?¡±


    Dhuta Kingkong was furious. He was just about to say that those wounds had been added on after the fact when a messenger came from far away and shouted, ¡°We¡¯ve got trouble. The captives have run away!¡±

 Chapter 686 - Palm Techniques

    Chapter 686: Palm Techniques


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The midnight election had just begun, but the camp of the Court Attendants Army was already showing signs of going wild.


    Within two hours after the thirty or so officers had been taken captive, five highly skilled guards had mysteriously died. And shortly after Dhuta Kingkong carried their bodies away, another group of officers stormed into the tent and ¡®snatched¡¯ all the captives away. Throughout the whole process, none of the nearby soldiers had stopped anyone.


    ¡°They can¡¯t have gone far. They must still be hiding in the camp.¡± Furious, Dhuta Kingkong sized up all the people in the Dragon King¡¯s tent but found nothing immediately suspicious. ¡°I know who the captives all are, and I¡¯ll get them all back before the lordse in!¡±


    Shangguan Fei was keenly aware that the rtionship between the Dragon King and King Riyao Tusai hadpletely broken down, so he said in a sarcastic tone, ¡°All right, the Dragon King has heard your promise, so go and get them. s, King Riyao only left for a short while and it¡¯s already devolved into such a mess. You should really reflect on what happened.¡±


    Dhuta Kingkong left in a fit of anger, though two of his men stayed behind tantly to keep an eye on the Dragon King and others.


    Instead of hiding from them, Gu Shenwei ordered people to hang up the tent p and continued to practice the fist and palm techniques as if that was the sole purpose he had entered the camp.


    The five guards brought by Shangguan Ru were all from the Nond and belonged to the Second Consort. They also joined in on thepetition with great gusto. They hadn¡¯t learned any fist or palm techniques so what they used were the wrestling skills of the Nond people which was more intense and better looking than hand techniques. The roar, which was a familiar sound to the prairie people, drew many nearby soldiers in until even the two observers of Dhuta Kingkong¡¯s view was blocked.


    From the soldiers¡¯ point of view, hand-to-hand wrestling was obviously more interesting than the shy kung fu moves of the Western Regions.


    The guards filled up the house with their performance. The next person to get on the field was Red Bat. She had been drugged by the Indra Fragrance, and her internal energy, which had never been that powerful, had yet to recover. So she could only exert thirty or forty of her peak kung fu skills. Looking around, the only person who was neck and neck inbat power with her was Fang Wenshi.


    Fang Wenshi had the nickname of ¡®Head-shaking Military Counselor,¡¯ and this time he shook his head the hardest he had ever. ¡°No no, I can¡¯t do it. I¡¯m a schr, so I can¡¯t do such things. Besides, Red Bat is a woman¡­¡±


    Red Bat smiled. ¡°Does Counselor Fang look down upon women? Then I¡¯ll have to ¡®consult¡¯ you regarding a few questions.¡±


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s heart palpitated with nervous excitement at Red Bat¡¯s smile. Fortunately, he still knew his own capabilities and so he shook his head. ¡°I really can¡¯t do it; it¡¯s too hot today¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu poked Fang Wenshi in the thigh, and the white fatty immediately bounced to Red Bat in a few steps as if his feet were on fire.


    ¡°Red Bat, the Counselor has used his ¡®Jumping Skill¡¯. Please get ready to receive his next blow.¡± Old Man Mu could only seek to squeeze out a little bit of fun with these little pranks.


    The contest was a farce that made everyoneugh. In the face of an exotic beauty with a cool demeanor, Fang Wenshi steeled his heart and temporarily put aside his identity and dignity as a counselor and dashed at the other side like a hungry tiger.


    The same move was used more than a dozen times, but not even a corner of Red Bat¡¯s clothes was caught. Instead, Fang Wenshi had gone through more than a few somersaults. He sat on the ground, gasping for breath, wiping away his sweat while shaking his head. ¡°I give up. You guys are just making fun of me. Counselors should onlypete in minds and not in strength. Let¡¯s have an idle talk. There, I¡¯ll fight all of you myself.¡±


    Not many of the onlookers understood what ¡®idle talk¡¯ was but they roughly knew that it was about using one¡¯s tongue rather than one¡¯s fists, so they broke into a raucousughter.


    Throughout the fight, Monk Lianqing had been talking with Shangguan Ru in a low voice, but now he stood out and loudly dered, ¡°Dragon King, do you want to learn my Formless Prajna Palm?¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s interest was roused by that promation but at the same time, he didn¡¯t reveal any thoughts. Shangguan Ru had figured it out herself.


    Shangguan Ru smiled a bit embarrassedly. She had managed to persuade the monk to teach the palm technique but didn¡¯t expect the other side would bluntly bring it up in public.


    Instead of disguising his desire, Gu Shenwei also frankly said, ¡°The monk¡¯s palm technique is really profound. I¡¯d very much like to learn it.¡±


    Old Man Mu jumped between the two. ¡°Wait a moment, you said that the monk¡¯s palm is profound. Are you saying that this Old Man¡¯s fist technique is not as good as his? I¡¯m not convinced!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s different. The Jade Pure Sect is good at using internal energy, and the Four Noble Truths Temple has betterbat moves, each with their own advantages. But all I want now are the best moves.¡±


    Neither of the two agreed with the Dragon King¡¯sment. Lianqing and Old Man Mu shook their head at the same time. One said, ¡°Anyone can learn the moves but the key has always been directing the internal Qi. The Dragon King doesn¡¯t grasp the essence of the Formless Prajna Palm.¡± The other said, ¡°The martial arts of the Jade Pure Sect are extensive and profound. The Five Hole Punch is just one of them, and there are still many more subtle moves.¡±


    At first, the two¡¯s words were aimed at disproving the Dragon King. After a few words, they started arguing with each other. As their anger grew, they finally started debating about the differences between Buddhism and Taoism. Even Gu Shenwei could not understand what they were saying. Fang Wenshi was the only one who could get a few words edge-wise but that just added more fuel to the fire.


    Shangguan Ru stopped the boring argument. ¡°There¡¯s no result in debating. It¡¯s better to have a kung fupetition to decide the winner.¡±


    Fang Wenshi felt a bit disappointed that they were going to fight again. Lianqing and Old Man Mu, however, both agreed that that was the best method. The two retreated three steps and were ready to make a move when loud noises came from outside.


    ¡°There¡¯s a fight outside?¡± Old Man Mu¡¯s eyes lit up, but he stopped just as he was about to jump out. He didn¡¯t want to be charged with insubordination in front of the Dragon King.


    ¡°Shangguan Fei, go and see what¡¯s going on. And hurry back,¡± Gu Shenwei ordered. ¡°Let¡¯s continue thepetition.¡±


    Old Man Mu looked up at Lianqing contemptuously. ¡°Monk, the loser has to admit that his sect¡¯s kung fu is not as good as the opponent¡¯s. Do you have the guts to agree?¡±


    Lianqing couldn¡¯t bear the instigation and snapped, ¡°All right, let¡¯s each represent the Four Noble Truths Temple and the Jade Pure Sect to see which one is better.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had fought with both of them before and knew their abilities well. Although Old Man Mu¡¯s internal energy had been greatly reduced, his kung fu skills were still first-rate. Lianqing, who had be a monk midway, had only practiced the advanced martial arts skills for only several years and was quite inexperiencedpared to his opponent. So Gu Shenwei cut in, saying, ¡°I want to add an extra rule.¡±


    ¡°What rule?¡± asked both men simultaneously.


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for a palm or fist technique that focuses more on the moves, so you two should not use your internal energy when you fight.¡±


    ¡°How can we fight like that?¡± The one to object was actually Lianqing. ¡°If we don¡¯t use our internal energy, the martial arts skills will be showy and impractical like¡­ the fatty¡¯s brawl with the woman.¡±


    Old Man Mu agreed with the monk at heart but what he actually said, ¡°The Four Truths Temple¡¯s kung fu is nothing without internal energy, but our Jade Pure Sect is different. We have both internal and externalponents of our kung fu to deal with all kinds of challenges.¡±


    The two were about to start arguing again. Gu Shenwei interrupted, ¡°All martial arts moves naturally won¡¯t exert their full power without any internal energy, but this is a game. Let¡¯s add a few restrictions to increase the difficulty. Without using any internal energy, the one to hit the other three times first will be the winner.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± Lianqing thought for a while and finally agreed.


    ¡°What if we identally use it? Sometimes it¡¯s like a natural reaction and really hard to control,¡± Old Man Mu asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s what the so-called ¡®adding some difficulty¡¯ is; the one who uses internal energy will be the loser.¡± Red Bat echoed the Dragon King¡¯s words.


    Old Man Mu frowned and thought hard, trying to think of a kung fu skill that had unique moves and could impress the monk and the Dragon King while still winning the match.


    Shangguan Fei trotted back, smiling with a gloating expression. He had found out the reason for the noise. ¡°It¡¯s ridiculous. That Baldy¡­ Kingkong had seemed so important when he was organizing thepetition, so how could he be an idiot so fast after he became backed by a lord?¡±


    Dhuta Kingkong was eager to make a contribution but the soldiers of the Court Attendants Army refused to listen to him. So he ordered dozens of King Riyao¡¯s bodyguards to search the area. Seeing that his manpower was still insufficient, he had privately made a decision to assign a thousand guards of the lord to take part in the operation.


    And so, hordes of silver-armored knights had rampaged through the camp, breaking into every tent to check.


    ¡°Dhuta Kingkong has offended all the officers and soldiers. The officers were first to make a move, then the soldiers, as they all dragged down the many horsemen of King Riyao and beat them brutally. All of their armor was stripped off, and the rest of them retreated and did not continue searching. Look, I¡¯ve got one here.¡±


    Shangguan Fei produced a shining white wristguard and looked at it in themplight. ¡°Huh, it¡¯s silver-coated.¡±


    Old Man Mu suddenly jumped up and cried out, ¡°I¡¯ve got it. Monk, take this.¡±


    This fight was not dangerous at all so everyone looked on passively. Only Gu Shenwei watched on without letting any detail escape him.


    Lianqing was still using the Formless Prajna Palm. As an onlooker, Gu Shenwei found that the monk had told the truth. On the surface, the style of this palm technique appeared quite impressive and powerful but what really made it stand out from other palm techniques were the subtle changes in the move. A casual feinting palm attack might immediately turn into a real deadly blow ifbined with the peculiar internal energy.


    Without using any internal energy, the speed of the movement had slowed down a lot which made it easier to observe and predict.


    But there was no big mistake in Gu Shenwei¡¯s judgment either. The moves of the Formless Prajna Palm did have a unique feature. Even without the support of internal energy, one could still exert seventy or eighty percent of its full power.


    Old Man Mu used a fist technique that he had never shown before, which looked veryplex. There were more than ten changes in almost every move.


    The external martial arts of the Jade Pure Sect had been modified a lot by Old Man Mu and be insidious and vicious, which correspondingly had a higher requirement for the degree of unity in the practitioner¡¯s internal energy. Without the support of one¡¯s internal energy, it was like pumping water without a well, and the power would be greatly reduced.


    Several movester, Gu Shenwei was more convinced that Lianqing¡¯s palm technique was his first choice.


    Although Old Man Mu¡¯s moves were quite swift and subtle, it could only be used by a little man. Gu Shenwei suspected that this was originally a tumbling shadow fist technique that specialized in attacking the lower body. Old Man Mu had gotten rid of the tumbling routine to adapt it to his own size.


    Without internal energy, Lianqing obviously had the upper hand. The only problem was that the enemy was too short, causing him to have some trouble locking onto the target.


    Old Man Mu was a bit anxious now. He didn¡¯t want to lose to amon monk of the Four Noble Truths Temple so he began to change his moves as the fight went on, regardless of the origins of the martial arts skills as long as they werefortable to use. This made his moves look more dazzling and won him lots of apuse but the practical effects were actually worse.


    After exchanging more than forty moves, the two hit each other once. Then Lianqing cornered Old Man Mu and hit the other side for a second time as expected.


    No one knew how Old Man Mu turned the tables. When there was no ce to retreat to, he suddenly appeared behind Lianqing, hit his opponent twice with moderate force before he leaped to the Dragon King and shouted, ¡°I won.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve used your internal energy, so you lost,¡± Red Bat smilingly said. Although she didn¡¯t know how he had done it, she knew very well that Old Man Mu must have used his internal energy in hisst move to get away.


    Old Man Mu shook his head like Fang Wenshi while saying, ¡°I used my internal energy on my feet, not my fists. Strictly speaking, I haven¡¯t vited the rules so I¡¯m still the winner¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯sme arguments were refuted by everyone, and even Shangguan Fei refused to take his side this time.


    The crowd was arguing furiously when a soldier came in from outside the tent. ¡°Can anyone participate in the contest here?¡±


    ¡°Everyone is wee,¡± Gu Shenwei replied. He didn¡¯t expect that the wing guard Silver Condor woulde to his door for a second time so soon.

 Chapter 687 - Learning Through Competition

    Chapter 687: Learning Through Competition


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Silver Condor had taken away the head of the Khan away, hoping that it would inspire the Nond people to take vengeance and fulfill their duty to thete Khan. But it had turned into a fiasco.


    The kings and nobles, who had been racking their brains to find a way to meet with the Khan before, were now rushing even faster than before to take the title of Khan for themselves, which was still up in the air. The coldness and ruthlessness shown in this process shocked Silver Condor.


    He thought that he had escaped from Jianghu, which was full of hypocrisy and mutual exploitation, but didn¡¯t expect that he had fallen into an even deeper Jianghu.


    After reflecting on his limited Jianghu experience, Silver Condor concluded that the kings did not really want to avenge the Khan. Even if a new Khan seeded the throne, he would only care about getting rid of his opponents and consolidating his own power rather than uncovering and punishing the real murderer.


    As for themon soldiers and ordinary people, they were bing more and more obsessed with the mystical rumors. No one dared to say that the Khan had been killed by several mortals because that would only cause them to receive angry usations and even beatings.


    The night that Silver Condor took the head away, he had a foreboding feeling. He hid the head, went home, andmanded his wife and children to flee with their valuables, ¡°Just pretend that I¡¯m already dead. You were just a dream to me and now I¡¯m awake. I won¡¯t miss you.¡±


    The cries of his wife and son did not change his indifference. Over ten years¡¯ worth of experience had evaporated into thin air like a dream and what was leftover after waking up was only a pile of iplete shadows. His little son, who he had loved the most, had suddenly turned into a strange crying child.


    Silver Condor summoned the other four wing guards, hid, and watched as the situation of the Royal Court changed. When they realized that they were the only true avenging force left, they decided tounch the operation. Their first target was the Dragon King.


    They had failed on the verge of sess. The four men could have killed the Dragon King but almost fell into another trap. ¡®This is a killer,¡¯ Silver Condor thought. These kinds of people killed through unscrupulous means and would do whatever it took to run away. The reason he had been able to survive through the treacherous Jianghu until now was not purely because of his martial arts skills.


    The bigger crisis hade in hindsight when Red Kite was captured and then released. The Dragon King had fulfilled his promise of ¡®sparing their lives¡¯ for the first time. The wing guards all found this iprehensible, ¡°Perhaps the Dragon King is not the real murderer. The key issue is why would he kill the Khan? Not only didn¡¯t get nothing but he was actually badly hurt. And who¡¯s the mastermind behind him? King Riyao Tuosai? He just got lucky and is thrilled and full of joy. It doesn¡¯t seem like he nned it at all.¡±


    In the face of his colleagues¡¯ questions, Silver Condor had only one reply. ¡°I saw it with my own eyes.¡±


    When the other four wing guards asked to have a look at the Khan¡¯s head, Silver Condor refused, saying, ¡°It¡¯s not the right time yet.¡±


    The crisis had been temporarily suppressed but Silver Condor clearly knew in his heart that this was just a moment of calm. It took some time for suspicion to turn to betrayal. In reality, he was already alone now.


    Silver Condor and the other wing guards shared no deep friendship but he still decided to take the responsibility for the split on his own. He would rather that Red Kite and others continue to doubts each other than go so far as to betray each other.


    So he quietly left without a word.


    The circumstances surrounding the death of the Commandant was well-known, and the one who had found the corpse was the Dragon King yet again. Silver Condor wasn¡¯t surprised at all about how it had turned out.


    He devised many ns but none of them were impable. Then he suddenly realized that he was not a killer and that he had never been one. Trying to avenge the Khan through assassination was no different than from fighting the enemy¡¯s strong points with his shorings.


    And he wasn¡¯t a bodyguard anymore. A bodyguard must have a lord to serve, and his lord had already been killed.


    He was a saberman, so Silver Condor decided to take up the identity he had once abandoned more than a decade ago and to openlypete with the Dragon King.


    And now he was standing before the Dragon King.


    Silver Condor was very familiar with the camp of the Court Attendants Army. The hundred thousand horsemen should have been the strongest bulwark of the Khan. They had indeed deterred the kings and kung fu experts of the Central ins with ulterior motives yet had not been unable to slow the blow from a familiar hand.


    The Khan had believed the wrong person. Silver Condor had reminded him from the very beginning that the Dragon King was an unpredictable figure, and that getting rid of him was more effective than winning his support.


    But this did not affect his loyalty to the Khan and his will for revenge.


    Some soldiers and junior officers recognized Silver Condor, pointing at him while whispering to each other in amazement. Gradually, they drew near him.


    ¡°It¡¯s really him.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not dead.¡±


    As a wing guard, Silver Condor was also a part of the Khan¡¯s myth. Many people thought that he had followed his master to heaven and never expected to see him walking on the earth.


    The air of joy in the tent was swept away, which happened at the most improbable moment and when it left, everyone felt a sense of loss.


    Shangguan Ru hadn¡¯t spoken much the whole night except when she persuaded Lianqing to teach the Dragon King the palm technique in a low voice. She had been watching quietly with a smile on her face. When Silver Condor approached and the killing aura enshrouded the tent, she became the saddest.


    She couldn¡¯t change it.


    Red Bat understood what was in the instructor¡¯s mind so she held her arm and silently supported her.


    Old Man Mu and others responded more slowly and still saw the challenge of Silver Condor as a continuation of the contest. It took them a while to realize that this was a fight of life and death.


    Gu Shenwei was ready. The short warm scene had been too strange and too unreal; he had enjoyed it so he was also very determined to abandon it.


    The narrow saber and the scimitar were unsheathed at the same time.


    This was the third fight between the two and both were confident that they had found the other¡¯s weakness and ws.


    The Dragon King¡¯s sabersmanship was especially fast so Silver Condor¡¯s countermeasure was to slow it down. The killer always pursued killing in one blow, so all Silver Condor had to do was dy the duel.


    The two previous fight had also made Silver Condor realize that although the Dragon King¡¯s kung fu was strange, it was very unstable, especially in their firstpetition. The Dragon King had hit his opponent but he himself had also stumbled and almost fallen over. Silver Condor felt that as long as he could survive the first one hundred strokes, he would be the final winner.


    Silver Condor¡¯s saber technique was unfathomable. Although Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t defeated in both fights, he hadn¡¯t won an outright victory either. In the previous fight, he had stabbed Silver Condor and instilled a strand of frosty Qi into the other side¡¯s body but still wasn¡¯t able to kill this strong opponent.


    So Gu Shenwei decided to use a palm technique this time.


    ¡°Can you wait a little longer?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not in a hurry.¡±


    Silver Condor did not show any eagerness. Although he had the saberman in his hand, he still possessed infinite patience. Not only had his career as a pce bodyguard changed his character, but it had also honed his sabersmanship and tactics.


    Gripping his Five Peaks Saber, Gu Shenwei turned to Lianqing. ¡°Monk, can you teach me your palm technique?¡±


    Lianqing was slightly stunned. ¡°Yes, but¡­ now?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no better time than now.¡±


    Everyone was surprised. Silver Condor narrowed his eyes slightly. He knew that the Dragon King had many tricks, but learning the palm technique now and using it against him right away? The Dragon King was acting too arrogantly and carelessly.


    Lianqing sped his hands and saluted. ¡°I¡¯ll pass the palm technique to you because this is also¡­ my Master¡¯s will.¡± The monk nced at Shangguan Ru and believed that Fayan¡¯s soul was looking at him through her. ¡°But you are still my enemy. I can abandon my vengeance, but I can¡¯t ept your thanks. We don¡¯t owe each other anything. And if this palm technique does not suit you, don¡¯t me me then.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart was slightly moved, but he had other ns, so he simply said, ¡°That¡¯s good.¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to demonstrate it?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯ll show it to you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei demonstrated the Formless Prajna Palm in front of everyone while still holding the saber in his right hand.


    More and more soldiers gathered around. Most of them felt that the Dragon King was mystifying things deliberately but Lianqing appeared quite panicked. ¡°Have you¡­ Have you learned it before?¡±


    Lianqing clearly remembered that he had only used this palm technique twice in front of the Dragon King and that his first showing of it had been iplete, but the Dragon King could already almost duplicate it and had even noticed some subtleties. Although the gripping of the saber in his right hand had affected theplete demonstration of some moves, he had clearly grasped the essence of the moves.


    ¡°I have only a superficial understanding.¡± Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t being modest. Although he could demonstrate almost all the moves of the Formless Prajna Palm, he knew nothing about how he should guide his internal Qi to fit with the moves, which was the core and foundation of the palm technique.


    Of course Lianqing knew this but he still admired the Dragon King. After all, he had spent three days learning those moves and from then on he had practiced very hard to be adept at it.


    ¡°s, my brother was indeed no match for you.¡±


    Lianqing had always held the idea that the Dragon King had conspired his elder brother through devious means. Now he had to admit that the Dragon King had the ability to win fair and square.


    ¡°The intricacy of the palm technique is a top secret. Pleasee over, Dragon King.¡±


    Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Lianqing whispered the secret manual into the Dragon King¡¯s ears. Old Man Mu and Shangguan Fei stood guard at the door, full of killing aura. ¡°No one¡¯s allowed to eavesdrop. You¡¯re Silver Condor? Do you have sharp ears? You need better back up a hundred paces.¡±


    Silver Condor ignored the mor of the two and focused on thinking about countermeasures for the uing fight. Duringst night¡¯s confrontation, the Dragon King had shown that he was capable of using saber and palm techniques at the same time. The reason he was learning the palm technique now was certainly to make up for the weakness of his left hand.


    ¡°The Dragon King is taking a risk,¡¯ he thought, and he just needed to stick to his principle of slowing down the other side¡¯s speed and ying steadily but surely. The newly learned palm technique would only be a bigger w among the Dragon King¡¯s techniques.


    Gu Shenwei finally learned theplete palm technique in less than an hour and his questions had all been answered.


    It was from this moment on that Lianqing no longer stared the Dragon King with ferocious eyes.


    Gu Shenwei walked right in front of Silver Condor and said, ¡°Sorry to keep you waiting for so long.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s worth the wait.¡±


    ¡°I said that I¡¯d spare you three times. This will be the second.¡±


    ¡°You can say that after the fight, as I¡¯m not going to go easy on you.¡±


    The two nodded in unison, indicating the beginning of the duel.


    This duel was destined to be full of twists and turns. Before the two sabers even moved, a cry came out from a distance, ¡°The election is over and the lords areing out.¡±


    ¡°Something has happened, something big has happened.¡±


    The excitement was quickly reced by panic, and the camp was full of people as if another riot was about to break out.


    The crowd dispersed, with only the two men ready to fight remaining still.


    ¡°Is that what you wanted to see?¡± asked Silver Condor.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t utter a sound. He didn¡¯t want to use his mouth when it was time to use his hands. Besides, he needed more direct evidence to remove the deep-seated doubts of Silver Condor.


    The scattered crowd gathered again with more people this time, looking as ck as a thick thicket of undergrowth.


    ¡°Commandant Gulun was killed,¡± someone said.


    ¡°He wanted to assassinate King Shengri but was killed,¡± someone added.


    ¡°The Dragon King is the culprit,¡± shouted another shrill voice.


    ¡°The Dragon King killed the Commandant and then killed Gulun. I saw him sneak into Gulun¡¯s tent,¡± shouted a louder voice.


    The long-umted doubts of the soldiers had finally be an open usation. Silver Condor felt his power suddenly increase by over a thousandfold.

 Chapter 688 - Saber Technique

    Chapter 688: Saber Technique


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    <i></i>


    <strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    A crowd, even if it were filled with well-trained soldiers, was more unpredictable and more fathomless than a restless sea. And only the most experienced old boatmen could foresee the storm before it came.


    Gulun, the deputymandant, looked out at the faces of the hundred or so chiliarchs, most of whom he was familiar with to the point that he could call out their names and backgrounds. But now, they seemed as strange as a pack of beasts with hostility hidden behind their smile as if they were ready to tear him apart at any moment.


    ¡®No more illusions; the facts are right in front of your eyes,¡¯ Gulun said to himself. The Dragon King might be able to work miracles but he couldn¡¯t ce all of his hopes on a foreigner. Although Azheba and his fellow officers were reckless, they had at least dared to put their ideas into practice. He had to do something too.


    The five candidates sat in a row, each with an empty wine-jar in front of them, while all the generals and officers ranked below captain had five small sheepskins in their hands, one of which was stained with blood. They would line up in front of the wine-jars and throw a sheepskin into each, and the man with the most blood-stained sheepskins would be the newmandant of the Court Attendants Army.


    ording to tradition, no one was allowed to show his sheepskin to the candidates, let alone speak to them, so eyes were their only means ofmunication.


    Gulun received a lot of suggestive eyes. If all of them were credible, he would be the newmandant for sure.


    He confidently looked back at them with firm eyes but clearly knew at heart that he, like the other three candidates, were just decorations.


    The vote was over and everyone heaved a sigh of relief. Gulun stood up with a smile and warmly greeted everyone who came by and asionally paused to listen to the whispers of the officers, pretending that everything was still up in the air.


    King Shengri, the mediocre king who had once been famous for his wine and bird addiction, was now the most popr figure in the Nond. Some officers were already eagerly congratting him before the result had been announced, and Gulun had to push his way through the crowd to reach him.


    ¡°Commandant Gulun¡­¡± King Shengri spread his arms as a weing gesture, already prepared with a few words of ridicule on the tip of his tongue.


    Gulun had also prepared a few greeting words, but he changed his mind at thest moment. He threw himself at King Shengri with a dagger held high in his hand. But he wasn¡¯t a killer and couldn¡¯t bear the dramatic temptation of words, so he shouted, ¡°You traitor to the Nond¡­¡±


    No one was allowed to enter the tent with a weapon, but in the Nond, a dagger was seen more as a tool than a weapon, so no one cared about them or had searched the deputymandant¡¯s body.


    King Shengri was so frightened that he didn¡¯t even have any time to put away his smile, which made the whole scene feel more bizarre.


    Gulun suddenly felt a pain in his lower back and fell onto King Shengri, no longer able to thrust out with his dagger.


    The second assassination in the Court Attendants Army had also failed.


    Gulun, the assassin, died under the gaze of over a hundred people. The news immediately spread through the whole camp as fast as a flood rushing out of a dam.


    No one knew when or how the message had changed as it proliferated, but more and more people began to mention the word ¡®Dragon King¡¯ in their retelling of the event.


    ¡°There¡¯s no such thing as coincidence. The Commandant just died and the Dragon King showed up soon afterward. Is he a flying immortal?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not an immortal but a devil. You know, he has a devil bird. It¡¯s said that the bird likes to eat dead people, and many people have died in the Royal Court recently¡­¡±


    ¡°Indeed, the night before yesterday I saw a veryrge shadow in the sky that definitely couldn¡¯t have been a cloud.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King must have ordered the devil bird to kill the Commandant so that he could then he appear and y the part of a good man.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King brought some strange drugs from the Western Regions and Commandant Gulun became a different person after being forced to eat them.¡±


    ¡°Do you remember, ever since that devil came, the Royal Court has been in turmoil. One misfortune after another ¡­¡±


    The soldiers woke up from their silent vigil like a group of dolls suddenly being brought life, who had been summoned by a mysterious force and gathered at the tent of the Dragon King.


    The influence of the rumors was fantastic. When the Dragon King was used and seen as a murderer, his power and image were magnified by a thousandfold. The crowd stopped a few dozen paces away and was held back by the moodswings of hatred and fear.


    ¡°Silver Condor is exorcising the devil.¡± These words were like a secret signal that spread through the crowd like ripples. No one asked how Silver Condor had suddenly appeared in the camp.


    The duel that was about to start was interrupted. Silver Condor took a nce at the crowd and said, ¡°As I said before, you can¡¯t escape the prairie.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head slightly, replying, ¡°I also said that I didn¡¯t kill him.¡±


    As he looked up at the starry sky, Silver Condor, who had never believed in ghosts and gods, could almost feel thete Khan¡¯s eyes staring down at him. He could not exin the coincidence of him suddenly receiving so much support in his challenge to the Dragon King. He wasn¡¯t very sure of winning at the beginning, but now he felt that losing was impossible.


    ¡°What are you waiting for? Kill the Dragon King, and subdue the demon!¡±


    It seemed like someone couldn¡¯t wait any longer.


    ¡°Ehh, aren¡¯t you King Riyao¡¯s guard? Why are you wearing a suit of the Court Attendants Army?¡±


    King Riyao¡¯s subordinates had just stirred up trouble in the camp so this usatory question immediately attracted the whole crowd¡¯s attention. No one found the questioner but all eyes quickly focused onto the one soldier who had just shouted ¡®Kill the Dragon King¡¯.


    ¡°He really is one of King Riyao¡¯s men.¡±


    The soldier who had been recognized panicked. There were people everywhere and he had no way to escape. ¡°I, I borrowed the clothes. I hate the Dragon King as much as you do. He¡¯s the devil and brings bad luck to the grasnds¡­¡±


    Someone said a few words in anguage that Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t understand, but all the soldiers present understood that the man was questioning whether this guard of King Riyao was a man of the Nond or not.


    The guard obviously didn¡¯t understand because he was also from the west of the Yellow River like Dhuta Kingkong. Although he had talked with people of the Nond before, he had never seriously learned the localnguage.


    ¡°I¡¯m loyal to the Nond. No one can doubt that¡­¡±


    No one doubted him. The crowd rushed toward the foreigner like a whirlpool of water and when the whirlpool dissipated, a corpse had appeared on their raised arms.


    The corpse drifted forward like a canoe and was finally heavily thrown into the duelling field, bruised and battered, its clothes torn into pieces.


    Old Man Mu quietly disappeared and reappeared. Except for the few people in the Dragon King¡¯s tent, no one else had noticed his whereabouts.


    Old Man Mu winked at Shangguan Ru, indicating that the corpse outside should not be counted as his fault.


    There were thousands of ways to kill people, and the saber was just one of them.


    Shangguan Ru softly sighed.


    Old Man Mu had uncovered the spy but in the end still failed to wash the Dragon King¡¯s image clean. The soldiers of the Court Attendants Army still regarded the Dragon King as a devil.


    Silver Condor took a step forward and believed that this was the best time to make a move.


    Gu Shenwei had the same idea so he made the first attack.


    Thousands of people witnessed the duel.


    The audience was actuallyrger during the first kung fupetition between the Dragon King and Silver Condor, but that had been more of a melee brawl with more than twenty people taking part. Most of that fight had been the Dragon King evading confrontation until he found an opportunity and ended the flight so suddenly that most people didn¡¯t even see the ending clearly.


    This time, though it was at night, was a one-on-one duel. After the first stroke of the Dragon King, the soldiers began to light torches and hurl them into the field, not to disturb either side but just to make it a little brighter and easier to see.


    Soon, the Dragon King and Silver Condor were circled by scattered torches, forming an irregr fighting area. In the firelight, the two¡¯s each movement could be clearly seen.


    Old Man Mu was the first to discover the change in the Dragon King¡¯s sabersmanship. He watched for a while, frowning. ¡°Has the Dragon King decided to renounce being a killer?¡±


    Very few people understood what he meant except for Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Fei.


    The golden roc sabersmanship focused speedy and surprise attacks. The practitioner would always tried tond a blow on the back and nks, and would retreate after one attack regardless of if they hit their target or not. Although the Dragon King had modified his saber technique a lot to better fit the Death Sutra Sabersmanship, he still adhered to the killer¡¯s mindset.


    But now he abandoned his strong point and was entangled in a closebat fight with Silver Condor. They had exchanged thirty moves in session but the distance between them had always remained within five paces.


    In the eyes of the thousands of soldiers, this duel was very eye-catching. A top-notch expert of the Nond and the Dragon King of the Western Regions were engaged in closebat. The two moved as swiftly as two wisps of drifting smoke clouds, and the shrill shing sounds between the narrow saber and the scimitar lingered in the air. Each cut seemed to have the power to break iron.


    No one knew it was intentional or not, but a torch eventually flew over the heads of the crowd and fell directly between the two¡¯s fierce fight.


    The two of them were like a tight string that had been plucked by a magical hand, and no external forces or even specks of dust could stick to the string.


    Neither one had time to deal with the torch but it refused tond naturally as if an invisible juggler were incessantly throwing it back up into the air.


    After a few bounces, the torch splintered apart, and the remnant of its spark leaped up like a firefly before disappearing into the darkness.


    Very few people could see how the torch had been shattered by the two sabers. Silver Condor had deliberately slowed down, and Gu Shenwei was no longer focusing on his attack speed. But their saber moves were still beyond the eyesight of the ordinary soldiers.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s face turned ashy pale, and he kept muttering, ¡°Grand Enlightenment Sword Sutra, Death Sutra¡­¡± The Dragon King¡¯s saber technique was beyond his imagination, and he couldn¡¯t help but feel envious.


    Shangguan Fei admired the de work but also had many doubts, ¡°Is this the Grand Enlightenment Sword Sutra? It doesn¡¯t look like it. Besides, the Dragon King is not using his sword. What kind of sabersmanship is this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the sabersmanship of the Gu family,¡± Shangguan Ru replied in a low voice. A few years ago, she had seen an old man perform this set of saber technique at the gate of the castle. Although she did not finish watching the performance, it had been deeply imprinted in her mind.


    What Gu Shenwei was using was not only a new Gu family¡¯s sabremanship modified to fit with the Death Sutra, but also with the newly learned Formless Prajna Palm. Although he hadn¡¯t practiced this saber technique for long, he still remembered it clearly and didn¡¯t feel rusty at all.


    Before the age of fourteen, he had practiced it once almost every day, even to the point of being bored to tears. The result was that he would never forget this set of moves for the rest of his life.


    The Gu family was famous for its two superb movesets of saber and spear, but Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t thought his family was worthy of such a title. It was not until after he had obtained both the yin and yang energy, used them to simte the Bnced Power, and learned Lianqing¡¯s secret method of directing internal Qi that he had finally understood the true essence of the Gu family¡¯s sabermanship.


    It wasn¡¯t a saber technique for killers because it was a sabersmanship thatpeted fair and square.


    Sometimes even the best killer might be forced out of the dark shadows and lose the advantage of a surprise attack. And in these cases, the golden roc sabersmanship would fall short.


    Gu Shenwei had immersed himself in a killer¡¯s environment for too long and he had to experience many lessons before he could understand this truth; he could not and did not want to hide in the darkness forever.

 Chapter 689 - Encirclement

    Chapter 689: Encirclement


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Silver Condor sincerely epted his defeat.


    The duel had went exactly the way he wanted it to go, and it hadsted for over a hundred moves. But the Dragon King¡¯s reaction and counter-y was unexpected. Instead of adopting a normal killer strategy of quick tricky attacks, the Dragon King had instead opted to fight as steadily and surely as he himself had.


    It was a breathtaking fight with no opportunistic moves or dirty tricks. Each move was made with the intent of being a final blow to end the fight but had ended up as a draw. They were like two rams vying for a mate, straightforwardly rushing at each other in a desperate manner.


    As thepetition went on, their moves became even simpler because the two had already grasped each other¡¯s strength. Silver Condor was no longer unfathomable, and the Dragon King also lost his unpredictableness andplexity. Convoluted tricks and moves would no longer deceive the other side and just wasted the already tight time.


    In hindsight, Silver Condor thought that he had actually had four or five chances to win but hadn¡¯t been able to seize any of the moments. He didn¡¯t feel particrly regretful though because the Dragon King had also missed a few of his own ws in the duel and was the one who caught the other¡¯s w first.


    Silver Condor had lost once again because of that strange frosty Qi. The two had entered a stalemate when their sabers shed, but then the Dragon King used his newly learned palm technique. He had no choice but to parry back with his own palm.


    The two had exchanged seventeen palm strikes. As they did so, the Dragon King became more and more adept at controlling his internal Qi and seemed to be progressing further in the technique with each palm strike. At first, the frosty Qi was like a petty thief who could onlyy hands on its target when the other side was unprepared. From the sixth stroke onward, it became a great thief who could break into a heavily guarded mansion, and on the eleventh stroke, it evolved again into a righteous armed officer who forced open the door and openly entered the main hall.


    In total, Silver Condor had umted nine strands of frosty Qi inside his body and his solution was simple and natural ¡ª just let them be. The first six chills vanished dully. Although Silver Condor felt very ufortable throughout the process, he had still been able to resist it.


    Silver Condor had dared to let all the frosty Qi strands in because every time the Dragon Kingunched a palm attack, he himself would also be injured inside.


    And Silver Condor was very confident about his endurance.


    But thest three strands of frosty Qi had crushed him. The Dragon King had hit him three times in a row with nearly no time between each hit, as he had used the saber in his right hand to force the other side to take the blows.


    Silver Condor had uncontrobly shivered and then lost.


    Gu Shenwei was exhausted. Abandoning the killer¡¯s style and entering a closebat fight with a kung fu master like Silver Condor where they exchanged blow for blow and shown him his own limit.


    If his frosty Qi couldn¡¯t have defeated the enemy in another three palm strokes, then it would have run wild inside its master¡¯s body and caused a serious Qi deviation.


    Such was his sabersmanship. He could have defeated Silver Condor a bit earlier if he could sh his saber a bit faster while maintaining its power or wielded his saber with a bit more strength while maintaining his speed. This was the first time that Gu Shenwei had felt that both his internal energy wasn¡¯t powerful enough and that his usage of it wasn¡¯t skillful enough.


    Few outsiders realized that the was Dragon King exhausted, and the onlookers only saw the Dragon King¡¯s narrow saber pressing against Silver Condor¡¯s chest.


    The wing guard of the Khan had lost, and even the pickiest spectator couldn¡¯t find an excuse to justify writing it off.


    Those thousands of officers and soldiers were dead silent.


    ¡°This is the second time,¡± Gu Shenwei said as he put away his Five Peaks Saber.


    A strange feeling suddenly appeared in Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart, bringing him a fit of dizziness and a little trepidation.


    He had just unconsciously vited one of the most basic ts of being a killer; he had put down his weapon in the face of a formidable enemy who hadn¡¯t yet lost his fighting ability.


    But he believed that Silver Condor would not take this chance to counterattack. His superficial understanding of this wing guard was one just aspect of his prediction. After he used the saber technique of the Gu family, this trust had naturally manifested as if it were a part of the sabersmanship.


    The best moment tounch an attack had disappeared. Gu Shenwei retreated three steps. The killer¡¯s ts once again became his instinct, and the sabersmanship of the Gu family could only bring out that momentary change.


    Silver Condor did have a chance to turn his loss into a win. Although it would have been very shameful to do so at that moment, his limited Jianghu experience told him that a few words of empty rhetoricbined with a day or two of letting the drama die down would make it so that most people would only remember the final victory with its glory being unstained by the contemptible means.


    The idea shed in his mind for a second but was instantly abandoned by Silver Condor with disgust. He hade to openly challenge the Dragon King and would also ept his defeat openly.


    ¡°A small favor won¡¯t change the truth.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to change anything,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He really wanted to lie down and rest but the situation required him to stand upright. ¡°I learned a lot from fighting with you, that¡¯s all.¡±


    Silver Condor froze. If someone else had said that line, he would have dismissed it and immediately ssified it as a perfunctory pleasantry, but it was said by the Dragon King and when he said those words, they seemed to have some real sincerity behind them.


    He turned around and walked into the dark crowd while dwelling on other ways to deal with the chilly Qi. ¡®There must be a way,¡¯ he thought. ¡®The Dragon King has learned a lot but that doesn¡¯t mean that I¡¯ve gained nothing.¡¯


    He would not turn to the soldiers for help because these people would never believe that the Khan had been killed by mortals. But neither would he stop their actions as it had nothing to do with him.


    The soldiers silently gave way without a word. Then they all took three or five steps forward and narrowed the circle in unison.


    The torches on the ground went out one by one. As the irregr physical boundary slowly disappeared, the soldiers sporadically took a few more steps forward. The defeat of the wing guard disappointed them but had also made them aware of their own strength.


    Gu Shenwei remained standing where he was. He was well-experienced in fighting from a numerical disadvantage, but he had nevere across such a situation where the besiegers had surrounded him and were closing in with no one ahead or behind. Everyone felt that he was no match for the Dragon King but everyone also believed that the Dragon King couldn¡¯t win against all of them as a whole.


    Proper fear with a little maniption would make the crowd divide and disperse. Gu Shenwei prepared himself while quietly praying that his Qi deviation would not trigger too soon and that the thousands of soldiers would only target him and not the few people in the tent behind him.


    Shangguan Fei, who had hid himself behind his sister long ago, peeped out in the hopes that he could find a few familiar faces in the crowd. He admired the calmness of the Dragon King but was also a bit confused. If it were him, he would have taken advantage of the crowd¡¯s surprise to flee the moment he had defeated Silver Condor because that was the best path to survival.


    Red Bat had no internal energy anymore, but she still drew her saber and stood guard at the door. She did not know what fearlessness was but knew that there were some things she had to do.


    The five guards were all from the Nond, and they technically belonged to the Second Consort, not the Dragon King or Shangguan Ru. But they also drew their sabers and even stood in front of Red Bat.


    There was a little fear in everyone¡¯s heart, as it was a feeling that was bound to facing a far stronger enemy that had nothing to do with cowardice.


    But Old Man Mu was the exception to the rule. He looked expectantly at Shangguan Ru with sparkling eyes like a money grubber standing in front of a golden mountain.


    Shangguan Ru shook her head with an indisputable look before stepping forward and leaving her surprised brother behind. She patted Red Bat on the shoulder in a soothing manner, passed by two guards, slowly walked towards the slowly shrinking circle, and shouted, ¡°I¡¯m Shangguan Ru of the Land of Fragrance. All of you have been deceive. The Dragon King did not kill the Commandant. I have proof.¡±


    The soldiers stopped but soon someone shouted, ¡°They are both in this together. There are always enchantresses around a devil.¡±


    Old Man Mu jumped out of the tent, ¡°Who said that? If you really are that bold, then stand out to let everyone see if you are a member of the Court Attendants Army.¡±


    There was a littlemotion in the crowd. One of the soldiers pushed his way out and said with his head held high, ¡°It¡¯s me. You said you had evidence, so why not show it to us now?¡±


    Old Man Mu didn¡¯t recognize him but judging from the reaction of the soldiers around him, he must be a real soldier of the Court Attendants Army. ¡°Who do you think you are? Everyone¡¯s got a mouth, so why is it your turn to speak¡­¡±


    Shangguan Ru motioned for Old Man Mu to stop hisme arguments and turned to the Dragon King who was standing a few steps away from her. Gulun had once given him a piece of evidence which could be used to identify the real murderer.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. That paper slip was in his robes but he couldn¡¯t take it out right now, especially not in front of such arge group of soldiers. ¡°I¡¯ll show the evidence at daybreak.¡±


    The soldierughed angrily and usatorily said, ¡°You want to stall for time so that the lords in the tent can save you. I won¡¯t be fooled; we won¡¯t be fooled.¡±


    The crowd took two more steps forward.


    ¡°Idiot, King Riyao¡¯s men were just trying to sow discord earlier. How can the Dragon King still rely on the lords to save him? He said that there was evidence and there must be evidence, so what¡¯s with all your hurry?¡± Old Man Mu snapped back aggressively, but his words weren¡¯t convincing at all. Everyone had seen the intricate rtionship between the kings. The fact that King Riyao wanted to kill the Dragon King didn¡¯t mean that no one wanted to save him either.


    Shangguan Ru also walked took a few steps as she held her wooden saber. ¡°Just think about it carefully, the Dragon King had no reason to assassinate the Commandant.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt grateful for Shangguan Ru¡¯s support but he really felt that it wouldn¡¯t work.


    Sure enough, another soldier refuted loudly, ¡°He¡¯s a killer. A killer works for money and doesn¡¯t need any other reason.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a devil who wants the Court Attendants Army to split up and the Nond to fall!¡±


    ¡°He kills people like flies to feed his devil bird!¡±


    ¡­


    There were so many odd reasons that even Old Man Mu couldn¡¯t get a word in edge-wise.


    Everyone was in a state of excitement and exuberance. Red Bat and the five guards ran to Shangguan Ru and the Dragon King. Shangguan Fei hesitated for a long while before finally deciding to walk to the door of the tent, ready to wait and see the situation before making his next move.


    Tangled warfare was about to break out at any moment, but the besiegers were the first to fall into disarray.


    ¡°We are screwed,¡± Old Man Mu excitedly sighed. ¡°Herees another bunch of people. Good girl, I will listen to you and stand here waiting to die.¡±


    Old Man Mu was right. At least several hundred more people joined the crowd and squeezed into the innermost circle, who looked at the Dragon King first and then turned around, drawing their sabers.


    They were here to protect the Dragon King.


    The besiegers retreated uncontrobly, and a distance of dozen or so steps was left between the inner and outer circles.


    ¡°Have you all gone mad?¡± A soldier from the outer circle angrily questioned, ¡°Why are you protecting the devil who killed the Commandant?¡±


    In order to mourn the Commandant, most of the bowstrings and crossbows had been loosened and left unused. Azheba missed the feeling of pulling the bowstring, but he still held his scimitar high up in the air and shouted, ¡°The Dragon King is not the murderer. We can guarantee it!¡±


    ¡°Ehh, aren¡¯t they the officers who were caught but then ran away?¡±


    The protectors of the Dragon King included those thirty or so officers who had been captured and more centurions and Decanuses, less than half of whom were ordinary soldiers.


    ¡°The officers are traitors!¡± A voice resounded through the crowd.

 Chapter 690 - The New Commander-in-chief

    Chapter 690: The New Commander-in-chief


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    When Shangguan Fei saw that there were more people on the Dragon King¡¯s side than the opposition¡¯s, he heaved a sigh of relief and felt that it was a great feat that he had walked to the door of the tent, especially when there were two people behind him.


    ¡°Counselor Fang, Monk, do not be afraid. I¡¯m here to protect you.¡± Shangguan Fei raised his voice and gave himself a reason why he wasn¡¯t standing on the frontlines.


    Lianqing was sitting on the ground and wordlessly pondering with his head lowered. Ever since the Dragon King had defeated his opponent with the Formless Prajna Palm, he had been in this state. If it weren¡¯t for his furrowed brow, he would have been the perfect image of an eminent monk lost in meditation.


    Fang Wenshi also didn¡¯t utter a sound. With his arms crossed behind his back, Fang Wenshi was also frowning, though he looked out at the battlefield from time to time.


    Shangguan Fei soon stopped caring about the safety of the two inside the tent. The situation outside was growing more and more tenser and the provocations between the two factions of the Court Attendants Army was starting to escte. They might move from a verbal fight to a physical one at any time.


    As if the scene wasn¡¯t messy enough, another group of people ran into the crowd; they were all bodyguards or entourages of the high-ranking generals and officers. There were several hundreds of people in this group, all shouting that they would bring the fugitives to justice. But their words fell t when they couldn¡¯t break through the blockade of the outer circle soldiers and dared not storm inside.


    Fang Wenshi felt that the time hade and strode out of the tent which shocked Shangguan Fei who was standing in the doorway. After leaving the tent, he went straight down the middle to stand between the Dragon King and Shangguan Ru, nodded to the Dragon King, putt his hands to his mouth, and then with all his might, shouted out, ¡°Please listen to me, everyone!¡±


    No one listened to him. Amidst the uproar of the shouting crowd, his appeal was negligible.


    Old Man Mu unwillingly exerted his internal energy and supplemented Fang Wenshi with another shout. ¡°All of you, shut up and listen to the counselor.¡±


    His voice was not only sonorous but also a little weird. The effect of the Seven Magical Tones was usually diminished the more people were around, but it was still powerful enough to ring in the thousands of soldiers¡¯ ears and force them to shut their mouth to cover their ears.


    After everyone quieted down, Fang Wenshi pointed to the rising morning sun and said, ¡°It¡¯s almost dawn. The election result is about to be announced. Everyone should wait for the newmandant¡¯s order.¡±


    As he finished, a drumbeat coincidentally came from the main tent, followed by a loud horn. A group of horsemen with long spears trotted over and cried out in unison, ¡°Themandant is inspecting the camp.¡±


    The word mandant¡¯ seemed to have a magical power. The crowd immediately spread out to both sides, and the officers and soldiers allid down their weapons and looked behind the cavalry.


    There were no brightly colored gs, no heavily armored guards, and only about thirty or so cavalrymen leading the way. The newmandant appeared at the back all alone with his left hand holding the reins and his right his helmet.


    The top of the helmet was covered with towering tricolored feathers. Everyone from the Court Attendants Army recognized that this was the legacy left by the formermandant, so they all knelt down. This helmet meant more than any announcement.


    Fang Wenshi was standing beside the Dragon King who muttered in surprise, ¡°It¡¯s him!¡±


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s face lit up. ¡°It¡¯s Tuershan. The officers chose Tuershan, so neither King Shengri nor King Riyao seeded.¡±


    Tuershan was quite stout and appeared very dignified as he sat on his horse. He had started as an ordinary soldier, moving up step by step until he reached the rank of a captain of ten thousand people, and now he was finally the rare non-royalmandant of the Court Attendants Army. The road he had taken was winding and legendary.


    Tuershan came from a poor herdsman family. When he had first became a member of the Court Attendants Army, he could barely afford the most basic weapons and armor required, but he never self-abased himself. Instead, he always appeared hot-tempered as if he had a strong background and backer behind him.


    On the first day that he entered camp, he had fought against some veterans, one against eight, and knocked them all down, though he himself was also beaten ck and blue and one of his ribs was broken in the scuffle. Hey in bed for three days and missed the initial training.


    As soon as he was able to get out of bed, Tuershan went into the veterans¡¯ tent and had another fight amidst the gazes of startled onlookers. This time he was the lone one standing at the end and all the veterans had been knocked down.


    He was put in solitary confinement for a month. Tuershan, therefore, always said that he had begun his service in prison. When he came out, he was appointed decanus, which caused a slight stir and earned himself the nickname ¡®Thunderman.¡¯


    After that, Thunderman Tuershan¡¯s promotion history almost mirrored the revenge and expansion history of the old Khan. He had made many contributions but also caused so much trouble that when the formermandant was ready to promote him to captain of ten thousand people, his opponents were numerous, and some even pulled their strings toin to the Khan.


    His background wasn¡¯t a problem. Instead, it was an Tuershan¡¯s advantage because by convention there must be one captain chosen from the non-noble lineage. The dissenters always pointed out that he had two shorings: First, he had a bad temper and was always hotheaded. Although he was a valiant general when charging the enemy lines, he wasn¡¯t careful enough to be in absolute charge of an army; Second, he was very rude and didn¡¯t care about the distinction between the nobles and the peasants, and often got drunk with the ordinary soldiers or even servants, which was very disgraceful.


    The old Khan summoned this well-known ¡®Thunderman¡¯ and only asked him one question. ¡°You are so fat. Can you still war?¡±


    Tuershan¡¯s reaction hereter became a far-spread story, provided that the Khan had forgiven him and that he also became a captain of course.


    The fat Tuershan merely kowtowed to the Khan before he got up and left without a word. It was not until he had disappeared at the door of the tent that all the people in the tent including the Khan realized what had happened and were all surprised.


    Over a dozen eunuchs and guards rushed out after him to denounce him. After a great uproar, Tuershan came back with two men under each arm and three under his feet, and several more still pursuing him from behind. Puzzled, he asked the Khan, ¡°Why did theye at me before I even got on the horse?¡±


    The Khanughed and admitted that not only could this fat man go to war but he was also valiant enough to be a captain. But the Khan was said to have made another judgment privately: Tuershan really couldn¡¯t take fullmand as chief of the army.


    That had happened ten years ago, and regardless of if the story was true or not, the formermandant had never let Tuershan go to war as amander. Almost all the noble officers of the army had taken charge once, and the senior generals had either retired or died but Tuershan was still worked as a captain. If nothing happened, he would probably have never been promoted. Even the position of deputymandant seemed unreachable to him.


    No one expected that he would be elected as the newmandant, not even those who had cast their bloodstained sheepskin for him.


    The chiliarchs were loyal to different kings who held grudges against each other. Many people foresaw that they were on the verge of failure and cast their bloodstained sheepskins in Tuershan simply for mischief.


    The number of people who had this idea was so great that the kings were all dumbfounded after counting the sheepskins. There were more than a hundred bloodstained sheepskins, and Tuershan had seventy-seven of them. No matter how they calcted it, he had beaten second ce by more than forty votes.


    Tuershan took the tricolored helmet and went out on his inspection of the camp as the newmandant, deciding to settle the disputes thaty ahead right away and restore the order of the Court Attendants Army.


    ¡°Fxxk it. Where are the officers who tried to assassinate the generals? Come forward!¡± The majesty of the newmandant didn¡¯t diminish even when cursing.


    Over thirty officers rose up from the crowd protecting the Dragon King. If it were a quarter of an hour ago, they would have scoffed at thismandant who used to be an ordinary soldier. But now, in the face of the tricolored feather helmet, they were as docile as a flock of sheep.


    As the best army of the Nond, disturbance and rebellion only urred when the Court Attendants Army was leaderless.


    ¡°You brats have a lot of nerve. How dare you offend your superior! Aren¡¯t you Azheba? It¡¯s only been several days since you became a chiliarch and you want to start your career over?¡±


    Azheba blushed. ¡°No, I¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up. I didn¡¯t ask you to speak.¡± Tuershan mocked as if the noble officer in front of him was nothing more than a lowly servant. ¡°Heh, you are bold but also very incapable. I heard that you all got beaten and captured by only a few guards?¡±


    The officers bent lower because this was indeed very shameful and no excuse could be made for it.


    Tuershan shook his head. ¡°You¡¯ve disgraced the Court Attendants Army. Shame on you! But since you managed to kill the guards and run away on your own, that saves a little bit of face.¡±


    An officer wanted to exin but stopped at Azheba¡¯s hint. There was no need to get the Dragon King involved at this point.


    ¡°So I¡¯ve decided ¡ª¡± Tuershan dragged his voice along. This was the first order he would give after bing themandant. ¡°that all the officers previously running riot will be confined for ten days and confiscated three months¡¯ worth of sry. Will you plead guilty?¡±


    This was almost like an amnesty. The officers, with a look of amazement and excitement, fell to their knees one after another, and said in unison, ¡°Yes.¡±


    Tuershan urged the horse to trot to the Dragon King without any guards following. ¡°Ah, Dragon King, you really are a troublemaker. Should I thank you for returning the body of themandant or kill you to avenge him?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t kill the formermandant, and killing me won¡¯t avenge him.¡±


    ¡°I hear you have evidence?¡±


    ¡°No, that was just a stalling tactic. I believe that the newmandant is a reasonable person.¡±


    ¡°Haha.¡± Tuershanughed out loud. ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s word has offended everyone. You see, there are a hundred thousand brothers of the Court Attendants Army, but those who doubt you only number in the several thousands, and there are hundreds of people who even came to protect you. It¡¯s evident that most of the soldiers are reasonable men.¡±


    ¡°It seems that my judgment of themandant was right.¡±


    Tuershanughed again, then turned and said loudly, ¡°You idiots. If the Dragon King really was the murderer, he would have quietly run away. Why would he stay at the scene? Is he afraid that no one will suspect him? If you continue suspecting each other, sooner orter you¡¯ll end up with no one left to collect your body.¡±


    Tuershan¡¯s argument was of little substance but it had a surprisingly good effect. For the soldiers of the Court Attendants Army, any words said by themandant had an unquestionable authority.


    The crisis seemed to be over. The people around the Dragon King were the most surprised.


    Fang Wenshi nced at the Dragon King and knew that something must be wrong. The Dragon King wasn¡¯t the kind of person to lie in public. Since he had said that he would show proof at daybreak, he must have something in his hand.


    Shangguan Ru was even more surprised because she had personally seen Commandant Gulun hand over two pieces of paper to the Dragon King and im that one of them could be used to identify the mole. Although she hadn¡¯t seen the contents, she believed that it couldn¡¯t be false.


    The Dragon King still had an impassive demeanor. Shangguan Ru suddenly realized that the mole in Gulun¡¯s eyes was surprisingly this newmandant.

 Chapter 691 - Ignition

    Chapter 691: Ignition


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    King Riyao Tuosai was infuriated. He should have had the loyalty and votes of nearly thirty officers in the Court Attendants Army, but Wucuo had only received a dozen or so bloodstained sheepskin votes.


    ¡°Traitors!¡± He was fuming inside the tent. Wucuo was awkwardly standing behind him, while several officers stood in front of him, even more embarrassedly than Wucuo. Many officers had actually refused toe to see this lord.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think that I¡¯m soft-hearted. Your fathers and brothers are still in my hands, and trampling a few small tribes is easy enough¡­¡±


    One of the centurions couldn¡¯t help but look up and say, ¡°The few of us who havee before Your Highness have already proven our loyalty.¡±


    ¡°Huh, do you think I¡¯m a fool too? Save your breath if you are thinking you can trick me into telling you anything. I¡¯ll teach a lesson to all of you; kindness is useless and only the power of the bow and arrow can truly determine the lord!¡±


    This was the scene Gu Shenwei saw when he came in. The officers, though bowing their heads, all carried a defiant air about them.


    ¡°Get out.¡± Tuosai waved the disloyal away, then coldly looked at the Dragon King. ¡°The Dragon King didn¡¯t attend the announcement ceremony.¡±


    During this ceremony, the Dragon King was supposed to assassinate the newmandant if he was undesirable.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t have escaped afterwards. King Riyao should know that.¡±


    Wucuo hurriedly said, ¡°Of course my lords knows that. This should not be med on the Dragon King. It all happened so suddenly that no one could do anything about it.¡±


    Tuosai had finally managed to wrest his anger under control but his tone was still a bit stiff. ¡°Hmm, it¡¯s not your fault, but someone else¡¯s ¡ª bring him in!¡±


    After a while, the ¡®culprit¡¯ showed up.


    Dhuta Kingkong flopped on the ground with his hands tied behind his back. ¡°Please forgive me, Your Highness.¡±


    Tuosai¡¯s anger red up again. ¡°You, just a little saberman, dared to forge orders from me to perpetrate outrages and make enemies against me everywhere. Who gave you the guts to do this? Who put you up to do this?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯m innocent ¡­¡±


    Dhuta Kingkong¡¯s innocence would probably never be vindicated. Tuosai drew his saber, raised it high in the air with both hands, and then cut down like he was chopping firewood, not giving a single care for the blood that sshed onto him. He didn¡¯t stop there, adding on two more cuts even when the other side had fallen to the ground and was motionless.


    Tuosai handed the weapon to his entourage, took the towel, and wiped the blood off of his hands. ¡°Disy the corpse in public and let everyone know that hemitted all his sins of his own volition.¡±


    Wucuo¡¯s face turned pale. Tuosai nced at him and said, ¡°Heh, the general is indeed not as cool-headed as the killer.¡±


    There was nothing strange about Gu Shenwei¡¯s cool-headedness because Tuosai¡¯s means of killing was not evenparable to the savageness of the Golden Roc Castle killer disciples.


    Tuosai casually asked, ¡°I heard that the Dragon King has a vital piece of evidence in his hand?¡± as he threw the bloody handkerchief onto the ground.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s just one of my small stalling tactics.¡±


    ¡°Haha, does the Dragon King think that it¡¯s not safe here? Or does he think that I can¡¯t hold on any longer?¡± There was a desperate madness about Tuosai. He felt like a desperate cornered beast who was ready to stake everything on a final blow.


    ¡°Come with me.¡± Tuosai took the lead to leave the tent, confident that he had the absolute advantage and that he would not give up like this.


    In the main tent, Tuershan, the newmandant, had just finished inspecting the camp and was talking to a group of officers. Several lords were also present.


    ¡°Can anyone tell me what¡¯s going on?¡± Tuershan asked in consternation while he raised his stout arms high up. It seemed like he were begging the gods or trying to pull something from the void. ¡°Are my brothers angry with me? Why haven¡¯t they put up the g?¡±


    Tuershan¡¯s inspection tour had ended hastily as his excitement had subsided while his uneasiness and doubts rose. The newmandant had been announced, but he didn¡¯t understand why the soldiers were still unwilling to raise the g and tighten their bowstrings; they were still standing in silent vigil. Compared to them, the several thousands of people who surrounded and protected the Dragon King were more obedient soldiers.


    No one could answer the question. A chiliarch reservedly guessed, ¡°They may be waiting for themandant to give out the order.¡±


    Tuershan shook his head. Even the Khan thought that he was reckless and vulgar, but he was not stupid. The title ofmandant was only truly weighty and valuable when it was acknowledged by all the soldiers. Before that, he could not hastily give any order. He even began to wonder if it had been wrong to pardon Azheba and others and to let go of the Dragon King.


    The tent p was suddenly lifted and a crowd rushed in.


    Tuershan had been in office for less than two hours, and not all the rules had been established. So he wasn¡¯t exactly surprised to see the intruders. ¡°King Riyao?¡±


    The one who had entered was precisely Tuosai, followed by a dozen or so guards. Gu Shenwei was also among them but he immediately stood to the side to show that he was just a bystander. Wucuo hesitated a bit before he also stood beside the Dragon King.


    Tusai didn¡¯t notice the two¡¯s behavior. His whole attention was focused on the newmandant. ¡°Now I know why the soldiers are unwilling to set up the g.¡±


    ¡°Oh, why?¡± Perhaps it was because he felt that Tuosai hade with no good intentions, but Tuershan looked very polite.


    ¡°Because you are unworthy of the title.¡±


    ¡°Why do you say that?¡± King Shengri, who had arrived earlier, countered first. ¡°Weren¡¯t you there during the counting?¡±


    Tuershanughed. ¡°It¡¯s not strange at all. I knew that a veteran with no background like me could never be themandant. Someone just wouldn¡¯t be pleased to see that happen.¡±


    Tuosai waved his hand like a pampered and arrogant teenager throwing a tantrum in front of his elder. ¡°It has nothing to do with your background. I just want to ask one thing. What is the extra bloody sheepskin about?¡±


    This was an unsettling mystery. The news had not yet been spread but all the kings invested in the election clearly knew about it.


    Tuosai shouted to the chiliarchs in the tent, ¡°One hundred and sixteen people voted but in the end, there were one hundred and seventeen bloody sheepskins that were counted. Someone cheated!¡±


    The chiliarchs were only responsible for voting, and it was the first time they had heard of this incident. Puzzled, they looked at each other.


    ¡°We¡¯ve agreed that the extra sheepskin doesn¡¯t affect the result. Why are you mentioning it again?¡± King Shengri¡¯s face darkened.


    ¡°That won¡¯t do with me.¡± Tuosai had seen deceptions all around him and lost all respect towards his uncle. ¡°It¡¯s simple. Tuershan was bought off by you, and you two set up a conspiracy to keep the Court Attendants Army all to yourself. Unfortunately, the spirit of the Khan won¡¯t allow such a thing to happen. The soldiers will not acknowledge this newmandant.¡±


    King Shengri flew into a great rage. He was just about to say something before Tuershan hinted for him to hold back.


    Tuershan leaned slightly forward and appeared to be more courteous as he said, ¡°What does King Riyao want to do?¡±


    ¡°Re-election. This time no more tricks in voting. The four candidates will stand side by side, and the chiliarchs can stand behind who they support. That will make everything crystal clear.¡±


    Tuosai was well aware that the main reason why Tuershan had been elected was because there was too much infighting among the other candidates which made many chiliarchs feel tired. A public election would force the officers to only vote for the generals on their own side.


    ¡°No need. I know who that extra bloody sheepskin belongs to,¡± said one chiliarch.


    Tuosai was both enraged and astonished because this chiliarch was supposed to be his own man who had just been reprimanded, but now here he was openly taking the side of the enemy. ¡°Shut up. You are not entitled to speak here.¡±


    King Shengri sneered. ¡°So, you dare not ept the truth?¡±


    Encouraged, the chiliarch stepped forward and loudly said, ¡°It was me who cast an extra bloody sheepskin and I cast it for Wucuo.¡±


    Wucuo shook his head with a bitter smile. Tuosai, who blushed at this grant betrayal, grabbed a saber from his entourage and cried out, ¡°I¡¯ll kill you! Unfaithful, unjust traitor.¡±


    A group of officers drew their sabers all at the same time and stood in front of the chiliarch.


    Tuosai was shocked. In his imagination, the officers were supposed to turn to his side when the truth was revealed. ¡°Idiots, you are all being fooled.¡± He still didn¡¯t realize what his mistake had been.


    ¡°Get out! Even if themandant forgives you, the Court Attendants Army doesn¡¯t wee you anymore.¡± The one who spoke was Azheba who, like many others, served Tuershan faithfully.


    For the first time, Tuosai felt frightened. He abruptly turned to look at the two nearby men.


    Wucuo, formerly a pawn of Tuosai, was now a chess-watcher and half-hearted; he was currently carefully studying his big toe with his head slightly lowered. Although he might be the newmandant if Tuershan was overthrown, he didn¡¯t seem to care about that at all.


    The Dragon King had never been trusted by Tuosai. The rumors of his affair with Luo Ningcha and the condescending manner he had when breaking into Tuosai¡¯s tent all made Tuosai feel like a fishbone was stuck in the throat whenever he looked at that man.


    The Dragon King stared into Tuosai¡¯s eyes, which clearly indicated that he would not draw his saber for him.


    As for the other kings, although they did not like King Shengri and Tuershan, they, like all the officers, were acting like fools and cowardly giving up on their own interests submissively.


    Tuosai had never been as angry as now when he wanted to destroy the whole world. He pointed at the crowd with his saber and swore, ¡°I¡¯ll see you on the battlefield. Do not expect any mercy from me.¡±


    A frightened guard reminded his lord in a low voice, ¡°Your Highness, we should get out of here now.¡±


    Tuosai wasn¡¯t afraid. He had brought a thousand guardsmen with him which was a great advantage over the other kings. As long as the majority of the soldiers of the Court Attendants Army continued observing their silent vigil and stayed out of the fight, he could still stir a storm.


    He turned and ran out of the tent, stumbling, but with a bold n in mind.


    Tuosai jumped onto a horse and galloped towards his silver-armored army without waiting for the guards behind. ¡®ughter,¡¯ he thought. ¡®Kill all the officers and kings and then be the sole master of the prairie.¡¯


    He galloped past the confused officers, the whispering soldiers, and grew more and more confident. Luck was still on his side all the way and would not abandon him at such a time for sure.


    The silver-armored army was a few dozen paces away, and afterst night¡¯s disputes, everyone was on guard. That meant the soldiers¡¯ morale was high, which was a good sign in Tuosai¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Fight, prepare to fight!¡± cried Tuosai, feeling a sense of security filling him up.


    What apanied it was also an arrow. Tuosai watched it fly towards him and couldn¡¯t believe that it hade from the silver-armored soldiers.


    Tuosai fell off of his horse, though his foot got caught in the stirrups. Like that, he was dragged in front of the silver-armored army.


    He had been shot through the heart. This was the first arrow fired from the camp after the assassination of the formermandant.


    ¡°There¡¯s a traitor!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a spy. The Court Attendants Army wants to kill our lord!¡±


    ¡°The Court Attendants Army is going to kill us all!¡±


    ¡­


    The anger of the panic-stricken silver-armored army was ignited into action.

 Chapter 692 - Disobedience

    Chapter 692: Disobedience


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The anger of the silver-armored army had been ignited by the death of their lord, but what they ran into was essentially a vast swathe of coal fields smouldering in the dark ¡ª the soldiers of the Court Attendants Army resisted back in an even more violent manner.


    Looking at the soldiers who acted without orders, the newmandant, Tuershan, together with the crowd of kings and officers in the doorway, was speechless with consternation.


    Gu Shenwei was the first of that group to react. He rushed into the crowd, dragged someone out, and ran towards his tent.


    ¡°Spread the order that everyone must stay where they are!¡± Tuershan wanted to figure out what was going on first.


    ¡°King Riyao¡¯s soldiers are killing people everywhere. We should stop them,¡± Azheba reminded the Commandant.


    ¡°The tenth corps will mount their horses and fight, but the others will remain as is.¡± Tuershan immediately adjusted his order. The tenth corps used to be under hismand and therefore should be the most obedient and loyal.


    Shangguan Ru and several others were still standing guard at the door of the tent and knew nothing about what was going on outside, but all of them had drawn their sabers and swords, staying attentive.


    Gu Shenwei pushed the person he had dragged out to Fang Wenshi before rushing straight to Shangguan Ru. ¡°Get on the me Foal and return to camp now.¡±


    ¡°What about you guys¡­?¡±


    ¡°Do not argue with me. The soldiers of the Land of Fragrance must be kept safe.¡±


    Shangguan Ru nodded and walked towards the me Foal outside the tent.


    ¡°Old Man Mu, go with her.¡± Gu Shenwei appointed her a bodyguard.


    ¡°Ah?¡± Old Man Mu was a bit reluctant to do so. Between having an opportunity to kill someone and a chance to save someone, he still preferred the former.


    ¡°Let me protect my sister,¡± volunteered Shangguan Fei. He made the choice opposite of Old Man Mu¡¯s.


    ¡°No. Old Man Mu is light and won¡¯t affect the speed of the me Foal.¡±


    Never had he expected that he would be refused at such a critical moment because of his body weight. Shangguan Fei was even wishing that he was the one who had practiced the so-called Seven Rotation Skills.


    Shangguan Ru mounted the horse as Old Man Mu stood behind her; one was reluctant to part with her acquaintances while the other was unwilling to leave the emerging scuffle behind.


    All of them, including Red Bat who had no internal energy, Lianqing who wanted to keep to his precept of no-killing, the five faithful guards, and the feeble military counselor, had reasons to want to flee this ce. When she looked at them, Shangguan Ru felt that she was acting in bad faith.


    ¡°You are the instructor of the Land of Fragrance,¡± Gu Shenwei said as he patted the horse¡¯s hind. The me Foal, long impatient, leaped out and darted past several quickly-moving soldiers in the blink of an eye.


    Only Shangguan Ru could quickly gather all of the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance together to break out of the siege before the news of the murder of King Riyao became widespread.


    ¡°The gate seems to be closing,¡± said Shangguan Fei bitterly, who wished that he was the one sitting on the me Foal.


    Gu Shenwei leaped to the top of the tent and gazed out towards the gate. Sure enough, a group of soldiers was pushing two huge wooden doors to close the camp.


    Someone shot out a hidden arrow, but Gu Shenwei easily caught it and threw it on the ground, his eyes still fixed on the matchless red horse.


    It was only a dozen paces away from the gate now. Old Man Mu acted when the gate was about to close. Like a stone fired from a slingshot, Old Man Mu flew over Shangguan Ru¡¯s head andnded in front of the gate before the me Foal had reached it.


    Gu Shenwei could no longer see the situation clearly. From where he stood, it looked like the gate hadpletely closed but the red horse had also disappeared.


    He didn¡¯t jump down right away and instead continued looking around. Not far from the gate, a thousand fear-driven silver-armored soldiers were fighting a bloody battle. Their advantage was that their bows were prepared and there was no need to string them. But their weakness was that there were too few of them and they had nomander. They had separated into into groups of dozens of people, each trying to fight their own way out in different directions like fishes that had jumped ashore and were flopping around, waiting to be ughtered.


    Thirty percent of the Court Attendants Army was stationed outside and the rest had remained in the camp. It was these seventy-thousand people who had been observing a silent vigil for the formermandant. Most of them didn¡¯t attend the siege of the Dragon King but they had also refused to set up the g after the newmandant was elected. Now, however, they all acted.


    Like the Silver-armored Army, the Court Attendants Army was also leaderless. But everyone seemed to know what they needed to do. Encircling the Silver-armored Army, closing the gates of the camp, and barricading the main passages of the camp. They acted as meticulous and organized as if they were carrying out a carefully nned drill.


    The generals and officers had been busy electing the newmandant all night. Who had instigated the soldiers to do what they were doing? Gu Shenwei felt a bit uneasy and was very d that he had made a prompt decision to have Shangguan Ru escape from the camp. Those one thousand female archers were the only trusted army he trusted on the prairie. Without them, he would have nothing left.


    Gu Shenwei jumped back onto the ground.


    ¡°How is it?¡± Shangguan Fei asked nervously.


    ¡°The whole camp is mutinying. King Riyao¡¯s guards were just more unlucky than us.¡± Gu Shenwei walked to the counselor.


    King Riying looked a bit bewildered and felt that the Dragon King was making a fuss by dragging him all the way here. He turned to look at the soldiers and officers hurrying by and said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem that serious.¡±


    King Riying had shown his clever side before but he had also inherited the prevalent weakness of the royal family of the Nond: taking their status as royalty for granted and sometimes neglecting the signs of treachery even when it was right under their nose.


    Gu Shenwei had observed the soldiers all night and was perhaps the only person in the camp who was interested in the silence of the soldiers. From the silence he felt a suppressed anger and resentment that seethed beneath the surface like a volcano right before it erupted.


    When the thousands of soldiers surrounded him, he thought that he had been mistaken because soldiers who were easily instigated couldn¡¯t amass much power. What happenedter showed that most of the soldiers were stillnguishing in anger.


    The arrow shot at King Riyao Tuosai had simply released everything.


    Looking at King Riying, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know how to exin his feelings. ¡°The soldiers are blockading the camp. I¡¯m afraid that their targets are not just King Riyao¡¯ guards.¡±


    ¡°Who else do they want to kill? The annoying officers?¡±


    Over a dozen soldiers walked past them a few steps away with sabers in their hands instead of bows and arrows. They looked forward steadily as if there were a fire ahead waiting for them to put it out.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe even they themselves don¡¯t know. But the camp is already very dangerous, so you should run away with us.¡±


    King Riying did not answer at once but rather turned to look in the direction of the main tent which was the heart of order. Groups of officers were giving orders in all directions. It seemed that the situation was still reparable. But he also noticed that not far away, a centurion was shouting with all his might but receiving no response. The soldiers simply ignored his shouts and walked around him, continuing on their way to an unknown destination.


    ¡°Crazy,¡± King Riying muttered, and then his eyes lit up. ¡°This is a risky situation but also a chance. Dragon King, do you see it? Although Tuershan and King Shengri have taken the title of Commandant, they can¡¯t control this army. The Court Attendants Army still has no leader, and this is ourst chance.¡±


    Through the counselor Fang Wenshi, they had barely agreed to an alliance. Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t even had a deep conversation with this king yet, but King Riying was already taking him as one of his own and had said ¡®our chance.¡¯


    What King Riying said made sense. Gu Shenwei turned to Fang Wenshi, hoping to get some advice from him as well.


    The soldiers in the camp actually refused to obey orders. Fang Wenshi had nevere across this kind of thing and even the bookscked any kind of precedence for this kind of scene. ¡°There¡¯s something fishy going on. There must be someone behind the scene.¡±


    ¡°It can¡¯t be Tuershan and King Shengri.¡± The more King Riying observed the situation, the more he became sure of himself. ¡°They are panicking now. Whoever can clean up the mess will be the future leader of the Court Attendants Army. Dragon King, I need your help.¡±


    Gu Shenwei agreed with King Riying¡¯s judgment which meant that the instigator was also probably not the Waning Moon Hall.


    Fang Wenshi knew that he had to give clear advice, so he thought for a while before saying, ¡°It¡¯s an opportunity for sure. Very risky, but it may yield twice the result with half the effort. Perhaps we can also take this chance to get rid of King Shengri¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew what the counselor meant. He had cautiously stayed in the camp for one night and should not squander the chance in front of his face.


    Gambling was the weak¡¯s only powerful weapon. Only by relying on it could there be examples of the weak oveing the strong. Gu Shenwei knew this very clearly but his years of habit told him that one could not ce all one¡¯s hopes on a gamble.


    ¡°I¡¯ll stay; the others should hide and leave the camp at their first opportunity.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll also stay to run errands for the Dragon King,¡± said Red Bat at once.


    The five guards almost forgot they were soldiers of the Second Consort as they said in unison, ¡°We are not deserters.¡±


    Fang Wenshi wasn¡¯t very enthusiastic but he had a good reason to stay too. ¡°The situation in the camp is constantly changing. As a counselor, I can¡¯t leave.¡±


    Having no alternative, Shangguan Fei felt that he had to say something, ¡°Then I won¡¯t go either. The Dragon King always needs a guard¡­¡±


    ¡°All right. Shangguan Fei will stay, and the rest of you will wait your turn to leave here. Do not go to the front gate.¡±


    ¡°Go to the North Gate instead.¡± King Riying was more familiar with the camp so he made a suggestion, ¡°It was the exclusive passageway of the old Khan. Though it¡¯s not open at ordinary times, there¡¯s a small door on the right side of the gate which is not well watched.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes became stern, indicating that no further objection was allowed. Then he walked to Lianqing. The monk did not intend to stay. He had finally given up his hatred towards the Dragon King but neither would he pledge allegiance to him.


    ¡°Can you protect them?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    The two looked at each other for a while. Lianqing suddenly said, ¡°I have a question for you.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°You are very smart, but the palm technique you performed didn¡¯t seem like the original Formless Prajna Palm. But why it was more powerful?¡±


    ¡°Since it¡¯s called the Formless Prajna Palm, then who cares about what form it looks like? Sever your obsession. Just as the Dharma is not fixed, the palm technique is formless.¡± Gu Shenwei had almost forgotten the Essay of Severing Obsession but still could blurt out a phrase or two.


    For Gu Shenwei, these words were more like a perfunctory saying, but Lianqing was enlightened. He stood there for a moment and then bowed deeply to the Dragon King before he said to Red Bat and others, ¡°Follow me.¡±


    King Riying watched the monk and others leave curiously and said, ¡°The Dragon King has a group of loyal subordinates.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s concept of ¡®loyalty¡¯ was seldom simr to that of the royal family of the Nond, but he only nodded slightly and didn¡¯t bother to exin.


    King Riying then turned to Shangguan Fei, whose face was cloudy and uncertain. ¡°Even this one is very loyal.¡±


    Shangguan Fei managed to squeeze out a smile, knowing very well why he had been left behind. ¡°Only by staying the Dragon King¡¯s side can I exert all my strength; the Dragon King is giving me a chance to prove myself.¡±


    The officers who had left to deliver orders returned to the main tent like a falling tide. Judging from the panic written on their faces, their task had obviously failed. The soldiers refused to carry out the order to stay where they were.


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± King Riying asked. He wasn¡¯t familiar with the Dragon King but the few simple things he had experienced had convinced him to trust this young man whose face was always pale.

 Chapter 693 - Dispute

    Chapter 693: Dispute


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Everytime an officer came back, Tuershan¡¯s face would darken a shade deeper.


    There was very little good news. Most officers were ignorant of what was going on in the camp, and they were more rmed than the soldiers that their own orders were being ignored.


    This shouldn¡¯t have happened and couldn¡¯t have happened. In the Nond, military orders were imperative and could not be disobeyed, and the Court Attendants Army was always highly disciplined in following orders. In the face of such open insubordination, the officers were at their wits¡¯ end, unable to recall any past experiences they could draw on.


    Looking at the noble officers swarming back, Tuershan suddenly felt a surge of disgust in his heart, but he still had to listen to their reports.


    ¡°The soldiers went mad and are refusing to carry out any of our orders.¡±


    ¡°No one knows why they are running around.¡±


    ¡°King Riyao¡¯s soldiers are nearly finished.¡±


    ¡°I saw a centurion being killed with my own eyes. He shed with the soldiers¡­¡±


    ¡°The tenth corps¡­ I don¡¯t know where it went.¡±


    Very few officers were flexible enough to adapt to the situation. As soon as they discovered that most of the soldiers weren¡¯t obeying the order of ¡®stay where you are,¡¯ they summoned and gathered the soldiers who were still obedient at the main tent.


    Tuershan realized that he had made a mistake. If he had initially ordered the soldiers to assemble, more might havee. But now only several thousand people had answered the summons, among whom there were still soldiers that changed their minds and were turning around to join the crowd that was out of control.


    He felt a bit of fear. The officers who had gathered around him were almost all aristocrats. The officers who had been drafted from the ordinary soldiers had never been many, but now they were even rarer. Most of them had joined the ordinary soldiers.


    Why hadn¡¯t there been any warning of such a divisive split? Why was there no one sending him news secretly in advance? Wasn¡¯t he the most popr and respected general among the ranks of the ordinary soldiers?


    In the face of fear, Tuershan¡¯s instinctive reaction was to challenge it. So heughed several times before turning to face the kings. ¡°It looks like someone doesn¡¯t want me to be the Commandant. Honestly, I don¡¯t care. At worst, I will just go home and watch the sheep graze. However, I¡¯m a stubborn man and despise people who stab me in the back. I have to find out who he is.¡±


    The kings all had their own concerns and hadn¡¯t felt the danger yet. Like King Riying, all they saw was a good opportunity.


    At this point, it was no longer necessary to cover up the rtionship between them. King Shengri stood beside Tuershan and said to the kings, ¡°Do not think that you can turn the table though just a little mutiny. Tuershan has met the expectations of the masses and he was jointly chosen by all the officers.¡±


    Then King Shengri turned to the group of officers, ¡°This is your new Commandant. Does anyone have a problem with it?¡±


    A cold voice came out from the crowd. ¡°I heard there was an extra bloody sheepskin. Is it true?¡±


    ¡°Lies!¡± King Shengri¡¯s answer was clear and resolute.


    ¡°But it¡¯s true,¡± said a young king inappropriately. ¡°We counted the bloody sheepskins together.¡±


    The influence of King Riyao¡¯s charge hadn¡¯t disappeared because of his assassination but had increased instead.


    King Shengri felt like his victory was slipping through his fingers like sand, and that he had to do something to stop it. Without answering the crowd, he suddenly cried out, ¡°Dragon King, it was the Dragon King who hatched a plot in the camp. He ran away with King Riying as soon as the mutiny started. King Riying is obviously the mastermind. Everyone saw it.¡±


    The panic grew. Any charges, if not refuted by the parties involved right away, would almost be epted universally. King Shengri¡¯s strategy of transferring the contradiction was almost sessful until it was stopped dead in its tracks.


    ¡°Who said we ran away?¡± King Riying pushed his way out of the crowd, who was sweating profusely yet appeared quite calm. ¡°King Shengri, you are an elder. There are not many kings of the older generation left. You have to be responsible for what you say.¡±


    King Shengri blushed but didn¡¯t confess to anything. ¡°Where¡¯s the Dragon King? Where is he hiding and what is he plotting again?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± Gu Shenwei said from the crowd, ¡°And I¡¯m ¡®plotting against someone.''¡±


    Some peopleughed. King Shengri¡¯s usation was loose in the first ce, and now no one believed him. Azheba then said what was on most people¡¯s mind, ¡°The Dragon King is a foreigner. How could he possibly incite the soldiers into disobeying orders?¡±


    King Shengri still wanted to say something but was stopped by Tuershan. He was the Commandant of the Court Attendants Army after all, and no matter what happened on his first day in office, he had to turn the tide by himself. ¡°No matter who¡¯s behind this, I¡¯m sure that I can find outter. The most important thing is to stabilize the military spirit. Who can tell me what the hell is going on? What do the soldiers want? Who are they trying to kill?¡±


    The officers could not answer this question, and the few soldiers who had followed the order toe here looked so frightened that they could not speak at all.


    King Riying coughed and stood before King Shengri but faced towards the crowd instead of Tuershan. ¡°I have looked into it and concluded that this isn¡¯t amon mutiny. There¡¯s no need to bother looking for the mastermind because the mastermind does not exist. If there¡¯s indeed someone behind the scenes, it would be the old Khan and the former Commandant.¡±


    Two dead men. King Riying¡¯s half-joking words startled the crowd. Dozens of soldiers even kneeled on the spot and bowed their heads in prayer.


    ¡°The soldiers are dissatisfied,¡± King Riying said loudly, knowing that every word he said was crucially important. ¡°They are dissatisfied with the fact that the body of the Khan hasn¡¯t been properly buried, that the assassination of the Commandant has no exnation, and that the generals and officers are indifferent towards the assassination. In a word, they are dissatisfied with all of us.¡±


    The whole ce fell silent except for the distant sounds of fighting. King Riying pointed to the ce where the killing was taking ce, ¡°Tuosai¡¯s Silver-armored Army is about to be wiped out. Once the soldiers¡¯ bloodlust was stirred, no one could control it. I suggest all the officers to return to their units and ask the soldiers what they want and then tell them that the kings are all here and that they can reply to them right away.¡±


    The thousand or so officers whispered to each other. King Riying¡¯s suggestion was a bit risky because the soldiers in the camp were no longer familiar obedient followers but rather a group of silent mutineers. Returning to their own unit meant dispersing, and the result of doing so might open them up to the risk of being crushed one by one.


    The man who felt the greatest danger was Tuershan who had no position in King Riying¡¯s suggestion. He sensed the smell of challenge and of someone ursurping power, so he nced at King Shengri nearby and then also said aloud, ¡°Let¡¯s not panic. Who knows the Court Attendants Army better than us? As prairie men, who will bury the discontent at heart? They must have been incited, so let them air their grievances themselves; I¡¯ll go into the midst of my brotherster, remove the instigators, and then everyone will wake up and follow orders again.¡±


    King Riying and Tuershan had an open dispute.


    Standing in the crowd, Gu Shenwei listened quietly. Although King Riying had said those words with certainty, the information he had was actually very little. It was mostly guesswork that might be urate. Based on his observations, the soldiers were more likely to be acting spontaneously than at someone else¡¯s behest. Although their actions seemed orderly, it was more like a reflexive response as a result of the rigorous training they had all received.


    He still remembered the words of Dugu Xian, the General of the Left. The Nond troops were different from that of the Central ins and the Western Regions. The soldiers rode to hunt from a young age and military training started there. Everyone knew their own tasks and positions. What themander offered was only the direction of the march. The specific tactics were already engraved in the hearts of every soldier.


    But Tuershan¡¯s guess was also probably right. The stability and morale of the army were one thing but how they could turn into disobedience in unison was another matter. It was hard to imagine that no one was manipting them.


    Gu Shenwei slowly moved among the officers and found that Tuershan had more overall supporters. As the new Commandant, he was very familiar with the officers and more importantly, his n did not seem to require the officers to take risks.


    King Riying and Tuershan then changed from debate to ndering each other. Thetter had assumed the former was the mastermind of the mutiny and presented one piece of evidence after another which was hard to distinguish between true and false, and even suggested that the other side wasplicit in the death of the former Commandant. ¡°Ever since you became King Riying, you¡¯ve been trying to please the Commandant all these days. What was your motive foring to the camp almost everyday?¡±


    Tuershan was a portly man and seemed to be chubbier when he was angry. Even the words he spat out carried more weight.


    King Riying wasn¡¯t a man who could be easily angered but he wasn¡¯t tame either. He was actually waiting for Tuershan to bring up this topic. ¡°So you do recognize that the death of the Commandant was dubious? Yeah, why would he go out at night with only five guards for no reason at all?¡±


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s because someone encouraged the Commandant to do so, and then leaked the information. This man must have been trusted deeply by the Commandant.¡± Tuershan looked at King Riying with contempt and condemned the other in expression rather than speech.


    King Riying felt that it was the right time so he produced a piece of paper slip from his wristband, which was the evidence that the Dragon King had given him and was enough to defeat the fat man in front of him. ¡°This is thest order from the Commandant¡­¡±


    ¡°Revenge!¡± Someone shouted, and then three soldiers drew their sabers and rushed at King Riying.


    Gu Shenwei, who had been slowly walking through the crowd, had always been at most a distance of fourteen or fifteen paces from King Riying, ready to save the other side at any time.


    But the one he stopped was not the three soldiers but rather the assassin behind King Riying.


    No one knew where this assassin hade from. Based on the direction he hade from, he should have been an entourage of a certain king, but strangely, no one had any memory of his ordinary face.


    Draw his saber and stab out; Gu Shenweipleted his task in an instant. Then he leaped in front of King Riying, his saber poised to strike.


    The three soldiers were captured alive by a group of officers before they could even reach King Riying.


    The assassination had begun and ended quickly. Before most people could even react, King Riying had seized the moment and said aloud, ¡°This order was written by the Commandant. He said that the enemy has probably already sent assassins into the camp and demanded Captain Gulun to be on his guard. Just look at this line, ¡®Captain Wucuo hase up with a brilliant n¡­''¡±


    Tuershan let out a thunderous roar, ¡°It¡¯s you!¡±


    Stupefied, Wucuo shrank back and almost flopped onto the ground. ¡°It¡¯s not me, obviously it¡¯s¡­¡±


    Tuershan struck at Wucuo but the attack was blocked by Gu Shenwei. ¡°Keep him alive.¡±


    As if dying of thirst, Wucuo scratched at his throat with both hands, and suddenly, with fierce eyes, he lunged at the nearest king and began to bite savagely at him.


    Gu Shenwei leaped to them and mmed his saber hilt into the back of Wucuo¡¯s head, and then took out a pill and stuffed it into Wucuo¡¯s mouth.


    Lotus had left a lot of pills, and Gu Shenwei always carried them around with him.


    As Wucuo was still unconscious at the moment, Shangguan Fei ran from afar and shouted, ¡°The Silver-armored Army has been wiped out! The Silver-armored Army has been wiped out!¡±


    Behind him, arge body of soldiers was creeping slowly toward the main tent with a fixed pace and expressionless faces. Many of them had bloodstained sabers in their hands.

 Chapter 694 - The Crowd

    Chapter 694: The Crowd


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    In every tense situation, there would always be a subtle moment when everything was unsettled and anyone¡¯s action could influence the course of the event, though no one knew what to do. Like a herd of animals on the prairie facing a predator, the first animal to run out would determine the course of action of the whole.


    The nobles in the Court Attendants Army camp were in such a state. Many thoughts and ns were sprouting like mushrooms after a hard rain. No one expected that the first one to act would be the fat King Zuori.


    Compared to Tuershan, the new King Zuori was a little fatty. Among all the kings, he was one of the weakest even though he was not physically the weakest. Few people thought that he was clever. But it was him who had thrust himself out of the crowd of officers as anxious looks folloed him and ran awkwardly toward the tens of thousands of soldiers like a long-lost son eager to meet his mother. He was in such a hurry that he tripped and almost fell as he passed by Shangguan Fei.


    ¡°I am King Zuori, grandson of the Khan! In ten days, I¡¯ll find the Khan¡¯s head and bury him whole! I¡¯ve already found the mole who betrayed the Commandant and after you join me, the first thing I will do is fulfill his revenge! Revenge with blood ¡­¡±


    King Zuori spoke very quickly as if this was hisst chance to speak in his life. Behind him, the officers and kings silently looked at him, feeling both incredulous and intrigued.


    King Zuori was too tired to run further so he switched to slowly walking forward but his mouth never slowed down, continuing to promise with all his might. ¡°When I be Khan, I¡¯ll double the sry of the men of the Court Attendants Army, and everyone will get credit¡­¡±


    Miraculously, the slow-moving soldiers stopped as if they were listening to King Zuori.


    King Zuori¡¯s eyes lit up, but meanwhile, hispetitors acted.


    Tuershan, who wanted to get on his horse but failed after trying twice, angrily pushed away his entourage who tried to help him and also started running forward, shouting, ¡°I¡¯m Tuershan. I used to be an ordinary soldier just like you and I was just been selected as the new Commandant. I¡¯ve some words from the bottom of my heart I wish to express, so please listen to them¡­¡±


    ¡°I am the son of the Khan, and I have the imperial edict that he decreed to me¡­¡±


    ¡°The ones who had murdered the Commandant was arge gang, and only I can catch them all!¡±


    ¡°Gold!¡±


    ¡°Cattle!¡±


    ¡°Women!¡±


    ¡­


    Boasts and promises mixed with reckless lies all fell down like a torrent of rain. In the blink of an eye, the noble officers, who used to be the backbone of the Court Attendants Army, had be the unwanted abandoned ones. The kings jostled their way through them as if they were zing a trail through prickly brambles and thorns. And before they had gone far, a king shouted, ¡°Re-elect the officers. Those who render no service will be removed from their position.¡±


    King Riying¡¯s n to expose the mole in public was spoiled just like this. The corpse of the assassin behind him as well as the three captives at his feet was no longer the center of the attention. In fact, the officers only became more and more frightened and themon sense of danger made the crowd huddle together. They watched vigntly at the soldiers who numbered tens of times greater than them at and the kings and generals who were desperate to please the soldiers.


    This was actually King Riying¡¯s original n, though it had never been this straightforward or vulgar. He had wanted to win the trust and loyalty of the soldiers gradually in due order, but he could no longer control the current situation. The silence of the soldiers had changed from a threatening tone to an encouraging one, and he had to join thepetition.


    ¡°I¡¯ll release all the evidence we have.¡± King Riying tried to push his way out, already falling behind.


    Gu Shenwei held his arm. ¡°Do not go. That¡¯s not what the soldiers want.¡±


    ¡°No one knows what the soldiers want. Someone has to tell them and lead them,¡± King Riying said enthusiastically. He had always been a cautious man but still couldn¡¯t resist the influence of the frenzied atmosphere in the camp.


    King Riying had already won the support of the Commandant when the other side was still alive so in his mind, he was more qualified than the other kings to be in charge of the Court Attendants Army.


    He was also the Dragon King¡¯s newest ally, and it had been only three or four days since they had met each other and formed an alliance. So Gu Shenwei¡¯s words didn¡¯t have much influence over him, not to mention that this was all Gu Shenwei¡¯s own feelings and intuition. Maybe there was really a king who could move the soldiers.


    Gu Shenwei loosened his hand.


    ¡°Is the Dragon King noting with me? The soldiers of the Court Attendants Army have a good impression of you.¡±


    This wasn¡¯t the first time that Gu Shenwei had heard this, but he had been in the camp from yesterday morning till now and hadn¡¯t been aware of it for a whole day and night. ¡°I am a foreigner, and I¡¯m afraid it¡¯ll be counterproductive if I go with you.¡±


    King Riying, who probably had the same idea, nodded and continued thrusting himself into the front. The officers gave way to him.


    Shangguan Fei went to the Dragon King. He breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, ¡°It seems like King Riying no longer needs our protection. We¡¯d better get out of here. To tell you the truth, the soldiers in the camp are a bit scary. It looks like they are thirsty for blood.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not have the right topete for the support of the Court Attendants Army so he didn¡¯t have to take any risks, but neither did he want to leave right away. ¡°Wait a moment.¡±


    Azheba and Liman walked over, followed by dozens of officers.


    The current situation was obviously out of their imagination. The young aristocrats apparently didn¡¯t know how to cope with immediate crisis.


    ¡°We have not yet thanked the Dragon King for saving our lives,¡± said Azheba.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart was moved slightly. The thousand or so officers were also a force, which, ifbined with the ns behind them, might be even more powerful than the Court Attendants Army. But Gu Shenwei immediately dropped that idea. ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry about it. Regardless of who ultimately gains control of the Court Attendants Army and whatmitments he makes, he still has to rely on you to maintain the integrity of the army.¡±


    The new power-holder would keep these officers even if it was only to please the hundreds of tribes and ns behind them. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t state it outright because that would be too blunt.


    More and more officers gathered and they seemed a bit relieved to hear the Dragon King¡¯s constions.


    The soldiers who had oncee under orders slipped away one by one, leaving behind only the noble officers in the open space in front of the main tent.


    Gu Shenwei first went to the corpse of the assassin and looked down for a moment before tearing a piece of cloth from his clothes and wiping the corpse¡¯s face gently.


    Like the guards who had watched Azheba and the other captured officers, this was a man that hadn¡¯t been disguised by female disciples of the Waning Moon Hall, whom Gu Shenwei had been looking for but still found nothing. After the assassination of the Commandant yesterday morning, they seemed to have given up and really retreated into the shadows.


    If Lotus wanted the world to be in chaos, why wasn¡¯t she showing up at such a time?


    Gu Shenwei then walked to the three captives who had recovered from the panic and savagely said, ¡°Now you see, our brothers have awakened. Even if you have the devil bird, you can¡¯t escape the hands of the hundred thousand soldiers of the Court Attendants Army.¡±


    ¡°Do your ¡®brothers¡¯ know you three have already been bought over?¡±


    One captive spat on the ground and refused to answer the Dragon King¡¯s question. ¡°Let us go now, or you will die miserably.¡±


    Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t heard such a direct threat for a long time and felt very curious. He walked around the three and asked, ¡°Which corps do you belong to?¡±


    ¡°None of your business.¡± One of them replied.


    ¡°Seventh, the seventh.¡± Another answered.


    ¡°Which unit?¡± Gu Shenwei continued asking but this time the three captives refused to answer.


    Azheba found a small wooden strip from one of the captives and said after a quick nce, said, ¡°Unit 7, Battalion 4, Division 6 of Corps 7.¡±


    One officer moved over and said in surprise, ¡°They are not from the 4th Battalion. I can assure you that I know everyone in that battalion.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s the centurion of the 4th battalion,¡± Azheba exined in a low voice.


    ¡°Leave the three of them to their ¡®brothers¡¯.¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    The three captives¡¯ expression suddenly changed. ¡°I have a word for you. Do not get yourself into trouble, our lord isn¡¯t someone to be trifled with.¡±


    This blunt challenge provoked the wrath of the crowd. The officers swarmed forward and grabbed the three captives, ordering them to reveal the mastermind and their aplices.


    ¡°Wucuo, ask Wucuo. He¡¯s awake.¡±


    Captain Wucuo woke up and stood up in bewilderment, unable to understand why the far-off kings and generals were talking like peddlers selling wares.


    ¡°You mole, you are the one who murdered the Commandant.¡± An officer rushed up and pped Wucuo hard in the face.


    More officers held up the three captives and surrounded him. ¡°Are they the assassins brought in by you? How many more are out there? Tell us now ¡­¡±


    The bushy beard of Wucuo was almost torn off by the officers. Screaming with pain, he kept arguing, ¡°It wasn¡¯t me. It really wasn¡¯t me. It was Tuershan. He was the one who persuaded the Commandant to leave the camp. I¡¯m willing to confront him face to face.¡±


    ¡°Then confront, go confront him face to face, avenge the Commandant, and then the soldiers will be at ease,¡± shouted one of the high-ranking chiliarchs.


    ¡°Confront!¡± The officers cried out. This was not only revenge but also a way to bridge the gap. There was hope in everyone¡¯s mind that the anger of the soldiers would dissipate and that everything would return to normal once the mole was discovered and publicly revealed.


    Three hundred or so officers surrounded Wucuo and the captives and walked towards the soldiers.


    Hundreds of other officers were at a loss about what to do, hesitating on the spot.


    Azheba didn¡¯t leave. ¡°Does the Dragon King have a n?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had no n at all. Like everyone else, he was very surprised at the change in the Court Attendants Army and was more pessimistic about the situation than anyone else. In his view, the kings and officers were making a huge mistake trying to win the support of the soldiers so eagerly. Motivations like revenge, reward, and usation would only make the silent soldiers be more and more confident regarding their own power.


    A force without a leader would cause the most chaotic situation.


    ¡°Get the horses ready; the more, the better.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know what would happen next so he could only prepare for the worst.


    Azheba nodded solemnly and immediately called upon the officers around him to bring all of the horses left nearby. As he was speaking with the Dragon King, a great number of officers had left as well to catch up with the crowd going to the confrontation.


    Liman also did not leave. He was the first to see signs of a split between the officers and soldiers but was still shocked by how it had happened. ¡°The Court Attendants Army is finished. They are courting death.¡±


    The officers brought in the horses and stood close to them, waiting for orders. They had chosen to believe in the Dragon King. Shangguan Fei prayed in a low voice and was determined to not leave the Dragon King¡¯s side.


    Gu Shenwei took a rein from Azheba and looked at the far-off farce, thinking that maybe there would really be a miracle.


    The officers with Wucuo had joined the quarrelsome kings and generals, and the noise had suddenly magnified several times, but Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t hear anything being clearly spoken from afar.


    ¡°Get on the horse.¡± Gu Shenwei jumped onto the horse. The miracle he had been hoping for never urred.


    The silent soldiers suddenly began to surge forward. Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t sure at all if they could safely pass through this crowded sea of treachery.

 Chapter 695 - Escaping From the Camp

    Chapter 695: Escaping From the Camp


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei had chosen the best time to escape. In the distance, the kings and generals were still raising their prices in an attempt to buy over the soldiers, drawing in all the attention like the center of a whirlpool. Near the main tent, more than a hundred rider less horses were being driven forward to act as the vanguard. They were followed by nearly three hundred officers running eastward towards where there were rtively few soldiers.


    Initially out of habit, the behavior of the soldiers, which at first had appeared so methodical, now demonstrated the disadvantages in theirck ofmand. Everyone believed that there was strength in numbers so the soldiers had all gathered where there were the most people, unconsciously leaving a huge hole in their line.


    It was then that the kings in the center of the whirlpool finally realized that something wasn¡¯t right. These soldiers weren¡¯t listening to anything they said, and were only growing further incensed bythe false usations that they the kings were leveling against each other.


    Someone began to turn around to retreat but no one could not find a way around.


    Gu Shenwei looked into the distance and saw King Riying, who was running in a hurry with his two entourages and about to run into the crowd.


    The gap in the encirclement wouldn¡¯tst long, and the fugitive officers would be noticed soon. Their chance was fleeting, and Gu Shenwei had to make a choice in the blink of an eye.


    He turned his horse around and rushed to King Riying. He knew little about this new lord but he believed in his counselor, and wouldn¡¯t abandon the ally chosen by Fang Wenshi this easily.


    Shangguan Fei looked at the Dragon King¡¯s back in surprise and really wanted to beg him not to cause himself more trouble. They had almost managed to get away, so why would he return just to take on the same risks again?


    Like the Dragon King, Shangguan Fei also had to make a decision in a very short time. He wanted to show his loyalty but also didn¡¯t want to risk his life so he shouted out ¡ª ¡°Hello everybody, the Dragon King is the one that saved your life.¡±


    Azheba and his followers had already noticed the Dragon King¡¯s unexpected behavior. And after hearing what Shangguan Fei said, a score of officers immediately rode forward to catch up. Shangguan Fei gritted his teeth and followed close behind. This, after all, was much safer than going out on a venture alone with the Dragon King.


    More and more soldiers were assembling together and there was a general sentiment about what was about to happen. Some of them had even drawn their weapons but none had yet made a move. They still needed to be led or stimted into action.


    No one was leading this army, but the stimulus was unending.


    King Zuori, who was the first to start publicly buying over soldiers, had lost his mind in the dispute. He drew his saber and pointed at Wucuo who had just been held here. ¡°This is the mole who betrayed the Commandant. Look, I¡¯ll avenge the Commandant right now!¡±


    It was too crowded so King Zuori¡¯s first slice wasn¡¯t particrly urate. He cut Wucuo¡¯s shoulder and blood spilled out, but he didn¡¯t die. As he dodged into the crowd, he cried out, ¡°The mole is Tuershan!¡±


    Evidence and proof were no longer important. Taking action was the only way to show his stance, so King Zuori waved his saber at the newmandant.


    Tuershan wasn¡¯t Wucuo. He also unsheathed his saber and roared, ¡°Who dares court death?¡±


    King Zuori froze on the spot, and there was a moment¡¯s worth of silence. During which, Tuershan finally lost his cool and let out a torrent of abuse. ¡°Motherfucker, I am the Commandant! Everyone must obey my orders, and I¡¯ll tear anyone who dares deny that into a million pieces!¡±


    King Zuori overcame the fear in his heart and eximed, ¡°See, this is the mole!¡±


    And like that, the scuffle began. First, it had been the kings and generals, then the crowd of the officers, and finally the 70,000 soldiers of the Court Attendants Army. Initially, many people were trying to open up a passageway to escape, but the situation quickly degenerated into a bem filled with purposeless and senseless killing.


    Gu Shenwei hade on horseback so the soldiers instinctively gave way.


    There was no fear shown on King Riying¡¯s broad face, as it was filled with despair and grief. This wasn¡¯t the Court Attendants Army he was familiar with and also wasn¡¯t the force he wanted to fight for.


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    ¡°Get on the horse!¡± ordered Gu Shenwei. There was no time to talk in this situation.


    The two attendants immediately pushed the lord onto the horse so that he was sitting behind the Dragon King. Gu Shenwei had just turned around when the scuffle began and started spreading towards him like a prairie fire. He could even clearly see the change of expression in the soldiers, which turned from nkness and solemneness to fury and madness.


    In the field of soldiers, the shiny sharp scimitars appeared like tips of grass that had suddenly popped out and jabbed toward the sky.


    Gu Shenwei urged the horse to move forward while King Riying shouted, ¡°My attendants¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not slow down, and soon after came a scream.


    Countless scimitars flew at him. Gu Shenwei blocked the nearest ones and squeezed the horse with his legs even harder to force it to outrun the gaining giant teeth of death.


    Before the situation spunpletely out of control, Gu Shenwei finally joined back up Azheba and the others.


    The officers who had fled eastward had grabbed the soldiers¡¯ attention. Gu Shenwei slightly adjusted their direction and galloped towards the North. Azheba soon caught up and led the way for the Dragon King, bypassing tents and avoiding hordes of soldiers.


    The soldiers were no longer observing their silent vigil. They chased the officers while shouting something in the Nondnguage that Gu Shenwei did not understand.


    Their party was only one step ahead of the devastating ¡®hurricane.¡¯


    When he looked back, Gu Shenwei saw that the ant-like soldiers were ¡®consuming¡¯ their prey with amazing speed. And for some unknown purpose, the soldiers would behead every man they killed and then hurl the head into the air.


    Countless heads rose and fell which was horrifying image, and yet it carried with it a touch of joy as if the soldiers were celebrating a festival and the heads were toys of celebration.


    Shangguan Fei also nced back, but what he saw made him regret that decision for a lifetime.


    The officers who had fled eastward encountered endless obstacles and turned north, which coincidentally brought them to the small party of the Dragon King. Wordlessly, all the fugitives unquestioning followed behind the Dragon King.


    The swishing sound of arrows piercing through the air grew louder and louder. The Court Attendants Army had ended their silent mourning and restrung their bows.


    With his body lowered and tightened, Gu Shenwei grabbed the rein in his left hand while his right hand gripped his saber, blocking all the arrowing at him.


    The north gate was close at hand when a voice shouted out, ¡°Dragon King, we¡¯re here!¡±


    It was Fang Wenshi, who was jumping and waving at the Dragon King for help. They had long sneaked to a position near the north gate but had never found a chance to get out. And at that moment, they were surrounded by dozens of soldiers.


    Lianqing red at the encirclement with his eyes wide open like a goose protecting her little chicks, treading in circles around people such as Formless Fang Wenshi and Red Bat. asionally he would strike back a soldier and what he used was surprisingly the Formless Prajna Palm.


    Gu Shenwei led the 200 or so officers following him to disperse the soldiers, and someone immediately pulled the besieged up onto the horses. The ownerless horses had already run away, so they had to share the horses.


    The north gate was closed and it would take some time to open it even with the efforts of more than two hundred people. Azheba took the lead and rushed to the little door on the right.


    They were just one step ¡ª one person away from a safe escape.


    Silver Condor, who hadn¡¯t left the camp, was guarding at the little door with a saber in hand. Although he was alone, he alone was enough to block the fugitives for a moment and let the pursuers behind them catch up.


    Gu Shenwei had once promised to spare the wing guard¡¯s life three times and he had kept his promise twice now. But right now he couldn¡¯t keep his promise. He held his Five Peaks Saber tightly. Instead of thinking about what sabersmanship he would use, he focused all his attention on hitting the target with one blow.


    Silver Condor was also ready but he was ready to repay the Dragon King for one life.


    As the first person the Dragon King had let go was the wing guard Red Kite, Silver Condor didn¡¯t count it as a personal debt. But then the Dragon King had spared him in front of thousands of people, and he didn¡¯t want to owe the other side such a favor.


    Silver Condor opened the small door and vaulted over the wall before leaping to the watchtower. He looked down at the Dragon King and the others passing through without saying anything, and then gazed into the distance at the whole Court Attendants Army camp and fell even more silent.


    For Gu Shenwei, Silver Condor¡¯s behavior was a bit strange but he didn¡¯t have time to dwell on it. It was really a great blessing for him to be able to avoid fighting with a kung fu expert at this crucial moment of life and death.


    No soldiers came after them. They were relying on the strength of a group and no one wanted to leave the camp.


    Even so, the party galloped at full force about six miles before they paused at the foot of a hillock. Looking back at the camp, they all felt as if they had been cut off from the outside world for ages, with the death cries of the murdered still seemingly lingering in their ears.


    Not far away was the site of the pce where the Khan had died less than ten days ago. It was empty now. The tents were still standing, but no one was there.


    Though he felt a bit relieved, Gu Shenwei immediately realized that something wasn¡¯t right. The body of King Riying, who had been sitting behind him, suddenly rxed and turned soft.


    King Riying had been shot in the back but he had bore the pain and didn¡¯t make a sound during their entire escape. When the officers helped him down from the horse, he could not even stand on his own. Sitting on the ground, he gasped for breath before finally looking up after a long while. ¡°You saved us all.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nced around and found that only a hundred and fifty or so men out of more than two hundred officers had been able to follow him out. He held no joy in his heart. Like all the other kings, he hade to the camp to get a share of the pie but ended up with escaping death through a fluke. ¡°Everyone saved themselves.¡±


    King Riying shook his head, unable to say anything for a long while.


    Fang Wenshi, who had barely recovered from the shock, walked over and said, ¡°We¡¯re not far away from Your Highness¡¯s camp. It¡¯s not toote to get there.¡±


    King Riying took a deep breath and slowly produced a dagger from his arms. It was already a miracle for that he had held out so far.¡±Give it¡­ Give it to¡­¡±


    Fang Wenshi epted it and gave it to the Dragon King. It was a delicate dagger with dozens of precious stones,rge and small, embedded into its ck sheath. ¡°To Shulitu.¡±


    King Riying nodded with a smile and said with thest bit of his strength, ¡°So the Dragon King also knows him. I¡¯m relieved.¡±


    Gu Shenwei and Fang Wenshi nced at each other and said nothing. In fact, this Shulitu had been the one they really wanted to ally with. The death of King Riying was quite regrettable but it also meant there was one less obstacle.


    King Riying bowed his head, dead.


    Liman put the body down and said, ¡°Shulitu is King Riying¡¯s son. He seems to only be twelve years old.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded and raised his voice, dering to the crowd, ¡°There are two paths before you. One is to go back to your own tribes or ns; the other is to follow me to join the new King Riying. He¡¯s only twelve years old, so I¡¯ll be the one keeping everyone safe.¡±


    The Dragon King stated the situation clearly. The twelve years old kid would be a puppet and his only value was to provide the legitimacy of the Khan¡¯s bloodline.


    For the first time in hundreds of years, a foreigner was demanding allegiance from Nond nobles.


    The officers fell silent. This made Fang Wenshi quite nervous, who felt that the Dragon King had chosen the wrong time.


    Finally one of the officers loudly proimed, ¡°I choose to go home but I am not ungrateful. I¡¯ll definitely repay the Dragon King¡¯s favor in the future.¡± Then he said his name as well as the tribe he belonged to and left.


    Eight other imitators followed one by one. When it was Liman¡¯s turn, he stood in front of the crowd, drew his saber, held it above his head, and knelt on one knee to the Dragon King.


    Azheba was hesitating. Finally, his eyes fell upon King Riying¡¯s corpse, and he drew his saber, imitated Liman¡¯s posture, and knelt before the Dragon King.


    The rest of the officers looked at the two and no one moved.

 Chapter 696 - Precocious Child

    Chapter 696: Precocious Child


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    As a twelve year old boy, Shulitu was much thinner than his peers, and his head was embedded with a pair of precocious eyes, which essentially meant that they appeared quiterge. In many cases, a young boy with such thoughtful and inquisitive eyes like him would not be favored by adults.


    If judged by the standards of the Nond, he was a useless child, and had he not been of royal blood, his family would have abandoned him in the wilderness and he would be a small pile of bones by now.


    He had actually been a normal baby when he was born, and on his first full moon he had giggled in the Khan¡¯s arms, earning him lots of praise including one that said he was ¡®precocious.¡¯ As one of the countless ttering words that followed whomever orbited the Khan, this onement was quite the apt appraisal.


    Shulitu spoke and walked earlier than the other children but at the age of three, a serious illness struck him and changed his fate.


    An unknown disease was spreading across the prairie at the time and many people died because of it, including Shulitu¡¯s biological mother. He survived in the end, but the illness had taken its toll and his physique was greatly harmed. While the other children of his age were beginning to ride ponies and y with bows and arrows, he could only lie in a babysitter¡¯s arms, wrapped in a thick nket. This made him aughing-stock among all the other children.


    At that time, King Riying was his grandfather. The old king had watched his grandson grow up but each time he met him, his face only grew colder. It wasn¡¯t until several yearster when Shulitu was eight years old that the old king finally lost patience, and he took his grandson out of the warm nest of the babysitter and nket, strode out of the tent, threw him on the nearest horse, and said, ¡°Prove that you have the blood of the Khan in your veins. Your father and I can¡¯t afford to lose any more face.¡±


    For the first time in his lifetime, Shulitu sat on a horse¡¯s back. Frightened and shivering from the cold, he turned to the babysitter and his father, the two who had always loved him the most, only to find that one of them was wiping her tears away while the other had his head lowered. None of them dared say a word for him.


    The eight years old child suddenly came to understand that he was facing a critical moment in his life, and that the survival of his emaciated body depended on the horse under him and his stern grandfather.


    Shulitu knew from then on that crying and begging were of no use, so he tried to straighten himself up, and imitate the rider¡¯s way by shaking the reins gently.


    The moment the horse leaped out, he fell heavily to the ground. Sore and dizzy, he faintly heard the cry of the babysitter, the rebuke of his grandfather, and the absence of his father¡¯s voice.


    The royal child¡¯s next performance wasn¡¯t stunning either, but it saved his life. He kept running after the horse and falling down. After two hours of hard work, he had finally mounted the horse and turned it around to return to his grandfather.


    The old King Riying¡¯s face was still frostily cold. Without criticism or praise, he grunted and strode away, somehow admitting that this grandson had earned the right to live.


    Shulitu would never forget that day. For the next couple of days and nights, that scene yed in his mind on an infinite loop, gradually bing clearer and clearer with every re-imagining until it was finally permanently imprinted on his mind. Every time he woke up from the nightmare, the first thing he told himself was, ¡°You have to be careful. Other people live to struggle, but you struggle to live.¡±


    He learned how to ride, managed to draw an ordinary bow, and even cast off his dependence on the babysitter, but he still staggered behind his peers, and behind him was the reaper¡¯s sickle.


    His father invited many wise men from the Central ins and the Western Regions to teach him. As a result, Shulitu¡¯s intelligence burst out irrepressibly. Schrs, monks, Taoist priests, and mystics all praised the child but regretfully shook their head when they left. ¡®This royal child was born in the wrong ce. In the Nond, where people only value warriors, the exceptionalness of his mind is useless¡¯ was what they all said.


    The old King Riying was very dissatisfied with this. A weak grandson was already enough; if he became a bookworm, he wouldn¡¯t be able to bear the humiliation anymore.


    All the wise men were driven away from then on. But the two years of study had already left an indelible mark on Shulitu. From then on, his eyes were thoughtful and inquisitive.


    That same year, the royal child¡¯s fate changed again.


    Shulitu¡¯s mother was King Rizhu¡¯s daughter. It was said that King Rizhu and the old Khan had taken turns hugging him when he was a baby, but strangely, he only vaguely remembered the hard chest of his great-grandfather and had no memory of his distinguished and high-profile maternal grandfather.


    King Rizhu looked at his grandson with cold eyes as if he were a strange foreign creature, and his eyes only softened for a moment when he said, ¡°You look just like your mother.¡±


    King Rizhu left but every once in a while he woulde back to talk to him about the history and influence of the Naihang Tribe, and teach him the ways of kingship. asionally, he would also casually chat with him for a while, showing a little more affection than his paternal grandfather.


    No one had told him anything and King Rizhu would, of course, not tell a child the truth, but Shulitu soon understood his position. One day he asked his father, ¡°Are my grandpas going to make me the Khan?¡±


    His father was taken aback, and anxiously put his hand over his mouth and looked around in horror. When his father made sure that no one was around, he asked, ¡°Who told you this?¡±


    ¡°No one, it¡¯s obvious.¡± The ten years old Shulitu¡¯s tone was so calm that he didn¡¯t sound anything like a child at all.


    His father stared at him for a while, then suddenly sighed. ¡°You¡¯ll be a good Khan but remember, never say those words out loud again. Especially in front of your grandpas.¡±


    Of course Shulitu understood the seriousness of the matter; he just wanted to know if his life was secure.


    It turns out that it had been secure for over two years by now. Shulitu saw that the two kings were doing well in their schemes and he was fine being their puppet. Over the past year, King Rizhu even asionally revealed his fondness of this grandson. This made him dream that when his grandpa no longer needed a puppet, he might even leave him a ce to live on the prairie.


    But that hot summer, the dream shattered sopletely and so suddenly that it took Shulitu a whole night to figure out that something drastic had happened in the Royal Court. The power dome, supported by the kings, would only break this badly under an external force.


    He wanted tomunicate all of his ideas to his father, the new King Riying, but never got a chance. His father¡¯s sudden death came and passed before he could say anything and now he was the new King Riying, and a man who had never nned to be in his life suddenly broke in. The external force was now close to him.


    Shulitu had heard of the Dragon King¡¯s name since long ago and he still had a child-like curiosity in his heart. Killing people like flies, escaping hundreds of disasters, and owning a devil bird that ate people. These descriptions of the Dragon King had left a deep impression in his heart. He had once fantasized about seeing this devil of the Western Regions but had never imagined that he would be under the other side¡¯s control one day.


    The news of his father¡¯s death was brought by a fat, white counselor. Shulitu didn¡¯t talk much with him but he soon realized what ¡®control¡¯ truly was.


    Fang Wenshi immediately took over all the paperwork and seals and appointed himself as the temporary guardian of the new king. Then he summoned all the officers whose ranks were higher than the centurion and exined the situation, iming that King Riying had entrusted the orphan to the Dragon King before he died.


    It was only then that Shulitu saw the dagger his father had left him.


    The officers were all silent. They had heard of the great changes that had taken ce in the Court Attendants Army and were confident in the 8,000 soldiers of their own tribe. So they all turned to the little master and waited for his reaction. As long as he said or hinted at something, they would immediately hack the white fatty into pieces.


    Shulitu held the dagger in his own hands and stared at it for a long time. When some of the officers even put their hands on the saber hilt, he finally looked up and solemnly said, ¡°This is the legacy of my father. Mr. Fang is telling the truth. From now on, the Dragon King will be my guardian.¡±


    The calm of the royal child impressed Fang Wenshi. He had been prepared to take hostages if necessary and for this, he had brought Shangguan Fei, Liman, and a dozen or so other officers.


    Shulitu didn¡¯t quite understand his father¡¯s meaning but he knew that this dagger held a special meaning for him. It was the engagement gift of his parents. Most people didn¡¯t know about it, not to mention the foreigners. The fact that Fang Wenshi had brought this to him already meant his father really did trust the Dragon King.


    But he had seldom heard his father mention this devil. King Riying¡¯s tribe nevercked supporters. There were many powerful close rtives but his father had for some reason chosen the strange Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei had taken King Riying¡¯s action before his death as an attempt to entrust him with the orphan and didn¡¯t feel that he was cheating at all. If King Riying really wanted to entrust the orphan to someone else, he could have asked the Dragon King to give the dagger to that person, rather than simply naming Shulitu.


    Gu Shenwei had heard earlier from the Second Consort that the puppet chosen by King Rizhu was the grandson of King Riying. From then on, he had been interested in this twelve year old kid. It was just that he hadn¡¯t expected for them to be tied up together so quickly.


    King Riying was not supposed to die this soon. Gu Shenwei had sincerely hoped to continue his alliance with him but the cold arrow ended it and brought him a new ally.


    Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t thinking too much into the situation yet. After Liman and Azheba pledged their allegiance, another hundred or so officers followed along and pledged to follow the Dragon King while the other fifty or so men took their leave, promising that they would repay the Dragon King¡¯s kindness somehow in the future.


    Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t clear about why he had happened to win over these officers. He ordered Fang Wenshi to take over King Riying¡¯s army on the east while he himself led the other officers to rush back to the camp on the west side.


    Shangguan Ru ran ahead of everyone and even the grievous news. She hade up with a n along the way. Instead of directly returning to the Dragon Army camp to dispatch the female soldiers, she went straight to the Second Consort¡¯s camp as it was not far away.


    The Second Consort had more than eighty thousand horsemen who were loyal only to her. Although she was still under house arrest, she was not in danger. Tuosai had a n that involved using her, and the house arrest was just a precaution to prevent her from divulging information to the Dragon King.


    After hearing that Tuosai had died and that a scuffle was about to break out in the Court Attendants Army camp, the Second Consort immediately realized that a shield of hers had fallen and acted immediately. She revoked her house arrest sentence with the excuse that she was visiting Luo Ningcha and summoned her army. After the troops lined up in battle formation, she announced the death of the King Riyao Tuosai to them.


    By that time, Shangguan Ru had already returned to the Dragon Army camp. The female soldiers immediately entered a state of operational readiness and surrounded Tuosai¡¯s camp, demanding that the other side to hand over Queen Ju and the others who had been ¡®invited¡¯ here.


    After Gu Shenwei hurried back, the crisis had just lifted. More and more news trickled in and atst, King Riyao¡¯s subordinates believed that their lord was dead and they became willing toy down their arms and hand over Queen Ju, but they still refused to surrender.


    Surrendering to a woman or a foreigner was an unimaginable humiliation for the Nond Calvary.


    ¡°Tuosai has a few brothers who are fighting for the throne. This time we should find someone more obedient,¡± The Second Consort suggested as soon as she met up with the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei had already found a good puppet and if all went well, he hoped to be able to give more titles on Shulitu.


    But he hadn¡¯t yet gotten the time to specte the thoughts of this twelve years old royal kid.

 Chapter 697 - Meeting

    Chapter 697: Meeting


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s tears fell like pear blossoms blooming in the rain. She hadn¡¯t cried this hard even when Big Head God had died.


    Gu Shenwei did not want to meet this woman but she had preemptively delivered a message to him through her maid, saying that if she couldn¡¯t meet the Dragon King in her tent then she would walk through the camp openly to see him.


    Gu Shenwei went to visit her together with Counselor Fang, Long Fanyun, and Nie Zeng.


    When they arrived, the screen in the tent had already been moved to the side, and Luo Ningcha could be inly seen bent over a table, wailing. The visitors stood awkwardly for a while before she slightly looked up and said, ¡°Tell me, how did he die?¡±


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s heart jolted, thinking that this was indeed the legendary fairy fox. ¡®That woman¡¯ of Jade City indeed deserved her reputation. He coughed and answered for the Dragon King. ¡°King Riyao was shot dead by his own soldiers¡­¡±


    Luo Ningcha stopped crying and was surprised to find that the Dragon King had brought three other men with him. ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Me? I¡¯m the counselor of the Dragon King, surnamed Fan¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care if your surname is Fang (square) or Yuan (round). Who let you in?¡±


    Fang Wenshi was caught off guard and became slightly flustered. So the rumors of ¡®that woman¡¯s¡¯ temperament were also well-deserved. ¡°I¡­ The Dragon King¡­¡±


    ¡°Out!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s my counselor and he¡¯s the captain of my guard. They may stay,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He knew how to deal with Luo Ningcha.


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s eyes, which were already big, widened even further. Although they were a bit red and swollen, that didn¡¯t affect her enchanting charm at all. Fang Wenshi bowed his head and no longer dared to continue looking at her. Deep in his heart, he kept telling himself to restrain his desire.


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s mien suddenly changed into a radiant smiled as if the person previously weeping her heart out was someone else. ¡°All right, since the Dragon King trusts them, then I¡¯ll also trust them. Dragon King, do you still remember? That one night¡­¡±


    Fang Wenshi coughed several times and said, ¡°Dragon King, King Riying, Shulitu, ising soon. I should go and prepare.¡±


    As soon as Gu Shenwei nodded, the counselor left in a flurry. Long Fanyun also left with him without a word. Nie Zeng hesitated a bit before also following them out.


    ¡°What, are you afraid to be alone with me?¡± gloated Luo Ningcha triumphantly. This little victory was enough for her to forget the sadness of Tuosai¡¯s death.


    ¡°Your backer is dead so your best strategy right now is to get to the point.¡±


    ¡°Humph, you are teaching me nonsense again. It¡¯s all your fault that I¡¯m in this miserable position.¡± Luo Ningcha stared into Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes and asked, ¡°Tell me the truth. Did you know that Duosai wouldn¡¯tst for long?¡±


    ¡°I think you knew it too. Otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t have kept your distance from him.¡±


    Luo Ningcha was slightly stunned and pondered his words for a while with her head tilted, and then chuckled, ¡°You were always a sweet talker. It¡¯s not that I knew it, but rather my superior presentiment and intuition avoiding a bad situation. Fortunately, I didn¡¯t offer anything, or else I would have suffered a great loss.¡±


    ¡°You are always smart.¡±


    ¡°Humph, do you think I can¡¯t recognize your sarcasm?¡± Luo Ningcha obviously didn¡¯t care about his sarcastic tone at all. She suddenly softened her tone and said in a very gentle voice, ¡°I know what¡¯s on your mind. You don¡¯t want another man to touch me so you ordered the assassination of Tuosai. Don¡¯t try to hide it because I don¡¯t me you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was almost in admiration Luo Ningcha by now. She always thought of herself as the center of all attention and quite enjoyed it.


    ¡°I did arrange an assassination but the one who shot Tuosai to death in the camp of the Court Attendants Army was someone else, perhaps just a guard who was dissatisfied with the lord.¡±


    Luo Ningcha still didn¡¯t believe it but stopped asking about it. ¡°Whatever. Either way, Tuosai is dead. What about his army? That¡¯s over 10,000 people.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a familial affair of King Riyao¡¯s. Tuosai¡¯s brothers can inherit it but not you or me.¡±


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s eyes gleamed eagerly. ¡°There¡¯s always a way. You know that, as long as it¡¯s necessary, and as long as you say it, I¡¯ll do anything for you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei believed that Luo Ningcha was this kind of person, so he was even more unwilling to get her involved in important matters. ¡°Not for now. I¡¯ll certainly ask when necessary.¡±


    Luo Ningcha stood up and walked a few steps closer to whisper, ¡°You don¡¯t believe me?¡±


    ¡°I believe you.¡±


    ¡°Do not lie to me. I¡¯m not a fool. I know what¡¯s true and what¡¯s false. You are afraid that I¡¯ll abandon you or even be your enemy when I be powerful, right?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that I need to be afraid of that.¡± Gu Shenwei was not afraid of that scenario because this woman would never weild great power.


    Luo Ningcha would be very stubborn once she settled on an viewpoint. She saw every word of the Dragon King as perfunctory so she decided to throw out her trump card. ¡°Let me tell you a secret, and then you¡¯ll know that I won¡¯t betray you.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Gu Shenwei was especially interested in secrets.


    Luo Ningcha took two more steps forward, almost smiled but immediately held back, and put on a serious look. ¡°This child is yours.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought that it was a waste of time and even didn¡¯t bother to argue about her im. He turned around and walked towards the exit.


    Luo Ningcha didn¡¯t expect the Dragon King to react this way, so she hastily said, ¡°I lied to you at Jade City. Cheng¡¯er is actually your son. It doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t care about me, but you should care about him.¡±


    ¡°You really would do anything,¡± said Gu Shenwei at the doorway.


    ¡°Go ask Shangguan Ru. That girl always tells you the truth.¡± Luo Ningcha knew that she had to firmly grasp the Dragon King, who was her only backing in the prairie, at least for a while.


    Gu Shenwei strode out of the tent. Fang Wenshi and Long Fanyun were waiting outside. Not long after they got on the horses, Gu Shenwei said, ¡°I have to find a way to send all these women away.¡±


    Fang Wenshi pped his thigh and echoed, ¡°Great minds think alike. But the prairie is too chaotic and dangerous right now. We can only wait for now and find a wayter.¡±


    ¡°What is the army of King Riyao doing?¡± This is what Gu Shenwei was the most concerned about. Tuosai¡¯s calvary had all withdrawn from the ruins of the Royal Court. The 13,000 or so people had then gathered near the camp of the Dragon Army and the Second Consort. Their status as ally or enemy was still up in the air at the moment.


    ¡°The new king has not been elected yet. Tuosai¡¯s brothers arepeting against each other and the generals also hold different opinions. Perhaps it will also fall into disorder just like what happened to the Court Attendants Army.¡±


    ¡°That must be avoided.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, the good news is that they¡¯ve agreed to let the Dragon King enter the camp. I¡¯ve canvassed several important generals out and they seem willing to ept outsiders as a new king as long as he¡¯s a descendant of the Khan.¡±


    Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t surprised by this. Tuosai¡¯s army was a melting pot that included the remnant troops of the old King Riyao and King Kuari. So there would not be many hindrances if one wanted to integrate it with the forces of a third lord.


    The situation in the Royal Court had finally moved in the direction of Gu Shenwei¡¯s expectations and he was no longer a mere spectator.


    In the temporary tent provided by the Second Consort, Azheba brought back more news, ¡°It¡¯s going very well. King Riyao¡¯s officers are willing to ept Shulitu as the new king. They are also willing to obey the Dragon King but they want the Dragon King to make a promise that this army will always belong to the Nond and that it will be returned in the same manner once the new Khan is chosen.¡±


    This was also the wish of Azheba and Liman.


    The two hundred or so officers who had pledged allegiance to the Dragon King were very useful. They came from various tribes and ns and had friends and acquaintances in almost every army. It was through theirwork that Azheba was able to meet directly with the ordinary officers of King Riyao¡¯s army and convey the Dragon King¡¯s message.


    ¡°I can assure you of that.¡± Gu Shenwei knew that he could never be the master of the grasnd. His foundation was in the Western Regions and the Nond was just a strong backer.


    ¡°The soldiers of King Riyao¡¯s army are very stable and disciplined. The Dragon King doesn¡¯t have to worry about it.¡± Azheba had learned from the fiasco at the Court Attendants Army and thoroughly investigated the thoughts of the ordinary horsemen. ¡°They will support the generals¡¯ choice.¡±


    King Riyao¡¯s army was different from the Court Attendants Army. From the ordinary soldiers to the Commander-in-chief, they had alle from arge number of fixed tribes and were bound together by kinship and friendship. So far, there was no clear division among them.


    As soon as Azheba left, Liman came in to report the situation in the ruins of the Royal Court. The scuffle in the Court Attendants Army camp hadsted for a whole day but a detailed ounting of the conclusion inside the camp was still unavable. ¡°The camp was sealed off. Even the 30,000 soldiers stationed outside were not allowed to enter. Several kings and generals were said to have died but King Shengri has been confirmed to have escaped, and Tuershan also seemed to still be alive. In short, the eastern side is in great disorder. Several armies have fortified their camps and will not be looking to fight for the foreseeable future.


    ¡°Are there any clues as to the reasons for the rioting in the Court Attendants Army camp?¡±


    ¡°Not much. There seems to be a rumor going around, saying that the Khan¡¯s spirit is not at peace in Heaven and that he wants his head back along with more nobles¡¯ heads to apany him.¡±


    Gu Shenwei vaguely smelled the presence of the Waning Moon Hall, but looking back on the reaction of King Shengri, he obviously had not known anything about it. Had Lotus already tossed her puppet aside so soon? But King Shengri also happened to have escaped from the camp.


    Fang Wenshi hurried in and said that the new King Riying Shulitu had arrived. Gu Shenwei could only put aside the doubts in his mind.


    Another batch of kings had died. Shulitu¡¯s session was the smoothest, though that wasn¡¯t because he had no brothers. In fact, he had an elder brother who was three years older than him but his brother¡¯s mother was a lowly female ve. Besides, Fang Wenshi hade in time to dere the former King Riying¡¯sst will which yed an important role. In the eyes of many generals and officers, Shulitu¡¯s kingship was indisputable.


    Shulitu proved himself to be a qualified and obedient puppet. This was the education he had received for nearly two years. He moved his entire army from the east of the Royal Court to the west and set up camp about ten miles from the Dragon Army camp. Then he came to meet the Dragon King with only a few guards.


    The meeting took ce in the camp of the Second Consort. Shulitu first paid his respects to his great-grandmother as the new king. By doing this, it could help reduce any suspicion and criticism towards the Dragon King, which was hypocritical but very effective.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s first impression of Shulitu was nothing exciting. Nothing stood out except for the mature eyes of the other side.


    The Second Consort knew of Shulitu¡¯s existence long ago but this was also her first time seeing him. She behaved very politely and fully showed the kindness and affability of an elder, and then left first with the excuse of not feeling too well.


    ¡°You are not only King Riying; soon you¡¯ll acquire the titles of King Riyao and King Kuari.¡± Fang Wenshi exined the general n on behalf of the Dragon King, which was one of his tasks as a counselor.


    Without speaking much, Shulitu nodded frequently and seemed quite satisfied with his current status.


    There was not much thatShulitu needed to know. Fang Wenshi soon finished talking, but Gu Shenwei felt he ought to say something so he walked over and began to open his mouth. Just then, the twelve years old boyunched an assassination attempt.


    It was from that moment that Gu Shenwei understood one thing: This kid wasn¡¯t simple.

 Chapter 698 - Suicide

    Chapter 698: Suicide


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    This wasn¡¯t the first time that Gu Shenwei faced an assassination from a kid. Back at Xiaoyao Lake, the little prince of the Hui Kingdom had also tried once. But this time the means and the oue werepletely different.


    The little prince of the Hui Kingdom had gotten a box of hidden weapons from Shangguan Yun and covered himself very well before making a move; in the end, he was a nontrivial threat to Gu Shenwei but his attempt had also cost him four of his fingers.


    Byparison, Shulitu didn¡¯t have that many tricks. As the Dragon King approached him, he drew his first dagger which was promptly knocked into the air. Then he immediately produced another dagger, the one left by his father. And instead of stabbing at the Dragon King, he stabbed at himself.


    Gu Shenwei grabbed the dagger hilt and coldly looked at this precocious child.


    Shulitu was very smart but he had never met real kung fu experts before. His seemingly clever move was very childish in front of the Dragon King. He looked a bit disappointed but wasn¡¯t flustered by his failure at all. Though he was facing with two adults, he neither offered an exnation nor begged for mercy.


    Fang Wenshi was astonished and came to his senses after a long stupor. Confused, he asked, ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡±


    Shulitu still refused to open his mouth, but Gu Shenwei had already figured out his intention. ¡°He wants to die here and then have me charged with the crime of murdering the Khan¡¯s descendant.¡±


    Fang Wenshi felt that this boy¡¯s idea was so weird that he almostughed out loud. Then he immediately realized that if Shulitu really had died here, it would be a serious blow to the Dragon King, who had just managed to win the allegiance of a small group in the Nond. The status of the little puppet was so important that, without the sick child, the Dragon King could only lead the thousand female soldiers and flee from the prairie.


    ¡°You¡­ Aren¡¯t you afraid of death?¡± asked Fang Wenshi angrily. He once thought that Shulitu was willing to ept his fate of being controlled and didn¡¯t expect that this little kid actually harbored such evil intentions.


    Strangely, Gu Shenwei found that he actually understood and even agreed with Shulitu¡¯s decision. It was not that he was smarter than the counselor but rather that he had a simr mindset. During his first two years at Golden Roc Castle, ifmitting suicide could avenge his family, he would not hesitate to do so.


    In Shulitu¡¯s eyes, the Dragon King was his enemy. ¡°I¡¯m afraid of death everyday, but not today.¡±


    Fang Wenshi became more and more confused. This kid had too many contradictory qualities: naive and precocious, timid and reckless, easy-going and obstinate, and an eternally mystifying nature. ¡°If you were three or four years older, I would advise the Dragon King to kill you. If you were a few years younger, I would spank you myself. Kid, have you ever thought about how your mother and the rest of your family would be in danger because of your actions?¡±


    ¡°My mother is dead. The Khan¡¯s family is like a towering tree and King Riying is just one of its branches. Even if a whole branch falls off, the tree will still be there, growing well.¡±


    Fang Wenshi shook his head, turned to the Dragon King, and said, ¡°I think we need a teacher, maybe beating his palm is the most effective teaching method.¡±


    ¡°Let me talk to him alone.¡±


    Fang Wenshi continued shaking his head as he walked towards the exit. He was not worried about the safety of the Dragon King. The only thing on his mind was a single question. ¡°Someone must have told him to do this. Children are too simple and easily deceived.¡± Fang Wenshi had already found and pinned an excuse for Shulitu¡¯s behavior.


    When only the two of them were left in the tent, Gu Shenwei returned the dagger to Shulitu.


    He stared at the Dragon King for a while before he took the dagger back and carefully sheathed it. ¡°Your kung fu is very good.¡±


    ¡°Have you seen many kung fu practitioners before?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Then you have no right to judge my kung fu.¡±


    Shulitu was speechless. ¡°All right, everything I said was bullshit. I don¡¯t know how good your kung fu is.¡±


    This kid was a bit strange. Gu Shenwei looked at him from another angle and instead viewed him as a strange-looking adult and then felt that he was much more normal. ¡°We need to talk.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to say that you did not kill the Khan and that my father¡¯s death also has nothing to do with you.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    Shulitu looked up as if his mind had drifted away earlier and had taken him a long time to return to reality. ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t kill the Khan, and your father¡¯s death also has nothing to do with me.¡±


    Shulitu was stunned and couldn¡¯t help butugh. He carefully sized up the Dragon King again several times and then looked at the legendary devil again with renewed interest. ¡°You¡¯re not quite like what I expected.¡±


    ¡°And you are more naughty than I thought.¡± Gu Shenwei took tit for tat. He had found the little lord¡¯s pride and could not back down in this respect.


    ¡°It¡¯s because you are being too ambitious. A notorious devil of the Western Regions actually wants to control the descendant of the Khan and honestly expects me to obediently be its puppet. Sorry, but I can¡¯t ept that. Although being a puppet is my destiny, the puppeteer must be from the royal lineage.¡±


    ¡°Do you really care about this kind of thing?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not only me. The entirety of the Nond regards the blood lineage of the Khan as sacred. This is the foundation behind the unity and strength of the prairie.¡±


    After hearing this from a twelve years old boy, Gu Shenwei could not help but remark in a sarcastic tone, ¡°Have you met with many people of the Nond?¡±


    Shulitu¡¯s sore point was hit again. He understood many things, some of which were taught by others, and some of which he had figured out himself. But nearly all of it was empty talk. His emaciated body had greatly limited his movements and gave him have little opportunity to prove his ideas.


    ¡°Even if the whole Nond is tired of the Khan¡¯s family, I will not let a foreigner rule the prairie through my hands.¡±


    ¡°You seem to think quite highly of me. Since you believe in the Nond people¡¯s loyalty to the Khan, you should know that I can never truly take over the prairie.¡±


    Shulitu felt tired and sat down on a chair with his legs closed and hands on his knees like an obedient little ve girl. ¡°Times change. I knew that this session for the throne was different from normal the night that the Khan was murdered and the kings started their scuffle.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What¡¯s the difference?¡±


    ¡°At first I assumed that one of the kings had nned the assassination of the Khan. It had happened before, but it turned out that none of the kings benefited from it; on the contrary, King Rizhu and King Kuari, who were the most powerful kings, died in the same night. So I realized that the real assassin was definitely not a man of the Nond, at least not from the royal family. That is a critical difference from prior sessions. For the first time in hundreds of years, an external force is manipting the session of the Khan.¡±


    Shulitu looked up at the Dragon King. He might not have had much personal contact with other people but sometimes the truth could be figured out by one¡¯s own solitary logic rather than by asking others.


    Gu Shenwei almost admired this kid at this point, so once again he forced himself to treat the other side as an adult. ¡°So you think that I am the external force.¡±


    ¡°Either you or Golden Roc Castle. I haven¡¯t heard anything about Golden Roc Castle, so you are the only one left.¡±


    This was a simple but reasonable deduction, and Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t find any loopholes in it. At least, he couldn¡¯t think of any evidence that could force the reclusive kid into believing in the existence of the Waning Moon Hall and Lotus¡¯s mad n, especially when the other side didn¡¯t believe what he said at all.


    ¡°You can¡¯t die.¡±


    Shulitu revealed a smile. ¡°Maybe I can¡¯t frame you but I can still control my own life.¡±


    ¡°You should go out for a walk more often. The world is often not what you think it is.¡± Gu Shenwei slightly raised his voice and called out, ¡°Nie Zeng.¡±


    Nie Zeng came in and bowed to the Dragon King, looking at Shulitu as if he were nothing.


    ¡°From now on you are the bodyguard of King Riying. Do not let him be killed by an assassin, and especially do not let him kill himself.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Nie Zeng didn¡¯t show any surprise to the strange order as if this was his normal daily job. He looked up at Shulitu after receiving the order.


    The two looked at each other for a moment, and both realized that neither of them liked each other.


    ¡°Go invite Hall Leader Han here.¡±


    Nie Zeng¡¯s killer temperament vanished in an instant, and anyone could see the reluctance written on his face. ¡°Her again? Dragon King, I can do this by myself¡­¡±


    The Dragon King wasn¡¯t someone to be argued with. Nie Zeng left in frustration, suspecting that the Dragon King was testing his endurance in this way.


    Shulitu was full of confidence. For years, he had carefully kept his life and yed the role he should y under the fierce gaze of his elders. Today he do so in the opposing role and it would be very easy.


    The two had nothing more to talk about.


    Shulitu was slightly startled when Nie Zeng carried Han Wuxian into the room but when the woman on the teenager¡¯s back turned around and revealed a tender smile, he could not help but smile back.


    ¡°I heard that you tried to kill yourself?¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Shulitu calmly replied, feeling that this woman was as affectionate as the mother in his memories and he even felt a desire to throw himself in her arms.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not easy.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to live for me but it¡¯s easy to die.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, I thought so too when I was little. Honestly, I tried seventeen times and every time I used a different method. I took nine different types of poisons but still wasn¡¯t able to die. When I was finally in charge and could decide the fate of other people¡¯s lives, I did not want tomit suicide anymore.¡±


    Shulitu was taken aback and broke free from his affection towards this woman. ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°I am a woman named Han Wuxian, the Hall Leader of Waning Moon Hall. Many people betrayed me and I¡¯ll kill them all. But you can rest assured, I¡¯m as good at keeping a person alive as I am at killing them. You will like me.¡±


    After being assured, Gu Shenwei left the tent.


    Fang Wenshi saw Han Wuxian and habitually shook his head. ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s move is really¡­ excellent. s, this little puppet isn¡¯t particrly ideal. Should we continue to look for a new one?¡±


    ¡°No need, this¡¯ll be enough. Change his identity if he doesn¡¯t want to be a puppet.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s only twelve years old.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ll make him understand.¡±


    Fang Wenshi smiled. This was what he admired most about the Dragon King. He could always find a useful value in a person.


    Gu Shenwei had to do so. He had little choice. Even if he had a stone in his hand, he would use it as a flintstone.


    Fang Wenshi put Shulitu out of mind and walked closer to the Dragon King to give another report in a low voice. ¡°I think that I should tell the Dragon King that Instructor Shangguan has left the camp again. The Court Attendants Army is in such a mess that I don¡¯t know where she went.¡±


    ¡°Counselor Fang did the right thing in telling me this.¡±


    Gu Shenwei very much disliked the people around him hiding things from him because he had suffered a great deal from it before. Shangguan Ru refused to reveal her secret, and so he must dig it out.

 Chapter 699 - The Secret

    Chapter 699: The Secret


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Feeling aggrieved, Old Man Mu spread his hands andined to the Dragon King, ¡°The good girl doesn¡¯t believe in me at all now. She doesn¡¯t tell me anything anymore. When we were back in the Land of Fragrance, I¡­ Forget it, I can¡¯t me her. It¡¯s all my fault. After all, I¡¯m whole-heartedly loyal to the Dragon King, and it¡¯s right that the good girl is guarded against me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei wanted to find out what Shangguan Ru was hiding from him but Old Man Mu said that he didn¡¯t know anything. It was hard to tell whether he was telling the truth or not. His old wrinkled face concealed too many things.


    ¡°The good girl would never do anything to harm the Dragon King. I can assure you of that.¡± Old Man Mu confidently patted his chest and added, ¡°I guess she was trying to surprise the Dragon King. Just wait patiently; why do you have to get to the root of it now?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had never liked surprises.


    Red Bat and other female officers might know something but Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t ask because he didn¡¯t want them to have a conflict of loyalty.


    This was also a chance for Old Man Mu to finally talk to the Dragon King alone, and he did not forget what he wanted to say. ¡°Be careful of Han Wuxian, she is truly mad down to the bone. I heard that she was collecting all kinds of medicinal materials, and the Dragon King agreed to it?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± ( .c om )


    ¡°Tsk, tsk. ¡®If you doubt a person, do not use him¡¯. The Dragon King is really a king. But you must be well-prepared, aren¡¯t you? A disciple of Waning Moon Hall with drugs is very different from one without drugs. When she thinks she¡¯s able to properly protect herself, heh heh¡­¡±


    ¡°With you around, I have nothing to be afraid of.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King may rest assured. I promise to keep an eye trained on that crazy old woman for you. And I¡¯ll act without mercy when necessary.¡± Old Man Mu took the casual word of the Dragon King as a task and left happily.


    Tomorrow would be the day when King Riyao¡¯s army elected a new king. Gu Shenwei had lots of work at hand and spent an especially busy afternoon persuading the Second Consort to hand over control of the army. He did a lot of talking but wasn¡¯t able to get a clear reply.


    The quietness of the Royal Court was only temporary, and all parties were closely watching the movements of the Court Attendants Army. Once the situation grew clearer, the war would immediately resume. Tuosai was dead so the camps of the Dragon Army and the Second Consort had lost their safety barrier and would have to face the enemy directly.


    This was a crucial battle but the Second Consort refused to give upmand and control of her army. She had lent a thousand horsemen to the Dragon King and agreed to lend four thousand more but was firmly holding onto the remaining five thousand men.


    Gu Shenwei and Fang Wenshi took turns exining the importance of grouping their troops, but the Second Consort was not moved. Instead of tly refusing the two, she used all kinds of means to show her unwillingness like acting coquettish, wearing a cold face, sighing, and finally even shedding a few tears. In short, she refused to fully give up her militarymand. ¡°Tuosai and King Riying¡¯s troops will soon be under themand of the Dragon King. There are almost 20,000 people in total, which should be the most powerful force in the Nond besides the Court Attendants Army. The Dragon King should not be too greedy or impatient. I am a woman and I need your protection after all. Nominally these five thousand men belong to me but as long as the Dragon King says a word, they will go to war anyway. s, please be considerate of a widow¡¯s difficulties¡­¡±


    Simr words rambled on and on. The two weren¡¯t able to convince the Second Consort.


    It was already evening when they walked out of the tent. Fang Wenshi sighed and said, ¡°I thought that the Second Consort was reasonable and easy to talk with but I didn¡¯t expect that she would also be so full of whimsical ideas. The Dragon King is her closest ally but you still can¡¯t fully gain her trust. Women are really hard to deal with.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s always a way.¡± Gu Shenwei had to try his hardest to unite all the troops. The 20,000 horsemen were indeed considerable but they did not have an absolute advantage and their loyalty was also questionable. The Second Consort¡¯s army could y a huge role. ¡°Let Azheba and Liman have a try, especially Liman. He¡¯s from the Naihang Tribe and perhaps he can win her trust.¡±


    ¡°That seems to be the only way.¡± Fang Wenshi helplessly shook his head as he nced at the Dragon King. Then he turned to look at the busy soldiers and servants in the camp and said, ¡°If that also fails¡­ Does the Dragon King already have another way in mind?¡±


    The counselor was more liberal with using coercive violence than before. Simple and effective methods were always addictive.


    ¡°It¡¯s not the right time yet.¡± Gu Shenwei became conservative instead. He had said this many times and would probably repeat it many more times in the future.


    Gu Shenwei then casually asked, ¡°Has Instructor Shangguane back yet?¡±


    If it had been in the past, Fang Wenshi would have tried very hard to persuade the Dragon King to sever the thread of love between them by exining the contradiction between struggling for hegemony and struggling for love. But now that he knew the Dragon King better, he took the initiative to say, ¡°It is right for the Dragon King to find out the truth of the matter. Of course, Instructor Shangguan will not intentionally harm the Dragon King. I¡¯m just afraid that something bad might happen to her again.¡±


    Fang Wenshi didn¡¯t want Shangguan Ru to be held hostage again, as that would disturb the Dragon King¡¯s mind at this critical moment.


    As soon as the Dragon King set out, Fang Wenshi found Azheba and Liman, hoping that they could persuade the Second Consort. The two of them also felt that it was necessary to unite the forces so they agreed to help out right away.


    Fang Wenshi had a feeling that the two would not achieve anything more than the Dragon King and he had. The Second Consort actually understood the whole situation; she was just afraid that she would be irrelevant after handing over her entire army. To convince her, he had to find a way to dispel her worries.


    And he also had to find a way to stop the Dragon King frompletely focusing on the Unique King¡¯s daughter.


    Fang Wenshi was suddenly by a bold idea. The Dragon King might not like it but he would ept that when it came.


    ¡®As a counselor, I am responsible for guiding the Dragon King back onto the path after a detour,¡¯ thought Fang Wenshi, trying to exculpate himself from possible guilt.


    As Fang Wenshi was thinking up ns, Gu Shenwei was galloping down the grasnds with Shangguan Fei and Long Fanyun.


    Earlier in the day, Shangguan Ru had left the camp with fifty guards and a female officer and patrolled for a while before heading north. Three milester, they had turned northeast. That was all the information that Fang Wenshi had.


    There were scouts patrolling around them at a six-mile radius, so Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t have to worry about safety, and could ride at full speed.


    The fifty guards were soon found. They had stopped at the edge of the patrolling area and had been monitoring the surroundings since then. But Shangguan Ru was not there. She and Red Bat had continued northward, but that departature had taken ce about five hours ago.


    ( .c om ) Just then, three scouts arrived and informed the Dragon King that the next dozens of miles north were all destend without any garrisons. Gu Shenwei asked for more information and one of the scouts finally remembered something and said, ¡°There¡¯s a camp about five miles away full of those who are old, weak, ill or disabled. His Highness King Riyao had sent his army there to collectborers but only brought back a few men. From then on no one ever went there again.¡±


    As for Shangguan Ru, the scouts had never seen her show up before, and today should have been the first time she had passed through here.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to arouse any suspicion so he didn¡¯t pry too deeply.


    After setting off again, Shangguan Fei expressed how perplexed he was at his sister¡¯s behavior. ¡°What is she doing? Sending food to the sick and the old? Is she really going to be a Bodhisattva?¡±


    ¡°But why did Instructor Shangguan Ru bring Red Bat along with her?¡±


    Long Fanyun rarely interjected, but when he did it was always profound. Shangguan Fei¡¯s eyes lit up and he hastily replied, ¡°Right, right. Red Bat has lost all her internal energy and is almost useless at the moment. Why would my sister bring a burden along with her?¡±


    This wasn¡¯t what Gu Shenwei was concerned about. He was wondering how he could make his behavior not seem too abrupt. If Shangguan Ru¡¯s secret was really nothing serious as she had said, then his actions tonight would be very embarrassing.


    ¡°It¡¯s so refreshing to ride a horse at night, isn¡¯t it? Yun¡­ Long Fanyun.¡±


    Long Fanyun sped up a bit to catch up with the Dragon King so that he didn¡¯t have to speak with Shangguan Fei.


    It was actually easier to find a campsite in the dark. Gu Shenwei saw many bonfires a great distance away. Long Fanyun went out to check first and soon returned to say that it really was a refugee camp.


    With their cloaks on, the three of them dismounted near the camp and approached on foot.


    It was a haphazardly erected encampment with no fences, and hundreds of tents were thrown together at random. One could smell the obvious stink of the livestock before they even entered.


    Shangguan Fei frowned. ¡°Did my sister reallye to a ce like this? We might be wrong.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s first impression of the ce waspletely different from that of Shangguan Fei¡¯s. This was a very good ce to hide oneself. With a simple disguise, one could easily mingle in with the crowd and no one would bother to ask about someone¡¯s origins or stop them if they ran away.


    There were no young men to be seen in the camp. Most of them were old women or young children silently sitting at their tent door, waiting or praying. The three cloaked men barely attracted any attention.


    There were seven or eightrge bonfires around the camp where there was a rtively higher number of people gathered around. Almost all of them were old men with sores or cripples who did not seem to have the strength to walk.


    Shangguan Fei hated this ce but he was still able to quickly discover the problem. In a low voice, he said, ¡°If I were King Riyao, I would have made a careful investigation when I sent men to catchborers here. Why are there so many strange old men and women? After all, there are no highly-skilled doctors that can cure any disease.¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily,¡± said Gu Shenwei. But he also thought that some of the old people in the camp were pretending to act sickly, and probably not even as old as they appeared to be.


    ¡°Why would a skilled doctor hide in a ce like this?¡± Shangguan Fei usually believed in the Dragon King¡¯s judgment, but this time he felt his judgment was more urate.


    Long Fanyun found the first clue, pointing into the distance. ¡°Look, it¡¯s the instructor¡¯s horse.¡±


    The ce Long Fanyun had pointed at was pitch ck, and only he could quickly recognize the me Foal hidden there.


    Gu Shenwei waved his hand. The three scattered and kept a distance of seven or eight paces apart and led their horses slowly to the me Foal. They were going to meet with Shangguan Ru. Vignce was necessary but there was no need to sneak there.


    There were two horses, one of which was precisely the me Foal. Its fur was conspicuously red even in the dark night.


    Perhaps it had smelled Long Fanyun, but the me Foal gave a pleasant snort when they arrived.


    Meanwhile, Shangguan Ru came out of a low tent and smiled at the Dragon King. She didn¡¯t seem surprised at all. ¡°You came so quickly. I just got Doctor¡¯s Sun¡¯s permission.¡±


    ¡°Doctor Sun? That highly skilled doctor from Northern Jade City?¡± Shangguan Fei was greatly surprised and turned to look at the Dragon King, admiring the other side from the bottom of his heart.


    What he didn¡¯t know was the Dragon King was even more surprised than him. Gu Shenwei had guessed that Shangguan Ru might bring Red Bat along with her to see a doctor but he had not expected that Doctor Sun of Jade City would be here.


    Doctor Sun was a part of the Waning Moon Hall and one of their few male disciples. Gu Shenwei had once negotiated with Lotus in the doctor¡¯s very own medical pavilion.

 Chapter 700 - Poisonous Doctor

    Chapter 700: Poisonous Doctor


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    If he really did have magical powers, the first thing Divine Doctor Sun would do would be to rejuvenate his hair until it was flourishing again. But now he could only carefully cultivate a small bun of hair, exhale impatiently, andin that there were too many difficult diseases in the world.


    Red Bat felt a bit embarrassed and apologetically said, ¡°Just forget it if you can¡¯t cure me. I didn¡¯t know much kung fu before anyway.¡±


    ¡°Just forget it?¡± Doctor Sun scolded caustically, thinking that the patient was really unreasonable. ¡°Then how could I keep my title of ¡®divine doctor¡¯? How am I gonna wander through Jianghu in the future?¡±


    He looked up and happened to see the Dragon King walk in. Doctor Sun sighed and wanted to spit in annoyance but stopped himself after thinking twice. ¡°What bad luck. You always appear whenever I can¡¯t cure the disease. Are youing here again to ruin my reputation on purpose?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s gratifying to see that the divine doctor is as elegant as always.¡± Gu Shenwei cupped his hands slightly to show his respect. This doctor was well known for his bad temper, but thest time he had seen him, in front of Waning Moon Hall disciples, the other side had chosen his words very carefully, not even daring to breathe heavily.


    Doctor Sun also probably remembered that experience and sighed again. ¡°What a rubbish ¡®divine doctor¡¯ I am. I can¡¯t even cure the mostmon diseases, and I¡¯ve been exiled to this strangend like a stray dog.¡±


    Red Bat yfully stuck her tongue out at Shangguan Ru, not daring to say that her ¡®illness¡¯ wasn¡¯tmon at all. She had been drugged by the most powerful Indra Fragrance in all of the Land of Fragrance.


    Staring at the doctor, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t let his guard down. ¡°How¡¯s Lotus?¡±


    Doctor Sun shivered. ¡°Have the Tenth Gongzi tell you. I don¡¯t want to talk about those women.¡±


    Shangguan Ru recounted his ¡®history of humiliation¡¯.


    Doctor Sun hadn¡¯t actually been forced to join the Waning Moon Hall. At first, he was attracted by their numerous intriguing secret arts and pills. He did benefit a lot from their knowledge, but the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s purpose in drawing him over was not just to save some people.


    Gradually, he was tasked to modify certain pills to remove unnecessary ingredients or simplify their refining processes, which he was very good at and had done well in. But their next demands went too far.


    He was asked to create some stronger and subtle poisons, which went against his dream of practicing medicine in order to help people. And the way in which the Waning Moon Hall experimented and tested their drugs was uneptable to him.


    Doctor Sun interrupted Shangguan Ru and exined, ¡°They simply didn¡¯t treat people like people. They would go to Southern Jade City and catch one or two beggars or wandering sabermen and then force me to watch the procedure from beginning to end. s, I still have nightmares of those days even now.¡±


    When the Khan invited all the famous doctors in the world, Doctor Sun had also received the invitation several times. But he didn¡¯t answer the imperial edict, thinking that he wasn¡¯t capable of curing a monarch. The order of the Master Commander Lotus, however, had forced him to obediently appear in the Royal Court.


    How could a mundane doctorpete with the ¡®immortals¡¯? Between thepetition from the monks, Taoist priests, and the disciples of the Essence Pavilion, he quickly fell into disfavor with the Khan just like all the other famous doctors.


    However, the Waning Moon Hall didn¡¯t send him back to the Western Regions. Jade City was the territory of Golden Roc Castle and no matter how bold they were, they had to conceal their whereabouts when testing their poisons. But they didn¡¯t have to worry about that at all in the Royal Court. The Khan had plenty of ves and was willing to share some of them.


    Doctor Sun had spent several dark months in the Royal Court. Lotus and the Dragon King¡¯s arrival didn¡¯t make his life better either. At that point, Waning Moon Hall gave him another difficult and cruel task which was to have a young girl tell him how to make a female Gu.


    Shangguan Shaomin wasn¡¯t properly kept safe, and Doctor Sun couldn¡¯t make it as a result. The testing and trials of the poisons were all managed by the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall, which made a convenient excuse for him, but the second attempt at making the female Gu still had to be done by him.


    After procrastinating for a few days, Doctor Sun ran away.


    On the night of the Khan¡¯s murder and the start of the scuffle between all the kings of the Royal Court, the disciples of Waning Moon Hall had all been sent out to carry out different missions, and this gap had finally given Doctor Sun a chance to escape.


    This was Doctor Sun¡¯s story. Shangguan Ru narrated it roughly and carefully avoided ming Lotus. In the end, she even defended her by saying, ¡°Lotus might not have known about these things. She hasn¡¯t been in Jade City for a long time and the disciples of Waning Moon Hall might have acted on their own.¡±


    ¡°What about Shangguan Shaomin?¡± Gu Shenwei asked. He had handed over the granddaughter of the Unique King to Lotus but that had almost caused her to be a trial run for Doctor Sun.


    Shangguan Ru couldn¡¯t exin this discrepancy. Fortunately for her, Doctor Sun opened his mouth. ¡°I¡¯ve been told that healing people is a good deed that counts towards the healer¡¯s credit in the next world, but I¡¯ve lost all my credit in the past two years.¡±


    Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t satisfied with the story, and continued to press for more with his questions. ¡°The Waning Moon Hall didn¡¯t use any drugs to control you?¡±


    ¡°Is the Dragon King referring to the Blood Coagtion Pill? I secretly created an antidote a long time ago. Well, that isn¡¯t something very difficult for me. ¡±


    ¡°And then? Where have you been hiding?¡±


    ¡°Where else can I hide? I have no family in the Royal Court and have killed more people than I¡¯ve saved. So I could only go to Tenth Gongzi. Thank Heaven, she still remembered this lousy old man and I have also to thank you for injuring the Master Commander. The Waning Moon Hall was thrown into confusion for two days and they didn¡¯t have any time to look for me.¡±


    The Dragon King had still been in aa at that time. Shangguan Ru felt that it was not safe to hide Doctor Sun in her camp so she had secretly delivered him to the camp of the Court Attendants Army and then moved him twice more after that. They had finally came herest night.¡±


    ¡°Is he what Wild Horse is trying to woo you for?¡± asked Gu Shenwei. This was not quite the situation he had expected. After being influenced by Han Fen, he had thought that Wild Horse¡¯s purpose was to win over the Court Attendants Army.


    ¡°¡®An innocent man gets into trouble because of his wealth.¡¯ I wanted to forget about everything rted to the Waning Moon Hall but some people think that poison is a treasure,¡± Doctor Sun said as he grabbed his remaining small hair bun and then loosened his hand. Upon seeing that he had lost two more hair strands, he could not help but sigh.


    Wild Horse sent someone to the Court Attendants Army to spy and gather information and identally discovered the traces of Doctor Sun. Shangguan Ru then moved him to another ce. Wild Horse knew that the doctor¡¯s protector was Shangguan Ru and therefore, met and showed goodwill to her.


    ¡°It seems that Wild Horse didn¡¯t tell Waning Moon Hall about my whereabouts. A man really can¡¯t ally with a woman. Oh, I¡¯m not talking about you two.¡± Doctor Sun hastily corrected himself.


    Shangguan Fei now understood everything. He was firmly on the side of the Dragon King now, so he took a step forward and said, ¡°So the divine doctor has be a noxious bug. You are really ungrateful, asking my sister to save your life while forcing her to keep it a secret from the Dragon King. Don¡¯t you know that my sister¡­ never keeps secrets from the Dragon King?¡±


    Doctor Sun looked at the Dragon King with a rare look of embarrassment. ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m paranoid. You are the Dragon King and a ruler, so I was afraid¡­¡±


    ¡°You are afraid that I¡¯d be interested in the poison of Waning Moon Hall like Wild Horse.¡±


    Doctor Sun chuckled. That was exactly why he had not wanted to ask the Dragon King for help. ¡°But Tenth Gongzi repeatedly assured me that you wouldn¡¯t force me to do anything, and that you wouldn¡¯t be interested in poison.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s wrong. Of course I¡¯m interested in the poison of Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    As soon as this remark was made, Doctor Sun and Shangguan Ru were shocked but Shangguan Fei nodded admiringly.


    ¡°When you were with Lotus, you clearly had a chance¡­¡± Shangguan Ru blushed.


    Gu Shenwei interrupted her brusquely. ¡°The Waning Moon Hall is good at using poison and so of course I¡¯m interested in their poison. Doctor Sun, you are unwilling to kill but are you willing to save people?¡±


    Doctor Sun let out a long breath. ¡°No problem. I¡¯m going to regain my lost credit. As long as the people who were poisoned by Waning Moon Hall are not dead, I can heal them.¡±


    Shangguan Fei curled his mouth contemptuously. ¡°You can¡¯t even cure Red Bat. What¡¯s there to brag about?¡±


    Doctor Sun¡¯s sore point was touched and his face also turned red. ¡°Different, it¡¯s different. The poison in her¡­¡±


    Red Bat immediately defended him, ¡°I was actually drugged by the knockout drugs of the Land of Fragrance. The divine doctor hasn¡¯t seen them before, but he said that he would figure out a way sooner orter.¡±


    ¡°Of course there¡¯s a way.¡± Doctor Sun proudly smoothed his remaining sparse hair. ¡°The dao of poison is actually a branch of medicine. The methods used may vary, but the principle is the same. I¡¯m sure that I can think of a way.¡±


    ¡°Congrattions, Red Bat. When you have children and grandchildren, you might have your internal energy back again.¡± Shangguan Fei had no ill feelings towards Doctor Sun but he had been heavily influenced by Old Man Mu these past days and had developed a habit of finding arguments and hurting others¡¯ feelings whenever he could.


    The few of them argued back and forth, but Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t speak up. She stared at the Dragon King, silently questioning why he had embarrassed her in public.


    Not to be outdone, Gu Shenwei stared right back. It might not matter to other people if Shangguan Ru kept a secret from them, but to him, it was a taboo. A small punishment could already be considered a special favor.


    The two silently stared at each other.


    Tired of exining his skills to Shangguan Fei, Doctor Sun swung his hand angrily, suddenly walked up to the Dragon King, and reached out to grab his arm.


    Gu Shenwei casually waved his hand and knocked Doctor Sun, who was not weak in martial arts, several steps away, nearly knocking down the simple tent in the process.


    ¡°You, you¡­¡± Astounded, Doctor Sun pointed at the Dragon King and almost forgot to get up.


    Shangguan Fei pulled him up. ¡°Old Sun, you¡¯ve really have some nerves. Can the Dragon King be touched casually? You are lucky he didn¡¯t kill you. Why don¡¯t you show your gratitude?¡±


    Doctor Sun was confused for a moment as he did not understand who the strange name ¡®Old Sun¡¯ was referring to.


    Gu Shenwei expressed his apology first, ¡°I was overreacting. Please do not mind, Doctor Sun. And if you feel a chill in your body, do not fight it. Just protect your heart meridian, and it will disappear soon enough.¡±


    Doctor Sun looked at the Dragon King in amazement and forgot all about his own embarrassed appearance. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. The Dragon King should remain vignt. I can¡¯t sleep at all at the thought of Waning Moon Hall. In fact, I wanted to feel the pulse of the Dragon King. To tell you the truth, I¡¯m a little surprised that you are still so alive and well.¡±


    The truth was that Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t fully trusted Doctor Sun yet, but he still stuck out his left arm. ¡°Please.¡±


    Doctor Sun tried to put his finger on the Dragon King¡¯s wrist and gradually forgot about the threat of the Waning Moon Hall, but his brow quickly furrowed. After a while, he checked the pulse of the Dragon King¡¯s right wrist and finally patted the other side¡¯s chest several times.


    ¡°What the hell? You are using your body as a battlefield, aren¡¯t you?¡± At the mention of his illness, Doctor Sun¡¯s old temper returned. ¡°You used to only have two different internal energy: one yin, and the other yang. But now it¡¯s aplete mess. Not only do you practice twopletely different internal energy cultivation methods, but you also forcefullybined the two. Besides, you developed an evil Qi in your body and let it rampage in your body.¡±


    ¡°Is it dangerous?¡± asked Shangguan Ru with concern, forgetting about her discontent for the time being.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Doctor Sun spread out his hands. ¡°The Dragon King is here to embarrass me. I clearly remember that thest two times I saw you, your illness was tricky but still within my grasp. But now, I can¡¯t make heads or tails of it at all.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t care. He hadn¡¯t expected Doctor Sun to heal his internal injury in the first ce. ¡°It¡¯s good news to be unable to make a judgment,¡± he said.


    Doctor Sun shook his head. ¡°Do not get excited yet. There¡¯s something that I haven¡¯t said yet¡­¡±


    Long Fanyun who had been guarding outside came in, interrupting the divine doctor¡¯s ¡®bad news.¡¯ ¡°Someone¡¯sing.¡±


    Doctor Sun shivered and first looked Shangguan Ru in horror and then turned his eyes to the Dragon King.

 Chapter 701 - Antidote

    Chapter 701: Antidote


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Upon hearing that there was a visitor outside, Doctor Sun immediately put on his hairpiece, attached his false nose, and stooped over, instantly turning into another man. In the face of Shangguan Fei¡¯s puzzled eyes, he said, ¡°What? Can¡¯t a divine doctor be timid?¡± You haven¡¯t seen those women¡¯s means¡­ ¡±


    The visitor entered openly, waved affectionately to Long Fanyun, and red at the Shangguan twins with a cold face. After a quick nce at the disguised Doctor Sun, she said with a smile, ¡°Oh, what a surprise. So you were hiding here.¡±


    Doctor Sun sighed and took off his disguise. ¡°I know that you are a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall. Go back and tell your people that I¡¯m a doctor who heals and saves people, not a murderer who refines medicine and poisons the innocent. So just forget about me.¡±


    Han Fen shook her head. ¡°I can¡¯t make that decision; only the Master Commander has the final say on your life and death.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took one step forward and asked, ¡°You followed me here?¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t hide it, either. Here, I¡¯vee to keep my promise.¡±


    Han Fen waved her hand and threw out a hidden weapon. Gu Shenwei unsheathed his saber and knocked it down with the back of the saber. It turned out to be a small wooden boxmonly used by the Waning Moon Hall.


    Gu Shenwei had spared Han Fen once. As an exchange, she had agreed to send him the antidote to the Indra Fragrance.


    But this wasn¡¯t her only purpose here.


    The moment Gu Shenwei knocked down the wooden box, Han Fen made another move. This time, she fired over a dozen steel needles at Doctor Sun while leaping away. A puff of blue smoke appeared under her feet as if she were trying to take the opportunity to escape. But that was a feint and she had actually thrown herself at Shangguan Ru and punched out three times in a row and spat out a small hidden weapon before actually running away, smiling. ¡°So the little girl has really cracked the Indra Fragrance, and the Dragon King also doesn¡¯t want me to kill anyone. Aiya, what can I do then?¡± Before the sound of her voice faded away, she had already disappeared.


    Gu Shenwei blocked all of the needles with his saber and grabbed Shangguan Ru¡¯s wrist to check her condition. When he found no signs of poisoning, he leaned over and picked up the small wooden box and handed it to Doctor Sun.


    Doctor Sun looked at the box and smelled it for a long while before opening the lid. There were three earthy yellow pills in the box.


    ¡°Little lunatic,¡± Shangguan Fei murmured. ¡°Is this really the antidote to the Indra Fragrance?¡±


    Doctor Sun¡¯s face beamed as he replied, ¡°It seems so. Let Red Bat try one and we¡¯ll find out.¡±


    Red Bat shook her head, ¡°I¡¯d rather have no internal energy than eat anything from the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    After listening to Doctor Sun¡¯s experience of the past few years, Red Bat¡¯s wariness towards the Waning Moon Hall had risen sharply.


    Doctor Sun took a pill and examine it carefully, ¡°Then what are we going to do? Although I¡¯m a divine doctor, I can¡¯t tell if it¡¯s real or fake with a simple nce. Someone has to try it. Don¡¯t worry; even if it¡¯s poisonous, I can still save you.¡±


    ¡°What if Lotus created a new poison?¡± Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t believe him.


    Long Fanyun walked over, picked one up and put in his mouth. Before Shangguan Fei could even scream, he had chewed and swallowed it. ¡°It¡¯s a little bitter and has a sour taste.¡±


    Red Bat watched Long Fanyun in amazement and also took one out and swallowed it. ¡°Since you are not afraid, then neither will I be.¡±


    Doctor Sun looked at the two expectantly. ¡°How is it? Do you feel any different?¡±


    Long Fanyun looked up and thought for a moment. He was just about to say something when his face suddenly contorted and he bent down, clutching his stomach. He appeared to be in extreme pain and didn¡¯t seem able to speak.


    Shangguan Fei hurried forward to help him. ¡°Lotus really isn¡¯t well-intentioned. Doctor Sun, you said that you could save people. Quickly, do it now. Long Fanyun can¡¯t hold on any longer¡­¡±


    Long Fanyun pushed Shangguan Fei away and bent even lower. Instead of bing angry, Shangguan Fei still wanted to support him.


    On the opposite side, Red Bat also didn¡¯t look well, her face was turning redder and redder. She seemed to be forcing herself to not bend over. Shangguan Ru was taken aback. ¡°Doctor Sun, they¡­¡±


    Doctor Sun suddenly put away thest pill with a solemn look. Then he took out a few pieces of rough straw paper which he usually used to write prescriptions and gave them to Long Fanyun and Red Bat. ¡°You go inside the tent, and you find your own ce. Either way, we can¡¯t stay here any longer, so we¡¯ll just abandon this tent.¡±


    Long Fanyun ran away as soon as he was given the straw paper. Red Bat, whose face was extremely red, also grabbed the paper and ran into the tent.


    Shangguan Fei followed Long Fanyun with some concern but was stopped by Doctor Sun. ¡°Shangguan Fei, what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go help him. Didn¡¯t you see that it was hard for Long Fanyun to even walk?¡±


    ¡°Go ahead if you don¡¯t mind the stink. I¡¯ve never heard of someone needing help to take a shit.¡±


    ¡°Ah? Long Fanyun hasn¡¯t been poisoned?¡±


    ¡°Does loose bowels count as being poisoned?¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    The sounds of diarrhea came from inside the tent and a ce close by at the same time. Doctor Sun snorted scornfully, indicating that there was no need to say anything anymore.


    Shangguan Fei put his hand on his heart and heaved a long breath. ¡°I was really scared. I thought that Long Fanyun¡­ and Red Bat wouldn¡¯t make it.¡±


    Gu Shenweiid his right hand on the saber hilt and warily looked at the approaching old men.


    There were seven people in total; four men and three women, all with crutches, were walking toward them with small steps from all directions, vaguely forming a sieve.


    An old man with white hair and loose skin raised his crutch and jabbed the ground with a heavy blow. All the other people halted. ¡°So, you are the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    The old man then turned to Doctor Sun, ¡°And you have an antidote?¡±


    ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°Sell it to me. You can name your price.¡±


    ¡°First, the antidote belongs to the Dragon King. Second, I¡¯ll keep this one to make more batches of the antidote. So it¡¯s not for sale.¡±


    The old man turned to Dragon King again, ¡°The Dragon King can make an offer.¡±


    ¡°I can give you one pill for free when Doctor Sun makes more antidotes.¡±


    ¡°No, I want it now. I can¡¯t wait.¡±


    The old man¡¯s voice was t but what he said was quite overbearing. Shangguan Fei showed his discontent first. ¡°Old dog, where did youe from? How dare you talk to the Dragon King like that?¡±


    The old man turned to ask the old woman nearby, ¡°Where do Ie from?¡±


    The old woman was short and fat like a portable wine-jar. In a husky voice she said, ¡°If the Dragon King is willing to make friends and give us the antidote, then we¡¯ll naturally reveal our origins. Right now, it¡¯s not certain whether you all are friends or enemies, so it¡¯s better to not reveal this information.¡±


    The old man nodded and agreed, ¡°Hmm, it¡¯s better to not reveal it.¡±


    Shangguan Fei took a hint from the Dragon King and stepped forward, saying, ¡°It¡¯s always others doing favors for the Dragon King, trying to make friends. We are not used to doing others a favor without any reason. The antidote is right here. Are you going to snatch it?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s also a possibility.¡±


    That said, the white-haired old man rushed up to Shangguan Fei with his crutch. The rapid speed obviously showed that this was a kung fu master. He didn¡¯t move like an aged man at all.


    Surprised, Shangguan Fei raised his fists to face the old man. After taking the first palm attack, he jumped more than three feet high; the second blow made his body shake nonstop; he couldn¡¯t help but retreat several steps back to the Dragon King after taking the third blow.


    ¡°This old fellow is too formidable for me. I think that I may have been injured internally,¡± said Shangguan Fei, shocked and frightened. Although his voice was trembling, it didn¡¯t sound like he had internal injuries.


    Doctor Sun, who was more surprised, blurted out, ¡°The Soft Palm Technique of the Kongdong Sect! Which elder is your excellency?¡±


    Doctor Sun had once traveled around the world and visited the Central ins before, so he knew the martial arts skills of several famous sects.


    The old man clicked his tongue and said, ¡°So, the people of the Western Regions recognize the palm technique of my Kongdong Sect? Not quite a frog at the bottom of a well are you.¡±


    Shangguan Fei knew that he was no match for him in a fist fight so he challenged his opponent with his mouth. ¡°Hey, we are not frogs at the bottom of a well. Rather you are a bragging toad. What¡¯s there to boast about regarding the little Kongdong Sect? Shen Yongjiui is a disciple of your esteemed sect, right? He betrayed the Central ins and worked like a hunting dog for the lords of the Nond, ultimately dying under the Dragon King¡¯s saber. And that Fan Yongda, if the Dragon King hadn¡¯t saved his life, he would have been beheaded by his master.¡±


    The white-haired man shook his head and said, ¡°Yongjiu and Yongda just pretended to work for the Nond and they were always faithful to the Central ins. The Dragon King killed one and saved one; if he hands over the antidote, we won¡¯t owe each other anything anymore.¡±


    Seeing that the old man was bing more and more unreasonable, Shangguan Ru couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°Is there anyone in your esteemed sect who¡¯s also been drugged by the Indra Fragrance? Don¡¯t worry. This knockout drug is not deadly. The sufferer will only lose their internal energy. Just wait a few days, and then Doctor Sun will give you the antidote for sure after he makes more.¡±


    ¡°Who knows if this divine doctor is really capable? We can¡¯t afford to wait,¡± said the short fat old woman coldly.


    Gu Shenwei who had been observing the situation for a while suddenly opened his mouth and said, ¡°You are Old Immortal Dog Butcher.¡±


    ¡°Heh, Old Immortal Dog Butcher is long dead. I¡¯m called Dog Butcher now.¡± The white-haired old man paused for a while before saying, ¡°It seems that there are a lot of capable people in the Western Regions. How do you know of me? Not many people in the Central ins know my name by now.¡±


    ¡°That Soft Palm Technique seems to have been created to restrain the Five Hole Punch. You are probably the only one in your sect who has always kept Old Man Mu in your mind, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    Dog Butcher turned to the stout old woman. ¡°This kid has sharp eyes. What should I do now?¡±


    ¡°What else is there to do? Beat him, take the antidote, and go fight Old Man Mu.¡± The old woman¡¯s voice was stern and impatient.


    ¡°Yes,¡± answered Dog Butcher respectfully. Then he said to the Dragon King, ¡°Let¡¯s have a fight. I¡¯ve heard that you have amazing saber techniques and a strange internal energy. I¡¯d like to see if it¡¯s true.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s your saber?¡± Gu Shenwei remembered that the weapon used by Dog Butcher and his Martial Nephew was arge boning saber.


    ¡°I no longer use it. After careful reflection, I realized that I can never beat Old Man Mu with a saber so I focused on practicing several fist and palm techniques. Old Man Mu ims that his fist technique is the best in the world, and I¡¯m going to defeat him in that respect.¡±


    The old woman nearby shouted, ¡°Do it now, don¡¯t waste any more time.¡±


    Dog Butcher was a famous elder of the Kongdong Sect but he didn¡¯t mind the old woman¡¯s rebuke. He uttered an obedient ¡®yes¡¯ and stuck his crutch on the ground, immediately leaping out to attack the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei loosened his hilt, ready to receive the other side¡¯s palm attack with his own palm.


    Dog Butcher¡¯s first move was just to feel out his opponent. As soon as his palms touched the Dragon King¡¯s, he retreated back to his crutch. ¡°Hmm, not bad. Good palm technique and a very weird internal energy. Why didn¡¯t you draw your saber?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only fair to use a palm technique against another palm technique.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. But why have I heard that the Dragon King is a killer and has never followed the rules? What kind of tricks are you ying?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ying fair and square to convince you.¡±


    Dog Butcher seemed indecisive and asked the old woman again, ¡°Can I fight? If I lose, I have to admit to his superiority.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not up to him whether you are convinced or not. You were defeated by Old Man Mu before. Didn¡¯t you wallow in humiliation and practice hard for over a dozen years toe here to avenge yourself?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is young and I¡¯m afraid that I can¡¯t afford to wait that long ¡­.¡±


    ¡°Go fight!¡± The old womanshed out a sharp cry. Dog Butcher abruptly straightened up and jumped towards the Dragon King.


    Long Fanyun was not back yet, so only Shangguan Fei could speak to Doctor Sun. ¡°It¡¯s really a disaster if you marry a powerful woman. You won¡¯t be able to get rid of her for an entire lifetime.¡±


    Doctor Sun nodded approvingly.


    Before Dog Butcher and the Dragon King could sh again, several figures leaped near the stout old woman and dropped a prisoner on the ground.


    Dog Butcher immediately halted. ¡°You got her?¡±


    The captive bounced up, and with her hands tied, she smiled at the Dragon King and said, ¡°Dragon King, please save me again. I¡¯ll give you something even more interesting if you do.¡±

 Chapter 702 - Imitation

    Chapter 702: Imitation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Red Bat now had a personal experience with the entricity of the Waning Moon Hall. She used to be the handmaid for the nobles of the Land of Fragrance and had a cursory knowledge of the Indra Fragrance. From what she remembered, it shouldn¡¯t have caused diarrhea. Evidently, Both the drug and the antidote had been changed while in the hands of Lotus.


    She really wished that nobody would be outside the tent but the murmur of voices clearly indicated that there were still many people out there. She could only summon up all her courage to walk out.


    ¡°Feel better?¡± Shangguan Ru asked.


    ¡°Hmm. My power is recovering.¡± Red Bat whispered with her head lowered, d that she wasn¡¯t the center of attention.


    Nobody knew why but Shangguan Fei blurted out, ¡°Oh no, Red Bat. You dirtied the camp and they came knocking for you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t speak such nonsense.¡±


    Afraid of his sister¡¯s ¡®order,¡¯ Shangguan Fei stopped mocking Red Bat and just chuckled.


    Red Bat¡¯s face immediately turned red. She knew that the neers had nothing to do with her but still couldn¡¯t help but nce at them.


    There werepletely surrounded by at least twenty-odd people scattered in all directions. With their backs to different bonfires, each seemed old enough to live fearlessly. But the real refugees had already wisely hidden themselves, and these neers were the only ones within a few dozen paces of them.


    Long Fanyun hurried back. After a quick exchange of nce with Red Bat, he turned his head around at once, drew his grandsword, and shouted, ¡°Who are you?¡±


    The opposing Han Fen was a captive now but she didn¡¯t seem to be particrly afraid. She imitated Long Fanyun¡¯s tone and said right back at him, ¡°Right, who are you?¡±


    A newly arrived old man removed his disguise and nodded to the Dragon King. ¡°We are all disciples of the Kongtong Sect.¡±


    Shangguan Fei pointed at this man and said, ¡°Ehh, aren¡¯t you that Fan Yongda? The Dragon King saved your life in the forbidden zone of the pce.¡±


    ¡°I will always keep the Dragon King¡¯s favor in mind.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good to keep it in mind, but it¡¯s time to do something practical. Tell the old man and old woman of your sect to¡­¡±


    Dog Butcher chimed in leisurely, ¡°Do not use the word ¡®old man¡¯ to describe me, at least not until I defeat Old Man Mu.¡±


    Shangguan Fei couldn¡¯t understand why a man would stick to such a silly promise so stubbornly, but at heart, he admired Old Man Mu means even more. ¡°Either way, we hold no grudges towards each other and there¡¯s no need to fight. You¡¯ve seized Han Fen and there¡¯s no more need to snatch our antidote.¡±


    Dog Butcher looked at the old woman and said, ¡°He¡¯s got a point.¡±


    Fan Yongda feared the old woman very much but the Dragon King did indeed save him in front of thousands of people. So he also came forward and said, ¡°Aunt Master, the Dragon King has saved my life before¡­¡±


    The old woman had been staring at the Dragon King the whole time. Upon hearing this, she snorted, ¡°The men of our Kongtong Sect are really spineless. You are so easily bought over by petty favors. He did save you, but he also killed Shen Yongjiu. Your martial arts skills are not even half as good as Yongjiu¡¯s. That means that he still owes us half a life. Dog Butcher, you know that this kid has saved Old Man Mu several times. Can you just forget about the humiliation that has tormented you for more than a decade?¡±


    Ashamed, the old and the young alike bowed their heads. Fan Yongda cupped his hands and silently bowed to the Dragon King before he retreated back to his fellow disciples. Dog Butcher seemed to muster his strength, and he suddenly raised his head, drew his walking stick, and again thrust it heavily against the ground. ¡°Yes, you are in leagues with Old Man Mu and you act vilely in collusion with him¡­ You two are on the same side and I can¡¯t let you go.¡±


    ¡°Well said!¡± The old woman gave a resounding affirmation, loud, clear, and resonant.


    ¡°Well said indeed!¡± Shangguan Fei called out after her. He wasn¡¯t able to defeat Dog Butcher with his fists so he was determined to render a service through words, ¡°You two: one ugly, and the other wicked, crow like a cock and snatch like a dog. You adulterers sleep in the same bed but dream different dreams¡­ You are just a couple of bitches despised by the whole world.¡±


    The old woman¡¯s face turned red with anger but Dog Butcher was only surprised, saying, ¡°We do dream different dreams but we don¡¯t sleep in the same bed, and neither are we adulterers. I¡¯m practicing the Virgin Boy Skill and she¡¯s practicing¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up and bring me the Dragon King first.¡±


    Dog Butcher was very obedient. He poised to pounce at his opponent but was checked by the other side. Gu Shenwei, who always fought a quick battle and forced a quick conclusion, wasn¡¯t in a hurry this time. ¡°Wait a moment; there¡¯s something I want to ask first. Was the Kongtong sect waiting for specifically me tonight?¡±


    ¡°We set a trap to¡­¡±


    The old woman shrieked, ¡°Why are you telling him this?¡±


    Dog Butcher stopped talking. Shangguan Ru said in surprise, ¡°I didn¡¯t know it was a trap¡­¡±


    Flustered, Doctor Sun hastily echoed, ¡°Neither did I. I thought that this was just amon camp.¡±


    Han Fen, whose hands were tied behind her back, feigned surprise and said with a voice that was surprisingly simr to Shangguan Ru¡¯s, ¡°I didn¡¯t know it was a trap either.¡±


    Surprised and amused, Shangguan Ru asked that old woman, ¡°How did you know that the Dragon King woulde here?¡±


    Han Fen was very good at disguising herself and her ventriloquism was also first-rate. She immediately repeated the words of Shangguan Ru in the same tone.


    The disciples of the Kongtong Sect guarding Han Fen uneasily looked at each other, their hands reaching for their saber hilts.


    Instead of answering Shangguan Ru, the old woman looked at Han Fen and said, ¡°What tricks are you ying at?¡±


    Han Fen nced at Shangguan Ru and said nothing.


    Feeling like she was being ignored, the old woman became furious. Her body swayed a bit and in the blink of an eye, she disappeared from where she was and appeared in front of Han Fen. The dozen or so paces seemed nonexistent in front of her. She raised her hand and tried to p Han Fen in the face.


    ¡°No!¡± Several disciples shouted at the same time.


    The old woman paused and puzzledly look at Han Fen, who was neither beautiful nor special. ¡°What? Were you all bewitched by the enchantress?¡± As she said that, she swung her arm and tried to p again.


    ¡°Poison!¡±


    The disciples¡¯ reminder was right on time. The old woman¡¯s palm stopped two or three inches from Han Fen¡¯s cheek. ¡°Poison? The Waning Moon Hall is indeed a rotten sect.¡±


    Han Fen was trying to imitate Shangguan Ru so she had remained silent. But after hearing that remark, however, she couldn¡¯t help but reply, ¡°It¡¯s more than rotten. It¡¯s rotten from head to toe. You are short so you¡¯ll rot faster¡­¡±


    For Hen Fen, it was an honest description and had no special meaning. But to a normal person, her words were an absolute humiliation. The old woman was so enraged that she jumped back while using her crutch to strike Han Fen in the chest, obviously wanting to kill her.


    Another crutch pressed on hers, and the old woman retreated again. Furiously, she snapped, ¡°Don¡¯t you dare stop me, old dog!¡±


    Dog Butcher looked submissive and not ¡®daring¡¯ at all. ¡°Senior sister misunderstood me. This girl gave three antidote pills to the Dragon King and may have more. We have to rely on her to save people if I¡¯m no match for the Dragon King and can¡¯t get thest pill.¡±


    The old woman suppressed her anger and asked, ¡°Do you have an antidote?¡±


    Han Fen didn¡¯t answer. She was still carefully observing Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Ru wasn¡¯t familiar with her and didn¡¯t understand why she was always staring at her. But she had no ill feelings towards her either, so she said, ¡°The Kongtong Sect is a famous sect of the Central ins. Why did its disciples be so unreasonable after entering the prairie? tantly snatching antidotes and secretly kidnapping the innocent, it¡¯s really disappointing.¡±


    The old woman sneered, but before she could start refuting Shangguan Ru¡¯s points, Han Fen had already said repeated the words verbatim in Shangguan Ru¡¯s manner.


    Shangguan Ruughed. ¡°Why do you always imitate me?¡±


    Han Fen even imitated herughter perfectly but spoke a little faster, ¡°Why do you always imitate me?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t funny anymore but a little eerie now. The old woman, Dog Butcher, and everyone else of the Kongtong sect all stepped back a few paces.


    Shangguan Ru also felt a bit nervous and helplessly nced at the Dragon King.


    Nobody knew what Han Fen was thinking. Gu Shenwei took a few steps forward and asked, ¡°Han Fen, are you still in the mood to y games at this time?¡±


    Han Fen looked straight at Shangguan Ru while saying, ¡°Shh, don¡¯t you love saving this little girl the most? If I imitate her to perfection, then you¡¯ll also be willing to save me.¡±


    Hearing this, Shangguan Ru blushed but the others were bewildered, unable to tell if Han Fen was joking or not.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head gently and said, ¡°I¡¯ll save you regardless of if you imitate her or not.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Han Fen immediately turned her eyes to the Dragon King and smilingly returned to her original expression.


    ¡°But what are you going to use in exchange for your life this time?¡±


    ¡°Aiya, you¡¯ve got me. You didn¡¯t like anything that I said before. You¡¯d better make an offer yourself.¡±


    ¡°Tell me the whereabouts of Han Xuan and Shangguan Shaomin.¡±


    ¡°Deal.¡±


    Han Fen promised so readily that Gu Shenwei felt a little uneasy.


    Looking at the two, the old woman of the Kongtong sect was incensed, ¡°Are all the people of the Western Regions crazy? So much nonsense. If you want to save people, you¡¯ll have to go through me first.¡±


    Gu Shenwei spread his arms and said, ¡°I have a suggestion. Let¡¯s have a kung fupetition. If I lose, I¡¯ll give you the antidote. Anyhow, the one of mine is real but what you will get from Han Fen may not¡­¡±


    Han Fen interjected, ¡°Right. And I¡¯m ticklish. I¡¯ll tremble when I¡¯m frisked. And anything may fall out at that time in time.¡±


    Gu Shenwei ignored her and continuedying out the rules. ¡°If the Kongtong sect loses, then you hand over Han Fen and get out of the way.¡±


    ¡°Heh, you wish!¡± The old woman refused to call the other side ¡®the Dragon King.¡¯ ¡°We are many and you are few. If you want to follow the rules of Jianghu, sever your rtionship with the evildoers like Old Man Mu and the people of the Waning Moon Hall first.¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned to Doctor Sun and said, ¡°Give me the antidote.¡±


    Doctor Sun confusedly handed over the small wooden box that contained the pill.


    Gu Shenwei put it in his robe and suddenly rushed at the old woman. Dog Butcher immediately reacted and tried to block him. But it was only a feint from Gu Shenwei, who turned halfway, jumped to the side and quickly ran into a dark area. Dog Butcher closely followed and wasn¡¯t left too far behind.


    The two quickly disappeared. Soon, a few cries were heard in the distance. Many disciples of the Kongtong sect hade this time and they hadid an ambush on the periphery.


    The old woman snorted with disdain, ¡°Humph, It¡¯s not that easy to escape.¡±


    Han Fen imitated her tone, which was even more perfect than when she was imitating Shangguan Ru. ¡°Humph, it¡¯s not that easy to intercept him.¡±


    Han Fen¡¯s ¡®judgment¡¯ turned out to be more urate. Dog Butcher came back alone. ¡°Strange, he suddenly disappeared. But his lightness skill wasn¡¯t actually that good.¡±


    No one was better at hiding in the dark than a killer. The people around Dragon King weren¡¯t surprised at all.


    ¡°What a coward¡­¡±


    Before the old woman finished speaking, Gu Shenwei walked out from the nearest tent. ¡°This is why you should ept the terms of the kung fupetition.¡±


    Dumbfounded, the old woman turned sharply to Dog Butcher, ¡°How were you chasing him?¡±


    Dog Butcher nodded and admitted his fault. ¡°Yes, I didn¡¯t perform well. Please calm down, senior sister.¡±


    ¡°All right, then let¡¯s have a contest ording to your terms. I don¡¯t believe that you are good at everything.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was just about to open his mouth when a loud heartyugh rang out through the dark. ¡°It¡¯s rare for Tu Pianpian to be so reasonable. Count me in if you want to have apetition!¡±


    The old woman¡¯s face suddenly changed. She had worked so hard toy this trap but didn¡¯t expected that her target would arrive ahead of time.

 Chapter 703 - Stakes

    Chapter 703: Stakes


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Tu Pianpian was very upset because nothing had gone ording to n this evening. Everybody she had met from the Western Regions were weirdos, and her fellow disciples were disappointments. Dozens of them had went out to set up a trap but they still let her worst enemy sneak inside.


    ¡°Shorty Deng, no more mystifying. Come out!¡±


    The man¡¯s voice sounded out loud and clear through the whole camp, but the tent he came out of happened to be the one closest to Tu Pianpian and the one that Gu Shenwei had temporarily hid in.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart thumped. He didn¡¯t expect that there was an expert hiding behind him.


    ¡°I am Deng Yuanlei, part of the Qingcheng Sect¡¯s 17th generation of disciples.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei wasn¡¯t that tall, but he was still around half a head taller than Tu Pianpian and wasn¡¯t a dwarf at all. He was in his forties, had small eyes, a rtively t nose, a slightly round face, and a thin beard; but his eyes were as sharp as newly forged swords, so bright and shiny that it was hard for others to look straight at them.


    Just from the name ¡®Qingcheng Sect,¡¯ Gu Shenwei knew that there was trouble again. The Xia brothers who had assisted Shangguan Yun in the Wushan Mountains, Gu Feng who specialized in striking acupoints, and Yang Yingshu who wielded dual halberds and dual swords, were all disciples of the Qingcheng Sect, and their deaths were all rted to the Dragon Army.


    ¡°Heh, is the Qingcheng Sect really something? What¡¯s there to brag about?¡± Tu Pianpian raised her cane and waved twice. Over forty disciples of the Kongtong Sect immediately gathered in front of her. Some of them removed their disguises while others kept their disguises of old people on. ¡°They are from the Western Regions and have never heard ofthe big name of the shing Lightning Rolling Thunder, Deng Yuanlei.¡±


    ¡°Not really.¡± Deng Yuanlei¡¯s sword-like eyes remained fixed on Gu Shenwei¡¯s face. ¡°The Dragon King has dealt with quite a lot of the Qingcheng Sect¡¯s disciples.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, but they died too soon to mention your name,¡± Shangguan Fei rushed to say. One of the three Xia brothers had died in his hands, so he didn¡¯t want the Dragon King to give in to this man.


    Tu Pianpian and a few other disciples of the Kongtong Sectughed out loud. Deng Yuanlei kept hisposure and said, ¡°No discord, no concord. We¡¯ll get to know each other after a few more fights.¡±


    Tu Pianpian looked around and said, ¡°Where are the others? The Qingcheng Sect likes to use many to defeat the few. Why are you here alone today?¡±


    ¡°I came to see if the Kongtong Sect was up to something. It turned out to be a contest with the Dragon King. My hands itched to join it so I came out. The others haven¡¯t arrived yet, and Sister Tu won¡¯t use arge force to defeat a small one, will she?¡±


    Han Fen, who had been silent, suddenly winked at the Dragon King, raised her head, and sniffed the air for a while before saying, ¡°I can smell other disciples of the Qingcheng Sect. He¡¯s not the only one here. There are two more people in this tent, and one more in that tent. Ehh, there are several more behind the cesspit. They are too stinky to hide from me.¡±


    Han Fen was very abnormal. The disciples of the Kongtong Sect had also noticed this when they captured her and now they couldn¡¯t help but retreat a few steps. Others also felt strange and had never heard of a particr sect having a unique smell.


    Deng Yuanlei was obviously astonished, ¡°How did you know¡­¡± Before he caught himself he realized that he had actually admitted to having aplices.


    Tu Pianpian didn¡¯t believe Han Fen at first, but Deng Yuanlei¡¯s reaction spoke for itself. Sheughed out loud and said, ¡°Disciples of the Qingcheng Sect, do not sneak around and embarrass your Ancestral Master anymore. Get out here!¡±


    More than a dozen disciples of the Qingcheng Sect showed up one by one and stood behind Deng Yuanlei, somewhat sheepish and surprised.


    The concealment methods of the Qingcheng Sect and Kongtong Sect were very average. Not long after Deng Yuanlei walked out of the tent, Gu Shenwei had discovered that there were others lurking around. To the killer, those hidden ces were very obvious, and Han Fen had probably figured it out in a simr way. It was surprising that many people actually believed that it was because of her sniffing technique.


    Deng Yuanlei looked Han Fen up and down and said, ¡°Heh, the Waning Moon Hall does have its own unique skills after all. No wonder the Dragon King wants to save you.¡±


    Han Fen smiled. ¡°The Dragon King wants to save me because I¡¯m his friend. Although he had a falling out with Master Commander, they may get back together again in the future. As long as the Dragon King is willing to bow his head, it¡¯s easy¡­¡±


    Han Fen was loose-lipped, and Gu Shenwei had to stop her. ¡°Han Fen.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    ¡°Keep your mouth shut until I let you speak.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Han Fen replied in a muffled voice.


    Deng Yuanlei looked at Han Fen for another while before turning back to the Dragon King. ¡°Dragon King, from the Western Regions to the Nond, several disciples of Qingcheng Sect have died in your hands. I havee a long way to seek an exnation.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had lived in the Western Regions and fought openly and secretly with Golden Roc Castle for many years, and was long used to the killer¡¯s rules. So he was quite perplexed by Deng Yuanlei¡¯s demand. ¡°They helped my enemies. Did they not think that their lives would be in danger and expected me to be lenient?¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s point of view came from Golden Roc Castle and Shangguan Fei felt that he was fully qualified to rify a few points. ¡°Do not tell me that you don¡¯t risk drowning if you swim every day; do not me the Heavens if you fall into the abyss if you climb high mountains every day. Those who hold a saber must ept the risks of being stabbed and those who want to kill must be prepared to be killed. As kung fu practitioners, how do you not know such a simple truth? Why are you ying the role of the tyrant at will and expect others to not resist?¡±


    Even Shangguan Ru felt that there was some truth in these words, but the disciples of the Kongtong Sect and Qingcheng Sect felt that they were quite strange. One of them said in a low voice, ¡°What about the rules of Jianghu? You can¡¯t always solve problems through fighting and killing.¡±


    ¡°Rules of Jianghu? The Dragon King is the Lord of the Western Regions. He has a queen, a counselor, many advisers, and thousands of soldiers to assist him. What rules of Jianghu does he need to follow? Besides, you are from the Central ins. Since you¡¯vee to the Western Regions and the Nond, you have to follow our rules.¡± Shangguan Fei refused to back down.


    ¡°Haha.¡± Deng Yuanlei had no intention of having a verbal fight, ¡°All right, let¡¯s follow the rules of the Western Regions then and have a life and death duel. The loser should not hold grudges against the winner.¡±


    Dog Butcher had listened while leaning on his crutches for a while, so now he let out a light breath and said, ¡°Finally, we can y. I¡¯ve been waiting for a long time.¡±


    Since the trap had been seen through, Tu Pianpian, who was proud and arrogant, simply stopped mentioning it and cried out, ¡°Let¡¯s have a duel then. The one who survives is the winner and the dead ones are the loser. Direct and clear. We don¡¯t even need a witness.¡±


    Dozens of men raised their weapons.


    ¡°Hold on.¡± Seeing that Tu Pianpian might want to start a scuffle, Deng Yuanlei hastily slowed down the situation. ¡°Although it¡¯s a duel of the Western Regions, we still need some rules. The three parties can only choose one person from each side and no one else is allowed to interfere. What does the Dragon King think?¡±


    Among the three sides, the Kongtong Sect had the most people, so Deng Yuanlei asked the Dragon King, who had the fewest helpers, first.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine with that.¡±


    Tu Pianpian snorted. As one of the elders of the Kongtong Sect, she was very confident in the martial arts of her sect and had never thought about starting a scuffle. ¡°Of course it has to be this way. But it¡¯s better to offer some stakes for the duel. The Dragon King has an antidote and we have a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall. What does the Qingcheng Sect have to offer?¡±


    Deng Yuanlei swept the audience with gleaming eyes and seemed to have everything under control. ¡°Bring him out,¡± he ordered.


    Another two disciples of the Qingcheng Sect came out from a tent. They had removed their disguises and was carrying a man who was staggering along the way.


    Tu Pianpian was taken aback. ¡°Why is he in your hands?¡±


    Deng Yuanlei smiled. ¡°Your disciples all went out into the wilderness to set traps and gave us an opportunity.¡±


    ¡°If anyone of the Kongtong Sect dies¡­¡±


    ¡°Sister Tu can rest assured. The disciples of the esteemed sect have been very cooperative and no one was injured.¡±


    It turned out that this captive had been in the hands of the Kongtong Sect but was snatched away by the Qingcheng Sect on the way.


    Gu Shenwei knew this captive and Shangguan Fei also recognized him. ¡°Silver Condor? You¡­ What happened to him?¡±


    No one answered Shangguan Fei. Tu Pianpian and Deng Yuanlei were engaged in a duel between their res. Han Fen made a muffled noise as if she had something to say.


    ¡°You may speak now.¡± Gu Shenwei lifted her ban.


    ¡°I know, I know,¡± Han Fen eximed happily. ¡°This man called Silver Condor sneaked into the Waning Moon Hall but he was too clumsy. We found him as soon as he crossed the perimeter. We had a noisy fight. Then he tried to escape but was drugged by the Indra Fragrance. Just then arge crowd of people came and took Silver Condor away, and we were forced to move our home again.¡±


    Tu Pianpian was actually fighting for the antidote for Silver Condor. Gu Shenwei was quite surprised but figured out the reason in an instant. ¡°So the people of the Central ins came to the Nond to steal away the head of the Khan.


    ¡°Not only so¡­¡± Dog Butcher answered but immediately swallowed the rest of his words after being red at by the angry eyes of Tu Pianpian.


    ¡°The Kongtong and Qingcheng Sects have arrived. Where are the other sects? Are they hiding somewhere and watching for fun?¡± Gu Shenwei suddenly felt more confident after understanding the other side¡¯s purpose.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about other people. It¡¯s just us three today. The winner takes all and the losers have to ept the results,¡± Tu Pianpian said.


    This time it was Deng Yuanlei¡¯s turn to be dissatisfied. ¡°Wait a moment.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Tu Pianpian seemed very impatient as if the one who obstructed the duel was always others.


    ¡°Silver Condor knows the whereabouts of the Khan¡¯s head. This disciple of the Waning Moon Hall knows how to detoxicate and can also provide many secrets. Both of them are very important. But the Dragon King is only offering an antidote as stakes. Isn¡¯t that a bit unfair?¡±


    Seeing that the other side was targeting the Dragon King, Tu Pianpian¡¯s anger was relieved a bit. ¡°What do you say then?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King should also provide a person as stakes.¡±


    Doctor Sun, who had been standing behind Shangguan Ru and Red Bat, sighed and came forward. ¡°I knew that I couldn¡¯t just run away. Forget it, I won¡¯t make it hard on the Dragon King. Just fight and I¡¯ll go with the winner as long as I don¡¯t have to return to the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    Shangguan Fei disdainfully said, ¡°Old Sun, you really know how to sail with the wind.¡±


    ¡°Not as well as Golden Roc Castle.¡± Doctor Sun didn¡¯t blush at all. ¡°Anyway, only the one with the highest martial arts skills can protect me. The Dragon King probably thinks the same way, doesn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. If I can¡¯t defeat these guys, I¡¯m not eligible to protect you.¡±


    ¡°Heh, I hope that the Dragon King can win.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded, ¡°This Divine Doctor Sun escaped from the Waning Moon Hall himself. He¡¯s proficient in both poison and medicine and can cure Silver Condor.¡±


    This was exactly Deng Yuanlei wanted, so he said, ¡°Good. Whoever wins will take the three of them.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to fight in turn. The three of you can y together and see who survives to the end,¡± Tu Pianpian announced loudly.


    ¡°Wait.¡± The duel was destined to not be smooth. This time the one who interrupted was Dog Butcher.


    ¡°Wait for what? We can talk about itter.¡± Tu Pianpian went on a rampage. ¡°Stop wasting time. It¡¯s going to be bright soon.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but I think it would be more interesting to have one more person on each side, for six people in total.


    Tu Pianpian immediately got what he meant. ¡°Yes, Dog Butcher and I will represent the Kongtong Sect. What about the Qingcheng Sect?¡± Without asking for the others¡¯ opinion, she had already decided that there would be six people joining the duel.


    Deng Yuanlei didn¡¯t object either. He beckoned towards a young disciple toe over and said, ¡°Brother Liu, I¡¯m afraid I have to trouble you.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei behaved quite courteously. Tu Pianpian was a bit surprised, asking, ¡°Are you the son of Sect Leader Liu?¡±


    The young disciple bowed and said, ¡°Liu Fangsheng greets Seniors Tu.¡±


    ¡°Will your fathere after us if you die?¡±


    ¡°Since we¡¯ve made it clear that this is a duel, life and death will be decided by the Heavens and there will be no vengeance afterwards.¡±


    Tu Pianpian then turned to the Dragon King, ¡°What about you? Find yourself a helper.¡±


    ¡°Please give me a hand, Instructor Shangguan.¡±


    Shangguan Fei heaved a sigh of relief but meanwhile, he was perplexed. This was a fight to the death but his sister held no desire to kill. Asking her for help was tantamount to tying one¡¯s own hands and feet, so why would the Dragon King choose her as his partner?

 Chapter 704 - Visiting the Doctor

    Chapter 704: Visiting the Doctor


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Ru was more surprised than anyone else. ¡°Me?¡± she asked in disbelief.


    Shangguan Fei had learned from the past that he couldn¡¯t show his loyalty by being indecisive in front of the Dragon King; he firmly nodded and said, ¡°Yes, sister. The Dragon King is talking about you. You are the only ¡®instructor¡¯ here.¡±


    Gu Shenwei also nodded slightly, exining more by saying, ¡°Your lightness skill is not rusty at all, and it is even better than before.¡±


    ¡°Not only that. My sister has learned the Heart Stopping Finger technique from Old Man Mu, so she¡¯s very powerful.¡± Shangguan Fei was really worried that his sister would refuse to fight because she had a readily avable excuse that she couldn¡¯t and didn¡¯t want to kill.


    Red Bat despised Shangguan Fei¡¯s behavior and snorted lightly. ¡°Coward, do you think that everyone is as mortally afraid of death as you are?¡±


    The Red Bat¡¯s trust in the instructor was justified. Shangguan Ru was surprised but not timid. She was even a bit excited. But she had a word to say before the duel, ¡°You know that I can¡¯t¡­ Not even as an aplice.¡±


    This meant that she would not use the Seven Circles Seven Apertures Heart Stopping Finger in the duel.


    ¡°Can you guarantee that I won¡¯t be killed from behind?¡± This was all that Gu Shenwei needed.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Shangguan Ru was very confident in this. Then she casually drew her wooden saber.


    The six of them faced off against each other in pairs, upying the three corners of an equteral triangle.


    Dog Butcher coughed as if he wanted to say something, but Tu Pianpian was already eager to fight. Fearing that her junior brother woulde up with more nonsense, she snapped at him in a low voice, ¡°Shut up and fight.¡±


    Since it was a duel of life and death, it was superfluous to consider the etiquette between seniors and juniors. Tu Pianpian¡¯s first move didn¡¯t seem shy or special, but her stout body abruptly rocketed at Deng Yuanlei and Liu Fangsheng as her cane dragged behind. When she was within five steps of the two, she suddenly drew her cane as fast as lightning to stab at the two.


    At almost the exact same moment, Dog Butcher abandoned his crutch and faced the Dragon King with his bare fists. He still remembered their previous agreement to have theirpetition purely in fist and foot techniques rather than weapon skills.


    The two elders of the Kongtong Sect considered themselves highly skilled in martial arts. They had actually eachunched a separate speed attack against two different teams.


    Gu Shenwei used the Formless Prajna Palm he had just learned to face his enemy.


    ¡°Good palm technique,¡± Dog Butcher praised. Instead of fighting the Dragon King fiercely like his senior sister, his style was more tentative andced with caution.


    The two weren¡¯t engaged in a furious fight, so Shangguan Ru had almost nothing to do.


    On the other side, Tu Pianpian was making many murderous moves and swinging her crutch like a whirlwind, appearing very aggressive and the nickname Rolling Thunder seemed to fit her more than Deng Yuanlei.


    Deng Yuanlei was called ¡®shing Lightning Rolling Thunder,¡¯ but what his actual weapon was a soft long sword and he focused more on defense than offense. As he fought, he said to the son of the sect leader, ¡°Brother Liu, we can¡¯t bully seniors, so you should pick another opponent.¡±


    Liu Fangsheng also used a long sword. He replied, ¡°I dare not challenge the elders,¡± then leapt at the Dragon King.


    Tu Pianpian took it as a mark of shame and turned her crutch to lunge straight at Liu Fangsheng as she shouted, ¡°You wanna run¡­¡±


    Before she could finish her words, Liu Fangsheng had really run away, jumping high and vaulting over the thrusting attack. Deng Yuanlei immediately came forward to face Tu Pianpian so thetter had no way to chase him. Grim-faced, Tu Pianpian no longer spoke and concentrated on furiously attacking Deng Yuanlei.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯spetitive personality hadn¡¯t changed much. After seeing the Dragon King fight with Dog Butcher, she was itching to join the fight. Now that Liu Fangsheng hade over, she immediately ran over to meet him with her wooden saber.


    Liu Fangsheng seemed unwilling to deal with Shangguan Ru. He twisted and turned, trying to avoid the wooden saber and directing join in on the melee between Dragon King and Dog Butcher. But he was blocked by his opponent every time. Although it was a wooden saber, it made a strong whooshing sound as it cut through the wind.


    Liu Fangsheng was finally taking Shangguan Ru seriously, but he still focused more on defending than attacking, slowly moving toward the Dragon King.


    Sinceing to the Royal Court, Shangguan Fei had met many kung fu practitioners of the Central ins and even had fought against some of them but he had never seen a ¡®life-and-death duel¡¯ like this. ¡°Is it me or is the fight not fierce at all. Everyone is hiding their real abilities and is unwilling to show their unique skills.¡±


    Long Fanyun and Red Bat also felt it was a below-par performance, but they were not familiar with the martial arts of the Central ins and couldn¡¯t make anyments. Doctor Sun used to travel around the world and once stayed in the Central ins for many years, and therefore, took the authoritative lead at this time. He nodded andmented, ¡°Competitions among masters are always like this. In the beginning, everyone is trying to feel each other out, and no one will not use their unique skill until they see an opening.¡±


    ¡°Oh, really? Does it mean that everybody I¡¯ve met from the Central ins up till now wasn¡¯t an expert?¡± Shangguan Fei wasn¡¯t fully convinced. But he had fought with Dog Butcher and lost in three moves and from that he qualified Dog Butcher as much more formidable than the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect. ¡°Dog Butcher wasn¡¯t Old Man Mu¡¯s match before so he simrly won¡¯t be able to beat the Dragon King today.¡±


    Doctor Sun hummed and hawed at thisment, which annoyed Shangguan Fei to no end. ¡°Don¡¯t you believe in the Dragon King? Oh, I suppose that you won¡¯t be in danger no matter who you follow. You must have always been ready to switch sides, weren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°We are all from the Western Regions, so of course I¡¯ll support the Dragon King, but¡­¡±


    ¡°But what?¡±


    ¡°But the Dragon King is using his weak points to attack the other¡¯s strong points. His sabersmanship is advanced and his speed attacks are strong, but right now he¡¯s fighting a battle of attrition against his opponent. He¡¯s¡­ he¡¯s being a bit too careless.¡±


    Shangguan Fei actually had the same thoughts, but what he said was, ¡°What do you know? The Dragon King has his own way of fighting. As for you, an average kung fu practitioner¡­ Humph, just focus on curing patients.¡±


    Doctor Sun was very proud of his talent. Besides the Waning Moon Hall, no one had turned a cold shoulder to him. Even the Unique King had to be polite to him at least on the surface. But this Shangguan Fei had opposed him several times for no reason, he couldn¡¯t help losing his temper. All of a sudden, he struck out with his palm and pped Shangguan Fei.


    Shangguan Fei blocked the unexpected blow. ¡°What? You wanna betray the Dragon King?¡±


    Doctor Sun drew back as soon as his palm touched Shangguan Fei¡¯s fist. Ignoring the other side¡¯s usation, he curled his mouth, shook his head, and continued to watch the fight silently between the Dragon King and Dog Butcher.


    Heart thumping, Shangguan Fei secretly scolded how foolish he was. His Qi deviation hadn¡¯t been fixed yet, so how could he be disrespectful to the divine doctor? It was all because of Long Fanyun and Red Bat, who were flirting with each other and had made him feel ill at ease. So he put on a smile and said, ¡°Divine doctor, what have you found?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, the Dragon King¡¯s palm technique is more subtle and powerful than I expected. He must have learned it from the Four Noble Truths Temple, right? And your sister¡¯s lightness skill is also not bad. Both of them can fight against the masters of the Central ins, so now I am confident in their victory.¡±


    With an ingratiating smile, Shangguan Fei said, ¡°Since the divine doctor is optimistic about the result, I can feel at ease now. But what I want to ask is, what have you noticed about me?¡±


    ¡°You?¡± Doctor Sun looked at him impatiently. ¡°You look like your sister.¡±


    Shangguan Fei grabbed Doctor Sun¡¯s arm and begged, ¡°Divine Doctor Sun, please. Please save me. Although I¡¯m no longer the ninth young master, the Dragon King¡­ The Dragon King trusts me very much and I can put in a good word for you in front of him.¡±


    Doctor Sun broke free from Shangguan Fei¡¯s grip and continued watching the contest carefully. After a long while, he said, ¡°You have the same illness as the Dragon King but it¡¯s not as serious as his.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was nearly on his knees at this point. ¡°Divine doctor, you really are a divine doctor. I was forced to¡­ Uh, I volunteered to practice the Three-in-One Power for the Dragon King and in turn this problem arose.¡±


    The six people on the field were gradually starting to use their real kung fu and the scene was growing fiercer. The disciples of the two sects couldn¡¯t take their eyes off the scene but Doctor Sun seemed to be more interested in Shangguan Fei¡¯s rare affliction. Although his eyes didn¡¯t leave the duel, he held out three fingers. Shangguan Fei immediately stuck out his wrist tacitly.


    ¡°The Dragon King and your sister cooperate very well. Although their kung fu skills are different, they can make up for each other¡¯s shorings. Strange, it¡¯s really strange.¡±


    Doctor Sun was a little distracted. Shangguan Fei was dissatisfied with his attitude but dared not speak out. Instead, he squeezed out a smile and said, ¡°The divine doctor may not know this, but the Dragon King and my sister used to y together every day in the castle. Theypeted a lot and caused lots of trouble¡­ Ehh, no wonder the Dragon King chose my sister as his helper. It makes sense now. The divine doctor really has sharp eyes and even noticed this.¡±


    Gu Shenwei, Shangguan Ru, Dog Butcher, and Liu Fangsheng were already entangled in a fierce fight but everyone could see that the first two¡¯s moves were bing more and more smoothly while the other two seemed to be getting more awkward and cumbersome, even starting to block the other¡¯s attacks instead of dodging.


    This was also out of Gu Shenwei¡¯s expectation. He had wanted to use her lightness skills to counter the skills of the Qingcheng Sect and hadn¡¯t expected that his cooperation with her would be so smooth it was as if they had rehearsed it in advance.


    Indeed, they did ¡®rehearsed¡¯ it before. Back in the castle, the two had chased each other all over, covering almost every nook and cranny. And at Giant Boulder Cliff, they had practiced sabersmanship together and gotten to know each other¡¯s thoughts very well. The only difference was that Shangguan Yushi had still been around at that time.


    At this moment, Gu Shenwei was using his Three-in-One Power and the Formless Prajna Palm while Shangguan Ru was using the internal energy from Fayan which she hadn¡¯t fully absorbed yet and the lightness skills taught by Old Man Mu, which were all different from the old days. But synergistic martial art skills are not the only factor that count towards a good cooperation. After a short period of refamiliarizing themselves with each other, the two of them were getting better and better at making up for each other¡¯s ws.


    Liu Fangsheng¡¯s contempt for Shangguan Ru hadpletely disappeared and he was brandishing his longsword faster and faster. But Dog Butcher was also his enemy. He had to split some of his attention to guard against him, and therefore couldn¡¯t exert his full power.


    Dog Butcher was entangled with the Dragon King and asionally had to face Liu Fangsheng and Shangguan Ru. He was also surprised by the two¡¯s seamless cooperation. ¡°Aiya, I was too careless,¡± Dog Butchermented, but his hands weren¡¯t idle, not showing the slightest sign of giving up. ¡°Senior sister, I¡¯m having some difficulty fighting against the three of them. The Dragon King¡¯s palm technique is very strange, so I¡¯m a little¡­¡±


    Tu Pianpian had the upper hand in her battle now but she wasn¡¯t in the mood to care about her junior brother at all. ¡°Use your weapon,¡± she snapped.


    Dog Butcher attacked three times in quick session before leaping back to his crutch, and he didn¡¯t forget to remind the other side. ¡°Dragon King, draw your saber, please. I won¡¯t be able to stand getting hit two more times by your frosty Qi.¡±


    Gu Shenwei, who had also suffered a lot from the bacsh, didn¡¯t want to use the frosty Qi too much. He relented, drew his Five Peaks Saber, and instantly changed his position with Shangguan Ru, stabbing at Liu Fangsheng seven times in a row.


    The seven blows were a modified form of the Death Sutra Swordsmanship. This attack was not a safe or a probing move. Rather, it poured down on the enemy like a violent storm.


    Liu Fangsheng was caught unprepared and barely dodged with his advanced lightness skill, though immediately forced him into a losing position.


    Shangguan Fei was fascinated and for a moment he even forgot about his Qi deviation, shouting, ¡°Divine doctor, look. This is the Dragon King¡¯s true ability. As long as the Five Peaks Saber is unsheathed, who is his match?¡±


    But Doctor Sun was already absorbed in analyzing the internal injury. He squeezed Shangguan Fei¡¯s wrist and shouted back, ¡°Do not move.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I won¡¯t move.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, the Dragon King¡¯s internal Qi is too chaotic and not as clear as yours. Now I understand. Shangguan Fei, you used to practice the Daoless Divine Power, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but when I practiced the Three-in-One Power, I also practiced the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power along with it.¡±


    ¡°Congrattions. Your Daoless Divine Power is disappearing and as soon as it fully converts to the internal energy of the Four Truths Temple, your Qi deviation will also disappear.¡±


    It was hard to tell whether Shangguan Fei was sad or happy. Actually, he didn¡¯t quite understand what Doctor Sun had said.


    Gu Shenwei, who was still dueling on the field, however, was taken aback at what he heard, and it even caused his attack speed to slow down a bit. Liu Fangsheng seized the moment to extricate himself from his troublesome situation while Dog Butcher, who had taken up his crutch, joined the chaotic melee again.

 Chapter 705

    Chapter 705: Warp and Weft(Footnote: Warp and Weft is a weaving technique in how the horizontal and vertical fibers intece and intersect)


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Unaware of the impact his words had had on the Dragon King, Doctor Sun felt just a bit sorry for the situation on the field. ¡°Almost! What a pity! The Dragon King could have defeated the swordsman from the Qingcheng Sect if his saber was just a bit faster.¡±


    Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t care about the duel anymore. He vaguely felt that the doctor had given him good news but he wasn¡¯t absolutely sure, so he asked, ¡°Is the divine doctor trying to say that my Daoless Divine Power will gradually turn into the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power and then my Qi deviation will disappear by itself?¡±


    Doctor Sun turned and red at him. ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m said.¡±


    Shangguan Fei could not hold back his excitement anymore and smacked his left palm with his right fist. He had been forced by his mother to learn the Daoless Divine Power and had suffered a lot; therefore, he didn¡¯t feel any sadness about losing it at all. ¡°How long will it take to dissipate?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell.¡± Doctor Sun was closely watching every move of the Dragon King¡¯s and perfunctorily said to Shangguan Fei, ¡°A year or two, or maybe twenty.¡±


    ¡°Ah? What if my Qi deviation breaks out before then?¡±


    ¡°Get over it and you live. Otherwise you die. Aiya, the two masters of the Kongtong Sect are going to join hands. What will two crutches be able to do? Oh, I see. This is the unique skill of the Kongtong Sect, the Warp and Weft Staff Technique. I didn¡¯t expect that I would still be able to witness such a divine technique at my age!¡±


    Doctor Sun answered his own questions with great excitement. Shangguan Fei approached him and wanted to ask him more but was rudely pushed away.


    Red Bat asked softly, ¡°Is the Warp and Weft Staff Technique very formidable?¡±


    Shangguan Fei shot a nce at her, ming her for interrupting, but Doctor Sun was apparently more interested in answering this simple question. ¡°Of course, but that¡¯s all hearsay. Warp and Weft is, you know, one horizontal and the other vertical, like a being weaved in midair, which makes escape for the opponent impossible¡­¡±


    As he spoke, Dog Butcher and Tu Pianpian had moved closer, each waving their own crutch. Their moves were neither fast nor fierce and there was not much of the aforementioned criss-cross movement between the two. They were still more than ten steps apart, and it seemed like they were still fighting on their own. In contrast, the other four had already engaged in fierce hand-to-handbat. ¡±


    Doctor Sun grabbed his small bun of hair and frowned. ¡°Could I have guessed wrong?¡±


    ¡°How could the divine doctor be wrong? They are probably preparing their internal Qi. Divine doctor, please take a look at my illness again¡­¡±


    Before Shangguan Fei could finish speaking, Fan Yongda, the disciple of the Kongtong Sect, who had unconsciously gotten near them, interrupted. ¡°Doctor Sun is right. This is precisely the Warp and Weft Staff Technique. Literally, it means that the crutches will run lengthwise and crosswise, but in fact, this staff technique is powerful enough to seal the Geavens. My Uncle Master and Aunt Master are setting up a battle formation and will soon demonstrate their true abilities.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Doctor Sun echoed along with Red Bat.


    ¡°You are bragging.¡± Shangguan Fei looked at Fan Yongda with a gaze full of disdain and suddenly pointed at him and asked, ¡°When did you sneak here, you ungrateful wretch? Long Fanyun, let¡¯s drive him away together.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not hostile, why drive him away?¡± Red Bat shot back, as she did not like the instructor¡¯s brother very much.


    Long Fanyun, a man of few words, had been watching the Dragon King closely. Although he hadn¡¯t said anything, his motionless body obviously showed that he would not ¡®join hands¡¯ with Shangguan Fei to drive out this person.


    Full of jealousy, Shangguan Fei said in a voice dripping with sarcasm, ¡°Warp and Weft Staff Technique, sealing the Heavens. What a formidable staff technique! Let¡¯s wait and see how the Dragon King and my sister get killed then.¡±


    ¡°Why are you cursing the Dragon King and the Instructor!?¡± Red Bat questioned indignantly.


    Shangguan Fei was just about to argue back when Fan Yongda came straight over and said in a low voice, ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m here.¡±


    ¡°You want us to betray¡­¡± Shangguan Fei shouted out loudly, but before he could finish speaking, he was poked in the chest by Doctor Sun. Actually, he could have dodged it, but he didn¡¯t dare to. He thought that the divine doctor was going to check his illness but as soon as the doctor poked his acupoint, a surge of foul air rose into his throat, which caused him to start coughing repeatedly and be unable to speak.


    ¡°What does your Excellency want to say?¡± Doctor Sun also lowered his voice. Long Fanyun and Red Bat also came over to listen.


    Fan Yongda took a look at the situation on the field and pointed at the nearby tent, which was actually the tent Red Bat used as atrine. Red Bat blushed and anxiously shook her head, and Long Fanyun said, ¡°Let¡¯s go behind it.¡±


    Fan Yongda nodded and walked behind the tent, with the other three following along. Shangguan Fei finally stopped coughing and whispered an urgent warning, ¡°Don¡¯t be fooled. It¡¯s a trap.¡±


    But the four had already disappeared behind the tent. Shangguan Fei stamped his feet and also hurried over.


    It wasn¡¯t the best ce to have a private talk, but time was running out, and Fan Yongda didn¡¯t have much of a choice. ¡°I¡¯ll make a long story short¡­¡±


    ¡°That would be for the best.¡± Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t forget to keep irritating the other side with sarcastic jabs, and only closed his mouth under Doctor Sun¡¯s intense re.


    ¡°I just want to exin some of the rules of the Central ins¡¯ Jianghu. Please do not misunderstand. I have no intention of belittling you.¡±


    ¡°We know you mean well,¡± said Long Fanyun, who hoped that the other side would cut to the chase immediately.


    ¡°In the Central ins, unless there is a deep seated hatred that is unresolvable, there are usually no deaths in the kung fupetitions held between the various sects. And this time is no exception.¡±


    ¡°But this is a duel of life and death, and the ugly old woman also said that thest person standing would be the winner.¡± Shangguan Fei still wasn¡¯t able to keep his mouth shut, but this time his remark had the approval of hispanions, including Doctor Sun who wasn¡¯t a veteran of the martial arts world of the Central ins and didn¡¯t fully understand these subtle rules.


    ¡°You know, it¡¯s a kung fupetition. They¡¯re all the same. Everyone ims to fight to the death and does show some real ability when they get on the field. But when it is clear who the winner is, the losers will give in a little and the winner will also make a concession. The winner will give the other side a way out and not press too hard, but¡­¡±


    ¡°But what?¡±


    ¡°But the loser has to admit defeat first. It¡¯s all a part of the game¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, so you want the Dragon King to admit defeat.¡± Shangguan Fei kept shaking his head as he replied, ¡°That¡¯s impossible. Long Fanyun, you know that the Dragon King the best. That¡¯s impossible, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King will not concede defeat,¡± Long Fanyun said briefly.


    Fan Yongda smiled. ¡°Do not jump to conclusions. That¡¯s all I wanted to say and you can decide for yourself ording to how the situation changester.¡±


    Fan Yongda paid obeisance by cupping his hand in front of his chest before taking his leave. Doctor Sun followed him and asked, ¡°I spent a lot of time in the Central ins. Why didn¡¯t anyone tell me about the rules?¡±


    Fan Yongda appeared a bit embarrassed, saying, ¡°To tell you the truth, most of the rules of Jianghu are well-known, but never spoken. I made an exception because I don¡¯t think that you guys know much about the rules of the Central ins¡¯ martial arts world, and the Dragon King has also done me a great favor.¡±


    Doctor Sun was immediately enlightened and nodded meaningfully at Fan Yongda. When the other side left, he muttered, ¡°No wonder I always offended people in the Central ins. There were unspoken rules that everyone followed. Haha, that¡¯s the trick¡­¡±


    ¡°No wonder everyone says that the people of the Central ins are all hypocritical.¡± Shangguan Fei looked at Long Fanyun, hoping that this statement would have the approval of the swordsman from the Big Snow Mountain.


    Long Fanyun, however, shook his head. ¡°Actually, the Jianghu rules of the Central ins are somewhat reasonable. If their kung fupetition involves no killing, then the hatred between sects will naturally dissolve with time and both sides can learn also learn from it. If they fought like who we do at the old Big Snow Mountain where people start life-and-death fights when they meet, no one would benefit from it and the overall martial arts skills of the region would fade away, bing weaker and weaker.¡±


    ¡°Brother Long is right. The Instructor always said that too many people were willing to kill in the Western Regions and that in the end there would only be one or two sects left. People would grow arrogant, and then that would be a source of future hidden trouble.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s jealousy grew. He had once tried to say the words ¡®Brother Long¡¯ but had been mercilessly rejected. But as soon as Red Bat said it, Long Fanyun nodded without a trace of displeasure. ¡°Long Fanyun, I haven¡¯t heard anything from Big Snow Mountain for a long while. How is your wife doing over there?¡±


    Long Fanyun was stunned and didn¡¯t understand why Shangguan Fei had suddenly asked this. ¡°Not bad. I got a message before we came to the Nond; it said that everything was all right.¡±


    ¡°Good. Family¡¯s always the most important.¡± Shangguan Fei sneakily nced at Red Bat, but didn¡¯t see any noticeable reaction. He could not help wonder whether his judgment had been wrong. Then he suddenly remembered that Red Bat used to be a maid for a noble family and that her job had been to seduce men, almost like a prostitute. So obviously she would not care if the other side had a wife or not. His seemingly clever move had really been stupid after all.


    Doctor Sun suddenly said, ¡°The Warp and Weft Staff Technique will show its power now. It seems that the Qingcheng Sect is also about to use their unique skill.¡±


    The true power of the Warp and Weft Staff Techniquey not in the weapons but rather the crisscrossing internal Qi. Therefore, it took a long time to show its true power. Dog Butcher and Tu Pianpian had made full use of the time when the other four were having a melee and gradually built up the power of the staff technique, and now they had finally finished setting up their formation.


    The situation in the field immediately changed.


    The two elders of the Kongtong Sect were still about ten paces apart but the control area of the two crutches grewrger andrger. And there was a muffled buzzing in the air, so strong that it could be felt from over a dozen paces away.


    The eyes of the disciples of the Kongtong Sect sparked. Everyone was excitedly pointing and whispering about the subtlety of the staffmanship.


    As the power of the Warp and Weft Staff Technique was increased, the scuffle of the other four was broken but their countermeasures were different.


    Deng Yuanlei and Liu Fangsheng of the Qingcheng Sect had excellent lightness skills and leaped simultaneously, reaching a height of more than ten feet. They were able to jump up and down along the internal Qi of the Warp and Weft Staff Technique as if they were stepping on an invisible sphere. And the greater the range of the crutches, the higher the two rose. It was dazzling and very impressive but it was also very dangerous. A moment¡¯s carelessness would mean a man¡¯s death.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s lightness skill was also very good but it was different kind of goodpared to that of the Qingcheng Sect. Instead of jumping up, she retreated to the side and was moved further and further away from the core.


    The Dragon King, by contrast, seemed to make the riskiest choice of all. Instead of retreating, he stood in between the two crutches, near the center of the affected area, ignoring the internal Qi of the surroundings. However, his saber was clearly moving slower as if he were underwater.


    The most important thing was that the distance between him and Shangguan Ru had grown sorge that cooperation between the two was moot and pointless.


    Shangguan Fei finally broke himself free from his anxiety and jealousy and said, ¡°Something¡¯s not right. The Dragon King¡¯s sabersmanship and palm technique specialize in closebat, but now¡­ He can¡¯t even touch his opponents.¡±


    Needless to say, everyone thought that the Dragon King¡¯s situation was the most dangerous. Red Bat¡¯s face changed. She unconsciously grabbed Long Fanyun¡¯s wrist and muttered, ¡°The Dragon King will win. The Dragon King will win.¡±


    Gu Shenwei emptied his mind. Dog Butcher had suggested earlier that each side should sent two people to participate in the fight, and it seems like his purpose had been to use the Warp and Weft Staff Technique, which was indeed one of the most powerful martial arts skills that Gu Shenwei had ever encountered.


    Old Man Mu was also a formidable opponent when he had been in peak form, but his kung fu skills focused on swiftness and ferocity and were essentially simr to those of Golden Roc Castle. Although Gu Shenwei was a bit weaker than him, he didn¡¯t feel that his hands and feet were bound.


    This was the first time he had ever fought with real masters from the Central ins and found that all his best martial arts skills had been countered as the fight progressed. Theyers of internal Qi bundled together like cords, a single strand might be weak, but when grouped together they were a strong snare.


    Gu Shenwei had no choice but to use his sword. Only the pure unadulterated form of the Death Sutra Swordsmanship could help him break through the fetters that currently bound him.


    Shangguan Ru also decided to take a risk, eliminating the distance between the two, as she felt that she had to keep her promise that she would protect the Dragon King¡¯s back.

 Chapter 706 - Floating Leaf

    Chapter 706: Floating Leaf


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Doctor Sun thought that things were not actually going that well. He had realized earlier that the rules of Jianghu were actually in his best interest. Spouting off bitter words, demonstrating a unique skill, and then sparing the loser¡¯s life. Under this framework, any and all hatred could be resolved. The key of it all was that innocents wouldn¡¯t be harmed.


    And in this situation, Doctor Sun felt that he was an innocent. It was already unfortunate enough that he was being hunted by the Waning Moon Hall. But if there were injuries or deaths resulting from today¡¯s duel, it escte into a series of killings that he would inevitably be implicated in.


    ¡°Ahem, it wouldn¡¯t hurt the Dragon King too much if he admitted defeat once in a while, would it? After all, the other side is all from the Central ins¡­¡±


    Long Fanyun and Red Bat looked at him incredulously, and only Shangguan Fei nodded scoundrously. ¡°Doctor Sun is right, but that won¡¯t happen no matter how hard we think about it. The Dragon King doesn¡¯t know about these rules and this kind of thing also can not be openly said.¡±


    ¡°I have a way¡­ Well, forget it. The Dragon King may be able to defeat the Warp and Weft Staff Technique.¡±


    As he spoke, the scene on the field changed once again. The two disciples of the Qingcheng Sect had also initiated their unique skill.


    The reason why Deng Yuanlei had invited the son of the sect leader to join the fight was obviously not to risk his life. Like the brother and sister of the Tu family, these two of the Qingcheng Sect also had a seamless sword formation.


    ¡°What an amazing staff technique of the Kongdong Sect. It really deserves its reputation of being able to seal the heavens.¡± Deng Yuanlei kept jumping up and down while talking, apparently still at ease and not struggling at all. The members of the Kongdong Sect were also impressed by his kung fu skills.


    ¡°Eight Paces Jumping: the lightness skill of the Qingcheng Sect is really eye-opening,¡± said Dog Butcher casually, not even looking up at them. Tu Pianpian remained in high spirits and said nothing.


    Doctor Sun and Shangguan Fei exchanged a nce and nodded at the same time. Fan Yongda had told the truth. The two famous sects of the Central ins were already praising each other and searching for a way to save face. Sooner orter they would reach a stage of mutual sympathy and thenugh off the bitter words of fighting to the death.


    The problem was that the Dragon King didn¡¯t understand or y by these rules. After he was trapped within the Qi formation, he had still managed to carve out a small space for himself with his narrow saber. But from almost everyone else¡¯s point of view, he was obviously at a disadvantage and his saber moves were not swift and fierce at all, unlike what the legends had described.


    Only the brother and sister of the Tu family knew how hard it was to perform such sabersmanship while besieged by the Warp and Weft Staff Technique. The Dragon King¡¯s kung fu was really beyond their imagination. ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s saber technique really is unparalleled in the Western Regions,¡±mented Tu Gou (Dog Butcher), who had just praised the Qingcheng Sect.


    Upon hearing this, Doctor Sun was very pleased. If the Dragon King was willing to reply¡­


    But Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t say a word. Instead, he took the chance to increase his saber speed and erge the safe space around him. This was not only against the unspoken rules but also a provocation. Doctor Sun couldn¡¯t help but sigh.


    To his disappointment, Shangguan Ru also didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°The daughter of Unique King,¡± muttered Doctor Sun. No matter how much she didn¡¯t want to kill, or how much she longed for a rule-bound martial arts world, there was no way she had grasped the subtle hidden rules all on her own. He had stayed in the Central ins for more than five years but if Fan Yongda hadn¡¯t spoken up, he would still be in the dark.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be executing the Harmonious Sword of Wisdom of our sect. Please enlighten us, Sister Tu and Brother Dog Butcher,¡± Deng Yuanlei announced loudly. Before his voice faded away, the move had already beenunched.


    Deng Yuanlei and Liu Fangsheng jumped up at the same time while their bodies were upside down and threw out their swords. As soon as the swords left their hands, they swapped positions, pushed the other¡¯s sword hilt with their internal Qi, and dashed into the Qi formation created by the Warp and Weft Staff Technique, seemingly unstoppable.


    The whooshing noise of the two long swords sounded like a long-rumbling thunderbolt, and it looked like a lightning bolt thrusting into the Warp and Weft battle formation. Dog Butcher and Tu Pianpian couldn¡¯t help but retreat two steps. Although their formation had not been destroyed, its power was somewhat diminished.


    The disciples of the Qingcheng Sect cheered.


    But to Gu Shenwei, this was no different from another disaster.


    The Harmonious Sword of Wisdom was a sword technique that had to be performed by two people working together. Without holding the sword hilt, the performers had to constantly change positions so that they pushed the swords with their internal Qi, continuously adding more strength with each push. The timing had to be perfect, which required the performers to have a mutual understanding and work together harmoniously; because of this, it was called the ¡®Harmonious Sword.¡¯ With the propulsion from the continuous waves of internal Qi, the two swords would move automatically like an immortal¡¯s magic weapons. Right now, the swords were flying around so fast that the afterimages made it seem like dozens of swords were rapidly revolving around the two.


    The pressure from the Warp and Weft Staff Technique had decreased a bit, but the threat of the Harmonious Sword of Wisdom increased the overall danger level dramatically. Although the two sets of martial arts skills were adversely affecting each other, they acted like grindstones slowly shaving away at the Dragon King stuck in the middle.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t draw his sword because he couldn¡¯t. Losing focus for even a moment would cause him to be crushed by the unique skills of the two famous sects.


    This time even Long Fanyun and Shangguan Fei¡¯s face changed, but the one who spoke up first was Red Bat. ¡°Doctor, you just said that there¡¯s a way¡­¡±


    Doctor Sun had actually been waiting for this. ording to the ¡®rules¡¯ of Jianghu, he should have tested her several more times and then acted only after also gaining Long Fanyun and Shangguan Fei¡¯s approval. But he really couldn¡¯t afford to wait any longer, so he said in a loud voice, ¡°Listen to me, everyone.¡±


    None of the six people on the field had any intentions of stopping, so Doctor Sun could only continue speaking. ¡°I, Sun Zhihao of the Western Regions, am a free man. I am not a member of any sect nor am I anyone¡¯s subordinate. Thank you all very much for valuing and protecting a humble person like I am. May I be so bold as to suggest that we should turn hostility into friendship as I¡¯m willing to give away all of my secret methods regarding the antidote production method!¡±


    Doctor Sun thought that his words were very appropriate, especially as he stressed that he was not a subordinate of the Dragon King so it didn¡¯t mean that the Dragon King had lost. But there was no response after he finished his speech. The six people on the field were still busy engaging in their fight and the disciples of the two sects were watching with rapt attention.


    It was like a pebble being dropped in the sea; nobody noticed him. Doctor Sun felt extremely embarrassed, especially when Fan Yongda of the Kongdong Sect slightly shook his head to show that the words had not been well said.


    Grabbing at his small bun of hair, Doctor Sun didn¡¯t know what was wrong. The Jianghu rules of the Central ins were extensive and profound, and it seemed that he still hadn¡¯t fully understood them.


    Although Shangguan Fei still needed Doctor Sun¡¯s help, he couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°Doctor Sun, you are the stakes. Whoever wins will have the right to own you. Why would they listen to your advice of ¡®turning hostility into friendship¡¯?¡±


    So, it turned out that this was Doctor Sun¡¯s ¡®way.¡¯ Long Fanyun and Red Bat couldn¡¯t help but shake their heads in disappointment.


    Doctor Sun badly needed something to distract everyone¡¯s attention right now, so he pointed at the field and said, ¡°Tenth Gongzi is going to make a move, but her timing is not very good.¡±


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t have too much of a choice. Although the internal energy she had obtained from Fayan was very powerful, it would take her a long time for her to convert it all into her own. Right now she could only use fifty or sixty percent of it, and even before the Qingcheng Sect had used the Harmonious Sword of Wisdom, she couldn¡¯t break through the Warp and Weft Staff Technique¡¯s Qi formation.


    Martial arts skills, after all, were created to kill people, and there was no essential difference between a person dying in a single blow and dying from being struck in an acupoint before being killed by another person.


    But martial arts skills could also be used to save people, and the method was the same as the one used to kill people. But Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t think this deeply. She only cared about one thing. She had to keep her promise and protect the Dragon King¡¯s back.


    By taking advantage of a moment of weakness in the staff technique, Shangguan Ru rushed inside like a rolled up leaf blown by the wind, uncontrobly throwing herself into the even fiercer dual swords of the Qingcheng Sect.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Red Bat and Shangguan Fei eximed at the same time.


    Fan Yongda¡¯s introduction of the Jianghu rules of the Central ins was a bit exaggerated because it didn¡¯t work like that every time. Whether it was intentional or not, deaths and injuries still frequently urred. And like the people of the Western Regions, the surrounding disciples were also thirsty and lustful for blood and murder.


    Everyone clenched their fists and stared at the girl in the whirlpool, expectantly waiting for the first blood of the duel to be spilt.


    The wait turned out to be a bit longer than they expected. Shangguan Ru was like a leaf in the wind, a small boat in the turbulent sea, floating and swinging through the air, but refusing tond. Each moment seemed to be the end for her, but she was always able to avoid the enemy¡¯s attacks at the critical moments.


    All the onlookers watched with hanging hearts and conflicting feelings, wanting to see bloodshed sooner, but also hoping that this girl could hold on for a bit longer.


    Red Bat¡¯s fingernails were digging deep in Long Fanyun¡¯s skin but he didn¡¯t seem to notice at all. Shangguan Fei, who had forgotten to be jealous, kept muttering ¡®sister¡¯ in his mouth as if that would help her survive.


    ¡°Good lightness skills, I underestimated you just now,¡± Dog Butcher suddenly praised loudly.


    His words showed that Shangguan Ru was not in danger for the time being. The audience could finally rx a bit.


    ¡°Subtle Shadow Lightness Skill, it¡¯s the unique lightness skill that Old Man Mu taught my sister,¡± Shangguan Fei proudly announced.


    After he heard this, Dog Butcher couldn¡¯t help but turn somber. He had once fought against Old Man Mu for a whole day and a night; he had used all of his skills but still lost to one move, and he hadn¡¯t even seen the other side use this lightness skill. Old Man Mu¡¯s martial arts skills, after all, were better than his.


    Tu Pianpian knew her brother¡¯s thoughts very well so she snapped, ¡°Get your head out of the clouds! Let¡¯s win this fight first.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was bing more adept at using the Subtle Shadow Lightness Skill than before. Her movements were swifter and more elegant, so much so that it surprised even she herself. There were many points of time when she felt like she had used up all her power, but there always seemed to be a bit more internal energy she squeeze out.


    Shangguan Ru was actually converting the internal energy that Fayan had transferred to her. It might have normally taken her a few months to fully absorb it, but now, with the pressure from the external forces, that time was being rapidly shortened.


    Little by little, she built up a small advantage until she was no longer caught in the chaotic Qi of the swords and staffs and could actually asionally fight back a bit.


    This was a small change but it was the key to turning things around.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly felt much less pressured but he had changed his mind by this point. Instead of drawing his sword, he lowered his speed and used the sabersmanship of the Gu family.


    During hispetition with Silver Condor, he had already realized that his family¡¯s saber techniques contained deep intricacies and subtle moves, making it better than both the Golden Roc Sabersmanship and the Death Sutra Swordsmanship in a face-to-facepetition.


    In the eyes of outsiders, however, the Dragon King¡¯s saber was as slowas ever and he seemed to be purely relying on Shangguan Ru¡¯s support to stay afloat.


    Shangguan Ru had already fought her way through the internal Qi which was present everywhere in the field. She moved so quickly that it looked like there were countless figures behind the Dragon King.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the Dragon King?¡± Shangguan Fei was worried, wondering if the Dragon King was suffering through Qi deviation again.


    ¡°The sabersmanship of the Gu family?¡± eximed Dog Butcher and the other three. They didn¡¯t know much about the Dragon King but they all recognized this saber technique.


    ¡°What¡¯s your rtionship with Marshal Yang?¡± Deng Yuanlei questioned loudly while not rxing his hands, as he was still frequently changing positions with Liu Fangsheng to control the swords in turn.


    Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t surprised. The people of the Gu family used to be officials of the Central ins and didn¡¯t have much fame in the martial arts world, but Marshal Yang and Yang Zheng were real wanderers of Jianghu.


    He didn¡¯t answer. He would rather act with his hands than speak with his mouth. This had always been his principle. Besides, he had already found a way to turn defeat into victory, though it depended on whether Shangguan Ru was cooperating or not.


    Suddenly, Gu Shenwei rushed into the sword formation of the Qingcheng Sect and collided into the swords with his saber, plunging himself into the core and almost engaging in hand-to-handbat with Deng Yuanlei and Liu Fangsheng.


    Shangguan Ru immediately understood the Dragon King¡¯s intention and her heart trembled. If she acted ording to his n, then four more people would die under the Dragon King¡¯s saber.

 Chapter 707 - Rule

    Chapter 707: Rule


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Silver Condor was very weak right now. Besides being affected by the Indra Fragrance, he had also suffered serious internal injuries and needed help just to stand up. As he observed the fierce duel taking ce on the field, he softly said, ¡°That old woman is going to lose first.¡±


    Silver Condor had barely escaped with his life, but he wasn¡¯t grateful to his saviors at all. Both the Kongtong Sect and the Qingcheng Sect were factions from the Central ins and the first thing they had done after hended in their hands was to question him about the whereabouts of thete Khan¡¯s head.


    The secret couldn¡¯t be hidden any longer. The fact that he had left without saying goodbye must have already aroused some suspicion in the other wing guards. And the Dragon King also didn¡¯t have to keep his secret either. Silver Condor knew that he would be a very popr person before he handed over the head to someone, so he had to force the other side to restore his power first before he would even consider telling them about the head.


    What made him feel a little sad and also a little likeughing was that none of the three parties fighting for his knowledge was from the Nond. So he could easily observe the duel coldly,pletely detached from any emotional or mental attachments.


    ¡°Impossible.¡± The disciple of the Qingcheng Sect beside him had been staring at the duel for a while andpletely disagreed with Silver Condor¡¯s judgment. ¡°Tu Pianpian is the head elder of the Kongtong Sect and also a venerated old master of the Central ins¡¯ martial arts world. Although she will be defeated by our Qingcheng Sect in the end, she definitely won¡¯t be the first to lose.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d bet that the first one to lose will be that little girl and that the second will be the Dragon King. Then our two Martial Uncles willpete with the elders of the Kongtong Sect for the win,¡± another disciple of the Qingcheng Sect spected.


    These two men, who were responsible for looking after Silver Condor, werepletely entranced by the duel and didn¡¯t even look at their captive¡¯s expression when they spoke.


    Silver Condor revealed a faint smile. The title ¡®wing guard of the Khan¡¯ carried no weight to the people of the Central ins and what he said simrly didn¡¯t carry much weight in their eyes, but he knew he was right. His internal energy was gone and while all his kung fu skills were affected, but his eyes were as sharp as ever. He believed that Tu Pianpian was truly the weakest of the six.


    Her internal energy might be more powerful than anyone else¡¯s and she might be very adept at the Warp and Weft Staff Technique, whichbined meant that she rarely had a worthy opponent in the Central ins, but she was not good at life-and-death fights.


    Most people couldn¡¯t tell the difference between a normal kung fupetition and a life-and-death fight, but Silver Condor, who had wandered in Jianghu before and had also served in the imperial court, understood the difference very well. The former was decided purely by the level of one¡¯s martial arts while thetter depended on many factors. Patience, intuition, courage, and many other things that didn¡¯t normally surface in ordinary times would y an important role at a critical moment to decide life and death.


    The Warp and Weft Staff Technique of the Kongtong Sect and the Harmonious Sword of Wisdom of the Qingcheng Sect were both advanced kung fu skills thatbined both offensive and defensive moves while requiring two people to cooperate with each other and therefore, had very little ws. This was their greatest advantage but was also a fatal w. Because of the strong confidence they had in these unique skills, the performers tended to strictly follow a set pattern, which made them fight more conservatively and constricted them from improvising.


    The Khan was dead, his family had fled, and Silver Condor was no longer a wing guard. His old mindset of a Jianghu wanderer, which he had forgotten for a long while, was growing in strength with every passing moment. If it were in the past, he would not have cared about the contempt of these two disciples from the Qingcheng Sect, but now he had an impulse to prove his correctness.


    ¡°Tu Pianpian is too impatient and is dragging down the entire structure of the staff technique. Dog Butcher is trying to amodate her, but the more he does so, the more obvious its ws be. So, the old woman will be the first to lose.¡±


    The two disciples looked at Silver Condor in amazement. They were only following orders and knew very little about this Nond captive. One of the two said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that a man of the Nond would actually have such sharp eyes and know that our Harmonious Sword of Wisdom is very powerful.¡±


    Silver Condor shook his head because the other side had misunderstood him. ¡°It¡¯s the Dragon King who will defeat the old woman. The Harmonious Sword of Wisdom is powerful, but that young man¡¯s usage of it isn¡¯t right. He¡¯s so absorbed in pushing the sword that he has forgotten that his sword¡¯s target is a person.¡±


    The disciple¡¯s eyes changed from surprise to disdain, ¡°You are boasting without shame. Martial Uncle Liu is the son of the Sect Leader and has been personally taught by the Sect Leader. Although he¡¯s young, his sword technique is unparalleled among his peers and he has never lost a kung fupetition. Even Martial Uncle Deng admits that he¡¯s somewhat inferior to him.¡±


    ¡°Heh, I¡¯m afraid that his unique skill is solely that he¡¯s ¡®the son of the Sect Leader.¡¯¡± Unconsciously, Silver Condor had already abandoned his habit of speaking and acting cautiously.


    The conversation of the three was heard by the surrounding Central ins¡¯ disciples. Two disciples from the Qingcheng Sect turned to their fellow brethren andughed. ¡°He¡¯s saying that the Dragon King will win in the end, but why do I think that the Dragon King¡¯s hardly able to protect himself?¡±


    Theughter of the crowd had just started when the Dragon King brazenly rushed into the sword formation of the Qingcheng Sect and targeted Liu Fangsheng,pletely ignoring Deng Yuanlei who was behind him.


    Shangguan Ru knew what she needed to do. Aiming towards the east while striking the west was one of the mostmon tricks taught in Golden Roc Castle, and she had practiced it many times with Servant Huan when she was little. The Dragon King hadunched an attack at the dual swords of the Qingcheng Sect, so his real target must be one of the two elders of the Kongtong Sect. She should lead the target to the right ce so that the Dragon King could strike a deadly blow.


    In terms of martial arts, the Dragon King was still not as good as the kung fu masters from the famous sects of the Central ins. The only way for him to win was to gamble on a sudden and dangerous move.


    In Gu Shenwei¡¯s opinion, worldly wisdom was also a part of one¡¯s kung fu. Liu Fangsheng was the son of the Qingcheng Sect¡¯s Sect Leader. As such, though Deng Yuanlei wanted to make him famous, he also had to guarantee his safety. Gu Shenwei decided to take a risk andpletely expose his back to Deng Yuanlei, betting that the other side would choose to save his ally over killing his enemy.


    Deng Yuanlei was faced with this choice. This was the best moment to kill the Dragon King. However, it was unknown if his junior brother would survive unscathed ore out badly wounded. But he didn¡¯t have time to dwell on this, and he could only act out of instinct and push the sword forward to parry the Dragon King¡¯s narrow saber.


    He had to save his ally.


    Shangguan Ru also had no time to consider it. The ideas she had about killing intent or possible casualties could not even form in her mind before she had already followed her instinct and habit and made a move.


    She also had to save people, regardless of if that would result in someone else¡¯s death.


    Shangguan Ru had been swinging her sword in the gap. The moment the Dragon King broke the sword formation apart, she could move more freely and suddenly shed open the staff Qi formation like it was paper and dashed at Dog Butcher.


    Tu Pianpian had no hesitation at all. She didn¡¯t care about the double swords of the Qingcheng Sect or the Dragon King¡¯s life, and neither did she care about Dog Butcher¡¯s safety. All she could see was that with one blow of hers, Shangguan Ru would be out.


    Gu Shenwei used the sabersmanship of his own family, but the tactic he had resorted to was that of a golden roc killer¡¯s. So to an outsider, it was an incredible moment, where the duel, which had previously had a very clear course of victory and defeat, had suddenly reversed in on itself. Everything had happened so fast that few could believe their eyes as to what they were seeing.


    There were no cheers or cries of surprise; everyone was struggling to ept what they were seeing.


    The duel was not over yet, but the first loser had appeared.


    With a loud cry, Tu Pianpian flew dozens of feet away and fell heavily to the ground.


    She had been hit by a palm. When Deng Yuanlei drew his sword to block the saber, Gu Shenwei made use of the rebounding force and had turned to attack Tu Pianpian. His target hadn¡¯t been Liu Fangsheng at all.


    When the strike was made, Tu Pianpian had been in pursuit of Shangguan Ru. Gu Shenwei had happened to appear on her way as if he had bumped into her by ident rather than deliberately so. He rammed into her with full strength, his frosty Qi and normal yin and yang energy hitting the unprepared target at the same time.


    The stunned disciples of Kongtong Sect stood still for a moment before someone ran over to check on the situation of the Aunt Master. And in just a moment, the second defeated person showed up.


    The opportunity was fleeting. The two sects were in disarray, and once Gu Shenweiunched a deadly blow, he was ready to end the fight quickly.


    The move Shangguan Ru had used was also a feint. Before her wooden saber could touch Dog Butcher¡¯s crutch, she had suddenly turned around to attack Deng Yuanlei.


    This was a desperate move, a move that would bring destruction on herself. Not only would she be unable to hit Deng Yuanlei, but they also exposed her to Liu Fangsheng¡¯s long sword and Dog Butcher¡¯s crutch.


    When golden roc killers cooperated, there always had to be a person that acted as bait. But in most cases, the situation was underplete control. One persony in wait while the other lured, and the target waspletely unaware of them. It was very rarely like the current situation, where without any prior discussion, one had executed this risky move only through tacit understanding during a life and death duel.


    The two had developed a tacit understanding through the games they had yed several years ago, but that was just one of the reasons. Shangguan Ru blindly trusted the Dragon King, which gave her the courage to act as bait twice in session without the slightest hesitation.


    Liu Fangsheng, however, hesitated. Shangguan Ru was full of ws but he didn¡¯t know whether he should kill or seriously injure her. The rules of Jianghu and the unruly silence of the Dragon King had left him quite confused.


    Liu Fangsheng¡¯s sword did not slow down, but it did lose its invincible spirit.


    Gu Shenwei finished colliding with Tu Pianpian and bounced back. Meanwhile, his right hand swung around to his back and stabbed at Liu Fangsheng while his left palm lifted up to deflect Dog Butcher¡¯s crutch.


    Liu Fangsheng didn¡¯t even notice where the saber hade from. He felt a chill in his abdomen, suddenly lost all his strength, and his long sword fell from the sky, only several inches away from Shangguan Ru.


    Dog Butcher was alright, but he had no desire to continue fighting. He stabbed the crutch into the ground and leapt to Tu Pianpian, shouting, ¡°Senior sister!¡±


    Only Deng Yuanlei was left now, who lost hisposure and pounced on the Dragon King with ferocious eyes, and therefore, made a huge mistake.


    Shangguan Ru struck his acupoint from the back with the Heart Stopping Finger and then shed in front of him to block the Dragon King. ¡°No more killing,¡± she said.


    Although Shangguan Fei and others believed that the Dragon King would win, they were still speechless with astonishment. Only Doctor Sun frowned as though he were stumped by a tricky patient, and kept whispering, ¡°It¡¯s impossible.¡±


    It was even harder for disciples of the Qingcheng Sect to ept the result, ¡°Martial Uncle Deng¡­ Martial Uncle Liu¡­ How can the Harmonious Sword of Wisdom lose?¡±


    Silver Condor knew the reason. ¡°The Dragon King is more ruthless than they were so he won.¡±


    Battle favors the strong. Sometimes even a little ruthlessness could turn the tide. An ordinary novice saberman might be able to defeat or even kill a well-known master because he dared to take risks and could only risk his life with every move, forsaking the rules of Jianghu. There were no tentative moves, and a deadly blow was a deadly blow.


    The Dragon King was full of ruthlessness, though it was normally concealed by his pale cold face. But Silver Condor, who had fought with him three times, knew the power of that ruthlessness very well.


    Dog Butcher lifted up the lifeless Tu Pianpian and surprisingly cried. ¡°You killed my sister. You might as well kill me too.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was walking around Shangguan Ru and Deng Yuanlei with his saber in hand when he heard his cry. He stopped and said, ¡°She¡¯s not dead.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I just used some knockout drugs.¡±


    Lotus had left a lot of things. When it was time to use them, Gu Shenwei simply used them.


    Gu Shenwei turned around. Deng Yuanlei was freezing on the spot while Liu Fangsheng was covering his abdomen, swaying but not yet fallen down.


    ¡°Doctor Sun is here so his wound can be healed.¡±


    Though Deng Yuanlei¡¯s body couldn¡¯t move, his mouth could, and he immediately said, ¡°We admit defeat, so please heal Brother Liu now.¡±


    Dog Butcher smiled through tears. ¡°I admit defeat, too. I can¡¯t defeat you two anyway, give me the antidote.¡±


    Doctor Sun took a step forward, thinking that he was finally going toe in handy. Then he turned to exchange a nce with Fan Yongda of the Kongdong Sect, silentlymunicating, ¡®See, the Dragon King also knows about the rules of Jianghu.¡¯


    Of course Gu Shenwei knew them. His father Gu Lun wasn¡¯t well versed in it but his Master Yang Zheng had been a veteran in Jianghu and was full of stories and the rules of the martial arts world of the Central ins. Although Gu Shenwei did not agree with these things, he still remembered them.


    But even now he still didn¡¯t think the Jianghu rules of the Central ins were useful to him.


    Gu Shenwei stuck out his hand and stopped Doctor Sun before he said to his defeated opponents and the disciples of the two famous sects, ¡°I am the Chief of Dragons and the Lord of the Five Peaks of Big Snow Mountain, not a saberman of Jianghu. He who surrenders lives and he who disobeys dies. This is my rule.¡±

 Chapter 708 - Surrender

    Chapter 708: Surrender


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Although admitting defeat and surrendering both held a simr meaning of giving up in most cases, they were quite different when a distinguishment was made.


    Dog Butcher and Deng Yuanlei could concede defeat, as that only represented their own persons¡¯ defeat, but they couldn¡¯t surrender because that was essentially betraying their sects and all of the Central ins.


    ¡°What¡­ What do you mean?¡± asked Dog Butcher nkly. After checking his elder sister¡¯s breath he felt greatly relieved.


    Deng Yuanlei indignantly replied, ¡°What do you mean? The Dragon King wants us to kowtow to him and be his subjects from now on.¡±


    Dog Butcher became more and more perplexed. He took one look at his unconscious sister and received no advice or admonishment, so he could only turn to the dozens of disciples of the Kongtong Sect. ¡°Do you think we should do it?¡±


    As junior disciples, who among them would dare to make a decision on such matters? They looked at each other and all stayed silent. One of the disciples finally suggested after a long while. ¡°Let¡¯s capture the Dragon King together and then force him to hand over the antidote.¡±


    ¡°Bah.¡± Dog Butcher looked at that disciple with disdain. ¡°We already agreed to the stakes of the duel of life and death. I¡¯d rather be killed by the Dragon King than use the many to bully the few ormit any dishonest or treacherous deeds.¡±


    Ashamed, that disciple retreated to the back. Deng Yuanlei loudly echoed, ¡°Brother Tu is right. A real hero would rather die than humiliate himself. The Dragon King can just kill us. You are the winner of the duel.¡±


    This was not actually Dog Butcher¡¯s stance. He hurriedly said, ¡°Wait a moment. How about just killing me and letting my sister go? I will still concede victory to you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was just about to say something when Fan Yongda of the Kongtong Sect walked out and said, ¡°Dragon King, may I have talk to you privately?¡±


    Dog Butcher seemed to have sees his savior, and his face started beaming. ¡°Yongda, you and the Dragon King are acquaintances. Help me talk about it.¡±


    Fan Yongda smiled at Dog Butcher embarrassedly. This Uncle Master had always lived in seclusion and also didn¡¯t know much about the rules of Jianghu.


    Fan Yongda and Gu Shenwei walked to the side of Long Fanyun. Shangguan Ru also followed behind them.


    ¡°It seems that I¡¯ll be unable to repay the Dragon King¡¯s favor for the time being.¡±


    ¡°As long as you still remember it.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t a polite reply, and it made Fan Yongda realize that he could no longer ask the Dragon King to follow the rules of Jianghu, so he respectfully said, ¡°I¡¯ll never forget in my lifetime.¡±


    Shangguan Fei appeared quite ted as if the one who had defeated the four masters were him. ¡°If you want to be a lobbyist, you¡¯d better get straight to the point. The Dragon King doesn¡¯t like to beat around the bush.¡±


    ¡°Yes. I hope the Dragon King can take his ultimatum back. The Kongtong Sect came to the Royal Court on the orders of the Imperial Court of the Central ins. Uh¡­ we can¡¯t surrender to the Dragon King, but I can assure you that, as long as the Dragon King spares us this time, the Kongtong Sect will owe you a great favor, and will definitely pay you back by twofold in the future. Although our sect is only one of the nine major sects, it holds considerable influence in the martial arts world and the Imperial Court of the Central ins.¡±


    Shangguan Fei nced at his sister and said, ¡°The Dragon King has shown mercy but that old woman Tu didn¡¯t seem to show any mercy to my sister just now.¡±


    ¡°Big Aunt Master is hot-tempered, but I¡¯m sure she would have pulled back in the end.¡± Fan Yongda braced himself and forcefully made this guarantee because he was also unsure whether Tu Pianpian would have shown mercy or not.


    ¡°The Kongtong Sect will owe the Dragon King a favor, but what about the Qingcheng Sect? The Dragon King killed several disciples of the Qingcheng Sect before. Are they going to wipe their bnce with the Dragon King clean and im that they will not owe each other anything from now on?¡±


    Fan Yongda couldn¡¯t answer, but a Qingcheng disciple happened toe over. Hearing this, he took a few steps forward and smile obsequiously, saying, ¡°How can the lives of several ordinary disciplespare with those of the Sect Leader¡¯s son and Uncle Master Deng? As long as the Dragon King is willing to show goodwill, we¡¯ll also repay this kindness. Our Sect Leader Liu has many friends in the Imperial Court¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei enjoyed being courted very much. He shot a cold nce at the disciple and questioned, ¡°Who are you? Why don¡¯t you give your name? I heard that the Central ins people all know the rules very well.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I was so rude. I¡¯m Xia Xizong, a disciple of the eighteenth generation of the Qingcheng Sect¡­¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your rtionship with the Xia brothers?¡± Shangguan Fei turned alert immediately.


    ¡°They are just distant rtives. They were instigated to join in the power games of the Western Regions and deserved their death. Even if nothing happened today, we would not have avenged them.¡±


    ¡°Pfft.¡± Shangguan Fei wanted to say something about the ¡®power games¡¯ in the Western Regions, but suddenly found that he could not say anything about either Golden Roc Castle or the Dragon King, so he could only show an expression of disdain.


    ¡°What will the Dragon King say?¡± Doctor Sun really hoped that the duel would end with the eptance of the Central ins¡¯ proposal.


    ¡°Send us our winnings first.¡± Gu Shenwei still remembered the bet.


    Seeing that the Dragon King didn¡¯t insist on his previous order, both Fan Yongda and Xia Xizong were overjoyed. They turned around and beckoned for their fellow disciples to bring the captives here.


    Han Fen was very happy but she still remembered the Dragon King¡¯s order of not speaking unless he had his permission. Close-lipped, she turned her back to the Dragon King and stuck out her hands, beckoning for him to untie her. Meanwhile, she winked at the two disciples who had escorted her over. The two didn¡¯t dare approach her at all.


    Gu Shenwei was only looking at Silver Condor, so Red Bat had toe over to untie Han Fen.


    Silver Condor teetered as soon as the two Qingcheng disciples loosened their hands. Long Fanyun hurriedly ran up to support him, while Doctor Sun made a cursory check of his body and said, ¡°It¡¯s okay. Take the antidote and rest for a while, and you¡¯ll be alright.¡±


    Silver Condor stared at the Dragon King. He had re-entered the martial arts world and he only returned to being a wing guard when he faced the Dragon King.


    Xia Xizong of the Qingcheng Sect signaled Fan Yongda, and the two said at the same time, ¡°Dragon King, now¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t need your sects to repay a favor in the future. I just need your allegiance in the present moment.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s word disappointed several people, including Doctor Sun and Shangguan Ru. Xia Xizong and Fan Yongda were very surprised and at a loss for what to say.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to betray your sects or the Emperor of the Central ins. The allegiance I am asking for will only apply to the Nond and the Western Regions.¡±


    Xia Xizong anxiously nced at Liu Fangsheng, who was already in the hands of his fellow disciples and quickly said, ¡°All right, we¡¯ll ept the Dragon King¡¯s proposal. We are willing to surrender and pledge allegiance.¡±


    Fan Yongda was a bit hesitant. ¡°What if the Dragon King has a dispute with the Imperial Court of the Central ins? I¡¯m afraid that it¡¯s happening right now.¡± He was referring to Silver Condor. The head of the Khan was a treasure by now and everyone wanted to have it.


    ¡°You still have a choice. I don¡¯t demand your allegiance.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is really a righteousness man!¡± Xia Xizong praised loudly, afraid of the other side changing the mind. ¡°I¡¯ll go ask Uncle Master Deng now.¡±


    Fan Yongda knew that Uncle Master Dog Butcher was indecisive, so he could only say, ¡°The Dragon King is really generous. Can he help wake up Aunt Master first? She¡¯s the one who makes the major decision in our sect.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought for a moment. Then he took out a small medicine bag, tipped out a pill, and gave it to Fan Yongda.


    Doctor Sun habitually came over to have a look, sniffed, and said in surprise, ¡°This is the best medicine in Waning Moon Hall. Why does the Dragon King have it?¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not answer. Han Fen was anxious to say something but didn¡¯t dare to open her mouth. Fan Yongda was pleased with what he saw and immediately epted the antidote and ran to give it to his Uncle Master and Aunt Master.


    ¡°Dragon King, please do not trust the Central ins people too much,¡± Shangguan Fei advised as he thought that the Dragon King¡¯s action was too rash. ¡°They are full of evil ideas, and I don¡¯t think that that old woman will surrender obediently.¡±


    Doctor Sun looked at Fan Yongda¡¯s back and whispered the second half of his unfinished sentence. ¡°Every medicine has its side effects. And the medicine of Waning Moon Hall is much more poisonous than most.¡±


    Shangguan Fei suddenly came to understand and smiled without a word. Shangguan Ru was about to say something but stopped because Xia Xizong had run back. ¡°Uncle Master Deng agreed. Dragon King, please send the divine doctor to heal Uncle Master Liu. And I¡¯m also wondering if you can also do us another favor and release Uncle Master Deng¡¯s sealed acupoint?¡±


    ¡°Go heal the wound first, and we¡¯ll talk about unsealing the acupointter.¡±


    Doctor Sun left with Xia Xizong. Shangguan Ru had just mouthed the word ¡°I¡± when Gu Shenwei shook his head gently. She closed her mouth again and didn¡¯t quite understand his intention.


    Now, Han Fen was clinging tightly to Shangguan Ru and looking straight at her as if she wanted to swallow her.


    Red Bat discontentedly pushed her away but Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t care. Instead, she gently held Han Fen¡¯s arm and smilingly said, ¡°I already have a twin brother. Do you also have to be like me?¡±


    Han Fen had no smile on her face at all. She wanted to break free but also didn¡¯t want to give up this opportunity to observe Shangguan Ru at such a close distance. And what made her ufortable was that she wasn¡¯t allowed to speak.


    ¡°Do not talk much.¡± Gu Shenwei finally gave her the right to speak a little.


    ¡°I won¡¯t say much.¡± Han Fen raised her hand and gently caressed Shangguan Ru¡¯s face as she crooned, ¡°I really want to have a bite.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was stunned. Han Fen continued, saying, ¡°Well, I think your kung fu is not very good.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t practice very hard.¡±


    ¡°And you also don¡¯t know any secret arts or medicine.¡±


    ¡°Not at all.¡±


    ¡°Do you have the ability to keep a man around you after sleeping with him?¡±


    Red Bat scolded, ¡°Nonsense, the instructor is still a virgin.¡±


    Shangguan Ru blushed but didn¡¯t get angry. ¡°I don¡¯t have that ability. Instead of keeping men around, most men try to avoid me.¡±


    Han Fen understandingly nodded, then she became puzzled again. ¡°If so, why does the Dragon King still like you and also doesn¡¯t avoid you?¡±


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t take this anymore, but Shangguan Ru justughed. ¡°You are wrong. The Dragon King is the one who wants to avoid me the most.¡±


    ¡°Howe? He¡¯s right beside you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m holding your arm, yet aren¡¯t you thinking of breaking free?¡±


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s words were a bit too abstract for Han Fen, who only became more perplexed and turned to ask the Dragon King, ¡°Do you also want to break free? I can help you.¡±


    ¡°You are talking too much.¡± Gu Shenwei was very surprised that Shangguan Ru would say something like that.


    Han Fen rarely stopped asking more questions but her brow furrowed even deeper, wondering what Shangguan Ru¡¯s words meant.


    This little embarrassing moment was ended by Tu Pianpian in the distance, who had just woken up.


    ¡°I won¡¯t admit defeat or surrender!¡± The old woman¡¯s voice was still full of confidence, ¡°Let¡¯s fight again. They are ying tricks and their real kung fu is no match for the Warp and Weft Staff Technique.¡±


    Dog Butcher and Fan Yongda tried to persuade her in a low voice, but that only made Tu Pianpian angrier. She grabbed her crutch and kicked over Fan Yongda and several other junior disciples, and shouted, ¡°Dragon King, I have nothing to say if you can beat me with your real ability, but you¡­¡±


    The old woman suddenly fainted before she could finish her words. Startled, Shangguan Fei asked, ¡°Dragon King, isn¡¯t the effect of your pill taking ce too fast?¡±


    This actually had nothing to do with the antidote. Dog Butcher walked closer a few paces with his crutch. ¡°Sorry. My sister is too unreasonable, so I sealed her acupoints. Anyway, as long as I agreed to surrender and my sister had taken the antidote, I won¡¯t go back on my word.¡±


    The disciples of the Kongtong Sect were all astonished that Dog Butcher, who had always been a yes-man to Aunt Master, was so principled, but they also felt that what he said was reasonable.


    ¡°Promises must be kept and actions must be resolute. Well-said, Brother Tu.¡± Deng Yuanlei praised loudly.


    ¡°Let me unseal his acupoint.¡± Shangguan Ru thought it was inappropriate to let an elder stand stiffly for so long.


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    Doctor Sun was currently bandaging the wound for Liu Fangsheng when Shangguan Ru walked in front of Deng Yuanlei, followed by Han Fen.


    Deng Yuanlei finally found a chance and made a sudden move while yelling, ¡°The duel is not over yet!¡±

 Chapter 709 - Keeping a Promise

    Chapter 709: Keeping a Promise


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Deng Yuanlei had actually been waiting for a while. He had already unsealed his acupoint by himself and wanted tounch a surprise attack on the Dragon King. But the other side had never went near him. Instead, he had sent Shangguan Ru to release the acupoint.


    He didn¡¯t know that the Dragon King didn¡¯t know how to strike acupoints at all, not to mention unsealing them.


    But he changed his mind at thest moment. Killing the little girl would not do him any good, but holding her hostage could potentially bring him a lot of benefits. She was obviously having an affair with the Dragon King.


    Shangguan Ru was caught unprepared. Although she had grown up in the castle, she had never developed the deep-seated vignce of a killer disciple. To her, the castle had always been warm and safe, and there had never been any need for her to worry about her life or safety.


    Deng Yuanlei struck Shangguan Ru¡¯s acupoint, grabbed a sword from a nearby disciple and put it against her neck, hisughter still hearty and clear. ¡°Dragon King, we¡¯ve agreed that the ones who live will be the winner. Since we are all alive, the duel has to go on.¡±


    Red Bat was about to rush up, but was stopped by the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei sighed but wasn¡¯t flustered. ¡°So the Qingcheng Sect has another ¡®unique skill,¡¯ huh.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei didn¡¯t care about the Dragon King¡¯s sarcasm at all. He looked at the startled Doctor Sun and ordered his disciples, ¡°Take him down.¡±


    Doctor Sun, who had just finished treating Liu Fangsheng¡¯s wound, didn¡¯t expect that the other side would change faces so quickly. He anxiously took a defensive posture and said, ¡°I also know kung fu.¡±


    But before he had finished talking, he had already been struck in his back acupoints by two Qingcheng disciples at the same time.


    Doctor Sun had actually learned a lot of martial arts skills for the purpose of treating diseases more effectively. However, this meant that he didn¡¯t have many opportunity topete with others and therefore,cked experience, and waspletely unable to counter a surprise attack.


    With another hostage in-hand, Deng Yuanlei felt sure that he now held the upper hand. So he rxed a bit and turned to look at Han Fen, who had been following Shangguan Ru. ¡°Go tell your Hall Leader that the Central ins has no grudges with your esteemed sect. Although the Qingcheng Sect has lost a few disciples, the past is the past and we won¡¯t hold any grudges against you. Let¡¯s mind our own businesses, though it would be most wee if she¡¯s willing to join hands.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a bit difficult,¡± Han Fen said as she shrugged.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°The Hall Leader is in the Dragon King¡¯s camp right now, but I do not dare meet her. She¡¯ll kill me for sure if she sees me.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei knew very little about the Waning Moon Hall, so he was a bit confused about what Han Fen¡¯s response. ¡°Then tell the one who¡¯s in charge that I¡¯m asking for peace and not war.¡±


    ¡°No problem. I¡¯ll pass your words along to Master Commander and she can decide what to do. I don¡¯t have time to think about it.¡± As she said this, Han Fen¡¯s eyes were still fixed on Shangguan Ru. She slowly approached and raised her hand as if she were trying to pinch her face again.


    Deng Yuanlei snapped, ¡°Do note near.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Weren¡¯t you willing to ally with me? Why are you being so rude? And your voice is scarily loud.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei softened his tone and said, ¡°Whether we¡¯re allies or not will be decided by your Master Commander, but now you should stay away for now. You are an acquaintance of the Dragon King¡¯s, so do not try to help him save people.¡±


    Han Fenughed out loud, her voice really ¡®scarily loud.¡¯ The dozens of people present all felt their hearts tremble a bit and thought that this woman must be crazy. Theughter gradually died out. Han Fen pointed at Shangguan Ru and said, ¡°Why would I save her? If she dies, then Master Commander will be very happy and so I¡¯ll be very happy.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei waspletely confused about the rtionship between the Dragon King and this madwoman now, but he didn¡¯t want toplicate matters. So he said, ¡°You can¡¯t kill her now. You¡¯d better back up three¡­ no, five steps. Just watch from afar.¡±


    Han Fen counted out the numbers as she retreated back. After taking three steps back, she hesitated for a moment and then took two more steps before smilingly asking, ¡°Little girl, are you afraid?¡±


    Shangguan Ru also smiled. ¡°Not very afraid. I¡¯m just a bit annoyed that I was fooled.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei ignored the two and shouted at the Dragon King opposite to him, ¡°Dragon King, I¡¯ll just cut straight to the point. Let¡¯s solve it by your rules. Surrender to me and hand over Silver Condor, and this will be all be over.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head, drew his saber, and walked over.


    Deng Yuanlei was taken aback. ¡°Stop. One more step, and I¡¯ll cut off her head.¡±


    Shangguan Ru calmly said, ¡°It¡¯s no use. He won¡¯t acquiesce to any threats. If you kill me, then he¡¯ll simply kill you and the whole Qingcheng Sect to avenge me.¡±


    Han Fen was very happy to hear this. ¡°Yuanlei, please do it now. I like watching the Dragon King kill people.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei was dumbfounded. Whywere the women of the Western Regions he met all so crazy? Even Shangguan Ru who appeared normal was talking with a touch of madness now. Without answering the two, he said to the Dragon King who was approaching, ¡°Don¡¯t think that I won¡¯t do it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei moved forward steadily without a word. Instead of having any hesitation in his mind, he even cruelly thought that perhaps it would be ideal ending if he ended up avenging Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Ru seemed to know what the Dragon King was thinking and suddenly felt relieved and at ease. She finally did not have to feel guilty about killing the pair of rocs anymore.


    Dog Butcher jumped in front of the Dragon King and blocked his way. ¡°Hold on, let me say something first.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stopped. Dog Butcher turned to Deng Yuanlei, pondered for a while before saying, ¡°Brother Yuanlei, aren¡¯t you being a bit too shameless?¡±


    Deng Yuanlei suppressed his anger and exined, ¡°Brother Dog Butcher, this is the Nond and the Dragon King is from the Western Regions. Their rules are different from those of the Central ins. It¡¯s their nature to do whatever it takes no matter the cost. We are all Central ins people and are working for the Imperial Court. We can discuss who has the right to own the Khan¡¯s headter, but for now we have to join hands to fight our external enemies. Are the people of the Kongtong Sect willing to be loyal to a foreign bandit chief?¡±


    Hesitating, Dog Butcher nced at the Dragon King and Deng Yuanlei, and finally asked his junior disciples, ¡°What do you think of this?¡±


    The disciples looked at each other for a moment and finally one of them said, ¡°If Aunt Master was awake, she¡¯d definitely agree with Uncle Master Deng.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei nodded and added on, ¡°Right. Brother Dog Butcher, it¡¯s better to wake up your sister and listen to her advice.¡±


    ¡°s, just let her sleep. If she¡¯s awake now, she won¡¯t let go of me for sure. Just leave her as she is now. What you said all made sense. Dragon King, I¡¯m sorry but I think I¡¯d better fight with you again so that my sister won¡¯t be too angry when she wakes up. Honestly speaking, I¡¯m not quite convinced that I lost earlier. I think that I can defeat you.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei heaved a sigh of relief. With the help of an elder of the Kongtong Sect, he was sure to win.


    Gu Shenwei flicked his Five Peaks Saber a bit and said, ¡°Hmm, you can beat me, but I can kill you.¡±


    ¡°What the Dragon King said is too profound for me to understand.¡± Dog Butcher also tantly said what was on his mind.


    ¡°When you fought with Old Man Mu, you probably held the upper hand the whole way but was defeated by him in thest second, right?¡±


    ¡°How do you know that? Did Old Man Mu tell you that?¡± asked Dog Butcher in surprise.


    ¡°How could Old Man Mu admit you had the upper hand? I guessed it myself. Your kung fu is very good but you seldom fight with anyone else other than the disciples of the Kongtong Sect, which causes you tock a killing aura and to fight too steadily. If you can¡¯t finish the fight in a short time, then you¡¯ll repeat your moves with the same ws always reappearing. Old Man Mu must have seized a chance and then defeated you in a few moves.¡±


    ¡°One move,¡± said Dog Butcher sadly. It was his sorest point and he had never understood why he had lost the fight. ¡°Maybe you are right. I was actually defeated when I use the same move, ¡®Drop Hollowing the Stone,¡¯ the third time.¡±


    ¡°But your kung fu is still very good. Old Man Mu was trying to kill you, but he was only able to beat you. But if you fight again, I think that he¡¯ll win faster this time.¡±


    ¡°Heh heh, the Dragon King is really good at ttering people. How¡¯s your killing skillpared to Old Man Mu¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell. He¡¯s a bit more powerful in his martial arts skills, but I can still kill him if I¡¯m willing.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei was impatient but his tone was as warm as ever. ¡°Brother Dog Butcher, don¡¯t listen to the Dragon King¡¯s nonsense. He made up this nonsense because he can¡¯t defeat you. Martial arts skills are just martial arts skills, there are strong ones and weak ones. How could there be one specially designed for killing? If what he said was true, then wouldn¡¯t it be a joke for our disciples to study and practice so hard?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King actually has a point. Of course one needs better kung fu skills to kill one¡¯s opponent, but that doesn¡¯t mean that the ones who have advanced kung fu skills are also the best at killing. s, why am Iplicating things so much? Get ready to fight, Dragon King. I¡¯d like to see if I¡¯ll repeat the same mistake.¡±


    Dog Butcher held up his long crutch, and Gu Shenwei also gripped his saber hilt.


    Dog Butcher thrust his crutch at the Dragon King like a sword, using a move that he had not shown before.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s saber stuck close to the crutch.


    The two bothunched a speed attack and instantly exchanged five moves. The disciples of the two sects were dazzled but Deng Yuanlei realized the problem. ¡°Brother Dog Butcher, do notpete in speed with the Dragon King; just use your unique skill.¡±


    This reminder, however, produced an unexpected effect. Nobody knew what was wrong with Deng Yuanlei¡¯s words, but Dog Butcher suddenly jumped out of the fighting field and stabbed his crutch into the ground, and muffledly grunted, ¡°No more fighting, no more fighting.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not seize the moment to pursue.


    Deng Yuanlei was very surprised and voiced the crowd¡¯s confusion, asking, ¡°Brother, what are you doing?¡±


    Dog Butcher walked to Deng Yuanlei and without saying a word, suddenly made a move and stuck his vitals with the walking stick.


    Deng Yuanlei thought that the other side was going to say something so he was a bit unprepared, though still able to instinctively wave his sword and block.


    This time he finally understood what a kung fu skill specially designed to kill looked like.


    One moment ago, the Dragon King had still been over a dozen paces away but in the next, he was right next to him. The speed was fast but not very surprising. As a master of the Qingcheng Sect, Deng Yuanlei was still able to react. But the Dragon King¡¯s choice of timing was impable. When paired with Dog Butcher¡¯s attack, Deng Yuanlei could barely free his hand to fend against the Dragon King¡¯s blow.


    Nobody could understand what Dog Butcher was thinking, as his next action was to turn his crutch and fend off the Dragon King¡¯s saber.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t bother to guess at Dog Butcher¡¯s intentions. After his saber was blocked, he still rushed up and hit Deng Yuanlei in the chest with his palm, though he didn¡¯t use any knockout drugs this time.


    Deng Yuanlei retreated a few steps, spat out a mouthful of blood, and then flopped to the ground.


    The disciples of the two sects were all stunned and stood still. Dog Butcher held his crutch up and sighed. ¡°I still can¡¯t get over this hurdle. If I can¡¯t keep my word, then I¡¯d be no better than a dog or pig.¡±


    Considering that Dog Butcher¡¯s first name was ¡®Dog,¡¯ his words were quite amusing, but no oneughed. It turned out this elder of the Kongtong Sect was still obsessed with surrendering himself in public.


    Gu Shenwei looked impassively at Shangguan Ru because he didn¡¯t know how to unseal her acupoints.


    Shangguan Ru smiled and turned her eyes to Han Fen. ¡°Sorry to let you down.¡±


    Han Fen¡¯s eyes sparkled. ¡°I knew it.¡± But she didn¡¯t say what she knew. After repeating it several times, she said with great anticipation, ¡°Kill, Dragon King. Kill them all.¡±


    Silver Condor, who had been silent until now, suddenly said, ¡°It¡¯s nearly dawn now.¡± Then he raised his voice and said, ¡°Dragon King, now I believe you.¡±


    This was unexpected. Gu Shenwei felt that the night hadn¡¯t been totally a waste because Silver Condor was exactly the person he needed most.

 Chapter 710 - Cunning

    Chapter 710: Cunning


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Dog Butcher was caught in a dilemma. On top of that, he had never been a good decision maker, and it all umted as a big headache for him. In the current situation, any action he took would be against the rules no matter how hard he thought.


    On one hand, the wounded Deng Yuanlei and Liu Fangsheng were from the nine major sects of the Central ins like him. Although they had fought against each other for the head of the Khan, he could not ignore the decades of friendship and good will between the two sects. On the other hand, he had just openly pledged allegiance to the Dragon King with dozens of eyewitnesses and his pledge meant that he had to follow the other side¡¯s orders.


    ¡°Fan Yongda!¡± Dog Butcher shouted, grave and dignified. Startled, the disciples of the Kongtong Sect immediately gathered around him. Among them was Fan Yongda, who appeared more respectful than usual, and he asked, ¡°What are your orders, Uncle Master?¡±


    ¡°What should I do?¡± Dog Butcher whispered for help, sweat oozing from his forehead.


    Fan Yongda found himself in an even more difficult situation than his senior. He looked at his Uncle Master and then nced at the Dragon King. ¡°Ah? Uncle Master means to¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t y dumb. The Dragon King is going to kill Elder Deng and Little Liu. Should we save them or not?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ Uncle Master should help restore the acupoints of the Dragon King¡¯s subordinates first.¡± Fan Yongda¡¯s idea was to dy making a decision for as long as possible.


    Dog Butcher lifted his crutch and swept past Shangguan Ru and Doctor Sun, unsealing the two¡¯s acupoints.


    Liu Fangsheng barely got up with the help of his fellow disciples but he immediately pushed them away and said with his head held high, ¡°We are not dead yet, so the duel is not over. Uncle Master Tu does not need to feel embarrassed. This is a fair duel, and even if Uncle Master Tu joins the fight, the Qingcheng Sect will not me you. Listen up, Qingcheng disciples. Withdraw from the field and do not interfere with the duel. Do not let anyone underestimate our Qingcheng Sect.¡±


    Upon hearing the harsh and righteous words of their young master, all the disciples of the Qingcheng Sect, who had drawn their sabers, immediately lowered them. However, they all refused to move away from him, the Sect Leader¡¯s son.


    Deng Yuanlei, who was now seriously injured, also managed to get up. ¡°Haha, Junior Brother Liu said it so well. I¡¯m also not dead yet, so let¡¯s continue the duel. Our Qingcheng Sect will never surrender.¡±


    Dog Butcher didn¡¯t recognize the irony in the other side¡¯s words. Instead, he breathed a sigh of relief and said to Fan Yongda, ¡°The Qingcheng Sect said that they don¡¯t need my help. Does that mean that I don¡¯t have to take them into consideration?¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Fan Yongda continued to pretend that he didn¡¯t understand. The Qingcheng Sect was obviously trying to stoke the fighting spirit of the Kongtong Sect, but how could he openly point this out to his Uncle Master? It would especially offend the Dragon King.


    ¡°What a worthless piece of garbage,¡± Dog Butcherined. Then he turned to the Dragon King and said, ¡°I have surrendered and I won¡¯t change my mind. The rest is between you and the Qingcheng Sect. I hope that you can let these two go so that everyone¡¯s pride and feelings can be preserved. But I won¡¯t do anything you don¡¯t want me to.¡±


    The dozen or so disciples of the Qingcheng Sect angrily looked at Dog Butcher and raised their sabers again, standing guard in front of Deng Yuanlei and Liu Fangsheng.


    Gu Shenwei waved his Five Peaks Saber and said, ¡°Those unrted should step out of the way now.¡±


    The Qingcheng disciples all retreated half a step but none of them left their positions.


    Deng Yuanlei stumbled forward in great pain, saying, ¡°Attention, Qingcheng disciples! Enter the sword formation and protect Junior Brother Liu.¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± Liu Fangsheng tried to refuse, but he could barely get out one word when the fourteen disciples had resoundingly shouted ¡®yes¡¯ and surrounded the young master, each standing in their designated position.


    Gu Shenwei hummed in acknowledgement and rushed at the nearest Qingcheng disciple, who lifted his saber and prepared to fight. Before the sabers touched, however, Gu Shenwei had already turned to attack the disciple behind that person.


    Gu Shenwei had many personal experiences of fighting while out-numbered, and he seldom failed to win in those conditions. But this time his tactic of luring the enemy and attacking the ones who fell behind didn¡¯t work as well as it usually did. The Qingcheng disciples had obviously practiced this sword formation extensively. Everyone knew what they needed to do and took care of each other. Although a single person could not stop the attack of the Dragon King, none of them chased after the opponent or over extended themselves.


    Gu Shenwei changed targets five times in a row, but still wasn¡¯t able to disrupt the sword formation. So he simply turned away and jumped straight at Deng Yuanlei, who was outside the sword formation¡¯s area of influence.


    Unarmed, Deng Yuanlei was still shaking, and it looked as if he would have to face the enemy with his palms.


    ¡°Break formation!¡± Liu Fangsheng no longer insisted on having the disciples withdraw, but he would also not let them protect him and idly leave his senior brother in danger.


    Seven disciples immediately followed the order to move. Gu Shenwei had been waiting for this opportunity. Deng Yuanlei was injured and was no longer a threat to him. The sword formation was his biggest obstacle now.


    The sword formation of the Qingcheng Sect had its own set of rules even while breaking formation and moving out. But even so, it was not as tight as when it was static. The seven disciples had just taken two steps when Gu Shenwei made an exception and rushed into the formation, and stabbed over a dozen times in a row, forcing them to retreat step by step. The sword formation, therefore, became even more spread apart.


    Deng Yuanlei was also waiting for this opportunity. He was really afraid that his junior brother would be selfish and not have the Qingcheng disciples save him. If that happened, then he would have no choice but to take the Dragon King¡¯s deadly blow head on. Now, he had a chance to escape.


    When Deng Yuanlei jumped out with his first step, everyone thought that he would join the group battle. But in the blink of an eye, he had changed directions and fled a dozen paces away from the fight, and his speed was as if he wasn¡¯t like injured at all.


    The Dragon King had indeed injured him but it hadn¡¯t hurt his meridians. Deng Yuanlei had yed the same trick and pretended to be seriously wounded, fooling everyone again.


    This was the first time that Gu Shenwei had misjudged the same man two times in a row. Although he was a suspicious man, he had not yet reached the point of being suspicious of everything. He had wandered in Jianghu for many years now, plotted and received numerous schemes, and believed that there were more shameless than good people when faced with temptation. But he had never met a person as cunning as Deng Yuanlei. As a master of a major sect, Deng Yuanlei looked bold and forthright in appearance, talked straight-forwardly, but would resort to the lowest level of tricks at the drop of a hat.


    The trick was low-level but it didn¡¯t mean that it wouldn¡¯t work well.


    Gu Shenwei paused for a moment before leaving the half-broken sword formation behind and chasing after Deng Yuanlei.


    Deng Yuanlei gnashed his teeth and ran about wildly. Seeing that someone was chasing after him, he changed directions again and leaped at the disciples of the Kongtong Sect, causing another burst of chaos. Then he kicked a person into the Dragon King.


    ¡°Asshole!¡± Dog Butcher shouted and jumped in front of the Dragon King, opening his arms to take the person.


    The person Deng Yuanlei had kicked was precisely the unconscious Tu Pianpian.


    Dog Butcher managed to catch his sister but in the process also blocked the Dragon King¡¯s path. Although it was only a moment¡¯s worth of time, Deng Yuanlei had taken advantage of it to run more than a dozen steps further. It would be even more difficult to catch him now .


    ¡°Junior Brother, wait for me to avenge you.¡± Deng Yuanlei¡¯s voice came from a distance. His words were even more lethal than ten top-notch kung fu experts, as the Qingcheng disciples were immediately thrown into confusion. Five or six of them turned around and ran away at once. Although there were still eight or nine people left, they were suspicious of each other and couldn¡¯t form the sword formation anymore.


    ¡°me Foal,¡± Shangguan Ru reminded. She had never despised anyone so much and even advised the Dragon King to go after him.


    The horse was nearby. Long Fanyun loosened the reins, ready to hand them to the Dragon King.


    Deng Yuanlei was very lucky. Gu Shenwei was just about to take the reins and continue the chase when a sound of hooves came over and interrupted the n.


    It was already dawn by now. A scout galloped up with an important message.


    ¡°King Shengri ising with his army!¡± The scout saw the Dragon King from a distance and shouted. When he came near, he rolled down the horse and gasped, ¡°King Shengri gathered his troops and imed to wipe out the evil and protect the king. They set outst night and may have arrived at the camp by now.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart thumped heavily. King Riyao¡¯s army was going to elect their new king this morning. He and Fang Wenshi were trying to help Shulitu, King Riying¡¯s son, take that position. That must have been the reason why King Shengri had sent out his troops.


    Gu Shenwei was very surprised that no one had informed him of such an important matter in advance, but he could only investigate it furtherter. For now, he had to return to camp as soon as possible.


    The scout was the one he had met yesterday and should be reliable.


    Gu Shenwei jumped on the me Foal and looked at Shangguan Ru, indicating that he wanted to borrow the horse. Then he said, ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you here.¡±


    The disciples of the Kongtong Sect and Qingcheng Sect didn¡¯t quite understand what he meant, but Long Fanyun and Shangguan Fei understood that Liu Fangsheng and the other disciples¡¯ lives had been spared.


    Gu Shenwei could only make such a choice. Shangguan Fei and others were no match for the Qingcheng Sect, and Dog Butcher and the people of the Kongtong Sect probably would not help.


    Gu Shenwei rode to Han Fen and said, ¡°Follow me.¡±


    ¡°I want to stay.¡± Han Fen pointed at Shangguan Ru, her interest in this little girl clearly undiminished.


    Gu Shenwei took ahold of her arm and, with a little effort, threw her behind him and sped away. No one understood why the Dragon King wanted to take this madwoman with him.


    At the edge of the camp, as Gu Shenwei was galloping away, he encountered a group of old people and children, holding something in their hands and staring at the Dragon King with a look of fear and pleading in their eyes.


    Gu Shenwei slowed down his speed to go around them when Han Fen happily said from behind him, ¡°They also like the Dragon King.¡± With these words, she bent over and grabbed something wrapped in grass from an old woman.


    These people¡¯s behaviors were quite strange but Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t have time to make any inquiries. He made a detour and sped up again, hoping that he could catch the oing battle.


    Han Fen wasn¡¯t in a hurry at all. No matter how fast the me Foal ran, she merely firmly say behind the Dragon King. She even freed her hands to open the small package she had taken and let out a whoop of joy at the sight of its contents. ¡°Horsemeat!¡± After taking a big bite, however, she spat it out and threw the rest away. Sticking out her tongue, she said, ¡°Yuck.¡±


    Back at where Shangguan Ru was, she first said to Dog Butcher, ¡°Senior Tu, pleasee with me to the Dragon Army camp.¡±


    Dog Butcher hesitated again and looked at his sister who was being held by Fan Yongda. ¡°Well¡­ Can anyone give me an idea about what to do?¡±


    Shangguan Fei leaned forward and said, ¡°Old Man Mu is in the Dragon Army camp.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go. All the disciples of the Kongtong Sect, follow me.¡± Dog Butcher hade all the way to the Royal Court to serve the Imperial Court of the Central ins, but an even morepelling reason was that he had heard that Old Man Mu had reappeared in the Prairie.


    Fan Yongda was even more cautious and did not want the Kongtong Sect to openly follow the Dragon King, so he said in a low voice, ¡°Uncle Master, I¡¯m afraid that Aunt Master will make a scene again when she¡¯s awake. Why don¡¯t you go to the Dragon Army camp alone¡­¡±


    ¡°Right, right. Take your Aunt Master with you and go far away.¡± As he thought that he wouldn¡¯t have to see his sister for a long while, Dog Butcher felt much more relieved and kept nodding at Fan Yongda.


    Shangguan Fei curled his mouth and hummed coldly. He had already guessed Fan Yongda¡¯s real intentions, but the Dragon King was not here right now and there was no need to tell his sister that.


    Shangguan Ru then walked to the Qingcheng disciples.


    The disciples of the Qingcheng Sect had long lost their fighting spirit. A few of them wanted to run away but dared not move.


    Liu Fangsheng walked out of the iplete sword formation and said, ¡°It¡¯s really shameful that our Qingcheng Sect had a traitor like Deng Yuanlei. Please kill me now, Miss Shangguan.¡±


    Shangguan Ru shook her head and replied, ¡°I won¡¯t kill anybody. All of you can go as long as you promise that you won¡¯t oppose the Dragon King in the future.¡±


    Liu Fangsheng was surprised that they could escape the crisis so easily. ¡°The Qingcheng Sect has just suffered a thorough defeat, so where would we find the face to challenge the Dragon King again? From now on, all Qingcheng disciples will stay away from the Dragon King as long as we hear his name.¡±


    Shangguan Ru also wanted to return to the camp right away, but she, too, was puzzled by the crowd waiting by the roadside. She turned around and asked the scouts to find out what had happened.


    The two groups of disciples left in different directions. A duel of life and death had actually concluded without leaving behind any corpses.


    The scout soon returned, followed by six or seven old people. ¡°They want to present gifts to the Dragon King in the hopes that the Dragon King will show some mercy.¡±


    ¡°What mercy?¡± Shangguan Fei asked.


    The scout was also puzzled. He looked up at the clear sky and said, ¡°They said that the devil bird came to the prairie with the Dragon King, killing and injuring both people and livestock, causing natural and man-made disasters. They hope that the Dragon King will show mercy and take it away.¡±

 Chapter 711 - Confrontation

    Chapter 711: Confrontation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    ¡°Tell me, why did you let yourself be caught on purpose? What are you trying to do?¡± As he rode on the galloping me Foal, Gu Shenwei asked Han Fen this without looking back at her.


    Han Fen, who was sitting behind him and humming a strange tune, took awhile before puzzledly answering with a question. ¡°Is the Dragon King talking to me?¡±


    ¡°Mmm.¡±


    ¡°Hee hee, I just wanted to experience the uniqueness of the little girl that you chose over the Master Commander.¡±


    ¡°What else?¡±


    ¡°And¡­ I wanted to kill her to please the Master Commander.¡±


    ¡°But you didn¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°How could I have made a move when you¡¯re always keeping an eye on me and giving me a cold feeling in my back? Also¡­ she¡¯s cute. I¡¯m a bit reluctant to sully that image.¡± It was precisely this asional ¡®reluctance,¡¯ that had almost eliminated her from the Waning Moon Hall.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly stopped the horse, dropped her off, and looked down into her eyes as he asked, ¡°Is Lotus badly hurt?¡±


    Han Fen¡¯s eyes sparkled. ¡°Dragon King, are you concerned about the Master Commander?¡±


    ¡°Tell me the truth.¡±


    Han Fen would either keep silent or tell the truth. There was no such thing as a third option to her in this situation. And she liked talking to the Dragon King, so she said, ¡°To tell you the truth, the Master Commander is dying. She was seriously injured by you. The Master Commander feels so cold that she¡¯s always shaking as if she were poisoned. She took a Bone Shrivelling Pill, but that didn¡¯t do much. She then took two Zombie Suppressing Pills, but they were also ineffective. Then she found someone to practice the Psychotic Divine Drain, which worked a bit. After that she¡­¡±


    Han Fen wanted to exin the whole treatment method in detail, but Gu Shenwei hurriedly interrupted her. ¡°Stop, stop. Where is she hiding now?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s hiding¡­ Heehee, I can¡¯t tell you. Dragon King, you are so bad, trying to sound out my secrets when I¡¯m unaware. You know, I am the best at keeping secrets. Otherwise, why would the Master Commander trust me?¡±


    Gu Shenwei tried ask again in another way, ¡°Where are Han Xuan and Shangguan Shaomin? You promised to tell me where they were.¡±


    ¡°I only know that the two of them were still in King Shengri¡¯s camp when I left yesterday.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was a bit surprised that Han Fen would y such a trick in her answer. ¡°Is Han Xuan still your friend?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Han Fen appeared quite confused about why the Dragon King would ask this. She continued, exining, ¡°As the saying goes, ¡®A lifetime of friends and a night of men.¡¯ Friends will always be friends, how can they¡­ not be friends?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had never heard of this famous saying from the Waning Moon Hall, nor did he care about it. Time was urgent, and he had to wrap up the conversation as soon as possible. ¡°Han Xuan may be Han Wuxian¡¯s daughter.¡±


    ¡°The Hall Leader is lying.¡± Han Xuan was filled with indignation, on behalf of her friend rather than herself. ¡°Han Xuan clearly told me that the person who went to see her every year was nothing like the Hall Leader.¡±


    ¡°She might have disguised herself.¡±


    ¡°Their temperaments were also different. The Master Commander had asked her in detail. Besides, the Hall Leader couldn¡¯t have left the headquarters at that time.¡±


    At that time, the Waning Moon Hall had been restricted by the truce agreement and its couldn¡¯t have left the desert. Han Fen hummed and continued saying, ¡°The Hall Leader wants to mislead everyone and have us believe that we can rest easy if Han Xuan is under control. Then she will kill us all when we are unprepared.¡±


    These words were obviously from Lotus.


    Gu Shenwei thought for a moment and said, ¡°You can go now.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    But I won¡¯t let you to touch any of my men, including those soldiers. Do you understand?¡±


    ¡°What if I already did?¡±


    Gu Shenwei wanted to threaten her by answering ¡®then I¡¯ll kill you,¡¯ but that was meaningless to Han Fen because the other side only cared about whether her corpse could be scattered far and wide. ¡°I won¡¯t care about you or talk to you anymore.¡±


    Fortunately, there were no outsiders around; otherwise, the Dragon King¡¯s reputation would likely be totally destroyed.


    Han Fen, however, was startled, ¡°Please don¡¯t. I¡¯ll try not to touch your subordinates. If the Master Commander orders me, then I¡¯ll find an excuse and have someone else do it.¡±


    Han Fen quickly ran away. She had already disappeared into the grass while Gu Shenwei was still thinking of a way to rify what he meant by ¡®touch.¡¯


    Lotus was hiding in the dark. And Han Fen was probably the only clue that Gu Shenwei could use to learn about the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s movements. He had spared her life, but also greatly doubted the veracity of her words.


    Han Fen wouldn¡¯t lie, but she also interpreted everything Lotus had instilled in her mind as the truth and told it as such.


    Gu Shenwei felt like he was fighting against himself when dealing with Lotus. They knew each other too well, which made him feel like it was nearly impossible to discern between the truth and lies.


    Gu Shenwei met Shangguan Ru¡¯s guards at the border of the patrolling area and ordered them to set off at once to meet their instructor.


    Gu Shenwei finally ran back to the camp when the sun had risen high. From afar, he could see patches of troops which appeared miniscule in contrast to the vastness of the prairie. As the distance shortened, the crowd grewrger and the pressure of the sabers, spears, bows, and steeds pressed down upon him.


    The battle hadn¡¯t begun yet, which gave Gu Shenwei the chance to make a stop at a nearby hillock and finally observe how the Nond people conducted battle.


    There were nearly 30,000 people on each side, stationed about a mile or so from each other. As they moved around each other very slowly in circles, it could clearly be seen that both sides wanted to nk the enemy while avoiding a siege.


    Both sides had adopted the same tactic, but King Shengri¡¯s side was slightly outnumbered.


    asionally, someone would leave their battle formation and challenge the enemy. Just as Gu Shenwei was watching, two men fired arrows at each other and one of the two fell off of their horse after three exchanges.


    The Nond Army had no strict battle formation, and outsiders who were not familiar with them might think that both armies were as disorganized as a rabble of militia, but Gu Shenwei knew that the Nond Army had very clear ranks. The soldiers followed the decanus, the decanus moved with the g of the centurion, the centurion would follow the chiliarch, and so on and so forth; in the end, no one was allowed to act of their own ord.


    The seemingly disorganized team actually hadplicated rules guiding them internally. With proper gaps left between the horses, they could gather and separate in a very short amount of time.


    After annexing the forces of the other two kings, King Shengri¡¯s army had expanded again, but he didn¡¯t send out all his forces this time.


    What surprised Gu Shenwei was that the three armies of King Riying, King Riyao, and the Second Consort seemed to have united and were under themand of a single general.


    He clearly remembered that when he had set outst night, King Riyao¡¯s army was still suspicious, King Riying Shulitu wanted tomit suicide, and the Second Consort had refused to hand over all her troops. It did not seem as if they were going to band together at all.


    Could it be that the three sides had changed their stances at the same time in the face of amon enemy?¡±


    A group of dozens of people galloped towards the hillock, and someone shouted from a distance, ¡°Is it the Dragon King?¡±


    The position where Gu Shenwei stood was under the control of King Riyao¡¯s army, so he shouted back, ¡°It¡¯s me.¡±


    The soldiers separated a little and Fang Wenshi rode forth. With sweat all over his face, the first thing he said after meeting the Dragon King was, ¡°Please enter the battlefield at once, Dragon King.¡±


    The counselor had always adhered to the principle that the king should not enter the battlefield in person. This was actually the first time he had made such a request on his own initiative.


    Gu Shenwei rode towards the army and ordered Fang Wenshi, ¡°Make it short.¡±


    ¡°To put it simply, the Second Consort agreed to hand over all her troops and only keep five hundred guards with her. King Riyao¡¯s army epted Shulitu as the new king and merged with King Riying¡¯s army. Then King Shengri¡¯s army arrived.¡±


    This was more perfect than even the most optimistic of expectations. Gu Shenwei understood that there must be many reasons and deals behind the sudden unification, but he only had time to ask one question. ¡°Who¡¯s themander in chief ?¡±


    ¡°Shulitu, the new king. But it will be the Dragon King when you arrive at the frontline.¡±


    A twelve-year-old kid was surprisingly able tomand an army of more than twenty thousand men and confront the enemy sessfully enough that King Shengri did not dare attack rashly. Gu Shenwei was feeling more and more surprised.


    The Nond Calvary had rules even when giving way. They moved to either the left or right sid,e but the same centuria would not be divided into both sides. Gu Shenwei had noticed that, but had never understood how they had formed that habit.


    ¡°Dragon King,¡± the crowd whispered.


    ¡°Dragon King!¡± someone shouted excitedly.


    Gu Shenwei soon came to the forefront. Unlike the armies of the Western Regions and the Central ins, themander of the Nond Army had to be stationed at the very forefront of battle. Actually, there was no great danger because the soldiers around themander were all cavalry of the highest caliber, and they would quickly form a tight circle of protection in an emergency.


    By sitting on a tall steed, Shulitu appeared even thinner. And the barely worn armor dangled off of him awkwardly and seemed about to crush him at any moment.


    Nie Zeng and Han Wuxian were on both sides of him, conscientiously ying the role of bodyguards. More than thirty other generals and officers surrounded them.


    The teenage killer Nie Zeng felt quite relieved that he didn¡¯t have to carry an entric woman with disheveled hair in front of tens of thousands of people anymore.


    Han Wuxian seemed to finally understand what a normal person dressed like. She wore shoes this time and had even wrapped herself in simple leather armor like the female soldiers. But she was still very conspicuous because instead of wearing any kind of helmet, she had put on a beautiful wreath, with her long hair still draping behind her.


    Shulitu turned to wee the arrival of the Dragon King, so the whole army stopped moving, and so did the enemy on the other side.


    ¡°The Dragon King hase just in time,¡± Shulitu smilingly said as if the assassination had never happened.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t King Shengri ready to fight?¡± Gu Shenwei slightly nodded to Shulitu. Although Fang Wenshi imed that the Dragon King was the realmander, he knew very well that his power would only work through this kid.


    Something must have happenedst night that had changed Shulitu¡¯s attitude. There was no animosity in his childish voice. ¡°King Shengri made a mistake. He thought that the deaths of the former King Riying and King Riyao would cause the army to fall into disunity, but once he realized that our armies were united, he dared not attack.¡±


    Fang Wenshi interrupted to exin, ¡°King Shengri incited a few officers into mutiny but they were captured by His Highness in one stroke.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all due to the counselor¡¯s effort.¡±


    The two courteously exined each other¡¯s contribution.


    Gu Shenwei thought that he must have missed a wonderful scene.


    Just as they finished speaking, a rider from King Shengri¡¯s side made a harsh whistling sound and set out to challenge this side.


    One of the officers around Shulitu immediately rode forth to oppose the enemy. The surrounding soldiers all cheered loudly.


    ¡°Azheba is really a valiant general, it¡¯s a pity that he was neglected in the Court Attendants Army,¡± Shulitu praised sincerely. ¡°The Dragon King has sharp eyes and epted such a good marksman.¡±


    Nie Zeng excitedly added, ¡°Azheba has already shot down seven enemy generals, and this will be his eighth.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was unaware of Azheba¡¯s archery skills so he watched carefully.


    The Nond Army¡¯s one on one match was also different from other ces¡¯. The two sides would stop moving forward after running a certain distance. Instead, they would circle each other in an oval so that they could pull the bow sideways.


    In the middle of the battlefield, the enemy fired an arrow first, so Azheba ducked while on horseback to avoid it. But before the other side could pull the bowstring and release a second arrow, he suddenly straightened up and casually shot out an arrow without taking aim.


    Without any further ado, the eighth enemy promptly fell from his horse.


    Thunderous cheers rang out everywhere. Even many horsemen on King Shengri¡¯s side gave a great shout of approval.


    ¡°The morale of our army is at its peak now. Please give the order, Dragon King,¡± Fang Wenshi urged in a low voice.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head and said, ¡°Please give the order, Your Highness.¡±


    The Nond people worshiped heroes of the Prairie, which was an unalterable tradition. The Dragon King had to get used to pulling the strings behind the scene.


    Fang Wenshi was a little surprised but he would soon be struck by disbelief by an ever bigger surprise.


    A scout came galloping along from the edge of the battle formation and gasped for air before stopping his horse. ¡°Court Attendantsing. There are many of them, probably fifty or sixty thousand,ing.¡±


    There was a smallmotion in King Shengri¡¯s army. The opposite side had obviously received the same news.

 Chapter 712 - Shaman

    Chapter 712: Shaman


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Ever since Azheba hade to the Royal Court nine years ago and joined the Court Attendants Army, he had never felt this good. Bending the bow, nocking the arrow, loosing the strings; for a series of actions that couldn¡¯t be simpler, he always found something to improve and reduce unnecessary movements from, making it even simpler.


    After many repeated failures such as the mutiny, election, and so on, Azheba had finally found his previously lost self-confidence in the battlefield.


    ¡®I¡¯m not fit for intrigue and conspiracy,¡¯ he thought to himself.


    The storm-like cheers died down, and the troops on both sides retreated while spreading out in many directions. It was a sign that their enemies had arrived.


    Azheba looked into the distance and noticed that a ck outline had appeared on the horizon. As he watched, it grew thicker and thicker, until a thin line separated itself out from the horizon and began to squirm toward the battlefield.


    He recognized the fluttering g; it was one with the insignia of a ck horse, which was the sign of the Court Attendants Army, as it symbolized a dualism with the white horse g of the Khan.


    After staring at it for a while, Azheba rode back to his side¡¯s battle formation, nodded slightly to the dragon king, and reported the situation to the twelve-year-oldmander-in-chief. ¡°It¡¯s the shamans of the Court Attendants Army.¡±


    There was no official religion in the Nond. From the princes and nobles to the ordinary herdsman, they were all free to choose and follow whatever religion they pleased and were even allowed to practice several religions at the same time. But all of the armies had different numbers of shamans. It was a long-standing tradition like the warlocks of the Big Snow Mountain.


    These shamans prayed for victory and cursed the enemy but had long since be dispensable symbolic figures. It was no wonder that even Shulitu, the royal child, was surprised at the news. ¡°The shamans? What are they doing here?¡±


    ¡°Most of the officers of the Court Attendants Army were killed and the soldiers might have chosen them to be their new leaders.¡± Azheba made a simple guess.


    ¡°Maybe they are the reason why the officers were killed.¡± Gu Shenwei also made his own simple guess.


    Shulitu showed a maturity beyond his age. He nced at the Dragon King before expressing his own opinion. ¡± Either way, they don¡¯t necessarily seem to be hostile. Liman, go and ask what their intentions are, and tell the whole army to stay on guard.¡± Shulitu¡¯s cooperation with the Dragon King was still at an embryonic stage, where they were still exploring each other¡¯s bottom line.


    Liman had just been promoted to the rank of chiliarch. Upon hearing the order, he immediately led a dozen or so soldiers out to meet the envoys and almost at the same time, a small group of people also left King Shengri¡¯s army, apparently to carry out simr orders.


    In all, there were only fifty or so people from the side of the Court Attendants who hade as envoys. Bearing a fluttering yellow g embroidered with a ck horse, they rode straight towards the center of the battlefield, in the middle of the gap between the two armies, showing no signs of timidity.


    As they got closer, Gu Shenwei was finally able to see the faces and features of the shamans.


    The warlocks of the Big Snow Mountain usually were not too different from the soldiers there. They had no special needs for clothes and wore whatever they had. The main distinction was that the warlocks never touched weapons, like a saber or a sword.


    The shamans in the Nond, however, were dressed clearly differently, with hats full of towering feathers. Even the clothes they wore seem to be woven from feathers, every aspect of them showing off an unmistakable aesthetic.


    ¡®King Shengri, the bird-lover, may like these people,¡¯ thought Gu Shenwei. He almost made thement, but then felt like it was a crude joke and did not blurt it out.


    Liman returned with the soldiers but he appeared to be a bit confused and unsatisfied. ¡°The Great Shaman invited the leaders of the two armies to have a talk. He said¡­ that he had orders from the Khan to put an end to the dispute in the Royal Court.¡±


    Liman obviously didn¡¯t believe a word of it, but as soon as he said it, the news circted at a very fast speed. Gu Shenwei could almost feel the surge of reverence and fear rising around him like a wave of water about to crash into him, but the sane ones were like trees about to thrown under.


    ¡°Dragon King, pleasee with me to see the Great Shaman.¡± Shulitu took the initiative to invite the Dragon King to ease the other side¡¯s embarrassment.


    Liman began to regret his directness but had no time to change anything now. ¡°Only three people can go from each side; this is also a request of the Great Shaman¡¯s.¡±


    The fifty or so Court Attendants had actually turned from guests into hosts in front of the two armies. The crowd nced at the Court Attendants in the distance but no one dared to resist.


    Three people had already ridden out of King Shengri¡¯s army. It looked like they wanted to leave a good impression on the Great Shaman.


    Gu Shenwei nodded and agreed to go, then said, ¡°Please appoint a third person, Your Highness.¡±


    Fang Wenshi coughed several times to signal that he was the best candidate, but Shulitu pointed to another person without hesitation. ¡°Azheba, you used to be an officer of the Court Attendants Army. Come with us.¡±


    There were seven shamans in total, and the oldest one was the Great Shaman, who was ancient and wrapped inyers of feathers. It was nearly impossible to discern the Great Shaman¡¯s gender, and only the gruff voice could prove that the Great Shaman was a man.


    As he sat on horseback, the Great Shaman raised his hands, faced the sky, and chanted rhythmically for a long time as a weing ritual to the leaders of the two armies.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t understand it, and the Nond people were also a bit confused but they all maintained a respectful and cautious attitude, restraining their confusion as best as they could.


    What they respected were not those shamans but rather the 100,000 Court Attendants.


    The three people from King Shengri¡¯s side were King Shengri himself, Wild Horse, and a new king who was in his twenties and appeared serious and nervous as though he had not be ustomed to his position yet.


    King Shengri looked at the twelve-year-old Shulitu with a smile, and nced at the Dragon King now and then, indirectly saying ¡®You¡¯ve found a good puppet.¡¯


    The Great Shaman finally ended his chanting and prayer, his voice hoarse but filled with a sense of dreamy mystery. ¡°The Khan is looking at you through my eyes now, and he sees the foreigners.¡±


    The Great Shaman¡¯s words turned out to be wildly effective. The dozens of Court Attendants around acting as bodyguards all lowered their heads as if the Khan were nearby and even the eyes of the new king, who was standing beside King Shengri, started fidgeting restlessly.


    ¡°Wild Horse is my guard,¡± King Shengri stated in a casual tone. ¡°Although he¡¯s from the Western Regions, it¡¯s very likely that he was born in the Nond. Hehe, one could say that it¡¯s like he¡¯s finally home.¡±


    Shulitu¡¯s smile was a little weak, but he wasn¡¯t nervous at all. ¡°I believe that the Khan will be pleased to see the foreigner, Dragon King. If the rumor is true, then before the Khan ascended to heaven, he summoned the Dragon King to meet with him alone and even drank with him before that. I¡¯m wondering if that is true?¡±


    The Great Shaman paused for a moment. Then, with his eyes half closed, his body shook violently two or three times before it subsided somewhat into slight tremors. ¡°Hmm¡­ Good¡­ The Khan will allow the two foreigners to stay though he has one more word to say to the Dragon King.¡±


    The Great Shaman faced the Dragon King with nk eyes as if he were looking into the great beyond. After pausing for a while, he rted the Khan¡¯s admonition from Heaven, dictating, ¡°Mortals should know their limitations.¡±


    As he finished his words, the Great Shaman stopped quivering and his eyes returned to normal, but he no longer looked at the Dragon King,pletely ignoring him.


    The dozens of gazes of the Court Attendants turned towards the Dragon King withplex emotions.


    Gu Shenwei and Shulitu exchanged a nce. The two of them knew that the Great Shaman was mystifying things on purpose as everything he was saying was quite ambiguous while only he could exin it. Gu Shenwei was unable to fight back until he uncovered the other side¡¯s true intentions.


    King Shengri squinted and said, ¡°It¡¯s good to hear the Khan¡¯s voice again. Does he want us to go to heaven to apany him once more?¡±


    He hadn¡¯t forgotten what had happened in the Court Attendants Army. Had it not been for the desperate protection of the guards, he would have been sacrificed to the old Khan like how several other kings and hundreds of officers and generals had been.


    ¡°That was a test,¡± the Great Shaman coldly exined. ¡°Either go to heaven and serve the Khan, or stay in the mortal world and carry out the Khan¡¯s will. Everyone has his own destiny.¡±


    King Shengri patted his chest and said, ¡°I feel very relieved to hear that from the Great Shaman. I thought that it might have been unfilial to fly for my life.¡±


    Shulitu bowed his head slightly. ¡°May my father rest in peace in heaven.¡±


    The Great Shaman straightened up and seemed to be possessed by a spirit again, and cried out, ¡°The Khan has decreed that from this moment forth, the Blood of the Divines shall no longer be killed, and that the Khan¡¯s descendants shall cease fire immediately.


    The Great Shaman seemed to have finished but his body was still stiff and upright. King Shengri stroked his beard and said, ¡°It¡¯s a good thing that the Khan ordered a truce, but did he appoint a sessor? Because once the new Khan is chosen, the melee will end in due course.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    As soon as the Great Shaman said this, both parties pricked their ears; even Gu Shenwei became more attentive. No matter how shamelessly boastful this psychic medium was, as long as one could gain his affirmation, it meant that one would also have the support of 100,000 Court Attendants, which was as good as obtaining the throne.


    ¡°The Devil Bird came down to this world and plunged our people into misery and suffering; Our great Khan lost his head, and his divine soul has nowhere to rest. The one who destroys the Devil Bird and finds the Khan¡¯s head will be the new Khan of Nond.¡±


    The Great Shaman did not emphasize that the new Khan had to have the Divine Blood of the Khan because it was a self-evident thing for the Nond people.


    ¡°Devil Bird? Where¡¯s the Devil Bird? How have I never heard of it?¡± King Shengri was the first to ask questions.


    But the Great Shaman hadpleted his mission and no longer spoke, merely silently facing the sky with his eyes closed as if he were receiving a message from heaven.


    One of the younger shamans exined, ¡°The Devil Bird is arge red-crowned bird that eats human flesh and drinks human blood. It didn¡¯t daree when the Khan was alive. But on the night the Khan ascended to Heaven, it appeared from the far north and flew all the way here in the south. You were busy fighting and didn¡¯t notice the scourge. If the Devil Bird had flown across the Prairie from north to south, the Nond would be divided forever. So it must be eliminated here.¡±


    King Shengri gaped at Gu Shenwei and asked, ¡°Doesn¡¯t the Dragon King also have a big bird? If I remember correctly, it was red-crowned and red-eyed, too. It¡¯s not rted to you, is it?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t know until I see it.¡±


    Everyone looked up at the sky like the Great Shaman was doing as if the Devil Bird would appear out of the blue at any moment.


    The Great Shaman, however, opened his eyes and turned his horse around, returning the same way he hade. The Court Attendants closely followed behind. The young shaman reminded the leaders of the two armies strictly, ¡°Before killing the Devil Bird and finding the Khan¡¯s head, no war is allowed to take ce within a hundred miles of the Royal Court. Any transgression will be seen as a betrayal of the Khan and the Court Attendants Army will enforce justice on behalf of the Heavens.¡±


    After saying this, the young shaman shot a nce at Azheba, his eyes full of hatred, and then rode away.


    Frowned, King Shengri was also surprised by the whole matter. As one of the ten kings, he had actually been treated as a ¡®mortal¡¯ by the two shamans, which really annoyed him. Then the new king next to him shouted, ¡°Hey, what if one side kills the bird and the other gets the head back?¡±


    No one answered. The shamans had already gone far away.


    King Shengriughed and looked at that young man, ¡°Are you really taking their words seriously?¡±


    ¡°But¡­ there¡¯s really a devil bird, isn¡¯t there?¡± The new king cast a flustered nce at the Dragon King.


    When no one replied, Shulitu said, ¡°I think that it¡¯d better if we ceased fire. The hundred thousand Court Attendants and mine and your soldiers all believe in the Khan and the Devil Bird, so we¡¯d better believe it, too.¡±


    On the way back to their own battle formation, Shulitu asked, ¡°Does the Dragon King really have arge bird like that?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded, but he was actually very confused. When the young shaman was describing it, he said that ¡®the Devil Bird eats human flesh and drinks human blood.¡¯ The first part of his description was rtively urate but the second part was not one of the roc¡¯s habit at all. Besides, he didn¡¯t mention that it liked pecking eyeballs out, which was by far the most peculiar habit of the roc.

 Chapter 713 - : Borrowing an Army

    Chapter 713: Borrowing an Army


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei was full of doubts but he could only work through them one by one.


    The two sides had already agreed to a ceasefire by the time Shangguan Ru and others came back. As soon as he could, Gu Shenwei summoned Silver Condor to talk to him privately. Because of the ¡®decree of Heaven¡¯ from the Great Shaman, the head in his hand was bing more and more important.


    As a sign of trust, Gu Shenwei gave thest remaining Indra Fragrance antidote to the other side first.


    Silver Condor epted the pill but didn¡¯t take it straight away. ¡°When I entered the tent, the five maids were still alive, and said something strange, but it didn¡¯t matter. Their smiles¡­ were just like that of the disciple from the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    The five ve girls of the Khan had been trained by Han Fen, so they were bound to take on some of her habits. Silver Condor, therefore, was sure that the murderer was not the Dragon King.


    ¡°So you were interested in the Waning Moon Hall even before all this?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    Silver Condor nodded and said, ¡°It wasn¡¯t the Waning Moon Hall that first caught my attention but rather King Shengri who rose up quicklypared to the rest of the ten kings and benefited a great deal from the death of the Khan. And many masters around the Khan also ended up joining his side. I never expected¡­¡±


    Silver Condor had never expected that there would so many disciples of the Waning Moon Hall acting as guards and that their means would be so extraordinary.


    ¡°But I still do not understand.¡± Silver Condor thought that he had exined it clearly so he moved onto the next topic. ¡°What¡¯s your real rtionship with the Waning Moon Hall and that woman Han Fen?¡±


    ¡°We used to be partners, but then we became enemies. Two years ago, we became allies again, but that broke yet again on the night the Khan was killed.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s answer was short and vague but sinctly exined the whole process.


    The expressionless Silver Condor suddenly revealed a smile. ¡°The Dragon King seems to be particrly casual in the matters of establishing alliances.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, my general rule is that whoeveres will be wee. Just a few tents away resides Shangguan Yun, the son of the Unique King; we¡¯ve formed a temporary alliance.¡±


    ¡°The Khan would never have done something like that. He detested flip floppers, though he seemed to appreciate the Dragon King very much.¡±


    ¡°The main difference between the Khan and me is the same as that of innate power and the power gained through fights.¡±


    Silver Condor pondered the words of the Dragon King for a moment before looking up and saying, ¡°So you are even willing to ally with your foes as long as you two share some purpose?¡±


    ¡°Please do not take me as a casual person who¡¯s always willing to show mercy to his enemies just because ofmon benefits. But for you, that is true.¡±


    As he looked at the pill in his hand, Silver Condor sighed and said, ¡°Sparing me three times. You have done so. My only purpose left is to find the real culprit and avenge the Khan. I owe him this.¡±


    Silver Condor swallowed the antidote and continued, ¡°My name is Mo Lin; it is my previous name and future name as well. I need a saber and ¡ª¡± Mo Lin, who had reverted back to his real name, took a breath and said, ¡°Some rough straw paper.¡±


    His internal energy was not fully restored yet, but Mo Lin bore the churning pain in his stomach and stepped out elegantly from the tent.


    Fang Wenshi rushed in. He thought that he would be the first to be summoned and couldn¡¯t help but be a bit jealous of the wing guard. ¡°Is he willing to hand over the Khan¡¯s head now?¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯t talked about it yet, but before we find out the truth behind the ¡®Devil Bird,¡¯ there¡¯s no need to rush in searching for the head.¡±


    Fang Wenshi shook his head but it actually meant he agreed with the Dragon King. The reason why the Dragon King had summoned him was not toment on the wing guard, so he immediately began to exin, ¡°Please forgive me for acting on my own, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°By uniting the three armies into one, you¡¯ve already made amends for it.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, many thanks for the Dragon King¡¯s magnanimousness. I¡¯m not interested in gaining merit, but only in avoiding mistakes. Well, the person who did most of the work was actually Queen Ju.¡±


    This answer was really out of Gu Shenwei¡¯s expectation. Queen Ju had no foundation in the Nond, so where did she find the ability to unite the three armed forces?¡±


    Fang Wenshi misinterpreted the Dragon King¡¯s expression and hurriedly added, ¡°I never met with the Queen from beginning to end; it was all Xu Yanwei who passed her words along.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, tell me about it.¡±


    After the Dragon King left the camp yesterday evening, Fang Wenshi had carefully thought about the current situation and concluded that the 10,000 horsemen of the Second Consort were the key to solving all their problems. The main issue was that gaining the trust of that clever woman was an insurmountable obstacle.


    The Second Consort was indeed very clever. In her mind, her status depended on only three factors: The Khan, the 10,000 horsemen, and Prince Duodun.


    The Khan was dead, and Prince Duodun was far away in the Western Regions. As a woman, she had to hold fast to her army if she wanted to retain a foothold in the Royal Court and keep herself safe.


    She trusted the Dragon King, but not to the point of surrendering everything.


    Fang Wenshi had thene up with a bold idea. After he returned to the Dragon Army camp, he sent someone to invite Xu Yanwei to talk.


    Xu Yanwei reluctantly came to see him after being persistently invited three times in a row, and the first thing she said after entering was, ¡°Do not y tricks with me. This Old Biddy here cares about people more than money now. Look at you, is the food on the prairie so good?¡±


    ¡°When did you be an ¡®Old Biddy?¡¯¡± Fang Wenshi asked in surprise. The two had had a short rtionship before, and he had to admit that he really was not as handsome as before.


    ¡°s, I¡¯m really exhausted by the Dragon King¡¯s women. You don¡¯t know how hard they fought in prison. I¡¯m basically an ¡®Old Biddy¡¯ of the Dragon King¡¯s now.¡±


    Fang Wenshi smilingly shook his head and exined his n.


    Xu Yanwei was taken aback. ¡°Are you courting death? You want to ¡®sell¡¯ the Queen and even ask her to volunteer to do so? Even if the Dragon King doesn¡¯t¡­ The Dragon King will kill you for sure.¡±


    ¡°From what I know of the Queen, she will surely consent. You only have to pass the word along with nothing to lose.¡±


    ¡°As the old saying goes, to be in the king¡¯spany is tantamount to living with a tiger; a casual word may stir up big trouble, not to mention I¡¯m serving a tigress ¡ª If you dare to let that get out, I¡¯ll go around and tell everyone about how poor you are in bed.¡±


    Fang Wenshi kept muttering ¡®women are really hard to deal with¡¯ in his mind as he makde a series of assurances, ¡°No, no, of course not, I¡¯m always close-mouthed and good at keeping secrets. Queen Ju maybe a bit harsh to others but not to you. Everyone knows what you mean to her¡­¡±


    Fang Wenshi ttered Xu Yanwei for a while, until she finally agreed to deliver the message.


    To her surprise, Queen Ju immediately agreed. ¡°That¡¯s a brilliant n of the counselor¡¯s. Send someone to see the Second Consort and tell her that I¡¯d like to visit her right now.¡±


    Xu Yanwei was a bit regretful. If she had known the Queen would react like this, she would have not deliberately emphasized the role of the counselor ining up with the n.


    The Second Consort epted Queen Ju¡¯s request. On the way out, Xu Yanwei figured out the entire n and realized what she needed to do.


    This was a typical conversation between women. After exchanging pleasantries and courtesies, the topic soon turned to minor details. One said that she had a constant headache while the other would cover her heart andin about a hidden illness that was ring up.


    Xu Yanwei often aptly interjected, inadvertently revealing how much the Dragon King cared about and loved this beautiful young Queen and how she had to report to the Dragon King daily about her physical condition.


    The Second Consort was obviously very interested in this topic, but Xu Yanwei soon realized that she had gone too far. The Second Consort already had some inklings about the Dragon King¡¯s true feelings, so she quickly adjusted her strategy, suggesting that the Dragon King had had many lovers before but in the end had finally chosen Queen Ju.


    Queen Ju¡¯s cooperation was perfect, who stopped Xu Yanwei from continuing and sighed helplessly and finally revealed her relief and smallcency as the victor.


    ¡°After all, it is the women who must make the sacrifices.¡± The Second Consort ended the small chat and asked, ¡°You must be here to borrow troops for the Dragon King?¡±


    Queen Ju admitted and said, ¡°The Dragon King has always treated me with affection. The status of the Stone Kingdom¡¯s royal family is also consolidated through the power of the Dragon King. But as a weak woman, I¡¯m unable to repay his kindness. I thought for a long while and realized that there¡¯s only one way for me to help him. I myself would like to remain here as a hostage in exchange for the Second Consort¡¯s trust. I would not daree here if you were a man and the Dragon King would also not allow me toe if he knew of my n.¡±


    The Second Consort took the hand of Queen Ju and said, ¡°Please do not say ¡®remain here as a hostage.¡¯ How can I let the Queen of a country be taken hostage? But then again, it¡¯s really inconvenient for you to live in the Dragon Army camp. There are more than a dozendies from the Western Regions living in my ce right now. They are almost scared to death from the news of the war and are not as calm as you at all. Would you like to do me a favor and help me calm them down a bit?¡±


    The moment they stepped out of the tent, Xu Yanwei and Queen Ju exchanged a nce. Both of them knew that their task had been sessfully aplished.


    Fang Wenshi was still worrying about the result. As soon as he heard that Queen Ju would be staying in the camp of the Second Consort, he started counting the time so that he could ask the Second Consort again exactly an hourter.


    But it turned out that the Second Consort would invite the counselor of the Dragon King of her own ord.


    It was alreadyte at night, and so without much idle conversation, the Second Consort cut straight to the point and said that she could lend out the 10,000 horsemen. ¡°When we get to the Western Regions, the Dragon King must return the army to me.¡±


    ¡°Of course, this army will always belong to the Second Consort at all times and in all ces. The Dragon King has his own army in the Western Regions and will naturally relinquishmand when the timees.¡±


    ¡°Also, I can lend the troops to the Dragon King, but you have to have the armies of King Riying and King Riyao join the Dragon King, too. I won¡¯t let my 10,000 soldiers fight alone.¡±


    This was actually the main reason why Fang Wenshi had been so anxious to acquire the military power of the Second Consort.


    On the same night that the Dragon King was busypeting with the kung fu masters of the Central ins in the refugee camp, Fang Wenshi had been busy forming alliances.


    The next person to convince was the royal teenager, Shulitu. Without thinking too much about it, Fang Wenshi decided to just resort to harder methods if his softer persuasion wouldn¡¯t work. He felt that it was unnecessary to use too many tricks against a kid.


    As a result, Fang Wenshi had gone to see Shulitute at night with a ruthless spirit, but ended up encountering an unexpected scene after entering the tent.


    Han Wuxian was ying games with Shulitu and Nie Zeng, while several guards in the doorway were pping their hands and cheering.


    Shulitu and Nie Zeng were trying to hide themselves while Han Wuxian¡¯s eyes had been covered by a blindfold, and her ears plugged with wax; she was attempting to find the two only through smell. She either reached out a finger to point at the two or flicked a bean to hit them. She was always dead urate even when the two hid behind the guards.


    Nie Zeng admired her skill from the bottom of his heart. Had it not been for the others around, he really would have wanted to kowtow to this madwoman and taken her as his Master.


    As soon as Fang Wenshi entered, Han Wuxian smiled and said, ¡°I smell the white fat fellow.¡±


    Amazed, the crowd all apuded and cheered. Fang Wenshi put on a straight face and motioned to the guards to go away before saying, ¡°I¡¯d like to talk to King Riying alone.¡±


    Han Wuxian unplugged her ears, and Fang Wenshi repeated his statement.


    Still blindfolded, Han Wuxian asked, ¡°Little Nie Zeng, shall we leave obediently?¡±


    Nie Zeng shook his head and replied, ¡°The Dragon King asked us to follow King Riying closely and that¡¯s it. No one can make us leave except the Dragon King himself.¡±


    Fang Wenshi blushed but dared not to lose his temper in front of Han Wuxian. He could only angrily stared at Nie Zeng, but the young killer didn¡¯t budge at all.


    Shulitu¡¯s face was also blushing but that was because of the previous yfulness. He saved the counselor from embarrassment. ¡°Say no more. I¡¯m willing to join forces with the Dragon King. Counselor Fang, please get started now.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was dumbfounded, not expecting that he was not the only person who was busy that evening.

 Chapter 714 - Fact

    Chapter 714: Fact


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Fang Wenshi had rendered outstanding services, but he had alsonded the Dragon King in a tricky situation.


    ¡°The Queen was very brave and gained the Second Consort¡¯s trust all on her own. I think that the Dragon King should take the time and visit her whether it is for your public or private interests.¡±


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help but doubt whom the counselor¡¯s ¡®brilliant n¡¯ had been designed for, but he had to admit that the Dragon Army was ultimately the biggest beneficiary. ¡°I will,¡± he replied.


    After Fang Wenshi took his leave, Gu Shenwei sat alone for a while before going to meet Shulitu. On the way over, he called Mo Lin toe with him.


    This twelve-year-old kid, who had already acquired three ¡®king¡¯ titles and had been tested on the battlefield on the first day, always behaved very calmly and maturely, which surprised many people.


    ¡°I was looking forward to meeting with the Dragon King,¡± he said with a weak voice reminiscent of a little girl¡¯s, but with a tone that was neither humble nor pushy, which forced people to not underestimate him.


    The guards and attendants sensibly retreated. Nie Zeng and Han Wuxian did not respond. They stayed with Shulitu as though they were his men.


    ¡°You seem to have changed your mind.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t treat the other side as a kid.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell.¡± Shulitu took a nce at the Khan¡¯s ex-wing guard standing next to the Dragon King and continued saying, ¡°But the fact that Silver Condor is standing on the Dragon King¡¯s side does increase my faith in you.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness knows me?¡± Mo Lin was a bit surprised. He remembered that he had only seen the great-grandson of the Khan once long ago, when Shulitu had only been five or six years old.¡±


    ¡°Someone already told me what you look like. Actually, I remember you personally. The Khan trusted you a lot, more than most of his children and grandchildren.¡±


    The description would have been a dire threat if it was said by a grown-up king, but when said by the twelve-year-old Shulitu, it was more like a sincerepliment. Mo Lin slightly bowed his head to receive the honor. ¡°My original name is Mo Lin.¡±


    ¡°You no longer call yourself Silver Condor?¡±


    ¡°Mmm, I won¡¯t serve the second Khan. My only duty in this world now is to avenge the old Khan, destroy the Waning Moon Hall, and kill the Master Commander Lotus.¡±


    Sitting on a soft couch, Han Wuxian, who had taken off her uniform and gand, held her long hair and looked up, saying, ¡°Yo, you seem to be very confident. But the Waning Moon Hall is mine. Let¡¯s see how you will ¡®destroy¡¯ it.¡±


    Han Wuxian¡¯s voice was as gentle as an innocent girl¡¯s, but Mo Lin felt like his blood freeze and his right hand uncontrobly reaching for his saber hilt.


    ¡°This is Han Wuxian, the Hall Leader of Waning Moon Hall,¡± Gu Shenwei introduced.


    Mo Lin retracted his hand but didn¡¯t lower his vignce at all. He corrected his words and restated, ¡°I¡¯ll kill all the disciples who are loyal to Lotus.¡±


    Han Wuxian¡¯s smile grew bigger and her voice became even more ethereal. ¡°I like you.¡±


    Mo Lin did not dare answer. The one he admired more from all this was the Dragon King, who was bold enough to join hands with this madwoman.


    Shulitu looked at the Dragon King and said, ¡°May I say something?¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Gu Shenwei replied.


    ¡°Maybe I was wrong. The Dragon King might really be innocent and all the plots might have been nned by that Lotus and the Waning Moon Hall. But that doesn¡¯t change the fact that you are still a foreigner. How am I supposed to believe you have no ambition in taking over the Prairie?¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head and said, ¡°There¡¯s another fact that has never changed. Although you have an army, you do not have any security and your life is in my hands. So I don¡¯t have to prove if I¡¯m ambitious or not; however, you, you have to prove you are a sensible man worthy of being my ally.¡±


    Shulitu was obviously enraged, but even then he did not make a scene like an ordinary kid. Instead, he looked quietly at the Dragon King and then turned to nce at Nie Zeng and Han Wuxian beside him.


    Nie Zeng did not speak, but his face had be stern. Han Wuxian indifferently sighed and said, ¡°I was d when you tried to win me over and I hope that you can continue to do so in the future, but that won¡¯t make me soft. I can promise you, you would not be the first cute kid to die in my hands.¡±


    Shulitu blushed a little. For thest night, he had racked his brains for ways to appease and please Nie Zeng and Han Wuxian, and for a time he thought that he had a chance of convincing the two to pledge allegiance to him. But it turned out that Han Wuxian had remained ruthless and Nie Zeng also had not wavered.


    ¡°I¡¯m impressed by the Dragon King¡¯s subordinates.¡± Shulitu wanted to cover up his disappointment, but he was still a twelve-year-old kid after all and his voice was full of unrestrainable bitterness and jealousy.


    Neither Nie Zeng nor Han Wuxian were true loyalists, but Gu Shenwei did not intend on exining theplex rtionship between them. He just wanted the precocious kid to understand the truth. ¡°You have to work hard to survive.¡±


    All of a sudden, the Dragon King had be as majestic, as terrifying, and as annoying as his grandpa, the old King Riying.


    Shulitu¡¯s face turned even redder, and he looked down a little bit. This was his usual reaction to his grandpa, but this time he summoned up enough courage to say what he would not have dared say to his grandpa. ¡°What else do I have at the end other than my life?¡±


    ¡°It depends on your ability. You may gain warriors who are truly loyal to you, the reputation that you are a worthy descendant of the Khan, and maybe even the whole prairie.¡±


    Shulitu¡¯s face was not just red, but also warm now. ¡°Will you let me act on my own?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never bound your hand or foot.¡±


    Shulitu took another look at Nie Zeng and Han Wuxian. Indeed, the two only protected him and prevented him frommitting suicide, but had never restricted him from seeing anyone.


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡± Shulitu reminded himself to stay calm and that he didn¡¯t need to answer right away.


    Mo Lin felt that he had misjudged the Dragon King before. The Dragon King was not unpredictable. He had strict principles and a clear bottom line, but they were just too unconventional and often overlooked by others.


    ¡°What will the Dragon King do with the head of the Khan?¡± Mo Lin asked after they left Shulitu¡¯s tent. This was the most important benefit he could offer to the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei thought for a moment and asked, ¡°Do you believe the shamans of the Court Attendants Army?¡±


    Mo Lin had already heard that the Great Shaman had delivered the ¡®decree of Heaven¡¯ in public. ¡°They are nothing but a bunch of clowns who think that they can control people¡¯s mind like the masters in the pce. I think that they¡¯re just bringing about their own destruction.¡±


    ¡°No one has yet been able to properly bury the Khan, so keep the head to yourself.¡±


    Mo Lin was very surprised because he had thought that the Dragon King¡¯s purpose behind winning him over was mainly for the Khan¡¯s head. The Dragon King¡¯s words moved, but also rmed him. He had said that he would not serve a second Khan and naturally would not turn to anyone else. ¡°The Dragon King must have something else he wants me for.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a bit confused about the Devil Bird mentioned by the shaman. Even if the roc doese here, there doesn¡¯t seem to be any need to connect it to the selection of a new Khan. I hope that you can help me figure this conundrum out.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t say it in amanding tone. He knew that Mo Lin was not yet his subordinate.


    Mo Lin slightly bowed and said, ¡°I¡¯ll find out.¡±


    He had been the Khan¡¯s wing guard, most trusted man, and was also acknowledged as the Khan¡¯s most loyal man. He had a great reputation among the ordinary soldiers, which eclipsed even his own imagination. This was actually what Gu Shenwei was most interested in.


    Mo Lin nced at the noisy crowd in the distance before he retreated. ¡°The two of them seem bound to fight.¡±


    Dog Butcher of the Kongtong Sect was confronting Old Man Mu.


    Dog Butcher had finally found Old Man Mu, but he didn¡¯t believe that the other side was the devil who had run amuck in the Nond and kept shaking his head. ¡°No way, you can¡¯t be Old Man Mu. I remember what you looked like.¡±


    Old Man Mu recognized Dog Butcher, ¡°Good girl, what did you bring this Old Dog here for? Was there no room left in the camp to dispose of the bones?¡±


    Shangguan Ru coughed sternly and said, ¡°You two haven¡¯t quite settled the score, but this is the Dragon Army camp. I have to make some rules. First, do not use or mess with each other. Second¡­¡±


    Dog Butcher hadn¡¯t recovered from the shock yet. He looked at Old Man Mu up and down, ¡°You don¡¯t look like him but you do talk like him. Are you really Old Man Mu?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Old Man Mu began to get angry and started ranting, ¡°Even the woman I slept with recognized me, so why don¡¯t you, who suffered defeat at my hands, recognize me?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t slept with you, so it¡¯s normal that I didn¡¯t recognize you.¡± Dog Butcher sighed and continued, asking, ¡°I heard that you were injured and are not as powerful as you used to be?¡±


    ¡°What said that?¡± Old Man Mu was furious.


    ¡°I said it. It¡¯s not a lie,¡± Shangguan Ru said with a cold face. Her rules had been ignored before she could even finish speaking.


    ¡°Heh heh, that¡¯s all right. It¡¯s not a secret and many people know about it anyways. Old Dog, you have nothing to be proud of. Even if I only have ten percent of my internal energy left, I can still beat you. If you lose this time, you don¡¯t have to keep your surname anymore; just call yourself ¡®Dog.''¡±


    Dog Butcher would not be provoked easily. He kept shaking his head and said, ¡°That will not bring me honor even if I win. There¡¯s no need topete. In fact, you might have been no match for me even in the past. A man just enlightened me towards the fact that the kung fu used to kill is different from that ofpeting. Now I finally understand why I was defeated and I won¡¯t make the same mistake again. s, unfortunately, my name has been shortened by half, and your figure and power are also shortened by half. What¡¯s the point of it even if I win?¡±


    Dog Butcher was only expressing his own feelings and his speech had no special meanings. To an outsider, however, it sounded like contempt and provocation. Old Man Mu flew into a rage. ¡°No, you¡¯re gonnapete. Old Man Mu has lots of martial arts skills, and even if he¡¯s injured, he¡¯s still invincible¡­ He¡¯s still better than you, anyway. Good girl, do not stop me this time, not for this one. I¡¯m about to explode.¡±


    Before Shangguan Ru could speak, Dog Butcher had turned around and left with a long sigh. ¡°I¡¯vee in vain, and now my Senior Sister can¡¯t say anything about me.¡±


    Old Man Mu ran after him and punched, forcing the other side to have a fight with him.


    Dog Butcher easily dodged it without even looking back. ¡°Hmm, you really are not as powerful as you used to be. If I had known this, would I still have practiced that hard for more than a decade? Poor Senior Sister still expects me to redeem my reputation, but it seems that I¡¯ll never have a chance now.¡±


    Dog Butcher did not mean to anger Old Man Mu, but Old Man Mu was obviously incensed and kept pestering him to fight. But no matter if it was a challenge through mouth or hand, Dog Butcher refused them all. And asionally he would use his lightness skills to avoid his blows, which showed that his martial arts skills were much better than those of Old Man Mu.


    When Gu Shenwei came over, the two were still entangled, and the other people were watching for fun. Except for Shangguan Ru, no one had persuaded the two to stop. But Old Man Mu had already became ill-humored and would not listen to anybody.


    Shangguan Ru looked worriedly at the Dragon King and asked, ¡°What should I do?¡±


    ¡°Old Man Mu,e with me.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King arrived just in time. You know my kung fu the best. Can I beat this old dog?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    Old Man Mu was stupefied. Gu Shenwei continued, ¡°But you are more useful than him.¡±


    Old Man Mu was stunned again and was wondering whether the Dragon King was praising or belittling him when Gu Shenwei had already turned to the others. ¡°Doctor Sun, Shangguan Fei, and Instructor Shangguan, please alsoe with me. I have something to ask.¡±


    ¡®Your Daoless Divine Power is disappearing.¡¯ Doctor Sun¡¯s words made Gu Shenwei feel very uneasy, which was also one of the doubts that he needed to resolve.

 Chapter 715 - Reform

    Chapter 715: Reform


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Old Man Mu, who was still immersed in humiliating Dog Butcher, was pacing back and forth obsessively in the tent. He muttered ¡®revenge¡¯ a couple of times, looked up at Shangguan Ru, and then went back to pacing back and forth again, hardly listening to the conversation going on between the Dragon King and Doctor Sun.


    Doctor Sun held his head high, though he was constantly touching the small bun of hair on top of his head every now and then, as if he were afraid that it would disappear for no reason. It was all to give off a superior and confident air, and even a slightly impatient one. Throughout his many years of experience as a doctor, he had learned that he needed this bluster when diagnosing an illness in front of a patient.


    ¡°Shangguan Fei practices the same kind of kung fu as the Dragon King, but only at an entry level which makes the cirction of his internal Qi clearer and easier to diagnose. As for the Dragon King, it¡¯s a total mess. You have had Qi deviation before and now practices several more types of internal energy, and even randomly change them from time to time¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei had waited for a long time for Doctor Sun to talk about his disease, but he had to caution the doctor and say, ¡°The Three-in-One Power is a marvelous kung fu skill invented by the Dragon King. It has great power and is quick to active, and is also easy to practice¡­¡±


    ¡°Bah.¡± Once he returned to his original identity, Doctor Sun¡¯s hot temper had also came back, and no rules could restrain him. ¡°He¡¯s the Dragon King, but so what? He¡¯s also a human being and in his twenties. How many internal energy manuals has he learned? How dare he create his own? It¡¯s already apliment just saying that it¡¯s a total mess.¡±


    Shangguan Fei stuck out his tongue and did not dare speak again.


    Doctor Sun coughed a bit to calm down a bit and continued, to exin, though he apologized briefly. ¡°Dragon King, please forgive me for being too outspoken.¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯ve got a point.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Why does the Three-in-One Power take effect so quickly? The reason is actually very simple; it is because Shangguan Fei has practiced the Daoless Divine Power for several years and has established a stable foundation. It¡¯s like there was a big tree with luxuriant foliage and lush branches, and the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power merely made use of it and picked the already ripened fruit. The Sumeru Mustard Divine Power is also one of the internal energy methods of the Four Noble Truths Temple and I happen to know something about it. Isn¡¯t there a saying that ¡®In the Heavens above and on the Earth below, I alone am the honored in the World?''¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Gu Shenwei had been particrly worried about these words for some time but was relieved after realizing that they had conflicted with his current internal energy in a violent or strong manner.


    ¡°It sounds quite overbearing, doesn¡¯t it? But the ¡®overbearingness¡¯ of Buddhism is different from the ¡®domineeringness¡¯ of the ordinary sects. It does not repel, but absorbs instead. No matter what kind of methods you used to practice the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power, it will always be the only internal energy left in the end. There¡¯s no harm in that. If you ask me, I¡¯d say that it¡¯s better than the Daoless Divine Power in this respect. At the very least, it¡¯s harmless to your body and there¡¯s no danger of it dispersing your internal energy either.¡±


    Shangguan Fei, who was listening more attentively than the Dragon King, asked, ¡°I only have one worry. What should I do if I suffer from Qi deviation before the Daoless Divine Power has been fully converted into the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power?¡±


    ¡°Then you simply have bad luck.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no! The divine doctor must have another way.¡±


    ¡°The divine doctor has no other way, but the monks do. Devils are born from the heart, and it¡¯s said that meditation is the best way to subdue one¡¯s inner demons. If you are really afraid of death, then you can simply be a monk, and the hidden danger will be naturally be resolved through meditation.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember the divine doctor mentioning anything of that sort before.¡± This was the first time that Gu Shenwei had heard that Buddhist Meditation could help subdue one¡¯s inner demon.


    Doctor Sun shook his head and replied, ¡°The martial arts the Dragon King practiced before were not all from Buddhism. Your killing aura was too heavy to practice meditation, but I see that your temperament has changed a lot after you started practicing the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power. You have be more lenient and even learned to win people over by virtue, which reminded me of this method. It¡¯s actually very good because killing aura is a murderous spirit that goes against the nature of the world. Even just asionally using it will cause great harm to one¡¯s body and mind, let alone years of continuous usage. So it¡¯s best to get rid of it, but I don¡¯t think that the Dragon King has removed itpletely yet¡­¡±


    Doctor Sun nced at the Dragon King and immediately stopped speaking. The Dragon King was suddenly filled with killing aura, and it showed no sign of diminishing at all. Doctor Sun¡¯s face changed and he hurriedly said, ¡°I was just making a point; I didn¡¯t mean to interfere with the Dragon King¡¯s cultivation at all.¡±


    Gu Shenwei sat down, frustrated. He had changed a lot, which started long ago when he had decided to leave the Big Snow Mountain and join the fight for hegemony in the Western Regions. He had gradually abandoned his killer identity and moved towards the image of an ideal king in Fang Wenshi¡¯s mind, so he was a bit confused whether the ¡®mercy¡¯ he had been showing recently was truly his own choice or the subtle influence of the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power.


    This was very important. Gu Shenwei would never allow himself to be manipted again, no matter if the maniptor was a person or a martial arts manual. The only manual he truly epted was the Death Sutra.


    Suddenly, he thought of Chu Nanping.


    Not only had the teenager practiced the first four or five chapters of the Daoless Divine Power, but he also had not encountered any obstacles when he switched over and started practicing the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power. He didn¡¯t even need the help of the Three-in-One Power, though he changed even more. Gu Shenwei used to think that it was a natural result of Chu Nanping reaching puberty, but now he suddenly realized that it was not that simple.


    For Chu Nanping, not only had the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power absorbed the Daoless Divine Power, but it had also absorbed the mentalponents of the Emotionless Swordsmanship.


    ¡®In the Heavens above and on the Earth below, I alone am honored in the World.¡¯ The old monk Fayan indeed had ulterior motives when he gave him the divine power manual for free.


    Gu Shenwei drew his sword. The rest of the people in the tent all became nervous. Even Old Man Mu stopped pacing and ranting and looked at the Dragon King in astonishment.


    Gu Shenwei did nothing more than stare at the de and search his heart for the feeling of the Death Sutra Swordsmanship.


    After a while, he put the sword away and asked, ¡°Is there any way to remove the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power?¡±


    Doctor Sun thought for a moment and then shook his head uneasily. ¡°I can¡¯t help in this regard. I can¡¯t even cure the Dragon King¡¯s Qi deviation, let alone the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power. In fact, the hidden trouble inside the Dragon King¡¯s body isn¡¯t that¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu, who had never known what the meaning of fear was, immediately reced the divine doctor by giving unsolicited cultivation advice of the Dragon King, ¡°You can disperse your internal energy. Oh, but that means you¡¯ll lose all your power. Ask Han Wuxian to give you some medicine and teach you something like the Seven Rotation Skills. Then no matter how domineering the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power is, it will definitely be purged for sure¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei actually had another reason for calling Old Man Mu in. ¡°You said that you feared the Daoless Divine Power and therefore, were unwilling to enter the Western Regions. Is the internal energy manual of Golden Roc Castle that powerful? Tell me the real reason.¡±


    Embarrassed, Old Man Muughed a few times before saying, ¡°The Dragon King really has a good memory. When did I say that? And you still even remember it.¡±


    ¡°I remember it too,¡± interjected Shangguan Fei.


    Old Man Mu made a posture as if he were about to poke Shangguan Fei and thusly scared him away. ¡°The Dragon King must think that the Daoless Divine Power isn¡¯t as powerful as the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power, right? But I heard something vastly different. My dead Master once told me that the ¡®Daoless¡¯ Divine Power doesn¡¯t mean it has no ¡®Dao,¡¯ but rather that it¡¯s about cultivating the Dao of ¡®nothingness.¡¯ Those who practice this internal energy will find themselves longing for fewer and fewer things in their hearts, and will gradually act more and more ruthlessly. I¡¯ve been observing the Unique King¡¯s behavior for quite some time and found that he really has be more and more ruthless. No matter how hard I worked, I wasn¡¯t able to catch up with him. s, he¡¯s even willing to kill his own sons and daughters to stay ahead. He must have reached a new level after dispersing his internal energy. By now, I¡¯ve been left far behind.¡±


    Old Man Mu sighed, but everyone else¡¯s face changed after hearing his words. Shangguan Fei revealed a silly smile, saying, ¡°I¡¯ve practiced it for several years and I haven¡¯t seem to be heartless, and neither has my sister.¡±


    ¡°I was also wondering why that¡¯s the case.¡± Old Man Mu scratched his head and continued, ¡°I thought that maybe you had practiced it wrong, but that doesn¡¯t seem to be the case. Strange, it¡¯s really strange.¡±


    Shangguan Ru softly said, ¡°Perhaps the ¡®Daoless¡¯ does not mean that one has to abandon everything or be ruthless. Isn¡¯t the so-called ¡®severing obsession¡¯ in Buddism another kind of ¡®nothingness?''¡±


    Old Man Mu curled his lip and seemed to want to argue with the good girl, but finally, he relented as much as he could and said, ¡°Who knows. It¡¯s more likely that you two are still at the entry levelpared to the Unique King. It doesn¡¯t matter if one¡¯s heart changes or not. The monk¡¯s internal energy isn¡¯t bad, and I find that the Dragon King has be more formidable afterbining the saber and palm techniques.¡±


    Gu Shenwei asked Shangguan Ru, ¡°So you knew that already?¡±


    ¡°Fayan mentioned something like that to me, and I told you before.¡±


    Shangguan Ru had indeed mentioned it, but Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t cared at that time. He didn¡¯t expect that changing his internal energy could affect his temperament.


    ¡°So you suggested to Lianqing that he should teach me the palm technique?¡± Gu Shenwei said with a little bitterness in his voice. If that were true, it would mean that Shangguan Ru was trying to reform him secretly.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t thinking that deeply.¡± Shangguan Ru appeared a bit flustered. She hadn¡¯t thought of it at that time, but she did carry such a hope deep in her mind.


    Gu Shenwei no longer asked any more questions. The Formless Prajna Palm and the saber technique of the Gu family had unawares made Gu Shenwei use the Death Sutra Sabersmanship less and less.


    Doctor Sun sensed the tension in the air and felt that he needed to provide an exnation, so he said, ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry too much, Dragon King. Martial arts has always had an effect on its practitioner. When a man whocks the strength to truss up a chicken changes into a powerful man who can defeat ten people, that man will change from inside to outside. As is the case with medical skills. I used to be a poor man that was always bowing and nodding, but once I became a famous doctor, I was pumped full of confidence and even my temper became hot.¡±


    ¡°Ehh, so we are the same,¡± Old Man Mu excitedly said. ¡°When I was young, I racked my brains for ways to ingratiate myself towards my Master, but I killed him as soon as I perfected my martial arts skills. Before he died, he med himself for choosing the wrong disciple. Haha, it turns out that everyone is the same¡­ Shangguan Fei, are you going to kill me after you master the Five Hole Punch?¡±


    Doctor Sun did not find any simrities between his experience and that of Old Man Mu¡¯s.


    Shangguan Fei was so scared that his legs became soft and flopped to the ground. Holding the corner of the table, he said with a grimace, ¡°Do you think that I have the guts to do that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell. I thought that you didn¡¯t, but after hearing what the divine doctor said, I finally understand that everyone will be ruthless after practicing the Five Hole Punch because he will believe that he has advanced kung fu skills.¡±


    ¡°My sister is different,¡± Shangguan Fei countered as he pointed at his sister who was his life-saving straw. ¡°The better her martial arts are, the softer her heart bes. We are twins, we look alike, and even our personalities¡­ are simr.¡±


    Old Man Mu looked at Shangguan Ru with bewilderment. ¡°She¡¯s different, but only after her martial arts skills improved did she dare wander in Jianghu and lead a country. Isn¡¯t that also a change?¡±


    Seeing that the topic was being carried further and further away, Gu Shenwei ended the talk then are there.


    Shangguan Ru was very worried when she left. There had been a certain change in the Dragon King that made her feel strange, even stranger than when he was full of killing aura.


    Doctor Sunforted her in a low voice, whispering, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s inner demon must be solved by himself. s, if only I had kept my mouth shut.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll understand it sooner orter, and maybe it¡¯s better for him to know it earlier.¡±


    Everything was still unsettled, but Gu Shenwei still sat alone for nearly two hours before he walked out of the tent and went to visit the only monk in the camp.


    Lianqing was packing. When he saw the Dragon Kinge in, he saluted him and said, ¡°I was just about to say good-bye to the Dragon King. I¡¯m going to leave for the Four Noble Truths Temple with my Master¡¯s remains tomorrow morning.¡±


    The monk seemed to havepletely forgotten about his vendetta against the Dragon King who had killed his brother even though he had never practiced the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power.


    ¡°The martial arts as well as the truth that Fayan taught you are transforming you into a different person, a person who¡¯s different from your former self.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Lianqing actually smiled. ¡°I resisted, but have finally epted voluntarily.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because it¡¯s my nature.¡± Lianqing was like an enlightened monk whose eyes had suddenly became surprisingly simr to Fayan¡¯s, giving the feeling that they could see through everything and pity everything. ¡°My Master didn¡¯t reform me. He just wiped away the dust and brightened my eyes so that I could see the real me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s face no longer held the same disgust and anger it had a moment ago.

 Chapter 716 - Weakness

    Chapter 716: Weakness


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Queen Ju stood by the door as she looked out into the night. When she saw the figure walking slowly towards her, she couldn¡¯t stop a bitter feeling from blossoming in her heart.


    Besides the day the Dragon King had awakened from hisa, this would be the first time the two met.


    She quickly dispelled the feelings in her heart because once she became a disgruntled wife, she would be trapped in a vicious cycle. This was war, where no one would surrender voluntarily, and only a continuous attack could guarantee one victory.


    ¡®Even women have their own weapons.¡¯ Although Xu Yanwei was a woman of humble origins, her words sometimes sounded very reasonable.


    Gu Shenwei had toe. The Queen had helped him a great deal, and he needed to thank her in person even if he knew that she was just acting in front of the Second Consort.


    Xu Yanwei had carefully prepared a table full of food and wine. Instead of beef and mutton being served as chunks, as was the Nond style, she tried to make them as exquisite as dishes from Jade City. After greeting the Dragon King, she beckoned for the maids to leave with her.


    Gu Shenwei caught a glimpse of Shangguan Hong, who disappeared in a sh. Not knowing what to say, he asked, ¡°Is Shangguan Hong still obedient?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, he¡¯s loyal too. Else, he wouldn¡¯t have been left here.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. Among all the sons of the Unique King, Shangguan Hong was the least ambitious, but that didn¡¯t mean that he would submissively ept the fate of being a eunuch.


    He wanted to remind Queen Ju of this, but Shangguan Hong had actually been sent to her by him. It was hard to exin their subtle rtionship.


    The Queen was a stranger to him, who held even less of a tacit mutual understanding with him than the swordsman of the Big Snow Mountain


    The ¡®stranger¡¯ smiled intimately at him and held up a ss of wine as she toasted, ¡°Congrattions to the Dragon King for uniting the three forces. It was worth the trip.¡±


    In front of Gu Shenweiid two wine sses and two jugs; one contained wine while the other was filled with water. Gu Shenwei hesitated for a moment before pouring himself a ss of wine.


    Queen Ju¡¯s smile grew bigger. It was a good sign that the Dragon King had not immediately expressed his thanks.


    Chitchat was a difficult task for Gu Shenwei. He found himself always distracted and had so many things to consider that he couldn¡¯t help but wonder whether he was wasting his time here.


    Queen Ju tried to empty her mind and find a topic to talk about: the silly words of Xu Yanwei, the empty ttery of the prominent women from the Western Regions in the camp, the situation at Xiaoyao Lake, and so on and so forth.


    Gu Shenwei was also trying to cooperate and respond appropriately to each topic but time still crawled at a snail¡¯s pace, seemingly impossible to fill up.


    ¡°That Xiao Fengchai is really funny. She wanted to see you, but came to me pleading instead,¡± said Queen Ju tly. She originally wanted to wait a little longer, but there was really nothing left to talk about, so she had no choice but to throw it out there in a hurry.


    The Dragon King¡¯s response was impable. He looked a bit surprised, which was probably a genuine reaction. Queen Ju began to believe the words of the Jade City courtesan that she had nothing special to do with the Dragon King.


    ¡°She wanted to meet me?¡± Gu Shenwei was indeed a bit surprised but he knew that Xiao Fengchai wasn¡¯t funny at all.


    ¡°She wanted the Dragon King to send troops to escort her back to the Western Regions. Thedies in the camp held the same hope, but she seemed to think that she could convince the Dragon King first.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s rich.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t say anything more. From Xiao Fengchai¡¯s point of view, the first thing he would think of was always countless piles of gold and silver.


    Although the dishes and wine had barely been nibbled at, the requisite time finally passed by. Gu Shenwei stood up and said, ¡°I¡¯m going back to the camp. Have some rest yourself.¡±


    On this night, Queen Ju had noticed many good omens and her hope had gradually risen, but all her fantasies were immediately extinguished by the Dragon King¡¯s words. ¡°Won¡¯t you stay here for the night?¡±


    ¡°This is the Second Consort¡¯s camp. It¡¯s not very convenient.¡±


    ¡°Does the Dragon King really believe that that¡¯s a good reason?¡± The emotions Queen Ju had deliberately been trying to forget burst out all of a sudden. She could not ept such an ending.


    ¡°It¡¯s an appropriate reason.¡± Gu Shenwei kept hisposure but felt that the scene in front of him was growing absurd.


    Queen Ju¡¯s pent-up bitterness broke through the blockade of reason, half turning to tears as the other half turned into questions. ¡°Why? What did I do wrong? Why are you doing this to me?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault, but mine.¡± Gu Shenwei hoped that he could stillfort his queen, but his voice had turned slightly stiff, ¡°I¡¯m walking on the edge of a saber every day. The enemy is not defeated yet, and I dare not nor am I entitled to enjoy myself.¡±


    ¡°What if you defeat the enemy?¡± Queen Ju pressed.


    ¡°I may have a change of heart.¡±


    Queen Ju wiped her tears away and looked strangely tough. ¡°But you quite ¡®enjoyed¡¯ the time you had with her.¡±


    ¡°Which her?¡±


    ¡°I never would have thought that the Dragon King would pretend to feign ignorance.¡±


    Gu Shenwei slightly raised his head, ¡°What do you really want? Frankly speaking, I¡¯ve never intended to rule the Stone Kingdom. The throne will be reserved for the sole bloodline of the royal Ju family. Or do you want to extend the territory? Unfortunately, that will have to wait until I take Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    Queen Ju regretted her outburst. Failing to control her feelings was a sign of emotional immaturity, and she was supposed to perform better. ¡°I don¡¯t understand why the Dragon King said that. I¡¯m not worried¡­¡±


    ¡°You are ambitious and smart enough.¡± Gu Shenwei interrupted her and treated her as an opponent in need of negotiation. ¡°I appreciate that, but if you have even a little bit of knowledge and respect for me, you¡¯d better get straight to the point.¡±


    Queen Ju tried to make several expressions but failed, so for the first time, her expression became cold, which was more like what it naturally was. ¡°I want to bear you a son, an heir, and that¡¯s the only request I have.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re still young; there¡¯s no need to rush.¡±


    ¡°But if even Lotus is jealous of the woman around the Dragon King, then I think I should be more anxious.¡±


    ¡°But like Lotus, you are wrong. You are the Queen, the only Queen. If I have an heir, it must be yours.¡±


    ¡°You promise?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t promise. I might die on the prairie tomorrow. Even back in the Western Regions, I¡¯m not sure of winning. The Unique King hasn¡¯t exerted all his might. He is terribly powerful and has not yet fully unleashed it. I may still die in an assassination attempt. If that happens, then you will be grateful that you did not bear me a son.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t¡­¡± Queen Ju anxiously argued.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t seen through the truth yet,¡± Gu Shenwei interrupted her. ¡°You were born a princess. Even if you were banished or and exiled, you are still a princess. There¡¯s a state that belongs to you in name and all youck is the power to take it back. I¡¯m the opposite of you. I have the power, but no pretext. There¡¯s nond in the world that belongs to me by right. I have to fight for every inch of it. The Land of Fragrance, the five kingdoms at Xiaoyao Lake, as well as the tens of thousands of soldiers in the Nond that you see, are all temporary cases for me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t expect that he would speak so much, but he felt that it was necessary. ¡°If I die before I defeat my enemies, then all thends and the soldiers I¡¯ve gathered will all vanish overnight as if nothing had ever happened. This is my weakness, a weakness that the Unique King doesn¡¯t have, the Khan doesn¡¯t have, and that you don¡¯t have. Your titles will be remembered, but I will be forgotten by the world.¡±


    ¡°Even if all goes well, and I defeat all my enemies and bring the whole Western Regions to its knees, that¡¯s just the beginning. It will take at least two or three generations to gain the loyalties of the people. And it will take even longer to reach the status of the Khan¡¯s family in the Nond.¡±


    ¡°So, do you still want to bear an heir for me? At this moment and for a long time toe, there will be nothing he can inherit.¡±


    Queen Ju bowed her head. The Dragon King¡¯s words were far beyond her imagination, but after a quick examination, she understood the truth. It wasn¡¯t actually thatplicated because she had felt uneasy about the Dragon King¡¯s origins long before she became queen.


    Fame was illusory and would not add any power to its owner.


    But fame was also real, and a person skilled at using it could magnify the power in their hands a thousandfold.


    ¡°I believe in you. That¡¯s why I¡¯m anxious to have an heir. I¡¯m sure that our son will inherit arge legacy. But you are right. We¡¯re young, there¡¯s no need to rush, and this is not the right ce.¡±


    ¡°You are a qualified queen; none of the noblewomen in the camp areparable to you.¡±


    Queen Ju smiled again. ¡®That¡¯s it,¡¯ she thought. She and the Dragon King would probably never have a false disy of affection. They were together simply because of interests. All of a sudden, she felt relieved.


    ¡°Will I always be your queen?¡±


    ¡°Yes, as long as you do not act too self-assertive, like when you wanted to take the King of the Stone Kingdom to the Land of Fragrance back at Xiaoyao Lake, or like this time, when you met the Second Consort in person without consulting me.


    Queen Ju blushed a bit and quickly and solemnly said, ¡°No, not anymore. The Dragon King can rest assured of that, but I also want you to remember that I want to bear your child in the right ce at the right time.¡±


    After a moment of silence, Gu Shenwei nodded.


    Xu Yanwei who was listening intently by the door felt puzzled because she didn¡¯t hear the familiar sound from inside the tent. Then she saw the Dragon Kinge out alone. She became more puzzled and asked, ¡°The Dragon King is leaving?¡±


    ¡°Mmm.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°But nothing. This is war.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t make it tooplicated. War or whatever, I don¡¯t understand. But if men didn¡¯t sleep with women before the war, my sisters in the Retention Alley would¡¯ve had to live off of air.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s the Queen, not one of your ¡®sisters¡¯ in the Retention Alley.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Half-understanding, Xu Yanwei drawled a bit sarcastically, ¡°Can I be honest with you?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King should find a ¡®sister¡¯ to satisfy your sexual desire. Look at you, even the first-year chick can tell that you desperately need a woman.¡±


    The two maids sniggered, and Shangguan Hong looked left and right in embarrassment. Xu Yanwei opened her big eyes even wider and continued her tirade, asking, ¡°What¡¯s so funny? This is the truth. As long as he¡¯s a man, he has to either cut it off like Shangguan Hong or cannot live without women¡­ Don¡¯t mention Shangguan Fei to me. Oops, it¡¯s getting more and more confusing. I told you that I¡¯m not good at speeches. Dragon King, please don¡¯t go¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei walked into the darkness. Long Fanyun led the horse to him. He knew what he needed; it was not women but killing.


    It was already the second half of the night when he returned to the Dragon Army camp, but Gu Shenwei was not sleepy at all. He drew his saber and sword and put them on the table. Then he brandished them each in turn, not tiring of wielding them even by the time the early morning sun had risen.

 Chapter 717 - Morale

    Chapter 717: Morale


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    ¡°I¡¯ve decided to go to war against the Court Attendants Army.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had summoned the generals for a war counsel early in the morning but the first words out of his mouth astonished the three people who had just sat down.


    Fang Wenshi looked at the Dragon King with bewilderment and shook his head, but didn¡¯t immediately raise any questions as there were still others around. Azheba also didn¡¯t speak, as he clearly recognized that he was better at archery than military strategy.


    Without his two bodyguards around, Shulitu actually felt a bit ufortable and nervously fidgeted constantly in his chair. ¡°With all of our enemies surrounding us, the Dragon King must have a special reason for choosing to fight the most powerful one, the Court Attendants Army.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had contemted and revised his ns it for half a night. Although the overall n still had many loopholes, he believed that his reasoning made perfect sense. ¡°The Court Attendants Army is the strongest, so not only will defeating it deter our other enemies, but also improve the morale of our troops.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ How will we defeat the Court Attendants Army?¡± Fang Wenshi wasn¡¯t able to hold back, and asked, ¡°We only have thirty thousand people in total while the Court Attendants Army is a hundred thousand strong. Though the Dragon King is skilled at using the few to defeat the many, that¡­ might not work as well against an army.¡±


    ¡°And they are also the best horsemen on the prairie,¡± Azheba added. Although he had been forced to flee the camp, he was still proud that he had been a member of the Court Attendants Army.


    Shulitu thought a bit more and supported the Dragon King, exining, ¡°Without anymanding officers, the hundred thousand horsemen will be greatly reduced in cohesiveness and power.¡±


    ¡°When they came yesterday, from afar, it looked as if the troops were in good order along with their gs too. Perhaps the Great Shaman has already appointed a new group of officers.¡± Fang Wenshi yed his old role of devil¡¯s advocate to make the Dragon King¡¯s ns foolproof.


    ¡°Would the court attendants adapt quickly to new officers?¡± Gu Shenwei asked Azheba.


    Azheba thought for a moment and answered, ¡°That¡¯s not a huge problem. As long as someone raises their g, the horsemen will follow him. The officers and the soldiers don¡¯t have to talk much to each other. And if the new officers are promoted from within the ranks, there will be no problem at all.¡± As a previous officer of the Court Attendants Army, Azheba wishedthat the answer was ¡®No,¡¯ but he had to tell the truth.


    Gu Shenwei said with a little excitement in his tone. ¡°Yes, the soldiers follow the gs so the gs are the core of the Court Attendants Army. So after the shamans took the power, the first thing they must have done was seize themander¡¯s g.¡±


    They had all seen that big yellow g embroidered with a ck horse flying behind the shamans, and Azheba was still indignant about it. ¡°The Great Shaman doesn¡¯t have the right to use themander-in-chief¡¯s g.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King wants to destroy the g?¡± Shulitu got a little excited, too.


    However, Fang Wenshi was a bit more cautious. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that it won¡¯t be that simple. Can destroying a g really throw the enemy into confusion?¡± he doubted.


    ¡°If the time is right.¡± Gu Shenwei added a premise.


    ¡°For example, right when the two armies are about to collide,¡± Shulitu also added on.


    Then they all turned to Azheba, who was the best qualified to evaluate the Dragon King¡¯s bold n.


    Azheba thought for a while and said, ¡°The g of themander is sometimes more closely guarded than themander himself. Besides, it¡¯s very difficult to predict how the soldiers will react to the g being destroyed. They might flee in all directions, but they might also be bound even tighter by amon hatred. I really feel ashamed. Although I¡¯ve served in the Court Attendants Army for nine years, I actually know very little about its soldiers¡¯ thoughts.¡±


    ¡°The morale of soldiers is always hard to control,¡± Gu Shenwei soothed as he tapped the table.


    ¡°The morale of our troops is also difficult to predict,¡± Shulitu blurted out without realizing that he had changed his stance by saying the word ¡®our.¡¯ ¡°The three armies have threemander¡¯s gs. It¡¯s fine when they¡¯re lining up and grouped together, but I¡¯m worried that they¡¯ll fight on their own when the battle starts.¡±


    ¡°That problem can be easily solved,¡± Fang Wenshi hurriedly said as this was a task that he had received. ¡°Within ten days, the whole army will use only onemander¡¯s g and all the orders wille from one person.¡±


    This subject was a bit sensitive because it was still unsettled who this ¡®one person¡¯ would be.


    Shulitu also didn¡¯t sleep muchst night. He had agonized over a single question all ofst night. Now he got up and said, ¡°I have a childish suggestion and I hope that the Dragon King will notugh at me.¡±


    ¡°Please go ahead. No one would dareugh at Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°Well, I hope the Dragon King can act as my Grand Mentor and assist me in leading the army.¡±


    The tent fell silent for a while before Gu Shenwei epted, saying, ¡°I¡¯m honored.¡±


    Fang Wenshi apuded and said, ¡°What¡¯s childish about this proposal? That¡¯s a brilliant idea. Why didn¡¯t I think of that?¡±


    The ¡®Grand Mentor¡¯ was a flexible title that held both official and guardian-like connotations. It also showed the king¡¯s respect for the Dragon King, which was most appropriate for the Dragon King, a foreigner.


    Being praised, Shulitu blushed a bit. ¡°It would be great if Mr. Fang is willing to be the military adviser.¡±


    Fang Wenshi had already styled himself in this position. ¡°Very good, very good.¡± He kept nodding his head.


    After a few more courtesies, Azheba asked, ¡°Has the Dragon King thought in detail about the fight with the Court Attendants Army?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had almost finished thinking it over, but he continued thinking about it for a while more before saying, ¡°We need to speed up the reorganization of our army. In five days¡¯ time, Your Highness should be the solemander-in-chief.¡±


    ¡°With the help of Counselor Fang, I don¡¯t that¡¯ll be a problem.¡± Shulitu tried to behave like an adult. Although he was still a puppet, he found that for the first time, he could speak his mind freely.


    Fang Wenshi also made a promise. ¡°Five days, well. It won¡¯t be a problem. We have to make a new g. If it¡¯s toote, then we¡¯ll just quickly modify King Riying¡¯s old g.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll find out the opinions and thoughts of the Court Attendants Army¡¯s soldiers in three days. I don¡¯t believe that an army of a hundred thousand people could be controlled solely by a couple of psychic mediums. There must be a huge gap somewhere.¡± Gu Shenwei pressed the table with his right hand, his determination to go to war not wavering in the slightest.


    Fang Wenshi knew the Dragon King¡¯s means of prying into the enemy¡¯s movements the best, which was a necessary task, but it also made him very worried. Thus, he reminded, ¡°The Dragon King must not risk his life. The previous Commandant¡­¡±


    ¡°The counselor won¡¯t have to worry about it.¡±


    The Dragon King did not give a definite answer, but Fang Wenshi could only sigh.


    Gu Shenwei left Azheba alone. ¡°I noticed a very strange thing. Yesterday, that young shaman seemed to hold a grudge against you.¡±


    That shaman had said a bunch of threats and shot a nce at Azheba before he left. Gu Shenwei noticed the subtle nce and had kept it in mind but ced it lower on his list of doubts.


    ¡°He hates not only me, but also all the noble officers.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Uh, it¡¯s like this.¡± Azheba hesitated for a moment before revealing the ¡®scandal¡¯ of several years ago. ¡°It was about four or five years ago, and a chiliarch had had an affair with a woman. There are many versions of the story. Anyways, within a year, the chiliarch carried out his duty and returned to his old post, but the womanmitted suicide. The shaman is that woman¡¯s brother and he made a huge scene because of it. But many officers testified that his sister was¡­ a hooker and that she had seduced a lot of officers. The matter was left unsettled in the end.¡±


    That young shaman had hated all noble officers ever since.


    ¡°Could he have instigated the soldiers into ughtering the officers?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not very likely. Only the Great Shaman has some degree of influence in the army. Ordinary shamans are merely supply servants.¡±


    Azheba despised the power of hatred. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t point it out but nodded to show Azheba that he could leave.


    It was too risky to prate deep into the Court Attendants Army alone, so Gu Shenwei decided to set up a team with good cooperation. He was just about to order Long Fanyun to invite some people here when two guests came in uninvited.


    Lianqing hade over to say good-bye. Gu Shenwei tried to persuade him to stay by saying, ¡°There¡¯re disputes everywhere in the prairie now and it¡¯s not safe. Why don¡¯t you wait the chaos out and then return to the Western Regions with the army?¡±


    Lianqing refused. ¡°I¡¯m just a monk with no money or treasure. There¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡±


    ¡°Since you¡¯re so determined to leave, I won¡¯t try to persuade you anymore. But I was wondering if you could do me a favor and take a burden backwith you?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King wants to take something back to the Western Regions? I have no problems with it as long as you trust me.¡±


    ¡°I trust you. But it will take some time to pack it. Can you wait another day?¡±


    Lianqing frowned and asked, ¡°How big is it? Do I need a carriage to carry it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not big, but a carriage is needed.¡±


    The Dragon King didn¡¯t seem to want to reveal the truth right away. Lianqing was a bit regretful but since he had already agreed to it, so he had no choice but to stay for another day. However, what was bothering him were the thoughts, ¡®I don¡¯t owe the Dragon King anything, so why did I agree to help him deliver something?¡¯ Then he suddenly realized that he was questioning his faith and anxiously chanted a series of ¡®Amitabha¡¯ to remove it.


    Xiao Fengchai came as soon as the monk left. Gu Shenwei had nned to meet herter, but it was fine if she came a bit earlier.


    ¡°I heard that the Dragon King went to see the Queenst night.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, the Queen mentioned that you wanted to see me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s ideal. It will help avoid gossip.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai wasn¡¯t wearing any makeup today and was dressed simply and neatly. Although this was her usual style, it was particrly detailed today to such an extent that even her looks had be serious. She hid all her charms and it seemed that she wanted to keep a strict distance from the Dragon King.


    ¡°Gossip?¡± Gu Shenwei still remembered the scene of this woman trying to seduce him.


    ¡°That Lotus kidnapped me and brought me here for no reason while saying that I had an ambiguous rtionship with the Dragon King. Sooner orter, this rumor will spread to Jade City. I don¡¯t want Third Brother to misunderstand.¡±


    The ¡®Third Brother¡¯ she was referring to was the third young master of the Meng family. Xiao Fengchai was actually afraid that her lover, who was hundreds of miles away, would suddenly be jealous. Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit amused. ¡°Hmm, are we still business partners?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s business is getting bigger and bigger. I have no reason to quit.¡±


    ¡°I still respect my business partners. Now tell me what you want.¡±


    ¡°Send an army to escort me to Jade City. The sooner, the better. The Dragon King also wants me back to take charge of the business as soon as possible, right?¡±


    ¡°If I send you back now with such a big fanfare, I¡¯m afraid that the third young master will only be more suspicious.¡±


    ¡°I have my own exnations.¡±


    Gu Shenwei believed Xiao Fengchai¡¯s ability, so he said. ¡°Get ready. You can set out tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°So soon?¡± Xiao Fengchai was taken aback. She had prepared several strategies, but had reached her goal before even using one of them, which made her feel a bit uneasy.


    ¡°Hmm, but you will not be the only one going back.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai thought for a moment and said, ¡°That¡¯s better. May I ask who it is?¡±


    ¡°You will find out tomorrow.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai took a few steps towards the outside, then turned around and said, ¡°I owe the Dragon King a favor now. I will pay it back sooner orter.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting for it.¡±


    The two of them were business partners, so there was no need to stick to polite forms.


    Gu Shenwei called Long Fanyun inside and ordered him to summon the following people: Mo Lin, Han Wuxian, Nie Zeng, Old Man Mu, Shangguan Ru, Shangguan Fei, and Dog Butcher.


    And Shangguan Yun.


    Gu Shenwei had gathered enough kung fu experts under him now. It was time to put them to use.

 Chapter 718 - Counsel

    Chapter 718: Counsel


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The Court Attendants Army had destroyed an army. When the news arrived, Gu Shenwei had just gathered his advisors together and barely exchanged a few words.


    Sweating profusely, Liman rushed in and nodded to the Dragon King. ¡°The remnants of King Zuori¡¯s troops, which numbered about 3,000, wanted to return to their fiefs but they were attacked by nearly 20,000 men from the Court Attendants Army in the early morning hours. The fighting was quickly over and the 3,000 men werepletely wiped out. The Great Shaman had passed down a deration that before the new Khan was selected, no group that had more than a hundred men would be allowed to leave the area that covered a thirty mile radius around the Royal Court.¡±


    ¡°What a great shaman; he¡¯s even more domineering than me, Old Man Mu¡­ No, the former me.¡±


    Liman continued exining the situation. ¡°King Shengri has sent a messenger to congratte Your Highness on acquiring two new titles.¡±


    ¡°Take the messenger to Counselor Fang; he will deal with it at his sole discretion.¡±


    Liman took his leave, but the momentum of his news remained.


    Old Man Mu swore that as long as the good girl gave her approval, he would go kill the Great Shaman tonight. ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal. A good assassin is as valuable as an army.¡±


    Mo Lin, however, sneered and shook his head. Although he had heard of Old Man Mu¡¯s fame, he wasn¡¯t afraid of him at all. ¡°Killing the Great Shaman won¡¯t help. Someone else will just rece him right away and then retaliate against our troops. By that time, even a hundred good assassins won¡¯t be as valuable as an army.¡±


    ¡°Then keep assassinating them until the Court Attendants be scared.¡± Old Man Mu stared at Mo Lin with aggressive eyes, feeling that his status had been disturbed by this new ¡®kung fu master¡¯ that had popped out of nowhere.


    Shangguan Ru interjected, ¡°So assassination isn¡¯t a good solution after all. It¡¯s actually wouldn¡¯t be a bad thing if the Court Attendants Army elected a new Khan as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°The Khan¡¯s head is not a problem for now, but where¡¯s that Devil Bird?¡± Old Man Mu was in a bad mood, but he still tried to soften his tone when replying to Shangguan Ru. ¡°Is the Devil Bird really as big as they said? If it is, why didn¡¯t we see it? Is it invisible? My guess is that it¡¯s something that the Great Shaman made up so that nobody can fulfill their requirements, giving him a good reason to start a massacre.¡±


    That was more like an idea that Old Man Mu woulde up with, so no one took it seriously. Shangguan Fei whispered, ¡°The Dragon King had a big bird and many people have seen it.¡±


    ¡°Heh heh, the Dragon King¡¯s best tricks involve mingling truths with falsehoods, right?¡± Old Man Mu winked at the Dragon King to show that he was well aware of it. He had never seen the roc before so he could not believe that it actually existed.


    Gu Shenwei ignored him and turned to Shangguan Fei, asking, ¡°The Court Attendants Army keeps challenging the lords. What would you say to deal with that?¡±


    Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t expect the Dragon King to seek his counsel on such an important matter and appeared a bit flustered. At the urging of Old Man Mu, he cautiously answered, ¡°If you ask me, then I¡¯d say that it¡¯s better for the Dragon King to return to the Western Regions with these tens of thousands of soldiers. Why stay here and fight for the throne? After all, it has nothing to do with us in the end. There¡¯s no need to take the threat from the Court Attendants Army seriously. They might dare to destroy three thousand people but if they meet thirty thousand people, they may not have the guts to do so. And the Western Regions must be even more chaotic by now; the sooner the Dragon King returns, the better.¡±


    Shangguan Yun, who had been sitting at the far side, suddenly interjected while smiling, ¡°That¡¯s a brilliant idea, Ninth Brother.¡±


    Shangguan Fei did not dare speak again. If the Dragon King could bring 30,000 soldiers back to the Western Regions, the first thing he would do was destroy Golden Roc Castle.


    ¡°That¡¯s a possible idea.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t belittle the opinion of Shangguan Fei. He could go back to the Western Regions, but in the end, just 30,000 horsemen was too small an army to change the situation. ¡°What do you think, Dog Butcher?¡±


    ¡°Me? Do I have to give an opinion, as well?¡± Dog Butcher didn¡¯t expect that the Dragon King would call out his name. ¡°Well¡­ Do I have to say something?¡±


    ¡°What can a dog¡¯s brain think of?¡± Old Man Mu sneered contemptuously. He still wanted to provoke Dog Butcher into having a fight with him, but failed.


    Next, Han Wuxian opened her mouth unexpectedly. Her voice was gentle, but her words were very hurtful. ¡°If a dog¡¯s brain can¡¯t think of a good point to make, then a dwarf¡¯s will even less so be able to have any good ideas.¡±


    With his hand over his heart, Old Man Mu retreated several steps and looked at Han Wuxian with great surprise. ¡°You, you, you¡­ Speak for a dog?¡±


    ¡°Why are you always bullying a dog? You are so talkative; why can¡¯t you shut up and be quiet for a while?¡± Han Wuxian¡¯s voice became gentler and gentler, and started sounding more like a plea than a scolding.


    For once, Old Man Mu obeyed though he refused to move his eyes away from Dog Butcher.


    Dog Butcher did not care about being called a dog, nor did he pay any attention to Old Man Mu. He was actually nervously rubbing his hands while he considered the Dragon King¡¯s question. ¡°I actually¡­ have nothing to say. No, I have an idea, but it was told to meby others. Uh, we could just watch from the sidelines while the others fight, and then reap the spoils when both sides are exhausted. You are from the Western Regions while I¡¯m from the Central ins. Wouldn¡¯t it be good to let the Nond people fight among themselves?¡±


    This was clearly an order issued by the Imperial Court of the Central ins. No one felt awkward about it, and they even thought it made some sense, except for Mo Lin, who squinted and said, ¡°If the Dragon King went through with such an idea, then I¡¯m afraid he would have done everything in vain as he wouldn¡¯t be able to take anything away with him when he leaves the Nond.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head to express his stance, but what he thought to himself was that the n of the Central ins was exactly the same as that of the Waning Moon Hall.


    Nie Zeng was just a killer and he was quite young and inexperienced so Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t ask him. Instead, he turned to Shangguan Yun. ¡°What does the Cloud King think?¡±


    With his ever-present cynical smile on his face, Shangguan Yun shrugged and said, ¡°The Dragon King already has so many wise ideas that I¡¯d rather not show my ipetence.¡±


    ¡°Feel free to speak your mind. Although we are in a temporary alliance, it is not just for show.¡±


    Shangguan Yun nced at his brother and sister and looked down for a moment before saying, ¡°Well, Ninth Brother¡¯s suggestion isn¡¯t that bad because the Dragon King will have to return to the Western Regions sooner orter. But the Nond is still unstable and the morale of the thirty thousand soldiers also has to be stabilized. If not, they will never be a unified army even if they venture far into the Western Regions; Senior Dog Butcher¡¯s words also make sense, but the Nond will not be in a chaotic situation forever. If the Dragon King watches in safety while the others fight, the final result will be exactly how the lord wing guard described it: you won¡¯t be able to take anything away.¡±


    Han Wuxian tilted her head and looked Shangguan Yun up and down as she said, ¡°You just repeated what everyone else said.¡±


    ¡°Everyone has a good opinion and I have nothing more to add when it¡¯s my turn.¡± Shangguan Yun returned the Hall Leader of the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s look with great interest.


    ¡°But you have neglected my point.¡± That¡¯s what Han Wuxian cared about.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°And my good point. So, do you despise us both?¡±


    Ever since Dog Butcher had arrived at the camp, Old Man Mu had changed tactics and stopped trying to cut off Han Wuxian¡¯s long hair, instead aiming to please her.


    The two¡¯s sayings went tit for tat and were hard to reconcile. Shangguan Yun couldn¡¯t help but scratch his head and reply, ¡°The real good opinions are saved forst, Senior Mu¡­¡±


    ¡°Senior? Are you trying to make me throw up?¡± Old Man Mu disliked this title very much.


    ¡°Old Man Mu wants to assassinate the Great Shaman. That¡¯s really a wise idea. If I¡¯m not mistaken, that¡¯s also the Dragon King¡¯s n, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t say a word, but Old Man Mu was very proud of thepliment. ¡°This is what they mean by ¡®Great minds think alike,¡¯ huh.¡±


    Han Wuxian put her long hair down and said, ¡°I said that the dwarf didn¡¯t have a good idea. Does the Cloud King think that I am wrong?¡±


    ¡°No, you are actually right. Assassinations are a smart move, but assassinating the Great Shaman is unnecessary. A few psychic mediums can¡¯t control the hundred thousand Court Attendants which means that there must be a singr true mastermind behind them. The most urgent task should be to find this person, though I think Hall Leader Han already has an idea about this.¡±


    Shangguan Yun answered everyone properly but still had not expressed any opinions of his own.


    Gu Shenwei inwardly admired the other side but he couldn¡¯t learn Shangguan Yun¡¯s techniques. The two¡¯s ways of doing things were very different and there was not much they could take from each other.


    ¡°Is the Cloud King referring to the Lord and the traitors?¡± Han Wuxian had stoppedined. ¡°I don¡¯t think that they have the ability. I¡¯d guess that the mastermind must be someone no one else could have imagined.¡±


    ¡°Good point,¡± said Shangguan Yun heartily.


    Old Man Mu became the only one who had not been ttered, and his hostile eyes shifted from Dog Butcher to Shangguan Yun.


    After listening to everyone¡¯s suggestions, Gu Shenwei slightly adjusted his n and said, ¡°I can¡¯t leave the Royal Court just like this. I must qujickly defeat the Court Attendants Army and King Shengri.¡±


    ¡°Dragon King, please give the order. We¡¯ll do as you say.¡± Shangguan Fei¡¯s proposal was rejected, but he didn¡¯t care about it at all.


    ¡°I need a man who can create rumors in our camp. I want everyone to know and discuss a certain topic. Shangguan Fei, you are the best fit for this.¡±


    Shangguan Fei let out a sigh of relief. The Dragon King had finally given him a less dangerous task. He rose up at once and proimed aloud as if he couldn¡¯t wait, ¡°Leave it to me. Even if it¡¯s a deaf person, I¡¯ll make him care about the rumor. Oh, uh, what rumor?¡±


    ¡°The ck horse will perish.¡±


    ¡°ck horse? What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°Nothing. Just find a way to get people to start talking about it.¡±


    Shangguan Fei soon understood and muttered, ¡°ck horse, isn¡¯t that themande of the Court Attendants Army¡¯s g? Hmm, I¡¯ll figure out a way¡­¡±


    ¡°You have four days.¡± Gu Shenwei set a strict time limit for Shangguan Fei. ¡°I also need two people to create a panic among the other armies, especially King Shengri¡¯s. Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher, I¡¯ll leave it to you two.¡±


    Old Man Mu jumped a few feet high and said, ¡°I won¡¯t work with this loser.¡±


    As he saw the Dragon King¡¯s eyes turn to Han Wuxian, Old Man Mu hastily said, ¡°All right. I¡¯ll do it. Let me teach him a few tricks. Do I have to kill people to create panic?¡±


    ¡°No. Burn provisions and fodder or release the cattle. Remember to leave the mark of the Court Attendants Army at the scene of the crime.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± Although Old Man Mu was a bit reluctant to do it, he epted it.


    ¡°The purpose of Kongtong Secting here was to create panic, so I¡¯m okay with it.¡± Dog Butcher also agreed.


    ¡°I need a few more people to pinpoint the location of the Waning Moon Hall. Hall Leader Han, Cloud King, and Nie Zeng, can you do this for me?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Nie Zeng answered. Shangguan Yun gave an indifferent nod and said, ¡°This is exactly what our alliance was established for.¡±


    Han Wuxian¡¯s charming eyes fell onto Shangguan Yun. ¡°I¡¯d love to work with Golden Roc Castle. Now, not only will we share enmity but also goodwill towards each other; that makes out fight against each otherter much more interesting.¡±


    Old Man Mu felt that he had made the wrong choice. Compared to Dog Butcher, the handsome Shangguan Yun was obviously more threatening. But he couldn¡¯t change his mind anymore, and could only say in a low voice, ¡°Just remember the enmity and forget about the goodwill.¡±


    When only Shangguan Ru and Mo Lin were left, Gu Shenwei said, ¡°I¡¯m going to dig up a secret and I hope that you two cane with me.¡±


    Mo Lin was a Nond man and as a wing guard of the Khan, he was greatly respected by all the ordinary soldiers. Shangguan Ru was also popr and likable. Both of them were exactly the right kind of helpers that Gu Shenwei needed.


    Secrets were always hidden in the heart, and the most important helpers Gu Shenwei could have was actually the saber and sword by his waist.

 Chapter 719 - Set Ablaze

    Chapter 719: Set Aze


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Fei decided to take a risk. Earlier, he had tried to spread the rumor ¡®the ck horse will perish¡¯ among the soldiers but his actions were fairly noneffective.


    The thirty thousand horsemen all belonged to different lords and therefore, were still hostile towards each other. And not many of them could even speak thenguage of the Central ins, so very few of them had fully grasped the mysterious tone in Shangguan Fei¡¯s rumor that he had worked so hard to create.


    ¡°The ck horse will perish?¡± asionally, someone might get interested in the phrase, but nobody ever took it seriously. ¡°Is It going to die because you said it would? Who the hell do you think you are? Then I¡¯ll say that the Khan will return to our world.¡±


    After his disastrous failure, Shangguan Fei decided to take a risk but he didn¡¯t want to do so alone, so he went to Old Man Mu, hoping to follow alongside him as they ¡®spread panic.¡¯


    ¡°Why would I take you with me? Your kung fu is poor. Your heart is timid, clumsy, and brainless. You used to be beat by me relentlessly, and now you back off whenever I challenge you. People like you are nothing but a burden.¡±


    Shangguan Fei nced at Dog Butcher, who was besides him and revealed a ttering smile. He was willing to be cursed because Old Man Mu was actually abusing Dog Butcher through him. ¡°Although I have these shorings, I do have one merit. I can kill people. The Dragon King forbade you two from killing, but I can do it for you,¡± replied Shangguan Fei.


    Dog Butcher had fought with Shangguan Fei before so he was a bit worried. ¡°You kung fu is indeed a bit poor. Are you sure that you can do it? We¡¯d be going deep into the enemy¡¯s camp.¡±


    ¡°Of course, why can¡¯t he?¡± Old Man Mu immediately changed his mind after hearing Dog Butcher¡¯s stance. ¡°This kid¡¯s kung fu was taught by me. He has practiced only for a few days, but he¡¯ll be better than you soon.¡±


    Dog Butcher stopped objecting even though he didn¡¯t believe Old Man Mu at all.


    The three of them set out on horseback before dark. Shangguan Fei had wanted to know what the n was, but Old Man Mu wasn¡¯t in a good mood and only hit him as an answer to his question. So Shangguan Fei could only turn to ask the honest Dog Butcher.


    ¡°Senior Tu, your name is really¡­ special.¡± Shangguan Fei nned to cotton up to Dog Butcher first before asking anything important.


    Dog Butcher was indeed more amiable than Old Man Mu, but he was not used to riding a horse. As he cautiously held the reins, he looked straight ahead and said, ¡°Generations of my family ughtered dogs for a living. But one day, my Master saw that my sister and I had the root of wisdom and that we had the potential of reaching the truth, so he took us to the Kongtong Mountain to learn kung fu. He always said ¡®Never forget who you are,¡¯ so I changed my name to that of Dog Butcher. Later on, some friends from Jianghu thought highly of me and started calling me ¡®Old Immortal,¡¯ and after that¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei hurriedly interrupted him, ¡°Oh, I see. Senior Tu, do we have a n for this trip? I want to help out.¡±


    ¡°n? What n?¡± Dog Butcher looked puzzled. ¡°Oh, there is one. Didn¡¯t the Dragon King already say so? Burn the provisions and fodder, or release the cattle; either way, we must leave behind a mark of the Court Attendants Army.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was regretting his decision a bit now.


    Without asking for the other two¡¯s opinion, Old Man Mu rode off first. Not long after night fell, they arrived at a small camp near the Court Attendants Army.


    The main camp of the Court Attendants Army was on the north side of the Royal Court¡¯s ruins. And on its periphery were three more small camps. Well, they were called a small camps, but each of them garrisoned at least five thousand horsemen.


    The three hid their horses first, then Shangguan Fei asked in a low voice, ¡°Didn¡¯t the Dragon King say that we had to create panic in the other armies? What are we doing here?¡±


    ¡°Idiot. Of course we are here to burn the grains and fodder of the Court Attendants Army, and then when wemit arson at the other armies, they will immediately assume that the Court Attendants Army is retaliating against them.¡±


    ¡°Right right, Old man is really thoughtful.¡± Shangguan Fei and Dog Butcher exchanged a nce, both thinking that Old Man Mu really was a man with a n.


    After dodging a group of soldiers patrolling outside the camp, the three of them drew closer to the camp, and Old Man Mu began to assign tasks. ¡°Shangguan Fei, go get twelve gs and the same number of heads.¡±


    ¡°What? Why do you need heads?¡±


    ¡°How dare you talk back to me?¡±


    Shangguan Fei stuck out his tongue and stopped speaking.


    ¡°Dog Butcher, go start a fire to frighten the cattle. Let¡¯s starve these soldiers to death.¡±


    Without speaking any nonsense, Dog Butcher carried his crutch on his back as he jumped up. In the blink of an eye, he had vaulted over the fence and disappeared into the field.


    Old Man Mu clenched his teeth and said in a low voice, ¡°How dare you show off your lightness skills in front of me?¡± As he finished speaking, he climbed over the fence like a monkey and disappeared at the same speed.


    Shangguan Fei stretched out his arm. He actually had something else he had wanted to say. He had nned on relying on the power of the two masters and didn¡¯t¡¯ expect that he would end up alone again.


    ¡°Well, whatever,¡± Shangguan Fei muttered. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s better to work alone.¡±


    Shangguan Fei quietly moved out and changed positions. After observing the situation for a while, he slowly climbed on top of the fence and observed for another period of time before finally rolling over it.


    This was a good position without any light illuminating it, and it was still some distance from both watchtowers. Shangguan Fei took out a thin rope and tied one end to the top of the fence while wrapping the other end around his waist. Like this, he could by down the wall as the rope unraveled.


    After tightening the rope, Shangguan Fei took out the tools he had prepared: a leather bag full of an oily paint, and two leather gloves.


    ¡°Believe it or not,¡± Shangguan Fei murmured the words he was writing as he traveled from top to bottom on the fence. ¡°But the Khan is the Fire God and has ascended to Heaven. I¡¯ll let him tell you this himself this time.¡±


    Only writing this in one ce was not enough, so Shangguan Fei changed to another location without encountering any idents along the way. He avoided all the patrolling soldiers. With his confidence increasing, he thought that it was quite fun to take risks.


    Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher didn¡¯t seem to have found a chance to make a move yet. The provisions, fodder, and livestock were very important military assets and had to be heavily guarded. Shangguan Fei was d that he hadn¡¯t gone with them.


    He smeared his graffiti in three distinct ces, and the paint was almost used up, leaving only thest step: setting them on fire.


    Shangguan Fei had tried to make the brushstrokes asrge as possible so that all the soldiers could see the characters ¡®The ck horse will perish¡¯ in the firelight.


    ¡°Heh heh, there are several thousands of people here, so there must be someone who can read it.¡± Shangguan Fei climbed down and looked up at his masterpiece that was about to reveal its true face. Then he suddenly realized a fatal problem and couldn¡¯t help but break into a cold sweat. ¡°Oh, crap! This is the Nond and a miracle of the Khan¡¯s; why did I write it in the Central ins¡¯ characters?¡±


    But it was toote to change it. All the paint had been used up, not to mention that he didn¡¯t know any of the characters of the Nond at all. Shangguan Fei felt very anxious but when he turned around, he burst out in a new round of cold sweat.


    A pair of eyes were staring at him from barely three paces away. He had no idea how long they¡¯d been there.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s legs softened and he copsed to the ground,pletely unable to use his kung fu.


    The person propped up Shangguan Fei and asked in a cold voice, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Shangguan Fei finally recognized this person and was slightly relieved, but he was still nearly scared to death. ¡°Tu¡­ Tu..¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Tu Pianpian of the Kongtong Sect. Aren¡¯t you one of the Dragon King¡¯s goons?¡±


    Shangguan Fei wanted to say that he wasn¡¯t a goonm but couldn¡¯t open his mouth to reply. He shook his head and gnashed his teeth before he was finally able to speak again. ¡°I¡¯m here to create chaos. Senior Tu and Old Man Mu have alsoe here.¡±


    As soon as he said it, Shangguan Fei knew he was in trouble.


    ¡°Old Man Mu? He¡¯s here, too? Why didn¡¯t Dog Butcher kill him?¡± Tu Pianpian questioned, her voice growing louder and louder.


    Shangguan Fei looked around and replied in a very low voice, ¡°Senior Dog Butcher might have other ns.¡±


    ¡°Take me to Old Man Mu.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know where they went.¡±


    ¡°You dare lie to me?¡± Tu Pianpian grabbed him forcefully. Shangguan Fei immediately felt his arm ache like it was broken, causing his tears to uncontrobly pour out. He was too frightened to fight back, and could only meekly whimper, ¡°I¡¯ll take you to them.¡±


    Tu Pianpian loosened her hand as she scoffed, ¡°Ignorant kid, you really wanted me to y hard.¡±


    Shangguan Fei looked back at his ¡®masterpiece¡¯ created through hard work. ¡°Senior Tu, could you wait for me to¡­¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Tu Pianpian pressed her crutch down against Shangguan Fei¡¯s throat.


    Shangguan Fei raised his head, thinking that the Khan¡¯s ¡®warning¡¯ could only be discovered by the soldiers before daybreak. Unfortunately, without the contrast of the fire, it would be less impressive. And he still didn¡¯t know whether the characters of the Central ins would rouse suspicion or not.


    It was all the old woman¡¯s fault. Shangguan Fei found an excuse for failing his mission. ¡°They may be at the corral right now.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s in the northwest corner. Lead the way.¡±


    Shangguan Fei had long lost his fighting spirit and dared not go through the camp directly. He moved towards the northwest corner along the fence of the camp, only taking a short detour when he neared the watchtower.


    Tu Pianpian was not alone. She had brought five disciples with her, who were following from far behind.


    Shangguan Fei hoped to find Dog Butcher first, and when the sister and brother resolved their disputes, he might still have some time left to ignite his three ¡®warnings.¡¯


    The corral was quiterge. Tu Pianpian, along with Shangguan Fei and the five disciples, went around a big circle but didn¡¯t see Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher, let alone any sign of the animals being frightened.


    When they found a quiet ce, Tu Pianpian took Shangguan Fei¡¯s arm and harshly questioned, ¡°Are you lying to me?¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s eyes almost popped out. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare! Old Man Mu clearly said that they wereing here to start a fire and frighten the animals, so why would they have disappeared?¡±


    Tu Pianpian didn¡¯t believe Shangguan Fei and was just about to y hard with him again when there suddenly came a cry from the center of the camp. ¡°Assassin! There¡¯s an Assassin!¡±


    Tu Pianpian let go of Shangguan Fei and made a few short jumps, not to run away but rather towards the direction of the screams instead.


    Shangguan Fei had turned around to flee but was surrounded by the five Kongtong disciples who motioned for him to follow their Aunt Master.


    Shangguan Fei obediently took a few steps forward before he suddenly realized that even though he was no match for the brother and sister of the Tu family, he might be stronger than these disciples.


    There were soldiers running out of various tents, shouting and looking for assassins. The five Kongtong disciples were also a little nervous.


    ¡°Heh heh.¡± Shangguan Fei stopped and turned around, ¡°Hey guys, why don¡¯t you listen to me and take this opportunity to escape. Your Aunt Master is good at martial arts and can free toe and go. Do you have her abilities?¡±


    The five disciples looked at each other and then jumped Shangguan Fei at the same time.


    Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t want to engage in an all-out fight in the camp of the Court Attendants Army so he sped up to flee. But the lightness skills of the disciples of the Kongtong Sect were not weak at all, and they were able to easily closely follow behind and soon surrounded Shangguan Fei again.


    A soldier noticed the anomaly and pointed it out with a shout, alerting all hispanions as they ran towards the intruders. And before they arrived, arrows were already on their way.


    In this critical moment of life and death, Shangguan Fei was anxious and angry and finally reignited his courage and shouted, ¡°Step out of the way or I¡¯m going to kill.¡±


    Shangguan Fei did not have the power to fight back against Tu Pianpian. And before that, he had been defeated by Dog Butcher in just a few moves, so the Kongtong disciples did not think highly of him.


    Shangguan Fei felt that he had hit someone but instead of checking it carefully, he fled and rushed into a sheep pen out of panic.


    What surprised him was that there were other people hiding in the sheep pen.


    Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher were carrying hay to the center of the sheepfold to light a fire. Neither of them knew why the camp was suddenly in chaos.


    ¡°Shangguan Fei.¡± Old Man Mu recognized the fellow jumping up and down in the flock of sheep.


    Shangguan Fei was doomed to be frightened many times this night. Upon hearing someone call out his name, he almost copsed on the ground again. Then he recognized the other side and asked, ¡°Ehh, why are you two here?¡±


    ¡°Where else would we be if we weren¡¯t here?¡±


    ¡°Someone called out that there was an assassin.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King already said no killing tonight. Why would you think that we were the assassin?¡±


    Shangguan Fei was stunned. ¡°Tu Pianpian came here looking for you two.¡±


    Those Kongtong disciples caught up again, causing Shangguan Fei to cry out and run away.


    Dog Butcher stopped the disciples and asked, ¡°Where is my elder sister?¡±


    The disciples of the Kongtong Sect were all surprised to find Dog Butcher here. ¡°Aunt Master¡­¡±


    Before they could finish, a frightened voice came out clearly, ¡°The Fire God has issued a decree! The Fire God has issued a decree!¡±


    Shangguan Fei had lost his caution long ago. Even the Dragon King¡¯s order couldn¡¯t stop him now. He scrambled out of the small camp of the Court Attendants Army and didn¡¯t turn around to look behind him until after he run a mile or so away.


    There were several ces on fire now, three of which seemed to be the areas where he had painted his rumor.

 Chapter 720 - Drinking Competition

    Chapter 720: Drinking Competition


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    For the first time in his life, Gu Shenwei felt that the wine tasted so sweet that it couldn¡¯t possible be the same wine that he had drunk with the Queen yesterday.


    In order to reach this wonderful state, he had to first put up with the initial sour and spicy vors of the wine, the thick smell of barbecued meat, and random noises he could not understand. Gradually, the astringent and spicy notes transformed into a pure fragrance, and all of his senses except taste became vague and indistinct.


    But he didn¡¯t feel drunk. His mind was still clear and his palms as hard as iron.


    Thest person who had almost brought him into the world of drinking was Tie Hanfeng, but he had forced himself to retreat before bing fully immersed in the heavy drinker¡¯s realm. This time, however, he went a little further.


    Ten steps away, Mo Lin was having a ¡®secret talk¡¯ with the six soldiers under Silver Condor. They whispered to each other secretively in their ears for a while and then raised their heads to cheer and drink like a blossoming flower in the night.


    Five paces away, Shangguan Ru was drinking even harder than normal, but she didn¡¯t show any signs of intoxication except for her cheeks, which were a bit redder than usual, and herughter, which was was a bit heartier than usual.


    One officer who seemed unconvinced was sitting opposite her andpeting against her in a drinking contest while a dozen or so spectators were cheering nearby.


    Mo Lin had chosen the ce. ¡°Deserters are the most aware group during wars. They create rumors, but might also spread the truth.¡±


    The three took rotated between six horses and galloped hard to the northwest for nearly six hours before they finally arrived at the camp where the refugees and deserters were living together. They had brought a lot of wine and meat, so they were warmly weed by the hundreds of people who even took out their own food to share.


    The deserters were afraid at first. But after figuring out that there were only three people on the other side, and after multiple assurances that they would not be forcibly recruited into hardbor, their wariness was quickly lifted by the smell of alcohol.


    Shangguan Ru smiled and waved at Gu Shenwei. When he came closer, she said, ¡°I won. You can ask him any questions you want now.¡±


    The officer sitting on the opposite side was still swaying and waving his hand at theughter of the crowd. ¡°I¡¯m too old topete with the little girl now.¡±


    This camp had not been disrupted yet, so there were many more young people babbling in thenguage of the Nond, throwing out random suggestions. A few of them said in thenguage of the Central ins. ¡°Ask him where he hid the silver.¡± ¡°Ask him if he embezzled the payroll before.¡± ¡°Ask him if he ever had an affair with a woman.¡±


    The person who made thest suggestion was shoved out by the crowd.


    Gu Shenwei sat with his knees on the nket besides Shangguan Ru and thought for a while before asking, ¡°Who¡¯s the person that you miss the most at the moment?¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s question was so simple that the audience was disappointed. The officer, however, squirmed and shook his head before whispering, ¡°My wife.¡±


    The answer rekindled public interests. Both the soldiers and the refugeesughed at the officer and began to pry more into his private affairs.


    Shangguan Ru was very surprised. She thought that the Dragon King would ask something along the lines of whether the news of the Devil Bird was true or what the shaman¡¯s secret was.


    The officer suddenly grabbed the person next to him, stood up and cried out, almost in tears, ¡°I¡¯m going home and I¡¯m not going to fight this bullshit battle anymore. I¡¯m always anxious and don¡¯t even know who the enemy will be tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Go home!¡± They shouted all together, even those who sat far away. In a camp where more than half of them were deserters, this was not a taboo subject.


    ¡°The Khan did not support the war either. The reason why he burned down the Royal Court was to let us go home!¡± someone cried out, seeking a grander cause for their flight.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you here to uncover secrets?¡± Shangguan Ru asked in a low voice.


    ¡°Leave it to Mo Lin. He¡¯s better at that than any one of us.¡±


    Mo Lin was a man of the Nond. His lingual advantage together with his identity as a former wing guard made it much easier for him to bepletely trusted by the soldiers.


    Shangguan Ru was a bit unhappy. ¡°Then what do you want us to do?¡±


    ¡°Drink.¡±


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s face darkened, ¡°I ran dozens of miles through the dark just to drink?¡±


    ¡°Hmm. It¡¯s not appropriate to drink in the camp. All the taverns of the Royal Court are gone, and only this kind of ce still exists where we can drink.¡±


    As she stared at the Dragon King, Shangguan Ru felt that the longer she stayed with this man, the weaker the shadow of Servant Huan she saw in him became. It was hard for her to understand how a man could change so much, but when she thought of herself, she could suddenly somewhat understand it. Although some parts of her had changed, there were still many other parts of her that had remained the same, just like the Dragon King. The current Dragon King still had parts of Servant Huan¡¯s old personality, and they were all the most unusual parts of Servant Huan¡¯s personality.


    She smiled and handed him a bowl, saying, ¡°I saw you drinking alone. That¡¯s no fun at all. Come on, let¡¯s have a drinkingpetition.¡±


    Before Gu Shenwei could answer, the people around heard Shangguan Ru¡¯s invitation and jeered, ¡°You are the Dragon King, you should not withdraw from any challenges.


    More and more people gathered around him. For these deserters and refugees, the word ¡®Dragon King¡¯ would only arouse curiosity instead of awe.


    Gu Shenwei took the bowl and agreed, merely saying, ¡°Okay.¡±


    Someone held up the wine jar and helped fill the two¡¯s bowls with wine. They looked at each other, then simultaneously downed it at the same time.


    As one bowl after another was drank, the cheers grew louder and louder. The two peoplepeting, however, were focused on drinking and said nothing. As they drank faster and faster, the crowd¡¯s excitement gradually turned into surprise and finally into admiration.


    ¡°The Dragon King is a good drinker. Who said that he couldn¡¯t drink?¡±


    ¡°The female general is even more capable of drinking. She¡¯s already gone through one contest.¡±


    After the tenth bowl, Gu Shenwei forgot the concept of numbers. His face was not red, but instead was bing more and more pale, the opposite of Shangguan Ru¡¯s.


    The wonderful part of drinking had passed. He did not know what he was drinking anymore, but was still convinced that his mind was clear and his hands steady. It was not until he lifted up the bowl to drink more wine, but let all the wine fall to the ground that he finally realized that he was already deeply intoxicated.


    The spectators apuded and cheered. ¡°The female general won again and the Dragon King lost.¡± ¡°Ask the Dragon King a question.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was also drunk, but she was experienced enough to hide her drunkness. She spread her arms and smilingly said, ¡°This is just a drinkingpetition; there¡¯s no need to ask a question.¡±


    ¡°No, no. That¡¯s the rule.¡± The crowd continued to heckle them. In fact, this rule had been proposed by Shangguan Ru and had been used just once.


    ¡°A rule is a rule.¡± Gu Shenwei straightened up and felt that he was much taller than usual and even his voice was louder.


    The expectant eyes all fell on Shangguan Ru¡¯s rosy cheeks as she tried to say something, but suddenly shut her mouth and covered her face with her hands.


    The crowd looked at each other, not understanding what had happened to the straightforward female general.


    Shangguan Ru moved her hands away and revealed an irrepressible smile. ¡°I really don¡¯t know what to ask. Could you give me an idea?¡±


    They had many questions for the Dragon King. In the end, it was an older soldier who seized the moment and asked, ¡°Dragon King, was that Devil Bird really brought to the Royal Court by you?¡±


    No one asked any other questions. All of them turned to look at the Dragon King.


    There was only that smiling face swimming in front of Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes, and he didn¡¯t hear the question clearly and had to have the crowd repeate it to him again and again until he finally responded, ¡°The Devil Bird? No, I didn¡¯t bring it.¡±


    ¡°But you have a giant bird that only eats people, right?¡±


    ¡°It is as tall as a tree and wind gales caused by its wing ps can blow a hundred men away.¡±


    ¡°People will die when it stares at them.¡±


    ¡°Its feathers are highly poisonous and one of them can kill thousands of people.¡±


    ¡­


    The image of the roc was growing more and more horrible.


    Gu Shenwei rose to his feet. The smiling face in front of him spun and he followed it, also spinning. Yet he still believed that his mind was clear. Although the voice seemed so far away, it was still his. ¡°I have a roc, red-capped, and red-eyed. It¡¯s a head taller than me but it¡¯s not my pet, nor is it my tool. We are friends, and it¡¯s a free animal. I was nearby when it was first born from its eggshell, and I watched it grow up.¡±


    Gu Shenwei paused for a moment. His words had attracted more attention. Even Mo Lin and the nearby soldiers had ended their ¡®secret talks¡¯ and gathered around to listen.


    ¡°The roc eats all kinds of animals, including humans. It especially likes eyeballs.¡±


    The crowd cried out in unison and recoiled several steps from Gu Shenwei altogether.


    ¡°But it doesn¡¯t kill people,¡± Gu Shenwei continued with certainty. ¡°That was our agreement. If I kill people , then it can eat them. It has a very rich diet, including livestock and some beasts like wolves and tigers. So it can still live very well without eating people.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure, Dragon King? After all, it¡¯s just a brutal beast,¡± asked a timid voice in the crowd.


    ¡°Sometimes beasts are more trustworthy than men.¡±


    These words struck a chord among the people of the Nond who all liked horses. ¡°So the Devil Bird that came to harm the prairie is for sure not the Dragon King¡¯s?¡±


    Mo Lin had already gathered a lot of information tonight and thought that he had more say than the Dragon King. So he pushed his way through the crowd and stood by the Dragon King¡¯s side, loudly asking, ¡°Everyone keeps saying that there¡¯s a Devil Bird. Has anyone actually seen it with their own eyes?¡±


    The crowd looked at each other and no one spoke for a long time. Finally, a deserter spoke up. ¡°I have a friend, and he said¡­¡±


    ¡°He said that he heard about it from his friends.¡± Mo Lin helped him finish his sentence. The crowdughed out loud, and the deserter blushed and no longer spoke up.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen the Devil Bird, but I saw a corpse that was killed by the bird,¡± an officer said, who was the first topete with Shangguan Ru in drinking.


    ¡°What did the corpse look like?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    The officer shook his head as if he were very reluctant to bring up the memory again. ¡°Less than half of the body was left. Almost all the flesh was gone, but the face was still there¡­ His face looked like it had been pulled back and forth by several people, and his eyes were about to fall out. I thought that he had been scared to death before he was eaten.¡±


    Silence reigned, and the fear that had just been dispelled returned to everyone¡¯s heart, several timesrger than before.


    ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Mo Lin cried out. ¡°There¡¯s more than one dead body.¡±


    The crowd anxiously looked into the dark sky as if the Devil Bird were circling overhead.


    ¡°But the murderer was not the so-called Devil Bird, but rather people.¡± Mo Lin¡¯s tone was even more certain than the Dragon King¡¯s.


    ¡°How do you know?¡±


    Mo Lin said to that officer, ¡°Please think again. If no one had told you about the existence of the Devil Bird, how would you think the flesh had fallen off the body?¡±


    The officer looked down and thought for a while before suddenly understanding. ¡°It was done with a saber! The flesh was scraped off by a saber! And we said that the Devil Bird must have had a knife-like mouth. Now that I think about it, it¡¯s more reasonable to say that it was scraped off by a saber directly!¡±


    Some people believed this while others did not, and they started arguing about it. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t involve himself in any of the discussions. Mo Lin must have found some important clues and would naturally tell him all about it afterward.


    He walked out of the crowd, found a quiet ce, and vomited out the wine in his stomach, really feeling awake now.


    On the way back, he met Shangguan Ru, who blocked his way. ¡°When are you going to tell me the truth?¡± She was still smiling, but it seemed more like a forced one now. ¡°I think that now is the right time. I¡¯m just drunk enough to understand what you are going to say yet will not feel sad about it.¡±


    ¡°You have to leave the Royal Court.¡± Gu Shenwei did not expect that it would be so difficult to say these few words. ¡°You¡¯ve be an obstacle for me.¡±

 Chapter 721 - Putting It Out There

    Chapter 721: Putting It Out There


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Ru was quite drunk now. She looked up at the Dragon King with a smile as if she didn¡¯t quite fully understand what he had said. ¡°Then where do you want me to go? Back to the Land of Fragrance?¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked down then immediately stared back at her. ¡°Go back to the Land of Fragrance. Never leave it again.¡±


    ¡°So the Dragon King is going to put me under house arrest?¡± Shangguan Ru was still wearing a smile as if the Dragon King were just joking with her.


    But Gu Shenwei¡¯s expression was so serious that it was even a bit cold. ¡°If you think that it¡¯s house arrest, then that¡¯s what it is.¡±


    ¡°What if I refuse to go back?¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to kill you tonight.¡±


    Shangguan Ruughed heartily, attracting lots of nearby attention. Then she suddenly made a bold move, grabbing Gu Shenwei¡¯s hand and running out of the camp.


    The night was deep and dark, but it was strikingly bright after one adjusted to it. It was not as clear as daylight, but felt like a vague whiteness, like diluted milk, had filtered one¡¯s vision. Standing face to face was almost no different from facing each other at a distance.


    Shangguan Ru suddenly stopped and let go of Gu Shenwei, bending over to vomit. After a long while, she straightened up and took out a handkerchief to wipe her mouth before turning around and smilingly saying, ¡°You are the first person to see me puke. Let¡¯s go somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°You should¡­¡± Gu Shenwei wanted to persuade her to drink less, but he felt that he had no right to say that.


    Shangguan Ru ran further away into the darkness, and Gu Shenwei followed closely behind.


    Tired, shey on the grass and looked up at the stars. ¡°Are you really the Dragon King?¡±


    Gu Shenwei, who was standing a few paces away, was stunned upon hearing this. ¡°Yes. Some people may be able to disguise themselves as me, but they can¡¯t imitate every move of mine.¡±


    Shangguan Ru sighed and pointed to the Milky Way in the sky. ¡°Look, it¡¯s the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Gu Shenwei did not look up. The Cowherd and the Weaving Maid met once a year, but he and Shangguan Ru would never see each other again after this.


    But this was not what Shangguan Ru was thinking about at all. ¡°Don¡¯t you think that the Cowherd holds a huge advantage? Although he was punished by the Queen Mother of the West, he transformed from a mortal into an immortal without even having to cultivate. Those Taoist priests and monks must be so jealous of him.¡±


    ¡°You are drunk.¡± Gu Shenwei was a little annoyed because he couldn¡¯t follow her train of thought.


    ¡°You brought me out for a drink, and you didn¡¯t want me to get drunk?¡± Shangguan Ru turned over and held up her head with her right hand, her face filled with a hearty smile. ¡°You didn¡¯t see me when I was drunker. Old Man Mu can tell you about it in the future.¡±


    ¡°He will follow you back to the Land of Fragrance.¡±


    ¡°No, he doesn¡¯t like that ce. He¡¯s more willing to take risks with you. And once he regains his former power, he¡¯ll go around killing people again. I won¡¯t be able to restrain him by that time, so it¡¯s better if I leave that troublesome guy to you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was d to return to this topic again. ¡°Many people of the Xiaoyao Lake voluntarily moved to the Land of Fragrance. It should be enough by now. You can close the passage, and I¡¯ll also have the passage in the Wu Mountain destroyed. No more soldiers from the Land of Fragrance will be used from then on.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve never really rested, have you?¡± said Shangguan Ru, half-joking and half-serious. Her ability to rapidly change topics had almost reached the level of Han Fen¡¯s.


    ¡°Of course I have. I¡¯m not¡­¡±


    ¡°Now is the time to rest,¡± Shangguan Ru interrupte. ¡°I know what you mean, so you don¡¯t have to exin. Why don¡¯t you just rx a bit? If this is going to be thest time we ever meet, then I hope that I¡¯ll remember the stars in the sky right now rather than ones in the Land of Fragrance.¡±


    Gu Shenwei suddenly realized that he was actually the one who was drunk. He had puked out the wine in his stomach, but that wasn¡¯t enough to dispel the drunkenness in his blood. The reason he was obsessed with talking about the Land of Fragrance was nothing but ta way to try to have her understand him better.


    It was meaningless. He wanted to return to his true colors as the Dragon King, but the result was that he was running further and further away in the opposite direction.


    Gu Shenwei sat down on the grass, stiffly and slowly lying down. The stalks of the summer weeds were prickly and ufortable to lie on, but when hey downpletely, he found that it was the mostfortable bed in the world. The wild grass wasn¡¯tpletely crushed by his body, causing him to feel that he was being lifted by an invisible force as if he were lying on top of a cloud.


    Shangguan Ruid back again and spread her arms. Gu Shenwei did the same, their fingertips half a foot apart.


    ¡°Will Yu Gongzi be a star in the sky?¡±


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s question wasplete unexpected yet again. ¡°No,¡± he replied firmly.


    ¡°You really are hard-hearted.¡±


    ¡°If Shangguan Yushi really became a star and saw us lying on the grass like this, she would have fallen from the sky and crushed me, leaving you alone.¡±


    ¡°Haha, how can you say that?!¡± Shangguan Ru¡¯sughter did notst for long. ¡°I miss her very much.¡±


    ¡°We all have people we miss.¡±


    ¡°Who do you miss?¡±


    ¡°My father; he was very strict but also very indulging. My mother; she was always ill. My two elder brothers; they often bullied me. And my sister; she was the best person in the world to me.¡± Gu Shenwei slowly clenched his fists and uprooted two small clumps of weeds.


    Shangguan Ru found herself pushing open the wrong door but she decided to venture on. ¡°And the pair of rocs.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, they were like family to me.¡±


    ¡°What if ¡ª And I mean, if ¡ª the Devil Bird does exist and it¡¯s your roc¡­¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t let anyoney a finger on it.


    Shangguan Ru was silent for a while. ¡°Remember how I told you that those old people wanted you to take the bird away?¡±


    ¡°Mmm.¡±


    ¡°They found some bodies of wild animals with their eyes missing.¡±


    ¡°Instead of talking about the Land of Fragrance, you want to talk about the roc?¡±


    ¡°Hee, although there are many beautiful stars, they¡¯re a bit dull. Well, let me think about some happy things instead. Right, eighth sister-inw¡­ Luo Ningcha came to me and asked me to talk to you about Cheng¡¯er.¡±


    ¡°She likes toe up with stupid ideas, and she can¡¯t speak a single word of truth from her mouth.¡±


    ¡°But she¡¯s also very beautiful. I¡¯ve never met a man who wasn¡¯t interested in her.¡±


    ¡°I had slept with her,¡± said Gu Shenwei stiffly, thinking that this was not a happy topic at all.


    ¡°I know. Xu Yanwei told me, though of course not too bluntly. She probably thought I would not understand.¡±


    ¡°Xu Yanwei can¡¯t keep her mouth shut.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s a good person, and she¡¯s very, very loyal to you.¡± Shangguan Ru stressed this point, ¡°And she¡¯s also very chivalrous, even though she doesn¡¯t know kung fu, and is a¡­ prostitute.¡±


    ¡°Do you know what chivalry is?¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s tone was a bit disdainful. Golden Roc Castle had never taught this.


    ¡°You told me before.¡± Shangguan Ru¡¯s eyes lit up as he listed off, ¡°Defending the weak from the strong, attempting the impossible, valuing justice more than one¡¯s life¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that Xu Yanwei is a little nosy, right?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, aren¡¯t all chivalrous people a little nosy?¡±


    Neither of them knew what to say next, so they continued chatting randomly about whatever came into mind. Shangguan Ru suddenly thought of Luo Ningcha again. ¡°The reason Luo Ningcha asked me to talk to you about Cheng¡¯er was probably because of something I said once.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°When I was in the castle, I inadvertently mentioned to her that Cheng¡¯er was not like the people of the Shangguan family. Luo Ningcha was a bit angry at that time and said that he was just a baby and that he would look like them when he grew up.¡±


    ¡°She wanted to imply that the child was mine so that I would be driven by her to help her gain more power.¡±


    ¡°She probably had something else nned to say in front of the Unique King.¡±


    Luo Ningcha was sure to do such a thing, but Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t care. He couldn¡¯t helpabut ask, ¡°You do not mind her at all?¡±


    ¡°Mind about what?¡±


    ¡°Luo Ningcha.¡±


    ¡°I livedfortably and have nothing to worry about, while you hid in your enemy¡¯s home and might die at any moment, so I don¡¯t mind about anything you¡¯ve ever done,¡± Shangguan Ru said in a rxed tone. She had actually cared about it in the past, but had slowly changed her mind after being abandoned by her family. Though even now, she needed a little alcohol to keep herself this calm.


    ¡°I approached both you and Shangguan Fei to protect myself and to kill you two when necessary. Shangguan Yushi was actually right to be on guard against me.¡±


    Shangguan Ru turned over and propped her head up with her hand again. Looking at his profile, she said, ¡°I should feel sad that I was deceived by the person I trust the most. But you didn¡¯t kill me and my brother even at the best of opportunities. So I¡¯m also a little proud.¡±


    ¡°Proud?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m proud that I¡¯ve changed your mind a bit.¡±


    Gu Shenwei abruptly sat up because this was the biggest concern in his mind. ¡°You are not the only one who¡¯s changed a part of me, but no one¡¯s fully changed who I really am. Let me draw the line here. Golden Roc Castle must be destroyed. I once wanted to kill everyone in the castle, even every animal and bug, but now I know that that makes no sense. I¡¯ll kill the Unique King and the green-faced assassins loyal to him. You don¡¯t have to attempt to change me in a roundabout way. I won¡¯t kill innocent people even if he¡¯s surnamed Shangguan. Did you think that you changed my mind? Fang Wenshi, the old Khan, the monk, and Dugu Xian¡­ Everyone around me is qualified to say that line.¡±


    Shangguan Ru looked at him in amazement and then began to feel pity for him as if she were really possessed by the monk Fayan. ¡°You¡¯re lying.¡±


    ¡°Humph.¡± Gu Shenwei stood up. Althoughying on the grass wasfortable, standing up made him feel more at ease. ¡°Do not think that you really know me.¡±


    Shangguan Ru also rose to her feet. She smiled and a tear came out before being quickly wiped away. She said in an aggressive tone as she used, ¡°Didn¡¯t you lie when you assassinated my future husband? Didn¡¯t you lie when you took me and my brother in at Xiaoyao Lake? Didn¡¯t you lie when you persuaded me to stay in the Land of Fragrance? Didn¡¯t you lie when¡­?¡±


    Pointing to her lips, she didn¡¯t believe what the Dragon King had said, only believing in the short-lived passion they had shared in the camp of the Court Attendants Army.


    The two red at each other like enemies about to duel.


    ¡°And that¡¯s why you are my obstacle. That¡¯s why you must leave here and never show up again.¡± Gu Shenwei despised his weaknesses. He should have been more callous and directly severed the feelings in his heart, but that had only made it more tangled and messy.


    ¡°Do you think that I¡¯m just trying to protect the castle and the innocents of the Shangguan family?¡± demanded Shangguan Ru with her body stretched tightly like an enraged small beast.


    ¡°The Unique King and Shangguan Yun must die.¡± Gu Shenwei refused to give in.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Shangguan Ru softened her tone before continuing, ¡°Let¡¯s be clear. I have hurt you but also helped you a lot, especially during the battle at Xiaoyao Lake. Without the female soldiers I trained, you would have been utterly defeated.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t forgotten.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s voice also softened. Shangguan Ru had saved him more than once.


    ¡°Then can I ask for something in return?¡±


    Gu Shenwei hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°Yes, as long as it¡¯s within my capabilities.¡±


    ¡°Of course it is.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°You killed my husband, banished me to the remote Land of Fragrance, and told me so many lies, so¡­¡± Shangguan Ru felt she was very bold but there were still some words she could not say out.


    Filled with anger and desire, Gu Shenwei strode to her in just two steps.

 Chapter 722 - Old Scores

    Chapter 722: Old Scores


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Nie Zeng was still not used to carrying a woman around on his back, especially when this woman had the ability to manipte her weight like a monster. At he thought of this, he felt the back of his neck go slightly numb, and any pride he had previously held was immediately swept away.


    If that was the Dragon King¡¯s purpose, then it was very sessful.


    It was also because of this that Nie Zeng admired Shangguan Yun of Golden Roc Castle even more. The third young master was kind to everyone and was also very bold. He even dared to treat Han Wuxian as a normal woman, asionally going so far as to banter with her.


    Han Wuxian¡¯sughter clearly showed that she enjoy it quite a lot.


    Shangguan Yun also did not neglect the silent killer. Nie Zeng felt that he had not said more than a few words in total, but somehow he hadpletely told the other side about hisplex rtionship with the Dragon King. ¡°The Dragon King killed my uncle¡¯s family, and I¡¯ll obtain my revenge sooner orter.¡±


    To Nie Zeng¡¯s surprise, Shangguan Yun actually argued for the Dragon King after hearing the whole story. ¡°He was at about your age at that time and he couldn¡¯t help himself. If the Dragon King asked you to kill someone, could you refuse him? When Golden Roc Castle asked the Dragon King to kill, he was simrly not able to refuse.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s different,¡± Nie Zeng said angrily,pletely forgetting about exercising due caution. ¡°No matter how involuntarily my actions are, I won¡¯t ever kill women and children who don¡¯t know kung fu. And I already made an inquiry into it; it was not Golden Roc Castle who ordered the death of my uncle¡¯s family but rather the Dragon King and his Master Tie Hanfeng.¡±


    Nie Zeng had forgotten the backgrounds of the two listeners. His words were not recognized and didn¡¯t resonate at all.


    ¡°Why do you say such ridiculous things when you call yourself a killer?¡± Han Wuxian said softly, as if she were educating a little kid who wasn¡¯t eating their dinner properly. ¡°Women don¡¯t need your sympathy. Even if we don¡¯t know kung fu, we can still kill people. If one of your rules is to not kill, then why do you want to be a killer?¡±


    ¡°Your uncle¡¯s son was already a teenage boy at that time, wasn¡¯t he? At his age, he could have been a killer disciple at Golden Roc Castle. So the Dragon King wasn¡¯t that vicious after all.¡±


    ¡°They¡­ they humiliated my aunt.¡± Nie Zeng flushed. Fortunately, they were riding in the dark, and no one saw he was embarrassed.


    The three were riding withx reins, not in a rush at all. It was more like they were going on a rxing night trip and enjoying the atmosphere rather than an important mission.


    ¡°Humiliated? How? I didn¡¯t know the Dragon King had the potential to do such a thing,¡± Han Wuxian curiously asked as if she really knew nothing about it.


    Shangguan Yun thought about it for a while and then guessed the general situation. ¡°That was something Tie Hanfeng would do. He used to be one of my killers and was quite something. He had seen through the nothingness of killers long ago and only wanted to earn money to eventually spend his remaining years infort. It must be him who humiliated your aunt. And he certainly would not kill your uncle¡¯s family for personal grudges. Tie Hanfeng only killed for money. If no one paid him, then he would bear it even if one insulted him by kicking him in public.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King never said that they were paid to kill,¡± Nie Zeng whispered but already understood how silly he was being. Of course the Dragon King did not kill a foreign saberman of his own volition; his unruly uncle must have offended someone somewhere.


    Shangguan Yun seemed to be lost in his own thoughts and didn¡¯t say anything for a long time. ¡°The Dragon King is a unique person. I didn¡¯t realize it when we met for the first time. That was really one of my worst mistakes.¡± Then he turned to Nie Zeng and said, ¡°The Dragon King didn¡¯t exin the situation because he wanted you to retainyour hatred towards him. Hatred is the most powerful motivator a killer can have. He appreciates you and wants you to be a top killer.¡±


    Nie Zeng was speechless but he was still a bit unconvinced in his heart. ¡°You are the Dragon King¡¯s subordinates. Of course you would speak for him.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Both of them refuted it immediately.


    Han Wuxian¡¯s long hair brushed past Nie Zeng¡¯s neck. ¡°There¡¯s no one in the world who can make me, Han Wuxian, their subordinate. I¡¯ll join hands with the Dragon King to destroy the traitors of Waning Moon Hall and then go our separate ways. If he wants to keep Golden Roc Castle all to himself, then he¡¯ll be my enemy.¡±


    Shangguan Yun smilingly said, ¡°The Dragon King is my sworn enemy. Whoever wants to take over Golden Roc Castle will also be my enemy.¡±


    Han Wuxian turned her head slightly, her smile seeming even more mysterious and charming in the darkness. ¡°It¡¯s really one of the great joys of life to ride side by side with my enemy,ughing and talking.¡±


    ¡°Haha, actually, we don¡¯t have to be enemies.¡±


    ¡°Taking back Golden Roc Castle has been my lifelong goal; I won¡¯t let go of it easily.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to fight for it though. The castle is in sore need of a suitable hostess. If Hall Leader Han is willing to marry into the castle, then won¡¯t everyone be happy? Well, except for the Dragon King.¡±


    Han Wuxian giggled without a trace of anger. ¡°Are you proposing for yourself or for your old man?¡±


    Shangguan Yun seriously said, ¡°With how ugly and ipetent I am, how dare I make an offer of marriage to the beautiful and invincible Hall Leader Han? The mistress of Golden Roc Castle can naturally only be the Lady of the Unique King.¡±


    The topic of Nie Zeng ended just like that. He was obsessed with his own business and hardly noticed what the other two were saying.


    Han Wuxian slowed down thebing her long hair a bit and seemed to be thinking considering Shangguan Yun¡¯s suggestion. ¡°That¡¯s one way to go about it. Go back and ask the Unique King. If he really wants to do it, then he can make a public proposal. From then on, he will be in charge of the women in the castle while I¡¯ll manage all of the killers. Our child will inherit the title and the castle. As for you, do not me your stepmother for being cruel; just stay in the Xiaowan Kingdom and never go home. I¡¯ll visit you once in a while, and then we¡¯ll have a son, too, and he can inherit your throne.¡±


    Shangguan Yun apuded andughed out loud. ¡°Hall Leader Han is really a straight-forward person. I¡¯m okay with it but I¡¯m afraid that the Unique King may not be as open-minded as I am.¡±


    ¡°Then go back and assassinate your father. Be the Unique King yourself and thene back marry meter.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the ability to do that. Even if the Unique King¡¯s martial arts skills are not the best in the world, they¡¯re still the best in the Western Regions, not to mention the green-faced assassins around him. I¡¯m no match for him.¡±


    ¡°Coward. With my help, are you still afraid that you won¡¯t be able to kill the Unique King?¡± Han Wuxian appeared even more tender when reproaching the other side, almost reaching the point of being cloyingly sweet.


    Nie Zeng was unable to pretend that he couldn¡¯t hear their conversation now. He interrupted to change the topic, asking, ¡°Who¡¯s more formidable, the Unique King or the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°The Unique King.¡± Shangguan Yun replied without hesitation. ¡°The Dragon King is very powerful but he¡¯s too busy fighting for hegemony and has spent too little time training, far less than that of the Unique King.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King practices through real fierce fights.¡± This time it was Nie Zeng who defended the Dragon King. Real experts came from real fights. This was the first lesson he had learned from the kung fu instructor Hu Shining.


    ¡°That¡¯s just one of the stages. It¡¯s like how you have to first practice shing your saber at a wooden stake first, and then after this stage, you have to learn something else. The fierce fights that the Dragon King has experienced is less than 20% of those of the Unique King, which is further proof that he¡¯s no match.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± Han Wuxian stretched herself out with a yawn. ¡°I smell the disciples of Waning Moon Hall. This must be the ce that the Cloud King was talking about.¡±


    Looking at the camp in the distance, Shangguan Yun was full of admiration. ¡°The secret arts of the Hall Leader are truly amazing. Yes, the golden roc killers reported that they had found something abnormal these two nights, and that the intruder¡¯s method was very simr to that of the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s.¡±


    Han Wuxian looked for a moment and then suddenly jumped from her rattan chair to the ground. Then she leaped again into the grass and was soon flying like a bird.


    Nie Zeng gaped, ¡°I knew she could walk.¡±


    ¡°You should feel lucky that you had the chance to carry the Hall Leader of Waning Moon Hall.¡± Shangguan Yun showed a touch of envy.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you volunteer?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m too old now.¡± Shangguan Yun, who was in his thirties, also jumped off the horse and followed behind Han Wuxian. Although his lightness skill was different, he was also an expert in lightness skills.


    The two horses were left to Nie Zeng who felt that he had been slighted. But he still tied the horses to a nearby rock before plunging into the grass to pursue Han Wuxian and Shangguan Yun.


    He hadn¡¯t learned any fancy lightness skills like them, so he could only honestly proceed with his body lowered. From his point of view, Han Wuxian¡¯s flight-like lightness skill was too conspicuous while Shangguan Yun¡¯s graceful moves were also a bit shy and were not in the golden roc killer¡¯s style at all.


    In any case, the two¡¯s lightness skills were much better than that of the teenage killer¡¯s. The distance between them quickly widened, neither of them taking Nie Zeng¡¯s protection seriously.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a horse-sitter,¡± Nie Zeng muttered as he changed his direction. He decided to run straight towards the camp. The closer he got to the camp, the more patrolling soldiers he came across. After managing to avoid all of them, his confidence increased a lot. But he still didn¡¯t know what he was going to do. He knew little about the Waning Moon Hall and could find no clues in this strangend.


    But the clue soon revealed itself.


    Nie Zeng climbed up the palisade, jumped inside, and started sneaking around. Soon he heard someone shouting ¡®assassin¡¯ from a distance. Han Wuxian and Shangguan Yun had probably been exposed. Nie Zeng hummed in his heart, trying to decide what to do. One of the killer¡¯s principles was to never rescue a partner that had been exposed because that was likely a trap.


    He moved along and saw a figure jump out of the camp from afar, as panic-stricken as a rabbit being hunted by hunters. But there was actually no one running after that person.


    This was certainly not a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall. Nie Zeng did not stop moving forward.


    As the camp became more chaotic, Nie Zeng slowed down. He was still considering whether he should withdraw or not when seven or eight people came over with torches in their hands, one of whom looked like a woman.


    Nie Zeng¡¯s heart jumped a bit as he thought, ¡®Aren¡¯t the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall all women?¡¯


    These people seemed to be more interested in the palisades, and one of them said, ¡°This is it. There are two other ces where the other men have been sent to check. There was something climbing up and down, and the patrolling soldiers did not dare to utter a sound. Now they think that it was an assassin.¡±


    ¡°Idiot.¡± The person who looked like a woman was actually a man. ¡°Seeing something abnormal but not reporting it. Are you still the Court Attendants?¡±


    The others bowed their heads while one whispered, ¡°Because it crawled very slowly and was unlike a human. They thought that it was the old Khan¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± The man scolded and held his torch closer to the palisade. ¡°Someone must be up to something¡­¡±


    Before he could finish speaking, the palisade suddenly caught on fire. The fire was so fierce that it nearly ignited the garments of the torchbearer.


    The crowd retreated, and a voice cried out, ¡°Those are characters. What does it say?¡±


    The chief threw away the torch, his legs weak with fear. He looked up and read out, ¡°The ck horse will perish.¡±


    The soldiers gasped and ran away simultaneously, bawling and shouting. This time it was in thenguage of the Nond and Nie Zeng could not understand a word of it.


    Only the chief remained stupefied for a while before crying out, ¡°No, it¡¯s fake¡­¡±


    Nie Zeng rushed forward at once. He had recognized this man and decided to capture him.


    The chief was precisely one of the shamans of the Court Attendants Army. Nie Zeng had seen him from afar before. Although he did not recognize his face, he remembered that the other side¡¯s was covered with feathers.


    The shaman didn¡¯t know any kung fu. Nie Zeng easily knocked him on the back of the head with his saber hilt and caught the shaman in his arms before the other side fell to the ground.


    A saber flew at him without a sound.


    Nie Zeng pushed aside the captive and drew his saber to block it, his heart beating wildly. This was the first time he had been so close to death. Although he had prepared himself for this on the first day he became a killer disciple, he still could not help but feel nervous and afraid.


    The attacker was d in fully ck clothes and waved a saber that was moving faster and faster through the air. Nie Zeng had lost the first strike advantage and could barely hold on. What frightened him more and more as time went on was that the other side¡¯s saber technique seemed to be the same as his.


    A voice rang out from the top of the palisade. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    The masked person seemed determined to defeat Nie Zeng, but many soldiers were rushing over to see the ¡®miracle,¡¯ which obviously made this a bad ce to stay and fight. The masked person finally leapt away and climbed to the top of the palisade in only two jumps, leaving a single sentence behind. ¡°Your sabersmanship isn¡¯t bad.¡±


    Nie Zeng finally realized who these two people were and couldn¡¯t help but be furious.

 Chapter 723 - Deserters

    Chapter 723: Deserters


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Ru did not know how far forever went, but she firmly believed that she would remember this moment forever.


    The great strangeness in the Dragon King was melting like an ice cube in the scorching sun. His hard arms grew softer yet stronger, and the passion in his lips was as fiery as the hatred in his heart.


    The Dragon King would also remember this moment forever.


    Shangguan Ru wanted tough, but also cry at the same time. Then she bit her lip hard, gathered all her strength, and struck out with a serious blow.


    A bit of the killer¡¯s instinct still remained in Gu Shenwei. He felt the movements of the body in his arms and had a premonition of danger, but couldn¡¯t avoid it.


    His belly was punched, causing a strong wave of ambivalence and churning pain to roll out, which also knocked him out of his infatuation. Gu Shenwei bent over and covered his stomach with his hands. Instead of crying out, he let out a muffled grunt. But in contrast, the scars and pain on his lips were nothing.


    The power of the punch was far beyond his imagination, and the contrast between this woman¡¯s attitude before and after the punch made him feel bewildered and even a bit exasperated.


    Shangguan Ru jumped a few steps away. She hadn¡¯t nned to, but when it happened she believed that it was the best choice. ¡°You¡¯re a coward. You are not afraid of the Unique King, the saber and sword, or even ghosts. But you¡¯re afraid of yourself. You are afraid of throwing away that pathetic hatred. Then keep it why don¡¯t you. But you¡¯ll never forget me either.¡±


    She ran away, crying andughing just like a madwoman of the Waning Moon Hall.


    The pain in his lower abdomen gradually subsided. Gu Shenwei touched the bloodstains on his lips, thinking that this was really troublesome.


    His thoughts were like a prayer that was immediately answered. The real trouble wasing.


    A group of horsemen came from the southeast, and Gu Shenwei was sure that they were not Shulitu¡¯s soldiers.


    The deserters were thrown into confusion. They got onto their horses and tried to run away, but soon returned to the camp. There was also cavalrying from the northwest. This was a ssic siege strategy of the Nond.


    ¡°Court Attendants Army, it¡¯s the Court Attendants Army.¡± Someone recognized the horsemen through the darkness.


    Three Court Attendants rode into the camp and faced the crowd without fear as if the other side were merely a passive herd of cattle and sheep. The one in the lead cried out, ¡°The Khan has issued a decree from Heaven that no army of more than a hundred men is allowed to leave the Royal Court in a thirty miles radius. You almost overstepped the boundary.¡±


    Both the Court Attendants Army and the Khan were a powerful deterrent to the people of the Nond. Those two or three hundred people really did quiet down like cattle and sheep. However, someone argued back in a low voice, ¡°We are not soldiers.¡±


    The horseman shot a cold nce at him and said, ¡°It¡¯s the same to us. Turn back now. The Court Attendants Army will overrun this ce within a quarter of an hour.¡±


    The three horsemen turned around and left, leaving behind a panic-stricken crowd.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go back. There are at least a thousand soldiers of the Court Attendants Army, and we are no match for them.¡±


    ¡°s, if I knew it would be like this, I would have not stayed here for the night in the first ce.¡±


    ¡°We have weapons. Why not rush out? They are the Court Attendants, but so what?¡±


    ¡­


    Mo Lin walked to the Dragon King, not seeming to notice the small wounds on his lips, and whispered, ¡°Something isn¡¯t right.¡±


    Something was indeed not right. One of the main reasons why Mo Lin had chosen this camp was because it was at the back of Shulitu¡¯s main army and was quite safe. He was really surprised that the Court Attendants Army could ride straight through the army ande here.


    ¡°They don¡¯t seem to know that I¡¯m here.¡±


    ¡°I hope so.¡± Mo Lin was very cautious. ¡°What will the Dragon King do?¡±


    Shangguan Ru ran back with a serious expression as if the one who had been crying andughing earlier wasn¡¯t her. ¡°There are not too many soldiers. I don¡¯t know about the northwest side, but there are only a hundred or so horsemen on the southeast side.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought for a while and said, ¡°I want to talk to everybody.¡±


    Mo Lin nodded, raised his arm, and loudly said, ¡°Quiet. The Dragon King has something to say.¡±


    As the noise died down, the crowd gathered and looked quizzically at the Dragon King. Some people noticed that his lips were injured, but they were not in the mood to read too deeply into it.


    ¡°Do you want to leave the Royal Court?¡± asked Gu Shenwei. His lips still hurt, but it did not affect his speech.


    The crowd nodded with some hesitation. One veteran said, ¡°I don¡¯t even know who I¡¯m fighting for. Staying in the Royal Court is the same as waiting to die. Besides, the Khan won¡¯t want a soldier like me. All he wants are the elite soldiers.¡±


    The deserters nodded and echoed, ¡°The Khan doesn¡¯t want us.¡±


    This was a group of timid soldiers who were tired of war and the ones who stood beside them were civilians who regarded war as being for tigers. Most of them were people that merely did small business in the Royal Court.


    Mo Lin turned around to look at the Dragon King, thinking that the best choice was to mingle with the crowd and then find a chance to escape. With the Dragon King¡¯s martial arts skillsbined with the speed of the me Foal, it shouldn¡¯t be too difficult for him.


    The two or three hundred people also looked at the Dragon King, not knowing what he would say next.


    ¡°Are you willing to fight to escape?¡±


    The question was a bit odd, especially the word ¡®escape.¡¯ It might not matter to themon people, but to the nearly a hundred soldiers, it was tantamount to throwing their faults into their face.


    No one uttered a sound.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you ashamed of running away? If yes, then follow their orders andy down your arms and be a prisoner. If you think that the war of the Royal Court is wrong and that escaping is justified, then pick up your bow and arrows to defend your right to escape. At least this battle will be meaningful.¡±


    ¡°But that is the Court Attendants Army,¡± someone said in a low voice. ¡°They are the best cavalry force in the Prairie. We¡¯ll definitely die trying to confront them.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯d rather go back to the Royal Court and die in another war than resist now and fight desperately for your own benefits?¡±


    The deserters did seem to have been moved. One officer cried out, ¡°Fight! Brothers, we are gonna die if we go back. Even if the Court Attendants Army don¡¯t kill us right now, they will ce us in the front lines and force us to charge into the enemy ranks. Either way, it¡¯ll end in death.¡±


    A young peddler¡¯s face paled. He was not a man of the Nond and hadn¡¯t yed with bow and arrow since his childhood. ¡°I¡¯m a businessman and don¡¯t know how to fight. It¡¯s better if I go back to the Royal Court.¡±


    The veteran near him loudly scolded, ¡°What¡¯s the point in going back? The Royal Court is gone, so where are you even going to do business? You¡¯ll be a ve of the Court Attendants Army. I heard that the Great Shaman burns people every day to sacrifice to the Khan. Do you want to sign up for that?¡±


    The opinions of the crowd were still not unified. Some people were eager to try escaping while others seemed to be ready to grin and bear the weight of the Court Attendants Army.


    A teenager suddenly said, ¡°The Dragon King has a Devil Bird. It can defeat the Court Attendants Army and save us all simply by pping its wings.¡±


    Hope rose in people¡¯s heart like manna falling from the heavens, and all the previous efforts Gu Shenwei had made to restore the original image of the roc failed. Looking at the expectant eyes, he had no choice but to say, ¡°I told you that the roc won¡¯t kill and that it¡¯s very proud so do not expect it to help too much.¡±


    And that was enough. All of the people looked up into the sky. Many even put their hands together to pray. Their fear of the bird had suddenly transformed into awe.


    ¡°Take up arms and follow the Dragon King¡¯s order,¡± said Mo Lin, who took the lead in drawing his scimitar.¡±


    The soldiers of the Nond always had bows in their hands. The hundred or so soldiers immediately mounted their horses and formed a small cavalry. The Nond people worshipped warriors and most ordinary people also had various weapons like a saber, sword, bow, spear, axe, whip, and so on.


    Gu Shenwei began to issue orders. ¡°Women, children, and old men will go with Instructor Shangguan to hide north of the camp. The archers will go forth to attack the enemies on the southeast, and withdraw to the camp after a few rounds of arrows shots. The rest of you wille with me.¡±


    Luring the enemy into a pursuit and then turning around to shoot them was one of the mostmon tactics used by the Nond Army. The deserters immediately understood the Dragon King¡¯s n and said yes in unison. A group of soldiers voluntarily followed an officer to the southeast.


    The remaining eighty or so soldiers nervously looked at the Dragon King and up into the sky now and then, hoping that the Devil Bird coulde sooner.


    Gu Shenwei ordered them to dismount, put out the torches, and hide behind the tents.


    Mo Lin stood by the Dragon King and said in a low voice, ¡°If it doesn¡¯t go as well as nned, I hope that the Dragon King will withdraw on his own.¡±


    Surprised, Gu Shenwei nced at Mo Lin. The wing guard of the Khan turned his head to look ahead and said, ¡°If the Dragon King dies here, everyone will say that I betrayed you.¡±


    ¡°A lot of people are going to die here today, but not me. Do you want to bet? I¡¯ll kill more people than you too.¡±


    Mo Lin didn¡¯t have much desire for killing but the pride he heard in the Dragon King¡¯s tone stung him. ¡°What¡¯s the bet?¡± he asked.


    ¡°A bowl of wine.¡±


    Mo Lin paused a bit as the bet was too small. Then he nodded and said, ¡°Okay.¡±


    The distinctive whistling of the Nond people rang out, which was slightly sharp but ceaseless like a whirlwind flying straight up into the sky.


    The deserters had made contact with the Court Attendants Army.


    Soon after, the deserters retreated to the camp. Their formation was disorganized and no one whistled, and very few people shot back. They were still too afraid to confront the Court Attendants Army directly.


    Over a hundred horsemen of the Court Attendants Army were running behind leisurely but they acted in a unified way when shooting. It was indeed a well-trained army. They didn¡¯t have to be in a hurry. This was basically a hunt for them where their task was to drive the prey into the snare, and then the friendly force from another direction would take care of these daring deserters themselves.


    ¡°Mount your horses!¡± Gu Shenwei loudly ordered this, jumped onto his own horse, and rushed at the horsemen of the Court Attendants Army a dozen or so paces away.


    Mo Lin was the second to get onto his horse, and he whistled and created a momentum worth hundreds of people. The whistling sound was more effective than the Dragon King¡¯s order. The eight or so civilians got on their horses, roared, and made a surprise attack on the nk of their powerful enemy.


    The Dragon King had already rushed into the enemy lines when the crowd had just started urging their horses to move forward.


    The Court Attendants Army wasn¡¯t an army that would scatter and flee at the slightest fright. Although the noble officers had all been purged, the soldiers were still able to deal with the ident in a methodical manner.


    As soon as Gu Shenwei made a sound, more than a hundred bows turned to aim at him and the arrows fell like raindrops in a fierce storm when the horse rounded the tent. The mount had be a hedgehog in a twinkling of an eye.


    Gu Shenwei leaped high and flew over the rain of arrows,nding in the middle of the army.


    Their bows and arrows were useless now, but the horsemen remained calm. Several of them drew their scimitars while the others remained on guard with their bows.


    But they soon understood that the attacker was unstoppable with only a few of them.


    Gu Shenwei kept jumping in different directions. Each time, he wouldnd urately on a horse and each time he jumped up, a head would fly up.


    When Mo Lin stormed into the enemy, he found himself falling behind by at least five heads.


    As the heads flew in the dim starlight, the Court Attendants began to panic, while the civilians armed with various weapons grew more murderous.


    Shangguan Ru heard screams from afar and vaguely saw something like heads soaring into the sky. She knew that it was the Dragon King who was proving to her that he had not changed.

 Chapter 724 - Fleeing

    Chapter 724: Fleeing


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Nie Zeng still remembered Tie Linglong as a rude and unreasonable little girl with green eyes who had left a cut on his chest at their first meeting. Although the wound wasn¡¯t very deep, it had still taken him several months to fully recover. And when the Dragon King asked them to take Hu Shining as their Master, only she had sessfully escaped in secret.


    This was what had happened during the summer of two years ago. At that time, Nie Zeng had only had a fearless heart and mediocre saber techniques, but now he was Hu Shining¡¯s favorite disciple and would not be cut again so easily.


    Chu Nanping was a good person, but that was all. During the days they trained together, he seldommunicated with others and insisted on using a long sword instead of a saber. Although his martial arts skills were good, he was not very popr at all.


    In short, Nie Zeng didn¡¯t like these two people.


    It was him who had kidnapped the captive, and he would not let those he disliked take his captive away.


    A swarm of soldiers came over. Nie Zeng jumped onto the palisade and pursued the two ¡®robbers¡¯ with all his strength. Arrows came from behind him, but he just ran even faster instead of turning around to block them.


    The two people in front of him had very good lightness skills. Chu Nanping ran very fast even with one person on his shoulder while Tie Linglong, who was more like a light colt, leaped very far every time she jumped, not worrying about the danger ofnding at all.


    ¡°I¡¯m not inferior to you two,¡± Nie Zeng muttered and became even more determined to prove that the ones who had started practicing martial arts earlier might not be better at kung fu than those who startedter.


    Tie Linglong suddenly halted and shed out as fast as lightning.


    This move was out of Nie Zeng¡¯s expectations, but instead of stopping, he leaped forward and also struck out with a blow without trying to defend at all.


    Tie Linglong was taken aback. This kid had average sabersmanship but fought like a desperate gangster, which wasn¡¯t the Dragon King¡¯s style at all.


    She chose to retreat. Then she pulled off the mask and coldly looked at Nie Zeng, ¡°Looks like you¡¯ve been practicing hard these past two years.¡±


    Nie Zeng was stupefied. This wasn¡¯t the green-eyed little girl of his memories, but instead a pretty teenage girl. The only thing that remained unchanged was her cold and arrogant expression, which was just as annoying as before. ¡°Give him back to me.¡±


    Tie Linglong turned to nce at the shaman on Chu Nanping¡¯s shoulder before replying, ¡°We found him first. Why would we give him to you?¡±


    Chu Nanping put down the captive and said, ¡°Either way, we¡¯re going to hand him over to the Dragon King, it¡¯s the same no matter who does it.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not!¡± Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong refuted at the same time. But when Tie Linglong spoke, she revealed a w. Nie Zeng, who was like a sensitive beast, immediately attacked without saying anything.


    But the one who fell was him.


    Although Tie Linglong hadn¡¯t received the full training of the Waning Moon Hall, and her saber techniques hadn¡¯t improved much, she had still mastered a lot of fighting skills which would dazzle even the fully fledged killers of Golden Roc Castle.


    She poked her opponent with the Jueyin Finger Technique, which was a kung fu skill taught to her by Han Wuxian.


    Tie Linglong smilingly looked at her defeated opponent and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t anyone teach you that the saber isn¡¯t the only thing that can kill people? How could a careless person like you be a¡­¡±


    Before she could spit out the word ¡®killer,¡¯ Nie Zeng, who should have been unable to move, suddenly stabbed out.


    Tie Linglong leaped several steps back in an instant. Her reaction was actually fast enough to dodge most of the attack, but she still received a cut on her right arm, the blood gushing out immediately.


    Chu Nanping unsheathed his sword, but Nie Zeng wasn¡¯t able to jump up and fight with him. His acupoint had indeed been stricken. It was only because of the fury that he had been able to wave his arm. His internal Qi, therefore, deviated and started circting backwards, which caused his face to flush red. But he still red at Chu Nanping with extremely fierce eyes.


    Without caring about her bloodstained sleeves, Tie Linglong walked over and said in a low voice, ¡°I¡¯ll kill you.¡±


    Nie Zeng¡¯s fierce eyes turned to Tie Linglong but he didn¡¯t say a word in return.


    Chu Nanping checked Tie Linglong before she did something reckless. ¡°He¡¯s the Dragon King¡¯s man. You can¡¯t kill him. Let me bandage your wound.¡±


    Tie Linglong stared back at Nie Zeng viciously, her green eyes full of killing intent. She allowed Chu Nanping to bandage her arm but also did not say a word.


    She didn¡¯t need to make a move again. Nie Zeng¡¯s face grew redder and redder, and he would probably die of Qi deviation soon.


    ¡°Restore his acupoint,¡± Chu Nanping softly persuaded.


    ¡°He asked for it.¡± Tie Linglong could never behave as cooly as a killer, arguing, ¡°I didn¡¯t intend to kill him. He himself forcibly stabbed at me and caused his internal Qi to flow backward. Do you still think that I should save him?¡±


    ¡°You should save him, otherwise we won¡¯t be exin his death to the Dragon King.¡±


    Tie Linglong knew that Chu Nanping was right, but was still unwilling to do it.


    At this moment, a person emerged from the grass. It seemed that he had been hiding for a long time, but none of the three teenagers had noticed him.


    ¡°I saw the three of you from a distance and it turns out that it really was you guys. Little Chu, how are you doing?¡± Shangguan Fei smilingly asked, not daring to greet the angry-looking Tie Linglong. They were not familiar with each other anyway. ¡°Ehh, isn¡¯t this Nie Zeng? Where¡¯s Hall Leader Han? Where did you leave her?¡±


    Tie Linglong slightly frowned. ¡°Han Wuxian? What does he have anything to do with Han Wuxian?¡±


    As soon as she finished her words, Han Wuxian herself arrived. Dressed in arge ck robe, she glided on the grass like a bird flying through the night. Afternding on the ground, she walked a few steps forward, showing no sign of a foot injury. ¡°So many acquaintances,¡± she said.


    ¡°Hall Leader Han, your ¡®mount¡¯ seems to be suffocating to death,¡± Shangguan Fei kindly reminded.


    Han Wuxian didn¡¯t seem to hear it. She smilingly looked around and then deliberately rested her eyes on Chu Nanping¡¯s face for a while. Suddenly she lifted her hand out from her long sleeve and handed him a string of something. ¡°Hold this for me. How can your skin be so pretty?¡±


    This was the first time Chu Nanping had ever met the Hall Leader of the Waning Moon Hall. He received the item in a daze and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Tie Linglong looked at the string of things in disgust and asked, ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±


    Chu Nanping looked down and said, ¡°¡­ it looks like hair mixed with a bit of scalp.¡±


    Tie Linglong trembled. She had killed people before, but she had never done anything so disgusting.


    Shangguan Yun had followed her. But before he came over, his praise had rung out, ¡°Hall Leader Han is really invincible, easily killing two disciples of the Waning Moon Hall. Even your skills in peeling off scalps are first-ss. I didn¡¯t even see clearly how¡­ Ehh, why are you all stopping here?¡±


    Chu Nanping raised his arm, trying to keep Han Wuxian¡¯s ¡°trophies¡± as far away from him as possible.


    Han Wuxian grabbed Nie Zeng¡¯s belt, pulled him up, and patted him. ¡°You¡¯ll be fine, but why did you remove the chair from your back? Where will I sitter?¡±


    Nie Zeng felt that this was the most humiliating moment of his life. Although the reversed cirction of his internal Qi had been greatly relieved, he could not move for the time being, and he did not want to speak either.


    Everyone seemed to have chosen the same retreating route. Another group of people came running in. The one in the lead was Old Man Mu, holding a stiff person upright in his arms which made him look much taller.


    The two of them were quarrelling as they moved.


    ¡°Put me down, you odious old man.¡± Tu Pianpian felt that this was the most humiliating moment of her life. Her acupoints had been struck and her legs were being held by the greatest enemy of her life, leaving her with no power to fight back.


    ¡°Haha,¡± Old Man Muughed hysterically. ¡°In your dream! I¡¯ll run all the way to the Kongtong Mountain and show your disciples this Old Man¡¯s new humanoid weapon.¡±


    Behind him were Dog Butcher and several disciples of the Kongtong Sect. Dog Butcher wanted to save people, but dared not to get too close. ¡°Old Man Mu, please calm down, and please put down my Senior Sister.¡±


    ¡°Fight! Duel! Whoever wins will get the old woman¡­ Ehh, why are you here, mydy?¡± The second half of Old Man Mu¡¯s words was for Han Wuxian.


    Han Wuxian¡¯s smile suddenly disappeared. ¡°Yourdy is in your arms.¡±


    Old Man Mu immediately threw Tu Pianpian away. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t not take her as mydy even if I were blind. Who¡¯s that in your hand?¡±


    A smile reappeared on Han Wuxian¡¯s face. She lifted Nie Zeng and nced at him, saying, ¡°A handsome teenage killer.¡±


    Dog Butcher rushed forward to catch his Senior Sister to save her some face. He was just about to unseal her acupoints when Tu Pianpian snapped, ¡°Well, you little dog. How dare you help your enemy to oppress me? You are betraying your own sect¡­¡±


    Dog Butcher sighed and handed his Senior Sister who was still stiff to the disciples of the Kongtong Sect and said, ¡°Take good care of her.¡±


    A swarm of soldiers rushed out of the camp. Shangguan Yun coughed and said, ¡°It will be toote if we don¡¯t run away now.¡±


    Han Wuxian was just about to jump up when Tie Linglong anxiously checked her. ¡°This man knows where Han Xuan is.¡± She gestured at the fainted shaman on the ground.


    Han Wuxian threw Nie Zeng away and grabbed the shaman, disappearing into the darkness in just a few jumps.


    Chu Nanping was still holding onto the hair and was at a loss about what to do with it. Tie Linglong said in a low voice, ¡°Throw it away. Do you still want to do a deed of merit for her?¡±


    Chu Nanping let go of the hair and then reached out to help Nie Zeng, but his hand was grabbed by Tie Linglong. The two then also quickly disappeared into the night.


    Shangguan Fei would not fall behind in such matters as fleeing. He took a nce at the disciples of the Kongtong Sect and found that the one who had been hit by him was not dead. Relieved, he immediately ran towards the ce where the horses were hidden.


    One by one, they ran away. The disciples of the Kongtong Sect were not powerful enough in terms of internal energy, and could not unseal their Aunt Master¡¯s acupoints, so they could only run after Old Man Mu under hermands.


    Dog Butcher looked at the empty wilderness and pointed to Nie Zeng who was lying on the ground, shouting, ¡°Hey, don¡¯t you want him?¡±


    The pursuers behind got closer and closer, but Dog Butcher then picked Nie Zeng up andforted him as he ran, saying, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. I¡¯ll protect you.¡±


    Nie Zeng finally smoothed out his internal Qi and jumped to the ground, groping in the grass for his narrow saber while grunting, ¡°I don¡¯t need your protection.¡±


    Dog Butcher nced back at the teenager in surprise and then continued running away without stopping.


    Nie Zeng finally found his saber, but the pursuers were almost in front of him now. Full of anger, he abandoned his killer¡¯s principles and decided to confront the group of horsemen.


    He had to kill people to release all the anger pent up in his heart.


    All of the cavalry in the camp seemed to havee out. Thousands of horses scrambled forward, causing a rumbling sound that shook the ground slightly.


    But before Nie Zeng could get a firm foothold, he was drowned in the swarm of horses.


    No one killed him. He was ignored as if he were a ghost by the living cavalry.


    Nie Zeng twisted and turned to dodge the galloping horses. Then he suddenly came to understand that these horsemen were not chasing but fleeing, and they were more frightened than those who were ahead.


    Someone was shouting something but Nie Zeng didn¡¯t understand. He slowly withdrew from the torrent of cavalry and looked out over the small battalion of the Court Attendants Army.


    The raging mes almost lit up the sky. Thest group of people ran out of the camp was a great crowd of servants. Without horses, they could only run in all directions on foot. Some of them came from the Central ins, shouting while running.


    Nie Zeng finally heard what they said, ¡°The Khan! Devil Bird! Please spare my life!¡±


    The words ¡®The ck horse will perish¡¯ written by Shangguan Fei were exceptionally effective but that was only part of the reason for the panic of the Court Attendants Army.


    Nie Zeng looked up and finally saw the legendary Devil Bird: a huge shadow like the devil¡¯s cloak flew over the fugitives¡¯ head and then shot into the sky.

 Chapter 725 - Whistle

    Chapter 725: Whistle


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Lianqing felt that he had been deceived. The Dragon King had referred to the following as a little ¡®burden¡¯: nearly a hundred prestigiousdies of the Western Regions with an entourage of at least seven hundred people, and a thousand female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance. The monk had to escort thergest group of women in the Nond and cross the prairie.


    Xiao Fengchai felt that she had been fooled. It turned out that the Dragon King had been preparing to send all the women back to the Western Regions, and that she had never needed to make such pretentious pleadings.


    Thedies also felt slighted. It was a good thing to set foot on the road home, but their escorts were only a group of female soldiers and their safety did not feel guaranteed. In their eyes, at least ten thousand horsemen were needed to satisfy their status.


    The Second Consort felt that she had been wrong about the Dragon King yet again. He had always been cautious in the Nond, but this move was a bit reckless. If thedies got robbed on their way back, the Dragon King would be under great pressure in the Western Regions, and she would also lose an important hostage.


    Queen Ju, on the other hand, felt that she had been defeated again by the Dragon King. She had just found a foothold in the Prairie, but was now being forced to return to the Stone Kingdom of the Xiaoyao Lake right away.


    Only the military counselor had given her some sce. Fang Wenshi had passed on an order to treat her with reverence and awe on behalf of the Dragon King, who behaved honestly and not only treated her as a real queen, but also as the most dignified queen in the world. ¡°The situation in the Xiaoyao Lake is unstable. Prime Minister Zhong Heng and Left General Dugu Xian are foreigners, so it¡¯s difficult for them to win popr support of the people. The Dragon King needs a reliable native person to help him and this person can only be you, Your Highness. You have the ability to win the support of the five countries and establish Xiaoyao Lake as the most stable foundation of the Dragon King¡¯s.¡±


    Queen Ju understood that as Princess of the Stone Kingdom, Xiaoyao Lake was the ce where she could most show off her power. What made her ufortable, though, was another woman. The Dragon King had taken the ¡®queen¡¯ and left camp at night, seemingly not wanting to send her off to the Prairie.


    She did not mention it in front of Fang Wenshi. Although the counselor revered her, he was even more loyal to the Dragon King. She epted the Dragon King¡¯s trust in a suitable manner and promised that she wouldn¡¯t disappoint him.


    Fang Wenshi forcibly suppressed his emotions to prevent his sorrow from showing. He did not understand why the noble and beautiful queen couldn¡¯t gain the Dragon King¡¯s favor.


    He gave Queen Ju a letter, through which she would be entitled to participate managing part of Xiaoyao Lake.


    Under Fang Wenshi¡¯s coordination, the team that was nned to withdraw from the Nond finally took shape in the early hours of the morning. Although manyints hade up due to theck of time, the provisions were sufficient and nothing important wascking.


    It was already dawn now, but the team couldn¡¯t set off yet. The Dragon King had not yet returned, and the most important thing was that the Court Attendants Army hade again and were openly challenging them about three miles away from the camp. Many people believed that it was impossible to set out today.


    In the face of the Court Attendants Army¡¯s threat, a small group of people had startedining to each other.


    Shangguan Fei couldn¡¯t remember how many times Old Man Mu had poked him. He was so scared that he hid behind a dozen or so people, but wasn¡¯t able to avoid the other side¡¯s curses. ¡°Little brat, how dare you act on your own without my permission? Why did you write those words? Now we are truly in trouble. When the Dragon Kinges back, he¡¯ll hand you over to the Court Attendants Army. And the problem will be solved after you get dismembered.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s face paled. He didn¡¯t expect that the rumor would grow into such a huge deal. The action, which was supposed to be a stealthy one, had beenpletely seen through by the enemy. He argued for himself in a low voice as if the Dragon King were standing in front of him with a stern look, ¡°I was just following my orders. Who would have known that I was at the small battalion if you guys hadn¡¯t killed anyone and set fire to it?¡±


    Old Man Mu was still cursing and didn¡¯t hear him. Han Wuxian, who was standing besides Shangguan Fei, held her long hair and pointed at him with the tip of the hair, saying, ¡°Aren¡¯t you d that I killed two disciples of the Waning Moon Hall? They camete at night to assassinate the generals of the Court Attendants Army, though they unluckily bumped into me.¡±


    Shangguan Fei raised his hand to cheer. ¡°Everything thates around goes around. It stands to reason that the traitors should die in the Hall Leader¡¯s hands. How could I not be happy?¡±


    Tu Pianpian¡¯s acupoint was finally unsealed, but in the Dragon Army camp, she too had to behave herself and dared not act rashly. She could only re at Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher, wondering which one she should retaliate against first when the opportunity came.


    Dog Butcher did not dare to raise his head, but Old Man Mu did not seem to care. While cursing Shangguan Fei, he winked at Tu Pianpian and stretched out his hand topare his height with hers from time to time. And he was very happy to find that the old woman wasn¡¯t much taller than him.


    Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong were also ring at each other like deadly foes, and asionally one would challenge the other verbally. If they had not been separated by Chu Nanping, they would have already drawn their sabers to fight against each other.


    Only Shangguan Yun behaved as if there was no one else present. But when he looked at the group ready to leave, he kept shaking his head, muttering, ¡°What is the Dragon King thinking? Why does he want to send all the golden roc killers back to the Western Regions? No, I¡¯ll have to ask him myselfter.¡±


    There were still many tasks waiting for the Dragon King to deal with them. Just when the crowd was starting to get entangled in endless quarrels, news came from the front line that said that the Court Attendants Army would not attack for the time being. However, they also demanded the Dragon King to show up immediately.


    ¡°Where the hell is the Dragon King?¡± Old Man Mu used his hand to cover the sun over his brows to look into the distance but was only able to see a bunch of legs. So he jumped onto a horse and looked out again. ¡°That¡¯s not right. How could the Dragon King have stayed out all night with the good girl? He¡¯s going too far. And that Silver Condor or Mo Lin, I don¡¯t believe him at all. s, I¡¯m afraid that the Dragon King has been plotted against. Fortunately, he had the good girl with him and it was not a bad ending for him. But now we are all miserable¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu continued to babble as he looked around, but the first to find the returning members was not him. Red Bat pointed to the camp gate and cried out, ¡°The instructor is back!¡±


    Shangguan Ru wasn¡¯t alone. There were more than two hundred horsemen following behind her all dressed in different garments from different groups. Instead of an army, it seemed more like a rabble. And the Dragon King was not among them.


    The fighting spirit of the deserters and the civilians had all been stirred up, and they had given up escaping and instead volunteered to follow the Dragon King.


    Shangguan Ru nced at the crowd and gave an order to Red Bat. ¡°Get ready to go.¡±


    ¡°Will the instructore with us?¡± Red Bat asked in pleasant surprise.


    Shangguan Ru nodded.


    The order aroused a great deal of discontent and indignation. Some feared the Court Attendants Army outside, while others worried about the long journey ahead, and finally some even suddenly remembered that they had not packed all their belongings.


    Queen Ju was the first to board the carriage with Xu Yanwei¡¯s help. The ranting finally ended. Everything thought the same thing: The Dragon King must have a n and he would not let his queen take such risks.


    ¡°Good girl¡­ So we¡¯re just going like this?¡± Old Man Mu was stupefied. He always thought that the Dragon King would let Shangguan Ru stay.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to go with me. Stay with the Dragon King and protect him for me.¡±


    ¡°Seriously?¡± Old Man Mu found that he was showing his happiness too obviously, so he quickly put on a look of hesitation and said, ¡°I¡¯m a bit worried about the good girl traveling alone.¡±


    ¡°Who says I¡¯ll be alone? I have two thousand people with me.¡±


    Old Man Mu immediately put on a serious look. ¡°I know what the good girl means. As long as you ask me to stay, I¡¯ll stay and I won¡¯t even let the Dragon King lose a hair¡­ Uh, I won¡¯t let the Dragon King lose his life and I promise to bring him back to you intact.¡± It suddenly urred to him that the Dragon King was often injured and that his assurance should not be too strict.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the Dragon King?¡± Xu Yanwei asked. Even if the sky was about to fall, the first thing she would always think of was that the Dragon King should see her women off in person.


    ¡°He .. he¡¯s still at the front line.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had gone straight to the front line with Mo Lin. He had already learned everything from Shulitu and others. Shangguan Fei and Old Man Mu were more efficient than he thought, but it didn¡¯t matter. With a group of deserters and civilians, he had killed more than fifty soldiers of the Court Attendants Armyst night and the remaining survivors had all fled. He had been recognized as soon as he made a move, and such an open challenge would definitely provoke a retaliation.


    ¡°The ck horse will perish.¡± These words had finally spread far and were in a brewing stage; the final result was very difficult to predict.


    The soldiers in the front line were whispering while on horseback. When Gu Shenwei walked through the procession, he found that he was receiving more attention than usual.


    There was both doubt and awe in their eyes.


    ¡°The Devil Bird has appeared,¡± Shulitu quietly said. The officers around him were a bit nervous but he himself appeared quite calm. ¡°It attacked a small battalion of the Court Attendants Army.¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked up at the sky, clear and cloudless. The sunlight was dazzling but there was no ck spot soaring through the sky. More and more rumors about the Devil Bird wereing out, but he still wasn¡¯t sure if it really was the red-crowned roc.


    The messenger of the Court Attendants Army came again, and this time he asked directly to speak with the Dragon King. ¡°The Great Shaman invites the Dragon King toe out and have a talk.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Gu Shenwei agreed. When the messenger left, he said to Shulitu, ¡°I want to say a few words.¡±


    Shulitu nodded and rode a few paces forward side by side with the Dragon King before he turned around and faced the tens of thousands of nervous soldiers.


    Now was the time when rumors abounded. The words ¡®The ck horse will perish¡¯ had already spread far and wide. Some believed that this was a revtion of the Khan while others believed that it was a part of the Dragon King¡¯s plot. The Devil Bird that had attacked the camp at night had also aroused fear, dislike, worship and many other feelings.


    A slip of the tongue might let out some sparks and ignite a mass of dry grass and lead to devastating consequences.


    Gu Shenwei looked first at Azheba and his fellow officers who supported him with firmness and didn¡¯t really believe in ghosts. Then his eyes turned to therge number of soldiers. These people had no definite views of their own, and they habitually obeyed the orders of their superiors. They respected Shulitu because of his bloodline, but vacited between denial and eptance of the Dragon King.


    Foreigner, killer, conspiracy, Devil Bird ownder, and a lord that protected his subordinates. The Devil Bird was shrouded in ayer of mystery which made the soldiers feel like they were at a loss for what to do.


    Gu Shenwei drew his own saber and sword, held them high above his head, and crossed the two. Then he exerted his internal energy to make his voice spread further. Even the Court Attendants Army on the other side could vaguely hear him say, ¡°I am the Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks. The red-crowned roc is my guardian. It¡¯s not a devil bird, and nor does it perform evil deeds. The Great Shaman is acting against Heaven and is falsely preaching the will of the Khan. I, the Dragon King, will enforce justice on behalf of Heaven. ¡±


    Gu Shenwei put down his arms, raised his head, and whistled. It was a peculiar whistle, not quite the like the shrieking whistling of the Nond Cavalry, and neither was it like the heavy humming sound that often came from the chests of the swordsman of Big Snow Mountain, but rather something between the two. It was more rhythmical like a battle song, a call, or a prayer.


    The thirty thousand horsemen were all terrified, and even the officers were filled with apprehension.


    At the Dragon King¡¯s side, Shulitu¡¯s horse nervously raised its forelegs and almost shook off its master. Shulitu grew afraid for the first time. The Dragon King was risking his life, and his words were very likely to trigger a major mutiny.


    On the other side, the gs of the Court Attendants Army swayed violently like a gust of wind had swept across the prairie. The shamans, who had ridden forwards a dozen or so paces, all halted their horses and looked up at the sky in trepidation.


    In fact, everyone was looking up.


    But there was still no ck spot in the sky.

 Chapter 726 - Cutting the Flagpole

    Chapter 726: <em>Cutting the gpole</em>


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shulitu was greatly shocked.


    Compared to most people in the Nond, he had read many books and received a short but excellent education. He knew how to use his status to win the hearts of the people with a carrot-and-stick approach. However, the Dragon King¡¯s risky move was quite beyond his understanding.


    The Dragon King was trying to turn fear and doubt into awe and obedience, but his opponents this time were the minds of tens of thousands of people.


    When he looked at the thousands of indecisive nces, Shulitu felt as if he were standing next to a newly captured beast, an untamed animal that conveyed its deep hostility though silence, ready to open its mouth and tear anyone approaching it into pieces at any given moment.


    Among the thirty or so thousands of horsemen, there were several thousand soldiers that had been left to him by his grandfather and father. But even with this group of people, Shulitu felt that they were unfamiliar and had little faith in their loyalty, not to mention the soldiers from other groups, which only made him more vignt.


    It was exactly this group of soldiers who firmly believed that the Khan had ascended to heaven as the Fire God and that it was his ascension that was causing the Devil Bird to wreak havoc in the prairie.


    Shulitu did not even dare to touch this topic for fear of causing unnecessary anger to engulf him. He hoped that time would alleviate the superstitions of the soldiers and that the soldiers would slowly transfer their deification of the Khan to him.


    But the Dragon King broke this rule. Not only had he raised a controversial issue in public, but he had also tried to change the people¡¯s mind, shifting the image of the huge bird that everyone feared from ¡®devil¡¯ to ¡®god.¡¯


    Shulitu had never been so nervous in his life before. As he gripped the reins, he looked up at the sky like those dazed soldiers, fearing that the Devil Bird¡¯sing would arouse the anger of the masses, and also hoping that it would soon fall from the sky to conquer the heart of the soldiers.


    But no bird came. The confrontation of the two armies had scared away any and all birds and animals nearby long ago.


    In fact, no one really understood the meaning of the Dragon King¡¯s strange whistle. They had simply assumed that it was connected to the Devil Bird.


    As the whistle died down, the Dragon King urged his horse to trot to the shamans opposite him.


    Shulitu thought that he didn¡¯t have to follow the Dragon King over there. He had to admit that truthfully, he was still only twelve years old and couldn¡¯t keep hisposure in such a situation. The knowledge he had gleaned from his books was not enough to cope with the current situation.


    A small group of soldiers rode forth to catch up with the Dragon King. One of them carried a standard with a ck g patterned with a red raven, the symbol of the Dragon Army.


    Long Fanyun and the other swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain had heard the whistle before. When the Dragon King was trying to unify the Five Peaks, he had repeatedly whistled like this to summon the red-crowned roc to subdue the residents of the snow mountain.


    Unlike the Nond people, however, although the swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain feared the roc, they also respected it more and regarded it as a messenger of God.


    Therefore, when the Dragon King¡¯s whistle ceased and the roc did not appear, the swordsmen felt that it was actually a call to them.


    Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t expected the roc to appear immediately. He just wanted to create a mysterious and tense atmosphere, which would be better for what he was about to do next.


    As he expected, several shamans seemed to have fallen into a panic in front of the two armies. The Great Shaman lost his cool and even wanted to ride back into the army. But after realizing that there was no dangering from the sky, he finally stopped his horse and wheeled around. Though, he still did not dare stray too far away from the guards behind him.


    For a group of men who had just seized the military under the banner of the Khan, it was a grave mistake to show clear signs of cowardice.


    Gu Shenwei was no stranger to the strategy of purposely making a mystery out of simple things, and he had benefited a lot from it. Meanwhile, he was well aware of its limitations. It could be used to quickly conquer people¡¯s hearts, but would never be able to sustain it.


    It was benefits that could do that; all kinds of benefits acted as a slower, but moresting means of convincing and controlling people.


    The calmness of themander was also a benefit, as it implied responsibility and protection, which was rted to the life and death of his soldiers.


    This was why he had promised the Golden Roc Castle to the people of the Big Snow Mountain and melded his revenge with that of the swordsmen. That was also why he had to maintain the image of the Dragon King at all times and never show the slightest sign of fear.


    How could a man blessed by Heaven¡¯s will show cowardice before a mortal force?


    The shamans had made a serious mistake, and Gu Shenwei decided to seize this rare opportunity.


    Gu Shenwei, together with the forty swordsmen, finally met the Great Shaman and his followers after galloping more than 70% of the distance between the two armies.


    This was yet another hint.


    The Great Shaman, who had already recovered from his panic and be exasperated, spread his arms like a flightless decrepit bird and said in an indistinct, gruff voice, ¡°The Devil Bird has possessed this young man, and the foreigner has betrayed the Khan¡¯s trust.¡±


    Then he turned his horse around and faced therge ck Horse embroidered g. With his eyes closed, he started chanting in a low voice.


    The Great Shaman was delivering a ¡®decree from Heaven¡¯ while a young shaman was responsible for tranting the usation on the Dragon King into mortalnguage. ¡°The Khan is looking down from the heavens. Dragon King, your trick has already been seen through. How dare you send someone to paint heresy and assassinate generals in the camps of the Court Attendants Army. Hand over the criminals and the Court Attendants Army may deign to spare your life.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was very close to the Court Attendants Army now. As he looked past the shamans and hundreds of guards, he could even see clearly the nkness and panic on the faces of the ordinary soldiers, all of whom looked exactly the 30,000 or so horsemen of Shulitu¡¯s.


    The shamans wanted the Dragon King to hand over the criminals and confess his tricks because they couldn¡¯t quite convince the soldiers to believe them. The prophecy they had seen in the mes, as well as the appearance of the mysterious giant birdter, all had a tremendous effect on the Court Attendants Army. No matter how abundant the proof was, the soldiers still believed these were miracles caused by the Khan.


    So thest resort of the Great Shaman was to get the Dragon King to confess in public.


    ¡°No more deceitful tricks,¡± ordered Gu Shenwei, his voice towering above the chanting of the Great Shaman. ¡°You are not qualified to mention the Khan.¡±


    Seeing that he could no longer continue praying, the Great Shaman simply jumped off of his horse. As he stared at the Dragon King, he raised his arms and snapped quickly, his voice so hoarse that the people around him could hardly hear him clearly. ¡°The Khan has endowed me with divine power. He wants to see the death of the traitor through my eyes. Court Attendants, follow the orders of the Khan, and prepare to release your arrows.¡±


    The other shamans jumped off of their horses too. With their arms raised, the feathers on their bodies rattled. They were likerge flightless birds.


    A dozen paces away, nearly a hundred guards nocked their arrows first, with the 100,000 soldiers behind following smoothly. Once they fired out randomly, not only would the Dragon King and the swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain die, but the shamans who were close to each other would also die.


    The Great Shaman had to use this method to prove that he was the one who was truly blessed by Heaven¡¯s will.


    The soldiers¡¯ arrows were pointed at the ground, waiting for the order to fire.


    The young shaman felt that there was no need to issue the order, as the Dragon King would surrender before that. ¡°The Khan will protect us from death. Dragon King, do you dare face the wrath of the Fire God? Get off of your horse and on your knees! Confess to your sins and conspiracies.¡±


    Gu Shenwei dismounted but didn¡¯t kneel. Instead, he drew his Five Peaks Saber and said, ¡°Let the facts prove which side the Khan stands on.¡±


    The young shaman did not understand what he meant. It was toote when he finally realized it.


    Gu Shenwei threw the head high into the air to attract everyone¡¯s attention, and then suddenly jumped onto the gpole of the ck Horse g.


    The ck Horse g was so big and heavy that it had to be carried by two horses. Gu Shenwei was as nimble as a monkey; he leaped to the top of the gpole in the blink of an eye, caught the head falling towards him, and then stood on top of the pole with one foot.


    ¡°Fire! Fire!¡± The Great Shaman shouted desperately.


    Some raised their bows and arrows but soon put them down again because most of the soldiers had remained motionless. Heart thumping, they all looked up at the Dragon King with rapt fascination, feeling that something was about to happen.


    ¡°The Khan didn¡¯t protect him.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s voice projected even further than usual. He threw the young shaman¡¯s head to the Court Attendants Army as he continued, ¡°The Khan has ascended to heaven, so how could he have left his ck horse in the mortal world?¡±


    Gu Shenwei jumped from the top of the gpole which was dozens of feet high above the ground, causing a burst of exmation.


    After falling for seven or eight feet, he cut the gpole apart, which was as thick as the rim of a bowl, and the huge g fell down with him.


    ¡°Fire!¡± The Great Shaman was furious, ¡°The Khanmands you to release your arrows!¡±


    The Khan didn¡¯t protect the young shaman who imed to be deathless, nor did he protect the iconic ck Horse g. Many soldiers of the Court Attendants Army did not even hear the shout of the Great Shaman. All their attention was focused on the Dragon King and their hearts fell as he fell, almost to the point of obsession. And the hands drawing their bows loosened.


    As he descended, Gu Shenwei pressed the hilt of the saber against the gpole from time to time to slow down. The two horses below had been strictly trained to ignore any changes to the pole they were carrying.


    He and the ck Horse gnded at almost the exact same time, one on the left and the other on the right.


    The human heart was a wonderful thing. In the face of an individual, one could never know what the other side was thinking. But if thousands of people gathered together, their minds would be as clear as a mountain stream, but only those who had the courage and skill to see through it.


    Gu Shenwei was undaunted. He had circumvented all the obstacles and was now fast approaching the giant heart. He was able to speak directly with it and observe its every beat.


    There were five shamans left who huddled together.


    The Great Shaman stared at the guards not far away, his hoarse voice full of anger and despair. ¡°Release the arrows, or you and your family shall go to hell after you die, never leaving the cycle of reincarnation!¡±


    Three arrows were hesitantly shot at the Dragon King, weak but urate.


    Gu Shenwei immediately felt the shift in the people¡¯s mind. The three arrows themselves were not a threat but a temptation. If he let them lead the way, then all his previous achievements would vanish in the blink of an eye.


    He quickly put away the Five Peaks Saber, gently waved his arm and grabbed the flying arrows. Then he casually threw two arrows at the crowded shamans.


    Two shamans fell.


    ¡°The Khan still didn¡¯t protect them,¡± Gu Shenwei announced loudly and then threw out the third arrow.


    This time it was arimed at the Great Shaman.


    The Great Shaman wasn¡¯t dead. Although he was frightened, he wasn¡¯t dead.


    After recognizing the hint in the Dragon King¡¯s eyes, Long Fanyun jumped off of his horse, walked to the Great Shaman, grabbed the feathers on him, and shook it twice. ¡°Metal te, it¡¯s all made from metal te. That¡¯s his ¡®guardian.''¡±


    The Great Shaman broke free of Long Fanyun¡¯s grip, stooped down, raised his bony hand high in the air, and almost howled with tears, ¡°Khan, the god of Heaven and lord of fire, please forgive your soldiers. They¡¯ve been bewitched by the devil. Please exert your divine power and smite the enemy and destroy the Devil Bird¡­¡±


    The Devil Bird suddenly descended from the sky like a meteorite.


    No one noticed where it came from.


    The red-crowned rded in front of Gu Shenwei, spreading its wings to the utmost and jumping around merrily. The Great Shaman had beenpletely overshadowed by the roc¡¯s stature.

 Chapter 727 - Divine Bird

    Chapter 727: Divine Bird


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Ru nced back as she was riding away and happened to see the roc fall from the sky. Even from afar, it was still a magnificent sight to behold.


    ¡®It¡¯s really an ominous sign that my father killed the two rocs,¡¯ she thought. And she had actually been the instigator behind it. Now, she had really became the ¡®aplice¡¯ behind the destruction of Golden Roc Castle.


    A deep sense of predestination filled her, which diluted her mncholy that came from parting ways and her uncertainty towards the future. At that moment, she thought that the Dragon King¡¯s decision really was wise and that the secluded Land of Fragrance was the best ce for her to rest.


    Red Bat. who was riding side by side with the instructor,ined, ¡°Why was the Dragon King so anxious to send us away? Does he think that the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance cannot fight?¡±


    Shangguan Ru smiled. She had experienced so much betrayal that she sometimes neglected the shows of loyalty around her. ¡°The Nond is in chaos now and the Western Regions will also soon be a dangerous ce. The Dragon King is hoping that we can return to the Land of Fragrance while the journey is still safe.¡±


    Red Bat¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°And then we¡¯ll march out and join hands with the Dragon King to nk and conquer Golden Roc Castle, right?¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± Shangguan Ru knew that that scenario was almost impossible.


    Red Bat, who had just regained her power, was eager to fight. ¡°Maybe we can fight against Golden Roc Castle when we pass through the Thousand Horsemen Pass. And we won¡¯t be afraid even if there are only a thousand of us.¡±


    Shangguan Ru shook her head and said, ¡°The Dragon King has kept Third Brother with him and ordered the golden roc killers to go with us. He¡¯s actually threatening Golden Roc Castle through these measures, so there will be no fighting.¡±


    Red Bat had gotten used to the idea that Golden Roc Castle was an enemy and always forgot that the instructor was actually the Unique King¡¯s daughter. It took her a while to realize that ¡®Third Brother¡¯ was actually referring to Shangguan Yun. Then she fell silent and thought that she might have identally said something wrong.


    Shangguan Ru slightly bent over and nced at Red Bat, then consoled, ¡°Just rest assured. I¡¯ll let you be the messenger, and you¡¯ll always have the chance to see that Big Snow Mountain swordsman again.¡±


    Red Bat blushed, raised her head and said with pride, ¡°He doesn¡¯t want to betray his wife in the Big Snow Mountain. So I told him that I would wait for him even if I were seventy or eighty years old.¡±


    Red Bat was usually very bold, but what she said still surprised Shangguan Ru. ¡°Long Fanyun is a good man.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Red Bat smilingly replied.


    There were signs of amotioning from the front of the troops in the distance, but it was not indicative of a battle. Shangguan Ru turned the horse¡¯s head and continued on her way. Although the future remained murky, she did not want to just wait here passively.


    A few carriages ahead, Queen Ju dropped the curtain. The ¡®Queen¡¯ of the Land of Fragrance had also left the Nond, which made her feel a bit relieved, but not yetpletely at ease.


    Xu Yanweiined in a low voice, ¡°The Dragon King is so heartless that he didn¡¯t even send us off. It¡¯s as if we are all burdens and can be driven away whenever he desires it.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is not as heartless as you say,¡± Queen Ju said as she leaned against the pillow. She hated this boring journey. This was the second time that she returned to her homnd from afar, but this time she had quite a different mindset. She had been a puppet the first time, and the only thing she possessed was her bloodline. This time, she was still a puppet but she had gained a possibility of obtaining some real power.


    Although they were not yet out of sight, none of the women were able to influence the Dragon King anymore.


    Gu Shenwei had nned to defeat the Court Attendants Army step by step, but the process was dramatically sped up since an opportunity hade ahead of time. It was a big risk. If the shamans were more experienced or the soldiers more defiant, he would have suffered a crushing defeat.


    But the 100,000 horsemen of the Court Attendants Army hadid down their bows and arrows and bowed to the Dragon King and the red-crowned roc.


    The roc had grown tallerpared tost time, the feathers on top of its head and its eyes had be a dazzlingly red, and the feathers all over its body now glowed ck in the sunlight.


    This was an incredible creature; it was dignified, proud, and awe-inspiring, but not like a devil in any sense.


    The forty or so swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain knelt down on one leg in front of it like they were paying their respects to a king.


    The roc seemed to still remember these people. It jumped over the Great Shaman¡¯s head and shook its head hard to ept the worship before it jumped to the Dragon King and folded its wings.


    Instead of pecking Gu Shenwei carelessly as it did when it was little, it gently rubbed its sharp beak on the man¡¯s shoulder.


    Gu Shenwei drew his saber and pointed at the Great Shaman who had copsed on the ground by now, then said, ¡°Now you can clearly see his true face. This is the divine punishment for abusing the Khan¡¯s title.¡±


    The Great Shaman broke down. ¡°Please spare my life. I¡¯m a liar and I¡¯ve never received any decree from the Khan. It¡¯s her, it¡¯s all because of her¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei winked, and Long Fanyun immediately pressed down upon the Great Shaman with several swordsmen and turned him into a prisoner.


    Shulitu arrived with several officers and stared at the red-crowned roc in amazement, but he dared not get too close to it.


    Gu Shenwei loudly said, ¡°The old Khan has ascended to heaven but the new Khan has not ascended to his throne yet. Thus, the Court Attendants Army has no lord to serve at the moment. I present to you now the great-grandson of the Khan who has already inherited the titles of King Riying, King Riyao, and King Kuari. All of you shall pledge loyalty to him.¡±


    The response of the Court Attendants Army was a whistling sound. It slowly grew from weak to strong and from low to high, which sounded a bit frightening but was actually Nond Cavalry¡¯s way of expressing their approval.


    Shulitu was still in shock, but he knew what to do. He jumped off of his restless horse and walked slowly towards the red-crowned roc, approaching that alluring but dangerous source of power.


    The red-crowned roc coldly stared at the little man walking towards it.


    Even Gu Shenwei could not order it to do or not do anything. During its stay at Big Snow Mountain, it had learned to live in harmony with humans and had rarely injured anyone since then. However, it had never once lowered its vignce towards human beings.


    When he walked within ten paces of the roc, Shulitu felt a strong hostility lock onto him. It was like as if there was an invisible wall which made it hard for him to take even a single step forward. He slowly took off his helmet and saber, and then carefully ced them on the ground before he steeled his heart and continued moving forward.


    The hostility disappeared. The red-crowned roc looked away and started grooming its feathers with its long sharp beak, asionally patting Gu Shenwei¡¯s back with its wings as if it were testing how strong he was.


    It was true that not many people could bear its pats.


    Not daring to stand too close to the roc, Shulitu stood besides the Dragon King and raised his right arm to ept the protection of the divine bird and share in its power.


    The whistling of the Court Attendants Army became more and more intense. The roc raised its head and suddenly pped its wings and shot into the sky, circling the area at a low altitude before returning to Gu Shenwei¡¯s side.


    The two opposing armies roared at the same time.


    By the time Gu Shenwei had put everything in order, the female soldiers were long gone.


    The red-crowned roc received special treatment. As it jumped and walked awkwardly into the camp, a swarm of people knelt and kowtowed to it. Old Man Mu tried to stroke its feathers casually, but was pushed back dozens of paces by a single p of its wings. Since then, no one dared to approach within ten paces of it.


    It wasn¡¯t as tall and big as the legends told but after seeing it, nobody, from the generals to the servants, believed that it was a devil bird that hade to destroy the prairie.


    The Dragon King¡¯s reputation in the Prairie had peaked. He had finally found a foothold in this strangend and felt a sense of security, which used toe from the thousands of swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain.


    Fang Wenshi didn¡¯t agree with the Dragon King¡¯s risky move at all, but he was more excited than anyone else about the great victory that the Dragon King had just won. ¡°The Divine Bird appeared at just the right time. The Dragon King must have arranged everything beforehand, right? Hehe, but if this kind of situation is to ur again in the future, could you let me know in advance¡­¡±


    The counselor was also the first to calm his excitement and offer sober advice to the Dragon King. The two then quickly issued a series of orders under Shulitu¡¯s name. With the Court Attendants Army joining them, the power bnce of the Royal Court had beenpletely broken, and they had to take advantage of the opportunity to destroy their enemies as soon as possible.


    Shulitu watched from nearby, rarely interrupting. He was starting to take the Dragon King seriously, hoping to learn something from this foreigner. Even if certain orders seemed unnecessary to him, Shulitu did not express an opinion and instead carefully considered the reasons behind them.


    Gradually, he came to understand the Dragon King and the Counselor¡¯s intentions, and it caused him to suddenly shudder


    ¡®My father may not have done this,¡¯ Shulitu thought as he made aparison in his heart. ¡®But my grandpas would have probably done the same thing as the Dragon King.¡¯ He wasn¡¯t familiar with his great-grandfather, the Khan. But if the rumors were true, then the Khan was even more ruthless than the Dragon King.


    The orders were carried out one by one. Fang Wenshi took his leave, though Gu Shenwei was still standing in front of the table, staring at a simple map. All of a sudden, he raised his head and said to his puppet, ¡°What do you want to say?¡±


    Unlike his grandad and grandpa, the Dragon King always encouraged those around him to speak up even though he himself was a man of few words. Shulitu, who was not used to it, awkwardly looked down at his knees, ¡°I wonder if there¡¯s a better way to deal with the hundred thousand Court Attendants.¡±


    ¡°You have an idea?¡±


    Shulitu shook his head and said, ¡°My grandad and grandpa once told me that it was eptable for subordinates to make mistakes and behave disrespectfully and unruly, but resistance was never allowed. That was a bottom line, and the line would be meaningless if transgressors were not punished properly.¡±


    He paused for a while as he suddenly felt that he wasn¡¯t qualified to preach to the Dragon King. Instead, Gu Shenwei praised him, saying, ¡°King Rizhu was quite skillful atmanding his soldiers. Amongst all the kings, his subordinates were the most faithful.¡±


    Shulitu revealed a rare smile. ¡°But I was thinking that since the Dragon King has the roc and also has a high prestige among the soldiers, he might create a miracle.¡±


    ¡°There are no miracles in this world,¡± Gu Shenwei patiently exined to the young puppet, believing that the other side would one day be an ally who could act on his own. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the roc to really answer my call. I wasn¡¯t even sure if it was really in the Royal Court. That was just a surprise, not a miracle. The soldiers felt overwhelmed and didn¡¯t know who they should fight for. They needed instruction from Heaven¡¯s Will, so I gave them the Will of Heaven.¡±


    ¡°Like the Great Shaman?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, simr. But I think I did it better than him.¡±


    Shulitu smiled. ¡°Much better. Compared to the Dragon King, the Great Shaman was like a crown who could barely juggle.¡±


    ¡°If possible, I hope to never use such tactics. But when thingse to a head, it¡¯s no longer up to me.¡±


    Shulitu understood that that was it. ¡°So the 100,000 Court Attendants must be destroyed.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    One hundred thousand people! Shulitu¡¯s heart trembled at the thought.


    Gu Shenwei was not as calm as he looked. He had never decided the fate of so many people before.

 Chapter 728 - Doubts

    Chapter 728: Doubts


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    On the first day of the chaotic war ¡ª


    The Dragon King issued a decree, demanding that all the remaining kings surrender, abdicate from their imperial titles, and wait for the new Khan¡¯s inauguration. Of course, such a rude and tyrannical order received no approval, and war broke out right that afternoon.


    To distinguish it from the tangled warfare that had started the night the old Khan died, this second war was named the ¡°One Month War,¡± to indicate that it started exactly a month after the Khan¡¯s death.


    The Court Attendants Army had been reorganized into ten contingents of 10,000 troops each. Half of them were sent to clear the ruins of the Royal Court, while the other half marched forward, each in different directions, the furthest target being hundreds of miles away.


    The 30,000 cavalrymen of Shulitu were also sent to the battlefield of the Royal Court as the army reserve.


    On the other side, the surviving kings had immediately fled to King Shengri for shelter, holding a banner of the ¡°Five Kings¡± with troops numbering around 50,000 to 60,000 strong.


    The Court Attendants Army disyed great strength, but they also exposed the immaturity of their newly-promoted officers. They defeated enemies of simr numbers with thousands of casualties, and it was not until the 30,000 reserve armyunched an attack after dark that they finally annihted the enemy.


    Gu Shenwei watched the battle, but didn¡¯t take part. Throughout it all, the giant red-crowned roc stood beside him,unching a wild assault with each take-off.


    The victory was not a decisive one. Although King Shengri¡¯s army was forced into one retreat after another, abandoning their major camp near the ruins, and re-encamping tens of miles away, they still numbered tens of thousands.


    Eventually, under Shulitu¡¯s name, the Dragon King took over the entire Royal Court. Large numbers of corpses appeared in the ruins. Gu Shenwei had to try very hard to stop the giant roc from pecking out the eyeballs of those dead bodies.


    After returning to the camp, Shulitu became much quieter than usual. He took off his armor and took his leave very early. He had heard far more intense war stories from others and had also seen them described in books, but words and thoughts, no matter however vivid and rich they were, could not possiblypare to the gory reality.


    He needed time to ept all this.


    Fang Wenshi didn¡¯t witness the battle. He had found himself an excuse: I¡¯m an adviser, which makes it highly inappropriate for me to see too much blood. And that¡¯s because both fear and sympathy may cloud my judgement in the future.


    But he said that Dragon King and Shulitu must be on the battlefield, and he had a different theory for that as well. Rulers must be ruthless. How can they rule a nation if they can¡¯t handle a few scenes of death?


    Fang Wenshi was satisfied with the results of the battle, saying, ¡°King Shengri is about to lose. Winning this battle in Royal Court has given us the absolute initiative. With just one more victory tomorrow, all of the kings will undoubtedly surrender themselves to us.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t fight tomorrow,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    ¡°Why now?¡± Fang Wenshi was a little surprised, ¡°If King Shengri refuses to fight us, then we can have the Court Attendants Army lead the attack. They¡¯re yearning for a fight, which is perfect.¡±


    ¡°King Shengri will hold his ground. Besides, our troops need rest.¡±


    Fang Wenshi became even more surprised. Although he could tell that there was something going on beneath the surface, he trusted the Dragon King¡¯s judgement. ¡°Isn¡¯t it better this way?¡±


    A tired army attacking a scared one was the perfect setup for a pyrrhic victory.


    ¡°You don¡¯t want the whole army to question your leadership, do you?¡±


    ¡°No, of course not.¡± Fang Wenshi hesitated for a moment, then said, ¡°Well, taking a break for a day or two might be nice as well. ¡°Dragon King, you won¡¯t¡­ change your mind, will you? I know that this is tough for you. You¡¯re used to being known for your reputation of protecting your men with even your own life, and yet now¡­ ¡±


    ¡°We will rest for two days and then resume the attack. Any news from the southeast?¡±


    ¡°Not for now. But I think that it¡¯s almost time. We need to finish this as soon as possible.¡±


    The armies in the Royal Court were only a part of the Nond¡¯s military strength, not even a majority of it. The main forces were deployed at the southeast frontier, always ready for a final battle against the Central ins.


    Ever since the death of the old Khan, the situation at the frontier regions had always been a matter of great concern. But now that a month had passed by, and there was still barely any newsing in. Gu Shenwei only knew that the riots there were ring up, but the final winner to reap all the benefit still remained unknown.


    Fang Wenshi retreated. He had barely stepped out of the tent when he saw a small group of people heading towards him, but they passed by him as if he didn¡¯t exist. He thought for a while and then tried followed them inside the tent, but was abrasively asked to leave by two officers.


    The group numbered eleven in total, and had the Second Consort as their leader. The followers were all young officers, among whom were included Azheba and Liman who was promoted recently.


    Gu Shenwei intended to reorganize his troops, so he had forcefullybined several camps into a single major one. The Second Consort¡¯s camp was at the center, surrounded by the others like a central camp.


    Seeing these people, Gu Shenwei had a vague conjecture of their purpose.


    The officers bowed to Dragon King respectfully, but the Second Consort, unlike usual, stood arrogantly.


    She was discontented by the ultimatum issued by Dragon King. Much as she would like to see the kings surrender and prostrate themselves, there was another result she would enjoy more. ¡°It seems like the Dragon King¡¯s almost forgot about Prince Duodun.¡¯


    These eleven people were the backbone of Duodun¡¯s military strength in Royal Court, and the first group who had taken the Dragon King¡¯s side.


    ¡°It¡¯s not the right time yet.¡± Standing before the desk, Gu Shenwei answered Second Consort¡¯s question with just six words.


    ¡°Then when will you think that it is the right time? The kings are about to lose the war, so now is the perfect time to demand their acknowledge of Prince Duodun¡¯s imperial identity as Khan. If we don¡¯t do this right now, I¡¯m afraid that there won¡¯t ever be a better chance.¡±


    Second Consort had under-performed. After handing over her cavalry force, she seemed to have been deprived of her confidence, along with her unique, bold, and forthright temperament.


    Khan¡¯sments about her suddenly urred to Gu Shenwei: Her falling in love with prince Duodun was in of itself a punishment for her.


    In a gentler tone, Gu Shenwei attentively exined, ¡°The Royal Court is merely a minor battlefield, while the whole grasnd is the real stage. The chaotic situation has probably already ended in the southeast frontier region, from where a real, powerful enemy will arise. He, not the kings, will be the best opportunity for Duodun. Only the sole descendant of Khan who wins the final war will indisputably be the new Khan. The temporary acknowledgement of the kings is irrelevant.¡±


    Eyes narrowing slightly, the Second Consort was obviously mulling over the Dragon King¡¯s words. ¡°And then you will hand your army over to Duodun?¡±


    ¡°If we don¡¯t make an alliance, then none of us will be a match for the strong enemy emerging from the southeast.¡±


    ¡°Nheless¡­ I think that it¡¯s necessary to inform the troops of the existence of Prince Duodun. We can¡¯t just order them to pledge loyalties to a differentmander for no good reason someday in the future.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes swept through the faces of the eleven people in front of him. ¡®I¡¯ve only met Prince Duodun, once and I barely got to know him. I ced my faith in him because of you all. So, if he is, like you said, truly eligible to be a Khan, then under no circumstances will he have achieved nothing.¡±


    Just like the southeast frontier, there were very few messages from the Western Region. Nobody knew whether the more than 100,000 strong cavalry was still under Duodun¡¯smand.


    The Second Consort narrowed her eyes even more, and her wariness of Dragon King red up.


    Liman was the first one among the ten officers to step forward. He said, ¡°I think that the Dragon King has a point. We are not giving Prince Duodun a free army. He himself is capable of winning the loyalty of the grasnd cavalry. In no case would he be defeated by a ten-year-old.¡±


    ¡°What concerns me is that the opponents he will have to face in the future will not merely be children,¡± Second Consort retorted as she stared at Dragon King. The situation had changed too fast. With the giant rocing from out of nowhere, the Dragon King seemed to have suddenly cultivated some kind of divinity in himself, which made her feel rmingly threatened.


    Only descendants of Khan could be the rightful heir of the throne, but with supernatural power and the banner of the previous Khan, who knew how many tricks Dragon King would be able to y and how much more admiration he would actually win?


    ¡°I believe that the kid is totally iparable with Prince Duodun. How much faith do you have in him after all?¡±


    ¡°Prince Duodun is indisputably the most valiant and intelligent man in the whole grasnds,¡± an officer said before the former one could even finish his sentence.


    ¡°Then what do you all have to worry about?¡± Gu Shenwei used ¡°you all¡± in each of his replies, but his eyes had been starting straight at the Second Consort the whole time.


    All of a sudden, the Second Consort broke intoughter. In the same forthright manner she used to have, she turned to the officers and said, ¡°See? I told you that Dragon King is not that easy to deal with. Haha, he is of more help to Prince Duodun than all of usbined. We all have sharp eyes. Dragon King, we have just as much faith in you as we do in Prince Duodun.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m truly honored.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t act too modestly, but he also felt he should make some concessions. ¡°Prince Duodun¡¯s reputation is in your hands. As a foreigner, my rmendations are of little value. The troops are right here. The people who pledged their loyalty to you will do the same to Prince Duodun in the near future.¡±


    It meant that Second Consort and her followers were free to publicize the name of Prince Duodun and that no interference woulde from his side.


    After they departed, the Second Consort returned to her usual manner, seeming highly content with this meeting.


    Azheba stayed behind with an excuse of making an intelligence report. He was now one of the majormanders. With his superb archery, his name was bing increasingly well-know.


    Fang Wenshi found his chance to enter then, pretending to be raking in piles of paper while eavesdropping on them.


    Azheba saw the military counselor and paid no particr attention, because he knew that Dragon King took much advice from this fat, white man.


    He was even more straightforward than the Second Consort.


    ¡°I thought that the Dragon King was a hero, but now I¡¯m a little doubtful about it now.¡±


    Fang Wenshi barely managed to stop himself from turning his head and seeing how the Dragon King would deal with this bold offence from a subordinate, but all he could do was listen. The Dragon King didn¡¯t say anything, as if he was encouraging Azheba to keep talking, which greatly surprised the military counselor.


    ¡°When I heard that the Dragon King had stood out to protect a dozen of his men surrounded by hundreds of thousands of enemies, I believed that he had to be a deeply beloved suprememander. When you were helping us tackle the crisis, I believed that you were a sage. And when you challenged the Great Shaman in front of the two opposing armies, I believed that you were a true king.¡±


    Azheba tried his best to subdue his emotions, but his anger was growing uncontrobly. He was never good at specting on the thoughts of his superior, and today he had made up his mind to face hismander head on. ¡°I was entirely disappointed with this battle. Do you intend to just get rid of the Court Attendants Army with one battle after another? They just pledged their loyalty to you and are spilling their blood for you in the battlefield without a hint of hesitation. You¡¯re burying your followers with your own hands.¡±


    Fang Wenshi became anxious and gave several deliberate coughs to indicate to the Dragon King that he should stop Azheba from continuing. Schemes should stay covert and were not something to be discussed publicly. This general was viting a forbidden taboo.


    But not only was Azheba surprised by his response, he was also disappointed. The Dragon King behaved very powerlessly. In a tone even more gentler than usual, he said, ¡°What else? Just list it all out.¡±


    Azheba was panting heavily. Dragon King¡¯s attitude gave him nothing on which he could take his rage out. In a low voice, he said, ¡± Nothing more. I just want to know what you n on doing with the rest of the Court Attendants Army.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell him,¡± Fang Wenshi thought. Then, the sound of Dragon King pulling out his saber gave him a sudden feeling of delight.

 Chapter 729 - Praying

    Chapter 729: Praying


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Seeing that Gu Shenwei had drawn his saber and sword, Azheba straightened up. He still believed that he had done the right thing.


    ¡°I killed many people with them,¡± Gu Shenwei said as he turned around and put the saber and sword down on the table. Without responding to the counselor¡¯s increasingly anxious hints, he continued to say, ¡°If you wanted to kill people, what weapon would you use?¡±


    Azheba didn¡¯t understand why the Dragon King had suddenly asked him this question. He thought for a while before replying, ¡°The bow and arrow.¡±


    Gu Shenwei patted Fang Wenshi on the shoulder, indicating that he didn¡¯t have to continue pretending to look for something. ¡°If the counselor wants to kill someone, he will persuade the stronger ones and retaliate against his enemy with his glib tongue.¡±


    Fang Wenshi revealed a bitter smile. ¡°Dragon King, you really know me well.¡±


    Azheba still did not understand. ¡°The Court Attendants Army has no intentions of killing the Dragon King.¡±


    Fang Wenshi opened his mouth. He now understood the Dragon King¡¯s meaning. ¡°For now,¡± he stressed, ¡°Although the Court Attendants Army hasn¡¯t tried to kill the Dragon King, they know that they have the same saber and sword as the Dragon King, the same bow and arrow as you, and¡­ the same glib tongue as me.¡±


    ¡°Are you talking about the massacre of officers by the soldiers of Court Attendants Army?¡± Azheba was also a victim of the mutiny, but he still had deep feelings for the army he had once served. ¡°It was an ident. The soldiers were bewitched. The Commandant had just been murdered and the morale of the army was still unstable¡­¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Fang Wenshi interrupted the other side. Most soldiers could see the facts, but not the truth behind the facts. And that was the value of existences like the counselor. ¡°The Court Attendants Army is a special army that directly belongs to the Khan. They will not pledge allegiance to other lords, not even the descendants of the Khan.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±


    Fang Wenshi nced at the Dragon King. He hadn¡¯t said these words before, but he was sure that the Dragon King would understand. At the moment, not only did he have to convince the young, righteous Azheba but also the Dragon King was bing hesitant. ¡°I mean no offense, but I have to say that the Khan had lived for too long. The current Court Attendants Army has forgotten that there were many Khans before thete Khan and that there will be new Khans in the future. They are only loyal to one man: thete Khan, dead or alive.¡±


    Azheba reluctantly nodded because this fat white fellow waspletely right. If it had not been for their deep affections for the Khan, the soldiers of the Court Attendants Army would not have been so easily bewitched by the shamans. And it was exactly because of the noble officers¡¯ little concern of the Khan that provoked the hatred of the whole army.


    ¡°The Commandant was the Khan¡¯s brother and also a personification of the Khan. With him, the soldiers still had someone they could worship. And the morale of the army was heavily shaken after he died.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King can raise the morale of an army. He has that ability,¡± Azheba said eagerly. ¡°The 100,000 horsemen of the Court Attendants Army are worth 150,000 or 200,000 ordinary horsemen.¡±


    Fang Wenshi shook his head, disagreeing. ¡°It¡¯s impossible now. The soldiers of Court Attendants Army weren¡¯t punished when they killed the officers and didn¡¯t receive any resistance after pressuring the kings. They lifted the Great Shaman into a sky-high position and then threw him down without mercy. All these acts will have a subtle influence on their minds, suggesting that they wield executive power in their own hands and that themander-in-chief is dispensable.¡±


    ¡°Let the Court Attendants Army suffer a bit then. As soon as the new Khan is elected, they will return to being a reliable army.¡± Unaware, Azheba had changed his attitude. He could ept the losses to both sides, but still felt that there was no need topletely wipe out the whole army.


    Fang Wenshi smilingly shook his head. He was just about to refute the other side with an indisputable reason when the Dragon King spoke up. ¡°That¡¯s enough. Azheba, let¡¯s go out and take a walk.¡±


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s smile became bitter again. In order to persuade Azheba, the Dragon King was going to cause trouble again. Also, Fang Wenshi didn¡¯t want to walk into that group of soldiers at all. ¡°Dragon King, your weapons¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave them here. Keep an eye on them for me.¡±


    ¡°Ah? I can¡¯t¡­¡±


    Azheba silently followed the Dragon King, his anger wavering slightly now.


    Long Fanyun and the guards who stood guard at the door received a signal from the Dragon King and did not follow them. However, three teenagers jumped out of the darkness and then hid themselvesagain. They were Nie Zeng, Tie Linglong, and Chu Nanping, who were allpeting fiercely for the honor of being the Dragon King¡¯s bodyguard.


    The red-crowned roc had gone elsewhere to look for food. The beef and mutton in the camp were not to its taste and it did not like staying on the ground for a long time.


    It was quiet all around the camp, and Azheba could almost hear the snores from the nearby tents.


    Without a word, the two walked towards the area where the Court Attendants Army had been stationed. Although they had stopped using the name ¡®Court Attendants Army¡¯ for the time being, they still remained self-contained and refused to mix with the soldiers from other armies.


    A dozen horsemen stood guard by the side of the road with torches. After recognizing the Dragon King, they nodded and let the two pass in a reverent and respectful manner, but did not dismount.


    This was the pride of the Court Attendants Army. Azheba still remembered that he was treated better as a humble centurion of the Court Attendants Army than the chiliarchs of the kings when he asionally went on a long journey.


    It waste at night, but the soldiers of the Court Attendants Army had not all gone to sleep, and most of them remained outside their tent. There were numerous small bonfires lit between the tents, which were surrounded by a group of soldiers praying on their knees. The whispered prayers merged into a ubiquitous murmur.


    A few of them noticed the Dragon King, but only lowered their heads more and did not stop their ritual of kneeling and worshipping the bonfire in front of them.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know thenguage of the Nond,¡± said Gu Shenwei in a low voice. No one wanted to make a loud noise in such an environment.


    Azheba immediately knew what the soldiers were praying in whispers when he listened to it closely. Strictly speaking, it was not a prayer at all. He exined, ¡°It¡¯s an edict issued by the Khan that encourages the soldiers to try their best to kill their enemies and share the glory with him.¡±


    The Khan had issued many edicts to the Court Attendants Army and this one was nothing special. Somehow, it had be revered by the soldiers.


    Azheba, who had served for nine years in the Court Attendants Army, was now walking around the camp like a stranger and was even feeling a little afraid.


    Gu Shenwei sauntered along with no particr purpose, but received more and more attention. After turning a corner, he and Azheba were blocked by a group of soldiers.


    There were forty or fifty people standing in close rows with the same attire, so it was hard to tell who the leader was. They all nodded respectfully to the Dragon King, but did not give him the courtesy a king deserved.


    Nominally, the temporary master of the soldiers was Shulitu, and the Dragon King was only the Grand Mentor. While the red-crowned roc had given him an air of mystery, it had not improved his status to an exceptionally high position.


    The first row of soldiers stayed silent, and the voice came from among those who could not be seen in the back. ¡°We petitioned the Dragon King, hoping that he would convey our words to the young prince.¡±


    Shulitu had three titles now, so it was a bit troublesome to correctly address him. No one knew who started it, but he wasmonly referred to as ¡®young prince¡¯ now.


    ¡°Tell me what you want.¡±


    It was still the same voice who refused to show himself. As more and more soldiers stopped praying and gathered around, the voice continued, saying, ¡°The Khan is still calling his attendants but some people are not willing to follow His Majesty¡¯s orders.¡±


    ¡°Tell me more about it. Who are they?¡±


    ¡°The man next to the Dragon King is one of them.¡±


    Azheba was startled that the soldiers of the Court Attendants Army were still trying to kill the noble officers and bury them with the Khan.


    ¡°Azheba is a marksman and one of the most valiant generals in the army.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s also the attendant that the Khan needs the most.¡± The voice still appeared respectful but refused to give in.


    ¡°Azheba would have been out ofmission in less than a year.¡±


    ¡°As long as he was an officer of the Khan¡¯s, he has to take responsibility for serving the Khan even if he has only one day left before retirement.¡±


    Azheba could not stop himself from speaking out. ¡°You are the horsemen of the Khan and you served the Khan your whole life.¡±


    ¡°We are ready to go to heaven and continue fighting for the Khan, but you are not. So, you need our help, as do all the noble officers need our help.¡±


    The argument was irrational but Azheba didn¡¯t know how to refute it. He could only grip his saber and look warily at the group of people he was trying to protect.


    The assembled soldiers soon reached a hundred, and another voice spoke out. ¡°Dragon King, we are willing to fight for you and the young prince but our soul still belongs to the Khan.¡±


    ¡°Give us back the noble officers; that¡¯s the only reward we ask for.¡± The soldiers were getting bolder and more talkative.


    Gu Shenwei raised his voice slightly. ¡°I¡¯ve heard your request and will convey your words to His Majesty, but this is a military camp and I won¡¯t allow any internal strife to take ce.


    This was the Dragon King¡¯s bottom line. Azheba could clearly feel the animosity spread around him.


    But no one stood out. The soldiers in the first row bowed to the Dragon King. The other soldiers then did the same and trickled away.


    Azheba broke out in a cold sweat. He wasn¡¯t afraid of death, nor of the Dragon King¡¯s deadly saber and sword, but he didn¡¯t want to die to the hands of some weird soldiers for no good reason.


    Gu Shenwei pointed to the nearest bonfire and motioned for Azheba to pray with the soldiers.


    Azheba, who no longer had much confidence in the soldiers now, removed his saber, handed it to the Dragon King, slowly squeezed himself into the crowd, knelt down, and started murmuring the empty edict in a low voice.


    Slowly, a miracle happened. Azheba was drowned in the murmuring that was as tranquil aske-water. The words came naturally out of his mouth ¨C no longer dull and empty, but rather filled with some mysterious force. He felt as if something was pulling and lifting him up.


    Azheba finally broke free of the force with all of his willpower and looked up. He realized that firewood was not the only thing burning in the bonfire, but dead soldiers¡¯ had also been thrown in.


    He quietly withdrew from the crowd and followed the Dragon King and walked out of the camp of the Court Attendants Army along the same path they hade in.


    After taking back his saber from the Dragon King, Azheba was finally able to speak. ¡°I¡¯ve been in the Court Attendants Army for nine years, but I¡¯ve never noticed anything this unusual about the soldiers before.¡±


    ¡°They are not unusual. Like most Nond people, they are just loyal to the Khan and believe that he ascended to heaven. It¡¯s just that their beliefs are more firm. But they have been used and have been unable to extricate themselves from it ever since.¡±


    ¡°Used? By the shamans?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take you to them.¡±


    The shamans had been taken prisoner and they had offered up some important information.


    ¡°There¡¯s always a remedy.¡± Azheba still refused to give up on the soldiers. He could free himself from the prayer, and so could the soldiers.


    Gu Shenwei was just about to say something when he suddenly reached out to stop Azheba. At the same moment, the three teenage guards revealed themselves from the shadows and rushed at the same ce.

 Chapter 730 - Challenge

    Chapter 730: Challenge


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Both Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong thought that they had found the assassin first and rushed at him at the same time. Only Chu Nanping strictly adhered by the killer¡¯s principles and leaped into the assassin¡¯s route of retreat.


    The two of them were obsessed withpeting against each other and had forgotten that since the other side could sneak inside the heavily guarded camp, he couldn¡¯t have been an ordinary kung fu expert. Only when their narrow sabers unexpectedly missed their target did they be startled.


    This wasn¡¯t the kind of assassin from Golden Roc Castle that always kept a low profile when performing a mission. After escaping from the two killers¡¯ attack, not only did the intruder not rush to run away, but he instead exposed himself by jumping to a nearby gpole.


    Chu Nanping quietly thrust out his sword, and the man drew his sword in response. With the force of the rebound, he leaped several feet up the pole again. But instead of pursuing him, Chu Nanping jumped to the ground instead. He already knew that he had no chance of defeating that man.


    ¡°Deng Yuanlei of the Qingcheng Sect greets the Dragon King.¡±


    The one who answered him wasn¡¯t the Dragon King. As soon as his voice finished speaking, an old woman¡¯s shrieking voice rang out, ¡°Dwarf Deng, I demand an exnation.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei had once used theatose Tu Pianpian as a weapon. After she woke up and heard about it, Tu Pianpian had held a grudge against him.


    ¡°Haha. Tu Pianpian, in order to seek power and wealth, your Kongtong Sect has betrayed your own country and pledged allegiance to a barbarian. Do you still have the face to ask me for an exnation?¡±


    ¡°Bastard! Who said that I pledged allegiance to a barbarian? You¡­¡± Before she could finish her words, a short squat figure had pounced onto the gpole and stabbed at Deng Yuanlei with a long crutch.


    Deng Yuanlei parried the crutch with his long sword and jumped to another gpole with the rebounding force. ¡°Tu Pianpian, to tell you the truth, your kung fu is really not as good as your younger brother¡¯s¡­¡±


    Next, Deng Yuanlei¡¯s face changed slightly. In the blink of an eye, he had been surrounded by a variety of people, tall and short. Either overtly or covertly, they all blocked his way. Heughed again and said, ¡°Dragon King, I¡¯m just a messenger and I¡¯m not here to cause any trouble.¡±


    ¡°Just walk normally if you are a messenger then; there¡¯s no need to prance around like a monkey,¡± Gu Shenwei said loudly. As he said that, he walked to the gpole. Although the teenage killers trained by Hu Shining were a bitte, their ring of encirclement was airtight. Nie Zeng had also corrected his mistake and was now quietly guarding a corner.


    Tu Pianpian didn¡¯t notice the change around her. Enraged by Deng Yuanlei¡¯s provocation, she was just about to run after him before she was stopped by Dog Butcher who hastily said, ¡°Senior Sister, this is the Dragon King¡¯s camp.¡±


    ¡°So what? Can he stop me?¡± Although she said this, she stopped her steps.


    Deng Yuanlei looked down a few times and jumped to the ground. Then he walked forward with his head held high as if he didn¡¯t put those killers in his eyes at all. When he was within five steps of the Dragon King, he proudly said, ¡°Our Sect Leader has heard that the Dragon King¡¯s sabersmanship is very good and he¡¯d like to ¡®learn¡¯ a few moves from the Dragon King. If the Dragon King doesn¡¯t mind, please choose a date and ce.¡±


    ¡°Why would I fight with the Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect?¡±


    Deng Yuanlei was stunned slightly. Then he smiled. ¡°If the Dragon King dares not¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu suddenly popped out and looked Deng Yuanlei up and down as if he was inferior to him, Old Man Mu. ¡°This old man heard that the Qingcheng Sect Leader¡¯s wife¡¯s sexual techniques aren¡¯t bad, so I¡¯d like to ¡®learn¡¯ a few moves from her. Please choose a date and ce.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei snorted. ¡°So this is how the Dragon King treats his guests?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Gu Shenwei took a big step forward and struck out three times in a row with his palm.


    The two had fought each other before and knew of each other¡¯s ability. If the Dragon King had a saber in his hand, Deng Yuanlei would have been a bit afraid of him. But he was empty-handed now, so all Deng Yuanlei cared about were the killers surrounding him. Since he wasn¡¯t afraid, he immediately fought back with his sword but also didn¡¯t dare to use his full strength.


    After three moves, the two retreated at the same time. Deng Yuanlei smilingly said, ¡°Good palm techniques, Dragon King, butpared to our Qingcheng Sect¡¯s¡­¡± Before he could finish speaking, his legs suddenly became limp, and he surprisingly knelt on the ground. ¡°You¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei still had a lot of the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s knockout drugs. In order to convince the other side, he hadn¡¯t used it during their firstpetition. But this time he didn¡¯t want to rely on his bare hands to deal with this kung fu master of the Qingcheng Sect, especially when this master had broken into his camp at night, acting all arrogant.


    Old Man Mu knew what kind of tactics the Dragon King had used. Before Deng Yuanlei could point it out, he jumped over, poked him heavily in his chest and then pped the other side in the face. ¡°Little Qingcheng Sect, even if your Sect Leaderes here himself, he won¡¯t be qualified to speak directly to the Dragon King. Are you afraid now? Will you beg for forgiveness now, and not act cool anymore?¡±


    Deng Yuanlei was not convinced at all. After being pped in the face, he felt both shameful and angry. But his acupoint had been struck by Old Man Mu, and he felt a strand of turbid Qi stagnating in his chest. His face turned from ack of air and he couldn¡¯t speak out at all.


    The soldiers who hade out to watch for fun allughed out loud.


    Old Man Mu was much taller than the Deng Yuanlei who was kneeling on the ground. He put his right arm on the opponent¡¯s head and excitedly asked, ¡°Dragon King, what should we do with this scoundrel?¡±


    ¡°Throw him out of the camp.¡±


    ¡°Ah? Simple as that?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded and raised his voice so that the people around him could hear. ¡°The Qingcheng Sect cane to challenge me at any time. There¡¯s no need to specify a date or a ce, but if anyone dares to sneak into the camp again, I¡¯ll cut off his head and publicly disy it above the gates.¡±


    Old Man Mu pressed Deng Yuanlei¡¯s head and forced him to nod a few times and said, ¡°He says that he¡¯s heard it and that he will never dare to do this again.¡±


    Two guards came up and took Deng Yuanlei outside the camp. Old Man Mu followed behind, kicking Deng Yuanlei from time to time, feeling quite at ease without the good girl¡¯s being his conscience.


    The soldiers returned to the tent and went back to sleep. Fang Wenshi, who had run here panting, held the Dragon King¡¯s saber and sword tightly in his hands. As soon as he arrived, he breathlessly asked, ¡°Are you all right, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Gu Shenwei took his weapon back and motioned for Azheba to follow him.


    Fang Wenshi followed a few steps behind as if he were the Dragon King¡¯s bodyguard.


    Azheba was standing nearby. Although he hadn¡¯t clearly seen how the Dragon King had defeated his opponent so quickly, he knew that the Dragon King hadn¡¯t used his real kung fu.


    ¡°This is me. I¡¯ll do whatever I have to when necessary, and even use knockout drugs. I¡¯ve fought with this man before. His kung fu skills are no poorer than mine but he still couldn¡¯t avoid being humiliated in the end.¡± He deliberately didn¡¯t conceal his trick.


    Fang Wenshi kept shaking his head. If the Dragon King was really an unscrupulous man, he wouldn¡¯t have told the truth.


    Azheba was even more confused. The Dragon King was growing stranger and stranger in his eyes. ¡°The Dragon King is not going to join in on the kung fupetition?¡± He clearly remembered that the Dragon King had attended severalpetitions before.


    ¡°I won¡¯t ept any contests that have been forced upon me. Will the Khan wrestle with the enemy leaders? Will youy down your bow and arrow topete against your opponent with a saber? We all choose the most advantageouspetitions for us. I have thousands of men while the Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect is relying on his advanced martial arts skills. We are both trying with every means to gain the upper hand.¡±


    Azheba bowed his head, feeling that the Dragon King¡¯s words seemed reasonable but also at the same time unreasonable.


    Fang Wenshi secretly nodded, thinking that the Dragon King was getting more and more skillful at winning over his subordinates.


    When they arrived at the shamans¡¯ holding cell, a guard led the two inside with an oilmp.


    Four shamans sat on the ground with a lot of injuries on their bodies. Seeing the Dragon Kinge inside, they all shivered. One young shaman rushed to say, ¡°Dragon King, I¡¯ve confessed everything. Seriously, I¡¯ve only seen Han Xuan once¡­¡±


    ¡°This has nothing to do with you.¡±


    The young shaman was relieved, but the Great Shaman¡¯s eyes were full of hatred and fear. ¡°I¡¯ve already told you everything I know.¡±


    ¡°You might as well say it again.¡±


    ¡°A few years ago, the Khan asked the Masters to try their new magic on the Court Attendants Army¡­¡±


    ¡°Masters?¡± Azheba asked confusedly, ¡°Which ones?¡±


    ¡°The people from the Essence Pavilion of the Western Regions,¡± Gu Shenwei answered.


    Azheba knew those people and had even met several of them, as they had thrown Shangguan Ru and several others into prison under the name of the Khan.


    They were really a bunch of weirdos. Very weird.


    As he grew older, the Khan had be more and more suspicious of those around him. For a person who had enjoyed unlimited loyalty from the moment he was born, he, in histe years, suddenly felt that loyalty was scarce in his life.


    The disciples of the Essence Pavilion had shown him lots of wonderful ¡®magic,¡¯ especially in regards to controlling people¡¯s minds, which made him very excited. So he came up with a bold n.


    The Court Attendants Army was the core of the Khan¡¯s power. He didn¡¯t trust the noble officers who would return home after ten years of service and instead only trusted the soldiers who served him from cradle to grave. Even so, that loyalty seemed insufficient.


    The hypnosis used by the disciples of the Essence Pavilion had many limitations, but it did have a good effect on heightening people¡¯s already present emotions. The task entrusted to them by the Khan was to make the soldiers only loyal to he himself.


    It was a secret n. Of all the generals and officers, the Commandant was the only one who had known even a little bit of it.


    The shamans of the army were chosen to be the assistants for the Masters. They orchestrated the events and had the hypnosis take ce during the ordinary soldiers¡¯ simple prayer rituals, which was one of their traditional duties, and therefore never it received any attention or suspicion.


    In the first year, the disciples of the Essence Pavilion had almost attended all of the rituals. Sometimes they knocked the ground with crutches to make noises, sometimes they made strange noises with their mouth, and sometimes they simply observed the soldiers¡¯ behavior.


    The shamans had never figured out the Masters¡¯ tricks. They only followed their orders and did what they were told.


    Two yearster, the disciples of the Essence Pavilion no longer came anymore. They probably thought that there was no apparent effect, and the Khan had also lost interest in it. But the soldiers had already fallen into the habit of praying, and the shamans, who had not received the order to stop, could only continue organizing the rituals.


    Not long after the guests of the Western Regions came to the Royal Court, the Masters showed up again with a woman.


    The woman called herself Han Qin, and she showed more ¡®magic¡¯ andpletely conquered the shamans. ¡°She¡¯s not a human. She¡¯s a demon, a very powerful demon. No one can defy her will,¡± The Great Shaman said with a voice drenched deep in despair.


    ¡°The shamans all experienced the demon¡¯s sexual techniques,¡± Gu Shenwei exined again.


    Azheba felt himself caught in a fog again. What the Great Shaman and the Dragon King were saying was beyond his understanding.


    The attempt made by the disciples of the Essence Pavilion had actually partially seeded. The signs weren¡¯t apparent when the Khan had still ben alive, but the effect fermented after his death until it finally exploded with a surprising amount of force. But no one could control it, not even the disciples of the Essence Pavilion. By contrast, the shamans who had always been confused had an advantage over the others.


    Han Qin, a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall, was the first to discover that the force, though uncontroble, could still be used. She carried out the orders of Lotus and used the opportunity to start arge-scale scuffle.


    ¡°The soldiers are just confused for the time being. There¡¯s definitely a way to wake them up.¡± Azheba still didn¡¯t want to give up.


    ¡°If there is enough time, then the soldiers will naturally forget the indoctrination, but we happen to have no time.¡±


    Azheba knocked hard on his temple, hoping to get some dark thoughts out of his mind. ¡°Give me a chance. I¡¯ll return the Court Attendants Army to normal.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought for a moment and then said, ¡°You have two days.¡± The army needed two days of rest, which was already a bigpromise made by Gu Shenwei.


    His task was to change thousands of people¡¯s thinking developed and cemented through years of habit in just two days. Azheba nodded, but was actually wholly unprepared for the momentous task he was about to perform.


    All of a sudden, a strong gust of wind blew in, and the tent wobbled. Gu Shenwei and Azheba gripped their saber hilt at the same time.


    The tent was torn in twain by two sharp ws, and the red-crowned roc descended from the sky. The half-closed wings upied almost the whole tent. It stood on one leg and stuck out the other towards Gu Shenwei, its red eyes burning with anger.


    On the scaly leg was a flying dagger. Gu Shenwei gently picked it out and immediately smeared some hemostatic medicine on the wound. Then he picked up the flying dagger and saw several words engraved on it: ¡®Leader of the Qingcheng Sect.¡¯

 Chapter 731 - Sect Leader

    Chapter 731: Sect Leader


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    ¡°What kind of man is the Leader of the Qingcheng Sect?¡± Dog Butcher weighed the flying dagger in his hand and repeated the Dragon King¡¯s question nkly. ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with him. Uh, Senior Sister, why don¡¯t you do the talking?¡±


    ¡°Why me? Am I supposed to be familiar with him?¡± Tu Pianpian asked back in a harsh voice.


    ¡°No, no, that¡¯s not what I meant. I¡¯ve been in closed-door cultivation for all these years and know very little about the going ons of Jianghu. This Sect Leader is newly elected, isn¡¯t he?¡±


    Tu Pianpian looked up at the Dragon King with vignt and suspicious eyes. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that you were born in the Central ins, and thenter became a king of the Western Regions. You learned the saber techniques of the Gu family but now you are leading an army of the Nond to fight against other armies of the Nond. What is going on?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a simple situation, but it has nothing to do with what I want to know,¡± Gu Shenwei replied tly, trying to avoid quarrelling with this difficult old woman.


    There were only four people in the tent. Fan Yongda, a disciple of the Kongtong Sect, was standing nearby, but he seldom opened his mouth.


    Tu Pianpian¡¯s suspicions didn¡¯t abate at all. ¡°The Kongtong Sect came to the Royal Court under the orders of the Imperial Court of the Central ins, and we won¡¯t go back with a reputation that we surrendered to the Dragon King.¡±


    Fan Yongda ventured to interrupt, ¡°Lord Wei, the Governor of the Western Regions, trusts the Dragon King very much. He once told Brother Shen that he could go to the Dragon King if he needed help or anything like that.¡±


    ¡°And then Shen Yongjiu died. He was killed by the Dragon King.¡± Tu Pianpian remembered the incident and became even more hostile towards the Dragon King.


    ¡°It was a special situation. Brother Shen was acting as a pawn of the Nond at that time¡­¡± Fan Yongda argued in a low voice.


    ¡°Shut up! You left the Kongtong Sect and the Central ins behind just because the Dragon King saved your life?¡±


    Fan Yongda¡¯s face turned ashen and he dared not speak up again.


    ¡°The Dragon King wants to know what kind of person the Qingcheng Sect Leader is?¡± Tu Pianpian jabbed her crutch into the ground, ripping a hole in the carpet.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to learn it from you. Since you are treating me as an enemy, please leave the camp right now. From now on, we will be enemies and let our sabers do the talking.¡±


    Tu Pianpian blushed a little but still maintained an arrogant look. ¡°You have to dissolve your allegiance with the Kongtong Sect. My silly brother shouldn¡¯t have made that decision by himself, but what he said still counts.¡±


    ¡°I can remove you from the allegiance, but not Dog Butcher. He has to keep his promise. As for the other Kongtong disciples, I can give them another chance to make their choice for thest time.¡±


    ¡°No, you have to remove all of us. Dog Butcher¡¯s mind isn¡¯t clear. I can¡¯t leave him here and let you bring out the worst in him.¡±


    Seeing that Tu Pianpian was reaching for a yard after taking an inch, Gu Shenwei finally lost his temper and gripped his saber. ¡°This isn¡¯t the Kongtong Sect and you are not in charge here. Show me your moves.¡±


    Although Tu Pianpian was arrogant, she still had sharp eyes and knew the limits of her abilities. The Dragon King had too many tricks and she might not be able to block him. So she turned to Dog Butcher and said, ¡°Let¡¯s use the Warp and Weft Staff Technique, and then I¡¯ll be able to dissolve your allegiance to him.¡±


    Dog Butcher was in a quandary and blushed even harder. ¡°Senior Sister, the Dragon King hasn¡¯t released me from my pledge of allegiance to him. As long as it doesn¡¯t harm the interests of the Central ins, I will be his subordinate.¡±


    ¡°Fool, he has a former wing guard of the Khan under his control, but refuses to reveal the whereabouts of the Khan¡¯s head. Just with that, he¡¯s going against the Central ins and you no longer have to be loyal to him.¡±


    Dog Butcher thought for a moment with his head lowered before saying, ¡°No, that¡¯s ame excuse and I can¡¯t do it.¡±


    Tu Pianpian was so angry that she smiled instead. ¡°All right, you just stay here then and wait for the Dragon King to invade the Central ins with his tens of thousands of soldiers. I¡¯d like to see what you¡¯ll choose to do at that time. Fan Yongda, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Fan Yongda shivered and followed behind Tu Pianpian by a few steps until they reached the door where he stopped and softly said, ¡°Aunt Master, I should stay. The Dragon King saved my life earlier, and I can¡¯t just pretend that it never happened.¡±


    Tu Pianpian turned around in surprise and snorted. ¡°You two are really disciples of the Kongtong Sect. I¡¯d like to see how you return to the Kongtong Mountain in the end. Dragon King, it¡¯s fine if I tell you this. The Leader of the Qingcheng Sect is very powerful, and even ten Deng Yuanleis added together are no match for him. Consider it yourself. If you can really defeat him with your ability, then the kung fu practitioners of the Central ins will avoid you from then on. Heh heh, I don¡¯t think that you have the guts to fairlypete against him.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to defeat him. So far, not many people of the martial arts world of the Central ins even dare approach our camp.


    Tu Pianpian took onest look at her younger brother and then left the tent.


    The tent was silent for a while. Dog Butcher breathed out a sigh of relief and said, ¡°My Senior Sister is good besides her temper. Please don¡¯t worry about it, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care.¡± Gu Shenwei then turned to Fan Yongda and said, ¡°I¡¯m a little surprised that you would stay behind.¡±


    During their limited contact, Gu Shenwei had felt that this disciple of the Kongtong Sect didn¡¯t seem like a person bold enough to ept the consequences of his actions. He didn¡¯t expect that the other side would actually choose to stay behind in front of his Aunt Master.


    Fan Yongda knelt on one leg and said, ¡°I¡¯ve never forgotten that the Dragon King saved my life. But I was timid and postponed showing my gratitude again and gain. It was Uncle Master Dog Butcher who gave me the courage and let me know that it¡¯s inhuman to forget a kind act.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stared at Fan Yongda for a while and then said, ¡°Get up and tell me about this Sect Leader.¡±


    Fan Yongda stood up and in a voice more humble and respectful than he had ever used, said, ¡°The Leader of the Qingcheng Sect is called Liu Qingpu. He seeded the position of Sect Leader through a kung fupetition five years ago. I saw him once. It was during a closed-doorpetition among the Sect Leaders. When they came out, everyone was praising him. People of the martial arts world have extolled him to the skies and called him ¡®Invisible Sword,¡¯ but few people have seen him publicly disy his skills.¡±


    ¡°He uses a flying dagger.¡± Gu Shenwei actually had some impression of the sects in the Central ins, but had never heard of any sect leaders of the famous sects being skilled at hidden weapons.


    Fan Yongda shook his head and said that he didn¡¯t know. That was all he had on Liu Qingpu.


    Dog Butcher who was still holding that flying dagger, said, ¡°This isn¡¯t Liu Qingpu¡¯s hidden weapon. It belonged to L¨¹ Tong, the former Sect Leader. L¨¹ Tong died several years ago, so the flying dagger must have been a memorial to him.¡±


    Long Fanyun came in to report that Tu Pianpian had left the camp along with those dozens of disciples of the Kongtong Sect.


    Very embarrassed, Dog Butcher muttered, ¡°They all listened to my Senior Sister. I had no choice in the matter.¡±


    Gu Shenwei naturally would not me him. After saying a few words tofort the other side, he asked Long Fanyun to send Dog Butcher out and left Fan Yongda alone with him.


    When there were only the two of them left, Fan Yongda knelt down again.


    ¡°Now you can tell me your true thoughts.¡± Gu Shenwei knew very well that this man had other purposes in staying behind.


    ¡°I know that the Dragon King is a practical man so I won¡¯t beat around the bush. I¡¯d like to make a deal with the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°How can a man on his knees make a deal with others?¡±


    Fan Yongda smiled embarrassedly as he stood up. ¡°I may have a way to obtain the head of the Qingcheng Sect Leader and give it to the Dragon King to fulfill two goals. One is to repay the Dragon King¡¯s favor and the other is to¡­ exchange it for another head which is of little use in the Dragon King¡¯s hands.¡±


    Naturally, he was talking about the Khan¡¯s head, which was what the kung fu practitioners of the Central ins were all fighting for aftering all the way to the Royal Court.


    ¡°What benefits will you get from the Imperial Court of the Central ins?¡±


    ¡°To tell you the truth, the Imperial Court will not reward us directly or even admit to issuing an edict to the sects. It¡¯s those ministers who arepeting for the honor of offering the head of the Khan¡­¡±


    ¡°So the Kongtong Sect will offer the head to Wei Song?¡±


    ¡°Exactly. In fact, the Dragon King can offer the head yourself. As long as you mention the Kongtong Sect when you do it, Uncle Master Dog Butcher and I will be able to return to our sect gracefully and my Aunt Master will also have nothing to say.¡±


    ¡°Tell me what you are going to do with regards to the Leader of the Qingcheng Sect.¡±


    ¡°Please forgive me but I can¡¯t tell you now. Please give me a day to do some investigations, and the Dragon King may also use the time to¡­ prepare the other head.¡±


    The red-crowned roc stuck its head inside and gave an annoyed look to Gu Shenwei as if it was ming him for not staying by its side.


    Fan Yongda excused himself and nervously walked away from the roc.


    Gu Shenwei also walked out of the tent to check on the roc¡¯s injury which was not bad. It could still fly away at any time.


    The roc¡¯s animosity had not diminished at all. Upon seeing the flying dagger in Gu Shenwei¡¯s hand, it grabbed it with its beak before tossing it into the air twice, throwing it on the ground, and trampling on it with its uninjured w.


    It could not speak, otherwise, it would tell the man about how it had been plotted against. Gu Shenwei was actually very confused about the whole ordeal. The roc would usually fly high in the sky. How could Liu Qingpu possibly hit it with a flying dagger?


    Fang Wenshi ran to him from afar and carefully walked around the roc, saying, ¡°Dragon King, you will not agree with the kung fupetition that the Qingcheng Sect requested, right?¡±


    ¡°No, I won¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Just as I said before, the Dragon King is amander-in-chief, so how could he degrade himself andpete with the reckless kung fu practitioners of the martial arts world? Hehe, I have sent out ten groups of horsemen to sweep the so-called Qingcheng and Kongtong sects. Kung fupetition? Seriously, what a joke. This is a war between kings, not something the Jianghu wanderers can randomly join in on for fun. And ¡ª¡± Fang Wenshi lowered his voice, ¡°That Azheba. Does the Dragon King really have to take him so seriously?¡±


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s point was simple. The Court Attendants Army was incorrigible. No one could firmly grasp their allegiance unless the Khan reincarnated. It was better to make the best of it while the soldiers were still blindly in awe of the roc rather than give Azheba the chance to try to change them.


    Fang Wenshi took a look at the roc, thinking that the bird had really been injured at a bad time because it might affect the Court Attendants Army¡¯s impression towards it.


    ¡°There won¡¯t be a war for these two days so there¡¯s no loss in letting him have a try.¡±


    Fang Wenshi shook his head but stopped asking more questions. The Dragon King always had some strange ideas, but as a loyal subordinate, he could only obediently ept them.


    As he looked at the counselor¡¯s fat body, Gu Shenwei was surprised to realize that most of his changes in the past two years had more to do with this man than with Shangguan Ru.


    Strangely, he had never really confided much in Fang Wenshi, and his trust in the counselor was far less than that of Chu Nanping, and the sister and brother of the Xu family.


    He knew that Fang Wenshi always talked big and therefore changed the suggestions of the other side to fit his own needs, but he still listened to any advice and had made some important changes about himself, and seldom refused it.


    In order to rid himself of his random thoughts, Gu Shenwei simply stood outside and dealt with all his affairs. Not long after Fang Wenshi took his leave, Hu Shining came to report on the situation. He had made a series of changes to the security system. ¡°I can¡¯t guarantee that it¡¯s perfectly safe, but if anyone can sneak within a hundred paces of the main tent again, I¡¯ll bring my own head to the Dragon King on a tter to ask for punishment.¡±


    People came to report to Gu Shenwei one after another. Gu Shenwei spent some time mediating the conflict between Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong by appointing the two as his bodyguards: one on the left and the other on the right.


    ¡°What about Little Chu?¡± asked Tie Linglong.


    ¡°He won¡¯t be a bodyguard anymore.¡± Looking at the teenage swordsman, Gu Shenwei was surprised at his changes as he said, ¡°Chu Nanping, I appoint you as the Commandant of Ten Guards. You¡¯ll be under themand of Long Fanyun, the Thousand Guard Commandant.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Chu Nanping epted the appointment. Tie Linglong, however, frowned and said, ¡°What a lowly officer.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll promote him to a higher rank when he performs a meritorious deed.¡±


    ¡°What if I make a contribution? May I give the credit to him?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Tie Linglong smiled sweetly at Chu Nanping, and then coldly nced at Nie Zeng.


    Gu Shenwei thought that Chu Nanping would have an opportunity to perform a meritorious deed soon. As expected, the horsemen sent out by Fang Wenshi came back that very evening. And the news they brought back made Gu Shenwei have no choice but to consider the invitation of the Qingcheng Sect seriously.

 Chapter 732 - Kung Fu Level

    Chapter 732: Kung Fu Level


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Fang Wenshi thought that he had already taken the people of the Central ins seriously. He had sent out ten teams of horsemen, each of which consisted of at least five hundred people. The teams spread out in different directions, but maintained a close enough distance that they were still able to support each other when necessary. By all odds, it should have been more than enough to deal with the groups of martial arts practitioners that numbered no more than a couple dozen people in each group.


    The mission went almost exactly how Fang Wenshi had anticipated. Wherever the horsemen went, most of the Central ins people fled. There had been only minor skirmishes, but one of the teams had met a powerful opponent.


    The powerful opponent was only a single man. When he approached them alone with his sword alone, the horsemen thought that it was ridiculous and therefore, didn¡¯t take the advantageous tactic of shooting the other side, and instead drew their scimitars and decided to cut the arrogant challenger down from his horse.


    By the time the swordsman had broken into the team¡¯s formation, it was toote to start shooting.


    The cavalrymen were ashamed to mention the scene of the battle, but the humiliation was clearly written on their face; there was no way to hide it.


    The swordsman had written a character on the foreheads of more than seventy horsemen. Each time he injured a person, he would call out a number and force the other side to remember it so that in the end they wouldbine together and be another brief letter of challenge.


    As soon as they returned to the camp, they were scurried away in arge tent and forbidden from going out by the counselor. But the rumor still spread quickly and uncontrobly.


    There was still some time before dark, and Nie Zeng had nothing to do but sit in his small tent thinking how amazing this man¡¯s swordsmanship was. But as a killer, he couldn¡¯t ask around for details like ordinary people. And he also had no friends among the teenage killers with whom he could freely exchange his private opinions and thoughts.


    He hoped that someone could answer his doubts. After thinking about it for a long time, he could only think of one person.


    ¡®This isn¡¯t a good idea,¡¯ Nie Zeng thought to himself, but his body uncontrobly moved towards that tent. The Qingcheng Sect Leader wasn¡¯t the only person he was interested in. Although the Dragon King and the counselor had not admitted it, everyone in the camp believed that the swordsman who hade and left without a trace was definitely Liu Qingpu.


    A burst of clearughter came from that tent. Although he knew that the other side was an old woman, Nie Zeng couldn¡¯t help but blush whenever he heard theughter. He was just about to leave when a man¡¯s voice rang out, ¡°Coming with high spirits and returning with a sour face? Little Bro,e in. We were just talking about you.¡±


    Nie Zeng scratched his sideburns twice with his left hand before he steeled his heart and walked inside.


    Sitting on the soft couch, Han Wuxian let her legs dangled gracefully to one side, her dress reaching her ankles. She had finally put on shoes which, however, were not the bootsmonly wore by women of the prairie but rather a pair of tiny embroidered slippers.


    Nie Zeng anxiously looked away.


    Shangguan Yun, the owner of the tent, sat in a chair a few steps away and smilingly said, ¡°It¡¯s nice to have all the team members gathered again. Hall Leader Han and I were just talking about the next step to take in hunting the traitors of the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid Little Nie won¡¯t have the energy to follow us anymore as he¡¯s the Dragon King¡¯s bodyguard again,¡± Han Wuxian said politely. Compared to her usual soft and sweet voice, this could be considered a cold reception.


    ¡°I have the energy,¡± Nie Zeng hastily said, then added, ¡°As long as I let the Dragon King know.¡±


    Han Wuxian held her long hair in her hands and asked without looking up, ¡°Is there something on your mind?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, a little bit.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, you came to the right person. Hall Leader Han is an expert in soothing anxiety.¡±


    ¡°What does that have to do with me? He¡¯s here to see you.¡±


    ¡°No, no, I¡¯m here to see¡­ Hall Leader Han, as well.¡±


    There was a little bit more of a smile on Han Wuxian¡¯s face. She swept Nie Zeng aside and said in her usual gentle voice, ¡°You are in love.¡±


    Nie Zeng blushed. ¡°Nonsense, I don¡¯t¡­¡±


    Shangguan Yun pped his hands andughed before saying, ¡°Little Bro doesn¡¯t need to blush. Even I am enchanted by a beauty like Hall Leader Han.¡±


    ¡°You are the one talking nonsense.¡± Han Wuxian didn¡¯t get angry but instead sighed lightly. ¡°How can an olddy with disheveled hairpare to a little girl with jewel-like eyes?¡±


    Shangguan Yun remembered who Han Wuxian was talking about. ¡°Tie Linglong, the bodyguard of the Dragon King? Brother Nie and her are a perfect match. But arrogant little girls are everywhere while there¡¯s only one ¡®olddy¡¯ in the world who has both top-notch martial arts skills and a perfect temperament.¡±


    Seeing the two flirting and digressing, Nie Zeng interrupted, ¡°I was actually going to ask you about how good¡­ the Dragon King¡¯s kung fu is¡­¡±


    ¡°Why do you care about that? That¡¯s not something we can casually talk about.¡± Shangguan Yun was slightly surprised, and even his voice lowered a bit.


    Nie Zeng, whose face was still red, looked quite resolute. ¡°Both of you said that you were not subordinates of the Dragon King. Why can¡¯t you talk about it then?¡±


    Han Wuxianughed and said, ¡°I like this kid but he won¡¯t carry me around anymore.¡±


    Nie Zeng said nothing, for fear that this madwoman would take the chance to digress again.


    Shangguan Yun coughed and said, ¡°You are a killer. You should know that the Dragon King has never been a martial arts master, but he¡¯s a master in killing. So, what do you want to know?¡±


    ¡°But one¡¯s killing ability is relevant to one¡¯s kung fu level, isn¡¯t it? In the Western Regions, the two are clearly distinguished, but for the people from the Central ins, they seem to be the same thing.¡± Nie Zeng knew very well about the difference between a killer and a regr martial arts practitioner, but the things he had seen and heard sinceing to the Royal Court had changed his mind and also made him a bit puzzled.


    He had went to Shangguan Yun for answers because he had heard that the third young master of Golden Roc Castle had traveled a lot of ces in the Central ins when he was young.


    Shangguan Yun opened his eyes wide in amazement and said to Han Wuxian, ¡°I¡¯m beginning to like him too.¡±


    Han Wuxian smiled without a word, leaving the responsibility of answering the questions to Shangguan Yun.


    ¡°Even in the Western Regions, kung fu and killing cannot bepletely separated,¡± Shangguan Yun seriously exined, no longer regarding Nie Zeng as an ignorant teenager. ¡°Golden Roc Castle has the best killers and the best martial arts skills.¡±


    ¡°But they never killed the Dragon King.¡±


    Shangguan Yun let out a long sigh. ¡°This was a mistake of the castle. To put it bluntly, everyone from the Unique King to the ordinary killers, including me, made a series of grievous mistakes. When the Dragon King fled with Lotus, we only felt humiliated and few people took the two killers seriously. At that time, the Unique King had already begun to make ns for hegemony, so he entrusted the task of hunting the two down to the saberlord under him. It turned out the Dragon King escaped unharmed, but all his pursuers died.¡±


    Shangguan Yun did not smile this time. He was a person who was willing to reflect on his mistakes and didn¡¯t hide them. ¡°The Dragon King stole the Daoless Scroll, and no one knew where he found the Grand Enlightenment Sword Sutra. These two amazing kung fu manuals had a greater impact that the mistakes made by the castle, and for a long time, the pursuers all regarded the Dragon King as an excellent killer. No one expected that his martial arts skills were far beyond that of an ordinary golden roc killer¡¯s. If the Dragon King didn¡¯t have these profound martial arts skills as his foundation, he would still have a long way to go.¡±


    ¡°The castle found out about itter.¡±


    ¡°Yes. But lots of things had changed in the castle by then. The Unique King no longer wanted to be the Assassin King anymore. He wanted to turn the title he received in Jianghu into a real royal title. And the first step of his long-term n was to y down the role of the killer. Lots of energy was spent on building an army. But change cannot be achieved overnight, and there will always be a difference between a killer and a soldier.¡±


    Shangguan Yun¡¯s arms were bent with his palms facing upwards. He shook his head as he smiled as if he were reflecting on the childish mistakes he had made when he was little. ¡°The Dragon King was very lucky. He experienced the most hesitant stage of the castle, and Heaven was also watching over him and helped him find the Land of Fragrance when he was on the run. That¡¯s it. The fact that the Dragon King lived to this day is not purely due to his superb martial arts and killing skills. The most important factor was luck. If you want to know how good the Dragon King¡¯s kung fu is, I can only tell you that his luck is the best.¡±


    ¡°You are the third young master of Golden Roc Castle.¡± Nie Zeng wasn¡¯t so easily fooled. ¡°So you refuse to acknowledge the power of the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, of course. Believe it or not, it¡¯s up to you. But there are some facts that no one can contest. The Dragon King is still in his early twenties and he has practiced kung fu for no more than ten years. He doesn¡¯t have any other special kung fu manuals besides the Grand Enlightenment Sword Sutra. Unless you believe that the sword sutra is invincible and can be mastered in a short time, no one will believe that the Dragon King¡¯s kung fu is the best.¡±


    Nie Zeng thought for a while and then asked, ¡°Everyone is talking about the swordsmanship of the Qingcheng Sect Leader. Who¡¯s better, him or the Unique King?¡±


    ¡°No wonder you woulde to me. I happen to have a lot of connections with the Qingcheng Sect and know a little bit about this Sect Leader Liu. If I¡¯m not mistaken, his sword techniques are not as good as those of the Unique King and are probablyparable to the Dragon King¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°But he can urate write characters on a horsemen¡¯s forehead with his de. Isn¡¯t that amazing?¡±


    Han Wuxian interrupted, ¡°I can perform even more magical martial arts, but I would never dare to say that I am more formidable than the Unique King.¡±


    Nie Zeng was still dwelling on what they had said when Shangguan Yun smilingly said, ¡°Stop thinking about it. Sect Leader Liu isn¡¯t a mediocre kung fu practitioner, but he isn¡¯t a top-notch master either. The one who wrote characters on the soldiers¡¯ foreheads with a sword can¡¯t be him.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t be him?¡± Nie Zeng was very surprised. He had already formed a mindset that that person was the Qingcheng Sect Leader.


    ¡°At the very least, it¡¯s not Liu Qingpu, the Qingcheng Sect Leader I know. Writing characters on someone¡¯s forehead with a sword is just a gimmick, but this person can freelye and go in front of five hundred horsemen. Both his courage and martial arts are absolutely first ss. I really hope to see himpete against the Dragon King, and you¡¯ll also get an answer to your question then.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King will ept the contest,¡± Nie Zeng blurted out. Even he himself did not know why he was so sure about it. Then he turned to Han Wuxian, bit his lip and hesitated for a while before asking, ¡°Can you teach me your lightness skills?¡±


    Shangguan Yun smiled and didn¡¯t say anything. This kid still didn¡¯t believe in Golden Roc Castle. He would rather take the Hall Leader of the Waning Moon Hall as his Master than learn the Unique King divine power.


    Han Wuxian wasn¡¯t surprised at all. ¡°Will you eat tonight?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡¯


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll also teach you the lightness skills and many other amazing kung fu skills so that you can defeat the little green-eyed girl and her pretty little follower easily. But I have one condition.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get another rattan chair.¡± Nie Zeng had thought of it long ago.


    ¡°Good boy, go ahead. I¡¯ll need it soon.¡±


    Nie Zeng walked out of the tent. He wanted to be more formidable but it had nothing to do with jealousy. His target was the Dragon King.


    Someone else, however, became jealous. Old Man Mu suddenly jumped in front of him and pointed his fist at him. ¡°What¡¯s the madwoman doing in his tent?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Nie Zeng dodged aside nimbly and quickly walked to the Dragon King¡¯s tent. It was getting dark and he still had to perform his duty as a bodyguard.


    Tie Linglong arrived earlier than him who looked coldly at him and whispered, ¡°The Dragon King doesn¡¯t need two bodyguards. Let¡¯s choose a date to have apetition where the loser has to quit automatically.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Nie Zeng also coldly replied, but suddenly dared to look into that pair of green eyes. He secretly med Han Wuxian for instilling an idea into his mind. How could he like this insolent and arrogant little girl?


    The two walked into the tent and happened to hear the counselor ask in bewilderment. ¡°A female ve left to the Dragon King by the Khan? What does that mean? Is the Dragon King epting the challenge because of her?¡±

 Chapter 733 - Decision

    Chapter 733: Decision


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t expect this matter would be brought up again.


    The Khan had once imed with great certainty that his father Gu Lun and a maid who served him in the Nond had borne a son and a daughter, and that the maid was still alive.


    Gu Shenwei had never taken it seriously and looked for her. In his mind, his father was old-fashioned and conservative, the exact opposite of a lecherous man. And his mother treated all her four children equally. He even felt that her mother had cared him, her youngest son, more, and it wasn¡¯t at all like she was raising another woman¡¯s offspring.


    Gu Shenwei had to exin to the counselor why he might ept the challenge. ¡°Things have changed. He stabbed over seventy soldiers and has made quite a stir in the army. I can¡¯t turn a blind eye to it and idly sit and watch him colluding with the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    The Khan wasn¡¯t the kind of person to spread meaningless gossip. The only ones who could find this maid seriously were the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall.


    Fang Wenshi understood the reasons, but he still kept shaking his head. ¡°Dragon King, please think about this twice. You are now themander-in-chief and the Grand Mentor of the Nond, so it wouldn¡¯t be wise to ept a challenge from people of the martial arts world. A victory would bring no honor, but a loss will be disgraceful beyond belief. Is the Qingcheng Sect Leader really that formidable that the Dragon King has to deal with it himself?¡±


    Bodyguards usually remained silent, but Tie Linglong was an exception. ¡°Let mepete with the Qingcheng Sect Leader on behalf of the Dragon King. It won¡¯t be a big deal to write characters on his forehead.¡±


    Now that someone had opened her mouth, Nie Zeng also said, ¡°I heard that this Qingcheng Sect Leader isn¡¯t Liu Qingpu.¡±


    Fang Wenshi looked at the two teenagers in surprise. ¡°Mind your own business, you two¡­ Wait, what did you say? The Qingcheng Sect Leader isn¡¯t Liu Qingpu? Are there two sect leaders?¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Yun said that he knows the Qingcheng Sect Leader and that his kung fu wasn¡¯t as good as this one who could write characters on people¡¯s forehead with a sword.¡±


    ¡°How could Shangguan Yun know about it?¡±


    ¡°He knows.¡± Gu Shenwei found that he had ignored an important source of information. ¡°He traveled to the Central ins when he was younger and also invited some helpers of the Qingcheng Sect, so he should be very familiar with them.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s really a mess. ¡®Qingcheng Sect Leader,¡¯ with no surname mentioned. Just the title. What kind of tricks are they ying at?¡± Fang Wenshi shook his head exasperatedly.


    The Qingcheng Sect¡¯s tricks revealed themselves first thing in the morning.


    Fan Yongda of the Kongtong Sect returned to the camp with his body full of bloody wounds. Doctor Sun did what he could do to save him. After two hours, he was finally able to speak and he immediately requested to see the Dragon King.


    ¡°The Qingcheng Sect had a fight.¡± Fan Yongda had been cut at least nine times, which wasn¡¯t fatal, but had caused him to bleed profusely and look very weak.


    Dog Butcher, who was standing guard by his side, asked, ¡°With whom?¡±


    ¡°With themselves.¡±


    Dog Butcher opened his mouth wide in amazement and didn¡¯t quite understand.


    Unlike his Uncle Master who was in closed-door practice all year round, Fan Yongda wandered in Jianghu extensively and knew quite a lot about the Qingcheng Sect. He hadn¡¯t revealed all the things he knew about the sect when the Dragon King had asked him; one of which was that the Qingcheng Sect Leader doted on his only son, Liu Fangsheng, very heavily.


    As a senior brother, Deng Yuanlei should have protected Liu Fangsheng carefully but had escaped himself at a critical moment, which was an unforgivable felony. But he had still able to challenge the Dragon King on behalf of the Qingcheng Sect Leader. Deng Yuanlei thought that there must be a problem with it.


    Fan Yongda still had a connection with most of the men from the Central ins, so he soon found the camp where the Qingcheng Sect disciples had settled down. As a result, he happened to see two ¡®Qingcheng Sect Leaders¡¯ fighting for the position. They were quarrelling at first, but the quarrel soon turned into a fight. Both parties then invited helpers, and the fight quickly turned into a scuffle.


    Fan Yongda was had been wounded in that scuffle.


    ¡°Two sect leaders? One of them must be Liu Qingpu? What about the other one?¡± asked Dog Butcher.


    ¡°The other one is surnamed L¨¹.¡±


    ¡°L¨¹? Could it be the former sect leader L¨¹ Tong? He died long ago and I know that for certain.¡±


    ¡°Not the former sect leader. It may be his son or nephew who¡¯s in his thirties and inherited his sword technique¡­ It¡¯s the best swordsmanship I¡¯ve ever seen. He held the upper hand when I ran away.¡±


    This Sect Leader L¨¹ was the real challenger. Gu Shenwei suddenly began to understand something.


    Dog Butcher sighed. ¡°The Qingcheng Sect is one of the famous sects. It¡¯s such a disgrace that they had to fight internally and openly in the Nond. Why can¡¯t they just solve their problem back at the Qingcheng Mountain?¡±


    ¡°They all came for the Khan¡¯s head.¡± Gu Shenwei then turned to Fan Yongda who was lying in bed. ¡°The Kongtong Sect works for Wei Song, wbut ho¡¯s the Qingcheng Sect¡¯s backer?¡±


    ¡°It has been rumored that the Qingcheng Sect¡¯s backer is the Luo vige. The Luo family is well connected in the court. This is probably what Liu Qingpu values the most¡­¡±


    All the martial arts practitioners in the world of the Central ins knew the Luo family. Gu Shenwei had heard many rumors about them ever since he was little and only knew that it was one of the nine major sects in the Central ins. What differentiated it from other sects was that half of the family were kung fu practitioners whopeted in Jianghu while the other half were all schrs and officials. The people of the Luo family had a good reputation in both the martial arts world and the court but they had never officially called themselves a ¡®sect¡¯.


    Before Dog Butcher could figure out theplicated rtionship between the two, Fan Yongda raised himself up on one elbow and continued, saying, ¡°The Luo family wants the head of the Khan but they are too embarrassed toe, so they asked the Qingcheng Sect to do the work for them. Meanwhile, they chose L¨¹ Mian as the new sect leader so that the Qingcheng Sect has a chance ofpeting against the Dragon Kind.¡±


    ¡°The Luo family is so bad,¡± Dog Butcher contemptuously said. ¡°Dragon King, you can¡¯t hand over the Khan¡¯s head to the Qingcheng Sect.¡±


    Not only was the Luo family bad, but they were also very clever. Gu Shenwei said a few more words tofort Dog Butcher before returning to his own tent.


    Azheba and Mo Lin were waiting for him there.


    Tomorrow the Court Attendants Army would fight with the allied force of the kings again. Azheba had tried to change the soldiers¡¯ faith, but all his attempts were for naught. So he thought of a bold n. ¡°Let the the court attendantsy the Khan¡¯s body and head to rest themselves. Then they will know that the Khan is a human rather than a god¡­¡±


    Mo Lin had already been convinced by him. ¡°I can hand over the head. Separating the Khan¡¯s body and head into two different pieces is my sin. Since the Dragon King is absolutely irreconcble with the Waning Moon Hall, it¡¯s useless for me to keep holding onto the head.¡±


    ¡°Arge number of kung fu practitioners of the Central ins havee to the Royal Court to snatch the head away,¡± Gu Shenwei reminded.


    ¡°Forget it. The Khan belongs to the prairie and I won¡¯t let anyone take his head away.¡± This was Mo Lin¡¯s bottom line. Although he wasn¡¯t as pious as the soldiers of the Court Attendants Army, he was still very loyal.


    ¡°This may not be the idea but regardless, it has to wait until the battle¡¯s over tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°But ..¡± Azheba was a bit anxious. The battle was just the Dragon King¡¯s way of getting rid of the Court Attendants Army through another¡¯s hand. Arge number of soldiers would die tomorrow.


    ¡°Tomorrow will be an all-out fight,¡± said Gu Shenwei simply.


    Azheba understood the Dragon King¡¯s meaning. The thirty thousand horsemen along with the Court Attendants Army would join the battle together, which meant the n of removing the Court Attendants Army had been temporarily postponed.


    Azheba withdrew. He actually did not have the slightest confidence regarding the effectiveness of the n to bury the Khan.


    Mo Lin stayed. ¡°I¡¯ve heard a lot of rumors about the people of the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    ¡°Rumors say that they will force the Dragon King to ept the kung fupetition and that the bet will be the Khan¡¯s head.¡±


    ¡°Did you see the characters written on the soldiers¡¯ heads?¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t reply to him directly.


    ¡°Yes, this Qingcheng Sect Leader is indeed a remarkable kung fu master.¡±


    ¡°Do you think that you can defeat him?¡±


    Mo Lin fell silent for a moment before saying, ¡°I¡¯ve never known how good my sabersmanship truly is. All I know is that it will rise and fall in the face of different enemies.¡±


    Mo Lin was a man of the Nond but like the Dragon King, he improved his kung fu by killing rather than by practicing hard.


    For the rest of the day, Gu Shenwei and the counselor spent all their time preparing for the battle the next day. Fang Wenshi kept shaking his head. When no one else was around, he would whisper to the Dragon King, ¡°You¡¯ll be sorry for sure if you don¡¯t act ruthlessly now. The Court Attendants Army is a stone that no one can swallow it. Dragon King, you have to make a prompt decision now.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not answer most of the time, and his asional excuse was brief as well. ¡°We¡¯ll destroy King Shengri first.¡±


    The messenger of King Shengri came in thete afternoon, and soon after his departure, the contents of the letter were already being circted throughout the camp, which made Fang Wenshi very angry and even more convinced that it was all a plot of King Shengri¡¯s.


    King Shengri knew that the allied forces couldn¡¯t win the battle tomorrow so he had made a proposal on behalf of the five kings, which was anotherpetition.


    ¡°King Shengri was bought over by the Central ins,¡± Fang Wenshi stated exasperatedly in response to the soldiers¡¯ warm reception of King Shengri¡¯s proposedpetition. ¡°He¡¯s not going to fight in person for sure. He¡¯ll send the kung fu experts of the Central ins to challenge us again, shameful and vicious as usual. The Dragon King should expose the Central ins people¡¯s insidious n of stealing the Khan¡¯s head and let the soldiers know that whoever is using the kung fu of the Central ins is definitely a traitor.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s said clearly in King Shengri¡¯s letter that they want topete in archery, not saber and spear techniques,¡± reminded Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t the Central ins people also good at archery?¡±


    ¡°They can¡¯t be better than the Nond people in this aspect.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was still not convinced. ¡°Conspiracy, there must be a conspiracy, and it is rted to the challenge of the Qingcheng Sect Leader. This can¡¯t a coincidence that when you want to join a kung fupetition, he also wants to have apetition.¡±


    Of course such things couldn¡¯t be a coincidence. King Shengri and the Sect Leader L¨¹ were connected by a line, which was the Waning Moon Hall. Gu Shenwei could vaguely saw the shadow of Lotus in all these moves. This was her game.


    Instead of making a decision right away, Gu Shenwei requested the entire army to continue preparing for war, and he found himself some time to see Shulitu.


    Shulitu was very surprised that the Dragon King woulde to him for advice, but he did have some of his own ideas to offer. ¡°King Shengri¡¯s offer is very tempting. If we lose, then we¡¯ll have to let go of the allied forces of the kings and let them return to their own tribes. If he loses, then their whole army will surrender and he¡¯ll also renounce his title.¡±


    Indeed, even Fang Wenshi was tempted. What he was worried about was that King Shengri might have already found a way to guarantee his win of the game.


    Shulitu looked down a bit and then asked, ¡°Is the Dragon King still worried about the Court Attendants Army?¡±


    ¡°They are growing bolder and bolder, and are almost demanding that I hand over the noble officers who fled before.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m more worried than the Dragon King. The Court Attendants Army¡¯s worship and allegiance towards the Khan have gone astray. They will only grow prouder and more firmly believe in the power in their hands the more they are satisfied. In this case, it¡¯s actually a good thing if the war can really be ended through a kung fupetition.¡±


    ¡°Were you familiar with the Khan?¡± asked Gu Shenwei, already making a decision in his mind.


    ¡°Not really. I only saw him once when I was very little and all of my other impressions about him are from rumors and I can¡¯t really separate between the truth and exaggerations.¡±


    ¡°Mo Lin knew the Khan very well.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s the wing guard the Khan trusted the most. There¡¯s probably no one else who knew the Khan better than he did in all of the Nond.¡±


    ¡°You should talk to Mo Lin more.¡±


    Shulitu¡¯s eyes widened slightly. He had roughly guessed the Dragon King¡¯s intentions but couldn¡¯t believe them. ¡°I¡¯m just a puppet.¡±


    ¡°There are many kinds of puppets, and I need a useful one.¡±


    ¡°You want me to rece the Khan?¡±


    ¡°The Khan has ascended to heaven; he must have left something in the mortal world, and I believe that you are the inheritor of his legacy. To put it simply, you are the Khan reborn.¡±


    Shulitu was so surprised that he could not say a single word in response.


    ¡°I have decided to ept thepetition.¡± Gu Shenwei announced his decision before he left.

 Chapter 734 - Will

    Chapter 734: <em>Will</em>


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shulitu rarely left the tent alone. Even during the period when he had been half under house arrest by the Dragon King, he had had thepany of Nie Zeng and Han Wuxian. He was a part of the royal family of the Nond, but he had an innate fear of mud, wild grass, and horses.


    This morning, however, he decided to face his fears head on.


    The words of the Dragon King had kept him up all night. When he first heard the idea of him recing the Khan, he felt that it was like a whimsical dream. After pondering it over and over again, he began feeling a bit tempted.


    Under the guidance of his grandad and grandpa, Shulitu had be ustomed to the mindset of a puppet, which was that anything that seemed to belong to him, in fact belonged to someone else.


    The Dragon King was different in that he seemed willing to give his puppet more autonomy. But Shulitu knew very well that this was not merely giving and that the Dragon King was actually encouraging him to fight for it himself.


    After dismissing his attendants, he dressed himself in a light leather uniform which fit him well and was morefortable than the steel armor left behind by his father, the former King Riying.


    This was the young prince Shulitu¡¯s camp, but even the lowliest servants knew who the real ruler was. As the twelve years old royal kid stood at the tent door, he felt that everything around him seemed unfamiliar.


    The morning sunshine was unexpectedly bright. Shulitu saw an officer salute him so he nodded back in return. He vaguely remembered the man¡¯s name and knew that he used to work for the former King Riying and that he should be more loyal than the officers from other armies, but Shulitu didn¡¯t have a particrly strong feeling about it yet.


    As he walked eastward, the noises of the early risers began to grow louder. If it were the Khan who had strolled into the camp, the whole camp would have fallen silent and people would kneel to salute him. Even the Dragon King, who was a foreigner here, would be greeted with a bow if he walked in the camp. Shulitu, byparison, only received negligence.


    Every once in awhile, a soldier might notice him but it took them a while to recognize his identity. Most people simply nodded at him as a greeting.


    For the soldiers, there was something more exciting than Shulitu¡¯s arrival this morning. The Dragon King had agreed to King Shengri¡¯s request for a contest and the two sides were negotiating the rules, which meant that the battle which was supposed to start today was canceled.


    It was said that the prairie men were warlike, but Shulitu did not feel that vibe at all. The soldiers around him were wiping their armor ebulliently precisely because they didn¡¯t have to use it for the time being.


    It was quieter around the main tent with only a few guards brought here by the Dragon King from the Western Regions remaining on alert. They paid more respect to the young prince than the ordinary soldiers by bowing and making way for him.


    With so few people, the Dragon King was actually capable of winning a huge army in the Nond. What exactly was the Dragon King¡¯s capabilities? Shulitu was confused, and his curiosity piqued.


    The counselor happened toe out of the tent and looked to be in a bad mood, though he became slightly stunned at seeing Shulitu here. ¡°Your Highness¡­ What are you doing here? I don¡¯t think that the Dragon King has called you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just going for a walk.¡± Judging from the counselor¡¯s attitude, Shulitu clearly felt that he was still just a puppet.


    Frowning, Fang Wenshi abruptly grabbed Shulitu¡¯s thin arm and led him out a few steps before asking in a low voice, ¡°What did the Dragon King say to you yesterday? Did you advise him to join the fight?¡±


    ¡°Counselor Fang should ask the Dragon King what he said.¡± Shulitu struggled to free his arm from the counselor¡¯s grip and continued, saying, ¡°I do support the Dragon King in joining the contest, but the Dragon King¡¯s decision has nothing to do with me.¡±


    Fang Wenshi chuckled. This twelve year old royal kid was indeed quite special. Besides that time he tried to assassinate the Dragon King, he had been behaving well and saved him lots of trouble, but that was it. ¡°I suppose so. s, the Dragon King is, after all, a kung fu practitioner and can¡¯t rid himself of his reliance on the saber and sword. He agreed to King Shengri¡¯s request of having a contest today, and also agreed to the people of the Central ins¡¯ invitation to have a fight tomorrow. This¡­ This isn¡¯t like a king¡¯s demeanor at all.¡±


    ¡°All kings are originally born from warriors, at least that¡¯s so in the Nond. The prairie men worship the saber and sword like they worship god.¡±


    Looking at the thin teenager, Fang Wenshi chuckled again, shook his head, and left. He didn¡¯t have the mood to educate a little puppet.


    Shulitu took two steps towards the main tent. When he saw that Long Fanyun, the captain of the guard, wasing to greet him, he turned to walk away again. He had heard of the matter of the Qingcheng Sect Leader writing characters on the horsemen¡¯s foreheads with a sword, and secretly thought that the Dragon King should not ept the challenge. But he had changed his mind on second thought, thinking that his suggestion would be superfluous.


    Shulitu continued to stroll around and saw the strange subordinates of the Dragon King. He had always wondered if the people of the Western Regions were all so different, but Old Man Mu was a man of the Nond. He could only assume that the Dragon King had a different way of valuing people of the world.


    Han Wuxian was teaching Nie Zeng her lightness skills in a vacant lot. A crowd of people werementing and offering suggestions nearby, especially that green-eyed little girl whoughed at Nie Zeng for being too clumsy.


    Old Man Mu was nagging even more than anyone else but the one he was harassing was Han Wuxian. He kept saying that this move was being taught wrong and that that move was not subtle enough. In short, the lightness skills taught by Han Wuxian were useless.


    Shulitu didn¡¯t know any kung fu, so he couldn¡¯t even tell whether it was good or bad, not to mention understanding the principles behind the moves. Looking at Nie Zeng¡¯s swift bodily movements, he thought that it was no wonder that so many people were obsessed with martial arts. One¡¯s body was like a restraint and practicing kung fu was one of the ways to break it. However, his body was more like a shackle. He hadn¡¯t walked for too long but he already felt breathless and his legs had turned soft.


    None of these people cared about Shulitu. When he passed by, he happened to hear Old Man Mu whisper to the pretty young swordsman beside him, ¡°Be careful, do not let that silly boy take your little beauty away¡­¡±


    Shulitu was surprised. The Nond was at a critical moment of life and death, and the excellent generals and soldiers were dwindling away due to meaningless deaths, and yet there was still a small group of people who were indifferent to it all. Although most of them were from the Western Region, he still found it hard to understand.


    Only the Nond people could save the Nond. Shulitu felt that his thin, fragile body was really a great burden.


    Standing at the tent door, he could still hear the noisy Old Man Mu, but he had already turned a deaf ear to it. ¡°Is Lord Silver Condor here?¡±


    Mo Lin walked out with his hand on the saber hilt and bowed his head a bit lower than those ordinary soldiers. ¡°I beg your pardon, Your Highness, but I have gone back to my old name and I¡¯m not a lord either.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Mo Lin. I keep forgetting that.¡± Shulitu smiled, really wishing that he had the Dragon King¡¯s ability to quickly gain the trust of powerful subordinates.


    ¡°Is there anything I can do for you, Your Highness?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like¡­¡± Shulitu didn¡¯t know how to say it. The Dragon King had advised him to keep in touch with the wing guard of the Khan as much as possible, but Mo Lin himself obviously didn¡¯t know this. ¡°I¡¯d like to learn kung fu from you.¡±


    ¡°That would be my pleasure, but¡­¡± Mo Lin was very surprised, but could not find a reason to refuse. ¡°Now we¡¯re at war, can Your Highness spare the time?¡±


    ¡°As long as you¡¯re willing to teach me, I¡¯ll always have the time.¡± As he looked at Nie Zeng who was practicing not far away, Shulitu continued, ¡°The more chaotic the situation is, the greater my need for a strong body.¡±


    ¡°Oh, okay. Your Highness, pleasee in and have a seat.¡± Mo Lin didn¡¯t think that the young prince wouldst long.


    ¡°No, thank you. Well, if it¡¯s not too much trouble for you, I¡¯d like to have a walk with you.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s very kind of you. Actually ¡ª you¡¯re not my subordinate and you don¡¯t seem to have epted any position.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a wing guard of the Khan. If there¡¯s no Khan, then there will be no wing guards.¡±


    ¡°When the new Khan is elected soon, you¡¯ll be able to return to your old position.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll be decided by the new Khan.,¡± Mo Lin replied respectfully and cautiously while thinking to himself about whether the young prince was trying to win him over.


    ¡°The new Khan will definitely be happy to ask for it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve failed to keep the previous Khan safe. It¡¯s a stain that will never be washed away.¡±


    ¡°The previous Khan constructed the most powerful defenses but still left a loophole in the inconspicuous people around him. It wasn¡¯t your fault. As a wing guard, you¡¯ve done an impable job. Even the Khan himself would never have imagined that the ultimate danger woulde from the five ve girls.¡±


    Mo Lin didn¡¯t speak for a moment. He was thinking about to what extent he should confess to the twelve years old royal child, ¡°Actually, I had some doubts, but¡­¡±


    ¡°But no one wanted to break into the tent while the Khan was pursuing immortality. He trusted those masters too much and never thought they would act as a secret conduit around thework of defense.¡±


    Mo Lin was really surprised now. He had expressed simr views to the Khan but had not been taken seriously. ¡°The Khan had his own ideas but some things were out of his expectations. Actually, they were out of everyone¡¯s expectations.¡±


    ¡°What kind of man is the Khan, anyway?¡±


    ¡°The Khan was valiant and wise, and one of the greatest Khans in the history of the Nond.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, everyone says that. But I would like to know what advantages and shorings he had from your point of view.¡±


    Mo Lin felt that the young prince had touched his bottom line, so he seriously said, ¡°I¡¯m not qualified to judge the Khan if that¡¯s what Your Highness wanted. His greatnessid not in his meaning to one person, but rather in his effects on the whole prairie.¡±


    Shulitu was about to turn around to ask someone to wipe the sweat from his forehead when he realized that he hadn¡¯t brought any of his entourage with him today, so he took a deep breath and said, ¡°The war in the Royal Court is going to end soon but therger war is about to begin. I have no intention of judging the Khan, but I wonder what he would have done in the present situation.¡±


    Mo Lin really wanted to blurt out the truth that no matter what the Khan would do, a little puppet controlled by the Dragon King wouldn¡¯t be able to imitate it.


    ¡°The Khan was younger than me when he inherited the throne. Since then, he had been constantly fighting to defeat his enemies and consolidate his own power.¡± The strangeness in his heart gradually disappeared as Shulitu continued saying, ¡°I am his great-grandson and I have his blood flowing in my body, and one of my duties is to continue his fight.¡±


    Mo Lin took the young prince seriously for the first time and began specting about his real thoughts. ¡°The Dragon King asked you toe to me?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s also my own will.¡±


    ¡°When ites to will, the Khan once said to me, ¡°Some people are born with power but it¡¯s not given to them. Instead, they have to seize it with their own initiative.¡± This is will. The Khan never cared about what others would do, he just went there and seized it and everyone admitted it.¡±


    Shulitu¡¯s heart pounded wildly, which had little to do with the scorching sunshine and long walk.


    Before they knew it, the two had gotten near the camp of the Court Attendants Army. A group of cavalrymen were guarding the way, and no one was allowed to enter the camp, and the other soldiers were far away.


    Shulitu strode forward while secretly encourage himself that it was his army. The Court Attendants Army had pledged their allegiance to the name of Shulitu, and he was going to take the power that was inherent in him.


    Mo Lin followed to see if the young prince would overthink his words.


    One of the horsemen drew his bowstring back and shouted, ¡°Stop.¡±


    ¡°I am Shulitu, also known as King Riying, King Riyao, and King Kuari. Imand you to stay out of the way.¡±


    The soldier exchanged a nce with hispanions and then shot an arrow thatnded three paces in front of the young prince. ¡°Even if you gather all the titles of the kings, you will not be qualified to give us orders.¡±

 Chapter 735 - Abduction

    Chapter 735: Abduction


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The arrow stuck in the ground flickered, as if it were resonating with the sneering expression on the faces of the nearby Court Attendants Army soldiers.


    They had once ruthlessly reaped the lives of several lords, along with hundreds of aristocratic officers, as sacrifices to the deceased Khan; that very killing spree was one of the major reason why this so-called ¡°His Highness¡± had seeded the throne, so the soldiers had every reason to despise him.


    Shulitu could feel his legs trembling. That strange soldier was acting like his severe grandpa used to, which made him feel both useless and furious at the same time ¨C


    He never expressed his anger in front his grandpa, not even a little bit, but today, he was going to make an exception.


    Shulitu stepped over the threatening arrow, and asked as calmly as he could, ¡°Is the Nond cavalry allowed to betray their oath? You have already abandoned the name of the Court Attendants Army and pledged your allegiance to Shulitu. Aas that a lie? Or do you have your own unique interpretation of the word ¡®allegiance¡¯? Imand you. Dismount, admit your guilt, and get out of my way.¡±


    The soldier panicked slightly. Obviously he didn¡¯t expect that prince Shulitu would dare be somanding. He cast an inquiring look towards his fellows, but they had betrayed him, turning their horses aside and lowering their heads to the child respectfully.


    The soldier seemed to also give in. He looked like he was about to get down from his horse, but at thest moment, he suddenly turned his horse all the way around and rode away, deep into the camp.


    Regardless of the ending, this was still a little victory. Shulitu began to understand the old Khan¡¯s words: people were born with power, but until they held it in their hands, that power is nothing but useless waste lying before their eyes.


    Shulitu tried hard to calm down. Then he turned around and found that he was terribly wrong ¨C it wasn¡¯t his tough words that had scared the soldier away, but rather arge group ofmon soldiers.


    There were nearly a hundred soldiers streaming in from nearby ces. They had gathered behind him, each holding a saber or drawing a bow. They¡¯d long been discontent with the egocentricity and superiority of those Court Attendants soldiers, and would love to express their feelings with this opportunity.


    Mo Lin was still watching from away. How Shulitu would deal with these soldiers who hade out for him was the true test.


    Shulitu straightened himself. His eyes swept through these soldiers, with a brief pause on each face; from this moment on, he would try to remember the face of everyone that might be helpful to him, and afterwards, their names as well.


    The soldiers felt valued by his actions. So they bowed, put away their weapons, and backed off.


    Mo Lin came over, and together they entered the semi-restricted camp of the Court Attendants Army.


    ¡°You did well, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°But that soldier ran away anyway.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, the Court Attendants Army has be undisciplined. You need to refamiliarize them with discipline again.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve indeed cked in their diligence.¡±


    ¡°Shulitu looked around and all he saw was unconcern and arrogance ¨C the soldiers were sitting or standing with their weapons casually tossed to the side; they watched the two ¡°outsiders¡± indifferently, with no respect in their eyes at all.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be long before they forget how to fight as soldiers and regress into a group of bandits who can do nothing but charge and shoot wildly.¡±


    Far away, a dozen soldier were carrying something and slowly heading towards a bonfire.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±Shulitu asked.


    ¡°Looks like an officer.¡±


    ¡°Azheba.¡±Shulitu recognized the man and started running towards him.


    Azheba hadn¡¯t given up hope and was yelling in a loud voice. ¡°The Khan¡¯s passed away and hasn¡¯t even been interred yet. Don¡¯t you have any concerns about it?¡±


    ¡°The Khan¡¯s immortal, and he is now a god in heaven.¡± The soldiers carrying him always gave the same answer.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t believe it, we can send you up there and let you see for yourself,¡± another soldier offered.


    Shulitu opened his arms in the middle of the path and desperately gasped out, ¡°Stop! Are you insane? You¡¯re going to burn your own general alive in your camp?¡±


    ¡°The Khan needs him,¡± the soldiers answered calmly.


    More and more soldiers gathered around. One of them said, ¡°He¡¯s the Khan¡¯s great-grandson.¡± All the others nodded their heads.


    Shulitu felt his heart skip a beat, realizing that he might be ¡°needed¡± by the Khan as well.


    Gu Shenwei was busy making arrangements for an archery contest that was to be held several dayster when a soldier suddenly rushed in and reported that Shulitu along with Azheba had been kidnapped by a group of Court Attendants soldiers.


    On his way to the rescue, Gu Shenwei ran into Fan Wensh. The look on his face clearly said ¡®I knew it¡¯ without needing to open his mouth. He had never trusted the Court Attendants Army, believing that their allegiance had always been temporary.


    The Court Attendants soldiers guarding the passage swelled into the hundreds, and a simr number ofmon soldiers were confronting them. As news of this incident spread, the numbers of soldiers on both sides kept increasing.


    The first order that Gu Shenwei gave was to dismiss themon soldiers.Then he handed over his sword and saber to Long Fanyun before walking into the Court Attendants camp alone.


    It would actually be a little too dramatic to call this situation a kidnapping, as Shulitu and Azheba had merely been surrounded, and not actually tied up. Shulitu was having an intense debate with those Court Attendants soldiers, fiercely stating, ¡°Azheba is the best archer on our side, and we need him in the contest against King Shengri. If you burn him to death, you¡¯re basically cutting off our own hands. How is that any different from colluding with enemy? Or would you rather die on the battlefield?¡±


    The soldiers¡¯ answers were always brief. ¡°We¡¯re not afraid of death.¡± ¡°The Khan needs him.¡±


    However, the Dragon King¡¯s presence instantly calmed the crowds down. Many of them unconsciously raised their heads, looking for that giant roc.


    ¡°Someone talk to me,¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s mien was just as cold as those of the Court Attendants soldiers¡¯.


    The crowds of soldiers wavered for quite a while before one man stepped forward atst. That soldier wouldn¡¯t give his name, nor his rank, but he spoke out to say, ¡°Azheba is a Court Attendant officer, and he has an obligation to serve our Khan in Heaven. You promised us this, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°I promised that I would make sure that your request would be heard by the young king.¡±


    Shulitu¡¯s cheeks flushed with anger, as he dered, ¡°I do not consent. The sacrifice must stop. Imand you all to back off.¡±


    The soldiers didn¡¯t leave, but neither did they move forward to seize Azheba.


    ¡°Nobody disobeys the Khan¡¯s orders,¡± the soldier said. ¡± Please move aside, Your Highness. We fought for you, and this man is our just reward.¡±


    Shulitu was just about to speak out again when Dragon King indicated for him not to.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Nobody disobeys the Khan¡¯s orders. So let the Khan decide whether Azheba should be sacrificed or not.¡± Gu Shenwei watched the confused soldiers around him and continued speaking. ¡°Although the Khan¡¯s in Heaven now, some of his attire is still here. I¡¯ll bring them here, and maybe Khan will be willing to manifest and give you his orders himself.


    Shulitu¡¯s heart was beating like a drum. He was worried that such a simple lie wouldn¡¯t work.


    ¡°Agreed,¡± the soldiers answered after a quick consultation through nces and eye-contact. ¡°But if the Khan doesn¡¯t like those clothes, we need to follow the original order and sacrifice these officers.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough. Your Highness, please return to the tent..¡±


    Before the soldiers could express their opposition, Shulitu loudly said, ¡°No. I will not leave without Azheba.¡±


    Azheba shook his head while Gu Shenwei stated in a cold voice, ¡°His Highness will stay or leave of his own will. Nobody shall get in his way.¡±


    ¡°Of course. All the Khan wants is officers. There¡¯s enough of his offspring in Heaven already.¡±


    The abduction raised widespread wrath among the troops. The moment Dragon King stepped out of the camp, Fang Wenshi came over and said, ¡°Be careful, Your Majesty. The troops are indignant about this. I fear that infighting might start.¡±


    Mo Lin was not confined, so he followed the Dragon King out of the camp. He said, ¡°I¡¯ll go get the Khan¡¯s attire.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡±


    The Khan¡¯s head was attracting too many people¡¯s attention now, so Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t let Mo Lin do it alone.


    Fan Wenshi continued nagging, but Gu Shenwei told him, ¡°Consider this a good opportunity. Maybe a lot of issues will be resolved once and for all by it.¡±


    ¡°Or maybe it will ruin all of our former efforts in vain.¡± Fang Wenshi knew that Dragon King wanted to take risks again, but he preferred more conventional conservative approaches.


    Gu Shenwei made some arrangements: he would only take 500 soldiers, half of whom were from the Court Attendants Army. He would also have no bodyguards, except for Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher.


    Watching their distant figures and the dust behind them fade away, Tie Linglong was a little annoyed by the arrangements. ¡°Why didn¡¯t His Majesty bring me with him? Am I his bodyguard or just an ornament?¡±


    ¡°His Majesty has his own ns.¡± Chu Nanping didn¡¯t think too deeply into it.


    Looking into the distance, Han Wuxian had an idea herself. ¡°It¡¯s time for me to make my move. Green-eyed little sister, you shoulde with me.¡±


    ¡°To where? Uh, why should I go with you?¡± Tie Linglong used learn kung fu from Han Wuxian, but was still very wary of her.


    ¡°To save my daughter, of course. You promised.¡±


    ¡°I did promise you that, but don¡¯t you think it¡¯s way toote? That Shaman confessed several days ago, and you only just recalled it now?¡±


    ¡°Haha, that¡¯s because I know those traitors¡¯ tricks very well, so I might as well take my time.¡±


    Tie Linglong nced at Chu Nanping as she was stuck in a bind, then the teenage swordsman said, ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡±


    ¡°Fine. Once your daughter is saved, my promise to you will be considered fulfilled.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Han Wuxian turned around and looked at Nie Zeng, ¡°This will be a good chance to practice your lightness skills. You¡¯ll alsoe with us.¡±


    Nie Zeng nodded, then he noticed that a pair of green eyes were ring fiercely at him. He tried to re back at her, but failed to hold for long before he gave in.


    Shangguan Yun smiled and said, ¡°You can count me in too. I can refuse when a beauty summons me.¡±


    Shangguan Fei and Doctor Sun were standing to the side. When they noticed that everyone was focusing on them, the former shook his head. ¡°His Majesty is the only one I answer to.¡± And thetter pinched his little hair bun before saying, ¡°I¡¯m not very good at kung fu, so I think that I¡¯ll stay here and spare the master some trouble.¡±


    Han Wuxian sat down once again on the rattan chair behind Nie Zeng. The group of people left the camp and followed the tracks of the Dragon King, then changed directions. By nightfall, there was only some tens of miles between the two groups.


    In military terms, the whole Royal Court now belonged to young king Shulitu, including the pce in the north.


    In an area of ruins, where very few people lived, the pce was the only ce that remained intact, and the body of the Khan was still kept within it.


    And so was his head.


    Mo Lin had made a request to Dragon King that they leave the 500 soldiers outside the pce, and bring only a few attendants in with them..


    Old Man Mu couldn¡¯t hide his eagerness, because he could see it in the look of the Dragon King. There would be a killing spree tonight.

 Chapter 736 - Shadows

    Chapter 736: Shadows


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Han Wuxian knew the Waning Moon Hall just like how a mother knew her daughter. ¡°It¡¯s a trap.¡±


    ¡°Then why did wee?¡± Tie Linglong also used to be a member of the Waning Moon Hall for some time, but she was only cursorily familiar with the organization.


    ¡°There¡¯s a bait set in the trap and hunters around it ready to pounce: I want them both.¡±


    Tie Linglong, Chu Nanping, Nie Zeng, Shangguan Yun; there were four helpers in total. Han Wuxian jumped off of the rattan chair, and her eyes swept through them individually. By merely moving her eyes, she sent four different expressions to each of these four different helpers: amiability, appreciation, expectation, and charm, respectively.


    Every one of them felt that they had been paid special attention to and because of it, decided that in no case should they disappoint the Hall Leader of the Waning Moon Hall.


    ¡°The best way to handle a trap is to lure the snake out of its hole, but I need someone to trigger the trap first.¡±


    Four people stepped forward almost simultaneously.


    Han Wuxian smiled. ¡°I can¡¯t risk putting any of you in danger. His Majesty would never forgive me for doing so ¨C Cloud King, how about you do it?¡±


    Shangguan Yun¡¯s face was full with a bitter smile. ¡°I¡¯d be more than happy to.¡±


    ¡°Haha, actually, perhaps the son of the Unique King should be reserved for a more important issue.¡± Han Wuxian changed her mind yet again. ¡°I¡¯ll go trigger the trap. You guys lie in ambush on the periphery. Little sister, you stay with this handsome swordsman, standing by in the south. Cloud King, you take these killers that I taught myself, and prepare to ambush from the east. I¡¯ve also prepared two satchels. Take them.¡±


    The four people nodded. Chu Nanping and Shangguan Yun each took a satchel. They knew that it was a prop to lure the apprentices of Waning Moon Hall, but couldn¡¯t smell anything from it.


    Han Wuxian smiled even more brightly. ¡°I¡¯m really touched. If the apprentices of Waning Moon Hall were half as morally decent as you are all, then there wouldn¡¯t be so many traitors. Yet there¡¯s one thing I have to remind you of. The traitors of Waning Moon Hall all belong to me. You can take them alive. You can paralyze them. But if you kill any one of them, even if by ident, I will be very angry.¡±


    With an etherealugh, Han Wuxian quickly disappeared into the darkness.


    Tie Linglong pouted unhappily. ¡°Was she threatening us?¡±


    Nie Zeng said with a fit of cold smile. ¡°It¡¯s not her threats that are scary. Her smile is.¡±


    ¡°You have sharp eyes, little brother.¡± Shangguan Yun stood beside the three teenagers without any hint of awkwardness. ¡°The Hall Leader is indeed not a woman who can be analyzed withmon sense.¡±


    Tie Linglong showed some more contempt. ¡°You¡¯re so willing to give her a piggyback ride. Is that because you want to see her ¡®lethal smile¡¯?¡± After disparaging Nie Zeng, she switched targets to Shangguan Yun. ¡°And then there¡¯s you. What was your reason for voluntarily following her here?¡±


    The former blushed, turned around, and left without saying a word.


    Thetter smiled awkwardly. ¡°Little sister, a man of genius and a woman of charm make a perfect couple. You do know this saying, right?¡± Then he followed Nie Zeng and left as well.


    There were now only two people left. Tie Linglongined coldly, ¡°I hate it when people call me ¡®little sister.¡¯ I¡¯m not a child.¡±


    ¡°Then tell them that.¡± Chu Nanping had been the first one to sessfully master the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power, ridding himself of the influence of the Daoless Divine Power and the Essence of Perceiving Passion, but his personality was still as in and nd as ever. Sometimes it seemed like that he was just being perfunctory.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that simple.¡± Tie Linglong really wanted to poke him with her finger. Though she didn¡¯t care that much, she still didn¡¯t dare make any requests towards Han Wuxian; although Han Wuxian was neither her master nor her Hall Leader anymore, deep down in her heart, she was still very afraid of this woman.


    ¡°We should go to our assigned positions,¡± Chu Nanping suggested gently.


    This was the southern area of the Royal Court, and its terrain was perfect for ambushes everywhere in the wilderness. Soon, the two took their positions, hiding in the grass with a distance of around ten steps from each other. Chu Nanping was monitoring the northwest direction while Tie Linglong was facing southeast.


    The night sky was bright with the moon and some sparse stars. Tonight was perfect for observing distant, mobile targets.


    Yet neither of them were qualified killers, and in less than a quarter¡¯s time, Tie Linglong became the first one to be unable to bear the monotony any longer. ¡°Chu, it¡¯s too boring. Chat with me.¡±


    ¡°About what?¡±


    ¡°Stupid. Say something like¡­ like what you¡¯ve said before¡­ that you would kill for me or something like that. I¡¯d like to hear something like that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve said that already. Do I have to say it again?¡±


    ¡°Well, never mind.¡± Tie Linglong felt that the moment was now long gone. ¡°It¡¯s so weird. You¡¯ve always been such a nerd. Why were you so¡­ so good at talking in that moment? Did someone teach you that?¡±


    ¡°No. Those words naturally came to my mouth by themselves. I didn¡¯t have to think them up or be taught them. I think¡­ I¡¯ve had feelings for you this whole time.¡±


    ¡°Hee-Hee, you moron. This is what I wanted to hear.¡±


    ¡°Eeh? Isn¡¯t that something you already knew?¡±


    ¡°No, I know nothing. You know what, I¡¯m¡­¡±


    ¡°Shh, someone¡¯sing.¡±


    Tie Linglong turned over immediately.


    Indeed, a vague shadow was flying right above the grass; if it weren¡¯t for the fact that they¡¯d prepared the ground beforehand, they would never have been able to distinguish it from the darkness of night.


    Like a hound with a good sense of smell, the ck shadow was moving sporadically in fits and starts. And from time to time, it would take a roundabout route back to where it started. Its movements somewhat resembled that of an animal that fed on rotten meat, searching for delicious food in the ruins.


    The shadow stayed for the longest when it was about a dozen steps away from the two teenagers. It seemed to have smelled danger, but at the same time was unwilling to give up on the ¡°prey¡± right here under its nose.


    Tie Linglong held her hilt tightly, her heart bing callous. She still had many of the habits and training remnants leftover from her time at the Waning Moon Hall, and one of them was the yearning for death and blood.


    ¡°One stab, as easy as that.¡± Dragon King used to say simr words.


    The shadow stood still, but Chu Nanping lost his patience first.


    The teen swordsman jumped out of the grass, his sword stabbing towards someone behind Tie Linglong ¨C the shadow had also brought helpers.


    Tie Linglong was annoyed by her careless negligence and she wouldn¡¯t allow it to happen a second time, so she ignored the sneak attacker behind her and rushed straight ahead towards the shadow who was standing still.


    Before the tip of her saber could even touch her target, Tie Linglong realized that she¡¯d been fooled again; it wasn¡¯t a human. The ck shadow had left a cloth doll as his substitute and escaped right in front of them.


    Tie Linglong draw her saber back just in time. Her instincts told her that it wouldn¡¯t be a good idea to stab the doll.


    ¡®Maybe she had been wrong to have left the Waning Moon Hall that early,¡¯ Tie Linglong mused to herself. After turning around, she saw that Chu Nanping was fighting the true shadow.


    Both of them were moving at lightning-fast speeds and the fighting had entered a tangled state. Tie Linglong was shocked as she yelled out, ¡°Hold your breath!¡±


    It happened in a blink of eye, but Tie Linglong¡¯s signal still came a moment toote.


    Chu Nanping¡¯s sword suddenly drooped, his body began shaking and fallings backwards; clearly, he¡¯d been hit.


    Tie Linglong blocked the shadow¡¯s advance. With every three or four moves, she had to retreat to a tailwind position, take a breath and thenunch another attack. She couldn¡¯t find any chances to check on Chu Nanping¡¯s situation.


    The ck shadow was a little surprised and began striking out even faster. Although its hands were empty and both tangible and intangible, the hidden weapons it threw out seemed endless.


    Chu Nanping felt his internal energy rapidly draining away, and his vision was growing increasingly hazy. Yet he didn¡¯t fall, and the sword remained tightly gripped in his hand.


    The familiar figure was fighting hard, yet gradually losing momentum. After recalling hismitments, he bit the tip of his tongue as hard as he could and his sword struck forward.


    The teenage swordsman could still fight! Shocked, the shadow stretched out its palm and tried to grab the sword de.


    Tie Linglong had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. With the narrow saber in her right hand as a distraction, the fingers of her left hand poked at the vital points of the shadow.


    Chu Nanping¡¯s sword was grabbed by the enemy. Between the strength of the two in that sh, the de of the sword snapped. At the same time, Tie Linglong had seeded. She had been told that the Jueyin Finger Techniques she learned from Han Wuxian would be particrly effective in fights against Waning Moon Hall apprentices. This was her first trial.


    She had only reached the second level of mastery with the skill, and couldn¡¯t unleash its full potential, but the shadow seemed to be grievously wounded. With a cry, it backed up several consecutive steps as it shrieked out, ¡°How could you¡­¡±


    But Tie Linglong was not in the mood to talk: Chu Nanping had lost his weapon and could fall at any moment, which made her the only person who could finish off the enemy.


    It was at this time that Han Wuxian showed up out of blue andnded on the shadow like a giant bird catching its prey. The shadow screeched with pain.


    Han Wuxian turned over to reveal the blood on her lips, which intensified the enigmatic air of her smile. ¡°It seems like I didn¡¯t teach you the finger techniques in vain, little sister.¡±


    Tie Linglong stopped chasing and turned around to assist Chu Nanping who was shaking. ¡°He inhaled some knockout powder.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll live,¡± Han Wuxian said as she could barely hide her excitement, hands grabbing the shadow¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Han Qin, it¡¯s been so long. I missed you so much.¡±


    Han Qin was a middle-aged women. Her left cheek was covered by blood, and her head drooping. Her voice was very weak at this point as well, barely being able to whisper, ¡°I wanted to see you, too. I want to see you die.¡±


    ¡°Haha, you¡¯re just as lovely as you were in the past.¡± Han Wuxian sank her ten fingers into Han Qin¡¯s shoulders. ¡°So many people have betrayed me yet I never cared. But you, your betrayal was the most surprising. I have thought of all the possible exnations I could think of, yet still can¡¯t find a reason for why. Unlike those semi-finished products, you¡¯re one of the elites of our hall. Exactly what did Lotus promise you?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just an crazy Jianghu woman whose ambition goes no further than taking back the Stone Castle, while Master Commander cares about the well-being of all human beings. This was her promise to me.¡± Han Qin was clearly suffering great pain, yet it only helped sharpen her mind.


    ¡°Well, then. I guess I didn¡¯t have an ambition that great ¨C what about my daughter? Where¡¯s Lotus hiding her?¡±


    ¡°A ce you¡¯ll never find. You don¡¯t stand a chance against the Master Commander. Not with your average capabilities¡­¡±


    Han Wuxian released her grip on Han Qin¡¯s shoulders and hugged her tightly. In a tender tone, she said, ¡°Don¡¯t be too rude to me. You know that I like you, and that I won¡¯t let you die quickly or cleanly. I¡¯ll bring you back to the camp. There are so many men there. You won¡¯t be disappointed at all.¡±


    Han Qin¡¯s throat rattled with vague groans.


    Trying hard to subdue her anger, Tie Linglong let go of Chu Nanping. ¡°Make her hand over the antidote. Chu is dying.¡±


    Chu Nanping¡¯s face looked paler than even the moon. Although he was still holding onto his snapped sword, his eyes had lost their luster, which made him seem like he was already a dead man. He had inhaled more than one kind of knockout powder, and the symptoms hadpounded and catalyzed each other, immediately sending him into a catatonic state.


    Han Wuxian didn¡¯t turn her head over. Her left hand stroked across Han Qin¡¯s face lightly, stopped on the wound, and pressed down harshly.


    Han Qin screeched again, but suddenly the screech turned intoughter- extreme and hystericalughter, crazy and obsessed. ¡°No! Spare me, please.¡± With herughter, she could barely breath, and her voice became as sentimental as that of Han Wuxian¡¯s.


    ¡°Antidote!¡± Tie Linglong couldn¡¯t stand theughter, and the worsening look of Chu Nanping¡¯s face made her even more anxious.


    Han Wuxian turned over Han Qin¡¯s upper body and stretched out her left arm, blood still on the fingers. ¡°Take it. This is the antidote.¡±


    Tie Linglong nearly vomited.


    Han Qin knew that her cruel punishment had just began. In a brief moment of consciousness, she said, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s going to die tonight. Your backer will be gone. Han Wuxian, Master Commander won¡¯t let you get away with this.¡±

 Chapter 737 - Rules

    Chapter 737: Rules


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher hadpletely different views on what the rules of Jianghu were.


    ¡°You take a step back, and I¡¯ll take a step back. That way, everybody gets something. This is what the rules of Jianghu are.¡±


    ¡°Heh heh, bullshit! What if I take a step forward after you take one backward? How can you be so sure that I will remain still after taking a step backward?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Rules are not something formed between merely two people, but rather something that is upheld by all of Jianghu. If you break the rules, then you will lose your ce in Jianghu, and everybody will despise and attack you.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, you think that I haven¡¯t been mobbed before? But look at me, I¡¯m still standing here alive. And look at you. You¡¯ve been following the rules for so many years, but you still live under your sister¡¯s custody like her dog. Oh, and where¡¯s your dog-butchering saber? Why aren¡¯t you carrying it around anymore?¡±


    ¡°My Senior Sister said that it wouldn¡¯t be right for a patriarch to have a heavy killing aura, so I changed my weapon from a saber to a cane. As for the benefits of following rules, that would that be when yound in trouble, many people, even strangers will offer you help. Unlike you, nobody¡¯s would take you in except for His Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Take me in? Are you trying to say that His Majesty took me in? Your Majesty, tell him. Haven¡¯t I been of great help to you? I stay here only because His Majesty is seeking out talented people like a thirsty person seeking water. The Unique King was crying and begging me to work for him, yet I still refused¡­


    Dog Butcher smiled and said no more. Although he was not a very decisive person, he still was not a fool. When Old Man Mu had ranked among the peak of all kung fu experts, then maybe ambitious lords and leaders would have vied for his allegiance. But now he only had sixty to seventy percent of his former power and was as strong as an average master now. The Dragon King was the only one who would treat him like someone of high value.


    Gu Shenwei had only brought a dozen of his men, who acted like a group of reticent ghosts in this empty pce. And the debate between Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher imparted some needed vitality to this pce.


    Gu Shenwei also had his own understanding of the rules of Jianghu, but he didn¡¯t chip in. What a killer pursued was a path to bypass the rules entirely. That path culminated in striking the enemy with a single, lethal blow, which sounded a little simr to the Old Man Mu¡¯s opinion. But a killer mustn¡¯t be obsessed with fame. Getting off of the stage in time after the job was done and keeping a low profile should be the norm.


    Although he wasn¡¯t a killer anymore, he couldn¡¯t get rid of his killer¡¯s mindset that easily.


    ¡°What are the rules of Jianghu like in the Nond?¡± Gu Shenwei asked Mo Lin who was beside him.


    Mo Lin didn¡¯t seem to be in a talking mood. He had had his adventures in Jianghu and achieved considerable sess, yet he didn¡¯t miss those experiences much. ¡°They are simr to those of the Central ins¡¯. Nonders brag a bit more often, but that is how they make friends with each other.¡±


    ¡°Actually, the people in the Central ins do the same thing.¡± Dog Butcher widened his eyes, surprised by the simrity. ¡°But as far as I know, it¡¯s better to let others do the dramatizing. And in fact, the fewer rtions you have with the speaker the better. For instance, an apprentice bragging about his master is far less effective than a disciple of another sect saying the same words asionally.¡±


    ¡°Hypocritical, so hypocritical.¡± Old Man Mu was indignant. He had always been proud of his status as a viin and couldn¡¯t tolerate the existence of another person who was even more shameless than him.


    ¡°You think that it¡¯s hypocritical?¡± Dog Butcher thought carefully for a while. ¡°It¡¯s not hypocritical if it¡¯s mutually beneficial to both parties, is it?¡±


    ¡°It is. Every word that isn¡¯t heartfelt is hypocritical,¡± Old Man Mu affirmed.


    ¡°So are you saying that we should be truthful under any circumstance?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely. I myself¡­ seldom lie, and always tell the truth about who I hate and who I like.¡±


    ¡°So, if I think that this pce is ghostly and really creepy and I don¡¯t want to go any further into it, I should just honestly say it?¡±


    ¡°Uh, you should. I think it¡¯s a little strange, too. Your Majesty, is it true that you always prefer to do things at night? I mean, it¡¯s just a head. Can¡¯t wee back during the daytime?¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t answer. He liked the night. They gave his enemy more chances, but also gave himself more space to exert his skills.


    Dog Butcher was still pondering the idea of ¡°hypocrisy.¡± He thought for a while and said, ¡°Let me offer another example. You seem to like Han Wuxian very much, but you quarrel with her all the time. Is that hypocrisy?¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Even from horse back, Old Man Mu was furious. ¡°Who told you that I liked that crazy bitch? I merely slept with her a few years ago. You think I want her back? Ha, that would only be her one-sided love dream¡­¡±


    ¡°Hypocrisy.¡± Dog Butcher nodded seriously. It seemed that he had finally understood the meaning of this word. Suddenly he straightened himself and looked around. ¡°I don¡¯t know what the rules are like here, but I think we¡¯re surrounded. None of you are talking. Did you not notice it or are you not afraid?¡±


    ¡°Not afraid, of course.¡± Old Man Mu rode forward quickly, yelling out, ¡°The Dragon King of the Western Regions is here. All you sneaky little bastards get out and kowtow to your king!¡±


    A smile lit up Dog Butcher¡¯s face. He whispered to the Dragon King, ¡°So it seems like the rules in the Western Region are the same. Look, Old Man Mu was bluffing about Your Majesty, but if we were in the Central ins, then he would have never said anything like ¡®little bastards¡¯. I mean, what if the people on the other side have a powerful background?¡±


    Figures of people moving around flickered in the darkness. At least a hundred people came around, forming a simple encirclement ring.


    A resonant voice came over, saying, ¡°I¡¯m the Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect. You barbarians from beyond the Great Wall, get off of your horses and surrender!¡±


    ¡°You move an inch forward, but I move a foot forward. The people from the Central ins are angry because we vited the rules,¡± Dog Butchermented in a low voice, then looked around. ¡°Is the surname of the present Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect, Liu or Lu?¡±


    Dog Butcher asked in a reserved manner, but Old Man Mu brazenly demanded, ¡°Which Sect Leader are you? Have you resolved your infighting?¡±


    A small group of people walked to them from the other side and stopped about ten steps away. Dozens of torches were lit at the same time. Among them, a middle-aged swordsman with a square face and a long beard answered with his hands crossed behind: ¡°I¡¯m the Sect Leader of Qingcheng Sect, Liu Qingpu.¡±


    Standing beside Liu Qingpu was a tall and thin swordsman, who looked a little younger than him. His face was red, which was very conspicuous under the light of the torch fire. ¡°I¡¯m the Sect Leader of Qingcheng Sect, Lu Mian


    Old Man Muughed out loud derogatively and fell from his horse with his hands on his belly. He pointed at the red-faced swordsman, ¡°It¡¯s funny enough your surname is ¡®Donkey¡¯, but your first name is also ¡®Face¡¯. Haha, a red-faced donkey. That¡¯s a rare sight, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Dog Butcher¡¯s mouth twitched and he shook his head. Clearly, he thought that Old Man Mu was viting the rules again.


    As expected, Lu Mian looked offended, but it was not he who stepped out to talk. Rather, Deng Yuanlei, who was standing beside him, did. ¡°Old Man Mu, how dare you? Spitting out mean words doesn¡¯t count as any real skill.¡±


    ¡°Who told you that? When you be speechless under my curses, you will know what is a real skill. You¡­¡±


    ¡°Old Man Mu, that¡¯s enough.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei was humiliated when he had served in the Dragon King¡¯s army, and clearly he had betrayed Liu Qingpu and taken Lu Mian¡¯s side, which would make a wonderful story to talk about, but Old Man Mu had barely started telling it when the Dragon King stopped him.


    Old Man Mu was greatly surprised, turned over his head, and gave the Dragon King a begging look with his face. But eventually he took his horse back to his former position. With his back towards the others, he only gave off one sigh after another.


    Mo Lin jumped off of his horse, and walked a few steps forward, and said ¡°Two Sect Leaders, which one of you should I address first?¡±


    Everyone from the Qingcheng Sect remained silent. It was Tu Pianpian from Kongtong Sect who stepped forward. ¡°Talk to me.¡± Her voice was severe, as if she were teaching her disciples a lesson.


    After several awkward coughs, Dog Butcher suddenly jumped off of his horse and stood beside Old Man Mu, with his back against the others.


    Old Man Mu said in a low voice, ¡°Your short fat elder sister doesn¡¯t seem like a big fan of the rules.¡±


    ¡°Uh, she¡¯s an elder of the Kongtong Sect, so she¡¯ s entitled to¡­ skirt over the rules a little,¡± Dog Butcher replied in an even lower voice.


    Mo Lin looked around and said aloud, ¡°All of you are from the Central ins, yet you came to the Nond to make trouble. Our magnanimous kingmands you to leave right now.¡±


    Everybodyughed. Only the faces of the two Sect Leaders remained as cold as ice. Tu Pianpian replied, ¡°Here¡¯s an order from the martial arts world of the Central inss: hand over the head of Khan, or die.¡±


    This was a standard ¡°rule-following¡± dispute. Although both sides expressed their opinions in aggressive tones, there were no more personal attacks. Gu Shenwei listened quietly from the side, realizing that this was very simr to the rules of the wandering sabermen of Jade City.


    A young saberman from the Central ins became bored, and since nobody was talking at the moment, he cried out: ¡°Stop this nonsense. We outnumber them. Let¡¯s just fight with our full strength and take the Dragon King alive, and then the head will be ours.¡±


    Mo Lin sneered and replied, ¡°His Majesty owns hundreds of thousands of troops. He believed that the people of the martial arts world in the Central ins were all rule-followers and would never win by oppressing through sheer numbers, so he came here himself. I never saw thising.¡±


    That saberman was used by a dozen fellows at the same time. He flushed and slowly backed away, never speaking out again.


    Tu Pianpian tapped his crutch on the ground heavily, ¡°Now that the Dragon King hase here as a member of the martial arts world, let¡¯s have a kung fupetition. Same number on both sides. Fair for everyone.¡±


    Mo Lin shook his head and replied, ¡°His Majesty is not here for a kung fupetition.¡±


    ¡°Not here for a kung fupetition? Then what for? To y a trick on us?¡± Tu Pianpian demanded as she twitched her wrist and the crutch sank several inches deeper into the ground.


    Dog Butcher gave a slight sigh. ¡°Senior Sister has never controlled her bad temper.¡±


    Old Man Mu tried to console him by saying, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Your sister¡¯s face is like an arrow-proof shield. She¡¯s thest person His Majesty would make fun of.¡±


    The two sides red at each other. Mo Lin stated their intentions, ¡°His Majesty had already had a kung fupetition with the Kongtong and Qingcheng Sects and won it. He wants to know how many more suchpetitions are to be held. He doesn¡¯t have time for this¡­ nonsense.¡±


    Tu Pianpian flushed. She was still bitterly unconvinced of the result of thatpetition, but she could not deny the fact that she had been defeated back then. Her brother was now standing right beside the Dragon King.


    Liu Fangsheng had been by his father¡¯s side this whole time, his wound already healed. He took a few steps forward. After he received tacit approval from Tu Pianpian, he said, ¡°In thest kung fupetition, we did lose. But it¡¯s not the Kongtong Sect¡¯s fault. As two junior disciples of the Qingcheng Sect, we overestimated ourselves and were defeated by the Dragon King, also bringing trouble to the two elders of the Kongtong Sect.¡±


    Dog Butcher looked down at Old Man Mu and nodded appreciatively. ¡°Now this is the true rule of the martial arts world in the Central ins.¡±


    Old Man Mu sneered contemptuously.


    Liu Fangsheng¡¯s words pleased the majority of the crowd. He had called himself a junior, so his failure in the previouspitition wouldn¡¯t bring too much shame to the Qingcheng Sect. Meanwhile, he also satirized the traitor Deng Yuanlei with the same title by insinuation. Then his father spoke out, saying, ¡°This time, as the Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect, I¡¯ll be in the arena myself, on behalf of the whole Qingcheng Sect. Whatever the result is, this will be thestpetition for us. As for the other sects, that¡¯s not our decision to make.¡±


    Tu Pianpian thought highly of herself, but she had much respect for the leaders of other sects as well, so she cried out immediately, ¡°The Kongtong Sect will share joy and sorrow with the Qingcheng Sect as long as we are in the Royal Court!¡±


    Hearing her words, the disciples of all other sects also dered their stances. Of the different parties, there were more than ten sects from the Central ins. Yet in their deration, every party clearly stated that the location was limited to the Royal Court, lest people thought that their respective sect was of a lower status than the others¡¯.


    Mo Lin turned around and looked at the Dragon King, who nodded.


    ¡°Okay. But His Majesty has one more request.¡± Mo Lin had given up the martial arts world because he was tired of it, but at this moment, he somewhat found the vibe of the martial arts world to be enjoyable. ¡°His Majesty wants to see the kung fu proficiency of the Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect. If he¡¯s on a simr level with the aforementioned two former disciples, then thispetition is pointless.¡±


    His words aroused public indignation. All the people from the Central ins howled expletives of him aloud. Liu Qingpu and Lu Mian exchanged a nce and then nodded in unison.


    Tu Pianpian cried out, ¡°Fine. Let the Dragon King see for his own eyes the unique skills of the Qingcheng Sect. Send your man in.¡±


    Old Man Mu was eager to go, so he turned to the Dragon King for his consent. ¡°Your Majesty, shall I?¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t n to use his kung fu. ¡°You two, widen your eyes and watch. This is tonight¡¯s task.¡±


    To get information on his enemy, Gu Shenwei thought that it was necessary to see what the top-notch kung fu of the Central ins was like.

 Chapter 738 - The Wrong Path

    Chapter 738: The Wrong Path


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher widened their eyes and watched two brief yet wonderful kung fupetitions, shaking and nodding their heads without anyments. To Old Man Mu, this was something more difficult than giving up killing, and yet he did it anyways.


    After the two Sect Leaders¡¯ humble and polite discussion, Liu Yuanpu became the first contestant, with his opponent being Mo Lin.


    A fast saber versus a fast sword. From beginning to end, the twopeted against each other purely on each other¡¯s speed the whole time. The spectators could barely find time to cheer and it was only at the end of thepetition that the cumtive cheers and apuse broke forth.


    Mo Lin seemed to have reached a tacit agreement with Lin Yuanpu. They moved backwards simultaneously, put away their weapons and exchanged courtesies with a nod. The duel had ended in a draw.


    It was also an unwritten rule in an informal kung fupetition that contestants would never exert their unique skills or fight with tooth and nail.


    The second match was Mo Lin versus Lu Mian. The whole fighting process was so strange that barely anybody could tell exactly what the two contestants were doing, and thus only a few people cheered for them at the end. Deng Yuanlei was the only one who apuded dramatically, and the look on his face was more of fear than admiration.


    The reason why people felt that the second match was strange was mostly because of Lu Mian. Before the fight began, people noticed that his face was growing redder, like burning charcoal, and then he started waving his sword around while nobody was there. He wielded the sword here and there, not attacking anyone or defending himself.


    He was like one of those drunken swordsmen, wielding their swords in a casual and impromptu way.


    Mo Lin watched this sort of threatless swordsmanship for a while, biding his time and not making a move. He hold his scimitar, like a young student who couldn¡¯t understand the great works of a master and didn¡¯t dare make anyments.


    In the end, a brief one-move engagement took ce between the two. Lu Mian had been wielding the sword by himself for nearly half an hour when Mo Linunched his first attack. The strike was as quick as a lightning, and nobody could tell whether Lu Mian fought back or not. Anyway, the saber had barely entered the waving range of the sword when Mo Lin moved back immediately.


    When everybody thought thepetition was about to continue, Mo Lin gave a nod, indicating that the fight was over.


    Tu Pianpian had a vague idea about what had happened, but couldn¡¯t clearly understand it. When she saw her brother¡¯s frown which indicated that he had understood more about the fight than she did, she felt especially ashamed. But she didn¡¯t show anything on her face. In a loud voice, she said, ¡°Now you know about the kung fu proficiency of the Sect Leaders of the Qingcheng Sect. Do you think that they¡¯re qualified for apetition with you?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Gu Shenwei answered himself this time. Lu Mian¡¯s swordsmanship had greatly surprised him, but he wouldn¡¯t disy that either. ¡°At noon, the day after tomorrow at the young king¡¯s camp. Anyone is wee toe watch thepetition.¡±


    ¡°Your camp? No way!¡± Deng Yuanlei rejected without even thinking about it.. ¡°The Dragon King picked the time, so the ce should be our decision.¡±


    Yet Gu Shenwei had already turned his horse around and signaled Old Man Mu and the others to mount their horses and get ready to leave.


    Mo Lin got on his horsest. ¡°His Majesty trusts you to honor the rules, so you should trust His Majesty too.


    Deng Yuanlei knew the Dragon King¡¯s ¡®rules¡¯ the best, and cried out, ¡°the Dragon King¡¯s a killer. There¡¯s nothing he won¡¯t do. We won¡¯t¡­¡±


    Before he could finish his sentence, Tu Pianpian interrupted. ¡°The Kongtong Sect trusts Dragon King. At noon of the day after tomorrow, in the young king¡¯s camp. We¡¯ll be there.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei knew that this old woman had a bad impression of him, so he sneered. To his surprise, Liu Yuanpu also dered aloud, ¡°Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect, Liu Yuanpu, also epts the fight invitation.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei took a look at Lu Mian and then realized that nobody would support him, so he could only say, ¡°Okay, then. It seems that everybody trusts the Dragon King¡­ but there¡¯re still several things to be made clear, like the rules of thepetition, the Khan¡¯s head¡­¡±


    The Dragon King and his men had already gone far away and Mo Lin was the only one who had stayed behind. ¡°You want the head, and His Majesty wants the hostages. It¡¯s that simple.¡± After a few steps, Mo Lin turned over. ¡°And we¡¯re taking Khan¡¯s body regardless.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei had a vague premonition that something wasn¡¯t right, but he didn¡¯t dare speak out again because the two Sect Leaders of the Qingcheng Sect were eying him with hostility.


    ¡°The hostages are mine,¡± Lu Mian said, his voice quivering with excitement, which waspletely different from the unperturbed temperament he had disyed while making his martial arts move.


    ¡°I will be the Sect Leader.¡± Liu Yuanpu raised his head and threw out his chest, looking a lot moreposed than Lu Mian. ¡°Whoever gets the Khan¡¯s head shall be the final Sect Leader. You should be sincerely grateful that I am giving you this opportunity.¡±


    ¡°Sincerely grateful?¡± Lu Mian looked even more exited. His lips were trembling and he could barely speak.


    Among them all, Tu Pianpian was the only one eligible to be a mediator. So she stood between the two. ¡°We¡¯re all from the Central ins, so don¡¯t give those outsiders any chances tough at us in Nond.¡± She nced at Deng Yuanlei while talking. ¡°Now that we have agreed that whoever gets the Khan¡¯s head will be the Sect Leader, we should put a stop to this nonsense.


    The Khan¡¯s body had been ced in a tent at the depths of the pce, guarded by only five or six eunuchs. People could smell a kind of funky odor from far away, and the eunuchs were more than happy to hand over the headless body to Mo Lin. By now, they were disappointed but also relieved.


    The eunuchs had hoped that in the end, some lord woulde to take the body and that they would be handsomely rewarded for tending the body. But by now, most of the lords were dead, and the broken body had be a hot potato.


    Some soldiers shoveled dirt onto the coffin and fully covered it up so that the smell wouldn¡¯t spread. Then they put it into a giant and used two horses to transport it.


    Three men from the Central ins guarded nearby. They didn¡¯t care about the broken body. Rather, they were standing guard in case Mo Lin tried to steal the head.


    No unusual actions were detected.


    Gu Shenwei was familiar and thus impervious to the smell. He watched the soldiers¡¯ reaction quietly.


    The soldiers followed their orders, but judging from their looks, none of them believed this hastily-wrapped-up body was the Khan.


    Mo Lin was perhaps the only one who was truly grieving. He himself shoveled dirt onto the coffin and carried it into the giant with the soldiers.


    After they left the pce and were on their way back, Mo Lin said, ¡°the Khan had always felt that people around him were not trustworthy, and that everybody wanted him dead. I never expected it to be true.¡±


    ¡°There were more people who didn¡¯t believe he could die at all,¡± Gu Shenwei replied, watching the Court Attendants Army members in the procession. They had joined the 500 Court Attendants Army soldiers and were now retracing their steps back to the camp.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know which kind of people would disappoint the Khan more.¡± Mo Lin still felt that the whole thing was unbelievable. With so much betrayal and also extreme loyalty, the Khan had still died and his body left almost unattended. ¡°Loyalty can also cause evil consequences. I guess that there are barely any people left that believe this.¡±


    If he hadn¡¯t seen it with his own eyes, then Gu Shenwei wouldn¡¯t have believed it either. In terms of loyalty, he was in no ce topare himself with the Khan.


    At this moment, most of his concern was about the kung fu of the two Sect Leaders of the Qingcheng Sect, especially that of Lu Mian. Behind him, Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher were also consulting in low tones. They were talking so passionately that it seemed like they bore no grudges against each other at all.


    Gu Shenwei was eying the back of a soldier the whole time and he didn¡¯t even realize how long he had been staring there when all of a sudden, he felt a chill crawl up his back. He quickly raised his hand and ordered the procession to stop.


    Most of the 500 cavalrymen were still following them, while only four of them were leading. And the one who had alerted Gu Shenwei was among the four soldiers in the front.


    The night was still dark. Gu Shenwei never ustomed himself to the geography of the spacious grasnds, and he still constantly lost his sense of direction if he didn¡¯t pay extra attention to it. ¡°What direction are we going?¡±


    Mo Lin came around from his grief and noticed that something was wrong. ¡°We¡¯re headed excessively south.¡±


    Gu Shenwei whipped out his saber, and the four soldiers jumped off of their horses, each headed in a different direction. Their lightness skills were superb, which made it clear that they were notmon Nond cavalrymen.


    But the four had already missed their chance to escape.


    Gu Shenwei caught up with the one he suspected the most in just a single leap and hit him with a palm attack. When he grabbed the unconscious captive and turned around, Mo Lin, Old Man Mu, and Dog Butcher had also finished their jobs.


    Old Man Mu subdued his killing desire with great efforts, gnashing his teeth while saying to Dog Butcher, ¡°I¡¯m faster than you.¡±


    The other cavalrymen gathered around immediately, all panicking and wondering what had happened.


    Gu Shenwei removed the captive¡¯s helmet, revealing long hair and clearly indicating the owner¡¯s female identity. After wiping her face several times, all the cavalrymen gave an exmation in unison.


    ¡°Get ready to fight,¡± Gu Shenwei ordered. Since the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall had led the procession onto a wrong path, there must be an ambush lying in wait.


    The 500 cavalrymen reacted quickly, some readying their bows for a fight, while others held out their sabers to guard the coffin and some going out on patrol.


    There were four captives. Only the one Gu Shenwei had captured was from the Waning Moon Hall, the other three were all male Nonders.


    Mo Lin was the first one to manage to get his captive talking. ¡°They killed the leading soldiers while they were peeing and disguised themselves as them, but he doesn¡¯t know where the ambush spot is.¡±


    Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t noticed that they were going in the wrong direction, and the cavalrymen behind him had merely followed along. They didn¡¯t dare ask any questions ¨C actually they didn¡¯t know the purpose of this night operation at all.


    Gu Shenwei brought the captive in his hands back to consciousness by shaking her. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    The captive was young. In order to disguise herself as a man, she had stuffed her clothes, and that was where Gu Shenwei spotted a w. She looked at the Dragon King, fear in her eyes. ¡°Han Ting.¡±


    ¡°Where were you leading us to?¡±


    Han Ting smiled, showing off the typical madness of the Waning Moon Hall for the first time. ¡°Where?¡±


    Gu Shenwei tried to dig through her mouth with his fingers, but it was already toote.


    Han Ting bitten a poison capsule and killed herself. Gu Shenwei dropped the body, checked his palm, and found nothing unusual. ¡°Find some soldiers who know the right direction. Kill these three.¡±


    Old Man Mu whistled in excitement, yet Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t allow him to do this task and instead assigned this simple task to the cavalrymen.


    All three captives were struck in the acupoint or had broken bones, which made them unable to escape. Facing tens of arrows, they cried out loudly in Nond dialect, but nobody showed anypassion.


    None of the arrows missed their targets. Each of the captive was hit by more than ten arrows.


    Mo Lin had already found some soldiers who could lead the way and brought them here. He heard the final scream of the captives. ¡°They said that Your Majesty was the incarnation of the devil,ing here to scourge the grasnd.¡±


    Gu Shenwei jumped onto his horse. He believed that this reputation¡¯s was going to be with him for a long time. ¡®It¡¯s not terribly wrong though,¡¯ he thought. At the very least he hadn¡¯te here to bring them happiness.


    The procession had barely started adjusting its direction when the area to their south was lit up by arge number of torches. Although Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t in the ambush ring, he wasn¡¯t far from it either.


    ¡°This time I¡¯m free to kill, right?¡± Old Man Mu was very excited. But as the number of torches grew bigger and bigger, it seemed there were hundreds of thousands of enemies in ambush. Old Man Mu was not so sure anymore. ¡°These sons of bitches, motherfucking bastards. Let¡¯s fight while retreating.¡±

 Chapter 739 - Crushing Defeat

    Chapter 739: Crushing Defeat


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Even a normal retreat could quickly devolve into a disordered scramble backwards. This was the belief of the General of the Left Dugu Xian, and Gu Shenwei had always kept it in mind.


    He barely knew the 500 soldiers behind him. There was even some distrust between them, so under this circumstance, ¡°fighting while retreating¡± was a stupid move.


    Instead, his n was to ¡°retreat while fighting.¡±


    Gu Shenwei sent five cavalrymen to get reinforcements and ordered the rest of his army to advance forward towards the left, take a small hill, reorganize themselves, and get ready to fight.


    The soldiers followed the orders, but Gu Shenwei could sense the palpably intense atmosphere.


    Patches of torches were quickly approaching from far away, and the sound of horse hooves could be heard rumbling. Mo Lin watched for a while before dering, ¡°At least 3,000 men.¡±


    Old Man Mu chuckled. ¡°Freedom meansing and leaving whenever we want. Your Majesty, we don¡¯t need to stay here and wait for our death. Let¡¯s fight our way out before the enemies surround us.¡± Then he lowered his voice. ¡°We can also leave these 500 cavalrymen behind to distract the enemy and buy us some time.¡±


    Hearing this, Dog Butcher shook his head repeatedly. ¡°That is not right. It¡¯ll ruin the reputation of His Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Idiot. Do you think that His Majesty is a Jianghu hero who cares about reputation? Every lord should consider his survival as the utmost priority. And don¡¯t think that I haven¡¯t read any books. Throughout the history of the Central ins, didn¡¯t the first emperor of every dynasty consistently abandon their army and flee while they were vying for supremacy? So Your Majesty, don¡¯t feel ashamed and don¡¯t listen to that old dog. I can guarantee that even if the white, fat man were here, he would give you the same advice.¡±


    Fang Wenshi would definitely advise the Dragon King to not take risks, but this time Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t taking risks on purpose. He didn¡¯t have any other choice. It was impossible to lose thousands of enemies on the spacious grasnd.


    While Old Man Mu was nagging, the torches had stretched out sideways, surrounding their targets. Old Man Mu sighed repeatedly, feeling that his ¡°harsh yet sensible advice¡± hadn¡¯t been taken to heart.


    With the advantage in numbers, the first round of the enemy¡¯s attack was simple and direct. Clearly, their leader wanted to finish it quickly.


    Courage usually came with a sh of inspiration. This was exactly the case that Gu Shenwei was in. He suddenly made the decision to push his ¡°retreat while fighting¡± tactic a step further and strike first.


    He ordered Mo Lin to keep the soldiers where they were. ¡°Don¡¯t let the enemy get too close. Shoot if any enemy gets closer than a hundred steps, and find me another ten elite archers with the longest range.¡±


    Mo Lin said a few words in Nond dialect and more than thirty cavalrymen stepped out from the army, most of whom were from the Court Attendants Army.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take them all,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He then took a hard bow and a bag of arrows from the soldier behind him and rode out, closely followed by the thirty to forty elite archers.


    After the Dragon King was more than a dozen steps away, Dog Butcher asked in confusion, ¡°I¡¯m not good at archery, so I don¡¯t need to go, right?¡±


    Old Man Mu nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Dragon King only wants the best archers, and our archery can barely be qualified as average, so it¡¯s better if we stay here. We¡¯ll wait for the opportunity to fight in close quarters. That¡¯s when we can show our skills.¡±


    Gu Shenwei moved around seventy steps out, then turned and started circling around his own army.


    It wasn¡¯t easy to shoot from a moving horse¡¯s back and Gu Shenwei was not very experienced at it, but he soon learned the technique. There was a brief moment of stability between the crests and troughs of the horse¡¯s movements that was the best window of opportunity to shoot.


    The torches were getting closer and closer. While the darkness made it difficult to gauge the exact distance of the light, it made it easier to identify a target.


    Gu Shenwei shot the first arrow, and the top archers followed his actions at almost the same time.


    Although their targets were still a little far and normal cavalrymen wouldn¡¯t be able to hit from this distance, it wasn¡¯t a problem for Gu Shenwei and his archers.


    As screeches rippled out into the darkness, a small patch of torches went out.


    The thirty or forty top archers all yelled out at the same time.


    The enemies also started shooting arrows, most of which hit the ground before even getting close to Gu Shenwei and his archers, only a few shooting over their targets. Gu Shenwei and his men then bent over and spurred their horses to speed up, shooting an arrow and killing a target every few steps.


    After about half a circle, the enemies began to slow down considerably. Eventually they stopped and started yelling and challenging them. Gu Shenwei led the archers back to their army.


    ¡°Well done, Your Majesty. Nice shooting!¡± Old Man Mu cheered loudly, signaling Dog Butcher to tter alongside him.


    In contrast, the cavalrymen¡¯s praises were very simple. They yelled out the same words, ¡®quick and neat,¡¯ an ¡®short and powerful,¡¯ but Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t make out a single syble.


    Mo Lin was just about to exin when Old Man Mu beat him to it. ¡°They were yelling ¡®hero¡¯, which is praise reserved for brave archers of the grasnd. Your Majesty, I think that they¡¯re beginning to like you.¡±


    Over incredible swordsmanship, the cavalrymen in the Nond always preferred superb archery and fearless valor.


    Gu Shenwei raised his short bow, basking in the cheers.


    After a brief lull, the enemyunched another attack. Mo Lin volunteered this time and led more than seventy cavalrymen into battle. He repulsed the attack sessfully, even forced them tens of steps back.


    Gu Shenwei ordered the rest of his men to preemptively shoot arrows and block the progress of the enemy behind them.


    The cavalrymen of the Nond were good at long-range shooting, not fighting in close quarters. Their mostmon tactics were following-up a sessful attack or luring the enemy into pursuit, and then killing targets during the fast chase; they never got into a dogfight if the enemy resisted stoutly.


    Gu Shenwei and Mo Lin took turns leading their men into fights, keeping their army out of the enemies¡¯ archers¡¯ range. Mo Lin realized that the situation was not so bad, so he took Dog Butcher with him and rode around half of their army, but didn¡¯t aplish much other than yelling and cheering.


    After they repulsed the fifth attack, dawn broke. Mo Lin reminded the Dragon King of a lethal issue: their arrows were running out.


    This was the precise reason why the enemies had surrounded them but had yet tounch an all-out attack ¨C they were waiting for the Dragon King to run out of soldiers.


    Only a united army could execute an effective retreat. Gu Shenwei nced at his men, believing that they were ready.


    ¡°Half in the front, and half in the back. Get ready to retreat.¡±


    Mo Lin issued a quick order and led the way in the front with 200mon cavalrymen. Gu Shenwei and the Court Attendants Army were to defend the rear. The distance between the two groups was not far, and at a moderate speed, they headed towards a gap in the northeast.


    This was also anothermon tactic of Nond cavalrymen. Instead of surrounding the enemy seamlessly, they¡¯d always leave a gap, and lure the target into escaping.


    During a retreat, there is a constant desire to speed up blindly, which would stretch thebat lines and eventually cause it to fall apart and with it, the army¡¯s ability to fight back until every soldier just bes a target for the enemy.


    So Gu Shenwei rigidly controlled the marching speed, ensuring that the two groups could support each other at any given point in time.


    More than half of their arrows were gone by now, and long-distance shooting had be wasteful, so Gu Shenwei ordered the archers to shoot only when the enemies were within range. The enemy had retreated with more than ten bodies left behind, but several cavalrymen besides him were also downed.


    When dawn finally broke. Old Man Mu stood on his horse¡¯s back, and suddenly pointed at the gs in the distance. ¡°Eek, that¡¯s not the bird king¡¯s army.¡±


    When the enemy had ambushed them, everybody instinctively concluded that this was King Shengri¡¯s retinue without any discussion, including Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ King Rizhu¡¯s g,¡± Old Man Mu said, astonished.


    King Rizhu had died in the Royal Court, and his generals had taken their surviving troops and retreated home in the west. Why was an army numbering in the thousands still here, and how had they evaded the extensive patrols of the many scouts?


    Gu Shenwei was also confused, but now was not the time to seek an answer.


    After retreating around five or six miles, Gu Shenwei¡¯s army suffered a considerable setback. All five messengers that he had sent to get reinforcements had been killed and their bodies impaled on stakes as a clear warning sign.


    There¡¯s no backup that they could count on. Shulitu¡¯s army was the closest but there was still tens of miles between them. And their arrows were even closer to running out now.


    Mo Lin came back from the front and brought a request of the soldiers. ¡°Your Majesty, we¡¯d like you to leave first. We can still handle another round of attacks.¡±


    Old Man Mu showed an expression that wordlessly indicated ¡®What took you so long.¡¯ Then he said, ¡°I¡¯ll protect His Majesty. Once we get a bit further away, we won¡¯t even need horses. Just jump into the grass and hide. Who will be able to find us? Old dog, you¡¯re out. Your lightness skills are toome and you¡¯d make a giant target with your funny crutch that¡¯s taller than a man. Spare us from this burden.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a n,¡± Gu Shenwei agreed.


    The Dragon King gave his consent so willingly that Old Man Mu suspected that this might not actually be a good thing.


    King Rizhu¡¯s army attacked again. They had realized that their enemies were running out of arrows, so they pushed forward faster.


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s running away!¡± someone yelled.


    As expected, two men on horses darted out from of the retreating army. One was dressed in the Dragon King¡¯s attire, and the other was short, undoubtedly the Dragon King¡¯s bodyguard Old Man Mu.


    The pursuers split into two groups. One group continued to attack, and the other began to chase after the Dragon King quickly.


    Mo Lin assumedmand and ordered the whole army to turn around and charge towards the northwest, where Shulitu¡¯s main armies were deployed.


    ¡°I shot the Dragon King!¡± someone yelled excitedly in the distance and arge batch of the encircling army was pulled away. Mo Lin and his men broke through the blockade and elerated their retreat. Their arrows had run out and they no longer had the power to resist their enemies.


    A soldier had volunteered to swap clothes with the Dragon King, and apanied by Old Man Mu, they had distracted arge number of their enemies.


    Initially, Mo Lin was worried about whether this little trick would work, but the results went better than he expected and King Rizhu¡¯s army was fooled easily. But they quickly realized the truth because the disguised Dragon King wasn¡¯t able to ride far before being shot and exposing the truth.


    Gu Shenwei had tried his best to avoid fleeing, but what was done was done. Other than fleeing at full speed, they had no other options now.


    King Rizhu¡¯s army resumed their pursuit with one group following them closely and the other trying to outnk and intercept them, which was a tactic that he couldn¡¯t be more familiar with. When pursuing a powerless target, there¡¯s no need to fight at close quarters; just shoot continuously from a safe distance and wear the target down.


    Arrows fell down onto their heads like a downpour of cold rain, each salvo killing another batch of soldiers.


    Gu Shenwei had witnessed wars between Nond armies before, but back then the gap between the two parties had been far smaller than it was now. This was his first time experiencing the formidable strength of the grasnd archers. Sabers and swords became useless against those hard bows. He parried several arrows with his saber, but was unable to save most of his men.


    The soldiers put the Dragon King in the center and intercepted most of the arrows for him with their own mortal bodies.


    Gu Shenwei had suffered a crushing defeat and was starting to question his former decision . Perhaps Old Man Mu¡¯s suggestion of ¡®fighting while retreating¡¯ had really been the right thing to do.


    More than half of his 500-men army was downed when an unexpected reinforcement finally appeared.

 Chapter 740 - Soft-hearted

    Chapter 740: Soft-hearted


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Long Fanyun arrived with 200 cavalrymen and saved Dragon King and his troops who were about to be wiped out.


    Originally, he had been following orders and carrying out another mission, but on his way back to camp, he had run into Han Wuxian and the others who told him that the Dragon King might be in danger. So, he immediately began to search for the Dragon King and eventually managed to arrive just in time, right before everything was about to fall apart.


    They merged their troops together, yet they still had less than 500 men in total. With this number, they could barely defend themselves against the pursuers¡¯ attack, let alone wipe them out. Like before, when the cavalrymen ran out of arrows, they would be defenseless again.


    It was right at this moment that the giant red-crowned roc appeared, just a moment after Long Fanyun.


    A cavalryman was the first to notice the shadow in the sky, which caused him to start yelling in the Nond dialect. Then, Gu Shenwei raised his head and whistled.


    It was very rare for the giant roc to kill humans now, but this whistle meant that the human being that it was the most intimate with was in danger.


    The giant ck bird descended from the sky, inspiring the fleeing army while astounding the pursuing one. They had only heard of the existence of this evil bird and this was the first time that they could behold it with their own eyes.


    Numerous arrows shot into the sky and the pressure on the Dragon King¡¯s army was somewhat lightened.


    Gu Shenwei whistled out in various tones and timbres, sending a stream of messages to the giant red-crowned roc. It never got too close to the pursuing army, circling just out of range of the cavalrymen¡¯s bows. It pped its wings to generate strong gusts of wind that blew all the approaching arrows down to the ground. Sometimes, in a high speed rush, it swooped down, grabbed an enemy, then returned to the sky and dropped him.


    The giant, red-crowned roc was doing this all by itself, and under the threat of the rain of arrows, its fighting capability was considerably restricted. Yet its presence still greatly disturbed the momentum of King Rizhu¡¯s troops.


    Gu Shenwei and his surviving troops had sessfully thrown off their pursuers, and the giant roc was the greatest contributor to their sess.


    After more than ten miles, King Rizhu¡¯s troops finally retreated. Before long, an army of more than 10,000 hade to Gu Shenwei¡¯s aid and he and his men were finally safe.


    Their troops went on to pursue that army of King Rizhu¡¯s, while the Dragon King returned to camp.


    News of the Dragon King being ambushed stirred the camp, and there was a brief moment of panic. Tofort the troops, Gu Shenwei walked around half the camp with the giant roc.


    Fang Wenshi was terrified and he almost sent soldiers to demand an exnation from King Shengri. After being told that it was the surviving troops of King Rizhu who had ambushed them, he was even more surprised than the Dragon King. ¡°Are you sure they weren¡¯t King Shengri¡¯s troops, just disguised?¡±


    The 10,000-men army hadn¡¯t caught up with King Rizhu¡¯s troops, but they had managed to bring back more than a hundred corpses, many of whom were identified as King Rizhu¡¯s soldiers by multiple witnesses.


    Liman then came to meet the Dragon King. His father, Zhe Su, was now themander of King Rizhu¡¯s army and he couldn¡¯t believe that his father would provoke the Dragon King without caring for his life. ¡°Your Majesty, if you still have any faith in me, please let me go and investigate this. There has to be something fishy going on behind the scenes.¡±


    Gu Shenwei gave his consent. After Liman left, Fang Wenshi shook his head repeatedly. ¡°Your Majesty, you now have more than 10,000 cavalrymen at your disposal, which makes you invincible in the Royal Court. Even if you return to the Western Region, you¡¯d still be a formidable force to be reckoned with. So it¡¯s really unnecessary for you to take such risks. And this Liman is not trustworthy. He¡¯s from the Naihang Tribe and used to serve King Rizhu. If you let him go, then his father will have nothing to worry about and will only act more brazenly.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I shouldn¡¯t take risks. And in regards to Liman, the surviving troops of King Rizhu had already dered war against us, so it¡¯s unnecessary for us to keep him here. If by any chance there really is a hidden plot behind all this, he might be able to spare us from making an extra enemy.¡±


    ¡°s, there¡¯re too many uncertain variables, which makes it impossible to formte a long-term n. Shulitu and Azheba are still in the Court Attendants Army¡¯s camp, which is another unpredictable situation. Did you bring the Khan¡¯s body back, Your Majesty?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and his head as well.¡± Gu Shenwei and Mo Lin had been ying the role of distractions at the pce while Long Fanyun had led his men and dug out the head which was now properly preserved. Only a small number of people knew about this.


    Fang Wenshi felt anxious. Although he was among the few who were allowed to know this confidential intelligence, the Dragon King still had a growing tendency to make decisions by himself, which broke the unspoken agreement between them. ¡°Your Majesty, there¡¯s one issue that I¡¯d like to know the truth about.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Are you still willing to get rid of the Court Attendants Army? Because it seems like you¡¯re growing soft-hearted.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had no idea what it was like to be soft-hearted, but he did not ever hesitate. Especially during the battlest night, the Court Attendants Army had shown strength far greater thanmon soldiers¡¯. And if it hadn¡¯t been for them, the 500 cavalrymen most likely would not have made it to see the dawn.


    ¡°This¡¯s Shulitu¡¯s opportunity. If he seeds, then he will be more than just a puppet.¡±


    ¡°This is another issue that I¡¯m trying to figure out. What good does it do us to groom Shulitu into a true king?¡±


    ¡°In any case, we need a reliable ally in the Nond.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but isn¡¯t there a Prince Duodun in the Western Regions? Both the woman he loves and his friends are in your camp, and he himself has probably already taken control of the Shule Kingdom, which makes him the perfect ally.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think that we need a substitute?¡±


    Fang Wenshi pondered for a while and nodded reluctantly. ¡°We do, but Shulitu is only twelve years old¡­ s, well, I agree that we should give him a chance, but if the Court Attendants Army refuses toe to their senses¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s said that the civil wars are all over, so the Court Attendants Army shouldn¡¯t have any trouble finding enemies to fight.¡±


    Fang Wenshi wished that everything could be handled in an orderly and methodical manner, but the Court Attendants Army was a source of such instability that he was suffering from anxiety and insomnia. He had no idea whether Shulitu would be able to get rid them of the deceased Khan¡¯s influence.


    And he had two more subjects to discuss. ¡°Also, Your Majesty, about the archery contest with King Shengri¡¯s army, and the kung fupetition with people from the Central ins¡­ Have you found a way to ensure our victory?¡±


    ¡°Not yet, but I will soon.¡±


    Fang Wenshi didn¡¯t leavepletely satisfied, but he still trust the Dragon King. Especially so when it came to kung fupetitions; so far the Dragon King had never lost.


    Gu Shenwei still held the same desire to never lose. But this time, he wasn¡¯t so sure.


    Lu Mian from the Qingcheng Sect had demonstrated a very bizarre swordsmanship. Although he didn¡¯t disy all of his strength, that transient moment was more than enough to prove his status as a peak swordsman. But what surprised Gu Shenwei the most was that he sensed a slight familiarity with that swordsmanship. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t recall where he had seen it before.


    Gu Shenwei quickly put these thoughts aside and summoned Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong. Ever since these two teenagers had returned to the camp, he hadn¡¯t had any in-depth conversations with them yet.


    First, Gu Shenwei reproached Chu Nanping. ¡°You are the tenth lieutenant of the Immediate Army and Long Fanyun is yourmander, butst night you deserted your post without permission and went on an wild adventure with Han Wuxian.¡±


    In order to treat his poisoning, Chu Nanping had drunk the fresh blood of the Waning Moon Hall disciple, and he still looked a little weary. Before he could reply, Tie Linglong spoke up, saying, ¡°I made him go.¡±


    ¡°If you still want to be my guard, then stop giving any orders to other people.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t¡­¡± Deeply aggrieved, Tie Linglong put on a cold face before she finished her statement. ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. I won¡¯t.¡±


    Gu Shenwei then told Tie Linglong to leave and asked Chu Nanping to stay. ¡°You¡¯ve changed significantly.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve changed significantly.¡± Chu Nanping repeated perplexedly, though he didn¡¯t seem to have understood what the Dragon King had said at all.


    ¡°Where¡¯s your sword?¡±


    ¡°It snapped. It was grabbed by Han Qin of the Waning Moon Hall and it snapped.¡±


    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t have happened. I didn¡¯t expect that your swordsmanship would decline so dramatically.¡±


    Chu Nanping had been making remarkable progress in his swordsmanship in recent years, and after he started practicing the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power, he saw another great leap in improvement. As a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall, Han Qin was not that skilled at kung-fu, and yet she had snapped Chu Nanping¡¯s weapon apart. There was only one usible exnation: the teenage swordsman had failed to fight with his full strength.


    Chu Nanping¡¯s face flushed with a timid look, which made him look more like amon sixteen-year-old teenager than a experienced swordsman. ¡°I didn¡¯t expected it to happen either. My power hasn¡¯t declined ¨C actually, I¡¯ve made progress in it, but I can¡¯t wield my sword as fast as I used to. Besides, I constantly feel distracted and can¡¯t concentrate either.¡±


    This teenager held a special meaning to him in his heart. Chu Nanping¡¯ was not just his bodyguard and subordinate, but he was also apanion who practiced the same swordsmanship as him, someone who was in some ways like his brother. ¡°You have to make a choice.¡±


    ¡°Make a choice? I can¡¯t¡­¡± Chu Nanping understood the meaning of the Dragon King¡¯s words. Tie Linglong had taken up most of his heart, which was the fundamental reason for the decline of his kung-fu. He didn¡¯t have the space for them both.


    The Emotionless Swordsmanship was one of the kung-fu skills of the Essence of Perceiving Passion, and for a disciple of the Essence Pavilion, all emotions were redundant. they fell in love with someone, then their strength would decline dramatically.


    The Sumeru Mustard Divine Power had assimted the small remaining amount of Daoless Divine Power and shattered the shackles of the Essence of Perceiving Passion. Chu Nanping had regained his freedom but also lost his mastery of the sword.


    Gu Shenwei looked at Chu Nanping. What had happened to Chu Nanping was the very consequence he feared the most for himself, because the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power was affecting him in a simr way as well. Although he hadn¡¯t detected any signs of decline in his kung-fu skills yet, he was undoubtedly not as ruthless as he used to be. Byparison, Fang Wenshi, who had used to constantly advise him to give up the killer¡¯s mindset, was the more ruthless one now.


    In the past, he probably would have callously made the choice for Chu Nanping, but now, he believed that the teenager had the right to choose for himself. ¡°You and Tie Linglong shouldn¡¯t havee back. Take her and leave this troubled ce. Go back to the Land of Fragrance or the Central ins. That is where you really belong.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s where I really belong?¡± Chu Nanping seemed to grow even more confused. ¡°I don¡¯t know what ¡®real¡¯ means. I feel that a part of me is missing, arge part.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know much aboutforting and the words he had said just now was all he was capable of. ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it eventually. Anyway, you have to choose, and choose quickly, because if you don¡¯t, it¡¯llnd both you and Tie Linglong in a dangerous ce.¡±


    Chu Nanping nodded in gratitude and left the tent. Gu Shenwei had a premonition that he was going to lose another two trustworthypanions.


    This was a paradox for him. On this arduous journey, he was in desperate need forpanions, but after all his emotional investments, he was beginning to feel that he shouldn¡¯t have led them on this path.


    He was undoubtedly not as callous as he used to be.


    The Sumeru Mustard Divine Power could reveal people¡¯s true nature, but Gu Shenwei clearly knew that his true self was a pampered teenager less than fourteen years old who couldn¡¯t even defend himself, let alone take revenge.


    Old Man Mu returned. After bragging about his escape skills for quite a while, he began to discuss the swordsmanship of the two Sect Leaders of the Qingcheng Sect with Dog Butcher and Mo Lin.


    ¡°Liu Qingpu¡¯s swordsmanship¡¯s pretty good. A worthy sect leader of a famed sect.¡± Dog Butcher knew a thing or two about the kung-fu of the Qingcheng Sect, and praised it ordingly. ¡°His fast sword was particrly skilled. It¡¯s safe to say that I¡¯m no match for him.¡±


    ¡°If he fights me, then I¡¯ll kill him ten times,¡± Old Man Mu said with a sneer. ¡°In terms of speed, nobody is His Majesty¡¯s match.¡±


    Mo Lin had fought Liu Qingpu himself. Although he was not as sure as Old Man Mu, he held a simr opinion. ¡°He hid a part of his strength, but he¡¯s no match for His Majesty.¡±


    Speaking of Lu Mian, the opinions of the three slightly diverged.


    ¡°I can¡¯t figure out his swordsmanship. It seemed both fast and slow. Although he only made one strike, it went far beyond my expectations. To tell you guys the truth, I¡¯m not sure if I can defeat him or not. With regards to His Majesty, I heard that your swordsmanship is better than your sabersmanship.¡± Mo Lin made it clear that the Dragon King was no match for Lu Mian if his chosen weapon was a saber.


    ¡°Lu Mian¡¯s swordsmanship is not like the kung-fu of the Qingcheng Sect. Rather, it is more like an internal martial art. I think that his fast movements are not something to be worried about, but his slow movements are potentially fatal.¡±


    Old Man Mu didn¡¯t interrupt, which was very rare. After the former two finished their talking, he still continued pondering for a while. ¡°No. In the end, it is the fast sword that he is the most proficient in. It¡¯s very quick. I¡¯ve seen the swordsmanship of His Majesty. If you haven¡¯t made any progress recently, then you¡¯re better off notpeting against him.¡±


    All of a sudden, it urred to Gu Shenwei why Lu Mian¡¯s swordsmanship seemed so familiar.

 Chapter 741 - A Hero

    Chapter 741: A Hero


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Fan Yongda was still recovering from his injuries, and was thus currently lying in bed. He was greatly surprised by the Dragon King¡¯s question. ¡°Marshal Yang? Yes, I¡¯ve heard of him before. Back then, he was a real celebrity in the martial arts world.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had finally realized why Lu Mian¡¯s swordsmanship seemed so familiar. The fighting style of this Qingcheng Sect Leader bore a striking resemnce to that of Marshal Yang¡¯s; thus, to some extent, it was also reminiscent of the Gu Family¡¯s unique saber and spear skills.


    Back when Marshal Yang had gone to Golden Roc Castle alone to issue a challenge, he was so old that it barely seemed like he could hold onto his saber. But when he made a move, he was as fast as a fleeing rabbit, killing an opponent with every other move.


    At that time, like all the other spectators, Gu Shenwei had believed that the senility Marshal Yang showed was just a reflection of his natural age. But after seeing Lu Mian¡¯s swordsmanship, Gu Shenwei was beginning to suspect that the slowness he had seen from Lu Mian was just a mask to cover up his true moves.


    Both Lu Mian¡¯s self-involved sword dance and his sudden sword strike reminded Gu Shenwei of that old man who had helped the Gu Family take its vengeance.


    Dog Butcher was an elder of the Kongtong Sect, but he was seldom involved with Jianghu affairs. And so he knew very little about Marshal Yang, only able to say, ¡°He¡¯s very famous, as he used to be a burr in the southern coastal areas. It¡¯s said that he had 100,000 men at hismand, which was why he was called ¡®marshal¡¯ ¨C that wasn¡¯t his real name. In recent years, I¡¯ve been in closed-door cultivation without any contact to the outside world so I don¡¯t know what he¡¯s been doing after he broke away from his evil ways and returned to the orthodox path.¡±


    Fan Yongda knew more about Marshal Yang, but in his recollection, Marshal Yang was a world-famous hero that had nothing to do with pirates. ¡°I don¡¯t know about Marshal Yang¡¯s family, but I witnessed his heroic deeds in Luo Vige of He Dong with my own eyes.¡±


    It was the first time that Fan Yongda had ever left the hill to run an errand with his master teacher. They were heading to Luo Vige to attend the Sect Leader Convention which was held every three years. His memories of that grand asion had be indistinct a long time ago, but his impression of Marshal Yang was as vivid as it was that day.


    Many kung fu experts and ministers were from this family, so its status in the martial arts world was very high, and everyone was careful about their words when talking about this family, both publicly and privately. But there was a man of the junior generation of martial arts who made some impertinent remarks about the Luo Family, indicating that the Luo Family only had a fancy title which had been given to it by the dignitaries.


    Originally it wasn¡¯t a big deal, and many people shared his opinion. But this junior had quite the bad luck. An admirer of Luo Vige heard his words and there was a dispute between them which then turned into a fight.


    The junior won, and the admirer lost. And this petty little incident gradually escted into a storm in the martial arts world.


    The admirer found helpers and started seeking vengeance. The junior also invited many of his rtives and friends to his home and prepared for any potential acts of retaliation. If, at this time, anybody of high prestige in the martial arts world had intervened, there would still be a chance of reconciliation. However, the two parties were both young and impulsive, and there were even some people who were fanning the mes. The two sides started fighting with barely any words being exchanged.


    Both sides suffered casualties, especially the admirer¡¯s side. The Luo Family couldn¡¯t stand idly by any longer and sent a message to the junior that as long as he apologized and made appropriatepensation, they would let it go.


    But the junior rejected without even thinking. He believed he had done nothing wrong and that the fighting was already a personal affair, so it was none of the Luo Vige¡¯s business.


    The Luo Family then made its move. First it publicly requested reconciliation between the two sides, which greatly pressured the junior. But he still believed that it wasn¡¯t his fault, and that the Luo Vige was just pretending to be righteous while actually shielding the admirer. So he refused to reconcile with the admirer, which sowed a seed of future troubles.


    A storm of bloodshed was imminent and at that point, Marshal Yang made his entrance. He had achieved some fame by that time, but was still far from eligible to intervene in the Luo Vige¡¯s affairs. It was said that one of the close rtives of the junior came to Marshal Yang and sought his help. Marshal Yang owed him a favor, so he had no choice but to agree.


    One of the kung fu experts of the Luo Family came to mount a challenge, and with a sword, he defeated more than ten people including the junior. He dered their guilt and was about to kill them all. At this moment, Marshal Yang showed up and defeated the kung fu expert.


    Marshal Yang shot to fame overnight, but it wasn¡¯t fame that he was after. He was hoping that the trouble all be transferred to him, so that he would be eligible to mediate the dispute.


    The Luo Family had numerous kung fu experts at itsmand. The situation was just about to escte again when Marshal Yang came to the Luo Vige with the junior for apromise. At this time, his words mattered now.


    Unfortunately, it was toote to apologize. Since the Luo Vige had already sent out a kung fu expert, killing was inevitable, and Marshal Yang had to achieve an astounding feat if he wanted to stem the raging tide.


    He did so during the Sect Leaders Convention, and as an attendant, Fan Yongda had witnessed that ¡°astounding feat¡± from a distance.


    Marshal Yang talked in front of many sect leaders, his speech in essence saying that the junior had been reckless and ignorant, and that he hoped the Luo Vige could be magnanimous and forgive him.


    However, it was no longer the junior that the Luo Vige cared about. Marshal Yang had defeated a kung fu expert of the family, and he was the real cause of their humiliation, so the patriarch of the Luo Family suggested that theypeted through a kung fupetition.


    A kung fupetition would be the start of another fight, so Marshal Yang declined. Fan Yongda still remember Marshal Yang saying, ¡°I¡¯m merely a reckless kung fu practitioner of the martial arts world who came to Luo Vige seeking reconciliation. I know clearly that myst victory was only due to my luck and that I¡¯m no match for Luo Vige. I would rather yield in advance than fight and humiliate myself. This kid made disrespectfulments and offended your noble family. I can neither take back what he had said nor challenge you, so there¡¯s only one solution. I will volunteer to be a servant of the Luo Family until our guilt is cleared. From now on, whatever treatment I received, I shall notin.¡±


    All the Sect Leaders were surprised. Even Fan Yongda believed that Marshal Yang had overacted. After all, Marshal Yang was a celebrity himself, so how would he be able to live in the martial arts world under the shameful name of a servant?


    The patriarch of the Luo Family realized that he couldn¡¯t continue to act tough anymore, so heughed and agreed to a reconciliation, but he refused to take Marshal Yang in as a servant.


    But Marshal Yang wanted to fulfill his promise and insisted on it. Eventually, an agreement of three years of service was agreed upon.


    Three yearster, Marshal Yang left as the best friend of the Luo Vige and his status in the martial arts world hadn¡¯t declined. On the contrary, it grew evenrger.


    ¡°He mediated many disputes in the martial arts world,¡± Fan Yongda said as he sighed. ¡°It¡¯s a pity that I never got a chance to see him again. About ten years ago, Marshal Yang decided to quit the martial arts world and nobody¡¯s seen him since.¡±


    ¡°Marshal Yang went to the Western Regions and died to a Golden Roc Castle saber,¡± Gu Shenwei exined. He hadn¡¯t expected that news of Marshal Yang¡¯s death would not spread to the Central ins.


    Fan Yongda was surprised, ¡°Marshal Yang¡¯s kung fu was divine. He didn¡¯t be a hero purely because of his kind heart. I never expected¡­ Is the Golden Roc Castle really that formidable?¡±


    ¡°He was assassinated.¡±


    Of course the Golden Roc Castle was not that formidable. Golden Roc Castle vividly remembered that Marshal Yang had fought several killers alone and won easily and cleanly. Even Gu Shenwei himself, with his present kung fu, couldn¡¯t have aplished that in a face-to-face fight.


    With a dawningprehension, Fan Yongda nodded and sighed repeatedly at Marshal Yang¡¯s death.


    Gu Shenwei had one more question left in his mind. Marshal Yang left the martial arts world ten years ago, and by that time, he was already ten years old. Since Marshal Yang¡¯s younger brother had been a servant in the residence for many years, why had he never mentioned his world-famous elder brother?


    ¡°What¡¯s the name of the junior who offended the Luo Vige?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember. I heard his name, but I¡¯ve forgotten it long ago. Marshal Yang stole the thunder of the event, but it¡¯s the only way to exin the Luo Vige¡¯s past grudges towards him.¡±


    Dog Butcher had been quietly listening to his nephew-in-sect tell stories of the past when his thoughts finally came back to the present. ¡°That¡¯s quite a story. Why didn¡¯t ever tell me this before?¡±


    ¡°Uh, you¡¯ve been in a closed-door cultivation this whole time, Uncle Master¡­¡±


    ¡°s, my closed-door cultivation was a curse. I concentrated on kung fu cultivation but missed an opportunity to make friends with a true hero. However good my kung fu skills are, what good will they do to me?¡± Dog Butcher got angrier as he spoke, until he mmed his crutch onto the ground.


    Fan Yongda was startled, yet he still triedforting him. ¡°Uncle Master, there¡¯s no need to regret these things. Marshal Yang didn¡¯t achieve his fame until he was in his sixties, so you still have a chance.¡±


    Dog Butcher shook his head and sighed, ¡°It¡¯s not about whether I am celebrated as hero, but rather that I failed to make friends with decent people.¡±


    Old Man Mu frowned as he sharply asked, ¡°What are you implying? Are you saying that the Dragon King and I are not worthy of being your friends?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not friends with each other. It¡¯s merely a deal. I lost, and the Dragon King won. I surrendered, and the Dragon King epted. That¡¯s it.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King spared you and yet you feel aggrieved, for God¡¯s sake. From my perspective, that Marshal Yang¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew what the Old Man Mu was going to say, but he didn¡¯t want to hear it. Marshal Yang had died for the Gu Family so he¡¯d always retain a special status in his heart. He interrupted, ¡°One more thing. When I was having a kung fupetition with the Kongtong Sect and the Qingcheng Sect, you all recognized the Gu Knife Form, and Deng Yuanlei also mentioned Marshal Yang. What¡¯s the rtion between the Gu family and the Yang Family?¡±


    Confused by the Dragon King¡¯s question, Fan Yongda scratched his head and didn¡¯t seem to have an answer. Instead, Dog Butcher answered. ¡°That happened even further back and Fan Yongda surely doesn¡¯t know. Marshal Yang used to be a pirate, and I heard that ¨C just heard ¨C that it was General Gu who defeated and captured him. General Gu had amazing foresight and saw something special in him, taking him in as his apprentice. After that, Marshal Yang practiced the Gu Family¡¯s kung fu.¡±


    ¡°General Gu? He shouldn¡¯t gave been in the Central ins at that time.¡±


    ¡°Who told you that? I never heard of General Gu even leaving the Central ins,¡± Dog Butcher was very confident when talking about things that happened an extremely long time ago.


    ¡°This General Gu you were talking about is¡­¡± Gu Shenwei knew that there¡¯d been a misunderstanding between the two.


    ¡°Iron Spear Gu. You may not have heard of him.¡±


    Iron Spear Gu¡¯s real name was Gu Kuan, Gu Shenwei¡¯s grandfather, and he had died when Gu Shenwei was still very young.


    Old Man Mu couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°Of course the Dragon King has heard of Iron Spear Gu before. You two don¡¯t know this, do you? The Dragon King¡¯s surname is Yang, and his father was the Gu Family¡¯s¡­ best friend. Eek, Dragon King, is there any chance you and Marshal Yang are rtives?¡±


    ¡°Kind of.¡±


    Dog Butcher and Fan Yongda nodded at the same time, with an expression of ¡®pardon my formerck of respect.¡¯


    Old Man Mu asked another question, ¡°Dragon King, how are you so rxed? I mean, tomorrow¡¯s the day of thepetition. Why are you thinking of Marshal Yang instead of those Qingcheng Sect Leaders?¡±


    ¡°Lu Mian¡¯s swordsmanship is simr to that of Marshal Yang¡¯s, and he also seems to be rted to the Gu family.¡±


    Dog Butcher pped loudly a single time as hemented, ¡°s, it¡¯s a pity that my sister¡¯s not here. She knows everything about all the sects in the Central ins and must has some information about Lu Mian¡¯s background.¡±


    ¡°Bring me to her,¡± Gu Shenwei stood up and said.


    ¡°Ah?¡± Dog Butcher regretted making thatst remark. ¡°Thepetition is to be held at noon tomorrow, and¡­ it¡¯s almost dark. We don¡¯t even know where she is.¡±


    ¡°I know where the Kongtong Sect is,¡± Fan Yongda dly offered his help, which only drew a cold nce from his unhappy Uncle Master.


    Holding onto his sword hilt, Gu Shenwei was determined to uncover Lu Mian¡¯s rtions with Marshal Yang and the Gu Family. There was a significant vulnerability in this Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect, but he couldn¡¯t see it clearly however hard he squinted.

 Chapter 742 - Fish for Fame

    Chapter 742: Fish for Fame


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Tu Pianpian felt that her patience was running out. ¡°The Nond is so uninhabitable.¡± She was holding her crutch in her right hand tightly, slowly rotating it and sinking it into the ground deeper and deeper.


    She was in a shabby tent, the ground of which was covered with uneven grass. The rainwater was drizzling in uninvited, and her ankles were already drenched.


    ¡°This tent, this ground, this broken bed, this rain, this mutton, and the rancid odor of bodies in the distance ¨C all of these things are driving me crazy.¡± Looking at the three uninvited guests before her, the expression on her face was tenacious and arrogant. ¡°But I¡¯m not leaving without the Khan¡¯s head.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not here to talk about the Khan¡¯s head,¡± Gu Shenwei replied calmly, with Dog Butcher on his left side and Fan Yongda on the other.


    Fan Yongda hadn¡¯t recovered from his injury yet, but he had insisted oning with the Dragon King because he was the only one of them who could understand the meaning of the various signals left behind by the sects of the Central ins and find the temporary camp of the Kongtong Sect.


    ¡°Are you sure that you will win thepetition tomorrow?¡± Tu Pianpian asked sneeringly, who was obviously confident in the power of the two Qingcheng Sect Leaders.


    Standing in front of his elder sister, Dog Butcher was a little afraid, but he still ventured to speak up. ¡°Senior Sister, the Dragon King¡¯s here to ask you for information about a person.¡±


    ¡°Who are you calling Senior Sister?¡± Tu Pianpian reprimanded. ¡°You two are now serving the barbarians. If it weren¡¯t for the kung fupetition, we would have been fought to the death by now.¡±


    Dog Butcher didn¡¯t dare to speak up again. He gave a signal to Fan Yongda by ncing at him, and tossed the hot potato to his sect nephew.


    With his head drooping down halfway, Fan Yongda gave a small cough and said, ¡°Elder Aunt Master, the Dragon King¡¯s actually from the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°No matter where he¡¯s from, he¡¯s not a man of the Central ins if he¡¯s not loyal to the emperor.¡±


    ¡°Even if it¡¯s the case, shouldn¡¯t the Kongtong Sect at least treat Dragon King with the courtesy of the Central ins?¡±


    ¡°Humph, I knew you would y this card.¡± Tu Pianpian sank her crutch a few more inches into the ground. Yet the Dragon King had spared her once, which was an indisputable fact. ¡°Say it. Who do you want to know about. But if it goes against the interests of the Central ins, I will not tell you a single word.¡±


    ¡°Marshal Yang,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    ¡°Marshal Yang?¡± Tu Pianpian pulled her crutch out of the ground, and the hollow space beneath was a foot deep and filled with muddy water. ¡°I see. You use the Gu family sabersmanship. What¡¯s your rtionship with Marshal Yang?¡±


    ¡°My surname is also Yang.¡± Gu Shenwei gave her his fake surname he had used in the Western Regions. Although more and more people knew his true background in detail, he was still trying to keep it secret from as many people as he could.


    ¡°So, you¡¯re Marshal Yang¡¯s nephew? Okay, then it¡¯s fine if I tell you. Everybody says that Marshal Yang¡¯s a hero in the martial arts world, but I can see it crystal clear; he¡¯s merely a petty fame-chaser. It¡¯s a giant joke that people mention the word ¡®hero¡¯ and his name in the same sentence.¡±


    Fan Yongda immediately blushed and tried to intervene. ¡°But I heard¡­¡±


    ¡°What you heard was nothing but nonsense!¡± Tu Pianpian cut her sect nephew short abruptly.


    ¡°So all those tales about Marshal Yang working as a servant for three years and mediating disputes here and there in the martial arts world were lies?¡±


    ¡°Most of them are true. But Marshal Yang did all those things for a different purpose.¡±


    ¡°What purpose?¡± Dog Butcher was even more curious than the Dragon King.


    ¡°Ha, use your brains. Marshal Yang used to be a pirate. How could a man like that suddenly convert from a killer and robber into a good Samaritan? He General Gu¡¯s apprentice, and after he mastered the unique kung fu skills of the Gu Family, he maneuvered his way into joining the Luo Vige of He Dong and there, he learned first-rate, sophisticated swordsmanship. That was his true purpose. And with regards to his mediating disputes afterwards, those were nothing but camouge.¡±


    ¡°That can¡¯t be true. It¡¯s not despicable to bear kung fu skills of two families. He¡¯s a hero, and if he told me to, I would also¡­¡± Dog Butcher thought that his sister¡¯s opinions were way too arbitrary.


    Fan Yongda also nodded in agreement to his Uncle-Master. As far as he knew, ording to the rules of the martial arts world, Marshal Yang¡¯s actions could not have drawn much criticism.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know shit!¡± Tu Pianpian detested being contradicted the most, which was why she swore in her rage. But she quickly continued talking to cover it up. ¡°Imagine that there¡¯s an irreconcble hostility between the Central ins and the Nond, and that the two of them are about to fight to death. However, there¡¯s a man who¡¯s working for and taking money from both sides. What would you think of him?¡±


    Dog Butcher and Fan Yongda knew what she was insinuating and both lowered their heads in silence. Neither of them dared to try to defend the Dragon King by arguing that he didn¡¯t count as a Nonder.


    ¡°The Gu family and the Luo Vige are unfriendly towards each other?¡± Gu Shenwei was slightly surprised. He had never heard his father or brother mention the rtions between the two families. But after thinking carefully, he also realized that his father had never said any good words about the Luo Vige either. Even Yang Zheng, who knew all those tales about the martial arts world very well, had always tried to avoid talking about the Luo Vige.


    ¡°Not just unfriendly. Hostile. It¡¯s said that it was the family members of the Luo Family were the officials in the Imperial Court who had persecuted General Gu to his death. Marshal Yang owed so much to General Gu, but not only did he refuse to avenge General Gu¡¯s death, he also became a servant of the Luo Vige for three years. And yet you all still call him a hero?¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind was in a mess. He¡¯d always thought that his father Gu Lun had held no grudges against anybody in the Imperial Court. Even Wei Song had said so. But judging by Tu Pianpian¡¯s words, the Gu Family had actually had an irreconcble enmity with a foe that had a powerful background.


    And Marshal Yang¡¯s deeds were also very strange. Three years as a servant sounded somewhat simr to Gu Shenwei¡¯s stint at Golden Roc Castle, but he hadn¡¯t sought revenge. ¡°Marshal Yang didn¡¯t kill anyone of the Luo Family?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. Marshal Yang¡¯s on very good terms with the Luo Family. When he was acting as a hero and mediating disputes here and there, did you think that people would listen to him for his own sake? It¡¯s the Luo Vige behind him. They colluded with each other and both were experts of fishing for fame.¡±


    Dog Butcher said in a low voice, ¡°In any case, his heroic deeds are still real.¡±


    Fan Yongda said to the Dragon King in an even lower voice, ¡°Lord Wei¡¯s also an enemy of the Luo Family.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had known about since long ago that the Kongtong Sect was working for Wei Song, so it was natural for them to be involved in the disputes in the Imperial court. Judging by Tu Pianpian¡¯s attitude towards the Luo Vige, Wei Song was clearly not a friend of the Luo Vige either.


    ¡°What are the rtions between the Qingcheng Sect and the Luo Vige like?¡± Gu Shenwei put his confusion aside. Their purpose was to find the weakness of Lu Mian, not to rake up old stories of the previous generation.


    ¡°Very simple. The Luo Family happenss to be the current leader of the martial arts world, and they have family members who are also high-rank officials. When the Qingcheng Sect failed to mediate between the disputes of the two candidates for the title of Sect Leader, they had no choice but to ask the Luo Family to make the decision. But the Luo Family wasn¡¯t stupid. They used the candidates to work for them by saying that whoever brought the Khan¡¯s head back would gain the Luo Family¡¯s support.¡±


    Dog Butcher hadn¡¯t set foot in the martial arts world for a long time, and also didn¡¯t talk much with his sister, so he was enjoying the stories very much. ¡°Why are there two Sect Leaders of the Qingcheng Sect? Is this Lu Mian a family member of thest Sect Leader Lu Tong?¡±


    Tu Pianpian red at her younger brother as she replied, ¡°Lu Mian is Lu Tong¡¯s son. How do you not know even this? Lu Tong died early. And back then, Lu Mian and his brother hadn¡¯t achieved much in terms of their swordsmanship, so they didn¡¯t dare challenge Liu Qingpu. Now that they think they¡¯re ready, they started a fight for leadership.¡±


    ¡°And his brother?¡± Dog Butcher had been paying great attention to the details of the story.


    ¡°Lu Mian and Lu Xinghui¡­¡±


    ¡°Lu Xinghui¡¯s dead,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He suddenly recalled that swordsman from the Central ins.


    This had taken ce before the Tournament of the Royal Court, when Chu Nanping had suddenlyprehended the secret of practicing the Emotionless Swordsmanship. Gu Shenwei had taken him along to the slums in search for a subject to practice their swordsmanship on. The first one was called Gong Ziying, who gave his sword to Chu Nanping as a present before he died and who told him that the name of the other person was ¡°Gong Xinghui¡±.


    Lu Xinghui¡¯s swordsmanship was light and swift. Recalling the scene at that time, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t think there were any simrities between his swordsmanship and that of Lu Mian.


    ¡°Dead?¡± Tu Pianpian was surprised. ¡°Howe? Lu Mian has never mentioned anything that would hint at that.¡±


    ¡°He was using a pseudonym, so Lu Mian probably hasn¡¯t heard of it yet.¡± But Gu Shenwei was actually thinking that it was more likely that Lu Mian was pretending that he didn¡¯t know.


    Having no interest in the two brothers of the Lu Family, Tu Pianpian shrugged. ¡°We¡¯ll put an end to this at noon tomorrow. Either the Dragon King will hand over the Khan¡¯s head, or the people of the Central ins will give up. I can finally leave this damn ce.¡±


    ¡°But if so, wouldn¡¯t the head be taken by the Qingcheng Sect?¡± Dog Butcher thought that his sister had missed an important part.


    ¡°Shut up! The Kongtong Sect¡¯s ns are none of traitors¡¯ business.¡± Tu Pianpian reprimanded.


    After winning the head position, the Qingcheng Sect had to deal with more sect disputes, which was not the part that Gu Shenwei was interested in. ¡°It seems that Lu Mian¡¯s swordsmanship is not from the Qingcheng Sect.¡±


    ¡°Haha!¡± Tu Pianpian forced out several loudughs, ¡°I knew that the Dragon King wanted to know the details of Lu Mian¡¯s swordsmanship. Sorry, but I can¡¯t tell you.¡±


    Dog Butcher¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. He knew his sister so well that he identified the problem immediately, ¡°So you failed toprehend Lu Mian¡¯s swordsmanship as well, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Do you still want to return to Kongdong Mountain? Do you still have the face to kneel in front of the Sect Leader and the Ancestral Master¡¯s tablets?¡±


    Dog Butcher bent slightly at the waist and lowered his head after being rebuked. He had lost his momentum and didn¡¯t dare to speak anymore, neither truth nor lies.


    Gu Shenwei walked out of the tent. The rain had just stopped and the sky was very clear, with shining stars and a bright moon.


    Tens of disciples of the Kongtong Sect were standing around randomly. Their eyes were not focused on anything in particr, but their weapons were in their hands.


    Further away, 5,000 Nond cavalrymen were preparing for a war. They didn¡¯t change their formation because of the heavy rain.


    After several miles on their way back, Gu Shenwei said to Long Fanyun, ¡°You return to the camp first. I have something I need to deal with first. Old Man Mu,e with me.¡±


    Although Long Fanyun was very surprised, he wouldn¡¯t question the Dragon King¡¯s order. It was Dog Butcher who spoke up first. ¡°Dragon King, it¡¯ste. The kung fupetition is at noon tomorrow. Don¡¯t you need some rest?¡±


    Old Man Mu had been yearning to go out for several days and immediately replied, ¡°Shut up. The Dragon King has his own ns. Mind your own business.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll catch up.¡±


    ¡°Let me and Fan Yongdae. We can help.¡± Dog Butcher was eager to go out. After several years of closed-door cultivation, he now longed for an adventurous life in the martial arts world very much.


    Dog Butcher and Fan Yongda¡¯s kung fu skills were not verypatible with that of the killers of the Western Regions, but the two were familiar enough with the people of the Central ins and could be helpful, so Gu Shenwei agreed.


    Thus, after midnight, the 5,000 Nond cavalrymen returned to camp but the Dragon King and the other three were still in the wilderness.


    Fang Wenshi wouldn¡¯t sleep that night. After hearing this news, he was very disappointed. He startedining to himself that the Dragon King was bing less and less like amander in chief, and several hourster, theseints became public.


    It was almost noon, and the people of the martial arts world of the Central ins came to the camp by invitation. But the Dragon King still hadn¡¯t appeared.


    ¡°A king has to be true to his words. Behind the scenes you can make any ns, but in public you have to be true to your word. The time for thepetition is at noon, so it has to be at noon. You can¡¯t be even a momentte¡­ Dragon King, where are you?¡± Fang Wenshi flushed in his anxiety.


    Long Fanyun was terrified and held himself ountable for thispetition. He straightened up and said, ¡°Let me do it. After all, they never said that Dragon King had to take part in thepetition himself.¡±


    Long Fanyun was a valiant general, but he wasn¡¯t good at martial artspetitions. Shangguan Fei was the first to shake his head, but he didn¡¯t want to shoulder such a heavy responsibility. ¡°Mo Lin, your sabersmanship is the best among us, and you¡¯ve also fought them before.¡±


    ¡°I can do this,¡± Mo Lin said tly. ¡°Against Liu Qingpu, I think that I have a seventy percent chance of winning. As for Lu Mian, less than thirty percent.¡±


    ¡°What should we do?¡± Fang Wenshi was scratching his ears and cheeks. ¡°What did I say back then? We shouldn¡¯t have agreed topete. But now that we did, we mustn¡¯t lose.¡±


    ¡°Let me have a try.¡±


    There were still several kung fu experts in the camp. Han Wuxian and Shangguan Yun didn¡¯t volunteer. Instead, it was Chu Nanping.


    Fang Wenshi was greatly confused. Although he knew nothing about kung fu, he had gleaned something from the Dragon King¡¯s remarks: this teenage swordsman¡¯s kung fu skills had greatly deteriorated and was not as good as before.


    ¡°Your sword¡­ didn¡¯t it snap?¡± Fang Wenshi said carefully.


    ¡°I have an extra one,¡± Chu Nanping replied tly.


    Fang Wenshi suddenly noticed that Tie Linglong who had always stood by Chu Nanping¡¯s side was not around. He thought to himself, ¡®It seems like this pair of love birds had a quarrel. I hope that he¡¯s not making a joke out of this serious affair of the Dragon King¡¯s.¡¯

 Chapter 743 - Nature

    Chapter 743: Nature


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Back in the Essence Pavilion, Immortal Peng had once said to Chu Nanping when he was less than ten years old, ¡°Try to abandon your thoughts and desires. Each and every thought is harmful to you. Only by giving up everything can you truly have everything.¡±


    No disciple of the Essence Pavilion could actually reach this state and Chu Nanping was no exception, but he¡¯d always been trying his best. He was indifferent to his elder brother¡¯s death, he didn¡¯t care about the friendship between Xu Xiaoyi and him, and the Dragon King¡¯s trust in him was far less important to him than the former two issues.


    Only Tie Linglong made him feel different, but he¡¯d been controlling his emotions well and seldomly showed them to anyone. That was, until he started practicing the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power.


    He¡¯d been changing gradually, bit by bit, without even realizing it. Chu Nanping¡¯s enthusiasm, which was suppressed for so many years had suddenly burst out of him as he confessed his true feelings to Tie Linglong, his heart filling with an unprecedented delight.


    But after that moment of exhration, a patch of emptiness had appeared in his heart like when a genital wart was cut out. He felt satiated, but also slightly lost. As the emptiness deepened, one day, Chu Nanping found that he could no longer dual wield swords.


    That emptiness used to belong to the Emotionless Swordsmanship.


    At first, Chu Nanping had thought it was because he didn¡¯t practice hard enough, but it didn¡¯t take him long to realize that it was actually because his mental state had been disturbed. In order to dual wield swords and cultivate the Emotionless Swordsmanship which was supposed to be performed by two people by himself, he had to be in a mental state that was as calm as still water.


    Chu Nanping had been pondering this issue even before the Dragon King told him to make a choice.


    This was the first time that he had ever contemted an issue, which waspletely counter to Immortal Peng¡¯s instruction.


    That same night, the Dragon King took 500 men with him and went out to uncover the truth. Meanwhile, Chu Nanping was also seeking his own truth by going to Doctor Sun for help.


    Doctor Sun was sleeping, but he opened his heavy eyes and stared at the teenager who had unexpectedly turned up in his tent. ¡°Anything you want to talk about can be discussed tomorrow. You look fine. You won¡¯t die.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sick. It¡¯s just that I have a problem that I can¡¯t figure out by myself.¡±


    Doctor Sun forced himself to sit up, shook his head several times, frowned, and then said, ¡°All I can do is diagnose and treat illnesses. If you have anything on your mind and want to talk about it, you probably should¡¯ve gone to¡­¡± After searching his mind, he failed to think of anyone in the camp who might be able to rify this teenager¡¯s confusion. ¡°Fine. Go ahead and ask. I might or might not be able to help.¡±


    ¡°The Sumeru Mustard Divine Power. Is it true that it can change its user¡¯s nature?¡±


    ¡°Oh, so you¡¯ve also practiced that Three-in-One Power. Let me see.¡± Doctor Sun was relieved to hear Chu Nanping¡¯s issue. He pulled Chu Nanping¡¯s wrist closer to him and felt his pulse for a while before eximing, ¡°Eek, you¡¯re in a different situation from that of Dragon King and Shangguan Fei¡¯s.¡±


    Doctor Sun let go of Chu Nanping¡¯s hand, jumped off of his bed, put on his clothes, and lit themp. ¡°You¡¯re in a far better condition than they are. The Daoless Divine Power has naturally transitioned to the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power without even a bit of conflict.¡±


    ¡°But I feel that my nature is different now, and I can no longer split my concentration to dual wield swords.¡±


    ¡°You only have one heart. Why do you have to halve it? Just concentrate. You feel like you¡¯re not as good as you were, right? Rest assured. When you sessfully master the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power, you won¡¯t need to use two swords any more. You will be invincible with just your bare hands.¡±


    ¡°I like swords.¡±


    ¡°s,¡± Doctor Sun yawned as he leaned on the table. ¡°You can practice swordsmanship if you like. Just start learning a Buddhist Meditation. Any random Buddhist monk can teach you that, but I truly can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°So, the influence of the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power is just temporary and won¡¯t change my nature?¡±


    All Doctor Sun wanted now was to quickly end this conversation and then return to his sound sleep, so he became impatient and harshly said, ¡°Your nature is something intrinsic to you, and nothing can change it. I can treat illnesses, so my nature is that of a divine doctor¡¯s nature. If someday I can¡¯t treat illnesses any more, then I merely will be amon bald old man. You tell me; in this supposed case, did my nature change? Everyone is the same: they have different respective natures in different situations ¨C the poor, the rich, the weak, the strong. Can you tell me if they all changed their natures? Kid, forget about this nonsense. Nature belongs to only you yourself, irrespective of time or ce. It¡¯s not that your nature determines your ability to dual wield swords, but rather that dual wielding swords determines your nature. Got it?¡±


    ¡°Kind of. But¡­¡±


    ¡°No buts!¡± Doctor Sun was angry and this was his ¡®nature.¡¯ ¡°Find a spot where nobody else is around and try to figure it out yourself. This kind of stuff can never be clearly exined by someone else. Go, go. Don¡¯t waste any time.¡±


    After pushing the teenager out of his tent, Doctor Sun could no longer sleep. He kept tossing and turning in bed, wondering whether he had said anything wrong¡­


    ¡°A bunch of kids,¡± Doctor Sun said to himself in a vicious tone. ¡°The Dragon King is also like a child. All you want is to be ruthless and callous, right? And you need an excuse to act like that? s, what a shame.¡±


    Chu Nanping took Doctor Sun¡¯s words seriously and did find a ce where nobody else was around ¨C the livestock¡¯s pen in the camp, whererge numbers of cattle and sheep were kept and where the main food source of the whole army came from. In a thick odious cloud, the teenager gradually drew a conclusion from Doctor Sun¡¯s words: ¡®Nature belongs to yourself, so you can choose what kind of person you want to be and then strive to be that person.¡¯


    ¡°Look, it¡¯s about to start raining,¡± he said, raising his head and staring into the thick dark clouds.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you just pretend that you didn¡¯t see me?¡± Tie Linglong walked out from behind him, pinching her nose. ¡°What are you doing here? It¡¯s so stinky.¡±


    ¡°I want to be a swordsman.¡±


    ¡°You already are a swordsman.¡±


    ¡°No. I used to be, but not anymore.¡±


    Tie Linglong frowned. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    Thunder started rumbling in the sky, and a giant lightning bolt split the night into two halves. The rain was torrential. Tie Linglong had barely taken her first step away to go find shelter when Chu Nanping suddenly grabbed her.


    Tie Linglong was startled. Although she had epted his confession of love, there had never been any intimate physical contact between the two. She poked him with her finger instinctively, but didn¡¯t put much strength into her finger when it reached his chest. ¡°Moron, it¡¯s raining.¡±


    Chu Nanping held her hands tightly, as he spoke out, ¡°I¡¯ll be a swordsman, but I¡¯ll also keep loving you. Give me some time and let me regain my power to dual wield swords.¡±


    The rain was getting heavier and heavier and Tie Linglong was now drenched. She heard his voice and felt his firm, strong palm, but she didn¡¯t see the sorrow etched into his face.


    ¡°What are you trying to say?¡± she also raised her voice.


    ¡°I need some time of my own, and I need to forget you first¡­¡±


    Tie Linglong drew her hand back. ¡°Are you saying that I¡¯m holding your swordsy back?¡±


    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s me. I¡­¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to exin. You want to forget, so just forget it. I won¡¯t pester you any longer. Go practice your dual swords, and may you be invincible as soon as possible! ¨C But don¡¯t try to find me ever, ever again.¡±


    ¡°But I love you, I just want to be a swordsman again¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t love swordsmen!¡± Tie Linglong yelled angrily, turning and disappearing into the torrential pouring rain.


    In the space of a moment, Chu Nanping lost sight of her.


    Standing there transfixed in the rain, he felt misunderstood, but another voice in his head was telling him, ¡®Maybe it¡¯s better this way, since you can forget her more thoroughly now.¡¯


    As the rain let up, he found the right direction and walked towards his tent slowly with a searing pain in his heart, and yet his will was more determined than ever. He hadn¡¯t actually killed the person he cared about the most, but the effect was no less than that. Finally, he knew what it felt like to ¡®sever love,¡¯ which had been the barrier for practicing a higher level of the Emotionless Swordsmanship.


    The spacious emptiness was fixed, but the teenager didn¡¯t notice that another one had emerged ¨C though it was just a small bubble at the moment.


    In his tent, Chu Nanping took out the sword that Gong Ziying had given him as a gift before his death, and recalled the swordsman¡¯sst words. ¡°Take my sword, and if anyone tries to snatch it away, kill him.¡±


    It was the first time that Chu Nanping had contemted those words. Some ancient,plex pattern was engraved on the de and there seemed to be some words inscribed on the edge, but he couldn¡¯t recognize any of them. He gently stroke the sword with his fingers and it started quivering with a faint sound.


    There was still searing pain in the corner of his heart. Chu Nanping gave a sword strike towards the sky and the pain was slightly eased, but that wasn¡¯t enough. With a longing for actual killing, he believed that he needed to extinguish a life to console another.


    As a result, when it was about noon, and the Dragon King still hadn¡¯t returned, all Chu Nanping could think about was killing rather than the results of thepetition when he volunteered to fight.


    Running through the rainy night, Tie Linglong was also suffering from a searing pain in her heart, and after a while, a sense of great humiliation exacerbated the pain even further.


    When the rain abated slightly, she met another runner.


    Nie Zeng was practicing his lightness skills, leaping around Han Wuxian¡¯s tent.


    The two whipped out their sabers at the same time.


    ¡°It¡¯s you,¡± Nie Zeng who was soaking wet, said in surprise.


    ¡°We agreed to have a kung fupetition. Let¡¯s do it now,¡± Tie Linglong said tly, swinging at him with her saber.


    ¡®His previous words that he would kill for me or something were all lies,¡¯ she thought. ¡®I¡¯ll do it myself. I¡¯ve killed people before and it¡¯s not difficult at all.¡¯


    Reliving the training she¡¯d received in the Waning Moon Hall, Tie Linglong was growing increasingly murderous, and Nie Zeng was reduced to nothing but a target that served the purpose of improving disciples¡¯ courage.


    To her surprise, the pain in her heart was slightly alleviated.


    Nie Zeng was flustered. He wasn¡¯t ready for a kung fupetition, and it seemed that Tie Linglong had just been crying, as even the darkness and the rain couldn¡¯t stop him from seeing that her eyes were red and swollen, which made it even harder for him to put his heart into his moves.


    His kung fu skill was originally not as good as that of Tie Linglong, so his hesitation and evasion immediatelynded him in danger.


    Her narrow saber cut his left arm, the wound immediately starting to bleed, but the blood was washed away by the rainwater. Nie Zeng was provoked, believing that regardless of why she felt heartbroken, she shouldn¡¯t be taking it out on others.


    Nie Zeng pounced on her and began to fight in a self-destructive, lose-lose style which was the exact reason why Hu Shining constantlymented that he could never be a top killer.


    It was like the two were irreconcble enemies and every saber strike of his was vicious and ruthless.


    Before things got uglier, Han Wuxian intervened. She had been sitting in her tent, inspecting Nie Zeng ¨C who was practicing kung fu in the rain ¨C through the open curtains, and giving him a tip or two asionally, but spent most of her timebing her long hair.


    Apprentices as good as the two were not easy to find, and she didn¡¯t want to lose either one of them too early.


    It was still raining and Han Wuxian didn¡¯t want to leave the tent, so she took off one of her embroidered shoes and casually threw it towards Nie Zeng.


    Nie Zeng drew back his saber to parry it, but the embroidered shoe turned in midair and dashed towards Tie Linglong. Before Tie Linglong could react, it made another turn and flew back into the tent like a lost bat.


    ¡°s, it got wet anyway,¡± Han Wuxian sighed regretfully.


    Outside, Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong started staggering after smelling a puff of an unexpected faint fragrance.


    ¡°You want to kill someone, huh. Fine. I¡¯ll give you a chance,¡± Han Wuxian said gently. ¡°There¡¯s a traitor of the Waning Moon Hall in my tent. s, I¡¯m done with her. So just kill her.¡±


    The knockout powder was not very potent, and part of its effect had been alleviated by the rain, so Tie Linglong recovered in a short time and strode towards the tent, saber in her hand.


    Nie Zeng stood where he was, paralyzed with confusion. When he finally raised his head, he found that the rain had stopped.

 Chapter 744 - Rainwater

    Chapter 744: Rainwater


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    That same night, the same rain aroused indignation in another swordsman¡¯s heart. He walked out of his tent and with his ankles soaked in rainwater, and he went to the entry of another tent. Just as he was just about to speak, the rain stopped.


    Liu Fangsheng couldn¡¯t let go of the spite in his heart.


    ¡°Deng Yuanlei, get out here and talk to me.¡±


    This seemingly amiable senior brother of his had not only fled by himself during a moment of crisis, but he had also taken the side of the fake Sect Leader Lu Mian. Liu Qingpu had subdued his resentment, but Liu Fangsheng couldn¡¯t do the same.


    Deng Yuanlei opened the tent p and came out. It seemed like he hadn¡¯t sleptst night either, since he was still wearing neat clothes. Holding onto a sword scabbard in his left hand with a smile on his face, he raised his head and looked into the sky. ¡°You picked the wrong time, junior brother. If you hade a whileter, you wouldn¡¯t have gotten soaked.


    ¡°Let¡¯s find a spot and talk alone.¡± Liu Fangsheng suppressed his anger.


    Deng Yuanlei looked around and asked, ¡°Did Liu Qingpu send you? We have an agreement that before anyone finds the Khan¡¯s head¡ª¡±


    ¡°This has nothing to do with my father. That agreement is between him and Lu Mian. What¡¯s between you and me is personal.¡±


    ¡°Haha, personal.¡± Deng Yuanlei sneered and led the way towards the outside of the camp. Liu Fangsheng caught up with him in a few strides and continued walking next to him side by side.


    Three disciples of the Qingcheng Sect were on sentry duty and Liu Fangsheng asked them casually, ¡°Did the Dragon King¡¯s army leave yet?¡±


    ¡°They just left,¡± a disciple answered. The camp of the Qingcheng Sect was not far away from that of the Kongtong Sect¡¯s, and in the bright moonlight after the rain, they could even vaguely see the other side and even hear the sound of the horse hooves made of the Dragon King¡¯s army.


    ¡°Um, let¡¯s go check it out.¡± Liu Fangsheng kept acting casually so that the disciples of the Qingcheng Sect would neither suspect his intentions nor report him to their Sect Leader Liu Qingpu.


    Deng Yuanlei looked at his junior brother with an amused expression, and after walking for a while, he said, ¡°You¡¯re gaining martial arts world experience now, junior brother.¡±


    ¡°The most significant experience I¡¯ve learned is that I should never trust a traitor whose smile is tinged with cruelty.¡±


    The two took a short detour around a small hill to leave the line of sight of the few camps nearby.


    Deng Yuanlei stopped smiling. ¡°So I owe you an exnation.¡±


    ¡°Cowardliness, fear of death, betrayal of sect in exchange for fame. Do you have an exnation for all of these charges?¡±


    Deng Yuanlei¡¯s mouth twitched slightly, and then he resumed talking. ¡°Those words couldn¡¯t suit me better, but it was not your father that I betrayed. Five years ago, the surname of the Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect was Lu rather than Liu. The former Sect Leader Lu designated his eldest son as the new Sect Leader and your father Liu Qingpu was assigned to take care of and assist Lu¡¯s orphan son. But what did your father do? He took the position of the Sect Leader for himself and exiled the two sons of the former Sect Leader Lu, but nobody in the entire Qingcheng Sect dared to say a single word, which was exactly what you¡¯ve just talked about ¨C ¡®cowardliness, fear of death, betrayal of sect in exchange for fame.¡¯¡±


    ¡°My father became the Sect Leader through his own strength.¡±


    ¡°For sure. Yet strength isparative. Back then, the two sons of the former Sect Leader Lu hadn¡¯t achieved much in their cultivation of our sect¡¯s internal energy, so they didn¡¯t dare participate in the kung fupetition for the position of Sect Leader, and had to leave the Qingcheng Sect and consequently struggle for survival in the martial arts world. But now, I guess that every dog has its day ¨C ¡®strength¡¯ has changed.¡±


    Liu Fangsheng whipped out his sword and shouted out, ¡°All sophistry. Unsheathe your sword.¡±


    ¡°Heh-heh, it¡¯s only been five years, and the usurper¡¯s already settled himself in the position, believing that he¡¯s the rightful Sect Leader.¡±


    There was still a lot of martial arts world experience for Liu Fangsheng to learn. He had whipped out his sword first, but still failed to seize the initiative.


    Deng Yuanlei struck out with several sword strikes and held the upper hand instantly, forcing Liu Fangsheng into retreating backwards continuously. He could even spare some time to speak, taunting, ¡°Junior brother, there¡¯s something I¡¯ve always been too embarrassed to tell you ¨C your swordsmanship sucks. Your real unique skill is actually the four words ¡®son of Sect Leader.¡¯ Go on, scream. The disciples of the Qingcheng Sect wille to your rescue in no time at all.¡±


    Clenching his teeth, Liu Fangsheng knew that his adversary was intentionally trying to provoke him, but he was still unable to subdue his fury, which made his strikes even more disorderly as if they were living proof of the words ¡°your swordsmanship sucks.¡± Realizing that there was such a considerable disparity between him and his senior brother, he felt mortified.


    Deng Yuanlei sneered inwardly, knowing that it was not the swordsmanship but the experience and mentality of his junior brother that was too poor. He began to consider how to end this and thought that maybe it was a good chance to kill the son of the Sect Leader.


    But abruptly, through a random nce, he saw a figure standing nearby. He forced his opponent back and leaped aside.


    It was not until now that Liu Fangsheng noticed the third party. He blurted out, ¡°Dragon King!¡±


    Gu Shenwei had been watching for quite a while andmented, ¡°Don¡¯t be fooled by your senior brother. Your swordsmanship is fine.¡±


    Liu Fangsheng blushed. The Dragon King was of a simr age as him, but much more worldly.


    Deng Yuanlei sneered and asked, ¡°Do you want to have the kung fupetition ahead of schedule, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never fought a defeated adversary. You two may continue.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei had learned his lesson and did not trust the Dragon King at all. He said to Liu Fangsheng, ¡°Junior brother, how about we take a break? The Dragon King¡¯s very cunning. We shouldn¡¯t let the fisherman profit from the struggle between the snipe and the m.¡±


    ¡°No, this will be finished tonight.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei slightly regretted provoking his junior brother so effectively that he had lost his sense of perspective.


    Thus the two started fighting again, but the situation waspletely different. Deng Yuanlei was deeply concerned ¨C every time the Dragon King winked or moved his finger, he suspected that there was knockout powder flying at him, which hindered him and left him exhausted. On the contrary, Liu Fangsheng didn¡¯t have much to worry about and fought more and more valiantly with a recovering confidence.


    The swordsmanship of both of them were known its fast speed, which was simr to Liu Yuanpu¡¯s style butpletely different from that of Lu Mian. Gu Shenwei became more and more confused as he watched. <em>Lu Mian¡¯s swordsmanship is clearly not from the Qingcheng Sect, so where exactly did he learn it?</em>


    Deng Yuanlei realized that he couldn¡¯t be as half-hearted any longer, or he would suffer an even uglier defeat. As long as the Dragon King didn¡¯t intervene, he still had a chance to defeat his junior brother.


    Compared to his junior brother, what gave Deng Yuanlei an advantage was his experience. He baited his opponent with a fake chance by intentionally losing his footing, which sessfully tricked Liu Fangsheng into moving closer. Next, he would pass his sword to his left hand and stab his junior brother from an unexpected angle.


    As long as the Dragon King didn¡¯t intervene¡­


    Deng Yuanlei intentionally picked a position facing the Dragon King to guard against him.


    The Dragon King didn¡¯t move, and didn¡¯t even give a verbal warning. However, Deng Yuanlei had a feeling that something was not right. And it indeed wasn¡¯t. After passing the sword to his left hand, he found that he could make no more moves.


    He fell over into the water on the ground, watching his junior brother¡¯s sword stabbing towards his chest.


    The de had entered his chest about an inch before Liu Fangsheng drew it back and said, ¡°Not everybody¡¯s as despicable as you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei gave an inward sigh. He was too inexperienced with the mindset of the people of the Central ins, which was why his n had failed. He was hoping to have Liu Fangsheng kill Deng Yuanlei, gain his trust, and then extract intelligence from him. It seemed that he would have to find another way now.


    Liu Fangsheng felt a sense of numbness in his leg and subconsciously tried to p it with his hand, but his body softened involuntarily, and there was another numb feeling in his back. Then he realized that he had been hit and passed out.


    Old Man Mu turned around and asked the Dragon King, ¡°Are we really not killing them?¡±


    ¡°Not for now.¡±


    Dog Butcher and Fan Yongda both came out from the grass a little further away, with an embarrassed look on their faces. The means of the people from the Western Regions were far from righteous: knockout powder, sneak attacks, they used it all, which made these temporary followers blush.


    ¡°He¡¯s the only child of the Qingcheng Sect¡¯s Leader. Maybe we should spare him,¡± Dog Butcher interceded on behalf of Liu Fangsheng.


    ¡°Put him aside, and keep him here for the time being.¡± Gu Shenwei walked in front of Deng Yuanlei and lowered his head to look at him.


    Fan Yongda picked up Liu Fangsheng and left. Dog Butcher followed his sect nephew after hesitating for a while. He had a premonition that the Dragon King had something more else to do to Deng Yuanlei, and it was not going to be righteous and decent. And since this Deng Yuanlei was not someone worthy of his protection, he decided that he might as well keep him out of sight and out of mind.


    Deng Yuanlei¡¯s clothes was soaking wet after he had fallen into the rainwater, and he struggled to straighten his upper body, ¡°I can¡¯t believe that I failed miserably in an easy task. The Dragon King got me twice with knockout power.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a lot more knockout power. But whether you¡¯ll have the chance to be knocked out by it again in the future depends on your cooperation.¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s eyes lit up and he encouraged Deng Yuanlei in an undertone, ¡°Be a man. A warrior would rather die than be humiliated. Don¡¯t give in.¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s wrinkled old face was so close to him that Deng Yuanlei felt like he looked like a giant insect which sent a chill down his spine. He immediately said, ¡°I hold no personal grudges against the Dragon King, and it¡¯s not necessary for me to set myself against him.¡±


    Old Man Mu moved a few steps away in disappointment.


    ¡°Did you and Lu Mian formte a n to usurp the position of the Sect Leader?¡± Gu Shenwei started his interrogation with a simple question.


    Deng Yuanlei acted like a well-prepared student answering the teacher¡¯s questions. His answer was quick and sinct, and even held a ghost of confidence. ¡°I¡¯ve always been in contact with Sect Leader Lu, and I¡¯ve waited a long time for this day. My original n was to state my stance in thest moment, but because of you¡­ I had to do so ahead of schedule.¡±


    ¡°Where did Lu Mian learn his swordsmanship?¡±


    ¡°I know what you mean. Sect Leader Lu¡¯s swordsmanship is very strange, isn¡¯t it? To be honest, I was surprised too. Sect Leader Lu had never had a fixed abode in the past few years, and it was not until a year ago that he came to Luo Vige. As far as I know, he¡¯s never had a second Master.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t the Luo Family teach him swordsmanship?¡±


    ¡°The Luo Family? I don¡¯t think so. Sect Leader Lu¡¯s swordsmanship is different from that of the Luo Family¡¯s ¨C uh, but maybe they did ¨C the Luo Family is very interested in collecting kung fu manuals of other sects, and maybe they gave some of them to Sect Leader Lu.¡±


    Staring at him, Gu Shenwei raised his foot and stamped on his chest. ¡°You should¡¯ve done some homework before telling a lie.¡±


    Dragon King¡¯s cape was very wide and all Deng Yuanlei could see was a ck shadow. This was the third time he had been captured by the Dragon King, and thest bit of his dignity disappeared with that stomp. ¡°Stop. I¡¯ll tell you. Sect Leader Lu did learn his swordsmanship from the Luo Family, and he promised me that he would teach me after he became the Sect Leader. He said that the people of the Luo Family didn¡¯t want to practice the swordsmanship themselves yet they wanted to know its strength, which is why they taught him the swordsmanship.¡±


    ¡°And the name of the swordsmanship?¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t know.¡± Then Deng Yuanlei suddenly remembered something. ¡°But that woman. I can give you that woman.¡±


    Gu Shenwei drew his foot back, surprised by the fact that that woman was involved with this issue. He was more indifferent than curious regarding the ve girl that the Khan had mentioned, as he hadn¡¯t even sent anyone to find where she was hidden.


    ¡°Where¡¯s she?¡±


    ¡°Right in the camp. Sect Leader Lu assigned two people to guard her. He ordered the guards to kill her immediately if anyone tried to rescue her. I can take you there. They won¡¯t suspect me.¡±


    ¡°Open your mouth.¡±


    Gu Shenwei tossed two pills into Deng Yuanlei¡¯s mouth, ¡°One of them is an antidote, and the other is poison. You know what to do.¡±


    The knockout powder in Deng Yuanlei¡¯s body was gradually detoxified, and he struggled to his feet over the wet ground. With the new poison in his body, he didn¡¯t dare to y any tricks. ¡°I understand. How do you¡­ n to get in there?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to know that. Your job is to handle the two guards.¡±


    ¡°The fifth tent from the west.¡± Deng Yuanlei told them the location and returned to the camp.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t bring Dog Butcher and Fan Yongda along with him. He and Old Man Mu snuck into the camp from another direction.


    Old Man Mu entered the tent first. Seeing that nothing unusual had happened, Gu Shenwei followed him in. The two guards were already on the ground, and Deng Yuanlei was standing by the side of a figure. In an extremely low voice, he said, ¡°It¡¯s her.¡±


    Holding his saber, Gu Shenwei had barely walked to the middle of the tent when the ground beneath his feet suddenly sank, and he started falling down. At the same time, Deng Yuanlei and the figure made their moves to prevent the Dragon King from leaping out.


    Old Man Mu hesitated for a brief moment, and then followed the Dragon King and jumped down. This was the first time that he was trying to save someone voluntarily, and thus he and the Dragon King were trapped together.


    This camp was built only a few days ago, and it was never in one the Royal Court¡¯s important areas. The people in the camp, both the ones sleeping and the ones awake, all seemed very normal. Also, Gu Shenwei had been very careful with every step. Nobody could¡¯ve anticipated that a hidden dungeon had been operating here for many years with a sophisticated security system.

 Chapter 745 - The Answer

    Chapter 745: The Answer


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Old Man Mu had voluntarily chosen to save another person for the first time ever. Even in a moment like this, his mind was very clear. ¡°It¡¯s toote to drag the Dragon King back, but it¡¯s not toote to drag our enemies down with us.¡±


    He targeted his moves at Deng Yuanlei and that mysterious figure. As a result, the four fell down together.


    Gu Shenwei was the first one tond on the ground, with a loud sound. His feet were numb and he gauged the depth of the trap to be at least ten meters. The two sneak attackers were next, and because they were prepared in advance, there was barely any sound when theynded. Thest one was Old Man Mu, and hisnding was done in total silence. His kung fu skills might be the worst among the four, but his lightness skills were the best.


    Thanks to Old Man Mu, Deng Yuanlei and the other person were finding it difficult to make a decision on whether they should engage or not, and that hesitation gave Gu Shenwei the chance to change his position. After a short while, the four were inplete darkness, unaware of where anybody else was.


    Gu Shenwei had experienced this kind of situation before, and every time he was in one like it, he would always use the power of the Death Scripture to detect the life energy of nearby people, which would always give him an advantage in the dark environment.


    He lowered his saber gently, still holding onto the hilt. Even a movement as simple as this could have alerted his enemies, who would then attack soon. Yet Gu Shenwei failed to enter a state of meditation.


    This was like a precious life-saving pill turning into powder after being taken out of his pocket. Gu Shenwei felt his heart sink involuntarily, along with a flicker of nervousness that he hadn¡¯t felt for many years.


    The attack came from the frontal right side. He still had his sharp senses, so he pulled out his sword and struck back ¨C just like before, no defense, only offense ¨C but this time he was unable to identify the precise position of his target, and had to anticipate the enemies¡¯ moves baser purely on his intuition.


    The sh of sword and saber generated a few sparks, the light of which gave Gu Shenwei a brief glimpse of Deng Yuanlei¡¯s excited, scared face.


    Gu Shenwei grabbed the Five Peaks Saber from the ground and threw it out vigorously. The saber shot forward while spinning, whistling with a sharp whooshing sound. Deng Yuanlei evaded it, as did the other opponent. The saber crashed into the wall on the other side, generating more sparks. Yet this time, nobody emerged under the light.


    Once again, the four returned to a situation where nobody knew the positions of the others.


    It was at this time that Gu Shenwei discovered that this was nomon trap. The underground space was very spacious, and there was a distance of at least sixteen meters separating his former position and the wall on the other side, which meant this trap was muchrger than the tent above; additionally, the wall was made of giant rock, which meant that this trap was not something that could be prepared in days or even months.


    Clearly, this was a secret underground chamber of the Royal Court, and it had been built a long time ago.


    A series of questions arose, and they all pointed towards the same answer¡­


    After a long time of silence, Old Man Mu spoke first with the Seven Magical Tones, which made his voice sound ephemeral and eerie. ¡°Dragon King, where are y¨C¡±


    Another burst of sparks lit up the wall, and it shed a light onto the figures of Deng Yuanlei and hispanion.


    Old Man Muughed out loud, ¡°You two little bastards struck pretty fast! It¡¯s a pity your skills of echolocation are terrible.¡± Then he sighed, ¡°Dragon King, why haven¡¯t you made your move yet?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had just wasted an excellent opportunity to sneak attack. He was holding his sword, but he had hesitated because he had lost his blind trust in the Death Scripture. And in that brief moment of hesitation, his targets had disappeared.


    Nobody dared to make any more sounds, except Old Man Mu.


    ¡°This house is pretty nice,¡± Old Man Mu said in a capricious tone, as his voice seemingly wandered here and there. ¡°Thick and sturdy, and waterproof too. It must¡¯ve been built by some rich guy. Qingcheng Sect, how did you find such a good ce?¡±


    Another attack wasunched. A hidden weapon was shot and it hit the wall before bouncing towards another wall, circling around half the underground chamber before sparking and lighting up a small space.


    With more and more hidden weapons hitting the walls, sparks were flying around like fireworks.


    Gu Shenwei aimed a sword strike at the figure shing past him, which he as Deng Yuanlei. While evading those hidden weapons which were shooting towards both allies and enemies of its user, the two started fighting intensely in the middle of the room.


    While continually shooting hidden weapons, the other opponent seemed determined to find Old Man Mu. Thest few hidden weapons were even shot upwards, until they finally went in the right direction.


    Old Man Mu had stuck to the wall like a gecko and had nevere down. ¡°You¡¯ve got so many of those things. Now it¡¯s my turn.¡± After that, he jumped onto the ground. Yet he didn¡¯t engage his adversary and instead bent forward and started running on his hands and feet like a wild cat that had mistakenly entered a cage.


    He was also shooting hidden weapons, all of which had been previously shot out by the other person and subsequently picked up by him. ¡°So many. They weigh at least 40 to 50 kilograms. You Qingcheng Sect guys really know how to carry heavy stuff, huh? Was it mule energy that you guys used to practice?¡±


    Actually there were not that many hidden weapons, because the person who was shooting them was also recycling many of them.


    Four people: two were fighting with their swords in the middle, and the other two were running in circles tossing around throwing knives. The spacious underground chamber immediately felt narrow and small.


    ¡°Haha, interesting.¡± Old Man Mu could never control his mouth, as he was unaware of the fact that he was no longer a top kung fu expert. ¡°Ouch! you almost got me. Little bastard, do you even know how to respect the senior generation? I¡¯m much older than your gran¨C Ouch! The more I talk, the harder you strike, huh?¡±


    The two people on the periphery were throwing knives at an increasingly faster speed, which put the two in the middle in severe danger. Not only did they have to deal with the enemy, but they also had to evade the hidden weapons passing by their sides, and it was not easy to do both in absolute darkness.


    As a result, both of them wanted to finish the other off and the swordsmanship they were using grew fast and strident, with both focusing more on attack than defense.


    Gu Shenwei was unable to utilize the full strength of the Death Scripture¡¯s swordsmanship, but he still had the upper hand. Fighting in the dark and life-and-death fights were both his fortes. By contrast, this was the first time that Deng Yuanlei had been in this kind of situation. Although his moves were ruthless, he stillcked experience.


    A throwing knife ¨C the thrower of which was unknown ¨C skimmed across Gu Shenwei¡¯s left arm, leaving behind a slight scratch.


    And suddenly all of the hidden weapons stopped shooting, and Old Man Mu swore. It seemed like both of them had been hit by something.


    Gu Shenwei immediately held his breath and thrust out with two quick sword stabs, one of which hit his target. Deng Yuanlei crumpled to the ground.


    ¡°Who? Who used the knockout powder? Was it you, Dragon King? Why am I down, too?¡± Old Man Mu still sounded robust.


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t speak, but it wasn¡¯t him who had used the knockout powder. This was an enclosed underground chamber, and he was not as good at these secret arts as the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall were, so he hadn¡¯t dared to casually use powder that would easily spread around.


    So, there must be a fifth person nearby.


    He couldn¡¯t hold his breath forever. Soon, Gu Shenwei dropped the Dragon Head Sword and also fell to the ground.


    Deng Yuanlei had taken a sword hit in the hand rather than a fatal area, and he immediately yelled, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s down! The Dragon King¡¯s down!¡±


    There was no response. The one who had cast the powder was veryposed. Old Man Mu smiled. ¡°You feel stupid, don¡¯t you? This is called ¡®killing all the birds in one shot.¡¯ You two are going to die with us, haha.¡±


    This was precisely what Deng Yuanlei feared the most. ¡°Waning Moon Hall? Miss Han? Come out. I was hurt. We had a deal¡­¡±


    Suddenly, a light shone out. Not far from Deng Yuanlei and the Dragon King, a female was carrying amp and smiling. ¡°In the Waning Moon Hall, everyone is Miss Han. Which one are you talking about? I¡¯m sure that I don¡¯t have any deals with you.¡±


    ¡°Han Fen!¡± Old Man Mu recognized her, but there was a troublesome issue ¨C ¡°Dragon King, whose side is she on, exactly?¡±


    ¡°Me? I¡¯m on the Master Com¨C¡±


    Before Han Fen could finish her sentence, Gu Shenwei abruptly jumped up from the ground and threw a palm strike at her. Han Fen twisted her body but was still hit in the shoulder. With a scream, she was thrown towards the wall,nded at its foot, and passed out.


    Themp dropped onto the ground, but didn¡¯t go out.


    ¡°Nice palm technique, Dragon King,¡± Old Man Mu praised. ¡°But this girl pinned me, and she¡¯s pretty heavy.¡±


    Gu Shenwei managed to stand up, staggering. He couldn¡¯t hold his breath forever, but he could hold it longer than what Han Fen had expected.


    Picking up his sword and pointing it at Deng Yuanlei, he felt like aplete idiot. While clearly knowing that Lu Mian had probably gotten the ve girl from the Waning Moon Hall, he still wanted to use the poison left by Lotus to control Deng Yuanlei.


    Deng Yuanlei struggled to raise his arm as he pleaded, ¡°Please listen to me¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei stabbed out with his sword, but the knockout powder was taking effect and deprived his hand of its strength. The dragon-head sword tilted and went into Deng Yuanlei¡¯s right shoulder instead. Then Gu Shenwei loosened his grip and fell over.


    Deng Yuanlei watched the sword quivering in his shoulder in pain and horror, his face covered in ayer of fine sweat, ¡°Han Fen, quickly. Wake up!¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s low voice came over, ¡°Before she crushes me to death, I don¡¯t think she¡¯s going to wake up any time soon.¡±


    ¡°Sect Leader, how are you?¡± Deng Yuanlei changed subjects and talked to the other person who might be able to save him.


    Lu Mian¡¯s voice sounded a bit feeble. ¡°Not good. But don¡¯t worry, someone else will soone.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Deng Yuanlei felt slightly relieved. Yet when ne looked at the sword in his shoulder, he still felt chills in his heart.


    ¡°Han Fen has the antidotes on her,¡± Gu Shenwei reminded Old Men Mu. They were poisoned with the Indra Fragrance which suppressed internal energy and another knockout powder which paralyzed people¡¯s bodily movements. It was impossible for them to recover naturally over time.


    Old Man Mu gave a delightful shout, followed by a faint rustle of moving and searching. ¡°This girl is so heavy. Her weight¡­ Ok, my left hand is free. Let me search. Uh, not here. Here ¨C Ouch! I think something bit me. Damn it. Eek, right, I¡¯m immune to the poison of the Waning Moon Hall. Why do I feel so feeble? It¡¯s so strange¡­¡±


    After nagging for quite a while, he finally found the right ce, ¡°No wonder she¡¯s as heavy as a rock. So many bottles and pots, even more than those bastards¡¯ throwing knives. Oh, no! Dragon King, I don¡¯t know which one is the antidote.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei let out a few shortughs, but those strained his wounds, so he didn¡¯t dareugh again. Lu Mian remained silent.


    ¡°Take one pill from each of the bottles,¡± Gu Shenwei said. In front of him, Old Man Mu had once consumed a lot of pills of the Waning Moon Hall as if he were at a feast, so he had obviously developed some resistance to them. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that the Indra Fragrance was from the Land of Fragrance, it would not have taken effect on him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll try. But I don¡¯t have any internal energy, so I¡¯m afraid that my body might not be able to handle it.¡±


    ¡°Take them all at once. As long as the antidote is among them, you¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°And what if it¡¯s not?¡±


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t answer.


    ¡°Dragon King, you¡¯re so good to me. Even if I die and be a ghost, I¡¯ll still protect you every day,¡± Old Man Mu said half-heartedly. He put a bunch of bottles and pots beside his hand, struggled to open them, and carefully took the pills out grain by grain. ¡°The antidote is surely not some kind of powder, right?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not,¡± Gu Shenwei actually suspected that Han Fen didn¡¯t have the antidote, but this was their only possible way out. If he could, he would have swallowed all the pills alongside Old Man Mu.


    Deng Yuanlei discovered that things were going south. ¡°Dragon King, I was only following orders. I hope that you won¡¯t take it the wrong way and think that this was personal.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t. Andter when I kill you, I hope that you won¡¯t mind either, cause it¡¯s just something that has to be done and nothing personal.¡±


    More sweat appeared on Deng Yuanlei¡¯s forehead, and he was just about to say something extra when Old Man Mu gave out a sudden screech, ¡°My pills!¡±


    Han Fen woke up and jumped to her feet instantly. The more than ten pills that Old Man Mu was struggled to grasp in his hand were all scattered onto the ground.


    ¡°Why did I fall asleep? Ouch, my stomach hurts. It hurts so bad¡­ Eek, I got hit in my shoulder, but why does my stomach hurt? Wait, who took all my stuff?!¡± Han Fen jumped up with a whooshing sound, which indicated that her injury was not serious.


    ¡°Girl,¡± Old Man Mu was surprisingly calm, ¡°you¡¯ve been lying on me for quite a while, so could you please stop stomping on my foot?¡±


    ¡°Heh-heh, I thought it was the bumpy ground.¡± Han Fen walked out of the darkness from the nearby wall, picked up themp and ignored the pleas from Deng Yuanlei. ¡°Dragon King, you hurt me.¡±


    ¡°My apologies. Give me the antidote first.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any more antidotes. Those three pills were given to me by the Master Commander out of her mercy for me.¡±


    Hearing this, Old Man Mu who was in the corner of the walls started vomiting terribly.


    ¡°These two are with you?¡±


    ¡°No. They¡¯re Han Qin¡¯s men and have nothing to do with me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stayed silent for a while before asking, ¡°How long has it been since Lotus left the Royal Court?¡±


    ¡°How did you know¡­ Heh-heh, a couple of days.¡±


    Lotus was the answer to all his questions.

 Chapter 746 - Mausoleum

    Chapter 746: Mausoleum


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Having been in the martial arts world for so many years, Deng Yuanlei had been wounded before. But never once had he been like this: feeble, a sword stuck in his shoulder, and left unattended for such a long time.


    ¡°Miss Han,¡± he yelled. Yet Miss Han was busy sticking her tongue out and smiling at the Dragon King as if she didn¡¯t hear him. So he yelled out another four or five times consecutively.


    Finally Han Fen turned around and asked, ¡°Were you calling me?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±


    ¡°But let me tell you something. Everybody in the Waning Moon Hall is called Miss Han, so I don¡¯t know who you¡¯re talking to.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei didn¡¯t dare to say that there was only one disciple of the Waning Moon Hall here, and after pondering for a while he cautiously said, ¡°Miss Fen?¡±


    Facing Gu Shenwei, Han Fen said, ¡°Dragon King, you¡¯re so smart. I knew that I couldn¡¯t keep that from you for long. I even had a bet with myself that you would undoubtedly guess it by the next midnight at thetest. Haha, it¡¯s not even dawn yet and you¡¯ve already¡­¡±


    Deng Yuanlei felt that his back was slick with some liquid, and he could indistinctly tell that his shoulder was still bleeding, so he yelled out again, ¡°Miss Fen!¡±


    ¡°Were you calling me again?¡±


    ¡°Yes. And I think there¡¯s only one ¡®Miss Fen¡¯ in all of Waning Moon Hall, and that¡¯s you, right?¡±


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s no ¡®Miss Fen¡¯ in the Waning Moon Hall. I haven¡¯t been a Miss since my teenage years.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ how should I address you?¡±


    ¡°You know already, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I do?¡±


    ¡°You do! My name is Han Fen. What else could it be?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    With Lu Mian as their main go-between, Deng Yuanlei hadn¡¯t had much contact with the Waning Moon Hall. Upon hearing Han Fen¡¯s words, he became furious, and yet he had to put on a smiling face. ¡°Han Fen, Sect Leader Lu and I are friends of the Waning Moon Hall. Could you please give us the antidote so that we can treat our wounds?¡±


    Carrying themp in one hand, Han Fen patted the front and rear side of her dress with the other hand. ¡°I¡¯ve already told you all. I don¡¯t have any more antidotes. The Master Commander¡¯s very strict about distributing antidotes.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei kept suppressing his indignation. ¡°Then, for the Master Commander¡¯s sake, could you please pull the swor¨C ¡±


    Before he could finish his sentence, Han Fen pulled out the sword. Deng Yuanlei had no time to prepare himself, and with a shrill scream, he instantly fell into too much pain to speak anymore.


    Han Fen gave two light swings. ¡°The sword of the Dragon King feels pretty good.¡± After looking at it from left to right, she tossed the sword onto the ground, picked up the Dragon King with one hand, dragged him to the foot of the wall, and put him down by Old Man Mu. Looking at the two, a tall one and a short one, Han Fen was very pleased.


    Bottles and pills were strewn everywhere, but she didn¡¯t care much. After a careful search, she picked up a few important ones, put them away close to her chest, and asked Old Man Mu, ¡°Did you touch me?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Old Man Mu acted dumb. He knew the temperaments of the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s disciples very well. The more friendly they seemed, the more cruel they actually were.


    Gu Shenwei dismissed that topic for Old Man Mu by asking, ¡°Where did Lotus go?¡±


    ¡°Well, take another guess.¡± Han Fen was animated.


    ¡°She returned to the Western Regions.¡±


    ¡°Wow!¡± Han Fen gave a heartfeltpliment and pped her hands, themp swinging around.


    ¡°Has she recovered from her injury?¡±


    ¡°Notpletely, but the Master Commander has to leave. Dragon King, that palm attack you gave was so heavy. Eek, why do I feel that there¡¯s an icy rat running around in my body? It¡¯s interesting, but I¡¯m also a little afraid.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯ll disappear over time.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei groaned consecutively, this time asking, ¡°Stop the bleeding¡­ Han Fen¡­ Help me stop the bleeding.¡±


    Han Fen raised themp to illuminate her face and asked in a low tone, ¡°This guy¡¯s so annoying. Should I help him?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t do that,¡± Old Man Mu replied immediately, but he couldn¡¯t find a good reason to back up his answer, so he changed the subject. ¡°What is this ce? It¡¯s so dramatic. How on earth did you find it?¡±


    Han Fen was self-satisfied, ¡°It¡¯s amazing, isn¡¯t it? This is a trap right outside the Khan¡¯s mausoleum and it was build many years ago. It¡¯s said that they would kill all the craftsmen and rece them with another batch every year. I¡¯ve been trying to find their bones for a long time but still haven¡¯t seeded. I wonder where they were buried.¡±


    ¡°So this ce is connected to a mausoleum?¡± Old Man Mu asked happily.


    ¡°Yeah, and it¡¯s a huge mausoleum¡­¡±


    ¡°It has exits, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Then get us out of here.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Why? You and the Dragon King¡­ aren¡¯t you friends?¡±


    ¡°But I have to follow the Master Commander¡¯s order, and she ordered me to capture the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°And then what?¡±


    ¡°And then leave him in the mausoleum. I¡¯ve prepared food and water. Enough for a month.¡±


    Old Man Mu turned and asked the Dragon King, ¡°What kind of trick is the Waning Moon Hall ying?¡±


    ¡°They want to announce my missing status to King Shengri, split Shulitu¡¯s army, and let the Court Attendants Army continue killing.¡±


    After pondering for a while, Old Man Mu realized that if the Dragon King went missing, the consequences would turn out exactly like that. ¡°Sly, so sly. However¡­ you came here without any prior nning, so how did Lotus know that you would be tricked?¡±


    Of course Lotus knew, as she had almost anticipated Gu Shenwei¡¯s every move. She told Han Fen to stay, tricked the Dragon King into believing that she was still in the Royal Court, and then lured him to this improvised camp with a simple tactic.


    ¡°Lotus taught Lu Mian some simple moves of the Gu Family kung fu. She knew that I would fall for it.¡±


    Lotus was the first one to know the Gu Shenwei¡¯s true identity ¨C although she was no longer the only one, she knew the most details and was also the most interested in it. Having dug into Marshal Yang¡¯s previous experience in the Central ins, she was now able to using it to captivate the Dragon King¡¯s interest.


    And she did exactly that.


    Aughter came over from the other side in the darkness, and it was Lu Mian who spoke up. ¡°You had a lucky guess, Dragon King, but it¡¯s toote. I was wondering whether tricks as simple as these would work, but the Master Commander truly has a divine foresight.¡±


    ¡°Divine foresight,¡± Han Fen repeated his words, nning to memorize them so that she could say them to the Master Commanderter herself.


    Old Man Mu got the point and swore, ¡°You sleepwalking bastard! Laugh while you still can. Lotus didn¡¯t leave any antidote, so we¡¯re all going to be stuck here in the mausoleum. Yet we¡­ Heh-heh, Lotus¡¯s in love with Dragon King. It¡¯s only a matter of time before she lets him¡­ and me go. You two will stay here and die.¡±


    Lu Mian snorted. ¡°Han Fen, what¡¯re the Master Commander¡¯s instructions? The Waning Moon Hall won¡¯t cut the rope so soon, will they? The Qingcheng Sect can still help you with a lot of-¡±


    ¡°Well, the Master Commander didn¡¯t give me any instructions,¡± Han Fen said honestly. ¡°She didn¡¯t expect that you two would fall in as well. So, it depends on your choice. If you want to die, I¡¯ll give a sword strike to each of you. If not, I¡¯ll lock all of you in together, but in that case the food might not be enough.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to die,¡± Deng Yuanlei said in great pain. ¡°Listen to me. Lotus¡­ the Master Commander, in no case would she want me and Sect Leader Lu dead. You would be doing her a great favor by helping us out of here, and she will also give you a handsome reward.¡±


    ¡°Heh-heh, it seems that you don¡¯t know the Master Commander enough. She hates it most when people make decisions without her permission, and I wouldn¡¯t dare to do that. Let me ask her first.¡±


    ¡°She, she¡¯s¡­ in the Western Regions. It¡¯d take you at least a month to go there ande back, wouldn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Give or take. But I¡¯ll make it sooner.¡±


    ¡°Yet there isn¡¯t enough food?¡±


    ¡°Eat sparingly, and if it¡¯s still not enough, kill the fattest one among you. Then you should be able to hang on for a few more days.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei was running out of patience ¨C the way the Waning Moon Hall treated their allies was horrible. ¡°Sect Leader, please have a talk wi-¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Lu Mian reprimanded him abruptly.


    Old Man Mu let out a loudugh. ¡°If you want to be a sycophant, then other than shamelessness, you also need a bit of cleverness. Your Sect Leader has already told you that someone wille soon, and yet you are still nagging. So stupid.¡±


    All Deng Yuanlei had been worrying about was his wound, and he had forgotten that remark of Sect Leader Lu¡¯s. Greatly relieved, he said, ¡°I¡¯m such an idiot. It turns out that Sect Leader had it all nned out.¡±


    But this remark also reminded Han Fen. ¡°Right, I have to take you away from here, so they won¡¯t find you when theye.¡±


    Han Fen took a few steps to the right, bent forward and pressed down hard on a brick close to the ground. Slowly, a stone door opened, barely making any sounds. She pondered for a while. Then she walked to Lu Mian¡¯s side, grabbed one of his arms, and started dragging him away.


    Lu Mian panicked slightly, ¡°The Master Commander didn¡¯t give you any instructions?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Then you can just leave us here. You don¡¯t have to move us.¡±


    ¡°Humm ¨C No, what if you tell?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re enemies of the Dragon King. Why would we do that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. ¡®The right tactic gives you all the secrets.¡¯ Have you not heard of it? Especially that nuisance in the middle. I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll keep any secrets.¡±


    ¡°Then take him away and let me stay,¡± Lu Mian said without the slightest hint of hesitation.


    ¡°Sect Leader, I¡¯mpletely faithful to you¡­¡± Deng Yuanlei stopped himself in time as he thought, ¡®Han Fen is a fool. Sect Leader¡¯s clearly ying a trick. I shouldn¡¯t speak anymore nonsense.¡¯


    Han Fen raised her head and thought for a while. Then without giving a response, she grabbed Lu Mian and started walking. When she reached Deng Yuanlei, she put themp on her head, grabbed his injured arm and dragged the both of them into the passage.


    Deng Yuanlei¡¯s screech ¨C which sounded like a pig being butchered by a knife ¨C resonated in the underground chamber, drowning out Lu Mian¡¯s talking.


    Old Man Mu struggled to twist his head and look at the Dragon King¡¯s position. ¡°You¡¯re prettyposed.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    ¡°Do you know why Lotus went to the Western Regions?¡±


    ¡°To control Prince Duodun before I do, and split the Dragon Army as a distraction.¡±


    Lotus still had the posthumous edict which documented Duodun¡¯s right to the throne, and this was her best advantage.


    ¡°You don¡¯t seem anxious at all.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t help if I am.¡±


    ¡°Was this reason why you sent the good girl and the others back to the Western Regions?


    Gu Shenwei did not reply.


    Old Man Mu wanted to nod, but he didn¡¯t have the strength, so he just blinked. ¡°Lotus knows the Dragon King well, and the Dragon King knows her no less. Heh-heh, this could make quite an interesting show. Uh, we will still have a chance to see it, won¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°We should.¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s eyes lit up, and in a whisper he said, ¡°I knew that the Dragon King wouldn¡¯t havee to this camp without a contingency n. You do have a contingency n, right? Come on, tell me. Just a small part will be fine, so that I can prepare myself.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s impossible for me to have guessed that the Khan built an underground mausoleum, let alone that we would fall down here, so how could I have prepared any contingency ns?¡±


    ¡°Ah? No. So all we can do is wait here? Dragon King-¡±


    Han Fen came back, with themp still on her head. She picked up Old Man Mu with one hand and pinned the Dragon King¡¯s waist against hers with the other arm. ¡°Between ¡®visionary¡¯ and ¡®sly,¡¯ which one suits the Master Commander better?¡±


    ¡°Thetter,¡± Old Man Mu responded. ¡°I¡¯ve never met any women slyer than her. Even Han Wuxian is no match for her.¡±


    Upon hearing the three words ¡°Han Wuxian¡±, Han Fen trembled and themp nearly dropped. ¡°Please don¡¯t mention Hall Leader¡¯s name. It scares me. I hope that she dies in the Royal Court.¡±


    Old Man Mu sneered, ¡°Han Wuxian¡¯s an old monster. She¡¯ll be fine even when all the others are dead.¡±


    In an atypical silence, Han Fen walked into the passageway and kicked something with her heel, which made the stone door close quietly.


    Out of the corner of his eye, Old Man Mu was not sure whether it was because of his dim eyesight or the flickeringmp light, but he thought that he saw the Dragon King¡¯s drooping arm make a small movement.


    ¡®So the Dragon King did have a contingency n!¡¯ Old Man Mu couldn¡¯t help but giggle at this thought.

 Chapter 747 - Seeking Someone

    Chapter 747: Seeking Someone


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The kung fupetition began on schedule.


    The Dragon King was not present, so Fang Wenshi followed the backup n they had agreed to by themselves. ¡°There are two Sect Leaders of the Qingcheng Sect, so there has to be twopetitions. What if the result is one victory and one defeat each?¡±


    He had hoped that this would start a chaotic argument and buy them some time, but it turned out that there was only one Sect Leader present.


    ¡°Lu Mian quit thepetition, so today I will be the only one to challenge the Dragon King.¡± Liu Qingpu looked grim, which made it impossible to specte about what he was thinking. Behind him stood more than ten disciples of the Qingcheng Sect along with sixty or more people from the other sects. They didn¡¯t have an advantage in numbers, but every one of them was standing with their chest puffed out, imparting a confident air to the entire group.


    Fang Wenshi was very surprised, but he soon rejoiced. After giving two short coughs, he shook his head out of habit, and started considering the new situation. ¡°So today there will only be one match to decide the final winner?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, Sect Leader Liu hase here to challenge the Dragon King. But as luck would have it, the Dragon King is upied with some urgent business and thus couldn¡¯t be present. So the one on our side to take up the gauntlet is¡­¡± Fang Wenshi twisted his head and gave a look to Mo Lin.


    At the end of the former consultation, the n they hade up with was that Mo Lin would fight Liu Qingpu and Chu Nanping Lu Mian. The most probable result of these matchups was one victory and one defeat, and then Fang Wenshi would find a way to maneuver through the resulting muddy situation. But now that there was only onepetition, and it was even the one where the odds were very much in their favor. Things seemed to have be easier to handle.


    But Mo Lin abandoned the safe n. He took a step forward and said, ¡°Chu Nanping. Your opponent is Chu Nanping.¡±


    Feeling humiliated, Liu Qingpu raised his eyebrows and tly replied with only one word, ¡°Good.¡±


    To his surprise, Fang Wenshi opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but eventually he decided to respect the choice of the Khan¡¯s wing guard and said ¡°Good¡± as well.


    Liu Qingpu took a deep breath. Yes his goal today was more than just apetition, ¡°For apetition, there¡¯s always a trophy.¡±


    ¡°How about 10,000 taels of silver? It¡¯s not much, but not nothing either.¡± Fang Wenshi acted dumb. To be honest, he wanted to wait for the Dragon King¡¯s return because he barely knew anything about kung fupetitions.


    ¡°Heh,¡± Liu Qingpu gave a shortugh. ¡°how about ¨C the Khan¡¯s head.¡±


    Fang Wenshi shook his head vigorously, ¡°First of all, the head does not belong to the Dragon King and secondly, you don¡¯t have anything of equivalent value to bet against the head.¡±


    ¡°The ve girl left by Khan¡­¡±


    ¡°You can keep her,¡± Fang Wenshi made a decision by himself, nning on finding another way to snatch the woman who was of importance to the Dragon King.


    Taking his time, Liu Qingpu gently waved his arm and two disciples of Qingcheng Sect came over, each carrying a long box in their hands. When the lids of the boxes were removed, the weapons inside were revealed.


    The Five Peaks Saber and Dragon Head Sword! Even Fang Wenshi recognized the two weapons.


    Tens of miles away.


    Han Wuxian had no interests in a kung fupetition at all. ¡°So stupid! Why do you have to make killing soplicated? Just do it the simple way.¡±


    At that moment, Han Wuxian was sitting in a rattan chair which Nie Zeng was carrying on his back, and Tie Linglong was on a horse beside them. The look on the young girl¡¯s face was severe and cold, and also a little ashamed ¨C she had failed to kill that disciple named Han Qin from the Waning Moon Hall.


    Han Qin had gone through gruesome torture and was powerless to strike back, and yet Tie Linglong couldn¡¯t do it.


    Han Wuxian was not be angry. If it were in the past, she would have killed Tie Linglong as a failed trial product. But now, she had decided to change her training method.


    As a result, she took the two teenagers out of the camp very early, and they quickly arrived at the camp where the people of the Central ins had congregated.


    ¡°I have a feeling. Some traitors of the Waning Moon Hall are hiding here.¡± Han Wuxian closed her eyes, raised her head and sniffed the air a few times.


    Tie Linglong felt a chill creep down her spine. She snuck a nce at Nie Zeng who was carrying the Hall Leader of Waning Moon Hall, feeling that his deed was simultaneously admirable and disgusting.


    Some people from the Central ins discovered the three strange visitors and more than ten people surrounded them as soon as they entered the camp. ¡°Are you passing by or looking for someone?¡±


    Nie Zeng turned the horse to face the crowd. Han Wuxian, who was on his back, twisted her head and replied, ¡°Looking for someone.¡±


    Although this woman with unkempt hair seemed a little eerie, her voice and figure gave off an air of tenderness, which lowered the vignce of these people of the Central ins. ¡°Would you please tell me who you are looking for? We might be able to help.¡±


    ¡°Of course you can help,¡± Han Wuxian replied as her voice became more and more tender. ¡°I¡¯m looking for someone who can be killed. You are all mortal human beings, so I think it¡¯s safe to say that you can be killed, right?¡±


    The crowd was startled and took out their weapons in a panic. The one at the front asked severely, ¡°Who are you? The Dragon King¡¯s subordinates?¡±


    Raising her head, Han Wuxian startedughing hysterically, and theugh instantly spread through the whole camp. As more people gathered around, she stoppedughing abruptly, and in her usual tender voice, she replied, ¡°This is the first time, so I won¡¯t me you. But if anyone dares to call me a subordinate of the Dragon King again¡­¡±


    A young saberman elbowed his way through the crowd, ¡°I know you. Your name¡¯s Han Wuxian and I¡¯m sure you¡¯re the Dragon King¡¯s subor-¡±


    All of a sudden, with a pink flush on his face, the saberman started scratching at his throat as if he were choking on food.


    In a low ominous tone, Han Wuxian said, ¡°This will be the consequence.¡±


    Han Wuxian had once disyed great martial arts skills during a kung fupetition in the Central ins. Some of the people in the crowd finally recognized her and they immediately began spreading the tale of her intimidating skills. The crowd backed away, and the young saberman was the only one left behind, struggling in front of the horse.


    Tie Linglong was a little anxious. This was not the scene she had expected to see.


    In her mind, there was a scene that she couldn¡¯t stop reying: a ruthless saberman fighting alone against several enemies, calm and unhurried, spilling blood with every saber strike.


    This was the exact reason why she didn¡¯t like the style of the Waning Moon Hall, although she had nheless learned some of their basic skills. The killing method of the Waning Moon Hall was far from simr to that image of the saberman in her mind.


    With his head looking down, Nie Zeng was irritated by the muffled screech of the young saberman and hoped that someone would put an end to this ugly scene with a quick saber strike. His stretched his right hand towards the saber hilt.


    Han Wuxian was concentrating onbing her long hair. She wanted to rebuild the Waning Moon Hall, which meant she had to start from the foundation, training these two teenagers. Lotus did bring some new ideas which she had to ept.


    A figure flew over and gave the young saberman¡¯s neck a slight stroke.


    Gasping heavily, the young saberman hurried behind the crowd on his hands and feet. He looked at Han Wuxian in horror from far away, and it wasn¡¯t until the people nearby reminded him that he raised his arm and discovered that he was holding onto three ck hairs.


    She had nearly suffocated him with her hair, and yet he couldn¡¯t break it?


    Han Wuxian pressed her lips together and smiled, seemingly recalling some sweet moments of the past. ¡°Old woman, you broke my hair. How dare you!¡±


    Tu Pianpian snorted and rebuked the people of the Central ins, ¡°A bunch of cowards! You would rather stand by watching your own people die than offer help? Get out of my sight!¡±


    The old woman was very abrupt, but in this asion, everybody felt that the elder of the Kongtong Sect was totally right to speak this way, so the crowd scattered and nobody dared to get close again.


    Tu Pianpian turned and faced Han Wuxian. The two had met without gaining a good impression of each other in the Dragon King¡¯s army camp. ¡°Han Wuxian, what should I call you? Elder sister or younger sister?¡±


    ¡°Humm, how about great-grandma.¡± Age was one of the most taboo subjects of Han Wuxian, whose voice had ceased to be gentle and joking, and whose hands were pulling at a strand of hair. A killing intent had been provoked.


    Dog Butcher realized that he couldn¡¯t stand by and watch anymore. Neither of the two women were strict followers of the martial arts world¡¯s rules and it wouldn¡¯t take them long to fall into a life-and-death fight. Taking Fan Yongda with him, Dog Butcher emerged from behind a tent. He was running and talking. ¡°Wait a minute. Let¡¯s talk this out. Let¡¯s talk this out.¡±


    Tie Linglong was surprised, ¡°Weren¡¯t you two with the Dragon King? It¡¯s almost noon. Why are you still here? Where¡¯s the Dragon King?¡±


    Dog Butcher was sweating buckets, which had nothing to do with the hot weather or fatigue as he responded, ¡°The Dragon King ¨C he ¨C he¡¯s gone.¡±


    ¡°Gone? He returned to the camp alone?¡± Tie Linglong was confused.


    ¡°Ur, not really¡­¡± Dog Butcher wanted to continue but he stopped when he was interrupted.


    Tu Pianpian was still ring at Han Wuxian. The reason why she hade here, though reluctantly, was not because she really wanted to save the Dragon King but rather because her brother had begged her, so she dered loudly, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s missing, probably kidnapped.¡±


    ¡°Impossible!¡± Tie Linglong and Nie Zeng yelled at the same time.


    Tu Pianpian gave a sneer, ¡°Nothing¡¯s impossible. The Qingcheng Sect has his saber and sword. You wouldn¡¯t think that the Dragon King left them here identally, would you?¡±


    The two teenagers were shocked. Nie Zeng turned the horse around and looked at Dog Butcher, asking, ¡°What happened?¡±


    Dog Butcher believed that he was responsible for the Dragon King¡¯s disappearance and he was too nervous to respond to the teenager¡¯s question. Fan Yongda described what hhad appened the night before. ¡°When we came back, they were gone. We waited for dawn to break, and had to resort to asking Aunt Master, who said that she saw it with her own eyes and that¡­¡±


    ¡°That Liu Qingpu was holding a saber and a sword, saying in a self-satisfied tone that today he would surely take back the Khan¡¯s head.¡± Tu Pianpian finished his sentence, and she seemed to feel a little self-satisfied as well.


    Unexpectedly, Tie Linglong calmed dow., ¡°You still have Liu Fangsheng?¡±


    Dog Butcher and Fan Yongda nodded at the same time.


    ¡°Then the Qingcheng Sect won¡¯t dare to make any bold moves.¡±


    Yet Tu Pianpian reminded them of an important fact, ¡°Maybe Liu Qingpu wouldn¡¯t, but isn¡¯t Lu Mian totally without scruples?¡±


    Tie Linglong couldn¡¯t deny that. She had never thought that the Dragon King would be kidnapped. And neither had Nie Zeng. ¡°I still can¡¯t believe it. How could the Dragon King¡­¡±


    ¡°Maybe he was drugged,¡± Fan Yongda guessed.


    Tie Linglong looked at Han Wuxian and asked, ¡°Are there really disciples of the Waning Moon Hall here?¡±


    ¡°Traitors,¡± Han Wuxian corrected her. ¡°There are traitors of the Waning Moon Hall here.¡±


    ¡°No, no,¡± Tie Linglong organized her thoughts quickly, ¡°The Dragon King has an antidote, so themon knockout powder of the Waning Moon Hall wouldn¡¯t work on him, unless¡­¡±


    ¡°Unless it¡¯s the new knockout powder which Lotus brought here from the Land of Fragrance,¡± Nie Zeng said aloud. ¡°The Indra Fragrance! Hall Leader Han, you have the antidote, right?¡±


    Among all the people here, Han Wuxian looked the most indifferent, holding her long hair like a mother holding her young baby. ¡°Why do you think I have the antidote? I don¡¯t even know what the Indra Fragrance is.¡±


    The others looked at each other, not knowing what to do next. Tie Linglong said resentfully, ¡°Han Wuxian, you¡¯re all by yourself now. Without the Dragon King, how will you avenge yourself against Lotus? Think, and find a way.¡±


    With her back to them, Han Wuxian gently said, ¡°There¡¯s nothing I can do. And the Dragon King¡¯s also too smart to need help from others.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? Are you saying that the Dragon King knew that there was a trap here?¡± Tie Linglong was both surprised and delighted.


    ¡°I have no idea what the Dragon King is thinking. But I would be surprised if he got knocked out by the Indra Fragrance because that Doctor Sun kept bugging me and asking all kinds of questions, so he should¡¯ve made an antidote.¡±


    Tie Linglong was slightly relieved, but another question arose. ¡°Why is the Dragon King still missing if he has the antidote to the Indra Fragrance?¡±


    Doctor Sun did manage to prepare an antidote, and he had given the Dragon King a bottle of it, but he had stressed, ¡°I can¡¯t guarantee its efficacy, especially immediate effects. So try not to use it unless you have to, Dragon King.¡±


    Right beneath the feet of Tie Linglong and the others, in the mausoleum, Gu Shenwei had secretly swallowed the antidote. Several hours had passed by, and he could now dully feel his internal energy, but it hadn¡¯t fully recovered.


    But among all the people trapped down there, Lu Mian was the first one to stand up.

 Chapter 748 - Corridor

    <strong>Chapter 748: Corridor</strong>


    Trantor: Henyee Trantions Editor: Henyee Trantions


    Han Fen was very thoughtful. She was worried that the mediocre food and water might go bad in a month, so she hade up with a supposedly good method to spare her prisoners from some needless worry and fatigue.


    ¡°There are ten sheep here. Thisrge pile of grass should suffice. I know that the Dragon King has a dagger on him, so just kill one of the sheep every few days; you can eat their meat, drink their blood, and refuel themp with their fat ¨C be sparing with them though, since I didn¡¯t expect that there would be so many of you.¡±


    They were thrown into a long corridor about a hundred steps in length and seven to eight feet in width, with ten or so oilmps lining the walls. At the end of the corridor, there was a bale of hay that had a half-green, half-yellow color, and ten sheep were duly chewing on it, unaware of their predestined fate.


    Sitting face to face, the four people were transfixed by Han Fen¡¯s n. After recovering from the shock, Old Man Mu, Lu Mian and Deng Yuanlei were hesitant to believe her words, and only Gu Shenwei knew that Han Fen was serious.


    Old Man Mu had met a lot of Waning Moon Hall disciples and he knew that Han Fen was different from the others, but he didn¡¯t know how different, so he asked, ¡°You¡¯re kidding, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± Han Fen shook her head and exined, ¡°If I were kidding, I¡¯d usually say something like, uhmm. Here¡¯s a joke ¨C once upon a time, there was a corpse¡­¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay, I get it,¡± Old Man Mu believed her now. ¡°Eating meat and drinking blood. I can live with that. But what about the other stuff? How are we supposed to kill the sheep when we barely have the strength to eat grass?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re under the influence of two knockout power. While the Indra Fragrance can¡¯t be naturally detoxified, the paralytic powder¡¯s effects will wear off in a few hours. You¡¯ll be as strong as a normal person and killing a sheep shouldn¡¯t be a problem then.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be normal!¡± Old Man Mu cried, but he also knew that this kind of protest wouldn¡¯t help. ¡°And what about relieving ourselves? Is there an extra room?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯re plenty of rooms here, but they¡¯re all locked up securely and can¡¯t be opened. Even if they could be, don¡¯t, as there¡¯re ghosts in there¡­¡± Han Fen lowered her voice, and pointed out with her arms at the two ends of the long corridor. ¡°The sheep shit there, and you can shit here. See, I have it all figured out.¡±


    This was all because of the Dragon King. If her prisoner were someone else, Han Fen might not have been so ¡°thoughtful.¡± Gu Shenwei had no idea whether he should be thankful or not. ¡°Han Fen, the next time you end up in my hands, I¡¯ll repay this favor double.¡±


    Han Fen smiled so broadly her eyes squinted, and themp on her head tottered. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. It¡¯s nothing.¡±


    With an exit close to the hay, Han Fen left, leaving the four people eying one other alone in hostility.


    Old Man Mu didn¡¯t think that much of their situation, and there was only one thing that concerned him. ¡°Han Fen was such a foolish girl. Now we know the positions of both exits, we can leave once we recover, right?¡±


    Deng Yuanlei discovered that they still had an advantage, so he responded with twoughs and said, ¡°In a short while, Sect Leader Lu and I will be leaving. But you guys, unfortunately, will still be prisoners. Because right up there is the camp of the Qingcheng Sect, so neither of you are going anywhere.¡±


    Out of the corner of his eye, Old Man Mu nced at his ally andmented, ¡°Dragon King, this kid said that we¡¯re still going to stay here as prisoners. You agree with him?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had been staring at Lu Mian who was in front of him this whole time. The efficacy of the antidote made by Doctor Sun was very slow, and he had only recovered a small portion of his internal energy. He believed that the recovering speed would speed up once the effects of the paralytic powder wore off. ¡°I¡¯m afraid not. But the Qingcheng Sect can keep the sheep.¡±


    ¡°Haha, you¡¯re so generous, Dragon King. You guys, hurry up and kowtow to show your gratitude.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei snorted. ¡°Enough with this nonsense! It¡¯s almost noon. The Dragon King won¡¯t be able to make it to the kung fupetition. Aren¡¯t you worried?¡±


    ¡°Why should he be?¡± Old Man Mu couldn¡¯t kill anyone at the moment, so bickering was the only source of fun left for him. He naturally wouldn¡¯t give up any chance to do so, not to mention that bickering could actually buy them some time at the moment. ¡°There are thousands of kung fu experts among the Dragon King¡¯s troops, and any one of them is capable of kicking the Qingcheng Sect¡¯s ass until they kowtow and beg for their lives. Oh, right, Dragon King, don¡¯t we still need some servants to clean up the toilets? The Qingcheng Sect has dozens of people and they would fit that role quite well. Haha, maybe you should change your name from Qingcheng Sect to Shit-Cleaner Sect¡­ Eek, how can you stand up?¡±


    Lu Mian had stood up. Although he was leaning against the wall and appeared quite feeble, his mobility had clearly recovered.


    ¡°Amazing! Sect Leader!¡± Deng Yuanlei praised in extreme excitement. ¡°All that Indra Fragrance and paralytic powder, they are nothing to our Sect Leader. Now you can see the true strength of our Qingcheng Se ¡ª ¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Lu Mian reprimanded in a low voice, his left hand pushed against the wall. For all these years, he had cultivated both external and internal kung fu skills simultaneously, which made his constitution much more robust than others¡¯, so he had recovered from the paralysis in advance, but his internal energy still hadn¡¯t returned.


    He also had a dagger. ¡°Dragon King, it¡¯s about time we begin our kung fupetition. Let¡¯s do it.¡±


    Old Man Mu was startled, and in a hurry he cried out, ¡°No, it¡¯s not fair! Where are the rules? Where are the morals? You¡¯re the Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect, so stop acting like a vulture.¡±


    ¡°Heh, only when the Dragon King is defeated and the Khan¡¯s head is retrieved will I be the true Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect.¡±


    ¡°No, you can still be counted as a hero, right? The Dragon King is in such a bad condition, you¡¯d be no hero by defeating him now.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei was overjoyed, and he reprimanded, ¡°Since when did you want to be a hero, Old Man Mu? I¡¯ve heard a lot of your ¡®heroic¡¯ deeds. Even killing you ten times wouldn¡¯t be enough to redeem your sins.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not me but the Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect who wants to be a hero, right?¡±


    ¡°Killing monsters and devils is exactly what a hero should do,¡± Lu Mian replied in a grave tone, shuffling slowly towards the Dragon King.


    ¡°Bravo!¡± Deng Yuanlei¡¯s voice sounded a little feeble, yet this cry still echoed through the walls. ¡°Old Man Mu and the Dragon King, an old devil and a young devil, are both going to be executed by the Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect on this day. Afterwards, the news will spread throughout the whole martial arts world, and everybody will show their admiration!¡±


    Lu Mian had a cold expression, but he didn¡¯t stop Deng Yuanlei¡¯s ttering. On the contrary, he felt that it was helping him recover his strength faster.


    ¡°I won¡¯t kill you two.¡± As he stood before the Dragon King, Lu Mian¡¯s body stopped shaking. ¡°But I will cut the tendons of your legs and arms. And then I¡¯ll decide whether you should be killed or not after you hand over Khan¡¯s head.¡±


    ¡°You think I¡¯m going to yield?¡± Gu Shenwei asked calmly, trying hard to gather as much internal energy as he could.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Most people tend to change their attitudes when the state of their bodies change from normal to extreme pain, and I¡¯d like to see how you react, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Try it on him first, and maybe I¡¯ll change my attitude sooner,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    ¡°Ah? Dragon King, I don¡¯t have that much flesh left on my bones¡­¡±


    Deng Yuanlei burst intoughter. ¡°Old Man Mu, you¡¯re the Dragon King¡¯s inferior, and you should volunteer to take the penalty for your king. How could you try to evade it? You evildoers.¡±


    Lu Mian nced back and forth at the two and eventually focused on Old Man Mu, ¡°Not only am I going to sever your tendons, but also your tongue, so that you will never be able to speak nonsense again.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei gave several cheers at this statement.


    Old Man Mu shut his mouth right away as though he would never talk again.


    Lu Mian grabbed one of Old Man Mu¡¯s arms and aimed the dagger at his wrist.


    Old Man Mu had once had his tendons cut by Lotus and he knew what it felt like, so he couldn¡¯t help cry out loud, ¡°Dragon King, I¡¯m going to tell them the truth!¡±


    Gu Shenwei threw a palm strike at Lu Mian¡¯s right knee, which used up all the internal energy that he had painstakingly saved up.


    With a screech, Lu Mian several hops back and whirled around before falling to the ground. As luck would have it, the dagger in his hand coincidentally stabbed into Deng Yuanlei¡¯s left shank.


    Lu Mian passed out, and his screeching was reced by that of Deng Yuanlei¡¯s.


    The screech was like divine music to Old Man Mu, who closed his eyes and listened for a while before saying, ¡°Dragon King, shall we leave now?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± Gu Shenwei still had to wait for the effect of the paralytic powder to wear off.


    Old Man Mu was deeply disappointed. But then, when he looked at Deng Yuanlei who was lying opposite to him and sweating in pain, he rejoiced again. ¡°Hey, Old Deng, you¡¯re from the Central ins, so didn¡¯t you make prediction with your divination techniques? Your luck is running contrary to the White Tiger constetion, which makes you extremely vulnerable to metal, so every time you came near a weapon today, you were hit by it. Haha!¡±


    Deng Yuanlei¡¯s hand, shoulder and leg had been wounded consecutively. Especially this time, the pain came from deep in the bone, which left him unable to even hear Old Man Mu¡¯s teasing. As a kung fu expert of the Qingcheng Sect, after suffering a series of agonies, he regained control of himself and with an unyielding spirit, he regained part of his mobility.


    It was not until he had pressed his hands to his calf that he realized this.


    He made up his mind, pulled out the dagger, tore off a part of his clothes to dress the wound, bound up his shoulder carelessly, took up the bloodstained dagger, and stood up against the wall, with a murderous look on his face. ¡°In the end, it seems that I am the only one I can rely on. Dragon King, are you ready to take a knife strike?¡±


    Old Man Mu was startled again. ¡°Dragon King, it seems that you¡¯ll have to do the palm attack again.¡± But he knew the Dragon King¡¯s true condition, and his words were just a bluff.


    However, Deng Yuanlei refused to take any more risks. After a fewughs, with his left foot dragging behind on the ground, he shuttled towards the entry they hade in through.


    ¡°Dragon King, do you have another contingency n?¡± Old Man Mu asked in a low voice.


    ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°I hope you do. But judging by your current look, I figured that the contingency n might note into effect any time soon.¡±


    ¡°Hmph, that¡¯s right.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei arrived at the front of the door, and found the switch after searching for a while. Then he started pressing and twitching it like Han Fen had done so before, but no matter how hard he tried, the door wouldn¡¯t budge a bit.


    Han Fen was not stupid, and she left nothing up to chance. There was nothing special with the security mechanisms in the mausoleum except that they required great strength to press the switch down.


    Deng Yuanlei finally understood, but he was still reluctant to ept reality, so he shuffled to the exit through which Han Fen had left. Yet still no luck. He could move, but he had no internal energy.


    Deng Yuanlei sat down in disappointment. Watching the fat sheep not far away, he wanted to kill one right away, but then something urred to him and he twisted his head to look at the Dragon King.


    Old Man Mu made eye contact with him. ¡°It turns out that you¡¯re not so idiotic after all. Figured it out yet?¡±


    Deng Yuanlei stood up excitedly and eximed, ¡°The Dragon King still has his internal energy, so he can open the door, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course he can,¡± Old Man Mu answered immediately, ¡°but Han Fen gave these sheep to the Dragon King specially, so Dragon King won¡¯t leave until he eats all the sheep.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve always known that the Dragon King wasn¡¯t amon person. The Waning Moon Hall has been bragging about the Indra Fragrance all the time, yet the Dragon King has never been worried about it. Dragon King, I will-¡±


    The stone door opened suddenly. A person rushed in and roughly pushed Deng Yuanlei who was in her way into the sheep herd, ¡°Oh, crap. This is bad!¡±


    After closing the door, Han Fen was still worried, so she had pressed her ear against the door and listened for a while. After rushing in, she turned to talk to the Dragon King. ¡°Hall Leader is right above. What should we do?¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°That woman must havee to rescue me¡­ and the Dragon King. s, we¡¯re friends after all. Han Fen, don¡¯t be afraid. Wuxian will spare you if the Dragon King and I plead to her on your behalf.¡±


    Han Fen shook her head vigorously. She might be naive, but if there was one thing she would never believe, that was that the Hall Leader of the Waning Moon Hall would show mercy to someone. ¡°No, I have to get out of here.¡± Then she ran beside the Dragon King and pushed him aside. It turned out that there was actually a third door.


    ¡°I have to take you with me.¡± Han Fen picked up the Dragon King, and after some quick thinking, she also picked up Old Man Mu with her other hand.


    ¡°What about us?¡± Deng Yuanlei crawled out of the sheep herd and asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Take care of yourself,¡± Han Fen was extremely scared. She pressed a switch with the tip of her foot, opened the door, and was about to escape through another path.


    Deng Yuanlei had a difficult choice to make: he didn¡¯t think that going with Han Fen would do him any good, but he was also worried that nobody woulde to rescue him if he chose to stay. But eventually, with a foot still dragging on the ground, he shuffled desperately in an attempt to follow them. After a few steps, he nced at Lu Mian who was still on the ground, unconscious. Recalling that his future was dependent on this Sect Leader, he helped him up.


    Han Fen put Old Man Mu down, took an oilmp off of the wall, and ced it on her head. Then she picked him up again. Looking into the pitch-ck corridor, she said to herself, ¡°Better a ghost than the Hall Leader. Better a ghost¡­¡±

 Chapter 749 - Banshee’s Wail

    Chapter 749: Banshee¡¯s Wail


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    It was a bizarre hall, with a spacious and level pathway, and gloomy halos ofmp light floating in the darkness. Every time themp on Han Fen¡¯s head shook, the halos trembled with it, bobbing up and down, and giving off an underwater vibe.


    ¡°I told you that there were ghosts here,¡± Han Fen said in an extremely low voice.


    Old Man Mu struggled his way free before jumping to the ground. The effect of the paralytic powder on him had already worn off. Although his internal energy hadn¡¯t recovered yet, he had regained his mobility, ¡°Holy crap! I feel dizzy.¡±


    ¡°Crystal, there¡¯s crystals everywhere!¡± Deng Yuanlei was so excited that his voice was trembling. Lu Mian had alsoe around by now. The former had a wounded left leg while thetter had a wounded right one, which made them perfect partners keep each other¡¯s bnce.


    ¡°Shh, there¡¯re really ghosts here. Thest time I came here, I saw ghostly shadows running around and there was also this scary sound, just like-¡± Han Fen started mimicking a baby¡¯s cry.


    She was obviously very afraid of ghosts, and nobody took her words seriously. Old Man Mu consoled her, saying, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. My Qi is strong enough to knock down ten ghosts. No ghosts will daree near me.¡±


    ¡°Really? Then I¡¯ll stay close to you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei also jumped to the ground. That palm attack he had hit Lu Mian with had cost him all his internal energy, so he was thest one to recover.


    The effects of the paralytic powder in the four men¡¯s bodies hadpletely worn off, but they had only an average man¡¯s strength, so Han Fen wasn¡¯t worried. The only thought on her mind was how to evade the ghosts and the Hall Leader.


    Lu Mian abruptly reminded her, ¡°Be careful, Han Fen. The Dragon King is immune to the Indra Fragrance and he still has his internal energy.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible.¡± Han Fen refuted his advice without a second thought, continuing to look around. ¡°The Indra Fragrance was made by the Master Commander herself and nobody under the sun can resist its effects.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King has the antidote. I saw him swallow something.¡± Deng Yuanlei had been the closest to the Dragon King at that time, and had seen him touch his lips with a strong motion. It was not until now that he realized what that movement had symbolized.


    Han Fen became suspicious. She turned and faced the Dragon King, taking a posture which gave the impression that she was both about to flee and about to fight at the same time. ¡°Dragon King, have you really recovered?¡±


    ¡°If I recover, the first thing I would do is strike you down.¡±


    ¡°Strike me however you want, but remember to hand me over to the Master Commander and to let her kill me,¡± Han Fen said in an unusually serious tone before suddenly breaking out intoughter. ¡°Oh, I get it. You haven¡¯t struck me down, so you haven¡¯t recovered.¡±


    Old Man Mu gave a sigh. He felt concerned for Han Fen, and was also worried about when the Dragon King would fully recover.


    Gu Shenwei shared the same concerns; the paralytic powder¡¯s effects had worn off, but the recover speed of his internal energy had stayed the same, as slow as a trickle.


    ¡°Han Fen, use the knockout powder on the Dragon King and Old Man Mu again. Don¡¯t let them move around freely.¡± Lu Mian¡¯s right knee was shattered and he was still wary of the Dragon King, but he also believed that the Dragon King hadn¡¯t fully recovered yet.


    ¡°No. The Dragon King¡¯s a friend, and Old Man Mu¡¯s not a bad guy either.¡±


    Lu Mian snorted, feeling that every woman of the Waning Moon Hall had their own weird behaviors, particrly this Han Fen, so he just had to find another way.


    Han Fen gave Old Man Mu a push. ¡°You have strong Qi. You go first.¡±


    Old Man Mu didn¡¯t refuse and strode forward. At the end of the crystal hall, there were two conspicuous stone doors, one to the left and the other on the right. He asked, ¡°Which way?¡±


    ¡°Dragon King, which way do you think we should go?¡± Han Fen was at the end of her rope. She had only been here once before, and at that time, she had fled immediately when she sensed the supposed ghosts.


    ¡°Right.¡± Gu Shenwei gave a casual answer, without exining why.


    There was a dark narrow passage behind the right door, only about three feet wide, and a fat person might not even be able to get through it. Old Man Mu took a look, then said, ¡°Let the two cripples go first.¡±


    They hadn¡¯t encountered any dangerous traps so far, but this ce was a mausoleum that the Khan prepared for himself, so nobody dared to treat it as a tomb, which was why Deng Yuanlei shook his head immediately. ¡°No, we won¡¯t be able to fit.¡±


    ¡°Walk sidewa-¡±


    Before Old Man Mu could finish speaking, Han Fen suddenly grabbed his neck and tossed him into the passage.


    With an ¡°ouch,¡± Old Man Munded at the end without triggering any traps. ¡°Han Fen, you are so disloyal to your friends.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll be fine. You Qi is stro¡ª¡± Han Fen abruptly stopped talking.


    All four people still outside the passageway were holding their breath and listening attentively. Old Man Mu could had a premonition that something was wrong. After a while, he became impatient and asked in a low voice, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Ghosts,¡± Han Fen replied in an even lower voice.


    ¡°People,¡± Gu Shenwei also answered, but in an extremely positive tone.


    ¡°Someone was acting as a ghost,¡± Lu Mian also gave his thoughts.


    All four people had heard a very slight ¡°heh¡±ing from their back. Although it was ephemeral and fleeting, Gu Shenwei and Lu Mian were sure that it had been made by that person.


    Deng Yuanlei was more experienced with the martial arts world than his Sect Leader, but he was not very assertive, and his voice was quivering slightly. ¡°Is that really a person? It might be something else, couldn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°All the kung fu skills you practiced are in vain,¡± Lu Mian reprimanded. If it weren¡¯t for that he still needed Deng Yuanlei¡¯s help, he would¡¯ve pushed him aside already. In a loud voice, Lu Mian resumed talking. ¡°You don¡¯t have to hide. Just tell us the right direction and we¡¯ll be on our way in no time. We promise that we won¡¯t touch anything in this mausoleum.¡±


    Han Fen thought that Lu Mian had chosen his words very wisely, so she raised her thumb at him and then in a low voice, she also promised, ¡°We won¡¯t touch anything.¡±


    There was no response.


    In the passage, Old Man Mu said, ¡°Let¡¯s keep moving. Here¡¯s another room.¡±


    The four people went in on by one.


    They entered a hall paved with silver, and it was several timesrger than the previous crystal one, which was why its ceiling felt a little short. Old Man Muy on his stomach and crawled several steps forward, examining the tiles. ¡°The Khan¡¯s got some serious money. I mean, how much did he have to pay to build this hall? Is it possible that it¡¯s ted?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re so smart, Dragon King. You made the right choice,¡± Han Fen said happily. ¡°I still remember the map that the Master Commander showed me. The next one is a golden hall, and then there¡¯ll passage leading to a nearby valley, where we¡¯ll be safe.¡±


    ¡°Where you¡¯ll be safe,¡± Old Man Mu repeated slowly as he stood up, since he and Dragon King were actually hoping to meet back up with Han Wuxian. But he didn¡¯t worry, because the Dragon King seemed to have been gathering his internal energy this whole time, so it was just a matter of time before they overpowered Han Fen and escaped safely.


    It was very strange that all the entries and exits of the Khan¡¯s mausoleum were at the two far ends, and that in the front there was nothing but firm walls. ¡°It¡¯s supposed to be here. The map says that the halls are connected to each other in a circle¡­¡± Han Fen exined.


    Gu Shenwei chose the exit on the right side once again.


    And once again, he was right. They made it to the golden hall once again without triggering any trap mechanisms.


    ¡°I presume it¡¯s because the mausoleum is unfinished.¡± Old Man Mu, when they were progressing through the passageway, gave a guess as to why there was no defense.


    The look of the golden hall seemed to have verified his words. There were only smooth stone walls, and if weren¡¯t for the gold scrapings on the ground, they would have thought that they were in the wrong ce.


    Old Man Mu was very disappointed. ¡°Turns out that it¡¯s not unfinished. Someone has looted the gold.¡±


    The golden hall was rtively small, but it would still a huge project to pave six of its surfaces; they could only imagine how much gold there used to be in this hall. ¡°The Waning Moon Hall took it,¡± Deng Yuanlei said enviously, feeling pain in his heart as if those now-gone gold used to belong to him.


    Han Fen didn¡¯t care about the gold. She found the exit immediately and cheered, ¡°This is it. It leads to the valley.¡±


    The tunnel was uneven, and there were even puddles of water on the floor. Han Fen led, and the other four followed her. Deng Yuanlei and Lu Mian had injured legs, and they didn¡¯t walk far before they started panting heavily. They sat down and refused to continue.


    Han Fen ignored them and kept on pushing forward. The oilmp was still on her head, yet she seemed to have forgot about its existence.


    ¡°Are you sure we¡¯re not walking to hell? It seems like the further we go, the deeper it gets,¡± Old Man Mu asked in confusion. ¡°And there¡¯s also more and more water.¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡± with a scream, Han Fen backed up quickly and almost knocked down the two people behind her. ¡°There¡¯s ake ahead.¡±


    An undergroundke was blocking their path. It turns out that the passage they¡¯d walked through was built to prevent the mausoleum from being flooded. Theke seemed like it had formed naturally and it probably was connected to some river, leading outside.


    ¡°Let¡¯s swim across.¡± Thinking that the Hall Leader was right above, Han Fen became fearless.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head and said, ¡°The road ahead must have been blocked.¡±


    ¡°How do you know?¡± Han Fen tried to make out the other side of theke, but all she saw was darkness.


    Gu Shenwei pointed at a sticking pir of stone and a repaired stone tform, ¡°This should be the old dock. Lotus shipped away the gold and left the boat on the opposite side. In the south part of the mausoleum, there should be plenty of treasure left that Lotus didn¡¯t have enough time to bring away, which is why she would block the passage.¡±


    Gu Shenwei believed this as it was also what he would do if he were Lotus, so it was probably her n.


    ¡°Even so, we should still swim across and check it out.¡± Han Fen knew little about the Master Commander¡¯s other ns, and all she wanted do was to get as far away from the Hall Leader as possible.


    Deeply experiencing the pains of being an ordinary person, Old Man Mu was also a little tired. Besides, it was not necessary for him to try to escape. ¡°Let¡¯s take another path. Why risk it?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no other way. Every hall only has two exits, and the other one¡¯s surely a dead end.¡±


    ¡°Even so, there¡¯s no need to hurry. I mean, Han Wuxian won¡¯t be up there waiting for you forever. Just find a spot and hide. THhn when she¡¯s leaves, you¡¯ll be free to go.¡±


    Han Fen understood this, but she was too afraid, ¡°Won¡¯t the Hall Leader discover this mausoleum?¡±


    ¡°You think everybody¡¯s as smart as you are?¡± Old Man Mu asked impatiently.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s take a risk this time ¨C actually, I can¡¯t swim since I grew up in the desert, and we didn¡¯t have much water there.¡±


    Shaking his head and sighing, Old Man Mu turned and started walking away. In a low voice, he muttered, ¡°I would have ditched this kind of disciple as well if I were Han Wuxian¡­¡±


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Han Fen said in her surprise.


    ¡°I¡¯m going back. I¡¯d rather lie on silver than stay in a damp and dark ce like this.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shared Old Man Mu¡¯s opinion. Han Fen could have forced them to stay, but she followed them anyway after pondering for a while.


    Deng Yuanlei and Lu Mian had already returned to the gold hall, and were trying their best to open the stone door of the entry and retrace their steps to the silver hall.


    ¡°You need more strength to open it.¡± Han Fen pushed the two aside and pressed her palm on a brick.


    The door didn¡¯t open.


    Han Fen thought about it for a bit as she tilted her head, and then pressed the switch again, this time with greater strength.


    It still wouldn¡¯t open.


    Han Fen backed up three steps in horror, ¡°The ghosts have haunted the door.¡± Suddenly she burst intough. ¡°Hall Leader won¡¯t be able toe in now. You¡¯re such good ghosts. Thank you.¡±


    Old Man Mu gave a resigned nce at the Dragon King, ¡°For god¡¯s sake, there¡¯re no ghosts. I think that they¡¯re just disciples of the Waning Moon Hall ordered by Lotus to stay and guard the treasure. They¡¯ve been jerking you around and yet you still feel happy about it.¡±


    Han Fen shook her head firmly, ¡°No way. That can¡¯t be true. If they were disciples of the Waning Moon Hall, they would have started running for their lives as fast as I was after hearing that the Hall Leader¡¯s above them.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    Han Fen turned around instantly and stared at the others. ¡°Who?¡±


    The four shook their heads simultaneously and became alert, since the source of the voice was not among them.


    ¡°Ha.¡±


    Han Fen hurried to the corner in a single step. The oilmp on her head shook, but didn¡¯t fall. ¡°I have the magicmp on my head; the old man has thick Yang qi; the Dragon King has a strong killing aura. Han Fen little baby, don¡¯t be afraid. Don¡¯t be afraid.¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked at the stone door leading into the tunnel. There was a shadow there and nobody knew when it had appeared. It looked like a bamboo pole, stretching to the ceiling.

 Chapter 750 - Linked Halls

    Chapter 750: Linked Halls


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Han Fen was shivering so violently that her upper teeth seemed to be punching her lower ones, and her fear had even reached the oilmp on her head as it was shaking violently. With one hand mping onto her mouth and the other holding onto themp, Han Fen was so scared that she was temporarily rendered incapable of talking.


    The other four people were also startled, but they didn¡¯t believe in the existence of ghosts. Having forgotten the fact that he didn¡¯t have any internal energy, Old Man Mu leaped forward and yelled, ¡°I¡¯ll kill you!¡±


    Normally, he should have been able to reach the front of the bamboo pole. But after he leaped just one step forward, the bamboo pole seemed to be scared and disappeared into the passage, which left the four more positive that it was a person and not a ghost, because the bamboo pole snapped into two figures as it entered the door.


    However, Deng Yuanlei recalled a more horrible issue and in a low voice, he said, ¡°They¡¯re kung fu experts, and we can¡¯t defeat them.¡±


    Lu Mian snorted. Instead of replying to Deng Yuanlei, he asked, ¡°Han Fen, did the Master Commander leave any guards here?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I¡­ don¡¯t know.¡± Han Fen moved her palm away and squeezed out those four words. Then she looked at the Dragon King in horror. ¡°Are they really humans?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded and assured, ¡°Even if they¡¯re ghosts, there¡¯s no need to be afraid. You see, they like ying, and are not scary at all.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Han Fen stopped trembling immediately. She walked a few steps forward as if she had never been scared, and in a sudden, loud voice, yelled, ¡°All you ghosts, big and small, show yourselves. I¡¯m not afraid.¡±


    Her voice reverberated through the room, yet no humans or ghosts showed up.


    ¡°Eek, it turns out they¡¯re cowards, ha-ha.¡± Han Fen was satisfied with the results. Sheughed out loud and then turned to ask the Dragon King for help, ¡°Now what? There¡¯s no way out. And the Master Commander will be angry with me if I fail to get to the Western Regions in time.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll take the other path. Maybe there¡¯re other exits.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s suggestion received immediate approval, and Han Fen led the way confident once more with themp on her head.


    The two from the Qingcheng Sect exchanged a nce, but didn¡¯t move. Deng Yuanlei said, ¡°It seems that the two people there mean no harm. Maybe they were just trying to show us the right way out.¡±


    Old Man Mu shook his head and rejected Deng Yuanlei¡¯s proposal. ¡°First of all, we¡¯ve already tried that path, and there¡¯s ake there ¨C we have no idea what¡¯s waiting us on the other side and we¡¯d have to swim across if we wanted to find out. Secondly, from now on, the Khan¡¯s mausoleum belongs to the Dragon King, who has to inspect those treasure Lotus left behind along with me. As for you two, you¡¯ll be the Dragon King¡¯s prisoners, no matter what path you take, ha-ha.¡±


    Old Man Mu had guessed part of the Dragon King¡¯s n. This luxurious mausoleum was indeed an exceptional resource which could be of great help to his fight for hegemony. For certain reasons, Lotus hadn¡¯t taken all the valuables in it, and Gu Shenwei would love to ascertain what was left behind. Another reason was that he had a habit of never taking a path guided by unknown people.


    Han Fen¡¯s head craned out of the passage and beckoned to the Dragon King excitedly. ¡°Come on. The next hall¡¯s even more interesting.¡±


    Gu Shenwei and Old Man Mu walked forwards. Deng Yuanlei and Lu Mian exchanged another nce and also followed along. Treasure always held great appeal, and yet the two had a different opinion on the treasure¡¯s ownership.


    What had excited Han Fen was a jewelry hall, where all of its surfaced had been covered with brass. Numerous gems were mounted on the walls. The light of the little oilmp refracted when it shone through those gems, which lit up those gems with beams as colorful as fantasy shining stars in the sky. Han Fen was running around the hall like a child.


    Even Gu Shenwei, who had never cared about wealth or jewelry, was shocked. Raising his head and looking around, Old Man Mu stroked the gems on the walls, and asked a questionpletely in line his intrinsic practical mindset. ¡°The Khan¡¯s such a wastrel. All those things he did ¨C seeking immortality, building mausoleums. What was it for?¡±


    ¡°This is not a mausoleum. It¡¯s the Khan¡¯s underground divine pce.¡± Gu Shenwei had thought that the Khan was a wise man during his limited interaction with him, and he had never thought that Khan would be so obsessed with immortality. No wonder the Court Attendants Army andmon herdsmen were simrly obsessed.


    The two from the Qingcheng Sect were even more surprised. Deng Yuanlei produced his dagger and tried to dig a ruby out of the wall closest to him, but his current mediocre strength and hisck of knowledge of the right method caused the dagger to snap while the ruby hadn¡¯t loosened even a bit.


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t touch anything. All the jewels here belong to Dragon King,¡± Old Man Mu said.


    ¡°They belong to the Master Commander,¡± Han Fen corrected.


    ¡°Give them to the emperor as a tribute, and I will receive a reward even more handsome than if I brought back the Khan¡¯s head,¡± Lu Mian said to himself excitedly, as if he hadn¡¯t heard the words of the other two.


    ¡°We should keep some to ourselves, as¡­ assets of the Qingcheng Sect.¡± Deng Yuanlei¡¯s greedy eyes were even brighter than the gems.


    The three parties red at one another.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t take part in the debate. As we walked through the hall, he became more and more confused. He thought to himself, ¡®What was the Khan¡¯s purpose of building these luxurious halls? Why aren¡¯t there any defense mechanisms? The two figures back there were clearly not disciples of the Waning Moon Hall. They refused to show themselves, but why did they let the Waning Moon Hall take all the gold previously?¡¯


    He walked into the next hall which was totally dark, and the wall had a jade-like texture.


    Oilmp on her head, Han Fen walked in, putting aside the debate with the others on the topic of ownership.


    This was a jade hall, which was just as colorful ¨C ck, white, red, yellow, green jade, just to name a few, gleamed in the light of themp. All of the jade had been sanded down and then assembled into a wall like seamless bricks. ¡°This one feels better. The previous one gave me blisters.¡±


    Soon the five discovered the rule of the halls: the passages on the left always led to the next hall, and those on the right were either dead ends or led to the undergroundke.


    None of them seemed to have any interest in leaving, and they just kept going, one hall after another. Deng Yuanlei and Lu Mian, each with a wounded leg and sweating buckets, tried very hard to keep up with the others, as though they would lose their im to any of it if they missed a nce at any one of the halls.


    ¡°The mausoleum is indeed circr.¡± Old Man Mu had forgotten which hall this was. Looking at the hall full of jade, he gave an involuntary sigh. ¡°I wonder what¡¯s at the center of the circle.¡±


    He had just finished his sentence when the oilmp went out.


    Han Fen rushed in between the Dragon King and Old Man Mu in one quick step, and grabbed their hands with her own. ¡°You protect me if there¡¯re ghosts, and I¡¯ll protect you if there¡¯re humans.¡±


    ¡°What about us?¡± Deng Yuanlei asked.


    ¡°Shh, ¡± Gu Shenwei hushed the others. ¡°There were many ebony nks in the previous hall. We can make some torches with them.¡±


    ¡°Good idea,¡± Old Man Mu said. Although they hadn¡¯t gotten into any trouble on their way here, they felt anxious when themp went out and none of them knew why.


    Gu Shenwei retraced his steps to the passage they had went through previously. Han Fen was holding his left hand tightly and holding onto Old Man Mu¡¯s with the other. Deng Yuanlei and Lu Mian followed after hesitating for a while. The former found the other hand of Old Man Mu and gripped it quickly, and he wouldn¡¯t let go no matter how hard Old Man Mu tried to shake him off.


    ¡°Dragon King, your hand is cold,¡± Han Fen spoke whatever came first to her mind. ¡°Old Man Mu¡¯s hand is much warmer.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because my Yang Qi is stronger.¡±


    ¡°So are you saying that the Dragon King has a strong Ying Qi <sup>1</sup> ?¡±


    ¡°Uh, that¡¯s different. You know¡­ the extremity generates the opposite effect. Old Yang <sup>2</sup> generates Ying, and the Dragon King is an Old Yang.¡±


    ¡°Old Yang? Is he older than you?¡±


    ¡°Heh-heh, Dragon King is not old, but he has an old heart,¡± Old Man Mu spoke some nonsense to cate Han Fen. He knew that the Dragon King had regained his power and was able to overpower Han Fen at any time. Back then, he thought that he had made a choice in jumping down with the Dragon King, but now it turned out he had not made such a terrible choice after all.


    The ebony hall was full of precious woods, which were painted with thick moth-proof paint. Gu Shenwei took out the dagger which he had stored close to his body. He had barely started cutting into the wall when he suddenly had a feeling of imminent danger.


    Finally, the ¡°ghosts¡± in the mausoleum made their moves. Maybe they had been waiting for the oilmp to go out this whole time.


    There was barely any sound apanying their moves, and half-way instinctually, Gu Shenwei wielded his dagger and parried the first saber strike.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Han Fen screamed. She tightened her grip harder, which made Old Man Mu start screeching in pain. Deng Yuanlei and Lu Mian had no idea what was happening and were even more unwilling to loosen their hands than Han Fen. With this chain of encumbrances, Gu Shenwei was quickly forced into a passive position.


    After parrying five consecutive saber shes, Gu Shenwei made a sharp sideways leap. Han Fen and the others followed him closely, and then they heard a scream ¨C Deng Yuanlei had been hit. Gu Shenwei leaped back to his previous position andunched an attack towards the enemies in the darkness.


    If it weren¡¯t for these encumbrances dragging him down, Gu Shenwei might have had a chance. But he was clearly slowed down, which gave his enemies time to react.


    The dagger missed its target, and Gu Shenwei crouched in a low stance instantly. Han Fen and Old Man Mu followed his every step, yet Deng Yuanlei and Lu Mian¡¯s movements were rtively slower, and then there was another screech ¨C it sounded as if the former had been hit again.


    Gu Shenweiunched another attack, and this time he hit.


    He didn¡¯t know where his blow hadnded, but that person snorted and backed away very quickly, and then the second enemy made his move.


    In the darkness, both sides were determining their opponents¡¯ location through the sound of the wind generated by sudden movements. Thus, to prevent friendly fire, there could be only one attacker at a time on both sides. Gu Shenwei had no idea how many more enemies were hiding in the hall, but he was in an extremely disadvantageous position.


    Fighting in darkness was an indispensable part of a killer¡¯s training schedule, and Gu Shenwei was a master of it. Yet Han Fen was gripping his left hand too tightly, and there were also many conspicuous sounds being made by the people behind him, both of which had made him a shining target in the dark.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s previous strategy had been to use the people behind him as bait, but this strategy was of no effect against the second mausoleum guardian, who was eyeing them attentively. His sabersmanship was much more aggressive, and his seventh saber strike even left a shallow wound on Gu Shenwei¡¯s right arm.


    Gu Shenwei had to get rid of these weights, but the opponent¡¯s saber strike was only getting quicker and quicker, which gave him no chance to gather his power for a palm attack.


    ¡°Let go, Han Fen!¡± Old Man Mu finally came to understand the current situation ¨C if the Dragon King fell, all of them were going to die with him.


    Han Fen was nearly scared to death and was still hesitating. The other three behind her joined their forces into pulling her back, and she finally loosened her grip, which resulted in their group suddenly mming into the wall together.


    ¡°Ah!¡± There was another scream, and this time it sounded like Lu Mian¡¯s voice. Before this scream stopped, the others started screaming on their own, among which Han Fen¡¯s was the sharpest. The harsh sound nearly pierced everyone else¡¯s eardrums.


    Echolocation didn¡¯t work anymore due to the screens, but Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t get a chance to catch his breath because hardly had the screams begun did a saber strikee towards him from his right, forcing him into a retreat.


    When his feet slipped, Gu Shenwei realized why the other four were screaming.


    An extra passage had appeared in the wall, and it was a deep sloped downwards.


    Gu Shenwei still had a chance to regain his footing, but then two strikes came at his front and a downward pull on his foot from Han Fen forced him into the passage with the others.


    Gu Shenwei opened his arms and harshly pressed his palms against the walls on the two sides. Like this, he stopped himself from falling and also saved Han Fen and the others.


    The mausoleum guardians didn¡¯t follow, and they seemed to believe that the people who had fallen had surely died, so they closed the stone door. Gu Shenwei could hear the sound of the stone scraping against the floor.


    ¡°I¡­ I got hit twice. Who can help me?¡± Deng Yuanlei screamed feebly, with his right hand still grasping onto Old Man Mu tightly.


    ¡°Can we go up?¡± Old Man Mu asked, holding his breath. Without his internal power, two people¡¯s body weight was too much for him.


    ¡°Not if we don¡¯t take care of two of them first,¡± Gu Shenwei said. There were still two enemies up there whose sabersmanship was excellent, so he didn¡¯t want to go up there with any encumbrances this time.


    Deng Yuanlei yelled out loud, ¡°Please show some mercy to me, Dragon King. I don¡¯t want to die. We¡­ the Qingcheng Sect will answer to Dragon King only.¡±


    Old Man Mu had been annoyed with him for a long time, and he raised his leg and kicked towards Deng Yuanlei¡¯s face. ¡°Liar, go to hell.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei gave a screech and Gu Shenwei felt a considerable reduction of the burden pulling on him.


    ¡°Eek, I reached the end.¡± Deng Yuanlei¡¯s excited voice came from the bottom. It turned out that this hole was not very deep.


    The stone door above opened once again and several torches emerged.


    Gu Shenwei loosened his hands and the three slid down together, the torches following them.

 Chapter 751 - Square Gallery

    Chapter 751: Square Gallery


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Several burning torches fell through the middle of the hole. The stone door above shut again ¨C it seemed that the mausoleum guardians didn¡¯t want toe down.


    The five people evaded the torches by tumbling on the ground. Gu Shenwei, Han Fen and Old Man Mu went to one side, and the two from the Qingcheng Sect went to the other. Covered in bruises, Deng Yuanlei was groaning on the ground. Lu Mian hopped over to pick up the torches. Old Man Mu also picked one up, muttering, ¡°So stupid. They think that they can burn us to death with these?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch them. They¡¯re poisonous,¡± Gu Shenwei advised as he stood up.


    Hearing his words, the two suddenly noticed that the smoke from the torches was a little unusual ¨C it was slightly blue.


    ¡°So vicious.¡± Old Man Mu mped his nose shut immediately and backed up by more than ten steps.


    The torch fire was not very big, but Lu Mian didn¡¯t stay with the other three. He abandoned his previous viciousness and loathing for the Dragon King¡¯s deeds of abandoning others to protect himself, and he shuffled towards another direction with his injured leg. Upon hearing that the torches were poisonous, Deng Yuanlei crawled to his feet in a hurry and followed his Sect Leader in fleeing.


    Gu Shenwei led the way into the darkness, getting far away from those torches.


    They arrived in a straight corridor, where the faint light of the fire couldn¡¯t reach its end. Every ten or so steps, there was amp-stand. Han Fen walked close to one of them and took a few sniffs. ¡°They¡¯re not poisonous. We can light them.¡±


    Han Fen consecutively lit more than ten oilmps, and yet they still couldn¡¯t see the end of the corridor, though they did discover that there were plenty of empty rooms on both sides of it. Most of them were narrow and small, and some of them didn¡¯t even have a door.


    ¡°Lotus took all the treasures, didn¡¯t she?¡± Old Man Mu said with a bitter resentment.


    ¡°No. This ce is unfinished.¡± Gu Shenwei stood at the door of one of the rooms. ¡°Nothing was ever put in here.¡±


    ¡°These rooms are so small. What could they possibly store in these rooms?¡± Han Fen craned her neck to peek inside and asked curiously. It seemed that she was not interested in the Dragon King¡¯s recovered power at all as if she had already anticipated all of that.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. As far as he knew, the rulers of the Nond didn¡¯t like overlyrge mausoleums, but this one¡¯syout waspletely different from its counterparts in the Central ins and the Western Regions. He couldn¡¯t guess the Khan¡¯s intentions.


    They didn¡¯t know how far they walked for before they reached the end of the corridor. They then took a ny degree turn, turning to face yet another long, dark corridor.


    ¡°I get it.¡± Old Man Mu suddenly understood. ¡°The outside halls are arranged in a circle, while the inside corridors are arranged in a square. A circr outside and a square inside ¨C is this what the Khan was ying at?¡±


    ¡°So if we keep going, we¡¯ll eventually meet the two Qingcheng Sect guys, right?¡± Han Fen said happily, as if she missed the two very much.


    This was indeed a square corridor. After rounding the corner, they found some rooms were furnished with items, most of which were stone sculptures about half a normal man¡¯s height. All of the sculptures were ced on tforms of the same height, which took up half the room, and on which some random knick-knacks were ced.


    Old Man Mu picked up a small bow and drew it halfway. ¡°What¡¯s this? It¡¯s just a toy for kids. Did the Khan want to be reincarnated?¡±


    This bow looked very old and it surely had nothing to do with someone¡¯s rebirth. All the other items on those tforms were simr to this bow. They looked more like personal belongings than whatmon people would regard as treasures, and among them, only a few ornaments seemed to be worth more than a tael or two.


    Gu Shenwei studied one of the sculptures and remarked, ¡°This is a minister of the Nond.¡± Then he strode all the way down the tform, and said, ¡°Down here¡¯s a coffin.¡±


    Old Man Mu curled his lips, yet Han Fen rejoiced. She knelt on the ground to peek into the stone tform. ¡°Are there any bodies in there?¡± After a short while she found the handle and pulled the stone coffin out of the lower part of the tform.


    Old Man Mu was confused. ¡°Han Fen, you¡¯re not afraid of dead people, but you¡¯re terrified of ghosts. What exactly are you thinking?¡±


    ¡°Dead men are obedient. Ghosts are not,¡± Han Fen answered without even raising her head. She stretched her arm and stroked the inside of the stone coffin. ¡°Nothing¡¯s ever been put in here.¡±


    Old Man Mu curled his lips. ¡°You¡¯re free to try it out.¡±


    If Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t stop her, she might really have crawled into it.


    The three sped up and kept going forward. There were more and more rooms furnished with sculptures and other items, and the rooms were alsorger than the previous ones. They barely had time to look at the rooms, but one of the sculptures caught Gu Shenwei¡¯s attention.


    He recognized this sculpture. Although the facial features were slightly different, it was no doubt a statue of King Rizhu. The most conspicuous item on the tform was a saddle, which was embedded with many gems. But inparison to the jewelry hall outside, it was nothing.


    ¡°King Rizhu¡¯s dead. Let¡¯s take a look at if he¡¯s in the coffin.¡± Old Man Mu was a little curious too.


    Han Fen had already opened the coffin before he finished his suggestion, and it was also empty.


    In the next few rooms, they found sculptures of the Ten Lords of the Nond, with a few exceptions. And it seemed that the former king¡¯s sculpture was included. It was right in the lower part of the tform beneath another former king. Han Fen cheered when she found a body in the coffin. She took a skull and an arm bone out, knocked them a few times and excitedly asked, ¡°Does it look like the wooden fish of a Buddhist monk?¡±


    Old Man Mu went outside of the room. He was not afraid, but he didn¡¯t share Han Fen¡¯s predilections either, which was why he once again felt that he had been wise to leave the Waning Moon Hall back then.


    Gu Shenwei told Han Fen to put the bones back. Clearly, the bones of this previous king had been transferred here long after his death. It seemed that besides building a special mausoleum, the Khan had also had arge-scale funerarypanion n, and he wanted to put everyone he had ever cared about in his life into the mausoleum with him. It was just that King Rizhu had died toote and couldn¡¯t make it.


    ¡°The Court Attendants Army,¡± Gu Shenwei said to himself in a low voice.


    ¡°What about them?¡± Old Man Mu asked.


    ¡°The outside halls were for the Court Attendants Army. The Khan wanted them to protect him even when he was dead.¡±


    ¡°The Khan wanted 100,000 people to be buried alive?¡± Even Old Man Mu, who was a ruthless man, found it unbelievable.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. ¡°No, the Khan didn¡¯t want them to die with him. He wanted their bodies to be buried here with him after their natural deaths. This is why there are no guarding mechanisms in the mausoleum ¨C they will have to move many bodies in here afterwards.¡±


    This was also why there were so many empty rooms, and it could even be deemed the origin of the Court Attendants Army¡¯s obsession with killing lords and military officers. They might not know about the mausoleum¡¯s existence, but they had been instilled with the idea of ¡°funerarypanions¡± from a very early stage.


    With the unexpected assassination of Khan, this grand n hade to a premature end.


    ¡°Ha, it would be difficult for Khan to keep a mausoleum like this a secret.¡± Old Man Mu believed that this was a stupid idea.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know what the Khan was thinking of either, but he knew that as a royal demigod by birth, he must have seen things in a different way from that of ordinary people.


    Near the next corner of the corridor, the rooms were gettingrger, and the items in them were bing more varied, and the sculptures could no longer be seen; most of the items were daily necessities carved out of various materials as well asrge numbers of weapons. There was even a te of cheese carved out of jade that seemed so lifelike that the hungry Old Man Mu even stepped forward and sniffed it.


    ¡°Did you notice that treasures are indeed like manure and dirt to us when we¡¯re hungry? It turns out that all the saints in the past only wrote such prayers because they didn¡¯t have enough food.¡± Old Man Mu thought that he had reached a deepprehension.


    In an arsenal, Gu Shenwei found a narrow saber in the same style as those from Golden Roc Castle. Seeing this, Old Man Mu forgot the ¡°manure and dirt¡± idea and dug the jewelry out of several luxurious weapons.


    Han Fen had been running in front of the other two and craning into every new doorway to give a report to them. This time, the contents of the report were, ¡°Books, full of books.¡±


    This was a huge library, with rows of shelves all filled with books. Seeing that the Dragon King seemed to be interested in the books, Han Fen lit all the oilmps on the walls.


    The books reflected the Khan¡¯s tastes, and there was no ssics of saints from the Central ins. On the first few bookshelves, there was a variety of books on tactics which were written innguages from many different regions ¨C the Central ins, Nond, the Western Regions, and even some strangernguages. Some of the books appeared rather ancient with pages missing from the spine.


    ¡°With such an enormous investment, the Khan should have made some copies of these books, like carving the contents of them into stone, so thatter generations may read them.¡± Old Man Mu had this idea while he was browsing those books in a casual manner.


    This library gave Gu Shenwei a confused image of the Khan. The owner of the ins seemed even crazier than the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall sometimes, but he also made people involuntarily awed.


    ¡°Kung fu manuals! A lot of them!¡± Old Man Mu was overjoyed and gave a scream. ¡°The Khan¡¯ wants to be a kung fu expert in the ¡®martial arts of the underworld.¡¯¡±


    Even Han Fen became interested and she ran to the old man¡¯s position with the Dragon King. As expected, the innermost shelves were full of illustrated kung fu manuals. And on the partitions, there were words indicating the origin of the manuals ¨C from which sect, which region, or who.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to find out how many precious books the Jade Pure Sect handed over.¡± Old Man Mu immediately started looking for the secret manuals of his own sect.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to find the ones from the Waning Moon Hall.¡± Han Fen took this as a game and became even happier,


    Golden Roc Castle involuntarily started searching for a tag mentioning the Gu family of the Central ins or the Golden Roc Castle.


    The three words ¡°Golden Roc Castle¡± appeared first. There were not many of them, just t to thirty ¨C killers¡¯ kung fu skills were always as simple as possible, and most killers improved themselves in real fights, so they indeed didn¡¯t have many written manuals.


    The Death Scripture and the Grand Enlightenment Sword Sutra were not on the shelves, and Gu Shenwei felt a slight pride in his aplishment.


    But the Daoless Scroll was here, and there were three volumes.


    Gu Shenwei browsed through them quickly and found that the first two volumes were pretty new, and the contents were of the first seven chapters he had learned, but the third volume was well worn and also very thin, which gave it the feel of an original manuscript. Gu Shenwei was very surprised.


    The Daoless Scroll had never been written down in words, and its contents were stored in the minds of the masters. Where had this original manuscripte from?


    After reading just a few lines, Gu Shenwei was shocked ¨C they were not a part of the contents of the first seven chapters.


    Gu Shenwei had once brought back the eighth and ninth chapter of the Daoless Scroll from the Land of Fragrance, and had had them tranted by Queen Ju, but he had always been wary of hidden traps in the contents of the two chapters, and that they were a bait to lure the people of Golden Roc Castle. So if this volume¡¯s contents matched that of the eighth and ninth chapter, his previous suspicion would be relieved.


    Gu Shenwei read on word by word.


    Han Fen found the Waning Moon Hall section. She took a book from the shelve and started reading in a seemingly serious manner. After quite a while, she twitched her head and turned to the Dragon King for help. ¡°s, there are too many words that I don¡¯t understand. Dragon King, please take a look and help me out.¡±


    Dragon King¡¯s response was merely an ¡°um,¡± and he didn¡¯t even spare her a single nce.


    So Han Fen had to turn to Old Man Mu, who was giggling happily as he read. Han Fen ditched the book in her hand at once, walked over, and asked, ¡°What¡¯s so funny? Let me have a look.¡±


    Old Man Mu handed the book over to Han Fen. ¡°Go ahead. This is a secret manual of the highest degree from the Jade Pure Sect ¨C the Amber Power. Anyone who practices it will no doubt end up breaking their meridians and vomiting blood until they die, ha-ha.¡±


    Upon hearing his words, Han Fen tossed the book in a hurry. ¡°The Jade Pure Sect¡¯s so weird.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha, it¡¯s not the Jade Pure Sect that¡¯s weird. It¡¯s the Khan. I don¡¯t know how big a price he had to pay to get all these kung fu manuals, but most of them are counterfeits. Ha-ha, it turns out that everyone¡¯s been so deceitful. I have to be cautious.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was surprised. He raised his head and asked, ¡°All of them are counterfeits?¡±


    ¡°Uh, I haven¡¯t read all of them yet, but there¡¯s definitely something wrong with these ones from the Jade Pure Sect. The crucial parts of them were rewritten casually. Anyone who tries to practice them will end up dead. Ah, that¡¯s it ¨C maybe they were written for dead men.¡±


    All of a sudden, a voice came over from the door. ¡°The books are fake, but the antidote is real.¡±


    Old Man Mu turned in surprise as he asked, ¡°Lu Mian, is that you?¡±


    Deng Yuanlei answered the question, ¡°Dragon King,e out and have a kung fupetition with us. You don¡¯t think that you¡¯re the only one who¡¯s got their internal energy back, do you?¡±

 Chapter 752 - The Book Chamber

    Chapter 752: The Book Chamber


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    L¨¹ Mian and Deng Yuanlei were standing at the door, each wielding an exquisite sword. One of them looked dead and the other delighted.


    Han Fen didn¡¯t sense danger and happily said, ¡°We meet again. Eek, why¡¯s your waist fatter?¡±


    Deng Yuanlei slightly flushed ¨C he had looted plenty of treasure on his way here, then sternly said, ¡°You¡¯re a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall, Han Fen, so step aside. The Qingcheng Sect and the Dragon King are going to fight to the death.¡±


    It was only now that Han Fen did a double-take. ¡°That¡¯s so strange. How have you both regained your powers? Was it because Indra Fragrance shouldn¡¯t be used concurrently with the paralytic powder? I¡¯ll have to tell the Master Commander.¡±


    Old Man Mu gave a long sigh. ¡°I haven¡¯t recovered yet. Old Deng, Junior Lu, you¡­ Did the Khan hide some antidote in this mausoleum?¡±


    Deng Yuanlei was only a few years younger than L¨¹ Mian, so he was shocked for a while when he heard the way Old Man Mu had addressed him. Then he gave a hideous smile. ¡°More than that. The Khan spared a room for the Waning Moon Hall, and there¡¯s also a statue of the Master Commander in it, ha-ha¡­¡±


    Before hisugh stopped, Han Fen pounced on them out of the blue. Deng and Lu evaded her subconsciously, raising their swords and pointing them at her. But Han Fen had already run into the corridor, yelling loudly, ¡°Where¡¯s the room of the Waning Moon Hall¡­¡±


    Deng Yuanlei muttered ¡°maniac¡± under his breath, and resumed talking. ¡°This is what people mean when they say ¡®God sees all.¡¯ We took our respective roads. While you were here reading fake books, Sect Leader Lu found the real antidote. Dragon King,e out and face your fate. Today, the Qingcheng Sect will y the devil.¡±


    Old Man Mu wanted to try his best to buy the Dragon King some more time. He gave a fewughs and said, ¡°If the Dragon King dies, you won¡¯t be able to get Khan¡¯s head.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei nced at L¨¹ Mian who was beside him. Thetter indicated him that he could tell the truth, so Deng Yuanlei gave a few loudughs in response. ¡°Ridiculous. The Khan¡¯s head is right here in this mausoleum. The wing guard of Khan was tricking us all long. Dragon King, you didn¡¯t even realize that you were tricked by him too, did you?¡±


    Old Man Mu let out a few loudughs the same way Deng Yuanlei had, yet he had nothing to boast about ¨C Mo Lin had apparently given them a counterfeit head, which waspletely against all expectations, so he had to brazenly lie. ¡± You idiots. The Dragon King knows everything. He was just fooling you. You think that the head here is real? You¡¯re terribly wrong.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei was about to contradict, when L¨¹ Mian ran out of his patience. ¡°Enough. Move!¡±


    Although Deng Yuanlei had regained his internal energy, his wounds hadn¡¯t healed yet, especially his injured leg, so he didn¡¯t want to be the vanguard. But he also didn¡¯t dare disobey his Sect Leader¡¯s order, so he started moving forward slowly, monitoring the bookshelves on his two sides vigntly. Out of the blue, he changed his mind and sped at Old Man Mu, shouting out, ¡°Let me roast the old devil first.¡±


    Old Man Mu leaped backwards until his body was against the wall. ¡°Heh-heh, I¡¯m totally powerless. You¡¯re from the prestigious sects of the Central ins, so you have to behave ethically, right? Actually, we don¡¯t have any grudges against each other, and even the Dragon King doesn¡¯t hold any grudges towards you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t have any grudges?¡± Deng Yuanlei had had a bad day, and had been suppressing his resentment this whole time, so he refused to hold back anymore. ¡°The Dragon King said that he defeated the Qingcheng Sect¡¯s Harmonious Sword of Wisdom, but in fact all he did was cheat and plot. Yet he bragged about it relentlessly. If I don¡¯t avenge myself, I would be¡­¡±


    Poof, all the oilmps on the left wall suddenly went out almost simultaneously.


    The Dragon King had been silent all this time, so Lu and Deng were guessing that he was going tounch a sneak attack, and thus they had been vignt all along. As soon as themps went out, they pounced towards the left side instantly. Though they each had a wounded leg, their movements weren¡¯t slowed at all.


    Gu Shenweiunched an attack from behind L¨¹ Mian, at his back.


    The moment the two challenged him, Gu Shenwei hade up with a tactic. He tilted themps on the left side, and hid in ambush behind a bookshelf on the right side, waiting for the fuel to burn out.


    L¨¹ Mian was taken by surprise, and for the first time, Gu Shenwei saw the true swordsmanship of this Sect Leader of Qingcheng Sect.


    He had once cut words on the foreheads of more than seventy cavalrymen and then retreated unharmed. He had also once disyed the quintessence of the Gu Family sabermanship with a sword before the Dragon King, and done so well enough to trick Gu Shenwei into believing him.


    But currently, this kung fu expert didn¡¯t have enough time to perform his swordsmanship and could only pelt his opponent with throwing knives in the underground chamber.


    Gu Shenwei was ny percent sure that this saber attack would hit its target. Once L¨¹ Mian was downed, Deng Yuanlei would be of no concern.


    L¨¹ Mian had barely merged into the darkness on the left side of the book chamber when Gu Shenwei¡¯s saber, which had been following him as closely as a shadow, suddenly took form.


    There was nothing where L¨¹ Mian was supposed to be. It seemed as if he had sped up the moment he merged into the darkness. Gu Shenwei could still choose to keep moving, but his move had lost its momentum, which meant that he would be forced into a passive situation if he missed.


    Gu Shenwei was shocked ¨C this Sect Leader of Qingcheng Sect was better than he had expected. So he made the choice to retreat.


    It was at this exact moment when he made this choice that a sword struck out from the darkness as fast as a snake¡¯s tongue.


    Gu Shenwei twisted and maneuvered between the two bookshelves behind him.


    The left side of the room was dark and the right side was bright. For quite a while, there was silence. Atst, Deng Yuanlei hesitantly called out, ¡°Sect Leader, you¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Guard the door.¡± L¨¹ Mian¡¯s voice reverberated in the whole room and made it impossible for others to locate him.


    Deng Yuanlei rejoiced. He started shuffling towards the door and on his way he said,¡± Dragon King, didn¡¯t you im that you could defeat the Qingcheng Sect in a face-to-face fight? Why don¡¯t you dare to show yourself? Stop hiding and sneaking around if you¡¯re truly a hero.¡±


    It was probably because he thought that these words would be helpful in provoking the Dragon King that L¨¹ Mian didn¡¯t stop him. Deng Yuanlei, who was now certain that his Sect Leader¡¯s swordsmanship was more powerful than that of the Dragon King¡¯s, became much more selfcent. ¡°Oh, I forgot that the Dragon King used to be a killer, who likes to perform sneak attack in the darkness ¨C like a rat.¡±


    Gu Shenwei remained calm, but Old Man Mu, who was on the innermost side of the book chamber, became angry. He randomly grabbed some books, then threw them towards the oilmps on the left side and started turning them back aroundone by one, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with sneak attack in the darkness? No one can see so it¡¯s just as fair. The nine major sects of the Central ins have won their authority by sheer weight of numbers, and of course you want to talk about rules and ethics. So we all have to obey the rules even if we have no power, no background? Fight face to face even if we know we don¡¯t stand a chance? No way! Dragon King, be sure to give them some stabs in their backs.¡±


    Before long, Old Man Mu had turned over most of the oilmps, in the process of which he had identally lit one of the books, causing a fire which he then had to subsequently stamp and put out. There were only twomps left, and they were near the door where he didn¡¯t dare to get close to because Deng Yuanlei was watching him with a heavy hostility in his eyes. And if it weren¡¯t for the fact that Deng Yuanlei had been told to guard the door, he would have stabbed Old Man Mu to death by now.


    Both Gu Shenwei and L¨¹Mian remained silent as if they had disappeared. But in reality, they had merely lost sight of each other.


    L¨¹ Mian had only made one sword strike, but it had pressured Gu Shenwei like no other.


    The sword strike of the Sect Leader of Qingcheng Sect was distinctive. The most formidable part was neither the fast speed or the strength, but rather the unpredictability. L¨¹ Mian seemed to anticipate the Dragon King¡¯s every move, which was why he could evade hostile moves and n his own moves in advance.


    Gu Shenwei wondered whether his sabersmanship had suffered a decline like Chu Nanping¡¯s. In some cases, this kind of decline was difficult for oneself to detect, and it was only when they fought their enemies in a serious duel that they realized that the weapons in their hands could no longer be wielded as freely as they previously had been.


    Suspicion was in of itself a weakening of a certain kind. Gu Shenwei remained crouched on top of a bookshelf for quite a while.


    Deng Yuanlei became fairly anxious as the wait dragged on. ¡°Sect Leader, shall I light themps?¡±


    L¨¹ Mian remained silent, which was interpret as a ¡°no¡± by Deng Yuanlei, so he stayed where he was and continued to guard the door. He believed that his kung fu was no worse than the Dragon King¡¯s and that there were just too many wounds on him, which conveniently made for a perfect excuse.


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help but wonder whether he would have suffered a great loss if L¨¹ Mian hadunched his attack the moment they fell into the underground chamber. He moved slightly to get a better angle to hear any nearby sounds, and he identally brushed against the book at his chest. Then he suddenly understood that his hesitation had nothing to do with L¨¹ Mian, and that it had everything to do with that Daoless Scroll.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s previous ims that all the secret kung fu manuals here were counterfeit was rather too dramatic. There were many kung fu experts in the Nond and they no doubt had their own distinguishing capabilities, so it was highly unlikely that the kung fu manuals they had collected were all counterfeit without exception. It was especially so for this volume of the Daoless Scroll; it looked rather ancient and didn¡¯t resemble a modern forgery.


    But the contents of the book were very bizzare ¨C not just the methods of cultivating internal energy but also the long passages of profound discussion, which Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t finished yet, and few of which he couldn¡¯t understand. Yet a metaphor from the book had made a deep impression upon him.


    It was a typical Dao Sect¡¯s manual, yet it had quoted a Buddhist story that went along the following lines: a Buddhist monk, after many year of extremely hard cultivation, was still unable to receive spiritual enlightenment, so he began to reproach himself and felt that his body was nothing but a useless burden. He took a sharp stone and killed himself by stabbing his neck. And it was at that very moment of his death that he achieved enlightenment. His body turned into me and he ascended to the heaven and became a Buddha.


    Unshakable belief and sacrificing one¡¯s own body to ess enlightenment ¨C these were the ts of this story, and they also seemed to be what this volume of Daoless Scroll was trying to express.


    The Death Scripture, Daoless Scroll, and Sumeru Mustard technique were like three severe teachers, each one of which demanded in an indisputable tone that their student trust what they were teaching, yet Gu Shenwei felt lost. Just like what Old Man Mu had said, this might be a well-packaged joke. ¡°Sacrificing one¡¯s own body¡± was easy, but ¡°gaining enlightenment¡± was difficult. Maybe it wasn¡¯t the genuine Daoless Scroll after all.


    As he thought about these, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t even remember whether this old book against his chest had the words Daoless Scroll on its cover page or not. After all, it had merely been ced beneath the other two transcripts.


    He had stayed in one ce for too long and L¨¹ Mian¡¯s sword moved towards him soundlessly. The vignt instincts which Gu Shenwei had honed through years of practice took action and pulled him out of the inappropriate contemtion.


    Gu Shenwei jumped off of the bookshelf. He could almost feel the gentle caress of the sword de on his arm.


    Before he couldnd, a soundless palm attack came towards him next. The distance between the sources of the sword attack and the palm attack was so dramatic that it seemed as though they had beenunched by two separate people.


    Gu Shenwei had no choice but to parry it with a palm attack of his own.


    L¨¹ Mian¡¯s internal energy was also different from that of others. It didn¡¯t emit in a continuous manner, but rather pounced right on the eyes of its target like a chunk of hard ck iron.


    Gu Shenwei was hit and flew like a dead leaf, knocking down rows of books on his flight path.


    ¡°Sect Leader, you got him?¡± Deng Yuanlei asked worriedly. The answer to this question would determine what he would do next.


    ¡°It turns out that Dragon King knows what he¡¯s doing,¡± L¨¹ Mian replied tly.


    Deng Yuanlei was relieved. On an impulse, he intended to run over and check, but he had barely a single step when he was stopped abruptly by L¨¹ Mian. ¡°Don¡¯t move. Just guard the door.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Sect Leader,¡± Deng Yuanlei responded with a deep respect. He was bing more and more confident in L¨¹ Mian, and also more and more positive about his own choice. But there was one particr issue that concerned him ¨C the Sect Leader had once given him a chance to defeat the Dragon King, but he had failed.


    ¡°It was impressive that you broke one of my legs. I¡¯ll give you that.¡± L¨¹ Mian kept moving in the direction that the Dragon King had been thrown. ¡°And the frosty Qi deserves its reputation. But your sabersmanship slightly disappointed me. Is that all a Western Region killer can do? If so, then the Golden Roc Castle¡¯s reputation is not well-earned.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt that a giant rock was crushing his heart. Even as he faced imminent danger, he couldn¡¯t get the words ¡°sacrifice the body to achieve enlightenment¡± out of his mind no matter how hard he tried.

 Chapter 753 - Dao Verification

    Chapter 753: Dao Verification


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Old Man Mu hid himself in the corner, staying quiet without prodding into the situation. He was powerless, it was totally dark, but he could hear everything. He was well aware that the Dragon King was in a disadvantageous position.


    ¡°Old Man Mu.¡±


    Unexpectedly, the Dragon King called out for him. Old Man Mu gave a fairly hesitant response, feeling deeply concerned.


    Upon hearing the call, L¨¹ Mian was just about to locate the Dragon King by tracing the source of the sound andunch an attack when he stopped ¨C the Dragon King was sly, so he should be more cautious than usual. He had a strong advantage in this fight, so there was no need for him to take needless risks.


    Deng Yuanlei became more and more anxious as he stood at the door, wishing that he could go inside and kill the Dragon King himself.


    ¡°Have you ever heard of the story that one must sacrifice their body to verify the Dao?¡± Gu Shenwei asked. This was a constant knot in his heart, and he would be in no mood to fight as long as it wasn¡¯t undone.


    The reason why he was obsessed with this story was that it closely matched his method of practicing the Death Scripture.


    There was a time when he and Lotus had been studying the Death Scripture together; however, their opinions on the right way of practicing it diverged widely when they reached the mid-tote stage of theirprehension. Lotus focused on ¡°killing enemies,¡± while he focused on ¡°killing one¡¯s self.¡± Though the two paths led to the same destination, ruthlessly killing the target in a single move as the final goal, their mentality and moves werepletely different.


    ¡°Killing one¡¯s self¡± sounded very simr to the idea of ¡°sacrificing one¡¯s body to verify the Dao.¡± Gu Shenwei had always deeply believed that his interpretation of the Death Scripture was the correct one, and this questionable and thin book seemed to have proven it.


    Old Man Mu was numbed by the Dragon King¡¯s question, and he hesitated for quite a while before giving his answer. ¡°Of course I have. It¡¯s a deceptive story.¡±


    ¡°Deceptive?¡±


    ¡°Haha, all Buddhist stories are deceptive.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°You know about the Convenient Method, right?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded, but immediately realized that no one could see him. He quickly said, ¡°I do.¡±


    Confusion exacerbated Deng Yuanlei¡¯s anxiety. Although this was a mausoleum full of treasures, he still felt depressed and wished that he would be able to leave as soon as possible. In his desperation, he called out, ¡°Sect Leader?¡±


    ¡°Humm,¡± L¨¹ Mian replied in a morbid tone, seemingly also pondering over the Dragon King¡¯s question.


    Deng Yuanlei didn¡¯t dare prod again.


    Realizing that there was no imminent danger, Old Man Mu gathered some courage and gave out two coughs. ¡°Buddha says that mortals have different natures, so Buddhist knowledge shouldn¡¯t be imparted in a single fixed way ¨C it¡¯s simr to the idea of teaching different students with different teaching methods, but in even more various approaches. There are many sects and schools, and sometimes they seem to have contradictory opinions. But as long as the method leads to the Buddhist Dao, it¡¯s a good method and the most suitable method for you ¨C this is called Convenient Method, and is named due to its convenience for both the learner and the teacher.¡±


    ¡°How is this deceptive?¡± Unexpectedly, this time it was L¨¹ Mian who asked.


    ¡°This is surely deceptive,¡± Old Man Mu replied in an indisputable tone. ¡°It¡¯s because the monks believe that since their original intentions are favorable, it¡¯s okay for them to be deceitful, and that¡¯s why they also say ¡®abandon the boat after disembarking,¡¯ which means that one should abandon the boat once he gets ashore. But in fact, the boat is not real and it doesn¡¯t exist. Buddha is concerned that people might hold grudges against him, so he foreshadows his own subtexts, which actually is saying ¡®look, I guided you to the most perfect situation, so forget my previous deception; you wouldn¡¯t have agreed toe if I didn¡¯t do that.''¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re indeed an evildoer,¡± L¨¹ Mian sneered.


    ¡°Huh,¡± Old Man Mu snorted in derision. ¡°I¡¯m an evildoer? I¡¯ve read more Buddhist scriptures than that you have heard of. Nine elder monks debated with me consecutively and three of them ended up splitting blood until they died. You tell me ¨C am I good?¡±


    ¡°They must have either been killed or scared to death by you,¡± Deng Yuanlei shouted stauntly, refusing to believe Old Man Mu¡¯s words as well.


    Old Man Mu almost got carried away and walked out of the corner, but he restrained himself and instead replied, ¡°You two are not even monks. Young and stupid, you don¡¯t know shit! As universal as Buddhism is, there¡¯s no Convenient Method that suits you. So just behave yourselves and practice the Qingcheng swordsmanship as you wait to be reincarnated into beasts.¡±


    ¡°Sect Leader, let me kill him.¡± Deng Yuanlei grew resentful at the taunting words.


    ¡°You were provoked so easily. Are you really a disciple of Qingcheng Sect?¡± L¨¹ Mian reprimanded, and then he lowered his voice. ¡°The Dragon King hasn¡¯t talked yet even though this is his dilemma. What¡¯s the hurry?¡±


    Deng Yuanlei blushed slightly, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t subdue his anger. As he gripped his sword, he was so eager to make his move that he didn¡¯t even notice the trembling of his wounded left leg.


    ¡°The original intention was kind, yet the tactic is deceptive?¡± Gu Shenwei came to a conclusion.


    ¡°You¡¯re much smarter than those two, Dragon King.¡± Old Man Mu outwardly gave apliment while actually thinking that he had exined it so clearly that anyone should have been able to understand it. ¡°And it¡¯s the same with ¡®sacrificing the body to verify the Dao.¡¯ As far as I¡¯m concerned, it is indeed a lie. But a Buddhist monk will tell you that ¡®piety will always be rewarded,¡¯ and he will back it up with a lot of obscure reasons, like ¡®formless me, formless thou, formless mortals, formless elders¡¯ and ¡®all forms formless,¡¯ but they actually just want to confuse you to death.¡±


    ¡°All forms formless,¡± Gu Shenwei repeated, recalling that the palm technique he had learned from the monk, Lianqing, was called the ¡°Formless Prajna Palm.¡±


    ¡°Ha.¡± Old Man Mu misunderstood the meaning behind the Dragon King¡¯s words. ¡°You see? This is the trap of the Convenient Method ¨C now you feel confused and want to seek an answer, right? Then you¡¯ll have to read Buddhist scriptures, consult a master, and kowtow to the Buddha, at which point you¡¯ll be in ¡®too deep.¡¯ There was a time when a bunch of monks told me that I had roots of wisdom, yet I ignored them thoroughly and instead chose to hold onto my freedom ¨C though the scenery on the opposite side is good, I enjoy the present side better, Ha-ha.¡±


    L¨¹ Mian snorted. ¡°Are you done talking? You want to ¡®sacrifice the body to verify the Dao¡¯ and be a Buddha? Now is the time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m done talking,¡± Gu Shenwei replied in a fairly hesitant voice. Old Man Mu had cleared up many of his questions ¨C more than what Old Man Mu thought.


    A string of footsteps echoed out from the corridor and Deng Yuanlei was startled, but then he realized that Han Fen was the only possible source of these footsteps.


    Han Fen had indeed returned and with only one thing from the room of the Waning Moon Hall ¨C a statue of the Master Commander about half a man¡¯s height tall. She acted like she had found the most precious treasure in the world, hugging it tightly as she ran andughed.


    ¡°Look, Dragon King! It is indeed the Master Commander.¡±


    At the door of the book chamber, Han Fen suddenly stopped. ¡°Why did you put out themps? Are you not afraid of ghosts? Why are you pointing your sword at me?¡±


    A venomous look appeared in Deng Yuanlei¡¯s eyes as he darkly exined, ¡°Sect Leader is about to kill the Dragon King. You¡¯d better stay outside.¡±


    ¡°Why do you want to kill the Dragon King?¡± Han Fen widened her eyes. ¡°The Master Commander never said anything about killing the Dragon King. You are not behaving.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei couldn¡¯t hold it in any longer, ¡°Master Commander this, Master Commander that; who told you that the Qingcheng Sect has to follow the orders of the Waning Moon Hall? You¡¯ve always been so intimate with Dragon King, I can tell at first sight that you have no sense of loyalty or righteousness. I¡¯ll kill you first.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei stabbed out with his sword, and Han Fen twisted one arm around the wooden statue. Then without any signs, a puff of powder shot out from her sleeve.


    Deng Yuanlei had been hit by the powder once already and learned his lesson, so he held his breath as he made his move. With a speed faster than that of Han Fen¡¯s, he moved to her left side instantly and stabbed at her with the sword.


    Han Fen¡¯s kung fu skill was not very good, and the heavy statue only slowed her down further, so she was no match for the Qingcheng Sect swordsman. With a scream, she covered her wound with her left hand, but she still refused to loosen her right arm. She backed up several steps and leaned against the wall. In a tearful voice, she cried out, ¡°Help me, Dragon King. I don¡¯t want to die here.¡±


    ¡°Finish the job,¡± L¨¹ Mian ordered in the darkness. He also had a grudge against Han Fen, and now that they had started fighting, it could only be finished through her death.


    Deng Yuanlei had been waiting for this moment for a long time. The sword in his hand was like an uncontroble venomous snake. It had just finished its probing attacks, and it had been longing to strike out with a lethal bite a long time ago.


    At this moment, Dragon King¡¯s voice wandered over, ¡°You feel anxious and impetuous. Have you wondered why?¡±


    Deng Yuanlei was shocked. He lowered his head and noticed his trembling wounded leg for the first time. Suddenly, his whole body started shaking, ¡°What, what did you say?¡±


    ¡°Churning blood, quivering limbs, violent heartbeats, and finally dying from spitting up blood ¨C Han Fen, what¡¯s the name of this powder?¡± Gu Shenwei had walked to the position where themplight met the darkness, revealing a faint shadowy figure.


    ¡°I know,¡± Han Fen yelled happily, but this movement strained her wound. She coughed twice in pain then resumed talking. ¡°The Boiling Blood Powder. Eek, why do you have that? That¡¯s a poison.¡±


    Deng Yuanlei wielded his sword, trying hard to control his trembling body, and sternly said, ¡°I didn¡¯t take it.¡±


    ¡°But you consumed the antidote to Indra Fragrance¡­ let me think¡­ Actually, you took it first. Sect Leader Lu took it after it was proved effective, so the poison is affecting you first.¡±


    Gu Shenwei cleared up some confusion and also bought himself some time. When he had been knocking down those possibly fake books, he had suddenly understood that Lotus would never hand over the genuine antidote. Back when they wanted to please the Khan, Waning Moon Hall had to showplete obedience to him, but sycophancy was the secret art they were best at.


    Deng Yuanlei had been standing under themplight this whole time. His restless behavior was just further proof of Gu Shenwei¡¯s spections.


    Deng Yuanlei fixedly watched Dragon King¡¯s faint figure, and then looked back at Han Fen who was sitting on the ground. Suddenly he screamed, ¡°I don¡¯t believe it!¡± and stabbed the sword at her.


    Deng Yuanlei was five steps away from Han Fen while Gu Shenwei was ten steps away, and yet the saber was faster than the sword.


    The body fell down with a thud. Thest strike didn¡¯t even register in Deng Yuanlei¡¯s mind.


    Han Fen lightly kicked at the body, her left hand still mping down on her wound. She turned the statue around and let it face the Dragon King, and with both a painful frown and heartfelt delight on her face, she said, ¡°Look, it¡¯s the Master Commander.¡±


    It was an unfinished wooden statue. The face was the only distinguishable part, and even that could be faintly identified as the face of a female. Yet, the intrinsic apathy resembled that of Lotus very much. The part beneath the neck was still rough trunk.


    Gu Shenwei turned around slowly. The moment when he had killed Deng Yuanlei was also the moment when his defense was at its most vulnerable, but L¨¹ Mian hadn¡¯t made a move, and even now he wasn¡¯t showing himself.


    Old Man Mu made a detour and sneaked his way past the Dragon King into the corridor. Giving a sigh of relief, he saw the statue in Han Fen¡¯s arms and softly said, ¡°It bears a great resemnce to her.¡±


    ¡°Cooperating with the Waning Moon Hall was the biggest mistake in my life,¡± L¨¹ Mian¡¯s voice was calm and peaceful, not at all like that of someone suffering from poison. Yet he still refused toe out of the darkness.


    ¡°What did she promise you?¡± Gu Shenwei asked, just as calmly as Lu Mian.


    ¡°The Khan¡¯s head.¡± L¨¹Mian bypassed the bookshelf and came out. ¡°And the Death Scripture swordsmanship.¡±


    Any swordsman would yearn for that unique swordsmanship after seeing it just once, but Gu Shenwei knew that Lotus would never impart that swordsmanship to other people ¨C that was something that would only ever be jointly owned by her and the Dragon King.


    ¡°Very well. It happens to be the swordsmanship I¡¯m about to perform anyway.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have a sword.¡±


    ¡°The Convenient Method¡¯s a lie, and so are sabers and swords. As long as it reaches the other side of the river, it makes no difference whether you use a saber or a sword.¡±


    Old Man Mu scratched his sideburns. ¡°Dragon King, you misunderstood. That¡¯s not what I meant. Actually, there is no ¡®other side.¡¯ Once you get on the boat, you¡¯ll end up drifting across the sea of misery forever.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t answer. At this moment, he could only see the enemy.


    The two made their moves at the same time. A saber and a sword ¨C there was a difference between them from whichever perspective they were seen.


    The two shed at the same time.

 Chapter 754 - A Broken Sword

    Chapter 754: A Broken Sword


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    What could happen in an instant? In dangerous circumstances, it could determine whether a bystander was a hero or a coward; in a duel between masters, it could change the destiny of a sure winner to that of a sure loser and determine one¡¯s life and death.


    L¨¹ Mian was a typical avenger. He had been secretly practicing very hard, and he didn¡¯t enter the martial arts world until he had built up enough confidence and was sure that his kung fu skill was better than his foe¡¯s.


    He believed in his swordsmanship.


    Stabbing the giant roc with a throwing knife and fighting 500 cavalrymen alone both further solidified his confidence.


    But he stillcked actualbat experience. In fact, other than countless spars with a partner, he had only participated in three face-to-face kung fupetitions. His first opponent was Deng Yuanlei, who had afterwards be a not-so-loyal follower of him. The second one was Liu Qingpu, and he gained the qualification to fight for the position of Sect Leader by defeating him.


    His third opponent was the Dragon King.


    After his brief interaction with the Dragon King, he knew for sure that the Dragon King¡¯s sabersmanship was not as good as his. Even after realizing that he had consumed a poison, he still believed that he could kill the Dragon King before the poison fully took effect and then force Han Fen to hand over the true antidote.


    When the saber and the sword shed, L¨¹ Mian, for the first time in his life, faced two choices in a life-or-death moment: run the risk of dying with the opponent by continuing with his attack, or dodge first and then strike back?


    This kind of experience could be encountered yet could not be sought. Just like a man who had trained to be a hero all his life could still panic like an ordinary people, he could even be scared to the point of breaking down. It was still an unpredictable instant that would determine his behavior: his armyrades¡¯ attitude, the enemies¡¯ attack, the topography, the weather¡­


    Training was not useless. The more prepared he was, the higher the chance of making the right choice ¨C but in the end, it was just a chance. No matter how he behaved outwardly, inwardly he had to fight against his powerful instincts.


    L¨¹Mian overpowered his instincts, rejected the option of dodging, and decided to keep attacking. His sabermanship was faster and more flexible, which meant that he would undoubtedly hit his enemy and retreat unharmed.


    With this experience, the strength of L¨¹ Mian¡¯s swordsmanship would reach yet another great level, and he would never hesitate again in a simr situation. Just like how those new recruits who panicked during their first battle would probably be valiant veterans in their second battle.


    Yet, he did hesitate, and his opponent was the Dragon King, who had much of the experience that was hard to acquire.


    The ultimate goal of the whole Death Scripture was to rid oneself of this hesitation during a fight, and this goal had almost sublimated to a doctrine.


    Gu Shenwei used to ept ¡°doctrines¡± without any doubts, but as his experience grew richer, he encountered more kung fu experts and also learned more kung fu skills. And this made him start to question those ¡°doctrines¡± ¨C every advanced kung fu manual imed their uniqueness and iparability, so why did the Death Scripture have to be the only correct one?


    Gu Shenwei hadprehended something from the story of ¡°sacrificing one¡¯s body to verify the Dao,¡± and even Old Man Mu¡¯s contradiction and contempt inspired him greatly.


    He made a move and stabbed forward, despite how vitive the few excessive movements were of the rules. He didn¡¯t choose to retreat like what he had done on the first asion of his sneak attack, and neither did he choose to dodge like what he did on the second asion of his being raided.


    This saber attack, despite being a little slower than the opponent¡¯s, and despite L¨¹ Mian¡¯s sword already entering his chest, was thrust out without the slightest hint of hesitation.


    L¨¹ Mian felt a coldness devour his heart. A thick, chilly flow spread out from the bottom of his stomach and gradually filled his the whole chest, which was the same exactly feeling as when he had learned that Liu Qingpu had taken the position of Sect Leader from him five years ago.


    There was anxiety in Old Man Mu¡¯s eyes.


    Han Fen appeared confused.


    Neither of them could tell who had won or lost.


    ¡°This is the Death Scripture¡¯s swordsmanship?¡± L¨¹ Mian asked, his voice sounding fairly bitter.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s different from her¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°This is the uniqueness of Death Scripture ¨C everyone can practice it in their own way.¡±


    ¡°I was not defeated under your saber.¡±


    ¡°Mm, your sword was faster than my saber. In terms of kung fu, you are better.¡±


    L¨¹ Mian backed up a step. The tips of the sword and the saber left their targets¡¯ chests, followed by a stream of blood.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have had the chance to hit me originally,¡± L¨¹ Mianined, still unconvinced.


    ¡°If we fight again, I don¡¯t think I would.¡±


    L¨¹Mian backed up another step, buckled at the knees, and leaned against the wall. ¡°We won¡¯t have the chance to fight again.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Gu Shenwei said more positively.


    ¡°You killed my brother Lu Xinghui,¡± L¨¹ Mian had never mentioned this to Dragon King before, but he recalled it at this moment.


    Technically speaking, it was Chu Nanping who had killed Lu Xinghui, but Gu Shenwei ignored the details and nodded.


    ¡°He hadn¡¯t mastered the swordsmanship yet. I shouldn¡¯t have let hime to the Royal Court.¡± L¨¹ Mian¡¯s arms drooped and the sword fell from his hand. ¡°The Luo family will avenge our death.¡±


    ¡°I know that.¡±


    ¡°Very well then.¡±


    Slowly, L¨¹ Mian fell down.


    Han Fen studied him curiously. Old Man Mu walked over, kicked him unceremoniously, then turned and calmly dered, ¡°He¡¯s dead.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took out some Jinchuang medicine with one hand. Old Man Mu immediately signaled for him to sit down and started dressing his wound, ¡°Doesn¡¯t the Death Scripture always kill the enemy in one move? Why did you still let him talk so much?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the user¡¯s heart that it kills with one move, not the enemy¡¯s.¡±


    Old Man Mu nodded gravely, ¡°Makes sense. So this is what it¡¯s about ¨C we should forget about things like life, death, victory and defeat, and just hold onto our determination to kill the enemy in one blow. Oh, isn¡¯t this what ¡®sacrificing one¡¯s body to verify the Dao¡¯ means? It seems that youprehended it after all, Dragon King.¡±


    Even Gu Shenwei himself didn¡¯t know if he had reallyprehended it, since he still had many question that he hoped would be answered by that old book. He had epted that it was indeed the Daoless Scroll, and it was a scroll of general principles.


    ¡°What did youprehend, Dragon King?¡± Han Fen craned her head from behind the statue as if these two were enjoying delicious food without inviting her.


    ¡°Something you would never understand with your brain.¡± Old Man Mu choked out her curiosity with an abrupt remark. Then he started dressing her stomach wound with the rest of the Jinchuang medicine and strips of cloth.


    Ever since he had seen the Death Scripture swordsmanship in the desert, Old Man Mu had be obsessed with it, and now he became even more intrigued. ¡°So the Death Scripture is also a kind of ¡®Convenient Method¡¯ ¨C the moves and techniques are the ¡®boat,¡¯ while ¡®the other side¡¯ is instant death. Upon arriving at ¡®the other side,¡¯ Dragon King can abandon moves, and even ignore the difference between a saber and a sword.¡±


    ¡°More or less. But about what ¡®the other side¡¯ is exactly, different people have different opinions.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your opinion?¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t answer.


    Old Man Mu smiled and said, ¡°Ah, Good Girl is about to be a Bodhisattva. Are you going to be a Buddha, Dragon King?¡±


    Han Fen watched the two people perplexedly, not understanding a single word. She just kept moving the statue close to the Dragon King and saying, ¡°Look, look¡­¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s room,¡± Gu Shenwei said as he suddenly stood up.


    Han Fen gave a jump excitedly, which worsened her wound. With a wince of pain she ran in front of them and offered, ¡°I¡¯ll lead the way.¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked at the two bodies on the ground, pointed at L¨¹Mian, and said, ¡°Take him with us.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Could be useful.¡±


    Old Man Mu curled his lips, and understood suddenly. ¡°You want me to carry the body?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t have any power.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took out the antidote made by Doctor Sun as he warned, ¡°Its efficacy¡¯s slow, so be patient.¡±


    Old Man Mu swallowed it immediately, then grabbed the legs of the body and started dragging it forward with a glum look on his face. But after a short while his face lit up, and he followed the Dragon King, asking all kinds of questions about the Death Scripture.


    Gu Shenwei only answered a few of them, and he eventually said, ¡°I¡¯ll never give you the Death Scripture.¡±


    ¡°I know ,I know.¡± Old Man Mu actually didn¡¯t have such unrealistic expectations. ¡°But even if I can¡¯t have it, there¡¯s no harm in asking, right? Actually, if you¡¯re willing to tell me more about it, I might be able to offer more help.¡±


    Old Man Mu did have an exceptional deep martial arts prowess many times deeper than that of Gu Shenwei and Lotus. Gu Shenwei had consulted many masters about other kung fu manuals, but when it came to the Death Scripture, he shared Lotus¡¯ opinion ¨C never tell anybody anything about it. He was willing to give some guidance to his subordinates, but he would never reveal the contents of the Death Scripture.


    After rounding a turn, they saw that Han Fen was waving at them.


    The room for the Waning Moon Hall was not very big, and there were not many items, most of which were bottles and potsbeled with the contents¡¯ name and general effect.


    Han Fen had been holding the statue all the way, and she didn¡¯t even care about her bleeding wound. She sniffed those bottles and pots one by one, muttering ¡°fake, fake, real, fake¡­¡± She took this chance to conveniently restocked her medicine reserve ¨C Old Man Mu had ruined a lot of her medicine.


    Gu Shenwei lost interest very soon, and yet Han Fen only became more and more excited. Eventually she even pulled out the stone coffin in the lower part of the tform and said, ¡°It¡¯s empty. After the Master Commander¡­ Eek, something¡¯s in here.¡±


    Han Fen stretched her arm and took out a sword. After hesitating for quite a while, she finally put the statue on the tform and whipped the sword out of its scabbard as she remarked, ¡°I¡¯ve seen it before. It belongs to the Master Commander.¡±


    A broken sword.


    Han Fen inverted the scabbard and dumped the other half of the sword out, and then investigated the broken sword. ¡°Ai¡­ quan¡­ huan¡­ what¡¯s the pronunciation of this character?¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t answer. Old Man Mu craned his neck and nced at it before answering, ¡°Huan. How do you not even know this? They don¡¯t teach you how to read in the Waning Moon Hall?¡±


    ¡°They do,¡± Han Fen replied as she scratched her head in embarrassment. ¡°I¡¯m not a good learner.¡±


    Old Man Mu raised his head and looked at the Dragon King meaningfully. He knew that the Dragon King¡¯s name was ¡°Yang Huan,¡± but he didn¡¯t remember that he was the reason why this sword was broken.


    ¡°You should leave the sword and the statue here,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    ¡°Why?¡± Han Fen held the sword with one hand and stretched the other hand to sp the statue, her eyes widening with a determined look.


    ¡°Because the Master Commander wants them to be here.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Han Fen was confused.


    Old Man Mu backed Gu Shenwei, saying, ¡°Sure she does. You see, Lotus took all the gold away. If she didn¡¯t want the statue and the sword to be here, she would have also taken them away already, right? You said it yourself that Lotus hates it when people make decisions without asking her¡­¡±


    Thest sentence was very effective on Han Fen and she obediently put the two parts of the sword back into the scabbard right away. Then she carefully ced the sword in the coffin, pushed the coffin back to where it was, returned the statue ¨C she worried that the position was not exactly the same as where it had originally been one and spent quite some time adjusting it, and atst she took out the medicines next to her chest, saying ¡°These can¡¯t be taken either.¡± And then she returned all the medicines one by one into those bottles ¨C it was amazing that she remembered it all so urately.


    ¡°The Qingcheng Sect guys said that Khan¡¯s head is here. Where is it?¡± Old Man Mu cared about ¡°treasure¡± very much.


    ¡°The opposite side.¡±


    The room on the other side belonged to wing guard Silver Condor and there was a lifelike wooden statue as well as many personal belongings there. A transparent crystal was mounted in the innermost wall, and through the crystal they could see the center of the mausoleum.


    This was a privilege that the Khan had granted Silver Condor.


    The center was like a huge tent and in there, the Khan¡¯s body was lying in a crystal coffin. Though the scene was not very clear, both his trunk and head were obviously there.


    ¡°It turns out that Mo Lin was really lying,¡± Old Man Mu indignantly shouted. ¡°Dragon King, smash the crystal, take the head, and confront Mo Lin face to face.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Gu Shenwei turned. ¡°I¡¯m afraid someone might not agree.¡±

 Chapter 755 - Suicide

    Chapter 755: Suicide


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Old Man Mu nced at the four people at the door and said rather gravely, ¡°Dragon King, you should¡¯ve given me the antidote sooner. Now it¡¯s toote. I¡¯m afraid that I¡¯ll have to ask you to fight all of them once again.¡±


    Though the four people were masked, Gu Shenwei already knew their identities. ¡°White Eagle, Red Kite, Sky Condor, Purple Vulture.¡±


    The four surviving wing guards of the Khan removed their masks and stared at the Dragon King vigntly. Atst, it was Red Kite who spoke up as the representative of the group. ¡°We won¡¯t allow anyone to desecrate the Khan¡¯s remains.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head and replied, ¡°Neither will I.¡±


    Red Kite sneered in response. ¡°So the Dragon King changed his mind that quickly. Would you like us to see you off?¡±


    ¡°That was what he said too.¡±


    Old Man Mu suddenly chipped in. ¡°Forget about my nonsense. If youe out a short whileter, you would¡¯ve heard the Dragon King refusing my suggestion. Ha-ha, also, Mo Lin is a friend of ours, so you should be our friends too¡­¡±


    Red Kite shook his head and replied, ¡°Mo Lin¡¯s a traitor. Now that you¡¯vee, you have to stay here forever.¡±


    ¡°That can¡¯t be true. You see, the Khan has specially dedicated a room to Silver Condor. Ha-ha, I noticed that you guys don¡¯t have one. As for us, the Khan didn¡¯t like us at all, so there¡¯s no need for us to stay here with him.¡±


    ¡°There are plenty of rooms here, and some of them will stay empty, their residents never returning. These empty rooms, conveniently, can be used to house you.¡± Red Kite was immune to Old Man Mu¡¯s mischief, and was determined to have these intruders remain behind in the mausoleum.


    Han Fen chipped in too, saying, ¡°I want to choose my room if we have to stay.¡±


    ¡°Suit yourself,¡± Red Kite sharply replied.


    ¡°It was you all who stopped the Waning Moon Hall from raiding the mausoleum,¡± Gu Shenwei suddenly made an irrelevant remark, seemingpletely ignoring the threat in front of him.


    Red Kite was slightly caught off guard and answered, ¡°The Master Commander thought that she was the only one who knew about the secrets of the mausoleum. Once she discovered that she was not the only one, she immediately gave up her tomb-raiding efforts. Humph, it turned out she was also afraid that her misdeeds of desecration would be heard by the whole grasnds.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not fair,¡± Old Man Mu said angrily. ¡°Lotus took all the gold and left unharmed, while we just came in by mistake, but we are the ones who have to stay forever?¡±


    ¡°The Waning Moon Hall was just lucky. Someone will bring back the Master Commander¡¯s body eventually.¡±


    ¡°I think that Mo Lin¡¯s a traitor,¡± Gu Shenwei spected, hinting that Mo Lin was the only one who was suitable for this task.


    ¡°Mo Lin¡¯s a traitor but Silver Condor isn¡¯t,¡± Red Kite mysteriously replied, with a hint of a smile on the corner of his mouth and a ghost of sneer smeared across his face.


    ¡°The Wing guards of the Khan also y with words?¡± Old Man Mu responded to the sneer with contempt. ¡°Does Mo Lin think that changing his name can change the fact that he¡¯s a traitor? Ridiculous. Are you a bunch of kids?¡±


    Old Man Mu raised his closed fist and aimed at the four people. The hand opened and a small bottle shot forward and exploded in front of Red Kite. The four wing guards all held their breath and whipped out their scimitars in unison. In the face of danger, all of them remainedposed.


    It was at this very moment that Gu Shenwei made his move. Old Man Mu had attracted part of the enemies¡¯ attention, and his killer¡¯s instincts refused to give up any tiny advantage.


    Gu Shenwei had once been mobbed by the four wing guards and nearly been killed. This time around, Red Kite had reced Silver Condor, but that didn¡¯t weaken their attack one bit.


    The target of his first saber attack was not Red Kite, who was the closest to him, but rather the wing guard who was the furthest away. Three scimitars flew at him, yet he didn¡¯t switch targets.


    Han Fen hadn¡¯t quite understood what these people were saying, but she knew what she should do. The moment Old Man Mu made his move, she also bent over and started moving, throwing out various sacks of powder.


    In just a brief moment, the room had been filled with colorful smoke. Both sides could barely see the opposing parties.


    Gradually, the smoke dispersed. Howver, no one could be seen in the room. The Wing guards and the Dragon King were all kung fu experts, and Old Man Mu was highly experienced, so Han Fen¡¯s knockout powder hadn¡¯t knocked anyone down.


    Four wing guards were lying in the corridor. Two of them had been stabbed in the chest by a saber, and the other two¡¯s faces were pale with blood dripping out from the corners of their mouths ¨C clearly, they had been hit by the Dragon King¡¯s frosty Qi.


    Their main priority had been to evade the knockout powder, but Gu Shenwei had attacked and pursued them with his full strength, which gave him an advantage in their engagement. Even so, wing guards were still surprised by Dragon King¡¯s kung fu prowess.


    ¡°Ha, the Dragon King¡¯s made some progress in his sabersmanship again.¡± White Eagle was the eldest wing guard and he had fought Dragon King before, which was why he could sense the difference between the two fights.


    Red Kite had been hit by a palm attack, and he had heard that the frosty Qi would wear off over time as long as the victim protected their heart meridian. But the Dragon King¡¯s palm technique seemed to have changed ¨C it now rampaged in his body more ferociously, which meant that he would suffer more severe internal injuries if he didn¡¯t control the frosty Qi. ¡°You¡¯ve won again.¡±


    Gu Shenwei put away his saber and ced it on the ground along with his scabbard. ¡°I¡¯m not going to take anything from the Khan¡¯s mausoleum, let alone his remains. Now you can believe me.¡±


    The four wing guards shared a nce with one another ¨C they had lost the battle and were nowmbs waiting to be ughtered, so indeed they could believe him now.


    ¡°And you won¡¯t tell anybody the secrets of this mausoleum?¡± White Eagle asked, mping the wound on his chest.


    ¡°I won¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°And the other two?¡±


    Old Man Mu puffed out his chest. ¡°The Dragon King won¡¯t, and I won¡¯t either. As for Han Fen, she will only tell Lotus, but since Lotus already knows, that doesn¡¯t count as telling. And one more thing, Dragon King, there¡¯s absolutely no need to keep it a secret ¨C I mean, the Court Attendants Army already believes that the Khan¡¯s in the heaven anyway, and there¡¯s so much treasure here¡­ Even if we ourselves don¡¯t need it, it would be an act of charity to use it to help the poor.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare do that,¡± the four wing guards shouted almost simultaneously.


    ¡°Lotus took the gold and yet nothing happened to her. Isn¡¯t that true?¡± Old Man Mu took a step forward, his hands feeling itchy.


    A beseeching look finally appeared on White Eagle¡¯s face. ¡°There are plenty of treasure in the outside halls. If the Dragon King needs them¡­ you can take all of those. There are actually not many precious items in these inside rooms¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not changing my mind. I won¡¯t take anything from here.¡±


    Old Man Mu sighed and shook his head repeatedly. Then he took out some jewelry, dropped them onto the ground, raised his head to look at the oilmps on the wall, and spoke no more.


    Han Fen hesitated for a while, then she also took out several items and put them on the ground. But they were all personal belongings ¨C a handkerchief, needle and thread, and so on ¨C she hadn¡¯t understood their words at all.


    ¡°I trust the Dragon King,¡± White Eagle said, and then he suddenly grabbed the scimitar on the ground, pointed the de upwards, and fell down heavily with his neck facing the de.


    Sky Condor, Purple Vulture didn¡¯t say a word and killed themselves in the same way.


    Red Kite was the only one left. By now, Old Man Mu waspletely lost. ¡°Hold on. Please exin to me ¨C what are you doing? The Dragon King has already spared your lives. Do you really care so much about your pride? You barely got hurt and you have tomit suicide?¡±


    After ncing at the other three who were dead, Red Kite¡¯s face turned even paler. ¡°The wing guards once took an oath. We voluntarily agreed to be buried with the Khan. Yet after the Khan¡¯s death, in order to seek vengeance and guard the mausoleum, we never had the chance to fulfill ourmitment. Now it¡¯s Silver Condor¡¯s responsibility to avenge the Khan¡¯s death, and as for the guarding of mausoleum¡­ we will entrust the Dragon King with that duty. So it¡¯s about time we met the Khan.¡±


    Old Man Mu couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°You guys are all smart people. Why do you have to be so stubborn? Silver Condor¡¯s at least got a statue, and yet you four have nothing. Why take it so seriously?¡±


    Red Kite smiled. He couldn¡¯t find a reason, and he also didn¡¯t intend on answering. ¡°The exits of the silver and gold halls are all blocked. Only the exit of the emerald hall is left.¡±


    Red Kite didn¡¯t kill himself by falling towards a scimitar. Instead, he took the scimitar, aimed at his neck first, then switched to his stomach and finally said, ¡°Please do me a favor, Dragon King.¡±


    Old Man Mu thought that this was his only chance, so he quickly moved forward with a single step, said ¡°I¡¯ll do it¡±, and pushed the scimitar into the stomach. The blood flowing out of the corner of Red Kite¡¯s mouth was as bright as a blooming rose in Old Man Mu¡¯s eyes.


    The four bodies were left where they were ¨C they hadn¡¯t requested a burial, so Gu Shenwei wouldn¡¯t bother doing that.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s power gradually recovered, and now he could walk faster even with L¨¹ Mian¡¯s body pinned to his waist. ¡°The people of the Central ins are stubborn, while Nonders are even more so. s, why do people like them even exist?¡±


    Gu Shenwei barely talked along the way back. These people, who in Old Man Mu¡¯s eyes were obstinate, were the exact kind of servant that all emperors were in desperate need of and spent much effort in nurturing.


    Two perspectives were fighting against each other in Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind. One of them was the same as Old Man Mu¡¯s, which was that this kind of loyalty was stupid; the other was Marshal Yang¡¯s. Even though he was already dead, his deed of venturing into Golden Roc Castle alone was the most standard version of ¡°being stubborn.¡±


    Gu Shenwei caged them both into a corner of his mind he had never touched before. He preferred choosing strategies that corresponded best to the path beneath his feet rather thanmitting to any one fixed principle.


    Old Man Mu had been nagging for quite a while before he suddenly recalled an issue. ¡°Han Fen, the Dragon King and I are about to leave this ce. You¡¯re not going to y any tricks on us at thest moment, are you? I noticed that you haven¡¯t talked in quite a while. It seems that you¡¯ve got a problem or something.¡±


    Han Fen pointed at the wound in her side. ¡°It hurts a little, so I don¡¯t want to talk. The Master Commander made it very clear that I should put the Dragon King in the dungeon if he¡¯s powerless; if not, I shouldn¡¯t take any risks. Now that you¡¯ve regained your power and I¡¯m no match for you, there¡¯s nothing I can do anymore.¡±


    The three were now walking through a dark tunnel. Han Fen was leading the way, carrying an oilmp in each of her hands with an extra one on her head. Old Man Mu was right behind her. He giggled and said, ¡°So you¡¯re our prisoner now, Han Fen.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Han Fen agreed without any hesitation as she didn¡¯t care at all. ¡°I¡¯d love to be Dragon King¡¯s prisoner.¡±


    After walking for an unknown long distance, they finally reached the end, and the valley Han Fen had once mentioned was right outside. Old Man Mu couldn¡¯t help but swear, ¡°That little bastard lied to us. Otherwise we wouldn¡¯t have had to walk so far.¡±


    At the end of the tunnel, there was a metal paling blocking the way. It was made of refined steel, and every bar was as thick as a man¡¯s wrist. Even if Old Man Mu had all of his former power and joined his force with that of the Dragon King¡¯s, they still wouldn¡¯t be able to break it.


    They gave it a try, and true to its image, the paling didn¡¯t yield even a little bit.


    Right outside, the run was rising, but they were stuck here. Old Man Mu became indignant and swore at the wing guards¡¯ names. Then he asked the Dragon King, ¡°Now what? Shall we try the other exits?¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked into the sky outside, ¡°Wait here.¡± Then he whistled.


    ¡°You can summon the giant bird here? I don¡¯t think it¡¯s got enough strength to break this paling.¡± Old Man Mu was skeptical.


    Yet Han Fen became excited. She dropped themps and hurried to the paling, looking into the sky together with the Dragon King, ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to see the giant bird. Master Commander says that it¡¯s very cool.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s whistle gradually grew louder.


    Old Man Mu unceremoniously sat on L¨¹ Mian¡¯s body, ¡°You guys are so tough. I¡¯m starving. One more minute and I¡¯m going to start eating human flesh.¡±


    For the next two hours, Gu Shenwei whistled intermittently, yet the giant roc never showed up.


    Old Man Mu looked at the dead body and licked his lips. Then he pounced on the paling and shouted, ¡°God, even a small bird would be nice.¡±


    Puff! In response to his call, something dropped out of the sky. Only, it was not a bird but rather a rope.

 Chapter 756 - Spreading One’s Wings

    Chapter 756: Spreading One¡¯s Wings


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Tu Pianpian was the first one to climb down the rope and as shended on a rock, her eyes met Old Man Mu¡¯s instantly.


    Old Man Mu turned his head to the Dragon King and said, ¡°This is not the bird I asked God for. It¡¯s yours, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Tu Pianpian sneered. ¡°Looks like I¡¯m in the wrong ce. Okay. I¡¯ll go up there and tell them to leave right away.¡±


    Old Man Mu hurriedly stretched his arms out to stop her and with a ttering smile, he said, ¡°Not a bird¡­ a fairy. I must have done many charitable actions recently, so God showed me great mercy by sending you down here. How did you know that we were trapped here?¡±


    Tu Pianpian pointed at the sky, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s big bird¡¯s been circling around up there, so I decided toe down and check.¡±


    ¡°God¡¯s will!¡± Old Man Mu assumed a look of melodramatic excitement. ¡°Pianpian, did you feel that? It is God¡¯s will.¡±


    Tu Pianpian¡¯s orange-peel-like cheeks blushed, and yet she soon said in a colder voice, ¡°Get away from me. The Kongtong Sect¡¯s got some unfinished business with you and we¡¯ll deal with thatter. Now let me talk to the Dragon King.¡±


    Old Man Mu stepped aside with great respect. As he turned around, he signaled for the Dragon King to try to please the old woman outside like he had.


    ¡°What¡¯s your price?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    ¡°The Dragon King went straight to the point.¡±


    ¡°Like I always do.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Tu Pianpian¡¯s forthright, severe look reappeared on her face, ¡°I¡¯ll get you out and you¡¯ll give me the Khan¡¯s head.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t. Because it¡¯s not mine to give,¡± Gu Shenwei calmly replied, secretly gauging the distance between him and Tu Pianpian. It was only five feet, but Tu Pianpian was also a kung fu expert, and it would be fairly difficult to catch her in one move.


    ¡°Ha.¡± Tu Pianpian didn¡¯t seem to believe him. But instead of insisting, she made another offer. ¡°All right. No matter what, you did show me mercy once, and you also saved Fan Yongda¡¯s life. I can¡¯t believe that my silly younger brother was foolish enough to pledge allegiance to you. Thus, the moment you go up there, I want you to dismiss Dog Butcher and Fan Yongda and never contact them again ¨C the Kongtong Sect will never have anything to do with the Dragon King from now on.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough. But-¡±


    ¡°But what?¡± Tu Pianpian widened her eyes and Old Man Mu thought, ¡®The old woman would not so ugly if her eyes were a little bigger.¡¯


    ¡°But I hope that we can let them choose for themselves.¡±


    ¡°Ha, you¡¯re not hoping that Dog Butcher and Fan Yongda would betray their Sect for you, are you?¡±


    ¡°I know that they won¡¯t betray their sect, but it does no harm for them to have a choice.¡±


    ¡°Deal.¡± Tu Pianpian raised her palm first.


    Gu Shenwei exchanged a p with her to close the deal. Old Man Mu and Han Fen also stretched out their arms, though they were ignored by Tu Pianpian. The former two exchanged a nce instead to fulfill their wishes.


    It was no easy job to break the refined steel paling, and they were terribly short of tools ¨C they had only four chisels in total. Luckily, the disciples of the Kongtong Sect were all very strong. They took turns excavating the wall and their progress was not slow at all.


    Old Man Mu suggested that they get the troops ¨C they had all the tools they needed in the army camp and could speed up the excavation considerably. Yet Tu Pianpian pretended to not hear him as she was determined to get the three out, only with the Kongtong Sect.


    They kept working and the paling finally loosened in the afternoon. Gu Shenwei and the others pushed with great force and eventually cleared the exit.


    Old Man Mu picked up L¨¹ Mian¡¯s body and walked out of the tunnel. Then he took a deep breath, ¡°Ah, why do I feel that even the air¡¯s much fresher past the grate?¡±


    A few disciple of the Kongdong Sect recognized the body and were startled. And the gaze they gave the Dragon King became quite different.


    An expanding shadow appeared above their heads. The disciples of the Kongtong Sect were startled once again and leaped several steps backwards at the same time.


    Hardly had Old Man Mu raised his head and started talking when the body in his arms was suddenly taken away.


    The red-crowned giant roc still remembered this human who had hurt it. It grabbed the body and started tearing, pecking, and stamping at it violently. In a short while, L¨¹ Mian¡¯s corpse had be unrecognizable scraps of flesh mixed with blood.


    The disciples of the Kongtong Sect were all shocked. Some of them grabbed the rope and tried to climb up but their strength seemed missing.


    Old Man Mu curled his lips. ¡°You see, kids? Make sure you don¡¯t offend the divine bird.¡±


    The disciples of the Kongtong Sect repeatedly nodded their heads in a hurry.


    After venting its anger, the red-crowned giant roc rubbed its long bloodstained beak alongside Gu Shenwei¡¯s front and back intimately.


    Han Fen finally saw the giant bird and she was so amazed by it that she couldn¡¯t even close her mouth. She stretched her trembling arms outt and slowly moved towards it.


    The giant roc stopped its movements abruptly and stared at this bold human with its two eyes that were as red as fire.


    Old Man Mu reminded her kindly, ¡°Don¡¯t be silly, Han Fen. It¡¯s not some kind of kitty or puppy that was raised by the Dragon King.¡±


    Yet Han Fen didn¡¯t seem to hear him and was still edging closer to it, muttering, ¡°Let me be your servant. Feeding, bathing, joking, I can do anything. And after I die, you can just tear me apart and toss me to the ends of the earth.¡±


    The giant roc started raising its feathers slowly, and Gu Shenwei felt that the situation was getting a little dangerous. ¡°Han Fen, stop.¡±


    Yet, Han Fen seemed to have lost her sanity and she stretched her arms and tried to touch the feathers on the chest of the giant roc.


    The red-crowned giant roc lowered its head and peck once. Then, before Han Fen could react, it pped its wings, generated a whirlwind, and flew up. It circled a circle once above their heads before flying into the higher further sky.


    The back of Han Fen¡¯s left hand was bleeding badly. She cried, but not because of the pain. She asked the Dragon King, ¡°Does it not like me?¡±


    ¡°The people it doesn¡¯t like always die under its sharp beak. You¡¯re still alive, so that means it likes you ¨C I have a scar on my leg myself.¡±


    Han Fen smiled through her tears. She kissed the wound on the back of her hand and dered loudly with her bloodstained mouth, ¡°I¡¯ll remember this wound. The next time we meet, I¡¯ll try to get a second one on the other hand.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t say how long it was going to be before they met the bird again. Nothing could restrain the giant roc and it was now flying far away. No one knew when it would return. Gu Shenwei had also been feeling that it was relying less and less on him and that sooner orter, it would leave him for good.


    After arriving at the mountaintop, several dozen disciples of the Kongtong Sect were standing in neat rows and there were also a dozen disciples of other sects present as witnesses. Dog Butcher and Fan Yongda were heading the procession, waiting for the Dragon King to free them from their pledge ¨C Tu Pianpian hadn¡¯t even let them go down to help with the rescue.


    ¡°Today, the Kongtong Sect saved me from adversity, which is enough to offset all the enmity between us, so I give my consent to the freedom of Dog Butcher and Fan Yongda. From now on, you no longer have any obligations to serve me.¡±


    Tu Pianpian was very satisfied with the Dragon King¡¯s remarks. ¡°See? What did I tell you? The Dragon King made this decision of his own free will. He¡¯s standing right here right now, and nobody can force him. You two may return to the Kongtong Sect.¡±


    Fan Yongda didn¡¯t hesitate. He bowed to pay respect to Tu Pianpian. ¡°Aunt Master.¡±


    Tu Pianpian smiled, which she didn¡¯t do very often as she replied back, ¡°You are a good disciple of Kongtong Sect who know how to repay your gratitude.¡±


    But Dog Butcher didn¡¯t say anything. Tu Pianpian¡¯s look turned cold as she chastised, ¡°Dog Butcher, what are you waiting for?¡±


    ¡°You said that¡­ the Dragon King would allow me to choose,¡± Dog Butcher said hesitantly.


    ¡°You still want to be the Dragon King¡¯s ve?¡± Tu Pianpian reprimanded.


    ¡°No no,¡± Dog Butcher denied hurriedly. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a ve.¡±


    Looking at his younger brother, Tu Pianpian looked relieved. ¡°You¡¯re a grown man now, so you should learn to make your own decisions. This time around, we came to Royal Court. Although we haven¡¯t gotten the Khan¡¯s head yet, Old Man Mu¡¯s clearly no match for you. So many years¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu chipped in, ¡°Hey, hey, we haven¡¯t even fought yet. How do you know that I¡¯m no match for him? It¡¯s Dog Butcher¡­ he¡¯s timid. Let me have apetition against him right now if you don¡¯t believe me.¡±


    Tu Pianpian ignored him and resumed talking. ¡°So many years¡¯ hard work have not been in vain. Sect Leader will be proud of you when you return to the mountain.¡±


    Dog Butcher nodded repeatedly. Yet after his elder sister finished talking, he said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to go back.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Tu Pianpian¡¯s attitude changed drastically, and her crutch sank heavily, by more than a foot, into the ground.


    ¡°But I also won¡¯t be anybody¡¯s ve.¡± Dog Butcher¡¯s face was restlessly switching between red and white, like a disobedient teenager trying to reason with his mother. ¡°I¡­ I¡­ want to spread my wings in the martial arts world.¡±


    Tu Pianpian frowned. She had never expected that her younger brother would say something like this. ¡°But you will be sixty years old next year.¡±


    ¡°I know. But I have been practicing kung fu for so many years, and beforeing to Royal Court, the only actual kung fupetition I took part in was against Old Man Mu¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not true. You have been in all kinds of kung fupetitions since you were fifteen ¨C they should number at least a hundred, and you won almost all of them. Why do you think people gave you the title ¡®Old Immortal Dog Butcher?¡¯¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s different.¡± Dog Butcher flushed in his anxiety and he couldn¡¯t find the proper words to express his feelings. ¡°What I am talking about are ¡®real kung fupetitions¡¯ ¨C the kind that gives me buckets of cold sweat, the kind that I will never forget throughout my whole life.¡±


    Old Man Mu giggled secretly, and said to the Dragon King in a low voice, ¡°Dog Butcher said he ¡®would never forget¡¯ me. Ha. Yet I don¡¯t remember a damn thing ¨C except that I once kicked his ass really badly.¡±


    Tu Pianpian frowned more and more tightly, ¡°It¡¯s very simple if you want to spread your wings in the martial arts world. Juste back with me to the Central ins, and I¡¯ll bring you to visit all the sects and schools.¡±


    Dog Butcher shook his head firmly. ¡°There are too many rules in the Central ins and that¡¯s not what I want. Elder sister¡­ Senior Sister, please allow me to make my own decision.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense! You¡¯re an old man who¡¯s going to die in a few decades, not a teenager ¨C how could you possibly abdicate your position of Kongdong Sect Elder and talk about such nonsense as ¡®spreading your wings in the martial arts world?¡¯ Come back with me.¡±


    Dog Butcher¡¯s head drooped lower and lower, and yet he didn¡¯t move at all. Fan Yongda also ventured at persuading her. ¡°Aunt Master, Uncle Master Dog Butcher¡¯s kung fu is excellent and he can take care of hims¡ª¡±


    ¡°Bullshit! Who allowed you to talk? I¡¯ll deal with youter.¡± Tu Pianpian was furious and started striding away. After a few steps, she said to those disciples who were confused and adrift, ¡°What are you waiting for? Move!¡±


    The disciples of the Kongtong Sect and other sects followed her hurriedly. Fan Yongda was thest one to leave. He cupped his hands before his chest in a gesture of subordinance and said to the Dragon King, ¡°You saved my life and I may never repay the favor¡­¡±


    ¡°Like I said, we¡¯re even.¡±


    Fan Yongda still felt guilty. He tightly bit his lower lip with his upper teeth, and finally made up his mind. He walked beside the Dragon King, craned his neck and said in a low voice, ¡°Wei Song seems to have a series of ns for the Western Regions. Dragon King¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be cautious about it.¡± Gu Shenwei knew what he was hinting at.


    Fan Yongda nodded and hurried to catch up with the disciples of his sect.


    Gu Shenwei looked at the sinking sun in the distance, wondering how the kung fupetition he had missed had gone. Then he turned to talk to Dog Butcher. ¡°Are you the Dog Butcher who¡¯s about to spread his wings in the martial arts world for the first time?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s me in the flesh,¡± Dog Butcher puffed out his chest. Although his face still looked a little pale, it was filled with a smile.


    ¡°I¡¯m the Dragon King of the Western Regions, and I could use some help. The pay is good, with many perks. Would you like to join me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d love to. I don¡¯t care about the pay. Just don¡¯t kick me aside when you go on an adventure.¡±


    In the distance, Tu Pianpian¡¯s voice suddenly came over. ¡°Little doggy, don¡¯t youe back without achieving anything.¡±


    Dog Butcher was deeply embarrassed.


    Gu Shenwei nced at him, and thought ¡®It¡¯s nice to have an elder sister.¡¯

 Chapter 757 - Fear

    Chapter 757: Fear


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Han Wuxian was sitting on a man¡¯s back with her legs crossed. The man was prostrated on all fours, sweating buckets, and yet he didn¡¯t dare to move a single muscle.


    A young woman was kneeling opposite Han Wuxian. Her upper body was straight and if people took a close look at her, they would find that she was quivering involuntarily.


    Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong were standing to her left and right side respectively, each with a saber in their hands, and they were facing more than thirty kung fu practitioners who were holding various kinds of weapons.


    They were surrounded, and yet Han Wuxian seemed indifferent, calmlybing her long hair carefully as if the people around her, who had venomous looks in their eyes were her admirers enjoying her iparable beauty.


    These people had all heard of the legendary horror of this woman. Some of them believed the tales and some others ignored it ¨C they were people of the Central ins and they didn¡¯t even fear the kung fu experts of Nond, let alone a wicked woman from the Western Regions. A stout man who was around forty years old or more took a step forward and shouted, ¡°Hall Leader Han, our Brotherhood Gang has never had any grudges with you. Why did youe to our territory, capture vice gang leader Zhao, and try to provoke us?¡±


    Vice gang leader Zhao was the man currently beneath Han Wuxian. He was the vice leader of the Brotherhood Gang and yet now was being used as a mount for a woman, which made the members of the gang feel greatly humiliated and indignant.


    Han Wuxian opened her right hand and stroked vice gang leader Zhao¡¯s head as if he were an obedient dog. ¡°Tell them, why am I being so good to you?¡±


    Vice gang leader Zhao still didn¡¯t dare to move. In a quivering voice, he said, ¡°It¡¯s me. I deserve to die ten thousand times for the crime I¡¯vemitted. I was tempted by a traitor of the Waning Moon Hall into secretly joining the Barren Sect.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the Barren Sect?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an¡­ an affiliated organization of the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    The crowd knew about the intimate rtionship between the vice gang leader and the young woman, and they¡¯d also heard of Waning Moon Hall, but none of them knew about the Barren Sect. Secretly serving a second organization was a great taboo in prestigious sects, but for these loose gangs, it was prettymon, and some people were even proud of it.


    The stout man took another step forward, ¡°We won¡¯t interfere in the internal affairs of your sect. You can do whatever you want to this woman, but please let vice gang leader Zhao go. We can resolve any issue through mediation.¡±


    Han Wuxian smiled, first in a gentle manner, but it gradually transitioned into a hystericalughter. The piercingugh frightened the crowd from the tips of their hair down to the marrow of their bones, yet they still refused to back away.


    ¡°Resolve any issue through mediation?¡± Han Wuxian suddenly stoppedughing and looked at the young woman opposite her. ¡°Tell me, Han Ke. Why did you want to be a traitor?¡±


    ¡°Because Master Commander cares about all people, while you-¡±


    ¡°Han Ke, I was good to you,¡± Han Wuxian interrupted in a gentle tone. ¡°Back then you were a little unqualified and it was me who gave you a second chance. So don¡¯t lie to me like Han Qin did. She doesn¡¯t lie any more, does she? ¡®All people?¡¯ Do you even know how to write those two characters?¡±


    Han Ke¡¯s trembling grew even worse. She opened her mouth as if she were about to say something, yet she choked down her words anyway.


    The stout man felt ignored and wielded his saber. ¡°Hall Leader Han, don¡¯t refuse a toast only to down a loss. You humiliated vice gang leader in front of his men. None of the members of our Brotherhood Gang will let you get away with this.¡±


    ¡°Nie Zeng,¡± Han Wuxianmanded.


    Nie Zeng took a step forward and leaped towards the stout man. When he was about a dozen steps away from the target, heunched an attack by adjusting his direction and then stabbed his narrow saber at the left side of the target.


    The crowd hadn¡¯t expected this teenager to attack without warning, so they all started using him of a sneak attack. Yet the stout man was startled. He raised his saber and was just able to parry the opponent¡¯s first strike, but failed to fully mobilize his internal Qi, and so his opponent gained and held the upper hand in the battle.


    Nie Zeng¡¯s saber attacks were growing quicker and quicker, and his movement even faster. He switched his position around the target constantly, which forced the stout man to turn around with every move. Thus the stout man fluster made his position grow worse and worse.


    Nie Zeng¡¯s fifteenth saber attack hit his target sessfully. Thepact man took a hit in his neck and the blood started spraying out like a fountain. He dropped his saber and covered the wound with both hands, his head tilting as if he were pondering over something. A short whileter, his hands stopped moving and he fell to the ground, dead.


    The stout man was one of the few kung fu experts of the gang, and yet he had been killed by this teenager in only a few moves, which scared the gang members. A ck, thin man stepped out of the crowd, holding a pair of iron hooks. ¡°You¡¯re such a ferocious guy. I¡¯m-¡±


    ¡°Tie Linglong,¡± Han Wuxianmanded again.


    Tie Linglong had been yearning for this. She leaped forward and started attacking frenziedly, each and every saber attack aimed at the opponent¡¯s vital parts.


    She hadn¡¯t been through any rigorous killer training. And when she had been learning from Gu Shenwei, he had already started removing some of his killer¡¯s habits from the sabersmanship he imparted to her. Thus, her sabersmanship had more direct frontal attacks mixed in, and her speed was even faster than Nie Zeng¡¯s, let alone her moves¡¯ unpredictability and diversity.


    Nie Zeng had finished his job in fifteen saber attacks. She was determined to do it in fewer.


    Though the ck thin man didn¡¯t have enough time to say his name, he was better prepared than the stout man. With his double hooks working in tandem, he didn¡¯t let his opponent get the upper hand. The gang members regained their confidence and soon started cheering.


    Tie Linglong had been counting her attacks secretly and she finally detected a w in her opponent on her thirteenth saber attack. She believed that the ck thin man would either be killed or injured by this saber attack.


    However, someone took that opportunity away from her.


    A dagger appeared between the two. Tie Linglong backed up three steps. The ck thin man¡¯s double hooks flew away from his hands and he also backed several steps consecutively before struggling to gain his footing.


    ¡°Dragon King!¡± Tie Linglong gave a yell of delight, the anger in her heart dispersed before fully forming.


    The Dragon King had shown up alone. Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher weren¡¯t present.


    Gu Shenwei said loudly, ¡°All members of the Brotherhood Gang, leave the camp. Now.¡±


    ¡°But vice gang leader Zhao¡­¡± someone still wouldn¡¯t let it go.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes swept around the faces of those people, ¡°He¡¯s not worthy of his vice gang leader position. Why do you still want him back?¡±


    The Brotherhood Gang was a loose organization and the bond between the members was more like ¡°strange brothers who hadn¡¯t seen each other for many years¡±. Seeing that even the two teenagers at Han Wuxian¡¯smand were so skilled at kung fu, and that there was now also a Dragon King whose power was unknown to them, the thirty plus men lost their confidence. Nobody knew who took the lead, but the crowd dispersed all at once, including the ck thin man ¨C he didn¡¯t even try to retrieve his double hooks, and he was actually even more scared than the others, because the power that the Dragon King had disyed by disarming him with a single dagger move was beyond his imagination.


    ¡°It¡¯s so nice of you to dismiss my enemies, Dragon King,¡± Han Wuxian smiled.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to waste any time here.¡±


    Tie Linglong didn¡¯t sense the hostility in their words, and she happily said, ¡°We have been searching this camp for two days. Hall Leader Han discovered the underground chamber, but the Dragon King was not there. Most of the people from the Central ins have left by now, and the Brotherhood Gang was the only organization that refused to do so. Hall Leader Han said that they must be up to something, and then we really found a traitor of Waning Moon Hall in their tent, but she refused to tell us your whereabouts. Where exactly have you been? And why are your saber and sword missing?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story. Your sabersmanship¡¯s getting better. But why are you killing again? Chu Nanping¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention him,¡± Tie Linglong gloomily said as her delight instantly vanished.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t have time to inquire about the rtionship between the teenagers. Instead, he asked ¡°How¡¯s the kung fupetition against Qingcheng Sect?¡±


    ¡°No idea. The Qingcheng Sect hasn¡¯t returned since they left for our camp yesterday,¡± Tie Linglong replied.


    A smile of extreme delight suddenly appeared on Han Wuxian¡¯s face. ¡°It turns out that the Dragon King¡¯s brought me a gift. Little Han Fen,e to me.¡±


    Han Fen walked out from behind a deserted tent and kept a long distance from Han Wuxian. In a low voice, she said, ¡°Greetings, Hall Leader.¡±


    ¡°How can I be unhappy with you traitors in front of me?¡±


    Han Fen pointed at Dragon King and said in an almost humble tone, ¡°I¡¯m the Dragon King¡¯s prisoner.¡±


    Han Wuxian raised her head to look at Gu Shenwei and gave a smile as sweet as caramelized sugar. ¡°I hope that this is the Dragon King¡¯s gift to me.¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Gu Shenwei said bluntly. ¡°I still have ns for her. You can¡¯t have her.¡±


    Han Wuxian¡¯s smile froze. Then with a faint smile, she sighed slightly. ¡°The Dragon King is the Dragon King after all. You always have to grip the power in your hands and refuse to share it with allies. If I feel a little disappointed, I think you wouldn¡¯t mind, would you?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t. As long as we havemon enemies, the asional disagreement is inevitable.¡±


    Holding their breath, Tie Linglong and Nie Zeng looked at the Dragon King in reverence. Neither of them, and none of the people they had met, would dare to talk to the Hall Leader of Waning Moon Hall in such a disrespectful way.


    With her smile growing bigger, Han Wuxian said ¡°no wonder¡± three times consecutively. ¡°In some respect, Lotus is exactly the same as you, Dragon King. Hmm, little Han Fen.¡±


    ¡°Ahi, I¡¯m here.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s going to protect you. You have nothing to be afraid of.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Hall Leader.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to thank me. The Dragon King cannot protect you forever. There¡¯s no doubt that someday you will fall into my hands. Don¡¯t you like dolls? I¡¯ll make sure you be a wless one.¡±


    Han Fen hid behind the Dragon King and said, ¡°Then I¡¯ll be more grateful to Hall Leader. Dragon King, this is Han Ke, and she¡­ she¡¯s a good girl.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew that he couldn¡¯t cross the line. ¡°She¡¯s Hall Leader Han¡¯s prisoner, so she¡¯s at Hall Leader Han¡¯s disposal.¡±


    The ¡°Dragon King¡¯s so thoughtful. Han Ke, shouldn¡¯t you thank Dragon King?¡±


    Han Ke raised her head to look at Dragon King, and she stopped trembling. ¡°Be careful. Don¡¯t let Hall Leader find Han Xuan. She-¡±


    Two people made their moves at the same time.


    With a slight movement of her fingers, three hairs of Han Wuxian¡¯s wrapped around Han Ke¡¯s neck. Meanwhile, Han Fen shot out a puff of yellow powder which dissipated at Han Ke¡¯s nose.


    Han Ke craned her neck, took a deep breath and inhaled as much of the powder as she could, willingly. Soon, she fell to the ground, convulsing, and seemed about to die. She would rather die of poison than be tortured cruelly by the Hall Leader.


    Han Fen hid behind the Dragon King. ¡°Han Ke was speaking so disrespectfully to you, Hall Leader. I killed her for you.¡±


    ¡°I can see that you¡¯re growing in courage, Little Han Fen, and I¡¯m starting to grow fonder and fonder of you.¡±


    ¡°Little Han Fen¡¯s only has a little courage. I fear Hall Leader just like¡­ a mouse fears a cat, a cat fears a tiger, a tiger fears the giant roc, the giant roc fears the Dragon King, the Dragon King fears¡­ What do you fear?¡±


    ¡°Just like you, I fear Hall Leader Han.¡±


    Han Fen nodded gravely, unaware that Han Wuxian couldn¡¯t see her.


    Han Wuxianughed as her body trembled. Suddenly, she leaped into the cane chair on Nie Zeng¡¯s back and ordered, ¡°Go.¡±


    No one cared about that vice gang leader Zhao, and it was not until the Dragon King and the others had ridden far away on the horses left behind by the Brotherhood Gang that the gang members hidden nearby started moving slowly towards Zhao¡¯s body. They found that the vice gang leader was still kneeling on the ground, having been dead for quite a long time.


    It was already after midnight when they returned to the army camp. From far away, Gu Shenwei could see that there were still lights aze in the camp, which was a departure from the norm.


    About a mile or so from the camp, sparse bodies began to show up in the grass.


    ¡°Give me a saber,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He hadn¡¯t taken anything from the mausoleum, and the only weapon he had on him was the dagger.


    Tie Linglong handed him her narrow saber immediately.


    Gu Shenwei rode forward, and then a voice came through the darkness. ¡°Stop. Who is it?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King,¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t stop moving, and kept progressing forward.


    The other was clearly very surprised and didn¡¯t tried to stop the Dragon King.


    Arriving at the front gate, under the light of the torch fire, all Gu Shenwei could see were the gs of the Court Attendants Army.

 Chapter 758 - Return

    Chapter 758: Return


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The entire army camp was surrounded by the Court Attendants Army. Shulitu and his 3,000 men had retreated to the main tent at the center of the camp and were huddled together, horrified by the prospect of confronting enemies that outnumbered them by several times.


    Riding on their horses with their bows drawn halfway, multiple groups of heavily armed Court Attendants soldiers weed the Dragon King with silence and suspicion.


    Gu Shenwei stopped at the outer gate with his right hand holding onto the reins. His left hand was shaking gently behind his back. Han Wuxian and the others knew what the Dragon King was signaling, and they started backing away slowly. Yet Han Fen suddenly rushed forward without hesitation, and nobody was quick enough to stop her.


    Han Fen always tried to stay as far away from Hall Leader as possible.


    ¡°Who¡¯s your leader?¡± Gu Shenwei asked in a loud voice. He didn¡¯t try to stop Han Fen.


    He could hear distant sounds, yet no one stepped forward.


    ¡°Who¡¯s your leader?¡± Han Fen repeated. ¡°You¡¯re all men, so stop being shy.¡±


    ¡°You tricked us with a fake head,¡± someone in the crowd said in a cold voice. ¡°The Court Attendants Army fought for you, and yet you rewarded us by desecrating the Khan¡¯s holy name with an ordinary man¡¯s body.¡±


    The remains and head which had been brought back under Mo Lin¡¯s guidance had been identified as counterfeit. Gu Shenwei knew that he hade back toote, so he could do nothing but venture into epting the challenge. ¡°I¡¯ve never shown the body to anyone. Neither did I ever im that the body was the Khan¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°We all heard that you nned to trick us into believing that the Khan¡¯s a mortal with the fake body. You just haven¡¯t carried out your n yet,¡± a man yelled in grief and indignation.


    Gu Shenwei opened his arms and dered, ¡°Then let God be the judge.¡± He then spurred the horse on with his legs and proceeded forward slowly.


    The crowd slowly moved aside. The Court Attendants Army were still in awe of the Dragon King, and many of them looked into the dark sky in panic, unaware that the giant roc had already flown far away.


    An arrow was shot at him from far away, yet Gu Shenwei merely grabbed it with his hand and continued forward. This was a crucial moment, and he couldn¡¯t afford to show any sign of panic or hesitation.


    ¡°Fire,¡± Gu Shenwei said in an extremely low voice, barely moving his lips.


    Han Fen craned her neck to look at the Dragon King, her eyeballs rolling around. Finally she understood the meaning of the word, and then she straightened herself and quivered once as if there were bugs crawling on her.


    Hundreds of thousands of Court Attendants troops drew their bows; the tension between them and the Dragon King was very thin. If two or three of them took the lead, it would shatter into pieces.


    Right at this moment, the arrow in the Dragon King¡¯s hand started burning. The me was red, and yet the smoke it gave off was tinged slightly blue.


    It was an eerie scene. Several thousands of pairs of eyes were staring at the Dragon King, and yet no one knew how he had done it.


    Gu Shenwei raised the arrow high, like he was holding a small torch. The me started moving downwards and in the end it looked like the me wasing out of his palm. Yet the arrow shaft remained intact as if the fire was just a passerby in the a wind. And yet the Dragon King remained as cold as he always was, his palm unharmed.


    ¡°The Khan has given a decree¡­¡± someone whispered in fear and excitement.


    ¡°The Fire God forbids us from shooting at the Dragon King.¡± Finally someone drew the conclusion Gu Shenwei had been waiting for.


    A soldier jumped off of his horse and knelt down ¨C it was the soldier who had shot the first arrow.


    Gu Shenwei walked before him, loosened his hand and the arrow dropped to the ground, ¡°The Khan believes that I¡¯m innocent, but what you did was done so out of loyalty. I absolve you of your sin.¡±


    Patches of arrow heads drooped down along with their owner¡¯s heads and the narrow passage widened considerably. Taking Han Fen along with him, Gu Shenwei proceeded to the main tent at a steady speed.


    Themon soldiers had heard what happened at the front gate. In awe, they stepped out of the Dragon King¡¯s way, their confidence boosted.


    Fang Wenshi was sweating buckets in anxiety. He was not good at dealing with this kind of urgent crisis. If the Dragon King had taken his advice, the Court Attendants Army would have suffered great losses along with King Shengri¡¯s army, and they wouldn¡¯t have had enough strength to surround them at this point.


    Yet when he saw the Dragon King, he still rejoiced. He pushed all the others aside with an unstoppable courage and brought the Dragon King into the main tent ¨C he wanted to be the first to fill the Dragon King in.


    ¡°I heard that, Dragon King, you waved your hand and the arrows in thousands of Court Attendants troops¡¯ hands just turned into ashes. Was that true?¡±


    It was only a half mile¡¯s distance, and yet the truth had already been distorted to countless times its original grandness.


    ¡°One arrow.¡±


    ¡°Not only is the Dragon King good at kung fu, but he is also skilled at conjuring¡­ No, this is divine power. You don¡¯t have to talk about it, and don¡¯t tell me how you did it either. It¡¯s all about the mystery.¡±


    Han Fen had been by the Dragon King¡¯s side the whole time, and she giggled. ¡°It was me¡­¡±


    ¡°You have to keep that a secret,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    Han Fen put away her smile. ¡°It was me who saw it all.¡± Then believing that she had reacted really quickly, she startedughing even more happily.


    Fang Wenshi took a deep breath and gave a brief report on what had happened these past two days.


    The kung fupetition between Chu Nanping and Liu Qingpu had been called off.


    Gu Shenwei had sent the Court Attendants Armies¡¯ contingents in several directions. Yesterday, a corps of 10,000 men came back. Their opinions were more radical, and they wanted to execute Azheba along with all the ex-officers of the Court Attendants Army in the camp.


    Shulitu tried hard to reason with them, and during the debate he had mentioned the coffin that the Dragon King and Mo Lin had brought back. There had been widespread rumors that the Khan¡¯s remains were in the coffin, but the Court Attendants troops refused to believe it and insisted on an identification of the corpse.


    And it had turned out that both the remains and the head were counterfeit copies.


    ¡°The body¡¯s terribly rotten, and yet someone still managed to recognize it.¡± Fang Wenshi didn¡¯t know about the details, but it had caused a serious disturbance and the Court Attendants Army decided to add Shulitu and Mo Lin¡¯s names to the list of sacrifices.


    Arge number ofmon soldiers, who were loyal to Shulitu and discontent with the domineering attitudes of the Court Attendants soldiers, gathered around and wanted to save the two by force. There was a conflict between the two sides, and the Court Attendants Army had numerical superiority. Thus, not only did they refuse to hand over the hostages, but they also surrounded themon soldiers, which was why the kung fupetition had been canceled. Liu Qingpu and the rest of the Qingcheng Sect were also trapped in the army camp.


    ¡°s, what a shame,¡± Fang Wenshinguished as he shook his head repeatedly. ¡°Fortunately you havee back, Dragon King. Just go y another conjuring trick or two, and call the divine bird back too. These are probably the only two methods I can think of that might work on the Court Attendants Army.¡±


    ¡°Who do the bodies outside the camp belong to?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    ¡°The Qingcheng Sect came for their sect leader and the Court Attendants troops started shooting arrows at them without saying a word, which was yet another nuisance.¡±


    The two were still talking when there was a quarrel took ce outside the tent. Then a man came in uninvited, the Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect, Liu Qingpu. ¡°Dragon King, all the sects and schools of the Central ins havee here for the kung fupetition because we had faith in yourmitment. And yet, what is this? There¡¯s nopetition, and you¡¯re even holding us hostage.¡±


    Gu Shenwei saw at first sight that Liu Qingpu was holding his saber and sword. He took a step forward and said, ¡°L¨¹ Mian and Deng Yuanlei are dead.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Liu Qingpu took a step backwards involuntarily. ¡°Uh, that¡¯s good. They were traitors of our sect¡­ The Dragon King killed them?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. The look on Liu Qingpu¡¯s face changed slightly ¨C he knew how powerful L¨¹ Mian¡¯s swordsmanship was, and he didn¡¯t expect that L¨¹ Mian would actually be killed by the Dragon King.


    ¡°That saber and the sword are mine.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t been carefully enough. They were ditch-¡±


    ¡°Sect Leader Liu should be more careful. I found a guy who imed to be your son.¡±


    The look on Liu Qingpu¡¯s face changed yet again. Liu Fangsheng was his only son, and he had gone missing along with Deng Yuanlei two nights ago. He had been searching for him frantically yet still hadn¡¯t found any clues. ¡°My son did indeed go missing. Dragon King¡­ Is he okay?¡±


    ¡°As okay as my saber and my sword are.¡±


    Liu Qingpu instantly lost his momentum. After hesitating for a while, he handed the saber and the sword over to Dragon King and said, ¡°Now that they¡¯ve returned to their owner. I¡¯m hoping to have a fair kung fupetition with the Dragon King, without any personal grudges.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s best that way,¡± Gu Shenwei said as he took the saber and the sword back calmly. ¡°Your son has very good prospects, and you have an excellent heir. Congrattions, Sect Leader Liu.¡±


    Liu Qingpu gave an awkwardugh, knowing that his son had been spared.


    The Court Attendants Army¡¯s hostility towards the Dragon King had been greatly reduced due to the previous event, and Han Wuxian and the other two reached the camp without meeting any trouble. Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong entered the tent, and Gu Shenwei returned the narrow saber that he had borrowed.


    Shangguan Fei and Chu Nanping also entered the tent together, and thetter stared at Tie Linglong with a limpid look in his eyes, seemingly expecting something. Yet Tie Linglong turned her head sideways, her lips mped tightly together.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that the kung fupetition has been dyed for such a long time, but fortunately it¡¯s not toote. Let¡¯s start right now,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Now?¡± Liu Qingpu was surprised.


    ¡°Dragon King, the Court Attendants Army¡­¡± Fang Wenshi was also surprised ¨C the issue of Court Attendants Army was a hundred times more important than the Qingcheng Sect.


    Raising his hand, Gu Shenwei stopped him from speaking. Then he asked Chu Nanping, ¡°You can wield two swords again, right?¡±


    Chu Nanping thought for a while and then said, ¡°I think so.¡±


    Gu Shenwei handed him the Dragon Head Sword, ¡°If you lose, return it to me; win, and it¡¯s yours.¡±


    Chu Nanping was indifferent to the incentive. He received the Dragon Head Sword and lowered his head, seemingly contemting the methods of dual-wielding swords.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the Dragon King the one I¡¯m supposed to fight?¡± Liu Qingpu asked as he blushed, feeling belittled.


    ¡°I¡¯m not good at kung fupetitions.¡± After giving a response, Gu Shenwei took the Five Peaks Saber and left the tent. From this day, he would never use a sword again.


    The sword used to be the ferry, yet now he believed that he was already on ¡®the opposite side¡¯ of the Death Scripture, so he wouldn¡¯t need to depend on his tools anymore.


    The tent was plenty spacious. All Nie Zeng and the others had to do was move the tables and chairs aside to make some room. Even Tie Linglong stayed in the tent out of curiosity, wondering if Chu Nanping had really made any progress in his swordsmanship after forsaking her.


    The look on Liu Qingpu¡¯s face was shifting violently. The Dragon King had addressed the matter of the kung fupetition as if Liu Qingpu were just one of his servants, without even discussing the bet. Yet Liu Qingpu didn¡¯t reject immediately, and now the Dragon King was gone, along with Liu Qingpu¡¯s best chance of refusing.


    There was still a trace of childishness in the look of the swordsman who was dual-wielding swords, which made this kung fupetition even more humiliating.


    More and more kung fu practitioners poured into the tent. Liu Qingpu unsheathed his sword ¨C only by defeating the teenager before him could he force the Dragon King into fighting with him.


    Fang Wenshi shook his head slightly, wondering why even the Dragon King had so much faith in Little Chu. Yet he was in no mood to watch the fight, so he merely nodded at Long Fanyun, who had juste in, to tell him to maintain order, and then left the tent to chase after the Dragon King.


    Where was the Dragon King leading the Court Attendants Army by ying all these conjuring tricks? Fang Wenshi had no idea at all ¨C it seemed that the Dragon King¡¯s tactics were not quite conventionally following what he had read in strategy and war books.


    As a military counselor and a member of the army¡¯s think tank, Fang Wenshi finally acknowledged that he had been flustered when dealing with unexpected events, which made him even more dearly miss the days when he had been making all kinds of visionary suggestions and talking about war and military tactics.


    In the army camp, the confrontation between soldiers of two sides was still on-going and Shulitu, Mo Lin , and several dozen officers were still under the jurisdiction of the Court Attendants Army.


    Gu Shenwei had a n in mind. He turned his head and nced at Han Fen who had been walking by his side, wondering if it would be stupid of him to assign such an important task to her.

 Chapter 759 - Possession

    Chapter 759: Possession


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    With his cheeks flushing red and his chest being pushed down upon, Shulitu had never felt so tired, and neither had he ever been so persistent in resisting.


    He refused to enter the tent, and stubbornly insisted on facing the unpredictable Court Attendants soldiers right in the open, together with several dozen officers. The torches were zing all around them, and these soldiers were arguing about the fate of the hostages right in front of them.


    The Court Attendants Army were not as united in mind as a piece of iron board as many believed. The other 10,000 men corps had returned and every corps had their own opinions that differed slightly from the others. The key issue revolved around whether the young king Shulitu and the wing guard Silver Condor should be killed or spared. Some soldiers insisted on killing them because Shulitu had protected those aristocratic military officers and Silver Condor was partly responsible for the fiasco with the counterfeit remains. Others thought they shouldn¡¯t kill more people without a righteous reasons. Especially so regarding the young king ¨C who was the great grandson of the Khan and who hadn¡¯t reached adulthood yet ¨C his blood shouldn¡¯t be spilled.


    Shulitu believed that his presence would offer some confidence as well as pressure to his advocates, so he refused to enter the tent. Once the parties involved were no longer present, people were more prone to making cruel decisions ¨C this was one of the lessons he had learned in life.


    His grandfather had once held the intention of killing him, and it was only at thest moment when he saw Shulitu¡¯s eyes that he had changed his mind. The same went for the Dragon King¡¯s military counselor. He always refused to observe the battlefield himself, and one of the reasons for doing so was that this was the only way he could continue to make decisions that affected the lives of thousands of soldiers without hesitation.


    Shulitu had a sense of duty. He turned his head to nce at the officers behind him. ¡°I heard that the Dragon King¡¯s back. He¡¯ll figure something out.¡±


    Azheba and the others bowed to pay their respects ¨C this was not a cowards¡¯ impulsive act of allegiance but rather their respect for a member of the Khan¡¯s family, and this twelve-year-old kid was qualified to be an excellent member of it.


    Mo Lin looked at the crowd of soldiers who were whispering furtively to each other, believing that their denate wasing to an end. He bent at the waist and whispered to Shulitu, ¡°Stay close to me.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Shulitu wanted to believe that the Court Attendants soldiers woulde to their senses, but he soon understood that Mo Lin was right ¨C those soldiers who had hoped to spare the young king were now turning away to avoid eye contact with him.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be necessary,¡± he said. He had made up his mind, yet he was grateful for Mo Lin¡¯s favorable intention. ¡°I¡¯ve always been prepared for death. I¡¯d rather die together with a group of the most outstanding officers on the grasnd than die from a cup of poisonous wine alone.¡±


    Mo Lin was surprised. This kid, whose fate was to be a puppet, still carried a kind of noble dignity within him and didn¡¯t abandon his sanity. He bent forward and whispered, ¡°Your Highness remind me of the Khan.¡±


    Shulitu was slightly surprised, then he smiled.


    Azheba and several other officers walked in front of the young king. They all sensed danger and they couldn¡¯t let a kid be the first one to face it.


    Someone in the crowd said, ¡°Your Highness, are you willing to leave by yourself and leave the officers behind?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Shulitu uttered one terse word.


    Rather than persuading him hypocritically, the officers whipped out their sabers simultaneously ¨C but regardless of however many sabers they had, they wouldn¡¯t be able to defend themselves against a torrential rain of arrows. They were just symbolically showing their upromising attitude.


    The groups of soldiers started backing away like the tide, then they drew their bows and nocked their arrows all at the same time.


    Gu Shenwei arrived right at this moment, only followed by Han Fen and Fang Wenshi.


    The look in the Court Attendants soldiers¡¯ eyes made Fang Wenshi nervous. It contained a unique apathy that was liable to change at any moment ¨C either into a friendly smile or into a hostile grimace, totally unpredictable and undetectable.


    That was why Fang Wenshi admired the Dragon King so much ¨C his response was to merely lower his head slightly and continued walking without looking at anyone; if someone was in his way, he would just gently push him aside, and then slowly continue making his way through the crowd. All the while, the soldiers who were touched by him would always jump aside like they had been burned by fire and then started whispering and pointing with theirrades.


    Han Fen had dressed herself in a standard soldier¡¯s uniform and she was like the Dragon King¡¯s shadow, imitating his manner and expressions at every twist and turn.


    The impact brought by the Dragon King rippled through the crowds, and those bows which had just been raised were lowered, but none of the soldiers put their arrows away.


    Gu Shenwei stood between the soldiers and the officers. First, he nodded at Shulitu and the others, then he turned and faced the soldiers. He was just about to speak when someone on the opposite side asked, ¡°Is it true that the Khan burned an arrow in your hand?¡±


    ¡°You should asked those who saw it with their own eyes.¡±


    The crowd went silent. Then an arrow was shot at the Dragon King. The arrow was not fast andcked strength, so Gu Shenwei easily grabbed it with his hand. That man spoke up again, demanding, ¡°Show us one more time.¡±


    Gu Shenwei held the arrow stick in both hands before snapping it in half gently. ¡°Neither the Khan nor I are juggling entertainers.¡±


    That man was awed. Then another man yelled out, ¡°It¡¯s true. I saw it with my own eyes. The fire was burning right in the Dragon King¡¯s hand, yet he remained unharmed.¡±


    All the soldiers looked at the Dragon King¡¯s hands ¨C they were indeed unharmed.


    ¡°Please allow us to send these men to Heaven, Dragon King. This is the Khan¡¯smand. We must obey,¡± the next man said in a more respectful tone.


    ¡°Don¡¯t believe the rumors so easily. If the Khan issued amand from the Heavens, there should have been a vision, but I saw nothing.¡±


    ¡°The fake body was a vision, and the officers¡¯ turning themselves in was also a vision.¡±


    The voice received a lot of responses and Gu Shenwei felt that the crowd was about to go out of control. His influence was not powerful enough to manipte the minds of tens of thousands of soldiers.


    He opened his arms and decided to speak about the giant roc, yet a shrill cry suddenly came from behind him.


    Gu Shenwei turned in surprise, and saw that the officers were running towards the young king Shulitu in panic.


    Shulitu was twitching and screeching, and even several strong officers couldn¡¯t hold him back.


    ¡°Vision, this is a vision!¡± a soldier yelled loudly. All of the soldiers¡¯ faces flushed with excitement, and they raised their bows and nocked their arrows again.


    All of a sudden, Shulitu stood up, his body straight as a board. He stared nkly into space, and the voice of an old man came out of his mouth. ¡°My pce¡­¡±


    Everybody was transfixed with shock. The officers closest to Shulitu knelt down to the ground immediately ¨C they had heard it very clearly and could clearly tell that it was indeed the Khan¡¯s voice.


    ¡°My pce¡­ danger¡­ take me back¡­¡±


    Patches of soldiers knelt to the ground as if a hurricane were sweeping across the field. Those in the distance didn¡¯t hear the voice, yet they followed the lead of those in front and also knelt. When the news that the young king had been possessed by the Khan spread, even themon soldiers who were confronting the Court Attendants troops panicked and knelt down.


    Fang Wenshi was suspicious. He had never heard Khan¡¯s voice before, but judging by the crowd¡¯s reaction, there should be no misunderstanding this. But he knew that Shulitu had only seen the Khan once when he was young, so he couldn¡¯t possibly have imitated the Khan so vividly.


    Fang Wenshi knelt as well. Suddenly, a sh of inspiration struck him. He raised his head and looked around. As expected, Han Fen who was dressed as a soldier was kneeling near the feet of Shulitu. She had lowered her head and he couldn¡¯t tell what she was doing.


    Dragon King was the only one who didn¡¯t kneel, and he just lowed his head to pay his respects to Shulitu.


    ¡°Pce¡­ return¡­¡± Shulitu said in the Khan¡¯s voice once again.


    This was amand. The Court Attendants Army got onto their horses as quickly as they could. Then Shulitu came around, looking at the mess and asking, dibobted, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Most of the officers hadn¡¯t believed the story that the Khan had gone to Heaven and be the Fire God, but now they had no reason to doubt its authenticity. All of them bent at the waist from five steps away, which made Shulitu the tallest man present.


    All the soldiers in the camp fell in at an unprecedented speed. At the head of the procession, officers were guarding Shulitu, and the Court Attendants Army were following them. Then there were themon soldiers. None of the soldiers stayed behind because the Khan hadn¡¯tmanded any of them to do so.


    There were more than 100,000 cavalrymen. And when Shulitu reached the destination, more than 10,000 men were still on their horses and hadn¡¯t moved a single step out of the camp.


    About several miles from the camp, Shulitu was possessed by the Khan again. Instead of going to the intact pce in the north, Shulitu changed the direction of the army and led the procession towards an unknown small hill in the south.


    This made the whole event even more bizarre, but nobody dared oppose hismands.


    After walking for a few more miles, Mo Lin signaled the Dragon King to leave the procession with him.


    Gu Shenwei had been keeping Mo Lin within his sight the whole way.


    Dawn was about to break and the gravely cavalrymen were slowly processing in columns ¨C the Court Attendants Army could still act orderly when necessary.


    Mo Lin looked towards the hill in the distance, ¡°You discovered it after all, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°By ident.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it really is God¡¯s will.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we should both stay in awe of God¡¯s will. Nobody knows what God¡¯s thinking, so I never bothered trying to figure it out.¡±


    Mo Lin smiled and said, ¡°The Khan was a great emperor, but sometimes he was like a child. He was wary of everyone around him, but he also wanted to keep them by his side, even in his death.¡±


    ¡°Maybe that¡¯s because both emperors and children believe that they have the freedom to do so. I¡¯m curious ¨C how did they manage to keep the construction of such arge mausoleum a secret?¡±


    ¡°All of the materials were prepared forty years ago, and then ten yearster, when people forgot about their existence, several thousand craftsman started their work, whichsted almost thirty years. Some people were born underground and died underground, having never seen the light of the sun in their whole lives. Finally,st year, the whole project was roughly finished. The craftsmen were buried in advance ¨C before the Khan¡¯s death, at the bottom of the mausoleum, along with 200 guardians. The wing guards are the only ones alive who know the truth.¡±


    Mo Lin retold an extremely cruel deed in a very casual way, then he sighed. ¡°the Khan seemed to have known that he would enjoy longevity, so he was in no hurry. Yet the mausoleum had barely been finished before he was murdered. Sometimes I think that that was retribution. The Khan and I have taken so many innocent lives. We deserve our punishment.


    ¡°The four wing guards havemitted suicide.¡±


    Mo Lin nodded ¨C clearly, he wasn¡¯t surprised. ¡°What do you n to do, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°First, as a part of your punishment, you¡¯re not allowed to kill yourself or me.¡±


    Mo Lin smiled, ¡°A punishment like that would make me feel ashamed.¡±


    ¡°Second, I¡¯ll level that hill and fill in the valley, then destroy the rest of the Royal Court and assign a part of the Court Attendants Army to guard it for a year. In the spring of next year, when grass covers up the whole ce, nobody will be able to find the entrance or the exit, and I think that nobody will even remember this ce in a few more years.¡±


    ¡°What are the Dragon King¡¯s conditions?¡± Mo Lin knew the Dragon King very well.


    ¡°The Western Regions.¡±


    Mo Lin turned and looked towards the endless procession of cavalrymen, ¡°As you wish, Dragon King. There are still more than 90,000 men in the Court Attendants Army, and I¡¯ll try my best to make sure that they will willingly fight for the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°For His Highness,¡± Gu Shenwei corrected him.


    A small team rushed towards them from the rear, and Long Fanyun was leading the group. ¡°Chu Nanping won.¡± A simple remark summarized the result of thepetition, which was followed by a warning. ¡°The scouts reported that King Shengri is mustering an army and that he¡¯s probably alsoing here.¡±


    ¡°He wants to flee,¡± Gu Shenwei stated simply, instantly drawing a conclusion.

 Chapter 760 - Changes

    Chapter 760: Changes


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Recalling the experience of the previous day, Fang Wenshi broke out in a cold sweat. ¡°I think that the Dragon King needs an extra counselor.¡±


    ¡°Why? You alone will suffice,¡± Gu Shenwei replied as he was sitting in a chair. The extreme sobriety and numbness resulting from overwork had been affecting him in turn and he hadn¡¯t had a good rest for days.


    Fang Wenshi hated to admit it, but he had to tell the Dragon King the truth. ¡°I¡¯m not belittling myself, but I can¡¯t adapt myself to too many new variables. I¡¯d rather work on a one-year or three-year or even ten-year n for Dragon King ¨C that is, after all, my specialty.¡±


    ¡°Then tell me about it.¡± Gu Shenwei was actually very interested in this topic, and even his mind perked up at the thought.


    Fang Wenshi had just plucked that out of thin air, and he hadn¡¯t expected the Dragon King to be so enthusiastic as to want to hear the details right now, so he coughed in embarrassment. But it was not difficult for him ¨C he had already given some in-depth thought to it before, and all he needed was just some extra time to organize his words.


    ¡°No matter what the situation in Nond bes in the future, it¡¯s time the Dragon King considers the reaction of the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I heard that Wei Song¡¯s eager to set another a milestone by taking over the Western Regions.¡±


    ¡°Wei Song won¡¯t stand aside, but what his actions won¡¯t matter. However great his ambition is, it¡¯s impossible for them to surpass the grand strategies of the Central ins. Since as early as the ancient times, the Central ins has always been trying to keep the Western Regions under control, and the core of this strategy revolves around making sure that the Western Region stands by the side of the Central ins for the lowest cost, or at least stays neutral. The main force of the Central ins has always been deployed to stand guard against the Nond.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that the Nond is destined to split in two, and that the Central ins will soon be able to spare some time to deal with the Western Regions.¡±


    Fang Wenshi shook his head with a grave look on his face as he asked, ¡°Do you still remember what King Kuari said?¡±


    ¡°The rtive strength of the Central ins, Nond, and Western Regions will not stay the same.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. During these days in the Royal Court, I¡¯ve been thinking those words over and I think that he was right. Both Nond and the Central ins has been through catastrophic natural disasters as well as man-made misfortunes. A few decades ago, the Central ins suffered a civil strife and was barely able to rebuild itself, and yet the Nond still couldn¡¯t conquer the Central ins. Now that the Nond has split, I¡¯m afraid that the Central ins won¡¯t be able to take the grasnd either. When one side goes downhill, the other side always benefits, but it takes too heavy a cost to fully dominate the other side. There isn¡¯t enough hay for the horses of Nond¡¯s cavalrymen, and on the grasnd, there isn¡¯t enough food to supply the army of the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°How will this affect the Western Regions?¡±


    Fang Wenshi shook the forefinger of his right hand as he replied, ¡°Unless someone provokes them too aggressively, the Central ins will never send massive forces to the Western Regions.¡±


    ¡°But they won¡¯t give up the Western Regions either.¡±


    ¡°Of course not. So I hope that the Dragon King is prepared in advance, as sooner orter, the Central ins will get in touch with you and you¡¯ll have to ept and pledge a nominal allegiance to the emperor, but only in name ¨C the emperor¡¯s so far away, and the Western Regions are even further, so the Dragon King will still have full control.¡±


    ¡°Ha, I havee to Nond myself to ask for help. Why would I feel humiliated being under the rule of the Central ins?¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t for now, but maybe in the future you will.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was a little surprised. ¡°What makes you say that?¡±


    ¡°I have a premonition,¡± Fang Wenshi said as he finally expounded on his spections. ¡°Large numbers of kung fu practitioners from the Central ins will probably congregate in the Western Regions ¨C maybe plenty of them already have.¡±


    Gu Shenwei raised his head slightly, and thest bit of numbness in his mind was eliminated ¨C this was exactly why he needed Fang Wenshi. ¡°The Kongtong Sect and Qingcheng Sect came to Nond and fought for the head, and yet it was just for show.¡±


    ¡°And it¡¯s too coincidental ¨C The Kongtong Sect works for Wei Song, and the Qingcheng Sect is at the Luo Family¡¯smand. Both of them have some kind of connection to the imperial court of the Central ins. So I think that this might actually be a part of a strategy of the Central ins¡¯s imperial court.¡±


    ¡°To get the highest reward for the lowest cost.¡±


    Fang Wenshi nodded. ¡°With the army of the Central ins behind them, what the sabermen can do will be magnified to hundreds of thousands of times its original amount.¡±


    ¡°The Kongdong Sect and Qingcheng Sect left with nothing. Is that going to affect the decision-making of the imperial court of the Central ins?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. In the decision-making process, there are advocates and there are also objectors. I can¡¯t judge without information regarding both sides¡¯ true strength as well as their true intentions.¡±


    ¡°Do you have to go to the Central ins yourself?¡±


    ¡°No. Once the roads are clear, I¡¯ll send someone else to the Central ins to collect intelligence. Although I¡¯m not a qualified wartime military counselor, I can still be of some help, so I¡¯ll have to ask the Dragon King to make do with me before finding someone that¡¯s more suitable for this position.¡±


    As much as Gu Shenwei wanted to continue talking about this issue with his military counselor, at this moment, Long Fanyun entered the tent and reported, ¡°We¡¯ve got him.¡±


    On the way to the main tent, Fang Wenshi asked, ¡°Did the Dragon King actually know in advance that the kung fupetition suggested by King Shengri was just a dying tactic?¡±


    ¡°I was just suspicious. King Shengri has never been a warrior and he¡¯s never acted this considerate of his soldiers either, so why would he make such a decision? I mean, clearly there¡¯s no one in his army who stands a chance against Azheba. But that was just my spection, so I didn¡¯t mention it to you in advance.¡±


    Fang Wenshi smiled and shook his head. He had already gotten used to the Dragon King¡¯s style.


    ¡°Shulitu¡¯s good,¡± Fang Wenshi suddenly said when they drew close to the tent. ¡°Even I didn¡¯t find any ws. I hope that he doesn¡¯t break his alliance with Dragon King too soon.¡±


    The main tent was full of people, and they all moved aside to make a path for the Dragon King and the counselor, so the two quickly reached Shulitu.


    Shulitu had had an exciting and unforgettable day. Though he hadn¡¯t slept in days, he was not sleepy at all, and he was actually more sober and awake than the Dragon King.


    The Court Attendants Army was greatly shocked by the mausoleum, and if it weren¡¯t for Shulitu¡¯s rejection, they would¡¯ve made him the new king already. The young king now wielded supreme power in the Court Attendants Army, and he had issued amand to reabsorb the military officers and reorganize all the contingents into an integrated army ¨C there would be no such names as the ¡®Court Attendants Army¡¯ and the ¡®Common Army¡¯ any longer.


    Shulitu knew exactly how he had gotten this power, so he let the Dragon King, ¡°the King¡¯s Master,¡± stand by his side with no official position disparity between them. On the left and right sides of the tent stood a few lords and generals who had surrendered themselves earlier during daytime today. In the middle of the tent stood King Shengri who looked totally messed-up.


    King Shengri had suffered a crushing defeat. He had initially nned to use the army of the lords to buy himself some time to escape, and yet the lords had surrendered to Shulitu as soon as they could and thus no battle was waged.


    ¡°Second grandpa was always in such a hurry. All these precious birds and wines you spent so many years collecting, you just gave up on them?¡± Shulitu¡¯s voice was not loud, but the tent was so quiet that everyone heard him clearly.


    King Shengri was surprised, feeling unfamiliar at being addressed as ¡°second grandpa.¡± He stared at Shulitu and soon he turned to look at the Dragon King, saying, ¡°Horsewhip Luoluo has pacified the frontier, and his 500,000 troops will soon storm the whole grasnd.¡± Then he smiled and said, ¡°hold him back while you still can.¡±


    ¡°500,000?¡± Shulitu spoke again. ¡°Second grandpa must have miscounted the horses, right?¡±


    Laughter broke forth in response to this joke, and King Shengri blushed red.


    Gu Shenwei nodded at Shulitu and signaled for the counselor to stay. Then he left the tent ¨C clearly, there was no need for him to stay.


    He had hardly taken a few steps when he heard King Shengri start yelling the word ¡°Khan¡± hysterically.


    He didn¡¯t want to sleep right now, so he decided to resolve the issues which were still up in the air.


    The Qingcheng Sect had left the Royal Court that very night, but they handed over the hostage, the ve girl Khan once mentioned. Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher had handed over Liu Fangsheng to Qingcheng Sect and neither of them were satisfied with the peaceful settlement of this issue.


    The ve girl was just a few years older than the Second Consort, and yet her looks were was much older. She couldn¡¯t understand why people were treating her as someone who ¡°mattered¡±. But she had formed a impression of the Lord Gu of the Central ins.


    ¡°Lord Gu is a very good man¡­ a very good man,¡± the ve girl was still panicking, and she hadn¡¯t spoken Central inss Chinese in years so it sounded very rusty.


    ¡°You¡¯ve borne him children?¡± Gu Shenwei asked directly. They were the only two people in the tent. Watching this old woman, he didn¡¯t feel any emotional fluctuation.


    ¡°I have¡­¡±


    ¡°How many? Their gender?¡±


    ¡°T.. two, a son and a daughter.¡±


    Gu Shenwei remained silent for a while, ¡°Both Lord Gu and the Khan are dead. You don¡¯t have any reason to lie anymore.¡± He tried to make his voice feel as gentle as possible.


    The ve girl started crying, and after quite a while, she said, ¡°Lord Gu is a good man, but we never slept together. The two kids are not mine, and they are not Lord Gu¡¯s either.¡±


    ¡°Then whose are they?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Lord Gu asked me to do him a favor and pretend to be pregnant and bear the two children. That¡¯s all I know.¡±


    ¡°Then how do you know that they¡¯re not Lord Gu¡¯s children?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my guess. Lord Gu was never intimate with any woman here. He was a very severe man, and¡­ and the look he gave the babies was not the kind of look a father would look at his children with. I have children of my own, and I know what a father is like.¡±


    The Khan, Lotus, the Qingcheng Sect ¨C the ve girl had been subjected to the influence of too many people, which left lend her words any reliability. Gu Shenwei knew what he would have to do to force her into telling the truth, but he didn¡¯t do it.


    She was not his own mother, so he trusted his instincts more than her words.


    ¡°Give her some livestock and money. Then let her leave,¡± Gu Shenwei said to Long Fanyun outside the tent, before leaving to meet Han Wuxian.


    There was some kind of peculiar odor in Han Wuxian¡¯s tent and it smelt very familiar to Gu Shenwei ¨C blood. ¡°Finally, you killed Han Qin.¡±


    ¡°This is not the Waning Moon Hall. There¡¯s not enough tools and medicinal materials here for me to really be creative, so I had to simply kill her,¡± Han Wuxian sounded a little regretful.


    ¡°Is Han Xuan really your daughter?¡±


    Han Wuxian giggled and replied, ¡°Does that have anything to do with you? Killing Lotus is our onlymon goal. And with regards to any other issue, we should stay out of each other¡¯s way.¡±


    ¡°Han Xuan is also a Female Gu <sup>1</sup> , but she serves a different purpose. Not killing people, but rather, being killed.¡±


    Han Wuxian broke the hairs in her hand. She blew the broken hairs strands away and said pensively, ¡°It seems like Little Han Fen knows a lot.¡±


    ¡°It has nothing to do with her. Lotus wouldn¡¯t have told her about such an important issue. Doctor Sun said that Lotus wanted to uncover the production method of the Female Gu, so I figured that this might be the case.¡±


    Han Wuxian smiled. She leaned back on the bed, looked at the Dragon King with an extremely charming look, then asked, ¡°Do you know why the disciples of Waning Moon Hall betrayed me? Lotus promised them that she would detoxify the poison in everyone¡¯s body, but the most important guiding drug is my flesh. Me and Lotus; only one of us will survive in the end. Han Xuan is my only hope and I spent many years nurturing her. She can provide enormous internal power beyond anyone¡¯s wildest dreams and make me¡­ and the Dragon King invincible. I¡¯d like to share it with you. Lotus guessed the generalities about this n, but she doesn¡¯t know the specifics.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t respond to this suggestion. ¡°Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong are mine. Stay away from them.¡±


    ¡°As you wish.¡± Han Wuxian blushed like a little girl as she coquettishlymented, ¡°the Dragon King dominates¡­ everything.¡±


    Gu Shenwei walked out of the tent, and Han Wuxian started humming a bizarre tune softly.


    Thest person Gu Shenwei visited this night was Liman, who had been investigating the reason behind King Rizhu¡¯s army reappearing in the Royal Court anding after the Dragon King, who had just returned.


    ¡°There¡¯s been some changes in the¡­ the Western Regions,¡± Liman reported as sweat flowed from his face down into the mud of several shallow ditches. Yet, he didn¡¯t wipe them away. ¡°Prince Duodun has allied himself with Golden Roc Castle and the surviving troops of King Rizhu. They imed that it was the Dragon King who killed the Khan¡­ There must have been some misunderstanding, and I think that we can exin it to Prince Duodun and reconcile.¡±


    Gu Shenwei believed that it was time to return to the Western Regions.

 Chapter 761 - Bold Plans

    Chapter 761: Bold ns


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The Heaven¡¯s Pass was a newly built structure located on the western border of Jade City; it¡¯s towering wall looked like a crouching fierce dog, staring and warning outsiders from approaching.


    Looking at the barrier from afar, Shangguan Ru finally understood why she had received little news from the Western Regions. Heavily guarded, the Heaven¡¯s Pass allowed people to enter but not to leave. This meant that one of the gateways of the Western Regions had been permanently closed off. The Thousand Horsemen Pass on the east side was probably in a simr situation.


    Nearly two months had passed since the death of the Khan, but the impact it had on the world continued to unravel. Swarms of refugees passed by Shangguan Ru and walked silently toward the border pass. The Western Regions, though rtively safer than the Nond, was also in a chaotic situation. Thus, no one was happy when they went from the ¡®pit of fire¡¯ to the ¡®marshes.¡¯


    With the me Foal, Shangguan Ru had galloped day and night to arrive at the Heaven¡¯s Pass alone, leaving the main group far behind. By drinking wine and rationing out dried meat while riding as she became thirsty or hungry, she hardly stopped except when resting the horse.


    She finally understood the meaning behind the truth of legendary robbers always eating and drinkingvishly was exactly proof of the hard life that they led. After suffering so much, the most intense desire she had at the moment was to see a table full of fine dishes spread out in front of her.


    As she licked her parched lips, she began to miss her now-empty wine bag which had performed a valuable service along the way. She gently stroked the neck of the me Foal and softly said, ¡°Good boy. There will be something delicious soon.¡±


    The me Foal gave a merry snort as if it had not run enough.


    The soldiers standing guard at the pass were horsemen of the Nond. They didn¡¯t strictly check the passengers, but they did stop Shangguan Ru for a special purpose. After walking around the me Foal several times, they praised with a thick ent reminiscent of the Nondnguage. ¡°That¡¯s really a nice horse. Where do youe from, bro? Is it for sale?¡±


    Dressed in a prairie man¡¯s attire, Shangguan Ru, whose face was marred by dust and sweat, revealed almost no femininity. She replied in thenguage of the Nond, saying, ¡°The Naihang Tribe. I won¡¯t sell him even if you offer me the Heaven¡¯s Pass.¡±


    The soldiersughed but did not continue harassing her. ¡°The Naihang Tribe has some good horses. Unfortunately, King Rizhu is dead. Otherwise, he would have kept your horse even if he had to kneel andbeg you.¡±


    Shangguan Ru then led the horse and entered the pass for a while, but there were still many soldiers covetously looking at the me Foal from afar.


    The Heaven¡¯s Pass was a small city which had now been turned into a military camp where civilians were not allowed to stay. Those who entered the pass had to continue traveling straight ahead and leave through the south gate.


    The area outside the southern city had be a ce where refugees would always linger for a few days to quell their fears of a foreignnd and ask about others¡¯ destinations in hopes of finding fellow travelers. Some of them were even optimistic that the Nond would soon be able to elect a new Khan upon which they would be able to turn around and return to the grasnds. Thus, they stayed there and gradually became permanent residents of the temporary viges.


    There was none of the wine and meat that Shangguan Ru desired in such a ce. The refugees mostly kept to the tradition of the prairie of bringing their own tents and food. And in the very few humble shops that were raised, they only offered dried meat that nobody knew how long ago it had been preserved.


    Very disappointed, Shangguan Ru bought half a bag of cheap wine and a pile of fresh fodder. She added a lot of beans and apples to the fodder, thinking that although she could bear the rough lifestyle, she would not let the me Foal suffer so.


    Shangguan Ru drank the wine to quench her thirst while watching the me Foal munch on its feed, feeling more and more that the wine was stale.


    ¡°Gongzi, is the horse for sale?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Shangguan Ru answered without turning her head.


    ¡°Not even ten taels of silver?¡±


    The man specially stressed the word ¡®ten.¡¯ Shangguan Ru¡¯s heart jolted a bit and looked back at the horse-buyer whose facecked any judgment.


    It was a man in his thirties who had been born with a sad face. He seemed to feel that he was still suffering a great loss even by buying a horse for ten taels of silver.


    ¡°You want to buy a horse?¡±


    ¡°No, my master wants to buy a horse and I¡¯m just looking around for him. This horse of yours looks quite sturdy. Why don¡¯t youe with me to see my master? He may pay more for it than what I offered. Ten taels of silver, Gongzi. That¡¯s actually a lot.¡±


    The man made several turns in the messy vige before stopping in front of a tent on the outskirts. Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t hand over the reins and let the me Foal leave her sights until the ¡®master¡¯ stuck his head out from the tent and waved at her.


    ¡°Xu Xiaoyi, you actually have a beard now.¡± Shangguan Ru quickly recognized the true face of the ¡®master.¡¯


    Xu Xiaoyi stroked his beard and smilingly said, ¡°I¡¯m really d that Tenth Gongzi can still recognize me. This is a real beard and in two years it will definitely be even thicker than it is now.


    ¡°Hehe, I¡¯d rather eat than speak. Let me see this ¡®master¡¯s¡¯ enthusiasm and ability.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi burst outughing and soon prepared a tableful of food and wine as if by magic. It was not the beef, mutton, and cheesemonly eaten on the prairie but rather delicate stir-fried food quite delicious and simr to that of Jade City¡¯s.


    Shangguan Ru picked up a piece of greasy braised pork, put in her mouth, and slowly savored it with her eyes closed. ¡°It¡¯s made by Elder Li of Southern Jade City. You really are capable. It takes at least three or four days to deliver dishs here from Jade City; why does it still taste so good?¡±


    ¡°Elder Li is in the backyard right now and has been preparing food for Tenth Gongzi for some time now.¡±


    ¡°You knew I wasing?¡± Shangguan Ru asked as she enjoyed the dishes.


    ¡°Heh, Tenth Gongzi is so bold, daring to ride such a conspicuous treasured horse. Someone informed me as soon as you reached the city gates, and I guessed that it couldn¡¯t be anybody besides the Tenth Gongzi.¡±


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t eat much, even though it was all homemade dishes. After having a few mouthfuls of each dish, she began drinking. As he watched her drink, Xu Xiaoyi, who was almost dumbfounded, sincerely praised, ¡°Even a hundred Dragon Kings are no match for Tenth Gongzi in terms of drinking.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m good now.¡± Shangguan Ru found it difficult to behave like ady after donning a man¡¯s attire, but she still did the best she could to maintain a proper posture, saying, ¡°The Dragon King sent me here. It couldn¡¯t be better to see you here. Tell me, what has happened in the past few months?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s quiteplicated. Many things have happened. What does the Tenth Gongzi want to know?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s up to you. Start with the important ones first.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi thought for a while with his head lowered before saying, ¡°The most important thing is regarding a prince of the Nond named Duodun. He has seizedmand of the army, assembled 70,000 horsemen, and taken over the Heaven¡¯s Pass. It was said that he is now preparing to go back to the prairie to quell the rebellion.¡±


    ¡°Rebellion?¡±


    ¡°The story here is that the kings of the Nond conspired to put the Khan to death, and now Duodun wants to avenge his father.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    ¡°Then things gotplicated. Duodun should have stayed with the Restoration Army of the Shule Kingdom as a hostage to keep the Dragon King safe. Shang Liao, the General of the Right, and the prince of Shule ¡ª I don¡¯t know what they were thinking ¡ª released Duodun. It¡¯s said they made a deal and that the two of them are also at the Heaven¡¯s Pass right now. It sounds like they are going to follow Duodun in pacifying the prairie.¡±


    ¡°What about Golden Roc Castle?¡±


    ¡°Golden Roc Castle still upies the Thousand Horsemen Pass on the eastside. I heard that they were also secretly in contact with Duodun and that the two might have already reached an agreement. In short, more than half of the forces in the Western Regions are courting this Duodun and betting on him. The situation will only grow worse if the Dragon King doesn¡¯t return soon.¡±


    ¡°What about the five kingdoms of Xiaoyao Lake?¡±


    ¡°Fortunately, Prime Minister Zhong Heng and Dugu Xian, the General of the Left, still appear to be loyal to the Dragon King. But recently, they¡¯ve also start dispatching troops and sending out letters, making lots of moves in general.¡±


    Shangguan Ru smiled. ¡°You seem to be dissatisfied with everyone.¡±


    ¡°Am I wrong? The Dragon King has only been away for several months, and everyone has already started ying little tricks with each other to grasp benefits for themselves, causing lots of rumors, as if the Dragon King would never return.¡±


    ¡°What do they say about the Dragon King?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi looked very angry. He pounded the table and indignantly said, ¡°Some say that the Dragon King joined the rebellion and was killed on the spot. Others say that he ran away and no longer dares to return to the Western Regions. It¡¯s also said that the Dragon King was fascinated by a princess of the Nond and became a running dog.¡±


    Shangguan Ruughed out loud. ¡°You can rest assured now. The Dragon King didn¡¯t die nor did he run away. Well, I¡¯m not sure if he¡¯s fascinated with a princess or not, but he¡¯ll lead an army back to the Western Regions soon.¡±


    ¡°Hah.¡± Xu Xiaoyi excitedly swung his fist in the air. The precocious image he had carefully maintained immediately shattered. ¡°I knew it. The Dragon King would nevere back empty-handed.¡±


    But his demeanor soon grew gloomy again. ¡°But the Dragon King has to be careful of this Duodun. He was the source of a lot of rumors. He seems to want to make the Dragon King an enemy. He has seventy thousand horsemen now. And his army will be at least a hundred thousand strong in total if the armies of Golden Roc Castle and the Shule Kingdom also join in. How many people can the Dragon King bring back?¡±


    Shangguan Ru shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I only have one task, to meet with two people. The first one is the prince of Shule Kingdom. Since he¡¯s at Heaven¡¯s Pass, it¡¯ll save me a lot of trouble.¡±


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t reveal the second person¡¯s name. Xu Xiaoyi understood tacitly and said, ¡°I¡¯ll arrange it for you.¡±


    Shangguan Rufortably took a bath, washing away all the dust umted through travel. She was carrying a wine pot even in the wooden bath bucket. She suddenly felt funny. Why should the Dragon King believe her? Better yet, why was she willing to run errands for him?


    There were some things that one just never knew. Shangguan Ru gulped down a mouthful of fragrant wine and immersed herself in the water. ¡®Jianghu,¡¯ she thought. She was wandering in Jianghu. The Dragon King had given her a chance to realize her childhood dream.


    The prince of the Shule Kingdom frowned slightly. The woman in front of him was elegant and beautiful, but was not in line with the needs of the present. As the prince of a conquered nation, he only valued power. ¡°Are you the Dragon King¡¯s messenger?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    The prince seemed to remain unconvinced and turned to Xu Xiaoyi. Xu Xiaoyi stepped forward and said, ¡°It isn¡¯t a lie, I can guarantee that.¡± Of course he could guarantee it, but he dared not say the real reason. ¡°Instructor Shangguan is in charge of the Land of Fragrance and is the Dragon King¡¯s right-hand woman.¡±


    The prince stopped frowning at once. ¡°So it turns out that your Excellency is the well-known instructor of the female soldiers. I am sorry that I didn¡¯t recognize you. What does the Dragon King say?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi took the hint and withdrew. His duty was to gather information and he knew exactly when he should stay and when to go.


    ¡°It¡¯s very simple. The Dragon King said that the Shule Kingdom is too big. Why not divide it into several pieces? He is merely wondering which piece His highness likes the most?¡±


    The prince blushed. ¡°What does that mean? What is the Dragon King trying to say? The Shule Kingdom is big but how can itpare to the Nond and the Central ins? I¡­¡±


    The prince suddenly understood. ¡°The Dragon King is afraid that I will surrender to Prince Duodun and that that would eventually lead to a national subjugation? The Dragon King can rest assured. The Shule Kingdom has a bottom line. The army of Duodun will leave the Western Regions soon. His aim is the Nond and it will be very busy for him for quite a while.¡±


    ¡°The Western Regions is the home-base of Duodun, so he will not let it go easily. The Dragon King wants you to think this through twice. Whoever helps Duodun in the Western Regions will be the King of the Shule Kingdom in the future.¡±


    The prince frowned again. He was not without a doubt, but he always felt that things would go well. The warning brought by Shangguan Ru had finally turned his doubt into certainty. ¡°Shang Liao, General of the Right.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not think so much. He had spected that Duodun would only choose one between the prince and Shang Liao. Instead, Shangguan Ru actually made her own judgment.


    ¡°Do me a favor. I want to see Prince Duodun as soon as possible,¡± Shangguan Ru said. Without the Dragon King around, she had thought out a bold n herself.


    To wander in Jianghu, one had to have bold ns.

 Chapter 762 - Taking Risks

    Chapter 762: Taking Risks


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    As themander-in-chief, Prince Duodun was very busy, but he still readily agreed to receive Shangguan Ru and hosted a grand banquet for this reception.


    Prince Duodun was the type of person who could impress any visitor quickly, haughty but not annoying. He was always surrounded by seven or eight of his peers. They constantlyughed aloud and repelled outsiders, and only with the prince¡¯s permission did they made a narrow passage for the visitor.


    Under the watchful eyes of Duodun¡¯spanions, any outsider would feel an immense pressure and be frightened. When they finally reached the front of the prince and heard the prince¡¯s warm and cheerful greetings, they would immediately feel relieved and think that they were receiving a special treatment.


    After a short conversation, Shangguan Ru concluded that this was a man who was the opposite of the Dragon King but a bit simr to herself. They would be even more simr if she had not experienced so much misfortune.


    There were many houses built in the city of Heaven¡¯s Pass, but Prince Duodun refused to follow the customs of this ce. He still erected a tent as the reception room and the food served was also typical of the prairie style: endless wine, meat, and milk.


    Shangguan Ru and the prince of the Shule Kingdom entered the tent together. The first to greet her was Shang Liao, the General of the Right.


    Shang Liao was not wearing any armor. With a smile on his face, he politely nodded and said, ¡°Instructor Shangguan came here so fast. Why didn¡¯t you send a letter in advance so that I could have sent troops to receive Your Highness¡¯s grand carriage?¡±


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t have a ¡®grand carriage.¡¯ I only have a horse.¡±


    The prince of the Shule Kingdom hastily interjected, ¡°I didn¡¯t realize that it was Instructor Shangguan before I saw the treasured horse. Haha, General Shang, you won¡¯t be jealous of me, will you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, a little bit.¡± Shang Liao smilingly said as he and the prince of the Shule Kingdom escorted Shangguan Ru to Duodun.


    Duodun¡¯s corepanions gave way while winking at each other, curiously and warily staring at the ¡®Queen¡¯ of the Land of Fragrance.


    Shang Liao and the prince of the Shule Kingdom took the hint and stopped at the periphery of the small group.


    Prince Duodun warmly opened his arms. Perhaps feeling that that was inappropriate, he quickly changed his greeting salute to a cupped fist. ¡°Seeing is believing. Instructor Shangguan is world-renowned, and I didn¡¯t expect that I would have the chance to see you today, haha.¡±


    ¡°The Western Regions are changing every day. I also did not expect to witness a new hero rise within a few months.¡±


    Both sidesughed; one didn¡¯t care about the teasing while the other didn¡¯t mind the sarcasm.


    The host seated at least fifty guests, which included generals and officers of the Nond as well as figures of influence from the Western Regions. There was even a saberlord of Golden Roc Castle who pretended that Tenth Gongzi wasn¡¯t there from beginning to end.


    One of Duodun¡¯spanions had hardly sat down when he spat out the question he had prepared beforehand. ¡°I heard that the Dragon King used a cunning trick to take the me Foal from King Rizhu. Is that the horse that Instructor Shangguan rode here?¡±


    ¡°Exactly, but the Dragon King didn¡¯t y any tricks. He won publicly at the Tournament of the Royal Court.¡±


    ¡°Haha, everyone says that ¡®bestowing a treasured sword on a hero and giving rouge powder to a beauty¡¯ is for the best, but the Dragon King gave the instructor a horse. He¡¯s really unique,¡± chimed in anotherpanion, leading the conversation sideways.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m neither a hero nor a beauty. I¡¯m just a wine bag, but luckily I¡¯m quite light. The Dragon King actually loves the me Foal very much and doesn¡¯t want it to carry anything heavy.¡±


    ¡°What a matchless delicate wine bag,¡± cried Prince Duodun, pping his hands, and taking up arge bowl of wine. ¡°I wonder if it can hold more wine than a bunch of rough wine bags like us. I¡¯ll empty this first. Be my guest.¡±


    Before Shangguan Ru could even learn the names of the people present, the drinkingpetition had already begun.


    She understood the purpose of the banquet. Duodun saw her as the Dragon King¡¯s woman and also as the symbol of the Dragon King, and intended to show to the public that there were no talented people under the Dragon King¡¯smand.


    Butpeting in drinking? She had never lost her nerve or face in front of any man even when she had been a light drinker.


    The banquetsted from evening to thete hours of the night, wrapped in a warm atmosphere. The doublespeak was soon reced by mere gibberish, and theypletely ignored Shangguan Ru¡¯s identity as a woman and were shocked by the amount of wine she downed. People took turnspeting with her, but they all retreated in defeat again and again.


    Shangguan Ru slowly figured out who everyone was.


    The prince of the Shule Kingdom and Shang Liao felt that they had a duty to protect Instructor Shangguan and tried to drink for her. After several rounds, however, the two were carried out by Duodun¡¯s buddies.


    ¡°Why are there no heroines like the instructor in the prairie?¡± One of Duodun¡¯s friends was obviously quite drunk and babbled nonsensically.


    ¡°That¡¯s because you never seriously looked for them.¡± Shangguan Ru was also a bit drunk now, having reached the point where she felt like she was walking on clouds. She liked this feeling, and her mind was still clear enough to notice the suspicious nces of Shang Liao now and then.


    Duodun drank till he reached his limit, and was now lying on a nket with his right elbow to his side. nting his eyes, he said, ¡°The Dragon King really doesn¡¯t have a tender heart for women. How could he let Instructor Shangguan cross the grasnds alone? If I were him, I¡¯d have kept the instructor with me forever.¡±


    Shangguan Ru smilingly replied, ¡°Life is unpredictable. Sometimes things just don¡¯t go as nned. There¡¯s also a woman in the Royal Court who wants to keep Your Highness around her forever. It¡¯s within sight but beyond their reach.¡±


    Duodun¡¯s face suddenly changed. He straightened up and drank some more to hide his embarrassment and didn¡¯t speak to her again after that. In the end, he was carried away by several of hispanions.


    The banquet was over.


    The prince of the Shule Kingdom was more friendly than ever when he sent Shangguan Ru back to her living ce.


    Shangguan Ru slept through the night. After she got up and cleaned herself, Xu Xiaoyi came to visit her and the first thing out of his mouth was, ¡°Instructor Shangguan is famous now.¡±


    ¡°I hope it¡¯s a good reputation.¡± Shangguan Ru felt a bit dizzy. No matter how mellow the wine was, no one liked waking up hungover.


    ¡°Good fame, great fame,¡± said Xu Xiaoyi excitedly. ¡°Everyone says that the Dragon King has sent his right-hand woman who¡¯s not only as pretty as a fairy but also an amazing drinker. More than a hundred generals under Duodun were drunk under the tablepeting drinking with her, and Duodun himself was carried out of the tent.¡±


    ¡°Haha.¡± Shangguan Ru¡¯s dizziness eased up a bit. ¡°It will be much better if they only said I was ¡®as pretty as a fairy.¡¯ Well, forget it. We¡¯ll leave the rest to Luo Ningcha.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi actually had something to report. ¡°Shang Liao, the General of the Right, hase early in the morning. Do you want to meet him?¡±


    ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°Well, from what I know, it was all Shang Liao¡¯s idea to free Duodun and join forces with the Nond Army. Over the past few months, he has expanded his army into a powerful force in the Western Regions, but he¡¯s still unable to control the guards. Those one thousand people are still loyal to the Dragon King, so the decision to meet him or not ¡­ rests with you.¡±


    Shang Liao looked more respectful than he had been at the banquet yesterday. After the greeting, he soon went to the point. ¡°There¡¯s one point that I hope the instructor will not misunderstand or listen to other people¡¯s nder. It was indeed my idea to ally with Prince Duodun but it was only because the situation called for prompt action. The Khan was dead, it was meaningless to keep the prince imprisoned. The Western Regions was in chaos at that time, if we didn¡¯t stabilize the Nond Army as soon as possible, Golden Roc Castle would have probably benefited from it.¡±


    ¡°I understand, and so does the Dragon King. A fieldmander must make the right decision, even going against the king¡¯s orders. The Dragon King is thousands of miles of away and did not even send a word of advice. General Shang made the right choice. Even if the Dragon King were in the Western Regions, he would do the same thing.¡±


    Shang Liao seemed to feel a bit more relieved. ¡°I¡¯ll rest assured if the instructor and the Dragon King feels this way.¡±


    ¡°But I also have a small doubt. Why didn¡¯t General Shang send a message to the Dragon King? We¡¯ve been pretty isted for months.¡±


    Shang Liao¡¯s face reddened a bit as he embarrassedly exined, ¡°Well, before the Khan ascended to Heaven, it was Golden Roc Castle and the Nond Army who jointly controlled the Heaven¡¯s Pass and strictly forbade people of the Western Regions from crossing the border. Later, when Prince Duodun came to power, he said that the Nond was in chaos and that it was inappropriate to intervene and make enemies too early, so he didn¡¯t lift the ban. So it¡¯s not that I didn¡¯t want to send a message; even the Dragon King¡¯s intelligence officer couldn¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see. The Dragon King once told me that General Shang could act on his responsibility as a talented general and for me to not interfere too much with you. So I did not dare see you first. In fact, I don¡¯t have much experience in warfare. Although I¡¯m the instructor of the female soldiers, I haven¡¯t experienced any major battles. All I know is drinking, I hope that General Shang won¡¯tugh at me.¡±


    Shangguan Ru finally understood why the Dragon King is so paranoid and had so many tricks. When the people around him couldn¡¯t be differentiated from friend and foe, suspicions and plots would spring up like bamboo shoots after the rain.


    After sending Shang Liao away, Shangguan Ru discussed some more things with Xu Xiaoyi. In the afternoon, Prince Duodun sent someone to invite her.


    This was to be expected.


    It was a small meeting. Duodun only had two friends with him, but the guards were much stricter. Shangguan Ru was asked to hand over all her weapons at the door of the tent.


    When she handed over the wooden saber and the dagger, the guard was obviously surprised.


    This time, without any polite greetings, Duodun went straight to the point. ¡°Many people, including my friends in the Nond, told me that the Dragon King and I are natural allies, and I believed and looked forward to it. Now I have a hundred thousand horsemen under mymand. How many people can the Dragon King bring?¡±


    The seventy thousand soldiers had suddenly be a hundred thousand. Prince Duodun was actually quite ¡®honest¡¯ in that regard. Shangguan Ru pretended to think for a while before replying, ¡°Twenty thousand soldiers from the Land of Fragrance, forty thousand from the Xiaoyao Lake, twenty thousand from the Restoration Army of the Shule Kingdom, and a hundred and fifty thousand horsemen from the Royal Court. So there are two hundred thousand people at least.¡±


    She also listed out an exaggerated number.


    Duodunughed. ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t care about the other troops. As long as the Dragon King can bring eighty thousand men from the Nond, I¡¯ll respect him as a real king.¡±


    ¡°To tell you the truth, I don¡¯t know much about these things, but I think that Your Highness has a good chance of seeing thate to pass.¡±


    ¡°Heh, Instructor Shangguan, you¡¯vee all the way here in such a hurry. Could you just tell me what you are doing here?¡±


    Shangguan Ru widened her eyes and put on a look of innocence. Then she turned to look at the twopanions of Duodun.


    One of them was tall while the other was short. The taller one hadpeted in drinking with her yesterday, but the short one hadn¡¯t.


    ¡°The Dragon King was afraid that Your Highness would be deceived, so he sent me here ahead of time to have a look.¡±


    ¡°What do you see then?¡± asked Duodun.


    ¡°I see that ¡ª¡±


    Shangguan Ru suddenly made a move. She used the Subtle Shadow Lightness Skill and poked at the short man with the Heart Stopping Finger. This person¡¯s kung fu wasn¡¯t weak but she hadn¡¯t been disguised by Lotus. Shangguan Ru felt a bit relieved.


    Duodun was stunned. The tall man immediately reached out for his saber, but neither of them could escape Shangguan Ru¡¯s lightness skill and finger technique.


    As the three of them froze on the spot, Shangguan Ru continued speaking, ¡°I see that a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall is hiding around Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°How dare you! Stupid!¡± The tall man said indignantly, his face reddening. ¡°Do you think that you can escape? If you dare hurt His Highness, the whole Nond will hunt down the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Gambling is the weak¡¯s only powerful weapon.¡± As soon as she blurted it out, Shangguan Ru realized that this was something that the Dragon King had said before. But at the moment, she felt that it fit the situation quite well.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want Shangguan Ru to take risks, but when things came to a head, she found that taking risks was often the most reasonable n.


    ¡°There¡¯s one person who has never been mentioned, but I know he must exist.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± It was still the tall man speaking for Duodun.


    ¡°The original Commander-in-chief of the Nond Army. I hope that he¡¯s still alive.¡±


    ¡°Yes, he¡¯s kept at¡­¡±


    ¡°Release him, and His Highness will be free and will also receive my sincerest apology¡±


    Make an enemy for Duodun; this was Shangguan Ru¡¯s idea, and she thought that it was better than the Dragon King¡¯s original n.

 Chapter 763 - Impasse

    Chapter 763: Impasse


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Aware of the severe pain in his left arm, Shangguan Hong immediately loosened his right hand. He found himself unconsciously gouging out several bleeding wounds in his arm again.


    What was strange was that, he, who had been so afraid of being hurt, and even shuddered at the thought of it, had realized that he was now addicted to it and that the burning pain felt as intoxicating as good wine.


    Shangguan Hong had followed Queen Ju¡¯s order to follow Shangguan Ru, but was several dayste when he arrived at Heaven¡¯s Pass. It turned out that he was toote. It seemed like his half-sister had cast a spell on the people of the small city; she had be one of the most famous figures in the small city in a very short period. There was even news saying that Prince Duodun had been enchanted by her and was willing to pay any price for her.


    Shangguan Hong felt a deep sense of powerlessness. How could hepete with her? Martial arts, wisdom, and poprity. He was inferior to her in every aspect. His only advantage was a letter tucked in his robe.


    But it was more difficult to send out the letter than he had expected. His identity as Queen Ju¡¯s messenger had little influence in Heaven¡¯s Pass. He had been sitting around in front of the General¡¯s Office for nearly four hours like a beggar and his stomach was growling with hunger, but the guard of the gate only gave him one word. ¡°Wait.¡±


    When he finally met Shang Liao, his confidence had reached the bottom, but he still had to finish the task the Queen had given him.


    The Queen was the only tree to which he clung. It was not yet tall. He had to wait patiently and show extraordinary loyalty while she was still weak.


    Shang Liao, who acted coldly, took the letter from his servant, looked it through and gave it back to his servant, who then returned it to its original owner.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand what it means.¡± Shang Liao held up the teacup as if he were speaking to it.


    Shangguan Hong stood a few paces away, licking his dry lips. ¡°The Dragon King has given the Queen the right to manage the Dragon Army. That¡¯s what it means,¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Strictly speaking, the Dragon Army is at Xiaoyao Lake. All the soldiers under mymand are soldiers of the Restoration Army of the Shule Kingdom. If that¡¯s what the Queen wants me to know, then please go back and tell her that I already know this.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s more than that,¡± Shangguan Hong said in a dull voice, feeling that he was doing something banal and stupid. He could never convince the General of the Right, even if the Queen were here herself.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    Shangguan Hong gave a quick nce at the servants in the room, indicating that this was not the proper ce to discuss secrets. Shang Liao, however, sipped the tea slowly and waited for him to continue talking as if he had not noticed.


    ¡°Well, the Queen felt that some people might swagger around and swindle others under the banner of the Dragon King and that the generals of the Dragon Army should guard against it.¡±


    ¡°Just cut to the point. I can¡¯t understand a woman¡¯s confusing remarks,¡± Shang Liao said in an authoritative tone.


    ¡°Shang¡­ Shangguan Ru. She¡¯s the most favored daughter of the Unique King. The father and daughter have disputes, but as long as the father says a word, wouldn¡¯t the daughter change her mind? She¡¯s the Dragon King¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°Most trusted instructor.¡± Shang Liao finished Shangguan Hong¡¯s sentence for him, put down his teacup, stood up, and said, ¡°The Land of Fragrance and the me Foal. Pardon me for speaking frankly, but both of these things show that the Dragon King has full trust in Instructor Shangguan. And that¡¯s more persuasive than this¡­ vague letter. I don¡¯t know what the Queen thinks she is doing, but her duty is to assist the Dragon King in his internal affairs. If I could give her advice, I¡¯d say that she should manage the pce and bear the Dragon King a prince as soon as possible.¡±


    Although he knew the result would be like this, Shangguan Hong still left the General¡¯s Office red-faced. He understood that Queen Ju had little influence in the Dragon Army¡¯s power system, but he still felt humiliated when he experienced the humbleness himself.


    The mission was now over. He could go back and report the insolence of the General of the Right, adding another name to the Queen¡¯s ck list. But strong retaliation was still far away. He now suspected that even if they went back to Xiaoyao Lake, the Queen might not be able to wrest too much power from Zhong Heng and Dugu Xian.


    Shangguan Hong absentmindedly walked out of the city and found a shop selling wine and meat. As he drank the cheap wine and tasteless dried meat, he suddenly felt all kinds of emotions well up in his heart.


    He hated the snobbishness of Golden Roc Castle, the cruelty of Shangguan Fei, the pride of Shangguan Ru, the indifference of the Dragon King, the condescension of Shang Liao, and even the weakness of the Queen and the profiteers who had sold him the wine and meat. This poor little food was even more expensive than a meal in Jade City.


    Even the pedestrians in the street made him angry. There was war and death everywhere. Why not just stay at home? The Western Regions was not heaven. He wanted to yell the truth at these bewildered refugees. This ce was hell, and the money they had wasn¡¯t enough for even a single month¡¯s living expense. Then they had to sell their children and they themselves would be enved.


    There were full of stupid people in this city. Some people even glowed with joy at the fact that they had finally arrived at the Western Regions. Shangguan Hong had an impulse to kill all the people in the street.


    But he didn¡¯t have the guts to do so. In the face of an unhappy life and miserable world, the only way for him to deal with it was to go to sleep with the help of alcohol.


    Two young street rats came over and gave him a few nudges. Seeing that he did not react, one of them searched his body while the other led his horse away, quickly ransacking the gloomy guest.


    The shopkeeper turned around and went about his businesses, pretending to not have seen anything.


    Shangguan Hong quarreled with the shopkeeper and desperately wanted to kill people, only to find that his saber was also gone while the shopkeeper and the waiters held huge cleavers in their hands.


    As a son of the Lord of Golden Roc Castle, his kung fu was good enough for him to deal with several ordinary people unarmed, but he still retreated.


    As the night wore on, Shangguan Hong found that he had nowhere to go. He had only taken a nap, but in the blink of an eye, he had been reduced to a state more miserable than the street refugees he had secretly mocked.


    He walked towards the city and decided to shamelessly seek help from the General¡¯s Office, but turned around and retreated before he even reached the city gate, telling himself that he would rather starve to death than be insulted again.


    In fact, he knew that there was one person in Heaven¡¯s Pass who would certainly help him. It was Shangguan Ru. Although she had never had a good opinion of her half-brother, she would not let him starve and go homeless.


    ¡®That bitch has such a foolish kindness, thinking that it can wash away the sins shemitted as a child,¡¯ thought Shangguan Hong with great resentment, eliminating that idea even quicker than the others.


    In the end, he decided to do what he should have done a long time ago. The killer and the robber were, in fact, the same kind of people.


    The Unique King¡¯ son was going to be a bandit now. Shangguan Hong really wanted to announce the decision loudly and let the news spread to Golden Roc Castle.


    Silently, he walked out into the wilderness outside the vige and hid himself in a tree.


    It was already dark, and the chill of early autumn settled in as the night fell. Shangguan Hong shivered.


    There were very few pedestrians. Several horsemen passed by, all of whom were Nond Cavalrymen. Shangguan Hong did not dare stop them.


    A small family came up, and their voices trickled ahead before the figures appeared. ¡°Walk a little longer, and there will be something to eat ahead.¡±


    Apparently, this family had nothing to rob.


    Slowly, the lights in the distant vige went out one by one, indicating that Shangguan Hong probably would end up with nothing on the first day of his career as a bandit.


    He curled up on the branches of the tree, ready to pass the night there.


    Just as he closed his eyes to dream of an extravagant life, the gentle sound of hooves rang out. Shangguan Hong was immediately in high spirits.


    With the moonlight, Shangguan Hong could clearly see that two women were approaching, one on a donkey while the other was walking.


    An experienced robber would then think: why would two women dare toe out of the vige in the middle of the night, but Shangguan Hong only had one idea in mind. After a whole day of bad luck, he had finally been blessed with two fat sheep. He did not even notice an obvious hint at the strangeness of the situation: The two women were holding umbres.


    Shangguan Hong jumped down from the tree. He hadn¡¯t stretched his body for a long time and almost fell on his back when hended. He tried to say a few bitter words, but all that came out was ¡°Money.¡±


    The woman on foot said in consternation, ¡°Do all beggars now beg for money this way?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a beggar, I¡¯m¡­¡±


    The woman on foot put away her umbre. Shangguan Hong vaguely felt that the other side was a bit familiar. When the woman on the donkey revealed her face from under the umbre, Shangguan Hong was frightened out of his senses. He turned around and tried to flee but fell to the ground after only taking one step. ¡°Sorry, sorry, I¡­ I didn¡¯t know it was you.¡±


    Lotus looked down and said to Han Xuan, ¡°Look, I told you we¡¯d meet someone we know.¡±


    Han Xuan had had very little contact with Shangguan Hong. After a closer look, she finally remembered him. ¡°Aren¡¯t you the eunuch with the Queen? Why are¡­ you suddenly a beggar? How¡¯s my youngdy?¡±


    ¡°Good. Uh, I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve been away from the Stone Kingdom for a while.¡± Shangguan Hong looked at Lotus as he spoke. He had been taken to the Royal Court together with the Queen, and this devil should have been very clear on that.


    Nobody knew whether it was because of the night or the moonlight, but Lotus, though she was still dressed in a white robe, seemed to have changed, appearing ethereal and a bit ephemeral, like a ghostly fairy.


    ¡°How much do you want?¡± Lotus asked.


    ¡°No, no, I¡¯m not begging for money. I just hope that you can spare my life.¡± Shangguan Hongy prostrate on the ground, too ashamed to get up.


    ¡°Why do you think that I¡¯d kill you? What are you talking about?¡±


    Shangguan Hong suddenly came to his senses and asked, ¡°You knew that I was here? Did you here specifically for me?¡±


    Han Xuan rudely turned Shangguan Hong¡¯s head to the side, forcing him to look at her. ¡°Tell me more about my youngdy. How was she when you left?¡±


    ¡°Good, very good. Everyone likes her, it¡¯s just that she misses you very much sometimes.¡±


    Han Xuan was finally satisfied. With a sigh of relief, she walked back to Lotus.


    Lotus handed over the umbre to Han Xuan and said, ¡°I¡¯m on a special long trip but I¡¯m not here to see you.¡±


    Hunger and desperation made Shangguan Hong¡¯s brain spin faster. He suddenly changed his posture, knelt on the ground, and anxiously said, ¡°I¡¯m here on the Queen¡¯s order to¡­ deal with Shangguan Ru. You also hate her, don¡¯t you? Actually, the Dragon King doesn¡¯t like the Queen at all. Do you want¡­¡±


    Lotus only gave him one nce, but Shangguan Hong immediately felt a surge of killing aura pour down on him like a tidal wave, turning his body into an uncontroble mess. He knew that he had said the wrong words. This wasn¡¯t what Lotus wanted to hear. ¡°I hate all the people of the Shangguan family. Master Commander, please take me. I¡¯m willing to join the Waning Moon Hall to serve you.¡±


    ¡°What about the Dragon King? Do you hate him?¡±


    This was a difficult question to answer. A slip of the tongue might make change his situation forever. Shangguan Hong tried to find a hint from Lotus¡¯s face but failed. He did not even dare to look into her eyes.


    ¡°Yes,¡± he said in the end. ¡°The Dragon King is the root of all sin. It was he who indulged the twins into doing evil.¡±


    Lotus was silent for a moment before saying, ¡°So, what you want is not money.¡±


    ¡°Revenge!¡± Shangguan Hong cried out, ¡°I want my revenge.¡±


    ¡°At any cost?¡±


    ¡°At any cost.¡±


    Lotus nodded to Han Xuan, who then took out two books from her robe, holding one in each hand.


    ¡°This one is the first seven chapters of the Daoless Divine Power. Thest two chapters are in the Queen¡¯s mind. After five years of hard practice, you¡¯ll have your chance of revenge.¡±


    ¡°Five years,¡± Shangguan Hong muttered. Nobody knew whether he thought it was too long or too short.


    ¡°The other is the Seven Rotations skill. You can improve your internal energy very quickly but there¡¯s a hidden danger.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the manual Old Man Mu practiced.¡±


    ¡°Right. Choose one yourself.¡±


    Shangguan Hong was puzzled. ¡°Why? Why do you¡­¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t bear to see a seed of vengeance end up like this.¡±


    ¡°I want both,¡± Shangguan Hong firmly said.


    Lotus actually did not refuse. She then produced a small box and took out a pill from inside. ¡°Swear allegiance to me, dead or alive.¡±

 Chapter 764 - Assurance

    Chapter 764: Assurance


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Mo Chu was very old now. He had once served as the prime minister of the Nond and assisted the Khan in ruling the entire prairie and was deeply trusted. After living in seclusion for several years, he had been appointed as the Governor of Jade City.


    On the surface, it seemed like he had been relegated, but Mo Chu received a clear assurance from the Khan that something big was going to happen in the Western Regions soon.


    As expected, the Nond Cavalry swarmed into the Western Regions and devoured the Shule Kingdom and Mo Chu, as a matter of course, became themander-in-chief of this army.


    The death of the Khan was a great shock to him, but what was even more unexpected was that he would be abducted by a dozen or so young officers and forced to hand over themand in such a humiliating fashion.


    Mo Chu knew Prince Duodun. Actually, he had watched him grow up. He had seen his frivolousness and also witnessed him gradually mature. What Mo Chu had been thinking this whole time was that if Prince Duodun had even a little respect for him, it wouldn¡¯t have been difficult for him to surrender the military leadership. After all, the Nond had a tradition that once the army lost its leader, the nearest descendant of the Khan could automatically take control.


    Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he had been released and Prince Duodun made a sincere apology in person. Mo Chu would have almost believed the prince if he hadn¡¯t had such a wealth of experience.


    Some generals in the army were still loyal to him. After a quick inquiry, Mo Chu was surprised to discover that the one who had rescued him was most likely a woman sent by the Dragon King ¡ª the instructor of the Land of Fragrance and the daughter of the Unique King.


    Mo Chu would not run to thank Shangguan Ru like a reckless child and also would not assume that the Dragon King was his friend. He waited and observed the situation patiently, pretending that he didn¡¯t know the inside story. He epted Prince Duodun¡¯s kindness and handed over most of the military power with the excuse that ¡°I¡¯m getting old and I might be summoned by the Khan at any time. I¡¯m really unable tomand an army now.¡±


    Duodun had no choice but to share his military power with this annoying old sly fox. His core supporters were mostly mid-level officers. And to reward his loyal partners, he had offended many senior generals who regarded Mo Chu¡¯s release as aeback. They swarmed to visit him andin, and even reported all the military intelligence to him, still regarding the former prime minister as the realmander-in-chief.


    Duodun regretted not acting more ruthlessly at the very beginning which resulted in the current hidden danger. It was not because he was soft-hearted, but more so that he just didn¡¯t want to kill a noble of the Nond before having a battle.


    Mo Chu agreed to share the military power while pretending to refuse and expressed his gratitude as if it were a power granted to him by the prince. From now on, he would work under the restored nominal title of Commander-in-chief while the prince would be the Army Supervisor.


    Apart from the asional small conflicts between the low-leveled officers, the two sides got along quite well for more than a dozen or so days until the Dragon King and the army he led arrived at Heaven¡¯s Pass.


    ¡°Ten thousand people? He only brought ten thousand people with him?¡± Duodun couldn¡¯t believe his ears.


    Inside the tent were several of his trusted friends and Mo Chu, along with a dozen or so generals. The scout bowed and replied, ¡°Yes, only ten thousand people. The Dragon King¡¯s messenger will be here soon.¡±


    Duodun didn¡¯t say anything. Instead, he turned to look at Mo Chu and wanted to see how this Old Fox would react.


    ¡°Uh, let¡¯s wait for the messenger toe.¡± Mo Chu refused to take a definitive side. On the contrary, he showed a drowsy look as if he were no longer capable of carrying out his duties.


    Duodun sent for Shangguan Ru.


    Duodun hated this woman, this strange woman, but was also fascinated by her. The reason he had banished the disciple of the Waning Moon Hall and freed themander-in-chief Mo Chu was not simply out of fear. He had actually fallen in love with her. He had first been enchanted when Shangguan Ru drank the first bowl of wine in front of him.


    As a prairie man and the Khan¡¯s favorite son, Duodun would not hide his love in his heart. On the night Shangguan Ru had poked his acupoint, when he could only move his mouth, he had revealed his true feelings. ¡°Be my princess consort. You¡¯ll be the Chief Consort of the Nond. I won¡¯t marry any women from the Khan¡¯s consorts¡¯ side. I only want you.¡±


    Shangguan Ru wasn¡¯t shy like the average woman, but sheughed in response. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m not interested in bing the princess consort or Chief Consort. And I don¡¯t want to mislead you, so I¡¯ll tell you this bluntly. It¡¯s impossible.¡±


    Duodun¡¯s acupoint was released. He had then said to the disciple of the Waning Moon Hall who had been in disguise to protect him, ¡°Look, it¡¯s as simple as that. Instructor Shangguan is more powerful than you, and I fell in love with her. So, go back and tell your Master Commander that our alliance is over. I don¡¯t like your style of hiding in the dark and assassinating the enemy. You may seed asionally by assassinating, but that doesn¡¯t mean that it will always work. If the Waning Moon Hall had even half the fame of Golden Roc Castle, it would be strictly guarded, and it will be hard for you to take even one step.¡±


    Shangguan Ru knew that this had been said to her, but she didn¡¯t expect that it woulde true so soon.


    Fame meant attention, and attention meant a lot of obstacles. Shangguan Ru had thought that she hadpleted her task sessfully and now wanted to leave the Heaven¡¯s Pass, only to find that it really was ¡®hard to take even one step.¡¯


    ¡°People of the Waning Moon Hall are all crazy.¡± Duodun¡¯s judgment was right as he continued, ¡°So you are in danger now. Whether it is for the public¡¯s interests or for my private interests, I won¡¯t let you get hurt. But I can¡¯t spare any men to escort you at the moment. So please stay, at least until your thousand women soldiers arrive. And please consider my suggestion. Believe me, I¡¯m not joking.¡±


    The one thousand female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance were marching towards the Thousand Horsemen Pass. They had to escort thedies back to their countries and then make their way around Xiaoyao Lake to reach Heaven¡¯s Pass, which would then not be reachable for a few months.


    Shangguan Ru believed that she could run away secretly, but Xu Xiaoyi also advised her to stay. ¡°The situation in the Western Regions is not stable. The instructor should stay for a while, at least until the Dragon King returns.¡±


    The person Shangguan Ru was trying to avoid was precisely the Dragon King. But she had stayed in the end. The reasons wereplicated, but one of them was exactly the information gathered by Xu Xiaoyi. ¡°Lotus has appeared in Heaven¡¯s Pass and Han Xuan is with her. Some people have seen a youngdy. And if my guess is right, that should be Shangguan Shaomin.¡±


    But the clue was lost as soon as it appeared. Shangguan Ru wasn¡¯t able to find the whereabouts of her niece.


    She had heard that the Dragon King was also nowing with the army, so she epted the invitation to meet Duodun.


    ¡°You said that the Dragon King would bring back at least eighty thousand people but the best estimate I¡¯ve heard is only ten thousand people,¡± Duodun asked with a serious look. He liked this woman and could frankly show his love for her, but he would never try to please her, and nor would he ever purposefully act weak in front of her.


    ¡°That¡¯s what you said. I said that the Dragon King was qualified to be respected by Your Highness.¡± Shangguan Ru still clearly remembered the conversation that they had before, ¡°If Your Highness still has doubts, you can ask the Dragon King directly. He¡¯ll be here soon and will surely give you a satisfactory exnation.¡±


    ¡°I believe in the Dragon King because I believe in you.¡± Duodun specially stressed thest word.


    Shangguan Ru shook her head. ¡°You are the Khan¡¯s son. You will beughed at for saying such things. Believe in yourself, and do not ce your hopes on others.¡±


    ¡°Haha.¡± Duodunughed drily. Those surrounding him were his most trusted friends so he did not have to worry about them letting out the secret. ¡°I don¡¯t understand how a woman like you doesn¡¯t like me. We are a perfect match, and only the vast prairie of my being can let you gallop to your heart¡¯s content.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because my horse runs so fast that most people can¡¯t keep up with it.¡±


    Duodunughed again and turned to his friends, asking, ¡°Do we really have no other horses that can catch up with the me Foal?¡±


    ¡°The grasnd is too big. With so many horses there, we will sooner orter find a horse that can keep pace with the me Foal,¡± one of his friends replied.


    Just then the Dragon King¡¯s messenger arrived. Duodun sent for Mo Chu, themander-in-chief.


    Azheba was obviously astonished to see Shangguan Ru here. He nodded at her and said to Duodun and Mo Chu, ¡°The Dragon King will arrive the day after tomorrow and the army will be stationed at the Xiaowan Kingdom.¡±


    ¡°Xiaowan Kingdom?¡± Mo Chu was surprised. ¡°Isn¡¯t that¡­ Isn¡¯t that the territory of the young master Shangguan Yun from the Golden Roc Castle?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but Shangguan Yun was willing to offer the capital city up and the Dragon King agreed.¡±


    It was another unexpected piece of news but Duodun said nothing about it.


    The formal meeting was soon over. Azheba retreated. Mo Chu and Shangguan Ru also took their leave. Duodun returned to his tent and summoned the Dragon King¡¯s messenger again.


    Although Azheba had stayed in the Royal Court all this time, he was still one of Duodun¡¯s most trusted friends like Liman.


    Azheba kneeled to the prince and greeted, ¡°Azheba salutes Your Highness.¡±


    Duodun pulled his favorite officer off of the ground and thumped Azheba¡¯s chest affectionately. ¡°Good boy, it¡¯s only a few months since I saw youst time and you are already beginning to distance yourself from me. I heard that you¡¯ve done a great job in the Royal Court and shot down many enemies. Are you going to treat me as an outsider after you be a hero?¡±


    Azheba grinned. This was the prince he knew. The rest of the party also came one by one to hug him affectionately.


    This was a small coterie. Instead of dismissing any of hispanions, Duodun casuallyy on the couch and asked, ¡°Tell me, what kind of person is the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say.¡± Azheba knew that the prince would ask him about this. He had thought for a long time but still could not think of a simple answer. ¡°He¡¯s clever and decisive. He knows how to win people over and has impressive saber techniques. He often makes unexpected decisions, but he always seeds.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, those¡¯re his strong points. I suppose he¡¯s not perfect, is he?¡±


    ¡°No, the Dragon King is very suspicious. He¡¯s very different from Your Highness. Although he¡¯s good at wooing people, he doesn¡¯t fully trust any of them, not to mention confiding in others. He¡¯s always hiding something, and when one finally realizes it, they will make themselves feel very stupid and ufortable.¡±


    Duodun looked up and thought for a while before asking, ¡°Then how could such a man obtain the allegiance of the Court Attendants Army?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is very good at his tricks. Even if someone can think of them, they won¡¯t necessarily use them.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, ying tricks. I¡¯ve heard those rumors but I¡¯m on the Dragon King¡¯s side. All the founders of the Nond and the Central ins did the same thing and quite enjoyed it. How do I know that? Sorry, bro, I secretly read a few books.¡±


    All the people including Azhebaughed. In the Nond, all the nobles who read books were abnormal.


    ¡°How many horsemen did the Dragon King muster? I want real numbers.¡± Duodun put away his smile.


    ¡°There are 155,000 horsemen in total, including 93,000 men in the Court Attendants Army, and 62,000 soldiers in the armies of the kings. That¡¯s the most urate figure.¡±


    ¡°But he brought only ten thousand men with him.¡±


    ¡°Since Prince Luoluo is leading his army to the Royal Court, the Dragon King has to leave the main army behind as a countermeasure.¡±


    ¡°What kind of prince is Luoluo?¡± One of them cried out indignantly. ¡°Even his pedigree is dubious, he doesn¡¯t deserve to lead the Nond Cavalry.¡±


    Duodun didn¡¯t join in on the discussion. He had his own thoughts about Luoluo of the East, but he didn¡¯t want to share them with his friends too early.


    A king always had to hide things, but in different ways. In Duodun¡¯s view, the Dragon King was clearly not a master in this respect.


    ¡°The Second Consort also came with the Dragon King and she asked me to deliver a letter to Your Highness personally.¡±


    Duodun took the letter, casually put it next to him, but did not open it. ¡°The Second Consort and Liman think very highly of the Dragon King. Even I am a little jealous now. What¡¯s your opinion, Azheba? Should I wholeheartedly ally with the Dragon King?¡±


    Azheba took a deep breath. This was another question he had pondered for a long time. ¡°The Dragon King will never give up his right of control, but he¡¯s a man of his word. So my suggestion is that, if you are sure you can get rid of the Dragon King once and for all afterwards, then kill him; if not, bow your head to him for the time being. Do notpete with him at all because that will only cause you more trouble.¡±


    ¡°Very good. I never do things I¡¯m not sure of,¡± Duodun coldly said, already quietly making a decision in his heart.

 Chapter 765 - Matchmaking

    Chapter 765: Matchmaking


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Azheba felt that he had nothing to be ashamed of because he had never pledged allegiance to the Dragon King and he had also made it clear that the lord he served would always be Prince Duodun.


    But he still couldn¡¯t feel at ease when he walked out of the tent.


    Duodun didn¡¯t make a decision in front of the crowd. He had said that he needed to meet the Dragon King in person first. If it had been the former Azheba, he would have taken every word of the prince¡¯s words to heart along with the rest of thepany. But now, he couldn¡¯t help thinking about the situation a little more. He vaguely realized that the prince had a strong hostility towards the Dragon King, and that his suggestion was likely to exacerbate that hostility.


    From am objective point of view, Azheba felt that his proposal was meless. For a person like the Dragon King, one could only choose between confrontation and attachment. Any vacition would be easily seen through by the Dragon King.


    The young king Shulitu had chosen to attach himself while Duodun was inclined to confront the Dragon King. Unknowingly, Azheba thought that the young king Shulitu might have made the better choice.


    He repressed this rebellious thought and, after a short break, went to go see Shangguan Ru as a friend on a mission that he was unwilling to see through.


    Duodun looked reckless, but he was actually a very careful and fastidious man. He saw Azheba and Shangguan Ru nodding to each other. Later on he asked, ¡°You already know the woman of the Land of Fragrance?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Azheba then recounted a general summary of how he had met Shangguan Ru in the prison of the Khan, arousing a series of whoops from his buddies and making Duodun more interested.


    ¡°I¡¯m asking her to marry me. I want her to be my Chief Consort. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°No woman¡¯s more suitable than her, but she¡¯s not from the Nond.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. It might have been a problem in the past, but now the three big tribes of the consorts¡¯ side can¡¯t even protect themselves. They won¡¯t be able to interfere with who I want to marry anymore. The only problem is that she doesn¡¯t agree. Since you two are friends, go be a matchmaker for me.¡±


    On the spur of the moment, Azheba had almost blurted out the rtionship between Shangguan Ru and the Dragon King, but he held back because he had never been able to clearly understand that rtionship. He couldn¡¯t exin it especially when he was familiar with Duodun¡¯s personality. Bringing it up would only make the prince morepetitive and insistent on marrying Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Ru had prepared the food and wine. ¡°I thought that you¡¯d forgotten about your friend. Drinking without eating hurts one¡¯s stomach, but drinking without a friend¡¯spany makes one sad¡­ What else is there?¡±


    ¡°Drinking without a word hurts one¡¯s feelings, and drinking without dancing impaires one¡¯s body.¡± These were the few words that Azheba and his fellow officers often said when they drank. He did not expect Shangguan Ru to still remember them.


    Azheba cheered up. The only regret he had right now was that there were other people present at the small banquet. Xu Xiaoyi and his two best drinkers insisted on a drinkingpetition with the guest from the prairie.


    Xu Xiaoyi had a small gift simr to his elder sister¡¯s in that he knew what kind of men he should be on guard against for the Dragon King. But he would not stay at the scene awkwardly like his sister. Instead, he did it naturally as if he just wanted to have a drink.


    Azheba finally experienced the enthusiasm of the Western Regions people. Eating? There were all kinds of dishes on the table, more than half of which he didn¡¯t even know the names of. Friends? After three cups of wine, Xu Xiaoyi and his two men had already confided in their Nond guest. Talking? The braggadocio of the people of the Western Regions was no poorer than that of the Nond people. Azheba felt like he was drinking with three great men who controlled the world. Dancing? Although Xu Xiaoyi and his men were far from good at it, they weren¡¯t shy at all. They jumped around clumsily and wildly, which made Shangguan Ruugh a lot.


    Nearly four hourster, Azheba admitted his defeat and bent over the table. Xu Xiaoyi wasn¡¯t that gullible, but he had already drunk too much and run out of steam, and unconsciously slipped under the table. His two underlings were already clutching the legs of the table and had fallen asleep, snoring peacefully.


    Shangguan Ru turned out to be the one who drank the least among them, but she was also a little drunk now. As she held onto a bowl of wine, she nkly looked around and muttered, ¡°Where¡¯d everybody go?¡±


    Azheba sat up and held onto the table to stabilize himself. If it had not borne a great responsibility, he would have also fallen asleep. ¡°Too bad. I think I¡¯ve ruined the reputation of the Nond people for drinking.¡±


    Shangguan Ru looked down for a moment before saying, ¡°Haha, you won. The three of them are sleeping under the table.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here to seek a marriage alliance for Prince Duodun.¡± Azheba said as he looked straight at Shangguan Ru. He thought that some of the words would be easier to say when he was drunk, but it turned out to be even more difficult because this wasn¡¯t what he really wanted to say.


    ¡°Hasn¡¯t he given up yet?¡± Shangguan Ru emptied her bowl and thought for a while with her head tilted. ¡°There¡¯s something I always forget to say. Actually, I¡¯m already married.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Azheba bounced up, slipped, and nearly fell on his head. To hide his embarrassment, he anxiously grabbed a wine bowl and sat down. ¡°How¡­ When?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, about two years ago. His name was Meng Mingshi.¡±


    Azheba waspletely unfamiliar with this name. ¡°He¡­ Where¡¯s he now?¡±


    Shangguan Ru thought for a while and then said with a smile, ¡°He was killed by the Dragon King.¡±


    Azheba was dumbfounded. The rtionship between the Dragon King and Shangguan Ru had already beenplicated in his eyes, and now it was even more abstruse. ¡°The Dragon King killed¡­ Why¡­ You¡­ This¡­¡±


    Shangguan Ru wasn¡¯t as intoxicated as she was earlier, but she really wanted to express her feelings this time. ¡°You want to ask why the Dragon King didn¡¯t marry me?¡±


    Azheba was astonished by Shangguan Ru¡¯s bold words. ¡°Yes, since¡­ The Dragon King was willing to kill for you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because my father was the one to order the ughter of the Dragon King¡¯s family and I personally killed his best friend. He dared not marry me for fear that it would cate the hatred in his heart,¡± Shangguan Ru answered calmly, suddenly feeling a little more rxed.


    Azheba could feel the bitterness and sorrow in her words and suddenly felt a heroic spirit well up in his heart. ¡°Allow me to talk to the Dragon King. Do not lose love because of hate because that will only make one lose their bow and arrow after losing their treasured horse. The prairie men never fear marrying the enemy¡¯s daughter.¡±


    ¡°You have forgotten your task,¡± Shangguan Ru remarked with a smile. It was hard to exin the entangled andplex rtion between her and the Dragon King in one or two words. And the Dragon King was also not a person who could be persuaded with one or two words.


    Frustrated, Azheba bowed his head. ¡°May I say a word to you as a friend?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°Love is temporary, but the powersts forever. It doesn¡¯t matter who you love. I believe that the Dragon King would marry anyone for power, and you¡­ You should marry Prince Duodun and be the Chief Consort. Then you¡¯ll have your own army and won¡¯t be restrained by anyone, let alone¡­¡±


    ¡°Just have a drink,¡± Shangguan Ru interrupted. ¡°Power is not for everyone. Today I might have to marry someone for power and tomorrow I might have to kill for it. What follows next will just be a series of betrayals. I know that that¡¯s a kind of ability that everyone longs for, but I really can¡¯t do it. It¡¯s not because I¡¯m soft-hearted or kind, it¡¯s just that¡­ I¡¯m ipetent, or maybe toozy.¡±


    Azheba¡¯s heart flipped upside-down. He was almost about to reveal the whole truth, but held himself back at thest moment. ¡°I understand. Is there anything I can do for you then?¡±


    ¡°Forget what I said before. It was all drunk talk and you shouldn¡¯t take it seriously. If you really want to help me, then make Duodun give up. If you have any more energy left after that, then help me find Shaomin. She¡¯s my niece, and I promised to take her back to the Land of Fragrance.¡±


    Azheba nodded solemnly, feeling both respect and sympathy for her as he left.


    Duodun made an exception and summoned Azheba alone without letting anyone else join their meeting. ¡°We two are going to talk about something secret.¡± Hearing this, his friends all grinned and winked at each other.


    ¡°She still refuses?¡± asked Duodun.


    ¡°Yes, she said¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll keep trying. She can¡¯t get away. Never mind, it¡¯s not her that I wanted to talk to you about.¡±


    Azheba looked at the prince in surprise and suddenly realized that this was all merely a cover-up. In this way, Duodun could talk to him in private without arousing the jealousy of his fellow partners.


    ¡°Yes, please go ahead, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Duodun kept silent for a while before continuing, ¡°I have always trusted you more than anyone else. This is why I left you in the Royal Court. I¡¯m thousands of miles away so I had to appoint a trusted friend who could work independently.¡±


    Azheba blushed as he said, ¡°Sorry to let you down, Your Highness. I¡­¡±


    ¡°No, don¡¯t be. The current situation is actually very good. Half of the Western Regions is under my control. The child supported by the Dragon King will fight with Luoluo. No matter who wins, it¡¯ll be good for me. Even the fact that the Dragon King only brought ten thousand horsemen to the Western Regions is a good thing after I gave it a second thought. At least I can choose how to deal with it freely.¡±


    ¡°But I can take no credit for any of these things.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, you¡¯re too modest. If it weren¡¯t for your efforts, then the Dragon King wouldn¡¯t have only brought ten thousand men with him.¡±


    Azheba ventured to ask, ¡°Rumor has it that Your Highness is allied with the Golden Roc Castle and the remnants of King Rizhu¡¯s troops. And those several thousands of horsemen of King Rizhu even besieged the Dragon King a month ago.¡±


    ¡°That rumor is true.¡± Duodun wouldn¡¯t lie to the person he trusted the most. ¡°But that was then and this is now. The Dragon King has won over a hundred thousands soldiers. Byparison, the remnants of King Rizhu¡¯s troops don¡¯t have much power left. The killers of Golden Roc Castle can be used asionally, but they won¡¯t be of much help in thepetition for the prairie. I¡¯ve already written a letter to the Dragon King exining all this and I believe that he will understand, too.¡±


    ¡°Is Your Majesty going to truly ally with the Dragon King?¡± Azheba was very surprised because these moves ranpletely counter to the impression he had had from thest meeting.


    ¡°I read the Second Consort¡¯s letter and thought of some new ideas. The alliance with the Dragon King wille at a great cost. You know, I won¡¯t bow to anyone, not even momentarily. But the Second Consort promised me that the Dragon King has no ambition of annexing the Nond. She said that the Dragon King knows very well the attitude of the Nond people and would not humiliate himself in vain attempts.¡±


    ¡°Judging from the Dragon King¡¯s attitude towards the little king Shulitu, he does understand the importance of the Khan¡¯s bloodline.¡±


    ¡°And ording to his position in the family hierarchy, Shulitu is my grandson, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°This child is the key to all our problems.¡±


    Azheba was surprised. He did not expect that the prince would attach so much importance to the little puppet.


    ¡°Help the weak and restrain the strong. This is the best way to fight for power. This is also what the Dragon King is doing. He wants to ally with me, but also leave some room for maneuvering.¡±


    ¡°Shulitu has a lot of potentials, but¡­ The Dragon King should know very well that Shulitu¡¯s no match for Prince Luoluo. If he wants the full support of the Nond, his only choice is to ally with Your Highness because only Your Highness canpete with Luoluo.¡±


    Duodun smiled. ¡°Everyone thinks so. But have you ever thought that the Dragon King does not need the support of the whole Nond? If his goal is only the Western Regions, then just half of the Nond will be enough.¡±


    ¡°Half?¡±


    ¡°Mmm. Let the Nond split in two, with Luoluo upying the East and Shulitu the West. With the support of just half of the Nond, he can still easily sweep across the Western Regions. Meanwhile, it¡¯ll be easier to control. That¡¯s the Dragon King¡¯s n.¡±


    Azheba said for a while and said, ¡°Right. Your Highness is right. I was so foolish as to not see through it.¡±


    ¡°You are not stupid. It¡¯s just that you were considering it from a different perspective. But do not tell the others about it, as I have a n to verify the truth.¡±


    Azheba knew that Duodun was about to assign him tasks so he listened attentively.


    ¡°Find a chance to offer my advice to the Dragon King. Tell him that I¡¯m willing to trade the 70,000 horsemen of the Western Regions for the 150,000 soldiers of the Royal Court under the sole condition that he gives me the head of Shulitu.¡±


    ¡°Using the few to trade for the many, this¡­¡± Azheba thought that the Dragon King would certainly not agree.


    ¡°What were the original terms? Lending him 100,000 soldiers? But now I¡¯m not lending but rather giving him. And I¡¯ll even cede to him arge piece ofnd on the northern and western side of Heaven¡¯s Pass so that he¡¯ll have a ce to graze his horses. Isn¡¯t that enough?¡±


    ¡°In that case, the Dragon King should be tempted.¡±


    ¡°If the Dragon King still refuses¡­¡±


    Azheba knelt on one leg and said, ¡°That means that the Dragon King has other ns for Your Highness. Please rest assured, Your Highness. The Second Consort and I will strike first if that happens.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no hurry. Wait for my orders. I¡¯d rather hold onto the hope that the Dragon King is not that ambitious and will ept my suggestion.¡± Duodun helped Azheba up, knowing that he had regained the heart of his favorite officer. ¡°Now let¡¯s talk about that woman. Let¡¯s make a bet to see who can get her first. All in fair y; I won¡¯t use my status to oppress you.¡±


    Duodun winked. Heart thumping, Azheba knelt down once again.

 Chapter 766 - Fortified City

    Chapter 766: Fortified City


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The Xiaowan Kingdom was located north of Heavenly Mountain and west of Heaven¡¯s Pass. Although it was one of the countries of the Western Regions, it bordered the Nond and was defenseless against the attacks of the powerful Nond Cavalry. So, from the very first day of its founding, it had been a loyal vassal of the Nond.


    ¡°It¡¯s a small country with a total area less than two hundred square miles and a poption of less than a hundred thousand, but it¡¯s one of the safest countries in the Western Regions as it hasn¡¯t had a major war in at least the past fifty years,¡± Shangguan Yun introduced as the host.


    ¡°Until you usurped the throne,¡± said Old Man Mu tantly, frowning as he gazed at the deserted street.


    Gu Shenwei had led 10,000 horsemen to the capital city of the Xiaowan Kingdom; half of them were stationed outside the city while the other half had entered it.


    The city was built in such a way that it leaned towards the mountains so that almost two-thirds of it was embedded into the valley. The cliff actually acted as a part of the city wall. The outer wall consisted of two stone walls. Though they appeared quite old, the wall was easy to hold, but hard to attack.


    To the citizens, all of the people here, including the host Shangguan Yun, were outsiders. So it was no wonder that all the houses had silently and vigntly shut their doors.


    Shangguan Yun was not be angry. He shook his finger at Old Man Mu and said, ¡°Strictly speaking, it was a smooth transition. The royal family had no male offsprings so the kingship would naturally be transferred into the hands of outsiders. I was just lucky enough to be favored by the princess.¡±


    ¡°Then why did I hear that Dugu Xian, the General of the Left under the Dragon King, is a royal descendant of Xiaowan Kingdom? Shangguan Yun, why don¡¯t you abdicate and let him inherit the throne? Then I¡¯m sure everyone in the world will give you a thumbs-up.¡±


    Shangguan Yun knew that Old Man Mu was joking, so he chuckled and exined, ¡°Dugu Xian voluntarily renounced his right of inheritance. He loves fighting but there¡¯s no war to fight in the Xiaowan Kingdom.¡±


    The pce was around the corner by now. Shangguan Yun sighed and said, ¡°Finally I¡¯m home.¡±


    Old Man Mu never gave up an opportunity to mock at him. ¡°Pfft, have you ever lived here for longer than a month?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about the feeling.¡± Shangguan Yun still did not care about his remarks. ¡°As a wandering hermit with no fixed abode, I¡¯m afraid that Hero Mu wouldn¡¯t be able to call any ce home?¡±


    Old Man Mu was stunned by the word ¡®Hero.¡¯ It took him a while to figure out that it might have been used satirically, but he had already missed the best timing to refute.


    The gate of the pce was wide open and the guards, armed with spears, stood in neat lines with their head held high. Over ten eunuchs had lined up to greet the return of the Cloud King.


    ¡°Where¡¯s my princess consort?¡± Shangguan Yun asked cheerfully. ¡°The Dragon King is here, but she doesn¡¯t have to hide from him.¡±


    An old eunuch bowed and replied in a trembling voice, ¡°The princess consort¡­ left a few days ago.¡±


    ¡°Left? Why wasn¡¯t I notified? Where did she go?¡±


    ¡°I sent a letter. Your Majesty may not have received it. The princess consort has gone to the Lon Kingdom to visit her aunt, the princess consort of Lon.¡±


    Shangguan Yun¡¯s smile grew bigger. ¡°The prairie is too big and this kind of thing happens all the time. Dragon King, I¡¯m really sorry, but it¡¯s not that bad. We will be morefortable now.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t care about this kind of thing at all. Long Fanyun led his guards into the pce to scope it out. Meanwhile, Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong assisted him in arranging the defense, making sure not to leave any gaps.


    After all the arrangements were made, Gu Shenwei went into the pce to take a rest. He had just entered the room when Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher entered and warned in unison, ¡°The Dragon King has to be careful.¡±


    ¡°This Shangguan Yun looks quite insidious,¡± said Old Man Mu.


    ¡°This entire pce looks like a trap.¡± Even Dog Butcher could tell that something was strange about it. ¡°He said that the queen went to go visit her rtive, but it felt more like she was seeking refuge.¡±


    ¡°I have my own ideas.¡± Gu Shenwei was not a gullible person.


    Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher exchanged a nce. In the end, it was still Dog Butcher who asked, ¡°Dragon King, we are not staying here forever, are we? When¡­ can we leave?¡±


    ¡°I have my own ideas,¡± Gu Shenwei repeated.


    The two old men left disappointed and med each other for tactlessly trying to get at what the Dragon King really wanted.


    That evening, Shangguan Yun hosted a banquet for all, and the next day noon, the Second Consort returned the favor outside the city.


    The Second Consort actually refused to stay in the pce on the pretext that she was more used to sleeping in tents. Actually, her real thoughts were well known to many. The Second Consort couldn¡¯t wait to meet up with Prince Duodun, but her identity and status demanded that she should be reserved and wait for Duodun to invite her before visiting.


    Azheba arrived at the Xiaowan Kingdom on the same day. He failed to bring back Prince Duodun¡¯s invitation, not even a letter, which made the Second Consort feel confused and disappointed. The banquet, therefore, ended hastily.


    After sending away the irrelevant guests, the Second Consort directly asked Azheba in front of the Dragon King, ¡°What did Duodun say?¡±


    ¡°His Highness hopes to meet with the Dragon King as soon as possible¡­¡±


    ¡°What did he say to me?¡± The Second Consort didn¡¯t care about the presence of the Dragon King as he already knew everything anyway.


    ¡°Uh, His Highness hopes that the Second Consort can have a good rest and not get too tired.¡±


    The Second Consort frowned. She was a smart woman, but always lost her mind when it came to the matter of Prince Duodun. Fortunately, she stuck to her bottom line and did not reveal anything in front of the Dragon King. ¡°You guys can go on talking business. I¡¯m too tired and I need to take a rest.¡±


    Azheba did not want toment on the Second Consort¡¯s behavior so he went straight to the point. ¡°His Highness asked me to make a suggestion to the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°His Highness is willing to trade 70,000 of his cavalrymen that are stationed in the Western Regions along with arge piece ofnd on the North of Heaven¡¯s Pass for all of the Nond Cavalry left in the Royal Court. If you agree, these 70,000 soldiers will belong to the Dragon King and will be people of the Western Regions.¡±


    Gu Shenwei seemed a bit surprised. ¡°That¡¯s not quite the deal we discussed.¡±


    ¡°What His Highness is proposing will be better for both sides. His Highness can immediately take over and handle the battle against Luoluo while the Dragon King will have an overwhelming advantage against the Golden Roc Castle in terms of military strength.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all?¡±


    ¡°And¡­ His Highness wants the head of Shulitu. An army can¡¯t have twomanders-in-chief and there only needs to be one of the Khan¡¯s descendants.¡±


    ¡°It sounds quite reasonable. What do you think?¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s words caught Azheba by surprise, and he stammered out, ¡°I am a subordinate of Prince Duodun so it wouldn¡¯t be right for me to advise the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, I thought that you¡¯d stay in Heaven¡¯s Pass and note back.¡±


    ¡°His Highness actually sent me here to deliver a message¡­¡±


    ¡°So you are Prince Duodun¡¯s messenger now?¡±


    Azheba thought for a while before answering, ¡°Yes, I thought that I made myself perfectly clear about that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Gu Shenwei said tly and ended that line of conversation. ¡°And my answer is that I need to think about it for some time. Since you are the messenger for both the Prince and someone that I trust, I¡¯ll leave it to you to set up the meeting; the sooner the better. I¡¯ll give him an answer in person.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Azheba was about to leave when he suddenly remembered that he had left something unsaid. ¡°Instructor Shangguan is also at Heaven¡¯s Pass.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    Azheba didn¡¯t know whether the Dragon King had found out a long time ago or had just heard it from him. The Dragon King was always hiding his feelings and was a secretive person. But Azheba immediately realized that he really wasn¡¯t worthy of the Dragon King¡¯s trust, and that it was better not to know anything at all.


    After leaving the tent, he hadn¡¯t gone far before an officer stopped him and said that the Second Consort wanted to meet with him.


    The Second Consort dismissed all other people in her tent and met with Azheba alone. This was an unusual courtesy. ¡°No one else is around now. Tell me the truth.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Azheba exined Prince Duodun¡¯s n in its entirety, ¡°His Highness hopes that the Second Consort can stay here and stabilize the Dragon King¡¯s mind, and also to try to reassure the army just in case something happens, so that we will not be caught unprepared.¡±


    ¡°So he thinks that I¡¯m still useful?¡±


    Azheba knew he had to say something to reassure the Second Consort. ¡°His Highness means that there¡¯s ample time ahead. Now that it¡¯s wartime, it¡¯s better to not leave any opportunities for others.¡±


    ¡°Heh,¡± The Second Consort sneered. ¡°So I¡¯m a hot potato now? This isn¡¯t the Central ins where everything is full of unnecessary and over-borate formalities. Give me 50,000 horsemen and I can shut everyone up.¡±


    ¡°The Second Consort is right but it¡¯s not just about shutting people up.¡±


    The Second Consort obviously knew this as well. ¡°I just said that casually. Do not tell Duodun. I¡¯ll do what he wants, but I¡¯d bet that the Dragon King will ept his offer. He¡¯ll have his own territory and army and has nothing to lose. Why would he not agree?¡±


    Azheba didn¡¯t know what to say.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly found that he had no one to consult with. He had left Fang Wenshi in the Royal Court to watch over Shulitu. Chu Nanping, Tie Linglong, and Nie Zeng were just inexperienced teenagers. Long Fanyun was simple and honest. Han Wuxian only cared about hunting Lotus. None of them could provide any meaningful advice on such a matter. Old Man Mu was talkative and seemed to know a bit about everything, but Gu Shenwei did not want to discuss this with him.


    Only Shangguan Yun was left.


    Gu Shenwei already had a decision in mind, but he still wanted to discuss it with someone, especially Shangguan Yun still had many secrets hidden.


    Shangguan Yun, who wasn¡¯t surprised by the Dragon King¡¯s sudden visit, ordered someone to serve tea. ¡°I know that the Dragon King does not like to drink.¡±


    ¡°Tea is good.¡±


    ncing at the spacious study, Shangguan Yun said, ¡°There¡¯s a downside to living in a big house. I didn¡¯t sleep wellst night, as I was constantly wondering if I forgot to lock the door properly.¡±


    ¡°The pce is even a little smaller than Golden Roc Castle, but you are not used to it?¡±


    ¡°I left the castle when I was a teenager. And when I went back, I was locked up in the dungeon. And it was full of people. A killer or two might pop up from underneath a rock if you turned it over. It made me feel reassured.¡±


    ¡°A normal person would be worried upon seeing a killer.¡±


    ¡°Right, that¡¯s true. So, many people would also be surprised that the Dragon King actually believed me.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Many people would be surprised, but I do like the capital of the Xiaowan Kingdom. It¡¯s hard to find such a strong city so close to both the Nond and the Western Regions.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, the Dragon King must have the same doubts as I do. Since the foundation of the Xiaowan Kingdom is as a vassal of the Nond, why would it have built such a fortified capital city?¡± Shangguan Yun looked as excited as a child. ¡°There¡¯s no one alive to exin, so I could only look for the reason in ancient books. Unfortunately, books here are as rare as those of the Nond, so I could only ask for help from the dead.¡±


    ¡°The royal mausoleums.¡±


    ¡°Heh heh, I respected the former king and barely damaged it. Anyways, I found the reason. This city was the result of a whimsical idea of a Khan. He was afraid that he would lose the throne so he built himself a refuge, but he ended up dying peacefully in his bed and never used this city.¡±


    ¡°So it can withstand the siege of tens of thousands of people?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and it only a few thousand soldiers are needed to do so. The only issue would be running out of food and supplies.¡±


    Gu Shenwei narrowed his eyes slightly. ¡°You said that our alliance would only be in effect in the Nond.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but the Xiaowan Kingdom is a vassal of the Nond. I¡¯ve never considered it a country of the Western Regions.¡±


    ¡°Do you have any other way of convincing me besides your words?¡±


    Shangguan Yun looked up and thought for a moment before replying, ¡°If the Dragon King has a chance to visit Jade City again, you can observe the changes in the Meng family and from that find some reasons to believe me.¡±


    It really was a coincidence. Gu Shenwei really did n to visit Jade City again.

 Chapter 767 - Closed-Door Cultivation

    Chapter 767: Closed-Door Cultivation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Many years ago, Shangguan Fei had been ambushed by his sister while en route to the Xiaowan Kingdom. He had been crushed by a boulder and nearly died. One of his legs was still a bit stiff even now.


    When revisiting that old site even now, Shangguan Fei¡¯s heart still palpitated anxiously. ¡°Who chose this damn ce? Is he deliberately plotting against me?¡± he muttered, knowing very well that he was not important enough to merit such special arrangements.


    The Dragon King and Prince Duodun had chosen to meet here, both fully equipped in hunting gear as if they were nning on setting out afterwards.


    ¡°Is this the culture of the Western Regions? It¡¯s almost the same as that of the Central ins, but our garb is for not hunting but rather for drinking tea or visiting a mutual friend. Well, at least that¡¯s what I¡¯ve heard.¡± Dog Butcher watched on with morbid curiosity. ¡°Will the Dragon King fight with the prince? Do we have to ready ourselves?¡±


    Old Man Mu cleaned his ear with his pinky finger as he replied, ¡°You¡¯re about to talk my ear off. I didn¡¯t expect you to nag so much. Otherwise, I would have cut your tongue off that time. Let me tell you. They will not fight. They are going to put on a phony show and the one who performs the best will hailed as the winner.¡±


    Dog Butcher was a bit disappointed. He desperately wanted to experience another life-and-death fight to test out all the new ideas he had been mulling over.


    But Shangguan Fei also agreed with Old Man Mu¡¯s judgment. ¡°I don¡¯t mean anything by this, but the Dragon King doesn¡¯t seem to be well versed in such matters.¡±


    Old Man Mu curled his mouth and looked around. After confirming that Long Fanyun and others were far away enough, he said in a low voice, ¡°I¡¯d guess that the cold-faced kid will hold the upper hand. If his face softens even a bit, then the other side will believe he has made a big concession. But for those who are usually enthusiastic, what else can they do? Holding onto the Dragon King while crying and begging?¡±


    Many people outside spected about what would take ce during the meeting between the Dragon King and Prince Duodun, but the people involved had no interest at all.


    The two exchanged pleasantries about how they had expected to see each other for a long time. Then they repeated what others had said or what they imed to be said by others, praising and feeling out each other for almost a quarter of an hour. Everything they said started with the same sentence patterns: ¡°I heard that ¡­¡± or ¡°As soon as I saw you today¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu had gotten it wrong. The Dragon King was indeed on the losing side.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s habit was to cut directly to the point, but after so much mindless conversation, he had actually had no chance to directly speak his mind. So he had no choice but to wait patiently, and could asionally mention the Second Consort, Azheba, and Liman as a secondary topic.


    Once Duodun thought that he had the scene under control, he suddenly asked, ¡°So what does the Dragon King think about the proposal?¡±


    ¡°I need Your Highness to repeat the suggestion again,¡± Gu Shenwei immediately replied.


    When Duodun found his that his bber had not had much of an effect and that the Dragon King was still calm, his face fell and his mien became quite serious and even a bit aggressive. ¡°There are 70,000 Nond Cavalrymen at Heaven¡¯s Pass. I can give all of them to the Dragon King. From then on, they will be a part of the Dragon Army and will have nothing to do with the Nond. With this army, it should be very easy to defeat Golden Roc Castle, right?¡±


    Golden Roc Castle had suffered heavy losses at Xiaoyao Lake and would not be able to recover for a short time. With the 70,000 horsemen of the Nond, the Dragon Army would have an overwhelming advantage, though it might not be as easy as to conquer the castle as Duodun painted.


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    ¡°And also a piece of the Nond, the size of which can be discussed. If the Dragon King likes the Xiaowan Kingdom, it is yours.¡±


    Duodun offered the vassal state as a gift and wasn¡¯t stingy at all. Gu Shenwei nodded again.


    ¡°All I ask for in return is the army that the Dragon King left in the Royal Court. It seems like I¡¯m using the few to trade for the many, but¡­¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m still getting the better of the deal by exchanging a Nond army for a Nond army,¡± interjected Gu Shenwei, finishing the sentence.


    ¡°Haha, the Dragon King is really frank and forthright. Well, that¡¯s exactly what I mean. I hope the Dragon King won¡¯t misunderstand and think that the two armies will have no connection from now on. Golden Roc Castle is a tiny ce and can be easily conquered, but contending for hegemony in the prairie may take a long time. I still hope that the Dragon King can lend me a hand after conquering the castle.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d be my pleasure. The army in the Western Regions will all be under Your Highness¡¯smand.¡±


    ¡°So the Dragon King agrees?¡± Duodun¡¯s voice was slightly raised as he asked this pivotal question.


    ¡°I can see any reason why I should refuse.¡±


    ¡°Great! And then there¡¯s my little side request.¡±


    ¡°Shulitu¡¯s head.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s just a kid and a puppet. Just strip away his titles. Is it really necessary to kill him?


    ¡°Everyone says that the Dragon King is ruthless and merciless. When did he be so soft-hearted?¡±


    ¡°I just don¡¯t want my saber to be stained with the blood of one of the Khan¡¯s descendants.¡±


    ¡°It <em>is </em>necessary, though,¡± said Duodun resolutely. ¡°The Dragon King must know what happens when one ¡®nourishes a viper in one¡¯s bosom.¡¯ For the men of the prairie, a twelve years old kid is no longer a child. He¡¯s already old enough to understand the intoxication of power. And not only has the Dragon King supported him, but you¡¯ve also given him an army. I¡¯m afraid Shulitu will never be a child again.¡±


    ¡°Since Your Highness insists, then I¡¯ll offer the head.¡±


    ¡°Our exchange agreement will also take effect at that moment.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡±


    ¡°When will the Dragon King do it?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t do it in public; I need to arrange an ident for him.¡±


    ¡°An ident? I like idents as long as they don¡¯t happen to me, haha. But I still need a date. I don¡¯t like to wait around aimlessly.¡±


    ¡°Luoluo¡¯s army should have arrived in Royal Court by now. A great war is going to happen. There will be a lot of ¡®idents¡¯ at that time. So I¡¯d say within three months.¡±


    ¡°Three months? I¡¯m afraid that not many of the hundred thousand horsemen that would belong to me will still be left by that time.¡± Duodun¡¯s face grew dark.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. No matter how varied the other¡¯s expression was, he only maintained his one expression. ¡°No. Shulitu will focus on defense instead of offense and will not suffer much loss. Moreover, winter ising, Luoluo will retreat for sure. The real decisive battle will start in the spring and summer of next year.¡±


    Duodun frowned. The Dragon King was more sly than he had anticipated. His proposal was a test, but it turned into a plot to procrastinate. Three months? Only God knew who would suffer an ¡®ident¡¯ during that time period.


    ¡°That¡¯s not quite what I had in mind.¡±


    ¡°I understand Your Highness¡¯s urgency, but it¡¯s better to be careful in such matters. The soldiers of the Royal Court¡¯s armye from different sources and their morale is not stable. Thus, it wouldn¡¯t be bad to let Shulitu grease the transition. I too have to be patient; I¡¯ve been circling around Golden Roc Castle for years, and I¡¯m still not nning to attack right away.¡±


    As he looked at the Dragon King who was a few years younger than him, Duodun snorted lightly and appeared quite dissatisfied with the other side¡¯s veteran tone. Then he said, ¡°I might visit the army and familiarize myself with the situation.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness will certainly be weed by the whole army, including Shulitu. He knows his position well. Your Highness can even ask for control of most of the military leadership in advance, and he would not dare refuse.¡±


    Duodun thought for a moment, weighing the pros and cons as well as wondering about the Dragon King¡¯s real intentions. ¡°Very well, but two months. I¡¯ll only wait two months.¡±


    Gu Shenwei also paused a moment before answering, ¡°Two months will be a bit tight because I¡¯ll nning on spending one month in closed-door cultivation.¡±


    ¡°Closed-door cultivation?¡± Duodun didn¡¯t quite understand what he meant.


    ¡°It¡¯s like how before battle, generals will always spend some time reviewing their experiences; the same goes for practicing kung fu. I have had some eye-opening experiences recently and I need a quiet ce to think about it.¡±


    ¡°Doing nothing else?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness probably won¡¯t see me for a month unless Luoluoes to attack.¡±


    Duodunughed, feeling that this was a really bizarre move. Deep at heart, however, he didn¡¯t believe the Dragon King¡¯s words. ¡°Two and a half months then. The Dragon King has topromise a bit.¡±


    ¡°All right, two and a half months it is. By that time, Your Highness will gain an army of at least 130,000 soldiers and I¡¯ll have the 70,000 Nond Cavalrymen stationed in the Western Regions.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re like those ugly businessmen,¡±mented Duodun.


    ¡°When businessmen make mountains of money, no one thinks that they¡¯re ugly anymore.¡±


    The negotiation went so smoothly that when the Dragon King and Prince Duodun walked out of the temporarily erected tent, the crowd cheered but were also surprised. Only Old Man Mu proudly looked at Dog Butcher and said, ¡°Sharp eyes, that¡¯s what I said. Old dog, watch and learn.¡±


    Themander-in-chief of both sides set the tone, though there were still many details that needed to be negotiated. Gu Shenwei had appointed Long Fanyun as his representative and Duodun likewise sent one of his friends. They would meet regrly to coordinate a wide range of issues.


    One of Long Fanyun¡¯s most important tasks was to open Heaven¡¯s Pass so that people could freely travel through it; this would allow people of the Western Regions to collect army provisions for the Dragon King.


    Winter wasing, and every Nonder knew the importance of provisions and fodder.


    Gu Shenwei sent out many people to help, including Old Man Mu and several others. Shangguan Fei was very anxious to leave the Dragon King¡¯s protection, and pleaded, ¡°The Dragon King always needs someone to stick around him, and I¡¯m obedient and honest¡­¡±


    ¡°Chu Nanping will stay.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was at a loss for words. Indeed, Little Chu was much more obedient and honest than he was.


    Having arranged everything neatly, the Dragon King announced that he would now enter closed-door cultivation for a month.


    This was his first closed-door cultivation session. He decided to focus on studying martial arts. Although both Old Man Mu and Han Fen had imed that they had kept it secret, there were already rumors abound that the Dragon King had taken a secret manual from the Khan¡¯s tomb and that he was about to practice the invincible divine kung fu to challenge the Unique King.


    The Dragon King¡¯s actions aroused a lot of suspicion, but Duodun remained unconvinced. It was not until many sources, including Azheba, imed to have witnessed the Dragon King entering a sealed house that he was forced to reluctanty believe it and that his evaluation of the Dragon King was lowered a bit, though he did not lower his vignce and asked his spies to continue spying on the other side.


    After all this hustle and bustle, the Heaven¡¯s Pass and the Xiaowan Kingdom finally returned to a calm state. Although war was around the corner, everyone felt that this autumn and winter would be safe, except news from the Royal Court continued to trickle in.


    The horsewhip Luoluo had swept the eastern prairie with arge army and gained the allegiance of many tribes.


    ¡®Luoluo¡¯s army marched to the Royal Court and confronted Shulitu¡¯s army. The two are only a few miles apart.¡¯


    ¡®The battle between the two sides started and the little king Shulitu waspleted defeated.¡¯ But this was soon proved to be a rumor.


    ¡®The two sides had a fight, and Luoluo was defeated.¡¯ Again this was another rumor.


    The autumn frost fell. People of the Western Regions gradually got tired of rumors and became skeptical of any and all news from the Royal Court. When the people of the Xiaowan Kingdom began to ept the new king¡¯s inaction, irrefutable news finally came. There had been no big war. The two sides had only had a couple skirmishes to sound each other out. And before winter set in, the two armies had decided to retreat at the same time.


    Shulitu had nearly 150,000 horsemen, and a total of more than 200,000 people if all of the servants and the soldiers¡¯ families were considered, all of who would retreat to the supply line of the Xiaowan Kingdom.


    Duodun saw this as an opportunity to prove to the army that he was more worthy of loyalty than both the Dragon King and Shulitu.


    The Dragon King was still in seclusion in a house that was located deep inside the pce of the Xiaowan Kingdom. It was quiterge and had six connected rooms.


    Chu Nanping and Long Fanyun were responsible for internal and external security, respectively.


    However, the Dragon King¡¯s closed-door cultivation was unusual as he had brought Shangguan Yun with him. But everyone interpreted that was being that Shangguan Yun was the Unique King¡¯s most cared for son and should be kept under close watch.


    Shangguan Yun already started feeling bored on the first day. ¡°It¡¯s really strange. I didn¡¯t even feel this listless as when I was locked up in the stone dungeon alone. Han Fen, what do you do to kill time?¡±


    A ¡®man¡¯ that looked exactly the same as the Dragon King replied in Han Fen¡¯s voice, ¡°Those men who slept with me all felt happy and never felt dull. They only felt unbearable when leaving me.¡±


    Shangguan Yun who was about to eat a grape in his mouth paused. ¡°Seriously? I¡¯ve got to say, you¡¯d have to remove your disguise of the Dragon King. I¡¯m not interested in him.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± The ¡®Dragon King¡¯ showed a smile that he would never put on. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing to spend a month in istion with you. You are a nice guy, so I¡¯ll give you some preferential treatment. You can choose the way you want to die.¡±


    Shangguan Yun nearly spat out the grape from his throat as he asked, ¡°The way I want to die?¡±


    ¡°I kill all the men who sleep with me. That¡¯s the price.¡±


    Shangguan Yun immediately lost all interest.

 Chapter 768 - Returning The Money

    Chapter 768: Returning The Money


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Almost two years had passed now, and L¨¹ Qiying still had not fully adapted to his new career.


    He used to be the owner of the most famous tavern in Jade City. In order to taste the exquisite wine he had collected, many people in high positions notified him or even visited him in person, earning him lots of face and silver. Tavernkeeper L¨¹ could have lived a respectful and decent life simply by sitting at home.


    Now, as the owner of a camel caravan, not only did he earn very little money, but he also lived in constant fear. He was always on edge, fearful that the camel caravan would run into bandits and suffer a great loss. This, however, happened all the time in the chaotic Western Regions.


    He had bought this camel caravan for a low price before the war based on his judgment that peace would be soon be restored in the Western Regions. Unfortunately, although the war was lessening in intensity, the scale of the war had escted. In order to maintain the safety and survival of the camel caravan, L¨¹ Qiying, who had always been cautious, only took secured orders.


    After several runs, L¨¹ Qiying had learned that the most troublesome roadblock was not just bandits, but also the the cunning camel teammembers who were always in cahoots with each other, stealing goods and then tantlyying all the me on robbers.


    Ever since he had left Jade City and moved to the Shule Kingdom, L¨¹ Qiying had had few trustworthy people around him. He always maintained a close eye over his team, personally traveling with the team, dealing with bandits and soldiers, and paying for safe paths.


    ¡°Better a bad life than a good death.¡± This was his recent famous quote. He was a businessman. Although he hired many sabermen, he always tried to avoid using force to solve his problems.


    Every time hey in a shackled tent by the side of the road and listened to the cold wind howling outside to the ringing of the camel bells, L¨¹ Qiying would think of a man, and then ask himself what he had been thinking at that time. How could he have trusted a young killer and sell his tavern which had a promising future and run off to the strange Shule Kingdom? And the result was that not only that he had not seen the supposed big business worth a million taels of silver, but he had also lost contact with the source of all his misfortunes.


    This batch of goods would be sent to Jade City. If he had a choice, L¨¹ Qiying really wouldn¡¯t want to return. With his now weather-beaten face, he was too embarrassed to meet his former acquaintances.


    ¡®This is life.¡¯ L¨¹ Qiyingforted himself with this thought. Then he raised his right hand and looked at his broken little finger as if a little man were standing on top of it, whispering to himself, ¡°Dragon King, it¡¯s all your fault.¡±


    ¡°Master, master, there are¡­¡±


    ¡°What?¡± L¨¹ Qiying asked impatiently. Everything had changed and it was difficult to even find a good servant now.


    ¡°There are robbers ahead.¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying frowned but wasn¡¯t too afraid. The Heaven¡¯s Pass was just down the road and most of therge groups of bandits and soldiers had already taken silver from him and would not change their faces so fast. As for those wandering bandits, he believed that the sabermen he had hired would be good enough to handle them.


    The whole caravan stopped. Feeling uneasy, L¨¹ Qiying hurried to the front on horseback. What he saw shocked him.


    At least a hundred people were lined up, blocking the way. In front of them stood three men side by side.


    They were the Mighty King, the Golden Saber, and the Skyscraping Beast, the three most famous bandit chiefs in the Shule Kingdom. Not only did L¨¹ Qiying know them, but he had also already handed over arge sum of money. In return, he had received a big bowl of sour wine and a promise that his camel caravan would travel free of harassment.


    The three had their own territories and seldom joined forces to block the road. L¨¹ Qiying¡¯s heart sank. He cast a nce at the long line of camels and really couldn¡¯t recall any particrly valuable goods in it.


    The sabermen he hired, who were always first to eat and drink, all looked obedient and cowardly in the face of strong enemies. With their heads lowered, they behaved like ignorant teenagers who had picked up a saber for the first time in their life.


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s a great blessing to meet my bosom friends on the road. What brought my three elder brothers here? Come, are my brothers missing the good wine I¡¯ve collected again?¡± L¨¹ Qiying pretended to be overjoyed. He jumped off the horse and strode forth to meet the three bandits chiefs, knowing that it was clearly impossible to cross this roadblock through the use of saber and sword this time.


    The three ¡®elder brothers¡¯ were all younger than L¨¹ Qiying, and they stood motionless without a word. The minions behind them also looked expressionless, like a group of statues.


    As he walked closer, L¨¹ Qiying¡¯s heart thumped as he realized that something wasn¡¯t quite right.


    The Mighty King was tall and strong and could subdue a bull with bare hands. But now his right arm was hanging in front of his body with a bandage, obviously broken.


    The Golden Saber was thin, but his sabersmanship was the best among the three of them and he always carried his saber with him. But today, he was empty-handed like a shop assistant who had just been fired.


    The Skyscraping Beast was said to have the best lightness skills, and was skilled at leaping onto roofs and vaulting over walls. Although he had the least number of underlings, he often got the best loot. But now his body was tilted, his right leg almost dangling in the air.


    ¡®Were they double-crossed and decided to raid me to make up for their losses?¡¯ L¨¹ Qiying immediately thought of this possibility and quickly calcted a figure, knowing that he would suffer a great loss yet again. He couldn¡¯t help but feel an overwhelming pain bite at his heart.


    L¨¹ Qiying could not pretend that he had not seen the injuries of the three, so he could only put on a broad smile and say, ¡°Hey, brothers, what¡¯s going on? Fighting over girls again? How did you guys all get injured?¡±


    The Mighty King rattled his left fist, clenched his teeth, and spat out, ¡°L¨¹ Qiying, you are really capable.¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying immediately shrank back a bit and asked nkly, ¡°What¡­ What¡¯s that supposed to mean? You know that I can¡¯t even hold a candle to you guys.¡±


    The Skyscraping Beast leaned forward as if to kick him, but stopped because he could only move one of his legs now. ¡°You can¡¯t even hold a candle to us? You almost maimed the three of us to death. Why are you still feigning ignorance?¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying became more confused. ¡°Misunderstanding. There must be some misunderstanding.¡±


    ¡°Forget it.¡± The Golden Saber who stood in the middle waved his hands and said, ¡°Since we¡¯ve admitted defeat, then we¡¯ll make it clear. No more nonsense. L¨¹ Qiying, this is the silver you¡¯ve offered to us these past two years. Count it and our enmities will be cleared.¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying was dumbfounded. The minions behind the three carried over several wooden boxes, put them on the ground, and left right away. As robbers, it was really a great humiliation to send out money instead of collecting it.


    The people in the camel team also found that things had not gone as they had expected. A few bold sabermen took the lead, and the bodyguards slowly gathered around and stood behind their master to silently support him.


    L¨¹ Qiying, however, had no sense of security at all. ¡°Brothers, please spare me. I¡¯m too old and weak to stand such a big joke.¡±


    ¡°Nobody¡¯s joking.¡± The Mighty King was obviously very angry at this moment. ¡°Take the silver and from now on, you¡¯ll mind your business and we¡¯ll mind our own.¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying finally realized that the matter was not simple at all so he turned back and ordered the saberman chief, ¡°Set up the tent. Be quick.¡±


    A group of sabermen ran back to set up a tent, and Lu Qiying ventured forward two more steps, now only at an arm¡¯s distance from the three bandit chiefs. Then he said in a low voice, ¡°I am an honest businessman, who has never used dirty tricks or offended my friends on the road for a temporary gain. There¡¯s something strange about today. We need to talk.¡±


    The Mighty King was not only mighty in strength but also in volume. ¡°Cut the crap and count the silver. We¡¯ll be done as long as the number is verified. What¡¯s there to talk about?¡±


    Both sides fell silent. Seeing that the makeshift tent was already set up on the side of the road, L¨¹ Qiying said to Golden Saber who was the calmest among the three, ¡°Brother Golden Saber, we¡¯re friends regardless. Even if we have to break off our friendship today, it¡¯s still alright to have a drink, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    The three of them refused again and again before reluctantly following L¨¹ Qiying into the tent.


    L¨¹ Qiying looked around and flopped onto the ground after confirming that no one else was nearby, and seriously said, ¡°L¨¹ Qiying can swear to Heaven that I really know nothing about what¡¯s going on. Brothers, please do me a favor and tell me the truth.¡±


    The bandits were always amenable to friendly persuasion but not topulsion. Upon seeing L¨¹ Qiying kneel, the three of them all felt embarrassed and hurried helped him up. The Mighty King shouted, ¡°You really¡ª¡± Then he immediately lowered his voice, ¡°You really don¡¯t know?¡±


    ¡°No. Honestly I was really shocked to see you three brothers blocking the road.¡±


    The three of them looked at each other and believed L¨¹ Qiying¡¯s words. Embarrassed, it was still the Mighty King who spoke up first. ¡°Then what the hell is going on? Someone broke into our headquarters on the same night, broke my arm, took away the Golden Saber¡¯s weapon, broke Skyscraping Beast¡¯s leg, and forced us to return the silver. And now you¡¯re telling us you didn¡¯t even know about it?¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying was dumbfounded as an ominous foreboding feeling entered his heart and a misty look appeared on his face. ¡°How many people were there? Where did theye from?¡±


    The three bandits chieftains were even more embarrassed upon hearing his questions. The Mighty King coughed a few times before saying, ¡°The one that came to me was a young man less than twenty years old, very pretty like a girl. Without saying his name, he directly attacked me and injured me in¡­ a few moves.¡±


    Actually, the Mighty King had been defeated in one move. He was just too embarrassed to admit it.


    ¡°The man who came to me was a garrulous old man. He was shorter than a child but his lightness skills were incredible. He said ¡®What a pity¡¯ when he broke my leg. I don¡¯t know what that means.¡± The Skyscraping Beast sighed as he finished his tale, knowing that he wouldn¡¯t be able to catch up to that old man¡¯s lightness skills even if he practiced for another hundred years.


    Golden Saber appeared to be the most frustrated among the three. ¡°The one that came at me was a little girl with green eyes. She was extremely young, but she swung her saber as fast as a ghost. She didn¡¯t hurt me, but she did take my saber away.¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying vaguely remembered the first person but couldn¡¯t recall thest two at all. ¡°They forced you to return the money to me?¡±


    ¡°Yes. They said if we didn¡¯t return the money, they would kill us next time. Elder L¨¹, those three freaks were really not hired by you?¡± asked Golden Saber.


    L¨¹ Qiying shrugged and spread out his hands, saying, ¡°If I could hire such kung fu experts, why would I work so hard as a caravan merchant?¡±


    The three bandits finally felt a bit relieved, but they only became more puzzled over the origins of the three kung fu experts. They guessed that they might havee from the Nond Army, Golden Roc Castle, the Central ins, or even the Dragon Army. L¨¹ Qiying joined in on their random guesses, but they never settled on a final conclusion in the end.


    L¨¹ Qiying had no choice but to ept the silver. After carefully sending away the hundred or so bandits, he urged his men to go on their way and ignored the probing inquiries of the crowd.


    That evening, when the caravan of camels broke for camp near Heaven¡¯s Pass, L¨¹ Qiying finally figured out one thing. No matter who the mastermind behind the incident was, his business was about to end again. The three kung fu experts had severely provoked the bandits of the Shule Kingdom which meant they now grasped him in their hands. As long as they let go of him, he would not only lose his silver but also his life.


    ¡°Only one man would do such a thing,¡± L¨¹ Qiying muttered, even more certain in his original spection.


    There was only one thing that he cared about now. Why would that mysterious and treacherous Dragon King, who was said to be dead, make so much effort to buy him over again?

 Chapter 769 - Borrowing a Horse

    Chapter 769: Borrowing a Horse


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei looked down at the book in his hands as his horse slowly trotted forward. The autumn sun was so bright he had to move his eyes away every now and then to rest them while he pondered over the meaning of the words.


    He had read through this small booklet many times, which summed up the general principles of the Daoless Scroll, and could almost recite it entirely by heart. But every time he thought of something new, he would read through the booklet again. Although he felt he understood most of it, there were still many abstruse parts that he couldn¡¯t even scratch the surface of, and he would need to find a Taoist priest to exin it to him.


    But Gu Shenwei had confirmed one thing. The Daoless Scroll and the Death Sutra must have been written by the same person. As a book of general principles, it borated on the essences of both training manuals. And the more heprehended of it, the more helpful it was towards his practice of both internal and external martial arts skills.


    With this booklet, Gu Shenwei could already incorporate the Death Sutra Sabersmanship into his sabersmanship, and he no longer needed to wield a sword anymore. As he stroked his saber hilt, he couldn¡¯t help but think of Lotus, wondering whether he had surpassed her in kung fu or not.


    There was a carriage parked by the side of the road ahead, and five men were standing with their backs against the carriage, staring at him from a great distance.


    Gu Shenwei put away his book and urged his horse to speed up to a gallop.


    The five people varied in height but all of them looked very young and strong, and the oldest of whom could be no more than thirty years old.


    The young man in the middle casually threw a stone at him. However, Gu Shenwei easily caught it, stopped, threw it on the ground, and then stared back at the five sabermen.


    Their sabers were not very well hidden, as they peaked out from behind their legs.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    The sabermen revealed a typical sarcastic smile especiallymon to young arrogant men. To them, the rules of the world were very simple. First, the saber could solve all problems; second, the world revolved around them.


    ¡°We want to borrow your horse,¡± said one of a saberman in aid-back tone. It seemed that he hadn¡¯t consulted the other side at all.


    In front of the carriage were two horses, but one of them had already fallen to the ground, dead. Gu Shenwei took a nce and then drily said, ¡°Well, what can I get out of it?¡±


    The five sabermenughed together, and one of them took out his saber from behind. ¡°You can walk to Jade City and enjoy the early autumn scenery on the way.¡±


    Gazing at the monotonous wilderness, Gu Shenwei shook his head and merely said, ¡°There¡¯s nothing to enjoy about it. Are you all robbers?¡±


    The saberman patted his left palm with his saber and curled his lips before contemptuously asking hispanions, ¡°Are we robbers?¡±


    The saberman in the middle thought for a brief moment before yfully replying, ¡°No. Bandits are not allowed to exist in the territory of Jade City. We¡¯re just borrowing it. Maybe we¡¯ll meet again in the future and return it to you.¡±


    The saber-wielder nodded vigorously. ¡°Yes. We are borrowing it. Kid,e on down.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had always been a very suspicious person. He had asked Han Fen to disguise herself as him while he would travel around alone. He didn¡¯t even bring the Five Peaks Saber with him. Instead, he had only taken amon narrow saber with him. But as soon as he saw these five people from afar, he had suspected that he had been exposed.


    He looked the five people up and down one by one, but could not tell who was an expert amongst the five.


    He then observed the terrain before approaching. Now, he looked around once more and still found no signs of an ambush. In fact, this area was a boundless in and wasn¡¯t an ideal ce for an ambush at all.


    Gu Shenwei dismounted from his horse and walked three paces sideways to make sure that there was no one in the carriage. Were these five people really just inexperienced arrogant young sabermen?


    The saber-wielder walked over and said, ¡°This kid is not bad, very obedient. Leave his package with him.¡±


    The other four nodded in agreement as if they had done a great deed of kindness.


    Instead of stopping the saberman from throwing away his bundle, Gu Shenwei walked around the carriage slowly and after reaching the opposite side, even lifted the curtain of the carriage to take a look inside.


    The now four sabermen standing there felt both surprised and amused by his actions, but no one said anything. They did not want to look stupid.


    The other saberman thrust his saber into the ground and untied thest bundle from the horse. He was just about to remove the saddle when he felt that something was amiss. He stooped to pick up the bundle, searched for a while, and then took out a narrow saber.


    ¡°Heh, he uses a saber, too. And it¡¯s even a narrow saber of Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    ¡°Woo-hoo,¡± the five people gave out a special roar ofughter. Only a small group of close friends would make such a uniquely strange noise.


    Gu Shenwei happened to turn around and once again confirmed that there was no ambush and that none of the five were kung fu experts.


    ¡°You are a killer?¡± asked one of the sabermen with a contemptuous tone who obviously thought that it was impossible.


    Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t the kind of person who would leave a heavy first impression, and he looked even more ordinary after disguising himself. Even experienced Jianghu wanderers might not see through him easily.


    ¡°Not anymore,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    The five peopleughed again, but this time it was a burst of normalughter because they really thought that his answer was interesting.


    ¡°Then why do you still have this saber? Were you hunting rabbits on the side of the road?¡±


    Gu Shenwei went up to the speaker and drew out his saber. ¡°To defend myself.¡±


    His movements were very simple but surprisingly quick. In an instant, the saberman was left with an empty scabbard in one hand and the bundle in the other. His actions were like those of a clumsy attendant unable to fathom his master¡¯s intentions in time.


    The other four sabermen were taken aback and immediately grabbed their sabers, poised to attack. Their idleness waspletely gone.


    ¡°It turns out you are a veteran.¡±


    ¡®Veteran¡¯ wasn¡¯t a word frequently used by people of the Western Regions. Gu Shenwei put the narrow saber back into the scabbard and replied, ¡°And you are from the Central ins.¡±


    The saberman who was holding onto the scabbard still wasn¡¯t able to react in time, which made him look even clumsier. Blushing, he dropped the narrow saber on the ground and grabbed his own single saber, ¡°Heh, we are from the Central ins. So what?¡±


    As he spoke, he made a move, shing at his opponent¡¯s arm. He didn¡¯t have the intention to kill, and just wanted to frighten this odd man and teach him a lesson.


    Gu Shenwei realized that he might have been foolish in wasting this much time on the five scoundrels. With a shake of his body, he shed behind the attacker, grabbed both the bundle and narrow saber, and then put them back onto the horse. During his quick movements. the saberman had shed at him three times, but they were all easily dodged by Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°He knows kung fu!¡± The other four sabermen drew their sabers and joined the fight. Their sabersmanship wasn¡¯t that weak, but their eyes were too poor to realize that they were actually the weak side.


    Without waiting for the enemy to surround him, Gu Shenwei struck out five times in a row with his palms. The five sabermen retreated step by step, all of them nearly bumping into the carriage at the same time. As they plopped onto the ground, the five of them found that their internal Qi had be chaotic and they were actually unable to stand up for the time being.


    Gu Shenwei got back onto his horse and took onest nce at the five people. He hadn¡¯t used his narrow saber or the frosty Qi. To hide his identity, he had to let them off with their lives.


    He was starting to understand Old Man Mu¡¯s pain of being unable to kill people. He could have easily killed the other side, but he just couldn¡¯t do so. It was like a naughty boy that had caught an insect in a, but couldn¡¯t pluck its wings. This was also a form of torment.


    He could hide his killing aura deeply at heart but his killing desire was bing more and more vigorous with each passing day.


    Gu Shenwei urged his horse to run forward. The five sabermen finally came to their senses and abused defiantly.


    The sound of cursing soon faded away, but Gu Shenwei remained unmoved,pletely absorbed in his pondering of the Daoless Scroll and the Death Sutra. asionally, one or two unrted ideas would float through his mind.


    One of the ideas actually prompted Gu Shenwei to turn around his horse and run back along the way he came. He had paid too much attention while reading the book and neglected an important w.


    Unfortunately, he was a bit toote. Four sabermeny dead on the road while thest had disappeared. The carriage was still there, but the lone living horse had also disappeared. The dead horse, in contrast, had been cut open and its entrails spilled out all over the ground, even more gruesome than the corpses nearby.


    The mistake Gu Shenwei had made was the dead horse which he had ignored. Formon people or even ordinary killers, it would be nigh unbearable to hide in the airtight belly of the horse¡¯s corpse, but Gu Shenwei knew that some people could.


    The sabermen had died from saber strikes, and each of them only had one wound, all of which were precisely made at the throat, heart, and other vital parts.


    There had been an assassin hidden in the horse¡¯s belly. Why didn¡¯t he make a move back then? Why did he kill the four scoundrels and take one away, alive?


    Gu Shenwei mounted his horse and left again without touching anything in the scene.


    He quickened up and this time, he spent more time thinking about things unrted to kung fu.


    He arrived at Jade City at noon the next day and was surprised to find that it had barely changed. The streets were still crowded, especially Southern Jade City. The brothels on both sides of the street had opened early, and the gambling houses and taverns were hustling and bustling as usual.


    Before entering the city, Gu Shenwei had already disguised himself as amon saberman by settling down in a saberman vige, wandering around with other sabermen, looking for jobs everywhere, and observing the all-around situation.


    He was not followed because he was no different from any other wandering sabermen except for the sole peculiarity that he did not drink. But even this was not particrly odd as some of the sabermen would abstain from drinking before being hired by an employer, in an attempt to leave a good impression on their new master. Only when they found that the received payment was far less than expected would they start cursing the rich and revert to their old habits.


    One day in early autumn, three caravans arrived at Jade City before noon. Before unloading their goods, many buyers had already surrounded them and asked about the prices of the new merchandise. The merchants perfunctorily turned away all the requests. They did not care about these casual buyers at all. They would entreat some really rich people in the evening, and if they were lucky, they would be able to sell most of their goods in one go.


    Southern Jade City had be even busier. The businessmen who had made a fortune spentvishly. Some of them even booked a whole brothel to enjoy themselves while many more spent money renting houses because they still had to deal with the rest of the goods in Jade City. Meanwhile, they would indulge in giving and ¡®returning¡¯ most of the profits they had made back to this Sin City.


    Gu Shenwei found a part-time job easily, working as a guard for one of the big houses of the Southern Jade City for half a month.


    Although the businessmen had their own bodyguards, those bodyguards would still want to take a break every once in awhile to enjoy themselves so the businessmen had no choice but to hire some local people to take their ce.


    L¨¹ Qiying wished that the Dragon King¡¯s use for him would end there. After the three bandit chiefs returned the money to him, a few strange-looking guests suddenly appeared in the caravan which terrified him. He had no choice but to hide them among the goods and smuggled them into Jade City, hoping that the Dragon King would take them away soon.


    He knew nothing about the Dragon King¡¯sing.


    On the third night, L¨¹ Qiying went to attend another banquet, and Gu Shenwei joined hispanions.


    There was Han Wuxian, Old Man Mu, Dog Butcher, Shangguan Fei, Nie Zeng, and Tie Linglong for a total of six people.


    Although there were no fights or murders, Dog Butcher was very pleased with their tortuous journey. He looked excitedly at the Dragon King, hoping for more exciting adventures.


    ¡°Someone betrayed me.¡± Dog Butcher¡¯s enthusiasm was immediately extinguished by Gu Shenwei¡¯s words.


    ¡°Who? Was it one of us? It¡¯s definitely not me.¡± Dog Butcher wanted to seem calm, but he only revealed his flustered mind.


    ¡°It¡¯s someone from the Xiaowan Kingdom,¡± Old Man Mu responded faster. ¡°Shangguan Yun let out the secret and sent a message to Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Yun only has ess to Long Fanyun and Chu Nanping; there was no third person.¡±


    Azheba was actually the one Gu Shenwei was guarded against the most. Liman and Mo Lin had gone to the Naihang Tribe to lobby them. While there might be someone else who could guess the Dragon King¡¯s scheme, those who really knew the details only numbered ten, and six of them were next to the Dragon King right now and the other four were in the Xiaowan Kingdom.

 Chapter 770 - A Task

    Chapter 770: A Task


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei told the story of the five sabermen trying to borrow his horse and then observed the reactions of the six people.


    Han Wuxian would never be loyal to anyone. Her only purpose here was to take back Han Xuan and wipe out the traitors of the Waning Moon Hall. The Dragon King knew her secret, and so as long as there was sufficient opportunity and benefit to doing so, she would definitely choose to betray him.


    At the moment, however, she appeared to be the calmest among all the people here. It was as if she had consciously excluded herself from suspicion, and was instead concentrating onbing her hair, with a faint smile on her face as if she were thinking about her proudest achievement.


    In contrast, Dog Butcher was more flustered than anyone else. He was a man of the Central ins and his reasons for following the Dragon King were the most far-fetched ¡ª to wander in Jianghu. And he had also joined the Dragon King the most recently. But it was also because of this that his panic was justified. This was the first time in his life that he had ever been suspected face-to-face.


    Tie Linglong looked very alert. She considered herself the Dragon King¡¯s bodyguard and would not ept being suspected. She was not guarding against the Dragon King, but rather the other five people, especially Nie Zeng. But she did not directly say anything. After receiving the training of the Waning Moon Hall, she was no longer a simple little girl anymore.


    With his head lowered, Nie Zeng did not say a word, but his stubborn look easilymunicated his stance. ¡®Doubt me if you want, I don¡¯t care.¡¯ He hadn¡¯t given up on the idea of getting revenge yet. Yet even after more than two years of hard practice, the gap between his sabersmanship and the Dragon King¡¯s had barely narrowed, which might have worn away at him and made him more willing to ept a simple solution.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s face vacited between red and purple, but he still tried to widen his eyes to look back into the Dragon King¡¯s eyes, hoping that his face would remind the Dragon King of his sister¡¯s and ease the Dragon King¡¯s suspicion. He seemed to want to say something to defend himself, but dared not speak out first.


    Old Man Mu frowned as if the Dragon King was not questioning him, but rather asking for his insight, so he was the first to respond. ¡°The Dragon King may have thought into it too much. Why do I feel like it¡¯s just a coincidence? If someone did betray the Dragon King, why would they have arranged such a clumsy assassination? Perhaps these five people held grudges against each other since a long ago. After being defeated by the Dragon King, they started ming each other¡­ Bang! Then one of them got angry, killed the other four, and ran away. And that¡¯s it.¡±


    Dog Butcher looked bewildered. Old Man Mu shouted annoyedly at him, ¡°What? Am I wrong?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Dog Butcher blushed. Although his kung fu was better than Old Man Mu¡¯s, his experience in Jianghu was much poorer. And he was naturally a bit timid, especially when everyone else was looking at him. Nervously, he muttered, ¡°I just wanted to ask why there would be such a loud ¡®bang¡¯ when someone bes angry.¡±


    ¡°Naive.¡± Old Man Mu then impatiently exined, ¡°If there¡¯s really a mole among us, it must be this old dog. He pretended to join the Dragon King but has always been in league with the Kongtong Sect. Didn¡¯t the Dragon King say that the five sabermen were from the Central ins?¡±


    Upon hearing what Old Man Mu said, Dog Butcher anxiously waved his hand in denial. ¡°No, no¡­ I¡¯m not the kind of person who would snitch on others. Besides, there are many kung fu experts in the Kongtong Sect. Why would it sent five average sabermen to assassinate the Dragon King? I think¡­ I think¡­¡± Dog Butcher¡¯s eyes swept over hispanions, not knowing who to suspect.


    ¡°Maybe Old Man Mu is right. I might¡¯ve thought too much into it. I¡¯ve been to Jade City for several days and haven¡¯t met an assassin yet.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s words immediately saved Dog Butcher who was at a loss for what to say.


    Shangguan Fei let out a long breath and patted his chest, saying, ¡°Dragon King, you really scared the shit out of me. I also think that it¡¯s a coincidence. No matter which side learns that the Dragon King is traveling alone, none of them would have sent merely five dumb sabermen to assassinate you. Coincidence, it can only be a coincidence. But better safe than sorry, so it¡¯s normal for the Dragon King to be suspicious¡­¡±


    Han Wuxian interrupted Shangguan Fei¡¯s ttery and asked, ¡°Dragon King, why did you send all of us all to Jade City? To assassinate the Unique King?¡±


    Shangguan Fei immediately shrank away from the Dragon King. He would not join an assassination that was aimed at his father even if he had to openly provoke the Dragon King. It was not because he still cared about his father; he was just too scared.


    ¡°It¡¯s too premature to assassinate the Unique King at the moment.¡± Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t that arrogant and ignorant. He had waited for many years and would not suddenly be impatient. ¡°I¡¯ve learned that arge number of kung fu practitioners from the Central ins have entered the Western Regions and gathered in Jade City. I want to know what their goal is. Dog Butcher and Old Man Mu, I¡¯ll leave that task to the two of you.¡±


    ¡°So easy? I thought that there would be a kung fupetition or something.¡± Dog Butcher was slightly disappointed. ¡°Honestly, Dragon King, I¡¯m not familiar with the martial arts world of the Central ins unless the people who came here are those were famous more than a decade ago.¡±


    Old Man Mu behaved far more maturely than Old Man Mu. ¡°Rest assured, Dragon King. I promise to find everything out. Although I have to take this burden with me, it¡¯ll have little effect on me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei murmured in agreement, and then turned to Shangguan Fei. ¡°Golden Roc Castle has been quiet for a long time. Something isn¡¯t right and you¡¯re in charge of that investigation.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s straightened body immediately recoiled as he pleaded, ¡°Dragon King, I have done so much for you. Besides, the people of the castle all know me. As soon as I show up, they¡¯ll¡­¡±


    ¡°I believe that you have your own ways. Tie Linglong, you help him.¡±


    Tie Linglong looked at Shangguan Fei with disgust and reluctantly agreed. Shangguan Fei, who hadn¡¯t noticed her eyes, was still staring nkly at the Dragon King. ¡°I¡­ Uh¡­ This is¡­ What does the Dragon King want to know? Could you be more specific?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯d like to know where the green-faced assassins of Golden Roc Castle have gone. Why they haven¡¯t they shown up anywhere?¡±


    Shangguan Fei thought for a moment and felt that the task wasn¡¯t too dangerous, so he also epted it excitedly like Old Man Mu. ¡°I can do this. After hearing what you had to say, I also find it quite strange. When we were back in the Xiaoyao Lake, there were so many killers pursuing the Dragon King, but not many green-faced assassins showed up. By all measures, the Dragon King is qualified to¡­¡± Heh heh, Golden Roc Castle probably can¡¯t afford to lose them.¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned to Han Wuxian again and said only one sentence. ¡°Lotus is in Jade City.¡±


    Han Wuxian put down her long hair and took a deep breath as her eyes squinted. ¡°The entire Jade City is filled with the scent of the traitors. The Dragon King¡¯s news is very urate.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had nothing more to say. ¡°That¡¯s it. We¡¯ll meet every three days. If you are temporarily unavable, tell L¨¹ Qiying. I¡¯ll find out where you are if so. And do not alert the enemy. I¡¯m just trying to gather information, not kill anyone.¡±


    To thest condition, Shangguan Fei agreed right away. Between Tie Linglong, Dog Butcher, and Old Man Mu, each was more reluctant to agree than thest. Han Wuxian was silent for a while before she suddenly said, ¡°Is the Dragon King waiting for my answer? Alright, I¡¯ll try not to kill anyone.¡±


    ¡°I said ¡®do not kill,¡¯ not ¡®try not to kill.''¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to leave a loophole regarding this issue.


    Han Wuxian seemed to have not heard the Dragon King¡¯s words, smiled with her head lowered for a long time before spitting out a single word. ¡°Okay.¡±


    The crowd dispersed but Tie Linglong and Nie Zeng stayed behind. The two looked at each other, waiting for the other to go first. In the end, it was Nie Zeng who spoke up first. ¡°The Dragon King has not yet given me a task.¡±


    ¡°Your task is to follow me.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Nie Zeng retreated.


    Tie Linglong then asked at once, ¡°Dragon King, why don¡¯t you let me be your guard and let Nie Zeng go help Shangguan Fei?¡±


    ¡°I need someone to keep an eye on Shangguan Fei for me.¡±


    Tie Linglong immediately put on a smile. It turned out thata the Dragon King trusted her more. She solemnly promised, ¡°Hmm, Shangguan Fei can dream of ying tricks in front of me.¡±


    Tie Linglong was just about to leave when Gu Shenwei stopped her. ¡°Wait, are you still holding a grudge against Little Chu?¡±


    ¡°Who cares about him?¡± huffed Tie Linglong angrily.


    Gu Shenwei stared at the little girl¡¯s eyes. Ever since she had escaped from the Waning Moon Hall, the two had not yet had a deep conversation.


    ¡°Whether you care or not care, do not deceive yourself. Conquering your emotions is the same process as defeating your enemy. First, you have to admit their existence.¡±


    Tie Linglong raised her head as if to vehemently prove that she really didn¡¯t care. But before she could say anything, her tears uncontrobly burst out. And the more she tried to stop them, the harder they fell. And her voice soon began to choke with sobs. ¡°He, he talked sweetly, but it¡­ it was all lies. I¡¯m not even as important as .. the sword in his hand ¡ª What¡¯s¡­ what¡¯s wrong with me?¡±


    Gu Shenwei watched her cry and then in a rare gentle voice, consoled, ¡°You should give him a chance.¡±


    ¡°Give him a chance? Why?¡± Tie Linglong finally stopped sobbing but her tears still streamed down her cheeks like pearls. She remained unconvinced at heart.


    ¡°Chu Nanping is more genuine than everyone else. He felt puzzled so he admitted it and faced it and will eventually ovee it.¡±


    Tie Linglong wiped away her tears. ¡°What if he chooses the sword technique in the end?¡±


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t answer. Chu Nanping couldn¡¯t choose both. It was one of the drawbacks of the Emotionless Swordsmanship and was also a defect in his character. The young swordsman couldn¡¯t hold two equally important things in his heart, and he would only love one of them wholeheartedly.


    Tie Linglong sighed and then said, ¡°Dragon King, am I never going to be a real killer?¡±


    The little girl had to admit many obvious truths. Her sabersmanship was stagnating, and Nie Zeng was gradually catching up; she hadn¡¯t learned the secret arts of the Waning Moon Hall well, and her mood was also always fluctuating. All of these evaluations seemed far from the killer¡¯s standard.


    ¡°I never wanted you to be a killer.¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯m not good?¡± Tie Linglong was very surprised. She had received the Dragon King¡¯s killer training, and even her joining the Waning Moon Hall had been a deliberate arrangement of the Dragon King¡¯s. Therefore, she had always believed that the Dragon King had ced great hopes on her.


    ¡°You did a great job, way better than I expected.¡± For the first time Gu Shenwei praised her sincerely with earnest wishes and suddenly felt himself grow a lot older. ¡°Neither the Waning Moon Hall nor I can turn you into a killer which means that you are very strong. Stop trying to be a killer and your kung fu will improve much faster.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Tie Linglong was very puzzled, feeling that everything was bing surreal.


    ¡°The killer is not the strongest fighter, nor is the only way to kill. You should go the other way.¡±


    Tie Linglong¡¯s green eyes flickered, ¡°But I want to go the same way as the Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was destined to walk alone. ¡°Your path will not be far away from mine. I¡¯ll teach you something else soon.¡±


    ¡°Is it powerful?¡±


    ¡°Very powerful. It¡¯s something I practiced since I was little. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t practice it hard when I was a child and didn¡¯t learn it well.¡±


    Tie Linglong hesitated for a moment before asking, ¡°Will I be more powerful than Chu Nanping?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not boasting, but you¡¯ll be more powerful than most people after you master it.¡±


    Tie Linglong smiled. ¡°If I can defeat Little Chu, then I¡¯ll give him a chance. But I¡¯ll never forgive him before that.¡±


    As he watched Tie Linglong walk out of the room, Gu Shenwei murmured to a figure in his heart, ¡°Master, I owe you this much.¡±


    Then his heart gradually cooled back to its normal state. ¡°Nie Zeng,¡± he called as he raised his voice. ¡°Tell L¨¹ Qiying toe to see me when he¡¯s back.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had also assigned himself a task. Meanwhile, he didn¡¯t ease his spections on the possible traitor.

 Chapter 771 - Answering Questions

    Chapter 771: Answering Questions


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    ¡°I know you,¡± L¨¹ Qiying said in surprise, his face flushed red and his whole body reeking of alcohol. He had just closed a few big deals and confirmed that his camel caravan would not leave for the Shule Kingdom empty. ¡°You are¡­ the guard that I hired.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Gu Shenwei. The Dragon King appointed me to talk to you.¡± Gu Shenwei effortlessly told a ¡°true lie.¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying stared at the thirty year old man and slowly sobered up. He rubbed his face with his hands and then said, ¡°I heard that the Dragon King is currently in closed-door cultivation?¡±


    ¡°Yes, for a month.¡±


    Slightly relieved, L¨¹ Qiying said in the solemn but false tone of a typical businessman, ¡°Hmm. First, I¡¯d like to thank the Dragon King for his generous help, as he helped me reim my stolen money. But, I have to admit that I have nothing with which I can repay him. The Dragon King has the most powerful force in the Western Regions and I am only a camel-keeper with little money that can barely make a living. I don¡¯t know why the Dragon King would choose me.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King made a deal with you once before.¡±


    ¡°Yes, he asked me to help him transfer money in the Shule Kingdom. Unfortunately, before I could get my feet on the ground, the Shule Kingdom had already fallen, and the Dragon King had also disappeared. I lost all of my business. s, I can only say that things don¡¯t always work out as nned. Now, I¡¯ve put all of my money into camels. Even if I wanted to help, I¡¯m unable to do so now.¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying spoke evasively. Even he himself felt that he was overacting so he added, ¡°I only have a hundred camels left now. If the Dragon King wants me to deliver something¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what the Dragon King wants,¡± interjected Gu Shenwei.


    Heart quivering, L¨¹ Qiying found that he had been tricked again. ¡°Ah? With so few camels of mine¡­ Unfortunately, I just made a few deals and there aren¡¯t camels avable¡­ Uh, but since the Dragon King has opened his mouth, how could I refuse? I¡¯ll make an arrangement and it won¡¯t be a big problem for me to spare ten or twenty camels.¡±


    ¡°You have a hundred and eighty-five camels in total. The Dragon King needs all of them.¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying was stunned. The ¡®Gu Shenwei¡¯ in front of him seemed in in appearance and weak in momentum, but his tone was very tough. L¨¹ Qiying, who had gone through numerous hardships in the past many years as a businessman, was very displeased. His face darkened as he said, ¡°That¡¯s not going to be easy. The camels will only be avable after the camel caravan returns to the Shule Kingdom.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took a step back and revealed a subtle disappointed expression which was not particrly noticeable because of the pain on his face. ¡°The Dragon King said that Tavernkeeper L¨¹ was an old friend of his, and that everything was negotiable. It seems that he was wrong. But it doesn¡¯t matter. There¡¯s more than one camel caravan here, so we¡¯ll just try someone else. And I have to thank Tavernkeeper L¨¹ for bringing the Dragon King¡¯s subordinates into Jade City. They¡¯ll move out tomorrow morning and begin their mission.¡±


    ¡°What mission?¡± L¨¹ Qiying knew that he should not ask, but still could not stop himself from asking.


    ¡°Just some ordinary tasks. The Dragon King has many enemies and can¡¯t live a stable life like Tavernkeeper L¨¹¡¯s. But you may rest assured. The Dragon King will draw a clear line between you and him; no one will think that you are working for him.¡±


    A thinyer of sweat oozed out from L¨¹ Qiying¡¯s forehead, and hepletely sobered up from his drunkenness. This man was obviously threatening him. The subordinates of the Dragon King all had distinct characteristics. The robbers who were humiliated would soon figure out the truth. As soon as they found out that he had gone separate ways with the Dragon King, they would definitely pounce on him and tear him into pieces. Meanwhile, Golden Roc Castle would not believe that rumor.


    ¡°Heh heh, no wonder the Dragon King sent you here. Brother Gu is really good at talking about business. But you are being too impatient. I was just pretending to refuse, but you actually took it seriously. All right, I¡¯m not going to y that game anymore. To put it bluntly, the Dragon King can take away all my camels if he wants to. If it¡¯s not enough, then I¡¯ll carry it for him myself!¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King will remember the help offered by Tavernkeeper L¨¹. You may rest assured. This will not be a loss, and nor will it be a small business.¡±


    Things were getting easier. But that was not the end of Gu Shenwei¡¯s ns. He asked L¨¹ Qiying to buy other camels and then buy provisions throughout the Western Regions and transport them all to the capital city of the Xiaowan Kingdom and several other designated ces as soon as possible.


    This was a grand n which L¨¹ Qiying didn¡¯t even think could be realized. ¡°This¡­ This needs much money, and I mean a lot more money. Once the news is out, the price of provisions and fodder will go up for sure. The Dragon King has so many armies and territories. Can¡¯t he collect some from the people there?¡±


    ¡°The Western Regions is still unstable. The Dragon Army hasmandeered supplies several timesst year and it may arouse public resentment if they do it again. Anyway, the Dragon King has his own ideas. Money is not a problem. Go look for Xu Xiaoyi at Heaven¡¯s Pass. He¡¯ll provide all kinds of funds.¡±


    ¡®Money is not a problem.¡¯ As soon as he heard this, L¨¹ Qiying¡¯s eyes lit up,pletely putting thoughts of Golden Roc Castle, the killers, or bandits behind. ¡°At any price? Any quantity?¡± asked L¨¹ Qiying.


    ¡°The more, the better.¡±


    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll risk my life to help the Dragon King once more. Uh, the Dragon King has many kung fu masters under him. I¡¯m wondering if he could¡­ send someone to protect me? After all, Golden Roc Castle is not something to be trifled with.¡±


    ¡°Xu Xiaoyi will arrange everything.¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying suppressed the excitement in his heart and seriously asked, ¡°So I¡¯ll contact Xu Xiaoyi from now on?¡±


    ¡°Mmm, but you¡¯ll have to stay in Jade City for half a month. Buy this house, establish a fixed warehouse and make sure it canst for awhile.¡±


    ¡°Can you keep me safe?¡± L¨¹ Qiying had lived in Southern Jade City for many years and his fear towards Golden Roc Castle was deeply rooted. He really felt uneasy at the thought of fighting openly against Golden Roc Castle here.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be perfectly safe.¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying asked a lot of detailed questions and finally retreated, satisfied. He began to consider how he should refuse the business he had previously taken on, and how he would take over other camel caravans for a low price.


    Nie Zeng had stayed in the room this whole time. After listening to the conversation he felt quite perplexed, but did not ask because he knew that as a killer he should stay silent.


    ¡°If you have anything on your mind, I¡¯m listening,¡± Gu Shenwei encouraged.


    Nie Zeng felt a bit embarrassed, then he felt more embarrassed by his embarrassment, and suddenly said loudly, ¡°I think the Dragon King is wasting money.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Tell me about it.¡±


    ¡°Tavernkeeper L¨¹¡­ L¨¹ Qiying made it very clear that once the news that you¡¯re acquiring grain and grass spreads, the price will rise sharply. Many people may even store up goods to make a good bargain, leaving fewer provisions and fodder in the market.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Gu Shenwei put on an odd expression simr to a smile. ¡°I have a question for you then. Who do you think has thergest territory in the Western Regions now?¡±


    Nie Zeng didn¡¯t understand why the Dragon King asked him this. He paused a moment before saying, ¡°Many countries in the eastern area have already joined the Central ins, so the Central ins should have thergest territory.¡±


    ¡°And the secondrgest?¡±


    ¡°Duodun and Golden Roc Castle have upied the Shule Kingdom and Jade City, so they have the secondrgest territory.¡±


    ¡°And what about me?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King owns the five kingdoms of the Xiaoyao Lake, and the far away Land of Fragrance. So while the territory is also veryrge, the Dragon King is far away from the Xiaoyao Lake and does not hold any advantage.¡±


    ¡°You are right. So, if the price of army provisions in the Western Regions shoots up, who do you think will suffer the most?¡±


    Nie Zeng was stunned again. ¡°It turns out the Dragon King isn¡¯t actually trying to collect provisions.¡±


    ¡°No, I am in urgent need of provisions but I might as well take this chance to strike a blow to my enemy. This is what the counselor taught me. He said that the best policy in war was to thwart the enemy by strategy, and this is one of them.¡±


    Nie Zeng felt that he had been suddenly enlightened, but he still had some doubts. ¡°The Central ins and Golden Roc Castle can forciblymandeer grain and grass, and thus ignore the price increase of the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Maybe. But this can have two possible consequences. First, they will be unpopr among the people. Second, even if they don¡¯t care about it, it will be harder for them tomandeer provisions. As you said, many people will store up goods to get the best bargain. Besides, unlike the Central ins and the Nond, there are many countries in the Western Regions. It is impossible for all of them toply to one single order.¡±


    Nie Zeng admired the Dragon King for his crafty n. Then he suddenly realized that this was the first time he had talked so much with the Dragon King. In a low voice, he said, ¡°The Dragon King doesn¡¯t have to care about my ideas.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. For the next half a month, you can ask me any questios at will. This is another kind of training.¡±


    ¡°Training?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I expect you to be more than just a killer.¡±


    Nie Zeng became more puzzled. ¡°Instructor Hu said a killer should focus on improving his killing skills with all his heart and soul, and should dismiss all distracting thoughts.¡±


    ¡°Do you have any distracting thoughts?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Nie Zeng suddenly became bold and said, ¡°My distracting thought is that I wish to be more powerful than the Dragon King so that one day so I can avenge my uncle¡¯s family.¡±


    ¡°Then you should learn about something else other than kung fu. You know, you probably won¡¯t be able to get close to me once your saber is faster than mine.¡±


    Gu Shenwei understood what this teenager was thinking but did not care. Nie Zeng¡¯s hatred was different from his. It was not that strong and also had not been consolidated by the Death Sutra.


    An idea shed through Nie Zeng¡¯s mind: ¡®The Dragon King is ying a trick.¡¯ But he could not think of any potential losses, so he bit his lip and thought for a while before saying, ¡°In fact, I¡¯ve always wanted to ask the Dragon King this. You already have the strength to break into Golden Roc Castle, so why do you not make a move? If I were you, I would have put the disputes of the prairie aside and led the hundred thousand soldiers straight south. I would be able to capture the Unique King alive in two months.¡±


    Looking at the teenager who was quite simr to him, Gu Shenwei replied, ¡°I once had a Master¡­¡±


    ¡°I know, Tie Hanfeng. In fact, he¡¯s my biggest enemy. Unfortunately, he¡¯s already dead.¡± Nie Zeng had already learned a lot about the death of his uncle¡¯s family.


    ¡°Hmm, so you hate him. I hated him, too. So I killed him myself. But he still taught me many useful things. It was him who told me that killing was simple. Just swing your saber at the enemy, but you have to sever the enemy¡¯s bonds first.¡±


    ¡°Sever the bonds?¡±


    ¡°Most people do not living independently in this world. Everyone has their own role. If you kill someone, that role will temporarily be vacant, and the relevant people will be dissatisfied, and they will seek revenge on you. For example, Tie Hanfeng and I killed your uncle¡¯s family, and you came to get revenge. In that sense, you are a ¡®bond¡¯ of your uncle¡¯s family.¡±


    ¡°But you two didn¡¯t kill me,¡± whispered Nie Zeng, still pondering the truth in the Dragon King¡¯s words.


    ¡°Because we didn¡¯t know of your existence. Tie Hanfeng severed all the bonds of your uncle in Jade City. At least at that time, no one took revenge for your uncle.¡±


    ¡°Why did you kill my uncle? Were you hired by someone?¡±


    This was a simple question, and his answer might also ease the hatred in the teenager¡¯s heart, but Gu Shenwei could not answer. Some of the killer¡¯s principles still dominated his habits. ¡°I can¡¯t say.¡±


    If it were two years ago, Nie Zeng would have thought that this was an insult, but now he understood it very well. So he turned his focus to Golden Roc Castle again. ¡°So the Dragon King is trying to sever the connections of Golden Roc Castle?¡±


    ¡°Right. I didn¡¯t have the power to cut them off before. And now, simply killing the Unique King cannot lift the hatred in my heart. I want him to be utterly isted. Not only will I sever his connections with those powerful countries, but I will also cut off his rtions with Jade City, Golden Roc Castle, his wife, and children. This is my ultimate n.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s tone was so t he could have been arranging an ordinary lunch, but Nie Zeng listened to his words with great trepidation. He even felt a bit ashamed about the small hatred he carried in his heart now.


    Nie Zeng had no more questions for the time being so Gu Shenwei said, ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go sever one of the Unique King¡¯s connections and get some more silver.¡±

 Chapter 772 - Jealousy

    Chapter 772: Jealousy


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Money was a good thing. For its owner, it was like a god who could produce anything one could dream of with a wave of its hand; to others, it was like a mirror that would reflect back the myriad thoughts, feelings, and desires of the people of the world.


    The more Meng Mingshu used his money, the more he relied on it. He used it to measure his friends, enemies, and lovers by and through it discovered their true colors.


    As aplete and rigorous system, it rarely failed, until it had finally been broken by that young bastard.


    Meng Mingshu gulped his wine down and casually threw the porcin wine pot onto the ground. The shattering sound of the wine pot in the dark made him feel quite refreshed. In the short run at least, good wine was more effective at soothing than money.


    But no matter how expensive the wine that filled his stomach was, it could not dispel the chill that pervaded his heart. ¡®Shit does happen in the fall,¡¯ he thought as he walked out of the shadows and swayed towards the door which he had been staring at for nearly two hours.


    Spying had never been Meng Mingshu¡¯s forte. He used to pay people to do such sneaky things, but tonight¡¯s surveince was not part of the n. He was supposed to spend the night at the new whorehouse in Retention Alley, but after a few drinks, he had uncontrobly walked to this ce and done somethingpletely ipatible with his identity.


    The Second Young Master of the Meng family in the Northern Jade City, the heir to the family fortune of millions of taels of silver, had actually stood in a dark corner where drunks vomited and urinated and pathetically stared at a woman¡¯s door and window for nearly two hours. If such a thing got out, he would surely be aughing stock throughout the entire city.


    But Meng Mingshu did not care. He had run into a unique circumstance where money could not give him confidence, and wine and women could not bring himfort. He was so frustrated he wanted to blow off steam and make a huge scene like a naive teenager.


    He smashed at the familiar door so hard it was as if he wanted to break it down.


    A sleepy maid opened the door and was taken aback to see Meng Mingshu outside. ¡°Lord Second, what brings you here? It¡¯s sote and so cold outside. Pleasee on in¡­¡±


    Meng Mingshu pushed away the maid who tried to please him and stormed into the house, shouting as he climbed the stairs, ¡°Xiao Fengchai! Xiao Fengchai! Get the fuck out here, you smelly bitch!¡±


    The maidservant at the door shut the door in a panic, for fear of waking the neighbors and beingughed at. Meanwhile, more maids and old biddies ran out to block Meng Mingshu and each began trying to persuade the ¡®Lord Second¡¯ in turn.


    As he was frantically being pulled back by four or five women, Meng Mingshu climbed stairs step by step with great difficulty, though his prepared words also bing disorganized. ¡°Old bitch¡­ I spent so much money¡­ Trusted you the most¡­ How dare you¡­ My heart¡­ Exin¡­¡±


    ¡°Release him.¡± A cold voice came from the top. Xiao Fengchai who was standing by the railing then said, ¡°This is a whorehouse. It¡¯s perfectly justified for a customer toe for a whore. Why are you blocking the customer instead of treating him well? Do you think that the customer won¡¯t be able to afford it?¡±


    The maids and old biddies immediately let go of Meng Mingshi and scattered, shrewd enough to recognize when the scope of the scene grew beyond their ability and duty.


    When Xiao Fengchai turned into the reception hall, a maid had already lit themp and served tea.


    As soon as he saw this woman, Meng Mingshu¡¯s aggressiveness was greatly curbed. After a moment of hesitation about what to do, he slowly walked up and began to feel ashamed of his ugliness, theplete opposite of the image he had maintained so carefully.


    Sitting in a chair, Xiao Fengchai still looked perfect from head to toe even without any make-up on her face, and didn¡¯t at all seem like she had just been roused from sleep past midnight. ¡°Heh, isn¡¯t this the second young master of the Meng family, the famous moneybags? I¡¯m really ttered that you woulde for me, an ¡®old bitch.¡¯ Yanhong, make an offer to the customer.¡±


    Yanhong, who was Xiao Fengchai¡¯s closest maid, tried hard to hold back her smile and seriously said, ¡°ording to the rules of mydy, the customer has to pay 500 taels for the tea, 500 taels as a gift for the meeting, and 3000 taels for a night¡¯s stay. If there are any other requirements¡­¡±


    Meng Mingshu waved his hand impatiently and said, ¡°No need to say anymore, I already know. Yanhong, I want to talk to yourdy alone.¡±


    Yanhong took the hint and was about to withdraw when Xiao Fengchai stopped her, ¡°Wait a moment. Although he hasn¡¯t drunk the tea, he has already seen me and has to pay 500 taels first.¡±


    Yanhong awkwardly held out her hand, and Meng Mingshu touched his pocket to take out the money. Except, one of the habits of the rich was that he seldom carried money with him. His valets, who had thought that the young master would stay at another prostitute¡¯s house, had long gone to a gambling house. Embarrassed, he could only say, ¡°Put it under my tab.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t work. Second Gongzi clearly knows that bitches are ruthless. If you don¡¯t have the silver, please get out now,¡± Xiao Fengchai coldly said.


    Meng Mingshu may have said something like ¡®Bitches are ruthless¡¯ when he quarreled with Xiao Fengchai before. Upon hearing this, his anger red up again. He tore off the waist jade he wore and threw it at Yanhong. ¡°Is this worth 500 taels?¡±


    Second Young Master Meng naturally had no cheap things on him. Yanhong caught it and said ¡®yes¡¯ as she backed out without even looking at it. She didn¡¯t want to get caught between this pair of angry lovers.


    The two looked at each other in silence. Meng Mingshu felt like he was about to lose his mind from anger in one moment, and then in the next, suddenly felt. Words of rebuke and beseechment kept rushing to his lips and fighting for the right to be uttered but none of them were able to prevail, so his mouth only emitted a long silence.


    Frustrated, Meng Mingshu flopped into the opposite chair and silently covered his head with his hands. After a long time, he felt the familiar hand gently stroking his hair. ¡°Why won¡¯t you believe me?¡± asked Xiao Fengchai in a soft voice.


    ¡°How can you expect me to believe you?¡± Meng Mingshu reluctantly pushed the gentle caress away. ¡°How could Lotus have taken you away for no reason at all? The Dragon King¡­¡± Meng Mingshu could say no more. He had never thought that he would be jealous of a man ten years younger than himself.


    But it was exactly this man who Meng Mingshu couldn¡¯t defeat with money that had made the powerful weapon he was so proud of a heap of garbage.


    ¡°Lotus is a lunatic,¡± consoled Xiao Fengchai softly, both angry at her lover¡¯s unreasonableness and gratified by his jealousy. ¡°She traveled a long way to arrest several women but hasn¡¯t met or killed any of them. Would a normal person do such a thing?¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Meng Mingshu had said it before, and he couldn¡¯t help but say it again. ¡°The Dragon King is no longer what he once was¡­¡± The crazy rumors, idental leaks, and escorts by the female soldiers all seemed to prove that the Dragon King took Xiao Fengchai very seriously.


    Even if the Dragon King owned Xiaoyao Lake, Meng Mingshu didn¡¯t feel that he was inferior to him. But the Dragon King had actually been able to win the support of 100,000 soldiers of the Nond, which made him immediately superior and mightier than Meng Mingshu.


    ¡°So what?¡± Xiao Fengchai said a little disdainfully. The worry of the man in front of her was crystal clear in her eyes. If not for this concern, she would have easily regained his favor as early as their first quarrel. ¡°Even if he controls all of Nond, he wouldn¡¯t give me a penny. The Dragon King is one of the most ruthless and astute people in the world and would never do anything just for women. Do you think that I can¡¯t see it clearly? Am I the kind of person to make bad deals?¡±


    The gentle hand caressed his head again and slowly slid toward his neck. Meng Mingshu hummedfortably. The number one prostitute in Retention Alley did live up to her fame. Even such a simple move could bring him immense pleasure. Compared to this woman, the whore he had stayed with earlier was a mere country wench who would only smile obsequiously and had no skill at all.


    Meng Mingshu could not bear it any longer. He held Xiao Fengchai in his arms and looked down into her eyes, ¡°The Dragon King and you¡­ really have no¡­ rtionship?¡±


    ¡°You know all about my rtionship with the Dragon King.¡± Xiao Fengchai looked up at Meng Mingshu and slightly raised her chin to show her most beautiful side.


    ¡°It¡¯s not about the money. You know what I mean.¡± Meng Mingshu was not yet fully satisfied.


    ¡°I have nothing to do with the Dragon King but money. If I lie, let me¡­¡±


    Meng Mingshu sealed her mouth with a soulful kiss. How could he let the woman he loved make such a serious oath? After a long while, he softly said, ¡°I believe you. We were all victimized by a madman.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai broke free of his arms with a chuckle. ¡°You almost became a madman too. Why did you go to Liandie?¡±


    Meng Mingshu smiled. ¡°So you were spying on me, too.¡±


    ¡°Who cares about spying on you? The little girl Liandie had finally caught a big fish and couldn¡¯t wait to tell everyone on the street about it. With her maidsing to my door to show off, it¡¯s hard to not know about it.¡± Xiao Fengchai turned her head to wipe away tears as she said all this.


    Everyone said that Xiao Fengchai was fickle, but Meng Mingshu loved it. He was obsessed with every side of her. Upon seeing this, he immediately walked over and gently rubbed her shoulder,forting, ¡°It¡¯s all my fault. I love you so much. How can a woman like Liandie possiblypare with you?¡±


    Xiao Fengchai stopped her tears and let out a long sigh, sadly saying, ¡°Someone will eclipse me sooner orter.¡±


    No one knew what Meng Mingshu was thinking but he suddenly plopped down on his knees and passionately implored, ¡°No one can beat you. Even if you are eighty years old, you will be as beautiful as you were at eighteen. Fengchai, I¡¯ll marry you, marry you openly, and you will be mine alone from now on.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai hated the idea of being monopolized, but she showed just the right amount of surprise and bitterness. ¡°s, I¡¯m d you are willing to please me, but please do not say this again. You already have a legally married wife in your house. Where could I find a ce? I¡¯d rather be a prostitute than a concubine.¡±


    Meng Mingshu stiffened and then embarrassedly stood up. He had lost his mind momentarily and forgotten that he already had a wife who he could not divorce easily. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll buy you a big house in Northern Jade City. We¡¯ll live together.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai chuckled. She had finally won this man¡¯s heart again and also won back half of her world. She would have been more sessful if someone had not tampered with her at this time.


    A man coughed softly at the door of Xiao Fengchai¡¯s bedroom. No one knew how long he had been standing there.


    There was no light in the bedroom. Seeing the blurred figure in the doorway, Meng Mingshu¡¯s extinguished anger red up in an instant. ¡°Dragon King? You and the Dragon King¡­¡±


    The man walked into the light of the living room and calmly said, ¡°My surname is Gu and you can call me Gu Shenwei; I¡¯m a messenger sent by the Dragon King.¡±


    Meng Mingshu paused. Now he saw the situation clearly. It was indeed not the Dragon King, but his doubts had not been eliminated so he turned to look at Xiao Fengchai.


    Xiao Fengchai looked even more surprised than he. ¡°Gu Shenwei? I¡¯ve never seen or heard of you before.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and you don¡¯t know the Dragon King very well either.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai held her tongue and hinted Meng Mingshu to not open his mouth. She did not trust this strange man at all.


    ¡°The maids are fast asleep.¡± Another voice came out of the darkness.


    Xiao Fengchai recognized this teenager and asked, ¡°You are the Dragon King¡¯s bodyguard?¡±


    Nie Zeng nodded, but did not give a name.


    ¡°The Dragon King sent me here to make a deal with both of you at the same time.¡± Gu Shenwei moved forward a few steps and sat down in one of the guest chairs.


    Meng Mingshu, who was still full of jealousy, was determined to not ept the deal.

 Chapter 773 - Borrowing Money

    Chapter 773: Borrowing Money


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Xiao Fengchai was a strong-minded and independent woman, but she knew when to speak and when to keep her mouth shut and watch on from the side.


    Now, for example, although Meng Mingshu was making a scene like a child, he was nheless still talking to another man, so she would not easily interrupt him. As she sat quietly beside Meng Mingshu, Xiao Fengchai asionally winked at him as a reminder, but she spent most of the time sipping at the bitter tea with her head lowered, trying to feel out the messenger of the Dragon King just based on the tone of his voice.


    Since Xiao Fengchai had recognized the bodyguard of the Dragon King, Meng Mingshu no longer had any doubts about the messenger¡¯s identity. He then sat down in another guest chair on the opposite side of the messenger. ¡°The Dragon King has sent you to discuss business. That¡¯s fine. But the current situation is too chaotic and it¡¯s not easy to do business. I hope that the Dragon King will not press too hard on our Meng family,¡± Meng Mingshu said coldly across the table.


    Gu Shenwei tapped the table with his fingers and didn¡¯t reply until Meng Mingshu showed his obvious disgust. ¡°The Dragon King will not make things difficult for the Meng family, but will instead bring great benefits to the Meng family.¡±


    ¡°Tell me about it, then.¡± Meng Mingshu was so distracted by the monotonous tapping that he almost forgot about what he was thinking.


    All of the servants in the building were drugged and sleeping soundly. They would not wake up no matter how loud the noise was.


    ¡°The Dragon King wants to borrow some money from the Meng family.¡±


    ¡°How much? The interest rate is not low right now.¡±


    ¡°All the silver the Meng family can offer.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Meng Mingshu could hardly believe his ears. He took one look at Xiao Fengchai and another at the Dragon King¡¯s messenger before incredulously asking, ¡°Do you know just how much silver the Meng family can take out?¡±


    ¡°A lot.¡± Gu Shenwei of course had a rough figure in his mind but he thought it was unnecessary to say it. ¡°Of course, the Dragon King will not borrow all of it. The Meng family can keep a bit of it for everyday expenses.¡±


    ¡°Haha.¡± Meng Mingshuughed in anger. ¡°Fengchai, did you hear him? Is this man bragging wildly or am I mistaken in something? The Dragon King seems ready to rob the Meng family.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid you heard him correctly. Let him finish.¡± Xiao Fengchai was calmer. Although she wasn¡¯t a member of the Meng Family, that huge family fortune would eventually fall into the hands of Meng Mingshu and some of it, therefore, would belong to her.


    ¡°When is the Dragon King going to pay back the money and how much interest will he pay?¡± asked Meng Mingshu, knowing fully well that the deal was impossible and that he would not agree even if he were not jealous of the Dragon King.


    ¡°He¡¯ll return it after the war is over. There will be no interest, but the Meng family will be protected by the Dragon King and will be able to continue their business in the Western Regions.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all?¡± Meng Mingshu tried to control his anger, his face turning red.


    ¡°That¡¯s all about all for now. It¡¯s a very good deal for the Meng family.¡±


    ¡°A very good deal? Do you and the Dragon King really know what a ¡®good deal¡¯ is? Let me tell you. Scram out of here and never show up in front of me again, and I will not tell Golden Roc Castle about this. That¡¯s what I call a ¡®good deal.¡¯ Got it?¡±


    Gu Shenwei stopped tapping the table and pointed at Xiao Fengchai. ¡°Do you believe this woman?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Meng Mingshu¡¯s face changed. He was about to call someone when he realized that he was alone here. Neither his footmen nor guards were nearby.


    ¡°I mean, can anything more be said in front of her?¡±


    Xiao Fengchai got up but Meng Mingshu motioned for her to sit down. ¡°I trust her with my life. Say what you want. You are the one that¡¯s wasting your breath.¡±


    Gu Shenwei slightly nodded to Xiao Fengchai, apologizing for what he had just said. Then he turned to Meng Mingshu and exined, ¡°This business is good for the Meng family because the Meng family is in great danger. Your wealth is about to fall into the hands of your enemies, but you can save most of it through the Dragon King.¡±


    Meng Mingshu fell silent, not because of that fact but rather because he had nothing more to say.


    Gu Shenwei continued, saying, ¡°Your father hasn¡¯t left the house for almost half a year now, hasn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°My father caught a cold and has been recuperating at home. It¡¯s quite normal to not go out.¡±


    ¡°The third and fourth young masters have been away on business. They haven¡¯t sent a letter home in two months, have they?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s normal for letters to be lost in the chaos of war.¡± Meng Mingshu didn¡¯t understand what the other side was trying to imply.


    ¡°Second Young Master Meng changed his guard a month ago.¡±


    ¡°Heh, you seem to know everything about my family, but what are you trying to say? Where¡¯s the threat to the Meng family? The guard has worked for our Meng family for many years; they¡¯re not randomly sabermen whisked off of the street.¡±


    Instead of answering Meng Mingshu, Gu Shenwei continued borating. ¡°The guard is called He Shun. He has served the Meng family for eleven years. He entered the Meng family as a part of the dowry for your wife.¡±


    Meng Mingshu sneered and was just about to speak when Xiao Fengchai interjected, ¡°Second Sister-inw is from Golden Roc Castle, isn¡¯t she?¡±


    That was how Xiao Fengchai referred to Meng Mingshu¡¯s wife and he had gotten used to it long ago. ¡°Yeah, so what? He Shun isn¡¯t a killer. He was chosen because he¡¯s experienced and coolheaded. He has never made a mistake since joining our family.¡±


    Looking at the messenger, Meng Mingshu paused for a moment before saying, ¡°I see what you¡¯re trying to say. You¡¯re implying that the Shangguan family is the threat and that the Unique King wants to kill all the men of the Meng family and inherit all our property, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, sort of.¡±


    ¡°I know that the Dragon King is a smart man, but sometimes he¡¯s too smart. Please go back and tell him that I thank him for his concern for the Meng family but if he wants to talk business, then he shoulde up with a reasonable n instead of making up sensational stories.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head and answered, ¡°I can¡¯t send word to the Dragon King because he is in seclusion. He said that the second young master might not believe him and that he only had one request if that was the case.¡±


    Meng Mingshu was a bit disappointed that the messenger had given in so quickly. ¡°Tell me, what is it?¡±


    ¡°Pass my word to your father and let him make the decision.¡±


    Meng Mingshu¡¯s face turned a bit red again. ¡°My father doesn¡¯t see much of anyone these days let alone the Dragon King. He¡¯ll only refuse it more thoroughly than I did.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. If your father also refuses, the deal is off; however, the Dragon King does demand that you pass the word along.¡±


    ¡°Neither you nor the Dragon King has the right to give me orders,¡± Meng Mingshu said through gritted teeth, his patience almost at an end.


    ¡°This is not an order. It¡¯s a duty as an ally. Do not forget that the Dragon King saved you from suffering losses at Xiaoyao Lake, and it was also the Dragon King who made you the heir of the Meng family.¡±


    ¡°Are you threatening me?¡± Meng Mingshu smote the table and rose to his feet, especially exasperated by the other side¡¯sst sentence. The Dragon King had helped him assassinate his elder brother, something he never wanted to think about again.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a reminder if you consider the Dragon King a friend. If you take the Dragon King as an enemy, however, then it¡¯s a threat.¡±


    Meng Mingshu regretted acting on impulse anding to Xiao Fengchai¡¯s house tonight. Unlike kung fu, money didn¡¯t always follow the master wherever he went. The protection it conferred was more like a moving shield which would leave its master asionally. Meng Mingshu had left his shield elsewhere, leaving him feeling powerless in the face of the two sabermen.


    ¡°I beg your pardon, but I have to speak to Second Brother alone for a moment,¡± Xiao Fengchai said as she stood up.


    Gu Shenwei nodded, showing that he didn¡¯t mind.


    For some important issues, Meng Mingshu relied heavily on Xiao Fengchai so he followed her to the bedroom and discussed the situation in a whisper.


    Gu Shenwei silently waited, and Nie Zeng listened warily to all the sounds around him. Only a vague whisper could be heard from the bedroom. He admired the Dragon King¡¯s calmness and thought that the Dragon King must have other sources of information to know so much about the Meng family.


    Meng Mingshu came out alone, and his tone had be much more polite. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll tell my father what you said. We¡¯ll meet back here the day after tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Very good.¡± Gu Shenwei stood up and then said, ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll have a closer rtionship the day after tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°I hope so. Watch your steps.¡±


    The two sabermen went downstairs, but no sounds of a door opening and closing could be heard. After a long time, Meng Mingshu ran out, grabbed the railing, and looked down to make sure the downstairs was empty.


    Xiao Fengchai walked behind him and said, ¡°They are gone.¡±


    Meng Mingshu abruptly turned around but still kept his voice down as he asked, ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s the Dragon King himself?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t be wrong.¡±


    Meng Mingshu¡¯s eyes became suspicious. Xiao Fengchai nevercked customers here but he didn¡¯t care about it at all. He just couldn¡¯t help be jealous of the Dragon King. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you can recognize him.¡±


    Knowing that this man had be jealous again, Xiao Fengchai coldly scolded, ¡°Idiot. You know how paranoid the Dragon King is. How could he entrust such an important matter to someone else? Stop guessing, if you really want proof, then just go and ask Golden Roc Castle. They¡¯re always watching the Dragon King closely. They will surely tell you that there is no such person as ¡®Gu Shenwei¡¯ around the Dragon King.¡±


    Meng Mingshu naturally would not ask Golden Roc Castle about the Dragon King, but he believed Xiao Fengchai¡¯s judgment and smilingly replied, ¡°All men are idiots in front of you. Do I really have to pass on the message for him? My father may not be happy. He may think that I intend on betraying the Unique King.¡±


    ¡°Of course. If the Dragon King had chosen correctly, you will be Meng Yuzun¡¯s most useful son. Even if Meng Yuzun doesn¡¯t think there¡¯s any danger, it¡¯s still a big contribution for you.¡±


    Meng Mingshu suddenly understood. ¡°The meeting the day after tomorrow can either be a negotiation or a trap. Fengchai, you are so smart.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai didn¡¯t think she was very smart. Instead, she felt the man before her was just too stupid.


    The Dragon King allowed Nie Zeng to ask questions at will so not long after they left the Retention Alley, Nie Zeng opened his mouth. ¡°That woman seemed to have recognized the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not easy to fool her.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it dangerous?¡±


    ¡°I always assume it¡¯s dangerous.¡±


    Nie Zeng quieted down for a brief moment before asking another question. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about it, but in my childhood I heard that the Meng family of Jade City and Golden Roc Castle are a family. Is the Dragon King really sure this will break the rtionship between the two?¡±


    ¡°It will not be me but rather the Unique King who will ¡®sever one of his arms¡¯ himself. He doesn¡¯t need a ¡®family¡¯ anymore.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be foolish of the Unique King to do so?¡± asked Nie Zeng in surprise.


    ¡°So our task is to find out the real reason for it. Never use the word ¡®foolish¡¯ to exin away the enemy¡¯s behavior.¡±


    Nie Zeng was more surprised that the Dragon King had said the words ¡®our task.¡¯ His kung fu wasn¡¯t particrly good, and neither was he exceptionally intelligent. He didn¡¯t understand why the Dragon King would deliberately ¡®train¡¯ him in this aspect.


    He buried the doubt in his mind and asked, ¡°Where shall we go next?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go see the Lord of the Meng family. Perhaps I can cure him of his illness. As long as he nods his head, Xiao Fengchai will no longer be a danger.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ why didn¡¯t the Dragon King just go to Meng Yuzun directly in the first ce then?¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked at the teenager and said, ¡°You¡¯ll understand soon enough.¡±

 Chapter 774 - Waterside Pavilion

    Chapter 774: Waterside Pavilion


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The Bodhi Garden was famous throughout the Western Regions for its four-colored lotus flower. It was always been one of the most popr topics of discussion in Jade City during the annual blooming season. Some people would even hide in a corner of the garden wall in an attempt to smell the fragrance of the lotus flowers, which have actually never reached the outside world. In recent years, however, the discussion became more and more focused on who the real owner of the garden was.


    The former Bodhi Garden undoubtedly belonged to the Meng family. Two years ago, it had been given to their nominal daughter-inw as a gift. But when the twins openly ¡®betrayed¡¯ their family and joined the Dragon King, the ownership of the garden suddenly became muddled. Both the Meng family and the Shangguan family seemed within their rights toy im to this famous garden, but neither of them had evere forward to dere their rights.


    The discussion finally calmed down a bit when Meng Yuzun, the patriarch of the Meng family, entered the garden to recuperate from his illness half a year ago. It seemed that the Unique King was quite broad-minded and generous as he didn¡¯t reim his friend¡¯s estate under the name of his daughter.


    The Bodhi Garden in autumn was also very beautiful. Although the lotus flowers had disappeared, there were other flowers and trees to fill their vacancy. Had it not been for his duty to protect the Dragon King, Nie Zeng would have rather taken his time to enjoy the scenery, but right now he could only hide in the bushes like a log and count numbers in his mind at a fixed rate.


    ¡°¡­401, 402, out.¡±


    A dozen paces away, two guards walked out from behind some rocks, looked around once, and then started walking towards the next hidden spot.


    Taking advantage of the small window of opportunity, Nie Zeng followed the Dragon King and quickly ran forward into the next guard circle.


    The Bodhi Garden was so heavily guarded it was as if the one who lived here was constantly on guard against a formidable enemy.


    Meng Yuzun lived in a converted waterside pavilion, the door and window of which had been thickened. It was built above theke and its entrance was a long extended corridor that zigzagged across the garden.


    The corridor near the pavilion was full of guards with sabers as well as groups of servants. A little farther away were dozens of chiefs, both big and small, some of whom had been waiting at the gate since before dawn, only moving into the corridorte in the morning, not knowing when their names would be called.


    Nie Zeng and the Dragon King did not eat or drink all day. They maneuvered around the waterside pavilion at a very slow speed, calmly observing Meng Yuzun¡¯s dwelling ce from various angles and distances.


    Meng Yuzun himself never left the pavilion once. But from the expression of those who did, one could judge the mood of the richest man in the Western Regions. He must have been in a very bad mood today because most of the people who met with him ran out in such a flustered state that it was as if they were being chased by ghosts.


    At the nearest point to the corridor, Nie Zeng could even hear the whispers of the servants.


    ¡°I heard someone was scolded by the lord again and was even pped in the face.¡±


    ¡°Be careful, everyone. Do not get into trouble.¡±


    Not many people visited in the afternoon. Meng Yuzun seemed to have time for a rest for a while. The Dragon King and Nie Zeng couldn¡¯t find a chance to take approach any closer so they could only wait patiently.


    It happened all the time. Those who were visited by the Dragon King were usually all shocked by his sudden appearance, but Nie Zeng clearly knew that it was all the result of a long wait. Likest night, the two of them had followed Meng Mingshu for nearly six hours before suddenly showing up.


    Some opportunities were self-initiated while others were self-inflicted. Thetter appeared less often, but was more covert and beneficial for them.


    In the evening, a man in his fifties came out of the waterside pavilion, and like most of the peopleing out, he was in low spirits, almost as if he were trampling on his own dignity with every step he took. Just for this reason, he received little attention. The guards looked around aimlessly while the servants continued whispering to each other. Their topic had changed from gossiping about their master to where they would go gambleter tonight.


    Instead of walking along the corridor to leave, the man slowly stepped over the railing, looked down at the cidke, sighed, and then jumped down.


    The nearest man was just a few paces away but he was still a step toote from stopping him.


    The confusion caused by the sshing of water spread like the st zone of a powerful grenade. Nie Zeng could almost see it spreading out into the distance at various speeds; people ten paces away were still talking andughing when several nearby guards and servants had already jumped into the water to try to save the man.


    Opportunity had opened the door itself. Although the Dragon King and Nie Zeng were separated by a short distance and the two had notmunicated prior to this, they still acted in perfect sync.


    The chaos did notst long. The person who had jumped into theke was brought ashore and started crying bitterly amid the noisy voices of constion. No one noticed that two fleeting figures had entered theke and nevere out.


    A roar came from the pavilion. ¡°Let him die! Do not stop him. How much is a lousy life worth anyways? When he¡¯s dead, let his sons pay for it! Duan Zihua, you old bastard, how dare you y tricks in front of me¡­¡±


    The crowd scattered and returned to their original positions. Those several rescuers hurriedly squeezed the water from their clothes as if it were incriminating evidence.


    The man who had jumped into theke stopped crying and stood up. Everyone who saw him thought of the same thing ¡ª stray dog.


    ¡°You may rest assured, my lord. I¡¯ll pay the debt even if I have to sell my sons and grandchildren,¡± dered the man loudly. Without entering the corridor, he directly turned to walk out of the garden, leaving a shallow trail of water drops along the way.


    There was a long silence in the corridor. No one talked about the unlucky man who had failed tomit suicide. They held their curiosity back until after dinner when the new shift who had not seen the tragedy with their own eyes arrived.


    Nie Zeng and the Dragon King clung to the bottom of the pavilion, leaning against the narrow crack to bnce themselves. Heavy footsteps rang out from above them every now and then. Before he had even seen Meng Yuzun, Nie Zeng could already feel the weight of the other person.


    As the night wore on, it became the best time to sneak into the pavilion, but the Dragon King instead chose to retreat.


    This waspletely out of Nie Zeng¡¯s expectation.


    The two swam back to shore and hid themselves in the bushes as they waited for their clothes to dry. Seeing that the Dragon King was lost in his thoughts, Nie Zeng knew that it was not the right time to ask questions, so he instead quietly stood guard nearby.


    Gu Shenwei had indeed changed his mind and left the Bodhi Garden quietly with Nie Zeng. Even though the day had not gone quite as expected, it wasn¡¯t wasted. He needed more evidence.


    The night in Northern Jade City was as quiet as water, and there were almost no pedestrians roaming the street before the second night watch period.


    Gu Shenwei came to the edge of the city. After having Nie Zeng hide in an alley, he himself circled around and jumped into a small courtyard before gently knocking on the east wing-room with two long raps and a short one.


    The door opened. Gu Shenwei took a quick look inside and then shed in. The man who lived here was a spy arranged by Xu Xiaoyi.


    A quarter of an hourter, he joined back with Nie Zeng and they crept southward.


    Nie Zeng was full of doubts. Although he had the privilege to ask questions, he still kept silent and focused on fully performing his duty as a bodyguard as he knew that the right time to ask wasn¡¯t now.


    The two arrived at another small courtyard, observed it a little, and then jumped across the nearby roofs one after another.


    Nie Zeng soon found out who the owner of the house was and what the Dragon King had been asking about just now.


    ¡°It¡¯s almost Mid-Autumn Festival.¡± Duan Zihua looked up at the moon and then at his wife and children around the table. He didn¡¯t notice the intruders on the roof. The open-air family dinner wasing to an end, and he had nothing more to say except, ¡°Go and rest.¡±


    The women took the children back to their rooms and quickly packed up the dishes that had barely been touched. No one made a sound except for asional the tter as the cups and tes were brought away.


    Soon the little courtyard was empty. The women blew out themps in their rooms, and with an uneasy nervousness they forced themselves to sleep, leaving the crisis to the men outside.


    The three sons frustratedly sat opposite to their father and no one said a word for a long while. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault, father. It¡¯s chaotic outside due to the war. The loss of goods was expected,¡± said the eldest son.


    The second son slumped down on his knee and nearly jumped up with pain. ¡°Even the Golden Roc g can¡¯t find work now. What else can you do, father? Golden Roc Castle should be responsible for the loss.¡±


    The third son was thest to speak. ¡°The lord¡­ The lord is not this kind of person. Maybe something changed.¡±


    Duan Zihua waved his hand and ordered his sons to go inside. They couldn¡¯t offer him any help, and what they said made no sense to the lord Meng Yuzun now.


    Duan Zihua didn¡¯t know how long he had been sitting there alone. He had lived a dignified life his whole life and just couldn¡¯t understand how this could happen to him just as he was about to retire. With his mind confused and his eyes nk, he didn¡¯te to his senses until a shadow sat down on the empty round stool left by his eldest son.


    ¡°You¡­¡±


    ¡°Shh.¡± Gu Shenwei shushed him with a forefinger to the lips.


    Duan Zihua was quite experienced. He immediately straightened up his body and kept silent.


    Nie Zeng came over and nodded to the Dragon King before disappearing onto the roof again.


    ¡°You can speak now,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter who I am. The question you should be asking is who is the man in the waterside pavilion of Bodhi Garden.¡±


    Duan Zihua was stunned. ¡°You are¡­ You are a golden roc killer?¡± He felt a familiar quality to the other side.


    ¡°I¡¯m not from Golden Roc Castle.¡± Gu Shenwei shook his head as he denied it. He was a bit surprised because even a real golden roc killer couldn¡¯t sense his killing aura now. And yet, this ordinary old man who didn¡¯t know kung fu was actually aware of it.


    ¡°You are a man of the Dragon King?¡±


    Gu Shenwei no longer answered and instead asked his own question. ¡°You met with Meng Yuzun today.¡±


    Duan Zihua hastily said, ¡°It¡¯s none of your business.¡±


    ¡°If you want to save your wife and children then it is my business because I can help you.¡±


    Unmoved, Duan Zihua suddenly leaned over and said, ¡°It was the Dragon King¡¯s men who robbed my goods. Now they¡¯reing out to y the good guy?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is not a robber, and neither does he care about your little goods.¡±


    Duan Zihua¡¯s face twitched slightly. ¡°Right. The 100,000 taels of silver is not worth mentioning in the eyes of the Dragon King, but for me, it¡¯s a fatal catastrophe. But if you think that you can buy me off with 100,000 taels of silver, you are wrong. The lord has been so kind to me that I won¡¯t have anyints even if he kills my entire family.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t try to buy you over with 100,000 taels of silver, and nor would I want you to betray the Meng family. On the contrary, the Meng family needs your help.¡±


    ¡°What¡­ What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Who was that man in the waterside pavilion of Bodhi Garden?¡±


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s my lord. Who else could it be?¡±


    Gu Shenwei silently stared at him, having no intention of giving him too many hints.


    Duan Zihua gradually recalled something. ¡°It¡¯s impossible,¡± he said. ¡°How can that be? My lord¡­ How can he be fake?¡± His voice was getting lower and lower as he continued thinking about the situation.


    There was nothing more thatGu Shenwei needed to say. He stood up and said, ¡°If I were you, I would keep my mouth shut and stall for as long as I could. You don¡¯t have to do anything. Maybe things will take a turn for the better themselves.¡±


    Dumbfounded, Duan Zihua¡¯s heart fluctuated between hope and fear, and he didn¡¯t even notice when his visitor had disappeared.

 Chapter 775 - Wealth

    Chapter 775: Wealth


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    After returning from the Nond, Xiao Fengchai had not served any guests. One night, even though Pleasure Alley was at its busiest time, she requested the maidservants and the elderly women to go to bed early.


    Meng Mingshu paced back and forth restlessly in the living room. asionally, he would nce at his woman and fearfully ask, ¡°How can this be possible? What should we do?¡±


    Yet, Xiao Fengchai¡¯s face was as calm as still water. Now that the situation had this dire of a situation, even Xiao Fengchai found it thorny. ¡°Are you sure about this?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely positive. Actually there were some signs hinting at it before, but I didn¡¯t pay extra attention to them. It was not until the Dragon King sent me a message that I came to understand. Earlier today, when I went to visit him, I wiped something off of his forehead.


    Meng Mingshu stretched out his right hand and there was ayer of white paint on his forefinger and middle finger. He had already shown this to her, but he hadn¡¯t wiped it off yet, and now the color had faded a little.


    ¡°My father never applies this kind of stuff.¡±


    ¡°The problem is¡­ who¡¯s behind it?¡±


    ¡°The Golden Roc Castle ¨C it has to be the Golden Roc Castle. The Dragon King¡¯s right. The Unique King wants all the assets of Meng family. I¡¯m afraid that my two younger brothers are in grave danger, and that even I¡­¡± At the thought that his most trusted bodyguard was working for the Golden Roc Castle, Meng Mingshi was horrified.


    Xiao Fengchai was much moreposed than him, ¡°Don¡¯t forget that Golden Roc Castle¡¯s not the only sect that¡¯s good at disguises. Waning Moon Hall and the Dragon King are all masters of it.¡±


    Meng Mingshu had thought that things were already clear, but now he fell into confusion again. ¡°You¡¯re right, but this is Jade City, where Golden Roc Castle can do whatever they want.¡±


    ¡°Haha. Haven¡¯t you noticed that Golden Roc Castle has been restraining itself a lot since the fiasco in Xiaoyao Lake? Now tens of thousand troops are stationed in the Heaven¡¯s Pass and their allegiance remains unknown, and they¡¯ll only be revealed after the gate of Jade City is opened wide. So, I think that the Unique King is not necessarily the only path for one to do whatever he wants here.¡±


    ¡°So what do we do? One mistake, and the Meng family is done for.¡±


    ¡°y it by ear.¡±


    Seeing that Xiao Fengchai was soposed, Meng Mingshu also managed to calm himself down. He stopped pacing around and fondly gazed at her face as he said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what I would do without you. If Golden Roc Castle is behind this, then the first thing I¡¯m going to do is divorce the woman in my house, marry you, and give you the official identity of Madam Meng.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai smiled. ¡°If the others heard of this, they would think that we¡¯re the ones plotting everything.¡±


    Yet Meng Mingshu became excited and sat on a chair. After pondering for a short while, he said to Xiao Fengchai, ¡°Have you noticed? I¡¯m now the patriarch of Meng family.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai nodded. With a moderately encouraging look on her face, she said to him as if she were coaxing a child, ¡°Just keeping that in mind is fine. Don¡¯t talk about it openly. You could¡¯ve gotten yourself into some serious trouble with this very remark.¡±


    Meng Mingshu subdued his excitement as he asked, ¡°How should I deal with the Dragon Kingter?¡±


    ¡°Try not to speak and let me do the talking. If by any chance things go south, you can always shift the me onto me so that we¡¯re still preserving some space for others maneuvers. Keeping you safe is the most important thing.¡±


    Meng Mingshu wholeheartedly believed that this was an excellent idea. Rather than feel belittled, he was extreme grateful, to the point of even forgetting about his envy for the Dragon King.


    Waiting¡­


    There were no night watchmen in Southern Jade City, but Pleasure Alley was the exception. Some guests had to be cautious about the time and return to Northern Jade City before the connecting gateway closed. A while after nine o¡¯clock, a man came out of Xiao Fengchai¡¯s bedroom.


    Looking at the Dragon King who went by the name ¡°Gu Shenwei¡±, Meng Mingshu frowned. ¡°Madam Xiao¡¯s bedroom is one of the most difficult to ess in all of Jade City, yet you came in so expertly. It seems that we¡¯ll have to seriously audit the security of these windows.¡±


    Meng Mingshu and Xiao Fengchai had agreed that they wouldn¡¯t reveal his true identity at the moment.


    ¡°Yeah, you should.¡±


    Meng Mingshu recalled what Xiao Fengchai had told him previously. He nced at her and spoke no more.


    Xiao Fengchai had put some simple makeup on, looking noble and elegant. With one hand on the table and the other on her knee, she said in a businesslike tone, ¡°Please have a seat, respected envoy.¡±


    Gu Shenwei sat down in a chair opposite and already knew who he was going to negotiate with.


    ¡°The Dragon King always gets straight to the point and never wastes any time beating around the bush. Are you the same, envoy?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have much time, so it¡¯s best we cut to the chase.¡±


    ¡°May I ask a question first?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    ¡°How did you know that Meng Yuzun had been reced? I still remember you didn¡¯t say that when we first met.¡±


    ¡°Because I just found out myself. I happen to know that Meng Yuzun used to be a kung fu practitioner, and a pretty good one at that. Yet the footsteps of the one who was around the Bodhi Garden were fairly heavy and not like that of a kung fu practitioner¡¯s at all.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai nced at Meng Mingshu. She had never heard the rumor of the moneybags Meng Yuzun venturing into arduous kung fu practice. Meng Mingshu nodded gently, indicating that it was true. Actually, it had been after his elder brother¡¯s death that he found out about this, and he himself had been just as surprised back then.


    ¡°Do you have any information about if the true Meng Yuzun is alive?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say. But as far as I know, there is an underground chamber in the Bodhi Garden, and I wouldn¡¯t be surprised at all if Meng Yuzun was locked in down there.¡±


    This was yet another issue that Xiao Fengchai hadn¡¯t heard about. After Meng Mingshu confirmed it, shemented, ¡°It seems that Golden Roc Castle is indeed about to make its move on Meng family.¡±


    That¡¯s not a question, and Gu Shenwei tersely responded.


    ¡°Money is always easy to borrow but difficult to repay. Can you give us some kind of guarantee? Or is t just an oral promise?¡± Xiao Fengchai continued to ask.


    ¡°It¡¯s not just a promise, but also a shared management right. And, if he wishes, Second Young Master Meng can choose to work for the Dragon King as his financial executive; he would be in charge of not only the Gu family¡¯s assets, but also all of Dragon King¡¯s financial resources.¡±


    Meng Mingshu felt that he had to say something now, so he interjected and said, ¡°Then I would be publicly making myself an enemy of Golden Roc Castle, wouldn¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°You may also designate someone you deem trustworthy to do it for you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s viable,¡± Xiao Fengchai took back the momentum. ¡°But in any case, my second brother¡¯s safety is of the utmost importance. Do you have any ns about that?¡±


    Meng Mingshu fell silent ¨C this was the issue he cared about the most.


    ¡°If Second Young Master Meng is willing to join the Dragon Army, he will undoubtedly be under the best protection. And if he wants to stay in Jade City, I¡¯ll make sure he has nothing to do with this ¡®loan,¡¯ and thus Golden Roc Castle will protect him.¡±


    ¡°Why would Golden Roc Castle still protect me after I lose have my money?¡± Meng Mingshu couldn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°They will,¡± Golden Roc Castle said positively. ¡°What Golden Roc Castle wants is money, and without money, there would be no need for them to kill the members of the Meng family. Besides, only by keeping you alive can Golden Roc Castle take back the Meng family¡¯s wealth.¡±


    Meng Mingshu pondered his words for a while. The Dragon King was good at beguiling people. Although his words sounded reasonable, they might not necessarilye true. ¡°I want to stay in Jade City and let¡­ Fengchai be in charge of the Meng family¡¯s money.¡±


    Golden Roc Castle¡¯s status still looked secure, so Meng Mingshu didn¡¯t necessarily want to draw the lines and choose a side too early, and he had to prepare himself for both eventualities.


    ¡°I¡¯m a woman,¡± Xiao Fengchai reminded him ndly.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with women? There are plenty of women working for Dragon King now, aren¡¯t there? And there¡¯s even an army of female soldiers. If they can do it, you can do it too.¡±


    ¡°We can talk about thister.¡± Xiao Fengchai was obviously not very interested. ¡°I¡¯m enjoying a pretty cozy life in Jade City. Why would I go mix with a bunch of stinky men in the army camp? Let¡¯s get back to the main business topic. How do you n on receiving this ¡®loan¡¯ without Golden Roc Castle suspecting my second brother?¡±


    Meng Mingshu had already forgotten Xiao Fengchai¡¯s warning and he immediately said, ¡°Actually we have some previous experience with this. I can give him detailed information of all the shops and banks in various locations, and all Dragon King has to do is send his men to rob them. Those within Jade City are the most difficult to rob, and unfortunately they are also the richest.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had alsoe up with an idea. ¡°Robbing them is one option, but there¡¯s also another way. The fake Meng Yuzun has been in a violent temper for the past half a year, and he¡¯s made a lot of enemies¡­¡±


    Meng Mingshu said resentfully, ¡°Golden Roc Castle has been making a lot of preparations for their n to eliminate our family. If things keep going this way, all the members of the Meng family will wind up dead and nobody will show anypassion to us anymore.¡±


    ¡°So if one or two traitors show up at this point, it wouldn¡¯t be much of a surprise, would it?¡±


    Light dawned on Meng Mingshu.


    The negotiation continued on even though there weren¡¯t any topics of much importance left. So after an hour or so, Gu Shenwei stood up, ready to leave. Xiao Fengchai gently said, ¡°You should go back as well, second brother. And if you want me to make financial decisions for you, you¡¯ll have to keep me at a distance from now on so that Golden Roc Castle won¡¯t suspect you.¡±


    Meng Mingshu was reluctant to part with her. ¡°We don¡¯t have to start so soon, do we?¡±


    Xiao Fengchai nced at the ¡°Dragon King¡¯s envoy¡± who was still present. ¡°We don¡¯t have much time left. If we had known that things would turn out this way, we would have kept quarreling.¡±


    Gu Shenwei left first, and then he met Nie Zeng outside.


    After a short while, Meng Mingshu opened the gate and walked out into the street. Anger was etched deeply into his face, and he defiantly strode towards another prostitute¡¯s home. All the servants who were waiting at the gate understood that the two enemies who had just reconciled were now quarreling again.


    Gu Shenwei waited a long time. After the hustle and bustle of the Pleasure Alley subsided, he went back to Xiao Fengchai¡¯s home.


    Xiao Fengchai was sitting in her bedroom, hands supporting her head, nkly staring at the dancing mes. Indifferent to the man who had sneaked in again, she talked as if she were talking to herself. ¡°Things never go the way people want them to. If only the Dragon King were a few years older or I were a few years younger.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew that he had been recognized, so he didn¡¯t deny it. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°In that case you wouldn¡¯t feel that I¡¯m too old, and I would be eligible topete with a young girl like Tenth Gongzi.¡± Xiao Fengchai turned her head and looked at him, with an expression so ambivalent he couldn¡¯t tell whether she was smiling or not.


    ¡°I prefer the Xiao Fengchai of the Royal Court.¡±


    Back then, Xiao Fengchai was stern and invible, yet now she had be someonepletely different. ¡°Ha-ha, the Royal Court is way too unfamiliar to me so I can¡¯t exert my charm even when I have it, but this ce is my home¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the most seductive woman I¡¯ve ever seen.¡±


    ¡°Dragon King is overpraising me.¡±


    ¡°Yet you¡¯re just a person.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m far less important whenpared to ¡®supremacy.¡¯¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    ¡°I understand. I just feel regretful. Despite meeting so many people, none of them could be deemed a hero. However, the Dragon King is a true hero.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had to admit that this woman could easily please anyone she wanted to. ¡°You already have Meng Mingshu. I believe that should be enough.¡±


    ¡°Him?¡± Xiao Fengchai showed a slightly contemptuous look on her face, ¡°You believe that ¡®supremacy¡¯ is more important than women, but I don¡¯t have a view as broad as yours. As a whore, I believe that money is more important than men.¡±


    ¡°How much do you want?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    ¡°The usual. Twenty percent.¡± Xiao Fengchai put away the seductive look on her face. ¡°I¡¯ll help the Dragon King take all the wealth of Meng family, and all I want is just twenty percent of it.¡±


    ¡°A deal between a ¡®hero¡¯ and a ¡®whore,¡¯¡± Gu Shenweimented in a slightly sarcastic tone.


    ¡°The ¡®hero¡¯ wouldn¡¯t reject, would he?¡± Xiao Fengchai smiled back in response.


    Gu Shenwei had never thought himself as a hero ¨C he was someone who sought vengeance by hook or by crook.


    After leaving the small building again, Gu Shenwei and Nie Zeng quickly returned to Lu Qiying¡¯s courtyard. Three days had passed, and the men he had sent were waiting for him, ready to give the first inroad report.

 Chapter 776 - Immature Love

    Chapter 776: Immature Love


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Fei spent a whole day disguising himself. He applied make up, washed it off, reapplied it again, and then washed it all off again ¨C he did it so meticulously that he could¡¯ve been the woman who cared about her appearance the most in the Retention Alley. Even so, the result of his hard work failed to satisfy him, and he dumped out a dozen basins of water which had been used to wash his face.


    Tie Linglong dutifully executed the task Dragon King had assigned her and she watched over Shangguan Fei the whole time. At first she had stood at the door, at noon she changed positions and leaned against the wall, then two hourster she sat on a chair, and every little while after she would move the chair a little closer to Shangguan Fei.


    It was getting dark. Finally, Tie Linglong arrived at the side of the small table on which Shangguan Fei¡¯s disguising materials were ced. With her head resting in her arms, she raised her head to look at him, and spoke to him for the first time this day. ¡°Are you disguising yourself as a woman?¡±


    Shangguan Fei pushed the oilmp slightly further away, stared at the image in the mirror, and finally believed that the make-up was satisfactory. ¡°I can¡¯t afford to be seen through. In Jade City, Shangguan Fei¡¯s face is even more of a target than the Dragon King¡¯s. By the way, don¡¯t call me by my real name. Hmm, I should find myself a moremon name¡­¡±


    Even Shangguan Fei¡¯s voice was different when he opened his mouth. Tie Linglong felt a chill quickly crawl down her body, from the top of her head to the soles of her feet, giving her goosebumps everywhere. Yet she only became even more curious and asked, ¡°Why does everybody keep saying that you like men?¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s hands instantly stopped moving and he looked seriously at the green-eyed little girl. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but do you think that you are close to me to ask a question this private? If you want to humiliate me, just go ahead. I got used to it a long time ago.¡±


    Tie Linglong sat up, looking confused. ¡°Well, the point I¡¯m trying to make is that ¨C why can¡¯t a man like another man? I see that there are a lot of men who are friends with each other, but why do I feel that people¡¯s opinions about you are¡­ kind of different?¡±


    Shangguan Fei smiled. He hadn¡¯t expected that this little girl who had survived so many trials of the Dragon King and Waning Moon Hall would be so innocent. ¡°How old are you?¡±


    ¡°Sixteen.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not too young. I think I can exin it to you.¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m not young. The Dragon King was already a professional killer at sixteen.¡±


    Shangguan Fei continued touching up his eye shadow. ¡°Let me think about how I should best put this¡­ It¡¯s just like how you have feelings for Little Chu.¡±


    ¡°I have no feelings for him. He¡¯s a total jerk who went back on his word,¡± Tie Linglong immediately contradicted out of anger.


    Shangguan Fei nodded repeatedly. ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I mean. The only exnation for why you would hate someone for no particr reason is that you love him.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t hate him for no reason¡­ Eek, why are we talking about me now?¡±


    ¡°I like men in a different way. Kind of like the way you like ¨C Chu Nanping.¡± Shangguan Fei plucked out an eyebrow with a suppressed grunt, grimacing as he was uttered thest two words.


    Tie Linglong didn¡¯t fully understand. She had a faint notion that this hobby of Shangguan Fei¡¯s was somewhat rted to the immoral things that the Waning Moon Hall had tried to make her do, so she replied, ¡°You are so weird.¡±


    ¡°Weirder than the Dragon King? Than Old Man Mu and Han Wuxian?¡± Shangguan Fei lowered his voice when he said the names of thest two devils.


    ¡°Those two are weird, but the Dragon King is not.¡±


    ¡°Aiii, I was just speaking without thinking. Don¡¯t take my word for it and please don¡¯t tell anyone else. Okay, it¡¯s finally perfect.¡±


    Shangguan Fei turned his head to look at Tie Linglong, a self-satisfied smile on his face.


    Tie Linglong couldn¡¯t help but smile back as she eximed, ¡°You look so much like Sister Ru.¡±


    Shangguan Fei looked into the mirror and peered into it for a while, then frowned. ¡°You are right. This won¡¯t work. If by any chance the Dragon King sees me, I¡¯ll get in trouble.¡±


    He once again started adjusting his make-up as Tie Linglong was still pondering his hobby. Suddenly, she asked, ¡°You like the Dragon King as well, don¡¯t you?¡±


    Her sudden usation startled Shangguan Fei. ¡°Stop speaking nonsense. Do you want the Dragon King to kill me? Besides¡­ the Dragon King¡¯s not my type.¡±


    Tie Linglong widened her eyes in surprise as she asked, ¡°You like men and yet you don¡¯t like the Dragon King? How¡¯s that possible?¡±


    ¡°You like men too, but it was Little Chu you fell in love with, not the Dragon King, right?¡± Shangguan Fei had found a rare opportunity to gossip about this particr topic with someone, and he felt his stress dissolve away measurably. ¡°I like tall and strong men, like¡­¡±


    ¡°Long Fanyun ¨C everybody knows.¡± But Tie Linglong didn¡¯t actually ¡°know¡± what she ¡°knew.¡±


    Shangguan Fei sighed as hemented, ¡°This is divine retribution. I like him, but he will never like me back.¡±


    ¡°Why? As far as I know, Long Fanyun¡¯s a nice guy.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t exin, and you wouldn¡¯t be able to understand even if I could. Didn¡¯t you once leave the Dragon King out of anger? Give it some thought and you will get it then.¡± As he observed the beautiful woman in the mirror that shared his actions, a bitter taste suddenly surfaced in Shangguan Fei¡¯s throat. ¡± I don¡¯t resemble her anymore now, right?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Tie Linglong was still thinking about Shangguan Ru¡¯s previous words, and she was surprised by hisment. ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t look like Sister Ru now. Now you¡¯re like¡­¡±


    ¡°I know who I look like. You should leave.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Tie Linglong became vignt immediately.


    ¡°Because I¡¯m changing my clothes.¡± Shangguan Fei¡¯s hair style and looks had be feminine, and yet he was still wearing men¡¯s clothes. ¡°If you don¡¯t care, I¡¯m fine with it too.¡±


    ¡°Hmph,¡± Tie Linglong snorted as she turned around and started walking out. Suddenly a problem urred to her. ¡°Did you prepare women¡¯s clothes in advance?¡±


    Shangguan Fei felt that this little girl had too many questions, and he was no longer interested in them, so he thought that it was necessary to distract her. ¡°I find it very interesting that you¡¯re not willing to talk about Little Chu and yet you can¡¯t stop mentioning the Dragon King¡¯s name. Is it possible that deep down there, the man you really like is¡­ the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Of course I like the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°The same way as you ¡®like¡¯ Little Chu?¡±


    Tie Linglong was surprised and for a moment she seemed as if she was about to say something, but in the end, she changed her mind. Then she turned around and walked out of the room, staying silent for quite a while.


    Shangguan Fei exhaled deeply, took several women¡¯s clothes out of the basket, and tried them on one by one. It took him another hour to finally decide on an outfit.


    It waspletely dark outside, but the round moon in the sky was exceptionally bright. Surprisingly, Tie Linglong nced at the dressed up Shangguan Fei without saying a word.


    Shangguan Fei was slightly disappointed by herck of reaction and said, ¡°Well, let¡¯s go. I know somece special.¡±


    The two leaped over the wall, and after walking into the street, they didn¡¯t care about others seeing them. Though, Shangguan Fei warned her, ¡°Remember to call medy, and not by my name. And try keep your hands off your saber, as we¡¯re here to collect intelligence, not to kill¡­¡±


    Tie Linglong agreed listlessly.


    They had barely arrived at the street when Shangguan Fei suddenly stopped. After looking around he admitted, ¡°It¡¯s my fault. I shouldn¡¯t have mentioned the Dragon King. Do you want to hear another piece of advice from me?¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± Tie Linglong waspletely confused, and was willing to ept anyone¡¯s advice at this point.


    ¡°The Dragon King took care of you, so what you have for him is¡­ reliance, but that¡¯s not love, and you have to learn the difference. It¡¯s as if the Dragon King were your elder brother or father, but you can never, ever fall in love with him, because he¡¯s nomon man ¨C he¡¯s not even human. So you can¡¯t have him, and he can¡¯t have you. My sister¡¯s already stuck in this dilemma, and I hope the same won¡¯t happen to you. Little Chu¡¯s a good guy and you should hold on fast to him.¡±


    The grave look on Tie Linglong¡¯s face gradually turned into a smile. ¡°Ha-ha, what are you talking about? I was thinking about the green-faced assassins of Golden Roc Castle. People keep saying that their kung fu skills are divine and I was just thinking that I¡¯d like to see it for myself.¡±


    Shangguan Fei knew that she was lying, but as long as she kept that happy look on her face and made sure the task tonight went well, that was fine enough for him. ¡°That¡¯s good. But we¡¯re not going to meet any green-faced assassins. Well, at least not tonight.¡±


    The two walked into the busy street. The well-dressed Shangguan Fei obviously attracted much more attention than Tie Linglong, who still had a puerile look, and so a lot of men came to hit on him. Shangguan Fei behaved very sophisticatedly and managed to deal with those men so expertly that, after a while, even Tie Linglong couldn¡¯t tell whether he was a man or a woman.


    ¡°This is Retention Alley. All of the most famous prostitutes in Southern Jade City live here,¡± Shangguan Fei introduced as if he were a local, while in reality he wasn¡¯t actually very familiar with it. ¡°But our destination tonight is not here. Let¡¯s keep walking¡­ It¡¯s here.¡±


    This is an unnamed alley which ran closely parallel with Retention Alley, yet it was a lot shorter, was much narrower, had sparse pedestrians, and much more dimly lit, the distance between every two oilmps very long.


    To embolden himself, Shangguan Fei muttered, ¡°Our outfits are too beautiful for this ce.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t pick my outfit,¡± Tie Linglong said as she felt her saber with her right hand again. She was used to dark nights, but she didn¡¯t like the eeriness of this road.


    The two walked into the alley. Under the moonlight, Shangguan Fei counted the number of the doors at his right side. ¡°Eleven, this is it.¡±


    ¡°Who are we looking for?¡± Tie Linglong was curious.


    ¡°My mother¡¯s ex-maid who used to secretly sleep with my father. My mother sent her here to be a prostitute after finding out,¡± Shangguan Fei said ndly.


    Madam Meng used to send a lot of women to serve her husband, but she refused to tolerate being cheated on with someone close to her.


    The door was pushed open from the inside with a bang, and a strong man with a thick wine-like odor walked out as he yelled, ¡°Old whore, you¡¯re even nder than water.¡± Then he saw the two people outside ¨C though he couldn¡¯t see them very clearly, the two were obviously not ¡°old whores.¡± ¡°It turns out that you hid the good stuff, he-he.¡±


    The strong man opened his arms and tried to embrace the two, but all he received were two fists ¨C fists harder than rock, with greater strength behind them than the strongest man he had ever met.


    Shangguan Fei watched the saberman slowly fall down and said disgustedly, ¡°Stinky man. Dirtying my hands.¡±


    The two walked in and closed the door, leaving the strong man outside ¨C there were plenty of drunken men lying on the side of the road in Southern Jade City and nobody would pay special attention to him.


    A woman walked out of the inner room with amp in her hand. Her face was expressionless, which indicated that she had no urge to ingratiate herself towards her guests. Seeing that it was two females who hade in, she appeared very disappointed. ¡°I¡¯ve already paid my rent this month. You must¡¯ve¡­ gotten the wrong address.¡±


    The woman¡¯s voice didn¡¯t sound old, and her figure was also not corpulent, but under the yellow light of themp in her hand, they could see the fine wrinkles around her eyes.


    ¡°Aunt Tong? Is that really you?¡± Shangguan Fei had prepared himself, and yet he was still surprised.


    Having not heard this form of address for a long time, the woman was even more surprised than he was, and themp in her hand nearly slipped out. She lifted themp closer to Shangguan Fei and asked in confusion, ¡°Are you the Ninth Young Master or the Tenth Young Master?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Fei¡¯er.¡± Shangguan Fei¡¯s voice couldn¡¯t have been any lower.


    With a scream of surprise, the woman dropped hermp to the ground, and the room became totally shrouded in darkness.


    Tie Linglong whipped out her saber immediately and her ears pricked up.


    ¡°Are you really the Ninth Young Master?¡± the woman asked in a tearful voice.


    ¡°It¡¯s me, but I¡¯m not the Ninth Young Master anymore.¡±


    After staying silent for a while, the woman groped around and managed to find themp on the floor and relit it. Then she peered closely at Shangguan Fei who had disguised himself and asked, ¡°How did you¡­ end up like this?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be recognized by people from the Stone Castle.¡±


    The woman quickly became vignt. She locked the door, turned around, and led them to the inner room.


    The inner room was very narrow, with only a single bed full of sundries.


    ¡°So you and the Tenth Young Master work for the Dragon King now?¡±


    ¡°Not really. Father wanted to kill us, and we were just trying to find a temporary shelter.¡±


    ¡°The Lord was very mad at Madam Meng, and even you two were even incriminated.¡± The woman¡¯s voice became nd as she talked about her former master. All the misery she had suffered and was suffering could be attributed to her former Mother Lord.


    ¡°I want to see my mother and you have to help me, Aunt Tong.¡±


    After considering all the possibilities, Shangguan Fei believed that his mother was the only one he could turn to if he wanted to get information on the green-faced assassins.

 Chapter 777 - Stroll

    Chapter 777: Stroll


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Dog Butcher took a deep breath and seriously said, ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡±


    Old Man Mu looked at him contemptuously. ¡°Ready for what?¡±


    ¡°To find those kung fu practitioners from the Central ins and figure out why they came to Jade City.¡±


    Old Man Mu yawned and said, ¡°Go ahead. Come back and fill me in if you¡¯re still alive by then. I¡¯m going to go catch up on some sleep.¡±


    Dog Butcher wasn¡¯t that stupid. He pointed at Old Man Mu and let out a few shortughs.


    Old Man Mu was confused. ¡°Old Dog, to be honest, you¡¯ve be much weakerpared to when you were younger. How did you turn into a woman after a dozen years of closed-door cultivation? Meanwhile, your sister is just as violent as always.¡±


    Dog Butcher thought for a while and seriously replied, ¡°You¡¯re right. Maybe it¡¯s because I have a lot more self-control now¡­ No¡­ Oh, I get it ¡ª after I learned that you became shorter and that your kung fu was not as good as mine, I became sympathetic¡­¡±


    ¡°Sympathetic my ass!¡± Old Man Mu jumped off of his chair and a murderous look appeared on his face. ¡°My kung fu is not as good as yours? You¡¯ve got some big balls saying that. Let me tell you something. Although I only have sixty or seventy percent of my former strength left, it¡¯s still more than enough to handle a guy like you. Kung fupetitions and killing is not just about power; they¡¯re also about experience and techniques, which I have in spadespared to you.¡±


    Dog Butcher was indeed modest with his response. ¡°Sure you might have a point ¡ª the Dragon King¡¯s power is not as great as mine, but I can¡¯t defeat him. But you ¡ª ¡± Dog Butcher shook his head as he continued, ¡°The gap between us is too wide to be filled by experience and techniques.¡±


    Weaker people were more easily provoked ¡ª Old Man Mu¡¯s reaction confirmed it. Despite the fact that he clearly knew that Dog Butcher was never careful with his words and that he had meant no offence, Old Man Mu still became furious. He leapt out and his body rocketed towards his target, his first move the deadly Five Hole Punch.


    With the crutch in his right hand not moving from the ground, Dog Butcher guarded against his opponent with only his left hand, and in a brief moment, both of them had made seven or eight moves.


    Old Man Mu blushed an even deeper red. He suddenly and abruptly jumped back into his chair and waved his hand dismissively in anger. ¡°I¡¯m done with this fight. So boring. A rotten wood can never be a great sculpture, and Dog Butcher will never be a good student. You¡¯ll never understand.¡±


    ¡°Understand what?¡±Dog Butcher was confused ¡ª they had clearly been engaging in a kung fupetition and he had gotten the upper hand. Just a few more moves and the victory would have been his.


    ¡°Look at the kung fu you are using ¡ª it¡¯s not suitable for spreading your wings in the martial arts world. From now on, you should just stay at home at night, and try to avoid dark spots. Then maybe you¡¯ll still be able to stay alive.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with my kung fu?¡± Dog Butcher was even more confused, and he involuntarily became even more humble.


    Old Man Mu had sessfully shifted the topic away from the embarrassing fact that he had been no match for Dog Butcher, and he started gravely exining. ¡°The palm technique you just used is not steady enough, yet not aggressive enough either. It¡¯s clearly only suitable for paired practice. What¡¯s paired practice? That¡¯s a sparring format adopted by disciples of the same sect or rtives, or friends to practice kung fu. It means that both sides, the two partners, clearly know what kind of moves the other side is capable of, and that both sides will always reminds the other side to take advantage of it when they discover a w of their opponent. For the Dragon King¡¯s sake, I¡¯ve been taking it easy on you, which is something you should never expect your adversary to do in the real martial arts world.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that I was being too kind to you?¡± Dog Butcher seemed to have faintly grasped the essence of Mu¡¯s words.


    ¡°Uhh, anyway, if you want to survive the martial arts world, you¡¯ll have to be ruthless, and you¡¯ll have to strike with deadly intent right from the beginning. If you do it slowly and step by step, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t ever have the chance to perform your deadly blow and will die regretfully halfway there.¡±


    Dog Butcher found it very inspirational. He clenched his right hand excitedly and the tile underneath his crutch was crushed to powder. Then he said excitedly, ¡°Let¡¯s have a second round.¡±


    Old Man Mu closed his eyes and calmly replied, ¡°I want to sleep. I don¡¯t have time for this.¡±


    ¡°Then when will we go find those kung fu practitioners from the Central ins?¡±


    ¡°After night falls.¡±


    ¡°Where?¡±


    ¡°Just follow me.¡±


    ¡°Do we need to disguise ourselves or something?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Should I get some sleep then?¡±


    ¡°Do it in another room.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯lle and call you when it¡¯s dark ¡ª nearly dark orpletely dark?¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s response was a string of weird snores.


    It was not long after that Dog Butcher got up again. As he watched the sun set, he calcted the time silently. When thest ray of sunlight finally disappeared, he started counting, and when he reached 100, he opened the door and walked out of his room to next door. He was just about to knock when Old Man Mu opened the door.


    Old Man Mu seemed quite refreshed and he must have had a sound sleep. After ncing a few times at Dog Butcher, Old Man Mu stretched his hand to snatch at his crutch. Dog Butcher applied what Old Man Mu taught him earlier this afternoon and instantly replied back with a ferocious full strength palm attack.


    Old Man Mu was startled. He somersaulted backwards, did a backwards roll, and then cautiously walked back into the room. ¡°What¡¯re you doing? Are you out of your mind?¡±


    ¡°Weren¡¯t you testing my reflexes?¡±


    ¡°Testing my ass. I was telling you to leave the crutch.¡±


    The crutch had been Dog Butcher¡¯s weapon in recent years and he always brought it with him, so he instinctively refused. ¡°Maybe we will need it.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m telling you that we won¡¯t,¡± Old Man Mu berated as he walked out of the room angrily.


    Smiling, Dog Butcher said no more and left the crutch in his room.


    The two left the courtyard and startednguidly walking east. Old Man Mu seemed pretty rxed, which made Dog Butcher feel suspicious. He was just about to ask him about it when he suddenly heard a series of ¡®tings¡¯e from off in the distance. ¡°Is that a cksmith?¡±


    Old Man Mu ignored him. They didn¡¯t walk for far when a cksmith vige appeared.


    Looking at the weapons hanging at the front of the shops, Dog Butcher suddenly understood something. ¡°Good idea. Kung fu practitioners of the Central ins also need to buy sabers and swords.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about them, but we need to buy some.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°You see, more than half of the men in Southern Jade City carry weapons with them. When in Jade City, do as the residents do. We need to act like them.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, so this is another form of camouge.¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    Old Man Mu walked into a seeminglyrge smithy.


    There were not many ready-made weapons avable and Dog Butcher made a quick choice and choose a straight narrow saber. On the other hand, Old Man Mu was very picky. Sometimes he felt that the weapon didn¡¯t fit in his hand, and sometimes he believed that the weapon was defective. After quite a while, he picked up a sword and said, ¡°This is the one. I¡¯ll make do with it.¡±


    The cksmith gave twoughs, took their money, and saw them off. As he watched their receding figures fade into the horizon, he remarked to his apprentice, ¡°That¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen someone be shorter than his sword.¡±


    Old Man Mu sped up and this time he definitely had a destination in mind. Before long, they arrived at the front gate of arge mansion.


    Unlike amon mansion, this one was brilliantly illuminated. There were plenty of hospitable servants standing at the door, and people were going in and out in a continuous stream.


    ¡°Is this a¡­ brothel?¡± Dog Butcher asked.


    ¡°The Flower-Plucking Garden. Although the women here are not as beautiful as those in the Retention Alley, they are superior in terms of number and variety. I¡¯ve always meant to see them with my own eyes, but I¡¯ve never had the chance.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ This is¡­¡± Dog Butcher blushed. ¡°What¡¯re we doing here? If Senior Sister finds out¡­¡±


    ¡°She would say ¡®Wow, finally, my younger brother has be a man.¡¯ Ha-ha.¡± Old Man Mu mocked Dog Butcher in Tu Pianpian¡¯s signature high voice, and he actually somewhat resembled her to some extent.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think this is a good idea. We have a job to do.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. We¡¯re here for the job. Think about it ¡ª if even I am interested in the Flower-Plucking Garden, there must be many kung fu practitioners from the Central ins here, right?¡±


    Before Dog Butcher could think of anything to rebut him, Old Man Mu had already strode inside.


    There were barely any kinds of guests that the servants of the brothel hadn¡¯t seen, so they didn¡¯t feel strange when they saw two old men walk in ¡ª one of them white-haired, the other as short as a kid. The servants immediately walked forward and showed great hospitality, asking about their preferences.


    Dog Butcher enjoyed a nice dinner, the price of which impressed him the most, startled him, actually ¡ª it was several hundred taels of silver. Fortunately, Old Man Mu had prepared ample money for this night ofvishness and paid the bill with gold; what impressed him the second most was the women. Flower-Plucking Garden indeed did have a ¡°superior variety,¡± as there were many Barbarian prostitutes, who looked unique yet seductive in Dog Butcher¡¯s eyes, and whose impressive hospitality was something that he had never encountered before.


    With regards to the food and wine, Dog Butcher didn¡¯t pay attention to them and couldn¡¯t remember anything about them at all afterwards.


    But Old Man Mu had guessed wrong. Kung fu practitioners from the Central ins were obviously not interested in the Flower-Plucking Garden. None of them had shown up here, and the staff members of the brothel also imed that they hadn¡¯t seen many guests from the Central ins recently.


    At around midnight, the two left, drunk, and Dog Butcher couldn¡¯t help but nce back. Old Man Mu patted his waist and consoled, ¡°Rx. We¡¯ll have plenty of chances ahead. I can guarantee that you¡¯ll get what you want.¡±


    Dog Butcher shook his head, depressed. ¡°No, I won¡¯te here again. That was enough for me.¡±


    Old Man Muughed out loud and obviously didn¡¯t agree with him.


    After they left the brothel, the two went into a nearby casino, and it was very busy at this time with many people yelling and cheering. Dozens of bare=chested gamblers were gambling.


    Old Man Mu had to raise his voice to talk to Dog Butcher. ¡°If the people from the Central ins don¡¯t have any interest in prostitutes, then they must be gambling. Let¡¯s just stay here and wait for them to show up.¡±


    ¡°You have extra money?¡± Dog Butcher asked worriedly.


    ¡°Come on,¡± Old Man Mu replied with a sneer. He took out some gold and asked the waiter to convert it into silver, which was several hundred taels in total. He gave half of them to Dog Butcher and said, ¡°Go have some fun.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re loaded,¡± Dog Butchermented in shock. Although he was an elder of the Kongtong Sect, he would never give people money like Old Man Mu had just done. ¡°You must¡¯ve saved up for quite a long time, right?¡±


    ¡°Moron. Back then when I was in the Nond, nobody dared to mess with me, and yet you think that I¡¯m the type of person to save money? This money is all from the Dragon King. We¡¯re working for him, and so of course the expenses are on him. We¡¯re just following hismand to go whoring and gambling, and the Dragon King will be disappointed if we don¡¯t spend enough money.¡±


    Dog Butcher¡¯s values were being broken down tonight. Though he felt uneasy, he had to admit that he kind of enjoyed what they had been doing tonight.


    He was not much of gambler and he first stood amid the crowds and watched for a while until he understood the rules. By this moment, Old Man Mu had already gambled away all of his money and grabbed half of Dog Butcher¡¯s.


    Dog Butcher then made his entrance. He chose to y in dice-throwing.


    Old Man Mu lost hisst two ingots of silver and was almost ready to bet the sword he had just bought, but he managed to control himself at thest moment and walked up to Dog Butcher in disappointment.


    The silver before Dog Butcher was piled up like a small hill, and the banker on the opposite side was sweating buckets.


    Old Man Mu converted the silver to gold and got his money back, and there was even some extra.


    ¡°I never expected you to be so skilled at this.¡± Outside of the casino, Old Man Mu showed admiration to Dog Butcher for the first time ever. ¡°Who taught you?¡±


    Dog Butcher was very modest as he replied, ¡°Nobody taught me, but I found that dice-throwing is a pretty simple game. I can get whatever number I want as long as I exert the appropriate amount of energy.¡±


    ¡°You used your internal energy?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    Old Man Mu pushed Dog Butcher into a quick run immediately. After quite a distance, he finally stopped and exined, ¡°Listen to me. This is the only time you¡¯re ever going to do that. Don¡¯t do that ever again. Gambling is all about the thrill. It would be boring if you couldn¡¯t lose. Besides, you have internal energy while the other gamblers don¡¯t. It¡¯s so unfair¡­¡±


    Dog Butcher was listening to Old Man Mu¡¯s lecturing when thetter suddenly stopped talking and leaped sideways onto a wall. Dog Butcher followed along and leaped beside him and looked in the same direction he was staring into.


    In the yard, a man had opened the gate and respectfully weed in a ke-caped female. Then he led her into the main chamber.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s gaze was intent. Dog Butcher suddenly understood that the ck-caped female was clearly Han Wuxian, and that Old Man Mu hadn¡¯t been strolling around with him but had rather been stalking her.


    However, this was not the task that the Dragon King had assigned them.

 Chapter 778 - Hiring

    Chapter 778: Hiring


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Dog Butcher was terribly nervous. This was the first time they were carrying out a mission on behalf of the Dragon King, and yet he was the only one who¡¯d arrived on time, and all the others had beente.


    ¡°Old Man Mu asked me toe and report to you first. He¡­ he¡¯s still stalking them.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s he stalking?¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t get angry.


    ¡°Han Wuxian.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯s he stalking her?¡±


    ¡°Here¡¯s the thing¡­¡± Dog Butcher took a sip of water to try to ease his nerves, and then started narrating what he and Old Man Mu had discovered in thest few days.


    Han Wuxian was clearly not alone, and there were clearly some other Waning Moon Hall members that had been assigned to Jade City, whom even Lotus didn¡¯t know about. During thest three days, Han Wuxian had visited seven ces in total: five of them were in Southern Jade City and the other two in Northern Jade City ¡ª and each with different amounts of time.


    And the people she¡¯d met ran the gamut from cksmiths, prostitutes, casino owners, prostitutes, old sabermen, and merchants all the way to fugitive nobles.


    ¡°I wrote down all of their names and addresses,¡± Dog Butcher said as he produced a piece of paper.


    Gu Shenwei took it, casually left it on the table, and then asked, ¡°What about the people from the Central ins?¡±


    Dog Butcher was worried that Dragon King might not be satisfied, and he hesitated for a moment. ¡°We haven¡¯t found them yet. Old Man Mu said that Han Wuxian¡¯s movements were suspicious, and that she must be up to something, so the Dragon King should make some preparations.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s voice turned slightly severe and he wanted to pressure Dog Butcher somewhat ¡ª though not too much. Just a little. ¡°I¡¯m not surprised that Old Man Mu would make decisions without my permission, but I didn¡¯t expect that you would also do the same thing. If you want to achieve something in the martial arts world, this is not the right way to do so. Since you have made a voluntary decision to work for me, you have to do exactly as I tell you.¡±


    Dog Butcher flushed red from embarrassment. He wanted to defend himself, but he also felt that it would be a betrayal if he continued to hide behind Old Man Mu, so he just lowered his head and stopped speaking, his feet nervously rubbing one another where he stood.


    ¡°Your kung fu is better than Old Man Mu¡¯s, so you should be the one calling the shots.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m inexperienced.¡±


    ¡°Old Man Mu used to be a vicious bandit who always acted alone, and the enemies he made back then were numerous. On the topics of socializing withmoners and extracting intelligence, how much experience do you think he really has? Don¡¯t be fooled by his brags. When hees back, I¡¯ll have him report to you. Remember, you lead him. Not the other way around.¡±


    Dog Butcher was encouraged and replied with a loud ¡°yes.¡± When he turned around and walked out, he gave off a confident air.


    Nie Zeng had been watching all this carefully from behind the Dragon King. He took a step forward and asked, ¡°Han Wuxian¡¯s movements were very suspicious. Shouldn¡¯t you be worried, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Han Wuxian used to teach you kung fu, right?¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t answer his question directly.


    ¡°She did. While we were still in the Nond. But she hasn¡¯t taught me anything recently.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because I told her to stay away from you.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Nie Zeng was surprised.


    ¡°Someone once told me that a servant always serves his master with expectations of a reward. He considers every amount of his humility and subservience as an investment and expects to be rewarded as this investment increases over time. Yet, the master tends to take his servant¡¯s service for granted, which is the typical origin for many betrayals.


    Nie Zeng felt that these words were reasonable, but also that they had nothing to do with Han Wuxian. Although he didn¡¯t want to carry that woman on his back, the reward he received was usually greater than what he expected, so he was pretty satisfied and held no grudges about it.


    Gu Shenwei continued his exnation. ¡°There¡¯s always a disparity between the investment and the reward. Not just between masters and servants, but between all interpersonal rtionships. I have to warn you ¡ª the mindset of the Waning Moon Hall is different from that of normal people, and the disparity is also far greater. You might think that you¡¯re exchanging even favors, but from her side, Han Wuxian probably thinks that you owe her a huge favor.¡±


    Nie Zeng went numb ¡ª Han Wuxian had never indicated that she had wanted something from him, but judging by her peculiar personality, it did sound strange that she would teach him kung fu so willingly. ¡°I can see what you are saying now.¡±


    ¡°And the Waning Moon Hall also ims their rewards in their own particr ways. You just have to remember one thing: you don¡¯t owe her anything.¡±


    Nie Zeng nodded, feeling that this warning from Dragon King was unnecessary ¡ª he had never thought that he owed Han Wuxian anything.


    After finishing this topic, Gu Shenwei brought the discussion back to the original issue. ¡°I don¡¯t want to dig up Han Wuxian¡¯s secrets simply because it does me no good to do so. Me and her, while we have amon enemy, that¡¯s the extent of our rtionship. When the job is done, I expect to cut all contact with her.¡±


    Nie Zeng was still pondering over Dragon King¡¯s words when someone opened the door. Shangguan Fei rushed in hurriedly as he gasped out of breath, ¡°Sorry I¡¯mte. Eek, where¡¯s everybody? Am I toote?¡±


    Clearly Shangguan Fei had sprinted here. Sweat was dripping off him and much of the foundation and blush he had used for his disguise had been washed off. And the formerly straight hair bun on his head was now tilted, which made him look even weirder than Han Wuxian.


    Nie Zeng was startled. He reached out his hand to grab his saber hilt, and almost pulled it out.


    Shangguan Fei also discovered that he was in a mess. As he cleaned himself up, he said, ¡°The schedule was too tight and I barely made it here. Please forgive me, Dragon King. I didn¡¯t mean to bete¡­¡±


    There was no fear in Shangguan Fei¡¯s voice ¡ª on the contrary, he sounded a bit self-satisfied, as if he had acquired some important intelligence that gave him a considerable amount of confidence.


    Nie Zeng loosened his grip on the saber hilt. Knowing that Shangguan Fei¡¯s act of beating around the bush was an indication that he wanted to make the report alone, Nie Zeng took the hint and left the room. Then he saw Tie Linglong, standing transfixed in the courtyard.


    Shangguan Fei turned his head and watched Nie Zeng leave. After making sure that Nie Zeng was out of earshot, Shangguan Fei whispered excitedly, ¡°The Dragon King won¡¯t be able to guess what kind of intelligence I found.¡±


    ¡°So it has nothing to do with the green-faced assassins?¡±


    Shangguan Fei smiled embarrassedly, but he was sure that the intelligence he was about to offer was of greater importance than that about the green-faced assassins. ¡°I met my mother, and she told me a lot.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s Madam Meng doing?¡±


    Shangguan Fei shook his head and replied, ¡°Not so good. Because of that incident, the Unique King still hasn¡¯t forgiven her, but he at least doesn¡¯t want to kill her anymore. My mother¡¯s now living with the Meng family in Northern Jade City, and she¡¯s has something big nned.¡±


    Shangguan Fei purposefully paused to build suspense. Gu Shenwei irritatedly asked, ¡°Is Meng Yuzun still alive?¡±


    ¡°You know about it already, Dragon King?¡± Shangguan Fei was startled.


    ¡°Tell me what you know.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was no longer as confident as he was previously. ¡°Then I¡¯ll put it simply. Meng Yuzun had been trying to learn kung fu in secret, and he also coveted the Daoless Divine Power of Golden Roc Castle. The Lord knew of this for a long time, but didn¡¯t do anything about it. And then about a year ago they found someone who greatly resembles Old Meng and fattened him up ¡ª after that, the Unique King killed Old Meng, so the present patriarch of the Meng family is actually a fake.¡±


    ¡°That was half a year ago.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was now in great admiration for the Dragon King¡¯s foresight. ¡°Exactly. It took them several months to fatten that guy up and teach him all of Meng Yuzun¡¯s manners.¡±


    ¡°Keep talking.¡±


    ¡°The fake Meng Yuzun¡¯s job is to throw the Meng family into a mess. Then my mother will take over, and thus the Meng family would be under Golden Roc Castle¡¯s control.¡±


    ¡°Does the Unique King trust Madam Meng that much?¡±


    Theplicated rtionship between his parents had given Shangguan Fei severe headaches, and he responded, ¡°Fa¡­ The Unique King hates my mother. But he wants the Meng family¡¯s support and also wants to keep it a secret, so he needs my mother¡¯s identity.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pondered the new information for a while before asking, ¡°Golden Roc Castle has been on good terms with the Meng family for generations. Why did they choose to rupture their rtionship now?¡±


    ¡°One of the reasons is that Old Meng tried to stealthily learn their kung fu. And my mother said that there¡¯s also another reason: The Unique King was raising money to buy an army, but the Meng family refused to help.¡±


    ¡°To buy an army?¡±


    Sensing the confusion and interest in Dragon King¡¯s tone, Shangguan Fei¡¯s confidence recovered. ¡°A massive army. Mother doesn¡¯t know the details, but ording to her spection, this army is from the Nond, and it belongs to either Duodun or Luoluo.¡±


    The 70,000 troops of Duodun were stationed in Heaven¡¯s Pass and were seemingly allies of Golden Roc Castle. While teacher Zhang Ji was lobbying in Luoluo¡¯s army camp, both Duodun and Zhang Ji had gotten in close contact with the Unique King.


    ¡°Did Madam Meng know that you were asking about this information for me?¡±


    ¡°She did.¡± As he said this, Shangguan Fei became a little proud. ¡°My mother would do anything for me. She was happy when she learned about what I¡¯ve been doing recently, and she even asked me to send her gratitude to you for the care and help you¡¯ve offered me.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was satisfied with his mother¡¯s unconditional love, but Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t believe it blindly. ¡°What else did Madam Meng say?¡±


    Shangguan Fei flushed slightly and giggled, ¡°My mother has a suggestion ¡ª and I¡¯m just repeating her words here ¡ª she said that she could find out the whereabouts of the green-faced assassins for the Dragon King. Actually, she feels a little confused herself as the Unique King hasn¡¯t sent any green-faced assassins anywhere for a very long time, and even the killers are bing idle.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯re her conditions?¡±


    ¡°Ur, my mother has a strange idea. She believes¡­ believes¡­¡±


    ¡°Believes that you can inherit the title of the Unique King as well as Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re so wise, Dragon King. Actually I don¡¯t have any ambitions like that ¡ª you know what kind of person I am. It¡¯s just my mother¡¯s fond hope. She said that you actually have only one foe, and that¡¯s Shangguan¡­ Fa, and that the others in Golden Roc Castle have nothing to do with the massacre happened many years ago. So if you would be willing to focus all your hatred onto the Unique King and spare the others, more than half of the people in Golden Roc Castle would take your side.¡±


    The more than a hundred thousand strong cavalrymen of Nond were still a thousand miles away from the Jade City, and yet under the pressure caused by them, Golden Roc Castle¡¯s foundation had been alreadypromised. Gu Shenwei thought that it was happening too soon. ¡°Well, maybe what Madam Meng believes is not just a fond hope. I have no interest in the title of Unique King and I have no problem giving it to you. But Golden Roc Castle¡­¡±


    Shangguan Fei immediately interjected, ¡°It¡¯s not the Stone Castle on the mountain that my mother is determined to own. She just wants me to have the properties at the foot of the mountain.¡±


    ¡°It seems that I need to meet with Madam Meng.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll arrange a meeting. Noone else will know about it. It¡¯ll be absolutely safe. My head will be the guarantee.¡± An ambitious expression, which had rarely appeared on Shangguan Fei¡¯s face, had shown up, and he was trying hard to subdue his excitement.


    ¡°All right.¡± Gu Shenwei gave his consent. He wanted to find out exactly how important Madam Meng¡¯s only son was to her.


    Shangguan Fei left, and before long, Han Wuxian arrived. She didn¡¯t give any excuses nor apologies for her tardiness.


    Old Man Mu arrived at almost the same exact time and he assumed a surprised look. ¡°What a coincidence! I thought that I would be thest one.¡±


    Han Wuxian walked towards Old Man Mu with a smile, and yet before he could react, she gripped the cor behind his neck and said in a low voice, ¡°I want to talk to the Dragon King in private. Since you¡¯re so fond of peeking from the outside, you might as well stay outside this time too.¡±


    ¡°Ouch! Woman, stop it. I was secretly protecting you. Dragon King, say something. I was¡­¡±


    Han Wuxian roughly tossed Old Man Mu out of the room, closed the door, and locked it. Then she turned and walked towards the Dragon King as she said, ¡°Lotus and the traitors are indeed in Jade City. Can you guess what that girl is up to?¡±


    ¡°She wants to make the first move and attack Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    ¡°It seems that Lotus is determined to make sure that her every one of her moves is ahead of yours, Dragon King. You¡¯re right. Lotus is rallying all of her minions and making war preparations. And the Unique King also has his own ns. You want to know what the green-faced assassins are doing? They¡¯re searching the whole city for clues, ready to start a bloodbath. And there¡¯s more ¡ª the Unique King has paidrge sums of money to hire kung fu experts from lots of different countries, and they¡¯re on their way to Jade City right now.¡±


    Her chest heaving by this point, Han Wuxian stretched out her tongue and sensuously licked her lips. An intoxicated look appeared on her face, and it seemed as if she could already smell the fragrance of fresh blood.


    To hire both an army and kung fu experts, undoubtedly required arge sum of money from the Unique King. Gu Shenwei was suspicious and he believed that only one of these two messages could be true.

 Chapter 779 - Moonlight

    Chapter 779: Moonlight


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Nie Zeng walked towards Tie Linglong as she basked in the moonlight and greeted, ¡°Hello.¡±


    Tie Linglong turned her head and nced at him sideways, but didn¡¯t say anything, acting as if he were not wee.


    Since he knw that this little girl had always been rude, Nie Zeng ignored her cold attitude and replied that he meant to patrol the nearby areas. He didn¡¯t know why, but off of an impulse, he then said, ¡°It seems like something¡¯s bothering you. Did Shangguan Fei piss you off?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business,¡± Tie Linglong coldly shot back. Her strident tone was beyond Nie Zeng¡¯s expectation as she followed it up by saying, ¡°So stay away from me.¡±


    ¡°Hmph.¡± The wisp of fondness for her in Nie Zeng was instantly snuffed out. He immediately turned around and was about to leave.


    Tie Linglong felt a little guilty about her actions and yet she didn¡¯t want to apologize. Instead, she awkwardly said, ¡°Come back. I want to have another sabersmanshippetition with you.¡±


    ¡°Sorry. I have no time for that.¡± This time, it was Nie Zeng who replied harshly, and he did so without turning his head around. Silence sounded out from behind him. After taking several steps forward, he did something involuntarily once again ¨C he whipped out his saber and turned around to say, ¡°But it shouldn¡¯t take me too long to defeat you.¡±


    ¡°Ha.¡± Tie Linglong¡¯s pride had been challenged. She unsheathed her saber and looked around, before saying, ¡°We can¡¯t fight here. Let¡¯s find another spot.¡±


    Tie Linglong led the way to the front yard and then abruptly leaped onto the roof. Nie Zeng followed her, and then he had an idea of his own. He whispered, ¡°Let¡¯s do it another way. We¡¯ll fight on the roof, but without being discovered by those security guards.¡±


    Tie Linglong nodded. This mansion belonged to L¨¹ Qiying. It had an normal exterior andx security, with only two sabermen patrolling around at night. Those two sabermen didn¡¯t patrol frequently either, so it should be easy to stay out of sight. But the shing noises of their sabers would still attract their attention.


    This was a restricted kung fupetition and both sides were highlypetitive. The first rule they had learned from their respective instructor was to strike ruthlessly, but now they couldn¡¯t parry with their sabers ¨C they could only dodge and search for opportunities to make their own moves.


    It was actually apetition between their lightness skills rather than their sabersmanship.


    The origins of their lightness skills were the same ¨C Golden Roc Castle and Waning Moon Hall. Tie Linglong had started practicing a little earlier than Nie Zeng, and so her body was lighter. On the other hand, Nie Zeng had worked very hard and his saber attacks were more ferocious. The two were well-matched. On the rooftop, in the dim moonlight, their fight became an entangled dance and their figures flitted around like that of ghosts.


    Footsteps sounded out from down below, and the two stopped fighting simultaneously.


    The security guards passed by, unaware of the rooftop duel. But before they went too far, the fierce fight resumed.


    Tie Linglong¡¯s mood gradually imrpoved. Although she felt that her sabersmanship was far better than Nie Zeng¡¯s, she thought this was a pretty good fight, and she was enjoying herself very much. And it seemed that those inexplicable thoughts that had been bothering her earlier had been quickly severed by a saber.


    However, her good feeling didn¡¯tst long. After the security guard sabermen passed by for the third time, those intrusive thoughts came back and slowed down her reaction time, and thus gave Nie Zeng the upper hand.


    In her rush, she forgot about the rules of the kung fupetition and subconsciously parried with her saber. With a ringing sound, the narrow saber left her hand and was thrown off into the distance.


    The two security guard sabermen yelled out, ¡°Who!¡± instantly, but no other sound rang out for quite a while, so they came up with the excuse that maybe a te tile had fallen off of the roof and they continued patrolling, without even checking the rooftop.


    Tie Linglong felt lost. Nie Zeng stared at her for a while beforementing, ¡°You think too much.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King said the same thing,¡± Tie Linglong replied as she walked towards the backyard.


    ¡°Your saber?¡± Nie Zeng reminded her, surprised. For a killer, their weapon was half their life.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need it anymore.¡±


    They returned to the backyard, but Shangguan Fei hadn¡¯te out of Dragon King¡¯s room yet. Nie Zeng carefully patrol around outside, and when he came back he saw that Tie Linglong was standing in the middle of the courtyard like nothing had changed, except she seemed even more preupied.


    Nie Zeng retrieved her saber and offered it over, saying, ¡°It was just apetition. It meant nothing.¡±


    Tie Linglong smiled. Her green pupils reflected the moonlight like gems gleaming in the dark. ¡°You misunderstand. I gave up my saber because I want to concentrate on another kung fu.¡±


    Nie Zeng held the saber, looking rather embarrassed.


    However, Tie Linglong epted her saber and sheathed it. ¡°I might as well keep it. As an ornament.¡±


    ¡°What kind of kung fu are you going to practice? It¡¯s even more powerful than your sabermanship?¡±


    ¡°Not right now. But it will be.¡± Tie Linglong stretched out two fingers of her right hand and drew a circle in the air. ¡°Besides, the Dragon King said that he¡¯s going to teach me some new moves and that they have nothing to do with Gold Roc Castle¡¯s sabersmanship.¡±


    Admiration appeared on Nie Zeng¡¯s face as he said, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s so good to you.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s so good to me¡­¡± Tie Linglong repeated, yet there was not much delight in her voice. ¡°I don¡¯t know whether he¡¯s good to be because he likes me or whether it¡¯s because of my grandfather.¡±


    ¡°Your grandfather?¡±


    ¡°Emm, my grandfather was also a killer in Golden Roc Castle, and he used to be the Dragon King¡¯s master. I bear my grandfather¡¯s surname.¡±


    ¡°Tie Hanfeng?¡±


    ¡°Eek, how did you know?¡±


    Of course Nie Zeng knew. But he had never expected that these two people who bore the same surname would be family members, ¡°I thought¡­ that¡­ the Dragon King killed your grandfather. Yet you seem as if¡­ you don¡¯t mind at all.¡±


    Tie Linglong didn¡¯t notice the subtle changes in the look on Nie Zeng¡¯s face, as she straightforwardly replied, ¡°it¡¯s because I¡¯ve never seen my grandfather and he didn¡¯t even know about my existence; it¡¯s because killers always get killed; it¡¯s because the Dragon King must have his own reasons; it¡¯s because the Dragon King saved my life.¡±


    Tie Linglong had a series of reasons to harbor no grudges toward the Dragon King.


    Nie Zeng was unable to do that as he incredulously asked, ¡°You don¡¯t feel anything for Tie Hanfeng at all?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. My mother talked about grandfather all the time, but she had also never seen him. I have a vague memory of him in my mind, but other than that, there¡¯s nothing.¡±


    Nie Zeng was relieved, feeling both happy and stupid as he said, ¡°That¡¯s good.¡±


    Upon hearing this inexplicable reply, Tie Linglong was slightly surprised. ¡°Right, didn¡¯t the Dragon King kill your family members too? Uncle¡­¡±


    ¡°My uncle¡¯s family. All three of them. My cousin was only ten.¡±


    ¡°You want revenge?¡±


    ¡°I have to,¡± Nie Zeng tightened his fists ¨C and not just to show his hatred but also to tamp down the ever growing favorable feelings he was gaining for the Dragon King. ¡°Otherwise, my many years of kung fu practice will have been in vain.¡±


    The look on Tie Linglong¡¯s face suddenly went sullen. ¡°I won¡¯t allow you to touch even a finger of the Dragon King¡¯s. You¡¯ll have to get through me first if you want to get your revenge.¡±


    Nie Zeng had almost forgotten about how loyal she was to the Dragon King. ¡°Fine. When I decide to take revenge, I¡¯ll go through you first.¡±


    The two red at each other. Suddenly Tie Linglongughed. ¡°Ha-ha, you¡¯re bluffing. You¡¯ll never stand a chance against the Dragon King. How can you possibly get your revenge?¡±


    ¡°Nobody thought that the Dragon King could defeat Golden Roc Castle, and yet he did it.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s the Dragon King, but you¡¯re not,¡± Tie Linglong sneered. In her heart, the Dragon King was iparable to anyone else.


    Nie Zeng slightly flushed, but he remained unconvinced. ¡°I, Nie Zeng swear to God that I will surpass Dragon King in sabersmanship, and avenge the murder of my uncle¡¯s family.¡±


    Tie Linglong said back with an even deeper sneer, ¡°Swear as much as you want. Around the Dragon King, there are plenty of people who bear a deep resentment against him and are waiting to take their revenge on him. You¡¯ll have to get in line for your turn.¡±


    This was something that had always confused Nie Zeng, but he had never asked the Dragon King for a rification ¨C the Dragon King harbored an irreconcble hatred against Golden Roc Castle, but why was he so tolerant towards people who bore a hatred just as deep against him?


    Shangguan Fei walked out delightedly as he said, ¡°Let¡¯s go, Tie Linglong. We have some valuable jobs to do.¡±


    ¡°No. I want to speak to the Dragon King.¡±


    Shangguan Fei gave a few shortughs. ¡°All right then. I¡¯ll go get some sleep first.¡±


    Looking at the receding figure of Shangguan Fei, Nie Zeng frowned, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him? He¡¯s wearing women¡¯s clothes and yet he¡¯s so happy.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand,¡± Tie Linglong said gravely. ¡°A woman is exactly what he wants to be.¡±


    Nie Zeng indeed didn¡¯t understand, and his frown only became more obvious.


    Han Wuxian leaped beside them from the top of the wall, her long hair hanging freely at her waist, and an extremely tender smile on her face. ¡°What a pair of love birds. The moonlight tonight is perfect, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Both Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong flushed. Before they could correct her, Han Wuxian entered the Dragon King¡¯s room.


    Like a wild cat hunting at night for food, Old Man Mu was the next to leap into the courtyard. He was bent at his waist and was staring at the door of the Dragon King¡¯s room as if it were the entrance to the cave where his prey would appear. After a while, he turned his head and asked the two teenagers, ¡°Did you notice that she¡¯s even more beautiful in the moonlight?¡±


    Tie Linglong nodded, but Nie Zeng curled his lips.


    Old Man Mu snorted as he chastized, ¡°You little bastard, you know nothing about beauty. You think that being green-eyed means that shees from the heaven? I¡¯ll take you to Flower-Plucking Garden some other day. The girls there have pupils of any color you can think of.¡±


    Old Man Mu rushed into Dragon King¡¯s room as well.


    Nie Zeng blushed even redder as he said, ¡°Ignore him.¡±


    A ghost of vignce appeared in Tie Linglong¡¯s eyes and she turned to rush towards her room.


    Nie Zeng suddenly felt a stabbing pain in the heart, followed by an even stronger feeling of grandeur: he had to be stronger than the Dragon King ¨C this, and this alone, was the sole pursuit of his entire life.


    Old Man Mu was quickly tossed outside. He made several somersaults in the air beforending right beside Nie Zeng. He raised his head and sympathetically looked at Nie Zeng. ¡°You got dumped too? It¡¯s okay. The old woman and the young girl are the same ¨C they treat us like grass now, but when I get my full power back and when you¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu nced at the teenager a few times before saying, ¡°Forget it. You¡¯ll never make it. Practice the Golden Roc sabersmanship however hard you want, but I¡¯m telling you, you¡¯ll still end up being mediocre to the day you die. So just face the truth and be satisfied as a normal killer, and forget about the girl. Chu Nanping is more handsome than you, and his kung fu¡¯s also better than you ¨C even a man would choose him over you, let alone a girl.¡±


    ¡°You done talking?¡± Nie Zeng asked frostily.


    ¡°Not yet.¡± Ever since his kung fu had declined, poking at the sore points of others had been Old Man Mu¡¯s only joy, which he always tried to do with every chance he got. ¡°¡®If an old dog barks, it is giving counsel.¡¯ Little Nie Zeng, you have to face the truth. This is how the world works. Bitterness and grudges won¡¯t help when you encounter someone more powerful than you. All you can do is¡­ Hey, don¡¯t leave yet. I have a lot of words of wisdom and life philosophy to share with you.¡±


    Nie Zeng left, almost running away. Overwhelmed by thousands of emotions, he felt that he wasn¡¯t cut out to bea killer at all.


    Feeling unsatisfied, Old Man Mu went to knock on Dog Butcher¡¯s door and was determined to take out his frustrations on this old guy.


    Dog Butcher was obedient and had a weak personality, which made him a perfect target for Old Man Mu.


    ¡°Old Dog, what did you tell the Dragon King? Were you being silly again? Why did the Dragon King¡­¡± Old Man Mu suddenly shut his mouth, because the look on Dog Butcher¡¯s face was a little weird, severe yet excited, as if there was something significant weighing on his mind. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? It¡¯s not like I slept with your sister or something.¡±


    Dog Butcher had been thinking about the lecture the Dragon King had given him, and he involuntarily cried out, ¡°My kung fu is better than yours, so I should be the one calling the shots.¡±


    ¡°You call the shots? You¡¯ve barely been in the martial arts world for a couple days! You don¡¯t know shit!¡± Old Man Mu almostughed out loud.


    Dog Butcher abruptlyunched an attack and struck one of Old Man Mu¡¯s acupoints by the fifth move. He then pinned Old Man Mu to his side and said, ¡°This time I¡¯ll be the one taking you to explore the martial arts world!¡±


    Old Man Mu discovered that not only had he lost face, but he might also be brought into a dangerous situation by this excited old guy.

 Chapter 780 - Luring the Snake In

    Chapter 780: Luring the Snake In


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Dog Butcher sat on the side of the road, contemting the best ce to find kung fu practitioners from the Central ins. Old Man Mu¡¯s acupoint had been restored awhile ago. Out of boredom, he was mindlessly kicking gravel around and waving the sword he had bought not long ago. Out of annoyance, he refused to talk.


    Dog Butcher was facing a major issue. Since he knew nothing about Jade City, he felt like he was a blind man with no idea where he should begin searching. Yesterday, he had aimlessly wandered around the city with Old Man Mu pinned to his waist for more than half the night, and eventually he had inexplicably exited the city. Dawn had just broke, and there was nobody on the road except for themselves.


    ¡°The brothel, casino, inn, pub, cksmith vige, saberman vige¡­¡± Dog Butcher muttered the names of the ces they had visited repeatedly, hoping to find some clues. But after mulling it all over for quite a while, he still had nothing, so he turned his head and asked Old Man Mu, ¡°Is it really that tricky to have an adventure in the martial arts world of the Western Regions? I thought that it was all about making friends, fighting enemies, and cavorting around heroically anywhere, anytime I want! Yet it turns out that it¡¯s pretty much the same as the Central ins¡¯. No, it¡¯s much harder here. Back then in the Central ins, at least people knew of the Kongtong Sect when I mentioned its name.¡±


    Old Man Mu snorted contemptuously. He raised his head and pretended to not hear Dog Butcher¡¯sints. Yet he was so eager to talk to someone that his pride onlysted for a short while; he quickly ran up to Dog Butcher in a single step, and said, ¡°Making friends, fighting enemies, and cavorting around heroically anywhere and anytime you want ¨C that was my previous life. You still have a long way to go. First of all, your kung fu has to be as good as mine was ten years ago. And second, you need to learn to let things go. I mean, you barely have any brains¡­¡±


    Dog Butcher knew what Old Man Mu was trying to say and he shook his head repeatedly. ¡°I don¡¯t want your life. You were a devil ¨C killing innocent people, doing all kinds of disgusting stuff, being chased by enemies everywhere¡­ I don¡¯t want any part of that.¡±


    Old Man Mu widened his eyes, and then changed his mind instantly as he replied, ¡°Ha-ha. Fair enough. But I¡¯ve changed now. I¡¯m wholeheartedly serving the Dragon King who¡¯s decades younger than me and was kidnapped by a man who had once been defeated by me, and it¡¯s hair-rippingly hard to find someone to kill. Good, it¡¯s really good. Why didn¡¯t I choose this path earlier? Why¡­ why are you giving me that look?¡±


    Dog Butcher was peering curiously at Old Man Mu from his head to his feet, as if this was the first time that he had seen someone this short. ¡°You have a lot of enemies, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Of course. They¡¯re everywhere. They could even form an army if somebody organized them.¡±


    ¡°Is there any chance that many of them are from the Central ins?¡±


    ¡°All of the Nine Grand Sects are my enemies. You tell me.¡±


    Dog Butcher knew that he was bragging, but he continued digging in. ¡°The reason why the Kongtong Sect holds a grudge against you is because of me. But how did you make yourself an enemy of the other sects?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s none of your business. It¡¯s been so many years since then. How am I supposed to remember all of that?¡± Old Man Mu thought on his feet quickly, squeezing his brain for the best way to make his lies foolproof. ¡°The Jade Pure Sect is among the Nine Grand Sects, right? They wanted to snatch my Five Hole Punch technique, and I kicked several of their elders¡¯ asses in response. That is the reason for the hatred between us.¡±


    Dog Butcher nodded. On his arrival in Royal Court, he heard what happened to the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect. So he pped his leg and stood up immediately. ¡°Good. Then we¡¯ll do it that way!¡±


    ¡°Which way? Don¡¯t do anything stupid.¡± Old Man Mu had a faint feeling that he might have taken his bluff a bit too far.


    ¡°In the Western Regions I¡¯m nobody, but you¡¯re a celebrity.¡±


    ¡°I used to be, but not anymore. Find someone and ask him about me if you don¡¯t believe it. There¡¯re barely any people left who still know who I am. Now, the Dragon King is the star.¡±


    ¡°Not the Dragon King. Nominally, he¡¯s still in closed-door cultivation. The Kongtong Sect and the Jade Pure Sect are all we need.¡±


    ¡°You want me to act as bait?¡±


    ¡°Yep, this is called ¡®luring the snake out of its hole¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you the bait? Just go whoring and then refuse to pay. Then I¡¯ll show up and spread word that the elder of the Kongdong Sect is being a bully. If there¡¯re any Kongdong disciples in Jade City, they will surelye and seek you out.¡±


    Dog Butcher thought for a while, then he stretched his hand out to grab Old Man Mu. ¡°That¡¯s not a good idea. The Dragon King said that I¡¯m the one who should call the shots, and I think that it¡¯s better to use you as the bait.¡±


    The decision had been made. Old Man Mu opposed intensely ¨C acting tough, talking soft, making unbelievable suggestions, and of course swearing. Tu Pianpian, who had nothing to do with this at all, suffered from a lot of off-color words. Dog Butcher carefully defended himself against every usation, and rather than change his mind, he keep adjusting his tactic of ¡®luring the snake out of its hole¡¯ to perfection.


    Two hourster, Old Man Mu gave in. And not only did he give in, but he also enthusiastically started offering to help make preparations.


    By dusk, this originally simple tactic had evolved into a sensational citywide kung fupetition.


    There were two reasons why it had caused a sensation. The first one was its wildly arrogant slogan: the Number One Devil under the sun challenges all heroes ¨Ce and get your revenge if you bear resentment against him, ande and get some gold if you don¡¯t.


    Gold was the second reason why people had be interested. But the amount of the gold was uncertain ¨C it ranged from dozens to ten thousand taels, and everyone spouted off a different number.


    Suddenly, L¨¹ Qiying discovered that he had be a busy man. Everybody said that he was the guarantor of the kung fupetition¡¯s bounty. Both people he knew and people he didn¡¯t wereing up to ask him for more information.


    L¨¹ Qiying day became grueling and long. He wanted to figure out what was happening but was unable to find either Old Man Mu or the Dragon King, so he had to close his door and refuse all visitors, secretly praying that he would still be able to leave Jade City alive after this.


    Gu Shenwei heard the news that afternoon and he was fairly startled. He made a quick decision to stand by and wait to see the results of those two old men. At the same time, he knew that he could no longer return to L¨¹ Qiying¡¯s mansion.


    Rumors of the kung fupetition only grew wilder as time passed. There was even a rumor circting that the supposed ¡®Old Man Mu¡¯ had umted a hoard of treasure, including countless gold and silver, jewelry, and kung fu manuals, and that anyone who managed to survive more than ten moves of his would be qualified to pick out a treasure of their desire.


    There hadn¡¯t been any tititing news in Jade City for quite a long time, so the residents kept talking about this ¡°Number One Devil¡± for an entire day.


    The ce for the kung fupetition was set to be an inn which was also a brothel. They reserved the whole backyard for thepetition and it held a hundred people or so, and the time was also that night.


    Night hadn¡¯t fallen yet, but Dog Butcher was already looking around at the door. Old Man Mu appeared rxed as heid in a chair and enjoyed the grapes being fed to him by a fat prostitute. ¡°Even if the Kongtong Sect doesn¡¯te, the Jade Pure Sect wille. Rest assured. Trust my charisma.¡±


    But it turned out that Old Man Mu¡¯s charisma was not as maic as he had imagined. He had gained his reputation a dozen years ago and it mostly spread within the areas to the north of Heavenly Mountain. Few people in the Western Regions had known about him during his peak, and after so many years the number of people who still knew of him was even fewer. When the residents realized that the so-called ten thousand taels of gold was probably nothing more than rumors, the ¡°Number One Devil¡± lost most of his appeal and became nothing more than a joke people talked about as they drank.


    When it waspletely dark, there were only several dozen people still at the venue. Judging by their outfits, they were all poor sabermen who had just spent all their money and who refused to let go of any chance to make money. They would be tempted to wield their saber with just a promise of a hundred silver taels.


    Dog Butcher became anxious. Old Man Mu tried to console him with another theory. ¡°As far as I know, true kung fu experts alwayse secretly. They will only show themselves after I disy my true strength. I used to do this a lot ¨C make a scene and then shock them all. Ha-ha, really interesting.¡±


    This was exactly what Dog Butcher was worried about the most ¨C that Old Man Mu didn¡¯t have much true strength left.


    It was getting darker and darker, and the total number of people present finally exceeded a hundred. They were standing in the courtyard and yelling, demanding that the ¡°Number One Devil¡± show himself.


    Old Man Mu told the waiter to light the torches and finally made his dramatic entrance.


    There was a chair on a table, and he leapt onto the chair.


    Theughs grew louder. People were pointing and talking. Those who hade for fun felt that they hadn¡¯te in vain and that it was totally worth the trip to see the old dwarf.


    A grave look appeared on Old Man Mu¡¯s face. He took four ingots of gold, each hand holding two of them. Then he raised his hands and moved them slightly. The raucous of the crowd immediately lowered.


    They had expended most of the gold which Old Man Mu had borrowed from L¨¹ Qiying. Thus, Dog Butcher had gong to the casino in the daytime and won back some more money, more than half of which was used to pay for renting out the inn. After that, they had only four ingots of gold that could be used as bounty.


    The gold was not as much as the ten thousand taels in the rumor, but it still worth five or six hundred taels of silver, which was more than enough to tempt those poor sabermen.


    ¡°Besides gold, there¡¯s something else-¡± Old Man Mu teased before loudly dering, ¡°the opportunity to be an apprentice of mine. I¡¯ll teach him iparable kung fu skills.¡±


    A ck saberman stated the confusion all the others shared. ¡°Why would I apprentice myself to you if I can defeat you?¡±


    Old Man Mu jumped onto the table and ced the gold on the chair, ¡°You don¡¯t understand, do you? As the saying goes, ¡®an old horse knows the best road to take,¡¯ ¡®the older, the more powerful,¡¯ and ¡®the older, the stronger¡¯ ¨C all of these sayings talk about the benefits of being old. Even if you can defeat me, which is impossible of course, you still have a lot to learn from me¡­¡±


    The sabermen didn¡¯t care whether they could be an apprentice of him or not, and they only concerned themselves with the gold. One of the sabermen jumped out impatiently and yelled, ¡°We can talk about the apprentice thingter. I can get the gold if I defeat you, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes. But this is just small potatoes. Bing my apprentice is the real bounty.¡±


    ¡°Small potatoes, big potatoes, I don¡¯t care. I just want the gold. They¡¯re real, right?¡±


    The owner of the inn was a thin old man, who had been standing by the table and eyeing the gold the whole time. And it was not until Old Man Mu signaled him several times consecutively that he realized that it was his turn to say something. ¡°They¡¯re real. I can guarantee that with my inn.¡±


    The question was answered and the saberman whipped out his saber, nning to finish the fight quicker than anybody else. ¡°Come on, little devil.¡±


    ¡°Hey, a kung fupetition is a kung fupetition, so don¡¯t arbitrarily give people nicknames. I¡¯m Old Man Mu, the ¡®Number One Devil Under the Sun.¡¯ State your name first if you want to have apetition with me.¡±


    ¡°Gao Futong.¡±


    ¡°Sect? Master?¡±


    ¡°No sect, and my father is my master.¡±


    ¡°Where are you from?¡±


    ¡°Second River Vige.¡±


    ¡°Which Second River Vige.¡±


    ¡°The Second River Vige in the Lon Kingdom. Why are you asking these questions? Your gold will be mine anyway.¡±


    With a cape on, Dog Butcher blended into the crowd. He excluded the possibility that this saberman was from one of the famous sects of the Central ins. Actually, even if the saberman hadn¡¯t stated his identity, Dog Butcher was still able to tell that he was not a disciple of any of the famous sects.


    Dog Butcher didn¡¯t know the exact reason, but in his eyes, the disciples of the famous sects of the Central ins had a kind of unique disposition, which he didn¡¯t see in any of these men around him.


    He was fairly disappointed.


    But on the contrary, Old Man Mu was rather happy. He pulled out his sword and swung it around wildly. ¡°I just bought this sword earlier and now I can try it out on you. Let me tell you something. I¡¯m a martial arts genius ¨C saber, spear, sword, halberd, I excel at them all. But rtively, the sword is my worst-¡±


    Gao Futong had being impatient for quite a long while, and with a yell, he raised his saber andunched an attack.


    Dog Butcher moved slowly through the crowd and started closely examining these men one by one. He raised the hoods of several sabermen who wore capes just as he was, and nearly started a fight in the process.


    Old Man Mu obviously hadn¡¯t fully adapted to the sword yet, and it was not until they each made twenty or thirty moves that Old Man Mu finally yelled ¡°Gotcha¡± and stabbed Gao Futong in the shoulder. Gao Futong made an awkward exit to theughter of the audience, giving a reluctant nce at the four gold ingots before leaving.


    The sabermen made their entrance and fought with Old Man Mu one by one, with asional disputes as well. Old Man Mu was getting more and more used to his sword, and his opponents were being defeated faster and faster. From the eighth opponent on, no one managed tost for more than ten moves of Old Man Mu.


    ¡°Where are the kung fu experts from the Central ins?¡± Dog Butcher muttered quietly, unaware that several dozen extra spectators had shown up outside the walls of the inn. Some of them stayed hidden while the others didn¡¯t, and there were even several of them in the crowds ¨C they had already secretly surrounded the inn.

 Chapter 781 - Pinch the Sword

    Chapter 781: Pinch the Sword


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei had noticed long ago that some of the men in the audience were notmon martial artists. Unlike how Dog Butcher who had focused on people¡¯s faces, Gu Shenwei instead observed their positions.


    Assuming an air of indifference was within the capability of many people, but the positions they took would always expose their truest intentions:mon people would choose the positions with the best view, and only people with hidden intentions would block the exits in a seemingly casual way as their eyes sweeped the scene, barely giving any nces at the kung fupetition in the ring.


    Gu Shenwei moved backwards, signaling Nie Zeng to move forwards and start monitoring the front and sides, as he would be in charge of the rear.


    A quarter of an hourter, the two quietly left and reconvened at a spot two streets away.


    ¡°Did you find anything?¡± Gu Shenwei asked in a low voice. There were people constantlying and going in the street, which was the perfect camouge for them.


    Nie Zeng knew that the Dragon King was testing him and answered, ¡°There were at least twenty men in the yard who were not watching the kung fupetition, and outside the yard, there were another five or eight people hiding.¡±


    It was about what Gu Shenwei had also noticed. ¡°And?¡±


    Nie Zeng thought for a while before replying, ¡°They¡­ they didn¡¯t seem to be on the same side, and they were all wary of one another.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded, hinting for the teenager to keep talking.


    Nie Zeng flushed slightly as he admitted, ¡°That¡¯s all. I didn¡¯t find anything else.¡±


    ¡°This kung fupetition was a farce from the very beginning. Everybody was talking about it as a joke, those participants are all ordinary sabersmen, and yet there are two or three groups of people who have paid an unexpected amount of attention to thepetition.¡±


    Nie Zeng also began to feel confused. ¡°Yes, and it seems that those people¡¯s kung fu skills must be pretty good as if they want to capture Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher.¡±


    ¡°Go find a position far away and just keep watching. Don¡¯t get close no matter what happens in there.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Nie Zeng had hoped that he would have a part to y in the uing fight, but he still obeyed the order without any dissent ¨C this was an intrinsic part of his duty as a bodyguard and a killer.


    Gu Shenwei returned to the arena and chose a position near the inn this time. He didn¡¯t watch from any of the rooftops on the periphery ¨C although they were the best surveince positions, they also exposed him to any observant onlookers. Instead, he lurked in a dark corner, wearing a ck outfit and a mask that only showed his eyes ¨C even if someone saw his eyes by chance, they would probably mistake them for polished rocks.


    He had a feeling that this kung fupetition that had been held by Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher on a whim had caught the attention of a particr force, and that their intervention might result in the further participation of other forces.


    This was not going to be a quiet night. To best prepare for the uing chaos, he needed to wait quietly.


    In the courtyard, Old Man Mu¡¯s swordsmanship was getting smoother and smoother and the audience had started cheering for him. Finally, there were barely any people left who dared to go into the ring to challenge Old Man Mu, so he started showcasing his swordsmanship all by himself, and some of the audience even publicly beseeched him to take them on as apprentices.


    The kung fupetition wasing to an end. On the rooftop where Gu Shenwei and Nie Zeng had been hiding earlier, several figures appeared.


    That rooftop was not only an excellent observation spot, but also the only path to retreat into the city, so those figures were about to fight for control over it.


    Gu Shenwei witnessed the whole process like he was watching a shadow y in the moonlight. The four figures were divided into two groups. The two opposing groups initially hid themselves from each other, and then they both showed themselves and gestured for the other side to back off. They both refused, took out their weapons, and threatened the other side back. But in the end, they didn¡¯t start a fight. They bothpromised and agreed to share the rooftop, each side staying in their respective areas. They started monitoring the kung fupetition in the inn, and also maintained their guard against the other group.


    Both of the two groups had helpers, evenly spread across the periphery of the inn. And the closest one was only a dozen steps away from Gu Shenwei.


    Gu Shenwei was not able to see all of them from his current position, but of the ones he could, none of them were Golden Roc killers.


    Jade City was the core territory of the Golden Roc Castle. Their men were all over the city and nearly everything was under their surveince. It was unbelievable that not a single killer of the Golden Roc Castle hade to join in on this ¡°party.¡± The only usible exnation that Gu Shenwei could think of was that the men of Golden Roc Castle had hidden themselves so well that they were staying outside of his sight.


    Old Man Mu had been showcasing his swordsmanship for quite a long time and he finally had enough. There were no more challengers and the four gold ingots were still in their original ce. Yet he was still unsatisfied, and in a loud voice he said, ¡°Tomorrow night thepetition will resume. You have all seen my swordsmanship, right? Go back and do some publicizing for me. Tell everybody in the city about how good the kung fu of the ¡°Number One Devil Under the Sun¡± is, and¡­ and the bounty will be doubled just to attract some real kung fu experts. Guys like you, who don¡¯t even have any clean clothes, should just watch and have some fun. And your presence will also be rewarded ¨C free wine for everybody tomorrow night!¡±


    The owner of the inn smelled the scent of a big deal and started apuding and cheering. Although those sabermen were humiliated by Old Man Mu¡¯s words, the part about ¡°free wine¡± still aroused their interest, and many of them even requested Old Man Mu to fulfill part of his promise in advance, iming that they would be able to publicize better after drinking some wine.


    The courtyard was filled with hustle and bustle for some time, yet the crowds gradually scattered.


    Two encircling rings started contracting correspondingly. Every one of the audience members were under the surveince of at least two pairs of eyes when walking out of the inn, and yet none of them were aware of their situation, talking excitedly about the promised free wine the next night.


    The goal of the people who surrounded them seemed to be the same as that of Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher ¨C they focused on the audience, trying to find some clues.


    As the encircling rings contracted, the distance between the members of the two sides was growing closer, and some of their positions even began to ovep. Gu Shenwei sensed the killing aura grow thick.


    Nobody could tell when or how the tangled fight started, and Gu Shenwei was no exception. He could only see a small part of the whole area, and unfortunately that was not the start of the fight.


    Maybe it had been all nned out in advance, or maybe the darkness had caused excessive vignce. Either way, the moment thest batch of sabermen walked out of the inn, the sound of weapons shing rang out from some corner, and soon multiple people started randomly yelling, ¡°Ambush! There¡¯s an ambush!¡±


    The two sides started fighting immediately. People poured out of every random crevice: the rooftops, streets, on trees, behind trees, and more. The sabermen were all startled and started running instantly, yet none of them made it out of the alley .


    ¡°Take them alive!¡± someone shouted.


    ¡°Take them alive!¡± another one shouted back.


    The tangled fighting continued, but most of the people were moving towards the back of the inn.


    The owner, waiters and prostitutes had all seen fights before, but none of those fights had been as widespread as this one. There were figures flying everywhere and there seemed to be hundreds of them. The ones who had quick reflexes immediately returned to their rooms and hid behind their bed, while those with slower reflexes were killed before they could identify the fighters.


    Old Man Mu was extremely excited. He wielded his sword freely and chipped one of the table corners. The table and the chair both fell over simultaneously, along with the gold, but he didn¡¯t care about the gold at all. He yelled at Dog Butcher, ¡°What did I say? The kung fu experts were just hiding. Dog Butcher, this time you call the shots. Do we kill them or not?¡±


    Dog Butcher was no less panicked than the waiters of the inn. He had set the bait andin in wait for half of the night, disappointed, but in the end, unexpectedly, a big fish he never could have imagined took the bait. He leaped beside Old Man Mu in a single step, and whipped out the saber he had just bought. ¡°They said ¡®take them alive.¡¯ Do you think that they were referring to us?¡±


    ¡°Mostly you. People with sharp eyes could tell in a single nce that I was just bait because I appeared in public; you, the one that was stealthily hiding are the true mastermind behind this. So it¡¯s your call. If you decide to kill, then we can start right way and have some serious fun, and you can exin it to the Dragon King afterwards. If you decide not to kill, we¡¯ll surrender, lure the snake out of the hole, and find out who the big boss is.¡±


    More and more people were jumping into the courtyard. Some of them were fighting in pairs, and some others were fighting in groups of four or five. Yet all of them were solidly surrounding the two old men.


    Dog Butcher felt it too difficult to make a decision, and the stress caused the color of his face to alternate between red and white, ¡°Old Man Mu, how about you¡­ eek, this guy¡¯s using the Kunlun Sect¡¯s swordsmanship, and that guy¡¯s using the Taishan Sect¡¯s swordsmanship ¨C there really are people from the Central ins here!¡±


    Their tactic had worked. Dog Butcher became delighted, and in a loud voice he yelled out, ¡°I¡¯m Dog Butcher from the Kongtong Sect. Everybody please listen to me¡­¡±


    Two sabers and one sword stabbed at him simultaneously. Dog Butcher wielded his saber and defended himself and then resumed talking in a urgent tone. ¡°I¡¯m also from the Central ins. We can talk about this¡­¡±


    ¡°Or we can let our sabers talk,¡± Old Man Mu interjected as he finished Dog Butcher¡¯s sentence for him. He wielded his sword and started attacking the other two. During their fight, he spared a nce at Dog Butcher. ¡°Moron, what did I tell you? Use deadly blows from the onset, use your unique skill without hesitation! What are you waiting for?¡±


    At this moment, the two who were originally fighting each other both turned to attack Old Man Mu. Their attacks were ferocious, indicating that they were clearly not normal sabermen. Old Man Mu concentrated on the fight and even stopped talking ¨C a rare sight.


    Dog Butcher kept defending and retreating for six or seven consecutive moves only to find that the opponent really didn¡¯t seem to treat him as apatriot and that there were no signs of mercy in the opponent¡¯s attacks, so he made up his mind and yelled, ¡°I¡¯m going to make some violent moves.¡±


    But Dog Butcher didn¡¯t have any chance to ¡°make some violent moves.¡± Hardly had he finished speaking hisst word that a resonant voice came out from the rooftop of one of the inn¡¯s rooms in its eastern part. ¡°All sects of the Central ins, retreat!¡±


    And then, another voice came from the rooftop opposite, ¡°Tianshan Sect, stop!¡±


    Standing outside of the wall, Gu Shenwei was very surprised. The Tianshan Sect was a secret organization consisting of the cksmiths and wandering sabermen of Jade City, and it was an enemy of the Golden Roc Castle as well as a former ally of the Dragon King¡¯s ¨C his former subordinate Lin Xiaoshan was from the Tianshan Sect.


    Gu Shenwei clearly recalled that there were no remarkable kung fu experts in the Tianshan Sect. Yet judging from the fighting he had seen, the two sides were equally-matched -the Tianshan Sect was, surprisingly, powerful enough topete with a famous sect of the Central ins.


    The two people who had issued the orders were obviously of high status. The two sides of the entangled battle soon separated and started retreating eastwards and westwards.


    Only two people were unable to follow the order ¨C they were struck in a fight with Old Man Mu.


    Old Man Mu was enjoying the fight. His swordsmanship was very special. Although his moves were unorthodox and erratic as if he were a rookie who had just started practicing the sword several days ago, his moves were very effective and Old Man Mu was solidly blocking his two opponents¡¯ escape route. He gradually gained the upper hand and even managed to have enough space to talk. ¡°Interesting, interesting.¡±


    Dog Butcher tried to persuade him by saying, ¡°Stop, Old Man Mu. The people from the Central ins havee. Let¡¯s talk to them.¡±


    Old Man Mu didn¡¯t want to stop at all, and he said in a seemingly surprised tone, ¡°It¡¯s not me who doesn¡¯t want to stop. You see? It¡¯s them.¡±


    The two were indeed fighting with their full strength. Every time one of them tried to speak out, Old Man Mu would immediately stab at their vitals and forced them into defending. Thus the two had no chance to speak and it seemed as if they were tacitly agreeing to Old Man Mu¡¯s usation against them.


    Two men simultaneously jumped down from the east and west rooftop respectively. Dog Butcher turned his head and gave a nce. On the west side, there was a tough man. He was not tall but had wide shoulders and a strong back, his physique reminiscent of a solidly filled sandbag, with a single saber fastened to his waist. On the east side, there was a middle-aged man about forty years old. He was dressed in white, and even his sword sheath was white. He looked handsome and graceful, like a noble young master from some prestigious family.


    Dog Butcher didn¡¯t recognize the tough man, yet he had certain impression of the man in white, and called out, ¡°Aren¡¯t you the Luo Vige¡­¡±


    The man in white smiled and joined the fight, and the tough man opposite him also rushed into the fight as if they had made some sort of prior agreement. The two freed their own men from the fight.


    Old Man Mu had lost his targets and was furious. He wielded his sword and started attacking the two neers at the same time, without even thinking about whether their kung fu skills were better than his.


    The tough man didn¡¯t back off and instead advanced. Without even unsheathing his saber, he thrust a palm attack at Old Man Mu, who felt the resulting piercing wind even when the palm was still four or five feet away. Old Man Mu was startled and forced into a hurried retreat. He changed the direction of his sword and stabbed at the man in white.


    The man in white didn¡¯t use his weapon either. He raised his right hand and pinched the tip of the sword with three fingers before calmly asking, ¡°Will you stop now?¡±


    Old Man Mu was even more startled by this. He pulled on his sword harder and harder, but the sword refused to move at all, so he abandoned the sword, quipping, ¡°Take it.¡± Then he backed off by three steps, only to find that the sword was still in his hand, and that the man in white had already lowered his hands and was smiling at him.


    This was the first time that Old Man Mu had wanted something to say, but couldn¡¯t find the words for it; it was also the first time that he had felt that he would be no match for the man before him even if he were at full power.


    The entangled battle stopped. And it was at this moment that Gu Shenwei spotted a familiar figure ¨C one-handed, with a narrow saber. The ephemeral figure appeared for a brief instant and then quickly vanished. They had once chased each other in the ruins for a whole day and a whole night. Towards Wild Horse, Gu Shenwei had an almost instinctive reaction and he instantly recognized a suspicious movement: Wild Horse was protecting someone, and he wasn¡¯t alone.


    There was only one person who could order Wild Horse to be a bodyguard, but Gu Shenwei had never found any signs of her presence. Soon, the sound of another entangled fight came from the courtyard.

 Chapter 782 - Spectators

    Chapter 782: Spectators


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Having survived decades of running amuck in the north of the Heavenly Mountain, Old Man Mu was pretty experienced, especially in terms of fleeing.


    His present kung fu was not as good as Dog Butcher¡¯s, and it was far worse than that of the two newly-arrived kung fu experts, but he was still the first one to sense danger. As the ring of torches went out, he quickly turned around, leaped up, and broke into the closest room.


    Dog Butcher was only one step slower than him, but he didn¡¯t know why they had to run, and neither did he know where the danger wasing from. He had ran purely out of instinct; he had to follow the one who had made the right decision.


    In the house, it waspletely dark. Old Man Mu broke through the paper window and cautiously peeked into the courtyard. The windowsill was pretty short, so Dog Butcher had to bend at his waist and to try to look out through the hole. Eventually, he knelt down on the ground, sweating heavily out of nervousness.


    The moonlight was bright and it was not that dark outside, and yet the torches had gone out so unexpectedly that most people still needed some time for their eyes to adjust. As they held onto their weapons tightly, they were searching for enemies vigntly.


    ¡°Was it the Dragon King?¡± Dog Butcher asked in a muted voice.


    ¡°Stop dreaming. Both White Ghost and Rock Monster are top-notch kung fu experts. No sane person would challenge them, especially White Ghost¡­¡±


    Dog Butcher was in a daze as he asked, ¡°Which one¡¯s Rock Monster?¡±


    ¡°The one from the Heavenly Mountain Sect, the one who was as strong as a stone teau.¡±


    Dog Butcher nodded and said, ¡°White Ghost must be a disciple of the Luo family. He seemed familiar, but I couldn¡¯t remember his name.¡±


    ¡°Idiot,¡± Old Man Mu terselymented, and then started prayed softly. ¡°Fight. Hurry up, and fight. The more intensely the better.¡±


    Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher had barely entered the room when the man in white and the tough man readied themselves to chase them, but then they stopped at the same time. They were wary of each other, and since they knew that their targets were trapped in the room, they didn¡¯t want to attack recklessly.


    Between the two, the man in white was more confident, and also moreposed. In a loud voice, he said, ¡°Everybody stay put. Watch out for sneak attacks.¡± Then he turned to the tough man who was standing ten steps away. ¡°I¡¯m Luo Qibai. May I know your name?¡±


    ¡°Luo Qibai.¡± Dog Butcher gently smacked his hand on the windowsill as he eximed, ¡°That¡¯s the name. The seventh generation of the Luo family, the younger brother of Luo Qikang.¡±


    Old Man Mu slightly snorted as if he¡¯d known it for a long time, but he¡¯d actually never heard a single character between the two names.


    The tough man outside replied in a terse manner and only uttered three words. ¡°Li Tongsheng.¡±


    ¡°Are you by any chance the ¡®Mountain Splitter¡¯ Li Tongsheng?¡±


    ¡°You know a lot.¡± Li Tongsheng braced his whole body, and was clearly ready to attack at any moment. ¡°The Tianshan Sect¡¯s going to take both of the men in the room. I don¡¯t think that you would mind, would you?¡±


    Old Man Mu mimicked Dog Butcher and mockingly said, ¡°Li Tongsheng. That¡¯s the name. The fortieth or fiftieth generation of the Li family. The son of Li so-and-so.¡±


    Dog Butcher asked confusedly, ¡°Is he famous? He¡¯s not from the Central ins, is he? I¡¯ve never heard of him before.¡±


    ¡°Of course you wouldn¡¯t. This guy¡¯s the most well-known solitary bandit. No wonder his kung fu¡¯s so good.¡±


    Outside, Luo Qibai rejected the tough man¡¯s im to the two old men and smiled before replying, ¡°How about you tell yourpanions toe out and we¡¯ll have apetition right here in the open?¡±


    Li Tongsheng studied the man opposite him in confusion, ¡°All of the men of the Heavenly Mountain Sect are right here. I think that it¡¯s you Central ins guys who¡¯re hiding, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Luo Qibai was faintly surprised, yet he feigned a face of indifference and said in a loud voice, ¡°Who¡¯s been¡­¡±


    Before he could finish his sentence, one of the disciples of the Heavenly Mountain Sect yelled out, ¡°Hidden weapon. So underhanded!¡± Then he pounced on the Central ins martial artist next to him.


    The man from the Central in didn¡¯t cower, however. He raised his saber and engaged the opponent, shouting, ¡°Shameless!¡±


    Another entangled battle started anew in the courtyard. People were fighting every which way they could ¨C engaging in sneak attacks, retaliating, and ganging up on opponents. Li Tongsheng didn¡¯t hesitate. He rushed towards his opponent andunched a series of continuous palm attacks. With one move following the next seamlessly, the whooshing sound of the air generated by the fierce palm attacks was so terrifying that no one dared to move closer than seven steps to him.


    Luo Qibai was fairly startled and yet his moves were no less ferocious than that of his opponent¡¯s. Likewise, he fought back with palm attacks. Although his palm attacks didn¡¯t generate whooshing sounds like those of his opponent did, he moved and defended himself in a smooth and confident manner, and when he asionally struck back, Li Tongsheng always retreated to evade.


    Dog Butcher watched on in great admiration as he praised, ¡°The Blue Wave Palm Technique handles fierce attacks with so little strength, and both its offensive and defensive moves are so ethereal. Luo Qibai¡¯s reputation is well-earned.¡±


    Yet Old Man Mu remained unconvinced. ¡°If I could exert the my former power to its fullest extent, no palm technique would be a match for my Five Hole Punch. And don¡¯t underestimate Li Tongsheng either; the renowned bandit from the Western Regions has his own talents.¡±


    The people from the Central ins were having an intense fight with the Heavenly Mountain Sect, and yet neither side forgot about the two old men. Just at the doorway alone, there were six or seven pairs of men fighting, trying to stop the other side from getting in the room first.


    Old Man Mu watched the fight with great interest and had no intention of fleeing at all. He curled his lips and said, ¡°They¡¯re all morons. I mean, clearly it was a third party who put out the torches, yet none of them have realized it.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s not that they can¡¯t realize it, but that they have been on guard against each other for a long time, and they¡¯ve also already had a fight. So even if they know a third party is trying to y them off each other, they still got taken in easily.¡± Dog Butcher was a clear-minded bystander. ¡°Who exactly put out the torches? If it wasn¡¯t the Dragon King, then was it a Golden Roc killer?¡±


    Old Man Mu hated it the most when people disagreed with him, so he snorted repeatedly before replying, ¡°You know what? Your many years of life were experienced in vain; that¡¯s why you¡¯re still so stupid when you are old. The Dragon King said long ago that those crazy women of the Waning Moon Hall want to mess the whole world up. Who else would have done this except for them?¡±


    Dog Butcher hadn¡¯t met many disciples of the Waning Moon Hall, so he thought that the Dragon King¡¯s words might have been a bit dramatic. He replied, ¡°They¡¯re just a bunch of women. Would they really go that far? What good will it do them to mess up the whole world?¡±


    Old Man Mu got excited, and he even stopped watching the fight outside. He turned his head and asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you understand? In the eyes of a crazy woman, chaos is order ¨C the messier the world is, the safer they feel, and the more important they be. If the world is at peace, then everybody would want to eliminate these monstrous women. The Waning Moon Hall has been hiding in the desert for decades, and they know this better than anybody else does. If I were them, I would mess it up too. The messier, the better.¡±


    Dog Butcher spotted the contradiction yet he was too embarrassed to point it out. Old Man Mu angrily said, ¡°Right, I¡¯m also crazy. So be careful. Some day when I¡¯m in a terrible mood I might bite a chunk of meat off of your ass. Bah, off of your thigh, not ass.¡±


    Dog Butcher giggled yet didn¡¯t say anything. His body involuntarily leaned to the side, trying to get further away from Old Man Mu.


    The tangled battlested for about a quarter of an hour and both sides suffered casualties. It was at this moment that two more neers suddenly joined the fight.


    Nobody knew when they had managed to maneuver their way in, but both of them were holding a narrow saber, and they had each found an adversary for themselves. As they fought, they gradually moved closer to the leaders of the two sides.


    Luo Qibai had firmly gained the upper hand in the battle, and he was sparing some attention to observe the situation around him, so he was the first to notice that one of the men was acting suspiciously ¨C that man was fighting with an opponent from the Heavenly Mountain Sect and yet he was not among those Luo Qibai knew.


    ¡°It was you who¡¯s been ying us!¡± Luo Qibai let out a yell and leaped besides the mysterious neer.


    The two sneaky neers had extremely quick reflexes. They stopped attacking their current opponents and immediately turned to attack Luo Qibai, one from the front and the other from the back.


    Li Tongsheng discovered that Luo Qibai was attacking the enemies of the Heavenly Mountain Sect. He was very surprised, but after hesitating for a short while, he pounced on the other neer and thrust out with a palm attack.


    ¡°Are they disciples of Waning Moon Hall?¡± Dog Butcher contemted the two new men carefully even though he was unable to see their faces clearly.


    ¡°No,¡± Old Man Mu said positively. He was more familiar with the Waning Moon Hall than even the Dragon King. ¡°This is Golden Roc sabermanship, but¡­ Son of a bitch! They¡¯re killers trained by the little bastard Wild Horse!¡±


    Dog Butcher didn¡¯t even know whether Wild Horse was a man or an animal, but he knew one thing for sure. ¡°Their sabersmanship¡¯s just average.¡±


    ¡°Ha, give it a minute. They¡¯ll show you how men of the Western Regions fight.¡±


    Dog Butcher became even more confused. In his view, the two neers would be defeated soon, and they might not be able to make it out alive.


    It seemed that his spection was about toe true ¨C the sneaky neers parried with several consecutive saber attacks, and then turned and tried to escape towards the north. Their lightness skills were pretty good.


    Luo Qibai pursued them closely and Li Tongsheng followed right behind. Both of the two leaders already knew that there was a third party ying them off of each other. Even though neither of the two had enough time to order their men to stop fighting, some of their men still noticed their leaders¡¯ movements and followed behind after disengaging.


    The two sneaky neers leaped onto the wall of the courtyard. Luo Qibai was in the air less than five feet behind them, ready tounch an attack. Li Tongsheng was slightly further behind, yet he had already struck out with his palms, and the wind generated by them was so strong that the neers started quivering involuntarily.


    Meanwhile, twenty to thirty men from the Central ins and the Heavenly Mountain Sect had also leaped onto the wall. The targets would be solidly surrounded even if they managed to survive the palm attacks.


    It was right at this instinct that Dog Butcher¡¯s spection was proved wrong, and he finally saw with his own eyes what Old Man Mu called ¡°how men of the Western Regions fight.¡±


    Abruptly, two figures shot upwards from the outside area of the wall like two frightened birds, only quicker.


    One was holding a sword, and the other a saber, each of them having already killed a man on the wall. One move, one kill, all without excess movements.


    ¡°Ambush!¡± someone cried. More than thirty figures vanished from the wall at the same time.


    Old Man Mu broke the window and rushed out without saying a word ¨C on no ount would he allow himself to miss such a fantastic show.


    Dog Butcher had forgotten all about the Dragon King¡¯s suggestion to ¡°call the shots¡± long ago and he followed Old Man Mu without even thinking.


    Most of the men on both sides were still fighting intensely in the courtyard and hadn¡¯t noticed the shift in the situation around them. Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher used their lightness skills to evade several people who were trying to obstruct them. They leaped onto the top of the wall and saw four bodies on the ground, all the others gone.


    Old Man Mu looked around for a short while before pointing in a direction and saying, ¡°This way.¡±


    The two old men sprinted out and soon lose their pursuers.


    Without the leaders, the fighting continued for a long time and after both sides suffered heavy casualties, the surviving fighters stopped fighting, horrified. After retrieving some of theirpanions¡¯ bodies, they confusedly started searching for their respective leaders.


    Old Man Mu, followed by Dog Butcher, was searching the circuitous streets and alleys. He was tracking the targets as if he were a bloodhound. Every couple of streets, they would find another one or two bodies on the ground, confirming that they were on the correct route. Obviously, the people ahead of them were fighting while running, and yet their moving speed were still amazingly fast.


    Dog Butcher began to admire Old Man Mu. If he were Old Man Mu, he would have beenpletely bewildered by now.


    The houses were growing sparser, and it had two or three miles that they saw thest body. Yet Old Man Mu kept progressing in a fixed direction without wavering.


    Another two bodies appeared ahead, each holding a narrow saber ¨C they were the two killers who had initially sneaked in.


    Old Man Mu paused here for a short while, and soon Dog Butcher also figured out the direction of their targets: some noises rang out from a small hill not far away, where numerous crows were flying around disturbed on this quiet night.


    Flocks of crows were circling in the sky, almostpletely blocking out the moonlight. Under the shadows of the crows, a dozen figures were fighting fiercely, and each time someone went down, the cries of the crows grew even more excited.


    Old Man Mu proceeded to a position about a dozen steps away from the battlefield, chased away the crows, leaned on a rock, and watched enraptured. The longer he watched, the more fascinated he became. Without turning his head around, he said in a low voice, ¡°Look, this is what you call swordsmanship. The Death Scripture, its name is even apter than the Grand Enlightenment Sword Sutra.¡±


    Greatly thrilled by the fight, Dog Butcher asked a string of questions. ¡°Who is fighting with whom exactly? Is that the Dragon King in the middle? Should we help?¡±

 Chapter 783 - Restrictions

    Chapter 783: Restrictions


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The moment Lotus showed herself and made her move, Gu Shenwei understood her intentions.


    The Death Scripture had its own unique way of improving the user¡¯s strength ¨C they had to kill high-caliber kung fu experts at least once a year. Otherwise, there was a high probability that the swordsmanship would bacsh and kill its user. The swordsmanship and its user were like two mad horses sprinting towards a cliff ¨C they clearly knew whaty before them, and yet, not only could they not stop, but they also felt the need to elerate even faster.


    There used to be a time when Gu Shenwei thought that Lotus had rid herself of this restriction, yet now he could see that he had been wrong.


    Lotus had always used a sword, but she had integrated the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s kung fu into her swordsmanship, while Gu Shenwei had integrated the swordsmanship into his sabersmanship. The two different paths still had the same goal ¨C to defer the bacsh. Yet no matter what, they still needed tond that lethal sword attack.


    Both of the two had encountered many kung fu experts, and yet none of them possessed kung fu prowess as great as that of Luo Qibai, who tempted the two Death Scripture users like a priceless treasure. The one who killed this person would make enormous strides in their swordsmanship.


    Lotus¡¯s partner was Wild Horse, in whose sabersmanship Gu Shenwei had found some signs of the Death Scripture. Obviously, Lotus hadn¡¯t imparted the whole manual to him.


    The men from the Central ins and the Heavenly Mountain Sect had been tricked. With their numerical superiority, they had recklessly pursued the men who had ambushed them, and on their way someone had yelled, ¡°Hurry! Don¡¯t let the Dragon King escape!¡± and they then mistook Lotus, who was wearing a night outfit, for the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei, who had been following these men at that time, finally realized that the reason why this kung fupetition had attracted so much attention was because the target of the two forces in Jade City were not Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher but rather him ¨C nobody believed that the Dragon King was in closed-door cultivation.


    As the main bait, Lotus had quickly rushed ahead of all the others. Wild Horse asionally paused to fight back, and he always killed someone in two or three moves at the most. Luo Qibai and Li Tongsheng were focused on pursuing the ¡°Dragon King¡± and they didn¡¯t try to stop Wild Horse from killing their men.


    After running through half of the city, Lotus had led her pursuers to Reincarnation Hill in the wilderness to the south of the city. This hill was home to mounds of unidentified bodies from Jade City and was also a feasting ground for the crows. And it was also the ce where Gu Shenwei had decided to use the image of a blood-red crow as the symbol of the Dragon Army¡¯s g.


    Gu Shenwei had never told anyone about this, yet Lotus had nheless designated this hill as the ce for the final showdown.


    Lotus maneuvered through the crowd like a ghost and she seldom made a move. It was Wild Horse who had done the majority of the killing, but he always tried to stay away from Luo Qibai and Li Tongsheng ¨C these two kung fu experts were the Master Commander¡¯s exclusive prey, and he was not qualified to approach them.


    Gu Shenwei whipped out his saber and joined the fight. This was a golden opportunity. He could kill Lotus and rid himself of the hindrance and threat that the Waning Moon Hall represented once and for all. At the least, he could stop Lotus from improving her swordsmanship.


    Gu Shenwei also wanted to test out the theories he hadprehended from the general principles of the Daoless Scroll, and nobody was more suitable than Lotus to be the subject of his tests.


    When Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher arrived, Gu Shenwei had just stabbed out for the third time.


    With these three saber attacks, he had restricted Lotus, leaving her unable to maneuver through the other people, and forcing her to fight back against him.


    All the moves they made were deadly blows, but neither of them used the Death Scripture swordsmanship ¨C both of them were waiting for the perfect opportunity.


    Luo Qibai and Li Tongsheng had recovered from the intense chase and they immediately started organizing their men into an encirclement. Their first priority was to kill Wild Horse.


    Wild Horse had leaped out of the battlefield and was standing on a slope about a dozen steps away from the others, watching the fight down below, and ready to flee at any time.


    Luo Qibai watched Li Tongsheng who was on the opposite side of the ring. Both of them were able to kill Wild Horse, but neither of them was willing to give up on the two targets before them ¨C they had discovered that theter was the real Dragon King.


    They both made the same decision.


    Five men from the Central ins and four men of the Heavenly Mountain Sect gathered into a formation on the periphery. They had only one task, to keep Wild Horse from interfering with the main battle.


    Luo Qibai unsheathed the sword fastened to his waist, while Li Tongsheng¡¯s weapon was still his own bare hands. Together, they joined the master-level fight.


    It was at this moment that Dog Butcher raised his question, ¡°Who is fighting with whom exactly?¡±


    Old Man Mu watched on, fascinated, half of his body stretching out above the rock. ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s against three¡­ No, Lotus¡¯s helping him¡­ No, they¡¯re fighting more intensely¡­ No, White Ghost and Rock Monster are plotting against each other¡­ Holy shit! These four people are all fighting on their own, trying to kill the other three. Terrific! Fucking Terrific!¡±


    The nine men on the periphery had discovered the existence of the two old men, yet they maintained their formation and none of them approached to attack the two.


    Dog Butcher straightened his body and asked, ¡°Who¡¯s the other guy? His swordsmanship¡¯s also pretty good.¡±


    ¡°Lotus, who¡¯s even crazier than all of the disciples of the Waning Moon Hallbined.¡±


    Dog Butcher had been hearing her namee up for awhile now, so he nodded andmented, ¡°She¡¯s good, but¡­ it seems as if there are plenty of ws in her moves too.¡±


    ¡°You can see her ws?¡± Old Man Mu didn¡¯t believe him at all.


    The crows in the sky gradually scattered. Under the bright moonlight, Dog Butcher could see more clearly, ¡°Don¡¯t you think so? The killing aura in Lotus¡¯s swordsmanship is too dense. Her blows are too heavy, and she is barely able to defend herself. If it weren¡¯t for her excellent lightness skills, I don¡¯t think she could¡¯ve survived this long. The Dragon King¡¯s saber attacks are restrained and steady, moderate in both offense and defense. I think that the Dragon King¡¯s better.¡±


    ¡°Ha, the idiom ¡®be aughing stock for the skilled people¡¯ literally can¡¯t be any more suitable for you. They¡¯re performing the same kung fu. The only difference is that the Dragon King has substituted the sword for a saber, and he¡¯s defending himself with palm techniques. The essence of his sabersmanship is the same as Lotus¡¯s swordsmanship ¨C all lethal blows.¡±


    During their discussion, the state of the battle had changed yet again.


    Luo Qibai and Li Tongsheng finally reached some kind of tacit agreement ¨C they put aside their differences and joined hands to attack the masked men. The former¡¯s swordsmanship was both ethereal and ferocious, while thetter¡¯s palm strikes generated wind as solid as a wall. With one of them specializing in offence and the other in defense, they forged a perfect partnership.


    On the other hand, Gu Shenwei and Lotus couldn¡¯t fight side by side. They were risking their lives trying to kill the other first.


    Both of the two were somehow surprised. Gu Shenwei thought that he had gained a deeperprehension of the Death Scripture, yet he couldn¡¯t maintain any obvious advantage over Lotus. While Lotus had also done some research and had managed to find a new approach of practicing the swordsmanship after the battle in Royal Court, but she still couldn¡¯t considerably surpass the Dragon King.


    The Death Scripture swordsmanship required the user to make every move with their full strength. Yet after mastering yin and yang energy, Gu Shenwei was able to spare some yin energy to perform palm techniques, which enabled him to strengthen his defense, so he took the brunt of Li Tongsheng¡¯s palm attacks.


    However, Luo Qibai was the more threatening one; his swordsmanship was like a tangle of silk and spiderwebs. Even though it didn¡¯t seem very powerful at first, it would entangle its targets over time and grow tighter and tighter. When Gu Shenwei and Lotus realized this, they were unable to get rid of it. Gradually, they focused on each other less and less, and had to spare attention to deal with the other sword.


    Old Man Mu frowned in confusion as he mumbled, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? The Death Scripture should be far more powerful than this.¡±


    Yet Dog Butcher¡¯s eyes lit up. Though he was serving the Dragon King, he still had a certain amount of pride as someone from the Central ins. ¡°The Tangled Silk Swordsmanship of the Luo family is a top-notch kung fu in the Central ins. Even among the members of the Luo family, there are very few people who have seeded in mastering it. Ah, it¡¯s been more than ten years. Back then he was just a teenager. I didn¡¯t expect that he would make such huge progress so quickly. What he¡¯s achieved is much better than what I¡¯ve achieved in my closed-door cultivation. Old Man Mu, when ites to advanced martial arts, the Western Regions and the Nond are no match for the Central ins even if the two werebined together. The reason why the Dragon King is undefeated throughout the Western Regions so far is because he¡¯s never met a true kung fu master of the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°h, h, h,¡± Old Man Mu snorted out several ¡°hs¡± consecutively. ¡°Stop spouting that shit already. You Kongtong Sect guys are also from the Central ins, but I don¡¯t see any such kung fu experts in your sect.¡±


    Dog Butcher didn¡¯t take offence. With a smiling face, he said, ¡°We do have our own kung fu experts. It¡¯s just that they¡¯re not here. You and the Dragon King have never met them.¡±


    Old Man Mu peered at Dog Butcher from his head to his feet, ¡°Why are you so happy? Are you going to betray Dragon King?¡±


    Dog Butcher suddenly recalled his current identity, ¡°Right, let me go talk to them. Maybe Luo Qibai will stop for my sake.¡±


    Old Man Mu ced his sword before Dog Butcher and blocked his way. ¡°Stay put. You can keep your ¡®sake¡¯ and have it for dinner. Who told you that the Dragon King¡¯s going to lose? Seeking opportunities in dangerous situation, and seeking victory in adversity ¨C this is the Dragon King¡¯s strategy. And you have even seen it in action before.¡±


    But something else attracted Dog Butcher¡¯s attention at that moment. ¡°The one-handed man¡¯sing to us. What¡¯re his intentions?¡±


    Old Man Mu was startled, yet he gave off an air of hospitality as he said, ¡°Hey, younger brother Wild Horse! It¡¯s been a long time! How are you doing? Look, the Master Commander¡¯s about to lose. Aren¡¯t you going to give her a hand? I just saw your sabersmanship. You must have learned a lot of new moves, haven¡¯t you? So fast, so cool. You¡¯ve already surpassed me¡­ Old Dog!¡±


    Old Man Mu suddenly gave out a wild yell. Dog Butcher was astounded and subconsciously unsheathed his saber.


    Wild Horse¡¯s saber also arrived.


    A narrow saber and a broad saber shed and began their fight. Old Man Mu was jumping here and there on the periphery of their battle. The longer he watched, the more astonished he became. ¡°Come on, Old Dog! Don¡¯t be defeated by a junior. This little mute¡¯s kung fu is just so-so. He¡¯s no match for you.¡±


    Although he said this, Old Man Mu could see clearly that Wild Horse had learned not only part of the Death Scripture, but also some other bizarre kung fu skills. His overall kung fu had improved exponentially, which unexpectedly left him neck and neck with a Kongdong Sect¡¯s elder.


    Dog Butcher didn¡¯t know Wild Horse, but he also felt this young man¡¯s sabersmanship was exceptional and warned, ¡°I¡¯m going to use my unique skills.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯ve got it, just use it already! Stop this nonsense!¡± Old Man Mu yelled.


    Dog Butcher used to wield the saber, but after Old Man Mu had defeated him, he had switched to the crutch. However, he had never given up on his sabersmanship. Now, he was taking part in a ferocious sabersmanshippetition and fighting with Wild Horse on speed and ferocity. With each sh of the two sabers, the shriek of metal could be heard from far away, and glowing sparks were flying everywhere ¨C the fight between them seemed even more intense than the one taking ce between the four people a dozen steps away.


    Holding his sword, Old Man Mu was jumping around constantly, trying to find a chance to make his move. But he was also watching the Dragon King and the others at the same time. ¡°Dragon King, bad girl, is the Death Scripture powerful? I¡¯m betting on your victory.¡±


    Gu Shenwei and Lotus were restrained by each other, since they were both surprised by the other¡¯s progress. Also, they were under the continuous onught of two strong enemies, so neither of them dared to use the pure form of the Death Scripture kung fu, fearing that the instantaneous pause after their move would be a fatal w.


    Dawn was about to break. Flocks of crows woke up and watched from their rocks on high like a malicious audience, apathetically waiting for more killing and blood. asionally, some bold ones flew onto some fresh corpses and pecked around.


    Those men from the Central ins and those of the Heavenly Mountain Sect were getting more and more nervous. They kept turning their heads to check on the battle situation, while they wielded their sabers to chase away the crows and protect theirpanions¡¯ bodies.


    Two pairs of eyes which were colder than that of the crows suddenly looked into each other ¨C there was no understanding, nor any warmth. The two twisted and evaded each other as well as the wind generated by Li Tongsheng¡¯s palms. Then the saber and the sword stabbed out at Luo Qibai simultaneously.


    Luo Qibai took a step backwards.


    This was a verymon scene in the battle. Those men who were looking back over their shoulders didn¡¯t notice anything different. Yet Old Man Mu, who was far away, shouted in delight, ¡°Saber-sword cooperation! Saber-sword cooperation!¡±


    Stimted by the Dragon King and Lotus, Old Man Mu finally made his move at Wild Horse, nning to also have a ¡°saber-sword cooperation¡± with Dog Butcher.

 Chapter 784 - Strangling

    Chapter 784: Strangling


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Many years ago, when Gu Shenwei and Lotus were still teenagers and still early on theirprehension of the Death Scripture, any routine partnered practice would always ended up turning into a life-or-death duel. Thus, they had no choice but to adopt another training tactic: one of them would go kill someone else, and the other would secretly observe the fighting process. Afterwards, they would discuss the murder process and their actual feelings and experiences to help each other improve.


    As their swordsmanship grew more powerful, the chasm between their opinions began to widen even further, and eventually this tactical practice became unnecessary.


    As a result, in Gu Shenwei and Lotus¡¯s eyes, the Death Scripture was a swordsmanship that its wielder was supposed to explore alone. Even the most basic form of cooperation would hinder the user¡¯s movements, let alone the so-called ¡°saber-sword cooperation¡± that Old Man Mu was shouting about.


    When Gu Shenwei stabbed at Luo Qibai with his saber, he had no intentions of ¡°helping¡± Lotus. He merely thought that Luo Qibai¡¯s swordsmanship was the most powerful and threatening, so he should naturally be the highest priority target. Gu Shenwei and Lotus had had previous experiences of attacking an enemy simultaneously; yet, they had never truly joined hands.


    It was that brief moment of eye contact with Lotus that had changed his mentality and sabersmanship.


    Apathy was like a thick cocoon. It blocked the sight of others, yet hid nothing from like-minded people ¨C Gu Shenwei could sense the burning hatred in Lotus as clear as day.


    Servant Yao¡¯s death, setbacks in love, shing interests, divergent swordsmanship practice methods ¨C all of these things were sources of hatred. They had all amalgamated together into an extraordinary emotion that fanned her hatred like no other. What was unique about this hatred was that it also bore with it some kind of inexplicable pleasure.


    This pleasure became a connection between the two.


    Gu Shenwei was stimted by the hatred. All these years, he had been carving and perfecting his hatred like a hard-working craftsman, gradually giving it a gentle, exquisite shape.


    Yet Lotus made him realize that inside the heart of this sculpture, his hatred was still like a ferocious beast which refused to be restrained ¨C it was just waiting for an opportunity.


    The target of Gu Shenwei¡¯s saber attack was not just Luo Qibai. In his mind, after going through the enemy, the de would keep progressing until it reached the final target ¨C Lotus.


    Lotus had the same intention and her will was even stronger than Gu Shenwei¡¯s.


    Hatred and pleasure mixed together irreversibly, both of them ordering their owners to kill the target in an indisputable tone.


    This was the most dreadful life-or-death fight they had ever faced, its scope eclipsing even their own lives.


    However, between them, there was another person.


    Luo Qibai was shocked. The saber and the sword had doubled in power at the same time and had instantly shattered his Tangled Silk Swordsmanship. But he couldn¡¯t even figure out the source of this surge in power at all.


    Fortunately, the moment he left the fight, the Dragon King and Lotus immediately engaged each other and didn¡¯t continue pursuing him.


    Li Tongsheng didn¡¯t sense the danger yet. Luo Qibai¡¯s retreat left the central position open, so he subconsciously rushed over to im it ¨C as a renowned bandit and the top-notch kung fu expert of the Heavenly Mountain Sect, Li Tongsheng had his own pride.


    Yet this pride nearly killed him.


    A saber and a sword swerved at him simultaneously and he immediately understood why the Central ins man had backed off. The woman¡¯s sword was extremely bloodthirsty and when it hit his palm-gusts, it was like a huge wave crashing onto a giant cliff; on the other hand, the man¡¯s saber was extremely devious and alwaysunched attacks from unexpected angles through the narrow gap between his palm-gusts, like a venomous snake striking in the darkness.


    Lightness skills had never been Li Tongsheng¡¯s forte, so he was unable to make a smoother retreat like Luo Qibai had and was forced to roll on the ground, surviving the attack in a humiliating way.


    Dragon King and Lotus still didn¡¯t pursue him ¨C once theirmon target disappeared, they resumed attacking each other right away.


    However, the situation suddenly changed radically.


    Originally, Luo Qibai was at the center of the battle. Gu Shenwei and Lotus were fighting against him for most of the time, while Li Tongsheng was merely on the periphery, distracting the two.


    But now, Gu Shenwei and Lotus were the only ones to upy the core location, their fight bing increasingly fiercer with every sh between the saber and the sword. Luo Qibai and Li Tongsheng could only stay outside and patiently search for an opportunity to make a move. Neither of them dared to recklessly throw themselves in between the saber and the sword again.


    ¡°All of you, engage!¡± Li Tongsheng yelled. He was a bandit from the Western Regions. Victory was his only concern and rules didn¡¯t mean anything to him at all.


    Upon hearing the order, the four disciples of the Heavenly Mountain Sect joined the battle. The five men of the Central ins hesitated for a moment and then also joined the tangled fight after obtaining Luo Qibai¡¯s tacit consent. These nine men formed the third ring.


    On the other side, Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher had finally grasped the upper hand in their fight.


    Wild Horse¡¯s kung fu had improved considerably, and was actually no worse than Dog Butcher¡¯s. With his many years¡¯ umtion of experience and ruthlessness, he had held a slight advantage over his opponent at the onset of the fight. Although Dog Butcher had yelled that he was going to use his unique skills and make a deadly move, he was not determined enough to actually do it. And besides that, his moves still contained more elements of defense than offense.


    Inspired by the cooperation between Lotus and Dragon King, Old Man Mu had wielded his sword and joined the fight. Although his moves were still intermittent and disorderly, the strength of his attack was growing greater and Wild Horse¡¯s momentum was gradually being overshadowed.


    Among all the people fighting, Old Man Mu was under the least pressure. As he attacked Wild Horse, he didn¡¯t forget about the fiercer fight taking ce nearby. In a funny tone, he yelled, ¡°One more stab! One more sh! You two morons, why are you fighting each other again? One more move and the enemy will be dead!¡±


    But neither Gu Shenwei nor Lotus could afford to waste a move on another enemy. Respectively, their true target was still each other, and attacking a third person would be synonymous to handing their own lives over.


    Old Man Mu was handling his sword more and more smoothly. His kung fu skills stemmed from many sources, and he had also heavily researched other martial arts. Seeing that the Dragon King and Lotus were refusing to take his advice, he shifted his attention onto another person. ¡°Old Dog, why are you dodging? Just man up and attack him. Wild Horse¡¯s definitely going to dodge. Then you can justunch another attack and victory¡¯ll be yours. You don¡¯t have many years left to live and he¡¯s still a young man. Although he¡¯s lost an arm, he still cares about his life more than you do. So he should be afraid of you, and not the opposite ¨C You little bastard! So ruthless! Have you forgotten about how good I was to you? If I didn¡¯t take you in, you wouldn¡¯t have been Wild Horse but instead the fertilizer for wild grass¡­¡±


    Wild Horse had lived with Old Man Mu for quite a long time, and the most intolerable thing about it was Old Man Mu¡¯s chatter. Back then he had no choice, but now he was stronger than Old Man Mu, so he didn¡¯t show any mercy and switched targets to attack Old Man Mu.


    Dog Butcher¡¯s pressure was greatly reduced. In a surprised tone, he asked, ¡°You told me to man up, but why are you dodging all the time now?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s different,¡± Old Man Mu hastily replied. He had lost a great part of his power, so despite his abundant knowledge of martial arts, all he could do now was perform the Subtle Shadow Lightness Skill and hope to survive. ¡°I¡¯m going to have a lengthy life. It shouldn¡¯t be a problem for me to live an extra 60 or 70 years. But Wild Horse is destined to die young. As far as I can tell, he won¡¯t make it to the end of this year. So in this case, I¡¯m the one who cares more about surviving¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in pretty good shape myself and I have plenty of years to live. Why did you say that I don¡¯t have to care about my life while Wild Horse does?¡± Dog Butcher had been gradually transforming into a chatterbox like Old Man Mu ¨C just like how the old saying ¡®one bes thepany he keeps¡¯ went.


    This doubled Wild Horse¡¯s suffering, but the only response he could make was increasingly faster narrow saber strikes.


    Dog Butcher parried Wild Horse¡¯s fast saber sh, but Old Man Mu turned and ran away, shouting, ¡°Dragon King, I¡¯ming to help you!¡±


    It was only a distance of a dozen steps. After two or three leaps, Old Man Mu had entered the outer circle of the battle.


    Wild Horse pursued him closely, and thus joined the main battle along with Dog Butcher.


    The situation became even more chaotic with the addition of these three people. Without anyone protecting the bodies on the ground, flocks of crows began to scramble for their breakfast, letting out deafening cries.


    Old Man Mu was the only beneficiary of the chaotic battle. He was the smallest, had excellent lightness skills, and was not targeted by anyone except for Wild Horse. With so many advantages, Old Man Mu danced everywhere nonchntly. Once, he even rushed between the Dragon King and Lotus and personally experienced the power of the ¡°saber-sword cooperation.¡±


    ¡°Awesome!¡± Old Man Mu escaped with an even more awkward move than Li Tongsheng¡¯s, but the look on his face was extremely excited. ¡°I get it! Ha-ha, finally I get it!¡±


    Old Man Mu didn¡¯t say what he got, but he changed his strategy, and started continuously pressuring the nine people on the periphery, forcing them to move closer to the center, narrowing the Luo Qibai and Li Tongsheng¡¯s range of movement.


    This was an unusual battle, the respective sides of which collectively formed a whirlpool. And gradually, none of them were able to make an easy retreat any longer.


    Luo Qibai was the first one to be vignt. After weighing the pros and cons for a short while, he loudly offered, ¡°Li Tongsheng, fight by yourself, or fight side by side with me. Choose.¡±


    Li Tongsheng snorted. He had also noticed that his maneuverability room was narrowing, and that the pressure on him had increased. So after pushing back with three consecutive palm attacks, he answered, ¡°Side by side it is.¡±


    ¡°Everybody back off. Kill the three on the outside first.¡± Luo Qibai¡¯s strategy was to kill the troublemakers while the Dragon King and Lotus cut each other¡¯s throat.


    In response, Old Man Mu yelled out, ¡°Wild Horse, let¡¯s put aside our personal grudges as well, okay? Though I have done you more favor than harm, I won¡¯t haggle!¡±


    Clearly, Wild Horse was not much of a pushover as Li Tongsheng. His narrow saber didn¡¯t slow down at all.


    Though the men from the Central ins and the Heavenly Mountain Sect surrounded both the Dragon King and Lotus, they were also very wary of each other. It was not until Luo Qibai gave the order that they began to focus all their attention on the same enemies.


    The tangled battle didn¡¯tst for much longer. Barely had the sun fully risen that a series of idents suddenly brought the battle to an end.


    The first ident was Li Tongsheng. His palm attack hit a man from the Central ins out of the blue. ¡°Four versus four would be much fa-¡± Before he could finish his sentence, he had been stabbed in his side.


    The second ident was Luo Qibai. It was hard to tell whether he had nned it all out in advance or if he had changed his move just that fast. Either way, the moment Li Tongsheng made that palm attack, Luo Qibai¡¯s sword stabbed at Li Tongsheng as he yelled, ¡°I knew that men of the Western Regions are not trustworthy!¡±


    The one who continued to make more idental moves was still Luo Qibai. After stabbing his target with his sword, he immediately backed off to the outer circle and started a one-versus-many fight, unexpectedly forcing all the others towards Dragon King and Lotus.


    His strategy was the same as that of Old Man Mu, only with the opposite purpose.


    The entangled battle had now turned into a battle of pressure. The saber and the sword in the center of the whirlpool refused to spare any outsider who entered. Even if someone just identally stepped in, they would still be killed ¨C not everybody¡¯s strength was as great as Luo Qibai¡¯s, and not everybody¡¯s lightness skills as good as Old Man Mu¡¯s.


    Luo Qibai was growing impatient, so he began to drive everybody into the center of death, and his men from the Central ins were no exception. He believed that the man and the woman locked in a life-or-death fight with each other would eventually reveal some ws as they were forced to deal with the cannon fodder he was driving into them.


    Old Man Mu, Dog Butcher and Wild Horse were all forced into fighting against amon enemy, but they were still no match for him. Bit by bit, they were forced closer to the saber and the sword at the center.


    There was only one thought on Old Man Mu¡¯s mind ¨C to flee immediately. He ran into the inner circle but was unexpectedly got trapped inside. ¡°Dragon King! Stop! Else everyone¡¯s going to die!¡±


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t stop, and he couldn¡¯t even think about stopping. Lotus¡¯s sword was constantly aimed at his head at all times, and even the breaths he took had to be done with great caution.


    ¡°Well if I¡¯m going to die, you¡¯re going to die with me!¡± Old Man Mu threw caution to the wind. Unexpectedly, both Dog Butcher and Wild Horse understand his n with just those words. The three men simultaneously made their respective moves, entangling Luo Qibai tightly and forcing him into the whirlpool.


    The outsiders tore a crack in the seamless barrage of Gu Shenwei¡¯s saber and Lotus¡¯s sword. Both of them felt an intense desire to seal that crack.


    The intruders went down one by one until Luo Qibai was thest one left alive. He onlysted ten moves before going down with enormous confusion and disbelief on his face.


    There was no one other than the man with a saber and the woman with a sword left now. Gu Shenwei attacked with his palm, and Lotus fought back with her finger technique. Then both sides suddenly backed off.


    A figure suddenly leaped upwards from behind Lotus, its long hair scattering in all direction, and ten fingers forming into two ws as a murder of crows flew behind it.


    ¡°Traitor!¡± Han Wuxian finally found the opportunity she had been waiting for.

 Chapter 785 - Flesh

    Chapter 785: Flesh


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    This was the blow Han Wuxian had been waiting to unleash for a long time. Her right w had already touched Lotus¡¯s back when she spat out the word ¡°traitor.¡± Meanwhile, her long hair was spreading and creeping towards Lotus¡¯s whole body.


    She thought she had calcted everything perfectly, but she didn¡¯t expect the Dragon King to adjust so quickly.


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t stop the saber in his hand. To him, this was like a game of tag where all of the yers were trying their best ¨C due to the short distance separating each yer, both the chaser and the chased were tapping into the full extent of their ability, to the point that they couldn¡¯t even feel the passage of time. But in the eyes of an outsider, everything happened in the blink of an eye, where decisions had to be made instantaneously; and yet for the yers, that decision was impossible to make because all of their attention was focused on one spot, pushing out any other thought.


    This saber attack Gu Shenwei made was aimed right at Lotus, but Han Wuxian, who was behind Lotus, felt that the heavy pressure seemed to be actually aimed at her. After all, the scene and pressure that a yer felt waspletely different from a spectator¡¯s. Han Wuxian had seen Old Man Mu and the others falling down like patches of grass, but it was not until she personally faced the pressure of the saber and the sword herself that she realized that she had underestimated the strength of these two people.


    Lotus was right under her nose, and it would only take her an extremely brief moment to infuse the secret arts¡¯ energy into Lotus¡¯s body and regain control of Lotus, allowing her to get revenge in whatever way she wanted afterwards. But she hesitated. She knew that the Dragon King¡¯s saber would definitely pierce through Lotus, and she didn¡¯t know whether or not he would show mercy to her.


    Han Wuxian would undoubtedly regret this momentary hesitation in the future, but in that instant, this was an instinctive reaction that she was unable to consciously affect.


    The tip of the saber shed with the tip of the sword and Lotus started shooting backwards as fast as an arrow shot by a strong crossbow.


    Han Wuxian felt something slip out of her hand. Noticing that the prey she had waited so long to catch was about to flee, she severed the inopportune hesitation, flexed her five fingers and finally firmly gripped Lotus¡¯s shoulder, her long hair entangling Lotus¡¯s arm at the same time.


    This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. With one stab, one simple stab, Gu Shenwei would be able to finally remove the sting in his heart once and for all.


    The look in the middle of the mask was still cold, yet the killing aura had disappeared ¨C that was Lotus¡¯s original symbol.


    Gu Shenwei would never be able to figure out whether it was a moment of kindness or if it was the sudden disappearance of Lotus¡¯s killing aura that affected his mentality. Either way, his supposedly lethal stab unexpectedly transformed into amon stab and lost its lethality, which was originally like that of a venomous snake¡¯s tongue.


    Yet Lotus didn¡¯t give up her struggle for survival. She had already backed up to a position parallel to that of Han Wuxian¡¯s. She grabbed the enemy¡¯s forearm with her left hand and wielded her sword in her right, ignoringpletely the saber which en route to her chest.


    The seemingly endless chase between the two had finallye to an end.


    Lotus arduously fled into the wilderness, leaping up and down like a giant bird, yet her speed remained amazingly fast.


    Han Wuxian stood where she was, her long hair now shortened, the broken strands drifting around her. Her right forearm was covered with blood and there was even more blood in her hand, but she seemed indifferent. A rare grave look had appeared on her face. As she looked into the direction that Lotus had fled, she didn¡¯t pursue, and neither did the Dragon King.


    The wound in her forearm didn¡¯t seem to influence her at all. After a short while, Han Wuxian opened her right hand, in which there was a piece of flesh ¨C Lotus¡¯s flesh.


    ¡°You want to eat me, and I want to eat you.¡± Han Wuxian¡¯s voice was still gentle, and her characteristic smile had also reappeared. Then she put the piece of flesh in her mouth, produced several pills with her left hand, and swallowed them altogether.


    Gu Shenwei felt an overwhelming nausea ovee him. Ever since that time when he had met the giant roc and moved the bodies in Golden Roc Castle, he hadn¡¯t felt anything like this for a very long time.


    He tried very hard to control the muscles of his whole body, determined to not show any signs of weakness before this woman. In the rtionship between them, any sign of weakness could be a potential w that might upset the bnce of power, so he resolutely stared at Han Wuxian.


    ¡°The little bastard¡¯s going to escape!¡± a voice yelled from behind.


    Wild Horse hadn¡¯t died. He was grievously wounded, but was still mobile. After dashing into a murder of crows, under the cover of the darkness, he quickly vanished.


    Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher had also survived. As theyid on the ground, watching the Dragon King in surprise, they simultaneously asked, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you stop him?¡±


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t answer. He had a potential health risk that Lotus didn¡¯t ¨C the frosty Qi. He had been keeping it well controlled, and he could even utilize it to attack his enemy, but when he was faced with strong enemies, it became excessively stimted. Now, he was trying his best to suppress it and was on the verge of Qi deviation, so he wouldn¡¯t risk pursuing Wild Horse in this state.


    This was also another w that he didn¡¯t want the others to know about.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t answer the two¡¯s question. He kept staring at Han Wuxian as if this was the first time that he had seen her.


    Han Wuxian was also looking at him. The smile on her face grew bigger, but the blood on the corner of her mouth only doubled the eeriness of the smile. ¡°I thought that the Dragon King could kill her.¡±


    ¡°I thought that Hall Leader Han could stop her.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha. Anyways, you stabbed her, and I scratched her. It should take her a long time to recover from that. It¡¯s a pity-¡± Han Wuxian nced at her wounded right arm before continuing to say, ¡°She also took a piece of my flesh, which will allow her to produce enough antidote for two years¡¯ use.¡±


    In the Waning Moon Hall, there was no such thing as faith. Loyalty waspletely based off of the threat of drugs, and Lotus was no exception. Back when Lotus had first joined Waning Moon Hall, she had consumed Han Wuxian¡¯s Blood Coagtion Pill, and when she had imprisoned the Hall Leader, she had also forced Han Wuxian into consuming the pills. The flesh of the pill-owner was an irreceable ingredient of the antidote.


    Dog Butcher hadn¡¯t seen the dreadful scene, so he couldn¡¯t understand what Han Wuxian was talking about, but Old Man Mu could guess what had just happened. He struggled to stand up, struck his own acupoints to stop the bleeding and then walked towards Han Wuxian with a hand feebly mping his chest as he said, ¡°Woman, your blood is precious. Don¡¯t let it flow in vain. Come, let me stop the bleeding.¡±


    Han Wuxian raised her right arm again and licked the wound a few times. Now, half of her face was stained with blood and it looked like she was wearing a red mask. Surprisingly, the bleeding stopped.


    Upon seeing this, Dog Butcher widened his eyes and jumped up instantly,pletely forgetting about his injuries. ¡°How did you¡­ This is¡­¡±


    Under the light of the rising sun, Han Wuxian seemed to be glowing ephemerally. In a gentle voice, she asked, ¡°Do you want me to stop the bleeding for you?¡±


    Dog Butcher shook his head violently and instantly struck his acupoints to stop the bleeding.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s response was opposite, and he crooned out, ¡°Ouch, I¡¯m still bleeding. Woman, would you please do me a favor?¡±


    A delighted smile appeared on Han Wuxian¡¯s face as she answered, ¡°With pleasure. I still remember your blood being very delicious. I hope that the Seven Rotations Skill hasn¡¯t changed vors.¡±


    Old Man Mu recalled the horrible things that happened back then when they were in bed. With a shake of his body, he jumped beside the Dragon King, ¡°Never mind actually. I¡¯m much smaller now, and I don¡¯t have as much blood left. I think I¡¯ll keep it.¡±


    Then he raised his head and looked at the Dragon King as he prasied admiration, ¡°Saber-sword cooperation. Dragon King, if you cooperated with Lotus, you two would be invincible. If you had learned the secrets earlier, I would have been dead in the desert a long time ago. Death Scripture, Death Scripture. What a fucking evil kung fu.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t ever say the words ¡®saber-sword cooperation¡¯ again,¡± Gu Shenwei replied coldly. Old Man Mu had only seen the strength of the saber and the sword, yet he didn¡¯t know the price the users had to pay. Besides, Gu Shenwei clearly knew that he and Lotus would never have another moment of ¡°cooperation¡± again.


    Gu Shenwei walked towards the bodies scattered all around on the ground. Although Dog Butcher was seriously wounded with arge part of his chest soaked by blood, he was still wielding his saber and driving away the excited crows mobbing the bodies. He didn¡¯t know these people, yet he couldn¡¯t stand by and watch their bodies be desecrated.


    Luo Qibai¡¯s kung fu was the best, yet he had died the most violent death, with seven or eight long wounds crossing across in his body, his eyes wide open, and a look of incredibility on his face.


    Between Old Man Mu, Dog Butcher and Wild Horse, none of them had kung fu skills as good as Luo Qibai¡¯s. The reason why they had survived was because they didn¡¯t have any intentions to kill, and they had went down immediately after entering the central maelstrom. Regardless of who hit them, they didn¡¯t make any struggle and went down easily.


    Among the more than ten corpses, someone was still breathing.


    Li Tongsheng had first been stabbed by Luo Qibai, and then after receiving a few more hits from the Dragon King¡¯s saber and Lotus¡¯s sword, he had also went down fairly quickly. But he was grievously injured, and even a god wouldn¡¯t be able to stop his bleeding.


    Gu Shenwei removed his mask, lowered his head and looked at Li Tongsheng in total confusion as he asked, ¡°The Heavenly Mountain Sect works for Golden Roc Castle now?¡±


    ¡°Hee.¡± Li Tongsheng struggled to let out augh as he spat out, ¡°The Unique King¡¯s just one man, and Golden Roc Castle¡¯s just one castle. They¡¯re nothing inparison to Jade City. Yet the Dragon King will never understand, since the only thing you care about is your hatred. Can¡¯t me you though ¨C you¡¯re from the Central ins after all.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was puzzled. ¡°Does the Heavenly Mountain Sect have a score to settle with people from the Central ins?¡±


    Li Tongsheng gave out two short coughs, each apanied by a lot of blood spilling out. ¡°I should¡¯ve killed you, but your kung fu¡­ It¡¯d be a pity to kill you. Go find Old Hong in the cksmith vige. He¡¯s been¡­¡±


    Li Tongsheng¡¯s eyes gradually dimmed as his words were cut short.


    Old Hong was a cksmith, one of the founders of the Heavenly Mountain Sect. Gu Shenwei still remembered him.


    Watching the bodies on the ground and the countless crows flocking above, Dog Butcher became more and more flustered. This was different from the martial arts world in his imagination. ¡°Dragon King, what should we do? These birds won¡¯t leave.¡±


    Old Man Mu answered the question for the Dragon King and said, ¡°They¡¯re having breakfast. Why do you want to drive them away? Be polite, okay?¡±


    Looking towards the north, Gu Shenwei said, ¡°We have to go. People are going to arrive soon. Leave the crows to them.¡±


    Dog Butcher nced in that direction and did see a group of people progressing towards Reincarnation Hill quickly. Yet there were more and more crowsing, and a few vultures were also circling in the sky now. It was very likely that the bodies would be eaten up before those people arrived.


    ¡°The soul rises to the Ninth Heaven, and the spirit falls to the Ninth Abyss. The living suffer in grief, and the dead settle in peace.¡± Unprompted and unintended, words fell out of Gu Shenwei¡¯s lips, and then he turned around and left.


    Following behind the Dragon King and Han Wuxian, Old Man Mu turned his head and yelled, ¡°Idiot. Do you want to be held responsible for their deaths? Life, death, and reincarnation follow a cyclical pattern. What¡¯s the difference between being eaten by birds and being eaten by underground worms?¡±


    Dog Butcher believed that there was a difference, but the only thing he could do was turn any upward-facing bodies over so that, hopefully, the group of people would still be able to identify them when they arrived. The remarks that the Dragon King had made before leaving had left quite a deep impression on Dog Butcher, so he kept repeating those words to himself as he turned over the bodies as if they were some kind of incantation.


    But he knew that this time, neither the dead nor the living would rest in peace. Apart from everything else, the Luo Vige was not a small sect that would let things go easily.


    Walking at the front, Gu Shenwei was thinking about the same thing that Dog Butcher was. He desperately wanted to figure out the purpose of the people of the Central ins and the Heavenly Mountain Sect, as well as why Golden Roc Castle had not participated in this battle.

 Chapter 786 - Old Hong

    Chapter 786: Old Hong


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    cksmith Old Hong was sitting idly in his smithy. The fire in the oven was out, his bellows quiet, and tools covered in dust. He hadn¡¯t used his hammer in over a year, and the neighboring smithies¡¯ ringing sounded were like noises that had identally arrived here from another world.


    Reminiscing on his past life, he discovered that all of his efforts had been in vain ¨C the one he loved was dead, the ideal he pursued was degenerating, and even this business he had worked so hard to build had to be prematurely ended at a time when he still had enough strength to continue.


    The first person came in. Standing at the door with a torch in his hand, he looked pretty young. His eyes were sweeping around vigntly, which reminded Old Hong of another young man.


    The second person came in, hands crossed behind his back, and in a calm mood, seeming to have something to say.


    More and more people poured in, standing at the sides of the second man, and forming a semicircle. Their formation vaguely resembled a multi-fingered giant¡¯s palm that could easily squeeze him into powder with a gentle grip.


    Old Hong knew these eleven people, some of whom he was pretty familiar with. They used to be his friends. After bing dissatisfied with reality, they had founded the Heavenly Mountain Sect in a difficult situation. Yet, he had now be an outsider who didn¡¯t even have the right to defend himself in his own trial meeting.


    The man in the middle was Du Jian. He was never a friend of Old Hong¡¯s, but he was the current Sect Leader and wielded great power in the sect.


    Old Hong didn¡¯t stand up, and remained sitting in the dpidated chair. He raised his head and asked, ¡°You¡¯ve made a decision?¡±


    Du Jian nodded slowly, as though it¡¯d been a very difficult decision for him to make. ¡°We don¡¯t have any other choice.¡±


    ¡°You can just choose to ignore the choice under your noses.¡±


    Du Jian let out a shortugh, showing some sympathy mixed with a sneer. ¡°You¡¯re still so stubborn. The Dragon King¡¯s not trustworthy. We¡¯ve discussed this many times.¡±


    Yes, many times, and Old Hong had lost his say during that very process.


    Du Jian paused for a while. With thest bit of hope remaining, he made another attempt to convince Old Hong. ¡°You handed Lin Xiaoshan over to the Dragon King ¨C he died. Heavenly Mountain Sect allied with the Dragon King ¨C they were abandoned. The Land of Fragrance took the Dragon King in when he was in a desperate situation ¨C their country¡¯s in ruins. Xiaoyao Lake married their princess to the Dragon King ¨C Their territory ended up bing an army camp and has suffered countless casualties. The Nond invited the Dragon King to be a guest ¨C it split apart¡­¡±


    These were undeniable truths. Yet one of the cksmiths beside Du Jian spoke up, feeling that he was still a friend of Old Hong¡¯s and had a duty to help him, saying, ¡°The Dragon King is sinister and sly. He put the red crow on his g, and it¡¯s very clear that he¡¯s an inauspicious man. Wherever he goes, destruction follows. We can¡¯t let a man like him have Jade City. Old Hong, wake up. We have a powerful enemy before us. All Heavenly Mountain Sect members should make concerted efforts to-¡±


    Old Hong knew clearly that his interruption wouldn¡¯t change anything, but he still couldn¡¯t help but interject, ¡°How about you all try seeing it from the opposite perspective? All the ces the Dragon King¡¯s been to are full of traps and destruction, and yet he survived, which proves that he¡¯s one of our kind. Jade City is in crisis, so why don¡¯t we ask a man like him for help? If I need a dog to guard the door, I¡¯d rather have a ferocious dog that¡¯s disowned its own rtives.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not seeking a guard dog. We¡¯re seeking a lord. Even the Khan failed to keep the Dragon King under control, let alone us.¡± Du Jian¡¯s voice turned severe as he began reprimanding Old Hong.


    Old Hong exhaled deeply and asked, ¡°Why waste time? Just do it. Then everybody can go home early.¡±


    Old Hong¡¯s feeble defense and indifference provoked the other side. One of his ¡°friends¡± said aloud, ¡°Old Hong, it¡¯s okay if we have different opinions. But your collusion with the Dragon King cost many kung fu experts of our sect their lives. You still refuse to admit to that?¡±


    ¡°How can I confess to things I¡¯ve never done?¡± Lowering his head, Old Hong had a resigned look on his face, and yet his voice was firm and strident as he said, ¡°Besides, it was Lotus of the Waning Moon Hall who killed them¡­¡±


    ¡°Lotus is a subordinate of the Dragon King. They¡¯re on the same side!¡± Another ¡°friend¡± cored pit loudly ¨C as ¡°friends,¡± they wanted to verify Old Hong¡¯s crime even more eagerly than his enemies.


    Byparison, Du Jian seemed far more fair. ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s right here in Jade City. This is indisputable. You know this more clearly than any of us.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen the Dragon King for almost two years, and neither have I seen any of his men. This is all I have to say. Go ahead and do what you have to.¡±


    Looking at the men standing to his two sides, Du Jian knew that Old Hong had been sidelined to an insignificant status. The reason why so many people were spectating this trial was because they were paying respects to the old member of the Heavenly Mountain Sect ¨C they still had certain delusions about this previous founder.


    The cksmith beside Du Jian was the first one to step forward. With a look as cold as a block of newly-cooled iron, he produced a dagger. ¡°You¡¯ve disappointed us,¡± he said, raising the dagger.


    ¡°One minute,¡± Old Hong interrupted. He stood up and straightened himself before saying, ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡±


    The dagger sunk into his shoulder and the cksmith with a steel will suddenly started trembling. The man seemed to have no more strength to pull the dagger out. Leaving it in the criminal¡¯s body, he moved back uneasily and stared nkly into space.


    The vice leaders of the Heavenly Mountain Sect stepped forward one by one. Some of them stabbed Old Hong with a new dagger. One merely held a dagger that was already in him and gently shook it, indicating their participation in the execution. Everybody avoided stabbing any of his vital areas, leaving the fatal blow to thest person.


    Even with his blood dripping down to his feet, Old Hong was still standing straight as if this pain was nothing, yet there wererge beads of sweat on his forehead.


    Du Jian was the Sect Leader of Heavenly Mountain Sect, so he was to be the final executioner. After giving a short sigh, he walked forward with the intention to put an end to Old Hong¡¯s life with one of the daggers that was already in him. ¡°This is not how things were supposed to go.¡±


    ¡°It is what it is.¡± Old Hong arduously pushed these words out.


    Du Jian had barely raised his hand when one of the cksmiths said excitedly, ¡°What if we¡¯re wrong? I mean, look at him, does he look like he¡¯s colluding with the Dragon King? The Dragon King didn¡¯t even try to save him.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be fooled by the rumors. The Dragon King never saves his partners, and when he does, he does it only for his own benefit.¡± Du Jian¡¯s voice suddenly became severe ¨C any doubts were supposed to be discussed only in private, and he wouldn¡¯t tolerate such public contradiction.


    Feeling ashamed, the cksmith lowered his head. He didn¡¯t dare look at the Sect Leader again and was also too embarrassed to have any eye contact with Old Hong.


    ¡°If the Dragon King contacted me, I would have chosen to cooperate with him. He just hasn¡¯te to me yet,¡± Old Hong said with all the strength he had left, indicating he was indeed ¡°guilty.¡±


    After a while, seeing that there were no more questions, Du Jian decided to finish the job.


    It was at this moment that reinforcements showed up.


    A considerable part of the roof abruptly copsed and, rather than people,rge clouds of yellow smoke descended and started filling the room. Soon, the whole ce was full of smoke.


    ¡°Stay calm!¡± Du Jian yelled and held his breath.


    When the smoke dispersed, they found that nobody was hurt, but Old Hong had disappeared.


    ¡°Dragon King! The Dragon King rescued him!¡± everybody yelled.


    Du Jian¡¯s face looked as cold as a block of iron, yet he secretly thought that the situation couldn¡¯t have been better. ¡°Does anyone else still believe that Old Hong didn¡¯t collude with the Dragon King?¡±


    Nobody believed Old Hong anymore.


    Old Hong was ina for a time. When he woke up, he found himself in a bed. The daggers were gone and his wounds had been dressed, but he knew that he would soon die.


    ¡°You saved me?¡± Old Hong asked feebly as he looked at the stranger beside the bed.


    ¡°They did.¡± Gu Shenwei was still disguised while Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong was standing on his left and right sides respectively. ¡°Yet they were toote. The wounds are not fatal, but the palm attack that Du Jian hit you with is not so easy to handle.¡±


    Old Hong felt that he was breathing sabers and swords instead of air, the pain spreading from his throat to his abdomen. Du Jian had hit him when they were trying to take him away. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have saved me. I¡¯m a dead man either way. Now, everybody will believe that I ¡°colluded¡± with you.¡±


    Old Hong had already realized that the stranger was Dragon King.


    ¡°My apologies, but I had no choice. You¡¯re the only one who can answer my questions.¡± Gu Shenwei had hoped that Old Hong would be rescued unharmed, but he also had to assume that the Heavenly Mountain Sect had set up some traps. To minimize the possibility of any idents, it had taken Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong a lot of time to make their preparations.


    ¡°Ask while I still can talk.¡± With his lifeing to its end, Old Hong felt that his mind was exceptionally clear, though his experience told him that the Dragon King must have given him some kind of mind-enhancing drug. ¡°But I¡¯d like to ask a question first myself.¡±


    ¡°Please go ahead.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to keep Jade City all to yourself or hand it over to the Central ins or the Nond?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was slightly surprised. Many people had asked him about his ns for Golden Roc Castle, but this was the first time that someone had expressed any concern about Jade City. ¡°I haven¡¯t thought about it yet.¡± Before a dying man, Gu Shenwei chose to be honest, and he then asked, ¡°What do you have in mind?¡±


    ¡°Jade City belongs to everyone, but it¡¯s never been under anyone¡¯s sole dominion ¨C this is the reason behind its prosperity. I¡¯m now in no ce to affect Jade City¡¯s destiny, but I hope for it to stay the same it is if possible.¡±


    ¡°Is this also the Heavenly Mountain Sect¡¯s wish?¡± Gu Shenwei began to understand.


    ¡°The Heavenly Mountain Sect has no idea what its wish is. The Unique King was ambitious, so they opposed the Unique King. Then the Nond cavalrymen came, and so they opposed the Nond cavalrymen. And now, people from the Central ins are here, and Heavenly Mountain Sect wanted to resist the foreign invaders, and yet they ended up standing side by side with another even more powerful enemy. Yes. The Heavenly Mountain Sect has allied itself with Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had already guessed this, but he still very confused. ¡°The people from the Central ins want to take over Jade City?¡±


    ¡°They n to y by ear. They will take the city by force if it¡¯s possible, but if they think the price is too heavy, they n to dismiss the Governor and designate a permanent lord of the city. In other words, the Central ins hope to subject Jade City to its rule.¡±


    The Governor of Jade City had been designated by the Central ins, the Nond and Shu Le in rotation. Now the Nond had split, and Shu Le didn¡¯t exist any more. No wonder the ambition of the Central ins boosted so drastically.


    ¡°Next year, the Governor will be someone from the Central ins,¡± Gu Shenwei instantly blurted out as he thought of this.


    ¡°Yes. So by next year¡¯s summer at thetest, the Central ins will make its move and try to take Jade City. Those kung fu experts from the Central ins are just the vanguard.¡±


    ¡°I seldom see any men from the Central ins in the city.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because there¡¯re that many of them in the city yet. Besides, they all live in the Four Noble Truths Temple outside of the city.¡±


    ¡°The Four Noble Truths Temple took in martial artists of the Central ins?¡±


    ¡°Maybe. The monks haven¡¯t stated their stance yet.¡±


    ¡°The Unique King is now an ally of Heavenly Mountain Sect. Is it because he doesn¡¯t want to publicly make himself an enemy of the Central ins?¡±


    Old Hong blinked and tersely replied, ¡°Yes.¡± He didn¡¯t have much strength left to talk with.


    It all made sense now. Gu Shenwei realized that he might have started his conflict with the Central ins ahead of schedule.


    Old Hong had fulfilled his obligations. Upon facing his imminent death, there was only one thing left on his mind. ¡°Xiaoshan¡­ How did he die?¡±


    There were many rumors, but Old Hong wanted to hear the truth from the Dragon King himself. He had taken care of Xiaoshan for so many years, but he still had to watch Xiaoshan die right in front of him. Old Hong had been carrying this deep guilt with him all these years. He was unable to remember what the woman he had secretly been in love with looked like, yet that didn¡¯t lessen the weight of his sins at all.


    Gu Shenwei signaled for Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong to leave, then he whispered to Old Hong, ¡°He¡¯s alive. In the Central ins.¡±


    Old Hong was silent for quite a while before replying, ¡°I believe you.¡± This was his choice.

 Chapter 787 - Behind the Scenes

    Chapter 787: Behind the Scenes


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    From the peak to the gutter, and then from the gutter back to the peak. Evan after having survived various crises in her life, Madam Meng¡¯s looks hadn¡¯t changed much.


    She was not the kind of woman who would make concessions to ask for forgiveness. Even at her most miserable, she still refused to sacrifice her looks. Another She had the least faith in the so-called husband-wife rtionship. Having been living with the Unique King for many years, she was very sure of one thing: as long as she was still useful, the Unique King would never let her go.


    Madam Meng¡¯s valuey in her cleverness and family name.


    Before her sat two men. One of them was her natural-born son who had been separated from her for many years, who was her hope, her everything, and the only one in the world that she had genuine emotional attachment towards. The other was the Dragon King, who was currently disguised, and whose feature and disposition were different from those in Madam Meng¡¯s memory.


    A lot of effort had been put into arranging this meeting. The Dragon King didn¡¯t have much trust in Madam Meng and her son. As such, Shangguan Fei had to make a series of guarantees and had even offered to stay beside the Dragon King as a hostage. Meng Mingshu yed the role of intermediary and offered his private mansion as the meeting ce.


    First, Madam Meng had paid a visit to Meng Yuzun and entered into a small verbal conflict with him. She had assumed an air of anger when she left the Bodhi Garden, which let her naturally progress to visiting Meng Mingshu¡¯s private mansion to spill out her ¡°grievances¡± to the heir of the Meng family.


    ¡°Five years,¡± Madam Meng couldn¡¯t help sigh. ¡°The Dragon King won¡¯t mind me reminiscing about Servant Huan briefly just now, would you?¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head as he answered, ¡°I myself have never forgotten my past.¡±


    Madam Meng smiled and asked, ¡°Did Fei¡¯er convey my gratitude to you? The Dragon King provided shelter to my son and daughter in spite of the grudges between us. I¡¯ll never forget your great kindness and all the favors you¡¯ve help us with.¡±


    Thest time they had met, Madam Meng had been a superior Mother Lord, and Gu Shenwei a vicious killer. Now, their status had changed, and Madam Meng¡¯s attitude had changed correspondingly. Gu Shenwei knew that she was sounding him out.


    Madam Meng had heard a lot of rumors, but she still needed to confirm this through a face-to-face meeting and determine for herself whether or not the Dragon King was powerful enough to fight against the Unique King, as well as whether or not the Dragon King was trustworthy.


    The ones who were truly powerful all shared somemon traits, which Madam Meng believed she had the insight to identify.


    Gu Shenwei nced at Shangguan Fei and responded, ¡°You don¡¯t have to be thankful to me, Madam Meng. Your son and daughter have been of great help to me in their own right.¡±


    Shangguan Fei had developed a habit of observing the Dragon King at all times and so he didn¡¯t miss the nce that the Dragon King gave him. Immediately, he added on, saying, ¡°The Dragon King has taken very good care of me and my younger sister. We learned a lot from the Dragon King that we could have never learned if we stayed in the Stone Castle.¡±


    Upon seeing her biological son ttering a former servant, Madam Meng felt a sharp stab of emotion, but in the meanwhile, she was convinced that the Dragon King must be somebody, so she stopped smiling, ready to move onto the main topic. ¡°Fei¡¯er, leave us.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was a little surprised. He had thought that it would be the Dragon King who would ask him to leave, but he was more sophisticated now, so he smoothly said ¡°Yes,¡± bowed to the Dragon King, and then left.


    ¡°I want to know just how far you¡¯re willing to go to get your revenge. There¡¯s been some rumors that everything you¡¯ve been doing is just expedient and that you will eventually kill every member of the Shangguan family to avenge the death of your family members.¡±


    Facing Madam Meng, Gu Shenwei knew that a simple promise wouldn¡¯t work, so he straightforwardly replied, ¡°That¡¯s indeed my n.¡±


    Madam Meng squinted slightly. ¡°Then why should I ally myself with the Dragon King? I¡¯m the Unique King¡¯s wife. All of my children are surnamed Shangguan.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll change my n under two concurrent circumstances. One of them has already happened. As for the other one, I¡¯ll need Madam Meng¡¯s assistance.¡±


    Madam Meng smiled again and replied, ¡°To be on the safe side, I¡¯d like to hear about the one that has already happened.¡±


    ¡°My military counselor told me that if I wanted topete with the Unique King, I must not be the second Unique King. Instead, I have to be the opposite of him. If I¡¯m to be the true King of the Western Regions, I have to put aside my personal affairs. Revenge is personal. It can help me gather some like-mindedpanions, but in the end, it will scare away far more people whose total power might be ten times greater.¡±


    ¡°You have an excellent counselor,¡± Madam Meng praised after pondering his words for a while. ¡°But this boundary is very easy for you to cross. All you need to do is provoke the King Lord and lure him in. And when he goes too far, more people will be willing to help you eradicate the Shangguan family.¡±


    ¡°I might do that.¡±


    ¡°And what about the second condition that hasn¡¯t been fulfilled yet?¡±


    ¡°The Unique King is just a killer, and someone paid him to kill. If I find out the mastermind behind the scenes, I can transfer my hatred. With regards to Golden Roc Castle, Shangguan Fa is the only one who must die.¡±


    Madam Meng narrowed her eyes even more. In her eyes, the second condition was more reliable than the first one. ¡°You have no clues about who was behind all that?¡±


    ¡°I checked that year¡¯s records in White Clothes Yard, but the case of the Gu family was not there.¡±


    Madam Meng knew well how the Golden Roc Castle operated and said, ¡°If the customer¡¯s special, there wouldn¡¯t be any written records, and the King Lord might be the only one who knows the details.¡±


    ¡°That is the reason why I shall show mercy to the rest of the Shangguan family. Or you can call it a condition. And I believe that nobody¡¯s more capable of doing this than you are.¡±


    Madam Meng didn¡¯t like the words ¡°show mercy,¡± but she managed to hide her distaste. ¡°The Dragon King used to be a killer, too, so you should know that killers can be very stubborn in certain respects. The King Lord won¡¯t ever say anything about this. Even if the Stone Castle fell and you put a knife to his throat, he still won¡¯t say a single word.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded in understanding.


    Then Madam Meng pondered awhile more before saying, ¡°But the King Lord¡¯s not just a killer. He knows that he should always keep some dirt on all his customers in case he might need it someday. So he must have kept some evidence which can prove the identity of the true mastermind.¡±


    ¡°That is exactly what I want.¡± Gu Shenwei had to admit that he liked this kind of simple and direct negotiation with Madam Meng. Mutual understanding was the crucial part to any form of cooperation.


    ¡°I think I can do it,¡± Madam Meng said positively.


    ¡°I¡¯ll spare all the other Shangguan family members once I receive the evidence ¨C as long as they don¡¯t make enemies of me, of course,¡± Gu Shenwei said, waiting for the other side to state her terms.


    ¡°Of course. To be honest, except for Fei¡¯er and me, the Dragon King can do whatever you want to rest of the Shangguan family members.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯m not going to change my mind.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of Fei¡¯er, he told the Dragon King of my request, right?¡±


    ¡°He did.¡±


    ¡°Fei¡¯er will be the next Unique King and inherit Golden Roc Castle along with all of the other properties.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hide this from you, Madam Meng, but I¡¯ve already promised Golden Roc Castle to someone else. So, I¡¯m afraid that the new Unique King will have to find a new dwelling ce.¡±


    Madam Meng smiled, knowing that her son must have spilled the beans and that was why the Dragon King was so confident, ¡°All right. I know that plenty of people have been coveting the Stone Castle, so it might be difficult for you to decide on who the owner should be. The Shangguan family has some properties in Jade City as well as some other ces of the Western Regions. I¡¯d like Fei¡¯er to have those. Would you mind?¡±


    ¡°Not at all.¡±


    The alliance was thereby formed. Madam Meng called Shangguan Fei and Meng Mingshu in for a consultation on the current situation.


    Meng Mingshu knew that his father had been murdered and that the one in the Bodhi Garden was just a puppet. He expressed his indignation moderately, but Madam Meng reminded him, ¡°Mingshu, you¡¯re the actual patriarch of Meng family now and the owner of assets worth billions, so you have the right to decide on what you want to do with it.¡±


    Meng Mingshu had been contemting this issue for thest few days, and he immediately replied, ¡°The Unique King murdered my father. Our wealth must never fall into the enemy¡¯s hands and serve his evil purpose. I¡¯m willing to loan the money to the Dragon King. It¡¯s just that¡­ I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s not that easy.¡±


    Meng Mingshu put an emphasis on the word ¡°loan.¡± Gu Shenwei knew his concerns and consoled him, saying, ¡°Second Young Master Meng worries that therge amount of gold and silver will be difficult to deliver out of Jade City, right?¡±


    ¡°I do. This is a lot of money, and Golden Roc Castle¡¯s men are everywhere. It¡¯s nearly impossible topletely evade their surveince.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll handle it,¡± Gu Shenwei said firmly, ¡°All you need to do is stockpile the gold and silver in several spots and give me the detailed information about them.¡±


    Shangguan Fei felt that he had to back Dragon King up and added on, saying, ¡°Rest assured, Second Young Master Meng. The Dragon King¡¯s capable of many things. If he wants, he can even move all the houses of the Meng family along with thend out of Jade City.¡±


    Meng Mingshu nodded with a smile. He had another agreement with the Dragon King and he didn¡¯t want to mention it before a third party.


    Madam Meng watched her son with a tender look, feeling startled about the changes she observed ¨C he was the Ninth Young Master of the prestigious Golden Roc Castle, and yet he was now ttering Dragon King like a seasoned sycophant. She wondered who had taught him this.


    Gu Shenwei then asked about the Heavenly Mountain Sect and the people from the Central ins. Meng Mingshu knew little about them though Madam Meng provided some information, ¡°The King Lord didn¡¯t tell me the details of the n, but I have this feeling that he doesn¡¯t want to make an enemy of the Central ins. That¡¯s why he¡¯s using the Heavenly Mountain Sect to deal with people of the Central ins. He seems quite sure that Golden Roc Castle will have the unanimous support of Nond and the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not possible,¡± Meng Mingshu said without a second thought. ¡°The Central ins and the Nond are irreconcble enemies. Now that the Nond is in total chaos and the Central ins has every advantage over Nond, why would the Central ins support Golden Roc Castle alongside its long-time foe?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a feeling. The King Lord doesn¡¯t reveal his true intentions easily.¡±


    Gu Shenwei tended to believe Madam Meng¡¯s gut instinct. After all, the Unique King was a killer, and he couldn¡¯t fully remove his killer¡¯s habits even when he was fighting for supremacy. He would either strike with his full strength or stay hidden. It¡¯d been more than half a year since the war of Xiaoyao Lake ended, but Golden Roc Castle still hadn¡¯t made any moves. There must be a reason for this.


    ¡°What happened to Shangguan Yun? He seems to be locking horns with the Unique King,¡± Gu Shenwei asked. This was not the most important issue, but he didn¡¯t forget to mention it nheless.


    Madam Meng and Meng Mingshu briefly exchanged a nce, and then thetter answered first, saying, ¡°Shangguan Yun once wanted to borrow money from me, a lot of money. He said that it was for enhancing the Xiaowan Kingdom¡¯s defense facilities, but the Unique King didn¡¯t vouch for him, so I declined. At that time I was very surprised at why he didn¡¯t ask my father instead. Now it seems that he was favorably trying to remind me of the truth.¡±


    Madam Meng added, ¡°The thing about the loan is true. The King Lord was very unhappy about it, and he even threatened to disinherit Shangguan Yun and give Golden Roc Castle to that woman¡¯s son instead.¡±


    Madam Meng had always been calm, but deep hatred appeared on her face when she mentioned ¡°that woman.¡± Suddenly, she said, ¡°Right, Luo Ningcha has changed her profession and be a prostitute. Did you know about this?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Gu Shenwei and Meng Mingshu simultaneously asked in shock. Luo Ningcha had a reputation of being loose, and even Meng Mingshu was fairly interested in her.


    Madam Meng ndly exined, ¡°She didn¡¯te back to Jade City, and instead stayed in Thousand Horsemen Pass, mingling with a bunch of men from the Central ins. How¡¯s that any different from being a whore? What¡¯s ridiculous is that the King Lord doesn¡¯t think that what she¡¯s doing is shameful. Maybe he still wants to use her to please the Central ins.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t care about her very much. He knew Luo Ningcha¡¯s personality well. Someone of high status must have caught her eye once again ¨C not a bunch of men.


    The discussion about Shangguan Yun and Luo Ningcha was over. The four consulted for a while, and then Gu Shenwei was about to leave. At this time, he said, ¡°I may have to return to Heaven¡¯s Pass, and Shangguan Ru¡¯s still there. Do you want me to bring a message for you, Madam Meng?¡±


    The look on Madam Meng¡¯s face changed slightly. ¡°No, thanks. My daughter¡¯s better off than my son. Even the King Lord couldn¡¯t help but praise her, so I have nothing to worry about.¡±


    As a mother, Madam Meng¡¯s tone indicated that she didn¡¯t care much about her daughter. It seemed as if Shangguan Ru was more even hated than Luo Ningcha in Madam Meng¡¯s eyes. ¡°But I do have to remind you, Dragon King ¨C every daughter is close to her father. You should be careful.¡±

 Chapter 788 - Fence

    Chapter 788: Fence


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Red Bat snatched the wine pot away and said seriously, ¡°Instructor, you shouldn¡¯t drink anymore.¡±


    Her face bright red from the afterglow, Shangguan Ru giggled and replied, ¡°Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival. Can¡¯t we make an exception?¡±


    It¡¯d been five or six days since Red Bat arrived in Heaven¡¯s Pass. The Instructor drank almost every day ¨C she drank with guests, she drank alone, she drank during the day, and she also drank during the night. Despite the fact that she barely consumed any food, her mind always seemed to be rtively clear. asionally, though, she would say some nonsense. ¡°The Mid-Autumn Festival was three days ago. You can¡¯t even remember the date clearly, Instructor.¡±


    Red Bat was about six or seven years older than Shangguan Ru, but she had always believed that the Instructor was her master, and that she was Instructor¡¯s servant. This was the first time that she had talked to Instructor with a reproachful tone.


    Shangguan Ru tilted her head and thought for a while before saying, ¡°Three days ago? Does time really go by that fast? I thought¡­ Okay then, this is thest one. No more after.¡±


    She downed the wine in one gulp and then gravely handed the cup to Red Bat, wrylymenting, ¡°You look like my mother now.¡±


    ¡°s,¡± Red Bat said as she carried the drinking vessels to the doorway and called for the waiter to take them away. Then she turned around and said, ¡°How I wish Instructor¡¯s mother were right here. Then I wouldn¡¯t have to worry so much about you.¡±


    The look on Shangguan Ru¡¯s face dimmed slightly. ¡°My mother¡­ She will nevere to me.¡±


    Red Bat knew the she had touched a sore point of the Instructor¡¯s, so she didn¡¯t dare ask more about it. Walking beside Shangguan Ru, Red Bat gently asked, ¡°Why do you have to do this, Instructor? Let¡¯s just go back to the Land of Fragrance. Although the world outside is nice, it¡¯s also tooplicated. We can¡¯t fix it, so why should we bother involved ourselves with the messy situation?¡±


    ¡°The Land of Fragrance,¡± Shangguan Ru mumbled to herself. Although she had only left a few months ago, she already felt thatnd had be unreachable. ¡°My home¡¯s not there.¡± As she sat on a chair, Shangguan Ru raised her head and peered at Red Bat. The look on Shangguan Ru¡¯s face was one of confusion, with a ghost of childishness. ¡°It¡¯s not that I want to get involved in the messy situation, Red Bat. It¡¯s just that the messy situation has already overwhelmed me. I can¡¯t escape even if I want to.¡±


    Having never seen the Instructor act so vulnerably before, Red Bat¡¯s heart swelled with sympathy as well as the desire to protect her, so she embraced her and gently stroked her ck hair as she consoled, ¡°All women are the same. Even if we have bows, arrows and sabers in our hands, we still can¡¯t breach the defenses of men.¡±


    Shangguan Yun burst intoughter and replied, ¡°No matter what I say, you always find a way to tie it back to men, don¡¯t you? Do you miss Long Fanyun? He¡¯s not far from here, actually.¡±


    ¡°Not even a little bit,¡± Red Bat denied instantly. ¡°I don¡¯t miss him any longer. The Dragon King has transferred arge poption into the Land of Fragrance, and there must be some good men among them. I¡¯ll find a new one after I return. Why bother admiring the special fragrance in the deep valley when there¡¯re flowers right beside my hands?¡±


    Her head resting on Red Bat¡¯s chest, Shangguan Ru continuedughing as she remarked, ¡°You¡¯re so bold.¡± After saying this, she rubbed her head against Red Bat¡¯s chest and purred, ¡°This part of your body¡¯s sofy.¡±


    Red Bat immediately blushed and pressed her hands down on Shangguan Ru¡¯s head, yet she didn¡¯t push her away. ¡°And you say that I¡¯m the bold one? If anyone else hears this, you¡¯ll be aughing stock.¡±


    Shangguan Ru stoppedughing and gradually sat up straight. ¡°You were right. I shouldn¡¯t drink anymore.¡±


    Red Bat felt sorry for her Instructor. She even regretted having been too severe just now. ¡± I hate the Dragon King now. It was all because of him, Instructor¡­¡±


    Shangguan Ru shook her head. She had just been thinking about another person ¡ª Shangguan Yushi, the one whose premature death had changed Shangguan Ru¡¯s entire life. She didn¡¯t know whether it was because of the wine or the sentimental autumn scenery, but she missed her sole friend with all her heart at this moment.


    Shangguan Ru started reying the memories in her mind of when she and Master Yu were hiding in the flower clusters, whispering to each other. The scenes were still so vivid that she felt as if the voices were echoing besides her ears right now. Then, slowly, the image was invaded by the Dragon King, walking into the scene with a sullen face as if he had never smiled before. As he held his saber with his right hand, he stretched his left hand towards her, a firm light in his eyes.


    Shangguan Ru shook off the daydream and stood up. ¡°Let¡¯s go. We have to get going.¡±


    ¡°Do you really want to go there, Instructor? Actually we don¡¯t have to. I mean, if by any chance the Dragon King¡­¡±


    ¡°If by any chance the Dragon King isn¡¯t in a closed door cultivation, then he¡¯ll need us even more.¡±


    Seeing that the Instructor seemed to have recovered, Red Bat was slightly relieved and began to help her change her clothes and make the preparations.


    Xu Xiaoyi had been waiting outside the whole time, holding the reins himself.


    ¡°Are you sure that the Dragon King¡¯s in closed door cultivation?¡± Red Bat asked in a muted voice before getting on the horse. ¡°Thest thing the Instructor would want is to make things worse.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure. At least, to the best of my knowledge.¡± Xu Xiaoyi turned to Shangguan Ru and then said, ¡°The Dragon King can definitely handle his own business. It¡¯s just that you have to help them get through Heaven¡¯s Pass, Instructor.¡±


    ¡°Consider it done.¡± Shangguan Ru agreed to the n and spurred her horse onwards. The me Foal rushed forward quickly and after a dozen steps, it turned around and rushed back to join Red Bat and the few dozen female soldiers.


    ¡°Any news of Shaomin?¡± Shangguan Ru asked. This was another reason why she had stayed in Heaven¡¯s Pass.


    Xu Xiaoyi shook his head as he answered, ¡°Not yet, but she has to be in the Western Regions somewhere. Probably Jade City.¡±


    Shangguan Ru spurred her horse onwards again. This time, the speed of the horse was much slower, so the female soldiers were able to catch up.


    They entered the city from the south and soon reached the gate of Northern Jade City. They had seen a lot of ox carts and camel caravans ambling along the way. With nothing else to do, the coachmen had gathered together and started gambling, the oxen and camels chewing hay beside them. They didn¡¯t seemed to be worried about the predicament at all.


    There was a team waiting outside the gate for them. Prince Duodun watched the me Foal approach from afar and said to Shangguan Ru, ¡°Such a good horse. I once said that I would find another one on the grasnd. Now it seems that I made that promise too quickly.¡±


    Shangguan Ru affectionately patted the neck of the me Foal and stated, ¡°There are faster horses in the grasnds, but there¡¯s only one me Foal.¡±


    ¡°Haha.¡± Duodun gave out a few loudughs, and then said, ¡°I¡¯m very grateful that you agreed to apany me to the Xiaowan Kingdom, Instructor Shangguan.¡±


    Shangguan Ru nced at the Dragon Army¡¯s General of the Right Shang Liao, who was not far away as she replied, ¡°I¡¯m not apanying you. We just happen to be heading in the same direction.¡±


    ¡°Either way, then it¡¯s my honor to be heading in the same direction as Instructor Shangguan.¡± Duodun disyed exceptional patience, which greatly surprised hispanions beside him.


    The two groups merged together and continued on their way. Shangguan Ru was riding side by side with Duodun and she asked him about getting through Heaven¡¯s Pass. ¡°Your Highness, I remember that you had an agreement with the Dragon King. Why did you stop the Western Regions¡¯ provisions from entering the Xiaowan Kingdom?¡±


    Duodun continued looking forward, the look on his face grave. ¡°This is the exact reason why I have to meet the Dragon King. Things are different from what I expected. The Dragon Army is spendingrge sums of money purchasing provisions. The price has multiplied many times in the past few days. Everybody¡¯s stockpiling their food and hay to the point that they can¡¯t even pay their regr taxes.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that the people of the Western Regions should hand over their provisions without being paid for it?¡±


    Duodun snorted as he replied, ¡°Paying taxes is their duty. From the Nond to the Central ins, every resident has to pay taxes, and the people of the Western Regions are no exception. I don¡¯t know what trick the Dragon King¡¯s ying, and neither do I know how much wealth he owns. But things are growing messy in Western Regions because of him.¡±


    ¡°However rich he is, he¡¯s no match for the Nond. The stockpiling won¡¯tst for long.¡±


    ¡°I hope so. But I need to hear it from the Dragon King¡¯s own mouth. This is much more important than his closed door cultivation.¡±


    Knowing that Prince Duodun must have other intentions, Shangguan Ru stopped asking about it. There were rumors that the Dragon King had appeared in Jade City and massacred many people. What Duodun wanted was to confirm the Dragon King¡¯s whereabouts, and this provisions thing was just an excuse.


    Their group of several hundred people reached the outside of the Xiaowan Kingdom at dusk. During the rests throughout the journey, Shangguan Ru had kept her word and hadn¡¯t drank a drop.


    Long Fanyun came out of the city and weed them himself. After they talked to him for a long time, he reluctantly agreed to send their message to the Dragon King who was in closed door cultivation, but he said that they would have to wait until tomorrow at the earliest to receive a response.


    Prince Duodun refused to be amodated within the city and insisted on staying in the army camp outside the city. This was the first time that he had met the cavalrymen from the Nond, so he held a grand feast like he used to in the grasnds, inviting all the off-duty officers, and also bringing out all the food and wine he brought from the Western Regions for the troops.


    That night, the whole army camp was aze with light.


    Shangguan Ru failed to control her addiction to alcohol. On this asion, Red Bat couldn¡¯t stop Shangguan Ru either, and she could only ask her to drink as little as possible.


    Shangguan Ru drew Red Bat aside and said to her in a low tone, ¡°How about this? I¡¯ll allow you to take a leave of absence. You can go anywhere you want, so you don¡¯t have to watch me drinking, and I also promise that I won¡¯t drink too much.¡±


    After that, she gave a naughty smile. Red Bat resignedly staed, ¡°But you¡¯re the female soldiers¡¯ Instructor of the Land of Fragrance-¡±


    Shangguan Yun pushed Red Bat out of the tent and loudly said, ¡°Say hello to Long Fanyun for me!¡±


    Red Bat did indeed want to see Long Fanyun, but she was also worried that the female soldiers might not be able to stop Instructor from drinking too much, so she had someone call Azheba over and entrusted Shangguan Ru to him.


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t enjoy herself to the fullest. Azheba was only one of the reasons, among which Second Consort was the major one.


    Shangguan Ru had traveled a long way to arrive at the gateway to the Western Regions, and there was now only half a day¡¯s journey between her and her admirer. Yet in the more than ten days that had passed, she had only met Prince Duodun twice, and neither of the two meetings were in private. Not only did this make the Second Consort more convinced of the rumors, but it also changed her opinions on Shangguan Ru.


    The Second Consort was not a timid woman who kept things to herself, so not long after the feast started, she smilingly took Shangguan Ru around. ¡°This is the men¡¯s ce. Let¡¯s go to my tent so we can do some drinking and chatting in peace. Ever since ourst meeting in the Royal Court, I¡¯ve missed you a lot.¡±


    Shangguan Ru had a widespread reputation regarding her drinking capability, and she had also brought dozens of female soldiers with her, so the feast lost a lot of its fun after their departure. It was not until Prince Duodun took out some more good wine and regained the officers¡¯ recognition with his approachable personality that joy and delight came back to the tent again.


    With nobody else around to disturb them, Second Consort and Shangguan Ru enjoyed their drinks. Although the wine was not much, it was stronger and better than the ones out there. Soon, the Second Consort became slightly drunk. She had the ve girls leave the room and started chatting with Shangguan Ru without reserve.


    She talked about her marriage with the Khan as well as the price she had paid all those years ago. Some of the details made Shangguan Ru¡¯s heart beat rapidly and her flush red. Then the Second Consort started talking about Prince Duodun, who was the sunshine in her dark life and the most powerful source of her desire for status on the grasnds.


    ¡°Women can never escape from love,¡± she said, slightly drunk. ¡°Men can fill the void in their hearts with power, while women, even if they have power, always want to trade it for love.¡±


    ¡°Not all women are like that.¡± Shangguan Ru seldom contradicted her, but she didn¡¯t agree with Second Consort on this point.


    ¡°There are different ones in this world. But if a woman has no room for love, then nobody will see her as a woman anymore. This is tragic, but it¡¯s also fate.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t marry Duodun,¡± Shangguan Ru said again, clearlyying out the contradiction between them first. ¡°Whatever they say, I won¡¯t change my mind.¡±


    Second Consort smiled and held onto Shangguan Ru¡¯s hand, ¡°I believe you. But I¡¯m afraid that Duodun won¡¯t give up on you that easily.¡±


    ¡°Then what else can I possibly do?¡± Shangguan Ru was a little confused and also a little unhappy about the Second Consort¡¯s words.


    ¡°You love the Dragon King and the Dragon King loves you back, so why don¡¯t you marry him?¡± the Second Consort asked sincerely.


    Shangguan Ru gently drew her hand back. ¡°This has nothing to do with the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to marry the Dragon King?¡± The Second Consort wouldn¡¯t let go.


    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± Shangguan Ru had no choice but to utter these two words, feeling a stab of pain in her heart, but a ghost of relief at the same time.


    ¡°Then maybe you should marry Duodun with me,¡± Second Consort said ¡ª this was her real n all along.

 Chapter 789 - Rivalry

    Chapter 789: Rivalry


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The look on Second Consort¡¯s face was serious, and Shangguan Ru had no choice but to smile wryly. ¡°Sorry,¡± she said. ¡°After hearing your speech about women and love, I can¡¯t ept the following advice of yours.¡±


    The Second Consort didn¡¯t get angry, and neither was she embarrassed. However, she would never change her mind on this point. She raised a finger and said, ¡°Listen. You know what that sound is?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a bunch of people drinking.¡± Shangguan Ru was a little curious as to what kind of new trick the Second Consort was going to y.


    ¡°They¡¯re drinking, but they¡¯re also pledging their allegiance.¡± The Second Consort seemed excited and content as if she were a part of the reason for Duodun¡¯s current sess. ¡°Xiaowan City, Heaven¡¯s Pass, and the Royal Court; all the armies there are Nond cavalrymen. Some of them pledged their allegiance to Duodun a long time ago, and the rest of them will also unhesitatingly take the side of the Khan¡¯s descendant, even if they¡¯ve never met Duodun before. It¡¯s been destined for almost a century, but the Dragon King? It¡¯s been less than two months since he¡¯s gained the Nond people¡¯s trust. And I have to say that people will see through what he¡¯s doing sooner orter, and then their trust in him will quickly disappear.¡±


    ¡°So when he said that he would hand over the 70,000 cavalrymen in Heaven¡¯s Pass to the Dragon King, he was just lying? The cavalrymen are going to betray Dragon King and return to the Nond at any time?¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily. That all depends on whether or not the Dragon King can give them a good enough reason to stay. I believe that the Dragon King¡¯s capable of doing that if Duodun doesn¡¯t vie with him. But there¡¯s no doubt that the 10,000 men here as well as the 100,000 plus men in Royal Court all belong to Duodun in heart and soul. Take Azheba for instance; he admires the Dragon King, but if he had to choose between Duodun and the Dragon King, he would shoot the arrow at the Dragon King without hesitation.¡±


    ¡°You seem to be hinting at something.¡± Shangguan Ru smiled. There was no sign of drunkenness in her face at all now.


    ¡°Hinting?¡± The Second Consort acted as if she didn¡¯t understand the meaning of the word. She let out a vivaciousugh as she said, ¡°I¡¯m not even sure if I¡¯m capable of doing that. Okay, let me spell it out. First off, there¡¯s Duodun, who¡¯s the favorite son of the Khan. He¡¯s young, brave and all of the officers and troops like him very much. You¡¯ve seen his ability to bring people over with your own eyes. And then there¡¯s the Dragon King, who¡¯s equally young and brave, but not only is he an outsider, he also used to be a humble servant. The Dragon King¡¯s also good at gathering people, but his approaches are as dangerous as wire-walking and their effects are slow and may notst as long.¡±


    ¡°Based on what you¡¯ve just said, the Dragon King doesn¡¯t have a snowball¡¯s chance in hell.¡±


    ¡°That depends on who his opponent is. Duodun¡¯s not a ten-year-old brat.¡±


    ¡°King Rizhu and King Kuari used to be the most powerful lords in Nond. They were nning on using the Dragon King, but they eventually died.¡±


    ¡°That was an ident. Those crazy women of the Waning Moon Hall were stabbing people in the back, but they can no longer hide themselves. At the very least, Duodun won¡¯t underestimate them.¡±


    ¡°When I left the Royal Court, the 100,000 Court Attendants Army were hostile to us and wanted to kill us all. But when I arrived in Heaven¡¯s Pass, I heard that they had alreadye back to their senses and were willing to follow the officers¡¯ orders. The Dragon King¡¯s the reason why Duodun has more than 100,000 troops at hismand, so he should be grateful to the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Of course Duodun should be grateful to the Dragon King. That¡¯s why he generously offered to give 70,000 Nond cavalrymen to the Dragon King. What the Dragon King¡¯s doing is merely returning them to their original master. From beginning to end, he was never a king to any Nond man.¡±


    The noise outside was getting louder and louder. The delight of the men wasing to a climax, and soon they would started dancing, bragging, fighting and vomiting. Yet the two women inside were growing more and more sober. ring at each other from opposite sides of the table, the sparks in their eyes could almost light the spilled wine on the surface of the table afire.


    Then they both burst intough simultaneously and gulped down the wine in their sses, feeling embarrassed about the previous tension between them. The Second Consort¡¯s tone instantly switched from an aggressive one to an amiable one. ¡°You see, this is what women do. I don¡¯t have Duodun yet, and you don¡¯t have the Dragon King. They¡¯re still allies, but we¡¯re already fighting because of them.¡±


    All kinds ofplicated feelings surfaced in Shangguan Ru¡¯s heart ¨C <em>The </em><em>Second Consort can defend Duodun, yet what ce do I have to defend the Dragon King? The title ¡®Instructor of the Land of Fragrance¡¯s Female Soldiers?¡¯ </em>She calmed down and said, ¡°You want me to marry Duodun to make sure that he won¡¯t vie with the Dragon King for the Nond cavalrymen?¡±


    Second Consort opened her right hand, indicating that that was exactly what she meant. ¡°During the first few years after I married the Khan, I had always intended on killing myself. And then I met Duodun. At first, I saw him as a son, a younger brother. And as I watched him grow up, I eventually became his lover. I put up with that old jerk purely because I loved Duodun. If I could do that, then you can do this, because we¡¯re both women. Besides, the Dragon King already has a queen. The status you¡¯ll get by marrying the Dragon King won¡¯t be any higher than the one you¡¯ll get by marrying Duodun.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see how this will do you any good.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m older than you, and I know men better than you do,¡± Second Consort said in a sincere and grave tone. ¡°Men always fall in love easily when they¡¯re young. Only after living with those women for a long time will he realize who he truly loves. Duodun will be the Khan in the future and he will marry a lot of woman. I¡¯m content with waiting.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re content to wait, and yet you want me to sacrifice myself?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I want you to sacrifice yourself, but that you need to decide whether or not you¡¯re willing to sacrifice yourself for the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t need me to sacrifice myself for him. You and Duodun shouldn¡¯t underestimate him.¡±


    The atmosphere between them became a little tense again, and the Second Consort chose topromise. ¡°s, maybe I¡¯ve made my offer too early. The current situation is very favorable to the Dragon King, so it¡¯s very natural that you hold such opinions. I just want to say that, if some day you change your mind, I won¡¯t be an obstacle between you and Duodun.¡±


    This offer disgusted Shangguan Ru. Especially that confident look on the Second Consort¡¯s face ¨C as if everything was predestined, that Duodun would defeat the Dragon King in a war and that the Second Consort would win in the futurepetition for Duodun¡¯s favor.


    ¡°The dishes are cold,¡± Shangguan Ru said gently.


    ¡°We can have them reheated.¡±


    ¡°The mood for drinking is gone. We might as well just go to sleep.¡±


    ¡°Okay, then. Just think about my offer. We¡¯ll be sisters. Really, if it was another woman that Duodun was obsessed with, such as that Luo Ningcha, I would¡¯ve pped her in the face and woken him up and then had Luo Ningcha killed. But you¡¯re different, and we have a lot inmon. Maybe it¡¯s just that I¡¯m ttering myself, but I think that Duodun sees me in you.¡±


    When faced with this kind of confidence which was almost equivalent to wild arrogance, Shangguan Ru responded with nothing more than a smile.


    She returned to her tent but wasn¡¯t sleepy at all. Yet she also didn¡¯t want to go back to Duodun¡¯s feast. Shangguan Ru had a female soldier bring her a pot of wine and started drinking alone. After two sses, she felt irritable and was in the mood for more wine.


    The mood for drinking was really gone.


    She touched the ss with two fingers on the brim and shook it gently, recalling that her third elder brother Shangguan Yun used to do this. The distant memories of the Land of Fragrance suddenly became sweet. Things there were always simple. She could cry, smile, and do whatever she wanted at any time.


    A female soldier came in and reported that Azheba had requested permission toe in.


    With a pink flush all over his cheeks and a big wine jar in his arms, Azheba staggered in, staring nkly at Shangguan Ru. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you drinking?¡±


    Shangguan Ru smiled and raise her ss to show him. ¡°I am drinking.¡±


    Azheba sat down opposite Shangguan Ru with a thud. Then he looked around, seemingly looking for something. ¡°Bowls. We should drink this sort of wine with big bowls.¡±


    The female soldier went out and brought them two bowls immediately. Shangguan Ru signaled for her to stay in the tent.


    The two bowls were filled to the brim and some wine spilled over as it was poured out. Azheba took one and swallowed the wine in one big gulp, then he nkly stared at her again.


    Shangguan Ru drank the wine as well and licked her lips. ¡°This wine¡¯s pretty good.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely. This is a top-notch wine delivered here from the Central ins. It has a strange name, but I already forgot it. There¡¯re only several jars and I took one from His Highness. Ha-ha, His Highness and I have been friends for many years. He won¡¯t me me.¡± Unlike his usual courteous manner, the drunk Azheba was bold, outgoing and talkative.


    Shangguan Ru felt that this Azheba was a little strange, so instead of drinking, she just sipped at the wine. Azheba didn¡¯t notice this and just kept refilling his bowl and drinking. He almost finished half the jar by himself.


    ¡°The Nond¡¯s situation is going to rejuvenate soon, and then Prince Duodun¡¯s going to unify the grasnds. Horsewhip Luoluo? He¡¯s not even necessarily the Khan¡¯s descendant, so how can he possibly be a match for His Highness? Soon ¨C I think during the transition time of next year¡¯s summer and autumn at thetest, the war will be over, His Highness will be a Khan supported by millions, and he will lead us to create history even grander than that of the former Khan.¡±


    ¡°All the tribes on the grasnd have been subjected by the Khan. What kind of ¡®history even grander¡¯ could that be? Conquering the Western Regions? Attacking the Central ins?¡±


    ¡°No. You have no idea howrge the grasnds are. Eight or nine years ago, I once followed the Khan, and we rode westwards for half a year, but we could still see that on the horizon in the west, there were still boundless grasnds, as if we could never reach its end. The Khan pointed forward and said, ¡®My sons and grandsons will keep marching forward until they reach the ce where the sun sets.¡¯¡±


    ¡°You heard that yourself?¡±


    Azheba shook his head and then exined hurriedly, ¡°I was in the rear guard. Another officer told me this. But I wasn¡¯t lying ¨C plenty of people heard it.¡±


    Shangguan Ru tried to console him, smiling saying, ¡°I believe you. This does sound like something the Khan would say.¡±


    ¡°So you can see that you won¡¯t feel lonely on grasnds. There are a lot of things we can do, a lot ofnd waiting for us to conquer them. You can apply your talents there.¡±


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s face became sullen as she asked, ¡°Did Duodun send you here? Again?¡±


    Azheba was so drunk that he couldn¡¯t even recognize the change in her mood. ¡°He didn¡¯t. I¡¯m here of my own ount. And I came her for your own good, really. You¡¯re so¡­ beautiful. You¡¯re more beautiful than all every other women¡¯s beautybined together. And you¡¯re also so smart, bold, and magnanimous. Who else is more qualified than you to be the Khaleesi of the grasnds? I believe that all Nonders would pledge their allegiance to you, fight for you, and die for you, because I myself would do those things for you.¡±


    Shangguan Ru gave a sigh as she said, ¡°You¡¯re drunk.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not. I know what I¡¯m saying. Even if His Highness himself was here, I would still dare to say that I like you. But I¡¯m not worthy of you. Only-¡±


    Shangguan Ru stretched her hand out and gently poked Azheba in his chest. He slowly leaned into the table and fell asleep.


    The female soldier outside the door called some helpers in, dragged him out of the tent, and handed him to some other soldiers.


    Shangguan Ru was weighed down ¨C not by Azheba¡¯s inappropriate words, though. This was the first time that she had suspected that the Dragon King might not be able to win the contest with Prince Duodun for the Nond people¡¯s allegiance, and that maybe there was a reason behind the Second Consort¡¯s confidence.


    When dawn was about to break, Red Bat came back from the city. Shangguan Ru hadn¡¯t gone to sleep yet. Upon seeing her, Red Bat said, ¡°The Dragon King can¡¯t meet Prince Duodun. We¡¯ll have to dy him for at least another day.¡±

 Chapter 790 - Economic Power

    Chapter 790: Economic Power


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Long Fanyun steeled himself for his meeting with prince Duodun. ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s closed door cultivation is in a critical phase, and it will take him at least another three days to reach a safe stopping point. Many apologies, Your Highness.¡±


    Although Duodun had been drinking for more than half the previous night, there was no sign of weariness or drunkenness on his face at all. As he stared at Long Fanyun, the look on Duodun¡¯s face was rather arrogant and callous. ¡°Three days? Isn¡¯t that approximately the amount of time it takes to travel from Jade City to Xiaowan Kingdom? On a swift horse, of course.¡±


    Long Fanyun pretended that he hadn¡¯t grasped the insinuations of prince Duodun¡¯s remarks, cidly replying, ¡°Three days won¡¯t be enough unless it¡¯s the me Foal.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha, hmm. Another three days, huh? Is this your own spection or did the Dragon King tell you this himself?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King told me this himself-¡±


    Before Long Fanyun could finish his sentence, Duodun abruptly stood up. Seemingly anticipating their prince¡¯s move, several of Duodun¡¯spanions who were always by his side immediately surrounded Long Fanyun solidly as if they intended on capturing him right then and there.


    Yet no conflict took ce. There was a slight movement of Long Fanyun¡¯s hand, but he didn¡¯t touch his saber hilt. These men¡¯s intention was merely to iste him from their prince. Duodun then said, ¡°Very good. Since the Dragon King has talked to you, then it shouldn¡¯t be a problem for him to talk to me for a minute. It won¡¯t take long, but I need a response from the Dragon King himself. Let¡¯s go downtown right now, as I need to return to Heaven¡¯s Pass by noon.¡±


    Long Fanyun appeared a little flustered. He nced at Shangguan Ru and Shang Liao, but those two clearly knew that they couldn¡¯t stop prince Duodun, and that the harder they tried to persuade Duodun otherwise, the more suspicious he would be.


    The hundreds of people departed in the early morning and soon entered the city.


    Half of the 10,000 cavalrymen that Gu Shenwei brought back from the Royal Court were stationed outside of the city, and they were enjoying the food and wine brought out by prince Duodunst night. As they were stationed in the city, the other half gave an enthusiastic wee to the prince at the city gate, with loud cheers in Nondnguage, infecting the nearby residents, many of whom started crowding around the street.


    Long Fanyun was very embarrassed ¨C nominally, the Dragon King was the leader of this army, and yet he had never received a wee as warm as this.


    The Second Consort was among the procession. She gave Shangguan Ru a meaningful look, and then, under the cover of the noises of the crowds, she softly whispered, ¡°Back in the Royal Court, the Khan¡¯s descendants were everywhere, so the soldiers were too confused to disy their loyalty ¨C the Dragon King might have misunderstood something because of this. But Duodun¡¯s different. He¡¯s exceptional even whenpared to all the other princes. And now you¡¯ve seen it yourself. Maybe you should talk about this with the Dragon King when you have the chance.¡±


    Shangguan Ru responded to her with nothing more than a smile. She knew that all the young officers like Azheba were truly loyal to Duodun and that it was them who had been instilling the image of prince Duodun being noble and great into the soldiers¡¯ minds. This thought raised a question in her mind. Why would did the Dragon King let this happen? Was it because of carelessness or because he had other ns?


    Dragon King had always been shrouded with mystery from Shangguan Ru¡¯s point of view. Even back when they were young and innocent, that teenager called Servant Huan had frequently given her surprises and mysteries. Now it was even more difficult for her to specte on the Dragon King¡¯s thoughts.


    The capital of Xiaowan Kingdom was not arge city, and the procession soon arrived at the entrance of the royal pce, where Duodun had encountered an enormous hindrance.


    Chu Nanping was standing in the middle of the gateway, with two swords, one of which was the Dragon Head Sword that the Dragon King had given to him, hanging on his waist.


    A dozen pce guards were standing quite a distance away, equally in awe of both the teenager and the prince of Nond.


    Four bodyguards jumped off of their horses, walked towards Chu Nanping, and ordered him to get out of the way.


    Chu Nanping ignored the bodyguards and loudly announced, ¡°the Dragon King¡¯s in closed door cultivation. No entry is allowed without an explicit invitation.¡±


    ¡°This is prince Duodun, the Army Supervisor of the Nond Cavalry, not someone uninvited,¡± a bodyguard said angrily, his hand grasping his saber hilt.


    Without even giving them a nce, Chu Nanping continued talking. ¡°The prince may go in, but he has to do so alone.¡±


    Duodun let out a shortugh and it was hard to tell whether theugh was a surprised chortle or a sneering mockery. His eyes swept around his party and then focused on Shangguan Ru before he asked, ¡°Does the Dragon King like ying these kinds of tricks very much?¡±


    Shangguan Ru shook her head as she replied, ¡°This is a basic principle of closed door cultivation. The quieter, the better. That way, he¡¯ll be able to keep misceneous thoughts out of his mind.¡±


    ¡°Does the fight for supremacy count as a misceneous thought?¡±


    ¡°During closed door cultivation, anything other than martial arts is irrelevant. This is the true essence of closed door cultivation.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like the theory those Central in guys used to delude the Khan with.¡±


    ¡°This is the rule. Please understand, Your Highness.¡±


    Twopanions of prince Duodun got off of their horses as well and started negotiating with Chu Nanping and Long Fanyun, but the biggest concession that the teenage swordsman was willing to make was to allow three people to enter the pce.


    Watching from the side, Duodun didn¡¯t give any instructions. Atst he said, ¡°Okay, then. Since Dragon King wants to be an immortal, we mortals shouldn¡¯t be too stubborn. Three of us will go inside. Azheba, I, and-¡±


    Before he could finish his remark, all the others opposed in unison. They refused to let their prince take any risk. They trusted the Dragon King, but this pce belonged to Shangguan Yun and they were not sure whether there were any hidden dangers in it.


    People started arguing, and eventually the Second Consort came up with an idea. ¡°A king would never kneel to another king, so you shouldn¡¯t go inside yourself, Your Highness. You have so many trustworthy men, and it makes no difference who actually enters the pce. I don¡¯t think that they would make any mistakes.¡±


    After pondering for a while, Duodun reluctantly agreed to her n. He designated Azheba, anotherpanion of his, and Shangguan Ru for the final spot.


    ¡°I¡¯m not your subordinate,¡± Shangguan Ru refused with a smile as she pointed out Duodun¡¯s mistake.


    ¡°Of course you¡¯re not. But two men are more than enough to send a message, so I¡¯d like to give you a chance to meet the Dragon King.¡±


    Shangguan Ru exchanged an nce with Long Fanyun ¨C this was not a part of their n. ¡°Well¡­ Okay, then. Thank you for giving me this precious opportunity, Your Highness.¡±


    Duodun smiled but didn¡¯t say anything as he thought, <em>¡®If there¡¯s really something going on between this woman and the Dragon King, I might be able to figure out the truth behind whether the Dragon King is really in the pce is true or not when shees out.¡¯</em>


    While Long Fanyun and the others were having a hard time dealing with prince Duodun, Gu Shenwei was stranded in Heaven¡¯s Pass.


    He couldn¡¯t speed anything up. The meetings with Old Hong and Madam Meng as well as the efforts needed to evade the surveince of Golden Roc Castle both required a certain amount of time. And there were also some issues in Heaven¡¯s Pass that required his immediate attention.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have any money left/¡± Xu Xiaoyi knew that the Dragon King never liked pleasantries, so he went straight to the point. ¡°Currently I have nothing but a bunch of unpaid debts. And I think that in less than ten days, the creditors will find out the truth about the Dragon Army¡¯s financial situation, which would be a disaster.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had anticipated this situation in advance. ¡°It¡¯s okay. We¡¯ll get rich really soon.¡±


    ¡°You convinced the Meng family?¡± Xu Xiaoyi was overjoyed even though he had every bit of confidence in the Dragon King. Just from the thought of Meng family¡¯s enormous wealth, Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s mature face tensed up in excitement, and enthusiasm appeared in his eyes as if he had changed back to the person he used to be. ¡°When is it going to arrive? I¡¯ll be able to handle the creditors if I know the details.¡±


    Yet the Dragon King¡¯s next move threw a wet nket over Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s fiery exhration. ¡°This batch of money won¡¯t be under your management. From now on, you just have to focus on collecting intelligence.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi was shocked and depressed. The beard he had been growing for a long time quivered awkwardly as if it was going to fall off. ¡°Did I do something wrong, Dragon King? I swear, I never stole a single copper from the money I dealt with. If there¡¯s any money missing, however small the amount is, I¡¯ll hand it over right now.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to. Actually you should save some money for yourself and your elder sister as you¡¯ve done a good job. If it weren¡¯t for you, I would¡¯ve spent all of the money a lot earlier.¡±


    ¡°But-¡±


    ¡°This is one of the conditions of the Meng family. They want someone they trust to manage the finances.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± Xu Xiaoyi felt a stabbing pain in his heart ¨C the Meng family in the Northern Jade City was the richest family in the West Regions, and if he could manage their countless assets¡­ He couldn¡¯t bear thinking about it anymore. ¡°From now on, I¡¯ll manage those small ounts for the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°No. All you have to do is collect intelligence. Hand over all your economic umtions to the Meng family.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Xu Xiaoyi jumped up in shock. If he had to hand over some of his responsibilities, he wanted it to be the intelligence gathering aspect. ¡°How can you trust them, Dragon King? They¡¯ve been with good terms with Golden Roc Castle for generations. When a crisis arises, they¡¯ll surely betray you and deal a¡­ What¡¯s that word?¡±


    ¡°A counterblow.¡±


    ¡°Yes, a counterblow. Dragon King, it¡¯s okay if you want someone else to handle the money, but it can¡¯t be someone from the Meng family.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s give it a shot. As long as you keep one eye open, I think we¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that¡­?¡±


    ¡°We can never have too much intelligence.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi giggled as he changed stances and said, ¡°Well, then. The Meng family will be in charge of the Dragon King¡¯s money, and I¡¯ll monitor the Meng family for the Dragon King. s¡­ Exactly how much money do they have? Tens of millions? Hundreds of millions?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s part of the intelligence you¡¯ll have to collect.¡±


    ¡°When¡¯s the Meng family guy going to arrive? I think I have some handing over to do.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s already arrived.¡±


    An hourter, Xu Xiaoyi met the person who was both his sessor and his rival. He opened his mouth yet was unable to say a word for quite a while.


    Xiao Fengchai smiled as he replied, ¡°Although I get this expression a lot when men see me, yours is a little more dramatic than most.¡±


    ¡°How are you a member of Meng family? Second Young¡­ Meng Mingshu¡­ So this was the reason of your quarrel.¡±


    In order to leave Jade City without arousing anyone¡¯s suspicion, Xiao Fengchai and Meng Mingshu had made quite a scene. They had a terrible fight against each other and nearly tore the house down. All the prostitutes in Pleasure Alley had taken a day off to watch the fight. The night when Xiao Fengchai had dered her decision to leave Jade City for good, all of the prostitutes had served their customers with unprecedented hospitality.


    ¡°Second Brother trusts me and has put me in charge of the family assets. It seems that we¡¯ll be seeing each other a lot more often from now on.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m honored,¡± Xu Xiaoyi responded, in awe of both the Meng family and the Dragon King. He found it incredible that the Meng family would entrust such a huge sum of money to a woman. But this woman was the most famous prostitute in all of Jade City, and even his own elder sister Xu Yanwei, who had worked very hard for so many years in the same profession, was still a far cry from reaching this woman¡¯s fame. Thus, he felt that what had happened was reasonable and that his defeat by this woman was not really that humiliating. Actually, it was almost a reward that they would be ¡°seeing each other a lot more often.¡±


    After helping Xiao Fengchai settle down, L¨¹ Qiying came to consult the Dragon King about the issue of delivering the provisions out of the Heaven¡¯s Pass. It was already the afternoon when Gu Shenwei finished all the discussions, so he decided to depart at night.


    Xu Xiaoyi had been shocked ever since receiving the news that he would have to hand over his financial powers and it was quite a whileter that he suddenly recalled that he still had a lot of intelligence to report to the Dragon King. After taking a while to prioritize them, Xu Xiaoyi started reporting.


    News about Shangguan Ru was at the bottom of the list.


    ¡°Tenth Young Master¡­ has a lot of friends, and an amazing drinking capacity ¨C the men working for me have admitted defeat.¡±


    ¡°Who did she meet?¡± Gu Shenwei asked, remembering the inexplicable warning of Madam Meng.


    ¡°That guy named Azheba visited several times and Duodun sends people there all the time. Dragon King, Duodun hasn¡¯t given up yet, so you have to be careful. And there¡¯re also some other Nond officers. I have their names written down here. Er¡­¡±


    ¡°Anything unusual?¡±


    Actually what surprised Xu Xiaoyi the most was the fact that the Dragon King cared so much about Shangguan Ru even though he didn¡¯t seemed to trust her very much. Xu Xiaoyi had always been on the Dragon King¡¯s side, so he immediately changed his perspective on Shangguan Ru and felt that he had made a terrible mistake by not having informed the Dragon King earlier of a particr message.


    ¡°Several days ago, a mysterious guest paid a visit to Tenth Young Master

 Chapter 791 - Authenticity

    Chapter 791: Authenticity


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Han Fen concentrated all her attention on disguising herself, taking off and putting on clothes as if there were nobody else in the room. Humming a weird tone, she didn¡¯t seem to hate this imprisoned life at all.


    Shangguan Yun was lying in a chair, silently watching Han Fen. There was more than one room in this suite, but he¡¯d rather sit here and watch a crazy woman than stay in a room alone. ¡°Han Fen, you know what? You look prettier when you¡¯re naked.¡±


    ¡°I know. You don¡¯t have to see my face when I¡¯m naked.¡±


    Shangguan Yun raised his thumb and replied, ¡°You can tell what I¡¯m really saying. So smart. But I meant no offence. It¡¯s not your face but rather the Dragon King¡¯s face that I was talking about. That sullen face isn¡¯t worthy of such a perfect body.¡±


    ¡°My face isn¡¯t that pretty either. Several men have told me that.¡±


    Shangguan Yun knew that he would probably regret it, but he still asked, ¡°And you killed all of them, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    Han Fen turned her head. Her face looked exactly like the Dragon King¡¯s, yet the smile on it seemed as if it¡¯d never appeared on this face before. ¡°I didn¡¯t. I just tossed them into a deep pit in the desert and left them there. Whether they survived or not has nothing to do with me.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that count as killing them?¡±


    ¡°Of course it doesn¡¯t,¡± Han Fen exined patiently. ¡°Killing someone requires me to do it myself ¨C stabbing, scratching, forcing them to swallow pills, cutting them open, etc. But tossing them into a pit is different. I told them that they ¡®either crawled out of this pit or I drag them up seven dayster.¡¯ You see, they still had a chance to survive. They just failed to clearly seize it.¡±


    Shangguan Yun nodded favorably as he replied, ¡°Now I know how to keep my hands clean. Er, can I offer a suggestion?¡±


    ¡°You can. But I may not necessarily ept it.¡±


    ¡°Suit yourself. But I think that there¡¯re too many differences between your manner and that of the Dragon King. People might see through the act.¡±


    The ¡°Dragon King¡± widened her eyes, which was yet another expression that had never appeared on Dragon King¡¯s face before. ¡°Are you saying that I don¡¯t resemble the Dragon King? Ha, I¡¯m the best master of disguise in the Waning Moon Hall. Even the Master Commander herself praised me once. And yet you dare say that I don¡¯t resemble the Dragon King? I¡¯ve been observing the Dragon King for quite a long time. All I need to do now is give myself some extra height and then tten down the chest a little bit.¡±


    Shangguan Yun nodded again as he consoled, ¡°Now that you¡¯ve said this, I feel like you resemble the Dragon King much more. You said that you¡¯ve been observing the Dragon King for quite a long time?¡±


    Han Fen raised her head and started recalling the past. ¡°The first time I met the Dragon King was in the Hui Kingdom of Xiaoyao Lake. Back then, the weather was approximately the same as it is now. And then a winter passed, then a spring, a summer, and then an autumn. You see, I¡¯ve been observing him for four entire seasons.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that is quite a long time. Er, after such a long time of observation, what kind of man do you think the Dragon King is?¡±


    Han Fen had finished disguising herself. She was putting away the tools on the table, contemting Shangguan Yun¡¯s question and frowning. ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s a man.¡±


    ¡°Your observation is so deep. Ordinary people would never have noticed that,¡± Shangguan Yun teased as he turned the talking into his own source of amusement.


    ¡°He¡¯s also handsome. Much more handsome than you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not fair. I¡¯m sure that I¡¯d definitely be much more handsome than the Dragon King if I were a dozen years younger.¡±


    ¡°You want to be younger? Maybe I can help.¡±


    ¡°I heard that the secret arts of the Waning Moon Hall are very mysterious, but no thank you. Even if I be more handsome than the Dragon King, I wouldn¡¯t have his status. Let¡¯s talk more about him. What else have you noticed?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not happy. He wants to be happy, but he¡¯s not. He keeps everything to himself and never shows anything on his face.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha, I heard that the troops gave a nickname to Dragon King ¨C ¡®Faceless.¡¯ They say that he puts on the same expression every day as if he has no face.¡±


    ¡°Faceless¡­ Has no face¡­ no face. Ha-ha, that¡¯s is pretty interesting. But that¡¯s not the real Dragon King, it¡¯s¡­ The affected Dragon King, just like a disguise. Yes, every day, the Dragon King puts on a disguise.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯ve seen the real Dragon King?¡± Shangguan Yun asked curiously.


    ¡°Sure,¡± Han Fen answered as she pointed at her eyes. ¡°They see everything.¡±


    ¡°Please, borate.¡±


    Han Fen shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to describe it. And you might not be able to understand even if I do exin.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, I am a little slow. But I¡¯ve been staying with you for several days, so maybe I got smarter during that time.¡±


    Han Fen had a grave look on her face, which made her resemble the Dragon King much more. She walked closer to Shangguan Yun and inexplicably lowered her voice to say, ¡°The Dragon King looks like Master Commander, but he¡¯d actually rather be a little girl ¨C smiling whenever he wants, drinking whenever he wants, and being protected by someone wherever he goes.¡±


    ¡°Which little girl¡­ Are you referring to sister Ru?¡±


    ¡°Yep. That little girl¡¯s your younger sister? I don¡¯t see the resemnce. Anyways, the real Dragon King wants to be a woman, so I¡¯m the one that¡¯s most suited to act as him.¡±


    It was not specifically a ¡°woman¡± that the Dragon King wanted to be. But Shangguan Yun didn¡¯t contradict her. On the contrary, he felt that the words this lunatic Han Fen had spoken did have some truth to them.


    ¡°What kind of man do you think I am?¡±


    ¡°You are like Han Xuan.¡±


    ¡°Han Xuan?¡± Shangguan Yun could faintly recall that this was the name of a maidservant of somedy.


    ¡°Yep, my good friend. She loves chatting with me and she¡¯s interested in everything, just like you.¡±


    Shangguan Yun gave out a bitter smile upon realizing that he had be one of Han Fen¡¯s chatting buddies.


    Then someone knocked the door. Shangguan Yun nced at Han Fen, walked to the door, and opened the hole in the door ¨C food was delivered through this hole every day. Then he stepped aside, wondering whether Han Fen could trick the people outside into believing that she was the Dragon King.


    Azheba was standing in the middle while Shangguan Ru and one of Prince Duodun¡¯spanions were on the right and left side of Azheba, respectively.


    ¡°Azheba requested for a meeting with you. My apologies for the inconvenience, Dragon King,¡± Azheba said respectfully. Although he served under Prince Duodun, he still held a heartfelt respect towards the Dragon King.


    Dragon King¡¯s face appeared on the other side of the hole in the door. After contemting martial arts for many days, the look on his face was colder and more sullen. His eyes swept through the three people¡¯s faces, slightly pausing on Shangguan Ru¡¯s face, before asking Azheba, ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°His Highness ordered me to deliver a message to you. All of the provisions for the 70,000 troops in Heaven¡¯s Pass were supposed to be from Shu Le Kingdom. Originally, this was supposed to be an obligatory offering of a subject nation, but the Dragon King has been purchasing provisions at a high price, so all of the residents of the Shule Kingdom are hiding their food and hays. Eventually, those selfish residents would will end up as the only beneficiaries, and both of us will suffer losses.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡±


    Azheba looked at the face on the other side of the door, ¡°His Highness hopes that the Dragon King will stop the purchasing right away. What kind of response should I convey?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll delegate the issue of the provisions to Instructor Shangguan. She¡¯ll answer to the prince.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± Shangguan Ru asked in surprise.


    ¡°This is my decision,¡± The hole closed up, and the Dragon King¡¯s face disappeared.


    Chu Nanping walked over from behind and said in a muted voice, ¡°Please.¡±


    The three left in great confusion. Thatpanion of Prince Duodun¡¯s kept turning his head to look at Shangguan Ru as if the answer were written on her face.


    Back in the room, Shangguan Yun gently pped his hands but didn¡¯t make any sounds. ¡°You were so good, Han Fen. I think that I¡¯m about to fall in love with you soon.¡±


    ¡°With me or the Dragon King?¡± Han Fen asked with a smile as she switched back to her original voice.


    ¡°With you, of course. I don¡¯t have any special interests like that.¡±


    ¡°Well, then. I love you, too. I exceptionally love your mouth. When I cut you to pieces, I¡¯ll keep it and put it in a jar, so that it¡¯ll be preserved for many years.¡±


    Shangguan Yun stroked his mouth and smiled. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll love youter.¡±


    ¡°Anytime.¡±


    At the entrance of the royal pce, Prince Duodun wasn¡¯t very surprised to hear that Shangguan Ru had been appointed as the representative of the Dragon King. What he cared more about was the reaction of his twopanions.


    Azheba nodded his head slowly, indicating that the Dragon King inside was real. The otherpanion hesitated and didn¡¯t give a definite reply ¨C clearly, he wished tomunicate with the prince in private.


    ¡°Now that the Dragon King has delegated the provisions issue to Instructor Shangguan, what¡¯s your reply?¡± Duodun looked at Shangguan Ru, a shadow of a reserved smile on his face.


    ¡°I have to figure out the context first. The Dragon King¡¯s provisions are being held at Heaven¡¯s Pass anyway, so we might as well go back first.¡± Shangguan Ru tried to dy her response for as long as possible, hoping that the Dragon King would give her some indication soon.


    Duodun and the others returned to the Heaven¡¯s Pass at dusk. Shangguan Ru, however, made an excuse that she needed to check on her troops and dyed the response until the following morning.


    Xu Xiaoyi informed Shangguan Ru of the amount of provisions and money that they had left behind, but he said that he didn¡¯t have any news of the Dragon King.


    Shangguan Ru worked for half a night, and then finally she believed she was ready. It was nearly the third night-watch cycle when she returned to her bedroom. After Red Bat put out themp and left, Shangguan Ru sat beside the window, not sleepy at all. She wanted to drink, but there was no wine in the room.


    A faint sound came from behind. Shangguan Ru smiled and calmly said, ¡°You don¡¯t knock on windows with stones anymore?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had been staring at her figure for a while, ruminating on the intelligence that Xu Xiaoyi had passed along to him.


    Three nights ago, one of Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s men had identally received a jar of good wine and he had excitedly given it to Shangguan Ru. Everybody knew that she always sleptte, so nobody thought that it would be inappropriate to do so.


    Shangguan Ru epted the wine and thanked him for his generosity, but didn¡¯t invite him to have a drink with her, which was not what she would usually do. That man was confused, so he reported it to his superior.


    Xu Xiaoyi then assigned some men to monitor her house for the rest of the night, but there was no sign of anyoneing or going from her house. However, the door and all of the windows of Shangguan Ru¡¯s house were shut tight, and the house was exceptionally quiet. All the men who monitored the house unanimously believed that she had met a mysterious guest that night, and that she had just so good at camouge that nobody had discovered it.


    As to why he hadn¡¯t reported this to the Dragon King earlier, Xu Xiaoyi had an excellent excuse. ¡°I thought¡­ ha-ha¡­ that guest was the Dragon King¡­¡±


    Three days ago, Gu Shenwei was still traveling. Even if the red-crowned giant roc had carried him to his destination, he couldn¡¯t have made it to Heaven¡¯s Pass that quickly.


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t turn her head around, as if she had anticipated his midnight visit.


    Gu Shenwei let out a slight cough as he apologized, ¡°Sorry. I don¡¯t want to attract any attention.¡±


    The smile on Shangguan Ru¡¯s face disappeared. She had just remembered that neither she nor the Dragon King was a child anymore, and that they would never y the window-knocking game again. ¡°You arrived just in time. There are a lot of issues for you to deal with.¡±


    ¡°Tell Duodun that I¡¯ll stop purchasing, but the provisions that are already in Heaven¡¯s Pass can¡¯t be returned. I hope that he will let them through.¡±


    ¡°I think he¡¯ll agree, but are you really willing topromise just like this?¡± Shangguan Ru still didn¡¯t turn her head around.


    ¡°Compromise? No. There aren¡¯t that many provisions in Xiaowan Kingdom left, so I¡¯m going to build a granary in the southern part of the Shu Le Kingdom and keep purchasing supplies. I won¡¯t have to go through any checkpoints any longer.¡±


    ¡°Duodun¡¯s not going to be happy about that, and you also seem to be running out of money.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve raised money. It¡¯ll arrive soon.¡±


    ¡°No wonder everybody keeps saying that Xiao Fengchai¡¯s in Heaven¡¯s Pass. It turns out that she came here to deliver you money. So the Meng family has taken your side?¡±


    But Shangguan Ru soon guessed the truth.


    ¡°Meng Yuzun was killed,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    Shangguan Ru sighed. Both of them had something to say, but neither of them knew what to say, so they both fell into an awkward silence.


    ¡°The Unique King paid you a visit,¡± Gu Shenwei said abruptly.


    Shangguan Ru was numb for a brief moment, and then she slowly nodded. ¡°He did.¡±

 Chapter 792 - Holding No Resentment

    Chapter 792: Holding No Resentment


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    With a smile, Shangguan Ru finally turned around and looked the Dragon King who was standing in shadow dead in the eye. ¡°So is this what it feels like to be your enemy?¡±


    Gu Shenwei walked out of the shadows. Standing five steps away from her, he shook his head and replied, ¡°No. I don¡¯t regard you as an enemy.¡±


    Shangguan Ru squinted and peered at him for a while before asking, ¡°Did the wound in your mouth heal?¡±


    When they had partedst in the Royal Court, Shangguan Ru had bitten his lip very hard. After that, many people had given Gu Shenwei a confused gaze, but even Old Man Mu didn¡¯t dare to ask any questions.


    He raised his hand and stroked his lip lightly. ¡°Just a superficial injury.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha.¡± Shangguan Ru couldn¡¯t properly describe her feelings, but when the Dragon King was not around, all she could remember was that sullen, sly face of the Dragon King¡¯s. But when they were face to face, the image of Servant Huan would always overwhelm the former¡¯s. Yet she didn¡¯t dare mention these two words because she feared that the Dragon King might feel humiliated by them.


    ¡°Do you want to know what my father said to me?¡±


    ¡°Yes, if I may.¡±


    Shangguan Ru raised her head and thought for a while before saying, ¡°He said that he missed me very much and that he regretted his previous decision to have me killed. He also said that that wasn¡¯t his true intention, and that he hoped that I woulde back to Golden Roc Castle. And then he told me that everything in my room is as I left it, that he and I could start over, and that I¡¯m still the Tenth Young Master.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was slightly annoyed as he used, ¡°You¡¯re lying.¡±


    Shangguan Ru sighed in defeat. ¡°That¡¯s what I wished he said. Actually, he didn¡¯t say anything about regret, as if he¡¯d never tried to kill me or my elder brother. Actually he¡­ didn¡¯t say anything.¡±


    ¡°Nothing at all?¡±


    ¡°He just stood there,¡± Shangguan Ru said as she pointed at a ce about three steps away from Gu Shenwei. ¡°He just gazed at me silently and then left soon after. I almost thought that it was just a dream.¡±


    ¡°But he dide.¡±


    ¡°He did. And he gave me this,¡± Shangguan Ru produced a jade waist token. The color of the jade was green, and there was the word ¡°Roc¡± carved on the token, which indicated that this was not a ¡°Jue¡± waist token owned bymon killers but a far more superior one. It represented far greater authority in Golden Roc Castle.


    Gu Shenwei nced at it and then said in a gentler voice, ¡°Like I said, you should return to the Land of Fragrance.¡±


    ¡°And ignore what¡¯s about to happen?¡±


    ¡°You want to be in the war? Fine. Make a choice right now.¡±


    ¡°Choice? I¡¯ve never had a choice. I¡¯ll never go back to Golden Roc Castle. Neither will I ever¡­¡± Shangguan Ru shook her head slowly as she stopped talking. There were too many impossible things to exin and she was about to break down. ¡°This is why wine exists in this world.¡±


    ¡°However much you drink, it won¡¯t change anything.¡± Gu Shenwei believed that he had to be cruel at this moment. ¡°Soon, I¡¯llunch an attack on Golden Roc Castle and I¡¯ll kill the Unique King and all his followers. If I fail, I¡¯ll be the one who dies. This is a fact that cannot be changed by wine or anything else.¡±


    After sitting there transfixed for quite a while, Shangguan Ru said, ¡°Duodun¡¯s trying his best to win over the cavalrymen you brought back from the Nond. He¡¯s very charismatic with the Nond people. You have to be careful.¡±


    She was trying to sidetrack him, but Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t let her do so. Now that she hadn¡¯t returned to the Land of Fragrance but still wanted to stay out of this, she had to face the brutal reality. ¡°I¡¯m still waiting for your answer.¡±


    ¡°To what? Oh, right, Golden Roc Castle.¡± Shangguan Ru started contemting the situation. ¡°Back when my father assigned my brother to the Stone Kingdom at Xiaoyao Lake, I didn¡¯t really have to go with him. It was actually my mother who insisted that I go. She wished that I would be able to ask my father to show mercy on behalf of my brother, but¡­ I refused to do that, and my mother was very angry with me. So, to some extent, my father actually didn¡¯t n to have me killed.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t respond. When it came to a father-daughter rtionship, he knew that no argument or exnation from others would help, and that Shangguan Ru had to find the answer by herself.


    ¡°But he didn¡¯t try to save me either,¡± Shangguan Ru said as she continued her out loud deliberation. ¡°The reason why he came to see me is because everybody¡¯s saying that I¡¯m the queen of the Land of Fragrance, and because Duodun, who owns hundreds of thousands of troops as well as Heaven¡¯s Pass, ims that he¡¯s determined to marry me. There¡¯re no family ties in Golden Roc Castle. My father hates my mother, my mother hates me, and everybody else hates my father ¨C they just refuse to show it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the only one who doesn¡¯t hate him.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s voice was growing even gentler as he spoke. ¡°You don¡¯t hate anyone.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± With two tears in her eyes, they were gleaming exceptionally brightly. ¡°With all of this death and killing, with all those things that I did long ago, what right do I have to hate anybody, anybody at all? To please my father, I once killed the giant roc. Topete with the Horned Dragon Society, I gave the order to take the lives of countless sabermen. They killed each other and suffered from the burning fire right under my nose, even as I watched delightedly upstairs, thinking that this was victory and glory.¡±


    Gu Shenwei walked forward. While he was still hesitating, Shangguan Ru suddenly leaned against him, wrapped her arms around his waist, and started crying silently.


    He put his hand on her head, but there was not a single bit of weakness in his heart because before he came here, he had anticipated every emotion that might arise in him and had locked them all up in a corner of his heart. But there was still a brief pause in his voice before he spoke, saying, ¡°This is an ugly world, but you¡¯re not the worst person in it ¨C at the very least, not worse than me, and certainly much less worse than Old Man Mu.¡±


    Shangguan Ru let out a shortugh and raised herself up. Seeing that her tears had soaked arge part of his clothes, Shangguan Ru started wiping it with her hands in embarrassment. She identally touched the scars on his body and felt a chill creep down her spine, but she didn¡¯t move her fingers away. Instead, they started stroking the scars as she said, ¡°You¡¯re not a viin, and Old Man Mu stopped doing evil things a long time ago.¡±


    ¡°He only stopped doing evil things because he¡¯s unable to do any. If he regains his power, you and I would be the first ones he kills.¡±


    ¡°It turns out that it¡¯s not easy being a viin either.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not. Your kung fu has to be better than that of others. You have to be more creative, faster, and also more ruthless.¡±


    Shangguan Ru drew her hands back. ¡°Sometimes I feel like you¡¯re extremely simr to my father.¡±


    ¡°The day I entered Golden Roc Castle, I made a resolution to be someone like the Unique King because he killed all my family, which means that he¡¯s stronger than my father and my brothers.¡±


    This was a naked philosophy of revenge. Upon hearing this, Shangguan Ru felt her heart skip a beat and that this man before her was bing more and more simr to her father, ¡°No-¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Gu Shenwei said before she could finish her remark. ¡°Whatever the Unique King did to his enemies, I¡¯ll do the same. He won¡¯t show any mercy, and I won¡¯t either.¡±


    Shangguan Ru felt as if she had just woken up from a dream. The situation was very simple; it was just that she had been unwilling to think about it all along. ¡°Even if you don¡¯t try to kill him, he¡¯ll still kill you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    The look on Shangguan Ru¡¯s face went back to normal. ¡°I won¡¯t do anything against the Dragon Army¡¯s interests, and neither will I beg you to show mercy to my father. That resentment is between you and the Unique King. Golden Roc Castle has been there for many years, and it¡¯s about time it fell. But I¡¯m not going to help you destroy it. After I get Shaomin back, I¡¯ll return to the Land of Fragrance as soon as possible.


    ¡°Please do that,¡± Gu Shenwei said in a formal tone. He still trusted her wholeheartedly, more than he trusted anyone else, although there was no explicit reason behind that trust.


    ¡°I suggest you keep an eye on Duodun. He¡¯s no simple man. You haven¡¯t seen what he did in the Xiaowan Kingdom. Although you¡¯re the one who led those Nond troops here, they sincerely support their prince, and their cheers for him were heartfelt. And Duodun didn¡¯t let slip a single bit of their emotion.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be worried about with regards to Duodun.¡± Gu Shenwei was indifferent. ¡°Just like the Khan, he thinks that loyalty is something that people are born with and that he can manipte it in whatever way he wants. However, he¡¯s not the Khan and he¡¯ll never be the King of Nond.¡±


    Shangguan Ru felt that the Dragon King¡¯s calmness was both admirable and annoying, as she asked, ¡°You think that the Court Attendants Army won¡¯t pledge their allegiance to Duodun?¡±


    Among the 100,000 plus Nond cavalrymen that Gu Shenwei had gained, the core consisted of the more than 90,000 strong Court Attendants troops. Not only were they thergest faction, but they also possessed the greatest fighting capability. At present, they were stationed in the Royal Court, leveling the hill, guarding the Khan¡¯s mausoleum, as well as holding back Prince Luoluo¡¯s army that was marching westwards. They wouldn¡¯t leave there until there was enough grass to cover all the signs of the mausoleum in the spring of next year.


    ¡°Nobody can easily win over the Court Attendants Army¡¯s allegiance.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d better have other methods to deal with this. Duodun¡¯s better at gathering people under his banner than any of the ten kings of Nond. To be honest, he¡¯s even better than you in this regard.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t say anything. Suddenly, Shangguan Ru blushed and said, ¡°For your information, if I were forced into marrying Duodun, even if it¡¯s just a faint possibility, you¡¯ll be the one I hate the most in the world.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just Duodun¡¯s irrational hopes.¡±


    It was already after midnight when Gu Shenwei left. Worrying that he might have wasted too much time in Shangguan Ru¡¯s room, he immediately went to Xu Xiaoyi. ¡°The Unique King¡¯s in Heaven¡¯s Pass.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Xu Xiaoyi was startled. ¡°Howe¡­ There¡¯s no sign of it at all?¡±


    ¡°He arrived approximately three days ago and he¡¯s probably still here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll send all of our men right away.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t. He¡¯ll know and flee if you do that. I might know where he¡¯s hiding.¡±


    ¡°Duodun,¡± Xu Xiaoyi yelled in realization, and then he quickly lowered his voice. ¡°Duodun¡¯s always been in contact with Golden Roc Castle. Given that the Unique King¡¯s no longer in a favorable situation, he must havee here to Duodun for help.¡±


    ¡°Duodun despises Golden Roc Castle. He wants servants not allies, so he¡¯s not the one the Unique King would go to.¡± Gu Shenwei had another person in mind, but there was not enough evidence to prove it. ¡°How¡¯s Mo Chu doing these days?¡±


    ¡°Mo Chu?¡± Xu Xiaoyi was surprised. Nominally, Mo Chu was the Governor of Jade City and the Commander-in-chief of the 70,000 Nond cavalrymen, but Duodun was the one who was in de facto control of the troops. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that Shangguan Ru had inexplicably rescued him, he would still be in prison.


    ¡°Yeah, him.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi quickly recalled some information. ¡°Well, Mo Chu¡¯s pretty normal and doesn¡¯t hang out very often. asionally, he¡¯ll drink with his former subordinates and grumble, but he¡¯s never done anything dramatic, and he¡¯s never even been to the army camp either.¡±


    ¡°He never came to you or Instructor Shangguan?¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t. Not even once. Oh, I remember now,¡± Xu Xiaoyi finally saw what the Dragon King was hinting at. ¡°Mo Chu¡¯s a cunning bastard. Duodun took away his army and threw him in prison. This old guy definitely wouldn¡¯t have swallowed it lying down. But the Tenth Young Master saved his life. How could he just pretend to now know anything about it? Besides, the Dragon King is such a powerful ally, and yet he also acts as if he doesn¡¯t care, so obviously he has another n to take revenge¡­¡±


    ¡°Send more men to protect Xiao Fengchai and L¨¹ Qiying. Currently, they¡¯re very important.¡±


    ¡°Yes. What about Mo Chu? Should I monitor him?¡±


    Gu Shenwei decided to pay Mo Chu a visit himself and Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s opposition didn¡¯t make him change his mind. He was eager to find out whether there was still a gap between his kung fu and that of the Unique King.


    And this was exactly such an opportunity.

 Chapter 793 - Asking for Help

    Chapter 793: Asking for Help


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Xiao Fengchai slightly regretted making that reckless decision. Judging from what she had seen in the Royal Court and the fact that the Dragon King had easily borrowed more than 100,000 Nond cavalrymen, she had thought that Jade City would soon free itself from Golden Roc Castle¡¯s control. However, the events in Heaven¡¯s Pass had made her less confident in her previous judgment.


    All the provisions of the Dragon King were being dyed as they arrived in Heaven¡¯s Pass, and all of the soldiers and refugees were talking about the deeds of Prince Duodun. Byparison, people rarely talked about the Dragon King. Anyone who stood outside in any of the streets would be affected by the rumors running around and within an hour, wouldpletely believe that the prince would be the Khan in the future.


    A trace of regret surfaced in Xiao Fengchai, but it was not enough to change her mind. She believed in the Dragon King. Ever since that man had coldly refused her seductive moves, she had always believed that he was an ambitious man.


    Just like with business, nobody could urately predict the rise and fall of market prices. Sometimes, businessmen would stockpile a certain kind ofmodity just because many people believed that it would appreciate in value. But in the end, too many people would hoard thismodity and the price would drop drastically instead of rising, causing a disaster.


    The Dragon King was in such a phase. Many people believed in him, and yet even more didn¡¯t. Xiao Fengchai believed that this was the perfect time to take the Dragon Army¡¯s side ¨C it would be too risky to do so at an earlier time, and anyter might result in receiving a lower status.


    Originally she was not a gambler, but she had gotten tired of theing and going of customers in Pleasure Alley, and she was also tired of Meng Mingshu¡¯s impulsiveness and stupidity. The Meng family was about to be destroyed ¨C either by Golden Roc Castle or by Dragon King. However, her ¡°Second Brother¡± was still recklessly indulging himself in his petty love for women,pletely unaware of his family¡¯s imminent fate.


    To be on the safe side, she decided to first test the waters of the Dragon King¡¯s influence.


    After receiving the invitation, Xu Xiaoyi returned to Xiao Fengchai¡¯s ce immediately. He knew that this woman was not young any more. Back when he was a petty thief in these stinky streets and alleys, she had already established a widespread reputation and frequently appeared in many men¡¯s dreams.


    Xu Xiaoyi was no exception as a man. Thest time he met her, he hadn¡¯t dared express his true feelings because of the Dragon King¡¯s presence. But now, he finally had the chance to express his excitement at fulfilling his dream. ¡°Madam Xiao, you might not remember it, but we were actually neighbors back in Pleasure Alley. There was even a time when I lived next to your house. I never expected that¡­ I don¡¯t mean to be rude, but¡­ I just want to say that it¡¯s an honor to work with you.¡±


    This kind of man was verymonce in Xiao Fengchai¡¯s eyes, and she naturally put on a delighted and perfunctory smile, ¡°I remember now. You¡¯re Xu Yanwei¡¯s younger brother. Pleasure Alley provides nosting pleasure; now that you¡¯ve left, you should never go back.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes. My sister and I share your opinion. But, Madam Xiao¡­¡±


    ¡°I invited you here because I could use a favor.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King said that, ¡®From now on, Madam Xiao will fully be in charge of the Dragon Army¡¯s finances. Xu Xiaoyi will work as the deputy and assist Madam Xiao in any and all matters.¡¯ So, you don¡¯t have to use the word ¡®favor,¡¯ Madam Xiao. Just give me your orders.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai epted his ttery in an unperturbed manner, which was more thanmon for her. And even her reaction was spontaneous ¡ª she slightly widened her eyes and paused on Xu Xiaoyi for an extra moment to show a moderate amount of trust, surprise, and superiority.


    ¡°Two officers paid me a visitst night, and they said that they hade because they were secret admirers of mine. I rejected them, and they were not very happy when they left.¡±


    ¡°I heard about that.¡± Xu Xiaoyi had assigned some men to protect Xiao Fengchai, so he couldn¡¯t pretend that he didn¡¯t know about this event. He looked very indignant as he said, ¡°Those blind jerks. They¡¯re just two centurions, and yet they dare tter themselves and try to be friends with you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not about the rank. I¡¯ve already retired from my former profession and I¡¯ll never serve a customer ever again. Even if Prince Duodun camest night, I should decline as well, right?¡±


    ¡°Right. Of course. Rest assured, Madam Xiao. I¡¯ll send more guards here right away. I can guarantee you that no such thing will happen again.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai shook her head, a smile on her face as she remarked, ¡°That¡¯s not necessary. People might think that I¡¯m being overly dramatic.¡±


    ¡°Er, so, what Madam Xiao wants is¡­¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King and the Nond are allies and any disputes between them are unnecessary. I just want you to send a message to the one in charge in the city and tell him to make sure that the two officers bear no grudges, so that nobody will lose face.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± Xu Xiaoyi patted his chest and promised, ¡°The two officers will definitelye here in person and apologize.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai shook her head again as she said, ¡°You misunderstand my words. They came here to see me with good intentions, so apologies won¡¯t be necessary. A quiet life is all I want.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi was surprised and his mouth was even hanging wide open. He was shocked by the thought that Xiao Fengchai wanted ¡°a quiet life¡± while all prostitutes in the southern Jade City feared those words the most. <em>¡®She was indeed a famous prostitute </em>,¡¯ he thought. But he knew that he couldn¡¯t say those words out aloud, so he bowed to her and smiled. ¡°I understand. A tacit agreement and mutual understanding is enough.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. And the Dragon King probably wouldn¡¯t appreciate it if I have too many visitors at my ce either.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi departed with those words, though he could feel someone staring at him from behind all the while even when he was at the gate of the courtyard, which disturbed him so much he was unable to even walk naturally. To calm himself, he mumbled, ¡°What a tough bitch. My elder sister would never have been as good as she was. s, it seems that I¡¯ll never be a match for her either.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was resting in his room, pondering over the possibility of the Unique King still being in Heaven¡¯s Pass and a way to approach him if he were. After hearing Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s report, he asked, ¡°Do you understand her true intentions?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi had thought about it many times, but was still lost. Upon hearing the Dragon King¡¯s question, he suddenly had a realization. ¡°That bitch doesn¡¯t trust the Dragon King, so she wants to test just how well you get along with the Nond people.¡±


    Before the Dragon King, Xu Xiaoyi had seemed to be very contemptuous of Xiao Fengchai and he even called her a bitch several times. Gu Shenwei had to remind him by saying, ¡°Xiao Fengchai has retired from Pleasure Alley, so don¡¯t call her ¡®bitch¡¯ again.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes. It¡¯s just a slip of the tongue,¡± Xu Xiaoyi hurriedly promised, wondering whether the Dragon King had slept with this bitch. But he soon realized that this spection was highly disrespectful towards the Dragon King, so he stopped and starting thinking about how his elder sister had once failed to seduce the Dragon King. Thus, Xiao Fengchai probably hadn¡¯t seeded either.


    Gu Shenwei pondered Xu XIaoyi¡¯s words for a while before asking, ¡°Do many people want to do the same thing that Xiao Fengchai did today?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi let two shortughs. His duty was to collect intelligence, so he shouldn¡¯t only report good news. ¡°It¡¯s hard to me them, though. The Dragon King borrowed more than 100,000 cavalrymen from the Nond, but you only brought back 10,000 of them. Nominally, Duodun is your ally, but he is maintaining his ties to Golden Roc Castle. But that doesn¡¯t matter ¡ª all of them will change their attitude the moment youunchan attack.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. What are you going to do about Xiao Fengchai¡¯s request?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll pay a visit to the General of the Right, Shang Liao, and ask him to remind the generals of the Nond army to restrain their subordinates. I think that that¡¯ll be enough. There¡¯s no need to get Duodun involved in this.¡±


    ¡°And what are you going to say in regards to Xiao Fengchai¡¯s identity?¡±


    ¡°A former prostitute. They can¡¯t force her to be a prostitute again, right? Before the Meng family¡¯s money arrives, we can¡¯t let anybody find out that she¡¯s in charge of the Dragon King¡¯s finances.¡±


    ¡°But why would the Dragon Army want to help a former prostitute?¡±


    ¡°Er, well¡­¡± Xu Xiaoyi regarded the Dragon King¡¯s question as a test and started racking his brains intensely. ¡°Because Xiao Fengchai has quit her former job and is with me now?¡± Then he shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think anybody would believe that.¡±


    ¡°Go find Instructor Shangguan and then tell her that the Land of Fragrance¡¯s has just received an extra female soldier.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi was startled by the proposed n and soon burst intoughter. ¡°Good idea. It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t know whether Xiao Fengchai will agree to or not.¡±


    ¡°She will. And don¡¯t go to Shang Liao. Visit Mo Chu instead, and ask him to handle this matter. I¡¯ll go with you.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi had already seen through to the Dragon King¡¯s intentions, but he was still very worried about the whole affair. ¡°What if the Unique King is actually hiding in Mo Chu¡¯s ce¡­ Dragon King, it¡¯s not that I have no faith in your kung fu, but it¡¯s just that the Unique King has a lot of kung fu experts around him, and you¡¯re just one man¡­¡±


    ¡°Rest assured. There won¡¯t be any fights.¡±


    Gu Shenwei kept his word.


    First, Xu Xiaoyi paid a visit to Shangguan Ru. Then in the afternoon, he went downtown to visit Mo Chu. Four subordinates, one of whom was the Dragon King in disguise, came along with him.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t even bring his saber because he didn¡¯t want to alert his enemy.


    Heaven¡¯s Pass was not arge city. Around it, 70,000 troops were stationed in batches of four or five camps both in and outside of the city. Mo Chu was themander-in-chief of the army, but he didn¡¯t live in any of the camps. Rather, he resided in a mansion located in the northern corner of Jade City. Unlike Duodun who liked living in a tent, Mo Chu preferred to live in a house made of stone and wood like the people of the West Regions.


    His mansion was divided into a front yard and a backyard, and it was almost thergest house in the city. There were not many guards, and the security check was not very strict either. After a guard reported Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s arrival, he sessfully received permission to meet the host, but his four subordinates had to remain in the front yard.


    The other three men were all trusted men under Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s payroll, and they never asked their strangepanion any questions. They focused all of their attention on chatting with the guards, seizing every opportunity to gather intelligence.


    From the responses of the guards, Gu Shenwei could tell that Mo Chu hadn¡¯t had many guests recently, and that even his former subordinates were visiting him less and less. Prince Duodun was not only receiving the allegiance of young officers andmon troops, but he also being recognized by the experienced generals.


    Were there any strangers in the mansion? All of the guards shook their heads at that question. From the host to the servants, the total number of people who lived in this house was merely twenty or so. If there were really any strangers, then somebody would definitely have seen them around.


    After about an hour, Xu Xiaoyi came out. The moment they left the city, he said to the Dragon King, ¡°What a wily old fox. He said that he didn¡¯t want to get involved in this kind of petty affair, and that there¡¯s no need to be dramatic about it either since those two officers didn¡¯t really cross any lines. It was not until I reminded him that he owes his current freedom to Instructor Shangguan that he reluctantly agreed to issue themand, and he also told me he couldn¡¯t promise that themand would have any effect.¡±


    After their task with Mo Chu was done, Xu Xiaoyi asked in a muted voice, ¡°Did you find anything? Is he really there?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. Those guards hadn¡¯t lied and they indeed knew nothing. However, several dwellings around Mo Chu¡¯s mansion had been cleared out. Mo Chu imed that it was for reducing noise, but in Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes, those now-empty rooms were the perfect spot for secret security guards to stay in.


    At that night¡¯s second watch, Gu Shenwei departed. Even after patrolling outside Mo Chu¡¯s mansion for an hour, he hadn¡¯t found any signs of hidden sentries. After midnight, he decided to risk it.


    The guards were all weary by that point and Gu Shenwei easily slipped past them. However, he maintained his vignce and took every step with great caution, always carefully keeping several escape routes in mind.


    There was nothing unusual in the front yard, and most of the people in the backyard were asleep. There was only one room in the mansion which still had a litmp, but Gu Shenwei could see a moving figure through the window.


    Holding his breath, Gu Shenwei quietly eavesdropped outside the window awhile and identified the man in the room as Mo Chu. He was pointlessly mumbling as he paced around, and there seemed to be nobody else in the room.


    Then themp went out.


    After evaluating his options for a while, Gu Shenwei slinked into the room next door. It was dead quiet inside, but Gu Shenwei had a feeling that this was the exact ce where the Unique King was residing.


    He took a step backwards and looked through the thin window paper, hesitating about whether he should keep searching or just leave.


    An arm broke through the window without making any sounds as if the window paper had instantly melted away.


    Gu Shenwei had no choice but to engage and receive this palm attack head-on.

 Chapter 794 - Drinking at Night

    Chapter 794: Drinking at Night


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Xu Xiaoyi felt restless. He was born and raised in Jade City. Even as a little boy, he had heard that Golden Roc Castle was powerful and formidable, and his childhood had left him with asting profound horror for the Unique King. He couldn¡¯t stop the Dragon King from making his move, but he also couldn¡¯t stop worrying about him either.


    When the night-watchman struck the gong for the fourth night-watch, indicating that dawn was about to break, Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s restlessness swelled to the point that he found it impossible to remain sitting, so he started pacing back and forth across the floor. There were several moments when he had wanted to order his men to go downtown and investigate what had happened, but he had managed to regain control of himself every time.


    Right before the sun was about to rise, Gu Shenwei returned. Upon entering the room, he fell to the ground, devoid of strength. With all of his effort, Xu Xiaoyi managed to support his body and drag him onto the bed.


    The Dragon King¡¯s originally pale face was now ghastly white as if there were ayer of pure snow on it, and even his lips had lost its usual color. Staring rigidly at Xu Xiaoyi, the Dragon King was clearly in great pain.


    After recognizing the severity of the situation, Xu Xiaoyi unexpectedly calmed down. He knew that the Dragon King was in danger of falling into Qi deviation and that he needed a quiet ce to recuperate and guide his internal energy. But the situation they were in was extremely perilous. ¡°Was it really the Unique King?¡±


    Gu Shenwei blinked and confirmed Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s worries. As he was putting all his effort into restraining the frosty Qi which was on the verge of rampaging out of control, he was unable to spare enough strength to speak out.


    Xu Xiaoyi thoughts moved unprecedentedly quickly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Dragon King. I¡¯ll take care of it.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s house was not a safe ce. Although he still had several safehouses both inside and outside of Heaven¡¯s Pass, none of them met the criteria as a ce for the Dragon King to recover. After pondering for a while, he walked out and ordered all of his men to defend those strongholds, in hopes of distracting their enemies.


    But none of his men¡¯s kung fu were good enough to hold back the killers of Golden Roc Castle, and they wouldn¡¯t be able to protect the Dragon King even if all of them gathered around him in a ball. After contemting their dilemma for quite a while, he made a unteral decision to ask Shangguan Ru for help.


    Shangguan Ru seemed to have had a premonition that something had happened, so not only did shee in person, but she also brought dozens of female soldiers with her.


    The 1,000 female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance were still escorting thedies of the other countries, and only a few of them hade back with Red Bat to meet up with the Instructor.


    Standing outside the door, Shangguan Ru nced into the room before signaling Xu Xiaoyi to talk with her in the room next door.


    ¡°The Dragon King can¡¯t stay here,¡± Shangguan Ru said.


    ¡°I agree, he can¡¯t. But I have an idea. There¡¯re 5,000 Restoration Army troops that were brought here by Shang Liao and the prince of Shu Le. 1,000 of them used to be the Dragon King¡¯s guards, and their camp isn¡¯t far away, about a day¡¯s ride. They¡¯re very loyal to the Dragon King and I think that they can keep the Dragon King safe.¡±


    ¡°Is Shang Liao trustworthy?¡±


    That was the problem. Regardless of however loyal the guards were, they were still under themand of the General of the Right. If Shang Liao decided to let one or two assassins in, nobody would be able to stop him.


    ¡°Then what should we do? Another alternative is the Xiaowan Kingdom, but the troops there are also from the Nond. Can we trust them?¡±


    This was yet another problem. Shangguan Ru then asked, ¡°Do you trust me?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King does; thus, so do I.¡±


    ¡°Then take the Dragon King to Xiaowan Kingdom. Duodun has agreed to let the provisions convoy through, so the Dragon King can disguise himself and leave with them.¡±


    ¡°With regards to the safety issue¡­¡±


    ¡°Tell Shang Liao and the prince of Shu Le to assign some soldiers to escort the convoy, but don¡¯t tell them about the Dragon King. I¡¯ll also apany the convoy myself.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi nodded. The capital city of the Xiaowan Kingdom was closer to Heaven¡¯s Pass than the guards¡¯ camps were, and using the provisions convoy as camouge seemed like a good idea. He did some quick calctions before saying, ¡°If we borrow soldiers from Shang Liao and the prince of Shu Le, and then make the necessary arrangements, we might miss the convoy as it departs this morning.¡±


    ¡°Then dy it for a day. I¡¯ll keep the Dragon King safe while you go do what you have to.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi was still a bit hesitant about leaving the Dragon King¡¯s safetlyplete in Shangguan Ru¡¯s hands. He raised his right hand involuntarily, stroking his moustache, and weighed the situation for some time before acquiescing. ¡°It was the Unique King who hurt the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Shangguan Ru smiled as she responded, which only deepened Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s worry. ¡°The Unique King won¡¯te here himself. He definitely doesn¡¯t want Duodun to know that he¡¯s hiding in Mo Chu¡¯s mansion. He¡¯s probably already returned to Golden Roc Castle by now.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi thought that the Tenth Young Master¡¯s analysis was very reasonable. ¡°Tenth Young Master can surely handle somemon killers.¡±


    Shangguan Ru nodded with a smile, but she didn¡¯t pointed out an obvious truth: any killer directly under themand of the Unique King was by no meansmon.


    Xu Xiaoyi left hurriedly. Now that Shangguan Ru hade with her female soldiers, his former n of distracting the enemies had be pointless. He withdrew his men, reassigned them to guard the periphery, and then left to meet Shang Liao and the prince of Shu Le.


    Shangguan Ru made some defensive assignments of her own with her female soldiers. She knew the style of Golden Roc killers very well, so her assignments were very specific and detailed. Even the roofs were under a constant rotating surveince.


    After all of this was done, she quietly entered the Dragon King¡¯s room.


    Gu Shenwei was guiding his internal Qi to fight against the frosty Qi, his body quivering, his face pale, and sweat beading on his forehead. Originally, he had made a remarkable recovery from his Qi deviation, but this time, the situation was dire and the severity was worse than what he expected.


    Shangguan Ru gazed at the face which was both familiar and alien.


    Gu Shenwei opened his eyes and nodded once, extremely slowly.


    Shangguan Ru walked over and sat on a chair that Red Bat had brought to her in the yard. Then she unfastened the wooden saber, put it on her knees horizontally and said in a low voice, ¡°Get me some wine.¡±


    Red Bat obeyed, but unlike the normal wine, she instead brought over a small pot of wine and an even smaller cup.


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t seem to mind. Red Bat filled the cup as Shangguan Ru watched on. When she finished, Shangguan Ru yed with the rim of the cup as her fingers danced slowly on it before she downed the cup in one gulp.


    Xu Xiaoyi bustled about for the entire morning, but things didn¡¯t go very well. The General of the Right Shang Liao was very surprised by his request to borrow soldiers, and he asked a lot of both relevant and irrelevant questions before reluctantly agreeing to send a mere fifty soldiers. ¡°No more. You know that most of my men are in the south. This is all I can spare.¡±


    Things were a lot simpler at Shu Le prince¡¯s camp. He also didn¡¯t have many soldiers, and he could only spare a hundred men. Even after taking on dozens of newly-hired sabermen, Xu Xiaoyi barely reached two hundred men.


    Xu Xiaoyi picked these sabermen out one by one by himself. Most of them had previous worked with Xu Xiaoyi. He thought that these men at least looked familiar, so they probably weren¡¯t Golden Roc killers in disguise.


    The next thing he had to do was find a reliable convoy, which also took a lot of time. After he had finished all of his tasks, it was alreadyte in the afternoon. Xu Xiaoyi was thirsty, but he hadn¡¯t even had time to stop and drink water. Instead, he spent all his time wondering if there were any potential ws in the n. This was the first time that he had dealt with an issue involving Golden Roc killers, and they held no advantages except for numerical superiority.


    In an unhurried manner, Shangguan Ru was still enjoying her wine in the yard. She had barely finished half the pot when Xu Xiaoyi returned. He drank several consecutive cups of the wine, shook the empty pot, and then said in a muted voice, ¡°I¡¯ll have someone bring some more over.¡±


    Red Bat had returned to her room to rest so she was not in the yard. Like a child who had done something bad, Shangguan Ru quickly nodded. ¡°I had someone bring Xiao Fengchai here. Since we¡¯re protecting the Dragon King, we might as well bring her under our protection as well.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s cooperation with Xiao Fengchai to transfer the Meng family¡¯s wealth over wouldn¡¯t stay a secret for long. Soon, the most famous prostitute of Jade City would once again attract a lot of people¡¯s attention.


    ¡°What about L¨¹ Qiying? Do we need to protect him too?¡±


    ¡°Not for now. The Unique King doesn¡¯t care about him.¡±


    After all, L¨¹ Qiying was just the owner of a merchant caravan and the Unique King wouldn¡¯t bother trying to kill him.


    ¡°The Dragon King will hide among his caravan and depart in the early morning. L¨¹ Qiying doesn¡¯t know about the n at all. The Dragon King¡­ can walk, right?¡±


    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be a problem for him.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi exhaled deeply, and then turned his head to nce at the setting sun. ¡°The night ising.¡±


    All of the residents of Jade City knew the meaning of this remark: for ordinary people, it was a signal to party, but for Golden Roc killers, it was a signal to open their eyes and start killing.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to stay here.¡±


    ¡°I do, and I¡¯m staying.¡±


    Watching Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s sweaty face, Shangguan Ru thought that the Dragon King was not alone after all, and that his followers were more loyal than Duodun¡¯s. ¡°But there¡¯s nothing that you can help with here.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi blushed slightly, but he knew that Shangguan Ru had said this out of kind intentions so he relented and said, ¡°All right. Then I¡¯ll stay outside. Just call if you need me.¡±


    Shangguan Ru smiled back. ¡°Have someone get me some more wine. It¡¯s going to be a long night, and I don¡¯t want to spend it sitting here and staring at my own shadow.¡±


    Night had just fallen. There was a small table before Shangguan Ru, and on the table, there were four wine jars which respectively contained grasnds milk liquor, West-Region wine, Central-ins Nu¡¯er Hong, and Huadiao. Below that, a dozen various containers, from cups to bowls, were ced in a line along with some cut fruits.


    Xu Xiaoyi was much more generous than Red Bat, and he didn¡¯t worry about the Tenth Young Master getting drunk.


    There was only her in the yard, and all the other female soldiers were on duty at their assigned spots. They would arrive in no time if they heard any sounds.


    Shangguan Ru drank very slowly, spending much more time savoring the differences and uniqueness of these different alcohols. She believed that this was much more fun than drinking in gulps, but she soon realized that one needed the right drinking buddy to set the mood for heavy drinking. At this moment, the onlypanions she had were the moon in the sky and the shadows on the ground.


    The Dragon King would never be a good drinking buddy and Shangguan Ru felt rather regretful about that. She took her wooden saber and held it for a while. As she did so, the wine in her body turned into sweat and evaporated. Suddenly, she found herself in an active mood to drink. After staring at those containers for another period of time, she atst chose the biggest bowl. Before drinking, she said to herself in a low voice, ¡°Fortunately, Red Bat¡¯s not here.¡±


    As she drank and wielded her saber, Shanggguan Ru really began to enjoy herself and feel that it didn¡¯t matter whether she had a drinking buddy or not.


    Using internal energy to force alcohol out of body was a unique skill that she had taught herself; not only could this skill increase her alcohol capacity, but it also sparde her from all the potentially embarrassing things that usually happened to drunk people. Although it was very wasteful to do so, she derived great pleasure from it and even believed that it was somewhat helpful in improving her internal energy.


    She didn¡¯t wield her saber in any fixed routines, but rather in an impromptu manner as she performed the Subtle Shadow Lightness Skill that Old Man Mu had taught her. asionally, she would also perform the Seven Circles Seven Apertures Heart Stopping Finger with her left hand. As she danced in the moonlight, her mood was increasingly improving.


    The first two night-watches passed by quickly, and Shangguan Ru decided to start limiting her alcohol consumption. There was still more than half of the night ahead. She couldn¡¯t let Xu Xiaoyi send more wine, and neither could she perform her duty of protecting the Dragon King while drunk.


    Nothing happened during the following two night-watches, and there was still a little alcohol left in each of the four jars. Shangguan Ru tried hard to stop herself from downing it all. The wooden saber in her hand was moving faster and faster, her figure turned into a cloud of faint fog in the moonlight.


    ¡°Your sabersmanship has improved a lot,¡± said a voice from nowhere.


    The hidden female soldiers made their moves instantly, but Shangguan Ru raised her hand and signaled them to stay put. And then she turned around and saw the Unique King¡¯s familiar figure walking out of the room.


    ¡°But I still failed to detect your presence.¡±


    ¡°If you keep improving at this pace, then I soon won¡¯t be able to hide myself from you. Did you learn some kind of new internal energy?¡±


    ¡°I stole the Daoless Scroll, so I dispersed the internal energy I learned from it.¡±


    ¡°If you asked me, then I would have taught the Daoless Divine Power to you. What made me mad was that not only did you steal the book, but you also gave it to outsiders.¡±


    Shangguan Ru smiled. ¡°I know, but I fear you just as much as everybody else, and I didn¡¯t dare ask.¡±


    The two remained silent for a while. When the Unique King spoke again, his voice was cold. ¡°And yet you still chose to take the Dragon King¡¯s side in the end. It¡¯s very smart of you to n out such an excellent betrayal. When did you side with him?¡±

 Chapter 795 - Comprehension

    Chapter 795: Comprehension


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Ru had outwitted everybody, including Xu Xiaoyi who had bustled around all day ¡ª he had no idea that his actions were just a distraction for the enemy.


    As the only one that had tended to the Dragon King, Red Bat had disguised herself as amon saberman and left the yard with Gu Shenwei on a previous asion, coincidentally timed with a change in sentries. Then, they left Heaven¡¯s Pass with a provisions convoy.


    Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t fully recovered from his Qi deviation yet. Actually he could barely use any of his strength. But he shared Shangguan Ru¡¯s opinion that Heaven¡¯s Pass was much too dangerous and that if the Unique King refused to let go of this opportunity and insisted on killing him, then nobody would be able to stop him.


    Before all of this had taken ce, the Dragon King was just a killer who had betrayed his organization and was on the run. He had been very lucky because at that time, the Unique King had been in the midst of transforming Golden Roc Castle from a group of killers into an army. This transition allowed Gu Shenwei to evade the man-hunt even at its most intense level. Afterwards, Gu Shenwei had gathered hundreds of thousands of troops under hismand and was able to form a tight securitywork, so it became very difficult to assassinate him.


    However, the night before, he had gone to the Unique King¡¯s ce by himself, and thetter had every reason to seize this opportunity of vengeance.


    At that time, in the room, Gu Shenwei had exchanged three consecutive palm attacks with the Unique King, and he had fled immediately after, not even having enough time to whip out his saber. He still had his killer instincts and between fleeing and fighting to the death, he almost always chose the former.


    One man sounding the enemy out while anothery in ambush along the enemy¡¯s escape route ¡ª this was one of the mostmon tactics used by Golden Roc killers. Thus, the Unique King hadn¡¯t pursued him as he probably didn¡¯t recognize that the assassin was the Dragon King.


    At least five guards had rushed out from dark corners and started pursuing the assassin for the Unique King.


    Gu Shenwei spected that these guards were most likely the green-faced assassins, because he had to spend quite a lot of time to get away, running through more than half of Heaven¡¯s Pass before he managed to sessfully lose his pursuers. It was not until daybreak that he managed to return to base. But he didn¡¯t dare go to Shangguan Ru¡¯s ce, so he had to turn to Xu Xiaoyi instead.


    While Shangguan Ru was unhurriedly tasting the alcohol in the yard and Xu Xiaoyi was bustling around in the city, Gu Shenwei had been sitting on a cart loaded with hay, ruminating on why he had made a decision to take on such a risk all by himself.


    Maybe it was because the enemy had been too physically close to him, causing him to lose his mind and give up on his long-term strategy of ¡°severing rtions.¡± In that moment, his yearning to finish the job once and for all had overwhelmed all reason. After all, this was an irresistible temptation for him and it had oncepletely upied his mind, only being reced it with a safer and more practicable n yearster.


    Or maybe it was because of his arrogance and conceit. When he had killed Luo Qibai with Lotus in that strange cooperative state, their Death Scriptures had received a spark of inspiration from each other. This spark had improved his sabermanship, giving him the confidence and ambition to challenge the Unique King.


    But it turned out that he was still no match for the Unique King.


    It didn¡¯t matter much whether he had a chance to use his saber or not. Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t even sense the existence of his enemy until the Unique King had made his move. Yes, he knew that the Unique King was in the room, but that was more of a spection than a deduction.


    He raised his head and nced at the long caravan behind him, wondering why he was thinking about these things. As long as he could put an end to the civic strife and surround Jade City, most of the Unique King¡¯s rtions would be severed. At that point, regardless of how good the Unique King¡¯s kung fu was, it wouldn¡¯t change anything.


    Yet he still couldn¡¯t let it go.


    He reyed the three palm attacks of the Unique King in his mind over and over again. At the same time, he also reviewed the general principles of the Daoless Scroll in his mind repeatedly. Those palm attacks and the general principles mutuallyplemented andpleted each other.


    Of all the people Gu Shenwei knew that had practiced the Daoless Divine Power, the Unique King was the only one who was experienced with thoroughly dispersing his internal energy. Thus, now not only was the Unique King¡¯s internal energy far more powerful than what he had initially anticipated, but also its nature had also changed ¡ª from chilly to erratic, unpredictable, and nearly iparable.


    But Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t think about this for too long. He had to guide his internal energy and restrain the frosty Qi in his body every so often, lest it strike early.


    Red Bat was riding a horse beside him. She was dressed as amon-looking saberwoman who asionally nced at her ¡°customer,¡± but didn¡¯t dare disturb him.


    Covered under a thick cape, Gu Shenwei leaned on a stack of hay, looking very feeble as if he was suffering from some kind of incurable disease.


    ¡°My master wants to die in his own hometown.¡± Red Bat would give out this reply if anybody asked her about Gu Shenwei out of curiosity.


    Gu Shenwei managed to survive another bout of the frosty Qi¡¯s outbreak, but he suddenly noticed that this Qi deviation was a little strange. Although it was just as piercingly cold as it had been before, the pain in his Dantian, which was usually the most intense during Qi deviation, was not as terrible as before.


    A faint warmth had crept into the innermost part of his Dantian this time.


    The Sumeru Mustard Divine Power the monk imparted him was taking effect. This yang Qi was not very strong at the moment, but it had somehow managed to hold its ground in Gu Shenwei¡¯s Dantian, refusing to give in no matter how aggressive the frosty Qi was.


    Doctor Sun had once said that, when the yin Qipletely converted into yang Qi, Qi deviation would never be a problem again.


    Recalling those words, Gu Shenwei finally understood why the Unique King¡¯s Qi had been so different. It was actually himself who was erratic. The Unique King¡¯s Daoless Divine Power had reached a level where he could freely change its nature at any time in order to match and restrain hisopponent.


    Light dawned on Gu Shenwei ¡ª actually, the Unique King¡¯s internal energy was not that powerful, and it was just that his technique was far better than anyone else¡¯s.


    Troops represented raw strength, but the way a generalmanded his troops determined how much of the strength would be effective.


    Gu Shenwei felt that he had instantlyprehended too many things. His back straightened abruptly and he nearly fell off the cart.


    Red Bat got off of her horse hurriedly and walked beside him. In a low voice, she asked, ¡°Do you want to stop?¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head and replied, ¡°I just recalled something. Don¡¯t mind me.¡± Then hey down on the hay again.


    Between the Daoless Scroll, Death Scripture, Sumeru Mustard, Bnced Power, various sabersmanships, his own kung fu, and others¡¯ kung fu, it was as if Gu Shenwei had entered a cluttered room in which he was familiar with every item. Although the items were in a disordered mess, he had the feeling that he could rearrange them, tidy the room up, and organize everything.


    Gu Shenwei was extremely excited and he barely noticed the time growingter and the convoy encamping.


    It would take more than half a day to ride from Heaven¡¯s Pass to the capital of Xiaowan Kingdom, even with fast horses. And since ox carts and camels were much slower, it would take at least two days.


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t ride a horse, so he had no choice but to stop and rest with the other travelers.


    This part of the road was rtively safe, so there weren¡¯t any designated security guards keeping watch around the camp. They just routinely arranged the carts in a circle with the livestock in the middle and the rear parts of carts facing the outside.


    There were plenty of hitchhikers like Gu Shenwei and Red Bat. Some of them were small business owners, and some were refugees. War was raging across both the Western Regions and the Nond, so many people were fleeing with no definite destinations. Some fled from north to south, and some fled from the Western Regions to the grasnds, but the Xiaowan Kingdom was many people¡¯s first choice.


    There was a bonfire. Red Bat had rented a tent, but Gu Shenwei preferred to sit next to the bonfire ¡ª there were too many noises in the camp and a tent wouldn¡¯t provide any peace or quiet.


    Besides, he liked the background chatter of those people who were from all walks of life: transporters, bodyguards, traders, refugees, and so on. After a few drinks, they soon became familiar with each other and started talking about arge variety of topics. Which one was better ¡ª grasnds milk alcohol or Western Region wine? A lone subject like this could cause intense arguments.


    But war was always the most popr topic. As if the bonfire were temporarily keeping away the shadow of war, people talked about the war as bystanders, as if they wouldn¡¯t have to experience it themselves.


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s so rich!¡± said a voice not far away, immediately receiving a lot of approval from the crowd.


    ¡°He¡¯s pouring out silver like crazy. You see, the prices of all of these provisions are double their usual price. My master has been regretting it the whole time. He said that the price will double again in just a few days.¡±


    ¡°Where did the Dragon King get so much money? I mean, even the Meng family of Jade City can¡¯t spend money like he is.¡±


    ¡°I heard that the Dragon King took all the treasures from the Khan¡¯s pce.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly. That¡¯s just small potatoes. The Dragon King must have found the Khan¡¯s mausoleum and looted all the treasure, which would be more than enough to buy the entire Western Regions outright.¡±


    ¡°Ah, how I wish he would buy out the Western Regions. Then, there wouldn¡¯t be any wars anymore.¡±


    ¡°Young man, you¡¯ve got arms, legs, and a saber. Why don¡¯t you enlist and win your own coin?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to do that. You see, all those sabermen, no matter what side they take, Golden Roc Castle or Dragon Army, they will all die a violent death. Things change. God knows who will be the winner next year.¡±


    ¡­


    Gradually, the topic shifted. Red Bat looked at the Dragon King and smiled, thinking about how surprised these people would be if they knew that the Dragon King was sitting among them powerlessly, unable to even wield his saber.


    Some people drank too much and moved to Red Bat¡¯s side, asking her all kinds of questions. Saberwomen were very rare in any country. Although Red Bat¡¯s looks were mediocre, people were still curious about her.


    Red Bat tried to ignore them all, and the asional responses she gave were cold, so there soon wasn¡¯t anyone left beside her.


    If it weren¡¯t for that group of uninvited guests, this could have been a quiet,mon night.


    The people around the bonfire gradually scattered, and Gu Shenwei also nned to return to the tent and rest. He still had to fight against the frosty Qi and ruminate on the philosophy of martial arts ¡ª it was as if he could see a bright path in the distance, but he still had to ze a trail through all manner of obstacles to get there.


    It was at this time that the bandits showed themselves. They had probably entered the camp in small groups, and now they had blocked off all the exits and entrances, eyeing their major targets with sabers.


    A resonant voice called out and said, ¡°Please wait a minute, everybody. I want to say something.¡±


    Everybody stopped, and even some of those who were already in their tent came out to watch.


    The owner of the voice was tall and strong. He walked beside the bonfire to make sure that everybody could see him. Two men holding a saber were standing at his left and right side, one of them short and the other tall and thin, respectively.


    ¡°I¡¯m the Mighty King from the Western Regions,¡± the tall and strong one introduced, causing immediate panic to sweep through the camp. Those caravan men were experienced, so they quickly crouched down with their hands crossed over their heads, indicating that they had nothing to do with all these people and that the bandits could take whatever they wanted.


    The bodyguards hired by the caravan gave a few nces around and soon found that more than a hundred men had surrounded the camp. So, they also crouched down without any qualms, tossing their weapons three steps away.


    Upon seeing the bodyguards¡¯ actions, everybody knew what they should do.


    Seeing that everybody was willing to cooperate, the Mighty King was very pleased. After a while, he started introducing the other two bandits at his side. ¡°These two are my brothers, Golden Saber and Skyscraping Beast. Originally, we ruled our respective turfs. So why did wee here together today? Because the Dragon King vited the rules and double-crossed us, so we¡¯re here to repay the favor. Tonight, we¡¯re going to make a big, big bonfire with these provisions and we need to make sure that even the people in Xiaowan Kingdom can see it. We¡¯re also going to need you guys to pitch in some travelling expenses for us, as we¡¯vee a long way and it¡¯s been a tough journey. Anybody got a problem with that?¡±


    Nobody said anything. The Mighty King pped his hands and continued saying, ¡°Things are going to get really messy when we set up the fire, so I¡¯m going to collect the travelling fees first. Come on, everybody, be smart and open up your packages.¡±


    Hisst remark caused panic in the camp again. Nobody cared about the provisions, but it would be like cutting a piece of meat off of their bodies if they handed over the several taels of silver they had left.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got one,¡± said a ringing female voice.


    Red Bat stepped forward.

 Chapter 796 - Ringleader

    Chapter 796: Ringleader


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei had to protect these provisions. Originally, selling them for a high price was supposed to be a tactic that killed two birds with one stone. The first purpose was to hoard supplies in preparation for the imminent war, and the other was to inte prices so that enemies wouldn¡¯t be able to build up their own supplies. But if the provisions were burnt, the first purpose would suffer a crushing failure.


    Red Bat stepped forward boldly. She whipped out her single saber, threw it into the ground and took out a bow in her right hand, with her left holding an arrow. It had been only two years since she started practicing kung fu, and this was the first time that she had challenged someone. Unfortunately, her only backer at this time was the Dragon King who was temporarily crippled.


    Gu Shenwei sat behind her on a felt bundle, his entire body covered by a thick cape to avoid unnecessary attention.


    Upon realizing that they had been challenged by a saberwoman, the three ringleaders were very surprised. When they looked a bit further and noticed that she was alone and looking around nervously, they burst intoughter, and their followers nearby also started whistling and looking at her contemptuously.


    Even the mbs¡± who were crouching and kneeling felt that Red Bat¡¯s challenge was unbelievable, and some of them were even indignant about it. One of the men in charge of the caravan reprimanded loudly, ¡°Do you want to die? Quickly apologize. Hurry up! We don¡¯t want any more trouble.¡±


    Perhaps he did this out of good faith with a desire to save the saberwoman¡¯s life, but Red Bat shook her head in response and said, ¡°Listen to me, everybody. We outnumber them so we shouldn¡¯t wait for our death. These provisions are very important and our profit is the fruits of our hard work. We can¡¯t just give it to them that easily.¡±


    Red Bat had thought of these words all by herself. Gu Shenwei was more familiar with the rules of martial arts world than she was, so he knew that all of her words were pointless.


    The people in the camp did outnumber the bandits, but they were unorganized, and more importantly, more than half of them didn¡¯t even have weapons. Just how were they supposed to work up the courage to fight the bandits?


    Red Bat finished her speech, but the whole camp waspletely quiet. Only the three ringleaders were looking around curiously.


    The short Golden Saber then said, ¡°Brothers, my hands are feeling a bit itchy. Let me handle this blind girl.¡±


    The Mighty King and the Skyscraping Beast nodded to express their consent. They had received a message from a reliable source that there were no kung fu experts in this caravan, so they had nothing to worry about. The Mighty King looked at the challenger in the distance and remarked, ¡°It¡¯s a pity that she¡¯s not pretty enough. Otherwise we could have shared her as a wife, in rotation.¡±


    The Skyscraping Beast¡¯s lightness skills were excellent. He quickly moved in front Red Bat in just a few leaps and then retreated without even attacking. ¡°If you capture her and give her a bath, maybe you¡¯ll see her in a different light, Golden Saber. If not, you could just give her to our other buddies and let them have some fun.¡±


    The whistles around them grew louder. Upon seeing the Skyscraping Beast¡¯s impressive lightness skills, the people of the caravan became even more discouraged. Nobody dared to take Red Bat¡¯s side, and the ones around her edged away quietly. Only Gu Shenwei remained sitting where he was.


    Golden Saber walked forward, wielding his saber as he did so. Red Bat shot two consecutively arrows at him, but he just casually parried them. As he stood in front of her, he giggled and said, ¡°Give me your name, girl. I never kill unnamed people. Right, I¡¯m going to need you alive, so I should say that I never capture unnamed girls. Ha-ha.¡±


    Red Bat didn¡¯t know much about the pleasantries of the martial arts world, and she was also very nervous, so she involuntarily took a step backwards. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m not going to tell you. Maybe I will after I defeat you.¡±


    The voice of the saberwoman rang out, loud and sweet. Golden Saber peered at her for a while before he turned his head around and loudly said, ¡°It seems that this girl¡¯s disguised herself, brothers. Maybe we¡¯re really going to get ourselves a beautiful wife!¡±


    Although Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t like killing people, she still believed deep down that sneak attacks were a rather normal tactic. As a result, she had unconsciously instilled this opinion into the female soldiers as she taught them sabermanship in the Land of Fragrance. Seeing that the enemy had turned his head away, Red Bat immediately dropped her bow and arrows, grabbed the saber, and pounced on him.


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t like narrow sabers, so Red Bat used amon straight single saber, which was longer, broader, and also heavier than a narrow saber.


    Golden Saber had nned on showing off his kung fu, so he parried this saber attack without turning his head. Then he yelled in a fake surprised tone, ¡°What a vigorous girl! Are you as vigorous in bed?¡±


    Red Bat clenched her teeth and thrust out with several consecutive saber attacks, but she couldn¡¯t even touch the tail of her enemy¡¯s coat.


    Golden Saber felt that it was about time to finish things and gave out a loud yell. ¡°This is how you use a saber!¡± He stopped defending and started attacking. In just two or three moves, he had gained the upper hand.


    Red Bat¡¯s archery and sabersmanship were average, but her lightness skills were ster, so although she couldn¡¯t fight back, the enemy wasn¡¯t able to restrain her either.


    Golden Saber was a little surprised and eximed, ¡°Eek, the girl¡¯s not bad. Ha-ha, I like her, brothers. I want to be the first one to sleep with this rotating wife.¡±


    ¡°Stop the nonsense and grab her already,¡± the Mighty King ordered. The Skyscraping Beast had been observing the saberwoman¡¯s bodily movement technique, but he didn¡¯t notice anything special.


    Red Bat backed up until she was beside the Dragon King, and she was struggling to hold on by maneuvering around him.


    After chasing her for a while, Golden Saber became impatient and aimed a kick at the cripple sitting on the ground.


    He didn¡¯t miss, and the cripple tilted to one side. Golden Saber took an aggressive step forward and it seemed as if he was about to catch his target, who was as slippery as a fish, by just stretching his hand, but then he suddenly fell to the ground. He rolled through, stood up, but fell down again. Someone seemed to be tripping him over.


    ¡°So wei¨C rd.¡± Golden Saber¡¯s voice was normal as he uttered the first word, but when he reached the second one, his breath had be extremely feeble, and his teeth were chattering by then.


    Red Bat took a step forward and stamped on Golden Saber¡¯s back, the tip of her saber pointed against his head as she fiercely cried out, ¡°Leave the camp if you want him to live.¡±


    What had happened surprised everybody. Some of those who had been crouching even attempted to stand up to see the situation more clearly, but the nearby bandits reprimanded them and they had to crouch down again.


    The Mighty King and Skyscraping Beast exchanged a nce in surprise. Thetter had been watching more attentively, and he pointed at the cripple beside Red Bat. ¡°A kung fu expert.¡±


    ¡°You got this?¡±


    The Skyscraping Beast nodded, whipped out his saber, and started walking towards Red Bat.


    Red Bat thought that she had seized the initiative. But when she saw that another enemy wasing for her, she panicked again. ¡°Hey, stop. I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll kill him.¡±


    The Skyscraping Beast let out a coldugh as he replied, ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear what the Mighty King said? We have our respective turfs. This is just a temporary cooperation. The fewer the people, the bigger the shares. So just go ahead.¡±


    Seeing that the bandits were callous about theirpanions, Red Bat didn¡¯t know what to do. After some quick thinking, she withdrew her foot from Golden Saber¡¯s back, nning to use the same tactic to defeat the second enemy and take another hostage.


    The frosty Qi in Gu Shenwei¡¯s body was both a threat to himself and a sharp weapon to others. But he didn¡¯t have much mobility, so he had to wait for the enemy toe close.


    Staring at the saberwoman, Skyscraping Beast abruptlyunched an attack, his first saber sh actually aimed at the cripple beside her.


    Red Bat was astounded and tried to stop the enemy, risking life and limb to do so.


    Skyscraping Beast leaped around the two targets with his lightness skills, every saber attack aimed at the vital parts of the cripple. Yet he never came closer than three steps to the cripple, only asionally stabbing at the saberwoman. After a dozen moves, Red Bat was reduced to a terribly passive situation.


    Watching from far away, the Mighty King believed that this time, victory was certain.


    Gu Shenwei had prepared his frosty Qi, but the enemy was too far. Seeing that Red Bat might not be able to hold on any longer, he had no choice but to risk it all. He nned to make a move with his full strength, disregarding whether he could hit the target as well as whether he would still be conscious after making his move.


    Red Bat also realized that this was a life-or-death moment. What she cared about at this point was not the provisions but rather the Dragon King. So, she crazilyunched an all-out attack, all her moves both deadly and suicidal, irrespective of whether or not there were any ws in them.


    In the Skyscraping Beast¡¯s eyes, there was only one enemy, and his fight with the saberwoman was just a perfunctory one. He dodged a bout of ferocious attacks, suddenly maneuvered behind her, and then shed out ¡ª he had no interest in keeping her alive or in taking her as his wife.


    Gu Shenwei was just about to stand up and make his move through the suppressed pain when he failed to mobilize his internal Qi and was forced to sit down.


    The Skyscraping Beast¡¯s saber flew away and fell into the bonfire a dozen steps away from him. Both Red Bat and the Dragon King had survived.


    The Skyscraping Beast was astounded and horrified. His saber had been hit by a hidden weapon and flown out of his hand. However, he had no idea of where the hidden weapon hade from. He backed up seven or eight steps consecutively, stared at the cripple on the ground and asked in a severe tone, ¡°Who are you? If you¡¯re powerful, stand up and show it. There¡¯s no need for these sneaky tricks.¡±


    Gu Shenwei remained silent. It was not him who had thrown out the hidden weapon, but he knew that the one who had was right behind him.


    Red Bat was just as confused as the Skyscraping Beast. She returned to the Dragon King¡¯s side and said, ¡°Stop making excuses for your defeat, as it¡¯s a very shameful thing for you to do as a gang leader.¡±


    The Mighty King also realized that something was not right. He rushed over to the side of the Skyscraping Beast, followed by dozens of his men.


    Red Bat hesitated for a brief moment and then pointed the saber against Golden Saber. ¡°I¡¯m really going to kill him this time.¡±


    Golden Saber¡¯s internal energy was far inferior to the kung fu experts of the famous sects in the Central ins, so when the evil frosty Qi had entered his body, his internal energy had dispersed immediately. Now he was ina, lying still on the ground.


    A man in a long cape walked out of the tent a dozen steps behind Gu Shenwei. A saber hilt could be seen under his cape. He walked towards them step by step. Red Bat gave a nce over her shoulder and was rejoiced. ¡°It¡¯s you! Great!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s me. How¡¯s he doing?¡±


    ¡°He¡­ he¡­ We can talkter. Help me handle these two guys first.¡±


    Mo Lin nodded. The reason why he hadn¡¯t attacked earlier was because he thought that the Dragon King had his own n. When he realized that the Dragon King was actually unable to stand up, he had thrown a hidden weapon and saved Red Bat.


    Neither the Mighty King nor the Skyscraping Beast recognized this man. They yelled in unison, ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Mo Lin. A saberman.¡±


    If Mo Lin had yelled out his old name of ¡°Silver Condor,¡± then maybe the two ringleaders would have recalled something. But he hadn¡¯t used his original name for many years, so nobody in the martial arts remembered him anymore. Both the Mighty King and the Skyscraping Beast were surprised for a short while, and then theyunched their attack simultaneously.


    The dozens of followers of the two ringleaders started cheering, but they were transfixed into silence only halfway through their cheering.


    Mo Lin didn¡¯t use his saber. After twisting his body, his first punch hit the Skyscraping Beast, who was trying to dodge, mming him into the ground. Then the full force of his next three consecutive punches were taken by the Mighty King, who gave out a muffled groan and then knelt down with a thud, a stream of blood spurting out from his mouth.


    Then Mo Lin turned around to face the followers. ¡°You guys can try to mob me. I might not be able to handle all of you.¡±


    They were all selfish and cynical bandits. After seeing their leaders being downed shortly after another, all of them were frightened. One of them turned and started fleeing, and most of the others followed suit. Only a dozen resolutely loyal ones refused to abandon their leader and stayed where they were, lowering their weapons to indicate their surrender.


    Mo Lin turned to the head of the caravan and said, ¡°Send some men to keep watch of the provisions, lest someone try to set a fire. I¡¯m the Dragon King¡¯s subordinate. I¡¯ll keep you all safe.¡±


    The situation had changed so drastically that everybody was still frozen in shock. It was not until Red Bat carried the Dragon King into Mo Lin¡¯s tent and Mo Lin carried the three captives away that realized dawned on the bodyguards. They hurriedly grabbed the weapons they had previously thrown on the ground and struck down the followers who hadn¡¯t fled, and then went to guard the provisions.


    There was one other person in the tent. Liman walked over, helped Red Bat put the Dragon King on the felt nket, and then asked in surprise, ¡°What happened?¡±


    Liman and Mo Lin had been lobbying the Naihang Tribe and just returned. They hadn¡¯t expected that this would happen halfway. Although both the Dragon King and Red Bat had disguised themselves, they were still identified as soon as they had made their moves.


    What Gu Shenwei cared about was another issue. He pointed at the three captives Mo Lin brought in. ¡°Ask them who sent them.¡±


    Cavalrymen made regr patrols all the way from Heaven¡¯s Pass to the capital of Xiaowan Kingdom, but these three bandit groups had managed to approach their specific group and tried to rob them. They must have received some insider help.


    Golden Saber was still in aa. The Mighty King raised his head and refused to talk. But the Skyscraping Beast was so thoroughly demoralized that he confessed immediately. ¡°Nonders. It was the Nonders who let us through.¡±


    Liman felt that his heart skip a beat, realizing he might have made a mistake.

 Chapter 797 - Wart

    Chapter 797: Wart


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    After being humiliated by some freak experts, the Mighty King, Skyscraping Beast, and Golden Saber had been forced into returning all the money they had ever extorted from L¨¹ Qiying. A few dayster, this humiliating defeat was still bothering them. They did some research of their own and found out that those kung fu experts were subordinates of the Dragon King.


    They didn¡¯t dare seek revenge on those experts, so the three took it out on their own followers. But just as they were just about to forget this whole ordeal, a Nonder came to them and said, ¡°A real man must settle his scores, not to mention bandits. And now, everybody in the Western Regions says that you all are as cowardly as mice and tremble upon hearing the words ¡®Dragon King.¡¯¡±


    The simplest reverse psychology had worked like a charm on the three, all of whom indignantly imed that they would definitely take revenge. But the Nonder knew that their his indignation wouldn¡¯tst long if he didn¡¯t give them some more guidance.


    ¡°He said that provisions are what the Dragon Army values the most, and that they¡¯re also of great importance to the Dragon King. While it¡¯s true that we can¡¯t afford to mess with the Dragon King and his kung fu experts, but how could we not even dare to attack these provisions?¡± The Skyscraping Beast had been knocked down by a single punch from Mo Lin and hadn¡¯t even had a chance to show off his lightness skills; his swift defeat hadpletely crushed his self-confidence and resulted in his quick confession.


    Inside the tent, everybody remained silent. Afraid that he had said something wrong, the Skyscraping Beast fearfully watched Mo Lin ¨C he was still unaware that the cripple was the true master of the group.


    Liman felt a bitterness seep into his heart, and even his voice began to quiver slightly as he asked, ¡°What¡¯s the name of that Nonder? Who sent him?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± the Skyscraping Beast replied, but he was worried that Liman might not believe him, so he reiterated his words. ¡°I really don¡¯t know. He just said that he had some acquaintances in the Nond army, and that they didn¡¯t like¡­ the Dragon King very much, so they were willing to let us enter the Xiaowan Kingdom. He also said that we could hide in the army camp afterwards, wait for the heat from the robbery to die down, and then leave and do whatever we want.¡±


    The Nonder had kept his word. The three groups of bandits had gotten through the patrolling cavalrymen and hidden themselves at the side of the road that the caravan would surely take.


    The truth was obvious. The entire area between Heaven¡¯s Pass and the caravan¡¯s camp site was under the control of Prince Duodun, so whoever had colluded with the bandits must have been one of his subordinates.


    Liman had always maintained a pivotal partnership with Duodun by constantly insisting that the prince ally himself with the Dragon King. Upon hearing the bandits¡¯ words, he flushed involuntarily. He nced at the Dragon King and exined, ¡°The members of the Nond army in Heaven¡¯s Pass haveplicated backgrounds, and His Highness has just takenmand¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded and agreed with him. At the same time, he signaled Liman not to speak to him because he didn¡¯t want his identity to be exposed.


    Mo Lin had been listening from the side. He was not one of Duodun¡¯s advocates so he didn¡¯t have to be very cautious about his words. All he wanted was the truth, so he bluntly asked, ¡°What did that Nonder look like?¡±


    The Skyscraping Beast nced at the depressed Mighty King before describing, ¡°He was neither tall nor short, but he seemed strong, with a broad, t face and small eyes¡­¡±


    The more Red Bat heard of the description, the funnier she felt he looked. ¡°ording to your description, that man looks exactly like general Liman.¡±


    What the Skyscraping Beast had described was the mostmon characteristics of a Nonder, and there wasn¡¯t anything unique in the description. Unaware of the sarcasm in Red Bat¡¯s remarks, he nced a few times at Liman before saying, ¡°Not him, definitely not. Besides, there was a big wart on the back of that Nonder¡¯s neck. It looked like a ck worm. I saw it by ident when I was seeing him off, and it even startled me.¡±


    Liman gently stroked his neck. ¡°Fortunately, I don¡¯t have that on my neck.¡±


    Red Bat was disgusted by these three bandits who had madescivious remarks to her, so she swung her sheathed saber and smacked the Mighty King¡¯s head. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you talking?¡±


    The Mighty King tried to dodge her, but was stopped by Mo Lin. His forehead received a hit and a bump as big as an egg immediately appeared. He red at Red Bat, but didn¡¯t dare do anything about it. ¡°What Skyscraping Beast said is right, but I didn¡¯t see the wart. Er, that Nonder was always smiling. That¡¯s all. Nothing more. A defeat is a defeat. It was because we were too careless. We should have set fire to everything from the beginning. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that we wanted the money¡­ s, what¡¯s done is done. Just do what you have to. I won¡¯t even frown.¡±


    He had barely finished his sentence when he frowned as the bump on his forehead was too painful.


    Liman seemed relieved as he said, ¡°With this feature, it shouldn¡¯t be too difficult to find that Nonder. I can guarantee you that there¡¯s nobody matching that description around His Highness. I think that he¡¯s most likely a former subordinate of some lord. It was very bold of him to make such a move by himself, and His Highness definitely won¡¯t let him get away with this.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded again, but didn¡¯t pointed out the other possibilities. ¡°Take the bandits to Xiaowan Kingdom.¡±


    Mo Lin ordered the Mighty King and Skyscraping Beast to carry Golden Saber before escorting the three out of the tent.


    Liman immediately got down on one knee before the Dragon King. Seeing this, Red Bat took the hint and left the tent.


    ¡°Are you hurt, Dragon King?¡± Liman asked in a small voice, showing great concern.


    ¡°Just a minor injury. I¡¯m still in ¡®closed-door-cultivation,¡¯ so¡­¡± Gu Shenwei then signaled Liman to stand up.


    ¡°I understand. On our way here, I did indeed hear that Dragon King was still in ¡®closed-door-cultivation.¡¯ Mo Lin and I won¡¯t say a word about it.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s the Naihang Tribe doing?¡±


    Upon realizing that the Dragon King wasn¡¯t about to ask any more questions about the bandits, Liman felt relieved. Actually, Liman was exceptionally excited to talk about his experiences in his hometown. ¡°My father assisted King Rizhu¡¯s favorite son in seeding the throne, and all the other tribes have acknowledged his im to the throne. The Naihang Tribe is in a stable situation now. My father believes that the Dragon King has nothing to do with the assassination, but he still holds a grudge against you because¡­¡±


    ¡°Because I didn¡¯t fulfill my obligation as an ally and failed to protect King Rizhu?¡±


    Liman was a little embarrassed and exined, ¡°My father also mes himself for the death of King Rizhu. So he hates everybody, not just the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. General Zhe Su¡¯s entitled to bear some resentment against me. I did fail in my duty to protect King Rizhu.¡±


    Liman didn¡¯t say anything more on this topic. As far as he knew, King Rizhu didn¡¯t really mean to ally with the Dragon King, and he would have attacked the Dragon King by now if he were still alive. Liman then shifted the conversation to talk about his lobbying experience. ¡°At first, my father didn¡¯t believe me, but Mo Lin was very helpful. He used to be a wing guard of the Khan, so his words matter a lot. Many people in the tribe are grateful ¨C particrly for the Dragon King¡¯s deeds of protecting the mausoleum, and that atst convinced my father. He promised that he wouldn¡¯tunch sneak attacks on the Dragon King again, but he would still seek revenge.¡±


    ¡°He should.¡±


    ¡°My father said that it was Wild Horse who assassinated King Rizhu. Since both the Dragon King and the Khan¡¯s wing guard said that Wild Horse works for Waning Moon Hall, he believes that it¡¯s true. He swore to eradicate Waning Moon Hall and to kill each and every single one of them.¡±


    ¡°You did a good job.¡±


    Liman¡¯s face flushed even redder as he said, ¡°Now that the Naihang Tribe¡¯s been pacified and your alliance with His Highness has been forged, when will the Dragon King attack Golden Roc Castle?¡±


    ¡°Soon. It won¡¯t be long before Shulitu leads his main armies here. ording to our agreement, I¡¯ll exchange armies with Prince Duodun, muster all of the troops in the Western Regions, and then finally take Golden Roc Castle once and for all.¡±


    ¡°Someone in His Highness¡¯s army is plotting against the Dragon King. We can¡¯t let him get away with this. This ck sheep has to be eliminated as soon as possible.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pondered the issue over for a while before saying, ¡°Go to Heaven¡¯s Pass and meet Prince Duodun tomorrow morning. Ask him to help us resolve this issue.¡±


    Liman felt that the Dragon King¡¯s trust him was given too easily, to the point that it was unbelievable. In his shock, he nkly stared at the Dragon King for quite a while before answering, ¡°Yes. I won¡¯t fail you, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Leave. I want to rest in your tent.¡±


    Liman walked towards the exit of the tent. Suddenly he turned around, got down on one knee, and repeated his words. ¡°I won¡¯t fail you, Dragon King.¡±


    Neither of the two had addressed the elephant in the room. Gu Shenwei barely trusted any outsiders, but this time he had decided to let Liman make his own choice. After all, in hispetition with Duodun, one or two person¡¯s stances wouldn¡¯t make any difference in the big picture.


    In the final analysis, the Court Attendants Army, themand of which Gu Shenwei had made great efforts to obtain, was his biggest bargaining chip.


    Mo Lin tookmand of the entire procession and he issued an order to depart before daybreak. At the exact same moment in Jade City, the Unique King discovered the Dragon King¡¯s absence and was about to question his biological daughter.


    When the sun was high up in the sky, the provisions caravan had entered the patrolling range of the Xiaowan Kingdom¡¯s army. Although they were Nond cavalrymen and most of them were quite fond of Duodun, none of them had ever expressed any dissatisfaction with the Dragon King, so they were rather trustworthy.


    In the afternoon, Gu Shenwei entered the pce, found a quiet room, asked the others to leave, and immediately started guiding his internal energy to repel the frosty Qi.


    It took him two days to finally get the frosty Qi in his body under control again. This was the first time that he had spent so much time fighting against the frosty Qi.


    There were many things waiting for his decision, but Mo Lin was the first person that Gu Shenwei summoned.


    Mo Lin now regarded himself as a subordinate of the Dragon King, so Gu Shenwei went straight to the point. ¡°I took a book out of the Khan¡¯s mausoleum.¡±


    He produced the General Principles of Daoless Scroll and handed it over.


    Mo Lin didn¡¯t pay any special attention to it. He took the book and casually browsed it for a short while before saying, ¡°You don¡¯t need me to remind you of this, but most of these so-called kung fu manuals are counterfeits. The Khan only decided to start collecting books about five or six years ago. There was not much time, and the price was very high, so many conmen showed up.¡±


    ¡°This one¡¯s a little special.¡±


    Mo Lin ran his eyes through the book again, but this time he did it more carefully than before. ¡°Neither the paper nor the handwriting seems to be a modern forgery¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°I was wondering where they got this book from.¡±


    Mo Lin hesitated. As a wing guard, he knew a lot of the deceased Khan¡¯s secrets, and when the conversation turned to any of them, a thoughtful look would appear on his face. ¡°I don¡¯t quite remember the origins of this book. Most of the people who were in charge of collecting books died during the riots in the Royal Court, so I don¡¯t think anybody alive knows it anymore.¡±


    ¡°I just want to know the general context.¡± Usually, Gu Shenwei wouldn¡¯t push Mo Lin to talk, but this issue was different. The General Principles of the Daoless Scroll was of great significance.


    Mo Lin quietly muttered two words. ¡°Grave robbery.¡±


    To make sure that his mausoleum had everything he needed, the Khan had resorted to every conceivable mean under the sun. As a result, the ones who were in charge of collecting of books ignored all rules. Intimidation and bribery were just a small part of their means, and they didn¡¯t even bother verifying the authenticity of the books. A lot of fraudsters had shown up, and among them, there were even some tomb robbers.


    Gu Shenwei took the book back and stroked it gently. ¡°So it¡¯s possible that this book is real?¡±


    ¡°Some forgeries are very difficult to distinguish from genuine ones. I don¡¯t know much about this. You¡¯d better have someone else identify it.¡±


    ¡°I will.¡± Gu Shenwei put the book aside before saying, ¡°Lotus was in Jade City and I had a fight with her.¡±


    Mo Lin raised his head. ¡°Please allow me to leave for Jade City right away, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°You have my consent. In the city¡­¡±


    But before he could finish his remark, Long Fanyun abruptly said from outside, ¡°I have something urgent to report, Dragon King.¡±


    Mo Lin took his leave as Gu Shenwei gave him a reminder that he could always contact Old Man Mu and the others.


    Long Fanyun nodded to show his respect for the Dragon King. ¡°A message has just arrived. Duodun has imprisoned Liman and will probably kill him. Azheba¡¯s very anxious and beseeched me to bring this message to you, Dragon King.¡±


    Duodun was clearly not cool-headed enough, and Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t just idly stand by. ¡°Issue a deration: the Dragon King has finished his closed-door-cultivation ahead of schedule.¡±

 Chapter 798 - Companions

    Chapter 798: Companions


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Duodun had been expecting this tournament against the Dragon King for a while. Now that there was no way to verify whether the Dragon King had really been in closed-door-cultivation or not, he decided to just force the Dragon King into showing himself and then challenge him to a duel.


    ¡°You disappoint me.¡± Duodun coldly stared at Liman, who was kneeling seven steps away, and felt a surge of indignation and bitterness from the betrayal well up within him.


    Although he had many followers, Duodun had made a very wise decision to only select ten of them to form a core group ofpanions. He understood that friendship with the prince would be cheap if the number were anyrger, and if the number were any smaller, then the group might not be strong enough.


    Duodun had been very picky when selecting these ten panions.¡± He had made sure that every one of them had their own unique talents. Both Azheba and Liman were among these tenpanions. The former¡¯s sense of justice and superb archery were qualities that Duodun needed, and the greatest advantage of thetter was his identity.


    Liman was a general¡¯s son. In ordance with Nond tradition, a son would inherit his father¡¯s career, which was why Liman¡¯s father had always nurtured him to be a future general ever since he was a young boy. Among Duodun¡¯s tenpanions, Liman¡¯s status was the highest.


    ¡°Originally, I had hoped that you would one day be one of my generals, lead my army, and vanquish my foes.¡± Duodun suddenly started talking again. The other eightpanions were standing to his sides in a winged formation, each with a look on his face just as indignant and restrained as their master¡¯s. ¡°It¡¯s only been half a year, and yet you¡¯ve alreadypletely transformed into someone else. You even dared to hand over the Naihang Tribe to my enemy as a gift. If I knew that you would have done this, I would never have let you stay in the Royal Court.¡±


    Liman was kneeling on the ground, his hands tied behind him. For someone who had lost his master¡¯s favor and might lose his life, he behaved so calmly that it almost felt like he was mocking the prince. After confirming that the prince had finished his remarks, he believed he was free to talk now. ¡°With regards to loyalty, my belief is that I should tell Your Highness the right thing to do, and to make sure that you make as little mistakes as possible. Obedience and ttery have nothing to do with loyalty. Those things are for cowardly servants.¡±


    His words provoked everyone, and Duodun¡¯s ¡°wings¡± instantly changed into ¡°ws.¡± It seemed as though the other eightpanions were yearning to tear Liman into pieces.


    But Duodun smiled, enjoying the anger of hispanions ¨C this was what he believed to be loyalty. After a while, he finally said, ¡°Give this traitor a second chance. Let him exin what I did wrong.¡±


    Liman took a deep breath. He didn¡¯t care about whether the others believed him or not. He was still loyal to the prince and everything he said was heartfelt. ¡°The Dragon King is an exceptional talent and there¡¯s many things he could do to help you be the Khan. Now that he¡¯s willing to ally himself with Your Highness, you should cherish this opportunity instead of suspecting him or even stabbing him in the back.¡±


    One of eightpanions couldn¡¯t help but step forward and usingly point at Liman. ¡°You hear that? These are the actual words of someone who dares to call himself a loyal servant. It seems as if the Dragon King is his actual master and His Highness has to degrade himself and ask an outsider for help. In reality, the Dragon King¡¯s nothing but a fugitive killer, and he earned his fame through nothing except ruthless killing. He can¡¯t evenpare to a good grasnd cavalryman, let alone His Highness.¡±


    Liman raised his head and nced at that man. ¡°Do you still have that wart on your neck, Ye Chuo?¡±


    Ye Chuo subconsciously raised his hand and stroked the aforementioned wart. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    Liman shook his head as he replied, ¡°Nothing.¡± Then he said to Duodun, ¡°Your Highness, if you still want to be the owner of the grasnds, you have to stop listening to these sycophants. You¡¯re not the Khan yet, and you don¡¯t possess an uncontestable strength, so sometimes it¡¯s necessary for you to act humbly.¡±


    All of thepanions started reprimanding him, but Liman still insisted on his opinion loudly. ¡°Even the deceased Khan humbled himself before his enemy when he was young. Your Highness, you haven¡¯t achieved anything yet. You will be cutting off one of your own arms if you break your alliance with the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t achieved anything?¡± Ye Chuo walked over, grabbed Liman¡¯s neck, and tried to violently twist his head. ¡°Half a year ago, His Highness was just a hostage. And now, he has 70,000 cavalrymen at his beck and call, and behind him, there¡¯s arge area of the Western Regions. And you would call this not ¡®achieving anything?¡¯ I think that you are just jealous, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    Liman stubbornly refused to turn his head. Anotherpanion came over and the two joined forces. All Liman could see was merely the ps of the tent. Finally, he turned his head and caught sight of the sullen Prince Duodun. ¡°Whates easily leaves easily, Your Highness. Please wake up. The Nond has split in half. Not just the territory, but also the people. Soldiers and officers, herdsmen and nobles ¨C everybody has their opinions, and most of those opinions are contradictory. You can¡¯t just let yourself be ced on a pedestal, because that will only make things worse! Today, the 70,000 cavalrymen are loyal to you, but tomorrow, they may switch allegiances without any hesitation. And that¡¯s because they¡¯re far from being an army truly belonging to you.¡±


    Morepanions gathered around Liman. They had given up on arguing with him and were trying to force Liman into yielding as if this were some kind of game they would y in their youth.


    They struggled on the ground until Duodun reprimanded in a severe voice, ¡°Enough!¡±


    Thepanions backed away, their faces blushing and a ring look in their eyes, just like a pack of hounds that had been forced to stop while they were tearing into their prey.


    Although Liman was covered in bumps and bruises, the conviction in his face had be even firmer. He looked the prince in the eye.


    ¡°It seems that you¡¯re not going to admit your guilt.¡±


    Liman¡¯s voice became gentler after hearing this sentence. Duodun was not only his prince but also his friend ¨C his best friend. ¡°For once, believe me, Your Highness. Luoluo¡¯s army has taken over half of the grasnd with an unstoppable momentum. We can¡¯t afford any splits. The current situation is a mess, and we have to cherish every potential ally. Besides, the Dragon King has won enormous fame in Nond, and you can only gain that by being his ally.¡±


    ¡°Azheba knows the Dragon King just as well as you do. Do you know what he told me?¡±


    Liman shook his head. It¡¯d been a while since he hadst met with Azheba.


    ¡°He said that we can¡¯t underestimate the Dragon King, and that we have to either ally ourselves with him or strike first.¡±


    Liman was amazed, not expecting that Azheba would have this opinion. He thought for a while, and then said, ¡°Azheba was right, but what he saw was merely the rtionship between Your Highness and the Dragon King, not the bigger picture of the entire Nond.¡±


    ¡°So your vision is even broader than his?¡±


    Liman ignored the prince¡¯s sarcastic jab and asked, ¡°So Your Highness chose to strike first?¡±


    ¡°The Nond belongs to the Khan¡¯s bloodline. This is a tradition that spans centuries. But the Dragon King indulged himself in the wildest fantasy that he could change this tradition, and he even managed to convince you. But I¡¯m not going to buy it, Liman.¡±


    Liman knew he had failed, but he still refused to give up on hisst glimmer of hope. ¡°Why don¡¯t you go ask the Second Consort, Your Highness? She must share my opinion.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, you want me to ask a woman for advice? Ridiculous,¡± Duodun said disdainfully. ¡°But I¡¯ll tell you anyways. You¡¯re wrong. The Second Consort¡¯s opinion is the exact opposite of yours. She believes that if we don¡¯t attack now, we¡¯ll never have another chance.¡±


    Liman was startled. Over thest few months, the Second Consort had given him the impression that she thought highly of the Dragon King, and that she yearned to see the prince ally himself with the Dragon King. <em>Why did she change sides so soon?</em>


    But Liman couldn¡¯t say anything at the moment. Duodun could feel that he¡¯d won.


    A soldier came in and reported that the Dragon King had entered Heaven¡¯s Pass with some attendants.


    Duodun uttered an ¡°Um¡± sound, had a corner of the tent p opened, and then pointed at the opposite tent. ¡°Take the Dragon King there, and¨C¡±


    ¡°Shoot numerous arrows at it,¡± Ye Chuo followed up immediately, because this was originally his idea. Then he realized his disrespectful behavior and hurriedly shut up under the severe gaze of Duodun, feeling terribly regretful.


    ¡°I know that the Dragon King¡¯s kung fu is really good, but I¡¯m not sure whether he can survive the barrage of 500 sharp arrows. If he does, I¡¯ll admit that he¡¯s a miraculous existence and ally myself with him wholeheartedly.¡±


    All of thepanionsughed. Ye Chuoughed exceptionally loud in order to make up for his previous misbehavior.


    With a livid look on his face, Liman couldn¡¯t understand why these people were so stupid. They used to be his close friends. Back when they were drinking and talking about their dreams, every one of them had appeared to be so wise and visionary. How had they be so arrogant so soon after achieving a minor status? And they even acted as if the position of Khan was something already in their grasps.


    <em>They haven¡¯t seen what happened in the Royal Court, and neither have they witnessed the madness of the Court Attendants Army and the confused look in themon soldiers¡¯ eyes, </em>Liman thought as he felt sorry for them.


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s noting,¡± said Liman in a lot voice, believing that what was about to happen to be very clear.


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Ye Chuo asked the question the prince wanted to ask.


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s won¡¯te,¡± Liman said again in a louder voice. ¡°He¡¯s a very cautious man. He won¡¯t be tricked so easily.¡±


    ¡°This is the part where you prove yourself useful.¡± Ye Chuo hade up with the whole n, so he had to defend it. ¡°You¡¯ve been working hard to facilitate the reconciliation between the Dragon King and the Naihang Tribe. So since the job is not done yet, he won¡¯t let you die. Ha-ha, the Dragon King¡¯s already in the city. Where could he escape to?¡±


    Liman refused to answer. He firmly believed that the Dragon King wouldn¡¯t take the bait, but he also couldn¡¯t think of a way the Dragon King could evade the trap.


    Reports came in one after another. The Dragon King, and about fifty attendants, was drawing closer in a seemingly urgent manner.


    Liman was very worried. The Dragon King that he knew wouldn¡¯t be taken in, but everybody made an asional mistake. <em>If I yell to warn him¡­ </em>Liman quickly dismissed this idea. A failed assassination was even more intolerable than a half-hearted alliance, and the Dragon King might kill His Highness out of rage.


    Liman knew very well what the Dragon King was willing to do to get his revenge. No matter what kind of opinions his friends held about him, Liman was still loyal to the prince.


    Clearly, Ye Chuo didn¡¯t share Liman¡¯s opinion. It was reported that the Dragon King had arrived at the entrance of the army camp. Ye Chuo produced a rag, rolled it into a ball, stuffed it into Liman¡¯s mouth, and then sealed his mouth with another rag.


    An officer hurriedly ran into the tent and reported, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s attendants were stopped at the gate, but Azheba came in with him.¡±


    Everybody was startled, but Ye Chuo had anticipated this. He said to the prince, ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do about it. The Dragon King probably wants to use Azheba as a shield, which means that he¡¯s taken the bait. If we order Azheba to leave, the Dragon King might see through the trap.¡±


    Duodun pondered the situation and said nothing. The officer who had sent the message reminded him in a muted voice, ¡°The Dragon King will be here soon.¡±


    ¡°Ye Chuo¡¯s right. Azheba will understand. Unlike Liman, he¡¯s loyal to me.¡±


    The eightpanions nodded in unison, the grave look on their faces proving that they would someday do the same thing Azheba was about to do ¨C ¡°volunteer to die.¡±


    In the distance, Liman saw two men walk into the tent which was actually a trap. One of them was Azheba, and the other caped one was probably the Dragon King.


    Liman¡¯s heart skipped a beat, but he couldn¡¯t speak. His anxiousness and indignation reaching a peak, he shook his head violently towards the prince.


    Duodun ignored him. It was not until Azheba and that man were about to enter the tent that he suddenly understood and blurted out, ¡°That¡¯s not the Dragon King!¡±

 Chapter 799 - A Gift

    Chapter 799: A Gift


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Azheba didn¡¯t know that he had just had a narrow brush with death. He was very surprised when someone led him into another tent and became even more surprised when he saw Prince Duodun.


    ¡°Who¡¯s this other person?¡± Duodun asked while struggling to subdue his anger. When the two were close enough to him, Duodun finally clearly saw that the one who had just taken off his hood was an old man who didn¡¯t resemble the Dragon King at all.


    ¡°This is Doctor Sun from Jade City. After hearing that many Nond soldiers were failing to limate themselves to the new environment and were falling sick, the Dragon King has sent Doctor Sun here to help us.¡± Azheba was concerned about the situation here and had had a premonition of disaster, which was soon verified when he saw the gagged Liman.


    Doctor Sun was a little nervous. If the patient were Prince Duodun, he would¡¯ve acted arrogantly, as not only did that satisfy his own sense of vanity, but it was also an effective means of stabilizing the patient¡¯s mood. However, the prince seemed vigorous, angry, and difficult to please, so he instead chose to be respectful. ¡°This humble subject of yours pays his respect to you, Your Highness. My name is Sun Zhihao.¡±


    All of Duodun¡¯spanions pointed at Doctor Sun and yelled out, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s capable of disguising himself. He must be a fake doctor!¡±


    Doctor Sun was confused and asked, ¡°Why would the Dragon King disguise himself as me? I¡¯m just an old man who barely has any hair left.¡±


    Duodun¡¯s sullen face instantly lit up as heughed out loud. ¡°A doctor¡¯se to us. This is a favor from God. Someone find the doctor a decent room and take good care of him. He will treat our troops when he¡¯s rested.¡±


    The moment Doctor Sun left, Duodun¡¯s demeanor changed again. There were a lot of people he had to punish, but the most pressing issue was to find the enemy. ¡°Where¡¯s the Dragon King?¡±


    Azheba nced sideways at Liman, who was shaking his head at him. Ye Chuo walked over and blocked Liman from Azheba¡¯s sight.


    ¡°The Dragon King left the city and didn¡¯t tell me where he was going.¡±


    ¡°How many men did he take with him?¡±


    ¡°There were five of them, including the Dragon King himself.¡±


    Azheba had answered honestly, but Duodun was a little distrustful of his answers. However, the prince soon understood what had happened. Even as he thought about the situation, he ordered, ¡°Here¡¯s what you¡¯re going to do, Ye Chuo.¡±


    Ye Chuo¡¯s tactic didn¡¯t work and he was starting to panic. Upon hearing Duodun¡¯s words, he walked forward hurriedly and knelt down before Duodun. ¡°At your service, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°Take 500 archers and hunt down the Dragon King. I want a head, either his or yours.¡±


    Ye Chuo was astounded. He replied ¡°Yes,¡± stood up immediately, and was just about to leave when Duodun stopped him. ¡°Don¡¯t run around like a headless chicken. Go check whether the me Foal¡¯s still here. If the Dragon King took it, then there¡¯s no need for you to go after him.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Highness,¡± Ye Chuo answered as his body was covered in cold sweat.


    ¡°The Dragon King must be heading south towards Shang Liao¡¯s army camp. You know the direction, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Highness,¡± Ye Chuo was unable to say any other words, but the prince still didn¡¯t indicate that he could leave.


    Duodun turned around and faced Azheba once more. ¡°You¡¯re my most trusted man as well as a top-notch archer. Go with Ye Chuo and help him finish the job.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± Azheba didn¡¯t expect that this task would be assigned to him. Yet the light of understanding soon dawned on him and he realized that this was a test of his loyalty. Liman¡¯s ¡°betrayal¡± had made the prince suspicious of his own men. ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡±


    The twopanions epted Duodun¡¯s assignments to them and left. Duodun finally flew into a rage as he shouted, ¡°Get me the herald and the scouts! They must have lost their eyeballs. If not, then why didn¡¯t any of them identify the fake Dragon King?¡±


    Duodun¡¯s soldiers had seen Azheba and then made the mistake of assuming that the man walking side by side with Azheba could be nobody else besides the Dragon King. The distance was a little far so none of the soldiers had clearly seen the old face under the hood.


    Gu Shenwei was heading south with Long Fanyun, Chu Nanping, Han Fen, and Shangguan Yun. His destination was precisely where Duodun had spected he would go ¨C the Restoration Army Camp of the Shule Kingdom.


    Han Fen had volunteered toe because she needed ¡°a distraction,¡± while Shangguan Yun had been forced intoing. He reminded the Dragon King, ¡°Once we pass though Heaven¡¯s Pass, we¡¯ll be in the Western Regions, which means that the alliance between us will be over.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to give it a try,¡± Gu Shenwei replied.


    After leaving the city, Shangguan Yun looked towards the east where Golden Roc Castle was located before saying, ¡°We don¡¯t necessarily have to be enemies just because we¡¯re no longer allies, Dragon King. How about I stop working for the Unique King and just sit on the fence?¡±


    Long Fanyun snorted disdainfully. He would never forget how much harm this Third Young Master of Golden Roc Castle had done to the Dragon Army at Wu Mountain.


    Gu Shenwei replied ndly with a single word. ¡°Okay.¡±


    Han Fen rode forward and yelled happily, ¡°I want to sit on the fence as well!¡±


    Everyone ignored her, but she didn¡¯t care and just pranced around in front of the others.


    There were still some medium-sized checkpoints ahead of them, and Long Fanyun handled all the crossing procedures. He told those soldiers that he was the General of the Right as well as the envoy of the Shule prince, and they passed through all the checkpoints without any issues.


    It was nearly dusk when the other group caught up to them. Long Fanyun was the first one to notice the sounds from behind them. He turned his horse and quickly nced behind him before riding up to the Dragon King and reporting, ¡°It¡¯s Nond Cavalry, about 500 to 600 men.¡±


    There was a small isted hill ahead. Gu Shenwei had been here before and he still had a vague memory of the surrounding terrain. ¡°Go there and send them a signal.¡±


    Long Fanyun grunted, ¡°Um,¡± and then nced over his shoulder at the Nond Cavalry that were approaching rapidly one more time. He was concerned, but refrained from saying anything. He immediately spurred his horse on and rode towards the top of the hill.


    Chu Nanping stayed by the Dragon King¡¯s side silently. But Han Fen asked in confusion, ¡°What should a person who sits on the fence do at this moment?¡±


    Shangguan Yun had been staring at Long Fanyun¡¯s receding figure, believing that the Nond cavalrymen would undoubtedly arrive first. Even if Long Fanyun managed to miraculously conjure up reinforcements, they would never make it here in time. So, even as he bitterly smiled, he said to Han Fen, ¡°If you are sitting on the fence, then you don¡¯t have to do anything. If you want to stay, stay; if you want to flee, flee. Right, Dragon King?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was also gauging the distance and the speed of the approaching cavalry. At the same time, he produced a short bow and drew an arrow. ¡°You can stay, but you can¡¯t flee.¡±


    Shangguan Yun nodded approvingly as he said, ¡°I have an idea. We can have Han Fen disguise herself as the Dragon King to distract the Nonders. The disguise doesn¡¯t have to be perfect ¨C an average one will suffice.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± Han Fen replied immediately, unaware of how big a risk she was taking on.


    ¡°There¡¯s no time for that,¡± Gu Shenwei said before he suddenly raised his arms, drew the bow, and shot an arrow into the sky.


    Like a rainbow, the arrow arced through the sky before dropping in the distance. This was their distress signal.


    Another arrow shortly followed, and the route of the second arrow was nearly the same as that of its predecessor.


    Shangguan Yun shook the arrow in his hand and smiled as he said, ¡°It¡¯s a surprise that I still remember the kung fu I learned back in Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    Most killers didn¡¯t focus on archery, but every killer had to learn it as a basic skill during their apprenticeship.


    The two arrows fell into the ground, quivering. The 500 Nond cavalrymen separated into two streams and split around both sides of the arrows like a river¡¯s course when encountering a huge rock. Soon, they formed a semicircle.


    Yet the arrows shot by the Dragon King and Shangguan Yun flew much farther than a normal archer¡¯s shots, and most Nond cavalrymen were unable to replicate their feat. Thus, the army still needed to advance a bit more before they couldunch an attack.


    Ye Chuo had only met the Dragon King once before. Looking at the four people, he asked worriedly, ¡°Is that the Dragon King?¡±


    Azheba gave a careful look and said, ¡°It looks like him, but I have to get closer to be sure.¡±


    ¡°Kill them first and then identify the corpsester.¡± Ye Chuo had been given an invible order, and he didn¡¯t want to risk anything.


    ¡°Wait. If it¡¯s really the Dragon King, then we have to be cautious in case there¡¯re traps. Look, there¡¯s someone¡¯s riding to the top of that hill.¡±


    ¡°Just do it. Each grasnd cavalryman can fight off ten enemies by themselvse. Even if there is a trap, we have nothing to worry about. Besides, not many people in the Western Regions are good at archery¡­ We¡¯ve been friends since childhood, Azheba, and this might be the reason why His Highness assigned you to help me. You¡¯re not going to just stand by and watch, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course not.¡± Azheba took out his bow and arrows, but didn¡¯t start shooting just yet. ¡°Was it you who advised His Highness to assassinate the Dragon King?¡±


    This was an inopportune question which irritated Ye Chuo. ¡°Liman betrayed His Highness because of the Dragon King. Meanwhile, you¡¯ve been in the Dragon Army all this time, Azheba. You didn¡¯t happen to have been influenced and now believe that His Highness should forge an alliance with an outsider, did you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m loyal to His Highness. I won¡¯t make any reckless decisions.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Ye Chuo stiffened in his stirrups and reached for his saber. ¡°Reckless decisions? No risk, no reward! If the Dragon King dies in the army camp, I will be the biggest hero of the prince. I knew it, you¡¯re just like those wolf cubs who are jealous of me¡­¡±


    The look on Azheba¡¯s face was still that ofposure. ¡°We fight for the same cause ¨C assisting His Highness in unifying the grasnds.¡±


    Ye Chuo realized that he had crossed a line. He sat down, loosened the grip of his right hand on the saber, and sincerely said, ¡°You must help me, Azheba. If I fail to retrieve the Dragon King¡¯s head, His Highness is really going to kill me. You know him. He never goes back on anything that he says in public.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Azheba tried tofort him by saying, ¡°When that guy reaches the hill and the situation bes a bit clearer, I¡¯ll do it right away.¡±


    Ye Chuo was still hesitant to trust Azheba. Azheba rode forward and stopped at a position about an bow shot¡¯s range away from the Dragon King. Then he yelled out, ¡°You came to the city but didn¡¯t visit us, Dragon King. His Highness med me for not having kept you there. Pleasee back with us to Heaven¡¯s Pass, so that His Highness may treat you with the hospitality you deserve.¡±


    Gu Shenwei also raised his voice to reply. ¡°I have some urgent business. Please go back and tell Prince Duodun that I¡¯ll return to Heaven¡¯s Pass and express my apologies to him soon.¡±


    Han Fen asked Shangguan Yun in a muted voice, ¡°Isn¡¯t Azheba our friend? Why is he talking so strangely?¡±


    Shangguan Yun looked at her in amazement as he asked, ¡°You just can¡¯t stop surprising me, can you, Han Fen? I mean, you can even read between the lines now.¡±


    Han Fen showed a self-satisfied smile. ¡°I know that you¡¯re a liar, but yourpliments are always so sweet. Shangguan Fei¡¯s your younger brother, right? All of the men of the Shangguan family are so talented at ttery.¡±


    ¡°I have an academic family background, but I¡¯m just an average person,¡± Shangguan Yun replied modestly.


    There was barely anything that could affect Chu Nanping, but this time he couldn¡¯t help and nce over his shoulder at Shangguan Yun, feeling that Shangguan Yun was a bit too thick-skinned.


    Gu Shenwei and Azheba had been exchanging pleasantries all the while. Thetter continuously tried to invite the former, and the former continuously declined. Ye Chuo and the troops kept approaching, and in the distance, Long Fanyun had finally arrived at the top of the hill.


    The longer Ye Chuo thought about it, the more unreliable he felt Azheba¡¯s n was. Ye Chuo was just about to give the order to attack and shoot the Dragon King to death when he heard a rumbling sound, like that of muffled thunder from thick clouds, in the distant sky.


    Long Fanyun had blown the bugle.


    Although nothing happened after the sound of the bugle, all of the experienced Nond cavalrymen¡¯s vignce spiked at the same time. They stopped their horses and looked around cautiously.


    A team of cavalrymen emerged from behind the small hill. There were at least 1,000 of them, rapidly closing in on them like the wind.


    Ye Chuo believed that the odds were still in his favor because there wasn¡¯t enough time for the Dragon King to flee. Although the enemies outnumbered them, they were still no match for the Nond cavalrymen and their archery.


    He raised his hand and was just about to give the order to attack when an arrow abruptly lodged itself in his chest, the archer who shot it someone he would have never expected.


    Azheba calmly watched Ye Chuo fall down, and then turned to the Dragon King and said, ¡°This is a gift from His Highness, Dragon King. Please ept it.¡±.

 Chapter 800 - Wholeheartedly

    Chapter 800: Wholeheartedly


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Azheba had only decided to kill Ye Chuo at the veryst moment. In his heart, there were several reasons to do so, but none of them were convincing enough until then.


    No matter what, his foremost goal was to rescue Liman.


    ¡°Liman doesn¡¯t deserve to die.¡± Azheba first ordered the 500 panic-stricken Nond cavalrymen to remain where they were, and then he rode to the Dragon King to great him. ¡°He has many opinions, but he¡¯s only loyal to His Highness, though he¡¯s also been honest with you this whole time. Dragon King, if you die, nobody can save him.¡±


    ¡°What about that one?¡± Gu Shenwei pointed at the corpse in the distance.


    ¡°There¡¯re crafty sycophants groveling at every king¡¯s feet. I¡¯ve never liked Ye Chuo. He was the one who sent the bandits to burn the provisions. He was also the one that plotted to assassinate you, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°So Prince Duodun¡¯s dering war on me. Are you doing this because you still want our alliance tost?¡±


    As weird as it sounded, that was exactly what Azheba was hoping for. ¡°As far as I know, the Dragon King¡¯s not an impulsive person. In the Royal Court, despite the fact that King Rizhu betrayed you several times, you still maintained your alliance with him throughout all that.¡±


    ¡°King Rizhu¡¯s dead,¡± Gu Shenwei retorted. As an ¡°ally,¡± he had watched King Rizhu be assassinated without making any efforts to save him.


    ¡°I know.¡± Azheba was not naive and he knew that his hopes of the Dragon King and Duodun remaining allies were merely a farfetched wish. ¡°The Dragon King and His Highness are not objectively opposed enemies. The king of the grasnds and the king of the Western Regions can coexist in mutual non-interference even if they don¡¯t fight enemies side by side.¡±


    Gu Shenwei still felt that Azheba was being a bit na?ve. ¡°Okay, then. You have my word that as long as Prince Duodun stops plotting against me, I¡¯ll keep my end of the alliance.¡±


    ¡°And there¡¯s also Liman.¡±


    Shangguan Yun had been watching on from the side the whole time. At this point, he smiled and interjected to say, ¡°As long as the Dragon King is alive, Prince Duodun won¡¯t be able to retrieve the 100,000 plus Nond troops anytime soon. Without a powerful army, why would he kill Liman and make an enemy out of the Naihang Tribe?¡±


    Azheba let out augh, nodded his head in respect for the Dragon King, and then turned his horse to return to his contingent.


    Gazing at the Nonder¡¯s retreating figure, Shangguan Yun shook his head. ¡°Azheba¡¯s always been a sober man. Today, why did he¡­ He¡¯s digging a grave for himself.¡±


    ¡°This is not his first time doing something simr,¡± Gu Shenwei replied. Back then in the Royal Court, Azheba had once stubbornly insisted on convincing the Court Attendants Army to give up their obsessive belief in the Khan.


    Shangguan Yun knew what the Dragon King was referring to. Heughed and replied, ¡°I kind of like him, and I hope that Duodun isn¡¯t stupid enough to impulsively kill him on a whim. This kind of subordinate is very rare. Duodun should cherish him since he has him.¡±


    Long Fanyun and the reinforcements finally arrived. These were the Dragon King¡¯s guard troops, and they started blowing bugles and cheering even when they were still far away.


    Gu Shenwei turned around. He had been vignt and concerned ever since he had entered the Nond, but now he could finally lower down his guard a little. This was the army that truly belonged to him, and to some extent, it could even make up for the loss of Lotus.


    Han Fen liked uproarious asions, so she also started cheering. After a while, a question urred to her. ¡°What¡¯s a crafty sycophant?¡±


    Shangguan Yun pretended to also be contemting the same question as he answered, ¡°Well, a crafty sycophant is someone that a king likes unconditionally¡­ Just like you ¨C the Dragon King captured you, but didn¡¯t kill you, which means that he obviously likes you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the Dragon King¡¯s crafty sycophant?¡±


    ¡°Mmm, you are.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m an idler as well as a crafty sycophant?¡±


    ¡°Mm, that¡¯s who you are.¡±


    ¡­


    Upon hearing the distant bugle sounds and cheers, Azheba became more and more uncertain of his decision and was actually now a little regretful about that arrow he had shot. It wouldn¡¯t have been easy to mob the Dragon King, but it was also not apletely impossible task. And most importantly, he had no right to decide whether the Dragon King was an ally or an enemy. This meant that what he had done was almost equivalent to outright betrayal.


    It was already midnight by the time he returned to Heaven¡¯s Pass, and when he finally arrived, there was a team waiting for him at the city gate, torches in their hands.


    Seeing the leather bag on the back of the horse, Shangguan Ru felt chills run through her heart. She had faith in the Dragon King, but fear nheless involuntarily surfaced in her throughts.


    Azheba gave nd a nod in acknowledgement. ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s alive.¡± Then he rode forward into the city. He wasn¡¯t supposed to tell anybody anything before first meeting with Prince Duodun.


    The moment the city gate closed behind him, Azheba felt a sudden shock in the heart. He suddenly realized that what he had done was indeed a ¡°betrayal¡± of a certain kind, and that the reason for this was neither the Dragon King nor Liman, but rather that woman beside the city gate.


    Bathed in the light of the torches, that look in Shangguan Ru¡¯s eyes was something he had never seen before ¨C it was an intense lookposed of anger, anxiety and desperation, and each emotion was so intense that the owner of this look had forgotten herself.


    Upon hearing the words ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s alive,¡± Shangguan Ru was so relieved that hse didn¡¯t even greet Azheba.


    Azheba felt heart-broken, yet also proud of himself. <em>The Dragon King mustn¡¯t die </em>, he thought. <em>Because the Dragon King¡¯s the man she loves, then as long as the Dragon King¡¯s alive, she won¡¯t be forced to marry anyone else.</em>


    He had once been ordered to persuade her into marrying Duodun, but in reality, he didn¡¯t mean the words he had spoken. It was not until now that he discovered what he truly desired.


    Due to these thoughts, Azheba entered the camp with a guilty conscience. He walked into the tent, knelt down on his knees, and raised the head in the leather bag.


    There was still a look of horror etched into Ye Chuo¡¯s face.


    ¡°You failed to catch up with the Dragon King?¡± Duodun couldn¡¯t believe it.


    ¡°We did, but the Dragon King¡¯s reinforcements had also arrived. After weighing the pros and cons, I believed that killing Ye Chuo might serve your will and interests better.¡±


    There wasplete silence in the tent. Azheba¡¯s bold move had surprised everybody. Severalpanions stared at him and were ready to instantly transform from his friends into his enemies the moment the prince gave the order.


    Duodun remained impassive, staring at the head without blinking. Holding the saber hilt, he slowly walked before Azheba and grabbed Ye Chuo¡¯s head, ¡°At least I got a head.¡± Then he turned around and said to hispanions, ¡°Ye Chuo deserved this. His n failed and he provoked our enemy pointlessly. Azheba did the right thing.¡±


    The tension in the air vanished. All sevenpanions started criticizing Ye Chuo for his mistakes.


    Duodun ditched the head, helped Azheba stand up, and then whispered in his ear, ¡°This is thest time. You owe me your life.¡±


    A hundred miles away, Gu Shenwei regained themand of the army.


    The next day at dusk, Shang Liao and the prince of Shule arrived at the Restoration Army Camp from Heaven¡¯s Pass. Their attendants were still several miles away behind them, and even as they struggled to catch their breath, the two of them requested permission to meet with the Dragon King.


    The two were both amazed and indignant because it was them who had formed the Restoration Army. They didn¡¯t expecte that the Dragon King would take the fruits of theirbor so easily because of their momentary carelessness.


    In the tent, Gu Shenwei was checking the troops records and asking the officers about the current situation of the army.


    Shule rushed in first. ¡°Dragon King¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei raised his head and the anger in the prince¡¯s eyes instantly disappeared. ¡°My apologies for beingte, Dragon King.¡±


    Shang Liao followed him in shortly, but he was far moreposed. He bowed deeply as he said, ¡°The General of the Right Shang Liao pays his respects to the Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pushed the files on his desk aside. ¡°You¡¯ve arrived just in time. I¡¯m going to lead the army north, and I need someone to stabilize and keep an eye on the rear.¡±


    ¡°Nor- North?¡± the prince of Shule couldn¡¯t believe what he had heard. ¡°Why do you want to go north? The Shule Kingdom¡¯s in the west, not the north.¡±


    ¡°The Shule Kingdom¡¯s in the west, but our enemy¡¯s at the north. We have to directly face the enemy if you want to get your country back.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ but¡­¡± the prince was too flustered to think of a reason to oppose the Dragon King.


    Shang Liao knew that he had made a terrible mistake, and that it had to be fixed right away, so he spoke up to say ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s right. It¡¯s totally pointless for the Restoration Army to stay here since war turned out to be inevitable. But if we¡¯re going to wage war, we¡¯ll have to deal with several tricky issues first. May I make some suggestions?¡±


    Gu Shenwei gave an order to the officers before dismissing them. ¡°All troops of the Restoration Army must gather here in five days.¡±


    After several months of work, Shang Liao and the prince of Shule had expanded the troop-count to 20,000. There were only 5,000 men here, as the rest of the army was stationed in the south. Five days was a bit too short, but the rest of the army should still arrive on time.


    The General of the Right and the prince felt a stabbing pain in their heart as they thought about handing over 20,000 men to the Dragon King.


    But there was more fear than pain in the prince¡¯s heart. The officers had barely left the tent when he walked up to the Dragon King. ¡°Dragon King-¡±


    Chu Nanping, who was beside Gu Shenwei, took a step forward and the prince¡¯s heart skipped a beat ¨C he had almost forgotten that he was not supposed to enter within five steps of the Dragon King. As he backed away awkwardly, he asked, ¡°You will restore the Shule Kingdom, right, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Of course I will. Why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± the prince panicked and didn¡¯t know what to say.


    Shang Liao bowed down again. ¡°Please forgive me, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°For what?¡±


    ¡°There was an order for the prince and I to guard the Nond hostages, but we set them free without the Dragon King¡¯s permission and allied with the enemy. Although we did that in pressing circumstances, it¡¯s still an unforgivable felony. Also, I didn¡¯t ask for your consent in Xiaowan Kingdom, and that is yet another crime I¡¯vemitted.¡±


    Understanding dawned on the prince of Shule and he hurriedly added on, ¡°I¡¯m guilty as well, but the Nond was so chaotic at that time that I thought that maybe a peaceful retreat with Prince Duodun and his 70,000 cavalrymen was better than a drawn-outwar. Er, by the way, is my sister okay, Dragon King?¡±


    Tie Linglong was the prince¡¯s half-sister, and he liked her very much. But ever since he had gotten involved in restoring his country, he hadn¡¯t had time to miss her very often.


    ¡°She¡¯s fine, and she¡¯s working for me in Jade City,¡± Gu Shenwei replied. ¡°And speaking of those issues involving Prince Duodun, you did a good job. Actually, instead ofmitting crimes, you¡¯ve rendered meritorious service. Besides, I¡¯ve given you permission to make your own decisions in the Shule Kingdom, so you don¡¯t have to ask me for my consent to everything.¡±


    The prince exhaled deeply and, before Shang Liao could speak again, revealed his true thoughts. ¡°You¡¯re very magnanimous, Dragon King. But¡­ why do we have to wage war? I mean, sooner orter, the Nonders are going to return to the grasnds topete for supremacy, and at that point, we¡¯ll be able to rebuild the Shule Kingdom without a single casualty. In addition, there are 70,000 cavalrymen there, while our Restoration Army only has 20,000 men. If we attack recklessly, the result will be like an egg smashing itself against a rock.¡±


    ¡°If the Dragon King¡¯s determined to do this, it would be wiser to mobilize the Dragon Army at Xiaoyao Lake andbine the two armies. If we make the maneuver at the right time and the right ce, we might still stand a chance of defeating the Nonders,¡± Shang Liao persuaded with his metaphors.


    ¡°Who told you that we¡¯re going to wage war against the Nonders?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    That once sentence left the two agape and tongue-tied. Then the prince confusedly asked, ¡°You¡¯re not going north to fight Prince Duodun?¡±


    ¡°The alliance with Duodun is a major inroad that you two¡¯ve made. Why would I give it up so easily?¡±


    Thest possibility finally urred to Shang Liao as he muttered, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s going to attack Golden Roc Castle? It¡¯s said that the Unique King has mustered hundreds of thousand troops at Thousand Horsemen Pass. Furthermore, winter¡¯sing, so I¡¯m afraid that this won¡¯t be an easy fight either, right?¡±


    ¡°And this is the Restoration Army of the Shule Kingdom,¡± the prince reminded the Dragon King in a low tone. But then he immediately regretted his decision and added, ¡°But the Dragon King can use it however you want.¡±


    ¡°This battle is rather special. The enemies are not Nonders, and not all of them are from Golden Roc Castle. Rather, I will be escorting a caravan and whoever gets in my way will be my enemy.¡±


    To transfer all the wealth of the Meng family out of Jade City was not a task that could be aplished will just a few kung fu experts.

 Chapter 801 - Persuasion

    Chapter 801: Persuasion


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Meng Mingshu had always had a high opinion of himself. Whether it was talent, wisdom or appearance, he considered himself the best and thus, the only worthy heir of the Meng family. Therefore, when he had conspired with the Dragon King to kill his fifth brother and big brother more than two years ago, he didn¡¯t feel guilty at all. Instead, he had felt a sense of duty and believed that only by taking such a dangerous measure could he reverse the decline of the Meng family.


    The business of the Meng family was booming, and the family fortune was growing everrger. So the decline was not in any financial aspect. Rather, it was their rtionship with Golden Roc Castle that was weakening day by day, and how the former rtionship of allies had devolved into a purely master-servant rtionship.


    His father, Meng Yuzun, discovered this, so he had secretly practiced kung fu and even tried to raise his own team of killers. The result had been a fiasco that wasn¡¯t helpful at turning the tables at all.


    Meng Mingshu decided to use pursue another path of salvation. But when the matter came to a head, he found that he was not as calm and brave as he had expected. He was constantly in a fit of panic and Xiao Fengchai, who he needed the most, happened to not be around.


    ¡°The Unique King will kill me. How could he possibly be fooled by such a trick?¡± Meng Mingshu muttered, forgetting that someone else was still around him.


    The old steward Duan Zihua stared at the young master sympathetically.


    Because the goods he had been in charge of were stolen on the way here, Duan Zihua had been humiliated in the Bodhi Garden and was not even allowed to die as rpense. But ever since he had found out that the current ¡®old master¡¯ was probably a fake, he had shed his guilt and wholeheartedly joined in the plot to transfer the Meng family¡¯s property.


    As a loyal and calm man, Duan Zihua was familiar with the Meng family¡¯s business and therefore, saw the immediate crisis more clearly. ¡°Second Young Master, this is the only way out. It¡¯s better to take a risk than wait for death.¡±


    Meng Mingshu obviously understood this principle. ¡°I¡¯m just¡­ I¡¯m just wondering if there¡¯s a safer and more subtle way to dy the Unique King¡¯s suspicions toward me.¡±


    Shangguan Fei, who had always despised the Meng family, thought that if he were the Unique King, he probably would have also eliminated this useless ally. But his present task was to make sure the Second Young Master Meng wouldn¡¯t get cold feet. ¡°Honestly speaking, transferring such a big sum of money will always arouse suspicion no matter how safe and subtle the means are. The Unique King will know that there¡¯s a mole in the Meng family right away, and the first person he will suspect will definitely be you.¡±


    Meng Mingshu trembled and his expression suddenly shifted. ¡°No, I have to see the Dragon King. I have to discuss this with him.¡±


    ¡°Wait, I¡¯m not finished speaking yet.¡± Shangguan Fei kept shaking his head in disappointment. Meng Mingshu belonged to his father¡¯s generation, but he behaved like a naive child. ¡°You have a ¡®death-exemption te¡¯ and will not be killed no matter how heavily the Unique King doubts you.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Meng Mingshu asked puzzledly.


    ¡°You must have heard of the two rules that all golden roc killers obey, right?¡±


    ¡°Mmm.¡±


    ¡°Have you ever heard of the story of the widow who avenged her husband?¡±


    ¡°Yes. The woman and her son didn¡¯t know kung fu so they promised to give away their wealth, which attracted hordes of avengers¡­ Oh, I see. You¡¯re saying that I am the ¡®widow¡¯ and that the Dragon King will use me as a pretext to fight with the Unique King for the Meng family¡¯s property, right?¡±


    ¡°The ¡®pretext¡¯ is your ¡®death-exemption te.¡¯ What are you afraid of with it by your side?¡±


    Nheless, Meng Mingshu was still afraid because it meant that he was walking on a saber¡¯s edge, and that he would even need to directly confront the Unique King for a while. ¡°But when the Dragon King conquers Jade City, the Unique King will be rendered powerless. Will the Unique King kill me to vent his anger then?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to trust the Dragon King on that. He¡¯ll get you out before then.¡±


    Duan Zihua had been listening listened and now asked for his master, ¡°Can¡¯t Second Young Master follow the caravan and leave now?¡±


    Shangguan Fei shook his head before exining, ¡°First, if Second Young Master breaks with Golden Roc Castle now, he¡¯ll no longer be a ¡®pretext.¡¯ To save face, the Unique King would have to kill him. Second, the Meng family has arge estate and dozens of family members in Jade City. It¡¯s impossible to bring all of them away. As long as Second Young Master escapes, the Unique King will have an excuse to act ruthlessly. It¡¯s better to leave him in a dilemma.¡±


    Duan Zihua no longer spoke, and Meng Mingshu had also been persuaded. In fact, he knew the truth, but theforting effect was always greater when it was spoken by others. So he clenched his fists and said, ¡°That¡¯s it then. The Meng family has been cornered and there¡¯s no way out if we don¡¯t take any risks.¡±


    Shangguan Fei quietly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the Dragon King had really been wise to leave him to supervise Meng Mingshu. ¡°Actually, it¡¯s not that hard. Although the Unique King is cruel, he¡¯d never act on impulse without due consideration. You see, I¡¯m his son and I¡¯ve followed the Dragon King for a long time, but I haven¡¯t seen him send anyone to assassinate me.¡±


    Meng Mingshu felt a bit relieved at those words, but Duan Zihua suddenly felt that something was amiss. Shangguan Fei was following them around, and so it was hard to avoid him. He could only directly ask, ¡°Be careful, Second Young Master. Is the woman of the Retention Alley¡­ trustworthy?¡±


    In Duan Zihua¡¯s eyes, the biggest w was that Xiao Fengchai was representing Meng Mingshu to manage all of the money.


    Meng Mingshu stared at Duan Zihua and slowly said, ¡°I trust her more than I trust you.¡± This was the only thing he was sure of in the whole scheme, and what he would not allow anyone to deny.


    Duan Zihua dared not say any more. Shangguan Fei was all smiles, but he was actually thinking, ¡®The heavens have abandoned the Meng family, and no one can help them anymore.¡¯


    To make the second young master of the Meng family a living ¡®pretext,¡¯ the basic premise was that Meng Yuzun, who was in the Bodhi Garden, must die regardless of whether he was a fake or not.


    This task would be carried out by Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher.


    Dog Butcher, who was taking part in an assassination for the first time in his life, looked very restless. Even the slightest noise outside would startle him, make him think that the n had been leaked, and the enemy hade to attack them.


    Old Man Mu found it very funny and, therefore, made all sorts of strange noises to startle Dog Butcher. When he did it for the fifteenth time, Dog Butcher, who could no longer bear it, got up and said, ¡°No more.¡±


    ¡°What? Are you upset? I¡¯m training your willpower. A good killer has to keep his mind as quiet as water. Although this old man is not from Golden Roc Castle, he knows¡­¡±


    But what was on Dog Butcher¡¯s mind had nothing to do with killers. ¡°Is the man we are going to kill a bad guy?¡±


    ¡°How should I know?¡± Old Man Mu replied in surprise.


    ¡°No, I have to look into it. I want to wander in Jianghu, but that doesn¡¯t mean that I will kill innocent people. The Dragon King is a good guy, but sometimes¡­ he can¡¯t tell the difference between good and evil.¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s temper red up. He jumped on a chair, pointed at Dog Butcher, and scolded, ¡°You good old dogs always get cold feet. Stop making excuses for your cowardness. The Dragon King can¡¯t tell the difference between good and evil? Can you even tell me what is good and what is evil?¡±


    Dog Butcher was at a loss what to say, and had to think for a while before saying, ¡°What you did before is evil¡­ What Marshal Yang did is good.¡±


    Old Man Mu nodded. ¡°Well said. Let me ask you this again. Are you and your sister good or evil?¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± Dog Butcher answered at once as if saying it even a bit slower would make him a bad person.


    ¡°Then that¡¯s strange. How could you call yourself a good person if you haven¡¯t done anything like what Marshal Yang has done, like helping those in danger, or relieving those in need?¡±


    Mouth agape, Dog Butcher didn¡¯t know how to reply. He had joined the Kongtong Sect at a young age, and had spent most of his life practicing martial art skills. Even after he had left the Kongtong Sect, he had only wandered from one famous sect to another. Everything had taken ce under rules, and there was always someone to look after him. He indeed hadn¡¯t done any chivalrous deeds so far. ¡°But my sister and I haven¡¯t done any evil deeds so far either. Right, doing no evil is the same as doing good.¡±


    Old Man Mu nodded again. ¡°I see. But I still want to ask you this: the Central ins people havee to the Royal Court to kill and also to steal the head of the Khan. Are they doing evil?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. We are following the order from the Imperial Court¡­¡±


    ¡°You mean the Imperial Court of the Central ins?¡±


    ¡°Mmm.¡±


    ¡°So the people loyal to the Imperial Court of the Central ins are all inherently good and people like us from the Nond and the Western Regions are inherently evil? Because in our eyes, the Emperor of the Central ins is nothing more than a fart in a windstorm.¡±


    ¡°How dare you?!¡± Dog Butcher angrily grabbed the hilt of his saber. Insulting the Emperor was tantamount tomitting high treason in his eyes.


    ¡°That¡¯s strange. Why are you able to snatch the Khan¡¯s head, but I cannot even abuse the Emperor of the Central ins¡¯ name ? Shit, piss, fart, son of a bitch ¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s foul words came out thick and fast. Dog Butcher¡¯s face turned pale, but he finally understood Old Man Mu¡¯s point and anxiously waved his hand, saying, ¡°Stop, stop. I am wrong. Please do not insult the Emperor anymore.¡±


    ¡°You are wrong?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Do you know why you are wrong?¡±


    ¡°Everyone has their own lord to serve; thus, there¡¯s no clear line between good and evil.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. In the Western Regions, your lord is the Dragon King. Kill whoever he asks you to kill and you are good. Otherwise, you are evil. As for Meng Yuzun, who cares if he¡¯s good or evil.¡±


    Frustrated, Dog Butcher didn¡¯t know what to say. He felt that something was wrong with Old Man Mu¡¯s words, but he couldn¡¯t find a loophole.


    Old Man Mu had won the battle of words and was in a very good mood. Heforted the other side, saying, ¡°You can think of it this way. As the saying goes, the rich are all heartless. Meng Yuzun¡¯s money is enough to crush an army, so he must be very cruel. And you are going to get rid of the cruel and pacify the good.¡±


    ¡°But this Meng Yuzun is a fake.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it wicked enough to be cruel, rich and practice fraud? Then why don¡¯t you just go kill the Unique King? He¡¯s paid to kill others and never asks why. He¡¯s definitely a viin.¡±


    Dog Butcher had finally been convinced. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Do you really want to assassinate the Unique King? You go alone and I¡¯ll tell your elder sister about your death. That means that I¡¯ll have done another good deed.¡±


    ¡°No, let¡¯s go kill Meng Yuzun.¡±


    Old Man Mu was entertained, musing that if the good girl had been so easy to deceive, he would not have fallen into this miserable situation.


    The two were just about to leave when Tie Linglong pushed the door open and nced at them. Her eyes finally fell on Old Man Mu. ¡°There¡¯s something very strange going on. Could you help me look into it?¡±


    Among them, Han Wuxian was still sniffing out the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall in Jade City like a hound. Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong had went out separately to spy on the people of the Central ins in the Four Noble Truths Temple, and on the Heavenly Mountain Sect in the southern part of Jade City.


    Luo Qibai¡¯s death was a great blow to the people of the Central ins. Nie Zeng had went out several times, but found nothing. It seemed that all the disciples of the major sects had fled from Jade City overnight.


    Tie Linglong, however, had observed a strange behavior from the Heavenly Mountain Sect, ¡°The Heavenly Mountain Sect has recruited a lot of sabermen in the past two days.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s quite normal,¡± Old Man Mu analyzed in earnest. ¡°Many experts of the Heavenly Mountain Sect have died, so of course they will recruit new people.¡±


    ¡°But the sry is only fifty taels of silver a month.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not bad in other ces but in Jade City¡­ It¡¯s a bit too little.¡± Old Man Mu didn¡¯t know the market very well.


    ¡°The hired sabermen all look like experts, but none of them bargained.¡±


    Dog Butcher suddenly thought of something and interrupted their conversation. ¡°Could they be golden roc killers who were asked to join the Heavenly Mountain Sect?¡±


    Old Man Muughed at him loudly. ¡°You are imagining things¡­ Ehh, actually, it¡¯s possible.¡±


    The three of them were not good at identifying killers. Old Man Mu pped his forehead and suggested, ¡°Dog Butcher and I have a task to do. Little girl, you can go to Shangguan Fei and ask for help. He can help you find out the truth. Well, you¡¯ve done a pretty good job already. What does the Heavenly Mountain Sect want to do? Are they also aiming at the Meng family¡¯s property?¡±

 Chapter 802 - Delivering Goods

    Chapter 802: Delivering Goods


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Southern Jade City was quieting down in preparation for the night while northern Jade City was just starting to stir, its ¡°day¡± about to start. The autumn moon was still hanging high in the sky, and it felt like even if the sun rose, the cold moon would not easily fall.


    Shangguan Fei looked back at the twilight haze of the city and sighed prophetically. ¡°Today, all of Jade City will go mad.¡±


    Old Man Mu raised his long sword and patted Shangguan Fei¡¯s head, rebuking, ¡°Are you possessed by something evil? Why would you say such ominous words? Do you want the Waning Moon Hall to own Jade City? Don¡¯t ever say the word ¡®mad¡¯ in front of me again.¡±


    Shangguan Fei, who had lived with his mother for several days now, had just recovered some of his old demeanor of a young master. He turned to re at Old Man Mu, and his familiar feelings of cockiness immediately shattered. Scratching his forehead embarrassedly, he said with a smile, ¡°I mean, once news of the Meng family being robbed gets out¡­ I can assure you that even Golden Roc Castle will fall today, and so this operation won¡¯t get as much attention. You know that the people of Jade City are always more interested in money.¡±


    ¡°Even so, those¡¯re ominous words. If news spreads today, we¡¯ll be in big trouble. Meng, the second one, has tost for at least five or six days.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes. I was wrong.¡± Shangguan Fei had lost all interest by this point, thinking about when he would be the Unique King¡­ But then again, he remembered that the future Unique King was merely a shell and that he might never return to the glory of the good old days. Overall, it made him respond listlessly, ¡°Not five or six days. Four days are enough. The Dragon King will take over by then.¡±


    A long serpentine line of camel teams led out of Jade City¡¯s western gate. It wasn¡¯t the opening time of the city gate yet, but the caravan of the Meng family had their own special privileges.


    Besides therge scale of the caravan, it looked very normal. Duan Zihua, the old steward of the Meng family, was personally leading them. There were bodyguards and supply servants, and even a Golden Roc g in front of the team. Everything that was needed was already supplied.


    Several smaller camel teams which were also headed for Heaven¡¯s Pass emerged from the gap in the wall between southern Jade City and merged with the big caravan. By convention, they could follow the caravan of the Meng family and enjoy the highest level of security for just a small sum of money. This payment was usually given to the leader of the caravan, but Duan Zihua refused the money this time. ¡°The times have changed, and the good old days are long gone. There¡¯re no safe zones in the Western Regions anymore, and even I was robbed a few days ago. I have no objections if you want to follow us, but I won¡¯t take any money, nor do I guarantee safety.¡±


    If the Meng family couldn¡¯t keep their goods safe, the small caravans were even less able to defend themselves, so they still voluntarily followed behind. ¡°The war is about to start, so let¡¯s do as much business as we can before ites.¡± This was the philosophy of many merchants.


    Old Man Mu and his partners were ¡®bodyguards¡¯ hired by one of the small camel teams. But what they actually wanted to protect was the Meng family¡¯srge caravan.


    Dog Butcher followed closely behind Old Man Mu. After getting used to the saber, he hadpletely moved on from his cane in southern Jade City, but the excitement ofst night¡¯s mission still lingered in his mind. ¡°Don¡¯t you think that we did it too early? They¡¯ll find the body at first light, and then¡­ Would they chase after us?¡±


    ¡°How many times have I told you, do not talk about such trivial matters. Beware of eavesdroppers.¡± Old Man Mu impatiently scolded Dog Butcher, ¡°This is a so-called diversion tactic. As long as Golden Roc Castle is busy investigating the cause of death, they won¡¯t be able to pay attention to any other matters.¡±


    ¡°Will it work?¡±


    ¡°What, you don¡¯t believe me? The reason the Dragon King told you to follow my orders is that he thinks that I¡¯m smarter than you¡­¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King forbade you to kill, but he didn¡¯t tell me to follow your order.¡±


    Upon hearing this, Old Man Mu said, ¡°Huh, it seems that you are still unconvinced. Let me ask you something. Who made the n two hours ago? Who led the old dog into the Bodhi Garden? And whoforted the trembling old fool pissing in his pants?¡±


    ¡°Instead offorting me, you merely scolded me and hit me three times. And I neither trembled nor pissed in my pants,¡± Dog Butcher refuted.


    Seeing that the two had started arguing again, Shangguan Fei immediately distanced himself, thinking that they were being too conspicuous, and that it would be better to pretend to not know them. This time, Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t disguise himself as a woman. Instead, he had dressed himself up like an ugly man, showing no trace of his true self.


    Tie Linglong rode through the two old men without saying a word.


    ¡°What is she doing?¡±


    ¡°So impolite¡­¡±


    Tie Linglong went straight up to Shangguan Fei and asked in a low voice, ¡°Are you sure that those people are Golden Roc killers?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no way I¡¯m wrong,¡± Shangguan Fei replied in an even lower voice. ¡°I even recognize one of them. My mother has asked around. They are killers who lived on the mountainside. And many of them just retired from the castle earlier this year.¡±


    In Golden Roc Castle, once a killer had lived past their prime, they were called ¡®old killers¡¯ no matter how old they were. There were only three destinations for old killers to go to. They could either find a job such as being a killer¡¯s master in the castle or wait for death on the mountainside with a poor wage. Finally, some of them left the castle and joined the ranks of wandering sabermen and bandits to make a living.


    ¡°At the beginning of the year?¡± Tie Linglong frowned. ¡°So it¡¯s just a coincidence that has nothing to do with us?¡±


    ¡°Coincidence. It must be a coincidence.¡±


    Tie Linglong wished that she had the Dragon King¡¯s ability to see through the mist of uncertainty with a simple nce. But she really didn¡¯t have a clue, so she had to put it aside for the time being.


    Nie Zeng was nowhere to be seen. He was the one who had hid himself the best.


    The day arrived, and Jade City faded away as they moved on. Old Man Mu nced back for another time and let out a long sigh. ¡°s, mydy is still in Jade City. I hope that she doesn¡¯t die miserably.¡±


    Dog Butcher didn¡¯t recognize the sarcastic hope in Old Man Mu¡¯s words, so he thought that the other side was worried, andforted, ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Hall Leader Han is very clever. She wouldn¡¯t act on her own without the help of the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°You never know what a madwoman will do.¡±


    The procession was not moving fast, and Dog Butcher had been waiting uneasily for news from Jade City to catch up. Every time there was a sound of horse hooves behind them, he would nervously look back. But it was quiet the whole day, and even the chilling autumn wind seemed to have stopped blowing.


    While resting in the tent at night, Old Man Mu suddenly said, ¡°I have a bad feeling.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Dog Butcher knew that Old Man Mu wouldn¡¯t say anything good, but he still couldn¡¯t help asking.


    ¡°The ghost of the fake Meng Yuzun maye to you tonight.¡±


    Old Man Mu soon fell fast asleep again with the quilt drawn over his head, leaving the apprehensive Dog Butcher alone, who tossed and turned for half the night before finally taking a brief reprieve at dawn. And as soon as he closed his eyes, he dreamed of that fat fellow. This wasn¡¯t Dog Butcher¡¯s first killing, but it was his first time assassinating an unprepared man who didn¡¯t know kung fu. In his dream, the fake Meng Yuzun opened his eyes and had a desperate struggle with him.


    Dog Butcher, who had been trapped in the dream, suddenly felt strangely alert and abruptly sat up, hastily unsheathing his saber.


    It turned out to be Old Man Mu testing him again. With a long sword in hand, Old Man Mu jumped a few paces back and said, ¡°Hmm, not too clumsy. You are qualified to wander in Jianghu now. Get up and let¡¯s go.¡±


    The news Dog Butcher was worried about but also longing for finally arrived at noon that day.


    A hundred Golden Roc soldiers who had quickly marched over from Jade City stopped the caravan and demanded all the people there to turn back to the city immediately. In the blink of an eye, the news that Meng Yuzun had died of a disease had spread throughout the whole group.


    Puzzled, Dog Butcher asked, ¡°Meng Yuzun died of disease? What is this all about?¡±


    ¡°Death is also a disease,¡± Old Man Mu replied in a philosophizing tone, before reverting to his normal talking manner. ¡°Idiot. The Unique King isforting the people of the Meng family and secretly looking for the real culprit, who is you. Well, only a hundred soldiers came. It means that my n worked and that Golden Roc Castle hasn¡¯t discovered the true importance of this group.¡±


    ¡°But they want us to turn back to the city.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Let¡¯s see what that Duan Zihua can do.¡±


    After hearing the news, Duan Zihua wailed loudly, knelt down on the spot, and started kowtowing towards the direction of Jade City. Heplete disregarded the fact that his head was broken and bleeding. The leader of the small Golden Roc Army came to help him up. But when it came to turning back, Duan Zihua sternly refused, ¡°This is a rule of the Meng family. Once the goods have left the city, one can¡¯t turn back until they reach their destination. My master is dead, and if I break the rule, it will only bring more trouble to the Meng family.¡±


    The two sides were caught in a deadlock. Old Man Mu became impatient and even proposed ughtering the other side, but the others shot his proposal down as it was not necessary.


    Two hourster, people of the Meng family came and brought the new patriarch Meng Mingshu¡¯s order: ¡°Businesses first, and family second. Deliver the goods quickly and return to the city as soon as their task waspleted.¡±


    The Golden Roc Army seemed to have also received an order and no longer insisted on their return. But they stayed, and, after camping in the evening, began to ask about everyone in the caravan¡¯s background.


    The shortness of Old Man Mu and green eyes of Tie Linglong were too conspicuous, so the two were questioned the most.


    Tie Linglong proudly refused to answer any questions. Even so, she was no match for Old Man Mu when it came to being arrogant.


    Old Man Mu sat cross-legged in his saddle with a long sword in hand, drew half a circle in front of him, and said, ¡°I hereby dere that thend inside the circle is thend of the Nond. All trespassers shall die!¡±


    ¡°Are you from the Nond?¡±


    ¡°A real man of the Nond. I¡¯m your master¡¯s master.¡±


    The soldiers of the Golden Roc Army angrily surrounded him, but none of them dared to approach him. ¡°I know you. You are Old Man Mu, the Dragon King¡¯s subordinate.¡±


    ¡°So what? Neither the Unique King nor the Dragon King has said anything about going to war. Do you want to make a move first?¡±


    The Golden Roc Army and the Dragon Army were in an ambiguous state at present. War or peace was still undecided, so the ordinary soldiers were at a loss for what to do.


    One of the leaders of the small camel teams came over and produced a voucher, saying that Old Man Mu and the others were acting on behalf of the Nond Army at Heaven¡¯s Pass. The dispute was thusly solved, but the Dragon King¡¯s subordinates were now all being watched closely. That is, all except for Nie Zeng, who had mixed in with the ordinary sabermen and waspletely inconspicuous.


    For Shangguan Fei, the next part of the journey was the most difficult. He was so afraid of exposing himself and being recognized that his eyes kept sweeping up and down the soldiers of the Golden Roc Army, feeling that all of them were killers hidden in disguise.


    The third evening after leaving Jade City, the caravan ran into big trouble. A Nond Army of about a thousand people from Heaven¡¯s Pass intercepted them, iming that they had been ordered to escort the convoy.


    Shangguan Fei was so frightened that he disregarded any risks of arousing suspicion and called Old Man Mu, Dog Butcher, and Tie Linglong into his tent for a discussion. ¡°Crap, there¡¯s still one day left before we reach the appointed ce, but the Nond Army has already caught up with us. The hundred Golden Roc soldiers are insignificant, but the Nond Army has more than a thousand horsemen.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only a thousand horsemen. As long as the Dragon King raises his arm in a call to action, he can easily call in any number of troops. There¡¯s no need to worry about it. Just sharpen your weapons and get ready for a fight tomorrow,¡± Old Man Mu said excitedly. ¡°Our task is to keep an eye on a few key figures in the Golden Roc Army and to not let them get away.¡±


    Both Dog Butcher and Tie Linglong agreed with Old Man Mu which relieved Shangguan Fei¡¯s anxiety a bit. But then he made up his mind that when the two armies scuffled tomorrow, his first and foremost priority would be to keep his own life safe. He had done enough for the Dragon King, and there was no need to fight for glory anymore.


    On the fourth day after leaving the city, Shangguan Fei felt anxious and fearful all day and he kept looking around at the Golden Roc Army, the Nond Army, and the Southern Wilderness. Several others, including Dog Butcher, however, were rubbing their hands and clenching fists in anticipation of a fierce battle.


    But the Dragon King¡¯s army didn¡¯t show up on time.

 Chapter 803 - Morale

    Chapter 803: Morale


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The Restoration Army stopped after reaching the halfway point of their rapid march. During their midday break, Gu Shenwei sat among a group of swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain, drinking water and eating dried meat with them. Everyone was very quiet. From time to time, someone would look up and nod to the Dragon King when they met his eyes.


    Gu Shenwei ate very quickly. After he finished, he immediately stood up, signaled Long Fanyun and the others to not follow him, and then brought only Chu Nanping with him to stroll around.


    Most of the Restoration Army¡¯s recruits were from the Shule Kingdom, and although they had all heard much of the Dragon King, they had seen very little of him. Full of curiosity, their eyes followed the Dragon King all throughout his walk. When they realized that he was walking towards them, they all quickly bowed their heads and returned to eating and drinking their fill.


    Gu Shenwei had noticed the soldiers of the Shule Kingdom¡¯s reaction a long time ago. So, he walked up to a small group of soldiers and said to one of them, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    This soldier was very young and still had a puerile quality to his face. Upon hearing the Dragon King¡¯s question, he was badly startled. He anxiously put down his food and wiped his mouth, but then didn¡¯t know where to put his hands and ultimately turned to hispanions for help. After being encouraged, he loudly stated, ¡°My name is Xie Dezhi. The character ¡®zh¨©¡¯ is chosen from the literary jargon, not the character ¡®zh¨¬¡¯ for ambition.¡±


    He had probably often exined his name to others, so he had also blurted it out just like usual in front of the Dragon King, which caused him to blush.


    ¡°Nice name.¡± Gu Shenwei suddenly found that he no longer knew how to interact with a simple man. What could he ask an ordinary soldier? Due to theck of a conversation topic, he was just as bewildered as the other side. ¡°Why did you join the Restoration Army?¡±


    This was the advantage of the polite forms of small talk. Gu Shenwei had once hated these standardized verbal exchanges, but now he realized how useful it was to be able to open a strange door without needing a key. Of course, it seemed superfluous to those who had already opened the door ofmunication or were determined to keep the windows and doors closed.


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± Xie Dezhi was obviously unprepared for this question. His mind had gone nk, and he almost forgot to open the ¡®door.¡¯ After the waves ofughter drowning out his voice died down a bit, he finally pointed at hispanions and said, ¡°I came here with my friends.¡±


    A bolder soldier interjected, ¡°As soon as the Nond people and the Golden Roc Army came, we couldn¡¯t farm anymore. It was better to join the army and drive them away so that everything can go back to normal.¡±


    That was a good reason. But Xie Dezhi took the Dragon King¡¯s question as a task. He thought carefully for a while and decided to speak the truth. ¡°Everyone says that the Dragon King is blessed by God and will be the final victor. Besides, the Dragon King shares in the joys and sorrows with his men, and will also reward them handsomely.¡±


    ¡°Who said that?¡±


    Simultaneously, the soldiers all turned to look at the swordsmen of Big Snow Mountain who were eating with their head lowered not far away. This group of reticent men had never hesitated to praise the Dragon King in front of outsiders.


    ¡°I will win,¡± Gu Shenwei said resolutely. ¡°Tell me, what kind of reward do you want in specific?¡±


    Phrases like ¡°gold and silver,¡± ¡°a high official position,¡± and ¡°women¡± all popped out one after another.


    ¡°Farnd,¡± several soldiers said in unison, and soon, this became the most epted answer. They had been farmers before joining the army, and the most valuable thing in their mind was still farnd.


    ¡°I still prefer farming,¡± Xie Dezhi sheepishly admitted in a low voice.


    ¡°All of you will receive farnd,¡± Gu Shenwei replied in a rare sincere tone.


    People were cheering everywhere. The Dragon King¡¯s promise quickly circted among the soldiers, causing more and more people to gather around until officers were forced toe forward to maintain order.


    Gu Shenwei simply raised his voice and asked, ¡°Which of you have been to war?¡±


    Few people responded. But since Xie Dezhi had realized that the Dragon King wasn¡¯t as unapproachable as he had imagined, he was more willing to voice his thoughts. ¡°We all received our first sabers and spears two months ago.¡±


    ¡°Do you know what the most important aspect a soldier can have in war is?¡±


    ¡°To advance bravely,¡± Xie Dezhi answered right away.


    ¡°Sharp eyes and agile hands.¡±


    ¡°Fighting shoulder to shoulder.¡±


    ¡°Being tough.¡±


    ¡­


    Gu Shenwei nodded as more and more answers emerged. When the voices died down, he said, ¡°These are all important, but there¡¯s one thing that you all should never forget.¡±


    The crowd¡¯s eyes focused on the Dragon King. Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t nned on saying these words, but it felt quite necessary now. Unlike the horsemen of the Nond, this army hadn¡¯t been fully trained or tested its mettle on the battlefield. It couldn¡¯t evenpare to the tens of thousands of Dragon Army soldiers that he had left at Xiaoyao Lake.


    The Restoration Army of the Shule Kingdom had more than twenty thousand men, eight thousand of whom had participated in the battle at Xiaoyao Lake. As the main force, most of the veterans had been left behind to defend the camp. The ten thousand people he was now leading were mostly new recruits, and only a small number of them were experienced swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain.


    Gu Shenwei knew little aboutmanding troops, but even he knew from his limited experience that new recruits were easily flustered. They couldn¡¯t even disy twenty percent of their usualbat power, and sometimes couldn¡¯t even carry out the simplest tactics.


    ¡°Follow me,¡± Gu Shenwei said as he pointed at the nearby Red Crow g nearby which symbolized his army. ¡°And follow that g. It¡¯s more important than anything else.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s voice wasn¡¯t loud, but his words were clearly heard by the crowd; his appearance wasn¡¯t dignified enough, but his calmness was without question.


    The soldiers suddenly understood the words that the swordsmen always said: ¡°The Dragon King is blessed by God.¡±


    All the people present gripped their weapons. Although most of them didn¡¯t believe in God, they suddenly felt more courageous and even began to yearn for a real battle.


    The army continued to advance, and at a noticeably faster pace at that.


    Han Fen had heard what the Dragon King had said and had been following him ever since. If the Dragon King was not next to the Red Raven g, she would be a bit confused and then choose to either follow the Dragon King or the g after a vague evluation that only she understood.


    Shangguan Yun, who was also there, was full of praise for the Dragon King¡¯s impromptu performance. However, he thought that there was only a small imperfection in the speech. ¡°Well said, Dragon King. The morale has visibly improved, but isn¡¯t it a bit too early to do so? After all, there aren¡¯t any enemies in front of us right now.¡±


    ¡°No one knows when the enemy will appear.¡±


    Shangguan Yun just smiled. He had already called himself an idler and was unwilling to talk too much.


    Two hourster, the Restoration Army was already not far from the appointed meeting ce. Gu Shenwei was just about to give the order to slow down when two scouts brought back surprising news: A group of Nond horsemen was approaching from the west.


    ¡°Thousands of people,¡± gasped the scout. ¡°All armed with bows and arrows.¡± This was an immature soldier who had not yet learned how to estimate numbers quickly and urately.


    Gu Shenwei could feel the fear of the people around him. It was not surprising. The Nond Cavalry had just conquered the Shule Kingdom with great momentum. The regr army of the Shule Kingdom had been smashed apart with one stroke and hadn¡¯t even seriously resisted the enemy. How could this group of farmers who had just picked up sabers and spears not that long ago not be afraid?¡±


    Miraculously, the whole team suddenly converged at the front. The Dragon King¡¯s warning was working, and everyone was moving closer to the Red Crow g.


    Gu Shenwei nodded to Long Fanyun and ordered, ¡°Prepare for battle.¡±


    Long Fanyun immediately passed the order down and arranged various battle formations for each section of the army.


    Gu Shenwei adjusted his direction and jogged ahead first. Then he picked up his running speed after the rest of the army caught up with him.


    This wasn¡¯t an ideal attack. If Dugu Xian, the General of the Left were here, he would have pointed out many errors, such as their crude knowledge of the enemy, and theirck of preparation before the war. If it were the counselor, Fang Wenshi, he would have pointed out the fact that the Dragon King was fighting in person, and that running in the front was a risky move that was ipatible with his identity.


    But Gu Shenwei thought that it was a necessary risk. His journey to the Nond had revealed to him the truth that it wasn¡¯t enough to just only take over the military leadership. He had to gain the support of his soldiers¡¯ hearts because obeying orders didn¡¯t mean loyalty. The Khan had seen through this, but Duodun was stillpletely in the dark about this theory. Thus, Gu Shenwei decided to act opposite to the ¡°ideal n.¡±


    No matter how many the enemy troops there were, he would not retreat easily even if they were several times his own troops. He had learned from Dugu Xian that the horsemen of the Nond were good at pursuing fleeing enemy troops. There was no tactic safer and more lethal than shooting arrows at enemies whose backs were turned. And an inexperienced army would always turn a normal retreat into a chaotic flight.


    Climbing on a gentle slope, Gu Shenwei saw the enemy ahead of them, which numbered about three thousand strong. The other side was apparently aware of the Restoration Army through their own scouts and was galloping forward at a great speed. With the usual whistling of the Nond people, their tactics, like that of the Dragon King, focused on taking a quick battle.


    ¡®One of our soldiers can fight ten of theirs¡¯ was a mantra the Nond people had repeated the most in the Western Regions, and they had never met a worthy opponent in the Shule Kingdom. Thus, they were not afraid of this motley group of ten thousand people at all.


    Gu Shenwei blew the horn and the swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain also blew their horns to echo him. The deep sound of the horns immediately overwhelmed the whistling sound of the other side.


    Gu Shenwei sped up again to take the lead. Behind him, the strongest swordsman was dressed in heavy armor, and he lifted the Red Crow g while the other swordsmen carried shields and guarded the g-bearer.


    The soldiers also took out their shields, but didn¡¯t wave their sabers or spears. This was a strategy that had been devised by Shang Liao. He believed that it was pointless to wave their weapon before they swarmed into the enemy. Rather, the most important thing was to avoid being struck by arrows.


    Gu Shenwei had been able to use a few words to cheer the soldiers up, but he could not teach them how to fight. That was the generals¡¯ duties.


    Without asking about each other¡¯s identity, the two armies had charged straight at each other in the wilderness with one side feeling that they were sure to win while the other side resolute to never back down.


    The first round of arrows arrived, and the whistling of the horsemen and horn sound of the swordsmen had mixed and shed in advance.


    Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t bring a shield with him, so he drew his saber to block the arrow. But he noticed then that someone close to him was actually protecting his nks. It was Han Fen, who was currently making a cooing sound like a little hen.


    The first round of arrows didn¡¯t fall onto the enemy as it was a warning shot to scare off the enemy so that the Nond army could then chase after their enemies, their favorite tactic.


    But this time their warning shots were in vain. The people of Shule who used to be timid had surprisingly became fearless. Not only did they not retreat, but they instead charged forward even faster.


    The Nond Calvary was also equipped with sabers and spears, but they didn¡¯t like participating in meleebat unless they had to. After the second round of arrows was fired, the distance between the two sides was ufortably close for the horsemen of the Nond.


    The Nond Cavalry changed tactics. They turned their horses¡¯ heads to the right and galloped along a wide curved path even as they drew the bows from the side.


    This move usually worked very well, but they had neglected one thing. They only had three thousand people while the enemy had ten thousand men. Like a fast-moving fish, it could avoid a small, but it couldn¡¯t escape a huge one.


    Gu Shenwei stormed into the enemy first, and then the giant mouth formed by the 10,000 soldiers closed in. The hard shields carried by the soldiers were like mrs which ground the food trapped in the mouth to pieces.


    It was not until the end of the battle that many soldiers realized that they had forgotten to use their weapons. They only remembered one thing: Follow the Dragon King closely.


    The reputation of the Restoration Army¡¯s valor was established on this day.

 Chapter 804 - Dividing up the Spoils

    Chapter 804: Dividing up the Spoils


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    His face livid, Duodun regretted bringing so little troops. He had never expected the Dragon King to assemble 10,000 people in just a few days, not to mention that the cowardly Shule people had actually roused up their courage to oppose the Nond Cavalry.


    ¡°Is the Dragon King very good at fighting?¡± Duodun asked Liman who was standing beside him.


    Liman had been pardoned, but he was the only one of the prince¡¯spanions who was dressed without armor or helmet, as if he were amoner. He was not even allowed to carry a dagger with him, which was openly humiliating for a Nond man, especially when that man was the son of a general.


    But Liman still thanked the prince for his magnanimity and believed that he should speak the truth. ¡°As far as I know, the Dragon King is not good at fighting in arge-scale battle. I¡¯d say the 3,000 vanguards have lost to themselves, not the enemies.¡±


    Duodun grunted, but he still somewhat agreed with Liman¡¯s opinion.


    The 3,000 Nond cavalrymen had suffered few casualties as most of them had fled before beingpletely surrounded. However, their actions had left them utterly demoralized as they were the exact opposite of what valiant men of Nond would have done.


    The first group of escapees described the battle as very thrilling. ording to their description, the Dragon King seemed to have led fifty or sixty thousand people at once, suddenly surrounding the unprepared Nond Army with an overwhelming advantage, and it was really not easy for them to escape.


    Soon, the second group of hundreds of soldiers returned withpletely different news. They had been released by the Dragon King after briefly being taken prisoner, and they had seen with their eyes that the Restoration Army consisted of only 10,000 people, most of whom were armed with sabers and spears, with very few bowmen among them. And they acknowledged that the two sides had charged towards each other at the same time, and that there was no question of who had provoked whom first.


    Liman reached his conclusion based on the second statement. ¡°Distance is the key to horseback archery. Our army made a big mistake by charging the enemy and engaging in meleebat. It was even more of a mistake to fight against 10,000 people with only 3,000 people.¡±


    Duodun, of course, understood this, but he could not admit it because it was precisely he who had ordered it. He had ordered the army to first defeat the enemy before asking about their origins no matter who the other side was. ording to his estimate, the Dragon King would bring at most 5,000 people, or even less, and would certainly be no match for the Nond cavalry.


    He had no intention of killing the Dragon King, and had just wanted to show off his strength. But the situation had turned out to have the opposite effect, instead giving the Dragon King a chance to train his soldiers.


    Duodun¡¯s other close friends knew the root cause of the incident and also knew that His Highness needed their help to save him from embarrassment at this moment. So, one of them said, ¡°Victory and defeat are bothmon in war. It doesn¡¯t mean anything if our vanguard lost to the enemy¡¯s main forces. With the same amount of soldiers, our army will win the next battle for sure.¡±


    The generals and officers were all asking for a battle assignment. But Duodun was still looking at Liman, and he asked, ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is an ally. We should not fight him.¡±


    ¡°What ally?¡± eximed one of the confidants angrily. ¡°Didn¡¯t the Dragon King also recognize the Nond Cavalry? He was just trying to stir up trouble.¡±


    ¡°Neither did we recognize the Red Crow g,¡± Liman calmly pointed out. ¡°Since the whole battle was born from a temptation, it¡¯s hard to say who¡¯s in the right and who¡¯s in the wrong. We can still gloss it over. But if we start another battle, the rtionship will be irreparable.¡±


    ¡°So what? Sooner orter there will be a fight. Let¡¯s take this opportunity to wipe out the hidden danger,¡± another friend said. Since Duodun didn¡¯t want to speak, his men would speak for him. ¡°His Highness will enter the prairie to pacify the Nond next year, and as a rear base, the Shule Kingdom must not be left open to the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with taking the Nond and giving up Shule. Although the Dragon King is proud, he¡¯s also a man of his word. It will be more reliable for him to conquer the southern area of Heavenly Mountain than Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    ¡°Ha, have you been enchanted by the Dragon King? Everyone in the world knows that the Dragon King is just as unscrupulous and untrustworthy as Golden Roc Castle. You are the only one saying that he¡¯s trustworthy.¡±


    ¡°I think that the Dragon King can be trusted too.¡± Azheba, who had been silent, now interrupted to say, ¡°More importantly, he can act as a barrier against the Central ins and keep the Western Regions safe.¡±


    Just as the two sides were arguing in front of Duodun, a horseman approached from the opposite hillside. Soon, someone from the frontline came to report that the Dragon King¡¯s messenger was asking for a meeting.


    This messenger was Long Fanyun. After dismounting from his horse, he just nodded without kneeling down to salute. ¡°The Dragon King said that it was all a misunderstanding. We thought that it was the Golden Roc Army and that Your Highness¡¯s army must have also thought the same thing. To resolve the confusion, the Dragon King suggested a ceasefire. The Dragon King also said that it was better to meet by chance rather than by invitation and that His Highness was wee to inspect the Dragon Army.¡±


    The Dragon King hadn¡¯t apologized at all. The generals and officers became angrier and began to criticize Long Fanyun.


    Duodun waited for a while before he raised his whip and motioned his men to be silent. ¡°Go back and tell the Dragon King that since it was a misunderstanding, there¡¯s no such thing as a ceasefire. The autumn air is so fresh, and I merely came out to hunt. It seems that the Dragon King has the same hobby. So perhaps we share the same prey. Let¡¯s forget about inspecting the army and begin discussing how to best divide the prey.¡±


    Long Fanyun brought back Duodun¡¯s message. With that, Gu Shenwei had finally confirmed that the Nond man not only knew that the Dragon King had led the army northward, but also about the great fortune of the Meng family.


    The meeting was held on top of a hillock between the two armies. Both sides only brought a dozen or so people with them. Duodun¡¯s friends reminded him that the Dragon King used to be a killer, but he didn¡¯t care at all. His stance was firm, and he said, ¡°He who holds the Sword of a King will never y with a killer¡¯s narrow saber. Also¡­ He wouldn¡¯t dare kill me.¡±


    Duodun showed his courage in front of his subordinates and disyed unprecedented enthusiasm towards the Dragon King. He even embraced the other side with open arms and said, ¡°There seems to be a lot of misunderstandings between us these days.¡±


    ¡°When moving from from strangers to allies, misunderstandings are inevitable. But you and I are still allies, which shows that our rtionship is unbreakable.¡±


    The two talked in a roundabout way for a long while. When night was approaching, Duodun moved the conversation to the main topic first. ¡°I¡¯ve received some news. The Meng family, rich men of Jade City, want to ship a batch of scarce goods to Shule, and I want tomandeer them all. The Nond is at war and the Western Regions can¡¯t just stay out of it; they should offer some goods and money towards our war effort.¡±


    ¡°What a coincidence. I received the same information and I have my men on the lookout for it. They are with the goods of the Meng family right now.¡±


    ¡°Haha, that couldn¡¯t be more of a coincidence. I¡¯ve sent a thousand horsemen to intercept the convoy, and they are escorting the goods to us as we speak.¡±


    ¡°It seems that we¡¯ve both worked hard, but neither of us wants to let go.¡±


    Duodun put his smile away. He and the Dragon King would not bare their hearts, so conventional verbal exchanges werepletely unnecessary. ¡°I need the goods, but I¡¯m not greedy. Since we are still allies, each of us should take a step back. I¡¯ll take 70%, and you¡¯ll get 30%. You know that I have a much heavier burden than you do.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought for a moment before replying. He had devised the whole n to ship all of the goods out of Jade City, but Duodun was just swooping in now to steal the victory from under him. ¡°Your Highness does have many soldiers, but also has arge territory. Our army is still in the developing stages and is in urgent need of supplies. How about I take 60%¡­¡±


    The two haggled over the matter like businessmen and finally decided to split it 50-50, each taking half of it.


    Gu Shenwei did not want to act too recklessly. He could exert more pressure to gain more benefits, but breaking the alliance for no reason would cause him to lose the hard-won support he had gained in the Nond.


    As a descendant of the Khan, Duodun did not need to worry about the loyalty of the Nond people, but he had no intention of challenging the other side when his soldiers were outnumbered.


    Towards noon the next day, the two armies politely kept a distance and intercepted the ill-fated convoy of the Meng family.


    Shangguan Fei, who had been eagerly looking forward to the arrival of the Dragon Army, was taken aback when he noticed that there were two armies on the way. He asked Old Man Mu, who was catching up with him, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Have you seen the Dragon King?¡±


    Old Man Mu gave him a cold re. ¡°Smelly kid, are you making fun of my short stature?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare,¡± Shangguan Fei smilingly said before looking up, finally relieved. ¡°Look, it¡¯s the Dragon King¡¯s g. Hoo, the rest of the matter has nothing to do with us then.¡±


    Duodun¡¯s army was stationed on the northern side while the Restoration Army was gathered on the southern side. The convoy was surrounded on all sides, and everyone understood what was going on, putting down their weapons and submissively squatting on their heels. The leaders of the small camel team felt really unlucky; who would have thought that the most dangerous thing wasn¡¯t being waid by bandits but rather by an army.


    As he looked at the long caravan, Duodun felt very satisfied. Getting half of the fortune here meant that in the future, he would no longer need to worry about the Dragon King¡¯s strategy of stockpiling grain and fodder, which was a small victory to him.


    The Dragon King led the caravan guards to join him. Duodun looked on from the other side carefully, but couldn¡¯t find any fluctuation of emotion in that icy face. ¡°Rumor has it that the Meng family of Jade City has more gold and silver than even the Khan and the Emperor of the Central ins. Now I really believe those words after seeing this convoy.¡±


    ¡°Those¡¯re just rumors and can¡¯t be taken seriously.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, the Dragon King has been to the tomb of the Khan. Is the treasure insideparable to that of the Meng family?¡±


    ¡°I only identally entered a corner of the Khan¡¯s tomb, so I¡¯m not qualified to judge his wealth. But how can the firefly shine like the sun and moon? The Khan is the sun and his pce itself is already far more extravagant than the fortune of the Meng family.¡±


    The Dragon King had replied perfunctorily but it only made Duodun more interested. He was just about to ask more questions when several soldiers pushed a man forward. ¡°Your Highness, this man is the leader and wants to speak to you.¡±


    Duan Zihua respectfully knelt down and kotowed. ¡°Please show some mercy to the Meng family, Your Highness. We have beenw-abiding citizens and paid our taxes without dy. Now that our old master has just passed away, why is Your Highness suddenly seizing all of our goods? Your Highness, please have mercy.¡±


    ¡°Paying taxes?¡± Duodun disyed his pride here. ¡± Jade City hasn¡¯t been controlled by the wise Lord for too long. What you call tax-paying is nothing more than lining the private pockets of the few governors. Today, I will collect all of the royal taxes that you owe. Now, people of the Western Regions, cherish your life and retreat.¡±


    Duan Zihua remained kotowing and begged for mercy. The soldiers had to forcefully drag him away and throw him far away on the side of the road.


    Duodun then turned to the Dragon King and asked, ¡°How should we divide it? Does the Dragon King have an idea? You know, we Nond people don¡¯t know much about arithmetic.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s divide it into two, half and half. Your Highness can choose one, and I¡¯ll take the remaining one.¡±


    Duodun was immediately put on high alert. The Dragon King seemed to have no fear, so a conspiracy was definitely brewing. ¡°This is no good. Let¡¯s each choose a cartload in turn, it will be more fair and reasonable that way.¡±


    The ¡®division of spoils¡¯ then started. Duodun gave the first cartload to the Dragon King and like that, they distributed the carts one after another. The ones that belonged to the Dragon King were moved to the southern side of the road while those belonged to Duodun were moved to the northern side. The small caravans attached to the rear of the Meng family¡¯s convoy were spared. That was the two kings way of ¡®showing mercy¡¯ to them.


    Liman watched quietly nearby. Although he and Azheba supported an alliance with the Dragon King, they had not talked to the Dragon King in front of the crowd. He whispered to a friend who nced at Duodun and pretended to check the stability of thest cart while actually cutting the rope and shoving a box to the ground.


    The box broke apart, and out spilled ck ingots, not one of which was gold or silver.

 Chapter 805 - Colluding with the Enemy

    Chapter 805: Colluding with the Enemy


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Duodun¡¯s face suddenly changed. He winked at his friends around him, who immediately rushed out to open several other random boxes. They even knocked over some boxes on the southern side of the road, which all belonged to the Dragon King. All of the spilled boxes were filled with materials like iron ingots, weapons, and cotton-padded clothes; there wasn¡¯t even a hint of gold or silver.


    Duodun red at the Dragon King and asked, ¡°Is this what you¡¯re here for?¡±


    Gu Shenwei put on a look of surprise as he replied, ¡°These are all important supplies. What else would Your Highness want?¡±


    For the first time ever, Duodun felt so furious with the Dragon King that he almost wanted to wage war at all costs. However, he forcefully held himself back because the Dragon King was within ten paces of him and no one could stop him at that range. In the end, Duodun said, ¡°We¡¯ll meet again some other day¡± before turning around.


    ¡°Good-bye then, Your Highness.¡± Gu Shenwei replied politely.


    As Duodun started trotting away, an officer asked a question he should have never asked. ¡°Your Highness, these goods¡­¡±


    Duodun raised his whip andshed the officer mercilessly beforemanding, ¡°Take them away, fool.¡±


    The officer covered his face and passed the order along. Duodun¡¯s anger abated slightly, and he turned around again, this time with a smiling face, to speak to the Dragon King. ¡°In a few days, the young king of Shulitu will bring a part of the army to the Western Regions for the winter. Will the Dragon Kinge with me to inspect the soldiers?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    Liman solemnly nodded to the Dragon King and sighed for seemingly no reason as he patted his horse to follow Duodun.


    The Nond Army put their newly acquired goods on their horses and quickly withdrew. The Restoration Army gathered up all the livestock and carts that the Nond Army had left behind. They¡¯d rather clean up slowly than leave anything for the Meng family and Golden Roc Castle¡¯s forces.


    A hundred soldiers of the Golden Roc Army were then brought before the Dragon King. Their weapons had been confiscated, and everyone was nervous. Some of them even wanted to get down on their knees, but held back after bending their knees twice.


    ¡°Your mission is over,¡± Gu Shenwei said. ¡°Go back to Jade City.¡±


    The soldiers were all surprised that the Dragon King was letting them go so easily, and no one moved. Old Man Mu walked over and waved his long sword threateningly. ¡°Why don¡¯t you show your gratitude and scram? Are you waiting for the Dragon King to kick your ass?¡±


    The soldiers of Golden Roc Army all turned around and fled eastward at the same time. In their haste, they left their horses behind, a decision they would soon regret a few milester.


    Shangguan Fei, his mouth agape, was riding at the back of the line as he continuously shook his head. Upon seeing the Dragon King, he immediately put on a ttering smile. ¡°The Dragon King has long known that¡­ No, it was the Dragon King¡¯s brilliant idea after all. Haha, you¡¯ve kept us all in the dark. Describe Duodun¡¯s expression; I heard that he couldn¡¯t stop bitching and moaning.¡±


    Old Man Mu, who thought a little further, pointed at Duan Zihua who was not far away and asked, ¡°Do I have to silence him?¡±


    Duan Zihua was startled by his question and anxiously rushed over. ¡°Dragon King, I¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei lifted his hand and stopped him from doing anything more. ¡°You are safe here. You don¡¯t have to go back to Jade City. Just follow me from now on.¡±


    Duan Zihua bowed to show his respect as he replied, ¡°Yes.¡± He did not realize that the Dragon King in front of him was the stranger who had broken into his house and questioned him that night.


    Dog Butcher, who did not fully understand what was going on, unwittingly asked, ¡°What on earth is going on? Where are all the gold, silver, and jewelry? Didn¡¯t the Meng family have more than half of their property in the carts?¡±


    Old Man Mu made a triumphant turn as if he had known the secret all along. ¡°Idiot, the Dragon King knew that such an important matter could not be kept a secret, so he simply created a diversion and drew everyone¡¯s attention to the caravan. In fact, the Meng family¡¯s fortune has already been smuggled away through other means.¡±


    ¡°If their fortune is really asrge as they say, how did they transport it?¡±


    Dog Butcher wanted to get to the bottom of the matter, but Old Man Mu didn¡¯t have any answers so he casually said, ¡°The dog¡¯s head can¡¯t think of anything. But how can you be sure that the Dragon King couldn¡¯t think of anything?¡±


    Dog Butcher just smiled without asking further. He had gotten used to Old Man Mu¡¯s habit of belittling others and did not care anymore.


    The remaining half of the confiscated goods were spread out on the carts and were moved westward. Since Duodun had joined in dividing up the spoils, the Restoration Army no longer had to take side roads.


    The leaders of the four or five camel teams all came together to thank the Dragon King. They had received permission to follow the army, but all decided in their hearts that they would after returning, they would persuade their masters to stop doing business because there were no more safe passageways to the Western Regions.


    Three dayster, the Restoration Army returned to its camp without any hindrances. The Nond soldiers at the sentry post watched them pass almost respectfully.


    The topmander of the Dragon King¡¯s guards troops was a Vice Commandant of the Thousands Guards, named Wu Zongheng. He was a man of the An Kingdom of Xiaoyao Lake. He had been left at the camp for garrison duty, and he requested to see the Dragon King as soon as his group came back.


    ¡°Just as the Dragon King predicted,¡± Wu Zongheng said with a serious look. He had once joined the plot of the Empress Dowager of the An Kingdom, but had eventually been forgiven by the Dragon King, so he was particrly loyal. ¡°We have captured him.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded without asking who he had caught. ¡°Take me to see him.¡±


    The prince of Shule was pacing back and forth nervously in his tent. Upon seeing the Dragon Kinge in, he nearly copsed onto the ground. Then he forced himself to calm down and, with feigned irritation, said, ¡°Dragon King, I need an exnation. What is all this about? I am one of themanders of the Restoration Army. Don¡¯t I even have the right to leave the camp? Commandant Wu locked me up and said that it was your order.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it was my order,¡± Gu Shenwei said coldly, deliberately avoiding his eyes. Wu Zongheng brought over a chair, Gu Shenwei sat in it, and then said in an authoritative tone, ¡°Sit down.¡±


    The prince of Shule, whose legs had jellified long ago, immediately sat down on the soft couch. ¡°Misunderstanding, there must be some sort of misunderstanding. Dragon King, please listen to me¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. ¡°You know that I won¡¯t kill you. First, you are the prince of Shule and are still influential in the Shule Kingdom. Second, you¡¯ve helped me in the past, and we have had cordial rtionships. Third, you are Tie Linglong¡¯s brother. I¡¯ll spare you for her sake.¡±


    The prince broke out in a cold sweat. Then he said in an ambivalent tone that shifted between rxed and aggrieved, ¡°Dragon King, you¡­ I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re trying to say.¡±


    ¡°Do I have to say it? Don¡¯t you understand? I am the only one who can protect you.¡±


    The prince straightened up as if he wanted to fight to the bitter end, but then, like a deted ball, he drew back and thought for a long while before whispering, ¡°I want to speak to the Dragon King alone.¡±


    Wu Zongheng received a signal from the Dragon King and retreated.


    The prince seemed a bit calmer after Wu Zongheng left. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of death, nor am I ungrateful. I¡¯m just doing what I have to do in order to rebuild the Shule Kingdom.¡±


    ¡°I believe you.¡±


    ¡°The Nond people are too strong. Even if all the countries of the Western Regions join hands, we are still no match for them. It is impossible to drive them away through warring.¡±


    ¡°But you still took control of the army from me.¡±


    ¡°At that time, going to war was the only way. I must do it even if I don¡¯t think I can. But it¡¯s different now. The Nond has been torn apart. Prince Duodun wants to seize the throne of the Khan. Compared to his ambition, the Shule Kingdom is nothing in his eyes. Thus, I was wondering if we could send the Nond people away through peaceful means.¡±


    ¡°Are those your thoughts or Duodun¡¯s?¡±


    The prince blushed. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. The key is that it can be done. Prince Duodun promised me that he would lead his troops back to the prairiete in the spring of next year and fight Luoluo. At that time¡­¡± The prince hesitated for a moment before continuing, ¡°At that time, he would allow me to recover the Shule Kingdom. Additionally, he would hand over Heaven¡¯s Passto the Shule Kingdom in return for me providing him with the necessary supplies¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t say anything. Duodun had offered a tempting proposal of exchanging services just like his proposal to the Dragon King. Almost nobody would refuse unless they were sure from the very beginning that it would never happen.


    The prince was anxious to defend himself, saying, ¡°It¡¯s a good deal. The most important cause behind the fall of Shule was that there was no natural barrier to defend the eastern side. It will not be easy for the Nond people toe in again if we have control of Heaven¡¯s Pass.¡±


    ¡°So you sold me out to the Nond.¡±


    ¡°No, no.¡± The prince¡¯s face was sweatier than ever. Even during his exile, he had never been so pressured. ¡°Duodun asked me to report the Dragon King¡¯s movements to them, and he never said¡­ He didn¡¯t attack the Dragon King, did he? Because I told him that I didn¡¯t want to kill the Dragon King as the Dragon King was an important force in checking Golden Roc Castle and the Central ins¡¯ power.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t point out the many loopholes in his words. ¡°But you let Duodun down.¡±


    The prince bowed his head in dismay. ¡°I overestimated my ability to y tricks in front of the Dragon King. Prince Duodun wasn¡¯t able to take the money from the Meng family and also didn¡¯t expect the Dragon King to bring 10,000 men with him. He thought that I had given him false information on purpose and had demanded me to meet with him at once.¡±


    ¡°So you tried to run away.¡±


    ¡°He would have killed me!¡± The prince of Shule raised his voice somehow, ¡°Duodun¡­ Prince Duodun never forgives the mistakes of others.¡±


    That was enough. Gu Shenwei stood up and felt a bit disappointed. He had set the bait and thought that the fish would be Shang Liao, the General of the Right. Instead, it had turned out to be the prince of Shule.


    But it was reasonable enough. Shang Liao had a half-hearted loyalty towards the Dragon King, but he was clever enough to see through Duodun¡¯s hypocrisy. He was certainly more willing to maintain a bnce between the forces on either side rather thanpletely throw his lot in with one side.


    ¡°You said that you wouldn¡¯t kill me,¡± said the prince of Shule immediately, raising his arm and leaning back as if a saber were shing at him.


    ¡°I won¡¯t take your life, but you have to hand over everything else. The city, the fodder, the soldiers, the nobles, and the rich men of Shule. You know where they are all hiding. I¡¯ll send someone to talk to them.¡±


    The prince¡¯s face turned ashen. ¡°In that case, wouldn¡¯t I have nothing left at all?¡±


    ¡°Mmm, you¡¯ll have nothing but I¡¯ll pay you back with a unified Shule Kingdom. When I take Jade City and conquer Golden Roc Castle, you¡¯ll be the King of Shule.¡±


    ¡°But Prince Duodun and the Nond people¡­¡±


    ¡°They are my problem, not yours. Stay in the barracks and do not try to escape. That¡¯s the only premise where I won¡¯t kill you.¡±


    The prince of Shule looked at the Dragon King with a queer look as if he were seeing him for the first time. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll surrender everything.¡±


    Gu Shenwei went back to his tent. After taking a short break, he suddenly said, ¡°You¡¯ve been quiettely.¡±


    Tie Linglong walked out. ¡°Because I have nothing to say,¡± she said with a slightly cold tone.


    Gu Shenwei looked at her and said, ¡°Do not tell lies as I do. You are not good at that.¡±


    Tie Linglong blushed. There were many words she wanted to say to the Dragon King, and she hoped to get just as many answers from him. However, she was too shy to open her mouth, so she changed the topic and instead asked, ¡°That prince, why didn¡¯t you just kill him?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t touch him just yet because none of his rtions have been severed.¡±


    Tie Linglong had heard Gu Shenwei talk about ¡®severing the target¡¯s connections before killing them,¡¯ but had not quite yet understood the concept. ¡°Then do it slowly.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt Tie Linglong was a little weird, but it was not his first time thinking that so he didn¡¯t keep it in mind. ¡°What about the things I asked you to do?¡±


    ¡°You mean looking for the mole?¡±


    ¡°I hope that you took it seriously because you are the only one I trust among that group.¡±


    Tie Linglong ¡®s face turned even redder. She hurriedly said, ¡°I took it seriously, really. But there aren¡¯t many clues. Shangguan Fei secretly spoke to Lady Meng several times and he looked very happy after each talk. Dog Butcher was the most obedient and never met with any strangers. But Old Man Mu waspletely different. He always disappeared mysteriously. No one knew where he went. I asked him, but he wouldn¡¯t tell me. As for Han Wuxian, no one saw her at all. She seemed to have found something. Nie Zeng¡­ Nie Zeng didn¡¯t go to spy on the Central ins people for two nights. He acted somewhat mysteriously and must have hidden something.¡±


    There were indeed not many clues, but it was enough for Gu Shenwei to draw a preliminary conclusion.

 Chapter 806 - A Favorable Turn of Events

    Chapter 806: A Favorable Turn of Events


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    L¨¹ Qiying returned to Jade City once again and found that everything had changed. All of a sudden, he had be a big shot, ¡®bigger¡¯ than he had ever been as a tavernkeeper. It was like a dream came true. He was so excited that he could even feel his lost finger trembling.


    The Dragon King had asked him to stockpile grain and grass at all costs. L¨¹ Qiying had cut off all paths of retreat when he epted this task because no matter how he looked at it, the Dragon King didn¡¯t have enough financial resources to support the n. However, the task took a favorable turn because of a rumor.


    Meng Yuzun had died of illness, and there were many spections about the true cause of death. But after a few days, a piece of even more sensational news started spreading in Jade City at an incredible speed. It said that the Meng family had been robbed and the savings they umted through several generations were all gone.


    Yet, the Meng family did not fall into extreme poverty because of this. Meng Mingshu still owned thergest number of real estate and shops in Jade City. But all of a sudden, the richest man in the whole Western Regions became amon rich man.


    The whole Jade City fell into a frenzy. The citizens who had no clue about the matter clung to every street talk, searched for that so-called inside information, and analyzed everything they saw from morning to evening, and even their dreams, to find an answer. How did the money disappear? Who had taken it?


    Mentions of the Dragon King gradually increased among the bubble of rumors. If everyone was only suspicious during the first few days, the subsequent facts that appeared were almost like irrefutable evidence. The Meng family¡¯s shops and money houses throughout the Western Regions were ransacked one after another, and the robbers were always unnaturally proficient in their movements. The key aspect was that they knew the their target intimately, always choosing to act on the day of reconciliation. They didn¡¯t kill or damage goods, only stealing money.


    The Meng family¡¯s businesswork was on the verge of breaking down by now. Those who held the banknotes of the Meng family were all madly demanding to cash it out as silver, but they only received a helpless answer. ¡°Wait a bit longer.¡±


    The news of robberies poured in one after another, and everyone was convinced that the Meng family¡¯s money had been robbed by the Dragon King.


    To do such a thing would require the cooperation of a mole, and Duan Zihua naturally took on that role. The evidence, therefore, had be even more solid; he had been driven into a corner by Meng Yuzun due to his losing of the goods before. Besides that, he had worked for the Meng family for many years and knew every aspect of their businesswork like the back of his hand. And finally, his wife and children were all missing and no one in the neighborhood knew when they had moved out.


    L¨¹ Qiying, therefore, finally got the chance to experience the people of Jade City¡¯s ability to shift with the wind.


    Those businessmen, who had plenty of goods and who used to consider themselves superior to him, had treated him more like a businessman than a friend. They had not only raised the price for the Dragon Army, but had also refused to deliver any goods before receiving payment. They had all bluntly said, ¡°Where¡¯s the Dragon King¡¯s money? Did he find a gold ore mine or some treasure?¡±


    But now, they were lining up to visit L¨¹ Qiying, fully exercising their rtions of old friends, and taking the Dragon King¡¯s tavernkeeper out for a night of wine and pleasure in the Retention Alley as if they were kidnapping him.


    Sometimes, L¨¹ Qiying would even be ¡®taken away¡¯ by another businessman while he was relieving himself.


    ¡°Does the Dragon Army still want to buy grain and fodder? No problem, I have it all here. And the price is quite fair too, as long as it¡¯s a bit higher than the market price. Someone offered a cheaper price? Well, we are old friends, so I¡¯ll give you a 10% discount. Heh heh, I¡¯ve prepared a little gift for Tavernkeeper L¨¹; please kindly ept it.¡±


    These were the words that L¨¹ Qiying heard the most often. It even felt a bit strange that these people were all saying the same words, almost as if they had discussed and agreed on it beforehand.


    L¨¹ Qiying showed off his skill as a merchant now. Although the Dragon King had said that he did not care about the cost, L¨¹ Qiying still demanded a lower price from everyone and had almost brought the price down to its original level. But there was still onest serious problem in front of him. Everyone was saying that the Meng family¡¯s money had been taken away by the Dragon King, but he hadn¡¯t seen a penny of it so far.


    Xiao Fengchai, who was at Heaven¡¯s Pass, was taking care of the Dragon King¡¯s financial matters now. She had secretly hinted that the Dragon King was not fit to reveal his wealth at the moment, and that he had to wait until everyone had calmed down.


    The merchants that L¨¹ Qiying dealt with, however, had no signs of calming down. So L¨¹ Qiying had no choice but to reveal the truth to some of his best friends. ¡°The situation is quite peculiar at the moment and I can¡¯t get any money out for a while. I can only put it on the Dragon King¡¯s tab. Of course, I¡¯ll close them eventually. It may take a few days or even a year or two.¡±


    The merchants¡¯ answers were surprisingly consistent. ¡°No hurry, I understand. The situation is peculiar, and the Dragon Army should not spend extravagantly. You can take the goods away first and pay for itter. Even if I don¡¯t believe the Dragon King, don¡¯t I believe in you, my old friend?¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying knew that what the merchants believed in was actually money. Since the Dragon King had all the silver in his hands and had the ability to pay for the credit, then what was the hurry?


    The more easy-going those merchant were, the more nervous L¨¹ Qiying became. He had asked several people the same question. ¡°Don¡¯t you worry about¡­. losing all the money?¡±


    Those who heard this always revealed a serious look and took Tavernkeeper L¨¹¡¯s remark as a test. ¡°Are you asking me if I believe that the Dragon King can win the war? I believe it, a hundred percent.¡±


    And behind the rhetoricy evidence of the change in public opinions. The Dragon King had an army, a vastnd in the form of Xiaoyao Lake, and the Land of Fragrance. All this time, he had only beencking one thing ¡ª money. Now that his final weakness was fixed, the Dragon King was already a true king, a king who was capable of paying all debts. At least, this was the image in the merchants¡¯ mind.


    A long-time friend told L¨¹ Qiying the truth. ¡°The army, thend, and the money. The Dragon King has it all. How bad can it be? Even if he loses the battle and retreats to the Land of Fragrance, he has to admit to his debt, doesn¡¯t he? Otherwise, he¡¯d be eating bark and herbs for the rest of his life.¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying finally epted the fact that he was absolutely right to ept the Dragon King¡¯s wooing on the spur of the moment several years ago.


    Throughout the whole process, the only thing that L¨¹ Qiying hadn¡¯t worried about was Golden Roc Castle. The fact that the Dragon King had refused to take out the silver at once had be his shield: it was pointless to kill a tavernkeeper who bought grain and grass if they couldn¡¯t get any actual money from him.


    He also inquired about Golden Roc Castle¡¯s movements through various sources and passed all information, through a steady exchange of caravans, to Xu Xiaoyi. Xu Xiaoyi would then ssify the information and wait for the Dragon King¡¯s inspection.


    After a dozen or so days, L¨¹ Qiying heard that the Dragon King was nning on going to Heaven¡¯s Pass in person, so he galloped there hurriedly to meet him.


    The Restoration Army of the Shule Kingdom had changed its name and be a part of the Dragon Army. All of the soldiers then followed the Dragon King to Heaven¡¯s Pass and were stationed outside of the city, facing the 70,000 horsemen of the Nond Army.


    L¨¹ Qiying still remembered that young and cold face, but the image and status of the Dragon King in his mind hadpletely changed. From the moment he entered the camp, he had treated the other side with reverence and quickly walked into the tent. And as soon as he entered the tent, he knelt, not even daring to raise his head on his own ord.


    Gu Shenwei epted the other side¡¯s respectful greeting and then ordered him to stand up. After exchanging a few words about the grain and fodder, the conversation turned to Golden Roc Castle. ¡°What¡¯s the reaction of the Unique King been?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°The Unique King¡­ did not react at all.¡± Perhaps even L¨¹ Qiying felt that this conclusion was unusual, so he hastened to exin. ¡°I tried to gather information from various sources and even talked to one of the stewards of Golden Roc Castle. The Unique King doesn¡¯t seem to care much about the business of the Meng family. He was busy burying Meng Yuzun. Moreover, that steward said that Golden Roc Castle was decreasing the number of killers they retained. They haven¡¯t taken on any new killer disciples sincest year and many killer Masters have lost their jobs. Furthermore, many killers in their prime have also been driven out of the castle and forced to make a living by themselves.¡±


    ¡°Heavenly Mountain Sect.¡± Gu Shenwei suddenly thought of the strange discovery of Tie Linglong. Arge number of killers had left Golden Roc Castle and joined an organization that had not been as popr before.


    L¨¹ Qiying knew nothing about the Heavenly Mountain Sect, and he didn¡¯t say anything until the Dragon King motioned for him to continue. ¡°The Unique King seems to have given up on fighting for half of the Western Regions. Everyone says that he¡¯s recruiting men to erge his army at Thousand Horsemen Pass and building up the defenses of northern Jade City before shifting focus to defend all of Jade City.¡±


    Gu Shenwei believed that this was not the real intention of the Unique King. Shangguan Fa had once unexpectedly waged a war that almost wiped out the Dragon Army. The longer he waited and the weaker he seemed, the stronger he would rebound. But Gu Shenwei was not sure of the Assassin King¡¯s n at the moment.


    Slowly, L¨¹ Qiying began to talk about the things that concerned him the most. ¡°Dragon King, I¡¯ve collected a great deal of grain and grass now. Most of it is on credit. The debt is well over several millions of taels now. When¡­ should we pay for some for it?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi was apanying the Dragon King during this meeting. Now he smilingly said, ¡°I heard that those grain merchants are not anxious at asking for money at all. Why is Tavernkeeper L¨¹ worrying about it?¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying didn¡¯t like Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s tone so he still looked at the Dragon King when answering. ¡°It¡¯s true that everyone is not as anxious anymore, but they will still feel uneasy if they don¡¯t see any money at all. I know them very well; these people have absolutely no consideration for other people¡¯s feelings when they change their faces.¡±


    ¡°If you want money, go to Xiao Fengchai. She¡¯s in charge of the gold and silver now,¡± Gu Shenwei replied.


    L¨¹ Qiying took this as consent and looked very happy when he left.


    Xu Xiaoyi said in an admiring tone, ¡°Dragon King, that¡¯s a great move. Right now, you haven¡¯t even fought with Golden Roc Castle yet, but everybody already believes that you¡¯ve won.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be toocent. The Unique King isn¡¯t the kind of person who would defend to the death. He must have other ns.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi thought the same and felt that it was his responsibility to discover those ns, so he said, ¡°Dragon King, please rest assured. I¡¯ll find it out for sure. If the Unique King is an old fox, then I¡¯m¡­ a little mouse. The mouse can¡¯t beat the fox, but it can definitely spy on the fox.¡±


    ¡°You have a n?¡± Gu Shenwei was a bit curious.


    ¡°Well, even L¨¹ Qiying could get a steward of Golden Roc Castle to open his mouth. If I can¡¯t buy over a higher-ranking guy, I won¡¯t be qualified to be an intelligence officer.¡±


    ¡°Intelligence officer?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, I granted myself a title. Little Chu is a Commandant of Ten Guards now, so I also need a title. If the Dragon King doesn¡¯t like it, I won¡¯t use it anymore.¡±


    ¡°Keep it.¡± Gu Shenwei was always more tolerant towards Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s slickness.


    Xu Xiaoyi immediately bowed to show his gratitude and then said, ¡°The Dragon King must be careful with Duodun. He was really pissed off since he wasn¡¯t able to get a single tael of the Meng family¡¯s silver. I heard that he has been in a very bad temper these days and has punished many people. To tell you the truth, I was surprised and a bit suspicious that he actually agreed to the Dragon King¡¯s n of leading soldiers to Heaven¡¯s Pass.¡±


    ¡°The battlefield between me and Duodun isn¡¯t here,¡± said Gu Shenwei. Duodun had tried assassinating him earlier and would not make the same mistake again. ¡°And I will be careful.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not very worried about that. Actually¡­¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi wanted to say something but hesitated. Gu Shenwei encouraged him, saying, ¡°Just say it if you have something to say.¡±


    ¡°I was wondering. Since the Dragon King only came to Heaven¡¯s Pass a few days ago, from where did you receive news that Duodun had set a trap in his camp? Anyways, I was remiss to not discover it beforehand. And, the Meng family¡¯s money¡­ Where on earth did you hide it?¡±


    The two questions had upied Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s mind for a long time, especially the first one as it made Xu Xiaoyi feel that his contributions had been stolen. While the Dragon King was still in a good mood, he had poured out all of his questions.


    Gu Shenwei pondered for a moment and then simply replied, ¡°It¡¯s a secret.¡±


    Based on his understanding of the Dragon King, Xu Xiaoyi knew that he would not get a definite answer so he smilingly said, ¡°I don¡¯t know where the money is, but is it¡­ Tenth Gongzi who reminded the Dragon King at that time?¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t even answer this time.

 Chapter 807 - Joke

    Chapter 807: Joke


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    ¡°You owe me a favor,¡± Shangguan Ru said with a serious look while Red Bat nodded from beside her as a show of support.


    ¡°I owe you more than just one favor,¡± Gu Shenwei answered with just as seriously, and Han Fen nodded from beside him like a chicken pecking at rice.


    Long Fanyun and Nie Zeng, who were standing guard at the door, looked a bit embarrassed but they couldn¡¯t leave until they were given the order to.


    Shangguan Ru smiled. ¡°I thought that your temperament would have changed after you yed such a humiliating joke on Prince Duodun. It turns out that you still don¡¯t understand.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew that she was making fun of him, but he had lost interest in cooperating years ago. ¡°Anyway, it was your news that saved me from Duodun¡¯s trap.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Don¡¯t mention it,¡± Shangguan Ru replied in a noble and chivalric tone. ¡°Even without my warning, you wouldn¡¯t have gone in, would you?¡±


    ¡°I would be hesitant to.¡± Of course Gu Shenwei would not enter the enemy¡¯s tent casually, but Shangguan Ru¡¯s warning had been concrete evidence not to.


    ¡°Hehe, I seem to have be a snitch.¡±


    ¡°You are the instructor of the Dragon Army, not an officer of the Nond. Thus, you are not a snitch.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was perpetually worried about this man¡¯s safety. Even if the same thing took ce all over again, for a hundred times, she would still choose to be an ¡®informant.¡¯ But when she spoke face-to-face with the Dragon King, her mien was cool, calm, and collected. Now, she could even easily understand the hidden meanings behind his words, which was actually something she was once been very bad at. ¡°You still have doubts?¡±


    Gu Shenwei neither nodded nor shook his head. Long Fanyun, Nie Zeng, and Red Bat understood the Dragon King¡¯s meaning and left the room.


    Red Bat gave Long Fanyun a rueful nce as she passed by him.


    Han Fen puzzledly looked at the backs of the three people leaving and asked in a low voice, ¡°Do you want all of us to leave?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    Amazed, Han Fen then asked, ¡°You didn¡¯t say a word or give a signal. How did they know? That¡¯s really amazing. Is there a trick?¡±


    ¡°Have Red Bat exin it to you.¡±


    Han Fen turned and red at Shangguan Ru. ¡°Red Bat is with the little girl. I don¡¯t want to hear her exnation.¡±


    Ordinary people would feel ufortable with such a stare, but Shangguan Ru actually found it quite amusing. ¡°Do you hate me?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t hate you, but I¡¯m on the Master Commander¡¯s side, so I can¡¯t like you.¡±


    ¡°Haha, that makes sense. But then why are you staying with the Dragon King? Do you want to kidnap him and bring him to your Master Commander?¡±


    ¡°I did have that idea before, but I¡¯m a captive now. So, I can only be at his disposal.¡±


    ¡°You are a captive?¡± Shangguan Ru looked up and down at Han Fen and then remarked, ¡°But you are not bound, and neither have your acupoints been struck.¡±


    Han Fen finally revealed a bright smile. ¡°See, the Dragon King is a good man, and I¡¯d like to be his captive.¡±


    Shangguan Ru also smiled back. This half-mad woman actually had the same viewpoint as her ¡ª that the Dragon King was a good man.


    Gu Shenwei coughed and motioned for Han Fen to leave already. Han Fen nced at him and continued talking to Shangguan Ru. She had already given the Master Commander¡¯s enemy a fierce stare and felt that since she had finished her task, she could speak as she pleased. ¡°You are also good, though not as good as Master Commander. In fact, I¡¯ve been wondering. Why can¡¯t the Dragon King marry both of you? That way, everyone will be happy, right?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was forced to speak up now. ¡°Han Fen.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Out.¡±


    ¡°Are you telling me to go out?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°All right. I¡¯ll talk to youter.¡± Han Fen turned around, but when she reached the door, she turned around and again said, ¡°Please consider my suggestion. Master Commander is very flexible¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei pushed her out and closed the door, nearly forgetting what he had wanted to ask in the first ce.


    ¡°Han Fen is very lovely.¡± Shangguan Rumented, smilingly. Although Han Fen was older than both of them, she had a puerile innocence and self-righteousness about her. ¡°But she doesn¡¯t know much about Lotus.¡±


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t know much about anyone.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to talk about Han Fen and Lotus. ¡°How did you know that Duodun had set a trap in the camp?¡±


    ¡°My friend told me.¡±


    ¡°Friend?¡±


    ¡°A drinking friend.¡±


    The more serious the Dragon King looked, the stronger Shangguan Ru¡¯s urge tough was, even to the point of losing control. She suppressed her impulse and continued exining. ¡°He¡¯s also a friend of Liman¡¯s. You are right. Although Duodun is good at wooing people, his conception of loyalty is too simple; he thinks that everyone is a thread with one end connecting with him and the other end pointing at his enemy. When in reality, it¡¯s a with thousands of strands connecting thousands of people. Liman is definitely loyal to Duodun. His friend is also loyal to Duodun. But when Duodun wants to kill Liman, their loyalty in that case may not be that strong.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was very surprised that Shangguan Ru would sigh with suchplex emotions. But what surprised him even more was that Shangguan Ru had deftly evaded the main question and had not revealed the informant¡¯s name.


    ¡°You¡¯re a thread as well. Who¡¯s on the other end?¡±


    ¡°Haha, are you sure that one of the ends are connected to you?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was sure. Shangguan Ru¡¯s face turned slightly gloomy because she had seen through to the Dragon King¡¯s real meaning once again. ¡°My father came again. He was very angry, but he didn¡¯t kill me.¡±


    The Unique King hade to assassinate the Dragon King, but had been tricked by his daughter. Instead of punishing her, he had said, ¡°Golden Roc Castle never forgives anyone. You are an exception, but exceptions neverst long.¡±


    This was the Unique King. Since he had once wanted to kill his own daughter, he would never apologize for it, and would always maintain an attitude of ¡®you owe me a big favor, but I don¡¯t owe you anything.¡¯


    Shangguan Ru had cried after the Unique King left. This was the kind of fatherly love she was familiar with. Her father had always been like this, indulging his daughter but rarely ever showing his care. She couldn¡¯t remember how many times she had enjoyed these ¡®exceptions¡¯ since she was a child.


    Shangguan Ru would not tell the Dragon King this, let alone someone else. What she said instead was on another subject. ¡°Golden Roc Castle is snobbish. Now that you have the Dragon Army in the south, at Xiaoyao Lake, and also the horsemen of the Nond in the north, they are very afraid of you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head and noticed the conciliatory tone in Shangguan Ru¡¯s voice. ¡°The Unique King is nning a counterattack. My life and death is not important to him. What he yearns for isnd and the title of ¡®king.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± Shangguan Ru sighed as she continued, ¡°Zhang Ji went to Prince Luoluo¡¯s ce while Third Brother is clinging to you. And the castle has reduced the number of killers as if they are up to something.¡±


    Shangguan Ru wasn¡¯t stupid, but sometimes, she just didn¡¯t want to open her eyes and see the obvious facts.


    ¡°I¡¯m leaving now.¡± Gu Shenwei strived to not be blindfolded by anyone or anything. ¡°To inspect Shulitu¡¯s army with Duodun.¡±


    ¡°Do you really think that that kid and the Court Attendants Army can resist Duodun¡¯s wooing?¡±


    ¡°The result will reveal itself soon.¡±


    Shangguan Ru couldn¡¯t understand these things and also didn¡¯t want to look into it. ¡°Well, do not forget to exin to Duodun why the Dragon Army started purchasing provisions and supplies again. I promised him, on your behalf, that purchases would stop.¡±


    ¡°I have a feeling that Duodun won¡¯t ask about it.¡±


    Shangguan Ru smiled as she walked towards the Dragon King, passed by him, and opened the door. ¡°Any news about Shaomin?¡±


    ¡°Soon. Someone¡¯s working on it.¡± What Gu Shenwei meant was that Han Wuxian, who was tracking the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall like a hound, was working on it as Shangguan Shaomin was also one of her targets.


    ¡°Take the me Foal with you. It must miss the grasnd very much.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s your horse.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s wishful thinking if you think I¡¯m giving it to you. I¡¯m just lending it.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Goodbye.¡±


    ¡°Goodbye.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt as if there was a gaping hole in his chest and that he desperately needed something to fill it. When he walked out of the yard and mounted the me Foal, the feeling had disappeared.


    Han Fen came over and winked at the Dragon King. Gu Shenwei pretended to not have seen it and rode out.


    Long Fanyun, who was already on a horse, silently exchanged a nce with Red Bat. The two of them had been standing guard at the door the whole time, and had barely spoken any words from beginning to end.


    ¡°Take care,¡± Red Bat blurted out, not even knowing why she said it.


    Long Fanyun solemnly nodded and chased the Dragon King together with the other guards, repeatedly reminding himself in his mind that his wife was still waiting for him back on Big Snow Mountain.


    Because of thest assassination attempt, Gu Shenwei refused to meet Duodun in the city. Instead, he led those 20,000 soldiers through the city and entered the territory of the Xiaowan Kingdom.


    Duodun agreed to the request. For him, it was simply a concession before the duel.


    After setting camp on the border, Gu Shenwei summoned Shangguan Yun. ¡°You can go back to the Xiaowan Kingdom now.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King believes me now?¡± Shangguan Yun smilingly said. Although he was more than ten years older than his half-sister, the two¡¯s smiles were strikingly simr.


    ¡°Not really. You are going back to the Xiaowan Kingdom to appease the people and reinforce the walls. As for the garrison, I¡¯ll leave it to someone else.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s very reasonable. As long as the capital city of my humble country can be kept safe, the Dragon King will be my benefactor.¡±


    ¡°It was Zhang Ji¡¯s idea, wasn¡¯t it?¡± Gu Shenwei suddenly asked.


    Shangguan Yun merely remained smiling. The Dragon King¡¯s surprise move had had no effect on him. ¡°Mr. Zhang? Hehe, he¡¯s currently assisting a smelly prince at the moment. I don¡¯t even know whether he¡¯s dead or alive. What idea does the Dragon King think Zhang Ji gave me?¡±


    ¡°It depends on whether you want to tell the truth or not.¡±


    Shangguan Yun thought for a while before saying, ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I tell the truth? When the Dragon King was back in Xiaoyao Lake, the Golden Roc Army seemed to hold an overwhelming advantage. Everyone wanted to kill the Dragon King for a reward, and of course I could not fall behind. But now, the Dragon King has a powerful army and has also borrowed arge number of troops from the Nond. Meanwhile, Golden Roc Castle is in a weak position. Everyone sails with the wind; I was just a step ahead of the rest.¡±


    Shangguan Yun made himself out to be a base person. Seeing that the Dragon King remained unconvinced, he went on to say, ¡°The Dragon King has probably forgotten that I have no special feelings for Golden Roc Castle and I don¡¯t care about the life or death of the Unique King.¡±


    Shangguan Yun had indeed been like this in the past, but now, he felt a bit mysterious and unpredictable. ¡°What¡¯s your ultimate goal?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°The Xiaowan Kingdom, which was born to be a vassal. A carefree life.¡± Shangguan Yun opened his arms and continued to say, ¡°If the Dragon King wins, this will be the life I expect.¡±


    ¡°And if I lose?¡±


    ¡°If the Dragon King is defeated, it means Luoluo will have won. Zhang Ji will be promoted to a high position and will naturally find a way to send me back to Golden Roc Castle. I¡¯m telling the truth. I hope the Dragon King doesn¡¯t mind.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not care at all. In a sense, Shangguan Yun and Zhang Ji had begun to value the Dragon King because they had identified Luoluo as his primary enemy instead of Duodun.


    Next, Gu Shenwei met with the General of the Right, Shang Liao, and ordered him to lead the army to guard the Xiaowan Kingdom¡¯s capital city.


    Shang Liao had already learned about the downfall of the prince of Shule so he respectfully epted the order. ¡°How many men is the Dragon King nning to leave behind?¡±


    ¡°The Xiaowan Kingdom has 10,000 Nond cavalry.¡±


    ¡°If the attackers are from the Nond, they won¡¯t be trustworthy.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, they will be guarding from outside the city. You can take all 20,000 soldiers of the Dragon Army with you to defend inside the city.¡±


    Shang Liao did not expect to receive such an answer. He had only nned to receive 10,000 soldiers. After the betrayal of the prince of the Shule Kingdom, the Dragon King¡¯s trust in him felt a bit poorly timed. ¡°Doesn¡¯t the Dragon King need any soldiers?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take away some guards, no more than 500 people.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes. But¡­ That¡¯s too dangerous, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Danger has nothing to do with the number of soldiers.¡±


    The will of the Nond people was the real battlefield between the Dragon King and Duodun, and the winner would take it all. The backdoor Gu Shenwei had arranged for himself was the Xiaowan Kingdom, which would be defended by two suspicious people.

 Chapter 808 - Line

    Chapter 808: Line


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    For the first day of the contest, the Dragon King was topete with Prince Duodun over who was more popr among the soldiers.


    Shulitu had brought 90,000 or so horsemen with him. This meant that there were 50,000 horsemen of the Court Attendants Army that had been left at the site of the Royal Court to guard the Khan¡¯s tomb until next summer.


    Shulitu had spent great effort in choosing the location of the camp, ultimately deciding to settle down about thirty miles to the north of the midpoint between Heaven¡¯s Pass and the capital city of the Xiaowan Kingdom. This meant that it was about a day¡¯s travel on a fast horse for both allying members.


    The twopetitors demonstrated their different approaches from the very beginning. Gu Shenwei had only brought two hundred guards with him while Duodun had brought three thousand of his best horsemen. When the two sides met outside the camp, the ostentatious and extravagant side was immediately obvious.


    Duodun greeted the Dragon King warmly, and then the two expressed their concerns for each other. From the viewpoint of an innocent bystander, they would have believed that the two were best friends and that their alliance was unbreakable.


    ¡°Is this the little king, Shulitu?¡± Duodun curiously pointed at the small figure at the gate of the camp. ording to the order of seniority in the family, Shulitu should have been regarded as his grandson, but the two had never met each other.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Gu Shenwei jumped off of his horse and handed the reins to Long Fanyun.


    Duodun hesitated briefly. ording to the traditions of the Nond, riding into a camp on a horse wasn¡¯t rude. Regardless, he quickly decided to jump off of his horse as well and hastily walked forward to catch up with the Dragon King. Stepping on the withered weeds, he moved forward side by side with the Dragon King toward the camp that was destined to belong to him.


    Shulitu was dressed in a full suit of armor which didn¡¯t fit him very well, and the physical awkwardness belied his thoughts. As he looked at the two men who would decide his fate, the only thing he could think of was that they were really tall. Even the Dragon King he was familiar with seemed to be much taller.


    As the two grown-ups, one cold and the other passionate, walked closer, Shulitu subconsciously wanted to retreat. However, he tried to control his body, smiled, and tried to repeat what he had gone over many times in his mind. Between the Dragon King and Prince Duodun, it seemed inappropriate no matter which one he greeted first. And should he greet them with ¡°Your Highnesses¡± or ¡°Your Honorable Kings?¡±


    Things didn¡¯t go as Shulitu thought they would. Before he could even say anything, Duodun had picked him up and eximed in a loud voice, ¡°The victor of the dispute among the kings, the new king who rose during the scuffle of the Royal Court. Haha, you are a worthy great-grandson of the Khan.¡±


    A bit flustered, Shulitu struggled, but wasn¡¯t able to break free of Duodun¡¯s grasp. The heavy armor that he could barely put on seemed to be as light as a feather in Duodun¡¯s arms. ¡°Your Highness, please¡­¡±


    Duodun turned around and faced the three thousand horsemen he had brought with him, and shouted in an even louder voice, ¡°Hail to the new king!¡±


    The whistling of men, neighing of horses, and crack of whips thundered out like a sudden prairie thunderstorm. To the horsemen inside and outside the camp, however, this was a very familiar sound. So they all joined it and the ¡®storm¡¯ grew even more violent.


    Duodun put him down and then grabbed his left hand as if he were leading a pony, and then walked into the camp together with him, to the cheers of the soldiers and generals.


    Shulitu lurched along with his other hand holding onto his helmet. The confidence he had taken great pains to build up hadpletely disappeared. He seemed to have returned to those old days when his grandpa, the old King Riying, had put him on horseback and forced him to ride it as proof that he was a true descendant of the Khan.


    The Dragon King waspletely ignored. He walked through the crowd like a ghost. Numerous eyes passed by him in their eager search for the figure of Prince Duodun.


    From the first step and through his walk through the camp, Duodun had usurped the host¡¯s role. Gu Shenwei directly walked to his own tent. From time to time, he could still hear the outside cheers sound out.


    The counselor was waiting for him in the tent.


    Fang Wenshi seemed to be fattening up at an unstoppable rate. Gu Shenwei could barely remember the thin schr he had seen at their first meeting.


    ¡°Listen, Duodun¡¯s really something.¡± Fang Wenshi went straight to the point without any greetings, even though they hadn¡¯t seen each other for nearly two months.


    ¡°He¡¯s good at it.¡±


    ¡°Let me guess. Most of the cheers came from the soldiers of the kings rather than the Court Attendants Army.¡±


    ¡°You should go out and look yourself.¡±


    Fang Wenshi shook his head and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need. I¡¯ve seen enough of it. Liman and Azheba won many supporters over for Duodun. After the two left, the supporters continued their efforts to win over even more people, and a considerable number of soldiers have already epted Duodun as the new Khan. Only the Court Attendants Army is picky and refuses to decide until they see him.¡±


    ¡°It seems that Duodun has gained the upper hand.¡±


    ¡°Not really.¡± Fang Wenshi was happy to have a chance to refute the Dragon King as he said, ¡°Liman and Azheba have inadvertently helped the Dragon King a great deal.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°The two are rtively simple-minded. They are dead set on having the Dragon King and Duodun enter an alliance and thus had also said the same things about you when they courted the supporters ¡ª part of the cheers outside are also for the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t recognize any cheers for me.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, the soldiers call you the ¡®Faceless Man¡¯ or ¡®Ice King¡¯ in private. Who would dare show too much enthusiasm in front of you? So while some of the support can¡¯t be seen on the surface, I¡¯m sure that the cheers would not have been as loud if Duodun had walked into the camp alone.¡±


    ¡°Looks like Duodun and I are going to tie this round.¡±


    ¡°What does the Dragon King think of this man?¡±


    ¡°He will strike first.¡±


    Fang Wenshi understood what he meant. In fact, he had been making all his ns based on this premise. ¡°The Court Attendants Army is an obstacle that Duodun can¡¯t get past. These soldiers¡¯ hands are stained with the blood of the Khan¡¯s family and they have doubts about all the princes and fear retaliation. Duodun¡¯s supporters can¡¯t change the army¡¯s viewpoint, and he has to rely on himself.¡±


    ¡°What about our n?¡±


    ¡°We wait.¡±


    ¡°Just wait?¡±


    ¡°Duodun likes to strike first, so just wait for him to make a move. If he can pull back before it¡¯s toote, that¡¯d be for the best and the alliance can continue as stated. The Dragon King will receive the Western Regions while Duodun takes the Nond. If he holds onto his present misguided course and crosses the line by ident, then it will be our turn to make a move.¡±


    ¡°Is this line the Court Attendants Army?¡±


    Fang Wenshi revealed a smile. For a long time, the Dragon King had been at the front while he had been the one who followed behind while weaving endless conspiracies, which was quite a blow to him as a counselor. Now, he had finally found a chance to get a head start and, therefore, was quite proud. ¡°It¡¯s not only the Court Attendants Army. There are two more lines we can¡¯t cross. The first line is King Shengri, one of the two old kings of the ten kings, and who is a prisoner at the moment. The Court Attendants Army hates and guards against him, but the soldiers of the kings pity him. The second line is Shulitu, who led the Court Attendants to discover the tomb of the Khan and is therefore widely respected. He¡¯s one of the biggest obstacles to Duodun¡¯s im to the Khanate.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought for a long while and finally agreed to the counselor¡¯s strategy. ¡°Duodun will cross one of those lines. He won¡¯t share power with anyone. But we have to be careful in case heys his hands on me before crossing a line.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King can rest assured. You also have many loyal supporters who happen to live nearby, and they will keep you safe.¡±


    Outside the tent, Long Fanyun reported that the banquet was about to begin.


    Following the tradition of the Nond, the banquet was held on a grand scale. More than two hundred people attended the banquet, making the main tent so crowded that the servants could only walk sideways.


    Shulitu sat on the seat of honor with the Dragon King on his left and Duodun on his right.


    The little king soon lost control of the banquet¡¯s flow. Duodun, who was older than him and also higher up on the family hierarchy than him, had a majestic bearing and knew all of the table manners of the Nond people at the wine-table. In the beginning, he had helped Shulitu avoid drinking wine by drinking all of it himself. But soon, he became the sole focus of the tent, with all the generals taking turns to toast him and some young officers even kneeling to salute.


    Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t good at drinking, and soon became an audience of the banquet, like Shulitu.


    Shulitu leaned to the Dragon King and whispered, ¡°I¡¯m really worried about whether the soldiers would still be willing to fight if one day there¡¯s no more wine.¡±


    ¡°Every ce has its own customs. The Western Regions people like money while the Central ins people fear the officials.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, it seems that I should rest satisfied that no one has asked me for money yet.¡±


    Shulitu had changed a little. He was calmer and more easygoing than before. This twelve-year-old kid would have had a more kingly demeanor had it not been that Duodun¡¯s image was too conspicuous.


    After the drinking had reached the third round, Duodun decided to cross the first line, which was sooner than Gu Shenwei and Fang Wenshi had expected.


    King Shengri, who was sitting in a corner, was still technically one of the kings, but he had no soldiers under him now. He had been captured by the little king, who was his grandson ording to their positions in the family hierarchy, and hadpletely lost all his face. No one had proposed a toast to him, and he also hadn¡¯t stood up so far; his eyes were even more indifferent than the Dragon King¡¯s.


    Duodun went to King Shengri. When the crowd realized his target, they quieted down one by one. Soon, the noisy tent became dead silent.


    ¡°Your Highness, I¡¯m here to propose a toast to you.¡±


    King Shengri looked up at his estranged brother in surprise. He didn¡¯t remember anything about Duodun except for those childhood antics. ¡°You are Duodun?¡±


    The irony of King Shengri¡¯s words would have been better had it not been for a slight tremor in his voice.


    Duodun nodded with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m also the Khan¡¯s son, your younger brother.¡±


    King Shengri stood up with his wine bowl and said, ¡°The Khan sowed so many seeds. I¡¯ve heard many people called you ¡®Your Highness.¡¯ When did you be a king?¡±


    King Shengri showed rare courage, which made many people both admire and worry about this old king.


    ¡°The moment the Khan ascended to heaven,¡± Duodun replied calmly. ¡°When the kings began to scuffle even while the Khan¡¯s remains were not yet cold, I, like many other descendants of the Khan, became a king.¡±


    ¡°Heh, so there are many kings on the prairie. Big and small, old and young, numbering even more than the birds I have.¡±


    ¡°Haha,¡± Duodunughed out loud. ¡°This is exactly the advantage of the Khan¡¯s family, and also the tradition of the Nond. The more kings there are, the more outstanding the person who inherits the Khanate in the end.¡±


    ¡°You want to be the Khan?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to be a stepping stone for the new Khan. As long as the Nond can produce a great ruler, I could die a thousand deaths without regret.¡±


    ¡°Humph, it turns out that the kings who died in the Royal Court are all stepping stones too then.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. They made their due contribution to the prairie. No matter which descendant of the Khan inherits the throne, he won¡¯t forget them. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here to propose a toast to you.¡±


    King Shengri blushed, and for a moment, he even wanted to smash his bowl at his unworthy younger brother and denounce him in public.


    But after Duodun whispered a few words into his ears, King Shengri¡¯s face changed. He finished the wine in his bowl, sat down again without a word, and remained quite absentminded for the rest of the banquet.


    Gu Shenwei and Fang Wenshi, who was sitting not far away, exchanged nces and confirmed that they both had the same idea: Duodun had skilfully and safely crossed the line that was King Shengri.


    On that night, King Shengri hung himself in his tent. Gu Shenwei really wanted to know what Duodun had said to him.

 Chapter 809 - Instigation

    Chapter 809: Instigation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The next day, Duodun showed off his vigorous energy, with no trace of the normal hangover after a night of revelry. He decided to immediately cross the next line and gain the loyalty of the Court Attendants Army.


    King Shengri¡¯s suicide had solved an awkward problem. Duodun had shown great respect to this elder brother of his. Not only did he arrange the funeral in person, but he also ordered the whole army to stand in silent vigil.


    At noon, the body was cremated. King Shengri ascended to heaven to apany the Khan, which satisfied the desire of the Court Attendants Army. Then, Duodun delivered a mournful eulogy, recalling their family¡¯s history and praising the Khans who had already be legends. He imed that their divinity had been inherited by all the descendants of the Khans through their shared blood. The deaths of King Shengri and the previous kings were, therefore, not a simple matter. They were like branches of the big tree that was the Khan¡¯s family; their death signified a whole branch dying off, and also the beginning of many more new buds appearing.


    After listening to the speech, which was retoldter many times, Fang Wenshi returned to the tent and said to the Dragon King, ¡°It¡¯s nothing but boastful talk without much meaning. Even a random schr from the countryside could do better than him. Is that what Duodun is relying on to win people over? So naive.¡±


    ¡°That can¡¯t be Duodun¡¯s only trick. I¡¯m afraid that we¡¯ll have to do something,¡± Gu Shenwei replied. The charm of a speech was not only in the words the speaker said, but also in the calmness, toughness, and vision that the speaker gave off. Duodun had just shown the typical demeanor of a king, which would have a subtle influence on the listeners.


    Fang Wenshi sighed and had to admit that Duodun was more tactful than he had imagined. ¡°Hmm, the Dragon King is right. We can¡¯t just sit back and do nothing. When Duodun tters some people, he¡¯s bound to arouse the dislike of others. Just let me handle it. Fortunately, I¡¯m prepared. The Dragon King can just wait for the result. Do not let people think that you are trying to copy Duodun.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was truly unskilled at the tactics Duodun was employing, and he would only expose more of his weaknesses if he forced himself to try.


    Fang Wenshi made himself busy.


    As he strode in the camp, Fang Wenshi noticed that many soldiers were excitedly packing their bow and arrows while discussing the uing Sun Shooting Contest. He couldn¡¯t help but frown, thinking that this must be another trick yed by Duodun.


    Fang Wenshi walked into Mo Lin¡¯s tent and directly asked, ¡°Do you know what the Sun Shooting Contest is about?¡±


    Mo Lin hade here with the Dragon King, but he was not very familiar with this counselor. So he was quite surprised at the other side¡¯s casual question. ¡°Uh, it¡¯s a tradition of the Nond. When the kings die, the Sun Shooting Contest will be held to select the best marksman.¡±


    ¡°Sun Shooting? The ten kings of the Royal Court all have the character ¡®Ri¡¯ (Sun) in their titles. You guys really do not shy away from death.¡±


    ¡°The death of a king is like the sunset. The original purpose of holding the Sun Shooting Contest was to find the ¡®murderer,¡¯ and all the marksmen participating would be sacrificed to the dead lord. Then the Khan changed the tradition. Since then, the marksmen were no longer buried and instead given handsome rewards.¡±


    Fang Wenshi kept shaking his head. ¡°That¡¯s incredible. Before that, did everyone rush to miss the target?¡±


    ¡°No, it was considered an honor. The soldiers often rushed to join the contest and the winner would die without hesitation.¡±


    ¡°Murderer? Voluntary martyrs? That can¡¯t be true.¡±


    ¡°The Nond people have their own beliefs.¡±


    Fang Wenshi smiled and shook his head. ¡°You¡¯ve only heard of it but never seen it before, right? I know where the legendes from.¡±


    Mo Lin looked seriously at the fat fellow who had barged in uninvited. ¡°I saw it with my own eyes. The Khan abolished the martyrdom, but some people still refused to give up on the tradition. At the funeral of the previous King Kuari, his confidant won the title of marksman and then immediatelymitted suicide with a saber. It took ce only ten steps away from me.¡±


    Fang Wenshi smiled awkwardly before saying, ¡°It can¡¯t be fake since you saw it with your own eyes, but I¡¯m afraid that King Shengri probably has no such loyal and brave subordinates.¡±


    ¡°What can I do for you?¡± asked Mo Lin, who did not want to discuss the customs of the Nond with a foreigner any longer.


    ¡°The Sun Shooting Contest is obviously Prince Duodun¡¯s idea. Several lords had died in the Royal Court previously, but no one had organized this contest. King Shengri lost his power long ago, but his death is now causing a greatmotion. Prince Duodun must want to take this chance to win the people¡¯s support and seize military power from Shulitu.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King sent you here?¡± asked Mo Lin. He preferred dealing with the Dragon King directly.


    ¡°No. I advised the Dragon King to prepared himself well and to allow me to solve the problem.¡±


    ¡°Cut to the point then.¡± Mo Lin said coolly.


    Fang Wenshi shook his head habitually. Mo Lin still had the pride of a wing guard, which was troublesome but also a good thing. ¡°I¡¯d like to know¡ªactually, the Dragon King also wants to know¡ªwhat are the thoughts of the soldiers of the Court Attendants Army.¡±


    ¡°The young king has mixed all the soldiers together, so there are no more ¡®soldiers of the Court Attendants Army.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Although you say that, more than half of the soldiers in the army are court attendants. As far as I can tell, their friendship and rtions with each other have never been severed. The ordinary soldiers are still in awe of them and are even more willing to obey them than ever before.¡±


    Mo Lin thought for a while and replied, ¡°Wait for my news.¡± Then he walked out of the tent.


    Fang Wenshi still had much to say, but Mo Lin had already left, leaving him alone in a daze. He shook his head while muttering, ¡°Being proud and insolent because of one¡¯s talent, it turns out that kung fu practitioners are the same as schrs. s, I haven¡¯t shown such pride in a long time.¡±


    The Sun Shooting Contest was about to begin. Fang Wenshi rushed to see Azheba.


    Azheba dressed himself up and was just about to go out when he saw the counselor. Startled, he quickly walked to the door and nced outside before quietly saying, ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Am I not wee here?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡­ I¡¯ve returned to Prince Duodun and it¡¯s no longer eptable for me to meet the Dragon King¡¯s men in private.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not here on behalf of the Dragon King.¡±


    Hesitatingly, Azheba said, ¡°Go ahead then. What is it?¡±


    ¡°Are you going to attend the Sun Shooting Contest too?¡±


    ¡°No. Only soldiers are allowed to participate.¡±


    ¡°Right, it¡¯s better for ordinary soldiers to act as sacrificial objects.¡±


    Azheba¡¯s face shifted slightly. ¡°No one will be buried alive this time.¡±


    ¡°Never mind that. I didn¡¯te here for the Sun Shooting Contest either.¡±


    Azheba suppressed his anger and said, ¡°I¡¯m very busy. Prince Duodun doesn¡¯t wait for anyone.¡±


    ¡°One word, just one word,¡± Fang Wenshi said as he raised a single finger. Compared to Mo Lin, Azheba was much easier to deal with.


    ¡°Mmm.¡±


    ¡°I hope that you still remember that the young king Shulitu once saved your life.¡±


    The Court Attendants Army had once wanted to burn Azheba to death. It was Shulitu who had saved his life, and Azheba would of course not forget that. ¡°What is the counselor trying to say?¡±


    Upon noticing Azheba¡¯s tone soften, Fang Wenshi felt his task had been aplished. ¡°It¡¯s good to be loyal, of course,¡± said Fang Wenshi smilingly. ¡°But one should consider which is more important: repaying the favor of one¡¯s lifesaver or being loyal.¡±


    This time, Fang Wenshi left the tent first and left Azheba alone.


    There was something that Fang Wenshi hadn¡¯t mentioned. Shulitu might be credited with rescuing Azheba but he hadn¡¯t done it alone. The Dragon King had helped greatly behind the scene. Without the Dragon King¡¯s efforts, Shulitu wouldn¡¯t have seeded even if he risked his life a hundred times. After all, he was just a twelve year old kid.


    Azheba knew this, and he wasn¡¯t an ungrateful person. Fang Wenshi was looking forward to seeing how this young officer would show his gratitude.


    Liman was also a useful pawn, but he was being watched over closely at Duodun¡¯s side. Fang Wenshi couldn¡¯t meet him in private.


    The Sun Shooting Contest began. Over a dozen horses with wooden targets ran up and down the pen. The first group of a couple dozen yers would shoot from horseback from about sixty or seventy paces away. Everyone¡¯s arrow had a special mark on it, which would be used to count their number of hits. Meanwhile, they would alsopete in horse racing. Those who ran too slowly or shot a horse would lose the corresponding amount of points.


    Fang Wenshi wasn¡¯t interested in shooting. After watching the contest for a while from the crowd, he switched and started observing Duodun and Shulitu.


    Duodun had tossed aside his noble identity of prince and was cheering, swearing, and throwing wine bowls like an ordinary soldier for his favored shooter. His friends were also as frantic as he was, shoving each other back and forth while waving their hands; their actions all showed a deep friendship between them.


    Like a small boat in a raging sea, Shulitu¡¯s thin body couldn¡¯t support him against the strong grown-ups, and he was forcefully pushed into swaying back and forth. asionally, his little face, full of fear, could be seen from between the big arms.


    Just as Fang Wenshi had expected, Azheba was standing behind Shulitu. It was exactly with his support that Shulitu was barely able to stand firm.


    Liman, who had been reduced to amoner, was the only bystander in the clique, behaving so courteously that he didn¡¯t even seem like a man of the Nond.


    After Shulitu excused himself from the field, Fang Wenshi also pushed his way out of the crowd.


    Sweating profusely, Shulitu took off his armor and copsed onto the soft couch, gasping for breath. He appeared very happy to see the counselor. ¡°Mr. Fang came just in time. Please tell the Dragon King for me that I¡¯d like to meet him alone when there¡¯s a chance.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s always a chance,¡± said Fang Wenshi with a smile. He had spent nearly two months with this kid and had seen him mature greatly during that time. Although he was still unable topete with Duodun, he was no longer that childish royal child.


    Shulitu dismissed his entourage and said, ¡°Please advise me, Mr. Fang.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Fang Wenshi pretended to be confused.


    ¡°I¡¯m wondering if I should hand the army over to Prince Duodun now.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Fang Wenshi cried out in surprise, and then he realized he had been tricked. Shulitu was obviously luring him into revealing his true feelings. He didn¡¯t expect that he would actually be fooled by a little kid so he smilingly shook his head and responded, ¡°Why do you want to hand over the army, Your Highness?¡±


    ¡°Duodun is older than me, smarter than me, stronger than me, and more weed than me. In short, he¡¯s better than me in all aspects. To defeat Prince Luoluo in the east, Duodun is more suitable for the position ofmander-in-chief than me. And you¡¯ve heard it too: ¡®All the kings who died in the Royal Court are stepping stones.¡¯ I don¡¯t want to be a dead stepping stone so I have to take initiative, right?¡±


    ¡°Not really. Although Prince Duodun resembles the Khan in many aspects, he¡¯s being melodramatic. If all of the Khan¡¯s descendents are his stepping stones, then what are the soldiers and generals? Tools that can be casually thrown away after they break? We¡¯ve seen Luoluo¡¯s army, earnest and orderly. They are indeed an iron army. Now look back at Duodun. If he keeps faffing around like this, he may win the poprity of the people but will ultimately lose military discipline. It¡¯s impossible topete with Horsewhip Luoluo.¡±


    Shulitu finally began to speak his mind. ¡°But Duodun has many supporters.¡±


    ¡°It can¡¯t be more than those of Your Highness and the Dragon King¡¯s.


    Shulitu thought for a while and finally made up his mind. ¡°I need a good bodyguard.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King will provide you with one.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d better be Nie Zeng. I like him a lot.¡±


    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    Shulitu rose to his feet and started pacing back and forth, his fatigue seemingly swept away. ¡°I have an idea. I hope Counselor Fang can give me some advice on it.¡±


    Surprised, Fang Wenshi said, ¡°What a coincidence. I also have an idea and need Your Highness¡¯s help.¡±


    The two looked at each other and smiled at the same time.

 Chapter 810 - Attachment

    Chapter 810: Attachment


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei politely refused the invitation to participate in the Sun Shooting Contest and stole a moment of leisure from his busy life. As he sat upright in the chair, his mind ran wild through the recent events until it finally rested on the general principles of the Daoless Scroll. Although he did not have to rely on his kung fu to defeat Golden Roc Castle, he still felt bitter that the Unique King had defeated him in person.


    The Daoless Scroll and the Death Sutra were rted in one continuous line. Many contents and general principles of the former were just as effective for thetter. Gu Shenwei vaguely felt that he had found a new path, but it was as if he became confused every time he tried to step foot on it.


    The cheers outside the tent rose and fell in waves throughout the event. Gu Shenwei gradually blocked it all out, and in an artificial silence, he heard a spasmodic rustle.


    Gu Shenwei had two bodyguards attending to him, and Tie Linglong was on guard duty during the daytime. But neither of his guards couldpletely hide themselves like Lotus could, especially Tie Linglong. Her temper was not suitable for quietly hiding in a ce for a long time.


    From Gu Shenwei¡¯s point of view, she was still that little green-eyed girl begging for protection. ¡°How¡¯s your practice of the Bnced Power going?¡± he asked.


    After a while, Tie Linglong came out of the dark corner behind the Dragon King. She hadn¡¯t realized that the sound she had made had disturbed the Dragon King, and thought that the Dragon King was bringing up the question of his own ord. ¡°Hmm, there hasn¡¯t been any progress so far. Do I have to disperse all my internal energyter?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Tie Linglong also practiced the Daoless Divine Power, a powerful kung fu that wouldn¡¯t allow the practitioner to cultivate any other kind of internal energy. Although Gu Shenwei had created the Three-in-One Power, it was still at an immature stage and he didn¡¯t want to teach it to anyone else after seeing the results from testing it on Shangguan Fei.


    ¡°Does that mean that I will lose my power for a while?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Tie Linglong sighed and sat on the soft couch nearby. She had followed the Dragon King from one ce to another ever since she was little and sometimes even had to sleep in the same bed as him. She always felt at ease in front of him.


    ¡°In the future, I won¡¯t be able to catch up to him in terms of kung fu, and probably not even to Nie Zeng.¡± She had not forgiven Chu Nanping yet, and still refused to mention his name.


    ¡°You are still young. There¡¯s plenty of time. You¡¯ll catch up with them sooner orter.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to have to undergo closed-door-cultivation for more than a decade like Dog Butcher. I¡¯d only find that my enemy has be weaker and that the hard training I went through was just a waste of time.¡±


    ¡°You are very smart, so you don¡¯t need a decade. And I don¡¯t think that Dog Butcher wasted his time either.¡±


    Tie Linglong smiled. ¡°It turns out that even the Dragon King has to talk insincerely tofort a little girl. Since I¡¯m so smart, then why isn¡¯t my kung fu as good as¡­ Forget about him. Why my kung fu is only a little better than Nie Zeng¡¯s? You know, he started practicing martial artster than I did.¡±


    ¡°Smart people always have many things in mind. You are not as focused as Nie Zeng.¡±


    ¡°Humph, I thought it was a good thing to be smart. It turns out that the Dragon King was just despising me in a roundabout way.¡±


    ¡°You have a choice. TheBnced Power, or the Daoless Divine Power?¡±


    Tie Linglong stood up and paced back and forth behind the Dragon King for a long while before finally saying, ¡°The Bnced Power. I¡¯ll choose it because the Dragon King says that it¡¯s good. I can ept it even if I lose all of my powers.¡±


    When she finished talking, she walked in front of the Dragon King and held out her arm to him.


    As yin originates from yang, and yang originates from yin, the yin and yang energy must be improved in alternating steps when practicing the Bnced Power. And one must have an expert to guide and protect oneself when practicing the first level of yang energy. Although Gu Shenwei had dispersed all of his original bnced power, he still had both the Daoless Divine Power, the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power, and the internal energy manual of the Bnced Power, which was more than enough to protect Tie Linglong.


    The palm of the Dragon King was as cold as ever. Tie Linglong couldn¡¯t help but recoil with a shudder, not understanding how it could be this cold. After all, the Dragon King was a human, and she hadn¡¯t felt this chilliness emanate from his hand before.


    Some cooler internal Qi flowed into her Dantian slowly through her meridians. Tie Linglong was already familiar with the process and knew that she should not resist it. So she rxed her body, directed all her internal Qi into her Dantian, and left it to the Dragon King.


    Then, Tie Linglong followed the method of the first level of the Bnced Power and performed a series of movements that were synchronized with her breath, gradually immersing herself in the feeling. Bedies the cool internal Qi flowing into her from her palm, she could feel almost nothing else.


    Gu Shenwei also stood up and followed her moves to make sure that their palms were connected.


    This was the most important stage of the practice of the Bnced Power. Although it was quite boring and tedious, it wasying the foundation for one¡¯s future practice.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly withdrew his palm and asked somewhat discontentedly, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Tie Linglong hadpletely immersed herself in the practice, but somehow, her internal energy had surged and started resisting the internal energy of the Dragon King¡¯s internal energy.


    Her face turned red. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡­¡±


    ¡°As I said, you have too much on your mind. You have to bear more hardships if you want to surpass Little Chu and Nie Zeng.¡±


    ¡°I can bear hardships,¡± Tie Linglong refuted defiantly. When the Dragon King was being hunted and was on the run, she had been his only follower and had suffered a lot. Even Little Chu had joinedter than her.


    ¡°Then concentrate on practicing and stop thinking about the two of them.¡± For Gu Shenwei, this was an easy task because he had long learned how to seal his feelings. Although he could not fully sever his feelings, they were not able to affect his practice and judgment.


    Tie Linglong wasn¡¯t able to do that yet. She felt wronged because the Dragon King¡¯s guess was wrong. ¡°I wasn¡¯t thinking about them, I¡­¡±


    She couldn¡¯t finish her words.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter who you¡¯re thinking about. The question is whether you can¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in love with you.¡± Tie Linglong was stunned that she had blurted it out. She puzzledly looked around as if it were someone else who said it, but she soon realized she was indeed the one who had spoken those words. She had been thinking about this question ever since Jade City, and had found the answer at such an unexpected moment.


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t be more surprised even if Duodun and his friends suddenly stormed in to kill him at that moment. He also couldn¡¯t help looking back, as if double-checking that the little girl wasn¡¯t talking to someone else.


    After a moment of silence, Gu Shenwei said, ¡°This is not a good excuse to avoid practicing.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not an excuse.¡± Tie Linglong calmed down instead of getting more nervous. She felt all her anxietypletely melt away as she reiterated. ¡°I just fell in love with you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stroked the scabbard with his left hand, his usual habit when thinking. He had taken Tie Linglong¡¯s confession as a problem to solve. ¡°No, you are mistaken. I¡¯m like a father to you¡­¡±


    ¡°No, <em>you </em>are mistaken.¡± Tie Linglong looked very serious, like a persistent child trying to exin a simple matter. ¡°Actually, you are only five or six years older than me. It¡¯s not surprising at all that I would fall in love with you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei hummed to show his disapproval. He was not good at dealing with such matters. After thinking about it for a while, he felt that something the Khan had once said was appropriate in this situation. ¡°You have mistaken attachment for love. I saved your life, taught you kung fu, and took you under my wing to wander in jianghu. Your attachment grew as time went by. That¡¯s all.¡±


    Biting her lips, Tie Linglong was thinking hard. ¡°What¡¯s the difference between the two, emotional attachment and love?¡±


    Feeling cornered, Gu Shenwei thought for a moment before saying, ¡°Attachment is a general and broad feeling that may ur between any two people, even a jailor and prisoner, while love is a feeling that is¡­ rare and narrow.¡±


    Tie Linglong still did not understand. ¡°Then, between you and Sister Ru, is it attachment or love?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was stunned. He had never seriously considered this question. But he and Shangguan Ru did conform to his definition of ¡®attachment.¡¯ Shangguan Ru had once been Servant Huan¡¯s master and protector while he was the Tenth Gongzi¡¯s ymate and confidant.


    Tie Linglong saw hope in the Dragon King¡¯s hesitation. ¡°See, emotional attachment also involves love. Therefore, I¡¯m in love with you. It can¡¯t be wrong.¡±


    ¡°The person you love should be Little Chu.¡±


    ¡°No. I met himter than the Dragon King, so my ¡®attachment¡¯ to you is greater than my ¡®attachment¡¯ to him. So I¡¯m still in love with you. It¡¯s just that I didn¡¯t realize it before.¡±


    Gu Shenwei found that he was not even as eloquent as a little girl. With his brows slightly furrowed, he asked, ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°Nothing. I feel much better just after saying it out loud. You always said that I had something on my mind, and that¡¯s what¡¯s on my mind. I know what it is like to be the Dragon King. You can¡¯t even ept someone as nice as Sister Ru, let alone me. I just wanted to let you know. That¡¯s all. Let¡¯s keep practicing. I won¡¯t get distracted by wild flights of fancy this time.¡±


    Gu Shenwei carefully looked at Tie Linglong for the first time and found that, in addition to the pair of green eyes, she had also grown into an amazingly pretty girl with little resemnce to the pathetic little girl from a few years ago. But where had her charactere from? Who had influenced her? How could she say those words without blushing?


    After thinking for a long time, Gu Shenwei found that he actually had nothing to say. ¡°You will understand sooner orter.¡±


    This was more of a perfunctory surrender. Tie Linglong revealed an innocent smile that she hadn¡¯t shown for a long time. ¡°I have thought it out. The Dragon King can take his time.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s continue practicing.¡±


    Tie Linglong calmly stretched her arm out with a slight smile on her lips, which made Gu Shenwei remember the expression she had worn after finally getting something she wanted when she was little.


    It would be a mistake to continue practicing. Touching her palm had been a very natural thing for Gu Shenwei before, but it seemed to contain different meanings now.


    Gu Shenwei was not a sentimental person. After a careful examination of his mind, he knew that he had no special feelings for Tie Linglong and he was very sure that the so-called ¡®love¡¯ the little girl had talked about was just amon form of emotional attachment. But he couldn¡¯t exin it clearly and he especially did not want to foster it any further.


    Tie Linglong¡¯s hand was still in front of his eyes, slender, fair and clear. It wasn¡¯t like a hand that frequently gripped a saber at all. Unlike most kung fu practitioners, she had practiced profound internal energy manuals from the very beginning, which was essentially a shortcut to sess.


    Two hands, one big and one small, one cold and one hot, touched again. This time, Tie Linglong quickly engaged herself in the practice. Without any distractions, her movements were all pinpoint urate, and her first strand of yang energy was produced on this day.


    The Dragon King¡¯s palm was still cold, but Tie Linglong felt heat all throughout her body. A deep scarlet dyed her cheeks. She covered her abdomen with both hands and excitedly said, ¡°I feel it, I feel it.¡±


    ¡°Do not use your internal energy for the next few days, and do not rush to practice it. The Bnced Power focuses more on being steady than being fast. It¡¯ll take at least a full year for you to enter the next level.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, whatever you say.¡± Tie Linglong stared at the Dragon King as if she were seeing him for the first time. She was learning to look at this man in a different way.


    ¡°Ahem.¡± An awkward voice came from the door. Neither of them had noticed that someone else hade in.


    Fang Wenshi didn¡¯t know kung fu so he didn¡¯t understand what the two were doing. He also didn¡¯t want to disturb them, but he had an extremely urgent report to deliver to the Dragon King.


    Tie Linglong was very familiar with the counselor by now. After greeting him, she retreated to the corner and soon disappeared. Fang Wenshi kept shaking his head as this was also something he didn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s voice and expression felt normal, which made Fang Wenshi a bit relieved. ¡°Well, General Zhesu of the Naihang Tribe will arrive in three or five days. I think that this is an opportunity to strike back at Duodun.¡±


    Thinking that the Dragon King would soon learn the truth, Fang Wenshi added, ¡°Shulitu is a child that dares to cause great mischief. This is his idea.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt he was particrly slow to react. He did not pick up on the rtionship between the arrival of Zhesu and the strike at Duodun.

 Chapter 811 - Questioning

    Chapter 811: Questioning


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    As General Zhesu¡¯s giant iron tower-like body swayed and stepped into the tent, the crowd all uncontrobly squished together to make room for him.


    ¡°Well, there are a lot of acquaintances here. Come, greet the newly elected King Rizhu of Naihang Tribe,¡± Zhesu said in a tough tone as if he would break anyone who dared say no.


    The crowd finally noticed that was another man standing beside the huge Zhesu. He was short, stout, and had a pink-white face. Compared to General Zhesu, he looked more like an adult-sized baby in leather armor. Someone recognized that he was a son of the former King Rizhu, Chaqug.


    Gu Shenwei was a guest and a foreigner, so he remained silent. The strange thing was that Shulitu, Duodun, and many other officers also kept their mouths shut; they only looked at each other and all felt embarrassed and dissatisfied.


    The pink-white ¡®baby¡¯ spoke in a gruff voice, theplete opposite of his pueril image. ¡°All branches of the Naihang Tribe have elected me as King Rizhu. Does anyone disagree?¡±


    The new King Rizhu was just as aggressive as General Zhesu ¡ª they seemed to havee to fight, not attend the banquet.


    No one spoke until, finally, Duodun chuckled and replied, ¡°General Zhesu, you seem to have forgotten something.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a living man atst. Duodun, tell me, what have I forgotten?¡±


    Zhesu addressed Duodun disrespectfully by his direct name, but Duodun did not appear angry. He looked at the new King Rizhu and said, ¡°The Naihang Tribe is not a branch of the Khan¡¯s royal lineage. The Khan was magnanimous enough to confer the title of King Rizhu to the people of the Naihang Tribe, but he didn¡¯t say that this title could be passed down from one generation to another.¡±


    Among the ten titles of ¡°king¡± in the Nond, only the title of ¡°King Rizhu¡± was conferred on an outsider. It was indeed against the rules for the Naihang Tribe to appoint a sessor of their own ord.


    Zhesu had expected that someone would question the decision. With his right hand resting on the shoulder of the pink-white ¡®baby,¡¯ he said in an irrefutable tone, ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m here. Aren¡¯t there many people who want to be the new Khan? The Naihang Tribe will support the one who acknowledges our King Rizhu first.¡±


    The pink-white ¡®baby¡¯ seemed to have memorized many words and hastily poured them out as soon as he had a chance. ¡°The Naihang Tribe has 100,000 soldiers stationed ten miles away. And there are another 100,000 soldiers among Luoluo¡¯s troops. As long as I give the order, they will all immediately return to me.¡±


    Amongst all the tribes of the prairie, the Naihang Tribe had thergest territory and an evenrger poption. They outnumbered even the popce of the many kings and princes. Both Shulitu and Duodun had sent someone to verify the man¡¯s words. The scouts reported that Zhesu had brought at least 70,000 to 80,000 horsemen this time, which was a powerful force that could not be ignored.


    As for Luoluo in the east who had risen to prominence in the border area, his soldiers hade from various sources, but arge number of them were indeed from the Naihang Tribe.


    Zhesu and the new King Rizhu, therefore, had nothing to fear. Without any greetings, they had made threats as soon as they entered onto the scene.


    Shulitu¡¯s importance had be increasingly marginalized over the past few days, and now, with his head down, he shrank away again, appearing even more cowardly. Duodun seemed to have be the realmander-in-chief of the army, and he needed to stand out and respond to the threats to consolidate his status. So he walked up to Zhesu and said in a conciliatory tone, ¡°General Zhesu, Liman asked me to send his best wishes.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, my son has grown up and can choose his own master. He has already pledged allegiance to you and I have no problem with that. Since we father and son have our own lords to serve, we are already strangers. What¡¯s the point of greeting each other?¡±


    Seeing that Zhesu neither listened to reason nor bowed to force, Duodun felt a bit awkward. ¡°This wee banquet was especially organized to treat the two of you. We can talk about these matters in privateter. I promise that the Naihang Tribe will not lose anything.¡±


    Zhesu sized Duodun up and asked, ¡°So, are you the one who wants to be the next Khan?¡±


    Bing the Khan was, of course, Duodun¡¯s ultimate goal and ambition, but he had to act cautiously before fully seizing control of the military power. So he turned around and grabbed Shulitu, saying, ¡°Everyone has the right to inherit the throne as long as he¡¯s a descendant of the Khan. In this tent, only we two are qualified.¡±


    Zhesu¡¯s eyes fell on Shulitu. ¡°You are the grandson of King Riying. The old King Riying and my lord were close friends and fought shoulder to shoulder for many years. You will support the Naihang Tribe for sure, won¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°The strategy of King Riying¡¯s tribe has never changed,¡± Shulitu replied nomittally.


    Zhesu hummed his assent and seemed satisfied. Then he turned to the pink fat ¡®baby¡¯ beside him and said, ¡°This is the little King Riying. He¡¯s our friend. Go ahead.¡±


    King Rizhu strode over, opened his arms, and hugged Shulitu. ¡°From now on, we are brothers till the day we die.¡±


    The Nond people did not care much about seniority. Shulitu could ept the enthusiasm, but couldn¡¯t bear the physique of the other side. His body swayed, and he tried to spread his arms to hug the other side back, but his arms fell short and he could only pat the new King Rizhu¡¯s back and reply, ¡°Brother.¡±


    Duodun looked upon the two coldly and said, ¡°He¡¯s not just King Riying. He already has several¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about the other titles.¡± Zhesu interrupted with a wave of his hand. ¡°We only acknowledge King Riying. The Naihang Tribe values loyalty and will not forget the friendship of thest generation. Little King Riying, you also won¡¯t forget, will you?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Shulitu said hastily as he finally broke free from the arms of the pink-white ¡®baby.¡¯


    ¡°If you were the Khan, would you grant the Naihang Tribe the title of King Rizhu?¡±


    The contentious problem had fallen into Shulitu¡¯s hands, who had no choice but to y dumb like a child. With his eyes wide open, he looked at Zhesu nkly as if he did not understand what the other party was saying.


    Granting someone who was not a lineal descendant the title of ¡°king¡± was a very serious matter in the Nond. Even the Khan had to ovee many obstacles to confer the title of King Rizhu onto Chaqug, who had been required toplete a series of great feats to receive it.


    Neither Shulitu nor Duodun dared to publicly promise this. Although they could please the Naihang Tribe by doing so, it would arouse the jealousy and resentment of many of the other tribes.


    The tension in the air was palpable. Zhesu fixed his eyes on Shulitu. It seemed that he would not give up unless he received a definite answer.


    The purpose of inviting Zhesu here was to deal with Duodun. Shulitu didn¡¯t expect that this reckless general was not going to be easy on anyone.


    ¡°I¡­ How could I be the Khan?¡± Shulitu finally came up with a perfunctory remark.


    ¡°I was asking ¡®if.¡¯¡± Zhesu still pushed hard.


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t keep silent any longer. He went forward and said, ¡°The Khan told me some of his thoughts about the Naihang Tribe.¡±


    Zhesu abruptly turned his head. Although he believed that the Dragon King didn¡¯t murder the former King Rizhu, he still hadn¡¯t forgiven the Dragon King for his inaction. ¡°You? Why would the Khan have talked to a foreigner about the Naihang Tribe?¡±


    ¡°No one can guess what was on the Khan¡¯s mind. He told me some things about the Naihang Tribe and said a lot. Do you want me to repeat it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe what foreigners say.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. Many people are familiar with the Khan here, but I¡¯ve only seen him once. As long as I repeat what he said, everyone will immediately know if I¡¯m telling the truth or not.¡±


    As a man who looked reckless but was actually very careful, Zhesu could act as recklessly as a robber when it suited him, but also knew when he should make apromise if necessary. After ncing at the three in front of him, heughed and said, ¡°Since it was a private chat between you and the Khan, why say it publicly? Damn, I thought I would be treated to a party upon arriving. Come on, bring the wine out. My tongue has be numb from so much talking.¡±


    The storm settled and the banquet began. Soon, everyone had forgotten about the unpleasant incident at the beginning and revelled in drinking. Both Zhesu and the new King Rizhu were unrestrained and frank prairie men whopeted in drinking with the crowd. Even though it was only the two of them against everyone else, they didn¡¯t seem to be in a disadvantageous position at all. They still stood quite firm until the end of the party and even pressed everyone to go to the Naihang Tribe¡¯s camp for dinner the next day.


    Fang Wenshi also attended the banquet. As soon as the guests took their leave, he and the Dragon King went to meet Shulitu together to discuss countermeasures.


    Shulitu was too drunk to sit up, his face bright red. As heid on the couch, he said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I really can¡¯t sit up.¡±


    ¡°Just lie down,¡± said Fang Wenshi. ¡°Zhesu looked really tough. Dragon King, did the Khan really mention the Naihang Tribe in front of you?¡±


    ¡°Yes. The Khan was worried about the power of the consorts¡¯ side, especially the Naihang Tribe. He hoped that the new Khan would solve this problem.¡±


    Fang Wenshi shook his head and said nothing. But Shulitu, who was lying drunk on the couch, said, ¡°This must be what the Khan would say.¡±


    ¡°How do you know?¡± Fang Wenshi wouldn¡¯t let any loopholes by. ¡°You only met the Khan when you were little and you don¡¯t know much about him.¡±


    Shulitu struggled to sit up and then said, ¡°My grandfather and father used to meet the Khan a lot. In fact, the Khan¡¯s true thoughts were well-known. It¡¯s just that King Rizhu was too powerful and didn¡¯tmit any tant crimes, so the Khan didn¡¯t know where to start.¡±


    ¡°Then why the former King Riying was still willing to ally with King Rizhu?¡±


    ¡°It was a gamble. My grandfather couldn¡¯t get the Khan¡¯s position, so he wanted to find a backer for our tribe after the new Khan seeded the throne.¡±


    ¡°No wonder Zhesu didn¡¯t want the Dragon King to speak. The people of the Naihang Tribe are obviously aware of it.¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± Shulitu said as he nodded. ¡°So I can¡¯t acknowledge the new King Rizhu¡¯s position because people will then say that I betrayed the royal family. Well, Zhesu is really troublesome. Even if the Naihang Tribe wants to seed the king¡¯s title, they have to perform a meritorious service first. Was I wrong¡­ to invite him here?¡±


    It had been Shulitu¡¯s idea to invite Zhesu, but he was a bit regretful now.


    ¡°It¡¯s all right. Your headache is also Duodun¡¯s headache. Since he wants to be in the limelight, let him y upfront then.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. But I¡¯m afraid¡­¡± Shulitu looked at the Dragon King with a little drunkenness in his eyes still. He appeared so calm that he didn¡¯t seem like a child at all. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that the morale of the army will be shaken if I retreat any further. The Nond people all admire the strong and none of the soldiers are willing to follow¡­ a person like me. It would be much better if the Dragon King were a member of the royal family.¡±


    ¡°Haha,¡± Fang Wenshiughed. All of their problems would be solved if the Dragon King were a descendant of the Khan.


    Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t envious of Shulitu¡¯s identity of being the Khan¡¯s descendant at all. ¡°You must not retreat any further. You have to give Duodun tit for tat at the banquet tomorrow.¡±


    Shulitu gaped and said, ¡°Me? How could I possibly¡­ I can¡¯t even handle the people around him.¡±


    ¡°Nie Zeng will help you deal with Duodun¡¯s underlings.¡± Gu Shenwei had lent Nie Zeng to Shulitu as a bodyguard. Although the teenager wasn¡¯t a kung fu master yet, he was skilled enough to deal with a few prairie men. ¡°The key is that we cannot let Zhesu think that you have given up the fight for the throne.¡±


    ¡°What if Zhesu forces the young king and Duodun to state their positions again?¡± As soon as he blurted it out, Fang Wenshi answered the question himself. ¡°Ah, just y drunk. You are a child anyway and you can¡¯t drink much.¡±


    Shulitu thought that this was not a good idea. ¡°I have another way. The key is Duodun. He¡¯s still the biggest problem. No matter how ambitious the Naihang Tribe is, they won¡¯t seize the throne.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had been thinking about it for a long time. Although it had been Shulitu¡¯s idea to invite the Naihang Tribe here and Fang Wenshi had perfected it, they were stillcking something that would force Zhesu to confront Duodun. That was, until he thought of one person.


    ¡°I¡¯ll invite the Second Consort here.¡±


    The Second Consort hade from the Naihang Tribe, but was obsessed with Duodun. Gu Shenwei thought that she might be able to stir things up.

 Chapter 812 - Women

    Chapter 812: Women


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The Second Consort breathed in a mouthful of thete autumn¡¯s cool air and closed her eyes to enjoy it, as if it were washing away all the dirt from her body. Meanwhile, she was still sitting firmly on her horse, unaffected by the bumpy road.


    She liked riding.


    ¡°The me Foal is really a good horse. The former King Rizhu did have sharp eyes. If I were you, I would not lend it to anyone, not even Duodun.¡±


    The Second Consort had raised this topic several times and each time Shangguan Ru would shrug and give the same answer. ¡°We actually need to move slowly. There won¡¯t be many area where the me Foal can gallop, so it¡¯s better to lend it to someone who really needs it.¡±


    The Second Consort nced back at the long line of soldiers behind her andined, ¡°Why it is so troublesome to be a woman? Why can¡¯t we, like men, ride at top speed with only several hundreds of lightly armored troops? We can¡¯t we start riding at dawn, and arrive in the evening? Why must we move so slowly and spend a whole two days travelling?


    ¡°Because you are the Second Consort,¡± Shangguan Ru replied, all the while smiling as if the long line of caravans had nothing to do with her. ¡°Take the Khan as an example. The higher his position became, the less he could move around freely. I¡¯m afraid that he also couldn¡¯t ride at top speed since when he moved, the whole Royal Court went with him.¡±


    ¡°Haha, that old dog.¡± The Second Consort didn¡¯t lower her voice at all for the next couple of sentences. The Khan, who was worshiped as a god in the various tribes of the Nond, was nothing but a skinny pervert in her mind. ¡°Believe me, he could still ¡®ride at top speed¡¯ sometimes. When he was too old to gallop across the grasnd, he shifted targets to women as the territory he needed to conquer.¡±


    Shangguan Ru blushed. The Second Consort had never been shy about saying such words. The Khan might have felt that they were refreshing, but it was hard for other people to ept them as easily. For Shangguan Ru, they reminded her of her father. The Unique King had once been obsessed with women, but had now taken the opposing path of giving up on women and pursuing realnd and power.


    Men were really like a different species, mercurial and unpredictable. But the Dragon King was even more different. Shangguan Ru¡¯s mind drifted away and her face turning redder and redder with each passing second.


    The Second Consort stared at her and asked, ¡°You are thinking about the Dragon King, right? Look at your face. If the Dragon King sees you now, he would immediately depose of the queen in the Western Regions and marry you instead.¡±


    Shangguan Ru chuckled to disguise her true feelings and slightly pulled on the reins before saying, ¡°Let¡¯s have a horse race. We¡¯ll lose our guards and see who can reach the young king Shulitu¡¯s camp first.¡±


    The Second Consort looked at her in surprise. ¡°How could we do that? You are really¡­¡± Before she finished her words, she had already urged her horse to gallop forward. In the blink of an eye, she was half a horse-length ahead of Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Ru followed closely behind. Although she was not riding the me Foal, she was still full of confidence.


    The entourage behind was thrown into confusion. After a short period of panic, the group divided themselves into two, and the smaller group of people started chasing after their masters.


    The Second Consort whistled like a man as if she were a dozen years younger. At that time, Duodun had still been a little kid who had just lost his mother and always hung around her like a little dog, and the Khan had also not lost himself in the trap of pursuing immortality. He had often taken her out to wander around, and they had even visited the remote battlefield once.


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s horsemanship wasn¡¯t as good as the Second Consort¡¯s, but she was lighter, and she could also use her lightness skills. As her body rose and fell with the bobbing motion of her horse, the horse was able to gallop at full speed, and gradually caught up.


    The scene of the Second Consort and the instructor of the Land of Fragrance riding into the camp became the most talked-about incident of the day and its impact went way beyond the two¡¯s imagination.


    The banquet in the camp of the Naihang Tribe was naturally interrupted by their arrival as both the host and the guest immediately left for the young king Shulitu¡¯s camp. Through the power of alcohol, the new King Rizhu seemed very excited and kept showing off to the surrounding people. ¡°The Second Consort is from the Naihang Tribe. You know, she¡¯s my aunt, or maybe my elder sister.¡±


    The crowd ttered the new king all the way to the camp, and only two people did not join in on the chorus of praise. Gu Shenwei, who was usually reticent, only exchanged some nces with the counselor along the way. Neither of them understood why Shangguan Ru was here. The other man wearing a silent, gloomy face was Duodun, who warily avoided bringing the subject around to himself.


    The new King Rizhu with a pink-white face, however, refused to let him go. As he sat on his horse, he stuck out hisrge hand and gripped Duodun¡¯s shoulder, saying, ¡°You were brought up by the Second Consort and can be considered as half a man of the Naihang Tribe. Do not forget about our kindness.¡±


    Duodun snorted coldly before replying, ¡°The Khan is dead. She¡¯s not the Second Consort anymore.¡±


    Zhesu, who was following behind, raised his voice at this moment and said, ¡°Both the Chief Consort and the Second Consort of the Khan hail from the Naihang Tribe. This will be a tradition of the Nond. No matter which descendant of the Khan inherits the throne, he has to obey it.¡± Then he turned to Shulitu and asked, ¡°Your Highness, if it were you, which one would you choose, the Chief Consort or the Second Consort?¡±


    ¡°Ah? I¡­ I¡¯m only twelve years old, and both the Chief Consort and the Second Consort are my great-grandmothers.¡±


    ¡°Prairie men don¡¯t care about this. If you really think that you are too young or are not senior enough in the family, then you should just give up the fight for the throne and live as an honest and worthy grandson. Choose your own Chief Consort and then we¡¯ll pick a pretty little girl from our Naihang Tribe to be your Second Consort.¡±


    Embarrassed, Shulitu turned to Fang Wenshi and the Dragon King in a plead for help.


    Zhesu and the new King Rizhu were entitled to be arrogant. They had just shown off the strength of the Naihang Tribe, the 100,000 troops. With such a powerful force, even though it was not enough to rule the prairie, it could greatly affect the overall situation. Shulitu and Duodun would fall into the awkward position of being attacked from both the front and the back if they offended the Naihang Tribe.


    Fang Wenshi nodded slightly. Shulitu straightened up in turn and replied, ¡°Of course, if possible, I would choose the Second Consort. No one is more entitled to be the Chief Consort of the new Khan than she.¡±


    Zhesu and the new King Rizhuughed out loud and their entourage also cheered as if the matter had been decided with those words.


    With a crisp sound, the whip in Duodun¡¯s hand cracked from being squeezed too hard. Apanion immediately handed his whip over, but the loud snapping sound had already aroused the attention of the surrounding people.


    The new King Rizhuughed even more heartily and said in a louder voice, ¡°Haha, it seems that Duodun is jealous. The women of our Naihang Tribe are really special.¡±


    Duodun¡¯s expression changed a few times but in the end, a smile lit up his face. ¡°Even if the Naihang Tribe sends me a hundred women, I¡¯ll take them all. I¡¯m just jealous that I might not have a chance.¡±


    ¡°All descendants of the Khan have the chance,¡± Zhesu said solemnly, as if he were a priest presiding over a ritual. ¡°Even if a descendant doesn¡¯t have a chance, our Naihang Tribe will give him a chance.¡±


    One of Duodun¡¯spanions understood his master¡¯s intent and took advantage of the momentary silence of the crowd to exim, ¡°The Naihang Tribe allied with the Khan through the marriage of the Chief Consort and the Second Consort, which is a real alliance. The Dragon King should use it as a reference.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t speak, so Fang Wenshi answered for him instead. ¡°Hehe, that¡¯s a good idea. Unfortunately, I¡¯m afraid that no princess of the prairie would be willing to marry into the Western Regions.¡±


    ¡°Women, you know, are like grass seeds. They grow wherever they are sown. Their willingness or unwillingness have no say in the matter.¡± King Rizhu, who had drunk a bit too much, looked very enthusiastic about this prospect. ¡°I have a sister, fifteen years old. As for her appearance, you¡¯ll understand just by looking at me. If the Dragon King likes her, I¡¯ll send her over to you.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King already has a queen and dares not belittle Your Highness¡¯s sister. Besides¡­¡±


    Fang Wenshi was still thinking of a way to redirect the topic back to Duodun and the Second Consort when Duodun coldly interjected and said, ¡°Who said that the Nond must send our women out? If the Dragon King wants to solidify the alliance through marriage, then he can marry someone off to us.¡±


    ¡°Good idea!¡± The new King Rizhu readily agreed as he asked, ¡°Dragon King, what women do you have in your family?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King only has a queen, and no sisters or aunts.¡± Fang Wenshi was trying his best to prevent the Dragon King from being dragged into this inane topic by all possible means. ¡°The Second Consort ¡­¡±


    Fang Wenshi had a silver tongue, but there was not much room for him to use it among a group of leather-strapped Nond nobles. Before he could say anything else, one of the Duodun¡¯s friends had already interrupted to say, ¡°The Queen of the Land of Fragrance. She¡¯s like a sister to the Dragon King. Why not have her marry into the Nond?¡±


    The proposal was met with cheers and two hostile pairs of eyes. One was from the Dragon King, which the proponent had been prepared and did not care about. But the other was from Duodun. His heart trembling, the man suddenly realized that his prince had already proposed to Shangguan Ru many times, and that bringing it up again was a big mistake. As he realized this, he hurriedly bowed his head and slowly retreated to the back of the group, feeling panic-stricken as he walked the rest of the road.


    The new King Rizhu, however, thought that this was a brilliant idea. ¡°Everyone says the Queen of the Land of Fragrance is beautiful and capable to the point that none of the women in the prairie canpare with her. I¡¯m a little curious now. General, can I marry her?¡±


    Zhesu said in a serious tone, ¡°Your Highness, you can marry anyone you like. It wouldn¡¯t be a disgrace for anyone to marry Your Highness at all, even if she were the Khan¡¯s daughter.¡±


    Duodun struggled for a while before smilingly saying, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that the Dragon King won¡¯t agree.¡±


    ¡°Why would the Dragon King disagree? Doesn¡¯t he want to ally with our Naihang Tribe? Or does he want to marry her himself?¡± The new King Rizhu¡¯s interest was piqued.


    Gu Shenwei could no longer stay silent. ¡°Instructor Shangguan is not the Queen of the Land of Fragrance, and nor is she my subordinate. I can¡¯t decide who she will marry.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s even easier then.¡± The new King Rizhu, who had missed the Dragon King¡¯s hidden anger, turned to Zhesu and asked, ¡°She¡¯s not a queen. What good is it to marry her?¡±


    ¡°It is good. At the very least, you can use her to bear sons.¡± Zhesu stated defiantly as he stared at the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei almost drew his saber upon hearing those inmmatory words, but Fang Wenshi burst out inughter so loud that it drowned out everyone else¡¯s voice. As heughed, he regretted not learning some internal energy from the Dragon King since he knew this day woulde eventually. ¡°The people of the Naihang Tribe really like to joke.¡±


    ¡°Joking?¡± The new King Rizhu thought that this man¡¯sughter was very harsh. ¡°Who¡¯s this fatty? He doesn¡¯t act like a man of the Nond.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the counselor of His Highness, the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°What the hell is a counselor? And what do you mean by ¡®people of the Naihang Tribe like to joke?¡¯ Can¡¯t I marry that instructor or something?¡±


    ¡°Forgive me, Your Highness. You talk about women like you talk about ythings. However, the Second Consort is also from the Naihang Tribe and is quite independent. She can go anywhere and do whatever she wants on the prairie; she doesn¡¯t seem like a woman who would casually follow the orders of others. That¡¯s why I think that Your Highness is joking.¡±


    The new King Rizhu flew into a rage and brandished his horsewhip as he yelled, ¡°How dare you say that the men of the Naihang Tribe can¡¯t control their women?¡±


    Fang Wenshi smiled wryly but said nothing. It was already enough to provoke the other side to such an extent. Both the new King Rizhu and Zhesu were reckless men. As long as they entangled themselves in theplicated rtionship between the Second Consort and Duodun, his scheme would already have half seeded.


    The Second Consort and Shangguan Ru arrived at the young king Shulitu¡¯s camp at almost the same time and were talking andughing happily as they entered from the front of the main tent. The ones following behind them were the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance, followed by part of the entourage the Second Consort, and then, finally, the slowly moving convoy.


    The new King Rizhu, who was still filled with anger, rode to the two women and stared at them briefly. After confirming that the older woman was the Second Consort, he snapped, ¡°Second Consort, the Naihang Tribe wants you to remarry. Are you going to obey or not?¡±


    ¡°Who are you?¡± The Second Consort was stunned.


    ¡°I¡¯m King Rizhu.¡±


    ¡°Who do you want me to marry?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet, but you¡¯ll marry whoever inherits the throne. In short, it¡¯s up to me to decide. Just tell me whether you¡¯ll obey or not.¡±


    Furious, the Second Consortshed out him as she shouted, ¡°Whatplete and utter bullshit!¡±

 Chapter 813 - Wailing

    Chapter 813: Wailing


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The Second Consort, who had been full of joy a moment ago, was now simmering with rage. All of a sudden, a series of foul curses fell onto the head of the new King Rizhu like a violent storm.


    The new King Rizhu was not fully matured yet. He had deliberately imitated his father¡¯s personality of being unrestrained and frank. However, he had failed to learn one crucial aspect, which was to yield in front of the right person at the right moment.


    The Second Consort¡¯s reaction surprised and angered him, especially when so many outsiders were present. If he didn¡¯t retaliate back in a huge manner, he would lose all his face. So he grabbed the whip flying at him, casually threw it aside, and loudly scolded, ¡°All women of the Naihang Tribe have to be obedient and you are no exception. I am King Rizhu. How dare you beat and humiliate me in public. Today, I¡¯ll¡­¡±


    The pink-white, baby-faced ¡°king¡¯s¡± show of authority hade to an end. Although there were hundreds of people still standing behind him, including General Zhesu, none of them stood out to persuade the two to reconcile. Everyone was curious about who would gain the upper hand: the Second Consort who had lost the support of the Khan, or the new King Rizhu who had lost his father.


    The Second Consort was able to control her emotions most of the time. She had participated in the fight for power in the Royal Court for many years and knew the rules ofpromise well. But this time, she decided to throw all of those rules away for a day.


    The Second Consort waved her hand, and four guards rushed towards the new King Rizhu without hesitation.


    She had her own army which numbered as many as 10,000. Although she had lent most of her troops to the Dragon King, she had still kept some around as guards. In order to keep a firm grip on the army, the Second Consort had put a lot of effort into raising it over the years. Not only did she pay them high sries and provide food and wine of far higher quality than the standard, but she also sometimes awarded the soldiers the female ves that served her as wives.


    With all this effort, the loyalty of each and every one of these soldiers to her was almost as steadfast as the Court Attendants Army soldier¡¯s to the Khan.


    These four people were, however, just ordinary guards. Or in other words, loyal but incapable. The new King Rizhu wasn¡¯t tall, but he was as strong as a calf. Even while drunk, he instinctively responded by shoving the guards in front of him into the enemies behind them. Then he waved his arms forcefully and engaged with the other two guards.


    More guards were ready to rush up to save face for their master. General Zhesu felt that it was time for him to step in and stop the farce. Duodun also did not want to let the matter worsen because no matter whether the Second Consort won or lost the fight, it would be a bad result for him.


    The two of them took a step forward simultaneously and were just about to start mediating when the situation suddenly changed.


    The new King Rizhu who had just stood up steadily had probably finally felt the effects of the alcohol. He slid, fell, and was immediately pressed down to the ground by the Second Consort¡¯s guards. The Second Consort then snatched Shangguan Ru¡¯s horsewhip andshed him hard.


    Unable to dodge the blow, the new King Rizhu took the blow with his head and cried out with pain, ¡°Stinky woman, you dare to beat me?¡±


    The Second Consort whipped him even more violently in response and even kicked him twice, all the while cursing, ¡°You arrogant little bastard. Even your dead father did not dare to be rude to me. Who gave you the guts to speak such nonsense to me? Today, I¡¯ll let you know what a real Naihang woman looks like!¡±


    The new King Rizhu shouted and struggled defiantly, but his arms were locked behind his back and he couldn¡¯t exert any strength. After taking a few more blows, he could not bear it any longer and stopped cursing back, instead switching to a non-stop scream of pain.


    Zhesu walked over. He was an old follower of the former King Rizhu and was an acquaintance of the Second Consort. After habitually bowing to show his respect, he persuasively said, ¡°Second Consort, please stop beating him. We are all from the same tribe. The others willugh at us.¡±


    The Second Consort lowered her horsewhip, raised her eyebrows in anger, and opened her eyes wide. ¡°Ah, I was wondering why a young and inexperienced bastard would dare to be so presumptuous. It turns out that you were behind his back.¡±


    Astounded, Zhesu argued back, ¡°Second Consort, why do you say this? I¡­¡±


    The Second Consort strode to him in a single step, shortening their distance to less than a foot apart, and then spat in his face. ¡°Why did I say that? Let¡¯s start with the former King Rizhu. Who asked me to be his daughter-inw back then? Who was incapable and watched his son die and then sent me to the Khan? Who asked me for inside information over all these years to help the Naihang Tribe grow more and more powerful? It seems that the painstaking efforts I¡¯ve put into the Naihang Tribe were all a waste of time. The former King Rizhu has just died, and you old dog dare to stand up and act like a man? Tell me. What¡¯s your purpose behind inciting the son of King Rizhu into humiliating me in public?¡±


    As the Second Consort spoke each word, she took another step forward. Zhesu, who had arge body, actually couldn¡¯t resist the fierce offensive of the little woman and retreated step by step. He was anxiously trying to say something, but found no chance to speak. Finally, when the other side paused to gasp for air, he hurriedly said, ¡°I didn¡¯t sow discord. The Khan has ascended to heaven, so you should naturally go back to the Naihang Tribe. The Chief Consort has¡­¡±


    The Second Consort suddenly sat on the ground and wailed, ¡°Khan, everyone says that you¡¯ve ascended to heaven, so look down, please. Your revenge has not beenpleted, your bones are not buried, and your woman has been humiliated. It¡¯s only been less than half a year. Why don¡¯t you use your divine fire to burn me? Khan, do you know that your title is like shit now? Everyone dares to mention it, but they all toss it underfoot. Here¡¯s a group of men. If you really have good eyes, clearly observe this man called Zhesu. He used to be your servant¡¯s servant, but now he wants to take me back to the Naihang Tribe and sell me for a good price. And that bastard called himself King Rizhu. A foreigner has actually imed the title of ¡°king.¡± Khan, your bloodlines are worthless now, and your descendants are about to be wiped out.¡±


    The Second Consort denounced the other side as she wailed, but neither party interfered with the other. In the end, she appeared even sadder and grabbed the bottom of Zhesu¡¯s trouser with both hands to blow her nose and wipe her tears away. ¡°Khan, please burn me to death,¡± she cried out over and over again.


    Her words were half true, but in a camp where the court attendants made up half of the army, anything involving the Khan would be a serious matter.


    Hordes of soldiers gathered around and lookedpassionately at the Second Consort, but their eyes were full of hatred when they shifted their gaze towards the new King Rizhu and Zhesu.


    Zhesu found that the matter had be very serious. Although he could easily get rid of this woman, he might not be able to safely walk out of the camp afterwards. And what was even worse was that he had been too slow in speaking. The Second Consort had alreadyunched several ¡®deadly blows¡¯ before he could even finish a word.


    But he was better at understanding the situation than the new King Rizhu. He immediately threw himself to the ground, kowtowed to the Second Consort sitting on the ground, and smacked the ground with his head. Soon, his forehead was bruised and bulging painfully as he looked up.


    Finally, the Second Consort shut her mouth and Zhesu was able to speak. ¡°Please forgive me, Second Consort. I¡¯m an asshole. I must have lost my mind and be blind after having a few drinks. King Rizhu is still young¡­¡±


    ¡°What kind of King Rizhu is he? Who granted him this title? Or was he yet another illegitimate bastard?¡±


    The new King Rizhu happened to break free of the guards at this moment and he staggered to his feet. Upon hearing this, he angrily shouted, ¡°How dare you call me a bastard¡­¡±


    Zhesu quickly got up, rushed to him, and pressed his head down. In the blink of an eye, the new King Rizhu was now also kneeling beside him. Considering hisrge body, Zhesu¡¯s movements were extremely swift. ¡°Shut up, and just listen to the Second Consort,¡± he snapped.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­¡± The new King Rizhu was unwilling to submit, but he couldn¡¯t stand up under Zhesu¡¯s tight grip and pressure.


    Compared to the pink-white ¡®baby,¡¯ Zhesu spoke much faster. ¡°Duoercha, if you dare to call yourself King Rizhu again, I¡¯ll kill you.¡±


    Duoercha was scared out of his wits. His status was solely dependent on the support of Zhesu, and so he was the only person he could not afford to provoke. ¡°Ah? Then I¡­¡±


    ¡°Apologize! Admit your mistakes and ask the Second Consort for punishment!¡±


    Duoercha seemed unable to ept the huge change right away and looked puzzledly at Zhesu. What awaited him was another abrupt push, shoving him onto all fours. When he raised his head again, he spat out the dirt in his mouth and said with a bloody nose and dirty face, ¡°Second Consort, I was just bullshitting. Please forgive me.¡±


    All the men present were dumbfounded. The title ¡®King Rizhu,¡¯ which they couldn¡¯t get rid of with all their means, had actually been removed by the tears and curses of a woman in the blink of an eye.


    As the Second Consort lowered her wail a bit, a crowd of maids rushed in, gently brought her up, dusted her off, and escorted her back to the tent, totally ignoring the two men kneeling on the ground.


    Zhesu got up and also pulled Duoercha up to his feet. After coughing awkwardly a few times, he said, ¡°I apologize for showing you all such a sorry scene. But this is a tradition of the Naihang Tribe. When women cry, the men must give in. Uh, please do not mention the title ¡®King Rizhu¡¯ anymore, at least not before the new Khan is elected.¡±


    Embarrassed, everyone nodded their assent, but kept silent.


    Zhesu sighed, suddenly raised his head, and asked, ¡°But who invited the Second Consort here, I wonder?¡±


    The iron tower-like general wanted to find someone to vent his anger on. Those under Duodun all shook their heads. Gu Shenwei was just about to step up and admit to it when the young king Shulitu took a step forward and said, ¡°It¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°You?¡± Zhesu¡¯s eyebrows slowly rose in surprise.


    ¡°The Second Consort is both valiant and wise. I¡¯m counting on her to help me lead the army.¡±


    Zhesu¡¯s face remained cold as he walked in front of Shulitu. Then, he suddenlyughed, patted him on the shoulder, and said, ¡°Good boy, I admit that I¡¯ve looked down upon you. You are indeed worthy of inheriting the throne, but do not say something like marrying the Second Consort again. But if you like, you can choose to marry any other woman of the Naihang Tribe as you please.¡±


    After being patted, Shulitu wobbled as he smilingly replied, ¡°Maybe when I¡¯m a bit older. If General Zhesu is in a hurry, then he can pick someone like the Second Consort for me.¡±


    ¡°You are not afraid?¡± Zhesu asked with his eyes wide open.


    ¡°I believe that the Khan in heaven must have foundfort in the Second Consort¡¯s acts just now. If I were the Khan, I would also want to have a consort as faithful as the Second Consort.¡±


    Everyone was surprised that these words had been said by a twelve years old kid. Fang Wenshi slightly nodded to the Dragon King, hinting that this kid should not be taken lightly.


    Zhesu almost embraced Shulitu with his arms. ¡°Well said. Not only has the Second Consort gained face for the Khan, but she also brings honor to our Naihang Tribe. We¡¯ll have a good talkter.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had hoped that Shulitu could give Duodun tit for tat and Shulitu had indeed not disappointed him.


    Duodun did not look good. The Naihang Tribe could have been a potential ally of his, but now, they seemed to want to ally with Shulitu. He nced back at the Dragon King and believed that this guy was the real mastermind behind this turn. How could the little kid think of such a trick?


    ¡°Hehe, do not praise just the Second Consort. Although Brother Duoercha made a mistake, it was not intentional. He must be frightened after such an ordeal and should beforted.¡± Duodun refused simply to give up. He went over to Duoercha and put one arm around his shoulder while using his other one to point to Shangguan Ru, who was not far away. ¡°This is Shangguan Ru, the instructor of the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance. If you like, you can ask the Dragon King to send her to you.¡±


    Duoercha was still suffering from the shock of the previous events. The dust and blood on his face had not yet been wiped clean and his mind was not clear either. With a silly smile, he said, ¡°Hmm, she does look pretty. Dragon King, can you send her to me?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    Before Fang Wenshi could open his mouth to politely refuse the other side¡¯s rude request, the Dragon King had explicitly refused and somehow also drawn his saber. The surrounding people were all scared and retreated several steps in fear.


    ¡®Too bad,¡¯ thought Fang Wenshi. The Dragon King¡¯s momentary impulse might have just wrecked their overall good situation.

 Chapter 814 - Standing Up For a Friend

    Chapter 814: Standing Up For a Friend


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei threw his Five Peaks Saber into the ground and unfolded his arms, which made all the onlookers let out a sigh of relief. Fang Wenshi knew that the Dragon King was about to say something, so he swallowed his words.


    Gu Shenwei spoke to General Zhesu, saying, ¡°As a powerful country, the Nond can determine the life and death of the Western Regions with less than 10% of its full power. That¡¯s why so many countries in the Western Regions have historically been willing to be vassals and havee one after another to seek alliances, including me, the Dragon King. But I¡¯m very disappointed at what I¡¯ve seen today. The schism in the Nond is already an indisputable fact. Various kings are struggling and fighting internally while powerful enemies are covetously peering in from the outside. The Naihang Tribe has tens of thousands of troops under theirmand, and whoever gains their support will rule the Nond. But look at what they have done. Instead of fulfilling their duties, they instead insulted the descendants of the Khan and bullied their weak allies. General Zhesu, did King Rizhu entrust the Naihang Tribe to you to show off or to bully the weak?¡±


    Zhesu blushed. He couldn¡¯t refute the Second Consort because she was a woman of his own tribe and had acted under the banner of the Khan. But now, the Dragon King, a foreigner who he disliked, also wanted to teach him a lesson? As he thought of this, he couldn¡¯t help but be furious and snort. ¡°I know the consequences of allying with the Dragon King. Where were you when King Rizhu was assassinated? Weren¡¯t the Waning Moon Hall and Lotus brought into the Royal Court by you?¡±


    After the Dragon King had started speaking, Fang Wenshi knew that they would need a helper. So he quietly squeezed through the crowd, found Mo Lin, and winked at him. After realizing that his wink didn¡¯t work, Fang Wenshi gave Mo Lin a little push from behind.


    With Mo Lin¡¯s level of kung fu, Fang Wenshi wouldn¡¯t be able to move him at all if he was unwilling to move. But Mo Lin allowed himself to be pushed two steps forward so that he could speak on behalf of the Dragon King. He had to do so because no one would believe these words unless they were said by him. ¡°General Zhesu has it wrong. No one brought the Waning Moon Hall into the Royal Court, They rmended themselves and blended in with the long line of other Immortal Masters entering. The Dragon King, like everyone else, is a victim.¡±


    The wing guard¡¯s words carried a lot of weight. Although Mo Lin did not mention the Khan, everyone understood what he was saying. The Khan¡¯s respect for and dependence on the Immortal Masters was a well-known secret in the Nond.


    But Zhesu was still full of anger. Duoercha, who had suffered a lot and even lost his title, had sobered up by now. Feeling the intense enmity in the air, he quietly walked to the old general and said in a low voice, ¡°If the Dragon King is unwilling to do so, then just forget about it. I do not have to marry this woman.¡±


    Zhesu turned his head and shot a fierce nce at King Rizhu¡¯s unworthy son, feeling very regretful. Duoercha¡¯s personality mostly resembled the former King Rizhu¡¯s, but at critical moments, he wasn¡¯t like his father at all.


    Fang Wenshi kept winking at the Dragon King, trying to signal him to take the chance to back out of the deadlock. However, the Dragon King seemed to be ignoring his hints. Instead, he took another step forward and eximed, ¡°General Zhesu, the Waning Moon Hall is our mutual enemy. I¡¯m more than happy to ally with you. But if you think that you can bully me with your numerical superiority while regarding me as an enemy, you can think again. Although the Dragon Army is weak and the Western Regions is a small ce, there are still tens of thousands of troops and enough room for the Naihang tribe to gallop to their heart¡¯s extent. You might as well set a date for a life-and-death fight.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was taken aback, bewildered and wondering what was wrong with the Dragon King. Why would a man, who was usually cautious with his words and actions, suddenly be as violent-tempered as if he were possessed by the Second Consort? Then he nced at Shangguan Ru, who was standing opposite him, and couldn¡¯t help but sigh in understanding.


    That woman looked impassive, but her eyes were fixed entirely on the Dragon King, as if the people around her did not exist.


    ¡°The mostmon modus operandi of the Waning Moon Hall is to create chaos so that they can fish in troubled waters. If General doesn¡¯t care¡­¡± Fang Wenshi could only remind the other side up to this extent. Otherwise, others might think he was waving a white g.


    Zhesu nced at the crowd as his mind ran wildly. Several ideas came to mind, but all of them required Duoercha¡¯s cooperation, King Rizhu¡¯s son who had obviously been scared out of his wits. With his blood-stained face, he didn¡¯t have a kingly demeanor at all. So he waved his big hand and cried out, ¡°Huh, the Second Consort hase all the way here to visit us, so what are we arguing about here? Let¡¯s talk about forming an alliance another day. The banquet of the Naihang Tribe is not over yet, so go on! Duoercha and I will invite the Second Consort. If the Second Consort is still angry with us, we¡¯ll kneel in front of her until she has cooled down.¡±


    Zhesu deliberately avoided answering the Dragon King¡¯s question and did not make his choice in front of the public.


    The interruptions were finally over, but the semnce of bnce had beenpletely destroyed. All of the relevant parties were anxious to analyze the pros and cons, so they all went back to their own tents.


    Soon, a small group of people gathered in Gu Shenwei¡¯s tent. Fang Wenshi had followed the Dragon King back. Mo Lin was invited in. After a while, Shulitu arrived, uninvited. The counselor thought that they needed more people, so he went to invite Shangguan Ru in person after receiving the Dragon King¡¯s permission.


    Shangguan Ru appeared much quieter than usual, as she stood guard at the door with her head lowered, not talking much.


    Fang Wenshi, therefore, became the host of the counsel, and he threw out the first statement. ¡°Duodun led Zhesu and Duoercha to the Second Consort¡¯s tent. I don¡¯t know what they are talking about right now. Originally, we wanted the Second Consort and the Naihang Tribe to rock the boat after their arrival. But now, it seems that the situation didn¡¯t turn out as favorably as we expected.¡±


    This idea had originally been put forward by Shulitu so he said, ¡°Not really. Duodun is unwilling to share any power with others which probably won¡¯t change anytime soon. If he wants to use the Second Consort to subdue the Naihang Tribe, it may backfire. It¡¯s one thing to make Zhesu lose his face but it¡¯s another to want him to hand over those 100,000 horsemen.¡±


    Fang Wenshi neither refuted nor agreed. Instead, he asked, ¡°Zhesu will go to you sooner orter. What will you do? Agree to his request of granting Duoercha the title of ¡®King Rizhu¡¯ and marrying a woman of the Naihang Tribe?¡±


    Shulitu shrugged, the boyish face full of an adult¡¯sposure. He nced at the Dragon King briefly before saying, ¡°There¡¯s no other choice, I suppose.¡±


    ¡°The point is, are you going to ept it sincerely, or will it just be a trick to gain more time?¡±


    Shulitu took another nce at the Dragon King. ¡°I¡¯m sincere of course. It would be better to not to have an ally with ulterior motives.¡±


    Fang Wenshi revealed a smile and gave a rare nod. It had really been the correct decision for the Dragon King to keep this kid. The only thing they needed to be cognizant of was to have the Dragon King avoid making any more careless mistakes.


    Mo Lin didn¡¯t understand, so he coughed and said, ¡°I know that it has nothing to do with me, but the Khan dreaded the power of the Naihang Tribe very much when he was alive. At one point, he had even wanted to destroy King Rizhu at any cost.¡±


    Shulitu calmly replied, ¡°The Khan was a man of vision. His idea was correct, but the one he feared was the former King Rizhu, not the present Duoercha. Duoercha will be a good ally. If Zhesues to me with an alliance, I will spare no effort in supporting Duoercha¡¯s bid for the title of ¡®King Rizhu.¡¯¡±


    Mo Lin suddenly came to his senses. Although he had followed the Khan for many years, the intricate plots and infighting among the nobles had still left him confused. So he bowed to Shulitu and apologized, ¡°Sorry, I was babbling nonsense.¡±


    Shulitu replied with a smile. ¡°No, I really do need someone to remind me of the Khan¡¯s thoughts at all times. It is a great help.¡±


    Fang Wenshi cast a warning look at the Dragon King, reminding him that the internal struggle of wooing people had already begun.


    Gu Shenwei did not care. He¡¯d rather ally with a dangerous person who could act on his own than a useless puppet. Although the former had to be guarded against at all times, thetter was nothing but a gift to his enemies.


    ¡°Instructor Shangguan, what brings you here?¡± The Dragon King was the only one who could ask this question. Fang Wenshi also wanted to know the answer, but didn¡¯t dare ask.


    Shangguan Ru was stunned for a bit, as if her thoughts had been interrupted. ¡°The Second Consort invited me here. She said¡­ She said that she didn¡¯t want toe alone, so¡­ I can leave at any time if it¡¯s inconvenient.¡±


    ¡°No need. I just want to know what the Second Consort is nning.¡±


    ¡°She just wants to marry Duodun. She doesn¡¯t care about anything else.¡±


    ¡°Heh, and what if Duodun doesn¡¯t inherit the title of Khan?¡± Fang Wenshi said disdainfully. He didn¡¯t believe in their so-called ¡®love¡¯ at all.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Shangguan Ru smiled as she exined, ¡°The Second Consort probably thinks that Duodun will definitely be the new Khan as long as she helps him.¡±


    ¡°This woman is not simple,¡± Fang Wenshi concluded. ¡°She may destroy Duodun¡¯s grand cause and also be our big enemy.¡±


    Shulitu burst intoughter as if he had thought of something very interesting. ¡°The Second Consort has put herself in a bind today. Everyone thinks that she¡¯s faithful to the Khan, so it won¡¯t be as easy for her to marry Duodun now.¡±


    ¡°The Second Consort doesn¡¯t care,¡± Shangguan Ru refuted. She knew that woman. The Second Consort had once tried to persuade her to marry Duodun. After being refused, the Second Consort felt very regretful, but acted even closer to her afterward.


    She would do anything for her lover.


    ¡°Duodun cares,¡± Fang Wenshi, Shulitu, and the Dragon King said in unison. Only Mo Lin remained silent, but it seemed that he shared the same view as the three who had spoken out.


    Shangguan Ru saw the huge difference between herself and the men, and smilingly replied, ¡°Maybe. I didn¡¯t read too much into it.¡±


    ¡°But the Second Consort is still very important. If Duodun doesn¡¯t act rationally towards her, he will lose a lot of support right away. Anyway, the Nond people don¡¯t like a prince who would be controlled by a woman. s, it would be much better to know what the Second Consort is really thinking,¡± Fang Wenshi said carefully, hoping that Shangguan Ru was smart enough to pick up what he was insinuating.


    But Shangguan Ru missed the main point again. She especially did not like the phrase ¡®people don¡¯t like a prince who would be controlled by a woman¡¯ and was just about to argue back when she noticed that the other four pairs of eyes were fixed on her again. Stunned, she finally understood the hidden meaning in the counselor¡¯s words, ¡°You guys want me to find out the Second Consort¡¯s true thoughts?¡±


    Although she said ¡®you guys,¡¯ her eyes looked only at the Dragon King.


    Fang Wenshi wanted to answer for the Dragon King, but felt that it would be meaningless for him to say anything. So he opened and closed his mouth several times without saying anything.


    Gu Shenwei nodded. He didn¡¯t know why, but he didn¡¯t find it as hard to open his mouth anymore, even when he had asked her to send soldiers from the Land of Fragrance back then.


    Shangguan Ru smiled again. ¡°All right, I¡¯ll give it a try.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was the first to let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Great. It¡¯s easier for a woman to talk to another woman. Instructor Shangguan is really helpful. We¡­ The Dragon King¡­¡±


    The counselor found that he was talking too much, so he bowed and took his leave. Shulitu and Mo Lin also followed him out, but Shangguan Ru remained standing in the doorway.


    ¡°Anything else?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s about Duoercha¡­ Thanks for standing up for me. I really appreciate it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. You won¡¯t marry him anyways. It doesn¡¯t matter whether I offend him earlier orter.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure that I¡¯m not willing to marry him?¡± Shangguan Ru smiled as a hint of slyness shined in her eyes.


    Gu Shenwei felt his heart race, but his voice was as calm as ever. ¡°I just guessed so.¡±


    ¡°Well, you are really boring sometimes,¡± Shangguan Ru responded, but with no regret or disgust in her tone. ¡°One more thing ¨C you have arranged many people to hide in Jade City, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Gu Shenwei was on his guard at once. He had sent Old Man Mu, Dog Butcher, Shangguan Fei, and Chu Nanping to Jade City. As soon as Shulitu had arrived, Hu Shining and the young killers were also ordered to sneak into Jade City. When also considering the people that Xu Xiaoyi had nted and Han Wuxian, most of his killers had been sent out.


    ¡°Then be careful, I don¡¯t know what¡­ exactly the Unique King wants to do, but it¡¯s definitely rted to Jade City. Do not ask me about the details. This is just a feeling.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew that Shangguan Ru¡¯s feelings wouldn¡¯t be wrong.

 Chapter 815 - Sniffing Around

    Chapter 815: Sniffing Around


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    In an open space of the army camp, Tie Linglong was busy cultivating the Bnced Power and practicing the Gu family sabermanship. When she finished, she switched to the Jueyin Finger Techniques that Han Wuxian had taught her. She found that she preferred thetter more.


    She was making very slow progress in her cultivation of the Bnced Power. The Dragon King had once reiterated that when she practiced this kung fu on her own, she had to focus on taking small baby-steps. And regarding the Gu family sabermanship, she had never understood itst esoteric parts. But the Jueyin Finger Technique was different. It seemed as if the Daoless Divine Power and the Jueyin Finger Techniques were made for each other. Every time she practiced these two kung fu together, she made considerable progress in both of them as if they were two small trees growing rapidly in front of her.


    But Tie Linglong still practiced the former two kung fu techniques with a happy mindset, because the Dragon King had imparted them to her. Thus, they were different from any other kung fu technique as she was the only one who had learned them.


    ¡®When I¡¯m a few years older, the Dragon King will see me differently,¡¯ she thought. Then the image of Chu Nanping inexplicably popped up in her mind. She put on a cold face and said to that illusion in a low voice, ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to seeing what kind of expression you will have on your face then.¡±


    ¡°Nice sabermanship,¡± someoneplimented from the side.


    Tie Linglong instantly whirled around, only to see Shangguan Ru and Red Bat watching her and pping from about a dozen steps away. She unexpectedly hadn¡¯t noticed them at all.


    ¡°What kind of sabermanship is that? It looks familiar,¡± Shangguan Ru asked.


    Tie Linglong smiled and walked over. She liked Shangguan Ru and was not jealous of her at all. ¡°Sister Ru must be kidding. The Dragon King taught me this sabermanship. He said that it was from the Gu family of the Central ins. I¡¯ve been practicing it for some time, but I don¡¯t think that it¡¯s very good.¡±


    Shangguan Ru suddenly remembered why this sabermanship seemed familiar. Back then, she had been deeply impressed by Marshal Yang¡¯s martial arts and she still recalled his moves vividly. Tie Linglong¡¯s sabermanship was exactly the same as the old man¡¯s.


    ¡°This is an advanced sabermanship, and if you keep practicing it, you¡¯ll eventually uncover its secrets. I once saw a kung fu expert defeat several Golden Roc killers at once with this kung fu.¡±


    ¡°And then?¡± Tie Linglong¡¯s eyes lit up.


    ¡°That¡¯s it.¡±


    Tie Linglong didn¡¯t quite believe her as she said, ¡°Then that kung fu expert was assassinated, wasn¡¯t he? s, why is the Dragon King teaching me this kind of useless sabermanship?¡±


    ¡°Because all normal people hate killers, and even those who hire killers are guarded against them. And you¡¯re an adorable little girl who even the Dragon King doesn¡¯t have the heart to make into a killer.¡±


    A smile as bright as the morning appeared on Tie Linglong¡¯s face. ¡°I¡¯ll be seventeen next year, so I¡¯m no longer a little girl.¡±


    Red Bat gently pped her forehead as she joked, ¡°Ouch, I¡¯ll be twenty-seven next year. Am I already an old woman?¡±


    The threeughed.


    ¡°Where are you going, Sister Ru?¡±


    ¡°Someone asked me to drink with them. Um, do you want to join?¡±


    ¡°Me? The Dragon King doesn¡¯t allow me to drink.¡±


    Red Bat put her arms around Tie Linglong¡¯s shoulders as she teased, ¡°Did the Dragon King say that you had to be seventeen to be old enough to drink?¡±


    Tie Linglong blushed slightly and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go. It¡¯s just drinking. Sister Ru can do it, and so I can do it as well.¡±


    ¡°And this time we won¡¯t just be drinking. We have a task as well,¡± Shangguan Ru whispered into Tie Linglong¡¯s ear. ¡°We¡¯re going to collect intelligence for the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯m definitely going.¡± Tie Linglong became even more excited upon hearing Shangguan Ru¡¯s words. ¡°What do I have to do?¡±


    It was only after she had seen Tie Linglong that Shangguan Ru hade up with this idea. ¡°I might need you to disy your kung fu for me. Just show me your best moves.¡±


    ¡°But try not to kill anyone,¡± Red Bat added hurriedly. She was always uncertain about killers.


    ¡°The Dragon King doesn¡¯t allow me to kill people either,¡± Tie Linglong said downheartedly. ¡°This is an invible order.¡±


    Second Consort had returned to normal by now. She had sessfully maintained her face, subjected the leader of the Naihang Tribe, and forgiven Zhe Su and Duo Ercha afterwards during an appropriate asion. However, she knew that she had also paid a heavy price for her actions.


    ¡°Who¡¯s this little sister? Why haven¡¯t I seen her before? Are all the women from the Land of Fragrance this beautiful? I¡¯m starting to think that maybe I should go live there for a couple of years.¡± As soon as the Second Consort saw Tie Linglong, she had grabbed her hands and started looking her up and down.


    Tie Linglong flushed even redder. Nobody on the Dragon King¡¯s team or the Waning Moon Hall had ever praised her as beautiful. Even Chu Nanping had only asionally said a few honeyed words to her; most of the time, he had been as silent as wood.


    ¡°I¡¯m not from the Land of Fragrance. I¡¯m the Dragon King¡¯s bodyguard, Tie Linglong.¡±


    The Second Consort seemed very surprised, and her eyes swept through Tie Linglong and Red Bat like a broom. ¡°You two seem like biological sisters, but are actually not even vige mates.¡±


    In fact the two didn¡¯t have much inmon. But Tie Linglong had green eyes and Red Bat was born with barbaric looks, so they did seem simr from other people¡¯s perspective.


    The Second Consort turned around and faced Shangguan Ru. ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s been hiding such a little beauty around him. You¡¯ll have to be careful.¡±


    Shangguan Ru burst intoughter as she said, ¡°I¡¯m here to drink alcohol, not jealousy. Where¡¯s the booze? I haven¡¯t gotten drunk in quite a long time.¡±


    The feast started right away. Second Consort summoned two middle-aged women to be their drinkingpanions. After the Khan¡¯s death, they had nowhere to go, so the Second Consort had taken them in. Serving as drinkingpanions, livening things up, and ttering guests were their forte, so the atmosphere quickly grew uproarious.


    Tie Linglong had thought that she would be just a foil during the feast, but unexpectedly, she had be the protagonist. The Second Consort seemed to be particrly interested in her and kept asking her all kinds of questions. She even borrowed her narrow saber to look at it and marveled at how skilled a woman could be at kung fu.


    ¡°Look at you. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that you have a saber with you, who would know that you¡¯ve learned kung fu? I¡¯ve always thought that the body of a woman who practices kung fu is as strong as a man¡¯s.¡± Second Consort was still amazed at Tie Linglong.


    ¡°Sister Ru also practices kung fu, and she¡¯s way better than me.¡± After drinking a couple of cups of wine, Tie Linglong was feeling a little dizzy yet was in a thoroughly delighted mood. At this point, she had totally unwound.


    Shangguan Ru shook her head repeatedly. ¡°That¡¯s not true. When people try to attack me, I can run really fast. But if I have to fight back¡­¡± She produced her wooden saber as she continued, ¡°This guy¡¯s not going to scare anybody.¡±


    Second Consort had never seen Shangguan Ru¡¯s kung fu before and had always assumed that Shangguan Ru¡¯s kung fu was not as good as Red Bat¡¯s. So, she instinctively believed Shangguan Ru¡¯s words and sighed. ¡°You have those female soldiers and the Dragon King, so you don¡¯t have to fight. But me, my strength is not even enough to kill a chicken, and all of my soldiers are useless. A bunch of them were defeated by a single man, and I was nearly humiliated in public.¡±


    Second Consort still remembered Duo Ercha¡¯s might. Four guards had rushed at him together, but they were no match for him. If it weren¡¯t for Duo Ercha¡¯s foot slipping, they wouldn¡¯t have ever overpowered him. When she recalled it, Second Consort still felt scared. If Duo Ercha had gone crazy, not only would her name have been disgraced, but her status and power also would have suffered.


    ¡°It¡¯s not about the numbers. One or two excellent bodyguards are enough,¡± Shangguan Ru said in agreement with Second Consort.


    ¡°Tell me about it. The Khan only had seven wing guards, and Silver Condor was the only one that was always by his side. Speaking of this, I have to find a way to recruit some kung fu experts as bodyguards.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King can help,¡± Red Bat interjected.


    The Second Consort smiled but didn¡¯t say anything. Realizing that it was time for her to make her presence known, Tie Linglong started bragging about her kung fu under the guise of the alcohol. ¡°Amongst all of the Dragon King¡¯s subordinates, I¡¯m the one whose kung fu is the worst. But if I had to fight Duo Ercha, I could knock him down with one finger.¡±


    Red Bat toasted her with another two female soldiers. Tie Linglong stood up and started performing her sabermanship. The killer¡¯s sabermanship was too simple, so she instead performed the Gu family¡¯s sabermanship. She deliberately wielded the saber at a much faster speed than usual to make the sabermanship seem more ferocious and aggressive, even though this went against the sabermanship¡¯s core principles. Everyone around her cheered her on.


    The Second Consort became more and more excited and she really called four bodyguards in to fight with Tie Linglong. At first, the bodyguards took turns fighting, and then even when they all joined hands, Tie Linglong was still able to easily defeat them. Additionally, her weapon was not her saber but rather her fingers.


    Shangguan Ru was the only one who could tell that that finger technique was exactly what this little girl was most skilled at.


    The bodyguards also knew that this was not an actual fight, so they admitted their defeat sincerely. One of them even ventured to say, ¡°That Duo Ercha looked down on women. How I wish he had encountered you.¡±


    Yet it seemed that the Second Consort¡¯s interest in kung fu had disappeared, and for the rest of the feast, she just kept signaling the two femalepanions to persuade the others to continue drinking. She never mentioned kung fu or bodyguards again.


    Eventually, Tie Linglong became well and truly drunk, falling into a daze on Red Bat¡¯s legs, asionally murmuring, ¡°We can fight again if you want.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s never drunk so much before,¡± Red Bat said affectionately. ¡°I¡¯ll take her back.¡±


    Red Bat propped Tie Linglong up before getting up herself. Second Consort ordered the two female officers to help. The other maidservants quickly tidied up the table, refilled the cups, and left the tent.


    There were only two people left now. The Second Consort suddenly sighed wearily as she said, ¡°I envy you so much.¡±


    ¡°Envy me?¡±


    ¡°When someone tries to humiliate you, a man will step forward for you. But I have to fight for myself even if that¡¯s shameful. I¡¯d give anything to trade ces with you.¡±


    Shangguan Ru felt a little proud but also a little bitter. ¡°That man¡¯s willing to step forward for me, but he¡¯ll also never retreat for me. I¡¯m the daughter of the Golden Roc Castle¡¯s master, but he holds an irreconcble hatred against Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    The Second Consort had heard about some rumors, so she didn¡¯t ask any more questions. As she stared nkly into the cups, she asked, ¡°Will the Dragon King agree to give me a bodyguard? Someone like Tie Linglong?¡±


    ¡°He will. But it depends on what you¡¯re willing to trade for her.¡±


    Both of them had sobered up by now.


    The Second Consort abruptly grabbed the hand of Shangguan Ru, who was on the opposite side of the table, and said, ¡°I used to be very confident and thought that I could control any man no matter how high his status was. But now, I¡¯m not so sure. I have to admit, power is more tempting than women. What should I do? Should I devote myself to helping him gather gt more power, or should I¡­ watch him lose all his power and thene to me?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the Second Consort; you¡¯re qualified to choose between the two.¡±


    Second Consort smiled. ¡°And yet, you chose to devote yourself to the Dragon King. Did he send you here?¡±


    Second Consort had held this feast, but she had known of Shangguan Ru¡¯s intentions from the very beginning.


    In a distant tent, Tie Linglong was knock-out drunk and lying in a bed, randomly uttering the names the Dragon King, Little Chu, Nie Zeng, Sister Ru, and Han Wuxian.


    Red Bat sat beside her, feeling both entertained and surprised. Tie Linglong was still a little girl and the people around her could hear her clearly. But she herself had no idea who she really loved.


    It was not until Tie Linglong started breathing steadily and stopped talking nonsense that Red Bat left. There was still another drunk female who needed her.


    It was already dark outside.


    Tie Linglong abruptly sat up. She had almost forgotten everything that had happened after she got drunk, but she did still remember that she had mumbled some of her secrets in her stupor. She was too embarrassed to directly ask Red Bat, so she stalked her back to the main tent, wondering what Red Bat would say to Shangguan Ru.


    She gently pressed her ear against the tent and heard Shangguan Ru¡¯sugh. It seemed that Shangguan Ru was not yet drunk, so Tie Linglong couldn¡¯t help but wonder whether the two wereughing at her. But Red Bat walked out soon, and she didn¡¯t seem to have said anything bad about anyone.


    Tie Linglong was a little relieved and started retreating slowly. To avoid a team of patrolling guards, she hid in the shadows for a while. At that moment, she identally saw someone enter Shangguan Ru¡¯s tent.


    Judging by their movements, that person was clearly a killer and also definitely not the Dragon King.

 Chapter 816 - Being Ambushed

    Chapter 816: Being Ambushed


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Nie Zeng was still in Shulitu¡¯s army camp, Tie Linglong was focusing on her kung fu practice, Mo Lin had his own tasks, and most of the others had been assigned to Jade City. Thus, Gu Shenwei had no choice but to let Han Fen be his bodyguard.


    Though Han Fen was merely a half-finished product in Han Wuxian¡¯s eyes, she was still an outstanding killer. She had cooperated with the Dragon King previously, and her performance back then had been remarkable. However, she currently regarded herself as a prisoner, idler, and ¡°crafty sycophant¡± instead of as a killer, which was why she had walked out after staying hidden for less than two hours.


    Gu Shenwei could feel her walking back and forth right behind him, so he twisted his head around abruptly to look at her.


    Han Fen was standing still now, in a stealthy posture as if she were transfixed. Her hands were also raised to her chest as if she were carrying a big bowl.


    The two stared at each other in silence for a couple seconds as though they were both invisible. In the end, Gu Shenwei gave up since he didn¡¯t want topete in patience with a lunatic.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m guarding the Dragon King.¡± Han Fen didn¡¯t move as single part of her body except for her mouth.


    ¡°You¡¯re free to move.¡±


    Han Fen returned to normal instantly and walked to the table with a smile on her face. Standing by the side of the Dragon King, Han Fen rested her chin in her hand and said, ¡°This map is not good enough.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with it?¡±


    ¡°The painting skills suck. The lines are too rough and there¡¯re too many nk areas.¡±


    ¡°Why were you pacing back and forth behind me?¡±


    ¡°Ah? I¡­ was learning to walk.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know how to walk?¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha, of course I do. You¡¯ve seen me walking around, Dragon King. I¡¯m learning a new way to walk.¡±


    ¡°The original way isn¡¯t good enough for you?¡±


    ¡°But walking is also a part of one¡¯s disguise. Sometimes, the disguise is nearly perfect and there¡¯re barely any ws. But once we start walking, some people might immediately see through the disguise.¡±


    Surprisingly, Han Fen¡¯s remarks sounded fairly reasonable. Gu Shenwei looked at her curiously as he asked, ¡°Are you trying to imitate Instructor Shangguan¡¯s walking style?¡±


    ¡°Eek, how did you know?¡± Han Fen¡¯s face was full of amazement. ¡°I stopped practicing as soon as you turned your head, and yet you still identified the walk? It seems that I¡¯ve made some progress.¡±


    Actually, Gu Shenwei had just made a lucky guess. Han Fen had been carefully observing Shangguan Ru every time she met her. It was very clear what was constantly on Han Fen¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Did Lotus order you to do this?¡± Gu Shenwei had every reason to suspect that the reason why Han Fen was so obsessed with imitating Shangguan Ru was for some subreasons.


    Han Fen shook her head violently, ¡°No, no. Master Commander seldom mentions Little Instructor to me. I¡¯m doing this all of my own ord. I just want to know why Dragon King likes her, and once I figure it out, I¡¯ll teach it to the Master Commander. With that, Master Commander will have both Instructor¡¯s charm and her own charm. How will the Dragon King be able to resist her? Ha-ha.¡±


    Han Fen simply understood things in a way different from that of others; she was not foolish. Additionally, she was also a terrible liar, so Gu Shenwei believed her. ¡°You misunderstand, Han Fen.¡±


    ¡°Which part did I misunderstand?¡± Han Fen lowered her head and nced at him a few times. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s because I¡¯m being myself right now. I should act like little Instructor. Then you¡¯ll see how much I resemble her.¡±


    ¡°No. I meant that you misunderstood Lotus¡­ or Master Commander.¡±


    ¡°I misunderstood?¡±


    ¡°Mmm, Master Commander¡¯s a proud woman, and she won¡¯t try to imitate anybody else.¡±


    ¡°But Master Commander imitated the Dragon King. Sometimes you two act exactly like each other.¡±


    ¡°She didn¡¯t try to imitate me. We used to practice the same swordsmanship together, and that swordsmanship ¡ª ¡±


    ¡°The Death Scripture, I know, I know. Master Commander said that this kung fu is evil and that she would never teach me.¡±


    ¡°She made the right choice. It was not that I imitated her or that she imitated me. Rather, it was the Death Scripture that made us simr to each other. The Death Scripture was also the reason why we became enemies. I killed someone who she cared about very much and she will never forget that, just like how I¡¯ll never forget the death of my family. It is destined for the Master Commander and I to have a life-or-death fight, and there¡¯s nothing you can do about it.¡±


    Han Fen frowned, which was very rare for her. She then opened her mouth, but didn¡¯t say a word, as if she were trying to understand the Dragon King¡¯s remarks. She just stood there, breathing in through her open mouth without saying a single word.


    Gu Shenwei felt that what he had said was cruel, but he didn¡¯t want to give Han Fen any false hopes. She was a special woman who was highly like to be an enemy of him once disillusioned, and he didn¡¯t want to kill her either.


    Han Fen moved a chair close to her and sat down on it heavily, feeling lost. After contemting his words for quite a while, she said, ¡°But I don¡¯t think that the Master Commander hates the Dragon King. Who is that man that she cares so much about? Can she care more about him than you?¡±


    ¡°That is the evil part of the Death Scripture. It engraves the hatred into your heart so deeply that even after you¡¯ve forgotten the name of that person you used to love long ago, you can still feel the hatred as if it had just happened.¡±


    The faces of his family members had already be vague memories for a long time, but every time he recalled their miserable deaths, especially his elder sister¡¯s, Gu Shenwei still felt a cold numbness spread through his scalp. That coldness was as fresh as if they had died yesterday, right in front of him, so close that he could touch them just by stretching out his arms ¡ª but there was nothing he could have done. It was this very feeling that had motivated him to continue pursuing his path of seeking revenge.


    Han Fen obviously couldn¡¯t understand. She just felt disappointed, and mumbled, ¡°But Master Commander¡­¡±


    The sound of urgent footsteps came from outside.


    Gu Shenwei stretched his hand out and grabbed his saber hilt. Han Fen, who had been confused just a moment ago, immediately jumped out of the chair and disappeared into the corner like a puff of smoke.


    Shulitu raised the tent p and rushed in hurriedly. Behind him, Nie Zeng was holding Tie Linglong, who was in aa.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t ask for anything. He roughly made his bed and had Nie Zengy Tie Linglong on top.


    There were no obvious wounds on Tie Linglong, and her breath was steady. There was a faint odor of alcohol about her as well as a deep blush on her face.


    ¡°Han Fen.¡± Gu Shenwei immediately noticed that Tie Linglong had been affected by knockout powder.


    Han Fen walked out without saying anything. She checked Tie Linglong¡¯s eyes and mouth, produced three small wooden boxes, took a pill from each box, put all the pills into Tie Linglong¡¯s mouth, and then used her left hand to massage Tie Linglong with broad strokes going from the throat to the stomach. As she did so, she also utilized her internal energy to help Tie Linglong swallow the pills.


    Nie Zeng didn¡¯t trust Han Fen very much and even tried to stop her, but the Dragon King didn¡¯t let him.


    Gu Shenwei turned around and asked, ¡°What happened?¡±


    There was anger on Nie Zeng¡¯s face, but he held it back and asked Shulitu to tell the story.


    ¡°Nie Zeng and I were strolling around and we saw that she,¡± Shulitu pointed at Tie Linglong when he reached that point, ¡°seemed to be stalking someone. It all happened really fast. Nie Zeng¡­ maybe you should tell us what you saw. I barely saw anything.¡±


    Nie Zeng nodded and exined, ¡°Okay. I saw that Tie Linglong was taking a detour around a tent, and I thought that she was performing a task for the Dragon King. But then I heard some unusual sounds so I hurried over, only to find her lying unconscious on the ground. I searched around, but didn¡¯t see anybody so I took her here immediately.¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t tell anybody else. We thought that we should let the Dragon King make the decision,¡± Shulitu added.


    ¡°Mmm, well done,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    As the only one in the tent who was not nervous, Han Fen stood up and said, ¡°All right. She¡¯ll wake up after sleeping for a day or two.¡±


    ¡°A day or two?¡± Nie Zeng blurted out, but he shut up immediately afterwards.


    Now, at least Tie Linglong¡¯s safety was confirmed. Gu Shenwei then ordered Nie Zeng to bring a few particr people` of interest here.


    Doctor Sun¡¯s diagnosis was the same as that of Han Fen¡¯s. ¡°Hmm, she will wake up in a day or two, thanks to the antidote. So some Waning Moon Hall disciples snuck in?¡±


    All the others turned to look at Han Fen. She had no idea why they would all look at her, so she simply looked back at them, one by one, without blinking.


    ¡°She¡¯s here all alone.¡± Gu Shenwei could guarantee that Han Fen was not the culprit behind Tie Linglong¡¯s injury. Besides, she had provided the antidote. ¡°Has anyone from Waning Moon Hall tried to contact you recently, Han Fen?¡±


    ¡°No. If they were here, I would have detected it,¡± Han Fen said. Then she raised her head, narrowed her eyes, and inhaled deeply. ¡°You see? I can¡¯t smell them.¡±


    Long Fanyun and Mo Lin stood to the side, waiting for the Dragon King¡¯s orders. Gu Shenwei said to Shulitu, ¡°The one who attacked Tie Linglong might still be in the camp. I hope that Your Highness can put Long Fanyun in charge of defending the whole camp, so that Mo Lin can have the space to work on identifying the moles.¡±


    Shulitu gave his agreements repeatedly. ¡°Of course¡­ Sure¡­ Follow me. I¡¯ll write twomand orders and they can take them.¡±


    Doctor Sun volunteered to check the food and water.


    Everybody received their assignments and subsequently left. But Gu Shenwei signaled for Nie Zeng to stay. ¡°Do you still have something you wanted to say?¡±


    Nie Zeng nced at Han Fen. Seeing that the Dragon King didn¡¯t mind, he said, ¡°I saw that Tie Linglong seemed to be¡­ walking from Instructor Shangguan¡¯s tent, and the spot where she was attacked is also not far from the tent.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. Before leaving, Nie Zeng couldn¡¯t help but nce at theatose Tie Linglong. As a killer, he clearly knew every path through the camp that one could travel through while stealthed, and he was certain that Tie Linglong had passed by Shangguan Ru¡¯s tent.


    Someone else came towards the tent and Han Fen hid herself again.


    Shangguan Ru and Red Bat entered together, and they headed straight for the bed to check on Tie Linglong.


    ¡°Is she okay?¡± Shangguan Ru asked urgently.


    ¡°She¡¯s fine. She¡¯s took the antidote already.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my fault. I took her to the Second Consort¡¯s ce to drink,¡± Shangguan Ru said as she reproached herself in a low voice.


    ¡°No. It¡¯s my fault. I thought that she had fallen asleep and didn¡¯t take good care of her.¡± Red Bat reproached herself even more.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head as he consoled, ¡°This is not on either of you. Tie Linglong saw that someone had sneaked in and was attacked while tailing them.¡±


    Shangguan Ru signaled for Red Bat to leave and then said to the Dragon King, ¡°I¡¯d like to talk to you alone.¡±


    After a while, Gu Shenwei turned his head and said, ¡°You may leave and rest, Han Fen.¡±


    Han Fen walked out of the corner. ¡°Great. Honestly, being a bodyguard is so boring. Let¡¯s chat.¡±


    Shangguan Ru shook her head with a bitter smile. Gu Shenwei replied, ¡°I¡¯m not in the mood to chat right now. Go back to your tent and rest for now. No strolling. Just sleep ¡ª this is what prisoners do.¡±


    Han Fen sighed. Before leaving, she nced at Shangguan Ru a few more times ¡ª she still hadn¡¯t given up on her attempt to imitate Shangguan Ru.


    ¡°I originally meant to tell you this tomorrow ¡ª the Second Consort¡¯s willing to help the Dragon King and Shulitu gather the 70,000 cavalrymen in the Western Regions. Her only condition is that Duodun stays unharmed.¡±


    ¡°She changed stances pretty quickly.¡±


    ¡°The Second Consort¡¯s afraid that, someday, Duodun will choose power over her.¡±


    ¡°Do you believe her?¡±


    Shangguan Ru pondered the question for a while before responding, ¡°I don¡¯t know. But I¡¯ll arrange a meeting for you to talk to her alone. Then you can make your own judgement.¡±


    Gu Shenwei remained silent for a while, then pointed at Tie Linglong, and asked ¡°Do you know why this happened to her?¡±


    ¡°I do,¡± Shangguan Ru admitted frankly. ¡°But I can¡¯t tell you right now.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    The ck eyes of Shangguan Ru glistened like clear gemstones. ¡°I trust you, so I¡¯d never ask you what you want to do, and I¡¯d appreciate it if you trust me in the same way. I promise that this kind of attack will never happen again. This whole event has nothing to do with the Waning Moon Hall. And Golden Roc Castle¡­ doesn¡¯t have much to do with this either.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stayed silent. In an almost beseeching tone, Shangguan Ru pleaded, ¡°It¡¯ll all be revealed soon. Just give me a few more days, and then I¡¯ll tell you everything.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Despite his agreement, a surge of suspicion still welled up inside Gu Shenwei.


    When secrets were on her mind, Shangguan Ru was just as weird as the Dragon King when he didn¡¯t have any secrets on his mind.

 Chapter 817 - A Surprise

    Chapter 817: A Surprise


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The Second Consort stared dazedly at the Dragon King. She was not as confident and ostentatious as usual. After a while, a surprised look surfaced on her face, as if she had just recognized him.


    ¡°Sorry, my mind was wandering.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Gu Shenwei had to admit that he didn¡¯t find anything suspicious in her and that she did indeed look like a love-stricken woman. With her unyielding personality, it was likely that she would resort to extreme measures to get whatever she wanted.


    ¡°Did Shangguan Ru tell you everything?¡±


    ¡°She didn¡¯t tell me much.¡±


    ¡°Sometimes I feel curious ¡ª what kind of hatred could be so strong that you would be willing to even give up the one you love? The Khan was different, though. Manipting women from opposing tribes was his favorite. He said that he derived a pleasure of dual-conquests from one move.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had heard simr words from the Khan¡¯s mouth. Back then, he had found them uneptable, and he still did now. ¡°I didn¡¯te here to discuss this.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha, I¡¯m just running my big mouth again. But I¡¯m a woman, so I hope that you don¡¯t mind. Why did I invite you here again? Oh, right ¡ª Duodun. He¡¯s an adorable guy, isn¡¯t he?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded and then ndly said, ¡°He can be adorable when he wants to be, but it¡¯s a pity that I¡¯m not as lucky as you are, Second Consort. I¡¯ve never seen him act adorably.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha.¡± The Second Consort gave augh as hearty as usual before replying, ¡°That¡¯s right. Duodun¡¯s exactly like that. After all, he was the Khan¡¯s favorite son and this is a talent that he was born with. Everybody else was trying to be as quiet as possible before the Khan, as if even a yawn would be highly disrespectful towards him. But Duodun always acted naturally and he knew his limits. He dared to talk back, act cute, and he would even cry and smile whenever he wanted to. And he turned out to be the Khan¡¯s favorite child.¡±


    ¡°It seems that he learned a lot from the Second Consort.¡±


    Upon hearing this, the Second Consort was stunned. ¡°Yes, he did learn a lot from me. I¡¯m like a¡­ Am I too old?¡±


    ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m not good at guessing other people¡¯s age.¡±


    The Second Consort burst intoughter again before letting out a long string of sighs. ¡°This is what happens after the Nond split and waned ¡ª the Dragon King is starting ¡®to be honest¡¯ with me. If the Khan were still alive, you would¡¯vee up with some pleasant lies.¡±


    Gu Shenwei raised his head and debated internally for a while before saying, ¡°That¡¯s true. But I¡¯ll have to ask you to forgive me, Second Consort ¡ª the weak¡¯s ttery towards the strong is all fake. After the Khan died, many lords arose, and there were many more people I had to tter. However, my patience is limited.¡±


    ¡°The truth is not only harsh, but also terrifying.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I hope that the Second Consort can fight back with the truth.¡±


    There was a momentary ferocity in the Second Consort¡¯s mien as she fiercely replied, ¡°The truth is never a woman¡¯s weapon. We have alternatives.¡±


    The two then confronted each other silently. Gu Shenwei was trying to push the Second Consort into talking about her true feelings for Duodun, but his first attempt had failed.


    ¡°I¡¯m waiting for you to name your price.¡± Gu Shenwei tossed the previous failure aside and made another try.


    The Second Consort smiled faintly as she replied, ¡°I have many conditions.¡±


    ¡°You can state them one by one.¡±


    ¡°No matter who bes the Khan, I will be the consort ¡ª this is my bottom line. Those ¡®honest¡¯ remarks of yours reminded me that I can¡¯t ever afford to lose my status.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that that¡¯s not my decision to make. I came to the Nond to ask for help, not to rule everything.¡±


    ¡°Of course you can¡¯t rule everything, but you can still influence Shulitu, my great grandson. That kid knows what he¡¯s doing and maybe someday, he will surprise all of us and be the Khan. I need a promise from him that he will marry me if he bes the Khan.¡±


    ¡°I can try.¡±


    ¡°Then we can talk about the rest of my conditions after you ¡®try.''¡±


    The Second Consort refused to make a single concession.


    ¡°Fine.¡± Gu Shenwei pretended to repeatedly weigh the pros and cons in his head. This was a straightforward negotiation. Whatever the other party¡¯s condition was, he had to affect an air of awkwardness onto it. ¡°I¡¯ll have Shulitu make a statement.¡±


    ¡°In public?¡±


    ¡°In public.¡±


    The Second Consort felt that she had won a small victory, so she smiled happily. ¡°Tell Shulitu that there¡¯s no need for him to be worried. He doesn¡¯t have to ever touch me, and I don¡¯t want to touch him either. I won¡¯t even live in the Royal Court after bing the new consort, so he can marry any woman he wants to. All I want is the identity of ¡®consort.¡¯ Also, he¡¯s not allowed to interfere in the rtionship between me and Duodun.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that Shulitu¡¯s old enough to be concerned with these issues.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha, he¡¯s still an innocent boy. It¡¯s kind of cruel to involve him in the fight for the throne already. Alright, here¡¯s the second condition. I want a pasture to the north of the Heavenly Mountain, and to the south of Naihang Tribe. I prefer to stay close to my ¡®family,¡¯ and I¡¯m willing to be Dragon King¡¯s neighbor.¡±


    This request was a little unusual, so Gu Shenwei immediately became vignt. ¡°What makes this any different from splitting the Nond apart?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re very different. I¡¯m the consort of the Khan. After I die, Shulitu can have the pasture back. You see, all my ambitions are limited to my lifetime. I don¡¯t think that the young king would mind waiting a couple years, right?¡±


    ¡°The Second Consort¡¯s conditions are bing more and more difficult to meet.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already reminded you.¡±


    ¡°You still haven¡¯t told me what your bargaining chips are. Helping Shulitu defeat Duodun? He¡¯s not even sure to lose yet, so he shouldn¡¯t have to make such enormous sacrifices in advance.¡±


    The Second Consort stared pointedly at the Dragon King as she said, ¡°I¡¯m negotiating with <em>you </em>.¡± She heavily emphasized the word ¡°you,¡± and even raised her hand to point at the Dragon King to further make her point.


    ¡°Let¡¯s put aside any question of whether or not I¡¯m capable of meeting the Second Consort¡¯s conditions. I think that the Dragon Army¡¯s in a more favorable situation than Shulitu, so it should be even less necessary for me to make any sacrifices.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha. If all you want is the Western Regions, then there¡¯s no need for us to continue this talk. I¡¯ll help Duodun, you¡¯ll help Shulitu, and we¡¯ll all fight to the death. I¡¯ll figure out another way to keep my man.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was a little perplexed by the Second Consort¡¯s stance. He had no idea whether the Second Consort was bluffing or whether she actually had some kind of trump card at her disposal. ¡°Of course all I want is the Western Regions. The Nond will never ept a foreign ruler, and both of us know this.¡±


    The Second Consort burst intoughter yet again. ¡°Even a man as smart as the Dragon King can be silly asionally ¡ª of course the Nond will not ept foreigners, but it¡¯s not the Nond that needs to change. It¡¯s you, Dragon King. I can definitely make you not a foreigner.¡±


    Gu Shenwei said with a cold face, ¡°I¡¯m not going to admit that my father had an affair in the Nond.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to reject it so soon,¡± the Second Consort said with a big smile. ¡°Old general Gu¡¯s reputation is surely important. Besides, it was just a ve girl that the Khan gave him. How much help could she be of to the Dragon King? I¡¯m actually talking about another possibility, where the Dragon King will not only be a ¡®native¡¯ of the Nond, but will also have a rightful im to the Central ins. Golden Roc Castle¡¯s just a killer organization, and if you want to get your revenge, you¡¯ll have to hold the Central ins responsible sooner orter, right?¡±


    Gu Shenwei recalled that old rumor: the prince of the Central ins had killed King Rizhu¡¯s beloved son, who was also the Second Consort¡¯s fianc¨¦ when she was young. So, a lot of people believed that the prince had once had an affair with the Second Consort.


    The Second Consort was very confident and she straightened her body as she said, ¡°Do you understand, Dragon King? I¡¯ll be your mother. You can ept this, right?¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head as he replied, ¡°This is a tant lie. Not many people will buy it.¡±


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s a lie, but I can guarantee you that a lot of people will buy it. The Dragon King should understand the meaning of the words ¡®personality cult¡¯ ¡ª everybody believes that the Khan ascended to the Heavens and became a god instead of being cut to pieces by a couple female maniacs. Even if you disy his mangled body in public, the people still wouldn¡¯t change their beliefs. Simrly, there are widespread rumors about the affair between the prince and me, and even now, some people still firmly believe it. And some of them even say that I gave birth to the young emperor of the Central ins ¡ª I mean, they don¡¯t even bother considering the age gap.¡±


    This idea was still too inconceivable and Gu Shenwei shook his head. ¡°The people you are talking about are just ordinary people. The nobles and ministers, and especially the Khan¡¯s descendants, won¡¯t believe it.¡±


    ¡°As long as the 200,000 Nond cavalry men believe it and Shulitu epts it, what else do you need, Dragon King? All the other descendants are your enemies anyway. All you have to do is defeat or kill them.¡± The ruthlessness in the Second Consort¡¯s remarks was revealed so casually that it was amazingly simr to the Khan¡¯s. ¡°Certainly, the Dragon King can¡¯t be the Khan, but you can rightfully stay in Nond, instate yourself a puppet Khan, and then utilize the overall strength of the Nond to take your revenge on the Central ins. Can you do the same with just the Western Regions at your disposal?¡±


    The Second Consort¡¯s suggestions were far beyond Gu Shenwei¡¯s expectation. With his suspicious mind, he couldn¡¯t give a response right away.


    The Second Consort pped her hands once, and said, ¡°Well, let¡¯s call it a day. There¡¯s no need for me to state the rest of the conditions. To summarize them,pared to what the Dragon King¡¯s going to obtain, they¡¯re just minor sacrifices. And they¡¯re also what a ¡®mother¡¯ deserves to own.¡±


    Just like this, the negotiations had concluded.


    Gu Shenwei wanted to consult his counselor, but the moment he returned to the tent, Nie Zeng came in to report that Tie Linglong had woken up and wanted to see the Dragon King immediately.


    With Shulitu¡¯s consent, Nie Zeng had been standing guard at Tie Linglong¡¯s tent for a whole day and night.


    Tie Linglong was still feeling a little listless as if she were suffering from a hangover. Upon seeing the Dragon King, Tie Linglong immediately stood up. ¡°Sister Ru¡­ No, Shangguan Ru¡¯s hiding something from you, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡±


    ¡°You know?¡± Tie Linglong was dumbfounded.


    ¡°Mmm, but she doesn¡¯t want to tell me the truth for now.¡±


    Tie Linglong became even more surprised. As far as she knew, the Dragon King never trusted anyone easily. ¡°Did you know that that woman¡¯s a Golden Roc killer?¡±


    ¡°How do you know? You were caught by the knockout powder of Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    Tie Linglong snorted slightly and was unconvinced that she had been caught by knockout powder. ¡°I stayed in Waning Moon Hall for almost a year. Of course I know that the knockout powder¡¯s from there. That woman wanted to fool me with this trick, but her body movement technique is definitely the Golden Roc Castle¡¯s. Nobody in the Waning Moon Hall could perform it.¡±


    The knockout powder used by a Golden Roc killer was unexpectedly from the Waning Moon Hall. Gu Shenwei slightly regretted not forcing Shangguan Ru into telling him the truth.


    ¡°Lotus has sided with Golden Roc Castle,¡± Tie Linglong spected. ¡°Therefore, the killer sent by the Unique King to contact Shangguan Ru had knockout powder on her.¡±


    Yet, Shangguan Ru had made it very clear that neither Waning Moon Hall nor Golden Roc Castle had anything to do with this.


    ¡°Have a good rest,¡± said Gu Shenwei. ¡°And don¡¯t tell anyone else about this. I¡¯ll figure it out.¡±


    Tie Linglong nodded.


    Gu Shenwei turned around and was about to leave when he felt that it was necessary to reiterate, ¡°Don¡¯t do investigate by yourself. Just stay put in this tent.¡±


    Tie Linglong pouted, but soon nodded again.


    Gu Shenwei left the tent and ordered Nie Zeng to keep guarding the tent. There was a Golden Roc killer hidden in the army camp somewhere, and Mo Lin still hadn¡¯t found her yet. So, it was necessary to be prudent.


    Upon returning to his tent, Gu Shenwei saw that Fang Wenshi was waiting for him. ¡°How¡¯s it going? What did the Second Consort say?¡±


    ¡°Something that you¡¯d never guess.¡±


    Fang Wenshi didn¡¯t quite believe it, saying, ¡°I think this is an old clich¨¦. The only thing she can do is disgrace Duodun and offer some insignificant help? You didn¡¯t promise her anything, did you?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡± Gu Shenwei had been considering the Second Consort¡¯s suggestions all this time. It was as if a gate had suddenly appeared before him, and on the other side of it, there was a spacious new area. The more he thought about it, the more necessary he felt it was for him to ept the Second Consort¡¯s proposal. ¡°Never mind. Those were just some wild fantasies of the Second Consort¡¯s. Leaving her aside, how¡¯s everything going with the Naihang Tribe?¡±


    Fang Wenshi noticed that the Dragon King was about to say something, but hadn¡¯t. This reaction surprised him, and he replied, ¡°Er, I think that we¡¯ll find out tomorrow.¡±


    Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t trying to hide anything from his counselor. But he wanted to first confirm his chances of sess.

 Chapter 818 - Behind the Scenes

    Chapter 818: Behind the Scenes


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The Second Consort sat on a soft couch with her legs crossed and her hands in her sleeves; her figure seemed like a statue of an august goddess.


    In front of her, Duodun was pacing up and down with a puzzled frown on his face. Then, he abruptly stopped, turned around, and faced the Second Consort. He raised his right index finger to grab her attention, and then said, ¡°You could have taken advantage of the victory and asked for more.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that easy to delude the Dragon King,¡± Second Consort replied ndly. ¡°Trust me. He will take the bait again.¡±


    ¡°Zhe Su wants a negotiation by tomorrow.¡± As Duodun pressed his hands together on the couch, he looked the Second Consort in the eyes. She saw both anxiety and a childlike pleading in his face. ¡°Zhe Su¡¯s an old fox. He invited both Shulitu and me because he pns on supporting the one who offers the higher price.¡±


    The Second Consort¡¯s heart softened and she gently stroked his face. His masculine features started melting into the image of the young teenager in her memories. Her voice became extremely tender as she asked, ¡°Can¡¯t we give him a more favorable offer? Shulitu¡¯s just a child. What harm could he possibly cause to us?¡±


    Duodun stood up impatiently and pushed the Second Consort¡¯s gentle stroke aside. Like a stubborn teenager, he instinctively hated any sort of intimate physical contact. ¡°It¡¯s not Shulitu that¡¯s the problem. It¡¯s the Dragon King. The Nond is not even his, so he is willing to give it away as long as he is able to eliminate Golden Roc Castle. Seriously, he is willing to give the Naihang Tribe all of the grasnds. How am I supposed topete with him?¡±


    The Second Consort draw her palms back. The feelings she had for Duodun wereplicated. She was like a mother, partner and lover to him all at once, and there was amon bottom line with each of these three identities ¡ª she would never betray or hurt this man. ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s interested in Nond. I can see it in his eyes.¡±


    Duodun exhaled deeply. As he sat beside the Second Consort, he fell into a deep contemtion. ¡°Sometimes, I really want to just kill the Dragon King. A lot of people are willing to help me do it, you know. Waning Moon Hall, for example. I still haven¡¯t broken contact with those women. It¡¯s ridiculous, actually. You know what? When I mentioned Waning Moon Hall to King Shengri, he was nearly scared halfway to death, and then he literallymitted suicide. Ha-ha.¡±


    The Second Consort didn¡¯t think that the story was funny at all, and she cautioned, ¡°Stay away from those maniacs from the Waning Moon Hall. They¡¯re not reliable allies. After you be the Khan, the first thing you should do is eradicate the Waning Moon Hall. People like them don¡¯t deserve to exist in this world.¡±


    Duodun didn¡¯t like the Second Consort¡¯s lecturing and the frown on his face stretched even tighter. ¡°Sure. Why would I trust a bunch of lunatics? They just want to use me and I¡¯m simrly just using them. s, I should¡¯ve asked them for help when I was in Heaven¡¯s Pass.¡±


    The Second Consort¡¯s tone became slightly severe as she scolded, ¡°You¡¯re just as impulsive as you were when you were young. You made a mistake at Heaven¡¯s Pass and you¡¯re not going to do that again, you hear me?¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ I got it. It was those people around me who led me down the wrong path.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the Khan¡¯s son, and you can easily gain the troops¡¯ loyalty in a way that most other leaders can only dream about. What you need the most right now is smart people, not a bunch of obedientckeys. Liman¡¯s intelligence and Azheba¡¯s courage can be of great use for you. The rest are good for nothing except being your drinkingpanions.¡±


    Coincidentally, these two were the very two whom Duodun liked the least, but he knew that the Second Consort was right about them. ¡°I know all this. You don¡¯t have to keep reminding me.¡±


    The Second Consort maintained her smile. She was the only person whom Duodun wouldy bear his other side that was hidden from everybody else, so she was not annoyed at all. ¡°And regarding the Dragon King, he¡¯s of even greater importance to you than Liman, Azheba and your 70,000 menbined. You have to strive hard for his support.¡±


    ¡°I hate the Dragon King,¡± Duodun said, with his teeth clenched, fist balled, and a menacing look in his eyes ¡ª even his closestpanion had never seen this expression on him before.


    ¡°Because of that woman from the Land of Fragrance?¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Ru? She¡¯s just a tool I used to humiliate the Dragon King. She¡¯s just as bumptious as the Dragon King. You thought that I actually liked her?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡± The Second Consort would never encourage her man to explore his true feelings ¡ª that was a dangerous precedent to set.


    ¡°Who does the Dragon King think he is? When he¡¯s just a son of a servant, a fugitive killer from Golden Roc Castle. He¡¯s even cheaper than the dirt beneath my feet, and yet he dares to fondly hope that someday, he will have the same status as mine. After wrestling Shulitu under his control and enjoying a few victories over some lords, he actually thinks that he¡¯s better than the Khan¡¯s descendants. I¡¯m going to make him pay for his arrogance.¡±


    In the Second Consort¡¯s eyes, Duodun¡¯s wild arrogance was synonymous with inexhaustible energy, and all she had to do was give him some careful guidance. ¡°Sooner orter, you¡¯ll have the Dragon King beneath your feet. But before that happens, you have to hide your hatred. The most important thing about a Khan¡¯s anger is that you have to restrain it. Think about it ¡ª how many years did the previous Khan hide his anger for the Naihang Tribe? So there¡¯s no need for you to rush.¡±


    ¡°The previous Khan,¡± Duodun resentfully repeated those words. The Second Consort hurriedly changed the subject. Although she had betrayed the previous Khan in her heart long ago, she still felt awkward when mentioning the previous Khan before Duodun. ¡°The Dragon King has built up a prestigious reputation among the Nond cavalrymen. You might not have noticed it, but it¡¯s real. Despite the efforts that you and Azheba, as well as the others, have put in these past days, the Dragon King still achieved more than you all did.¡±


    Duodun was unconvinced and snorted in response. The Second Consort patiently exined, ¡°Even the bravest soldier, deep down in his heart, fears death. As long as he has the chance, he will do whatever he can to follow themander-in-chief who ensures victory. The Dragon King has led them once, and to a victory. But you haven¡¯t, and this is the gap between you two. In times of peace, soldiers will always prefer the descendants of the Khan, but in times of war, they will make another choice. Their so-called loyalty is actually cheap ¡ª as superficial as these silk clothes.¡±


    ¡°The previous Khan yet again,¡± remarked Duodun coldly.


    ¡°The Khan¡¯s experience on this aspect is indisputable and we have to learn from him ¡ª even you can¡¯t deny this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll lead the army and win some victories. As long as I defeat Luoluo, who then will suspect mypetence?¡±


    Not willing to discourage Duodun any further, the Second Consort didn¡¯t remind him of another obvious truth ¡ª as amander-in-chief, horsewhip Luoluo had won more victories than even the Dragon King. Instead, she said, ¡°That¡¯s why you have to persuade the Dragon King into taking your side. If you want to defeat a strong enemy, then you have to win over as many allies as you can, not to mention that the Dragon King¡¯s a pretty powerful one.¡±


    After thinking for quite a while, Duodun reluctantly agreed to the Second Consort¡¯s advice. ¡°If so, then what¡¯s the point of this plot? And why did you mention his family background? We can just negotiate with him straightforwardly. The Dragon King¡¯s a snobbish guy and he will ept reasonable terms.¡±


    The Second Consort maintained her posture which was like a statue of a goddess. ¡°The odds are very much in the Dragon King¡¯s favor, so why would he ept your ¡®reasonable terms¡¯? If you want his allegiance, then you first have to take everything he has. Afterwards, give him everything he needs. Currently, Shulitu means everything to the Dragon King, as all his previous sess will be in vain without this puppet.¡±


    Duodun smiled. ¡°The Dragon King must have thought that you had a big n and that you would just ignore all the minor details. But when Shulitu proposes to you, you can just use Shulitu in front Naihang Tribe. Both Zhe Su and Duo Ercha have a thin skin¡­ Ha-ha, you¡¯re the only one who¡¯s smart enough to think of this tactic. You¡¯re far more intelligent than all the other beautiful women in the worldbined.¡±


    <em>Indeed, Duodun can be adorable when he wants to. </em>The Second Consort gently leaned against him and silently enjoyed this moment.


    ¡°The Dragon King has left the tent,¡± a voice reported from outside.


    The Second Consort straightened up immediately. Duodun also stood up and, before leaving, said, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s definitely going to buy it.¡±


    The Second Consort had never doubted this. She had been observing the Dragon King for long enough and had even lent 10,000 cavalrymen to him. She was now confident that she could anticipate his every move.


    Yet both the Second Consort and Duodun didn¡¯t have any kung fu skills, so neither of them had discovered that someone was eavesdropping on them.


    An hourter, it was not the Dragon King, but rather Shangguan Ru who came to meet the Second Consort.


    The Second Consort was not surprised at all.


    ¡°Who said that women are useless?¡± With a big smile on her face, Second Consort weed Shangguan Ru in. ¡°It¡¯s just that women usually work behind the scenes, and most people are unaware of our contributions.¡±


    Shangguan Ru also smiled in response. ¡°I¡¯d rather drink behind the scenes.¡±


    ¡°But the Dragon King trusts you.¡±


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t want to talk about ¡°trust,¡± so she went straight to the point. ¡°The Dragon King thought about it and he¡¯s willing to ept your offer.¡±


    ¡°Do you know what my offer is?¡±


    Shangguan Ru shook her head and replied, ¡°I didn¡¯t ask and he didn¡¯t tell me.¡±


    ¡°So does that mean that I¡¯m not supposed to tell you the rest of my conditions?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not.¡± Shangguan Ru hade here not to resume the negotiations, but rather to inform the Second Consort of the Dragon King¡¯s new terms. ¡°The Dragon King said that he¡¯s very interested in the Second Consort¡¯s suggestions. And since Prince Duodun¡¯s just a subsidiary condition, he¡¯d like to see Duodun kicked out of the game first.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha, so the Dragon King¡¯s this tough to deal with. He¡¯s merely interested and hasn¡¯t promised me anything, but he wants already me to pay such a heavy price in advance.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King also said that he will meet your first condition tomorrow.¡±


    The first condition was that Shulitu would officially dere his intent to marry the Second Consort.


    The Second Consort mulled over it for a long time before finally saying, ¡°Fine. Tomorrow it is. Both the Dragon King and I will get what we want.¡±


    Shangguan Ru exhaled deeply as she said, ¡°Then my mission has been aplished.¡±


    It was alreadyte at night. Followed by Red Bat, Shangguan Ru walked through the army camp. She didn¡¯t like the role she was currently ying: concealing, spying, specting, allying, betraying. She had tried so hard to leave these things behind, but now, they had alle back to her at once.


    The Dragon King was still waiting for her. Shangguan Ru reported the Second Consort¡¯s reply to him, and then said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what kind of agreement you reached with her, but I have to warn you that the Second Consort¡¯s not trustworthy.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded his agreement. After hesitating for quite a while, he finally decided to reveal all of the Second Consort¡¯s conditions to the counselor. Fang Wenshi was just as startled as the Dragon King. He was also more prudent and insisted on formting a long-term n, but he believed that they could use the Second Consort to bring down Duodun.


    So then Gu Shenwei called Shangguan Ru in.


    She had finished her job, and Gu Shenwei filled her in on the context of his deal with the Second Consort.


    Unexpectedly, Shangguan Ru wasn¡¯t surprised at all. ¡°This does seem like something the Second Consort would do. So Shulitu¡¯s going to dere his intent to marry the Second Consort tomorrow, but what about her? What¡¯s she going to do?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s going to admit that she¡¯s been having an affair with Duodun and that this affair had started while the Khan was still alive. The Nonders, especially the Court Attendants Army, won¡¯t tolerate this.¡±


    ¡°Duodun¡¯s going to be disgraced.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Shulitu¡¯s going to keep Duodun alive and return him to the Second Consort as a gift when he¡¯s no longer in the limelight.¡±


    Shangguan Ru felt that something was not quite right. ¡°Honestly, I trust her even less after hearing this. Will she still love Duodun even when he has nothing? All women hope¡­ Never mind. You should make your own judgement.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be cautious,¡± Gu Shenwei promised.


    The night kept advancing. Shangguan Ru sat alone in her tent.


    The killer outside was hesitating. She had once been identally spotted by a little girl and her master was not happy about it, so she had to be more careful this time. Besides, she was in no hurry to report to her master what she had heard during her previous eavesdropping.


    She was under no obligation to protect the Dragon King.

 Chapter 819 - Rivalry

    Chapter 819: Rivalry


    Trantor: Henyee Trantions Editor: Henyee Trantions


    Zhe Su was not a big fan of conspiracies. When he had lived in the Royal Court, he had always abhorred the constant deceit and intrigue there. In his eyes, subterfuge and assassination were not the only things responsible for King Rizhu¡¯s death. He had ultimately been a victim of many various plots.


    Whoever gained the Naihang Tribe¡¯s support would be the new Khan, and in return, one of King Rizhu¡¯s sons would regain his father¡¯s title ¡ª this was widely taken to be the consensus. So, Zhe Su decided to conduct the negotiations publicly.


    The Second Consort was invited and she sat at the head of the table as a representative of the Khan¡¯s authority. Dozens of generals had also been invited, and they sat on the side of the table, acting as witnesses to the negotiations. Finally, Shulitu and Duodun were sitting opposite to each other, fully disying the sharp contrast between both their sizes and their demeanor.


    Zhe Su and Duo Ercha stood in the middle and weed every guest as much hospitality as two entertainers whose performance was about to begin.


    Liman hade to the negotiations as Duodun¡¯spanion and respectfully bowed to his father. Unexpectedly, he was the only one that Zhe Su acted indifferently towards ¡ª his father merely grunted, ¡°Mm,¡± and then hurriedly went to greet the next guest.


    Gu Shenwei was sitting among the generals ¡ª this wasn¡¯t to avoid any potential usations, but rather to observe the negotiations from a different perspective. Shangguan Ru had nted a seed of suspicion in him. He would asionally nce at the Second Consort, wondering whether he had been lured into a trap by her tempting suggestions.


    The Second Consort was sitting straight with a grave look on her face. She knew that her current status was merely symbolic in nature and didn¡¯t grant her any actual power; keeping silent was her best move here.


    Fang Wenshi was dressed in the fashion of the Nond and sitting beside Shulitu. His role was to give the young king any necessary guidance and dere the young king¡¯s decision to marry the Second Consort at the most appropriate asion.


    Upon seeing that all the guests had arrived, Zhe Su opened his arms as if to embrace all the people in the tent. ¡°Wee, everybody. First, please allow me to say something irrelevant.¡±


    Zhe Su paused for a moment as though he was waiting for someone to oppose his opening remark, and then resumed talking when no one did. ¡°In one night, the grasnds lost its greatest Khan, and the Naihang Tribe lost its most prominent lord. The Khan ascended to the Heavens and became a god, receiving the reverence of all. However, King Rizhu was killed by an assassin. The Naihang Tribe will avenge his death even if there is only one n member left.¡±


    Zhe Su twisted his fat body, his saber clinking back and forth on his waist. Duo Ercha was beside him and looked restrained. It seemed as if he hadn¡¯t drunk much and didn¡¯t n to talk much either.


    ¡°But the Naihang Tribe clearly understands what takes priority and what can be postponed. Seeking revenge is our domestic affair, and the election of the new Khan is amon issue. So, the Naihang Tribe will ce our personal interest below that of the collective.¡±


    ¡°ce our personal interest below that of the collective,¡± Duo Ercha echoed as if he were a canyon.


    It seemed as if Zhe Su had memorized his words beforehand, so what he said sounded a little bookish and was not his usual style.


    Duodun burst intoughter. ¡°That¡¯s quite a speech ¡ª ¡®ce our personal interest below that of the collective.¡¯ What do you n to do, old general? Elect the Khan today?¡±


    From this moment on, Zhe Su returned to his normal inflection. ¡°I¡¯m a boorish man, and there aren¡¯t many smart people in the Naihang Tribe. However, even we wouldn¡¯t have any delusions of electing the new Khan today. But there is one thing that Naihang Tribe is sure of ¡ª if we decide to support a descendant of the Khan, he will have our unwavering support. We will never quit halfway, neither would we ever switch allegiance to the enemy ¡ª we will never do that kind of goddamn dirty thing.¡±


    ¡°Well said!¡± Duodun smacked his hand down on the table, followed by a roar of approval.


    Shulitu reacted a bit slower, but even if he had reacted in time, a boy as thin as him wouldn¡¯t have shown the expansiveness of a grasnds¡¯ man anyway.


    Duo Ercha was so excited that his cheeks flushed red as if thosepliments were aimed at him. Yet Zhe Su remained ratherposed. After the noises of the crowds subsided, he said, ¡°Right now, there are two descendants sitting in this tent. One of them is Shulitu, King Riying¡¯s grandson, and King Rizhu¡¯s great-grandson. I¡¯ve heard with my own ears that the two old kings¡¯ had intended to raise him as the new Khan.¡±


    This was a very favorable introduction. More than half of the generals nodded their recognition. Shulitu slightly lowered his head, in condolence for the two old kings. Fang Wenshi cast a quick nce at the Dragon King, indicating that this was a very good start and that maybe they wouldn¡¯t need to resort to the Second Consort¡¯s lousy n.


    Duodun maintained a polite smile on his face, but Liman, who was beside him, looked grave.


    ¡°The other one is Duodun.¡± Zhe Su pointed his hand at the aforementioned candidate and continued, ¡°He is the Khan¡¯s son, young and strong. And I heard that the Khan once left a posthumous edict designating Duodun as the new Khan. It¡¯s a pity that nobody¡¯s ever seen it. Otherwise, things would be much easier.¡±


    Among all the people present, Gu Shenwei was the only one who had actually seen the posthumous edict.


    There were actually two posthumous edicts of the deceased Khan. ording to one of them, Duodun was to be the new Khan, but ording to the other, the new Khan was to be Luoluo. The former was in Lotus¡¯s hands, and Zhang Ji had thetter. As they were a highly effective tool to control the new Khan, neither sides had disyed their edicts yet.


    Duodun raised his head, neither admitting nor denying the existence of the posthumous edicts.


    Even Gu Shenwei had to face reality. Judging by their appearances, Duodun looked more like a Khan than Shulitu did. This was an advantage that Zhe Su hadn¡¯t mentioned, but was one that the generals could see with their own eyes.


    ¡°Both of the two have a im to the throne and the Naihang Tribe will choose one of them and offer him our full support. But before that, I¡¯d like to make a request: no matter who we choose, I hope that you will continue to be allies instead turning to enemies.¡±


    This was a very reasonable request and almost all the generals nodded. Some of them had already chosen Duodun, and some others Shulitu, but more of them were still ambivalent. But without exception, thest thing all of them wanted to see was public hostility between the two descendants of the Khan.


    It was time for the two candidates to state their stance. Duodun politely let Shulitu speak first.


    Shulitu had read a lot of books and he knew that if he were in the Central ins or the Western Regions, he should modestly say that he had no intention to be the Khan. But in the Nond, modesty was only regarded as weakness. ¡°In the names of my ancestor and my father, I swear that if Naihang Tribe decides to support Prince Duodun, I will follow him with my full heart and be a soldier for him. If I break this oath, may I die a violent death.¡±


    Duodun gave out a short cough. ¡°I, Duodun, swear this oath ¡ª with God as my witness, under the Khan¡¯s gaze, no matter whom Naihang Tribe supports, I will assist him with all the soldiers and provisions I have. If I break my vow, may I be burnt by the fire of heaven.¡±


    Zhe Su burst intoughter as he said, ¡°Good. I¡¯m done nagging, and you two have taken your oaths, so now let¡¯s get to the main business. The Naihang Tribe will ce our personal interest below that of the collective, but we won¡¯t forgoe our personal interests entirely, and neither will we support the new Khan for nothing. We want something back ¡ª and yes, I¡¯m saying this in public. Not like those guys who always try to hide their true intentions.¡±


    Zhe Su¡¯s eyes swept through the crowds as if he was about to enter a battlefield. But he didn¡¯t find any opponents, since nobody opposed his speech.


    ¡°First, the title King Rizhu will be owned by the Naihang Tribe for all generations toe irrespective of the Khan¡¯s conferral. Are you willing to make such amitment?¡±


    ¡°I am,¡± Duodun replied immediately. ¡°But the new King Rizhu must pledge allegiance to Khan.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°As am I,¡± Shulitu said. This was Naihang Tribe¡¯s bottom line, and he had to agree in any case.


    With a good start, Zhe Su already felt more confident. ¡°Second, after pacifying the grasnds, the Naihang Tribe will seek revenge. No matter where their enemies hide, even if they¡¯re in the Western Regions or the Central ins, we¡¯ll lead the army there and kill them. If that really is the case, we might need the new Khan to send his army to support us.¡±


    This meant that the new Khan would have to dere war against the Central ins as soon as he ascended the throne, so both candidates had to be prudent. Shulitu gave his response first, saying, ¡°In that case, no matter how many troops the Naihang Tribe dispatches, I¡¯ll send support them with the same number of cavalrymen.¡±


    Duodun followed up with, ¡°The best cavalrymen of Nond will be at your disposal, General Zhe Su.¡±


    Zhe Su continued to state his conditions, some of which were very petty, such as what kind of protocol would be followed when the new King Rizhu met the new Khan. The responses of Shulitu and Duodun became simpler and simpler, and most of the time they just answered. ¡°Agreed,¡± or, ¡°I do.¡±


    Although it seemed that neither of the two candidates had gained any advantages over the other, Fang Wenshi was still worried. Shulitu might lose the contest to Duodun if they didn¡¯t make an extremely tempting offer to the Naihang Tribe. So, Fang Wenshi winked at the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei knew what the counselor was signaling, and he nodded back.


    Zhe Su¡¯sst condition was about territory. He wanted to designate a grazing area that would belong exclusively to the Naihang Tribe; no other tribes would be allowed to enter it unless explicitly invited.


    This was an unusual request. The new Khan¡¯s consent to this would be synonymous to a concession to King Rizhu¡¯s independence. Although both Shulitu and Duodun were in desperate need of the Naihang Tribe¡¯s support, a lot of the other tribes would immediately follow suit with a simr request if this one was agreed to in public. Essentially, this request would deprive the new Khan of his power before he even seeded to the throne.


    The two candidates, who had been racing each other to be the first to answer, suddenly became polite and modest.


    Gu Shenwei thought that it was time for Shulitu to propose. Once Duodun was disgraced, this rivalry would be over. At this time, Long Fanyun stealthily handed over a scrap of paper to the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei unfolded it and nced at it.


    She lied. She won¡¯t ept.


    There were no other words on it. Gu Shenwei signaled Long Fanyun to leave. He didn¡¯t need anybody to tell him that this was Shangguan Ru¡¯s handwriting.


    Naturally, ¡°she¡± referred to the Second Consort, and ¡°won¡¯t ept¡± referred to the proposal. Shangguan Ru seemed to have discovered something and this was why she had sent this message so hurriedly.


    Gu Shenwei held the paper in his hand and shook his head at Fang Wenshi, before turning to stare at the Second Consort.


    Fang Wenshi was a little anxious. Duodun seemed more like a Khan than Shulitu did, and he could also see this from their respective advocates. Duodun¡¯spanions firmly believed that Duodun would be the Khan, while Shulitu¡¯s followers only hoped that Shulitu would live a good life. At this rate, the young king would surely lose without a ¡°surprise¡± move.


    Duodun, who was on the opposite side, took a step forward. ¡°I¡¯m not giving Naihang Tribe a pointless promise just so that I can be the Khan. Ever since the ancient times, Nonders have always migrated freely on the grasnds, and there have never been any established boundaries. It¡¯s okay if an old general wants to set a precedent, but I¡¯ll have to be the Khan first and then consult with all the other tribes before I can consent to your request. Before that, any so-called consent would be no different from deceit.¡±


    ¡°I share the same sentiments as Prince Duodun.¡± Shulitu couldn¡¯t think of a better reply.


    ¡°That¡¯s a temporary disapproval then.¡± Zhe Su was in no rush, but he had to start pressuring the two of them. ¡°How about we take a break and have a drink? Then maybe we can talk about what other perks you can offer to the Naihang Tribe?¡±


    The servants outside the door immediately entered and served wine, making sure that everybody had a full bowl.


    There were barely any people who actually drank. Everybody was whispering and sharing their own opinions. Zhe Su believed that the twopetitors would reconsider his condition.


    Gu Shenwei nodded at the counselor. Though Shangguan Ru had reminded him, he still had to risk it. If things continued on like this, Shulitu would either suffer a miserable defeat or be a puppet controlled by the Naihang Tribe.


    Fang Wenshi whispered something in Shulitu¡¯s ears.


    Shulitu couldn¡¯t help but nce at the Second Consort, thinking that what he was about to do was a bit too awkward.


    Right at this moment, Duo Ercha unexpectedly stood up and attracted all the ¡°awkwardness¡± in the room to himself.

 Chapter 820 - Apologies

    Chapter 820: Apologies


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Duo Ercha had been nning for this for a long time. He was not the type of person who would keep his feelings to himself, but ever since the Second Consort had rebuked and insulted him, he had be an unimportant person that few people paid any attention to. All his excitement, his flush, and his gaze was being ignored by the crowd.


    Nobody knew what he was thinking. Duo Ercha was like a clumsy, ferocious dog whose bravery would always bear a trace of stupidity even when it was desperately charging at the prey.


    Carrying a bowl of wine, he walked towards the Second Consort. Upon noticing this, many people thought that he was trying to curry favor with the Second Consort. Zhe Su even slightly frowned, feeling that Duo Ercha had failed to pick the right timing.


    Four guards near the door took a detour around the tent, evaded most people¡¯s line of sight, and positioned themselves close to Duo Ercha.


    It was at this time that Gu Shenwei suddenly became alert, but he had misjudged the situation. He was focused on Zhe Su, and was nning on taking control of this old general of the Naihang Tribe once changes ured.


    But what happened next astounded everybody. Fang Wenshi had been consulting with Shulitu, and Liman had been doing the same with Duodun. So, neither of the two saw the beginning of it all.


    Duo Ercha hadn¡¯t had a single sip of the wine yet, but there was already an uneven hue of red on his pink-white face. His insincere smile merely deepened his ferocious gaze, and part of his thumb was entrenched in the wine. The Second Consort nced at him and immediately twisted her head aside in disgust, nning to decline his toast.


    ¡°Second Consort,¡± said Duo Ercha as his voice quivered. Upon seeing the Second Consort¡¯s indifference and arrogance, he finally made up his mind.


    He poured the wine in the bowl all over the Second Consort¡¯s face.


    The Second Consort sat there, transfixed for a moment, and then she quickly stood up ¡ª she wouldn¡¯t tolerate this kind of public humiliation, and she had to do something, even if it meant ruining Duodun¡¯s big n.


    Duo Ercha shared her mindset. With the halo of the new King Rizhu above his head, he had led 100,000 cavalrymen here and received the recognition of his tribe as well as the warm wee of two of the Khan¡¯s descendants. He was at the peak of his life, and he would never forget those scenes and feelings even if he had only experienced them once.


    However, all this had been ruined by a woman who was originally supposed to kneel and pledge her allegiance to him.


    Duo Ercha had slow reflexes. Back at that time, he had been paralyzed in horror. And what had flustered him even further was that Zhe Su hadn¡¯t taken his side. So in his frozen state, he had no choice but to choke down the sheer humiliation.


    The more Duo Ercha thought about it, the more wronged he felt. He became suspicious, feeling that everybody around him wasughing at him ¡ª <em>Why didn¡¯t the officers bow as low as they did yesterday? Why did the soldiers stop whispering as soon as they saw me? Why was the ve girl¡¯s smile so bold when she was in my bed?</em>


    He couldn¡¯t bear having so many insecure thoughts possess his mind and he had to find a way to release them.


    Duo Ercha was not capable of formting an intricate n, and pouring wine over the Second Consort¡¯s face was all he coulde up with. He had ordered his four guards to keep the others out of his way.


    The Second Consort reared up like a furious female lion who could summon packs of jackals with a single roar.


    Watching her reaction, Duo Ercha¡¯s mind waspletely nk. He had lost his sanity and be even angrier after pouring the wine.


    Duo Ercha grabbed the Second Consort¡¯s hair, dragged her down from the thick felt nket, pped her heavily on the face, and, in front of all the people in the tent, yelled, ¡°Bitch!¡±


    ¡°Duo Ercha!¡± Zhe Su shouted even as he was in a terrible state of shock, his eyes widening to such an extent that his eyeballs seemed like they were about to fall out of their sockets. The Second Consort¡¯s attendants immediately rushed over, but were stopped by the four guards.


    Many people shared the Dragon King¡¯s original opinion, and thought that this was a trap of the Naihang Tribe. So, some people started fleeing out of the tent, and some others pounced on Zhe Su. The entire situation instantly fell into bem.


    Duodun¡¯s first reaction was to charge at the Second Consort to save her from Duo Ercha, but Liman and several otherpanions stopped him because they couldn¡¯t let their prince take on any risks. They forcefully grabbed Duodun and rushed out of the tent, pushing and kicking their way through the crowd.


    Fang Wenshi put his arms around Shulitu and yelled, ¡°Dragon King!¡±.


    But Gu Shenwei rushed towards the Second Consort. Duo Ercha¡¯s furious roar had made him realize that this was not a well-nned trap. There were too many people in his way, so he had to strike down the four guards first.


    Seeing the chaos behind him, Duo Ercha regained a small part of his sanity. He whipped out his saber, pressed it against the Second Consort¡¯s neck, turned around, and yelled at the crowd, ¡°Nobody move close to me! Nobody leave!¡±


    Gu Shenwei had no choice but to stop.


    ¡°Duo Ercha! Are you out of your fucking mind?¡± Zhe Su took a stride forward.


    ¡°If you get any closer, I¡¯ll cut her head off!¡± Duo Ercha¡¯s eyes turned fearfully red as if blood was about to leak from them. He had no idea what he was doing, but he didn¡¯t care.


    Zhe Su stopped, his face alternating between red and white ¡ª Duo Ercha was serious. He had never seen anything like this during his decades of service to the old King Rizhu.


    Those who had already reached the exit of the tent stopped. No executioners had shown up, and there were no arrows shooting at them nor anything unusual happening outside the tent. Both their attendants and guards were standing right where they had always been ¡ª everything indicated that there was no trap to be sprung here.


    Duodun angrily pushed Liman and the others aside and had just taken two steps forward when Duo Ercha yelled again, ¡°I said nobody move!¡±


    Duodun looked at Zhe Su and demanded, ¡°What the hell is this?¡±


    Zhe Su was flustered. Originally, he had everything under control and was about to win enormous profits for the Naihang Tribe, realizing part of the old King Rizhu¡¯s wish. He had never expected that the man he had personally chosen would ruin everything. He tried hard to calmly say, ¡°Duo Ercha, let the Second Consort go. This is not a game.¡±


    ¡°Stop treating me like a child.¡± But Duo Ercha¡¯s anger didn¡¯t subside a single bit. ¡°If this bitch doesn¡¯t apologize to me, then today will be herst day alive.¡±


    Sitting on the ground, the Second Consort¡¯s head tilted back unnaturally. Although her voice was quivering, there was a steel-like determination in her words. ¡°Stop dreaming, Duo Ercha. If you can, just man up and kill me. If you fail to cut my head off with one sh, then you have no balls.¡±


    Duo Ercha clenched his teeth so hard that they started chattering. ¡°Bitch! You¡¯re in no ce to talk. You think that I don¡¯t know the dirty things you¡¯ve done? Ha-ha, ¡®under Khan¡¯s gaze¡¯ my ass! If he had seen you and Duodun in the same bed, he would have already fucking spat out blood!¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Zhe Su reprimanded.


    ¡°Bullshit!¡± Duodun went crazy.


    Many people had heard of the affair between the Second Consort and Duodun, but most Nonders felt that it was eptable as long as the two didn¡¯t cross the line. Besides, if Duodun seeded the throne, it would actually be right for him to marry the Second Consort.


    ¡°Bullshit?¡± Duodun switched his target from the Second Consort to Duodun. ¡°Stop your acting. I¡¯ll kill her right now. If there¡¯s no adultery between you two, you can just step aside and watch in silence.¡±


    Duodun was both anxious and furious as he osted, ¡°Is Naihang Tribe publicly rebelling?¡±


    ¡°This bitch is a member of the Naihang Tribe. I can do whatever I want to her. I¡¯m King Rizhu! Who dares to oppose me?¡±


    There was a general consensus among everybody that Duo Ercha had gone mad. Zhe Su struggled to subdue his anger and tried to reason with him. ¡°Duo Ercha, you can have the title of King Rizhu. No one¡¯s going to take it away from you. But you have to calm down. Think about it ¡ª what would your father do?¡±


    Duo Ercha¡¯s eyes widened to such an extent that it seemed like if his eye sockets were about to break. ¡°My father¡¯s dead. I regarded you as my father, but you betrayed me. You bullied me along with the outsiders. You¡¯re a traitor, Zhe Su, and you¡¯re in no ce to lecture me.¡±


    Zhe Su nearly died from regret, wondering why he had ever chose Duo Ercha in the first ce.


    Duodun calmed down first, as he believed that he could still talk things through since Duo Ercha hadn¡¯t killed the Second Consort yet. ¡°Let the Second Consort go, Duo Ercha. You¡¯ll get everything you want.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha, do you think that I¡¯m stupid?¡± Even though Duo Ercha himself didn¡¯t know what he wanted, there was still one thing that he cared about. ¡°Tell this bitch to apologize.¡±


    This was exactly what Duodun deemed to be the most difficult. He lowered his voice even further and quietly murmured, ¡°Just apologize, Second Consort.¡±


    The Second Consort was silent for a moment and then said, ¡°If you don¡¯t kill me, Duo Ercha¡­¡± She paused, as if she were making a final decision, and then finished, ¡°I swear that I¡¯ll cut you to pieces.¡±


    Duodun sighed ¡ª the Second Consort was very intelligent, but she was also too proud. Other than the Khan, she had never yielded to anybody before. This was the very part of her that had fascinated the Khan so much back then.


    Duo Ercha raised his saber ¡ª he didn¡¯t know what choice he still had except to continue down this path of revenge.


    But he had forgotten that the Dragon King was still in the tent.


    As the crowd yelled in astonishment, Gu Shenwei made his move. He had been waiting for this opportunity all along. And hopefully, he could save the hostage without anybody getting hurt.


    Duo Ercha had no idea how his saber had disappeared, and he hadn¡¯t even seen the figure of the Dragon King. He just some great force hit him in the chest, and then involuntarily flew backwards, even as he firmly held a strand of hair in his left hand.


    In the blink of an eye, Gu Shenwei hadpleted his rescue mission. Before anybody could react, he had helped the Second Consort to her feet, brought her to Duodun in a movement that almost looked like dragging, and then handed her over along with the saber.


    Duodun subconsciously took the saber. Although the Second Consort¡¯s previous words had been tough, her scalp still ached and her body was so weak that she instantly fell into Duodun¡¯s arms. Her body was both unable to stand up and unwilling to leave his side.


    Duodun hugged her tightly as he cast a grateful gaze towards the Dragon King.


    Duo Ercha picked himself up and confusedly turned around, looking for his saber. Then he saw that it was in Duodun¡¯s hand, and he also saw the Second Consort.


    His anger, courage, and stupidity all suddenly vanished at the same time. Duo Ercha knew that he was in fatal danger. With a wild yell, he mindlessly rushed towards the exit.


    But a fat body was blocking his path.


    Pressing his hands down on Duo Ercha¡¯s shoulders, Zhe Su firmly halted Duo Ercha in his steps and said, ¡°You¡¯re King Rizhu¡¯s son and I won¡¯t watch you die.¡±


    Duo Ercha stood there transfixed and asked, ¡°Really?¡±


    An ident had brought an end to the negotiations with the Naihang Tribe receiving nothing. All the guests had left in a hurry, and none of them had any more faith in the alliance.


    Upon returning to camp, Shulitu immediately ordered the whole army to stay on guard. Duodun didn¡¯t interfere, which was very rare. In fact, he spent the whole night in the Second Consort¡¯s tent, trying tofort her.


    Shangguan Ru had heard the news and was waiting for the Dragon King in his tent the whole time.


    It was already quitete at night when Gu Shenwei finally finished assisting Shulitu in issuing a series of orders and could return to his tent.


    ¡°Will there be a war?¡± asked Shangguan Ru.


    ¡°Zhe Su said that he would deliver Duo Ercha¡¯s head here tomorrow, so ¡ª it depends on that, I think.¡±


    ¡°The Second Consort¡­¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s okay. All that happened was that she lost some of her hair and was a little scared.¡±


    Shangguan Ru exhaled deeply and then asked, ¡°Is this good or bad for you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Gu Shenwei still couldn¡¯t clearly judge the current situation. ¡°But the good news is that the Naihang Tribe is unlikely to form an alliance with Duodun, and the bad news is that Zhe Su might burn his bridges and end up going east to take Luoluo¡¯s side.¡±


    They both remained silent for a while as they digested this information, before Gu Shenwei said, ¡°I need you to tell me the truth.¡±


    Shangguan Ru nodded. Under these circumstances, she couldn¡¯t hide it from him any more. ¡°Come in.¡±


    A middle-aged woman walked into the tent. She paid her respects to Shangguan Ru, but ignored the Dragon King.


    ¡°She¡¯s my Shadow Guard, a green-faced assassin,¡± exined Shangguan Ru.

 Chapter 821 - Lineage

    Chapter 821: Lineage


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    ¡°She¡¯s Qian Ying. She has been my bodyguard for over four years, before we were separated. Then after a period of time, my father sent her back to me while he was in Heaven¡¯s Pass,¡± Shangguan Ru exined in the introduction of this green-faced assassin.


    All young masters of Golden Roc Castle had their own respective green-faced assassin shadow guards. Although Shangguan Ru had never gained the identity of ¡®young master,¡¯ the Unique King had made a very rare exception and still send a shadow guard to protect her. Very few people in Golden Roc Castle knew about this. The Unique King made another exception by calling Qian Ying back when he had assigned the twins to the Stone Kingdom in Xiaoyao Lake on a suicide mission.


    Qian Ying was far from pretty, and it was even very likely that she had disguised herself. With her head lowered and with her hands crossed before her chest, Qian Ying hadn¡¯t said a word since entering the tent. Gu Shenwei never would have noticed such a person in normal circumstances.


    ¡°I asked her to spy on the Second Consort and we got plenty of intelligence.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been suspecting the Second Consort for a long time?¡± Gu Shenwei was actually surprised by this.


    Shangguan Ru shook her head. ¡°No. I did this for another reason.¡±


    Qian Ying took the hint, bowed, and retreated towards the door. Before leaving, she raised her head and shot a quick nce at the Dragon King.


    This movement didn¡¯t escape Shangguan Ru¡¯s notice. She smiled and said, ¡°She was a little unconvinced about your kung fu. But my father gave an order, and I also had her make a promise. Even if you attack her right now, she won¡¯t fight back.¡±


    Shangguan Ru had faith in this green-faced assassin¡¯s loyalty, so she had been willing to conceal her existence.


    Gu Shenwei still couldn¡¯t lower his guard ¡ª there was a green-faced assassin of Golden Roc Castle hiding right in his army camp. This made him feel extremely ufortable, as if the gate of his castle were wide open and he was constantly in mortal danger all the time.


    Shangguan Ru could guess what the Dragon King was thinking about. ¡°The green-faced assassins seldom participate in assassinations. They¡¯re Golden Roc Castle¡¯sstyer of defense, just like¡­ stone walls.¡±


    Even the Unique King¡¯s sons didn¡¯t know much about the green-faced assassins, so it was very natural that Shangguan Ru couldn¡¯t provide any more information than that about them. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to linger on this subject, but the woman before him looked very strange, and his ingrained trust in Shangguan Ru began to falter. ¡°Now can you tell me why you¡¯ve been spying on the Second Consort?¡±


    Shangguan Ru gave out a long sigh. ¡°Originally, I was nning on telling you after I found some concrete evidence¡­ But I guess I¡¯ll reveal what I know so far. I¡¯ve been investigating her true lineage, and I believe that the Second Consort¡¯s an insider.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was startled, and millions of questions ran through his mind, but he soon realized Shangguan Ru¡¯s intentions. ¡°Do you think I would give up seeking revenge because of that? Are you trying to prove that my family members actually have nothing to do with me at all?¡±


    Shangguan Ru also seemed to be amazed, and a momentary look of pain in her ck eyes indicated that Gu Shenwei¡¯s words were indeed hurtful. ¡°I won¡¯t defend Golden Roc Castle, and I won¡¯t protect it either. Even if the Gu family isn¡¯t your real family, they raised you for many years and you <em>should </em>avenge their death. It¡¯s just¡­ It¡¯s just the hatred that I hope you would let go of ¡ª not revenge.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡± Gu Shenwei abruptly interrupted. He didn¡¯t even ask Shangguan Ru how she had known that he was a member of the Gu family.


    ¡°Seeking revenge is your right, and Golden Roc Castle deserves what¡¯sing for it, but hatred¡­ Your hatred is unnatural. Currently, it can help you get your revenge, but in the future it will destroy you.¡±


    At this moment, the glimmer of childishness on Shangguan Ru face had beenpletely reced by concern, expectation, and pain ¡ª she had matured after enduring through all those tribtions. ¡°I can¡¯t watch you walk towards the cliff and do nothing.¡±


    Gu Shenwei felt something in him loosen, but an intangible hand grabbed it firmly. ¡°You don¡¯t understand,¡± he said. Actually even he himself didn¡¯t understand. ¡°Hatred¡­ is power. You can¡¯t take it away from me.¡±


    ¡°Hatred is power,¡± Shangguan Ru repeated. She was too familiar with these words. In Golden Roc Castle, the whole grooming process of killers embodied this theory.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s vignce vanished. He still believed this woman just like he believed in himself, ¡°You know about the whole thing?¡± He changed the topic, as he was not willing to continue discussing pointless issues.


    Shangguan Ru nodded and exined, ¡°Back when I was in the Royal Court, I met the Second Consort first. She was exceptionally interested in you, especially in your looks and birth date. I¡­ then eavesdropped on her and King Rizhu. So your real name¡¯s Gu Shenwei. And the two heads that my eighth elder brother bought back were fake?¡±


    Shangguan Ru had grown up in Golden Roc Castle, so she acted naturally when talking about infiltrating and eavesdropping.


    Here was yet another person who knew about his true identity. Gu Shenwei sat down, feeling a little nervous ¡ª not because Shangguan Ru knew, but rather that he had discovered that the defensework of the army camp was not wless. ¡°That¡¯s a weird conundrum, and I¡¯m still trying to figure it out. In normal circumstances, the second head should have never been mistaken for someone else¡¯s, but it was unexpectedly epted.¡±


    ¡°Nobody in Golden Roc Castle knew you, so it had to be the employer who identified the head.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll find this guy,¡± Gu Shenwei said ¡ª he would find everybody rted to the ughter of his family, and through that, expand his hatred. ¡°Do you really think that there¡¯s something wrong with my family background? The Khan once assigned a ve girl to my father, but that was nothing but a stupid con game.¡±


    Shangguan Ru gravely said, ¡°The Second Consort must know something. It was by no means an impulsive move for her to suggest that she could pretend to be your mother. She must have some concrete proof ¡ª that must be how she came up with that idea in the first ce.¡±


    Gu Shenwei mulled over it for a while. He had regained control of his emotions now. ANd since Shangguan Ru had carefully investigated this issue, he could also take it seriously. ¡°But that was just a trick. She just wanted me to believe that there was a bigger deal, but she actually wanted Shulitu to make a fool of himself in public. That way, Duodun would be the Naihang Tribe¡¯s only choice.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Last night, Qian Ying eavesdropped on the Second Consort and Duodun¡¯s conversation, but by the time she told me, it was veryte. I wrote you a note, but there was not enough time for me to exin it in detail.¡±


    Gu Shenwei could understand. As a green-faced assassin of Golden Roc Castle, although Qian Yuibg had to follow her orders and was not allowed to assassinate the Dragon King, she would never help him of her own ord. During the daytime, he didn¡¯t quite understood Shangguan Ru¡¯s message and had nearly been tricked. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Duo Ercha ruined everything, and the Naihang Tribe will probably retreat.¡±


    Shangguan Ru nodded to show her agreement for the Dragon King¡¯s spection. ¡°There¡¯s another thing. Duodun imed that he is still in contact with the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    ¡°Lotus has a posthumous edict of the old Khan¡¯s, and Duodun¡¯s name is on it. For this sole reason, they will never cut contact with each other.¡± Gu Shenwei had always favored taking a practical attitude over this fact, and it was also an important reason why he had never fully trusted Duodun.


    ¡°Is Duodun really the heir to the throne?¡± Shangguan Ru was amazed.


    ¡°Not exactly.¡± Gu Shenwei thought for a while and then decided to tell the truth, saying, ¡°The Khan drafted two posthumous edicts. Duodun is in one, and Luoluo the other. The Khan asked me to make a choice between the two, but he died before I choose.¡±


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°So the previous Khan only met you once, but he still trusted you so much.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that the previous Khan also knew something about me?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible.¡± Shangguan Ru became excited at this thought. ¡°Selecting the heir to the throne is an exceedingly important issue. How could he easily entrust that task to an outsider?¡±


    ¡°Because outsiders will neverpete with the Khan¡¯s descendants.¡±


    ¡°But the previous Khan was wrong, wasn¡¯t he? With some simple lies, an outsider can be a Nonder and even be rted to the Khan¡¯s lineage. The Second Consort tried to y this trick on you, and Luoluo¡¯s also a bastard-son. Do you think that the previous Khan took no precautions against this?¡±


    Shangguan Ru had convinced him. Every sign seemed to prove that her opinions were correct, but all of these facts still failed to overpower the feelings and impressions that had long been etched in Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind.


    ¡°I lived with my parents for fourteen years. If you had seen the previous me, this current suspicion would never have arisen in you.¡±


    ¡°The previous you?¡± A smile appeared on Shangguan Ru¡¯s face, and she seemed to be fantasizing about it. ¡°What did he look like?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was stunned. He didn¡¯t expect that she would actually be interested, and nervously replied, ¡°Er, I used to practice my family¡¯s kung fu for almost ten years without achieving anything, but my family never imposed any punishment on me. Now you should have an idea of what I was like in the past.¡±


    Shangguan Ru burst intoughter and the image of her elder brother Shangguan Fei appeared in her mind. But after realizing that the image had nothing inmon with the man before her, the look on her face dimmed. The more prominent the Dragon King¡¯s changes, the deeper the hatred in his heart was.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to disappoint her too much, so he said, ¡°I had two elder brothers and an elder sister. When my father was in the Nond, even if he did have an¡­¡±


    Shangguan Ru shook her head. ¡°No, it was you that the Second Consort was interested in and she became even more interested after knowing your approximate age.¡±


    ¡°You said this yourself: the Second Consort¡¯s not trustworthy. Besides, my lineage won¡¯t make any difference. It was my parents who died ¡ª this will never change.¡±


    Shangguan Ru tried to avoid replying to him. As she looked around the tent, she smacked her lips and remarked, ¡°I forgot that this was your tent; there¡¯s no wine here.¡±


    Gu Shenwei hesitated for a while, and then he walked to a corner, moved a pile of felt nkets aside, took out a small wine jar, weighed it in his hands, and finally tossed it to Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Ru caught it, removed the lid and took a sniff. The alcoholic aroma caused an intoxicated look to spread over her face. ¡°This is terrific! Where did you get this?¡±


    ¡°Xu Xiaoyi gave it to me.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was very surprised ¡ª Xu Xiaoyi was a sycophant, so why would he give the Dragon King a gift that he didn¡¯t like? Suddenly she understood. ¡°This was originally meant for me and you stealthily hid it from me, right?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had been seen through. ¡°You drink too much.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha,¡± Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t see any bowls around so she lifted the jar and directly took a swig. Then she wiped her mouth with her sleeve and let out a long sigh of satisfaction. ¡°This little jar of wine won¡¯t do me any harm. Tell me ¡ª is there any more good stuff here?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Gu Shenwei replied as he motioned at his simple abode. ¡°You¡¯ve seen everything.¡±


    Shangguan Ru took another gulp as she said, ¡°It¡¯s such a pity that you can¡¯t appreciate the beauties of wine.¡±


    Actually, Gu Shenwei still remembered his previous experience of being drunk, which was why he had decided to quit drinking ¡ª others wanted to forget their pain, but he wanted to stoke it in his heart forever.


    After Shangguan Ru had gone through about a quarter of the jar of wine, she reluctantly put it down when Gu Shenwei asked, ¡°Why did Qian Ying know how to use the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s knockout powder?¡±


    ¡°Golden Roc Castle used to be an ally of Waning Moon Hall and so we used to produce those pills in the castle as well. But then, pills were banned throughout Golden Roc Castle. After Waning Moon Hall breached the agreement and left the desert, there was no need for Golden Roc Castle to abide by the ban any more. This is Qian Ying¡¯s exnation. As for the real reason why, I have no idea.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was just as suspicious as Gu Shenwei. The process of pill-manufacturing was veryplicated. Even if Golden Roc Castle had kept all the forms, it would not be easy to return to their former pharmaceutical production capacity in a short time.


    After this conversation, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t have to suspect Shangguan Ru any longer, and he could focus on dealing with his enemies again.


    As if to correspond this thought, Fang Wenshi ran in hurriedly. Seeing Shangguan Ru, he was stunned for a while, but then he urgently said, ¡°This is big. Luoluo¡¯s armyunched an attack and is headed our way.¡±

 Chapter 822 - Pursuers

    Chapter 822: Pursuers


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    In the main tent, the whole situation was a huge mess. Countless messages were pouring in from the frontlines. There was both good and bad news, and sometimes they were contradictory and couldn¡¯t even provide the actual location of Luoluo¡¯s army. The generals had various diverging opinions, constantly arguing with each other. Shulitu stayed rtively collected, but he didn¡¯t know whose advice he should take.


    Duodun and hispanions hade in and were standing besides Shulitu, watching on indifferently.


    The moment Gu Shenwei and Fang Wenshi entered the tent, they were besieged by those contentious generals. Just as the Second Consort had predicted, whenever a crisis arose, the Dragon King was more popr than a prince who had never fought any battles.


    Shulitu was so relieved by Gu Shenwei¡¯s entrance that he passedmand of the army to the Grand Mentor almost immediately.


    Gu Shenwei naturally took over the Nond army without a single word of opposition. Duodun seemed to firmly believe that he was just a guest here, and he didn¡¯t say a word to the contrary.


    The first thing that Gu Shenwei did was to order everybody to stop offering him their arbitrary suggestions. All the soldiers who brought back news were ordered to make their reports again. Then, all of the messages were ressified by time and location, and all the outdated and obviously exaggerated news were tossed out.


    Half an hourter, the overall situation had been made roughly revealed.


    When Luoluo had first led his army to attack the Royal Court, Shulitu¡¯s forces of more than 100,000 troops had been waiting there for him. The two sides had shed multiple times in small skirmishes, but there weren¡¯t anyrge-scale battles. Then, as winter drew near, Luoluo had retreated, while Shulitu had sent part of his army to the south. At that time, everybody had believed that the earliest the war would potentially start again was during next year¡¯s transition period between spring and summer.


    But after having resting for a period of time and reorganizing his forces, Luoluo had unexpectedly led his army to start advancing southwards. In their march, they had already crushed the Central ins army, which had been stationed in the eastern part of the Western Regions, with an unstoppable momentum. After eliminating the threat behind them, Luoluo¡¯s army had then immediately started advancing westwards. They had arrived at the Royal Court half a month ago, and surrounded the 50,000 Court Attendants troops who had been guarding the Khan¡¯s mausoleum.


    News of what happened next were all disordered and unreliable. Some said that the Court Attendants Army had been wiped out and that there was now arge-scale project to excavate the mausoleum in progress. Others said that the two sides hadn¡¯t engaged yet and that they were still waiting to confront each other. But every piece news agreed that an unknown number of Luoluo¡¯s troops were rapidly progressing towards Heaven¡¯s Pass, and that they would arrive in ten days at thetest. The scouts who had brought news from the frontline were so close to the enemies¡¯ vanguards that it seemed as if the vanguards were actually chasing them.


    Although the details remained unknown, Luoluo¡¯s strategy was very clear. He wanted a quick war, and that required him to destroy Shulitu¡¯s main forces during thest season that was still suitable for fighting. Only in this way could he take control of most of the grasnds.


    Shulitu¡¯s decision to send part of his army to the south to spend the winter had be an irreversible blunder.


    Fang Wenshi had been paying extra attention to the reaction of the Central ins, but there was hardly any news from that front. Most of the Central ins¡¯ armies were stationed in their own territory and only a few of them had been in the Western Regions. Additionally, Luoluo had started the war without any advance deration. So, the Central ins armies were unable to organize a counter-attack anytime soon, and theing winter would soon be an impassable obstacle.


    All the authority that Gu Shenwei had gained during the past half year was being put to the test. Though the generals acknowledged him as amander-in-chief, they didn¡¯t believe that he was a match for horsewhip Luoluo. This insecurity led them to start arguing with each other just moments after being quieted by Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°We can¡¯t fight this war. Luoluo would have made all the necessary preparations beforeing. We should take evasive action. That way, we can just wait for the first snow to defeat our enemies for us.¡±


    Most people held this opinion, and this was also the tactic mostmonly used by the Nond cavalrymen. However, there were various suggestions on where they should retreat to ¡ª Heaven¡¯s Pass, the Xiaowan Kingdom, and the Naihang Tribe had all been suggested. Besides those destinations, some people had even rmended that they should keep going westwards to wherever they pleased.


    There were also some generals who insisted on fighting. ¡°What are you afraid of? Luoluo¡¯s army has traveled such a far distance that they must be in a terribly fatigued state. Byparison, our troops are well-rested. How can we lose? With Prince Duodun¡¯s 70,000 cavalrymen, the Dragon King¡¯s several hundred thousand troops, the young king¡¯s almost 100,000 men, and the Naihang Tribe¡¯s 100,000 soldiers, the total number of our troops is well over 300,000. If we flee with this advantage, will we ever have the nerve toe back here again?¡±


    The bad news came in one by one, and the idea of an army 300,000 strong soon became a wishful dream. While the generals were arguing, one piece of positive news hade in: the Naihang Tribe had broken camp and retreated ¡ª Zhe Su would rather bear the shameful reputation of dishonesty and disgrace than kill King Rizhu¡¯s son.


    This news threw the tent into greater disorder as everyone eximed, ¡°The Naihang Tribe¡¯s going to take Luoluo¡¯s side! I knew it! Zhe Su¡¯s so-called negotiations were nothing but a con. He tricked us all.¡±


    If the Naihang Tribe had really taken the enemy¡¯s side, Shulitu¡¯s army would have no choice but to flee.


    But Gu Shenwei would rather believe that Zhe Su wouldn¡¯t do such a thing. ¡°Quiet. I¡¯d like to say something!¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s orders still held authority. All of the generals shut up and watched him attentively. Yet, Gu Shenwei cast his eyes onto Liman.


    Standing beside Duodun, Liman said, ¡°The Naihang Tribe will not take Luoluo¡¯s side. They probably just retreated to defend themselves.¡±


    ¡°Can you guarantee that?¡± a general immediately questioned. ¡°Zhe Su¡¯s your father, but look at what Duo Ercha did. Is the Naihang Tribe still trustworthy?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll bring Naihang Tribe back,¡± Gu Shenwei suddenly said.


    Silence reigned throughout the tent.


    ¡°Tha- That¡¯s not possible,¡± another general blurted out. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to be disrespectful, Dragon King, but-¡±


    ¡°But we¡¯ll never find out if we don¡¯t try.¡±


    The generals had already lost their will to fight. Gu Shenwei knew that all his ns for the Western Regions depended on him keeping this army around, so he was once again forced into taking risks.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go and chase down the Naihang Tribe¡¯s cavalry. Shulitu will stay here and take temporarymand while the military counselor assists him. My suggestion is that we should fight, and if we have to retreat, the Xiaowan Kingdom is our best choice. There arerge amounts of provisions there, enough for the whole winter.


    ¡°But it seems that the Xiaowan Kingdom can¡¯t hold-¡± A general started talking, but stopped halfway when the Dragon King¡¯s gazended on him.


    There was a lot of additional difficult work to do if they wanted to convince all of the generals. Gu Shenwei had to leave that to Shulitu and Fang Wenshi.


    Duodun had been silent throughout this entire discussion. Compared to those vtile generals, it was this prince that Gu Shenwei was worried about the most. Fang Wenshi shared the Dragon King¡¯s concern and nodded at him, indicating that he would be on guard against the prince¡¯s insidious tricks.


    Gu Shenwei was walking towards the door when a voice suddenly rang out from behind. ¡°I¡¯ll go with you, Dragon King.¡±


    Liman unexpectedly stepped forward as he said, ¡°Maybe I can convince my father.¡±


    Duodun stared at him with a severe look. Ignoring it, Liman faced the crowd and said, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s right. I¡¯m afraid that we have no choice but to fight this war. If we let Luoluo win without a fight, then all the other tribes on the grasnds will soon surrender to Luoluo. If that happens, then the situation will truly be irreversible.¡±


    These words were mainly meant for Duodun. Liman bowed to his master deeply and then quickly walked out to catch up with the Dragon King.


    Long Fanyun had already readied 500 guards and the me Foal for departure.


    ¡°You stay here,¡± Gu Shenwei said to the guards as he took the reins and mounted the horse. The 500 guards wouldn¡¯t help him get the Naihang Tribe back.


    Long Fanyun was startled as he advised, ¡°This is too risky, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei lowered his voice and replied, ¡°Stay here and keep the young king and the counselor safe.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Long Fanyun reluctantly answered.


    ¡°I¡¯m your bodyguard. I have to go with the Dragon Kin.¡± Tie Linglong was already mounted on another horse.


    ¡°I¡¯m a bodyguard, too. So I also have to go with the Dragon King.¡± Han Fen got on her own horse a littleter than Tie Linglong, though she seemed like she was about to go on a sightseeing tour.


    Gu Shenwei gave his consent to the two of them. ¡°You two follow Liman and protect him.¡±


    ¡°Dragon King, you can¡¯t go alone-¡± Tie Linglong had barely finished her remark when the me Foal dashed forward. Normal horses could never catch up to it.


    There was not enough time, and speed was the only thing Gu Shenwei cared about.


    The scout outside the camp gate pointed in the rough direction that the Naihang Tribe had left in. When he realized that it was the Dragon King who was asking him, he was stunned.


    The me Foal rushed ahead at full throttle. It was unaware of its rider¡¯s mood and was just thoroughly enjoying the raw act of running.


    Riding on the horse, Gu Shenwei was thinking about how the best way to convince the Naihang Tribe to return. He couldn¡¯t demand that Zhe Su kill Duo Ercha anymore, but the Second Consort would forever bear a grudge against Duo Ercha because of the previous event. After knowing her secrets, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t bear any resentment towards her.


    Maybe it was because he had already agreed to meet all Zhe Su¡¯s previous conditions and was willing to allow the Naihang Tribe to bergely independent. Even though this waspletely against the previous Khan¡¯s will, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t care at all.


    What concerned him the most was that Zhe Su might still refuse to stay even if all his requests were approved. This was because from the Naihang Tribe¡¯s perspective, both remaining neutral and taking Luoluo¡¯s side were better alternatives.


    He had to think of a good reason to convince Zhe Su that it would be in his best interest to help the Dragon King.


    When dawn broke, Gu Shenwei could finally see the Naihang Tribe¡¯s army in the distance. In the meantime, he was stopped by the cavalrymen who were bringing up the rear.


    ¡°I¡¯m the Dragon King. I need to see general Zhe Su,¡± Gu Shenwei yelled out.


    ¡°Ha, this dumbass said that he¡¯s the Dragon King?¡± a centurion asked scornfully. ¡°Call your giant roc down here and I¡¯ll believe you.¡±


    Dozens of soldiers surrounded Gu Shenwei with fully drawn bows.


    ¡°State your true identity or we¡¯ll shoot.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t summon the red-crowned giant roc at will.


    ¡°For what?¡± the centurion asked in confusion.


    Gu Shenwei abruptly leaped off of the me Foal and pounced onto the centurion a dozen steps away ¡ª he was indeed reminiscent of a giant bird.


    Several arrows shot at him all at once, but Gu Shenwei dodged them all.


    Before the centurion could react, Gu Shenwei was already standing behind him on the horse¡¯s saddle. With one hand pressed against the centurion¡¯s helmet and the other holding a saber, Gu Shenwei¡¯s fierce position deterred the other cavalrymen from shooting again. Then he mobilized his internal Qi and loudly yelled, ¡°Zhe Su, the Dragon King wants to meet with you!¡±


    His voice rang for over ten miles. All the men around were shocked, no longer doubting that this sickly-looking man was the Dragon King.


    The me Foal arrived, and Gu Shenwei returned to its back before saying, ¡°Sorry.¡±


    The centurion¡¯s face was just as pale as the Dragon King¡¯s now. He signaled the other cavalrymen to put away their bows. ¡°It¡¯s- It¡¯s okay. Now we know that you really are the Dragon King.¡±


    The centurion designated some other soldiers to be the Dragon King¡¯s guide and they started galloping towards the army ahead of them. When the Dragon King and the others were far away, the centurion was still looking into their direction. He then shamelessly said to his soldiers, ¡°Did you see that? I survived the Dragon King¡¯s attack.¡±


    Zhe Su and arge number of guards intercepted the Dragon King and his escorts. The look on his face was as stiff as a stone.


    ¡°Whoever you are, stop!¡± a general beside Zhe Su ordered. At this moment, the two sides were about 40 to 50 steps away from each other. Hundreds of guards had drawn their bows or angled their spears forward; every soldier here was on guard against the Dragon King¡¯s potential move.


    Gu Shenwei opened his arms, indicating that he held no hostility towards them. Then he loudly reprimanded, ¡°Are you a despicable man who goes back on his word?¡±


    Zhe Su¡¯s face, which originally looked like stone, now looked like ck iron ¡ª it wasn¡¯t the Dragon King¡¯s ce to talk to him like this.


    While Gu Shenwei was provoking Zhe Su, the situation in Shulitu¡¯s main tent had changed drastically after the Dragon King¡¯s departure. Duodun finally spoke up, and convinced a considerable number of generals with his words. ¡°The Xiaowan Kingdom¡¯s a very small country. How can it hold 100,000 troops? Heaven¡¯s Pass has both the Shule Kingdom and Jade City behind it, is highly defensible and almost invulnerable, and has convenient ess to supplies ¡ª is there a better alternative for passing the winter?


    Fang Wenshi and Shulitu¡¯s disagreement was drowned out by the generals¡¯ noisy approval.

 Chapter 823 - The Situation

    Chapter 823: The Situation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    This was the first time that Fang Wenshi had ever argued with Nonders before, and he actually felt that he was no match for them at all.


    Duodun and his small group of advocates didn¡¯t have any strong arguments, and Fang Wenshi was confident that he could convincingly defeat them with his logic. However, every time he tried to speak, his voice was drowned out by their wild yells.


    A tall and strong general who supported Duodun¡¯s proposal was standing right in front of Fang Wenshi, and would asionally move one or two steps to block him in. Although Fang Wenshi was fatter than he used to be, his strength hadn¡¯t grown at all. He was unable to push that general away or evade him, and so, Fang Wenshi was gradually forced into a corner.


    ¡°Listen to me¡­¡± Fang Wenshi was anxious. Those generals had no fighting spirit in them at all, and the shelter Duodun had suggested was extremely tempting


    ¡°You idiots¡­¡± Even Fang Wenshi himself couldn¡¯t hear his own words, and he was nearly knocked down by the general in front of him.


    Duodun clearly understood the best way to incite men of the grasnds men: sugar-coat the action of taking refuge, and change ¡°defense¡± to tactics and bravery. ¡°Even if Luoluo has a million troops, what can he do to us? He can¡¯t breach the walls of Heaven¡¯s Pass, and he can¡¯t defeat the snow of winter either. So regardless of whatever route he takes toe here, he¡¯ll have to retrace his steps back home!¡±


    ¡°True! Luoluo thinks that he can blindside us. Well, we can just hold our position.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re Nond cavalrymen, not the inflexible armies of the Central ins. We advance when we should advance, and we retreat when we should retreat. Even the Khan himself once retreated to guarantee victory.¡±


    ¡ª


    More officers came into the tent uninvited. Although they weren¡¯t entitled to talk, they always yelped to show their approval every time someone expressed support for Duodun¡¯s opinion.


    Fang Wenshi had no choice but to resort to his only ally by repeatedly waving his arms at Shulitu.


    Shulitu saw that white, fat hand, but deep down in his heart, he also believed that retreat was their best choice. Despite his misgivings, he trusted the Dragon King more than he trusted himself, so he tried several times to express his opinion. But in the end, it turned out that his voice was even lower than Fang Wenshi¡¯s.


    Long Fanyun and Mo Lin elbowed their way into the tent and walked straight to Shulitu¡¯s side. Upon realizing that the tent was growing increasingly disordered, both of them were a little concerned.


    When the two entered, Azheba, who had been standing by Shulitu, went back to Duodun¡¯s side. He was one of the few people who had stayed silent throughout this whole process.


    Shulitu exhaled deeply.


    Long Fanyun and Mo Lin simultaneously made an attempt to hush the crowd,manding, ¡°Hush! Hush!¡±


    Their voice drowned out all the other voice. Duodun¡¯spanions tried to yell louder, but realized that they were bound to fail after a while.


    A louder voice was more effective than any soft-spoken words in this asion.


    ¡°The young king would like to have a word,¡± Mo Lin said as his severe eyes swept through the crowd, imparting amanding air to Shulitu.


    Shulitu gave a grateful ce to the two before turning to address the generals. ¡°Before leaving, the Dragon King said that he believed that we should fight this war if it came to it, and that even if we had to retreat, our destination should be the Xiaowan Kingdom.¡±


    A general immediately added, ¡°We don¡¯t want to disobey the Dragon King¡¯s orders. He¡¯ll be back soon, so we can discuss our options now, and ask for his consent when he¡¯s back. If the Dragon King¡¯s decision is to fight, we won¡¯t refuse, will we?¡±


    Approval swelled from both inside and outside the tent.


    Yet Shulitu clearly knew that, although the general had said this, the decision of the generals would also directly influence the opinions of the troops. Even if the Dragon King himself tried, he wouldn¡¯t be able to make any difference when it came to that.


    ¡°But if we retreat, then what are we going to do with the 50,000 soldiers trapped in the Royal Court? They¡¯re surrounded, and are probably expecting us to save them.¡±


    This was tricky. All 50,000 troops were members of the Court Attendants Army and were a powerfulbat force. It would be a considerable loss if they were all lost.


    One of Duodun¡¯spanions nudged his way to Shulitu and said, ¡°I¡¯m a guest of His Highness. May I have a word?¡±


    Fang Wenshi was having a silent staring contest with the big general, and before he could do anything, Shulitu had already nodded his consent. ¡°By all means.¡±


    In a loud voice, thepanion then said, ¡°I don¡¯t think that there¡¯s any need for us to worry about the 50,000 men in the Royal Court because they are guarding the Khan¡¯s mausoleum. If Luoluo still has even a modicum of his senses left, he won¡¯t dare do anything stupid there. Besides, Luoluo¡¯s target has always been us ¡ª the young king¡¯s main force and the Western Regions guarded by Prince Duodun. Thus, he won¡¯t be able to spare many troops to attack the Royal Court.¡±


    His speech received immediate approval. A general loudly shouted, ¡°That¡¯s right. As long as our two princes¡¯ 100,000 troops still exist, we can pin down most of Luoluo¡¯s men. So, we¡¯re already doing our brothers in the Royal Court a favor.¡±


    Shulitu had to think of another reason. ¡°Even if we retreat, we should go to the Xiaowan Kingdom. The Dragon King has prepared enough provisions for us there.¡±


    Duodun made his move then. After letting out a few boomingughs to attract the crowd¡¯s attention, he walked to Shulitu¡¯s side and pped a hand on his shoulder. ¡°The Dragon King suggested that we should go to the Xiaowan Kingdom, but he only made that suggestion out of kindness. We can understand if you also think that we should go there, but I don¡¯t think that any of you have actually been to the Xiaowan Kingdom before. I¡¯ve been there, and it¡¯s a very small city that can only hold a couple ten thousand residents. It can¡¯t hold 100,000 troops. So this means that the Dragon King actually still wants to fight outside the city.¡±


    ¡°Heaven¡¯s Pass is even smaller than the capital city of the Xiaowan Kingdom,¡± Fang Wenshi finally managed to find an opportunity to rebut Duodun¡¯s words, even as half of his arm waved helplessly above the others¡¯ heads.


    Pretending to not know who had spoken up, Duodun directly responded by saying, ¡°Heaven¡¯s Pass has half of the Western Regions behind it and there¡¯s plenty of space there. But the Xiaowan Kingdom is located beside a valley. If we go there, we¡¯d have nowhere to retreat to.¡±


    All of the generals and officers nodded. The more they thought about it, the more reasonable Duodun¡¯s opinion became in their eyes.


    ¡°Wait! I still have something to say!¡± Fang Wenshi yelled in a high-pitched voice. He didn¡¯t know where he found the strength to do so, but he suddenly knocked down his opponent with his fat body and pushed his way to directly face Duodun, even as he sweated buckets.


    Duodun raised his head arrogantly and one of hispanions blocked Fang Wenshi¡¯s path. ¡°Are you a Nonder? Can you ride or shoot? Have you ever been to or fought in a battlefield?¡±


    All of these questions were criteria used to assess thepetence of a grasnds man, and naturally Fang Wenshi, had none of them. But he was not convinced at all and sharply rebutted, ¡°Are you the young king¡¯s general? Can you map out any strategies? Have you read any war books, or have you any knowledge of military tactics?¡±


    Thepanion was stunned. Fang Wenshi maintained his momentum and resumed his diatribe. ¡°As for the battlefield part, maybe you should ask your own master first.¡±


    This was Duodun¡¯s biggest disadvantage. He had gainedmand of army merely because a group of young officers had supported him; he didn¡¯t actually have any previous experience of fighting in a war.


    Smiling, Duodun pushed hispanion aside and faced Fang Wenshi himself. ¡°Are you the military counselor of both the young king and the Dragon King?¡±


    Fang Wenshi nodded as he asked, ¡°Am I qualified to talk?¡±


    ¡°In this tent, the young king is the one who decides everything.¡±


    In desperate need of help, Shulitu hurriedly said, ¡°Of course the military counselor¡¯s qualified to talk. Whatever he says, it is all on my behalf.¡±


    Actually, Fang Wenshi¡¯s mind was in a mess right now. His fight with that big general had taken up most of his energy, and he couldn¡¯t even think as fast as he usually could. ¡°See? I¡¯m qualified to talk.¡±


    All he could do was try to dy for time, which meant he had to grab hold of every reason he could find to contradict his opponents. Anyway, he couldn¡¯t fail the Dragon King and let Duodun take the army away.


    One of Duodun¡¯spanions impatiently said, ¡°Then talk.¡±


    ¡°Eek?¡± Fang Wenshi put on a surprised look, ¡°His Highness Duodun said that young king is the one who decides everything here. What qualifies you to make such a decision? Do you think you have a greater say than His Highness?¡±


    Thatpanion¡¯s face was full of anger as he shouted back, ¡°I don¡¯t¡­¡±


    Duodun stopped hispanion and looked at Fang Wenshi, smiling without saying anything.


    The generals and officers around started whispering in each other¡¯s ears. Fang Wenshi knew that if he didn¡¯t say something at once, the situation was going to fall into disorder again. ¡°Golden Roc Castle!¡± he yelled out.


    ¡°How does this have anything to do with Golden Roc Castle?¡± a general asked with a frown.


    With a sh of inspiration, Fang Wenshi consolidated many things that the Dragon King had told him and drew a wild conclusion from it all. Usually, he would try to find more evidence to support his ns, but at this moment he said in an indisputable tone, ¡°We can¡¯t go to Heaven¡¯s Pass. It¡¯s a trap!¡±


    All the people on Duodun¡¯s side were stunned, and the smile on the prince¡¯s face also disappeared. He snapped, ¡°You dare nder me?¡±


    Regaining his confidence, Fang Wenshi shook his head repeatedly as he exined, ¡°No, no. You misunderstood me, Your Highness. I said that Heaven¡¯s Pass is a trap, as Your Highness is actually a victim yourself.¡±


    This time even Shulitu was bewildered. ¡°What are you trying to say, counselor? Is it a set by Luoluo?¡±


    Fang Wenshi shook his head yet again, but his shake didn¡¯t mean that Shulitu was wrong ¡ª rather, he had just done so out of habit. ¡°I received a reliable message saying that an adviser was assisting Luoluo. And Iter received an even more reliable message saying that someone was colluding with the Unique King in Heaven¡¯s Pass. The reason why Luoluo¡¯s army is forcefully advancing at us is because he wants to lure us into Heaven¡¯s Pass, and then have Golden Roc Castle will attack from Thousand Horsemen Pass in the east. If that happens, the gate of the Western Regions will be wide open, and Heaven¡¯s Pass will be under attack from both the front and the back. Who will be able to escape then?¡±


    There was an assertive look in Fang Wenshi¡¯s eyes. Only a small part of his words were confirmed facts, and the rest of them was just his spection. But he refused to give anyone the chance to doubt him.


    His tactic worked. With just the thought that they might be attacked from both the front and from the back, the crowd changed their mind. Suddenly, the majority would rather stay in the Xiaowan Kingdom beside a valley.


    ¡°How do you know that the Golden Roc Castle ¡ª ¡± one of Duodun¡¯spanions asked.


    ¡°I just know,¡± interrupted Fang Wenshi gravely. ¡°The Dragon King has been fighting against the Unique King for many years and he has his own intelligence sources. I can¡¯t reveal too many details in front of so many people, but I know that Golden Roc Castle sided with Luoluo a long time ago. There¡¯s no doubt of it.¡±


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s heart was beating like a hammer.


    ¡°What does it matter? We can just send our troops there and take Thousand Horsemen Pass.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s toote. I can guarantee you that Thousand Horsemen Pass has already fallen into Luoluo¡¯s hands. Why did he attack the Central ins army that was stationed in the Western Regions first? It¡¯s precisely because that army was very close to Thousand Horsemen Pass and he was worried that they might beat him to it.¡±


    ¡°You said that there¡¯s a mole in His Highness¡¯s army. Who is it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell His Highness in private in case that mole bes alerted and tries to flee.¡±


    Fang Wenshi felt that the situation had changed. Although Duodun had a lot of followers, all of them were servicemen who only wanted to fight at the right time, right ce, and with the right allies.


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait for the Dragon King toe back. Maybe he¡¯ll have a better idea,¡± someone offered to the immediate approval of the crowd.


    Duodun tried hard to remainposed. ¡°It seems that I have a score to settle with the Unique King. He dares to manipte me.¡±


    ¡°The Unique King will never admit it.¡± Fang Wenshi decided to set a contingency n just in case. ¡°I¡¯ll tell Your Highness who the mole ister. Then you can see what¡¯s been going on once you investigate it.¡±


    ¡°Ha, I already know who the mole is.¡± Duodun didn¡¯t want to be deemed ignorant, and he had already guessed that Fang Wenshi was probably referring to Mo Chu. ¡°All of you are worried that that Thousand Horsemen Pass has fallen into the enemies¡¯ hands. How about this, then? We stay put for the moment while I myself will lead my army to Thousand Horsemen Pass and take it. After that, I¡¯ll invite the rest of the army to the Western Regions.¡±


    ¡°If the Dragon King can convince the Naihang Tribe toe back to us, we can just fight Luoluo head-on. Actually, maybe you should lead your army out of Heaven¡¯s Pass and join us.¡± Fang Wenshi had be greedy with his victory and was beginning to covet Duodun¡¯s army.


    ¡°We can talk about this after the Dragon King returns,¡± rejected Duodun ndly. Like most of the other people in the room, he didn¡¯t think that the Dragon King would seed.


    At this moment, Gu Shenwei was solidly surrounded by arge number of cavalrymen, and there was no sign that Zhe Su would soften his stance at all.

 Chapter 824 - Allied Forces

    Chapter 824: Allied Forces


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The Dragon King returned with only Liman and Han Fen behind him. There was not a single soldier of the Naihang Tribe, nor any distant sound of pping horse hoofs.


    Disappointment could be clearly seen on the faces of the soldiers. They were not cowards, but they felt that they suffered a heavy loss. They had been expecting the 100,000 cavalrymen of the Naihang Tribe to show up, but their absence was foreboding.


    ¡°200,000!¡± a veteran yelled loudly.


    Gu Shenwei reined his horse back.


    ¡°Luoluo has 200,000 men and they¡¯ll be here in seven or eight days,¡± the veteran exined. During the Dragon King¡¯s absence, the news had be more urate and detailed as more information came in.


    ¡°What should we do?¡± the soldiers asked all at once. They had heard that the counselor and the young king had convinced all the generals to fight, and now, everybody was waiting for the Dragon King¡¯s decision.


    ¡°We fight,¡± Gu Shenwei uttered, enunciating the words one by one.


    There was total silence at the camp gate. Nobody opposed his decision, but nobody cheered either.


    Liman then loudly dered, ¡°The 100,000 cavalrymen of the Naihang Tribe is advancing eastwards. If we don¡¯t act soon, we¡¯ll be left behind.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King got the Naihang Tribe back?¡± a soldier asked excitedly.


    ¡°The Naihang Tribe will be our vanguards, and they¡¯ll hold Luoluo¡¯s army back,¡± replied Gu Shenwei.


    The air was filled with cheers. Before Gu Shenwei reached the main tent, the message had already spread through the whole army camp and it had turned into a simplified version with just a few words: <em>The Naihang Tribe is in.</em>


    Shulitu and Fang Wenshi took the lead, and all of the generals followed them along in standing outside the tent to wee the Dragon King back. As they all stared at him with an intent look, Gu Shenwei said from horseback, ¡°General Zhe Su and his men have already departed for Thousand Horsemen Pass. Today, Shulitu¡¯s army will rest and reorganize. We set out tomorrow morning. Long Fanyun, go to the Xiaowan Kingdom and order the 20,000 members of the Dragon Army toe and join our main force right away.¡±


    There was no need to even ask what the Dragon King¡¯s decision was. Originally, some generals had been prepared to try to reason with the Dragon King about why they should retreat. But when faced with the man himself, none of them took the lead, and after a certain amount of time had passed, they found that any objections would now be inopportune.


    ¡°Prepare for war!¡± Fang Wenshi shouted, breaking the silence of the generals. ¡°Everybody, prepare for war!¡±


    All the generals followed the order. The issue that they had previously argued so intensely about had be insignificant under the Dragon King¡¯s presence. This scene was engraved into Duodun¡¯s mind and he finally began to understand why the Second Consort valued the Dragon King so greatly.


    ¡°Azheba,¡± Duodun yelled, gathering the crowd¡¯s attention before they scattered. ¡°Return to Heaven¡¯s Pass immediately. Order 10,000 of the troops to stay and hold the fort, and for the other 60,000e here as soon as possible. Order Mo Chu tomand the army himself.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Azheba remounted his horse and left the camp just a short whileter than Long Fanyun.


    The confidence of the entire army was drastically boosted. With their army almost 300,000 strong, they would have absolute numerical superiority and victory would be certain. In their eyes, Luoluo had turned from a formidable enemy into a dumbass who was sending them a free victory as a gift.


    But in the tent, when the Dragon King, Fang Wenshi, Shulitu, Duodun and Liman were the only ones present, Luoluo was still ¡°formidable.¡±


    Duodun didn¡¯t trust people easily, and he was the first to ask, ¡°Is the Naihang Tribe really going to fight Luoluo?¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t speak and let Liman to answer this question.


    ¡°The Naihang Tribe went to go negotiate with Luoluo,¡± Liman revealed.


    Duodun¡¯s heart immediately sank and he looked at Liman with a severe look. If he knew this, he might not have mobilized his army in Heaven¡¯s Pass.


    Liman hurriedly exined, ¡°My father won¡¯t ally with Luoluo right away. He¡¯ll negotiate with him first, and then stand by and watch us fight. Whoever gains the upper hand will also gain his support.¡±


    This was just slightly better than betrayal. Their 300,000 troops had been reduced to 180,000 motley soldiers, and now Luoluo¡¯s troops clearly outnumbered them.


    Duodun said nothing else. Now that he had given the order, he had no choice but to fight. Yet he had to keep his 60,000 cavalrymen as healthy as possible, no matter the cost.


    ¡°We have to fight this war. If the battle doesn¡¯t take ce north of Heavenly Mountain, Luoluo will no doubt go through Thousand Horsemen Pass and then attack Heaven¡¯s Pass from both the front and the back.¡±


    ¡°I have already exined it to the troops,¡± Fang Wenshi said impassively. When he realized that his previous impromptu idea had converged with that of the Dragon King, he felt very self-satisfied.


    Gu Shenwei took the hint and changed topics immediately. ¡°Luoluo hase a long way and he doesn¡¯t have enough provisions and livestock to take a protracted engagement. I expect that he will have to retreat before winter sets in.¡±


    ¡°We can just confront him without fighting him,¡± Fang Wenshi advised. ¡°Not only will this cause the enemy¡¯s deployment to fall into disarrangement, but it will also enhance our own troops¡¯ morale.¡±


    Liman nodded to show his approval, but it was mainly to convince Prince Duodun. ¡°The Naihang Tribe has changed the direction of their march after meeting with the Dragon King. When Luoluo learns of this, he probably won¡¯t agree to my father¡¯s negotiation request. So, in his eyes, we will still have 300,000 men at our disposal. This is also another piece of leverage that we can use.¡±


    Duodun¡¯s army had beenbined together with Shulitu¡¯s. If he lost this army, he would never have enough strength to contend for the throne, so he weighed his options for a while before saying, ¡°All right. Then let¡¯s face him head on. But our armycks a unifiedmandwork, so I suggest selecting a Commander-in-chief first.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s our best choice,¡± Fang Wenshi immediately made his rmendation.


    Duodun smiled and replied, ¡°Has the Dragon King ever been inmand of such arge army? It¡¯s not just an army of thousands, much less a saber or a sword. And of course, Shulitu and I are not qualified either.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was just about to rebut Duodun when Gu Shenwei stopped him. ¡°Prince Duodun¡¯s right. We need a true leader. Do you two princes have any rmendations?¡±


    To be on the safe side, Shulitu didn¡¯t answer. But Duodun merely thought for a while before saying, ¡°There¡¯s no need to hurry. Maybe we should hold a meeting and consult the generals as well.¡±


    ¡°Tomorrow night, then.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to make a rash decision either. ¡°We¡¯ll select a Commander-in-chief after setting camp.¡±


    Things went well, but as soon as Duodun and Liman left the tent, Fang Wenshi immediately said, ¡°Duodun still has designs on the crown. We can¡¯t give the position of Commander-in-chief to anyone from his side.¡±


    Shulitu certainly understood this. ¡°I think that Duodun¡¯s probably going to rmend Liman. He is Zhe Su¡¯s son, and has served King Rizhu and fought a lot of wars for him. Besides his young age, he has every qualification to be the Commander-in-chief of this unified army.¡±


    Fang Wenshi shook his head repeatedly. ¡°Exactly whose side is Liman on? I don¡¯t even know whether I should oppose him or not.¡±


    ¡°Liman¡¯s loyal to Duodun,¡± said Gu Shenwei with certainty. He had never doubted this and queried, ¡°Do you have any rmendations, Your Highness?¡±


    Shulitu had been considering this for a long time, ¡°There¡¯re several excellent generals in my army, but none of them canpare to Liman. s, if only the Court Attendants Army¡­¡±


    Most of the generals in the Court Attendants Army had been through numerous battles, but most of them had died during the mutiny.


    ¡°I have a rmendation, but he¡¯s not a Nonder,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    ¡°Who? Are you referring to the General of the Right, Shang Liao? He¡¯s even more inexperienced atmanding arge army.¡± Fang Wenshi raised an objection before the Dragon King even named his rmendation.


    ¡°Dugu Xian.¡± In Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes, only this man was qualified to be the Commander-in-chief.


    Shulitu faintly recalled the name of Dugu Xian, but he didn¡¯t say anything. Fang Wenshi was very surprised. ¡°Of course Dugu Xian¡¯s qualified, but he¡¯s at Xiaoyao Lake right now and is too far away to help us out. It will take him more than a month to arrive, and the war will already be over by then.¡±


    ¡°General Dugu arrives tomorrow.¡± Gu Shenwei had made preparations well in advance. Back when he had been leading the 10,000 Nond cavalrymen back to the Western Regions, he had already sent someone to Xiaoyao Lake to invite General Dugu here. ¡°He¡¯s currently hiding in Heaven¡¯s Pass. Tie Linglong will bring him here tomorrow.¡±


    Fang Wenshi stood there shocked speechless for a second, and then burst intoughter. ¡°It turns out that the Dragon King has godlike foresight and even anticipated that Luoluo woulde back and attack us.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t anticipate Luoluo¡¯s move. Originally, I had nned to give General Dugu some more time to be more familiar with the army before appointing him as the Commander-in-chief next year. But now I¡¯ve been forced to do that ahead of schedule.¡±


    Because of the young king¡¯s presence, Fang Wenshi didn¡¯t ask any more questions about the ns.


    Shulitu knew that he was just a puppet and that ¡°young king¡± would be merely a fancy title when Dugu Xian arrived. But he had already gotten used to this destiny. ¡°Do you think that General Dugu canpete with Liman?¡±


    Dugu Xian was a very experienced service man and he used to serve among the Nond troops. However, he had never been a senior officer.


    ¡°I have faith in him. With regards to how General Dugu can acquire the unified army¡¯s recognition, I¡¯ll figure something out.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s think together,¡± Shulitu said, trying to seize the initiative as a puppet.


    The three were consulting with each other when Red Bat requested permission toe in. She brought news that was both unexpected and expected. ¡°the Second Consort wants to meet with the Dragon King. She¡¯s very anxious and she¡¯s in Instructor¡¯s tent right now¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go thereter,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Fang Wenshi curled his lips. ¡°This could be tricky. Zhe Su didn¡¯t kill Duo Ercha, did he?¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t.¡± Gu Shenwei stood up. ¡°There might be some people in our troops who know Dugu Xian. See if we can find them. He¡¯s from the Xiaowan Kingdom and used to serve in the Nond army.¡±


    The Second Consort was wearing an exquisite hat to cover the bald patch on her head that had been created by Duo Ercha. When she saw the Dragon Kinge in, she stood up and nodded ndly. ¡°I¡¯m very grateful that you could spare some of your time ande here in such busy circumstances, Dragon King.¡±


    Standing to the side with a fairly embarrassed look on her face, Shangguan Ru smiled at Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°That¡¯s very kind of you to say, Second Consort.¡±


    ¡°s, what kind of Second Consort am I? I¡¯m powerless and vulnerable, and I can do nothing but swallow my protests after being publicly humiliated.¡±


    ¡°Zhe Su said that he will give you a proper exnation sooner orter.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s exactly what I need ¡ª a proper exnation. From now on, anybody can just give me a proper exnation after bullying me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that you see it this way, Second Consort.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha, you¡¯re so kind, Dragon King, but please give me my 10,000 cavalrymen back. I¡¯m so scared, and I don¡¯t feel safe anywhere. I need their protection.¡±


    Among Shulitu¡¯s troops, 10,000 of them had originally belonged to the Second Consort, and she emphasized at that time that she was just ¡°lending¡± these soldiers to him. Specifically, that she had the right to recall them any time.


    ¡°You shall have them back before dark, Second Consort.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m grateful,¡± the Second Consort answered politely and stood up, nning to leave. But she was still a little uncertain about Gu Shenwei¡¯s veracity since he had made the promise so quickly. So to ease her mind, she added, ¡°I hope that you won¡¯t misunderstand, Dragon King. These 10,000 men are solely under mymand, and I won¡¯t hand them over to anybody else, not even Duodun. Besides, I¡¯ll be with the allied forces and take part in the final showdown. I might even want to expand my army if by any chance I manage to make some contributions.¡±


    ¡°Your cavalry will be an important ally to Shulitu¡¯s army. Both of us are very grateful to you for your support.¡±


    The Second Consortughed in response and left the tent.


    ¡°What is she doing?¡± Shangguan Ru had been listening, but hadn¡¯t spotted any clues in their friendly and polite conversation.


    ¡°Her 10,000 men being independent of others¡¯ control means that she has a say in the army from now on, which is exactly what Duodun desperately needed.¡±


    Understanding dawned on Shangguan Ru as she eximed, ¡°So that¡¯s what this was about. I should¡¯ve assembled my 1,000 female soldiers in the Land of Fragrance. In that case I would¡¯ve had a say in the allied forces as well, right?¡±


    Gu Shenwei mulled it over. Bu then, Shangguan Ru burst intoughter just as the Second Consort had earlier. ¡°I¡¯m just kidding. Outsiders will never have a say among Nonders, except for you.¡±


    This was probably the only woman who dared to ¡°joke¡± with the Dragon King, and Gu Shenwei was unexpectedly not annoyed at all. ¡°True. Why would the Nonders allow an outsider tomand the army?¡±


    He was still thinking about Dugu Xian, and he had finally through of an ide

 Chapter 825 - Commander-in-chief

    Chapter 825: Commander-in-chief


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The 20,000 Dragon Army troops departed that very night, and they caught up with Shulitu¡¯s main force, who had already departed, the following morning. At this time, the cavalry of Heaven¡¯s Pass was still nowhere to be seen.


    The soldiers of the Western Regions had plenty of fight in them and barely showed any signs of fatigue, which was very different from the previous image that the Nond army had.


    Dugu Xian arrived even earlier, with no attendants except for the single bodyguard, Tie Linglong. He was wearing a Nond-style short coat and had an unkempt beard and terribly red eyes; he looked no different from amon refugee. So in the beginning, barely anybody noticed this one-armed general who was travel-worn and weary.


    Therge army kept marching on staunchly. After a quick wash and shave, Dugu Xian changed into a general¡¯s uniform and then stood beside the Dragon King, talking with the counselor and the others as they walked.


    From this moment on, Dugu Xian began to attract the attention of others and rumors immediately started spreading. By dusk, when the army was setting camp, his name had already be known to a lot of officers and soldiers. Although, the soldiers were more used to calling him the ¡°one-armed man.¡±


    ¡°Did you see the way that the Dragon King talked to him? I¡¯ve never seen the Dragon King act so politely to anybody before.¡±


    ¡°How many times have you seen the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°I saw the Dragon King kill people.¡±


    ¡°It seems that His Highness knows this one-armed man. They were talking andughing like old friends.¡±


    ¡°Um, I heard that he used to be a general of the Nond army, and thatter, he joined the Dragon King¡¯s side and won a lot of battles.¡±


    The battle at Xiaoyao Lake had shocked the entire Western Regions, but themon Nond soldiers knew little of it. On this asion, however, it became the topic of many soldiers¡¯ conversations again. The part where the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance had shown up like God¡¯s army gradually lost it luster, and one particrmander of that battle gained poprity rapidly.


    Gu Shenwei wished that he had brought Dugu Xian here earlier, because just half a day was too short for the general to shoot to fame. Right now, the extent of the troops¡¯ discussion about Dugu Xian was merely this: they deemed him suitable to be themander of the Dragon Army, but not the Commander-in-chief of the allied forces.


    Some veterans of the Nond army did remember Dugu Xian, though, and there was even a captain among them. This captain thought the world of this old armyrade, but when Shulitu voiced his opinion about Dugu Xian bing the Commander-in-chief, the captain shook his head in refusal repeatedly. ¡°An outsider? That¡¯s impossible. The officers will never follow hismands.¡±


    This was the general situation right before the election for the Commander-in-chief that night. Shulitu was resigned to the situation. ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do. The Dragon King has created some miraculous achievements before, but it¡¯ll take General Dugu a long time to gain enough recognition¡­ Can we dy the election?¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. When they were facing imminent war, they couldn¡¯t afford to dy the election of Commander-in-chief by even one day.


    At the second night-watch of that night, the 60,000 cavalrymen from Heaven¡¯s Pass arrived and also set camp. Old General Mo Chu went to the young king¡¯s camp, along with Azheba. The first thing he did was meet with Prince Duodun.


    The total troop count of the allied forces was smaller than 180,000. Shulitu¡¯s troops numbered 90,000, and made up the majority of the force, but they were also the most varied in terms ofposition ¡ª the Court Attendants Army and the subordinates of the former kings were all included.


    The Dragon Army numbered 20,000, most of whom were from the Shule Kingdom and inexperienced in battle.


    The Second Consort¡¯s army had 10,000 men. But they were known for the superior treatment they received, not their fighting capability.


    Duodun¡¯s army totaled 60,000. Most of the troops were veterans and they were undefeated throughout the Shule Kingdom.


    During the Commander-in-chief election taking ce that night, the only ones who had a say were Shulitu, the Dragon King, the Second Consort and Duodun. Fang Wenshi, Dugu Xian, Liman, Mo Chu and more than thirty other senior generals were present as observers; they could express their opinions only when asked to.


    Shulitu was the host, so he was the first one to talk. ¡°I rmend General Li Shun.¡±


    A ck-faced old general nodded at the crowd silently.


    ¡°General Li Shun assisted my grandfather through countless battles and won numerous victories. The previous Khan once gave him the title ¡®Grasnd Hawk.¡¯ He¡¯s more than qualified to be the Commander-in-chief of our allied forces.¡±


    No objections arose. Just as Shulitu had said, Li Shun was indeed a pre-eminent general.


    The second speaker was the Second Consort, and she rmended Azheba. ¡°He¡¯s the most renowned archer in all of Nond, young and promising, and deeply loved by the troops. He¡¯s precisely the daring and valiant Commander-in-chief that we need.¡±


    Azheba was merely a centurion, and technically, he wasn¡¯t even qualified to attend this meeting. But, the Second Consort had no outstanding generals in her army and her rmendation was more of a part of an overall strategy. Thus, so nobody raised objections either.


    Both of thest two people politely asked the other to speak first, and atst Duodun epted the other¡¯s gentle offer. ¡°Liman.¡±


    With a grave look on his face, Liman nodded to the other generals.


    After a pause, Duodun resumed his exnation of his nomination. ¡°I have lost count of the number of the wars that Liman has participated in. He has fought battles side by side with his father and King Rizhu from childhood. Some people might say that he has no previous experience of being a Commander-in-chief, but I don¡¯t think that that is going to be a problem. As the saying goes, ¡®eagles do not breed doves.¡¯ How ipetent could general Zhe Su¡¯s son possibly be? The Naihang Tribe¡¯s our ally, and if the old general were here, he would definitely support Liman too.¡±


    The Nonders heavily valued lineage. Duodun¡¯s words thus exerted a strong influence on those generals. Even Li Shun, whom Shulitu had rmended, nodded his approval. He was a clever man, and he knew that both he and Azheba were just foils for the other nominations.


    The Dragon King was thest one to speak and everybody watched him attentively, wondering how he would introduce Dugu Xian, the one-armed outsider who hade out of the blue.


    The General of the Right, Shang Liao had stayed behind in the Xiaowan Kingdom, and Dugu Xian was attending this meeting as the Commander-in-chief of the Dragon Army. However, he had spent his entire day apanying the Dragon King, and he hadn¡¯t even had enough time to get to know all of his subordinate officers.


    Gu Shenwei stood up, but didn¡¯t directly say Dugu Xian¡¯s name. ¡°Luoluo¡¯s a highly experienced general. If we want to fight him, we need a Commander-in-chief who has been through hundreds of wars.¡±


    There was no doubt about this, and all the generals agreed on this point. However, none of them voiced the other criterion: no matter how many battles he had fought, the Commander-in-chief had to be recognized by the Nonders first.


    Duodun had made some preparation in advance, and he was ready to point out that neither side in the battle of Xiaoyao Lake had been a professional army, and that Dugu Xian¡¯s victory in that battle was worth nothing in the eyes of the Nonder.


    Gu Shenwei resumed his exnation, saying, ¡°The new Commander-in-chief is tomand several armies, so he must also be selfless.¡±


    Duodun smiled as he interrupted to say, ¡°Your concern¡¯s unnecessary, Dragon King. Maybe we Nonders have our respective personal interests, but we always unite in a concerted effort when ites to war. We know that teamwork ensures victory, and that fighting alone only exposes our vulnerabilities ¡ª we¡¯ve all learned this when as kids.¡±


    With this casual contradiction, Duodun had managed to screen out any potential Commander-in-chief candidate who wasn¡¯t a Nonder.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t say anything in response. Judging from the look on his face, it seemed as if he was about to make a desperate attempt, but it also seemed like he was about to yield.


    ¡°Mo Chu. I rmend general Mo Chu.¡±


    The orderly main tent fell into disorder instantly. All the generals who were unqualified to speak immediately started talking.


    ¡°Mo Chu? Why Mo Chu?¡±


    ¡°Mo Chu¡¯s not the Dragon King¡¯s subordinate.¡±


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t make any sense¡­¡±


    But in that moment, nobody could exin precisely why it didn¡¯t make any sense.


    With a pink flush spreading over his cheeks, Duodun abruptly stood up, and it seemed like he was about to angrily snap at the Dragon King. Sitting beside him, the Second Consort was also shocked, but moreposed than Duodun. She nced at him and signaled him to sit down.


    Shulitu and Fang Wenshi had been informed of this beforehand, so they remained silent.


    The one who was the most surprised was Mo Chu himself, as he had attended this meeting with apletely indifferent attitude. There had even been a couple moments when his eyes had felt so droopy that he almost fell asleep. When he heard his nameing out of the Dragon King¡¯s mouth, he was startled awake. Even after, he jerked his head up and looked around in confusion, as if he had just woken up from a nightmare.


    Soon, the generals realized that they were misbehaving, and they fell silent one by one. With a smile, the Second Consort said, ¡°The Dragon King rmended you as the Commander-in-chief of the allied forces, old General Mo Chu.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Mo Chu seemed as if he couldn¡¯t even articte his words properly. ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t. I¡¯m too old¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re more experienced than Luoluo,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°But for all these past years, I¡¯ve always been a counselor¡­¡±


    ¡°Experience can¡¯t be lost. More importantly, the Khan put the 70,000 cavalrymen of the Western Regions under yourmand. I trusted the Khan, and so I trust you.¡±


    The real reason why the Khan had put Mo Chu inmand of the 70,000-strong Nond army was because Mo Chu was so old and feeble that his favorite son Duodun should have had a chance to rece Mo Chu. But the Khan had never told any outsiders about this intent of his. Duodun and the Second Consort had their spections, but they couldn¡¯t tell anybody else either.


    Even after so many years, the title ¡°Khan¡± still had its magical influence on any citizen of the grasnds, let alone in this circumstance. These generals, who had attended this meeting as observers, suddenly felt that the Dragon King¡¯s rmendation was somehow reasonable ¡ª why would the Khan choose Mo Chu if he was ipetent?


    Duodun¡¯s face reddened with anger. Yet again, he had made thorough preparations and set a trap, but all for naught. The Dragon King had merely taken a detour around it.


    The Second Consort had to stealthily pull on the tail of his clothes in case the prince lost control of himself.


    ¡°Ha-ha, I think that I must be blushing. The Dragon King discovered an extraordinary talent among the Nonders, but I was unaware of him all along. Old General, please excuse me.¡± The Second Consort¡¯s face was full of smiles.


    Mo Chu stood there, transfixed, as he replied, ¡°Uh¡­ But I really don¡¯t have enough energy to¡­¡±


    ¡°s.¡± The Second Consort didn¡¯t agree with him, and said, ¡°We are in a moment of crisis, old General, so please help us out. I approve of Mo Chu being the Commander-in-chief. What do you think, Prince Duodun?¡±


    Duodun still believed that Liman had a chance. <em>Mo Chu¡¯s a mole who has been colluding with the Unique King, and his just deserts would be a public beheading. How can I let him be the Commander-in-chief? </em>But the Second Consort¡¯s signal was very obvious, so he had to force a smile onto his face and reply, ¡°As the saying goes, ¡®I sit under a tree, but fail to see the tree.¡¯ General Mo Chu is the Commander-in-chief of my army, and he¡¯s also my teacher. It was my fault that I had failed to think of him earlier. I approve of him being the Commander-in-chief.¡±


    ¡°As do I,¡± said Shulitu immediately. ¡°General Mo Chu is indeed our best choice.¡±


    All the generals, who had been extremely surprised previously, changed their attitudes instantly. The speed of their change was far faster than the me Foal¡¯s running speed.


    Mo Chu still wanted to refuse, but he no longer had a choice. Some impatient generals had even already rushed out of the tent to dere the results.


    The election of the Commander-in-chief went so smoothly that all of the troops were greatly surprised. Many of them even felt relieved as theymented, ¡°It seems that this alliance is serious.¡±


    But the meeting in the tent wasn¡¯t over yet. They had designated their Commander-in-chief, but they still need deputymanders, and the choices were very obvious ¡ª each of the four armies designated one. As expected, Li Shun, Azheba and Liman were all appointed deputymanders. And the Dragon Army naturally designated Dugu Xian without any objections. Just like Azheba, Dugu Xian had received an enormous promotion, skipping several ranks.


    With this move, Gu Shenwei had partially achieved his goal ¡ª blindsiding his opponent.


    After returning to their tent, the Second Consort started lecturing Duodun with a cold face. ¡°Your performance back there was too careless. Even Shulitu was moreposed than you.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s with the Dragon King¡­ Fine, I acknowledge my mistake. But I still can¡¯t understand why we made Mo Chu the Commander-in-chief. If we join hands, we can definitely overturn the Dragon King¡¯s rmendation.¡±


    ¡°Because nominally, Mo Chu¡¯s your man.¡± The Second Consort became even more severe. ¡°Even if we seed, people will question the unity of our army. Is that what you want?¡±


    Duodun didn¡¯t know how to reply to this.


    The Second Consort let out a soft sigh as she eased her tone to say, ¡°Now, you¡¯re going to have topete with the Dragon King for control of Mo Chu, so stop making mistakes. We used to have the upper hand, but now we¡¯re standing on the same starting line as him now.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was ready for war.

 Chapter 826 - A Letter of Challenge

    Chapter 826: A Letter of Challenge


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Mo Chu had gone through many ups and downs in his life. He had once served in a position only second to the king, and he had also been a prisoner before. Even the numerous crises he¡¯d survived in the past couldn¡¯tpare to the shock and suspicion he felt now. He even felt horrified.


    Sitting in the Commander-in-chief¡¯s tent, he met batch after batch of generals, drew up ns, nned routes, and assigned tasks ¡ª these were all routine procedures and he had no difficulty carrying them out. The Dragon King¡¯s troops and Duodun¡¯s were receiving equal treatment. Mo Chu had only spared a few positions for his own followers.


    The first night passed quietly.


    As he got up very early the next day, Mo Chu regained hisposure. He ordered the army to break camp and waited for the two sides to approach him.


    Duodun and the Dragon King adopted entirely different approaches.


    When he was taking his noon nap, Liman entered his tent and sent Prince Duodun¡¯s greetings and the Second Consort¡¯s invitation. However, nobody on the Dragon King¡¯s side said anything to him the entire day. Dugu Xian and Li Shun merely fulfilled their duties normally and didn¡¯t make a single extra remark.


    His meetings with the Second Consort and Duodun were all pleasant. All three of them were people that the Khan had valued greatly when he was alive, so they naturally had a lot to talk about. Mo Chu sentimentality recalled that he had once drunk the ¡°urine wine¡± made by Duodun, which quickly bound the two together.


    Duodun ordered all of the officers who had participated in the previous mutiny to apologize to old general. Everyone of them drank a big bowl of wine, severely reprimanded themselves for their prior deeds, pulled out their sabers, and requested him to punish them with death.


    Mo Chu magnanimously forgave all of them as he said, ¡°To be honest, your deeds remind me of the Khan, Your Highness. Heh-heh. Back then, with only a few guards, he once stormed into the camp of our front lines and questioned the Commander-in-chief why he hadn¡¯tunched an attack yet. The troops performed brilliantly in that battle and it was one of the most wonderful battles that the Nond cavalry has ever fought.¡±


    Duodun didn¡¯t apologize himself. His main goal was to disy the loyalty of his subordinates. Indeed, as long as he gave the order, dozens of officers, including several of his closestpanions, would take their own lives before the old general.


    Meanwhile, the Second Consort was responsible for mediating between them. ¡°The Khan must have had his own profound reasons to have sent the both of you to the Western Regions. s, it was a pity that he ascended to the Heavens too early, and didn¡¯t leave any clear instructions about a lot of things, which has caused many misunderstandings.¡±


    Of course, Mo Chu understood what those ¡°profound reasons¡± were, but he pretended otherwise. ¡°That¡¯s true. The Khan was a visionary ruler and he never made useless arrangements. I really wish that I knew what he was thinking, but I can only be sure of one thing ¡ª that he definitely appreciated prince¡¯s straightforwardness and decisiveness. Ha-ha.¡±


    The Second Consort also burst intoughter at Mo Chu¡¯sment. ¡°The grasnds absolutely needs straightforward and decisive people, especially now. The Khan identally ascended to the Heavens, and now the Nondcks a leader. Everybody wants to grab a slice of the pie, and even outsiders have their own malicious [;pts.¡±


    Mo Chu nodded his head repeatedly, but refused to make any concrete remarks.


    The Second Consort was too embarrassed to continue talking, so she signaled one of Duodun¡¯spanions to speak up.


    ¡°Golden Roc Castle is nothing more than a small sect in the Western Regions. Shangguan Fa shamelessly calls himself the ¡®Unique King,¡¯ but he¡¯s merely the leader of some killers. It was really surprising that he actually dared to interfere in Nond affairs.¡±


    Amazed, Mo Chu asked, ¡°Golden Roc Castle interfered in the Nond¡¯s disputes?¡±


    ¡°A member of the Unique King¡¯s advisory board is working as a counselor in Luoluo¡¯s army,¡± Duodun answered readily. ¡°It is said that Golden Roc Castle will hand over Thousand Horsemen Pass to Luoluo. Since the Dragon King has an irreconcble hatred with the Unique King, he must have assigned many spies to Jade City. Thus, this news should be reliable.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the Dragon King has spies everywhere, even in Heaven¡¯s Pass,¡± Mo Chu replied perfunctorily, looking preupied.


    After drinking for a little bit more, all of the officers took their leave, leaving just three people in the tent. Duodun made his intentions clear at this point. ¡°The Dragon King suspects that you¡¯ve been colluding with Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    ¡°No way!¡± Mo Chu¡¯s face was filled with shock. ¡°I may be the Governor of Jade City, but I seldom have any contact with Golden Roc Castle. Besides¡­ I¡¯m just an old man. Why would Golden Roc Castle even bribe me?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s counselor almost publicly dered that the old general¡¯s a mole,¡± said Duodun coldly. ¡°Of course, I don¡¯t believe that. But what does the Dragon King really think?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s sinister and sly,¡± added the Second Consort. ¡°His rmending you as Commander-in-chief was definitely not born out of any good intentions. The one he truly wanted to rmend was actually Dugu Xian. You have to be careful, old general.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha. There¡¯s no need to worry. The Dragon King¡¯s merely an outsider. I think that his strength in the Western Regions is not even as great as Golden Roc Castle¡¯s, right? I have prince Duodun and the young king on my side, so why should I be afraid of him?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. When ites to experience and vision, we youngsters can neverpare to you, old general. The Dragon King¡¯s basically a little worm; he can never be a threat to us.¡±


    For the rest of the time, they just enjoyed the feeling of drinking wine. After making the excuse that he was going to lead the army to somewhere the next day, Mo Chu left Duodun¡¯s tent before the third night-watch. For a Nond wine feast, leaving at this time was actually a little early.


    Duodun¡¯s face went cold as soon as Mo Chu exited. ¡°Such a wily old fox. I should have taken him down a peg.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t do that yet. At least wait until we beat back Luoluo.¡±


    Duodun frowned ¡ª he was also a little discontented with the Second Consort. ¡°You talked too much just now. People might think that I have no opinions of my own.¡±


    The Second Consort smiled and stroked Duodun¡¯s strong back as she mildly replied, ¡°Fine. Whatever you say, I¡¯ll just listen quietly from now on.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m asking you to say less, not say nothing.¡±


    The Second Consort nodded obediently. Having served the Khan for many years, she clearly understood when she should be discourteous and when to be tame. ¡°Rest assured. Mo Chu wouldn¡¯t dare switch sides to the Dragon King¡¯s. Additionally, the Dragon King¡¯s strength is far from being enough to take over the Nond. Both of them are your pawns, and I¡¯m no exception.¡±


    A strong desire arose in Duodun¡¯s heart, but he had his sense of propriety. As he held the Second Consort¡¯s hand, he said in a gentle voice that he would reveal to anybody else, ¡°You¡¯re not a pawn, but rather my hands. You advise me and control the pawns for me.¡±


    The next day, during the early morning, news came in from the front lines that Luoluo had stopped his westward advance after hearing that the allied forces were prepared to fight against him. Currently, his army was stationed near Thousand Horsemen Pass, and he had issued them a letter of challenge.


    This letter of challenge was delivered to the camp a dayter, and its contents caused a minor scandal.


    The letter¡¯s address only contained four words: ¡°To the Dragon King¡±


    The letter of challenge was very brief, and its gist was that the residents of the grasnds had been suffering from wars for too long. So, they should put an end to the chaotic situation by having a final showdown. Duodun and Shulitu¡¯s names were each only mentioned once in the letter, and Luoluo even expressed his hopes that the Dragon King would take good care of the two descendants of the Khan, as if they were hostages.


    Gu Shenwei believed that Zhang Ji was the one who had written this letter.


    The contents of the letter quickly spread through the entire camp. At first, the troops were angry with Luoluo, believing he had deliberately scorned the two princes. But before long, other suspicions risen in the minds of many people, who started to ask themselves, <em>¡°Who exactly does this army belong to? If the enemy wins, then Luoluo will naturally be the new Khan. But, what about the allied forces? Do we have to have another showdown if we win this one? Would friends who have been fighting side by side for years have to turn on each other as soon as the first war concludes?¡±</em>


    Fang Wenshi drafted a vehement letter in reply. It directly pointed out that Luoluo¡¯s family background was suspicious and that he didn¡¯t even have a im to the throne, much less the qualifications to interfere in the affairs of the Khan¡¯s descendants. But in private, he admitted that Zhang Ji had made a brilliant move. ¡°This is troublesome, Dragon King. Currently, not many people have reached blind and disorderly conjectures, but we have to stop this trend as soon as possible.¡±


    Duodun also felt that this was an urgent issue. Although he saw the Dragon King and Shulitu as rivals, he wouldn¡¯t gain any benefits from the alliance dissolving at this time.


    With their respective considerations temporarily set aside, all parties of the alliance put down their guard and plots and called a meeting to consult each other. They unanimously agreed that it was necessary for them to make a clear statement to all the troops about the current situation and the future.


    The next day, the entire army took a day off. Duodun and Shulitu walked to the rostrum hand in hand. They publicly swore to God that they would never resort to war to resolve the disputes between them, and that whoever seeded to the throne would confer the title of King to the other.


    Additionally, all eighteen 10,000-men armies would be rewarded after the final showdown against Luoluo ording to their personal contributions. The nine armies who fought the most valiantly would be granted the right to vote for the new Khan. Naturally, the only two candidates were the two descendants of the Khan.


    Unprecedentedly, the two 10,000-men armies under the Dragon King¡¯smand were also eligible topete for the voting right. This was the first time that an outsider had been allowed to participate in the Khan¡¯s election in any way, but there was a unanimous consensus among the other armies that Western Region soldiers could never fight more valiantly than the Nond cavalrymen. That was because their main weapons were spears, and they didn¡¯t even know how to shoot from horseback.


    After that, Duodun and Shulitu conferred the title ¡°The Dragon King of the Western Regions¡± to the Dragon King and made a promise that the new Khan would officially confer a king¡¯s title to him. The words ¡°Western Regions¡± in his title imposed a restriction upon the Dragon King, and Gu Shenwei also stated that he had no intention topete for the rule of the grasnds.


    After the army broke camp once again, Fang Wenshi finally felt relieved. ¡°Ha-ha, Zhang Ji and Luoluo were hoisted on their own petards. They tried to drive a wedge between us, but they only boosted our army¡¯s morale instead. Now, everybody¡¯s yearning for the war and ready to go all out.¡±


    This right to vote was extremely precious. As long as the 10,000-men armies voted for the right candidate, they would surely be the Court Attendants Army of the new Khan and receive numerous rewards and privileges. Thus, this condition would undoubtedly spark some rivalries.


    Fang Wenshi started to analyze their advantages. ¡°Those former Court Attendants soldiers can be organized into four 10,000-men armies. I¡¯ll be surprised if they fail to fight valiantly. As long as we manage to form another 10,000-men, Shulitu¡¯s victory will be assured.¡±


    Dugu Xian didn¡¯t care about who would be the new Khan, and he only focused on an obvious omission. ¡°This 180,000-men army is too huge. You can¡¯t even see its tail from its head. Once the war starts, the situation will soon devolve into a chaotic bem. Besides God, nobody will be able to clearly see the battle situation. This means that it will be impossible to judge which army is fighting valiantly and which army isn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Every time a war ends, the troops are rewarded ording to their contributions. Are you saying that they always do this arbitrarily?¡± Fang Wenshi was not convinced by Dugu Xian¡¯s argument.


    ¡°Of course not. But generally, there¡¯s only one Commander-in-chief or one king in a war. And it is he who will choose the most valiant soldiers ording to what he can personally see. As for the battles taking ce out of his sight, he will delegate the rights to his vice Commander-in-chiefs, the left and right wings. But our army is a little moreplicated than that.¡±


    Gu Shenwei understood what Dugu Xian was trying to say. The decisive factor of the fight for the throne was not the most valiant 10,000-men armies, but rather the life-or-death fight between Shulitu and Duodun during the meeting to dole outmendations after the war.


    ¡°Let¡¯s put it aside for now. Currently, defeating Luoluo is our foremost issue,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Fang Wenshi was a little disappointed. Although he had an encyclopedic mind, hecked in-depth knowledge about wars. After a while, his eyes suddenly lit up, ¡°Actually it will be better for us if the rivalry between Duodun and Shulitu reaches a deadlock. That way, we can take advantage of the opportunity to take Thousand Horsemen Pass, and thus cut off the other arm of Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    Gu Shenwei believed that this was a viable n. Without Thousand Horsemen Pass and Heaven¡¯s Pass, Jade City¡¯s gateways would be wide open. This would iste Golden Roc Castle, cing it in checkmate.


    ¡°After we defeat Luoluo, the Central ins will be the only force that Golden Roc Castle can turn to,¡± Gu Shenwei judged.


    Fang Wenshi freelymented, ¡°With General Dugu here, I won¡¯t be of much help to the army, much less on the battlefield. I might as well pay a visit to the Central ins and make preparations in advance. That way, we¡¯ll be able to cut off Golden Roc Castle¡¯s retreat when we¡¯re ready to make our move.¡±


    Gu Shenwei gave his consent. ¡°Keep an eye out for Wei Song. He might ruin the n. Find his enemies if possible.¡±


    Fang Wenshi smiled. ¡°I understand. The Dragon King wants to sever Wei Song¡¯s rtions with the Central ins, right? To be honest, I have done some research beforehand. This n might work.¡±

 Chapter 827 - Seeking Help

    Chapter 827: Seeking Help


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    After a frosty night, the temperature had dropped drastically. The horses kept snorting restlessly, and every breath came out as arge puff of white steam. On a small hill, Gu Shenwei was mounted on a horse as he surveyed the huge army extending towards the horizon.


    ording to the report of the scouts, the size of the armies that were mustered to the north of Thousand Horsemen Pass had exceeded their previous expectations.


    Dugu Xian had prepared a general outline of the current situation and was now briefing the others. He pointed with his sole remaining arm, saying, ¡°To the east of Thousand Horsemen Pass, a Central-ins army is stationed at the foot of a hill. We can barely see them from here, but there are around 20,000 of them.¡±


    ¡°There are Central-ins troops here?¡± Gu Shenwei was a little surprised by that fact. He thought that all of the Central-ins armies stationed in the Western Regions had been wiped out.


    Dugu Xian nodded and exined, ¡°The Lon Kingdom¡¯s main force that had been stationed in the Central ins was eradicated. Somehow, this one slipped through the. They might have been nning on taking advantage of this opportunity to upy Thousand Horsemen Pass; however, any ns they had were halted after they ran into Luoluo¡¯s army.¡±


    ¡°Luoluo didn¡¯t attack the camps of the Central ins army as soon as he saw them?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing that Luoluo¡¯s strategy is to first defeat us first with his full strength. If he wins this war, then all the other forces who have been maintaining a neutral stance will take his side, and that Central-ins army will also surrender without fighting.¡±


    Luoluo¡¯s army had set camp about twenty to thirty miles north of the camp of the Central-ins army, by a nearby river. From a distance, their camps seemed like a vast swamp that had sprouted near the river, which was boundless and countless byparison.


    ¡°The number of Luoluo¡¯s troops has exceeded 200,000,¡± Dugu Xian continued to say. ¡°Many tribes from the eastern part of the grasnds have joined him. They¡¯re stationed to the northwest of Luoluo¡¯s main camp, and their forces number at least 30,000 to 40,000 strong. They will act as the forces that will harass our left wing.¡±


    Dugu Xian¡¯s arm arced as he pointed to the north. ¡°There¡¯s another group of tribes who havee to watch the battle over there. They haven¡¯t decided which side to support yet. The Naihang Tribe is the one that¡¯s closest to us.¡±


    The Naihang Tribe had reached the the battlefield¡¯s boundaries a day in advance. It was not until the allied forces had arrived that General Zhe Su finally moved their camps forward. They had picked the location of their camps very smartly ¡ª they had purposefully evaded the area in front of Luoluo¡¯s army so as to reduce Luoluo¡¯s hostility towards them. At the same time, they were also not camped too away from the allied forces, showing some exclusive closeness to them.


    Further to the north, dozens of tribal armies were randomly scattered across a vast stretch of grasnd. They all kept a simr distances from the two warring sides of the final showdown.


    The Naihang Tribe hade here because Gu Shenwei and Liman had persuaded Zhe Su into doing so, while all the other tribes hade uninvited. ¡°Their intelligenceworks are amazing,¡± Gu Shenweimented. It had only been several days since he had made the decision to ept the challenge, but so many forces had stille in time to spectate.


    ¡°Luoluo sent news about the showdown to all of the tribes a long time ago.¡±


    ¡°But we were thest one to know.¡±


    ¡°Luoluo¡¯s messengers were pretty spot-on with their timing. Also, all of the spectating tribes traveled nonstop to get here. Since yesterday, many tribes have sent their regards to the two princes.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t ask more questions about that subject. This kind of greeting was nearly worthless. No matter how many of these greetings Duodun and Shulitu received, Luoluo would receive just as many, if not more.


    This was an open gamble. The winner would win the allegiance of the majority of tribes, and it would thus pave the way for their session to the throne. The Nonders venerated the strong, and they had never tried to keep that a secret.


    Long Fanyun reminded, ¡°Some people from the Naihang Tribe areing.¡±


    A dozen knights were rapidly riding towards this hignd. Long Fanyun and fifty guards fell into a formation. Tie Linglong raised her guard and whipped out her saber. Han Fen craned her neck, trying to get a better view. Mo Lin was the mostposed, but he also moved a little closer to the Dragon King.


    These were all of the people around Gu Shenwei.


    It was General Zhe Su who hade. He stopped ten steps away, ignoring all the guards, and asked ¡°Are you here to explore the terrain, Dragon King? The battlefield¡¯s right before you. When do you n on starting the war? Everybody¡¯s been waiting anxiously.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pointed at the army camps of the myriad tribes in the north as he replied, ¡°Some audience members haven¡¯t arrived yet. We might as well wait.¡±


    Zhe Su nced over his shoulder briefly, looking beyond his camps to further ones. Most of the tribes who hade to spectate hadn¡¯t brought many cavalrymen ¡ª ranging from dozens to 2,000 or 3,000 at the most. The Naihang Tribe was the only one that had led an army of around 100,000 soldiers here, which made it the most powerful force apart from the two sides that were about to fight in the imminent war.


    ¡°Ha-ha, as long as you understand, that¡¯s fine. I have already sent someone to talk to Luoluo. He¡¯s a pushover ¡ª he has already agreed to let the Naihang Tribe select the King Rizhu ourselves.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯ve gotten what you want, General.¡±


    ¡°I have to thank you, Dragon King. If it weren¡¯t for that time that you persuaded me, the Naihang Tribe would have missed this good opportunity.¡±


    ¡°We have our own respective needs, so you don¡¯t have to be so polite, General.¡± Back them. Gu Shenwei had only been trying to encourage Shulitu to fight, and he had achieved his ends as well.


    ¡°Ha-ha, you¡¯re a straightforward man, Dragon King. To be honest, I hope that you win. After all, the young king is old King Rizhu¡¯s maternal grandson and he¡¯s also rted to the Naihang Tribe. I¡¯d have a clearer conscience if we supported him. So please do your best, Dragon King. Even if you and Luoluo draw, I¡¯ll still join the fight.¡±


    Before the Dragon King could respond, Zhe Su had already turned his horse around and left with his guards.


    ¡°He nagged on for so long. What exactly was he trying to say?¡± Tie Linglong put her saber away, as she asked in confusion.


    Gu Shenwei watched Zhe Su¡¯s receding figure, ¡°First, he said that doesn¡¯t believe we can win this war. Luoluo¡¯s army must¡¯ve given him a very deep impression. Second, if by any chance we do win, Shulitu will be the only one that he supports and I have to get rid of Duodun and the Second Consort.¡±


    Because of Duo Ercha¡¯s recklessness, it was now impossible for the Naihang Tribe to ally with Duodun.


    ¡°Ha,¡± Tie Linglong let out a snicker as she said. Unlikemon guards and killers, he dared to speak before the Dragon King. ¡°This guy really knows how to bluff.¡±


    The Naihang Tribe was a strong force to be reckoned with, so they naturally dared to talk big, and this had already be an ingrained habit and tradition of theirs. But Gu Shenwei had a premonition that this situation wouldn¡¯tst for long. The old Khan had wanted to eliminate the tribal forces of the Queen¡¯s family, and his wish would eventuallye true.


    ¡°We¡¯ve been observing for long enough. We should return,¡± Dugu Xian said fairly worriedly. They were far away from their own camps. Although they could see the enemies from here, the enemies could also easily see them in return.


    Gu Shenwei led the way back as they rode down the hill. First he rode southwards, nning to acquaint himself with the battlefield environment before he would turn to check on the camps in the west.


    Tie Linglong was the first one to notice the unusual movements ahead. ¡°Some other people are headed toward us.¡±


    This time, the pursuers wereing from the east, where Luoluo¡¯s camps were located.


    Long Fanyun immediately whipped out his saber as he said, ¡°Please leave first, Dragon King and General Dugu. I¡¯ll cover you.¡±


    With the me Foal, Gu Shenwei dashed forward a distance to see what was going on and then returned after watching for a while. ¡°It¡¯s not us that they¡¯re after.¡±


    As expected, dozens of Nond cavalrymen were pursuing seven or eight knights. During the time when Gu Shenwei and the others had been discerning their identities, two knights had already been shot down from their horses.


    ¡°It might be a trap. You should retreat first, Dragon King,¡± Long Fanyun had also grown to have a suspicious mind.


    With his familiarity with other countries¡¯ armies, Dugu Xian said, ¡°It seems that they¡¯re from the Central ins.¡±


    Gu Shenwei made a snap decision. ¡°Help them.¡±


    Uncertain as he was, Long Fanyun still followed his orders and organized the guards into a formation, preparing to fight.


    The guards he had brought with him this time were all savages. They hadn¡¯t been in the forest for a very long time, but they still couldn¡¯t speak much of the Central ins¡¯nguage. They liked riding, yet they never excelled in it. But if they stood still, their archery was excellent ¡ª even greatly exceeding the skill of the normal Nond soldiers.


    Long Fanyun loudly dered, ¡°We¡¯re the young king¡¯s soldiers!¡±


    The fleeing Central insmen seemed to recognize the call, and reacted by rushing straight towards them.


    Long Fanyun gave an order and all the guards released their arrows, which were aimed at the pursuers behind the fleeing Central insmen. A dozen Nond soldiers were instantly downed. Astounded, the rest of the pursuers turned their horses back and fled right away.


    The Central insmen had suffered heavy casualties, with only one surviving horse among their group. On the horse, there were two people, both of whom Gu Shenwei recognized.


    Fan Yongda of Kongtong Sect was rejoiced as he eximed, ¡°It¡¯s really you, Dragon King!¡±


    Behind him, Tu Pianpian was standing on the horse¡¯s back, with one hand resting on her Martial Nephew¡¯s shoulder and the other holding a crutch. It was her who had parried the arrows shooting at them from behind. ¡°Why are you so surprised? I already told you this. Where¡¯s my brother, Dragon King?¡±


    Dog Butcher and the others had been assigned to the Jade City. Gu Shenwei ordered his group to return without answering Tu Pianpian¡¯s question.


    The camps of the allied forces were also located near a river and a mountain, which took up a vast area.


    Gu Shenwei led the two Kongtong Sect members directly into his tent and then said, ¡°Tell me. Why were you doing there?¡±


    Tu Pianpian snorted derision and replied with her previous question. ¡°Where¡¯s my younger brother?¡±


    Ufortable with her tone, Fan Yongda tried to persuade her by saying, ¡°Aunt Master, the Dragon King just saved our lives ¡ª ¡±


    ¡°Did we need him to do that? Even without the Dragon King, I could still have held all the pursuers back. And if not, I would have dismounted from the horse and killed them all.¡±


    Fan Yongda showed a bitter smile to the Dragon King. He clearly knew that if they had continued riding, while they themselves might have enough strength to do escape, that the horse would definitely have be exhausted at some point. And with regards to Tu Pianpian¡¯s backup n of dismounting from their horse to fight, the Nonders would never have approached them, only shooting at them from far away. In other words, if it weren¡¯t for the Dragon King, they would have definitely been killed by now.


    Gu Shenwei was in no hurry. Taking a cup of tea from Tie Linglong, he took a sip and ndly stated, ¡°Then it seems that you have nothing urgent to tell me.¡± And then he turned around and started reading the map on his desk.


    The heralds went in and out of his continuously, and it was after quite a while that the Dragon King¡¯s tent fell quiet once more. During all this time, the two from Kongtong Sect had been constantly ignored. Tu Pianpian¡¯s face grew redder and redder. Fan Yongda had meant to speak several times, but had been stopped everytime by her.


    Eventually, she yielded, and stabbed the ground with her crutch in frustration. ¡°You won. I can¡¯t defeat you. And I don¡¯t care about whether Dog Butcher¡¯s alive or not ¡ª ¡±


    Gu Shenwei raised his hand and signaled for her to shut up. After a while, he turned around, and said, ¡°Now talk.¡±


    Tu Pianpian flushed with anger, ¡°What are you doing? Putting on useless airs?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded as he replied, ¡°Yes, because I¡¯m the Dragon King.¡±


    Fan Yongda couldn¡¯t help take a step forward and kneeling down on his knees when he heard that. ¡°Dragon King, we¡¯re here to ask you for help.¡±


    Tu Pianpian was stunned by the Dragon King¡¯s remarks. Upon seeing her Martial Nephew kneel on the ground, she didn¡¯t tried to stop him either. Rather, she just stood silently to the side.


    Gu Shenwei signaled Fan Yongda to stand up to talk.


    ¡°100,000 Central-ins troops are trapped. Please send your army to save them, Dragon King. We can easily defeat Luoluo if we join hands.¡±


    ¡°100,000?¡±


    Fan Yongda flushed as he replied, ¡°Nominally the limit is 100,000. However, it varies between 70,000 to 80,000¡­ 60¡­ 60,000¡­¡±


    ¡°Less than 20,000! Stop the bragging!¡± Tu Pianpian reprimanded angrily. She wasn¡¯t willing to lower her head before the Dragon King, but she also didn¡¯t want to lie.


    Fan Yongda¡¯s face became even redder. ¡°Yes. 18,000 men. Please send reinforcements as soon as possible, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei gave two taps on the surface of the desk, ¡°My troops here are also Nonders, yet you want me to save an army from the Central ins?¡±


    Tu Pianpian hurriedly interrupted to ask, ¡°Dragon King, won¡¯t you even save your own woman?¡±


    ¡°My own woman?¡±


    ¡°The one in Jade City. Her name¡¯s Luo Ningcha or something I believe. Isn¡¯t she your woman?¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s face darkened, ¡°She¡¯s the Unique King¡¯s daughter-inw. It was her husband who led the team and killed all the members of the Gu family.¡±


    Tu Pianpian was confused and lost ¡ª this waspletely different from what Luo Ningcha had told her with absolute assurance.


    Fan Yongda took a step forward, but in the end, he backed off under the aggressive gaze of Tie Linglong and Han Fen. In a low whisper, he said, ¡°To be honest, Dragon King, there¡¯s a heavyweight in the Central-ins army. If you offer enough help, he can make sure that the Central ins support you with all their strength ¡ª they may be even willing to cede the whole Western Regions to you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stayed silent, waiting for Fan Yongda to continue.


    Fan Yongda had thought that the Dragon King would have the guards leave, but after a while, seeing that the Dragon King had no intentions of doing so, he had no choice but to repeat in an even lower voice, ¡°The incumbent emperor¡¯s uncle¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned to Tu Pianpian, and said, ¡°There, Dog Butcher¡¯s fine. He¡¯s in Jade City.¡±

 Chapter 828 - Three Armies

    Chapter 828: Three Armies


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Duodun had been in a foul mood recently. He didn¡¯t like the current impasse, but the people around him couldn¡¯t think of a clean solution either. He knew the importance of being patient, but he still hoped that some of his subordinates could help relieve some of the pressure on him.


    The fight for the throne was not a cause that concerned him alone. <em>The ones who want fame and status must be the first to contribute </em>¡ª this was Duodun¡¯s philosophy.


    More than half of the pressure on Duodun could be attributed to the Dragon King ¡ª the outsider who, originally, hadn¡¯t even been qualified to vie with him.


    ¡°The Dragon King went to scout out the battlefield?¡± asked Duodun severely. ¡°Why didn¡¯t anyone tell me this earlier? He¡¯s already returned and you¡¯re only telling me about this now?¡±


    Although Liman and Azheba had been promoted to senior generals, they still acted just as respectfully as they used to before Duodun. But Duodun¡¯s otherpanions now had to take care to avoid making any noise every time they breathed. Everybody clearly understood that their prince¡¯s temper wasn¡¯t going to cool down before he defeated his opponents.


    Since Azheba was responsible for spying on the Dragon King, he lowered his head in remorse, and confessed, ¡°It is my fault. The Dragon King often leaves his tent, and he didn¡¯t bring many guards with him this morning. So, I thought that this visit was no big deal and neglected to fulfill my duty.¡±


    ¡°You thought?¡± Duodun tried hard to subdue his anger. He signaled his otherpanions to leave, leaving only Azheba and Liman in the tent with him. ¡°Do you know why the Dragon King did all that? It¡¯s an act! He wants all the troops to get used to this idea that he ¡ª the Dragon King ¡ª is the leader of this army. This is a¡­ life-or-death fight, and we can¡¯t afford to back off a single inch. But because of you, my opponent now has the upper hand.¡±


    The blush on Azheba¡¯s face extended to his neck as he mumbled repeatedly, ¡°It¡¯s my fault.¡±


    Liman interjected to say, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that your concern is unnecessary, Your Highness. Not many people know about what the Dragon King did this morning, so it won¡¯t exert any strong influence to the troops.¡±


    Squinting at Liman, Duodun felt that he was bing less and less fond of Liman. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that Second Consort had highly rmended him, Liman never would have reached such an important position so quickly. ¡°How long has it been since you first met the Dragon King, Liman?¡±


    ¡°A couple of months¡­ maybe half a year.¡±


    ¡°Have you seen everything that he has done?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Is he an honorable man?¡±


    ¡°Not exactly,¡± answered Liman hesitantly.


    ¡°How many unexpected actions has he made since he set foot in the Royal Court?¡±


    ¡°Many.¡±


    ¡°If I say that the Dragon King¡¯s good at disguising himself as a god or a ghost, I would be right, right? I heard that it was exactly through these kinds of tricks that he managed to delude the Court Attendants Army.¡±


    ¡°Uh-¡± Liman found this question difficult to answer.


    ¡°Humph! You¡¯ve been deluded by him too,¡± Duodun said disdainfully. ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s a formidable opponent. I have to assume that everything he does has a deeper purpose. Better to be cautious than to be sorry.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s a very sensible man,¡± said Liman boldly, believing that his duty was not tovish praise onto the prince, but rather to point out the apparent truth. ¡°All he wants is the Western Regions ¡ªspecifically speaking, Jade City. The only thing you have to do is focus on your fight against Luoluo and Shulitu. In the end, the Dragon King will naturally ally himself with the strongest one contestant.¡±


    Duodun raised his arm and put it on Liman¡¯s shoulder, his voice bing much gentler. ¡°You¡¯re right. But you forgot about one thing ¡ª the Khan never allies himself with anyone. And the Dragon King will never yield to anybody either. Thus, he¡¯s destined to be the enemy of the new Khan. This has nothing to do with where his ambition lies, and neither does it have anything to do with who will seed to the throne.¡±


    The expression on Liman¡¯s face changed drastically. He wanted to kneel down, but Duodun firmly grabbed his arms and stopped him from doing so.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, Your Highness. I was wrong.¡±


    Duodun gave a gentle punch to Liman and Azheba¡¯s chests ¡ª no matter how sick of the situation he was, he could always assume an air of amiability. He smiled and said, ¡°I might have been too hard on you two. You don¡¯t mind, do you?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± the two answered staunchly at the same time.


    ¡°Shulitu¡¯s just a kid and we don¡¯t have to worry about him. We only have two real enemies ¡ª Luoluo and the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Luoluo and the Dragon King,¡± the two repeated in sync.


    An intent look appeared in Duodun¡¯s eyes. Although these two people¡¯s allegiance to him were not absolute, their core had never changed, which meant they were still useful to him. ¡°If we want to defeat the Dragon King, then we have to be as ruthless and unscrupulous as he is.¡±


    Liman and Azheba raised their heads at the same time, both having a premonition that the prince was about to sat something important.


    ¡°We have an imminent war before us. Isn¡¯t this a bad time to startpeting with the Dragon King?¡± Azheba was confused.


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly why he won¡¯t expect it,¡± exined Duodun patiently. Now that he had put these two subordinates under hisplete control, he could disclose some of his true ns to them. ¡°As for Luoluo, I haven¡¯t forgotten him. Actually, I¡¯ve already contacted him.¡±


    Transfixed with shock, Liman and Azheba stared at their prince mutely. Neither of them could speak at this moment.


    Duodun smiled. Yes, this was the exact effect that he had wanted to see.


    ¡°But¡­ ¡± Liman finally spoke. ¡°Your Highness and Luoluo-¡±


    ¡°There will be a fight between us, but not right now. Luoluo doesn¡¯t want to waste any time here. He wants to finish this war quickly and then set out to deal with the Central-ins army in the east. Meanwhile, I want to first eliminate my enemies in the west. So, we made a deal.¡±


    ¡°To have the Dragon King die on the battlefield?¡± Liman could make a general guess about the prince¡¯s n.


    ¡°Mm.¡± Duodun turned around, cleaned up the papers on the desk, produced his dagger, and stabbed it into the desk. ¡°Let¡¯s say that this is the Middle Corps, consisting of the Second Consort¡¯s 10,000 men as well as the 40,000 men assigned to them by Shulitu. That old guy Mo Chu will be inmand of them, and you, Azheba will assist him.¡±


    He raised his arm again. Liman and Azheba hurriedly took out their own daggers that they always carried with them.


    Duodun stuck the second dagger to the left of his dagger. ¡°This is the left wing, which is positioned in the north. My 60,000 cavalrymen are here, and Liman willmand them.¡±


    The third dagger was heavily smashed to the right of the two daggers. Duodun pointed at it and said, ¡°This is the right wing, which will consist of Shulitu¡¯s less than 50,000 men along with the Dragon King¡¯s 20,000 men. Li Shun and that one-armed man will be themander. The Dragon Army will be positioned right beside Heavenly Mountain as the right wing.¡±


    ¡°The reason for this arrangement is because we thought that the Dragon Army wouldn¡¯t be effective enough on its own. So, we decided to assign them to the innermost area,¡± said Liman. So far, Prince Duodun hadn¡¯t said anything special yet.


    ¡°This ce is also a dead end. Fleeing will be the Dragon Army¡¯s only choice.¡±


    Azheba had also begun to understand the n. ¡°So we¡¯ll let the Dragon Army face Luoluo alone?¡±


    Most of the soldiers in the Dragon Army were new recruits from the Shule Kingdom and they barely had any fighting experience to speak of. They were particrly not adept at horseback archery and were originally only supposed to y a peripheral part in the war. Without their allies¡¯ backup, they would surely be wiped out.


    Duodun nodded.


    After exchanging a brief nce, both Liman and Azheba felt a wave of confusion rise in their minds, though the former spoke first. ¡°Shulitu¡¯s army will be the reinforcements of the Dragon King. Are we going to watch him die as well?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. Shulitu¡¯s soldiers are my soldiers. I¡¯ve already made some arrangements. On the right side, Shulitu¡¯s troops will be a bluff as they won¡¯t join the fight.¡± The more amazed the two people beside him became, the more intense the sense of satisfaction in Duodun¡¯s heart was. ¡°And with regards to the Middle Corps, the Second Consort¡¯s 10,000 cavalrymen will be under yourmand, Azheba. You know what to do.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°But your task is more than that. You have to control Mo Chu and order <em>all </em>the troops of the Middle Corps to stay put.¡±


    Biting at his lips, Azheba mulled it over for a while before answering, ¡°I can do that.¡±


    Duodun gave a heavy p to his shoulder as he eximed, ¡°This is the valiant general I need.¡±


    With regard to the left wing, Liman would be themander and Duodun would be there himself. Thus, they didn¡¯t need to discuss anything special about it.


    Liman pointed at the area opposite the three daggers, ¡°What if this is all a trap set by Luoluo? If heunches an all-out attack, all three armies will be reduced to a passive position.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I won¡¯t trust Luoluo so easily, which is why we have to be prepared for both eventualities. Besides, Luoluo also gave me a guarantee.¡± Duodun grabbed a ball of waste paper and ced it at the furthest left position. ¡°Here is the Naihang Tribe. They¡¯re here as spectators. Luoluo promised me that he would order his Middle Corps and Right Corps to turn around and attack the Naihang Tribe¡¯s army as soon as the war starts. This will be the only time that we need to watch on.¡±


    ¡°The Naihang Tribe?¡± Azheba became even more astonished by Duodun¡¯s n.


    Duodun pulled a dagger out and stabbed it into that ball of paper, ¡°The Naihang Tribe dared to be arrogant enough to interfere in thepetition for the throne. Both Luoluo and I want to eliminate them. Luoluo¡¯s army will attack them, and we¡¯ll open our gates ¡ª any soldier of Naihang Tribe will be wee to surrender to us.¡±


    This was a well-nned conspiracy that even Liman couldn¡¯t find any ws in. His only concern was that the Dragon King wouldn¡¯t fall for it that easily. ¡°Does the Second Consort know about your n, Your Highness?¡±


    Duodun¡¯s face darkened. ¡°Did the previous Khan tell everything to his woman?¡±


    Liman went quiet, and then Duodun said in a gentler voice, ¡°The Second Consort¡¯s a smart woman, but she¡¯s been strongly influenced by the Dragon King, and the best move she coulde up with was to merely to force the Dragon King into taking my side. We have to keep this n a secret from her. Once the war starts, any orders from her should be ignored. Understand?¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± Liman and Azheba answered. Actually, at this moment, this Prince Duodun before them seemed more like the Lord of the Prairie they had always imagined in their mind.


    Duodun then said to Liman, ¡°Zhe Su¡¯s your father and I¡¯ll spare him for your sake. However, the Naihang Tribe must be punished for their arrogance.¡±


    ¡°I have made it clear to my father that we will serve our own respective masters. He didn¡¯t take Your Highness¡¯s side out of consideration for me, and I won¡¯t hesitate because of our father-son rtionship either.¡±


    Duodun nodded in satisfaction and then said to Azheba, ¡°Don¡¯t screw this up because of women. I¡¯ve already forgiven you onc,e and I hope you won¡¯t disappoint me again. I¡¯m betting half of my life on you.¡±


    Azheba flushed red and wanted to kneel down, but the prince stopped him again. ¡°Please rest assured, Your Highness. I won¡¯t do anything that goes against your interests.¡±


    Duodun said to the two, ¡°Both of you appreciate the Dragon King and that¡¯s a very normal thing. Actually I myself believe that the Dragon King¡¯s a valuable talent. However, he¡¯s just too proud, and he is demanding even more than the Naihang Tribe. So, my only course of action is to eliminate him first so that I can focus on mypetition against Luoluo for the throne. Can you forget the Dragon King for me?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± the two almost raced to utter this word.


    ¡°Now, the only issue is to incite the Dragon King into starting the war as soon as possible. That way, we can minimize any chances of unexpected trouble. However, this requires our concerted efforts. I heard that the Dragon King brought back two Central insmen. Maybe I can do something with that.¡±


    Both Liman and Azheba shared Duodun¡¯s opinion. They should either wholeheartedly ally with the Dragon King or kill him in one blow. All of Prince Duodun¡¯s previous attempts had failed, but this time, they believed the odds were stacked much heavier in their favor.


    That afternoon, Duodun and the others prepared themselves for an intense debate, where their aim was to switch the allied forces¡¯ strategy from ¡°confronting the enemies but not fighting them¡± to ¡°having a showdown as soon as possible.¡±


    Unexpectedly, the Dragon King had anticipated their move.


    ¡°Tomorrow.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes swept around, looking for potential objectors as he said, ¡°I suggest that we issue a letter of challenge immediately and start the final showdown tomorrow.¡±

 Chapter 829 - Lies

    Chapter 829: Lies


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei had his own reasons for insisting on having the war start the next day, and the most important one was rted to the Naihang Tribe: Zhe Su was not an ally. This message would sooner orter spread through every corner of their camp, and it would only lower their morale even further.


    Dugu Xian had his own reasons, and it was also a principle he had always adhered to: attack was the best defense. Only by convincing the soldiers that the gap between their strength and the enemies¡¯ was not asrge as they thought would they be able to steadfastly defend themselves until winter. Otherwise, their army might even flee upon seeing their enemies.


    For the allied forces from the west, this was especially important. The war hadn¡¯t started yet, but fear had already possessed many of them. Rumors that Luoluo ruled undefeated on the eastern frontier had reached such a frenzied pitch that the idea of retreating to Heaven¡¯s Pass or Xiaowan Kingdom was starting to spread among the troops again.


    After expressing his surprise, Duodun quickly regained hisposure, and then put forward an objection. ¡°Your remarks are absolutely reasonable, Dragon King, General Dugu. But all of them are based on the assumption that we win the battle tomorrow. What if we lose? Our morale will fall even lower and more soldiers will desert.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better to deal with painful things quickly,¡± Shulitu replied. He meant it, too. Even though he was nervous about his delicate status, he still hoped that an oue would surface as soon as possible.


    Dugu Xian gave out a few shortughs as a reply. ¡°Dealing with painful things quickly sounds good, but stopping painful things from even happening is better. Here is my n: we should assign the former Court Attendants Army and the 10,000 men of the Dragon Army to the Middle Corps, and have them fight first. The left and right wings will prepare themselves while standing by. Since only our Middle Corps is engaging, Luoluo will probably only send out part of his main force. We all know the fighting abilities of the Court Attendants Army. the All Dragon Army needs to do is cooperate. As long as the Court Attendants Army is not defeated, though a small victory will of course be preferred, we will immediately withdraw our forces and continue the fight another day. If we do this, the troops¡¯ confidence will recover and our morale will rise.¡±


    Shulitu was the first one to agree. ¡°The troops will be greatly inspired if the Dragon Army advances valiantly.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Gu Shenwei said. One of the his and Dugu Xian¡¯s goals was precisely to provoke Nond soldiers¡¯ fighting spirit by using their identity of outsiders.


    But this battle n didn¡¯t quite line up with the trap that Duodun had conceived of, so Liman asked, ¡°What if Luoluo doesn¡¯t buy it andunches an all-out attack? What do we do in that scenario?¡±


    It was once again Dugu Xian who answered this question. ¡°In that case, the final showdown really will start ahead of schedule, and the Commander-in-chief will have to send reinforcements in response to how the situation evolves. My suggestion is to, if possible, move our right wing first. No matter what happens, we should keep at least part of the Left Corps in reserve, in case any of the spectating tribes try to fish in troubled waters. And then we can withdraw our troops gradually. In a word, tomorrow we just have to prove one thing ¨C that Luoluo¡¯s army is not that formidable.¡±


    After exchanging a nce with Liman and Azheba, Duodun put on a reluctant look and nodded.


    ¡°The Second Consort¡¯s 10,000 cavalrymen are also affiliated with the Middle Corps. We can have them join in on the first round of battle,¡± Duodun suggested.


    ¡°That would be the best,¡± Dugu Xian replied.


    Although Mo Chu was the Commander-in-chief, the sole principle he adhered to was that ¡°noninterference generates the best oue.¡± He only raised one question. ¡°Who willmand the Court Attendants Army?¡±


    ¡°General Dugu, of course. He knows the entire n the best,¡± Shulitu immediately answered.


    Duodun instantly grew alert at these words. After pondering for a while, he thought that Shulitu would never put any of his subordinates inmand anyway, so he also agreed.


    A consensus had been reached. Mo Chu then issued a series of orders.


    Arge proportion of those former Court Attendants troops had already been stationed among the Middle Corps, so no major transfer was needed to gather the Court Attendants Army members. Then, half of the Dragon Army was ordered to move to the Middle Corps, which aroused curiosity and discussion among a lot of people. What had originally been supposed to cause the greatest sensation among troops ¨C Dugu Xian bing the Commander-in-chief of the Middle Corps ¨C now barely provoked any discussion.


    With his suspicions abound, Duodun made a few adjustments to his n in response to the changes in the current situation. ¡°Azheba, you have an extra task now ¨C you¡¯ll have to control not only Mo Chu, but also Dugu Xian. The Court Attendants Army belongs to me, and I can¡¯t have them die in vain on the battlefield.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Azheba felt he had gained a huge responsibility.


    But Liman came up with an idea. ¡°I think that we might be able to do it this way. Why don¡¯t we ask Luoluo to cooperate with us. First, he should only have his Middle Corps to fight us, and when Dugu Xian gives themand to withdraw, Azheba will make a move and take him hostage and order the 10,000 Dragon Army troops to bring up the rear. At the same time, Luoluo will order his left wing tounch an attack, and their opponent, as it happens, will be our right wing ¨C ¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King wants to save his own men, so he will send the other half of the Dragon Army in.¡± Duodun finished Liman¡¯s sentence for him. ¡°Exactly, this is our new n. I¡¯ll send someone to meet with Luoluo tonight. Ha-ha, the Dragon King wants to take this opportunity to promote that one-armed man to a higher position, but he won¡¯t expect that he has just walked into our trap.¡±


    Azheba had been contemting the situation for quite a while and another question had just urred to him. ¡°The Dragon King, as well as a couple of his guards, has excellent kung fu skills and is not easy to deal with. Dugu Xian will probably be under the protection of kung fu experts.¡±


    ¡°Hee, I thought of that long ago,¡± Duodun replied in a slightly dismissive tone. ¡°The Dragon King, Nie Zeng, Tie Linglong, Shangguan Ru and the two Central insmen ¨C these six people are the only ones that can count as kung fu experts. And then there¡¯s this Mo Lin guy. I¡¯ll figure out a way to convince him to stand down.¡±


    Upon hearing that Shangguan Ru¡¯s name was among the list, Azheba¡¯s heart lurched and the words ¡°She¡¯s not a kung fu expert. She just has a great tolerance for alcohol.¡± nearly slipped out of his mouth. But he eventually swallowed these words back down his throat, as he had already promised the prince that he would never let women obstruct his duty ever again.


    Duodun resumed talking. ¡°Don¡¯t think that the Dragon King¡¯s the only one who has kung fu experts at hismand. I promise ¨C each of the Dragon King¡¯s bodyguards will be facing at least two kung fu experts. And with regards to the Dragon King himself, I have a special n for him. Actually, if the n goes smoothly enough, he¡¯ll die under a barrage of arrows and hand-to-hand fighting will actually be unnecessary.¡±


    The two sharply answered ¡°Yes¡± at the same time. And then Duodun gave another order, saying, ¡°Azheba, go ask someone and figure out which army the Dragon King ismanding tomorrow. If he intends to do some acting and fight along with the Middle Corps, that would be the best.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Azheba answered, trying to think of a way to gather the required intelligence.


    Duodun watched him, a gleam of amazement appearing on his face. ¡°Azheba, you do know who to ask, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Instructor Shangguan?¡± Light dawned on Azheba.


    Duodun nodded ¨C this was yet another test for his subordinate.


    As he rode into the camp, Azheba was weighed down with concern.


    Shangguan Ru owned a small exclusive camp behind the encampment of the Middle Corps, and it was set next to the Second Consort¡¯s dwelling. As he walked closer, Azheba saw that the female soldiers were busy in the camp. The me Foal, with its bright color, stood out conspicuously.


    <em>The Dragon King has returned the horse </em>, Azheba thought with a startle.


    Upon noticing Azheba¡¯s arrival, Red Bat, who was grooming the me Foal, came over with a smile. ¡°Instructor just left to visit Second Consort. Do you want me to inform her that you¡¯re here?¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary.¡± Azheba jumped off the horse and ordered his attendants to bring a few jars of alcohol to the gate of the camp, ¡°I got some good wine and I¡¯d like to give some to Instructor Shangguan. Judging from what your tasks, I figured that you¡¯re going to participate in the war tomorrow as well, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Of course we are,¡± Red Bat said excitedly. ¡°We¡¯re the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance. Although we don¡¯t have the numbers, we¡¯re not afraid to fight. We¡¯ll join the Dragon Army of the Middle Corps and fight side by side with you, General.¡±


    Azheba forced a smile onto his face and looked at the me Foal.¡±I¡¯m honored ¨C that¡¯s really a fantastic horse.¡±


    ¡°It is. And Instructor said that she didn¡¯t want to ride it because it runs too fast.¡±


    Azheba¡¯s facial expression changed. ¡°No. Tell your Instructor that she must ride me Foal tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°But why? We won¡¯t be able to catch up with her if she moves too quickly.¡± Red Bat was very confused about Azheba¡¯s concern.


    ¡°It¡¯s a warhorse and its speed is very easy to control,¡± Azheba stammered out, struggling to think of an excuse. ¡°I think that the reason why the Dragon King gave me Foal to Instructor-¡±


    ¡°Returned,¡± Red Bat corrected him. ¡°The Dragon King gifted it to Instructor long ago.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. No matter what, the Dragon King did that out of his kindness and he would surely want to see Instructor riding the me Foal into battle.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King may not even be able to see that,¡± Red Bat sighed. ¡°He¡¯s going to be at the right wing, and he probably won¡¯t be able to distinguish who¡¯s who on the battlefield.¡±


    Unexpectedly, Azheba hadpleted his task so easily, but he was not happy at all. ¡°Tell her to ride it anyways. The Dragon King will ask about it after the war.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll persuade Instructor to ride the me Foal.¡±


    Azheba took his leave.


    After having someone put those wine bottles away, Red Bat returned to the tent.


    Shangguan Ru was staring nkly at the wooden saber. She hadn¡¯t gone to meet the Second Consort. It was just that she didn¡¯t want to meet anybody ¨C except for the one who wouldn¡¯te.


    ¡°Instructor, Azheba was just here. He brought a couple of jars of good wine and I put them away.¡± Red Bat had made it one of her duties to impose a restriction on Instructor¡¯s drinking.


    Shangguan Ru collected herself and smiled. ¡°It was very nice of him to still have me on his mind.¡±


    There were some words on the tip of Red Bat¡¯s tongue, but she swallowed them back with great difficulty. Shangguan Ru then asked, ¡°If you have something to say, then just say it. Do you still want me to change my weapon?¡±


    ¡°A wooden saber¡­¡± Red Bat couldn¡¯t think of what use this primitive weapon could have on the battlefield, but this was not what she wanted to say. ¡°Never mind. Your kung fu skills are superb and you will be fine even if you are weaponless. What I¡¯ve been pondering over is that Azheba seemed to be a bit off. It seemed like he was very worried that you might be in danger, and he kept asking me to persuade you to riding me Foal.¡±


    ¡°Does being kind-hearted count as being a bit off?¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t see him yourself. Anyway, it was really weird.¡±


    ¡°Forget it. All battles are dangerous. Don¡¯t get too far away from me tomorrow, and that goes for both you and the female soldiers.¡±


    Red Bat nodded and then said hesitantly, ¡°I lied to Azheba about something. Is that alright?¡±


    ¡°About what?¡± Shangguan Ru was both surprised and interested.


    ¡°I said that the Dragon King will be at the right wing.¡±


    ¡°Ha, you think that Azheba was here to fish for information about the Dragon King?¡±


    Red Bat nodded gravely. There were some things that she was not quite proud of, but she had never forgotten the method to specte at what men were thinking.


    ¡°Technically, that wasn¡¯t a lie,¡± Shangguan Ru said seriously. ¡°Because the Dragon King himself might not have made a final decision yet.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King will be among the Middle Corps tomorrow.¡± Red Bat was sure about this, and again, it was because as a woman, she had her unique instincts.


    At this moment, Gu Shenwei was in the rightmost camp of the Dragon Army. Together with Long Fanyun and Wu Zongheng, he was deploying troops for tomorrow. Half of the army would stay where they were, and the other half would transfer to the Middle Corps.


    The soldiers¡¯ morale was very high, and some of them had even volunteered to join the Middle Corps. Dugu Xian had made the followingment about this army: ¡°This kind of courage is possessed only by those who have never fought any battles before. If some day this courage disappears, I hope that you won¡¯t feel disappointed, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Dragon King!¡± Unexpectedly, a bold soldier directly yelled out to Gu Shenwei. ¡°It¡¯s me!¡±


    Gu Shenwei nced at the soldier and recognized him. He was one of the soldiers who had followed him to wee the caravan of the Meng family, Xie Dezhi.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me.¡± Xie Dezhi was so excited that his voice was quivering. ¡°My buddies wanted me to tell you we want to join the fight. Please let us join.¡±


    This might not be the kind of courage that Dugu Xian appreciated, but it precisely the kind of bond that Gu Shenwei cherished greatly. ¡°Do you still remember what the most important thing is on the battlefield?¡±


    ¡°Follow the Dragon King¡¯s g!¡± Xie Dezhi and a couple of soldiers beside him yelled simultaneously.


    ¡°Follow the Dragon King!¡± more soldiers yelled in unison.


    Gu Shenwei had made a decision long ago: he would be on the battlefield himself. This was an inexperienced army. If the Commander-in-chief set a stalwart example to the troops, their immature courage just might generate genuine power.


    As Tu Pianpian watched Fan Yongda, who was yelling alongside the soldiers, she curled her lips and remarked, ¡°This guy¡¯s so cocky.¡± But just like her Martial Nephew, she, too, swelled with long lost passion.

 Chapter 830 - Coercion

    Chapter 830: Coercion


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Mo Lin felt like he was unwanted in the army. For the rest of his life, he would be chasing after the previous Khan¡¯s killer, but the Dragon King wouldn¡¯t allow him to enter Jade City and hunt down Waning Moon Hall members.


    As a wing guard, Mo Lin had enormous prestige among Nond soldiers. People always showed him great respect as they mentioned his old name, ¡°Silver Condor,¡± regardless of if they had met him before or not. Like the legacy that the previous Khan had left behind in this mortal world, Mo Lin¡¯s name was old but sacred.


    This was also the very reason why the Dragon King had taken him in.


    Mo Lin somewhat liked this young man, and he voluntarily linked his cause of seeking revenge to the Dragon King¡¯s. But he was growing a little impatient, and hoped to set out on his own business as soon as possible.


    Maybe, this impatience was the exact reason why he had caught a lobbyist¡¯s eye.


    After quite a few people had tried to court him with all kinds of guarantees, Mo Lin had finally agreed to enter thatmon tent. To his surprise, the lobbyist was Prince Duodun himself.


    ¡°Your Highness,¡± Mo Lin greeted with a slight nod. He had discarded his identity as a wing guard, but he still kept his previous habits, one of which was not kneeling before the Khan¡¯s offspring.


    Duodun decided to temporarily forget about his identity. With a broad smile, he said, ¡°You never thought that it would be me?¡±


    ¡°You tter me, Your Highness.¡± Mo Lin indeed hadn¡¯t expected this. He had thought that the lobbyist would be some general, like Azheba.


    ¡°Ha-ha, I¡¯d trade an army for you.¡±


    Mo Lin didn¡¯t respond to Duodun¡¯s praise. The Khan¡¯s wing guard rejected all praise and ttery from any and all royal family members. This was their obligation and bottom line. The Khan had ascended to the Heavens, but his influence hadn¡¯t declined at all.


    The smile on Duodun¡¯s face disappeared. He was constantly trying to forget about the previous Khan, but it felt like there were reminders of that skinny old man everywhere. ¡°I want you toe back and take up the mantle of a wing guard again.¡±


    ¡°Only the Khan has the right to designate wing guards,¡± Mo Lin reminded. ¡°I came here only because I respect you. It doesn¡¯t mean that you have anything that I want.¡±


    Duodun pped his hands, making a ringing sound. ¡°This is what it means to be a wing guard! That¡¯s right, only the Khan can designate wing guards. I¡¯m inviting you on behalf of the future me.¡±


    Mo Lin remained indifferent as he replied, ¡°I serve only one master. Now that he¡¯s dead, I have no master anymore. I don¡¯t have one now, and I won¡¯t have any in the future either.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the Dragon King to you?¡± Duodun asked ndly.


    ¡°An ally.¡± Mo Lin knew his ce very well as he exined, ¡°We havemon enemies. After we get our respective revenge, we¡¯ll go our separate ways.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King doesn¡¯t seem to think so.¡± Duodun was not annoyed with Mo Lin¡¯s exnation. He had prepared himself for all of Mo Lin¡¯s potential answers. It would be an impressive victory for him to ovee this obstacle. ¡°He¡¯s been using you to keep the Nond army under control all along.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a price I¡¯m willing to pay.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha. Then what will the Dragon King do for you?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s going to help me find Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    ¡°Even with the honorable identity of The First Wing Guard of Nond, you actually need to ask a Western Regioner for help?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any other choice,¡± Mo Lin answered frankly. ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s one of the very few people who holds an irreconcble hatred towards Waning Moon Hall. Although the Nond is powerful, it has its own greater cause, and it isn¡¯t able to focus on a grain of sand beside its feet.¡±


    The look on Duodun¡¯s face was grave as he replied, ¡°Well, I can focus on it. Actually, I¡¯ve been in contact with Waning Moon Hall this whole time.¡± After a pause, and verifying that Mo Lin was still indifferent, he had no choice but to resume talking. ¡°Those women are a bunch of lunatics, but I can eradicate them ¨C kill every single one of them.¡±


    Mo Lin sighed as he said, ¡°It¡¯s about time I took my leave. Please rest assured, Your Highness. I won¡¯t tell anybody about this meeting between us, including the Dragon King.¡±


    After putting so much effort into arranging this meeting with Mo Lin, Duodun found that he acted more like a bronze statue that didn¡¯t understand humannguage at all.


    Duodun also let out a sigh. He appreciated Mo Lin¡¯s principle but was still disappointed as he called out, ¡°Wait.¡±


    Mo Lin stopped.


    Duodun suddenly became somewhat shy and restless as he said, ¡°These words are not easy for me to say, really. I¡¯ve always hoped that I wouldn¡¯t have to do this¡­¡±


    Mo Lin seemed to have understood something, and the five fingers of his right hand made a gentle movement.


    Duodun sensed danger, but he didn¡¯t reveal anything on his face. Instead, the look in his eyes gradually became cold and haughty. ¡°Women are just passersby. Theye and go, and there¡¯s always someone better than you, waiting ahead. But children are an extension of you. They¡¯re irreceable. Even the previous Khan¡­¡±


    Mo Lin took a step forward. The look on his face was as sullen as a tomb and as fiery as a volcano about to erupt. ¡°The Khan would never do such a shameless thing.¡±


    That night when the Khan had been assassinated, Mo Lin had sent his wife and children to somewhere safe. They were the only remaining living people that he cared about.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know what kind of man the previous Khan was when he was young.¡± Duodun¡¯s heart was quivering, but he managed to collect himself, and he concealed his true feelings very well. ¡°But I know. The previous Khan told these kinds of stories to me very often. Among them, there was an aura of shamelessness that you couldn¡¯t even imagine. He used to say this a lot: in order to seize the crown, you can sacrifice anything, and you can do anything. Because you¡¯re not acting for yourself, but rather the whole grasnds.¡±


    Mo Lin believed this the previous Khan had indeed said this, but the anger in him didn¡¯t subside a single bit. ¡°Where are they?¡±


    Duodun felt that he had grabbed the tail of the victory, leaving the opposing side nowhere to escape to, ¡°They went to Heaven¡¯s Pass with a group of refugees. I¡¯ve been keeping an eye on them, and have made sure that they have everything they need. They think that you¡¯re working for me.¡±


    Mo Lin regained hisposure. Duodun had kidnapped his family much earlier, but had been waiting for the right opportunity for so long. Thus, he shouldn¡¯t make any rash decisions either. ¡°There¡¯s nothing I can do for you, Your Highness. You¡¯re a prince and you have enough followers.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t. I can never have enough followers.¡± Duodun also took a step forward, his intense eyes tinged with a look of greed as he said, ¡°And you can do more than this.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King,¡± Mo Lin finally understood why Duodun had first tried to sway and then finally coerce him.


    ¡°I know you well, and I won¡¯t make you do anything that would trouble your conscience too much.¡± Duodun raised his head slightly as if he were talking to one of hispanions. ¡°All you need to do is ¨Cnothing. You don¡¯t have to kill the Dragon King. Just stand by.¡±


    ¡°Trying to assassinate the Dragon King is a stupid idea.¡±


    ¡°Then you have even less to worry about. Just watch me fail.¡± Duodun was in a good mood. This was the first step to tame a ferocious dog ¨C tightening the constraints step by step. And then an unpleasant thought urred to him: he seemed to have learned this too from the previous Khan.


    When Mo Lin returned to the Dragon King¡¯s tent, he was busy assigning tasks to subordinates.


    After ncing briefly at Mo Lin, Gu Shenwei continued to exin to Tu Pianpian, ¡°These are Nond armies. I¡¯ll never use them to rescue Central insmen. Go back and tell that Royal Uncle this: when the war starts tomorrow, he can take the risk to run out and keep riding eastwards. That will be his only chance.¡±


    It seemed as if Tu Pianpian still wanted to argue, but Fan Yongda beat her to the punch and hurriedly said, ¡°Thank you, Dragon King. Royal Uncle will always be grateful to you for your kindness. Aunt Master and I¡­¡±


    Tu Pianpian red at him and he hurriedly shut up. Holding her crutch, the old woman thought for a while before replying, ¡°There¡¯s no other way, I guess. We¡¯ll leave right away. The Kongtong Sect¡­ owes Dragon King a favor.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded impassively. Before Tu Pianpian, he would never show any sign of weakness.


    His head turned down, Mo Lin felt a little uneasy. The Dragon King trusted him and didn¡¯t ask him to leave before discussing confidential issues right in front of him.


    Tu Pianpian and Fan Yongda took their leave. Gu Shenwei then requested Tie Linglong to protect Dugu Xian during the next day.


    Tie Linglong was unhappy about his decision. ¡°I¡¯m your exclusive bodyguard, Dragon King. Why do you want me to protect other people?¡±


    ¡°Because General Dugu will be in a dangerous situation and he will need you more than I will.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the one who will be charging at the enemies recklessly, while he¡¯s the one who be in the rear and giving out orders. How will he be in a situation more dangerous than yours?¡± Tie Linglong believed the Dragon King was merely trying to make an excuse to keep her away from the battlefield.


    Mo Lin turned around and was about to leave, but Gu Shenwei raised his hand and signaled him to stay. Then he said to Tie Linglong, ¡°The rear is not necessarily a safe area. You have to trust me.¡±


    Tie Linglong began to understand Gu Shenwei¡¯s point, and replied, ¡°You worry that¡­ Okay. As long as I¡¯m alive, nobody will be able to hurt General Dugu¡­ again.¡±


    ¡°I can rest assured then.¡±


    Tie Linglong walked out of the tent with plenty of fighting spirit in her.


    ¡°Nie Zeng.¡± Gu Shenwei called another bodyguard in. ¡°From now on, you have to stay close to Shulitu at all times.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Nie Zeng didn¡¯t ask a single question, as this was a part of his duty.


    Meanwhile, Wu Zongheng was inmand of the 10,000-strong Dragon Army, which would be deployed in the rightmost position. Long Fanyun, as the head guard, would follow the Dragon King into battle. Those who received their assignments left the tent one by one until, atst, Mo Lin and the Dragon King were the only ones left in the tent.


    Mo Lin had been curiously watching the Dragon King¡¯s mannerisms and found that although he had an expressionless face, the Dragon King¡¯s attitudes varied slightly towards each person. He was cold to Tu Pianpian, gentle to Tie Linglong, lukewarm to Nie Zeng, dignified to Wu Zongheng, and casual to Long Fanyun.


    Mo Lin was slightly expectant about what attitude the Dragon King would have towards him.


    This was an interesting game that he used to y a lot when he had been serving the previous Khan. Mostly because it would break the dull monotony of the boring guard work.


    Gu Shenwei turned around to face Mo Lin. The look on his face was as sullen as usual, as if there was something on his mind or he was always specting over what other people were thinking aout. <em>This is not the kind of temperament that a king should have, </em>Mo Lin thought even as he felt slightly guilty for it.


    ¡°I need you to do me a favor.¡±


    The Dragon King spoke out. His tone was just as lukewarm as the one he used when he talked to Nie Zeng, and he was clearly trying to maintain a moderate distance from Mo Lin. But this sentence also faintly sounded like a request, indicating that the speaker knew that his audience had a bottom line ¨C Mo Lin was not his subordinate and had a right to decide whether he would follow or decline the request.


    ¡°At your service, Dragon King.¡±


    Mo Lin was surprised ¨C the Dragon King and the previous Khan had only met each other once and externally, they were very different. But internally, they had so much inmon.


    On the contrary, Duodun looked exactly like the previous Khan, but they actually hadpletely opposing personalities.


    ¡°Commander-in-chief Mo Chu needs a bodyguard, and I think that you¡¯re the only one suitable to do it.¡±


    Mo Lin was amazed. He didn¡¯t expect the Dragon King to assign him be Mo Chu¡¯s bodyguard. In this case, Duodun¡¯s threat seemed totally redundant. ¡°All right. May I ask why?¡±


    He wouldn¡¯t have asked if he were facing the previous Khan, but the Dragon King hadn¡¯t be someone like the previous Khan just yet.


    ¡°I have a premonition, just a premonition, that there seems to be some conspiracies brewing in our camp. I need Mo Chu alive because I want to make sure that our army doesn¡¯t split.¡±


    Mo Lin nearly blurted Duodun¡¯s plots out at this moment, but he regained control of himself and said, ¡°I understand. I¡¯ll keep themander-in-chief safe.¡±


    ¡®The Dragon King¡¯s not the previous Khan,¡¯ Mo Lin reminded himself. ¡®My family members are more important than the Dragon King <em>.¡¯</em>


    In his tent alone, Gu Shenwei slightly missed Fang Wenshi, who had just left only a few days ago. His had a very intense foreboding feeling that there were some conspiracies underfoot, but he had no one to talk to about his suspicions.


    It was past midnight by now. A gust of wind blew by outside. Gu Shenwei walked out of the tent quietly and started sneaking towards the camp of the Land of Fragrance soldier.

 Chapter 831 - Questions Arising at Night

    Chapter 831: Questions Arising at Night


    Trantor: Henyee Trantions Editor: Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s tent was no different from those of other people¡¯s. Even as Gu Shenwei looked at it from far away, he seemed to be able to hear the faint sound of her breath. After a while, he sneaked into the nearby camp of the Second Consort.


    This camp was muchrger. The Second Consort¡¯s exclusive tent was giant and very obtrusive. Most of the people in the camp was asleep. There were only a few guards awake, aimlessly pacing back and forth to keep themselves warm.


    After observing the camp for almost an hour, Gu Shenwei started approaching his target slowly. He believed that nobody would have anticipated his unexpected operation, but being extremely cautious had be an ingrained habit.


    From time to time, he would hide himself in a certain position. The emptiness behind him was like a bottomless cliff, making his flesh creep from the difort.


    There was a little tent next to the Second Consort¡¯s main tent. Most people wouldn¡¯t even notice it during daytime.


    Standing at the door, Gu Shenwei tapped the hilt of his saber twice. In this quiet night, the sound was exceptionally clear ¨C for vignt killers, it could even be deemed a little harsh.


    Gu Shenwei moved to another position immediately.


    Quite a whileter, a figure came out from behind the tent instead of from inside.


    After staring at the Dragon King¡¯s position for a while, Qian Ying the green-faced assassin turned around and walked toward the outside of the camp. Hunched over, she moved in the shadows just likemon Golden Roc killers did, except her speed was extremely fast, like a fleeing snake.


    Gu Shenwei followed her closely. Before long, they arrived at a rtively secluded spot in the camp. Still cloaked in the shadows, Qian Ying suddenly stopped, turned around, and faced the Dragon King.


    ¡°I want to ask you something,¡± Gu Shenwei said. He had to stand underneath the cold moonlight.


    ¡°Why should I answer?¡± This was the first time that Qian Ying had ever spoken before the Dragon King, and her voice was just as in as her appearance.


    ¡°Because I¡¯ll defeat you.¡±


    ¡°I made a promise,¡± Qian Ying replied. She had promised the Unique King and Shangguan Ru that she would never hurt the Dragon King.


    ¡°You did. But if I attack you and you fight back, you wouldn¡¯t be breaking the promise.¡±


    Qian Ying kept silent.


    ¡°If you win, whether I¡¯m alive or not has nothing to do with you. If you lose, you just have to answer a few questions truthfully. Don¡¯t worry. None of the questions have anything to do with Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    Green-faced assassins were better at concealing their emotions thanmon killers, but when Gu Shenwei had first met Qian Ying, her eyes had revealed a tinge of hostility as she was leaving the tent. From that, Gu Shenwei had thought of this idea of a kung fupetition.


    Qian Ying hesitated.


    ¡°I killed Guan Shang,¡± Gu Shenwei added.


    Guan Shang had been another female green-faced assassin, and she was also Shangguan Fei¡¯s guard as well as a spy sent by Waning Moon Hall. Gu Shenwei and Lotus had killed her in the An Kingdom¡¯s royal pce in Xiaoyao Lake because she had been supporting Han Wuxian.


    There was no friendship among green-faced assassins, but deep down in their hearts, all of them were very proud.


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t count breaking my promise?¡± Qian Ying asked uncertainly.


    ¡°I will be the one to strike first. You¡¯d just be defending yourself.¡±


    Qian Ying fell silent again. Gu Shenwei unfastened the Five Peaks Saber and slowly ced it on the ground. He had been gradually ridding himself of the restrictions that were the killers¡¯ rules. Since the opposing side didn¡¯t have a narrow saber, he wouldn¡¯t use his weapon either.


    The first move Gu Shenwei made was not to charge at Qian Ying, but rather to meld into the shadows.


    He would abandon the rules of killers, but he wouldn¡¯t give up the killer skills he had honed.


    Behind them, there was one of the few livestock pens of the army. The cattle and sheep in it were the main source of Nond armies¡¯ provisions. And at this moment, this pen had be natural camouge for the both of them.


    In a blink, Gu Shenwei circled behind Qian Ying, drew a dagger, and feinted with a stab.


    Qian Ying counterattacked quickly and fiercely. Without any obvious movements, the dagger in her hand was already approaching the Dragon King¡¯s chest.


    Gu Shenwei slipped into the livestock pen from below the rails. Qian Ying pursued him hotly.


    Most of the livestock were asleep, still standing, and unaware of these two intruders. They let the two move around under their bellies, unconscious of the fact that sharp daggers were moving to and fro beside their tender legs.


    Both Gu Shenwei and Qian Ying had been trained in Golden Roc Castle, which meant that they generally wouldn¡¯t leap to any high positions ¨C in other words, they would rather stay on the ground.


    Nobody was here to witness this intense fight. The distance between them never grew more than five steps apart, and they were grappling each other fiercely for most of the time. The two daggers flickered before their eyes, constantly passing through each other, but never actually shing.


    Although they didn¡¯t have any prior agreements, they both wordlessly agreed to not stab any livestock. As a killer, it would be shameful to make unnecessary noises.


    Qian Ying¡¯s kung fu was somewhat different from Guan Shang¡¯s ¨C it was far better. Sending her to guard Shangguan Ru indicated just how much the Unique King liked his youngest daughter.


    If it were just one or two years ago, Gu Shenwei believed that he would have had to use Death Scripture swordsmanship to defeat Qian Ying. But now, he had more alternatives.


    After around thirty moves, Gu Shenwei had grasped Qian Ying¡¯s general attack pattern. Even as the dagger in his right hand continued dancing without any change, he thrust forward with his left hand in a palm attack.


    Qian Ying hit back head-on.


    Gu Shenwei was startled. He had exerted his frosty Qi in that attack, but she seemed totally uninfluenced. Not having enough time to analyze how this could be, he had no choice but to continue striking with increasingly faster palm attacks.


    Qian Ying met each palm attacks with her own, refusing to retreat a single inch, which was why Gu Shenwei nearly failed to control his internal power and almost pped her to death when she suddenly fell down.


    After kicking Qian Ying¡¯s dagger aside, Gu Shenwei cautiously bent over and checked on her.


    Qian Ying had passed out. The umted frosty Qi in her body had finally gone beyond her tolerance.


    Qian Ying gradually came around. The first thing she saw was a giant, round cattle belly which looked like a huge falling rock in the darkness. The Dragon King was not around.


    She grabbed her dagger and gently mobilized her internal power only to find that the coldness in her body had disappeared. The only usible exnation was that the Dragon King had cleared it from her body.


    Gu Shenwei had returned to the position where the fight had originally began and retrieved the Five Peaks Saber.


    Standing behind him, Qian Ying felt an indescribable feeling in her heart. The Dragon King, who used to be just amon killer, was better than she could have ever imagined. She felt that this was very frustrating.


    ¡°The first question.¡± Gu Shenwei turned around as he asked, ¡°You haven¡¯t been practicing the Daoless Divine Power?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Qian Ying answered coldly.


    Gu Shenwei had neverpeted with Guan Shang in terms of internal energy, so he knew nothing about their manuals. But he had always thought that the green-faced assassins, as the most elite group of Golden Roc killers, were supposed to practice the Daoless Divine Power. Unexpectedly, he had been wrong.


    ¡°What are you practicing?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re highly resistant to frosty Qi.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Do you know why?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    If these answers had been given by another person, they would have sounded perfunctory, but Gu Shenwei believed that Qian Ying was just telling the truth, because the green-faced assassins were just tools, and because Golden Roc Castle probably didn¡¯t want them to know anything.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t ask any more questions about this. This was not the purpose behind his suggestion of the kung fupetition with Qian Ying. ¡°You¡¯ve been spying on the Second Consort. Has anything unusual happened recently?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by unusual?¡±


    ¡°Did she meet any strangers or talk to Duodun?¡±


    ¡°In the past five days, the Second Consort hasn¡¯t met any strangers. Duodun came over twice, and they talked about you both times. The Second Consort has asked Duodun to have in-depth discussions with you, but Duodun refused. That¡¯s all.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was surprised yet again. He felt that the Second Consort was bing increasingly vtile. She had apparently participated in the conspiracy that had failed because of Duo Ercha losing control of his temper. However, was a single failure enough to thoroughly change her mind?


    Qian Ying could see that the Dragon King was suspicious of the Second Consort¡¯s mentality, but she didn¡¯t try to exin that the Second Consort¡¯s attitude towards the Dragon King hadn¡¯t actually changed that much ¨C she just hoped to take before giving.


    ¡°Did the Second Consort mention Luoluo and his army to anyone?¡±


    Qian Ying thought for a while before replying, ¡°The Second Consort told Duodun that Luoluo¡¯s army is undefeated and that their morale is extremely high at the moment. So, we shouldn¡¯t fight them head-on. However, Luoluo¡¯s troops mostly consist of the tribes, mostly the Naihang Tribe. Then the Second Consort said that she was willing to aggrieve herself and patch things up with Zhesu, and hopefully, she could convince the Naihang Tribe members in Luoluo¡¯s army to betray Luoluo.¡±


    ¡°What did Duodun say?¡±


    ¡°Duodun disagreed. He said that he¡¯d rather be a fugitive than have the Second Consort yield to Zhesu and Duo Ercha.


    Gu Shenwei could imagine how happy the Second Consort must have been at that moment.


    ¡°So it didn¡¯t work?¡±


    ¡°The Second Consort still secretly sent a messenger out, but I don¡¯t know whether it worked or not.¡±


    Except for his hostility towards the Second Consort decreasing, Gu Shenwei had so far received nothing of note from these inquiries. So he then asked a question that he originally hadn¡¯t been nning to ask. ¡°Did you find out anything about the issue that Instructor Shangguan asked you to investigate?¡±


    Shangguan Ru believed that there had to be some hidden secret about the Dragon King¡¯s parentage, and that the Second Consort was an insider. So, she had asked her wing guard, Qian Ying, to disguise herself as a servant in the Second Consort¡¯s camp so as to spy on her.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t. The Second Consort never mentioned this to anybody, but once, Duodun asked her why she insisted so heavily on allying with Dragon King. Her response was that she was confident of controlling Dragon King. Duodun asked her about the details, but she refused to tell him. Master believes that there were hidden meanings in the Second Consort¡¯s words. Nothing more.¡±


    Gu Shenwei decided to put an end to these inquiries. His spection had been proven wrong. The Second Consort and Duodun weren¡¯t conspiring against him. Not all his premonitions were urate, so this mistake was normal.


    Actually, it should have urred to him long ago that Shangguan Ru would have told him if Qian Ying had heard something of note.


    Gu Shenwei was just about to leave when he suddenly recalled his experiences with Han Fen and realized that he might have just asked the wrong questions, and that Shangguan Ru might have done the same.


    ¡°Duodun. Was there anything unusual about him?¡±


    ¡°My task is not to spy on him.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t answered my question.¡±


    Qian Ying kept silent, so did Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Last night, Duodun met someone named Silver Condor. After that, he seemed very happy. I heard this when I was delivering gifts for the Second Consort along with three other maidservants.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had no more questions. ¡°If Instructor Shangguan doesn¡¯t ask you, you don¡¯t have to tell her about this.¡±


    Qian Ying didn¡¯t reply. Taking the Dragon King¡¯s reminder as the end of their transaction, she turned and left. Before leaving, she said, ¡°If we have another chance, I hope topete with our sabersmanship.¡±


    She was still unconvinced.


    After returning to his tent, Gu Shenwei contemted what he had learned for quite a long time, reimagining every person he had met yesterday to analyze their facial expressions.


    That morning, when they were scouting the battlefield, Mo Lin had seemed totally normal. But at night, when he had been giving out assignments, Mo Lin was a little uneasy. And when Mo Lin heard that he was to protect Mo Chu, he seemed relieved.


    Mo Lin was also good at hiding his mood. Gu Shenwei was only able to discover these faint signs after he had learned that Mo Lin had been hiding something.


    Liman and Azheba had also seemed nervous, though the imminent war might be only partly responsible.


    Gu Shenwei stepped out of the tent again, and this time he didn¡¯t tried to stay out of sight. He ordered a guard to summon Han Fen.


    Han Fen had been conscientiously acting as a prisoner, an idler, and a crafty sycophant all along. When the guard called for her, she was sound asleep. She still had eyes filled with sleep, and kept yawning even as she entered the Dragon King¡¯s tent. After walking directly to the soft bed, shey on it, and mumbled, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s bed is softer than mine¡­¡±


    ¡°Tomorrow I want you to protect someone attentively.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± As soon as she finished speaking, Han Fen started snoring.


    Gu Shenwei decided to assign Han Fen to protect Mo Chu. But the uneasiness in his heart wasn¡¯t alleviated at all, as he didn¡¯t feel like he had found the core conspiracy yet.

 Chapter 832 - The Start of the War

    Chapter 832: The Start of the War


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The wind was blowing hard.


    Dugu Xian ordered the first 10,000-men army tounch their attack. gs fluttered as gusts of wind blew through them, and the sounds they made were so loud that they nearly drowned out the rumble of the horse hooves. The troops in the rear could only feel the shaking ground through their mounts.


    Horseback archery was all about distance. Only when the distance was right could the Nond cavalrymen freelyunch attacks on their enemies while keeping themselves safe at the same time. When two such armies engaged, the battlefield naturally became exceptionally vast. Even if there was only a small amount of dust in the air, the two sides would easily lose sight of each other.


    Dugu Xian had ordered some of his men to build a dozen observing pavilions about sixteen to neen meters in height. The soldiers on them would take turns to report the battle situation. There were also scouts going back and forth between the front line and the Commander-in-chief.


    Very soon, news came in that Luoluo had sent 20,000 to 30,000 men into battle. Dugu Xian waited awhile longer before ordering the second and the third 10,000-men armies to also depart. The two armies kept a certain distance from each other to make sure that they wouldn¡¯t enter the battlefield at the same time.


    The 10,000 Dragon Army troops didn¡¯t move, because their weapons were mainly sabers and spears. When the number of the enemies was around the same as them, they would bemitting suicide if they tried to engage the enemies. Like themon generals, Gu Shenwei stayed beside Dugu Xian ¨C on the battlefield, even he had to follow the orders of the Commander-in-chief.


    At the front line, the fighting had already begun. Numerous steeds galloped through the battlefield as roaring battle-cries shook the sky. Dust engulfed the entire battlefield and the sun was nowhere to be seen. Only the soldiers on the observing pavilions closest to the battleground could look through the dust and see the situation on the opposite side.


    Luoluo didn¡¯t send more troops, and neither did Dugu Xian.


    The news brought back by the front line scouts were bing increasingly contradictory, indicating that the battle had entered a chaotic state.


    Shangguan Ru was riding the me Foal, with dozens of female soldiers closely surrounding her. As she nced at the Dragon King who was riding ahead of her at an angle, she suddenly felt nervous. Ayer of fine sweat inexplicably appeared in her palms. As she stroked the me Foal¡¯s neck, which was as smooth as silk, she could feel the undting muscles and the pulsating blood.


    Her palms dried. Shangguan Ru raised her head and discovered that someone was looking at her.


    Azheba hurriedly turned his head, feeling even more nervous than Shangguan Ru did ¨C instead of staying at the rightmost position, the Dragon King was actually with the Middle Corps. Not only had he provided the wrong intelligence to Prince Duodun, but he also didn¡¯t know how he would control Dugu Xianter on.


    Duodun had assigned ten guards to Azheba, telling him that they were all kung fu experts and should be able to overpower Tie Linglong who would be behind Dugu Xian. But if the Dragon King were there¡­ Azheba could only hope that the Dragon King would enter the battlefield early on.


    About three to five miles west of the Middle Corps, Mo Chu was sitting in a temporarily erected main tent, listening to the news from the front line. He knew his ce was, so he seldom spoke, only using the phrase ¡°got it¡± as a universal answer. Only in one circumference, when Luoluo¡¯s army mounted an all-out attack, would he order the corresponding armies to attack.


    The Dragon King had unexpectedly assigned Mo Lin to be his bodyguard. Mo Chu had been very surprised by this, and he also acted very politely, letting this old Khan¡¯s wing guard stand beside him.


    Duodun had also sent a dozen guards who were now standing at the tent¡¯s entrance.


    ¡°This is not a good weather to fight in,¡± Mo Chu said casually. This was his ¡°main tent,¡± but these generals and guards were all under other people¡¯smand, which made him feel somewhat unwanted.


    Mo Lin turned his body slightly as he said, ¡°It¡¯s the same for Luoluo.¡±


    Mo Chu nodded, smiling. ¡°If the Court Attendants Army hasn¡¯t changed much, they will probably gain the upper hand.¡±


    The soldiers of the Court Attendants Army indeed hadn¡¯t changed much, but all the officers had been reced. Having no interest in chatting, Mo Lin simply mumbled ¡°Um¡± in response. The guards at the door then caught his attention.


    They were neither Nonders normon soldiers. Judging from the way they stood and held their sabers, they were better at fighting on foot than at horseback archery.


    Mo Lin said to Mo Chu, ¡°I¡¯m going to go check something.¡±


    ¡°Check what?¡±


    ¡°Just a routine check on the circumstances outside.¡±


    ¡°Heh-heh. I¡¯m talking too much. Go ahead.¡±


    Mo Lin walked out of the tent. Outside, there were the hundred plus soldiers guarding Mo Chu, and a bit further away, some troops who were holding reins and waiting to join the fight. The front line scouts were riding back one by one like an endless stream of ants.


    There was nothing unusual. Mo Lin walked back towards the tent and encountered an oing guard sent by Duodun.


    ¡°His Highness hopes that you will stand by wherever you are,¡± the guard said in a low voice.


    ¡°You¡¯re from the Western Regions?¡± Mo Lin asked.


    The guard raised his head and shot him a dark nce but didn¡¯t answer. Mo Lin was pretty sure that no Nond soldier would show such an expression before a wing guard of the previous Khan.


    In the tent, a scout had just brought back thetest news. ¡°The enemy¡¯s right wing is on the move. Our left wing is ready to fight.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± Mo Chu answered as usual. The left wing was under Duodun and Liman¡¯smand, so he didn¡¯t have to issue any orders.


    In the tent of the left wing¡¯s Commander-in-chief, Duodun was sitting at the chief position, with Liman and the otherpanions encircling the prince. In fact, Duodun had already taken fullmand of the Left Corps. As an utter puppet, Liman¡¯s status was even lower than that of Mo Chu.


    This was the final life-or-death showdown, and Duodun wouldn¡¯t entrust the power to anyone else.


    ¡°Azheba¡¯s an idiot.¡± Duodun tried very hard to control himself, but he still burst into anger. ¡°His only job was to figure out where the Dragon King would be, and yet he still screwed it up.¡±


    A couple ofpanions snorted in schadenfreude.


    ¡°It¡¯s no big deal.¡± Liman always took on the unpleasant roles. ¡°The Dragon King will definitely join the fight himself. Azheba can still stick to the original n.¡±


    ¡°Definitely, definitely. Azheba also said definitely. You¡¯re all the same ¨C always thinking that you¡¯re smart and that others are stupid.¡±


    Duodun felt that he had gone too far, so he intimately pped Liman¡¯s shoulder twice as he said, ¡°You are very smart. Azheba has amazing courage, but his taste is terrible. His judgement has been clouded by a woman.¡±


    He was just talking about woman when a guard came in and reported, ¡°The Second Consort¡¯s here.¡±


    Duodun frowned as he thought, <em>The Second Consort¡¯s growing bolder and bolder. She¡¯s even daring enough toe here on this asion. It seems that she worrying that others won¡¯t be able to realize our special rtionship.</em>


    Her face full of smiles, the Second Consort walked in, followed by two maidservants. ¡°How¡¯s it going at the front line? All the news I heard is outdated. I can¡¯t wait any longer.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be here,¡± Duodun said ndly. ¡°It¡¯s a very dangerous ce.¡±


    ¡°Dangerous how? It¡¯s just a little closer to the battleground than my original position. Don¡¯t forget that the 10,000-men army that Azheba¡¯smanding is mine. I¡¯ve been maintaining this army for such a long time. Don¡¯t you think that I¡¯m entitled to watch over their performance?¡±


    Duodun burst intoughter, clearing out all of his boredom and discontent. ¡°I can assure you that the Second Consort¡¯s soldiers will be more renowned than the Court Attendants Army after this war.¡±


    With a bright smile on her face, the Second Consort walked towards Duodun. The prince¡¯spanions voluntarily made way for her.


    ¡°Why are you all in the tent?¡± the Second Consort asked in surprise. ¡°Liman, as the Commander-in-chief of the left army, you should be on the horseback and with the troops. And you guys ¨C are you not going to enter the battlefield today? You are not even wearing your full armor. Are you nning on serving the prince with your lips?¡±


    All of them blushed. Nobody dared to contradict the Second Consort, and nobody dared to walk out of the tent either. Everybody remained silent with bowed heads.


    The smile on Duodun¡¯s face was a little uneasy now. After staring at the Second Consort for quite a while, he said, ¡°All of you go outside. Get on the horses and get ready to fight.¡±


    Liman and the others bowed and answered ¡°Yes¡± before hurriedly leaving the tent.


    The moment the tent p was down, Duodun¡¯s smile vanished. ¡°Are you deliberately putting me on the spot?¡±


    The Second Consort¡¯s smile remained just as bright. ¡°Me? Put you on the spot? How? You¡¯re the intelligent, brave Prince Duodun. Who could and who would dare to put you on the spot?¡±


    Duodun smiled again and nced at the two maidservants behind the Second Consort. Seeing that she was not going to have them leave, Duodun directly said, ¡°I¡¯m confused. Who pissed you off? Why are you being so grumpy?¡±


    After walking around the tent in a circle, the Second Consort raised her hand and ordered the maidservants to leave as the smile on her face disappeared at the same time. ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡±


    Duodun sighed, ¡°Who drove a wedge between us again? I consulted you on every aspect of the n, and yet you still don¡¯t believe me?¡±


    The look on the Second Consort¡¯s face was cold as she replied, ¡°Duodun, I watched you grow up. Even your lying skills were taught to you by me.¡±


    Duodun and the Second Consort stared at each other for a moment. ¡°What do you know?¡±


    ¡°First, I want to hear what you¡¯re willing to tell me.¡±


    Duodun waved his hands impatiently, stood up, and said, ¡°Today, right on this day, I¡¯m going to eliminate the Dragon King and gainmand of all the armies of the Western Regions.¡±


    The Second Consort¡¯s eyes zed with fury as she hissed, ¡°I told you-¡±


    Duodun also turned angry. ¡°It¡¯s me who¡¯s fighting for the throne, not you! You¡¯ve been making all the decisions, but now it¡¯s my turn to call the shots. You seem to have forgotten that I stopped being a child a long time ago.


    The Second Consort was debating with herself on whether she should uphold her dignity as someone with a high status or whether she should resort to her feminine maneuvers. She decided to choose thetter. In a gentle voice, she consoled, ¡°Of course you¡¯re not a child. You¡¯re the one who decides everything and I¡¯m just trying to help you.¡±


    Duodun¡¯s deep feelings for the Second Consort were real. So he held her hands and softened his tone. ¡°Then trust me. This is a rare opportunity and I¡¯m going to seed. I have everything under control.¡±


    ¡°Tell me about your n. That would make me feel like I¡¯m part of it. I feel bad when there¡¯s nothing I can do to help you when you are fighting for a great cause.¡±


    After dithering for a while, Duodun finally told her everything, and the more he talked about it, the more excited he became. ¡°Luoluo and I have reached an agreement. I¡¯m going to hand over the Dragon King and his Dragon Army to him. He will send his right wing army to attack Naihang Tribe and I¡¯ll ept the Naihang Tribe troops when they surrender. Actually, I was nning to give you a surprise ¨C both Zhesu and Duo Ercha will kneel down before you and beg you to spare them.¡±


    ¡°How do you n on handing the Dragon Army over to Luoluo?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s a ferociouslypetitive man and he will surely throw himself into the fight. When that happens, Azheba will abduct Dugu Xian, and another group of my men will overpower Mo Chu and force him into ordering the Court Attendants Army to retreat. The Dragon Army will bring up the rear.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯re still 10,000 Dragon Army troops on our right side.¡±


    Looking around the empty tent, Duodun gave a self-satisfied smile. ¡°The right army¡¯s Commander-in-chief, Li Shun, has already pledged his allegiance to me. He¡¯ll ce Shulitu under house arrest and order those 10,000 Dragon Army troops to enter the battlefield.¡±


    ¡°Li Shun? He¡¯s a former general of King Riying. Is he trustworthy?¡±


    ¡°He is. Actually, he just wants to protect Shulitu. In the Dragon King¡¯s hands, that kid is just a puppet and his life is at stake everyday. Li Shun¡¯s request was very simple ¨C Shulitu will keep the title of King Riying and waive his im to the throne. I agreed.¡±


    The Second Consort nodded, seemingly very satisfied, ¡°The Naihang Tribe¡¯s the key again. How do you know that they will surrender?¡±


    ¡°Will the Naihang Tribe have another choice when Luoluo¡¯s armyunches an attack on them? Besides, I¡¯m doing this in Shulitu¡¯s name. That little puppet is notpletely useless. He¡¯s King Rizhu grandson, so it¡¯s very easy for him to gain people¡¯s trust.¡±


    The Second Consort smiled. ¡°So this is your n. No. Cancel it immediately.¡±


    Duodun felt like he had just been pped hard across the face. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°The messenger I sent to the Naihang Tribe¡¯s camp just came back, and he told me that all of the Naihang Tribe¡¯s warhorses are facing in our direction.¡±


    ¡°You sent your men to talk to Zhesu?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not important right now. What¡¯s important is that the Naihang Tribe is not trustworthy. You will literally be cutting off your own arms if you hold all the Commander-in-chiefs hostage.¡±


    ¡°Ha, this is your reason?¡± Duodun looked at her as if he couldn¡¯t believe what she had just said. ¡°The Naihang Tribe is just a spectator. It¡¯s natural that they would guard against both sides of the war. What¡¯s so strange about it? If your messenger had watched more carefully, I bet he would have seen that the Naihang Tribe¡¯s warhorses are also facing Luoluo¡¯s direction.¡±


    ¡°The Naihang Tribe is not trustworthy,¡± the Second Consort repeated in a severe tone.


    ¡°You can¡¯t stop me!¡± Duodun yelled feverishly.


    The Second Consort abruptly turned around and walked towards the door of the tent. Duodun pounced on her and hugged her tightly, pressing against her mouth heavily.


    At the doorway of the tent, facing the other maidservant, Qian Ying pointed at her belly and then hurriedly ran away, followed by the other maidservant¡¯s amazed gaze. She had heard something that others couldn¡¯t.


    She didn¡¯t intend to save the Dragon Army, and her only intention was to protect her master, Shangguan Ru, because that was her duty.

 Chapter 833 - Taking Action

    Chapter 833: Taking Action


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The wind abruptly stopped, which instantly rified the sound of the fierce fighting on the battlefield. After the thick dust in the air settled slightly, the bloody scene became as vivid as if it was taking ce right before their eyes.


    At this moment, the opposing side, Luoluo, had just sent troops into battle for the second time. Scouts wereing back from various positions, and they all reported wildly different numbers, ranging from 10,000 to 30,000.


    Dugu Xian twisted his head around and asked, ¡°You got this, right?¡±


    After nodding emphatically, Gu Shenwei took a spear from a nearby guard¡¯s hand and stamped it, upright, into the ground.


    Long Fanyun was personally carrying the Red Crow g himself. As he walked across the front row of the troops, the Dragon Army soldiers also stamped their spears into the ground upright like how the Dragon King had just one, their eyes all fixed on that big g with the symbol of a red bird on a ck background.


    Gu Shenwei rode to Shangguan Ru¡¯s side and said in a low voice, ¡°Stay here.¡±


    Widening her eyes, Shangguan Ru looked like a child whose toys had just been snatched, her face full of amazement and stubbornness. She was just about to object when Gu Shenwei added on, ¡°I¡¯ll be better able to concentrate on the fighting in front of me if you stay here and protect General Dugu.¡±


    Shangguan Ru suspected that the Dragon King was just making up an excuse to keep her in the rear, but she soon remembered that the Dragon King was not that sort of person. ¡°Okay. You¡­ stay safe.¡±


    As he peered into her ck eyes, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t say anything. He merely turned his horse around and returned to the head of the Corps. Fifty guards were standing at his sides with shields in their hands. They were the Dragon King¡¯s strongest defense.


    As the warhorses pawed at the ground restlessly in ce, Gu Shenwei turned his torso to look at these soldiers who were both familiar and strange to him. He wanted to give a pep talk, but then felt that that was totally unnecessary. In the end, he merely straightened his body, gave the horse under him a spur with his legs, and started trotting forward.


    The roaring gallop of horse hooves was the only sound that could be heard. Watching the ranks of marching cavalrymen pass by, Shangguan Ru felt that her heart was flying away along with them.


    Beside her, Red Bat watched the receding Red Crow g with tears in her eyes.


    But unexpectedly, Shangguan Ru was smiling. ¡°How many women get to watch their loved ones leave for the battlefield? You should feel happy.¡±


    Red Bat wiped her tears away. Sometimes, Instructor Shangguan was like a child, and sometimes she was like a wise old woman who had been through numerous ups and downs in her life. Red Bat constantly felt unable to appropriately respond to herments. She only words she could muster were ¡°I am happy. It¡¯s just that¡­ the wind is too strong.¡±


    And as if she had cast a spell, the wind started blowing even harder.


    Shangguan Ru rode up to Dugu Xian¡¯s side and asked, ¡°This war is not going to end anytime soon, is it?¡±


    ¡°Mmm.¡± Dugu Xian had been observing the left front this whole time as if there were some invisible force lying in ambush in that open space. After thest Dragon Army soldier had advanced about twice the range of an arrow forward, he ordered the fifth 10,000-men army to enter the battlefield. Then, he had the herald send a message to the Commander-in-chief, saying, ¡°It¡¯s time for the right corps tounch an attack.¡±


    Shangguan Ru reined in her horse and moved two steps backwards before saying to Azheba, who was standing on the other side, ¡°What do you think our odds are that we will win this war, general?¡±


    Upon hearing Shangguan Ru¡¯s voice, Azheba became so nervous that he nearly fell off of his horse. After coughing several times, he said, ¡°It is the morale of our army that we care about, so we can call it a victory as long as we are not defeated. So, I think that the odds are very much in our favor.¡±


    Red Bat abruptly interjected to say, ¡°When will you join the fight, General Azheba?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m waiting for the Commander-in-chief¡¯s order.¡± Azheba¡¯s face blushed slightly as he said these words. His rank was the same as that of Dugu Xian, so nominally Mo Chu, was the only one who had any right to order him to attack. However, Duodun had effectively taken absolute control of the army, so he actually only answered to Duodun.


    The Dragon King approached towards the battlefield. As long as Luoluo kept his promise and sent his men to attack the Naihang Tribe, Azheba would then order his men to abduct Dugu Xian and Mo Chu. However, Azhe didn¡¯t expect that his opponents would be a group of women.


    Standing right behind Dugu Xian and about ten steps away from Azheba, Tie Linglong was tightly holding onto her saber hilt, her eyes sweeping around vigntly. Even Shangguan Ru was included in her alert gaze ¨C she was a little unhappy as she felt that having the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance stay in the rear waspletely unnecessary.


    A soldier rapidly rode over, but he was neither a herald of any army nor a scout. Instead, that soldier joined Azheba¡¯s guards and nodded at him.


    Azheba moved closer to Dugu Xian to evade Shangguan Ru¡¯s view and potential questions.


    But against Azheba¡¯s expectations, it was not this soldier that had attracted Shangguan Ru¡¯s attention, but rather another person.


    Nobody knew when Qian Ying had arrived. She was disguised again, this time among the ranks of the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance.


    Shangguan Ru knew all the female soldiers assigned to her, so she recognized Qian Ying at first sight. She waved her arm and summoned Qian Ying before her, and then asked in a low voice, ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    After seeing that her master hadn¡¯t gone into battle with the Dragon King, Qian Ying felt greatly relieved. She had heard a lot of secrets, but she thought it was unnecessary to reveal all of them to her master. ¡°I¡¯m here to protect you, master. Be careful¡­¡±


    Qian Ying nced at Azheba after speaking those words. Shangguan Ru immediately realized that the Dragon King¡¯s suspicion had not been groundless.


    After staying beside Azheba for a while, the strange soldier turned his horse around and rode towards the tent of the Commander-in-chief, but he didn¡¯t pause after arriving at the tent. He then changed his direction again and started riding towards Shulitu¡¯s tent, which was located in the area of the right wing.


    After seeing that soldier who had stopped by briefly, Mo Lin nodded at Azheba and went outside for another routine check ¨C standing by was his only choice.


    The guards at the doorway were expressionless. After Mo Lin had gone far away, the ten plus men grabbed their saber hilts simultaneously.


    At this moment, Shulitu was sitting in a temporary tent with only Nie Zeng and five guards by his side.


    It had been a while since someone hadst informed him of the front line¡¯s situation. Shulitu was growing a little anxious, and he nervously said, ¡°Go ask General Li Shun how the battle is going at the front and whether the right corps are ready.¡±


    But after hearing the order, the guard didn¡¯t leave. He instead bowed slightly and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Your Highness. General Li Shun already has everything nned out.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I¡¯m losing my grip slightly.¡± Shulitu smiled and then sat back into his chair, seeming rather rxed.


    But his heart had skipped a beat.


    After being a puppet for so many years, Shulitu had be highly sensitive to certain issues. For example, sometimes people around him would agree with him on the surface, but actually disagree with him. Or, sometimes they would appear to be respectful, but actually refuse to follow his orders. These were all indications that something suspicious was going on.


    After ncing at Nie Zeng, Shulitu realized something from the vignt look in his eyes ¨C these guards had not been assigned here by the Dragon King.


    ¡°Which lord did you serve previously? I don¡¯t think that I¡¯ve ever seen you before,¡± Shulitu asked casually. He curled his body, as if he didn¡¯t feel too well.


    The guards exchanged a nce of their own before one of them answered, ¡°We¡¯re General Li Shun¡¯s guards. You probably just didn¡¯t notice us, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°Where are my former guards? Actually, I¡¯m a little nervous. And I¡¯d feel better if I had someone familiar within my sight.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re right outside the tent,¡± the guard answered ndly without going out to get anyone.


    Shulitu nced at Nie Zeng again and then yawned. ¡°I got up too early this morning. I¡¯m going to take a nap. Wake me up if any newses in from the front line.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Highness,¡± a guard answered.


    Nie Zeng started walking towards the door. A guard blocked his path and asked in a low voice, ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going back to the camp to get a pillow for His Highness. He can¡¯t lie down just like that,¡± Nie Zeng answered naturally as if this was something he did regrly.


    Shulitu impatiently urged, ¡°Hurry.¡±


    The guards reluctantly made way for him.


    Nie Zeng had just left when a voice came from outside the tent, ¡°General Li Shun sent me here to ask you whether everything¡¯s okay, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°Everything¡¯s fine,¡± a guard answered.


    It was quiet outside. Shulitu opened his eyes and asked aloud, ¡°How¡¯s it going at the front lines? Come in and talk to me about it.¡±


    ¡°No news is good news,¡± a guard replied.


    The five guards whipped out their sabers and surrounded Shulitu.


    ¡°Are you going to kill me or put me under house arrest?¡± Shulitu asked calmly.


    Nobody answered. All of the guards¡¯ faces were cold. Two of them were standing in an offensive stance at the doorway.


    ¡°I got the pillow,¡± another voice called out from the outside, before someone opened the tent p and came in.


    The two guards by the entrance shed out with their sharp sabers at the same time, and the one who had juste in was beheaded. The headless body fell to the ground with a thud, a pillow in his hands.


    After rolling around several times, the head stopped, the face looking right at Shulitu.


    Shulitu¡¯s face went ashen, but he didn¡¯t scream.


    A guard bent over and took a look, ¡°He¡¯s not the one who just¡­¡±


    Before he could finish his sentence, the guard screeched in pain before slowly turning around, revealing a dagger sticking out from his back. He tried to reach out to grab it, but the only thing he could do was scratch his back a few times. As his life bled out, he slowly sat down on the ground.


    The other guards didn¡¯t panic. They immediately moved beside Shulitu and encircled him, their eyes looking around for that hidden killer.


    A dozen miles away, Duodun was still trying hard to persuade the Second Consort. ¡°Think about it carefully. If we ally with the Dragon King and Shulitu, we won¡¯t stand a good chance of defeating Luoluo, and even if we defeat him, I will have to win another fight to seed to the throne. But if we ally with Luoluo, the Dragon King will undoubtedly be eliminated. Besides, the Central ins army is already pursuing Luoluo, and wintertime is almost upon us. Thus, so Luoluo will surely flee far away after this war, which will give me enough time to expand my army. Given the difference between these two choices, which one do you think I should choose? In addition, what¡¯s done is done ¨C I¡¯ve already sent a messenger and I can¡¯t call him back even if I wanted to.¡±


    As she sat on a nket, the Second Consort¡¯s face was sepulchral. ¡°Can your men defeat those kung fu experts of Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King makes mistakes too, you know. He has deployed all his real kung fu experts elsewhere, leaving only a couple of women and kids behind. But I didn¡¯t make mistakes like he did. Did you think that I did nothing at Heaven¡¯s Pass? Actually, I recruited some kung fu experts too. Not many ¨C just a hundred men or so. But they should be enough for today¡¯s action, right?¡±


    The Second Consort didn¡¯t answer. After a while she said, ¡°Okay, you win. Like you said, what¡¯s done is done, and it¡¯s beyond discussion at this point. I have no more to say. I just hope that you will stay on guard against the Naihang Tribe¡¯s plots.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha, what kind of plot can Zhesu and Duo Ercha possiblye up with?¡±


    The Second Consort sighed heavily as she said, ¡°Call your men in.¡±


    Duodun stared at her in confusion. ¡°You¡¯re with me on this, and not ying any tricks, right?¡±


    ¡°Everything I¡¯ve done, I did for you. You don¡¯t believe me?¡±


    Duodun believed her. He walked to the doorway and asked thepanions and generals toe inside.


    ¡°Luoluo¡¯s troops are fighting the Naihang Tribe. The scouts said that there¡¯ve been some signs of chaos in the Naihang Tribe, so our armies may depart at any time,¡± Liman reported.


    ¡°Give it some time.¡± Duodun was still watching the Second Consort closely. ¡°When the situation in the Naihang Tribe devolves into a total mess, we¡¯ll corner them then. After that, they will have no choice but to surrender. Have you blocked off the roads in the north yet?¡±


    Liman nodded. ¡°Our 5,000 cavalrymen departed yesterday. News came this morning that they are already in position. They¡¯re moving under King Riying Shulitu¡¯s banner, so it shouldn¡¯t be a problem for them to gain the Naihang Tribe¡¯s trust.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Duodun took a few steps forward and opened his arms. Twopanions immediately carried a suit of armor to him and helped him put it on.


    With his armor on, Duodun looked sturdier and more handsome than usual. The Second Consort stared at him obsessively for a while before asking, ¡°Er.. Liman, you know the Naihang Tribe¡¯s army well, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I do,¡± Liman answered somewhat confusedly.


    Duodun turned his head back and smiled. ¡°He¡¯s from the Naihang Tribe and he¡¯s also General Zhesu¡¯s son. Who else could possibly be more familiar with that army than he?¡±


    ¡°Great.¡± The Second Consort smiled. ¡°Liman, the Naihang Tribe is conspiring against us. If you¡¯re truly loyal to Prince Duodun, then for his sake, you shouldn¡¯t go wee their surrender¡­¡±


    Duodun angrily pushed aside thepanions who were helping him equip his armor as he yelled at the Second Consort, ¡°I trusted you!¡±


    ¡°Oh, silly kid.¡± Second Consort watched her loved man with apassionate infatuation.


    Then, she twisted her head and said to Liman, ¡°Don¡¯t try to think about what your father will do. Think about what old King Rizhu would have done on this kind of asion, and then think about whether or not General Zhesu will do the same thing.¡±


    Liman¡¯s heart skipped a beat.

 Chapter 834 - Whipping Out a Saber

    Chapter 834: Whipping Out a Saber


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Duodun felt the pain of betrayal. All of hispanions and generals were pretending as if they hadn¡¯t heard anything. As the only one whose name had just been called out, Liman was as embarrassed as if he had just identally knocked a brazier over.


    ¡°Guards,¡± Duodunmanded as he tried to keep his voice calm. ¡°Take the Second Consort to her tent. She¡¯s not allowed to leave without my permission.¡±


    The guards at the doorway looked at one another, but none of them moved until the look in the prince¡¯s eyes turned severe and angry. Finally, four guards walked in front of the Second Consort and bowed respectfully.


    The Second Consort didn¡¯t try to resist. As she walked past Duodun, she shook her head at him with a smile. ¡°Silly kid.¡± Then she said to Liman, ¡°Only you can save His Highness.¡±


    Liman felt even more awkward after hearing her words. Among all of Duodun¡¯spanions, his head was lowered the most, and he didn¡¯t dare to say a single word in return.


    The Second Consort was promptly escorted away. Duodun let out an empty loud bark before saying, ¡°Just a stupid woman. She never knows where her ce is. This is a war. What does a woman know about war?¡±


    ¡°Yes. You don¡¯t need her at all, Your Highness.¡± One of hispanions decided to risk saying these remarks, but as soon as he finished speaking hisst word, he realized that he had made a mistake, so he backed off quietly.


    As he gazed at the faces of these people surrounding him, Duodun abruptly frowned, and snapped, ¡°You two! Why are you acting so stealthily?¡±


    The two guards standing at the doorway knelt down at once. In a quivering voice, one of them said, ¡°The Second Consort¡­ The Second Consort¡¯s maidservant¡­ has been away for a very long time. She still hasn¡¯t returned yet.¡±


    ¡°Which maidservant?¡±


    ¡°The¡­ older one.¡±


    Duodun raised his head and tried to recall the face of the maidservant, but his memory only returned a faint impression. ¡°A maidservant,¡± he mumbled. The first thing he thought of was the possibility of his secrets all being spilled, but then he remembered the Waning Moon Hall. With that thought in mind, hemanded, ¡°Make this order known to everyone ¡ª no woman is allowed to approach my tent. Tell those outside to keep their eyes peeled for any female who might be disguised as someone else.¡±


    A guard left the tent to announce his order. After taking a deep breath, Duodun began to issue the most important order of this day. ¡°Liman, take 40,000 men and go to the Naihang Tribe to rope them in.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡±


    Liman was just about to leave when Duodun suddenly said, ¡°Wait.¡± This man had just been heavily exhorted by the Second Consort, so Duodun didn¡¯t know how much he could trust him. ¡°Take a couple helpers.¡±


    Fourpanions took the hint. They walked to Liman¡¯s side and left the tent alongside him.


    ¡°Kuke, fill me in on the other areas¡¯ situations,¡± Duodun said to anotherpanion.


    ¡°On the right side, General Li Shun has made his move and everything is going fine. At the Middle Corps, Azheba¡¯s waiting for the Dragon Army to join the fight. The female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance haven¡¯t moved, so I sent more men to help Azheba in case he needs it.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Duodun¡¯s mood gradually improved. He felt that this was the kind of helper that he needed. The Second Consort had nearly ruined his big n, and Liman¡¯s loyalty was already questionable enough. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that he was Zhesu¡¯s son, Duodun would have preferred to rece him with another vicemander-in-chief even though the war was still going on.


    ¡°Good,¡± Duodun repeated. The hounds had been let loose, and the only thing he could do now was wait and see what prey it would drag back. Then he recalled something. ¡°Kuke, go and help Azheba yourself. If he hesitates, you know what to do.¡±


    Now, Duodun could truly rest assured. He reviewed the whole n from the beginning to the end and couldn¡¯t think of any ws. With regards to the Naihang Tribe, he felt that the Second Consort had been too dramatic. Zhesu was a boor, and if he had allied himself with Luoluo, he would have bragged about it all day long and the whole world would have known about it.


    Meanwhile, Kuke was in his early twenties. Among all of Duodun¡¯spanions, he was the youngest, the most loyal, and also the most energetic. After receiving his order, he immediately departed and upon arriving at the Middle Corps, went to the tent of the Commander-in-chief first.


    Mo Chu was indeed an experienced and sophisticated general. After realizing that Mo Lin had been away for such a long time, he had formed a general idea of what was going on. And upon seeing Kuke, he recognized him and knew that he was one of Duodun¡¯spanions as he knew that this man had once participated in his abduction. His response was to yell, ¡°Kuke! You¡¯re Kuke, right?¡±


    Kuke walked in and nodded as he replied, ¡°I am.¡±


    ¡°There hasn¡¯t been any news from the Left Corps for a long time.¡±


    ¡°Because there isn¡¯t any news.¡± Kuke looked down upon this senile Commander-in-chief, so his tone was disrespectful. ¡°Prince Duodun and General Liman will adapt to the circumstances and make the right decision, so there¡¯s no need for you to worry.¡±


    Mo Chu gave out two shortughs. ¡°Tell Duodun this: I have no intention of ruining his or anyone else¡¯s ns.¡±


    Kuke cursed, ¡°Old fox,¡± secretly under his breath and decided to take action ahead of schedule. ¡°I will.¡±


    Twelve guards gathered around him from both outside and inside the tent. The eight vice generals in front of Mo Chu and the six bodyguards behind him were all startled, and their hands instantly went to their weapons.


    Mo Chu knew very well that no matter how many more soldiers he called into the tent, they wouldn¡¯t be able to overpower these twelve men, so he desperately pped his arms like a bird would p its wings, trying to console his subordinates. ¡°Drop your weapons. Prince Duodun doesn¡¯t want us dead.¡±


    ¡°Heh, you¡¯re a smart guy,¡± Kuke remarked contemptuously.


    ¡°I¡¯m old. This is all I have left. Both the Commander-in-chief¡¯s seal and the g of order are right here. Just take them.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re so willing to cooperate, then you can keep these things for the moment.¡±


    ¡°Sure. I¡¯m willing to cooperate at any time,¡± Mo Chu said frankly, with nary a mark of fear nor shame in his face.


    Those vice generals and bodyguards vigntly unfastened the sabers on their waists and ced them onto the ground. However, the guards didn¡¯t walk forward to collect them ¡ª they didn¡¯t ce these people who had only low-level kung fu skills in their eyes at all.


    Soon, Kuke received a new written order and left, satisfied. He saw that Mo Lin was looking into the distant battlefield from a distance, and he felt even more satisfied.


    Since Han Fen had received an order to protect Mo Chu, she had subsequently disguised herself as one of the Commander-in-chief¡¯s bodyguards. She lowered the saber alongside the others, feeling uncertain about what to do. <em>Is this old man¡¯s life in danger or not? Judging from the look on his face, he¡¯s not worried about anything at all. Should I make a move?</em>


    She decided to wait for a while more, but in the meantime, couldn¡¯t help but me the Dragon King for not giving her more specific instructions.


    Kuke rode to Azheba¡¯s side. Thirty special guards had gathered here and most of them were kung fu experts who had been secretly recruited by Duodun back at Heaven¡¯s Pass. They wouldn¡¯t be of much help on the battlefield, but taking people hostage was their forte.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?¡± Kuke asked in a muted voice.


    The wind was blowing stronger than it had been in the morning. The situation of the distant battlefield waspletely unteble. asionally, one or two screams could be heard. The observing pavilions had been rendered useless by the wind, and only the front line scouts were to bring back news consistently.


    ¡°It¡¯s a total mess,¡± Azheba said, wondering why Kuke was here. ¡°Nobody knows what the exact situation at the front line is, but our troops are still fighting, which is good news. And with regard to the Dragon Army¡­ Nobody knows where they are.¡±


    ¡°Nobody knows there they are?¡± Kuke didn¡¯t understand the meaning of this sentence.


    Azheba nced in Dugu Xian¡¯s direction and exined, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s army has changed directions and they advanced northeast after departing, and progressed several miles forward. And he never sent any scouts back.¡±


    Kuke imitated Prince Duodu with his frown as he asked, ¡°What about the other scouts? They didn¡¯t see the Dragon Army either?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve seen it for yourself. In this weather, it¡¯s difficult for the scouts to even locate their own fellow troops¡­¡±


    ¡°Hmph! Maybe they got lost. The Western Regioners must have never fought in a war like this before.¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡±


    ¡°Liman has departed.¡±


    This was both an indication and the order that Azheba had been waiting for all along. But he felt a pressure as heavy as a huge rock suddenly overwhelm him to the point that he could barely breathe under its oppressive weight.


    ¡°If you can¡¯t do this¡­¡±


    After ring angrily at Kuke, Azheba raised his hand and ordered the guards to fall in behind him before spurring his horse to trot towards Dugu Xian. ¡°General Dugu.¡±


    Dugu Xian¡¯s gaze never left the battlefield that was engulfed by wind and sand, as if he had a pair of eyes that could prate through the thick air. ¡°Mmm, what¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°I think that we¡¯ve fought long enough, and our goal of enhancing morale has been achieved. So, we should withdraw now.¡±


    Dugu Xian turned his head around and stared at Azheba. They were of the same rank, so neither of them could order the other to do anything. ¡°There¡¯s no hurry,¡± he said perfunctorily.


    Kuke raised the paper in his hand and said aloud, ¡°The Commander-in-chief has ordered Shulitu¡¯s army to retreat, and the Dragon Army is to bring up the rear.¡±


    Dugu Xian peered coldly at Kuke. ¡°Apologies. This army is under mymand.¡±


    Kuke was just about to order the guards to take action when Azheba stopped him. He turned and looked at Shangguan Ru who was behind Dugu Xian. ¡°I don¡¯t want to see anyone bleed. Please persuade General Dugu, Instructor Shangguan.¡±


    Shangguan Ru smiled, ¡°It¡¯s alright. I don¡¯t want to see anyone bleed either. General Dugu, what¡¯s done is done. We might as well talk about it.¡±


    Upon seeing Shangguan Ru agree so willingly, both Azheba and Kuke were greatly surprised.


    Dugu Xian looked around. Most of the armies under hismand had been sent into the battleground, leaving only about a thousand men behind. However, Azheba¡¯s 10,000 cavalrymen were all here.


    ¡°Mmm, we can talk about this. I hope that Azheba will send these 10,000 cavalrymen of the Second Consort¡¯s into battle right away.¡±


    Azheba¡¯s facial expression changed. He was just about to try to persuade him again when two unexpected things took ce simultaneously.


    First off, Kuke didn¡¯t want to wait any longer and he directly ordered the guards to take action. Thirty kung fu experts who had disguised themselves as guards whipped out their sabers all at once, which startled all off the soldiers in the distance.


    Secondly, Tie Linglong also didn¡¯t want to wait any longer either . She unsheathed her saber, leaped upwards and pounced onto Azheba ¡ª she knew that she had to overpower the leader first if she wanted to keep his followers under control.


    At themand center of the Middle Corps, right beside the Commander-in-chief, a chaotic fight was about to begin.


    At the same time, the fight in Shulitu¡¯s tent had just ended. After killing a target with a throwing knife, Nie Zeng had never shown up again. Li Shun had sent multiple guards to the tent and before long, personally arrived.


    ¡°Ask your bodyguard to show himself, Your Highness. He won¡¯t be in danger. There¡¯s no need to fight.¡±


    ¡°s, I didn¡¯t expect that it would be you. My father always told me that you were trustworthy.¡± Even as he curled up on the chair, Shulitu maintained a look of disappointment on his face.


    Li Shun knelt down as he exined, ¡°I¡¯m doing this for you, Your Highness. The Dragon King has malicious ns, and sooner orter, he will hurt you.¡±


    ¡°So you beat him to it, then. Tell me, what did Duodun promise you?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t receive any benefits. Duodun will allow you to keep the title of King Riying, and I¡¯ll escort you back to your own army. You¡¯ll have to give up the fight for the throne.¡±


    ¡°And what about the soldiers?¡±


    ¡°We can take the former troops of King Riying, and the others will be handed over to Duodun.¡±


    ¡°Stand up,¡± Shulitumanded as he jumped off of the chair. The four guards sent by Duodun surrounded him immediately.


    Li Shun stood up and yelled, ¡°Don¡¯t be rude to His Highness.¡±


    But the guards held onto their weapons as if they hadn¡¯t heard him.


    ¡°See?¡± Shulitu pointed at these guards. ¡°If I were to fight for the throne, I¡¯d never be so merciful as to let someone like me return to my own army. King Riying¡¯s soldiers numbers almost 10,000 ¡ª it¡¯s not a big number, but it¡¯s not a small number either. Why would Duodun give that up so easily? Li Shun, I don¡¯t me you. Stop this. There¡¯s still a chance to make up for it.¡±


    Li Shun was an experienced general who had been through numerous battles. He didn¡¯t know why, but when facing his young master who was merely twelve years old, he felt somewhat faint-hearted. ¡°There¡¯s no chance. The 10,000 troops of the Dragon Army at the right wing have already entered the battlefield. Neither they nor those who have previously followed the Dragon King will be able toe back. Your Highness, tell that bodyguard named Nie Zeng to show himself. Only then can I guarantee your safety and interests.¡±


    Shulitu remained silent.


    At the front, Gu Shenwei had gotten rid of all his suspicion and was now advancing at a steady speed in such a way that the troops behind him wouldn¡¯t lose sight of him.


    He and Dugu Xian had formted a bold n. Instead of charging into the chaotic battleground, he was instead advancing directly towards the left wing of Luoluo¡¯s army. They were nning on carrying out a raid.

 Chapter 835 - Falling Down

    Chapter 835: Falling Down


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Commander-in-chief Mo Chu¡¯s request was very simple. As long as the opposing side spared him and let him preserve his dignity, he was willing to cooperate with them. But he didn¡¯t expect that even a request as small as this would be rejected.


    In the Commander-in-chief¡¯s tent, he issued one order after another. After everything was done, two guards walked before him with sabers in their hands.


    Mo Chu¡¯s facial expression changed drastically. ¡°I¡¯ve been very cooperative this whole time.¡±


    The two guards exchanged a nce, seeming hesitating about whether they should give him an exnation. In the end, they relented and said, ¡°His Highness didn¡¯t kill you during yourst meeting and he regrets that act of mercy greatly.¡±


    Mo Chu tried to remain calm. ¡°If he kills me this time, he¡¯ll be even more regretful. Go back and tell Prince Duodun that I have something important to tell him. It¡¯s something that he will undoubtedly want to know.¡±


    One of the guards at the doorway became very impatient. ¡°Do it now. We¡¯re not messengers. Why would we get ourselves into trouble for no good reason? Just cut off the head and be done with it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the Commander-in-chief of this army,¡± Mo Chu said rather excitedly. ¡°Who else can keep more than 100,000 troops under control for Duodun if you kill me?¡±


    ¡°I almost forgot.¡± A guard put away his scimitar and produced a Golden Roc Castle¡¯s narrow saber from behind his waist as he gravely said, ¡°Mo Chu, your collusion with the Unique King has been exposed, so Golden Roc Castle wants to kill you. This is the evidence.¡±


    Mo Chu¡¯s heart lurched so hard that it nearly broke through his skinny chest. ¡°Listen to me now¡­ Let me talk to Duodun. The Unique King and His Highness are not enemies, so why don¡¯t¡­¡±


    The guard pointed his narrow saber against Mo Chu¡¯s chest where his heart was just underneath the surface. ¡°You talk too much. I won¡¯t remember all of your words.¡±


    As these two were talking, the other eight guards had already made their moves. Five bodies fell to the ground in the blink of an eye. And for the rest of the people, some of them were hurriedly trying to pick the weapons off of the ground, and some others were yelling. ¡°I surrender.¡± The five bodyguards behind Mo Chu had already grabbed the sabers on the ground, but none of them stepped forward.


    ¡°Hurry,¡± the guard at the doorway urged once more.


    The guard with a narrow saber exhaled deeply and then his body shook twice. He noticed his hands trembling inexplicably, and then he involuntarily copsed onto the ground with a thud, and then so too did Mo Chu, who was standing opposite him.


    The guard beside him reached out to grab him, but also fell down. And then one by one, the eight guards who had just been killing, the surviving generals, and those bodyguards who had just picked up their sabers all fell down like crops being reaped.


    The two guards at the doorway were the only ones that were left standing. Upon witnessing this scene, they immediately raised their hands and held their breath before hurrying out of the tent. When they felt safe, they shouted out in a muffled voice, ¡°Who is it? Show yourself!¡±


    It was dead quiet in the tent. Everybody seemed to be asleep ¡ª or dead, just like the bleeding corpses.


    Both guards were from the martial arts world and they wouldn¡¯t easily fall for someone else¡¯s tricks, so they took a few extra steps back.


    All of the people outside the tent were guards sent by Duodun. They had overpowered the few followers of Mo Chu and were waiting for further orders.


    ¡°You three, go inside and take a look,¡± the guard ordered as he pulled at some soldiers beside him before pushing them toward the tent.


    The soldiers whipped out their sabers and reinvigorated themselves before slowly moving toward the tent. They had barely taken three or five steps in when the tent ps suddenly closed.


    It waspletely quiet in the huge tent. Those soldiers had been downed before they could even scream.


    ¡°It must be that crazy woman who¡¯s working for Dragon King,¡± a guard shouted out as he suddenly realized the severity of the situation.


    ¡°Fuck! Isn¡¯t that crazy woman the Dragon King¡¯s prisoner? Howe¡­ ¡± The other guard turned around and looked at Mo Lin, who was standing nearby. ¡°You, Silver Condor or whatever,e here.¡±


    Mo Lin stood where he was without moving.


    ¡°I said,e here!¡± the guard yelled angrily. He was originally a bandit from the Western Regions, and his manners had always been rude and bossy. The words ¡°the previous Khan¡¯s wing guard¡± didn¡¯t mean anything to him.


    Mo Lin shook his head as he impassively replied, ¡°I¡¯m executing Prince Duodun¡¯s order.¡±


    ¡°What was the order?¡±


    ¡°To stand by.¡±


    The guard¡¯s face changed to the deep red of a pig¡¯s liver ¡ª he himself was the one who had passed this ¡°order¡± to Mo Lin. ¡°Bullshit! If you still want your wife and kids to stay alive, then go into the tent and bring that crazy bitch to me right now.¡±


    Mo Lin still remained standing where he was, his arms drooping naturally ¡ª he was the picture definition of ¡°standing by.¡±


    Out of anger, the two guards started walking towards Mo Lin, but stopped after only taking two steps forward. They didn¡¯t know how good a wing guard¡¯s kung fu was, but all the soldiers around them, including those sent by Duodun, were ring at them even more fiercely than their own expressions.


    ¡°Are you all crazy too?¡± A guard shed out at the air. ¡°What did His Highness send you here to do? Take out your bows and arrows, and shoot the tent¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not Nonders.¡± A voice was heard among the soldiers.


    ¡°Prince Duodun hired us at a high price,¡± the guard said in an annoyed tone, involuntarily grabbing his saber hilt. Standing back to back with theirpanions, they still hadn¡¯t figured out the reason for these soldiers¡¯ anger.


    ¡°You¡¯re not Nonders!¡± More voices were heard in this shout.


    Slightly scared, the two guards stared at the centurion in confusion. ¡°What is this? Did Prince Duodun tell you to do this?¡±


    Riding on the horse, the centurion had never tried to stop his soldiers throughout his whole process. He coldly answered, ¡°Your disrespect towards lord wing guard is synonymous with disrespect to the previous Khan.¡±


    ¡°Lord wing guard?¡± The two guards repeated the words emptily before simultaneously casting their eyes at that man who was merely ¡°standing by.¡±


    Nobody had told them that this saberman who had no military rank to note had actuallye from a noble background. After exchanging a nce, the two decided topromise since the odds were obviously very much against them. They hurriedly started apologizing and exining themselves, ¡°Sorry, lord wing guard. We didn¡¯t know¡­ We all work for Prince Duodun. Please don¡¯t take offence. The Dragon King¡¯s subordinate is in that tent.¡±


    The centurion and the soldiers all looked at the previous Khan¡¯s wing guard.


    Mo Lin was still standing where he had always been, but his opinions had changed by now. Everybody had always said that he stillmanded a very high respect among the soldiers and that both the Dragon King and Duodun valued this aspect of his very much. But until now, he had never deeply felt that respect.


    Some reverence was not to be disyed frequently.


    Mo Lin threw out his chest and said in a deep voice, ¡°You two should go inside and check for yourself.¡±


    The two guards were startled. ¡°Don¡¯t forget that¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll never forget.¡± Mo Lin¡¯s voice became even colder, as if he had instantly turned from an obedient saberman into the wing guard who would arbitrarily kill and spare people.


    Taking the wing guard¡¯s words as orders, all the soldiers sent by Duodun nocked their loaded bows and aimed at the two panic-stricken guards.


    ¡°Are you rebelling?¡± a guard yelled loudly, but his voice was already quivering.


    Nobody answered him. An arrow shot into the ground in front of their feet with a whooshing sound ¡ª this was just a warning.


    The two guards slowly turned around and walked toward that extremely eerie tent.


    It was at this time that the centurion said to the soldiers, ¡°We¡¯re here to execute His Highness¡¯ orders, not tomit suicide. Lord wing guard is right. Checking the tent is originally these two people¡¯s duty.¡±


    After hearing the conversation behind them, the two guards became even more worried. With a sh of inspiration, one of them said, ¡°Fire. Let¡¯s set fire to it.¡±


    ¡°The people in there might still be alive.¡±


    ¡°Then you go inside and check.¡±


    ring at each other, the two suddenly changed from friends who shared weal and woe into enemies plotting against each other. Soon, the other onepromised and said, ¡°Let¡¯s set fire to it.¡±


    The tent of the Commander-in-chief was not that far away from the Middle Corps¡¯ Commander-in-chief tent, and so, Azheba could see what was happening as long as he turned his head around. However, he couldn¡¯t even move his fingers.


    There was a narrow saber held against his neck.


    Tie Linglong was one of the kung fu experts hired by Duodun¡¯s main targets. She had barely leaped off of her horse¡¯s back when five people pounced on her.


    Shangguan Ru made her move at that exact moment.


    She was also one the opposing side¡¯s main targets. However, it was not this Instructor, but rather the multiple dozens of Land of Fragrance female soldiers that concerned everybody, including Duodun.


    Shangguan Ru seldom fought in front of outsiders. The only exception was when she had joined hands with the Dragon King to fight against the kung fu experts from Qingcheng Sect and Kongtong Sect. But at that time, most of the audience were Central insmen, and even in their eyes, Shangguan Ru was not a real kung fu expert but just a background character.


    As a result, whenever Shangguan Ru pointed her fingers at those five people¡¯s acupoints during their rapid blur of a fight, none of them sessfully dodge her attack.


    The path before Tie Linglong had been cleared. Shended behind Azheba and held her saber against his neck,nding on the horse¡¯s back on one knee.


    Azheba didn¡¯t tried to resist at all.


    Kuke spurred his horse away from the fight, backing off even as he yelled, ¡°Kill them! Kill them all-¡± Then he felt a sudden pain in the back, and he had barely turned his head halfway when he fell off his horse.


    Astounded, the guardsunched an all-out attack.


    While wearing a Land of Fragrance uniform, Qian Ying moved around between the horse¡¯s legs like a swift civet, striking down someone with every one of her saber blows.


    Seeing that there was such an excellent kung fu expert among the Land of Fragrance¡¯s troops, the guards were startled once again. Flustered, they became even more determined to catch their target. It was not until five or six of them were downed that the light of realization dawned on the rest of them. They jumped off of their horses and retreated to the crowded tents ¡ª they outnumbered their enemies, and they might be able to gain the upper hand if they fought the enemies in an open space.


    Shangguan Ru resignedly watched the killings happen. She could order Qian Ying to do almost anything, but she couldn¡¯t request a green-faced assassin to not kill people, because they had been trained since birth to do this, and this couldn¡¯t be changed in a short amount of time.


    She joined the fight and performed both the Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills and Heart Stopping Finger, striking down the guards before they could even regain their footing.


    Nobody knew that this was apetition between those intent on killing and those intent on saving.


    Eventually, Shangguan Ru gained the edge over the opposing side, as the battle ended with eighteen people unconsciousness and twelve dead.


    On the periphery, there were a small group of Dugu Xian¡¯s bodyguards and the Second Consort¡¯s 10,000 cavalrymen, all of whom had been watching this fight in horror. The shock brought on by this scene was even greater than when they had witnessed the battle on the front line battlefield for the first time.


    The troops might break down and scatter with a single extra remark.


    Dugu Xian was also astounded, but he managed to collect himself. He rode in front of the troops and yelled, ¡°These are killers sent by Luoluo! Look! They¡¯re not even Nonders! The enemies¡¯ conspiracies have failed! We have to continue our attack!¡±


    His voice couldn¡¯t spread very far, but his spirit did. Everybody was suspicious, especially those at the front of the army . They had seen with their very own eyes that one of Prince Duodun¡¯spanions had been killed. And there was still a saber being held against Commander-in-chief Azheba¡¯s neck.


    ¡°Let go of the general,¡± Shangguan Ru said.


    Tie Linglong hesitated for a while before eventually putting her saber away. She jumped onto the ground, staring fixedly at Azheba.


    ¡°If you die, the 10,000-men army will scatter immediately, and the entire allied forces will fall into disorder. Duodun will get nothing. So make a choice, Azheba.¡±


    Azheba was so embarrassed he wanted tomit suicide, as he felt that he had failed not only Prince Duodun but also this woman in front of him. ¡°What does General Dugu want this army to do?¡±


    ¡°I want them to join the fight and retrieve the situation as well as our reputation. It¡¯s not toote,¡± said Dugu Xian. If everything had gone smoothly, the Dragon King and his army should have blindsided the enemies by now. At the very beginning, he and the Dragon King had already decided that the battle they would fight on this day would not be just a morale-raising trial battle, but also the final showdown.


    Feeling short of breath, Azheba turned his head back and looked at the Commander-in-chief¡¯s tent which was not far away. He then saw the tent burst into mes.

 Chapter 836 - Nobody Else

    Chapter 836: Nobody Else


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Cavalrymen equipped with heavy armor and spears didn¡¯t stand a chance at defeating cavalrymen who were skilled at horseback archery, especially so when the battlefield was a vast, open field.


    Gu Shenwei had once led his army and shattered a formation containing thousands of Nond cavalrymen, but Dugu Xian thought that that was nothing. ¡°I heard about that feat, but you were actually just lucky, Dragon King. First of all, Duodun¡¯s troops were arrogant and careless, and that was reflected in their decision to charge at you head-on. The effective striking range of their weapons was far shorter than your army¡¯s, so their defeat was only natural. Second, your army numbered 10,000 strong, which outnumbered the enemies by several times. However, you were only able to capture a small number of enemy soldiers, so it technically shouldn¡¯t even count as a victory at all. If Duodun had had more courage and reorganized his troops tounch another attack ¡ª as long as he maintained a certain distance from your army, he still stood a very good chance at defeating you.¡±


    After disdaining the Dragon King¡¯s ¡°victory¡± as if it were nothing, Dugu Xian started talking about the advantages of this army. ¡°Thanks to Duodun¡¯s mistake, you now own an army that dares to fight ¡ª this kind of courage cannot be forged no matter how many years you train them for. Like what you have seen, once the spear cavalry manages to close in on their enemies, they¡¯re invincible. By convention, the Nond cavalry¡¯s strategy is to ¡°pursue the enemies if they¡¯re weaker, and to flee if they¡¯re stronger.¡± Thus, if we can nk the enemies¡­¡±


    It was almost impossible to nk the opponent on the t grasnds. After contemting for quite a long time, Gu Shenwei finally made a choice when dawn was about to break. After hearing several ns from Dugu Xian, Gu Shenwei said, ¡°The weather is windy. If the wind blows up dust and obscures the air, it will act as a pretty good cover for us.¡±


    ¡°Um. Don¡¯t rely too much on weather. It blocks the enemies¡¯ view, but our troops will also easily get lost. In this case, you won¡¯t be able to tell if your army of soldiers walking side by side divides into two or three parts, or even more.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take my chances. Even if I only have 3,000 or 4,000 men left at the end, it¡¯s still worth a shot. More importantly, Luoluo won¡¯t be able to anticipate this.¡±


    ¡°Luoluo has been through hundreds of battles. He won¡¯t be tricked that easily,¡± Although he didn¡¯tpare the two directly, Dugu Xian thought much higher of Luoluo than he did of Duodun. It seemed as if he would take Luoluo¡¯s side without hesitation if he had the choice.


    ¡°Earlier, when you said that the only purpose of today¡¯s fight was to raise morale and that we would withdraw as soon as we achieved this end ¡ª do you think that Duodun believed it?¡±


    Dugu Xian thought for a while before answering, ¡°Of course he believed it. And because he won¡¯t send his own men, there won¡¯t be a real showdown.¡±


    ¡°If he believed it, then so will Luoluo.¡±


    When it came to conspiracies, Dugu Xian didn¡¯t understand them very much. ¡°Are you saying that Duodun will tell this to Luoluo? It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s very unlikely. The current situation is as if ¡ª he and you are on the same boat. Thus, no matter where he drills a hole in, both of you will sink.¡±


    Though Gu Shenwei had found several clues, he still didn¡¯t know anything about Duodun¡¯s actual ns, so he could only rely on his instincts. ¡°Duodun still wants to retreat to Heaven¡¯s Pass and eliminate Shulitu and me, before vying with Luoluo for the throne. This has been his strategy this whole time, and it won¡¯t change. In my opinion, he is making his best effort to have us suffer a crushing defeat during the first battle. That way, he can naturally enact his retreat n afterwards.¡±


    ¡°Trying to directly attack the enemy¡¯s headquarters is risky ¡ª too risky,¡± Dugu Xian was the one who had formted the operational n in detail, but even he wasn¡¯t very confident that it would seed. He preferred the other n. ¡°I think that you should wait until the Court Attendants Army throws the battleground into disorder, and thenmand the army to charge. With the advantage of your spears, we should be able to secure a moderate victory. After that, we can just wait for winter toe.¡±


    Between dashing into the battlefield and directly attacking Luoluo¡¯s main force, Gu Shenwei had been weighing the pros and cons between these two choices over and over again. ¡°If Duodun¡¯s really stupid enough to collude with Luoluo, we will never win on the battlefield. Luoluo will keep sending in more and more troops in until we arepletely wiped out, and Duodun will stand by and watch it happen. I¡¯ll take this risk.¡±


    Having failed to convince the Dragon King, Dugu Xian formted a new detailed n for him. ¡°Don¡¯t charge at the enemy directly. It¡¯s the fastest way, but the enemy will easily spot you. March northeast and maneuver through the battlefield on the edge. By doing this, you¡¯ll be able to temporarily confuse the enemy. Once you circle around the battleground, no matter how many soldiers can catch up with you, you have to advance at full speed and attack Luoluo¡¯s right wing directly. If possible, don¡¯t get surrounded ¡ª once again, try to maneuver through the enemies from the periphery of the battle. Killing enemies is not the aim ¡ª it is to create chaos. After that, return as soon as possible. Don¡¯t get caught in a prolonged engagement. Just keep moving west and lure Luoluo¡¯s Right Corps to our left wing. I¡¯d pay to see Duodun keep standing by under those circumstances¡­¡±


    Dugu Xian had said a lot, and Gu Shenwei had imprinted all of hismands firmly into his mind. Even if the n seeded, it would only result in them forcing Duodun¡¯s army to partake in the war. Whether they would ultimately win still remained unknown. When the asion arose, Dugu Xian would force Mo Chu into dispatching all of Li Shun¡¯s troops into the fight so that they would at least destroy Luoluo¡¯s army¡¯s victorious momentum if they couldn¡¯t defeat them outright.


    Gu Shenwei had also underestimated Duodun¡¯s n. It was not until the war was over that he finally understood the overall situation in its entirety. When the wind started blowing again on the battlefield and the air was filled with dust, hepletely lost control of the rear armies. All he could do was calm the people around him and steadfastly march northeast.


    The battlefield situation changed constantly and drastically. Even when the weather was clear and sunny, most of the troops on the battlefield would still get lost during the march, and they wouldn¡¯t even be able to hear the sounds behind them or clearly see what was happening a dozen steps away in the front.


    Also, the air was not dusty enough to cover everything. When the 10,000 Dragon Army troops passed by the edge of the battleground, they were only a mile away from the bloody carnage of the battle. If someone had turned their head around, they would have seen Nond cavalrymen falling off of their horses and whipping out their sabers to engage in a hand-to-hand fight.


    But Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t turn his head around. He blew the bugle for the first time, indicating that it was time for his army to elerate. It was at this position that some soldiers broke rank and were involuntarily dragged into the nearby battles.


    The battlefield was behind them and the shouts were getting fainter. Gu Shenwei suddenly panicked. It was as if he had entered a deserted region where gusts of wind and dust were everywhere, but people, enemies, andpanions werepletely absent.


    He was eager to blow the bugle again to remind himself that this was not a dream, and he was even more eager to turn his head back and check if the soldiers behind him had disappeared long ago.


    But he forced himself to focus on the front, even if there was nothing there.


    Grains of sand kept pelting him in the face and faintly hurting him, which was the only proof of the real world left.


    Then, he faintly saw an army ahead. They were preparing themselves for a fight ¡ª probably because they had been informed by their scouts.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s senses instantly returned to normal. He realized that his bodyguards were still around him and he could see them from the corner of his eye.


    Dugu Xian had said that they should rush past the enemies from the edge of their formation, but Gu Shenwei had no idea what kind of formation the enemies were in at all. He only knew one thing ¡ª that he should never slow down or stop.


    Gu Shenwei blew the bugle for the second time. After a brief pause, he immediately blew it again, the third time ¡ª this was the order to attack.


    Patches of upright spears tilted forward and pointed toward the front.


    Gu Shenwei had learned some spearsmanship when he was young, and back then, he had learned it from his old servant Yang Zheng. Compared to sabersmanship, he had achieved far less in spearsmanship, and he barely recalled this unique family kung fu after reaching adulthood. At this moment, when he was tightly holding onton the hilt of a spear on the back of a warhorse, he suddenly realized that the Gu family spearsmanship had always been meant to be used on a battlefield.


    Memories about his family spearsmanship flooded through his mind, and confusion filled it.


    This was not Luoluo¡¯s army, and there were only several thousand men in front of them. Upon facing an unexpected attack, they just resisted symbolically before they soon started fleeing.


    Most soldiers hadn¡¯t noticed anything out of the usual. They just felt that the enemies were too weak, which waspletely different from what they had previously expected. So, some soldiers were tempted and started to pursue the enemy.


    At this point, another group of soldiers broke rank.


    Gu Shenwei quickly ordered the rest of the troops to fall in and found that he still had about 7,000 men left, which was better than he expected.


    Judging from the time they had galloped for, they were undoubtedly at the position where Luoluo¡¯s Right Corps had been deployed, but where were the enemies? Had Luoluo somehow anticipated the Dragon King¡¯s n and set a trap here in advance?


    But if there had been any enemies lying in ambush here, then they would haveunched an attack by now.


    All the soldiers were watching the Dragon King. No matter what, the army couldn¡¯t stay here. Gu Shenwei had to make an immediate decision, and he didn¡¯t even have time to take a captive and interrogate them. He could never have anticipated that Luoluo¡¯s Right Corps had actually been dispatched to attack the Naihang Tribe.


    He blew the bugle for the fourth time, mounted his spear, and yelled loudly, ¡°Follow me!¡±


    Gu Shenwei ordered the army to change directions and advance south. He wanted to see what Luoluo looked like.


    On the other side of the battlefield, Azheba had also made a decision ¡ª and it was a painful one, but he had to make it. He couldn¡¯t keep wavering between loyalty and love. As a man of the grasnds, he only had one real choice.


    Azheba raised his arms high, signaling the troops to listen to him, and then he turned his head around and nced at Shangguan Ru. ¡°The Dragon King¡­ has betrayed His Highness. Raise your bows¡­¡±


    Tie Linglong leaped upwards again.


    Azheba was not only a superb archer, but also an excellent rider. He suddenly had his horse speed up, and Tie Linglong missed. Bending forward with his chest pressed against the horse¡¯s back, he rushed towards the Second Consort¡¯s army. If he managed to return to the army, he would be protected and Prince Duodun¡¯s n might still seed.


    Red Bat had loaded her bow with an arrow. Her archery was not very good, but from such a short distance, she could at least hit the horse.


    But she was waiting for Instructor¡¯s order.


    Shangguan Ru took the bow and arrow from Red Bat¡¯s hands.


    Tie Linglong watched Shangguan Ru in disbelief. She had already identified that mysterious woman, who had killed a dozen man consecutively, was the very kung fu expert who had once knocked her out with the powder.


    Shangguan Ru rxed her fingers.


    Azheba fell off of the horse andnded right beside Dugu Xian¡¯s feet.


    The Second Consort¡¯s soldiers and the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance started dashing towards the target simultaneously.


    Shangguan Ru and Tie Linglong anticipated their movements. Thetter stood in front of Dugu Xian¡¯s horse and signaled him to back off. Shangguan Ru grabbed Azheba¡¯s cor and yelled, ¡°He¡¯s still alive!¡±


    But the Second Consort¡¯s soldiers still rushed over and solidly surrounded these group that consisted of outsiders and a small group of Shulitu¡¯s soldiers.


    Azheba was indeed alive. The arrow had only pierced his left leg.


    He raised his head and looked at that tenacious, beautiful face before saying, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ll have no regrets if I can die in your hands.¡±


    Red Bat did the same thing that the Instructor was doing, and tightly grabbed Azheba¡¯s cor. ¡°I never expected that you would be like this!¡±


    Shangguan Ru shook her head as she replied, ¡°I won¡¯t kill anyone.¡±


    She leaped onto the me Foal¡¯s back, mobilized her internal energy, and loudly proimed, ¡°You¡¯re all soldiers. The battlefield is in front of us and the Dragon King¡¯s there fighting with our enemies, but he ¡ª ¡± Shangguan Ru pointed at Azheba. ¡°He¡¯s been conspiring in the rear. Just who¡¯s the traitor here?¡±


    Azheba wanted to speak, but Tie Linglong struck him with a finger attack. Her Jueyin Finger Energy was not very good, but it was more than enough to make Azheba tremble constantly as if he were in mortal fear.


    The soldiers were confused. They didn¡¯t know whether or not they should believe this female outsider¡¯s words.

 Chapter 837 - Second Thoughts

    Chapter 837: Second Thoughts


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Mo Chu¡¯s temporary Commander-in-chief tent burst into me. The two guards who had set fire to it backed off, watching it burn. Not far away from them, Mo Lin looked at them, realizing that he had offended Duodun just now.


    ¡°What¡¯s that smell?¡± A guard dted his nostrils and took two deep sniffs. Suddenly, he bent over and started vomiting.


    Panicking, the other guard mped his nose, turned around, and started running. Flustered, he ran towards the old Khan¡¯s wing guard head-on.


    With a saber sh, Mo Lin struck down the fleeing guard. He had changed his mind. Now that the Dragon King had ounted for Duodun¡¯s plot, he decided to adopt a more proactive method to rescue his family.


    As he watched the troops sent by Duodun, Mo Lin raised the scimitar above his head and yelled, ¡°His Highness is under the coercion of outsiders. Don¡¯t be deluded.¡±


    The centurion who was leading the soldiers knew that things were not that simple, but he preferred to shift responsibility onto the old Khan¡¯s wing guard. ¡°Lord wing guard, then what do you think we should do? Should we go back and rescue His Highness?¡±


    ¡°No, you don¡¯t have the numbers to do so. Go to the front and join the Middle Corps in battle. General Dugu will tell you what to do.¡±


    The centurion and the soldiers were still dithering about what they should do. Although they revered the old Khan¡¯s wing guard, it was still fairly difficult for them to publicly help the outsiders.


    ¡°There¡¯s been an incident in the front, too,¡± a soldier yelled. ¡°Look! It seems that the Second Consort¡¯s army has surrounded some people.¡±


    The circumstances were growing more and more disorderly and suspicious. Mo Lin had a scimitar in his hand, but he had no idea what he should do in his mind, and he certainly didn¡¯t know how to mediate in a situation like this.


    ¡°The Commander-in-chief¡¯s alive!¡± another soldier cried.


    The only guard left remaining knelt on the ground, vomiting constantly. The old man standing between the guard and the burning tent was Mo Chu, who was paralyzed in mortal fear. He seemed to have no idea why he was standing there at all. His eyes swept around and then he lowered his head and looked at his own body, uncertain about whether he was still alive or not.


    The Dragon King had secretly dispatched an excellent bodyguard here. Mo Lin felt both relieved and ashamed. This was the second time that he hadn¡¯t told the Dragon King the truth; thest time had been when he had guided the Dragon King to dig out the fake Khan¡¯s head.


    Mo Chu finally confirmed that he was still alive. Raising his arms, he seemed to want to say something, but a piercing wave of despair washed over him from behind. He buckled at the knees and nearly fell over.


    Most of the people in the tent were under the influence of knockout powder, and fire happened to be the most effective and also the most horrible antidote.


    Han Fen¡¯s interpretation of the Dragon King¡¯s order was that she only had to save Mo Chu. With regards to the others, she was not the one who had set the fire. So, she naturally wouldn¡¯t save them.


    A dozen burning men rushed out, rolling around desperately on the ground. A couple of them ran right past Mo Chu, but this old Commander-in-chief wasn¡¯t able to move a single step.


    ¡°Help them,¡± Mo Lin ordered.


    ¡°Help them,¡± the centurion repeated. Groups of soldiers immediately rushed over and started extinguishing the fire with the water in their water sacks. Meanwhile, the Commander-in-chief¡¯s tent¡¯s fire had already raged beyond their control.


    The people who survived were covered in burns, and painful groans could be heard everywhere.


    Mo Chu took advantage of this opportunity to collect himself. All of the guards sent by Duodun were either dead or injured. One of them was kneeling on the ground and vomiting so badly that it seemed as if he was about to vomit up his entrails at any moment. All this indicated that the circumstances had changed. ¡°I¡¯m the Commander-in-chief of the allied forces designated by His Highness and the young king themselves. These people, these guards are moles who have infiltrated our army. Don¡¯t believe them!¡±


    Mo Lin walked over to Mo Chu¡¯s side and simply said, ¡°Nonders believe Nonders.¡± Then, among the injured, he found someone who seemed to be able to speak. ¡°Who sent you? I want the truth.¡±


    ¡°We were sent¡­ by His Highness.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Mo Lin let out a yell and drowned out the name, and then he cut off that man¡¯s head. ¡°They¡¯re assassins sent by Luoluo. There are probably more of them in the camp.¡±


    ¡°Yes, this is Luoluo¡¯s devious plot for sure.¡± Mo Chu shot a grateful nce at Mo Lin. ¡°In the name of Commander-in-chief of the allied army, I absolve all of you from your guilt of negligence. From now on, you will be under my directmand.¡±


    Mo Chu nced at Mo Lin again as if he were asking him whether he had made the right remarks. Mo Lin nodded slightly.


    The centurion was caught in a dilemma now. Seeing that the soldiers around him had lowered their bows, he finally made up his mind. ¡°Follow Commander-in-chief Mo and rescue the prince.¡±


    ¡°Follow Commander-in-chief Mo and rescue the prince!¡± all the soldiers yelled together. They had believed the old Khan¡¯s wing guard¡¯s words earlier than the centurion.


    ¡°Join hands with General Dugu,¡± Mo Lin reminded him in a low voice.


    Mo Chu hadn¡¯t figured out the context of this whole situation, but he firmly believed one thing ¡ª since Mo Lin had dared to save him, then he must have a series of ns to deal with Duodun. So, all he had to do was follow Mo Lin¡¯s lead.


    Shangguan Ru was still trying to persuade the Second Consort¡¯s army to her side, and she even made use of her identity of the Second Consort¡¯s friend. However, Azheba¡¯s previous remarks proved to have a greater influence on the soldiers. They didn¡¯t shoot, but they also had no intentions of backing off.


    The two sides were caught in a deadlock. More of the cavalrymen remained in their original positions and were whispering in each other¡¯s ears. One of the options they were considering was to stand by, and another, more tempting option was to flee. The enemies were still on the front line, but they were fighting amongst themselves ¡ª many people could already see the signs of defeat.


    It was at this moment that Mo Chu and Mo Lin arrived, followed by the 1,000-men army sent by Duodun.


    ¡°The Commander-in-chief¡¯s here,¡± someone yelled. The Second Consort¡¯s cavalrymen made way immediately ¡ª they knew even less about Duodun¡¯s ns, so they were still in awe of the Commander-in-chief.


    Mo Chu¡¯s eyes swept around and saw Kuke¡¯s body and Azheba sitting on the ground, trembling. He instantly received a general idea of what had happened. Bing even more convinced that the Dragon King and Mo Lin had formted an in-depth set of ns, Mo Chu was emboldened. He loudly proimed, ¡°Luoluo¡¯s assassins infiltrated into our camp and we¡¯ve already eliminated most of them. Azheba¡­¡±


    Defining Azheba¡¯s deeds was a problem. Mo Chu paused, waiting for Mo Lin¡¯s indication, but Shangguan Ru said, ¡°General Azheba is also a victim.¡±


    ¡°Yes. A couple of assassins abducted Prince Duodun and issued a fake order. Azheba was deceived.¡± Mo Chu came up with an exnation immediately. ¡°Everybody go back to your original position. Azheba won¡¯t be able to fulfill his duties, so all of the Middle Corps troops are now under General Dugu¡¯smand.¡±


    The Second Consort¡¯s soldiers retreated gradually, but the look on their faces was bing more and more suspicious. Dugu Xian¡¯s heart was beating like a drum. The Dragon King had guessed that Duodun would y dirty, but they had considerably underestimated the extent of his conspiracies. It turned out that not only did Duodun want to retreat to the Heaven¡¯s Pass, but he also intended on eliminating the Dragon King.


    Their chances of defeating Luoluo had be even slimmer, but Dugu Xian couldn¡¯t abandon the soldiers who were fighting on the front lines, especially when the Dragon King had probably had already charged into the headquarters of the enemies.


    ¡°Luoluo¡¯s scared!¡± Dugu Xian said aloud. ¡°That¡¯s why he sent assassins here, but his attempt failed. Commander-in-chief Mo will keep Prince Duodun and the Second Consort safe. All the others! Follow me to the battlefield! And prove to Luoluo that our Nonders¡¯ strength lies in horses, bows and arrows! Not despicable assassinations!¡±


    Holding onto the reins with his only hand, Dugu Xian led the way and rode towards the battlefield in the east. This was a gamble. He couldn¡¯t give the soldiers too much time to think, so he himself had to directly enter the battlefield, even though this went against his usual principle of directing operations.


    A small number of Shulitu¡¯s troops followed him immediately. Red Bat and Tie Linglong were also eager to go. Shangguan Ru said to Mo Lin, ¡°Tell all the troops tounch their attacks. This is the final battle.¡±


    The female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance handed Azheba over to Mo Lin and started chasing after Dugu Xian.


    The Second Consort¡¯s captain also looked at Mo Chu.


    ¡°Left Corps, Right Corps, attack! All units attack!¡± Mo Chu issued an order.


    The 10,000-men army advanced towards the battlefield. Without any prodding, Duodun¡¯s centurion also ordered his men to follow.


    ¡°Now what?¡± Mo Chu asked as he watched the cavalry units pass by. He had no further ns.


    ¡°Order the Right Corps to attack.¡± Mo Lin predicted that Shulitu¡¯s army at the right wing would be the easiest to control.


    ¡°But the Commander-in-chief¡¯s seal and the other forms of identification are all in the tent¡­¡±


    ¡°Go there personally and give the order,¡± Mo Lin ordered some soldiers to take Azheba, nning to let the Dragon King decide how he should be punished.


    ncing at the several hundred cavalrymen he had left, Mo Chu was somewhat afraid, but his hatred towards Duodun and his trust in Mo Lin enabled him to ovee this fear, so he ultimately led the way and headed for the Right Corps.


    Shulitu had refused to order Nie Zeng, who was hidden, toe out, so all of Li Shun¡¯s previous efforts to persuade him had been in vain. Atst, he gave out a resigned sigh. ¡°Someday, you will understand my loyalty to you, Your Highness. A mere guard won¡¯t be able to flee far away, and I can¡¯t promise that I¡¯ll let him live after I catch him either.¡±


    ¡°Nie Zeng¡¯s kung fu is very good.¡± Shulitu pointed at the bodies on the ground as he said, ¡°So I suggest you be careful, General. As for your loyalty, if stupidity also indicates allegiance, then you indeed have a lot of it, General.¡±


    Li Shun shook his head and said to the four guards sent by Duodun, ¡°Keep His Highness safe. But don¡¯t touch him.¡±


    The guards didn¡¯t think that they needed to follow Li Shun¡¯s order, so they answered ¡°Yes¡± in a very reluctant tone.


    Li Shun walked out of the tent. He still had a lot of things to deal with and one of the more important ones was to exin what had happened to the young king to those soldiers who were already suspicious.


    A small group of cavalrymen rode straight at the tent. Surprisingly, they were holding the Commander-in-chief¡¯srge g, which aroused even deeper suspicions among the soldiers and greatly astounded Li Shun. He didn¡¯t know about Duodun¡¯s overall n, but he had spected that even if the g of Commander-in-chief was still avable, Mo Chu shouldn¡¯t have been the man under the g.


    Mo Chu rode straight at Li Shun and asked in a severe tone, ¡°The battle at the front line is very intense. Why is the Right Corps still in its original position?¡±


    Startled and suspicious, Li Shun bowed and replied, ¡°The 10,000-men Dragon Army of the rightmost wing has already entered the battlefield. With regards to the other armies, it was you who ordered them to stay put. Did you forget that?¡±


    During the time when Mo Chu had been abducted, the seal of Commander-in-chief and the other forms of identification had all been taken away by other people, and he was unaware of the many orders that had been issued. But now, the circumstances had changed, so he frowned and dered, ¡°All the previous orders are invalidated. I hereby order the Right Corps to join the fight immediately. I want each and every soldier on the battlefield, and you¡¯re going to lead them yourself.¡±


    Li Shun finally realized that Duodun¡¯s n had gone awry. ¡°Er, you seem to have forgotten something, Commander-in-chief Mo. Before the war stared, we had an agreement ¡ª the Right Corps is under mymand, and the young king is the only one who can order me to attack. I¡¯ll tell the young king your words. As for¡­¡±


    Mo Lin jumped off the horse, whipped out his sword, and strode straight towards the tent. ¡°Your Highness, Mo Lin asks for permission to meet you.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t go in. Stop him!¡± Li Shun yelled hastily.


    Everyone around him knew that this man who went by the name ¡°Mo Lin¡± was the old Khan¡¯s wing guard. Only five or six guards actually followed the order and stepped forward, but even they were only bluffing.


    After Mo Lin entered the tent, yells and shes of weapons were heard constantly. Li Shun¡¯s face changed dramatically. ¡°Go help the young king¡­¡±


    A head was thrown out of the tent ¡ª but not Shulitu¡¯s. And then the second, third, and fourth head were thrown out consecutively soon after, but none of them belonged to the young king.


    Mo Lin opened the tent ps and dered, ¡°The young king has an order to issue.¡±


    Shulitu slowly walked out of the tent. As a twelve-year-old child, he seemed even moreposed than most adults. Nie Zeng was standing by his side and nobody knew where this killer had hid himself.


    ¡°General Li Shun, you¡¯re not the Commander-in-chief of the Right Corps any more,¡± said Shulitu. His voice was slightly tinny, but very loud.


    Li Shun involuntarily knelt down. ¡°Your Highness¡­¡±


    ¡°From now on, I myself will decide what loyalty is.¡±


    Shulitu¡¯s tone was nd. His face expressionless, Nie Zeng walked over, whipped out his saber, and beheaded Li Shun in public.

 Chapter 838 - Melee

    Chapter 838: Melee


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei had changed directions once again. Recalling Dugu Xian¡¯s suggestion, he nned to diagonally charge at the enemy and rush past Luoluo¡¯s Middle Corps from the periphery of its formation so as not to be surrounded by the enemies.


    Luoluo had at least dispatched 50,000 cavalrymen to the battlefield. How many more troops did he have left in his Middle Corps? And where were they specifically?


    Gu Shenwei had no idea at all. And he could only vaguely gauge the approximate angle of his attack from the blurry image of the sun that he could see in this low-visibility weather.


    If Dugu Xian were here, he would absolutely object to this tactic. Therger the scale of the war, the higher the possibility of things going out of control. Due to poormunication methods, soldiers would have to fight by themselves even if they were on the same battlefield, let alone on several different battlefields that they were not familiar with at all.


    The wind speed dropped slightly, and Gu Shenwei slowed down in response. Although the visibility was not very good, it was still good enough for him to see several miles into the distance. He didn¡¯t see any armies, but he did see mountains.


    Gu Shenwei had no idea whether he had traveled too far south or whether the mountains actually stretched out into this area.


    There were 6,000 plus men left in the Dragon Army, and all of them were highly motivated, like a bunch of hounds on their first hunt. What they needed was not a vast wilderness, but prey.


    Gu Shenwei was sure of one thing, though ¡ª they were now at the enemy¡¯s rear. If they kept advancing west alongside the mountain range, they would surely find Luoluo¡¯s army eventually. With regards to whether it would be his Middle Corps, Left Corps, or some unit of the reserve army that they were going to encounter, that would be a decision for God to make.


    In order to let the horses regain some of their strength, Gu Shenwei kept riding speed somewhat low. Before long, he heard the sounds of fighting. The battlefield was actually right in front of him.


    <em>There must be a catch somewhere </em>, Gu Shenwei thought, but he didn¡¯t have enough time to think it through. He immediately blew the bugle twice, ordering his troops to speed up and charge.


    As it happened, Gu Shenwei had run into an army of the Central ins ¡ª they had indeed traveled too far south.


    That night, Tu Pianpian and Fan Yongda had returned to the army camp of the Central ins and persuaded the Commander-in-chief and Royal Uncle of that army to break through the tight encirclement when the war started. In ordance with the agreement, the time when the armies of the Central ins were supposed to retreat from their camp was after the war had fully broken out and when Luoluo¡¯s left wing was empty. However, the engagement between the two Middle Corps hadsted for too long, and their patience had run out. So, they had rushed out of their encampment ahead of schedule.


    The organization behind this action of breaking through the encirclement was very rough. From the generals to the soldiers, nobody wanted to engage the enemies. As soon as the camp gates opened, all of them raced each other to rush out. The Royal Uncle¡¯s guards even had to force their fellow soldiers to make way for him.


    What took ce next was a chase, the Nonders¡¯ favorite. The enemies were running in the front, and the Nond cavalrymen were divided into two contingents. The two contingents maintained a moderate distance from each other, forcing the armies of the Central ins to flee towards the mountains.


    If it weren¡¯t for Gu Shenwei having advanced in the wrong direction, the armies of the Central ins probably would have been wiped out here. If the Royal Uncle¡¯s identity was disclosed, it would have be an abject humiliation for the Central ins.


    But luckily, the Dragon Army troops finally caught sight of their long-awaited enemies and the fighting spirit that had been building in them for so long was released at once. Gu Shenwei had to advance at full speed to make sure that he would stay at the front of the formation.


    The soldiers of the armies of the Central ins were the first ones to be startled by this unexpected army, and a lot of them immediately knelt down and surrendered.


    To his surprise, Gu Shenwei found that most of them were infantry.


    He had formted a n to break through the encirclement of the Central ins¡¯ army, but he had forgotten to ask about the simplest issue ¡ª how many horses they had.


    The Dragon Army rushed past these panic-stricken Central insmen and soon encountered Luoluo¡¯s cavalrymen, who were trying to outnk the Central ins¡¯ army.


    The extent to which Luoluo¡¯s troops had been surprised was not lesser ¡ª if not more ¡ª than how much those Central insmen had been. This was because they had held the initiative all along, and they had been absolutely sure that there were no enemies within a hundred miles of their rear.


    When these soldiers armed with spears engaged with these horseback archers, the power bnce between the two sides shifted instantly. Most of the Nond cavalrymen didn¡¯t even have enough time to shoot, and so they had no choice but to turn their horses and run.


    Just like Dugu Xian, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t like disorder and surprises, but he had been in both of those two situations for too long, and he had no other choice anymore. All he could do was try his best to adapt to the changing circumstances. ¡°Follow them! Follow them back to their camp!¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned his head and yelled, mobilizing his internal energy to make his voice heard by more people. He suddenly understood that this was a rare opportunity to attack the enemy ¡ª the Dragon Army could follow Luoluo¡¯s cavalrymen into their own camp and possibly evade the first volley of arrows with this maneuver.


    To these two battling sides, the third faction of the Dragon Army was like troops sent by God ¡ª they hade out of nowhere, and they had left so soon that those Central-ins soldiers with slow reflexes barely understood what had happened, even when their reinforcements had rushed far away. Their dignity survived, though ¡ª they hadn¡¯t knelt and surrendered.


    ¡°Please stop! Dragon King!¡± Tu Pianpian¡¯s voice came over from a distance ¡ª only people with outstanding internal energy could make themselves heard over these continuous bugle sounds. ¡°My Royal Uncle wants to say something! Mrs. Luo¡­¡±


    Those words were all Gu Shenwei could hear and he had to continue pursuing the enemy without even thinking about who ¡°Mrs. Luo¡± was because he couldn¡¯t afford to miss this opportunity that was already in his hand.


    After this battle ended, even the one who most knowledgeable about this war was unable to give an exact description of the overall situation. Especially the fact that the 6,000 strong Dragon Army troops had managed to circumvent and nk Luoluo¡¯s left wing ¨C that was something that nobody could exin. By precise calction, the Dragon Army shouldn¡¯t have been able to make it that far in that amount of time.


    Anyways, the attack that the Dragon Armyunched from the rear of Luoluo¡¯s army was far beyond Luoluo¡¯s expectation and the horror it caused among their enemies was far beyond the imagination of Dugu Xian and the Dragon King.


    The Central-ins armies deployed in the east had always been regarded as the most critical threat by Luoluo and his advisors.


    He once nked an army of the Central ins in Lon Kingdom of the Western Regions and wiped them out. Thus, he knew very well that the Central ins would surely retaliate. This concern had spread through all of his troops, and everybody had been hoping that they would destroy the allied forces in the west as soon as possible so that they would have enough room to set camp for the winter.


    This was an extremely risky n, but with some precise calction and good timing, they would be able to defeat their enemies with a multi-pronged attack and secure victory.


    As a result, when the Dragon Army of merely 6,000 men charged at them from the rear, the false message that started spreading among Luoluo¡¯s troops was that the main forces of the Central ins had arrived.


    At that time, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t think too much of this. He only remembered one remark that Dugu Xian had made: ¡°Try to stay close to the Nond cavalrymen.¡±


    Spears were long, but they were no match for bows and arrows in terms of range.


    ¡®Charge. Keep charging. Never stop.¡¯


    Gu Shenwei lost count of the number of people and horses that he had stabbed with his spear. He saw numerous enemies divide and flood back towards the two sides. It was like a miracle, and he and the 6,000 troops behind him were the ones who had created this miracle.


    Luoluo¡¯s left wing was like a huge dam across a river, and yet it had been breached by amon arm, even as this arm was still in danger of being crushed by falling rocks.


    The Dragon Army nked Luoluo¡¯s left wing and fought their way to an area where no man had ever lived.


    Gu Shenwei made another risky decision at this moment. He changed directions once more and advanced toward Luoluo¡¯s Middle Corps, firmly determined to see with his own eyes what Luoluo¡­ and Zhang Ji looked like.


    Although he had never heard any news about Zhang Ji, Gu Shenwei firmly believed that Teacher Zhang Ji had been staying with Luoluo this whole time. He was a man with long hair and beard, was of big build, and was ready to see the Dragon King¡¯s failure.


    Gu Shenwei wanted him see another eventuality take ce.


    After the war, when Gu Shenwei was regretting his decisions, he recalled that it was from this moment on that he forgot that he was the Dragon King and that there were several thousands of loyal officers and soldiers behind him.


    Yes, he saw Long Fanyun who had been by his side all along and the Red Crow g in his hand, and he saw those Big Snow Mountain swordsmen and his savage guard soldiers whose faces were very familiar to him, and he also those new recruits of Shule Kingdom who were yelling and charging. But in his eyes, all these people had suddenly be meaningless, and the only thing he wanted to do was charge at the enemies, as if he were still a killer who was on his own.


    Facing the second round of chargesunched by the Dragon Army, Luoluo¡¯s Left Corps didn¡¯t fall apart any further. On the contrary, they soon found that their enemies were not the main force of the Central ins that they had imagined them to be. Thus, they started regrouping.


    The Dragon King and his men advanced with unstoppable momentum, but there were also more enemies approaching them from behind as well as from their two sides.


    Luckily, the allied forces¡¯ right wing arrived just in time.


    Shulitu was leading the army himself this time. He shared Dugu Xian¡¯s opinion ¡ª the confidence and unity of this army was not in a good state, and it was very likely that the formation of the troops would be shattered right after the initial engagement if theirmander was not with them.


    He was not good at horsemanship, and he had never ridden this fast before, but this time, he thought that riding was fun and that it was not difficult at all.


    Nie Zeng had been by the young king¡¯s side this whole time along. In his eyes, the chaos in the army camp and the war didn¡¯t matter. All that mattered was the young king¡¯s safety, because keeping him safe was his duty.


    Shulitu and his several thousand cavalrymen arrived just in time and joined with the rightmost wing¡¯s Dragon Army who had departed earlier. They summarily joined hands and engaged Luoluo¡¯s left wing who were still disordered.


    In this world, nothing could stay unchanged. In the blink of an eye, the seemingly most important thing might actually happen. Gu Shenwei would only have to wait a very short time before he could join hands with Shulitu¡¯s army and defeat the enemies with the advantageous of a higher troop number. However, he instead chose to take a risk.


    On this day, Gu Shenwei had taken so many risks and there had been so many surprises that he almost forgot the existence of normal tactics.


    The two most powerful armies among all the forces of the grasnds were having a final showdown. The battlefield stretched dozens of miles from the south to the north, with several lulls in between. The gods in heaven were the only ones able to see how chaotic this battle truly was ¡ª there were many soldiers who had charged into the enemies, but thought that they were fleeing to the rear; there were also soldiers who had just won a hard fought victory in a particr area before being wiped out soon after by an unknown army.


    Dugu Xian led his army to the middle of the battleground where the allied forces¡¯ first victory had been imed.


    The Court Attendants Army¡¯s strength proved to not have declined in the slightest. Especially after the war entered a chaotic state, the disadvantage of themcking officers was minimized. Those who used to be the old Khan¡¯s guard soldiers disyed an even greaterbat effectiveness.


    However, if it weren¡¯t for Dugu Xian and his men arriving in time, the Court Attendants Army would have suffered extremely heavy casualties.


    ¡°Pursue the enemies. Take Luoluo alive.¡± Dugu Xian issued an order before the battle had even fully ended.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Dragon King?¡± Red Bat asked urgently. Neither she nor the Instructor had seen any Dragon Army soldiers.


    ¡°He should be in the north,¡± said Dugu Xian. ording to their n, the Dragon Army was supposed to charge at Luoluo¡¯s right wing diagonally and lure them towards Duodun.


    The Dragon Army could probably use some help, but from the perspective of winning this war, Dugu Xian still firmly believed that he should keep attacking Luoluo¡¯s Middle Corps.


    After Dugu Xian regainedmand of the Middle Corps, all Shangguan Ru had been thinking about was another man. On the me Foal, she rode northwards at full speed, followed hotly by dozens of female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance.


    Tie Linglong was the only one who had hesitated time and time again. In the end, she had decided to stay with Dugu Xian.


    For a moment, Dugu Xian had almost sent a contingent to the north, but with a military career that spanned for so many years, he knew very well that that was definitely not a wise thing to do.


    ¡°Women know nothing about war,¡± Dugu Xian mumbled. He ordered the exhausted army to keep marching eastwards ¡ª he also wanted to see what Luoluo looked like.


    In the rear, escorted by Mo Lin, Mo Chu was heading for Duodun¡¯s encampment in the left wing even as his trepidation peaked.


    To their surprise, there were no cavalrymen in the left wing, and they easily arrived at the main tent with around just a thousand guards.


    Standing at the entrance, Duodun was on the verge of breaking down. He hadn¡¯t received any urate news from the other positions for a very long time, and it seemed as if everything was falling apart and that nothing had worked out as nned.


    ¡°You brought me Mo Chu, Silver Condor? Great!¡± Duodun¡¯s tone was dramatic, as if it would bring him some good luck.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the army?¡±Mo Lin asked coldly.


    Duodun didn¡¯t answer this question and he didn¡¯t even notice that these guards were not his men. He excitedly said, ¡°The Naihang Tribe surrendered and their 100,000 men belong to me now¡­¡±


    A herald galloped over from the north, but he fell off of his horse before it even came to a stop. After several rolls, he picked himself up and yelled, ¡°Luoluo¡¯s armies areing! Luoluo¡¯s armies areing!¡±


    Duodun didn¡¯t believe him at all. ¡°The Naihang Tribe¡¯s armies are in between us. How could Luoluo get here?¡±


    Luoluo¡¯s right wing had circled around, and they were indeeding.

 Chapter 839 - A Detour

    Chapter 839: A Detour


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    ¡°Try to think what King Rizhu will do.¡±


    This remark of the Second Consort¡¯s had been echoing through Liman¡¯s ears this whole time, leaving him heavily perturbed. ¡°I¡¯ll go to the front and take a look. You stay here and don¡¯t do anything reckless. Be prepared for a fight. Just in case.¡±


    Suspicion gleamed in the eyes of the fourpanions sent by Duodun. Then one of them said, ¡°There¡¯s nothing to look at. Do you not believe the scouts¡¯ report, or do you not believe¡­ His Highness¡¯s judgement?¡±


    Duodun didn¡¯t trust Liman, and this had also spread to hispanions. The four people felt that they were more like supervisors than the Commander-in-chief¡¯s helpers.


    Liman pointed the horsewhip in front of him, where the air was filled with dust and sand. ¡°The visibility¡¯s poor. It doesn¡¯t hurt to be prudent.¡±


    ¡°Liman, you don¡¯t believe in the Second Consort¡¯s spection, do you?¡± Apanion vigntly watched this Commander-in-chief as he continued to say, ¡°This is a test of our loyalty. His Highness has made it very clear. Don¡¯t be a fence sitter.¡±


    Suppressing his anger, Liman coldly replied, ¡°This has nothing to do with loyalty. His Highness put me inmand of over 40,000 troops, and I have to be responsible for all of them.¡±


    ¡°But you first have to be responsible for His Highness,¡± anotherpanion said in an even colder tone. ¡°There are over 100,000 men in the Naihang Tribe. Can you convince them all just by yourself?¡±


    ¡°Liman, I know that you¡¯re eager to regain His Highness¡¯s favor. However, you shouldn¡¯t vie with us for credit in this way. You¡¯re the Commander-in-chief, so you should be thest one to take risks. Otherwise, what¡¯s the point of His Highness sending us here?¡±


    The four people no longer tried to hide their suspicions, but Liman calmed down in this hostile environment. ¡°I hope that I¡¯m wrong. How about this? I¡¯ll divide the 40,000 cavalrymen into four contingents, and each of you can take one. The four contingents shall depart one by one, and I¡¯ll go with the first one.¡±


    Right in front of Liman, Duodun¡¯s fourpanions started consulting with each other in a low voice, specting about his true intentions. In the end, one of them said, ¡°Fine. But you have to go with thest contingent. Anyone can do the scouting work, and it doesn¡¯t necessarily have to be you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the Commander-in-chief, so of course you should stay in the rear,¡± another one said in support of the first speaker.


    After watching these four people for quite a while, Liman nodded. ¡°Fine. The four contingents shouldn¡¯t stay too close to each other either. If anything unusual ¡ª ¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not the only one who knows how to lead an army and fight,¡± apanion said disdainfully. He immediately selected a 10,000-men army to be the first contingent and departed.


    The 10,000 cavalrymen were in a formation that stretched towards the two wings, like a fragile giant fishing moving towards hundreds of thousands of wriggling fish. Liman wanted to remind him, but controlled his urges in the end.


    The second 10,000-men army departed without Liman¡¯s order, and they were only an arrow¡¯s range away from the first contingent. If they rode a little faster, the two contingents would actually join up.


    Liman still remained silent. When the thirdpanion also intended to order the army to depart in a hurry, Liman grabbed his arm. ¡°Wait. It¡¯s been a long time since thest time a scout came back and reported to us.¡±


    ¡°So what? The scouts must have seen the armies, so they probably think that it¡¯s no longer necessary to send messages back to us.¡± Thepanion shook off Liman¡¯s hand forcefully.


    ¡°Scouts are in no ce to make such a decision.¡±


    ¡°Then they must have encountered the first two contingents and reported the messages to them.¡±


    Liman was still worried as he said, ¡°There¡¯s no harm in waiting a little longer.¡±


    ¡°If we wait a little longer, then they will take all of the credit.¡± The thirdpanion gave an order to the Captain regardless of Liman and the third contingent started advancing forward in a snake-like formation.


    This third 10,000-men army was still within their sights, but the fourthpanion urged, ¡°Let¡¯s go. You see? Everything¡¯s still fine. Zhesu¡¯s just an uneducated peasant. What kind of plots can he possiblye up with?¡±


    Enduring thepanion¡¯s offensive words at his father, Liman recalled the Second Consort¡¯s warning once again. Zhesu was indeed more brave than wise, and he was not good at conspiracies. However, he was unfallibly loyal to the old King Rizhu and regarded every remark he had ever said as an invible order.


    King Rizhu had been the only Nond lord who bore a surname of an outsider. What had he done during the fierce fight for the throne? At that time, Liman himself was serving in King Rizhu¡¯s armies and he had seen, with his own eyes, that King Rizhu had sat on the fence the whole time, profiting from all sides. It was not until King Rizhu had died that Liman had finally learned that the one designated by King Rizhu to be Khan was actually the twelve-year-old Shulitu.


    ¡°If Luoluo¡¯s army attacks the Naihang Tribe and they¡¯re really willing to surrender, then the 30,000 men ahead will be enough. If there¡¯s a trap, then I hope to save these 10,000 plus cavalrymen for His Highness.¡± Liman ultimately decided to have the fourth contingent stay behind.


    Thepanion became exasperated. It was already unlucky enough for him to lead thest contingent. If he stayed here, then it was very likely that not only would he miss the opportunity to make a contribution, but that he would also be punished. ¡°What are you talking about, Liman? Do you really think that His Highness designated you to be Commander-in-chief because he trusts you? He did it because you¡¯re from the Naihang Tribe, and because you¡¯re Zhesu¡¯s son. What¡¯s your true purpose behind dying the army from going to the front? To persuade them into surrendering?¡±


    ¡°You forgot that it was me who wanted to lead the way, and that it was you who originally refused to let me,¡± Liman replied calmly, bing more and more certain that something had gone wrong.


    Thepanion blushed. ¡°This tactic is called ¡®letting the enemy off in order to catch himter.¡¯ Yes, I know what kind of trick you¡¯re trying to y. You deliberately¡­¡±


    Liman turned and faced thest contingent¡¯s Captain and said, ¡°I¡¯m still the Commander-in-chief of the Left Corps.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± the Captain answered respectfully. He merely intended to fulfill his obligation and wanted no part in the infighting between the cliques around the prince. ¡°You¡¯re still the Commander-in-chief.¡±


    ¡°Make my order known to everyone ¡ª all units prepare to fight. Send more scouts to the front line for reconnaissance.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The Captain had some soldiers spread the order.


    Thepanion found that nobody woulde to his support and that just he himself was unable to counterbnce Liman¡¯s authority. Feeling humiliated and annoyed, he got on his horse and rode forward, nning to go to the front by himself. However, he soon returned, and as he passed by Liman, he resentfully said, ¡°I¡¯m going back to meet with His Highness right now. Enjoy your power while you¡¯re still the Commander-in-chief, because soon, you won¡¯t be.¡±


    Liman nodded, but didn¡¯t say anything. He believed that, as the Commander-in-chief, he was empowered to adjust Prince Duodun¡¯s order ordingly.


    The first few batch of scouts soon came back, but they didn¡¯t have any special news. The one who had been the farthest had even heard the yelling from the battleground, and it seemed that the Naihang Tribe was having an intense battle with Luoluo¡¯s army.


    A herald came from the rear and rode directly to Liman¡¯s horse, gravely reporting, ¡°Here¡¯s an order from His Highness ¡ª Commander-in-chief Liman shall lead the army and advance immediately without any dy.¡±


    The Captain looked at the young Commander-in-chief sympathetically.


    Liman couldn¡¯t disobey the order. ¡°Let¡¯s move.¡±


    The Captain passed the order. Controlling the speed of his horse, Liman progressed as slowly as he could, followed by the rest of the contingent, which was proceeding at the same pace.


    After waiting for a while, the herald shook his head and returned to the camp of the Left Corps.


    Duodun issued a second order to urge Liman on, and this time he sent five heralds, including the fourthpanion who had earlier been forced to leave by Liman. There was a palpable tension in the air, but Duodun didn¡¯t dismiss Liman from his post of Commander-in-chief. Instead, ge issued an ultimatum to Liman.


    ¡°His Highness ordered you to pick up speed and join up with the other three contingents immediately. There shall be no contingents. Disobedience at any extent will be deemed a capital offence.¡± Thepanion failed to conceal hiscency as he read out the orders, his voice sounding somewhat tinny.


    While Liman was trying to think of an approach to handle this situation, another batch of scouts returned from the front and brought good news. ¡°The Naihang Tribe has surrendered, and we¡¯re now taking prisoners.¡±


    After pping his thighs heavily, Duodun¡¯spanion looked at Liman coldly.


    Liman exhaled deeply. ¡°I¡¯m d I was wrong. Report this to His Highness.¡±


    A scout hurriedly rode towards the rear. After exchanging a nce with each other, the fourthpanion and other heralds raced to turn their horses and they all galloped towards the encampment of the Left Corps.


    Everybody wanted to be the first one to deliver the good news. This was the most economical way of rendering meritorious service.


    Liman ordered the army to speed up. He didn¡¯t feel ashamed, and he would still choose to be prudent if Duodun still allowed him to serve in the future.


    Another batch of scouts returned and there were three of them, this time, all of whom were rejoicing. And the news they brought back was still ¡°The Naihang Tribe has surrendered¡±.


    Liman ordered them to ride side by side with him so that he could ask them about some more details. ¡°How many of them surrendered?¡±


    ¡°About a thousand.¡±


    ¡°Just a thousand?¡± Liman was startled.


    ¡°These are the ones who fled rtively early. There must be more behind them,¡± the scout surmised.


    ¡°We captured a couple of officers and they¡¯re on their way here. You¡¯ll see them soon, General,¡± another scout said.


    Liman ordered the army to slow down once again. He could sense that the troops were somewhat displeased ¡ª they believed their Commander-in-chief was being overcautious.


    A small group of people rode towards them from the front. The two in the middle didn¡¯t wear helmets, and neither did they have any weapons on them. Apparently, they were those officers that the scout had previously mentioned.


    The centurion who had been leading the group bowed to Liman, who was on horseback. ¡°General, these two are senior centurions of the Naihang Tribe¡¯s army. I have orders to escort them back to His Highness.¡±


    Watching the two prisoners, Liman suddenly shivered and a fineyer of sweat appeared on his skin. He blurted out, ¡°You¡¯re not from the Naihang Tribe!¡±


    Having served in the King Rizhu¡¯s army for many years with his father Zhesu, he knew all the centurions, not to mention the senior centurions, and these two were definitely not of the Naihang Tribe.


    The two prisoners nodded repeatedly in a urgent manner. ¡°We keep telling them we¡¯re not, but they just won¡¯t listen.¡±


    ¡°Which tribe are you from?¡±


    ¡°Miesi. We¡¯re from the Miesi Tribe.¡±


    Liman¡¯s heart sank. The Miesi Tribe was just a small tribe affiliated to some lord, and it had nothing to do with the King Rizhu. ¡°Why did youe here to surrender?¡±


    ¡°Actually, we came here to watch the battle after we receivedthe news. People were saying that we might have a new Khan after this battle. We didn¡¯t expect that ¡ª ¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t expect that Luoluo¡¯s army would suddenlyunch an attack on all the tribes who hade here to spectate the battle.¡± The other prisoner beat him to it. ¡°We were blindsided and retreated all the way here, and then we surrendered. We¡¯re not members of the Naihang Tribe, really. And we¡¯re not moles sent by Luoluo either. But nobody asked, and nobody is listening to us.¡±


    ¡°Where is the Naihang Tribe?¡± Liman¡¯s voice was quivering.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t see them. They seemed to¡­ seemed to have moved to the north.¡±


    Suddenly it dawned on Liman that the Naihang Tribe was still nning on adopting the tactic of ¡°Sitting it out and reaping the spoilster.¡± Zhesu believed that Luoluo was a better alternative so he had made way for the armies in the east.


    Duodun had once sent 5,000 cavalrymen to the north under Shulitu¡¯s banner. Now, it seemed that they had either been wiped out or had surrendered to the Naihang Tribe, which was why they had never received any news frp, them.


    The centurion who had been leading the team still didn¡¯t understand the severity of the current situation, and he confusedly asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t the Naihang Tribe fight Luoluo¡¯s army?¡±


    ¡°Order the armies in the front to retreat right away!¡± Liman yelled. ¡°Ready yourselves for battle! Ready yourselves for battle!¡± Then he said to the centurion who was scared, confused and uneasy, ¡°Send a message to His Highness ¡ª Luoluo¡¯s army ising. He and the Second Consort must retreat to the Middle Corps as soon as possible.¡±


    The centurion suddenly understood what was happening and his face instantly went deathly pale. Swinging his whip at the horse frantically, he madly galloped towards the rear.


    The Captain frantically ordered the troops to prepare themselves for a battle. Staring emptily into the air filled with sand and dust, Liman felt that the wind was too strong today.


    The rumbling sounds of horse hooves mingled with the shrill yells that came from afar.

 Chapter 840 - Shoot the Flag

    Chapter 840: Shoot the g


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei abruptly realized that nearly half of his spear had been destroyed, and that he had lost the spearhead a long time ago. The end of the spear was now dyed ck by congealed blood. With this headless spear, he had still killed many enemies.


    He threw his spear away and whipped out his Five Peaks Saber instead. Vignce suddenly rose in his mind ¨C the sounds of bugle horns and yelling seemed to be much weaker than before. He turned his head back and saw that only a small procession of about 3,000 men at the most remained.


    Long Fanyun was still among the troops, holding the Red Crow g. The look on his face was so firm and persistent that it almost seemed a little numb, as if he had forgotten everything besides holding the g and marching on.


    The wind was blowing hard and the air was filled with sand, which made these soldiers feel that their enemies were everywhere. Those in the front were trying to dodge, but those in the back were pursuing and shooting at enemies. The formation of the Dragon Army was like an unwinding thread, growing thinner and thinner with every passing second, even as it became more and more disordered.


    He was leading his soldiers to their deaths.


    But Gu Shenwei remainedposed. He didn¡¯t change their direction right away, but instead kept charging and fighting. Gradually, in a curved route, he started moving in what he deemed to be west.


    A faint image of a giant g emerged in the front. It was taller and bigger and was fluttering in the wind like a strange bird fighting against the furious gusts of wind.


    That was where Luoluo was.


    Groups of soldiers were rushing out from under that g, and both their uniforms and weapons were markedly different from that ofmon soldiers.


    The distance was so short that Gu Shenwei was greatly tempted. There was no deep resentment between him and Luoluo, and he wouldn¡¯t even necessarily be the greatest beneficiary even if he managed to kill him. However, it was as if he had been possessed by a demon, and he felt an irresistiblepulsion to charge at Luoluo and Zhang Ji just to show them the saber in his hand.


    After turning his head back to nce at his army, he ultimately chose to change directions instead of charging directly at that g.


    But that urge was still there, so he put away the Five Peaks Saber, grabbed a short cavalry bow out of the sack on his left side, and nocked an arrow.


    Even though he didn¡¯t have a good view of the target, Gu Shenwei lowered the bow. After steadying himself by pressing his left hand on the saddle, he slowly stood up on the horse¡¯s back, reloaded the bow, and aimed for that giant g which almost seemed to be intentionally provoking him.


    Although Gu Shenwei had learned some simple archery in Golden Roc Castle, he had never been a master. And he had no previous experience of shooting from horse¡¯s back, but he had to give it a shot.


    Though the Luoluo¡¯s giant g was erected on a pole as thick as an adult¡¯s thigh, it looked like a small wooden stick from a hundred steps away, and an arrow couldn¡¯t even reach that far if it was shot by an ordinary person.


    But the soldiers behind the Dragon King suddenly understood his intention. The Bugle sounds and yells instantly doubled in volume as if there were not two or three thousand there, but tens of thousand of men.


    Luoluo¡¯s soldiers, who were flocking over to intercept their enemies, also suddenly understood the Dragon King¡¯s intentions, and almost all of them started shooting at the Dragon King who was standing on his horse¡¯s back.


    The gusts of wind changed the trajectories of the arrows, but also made them more difficult to dodge, since nobody knew where those arrows were aimed at.


    Standing on his horse¡¯s back like a statue, Gu Shenwei ignored the sharp arrows that shot past him constantly. He wanted to draw the bow with his full strength, but he was worried that the string would break, so he instead steadied his breath, kept it at the same pace as the gallop of the horse. He then imbued that fragile arrow with his Qi as he gauged the influence of the wind.


    After the battle, the soldiers on both sides would deem this scene a miracle, iming that there were hundreds of thousands of arrows shooting at the Dragon King, as if there had been more than half of Luoluo¡¯s troops near the g. And there would also be some people who said that the reason why those arrows missed their target was because a giant hand had appeared in the air and pushed the arrows aside. In those rumors, even the giant roc ¨C which actually had never shown up ¨C had joined the battle and parried those arrows aside for the Dragon King.


    All of these people who spread these rumors were soldiers who had actually been there, and their remarks sounded positive and untenable. But in fact, the strong wind made the greatest contribution towards the Dragon King¡¯s survival. The more desperately those cavalrymen who were trying to protect the g tried to shoot their target, the wider those arrows flew off of their mark. The wind was constantly changing, and even experienced cavalrymen were not able to respond appropriately.


    Also because of the strong wind, Gu Shenwei¡¯s first shot missed and the arrow disappeared into the dusty air, nowhere to be found.


    As soon as those yells which were either disappointed or delighted sounded out, Gu Shenwei took another shot, after slightly adjusting his aim, and before the wind changed.


    The second arrow left the string and shot forward with a whooshing sound. It was said that the Dragon Army slowed down, and that the enemies stopped shooting while the arrow was flying. Almost everybody was looking at that arrow and their eyes were still fixed on the g even after the arrow disappeared into the dusty air.


    Every survivor said that they had had a strong premonition at that moment.


    Gu Shenwei sat back into the saddle and never turned his head again, so he was the only one who didn¡¯t see the giant g tilt and fall down at an extremely slow speed.


    The Ying and Yang Qi he had imbued the arrow with had shattered the gpole.


    The scene of Luoluo¡¯s giant g falling down was engraved in many people¡¯s mind. In fact, when the Dragon King loosed his arrow, nobody had expected that the arrow would hit the target, much less break the thick gpole.


    The volleys of arrows shooting down from all directions were not as fierce as before, but the enemy didn¡¯t stop shooting. Gu Shenwei knew this better than anyone because he had been shot in the waist.


    The giant g was a symbol. Even if most of the soldiers in the distance couldn¡¯t see it, this didn¡¯t make it any less important. Before the g fell, the chaos hade from the enemies ¨C the unexpected invasion of the Dragon Army. As the situation became clearer, the chaos had started subsiding.


    But after the g fell, the chaos spread out from the inside. The generals lost their aim, and they didn¡¯t know where their centerwas , so the chaos rippled throughout the whole army. It was unstoppable and irreversible.


    Even as the chaos expanded, the Dragon Army troops were still in danger. The enemies were outnking and shooting at them, and their casualties increased with each passing moment.


    It was at this time that Dugu Xian and the Middle Corps arrived.


    In the rear of the allied forces, nobody had any hopes of winning this battle. All they could remember was the conflicts between the Commander-in-chiefs. In Duodun¡¯s eyes and the encampment of the Left Corps, there was only destruction and crushing defeat; he couldn¡¯t believe the truth before his eyes.


    ¡°Impossible!¡± his voice was still so resonant that it drowned out the roar of the wind. ¡°Luoluo cannot circle around the Naihang Tribe. It must be that the troops in the front failed to handle things appropriately and started a conflict with the Naihang Tribe¡¯s army. Liman! It was him! The Dragon King must have bribed him, and so he deliberately ruined my big n.¡±


    Liman had never been at the front at all, but nobody dared to pointed out this contradiction.


    Mo Chu was also startled, but he didn¡¯t lose control of himself. ¡°Apparently, the Naihang Tribe¡¯s slier than we thought. They made way for Luoluo. I think ¨C ¡±


    Duodun abruptly turned around, grabbed apanion by the neck, and questioned him with a ferocious look. ¡°You said that the Naihang Tribe surrendered. You saw it with your own eyes, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    It was thispanion who had delivered the good news to the prince before the scouts could, and that was why he had been allowed to stay by the prince¡¯s side, but he didn¡¯t expected that his fortune would change so soon. ¡°Yes, yes. I saw it myself ¨C I heard ¨C Liman ¨C the scout ¨C ¡±


    Duodun squeezed his neck harder and harder as he question, ¡°Did you ¨C or did you not ¨C see it yourself!?¡±


    Nobody dared to speak any more. Mo Chu gave out two coughs and said to Mo Lin, ¡°I think that there¡¯s no more need for us to stay here. The die have been cast. After the Left Corps were defeated, the Right and Middle will undoubtedly be defeated as well. Just give the order to retreat.¡±


    Mo Lin didn¡¯t reply. He jumped off of his horse, walked to Duodun¡¯s side, and forced his arms open, letting thatpanion limply fall down. ¡°He¡¯s already dead. Pleasee with me, Your Highness.¡±


    The ferocity in Duodun¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t weaken a bit. He struggled, but couldn¡¯t move at all. ¡°Let go of me!¡± he ordered.


    Staring back at him, Mo Lin enunciated each word. ¡°Pleasee with me, Your Highness. Let¡¯s go back to Heaven¡¯s Pass.¡±


    ¡°Ha.¡± Duodun finally understood the old Khan¡¯s wing guard¡¯s intention. ¡°If you want to save your family, you have to do what I tell you to ¨C Ah!¡±


    Mo Lin exerted a greater strength.


    Duodun screeched, and felt that his arms were about to break, but he soon managed to suppress the pain. ¡°Guards¡­¡±


    Mo Lin released his right hand¡¯s grip on Duodun and struck his acupoint, then he propped the limp prince up. ¡°Get the Second Consort.¡±


    If the bad news hadn¡¯te, the guards would have stopped Mo Lin before he could even walk in front of Duodun. But now everybody was panic-stricken, nobody hade to Duodun¡¯s help when he was humiliated.


    ¡°His Highness has ordered that the Second Consort be imprisoned in the tent. She¡¯s not allowed toe out,¡± a general said in a low voice.


    Mo Lin pointed at the sky. ¡°Before a new Khan is elected, the Second Consort is the Second Consort. No prince has the power to imprison her. And now, she is the master of the Left Corps.¡±


    The old Khan¡¯s wing guard¡¯s exnation sounded reasonable, so a group of soldiers immediately went to release the Second Consort, and some of them even never came back.


    Riding a horse, the Second Consort hurriedly arrived. She jumped off the horse like a man and ran to Duodun.


    ¡°His Highness panicked and passed out when he heard that Luoluo¡¯s army wasing. He¡¯ll be fine,¡± said Mo Lin.


    The Second Consort was slightly relieved. She tried to pull Duodun to her, but failed. Staring at old Khan¡¯s wing guard who refused to loosen his grip, the Second Consort loosened her own. ¡°If you the one protecting Prince Duodun, that¡¯d be for the best. I think that the prince should be away from any danger.¡±


    ¡°He will,¡± Mo Lin answered solemnly. ¡°You¡¯re the Second Consort, and you¡¯re also the master of the Left Corps.¡±


    Watching the several thousand surviving troops around her, the Second Consort was not very excited about her identity of ¡°master¡±. She had been informed of the general situation, so she asked, ¡°How¡¯s it going at the front? Where are they fighting? Why don¡¯t I hear any ¨C ¡±


    Before she could finish her sentence, distant sounds of fighting were heard.


    The Second Consort walked around and then got back onto the horse again. ¡°Mo Chu! You¡¯re the Commander-in-chief of the allied forces. This army should be under yourmand.¡±


    Mo Chu coughed again. ¡°All right. Then I¡¯ll do it. The most pressing issue is to figure out the enemies¡¯ strength and the casualties we have suffered.¡±


    Immediately, a general volunteered to do the scouting.


    After issuing a few extra orders to strengthen the troops¡¯ confidence and morale, Mo Chu said to the Second Consort, ¡°What¡¯s done is done. Our Middle and Right Corps have entered the battleground, and I¡¯m afraid that the odds are heavily stacked against them. And right here, the enemies will soon arrive. No matter how strong our army is, we can only hold them back for a little while. So, retreat is the only option we have, and the sooner we retreat, the better. Heaven¡¯s Pass, Xiaowan Kingdom, both are avable temporary shelters.¡±


    The look in the Second Consort¡¯s eyes was severe. ¡°What about the soldiers at the front?¡±


    ¡°Nobody can save them.¡±


    ¡°Wait. I want to know the battle situation at the front,¡± the Second Consort said stubbornly. She knew what armies meant. Without those troops, she and Duodun were nothing but two useless items left behind by the old Khan, and like most of his other sons and grandsons, soon, nobody would remember them.


    A scout rode over hastily. ¡°Three 10,000-men armies have been defeated at the front. General Liman¡¯s 10,000-men army is the only one left and they¡¯re fighting the enemies now. We don¡¯t know how long they can hold the enemies back for.¡±


    Upon hearing this, Mo Chu said no more, nning to let the Second Consort make the decision herself. He believed that there wouldn¡¯t be a second option and that the Second Consort would choose to flee if she still had a trace of her sanity left.


    After ncing one more time at Duodun, who was unconscious, the Second Consort finally made the most important decision in her life.

 Chapter 841 - Seeking Help

    Chapter 841: Seeking Help


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    After riding through a vast area of open space, Shangguan Ru and the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance realized that they were lost.


    The wind had slowed slightly by now, but the sun in the sky seemed very peculiar ¨C it seemed to be in the wrong position. It should be in the west, but it was actually in the east.


    ¡°What time is it now?¡± asked Shangguan Ru.


    All of the female soldiers, including Red Bat, shook their heads. The battle had started in the morning, and it felt like it hadsted a long time. However, it also felt like it had just started.


    ¡°Stay here and wait.¡±


    Shangguan Ru spurred the me Foal to gallop forward at full speed, and her figure soon disappeared into the dusty air. Red Bat didn¡¯t have enough time to stop her. But her worry was abated when the Instructor soon appeared in another direction.


    After ncing at the female soldiers receding into the distance, Shangguan Ru dashed into the dusty air again, searching for signs of battle.


    The female soldiers felt restless and uncertain, as if there were enemies lurking all around them. Also, there were only fifty of them. Whenpared to the average Nond cavalryman, they were like children who had just learned how to walk.


    The Instructor was their only source offort. They became depressed when Shangguan Ru disappeared out of their sight, and they only regained theirposure when she reappeared again. As their moods vacited back and forth, their nervousness began to peak.


    Finally, when Shangguan Ru appeared for the fifth time, she waved her hands at them. This meant that she had found the right direction.


    And Shangguan Ru had indeed found a battleground. The yelling that was specific to grasnds men sounded like the howl of a pack of wolves, which suggested that this was a vast battleground.


    A couple of arrows were shot at them. Shangguan Ru hurriedly cried out, ¡°We¡¯re subordinates of the Dragon King!¡±


    If the opposing side was Luoluo¡¯s troops, then Shangguan Ru¡¯s deration would bring lethal danger to them.


    But she was very lucky.


    ¡°The Dragon King? Did the Dragon King lead his army here?¡± An excited voice came from the opposite side. A couple of Nond cavalrymen rapidly rode over. But after seeing that there were only a couple dozen of female soldiers, they appeared disappointed.


    Red Bat was about to speak up, but Shangguan Ru raised her hand and stopped her. The Dragon King was clearly not here. Her question would only further disappoint these soldiers who were fighting hard.


    ¡°The Middle Corps won their battle. I¡¯m here to deliver this message.¡±


    ¡°The Middle Corps won?¡± The soldiers could scarcely believe their ears. One of them immediately turned his horse around and started retracing his steps to report this godsend to hismanding officer.


    ¡°The Middle Corps will soon and reinforce us soon, right?¡± Another soldier asked, looking past Shangguan Ru and the others into the space behind them. It was as if he expected an army to miraculously materialized and rush over in the blink of an eye.


    ¡°Kind of. There was only a small group of enemies left when I set out,¡± Shangguan Ru lied. Under Dugu Xian¡¯smand, the Middle Corps were currently advancing towards Luoluo¡¯s headquarters, and it would be impossible for them to spare any troops to reinforce the left wing.


    The soldiers ignored the Shangguan Ru¡¯s vague remarks and drew their own conclusions that reinforcements would definitelye.


    An officer rode towards them from the distance, yelling, ¡°General Liman has requested to meet with you, Instructor Shangguan.¡±


    Liman had been struggling to hold the enemy back, and he knew that his army wouldn¡¯tst long. The three 10,000-men armies had already been defeated, and these 10,000 men under hismand were the only troops left. Additionally, they were facing at least 50,000 enemies if not even more.


    He had sent a couple of small contingents, scattering in several directions. Under the cover of the dusty air, they were supposed to bluff the enemies into believing that they had met a formidable force. However, this ruse wouldn¡¯tst long either.


    At this time, some soldiers suddenly brought some unexpected good news. Like themon soldiers, Lima was also looking toward the south in anticipation.


    And Shangguan Ru appeared, riding that conspicuous me Foal.


    Regr horses would run with their heads down when faced with strong wind, but this unique steed that was the me Foal ran with its head up. As if it had been running under some kind of restriction and hadn¡¯t been fully enjoying the feel of the wind, it suddenly picked up its speed after seeing Liman.


    Liman used to be an animal caretaker whose sole duty was to groom the me Foal. To the Nonders, this was an admirable and respectable identity, and Liman had always been proud of it.


    The precious horse itself, rather than the rider on it, had given Liman hope for the first time since the battle had started.


    ¡°The Middle Corps won?¡± Liman was even more nervous than the troops beside him because he was the only one who knew about Prince Duodun¡¯s overall n. In his mind, there was no way for the Middle Corps to win even if only half of Duodun¡¯s n had been sessfully enacted.


    Shangguan Ru nodded. She knew that Liman was one of the insiders of the conspiracies, so she didn¡¯t fill him in on the entire situation of the overall battle. Instead, she asked somewhat abruptly, ¡°Where¡¯s Prince Duodun?¡±


    Liman didn¡¯t answer directly, and instead briefly introduced the current situation that the Left Corps was in, and he especially emphasized the part where the Naihang Tribe had made way for Luoluo. But soon, the situation revealed itself.


    The Second Consort had led all her troops here, and she had even armed all of the servants of the rear encampment. It was only because of the fact that there weren¡¯t enough horses that she hadn¡¯t turned all of them into soldiers.


    She had managed to rally an army of around 15,000 to 16,000 men, and as a result, the encampment was now nearly empty. The remnant servants leftover in the camp were the ones who had been lucky enough to not be assigned to any horse because there weren¡¯t any left. After realizing that nobody was watching them, they immediately fled in the opposite direction.


    But the Second Consort didn¡¯t care. She would regain everything if she won, and she would lose everything if she lost. Thus, she would rather die on the battlefield than be an ordinary grasnds woman with no power.


    Duodun was right beside her, riding the same horse as Mo Lin. He hade around from thea, but the look on his face was cold, as if all this had nothing to do with him.


    ¡°The Middle Corps won?¡± The Second Consort¡¯s first question was the same as that of the others.


    Shangguan Ru nodded again. ¡°General Dugu directed the operations himself.¡±


    ¡°What about the Right Corps?¡±


    ¡°They should have engaged the enemy by now, but I don¡¯t know any details about their specific situation.¡± Shangguan Ru told the truth this time.


    The Second Consort raised her head and exhaled deeply, ignoring the sand that entered her mouth due to the wind. ¡°When will the Middle Corpse to back us?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only responsible for delivering this message. I don¡¯t know much about the other news.¡± Shangguan Ru thought there was no longer any need for her to lie more.


    The Second Consort moved closer to Shangguan Ru, signaled Liman and Mo Chu toe over by waving her arm, and then said in a muted voice, ¡°Tell me the truth.¡±


    ¡°The Middle Corps did win. Under themand of General Dugu, they¡¯re now attacking Luoluo¡¯s Middle Corps.¡±


    Hope hade and gone even quicker than the sand in the wind. The Second Consort nearly went went. Clenching her teeth, she asked, ¡°The Left Corps can¡¯t hold on any longer. Is the Dragon King not going to do anything?¡±


    Shangguan Ru responded coldly, ¡°The Dragon King thinks that the Left Corps is standing by and merely enjoying the show.¡±


    The Second Consort¡¯s face flushed. Had Duodun¡¯s n seeded, the Left Corps indeed would have been watching the battle as if they were enjoying a show with the Naihang Tribe right now.


    ¡°I¡¯ll exin in the future. But once the Left Corps is defeated, we¡¯ll lose the war. The Middle Corps will be under attack from both the front and the rear. What¡¯s the point of defeating Luoluo by then? Mo Chu! You¡¯re the Commander-in-chief, so give themand.¡±


    Mo Chu said with a wry smile, ¡°Second Consort, General Dugu¡¯s choice¡­ was right. If he manages to capture or kill Luoluo, the enemies will-¡±


    Nobody supported the Second Consort. She turned her head and said to Shangguan Ru, ¡°Where¡¯s my army? I have 10,000 men in the Middle Corps and I want them back now.¡±


    The Second Consort¡¯s tone was aggressive. And Red Bat couldn¡¯t help herself from responding, ¡°Second Consort, you handed over your army to the Middle Corps yourself. When troops are on the battlefield, themander is the only one who canmand them. You can¡¯t just demand for them to return.¡±


    The Second Consort knew that she had misbehaved, but she was still unwilling to publicly apologize. So she instead just said in a gentler tone, ¡°Liman, the army I brought here will be under yourmand. Hold the enemies back for as long as you can. Instructor Shangguan, let¡¯s have a word in private.¡±


    Liman immediately went to dispatch these troops. But as he looked at these panic-stricken servants, he was deeply concerned.


    Mo Chu walked back to Mo Lin¡¯s side, sighed, and said, ¡°I¡¯ve been fighting for decades, but never once have I seen such a chaotic situation. This doesn¡¯t look like a proper battle at all.¡±


    Neither Mo Lin nor Duodun replied to the emotional remarks of this old Commander-in-chief.


    Red Bat and those female soldiers also took a dozen steps backwards. Only Qian Ying stayed beside Shangguan Ru. The Second Consort nced at her and mildly felt that she looked a little familiar. However, she didn¡¯t identify her as one of her maidservants.


    Shangguan Ru turned her head back around and signaled Qian Ying to leave. ¡°Talk.¡± Her tone was still abrupt as before.


    But the Second Consort had changed her attitude. She leaned her upper body slightly closer to Shangguan Ru and said with a smile, ¡°Sister Shangguan, you won¡¯t be angry just because I said a few words that were born out of my anxiety, will you?¡±


    ¡°The troops are fighting a bloody battle, so it¡¯s normal for the Second Consort to be a little anxious. We don¡¯t have much time, so if you have something to say, then please say it.¡±


    ¡°Tell the Dragon King to send reinforcements to help the Left Corps.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s beyond my power.¡± Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t say that she couldn¡¯t even find the Dragon King even if she wanted to.


    ¡°The Dragon King will be rewarded greatly if he helps us.¡± As if she hadn¡¯t heard her words, the Second Consort resumed talking. ¡°Duodun won¡¯t be the Khan anymore. He¡¯ll withdraw from the race.¡±


    ¡°This is an affair of the Nonds. It has nothing to do with the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. But there¡¯s one thing that has everything to do with the Dragon King.¡±


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s heart lurched, but she maintained aposed look on her face as she asked, ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Parentage.¡±


    ¡°Parentage?¡±


    ¡°Dragon King¡¯s parentage is different from what he thinks, and I¡¯m the only one who knows the truth.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha, so you want to pretend that you¡¯re the Dragon King¡¯s mother again? He told me that he¡¯s no longer interested.¡±


    The Second Consort shook her head. ¡°I made that up, but the truth does exist, and I have definitive evidence. This is all that I can tell you. Go and tell the Dragon King, and see if he¡¯s interested. Send reinforcements, and I¡¯ll give him the evidence.¡±


    Shangguan Ru believed her words, but she still affected an air of suspicion anyways. ¡°You¡¯ve made up a lot of stories that you told the Dragon King. If you want him to trust you, you¡¯ll have to offer him the evidence first.¡±


    ¡°Believe me or not ¨C it¡¯s up to the Dragon King. Anyways, if I die, the truth will be buried for good.¡±


    The look on the Second Consort¡¯s face was very firm, and she obviously wouldn¡¯t make any concessions.


    ¡°I¡¯ll deliver the message to the Dragon King. Please get your evidence ready ¨C if you really have any that is.¡±


    ¡°Do it quickly.¡±


    The female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance left. All the soldiers believed thatrge numbers of reinforcements wereing soon.


    After returning to her original position, the Second Consort found that nearly all of the troops that she had mustered up were gone. She said to Mo Lin, ¡°The enemies areing. Prince Duodun should be on the battleground.¡±


    ¡°No. Today, His Highness must remain alive.¡± Mo Lin tly refused.


    The Second Consort didn¡¯t know how Duodun had managed to offend the old Khan¡¯s wing guard. She gently sighed and said, ¡°Maybe it¡¯s not so bad. Take Prince Duodun with you and leave when the enemiese.¡±


    Mo Lin didn¡¯t reply.


    At this point, Duodun looked at the Second Consort and asked, ¡°What about you? Are you going to stay?¡±


    ¡°I can draw a bow, so of course I¡¯m staying.¡±


    ¡°I hope that you¡¯ll¡­ die here,¡± Duodun coldly shot the first arrow at her.


    The Second Consort gave a bright smile, ¡°I¡¯ll be with you even if I be a ghost. You can¡¯t escape from me.¡±


    Duodun¡¯s eyes were zing with fury. He still believed that it was purely the people close to him who had ruined his n, and that the Second Consort was one of them. But what made him feel ashamed were the tears spilling from his eyes. ¡°No, no. I don¡¯t want you to die. Please leave with me.¡±


    The Second Consort felt like her heart was about to melt.


    Leaving aside where the Dragon King was, Shangguan Ru rode toward the Middle Corps, hoping to borrow some troops from Dugu Xian in order to have the Second Consort hand over her supposed evidence.


    A group of cavalrymen were riding towards her head-on. At the sight of the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance, they yelled, ¡°The King g is down! The King g is down!¡±


    Shangguan Ru was startled and she asked, ¡°Whose King g?¡±


    ¡°Luoluo¡¯s g! The Dragon King shot it down! Luoluo has fled. We¡¯ve achieved a great victory.¡±


    ¡°Will the Middle Corpse?¡± Shangguan Ru rejoiced.


    After those cavalrymen arrived in front of her, their leader shook his head. ¡°The fight isn¡¯t over yet. The Middle Corps has gone to reinforce the Right Corps.¡±


    After figuring out the Dragon King¡¯s whereabouts, Shangguan Ru was relieved, but she knew the Dragon King well. He probably wouldn¡¯t willingly change his operational ns in order to get some secret information on his parentage. It was also clearly against the army¡¯s overall interests to leave Shulitu¡¯s Right Corps behind and go to help Duodun¡¯s Left Corps.


    ¡°Are you going to the Left Corps to deliver the message?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Tell them that reinforcements will arrive soon.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°Just do it. I¡¯ll take care of it.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± The leader answered hesitantly.


    ¡°Red Bat, take the others and leave with them,¡± Shangguan Ru ordered.


    ¡°Instructor¨C¡±


    Red Bat had scarcely finished speaking that word when Shangguan Ru spurred her horse on and galloped away so quickly that even Qian Ying failed to catch up with her.


    She had a n, but she didn¡¯t know how likely it was to seed.

 Chapter 842 - Reinforcements

    Chapter 842: Reinforcements


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The Second Consort shot an arrow into the sky and watched it be blown away by the wild wind like a feather towards an unknown destination.


    ¡°Is the Dragon King really going to let us die here?¡± She couldn¡¯t find anyone else to question, so atst she fixed her eyes on Red Bat and used her as a substitute for Shangguan Ru.


    ¡°Instructor¡¯s going toe back.¡± Red Bat was absolutely positively sure about this.


    ¡°Then she¡¯d better hurry up. Or else she¡¯ll have to collect my body.¡±


    Red Bat frowned. The Second Consort sighed in response, wondering why she was taking a servant so seriously. She looked at Duodun who was wooden and expressionless, and the thought of fleeing struck her yet again.


    She had prepared herself for certain death, but as time passed by, her resolution started to waver.


    ¡°Silver Condor, you may leave now.¡± In the Second Consort¡¯s eyes, the name of the old Khan¡¯s wing guard would always be ¡°Silver Condor.¡±


    Luoluo¡¯s Right Corps had arrived and the battle was taking ce right in front of them now. Large numbers of enemies were circling around and about to nk them. This was theirst chance to flee.


    Mo Lin nodded, turned his horse around, and said to Red Bat, ¡°Tell the Dragon King this ¨C I failed him. Someday, I¡¯ll return, admit my guilt, and put myself at his mercy again.¡±


    Baffled, Red Bat was just about to ask ¡®why¡¯ when Mo Lin spurred his horse onwards and left.


    Sitting in the front, Duodun didn¡¯t react at all, as if he were an infant. For him, everything was already over. Even if he made it to Heaven¡¯s Pass, with only 10,000 cavalrymen left, he wouldn¡¯t even be able to defend himself from Golden Roc Castle¡¯s attack.


    It was not until Mo Lin had ridden more than ten steps away that Duodun suddenly collected himself and yelled ¡°Second Consort¡± in a state of extreme panic.


    The Second Consort nearly lost control of herself. Pretending that she hadn¡¯t heard that call, she said to Mo Chu, ¡°Give the order. Everybody has to fight.¡±


    Originally, Mo Chu had keenly hoped that he would hear a different order. ¡°Second Consort, we¡¯ve lost the war¡­¡±


    ¡°We lost the war, but we¡¯re still alive. Give the order, Commander-in-chief Mo. And then you¡¯re free to go.¡±


    Thest batch of soldiers advanced towards the battlefield. Red Bat and those female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance also followed the Second Consort, firmly believing that the Instructor would bring back reinforcements.


    Qian Ying didn¡¯t follow them. She was a green-faced assassin, and she had no interest in the battlefield. So she instead galloped north, searching for her master.


    Mo Chu and a couple of his attendants fled towards the north as well, nning to make a detour around the battlefield and then head to Thousand Horsemen Pass. Golden Roc Castle¡¯s army had been defending the city this whole time, and their troops were all intact. That ce would be his shelter.


    The Second Consort finally had a clear sight of the enemies¡¯ faces and released an arrow from her bow. The arrow disappeared into the dusty air, but she wasn¡¯t discouraged, and just kept shooting. One arrow after another disappeared in front of her.


    She had learned archery before, and she had also participated in several battles with the old Khan. But her participation had merely been riding a horse, standing on the hignd, and watching their troops outnk and ughter their enemies. This was the first time that she had ever participated in a fight herself.


    Things were somewhat different from what she had imagined. From the very beginning, the Second Consort didn¡¯t follow the procession. Instead, she ran directly towards the enemies, believing that the groups of soldiers behind would follow her.


    She had forgotten that she was not a general and didn¡¯t have her own g. On the chaotic battleground, the soldiers couldn¡¯t see her at all. The generals fell back onto their usual tactics, and ordered the soldiers to attack the enemy from a diagonal direction while trying to maintain a certain distance between themselves and the enemy.


    Only the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance followed the Second Consort. They were not familiar with Nond tactics and thought that protecting the Second Consort was their duty.


    Large numbers of Luoluo¡¯s soldiers flooded over, which reminded the Second Consort of a swarm of grasshoppers that she had once seen. She kept shooting and screeching shrilly. Suddenly, her fear disappeared. Her eptance of death had be unprecedentedly firm.


    The female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance didn¡¯t know how to shriek like the Nonders. They just yelled like normal, but their tinny voices sounded unusually clear on the battlefield.


    The distance between her and the enemy was getting shorter and shorter. The Second Consort even saw one of her arrows pass by an enemy soldier. It was at this time that a question suddenly urred to her ¨C why weren¡¯t the enemies fighting back?


    Luoluo¡¯s soldiers were galloping forward, but none of them were shooting, and most of them were bent over with their chest on their horse¡¯s back. They didn¡¯t seem to be attacking but instead¡­ fleeing.


    A small army had encountered arge army just like a small stone hitting a mountain. But surprisingly, this time, it was thetter that cracked.


    Luoluo¡¯s army automatically separated into two parts and formed a narrow passage in-between them. The Second Consort thought that she had been solidly surrounded, but when she turned her head around, she saw that the enemy soldiers only continued to gallop forward; nobody was trying to outnk her.


    The Second Consort and the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance stopped shrieking and yelling, slowed down their horses, and eventually stopped, confusedly watching the army passing by their sides.


    There were several asions when they were nearly trampled by the oing cavalrymen, so they had to stand in a column. The Second Consort was at the head of the column, and she yelled in both the Nondnguage and the Central insnguage, ordering the enemies to move aside.


    Luoluo¡¯s army finallypletely passed. And then they saw some troops who were pursuing Luoluo¡¯s soldiers, and who were also their backup.


    A rugged, resonant voice on the opposite side called out, ¡°Are you the Second Consort? We¡¯re people of the Naihang Tribe.¡±


    This situation was totally beyond their expectations. The Second Consort stood there, transfixed with shock, unable to speak for a long time.


    Shangguan Ru hadn¡¯t gone to the Middle Corps to ask for help. After riding the me Foal at full speed, she had passed through several small battlefields with her fast speed and some good luck. Every time she saw soldiers, irrespective of whether they were enemies or allies, she would mobilize her internal energy and yell, ¡°The King g has fallen! Luoluo has fled!¡±


    As a result, when she entered the area guarded by the Naihang Tribe¡¯s soldiers, nobody tried to stop her. Instead, some soldiers guided her to Zhesu¡¯s ce.


    Heavily armed, Zhesu was standing on a hignd along with Duo Ercha, and there were 100,000 cavalrymen behind them.


    Actually, they couldn¡¯t see anything from there, and they could only get a couple scarce pieces of information from their scouts.


    ¡°Luoluo lost.¡± Shangguan Ru spoke up first.


    Zhesu obviously didn¡¯t believe her. ¡°But I heard some different news.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because you only saw the northern part of the battlefield. In the middle and the south, the results were totally different. The Dragon King cut down Luoluo¡¯s King g, and Luoluo himself has fled. His armies in the north will soon also receive that message and it¡¯s only a matter of time before they are defeated.¡±


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t know the details of how the King g had been broken, so she had said ¡°cut down¡± instead of ¡°shot down.¡±


    Zhesu still didn¡¯t believe her. ¡°I have my own scouts in the south, so I don¡¯t need you to deliver any news to me.¡±


    ¡°When your scoutse back, it will be toote.¡±


    ¡°Toote? Ha-ha. Toote to do what?¡±


    ¡°The Naihang Tribe has greatly offended the allied forces by making way for Luoluo. Your only chance to redeem yourselves is right here, right now ¨Cunch an attack on Luoluo¡¯s remaining troops.¡±


    Zhesu burst intoughter, and so did Duo Ercha, but Duo Ercha had be more restrainedpared to before, so he didn¡¯t interject.


    ¡°Redeem? The Naihang Tribe has never heard of this word before.¡±


    Shangguan Ru said coldly, ¡°Neither has the Naihang Tribe ever been in this kind of situation before, right? There¡¯s only one Khan¡¯s descendant left to fight for the throne. Your days of being a fence-sitter are over.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s the one left?¡± Zhesu asked in a severe voice.


    ¡°The young king, Shulitu. Luoluo fled. Duodun has suffered a crushing defeat. The young king is the only one remaining on the grasnds who has enough strength to be the Khan. He is a maternal grandson of the Naihang Tribe, but if the Naihang Tribe offers help to outsiders, the first thing he will do after he seeds the throne is take revenge.¡±


    Zhesu¡¯s face slightly changed. ¡°Even if you¡¯re telling the truth, I can eliminate all of you since both sides of this battle have suffered heavy casualties.¡±


    ¡°What will you get then? Duo Ercha can¡¯t be the Khan ¨C nobody in the Naihang Tribe can. You will only be the enemy of every descendant of the Khan, and the enemies of all Nonders.¡±


    ¡°Luoluo won¡¯t lose.¡± Zhesu clenched his teeth with anger.


    ¡°Then keep waiting, General.¡± Shangguan Ru had no intention to keep trying to persuade him. ¡°But please think about this ¨C if Luoluo won, then why hasn¡¯t him sent his troops to the south to outnk Duodun¡¯s army?¡±


    Shangguan Ru turned her horse around and was about to leave when Zhesu suddenly said, ¡°Wait. Leave the me Foal here. It belongs to King Rizhu.¡±


    ¡°You lost it to the Dragon King and it belongs to us now. Many people have seen it. You won¡¯t go back on your word, will you?¡±


    ¡°Ha, the Dragon King cheated then, so that match didn¡¯t count. Leave the me Foal here. I¡¯ll roast it as a sacrifice to old King Rizhu.¡±


    The me Foal seemed to have understood this remark and it neighed in refusal. Shangguan Ru patted its head and snorted. ¡°This is your only chance. If the left wing of the allied forces is defeated, then the Naihang Tribe will be the enemies of the young king and the Dragon King.¡±


    Shangguan Ru spurred the horse on and rode towards the main battlefield in the north.


    Duo Ercha couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°We can¡¯t let her escape. Let me get the me Foal back.¡±


    ¡°Order all of our troops to pursue her.¡±


    ¡°Er¡­ Is it really necessary to do so?¡± Duo Ercha thought that the old general had given the wrong order.


    Zhesu disdained having to exin it to Duo Ercha, so he himself ordered the whole army to march forward, but their speed was not very fast. Seeing that Shangguan Ru and her me Foal were getting further and further away from them, Duo Ercha became anxious. ¡°The me Foal runs very fast. If we keep moving at this speed¡­¡±


    Several scouts rode madly towards them and yelled while they were still far away, ¡°Luoluo fled! Luoluo fled!¡±


    Zhesu gave an order to the heralds beside him, ¡°Launch an attack on Luoluo¡¯s army. Now!¡±


    The Naihang Tribe¡¯s 100,000 soldiers advanced towards the battlefield in sessive batches after receiving this order.


    It was at this moment that Duo Ercha suddenly understood Zhesu¡¯s intention.


    The war hadsted from morning till dusk, and during thetter half of the war, the soldiers were mostly pursuing the surviving enemies and delivering messages. Soon, news of the allied forces¡¯ victory had spread a radius of hundreds of miles around the battlefield.


    Shangguan Ru found Red Bat, those female soldiers, and the Second Consort as well. ¡°Our backup arrived.¡±


    The Second Consort hadn¡¯t recovered from her fright yet, but she still had her judgement. ¡°I want to meet the Dragon King. Remember to remind him that the deal will be canceled if Duodun dies.¡±


    The Second Consort decided to stay with the Naihang Tribe. Shangguan Ru knew that she wouldn¡¯t be able to convince her, so she took the female soldiers with her and started searching for the Dragon King.


    All of the soldiers that she met along the way told her that they had seen the Dragon King, but none of them were able to provide any concrete information on his current position.


    They had been to the encampments of the Middle and the Right Corps as well as the fighting areas in the south. It was not untilte at night that they finally found the Dragon Army in a camp abandoned by Luoluo¡¯s army. It was said that the Dragon King was in the camp, too.


    There were corpses everywhere, and the camp was no exception. Shangguan Ru had almost be numb to the sight.


    ¡°These are all Dragon-Army soldiers,¡± said Red Bat tly.


    Indeed, the bodies here were sorted in orderly rows. Clearly, some people had been handling them carefully. ming torches were positioned at regr intervals on the ground.


    ¡°There are so many of them!¡± a female soldier eximed in a low voice, shocked.


    A soldier recognized Shangguan Ru and told her which direction the Dragon King was in.


    In a luxurious tent, the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance saw the Dragon King.


    Instead of clothes, Gu Shenwei¡¯s upper body was covered by bandages. Standing in the middle of the tent, he was looking down at someone.


    There were injured soldiers everywhere in the tent, and Doctor Sun was busy checking their conditions, and asionally yelled at a dozen helpers ¨C in this tent, he was the one with the most power.


    Gu Shenwei turned around. There was no delight on his face at all.


    Red Bat seemed to have had this premonition long ago. With a vacant look, she walked to the Dragon King¡¯s side and saw Long Fanyun lying still on the ground, blood all over his body.

 Chapter 843 - Calmness

    Chapter 843: Calmness


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Dugu Xian didn¡¯t like wars that were full of surprises, no matter whether he won or lost in the end. He also didn¡¯t believe that Luoluo¡¯s army would be defeated and forced into a retreat just because their King¡¯s g had fallen down. So, he spent a lot of time collecting information about what Luoluo¡¯s armies had been doing throughout that day, and then tried to analyze it. Hopefully, he would learn why the allied forces, which wasposed of various individuals all with their own agendas, had won this war, and why Luoluo, who had arge number of single-minded troops and was well-prepared, had lost.


    Atst, he concluded, ¡°We have Duodun to thank for our victory.¡±


    Upon hearing this, Gu Shenwei, who was currently aimlessly pacing up and down, raised his head in astonishment. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Dugu Xian was excited about this revtion, as if he had just solved a puzzle. ¡°I imagine that the whole thing went down like this: Duodun wanted to use Luoluo¡¯s army to eliminate the Dragon Army and then force the Naihang Tribe and Shulitu to surrender. But Luoluo counterplotted and had secretly reached another agreement with the Naihang Tribe. He nned to wipe out Duodun¡¯s Left Corps by outnking them and then attacking from two sides so as to breach the formation of our allied forces.¡±


    ¡°I agree with you.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s spections had reached a simr point as those of General Dugu.


    ¡°Do you know how many troops Luoluo sent to his left wing? 100,000 ¨C exactly 100,000! He was also worried that the Naihang Tribe might have second thoughts, so he wanted to finish the battle as quickly as possible. This is the reason why we should thank Duodun ¨C Duodun¡¯s n identally distracted the main force of Luoluo¡¯s army! If it weren¡¯t for his n, then the attackunched by our Middle and Right Corps probably would have be a suicide mission.¡±


    This was the part that Gu Shenwei had been unaware of. Luoluo¡¯s armies had scattered and his major generals had fled. Although the ordinary prisoners didn¡¯t know the fine details of Luoluo¡¯s n, Dugu Xian was an experience general. He was always able to piece the overall story back together from a couple scraps of confession.


    ¡°But there were only 10,000 men under Liman¡¯smand.¡±


    ¡°Mmm. And afterwards, the Second Consort led about 20,000 men there, but they didn¡¯t help much ¨C they scattered and fled the moment they set foot on the battlefield. Thus, there were only about 13,600 cavalrymen at Liman¡¯smand. He¡¯s an outstanding general ¨C hested very long given his resources. I admire him.¡±


    Dugu Xian was an unassuming man, but when it came to battle tactics, he had his own pride. He rarely showed such admiration for any other general.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity that he serves Duodun.¡±


    Dugu Xian was unwilling to talk about anything irrelevant to the war. ¡°Certainly, Duodun¡¯s stupidity was not the only reason that we won this war. That unexpected and reckless detour that you took afterwards was the other crux upon which our victory rested. You broke the morale of Luoluo¡¯s army, and that¡¯s not even mentioning the influence you exerted on them by breaking the King¡¯s g¡¯s pole. The Middle Regiment under mymand was exhausted by that point, and Shulitu¡¯s Left Regiment was disarrayed and had no confidence at all. If it weren¡¯t for the opposing side being in an even worse state, we would have never won.¡±


    These words were almost bordering on ttery, and Dugu Xian didn¡¯t do this very often. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t say anything, though he had a lot in mind that he wanted to talk about.


    ¡°The young king Shulitu helped a lot too. He made sure that the Right Regiment arrived at the battlefield in time. To be honest, I have apletely new appraisal of him now ¨C ¡±


    ¡°Was it Instructor Shangguan who told you toe?¡± Gu Shenwei suddenly asked.


    Dugu Xian¡¯s face flushed conspicuously red. He raised the only hand he had left and scratched his forehead as he stammered out, ¡°Uh¡­ It was me myself¡­ Um¡­ Instructor Shangguan dide to me.¡±


    ¡°What did she say?¡±


    ¡°She said that you have too many things on your mind, and that she hoped that I could talk to you and offer some help.¡± Now that it was no longer a secret, Dugu Xian stopped beating around the bush. ¡°Casualties are inevitable in a war. I heard that there¡¯s even such a saying among killers ¨C ¡®You try to kill people, and people try to kill you.¡¯ It¡¯s even more urate during war. But as long as you win the war, any cost is eptable. Dragon King¡­ The Dragon Army¡¯s performance was excellent in this war. You should go outside and take a walk. You¡¯ll hear the Nond soldiers¡¯ments about the Dragon Army¡¯s performance ¨C they literally think that the Dragon Army are troops sent by God. But a couple of days ago, they still believed that Western Regioners were typical cowards.¡±


    ¡°I know what you mean.¡±


    That was his cue to leave, so Dugu Xian bowed and left. He wasn¡¯t as concerned as Shangguan Ru had been earlier. Although the Dragon King was young, he was the one who had the strongest will out of all the people that Dugu Xian knew.


    After staying in the tent alone for a while, Gu Shenwei decided to take Dugu Xian¡¯s advice and go for a walk.


    Right outside the Dragon King¡¯s tent, there was his 1,000-men direct army, with swordsmen of Big Snow Mountain, savage soldiers, and ves of the Land of Fragrance as the main force. During this battle, they had been the ones who had stayed the closest to the Dragon King. Thus, they were also the ones who had suffered the heaviest casualties, and there were only two hundred of them left.


    They were enjoying thest few sunny days of this year outside their tents, polishing their weapons, and chatting. Upon seeing the Dragon King, all of them stood upright and saluted him with their eyes.


    They were soldiers of few words, and they were particrly taciturn in front of the Dragon King. But the reverence and pride in their eyes was the most heartfelt Gu Shenwei had ever seen. Led by the Dragon King, they had won yet another victory, and their reputation had spread far beyond the Western Regions now.


    Gu Shenwei walked forward slow steps, exchanging a nce with every soldier who was looking at him.


    Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong were behind the Dragon King, fulfilling their duty as always. Han Fen was a few steps further away. Among all the people here, she was the least well known ¨C very few people knew that it was this somewhat insane woman who had saved Mo Chu¡¯s life.


    Han Fen didn¡¯t care at all. She stared back at everyone who was looking at her as if they were having a staringpetition, and she defeated all of them.


    A little further away, there were the tents of themon Dragon Army soldiers, most of whom were from the Shule Kingdom. This had been, for many of the soldiers, their first time fighting in arge-scale battle, and they were very excited about the victory. At the sight of the Dragon King, they instantly stood up and cheered. And then, following Wu Zongheng¡¯s lead, all of them knelt down on one knee, lowered their heads, and paid their respects to the Dragon King.


    These soldiers needed encouragement, but Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know what to say. He walked over and raised Wu Zongheng up before saying aloud, ¡°You¡¯ve earned your qualifications, and from now on, you won¡¯t have to kneel before anybody ever again.¡±


    The 10,000 Dragon Army troops under Wu Zongheng¡¯smand had had an impressive performance on the battlefield. These Shule Kingdom soldiers ¨C who had followed the Dragon King and rushed into the opposing army¡¯s headquarters ¨C had fought just as valiantly as the main army.


    The soldiers stood up slowly and watched the Dragon King, the look on their faces growing firm. This reward offered by the Dragon King was even more precious thannd and wealth.


    Gu Shenwei kept moving forward and now reached the Nond soldiers¡¯ tents. The number of guards following him had exceeded a hundred by now.


    The Nonders needed their horses. Even in their own camp, most of them were either sitting on the ground or riding on their horses. Very few were walking.


    They were experienced soldiers. They liked victory, and they revered heroes.


    Many people had performed heroic deeds during the final showdown against Luoluo, and the Dragon King was the one who had outshined all the others. That scene of his shooting the arrow and breaking the Luoluo¡¯s King¡¯s g¡¯s pole had been engraved into these soldiers¡¯ memory, whether they had seen it with their own eyes or not.


    Those Nond soldiers held their bows and raised them above their heads, rhythmically yelling the same word in Nondnguage. Gu Shenwei knew the meaning of that word ¨C ¡°God¡¯s favored one¡±.


    He epted this address, but he didn¡¯t stop walking.


    The southeast corner of the encampment was a special area. Most of the deceased soldiers¡¯ corpses were ced here.


    Gu Shenwei stopped.


    He was not a sentimental man, and he did not fear death. However, he stop a thought from surfacing in his mind over and over again: these soldiers had died because of him ¨C simply because he wanted to seek revenge.


    Big Snow Mountain had harbored hatred towards Golden Roc Castle for generations, and they had volunteered to follow the Dragon King because they also wanted to seek revenge. But instead, they had died in a strangend one batch after another, and most of them hadn¡¯t even seen what Jade City looked like. Gu Shenwei had promised them that he would take Golden Roc Castle in three years, and now, he only had half a year¡¯s time left.


    The savages and ves of the Land of Fragrance had followed him half of their own will and half out of coercion. Maybe they had never really figured out whether the Dragon King was their master or theirmander-in-chief, and still less likely that they understood the cause of the war.


    Back when the residents of Shule Kingdom were known for their cowardliness, peasants could still stay alive. But now, to prove that they were brave soldiers, more than half of them had ended up dead. Nearly 10,000 soldiers of Shule Kingdom had died on the grasnds, staying north of Heavenly Mountain forever.


    Pointing at a body, Gu Shenwei said to those beside him, ¡°His name is Xie Dezhi.¡±


    Tie Linglong and Han Fen walked over and took a look, wondering why the Dragon King had mentioned this soldier¡¯s name.


    Gu Shenwei himself also didn¡¯t know what he wanted to say. He had expected a lot of thoughts to ur to him when he saw these bodies, but he was wrong. There were only more dead people here.


    But he couldn¡¯t bepletely stoic either. This war was different from the battle of Xiaoyao Lake. The Dragon Army troops were utter outsiders, and they seemed to have a hundred reasons not to fight in this war.


    Then he walked to the area where the injured were, and he was also greeted with cheers and salutes.


    Outside a tent, he saw Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Ru smiled at him. Her face was haggard and it seemed like she hadn¡¯t had a good sleep for days. ¡°Doctor Sun¡¯s in the tent.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. ¡°You should get some rest.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not tired. You haven¡¯t had any sleep for three days yourself, right?¡±


    It had been three days since the end of the war. Gu Shenwei felt that it was unbelievable. The sound of the wind and the neigh of warhorses still seemed to reverberate through his ears, ¡°Mmm. I¡¯ve got used to it.¡±


    Shangguan Ru¡¯s eyes were meaningful. ¡°You should pay a visit to the Second Consort. She has some secrets to tell you.¡±


    She had been meaning to tell him this for three days.


    ¡°What kind of trick does the Second Consort want to y this time?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a trick.¡±


    Suddenly it dawned on the Dragon King that Shangguan Ru still wanted to find out his new ¡°parentage.¡± He responded, ¡°I will meet her.¡± But actually, he wasn¡¯t interested at all.


    Doctor Sun walked out of the tent, his face full of restlessness. He had almost plucked out all his hair, and he didn¡¯t change his attitude even before the Dragon King. ¡°What are you doing here? Do you want to help? Do you know how to treat diseases? Step aside.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s guards made way for him. Doctor Sun was one of those people who was highly respected within the encampment, and nobody minded his bizarre temper.


    Han Fen didn¡¯t step backwards. ¡°I can treat diseases and I¡¯m pretty good at it.¡±


    Doctor Sun still remembered his experience in Waning Moon Hall. ¡°By ¡®treat diseases,¡¯ do you mean helping people vigorously stand up, or do you mean making them quietly fall down and never standing up again?¡±


    Han Fen thought for a while before answering, ¡°I can do both. Thetter¡¯s easier.¡±


    ¡°s,¡± Doctor Sun flicked his sleeves and left angrily. After walking several steps away, he suddenly realized that his previous behavior was a little rude, so he hurriedly turned around, walked in front of the Dragon King, and bowed. ¡°Long Fanyun¡¯s not dead, but I don¡¯t know whether he can be deemed alive or not either.¡±


    Doctor Sun went to another tent to treat injured soldiers. A smile lit up Shangguan Ru¡¯s face as she said, ¡°This is good news.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew what Doctor Sun meant. The swordsman had lost his mobility, and he would spend the rest of his life in bed. This was probably not ¡°good news¡± for Long Fanyun.


    ¡°You¡¯re noting?¡± Shangguan Ru asked in surprise.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. Neither the dead nor the injured had calmed him, so he only had one choice left.


    He led the guards to the main tent of the Middle Regiment where Dugu Xian, Shulitu, and the others were.


    ¡°Bring them here,¡± Gu Shenwei said. His words were orders.


    Azheba still hadn¡¯t recovered from his injury yet, and he had to stand on one foot. Like the five survivingpanions of Duodun, his hands were tied together.


    Duodun was the only one who was standing with his head up. He had failed to escape ¨C the Dragon Army had caught up with him. Mo Lin had the prince write a written order and then handed him over to the soldiers.


    Liman stood beside Duodun. Neither of the two were tied up


    Panic-stricken, Mo Chu was also standing on the side. He was no longer the Commander-in-chief, and he had also failed to escape ¨C Han Fen had been following him closely and taken him back directly.


    These men had severed most of their ¡°rtions¡± themselves. Gu Shenwei believed that it was finally time to use his saber.


    As his hand grasped the hilt of his saber, he finally found the calmness he desired.

 Chapter 844 - Verdict

    Chapter 844: Verdict


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Azheba said, ¡°I plead not guilty. If I am guilty, then I¡¯m only guilty of being too stupid to fulfill the task assigned to me by His Highness. If the Dragon King wants to cut my head off for this, then I won¡¯t say a word in defense. That¡¯s it.¡±


    Liman¡¯s defense was even simpler. ¡°I followed my orders and made my own judgment. I¡¯ve never harbored malicious intent.¡±


    The other fivepanions found that Liman¡¯s remarks were more reasonable, so they tried to giarize his arguments. ¡°I was also just following orders. If I¡¯m guilty, then all the members of the Left Corps are guilty.¡± ¡°I knew nothing about the conspiracies and I didn¡¯t participate in them. I only did what Prince Duodun told me to.¡± ¡°I shot three of Luoluo¡¯s cavalrymen. Many people saw it.¡±


    Duodun refused to defend his behavior. ¡°I¡¯m the Khan¡¯s son. In this tent, young king Shulitu is the only one who can decide my destiny. I lost to him, and not to anybody else. As for my subordinates, they¡¯re just a bunch of morons. They can do nothing except follow orders ¨C and they did a lousy job in that, too.¡±


    Azheba and the others lowered their heads. They knew very well that Prince Duodun was trying to protect them by taking on all responsibility himself, but they still felt ashamed.


    Gu Shenwei remained silent. Indeed, Shulitu was the only one who was eligible to judge these people.


    ¡°This is a rivalry for the throne,¡± Shulitu said as he stood up. The Dragon King had been trying to avoid meeting anyone in the past few days, so they hadn¡¯t consulted each other on what to do with this clique of Duodun¡¯s. He had to specte on the Dragon King¡¯s thoughts and then make the decision by himself. ¡°I, Prince Duodun, and horsewhip Luoluo ¨C we¡¯re all inheritors of the old Khan¡¯s blood. No matter who ultimately wins, the same decision will be made, and the ones who lose will have to ept their destiny.¡±


    Duodun raised his head. ¡°I¡¯m a loser.¡±


    Three of thepanions panicked. Trembling, they suddenly knelt down, but they couldn¡¯t say a word. The others looked at them dismissively.


    The tent was full of people, most of whom were generals and officers of various ranks. They would etch this scene before them into their memory and spread it through the whole army. As a result, what Shulitu and the Dragon King did in this tent would be a topic that the Nonders would talk about again and again in the future.


    He didn¡¯t need anybody to remind him. Gu Shenwei knew that his best choice was to stay silent. Maybe he had acted impetuously, but there was also an upside to not having consulted Shulitu in advance ¨C the young king would be able to impose the sentences without arousing anybody¡¯s suspicion.


    ¡°Liman! You were indeed following orders, but they were treacherous orders. You said that you made your own judgement, but apparently you failed to see through this. You are guilty of betraying the allied forces, and you deserve the death sentence. But at thest moment, you managed to hold back Luoluo¡¯s superior force with troops that numbered far fewer. You fought with great valor, which lessened the severity of your crime. You¡¯ll be stripped of all your military ranks. From now on, you¡¯re just amon resident.¡±


    Shulitu¡¯s first judgment was very reasonable. All the generals nodded in praise.


    ¡°Azheba, and you five people.¡± Shulitu then named the other fivepanions¡¯ names one by one. ¡°You participated in the conspiracies and also carried out them. You thought that you were fulfilling your duties, but your inability to stop your master¡¯s wrong is worse than negligence. Your capital offence is inexcusable. You¡¯ll be beheaded tomorrow morning.¡±


    Azheba didn¡¯t say anything. The twopanions who were standing started quivering, and surprisingly, the three on the ground began to cry. However, none of them pleaded for their lives.


    There was only one person left ¨C Mo Chu. Although he had abandoned his army and had tried to flee, he had taken no part in those conspiracies, so he was spared from a trial.


    ¡°Duodun.¡± Shulitu¡¯s voice was very t, as if he were talking to a friend. ¡°You shall take your own life. Do it before midnight.¡±


    Duodun¡¯s head was still erect. Lips twitching, he epted all this.


    Shulitu was right. This was a rivalry for the throne. If Duodun¡¯s n had seeded, he would never have kept his promise and let Shulitu keep the title of King Riying. He would have definitely have killed all his rivals, even if the rival was only three or four years old.


    The rise of an opposing side in the future was a nightmare for anyone vying for the throne.


    It was totally silent in the tent. Shulitu was not the Khan yet, but from this moment on, everybody ¨C including the Dragon King ¨C believed that this twelve-year-old kid was more than qualified to be the Khan.


    There were still some people who believed that Shulitu¡¯s judgments were all in ordance with the Dragon King¡¯s intentions. But even so, his performance was wless.


    The criminals were taken away. The generals held their breath as they left the tent, and it was only when they were a certain distance away from the tent that they dared to turn around. The giant main tent was almost empty. Shulitu, the Dragon King and the two bodyguards Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong were the only ones left inside.


    Shulitu exhaled deeply. Sitting on the soft couch, he felt a palpable sense of relief. A nervous smile appeared on his face. ¡°I was very worried that many people would object to my rulings. A lot of generals liked Prince Duodun in the past.¡±


    ¡°You did a very good job,¡± Gu Shenwei said. ¡°You disyed what true power should be like. Even the old Khan would have made the same judgments, so everybody was convinced.¡±


    ¡°What true power should be like,¡± Shulitu repeated in a low voice. ¡°Actually it¡¯s not that I wield true power, but that true power wields me.¡±


    ¡°There will be a process, and it might be a slow one, but eventually you will be able to handle the reins of power freely. The old Khan once told me that even he himself couldn¡¯t do that until decades after he seeded to the throne.¡±


    ¡°But because of just one mistake, he was still assassinated.¡± Shulitu sighed.


    ¡°Let that be a lesson to you.¡±


    ¡°Never try to pursue immortality when I¡¯m old?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t trust anyone too soon. The proof of loyalty is a long process of umtion.¡±


    Shulitu nodded gravely, but he didn¡¯t quite understand what the Dragon King meant. Deep down in his heart, he was still afraid of this pale-faced man who carried a saber, so he always tried his best to show his childish side, and never asked any unwanted questions about the things he couldn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°I spared Liman and didn¡¯t execute Duodun and the others. I hope you won¡¯t mind, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Of course I won¡¯t. Like the others, I respect what true power should be like.¡±


    Gu Shenwei bowed slightly to Shulitu when he was about to leave.


    Now that he was in the empty tent all alone, Shulitu didn¡¯t call anybody in for a long time. He was quietly savoring the feeling of power, trying to depict its looks.


    After returning to his own tent, Gu Shenwei waited for the lobbyists toe.


    The first one was Dugu Xian. Gu Shenwei felt a little rueful. This one-armed general was calm and sensible on the battlefield, and he seldom misjudged anything. But when it came to political disputes, he was indecisive and prone to being deluded by outsiders.


    They chatted for a while. Dugu Xian wasn¡¯t in the unhurried mindset that he had been in when analyzing the flow of the battle. Gu Shenwei directly asked him, ¡°On whose behalf have youe interceding on? And to whom will you intercede for me?¡±


    A surprised look appeared on Dugu Xian¡¯s face, as if the Dragon King¡¯s question was very abrupt, but he soon gave up on trying to conceal his intentions, because he knew that the Dragon King had seen through him. ¡°It¡¯s the Second Consort. She sent someone to me ¨C I didn¡¯t ept anything she promised me. I just feel that her words were somewhat reasonable ¨C ¡±


    ¡°Say it. There¡¯s no guilt in doing this.¡±


    ¡°She said that ¨C well, the man she sent to me said that if you¡¯re willing to spare Duodun, she promises that she will put the Naihang Tribe¡¯s army under Shulitu¡¯smand, and that she will then take Duodun to the northernmost area of the tribe and they will never fight for the throne again. I believe the overall situation of the Nond will be under our control if we have the Naihang Tribe¡¯s support. It doesn¡¯t really matter whether Duodun¡¯s alive or dead at that point.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. ¡°You can tell the one sent by the Second Consort this ¨C the Dragon King rejected your intervention, because the Dragon King is not the one who made this judgment. Thus, he has no right to intervene in it.¡±


    Upon hearing such a direct rejection, Dugu Xian¡¯s face flushed slightly.


    Gu Shenwei resumed talking. ¡°The next thing I¡¯m going to tell you is ¨C Duodun must die. This is not about whether he has the strength topete for the throne or not. The key issue is that Shulitu has to act like someonepeting for the throne. He won this war, but he hasn¡¯t pacified the entire grasnds. It¡¯s very likely that Luoluo will regroup a vast army, and the other descendants of the Khan might also join in on thepetition for the throne. Shulitu¡¯s leadership will be doubted by his subordinates even if he shows even a little bit of weakness. They will think, ¡®This young king is just a sickly, feeble, and indecisive kid. How can he be the Khan? For my own sake, I might as well switch sides to another more promising candidate.¡±


    When the Dragon King voiced other people¡¯s thoughts, he adjusted his tone slightly. The result was very vivid andpletely different from his usual tone. Both amazed and afraid, Dugu Xian flushed even redder, and he hurriedly replied, ¡°I understand. Currently, the troops might think that the young king and Dragon King are ruthless, but when the next war ising, they will think that the more ruthless you are, the better.¡±


    When Dugu Xian took his leave, the look on his face was unprecedentedly humble. He resolved himself to never say anything irrelevant outside of war to the Dragon King ever again.


    After Dugu Xian, lobbyists visited Gu Shenwei consecutively, trying to intercede with the Dragon King. Among them, there was even a swordsman of Big Snow Mountain. He hesitantly went into the tent and had barely made any remarks when he flushed and left the tent by himself ¨C the Dragon King hadn¡¯t even spoken.


    Gu Shenwei saw this as an opportunity to stabilize and enhance the troops¡¯ cohesion. He inculcated some of these lobbyists with logical reasons while giving the others the cold shoulder.


    He had been waiting for Shangguan Ru this whole time. He had been thinking that she woulde to intercede with him on behalf of Azheba, or even for Duodun. But it was the Second Consort who came in person first.


    Night had just fallen. The Second Consort had sent all the people she could, and finally, she understood. It had been her who had made all those wrong decisions in her panic, so she had to negotiate with the Dragon King herself.


    Gu Shenwei believed that it wouldn¡¯t be long before nobody woulde to intercede with him ever again.


    He politely received the Second Consort and politely said to her, ¡°You¡¯vee to the wrong person. Even I have no right to interfere in Shulitu¡¯s judgments.¡±


    ¡°It was my fault,¡± the Second Consort said with a smile. Duodun had to kill himself in less than four hours, but she seemed to be in no hurry at all, ¡°I should havee earlier ¨C before the judgment was given. As for whether you have the right to interfere with Shulitu¡¯s decision, I don¡¯t know. I only know that if I try to meet with the young king, that kid will shift responsibility onto you. So why try to beat around the bush? I chose to meet you, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t make any difference. You served the old Khan for so many years, so you should know very well there¡¯s no wiggle room in this situation.¡± Gu Shenwei remained very polite.


    ¡°Even 100,000 Naihang Tribe cavalrymen isn¡¯t tempting enough for you? Or do you think that I¡¯m just bluffing?¡±


    ¡°I have great faith in your capability, Second Consort. Tomorrow, if you¡¯re still interested, I¡¯ll be more than d to talk with you about the Naihang Tribe. We can also talk about it now, but it will have nothing to do with Duodun.¡±


    The Second Consort was not discouraged. After thinking about it for a while, she said, ¡°Then let me put this straight. Shulitu can kill Duodun, but Dragon King can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°It was the young king who ordered Duodun to end his life.¡±


    ¡°No. You misunderstood me, Dragon King.¡± The Second Consort produced two pieces of well-folded cloth from her front inside pocket, cautiously holding it in her hand. ¡°I can prove that Duodun is your maternal uncle, Dragon King. Thus, you shouldn¡¯t kill him.¡±.

 Chapter 845 - A Story

    Chapter 845: A Story


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    ¡°Duodun might be the only living rtive that you have left,¡± the Second Consort said gently. She knew that this wouldn¡¯t work, but she still stubbornly tried to use this method to reduce the Dragon King¡¯s ruthlessness.


    It indeed didn¡¯t work. Head down, Gu Shenwei was checking the two pieces of worn underwear.


    This kind of underwear was verymon and the color of certain parts of them had faded, but the pattern of two mandarin ducks ying in a pond was still very clear on each one. Below each of the patterns, there was a line where the birth date was embroidered into the cloth.


    ¡°These are in the Central insmen¡¯s style.¡± The Second Consort was somewhat anxious, and she started exining before the Dragon King had asked. ¡°You can find someone who knows about this kind of thing and ask them about it. These two pieces of underwear haven¡¯t been altered at all. If my spection is right, then you will find the two dates very interesting, Dragon King.¡±


    Of course Gu Shenwei was interested. The two birth dates were exactly the birth dates of his sister and him.


    ¡°This is your evidence?¡± Gu Shenwei returned the underwear to the Second Consort.


    The Second Consort carefully took them back. ¡°Are the dates wrong?¡±


    ¡°People born on the same date are verymon.¡±


    ¡°First of all, there¡¯s no way I could get underwear with the specific birth dates of you and your elder sister. Second, it¡¯s very difficult to find two Central ins underwear, still less two with dates embroidered on them. Anyway, believe it or not ¨C it¡¯s up to you.¡±


    ¡°Talk.¡± After a while, Gu Shenwei said this.


    ¡°About what?¡±


    ¡°The story you made up.¡±


    ¡°This is not a story.¡±


    ¡°Whatever.¡±


    The Second Consort smiled. Whether the Dragon King had been tempted or not couldn¡¯t be judged by only his words. The Dragon King had told her to ¡°talk¡± ¨C this was a good sign. ¡°It was Duodun¡¯s elder sister who gave me these two pairs of Central ins underwear before she died.¡±


    The Second Consort paused for a while in order to give the Dragon King some time to digest this information. ¡°Duodun¡¯s elder sister was naturally the old Khan¡¯s daughter. She was about the same age as me, and her personality was also somewhat simr to mine. We were close friends to some extent. She said that she had once had an affair with a man from the Central ins, given birth to a boy and a girl, and that if someone from the Gu family ever asked me some day, I could give them these two pairs of underwear as proof.¡±


    That was all. The Second Consort had deliberately told the story in a simple way, and waited for the Dragon King to ask questions.


    Gu Shenwei saw through what she was trying to do, but he had no choice but to ask, ¡°Did the old Khan¡¯s daughter fall in love with a guard from the Central ins?¡±


    ¡°She said that she had an affair with a man from the Central ins, and then she paused for a while before talking about ¡®someone from the Gu family.¡¯ However, she didn¡¯t say that the surname of that man from the Central ins was also Gu, so you can just¡­¡±


    ¡°Just make up another story? Like I¡¯m a bastard son of some royal member of the Central ins?¡±


    The Second Consort let out twoughs, realizing that she had been too hasty. ¡°Let¡¯s put the story aside and talk about some facts. Duodun¡¯s elder sister ¨C she was the Khan¡¯s daughter, but do you know how many daughters the old Khan had? At least fifty. Even the old Khan himself didn¡¯t know the exact number. Mengli ¨C this was Duodun¡¯s elder sister¡¯s name ¨C like all her sisters, had never been the Khan¡¯s favored child. You can¡¯t me her though ¨C the old Khan was not interested in any woman that he couldn¡¯t sleep with. So, Mengli could enjoy freedom to the fullest. Unlike me ¨C there was always someone watching me.¡±


    ¡°But she was still the Khan¡¯s daughter.¡±


    ¡°Let me finish.¡± The Second Consort sat down cross-legged on a felt nket, and propped her right hand on a small table. She stared emptily at the entrance of the tent, reaching back into her past memories. ¡°Mengli told me that she constantly made excuses to go back to her maternal grandmother¡¯s, but that she was actually using that time to have secret meetings with her lover ¨C nobody cared about her anyway, and nobody would ask her. There were also two asions when she stayed at her ¡®maternal grandmother¡¯s¡¯ home for a very long time ¨C it was because she had to give birth to her two children.¡±


    ¡°And then what?¡±


    ¡°And then, the kids couldn¡¯t stay in the Royal Court. So, Mengli had no choice but to suppress her pain and agree to let her lover send her children to the Central ins. I remember very well that the word she said was ¡®send¡¯, not ¡®take.¡¯¡±


    Once again, the Second Consort was trying to insinuate that the Dragon King¡¯s father might not be Gu Lun. However, this attempt only sharpened Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind. ¡°Have you finished telling your story?¡±


    ¡°Yes. But it¡¯s not a story.¡±


    ¡°Except for these two pairs of underwear, everything else came from your mouth. Second Consort, you¡¯re a good storyteller, and you¡¯ve told me a lot of stories. To be honest, I don¡¯t believe you.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± The Second Consort wasn¡¯t annoyed. ¡°I didn¡¯t tell you the truth in the beginning ¨C and that was my mistake. I once tried to pretend to be your mother ¨C that was an even worse mistake. But I mean no harm. You can ask Duodun ¨C I¡¯ve always insisted on allying with you. I just hoped to slightly attenuate your strength and¡­ pride.¡±


    There was no need for Gu Shenwei to ask anyone. Shangguan Ru had already asked the green-faced assassin, Qian Ying, about the Second Consort¡¯s true ns in detail, and had thus learned about it all in detail ¨C indeed, she had intended to humiliate Shulitu in public so as to weaken the Dragon King¡¯s strength. But she did insist on allying with him, and she even scolded Duodun because of this issue.


    ¡°You¡¯re the old Khan¡¯s grandson and half a Nonder, Dragon King. I suspect that the old Khan also knew something about this, and that was why he trusted you. He arranged that ve girl for you probably because he wanted to acknowledge that you¡¯re a Nonder, but he also didn¡¯t want you to show too much partiality to Duodun.¡±


    The Second Consort¡¯s spection about the old Khan¡¯s intentions had always proved to be very urate, but Gu Shenwei had had enough of it. ¡°Maybe you¡¯re telling the truth. Here¡¯s my answer: I can¡¯t save Duodun even if all of your words are true. Allowing him to end his life was an order from Shulitu who¡¯s also the future Khan. They¡¯re both descendants of the old Khan, and the rtionship between them is even closer than the one between me and him.¡±


    ¡°Shulitu still has tens of thousands of rtives, but you have only one left, Dragon King.¡± The Second Consort was clutching at straws by now.


    ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± Gu Shenwei shook his head. ¡°All my rtives are dead. They were killed and burnt to ashes by Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s voice was calm and slow, but was also mingled with extreme cruelty and ruthlessness. It suddenly dawned on the Second Consort that all her previous efforts had been in vain.


    Maybe this was an ending she had already foreseen before she came here, but if she didn¡¯t try, her heart would never be at peace for the rest of her life, ¡°So this is how it¡¯s going to be?¡±


    ¡°This is the only way it can be.¡±


    The Second Consort remained silent for quite a long time. He didn¡¯t knew whether she was trying to convince herself to ept the truth before her, or if she were trying to find some other reasons to persuade him with. But when she finally spoke again, her voice sounded very tired. ¡°Then I have only onest request ¨C let me meet Duodun.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± Gu Shenwei stood up, ready to see her out. ¡°So far, I hold no grudges against any Nonder.¡±


    The Second Consort also stood up, forcing a smile onto her face. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about me, Dragon King. The Nonders¡¯ revenge is only about strength. I don¡¯t have that strength, so I naturally won¡¯t try to seek revenge. That¡¯s not even mentioning that this is apetition for the throne during which there are only losers and a single winner. There¡¯s no hatred or love.¡±


    The Second Consort raised her head up and sighed deeply, and then she turned and said to the Dragon King, ¡°But I still want to say this ¨C the throne is bullshit, and anyone who manages to sit on it will be damned. I regret having ever encouraged Duodun to get involved in this.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t say anything in response. He was on the winning side, so there was no need for him to make any sentimental remarks, much lessin.


    The Second Consort was walking towards the entrance when something urred to her. She turned around and said, ¡°About the Naihang Tribe, I still want to talk with you tomorrow, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d be d to.¡±


    The Second Consort then left. It seemed that she didn¡¯t hold any grudges against him, but Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t sure about this woman¡¯s true thoughts.


    He also walked out of the tent. Before Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong could show themselves, he waved his hands and signaled for them to not follow him.


    Several guards ran over and Long Fanyun was not among them. Gu Shenwei also signaled them to return to their original positions ¨C he didn¡¯t want another conspicuous tour through the camp.


    He called an officer over and asked him to deliver the instruction that the Second Consort was allowed to meet Duodun alone.


    At first, Gu Shenwei was just strolling around. After evading several patrolling teams, he unconsciously started sneaking around. Compared to being observed, he felt morefortable when he was the observer.


    The camp full of injured soldiers was not as quiet as the other camps. The asional groans, pleas, and sleep talking sounded very resonant in the spacious night sky.


    Long Fanyun shouldn¡¯t live here. Gu Shenwei decided to send his captain of guards to somewhere more suitable for rehabilitation as soon as dawn broke.


    Surprisingly, there were no sorrowful voices in Long Fanyun¡¯s tent. Instead, a woman was singing in a low voice. And Gu Shenwei had never heard the tone or the lyrics before.


    Red Bat had stayed by Long Fanyun¡¯s side for several full days, and both Shangguan Ru¡¯s persuasion and Doctor Sun¡¯s promise had failed to convince her to leave.


    Long Fanyun said something and Red Bat stopped singing. ¡°¡­ Don¡¯t worry. You were never a top-notch kung fu expert anyway. You¡¯re still a man, and that¡¯s enough. I¡¯ll seize this opportunity¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei left quietly, believing that Long Fanyun was just as confused as he was about why Red Bat could still be so optimistic.


    <em>The Death Scripture solidifies hatred. Is there any cultivation method that can solidify love so that it stays passionate forever?</em>


    Gu Shenwei put his random thoughts aside and took a detour to Shangguan Ru¡¯s ce.


    Standing in the shadow near the tent, he didn¡¯t knew very well about why he hade here.


    Shangguan Ru seldom requested female soldiers to perform night duty, but that green-faced assassin always remained close to her.


    <em>But even a green-faced assassin has to sleep sometime. </em>Gu Shenwei walked around the tent, as if it were a dangerous trap, until he finally confirmed that Qian Ying was not around. <em>Maybe she¡¯s sleeping or spying on someone else.</em>


    Gu Shenwei walked to the doorway of the tent and was just about to tap on the p when Shangguan Ru¡¯s voice could be heard inside. ¡°Is it you?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded and then realized that how funny his current posture was. He opened the thick and heavy tent p and walked in.


    Shangguan Ru wasn¡¯t asleep either, staring nkly at the me of the candle. She turned her head and gave a nd nce at the Dragon King as if a stranger had juste in. ¡°I went to see Azheba and sent him a jar of good wine.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    ¡°Azheba asked me to tell you this. ¡®I¡¯m very d to have been defeated by the Dragon King instead of Luoluo.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Gu Shenwei was totally indifferent to hisment, as his heart upied by another emotion even more intense than hatred.


    ¡°I heard that the Second Consort went to meet with you.¡±


    ¡°She did.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯re not going to show mercy to him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡±


    Shangguan Ru sighed pensively and stood up. ¡°What can I do for you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here to tell you that soon our army will soonunch an attack on Thousand Horsemen Pass and then directly close in on Jade City.¡±


    Shangguan Ru wasn¡¯t surprised at all. ¡°You¡¯re finally going to be a real Dragon King.¡± She heavily emphasized the word ¡°real¡±.


    ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll die. Golden Roc Castle is not as weak as it looks. The Unique King must have some hidden countermeasures. Even 100,000 plus troops can¡¯t stop everything.¡±


    ¡°They can¡¯t.¡± Shangguan Ru suddenly recalled her previous experience of searching for the Dragon King on the battlefield. She faintly felt that this man before her was about to disappear again.


    ¡°So this is thest chance,¡± Gu Shenwei said gently.


    ¡°For what?¡±


    Gu Shenwei walked over and paused, seemingly pondering his next move.


    In those ck eyes, he saw his reflection and a desire as intense as hatred ¨C and that desire was the same as his.

 Chapter 846 - Farewell

    Chapter 846: Farewell


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Duodun was quietly listening to his own heartbeat. When the Second Consort walked in, he raised his head and inhaled deeply, as if someone who had been in suspended animation had suddenly been revived.


    ¡°You went to meet with the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Mmm.¡±


    ¡°If you hade by here first, I would have asked you not to.¡±


    ¡°I know. But I had to try.¡±


    Sitting opposite Duodun, the Second Consort tidied her clothes and peered at him, feeling both grief and pride. ¡°Are you ready?¡±


    Duodun didn¡¯t answer, a contemtive look on his face. ¡°Do you still remember what the old Khan said back then?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The Second Consort was confused. There had always been some kind of unspoken telepathy between the two, which enabled them to know each other¡¯s true thoughts. But this time, she had no clue what he was referring to at all.


    ¡°It was¡­ about a dozen years ago. I was fourteen or fifteen then and the old Khan had just executed the then King Kuari. Do you remember?¡±


    ¡°I do. Among all the kings, the then King Kuari was thest peer of the old Khan as well as his younger brother.¡± The Second Consort thought that Duodun¡¯s current situation had revived some of his pensive memories, so she tenderly said, ¡°That is a tradition of the Khan family. Every time a new Khan is elected¡­¡±


    She was unable to finish her words.


    Duodun was confused, and thenughed. ¡°You misunderstand me. I was referring to the time when we were on our way to the execution ground. I remember that the sky was blue, and the clothes that you were wearing were also blue. You were on a horse and riding back and forth. The head of the imperial bodyguards was very displeased and he went to the old Khan and ndered you, saying that you had misappropriated the right to ride. The old Khan burst intough. What did he say next? I¡¯ve been trying to recall for a long time but I still can¡¯t.¡±


    Holding Duodun¡¯s hand, the Second Consort said with extremely tender voice, ¡°The old Khan said, ¡®I never worry that what¡¯s in my hand will fly away. I never worry that what¡¯s within my sight will disappear. I never worry that what¡¯s beneath my feet ¨C ¡® ¡±


    ¡°Will run away.¡± Duodun delightedly finished her sentence for her and felt greatly relieved. The words he had been trying so hard to remember were finally recalled.


    ¡°The old Khan said a lot of simr things. He liked to say this kind of pithy stuff to make his stupid subordinates revere him.¡± The Second Consort was among the very few people who knew about what kind of person the old Khan had really been, and she would never regard him as a god and revere him.


    As if he hadn¡¯t heard the Second Consort¡¯sments, Duodun repeated the old Khan¡¯s words. ¡°¡®I never worry that what¡¯s in my hand will fly away. I never worry that what¡¯s within my sight will disappear. I never worry that what¡¯s beneath my feet will run away¡¯ ¡­¡± Then he smacked his face, seemingly to be savoring the words.


    ¡°So, I¡¯ve never held anything in my hands.¡±


    The Second Consort nearly started crying. She hurriedly concealed her emotions with a smile, and said, ¡°That¡¯s not true. You hold me in your hand. Azheba and the others are also fiercely loyal to you.¡±


    Duodun patted the Second Consort¡¯s hand. ¡°You¡¯re a unique woman. The old Khan failed to hold onto you, so too will I.¡±


    The Second Consort was just about to speak again when Duodun said quickly, ¡°I need you to promise me something.¡±


    ¡°As long as I¡¯m not dead, I¡¯ll do anything for you.¡± The Second Consort¡¯s tone became tough. ¡°Say it. I¡¯ll take revenge on them all, whatever the cost. The Dragon King, Shulitu, Luoluo ¨C none of them will get away with this.¡±


    Duodun shook his head. ¡°I hope that you¡¯ll avenge my death, but our foes are not Luoluo and Shulitu. I lost to them fairly and I have noints about it. It is the Dragon King and Zhesu that I hold hatred towards. One of them is an outsider, and the other bears a foreign surname, but they dared to manipte thepetition for the throne. For this insolence alone, I will never be able to rest in peace.¡±


    About why Duodun had lost, the Second Consort had a lot to talk with him. But at this moment, she just wanted to satisfy all of Duodun¡¯s requests. ¡°The Dragon King and Zhesu ¨C I¡¯ll keep this in mind. You¡¯ll see them soon in the mes of hell.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to hell, too?¡±


    ¡°All of the Khan¡¯s descendants have to go to hell. Don¡¯t be afraid. I¡¯ll be there sooner orter too.¡± Her heart filled with affectionateness, the Second Consort felt that hell was not horrible at all.


    A childish smile appeared on Duodun¡¯s face.


    Two coughs came from outside the flies. A guard said in a deep voice, ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s about midnight. Do you need any¡­ tools?¡±


    ¡°What do you have?¡± Duodun asked.


    ¡°Poison, ropes, and sabers. If Your Highness needs something else, I¡¯ll do whatever I can.¡± The voice was so humble that it was as if these killing tools were merely some knick-knacks that the prince used regrly.


    ¡°Poison¡¯s the best choice,¡± the Second Consort mouthed.


    Duodun didn¡¯t take her advice. He said aloud, ¡°I want a saber. Give me a sharp one.¡± Then he exined in a low voice, ¡°I prefer to die by saber.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± the voice outside answered. After a while, two soldiers walked in. Surprisingly, they both wore masks, each holding an unsheathed scimitar gleaming coldly in the dim candle light.


    After cing the scimitars on the carpet, the two soldiers bowed and left.


    The Second Consort couldn¡¯t help but snort. ¡°Shulitu dared to impose the sentence, but he doesn¡¯t daree and watch?¡±


    ¡°Shulitu acted more like a Khan¡¯s descendant than I could have ever imagined. You can marry him and join hands with him to deal with the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°I can handle the Dragon King myself,¡± the Second Consort said coldly. But she soon switched to a gentle tone, ¡°Besides you, I won¡¯t marry anybody else. No matter if you believe me or not, you¡¯re the one who has ever held me in your hand ¨C not the old Khan, and definitely not some other man.¡±


    Duodun nodded solemnly. He sat up with his knees on the ground and picked up a scimitar before him. ¡°They were so sweet ¨C they brought me a spare one. You should leave.¡±


    ¡°No. I want to watch you and let your death be engraved in my mind. That way, I¡¯ll never forget my promise to avenge your death.¡±


    Duodun solemnly nodded again. He had tried his best to expel the fear in him, but when he held the saber which was to end his life, he still felt weak and he didn¡¯t even have enough strength to make onest remark.


    He put the saber against his neck but felt that it was not easy for him to muster his strength. He tried several other postures but none of them felt right. Atst he pointed the tip of the saber against his stomach, his breath gradually deepening.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go instigate the Naihang Tribe toe here and rescue you,¡± the Second Consort suddenly said. She had overestimated her will; she simply couldn¡¯t sit still and watch her loved onemit suicide in front of her.


    Duodun shook his head. The Second Consort¡¯s weakness had toughened him. ¡°We can¡¯t let the Naihang Tribe benefit from this.¡±


    Stabilizing his breath, he was just about to do it when suddenly, another issue urred to him. ¡°Don¡¯t let outsiders deal with my body.¡±


    Midnight passed. Two masked soldiers walked in. When they saw Duodun kneeling with his head down as well as the Second Consort who was sitting transfixed beside him, the two exchanged a nce and then one of them picked up the other scimitar on the ground.


    ¡°Leave,¡± The Second Consort said without even turning her head back.


    ¡°Cough¡­ Um¡­ Sorry, Second Consort. We¡­ We¡­¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t have to deliver the head. I¡¯ll do it myself.¡±


    The two soldiers exchanged another nce, and after quite a while they put down the scimitar and said respectfully, ¡°The young king is still waiting in the main tent.¡± Then they left the tent and waited outside.


    Propping Duodun up, the Second Consort gently helped him lie on the nket, picked up the other scimitar on the ground, tightly held it in her hands and then knelt down. Looking at that familiar face, she suddenly found that her hands were quivering.


    She couldn¡¯t do it.


    The soldiers outside coughed again, but didn¡¯t say anything to urge her.


    Suddenly, a very very low voice was heard. ¡°Do you need any help?¡±


    The Second Consort¡¯s heart lurched and she nearly dropped the scimitar. She abruptly turned her head and saw an entric woman. She had no idea how long that woman had been standing in that corner.


    There was both curiosity and greed in that woman¡¯s eyes, as if that body on the ground was an adorable toy.


    ¡°Do you work for¡­ the Dragon King?¡± The Second Consort involuntarily lowered her voice.


    ¡°I work for the Master Commander of Waning Moon Hall. I¡¯m Han Fen. Now I¡¯m Dragon King¡¯s prisoner as well as an idler.¡±


    The Second Consort didn¡¯t quite understand her, but she did believe that this woman was a disciple of Waning Moon Hall. ¡°Did the Dragon King send you here?¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t.¡± Han Fen walked to the Second Consort¡¯s side, making no sounds as she walked. ¡°I just want to see what kind of penalty ¡®you shall end your life¡¯ is. It turns out to just be suicide. It¡¯s too simple. Do you want to cut off the head? I can help you.¡±


    The Second Consort¡¯s eyes were zing with anger. ¡°You want to help me ¨C ¡±


    The Second Consort had just finished thest word when she suddenly felt that the body in her arms had lightened. Before she could react, Duodun¡¯s head had left his body and rolled before her knees.


    Han Fen was not very satisfied with her work. ¡°I¡¯m not quite used to this kind of saber. A narrow saber is better. And wire is the best.¡±


    The Second Consort was transfixed with shock.


    The soldiers outside urged, ¡°The young king is still waiting.¡±


    The Second Consort turned her head aside and looked at the doorway, finallying around from the extreme horror. When she turned her head around again, she found that that the disciple of Waning Moon Hall named Han Fen had disappeared. One of the two scimitars was still stuck in Duodun¡¯s abdomen, and the other one was still on the ground, clean and gleaming, with no blood on it at all.


    Carrying Duodun¡¯s head in her hands, the Second Consort walked towards the main tent, attracting a lot of people¡¯s attention. The soldiers who hadn¡¯t yet fallen asleep at midnight stood silently in the doorways of their tents. Even the many nearby warhorses seemed to sense the solemn asion, and they stood in ce quietly without letting out a single neigh during the whole process.


    The main tent was full of generals. Standing in the doorway, the Second Consort raised Duodun¡¯s head high and disyed it to all of them, the blood running down her hands and chest.


    Under the bright candle light, the features of the head were vivid yet a little zed.


    It was even quieter inside the tent.


    Shulitu didn¡¯t expect that the Second Consort would do something like this, and he was startled, flustered, and didn¡¯t know what to do.


    The Second Consort looked calm. Her eyes swept through everybody¡¯s face, but she didn¡¯t see the Dragon King.


    ¡°Your Highness,¡± she said ¨C even her voice was calm. ¡°I implore you to grant me permission to take Duodun¡¯s body away. I want to give him a proper burial.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Shulitu noticed that his tone was a little weak and hurriedly adjusted it. He couldn¡¯t afford to show any weakness in front of these generals, let alone be intimidated by a woman. ¡°You have my permission, Second Consort. Take Duodun¡¯s body and give him a burial bing of a prince. Duodun was not the first descendant of Khan to die, and he won¡¯t be thest either. But the grasnds will remember him, because he lost to the new Khan.¡±


    All the generals knelt down in unison, and started repeatedly telling, ¡°The Khan¡±. The Second Consort also knelt down with the others and mouthed ¡°The Khan¡±. When the crowd gradually quieted down, she said, ¡°Duodun¡¯sst words were: ¡®only young king Shulitu is qualified to seed the throne and be the Lord of the Prairie.¡¯¡±


    Thus, she soothed the uneasiness in all the troops and also dissolved Shulitu¡¯s hostility towards her. She was afraid of only one thing ¨C how much that Han Fen had heard and how much she would disclose to the Dragon King.


    The yells of ¡°The Khan¡± gradually spread through the whole encampment. Ears pricking up, Shangguan Ru said, ¡°Shulitu has ascended to the throne.¡±


    Embracing her, Gu Shenwei turned over, totally uninterested in this news.

 Chapter 847 - Impatience

    Chapter 847: Impatience


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Azheba recalled the first time he had ever participated in a horseback archery contest.


    At that time, he had only been thirteen, and all of his opponents were adults from various tribes. He had focused on shooting and had ignored all the others¡¯ doubts and sneers. In the end, to everyone¡¯s surprise, he won the contest. His father and all the other fellow tribe members ran to him and lifted him high, bragging all around.


    Azheba still had a deep impression of that asion, because that had been the very first time that he had ever felt a surprising antagonism towards the ¡°crowd¡±. Before that, he had always been a part of the crowd, but in that moment, the bow and arrows had separated him from the crowd. Two simple movements ¨C looking up and looking down ¨C drew a clear line around his individuality.


    The current scene in front of him was so simr to the one after the contest. It was just that there was no pride from his family or cheers from strangers; there was only the same apathy on different faces.


    Azheba tried hard to raise his head and throw out his chest, to disy an air of apathy the same as that of the crowd, but there was a thought that he couldn¡¯t get rid of ¨C why hadn¡¯t he died on the battlefield? That was what most people, including his father, had expected from him.


    To excise the weakness inside of him, he started searching the crowd only to feel more disappointed. Those soldiers who used to revere him, those officers who used to be like his brothers, those generals who shared the same rank as him: they were all present. She was the only one absent.


    ¡®At least she¡¯s not beside the Dragon King.¡¯


    The Dragon King was just as expressionless as usual. Standing among a group of tall, strong Nonders, he almost seemed as thin and sickly as Shulitu, who was by his side.


    Azheba couldn¡¯t understand the Dragon King, just like how he couldn¡¯t understand Shangguan Ru. When their eyes met, Azheba gently nodded.


    Among the crowd, Shulitu was the only one whose eyes were slightly different, and there was a ghost of resignation and sympathy in them.


    Azheba suddenly felt his cheeks burning ¨C both the Dragon King and Shulitu had once saved his life, but he had repaid them with a conspiratorial dagger.


    At the thought that he might appear weak before the crowds, Azheba hurriedly discarded his random thoughts. Watching the executioners, he said aloud, ¡°Prince Duodun will-¡±


    The two executioners rudely forced him to kneel on the ground. One of them pulled on his hair with great force, revealing the back of his neck. The other one raised his saber and shed down.


    Aplished in a moment ¨C this was the only impression that the audience had of the execution. In the outsiders¡¯ eyes, Azheba, who had been preupied and personally felt calm and restrained, seemed no different from the five other trembling criminals.


    Afterwards, Shulitu invited the Dragon King to have a word in private.


    After returning to the tent, Shulitu immediately let his exhaustion show. ¡°Azheba was a renowned archer on the grasnds. He didn¡¯t deserve a death like this.¡±


    ¡°Mm,¡± Gu Shenwei answered casually.


    The Dragon King seemed absent-minded. Shulitu looked at him, somewhat in surprise. ¡°Actually, there are no pressing issues. If you¡¯re busy¡­¡±


    ¡°No. I was just thinking¡­¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to tell the truth, but he also didn¡¯t want to lie. ¡°I also feel regretful that Azheba was executed this way.¡±


    Shulitu cared more about the things on his mind, so he epted the Dragon King¡¯s perfunctory remarks and resumed talking ¨C he regarded the Dragon King as his teacher and a guide. There were many things which the Dragon King was the only one that he could talk to about. ¡°I¡¯ve been mulling over this the entire night ¨C would Azheba have pledged allegiance to me if I had given him special amnesty? After all, Duodun is already dead.¡±


    ¡°He would.¡± Gu Shenwei pulled himself together. It was a very important to ensure that this kid would be apetent Khan.


    ¡°Azheba probably would have pledged allegiance to you, but it would have cost you the allegiance of many others. The troops¡¯ expectation of the Khan is usually higher than the Khan¡¯s expectation of the troops. Magnanimity will be seen as indecisiveness, which is a consequence that you can¡¯t afford.¡±


    Shulitu understood this, but after hearing it from the Dragon King, his sense of guilt was greatly alleviated. ¡°Dragon King¡­ I heard that you were very magnanimous when you were in Xiaoyao Lake, and that you didn¡¯t even punish those traitors. To me, you¡¯re also very¡­ I mean, I once tried to assassinate you.¡±


    That had been their first time meeting each other. Shulitu couldn¡¯t help but smile at the thought. The hostility between him and the Dragon King from that time had now be good memories.


    Gu Shenwei had once answered a simr question that the old Khan had asked, but now, in front of the new Khan who hadn¡¯t gained the acknowledgement of the entire grasnds yet, he had to exin it once again. ¡°That¡¯s because I¡¯m not the Khan, and I don¡¯t want the throne. I just need allies, so I allow the people around me to sit on the fence to some extent. As long as they don¡¯t get in my way, I won¡¯t pay it any more, even if we have to go our separate ways.¡±


    Shulitu told himself to keep these words in mind, because they were the foundation of his rtionship with the Dragon King. ¡°But I don¡¯t understand. You have both thepetence and the strength, so why don¡¯t you¡­ be the King of the Western Regions?¡±


    ¡°Because the Nonders will never be as loyal to me as they are to the Khan, even though this loyalty is not always unshakable. As a descendant of the Khan, you¡¯ve skipped the most difficult part; for me, consolidating that faith might take a decade, even decades.¡±


    ¡°Decades, ha-ha.¡± Shulitu shook his head. ¡°It will also take me decades to get rid of all the ims to the throne and be a free Khan.¡±


    ¡°We all have important missions.¡±


    After leaving Shulitu¡¯s tent, Gu Shenwei felt relieved, but soon, Dugu Xian found him.


    ¡°It was said that a lot of Central insmen have appeared in the east.¡± Dugu Xian was out of his mind with worry. ¡°We have just defeated Luoluo. They can¡¯t be the armies of the Central ins, right?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible. But they might also be those Central ins soldiers who fled previously. Send more scouts and find out.¡±


    Gu Shenwei picked up speed. Dugu Xian still followed him closely behind. ¡°And then there¡¯s Thousand Horsemen Pass. We can take it at any time, and I suggest doing it as soon as possible. We should at the very least clear the road to Xiaoyao Lake before winter, and then in spring next year, the Dragon Army will be able to take Jade City by themselves with the cooperation of only a small number of Nond troops¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei stopped and thought about it for a while before replying, ¡°In three¡­ five days, we¡¯llunch an attack on Thousand Horsemen Pass. Before that, I¡¯ll have to resolve some issues first. And, tighten the security lest Golden Roc killers infiltrate the camp.¡±


    Dugu Xian answered ,¡±Yes,¡± and wanted to say something more, but the Dragon King had already strode away. He had a faint feeling that the Dragon King was a little¡­ impatient today.


    Gu Shenwei had just reached the doorway of the tent when a maidservant sent an invitation from the Second Consort.


    The Second Consort¡¯s manner had returned to normalcy. There was a coffin in tent, which was the only thing that made this tent special. ¡°I¡¯ve been wondering which way is better ¨C burial or cremation. Duodun didn¡¯t tell me his preference.¡±


    The Second Consort spoke in a chatting tone, so Gu Shenwei also maintained a t attitude. ¡°If I were him, I would have chosen cremation. Once and for all. A burial merely provides food to the worms underground.¡±


    A disgusted look appeared on the Second Consort¡¯s face. ¡°Cremation it is. I myself will also be cremated after I die.¡±


    ¡°A very good choice.¡±


    The Second Consort stroked the new coffin. ¡°I want to talk about the Naihang Tribe with you, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°I was thinking the same thing.¡± Although Gu Shenwei had said this, he was not interested in it at all. He just hoped that this conversation would end as soon as possible.


    ¡°I believe that the Dragon King and¡­ the new Khan are still interested in the 100,000 soldiers of the Naihang Tribe.¡± The Second Consort didn¡¯t notice the Dragon King¡¯s subtle expressions. She had been starting at the coffin this whole time, as if it was so beautiful that she couldn¡¯t move her hands away from it.


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±


    ¡°I also believe that you two are just like me ¨C all three of us dislike Zhesu and Duo Ercha.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no ¡®like¡¯ or ¡®dislike¡¯. They¡¯re just obstacles.¡±


    ¡°If I can eliminate these two obstacles, then what can I get?¡±


    This was indeed the Second Consort¡¯s straightforward style ¨C treating conspiracies as normal transactions.


    ¡°You¡¯ll get your revenge.¡± Although Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to waste any time here, he still waited for her to make her requests.


    ¡°That won¡¯t be enough. Revenge provides only temporary closure, while 100,000 cavalrymen can be the foundation on which supremacy which mayst generations.¡± The Second Consort smiled. She raised her head and moved her fingers away from the coffin. ¡°You see, I also know some words. Let me be honest with you. Duodun¡¯s dead, and the new Khan has seeded the throne. I¡¯m just a woman who no longer has anybody left to rely on. Sooner orter, I¡¯ll be deprived of my title of Second Consort. I need a guarantee that I¡¯ll still have powers, so that I won¡¯t be bullied by others.¡±


    ¡°Shulitu is willing to marry you.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha, I was tricking you at that time. I won¡¯t remarry for the rest of my life. This is my bottom line.¡±


    ¡°Then things may be difficult.¡±


    ¡°Nothing is difficult to a man who has the will. Besides, you¡¯re a smart man, Dragon King. Please think about it. It would be best if you could give me a response today. And then I¡¯ll find a way to get us two heads.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had no choice but to return to Shulitu¡¯s tent.


    ¡°All of the troops have acknowledged me as their Khan, but the Naihang Tribe hasn¡¯t yet. Can¡¯t we use this as our excuse to kill Zhesu and Duo Ercha? Do we really need the Second Consort¡¯s help?¡± Shulitu immediately raised some concerns.


    ¡°We can do that. But if we do it, then there will probably be another war. Not only will we not get the 100,000 soldiers, but we will also be sending them to our enemies. The cost is just too heavy. The Second Consort¡¯s a member of the Naihang Tribe and there¡¯s resentment between her and Duo Ercha, which will make for a much more usible exnation afterwards.¡±


    Shulitu nodded, ¡°I don¡¯t quite trust the Second Consort. You didn¡¯t see her holding Duodun¡¯s head. It seemed as if¡­ as if she would take revenge whatever the cost might be.¡±


    ¡°Just keep an eye on her. She¡¯s not the biggest threat that we¡¯re facing.¡±


    ¡°Does the Second Consort want to be a tribe leader? There¡¯s never been a female tribe leader in the history of the Nond¡­¡±


    ¡°Go talk to The Second Consort yourself.¡±


    ¡°Me? Talk to her?¡± Shulitu was startled.


    ¡°Mm. You¡¯re the Khan, so you have to act like one. Prove to The Second Consort that you¡¯re not a puppet.¡±


    Shulitu felt his cheeks burning ¨C he himself wasn¡¯t even sure that he was not a puppet. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll try.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll seed.¡± Gu Shenwei gave Shulitu two ps on the shoulder, turned around, and left, having shifted a heavy responsibility to this twelve-year-old child.


    He walked towards his tent.


    He had made up his mind that nobody would be able to stop him except for the Unique King himself.


    The Guards were on duty outside the tent. Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong were practicing their sabersmanship. Han Fen and a group of soldiers were also watching and chatting to the side. Gu Shenwei nced at the crowd and signaled the officer on duty to not let anybody in.


    ¡°What took you so long?¡± Shangguan Ru asked gently. The tent was heavily covered up and it was very dark inside even during the daytime.


    Gu Shenwei quickly walked over and unfastened his Five Peaks Saber like a virgin about to have sex for the first time. ¡°Something held me up.¡±


    ¡°What was it? Was it very important?¡±


    ¡°Nothing important.¡±


    Gu Shenwei gently put his arms around that figure. Then with a greater force, he squeezed her up against his body.


    She also reacted to his movements, her hands on his back, and her breath like the fragrance of flowers at some day in May¡¯s dusk.


    Gu Shenwei actually felt like his body was merging with hers.

 Chapter 848 - Master

    Chapter 848: Master


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    It was quiet at night. There were manyyers of guard around the vast encampment, and at first, eachyer was tighter than the one before it. After the density of guards reached a critical point, it actually started to loosen,yer byyer, as one approached the center. And in the very middle area, there were actually some nk patches, which was somewhat surprising.


    All the troops in the encampment knew that the Dragon King used to be a killer and that he could detect assassins by merely sniffing the air. So, any protection he had was nominal in nature.


    Of course this impression was a slight exaggeration. Gu Shenwei still needed helpers. Actually, he had always felt that he needed more capable men. Old Man Mu and the others had been assigned to Jade City. So, Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong were the only ones avable, which made him feel short-handed when assigning tasks.


    For a top-notch killer, it would be very easy to sneak past these two juniors.


    The green-faced assassin, Qian Ying, had approached the Dragon King¡¯s tent three times, and with each attempt, she got closer to the tent. While the two teenagers were changing guards, she was watching them from a moderate distance. She could even tell their breathing rate.


    But she couldn¡¯t detect the Dragon King¡¯s breath. That tent seemed totally normal, but she wasn¡¯t sure whether there was someone in there or not, which made her suspicious and uneasy.


    During herst approach, she decided to take some risks.


    Nie Zeng was also hiding in the dark, moving to a new position about every two quarter-watches. Qian Ying waited quietly. When it was in the middle of the fourth night-watch and Nie Zeng was far enough away, she made her move. She sneaked over to the side of the tent, cut ateral slit in the bottom of the tent, and slipped into the tent.


    This slit was so small that a small cat could barely pass through it. Nobody would care even if they saw it.


    The Dragon King¡¯s tent was about four or five times the size of amon tent, and it even surpassed that of a senior general. The furniture in it was very simple ¨C just a few tables and chairs, and the felt nket on the floor was also fairly thin. Only the bed was soft andfortable, but Qian Ying knew that the Dragon King seldom slept on that bed.


    But tonight seemed to be an exception. Someone was sleeping in that bed, and their breath was asionally undetectable. It was this breathing that had confused Qian Ying.


    Shey prostrate in a corner, listening to the sounds from both inside and outside the tent. After confirming that this was not a trap, she decided to go to the bed and have a look.


    Something was wrong, and she had to confirm what it was.


    Unlike regr killers who usually approached their targets slowly, Qian Ying, with her superb lightness skills, always leaped to the target rapidly and then rapidly leaped back. Common kung fu experts could barely detect her presence when they were asleep.


    The Dragon King was nomon kung fu expert, and Qian Ying had even been defeated by him once, but she still wanted to give it a try.


    ¡°Doh.¡± A faint, short sound was heard. It was like a random noise made by someone in their sleep, but the timing was too much of a coincidence ¨C it was made right when Qian Ying leaped to the bed.


    It was totally dark in the tent, and there weren¡¯t any sounds for quite a long time. Atst, the one on the bed said, ¡°You¡¯re on my chest.¡±


    With her dagger in her right hand and pressed against that person¡¯s neck, Qian Ying slightly raised her left arm and asked in a low voice, ¡°Han Fen?¡±


    ¡°Eek? You know me!¡±


    Of course Qian Ying knew her. She knew every one of the Dragon King¡¯s men, including those who had been assigned to Jade City. ¡°Why were you sleeping here?¡±


    ¡°This bed is morefortable. I came here to meet with the Dragon King, but he was not here. Iy down to have a rest, but I ended up falling asleep.¡±


    ¡°Why do you want to meet the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Um. I want to meet him because ¨C Who are you? Why are you here? Why is your kung fu so good? Why are you immune to my knockout powder?¡±


    Only very few people knew of Qian Ying¡¯s existence. Han Fen had never met her before, and she had tried to immobilize her knockout powder just now. But it turned out that not only was Qian Ying immune to the knockout powder, but Han Fen also couldn¡¯t even resist when Qian Ying¡¯s dagger stabbed towards her.


    ¡°I¡¯m the one asking questions, so just answer them.¡±


    Han Fen could feel that the dagger pressing against her neck was very sharp. ¡°Fine. I¡¯m under your control. Fortunately, I¡¯m just a prisoner. Otherwise, I¡¯d have to kill myself.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be easy for you to die. Striking the Tian Shu Acupoint and using the Life-Retaining Powder ¨C this is how you Waning Moon Hall guys expel the poison from people¡¯s bodies, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Han Fen remained silent for quite a while, and when she spoke again, her voice was quivering. ¡°Who are you? You scared me.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s the Dragon King?¡± Qian Ying asked again, feeling that she had intimidated this disciple of the Waning Moon Hall.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. He wasn¡¯t here when I arrived.¡±


    ¡°Has Instructor Shangguan been here?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t see her when I arrived.¡±


    Qian Ying thought for a while before asking, ¡°When you arrived? What about afterwards?¡±


    ¡°Um. I don¡¯t know whether I should tell you or not. The Dragon King might be unhappy.¡±


    Qian Ying pressed her left hand onto Han Fen¡¯s lower abdomen and shot a stream of Qi through it to stimte Han Fen¡¯s various pain acupoints. Han Fen let out a scream and then suppressed the pain, biting her lips.


    Qian Ying exerted more Qi into it, even as she slightly admired Han Fen ¨C this disciple of the Waning Moon Hall was pretty good. Regr people would have found this pain unbearable by now, but Han Fen was still hanging on.


    A quarter of an hour passed. Han Fen started begging, ¡°Um¡­ I beg you¡­ let me go¡­ ah¡­ I¡­ ah¡­ can¡¯t¡­ ah¡­ bear it¡­ anymore¡­ ah¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Qian Ying immediately drew her hand back and straightened herself, keeping herself a safe distance away from Han Fen. ¡°Are you out of your mind?¡±


    Han Fen groaned for a little while longer before she could form a sentence. ¡°You¡¯re so good.¡±


    Qian Ying was a green-faced assassin. Unlikemon killers, the kung fu she had been practicing required her to keep her virginity. If weren¡¯t for the fact that she had exceptionally good self-control, her face would have been flushed red by now.


    ¡°You evildoer,¡± she snapped as she recalled that there was a special cultivation method in Waning Moon Hall which enabled practitioners to turn pain into sexual pleasure. However, not many people learned it. She hadn¡¯t expected to encounter one here.


    ¡°I am. Hall Leader Han once said that Waning Moon Hall is the demon, and that Golden Roc Castle is the devil. We¡¯re actually family.¡± Han Fen had guessed that Qian Ying was from Golden Roc Castle.


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask you again. If you don¡¯t answer this time, I¡¯ll kill you.¡± Qian Ying threatened her directly.


    ¡°I¡¯ll answer all your questions,¡± Han Fen said amiably. ¡°It¡¯s okay if you kill me. But please don¡¯t do that to me again. I nearly ascended to heaven.¡±


    Qian Ying snorted. ¡°Has Instructor Shangguan been here these days?¡±


    ¡°Which days were you referring to by ¡®these days¡¯?¡±


    Qian Ying was surprised, ¡°Thest¡­ three or four days.¡±


    ¡°She has been here.¡±


    ¡°For what?¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to tell you or to show you?¡±


    ¡°Tell me.¡± Qian Ying involuntarily moved a little further away from Han Fen, her right hand firmly grasping the dagger.


    ¡°They hugged each other, took off their clothes and kissed each other. I didn¡¯t see many details, but judging by the sound, I believe that their skills suck. Dragon King was like a piece of wood and he wasn¡¯t gentle at all. The little girl is also too young andcks experience. She was too timid. If I were her¡­¡±


    ¡°Enough!¡± Qian Ying snapped, but she shut up immediately and listened for a while. After confirming that her voice hadn¡¯t attracted anybody¡¯s attention, she became relieved.


    ¡°They seemed to be pretty happy,¡± Han Fen exined. ¡°And they grab every chance they have to do that thing. s. I don¡¯t understand why didn¡¯t the Dragon King ask me for help. I can teach him some moves, and I can use the Pleasure Finger Technique¡­¡±


    Qian Ying knew what the ¡°Pleasure Finger Technique¡± was. ¡°If you dare to use this evil kung fu on master, I¡¯ll cut you into pieces!¡±


    ¡°Good. I like being cut to pieces. But you¡¯d better throw those pieces far away. Otherwise, the King of Hell will piece me back together.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll skewer you and then slowly roast you over a fire. And then you will know what is it like to be tortured by the King of Hell even if you¡¯re still alive.¡±


    Han Fen was scared. ¡°I won¡¯t use Pleasure Finger Technique, okay? Actually I can¡¯t use it even if you didn¡¯t warn me. I¡¯ve only used it once ¨C and not on that little girl. The Dragon King was very angry.¡±


    Qian Ying sat transfixed with shock for a while, her dagger still in its original position. She felt that she needed some more direct evidence, so she asked, ¡°Where are they now?¡±


    ¡°Are they not in the little girl¡¯s tent? For the past few days, they¡¯ve been sneaking around all the time.¡±


    ¡°If they were there, then why am I here?¡±


    ¡°Then I really don¡¯t know. Maybe they wanted to try something new, so they went to a strange ce. The main tent of the Middle Corps is a pretty good choice ¨C it¡¯srge and spacious. And the Butchery Battalion. That ce is the best ¨C the fragrance of blood alone will blow you away¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up,¡± Qian Ying ordered. She believed that Han Fen indeed didn¡¯t know. ¡°I should¡¯ve killed you, but my master doesn¡¯t allow me to kill in this encampment, so today¡¯s your lucky day.¡±


    ¡°Your master¡¯s so kind. Who is it?¡±


    Qian Ying snorted, unaware of whether Han Fen was actually stupid or whether she was just acting dumb. ¡°My service to my master is probably going to an end soon, so I¡¯m warning you ¨C if you dare disclose a single word of what happened tonight to anybody, especially to the Dragon King, I¡¯lle back and hunt you down even if I¡¯m thousands of miles away. If I fail to skewer you and roast you alive for hours, I¡¯ll strike my head on a tree and kill myself.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± Han Fen yelled in panic. ¡°Don¡¯t kill yourself. I promise I won¡¯t tell anybody.¡±


    Qian Ying remained silent for a while. ¡°Hello,¡± Han Fen stretched her arm out and found that nobody was beside the bed anymore. She stroked her neck and found that there was no dagger there. It was at this moment that she realized that she no longer felt anything sharp on her skin anymore.


    ¡°Impressive,¡± Han Fen muttered apliment. And then she turned over several times, dragging the quilt back and forth. After a short while, she fell asleep once more, breathing evenly as if she was having a sweet dream.


    It waste at night. Qian Ying was still searching for her master. Shangguan Ru and the Dragon King were not in any of the tents in the encampment.


    This was the wilderness. The cold moon was high up in the sky. Withered grass was rustling. The high, mighty Heavenly Mountain was like a sleeping giant dragon, dwarfing the nearby encampment as if it were just a small worm.


    The wind was cold. Two people had put a thick cape on the ground, and they covered their body with another one.


    Shangguan Ru was curled into a ball, her head resting on Gu Shenwei¡¯s thigh. Her whole body was covered by the cape, leaving only a narrow opening for breathing. The end of her nose was a little pale.


    Gu Shenwei sat on the cape with his knees bent up, one leg on the ground, and the other stretched out. His right hand was tightly holding onto the cape, and his left hand was on her lower abdomen, asionally imbuing her with a stream of warm Sumeru Mustard Qi to help them both stay warm.


    They had been in this posture for almost four hours by now.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind was nk, his eyes slowly sweeping around ¨C from the cold moon in the sky to the vaguely seen grass, trees and insects on the ground. The sound of the wind, the rustling of the grass and leaves, and the sound of the animals crawling around ¨C he identified all of them and stored them in his memory.


    He wanted to remember all of these things and seal them up for good.


    Shangguan Ru woke up. She slightly moved the edge of the cape with one finger, revealing her eyes which were cker than the night. ¡°Hasn¡¯t dawn broken yet?¡±


    ¡°It will soon.¡±


    Shangguan Ru jumped out of the cape like a rabbit and stretched dramatically. ¡°I¡¯ve never had a better sleep. You didn¡¯t sleep?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not used to sleeping at night.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha.¡± Shangguan Ru knew this was amon habit for killers, but she had never been a real killer.


    Gu Shenwei was the one who had arranged the defense of the encampment, and he had secretly set up an exclusive secret passage for himself so as to go in and out of the encampment without anybody knowing. This passage seemed very dangerous, but as long as one knew the relevant information and had decent lightness skills, they could easily sneak in and out of the encampment.


    The two parted near Shangguan Ru¡¯s tent and they ended this in night with a fond kiss.


    Qian Ying had been waiting for a very long time. She finally confirmed that it was about time she put an end to her service to her master and return to Golden Roc Castle.

 Chapter 849 - The Summit

    Chapter 849: The Summit


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    After watching for a while, Gu Shenwei finally confirmed that Han Fen was dressed, so he tapped her twice with his sheath.


    Han Fen abruptly sat up, stared nkly into the space for a while and then turned her head and smiled at the Dragon King. ¡°I¡¯ve never had a better sleep.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was astonished.


    ¡°Did dawn break?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was astonished yet again. After recalling the previous night for a while, he believed that he definitely hadn¡¯t been stalked by anybody. The only usible exnation as for why Han Fen had asked the same questions as Shangguan Ru was that it was a coincidence. This also proved how in a nightst night had been.


    But that inness was something that he didn¡¯t dare to even hope for at this moment.


    ¡°This is my tent.¡±


    ¡°It is. But you weren¡¯t using it. Now that you¡¯vee back, I¡¯ll just leave. Dragon King, I think that it¡¯s about time you improve how you treat your prisoners-¡±


    ¡°What can I do for you?¡±


    Han Fen scratched her head. ¡°One moment. I just woken up and my memory¡¯s not very good. Last night I had a lot of dreams, though they were very interesting dreams¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei pointed at the corner, ¡°Was it you who did all that?¡±


    Han Fen jumped onto the ground, walked to the corner, and discovered that unobtrusive slit in the bottom after searching for quite a while. She crouched and stretched her hand through the slit to find out how big it was. And then, chin resting on her hand, she abruptly stood up. ¡°Ah! That wasn¡¯t a dream!¡±


    ¡°Then talk about it.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ But I kind of promised her that I would keep it a secret.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stared at her for a while. ¡°Since you¡¯re my prisoner, you don¡¯t have the right to make your own decisions. I will abolish your promise and now I demand that you tell me the truth.¡±


    ¡°It turns out that I don¡¯t have the right to do that. Great. Last night, when I was sound asleep, a female came in. She stroked my chest and pressed her dagger against my neck. I used knockout powder, but it didn¡¯t work, so I had no choice but to let her do whatever she wanted. s, that was the first time that I did that with a woman-¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t you that she came for.¡±


    ¡°Mm. She was here for you and that little girl. I told her what you¡¯ve been doing and then she left.¡±


    ¡°What we¡¯ve been doing?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. You know ¡­ this ¡­ and that ¡­ ¡± Han Fen inteced her fingers and wriggled them back and forth.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to ask Han Fen how she had found out about this, so he instead said, ¡°Is she from Golden Roc Castle?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re so good at guessing, Dragon King. Her kung fu was so good that I only managed to make one move.¡±


    ¡°And then? Where is she now?¡±


    ¡°She left. And she threatened me.¡±


    ¡°Mm,¡± Gu Shenwei had deduced that this woman must be Qian Ying.


    Han Fen still had something else to say. ¡°She was very aggressive. She said that she would cut me to pieces or slowly roast me, and that she would strike her head on a wall and kill herself. She also said that she wouldn¡¯t have to serve her master anymore-¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°She wouldn¡¯t have to serve her master anymore,¡± Han Fen repeated loudly. ¡°Oh! Her original words were ¡®My service to my master is probably going to end soon¡¯. She¡¯s a pretty interesting person.¡±


    ¡°Think about why you came here. And get out if you can¡¯t recall.¡±


    After thinking for a while, Han Fen quietly walked towards the door. When she was near the doorway, she turned around. ¡°I remember now. But it¡¯s not very important, so I don¡¯t know whether I should tell you or not.¡±


    ¡°Tell me.¡±


    ¡°Little Nie Zeng and the little, little girl had a quarrel, and they nearly fought. I think that you should do something about it, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Mm. Anything else?¡±


    ¡°And ¨C you¡¯re not afraid of reprisals, right?¡±


    ¡°A lot of people want to take revenge on me. Why should I be afraid?¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha. That¡¯s exactly what I think. Then there¡¯s nothing else. That old woman doesn¡¯t even dare to cut a head off, and she needed me to help her. However, she was crying and even promised that guy that she would avenge his death.¡±


    That old woman clearly referred to the Second Consort. Sometimes, Gu Shenwei really didn¡¯t know whether Han Fen was genuinely stupid or she was just acting dumb. ¡°I understand. You did a good job. Thanks.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re wee.¡± Han Fen smiled, her eyes narrowing into slits. ¡°I¡¯m willing to help you, Dragon King. If you want me to do anything, just tell me. For example, that thing ¡­ I think that you can do far better. You should try doing it more slowly, with more-¡±


    ¡°Get out!¡± Gu Shenwei reprimanded.


    After sleeping for an hour, somebody woke Gu Shenwei up.


    Dawn had just broken. Dugu Xian had had a sound sleep and he looked pretty good. ¡°A local guide said that Thousand Horsemen Pass can be seen from the top of a nearby hill. I want to go there and take a look. Do you want toe with me?¡±


    The first thing Gu Shenwei did was investigate that guide¡¯s background. After confirming that the guide was reliable, he decided to go with Dugu Xian to gauge the enemy¡¯s situation. He also designated 1,000 cavalrymen toe along with him. Dugu Xian was surprised. He remembered that the Dragon King had only brought a couple dozen of guards with him thest time they scouted out a battlefield.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t exin. On that asion, he made the decision in the morning and departed right away. But this time, Dugu Xian was the one who had made the decision, and he had done so ahead of time. So, it was very likely that this message had spread and he had to take precautions.


    Nie Zeng, Tie Linglong and Han Fen all came along with him. Shangguan Ru and Red Bat also epted the invitation.


    Gu Shenwei noticed that the green-faced assassin, Qian Ying, was absent.


    ¡°How¡¯s Long Fanyun?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Thanks for your concern, Dragon King. He¡¯s much better now. He can even sit up and eat porridge by himself now. So I decided toe out and take a walk with Instructor Shangguan.¡± With a big smile on her face, Red Bat didn¡¯t look tired at all.


    The guide led the way, followed by the 1000-men army. First, they progressed eastwards and soon arrived at the area where Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Ru had sat quietlyst night. But because of the stamping of the horses, they couldn¡¯t recall the exact position no matter how strong their memories were.


    After traveling for over ten miles, the procession turned south and gradually entered a mountainous region. Most of the cavalrymen circled around and stayed outside in the open area in case of potential sneak attack. Aside from them, Nie Zeng and the guide led the way along with a dozen of guards, followed by Gu Shenwei, Dugu Xian and the others.


    The mountain road gradually got bumpier, but the view was pretty good. At around noon, they reached the top of a hill that overlooked Thousand Horsemen Pass from dozens of miles away.


    Thousand Horsemen Pass looked like a normal box, as if they could step over it in a single step, but Dugu Xian believed that it was very difficult to take. ¡°The Nond cavalrymen are not good at sieges. Thousand Horsemen Pass is strategically located so that it is easy to hold and difficult to attack. We may suffer heavy casualties during this battle.¡±


    The hilltop was bare and there was no room for any enemies to hide, so everybody was very rxed. Tie Linglong also walked over to take a look. ¡°Why do we have to take Thousand Horsemen Pass? Heaven¡¯s Pass which is in the west is under our control, so we can just go through there and attack Jade City.¡±


    Dugu Xian shook his head with a smile. ¡°If we go through Heaven¡¯s Pass to attack Jade City, then the Dragon Army in Xiaoyao Lake will have to take a detour through the Shule Kingdom in order to join the Dragon King. This would be both difficult and time-consuming, and our defense during that time will be vulnerable, too. Thousand Horsemen Pass is not far away from Shuangquan Vige, and it takes only a couple of days to travel from Shuangquan Vige to Xiaoyao Lake, so the Dragon Army will be able tounch an immediate attack if we need them to.¡±


    Tie Linglong knew all this already, but she still couldn¡¯t understand. ¡°The Dragon King has more than 100,000 cavalrymen at hismand. With the Naihang Tribe¡¯s army, the troops number almost 300,000 ¨C why do we still need the Dragon Army that¡¯s all the way back in Xiaoyao Lake to attack Jade City?¡±


    Smiling, Dugu Xian nced at the Dragon King but didn¡¯t answer.


    ¡°Because those ¡°over 100,000 cavalrymen¡± are Nonders,¡± Gu Shenwei said. ¡°And I hope for them to stay on the grasnds and to avoid entering the Western Regions after we take Thousand Horsemen Pass.¡±


    ¡°But Dragon King, you have put so much effort¡­¡± Tie Linglong was even more confused now.


    Now that the Dragon King had told her about it, there was no need for Dugu Xian to try to keep it a secret any longer. ¡°A strong ally can defeat your enemy, but they can also reveal your vulnerability. So the greatest help that a strong ally can offer is to stand by. Take Golden Roc Castle for example. The Unique King had Nond cavalrymen on his side, but Shule Kingdom still eventually fell into other people¡¯s hands, and Heaven¡¯s Pass ¨C which was established at a huge cost ¨C became the Nonders¡¯ gateway. So the Dragon King¡¯s choice is right. We should take Jade City with only the Dragon Army if possible.¡±


    ¡°So the reason why we went through all those things was because we want the Nond cavalrymen to take a small city and then have them stand by.¡± Light dawned on Tie Linglong, but she didn¡¯t think that it was a good n.


    Dugu Xian smiled but didn¡¯t say anything more. Nie Zeng, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly said, ¡°If the Dragon King hadn¡¯t made an effort, the Nond cavalrymen would have taken Golden Roc Castle¡¯s side¡­¡±


    ¡°I know that. You don¡¯t have to remind me.¡± Tie Linglong¡¯s face was cold, as if she didn¡¯t want to hear his voice at all. Embarrassed, Nie Zeng said no more.


    Dugu Xian pointed at the t area to the south of Thousand Horsemen Pass. ¡°Golden Roc Castle¡¯s troops are there, about 10,000. There are also more in reserve. It¡¯s a pity that we can¡¯t see them from here.¡±


    On their right side, there was a precipice which blocked their view of the southern area.


    Raising his head, Gu Shenwei looked at those high hills and asked the guide, ¡°Can we get over those hills?¡±


    The guide bowed and smiled. ¡°Birds can fly over them, but men could never make it. You see, this cliff is at least three hundred meters tall.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that high. I think that it¡¯s about two hundred meters or so. I¡¯ll go up there and take a look.¡± Gu Shenwei tightened his belt.


    The guide¡¯s face changed to a look of shock. Dugu Xian was also astounded. ¡°It¡¯s too risky, Dragon King. We can send some spies to the south to collect intelligence, so you don¡¯t have to-¡±


    ¡°What we see with our own eyes is more reliable.¡± Gu Shenwei unfastened the Five Peaks Saber and handed it to Tie Linglong who was beside him. ¡°Wait here. If anything happens at the foot of the hill, then you don¡¯t have to wait any longer. I¡¯ll return by myself.¡±


    Dugu Xian racked his brains, still trying to figure out a way to stop the Dragon King. But Gu Shenwei had already walked to the foot of the cliff and started climbing upwards without using any of his lightness skills.


    Now, they couldn¡¯t persuade him even if they wanted to. So they all raised their heads and watched him. Han Fen was the only one who was totally indifferent about the situation. She took out some food and started gobbling it down.


    When Gu Shenwei had climbed about thirty meters up, Shangguan Ru abruptly handed her wooden saber to Red Bat. ¡°I¡¯ll go up there too.¡±


    Carrying the wooden saber, Red Bat was transfixed with astonishment. Shangguan Ru walked to the foot of the cliff, leaped up,nded on a position about three meters high, and then started climbing with both of her hands and her feet. It seemed like climbing the cliff was just as easy as walking on the ground for her. She soon caught up with the Dragon King and then even started leading the way.


    Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong watched her in admiration. Both of them had thought that Shangguan Ru¡¯s kung fu¡¯s was average, but it turned out that her lightness skills were actually this amazing. They themselves were not confident that they could climb to the top of this steep cliff.


    Han Fen was handing out jerky as she ate. When she walked to the two teenagers¡¯ side, shecently said, ¡°Master Commander can do this too. And she can do it faster than both of thembined.¡±


    Gu Shenwei cared more about safety than speed, but Shangguan Ru was right in front of him, so he couldn¡¯t help but pick up his speed. This reminded him of a contest held by the ¡°Tenth Young Master¡± many years ago. At that time, it had been a stone wall in Golden Roc Castle that they were trying to climb, and it was also much shorter than this cliff.


    The two made it to the top of the cliff. Looking down, Dugu Xian and the others seemed as small as ants. Looking into the east, they didn¡¯t get a vision as wide as they had expected because there was still a small hill blocking their view.


    They exchanged a nce. Shangguan Ru was the first to rush towards that hill, followed closely by Gu Shenwei. Soon they had disappeared from the others¡¯ sight.


    Shangguan Ru was over ten steps ahead of him. After making a detour around the hill, she yelled in shock.


    Gu Shenwei hurriedly rushed over. His eyes lit up. There was apletely different view behind the hill ¨C a natural pool with crystal clear water. At this season, there was not too much water in it, and they could seerge, t, blue stones on the two sides. The most amazing part was that cold wind couldn¡¯t prate here, so the temperature was as warm as that of early autumn.


    Standing beside the outfall of the pool, Shangguan Ru looked into the distant south-west.


    ¡°I think that that¡¯s Jade City,¡± she said. When she turned her head back, her eyes were full of tears.


    Gu Shenwei walked to her side, staring into the distance. ¡°Are you ready to go back?¡±


    Tears dripped down her face, but Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t wipe them away. Instead, a smile appeared on her face. ¡°I don¡¯t want to think about anything right now. I only know that there is no ending better than this one.¡±


    Then she slowly undid her clothes as she gently said, ¡°What a good opportunity. I want to see you clearly, and I want you to see me clearly, too.¡±

 Chapter 850 - Underwater

    Chapter 850: Underwater


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Humming a tone that nobody present had ever heard before, Han Fen picked up a stone and hurled it towards the side of the cliff, startling all the nearby people.


    The stone flew about forty to fifty meters up before hitting the wall. A crisp sound was heard and then the stone rolled back down.


    The others knew that Han Fen was a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall as well as a strange ¡°prisoner¡±, so none of them were willing to talk to her. They just cast an unhappy nce at her ¨C they had been expecting the Dragon King and Instructor Shangguan to return at any moment, and that stone had badly ruined the atmosphere.


    Han Fen was still discontent with the situation. She ignored the more than ten people who were looking at her and started abruptly yelling, ¡°Dragon King! Come down! I feel bored!¡±


    Startled, Dugu Xian hastily said, ¡°Stop that. You might draw enemies here.¡±


    ¡°Draw enemies here?¡±


    ¡± Thousand Horsemen Pass is not far away from here. Some enemy scouts-¡±


    Han Fen became happier and yelled even louder, ¡°Come here, enemies! The Dragon King¡¯s here!¡±


    Her voice carried very well, echoing throughout the canyon repeatedly.


    Dugu Xian was unaware of Han Fen¡¯s true intentions, and his face changed dramatically, but there were not many guards nearby, so he had to ask Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong for help.


    Holding his saber, Nie Zeng walked to a position about seven steps in front of Han Fen and coldly said, ¡°Don¡¯t yell again.¡±


    Han Fen watched him with a smiling face. ¡°Don¡¯t you feel bored, little Nie Zeng? Wouldn¡¯t it be more interesting if I draw a couple of enemies here?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not necessary.¡± Nie Zeng tightened his grip on the saber hilt.


    Dugu Xian regretted having asked Nie Zeng for help. This was the very reason why he had always tried to keep a distance from those bodyguards of the Dragon King ¨C they drew their sabers for no reason far too often. He walked over and gave two coughs. ¡°We can discuss this. There¡¯s no need to fight¡­ ¡±


    But Han Fen was very excited. ¡°I like fighting. Little Nie Zeng, I¡¯ll allow you to make¡­ a hundred moves before I fight back.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that.¡± Nie Zeng¡¯s face turned livid. He was very displeased by the cement of the word ¡°little¡± before his name. ¡°I don¡¯t want to fight you. As long as you don¡¯t yell.¡±


    This threat had the opposite effect. Han Fen raised her voice and yelled out a string of ¡°Dragon Kings.¡±


    Nie Zeng whipped out his saber and then Han Fen stopped yelling. She slightly gathered up her skirt to reveal her feet, bent from the waist, and raised her head, making her look like an old woman. The smile on her face was still bright. ¡°You¡¯ll use your saber and I¡¯ll use my feet. Little Nie Zeng, neither of us are allowed to use hands.¡±


    Tie Linglong was familiar with the Waning Moon Hall, and she believed that Nie Zeng was probably no match for Han Fen. She walked forward and said, ¡°This kung fupetition must be fair. No peculiar tricks.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t even use my hands. How can I y ¡®tricks¡¯?¡± Han Fen¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°Actually, the three of us can y this together. Let¡¯s fight on our own respective behalf.¡±


    ¡°Even if I take part in this, I¡¯d be¡­ helping him.¡± Tie Linglong nced at Nie Zeng.


    ¡°In that case, it will be boring.¡± Han Fen rolled her eyes as she asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you guys hold grudges against each other? Why not dissolve it by having a kung fupetition?¡±


    ¡°Why do you think that there are grudges between us?¡±


    ¡°He likes you, but you don¡¯t like him; he wants you to leave with him, but you think that his kung fu is not good enough-¡±


    Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong simultaneously yelled in astonishment, ¡°How do you know-¡±


    Suddenly it dawned on the others that these two teenagers had some rtionship issues between them. Some of them looked away out of embarrassment. Some others lowered their heads and smiled to themselves. Dugu Xian shook his head repeatedly ¨C this general, who always remainedposed on the battlefield, felt that his hands were tied.


    ¡°I eavesdropped on you,¡± Han Fen admitted frankly.


    ¡°Why did you eavesdrop on us?¡± Tie Linglong¡¯s face blushed fiercely with anger and embarrassment.


    ¡°If I don¡¯t eavesdrop, then how can I call myself a killer? The Dragon King won¡¯t give me any assignments. Do you know how bored I¡¯ve been?¡± Han Fen¡¯s face was full of confusion, as if Tie Linglong had just asked a very childish question.


    Nie Zeng didn¡¯t say anything. He whipped out his saber and was ready to fight. A cavalryman rode towards them from the foot of the hill, yelling, ¡°General Dugu! There¡¯s a group of peopleing our way from the east!¡±


    Dugu Xian walked to the edge of the hill and looked down. ¡°This is bad. They¡¯re already here.¡±


    Hearing that some people actually hade, Han Fen left Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong, rushed to Dugu Xian¡¯s side in just a couple of steps, and mimicked his voice to say, ¡°This is good. They¡¯re already here.¡±


    At the foot of the hill, a thousand Nond cavalrymen were confronting enemies of a simr number. From high above, the two sides seemed very close to each other. Red Bat pointed at somewhere further in the east. ¡°There¡¯re more people there.¡±


    As expected, another procession of cavalrymen, like a multiple-segmented worm, was rapidly approaching the 1000-men Nond army at the foot of the hill,


    But Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t hear a word of their conversation. There was spring water about a man¡¯s height in depth as well as high hills between the two of them and the rest of the group.


    The depth of this pool to the south of the hill seemed no greater than half a man¡¯s height, but the pool was actually very deep. When they stood in it, the tops of their heads were only five or six inches above the water.


    Totally naked, hand in hand, they held their breath and stared at each other. It seemed as if they were creatures encased in amber, and that time had stopped passing as they lost their mobility.


    The slowly floating hair and strings of bubbles asionallying out of their mouths were the only remaining proof that they were still alive.


    Gu Shenwei had never been so calm before. He was even able to fully appreciate every detail of the body in front of him in an extremely objective and restrained viewpoint.


    He mostly saw ws.


    This body was not perfect: the swell of her bosoms was not very obvious, as if they were not fully developed, her hips were a little narrow, there were a couple of obtrusive moles on the skin near her arms and armpits, and her figure was unduly upright, maybe because she had been practice kung fu since childhood,.


    Images of another two female bodies shed across his mind.


    Byparison, Luo Ningcha was the most perfect one. Her body was like abination of both men and women¡¯s dreams and by no possible means could it improve in any way.


    Queen Ju was about Shangguan Ru¡¯s age, but her body held a much more mature and different sort of charm.


    But Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t recollect any details about them. Although he had never observed any woman¡¯s body so carefully before, he shouldn¡¯t have had no impressions of them at all.


    While he was thinking of the words ¡°perfect¡± and ¡°mature¡±, he actually only had a very vague impression of them, just like how people couldn¡¯t fully picture something they were talking about when they had never seen it before.


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s sly and sinister.¡± ¡°The Unique King¡¯s ruthless and callous.¡± ¡°Central insmen are smart.¡± ¡°Western Regioners are tactful.¡± ¡°Zhang San¡¯s ugly.¡± ¡°Li Si¡¯s handsome¡­¡± When people described other people, they merely used the corresponding words out of force of habit. Once they were asked to expound on these words and offer more details, they always became tongue-tied.


    The names of Luo Ningcha and Queen Ju were only words. There were other women who hadn¡¯t even left any words in his memory.


    When Gu Shenwei allowed himself to be slightly absent-minded as he recalled the past, he discovered that he could only faintly remember his own feelings. As for those women¡¯s reactions, he hadn¡¯t paid any attention to them. By this point, he hadpletely forgotten about them afterwards.


    This was the first time that he had ever observed those details without paying any attention to the body as a whole. The impression given by these imperfect details was even deeper than that which was given by perfect words. So at this moment, at this ce, he was wholly unable to describe this body.


    But he didn¡¯t need to describe it. With his killerposure and senses, he could promise this. No matter how many years psed, he would always be able to instantly remember this body that was made up of many imperfect details. But he would never be able to describe it with words, and it was not because he didn¡¯t want to or wasn¡¯t willing to. Rather, it was because he couldn¡¯t.


    <em>Words will never be enough </em>, he thought. The more abstract things became, the easier it would be to describe it. But when the demand for precision reached a certain point, thennguage would no longer suffice. The harder people tried to describe these ephemeral things, the further away from the truth their description would stray.


    There was a smile as clear as crystal on Shangguan Ru¡¯s face. She didn¡¯t care much about all the details she had seen with her eyes. That handsome face and those countless scars were all a part of her feelings.


    Feelings were all she wanted.


    Feelings were also ineffable. There were neither specific parts nor a whole, and there was no need to use any words to describe him. Feelings were the water surrounding them, which was stimting all their senses. As a result, when she recalled the sensation of this water in the future, she would have to use her olfactory, visual, auditory, and gastronomical senses. Even then, they still wouldn¡¯t be enough. There would still be an inexplicable feeling hidden among them.


    All her sentiments about this pool would be forever linked with the man in front of her and be a part of her. This was the effect that she wanted.


    The two slowly floated upwards. When they emerged from the water, they hugged and kissed each other, doing whatever they wanted do.


    What surprised Gu Shenwei was that the beast hiding within him hadn¡¯t shown itself yet. Everything felt so natural. On a hill, below the sky, his instincts seemed to have returned to its original form ¨C wholly unrestrained. And there was no wild passion left. Only pleasure, the purest pleasure.


    Standing at the edge of the cliff, Shangguan Ru opened her arms and disyed her body without shame, yelling out, ¡°I am Shangguan Ru!¡±


    She was not very satisfied, since her voice was still a little restrained. So she yelled even louder, ¡°I am Shangguan Ru!¡±


    She turned her head back and looked at him, her gaze half tender, half provocative.


    He also walked to the edge of the cliff. After inhaling deeply, he failed to let out any words even though he had tried several times ¨C surprisingly, yelling out his own name was difficult for him.


    ¡°I am Shangguan Ru!¡± She yelled again in a more rxed and more affectionate manner. ¡°He¡¯s Gu Shenwei! Today, we fell in love with each other!¡±


    ¡°I am¡­ Gu Shenwei.¡± his voice was clearly not confident enough, so he yelled again, ¡°I am Gu Shenwei!¡±


    These were the only words he could yell. Too many emotions surged forth in his heart at the same time, as if they were about to break through the self-imposed restrictions that had been cast so many years ago. He had to forcibly send them back into the cage.


    ¡°It¡¯s so cold,¡± Shangguan Ru said. She had no other desires in her heart.


    Gu Shenwei retrieved his coat and put it on her.


    Shangguan Ru giggled. ¡°I just remembered something.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°It was said that the old Khan preferred to sleep with women from enemy tribes, iming that he derived a sense of double conquest when he did so. Do you feel the same way?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was stunned. The sacred atmosphere vanished almost instantly ¨C Shangguan Ru had talked to him boldly again, just like how she had used to do when she was young. ¡°This question¡­ Your tone was somewhat simr to that of the Second Consort.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re evading it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel that way. I don¡¯t want to conquer you, and you were not conquered by me.¡±


    Shangguan Ru inhaled deeply. ¡°This is an issue that brings pleasure to both sides. Why do people always connect it with the idea of ¡®conquest¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Sometimes the pleasure is only unteral¡­ I think we should go back.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha, I guess that you¡¯ve been shy since you were young.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be able to answer your question even if I weren¡¯t shy.¡±


    ¡°Am I getting more shameless?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ Kind of.¡±


    ¡°I let you see me clearly. This is me. Forget the previous me, and ignore what kind of person I¡¯ll be in the future. Promise me this ¨C that you¡¯ll only remember this current me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded, but didn¡¯t make the same request because he had forgotten his true self a long time ago.


    Looking into the direction of the Thousand Horsemen Pass, he began to think about the n for taking that fortified city.

 Chapter 851 - Stalling Tactic

    Chapter 851: Stalling Tactic


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The first batch of Central ins soldiers arrived faster than anyone expected them to.


    This was the elite army of the Central ins, not the cowardly infantry that had fled in haste as soon as they encountered the siege of Luoluo¡¯s army. Although this army was only two or three thousand men strong, it was perfectly bnced with the number of saberman, shieldsman, marksman, and spearman, and so on and so forth.


    Dugu Xian¡¯s heart thumped when he saw this scene. The Nond Cavalry was famous for their horseback archery, but they were the most afraid of fighting against the Central ins Army as they had aplete range of arms. This fear manifested especially when they didn¡¯t have a numerical advantage. In the past, the Nond¡¯s strategies had been developed to maintain a long distance from the enemy while fleeing, lure the enemy into overextending, and then defeating them one by one.


    But today, they couldn¡¯t get away. The Dragon King was still on the mountain. Although he had ordered the people at the foot of the mountain to go first, Dugu Xian could not afford to leave the Dragon King behind. He clearly understood that the fragilebination of the Dragon Army and Shulitu¡¯s army still needed the unifying authority of the Dragon King.


    Han Fen did not realize how critical the situation was and was eager to fight. ¡°I was busy protecting the old manst time and did not even have the chance to enter the battlefield.¡±


    ¡°Silence,¡± Dugu Xian said seriously. Once he returned to the army, he had once again be the general who was in charge of the situation.


    Han Fen was a bit unsatisfied, but she could feel the rising tension in the air and obediently shut her mouth after a moment¡¯s consideration.


    Dugu Xian then said to the officer beside him, ¡°Spread the order that everyone must put their arrows and bows away. Half of the soldiers get dismount from their horses to rest while the other half will remain mounted and be ready for a fight.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The officer stared at the general in amazement for a brief moment to make sure that he had heard him correctly before he hurried off to pass the order to the rest of the army.


    Dugu Xian then turned to Red Bat and asked, ¡°May I borrow Instructor Shangguan¡¯s me Foal?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Red Bat hurriedly replied, even as she looked a little puzzled.


    ¡°Nie Zeng, go back to camp with the me Foal and ask the young king to send reinforcements as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Nie Zeng changed horses to the me Foal and rode to the backline of the army at normal speed before galloping away at full speed once he had cleared them.


    At this point, Dugu Xian had done all he could, but nheless, he still did not have much confidence in his stalling tactic at heart. As a logical and conservative general, he usually fought when he could and retreated when necessary. Very rarely would he ever brace himself to confront the enemy while in an unfavorable situation.


    On the other side, the Central ins troops were already in battle formation. Although they outnumbered the Nond army by two or three times over, they didn¡¯tunch an attack right away. Dugu Xian¡¯s risky move seemed to have worked.


    An officer rode out from the Central ins Army and fired an arrow. The arrownded in front of the Nond Cavalry, and it was obviously a challenge.


    The soldiers who had followed their orders to dismount and rest all stood up. And the soldiers on horseback reached for their short bows in their leather bags. Dugu Xian immediately ordered everyone to stop their actions, and he himself simply jumped off his horse and asked in a rxed tone, ¡°Who¡¯s willing to fight¡­¡±


    Before he could finish his words, Han Fen raised her hand and anxiously asked for the battle assignment. ¡°Me, me, me. Let me go. I¡¯ve never been to a battlefield before.¡±


    Dugu Xian¡¯s first reaction was to refuse, but he changed his mind on second thought. Since it was a stalling tactic, then why not do it more thoroughly? So he nodded and said, ¡°Good. You go, but you have to win, not lose.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll sleep with you if I lose.¡± And with that said, Han Fen eagerly dashed out.


    Dugu Xian was stunned for a moment before he said to the surrounding soldiers, ¡°She¡¯ll win for sure.¡±


    Dugu Xian¡¯s confidence boosted the morale of the crowd. The tension in the air eased a bit, and someone even started organizing a gambling game. But not many people bet on Han Fen because she didn¡¯t even have a bow and arrow with her.


    The officer of the Central ins Army was even more surprised when he realized that the challenger was an empty-handed woman. As he held his powerful bow, he didn¡¯t even release the arrow until the other side was within thirty paces of him.


    Han Fen¡¯s first move shook the soldiers on both sides. When the arrow arrived before her, she grasped the saddle with both of her hands and actually used her feet to catch the arrow. After getting a firm hold on the arrow with her feet, she spun around her right hand and threw the arrow right back at the officer. Judging from the speed of the arrow, it seemed as powerful as one shot from a crossbow.


    After the officer fired his second arrow, he immediately tried to dodge to the side, but it was toote. His helmet fell and he could only ride back to his side, flustered.


    Han Fen held up the second arrow and eximed, ¡°Hey, I still have your stuff.¡±


    The soldiers of the Nond cheered loudly while Dugu Xian let out a sigh of relief.


    Han Fen rode round in a circle, juggling the arrow in her hand, and whistled like the people of the Nond. The imitation of the whistling was surprisingly indistinguishable from that of the Nond soldiers, which made the horsemen gain a better impression of her and start cheering incessantly.


    Soon, the Central ins Army also made a surprise move. Another person galloped out of the troops, and it was actually a hoary-haired old woman with a cane who ran straight at Han Fen. As soon as the old woman saw Han Fen, she snapped, ¡°Han Fen, is the Dragon King here? Tell him toe out and see me!¡±


    ¡°Oh no.¡± Han Fen recognized the old woman. She had seen this old woman¡¯s kung fu before and knew that she was no match for the other side. And even her knockout drugs might not work as long as Tu Pianpian was prepared for them. So she immediately turned her horse around and fled. ¡°I won¡¯t tell you.¡±


    Han Fen had just won glory for the army, but now she had admitted defeat and fled without exchanging a single move with the other side, which surprised the soldiers of the Nond. When she approached the army, Dugu Xian said, ¡°Han Fen, this is war. You have to win, not lose. I told you so. Go back and fight.¡±


    ¡°Ah? Mmm!¡± Han Fen went back to the battlefield, but stayed away from Tu Pianpian. ¡°Let¡¯s see who can run faster. You¡¯ll be the winner if you catch me.¡±


    Tu Pianpian had urged the horse to catch up with her. She disdained arguing with the younger generation. When she came within twenty steps of the other side, she suddenly shot off and flew straight at the target.


    This time cheers rang out from the troops of the Central ins.


    Although it was faster to ride a horse, it was not flexible enough to turn at will. Han Fen jumped off the horse and also used her lightness skills in this game of cat and mouse.


    The two women, one old and one young, one chasing and the other fleeing, sped through the grasnds. The soldiers on both sides soon realized that although the old woman was much older, she was faster, and Han Fen could barely avoid her even with her surprise tricks.


    Tu Pianpian was a bit afraid of the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s poisons, so she had held forty or fifty percent of her power back to protect herself for most of the time. Otherwise, she would have captured Han Fen alive long ago.


    Dugu Xian was really feeling anxious in his heart. It seemed that this old woman had very good martial arts skills. Tie Linglong, the only kung fu practitioner they had at the moment, was probably not the old woman¡¯s match. If the morale of the Central ins Army was greatly boosted and they rushed over, the one thousand horsemen of the Nond would be destroyed while in his hands.


    ¡°Get ready to retreat.¡±


    A low voice came from behind. Dugu Xian looked back and was overjoyed. The Dragon King had finally appeared!


    Shangguan Ru was beside the Dragon King. The two seemed to have undergone some subtle changes, but Dugu Xian did not pay it much attention. He anxiously said, ¡°It¡¯s the people of the Central ins. I don¡¯t know why they¡­¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll talk about itter.¡± Gu Shenwei leaped onto his horse and shouted to the two in the battlefield, ¡°Tu Pianpian, is this how you return a favor?¡±


    Upon hearing the Dragon King¡¯s voice, Tu Pianpian stopped and watched regretfully as Han Fen jumped onto a horse and sped away. ¡°The Dragon King is indeed here. Can I have a word with you in private? The Kongtong Sect clearly delineates between friends and foes, and will never return kindness with enmity.¡±


    Dugu Xian had already ordered all of the generals and soldiers to get onto their horse. Gu Shenwei shook his head and said, ¡°If the Kongtong Sect really wants to show their gratitude, thene and meet me at my camp where I¡¯ll treat you as a guest. When on the battlefield, we¡¯ll be enemies.¡±


    ¡°Haha, enemies? The Dragon King is too arrogant. I know that that¡¯s all the people you have. If battle really breaks out, I¡¯m afraid that the Kongtong Sect will have no chance to repay your favor.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s fight another day.¡± The soldiers behind Gu Shenwei had already started moving west. Dugu Xian ordered the officers to control their speed, not moving too slow or too fast.


    Gu Shenwei had been at the back the whole time. And behind him were the troops of the Central ins. Although Tu Pianpian was sure that the one thousand soldiers were all the soldiers that the Dragon King had, the generals of the Central ins seemed unwilling to take the risk, and they only sent small squadrons to harass the other side.


    On their way back, they met the 30,000 horsemen sent by Shulitu. The troops of the Central ins received the same news and immediately retreated.


    The first potential battle between the Central ins Army and the Shulitu¡¯s army did not break out.


    The news of the Central ins Army¡¯s arrival had spread throughout the camp. Many scouts from various ces had brought back lots of news while the Dragon King was away.


    ¡°The army that the Dragon King met was the vanguard of the Central ins Army, which numbered about ten thousand men. They just arrived at Thousand Horsemen Pass today, and it was said that the main force would arrive in one or two days.¡± Shulitu briefly introduced the general situation.


    Dugu Xian was very surprised. ¡°So fast? I thought that the main force of the Central ins Army would notunch an attack until the spring or summer of next year. Is this news reliable?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s in the process of being confirmed. There are only rumors swirling around at the moment, and not much credible content is avable,¡± Shulitu replied.


    Mo Chu was no longer the Commander-in-chief, and the other deputymanders were either dead or deposed. So, Dugu Xian had naturally been appointed as the Commander-in-chief of the whole army by Shulitu. In the face of these generals, he had to make a decision right away. ¡°Anyways, we have to take down Thousand Horsemen Pass tomorrow as it is a tenable defense position. Then we can figure out a solution to deal with it.¡±


    One of the generals did not understand and asked, ¡°Luoluo was the one who attacked the Central ins Army. Now that Luoluo has fled, why would the people of the Central ins stille here?¡±


    Shulitu wasn¡¯t surprised. ¡°Although Luoluo is our mortal enemy, from the viewpoint of the Central ins both of us are people of the Nond. To them, there¡¯s no difference between taking vengeance on Luoluo or me. It seems that a fight is inevitable.¡±


    Shulitu¡¯s troops had just defeated Luoluo¡¯s army, taken in arge number of surrendered enemy soldiers, and also gained the support of the Naihang Tribe. Thus, the morale of the army was so high that the generals at the meeting almost unanimously agreed to go to war with the Central ins.


    Dugu Xian did not object or approve of anything explicitly, so Shulitu could only make a few perfunctory remarks. Thus, the final decision was that they wouldunch an attack on Thousand Horsemen Pass first thing tomorrow morning, and with it, wipe out the vanguard of the Central ins Army.


    After the generals left, Shulitu sneaked a nce at the Dragon King before turning to face the Dragon King and asking, ¡°Does General Dugu think that we should not go to war against the Central ins?¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily. I¡¯d like to determine the strength and disposition of the Central ins Army first. The real intention of the main force of the Central ins was to fight against the entire Nond. I¡¯m afraid¡­¡±


    Shulitu nodded and said, ¡°I¡¯ll send out some more scouts to gather information. Either way, we have to take down the Thousand Horsemen Pass first. We¡¯ll talk about whether we go to war or notter. s, winter ising sote this year.¡±


    The oing winter was the most powerful factor that controlled when the war would stop, which could give the new Khan¡¯s army a break. However, it was sote ining.


    Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t spoken yet. He agreed with Dugu Xian¡¯s opinion that their decision to go to war depended on the strength of the Central ins. He also understood why Shulitu was insisting on attacking Thousand Horsemen Pass first tomorrow; it was a friendly gesture to him.


    Both Thousand Horsemen Pass and Jade City belonged to the Dragon King. Shulitu¡¯s actions showed his acquiescence towards this.


    That evening, Tu Pianpian really came to the camp to see the Dragon King. She was alone, and didn¡¯t even take her Martial Nephew Fan Yongda with her.


    Standing tall, Tu Pianpian kept her mouth shut as long as there was someone else in the tent.


    Gu Shenwei dismissed the others and said, ¡°You may speak now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here to repay the debt of gratitude, but it has nothing to do with the Kongtong Sect. It¡¯s for Prince Xiao¡­¡±


    ¡°Prince Xiao?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s the Imperial Uncle that the Dragon King savedst time. He¡¯s grateful for the Dragon King¡¯s kindness, so he only sent ten thousand soldiers as the vanguard to remind the Dragon King to withdraw all of his troops. Because if war really breaks out, the Nond will be defeated for sure.¡±


    ¡°Heh, what a good way to show gratitude.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve not finished yet¡­ Prince Xiao knows the Dragon King¡¯s goal is Jade City and Golden Roc Castle so he asked me to tell the Dragon King that there is no need to worry. Even without the help of the Nond, the Dragon King can still be the Lord of Jade City.¡±


    Slightly stunned, Gu Shenwei vaguely remembered that someone had mentioned the title ¡®Lord of Jade City¡¯ in front of him before.

 Chapter 852 - Advantages and Disadvantages

    Chapter 852: Advantages and Disadvantages


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Dugu Xian was much more cautious when he talked before the Dragon King. He thought for a long while before saying, ¡°I can¡¯t give a definite conclusion. The war between the Central ins and the Nond hassted for more than a thousand years, and the two have seen many changes in their dynasties, with ups and downs on both sides. It¡¯s very hard to predict the oue of a final war. I don¡¯t know what makes the olddy so sure that the Central ins will win. At the very least, I don¡¯t see how any side could guarantee their victory.¡±


    ¡°Tell me about the advantages and disadvantages for both the Nond and the Central ins. Maybe I can pick out some clues from them.¡± Gu Shenwei trusted the one-armed general¡¯s judgment very much so he had immediately gone to him for advice after his conversation with Tu Pianpian.


    Dugu Xian had briefly introduced the characteristics of the various armies to the Dragon King before, but he still pondered for a moment before he added, ¡°I think that there are three advantages that the Nond Cavalry has. The first is their flexibility. They are extremely mobile and can disperse and gather quickly. I especially value their ability to retreat. You never know when the fleeing Nond Cavalry will turn around and fight back. A defeated army rarely scatters in disorder.¡±


    ¡°The second is their archery. Although all countries have their own marksmen, and some people in the Central ins are even more famous than Nond archers, no country canpare to the Nond when ites to the average soldier¡¯s archery abilities. For most prairie men, shooting and riding are like eating and drinking water to them. It¡¯s an innate ability. One has to master these two skills right after learning to walk.¡±


    ¡°The third is their military tactics. The Nond Cavalry fights like how they hunt. It may seem chaotic, but everyone focuses on doing their own job. They seem very valiant and like they¡¯re always dashing ahead, disregarding their own safety. But actually, they value defense a lot and seldom fight that desperately. Of course, this is an advantage that is only present when they can withdraw flexibly. Does the Dragon King know that although the Central ins has besieged the main force of the Nond Cavalry many times and even won many a great victories, rarely have they ever captured or killed the Khan himself?


    Gu Shenwei already knew this. In the battle that had just ended, he had not even seen Luoluo once, from beginning to end. ¡°Experienced hunters may miss their prey, but they won¡¯t be bitten by their prey.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Dugu Xian waved his remaining arm and continued, saying, ¡°Now, let¡¯s talk about the disadvantages. They are actually the same as the advantages I¡¯ve just mentioned.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Gu Shenwei was a bit confused.


    ¡°First, being too flexible means that they¡¯re also undisciplined. The Nond people are good at riding and shooting, so they are naturally afraid of closebat. Once they are raided, as the Dragon King did to them, the first idea that crosses their mind is to distance themselves from the enemy. If the enemy presses forward continuously, then the retreat will devolve into a full-on run.¡±


    ¡°Second, the Nond soldiers rely too much on archery and are very reluctant to learn other weapons like the saber and the spear. They may be invincible in the boundless grasnds, but will be restrained in all other terrains. To be honest, it¡¯s hard for me to imagine how the Shule Kingdom could have been conquered so easily. s¡­¡±


    ¡°Third, the Nond Cavalrymen are simple hunters. Usually, the prey will be panicked upon meeting them. But if the prey remains calm, then their tricks will be useless.¡±


    ¡°Conversely, the opposite of those disadvantages and advantages are the advantages and disadvantages of the Central ins Army, respectively.¡± With this, Gu Shenwei finally had a clearer picture of the two countries¡¯ armies in his mind.


    ¡°Mmm. But the Dragon King should not keep the Central ins Army that is stationed in the Western Regions all year round in mind. They are just third-rate troops, and not the real main force of the Central ins Army.¡±


    ¡°I am from the Central ins and I went to the Western Regions when I was a teenager.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I forgot.¡± Dugu Xian casually said, his mind obviously no longer on this topic. After a long pause, he continued speaking. ¡°Military discipline. It¡¯s the greatest advantage of the Central ins Army, a virtue far better than those of the Nond Cavalry. To tell you the truth, all of the troops in the Western Regions, including the Dragon Army, are mere rabblepared to the Central ins Army.¡±


    Dugu Xian unhesitatingly belittled the army built by him and the Dragon King as if it were worthless. But Gu Shenwei did not get angry. He thought back to his childhood memories, but found little of note. Although Gu Lun had the title of General, he was actually a pce guard and had little connection to the army. There was only one thing that he had a vague impression of.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard of a story before. A young general was found guilty and was almost beheaded for advancing too fast on the battlefield, and the charge to arrest him was¡­¡±


    ¡°Rushing into action without thinking things through. This is the case with the Central ins Army. Everything has to be in order and done step by step. Being too brave and too timid will result in almost the same penalty, which is inconceivable to the people of the Nond.¡±


    ¡°So General Dugu seems to be more optimistic about the Central ins Army¡¯s chances.¡±


    ¡°A well-trained Central ins Army.¡± Dugu Xian stuck out a finger to emphasize those words. ¡°Only a well-trained Central ins Army can be considered a real army. It¡¯s the dream army for allmanders because only they can carry outplex tactics and change ording to various situations.¡±


    Dugu Xian seemed to have forgotten about the main topic and was immersed in his longing for a ¡®real army.¡¯ He then started talking about something irrelevant to the current situation. ¡°I¡¯ve read some history books about the Central ins and found some very interesting things. Whenever the country was in turmoil, the service and arms of the Central ins Army would diminish. They either focused on building armies full of just horsemen, archers, or spearsmen and weren¡¯t able to integrate them into one singr whole. On the contrary, when the country was in times of prosperity, there would be various services and arms in an army like the one we met today. Although they only numbered two or three thousand strong, they were armed with bows, spears, sabers, and shields. If we had really fought today¡­¡±


    Dugu Xian felt a chill run down his back which brought him back to the present. He smiled sheepishly and said, ¡°Of course, there are the disadvantages to the Central ins Army as well. A disciplined army needs an experienced Commander-in-chief who¡¯s good atmanding all kinds of soldiers. The capability of the Commander-in-chief is crucial to the army¡¯s sess, which can almost decide the victory or defeat of the war by itself.¡±


    This was also why Dugu Xian admired the Central ins Army so much. He was an excellent general, but there was not that much room for him to disy his skill in the Western Regions.


    Gu Shenwei thought for a moment and then said, ¡°If the Nond Army and the Central ins Army have the same number of people and the environment is fair to both sides, then the one who can decide the victory or defeat of the battle should be¡­ the Commander-in-chief of the Central ins, right?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I may have exaggerated the Central ins¡¯ Commander-in-chief¡¯s influence on the troops a bit. The better trained the army, the less of an effect mediocremanders will have on it.¡± Dugu Xian still refused to make a simple deduction.


    ¡°But the Commander-in-chief is still very important.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Dugu Xian thought for a long while before saying, ¡°If we can gauge the Commander-in-chief of the Central ins Army¡¯s ability, then maybe¡­ we can predict the oue of the war to a certain extent.¡±


    ¡°Then send some more men to inquire about the Commander-in-chief of the Central ins Army¡¯s identity. The more details, the better.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but no matter who the Commander-in-chief is, we still have to take down Thousand Horsemen Pass tomorrow. We must not allow the Central ins Army to gain a foothold south of Heavenly Mountain because that will cause serious trouble for both the Nond Cavalry and the Dragon Army.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had had a long talk with Dugu Xian. It was alreadyte at night when he came out. Tu Pianpian was still waiting outside his tent. As soon as she saw him, she asked, ¡°Has the Dragon King made a decision yet?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°So the Nond Cavalry will withdraw and stop attacking Thousand Horsemen Pass?¡± Tu Pianpian¡¯s face beamed with delight.


    ¡°Tomorrow, I¡¯ll take down Thousand Horsemen Pass first before deciding whether to retreat or not.¡±


    Gu Shenwei entered the tent, and Tu Pianpian followed inside uninvited while continuously poking the ground with her cane, making a hole in the nket after several pokes. ¡°Why doesn¡¯t the Dragon King understand? If the Nond horsemen take down Thousand Horsemen Pass, the Central ins Army will have no choice but to start a war, and by that time, the Dragon King will also be implicated¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei waved his hand to stop her from speaking any more. ¡°You believe that the Central ins Army is invincible, but I don¡¯t think so.¡±


    ¡°The Central ins Army is invincible; isn¡¯t that something that everybody knows?¡± Tu Pianpian asked puzzledly as if the Dragon King¡¯s words had vitedmon sense. ¡°Prince Xiao thanked for the Dragon King for saving his life, so he sent me to remind you about this.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had no intention of arguing with the old woman so he continued speaking. ¡°And this so-called Lord of Jade City, you did not speak about it much in detail. How can I believe you?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King doesn¡¯t have to believe me. Just believe in Prince Xiao. If he says that you can be the Lord of Jade City, then you will be the Lord of Jade City for sure.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know who Prince Xiao is,¡± Gu Shenwei replied coldly. He didn¡¯t remember ever hearing about a so-called ¡®Prince Xiao¡¯ from his father, brothers, or any other rtive.


    Tu Pianpian stared at him with an incredulous look in her eyes. ¡°Well, it seems that I¡¯ve failed in my task. I promised to Prince Xiao that I would convince the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡± There was not a hint of repentance in Gu Shenwei¡¯s voice at all. ¡°I have no intention of going to war with the Central ins Army, so you can go back and tell the Central ins Army¡¯s vanguard that the Nond Army will attack Thousand Horsemen Pass tomorrow. The Dragon King hopes that the Central ins people will just watch from the sidelines and do nothing. If they really want to intervene, then that¡¯s up to them.¡±


    Tu Pianpian silently stared at the Dragon King for a while before suddenly turning and leaving without saying another word.


    Gu Shenwei was sitting in the tent alone, sleepless. So when the sound of rapid footsteps rang out from outside, he was immediately on guard.


    ¡°Is the Dragon King still awake?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Red Bat lifted the p and walked inside with a puzzled look on her face. ¡°The instructor said that she was leaving and would nevere back.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King knows?¡± Red Bat¡¯s confusion turned to consternation. ¡°But¡­ everything was going so well, and the Dragon King has¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Ru had managed to hide their affair from the soldiers, but they couldn¡¯t hide it from Red Bat¡¯s eyes. She did not need to eavesdrop like Han Fen, but she could still guess at the general truth.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you go with Instructor Shangguan?¡± Gu Shenwei stopped Red Bat from talking any more.


    ¡°I wanted to follow her, but the instructor wouldn¡¯t allow me to. She said that I should stay and¡­ take care of someone who needs me more.¡±


    ¡°Instructor Shangguan is right. If Long Fanyun needs you more, then so be it.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King really doesn¡¯t care?¡± Red Bat still found it hard to believe this.


    Gu Shenwei did not answer. Red Bat blushed and withdrew.


    Shangguan Ru had left quietly with the soldiers of the Land of Fragrance. Not many people knew about it, but not long after Red Bat left, Shulitu came to talk about it in person.


    Shulitu, who had made himself the Khan, should not have been wandering aroundte at night with only a few men with him. He had probably noticed that the light in the Dragon King¡¯s tent was still on, so he directly raised the tent p and entered. ¡°Liman left with the people of the Land of Fragrance. Did the Dragon King know about that?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was really surprised this time. ¡°Liman?¡±


    ¡°Mmm, Liman just said goodbye to me. He said that he had no face to stay in the army anymore and that since he used to be the horsekeeper for the me Foal, he would now go wherever the me Foal goes from now on. And so he asked me to let the Dragon King know about his decision.¡±


    Gu Shenwei kept silent for a while before saying, ¡°Let it be then. He who can¡¯t stay never will.¡±


    ¡°What a pity.¡± Shulitu carefully avoided mentioning Shangguan Ru. ¡°Liman is a talented man. I was nning to put him in a very important position.¡±


    ¡°Maybe he¡¯lle back one day.¡±


    ¡°I hope so. We are going to attack Thousand Horsemen Pass tomorrow, so I¡¯ll leave the Dragon King alone.¡± Shulitu took his leave, disappointed with the oue. Since the Dragon King had no intention of calling the people of the Land of Fragrance back, he could only give up on Liman.


    The second battle between Gu Shenwei and Golden Roc Castle was about to begin. Compared to the first battle at Xiaoyao Lake, he was in an overwhelming position now. However, he felt no joy at the prospect of winning and stayed awake the whole night.

 Chapter 853 - Deal

    Chapter 853: Deal


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    It was not yet bright outside, but some soldiers were already busying themselves doing chores. They were pushing the crude scalingdder out of the camp and, under the supervision of the first corps, heading for Thousand Horsemen Pass.


    That was the scene that Luo Ningcha arrived to. As she looked at the huge camp and the soldiers shuttling back and forth, she felt very excited, and even wondered why she had used to dislike the fact that there were many people in the Iron Mountain Gang. When she found the Dragon King¡¯s tent and saw that it was no different from an ordinary officer¡¯s, she couldn¡¯t help but feel disappointed.


    Gu Shenwei was wearing leather armor when he was informed that ¡®Lady Luo¡¯ was asking to see him. He thought awhile before realizing who this person was and allowed her toe in.


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s entourage was left outside, as she thought that it would be a private meeting. But when she saw the two teenage guards standing inside, each with a saber, she immediately frowned. ¡°These two kids are always causing trouble. Why does the Dragon King still have them around?¡±


    Tie Linglong had once broken into Golden Roc Castle with Chu Nanping and escaped with the help of Luo Ningcha, so she knew why Luo Ningcha said this. However, Nie Zeng was puzzled.


    Luo Ningcha had mistaken Nie Zeng for Chu Nanping. She just vaguely felt that the kid did not look as pretty as he used to, but she did not care. After walking straight to the Dragon King, she took off her hood and said, ¡°I want to talk to you alone.¡±


    ¡°You are talking to me alone right now.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s voice was cold.


    Luo Ningcha stubbornly shook her head and said, ¡°No, this is very important. I don¡¯t trust these two kids.¡±


    ¡°Wait at the door.¡± Gu Shenwei finally said after waiting for a while.


    Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong received their order and left, both of them gaining a bad impression of Luo Ningcha.


    ¡°Tell me, did that Prince Xiao send you here?¡±


    Luo Ningcha nodded and seriously said, ¡°I knew that that ugly old woman would mess it up, so I volunteered. Sure enough, I was still on my way when I already heard that she had failed her mission.¡±


    ¡°A quarter of an hour.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You have a quarter of an hour. You see, I¡¯m busy.¡±


    ¡°Haha, I know that you are busy, but you can¡¯t be too busy to not see me. You saved Prince Xiao and the soldiers of the Central ins for me, didn¡¯t you? But I have a man now and can¡¯t repay you. But I can still give you some other benefits¡­¡±


    ¡®This Luo Ningcha, she hasn¡¯t changed at all.¡¯ Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t stop his malicious thoughts from surfacing. ¡®What kind of person would trust and send such a woman for such important negotiations?¡¯ In his mind, Prince Xiao of the Central ins¡¯ value had been greatly reduced by Luo Ningcha¡¯s presence.


    ¡°Congrattions on finally getting rid of Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve gotten rid of Golden Roc Castle yet. It¡¯s just a little sess.¡± Luo Ningcha was very proud of her aplishments. ¡°Servant Huan¡­ Dragon King, I still remember everything you taught me and I even have some of my own understandings now. Now I realize how simple I was back then. Fortunately, I did not pay too drastic a price in the Royal Court. It¡¯s the Central ins that really dominates the Western Regions.¡±


    ¡°What on earth did Prince Xiao send you here to say?¡± Gu Shenwei stopped her from nagging more, just in time.


    Luo Ningcha frowned slightly, annoyed by the interruption in the conversation. But after she remembered the real purpose of her trip, she suppressed her anger. ¡®This is change,¡¯ she thought. ¡®I can control my emotions now.¡¯ Then she continued speaking. ¡°The Central ins has been preparing for this war ever since the former emperor¡¯s reign and has spent more than ten years on it. The military supplies pile up like mountains. There are 300,000 steeds and 600,000 soldiers. Even if the old Khan were still alive and gathered all the strength of the prairie, he wouldn¡¯t be able to resist such a fatal strike, not to mention this little new Khan of a divided prairie.¡±


    Luo Ningcha had obviously memorized these words in advance, and her tone had even changed to be something cadenced somewhat simr to Counselor Fang¡¯s.


    ¡°Since the Central ins is so well-prepared, then they should be more eager to go to war.¡± Gu Shenwei did not believe Tu Pianpian¡¯s threat, so he would naturally not believe Luo Ningcha¡¯s either. The so-called 300,000 steeds and 600,000 soldiers were nothing but an empty boast.


    Luo Ningcha had memorized several exnations which had a fixed order, so she continued, heedless of what the Dragon King had said. ¡°The war was originally supposed to be fought at the northern border, but now the battlefield was suddenly changed to be the Western Regions. This makes it quite inconvenient for the huge army, so Prince Xiao has an idea.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± The fact that Prince Xiao had admitted the disadvantage of the Central ins made Gu Shenwei suddenly feel a bit more interested.


    ¡°The Nond Cavalry defeated the Central ins Army in the Lon Kingdom and must be punished. Otherwise, the dignity of the Emperor will be all but gone. But since the Dragon King has avenged the Central ins, the previously nned war next would bepletely unnecessary. So why not have each side take a step back? The Dragon King will ask the Nond to withdraw their army, and the Central ins Army will report the good news of the war. In that way, everyone will be happy. Isn¡¯t that wonderful?¡±


    Gu Shenwei suddenly understood. Luo Ningcha¡¯s words were ambiguous precisely because Prince Xiao did not want the situation to be rified. ¡°Prince Xiao wants to take all the credit of defeating Luoluo¡¯s army by himself?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    In Gu Shenwei¡¯s opinion, this Prince Xiao¡¯s efforts that he put into wishful thinking really matched Luo Ningcha well.


    ¡°No, it belongs to both Prince Xiao and the Dragon King.¡± Luo Ningcha thought that the Dragon King was tempted by her words, and her big eyes filled with eagerness and enthusiasm. ¡°The 20,000 soldiers of the Central ins together with the Dragon King¡¯s 100,000 soldiers guarded Thousand Horsemen Pass against 200,000 horsemen of the Nond. They forced the usurper, Luoluo, to flee despite their weaker and outnumbered armies. This will be the best story told through the ages.¡±


    A vague image of the pompous Imperial Uncle of the Central ins appeared in Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind. ¡°Prince Xiao is really good at making up stories.¡±


    ¡°Without my help, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to make it up.¡± Luo Ningcha said proudly in her original tone.


    ¡°In this way, Prince Xiao will make a magnificent contribution to the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°The Central ins will withdraw its soldiers and the Nond Cavalry will return home, each taking what they need.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡±


    ¡°And the Dragon Army will gain nothing but a bubble¡¯s reputation.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ No, of course not. The Dragon King will get some benefits too. Just hear me out.¡± Luo Ningcha¡¯s tone became tough. ¡°The benefit that the Dragon King will obtain is Jade City and the condition is that you must keep a good rtionship with the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°The Lord of Jade City.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it.¡± Luo Ningcha¡¯s eyes became even brighter. ¡°Now do you understand? Without even going to war, the Dragon King can be the Lord of Jade City. Of course, your title, ¡®Dragon King,¡¯ will also be acknowledged by the Central ins. From now on, you will own half of the Western Regions, let alone just Golden Roc Castle. In the future, you will pass the throne on to our son¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a son with you.¡± Gu Shenwei hurriedly interrupted.


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you asked Shangguan Ru?¡± Luo Ningcha looked very surprised.


    Gu Shenwei was not at all convinced by this woman¡¯s story. Her sureness of her son¡¯s father was closely rted to the Dragon King¡¯s strength. From keeping her mouth shut to frequently mentioning it and speaking with certainty, her child¡¯s situation corresponded exactly to the Dragon King¡¯s strength. It had also grown from a small power to a big power thatpletely overwhelmed Golden Roc Castle.


    ¡°It has nothing to do with her.¡± Gu Shenwei said coldly. ¡°And about the Lord of Jade City, does Prince Xiao have any more words to say?¡±


    ¡°That ugly old woman must not have told the Dragon King anything, right? Because Prince Xiao doesn¡¯t trust her at all.¡± Luo Ningcha waspletely immersed in her own joy and automatically disregarded the Dragon King¡¯s expression. ¡°Prince Xiao will organize a kung fupetition and the winner will be the Lord of Jade City. There will be no custom of the three countries taking turns to arrange a governor ever again.¡±


    A quarter of an hour had almost passed. Gu Shenwei was confused again by what had already been sorted out. This Prince Xiao was like a child who had just be an adult. Every idea of his was whimsical, seemingly extremely clever, but also very foolish. ¡°Kung fupetition? Prince Xiao wants to organize a kung fupetition?¡±


    ¡°Right. Your kung fu is so good that you are sure to win. This is the so-called ¡®gaining ownership of Jade City on your own without going to war.¡±


    ¡°Both you and Prince Xiao overestimate me. I¡¯m no match for the Unique King.¡±


    ¡°How do you know¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve tried.¡±


    Luo Ningcha nodded understandingly as she consoled, ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter. The contest is open to the public and everyone can join. Prince Xiao will find some kung fu masters from the Central ins to help you defeat the Unique King. Then¡­ Do you understand?¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head.


    ¡°You are kidding me, aren¡¯t you?¡± Luo Ningcha looked slightly dissatisfied, ¡°Prince Xiao said that you saved his life, so he must repay your favor. Thus, the kung fu masters from the Central ins will not show their full power and admit defeat when facing the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Hmph.¡± If Luo Ningcha had not been known for her simplicity, Gu Shenwei would have issued a challenge right then and there. ¡°Go back and tell Prince Xiao that I don¡¯t need his help, and nor am I interested in any kung fupetition for the Lord of Jade City. In less than half a month, I will break through Golden Roc Castle on my own. At that time, the Central ins Army will still be on their way.¡±


    Surprisingly, Luo Ningcha didn¡¯t get angry. She had obviously expected the Dragon King¡¯s answer, or maybe Prince Xiao had expected this and taught her this response beforehand. ¡°The Dragon King probably does not know this yet. The Unique King has offered Thousand Horsemen Pass to the Central ins. As long as the Dragon Kingunches an attack today, it¡¯ll be a deration of war on the Central ins. You can seize the pass, conquer the city, or even make yourself the king while the Central ins doesn¡¯t have time to intervene. However, sooner orter, the army will arrive. By that time, the Nond Cavalry will be able to run into the deste prairie and continue herding sheep and horses, but what is the Dragon King going to do? Flee like the Nond people and give up on the newly obtained Jade city, defend the pass to death, or be a lone city ruler like the Unique King?¡±


    Luo Ningcha had issued a powerful threat for the first time in her life. Even she herself was shocked and didn¡¯t speak for a long time, quietly basking in the pleasure of it.


    Gu Shenwei also kept silent, but contrary to Luo Ningcha¡¯s understanding, he was neither afraid nor tempted. Prince Xiao, who appeared to be a pompous man, might actually be a wise man. However, he did not know the Dragon King¡¯s real intentions.


    ¡°I look forward to a battle against the Central ins,¡± Gu Shenwei said in a t tone. Although he did not believe the story told by the Second Consort, he was quite sure that the person who had hired the golden roc killers to wipe out the Gu family must be from the Central ins. Perhaps it had something to do with the origin of someone in his family. In any case, his hatred would not abate after the death of the Unique King. Instead, it would just point to an even stronger enemy.


    The scene that Luo Ningcha had anticipated didn¡¯t happen, which threw her into confusion. She had said all the words that Prince Xiao had taught her, and could no longer think of any solution herself. Thus, her own reaction was to be exasperated. ¡°You¡­ Are you a fool? It¡¯s such a good deal. You can get Jade City and your title will be acknowledged by the Central ins. Even if you do not think for yourself, you should think of me and our son. He¡¯s your son. If someone else bes the Lord of Jade City, he¡¯ll end up with nothing. You have to ept the deal. You must ept the deal.¡±


    ¡°You can leave now, or you can stay to see how I take down Thousand Horsemen Pass today and ¡®dere war¡¯ on the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not leaving!¡± Luo Ningcha¡¯s well-kept facade of coolness was long gone. ¡°Idiot, do I have to sleep with you to make you a bit smarter? All right. As long as you can keep it a secret, I can ept it once.¡±


    Gu Shenwei started walking out of the tent.


    ¡°Twice¡­ Three times, as many times as you wish, Dragon King¡­¡±


    Luo Ningcha was so angry that she wanted to smash something, but there were too few items in the Dragon King¡¯s tent. There were only a few cups and bowls for her to vent her anger on, which fell on the nket and made a dull noise without cracking.


    Neither she nor the Dragon King could have imagined that the attack on Thousand Horsemen Pass was doomed to not take ce on this day.

 Chapter 854 - Murderer

    Chapter 854: Murderer


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    In the early morning, screams of terror and pain rang out at the same time, piercing the icy cold air like a stone breaking through a thinyer of ice. The soldiers who were fast asleep or taking a nap immediately woke up. Many people ran out of their tents without even putting on their armor. Armed with a bow, they anxiously looked around for the enemy.


    There were no enemies around. The screams of pain stopped, but the shrieks of terror continued to echo through the camp. The soldiers soon realized that the sound wasing from the Second Consort¡¯s tent.


    After the battle with Luoluo ended, the Second Consort had started living in a remote area of the Naihang Tribe¡¯s camp, seldom leaving her tent as if she were a widow in mourning. Many people said that the Second Consort had only buried Duodun¡¯s body, kept the head, and whispered to it at night.


    This rumor made those officers and soldiers of the Naihang Tribe not only respect her but also fear her. No one dared to approach the tents in that area unless it was absolutely necessary. The soldiers would even courteously stand aside for the Second Consort¡¯s maids and attendants whenever they appeared in the camp.


    The shrieks of terror and pain came from the same tent. The soldiers who had heard the sounds were all frightened, but they only nkly stared in that same direction; no one actually dared to investigate the situation.


    The soldiers waited for the officers, the officers waited for the generals, and the generals waited for the Commander-in-chief. It was only after the panic started ramping that they discovered another anomaly: General Zhesu, who usually reacted fast, and the reckless Prince Duoercha, who liked wandering around, did not appear at all.


    A daring captain, prompted by his colleagues, entered General Zhesu¡¯s tent and found that it was empty. Duoercha¡¯s tent was also empty. Only then did the crowd finally understand what the screams signified. Several deputymanders, ten captains, as well as many officers all swarmed into the Second Consort¡¯s tent.


    The female ves and attendants were all kneeling outside, frightened and paralyzed. The very first batch of people who entered the tent was also stunned by the scene before them.


    The generals, after a simple discussion, felt that the situation was too serious for them to deal with, so they chose the only remaining option: they asked the new Khan, who was several miles away, for help.


    The scalingdders were almost all delivered to Shulitu¡¯s camp by now, and the three corps that numbered 30,000 soldiers in total had arranged themselves in battle formation three miles away from Thousand Horsemen Pass. The remaining troops were marching towards the appointed location. This was the situation when the two captains of the Naihang Tribe arrived. They went straight to the new Khan, knelt, and said, ¡°The Second Consort has killed General Zhesu and Prince Duoercha, which caused a greatmotion in the army. A mutiny may ur at any time.¡±


    The n for attacking Thousand Horsemen Pass could only be canceled with that news. The siege weapons were left where they were and protected by the 30,000 soldiers on the front line. The remaining troops were all sent to the vicinity of the Naihang Tribe¡¯s camp.


    Under the deterrent of superior forces, Shulitu went to the camp of the Naihang Tribe while the Dragon King defended the rear.


    Before departing, the two only exchanged a few words.


    ¡°Is this part of your agreement with the Second Consort?¡± Gu Shenwei had asked Shulitu to negotiate with the Second Consort, but hadn¡¯t expected such a situation to ur.


    ¡°No.¡± Shulitu was so surprised that his face was even paler than the Dragon King¡¯s. ¡°Regarding the agreement I made with the Second Consort, I didn¡¯t hide a single word from the Dragon King. All I told her was that she would be granted the permanent title ¡®Second Consort of the Khan.¡¯ She doesn¡¯t have to marry me. She would also raise her own army with less than 30,000 soldiers. Then she would persuade the Naihang Tribe to surrender fully to me. She would only find a way to get rid of Zhesu if he¡¯s too stubborn. But¡­ She¡¯s been quiet these days. I thought¡­¡±


    Shulitu had thought that the Second Consort had too many difficulties and had therefore given up on the entire agreement. ¡°I haven¡¯t conferred her any titles yet. She¡¯ll get nothing from doing what she just did. I¡¯m really confused.¡±


    Shulitu went straight to the camp of the Naihang Tribe with a thousand or so soldiers. It was alreadyte in the morning. The bloody murders that had taken ce in the Second Consort had already made its rounds in the camp. The army stationed outside the camp also made people of the Naihang Tribe very nervous. So the first thing that Shulitu noticed when he entered the camp was quarrels and chaos.


    ¡°Avenge the General and the Prince!¡± one of the parties yelled. There were many supporters but no one dared to take action.


    ¡°Listen to the Second Consort¡¯s exnation first. There must be some exnation about it.¡±


    ¡°No need to ask. Prince Duoercha humiliated the Second Consort in public, but General Zhesu didn¡¯t punish him. The Second Consort is definitely venting her anger.¡±


    ¡°Shulitu¡­ The Khan is here.¡±


    ¡°Is he here to destroy the Naihang Tribe? Remember, we went through Luoluo¡¯s territory but he didn¡¯t stop us.¡±


    ¡­


    The new Khan¡¯s authority hadn¡¯t been thoroughly established yet. Shulitu stood before the generals and officers for a while as he waited for the bickering calmed down.


    ¡°Khan, did you order the Second Consort to do this?¡± someone asked directly.


    ¡°No,¡± Shulitu coldly replied. ¡°Ask the Second Consort toe out and talk.¡±


    ¡°She wouldn¡¯te out.¡± In fact, except for the first batch of generals and officers who had entered the tent, no one else dared to enter.


    Shulitu stopped his guards and walked into the Second Consort¡¯s living ce alone with a steady pace, showing no panic at all. This left a very deep impression in the onlookers¡¯ mind.


    After nearly an hour, Shulitu came out first, followed by the Second Consort with her hair disheveled, her face covered in bruises, and her hands covered in blood. And she shivered with every step she made.


    Several hundreds of generals and officers were outside the tent to see this scene. When the Second Consort raised her head and looked at them, all the people around took two or three steps back.


    ¡°The Second Consort has something to say,¡± Shulitu eximed, his demeanor as calm as he had been before he entered the tent.


    The Second Consort swallowed hard and told what had happened in the early morning in a trembling voice, ¡°It was before dawn¡­ Duoercha asked to see me while he was drunk.¡±


    The officers nodded. They still remembered Duoercha¡¯s drunken statest night. This son of King Rizhu obviously hadn¡¯t slept in his tent as usual.


    ¡°He said that he wanted to apologize to me so I could only get up¡­ to meet him,¡± the Second Consort said in a hollow voice as if she were telling someone else¡¯s story. ¡°He behaved himself at the beginning, but then he¡­ he started¡­ harassing me.¡±


    The Second Consort covered her face and wept. Speechless, the audience looked at each other, all feeling shocked by Duoercha¡¯s audacity.


    ¡°He said¡­ He said¡­ that the old Khan¡¯s woman was still a woman, Duodun could touch me, and so he could also touch me¡­¡± The Second Consort was choking by now and almost could not go on. It took her some time to stop crying. ¡°I sent someone to ask General Zhesu for help.¡±


    The Second Consort pointed to the ve girl nearby who was kneeling on the ground and shaking terribly from fear even four hourster. ¡°I¡­ I went to invite General Zhesu. He was very unhappy.¡±


    What happened next was still told by the Second Consort. ¡°But Duoercha couldn¡¯t wait any longer before General Zhesu came. He¡­ He came at me¡­¡±


    The Second Consort started to cry again. It was really hard for her to speak of her humiliation before so many men. The officers all felt ashamed and even thought that it was a mistake that they had invited the new Khan here.


    ¡°He stripped my clothes¡­ I¡­ I stabbed him with a dagger¡­ He kept screaming¡­ screaming. I was so scared, so I was also screaming¡­¡±


    This was how the screams of pain and terror had rang out in the early morning, but Zhesu¡¯s death was still a mystery.


    The Second Consort could not go on. Shulitu pointed at the ve girl and said, ¡°You saw the rest of it, so tell us what happened next.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± The ve girl stammered, and it took her a long while topose herself enough to continue. ¡°The General rushed into the tent, and he was very¡­ very angry, he rushed to¡­ beat the Second Consort, saying that if the Prince was dead, then the Second Consort had to be buried alive alongside him¡­ The Second Consort¡¯s dagger was snatched by the General. She couldn¡¯t beat¡­ She couldn¡¯t beat¡­¡±


    The ve girl trembled so much that she could not go on. Shulitu had already questioned her in the tent so he finished the story. ¡°The Second Consort¡¯s dagger fell at the ve girl¡¯s feet. She then picked it up and stabbed into General Zhesu¡¯s back. Unfortunately, it hit his vitals.¡±


    The crowd was very surprised. This ve girl had been kneeling outside with the others and no one had noticed her. They didn¡¯t expect that she was actually one of the murderers.


    That was the truth told by the Second Consort. The officers whispered to each other, all trying to process the new information.


    ¡°Lies!¡± cried a voice from the crowd. Then a stout Centurion pushed his way to the front. ¡°General Zhesu is a veteran and Duoercha is as robust as a bull. How could they have been killed by two women? It¡¯s a conspiracy, a designed trap! The General and Prince were murdered.¡±


    The captain was an impatient man. Without waiting for an answer from his colleagues, he rushed up to the ve girl,id his saber on her neck, and snapped, ¡°Tell the truth! Tell me the truth!¡±


    Frightened, the ve girl copsed to the ground, no longer able to say a word, let alone tell any ¡®truth¡¯.


    The Second Consort looked at the sky and wailed, ¡°Come and kill me. I¡¯m a bad woman and a traitor of the Naihang Tribe anyways who dared to resist Duoercha¡¯s bullying. Old Khan, why didn¡¯t you burn me to ashes earlier?¡±


    The Second Consort¡¯s old trick still worked. Some officers immediately scolded the captain who had drawn his saber.


    The captain was a confidant of Zhesu¡¯s and a friend of Duoercha¡¯s. Enraged, he cut off the head of the female ve and turned to the Second Consort. ¡°Since you want to court death, then I¡¯ll satisfy you and avenge the General and the Prince!¡±


    The Second Consort paled at his words. Shulitu then ordered, ¡°I am the Khan of the prairie, and Imand you to back off.¡±


    Driven by his crazed bloodlust, the captain shot him a sidelong nce and castigated Shulitu. ¡°You are just a wimpy kid, how can you im yourself to be the Khan? You must have been involved in the murder of the General and the Prince. Right, you and the Second Consort¡­¡±


    He actually dared to disrespect the new Khan in public. Shulitu¡¯s entourage and some officers of the Naihang Tribe furiously jumped at him.


    But no one was faster than Nie Zeng. He dashed out to the captain like a flying arrow and punched out, sending the body that was two or three timesrger than him flying away.


    The captain got up, spat out two teeth with blood, turned to run outside, and slurred in a muffled voice, ¡°All the warriors of the Naihang Tribe with hot blood, follow me. We don¡¯t acknowledge the new Khan¡­¡±


    Nie Zeng looked back at Shulitu. Some officers took out their bows and arrows, waiting for the Khan¡¯smand.


    ¡°Let him go. Do not stop him,¡± Shulitu said, making the decision on his own.


    Many people at the scene regretted this because more officers and soldiers left the camp after hearing his order.


    The 100,000 horsemen of the Naihang Tribe were split into two groups. Within half a day, at least 40,000 people had fled to their hometown in the northwest.


    This was the first reason why the nned attack on Thousand Horsemen Pass was canceled. Luo Ningcha, who was still in the Dragon King¡¯s tent, became very excited upon hearing this. She ordered the maids to dress her up in the most gorgeous clothes, ready to have a second negotiation with the Dragon King.

 Chapter 855 - Autopsy

    Chapter 855: Autopsy


    Trantor: Henyee Trantions Editor: Henyee Trantions


    Shulitu shivered in his chair. The bloody scene inside of the Second Consort¡¯s tent still lingered in his mind. He could keep his cool in front of outsiders, but at heart, he was still terrified.


    ¡°That¡¯s different,¡± he said. He was probably embarrassed about his diposure, but Shulitu exined himself even though the Dragon King did not ask. ¡°Killing and being killed is predictable¡­ on the battlefield. But the two corpses were right there¡­ Zhesu and Duoercha didn¡¯t expect to be killed. The dim light, the blood on the floor, and the Second Consort¡¯s eyes¡­ I hope that the Dragon King doesn¡¯tugh at me.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Gu Shenwei replied. As a twelve year old kid, Shulitu¡¯s performance had been almost impable. ¡°So, you think that the Second Consort schemed to kill the two of them.¡±


    Shulitu nodded first, but then shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s a guess or just a feeling of mine. I don¡¯t have any direct evidence. The Second Consort is a powerful woman. Even if she proposes to me, I wouldn¡¯t dare ept it now.¡±


    Shulitu wasn¡¯t rich in worldly experience yet, but he would slowly learn that a lot of the truth was hidden in one¡¯s feelings.


    ¡°Did she make you an offer?¡±


    Killing Zhesu and Duoercha was one of the terms, but the Second Consort had done so ahead of time.


    ¡°No.¡± Shulitu raised his head, looking a little puzzled. ¡°I also thought¡­ that this is the strangest part. The Second Consort seemed to be really scared at that time, and her emotions couldn¡¯t have been faked. But she didn¡¯t mention anything about the coronation from beginning to end. I mentioned it, but she didn¡¯t answer.¡±


    The Second Consort was bing more and more of a problem, but she was not the biggest problem at the moment.


    ¡°Was I wrong to let the people of the Naihang Tribe go?¡± Shulitu asked. He had not received much approval of his actions at that time, which made him very uneasy.


    ¡°You did the right thing. Forcing the people of the Naihang Tribe to stay might have caused serious disturbances and could have ruined the chance to exin the situation instead.¡±


    Shulitu let out a long sigh of relief. He was more willing to believe the Dragon King¡¯s judgment than those of the officers.


    After the private talk with the Dragon King, Shulitu immediately summoned the officers of the army to discuss a deal with the Naihang Tribe¡¯s defection. Gu Shenwei listened for a while before leaving the tent on his own.


    Dugu Xian followed him out and said, ¡°It¡¯s a bit tricky. Some people are scared that the escaped soldiers of the Naihang Tribe will instigate the rest of the Naihang Tribe to revolt and to even join together and turn against the new Khan¡¯s enemy.¡±


    ¡°The Khan has to send someone to exin this to the people of the Naihang Tribe immediately.¡±


    ¡°Yes. So tomorrow, we must take Thousand Horsemen Pass. We can¡¯t dy anymore.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, tomorrow.¡±


    After departing with the General of the Left, Gu Shenwei went to check the corpses with the guards.


    Zhesu and Duoercha¡¯s corpses had been brought back. Shulitu had promised to the remaining Naihang soldiers that the two would be given a funeral beyond the standard.


    The corpses had been washed clean and the wounds were very clear, each one with a small wound mark. It was hard to imagine the two stout men had died from it.


    Duoercha¡¯s penis had been cut off but carefully sewn back. He had died of excessive bleeding. When he was screaming, the soldiers and officers outside were still in a daze and thus weren¡¯t able to save him in time.


    Zhesu, on the other hand, had died in an instant. He was pierced through the heart from his back.


    Gu Shenwei returned to his own tent. He then sent someone to arrange another living ce for Luo Ningcha and was refusing to meet her again.


    Han Fen had epted the order and smiled happily as soon as she entered the tent. ¡°The Second Consort is really ruthless. She was still so timid when cutting off Duodun¡¯s head, but this time, she¡¯s so bold. I should get her to join the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    ¡°Have you talked to the Second Consort about this?¡±


    ¡°About what?¡± Han Fen looked puzzled.


    ¡°Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    ¡°No. Why would I talk about Waning Moon Hall with her? I just said it casually. It¡¯s up to the Master Commander to decide who should be taken as a disciple.¡±


    ¡°Have you ever seen the Second Consort besides the night when Duodunmitted suicide?¡±


    Han Fen looked up and thought for a while before saying, ¡°Hmm. I¡¯ve met her a few times but I can¡¯t remember exactly how many times. There was once when she asked to see the Dragon King, once when she went to see the little girl, and once ¡­¡±


    The so-called ¡®meeting¡¯ mentioned by Han Fen was just a nce from a distance. Gu Shenwei hurriedly interrupted her. ¡°I meant a private meeting where you have a private talk with her.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Han Fen immediately shook her head. ¡°I remember that very well.¡±


    ¡°There are disciples of the Waning Moon Hall hiding in the camp then,¡± Gu Shenwei said quietly.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s me, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s someone else besides you.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Han Fen¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°Could it be possible that the Master Commander has sent someone for me? Dragon King, if that¡¯s the case, then please do me a favor and let me go. You know, I¡¯m useless and I eat a lot. I know that it¡¯s not easy for you to support so many people and I¡¯d be d to relieve your burden a bit¡­¡±


    ¡°Find the hidden disciples of the Waning Moon Hall and I¡¯ll consider letting you go.¡±


    ¡°Heehee, the Dragon King is trying to use me, right? I¡¯m not stupid.¡± Han Fen changed her tone.


    ¡°Right. I¡¯m using you aspensation for the food you ate. And I promise that I¡¯ll provide everyone you find with food and amodation, no matter how many Waning Moon Hall members you root out. I also won¡¯t kill them, but I won¡¯t show mercy if I find them myself.¡±


    ¡°What does the Dragon King mean by showing no mercy? Scolding, raping, or killing?¡±


    ¡°Kill.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Han Fen thought for a while before her eyes lit up again. ¡°Is this apetition? To see who can find the most disciples of the Waning Moon Hall first?¡±


    ¡°Yes. If you win, I¡¯ll let you go. If you lose¡­¡±


    ¡°You want me to sleep with you?¡±


    ¡°If you lose, you¡¯ll have to renounce your allegiance to the Master Commander.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t do.¡± Han Fen anxiously shook her head. ¡°No, I can¡¯t. If I lose¡­¡±


    ¡°If you lose, you are not allowed to eat for three days.¡± Gu Shenwei wanted Han Fen to win.


    ¡°All right.¡± Han Fen immediately agreed, but then suddenly sighed. ¡°I wish that Han Xuan were here. She¡¯s the best at this game. She can find all of the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall with just her nose. Dragon King, I miss her.¡±


    ¡°Then let the game begin. When you win, you¡¯ll be able to go back and see her.¡±


    Han Fen turned around and jumped out of the tent. She wanted to take the lead from the very beginning.


    After a while, Doctor Sun came to see the Dragon King and discontentedlyined, ¡°Dragon King, I¡¯ve told you a long time ago that anyone who ims that they can cure every disease is a swindler. As incapable as I am, even the treatment of the injured soldiers is a bit beyond my ability, but now you want me to examine corpses. To tell you the truth¡­¡±


    ¡°How did it go?¡±


    ¡°How did it go? It¡¯s obvious. One died from blood loss while the other died of the fatal wound in the back.


    ¡°No signs of poisoning?¡±


    Although Doctor Sunined, he had still done a meticulous examination. ¡°There was a small sign, but not obvious. The only way to confirm it was to cut open the body and make a thorough check. For some hidden poisons, one cannot always judge from the appearance of the victim. Instead, one must look at the victim¡¯s internal organs, which will always be damaged.¡±


    An autopsy would cause a big stir among the soldiers of the Naihang Tribe. Gu Shenwei did not want to the spection of poisoning to spread at all. ¡°Leave it alone for now.¡±


    Doctor Sun nodded and turned to leave when he turned his head and asked, ¡°The Dragon King suspects that the two were poisoned by the Waning Moon Hall, correct? But the Second Consort¡­ Right, the Second Consort is also a woman. s, women.¡±


    Gu Shenwei still could not believe that the Second Consort could secretly join the Waning Moon Hall. The Second Consort¡¯s ideal of fighting for power waspletely contrary to that of Lotus¡¯s. But he had the same doubt as that captain who had run away from the camp: How could Zhesu and Duoercha have possibly been killed by those two weak women, one master and the other a ve girl?


    Doctor Sun usually did not make guesses, but he saw that the Dragon King was very concerned about the matter so he gave his opinion before leaving. ¡°I didn¡¯t see any traces of the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s poisons. Even if the Second Consort really poisoned them, she must have used poison from a different source.¡±


    Gu Shenwei agreed. But this made the Second Consort¡¯s behavior even moreplicated and confusing.


    Shulitu had just finished a meeting. He sent out 50,000 horsemen with an experienced general as theirmander to pursue the fleeing Naihang soldiers and to try to persuade them to change their mind. If that did not work, then they would try not to start a war and instead go together to the Naihang Tribe and dere the new Khan¡¯s decree.


    Shulitu was a bit anxious. He had just be the new Khan. The betrayal of the Naihang Tribe, which used to be an important ally of his, would have arge impact on the grasnd. He wanted to go to the Naihang Tribe in person, but he also wanted to stay and help the Dragon King seize Thousand Horsemen Pass or even break into Jade City.


    ¡°Take Thousand Horsemen Pass and you will be able to lead the troops to appease the Naihang Tribe. Also, Luoluo is said to be regrouping his troops in the north. It¡¯s necessary to stay on guard.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Shulitu nodded seriously. ¡°How many horsemen does the Dragon King want to leave behind?¡±


    ¡°Ten thousand.¡±


    ¡°Ten thousand?¡± Shulitu was surprised because this number was much lower than what he had expected. ¡°I don¡¯t need too many troops, but the Dragon King has to fight against Jade City while simultaneously guarding against the people of the Central ins¡­¡±


    ¡°I have my ways.¡± Gu Shenwei even thought that the ten thousand horsemen were too many. Neither he nor Dugu Xian wanted to use too much of the Nond¡¯s power in the Western Regions.


    When he walked the Dragon King out of the tent, Shulitu looked a little excited. He had been ill at ease with his status this whole time. For the very first time, he felt that it was possible to really get rid of his identity as a puppet.


    The n to attack Thousand Horsemen Pass was postponed by one day. Golden Roc Castle¡¯s garrison and the Central ins¡¯ 10,000 strong vanguard did not take the initiative to challenge them. The two sides seemed to have reached a tacit understanding, so the front line was quiet during the day.


    That evening, the counselor Fang Wenshi rushed back to the camp without his entourage and was almost shot dead by a sentry who did not recognize him. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found that the battle for Thousand Horsemen Pass had not begun.


    ¡°Dragon King, we can¡¯t attack the Thousand Horsemen Pass, at least not for now,¡± Fang Wenshi blurted out as soon as he entered the tent without even greeting the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei was working with Dugu Xian to perfect the n to attack the city. He looked up at the sweaty counselor and asked, ¡°Who are you lobbying for?¡±


    Although Fang Wenshi was loyal to the Dragon King, he was easily influenced by others. Sometimes, he wanted to convince someone but ended up with being persuaded himself. He himself, however, did not think so, so he was slightly stunned and said, ¡°Of course for the Dragon King. Is the Dragon King worried that I was bribed? I came back all alone.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, give me a reason.¡±


    Fang Wenshi took a nce at Dugu Xian. Seeing no response from the Dragon King, Fang Wenshi continued, saying, ¡°I wasn¡¯t able to go to the Lon Kingdom. I met the Central ins Army along the way and the one leading the army was exactly the governor Wei Song. He politely received me and imed that the Central ins was willing to ally with the Dragon King. Wei Song was slippery so I secretly investigated Wei Song¡¯s status in the Central ins Court ording to the Dragon King¡¯s instructions.¡±


    Fang Wenshi paused for a moment before continuing. ¡°In order to fight a decisive battle with the Nond, the Central ins has gathered an unprecedentedlyrge army. Themander-in-chief¡¯s name is Pang Ning. Not only is he the General-in-chief of the Central ins, but he¡¯s also a rtive of Wei Song¡¯s by marriage.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Gu Shenwei still did not understand. The Pang family and the Wei family were rtives by marriage, but that seemed to have nothing to do with their attack on Thousand Horsemen Pass.


    Fang Wenshi spoke too fast. He finally poured out the most important piece of information after catching his breath. ¡°Didn¡¯t the Dragon King want to know who Wei Song¡¯s political enemy was? It¡¯s precisely that Prince Xiao. If the Dragon King attacks Thousand Horsemen Pass, the Central ins Army will be drawn over. Wei Song and Pang Ning will gain the upper hand and Prince Xiao will lose his power. Otherwise, Prince Xiao will have a deed of merit, while Wei Song and Pang Ning will return with nothing. The Dragon King can make an informed choice now.¡±

 Chapter 856 - Eliminating Hatred

    Chapter 856: Eliminating Hatred


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The General-in-chief, Pang Ning, had served three emperors so far. Gu Shenwei had even heard of his name when he was little. At that time, Pang Ning wasn¡¯t as prominent in the Imperial Court of the Central ins, but he had already held a reasonably high position. Gu Lun had mentioned this person often, but his tone was not particrly friendly.


    Gu Shenwei still remembered what Wei Song had said. He and Gu Lun were favored ministers of thete emperor and were seriously opposed to another group of old ministers. When thete emperor died, Gu Lun had gone to the Western Regions, but Wei Song had chosen to give in to his political opponent. Now, when Gu Shenwei thought about it, Wei Song¡¯s political enemy was probably this Pang Ning.


    The factions and political struggles in the Imperial Court of the Central ins were much moreplicated than those in the Nond. Gu Shenwei knew very little about them, and Fang Wenshi could simrly find out nothing in great detail. He was only able to sketch out a very simple, generalized summary. ¡°The ministers of the Central ins can be divided into two factions, one of which is supported by the Empress Dowager. That faction currently consists of Pang Ning, Wei Song, and some other people. The other faction has taken shelter under the wings of the little emperor. The two sides fight fiercely both overtly and covertly, and dispute each other over almost every aspect, especially in their stance towards the Nond and the Western Regions.¡±


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s eyes swept over the face of the Dragon King and Dugu Xian, hoping that they would understand what he was trying to say as soon as possible. ¡°The Empress Dowager¡¯s faction hopes to gain power through the war while the ministers on the other side oppose it on the grounds that it¡¯s a waste of manpower and money. The two factions are thus engaged in a heated argument. The Khan¡¯s death and the Nond¡¯s schism initially gave the upper hand to the Empress Dowager¡¯s faction. Even the little emperor thinks this is the best time for a decisive battle. So, Prince Xiao hase secretly to the Western Regions to stop the war.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not say anything in response. Wei Song had a really slippery personality. When he had tried to persuade the Dragon King to assassinate the Khan, he didn¡¯t mention anything about the disputes between the factions of the Imperial Court of the Central ins.


    Dugu Xian, who wasn¡¯t interested in the Imperial Court of the Central ins at all, chuckled and said, ¡°This Prince Xiao sounds like a treacherous court official.¡±


    Fang Wenshi shook his head with a serious look. ¡°It¡¯s not that simple. It¡¯s hard to tell who¡¯s loyal or treacherous just based off of whether one is belligerent or not. Besides, at its core, it is a matter of the Central ins. No matter how loyal or treacherous he is, it is good as long as it¡¯s beneficial for the Dragon King. At present, Prince Xiao is the one who wants to befriend with the Dragon King. Wei Song can barely wait to wipe out the Dragon King tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Have you met Prince Xiao?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°No. Time was too limited, but I¡¯ve gained the authorization to see him at any time now.¡±


    ¡°Then how do you know that Prince Xiao wants to befriend with me?¡±


    ¡°I wanted toe back and tell the Dragon King about Wei Song, and on the way back, I met that short old woman called Tu Pianpian or something. She recognized me and gabbled on for a while. She didn¡¯t know much, but I understood it all right away so I rushed back. Fortunately, I arrived in time.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded to Dugu Xian and said, ¡°That¡¯s it for now. General Dugu will continue preparing for tomorrow¡¯s siege battle.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Dugu Xian knew that the meeting was over so he bowed and retreated.


    Fang Wenshi looked at Dugu Xian¡¯s back until the other side had lowered the tent p, and then he quickly turned around to ask, ¡°The Dragon King still wants revenge even at the risk of going to war with the Central ins, right? Do you still remember what you said?¡±


    On his first day as Gu Shenwei¡¯s counselor, Fang Wenshi had asked the Dragon King to promise to fight for supremacy before settling any personal vendetta.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Gu Shenwei replied. ¡°The siege of Thousand Horsemen Pass is rted to my personal revenge, but I have good reasons for doing it. No matter how much the Central ins threatens us, their main force won¡¯t be able to catch up until this winter. If we take Jade City, then the Dragon Army will have a whole winter to prepare themselves, and Shulitu can also take that chance to unify the grasnds and bring back more horsemen next year. I don¡¯t think that the Central ins Army is invincible.¡±


    ¡°That kid has be the Khan?¡± Fang Wenshi casually asked, trying to sort out his thoughts and ease the harshness of the Dragon King.


    ¡°Mmm.¡±


    ¡°Very good.¡± Although he said this, Fang Wenshi shook his head out of habit. ¡°What if Shulitu can¡¯t unify the prairie? What if he can¡¯t bring back enough horsemen next year? Maybe everything will go well, but what if the Nond people conclude that it¡¯s not a good time to take a decisive battle and they instead persuade the new Khan to not go to war? It is still easy to control Shulitu at the moment because the new ¡®Royal Court¡¯ has not formed around him. However, this kind of situation won¡¯tst long. As long as the Dragon King lets go of him¡­¡±


    ¡°There are too many ¡®ifs¡¯ in your thoughts. And should I give up the great opportunity in my hand because of them? Counselor Fang, I respect your opinion, but you should know that as long as I can block the offensive of the Central ins Army next year, Pang Ning and Wei Song will still lose power in the Imperial Court, and Prince Xiao will still choose to ally with me. I believe that the Emperor of the Central ins is not a reckless grudge keeper. The more firmly the Dragon Army has a grasp of Jade City, the more favorable it will be for us in the negotiations.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true but it¡¯s too risky. If the Dragon King fails at any point, there will be no turning back.¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t I been taking risks this whole time?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s different. There was no alternative before, but, this time, the Dragon King has multiple choices between different risks.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought for a while and decided that he should be more open-minded so he told Fang Wenshi the terms that Luo Ningcha had brought, which were more detailed than Tu Pianpian¡¯s statement. Finally, he said, ¡°See, that¡¯s it. Prince Xiao is also not a friend of ours. He said that he would give me the position of Lord of Jade City, but if the kung fu masters he sends to assist me be a bit ¡®careless,¡¯ I¡¯ll actually end up with nothing.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King has no confidence in defeating the kung fu experts of the Central ins and the Unique King?¡± Fang Wenshi asked puzzledly. He had always believed that the Dragon King had the best martial arts skills in the world.


    ¡°I once only killed a man from the Central ins with someone¡¯s help. I can assure you that I¡¯m no match for him if I fought alone. It¡¯s also said that that man wasn¡¯t the most powerful kung fu master in the Central ins. As for the Unique King, I met him not too long ago and I was defeated in one blow.¡±


    Fang Wenshi gasped as this was the first time he had heard of the Dragon King suffering any kind of defeat. ¡°Well¡­ That¡¯s why¡­ Who helped the Dragon King defeat the man of the Central ins? You can ask him for help again¡­¡±


    ¡°Lotus. It was a special asion, and we had no choice but to join hands.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was stunned yet again. He knew that the Waning Moon Hall was a sworn enemy of the Dragon King now and that there was no possibility of cooperating with them again. ¡°Even if we lose Jade City, the Dragon King will still have the Xiaoyao Lake and the Land of Fragrance. Also, we can even upy the Shule Kingdom before the Central ins reacts. We still have a chance. As I said before, it¡¯ll take ten years, a decade or so, to struggle for hegemony. As long as the Central ins Army retreats from the Western Regions, we can still find a way to take Jade City back. But if we go to war with the Central ins now, we may win a great victory, but we may also lose everything. Dragon King, please think it through twice as there¡¯s no turning back if we attack Thousand Horsemen Pass tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡±


    Fang Wenshi let out a long sigh and said, ¡°In this case, I¡¯ll stay because it¡¯d be meaningless to try and negotiate with the Central ins again.¡±


    ¡°Mmm. I need you too. After conquering Thousand Horsemen Pass, Shulitu will go and pacify the Naihang Tribe. Go with him and do not let the new Khan¡¯s ¡®Royal Court¡¯ rise too fast.¡±


    ¡°It shall be done.¡± Fang Wenshi, who liked significant assignments, immediately became interested, his disappointment vanishing right away. ¡°Yes, someone has to stay right by Shulitu¡¯s side. The Dragon King is going to fight against Jade City next, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and I hope that the war will be over by the end of the year. If everything goes well, the people of Jade City will not resist fiercely.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is ready?¡± Fang Wenshi understood the Dragon King¡¯s hint.


    ¡°I made a move, but I don¡¯t know the results yet.¡±


    ¡°Haha, the residents of Jade City are the most snobbish people in the world. I believe that the preparations made by the Dragon King will surely be sessful. It¡¯s funny that the city full of socialites created by the Unique Kings of the past generations will end up being destroyed through their own hands.¡±


    Fang Wenshi took his leave. Before leaving, he reminded onest time, ¡°Regarding safety and risk, the Dragon King has already heard it clearly exined, so I have nothing more to say. But no matter what the Dragon King¡¯s choice is, I will fully support him in it.¡±


    As he reconsidered the siege n, Gu Shenwei had to admit that although this move wouldy a foundation for obtaining the dominant position in one fell swoop, the characteristics of revenge were so obvious that he couldn¡¯t turn a blind eye to them. After his visit to the Nond, he had be more and more sure that the mastermind behind the Gu family¡¯s ughter was from the Central ins. Wei Song was the most suspect person; at the very least, that old fox was an insider who was heavily entangled in it.


    He wanted revenge. Half of Golden Roc Castle was already in his hands, but his hatred burned even more fiercely than ever. He was even secretly d that his vendetta still had more for him to aplish.


    Gu Shenwei needed the great power of hatred, but also hoped that he could keep it strictly in his hands, which made him even more confused.


    ¡°Nie Zeng.¡± He called for his bodyguard. He needed to do something to distract himself.


    Nie Zeng walked in from outside the tent, looking gloomy and not quite normal.


    Gu Shenwei was not good at alleviating disputes among the people around him so he stared at the teenager for a while before asking, ¡°What¡¯s the matter with you and Tie Linglong?¡±


    ¡°No, nothing.¡± Nie Zeng blushed a little as he bashfully answered the Dragon King¡¯s question, his tone much more different from usual.


    ¡°You like her?¡±


    Gu Shenwei subconsciously used his negotiation skills andunched a ¡®surprise attack¡¯. This move was obviously inappropriate at resolving contradictions. Nie Zeng¡¯s face turned redder, and he didn¡¯t directly answer this time. ¡°I also want to tell the Dragon King one thing.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°I hope¡­ I hope that the Dragon King will allow me to protect the Khan.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that what you are doing now?¡±


    Nominally, Nie Zeng was still the Dragon King¡¯s bodyguard even though he actually spent more than half of his time protecting Shulitu. That was why Gu Shenwei had asked him this question.


    ¡°What I mean is¡­ I¡¯ll only protect the Khan. I¡¯ll follow him from now on like Silver Condor.¡±


    ¡°Shulitu invited you to be his wing guard?¡± Gu Shenwei was a little surprised.


    ¡°He has this intention, but dares not mention it to the Dragon King, but I believe that the Dragon King won¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°Of course not.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s not the main reason why I decided to leave.¡± Nie Zeng took a deep breath and looked at the Dragon King calmly. ¡°I¡¯ve avenged myself and no longer need to stay with the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve avenged yourself?¡±


    ¡°Mmm. When I went to Jade City, I did something personal.¡±


    Gu Shenwei remembered that Tie Linglong had once told him that Nie Zeng had disappeared for a while in Jade City. He had probably gone and dealt with his personal affairs. Gu Shenwei remained silent, waiting for the teenager to exin further.


    ¡°You and Tie Hanfeng were just hired to kill my uncle¡¯s family. I found the hirer.¡±


    ¡°You killed him?¡± Gu Shenwei suddenly became a bit envious that the teenager¡¯s hatred was so simple.


    ¡°No.¡± Nie Zeng¡¯s answer really surprised Gu Shenwei. ¡°That man was just a small peddler who sold flower powder. Because of a small conflict, my uncle¡­ broke his leg, and that was where the hatred had started. He said that he didn¡¯t want to kill my uncle¡¯s family. He just wanted a finger from him. I believed him. So I found the middleman at that time. He was almost dead and did not remember my uncle¡¯s family at all. He said, ¡®This is Jade City. Everyonees for money and killing. You ask me why I killed your uncle, but I¡¯d like to ask you why not. Didn¡¯t your unclee all the way here to kill people?¡¯ That¡¯s it. My enemy isn¡¯t you, the peddler, or the middleman. It¡¯s the entire Jade City. From the moment my uncle entered that city and drew his saber, his death had be predestined. I have no more hatred nor any need for revenge.¡±

 Chapter 857 - Decision

    Chapter 857: Decision


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Long Fanyun lost his temper again for no reason.


    ¡°Don¡¯t treat me like a child. Do you think that I¡¯m a useless piece of garbage that can¡¯t do anything anymore?¡±


    Red Bat forced a smile onto her face, but she did not stop, still holding the chamber pot and helping Long Fanyun, who was lying in bed, urinate. ¡°You are not a child, and neither are you a piece of garbage. You are just recovering from your wounds.¡±


    With a cold face, Long Fanyun showed no gratitude at all. ¡°You don¡¯t have to make that face. Even I can smell the odor of urine, so why do you pretend to not smell it? Just turn around and show your disgust. I don¡¯t care.¡±


    For a moment, Red Bat did not know what to do. She was still hesitating when Long Fanyun finished urinating and pushed her aside. He pulled up his pants, grabbed the nket to cover himself, andy down on his head. But even these few simple movements pulled at his wounds and caused a sharp pain to run through him that made him sweat all over his head.


    Red Bat put down the chamber pot and picked up a handkerchief to wipe it down. Long Fanyun raised his hand to stop her and said, ¡°No need, I¡¯m good. At the least, I know that I¡¯m still alive.¡±


    ¡°Rest then. It¡¯s growingte.¡±


    Long Fanyun turned his head and red at her. ¡°How am I going to sleep if you stay here?¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t I been here this whole time?¡± Red Bat revealed a tender smile, which was a skill that she had developed as a ve girl. It had always worked before, but this time, it failed.


    ¡°Nonsense. I was in aa that time. How could it be the same as now?¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t get angry. I¡¯ll leave right away. Divine Doctor Sun said that you need time to calm your mind¡­¡±


    ¡°Doctor Sun this, Doctor Sun that; do you think that everything he says is the truth? Do you think that he¡¯s an immortal? Just go if you want to, the further the better.¡±


    Red Bat understood men, but she had never seen someone act like this. The better she treated him, the angrier he became. Puzzled, she asked, ¡°Are you forcing me to leave you? I told you that I don¡¯t care¡­¡±


    ¡°I care.¡± Bearing the great pain in his leg, Long Fanyun gritted his teeth and said, ¡°I am a swordsman of the Big Snow Mountain, the chieftain of the Canopy Peak. I¡¯d rather live standing or die lying down rather than be what I am now.¡±


    ¡°Divine Doctor Sun said you might be able to stand up one day,¡± Red Bat said haltingly, a little frightened by Long Fanyun¡¯s words.


    The words ¡®Divine Doctor Sun¡¯ merely roused Long Fanyun¡¯s anger even further. ¡°What¡¯s the use of standing up? Can I walk freely? Can I ride a horse? Can I use my sword? I am a joke now and it¡¯s all because of you. It was you who let Doctor Sun save me. Why didn¡¯t you just let me die in the first ce? Then I could have been a hero of Big Snow Mountain.¡±


    ¡°Slowly¡­ It¡¯s going to be okay¡­ I think that you can still use your sword¡­¡±


    ¡°Use the sword as a cane?¡± Long Fanyun said in a mockingly sarcastic tone. This reticent man was finding fault in every word of Red Bat¡¯s. ¡°Give it up! Do not use your false hope to deceive me. It is what it is. Thanks to you and Doctor Sun, I am now a cripple. And I¡¯m also at your disposal now. Are you happy?¡±


    All the skills that Red Bat had learned and used to deal with men were useless against this man. Standing by the bed in a daze, her tears burst out. Long Fanyun¡¯s cold face, however, did not soften in the slightest. ¡°Get out,¡± he said callously.


    Red Bat ran out of the tent. After she left, Long Fanyun stared up nkly, his eyes not blinking at all. Whenever any thoughts came up, he forcefully suppressed them. He did not want to think, nor did he dare to think; he was afraid that if he hesitated at all, he would be weak.


    Several swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain snooped around at the door and peeked inside every now and then.


    ¡°Come on in,¡± said Long Fanyun in a warm tone.


    The swordsmen filed in and silently looked at their chieftain. They all belonged to Canopy Peak.


    ¡°Bring the wine and we are still brothers. Get the hell out of here if you don¡¯t have any wine with you.¡± Long Fanyun said harshly.


    The swordsmen looked at each other, and then a young man took out a full wine bag from behind him. ¡°Is this enough?¡±


    Long Fanyun sat up and snatched it even as he bared his teeth in pain. But he still raised his head and took a hearty swig. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s what I call living.¡±


    The swordsmen allughed, and the young man sat by the bed, punching the chieftain on the shoulder. ¡°It looks like you are alright. We were worried¡­¡±


    Long Fanyun held the wine bag with one hand, put the other on the back of the young swordsman¡¯s neck, and pressed down hard as he said, ¡°I am fine¡­ of course.¡±


    The young swordsman¡¯s face turned red, and with a sudden burst of strength, he straightened his neck and pushed the big hand off. Long Fanyun fell back onto his pillow with wine spilling all over his body.


    The young swordsman felt a bit embarrassed, but Long Fanyun did not care. Instead, he smiled and said, ¡°Little Seven¡¯s strength has grown a lot.¡±


    The young swordsman named Little Seven smirked while a swordsman who looked a bit older took the chance to ask, ¡°Chief, what happened to Red Bat? We saw her¡­ She was crying.¡±


    The mirthful atmosphere became awkward. Long Fanyun put away his smile, took a sip of wine, but did not answer.


    The young swordsman coughed twice and said, ¡°Are you worried about your wife back in Big Snow Mountain? The situation is quite peculiar at the moment, we can go exin to herter. She¡¯ll understand¡­¡±


    Looking at the few people in front of him, Long Fanyun¡¯s voice became quite emotional when he said, ¡°How many people did we have when we left the mountain to follow the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Hundreds of people,¡± replied one swordsman, not understanding what the chieftain was trying to say.


    ¡°Canopy Peak didn¡¯t have that many people. Before we went to the Land of Fragrance, we had a total of 861 soldiers.¡± As the chieftain, Long Fanyun remembered the number clearly. ¡°It¡¯s been more than two years now. And look, we can¡¯t even fill up a tent now. One, two, three, four¡­ Eight people. Eight and a half people including me.¡±


    ¡°We still have some brothers at Xiaoyao Lake.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, 134 brothers. I remember them. As long as we take Thousand Horsemen Pass, we¡¯ll meet again soon. Then we¡¯ll attack Jade City and burn down Golden Roc Castle together.¡±


    The thought of burning down Golden Roc Castle aroused the swordsmen¡¯s fighting spirit. The nine of them then took turns drinking starting from Long Fanyun.


    ¡°We of Canopy Peak haven¡¯t brought disgrace to the Big Snow Mountain,¡± a swordsman said loudly after drinking.


    ¡°No, we haven¡¯t,¡± they all said back in unison.


    Only then did Long Fanyun pick up the topic where he had left it off earlier. ¡°Do you still want to go back with me to persuade my wife? Do you still think¡­ that I should keep Red Bat with me?¡±


    No one spoke. The eight swordsmen all understood the chieftain¡¯s mind. It would be a tough fight against Jade City, and no one knew how many people would die.


    Long Fanyun felt that there was a fire burning in his body. It was not hatred or love, but rather just a simple fighting spirit, which could only be understood by the swordsmen from Big Snow Mountain. ¡°I beg one thing of you all.¡±


    ¡°You are the chief. Just give the order.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not an order. I¡¯m begging you. The only begging I¡¯ve ever done in my life.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll agree. Please, Chief.¡±


    ¡°Carry me into the battlefield when you attack Golden Roc Castle. Do not make me a burden to the Dragon King.¡±


    The eight swordsmen fell silent and suddenly all drew their grandswords at the same time. With a strong swing, the swords pierced through the carpet and sank several inches deep into the ground.


    The tent wasn¡¯t big. With the eight grandswords stuck in the ground, it felt like a forest of swords. Long Fanyun felt rest assured andy down again.


    ¡°Dragon King?¡± A swordsman called out in surprise.


    Long Fanyun sat up abruptly and saw the Dragon King standing in the doorway. ¡°What brings you here? I¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei walked over and stopped Long Fanyun from getting out of bed. ¡°It seems that there¡¯s a lot of fun going on here. Are you drinking?¡±


    One swordsman picked up the wine bag and smiled sheepishly. When they got together with their kinsmen, they could smile and talk unrestrainedly, but they acted very reserved in front of the Dragon King. It was not that they took the Dragon King as an outsider. They had long since considered the Dragon King as a member of the Big Snow Mountain and a hero sent by Heaven.


    Their reserve came from the awe rooted deep in their hearts.


    Gu Shenwei grabbed the wine bag, took a swig, and eximed, ¡°Good wine.¡±


    The swordsmen were all surprised at what they were seeing because they all knew that the Dragon King did not like drinking.


    ¡°Long Fanyun.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°I order you to resume your duty as captain of the guards starting from tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to leave the tent, but there are a few things you have to do right away. First, increase the squad of bodyguards to 500 people; you have to choose the guards personally. Second, make a schedule for the shifts. We can¡¯t ck off at such a critical moment, and I can¡¯t entrust such an important matter to others. Third, apologize to Red Bat.¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned around and left, leaving the swordsmen looking nkly at one another. The young swordsman asked puzzledly when the Dragon King disappeared, ¡°Did the Dragon King just ask Chief to apologize to Red Bat?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had heard most of the swordmen¡¯s conversation. The number of troops under him were growing higher and higher. This created a major problem that he had overlooked: the soldiers who had first followed him to fight this war were bing fewer and fewer and the rate at which they disappeared was growing faster than ever.


    Big Snow Mountain had five peaks. The manpower of Canopy Peak was above-average among the five, but now, there were only a bit more than a hundred people left. The weakest Luoshen Peak existed only in name now. All the people except for the chieftain were dead.


    And the 1500 or so sabermen of the sixth peak, the Truth Custodian Peak, which had been set up to thank the old saberman, Tuo Nengya, for his timely rescue, had disappearedpletely. Some of them had died while the others had fled. Even the name of the peak had beenpletely forgotten after Tuo Nengya¡¯s death.


    Dugu Xian was still awake. He was still discussing tomorrow¡¯s battle n to several officers. Since it had been postponed for one day, he wanted the n to be as detailed as possible.


    When he saw the Dragon King, Dugu Xian dismissed the officers and said, ¡°We can start the war in less than four hours and I believe that Dragon King will be able to enter Thousand Horsemen Pass before noon.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. Dugu Xian was rather conservative in such matters. If he said that they could take it before noon, it would be achieved for sure. ¡°There¡¯s something that I want to ask the General for advice.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m at your service, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°On the surface, we are fighting against Golden Roc Castle, but our real enemy is the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±


    ¡°Do the soldiers understand this?¡±


    Dugu Xian was stunned slightly and said, ¡°They don¡¯t need to know. It¡¯ll be alright as long as they know their duties tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°But they will know sooner orter. How will the Nond people and the Western Regions people react if they know that our next enemy is the Central ins?¡±


    Dugu Xian was stunned again. ¡°I¡­ I never thought about that.¡±


    ¡°Think about it now. You know the armies of the various countries best, and you know what they think.¡±


    Dugu Xian thought for a long while before saying, ¡°I can¡¯t give you a definite answer. It¡¯s always hard to guess at the people¡¯s mind, but I would suggest the Dragon King to reveal the news of the war with the Central ins aste as possible, and it¡¯d be best if the new Khan announced it. The Nond and the Central ins are feuding, so war is inevitable between the two. While the people of the Western Regions¡­ just act as help.¡±


    ¡°The Nond owns the vast grasnds and can advance and retreat at will. General Dugu said that that was one of their greatest strengths, but the Western Regions cannot follow suit.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ Does the Dragon King want to cancel the siege n?¡±


    ¡°Put it off for a few days.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± As a professional general, Dugu Xian never asked questions when following orders.


    Fang Wenshi hurriedly ran out of his tent with bare feet and checked the Dragon King who was walking to his tent. ¡°No attack on Thousand Horsemen Pass?¡±


    ¡°Temporarily.¡±


    ¡°Is the Dragon King going to take part in the kung fupetition for the position of the Lord of Jade City? You said¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei had said that he was no match for the Unique King. ¡°I¡¯ll figure something out.¡±


    Fang Wenshi stared at the Dragon King¡¯s back nkly, not caring about the cold mud underfoot at all. The Dragon King had chosen his n in the end, but he did not feel much excitement.


    Gu Shenwei returned to his tent and found Han Fen sleeping on his soft couch again, so he woke her up and said, ¡°You can go now.¡±


    ¡°What? I haven¡¯t found any disciples of the Waning Moon Hall yet,¡± Han Fen said sleepily.


    ¡°No need. Go find your Master Commander and tell her that I want to talk to her.¡±


    Han Fen immediately woke up. She jumped up and burst outughing. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for the Dragon King to say this for a long time!¡±


    Gu Shenwei was no match for the Unique King. He needed Lotus. Only bybining the saber and sword could he exert his maximum power.

 Chapter 858 - Treat

    Chapter 858: Treat


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The Southwall Tavern had declined. Everyone used to say ¡®One will never turn back until he bumps into the South Wall.¡¯ But now, what they often said was ¡®One will turn back as soon as he sees the South Wall.¡¯


    There were many reasons for its decline. The tavernkeeper med it on the war. He always said to the few drinkers in his tavern, ¡°Fight, fight, fight, it never ends. I don¡¯t even know what they are fighting for, but it really makes us suffer a lot. It¡¯s hard to get good stuff anymore. I¡¯ve just received some wine from the Central ins. Would you like some? It¡¯s a little more expensive than before, but¡­¡±


    The ones who still visited the Southwall Tavern were usually regr customers. They had their own opinions on its decline and did not shy away from telling them to the tavernkeeper. ¡°The war has affected many people. Why do you have the worst luck? It¡¯s because you are not L¨¹ Qiying. Tavernkeeper L¨¹ was more capable.¡±


    The conversation inevitably turned to recollection about the good old days and Tavernkeeper L¨¹ had suddenly be a legend in the eyes of the crowd. The new tavernkeeper had taken over the tavern and run it for more than two years now, but he still couldn¡¯t eliminate the influence of his predecessor.


    It was an early winter evening, and it was snowing fiercely outside. The tavern business had dropped off over time, so the tavernkeeper had simply sent most of the waiters home, leaving only two men and a cook to serve the seven remaining guests.


    A tall elderly man became the eighth drinker who came in, and he went straight to his regr position. After sitting down, he nkly stared at the light on the table and said nothing.


    ¡°What would you like to have, sir?¡± The waiter said dryly. He was still new here and didn¡¯t know the past glory of the tavern. He just felt that although this tavern was big, the customers were all old and shabby like those other street shops.


    The old man nced at the waiter with an unintentionally fierce look. ¡°A jar of the most expensive wine.¡±


    ¡°One¡­ Jar?¡± The waiter thought he had got it wrong.


    The old man bowed his head without a word.


    ¡°The most expensive wine is red wine, it costs¡­ Three hundred taels.¡± The waiter lowered his voice as if he were saying a secret.


    The old man produced an ingot of gold from his robes and casually threw it onto the table without a word.


    The waiter froze. He had seen gold before, but he could not even start to guess at the value of this ingot of gold.


    Glimpsing the shine of gold, the Tavernkeeper rushed over with big strides, pushed aside the inexperienced waiter, and bowed deeply. ¡°Good to see you again, sir! It¡¯s been quite a while. Have you been busytely? Good wine? No problem. But the red wine of Shule is too ordinary and by no means the best at Southwall Tavern. Actually, I have something from the Central ins¡­¡±


    ¡°No, just bring me a jar of wine as long as it is red wine¡­¡±


    The tavernkeeper secretly cursed and decided that he would fire this waiter after this evening. On the surface, he put on a ttering smile, quietly took the gold on the table, and then asked, ¡°Would you like a few dishes to go with the wine? We have river fish that has just been dug out of the ice. They are really fresh¡­¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯d like a pot of tea.¡±


    The tavernkeeper paused. Drinking wine with tea? He had never heard of this before, but he didn¡¯t want to miss earning three hundred taels. So he hurriedly ordered another waiter to bring the wine while looking expectantly at the elderly man, hoping that the other side would order something else so that he could keep the whole ingot of gold.


    ¡°You know me?¡± asked the old man awkwardly.


    ¡°Ah? Your Excellency used to be a regr customer here but hasn¡¯t been much aroundtely¡­¡± The Tavernkeeper remembered the face, but did not know who the other side was.


    ¡°Go and invite the other two tables of customers here. I¡¯d like to buy everyone a drink.¡±


    The seven drinkers had noticed this rich old man by now. Before the tavernkeeper could open his mouth, everyone had left their wine at the table and came over happily with a dish. They thanked the elderly man first and then asked the waiter to bring their chairs over.


    The table wasn¡¯t big. The elderly man sat on one side while the other seven crowded on the other side. But no one cared. They were all eager to taste the red wine which was worth three hundred taels of silver a jar.


    The wine was served. Everyone filled up the bowl in front of them, politely toasted the elderly man, and then eagerly gulped it down.


    ¡°It¡¯s said that red wine should be served with luminous wine sses. I remember that there were a few here. Why don¡¯t you take them out?¡± Asked a white-haired old drinker.


    Embarrassed, the tavernkeeper replied, ¡°The luminous wine sses are too fragile and were all broken.¡±


    ¡°You sold them off to pay your debt?¡±


    Upon hearing this, the tavernkeeper became even more embarrassed. ¡°It¡¯s still wine in the end. What¡¯s the difference between using a bowl or a wine ss? Can the wine ss affect the taste of the wine inside it?¡±


    The white-haired drinker pointed at the tavernkeeper and said, ¡°You are the reason why the Southwall Tavern has gone from flourishing to decaying. Tavernkeeper L¨¹ would never say such nonsense.¡±


    The tavernkeeper retreated shamefacedly,ining inwardly that these paupers were really picky.


    Before he had finished his bowl of wine, the white-haired drinker noticed the anomaly first. ¡°Why don¡¯t you drink, sir? It¡¯s your gold.¡±


    The tall elderly man served himself a cup of tea and said, ¡°I quit drinking.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± The seven people grunted but no one asked anymore. This was southern Jade City where they usually did not even ask for the host¡¯s name.


    ¡°When I came in, I heard you all talking about the Dragon King. Please go on, I¡¯d like to hear about it.¡± There was a natural sense ofmand in the tall elderly man¡¯s tone as if the seven people on the other side were his students.


    ¡°It¡¯s just random chitchat. We ramble about whateveres to mind. There¡¯s no point in continuing talking about it.¡± The white-haired man appeared very cautious. He was reluctant to give up the good wine, but also unwilling to talk because he knew that one was bound to let their tongue slip if one talked too much.


    But the tall elderly man did not think so. He turned to a short fat drinker and said, ¡°You said that the Dragon King was too stupid. I¡¯d like to hear a wise man¡¯s idea.¡±


    The short fat drinker looked at hispanions and emptied his bowl of wine in one sitting. Then he filled it again up himself. Feeling that he had enough, he said, ¡°You are teacher Zhang Ji from the castle, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    As soon as he heard the word ¡®castle¡¯, the tavernkeeper standing nearby felt his legs go weak and he nearly knelt onto the ground. He pressed the gold into his robes, as it felt particrly hard now.


    ¡°Hmm. I¡¯m indeed Zhang Ji.¡±


    ¡°Are you still teaching at the castle?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t taught for a long time. I¡¯ve already left the castle.¡±


    The tavernkeeper regained his strength in his legs and the seven drinkers at the table all smiled reassuringly. The short fat man let out a sigh of relief and said, ¡°Well, we can have a little chat then. Isn¡¯t the Dragon King stupid? He has tens of thousands of Nond horsemen under hismand. It¡¯s a glory that the Western Regions has never held since ancient times. Seizing Jade City and breaking into the¡­ the top of the mountain is as easy as lifting a finger for him, but he gave it all up. What is this all about? I¡¯m sure that as long as the Nond Calvary enters the pass, at least 90% of the people of Jade City, if not all of them, would surrender immediately.¡±


    ¡°He who does not think of the future is certain to have immediate worries.¡± An idle talk after a few drinks was more delicious than the tastiest dishes. The cautious white-haired man couldn¡¯t help but join in the discussion. ¡°I think that the Dragon King is a wise man. What¡¯s the reason for the prosperity of Jade City? It¡¯s not that the people here are hard-working, nor its excellent geographical location; the reason is its bnce. Jade City is under the control of three countries: the Central ins, the Nond, and the Shule Kingdom. That means that it¡¯s unowned. That¡¯s why it can gather all the wondrous people and items in the world. If the Dragon King used the Nond Calvary to take over Jade City, it means that Jade City would only bend to one master from now on and itsmunication with the Central ins woulde to an end.¡±


    The pocketmarked drinker sitting next to him pounded the table and said, ¡°Right. Although the Nond is falling apart, it won¡¯t be long before it bes strong again. Using the Nond Calvary to conquer Jade City would be like using a wolf to herd the sheep. It would be too hard to drive them away even if the Dragon King wants to in the future.¡±


    In the face of a two-way ¡®attack,¡¯ the short fat man wasn¡¯t discouraged at all. ¡°You are right, but both of you forgot about one thing. Does the Dragon King really care about the prosperity of Jade City? He wants revenge, and he won¡¯t care if he has to destroy Jade City or not.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King wants revenge but the fact that he is refusing the help of the Nond Calvary means that he still cares about Jade City. How can that be the reason behind your thought that he¡¯s stupid?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that the Dragon King cares about Jade City. He¡¯s just too proud. He thinks that he can defeat You-know-who on the mountain with the Dragon Army alone.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your point? Is the Dragon King too stupid or too arrogant?¡±


    ¡­


    The two groups were red-faced as they argued heatedly, but they did not stop drinking. Zhang Ji was still drinking tea cup after cup, as if he were listening to the conversation attentively or dwelling on his thoughts.


    ¡°Excuse me, sir. It makes us a bit ufortable that you neither drink nor speak.¡± The white-haired man said after pausing for a moment.


    ¡°Yes, yes. I heard that Your Excellency taught the Dragon King before. What do you think of him?¡± The white fat man was at a disadvantage and was eager to rally some support.


    Zhang Ji let out a long breath and put down his teacup before saying, ¡°The Dragon King was merely a servant at the castle. What right did he have for me to teach him?¡±


    Zhang Ji talked big. The crowd found that the wine in the jar was not finished yet so they just curled their lips withoutmenting.


    ¡°The Dragon King is not stupid. He¡¯s very clever. Heh, he has actually escaped from death by not leading the Nond Calvary to attack Thousand Horsemen Pass.¡± Zhang Ji exined as he continued.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± The white-haired drinker voiced everyone¡¯s doubts.


    ¡°The Unique King has offered Thousand Horsemen Pass to the Central ins. The Dragon King would actually be dering war on the Central ins as long as he makes a move.¡±


    ¡°The Central ins Army is still far from here. The castle may have turned to ashes when they arrive, right?¡±


    ¡°So what? The castle can¡¯t move, but the people in it can. As long as the Unique King avoids the Dragon Army for half a year, he will then be able to wipe it with the help of the Central ins Army. Then, when the Nond Army returns, everything will be back to normal except for the fact that the Unique King will be a real king and the Dragon King will disappear as if he had never existed.¡±


    Zhang Ji was bing more and more arrogant in the eyes of the crowd. The short fat man hummed, ¡°The King Lord will retreat? Mr. Zhang is thinking too simply. Although Your Excellency taught in the castle before, I¡¯m afraid that you have not seen the King Lord that many times, have you?¡±


    Zhang Ji refused to argue with him. He had said what he wanted to and there was no need to exin his rtionship with the Unique King to an outsider.


    The tavernkeeper, who had been listening nearby, suddenly interrupted. ¡°What Mr. Zhang said actually makes sense. You must have heard that the castle has reduced the number of killers and hasn¡¯t taken in any new killer disciples for a long while. Isn¡¯t that a sign that the Unique King wants to keep a low profile?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t those killers who were dismissed join the Heavenly Mountain Sect?¡± the short fat drinker said in a disdainful tone. ¡°And now, the Heavenly Mountain Sect is merely the castle under a new name. Look at how arrogant they are¡­¡±


    ¡°Is Your Excellency dissatisfied with the Heavenly Mountain Sect?¡± A voice at the door said.


    A middle-aged saberman slowly walked over. Behind him, two indifferent young sabermen guarded at the door, looking around warily.


    ¡°Du¡­ Du¡­¡± The short fat drinker fell from his chair out of fright while all the other drinkers all bowed their heads, pretending not to know him.


    ¡°Du Jian greets Mr. Zhang.¡±


    The Sect Leader of the Heavenly Mountain Sect, who was in the limelight in recent months, had actually bowed humbly to a teacher who had left the castle.


    The other six drinkers together with the tavernkeeper all squatted on the ground consciously, secretly cursing themselves for being greedy.


    ¡°From now on, this ce will be the headquarters of the Heavenly Mountain Sect.¡± Zhang Ji¡¯s tone was as cold as ever. As he looked at the trembling tavernkeeper, he continued expounding. ¡°You¡¯ve epted the deposit, so name your total price now.¡±

 Chapter 859 - Figure

    Chapter 859: Figure


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Dog Butcher and his sister joined the Kongtong Sect as children, and he had be used to the strict andplicated rules of interacting with the major sects of the Central ins long ago. But as a result, he had also be more and more unfamiliar with dealing with ordinary people, and this was only amplified after he had gone into closed-door cultivation for over ten years.


    It was not too bad when he worked with Old Man Mu because the other side obviously didn¡¯t want to obey any rules and he himself also quite enjoyed the feeling of being unrestrained. But today, his partner was Shangguan Fei. This was the first the that the two were working together, and it left Dog Butcher at a loss for what to do.


    ¡°Your ck suit looks good. Did you make it yourself?¡± Dog Butcher blurted out this random sentence after thinking it over for a long while. In his opinion, back at Kongtong Mountain, Shangguan Fei, as the younger generation, should have been the one to take the initiative to start talking to him.


    Stunned by the random question, Shangguan Fei said replied, ¡°My mother asked someone to make it for me. It¡¯s very ordinary and no different from any other suit.¡±


    ¡°Yours seems to fit better.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Shangguan Fei replied absentmindedly. He wasn¡¯t interested in his attire. As he held up a bronze mirror, he looked left and right to see at the angles of his face in the mirror. ¡°s, it¡¯s really annoying.¡±


    ¡°Ah? I won¡¯t talk anymore.¡± Dog Butcher felt uneasy as he thought that he had said something wrong.


    Shangguan Fei shook the bronze mirror back and forth as if it were a fan. ¡°It¡¯s not because of you. I was worried¡­ about why the Dragon King hasn¡¯te to Jade City yet. The truce hassted for a month. He seems to have forgotten about us.¡±


    ¡°Not really. We¡¯ve been watching everything every day and passing the news back to the Dragon King, and the Dragon King also sometimes sends letters back¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s exactly because we can only see the letters rather than the person that I¡¯m ufortable.¡± Shangguan Fei looked very disappointed. But when he saw the surprise and panic in Dog Butcher¡¯s eyes, he peevishly added, ¡°I know what you are thinking. Just say it out loud if you want tough at me. I¡¯m more concerned about¡­ Brother Fanyun¡¯s injury. There¡¯s nothing to hide.¡±


    When he saw Shangguan Fei¡¯s bold and straight attitude, Dog Butcher felt embarrassed instead. He coughed a few times but did not say anything.


    The two fell silent. They were unfamiliar with each other and could have let the silence continue, but it bothered Dog Butcher too much. He had missed the opportunity to talk about Long Fanyun so he changed topics and said, ¡°When I was young, one of my senior brothers was very kind to me. Not only did he help me practice kung fu, but he also sent me many gifts.¡±


    ¡°And then?¡± Shangguan Fei was very surprised. He didn¡¯t expect this reserved elderly man to also have a deviant past.


    ¡°Then¡­ That was it. He liked my elder sister and wanted me to act as a matchmaker for him, but my sister didn¡¯t like him. After that, he didn¡¯t even talk to me anymore. And a bit after that, he was sent to the outer sect as an executive because his kung fu wasn¡¯t that good. And we haven¡¯t seen each other much since then.¡±


    Shangguan Fei harrumphed scornfully. ¡°What is this all about? Your senior brother was nothing but a lecher. Long Fanyun is a real¡­ man.¡±


    Dog Butcher scratched his head and nodded slightly to show his agreement even though he didn¡¯t quite understand what Shangguan Fei meant.


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s interest was aroused. ¡°You¡¯ve never done¡­ it?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Done what?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t possibly be that simple, can you? This is Jade City and you¡¯ve hung out with Old Man Mu for months. What haven¡¯t you seen these days?¡±


    Dog Butcher blushed and rushed to say, ¡°Oh, that kind of thing. No, never. I practice the Virgin Boy Skill and I can¡¯t get married.¡±


    ¡°Haha, who said that you had to get married to do it? More than 80% of the men in Jade City had been whoremasters at some point in their lives, but have you seen any of them marry a prostitute? Don¡¯t you want to wander in Jianghu? Then you should try everything if you do.¡±


    Dog Butcher anxiously shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯ve spent too much effort to reach my current kung fu skills. I don¡¯t want to ruin it in one day. The more temptation I have, the stronger my will will be. I can get through it.¡±


    ¡°Pfft.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you¡­ try?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already tried.¡± Shangguan Fei stood up, one of his hands holding a ck cloth that covered his face and the other hand carrying a thick cloak. ¡°It wasn¡¯t interesting at all. My ultimate pursuit is a little higher than yours. No, actually, it¡¯s two levels higher than yours.¡±


    ¡°Heh heh, that¡¯s not what my master said.¡± Dog Butcher could not agree with Shangguan Fei¡¯s boasting. ¡°Cleansing one¡¯s heart and limiting one¡¯s desires are¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk about that garbage. It gives me a headache. Where¡¯s Old Man Mu? He¡¯s usually the one watching the enemy¡¯s movements with me.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s on a special mission.¡± Dog Butcher¡¯s voice was full of envy as he answered Shangguan Fei. Although he also had advanced kung fu skills, he was not as good at carrying out dirty deals at night, which had eliminated his chances of joining the ¡®special mission.¡¯ ¡°It must have been assigned by the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King likes to mystify things. I thought that he would lead the army to Jade City and that all our problems would be naturally solved with that. Do you know why the Dragon King let the entire Nond Cavalry go?¡±


    Dog Butcher thought it was gettingte and that they should set off now. He looked out the window and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe¡­ Maybe¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Shangguan Feiughed and then took the initiative to walk out first, thinking all the while that it was much better to have Dog Butcher as a partner than Old Man Mu.


    There were not many pedestrians on the street during these winter nights. Both of them felt like it would be a waste of their time to move around stealthily. So instead, they simply went straight to their destination while chatting as they walked.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect Zhang Ji, that sly old fox, to be so crafty. I really don¡¯t understand how he can still hold the Unique King¡¯s trust after destroying Luoluo¡¯s hundreds of thousands of troops. And he was even appointed as the Heavenly Mountain Sect¡¯s counselor. It¡¯s incredible!¡±


    Dog Butcher was really puzzled by Shangguan Fei¡¯s hostile rtionship with his father. However, he wisely stopped himself from trying to dig into it. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s hard to understand. This Zhang Ji doesn¡¯t even know kung fu.¡±


    ¡°It has nothing to do with kung fu. Fang Wenshi also doesn¡¯t know any kung fu, but the Dragon King still put him in an important position despite that. The key is¡­ the Unique King never forgives anyone for making a mistake. Zhang Ji¡¯s singr mistake should have been enough for him to die a hundred times.¡±


    Dog Butcher had never met the Unique King and also did not know Zhang Ji. So, he couldn¡¯t answer Shangguan Fei¡¯s question. ¡°Hmm, this is quite strange.¡±


    There were not many people on the streets, but the taverns, brothels, and gambling houses on both sides were all aze with lights. They were obviously very popr and business was going well. Shangguan Fei let out a long sigh and said, ¡°I never expected that I, Shangguan Fei, would be reduced to going to southern Jade City. When will I free myself from such misery?¡±


    ¡°When the Dragon Kinges¡­¡±


    ¡°But he¡¯ll nevere. Hundreds of thousands of Nond horsemen. s, it hurts me to even think about it. Do you know what my mother said?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°She said that at his core, the Dragon King is still a proud killer and that he trusts his saber more than any of his armies. And because of that, he will never achieve his great ambition of hegemony.¡±


    ¡°But I think that the Dragon King has a king¡¯s demeanor.¡±


    ¡°Well, he can act kingly at times. When I was still the Ninth Young Master of Golden Roc Castle, even a stranger could see that I was unique just from how I stood casually. But now? I¡¯m no different from you.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, but the Dragon King is not acting¡­ Ehh, are you saying that I am mediocre? When youe to the Central ins, you will learn that even the Unique King and the Dragon King added together are not as influential as me.¡±


    Shangguan Fei had no interest in the Central ins. ¡°I just hope that everything will settle down soon so I can stay in northern Jade City for the rest of my life. I won¡¯t go anywhere else. And I¡¯ll also bring Brother Fanyun over. He can¡¯t move anymore, so I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll hire many people to wait on him.¡±


    Before Dog Butcher could express his thoughts, the two hade close enough to the Southwall Tavern that they needed to hide their presence now.


    The Southwall Tavern was now one of the most heavily guarded ces in Jade City. Many sabersmen who used to be killers acted as guards and had formed several defensive circles. Shangguan Fei could only bypass part of them, and couldn¡¯t break into the core circle. Therefore, he could only hide on a suboptimal roof, put on his ck cloak, and prepare himself to spend the night like this.


    Dog Butcher rarely ever joined in on surveince missions, so he took his role seriously and stretched every one of his senses out. He even circled the tavern several times before midnight, but didn¡¯t find anything unusual. But during the second half of the night, he seemed to have been affected by Shangguan Fei and also remained at a fixed position, regretting the fact that he had neglected to bring his cloak.


    Dog Butcher had specifically chose a suitable position which was neither too close nor too far away from Shangguan Fei, making sure that he didn¡¯t appear too distant nor too intimate from him.


    Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t notice Dog Butcher¡¯s ¡®consideration.¡¯ He was preupied with silently counting the time. When he was really bored, he ever imagined what it would be like if he were the Unique King.


    It seemed like the night would pass without any incident. So, when a figure flew past them, the two actually didn¡¯t immediately react.


    The figure also didn¡¯t notice them. Like arge bird focused on the hunt, that shadowy figure jumped into the air, drawing multiple arcs as it jumped across the rooftops.


    Shangguan Fei and Dog Butcher exchanged a nce and both saw the shock in each other¡¯s eyes. There was a sabersman hiding in the ce where that personnded, but not a single sound had been made throughout the entire process.


    Dog Butcher winked at Shangguan Fei to signal that they should follow them, but Shangguan Fei winked back in refusal. He could write an excellent message about what he had seen tonight, but he would never risk himself for information.


    Dog Butcher hesitated for a moment before rushing out alone, his heart beating wildly and his body heating up where all the previous lethargy was driven out. This was exactly the pleasant sensation that he was pursuing in Jianghu.


    The sabersman was already dead. Dog Butcher had no time to inspect the corpse and continued following the figure.


    With someone forging the path ahead, it was much easier to enter the backyard of the Southwall Tavern. As he slunk along the top of the wall, Dog Butcher didn¡¯t immediately jump down. Instead, he watched that figure slowly approach one of the rooms. Specifically, it was supposed to be Zhang Ji¡¯s bedroom.


    That person had obviously underestimated the level of defense here. When he was a dozen or so steps from the door, seven or eight sabersmen suddenly surrounded the intruder, drew their sabers, andunched a deadly coordinated attack without a word.


    This was apletely different scene from what he had seen in the Central ins. Dog Butcher thought to himself that this was indeed a worthy trip.


    In particr, that mysterious figure¡¯s martial arts skills were ineffably strange. He held no weapons in his hands, and instead used his bare hands, feet, shoulders, and knees to attack. It seemed as if every joint of his was a means of attack. Even though it looked disorganized, every move was aimed at the enemy¡¯s vital parts. This really opened Dog Butcher¡¯s eyes.


    But the figure was nheless outnumbered and eventually forced to retreat. After pushing the enemies in one corner back with a series of particrly vicious moves, he jumped out of the encirclement and seemed to rush into an unfamiliar area in a panic. But it turned out that he had made a U-turn in the air andnded behind attackers in the blink of an eye, fleeing along his previous path.


    Dog Butcher was a bit flustered, and couldn¡¯t determine when the best time to retreat was. Before he could make up his mind, that figure and the sabersmen had already flown over the wall.


    Shangguan Fei was still where he was, ready to throw off his cloak and flee at any moment. When he saw a figure running at him, he thought that it was Dog Butcher so he immediately got up and led the way.


    That figure recognized Shangguan Fei and immediately swooped over.


    Shangguan Fei was shocked and turned around to receive the blow.


    That person¡¯s face was also covered, which only added to the air of mystery around him. In addition, his moves were really bizarre. He had somehow crawled under Shangguan Fei¡¯s arms, and then his left hand turned into a w which firmly gripped his opponent¡¯s arm.


    Shangguan Fei felt a sharp pain shoot through his body. Greatly shocked, his fighting spirit was roused and he quickly fought back with the Five Hole Punch.


    The sabersmen behind had caught up by now. With no intention to be entangled in another melee, the mysterious person avoided Shangguan Fei¡¯s fists and fled into the night.


    Shangguan Fei ran away in the other direction,pletely leaving Dog Butcher behind. He only remembered two things: the sharp pain in his shoulder and the eyes full of hatred.


    There was no doubt that mysterious figure had recognized him. But Shangguan Fei just could not understand. He had covered himself up very well. How had he still been exposed? And when had he provoked an enemy with such powerful kung fu skills?

 Chapter 860 - Image

    Chapter 860: Image


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    With the wild snow blowing outside and a warm log fire glowing inside, Prince Xiao pushed open the window and eximed, ¡°What a beautiful snow! This really was a worthwhile trip.¡±


    Luo Ningcha leaned against the soft couch and tugged at her cor, indicating that she was afraid of the cold. She frowned slightly as she said, ¡°What¡¯s there to marvel at about the snow? I¡¯m about to freeze to death.¡±


    As a man in histe thirties, Prince Xiao still looked handsome and highly esteemed. His conspicuous hawk nose added a lot of dignity, but also diluted his innate easygoing personality. When he heard Luo Ningcha¡¯sint, heughed, closed the window, looked back at the beauty, and suddenly sighed. ¡°All things that are created by Heaven are imperfect. My beauty, you are too pretty, so you should be careful.¡±


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s frown deepened. She hated it the most when others talked in a mysterious tone. However, this man was the Imperial Uncle, so she had no choice but to make an exception. She put on a sweet smile and asked, ¡°Careful? Careful about what? Won¡¯t you protect me?¡±


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯ll protect you. You will be safe wherever the Central ins Army can reach.¡±


    Luo Ningcha pursed her lips and said, ¡°Do not mention the Central ins Army again. Those twenty thousand people made us suffer a lotst time.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s different now. Those twenty thousand soldiers were local Western Region people. They have farmed the wastnds and grown grain for generations, long ago forgetting about their duty as soldiers. They couldn¡¯t even tell the difference between a sword and a saber. How can theypare to the real soldiers of the Central ins?¡±


    ¡°Humph, it was that Wei Song who yed secret tricks. He deliberately sent the useless soldiers to you so that you would die at the hands of the Nond Cavalry. If it hadn¡¯t been for the Dragon King saving you¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention that unpleasant old dog.¡± Prince Xiao, who was still frightened in his heart, appeared indifferent. ¡°The Heavenly Master said that I would have a great fortune and long life. It¡¯s not easy to harm guaren <sup>1</sup> .¡±


    ¡°Why do you always call yourself ¡®guaren¡¯? It sounds really ominous. With me at your side, are you still a ¡®guaren?¡¯¡±


    ¡°Haha.¡± The beauty¡¯s ignorance made Prince Xiao feel both regretful and excited. He became even more convinced that there were no perfect people or things in the world. ¡°It may sound ominous to you, but do you know how many people want to but dare not to call themselves ¡®guaren?¡¯ There are many groups of princes in the Central ins, but only I, Prince Xiao, can call myself ¡®guaren¡¯ just like how the Emperor calls himself ¡®Zhen¡¯ <sup>1</sup> .¡±


    Luo Ningcha became more and more confused as she listened to him speak. Eventually, she shook her head to toss out those annoying thoughts. ¡°Anyways, you are second only to the Emperor in the Central ins, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°It sounds like a braggadocious im, but it¡¯s true.¡± Prince Xiao was not modest at all. There was no need for him to exin theplicated situation in the Imperial Court of the Central ins. After all, she would not understand even if he did so.


    ¡°Then just kill Wei Song,¡± Luo Ningcha said casually, changing the topic back to what she wanted to discuss.


    Prince Xiao was a little surprised and did not expect that the beauty was not entirely thoughtless. ¡°You haven¡¯t even met Governor Wei so far. Why do you hate him so much?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you hate him?¡± Luo Ningcha sat up and covered her heart with her hands, as if she were still in shock from his words. ¡°It terrifies me to think of being surrounded by the Nond Cavalry. Just imagine what would have happened if you and I fell into the hands of those barbarians? I still have nightmares every day, and this is all because of Wei Song.¡±


    ¡°Barbarians? I thought that the Western Regions people don¡¯t use that word. You spent a year in the Royal Court, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°No, just a few months. I spent it living in tents and eating mutton, and it wasn¡¯t even asfortable as the small Thousand Horsemen Pass. The Nond men can do nothing but drink and fight. I will never go there again. Prince Xiao, please promise me this.¡±


    Luo Ningcha had her own skill of acting in a petty yet charming manner. She had taught herself this skill ever since she was little, and had reached a whole new level under Xu Yanwei¡¯s guidance. Even though she was a mother now, she could still act as lovely as always. The trick she had used to fascinate the crowd when she received the Big Head God¡¯s coffin in Jade City was also effective on Prince Xiao.


    ¡°Of course. If I can¡¯t even do such a small thing, then how can I call myself the second-most powerful man in the Central ins?¡±


    Luo Ningcha smiled. ¡°What about Wei Song?¡±


    Upon being asked again, Prince Xiao became a bit embarrassed. ¡°Wei Song has sinister motives. I will certainly not let him go, but this can¡¯t be rushed either, and needs further consideration.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to wait until I am old and have lost my charm, when I won¡¯t be worth a second nce?¡±


    ¡°Haha, you have my word, my beauty. In less than a year, I¡¯ll make Wei Song lose all of his reputation and be thrown in prison.¡±


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s eyes lit up as she demonstrated an unusual persistence. ¡°There¡¯s actually a ready-made excuse to do so. Didn¡¯t you say that those garrison troops only knew how to farm rather than fight? Wei Song is the Governor of the Western Regions and so he should be responsible for this, right?¡±


    ¡°I have my own ideas.¡± Prince Xiao was surprised again. In his shallow impression of the other side, Luo Ningcha shouldn¡¯t have been such a clever woman. ¡°Are you speaking for the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Why would I speak for him?¡± Luo Ningcha was full of consternation as she disparaged the Dragon king. ¡°He used to be a ve who was bought by my father, and he hasn¡¯t even redeemed himself yet. He should be grateful that I¡¯ve decided to drop the whole thing. Why would I speak for him?¡±


    ¡°That was then and this is now. He¡¯s the Dragon King now and he¡¯s controls half of the Western Regions. Do not bring up the past in his presence.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m all yours,¡± Luo Ningcha said docilely.


    ¡°Hmm. I can file a suit against Wei Song in the Imperial Court regarding the garrison troops.¡±


    ¡°One suit is not enough. Make it¡­ ten or a hundred.¡± Luo Ningcha changed her tone as soon as she started talking about the Governor Wei Song.


    ¡°The Emperor won¡¯t be able to read all of them if there are too many. Take it easy, my beauty. As long as the Dragon King is willing to cooperate with me, then Wei Song won¡¯tst long.¡±


    Luo Ningcha leaned back on her pillow again, feeling quite pleased. After searching for so long, she had finally found a man to rely on.


    Since the subject hadnded on the Dragon King, Prince Xiao¡¯s interest was aroused. ¡°The Dragon King will be here soon. Tell me about him. There are too many rumors about him. Some have described him as a god while others call him a demon. I don¡¯t know what is real and what is false.¡±


    ¡°Oh, the Dragon King is actually a very simple man. I don¡¯t see what is so special about him.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because you used to be his master. By the way, didn¡¯t you say that he has always coveted you?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Otherwise, why would he give up hundreds of thousands of Nond horsemen to work with you? What that old woman couldn¡¯t aplished was done by me as soon as I went there. But it¡¯s just wishful thinking on his part. I can never forget that he was once my servant.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, that¡¯s alright. But do not mention it in front of the Dragon King. I heard that he¡¯s holds grudges.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Luo Ningcha suddenly remembered something and excitedly sat up. ¡°At that time, the Dragon King had just entered Golden Roc Castle. He was nothing but a lowly servant with poor kung fu skills. Then another servant provoked him. No one knew what method he used but he managed to force that servant to suffer from Qi deviation. I still remember how scary it was when that servant¡¯s Qi deviation broke out. It was as if he were possessed by an evil spirit.¡±


    ¡°What happenedter?¡± Prince Xiao appeared quite interested.


    ¡°Later, Mama Xue said it was Qi deviation and told me to not be afraid. But Mama Xue also diedter on. I have thought about itter, and maybe Servant Huan was also ying dirty tricks behind the scenes for that as well.¡±


    ¡°No. I mean, what happened to that servant who had Qi deviation?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s probably dead. I don¡¯t know. I never saw him again.¡±


    Prince Xiao squinted and began to re-form the image of the Dragon King in his mind.


    Luo Ningcha cheerfully went on. ¡°I would say that the Dragon King¡¯s greatest attribute is his insidiousness. No one can match him in terms of plotting. He hid himself very well at Golden Roc Castle. The only person he wanted was to kill the Unique King but no one saw through him for several years. Judging from what he did, many people even believed that he would soon rise to a position of great importance under the Unique King. Even I was fooled. He always behaved like a normal servant in front of me. Even now, I can¡¯t understand how Servant Huan became the Dragon King.¡±


    Prince Xiao smiled. It was easy to fool Luo Ningcha, but one did need some skills to escape the Unique King¡¯s notice. ¡°I heard that the Dragon King has a divine bird that could match ten thousand people inbat. Have you seen it before?¡±


    ¡°I hate birds,¡± Luo Ningcha said scornfully. ¡°And it¡¯s not a divine bird at all. Golden Roc Castle once hunted down two birds and still keeps them in the castle.¡±


    ¡°So you are tired of seeing it. No wonder you¡¯re not interested. What does the Dragon King look like? I heard that the Dragon King is seven feet tall and carries a saber longer than a normal spear.¡±


    ¡°Haha, the person who¡¯s seven feet tall was my father Big Head God. The Dragon King is a bit taller than me and about the same height as you. As for his looks, well, if you look at his pale face, you will not notice anything else. His body is full of scars and feels like a piece of stone. Anyways, he¡¯s just an average man and his mind is only on benefits. He¡¯ll be very easygoing as long as you mentioned ¡®benefits¡¯ in front of him.¡±


    Prince Xiao smilingly nodded and was very sure that Luo Ningcha had slept with the Dragon King before, but he didn¡¯t care. He merely continued to add to the image of the Dragon King in his mind.


    The attendant outside said, ¡°Your Highness, the guest has already arrived at the door.¡±


    ¡± I see.¡± Prince Xiao turned to Luo Ningcha. ¡°Do you want to listen to our negotiation and give me some advice, my beauty?¡±


    Luo Ningcha slightly stretched as she yawned. ¡°Negotiations are boring. I invited the Dragon King here, so I suppose I¡¯ll just say hi to him and then go take a nap.¡±


    Prince Xiao went out to greet the guest in person. Although he had learned a lot of information about the other side, he still found the Dragon King to be quite different from what he had initially imagined. ¡°Wee, wee. Dragon King, I¡¯ve waited from autumn to winter. If it were not this timely snow, then I would really be worried that the Dragon King was still refusing toe.¡±


    ¡°The auspicious snow does lift the spirits. But it is Prince Xiao¡¯s sincerity that brought me here.¡± Gu Shenwei also adjusted his impression of the other side at once.


    <em>Prince Xiao hides himself well </em>, he thought.


    At first sight, the two talked as if they were old friends as they walked slowly to the study at the backyard. Luo Ningcha was already waiting in the doorway. Upon seeing the two, she coldly said, ¡°The Dragon King is really arrogant. It¡¯s been more than a month and only now have you finallye to see Prince Xiao.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s always some details that need to be discussed first. I¡¯m sure that Prince Xiao also wanted me toe prepared.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Just leave the details to the servants. We¡¯ll talk about friendship, notmon affairs.¡± Prince Xiao then suddenly remembered something and said, ¡°Oh, excuse my poor memory. Please wait a moment, Dragon King. I have a present for you. I¡¯ll go bring it to you myself.¡±


    Prince Xiao thoughtfully gave the two a chance to speak privately.


    Luo Ningcha immediately said in a proud tone, ¡°Prince Xiao agreed to file a suit against Wei Song. It¡¯s all due to my work. How are you going to repay me?¡±


    ¡°With the title of the Unique King.¡±


    ¡°I have your word, Dragon King, that you¡¯ll help my son be the Unique King. If not, you¡¯ll be in trouble.¡± Luo Ningcha had a new backer now, so she was unwilling to mention the rtionship between her son and the Dragon King.


    By the time Prince Xiao returned, Luo Ningcha had already left.


    ¡°I just received some news,¡± Prince Xiao said in a serious tone. The attendant behind him held a long box which was obviously a gift for the Dragon King. ¡°Jade City is in chaos and many people died. Has the Dragon King heard about it?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I was just about to mention it.¡±


    In the past few days, a series of assassinations had broken out in Jade City. A lot of people were now dead or injured. The strange thing was that nobody knew who the assassins were and who they belonged to.

 Chapter 861 - Recognition

    Chapter 861: Recognition


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    This winter, two unprecedented events took ce in Jade City. Most residents were merely passive onlookers, but the few wise ones understood that a groundbreaking event had finally urred after all the movements in the dark.


    The first one of the two events was a sudden tide of assassinations. Originally, this shouldn¡¯t have even made the news; even when the Jade City was in its most peaceful period, several murders took ce every day. What made this wave of assassinations special was the mysterious identity of the assassins.


    Zhang Ji, the counselor of the Heaven Mountain Sect, was the first target of these mysterious assassinations. Though the assassination failed, it still caused a sensational uproar throughout the city. Everybody knew that this wandering sabersmen organization had been reduced to a mere affiliate of the Golden Roc Castle, so most people believed that the Dragon King was the one ultimately responsible for the assassination. However, those with more inside information tended to believe that Waning Moon Hall was actually behind all this.


    But before long, the spread of targets for those assassinations widened, and it was soon no longer limited to members of the Heaven Mountain Sect. Assassination victims included random sabersmen, kung fu practitioners from the Central ins with an unknown background, the already dwindling Golden Roc Castle killers, attendants of the Dragon King who had been dispatched earlier, and many more. Even a Buddhist monk of the Four Noble Truths Temple was not spared.


    After a brief period where every faction used each other, they all eventually imed with absolute assurance that they were not the mastermind behind these assassinations. However, not many residents believed them, and things just got more confusing.


    Some people said that Golden Roc Castle had indeed declined. There were also some others who believed that the Dragon King was merely not tough enough and that he had actually carried out these assassinations but was just too scared to admit to it.


    But Jade City was Jade City after all. Although those assassinations brought much panic, they didn¡¯t cause too much public disturbance, and all the businesses were still as prosperous as ever. What truly shocked the city was the second event.


    Four armies were stationed about thirty miles from the city, and each army consisted of at least 20,000 men. Thest time that Jade City had faced an attack from arge army was about five or six decades ago. The then-Unique King had sessfully defused the crisis and then ushered in a prosperous time period. But this time, no one dared to make a prophecy that a simr thing would happen.


    The 20,000 men of Golden Roc Army had originally been defending Thousand Horsemen Pass. But because of an important agreement, they had transferred to the northeastern area outside of Jade City and pitched camp not far away from the Four Noble Truths Temple.


    The 20,000 Central ins soldiers as well as the 10,000-men vanguard who had arrived in Thousand Horsemen Pass earlier hade here at the ¡°invitation¡± of the Unique King. They were stationed to the east of the city and to the south of the main road, essentially mirroring the Golden Roc Army¡¯s encampment.


    The third army was the Dragon Army from Xiaoyao Lake. Their troops numbered around 20,000 as well, and their encampment was even further away towards the south, on the riverside. They had also been invited here, and their backer was Prince Xiao of the Central ins. It was said that this was one of the crucial reasons why the Dragon King had given up on attacking Thousand Horsemen Pass.


    Currently, Shuangquan Vige was no longer under Golden Roc Castle¡¯s sole control, and it had transformed into a free passageway for Xiaoyao Lake residents to go in and out of Jade City.


    Thest army consisted of the surviving troops of the former Shule Kingdom¡¯s army.


    To take control of the passageway at Shuangquan Vige, the Dragon King had also paid a heavy price. Large numbers of Nond cavalrymen had left the northern border of Jade City and transferred to a more distant area so as to potentially evade the main forces of the Central ins. After some negotiations, the Shule Kingdom had regained its identity as an independent country, but its old King was missing. So, the crown prince didn¡¯t seed the throne and instead designated himself as the Kingdom Supervisor, quickly established an army, and took control over Thousand Horsemen Pass. The Commander-in-chief he had appointed was Shang Liao, the King of the Kang Kingdom of Xiaoyao Lake.


    Shang Liao also served the Dragon King as the General of the Right, so there was a wide consensus that the 20,000 troops were under the Dragon King¡¯smand.


    This army was stationed to the west of the Jade City where there was no hostile forces nearby.


    Gu Shenwei had spent two full months signing agreements and dispatching armies. When he finally returned to Jade City, the first issue that he had to deal with was the serial assassination that had been going on for almost a month now.


    Prince Xiao exined the importance of resolving this issue. ¡°News of the kung fupetition that will be held to choose the new Governor of Jade City hasn¡¯t been disclosed yet, and we still need the consent of the Royal Court of the Central ins. I think that this assassination spree in Jade City is an opportunity. If we manage to defuse this crisis with kung fu instead of an army, that willy a foundation for the necessity of the kung fupetition. I think that you can understand this, Dragon King ¨C it is very normal for the one with the best kung fu skills to be the Governor in Jade City. But in the Central ins, that¡¯s not so, which is why we have to convince those people.¡±


    Gu Shenwei summoned the subordinates that he had dispatched earlier to the southeastern army camp.


    Old Man Mu was the first one to rush in. Raising his arms, he yelled, ¡°Long live the Dragon King! You¡¯re finally here. Now I can put aside the heavy responsibilities on my shoulder for a while. But please rest assured¡­ ¡±


    Old Man Mu always nagged whenever he wanted, irrespective of the asion. Gu Shenwei had no choice but to order him to shut up. He nced at him and then asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Han Wuxian?¡±


    ¡°Um, Dragon King. Given that we¡¯ve just met, isn¡¯t it a little inappropriate to ask me where my wife is?¡± Old Man Mu still couldn¡¯t control his mouth. As soon as he finished speaking hisst word, he raised his hand and gently pped his own face. ¡°I¡¯m just joking. I hope that you don¡¯t mind, Dragon King. My wife will be hereter. She¡¯s very busy. She¡¯s recruited a lot of kung fu experts to work for her ¨C err, for the Dragon King¡­ ¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me what she did. Talk about yourself first.¡± Gu Shenwei decided to let Old Man Mu report first.


    ¡°Yes, yes. To finish the job you assigned to me, I¡¯ve been constantly exerting all my strength and wisdom, working day and night for several months. You see how thin I am now. If you used my bones to make a soup, then the soup would be as nd as water¡­ Um. Maybe I should talk less nonsense afterall. But where should I start? Right! Heaven Mountain Sect is basically an outside affiliate of Golden Roc Castle¡¯s now ¨C everybody in Jade City knows this. Its former elders either were killed or forced to quit, and now its inner circle is entirelyposed of Golden Roc Castle¡¯s men. The sect has seven to eight hundred sabersmen at itsmand, and half of them are killers of various ages. Heh-heh, the Unique King didn¡¯t spare any expenses. Even the fifty or sixty-year-old killers who had been expelled a long time ago were recruited again¡­ ¡±


    Gu Shenwei had known about all these things. ¡°Tell me about those recent assassinations. Have you found any clues?¡±


    ¡°Heh-heh, you always go right to the point, Dragon King. You haven¡¯t asked me yet, but you already know that I have some clues. You¡¯re right. I did find something, but I didn¡¯t write it down in the report due to confidentiality concerns.¡±


    ¡°Old Man Mu nced at Shangguan Fei, Nie Zeng, and Dog Butcher who were all standing beside him, but the Dragon King had no intention of having them leave, so he had no choice but to resume talking. ¡°I checked dozens of bodies and from that, I drew a conclusion: the purpose of these assassinations was not to kill the targets, but rather to improve the murderer¡¯s kung fu.¡±


    ¡°To improve their kung fu?¡± Gu Shenwei had finally heard some information that he deemed useful.


    ¡°Yeah, to improve their kung fu.¡± Old Man Mu nodded smugly. ¡°There are two reasons for my conclusion. First, the victims are all from various backgrounds. Even some of my woman¡¯s subordinates were among the victims. Second, there were several unique killing styles used. I found at least five or sixpletely different styles throughout all the corpses I examined. When I sorted those bodies which bore the same style by their death time, can you guess what I found? It was those assassins¡¯ kung fu skills all along. The wounds on those bodies were just getting fewer and smaller. The assassins are clearly practicing their kung fu skills. I think that they must be disciples of Waning Moon Hall. That crazy woman, Lotus, must be training her disciples in Jade City.¡±


    Old Man Mu intended on presenting his detailed analysis of each and every one of those bodies, but the Dragon King forced him to stop.


    Chu Nanping was not responsible for surveince but rather for protecting those important strongholds in Southern Jade City. ¡°We lost three men ¨C a swordsman from the Big Snow Mountain and two mercenary sabersmen. The enemies¡¯ weapons were finger-ws that had poison applied to them. They attacked the victims when they were alone, but they didn¡¯t seem to be tracking any particr targets.¡±


    Chu Nanping¡¯s statement was very simple and it nicely dovetailed with Old Man Mu¡¯s first reason.


    When Shangguan Fei heard about the finger-ws and poison, he hadn¡¯t yet gotten over his scare from earlier. He patted his left shoulder and said, half out of fear and half out of pride, ¡°I have a scar right here. I nearly died, Dragon King, but I owe my life to Hall Leader Han. She healed my wound.¡±


    ¡°Someone used Waning Moon Hall¡¯s poison to poison you?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    ¡°Hall Leader Han said that that poison is verymon and avable to everybody. It isn¡¯t necessarily from Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    Shuangguan Fei also didn¡¯t talk much. Dog Butcher was thest to speak.


    A little nervous, Dog Butcher gave out two coughs. ¡°Twenty seven days ago, at around the fourth night-watch, Shangguan Fei and I were spying on the Heaven Mountain Sect¡¯s counselor, Zhang Ji, at South Wall Tavern and we happened to stumble into an assassin. The assassin was wearing a mask and ck clothes. Judging by his figure, the assassin should be a man-¡±


    ¡°Ha, stop bragging, Old Dog. You can tell people¡¯s gender just by looking at their figure? Are you familiar with this kind of stuff?¡± Old Man Mu interjected with a sneer.


    Dog Butcher¡¯s face flushed. ¡°It¡¯s just a guess. Although male kung fu practitioners and their female counterparts all practice kung fu, there are still some differences between them. Of course, it is also possible that I made a mistake.¡±


    Old Man Mu was just about to continue teasing him when the Dragon King severely red at him, so he controlled himself.


    But Dog Butcher became even less confident. ¡°This is basedpletely off of my instinct, but that assassin seemed¡­ seemed to have a particr target. He fought his way in and went straight at Zhang Ji.¡±


    Old Man Mu shook his head repeatedly. ¡°Your instinct must be wrong. The assassinations started on that day, and the assassin was not very skilled. That was why he wanted to take risks. After he failed to kill Zhang Ji, he became much more prudent, didn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°Old Man Mu¡¯s got a point.¡± Dog Butcher hurriedly agreed with him to quell any potential arguments. ¡°That assassin never showed up at South Wall Tavern ever after.¡±


    The meeting was over. Old Man Mu and the others took their leave, but Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t. He hesitantly said, ¡°Dragon King, my younger sister¡­ ¡±


    Old Man Mu turned around. ¡°Right. Where¡¯s the good girl? Why does everybody keep saying that she¡¯s missing?¡±


    When nobody answered him, Old Man Mu left out of embarrassment.


    Shangguan Fei was using his younger sister as an excuse, as he actually wanted to have a word with the Dragon King in private. ¡°There¡¯s one thing I didn¡¯t report just now.¡±


    ¡°Then report it now.¡±


    ¡°Yes. I saw that assassin, too, and I engaged him in battle. He hit me once with his finger-ws and I gave him a punch in return, but this is not the important part. What¡¯s important is that¡­ that guy seemed to recognize me.¡±


    ¡°How did you know?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how else to exin it. He didn¡¯t speak, and he ran away immediately after hitting me. But I just feel that there was something wrong with the way he looked at me.¡±


    ¡°Do you know him too?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ It¡¯s just my spection, and even I myself feel that it¡¯s quite unlikely, so I didn¡¯t mention it in the report ¨C that guy felt like Shangguan Hong. But how could he make such enormous strides and be a kung fu expert?¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Hong?¡± Gu Shenwei also believed that it was nearly impossible. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t he be in the Stone Kingdom of Xiaoyao Lake?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m confused, too. He should be serving the empress. Why would he suddenly show up in Jade City for no reason? Heh-heh. Actually, please just ignore this, Dragon King.¡±


    But Gu Shenwei kept Shangguan Fei¡¯s words in mind and nned to do some personal investigation into this issue afterwards. ¡°Anything else?¡±


    Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t leave. With an awkward look on his face, he said, ¡°Er, first, I¡¯d like to say that my mother and I are on your side, Dragon King. We both support you wholeheartedly. Please take my word for it.¡±


    ¡°I believe you.¡±


    Shangguan Fei then exhaled deeply. ¡°My mother received a strange message. The Kun Society ¨C you still remember it, right? ¨C was rebuilt. And then she heard that the Society Leader is my younger sister. Is this¡­ is this possible?¡±


    Of course Gu Shenwei remembered the Kun Society.

 Chapter 862 - Routes

    Chapter 862: Routes


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Han Wuxian waste. As usual, there was a tender smile on her face that didn¡¯t seem apologetic at all. The only aspect of her that was different from her usual manner was the fact that her hair was coiled on top of her head, which made her look even taller.


    ¡°Your charisma has improved, Dragon King.¡± After looking around the huge tent, Han Wuxian seemed to be most interested in the furniture. ¡°I guess that all those servants out there are yours as well? Tsk, tsk. Like what I told you before, your former dwelling was too shabby.¡±


    This tent was a gift from Prime Minister Zhong Heng, and those dozens of servants had been sent over by Queen Ju. Gu Shenwei had epted them all, but felt uneasy about it. ¡°I heard that you recruited a lot of kung fu experts in Jade City. You must have quite a charisma about yourself, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha.¡± Han Wuxian let out her typicalugh and it like the tent wouldn¡¯t be able to contain this bigugh even if it were twice asrge. ¡°From your perspective, my men are nothingpared to yours, Dragon King. It¡¯s better to have them than having none, though. They¡¯re merely an improvised team and they are not doing a very good job either. Though, they did get some jobs done. I¡¯ve already found some of those traitors¡¯ strongholds, and it won¡¯t be long before I find Lotus¡¯ hideout. I know that you¡¯re very busy, so I made a decision to start besieging those strongholds three dayster, and hopefully, Lotus will be forced to show up. Apparently, these kung fu ¡®experts¡¯ of mine are not ¡®expert¡¯ enough. So, I will need your help.¡±


    ¡°Abort the operation.¡±


    ¡°My ears have never failed me before, but would you please say that again?¡± the smile on Han Wuxian¡¯s face grew even more tender.


    ¡°Give up on the siege,¡± Gu Shenwei repeated ndly. Han Wuxian was not easy to control, so he had to fully concentrate when facing her.


    ¡°Surely you have a reason for that?¡±


    ¡°I do, and it¡¯s a pretty good one. I can¡¯t tell you much about it for the moment, but I can tell you this much ¨C I might need Lotus¡¯ help for some time toe.


    Han Wuxian paced up and down about ten steps away from the Dragon King. Every time she turned around she would raise her head and nce at him, the smile on her face growing more seductive each and every time. ¡°My heart has just broken into pieces at your words, Dragon King. This is the first time that I have allied with an outsider, and yet this is what I get. s, everybody says that the people from Waning Moon Hall are good at using poison, but no poison could be more harmful than the words you just said, Dragon King.¡±


    The angrier Han Wuxian was, the tenderer her voice became. At this point, her tone was so sharine that she almost seemed puerile.


    ¡°This is not the end.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s voice was still nd as ever, and there was no fluctuation in it, as if it were a steady rock in a fast-flowing river. ¡°This is just a means. Eventually, there will still be a life-or-death fight between me and Lotus, and you will also get your revenge on Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    Han Wuxian abruptly sat down, cross-legged, on a chair beside her, revealing part of her smooth calves and exquisitely embroidered shoes. This scene was so entrancing that any onlookers almost forgot that it was already winter.


    ¡°Should I keep my faith in you, Dragon King?¡± she said as she stared fixedly at the Dragon King¡¯s face. With a look of confusion on her face, she seemed to be mumbling aimlessly. ¡°Han Wuxian, you¡¯ve been betrayed before. Dragon King and Lotus seem to have been cut from the same cloth. Will he cheat you once again? s, it is easier to make a man change his mind than it is to break a stem of grass. Exactly what makes Lotus better than Han Wuxian?¡±


    The tender smile reappeared on her face. Han Wuxian seemed like an old Buddhist monk who had just finished a deep meditation session and noticed that there was someone else beside her. ¡°So, the rumor is true?¡±


    ¡°Which rumor?¡± asked Gu Shenwei, who had been listening quietly while she was speaking to herself.


    ¡°The one that Dragon King and Lotus uncovered the secret to saber-sword cooperation, that it doubles your strength, and that you¡¯re going to join hands to challenge the Unique King.¡±


    ¡°There are always rumors that are the truth as well as others that are wrong. You should just ignore them all, Hall Leader Han.¡±


    ¡°Lotus¡¯ kung fu is better than mine,¡± Han Wuxian begrudgingly said with a slightly bitter tone. ¡°No wonder you want to cooperate with her. But then what? After you two eliminate the Unique King, opponents stronger than him will show up. Will you continue to cooperate with Lotus?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t specte about your further ns after you get Waning Moon Hall back, Hall Leader Han.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha, so I shouldn¡¯t specte on your further attempts either, huh, Dragon King. Alright then. I¡¯ll trust you this time. Take this as a reward for your saving me from my previous misery. Do you still want me to search for Lotus? I¡¯ve found plenty of clues already.¡±


    ¡°Sure. Even though I want to cooperate with her, I still hope to know more about her.¡±


    Han Wuxian instantly stood up as if something urgent had just urred to her. ¡°Okay, then. It seems that you¡¯re always the one calling the shots no matter who you¡¯re cooperating with. I like people of your type.¡±


    Without saying any polite farewells, Han Wuxian abruptly walked out of the tent.


    The next person that Gu Shenwei had a one-on-one meeting with was Hu Shining, a training retired Golden Roc Castle tutor who had worked for the Dragon King for the past two years.


    Hu Shining didn¡¯t carry any weapons. He bowed and paid his respect to the Dragon King in a neither casual nor obsequious manner. ¡°Your subordinate Hu Shining pays his respects to you, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was sitting on a couch: upper body straight, right hand on the knee, left hand holding the saber hilt, and a dignified look on his face ¨C his manner was wless in the eyes of this old teacher. ¡°Report what you have.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Before that, I hope to report something else to you, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°Golden Roc Castle sent someone to me and wanted me to join the Heavenly Mountain Sect. I declined.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Gu Shenwei already knew about this, but he felt more relieved after hearing it from Hu Shining himself.


    Hu Shining was a standard killer, so his words were urate and sinct, ¡°The number of Heavenly Mountain Sect¡¯s members has grown with every passing day. The total number was 516 as ofst night, and 357 of them are former killers. The other 159 people were hired at a high price. They¡¯re from various ces ¨C the Central ins, Nond, and the Western Regions, to name a few.¡±


    This number was smaller than the one that Gu Shenwei had heard earlier. ¡°Does the Heavenly Mountain Sect have strict entrance requirements?¡±


    ¡°Mm. Many people im that they¡¯re members of the Heavenly Mountain Sect, but I did some research and I found that most of them are not.¡±


    ¡°What do you know about this tide of assassinations?¡±


    ¡°The whole situation is a mess. During the past month, there have been about 120 to 150 casualties in Jade City, and I think that less than half of them directly died of assassination. The rest were killed by people who took advantage of this chaotic situation.¡±


    Gu Shenwei believed that Hu Shining was right. Jade City was full of hatred. Whenever someone started killing, a lot of people would follow suit.


    ¡°From your personal experience, who do you think the mastermind behind this is?¡±


    Hu Shining contemted for a while before answering, ¡°I would say that there isn¡¯t just one.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Old Man Mu said that some kung fu expert was trying to improve their kung fu skills by killing people.¡±


    ¡°Old Man Mu has a point. But it is what this kung fu expert wants to do after they finish improving their skills that concerns me. I believe that it will prove very helpful if we find this kung fu expert first.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave this to you then.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi was the next one to be summoned to the tent. The atmosphere in the tent finally rxed, and Gu Shenwei could walk around casually. Xu Xiaoyi followed the Dragon King around. One moment he was thinking and the next he was smirking, which made his moustache seemed less grave.


    ¡°Your guess is very urate, Dragon King.¡± Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s reverence for the Dragon King was so deep that it almost seemed like obeisance. If it wasn¡¯t for his prior knowledge that the Dragon King¡¯s personality was a little conservative and rigid, he would have expressed it in a bolder manner. ¡°Both Little Chu and Dog Butcher are honest men. Shangguan Fei seizes every possible chance he can to visit Madam Meng and does whatever she tells him to do. He hasn¡¯t taken any particr action. As for Old Man Mu and Han Wuxian, heh-heh, just as you have predicted, Dragon King, this old pair of fools have their own malicious ns, and so the mole should be one of them.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had never forgotten about the asion where his whereabouts had been disclosed, so he had ordered Xu Xiaoyi to investigate it, and Old Man Mu and Han Wuxian were the main suspects.


    It was not viable for Xu Xiaoyi to actually track these two kung fu experts, since he knew nothing about kung fu, and he had no kung fu experts at hismand. So, he had to find another way to collect intelligence.


    Both Old Man Mu and Han Wuxian had their own unique, striking features, and everybody had asting impression of them once they saw them. It was very difficult to track them when they were trying to cover their tracks, but if they showed themselves publicly, they were easy to spot.


    Xu Xiaoyi had a close-knit intelligence group: from thieves on the streets, waiters in taverns, to servants in rich families, he had spies spread everywhere throughout the underss of Jade City.


    These people were nobodies who everybody tended to ignore, but Xu Xiaoyi found that they made excellent subordinates.


    He produced a stack of sketched maps of Jade City, each of which had a ck or red line as well as some differently sized circles on it. ¡°The ck lines represent Old Man Mu, and the red ones Han Wuxian. These are the ces that they¡¯ve visited recently. The circles represent my spections.¡±


    Gu Shenwei looked through these maps one by one, nodding asionally. Encouraged by his actions, Xu Xiaoyi became very excited. ¡°Look. Han Wuxian is moving closer to Golden Roc Castle. I haven¡¯t gotten any solid information from inside Golden Roc Castle yet, but judging from these maps, she disappeared in northern Jade City and reappeared thereter. Where could she have gone if not Golden Roc Castle?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s take a look at Old Man Mu. His routes were a little bit moreplicated. It seems as if he was wandering around the whole city with no particr destination, but I¡¯ve received reliable news that Old Man Mu has been to the Heavenly Mountain Sect and met with Sect Leader Du Jian. I¡¯m sure that he never mentioned this to Dragon King, right?¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t answer.


    ¡°This old couple ¨C Old Man Mu and Han Wuxian ¨C are conspiring with each other against the Dragon King,¡± Xu Xiaoyi concluded.


    ¡°No. They are working separately.¡± Gu Shenwei corrected Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s wrong opinions. ¡°Look. Their routes on two consecutive days ovepped frequently.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t it prove that they¡¯re colluding?¡± Xu Xiaoyi asked out of confusion.


    ¡°Nominally, both of them are still my subordinates, and there¡¯s no need for them to secretly collude,¡± exined Gu Shenwei. ¡°Judging from their strengths and personalities, they will only end up doing things in their own respective ways if they collude.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi approvingly nodded to show his admiration. ¡°Then one of them is the mole. Which one do you think it is, Dragon King?¡±


    Gu Shenwei still didn¡¯t answer. He just ordered Xu Xiaoyi to continue his investigation. If it were only to identify the mole, then it would be unnecessary to go through so much trouble. However, Gu Shenwei¡¯s intention was to use this mole to do something for him.


    At the end of their meeting, Xu Xiaoyi mentioned a message that he hadn¡¯t deemed to be very important. ¡°I found Miss Ru¡¯s niece, Shangguan Shaomin. It hasn¡¯t been easy for me. You would have never guessed where Lotus was hiding her, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°What about Han Xuan?¡±


    ¡°Han Xuan lives with Shangguan Shaomin.¡± Han Xuan was even less important in Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s opinion, so he was very confused about why it was not the location but rather this insignificant woman who the Dragon King was most concerned about.


    Han Xuan was also a Female Gu, but she was a different type than Shangguan Shaomin. Han Wuxian had raised Han Xuan up as a tool to improve her own kung fu, but Lotus had snatched Han Xuan from Han Wuxian before Han Wuxian could use her.


    Gu Shenwei believed that he was onto something, and he finally switched his focus from the grasnds to Jade City.

 Chapter 863 - Twitching

    Chapter 863: Twitching


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Hong didn¡¯t expect that he would be summoned by the Dragon King. He merely received some orders from Queen Ju toe here and deliver some items that might prove to be useful to the Dragon King in winter. He had thought that this task would be very simple. Back when he was in the Royal Court, he had never received such treatment.


    He still remembered that he had once gone to Heaven¡¯s Pass and attempted to convince Shang Liao to switch sides and work for Queen Ju. <em>That was a humiliating failure. Maybe the General of the Right, Shang Liao had told the Dragon King everything </em>, he thought. He was worried and was still wavering over whether he should confess that he had worked for Queen Ju.


    ¡°I hate all the members of the Shangguan family.¡± Shangguan Hong hade up with a set of phrases to distract other people away from his rtionship working for Queen, but he didn¡¯t have the chance to use any of them.


    Most of the exquisite furnishings had been cleared out of the tent, so it seemed much more spacious now. The Dragon King was standing alone beside a table and the distance between the doorway and the table seemed infinite. Shangguan Hong immediately sensed that the Dragon King had be inexplicably stately. With equal parts admiration mixed with jealousy, he involuntarily knelt down.


    He had gotten somewhat used to this movement. After recalling that Servant Huan had once asked him for help many years ago, he felt that those memories were very surreal now.


    ¡°Your loyal servant¡­ pays his respects to the Dragon King.¡± Shangguan Hong felt that it was very difficult to utter those words before the Dragon King. He had never felt this way in front of Queen Ju.


    ¡°Get up.¡±


    Shangguan Hong slowly stood up. With his back bent and his head down, he looked as humble as an old ve who had served in the royal pce for many years.


    Gu Shenwei peered at him for a while. From a spoiled son to a cheap ve, and then from a cheap ve to a king ¨C he had also experienced all this, so he didn¡¯t pity Shanguan Hong.


    He was observing every subtle movement of Shangguan Hong¡¯s body, especially the way he walked ¨C the feet¡¯s movements usually disyed people¡¯s level of internal energy. The stronger the body, the more powerful the internal energy, and thus the fewer muscles people used when they walked.


    Shangguan Hong was good. Like those of a well-trained servant, his steps were small and quick, and he himself had learned some kung fu, so Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t tell how good his internal energy was right at this moment.


    ¡°What can I do for you, Dragon King?¡± Shangguan Hong felt so uneasy that even his tone had be a little shrill.


    ¡°Tell me more about that secret passage.¡±


    ¡°What secret passage?¡± Shangguan Hong was greatly surprised, realizing that all his previous spections were wrong.


    ¡°The one that you once told me about.¡±


    Shangguan Hong still remembered it. Over a year ago, when he was departing from the Shule Kingdom of Xiaoyao Lake as an attendant of the Dragon King, he had disclosed an important secret on impulse to the Dragon King as a show of allegiance ¨C there was a secret passage connecting the hilltop and the foot of the hill.


    ¡°Ah? Yes, I did say that.¡±


    ¡°Then keep talking.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s tone was casual, as if this was a very simple request, but those simple words greatly pressured Shangguan Hong. Ever since Servant Huan had bribe him back when he was a master, he had felt this overwhelming pressure, and it only grew heavier after each meeting with the Dragon King. By now, it had grown to such an extent that it was irresistible.


    ¡°Er¡­ the thing is, Golden Roc Castle¡¯s located on the hilltop and there¡¯s no water source there. So, they need to bring water from the foot of the hill to the hilltop. But since they¡¯re worried about running out of water during a prolonged siege, they dug a secret passage between the hilltop and a river at the foot of the hill to ensure their water supply in such times of a crisis.¡±


    ¡°They dug a secret passage?¡± The hilltop was hundreds of meters high. It seemed to be beyond human capability to dig a passage through the bedrock of the hill.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know the details. I just¡­ heard some scraps of information from Madam Meng. I¡¯m not lying, Dragon King, really. The secret passage does exist. That¡¯s all I know.¡±


    Shangguan Hong was anxious and uneasy. The Dragon King didn¡¯t use a severe tone, and neither did he ever push him. However, he still felt nervous and afraid. He really hoped that this conversation would end soon.


    Gu Shenwei sized him up for a while once again. Shangguan Hong had changed considerably. Only when he became anxious did he seem to return to who he used to be in the past.


    ¡°Leave.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Shangguan Hong urgently left the tent. As he exposed himself to the northerly wind, he let out a cold shiver and suddenly discovered that his skin was covered in ayer of fine sweat.


    He ran to his tent as he consoled himself that there were no ws in his words and that the Dragon King was still unaware of the truth. He gradually calmed down. When he entered his tent, he was stunned to discover that there was more to this issue.


    With a smile on his face, Shangguan Fei observed his half-brother. ¡°How are you, Chief Hong? This is your correct address, right?¡±


    Before the Dragon King, Shangguan Hong could manage to stayposed, but in front of Shangguan Fei, who had only brought him misery his entire life, all of his anger instantly welled up. With a sudden move of his body, he pounced on his foe.


    Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t dodge, and neither did he fight back. He merely threw out his chest and said, ¡°Goodness me! You¡¯ve made quite some progress in your kung fu skills, Chief Hong.¡±


    Shangguan Hong abruptly stopped. Face flushing red, he clenched his teeth and said, ¡°What¡¯re you doing here?¡±


    ¡°No matter what, we still bear the same surname. I just came here to check on you. Is there anything wrong with it? I heard that¡­ you¡¯re a highly favored man of the queen, and I¡¯m actually counting on you to promote me some day.¡±


    Countless thoughts rushed into Shangguan Hong¡¯s mind. But in the end, he said, ¡°That saber strike failed to kill me and that¡¯ll be your greatest mistake, Shangguan Fei. I¡¯ll repay you double the humiliation you¡¯ve put me through. So enjoy your life while you still can.¡±


    Pretending to be extremely horrified, Shangguan Fei patted his chest. ¡°Chief Hong, are you trying to scare me to death? Don¡¯t you know that I¡¯m a coward? Besides, every man only has one manhood, so it might be a bit difficult for you to repay ¡®double the humiliation¡¯ to me. Ha-ha.¡±


    Shangguan Fei burst intoughter. For the first time ever, he had discovered that Old Man Mu¡¯s influence on him also had an upside. At least, he was no longer as clumsy when talking now.


    But the flush on Shangguan Hong¡¯s face gradually subsided. ¡°How¡¯s your mother? I heard that the Unique King made her move to the foot of the hill and finally regained his freedom. Mm. Every man has only one that thing, but I think Madam Meng won¡¯t feel¡­ ¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s sore point had been touched, so he grabbed Shangguan Hong¡¯s cor and raised his fist. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare mention my mother! I¡¯ll smash your head in with a single punch. Back then when I cut off your manhood, the Dragon King didn¡¯t care. If I kill you right now, he also won¡¯t mind.¡±


    Shangguan Hong coldly red at him with an unprecedentedly strong will, which was something he could never have managed to do in the past. He pushed Shangguan Fei¡¯s arm aside, turned his head, and spat onto the ground. ¡°I¡¯d pay to see that.¡±


    Shangguan Fei seemed startled and his anger subsided slightly. He walked around Shangguan Hong and towards the doorway. Before leaving the tent, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t forget that your mother¡¯s still in the castle.¡±


    Shangguan Hong didn¡¯t care at all. <em>Mother¡¯s a weak and useless woman. She slept with the Unique King but didn¡¯t dare tell anybody. She also never did anything good for her natural son. Had I known that I was King Lord¡¯s bastard son¡­ </em>Shangguan Hong pictured a scene: a past where he had kept his true identity a secret, but his mentality had been totally different. He would not have been that cowardly Master Hong, the twins naturally wouldn¡¯t have dared to regard him as a servant, and neither would Zhang Ji have treated him like a disposable tool.


    After a momentary sense of satisfaction, a deeper sense of depression and hatred rose within him. Shangguan Hong had a premonition that something bad was going to happen, but he was unable to control his body. He fell to the ground and started twitching violently. His arms pped up and down constantly like two live fish which had just been tossed onto the shore.


    Shangguan Hong clenched his teeth until they started chattering. After partly regaining control of his right arm, he took a little wooden box out of his front inside pocket and tried to toss the only remaining pill into his mouth.


    But his hand quivered and the pill fell onto the ground. Shangguan Hong almost pounced on it like a desperate beast. He opened his mouth and swallowed the pill along with some discarded wool strands.


    The twitching gradually stopped. Lying on the ground on his back, Shangguan Hong knew that he had to ask for more antidote pills again.


    ¡®What does it feel like to be free?¡¯ He had no idea at all.


    Shangguan Fei had gone straight to the Dragon King and missed his half-brother¡¯s stroke. ¡°It was definitely him. I can tell from his eyes. And his strength has grown considerably. He seems like another personpared to whom he used to be.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s so strange. Back in the Royal Court, he didn¡¯t show anything special.¡± Gu Shenwei had also noticed that Shangguan Hong had changed, but he couldn¡¯t figure out the reason behind it.


    ¡°Um. It is very strange indeed. With Shangguan Hong¡¯s average aptitude, he should have never achieved this much power no matter how hard he practiced. Let¡¯s just put our cards on the table. Shangguan Hong¡¯s kung fu has improved, but his personality remains unchanged ¨C he¡¯s still a coward and is easily provoked. After a little torture, he¡¯ll tell us everything.¡±


    What disappointed Shangguan Fei was that the Dragon King didn¡¯t think that this was a good idea. He shook his head and instead asked, ¡°Can you follow him?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Shangguan Fei was afraid of taking risks, but he was not afraid of Shangguan Hong, even if Shangguan Hong¡¯s kung fu was just as good as his. ¡°All the kung fu that Shangguan Hong learned in Golden Roc Castle was in vain. That night, Dog Butcher and I were only a couple of steps away from him, but he never detected us even once.¡±


    ¡°Follow him. No matter what happens, don¡¯t show yourself. Juste back and report to me.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Shangguan Fei became even surer that this task wouldn¡¯t be dangerous.


    ¡°I want you to go back and ask Madam Meng about something.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m at your service, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Um. Just tell her that I want to know about the secret passage in the castle.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s face was full of confusion. Clearly, he had never heard of any secret passages before. ¡°You don¡¯t believe Shangguan Hong¡¯s nonsense, do you? That guy will lie about anything to keep himself alive.¡±


    ¡°Let Madam Meng be the judge of that.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Shangguan Fei took his leave, but he felt depressed. If there was really a secret passage, and his mother had told Shangguan Hong but not him, then that would hurt him badly.


    Shangguan Hong was an opponent whose moves were full of ws and he didn¡¯t concern Gu Shenwei at all. What concerned Gu Shenwei more was the one in control of Shangguan Hong.


    He ordered someone to call Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong in.


    Standing in front of the Dragon King, Tie Linglong was about five or six steps closer to him than Chu Nanping. From their stances, the two seemed likeplete strangers to each other.


    ¡°I have a task for you¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to perform tasks with him.¡± Tie Linglong objected immediately. She was the only one who was indifferent towards the Dragon King¡¯s ever-growing stateliness.


    ¡°Um. I know. But this is my order.¡± Gu Shenwei felt a headacheing on. He didn¡¯t know how to cate a willful teenage girl, so he had to emphasize different motivations.


    Some words surfaced, on the tip of Tie Linglong¡¯s tongue, but she swallowed them back. She didn¡¯t raise more objections, thought she still turned her head aside to indicate her disapproval.


    ¡°Go to Xu Xiaoyi. He¡¯ll give you an address. Keep that ce under surveince, but don¡¯t go in there under any circumstances.¡±


    ¡°Are you suspecting that it is a trap?¡± Tie Linglong couldn¡¯t help but ask curiously.


    ¡°Probably. So don¡¯t fall for it. If you see anything, just return and tell me.¡±


    ¡°Rest assured, Dragon King. I won¡¯t let you down.¡±


    Tie Linglong showed excessive enthusiasm again, which gave Gu Shenwei an even worse headache.

 Chapter 864 - Surveillance

    Chapter 864: Surveince


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Humming a happy tone, Tie Linglong wiped her narrow saber over and over multiple times, and then slowly inserted it into the sheath, as if she were undergoing a sacred ritual.


    Standing ten steps away, Chu Nanping stared at her silently. His eyes had been fixed on her the whole time.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you forge two swords that are better paired with each other?¡± asked Tie Linglong, as if she had forgotten about her resentment towards him.


    ¡°The Dragon King gave this sword to me, and a Central insman gave me the other. Both of them are¡­ good swords.¡± Chu Nanping was very d that he could talk to her in a normal manner again.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Tie Linglong raised her head slightly as if understanding had suddenly dawned on her, her green eyeballs gleaming like gemstones by the candle light. ¡°So you do attach sentiments to things people gave you as gifts¡­ But don¡¯t you want to be ruthless and emotionless? Isn¡¯t this going to adversely influence your swordsmanship?¡±


    Tie Linglong asked these questions in a curious tone, but even Chu Nanping could tell that they wereced with sarcasm. He pondered over the questions carefully for a while. ¡°This is different. I don¡¯t have true feelings for these swords. If they break one day, then I¡¯ll just get another one. But you¡¯re different-¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention me,¡± interjected Tie Linglong severely. Her attitude had instantly changed.


    ¡°Some people are¡­ different,¡± Chu Nanping adjusted his words. ¡°They¡¯re too important to me, and they be irreceable, which makes me feel like I have something to lose, which then influences the strength of the Emotionless Swordsmanship.¡±


    Tie Linglong snorted coldly. Chu Nanping frequently identally said some sweet words that moved her, but this time, he just displeased her. ¡°So how¡¯s it going? It¡¯s been two months since we stopped seeing each other. Has your swordsmanship recovered?¡±


    ¡°More or less.¡±


    ¡°But you still want to make progress.¡±


    ¡°After forgetting you, I still have to forget myself. There¡¯s a long way to go yet.¡± Chu Nanping told the truth without considering the damage it might cause.


    ¡°So you haven¡¯tpletely forgotten about me yet?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Everything¡¯s fine when you¡¯re not in my sight, but once I see you-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but it was the Dragon King who ordered us to perform this task together. Do you want me to cover my face up right now?¡± Suppressing her indignation, Tie Linglong uttered these words in a tone so calm that one would almost think that she was genuinely sorry.


    ¡°No, no, no. This isn¡¯t your fault.¡± Chu Nanping hastily exined, ¡°My will is not strong enough. It has nothing to do with you.¡±


    Tie Linglong let out a couple of cold snorts, put on a mask, and left the room.


    Chu Nanping followed her, finally realizing how hard it was to truly end a rtionship.


    Xu Xiaoyi immediately told them the address. Then he grabbed Chu Nanping¡¯s arm and wanted to talk with his good friend briefly. Tie Linglong walked out of the room with her head erect and waited outside.


    Both of them had been in Jade City, but they seldom had any chances to meet. Looking at his best friend, Xu Xiaoyi suddenly felt very embarrassed. It felt just like two little birds who had grown up in the same nest only to realize that one of them was a magpie and the other was a sparrow, and that they barely had anything inmon.


    ¡°Little Chu, what exactly are you doing?¡± Xu Xiaoyi hoped to regain the feeling of friendship between them by talking to him.


    ¡°Following the Dragon King¡¯s orders and monitoring a house.¡±


    ¡°Not that. I mean ¨C her.¡± Xu Xiaoyi pointed towards the outside. He knew that killers had sharp ears, so he deliberately lowered his voice. ¡°You¡¯ve got yourself such a good girl. To be honest, you really surprised me. Why did you give her up? I¡¯m confused.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­¡± Chu Nanping pondered over how to clearly exin this issue. ¡°The first year after I met you, I once tried to kill you.¡±


    ¡°I know. You wanted to practice that Emotionless Swordsmanship, but we yed around for a full day and you still didn¡¯t do it.¡± Recalling the past, Xu Xiaoyi felt his feelings for this friend swelled in him. ¡°Seriously, Little Chu. You¡¯re hurting both yourself and others.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi had a lot of clich¨¦s in his mind, but none of them were appropriate for this asion. After pausing for a while, he continued, saying, ¡°I think that you can see it yourself. Tie Linglong¡¯s a pretty girl, and she¡¯s no longer a child. Tsk, tsk¡­ Little Chu, when another guynds her, you¡¯ll regret it, but it will be toote by then.¡±


    ¡°If I regret it, then it means that my swordsmanship cultivation will have failed,¡± Chu Nanping replied ndly. He didn¡¯t seem convinced at all.


    ¡°s, you¡¯re my best friend. I¡¯m your best friend too, aren¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°Um,¡± after thinking for a while, Chu Nanping answered affirmatively.


    Xu Xiaoyi knew him well. And he also knew that this ¡°Um¡± after a brief hesitation was more valuable than ten thousand sweet words from someone else. ¡°Then let me be honest with you. You won¡¯t make a good killer, much less a ruthless swordsman. That¡¯s not who you are. Practicing the Emotionless Swordsmanship is a mistake for you. Stop this while you still can and be a normal guy. Nobody is forcing you to be invincible ¨C the Dragon King wouldn¡¯t do that either. He¡¯s a reasonable man¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Chu Nanping interjected inexplicably.


    ¡°For what?¡± Xu Xiaoyi was confused.


    ¡°From now on, we¡¯re no longer friends.¡± Chu Nanping turned and left.


    Stroking his moustache, Xu Xiaoyi mumbled, ¡°It¡¯s so much easier to be a fair weather friend. s.¡±


    But he was not anxious, since this wasn¡¯t the first time that they had gotten in trouble with each other and he believed that they would eventually make up. Then he thought of Tie Linglong. ¡°She¡¯s grown up,¡± he mumbled. Putting aside any immoral thoughts, he was truly worried about his best friend.


    Lotus had been hiding Shangguan Shaomin and Han Xuan in arge courtyard in northern Jade City and the owner of this courtyard was the King of An Kingdom of Xiaoyao Lake.


    When the Dragon King and the Unique King were fighting for the control of Xiaoyao Lake, King An had been the first one to take sides, and it was for that the very reason that he lost any room to maneuver and eventually had been left with no choice but to retreat to Jade City with Golden Roc Army, letting the crown fall into the hands of another royal family member who was of a younger generation.


    Xu Xiaoyi had discovered this shelter totally by ident and he had always wondered how King An had ended up colluding with Waning Moon Hall.


    After crossing a river and climbing over some walls in southern Jade City, Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong sneaked into a small dwelling near King An¡¯s mansion. Along the way, they had cooperated tacitly and not spoken a single word.


    Xu Xiaoyi had prepared this small dwelling in advance. A merchant with an innocent background had been living here. For a considerable sum of fixed ie, the merchant agreed to deliberately ¡°ignore¡± one of the rooms in this dwelling and had forbidden anybody from entering, including himself. As regards for who would sneak into it, he didn¡¯t care, and neither did he want to know.


    On the other side of the room, there was a small window squarely facing King An¡¯s mansion, but this window was only useful during daytime. At night, they still had to go outside to monitor the mansion.


    ¡°Let me take the night shift,¡± said Chu Nanping.


    Tie Linglong ndly answered, ¡°No. I can¡¯t afford tomit the crime of weakening a great swordsman¡¯s will. I¡¯ll take the first night shift. We¡¯ll rotate the shifts from then on.¡±


    Surveince was always boring, especially for Tie Linglong. She had wanted to sneak into King An¡¯s mansion several times, but eventually, she managed to control herself each time. If the Dragon King believed that the mansion was a trap, then it probably was. She wanted to be on her best behavior and couldn¡¯t afford to make any mistakes.


    The two stayed in the same room. Most of the time, one of them slept while the other monitored the mansion. They even had to take turns having meals.


    Xu Xiaoyi had stored enough food and water in the room tost them five days, and the owner of this dwelling didn¡¯t provide anything either.


    Chu Nanping gradually got used to the existence of Tie Linglong. The look in his eyes became more and more restrained until he no longer fixed his eyes on her. Whenever he sat beside the window, monitoring, he was as still as a wooden statue, only breathing and asionally grasping his sword as his only movements.


    On the third night, it was Tie Linglong¡¯s turn to go outside the room to monitor the mansion. She hid herself at a usual position. As she stared at King An¡¯s mansion, which was totally dark inside, she believed that nothing would happen tonight either.


    With the Dragon Army stationed only thirty miles away outside the city, King An seemed to be more afraid than anybody else. The gate stayed closed during both daytime and at nighttime. The vendor who came to the mansion to sell water and vegetables every day had to stand outside the door and send the food in through a narrow crack.


    Tie Linglong still believed that infiltrating the mansion was the right thing to do, so gradually her heart left the boring surveince. She was indignant about Chu Nanping¡¯s nd attitude, but she didn¡¯t know how to retaliate.


    For a man who had made up his mind to rid himself of all emotions, all retaliation seemed motivational.


    She couldn¡¯t help but sigh and suddenly thought of that teenager named Nie Zeng.


    Nie Zeng had left with Nonders. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that his love confession had been firmly rejected by Tie Linglong, he probably would have still been working for the Dragon King.


    Even if she had known that things would end up this way, Tie Linglong still would have declined. She had never liked Nie Zeng and didn¡¯t want to know why. She just didn¡¯t like him.


    This sigh drew an uninvited guest to her.


    Tie Linglong abruptly turned around, her saber halfway unsheathed.


    Under the cold moonlight, Han Wuxian seemed like a translucent spirit and her tender smile sounded like a soundless spell. More than half of the vignce in Tie Linglong dissolved upon seeing it was her.


    ¡°What a coincidence. I never expected to see you here,¡± said Han Wuxian gently.


    ¡°The Dragon King sent you here?¡±


    ¡°No. I work for the Dragon King, but I don¡¯t have to follow his orders in all things,¡± Han Wuxian said as she looked around. ¡°Let¡¯s find another ce to talk.¡±


    Tie Linglong believed that she should decline, but when Han Wuxian turned around, she involuntarily followed.


    ¡°You¡¯re a girl who¡¯s as beautiful as a fairy. Why did you sigh? Do you have romantic grievances as well?¡± Han Wuxian asked intimately as she stood close beside Tie Linglong.


    Tie Linglong raised her head and looked at her, discovering that Han Wuxian was even taller than she had remembered. ¡°I¡­ It¡¯s none of your business.¡±


    ¡°Sure. But I merely want to help you ¨C with my experience.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King forbade me from getting close to you.¡± Tie Linglong suddenly thought of the Dragon King¡¯s warning.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t have to know. Apart from me, you¡¯re the only one who has learned all the moves of the Jueyin Finger Energy. I can¡¯t help but care about you.¡±


    Since she started practicing the Bnced Power with the Dragon King, Tie Linglong hadn¡¯t practiced the Jueyin Finger Energy for quite a while. She couldn¡¯t stop herself from blushing slightly. ¡°It was that Chu Nanping. He humiliated me, but I¡­ ¡±


    Tie Linglong couldn¡¯t continue.


    ¡°I understand,¡± Han Wuxian said as she nodded considerately. After thinking for a while, she exined, ¡°The body is a woman¡¯s most powerful weapon. You see, Lotus lost her virginity, so Dragon King will never like her. However, he can¡¯t stop herself from longing for her.¡±


    Tie Linglong was even more confused. ¡°Dragon King likes Sister Ru. That¡¯s why he¡­ ¡±


    Han Wuxian just smiled, before she unexpectedly turned around and disappeared.


    Tie Linglong returned to her original position and kept monitoring the mansion, gradually forgetting about her conversation with Han Wuxian as if Han Wuxian had never shown up. Then she started thinking about Jueyin Finger Energy. It was a set of very powerful kung fu moves, and it was more interesting than the Bnced Power which required long-term cultivation.


    At dawn, Tie Linglong returned to the room. Chu Nanping was sitting by the window, looking outside.


    Tie Linglong sat on the bed. ¡°I¡¯ll be seventeen years old in a month.¡±


    ¡°Um,¡± Chu Nanping answered.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give my virginity to the Dragon King on my birthday.¡±


    Chu Nanping didn¡¯t say anything.


    Finally, Tie Linglong felt the pleasure of retaliation.

 Chapter 865 - A Bait

    Chapter 865: A Bait


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei decided tounch an attack on King An¡¯s mansion.


    He had sent Han Fen to deliver a message to Lotus offering to cooperate with her. However, it had been two months, but there was still no response back. Waning Moon Hall seemed to have disappeared from the world, and they hadn¡¯t made any major moves for a very long time. Lotus¡¯s vow that she would throw the whole world into chaos seemed like a joke.


    Gu Shenwei hoped that this seemingly suicidal attack could stimte Waning Moon Hall into reappearing to some extent.


    Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong¡¯s seamless surveince finally paid off. Tie Linglong had caught sight of Han Xuan momentarily. Although Han Xuan appeared only for a fleeting moment, Tie Linglong had seen her very clearly. ¡°Maybe some disciple of the Waning Moon Hall disguised herself as Han Xuan.¡± She had also considered this possibility.


    Gu Shenwei nodded and then casually asked, ¡°Has Han Wuxian ever been to King An¡¯s mansion before?¡±


    Chu Nanping cautiously answered, ¡°I didn¡¯t see her.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t¡­ ¡± Tie Linglong also started to say, but she suddenly felt her cheeks burn red. The Dragon King seemed to have seen through everything, and she didn¡¯t know why she wanted to hide this from him. ¡°I¡¯ve met Han Wuxian before. Just once.¡±


    ¡°Mm. Han Wuxian said that she found several strongholds of Waning Moon Hall and that she wanted tounch an attack. I guess that her target is King An¡¯s mansion.¡±


    ¡°But she was alone, and she didn¡¯t do anything other than talk to me for a short while.¡± Tie Linglong was very worried that the Dragon King might ask her about what they had talked about. Despite the fact that she was not a good liar, she certainly didn¡¯t want to tell him the truth.


    Fortunately, the Dragon King was thinking about another issue. ¡°It¡¯s because she also knows that it¡¯s a trap.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s really a trap, then the camouge is perfect. I didn¡¯t see any ws at all.¡± After expressing her opinion, Tie Linglong turned her head and looked at Chu Nanping, hoping for his agreement.


    His head slightly down, Chu Nanping was staring at the ground. He seemed to be preupied with his own thoughts and it was only after quite a while that he came to his senses. ¡°Yes. It¡¯s wless.¡±


    Gu Shenwei named a few random names and then asked Tie Linglong to call them in. After she left, he asked Chu Nanping, ¡°Is there something bothering you?¡±


    Chu Nanping was an even more terrible liar than Tie Linglong. He raised his head and looked straight at the Dragon King. ¡°Tie Linglong likes you.¡±


    ¡°I know. Do you care about it?¡± Gu Shenwei still had a vivid impression of Tie Linglong¡¯s unexpected love confession, but he had never taken it seriously. He just wanted to see how Chu Nanping would react.


    ¡°I hope that the Dragon King will be good to her.¡± Chu Nanping lowered his head again.


    ¡°The reason why I saved her life and taught her kung fu was not out of the goodness in my heart, but to raise her as a worker for me. Chu Nanping, you should know about this.¡±


    Chu Nanping abruptly raised his head, a rare firmness appearing on his handsome face. ¡°I¡¯ll do her job for her. Please assign all her work to me, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei watched him, feeling deeply concerned. ¡°First of all, you¡¯re just one person, I can¡¯t let you do the work of two people. Second, concealing your true feelings is not the right way to end a rtionship.¡±


    Chu Nanping found that he was caught in a dilemma. He could regard Tie Linglong as a normal friend, but he couldn¡¯t watch her move towards the abyss, and the Dragon King was the abyss. ¡°I¡¯ll do it step by step.¡± He made an excuse, saying, ¡°Many people like Tie Linglong and the Dragon King can like her too. You don¡¯t have to be very good to her. Just¡­ just¡­ ¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible,¡± Gu Shenwei interrupted. ¡°You court swordsmanship, and I court supremacy. You have no room for your beloved in your heart, and neither do I.¡±


    ¡°She wants to give her virginity to the Dragon King on her birthday,¡± Chu Nanping suddenly blurted out.


    Gu Shenwei was silent for a while. ¡°Do you want me to ept her or not?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I just don¡¯t want her to be heart-broken.¡±


    Gu Shenwei sighed to himself. He knew that he would have to resort to a cruel method if he wanted to help Chu Nanping get past this. ¡°There¡¯s still a month left before her birthday. I have no reason to decline. She¡¯s a killer, and it¡¯s already prettyte for her to go through with this. But before that, you still have a chance.¡±


    ¡°Chance?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the only one who can persuade her into changing her mind. She deliberately told you this because she wants you to talk to her. But you know her well. If that dayes and you don¡¯t do anything, then she might actually do it.¡±


    ¡°And the Dragon King won¡¯t decline?¡±


    ¡°Rejection will be an even greater humiliation to her.¡±


    ¡°And the Dragon King won¡¯t¡­ marry her either?¡±


    ¡°I already have a queen. I won¡¯t get a second one.¡±


    Chu Nanping still remembered Queen Ju who was stuck far away in Xiaoyao Lake, and he knew that she had never been happy.


    Chu Nanping stared at the Dragon King, faint anger glinting in his eyes. Gu Shenwei felt that he was ying with fire, so he coldly said, ¡°Emotionlessness is strength. It¡¯s true with regards to swordsmanship, and it¡¯s also true regarding the contest for supremacy. There¡¯s no difference between my pursuit and yours.¡±


    ¡°But I won¡¯t lie to her!¡±


    ¡°Neither will I. Tie Linglong will be more helpful to me when she bes emotionless.¡±


    Chu Nanping¡¯s left and right forefingers twitched at the same time. Gu Shenwei¡¯s attention also shifted to his saber.


    ¡°The Dragon King won¡¯t do that. That¡¯s¡­ That¡¯s¡­ not who you are,¡± Chu Nanping said the same words that Xu Xiaoyi had said to him back to the Dragon King.


    ¡°Don¡¯t specte about what kind of person I am.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s voice grew even colder. ¡°There were a lot of things that I neither wanted nor desired to do, but I still did them.¡±


    Chu Nanping gradually calmed down. ¡°If you hurt her, you¡¯ll lose me.¡±


    But Gu Shenwei was moreposed than him. ¡°If you still care about Tie Linglong, then you¡¯re not emotionless yet, and it wouldn¡¯t be a heavy loss to lose you if you¡¯re not emotionless.¡±


    Chu Nanping didn¡¯t expect that the Dragon King was so callous, but he knew that that was probably because he seldommunicated with the Dragon King. This conversation was the longest one they¡¯ve ever had whenpared to those that had happened so many years ago.


    ¡®Of course the Dragon King¡¯s callous,¡¯ he thought. ¡®None of those women who love the Dragon King is happy.¡¯ ¡°As you wish, Dragon King,¡± he said, as if he had epted the fact.


    ¡°Good.¡± If someone was too innocent, then Gu Shenwei surprisingly couldn¡¯t figure out what he or she was thinking. At this moment, he couldn¡¯t see through Chu Nanping¡¯s true thoughts. ¡°Remember, how you treat Tie Linglong is your own business. Don¡¯t ask anybody for help, including me.¡±


    Chu Nanping remained silent, as if he had said everything he should say and it was unnecessary for him to ever speak again.


    When Tie Linglong came back, she was unaware of the changes that had just taken ce in the tent.


    Old Man Mu, Han Wuxian, Dog Butcher, Shangguan Fei, and Hu Shining were all gathered in the tent. Gu Shenwei had called on his best killers.


    ¡°So we know it¡¯s a trap, but we¡¯re still going to jump into it?¡± Old Man Mu was always the first to raise questions.


    ¡°As long as we n it out, even a trap won¡¯t be able to trap us.¡±


    Old Man Mu let out a couple of giggles and questioned no more.


    ¡°Here¡¯s my n. We¡¯ll form arger encirclement ring, send someone into the trap to lure the enemies out of the mansion, and then wipe them out.¡±


    ¡°Just like that?¡± Old Man Mu couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Mm. This is the general n. We¡¯re here to consult each other about the details.¡±


    ¡°Who will be the bait to lure the enemies out?¡± Shangguan Fei asked in a low voice. He had already thought of an excuse to decline.


    Gu Shenwei looked at Han Wuxian and the others did the same, but Han Wuxian didn¡¯t seem to have noticed. Head down, she was looking at her hands, as if she was just here to listen.


    ¡°Darling, the Dragon King wants you to be the bait. With a beauty like you as the bait, how many big fish will be tempted?¡±


    It was at this moment that Han Wuxian raised her head and smiled. ¡°Okay. Who dares to disobey the Dragon King¡¯s order after all? I¡¯ll be the bait.¡±


    ¡°Dragon King, she¡¯ll be safe, right?¡± Old Man Mu asked on behalf of his ¡°darling.¡±


    ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, this trap was originallyid for Hall Leader Han, and they wanted to capture her. Thus, she is the only one who can act as the bait without running into any fatal danger.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s right. Those traitors need my flesh for their guiding drug, so they definitely don¡¯t have the heart to kill me.¡± With a face full of smiles, Han Wuxian agreed with the Dragon King, but the words ¡°guiding drug¡± sent a chill down the others¡¯ spines.


    ¡°Rest assured, darling. I¡¯ll be the first one to rush in and save you. You won¡¯t even lose a hair.¡±


    Han Wuxian turned to her side and smiled. ¡°Old man, you only have fifty percent of your strength left, but you¡¯re still as slippery as ever. I have a medicine that can treat talkativeness. Maybe you should give it a shot someday.¡±


    Old Man Mu shut up and made a series of gestures to indicate that his ¡°condition¡± had been cured.


    Gu Shenwei started arranging the ambush as the two bickered on the periphery. Old Man Mu, Dog Butcher, Shangguan Fei, and Chu Nanping would each take five helpers and lie in ambush on one side. Tie Linglong and Hu Shining would lead another twenty men as backup and stand by, waiting to be dispatched when the asion arose.


    ¡°I¡¯ll join one of your teams, and I¡¯ll decide which one to join when the operation starts.¡±


    ¡°Dragon King, my kung fu is the worst¡­¡± Expectation glinted in Shangguan Fei¡¯s eyes, but he received no response.


    This was the first time that Dog Butcher had ever participated this kind of operation, and he even had five killers at hismand, so he was both nervous and excited. ¡°I have a question. Do we take them alive or¡­ ¡±


    All the others looked at him contemptuously. Realizing that he had shown his weakness again, Dog Butcher said in a muted voice, ¡°I got it. We¡¯ll kill them all.¡±


    After consulting with each other for an extra while, they decided that they would take action after midnight. Then they all took their leave.


    Tie Linglong stayed behind. She was displeased with the Dragon King¡¯s arrangements, ¡°Dragon King, all the others are going to engage the enemies directly. Why do I have to be the backup?¡±


    ¡°I need a bodyguard.¡±


    Tie Linglong delightedly left the tent. ¡®I¡¯m so stupid. Of course the Dragon King needs a bodyguard. This is his old habit.¡±


    A quarter of an hourter, Shangguan Fei returned, craning his neck to look into the room. ¡°Dragon King, I have something to report.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°Yesterday, Shangguan Hong left the army camp and went into the city, and he disguised himself after the halfway point. Then¡­ Then he went to City View Alley.¡± Shangguan Fei appeared confused. ¡°It¡¯s a pity that my man couldn¡¯t get any closer to him, but he got the address. Heh-heh, the City View Alley are full of pansies. Why did he go there? To solicit them?¡±


    ¡°Keep following him,¡± Gu Shenwei said without giving any opinions on Shangguan Fei¡¯s report.


    Shangguan Fei dutifully answered ¡°yes¡± but didn¡¯t leave right away.


    ¡°Anything else?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    ¡°Er¡­ actually it¡¯s not anything important.¡± Hesitant, Shangguan Fei coughed several times before continuing. ¡°I have no other intentions. I just want to show my concern for my friend, but Red Bat won¡¯t let me in. Dragon King, would you please tell her to let me see Long Fanyun?¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s eyes suddenly turned severe. Shangguan Fei hastily took his leave and hurried outside, nning to figure out a way to get through Red Bat by himself.


    Gu Shenwei quickly forgot Shangguan Fei¡¯s disturbance and started reconsidering the night operation, hoping to not only force Lotus into showing herself, but also to identify the mole on his side.

 Chapter 866 - Confession

    Chapter 866: Confession


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Old Man Mu stealthily entered the tent. Standing in front of the Dragon King with a grave face, he seriously said, ¡°You can believe me, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Of course I believe you.¡± Gu Shenwei was sitting cross-legged on the couch, his hands in his sleeves. His upper body was straightened upright, as if someone was drawing a portrait of him.


    Old Man Mu snickered twice. ¡°I know what your n is, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯ve already told all of you.¡±


    ¡°I was referring to your secret n.¡±


    ¡°Oh? You think I have another n?¡±


    Old Man Mu crossed his hands behind, causing the tip of the sword fastened to his belt to be only one or two inches from the ground. ¡°I don¡¯t ¡®think¡¯ you have another n ¨C I ¡®know¡¯ you do, and I can offer additional help.¡±


    Gu Shenwei remained silent. Old Man Mu was smart, but he was also unreliable.


    ¡°The good girl trusts me.¡± Old Man Mu sighed sadly as he said, ¡°When I was in the Land of Fragrance, the good girl was ¡®the queen,¡¯ and I was a wise old man as well as a prisoner. She would tell me anything. I gave her a lot of advice, and I also helped her train female soldiers without making any mistakes. s, those days are gone for good. I miss her. What about you, Dragon King?¡±


    Gu Shenwei still did not answer.


    Old Man Mu withdrew his smile. His wrinkled face looked like a rough mask, which made Gu Shenwei very uneasy.


    ¡°You said that you want to attack King An¡¯s mansion, but you actually want to find the mole, right? That¡¯s right. I still remember what you said before. You said that someone leaked your whereabouts. I know that you wouldn¡¯t quickly forget about this. Actually I¡¯ve also been thinking about this for you, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei narrowed his eyes slightly. ¡°It seems that I can¡¯t hide it anymore.¡±


    ¡°Heh-heh. Actually, there¡¯s no need for you to keep it a secret from me, Dragon King, because I¡¯m thest person who would betray you.¡± Old Man Mu raised his hands before his chest. He seemed to be emphasizing that his words were reliable, but he also seemed to be beseeching the Dragon King. ¡°I¡¯m not sure whether I¡¯ve be a good man or not. To be honest, as long as I¡¯m on your side, I¡¯ll never be a good man. But my resolve is still firm. With my current situation, I¡¯ll surely be dead if I leave you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not the only one who can provide you with shelter.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯re the only one who¡¯s willing to take me in. I don¡¯t have many delusions about the people in this world. How many people would recruit an Old Man Mu who has only fifty or sixty percent of his strength left? I have a lot of enemies. Over the past two months, people have been asking about my whereabouts the entire time. I¡¯m scared, and I definitely wouldn¡¯t dare risk leaving you, Dragon King. Ha-ha. There¡¯s also another reason. Although I¡¯m just as good at ttery as when I was young, I¡¯ve already gotten used to currying favor with the Dragon King, and I don¡¯t want to serve another master.¡±


    ¡°Did you find any clues to the identity of the mole?¡± Gu Shenwei wouldn¡¯t believe Old Man Mu just because of his words. Betrayal might stem from various reasons, and it was very normal for things to be a little unusual, but there was indeed no need for him to keep it a secret from Old Man Mu.


    The smile reappeared on Old Man Mu¡¯s face. ¡°Can I take this as a sign that you trust me, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll never say that I ¡®trust¡¯ anybody, but I¡¯m willing to let you be part of my ¡®secret n.¡¯¡±


    Old Man Mu giggled even more happily and his body was quivering in anticipation. As expected, the sheath of his sword touched the nket, but he didn¡¯t care at all. ¡°Dragon King, for the past two months, I¡¯ve been doing another thing apart from performing normal tasks ¨C stalking Han Wuxian.¡±


    ¡°You think that she¡¯s the mole?¡±


    ¡°You also think that it¡¯s possible, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Um. She¡¯s one of the suspects.¡±


    Old Man Mu didn¡¯t ask whom the other suspects were. ¡°s. Actually I don¡¯t want to talk about this, since I still have feelings for my darling. She has forgotten our past, and though I still remember everything vividly, she¡¯s be so ruthless and ungrateful now. There¡¯s no need for me to protect her anymore. The Dragon King can understand this, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m waiting for you to talk about something more practical.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha. I started nagging again. You know me¡­ Han Wuxian had a secret meeting with the Unique King.¡±


    ¡°You saw it yourself?¡±


    ¡°I would have if I had my former strength. But now, how could I dare get close to the Unique King? Let me start from the beginning. I don¡¯t know why, but the Unique King has assigned all of his killers to the Heavenly Mountain Sect, and he¡¯s also been hiring kung fu experts from everywhere. My kung fu is just average, but his men also contacted me.¡±


    ¡°The Unique King wanted to bribe you?¡±


    ¡°s, how could the Unique King recruit this current me? It was the Sect Leader of Heavenly Mountain Sect, Du Jian. He found me with the help of a couple of intermediaries and had a long conversation with me. His general meaning was that the Dragon King¡¯s advantage was just temporary, and that you would suffer a crushing defeat in the end. But I didn¡¯t buy it. I just pretended to be interested and gave some perfunctory responses. As a result, I became a secret member of the Heavenly Mountain Sect. For the record, Du Jian has never assigned me any tasks, and I haven¡¯t done anything against the Dragon Army¡¯s interests.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯ve been hiding it from me.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha. Please forgive me for making a decision on my own, Dragon King. But you were not in Jade City back then, and there was nobody around that I could trust.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been in Jade City for five days.¡±


    ¡°Yes. But I was thinking that I should get some useful information first before telling you this. Otherwise, you would think that I¡¯m a fence-sitter.¡±


    Old Man Mu said the words that Gu Shenwei had meant to say, so he could only ask, ¡°So you have evidence of Han Wuxian¡¯s betrayal?¡±


    ¡°More than that. I also confirmed another issue ¨C Han Wuxian has been rebuilding the Barren Sect.¡±


    The Barren Sect was originally an external wing of Waning Moon Hall, and most of its disciples bore the surname ¡°Kang.¡± Back then when they had been trying to steal the Daoless Divine Power manual, all its disciples were wiped out. The sect was just a victim of Han Wuxian¡¯s overall n.


    ¡°Rebuilding the Barren Sect?¡± Gu Shenwei was surprised by this news. ¡°Hasn¡¯t she been trying to regain control of the Waning Moon Hall?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know much specific information about the details. I only know one thing ¨C the Unique King told her to do this.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pondered his words over for a while. ¡°You still didn¡¯t tell me how you overheard all these messages.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right. They believe that I¡¯ve joined the Heavenly Mountain Sect, and so I get to wander around freely in northern Jade City. And I snatched every chance I could to stalk Han Wuxian, but I didn¡¯t get much intelligence until you showed up¡­ Ha-ha, you¡¯re capable of so many things, Dragon King. After meeting you that day, Han Wuxian was furious, and she was not as prudent as usual. That night, she went straight to northern Jade City to meet with Golden Roc Castle¡¯s liaison. I eavesdropped on them and heard a few words.¡±


    Old Man Mu gave out a couple of coughs and then mimicked Han Wuxian¡¯s high voice. ¡°Tell the Unique King that I don¡¯t want to wait any longer. I¡¯ve started rebuilding Barren Sect. It¡¯s time to take action, and I want another meeting with him.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all,¡± Old Man Mu¡¯s voice returned to normal. ¡°It was very risky after all. I¡¯m no match for Han Wuxian. Besides, there were also plenty of killers skulking around.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Well done.¡±


    ¡°What do you n to do next, Dragon King?¡± Old Man Mu said in a tone of a highly trusted subordinate.


    ¡°Carrying out the operation tonight.¡±


    ¡°You still need more proof?¡±


    ¡°No. I believe that Han Wuxian is the mole, and that she will surely leak this operation¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Oh. So you nning to counterplot and stab Golden Roc Castle in the back. However¡­ northern Jade City is Golden Roc Castle¡¯s territory, and the Dragon King¡¯s armies are outside ofthe city. It doesn¡¯t seem like we have any men avable.¡±


    ¡°I have my own n.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll stop poking around,¡± Old Man Mu obsequiously bowed and took his leave. As he walked away, the end his the sheath rubbed against the nket, making the sheath seem more redundant.


    Gu Shenwei immediately had someone call Xu Xiaoyi in. ¡°Stop stalking Old Man Mu from now on.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Xu Xiaoyi answered, feeling confused. ¡°But¡­ Have you found proof or did you just decide to trust him?¡±


    ¡°Neither. Old Man Mu has spotted your men.¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± Xu Xiaoyi was startled. ¡°Howe-¡±


    ¡°Forget about Old Man Mu. I¡¯ll find another way.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Xu Xiaoyi took the order and left, wondering how Old Man Mu had spotted his men.


    Gu Shenwei believed that there must have been a reason for why Old Man Mu had chosen to confess on this asion, and the simplest answer was that Old Man Mu had found that the Dragon King was suspecting him, so he had taken the initiative and to make a move to dissolve the Dragon King¡¯s suspicion.


    Gu Shenwei had no doubt that Han Wuxian was a mole. She had a lot of reasons to betray the Dragon King and the most important one was Lotus. Han Wuxian seemed to have anticipated that the Dragon King would try to cooperate with Lotus again, and in all of the whole Western Regions, Golden Roc Castle was the only natural ally that she could find.


    Things were moreplicated about Old Man Mu. He could switch sides faster than anybody else, but his strength was far less powerful than before, so he indeed was unable to ¡°switch sides¡± even if he wanted to.


    Gu Shenwei still couldn¡¯t figure him out.


    At around eleven o¡¯clock at night, as usual, northern Jade City became much earlier than southern Jade City. The Dragon King¡¯s killers were all gathered in a stronghold prepared by Xu Xiaoyi in advance. Besides Han Wuxian, all of them were wearing a mask and ck clothes, looking exactly the same as Golden Roc killers. In a dark room, their identities were even more indistinguishable.


    ¡°Hold your own ground, and leave as soon as the mission is aplished. Don¡¯t get into any tangled fight,¡± Hu Shining said.


    ¡°Why are you inmand? Where¡¯s the Dragon King?¡± Shangguan Fei was startled and suspicious. Not having seen the Dragon King, he was very uneasy.


    ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± Hu Shining didn¡¯t answer the questions of his former young master. He was a traditional Golden Roc killer. No matter what his usual demeanor was, he would never say anything redundant when performing tasks. ¡°Team One, move out.¡±


    Dog Butcher was on team one. He replied in a deep voice, took five killers with him, and left the house. His voice sounded very calm, but the way he walked was a little awkward, as if the night suit fit him badly. Under his influence, the five killers behind him also seemed a little weird.


    Old Man Mu said aloud, ¡°Be careful, Old Dog. Remember toe back.¡±


    Nobody answered. Feeling that he was in an unfavorable atmosphere, Old Man Mu defiantly said, ¡°What? Am I not allowed to speak?¡±


    After waiting in silence for a while, Hu Shining gave another order. If he had a choice, he would have rather taken a group of average killers than kung fu experts like Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher. ¡°Team Two, move out.¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s voice drifted in through the doorway. ¡°Come on. Follow me. I may be a little short, but not too short to be overlooked, okay?¡±


    The leader of Team Three was Shangguan Fei. Before leaving, he again asked in a muted voice, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s here, right?¡±


    Hu Shining still didn¡¯t answer.


    Chu Nanping was the leader of Team Four. He didn¡¯t count as an excellent killer, but Hu Shining had trained him for a year, so they made a great team. Walking out of the house with five killers, he didn¡¯t say anything redundant.


    ¡°Hall Leader Han, please depart,¡± Hu Shining said politely, not regarding her as a regr killer at all.


    Han Wuxian giggled. ¡°The bait is about to be set. Where¡¯s the fisherman?¡±


    ¡°Um,¡± a voice came from the corner. Han Wuxian nodded and signaled her two subordinates toe with her to King An¡¯s mansion.


    It waspletely quiet in the mansion. Scared, King An was the only one who was tossing and turning in bed. He had been suffering from insomnia since a long time ago.

 Chapter 867 - Hair

    Chapter 867: Hair


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    King An was around forty years old, but he looked like an old man in his sixties or seventies. Lying in bed, he was unable to sleep. Every time he was about to fall asleep, he would see visions of an army breaking into the royal pce of the An Kingdom, and soldiers with sabers and swords wereing after him, who was the real king.


    He was concerned because there was an increasing number of people who didn¡¯t regard him as the true King An.


    His mother, a Central-ins princess whose parentage was ambiguous, had selected someone else to be the new king with the support of the Dragon King. He had thought that this was just a temporary setback, but things didn¡¯t go the way he wanted. The Dragon King¡¯s armies grew stronger with each passing day, and it seemed as if his exile would never end.


    King An once again dreamed of being killed and he abruptly woke up in a cold sweat. Even as he tried to console himself, he suddenly discovered that someone was crouching down beside the window. He rubbed his eyes and confirmed that it was indeed a living person who was peeping outside, their back to him.


    King An felt his heart stop beating and even his blood felt like it had coagted.


    ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ Don¡¯t kill me. I surrender¡­ ¡± These few words cost King An all his strength.


    ¡°Shh.¡± The figure below the window turned their head back and signaled him to be quiet.


    King An immediately recognized her. She was that entric woman who had recently taken up residence in his mansion. ¡°Han¡­ Han Xuan? Is that you?¡±


    ¡°I told you to be quiet. Why aren¡¯t you listening?¡± Han Xuan said impatiently, as if she were rebuking a disobedient child.


    King An was a little afraid of her. Whenever he saw someone who dared to look him in the eye, he would think of the lost throne: when he had been powerful, nobody dared to look at him in this way.


    But now, people wouldn¡¯t respect him even in his own bedroom.


    Han Xuan kept peeping outside. King Any quietly in bed, attentively opening his ears. It was totally quiet outside. He couldn¡¯t help but ask in an extremely low voice, ¡°What¡¯re you doing here?¡±


    A thought shed across his mind. ¡®Is this a sexual encounter?¡¯ But he soon discarded this spection. He was in exile and held little appeal for women. Han Xuan was also not his type. ¡®If she were the other woman who¡¯s staying here¡­ ¡± King An thought for a moment before he hurriedly restrained his wild thoughts.


    Han Xuan sighed in annoyance. She turned around, slowly walked to the side of the bed, and whispered, ¡°I¡¯m trying to hide from someone.¡±


    King An¡¯s heart lurched. He instantly forgot about his former two reservations: Han Xuan was not pretty, but neither was she too ugly. If he ignored the impolite look in her eyes, she would be even prettier. As for his exile ¨C if King An was not in exile, then amon woman wouldn¡¯t even have had a chance to seduce him.


    ¡®I still have a chance to take back what used to belong to me.¡¯ King An, who had been shivering in fear all this time, suddenly became highly confident. ¡®Hasn¡¯t Waning Moon Hall promised this to me? Han Xuan doesn¡¯t even count as a visionary woman. She must¡¯ve have heard something in advance.¡¯


    King An stretched out his arm. He had already thought of an excuse to give afterwards: he was the king, and she was a maidservant. He would miss her and take care of her, but he couldn¡¯t bring her into the pce.


    Too many thoughts were flying through his head so his reflexes became slower. It was not until King An grasped out for the third times that he discovered that his wrist had been firmly grabbed by Han Xuan. His hand was only several inches away from the target, but it couldn¡¯t move any closer.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Han Xuan asked, feeling that King An was acting very strangely tonight.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be shy. I¡¯ll make a princess of you.¡± King An instantly forgot the excuse he had juste up with. Even as his wrist was tightly under her control, he suddenly felt that Han Xuan was very charming.


    ¡°I¡¯m not shy,¡± Han Xuan said. After thinking for a while, she had finally understood what ¡°make a princess of you¡± meant.


    Han Xuan was indeed not shy. King An believed that he was about to seed, but then he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his wrist and his genital area. A piecing shrill shriek had just crawled out of his throat when it was blocked by Han Xuan¡¯s other hand.


    King An¡¯s mouth was firmly covered, and he felt that his right wrist being bound by an iron hoop. His other free hand clutched his crotch as his body curled into the fetal position. He burst into tears, as this was the only way he could vent the great pain.


    King An stopped twisting. Han Xuan loosened her grip and asked, ¡°Do you still want me to be your princess?¡±


    As if waking up from another ¡°dream¡±, King An shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Um. Just lie here quietly. Someone¡¯s out there.¡±


    King An instantly sat up but Han Xuan pressed him down at once.


    ¡°Wh¨CWho?¡±


    ¡°Someone tough.¡±


    Han Xuan felt this King An was very troublesome, so she took the folded clothes at the end of the bed and used them to gag his mouth and restrain his hands and legs.


    King An was totally powerless to resist and he started crying again, but this time it was because he felt humiliated. He missed the small An Kingdom on the southern shore of Xiaoyao Lake even more.


    Han Xuan returned to the window, but that strange feeling was gone.


    She had an inexplicable intuition towards sensing Waning Moon Hall disciples, and this intuition had always enabled her to detect their existence before she saw them. A hour ago, she had felt this familiar feeling, so she sneaked out of her room to take a look. After sneaking around the mansion, she found that King An¡¯s bedroom gave the best signal.


    ¡®It is all King An¡¯s fault,¡¯ she thought. ¡®This brainless old man ruined my premonition.¡¯


    But she still fixed her eyes on the courtyard, especially the room opposite this one. That was Shangguan Shaomin¡¯s room, and Shangguan Shaomin was the one she was protecting with all her strength.


    Her owndy was not around, so Han Xuan had shifted her desire of protecting someone onto Shangguan Shaomin.


    Her intuition of a close by disciple of Waning Moon Hall never came back. Eventually, Han Xuan gave up. She was not as patient as a killer. Ignoring King An¡¯s begging, she pushed open the window and went straight outside.


    The courtyard was not big, and if Han Xuan used her lightness skills, she could make it to the opposite side in just a couple of leaps, and that was what she did. But when she took the second leap, her intuition resonated again, and it was very intense, as if the courtyard was full of Waning Moon Hall disciples.


    She raised her head, and to her surprise, she saw a woman flying underneath the moonlight.


    That womannded before her. She was tall. The smile on her face was vague but so tender that Han Xuan felt like her heart was about to melt, and she even felt the urge to run into her arms.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been looking for you for a very long time. Come with me.¡±


    Han Wuxian stretched her arms out. This time, Han Xuan didn¡¯t decline. She also stretched her arms out and slowly walked towards Han Wuxian. A low voice in her mind was warning her that this tall woman was not trustworthy, but she just couldn¡¯t stop herself; she felt that a woman with a smile this tender would never hurt her.


    The moment Han Wuxian¡¯s hand touched Han Xuan¡¯s, she poked Han Xuan with her left hand at lightning fast speed.


    Han Xuan passed out immediately. She didn¡¯t even realize that she had been attacked.


    Carrying Han Xuan in her arms, Han Wuxian stood in the middle of the courtyard with a smile. She had finally regained control of the Female Gu that she had spent so much time nurturing. ¡®But what about the trap? Where¡¯s Lotus? Things won¡¯t go this smoothly.¡¯


    Two hidden weapons shot towards her andnded several steps ahead of her with a clear sound.


    The hidden weapons were actually two heads which used to belong to Han Wuxian¡¯s two bodyguards. They were supposed to be on guard outside.


    Han Wuxian burst into a wildughter, her eerie voice resounding around the mansion. She scorned her hidden opponent. ¡°Han Wuxian is here! Show yourselves, traitors!¡±


    The raucousughter woke up all the people in the nearby rooms and there was amotion. After a short while, the mansion went quiet again. Someone lit a candle but it was put out as soon as the light was seen.


    Ten figures appeared on the rooftops around, silently looking down at Hall Leader Han who was standing in the courtyard.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Lotus? Does she not dare toe and get me herself?¡±


    Nobody answered. Two figures leaped onto the ground, one on her left side and the other on her right. They were both masked and each of them held a sword. One of them said, ¡°Please surrender, Hall Leader Han.¡±


    The speaker was a woman, and the voice was polite and strange. Han Wuxian peered at her curiously. ¡°You¡¯re not disciples of the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    ¡°We are,¡± the former speaker replied. ¡°Hall Leader¡¯s been away from home for too long.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha. So it turns out that you¡¯re Lotus¡¯ Poison Seedlings. Show me what you¡¯ve got, then. How many secret arts and medicine have you learned?¡±


    ¡°Just a little. How dare we perform them before Hall Leader? We also learned some swordsmanship. We¡¯d appreciate it if Hall Leader offers us some advice.¡±


    It suddenly dawned on Han Wuxian that Lotus knew that she was no match for her in terms of secret arts and poison, so she was relying on her kung fu to defeat her.


    Smiling, Han Wuxian shook her head. ¡°Swordsmanship? I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t know much about it.¡±


    Before she finished talking, she made her move. With Han Xuan in her arms, she leaped towards the opponents and kicked out several times, the hem of her dress flying.


    Kung fu was indeed not Han Wuxian¡¯s forte. Although Old Man Mu had helped her improve her kung fu skills a long time ago, Waning Moon Hall¡¯s kung fu still couldn¡¯t be considered top-notch. And this was the very reason why Han Wuxian had tried so hard to steal the Daoless Divine Power Manual.


    The two disciples of the Waning Moon Hall attacked with their swords, and they made a great team. Both of them were actually outstanding kung fu experts, but they didn¡¯t dare to get too close to Hall Leader for fear of her secret arts.


    After exchanging over ten moves, Han Wuxian loudly said, ¡°What¡¯re you waiting for? Come at me together. It won¡¯t be that easy for you to eat Han Wuxian¡¯s flesh!¡±


    Suddenly, Han Wuxian threw Han Xuan at them. The Waning Moon Hall disciple moved aside to dodge, but she lost her bnce and nearly fell. She shed with several sword blows, but her target was neither Han Wuxian nor Han Xuan, and it even seemed like she was fighting against with an invisible opponent. ¡°Watch out for her hair,¡± the swordswoman hoarsely reminded herpanion, backing off by six or seven steps. Obviously, her throat had been wounded.


    Another four disciples of Waning Moon Hall leaped down, each holding their own sword. They joined the former two disciples and surrounded Han Wuxian.


    Han Wuxian had just thrown Han Xuan forward when she immediately rushed over and caught her again. As she evaluated the six enemies around her, she said with a smile, ¡°Lotus is not too bad. Let¡¯s have apetition today and see which one¡¯s better ¨C her swordsmanship or my secret arts.¡±


    With Han Xuan in her arms, Han Wuxian started spinning on the spot, her speed continuously growing faster and faster. Suddenly, the bun on top of her head unraveled and spread through the air like strands of grass.


    The six Waning Moon Hall disciples wielded their swords and tried to parry. Among the six people, even the closest to Han Wuxian was over seven steps away from her, and they normally wouldn¡¯t even be able to touch the tip of her hair. However, all of them were highly vignt, as if they were facing a formidable enemy, and they spared no effort to fight with an enemy they couldn¡¯t even touch.


    Outside the courtyard, Old Man Mu was a little anxious. He had been waiting to watch a good show, but he could only hear the sounds.


    The four Waning Moon Hall disciples on the rooftops were the only people he could see. Before long, they also leaped down and joined the fight.


    ¡®The Dragon King should show up soon. This is the only way to lure the killers of Golden Roc Castle out.¡¯


    What surprised Old Man Mu was that another group of people did indeed show up, and they also leaped onto those rooftops. They numbered over twenty and their leader was not masked. Although he didn¡¯t have a very good view because of the dark night, Old Man Mu was pretty sure that the leader was good girl Shangguan Ru.


    A signal re shot up into the sky in the distance. This was a signal for Old Man Mu, Chu Nanping, Shangguan Fei and Dog Butcher¡¯s teams to attack.


    Ignoring the five helpers behind him, Old Man Mu shot to the highest position of King An¡¯s mansion with two or three leaps and happened to see Tie Linglong rushing out of a room along with several killers.


    ¡®The Dragon King must be in that room too,¡¯ Old Man Mu thought. Then more and more figures appeared from all sides. Only a small proportion of them were the Dragon King¡¯s killers, and most of them were genuine Golden Roc killers.


    Old Man Mu didn¡¯t join the fight right away. He was looking for the Dragon King¡¯s ¡°unexpected army.¡±

 Chapter 868 - Another Master

    Chapter 868: Another Master


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Hu Shining had warned them not to enter a prolonged engagement. But in the end, it turned out that they nearly got wrapped up into one anyways.


    The spacious King An¡¯s mansion suddenly became crowded. Most of the people in it were masked and in ck. If someone let hispanions out of sight for even an instant, he would be unable to distinguish hispanions from his enemies forever after. It seemed as if none of the groups there had thought of putting on some kind of distinguishing mark on their clothes in advance.


    If he still had his former strength, Old Man Mu would have been more than willing to venture into the mansion. But now, he strictly followed Hu Shining¡¯s ¡°order¡± ¨C stand by. If anyone approached him, no matter if they were enemies or friends, he would transfer to another position immediately, always maintaining a safe distance from the battleground.


    But Old Man Mu was soon disappointed. This was not the massacre that he had imagined. Although the situation was chaotic, every side had their own targets and killing people was nobody¡¯s top priority.


    The ten disciples of Waning Moon Hall, who had been the first ones to join the fight, suddenly encountered powerful enemies and their immediate response was to flee. Meanwhile, Han Wuxian was tightly carrying Han Xuan in her arms as her long hair ran past her waist. She stood in the middle of the courtyard and as she watched those on the run, she burst intoughter. However, she didn¡¯t pursue them, and was totally indifferent towards those in ck who were swarming either before or behind her.


    Nobody cared about her either.


    Followed by her men, Shangguan Ru went straight to a room on the western part of the mansion and then also carried someone out of it. Covering each other¡¯s paths, Shangguan Ru and her men started retreating. That person in her arms screamed, the shrill voice joining Han Wuxian¡¯s wildughter.


    It suddenly dawned on Old Man Mu that good girl was here to rescue Shangguan Shaomin.


    Another group of Golden Roc killers, sabermen of Heavenly Mountain Sect to be precise, went past Shangguan Ru and pounced onto Tie Linglong and the other five killers of the Dragon King who had just rushed out of a room.


    This was one of the few engagements that took ce. After a few nces, Old Man Mu immediately realized that something was not right ¨C the Dragon King was not among themon killers under Tie Linglong¡¯smand.


    Old Man Mu quickly became uninterested. Seeing that Chu Nanping went to help them, he still didn¡¯t move. Looking around, he was searching for ¡°big scenes.¡± He thought, ¡®the Dragon King, Lotus and the Unique King are all ruthless people. They should be ying their trump cards and fighting a life-or-death battle.¡¯


    But he was disappointed yet again. Shangguan Fei¡¯s team entered the mansion but soon turned around and fled without even symbolically engaging the enemies.


    Dog Butcher, who had always been the most obedient one, did something that greatly surprised Old Man Mu. He didn¡¯t flee or join the fight. Instead, he charged at a room in the eastern part of the mansion, followed by his five killers.


    ¡®It¡¯s King An who the Dragon King wants!¡¯ Old Man Mu was confused and also a little jealous. He had already confessed all his sins to the Dragon King, but the Dragon King still didn¡¯t trust him. Instead of him, the Dragon King had assigned the most important task to Dog Butcher, who had been thest one to join the Dragon Army.


    After been tightly wrapped up by Han Xuan, King An had be a portable hostage. But Dog Butcher and his team were intercepted by another group of Heavenly Mountain Sect¡¯s sabersmen before they could leave.


    Old Man Mu watched this fight for a rtively longer time and for a moment, he mistook one of those people for the Dragon King. However, he soon found that the person¡¯s kung fu was different from that of the Dragon King. But he was even more surprised at the fact that all Dog Butcher¡¯s team members were top-notch kung fu experts, and their kung fu skills were very different from the kung-fu of the Western Regions; they were less aggressive but grander and calmer.


    ¡®They¡¯re all Central-insmen.¡¯ Old Man Mu waspletely bewildered and had no idea what the Dragon King¡¯s n was.


    Dog Butcher was also perplexed. He had epted the task, but he didn¡¯t know the identities of the members on his team. It was not until the fight started that he found some clues. ¡°Eek, Taishan Swordsmanship¡­ Qingcheng Sect¡­ Dragon and Tiger Mountain¡­ ¡±


    The five killers on Old Man Mu¡¯s team had left him behind and joined the fight. He also leaped down from the rooftop and entered a dark alley. He was still baffled, but he did know one thing for certain ¨C neither the Dragon King nor Lotus would show up, and the fight, which he had expected to be intense and tangled, wouldn¡¯t happen either. After thinking for a while, he realized that a man as prudent as the Dragon King would never venture into northern Jade City since he already knew that this operation had beenpromised.


    Behind him, Han Wuxian¡¯s wildugh abruptly stopped.


    ¡®The Dragon King¡¯s so cunning,¡¯ Old Man Mu thought in both annoyance and admiration. Maneuvering in those alleys, he followed Shangguan Ru and her men through southern Jade City.


    It was probably because she had recognized her little aunt, but Shangguan Shaomin had stopped screaming a long time ago.


    At the doorway of a dwelling on the riverbank in southern Jade City, Shangguan Ru handed her niece over to some female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance who had been waiting to wee them. She then ordered all of her subordinates to go inside, turned around to face the position where Old Man Mu was hiding, and then said, ¡°Come out.¡±


    Old Man Mu cupped his hands before his chest to pay respect to her as he walked forward, the tip of his sword rubbing against the solid ground with ¡°crash, crash¡± sounds. ¡°Good girl, it¡¯s good to see you. If I tell you that what I¡¯m feeling right now are the same feelings as that of a young man finally being reunited with his mother after being away from home for many years, you wouldn¡¯t be too angry, would you? Because that¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m feeling right now.¡±


    Shangguan Ru giggled. ¡°I don¡¯t want to have a son like you. Why did you follow me here? Do you want to take her from me, or¡­ are you sending a message for him?¡±


    Old Man Mu had already walked in front of Shangguan Ru. He widened his eyes in amazement as he eximed, ¡°Taking her from you? Sending a message? What¡¯re you talking about? You seem to be under the impression that I¡¯m your enemy. I¡¯ve never once forgotten that it was you who saved my life several times, and you also spared me once. Previously I couldn¡¯t find you. But now that I¡¯ve found you, I¡¯ll surely continue to loyally serve as your subordinate.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the Dragon King¡¯s subordinate. You took an oath in public,¡± Shangguan Ru corrected.


    ¡°Even ten thousand oaths can¡¯tpare to my allegiance to you, good girl. You don¡¯t have to say anything. As long as you don¡¯t object, then I¡¯ll shamelessly be here. I wouldpletely disregard even an allegiance to the Jade Emperor, not to mention the Dragon King.¡±


    Shangguan Ru knew very well that Old Man Mu was good at ttering and that his words were not reliable at all. She still smiled happily though, and then she seriously said, ¡°So you¡¯re willing to follow my orders?¡±


    ¡°Sure. If good girl says ¡®go to hell¡¯, then I¡¯ll do it without any hesitation. I¡¯ll do it with the sword if I have a sword, and I¡¯ll bang my head against the wall if I don¡¯t have a sword. Even if my hands and leg are tied, I¡¯ll hold my breath and suffocate myself.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t give such a cruel order. I only want you to do one thing ¨C go back and serve the Dragon King loyally, and do whatever you can to keep him safe.¡±


    ¡°Er, of course. I¡¯ll follow good girl¡¯s every order. But to be honest, the Dragon King¡¯s kung fu is far better than mine. I can barely avoid bing a burden for him. How am I supposed to protect him?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s only one man and he doesn¡¯t have three heads or six arms. There must be something you can help him with.¡±


    Old Man Mu threw out his chest, clumsily whipped out his sword, imitated the swordsmen of Big Snow Mountain, and gave a vigorous swing. ¡°With me as hispanion, the Dragon King won¡¯t be alone any more. Rest assured, good girl. I can¡¯t guarantee that the Dragon King will never get hurt, but if he dies, I¡¯ll never see you again alive ¨C don¡¯t get me wrong. I¡¯m not saying that I¡¯ll hide myself from you. I mean that I¡¯ll kill myself if he dies.¡±


    Shangguan Ru nodded, indicating that she understood. ¡°What if there¡¯s a conflict between me and the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not possible. Even if the Dragon King¡¯s ruthless enough to do that, good girl won¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°I mean if that happens.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to break my promise and switch over to the good girl¡¯s side again.¡±


    Shangguan Ru shook her head. ¡°That is not how loyalty works, and it¡¯s not what I want.¡±


    Old Man Mu scratched his forehead. ¡°s, I¡¯m indeed too old to understand what you youngsters are thinking about. All right. I owe you several lives, and I understand what you mean. In any case, I¡¯ll do my best to protect the Dragon King, even if the good girl, yourself, is the opponent.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡±


    ¡°s, you just gave me away like this, good girl. Even if I were a dog, you should be a bit heart-broken at this moment, shouldn¡¯t you? Besides, I made a promise that I¡¯ll bite my own master when necessary.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha, you degrade yourself too much. If you¡¯re not willing to do that, then nobody can force you to.¡±


    ¡°I am willing to do that,¡± Old Man Mu answered firmly. Then he nced at the courtyard behind Shangguan Ru. ¡°May I ask what this ce is? And where did you recruit all these kung fu experts? It doesn¡¯t seem like they¡¯re from the Land of Fragrance, are they?¡±


    ¡°Humm. You want to collect intelligence for the Dragon King right now?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely. I¡¯m loyal to him.¡±


    ¡°This is the headquarter of the Kun Society. I have a hundred female soldiers at mymand. All the others have returned to the Land of Fragrance. I also have 237 teenagers here. All of them used to be apprentice killers in Golden Roc Castle. They have no other ce to stay, so they joined the Kun Society. That¡¯s all.¡±


    Old Man Mu memorized this information and made a deep bow before Shangguan Ru. ¡°Green mountains never change. Blue water flows forever. Today we¡¯re friends, but some other day we may be enemies. All of my gratitude, grudges, love, hatred ¨C they are what they are. I¡¯ve never taken any promises seriously in my whole life, but this promise that I¡¯ve made to you today is an exception. I promise you that I¡¯ll take good care of the Dragon King, and so I¡¯ve repaid you for sparing me several times previously. From now on, we¡¯re even.¡±


    Upon hearing his words, Shangguan Ru felt both poignant and amused. ¡°¡®Today we¡¯re friends, but some other day we may be enemies¡¯. Please tell this to the Dragon King too.¡±


    Old Man Mu bowed again. Before dawn broke, he left southern Jade City and headed for the encampment of the Dragon Army, thinking that with good girl¡¯s order, he would be much safer if he stayed on the Dragon King¡¯s side.


    He wasn¡¯t thest one to return. The Dragon King¡¯s spacious tent was full of people. Shangguan Fei was busy narrating how his team had managed to narrowly escape from northern Jade City. Dog Butcher was in the doorway, talking with several strangers in whispers.


    Old Man Mu pulled at the coattail of Dog Butcher¡¯s clothes. ¡°What¡¯s this about?¡±


    Dog Butcher¡¯s face was full of excitement, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s sopetent. He actually recruited a lot of kung fu experts from the Central ins. Let me introduce them to you. This is the Taishan Sect¡¯s renowned¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute. I know the word ¡®ridiculous,¡¯ but I don¡¯t know the word ¡®renowned.¡¯ Why did you bring King An here?¡±


    ¡°Heh-heh, you should ask the Dragon King. I don¡¯t know why either.¡±


    Old Man Mu thought that Dog Butcher didn¡¯t know any inside information either. Thus, he looked around and asked, ¡°Where¡¯s my woman? Why am I not seeing her?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea. Han Wuxian ran faster than all of us, but she never came back. Right, you ran even faster. Why did you return sote?¡±


    ¡°Heh-heh, you should ask the Dragon King.¡± Old Man Mu imitated Dog Butcher¡¯s previous answer, and then he exchanged eye contact with all those kung fu experts from the Central ins who appeared a little ufortable, so as to let them know his status in this tent. Then he squeezed his way towards the Dragon King, nning to report his conversation with Shangguan Ru. This would be quite an aplishment for him.


    He had just taken a couple of steps forward when someone rushed in from behind him. That man was even more aggressive than Old Man Mu. He pushed all those in front of him aside and nearly stamped on Old Man Mu who was short and in his way.


    It was Chu Nanping. There was blood all over him. His handsome face was full of anger and thus he looked somewhat hideous.


    Old Man Mu moved aside in time. Shangguan Fei tactfully shut up. King An, who had been untied, was so scared that his knees buckled and he fell onto the ground.


    Chu Nanping stared at the Dragon King, ignoring the others. ¡°She¡¯s hurt.¡±


    ¡°Tie Linglong?¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear that. Tell Doctor Sun to take a look at her.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s voice was nd. Last night, he had achieved his ends and also found many of his enemies¡¯ ws.


    Chu Nanping obviously had his own thoughts. He couldn¡¯t understand how the Dragon King could be callous enough to use even Tie Linglong as bait.

 Chapter 869 - Explanation

    Chapter 869: Exnation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    King An was like an innocent citizen who had been captured by a devil. In his eyes, everyone in front of him was a monster, and even the gentle-looking Chu Nanping seemed capable of eating him alive.


    And then there was the Dragon King. This was the first time that King An had ever seen the man who had taken his country as well as his throne away from him. The horror in him clouded his judgement, and he failed to see the signs that signaled his favorable situation, like the fact that there was no murderous intent or anger in the Dragon King¡¯s face.


    ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ Don¡¯t kill me. I surrender to the Dragon King. And I¡¯ll abdicate the throne and be amoner.¡± King An had meant to talk while kneeling, but his legs were so limp that he could only sit on the ground, desperately petitioning for his own life.


    Gu Shenwei stared at Chu Nanping until he withdrew his anger and moved aside. Then, Gu Shenwei turned and faced King An, who was trembling constantly. ¡°Your mother¡¯s a princess of the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± King An was confused by this remark. After a while, he collected himself and replied, ¡°Yes, yes. My mother¡¯s a princess of the Central ins. I¡¯m a descendant of the Central insmen. Dragon King¡­ ¡±


    Gu Shenwei waved his hand and stopped him from speaking any more. ¡°You¡¯ve been abducted by the Unique King. You must have suffered a lot, right?¡±


    King An was clearly not a smart person, and he was stunned yet again by Gu Shenwei¡¯s words. The temporary residence that was King An¡¯s mansion was surely not asrge and luxurious as the royal pce in An Kingdom. However, there was still many precious and unique treasures in Jade City. As long as he had money, life in this city would be far morefortable than that in the remote southern shore of Xiaoyao Lake. King An still had some valuable items that he hadn¡¯t sold yet. Besides the torturous feelings in his heart, he hadn¡¯t actually suffered much.


    ¡°Er¡­ Yes, I did suffer a lot. The Unique King ced me under house arrest and didn¡¯t allow me to leave the house. He then tried to force me to abdicate the throne every two or three days, and he also sent a couple of entric women-¡±


    Gu Shenwei waved his hand again and signaled the people beside him to move aside. Pointing at a couple of Central insmen at the doorway, he said, ¡°They¡¯re kung fu experts from the Central ins, and they came here to rescue you. You can leave with them now.¡±


    Ever since he had opened his eyes and seen Han Xuanst night, King An had been through a vaciting series of highs and lows, and it culminated into this moment, where he waspletely perplexed. He didn¡¯t even understand the insinuation of ¡°kung fu experts from the Central ins,¡± and he just followed his instincts and said, ¡°I¡¯ll never forget the Central ins¡¯ great kindness, and I¡¯ll also remember all the favors you¡¯ve done to me, heroes. Someday, I¡¯ll make you officials of high status¡­¡±


    King An was like a piece of rotten wood. Gu Shenwei had lost interest in him and nodded, giving his permission for those Central insmen to take King An away.


    Dog Butcher was uncertain about whether he was considered a Central insmen or not. After dithering around for a short while, he decided to stay in the tent.


    ¡°This operation was a great sess,¡± said Gu Shenwei. But when he saw that everybody still looked confused, he exined, ¡°The aim of this operation was to rescue King An. For confidentiality reasons, I kept it a secret from you all.¡±


    In most cases, killers would be unaware of the objectives of their tasks, so they were not irked by the Dragon King¡¯s decisions. But Dog Butcher faintly felt like the Dragon King had used him, despite the fact that he had been assigned an important task during this operation. But none of the others said anything, so he also kept silent.


    Discovering that his fleeing hadn¡¯t brought any negative influence to the operation, Shangguan Fei was greatly relieved, and asked, ¡°This King An is clearly just a coward who¡¯s terribly afraid of death. Why did the Dragon King rescue him?¡±


    ¡°Are you not afraid of death?¡± Old Man Mu asked rhetorically, casting a meaningful look at the Dragon King. ¡°Besides, why should the Dragon King tell you his thoughts?¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m not as valiant, fearless, intelligent or wise as Old Man Mu. I was just curious. To answer me or to not, it¡¯s totally up to the Dragon King,¡± Shangguan Fei said modestly.


    Even Old Man Mu had to nod, thinking, ¡®This kid is really a quick learner.¡¯


    ¡°That¡¯s all for today. Everybody may leave now.¡± Gu Shenwei indeed didn¡¯t want to exin his thoughts in front of so many killers.


    Hu Shining and the others immediately left. Despite how curious he was, Dog Butcher also followed them and left the tent.


    As long as nobody mentioned his cowardly flight, Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t care about anything else. Chu Nanping and Old Man Mu were the only ones left who refused to leave.


    Old Man Mu pushed Shangguan Fei out of the tent. ncing at Chu Nanping, Old Man Mu took a couple of steps forward and said, ¡°Dragon King, I met the good girl. She asked me to deliver a message to you.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    ¡°She made me promise to her that I¡¯d do my best to protect Dragon King, and that I must stay by your side even if some day the Dragon King and the good girl bes enemies.¡±


    ¡°Um. Got it.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s response was unduly nd. Old Man Mu watched him carefully without even blinking, but he still didn¡¯t see any sign of a mood shift on his face. Fairly disappointed, he said, ¡°Oh, there¡¯s one more thing. The good girl reestablished the Kun Society, and she has gathered a hundred female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance at hermand. She also has¡­ also has over two hundred apprentice killers. She said that Golden Roc Castle didn¡¯t want them, so she took them in.¡±


    This time, the Dragon King didn¡¯t even make a nd response. Old Man Mu then said awkwardly, ¡°That¡¯s all. There¡¯s no more. I¡¯ll go rest now.¡±


    After leaving the tent, Old Man Mu frowned, wondering what had happened between the Dragon King and the good girl.


    There were only two people left. But Chu Nanping¡¯s anger had subsided by now. He knew what the Dragon King would say, and he also knew he had no words to contradict him. In the end, he merely nodded, paid his respects, turned around, and left.


    Gu Shenwei sighed to himself. The Death Scripture was not the only path to solidify a certain mood. Chu Nanping¡¯s pursuit of the Emotionless Swordsmanship had also achieved simr ends.


    In these minor disputes, Gu Shenwei believed that he would no doubt be the winner. He would either obtain a truly iparable kung fu master or see two people that he likede together. He wouldn¡¯t force Chu Nanping. He would only offer him opportunities to choose from.


    Dugu Xian had been waiting for the Dragon King to summon him all along. What Gu Shenwei had kept secret from those killers had to be clearly exined to the Commander-in-chief of the Dragon Army. This was especially so since Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t afford to let Dugu Xianmand the army with misunderstandings.


    ¡°So, the Dragon King decided to ally with the Central ins?¡±


    ¡°This is just a transaction.¡± Gu Shenwei quickly forgot about Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong as he exined, ¡°Prince Xiao wants to prove one thing to the royal court of the Central ins, that with the help of just a few kung fu experts and the strategy of forging alliances, he can achieve just as much as what others can achieve with hundreds of thousands of troops. Taking King An back is just the first step. All of the kung fu experts from the Central ins will from now on nominally belong to King An and participate in the rivalry for Jade City in his name.¡±


    Dugu Xian was a general, so it was very difficult for him to understand Prince Xiao¡¯s thoughts; he could only specte that this was relevant to the disputes in the royal court of the Central ins. ¡°What benefits can the Dragon Army get from this? What attitude should I have towards the Central in armies in the north? Should I regard them as future allies or potential enemies?¡±


    ¡°Never trust the Central insmen.¡± Gu Shenwei hoped that these words would be forever engraved in Dugu Xian¡¯s mind. ¡°Prince Xiao might switch sides at any moment, so you¡¯ll have to beware Central insmen as much as you beware Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Dugu Xian understood what he should do, but he became even more confused about the Dragon King¡¯s intentions.


    Then Gu Shenwei answered the first question of General of the Left. ¡°As a reward, both King An and those kung fu experts from the Central ins will live in the encampment of the Dragon Army and be under mymand.¡±


    Dugu Xian nodded. ¡°I hope that we¡¯re not letting a fox into the henhouse.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be cautious.¡±


    Dugu Xian took this opportunity to raise a question that had been nagging him for a long time. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about this for a while now ¨C originally, it was me who analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of the armies of the Central ins as well as the Nond before the Dragon King did so, and I might have¡­ have exaggerated the advantages of the Central ins. I hope that that didn¡¯t influence the Dragon King too much. It¡¯s hard to say whether we¡¯ll win or not if we have a final showdown right now with the Central ins, but defeat is definitely not certain. If we fight them after their troops have traveled a long way and be exhausted, the odds are actually very much in our favor. Actually, the Dragon King¡¯s act of allying with the Central ins instead of the Nond cavalrymen seems riskier.¡±


    Dugu Xian was not the only one who had such doubts. Many others also didn¡¯t understand why the Dragon King had given up on the Nond armies that were already under hismand. Some hadn¡¯t had the chance to ask, and some others didn¡¯t dare to ask.


    ¡°Your description is a reason, but it is merely one of the reasons.¡± Gu Shenwei thought for a while. ¡°You said that the Nond cavalry could attack at will and that they could also retreat at will. However, the West Regions can¡¯t. Although Jade City, Shule Kingdom and Xiaoyao Lake make up half of the Western Regions, they¡¯re still just a tiny areapared to the Central ins and the Nond. If the Nond cavalry loses a battle, they will flee into the depths of the grasnds, and the Dragon Army will definitely not be a match for the armies of the Central ins. If the Nond cavalry wins, the Nonders will be hailed as the savior and protector of Jade City, and I will have to let them stay ¨C or at the very least, let them stay on the border for an extended period of time in case the Central ins attacks us again. Neither of the two are a viable long-term solution.¡±


    Dugu Xian nodded inplete agreement. The new Khan of the Nond was still a child. When he grew up or when another, more powerful Khan¡¯s descendant reced him, the grasnds cavalry would probably turn from protectors into invaders. In that case, the Central ins would by no means offer to help the Jade City.


    Dugu Xian felt this reason alone was enough, but Gu Shenwei continued ¨C he was exining to not only the General of the Left but also himself. ¡°Golden Roc Castle has always been a two-timer. It¡¯s been using the Nond cavalry and colluding with the Central ins at the same time. Someone once told me that I have to sever all of a target¡¯s rtions with other people if I want to kill the target without any repercussions. The Nond and the Central ins are like Golden Roc Castle¡¯s two arms. I have cut off one of them, and I still have to cut the other off.¡±


    Taking a nce at his disabled arm, Dugu Xian believed that the Dragon King¡¯s words were reasonable. Like a student, he nodded silently so as to not disturb the Dragon King¡¯s train of thought.


    ¡°Last but not least, both the counselor and I believe this: the Central ins won¡¯t be able to rule the Western Regions for long, and the only choice it has is to adopt Jimi System <sup>1</sup> . Even if the Central ins takes control of Jade City, the final beneficiary will still be the most powerful local force.¡±


    The Dragon Army had already be more powerful than the army of Golden Roc Castle, and this was the main reason why the Golden Roc Army and Fang Wenshi had decided to cooperate with Prince Xiao.


    Dugu Xian still didn¡¯t quite understand, and he couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Are you sure that the Central ins can¡¯t rule the Western Regions?


    Gu Shenwei raised his head slightly. ¡°Even if King Kuari were alive, he wouldn¡¯t have ascended to the throne. However, some of his thoughts were unique and also very reasonable. He said that the Nonders could only be farmers and would eventually end up bing Central insmen if they went to the Central ins. The same is true for the Central insmen. If they go to the grasnds, they can only be herdsmen and sooner orter, they will integrate into the Nond. The Western Regions¡¯ territory is not veryrge and its poption is sparse. Since ancient times, there has always been numerous small countries stuck between two powerful ones. Even when the small countries were under the strictest control, they still managed to stay independent to arge extent, and it was neither luck nor wisdom that they relied on.¡±


    Intrigued, Dugu Xian asked, ¡°Then what was it?¡±


    ¡°The desert.¡± Deep in thought, Gu Shenwei seemed to be intrigued as well. ¡°There is not enough water and grass for Nonders here, and Central insmen won¡¯t be able to reim enough farnd here. The more soldiers they send, the heavier the burden on their shoulders. What the Dragon Army needs is this ¨C to not be the victim of a powerful nation¡¯s momentary fury.¡±


    Dugu Xian took his leave. Gu Shenwei stood up and left the tent, realizing that there was a w in his n: the Dragon Army was more powerful than Golden Roc Castle, but it was also more likely to be a victim.


    With a smile on her face, Han Wuxian leisurely walked over, ignoring the astonished look on Old Man Mu and the others¡¯ faces, as if she didn¡¯t realize that her betrayal had already been seen through.

 Chapter 870 - A Pool

    Chapter 870: A Pool


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    This was the first time that Tie Linglong had ever been wounded. During a tangled fight, the side of her waist had been shed. Despite the damage, she was responding well to treatment, and she was very happy about it. ¡°¡®A killer without any scars is not a good killer.¡¯ The Dragon King always says this.¡±


    While putting away his medicine chest, Doctor Sun said in aining tone, ¡°Those words of the Dragon King will do you no good. You¡¯re just a young girl. Why the hell do you want to be killer and get scars? If you really want them so bad, isn¡¯t it much easier to just stab yourself with a saber a couple times?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s different,¡± Tie Linglong exined, smiling. ¡°I¡¯ll get experience if I am jabbed at by someone else. But I¡¯ll get nothing if I jab myself.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense. There isn¡¯t any difference in the scars of the two if you are jabbed in a vital part.¡± Doctor Sun cautiously scratched the little hair bun that sat on top of his head with a meaningful look on his face. ¡°During all my years in Jade City, I¡¯ve treated a lot of killers, and I¡¯ve also seen a lot of killers die before me. So while my kung fu may be just average, my eyes are pretty sharp. To be honest, you don¡¯t count as a killer at all.¡±


    Tie Linglong¡¯s face went cold, her right hand immediately going to the hilt of the saber. ¡°Are you suggesting that I don¡¯t dare to kill people?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the big deal with killing people?¡± Doctor Sun was not afraid at all. Judging by this reaction of hers alone, he was positive that this little girl was definitely not a killer. ¡°Even a child can kill people if it¡¯s really necessary, but killers are different. In their eyes, people¡¯s lives are nothing, and they neither feel guilty nor proud of killing. But look at you ¨C you became so excited after merely being jabbed.¡±


    Tie Linglong released her grip on the saber hilt and inhaled deeply, affecting an air of thoughtfulness. ¡°It takes time to be a true killer. I¡¯m still learning.¡±


    Shaking his head, Doctor Sun didn¡¯t agree with Tie Linglong¡¯s confident words at all, ¡°Don¡¯t wield a saber or practice kung fu for the next three days lest you aggravate the injury.¡±


    ¡°There were several asions when the Dragon King was wounded even more seriously, but I didn¡¯t see him sit still.¡±


    Doctor Sun got angry at those words. ¡± Dragon King, Dragon King ¨C is he a doctor? Is he capable of treating diseases? You want to hop around? Fine! When you start bleeding badly, I¡¯m more than willing to dress your wound again ¨C as long as you don¡¯t feel embarrassed.¡±


    Tie Linglong blushed and, with that, she realized a killer shouldn¡¯t feel embarrassed, so she tried to put on a severe look. While she was struggling and dithering about, Doctor Sun picked up his medicine chest and was about to walk towards the doorway. But when he turned around and raised his head, he saw the Dragon King and Han Wuxian together.


    Doctor Sun was afraid of the Dragon King and even more afraid of Han Wuxian. Although it had been Lotus who had previously imprisoned him, he could strongly feel the style of the Waning Moon Hall in Han Wuxian, and that sent shivers down his spine.


    ¡°Dragon King, Hall Leader Han,¡± Doctor Sun greeted them tly and then ran out of the tent with his head down. Grasping his little hair bun, he intensely felt that he hadpromised his image of a divine doctor.


    But Tie Linglong was both surprised and rejoiced. She wasn¡¯t angry that the Dragon King had used her as a bait at all. On the contrary, she feltcent about it. ¡°Did I dy anything, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°No. You did a very good job,¡± Gu Shenwei said as he pointed at Han Wuxian. ¡°Hall Leader Han wants to talk to you.¡±


    Tie Linglong had a special ce in her heart for Han Wuxian. She liked the Jueyin Finger Techniques that Han Wuxian had taught her, and although she was wary of the way Han Wuxian did things, every time she met her, she couldn¡¯t help trusting her. Even at this moment, Tie Linglong still felt a sense of intimacy that connected her and Han Wuxian, and it was even more intense than her feelings for the Dragon King.


    ¡°About what?¡± Tie Linglong asked, perplexed.


    ¡°Stop practicing the Jueyin Finger Techniques that I taught you,¡± said Han Wuxian gently, as if she were trying to persuade a child who was already full to stop eating.


    ¡°Um. I¡¯ll¡­ stop practicing,¡± Tie Linglong orally assented, but because of the Dragon King¡¯s presence, she had more self-control than usual. She felt vaguely uneasy and also somewhat surprised that she was so obedient.


    Standing to the side, Gu Shenwei remained silent.


    Han Wuxian walked up to Tie Linglong, stretched out her hand and stroked Tie Linglong¡¯s face. ¡°Do you know why you should stop practicing it?¡±


    ¡°Because¡­ you don¡¯t want me to?¡± The uneasiness in Tie Linglong was intensifying with each passing second. She had never pledged allegiance to Han Wuxian. On the first day when she had started learning kung fu from Han Wuxian, she had made it very clear that she wouldn¡¯t apprentice herself to Han Wuxian. ¡®Since when did I start to care about Hall Leader¡¯s thoughts so much?¡¯


    ¡°No. You have to keep thinking. Think deeply. Find a reason of your own.¡±


    Han Wuxian¡¯s eyes were like two gleaming pools and they gradually merged into each other. Tie Linglong was involuntarily fascinated, mumbling ¡°think deeply¡± to herself repeatedly. But actually, her thoughts had already fragmented and all she wanted to do was dive into the pool.


    But someone blocked her path. It seemed to be the Dragon King, but it also seemed to be Chu Nanping, and it even looked somewhat like Nie Zeng at times. But mostly, it looked like a stranger. Tie Linglong detested it, so she stretched out her hand and tried to push that figure aside, but there was always a distance of two or three inches separating her fingers and the target. Every time she took a step forward, the figure would take a corresponding step backwards.


    The area that that figure took up in her view grewrger, and eventually, it nearly blocked her sight of the pool. And its gaze was also getting severer and more distinct. It kept moving its lips and seemed to be ming her for no reason.


    Irritated, Tie Linglong roared ¡°step aside,¡± but even she herself didn¡¯t hear the two words.


    She whipped out her saber and desperately shed at the figure. When the de was about to reach its head, she abruptly woke up.


    In front of her, there were neither any pools nor any figures that looked both familiar and unfamiliar. She was still standing in the tent, but she was actually holding a narrow saber and had shed at the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei peered over the wicked-looking saber before him and looked at Tie Linglong. ¡°Fortunately, you woke up by yourself.¡±


    Hands trembling, Tie Linglong put the narrow saber back into the sheath. She had broken out in a cold sweat. Lowering her head, she saw that blood was oozing out of her newly wrapped wound. ¡°It turns out that the Jueyin Finger Energy was a lie.¡±


    Han Wuxian¡¯s smile stayed unchanged. ¡°The Jueyin Finger Energy is not a lie. It¡¯s very powerful once you master it, but there¡¯s another kung fu that can restrain it.¡±


    Stone-faced, Tie Linglong had returned to normal and was able to deduce what this ¡°other kung fu¡± was. ¡°Will I eventually be an utter puppet of yours if I keep practicing it?¡±


    ¡°The Seven Mind Control Techniques are very energy-consuming. I can¡¯t afford to use it on you too often.¡± Han Wuxian¡¯s smile had always camouged her true thoughts, and nobody knew whether it was really just a smile or if she was performing some kind of secret art.


    Tie Linglong¡¯s heart fluttered. She had thought that she knew the Waning Moon Hall well, but she had still been tricked. Recalling those previous conversations with Han Wuxian, she couldn¡¯t help feeling scared. ¡°I¡­ I didn¡¯t do anything, right?¡±


    ¡°Erasing memories is beyond my capabilities. You remember everything, so rest assured. You didn¡¯t do any ¡®bad things.¡¯¡± Han Wuxian emphasized thest two words, seeming both disapproving and regretful.


    ¡°Why did you choose me¡­¡± The moment she finished thest word, Tie Linglong already knew the answer.


    ¡°Lotus thinks that you¡¯re useful. And so do I.¡± Han Wuxian told the truth. ¡°Besides, back then, you thought the world of the Dragon King, so of course I¡¯d want someone to keep an eye on him.¡±


    The fear in Tie Linglong intensified again. She felt lucky that she hadn¡¯t put much effort into practicing the Jueyin Finger Energy, and that she had switched to Bnced Power halfway. Otherwise, she couldn¡¯t even imagine what the oue would have been. ¡°The Dragon King knew this all along?¡± She recalled that the Dragon King had once warned her to not get close to Han Wuxian.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about the secret arts of Waning Moon Hall. I just thought that Hall Leader Han was not the kind of person that people can casually meet ¨C that was, until today, when she came to me and confessed everything.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha. Are you praising me, Dragon King?¡± Han Wuxianughed, as if she indeed had been praised.


    Tie Linglong smiled awkwardly. The Dragon King had saved her once again, and she had lost count of the number of times that he had saved her. ¡°Given that Hall Leader Han has this kind of skill, why were you still got betrayed?¡±


    There was still a smile on Han Wuxian¡¯s face even while she was sighing. ¡°Lotus apprenticed herself to me after learning many kung fu skills of another sect, but she didn¡¯t learn many kung fu skills of the Waning Moon Hall. Besides¡­ her heart is made of stone and not easy to soften. She defeated and imprisoned me. I was unable to perform secret arts then, so naturally I couldn¡¯t keep the other disciples under control. However, there was still a group of disciples who were highly loyal to me. Most of them were killed by Lotus and the Dragon King. There are only a couple of them left, hiding in Jade City. It was them who helped me rebuild the Barren Sect.¡±


    Besides answering Tie Linglong¡¯s question, Han Wuxian talked about many other things, and they were clearly meant for the Dragon King.


    Tie Linglong feebly sat down on the bed. Even under these circumstance, she still didn¡¯t hate Han Wuxian. However, she was determined not to practice the Jueyin Finger Energy and any other evil kung fu of the Waning Moon Hall ever again.


    Gu Shenwei felt that this tent was a proper ce to talk and that there was no need to find another ce. ¡°Hall Leader Han has given me a gift. Now, we can continue to talk.¡±


    Hands clutching her chest where her heart was, Han Wuxian gave a relieved smile. ¡°Did this gift make up for my previous meeting with the Unique King?¡±


    Startled, Tie Linglong jumped up. ¡°Impossible! How could you¡­ You¡¯re the Hall Leader of the Waning Moon Hall. Hasn¡¯t the Golden Roc Castle been your enemy for generations?¡±


    ¡°Hatred that hassted generations is not as intense as the resentment in the present.¡± Han Wuxian sighed again. The smile on her face had be sharine and Tie Linglong saw the ugly side of this smile for the first time.


    In order to kill Lotus, Han Wuxian was willing to do whatever it took. When she had felt a premonition that sooner orter, the Dragon King would operate with Lotus, she had turned to the Unique King. Despite him being a predestined enemy of hers, he was also one of the very few people naturally hostile to the Waning Moon Hall, and also someone destined to kill Lotus.


    ¡°But you changed your mind again¡­ ¡± Realizing that she had stolen the Dragon King¡¯s lines, Tie Linglong sat down quietly and her vignce against Han Wuxian increased.


    ¡°I should have thought of this earlier.¡± Han Wuxian turned and faced the Dragon King. ¡°Why would a woman as smart as Lotus let me take Han Xuan from her so easily? s, I never learned my lesson, and I still underestimated her.¡±


    ¡°I distinctly saw you carry Han Xuan in your arms. That wasn¡¯t her?¡± Tie Linglong couldn¡¯t help ask curiously.


    ¡°That was Han Xuan, a female Gu I spent over twenty years nurturing. Originally, she could have given me a power as great as that of the Daoless Divine Power. Unfortunately¡­ Unfortunately¡­ Lotus beat me to it.¡±


    Tie Linglong watched Han Wuxian in amazement and then looked at the Dragon King. ¡°What¡¯s a female Gu?¡±


    Gu Shenwei understood Han Wuxian¡¯s words, and he was rather surprised. ¡°I thought that you were the only one who could benefit from female Gus.¡± Gu Shenwei had such a thought because, previously, Han Wuxian had never seemed to be anxious about this issue.


    ¡°Originally, I was. I don¡¯t know how Lotus managed to find a solution, but Han Xuan is no longer a female Gu. All the Qi stored in her¡­ has been taken away by Lotus.¡± Han Wuxian was in grief and agony. There was no smile on her face ¨C which was very rare ¨C and she suddenly seemed a little older than before.


    Gu Shenwei finally understood what Lotus had been doing during these days of no news of her.


    ¡°Lotus has made great progress in her kung fu once again and she¡¯s nearly invincible. I suspect that even the Unique King is no match for her now.¡± The smile reappeared on Han Wuxian¡¯s face, as if she had forgotten the pain in her. ¡°Besides the Dragon King, nobody can overpower her.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to lie to you, but I¡¯m not even the Unique King¡¯s match,¡± said Gu Shenwei coldly.


    ¡°Kung fu is not necessarily the only way to overpower someone.¡± Han Wuxian blinked, looking as joyful as a teenage girl.


    Tie Linglong became more perplexed, but she didn¡¯t ask any further questions because the Dragon King¡¯s face was growing horribly severe.

 Chapter 871 - The Iron Mountain

    Chapter 871: The Iron Mountain


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Luo Ningcha was somewhat discontent with the situation, but at the moment, she didn¡¯t know what the problem was. After peering at the soldiers standing in the snow for quite a while, she finally asked, ¡°How many men do we have?¡±


    ¡°We have over 2,400 Iron Mountain soldiers,¡± answered the chief, who was a former subordinate of the Big Head God. He had heard Luo Ningcha¡¯s voice both when she was a little girl and when she had grown up. However, this was the his first time seeing her in person. He praised her secretly, thinking that the Big Head God hadn¡¯t been bluffing back then.


    ¡°But why do they¡­ look so few and¡­ not powerful?¡± Luo Ningcha frowned. ¡°You¡¯ve seen the Nond army. They number in the hundreds of thousands, and I can tell that they¡¯re an army that can fight just by looking at them.¡±


    The chiefughed. ¡°Mydy, we can¡¯tpare to a powerful country like the Nond or the Central ins. 2,400 is not a small number at all. They¡¯re a military force to be reckoned with in the Western Regions or any other small country. Besides, over a thousand of them are veterans of the Iron Mountain army, and each of them is stronger than ten enemiesbined.¡±


    Luo Ningcha did some calctions, and she found that even if each of these 1,000 soldiers was capable of fighting ten enemies at a time, their total strength was merely equivalent to that of 10,000 soldiers. For a woman who had seen farrger armies, this number didn¡¯t qualify as ¡®big¡¯ at all. ¡°The Dragon King frequently goes to different ces with merely several thousand, and sometimes even several hundred soldiers, and his group always feels like a pretty powerful army. Why can¡¯t the Iron Mountain army be the same? Is it because you didn¡¯t train hard enough, or is it because I didn¡¯t pay you enough money?¡±


    All the leaders lowered their heads and kept silent. Ever since the Big Head God had died, they had had a tough time. A year ago, they reunited at the Iron Mountain and thought that they could start over again and regain their former glory. But unexpectedly, they ended up bing Golden Roc Castle¡¯s vassals. Because of the Central ins¡¯ intervention, they finally ended up returning to the daughter of the Big Head God. They didn¡¯t expect to hear such depressing words on the first day.


    The chief was more familiar with thisdy than the others, and he knew that she never thought twice about what she said, so he let out a couple ofughs and hoped to cover it up. ¡°Of course money is important, but that¡¯s not the only reason why our brothers are gathered under this Iron Spear g-¡±


    Luo Ningcha hadn¡¯t noticed the reaction of those people around her at all. Pointing at the big g embroidered with the pattern of a spearhead, she seemed to have suddenly understood, saying, ¡°The problem¡¯s the g. It¡¯s not tall enough, and it¡¯s also not big enough. Go get me another one. I want a g that looks mighty and dignified. And figure out a way to have it constantly p in the wind. It makes people sleepy when it droops like this.¡±


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll get another g,¡± the chief answered resignedly.


    ¡°In three days. This is an order,¡± Luo Ningcha was still discontent. ¡°Equip them with uniform armors and weapons, along with all the other stuff. Look at you. You¡¯remanders of this army. Why are you dressed as beggars? Are you trying to embarrass me? Throw all this away and get new ones.¡±


    Those leaders¡¯ heads drooped even lower. They used to be bandits, and they still had been after Big Head God¡¯s death, so they had always worn whatever they had taken from others. How could they possibly have a uniform set of armor and weapons?


    The chief blushed scarlet. ¡°That won¡¯t be easy, mydy. We have over two thousand men here. Where am I supposed to get so much matching armor and weapons? Besides-¡±


    Luo Ningcha red at him. ¡°Are you suggesting that I¡¯m notpetent? List all the things you need, and I¡¯ll go get them for you.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes. I¡¯ll give you the list by the end of today.¡± The chief instantly cheered up. ¡°Of course you¡¯repetent, mydy. Otherwise, we wouldn¡¯t havee to you.¡±


    Luo Ningcha enjoyed this ttering remark. Even though it was only average, she found it more pleasant than the half-hearted pledges of her servants. ¡°Oh, while I still remember this ¨C you need to change your titles too. ¡®Chief¡¯ and ¡®Leader¡¯ are not decent enough. ¡®Marshal¡¯ and ¡®General¡¯ are much better. If you don¡¯t like them, ¡®Captain¡¯ and ¡®Chiliarch¡¯ are also good alternatives. They¡¯re simple, easy to remember, and also very dignified. You can consult with each other and make a decision by tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The chief felt this was a simple issue.


    ¡°And¡­ And¡­ never mind. These things give me headaches. Anyways, you have to figure out a way to make Iron Mountain Army seem more impressive. How am I supposed to take you to Jade City if you look like this?¡±


    Upon hearing the words ¡°take you to Jade City,¡± all of the leaders raised their heads and their faces lit up.


    A maidservant galloped over and whispered something in Luo Ningcha¡¯s ear. Luo Ningcha raised her arm and walked towards the carriage with the support of her personal maid. With one foot on a stool, she turned her head back around and said, ¡°Oh, what¡¯s your name?¡±


    The chief¡¯s face was filled with embarrassment. He had met her several times, but she still didn¡¯t remember his name. ¡°My name is-¡±


    ¡°Never mind that. Just put it on the list. And theirs as well. Put all of their names on the list. I¡¯ll reward them ording to their ranks. From the generals to the soldiers, there¡¯ll be something for everyone.¡±


    ¡°Travel safe, mydy!¡±


    ¡°Hail Iron Mountain!¡±


    When Luo Ningcha left the camp, the atmosphere was very warm. She was satisfied with herself since she believed she had shown bothpetence and generosity in front of the troops. In her opinion, even Servant Huan wouldn¡¯t have found any ws in her performance.


    The encampment of the Iron Mountain Army was almost right next to that of the Central ins¡¯ army. Luo Ningcha¡¯s carriage stopped in front of the doorway of the main tent. After getting off the carriage, she nced at the Dragon King¡¯s guards, thinking that she should also select a hundred guards for herself from her own soldiers. Also, her guards should be as tall and strong as those swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain, and their weapons should also be different from themon soldiers¡¯ so that she would get a sense of security once she set eyes on them.


    She lodged this issue firmly in her mind and said to the maidservant beside her, ¡°Go inside and inform them of my arrival.¡±


    The Dragon King hade here to negotiate with Prince Xiao, and she had to be present because she also had an army at hermand now. No longer was she some other man¡¯s vassal.


    Prince Xiao was not the kind of person who preferred to get straight to the point and talk business. So, when Luo Ningcha entered the tent, he was still exchanging his usual pleasantries with the Dragon King, making a lengthyment on the winter in the Western Regions. ¡°You¡¯re also from the Central ins, Dragon King. I guess that you¡¯ve never seen such heavy snow in your hometown, have you? Heavy snows and the desert ¨C these two things alone stop most outside enemies froming. In the Central ins, there are actually people who think that it¡¯s very easy to lead an army of over 100,000 men to the Western Regions. s, their idealistic opinions are really detrimental to our country¡­ When did you return, beauty?¡±


    Luo Ningcha entered the tent before the maidservant. Unprecedentedly confident, she smiled and said, ¡°And the tents, too. It¡¯s winter, and there are no walls here. Can you Central insmen get used to living in tents?¡±


    Prince Xiao was very familiar with Luo Ningcha¡¯s personality. He burst intoughter. ¡°Common Central insmen live in houses, but soldiers still have to live in tents. They get used to it even if they can¡¯t. You see, I¡¯ve been in the army for quite some time now, and I actually like tents.¡±


    Luo Ningcha nodded gravely, as if he had just exined something very important. After ncing at the Dragon King, she said to Prince Xiao, ¡°Everybody says that winter is not the right season for fighting battles. If so, then why don¡¯t we hold the kung fupetition ahead of schedule? Besides, there¡¯s nobody in charge of Jade City, and it needs a lord right now. What¡¯re we waiting for?¡±


    Prince Xiao also nced at the Dragon King and saw that he was indifferent to the four words ¡°there¡¯s nobody in charge,¡± so he exined patiently to the beauty, ¡°We can¡¯t rush into this. I¡¯m still waiting for the emperor of the Central ins to make a decision. The kung fupetition can only be held when I have His Majesty¡¯s backing.¡±


    ¡°Then hurry up. Aren¡¯t you the emperor¡¯s uncle? Does he dare disobey you?¡±


    Prince Xiao smiled happily. This was the Western Regions, and Luo Ningcha was the kind of woman whose beauty went hand-in-hand with her stupidity. Thus, he didn¡¯t have to worry that these slightly disrespectful words would spread to the royal pce. ¡°Of course the emperor will listen to me. However, we still can¡¯t skip these necessary formalities. Let¡¯s wait for another two or three months. During the spring of next year, the Dragon King will fulfill his wish and be the Lord of Jade City.¡±


    Luo Ningcha took a deep gaze at the Dragon King, indicating that the title ¡°Unique King¡± should be saved for her son. ¡°Two or three months? Do we have to wait that long?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s quick enough, beauty. There are numerous mountains and rivers between Jade City and the capital of the Central ins. A round trip between the two cities will take at least two month to travel, even with a fast horse.¡±


    Luo Ningcha frowned. She had been to the Royal Court before, and she felt disgusted at the thought of a weary journey. ¡°Fine. What were you talking about previously? Maybe I can offer some advice.¡±


    Smiling without saying anything, Prince Xiao turned to look at the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei simply said, ¡°The army of Iron Mountain has arrived at Jade City.¡±


    ¡°Um. They arrived yesterday. I just came back from the camp. All of them miss my father very much, and they showed great respect to me. I promise that they¡¯ll be a powerful army after a little training. I¡¯ll recruit more soldiers and buy more horses. The troop number of my army should at least be the same as that of the Second Consort¡¯s army and reach 10,000. Prince Xiao, my soldiersck uniform armors and weapons. You can solve this issue for me, right? I¡¯ve bragged to them, and I¡¯m counting on you.¡±


    ¡°Sure. No problem.¡± Prince Xiao threw out his chest in a generous manner. ¡°My beauty shall have as many as she wants. If there isn¡¯t enough armor here, then I¡¯ll have them deliver more from the rear.¡±


    Luo Ningcha smiled like a blooming flower. Suddenly, she realized that the Dragon King was in the tent. ¡°This is what you came here for? The Iron Mountain is mine. It has nothing to do with you.¡±


    ¡°Of course. I just wanted to remind Madam Luo that more than half of the over 2,000 Iron Mountain soldiers are from an unknown background. And many of them are killers of the Golden Roc Castle. For safety concerns, I hope that Madam Luo won¡¯t go to the Iron Mountain camp again, and that you also won¡¯t let Iron Mountain soldiers enter the Central ins army camp.¡±


    Luo Ningcha was stunned. The Iron Mountain Army used to be under themand of Golden Roc Castle. How could the troops of this army still be as loyal as they used to be? After thinking for a while, she turned around and left directly without saying another word.


    Prince Xiao¡¯s face was full of amazement. After the beauty left the tent, he shook his head, smiling. ¡°The Western Regions is so different from the Central ins. We could never find such a looker in the Central ins. What do you think, Dragon King?¡±


    There was a tacit expression on Prince Xiao¡¯s face. He had always been hoping that Luo Ningcha would be a ¡°little secret¡± between himself and the Dragon King. He had made many insinuations towards the Dragon King many times, but the Dragon King had never responded, and this time was no exception.


    ¡°The news of electing a lord through a kung fupetition has been disclosed.¡± The main reason why Gu Shenwei had found an excuse to send Luo Ningcha away was not to chat with Prince Xiao.


    Prince Xiao had no choice but to give up yet another attempt. ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do. More and more people are finding out about this. It¡¯s impossible to keep it a secret. But I heard that the residents of Jade City are still unaware of it. Everybody says that the four armies outside the city are going to have a final showdown. Ha-ha.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not true.¡± Gu Shenwei shook his head. ¡°The Unique King knew about it even before Prince Xiao proposed it to me.¡±


    ¡°How is that possible?¡± Prince Xiao was astounded. ¡°At that time, the n solely existed inside my mind, and I hadn¡¯t told anybody yet. Do you have any proof, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°About a year ago, Golden Roc Castle started downsizing its killers and sending them to the Heavenly Mountain Sect. Originally, the Heavenly Mountain Sect didn¡¯t have much contact with Golden Roc Castle, but now, it¡¯s under theplete control of Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    ¡°I know about this. Back then, the Unique King made solicitations towards the Central ins and hoped that the Central ins would acknowledge his title. However, the royal court felt that killers were too dangerous and not easy to control, so they demanded the Unique King to dismiss all of his killers¡­¡±


    ¡°At first I thought that that was the reason as well. However, one of my subordinates was bribed by the Unique King, and she told me that the Unique King had asked her to rebuild a sect that had been eradicated many years ago. Additionally, the Unique King also said that this sect would soon be of great use. I¡¯d like to ask you this, Prince Xiao ¨C did the n that you submitted to the emperor specify that only sects are allowed to participate the kung fupetition?¡±


    Prince Xiao was transfixed with shock. After quite a while, he said, ¡°Yes. Actually¡­ Actually my suggestion was that only ¡®forces in the Western Regions¡¯ should be allowed, including those sects. But how could the Unique King learn of it? That was a secret memorial <sup>1</sup> , and the emperor is the only one who could have read it.¡±


    ¡°The Unique King¡¯s in contact with someone close to the emperor.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was positive that it was someone from the Central ins who had hired the killers of Golden Roc Castle to kill the Gu family.

 Chapter 872 - Sounding Someone Out

    Chapter 872: Sounding Someone Out


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Prince Xiao didn¡¯t believe the Dragon King¡¯s spections. ¡°The Unique King¡¯s in contact with someone close to the emperor? That¡¯s basically impossible. That kind of thing can never be kept a secret. Colluding with foreigners ¨C especially with a killers organization ¨C is a capital offence. The Dragon King should know that the Imperial Court of the Central ins has always been very sensitive to this kind of thing. A hidden letter from a foreigner is more than enough to cause a top-rank official to be dismissed.¡±


    ¡°I think that this possibility does exist. And it¡¯s also worthy of Prince Xiao¡¯s investigation.¡±


    Gu Shenwei actually was very certain that the so-called ¡°death offence¡± mentioned by Prince Xiao was just a kind of coercion. The Unique King had refused to disclose who the original employer had been, and he hadn¡¯t even kept any rted records. However, he would never be afraid of profiting from this issue.


    ¡°All right. I¡¯ll send a dispatch to one of my friends in the Imperial Court and warn them about this,¡± Prince Xiao said in a very casual tone, as if he would receive an oue in one or two days. Watching the Dragon King who was indifferent, heughed. ¡°Rest assured, Dragon King. Even if someone in the Imperial Court is actually colluding with the Unique King, his status won¡¯t be higher than mine. Er¡­ you¡¯re not suspicious of me, are you?¡±


    ¡°If I were, I wouldn¡¯t havee here and talk to you about this,¡± Gu Shenwei lied casually. Actually, he was indeed a little suspicious of Prince Xiao, and the purpose of this meeting with Prince Xiao was to sound him out.


    Prince Xiao nodded approvingly. ¡°I also think that the Dragon King would never be suspicious of me. We¡¯re on the same boat now. If something happens to the Dragon King, I¡¯ll suffer, too, and I¡¯ll even suffer more. Ha-ha.¡±


    Prince Xiao had attributed the victory of the battle at Thousand Horsemen Pass to himself. He had said that the reason why he and those 20,000 Central ins soldiers had fled was because they had anticipated the enemies¡¯ moves and that their move was intended to lure the enemies out. That way, they would be able to cooperate with the Dragon Army who had blindsided the troops guarding Luoluo¡¯s king¡¯s g. With regards to the Nond cavalrymen, that was infighting of the grasnds that had been instigated by a series of brilliant tactics.


    In this n, the Dragon King had indeed yed a very important role. The Imperial Court of the Central ins had sent many envoys here. Nominally, they hade here to deliver gifts and greet to the troops. But in fact, they¡¯d been sent here to investigate this achievement which was one of the greatest in the past few decades. Gu Shenwei would be inquired, and his answer would determine Prince Xiao¡¯s contribution.


    It was on this basis that Gu Shenwei had chosen to cooperate with Prince Xiao. Even if he was somewhat suspicious of Prince Xiao, his suspicion was merely a habitual spection.


    Now that Prince Xiao had promised to investigate the matter, Gu Shenwei decided to leave this issue aside for the moment. ¡°When will the kung fu expert hired by Prince Xiao arrive?¡±


    This was Prince Xiao¡¯smitment. He would hire a kung fu expert to defeat the Unique King and then lose to Gu Shenwei so as to ¡°give¡± the position of the Lord of Jade City to the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei counted this among his ns.


    ¡°He should arrive soon. I think that he¡¯s on his way. Rest assured, Dragon King. Although I know little about kung fu, someone in the Central ins will select a kung fu expert for me. The Central ins is arge country and there are numerous talents there. If we can¡¯t even find a top-notch kung fu expert, then won¡¯t all the other countriesugh at us?¡±


    Prince Xiao believed that his words wereforting, but Gu Shenwei was still somewhat worried when he took his leave. ¡®This Prince Xiao knows little about kung fu, and he knows even less about killers. He believes that better kung fu skills can solve any and all problems. This is true in the arena, but the Unique King is better at handling things outside the arena.¡±


    Gu Shenwei hoped that this kung fu expert of the Central ins would take precautions against assassination instead ofpletely relying on his skills.


    At the gate of the army camp, Gu Shenwei encountered Luo Ningcha once again.


    Luo Ningcha stopped the carriage, lifted a corner of the curtain, and said to the Dragon King, ¡°Everything¡¯s okay now. I had those leaders vouch for their subordinates. From now on, if any of their men proves to be a mole, the leader will kill himself.¡±


    On horseback, Gu Shenwei briefly nodded. ¡°That¡¯s very good.¡± But secretly, he thought, ¡®By no means can the Iron Mountain Army survive under this woman¡¯smand. I should find a way to wrestle control from her.¡¯


    Perhaps Luo Ningcha misunderstood the Dragon King¡¯s absent-mindedness, but she smiled and then said, ¡°Please send me a bodyguard. Just in case.¡± Then she mouthed, ¡°Find some time.¡±


    Pretending that he didn¡¯t understand what she was trying to express, Gu Shenwei replied ¡°okay¡± nomittally, spurred his horse on, and left. He would rather let those over 2,000 Iron Mountain soldiers fall into the hands of the Unique King than get entangled with Luo Ningcha again.


    The moment he entered his tent, Gu Shenwei saw a horrified Shangguan Fei.


    As one of the very few people who were allowed to enter this tent without prior consent, Shangguan Fei used to be very proud of this privilege that he had been granted. But today, he looked very depressed, as if he was down on his luck. Upon seeing the Dragon King, he stood up hastily and said with a tearful face, ¡°I saw Long Fanyun. How was he hurt so badly? Can¡¯t Doctor Sun do something about it?¡±


    Gu Shenwei tly said, ¡°Don¡¯t bother me with this kind of thing.¡±


    Briefly startled, Shangguan Fei¡¯s grief slightly abated. He hurriedly put on a solemn face. ¡°I have serious business.¡± After a couple of coughs, he continued. ¡°There were even more assassinations in the city. The Dragon King has heard of it, right?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. Last night, in a couple of viges on the periphery of the southern Jade City where most of the residents were sabersmen, there were five or six consecutive assassinations. The assassins didn¡¯t seemed to have had specific targets. All the victims were drunken sabersmen who were on the road alone. The assassins were very cruel. It was said that the victims were eviscerated.


    ¡°And Shangguan Hong went missingst night. Do you think that it¡¯s a coincidence, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Missing?¡±


    ¡°My men said that Shangguan Hong was in the city for thest two days. Nominally, he was procuring some items for the queen. But in reality, he put someone else in charge of the petty things, and he himself went to the City View Alley every day. And his destinations changed daily. Last night, before those assassinations, he went into a room and didn¡¯te out until daybreak, approximately an hour after thest assassination.¡±


    ¡°Your men? You didn¡¯t do it yourself?¡±


    Shangguan Fei was terribly startled. ¡°If I was spotted by a killer of Golden Roc Castle¡­ Dragon King, I still want to stay alive to keep serving you.¡±


    Seeing that the Dragon King was still silent, Shangguan Fei believed there wouldn¡¯t be any consequences so he continued. ¡°It¡¯s time to take action, Dragon King. We can¡¯t let Shangguan Hong do any more harm to Jade City. You don¡¯t have to do it yourself either. Dog Butcher and Old Man Mu will be more than enough to handle him. If you want this to be done in a safer way, you can assign Little Chu to join them.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Pardon?¡±


    ¡°Why does Shangguan Hong have to be eliminated?¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s face was full of confusion. ¡°He arbitrarily murdered so many people in Jade City¡­ And the origins of his kung fu is highly suspicious. There must be someone behind him, and this mastermind is either Lotus or the Unique King. Doesn¡¯t this concern you, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°The mastermind¡¯s identity is still unknown. Isn¡¯t it too early to eliminate him right away?¡±


    Light suddenly dawned on Shangguan Fei, ¡°I got it. I¡¯ll have someone keep an eye out for Shangguan Hong.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary. Withdraw all of your men.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s eyes lit up, ¡°The Dragon King wants to¡­ Heh-heh. I never asked anything and I know nothing. I¡¯ll take my leave right now.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t intend to stalk Shangguan Hong himself, but he did have someone call him back.


    Long Fanyun came before Shangguan Hong. He was able to sit up by himself now. Red Bat had found a skilled craftsman and made afortable reclining chair. Two swordsmen of Big Snow Mountain had volunteered to be his chair carriers.


    ¡°You should¡¯ve sent someone here instead.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want Long Fanyun to exhaust himself. The reason why he had assigned this Captain of Guards so many duties was because he wanted to spare him the feeling of being a burden. He hoped that Long Fanyun would take some days off and focus on rehabilitation. But it was to the contrary. Long Fanyun worked extremely hard from dawn until dark every day, and he had even asked Red Bat to teach him to read so that he could help with those military documents.


    Long Fanyun shook his head. He didn¡¯t want to be regarded as a disabled person and just wait in his tent for the Dragon King toe to him. Raising the letter in his hand, he said, ¡°I received this just now. You should take a look at it, Dragon King.¡±


    The two chair carriers nodded at the Dragon King to pay their respects and then left the tent. Gu Shenwei took the letter.


    It was a petition, the general meaning of which was that assassinations had been happening frequently in Jade City with heavy casualties, that the residents were in panic, and that they hoped that the Dragon King would intervene and resolve the crisis. At the end of the letter there was a note saying that there were copies of this petition, which had been delivered to the Dragon King, the Unique King, Prince Xiao and the prince of Shule Kingdom respectively. These four people were the suprememanders of the four armies stationed outside the city.


    There was nothing special about the contents of the letter, but the signatures at the end caught Gu Shenwei¡¯s attention. The names of the Four Noble Truths Temple and the Kun Society were among the signatures of the businesses and persons, but there was neither ama nor a space between them, as if they were the same organization. Judging from the meticulous writing style of this letter, this didn¡¯t seem like a clerical error.


    Gu Shenwei returned the letter to Long Fanyun.


    ¡°I made a decision without your permission and let Red Bat go into the city to visit¡­ Instructor Shangguan,¡± Long Fanyun said uneasily.


    ¡°Good. Tell me when shees back.¡±


    ¡°Actually, it¡¯s fine for Instructor Shangguan toe here and meet the Dragon King alone.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s the leader of the Kun Society now,¡± Gu Shenwei corrected. ¡°You¡¯d better get used to this form of address.¡±


    ¡°Aye,¡± Long Fanyun answered reluctantly. He was willing to sacrifice his life for the Dragon King, but in his eyes, this ¡°Lord of the Five Peaks¡± was still a total myth and he couldn¡¯t understand him out no matter how hard he tried.


    Shangguan Hong returned at dusk. He entered the tent in a hurry and gave a moderate bow. His eyes were on the ground and there was no nervousness or fear on his face, which had been present thest time he had met the Dragon King. ¡°Shangguan Hong pays his respect to the Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei gave a brief ¡°Um¡± sound and continued to read the piles of documents by themplight. After reading through a dozen of them, he raised his head. ¡°When will you return to the Stone Kingdom?¡±


    ¡°In about five or six days. I have a heavy procurement job to do for the queen, and a couple of those items are rather difficult to find.¡±


    ¡°I also prepared some gifts. Take them with you when you leave.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Are you willing to return to Stone Kingdom?¡±


    Shangguan Hong abruptly raised his head, nced at the Dragon King, and then quickly lowered his head. ¡°Of course. I owe everything to the queen and I¡¯m willing to be her loyal servant for the rest of my life.¡± After a pause, Shangguan Hong added, ¡°As long as the Dragon King is willing to allow me to.¡±


    ¡°The queen does need helpers, but so does the Dragon Army. I want you to stay in the army. What do you think?¡±


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s breathing became a little heavy, but it soon returned to normal. He humbly said, ¡°I¡¯m more than happy to stay. I also want to make a contribution, but I¡¯m afraid that my poor kung fu skills and stupidity might cause trouble for the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t happen. I¡¯m a shrewd judge of character.¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Hong will forever be grateful for all the things that the Dragon King has taught me and all the favor that the Dragon King has done for me.¡±


    Shangguan Hong seemed to have learned how to deal with the Dragon King in just a few days.


    ¡°Good. I¡¯ll dispatch you to the Iron Mountain camp to be Madam Luo¡¯s bodyguard.¡±


    Shangguan Hong raised his head and looked at the Dragon King again, apparently amazed by this assignment. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°While being her bodyguard, you should also keep an eye on Prince Xiao. He¡¯s from the Central ins and is not familiar with Jade City. If anything goes wrong, you¡¯re to report to me right away.¡±


    ¡°Yes. I understand,¡± Shangguan Hong bowed even lower to hide the astonished look on his face.


    ¡°What kind of reward do you want if you manage to make a contribution?¡±


    ¡°The trust of Dragon King and the queen is the greatest reward for me.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t be enough. Maybe I¡¯ll allow you to cut off a head or two.¡±


    Shangguan Hong raised his head for the third time. He didn¡¯t know whether the Dragon King was sounding him out or if he really meant it, but there were indeed a couple of heads that he desperately wanted.

 Chapter 873 - Trust

    Chapter 873: Trust


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Hong couldn¡¯t bear to keep pretending any longer. His cheeks flushed scarlet, anger and excitement glinting in his eyes. He believed that there must be some kind of conspiracy behind the Dragon King¡¯s assigning him this important duty for no reason. ¡°Did someone nder me again? Just tell me the truth, Dragon King.¡±


    What surprised Shangguan Hong yet again was that the Dragon King nodded instead of denying it. ¡°Someone said that you¡¯re the murderer who¡¯s been killing innocent people in Jade City.¡±


    ¡°Ha!¡± Shangguan Hong let out a dramatic, sneeringugh. ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous. The assassinations in Jade City have gone on for more than a month, but I arrived here only a couple of days ago. Shouldn¡¯t that person find a better excuse before trying to frame me?¡±


    Gu Shenwei took a step forward and severely said, ¡°Shangguan Hong, nobody can fool me, and you¡¯re no exception!¡±


    Shangguan Hong took two steps back in fear and seemed to have lost his momentum. He raised his head and looked at the Dragon King, a unconvinced look on his face. ¡°Believe it or not, but I¡¯m not the murderer.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? How long have you been in Jade City exactly?¡±


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s heart lurched, his mind spinning very fast. ¡°Five days¡­ approximately¡­ Yes, I arrived here over a month ago.¡± Shangguan Hong drew his hands back into sleeves and his face was full of vignce, like a wild dog which had just encountered a stranger. ¡°But I have the queen¡¯s orders.¡±


    ¡°What did the queen order you to do?¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s voice became even more severe.


    Shangguan Hong suddenly straightened himself up and also stretched his hands out of his sleeves. He was still not confident enough to fight the Dragon King, ¡°If the Dragon King wants to kill me, just do it. I won¡¯t betray the queen.¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned around and walked to the bedside with his back to the angry guest, seeming totally defenseless. Shangguan Hong curled up and flexed his fingers three times but didn¡¯t dare to make a move.


    ¡°Why would I kill you? I just told you that I¡¯m sending you to protect Madam Luo and keep an eye on Prince Xiao,¡± Gu Shenwei said in a gentler tone, as if the tense conversation that had happened just now had merely been a game.


    Exhausted, Shangguan Hong felt like his whole body was sticky. He was very depressed that he had recklessly mentioned those assassinations. Meanwhile, he became even more confused about the Dragon King¡¯s thoughts. ¡°The Dragon King won¡¯t punish me for lying to you?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re an attendant of the queen. You lied to protect her. How can that be deemed a crime? I¡¯m counting on you to switch this loyalty to me some day.¡±


    Shangguan Hong hoped that he could be tougher, but he still knelt down. During the process of kneeling, he hesitated and switched from kneeling on both of his knees to kneeling on one knee, to save a part of his dignity. ¡°I¡¯m willing to serve Dragon King, as long as¡­ as long as¡­ ¡±


    ¡°As long as you don¡¯t have do anything that goes against the queen¡¯s interest.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Get up, then. Now that you¡¯ve pledged allegiance to me, I¡¯d like to ask you a few more questions.¡±


    Shangguan Hong stood up and raised his head before saying, ¡°I know what the Dragon King wants to ask, so let me be straight. I was indeed the one responsible for a couple of those assassinations in Jade City ¨C less than ten of them. Besides, I killed only one target at a time, and I haven¡¯t killed anyone since the Dragon King arrived in Jade City. Thus, I have nothing to do with the assassinations in those sabersmen viges.¡±


    ¡°Good,. Gu Shenwei briefly nodded, as if hepletely believed Shangguan Hong. ¡°And your kung fu? Who taught you?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King might not believe this, but I had the Daoless Divine Power Manual all along. I stole it from Madam Meng and I¡¯ve been practicing it secretly. It was not until a few days ago that I made a breakthrough, so I found some people¡­ and tried it out on them. It was twice as strong as the kung fu skills I¡¯ve previously learned.¡±


    This was an answer that Shangguan Hong had prepared in advance, so when he said these words, they came out very fluently. Even the timing of that brief pause was rather good.


    Gu Shenwei nodded again. ¡°Was it you who tried to assassinate Zhang Ji?¡±


    ¡°That old bastard,¡± Shangguan Hong muttered as he clenched his teeth. ¡°After using me for so many years, he ditched me and even sent me on a suicidal mission to Xiaoyao Lake. It was a pity I was too hasty and failed to kill him that night.¡±


    ¡°And you even tried to kill Shangguan Fei?¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s face instantly flushed red. That half-brother of his was the person he hated the most, and he didn¡¯t have to exin it at all. ¡°And Madam Meng, who treated me like a ything, something cheaper than the cheapest ve. And the Unique King. I¡¯m his natural son, but he¡­¡±


    Shangguan Hong was unable to continue. The Unique King didn¡¯t even shown mercy to the twins who used to be his favorite children, not to mention Shangguan Hong, who was merely a bastard son.


    ¡°And Shangguan Ru,¡± Gu Shenwei finished his sentence for him. ¡°She never pleaded for you, and she didn¡¯t even me Shangguan Fei for what he did. Furthermore, she¡¯s someone who the queen doesn¡¯t like.¡±


    Shangguan Hong didn¡¯t say anything, suggesting that the Dragon King¡¯s words had trespassed on the queen¡¯s interests.


    ¡°And me,¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t force Shangguan Hong to speak. ¡°I never pleaded for you, and neither did I ever punish Shangguan Fei afterwards.¡±


    Shangguan Hong sighed. ¡°If I say that I don¡¯t hate the Dragon King, then I¡¯d be lying. Butpared to my hatred towards those former ones, my hatred towards the Dragon King is nothing. It¡¯s¡­ discontentment at the worst. The Dragon King didn¡¯t punish Shangguan Fei, but you didn¡¯t kill me either, and you sent me to the queen. I¡¯ve always regarded this as tolerance and trust, and I hold more gratitude than grudges against the Dragon King.¡±


    Shangguan Hong returned to normal, his back bent, head down, and hands drooping. Once again, he met the Dragon King¡¯s eyes with a look that he had practiced many times in advance.


    ¡°I¡¯m d you see things this way. As themander-in-chief of an army, I have to be snobbish on many asions. Back when we were in Xiaoyao Lake, Shangguan Fei was useful to me, but you were not. It was as simple as that. But now, things have changed.¡±


    Shangguan Hong had been surprised again and again today, but he still hadn¡¯t got used to it. He blurted out, ¡°Shangguan Fei betrayed the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Not yet. Or maybe I should say that I haven¡¯t found any specific proof yet. But he lied to me, which is the most intolerable deed.¡±


    Shangguan Hong was wavering between lowering his head and continuing to look at the Dragon King in the face. Eventually, he decided to lower his head. ¡°Lies are the beginning of betrayal.¡± It was not until he finished thest word that he recalled that this was an aphorism he had heard from Zhang Ji.


    ¡°Um. That¡¯s right. Shangguan Fei sent someone to stalk you. It was him who imed with great assurance that you¡¯re the murderer, and that it is you who is responsible for those assassinationsst night.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a vicious nder. Last night, I was supervising a couple of craftsmen making robes all night. A lot of people can stand as my witnesses. Shangguan Fei may not know it, but City View Alley is not just a filthy alley full of dirty things and crimes. The best tailors in Jade City also live there.¡±


    ¡°I believe you,¡± Gu Shenwei said tly, ¡°because I also had someone spy on Shangguan Fei. He said that he was in the army camp all night long and he used his timidity as an excuse. However, I know that he sneaked into the cityst night. His destination was those sabersmen viges and then someone picked him up and sent him back with a fast horse.¡±


    For the first time, Shangguan Hong became interested in and also started to trust the Dragon King¡¯s previous promise. ¡°Shangguan Fei¡­ Do you want me to do anything, Dragon King?¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. ¡°Shangguan Fei will be your reward. Don¡¯t do anything to him before you make a contribution.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± There was more certainty and confidence in Shangguan Hong¡¯s voice now.


    After Shangguan Hong left, Gu Shenwei felt a little tired. Although he had every reason to cooperate with Prince Xiao instead of wage a war between the Nond and the Central ins, he still sometimes wondered whether thetter option was simpler and more preferable.


    Once he raised his arm and gave the order, hundreds of thousands of troops would rush into the battleground and fight his enemies to the death, and they would be heroes no matter if they won or lost. In any case, this was an appealing scene.


    However, Gu Shenwei had stepped into a maze of intrigue once again. Like a spider waiting at the center of a giant web with only the slight quiver of its spider silk as its sole means of detecting its prey, it had to stay awake both day and night.


    He tapped the surface of the table twice. Tie Linglong walked out of a corner, a confused look on her face. ¡°Was it really Shangguan Fei? But he¡¯s just a coward.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Gu Shenwei had allowed Tie Linglong to listen on the side, so he had to be honest with her. ¡°I just know that Shangguan Fei snuck out of the campst night. His horse ran too fast, and the one spying on him wasn¡¯t able to follow him, so I don¡¯t know where he went at all. Maybe he just went to meet with Madam Meng.¡±


    Tie Linglong was even more confused now. ¡°I believe that many of Shangguan Hong¡¯s remarks were lies. Why do you believe him instead of Shangguan Fei?¡±


    Tie Linglong was an innocent girl. She was so innocent that Gu Shenwei somewhat envied her. ¡°It is Madam Meng who I don¡¯t believe. Shangguan Fei is timid and won¡¯t resist unless pushed. But with his mother motivating him, there¡¯s nothing Shangguan Fei won¡¯t do. Thus, I have to take some precautions.¡±


    Tie Linglong began to understand. ¡°Oh. So the Dragon King incited Shangguan Hong to handle Madam Meng and Shangguan Fei, but you also forbid Shangguan Hong to take action-¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Hong won¡¯t listen to me, and that¡¯s for the better.¡±


    Tie Linglong didn¡¯t fully understand. She was still young, and she didn¡¯t know the difference between doing something of one¡¯s own ount and doing it under an order. The Dragon King was offering Madam Meng and her son a true enemy instead of an obedient puppet.


    Tie Linglong was too embarrassed to ask any further questions, so she said, ¡°Shangguan Hong must have been lying when he said that he was secretly practicing the Daoless Divine Power. Judging by his prior manner, there were several asions when he wanted to attack Dragon King. Where does his confidencee from? Even if he started practicing it a year ago, the total amount of time of his practice is still several years less than the Dragon King¡¯s. He must have learned some kind of evil cultivation method.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded approvingly. ¡°My guess is that Shangguan Hong learned his evil cultivation method from Waning Moon Hall. Did you notice his voice?¡±


    Tie Linglong was somewhat bemused. ¡°I didn¡¯t pay any special attention to it. Anyway, I know that Shangguan Hong is not a good liar.¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Hong¡¯s voice sounds like that of a man again.¡±


    Tie Linglong was even more bewildered. ¡°But he is a man, isn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°He used to be, but Shangguan Fei turned him into an eunuch.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thoughtfully said this in a casual tone, but Tie Linglong still blushed slightly. She only had a vague concept of these things, but she had decided to be a killer free of taboos, so she nodded solemnly. ¡°You suspect that¡­ even Waning Moon Hall doesn¡¯t have this kind of kung fu, right?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know much about Waning Moon Hall, but if this kind of evil cultivation method does exist, then it has to be one of Waning Moon Hall¡¯s secret arts.¡±


    ¡°We can ask Han Wuxian. She seems to be very honest and also terribly afraid of Lotus. She doesn¡¯t even dare leave the army camp.¡±


    ¡°Old Man Mu is a better alternative.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Old Man Mu once helped the Waning Moon Hall improve their kung fu skills, and he¡¯s probably more familiar with those secret arts than Han Wuxian. He¡¯s also more obedient.¡±


    Actually, it was another issue that had urred to Gu Shenwei. There were some cultivation methods which were so evil that even disciples of the Waning Moon Hall refused to practice them, and Old Man Mu was the only one who had ever tried practicing them. ¡°Thest remark of yours was wrong. Old Man Mu is not as obedient as he seems to be. He¡¯s just as untrustworthy as Han Wuxian.¡±


    Tie Linglong widened her eyes. ¡°This one¡¯s untrustworthy, and that one¡¯s untrustworthy too ¨C you barely have any trustworthy men at yourmand, Dragon King.¡±


    On this asion, Gu Shenwei could just name Tie Linglong¡¯s name and then she would surely be more loyal to him. But instead, he said, ¡°This is the reason why I have allowed you to listen to my conversation with him and freely ask questions afterwards ¨C to let you know about my true thoughts. I don¡¯t trust anyone, including you.¡±


    These words were like a basin of cold water poured over Tie Linglong¡¯s head, perplexing her.

 Chapter 874 - Retaliation

    Chapter 874: Retaliation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Looking up at the numerous stars and the faint thin moon in the sky, Tie Linglong was fascinated, as if her soul was wandering among the stars.


    Chu Nanping, who had just finished the first night shift, saw the teenage girl standing in front of his tent and was simrly transfixed. After staring at her for a while, he started walking towards her, the snow squeaking beneath his feet.


    Tie Linglong didn¡¯t react to those distinct sounds at all. It was not until Chu Nanping reached her side that she turned her head and looked at him, her eyes reflecting starlight and moonlight at the same time. ¡°Who do you think you are?¡±


    Chu Nanping was stunned. ¡°I¡¯m-¡±


    ¡°Did you tell the Dragon King that I was nning to give my virginity to him?¡±


    Upon hearing this direct question, Chu Nanping was a little flustered. ¡°What did the Dragon King say to you?¡±


    ¡°Ha. Of course the Dragon King didn¡¯t directly say anything, and neither did he betray you. He just told me, in a roundabout way, that I¡¯m not among those he trusts. He said that he didn¡¯t trust anybody, but I know that you¡¯re an exception. Among all of us, you¡¯ve served the Dragon King for the longest, your kung fu is the best, and you¡¯re also the most obedient. You do whatever you¡¯re told to do. You¡¯re even more loyal than a dog that¡¯s been raised from birth.¡±


    Unexpectedly, Tie Linglong¡¯s anger helped Chu Nanping calm down. ¡°You misunderstand. I¡¯m not the Dragon King¡¯s earliest follower, and the Dragon King killed my brother and Immortal Peng. The reason why he lets me serve him is the same as why he lets you and Nie Zeng serve him ¨C to remind him to be vignt all the time. He doesn¡¯t trust any of us. The Dragon King¡¯s right. He can never trust anybody. And there¡¯s no need for you to try to gain his trust.¡±


    Tie Linglong proudly raised her head. ¡°That is my pursuit. You can practice your Emotionless Swordsmanship, but the Dragon King is all I want. I won¡¯t be discouraged by the word ¡®untrustworthy¡¯ because I¡¯m a woman.¡±


    When the words ¡°I¡¯m a woman¡± came out of Tie Linglong who was still technically a teenage girl, they sounded a little funny, but Chu Nanping was in no mood tough. ¡°I won¡¯t try to stop you. I just want to say that what you¡¯ve been doing is akin to a moth flying towards fire. The Dragon King is like an abyss and you¡¯ll be destroyed if you get too deeply involved with him. You should-¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need you to tell me what I should do. You¡¯re the Dragon King¡¯s most trusted man, but you¡¯re trying to persuade me to stay away from him?¡±


    Chu Nanping didn¡¯t want to talk about who the Dragon King ¡°trusted.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been practicing my swordsmanship, and when I master it, I¡¯ll challenge the Dragon King. No matter if I win or lose, I¡¯ll leave this ce after. I¡¯ve never pledged allegiance to the Dragon King, and I¡¯ve never made a promise that I¡¯d serve him for forever.¡±


    Looking at this swordsman who seemed both familiar and strange, Tie Linglong was somewhat bemused. After a while, she briefly sneered. ¡°Very good. I¡¯ll happily rece you. Before that, I¡¯ll help you forget me so that you can master the Emotionless Swordsmanship sooner. From now on, please don¡¯t interfere in my business. In particr, don¡¯t snitch on me. That¡¯s very despicable. Also, the Dragon King will ept me tonight.¡±


    Tie Linglong walked away, leaving two deep footprints at her original position.


    Chu Nanping became the one who stood there, transfixed. Head down, he stared at the two vague footprints, silently feeling a deep pain he¡¯d never felt before. Slice after slice, a sharp knife seemed to be cutting out one of the organs he had been born with, and the missing parts felt like they had been reced by somethingpletely foreign.


    It was an apathy which was even colder than both the snow beneath his feet and the moon in the sky.


    Those who were not familiar with Chu Nanping would feel that the look on Chu Nanping¡¯s face was very simr to the Dragon King¡¯s face. However, those who used to be close to him, like Xu Xiaoyi, knew that he was a swordsman whose cold exterior concealed a kind heart, and that every time he said ¡°emotionless,¡± he never really meant it.


    It was not until this moment that true emotionlessness appeared in a form that Chu Nanping had never expected.


    It turned out that there was no perfect state of emotionlessness. On the contrary, it was a kind of continuous pain which intensified until it overwhelmed all the other feelings. To fight against this pain, he could only concentrate his will on one thing ¨C his sword, because if he ever cked, even just for one brief moment, then he would be brought down by the pain.


    It was just like this. When a swordsman¡¯s proficiency in swordsmanship reached a high level, only by sacrificing part of himself could he master his swordsmanship more thoroughly. Only starving people appreciated the vor of meagre meals, and only those who owned nothing could understand the value ofmon things. When the sword became the only thing that the swordsman had, it would be an inseparable part of the swordsman.


    Chu Nanping tightly held onto his sword, the one given by the swordsman from the Central ins, feeling that he would never need the other sword that had been given to him by the Dragon King from now on.


    ¡®Tie Linglong indeed ¡®helped¡¯ me,¡¯ Chu Nanping thought.


    A few tents away, Gu Shenwei, who was still awakete at night, didn¡¯t expect that his words would have the opposite effect. So, he was very surprised to see Tie Linglong who came back.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about Dragon King¡¯s words.¡± With her head slightly down, Tie Linglong seemed a little hesitant and a little confused, which was rather different from her usual manner.


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s a killer. And there should be neither trust nor distrust in a killer¡¯s heart. It has nothing to do with who I am.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Gu Shenwei preferred her indignant, normal attitude.


    ¡°I should be like that as well if I want to be a killer, and I shouldn¡¯t even trust the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°But you don¡¯t have to be a killer.¡±


    ¡°I do. I want to be a killer.¡± Tie Linglong¡¯s tone was so sure that it sounded somewhat aggressive, but soon she returned to normal. ¡°But it¡¯s too early for me to talk about trust and distrust. I still have to improve my kung fu.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°If the Dragon King is avable, then I hope that you can help me with my cultivation of the Bnced Power. I have to work harder.¡±


    Tie Linglong had already mastered the first level of yang energy, and she could totally cultivate it by herself. But it was indisputable that she would improve quicker with the assistance of someone more powerful.


    ¡°There are some things I have to tell you first.¡±


    ¡°Please go ahead, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°First, what I¡¯ve been practicing is not purely the Bnced Power, and I can only help you reach the second level at most. You¡¯ll be on your own if you want to reach a level higher than that, because my assistance is very likely to have the opposite effect.¡±


    ¡°I want to improve as quick as possible. If the Dragon King can help me reach the second level, I¡¯ll be more than satisfied.¡±


    ¡°Second, if my spection is correct, then your Bnced Power will conflict with the Daoless Divine Power when it reaches the second level. In that case, you¡¯ll have to dispel most of your internal Qi, which means that your power will decline instead of increasing.¡±


    ¡°But sooner orter I¡¯ll get it back and it will be even more powerful than the Daoless Divine Power, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Back then, I was too urgent and I gave up the Bnced Power. But there¡¯s no need for you to hurry. Just take your time and cultivate it slowly. The longer you cultivate it for, the more powerful the Bnced Power will be. You have to prepare yourself, because it may take a very long time.¡±


    Tie Linglong smiled. ¡°I¡¯m willing to take my time and cultivate it at a slow pace because it is the cultivation method that the Dragon King taught me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei squinted his eyes and was eager to tell Tie Linglong that a killer shouldn¡¯t have this kind of trust, but he controlled himself. ¡°Let¡¯s begin.¡±


    Tie Linglong pressed her little hands against the Dragon King¡¯s big hands, and with their palms as the axis, they started revolving slowly at a fixed pace.


    Gu Shenwei slowly imbued Tie Linglong with his Qi to help her toughen the small amount of yang energy in her, monitoring all of her meridians in case any of her acupoints were blocked.


    Tie Linglong was indeed cultivating absorbedly, and Gu Shenwei could even feel her yang energy was getting markedly stronger. If he had a protector and had been able to make progress at this speed, he wouldn¡¯t have had to give up on this unique skill of his family.


    After over an hour, Tie Linglong seemed to have gotten distracted by something, and her Qi cirction became uneven, her palms bing increasingly hotter.


    Gu Shenwei drew his palms back. ¡°Let¡¯s call it a day. The cultivation of Bnced Power has to be slow. From now on, whenever you cultivate it alone, you have to stop immediately if you find that your Qi is not stable. Understand?¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± Tie Linglong said in a low voice, seeming rather feeble.


    ¡°You¡¯re tired. Have a rest.¡±


    ¡°Um.¡± Tie Linglong nodded. Instead of leaving, she sat on the bed, looking listless.


    Gu Shenwei walked to the table and continue to browse his documents, asionally reading the unfolded map.


    It was quiet in the tent when Tie Linglong suddenly asked, ¡°There are not many female killers in Golden Roc Castle, right?¡±


    Gu Shenwei perfunctorily gave an ¡°Um¡±.


    ¡°I heard that it¡¯s more difficult for a woman to be a killer.¡±


    Gu Shenwei raised his head, thought for a while, and then said, ¡°It¡¯s very difficult for anyone to be a killer. You have to develop habits that normal people don¡¯t have, and you also have to sever emotions that normal people should have. Women find it harder to be a killer because those training methods there are designed for men. Female killers have to be the same as male killers.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why the Waning Moon Hall exists. It specializes in training female killers.¡±


    ¡°Yes. You spent some time in Waning Moon Hall, so you should also know that the training there is not easy either.¡±


    ¡°Tell me about it,¡± Tie Linglong said in a chatting tone. ¡°Dragon King, am I bothering you?¡±


    Gu Shenwei put down the document in his hand. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never told the Dragon King about what I experienced inside Waning Moon Hall. Actually, I didn¡¯t even finish the entry level training.¡±


    ¡°I know. You escaped from it. That¡¯s good. I don¡¯t want you to be a lunatic of the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha. In fact, not all of them are lunatics. Especially after Lotus took control, many training methods were abolished, and those trainers were very unhappy about that. But one of the methods wasn¡¯t abolished, and I failed the training process because of that.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    Tie Linglong looked a little embarrassed, but she continued speaking. ¡°Waning Moon Hall brought in a lot of men and required disciples to¡­ sleep with them first and then kill them.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was silent for a while. ¡°Sorry. It was me who forced you into the Waning Moon Hall in order to find Han Wuxian.¡±


    Tie Linglong hurriedly shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t me you, Dragon King. I was indeed very disobedient back then. I fell for Lotus¡¯ incitement and went to¡­ assassinate the queen. I¡¯m very d that Dragon King forgave me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded, and his premonition that Tie Linglong¡¯s behavior was weird tonight intensified even more.


    ¡°The point I¡¯ve been trying to make is that Golden Roc Castle must have a simr¡­ training method. That¡¯s what female killers must go through, right?¡±


    Golden Roc Castle didn¡¯t specify that having sex was apulsory lesson, but they never interfered in this kind of thing either. Most killer trainers regarded female apprentices as a perk that they wouldn¡¯t give up easily. During the ughtering period, many female apprentices were forced to trade their bodies for a higher chance of survival.


    In this aspect, Lotus¡¯ experience hadn¡¯t been unique. But because of her rapid improvements in her kung fu, she had been luckier than most of the other female trainees.


    Gu Shenwei understood Tie Linglong¡¯s intention and even guessed what she would say next: instead of sleeping with some random man, she would rather sleep with the Dragon King.


    This was clearly her retaliation against Chu Nanping.


    When he was under attack, Gu Shenwei could always take decisive action. But on this asion, he didn¡¯t know what to do, and neither did he know what to say.


    Tie Linglong stared at the Dragon King. Faint passion glinted in her green eyes, proving that she was indeed no longer the little girl that Gu Shenwei had rescued back then.

 Chapter 875 - A Dispatch

    Chapter 875: A Dispatch


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The two people in the tent had been staring at each other for a long time.


    If it were an hour ago, then Gu Shenwei would have declined without any hesitation. But now, when he looked at those green eyes and that determined face, his will wavered.


    Rejection of any form would be a huge blow to Tie Linglong at this moment. She had taken Chu Nanping¡¯s choosing swordsmanship over her as a personal humiliation. If she failed to findfort from the Dragon King, nobody knew what she would do next.


    Gu Shenwei hoped that this silence would continue, and that Tie Linglong would not make the next move.


    Meanwhile, Tie Linglong found that she wasn¡¯t as brave as she had thought she was. She had already paved the way and all that remained was to make thest remark. But she was still too embarrassed to say it. She hoped that the Dragon King would walk to her, but this man was even more cold and stubborn than Chu Nanping. The deep look in his eyes seemed to be prompting her to move but also seemed to be severely warning her from doing so.


    Gu Shenwei took a step forward, but he didn¡¯t know what he wanted to do. Tie Linglong opened her mouth slightly, but she simrly didn¡¯t know what she wanted to say.


    An urgent tter of horse¡¯s hooves broke the subtle silence and saved the two people from the awkward silence.


    Gu Shenwei abruptly turned around, as if a formidable enemy had suddenlyunched an attack on him, while Tie Linglong quickly took a deep breath, a feeling of dizziness overwhelming her. She was deeply ashamed of what she had been nning on doing just now, but she was also a little disappointed.


    Outside the tent, a guard reported in a nervous voice, ¡°Dragon King, there¡¯s a dispatch from the counselor.¡±


    ¡°Come in,¡± Gu Shenwei said immediately. Fang Wenshi was assisting Shulitu right now. There must be something urgent in his dispatch.


    Originally, Nie Zeng also had the privilege of entering the Dragon King¡¯s tent without prior permission. But when he left to serve Shulitu, this privilege had been withdrawn. Sweating buckets, he walked in. His lips were parched and his eyes were red, as if he hadn¡¯t slept for days. After ncing at Tie Linglong who was sitting on the couch, he nodded at the Dragon King, unfastened a leather sack from his waist, and handed it to the Dragon King without saying anything.


    Gu Shenwei took the leather sack and took out a hurried letter from it. He raised his head in shock after taking just one nce at it, and then he hurriedly read the rest of it while striding out of the tent, also without saying anything.


    Nie Zeng had finally aplished his mission. The longest period of time he had to sleep over the past twenty days had been less than two hours, and three horses had been run themselves to death during the journey. He had had to steal horses from various herdsmen to finish thest leg of the journey.


    Now, the heavy responsibility had been shifted onto the Dragon King, so Nie Zeng didn¡¯t follow him out of the tent. He nced at Tie Linglong again, opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out was just a string of hoarse ¡°ahs¡± ¨C twenty days without sleep had temporarily deprived him of his ability to talk.


    Tie Linglong stood up. She was the Dragon King¡¯s bodyguard, and if she kept sitting on the Dragon King¡¯s bed instead of hiding in a dark corner, she would feel weird. ¡°I¡­ was cultivating the Bnced Power with the Dragon King.¡±


    The moment she finished speaking thest word, Tie Linglong felt a little regretful ¨C she didn¡¯t need to exin anything to Nie Zeng.


    Nie Zeng nodded. He felt like his brain was about to stop working and as such, he hadn¡¯t fullyprehended the possible connotations of this scene in front of him. And neither had he been able to hear Tie Linglong¡¯s words. He painfully licked his lips and felt like his throat was swollen and in pain, as if a hard stone was stuck in there. ¡°How are you?¡±


    Nie Zeng¡¯s voice was hoarse and peculiar. Tie Linglong immediately said, ¡°You need rest. Just sleep here. The Dragon King won¡¯t mind.¡±


    Nie Zeng clearly knew that this was not the right asion to do so and that he was also not qualified to do so. But like a drunk alcoholic, he had lost control of himself, and he was not sober enough to realize how impulsive his words were. ¡°Stop trying to be a killer¡­ You, me and all the others around the Dragon King ¨C none of us are suitable as killers. The Dragon King is a killer himself, but he can never make us qualified killers. Hu Shining can only teach techniques, and in the end, he will fail without the Dragon King¡¯s support.¡±


    These remarks had been simmering in Nie Zeng¡¯s heart for a very long time, and he had always been meaning to keep them secret. But in these circumstances, he had spilled them out. Because of his hoarse voice, these remarks sounded somewhat funny.


    But he himself couldn¡¯t feel this and the only feeling he had was that of relief. The letter had been handed over to the Dragon King, and his words had been heard by Tie Linglong. At this point, there was no longer any burden on him anymore. But he still couldn¡¯t sit down and rest. Like a length of rope that had been stretched out for too long, he was unable to rx any time soon, as if he were still heaving on horseback.


    ¡°Thud¡± Nie Zeng had fallen onto the ground, unconscious.


    Gu Shenwei went straight to Dugu Xian¡¯s tent and directly entered it without having the guard announce his arrival. He woke up the General of the Left.


    Dugu Xian opened his sleepy eyes and was startled by the sight of the Dragon King at his bedside. Surprisingly, his first thought was that he was about to be killed. He abruptly sat up and then saw that there was a letter in the Dragon King¡¯s hand.


    A guard quickly lit an oilmp. After taking a look at the letter, Dugu Xian raised his head in shock just like the Dragon King had done previously. ¡°Impossible!¡±


    ¡°Keep reading.¡±


    Dugu Xian quickly finished reading the letter and returned it to the Dragon King. Hurriedly putting on his clothes, he asked, ¡°What should we do? This is a huge problem.¡±


    ¡°Come with me to meet Prince Xiao. He¡¯s the only one who can handle this.¡±


    The guards outside the tent had already prepared two horses. The rare nervousness and anxiety on the Dragon King¡¯s face had spread to everyone nearby. Gu Shenwei and Dugu Xian had scarcely got on the horse when Long Fanyun was carried out of the tent.


    Gu Shenwei thought for a while and then said to Long Fanyun, ¡°Tighten the security. Send a dispatch to the Shule army in the west. Tell them that I¡¯ll be there soon.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Long Fanyun answered and asked no further questions.


    It was not easy for anyone to enter the encampment of the Central inste at night, and the Dragon King was no exception. Even when they were still a certain distance away from the outer gate, a group of soldiers on patrol had stopped Gu Shenwei, Dugu Xian and over a hundred guards. After some diplomacy, those soldiers agreed to escort them to their camp.


    More and more soldiers came out of the encampment of the Central ins, and eventually, the total number reached two to three hundred. Even so, the people of the Western Regions still had to wait at the gate of the camp, and the general on duty refused to go inside the camp and inform Prince Xiao, who was asleep, of their arrival no matter how hard they tried to convince him.


    ¡°No matter how urgent this issue is, it can surely wait another two hours. Please return, Dragon King, ande back after daybreak. If you couldply, Prince Xiao won¡¯t be unhappy, and I won¡¯t have to make any difficult choices.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was just about to speak when Dugu Xian, who was beside him, angrily yelled, ¡°Prince Xiao will be unhappy if you wake him up now, but eventually, he will forgive you. If you dy us for two hours, then the death penalty will surely be given to you. Now go!¡±


    The general was shocked. Though very reluctantly, he still said, ¡°Please wait a moment, Dragon King.¡±


    After a full quarter of an hour, the general came back and invited the Dragon King and Dugu Xian to enter the camp, a displeased look on his face. ¡°The Dragon King¡¯d better really have urgent business because I vouched for you¡­ ¡±


    Prince Xiao still looked as easy-going as usual, and the smile on his face was amiable while he was dressed in neat clothes. ¡°The Dragon King hase here on a snowy night, which reminds me of the saints of ancient times. I think that this will be a much-told story in the future.¡±


    Luo Ningcha wasn¡¯t present, and Gu Shenwei¡¯s impression of Prince Xiao became slightly better. ¡°Something huge happened in the Nond. Please take a look at this letter, Prince Xiao.¡±


    Prince Xiao took the letter and unfolded it slowly, saying with a smile, ¡°The bigger, the better. The Central ins is more than d to be a bystan-¡±


    Prince Xiao abruptly raised his head and his smile disappeared instantly. This was the first time that Gu Shenwei had seen this expression on his face.


    ¡°How¡­ How is this possible? Where did you get this letter, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Both the one who wrote this letter and the one who delivered it are reliable. They¡¯re my trusted men whom I stationed in the Nond.¡±


    Prince Xiao paced up and down for a while. When he spoke again, his voice was resolute and decisive,pletely different from his usual voice. ¡°I have to return to the Central ins right now, and I can¡¯t afford to be dyed for even a single moment.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. He had always been suspicious of Prince Xiao¡¯spetence, but at this moment, he finally confirmed that Prince Xiao, who was seemingly easy-going, was also a decisive person. He wasn¡¯t an ipetent royal uncle whose mind was full of idealistic concepts.


    ¡°I share your opinion, but regarding the Western Regions, you¡¯ll have to make some arrangements first, Prince Xiao.¡±


    ¡°Yes. What do you have in mind, Dragon King?¡± The Central ins was all Prince Xiao could think about now, and he couldn¡¯t spare any energy for the situation in the Western Regions.


    ¡°The 10,000 troops outside the city should stay where they are. I want to rmend someone to Prince Xiao ¨C General Dugu is very familiar with armies of the Central ins, and he can serve as the actingmander-in-chief.¡±


    ¡°General Dugu indeed once defeated the Nond cavalry and he¡¯s highlypetent, but-¡±


    ¡°There are precedents for a man of the Western-Region to be themander of a Central-ins army.¡± Gu Shenwei knew what Prince Xiao was worried about.


    Prince Xiao thought for a while and then seemed to have made a great resolution. ¡°All right! Before I leave, I¡¯ll issue an appointment. But General Dugu can no longer be the Commander-in-chief of the Dragon Army.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll select someone else then.¡±


    The two consulted with each other on the appointment of the Commander-in-chief. Dugu Xian stood to the side, staying silent out of prudence.


    ¡°Regarding the Commanding Officer of the Western Regions, Wei Song,¡± Gu Shenwei said as a reminder towards Prince Xiao. ¡°After you leave, he will be the supreme officer of the Western Regions. We must take precautions against him.¡±


    Wei Song was one of Prince Xiao¡¯s political enemies, so Prince Xiao naturally wouldn¡¯t let his guard down. ¡°This issue quite is tricky. I¡¯m afraid that the Dragon King and General Dugu will have to y it by ear. Unless the Imperial Court says otherwise, my appointment to General Dugu will always be valid, and Wei Song won¡¯t dare to make any bold moves.¡±


    After saying these words, Prince Xiao suddenly thought of an idea and said excitedly, ¡°General Du can handle everything here, so why don¡¯t you go back to the Central ins with me, Dragon King? Your exnation for this issue will be more convincing than anybody else¡¯s.¡±


    On his way to this camp, Gu Shenwei had indeed considered this idea, and he had even hoped to take this opportunity to uncover the identity of that Central-ins noble who had colluded with the Unique King. But eventually, he had given up. He had built an extensive andplicatedwork in Jade City, but none of his men ¨C from the killers around him to the prince and Shang Liao in the Shule army to Shangguan Yun who was in Xiaowan Kingdom ¨C were trustworthy enough. If he left, there might be unimaginable consequences.


    ¡°I used to be a man of the Central ins, but now I¡¯m one of the Western Regions. If I exin this to the Emperor, it¡¯ll just arouse more suspicions.


    Prince Xiao gave up this idea immediately. ¡°You have a point, Dragon King. But please rest assured. The Emperor trusts me very much. The great victory over Nonders was won collectively by you and me, and nobody can steal that away. As for electing the Lord of Jade City through a kung fupetition, it will be held on schedule. In a word, just wait for my good news, Dragon King.¡±


    The Central-ins general, who had let the Dragon King in, soon heard two shocking pieces of news. First, Prince Xiao was going to leave before daybreak. It turned out that he had indeed received an important message. Second, unexpectedly, that one-armed general, who had severely reprimanded him previously, had been appointed as Commander-in-chief and be his immediate superior.


    That general led the two out himself and saw the Dragon King off. The look on his face was so warm that it almost seemed a little obsequious. He was full of doubts but didn¡¯t dare to ask about the situation.


    When the sun was high up in the sky, Dugu Xian called a meeting with those Central-ins generals. When Luo Ningcha started angrily breaking things in her tent, that general¡¯s confusion had finally dissipated.


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s letter to the Dragon King said that Second Consort had led her 10,000-men army as well asrge numbers of residents and livestock towards the east, nning to surrender to the General-in-chief of the Central ins, Pang Liao.


    It was even possible that she had already surrendered when that letter arrived.


    The great achievement that Prince Xiao had worked so hard to make, their biggest fruit for the taking, was about to fall into the hands of his political enemy. How could he not be anxious?

 Chapter 876 - Lies

    Chapter 876: Lies


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Five days after Nie Zeng delivered that letter, reliable news came that the Second Consort hadn¡¯t actually joined the main force of the Central ins yet. However, she had sent an envoy to negotiate with the Central ins army regarding her surrender. It was said that she had set a lot of conditions.


    The Second Consort had chosen to surrender to the Central ins at an extremely sensitive period of time. Prince Xiao and the General-in-chief, Pang Ning, who were political enemies, were fiercely disputing the issues concerning the Nond and the Western Regions. The former hoped to stabilize the overall situation in the Western Regions by adopting the strategy of forming extensive alliances, so as to force Nonders to stay far away. However, thetter insisted on a final showdown against the Nond; after winning it, they could take advantage of their victorious momentum to subjugate the Western Regions under the Central ins¡¯ direct rule.


    Military exploits were of great help to both sides. Prince Xiao and the Dragon King of the Western Regions had ¡°collectively defeated¡± the massive army forces of the Nond, which fully proved the effectiveness of their strategy of forging alliances. However, the Second Consort could easily ruin all of their ns.


    She had been in the battlefield herself, and she knew that the truth of their so-called ¡°alliance between the Central ins and the Western Regions.¡± As thergest political enemy of Prince Xiao, Pang Ning would surely be happy to hear the truth.


    Prince Xiao discovered that he had taken too big of a risk. Although he was the Emperor¡¯s uncle, he would still be convicted of an unforgivable felony if his fraudulent im of military exploits was exposed. He had left in such a hurry that he didn¡¯t even have time to ask the Dragon King a very important question: why had the Second Consort chosen to surrender to the General-in-chief, Pang Ning, who was in the far east instead of the Central ins army stationed in the Western Regions?


    It was not until the next day that Gu Shenwei himself thought of this point, and by then, it was already toote to send a messenger since nearly all of the roads leading from Jade City to the east were under the control of the Central ins. This meant that no letter could ever be safely delivered to Prince Xiao. He could only hope that Prince Xiao was smart enough to think of this himself.


    News of the Second Consort¡¯s surrender caused a sensation even greater than that of the battle of the Thousand Horsemen Pass.


    No matter who the winner was ¨C Shulitu or Luoluo, the strength of the Nond would be proved. Although this was a civil war incited by Prince Xiao and the Dragon King ¡°together,¡± most of the troops on the battleground were grasnds cavalrymen.


    The Second Consort was well known in both the Nond and the Western Regions. Currently, she was like a symbol of the old Khan as well as a witness of the grasnds¡¯ prime. Her surrender distinctly showed her prediction of the Nond¡¯s decline. The Central ins instantly became formidable in the eyes of the residents of the Western Regions.


    Fang Wenshi¡¯s letters arrived consecutively, each offering a detailed exnation for the process of how the Second Consort¡¯s surrender came about.


    Shulitu had been leading his army towards the Naihang Tribe. They progressed slowly on their way over and everything was going smoothly. All of the tribes along the way were willing to acknowledge the new Khan. Even the general of the Naihang Tribe, who had previously chosen to flee, also felt somewhat regretful and frequently sent messengers to speak to the new Khan.


    Right at this time, the Second Consort suggested that she wanted to take another path and go to ruins of the Royal Court. Her reasoning was very simple: she had killed General Zhesu and Prince Duoercha. Although she had done that in self-defense, her deed must have aroused the indignation of the Naihang Tribe, which would be very detrimental to the Khan¡¯s overall n of winning the grasnds people¡¯s support.


    Shulitu and Fang Wenshi agreed, so the Second Consort took her army and left in the name of guarding old Khan¡¯s mausoleum.


    But the Second Consort didn¡¯t go to the Royal Court. Seven days after leaving the Khan¡¯s army, she gathered all of the generals as well as many officers of her army and dered that she would surrender to the Central ins.


    She gave a long speech, and the most important part was that, ¡°The new Khan has seeded the throne. I hate to disillusion you, but soon I¡¯ll lose my title of ¡°Second Consort¡± and my status. I¡¯ll be forgotten and even be hunted down by the Naihang Tribe. You¡¯re my cavalrymen. No matter where you go, my fate is your fate. I want to surrender to the Central ins, and I¡¯ll do whatever I can to guarantee the interests of every one of you ¨C livestock, pastures, wealth, andrge numbers of them at that. Through historical precedent, the Central ins will surely ept all of my conditions. So just talk and tell me what you want.¡±


    Most of the generals had served the Second Consort for many years and had witnessed the ups and downs that she had been through. They had also sensed the Naihang Tribe¡¯s hostility towards them, so they were willing to continue following their master.


    A small number of officers quit the meeting halfway and immediately went to deliver the message to the new Khan.


    Fang Wenshi asked Nie Zeng to deliver a letter to the Dragon King at once. Meanwhile, he sent arge number of envoys to pursue the Second Consort. But the Second Consort had already made up her mind to leave. She even refused to meet those envoys.


    This aroused indignation among the troops. They wanted to chase the Second Consort and take her back whatever the cost. They even suggested dispatching the 50,000 Court Attendants troops stationed in the Royal Court ruins. Shulitu consulted with the leading generals for a long time and eventually decided to give up on chasing the Second Consort.


    That was because they were facing two sources of pressure. The grasnds had recently experienced two periods of heavy snowfall, making the terrain very unfavorable for troop movements. Besides that, Luoluo had also regrouped his remaining forces and rebuilt an army of a considerable scale. It was not worth the effort to chase down the Second Consort¡¯s 10,000 men under these circumstances.


    Fang Wenshi felt deeply ashamed. He had to admit his negligence in every letter, since he had failed to see through the Second Consort¡¯s ploy. As stated, he could have noticed some of the signs when she had chosen to leave as well as in her reasons.


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t me the military counselor. The Second Consort had just killed the two leaders of the Naihang Tribe, and there was barely any conflicts of interests between her and the new Khan. Nobody could have anticipated that she would choose to betray him so soon.


    It was not until this moment that Gu Shenwei realized that the Second Consort¡¯s killing people had nothing to do with Shulitu at all, and neither did it have anything to do with retaliating against the former humiliation. She had done it purely to avenge Duodun¡¯s death.


    The Naihang Tribe¡¯s making way for their enemies during the war had been the direct reason for Duodun¡¯s npletely failing.


    The reason why the Second Consort had chosen to surrender to the General-in-chief, Pang Ning, who was further away, was that she wanted to clearly retaliate against the Dragon King who was in the Western Regions.


    The Dragon King was another reason why Duodun had lost his reputation as well as his life.


    The Dragon King and Prince Xiao¡¯s strategy of cooperation could fail at any moment. After two months¡¯ worth of interruption, Gu Shenwei had no choice but to prepare for another war.


    All of the preparations were made secretly. Prime Minister Zhong Heng recruited soldiers from Xiaoyao Lake and increased his troops¡¯ number to 40,000, and then stationed them in the northern part of the Stone Kingdom. They could cross the narrow desert and enter the territory of Jade City through Shuangquan Vige at any time. Then, in half a month¡¯s time, they would be able to take back Thousand Horsemen Pass and block the exits and entrances in the east.


    On the same day that Gu Shenwei heard the news that the Second Consort had surrendered, he made a detour around Jade City from the south with five hundred guards, went straight to the encampment of Shule Kingdom thirty miles away in the west, tookmand of the army there and had the prince of Shule stay. Meanwhile, Shang Liao went to the Shule Kingdom to continue the draft in the name of the prince.


    Wu Zongheng of the An Kingdom of Xiaoyao Lake had received orders to defend Heaven¡¯s Pass. A group of generals from Big Snow Mountain went to the Xiaowan Kingdom to keep the army and provisions in the capital city under strict control as well as put Shangguan Yun under surveince.


    It took Gu Shenwei over ten days to make these arrangements. The situation had just stabilized when he received more bad news: the Governor of the Western Regions, Wei Song, would soon arrive with the envoy of the Central ins.


    There were many descendants of the Central ins in the Jade City, so the Chinese New Year¡¯s Eve of that year was very uproarious. Wei Song and the others arrived on the third day of January in the Chinese lunar calendar, followed by 10,000 soldiers. The number of Central-ins army troops stationed outside of Jade City thus increased to 20,000.


    On the fourth day of January, in the encampment of the Central ins, Gu Shenwei had a meeting with Wei Song, talking about official affairs. The most important topic was about the new Commander-in-chief.


    Prince Xiao had appointed Dugu Xian, who was from the Western Regions, as the Commander-in-chief of the Central-ins army. But Wei Song also hoped to get the seal of Commander-in-chief, though Dugu Xian insisted on following Prince Xiao¡¯s order. There was a dispute between them. It was not very intense, but the two had failed to reach an agreement, and the two Central-ins armies remained under themand of their respective Commander-in-chiefs.


    A normal wee banquet was held where Wei Song introduced the envoy of the Central ins to the Dragon King. Both sides were very polite and didn¡¯t mention anything about the battle of Thousand Horsemen Pass.


    After the banquet, Wei Song invited the Dragon King to talk in private. He instantly shed the businesslike veneer and said in a fatherly, amiable tone, ¡°the Dragon King¡¯s victory in the Nond exceeded everybody¡¯s expectations. I¡¯ve already reported it to the Imperial Court. It won¡¯t be long before you receive the Imperial Court¡¯s acknowledgement, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had made a deal with Wei Song almost a year ago. Back then, Gu Shenwei had hoped to trade the Khan¡¯s life for the support of the Central ins, but he had never taken this deal seriously. He believed that Wei Song also hadn¡¯t. But unexpectedly, after so many dramatic twists and turns, it had actuallye true.


    ¡°What I¡¯ve achieved during my journey to the Nond was mostly due to the luck of the draw. I barely made any contribution.¡±


    ¡°s, you don¡¯t have to be so modest, Dragon King. Without your efforts, this ¡®luck¡¯ would never have happened. The old Khan died at a perfect time. Otherwise, the 20,000 troops of the Central ins wouldn¡¯t have achieved as much. Ha-ha.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had thought that Wei Song wanted to fish out the truth of the battle of Thousand Horsemen Pass. But unexpectedly, he just mentioned it in passing before quickly changing the topic. ¡°Are you¡­ displeased with me, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°What makes Lord Wei say that?¡± The cold look on Gu Shenwei¡¯s face was his best cover. He didn¡¯t have to show too many emotions, so he naturally wouldn¡¯t expose any vulnerability. Nobody could tell whether his surprise had been put on superficially or not.


    ¡°After such a long time, Dragon King has only sent one messenger ¨C his name¡¯s Fang Wenshi, I think ¨C to contact me once. After that I heard-¡±


    ¡°Fang Wenshi is the military counselor of the Dragon Army. He¡¯s my most trusted man.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Wei Song seemed to have suddenly understood. ¡°It¡¯s all my fault. I thought that he was just a regr lobbyist, so I treated him with only the mostmon courtesies. It turns out that¡­ Ha-ha. I was wondering why you suddenly became so cold.¡±


    ¡°You misunderstood, Lord Wei. The things between you and me have nothing to do with the counselor. It was all because of Prince Xiao¡¯s arrival in Jade City. I believed that I would arouse unnecessary suspicions if I contact Lord Wei too often during this time. Unexpectedly, others weren¡¯t suspicious of me, but Lord Wei is.¡±


    The ranks of the officials of the Central ins were very hierarchical. Wei Song was the supreme official of the Western Regions and was designated by the Central ins, butpared to Prince Xiao, his rank was several levels lower. Thus, Gu Shenwei¡¯s exnation was fairly usible.


    Stroking his beard, Wei Song burst intoughter and the minor misunderstanding disappeared instantly. ¡°How could I be suspicious? During the daytime, I merely had a small dispute with General Dugu. I hope that the Dragon King will understand. I have my own duty, and sometimes, perfunctory formalities are inevitable. General Dugu will naturally continue to serve as the Commander-in-chief, and I¡¯ll consult with Lord Envoy to see if it¡¯s possible to bring the 10,000 soldiers I brought here under General Dugu¡¯smand. That way, the military orders won¡¯t conflict.¡±


    ¡°You think too much, Lord Wei. Prince Xiao appointed General Dugu Commander-in-chief and entrusted his army to him, so General Du is only doing what he should do. He¡¯s the Commander-in-chief of the Dragon Army, and I¡¯m unwilling to hand him over to others.¡±


    The two told one lie after another, but the atmosphere unexpectedly became warmer. Wei Song asionally called the Dragon King ¡°nephew.¡± The Dragon King¡¯s face was also not as cold as usual, though he never called Wei Song ¡°uncle¡± back in return.


    This showsted for about a hour, and neither side seemed bored. Eventually, Wei Song brought up the most important issue. ¡°Not only have you eliminated the old Khan, but you have also avenged the murder of your family. Congrattions, Dragon King.¡±


    For the first time, Gu Shenwei told the truth during this conversation. ¡°I haven¡¯t. I didn¡¯t get my revenge.¡±


    ¡°What? Isn¡¯t King Rizhu dead?¡± Wei Song had an amazed look on his face.


    ¡°King Rizhu used to be in contact with Golden Roc Castle, but he had nothing to do with the massacre of the Gu family.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure, Dragon King? The intelligence I got-¡±


    ¡°Lord Wei¡¯s intelligence was urate. King Rizhu did harbor resentment towards my father, but he didn¡¯t hire Golden Roc Castle¡¯s killers to kill my father. I¡¯m sure of this.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Wei Song believed the Dragon King without asking any further questions about the details. ¡°And regarding the person truly behind this, do you have any clues, Dragon King?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. ¡°Please give me some detailed information about this envoy sent by the Central ins, Lord Wei.¡±

 Chapter 877 - The Envoy

    Chapter 877: The Envoy


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The surname of this envoy of the Central ins was Ma, and his full name was Ma Lian. He was in his forties and his official position was that of Imperial Minister or some other sinecure. It was a little unusual for him toe to the Western Regions to investigate military exploits. Wei Song¡¯s exnation for this was, ¡°Prince Xiao had a slight disagreement with the General-in-chief. Since the people in the Imperial Court already trust Prince Xiao, they sent a civil official here as a reward for the troops.¡±


    Wei Song¡¯s introduction was very brief and almost the same as the one given by Prince Xiao. And then he asked, confusedly, ¡°Do you suspect Ma Lian, Dragon King? It¡¯s very unlikely. As far as I know, he never held any grudges towards Lord Gu. Actually they barely ever interacted with each other.¡±


    ¡°I have some spections.¡± Gu Shenwei had been paying attention to Wei Song¡¯s every expression, but he found nothing suspicious. This old fox concealed his true thoughts very well and didn¡¯t show any signs of them. ¡°The one who hired Golden Roc killers to kill my entire family must be a dignitary of the Central ins. I once pretended to be the son of Yang Zheng and tried to avenge the murder of Gu family through that avenue. The Central ins should have known about that by now. The one behind it all won¡¯t just stand by, and he¡¯ll probably send someone here to investigate. Who else is more suitable to perform this task than the envoy? Lord Wei, you said it yourself: Ma Lian¡¯s appointment is somewhat unusual. Even if the Imperial Court trusts Prince Xiao, it should have sent a civil official of a higher rank and with more power to the Western Regions.¡±


    Wei Song frowned slightly. After contemting for a while, he said, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s words are reasonable, but¡­ they¡¯re all spections, and there¡¯s no proof. My suggestion is that the Dragon King shouldn¡¯t make any rash decisions. The situation is very favorable, and the Imperial Court will soon confer Dragon King with a title. With your military exploits, you can just identify yourself and then tell the emperor what happened to your family. I¡¯ll vouch for the Dragon King with my own life. With the emperor¡¯s order, finding the one behind it all will be as easy as winking.¡±


    ¡°It seems like this is the only way. After all, the Central ins is too far away and there¡¯s very little I can do.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha. You managed to throw the Nond into chaos all by yourself. Even if that mastermind¡¯s status is only second to the emperor, he¡¯s probably hiding in fear now.¡±


    When the two parted, the atmosphere was very harmonious. Wei Song even shed tears. ¡°Fortune and misfortune always go hand-in-hand. Your current achievements are more than enough tofort the souls of your deceased family members.¡±


    After returning to the camp of the Dragon Army, Gu Shenwei sat alone in his tent. The desire to take revenge swelled inside of him and he had to try very hard to stop himself from assassinating Wei Song.


    A guard outside reported, ¡°The Prime Minister¡¯s here.¡±


    Gu Shenwei immediately stood up and his look returned to normal. The Prime Minister had arrived just in time, as he desperately needed an advisor and counselor.


    Zhong Heng knew the true identity of the Dragon King, and Wei Song was also his enemy. So, he had unconditionally supported the Dragon King in his revenge from the very beginning.


    ¡°In Jade City and Xiaoyao Lake, Wei Song escaped death twice. I can¡¯t let him get away again.¡± After briefly exchanging the usual pleasantries, Gu Shenwei immediately went to the main topic.


    Zhong Heng had traveled a long way here and there was still some fatigue on his face. He hade up with a n on his way here. ¡°We have a good opportunity right in front of us.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with this Central-ins guy Ma Lian, but ording to my knowledge of the Imperial Court of the Central ins, even though this Imperial Minister is just a sinecure, anybody in this position is under the immediatemand of the emperor, and a lot of them were promoted to other positions with actual powers. And by convention, one has to make a contribution to get promoted. I think that this assignment of Ma Lian is a sign of his imminent promotion.¡±


    Gu Shenwei began to understand Zhong Heng¡¯s intentions. ¡°The greater the contribution Ma Lian makes in the Western Regions, the higher the status he will be granted after returning to the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡±


    ¡°But he¡¯s just here to reward the troops with food and drink, and in passing, investigate the military exploits. These things will never count as a great contribution.¡±


    ¡°Um. When an envoy is on an official visit, it will count as a contribution as long as everything goes smoothly. But you¡¯re right. It won¡¯t be a great contribution. If Ma Lian is truly ambitious, then he will try to achieve more.¡±


    ¡°As long as there¡¯s a chance, everybody will be ambitious. Confirmation of Prince Xiao¡¯s fraudulent im of military exploits will surely be a great contribution, right?¡±


    ¡°Certainly. But I suspect that Ma Lian wouldn¡¯t dare to im that contribution. The emperor trusts Prince Xiao very much, so it¡¯s not that easy to bring him down. And he even might offend the emperor by doing this. So, we can bait him with a contribution of incriminating someone else of a lower status.¡±


    Zhong Heng was a Central insman, and his tone was full of respect when he mentioned the emperor.


    Gu Shenwei felt like he hade to the right person. ¡°Ma Lian, Ma Lian. Whose side is he actually on?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t Prince Xiao say anything?¡±


    ¡°Prince Xiao said that Ma Lian has always stayed away from the political disputes of the Imperial Court, and he barely has any contact with any of the other sides. But I suspect that things are not that simple. Besides¡­ I also suspect that he¡¯s aware of my true identity.¡±


    Zhong Heng knew what the Dragon King was worried about. After thinking for a while, he finally said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll have to test him out, Dragon King. If we confirm Ma Lian¡¯s stance, then it will be much easier to drive a wedge between him and Wei Song.¡±


    Gu Shenwei agreed with him. Seeing that there was an inexplicable smile on Zhong Heng¡¯s face, he was a little surprised. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°This conversation with the Dragon King reminds me of that Cripple Tie.¡± Zhong Heng knew that Tie Hanfeng had died to the Dragon King¡¯s saber, so he didn¡¯t show any respect when talking about him.


    ¡°One has to sever the targets¡¯ rtions with others before killing them.¡± This remark had been imprinted onto Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart, and he had even adapted it into his strategy of fighting for supremacy.


    ¡°Wei Song¡¯s biggest backer is the Central ins, and the person he¡¯s directly rted to is the General-in-chief, Pang Ning. As long as these two rtions are severed, all the other details are insignificant.¡± Zhong Heng paused briefly before continuing to say, ¡°We can assume that Ma Lian is indeed not on anybody¡¯s side, and that he¡¯s willing to catch those treacherous court officials who are colluding with foreign enemies. The Dragon King can then have your counselor write a couple of letters to Wei Song in the name of the Khan. With these letters as evidence, things will be much easier.¡±


    Things were easy to say, but in reality, they were veryplicated. Why would Wei Song collude with the Nond which was already divided? Why were there only the Khan¡¯s letters? Where were Wei Song¡¯s letters in reply? There were many details that demanded a usible exnation. If both Ma Lian and Wei Song were insiders and participants in the massacre of the Gu family, things would be even trickier. But at least,the n was beginning to take shape. Gu Shenwei nodded and said, ¡°Let¡¯s do this. Tomorrow, the envoy and I will reward the troops who participated in the battle of Thousand Horsemen Pass. I¡¯ll do my best to suss out his stance. Come with me, Prime Minister.¡±


    ¡°Yes. There¡¯s another issue. We want to kill Wei Song, but Wei Song must also want to avenge his son¡¯s murder¡­ ¡±


    Recalling his conversation with Wei Song, Gu Shenwei said, ¡°That¡¯s true. Wei Song also has a n, and he¡¯s very confident.¡±


    ¡°If we can see through Wei Song¡¯s n in advance, then we might not need to forge the Khan¡¯s letters.¡±


    As if mumbling to himself, Gu Shenwei said, ¡°Wei Song won¡¯t use the army of the Central ins, just like how I won¡¯t use the Dragon Army. If he took part in the conspiracies back then, then he will surely ask the Unique King for help again.¡±


    Zhong Heng felt that the Dragon King¡¯s spection was very reasonable. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since theyst tried to assassinate Dragon King, right?¡±


    ¡°Um. I fear that this is only a dying tactic to trick me into letting my guard down.¡±


    Zhong Heng also began to worry. It had been only a year since the Dragon Army was built, and its foundation is far less solid than that of the armies of the Central ins or the Nond. It isn¡¯t even as solid as that of the armies of those small countries in the Western Regions. If the Dragon King died and nobody managed to takemand of this army that consisted of troops fromplex backgrounds, his position of Prime Minister would be meaningless. ¡°Fortunately, you¡¯re familiar with the Golden Roc killers¡¯ tactics. You know about the enemies as well as yourself.¡±


    This was a fact that Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t told him ¨C Golden Roc Castle had an elite force that he knew very little about.


    Ma Lian had never forgotten about his identity of the envoy of the Central ins. The next morning, when he was in the tent facing the Dragon King, his manner was neither arrogant nor modest. But when he was outside the tent in front of those troops, he appeared very haughty and held the scepter himself, as if it were a part of his body.


    Their first stop was the encampment of the Dragon Army. The Dragon King¡¯s guard troops had participated in the battle of Thousand Horsemen Pass and suffered heavy casualties. They had just finished regrouping and had been supplemented with troops. Ma Lian read the emperor¡¯s imperial edict of rewarding the troops, which was well-written, and even Gu Shenwei could barely understand those words, not to mentionmon soldiers. Byparison, those gold, silver and cloth were much more practical.


    Ma Lian picked a dozen troops and asked them about the battle in detail. A clerk recorded their answers. The taciturn swordsmen of Big Snow Mountain barely gave him any impression.


    And then, with those guard troops and 1,000 Central-ins soldiers as escorts, Ma Lian and the Dragon King moved through northern Jade City by entering from the east gate and exiting through the west gate, heading for the encampment of Shule Kingdom.


    The soldiers numbered 2,000. It didn¡¯t count as arge number, but this movement across northern Jade City caused a sensation throughout all of Jade City. This was the first time that a regr army had entered northern Jade City in decades.


    Gu Shenwei was lucky enough to witness the hospitality of the residents of the Jade City again.


    Thest time had been when the coffin with the Big Head God¡¯s body had entered the city. Back then, the residents were shocked by Luo Ningcha¡¯s beauty as it was her first time appearing in public. It was so chaotic that the streets had been blocked off. The people totally forgot the horror that the Big Head God had once aroused in them.


    The second tost time had been when Luo Ningcha had gotten married. The marriage between the Assassin King and the Bandit King had received everyone¡¯s blessings along their way. The path had been covered with petals, and the crowds had extended from the west gate to the stone bridge in front of Golden Roc Castle.


    And today, on this asion, there were even more onlookers. Large numbers of residents of southern Jade City had poured into northern Jade City before daybreak and had been waiting for almost four hours. At first, the scene was rather quiet. Most residents just quickly raised their heads to nce at the Dragon King and the envoy of the Central ins before lowering their heads right away. Before long, someone yelled ¡°God bless the Dragon King¡± and ignited the excitement of the crowds.


    Originally, the words ¡°God bless the Dragon King¡± had been used by the swordsmen of Big Snow Mountain to hail the Dragon King. But at this moment, it became the catchphrase of thousands of people. Many people started yelling it even before they saw the figure of the Dragon King.


    Among the many ¡°rtionships¡± that the Unique King had, the one between him and the Jade City was the most vulnerable and also the most useless one.


    With his head up, Gu Shenwei received the cheers of the crowds, as if he had already be the Lord of Jade City.


    This scene gave Ma Lian, who was visiting the Jade City for the first time, a deep impression. After exiting the city through the west gate, his attitude towards the Dragon King became politer, and he even addressed the Dragon King as ¡°Your Highness.¡± Zhong Heng kindly reminded him that the Dragon King had never let anybody else call him ¡°Your Highness¡±.


    It was from this moment on that Ma Lian¡¯s interest in the Dragon King became more and more intense.


    Shule Kingdom¡¯s troops numbered 10,000, and more than half of them participated in the battle of Thousand Horsemen Pass. They had only been under the Dragon King¡¯smand for a very short time, but they were even more loyal to him than some soldiers of Xiaoyao Lake. Infected by them, all Shule Kingdom troops were highly respectful of the Dragon King. Having disposed themselves in a neat formation in advance, they yelled ¡°The Dragon King¡± in unison again and again for a long time.


    The prince of yjr Shule Kingdom went out of the camp and weed them in himself. He behaved even more humbly than themon generals.


    Not only was Ma Lian interested, but also he began to look amazed. He didn¡¯t expect that the Dragon King would be able to establish such extensive support at such a young age.


    Rewarding the troops took them a long time. Ma Lian decided to spend the night in the army camp of the Shule Kingdom. He selected some soldiers and officers and inquired them about their thoughts. This time he asked some more detailed questions, but the answers he got were all simr. ¡°I just followed the Dragon King¡¯s g.¡±


    Zhong Heng was responsible formunicating with Ma Lian, and in private, they seemed to have already be friends. Zhong Heng felt that things were going smoothly, so he made a suggestion to the Dragon King that they should sound out the envoy¡¯s attitude towards Wei Song right now.

 Chapter 878 - Speaking Plainly

    Chapter 878: Speaking inly


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Zhong Heng walked out of the tent and saw groups of attendants as well as soldiers waiting for him. Immediately, a sense of satisfaction rose within him. He felt that all the effort he had put in so far was paying off.


    Crowds were like treasures, and obedient crowds were even more valuable than treasures. Like extensions of one¡¯s limbs, they could turn a lucky someone into a giant in the blink of an eye.


    Zhong Heng believed that he was lucky. He used to be among the crowd, doing whatever he could to specte about the subtle intentions of his superior, and after struggling for many years, he had still failed to outshine his otherpetitors. It was not until he met the Dragon King that his destiny had changed.


    ¡®The Dragon King wants to take revenge, no matter the cost,¡¯ Zhong Heng thought as he walked, followed by dozens of people.


    Unlike Fang Wenshi, Zhong Heng had never believed that seeking revenge and fighting for supremacy were contradictory. On the contrary, he knew very well how important hatred was to the Dragon King. Without hatred, the Dragon King would be merely an outstanding killer. He was willing to be a part of the Dragon King¡¯s cause of seeking revenge, and when he knew that the target was Wei Song, he became even more motivated.


    Wei Song had been in Zhong Heng¡¯s way for many years and he was also one of the most important reasons why Zhong Heng had been stranded among the crowd. Besides, Zhong Heng was partly responsible for the death of Wei Song¡¯s son. If Zhong Heng were in the Central ins, then Wei Song would have killed him like a mosquito a long time ago.


    It was between the second and third night-watch, and it was a time when most people were either asleep or having fun. But it was also a perfect asion for the birth of various rumors.


    Ma Lian took off his official uniform and handed the scepter over to someone whose job was to be responsible for it. Then he stood at the gateway of the tent and weed his new friend in.


    Zhong Heng had specifically put on a robe of the Western-Regions style. When he was still a couple of steps away, he opened his arms like a Western Regioner. But eventually, he paid his respects by cupping his hand before his chest in a Central-ins-like manner. During this process, he noticed the expression of Ma Lian and realized that he shouldn¡¯t behave too intimately.


    There was a small feast. The two sat face-to-face with a small table before each of them. Ma Lian ordered the servants to serve good wine of the Central ins, while Zhong Heng provided some specialties of the Central ins. And in that manner, they spent the first half of the feast talking about the umon foods and savoring good wine.


    And then, the two naturally talked about the officials they knew in the Central ins. Unexpectedly, there were a couple of people who they both were familiar with, which made them feel even closer to each other. And the forms of address ¡°Brother Ma¡± and ¡°Brother Zhong¡± sounded even less incongruous.


    Their attendants also provided plenty of interesting topics. One of Ma Lian¡¯s henchmen vividly described the scene of the envoy leaving the capital city. ¡°Hundreds of officials went out of the city to see the Lord Envoy off. Numerous residents stood on the two sides of the street, and they numbered dozens of times more than the number of Jade City¡¯s residents. On horseback, we saw a boundless sea of people. Though my lord has always been a highly prestiged man, the reason why his departure caused such a sensation was because of the battle of Thousand Horsemen Pass. It¡¯s been so many years since thest time the Central ins won a victory as great as this one. It really gave us a sense of triumph.¡±


    One of Zhong Heng¡¯s henchmen expressed moderate regret. ¡°It¡¯s a pity that the Prime Minister was unable to be on the battlefield himself because he was in the Xiaoyao Lake. The Dragon King trusts the Prime Minister very much. Whenever there¡¯s a battle, he always put the Prime Minister in charge of the rear. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that the Lord Envoy came here to reward the troops, the Dragon King wouldn¡¯t have asked the Prime Minister toe here.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t participate in the battle of Thousand Horsemen Pass?¡± Ma Lian asked casually.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t lucky enough to. But I never worried about it.¡±


    ¡°Why? Was it because you knew that the Dragon King¡¯s victory was certain?¡±


    ¡°Not really. I got a confidential letter from the Dragon King, and I knew that Prince Xiao and the Dragon King had formted a n to eradicate the enemies. So, I believed that I could rest assured. I don¡¯t mean to be disrespectful to the Dragon King, but even if I don¡¯t trust him, how could I suspect thepetence of the royal uncle?¡±


    The two burst intoughter. Their attendants excused themselves and left.


    Ma Lian¡¯s smile gradually disappeared. He sighed inexplicably. ¡°I envy you so much, Brother Zhong. You have a wise master and you are the noble Prime Minister. How many people under the sun can have such luck and achieve as much as you?¡±


    ¡°s.¡± Zhong Heng waved his hand both modestly and proudly said, ¡°the Stone Kingdom is just a tiny country, and its poption is smaller than that of any county of the Central ins. Nominally, I¡¯m the Prime Minister, but that¡¯s actually nothing more than a fancy name.¡±


    Ma Lian was slightly surprised, ¡°The Dragon King has half of the Western Regions under his rule. Why are you just the Prime Minister of the Stone Kingdom?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve just arrived in the Western Regions, so you are not familiar with the situation here. There are many rumors out there, but actually, most of them have exaggerated the Dragon King¡¯s strength and ambition. The Dragon King did save the five kingdoms of Xiaoyao Lake from the Golden Roc Army, and he did expel the Nond cavalry and restore Shule Kingdom. However, he never meant to annex these countries. Currently, these six countries still have their original names, and their kings¡¯ surnames remained unchanged. All of them are deeply grateful to the Dragon King. With regards to the Stone Kingdom, its princess is the Dragon King¡¯s wife. Because the new king is still young, they ¡®borrowed¡¯ me and made me the acting Prime Minister. It¡¯s only temporary.¡±


    Ma Lian nodded repeatedly. He raised his cup and urged Zhong Heng to drink with him. After that, he asked, ¡°So the Dragon King only has a king¡¯s title. Why doesn¡¯t he have his own territory?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s title is from the Big Snow Mountain. It means ¡®the leader of dragons and the king of five peaks¡¯. Big Snow Mountain¡¯s area is over a thousand square miles, and it¡¯s the Dragon King¡¯s territory. There¡¯s another ce he controls, and that¡¯s Jade City.¡±


    Ma Lian raised his cup and kept silent. After quite a while, he said, ¡°For many years, Jade City has been under the rotational rule of three countries. Does the Dragon King want to break this convention?¡±


    ¡°It was not the Dragon King but Golden Roc Castle who broke the convention. The Unique King let the fox into the henhouse. He intended to annihte the Shule Kingdom with the help of the Nond¡¯s cavalry. In fact, the rotational rule no longer existed from then on. Currently, the Nonders have been forced to give up on Jade City and leave. The Shule Kingdom has rebuilt itself and also given up its jurisdiction over Jade City. So, the Dragon King can take control of Jade City whenever he wants. He hasn¡¯t done it yet only because he respects the Central ins.¡±


    With a graver look on his face, Ma Lian put his cup down. ¡°So the Dragon King cooperated with Prince Xiao only because he wants Jade City?¡±


    Smiling, Zhong Heng shook his head. ¡°The Dragon King did have this intention, but Prince Xiao didn¡¯t agree. He said that this was an important issue, and that it was ultimately the emperor¡¯s decision to make.¡±


    Ma Lian also smiled. ¡°Prince Xiao was right. I guess that this was the reason why he returned to the capital, right?¡±


    Zhong Heng looked around and then said in a low voice, ¡°This should be kept between you and me. Prince Xiao did return to the capital because of this issue. He¡¯s grateful for the Dragon King¡¯s help in Thousand Horsemen Pass, and he promised the Dragon King that he would help him obtain Jade City. But I¡¯m a little worried.¡±


    ¡°About what?¡±


    Zhong Heng was about to answer him, but he eventually swallowed his words back, raised his cup, and drank the wine.


    Ma Lian was a little unhappy, ¡°Do you not trust me, Brother Zhong? We¡¯re here drinking because our characters are somewhat simr. So in here, I¡¯m not the envoy of the Central ins, and you¡¯re not the Prime Minister either. It¡¯s inconsiderate of you to stop talking halfway.¡±


    ¡°Please forgive me, Brother Ma. Um. Here¡¯s the thing. When Prince Xiao returns to the capital, he inevitably will have to send some gifts to other people in order to keep his socialwork healthy, so the Dragon King offered to give a moderate amount of money to Prince Xiao, but he met with a t refusal. To be honest, the Dragon King and I are both Central insmen, but we¡¯ve been away from our homnd for a long time. Thus, we are not familiar with the rules there at all.¡±


    Ma Lian solemnly said, ¡°Prince Xiao did the right thing. Things haven¡¯t changed much in the Imperial Court, but the regtion ofmunication with outsiders is still very strict. Prince Xiao is a noble royal uncle, so he naturally should set an example. But since he made a promise, then there¡¯s a seventy to eighty percent chance of it happening. You can tell the Dragon King that there¡¯s no need for him to worry too much, Brother Zhong.¡±


    ¡°I see. Ha-ha, I¡¯ve been in the Western Regions for too long that I¡¯ve nearly be a Western Regioner. s, I don¡¯t have the face to go back to my hometown.¡±


    ¡°You worry too much, Brother Zhong. The emperor¡¯s might is boundless. As long as the Dragon King is willing to be the emperor¡¯s servant, then he will always be a subject of the Central ins no matter where he is. Besides, different regions of the Central ins also have their respective traditions and customs, and the differences between them are just as dramatic as those between different areas of the Western Regions.¡±


    With his left hand holding the cup, Zhong Heng raised his right hand high and then waved it down lightly. ¡°You¡¯re a real confidant, Brother Ma. The Dragon King also wants to acquire the acknowledgement of the Central ins. Even I myself have always longed to gain the nationality of the Central-ins so that I can sleep well at night.¡±


    From this moment on, the conversation entered a stage of in speak. Ma Lian talked about the various benefits of having the Central ins as a backer, while Zhong Heng implied that the Dragon King had prepared arge amount of money but couldn¡¯t find the right person to give it to.


    Ma Lian frequently mentioned the battle of Thousand Horsemen Pass, but Zhong Heng only gave perfunctory responses, saying that he had been on the battlefield. Likewise, when Zhong Heng brought up Prince Xiao and Governor Wei Song, Ma Lian always replied withplimentary remarks, saying that there had never been any partisan wrangle in the Imperial Court of the Central ins, and that under the emperor¡¯s management, there had never been any minor disputes between officials.


    It was alreadyte at night when Zhong Heng took his leave. Looking obviously drunk, he was staggering. With the help of two attendants, he managed to walk out of the tent. Ma Lian¡¯s face was also red. He walked out of the tent with Zhong Heng, confirmed his figure disappearing into the night, and then returned to the tent.


    Zhong Heng washed his face with fresh icemelt water, stretched his fingers into his throat, and vomited several times. After ordering his guards to go back to sleep, he quietly went to meet the Dragon King alone.


    He knew that the Dragon King seldom slept at night.


    ¡°Ma Lian is a puppet.¡± Zhong Heng told him his conclusion directly. ¡°And he¡¯s a coward. He will ept your money without hesitation, but he won¡¯t do anything for you after returning to the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°If he¡¯s a puppet, then who does he serve?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe that person is far from the Central ins, and maybe he or she is right here around him. Give me two or three days and I¡¯ll surely find out the truth. I hope that this person is not Wei Song.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Prince Xiao is not the kind of person who¡¯s weak enough to let his political enemy be in charge of this investigation into military exploits.¡±


    Zhong Heng nodded. ¡°Also, Ma Lian seems to know nothing about the Dragon King¡¯s true identity. He cares more about the Dragon King¡¯s future ns.¡±


    ¡°Check the backgrounds of those around him.¡±


    Zhong Heng had sussed Ma Lian out for the first time but hadn¡¯t achieved much. After returning to his tent, Zhong Heng carefully recalled the faces of every attendant around Ma Lian, trying to find someone he could use.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t just stand by and wait for Zhong Heng toe up with a n. The next morning, he summoned Dog Butcher as soon as he returned to the encampment of the Dragon Army, which was to the east of the Jade City.


    Dog Butcher always felt uneasy in front of the Dragon King. If he hadn¡¯t been practicing the Virgin Boy Skills, he would have had a grandson about the Dragon King¡¯s age. Besides, he was an elder of the Kongtong Sect and had gotten used to being ttered by others, so his words sounded very clumsy when he tried to tter other people.


    But he was still willing to follow the Dragon King because he liked this kind of excitement that was tinged with destruction, and he liked the Dragon King¡¯s cold and just personality even more. Surprisingly, this young man who had a suspicious mind seldom imposed any restriction on his men.


    But he didn¡¯t like this task very much, since he wouldn¡¯t need to use his saber, and neither would he need to take any risks. All he needed to do was invite a person here, and that person was his elder sister, Tu Pianpian.


    Tu Pianpian hadn¡¯t forgotten her failure. She had tried to persuade the Dragon King to cooperate with Prince Xiao instead of attacking Thousand Horsemen Pass, but her suggestion had been met with a sharp rebuff. However, the Dragon King had changed his mind the moment Luo Ningcha had arrived, which made Tu Pianpian even more resentful.


    As a result, although she came to meet the Dragon King for her younger brother¡¯s sake, the look on her face was very haughty. Holding a tall crutch, she didn¡¯t even nod at the Dragon King. The moment she saw him, she directly said, ¡°Why has the Dragon King called for an ugly old woman like me? How¡¯s Madam Luo?¡±


    Gu Shenwei ignored the sarcasm in her tone and directly asked, ¡°Is the Kongtong Sect loyal to Lord Wei?¡±


    Back then when Gu Shenwei was in the Royal Court, he had been informed that the Qingcheng Sect was very close to Luo Vige, and that the Kongtong Sect¡¯s backer in the Imperial Court was Wei Song.


    Tu Pianpian was stunned. ¡°We¡¯re a sect of the martial arts world. Why would we pledge allegiance to an official of the Imperial Court? Lord Wei merely likes the temples of the Kongtong Sect, and he regrly donates some money to us every year.¡±


    ¡°Very good. I want to kill Wei Song, and I hope that you can offer me some help.¡±


    Dog Butcher and his elder sister were both astounded. Tu Pianpian even horizontally raised her crutch before her chest.

 Chapter 879 - Pawns

    Chapter 879: Pawns


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Tu Pianpian¡¯s face was full of hostility. Dog Butcher was at a loss for what to do. One of the preconditions of his serving the Dragon King was that he would never make an enemy of the Central ins. As the Governor of the Western Regions, Wei Song was a representative of the Central ins.


    ¡°Are you joking with me and my elder brother?¡± Tu Pianpian asked coldly, considering what her first move should be. She believed that the Dragon King was best at winning fights with extremely risky moves, and that his actual kung fu skills were definitely not as good as that of the two elders of the Kongdong Sect.


    Facing imminent hostility, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t immediately make a response. When he did, his voice as nd as usual. ¡°I don¡¯t like making jokes. I just want to know whether the Kongtong Sect is loyal to Wei Song or the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not about who we¡¯re loyal to¡­ ¡°Tu Pianpian suddenly realized that she had been misled. ¡°Lord Wei is the Governor of the Western Regions who has been appointed by the emperor. Protecting Lord Wei is synonymous with protecting the Central ins. Don¡¯t try to drive a wedge between us, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded approvingly. ¡°You¡¯re right. Wei Song should indeed represent the interests of the Central ins. But if he¡¯s been secretly ruining the emperor¡¯s strategies in the Western Regions, then what would you call his deeds?¡±


    Tu Pianpian stared at the Dragon King. Suddenly, she turned and faced her younger brother, asking angrily, ¡°What do you know about this?¡±


    Dog Butcher spread out his hands in amazement. ¡°The Dragon King sent me to invite you here. I don¡¯t know anything else.¡±


    ¡°Idiot. You¡¯ve been hanging around the Dragon King but you can¡¯t even get a scrap of intelligence. Is this how you wander in Jianghu?¡±


    Dog Butcher¡¯s face flushed scarlet. He didn¡¯t dare argue with his elder sister, so he lowered his head, mumbling, ¡°But you never asked me to be a mole¡­¡±


    Tu Pianpian put her crutch down, the hostility on her face slightly dissipating. ¡°I believe that you¡¯re not a liar, Dragon King, but not all people of the Kongtong Sect are fools. You said that Lord Wei secretly betrayed the Central ins. Show me some proof.¡±


    ¡°I have proof, but first I want to ask ¨C what do you think of the battle of Thousand Horsemen Pass?¡±


    This was an ambiguous question, but Tu Pianpian instantly understood the connotations because this was not the first time that she had been asked about this issue. ¡°I¡¯m not a henchman of Prince Xiao¡¯s, and I know nothing about his true thoughts. Since Prince Xiao said that the army of the Central ins was just a bait and that the purpose was to breach the defensive line of Luoluo¡¯s army so that Dragon King could rush into the enemies, then I naturally believe him. Prince Xiao is the emperor¡¯s uncle, and he would never lie to the emperor.¡±


    ¡°Wei Song is also very interested in the battle of Thousand Horsemen Pass, isn¡¯t he? Has he asked you a lot of questions about the ¡®truth¡¯?¡±


    Tu Pianpian didn¡¯t answer. She didn¡¯t like the Dragon King¡¯s gaze and tone since they gave her the strange feeling that he was able to read her mind. But she also couldn¡¯t deny that his guess was very urate. Wei Song had indeed asked her, and he almost explicitly said that the victory in Thousand Horsemen Pass was actually a lie.


    Tu Pianpian had been in the battle herself and she remember every scene vividly. During the battle, Prince Xiao had desperately wanted to break through the encirclement of Nond cavalry forces, and he wasn¡¯tposed at all. Afterwards, when she, on behalf of Prince Xiao, had requested the Dragon King not to attack Thousand Horsemen Pass, the Dragon King had behaved extremely tly, as if he didn¡¯t care about Prince Xiao at all.


    She had told all this to Wei Song, but the other side of this issue was that neither Prince Xiao nor the Dragon King believed her, and eventually, it was only because of Luo Ningcha that the agreement had been reached. As a result, everything that had happened previously could only be exined by the words ¡°a show.¡±


    Wei Song had asked her to offer some solid proof, but Tu Pianpian didn¡¯t have any. Then Wei Song hoped that she could offer her life as a guarantee and testify that the victory in the Thousand Horsemen Pass was a lie, Tu Pianpian declined. It was not because she was afraid of death but rather because the war was indeed beyond her expectations. It was like a n that had been formted in advance: the Dragon King led his army and circled around Luoluo¡¯s army. Then, Prince Xiao broke through the encirclement and destabilized the left wing of Luoluo¡¯s army, which was why the Dragon King had found a chance to rush into the enemies and secure victory.


    Seeing that his elder sister was silent for so long, Dog Butcher began to admire the Dragon King again, but he also had a lot of questions. ¡°Why does Lord Wei suspect Prince Xiao?¡±


    ¡°Because of the partisan wrangle. Wei Song wants to bring down Prince Xiao and then ask for a reward in front of General-in-chief Pang Ning.¡±


    Dog Butcher and his sister didn¡¯t know much about the disputes of the Imperial Court, but they had indeed heard some rumors. They just didn¡¯t know that the Kongtong Sect¡¯s benefactor, Wei Song, was also a part of them.


    ¡°Even so, there¡¯s no need to kill Lord Wei. The disputes in the Imperial Court should be resolved by the Imperial Court. Why do you have to be a busybody?¡± Tu Pianpian had actually been convinced, though she hadn¡¯t realized it yet.


    ¡°Wei Song wants to kill me, so I have to make the first move.¡±


    ¡°Lord Wei wants to kill Dragon King?¡± Dog Butcher was so startled that it seemed like his gray hair was about to fly off. ¡°But he doesn¡¯t seem like that kind of person.¡±


    ¡°People always first confuse their targets before killing them.¡± The tter Gu Shenwei¡¯s tone was, the more Wei Song¡¯s conspiracy sounded real. ¡°Wei Song¡¯s n is something like this: he wants to kill me with the help of Golden Roc Castle so as to trigger the retaliation of the Dragon Army. Then, the Central ins will send their armies here and there will be another massacre, which will prove that Prince Xiao¡¯s strategies in the Western Regions were a total failure¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Wait.¡± Tu Pianpian didn¡¯t want to be fooled by these words. ¡°Lord Wei asked Golden Roc Castle for help? He obviously hated Golden Roc Castle, and he frequently says that ¡®there will never be peace in the Western Regions if the Unique King is alive.¡¯¡±


    ¡°They have reconciled and are colluding with each other,¡± Gu Shenwei said, as if he was telling her an obvious fact.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the proof?¡± Tu Pianpian was still displeased.


    ¡°Both of you know Shangguan Fei. He¡¯s the Unique King¡¯s son, and he was forced to leave his home for various reasons. But his mother is still next to the Unique King, and she can provide me with some information.¡±


    Dog Butcher nodded repeatedly. ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s right. Shangguan Fei frequently goes to visit his mother and he gets some intelligence every time.¡±


    Finally, Tu Pianpian admitted that she was convinced, but she was still more prudent than her younger brother. ¡°These are only words and there¡¯s no concrete proof. I¡¯ll go and ask Lord Wei himself about it.¡±


    Then she turned and left. She wasn¡¯t even willing to consult with the Dragon King about any further ns. Dog Butcher called out ¡°Senior Sister¡± several times. And then he said to the Dragon King resignedly, ¡°My sister was too impatient. Why would Lord Wei¡­ Wei Song tell her the truth? Because of what happened in Thousand Horsemen Pass, Wei Song has lost trust in her. If she goes there and questions him¡­ Wouldn¡¯t that be suicide? I can¡¯t let her do this. I have to-¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do anything.¡± In Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes, Dog Butcher was the impatient one. ¡°You sister has her own ns.¡±


    ¡°She does?¡± Dog Butcher was still hesitant.


    Gu Shenwei nodded. Tu Pianpian had been maneuvering between Prince Xiao and Wei Song without getting hurt, which was a solid proof that she had a ¡°n¡±.


    The Dragon King¡¯sposure made Dog Butcher feel relieved. He asked, ¡°Are you really going to kill Wei Song, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°I have to, but I won¡¯t kill him with my saber. I¡¯ll prove that Wei Song betrayed the Central ins, and then let the Central ins bring him to justice themselves.¡±


    Dog Butcher became relieved, ¡°If so, then not only will the Dragon King¡¯s deeds not be against the interests of the Central ins, but they will also uphold the authority of the Central ins. I¡¯m willing to offer my help. Please give your orders.¡±


    ¡°Um. Keep in touch with you elder sister. She was right. The evidence with Golden Roc Castle is not enough. If we can expose Wei Song, then the envoy of the Central ins alone will be able to convict him.¡±


    Dog Butcher believed this was an important task. He epted it solemnly and left the tent.


    Gu Shenwei had achieved his goals. He had sessfully nted a pawn in the base of his enemy. Although Tu Pianpian wasn¡¯t a henchman of Wei Song, with her kung fu and status in the martial arts world of the Central ins, it would be very easy for her to collect some basic intelligence.


    With regards to Shangguan Fei, Gu Shenwei had never hoped to get any information about Wei Song from him, and neither had he meant to use Madam Meng, as that would only alert the enemy.


    This was not an assassination, but Gu Shenwei had still chosen to quietly close in on the target and then stab him in the back. The only thing that would alerted== him was that it was very likely that a saber was closing in on him, but he didn¡¯t have a clue where it was.


    Zhong Heng was also very busy. Not only had he made a move himself, but he had also sent his most trusted attendants out, ordering them to do whatever they could to make friends with Ma Lian as well as his subordinates. More than ten feasts were held during the daytime. Night had just fallen when these new friends started exchanging presents.


    After midnight, Zhong Heng learned all of the detailed information about the envoy¡¯s team. ¡°There are seven of them who deserve our special attention. They¡¯re either subordinate officials of the Grand Commandant or have a direct rtionship with someone working in the emperor¡¯s residential pce. All of them are rted to dignitaries in some way.¡±


    ¡°Seven people. There are still too many of them.¡±


    Zhong Heng also admitted this. ¡°It¡¯s possible that one of these seven people knows the Dragon King¡¯s true identity, but it¡¯s also possible none of them know. If one of them does, then it¡¯s likely that he is just someone nted in the team by General-in-chief Pang Ning, and that he knows nothing about the Dragon King¡¯s parentage.¡±


    Gu Shenwei firmly believed his own spections, but he also didn¡¯t want to argue with Zhong Heng. ¡°Is there anyway to narrow it down?¡±


    ¡°Um. There¡¯s a way. It might not work, but it¡¯s worth a try. Ma Lian has rewarded the troops and finished the inquiry, and the troops¡¯ answers have been recorded. However, he hasn¡¯t talked with you yet¡­ ¡±


    Gu Shenwei understood Zhong Heng¡¯s intentions. When it came to the disputes and intrigues concerning officiality, Zhong Heng was indeed more sophisticated than Fang Wenshi.


    ¡°Here is my spection,¡± Zhong Heng continued. ¡°If Ma Lian finishes his visit to the Western Regions and goes back to the Central ins, then there¡¯s nothing wrong with his team. In that case, we can just give him a considerable amount of money to make sure that he won¡¯t nder us after returning to the Imperial Court. If Ma Lian insists on asking Dragon King himself, then there might be some issues. Then our action will have to depend on whether Ma Lian will meet the Dragon King alone or whether one of those seven people will apany him.¡±


    Those who were suspicious of the Dragon King¡¯s parentage would surely want to find a way to observe him face-to-face. Gu Shenwei believed that Zhong Heng¡¯s spection was very reasonable.


    In the next two days, Tu Pianpian didn¡¯t send any messages to the Dragon King. The envoy of the Central ins neither dered that he was going to return to the capital nor requested a meeting with the Dragon King. Instead, he went to the Four Noble Truths Temple to worship the Buddha and fast. He essentially lived in the temple, nevering out.


    Jade City was seeming in a state peace and there had been much fewer assassinations thanst year, with a frequency of about one urrence every two to three days, which was almost normal.


    It was under these circumstances that Luo Ningcha demanded a meeting with the Dragon King.


    Shangguan Hong was responsible for delivering the message. Clearly, he hated his Eighth Sister-inw very much. ¡°This woman¡­ s, please show some mercy to me and let me return to the Stone Kingdom, Dragon King. Or just let me be amon soldier in the army.¡±


    Shangguan Hong had been originally been supposed to spy on Prince Xiao, but Prince Xiao had hurriedly returned to the Central ins, so he believed that there was no longer any need for him to continue to stay around Luo Ningcha.


    ¡°There¡¯s no hurry. Go back and tell her that I don¡¯t have the time.¡±


    Shangguan Hong steeled himself for his female master¡¯s scolding and went back. Before long, he came back to meet the Dragon King again, bringing with him his female master¡¯s threat. ¡°She said that if you refuse to meet her, then she¡¯ll go to the envoy of the Central ins.¡±


    Luo Ningcha knew much more inside information than Tu Pianpian, which was more than enough to ruin the military exploit that Prince Xiao had worked so hard to fabricate. Gu Shenwei decided to meet her, mulling over what he would have to do to shut this woman¡¯s mouth once and for all.

 Chapter 880 - Shut Up

    Chapter 880: Shut Up


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Prince Xiao had left in such a hurry that a lot of problems had been left behind unresolved, and one of them really irritated Luo Ningcha. She had promised those leaders of the Iron Mountain encampment that she would give them brand-new armor and that everybody would get a bounty. However, the one who had promised to provide her with all that had left without first fulfilling his promise.


    ¡°All men are the same.¡± After venting her anger on the nearby furnishings and servants, Luo Ningcha said these words indignantly and sentimentally. ¡°Before sleeping with me, they were willing to offer me the whole world as a gift. But after they got what they want, they ran away at a speed even faster than that of the me Foal. I¡¯m so stupid. Why didn¡¯t I behave as conservatively as I used to do in Royal Court? I should have just kept a distance away from these men, and let them be anxious and keep courting me.¡±


    Her maidservants and servants knew of their female master¡¯s temper, so none of them dared to remind her that it had been because of Prince Xiao¡¯s intervention that the Unique King had agreed to ¡°return¡± the over 2,000 Iron Mountain troops to the daughter of the Big Head God. She had actually gotten quite a lot.


    Shangguan Hong was at the back of the crowd, trying to hide himself from his new master. He hated the Dragon King so much that even his teeth seemed to be itchy. For him, in this world, there was no punishment crueller than serving Luo Ningcha.


    But Luo Ningcha wouldn¡¯t spare him.


    Shangguan Hong was her new favorite toy. The surname ¡°Shangguan¡± alone made him worthy of her special attention. They used to be family members of equal status, but now, they had be master and servant. How could another change possibly be more exciting than this one?


    ¡°Shangguan Hong.¡± Luo Ningcha called for him in a t voice, but it was Madam Meng that she was thinking of. There had been both disputes and reconciliation between her and Madam Meng. But the only thing that had never changed was their extreme, mutual hatred towards each other.


    The servants made way for him. Shangguan Hong had no choice but to take a couple of steps forward and kneel on one knee. In front of the ¡°female Commander-in-chief of the Iron Mountain Army,¡± every rule had to be followed. ¡°At your service, master.¡±


    ¡°When will the Dragon Kinge?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King said that he woulde as soon as possible and that he was busy,¡± Shangguan Hong steeled himself and answered.


    ¡°You idiot! This is how you do things for me? ¡®As soon as possible?¡¯ Lies. You¡¯re all frauds. All men¡­ Oh, I forgot. You¡¯re not a man any more.¡±


    Head down, Shangguan Hong stared at the nket. To his surprise, even if she had never physically hurt him, his hatred towards her was still more intense than that towards Shangguan Fei.


    Luo Ningcha seemed to like this topic very much, but she felt that mumbling was boring. ¡°Shangguan Hong, tell me what it¡¯s like to be neither male nor female.¡±


    Shangguan Hong had aplicated feeling well up. He clearly knew that he could kill everyone within this tent in the blink of an eye, but he had to lie prostrate on the ground, enduring the humiliation, which put his tolerance to the test. ¡°No ¨C Nothing special.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± As she watched that ¡°freak¡± curled into a ball in front of her, Luo Ningcha almost forgot about Prince Xiao and the Dragon King. ¡°That¡¯s true. Without that thing, a man will be normal. It is Madam Meng who probably has a special thing. Ha-ha. I really want to see the scene of you two meeting each other.¡±


    Trying hard to suppress his killing intent, Shangguan Hong was trembling. Those servants behind him saw this clearly, but Luo Ningcha hadn¡¯t noticed it. She recalled another interesting thing. ¡°There used to be this maidservant of mine. She was blind and mute. It¡¯s a pity that she died too early. Otherwise, you and her would make a perfect couple.¡±


    Everybody was silent. Luo Ningcha wanted to throw something, but there was nothing besides her. She inexplicably became angry. ¡°You cheap servant, I asked you a question. Stop ying dead!¡±


    ¡°Yes. We would have made a perfect couple. Unfortunately, she died too early.¡± The only thing that offered Shangguan Hong somefort was that he had be someone different now. In the past, he had been powerless to defend himself. But now, he was capable of taking revenge. All he needed was merely an opportunity.


    ¡°And you.¡± Pointing at a dozen servants, Luo Ningcha once again recalled Prince Xiao and the Dragon King, both of whom had betrayed her. ¡°From now on, if any of you dare disobey me, I¡¯ll dig your eyes out, cut off your tongue, and make you marry Shangguan Hong. He doesn¡¯t care about the gender anyway.¡±


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s tolerance was running out. Someone reported from outside the tent, which saved Shangguan Hong as well as Luo Ningcha and all the servants in the tent.


    The Dragon King had finally arrived.


    Gu Shenwei walked into the tent and saw that the servants were hastily cleaning the sundries and scraps on the ground. After packing those things away with their clothes, they paid their respect to the Dragon King and hurriedly ran outside.


    When Shangguan Hong passed by the Dragon King, Gu Shenwei ordered, ¡°You stay here.¡±


    Briefly stunned, Shangguan Hong immediately returned to the corner. The pleasureing from the fact that he was able to get his revenge whenever he wanted disappeared. The Dragon King was merely standing there, but Shangguan Hong felt so pressured that he almost forgot about the kung fu skills that he had gained.


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s frown tightened. ¡°Why did you bring so many people with you?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had only brought two people, Tie Linglong and Old Man Mu. Seeing that all the servants had left, he said, ¡°I¡¯m here to tell you something.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Luo Ningcha asked perplexedly, having a faint feeling that the Dragon King was acting differently today.


    ¡°Watch your mouth. If you can¡¯t, I¡¯ll take action.¡±


    ¡°Take action?¡± These words were very strange to Luo Ningcha. Fear, suspicion, and anger started bubbling up within her, and eventually, anger won. ¡°You want to kill me? I dare you to! You¡¯re just a servant of my family. I call you ¡®Dragon King¡¯ only because I respect you. Ha. You little people got some power and now you actually dare to threaten me? If you touch me, the Central ins will tear you and your so-called Dragon Army into shreds¡­ ¡±


    Gu Shenwei winked at Tie Linglong. With a cold face, Tie Linglong stepped forward, whipped out her saber, and shed once. A piece of Luo Ningcha¡¯s sleeve was cut off.


    Luo Ningcha stood there, transfixed in silence, trying hard toprehend what had happened. Without the Dragon King¡¯s permission, Tie Linglong poked this annoying woman in the chest with her finger.


    Tie Linglong had given up cultivating the Jueyin Finger Energy, but she still had the skills that she had already learned previously. This poke was nothing for a kung fu expert, but it was more than enough to send Luo Ningcha into a spiral of pain that she had never felt.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Luo Ningcha screamed, but under the threat of the narrow saber, she soon forced herself to stop.


    She suddenly recalled that the Dragon King had once beat her, and that had happened during a reunion when they hadn¡¯t seen each other for a long time. The Dragon King was the only man in the world who had ever abused her.


    Her fear, which had lost the first fight in her heart, finally got the upper hand. Luo Ningcha refused to implore the Dragon King. She stared at Tie Linglong with a murderous look, but she did shut up.


    Tie Linglong returned to her original position behind the Dragon King. Gu Shenwei asked Old Man Mu, ¡°Which kung fu are you best at?¡±


    Old Man Mu understood the Dragon King¡¯s intention, so he said with a big smile, ¡°What I¡¯m best at is dismembering people alive while gutting them. But I haven¡¯t done these things ever since I started working for the Dragon King.¡±


    Luo Ningcha shifted her gaze from Tie Linglong¡¯s face to Old Man Mu, but the fear in her didn¡¯t increase. Old Man Mu stretched out his tongue and licked his lips, excitement and eagerness suddenly appearing on his wrinkled face. It was not until this moment that Luo Ningcha realized that what Old Man Mu had said was true. She was horrified. Previously she hadn¡¯t dared to speak, but now, she was unable to speak.


    Gu Shenwei called out the name of another person who was just as horrified. ¡°Shangguan Hong.¡±


    ¡°At your service.¡± Shangguan Hong knelt down without any thought of resistance.


    ¡°From now on, you¡¯re responsible for reminding Madam Luo to watch her mouth. If I hear her talk nonsense again, both of you will be punished.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Shangguan Hong had never received a threat as pleasant as this one.


    ¡°Go and ask your master whether she understands my words or not.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Shangguan Hong stood up, faced the Dragon King, backed up to a position five steps away from Luo Ningcha, slowly turned around, and then straightened himself slowly. ¡°Master, do you understand the Dragon King¡¯s words? He asked you to watch your mouth. No more nonsense.¡±


    Luo Ningcha nodded, but Shangguan Hong wasn¡¯t satisfied. ¡°Master, you have to answer with words.¡±


    Luo Ningcha gave an angry nce at Shangguan Hong. After suppressing her anger for a while, she said, ¡°I understand.¡±


    ¡°Leave us,¡± Gu Shenwei ordered. Shangguan Hong quickly left the tent, but Tie Linglong and Old Man Mu didn¡¯t move.


    ¡°You asked me toe here. What can I do for you?¡± Gu Shenwei asked, his voice as cold as usual.


    Upon hearing that the Dragon King ask her a question directly, Luo Ningcha quivered. The look in her eyes was obedient and even a little pitiful. Gu Shenwei immediately recalled that she had learned this trick from Xu Yanwei.


    ¡°Actually, I do have an issue.¡± Luo Ningcha¡¯s voice even became exceptionally tender, which was totally different from her usual voice.


    She hoped that the Dragon King would have his bothersome subordinates leave, but Tie Linglong and Old Man Mu stood still. After pausing for a while, she had no choice but to continue. ¡°It¡¯s about those people of the Meng family. I don¡¯t know why, but they suddenly contacted me. They asked me to give you a message: the Second Young Master Meng wants to meet you. The sooner, the better. It¡¯s something urgent.¡±


    After taking most of the money that the Meng family had, Gu Shenwei had never contacted Meng Mingshu again because he didn¡¯t want to put the Meng family in danger. Meng Mingshu didn¡¯t daree here to meet the Dragon King either. Unexpectedly, he had thought of using Luo Ningcha¡¯s rtionship with the Dragon King.


    ¡°I got it.¡±


    Seeing that the Dragon King seemed to have an intention to leave, Luo Ningcha no longer cared about the two outsiders. She stood up, walked a couple of steps forward, and called out, ¡°Dragon King¡± in a voice both intive and eager.


    Old Man Mu curled his lips and nodded, thinking, ¡®This woman is so good at this.¡¯ But Tie Linglong looked very angry, regretting that she hadn¡¯t poked her harder.


    With tearful eyes, Luo Ningcha seemed limp, which made her look even more seductive. If the Dragon King stretched out even just a finger, she would fall to the ground right away. But the Dragon King seemed even colder than a statue, so she had no choice but to keep ying feeble. ¡°I was wrong. I shouldn¡¯t have mentioned Prince Xiao. I know how bad things could have turned out. I really do. Please stop ming me. I¡¯m just a stupid woman with nothing to rely on. You¡¯re the whole world to me. If the world breaks apart, then I¡¯ll be smashed into pieces, too.¡±


    Tie Linglong was so angry that she felt like her lungs were about to burst. At this moment, her eyes were fixed not on Luo Ningcha but rather on the Dragon King. Once the Dragon King showed a scrap of weakness or sympathy, she would¡­ Actually, she herself didn¡¯t know what she should do. If Luo Ningcha kept acting in this way, then even she would be sympathetic towards her.


    Whatforted Tie Linglong was that although the Dragon King¡¯s voice sounded a little gentler, his look was still cold, and he didn¡¯t seem to sympathize with Luo Ningcha at all.


    ¡°You know what kind of person I am. Just talk straight.¡±


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s remarks were straight, but her tone was anything but so. ¡°The Meng family has so much money. Please spare a small part of it to buy some armor for the troops of the Iron Mountain army.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was surprised that Luo Ningcha actually cared about the Iron Mountain army so much. After thinking for a while, he said, ¡°Leave the Meng family out of this. The Iron Mountain army will get their armor and weapons.¡±


    Luo Ningcha had always believed that her pitiful eyes were able to conquer any man, but she had suffered a setback in front of the Dragon King.


    The Dragon King left directly. Unsatisfied, Luo Ningcha actually started to miss him.


    On their way back to the camp of the Dragon Army, Tie Linglong couldn¡¯t help but say discontentedly, ¡°Why did you promise to give the armor to the Iron Mountain army, Dragon King? I don¡¯t think that that woman is going to be grateful to you.¡±


    Old Man Mu answered her before the Dragon King could. ¡°Ha-ha, why can¡¯t you understand, little girl? It doesn¡¯t matter whether that woman will be grateful or not. What matters is that those 2,000 Iron Mountain troops will know who gave them that armor.¡±


    Finally, Tie Linglong was in a better mood.


    Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t noticed the change in the little girl¡¯s mood. He was wondering how he had forgotten about Meng Mingshu. If he was to eliminate Wei Song, then the Meng family of northern Jade City might be another clue.

 Chapter 881 - The Meng Family

    Chapter 881: The Meng Family


    Trantor: Henyee Trantions Editor: Henyee Trantions


    Meng Mingshu was in a tough spot. He had overestimated his will and courage while simultaneously underestimating the ruthlessness and greed of Jade City.


    Everybody knew that the Meng family¡¯s huge amounts of wealth no longer existed and that it was like a dying giant beast. After briefly testing the waters and confirming that there was indeed no secret treasure left, flocks of hunters poured in thick and fast, their eyes on the small amount of meat left on this beast.


    Meng Mingshu had be the patriarch as he had wished, but his family members had immediately abandoned him. In front of dozens of family members, his old grandmother had cried as she said that she was too old to suffer any more misfortune, and that thus she would volunteer to live alone. But eventually, with the approving voices of those family members, Second Young Master Meng had ultimately been the one to ¡°voluntarily¡± move out of the family mansion.


    The Meng family of northern Jade City, which had once been renowned throughout the entire Western Regions, now split into several smaller families. The members of the family then divided up the remaining properties, which were not many. Meng Mingshu only received the Bodhi Garden and two small courtyards. But one of his rtives also became his business rival because every business and bank of the Meng family was deeply in debt.


    His servants betrayed him right after that. Those with any sense of morals expressed sympathy to their new master, but most of the servants directly chose to flee. The businesswork of the Meng family broke down at an unexpectedly fast speed. Creditors starteding out of various ces, all wanting their money back. None of them ever mentioned how many goods they had taken from the warehouses of the Meng family.


    Throughout the whole process, the attitudes of the residents of Jade City also changed ordingly. All those people who once used to race to curry favor with the Meng family now stood in front of the new patriarch of the Meng family with an arrogant look on their faces, as if they had fulfilled their dreams of ¡°surpassing¡± the Meng family.


    This morning, Meng Mingshu left his home for the first time in over ten days. He didn¡¯t even dare to use the front gate, since he was afraid of encountering flocks of creditors. Under the escort of two loyal servants, he left his home through a door at the corner of the courtyard, with his face covered by a hood the whole way. Every time he heard someone said the word ¡°Meng,¡± his body would involuntarily shiver.


    After winding his way through the streets and alleyways of northern Jade City and southern Jade City for about two hours, Meng Mingshu finally received a cue from a strange man: nobody was following him. He could depart.


    Upon seeing the army camp of the Shule Kingdom, Meng Mingshu felt slightly relieved as he thought, I only have to endure a longer wait. Sooner orter, I¡¯ll make aeback and dump all of those ungrateful rtives. I¡¯ll be richer than I used to, and I¡¯ll trample all of Jade City underfoot and humiliate all those residents both inside and outside the city.


    The Dragon King hadn¡¯t arrived yet. Meng Mingshu settled down in amon tent. His two attendants were taken elsewhere, which made him very uneasy.


    The morale of the Shule Kingdom¡¯s army seemed very high. The words ¡°Dragon King¡± came out of those soldiers¡¯ mouths very often. The longer Meng Mingshu peeped through the tent ps, the more strongly he felt the Dragon King¡¯s influence in this army.


    Meng Mingshu had only ever seen the Dragon King sneak into Jade City alone, and back then, he had only a couple of killers apanying him at the most. Meng Mingshu had heard some new rumors, but this was his first time seeing the true strength of the Dragon King with his own eyes.


    He felt more uneasy.


    It was not until the afternoon that the Dragon King finally arrived. When he saw that cold face that he was familiar with, Meng Mingshu forgot his identity and status as well as the age gap. He immediately knelt down with a thud, saying with a tearful face, ¡°Please help me, Dragon King.¡±


    It had been only a couple of months since the Dragon Kingst saw Meng Mingshu, but Meng Mingshu seemed to have be over ten years older. Gu Shenwei stepped aside. Old Man Mu walked up to Meng Mingshu and stroked Second Young Master Meng¡¯s head in a friendly manner. ¡°I should pick you up, but I¡¯m not tall enough, so this is all I can do. Are you okay with it?¡±


    The solemn army camp matched the cold Dragon King perfectly. But this entric old man was the only one who gave Meng Mingshu an inexplicable feeling. Having forgotten all those expressions and words that he had prepared very well in advance, Meng Mingshu replied out of confusion. ¡°Ah?¡±


    Holding onto Meng Mingshu¡¯s elbows, Old Man Mu abruptly raised Meng Mingshu up. Second Young Master Meng was unprepared and his knees buckled. He shook briefly before regaining his footing. After gratefully smiling at Old Man Mu, he became much moreposed. ¡°Dragon King, I¡¯ve finally met you.¡±


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t have met each other,¡± Gu Shenwei responded tly. ¡°This is dangerous for both you and me. You live in northern Jade City, which is still under the control of Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes. I understand.¡± Meng Mingshu nced over his shoulder for no reason, as if someone were staring at him from there. ¡°I¡¯ve been dreaming about the Unique King chasing me and trying to kill me.¡±


    ¡°Did the Unique King threaten you?¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t. He even sent someone tofort me, but¡­ but this makes me feel even more afraid. I fear that the Unique King was trying to conceal his true intentions by doing this, and that he will soon send assassins to assassinate me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei frowned. ¡°That¡¯s why you came here? We¡¯ve talked about this before. Before ascertaining where the Meng family¡¯s wealth is, the Unique King won¡¯t kill you.¡±


    ¡°I know, but he¡¯s the Unique King. Once he gets angry, there¡¯s nothing he won¡¯t do. Dragon King, let me stay in your army camp. Please. I won¡¯t return to northern Jade City ever again. I¡¯ll be a follower of the Dragon Army in public. You have the support of the Central ins as well as the Nond, and you also have numerous troops. Thus, you don¡¯t have to be afraid of the Unique King any more, and neither will I.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had already gotten the Meng family¡¯s money, which meant that Meng Mingshu¡¯s public support was totally meaningless to him, so he shook his head. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    Meng Mingshu¡¯s face was full of disappointment. Gu Shenwei could barely recall what that elegant, charming Second Young Master Meng used to look like.


    ¡°Because I haven¡¯t gotten the Central ins¡¯ full support yet, and I don¡¯t want the situation in Jade City to change too much. You¡¯re the patriarch of the Meng family, and your every move will attract many people¡¯s attention. Just wait a little while longer. Soon, I¡¯ll need you to make your presence in public.¡±


    ¡°I really even know whether I¡¯ll still be alive by then, Dragon King. I¡¯m the patriarch in name only, and nobody will even notice if I die. Let me stay in the army camp. I won¡¯t let anyone see me. I¡¯ll just stealthily hide here.¡±


    Meng Mingshu was trying to devalue himself, unaware of how dangerous it was to do so. Gu Shenwei was even somewhat sympathetic towards his plight, but he still shook his head. ¡°Trust me. The Unique King is still making preparations for a counterattack, and he will never kill you under these circumstances. His ambition is synonymous with your safety. I¡¯ll get you out of there before he gets desperate.¡±


    Meng Mingshu took a deep breath. ¡°All right. I trust you with my life, Dragon King. Please don¡¯t forget me.¡±


    ¡°Um. I have another two tasks for you.¡±


    Meng Mingshu¡¯s heart lurched, and his face also changed. ¡°Tasks¡­ ¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re very simple. You don¡¯t have to take any risks. Five or six years ago, when Wei Song was the governor of Jade City, I assume that the Meng family gave him a lot of money when his term ended.¡±


    Meng Mingshu didn¡¯t expect that the Dragon King would ask about this issue. After pondering it over for a while, he said, ¡°I think so. Back then, my father was the patriarch, so it sounds right. That has always been the convention. But this year, we don¡¯t have to go through the trouble as the governor designated by the Nond is missing, and the Meng family has lost its wealth.¡±


    ¡°Go back and do some research. Get all of those records and documents ready. I¡¯ll send someone there to get them.¡±


    This task was indeed not risky at all. Those documents were worthless and probably rted to more debt, so all of them were Meng Mingshu¡¯s inheritance. ¡°This is easy. I can get that done in three days at the most, but¡­ why do you want these things, Dragon King?¡±


    Having be vignt, Meng Mingshu unexpectedly regained part of his previousposure and sense.


    ¡°Wei Song is now the Governor of the Western Regions, so I want to know howrge his appetite is, and I also want him to take the Dragon Army¡¯s side at a crucial moment in the future.¡±


    ¡°Everybody says that the uncle of the emperor of the Central ins and the Dragon King are like brothers with different surnames. I think that one Wei Song shouldn¡¯t be able to make too much of a difference, right?¡±


    ¡°Better safe than sorry.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to exin any further. He hoped that Meng Mingshu would just regard this as a simple issue.


    Meng Mingshu didn¡¯t ask any more questions. ording to his previous experience, thetter one of the two tasks should be the more important one. ¡°And the other task? I¡¯ll do anything you want me to, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei paused briefly. ¡°Madam Meng lives in northern Jade City.¡±


    ¡°Yes. She lives with my grandmother, in the old dwelling of the Meng family.¡±


    ¡°You should go back there more often and gather more information about the Unique King¡¯s movements.¡±


    Though he had a very clear understanding of this task, Meng Mingshu looked awkward. ¡°I¡¯ll try my best, but please lower your expectations, Dragon King. Madam Meng is not easy to deal with.¡±


    ¡°Just do what you can.¡± What Gu Shenwei really cared about was those documents which would be more than enough to help him bring down Wei Song in the Central ins.


    The conversation wasing to an end. Other than these two tasks, Meng Mingshu had gotten nothing, but he desperately needed a guarantee. ¡°Dragon King, please don¡¯t take this to mean anything, but the money of my family¡­ ¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s very safe. We haven¡¯t used a single coin of it. Xiao Fengchai manages the money and she¡¯ll exin it to you.¡±


    ¡°Fengchai is here?¡± Meng Mingshu¡¯s eyes lit up.


    After they went into another tent, Old Man Mu curled his lips up in contempt. ¡°You¡¯re so kind, Dragon King. You actually allowed him to meet his woman. If I were you, I would have forced this guy to swallow a couple of poisonous pills of the Waning Moon Hall and make him behave that way.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s thoughts had already shifted to another issue. ¡°Speaking of Waning Moon Hall, how¡¯s your observation of Shangguan Hong¡¯s behavior been?¡±


    Old Man Mu pped his forehead. ¡°I secretly observed him for a couple of days. I can offer my head as a guarantee ¨C Shangguan Hong used to practice the Seven Rotation Skills.¡±


    ¡°But he didn¡¯t be any shorter.¡±


    Smiling, Old Man Mu shook his head. ¡°The evil part about the Seven Rotation Skills is its unpredictability. It maypress some kung fu practitioners¡¯ bones, like what happened to me. Or it might also cause other changes. It¡¯s even possible that people will kill themselves while practicing it, which is why even those crazy women of Waning Moon Hall don¡¯t dare to practice it. Shangguan Hong epted this cultivation method either because he was desperate or because he was unaware of this. I don¡¯t think it was his bones that were changed. Maybe Shangguan Fei did him a great favor by cutting his thing off. s, if only I had caught him and done some careful research.¡±


    Old Man Mu was lost in thought.


    Xiao Fengchai only spent a very short amount of time in Meng Mingshu¡¯s tent. When she came out of it, the look on her face was very t.


    Old Man Mu took the hint and left. Xiao Fengchai sighed deeply. ¡°Second Brother actually became someone like this. This is so surprising. I didn¡¯t expected that I, Xiao Fengchai, would misjudge someone.¡± After saying this, she stared at the Dragon King for a while, as if she was wondering whether the Dragon King would be another man that she had misjudged. ¡°He won¡¯t do anything stupid at the moment, but you have to be cautious, Dragon King. He¡¯s unable to handle too much pressure.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. He just wanted the paperwork.


    Xiao Fengchai was still staring at the Dragon King. ¡°I told Second Brother that I keep all of the Meng family¡¯s money right under my nose, and that nobody can touch it. Would you please tell me the truth about where exactly my ¡®nose¡¯ is, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Somewhere safe.¡±


    Before Jade City was in his control, Gu Shenwei wouldn¡¯t tell anybody the whereabouts of this money.

 Chapter 882 - Hunting

    Chapter 882: Hunting


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Jade City belongs to the night.¡¯ Both the killers in the stone castle on the mountain and revelers in southern Jade City at the foot of the mountain shared this opinion. ¡®People who live in northern Jade City on the mountainside and who work during daytime and sleep at night are the real freaks.¡±


    Standing on the high boundary wall separating southern and northern Jade City, a man nced at northern Jade City and felt disgusted. Rich and weak people lived there like cowards, squandering money. When they had nothing left, they would end up being dumped in southern Jade City and eaten by beasts with sharp ws and teeth.


    Competition was always cruel, and people should risk their lives to participate in it as early as possible instead of trying to hide from it with illusions.


    He then nced at southern Jade City, quietly savoring the pleasure of superiority over all those people. For him, those numerous casinos, brothels and taverns were merely bait that served the sole purpose of luring over fat prey from all ces.


    Southern Jade City was a hunting ground and the most exciting thing was that he was not the only hunter.


    Nobody made a cuter couple than someone killing and someone being killed. At the thought of the fact that there might be someone staring at him from the dark, he became extremely excited.


    For prey which was unaware of the hunter¡¯s presence, there was no order in killing. Like tiredness, death usually happened to someone inexplicably.


    In the eyes of always vignt hunters, things were quite the opposite. They felt that the chaotic southern Jade City was in exceptional orderliness. Different hunters prefer different areas and different routes.


    Neers would often choose streets and alleys where there were a lot of taverns. Peopleing out of those taverns were limp and stupefied. Usually, they either hurriedly went to casinos to try their luck or brothels to seek pleasure. They were the easiest prey and more than enough to offer a neer a satisfying first kill.


    He had passed this phase a long time ago.


    A more experienced killer would choose Retention Alley or arge casino. In this city where the strong preyed on the weak, those with the best kung fu skills also got rich the easiest. They were eager to squander their money by sleeping with women who charged the highest price and gambling with the highest stakes. There were always groups of people with greedy eyes around them, hoping to get a piece of the pie.


    It was rather difficult to assassin someone of this kind. A small mistake would lead to failure and the assassin would end up bing a tread-stone of some famous sabersman. But if the assassin would also get a greater satisfaction if the assassination was sessful.


    He had passed this phase a month ago.


    Smart assassins would gain extremely sharp eyes during this process and lose interest in defenseless prey. Normally, they would transfer to hunting in the sabersmen viges on the periphery of the city.


    These viges were full of people from all kinds of backgrounds. There were failed sabersmen, mediocre sabersmen, ignorant sabersmen, and also newly arrived sabersmen. asionally, there would be a true sabersman among them. This kind of sabersman still maintained his self-control and vignce. He never too drank much, and women only caught his attention when his sexual needs got intense. No matter where he was, one of his hands was always ready to whip his saber out.


    The capability of a sabersman of this kind was in-between that of prey and that of a hunter. With a mere change in his mindset, he might switch identities from prey to that of a hunter. A sessful assassination of a sabersman of this kind was not only a sess but also a kind of glory.


    He, who was standing on the boundary wall, had just finished this phase. He disdained hispetitors. These cowards had entered sabersmen viges, but the only people they dared to assassinate were alcoholics who were leaning against walls and vomiting. They drastically degraded as hunters.


    Tonight, he changed his hunting ground again, now nning to assassinate other hunters like himself.


    Ordinary prey could no longer make him feel excited.


    This was a brand new phase. He could feel the nervousness and excitement that he had once felt on his first hunt by merely standing in this area.


    It was still too early, so he waited patiently for some other hunters to pass by after conducting their bloody assassinations. Meanwhile, he allowed himself to spare some attention to imagine the final phase of this assassination.


    There was a group of brutal gods living in this hunting ground. They made the rules and manipted people¡¯s destinies. Mortal human beings were likembs, these gods were like magnificent hawks living on the top of a cliff, and the hunters were like a flock of venomous snakes that were quietly climbing the cliff, whose final goal was to devour those godly hawks.


    Sabers and swords, courtyard walls, bodyguards; the stone castle and the surrounding armies were like cliffs, each higher than the previous one. However, they did have a height, and the snakes that had already finished half of their journey wouldn¡¯t ever stop. For their stomach, mortals¡¯ bones and flesh were already digested and could no longer satiate its ever-growing appetite.


    It wanted to devour gods. It wanted to be a god.


    He slowly crouched down on top of the wall. Before bing a god, the venomous snake still had to hide in the dark.


    A carriage rattled through those cluttered streets and alleys in southern Jade City, progressing straight towards northern Jade City. The tter of horse hoofs was drowned out by apoplectic noises, but he, who was lying prostrate on the boundary wall, could hear the tter distinctly.


    The gate of the only passage connecting southern and northern Jade City had been closed for a long time. Those who were able to enter northern Jade City under these circumstances must be people of high status ¨C people like ¡°gods.¡± They were also excellent bait that could lure other hunters.


    He was not the only venomous snake that was climbing upwards. Other hunters¡¯ levels were also gradually rising. This was the real reason why the frequency of assassinations had been slowly lowering. It had nothing to do at all with the armies stationed outside the city.


    For this moment, he had already been observing for several nights, and he was positive that a highly skilledpetitor would make their move on the border between southern Jade City and northern Jade City. He hadn¡¯t caught sight of thispetitor yet, not even a vague outline in the darkness, but he was absolutely sure of this person¡¯s existence.


    The carriage was driving on the border bridge and it didn¡¯t slow down at all. The gate guards clearly had been informed in advance that an honored guest woulde to the gate at midnight, so they opened the gate and stood respectfully on both sides of the road. They didn¡¯t dare to check the security pass of the passenger.


    Compared to war, how negligible an assassination was! There was neither deafening drumbeats nor valiant yelling; there was no dust filling the air or bloody carnage. And it would neverst from dawn until dark. An assassination happened in the twinkling of an eye. It gave the target no time to prepare, and neither did it gave onlookers any impression. The glory in it was usually acknowledged afterwards.


    ¡®But a great assassination can also bring about great impact.¡¯ On the border wall, this was hisst idle thought. And then, he removed all thought from his mind, leaving only a ruthless killing intent. Concentrating was the right thing to do for practitioners of any profession.


    The carriage kept driving forward. Twelve obedient guards thought that this night wasing to an end, and that they could spend the rest of it sleeping. When they discovered that they were wrong, it was already toote.


    The carriage went through the city gate, but something dropped onto the ground from the rear of the carriage. After the carriage drove just a little further, something else dropped down.


    ¡°Bodies!¡± a guard yelled in shock. And then he and hispanions whipped out their sabers and started chasing the carriage driver who was still unaware of what had happened.


    An assassination that had taken ce in southern Jade City had thus influenced northern Jade City.


    Its influence was still simmering and couldn¡¯t spread quickly. The yells of the twelve guards were unable to catch too many people¡¯s attention, neither could they disturb the noisy southern Jade City.


    He, who was on the border wall, was the only one who had seen the assassin, an admirable hunter.


    The assassin had been hiding under the bridge all along and it seemed that he or she had been hiding there for quite a long time. The moment the carriage was above the assassin, the assassin had leaped upwards, through the carriage, and then returned to his original position under the bridge. From the beginning to the end, the horse¡¯s hoofs had only touched the ground eight times.


    The assassin deliberately let the body drop to the ground at the city gate so as to attract those guards¡¯ attention. Then, he leaped upwards again from under the bridge and started climbing the border wall like a giant ck gecko.


    His position was not very good. It was over ten steps away from where the assassin had climbed up the wall, so he didn¡¯t get a chance tounch a sneak attack.


    But it didn¡¯t matter. He had never been an professional killer. He would make a move as long as there was a chance, and if there wasn¡¯t, then he would regard it as a challenge.


    His weapon was unsheathed. He thrust it forward like the tongue of a snake.


    The assassin sensed danger and parried the attack with his own weapon.


    Those guards had just stopped the carriage. None of them turned their heads around, so nobody saw the scene on the border wall. As such, nobody talked about this scene afterwards. Two venomous snakes stabbed at each other in the most simple, most primitive and quickest way. One stab. Two stab. The third stab finished the fight.


    Both figuresy still on the top of the border wall.


    The carriage driver was yelling in horror. Those guards finally collected themselves. A couple of them controlled the carriage driver, and a couple of others got onto their horses and went to report their superior. Several guards rushed to the city gate. They suspected that the assassination had happened on the bridge.


    It was these guards that witnessed an eerie scene with their own eyes: a third body fell from the top of the wall like a brick, as if this was a sign that the whole border wall was going to copse.


    He did it. He disappeared. He had killed a hunter, which meant he had taken a huge step forward on his journey of climbing the cliff to devour the gods. He was now in an advanced positionpared to the rest of the hunters.


    Excitement was zing in him like fire. He was not an profession killer, so he didn¡¯t care, and he even hoped that this fire could burn more fiercely. All those who had once abused, disdained, or bullied him would be burnt to ashes in this furious fire.


    Yes, he wanted revenge, brutal revenge. But he wouldn¡¯t kill his foe with only one blow. He wanted to stand on his foes and watch them tremble and suffer all the sorrow he had once suffered.


    <em>Who will know whether I¡¯m a man or a woman? Who will care whether I use a saber or a sword? The only thing that mortals need to know is that I am death, and that I¡¯m the snake that will devour the gods.</em>


    Very soon, he would shed his humble skin and reveal his noble true self.


    He got too excited, and he failed to notice the other venomous snakes.


    It was an unexpected attack. Back then, he had been walking through a tortuous, deserted alley on the periphery of southern Jade City. This was an area where hucksters lived. They were a group of brave men, collecting scattered gold and silver in and full of killings. They were also a group of silent people. After making enough money, they would always leave without judging this city.


    Hunters wouldn¡¯t be able to find any prey worth killing in this area, but he was ambushed here.


    He whipped out his weapon, but the movements of his hand were not as sharp as his vignce.


    He felt the sharpness of a fang, and he also realized that he was not the strongest hunter. It seemed as if the enemy¡¯s attack came out of thin air, as if nobody was holding the sword. It just abruptly appeared in his body.


    Tightly holding onto his weapon, he gave up counterattacking at thest moment, and he didn¡¯t even try to find out where the enemy was. Hunched over, he fled with all his strength. His heart was filled with a feeling that he was about to be killed. But it differed greatly from his prior expectation; this feeling didn¡¯t bring him any excitement. It just brought the mostmon fear and self-pity, and he desperately wanted to find a quiet ce to dress the wound.


    His ambition to devour the gods and take revenge instantly andpletely disappeared, and he didn¡¯t know how long it would take to regain those feelings.


    There was no stalker behind him. It seemed that the one who had ambushed him was used to making only one move.


    It waste at night. Those who were asleep and those who were partying didn¡¯t know the thoughts of the hunters. They also didn¡¯t know that the death of a heavyweight would exert such influence on their lives the next morning.

 Chapter 883 - Worshiping at a Buddhist Temple

    Chapter 883: Worshiping at a Buddhist Temple


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei had once been to the Four Noble Truths Temple many years ago, but he now only had a faint impression of it.


    Back then, he had merely been amon brown-belt assassin. He had stood in the dark hall and told his experiences to arge group of strangers, and then been asked to leave before he could even remember everybody¡¯s face.


    He wasparably more familiar with the thatched hut on the slope outside the temple. The Master, Tiger Monk, used to meditate there.


    And now, he had returned to this ce as the Dragon King. There were two 10,000-men armies stationed on the east and west sides of Jade, City respectively, and they were all at hismand. Naturally, he was received differently this time. Nearly a hundred monks in Buddhist robes were standing in orderly rows at the entrance of the temple. They sped their hands and saluted their honored guests even when they were still far away.


    But the Dragon King was not the only honored guest. There was also the Governor of the Western Regions, Wei Song, the Prince Regent of the Shule Kingdom, and the Unique King, Shangguan Fa, who hadn¡¯t appeared in public for many years.


    This was Gu Shenwei¡¯s first official meeting with Shangguan Fa.


    In the sunlight, Shangguan Fa didn¡¯t seem as tall as Gu Shenwei remembered, but the look on his face was just as sullen and rigid as always. His eye sockets seemed like a protection cover for his hollow eyes, concealing his sharp and piercing eyes as well as his daunting killing aura.


    Shangguan Fa dismounted. His movements were not very smooth and he didn¡¯t seem like a kung fu expert at all. Unlike him, the hundred guards behind him were wearing shiny armor with their heads up and chests thrown out, which made their master seem more ordinary byparison.


    The prince of the Shule Kingdom approached the temple from its west side together with the Dragon King while Shangguan Fa and Wei Song came from the east side. These four people represented four armies, and each of them were followed by a hundred guards. When they drew closer to the front of the temple, they simultaneously dismounted from their horses and walked on foot towards those Buddhist monks at the entrance of the temple.


    Wei Song was about ten steps away from Gu Shenwei when he briefly nodded at Gu Shenwei, signaling a deep intimacy that only they themselves could sense while still maintaining a cold look on his face that was even more solemn than that of Shangguan Fa.


    When they drew closer to each other, Gu Shenwei was finally able to see those two eyes more clearly. He only glimpsed them briefly, but he still felt great pressure. The influence of that fight in Heaven¡¯s Pass still hadn¡¯t worn off, and Gu Shenwei was not sure whether he still had enough confidence to pull out the Five Peaks Saber.


    The head monk of the Four Noble Truths Temple was a monk about forty years old and still looked quite young. Standing among a group of dignified old monks, he was rather obtrusive. Clearly, he was very used to grand asions. In front of these honored guests, he showed no timidity, and paid respects to each of them. The high-ranking official of the Central ins, the domineering Dragon King, and the murderous Unique King were all paid the same amount of respect.


    Walking into the temple, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t see Lianqing among these monks. He thought that maybe Lianqing¡¯s status was not high enough.


    The head monk walked in front of them, asionally giving an introduction for the building they were passing by. Every time they arrived at an important hall, he always led these honored guests inside and kowtowed to the Buddha statues in it.


    If amon pilgrim had a chance to kowtow before all the Buddha and Bodhisattva statues, they would shed excited tears. But Gu Shenwei paid no attention to those shiny statues, since he was secretly observing Shangguan Fa this entire time.


    The Unique King acted like a pious believer. There were several asions where he knelt down on a prayer mat andpleted a standard ceremonial observance. Then, he would pray silently, which made the other three people too embarrassed to stand up first.


    After they had kowtowed to all eleven Buddha statues, the head monk became clearly more respectful to the Unique King.


    But Gu Shenwei had the opposite feeling. He didn¡¯t know whether it was because of these statues or those spacious halls, but the pressure on him gradually disappeared. Although he wasn¡¯t carrying any weapons, he had regained the confidence to pull out his saber again.


    The Unique King was only a human after all. He just had started practicing the Daoless Divine Power a few decades earlier than him.


    Following a winding path, they arrived at a simple meditation abode in a side temple. ording to the narration of the head monk, several eminent monks had achieved enlightenment and passed away in this room. Gu Shenwei had never heard of any of their Buddhist names before.


    Six monks were sitting in this meditation abode in a semicircle. Old or young, they were all chanting, holding prayer beads with their eyes closed. And they didn¡¯t react to the arrival of these guests at all.


    The smile on the face of the head monk gradually disappeared. He sped his hands before his chest and paid his respects to these honored guests for thest time. Then he sat down onto a prayer mat and started chanting alongside those monks.


    There were another four prayer mats in front of the seven eminent monks. As the Governor of the Western Regions, Wei Song sat on the mat facing south with his back to the seven monks. Gu Shenwei sat on the one facing east, the Unique King the one west, and the prince of the Shule Kingdom the one north. Gu Shenwei decided that he wouldn¡¯t say a single word unless he had to.


    This was indeed not the right asion for talking. It seemed as if those silent monks were exerted some kind of mysterious restriction on this room, and it seemed more powerful than all the powers and armies in this mortal worldbined. In awe, Wei Song said in a deep voice, ¡°First, I¡¯d like to thank the Four Noble Truths Temple for providing us with this meditation abode. These eminent monks are very merciful, and they want to prevent war and massacre. Our presence in this room means that we share the opinion of the monks.¡±


    The seven monks were indifferent to the thankful words of the Governor of the Western Regions. Gu Shenwei and the Unique King also remained silent. Only the prince of the Shule Kingdom politely nodded.


    Wei Song paused for a while, as if he was also chanting. When he spoke again, his voice became extremely solemn, though his volume remained the same. ¡°Three days ago, the envoy of the Central ins, Lord Ma, was assassinated while on a incognito visit in Jade City. After that, all sides made some unwise moves.¡±


    The words ¡°unwise moves¡± were an understatement of what had happened during the past three days.


    Ma Lian and his personal guards had been killed on the border between southern Jade City and northern Jade City, and the assassin had also been killed afterwards. This event had caused a sensation to ripple through Jade City. As the supreme official dispatched to the Western Regions by the Central ins, Wei Song had immediately ordered the army to advance ten miles closer to Jade City, demanding that Jade City hand over the one behind the assassination.


    But Jade City didn¡¯t currently have a lord. Nominally, its governor was Mo Chu, who was a Nonder. However, he had been missing for a long time. Golden Roc Castle was the de facto ruler of the city, but Golden Roc Castle denied responsibility for the assassination and imed that the Dragon Army and the Waning Moon Hall were the ones responsible.


    All the sabersmen of the Heavenly Mountain Sect, who were under the control of the Golden Roc Castle, took action. It turned out that they had never cked off in their surveince of Jade City. On the first day alone, more than half of the intelligencework that Xu Xiaoyi had been working so hard to build was destroyed. And he himself had only narrowly escaped. And then it was said that some disciples of the Waning Moon Hall had been beheaded in public.


    Since the army of the Central ins had moved forward, there nothing between the Dragon Army in the south and the Golden Roc Army in the north, and they had thus advanced towards each other, as if they would have a final showdown.


    Not only had Gu Shenwei mobilized his army, but he had also sent his killers into southern Jade City to fight with the Heavenly Mountain Sect, and he had gotten assistance from Central insmen. Prince Xiao had put dozens of Central-in kung fu experts under the Dragon King¡¯smand. Nominally, they were the guards of King An, but they actually only answered to the Dragon King and Prince Xiao, and even Wei Song had no right to interfere.


    Even so, the two sides were not evenly matched. Golden Roc Castle and the Heavenly Mountain Sect had a very solid foundation in Jade City, and they held an advantage in time, terrain, troops number, as well as many other aspects. To break their advantage, the only option that Gu Shenwei had was to dispatch the army of the Shule Kingdom.


    Many innocent people had been involved in the conflicts between the two sides. There had been nearly two hundred casualties during the past three days, more than half of whom were unfortunate civilians without any kung fu skills to speak of.


    It was at that time that the Kun Society stepped forward. Shangguan Ru was against pointless killing, and she had been acting in unison with all of the organizations in different ways since the beginning of the year. They had written letters to the four armies, hoping that the armies would intervene and stop the assassinations. Although the armies had never replied, those organizations had never stopped petitioning. On Gu Shenwei¡¯s desk, there were at least fifteen letters, the contents of which were exactly the same, and the name ¡°The Four Noble Truths Temple Kun Society¡± was among the signatures of every one of those letters.


    Shangguan Ru had given the Kun Society to the Four Noble Truths Temple. All the members of the Kun Society, both the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance and the former apprentice killers of the Golden Roc Castle, had sworn oaths before the statue of the Guanyin Bodhisattva that they would never kill anyone unless their lives were threatened.


    The Kun Society¡¯s appeal for a ceasefire hadn¡¯t made any difference, and several of its members had been killed in those chaotic fights, which was the very reason why the monks of the Four Noble Truths Temple had intervened.


    An eminent Central-ins monk, who hade here to learn some scriptures, had paid Wei Song a visit and his words worked like a charm. Wei Song had withdrawn the army to its original position and the two armies, which had been eyeing each other with hostility, were isted again. Wei Song canceled the note concerning the arrest of the mastermind and invited the leaders of the other three armies to a consultation.


    Last night, the chaotic battle hade to an end. Both sides made achievements but also suffered losses: the Heavenly Mountain Sect had naturally taken control of Jade City from Golden Roc Castle and be a indisputably powerful force, but not every part of the city was under its control ¨C at a high cost, the killers sent by Gu Shenwei had managed to upy arge area in southern Jade City and a small area in northern Jade City, which became their foothold in public.


    But the biggest beneficiary was the Central ins. Without losing a single soldier, Wei Song had managed to subtly tell everybody that the Central ins was the true owner of Jade City.


    But in front of the three leaders, Wei Song still appeared indignant. After the usual pleasantries, he began to speak in a severe tone. ¡°The envoys represent the dignity of our emperor, which must not be profaned. But the Lord Envoy was actually assassinated. This issue must be addressed as soon as possible. Otherwise, death wille to not only me but also the whole of Jade City as well as all everybody present in this room.¡±


    The prince of the Shule Kingdom didn¡¯t dare to speak. Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Fa were having a contest of patience. Wei Song continued, ¡°So, three leaders, I want you to be honest with me on this ¨C do you know the identity of the assassin or not?¡±


    The prince of the Shule Kingdom waited for a while and then had no choice but to be the first one to talk. ¡°In the name of all the gods in heaven as well as the ancestor of the royal family of Shule, I swear that I, myself, as well as those with status inferior than mine, from themonest soldiers to the cheapest servants, have nothing to do with this assassination.¡±


    Shangguan Fa was the second to speak. He spoke at a moderate speed, and there was a distinct arrogance in his tone, which made his attitude seem very different from the one he had shown when he was in front of those Buddha statues. ¡°I didn¡¯t sent anyone to assassinate the envoy of the Central ins. In fact, Golden Roc Castle didn¡¯t get any benefits from killing him.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon Army didn¡¯t benefit from the assassination of the envoy either.¡±


    Both of them refused to swear. The prince of the Shule Kingdom was somewhat regretful, feeling that he had overreacted.


    Wei Song seemed to be very satisfied, and nodded. ¡°l¡¯m relieved to hear the promises of the three leaders, but things are still not over. I¡¯ve sent a dispatch to the Imperial Court and reported the assassination of the envoy. This is my duty. Barring any idents, the Imperial Court will decide to dere war. To prevent this disaster from happening, we have to find the truth as soon as possible. Capture the mastermind, escort him or her to the Central ins, and then maybe the emperor¡¯s anger will subside.¡±


    This was a naked threat, but it was a potent one. Nobody wanted the army of the Central ins to show up, as that would ruin the bnce between them.


    Wei Song sighed briefly. ¡°I think that we have only three days. Anyter, and the imperial edict will be issued and we won¡¯t be able to change it even if we manage to arrest the assassin.¡±


    Neither the Dragon Army nor the Golden Roc Castle had received any benefits from the assassination of Ma Lian. Gu Shenwei was eager to ask Wei Song whether he had been expecting the Central ins to wage a war against Jade City all along.

 Chapter 884 - Divulgence

    Chapter 884: Divulgence


    Trantor: Henyee Trantions Editor: Henyee Trantions


    Two corpses were ced in front of them. They were so deathly pale that they looked like two dummies in the rough shape of a human. The prince of the Shule Kingdom glimpsed at them and his face became just as deathly pale. Gagging, he quickly turned around, walked to the gateway, and refused to face the bodies again.


    Shangguan Fa stretched out his hand and pressed down on the wound in the first body¡¯s chest. ¡°A saber wound.¡±


    The murder weapon was right beside the body. It was a typical narrow saber of Golden Roc Castle. The victim was Ma Lian¡¯s bodyguard, and he had died from a stab to the heart. The cut on the skin was just the size of a fingertip, which suggested that the stab wasn¡¯t deep and that the saber had pierced into and then been pulled out of the body very quickly, indicating that the assassin was a kung fu expert.


    The second body was tentativelybeled as the assassin¡¯s.


    It was a very young man. His slightly open mouth gave him a slightly puerile look. There were two wounds on him: one in the temple and the other in the side of the abdomen.


    ¡°Sword wounds,¡± said Gu Shenwei. ¡°The first sword blow caught the side of his abdomen, and the second one his vitals.¡±


    These two sword wounds didn¡¯t seem as clean as the saber wound in the first body, but given that the assassin¡¯s kung fu was very good and that he had been vignt, the one who had killed him should have had better kung fu skills.


    The two who had just examined the bodies raised their heads and exchanged a nce, both feeling that this was incredible: they were standing in the same tent and talking politely instead of fighting.


    It would take some courage for anybody to look the Unique King in the eye. Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t afraid of doing so. The longer he was around Shangguan Fa, the less nervous he became. From time to time, the impulse to whip out his saber even surged within him, but this impulse didn¡¯t concern vengeance. It was only because he wanted to prove his strength.


    Killing the Unique King was one of Gu Shenwei¡¯s most potent sources of hatred, but at this moment, it became insignificant.


    ¡°You know very well who did this,¡± Shangguan Fa said, totally indifferent to the aggressive look in the young man¡¯s eyes.


    Shaking his head, Gu Shenwei refused to be the first one to name the killer. ¡°I don¡¯t know who this assassin is and neither do I know who killed him.¡±


    Shangguan Fa¡¯s eyes were as deep as the sea, as if no storm was able to prate its surface. However, the corner of his lips curved into the ghost of a sneer. ¡°I believe that this assassin was a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall. The one who killed him should be Lotus.¡±


    Deep eyes and a cold sneer: these twopletely different expressions appeared on the same face, as if a poised old lion king was facing the challenge from a young male lion but only responded with anguid yawn.


    Gu Shenwei was provoked. ¡°There are no male disciples within Waning Moon Hall, and Lotus is not the only one who uses a sword.¡±


    ¡°Maybe. But then who do you n to hand over to the Central ins? Some sabersman in a shabby alley of southern Jade City?¡±


    Gu Shenwei discovered that he had been tricked. This was what Zhong Heng called the difference between ¡°the truth¡± and ¡°a solution.¡± Hand over a murderer that seemed reasonable to the Central ins was more important than finding the true mastermind. When he had denied that the Waning Moon Hall and Lotus were responsible, he had actually shackled himself to ¡°the truth.¡±


    ¡°It was not a random assassination. It was well-nned,¡± he said, subduing the fleeting impulse to whip out his saber. ¡°The murderer is the one who benefited the most from it.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t the Waning Moon Hall benefit from it?¡± Shangguan Fa moved his eyes aside, as if he were more interested in the two corpses. ¡°I heard that those lunatics¡¯ purpose is to throw the whole world into chaos so that they can profit from the chaotic situation. Isn¡¯t luring the Central ins army into the Western Regions in ord with this purpose?¡±


    ¡°The Waning Moon Hall is not the only side that wants the Central in army toe here. You want that as well.¡± Gu Shenwei paused for a while, observing the reaction of Shangguan Fa. ¡°Two months ago, you handed over Thousand Horsemen Pass to the Central ins. Didn¡¯t you do that because you wanted a war?¡±


    Unexpectedly, Shangguan Fa nodded. ¡°That¡¯s true. But back then you had more than 200,000 Nond cavalrymen at yourmand. Golden Roc Castle can only benefit from a war between two evenly matched sides. But now, the army of the Central ins is overwhelmingly stronger than all the other sides here. Why would I lure them here given that?¡±


    ¡°I can still summon the Nond cavalry.¡±


    Shangguan Fa stared at Gu Shenwei again, the look on his face more callous than t. ¡°No, you can¡¯t. You have begun to care about the lives of the troops, and you¡¯re afraid of heavy casualties. Besides, you know that a final showdown is pointless to you. No matter which side wins, the Nonders will retreat to the grasnds, and you will have to face the Central ins¡¯ attack alone. So, once the army of the Central ins starts advancing towards the Western Regions, you will immediately attack Golden Roc Castle, and after that, you will be on the run just like you used to be.¡±


    Neither Golden Roc Castle nor the Dragon Army could benefit from the intervention of the Central ins. Gu Shenwei had no choice but to admit this, but he loathed Shangguan Fa¡¯s condescending tone. ¡°I want to see the body of the envoy of the Central ins,¡± he said, abruptly changing the topic.


    Wei Song was waiting for them in another tent. Upon hearing the Dragon King¡¯s request, he shook his head seriously. ¡°I don¡¯t know about the customs of the Western Regions, but the Central ins respects the body of a noble very much. It was already unfortunate enough that Lord Ma had to be assassinated in the city, and his body is already in the coffin. I can¡¯t open the coffin and let him suffer an autopsy.¡±


    The Unique King didn¡¯t seem to care much about it. He took his leave and returned to Jade City with his guards.


    When there were only two people left in the tent, Wei Song¡¯s attitude became amiable. ¡°In front of the Unique King, I have to behave in a businesslike manner. If you really want to check the body, I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. He had changed his mind. He decided not to ask Wei Song for any help for the moment. ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to find anything. In three days¡¯ time, I¡¯ll give you the murderer, Lord Wei.¡±


    Wei Song slightly lowered his voice. ¡°This is a good chance to take revenge. If there is any evidence that Golden Roc Castle was involved in the assassination of Lord Ma, I can give the order to capture Shangguan Fa without the Imperial Court¡¯s official consent.¡±


    The intent look on Wei Song¡¯s face was so sincere that Gu Shenwei would have believed Wei Song if his will were a sliver weaker. Gu Shenwei¡¯s acting skills were also not bad. He nodded approvingly. ¡°This is indeed a good opportunity. I just sounded him out. Shangguan Fa really might be involved in the assassination of the envoy.¡±


    ¡°As long as you provide a motive¡­ ¡± Wei Song intimately patted Gu Shenwei¡¯s shoulder and repeated, ¡°As long as you provide a motive¡­¡±


    Before leaving, Gu Shenwei paid Dugu Xian a visit. The one-armed general still had those 10,000 Central ins troops under control, but he only had the right to act in self-defense, and he hadn¡¯t been empowered to order them to attack proactively. When it came torge-scale movements, he still had to follow the orders of the Governor of the Western Regions.


    Dugu Xian didn¡¯t know much about criminal investigations, so he only put forward a possibility concerning the future situation. ¡°If, by any chance the Central ins refuse to let this go, we can¡¯t let the war happen in Jade City. You¡¯ll have to order the Nond cavalry to intercept the army of the Central ins, and they should try to lure the enemy into the t grasnds. That way, we¡¯ll stand a much better chance of winning.¡±


    This was the worst-case scenario. Gu Shenwei asked Dugu Xian to formte an operational n, and then he left this issue aside, since he still wanted to find the murderer.


    In the afternoon, Gu Shenwei entered southern Jade City. Hu Shining had secured a territory in the southeastern corner of the city, and he had built up over tenyers of safeguards, which was more than enough to defend against a siege ofrge numbers of sabersmen.


    All sides had agreed to a ceasefire in the Four Noble Truths Temple. Zhong Heng had been working on this issue. When Gu Shenwei arrived, southern Jade City was in peace and was somewhat unduly quiet. Even the number of peopleing here for pleasure had decreased.


    Gu Shenwei was no longer the apprentice killer he used to be, and under normal circumstances, he wouldn¡¯t conduct an investigation himself. So as usual, Zhong Heng became his front man, and Xu Xiaoyi assisted him.


    It only took Xu Xiaoyi half a day to restore his intelligencework to its former condition. ¡°It¡¯s a tough time for business, but that makes it easier to buy intelligence. The Dragon King doesn¡¯t care much about money, right?¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t. With the Meng family¡¯s wealth as a guarantee, his promise was worth gold. Besides, both Xiao Fengchai and L¨¹ Qiying had their own way of making money, so the Dragon King didn¡¯t suffer any heavy financial losses.


    ¡°You found her?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I did.¡± Xu Xiaoyi nced at Zhong Heng and then continued. ¡°This Lord Ma wasn¡¯t on a ¡°incognito visit.¡± Clearly he was on a ¡°incognito whoring.¡± Five nights ago, he stealthily moved from the Four Noble Truths Temple into northern Jade City, and for the next two consecutive nights, he went to Retention Alley to squander money. If it weren¡¯t for him being stabbed, he would have been there during the past few nights as well. He was obsessed with that bitch.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi had found that prostitute and the one who had asked her the questions was Zhong Heng. ¡°I was a littlete. Someone from Golden Roc Castle had already gotten to her, so she was very cautious with her words, but she swore that the guest was just amon person and that he had paid her a lot of money. She said that there was nothing suspicious about the guest, and that she hadn¡¯t told anybody anything.¡±


    ¡°Was she telling the truth?¡±


    ¡°I think so. She didn¡¯t seem to know that this previous guest of hers was the envoy of the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s weird.¡±


    ¡°Um. Ma Lian only spent two nights in Retention Alley, so there shouldn¡¯t be many people who knew about him going there. If the prostitute is not the one who divulged the secret, then it must be someone around Ma Lian who did it¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Or someone from Golden Roc Castle,¡± Xu Xiaoyi didn¡¯t want to be ignored, so he interjected with this statement immediately. ¡°All of the guards at the checkpoints on the border between southern Jade City and northern Jade City are Golden Roc killers. They opened the gate for the envoy of the Central ins at a regr time every night, which means that someone in Golden Roc Castle must know about Ma Lian¡¯s identity.¡±


    Ma Lian had still been bribed secretly by Golden Roc Castle. Zhong Heng felt a little embarrassed. Fortunately, the Dragon King didn¡¯t mention this. Gu Shenwei said, ¡°The more suspicious Golden Roc Castle looks, the more unlikely it is truly responsible for this, because this is not how they operate.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, Dragon King,¡± Xu Xiaoyi was still confused, but Zhong Heng had already understood what the Dragon King was trying to say. ¡°It¡¯s very easy to find evidence concerning Golden Roc Castle, but I suspect that the Unique King has some crucial pieces of evidence that can prove his innocence at thest moment.¡±


    Gu Shenwei suspected that this was the reason why Wei Song wanted to ¡°frame¡± the Golden Roc Castle. He wanted the Dragon King to believe that he had seeded, and then he would overturn the Dragon King¡¯s usation with a crucial piece of evidence.


    ¡°Then we¡¯ve narrowed the suspects down to those around Ma Lian.¡± Gu Shenwei made an deduction. ¡°Even this person is not the mastermind, he should be the one who divulged the secret.¡±


    ¡°This person¡¯s more likely than thetter,¡± Zhong Heng had thoroughly investigated them in the shortest amount of time. ¡°I sent someone to inquire about it. There were about five or six people who knew about the envoy¡¯s whereabouts, and all of them aremon attendants. Even if they held grudges against Ma Lian, they¡¯re unable to hire professional killers. Thus, it is more likely that one of them was bribed and disclosed the information. If I can get the consent of the Central ins to make some official inquiries about this, then I might be able to identify this person.¡±


    ¡°Go to Wei Song. He¡¯ll consent.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhong Heng answered. At the thought of meeting with his immediate superior as the Dragon King¡¯s Prime Minister, he hadplex feelings.


    After talking with them for a little longer, Zhong Heng took his leave. Gu Shenwei requested Xu Xiaoyi to make more inquiries about the movements of the Golden Roc Castle, and then he rested alone for about an hour. When it waspletely dark outside, he had someone call Shangguan Hong in.


    Gu Shenwei was badly short-handed in southern Jade City. All those with decent kung fu skills had been assigned here, and Shangguan Hong was no exception. However, he was seldom dispatched to perform tasks.


    ¡°You were hurt?¡± Gu Shenwei asked when he saw him.


    Shangguan Hong subconsciously touched his waist. ¡°I got anxious while practicing kung fu and twisted my waist.¡±


    This was not a perfect lie, but Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t ask any further questions. ¡°Tonight, you¡¯ll be performing a task with me.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Shangguan Hong answered respectfully, surprised by the Dragon King¡¯s trust in him.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go find Lotus,¡± said Gu Shenwei. He never hesitated when he needed someone¡¯s service.

 Chapter 885 - A Burial

    <strong>Chapter 885: A Burial</strong>


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    In winter, the Bodhi Garden seemed to be in a state of dpidation. Numerous servants, as well as the descendants of the Meng family, used to live here, and it used to flourish. But now, only a master and twenty plus servants lived here, and they couldn¡¯t even clear the courtyard of snow, leaving this ce powerless to defend against the invasion of winter.


    Meng Mingshu felt deste. There were three charcoal braziers in the room, but he could still feel the piercing cold enter his body.


    When Gu Shenwei appeared, he was emptily staring at those fiery red charcoal mounds, fantasizing about Xiao Fengchai¡¯s features and body. It was only after quite a while that he discovered that there was another person in the room. He abruptly raised his head, and his body started trembling violently. ¡°Dra¨CDragon King¡­ You came here yourself?¡±


    ¡°Um. It¡¯s me. Did you find it?¡±


    Meng Mingshu was transfixed in shock. He had found the paperwork rted to Wei Song, but he didn¡¯t expect that the Dragon King woulde here to get it himself. It was not until he hurriedly handed the package over to him that he suddenly realized that what was in the package might be very important. However, it was toote to get it back now, so he could only say, ¡°I went to the old mansion. Madam Meng¡­ seldom returns to the stone castle, and she hasn¡¯t met the Unique King for months. I tried to get some intelligence but I didn¡¯t get any. Please give me more time, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no hurry. Take your time. Just keep this issue in mind.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep this in mind. I¡¯ve lodged this firmly in my mind.¡±


    By themplight, Gu Shenwei briefly thumbed through those papers in the package and tossed the distinctly useless ones into the brazier, leaving only thirty plus pieces. He packed them up and put the package into his inside pocket. ¡°Well done,¡± he said.


    ¡°Dragon King, no offence, but I want to know how my money-¡±


    Before he could ask anything else, the Dragon King had disappeared. Meng Mingshu rubbed his eyes and found that the package beside him was gone, and he finally confirmed that what had just happened was not illusion.


    He felt even colder.


    As Xiao Fengchai had expected, Meng Mingshu was indeed on the verge of mentally breaking down and perhaps he had even started to a little bit. Gu Shenwei was positive that this Second Young Master had lied when he mentioned Madam Meng.


    But Gu Shenwei was indeed in no hurry because the Meng family¡¯s money was under his control.


    Shangguan Hong had been waiting outside the Bodhi Garden. He didn¡¯t flee, but his face never returned to normal. He still felt horrified about the Dragon King¡¯s unusual trust in him.


    ¡°Have you made up your mind?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    He wanted to meet Lotus tonight. At first, Shangguan Hong denied that he was in contact with Lotus, but soon, he was unable to keep hiding behind the lie and said that he needed some time to think about it. Then, Gu Shenwei had taken him to northern Jade City.


    They were the only two people here. Shangguan Hong looked over his shoulder several times and didn¡¯t find any hidden stalkers. When he had been outside the garden, he had checked the nearby areas carefully, and eventually, he had confirmed that there were no guards of the Dragon King around.


    Shangguan Hong nodded. ¡°Yes. I can take to you a ce, but I can¡¯t promise that the Master Commander is there.¡±


    This was the first time that Shangguan Hong had mentioned Lotus, and the address he used was ¡± Master Commander.¡±


    ¡°You joined the Waning Moon Hall?¡± asked Gu Shenwei casually.


    His lips mped tightly shut, Shangguan Hong turned around and walked into a deep alley. This time, he was the one walking in front and the Dragon King was following.


    A killers¡¯ routes were different from those ofmon people. Sometimes, they walked on the ground, but they climbed over walls and houses more often. Shangguan Hong didn¡¯t take any unusual routes. He just retraced his steps towards southern Jade City. But after walking over a hundred steps, he made an attempt to be creative.


    Shangguan Hong jumped from the top of a wall onto the ground, and when the Dragon King followed along, he drew a sword and soundlessly stabbed at him in the dark.


    His hands had always been empty and when he had been leaping upwards or downwards, he didn¡¯t seem like he was carrying a weapon on him at all. So, this move of his was indeed a surprise to his opponent.


    He intended to finish all the scores between him and the Dragon King. The Dragon King had once saved him, used him, and also shown extreme disdain for him. The trust the Dragon King had ced in himtely couldn¡¯t make up for his previously bullying of him.


    After every meeting with the Dragon King, Shangguan Hong would rey a scene of many years ago in his mind: followed by his only attendant, he had walked towards home after school. Then, he had been intercepted by Servant Huan and epted a deal without hesitation.


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s heart was full of regret. He believed that he had sown the seeds of his miserable destiny at that very moment. He had been the master, but he had forgotten his identity and how he should have behaved. He had actually worked for a cheap servant. And ever since then, he had been caught in an increasingly unfavorable situation, and gradually, he himself had be a mere servant while the Dragon King¡¯s status had climbed ever higher. It was as if they had swapped souls after that incident.


    If he could turn the clock back, he would spit hard in Servant Huan¡¯s face and utter only two words in response. ¡°Fuck off.¡±


    It was a pity that the mistakes he had made in the past were irreversible, and the only thing he could do was bury them at a heavier cost. This saber attack was how he was going to bury them.


    ¡®The Dragon King didn¡¯t know how good my kung fu is.¡¯ Shangguan Hong had been encouraging himself with this thought again and again as he had formted this n. The Dragon King¡¯s disdain for him was deep-rooted, and this was his biggest w, as a true killer would never underestimate anybody.


    Shangguan Hong let out this sword jab, which was made with his own life as well as all of his luck and courage as the stake.


    In Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes, Shangguan Hong had never been a smart person. Although he had been through strict training, he still couldn¡¯t be a good killer. Maybe this was disdain, but it was very real.


    Before Shangguan Hong jumped off the wall, Gu Shenwei had guessed that Shangguan Hong would blindside him. This opponent of his was too impatient. He should have chosen to make his move after they walked a bit further, instead ofunching an attack when they had barely walked a hundred steps.


    But this sword blow still startled Gu Shenwei. He was not surprised at the sword that had suddenly popped into Shangguan Hong¡¯s hand. What surprised him was the swordsmanship that Shangguan Hong was using. It was actually the Death Scripture that he couldn¡¯t be more familiar with.


    The killing aura instantly red up. It was almost as intense as that of Lotus.


    The Death Scripture used to be a secret between him and Lotus, and Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t expect that Lotus would impart it to other people.


    Shangguan Hong had made a mistake. His Death Scripture swordsmanship was only at the elementary level. After a couple of sessful assassinations, he had overestimated himself, and he had forgotten the fact that the Dragon King had been practicing this swordsmanship for the longest time.


    There were no defensive moves in the Death Scripture swordsmanship, only offensive ones. Thus, the best way to deal with this swordsmanship was to fight back head-on.


    The moment Gu Shenwei jumped off the wall, he pounced squarely at Shangguan Hong. After brushing against the sharp de, he threw a palm strike at the inexperienced assassin and threw him backwards.


    Standing in the street, Gu Shenwei felt a little lost. The most important connection between him and Lotus had just broken. He walked up to Shangguan Hong and looked at him coldly, his right hand tightly holding the hilt of the saber.


    Shangguan Hong was trembling, and his teeth were chattering, but there was an evil smile on his face, which was the madness caused by the miserable failure of a desperate attempt. ¡°Ha-ha, you won, Servant Huan. You¡¯ve always been the winner, and I¡¯ve always been the loser. I¡¯m such an idiot. I haven¡¯t even killed Shangguan Fei yet, but I attempted to use the Dragon King to practice. Ha-ha, I¡¯m a fucking idiot.¡±


    Gu Shenwei loosened his grip on the hilt of the saber, stretched out his left hand, picked Shangguan Hong up, and then snatched his sword with his right hand.


    It was a thin and short soft sword, less than two feet in length from the tip of the de to the end of the hilt. When he held it in his hand, the de drooped down. One had to possess decent internal energy to be able to use a sword like this.


    Shangguan Hong had indeed gone through a lot of time and effort. He had been practicing his kung fu day and night and he snatched at every chance to assassinate strange sabersmen in the city. He had never worked so hard in the stone castle before.


    ¡°Don¡¯t give up so soon.¡± Gu Shenwei returned the soft sword to its owner.


    Shangguan Hong took his weapon, transfixed with shock. Meanwhile, a stream of warm Qi came into his body from the Dragon King¡¯s palm, which soon expelled the coldness from him. ¡°You¡­ You¡­ Dragon King¡­ ¡±


    He had switched addresses from ¡°Servant Huan¡± to ¡± Dragon King.¡± Shangguan Hong had lost all his luck and courage. Perplexity and horror were all he had left. ¡°The Dragon King won¡¯t kill me?¡±


    ¡°Not now. I need you to take me to Lotus.¡±


    Suddenly it dawned on Shangguan Hong that the reason why the Dragon King hadn¡¯t killed him was not because the Dragon King was merciful but because he was still useful. ¡°You¡¯re no match for the Master Commander now, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Maybe I¡¯m not, so you should have nothing to worry about in that case. Just take me to her.¡±


    Servant Huan was still so haughty. Anger rose in Shangguan Hong again. He put the soft sword away, which was longer than half of his girth, by wrapping it around his waist, so that he could whip it out conveniently. ¡°I have to remind you, Dragon King. The Waning Moon Hall is different now. There are many kung fu experts in it.¡±


    ¡°So the Waning Moon Hall has really started to recruit male disciples?¡±


    Shangguan Hong stayed silent for a while before replying, ¡°No. We¡¯re disciples of the Essence Pavilion.¡±


    Gu Shenwei immediately recalled another one-armed man ¨CWild Horse. It turned out that Lotus had also established her own peripheral organization.


    ¡°Why did the Essence Pavilion want to kill the envoy of the Central ins?¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s tone changed so abruptly that Shangguan Hong was startled. He shook his head repeatedly. ¡°No¡­ It¡¯s not¡­ The Essence Pavilion didn¡¯t kill the envoy of the Central ins¡­ ¡±


    ¡°What about the wound in your waist?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ That¡¯s¡­ I cut myself.¡± Shangguan Hong lost the will to keep his secrets. ¡°The Master Commander imparted an amazing cultivation method to me¡­ ¡±


    ¡°The Seven Rotations Skill.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Together with the Daoless Divine Power, it improved my internal energy quickly, but¡­ it also caused my blood to increase dramatically. Thys, I have to let out blood frequently, and I also have to ingest the pills that the Master Commander gave me.¡±


    This was the Seven Rotations Skill¡¯s influence on Shangguan Hong. His bones didn¡¯t contract. Instead, the changes had been internal. Although they didn¡¯t seem that horrible, there would be lethal consequences.


    ¡®What a high price one is willing to pay to get revenge.¡¯ Gu Shenwei seemed to have seen himself in Shanguan Hong.


    ¡°Lead the way.¡±


    Shangguan Hong went first and didn¡¯t try to y any more tricks. He already knew that his swordsmanship was nowhere close to that of the Dragon King, which was the very reason that failed sword strike didn¡¯t bring too much harm to himself.


    As expected, Shangguan Hong took the Dragon King to City View Alley, which was the most entric street both inside and outside of Jade City. This street was full of weird residents, more than half of whom were eunuchs. Some of them were in the lowest profession, and some others were top-notch craftsmen.


    Gu Shenwei had spent some time here before. Back then, he had been involved in a confusing situation concerning Immortal Peng and the Essence of Perceiving Passion, and he had only narrowly escaped.


    The busiest time of the night had passed by now. The City View Alley was upied by quietness just as all the other areas were. Shangguan Hong pointed at a rough door. ¡°I was supposed toe here to get my pills three dayster. The one who¡¯ll send the pills here might be the Master Commander, but it also might not be her. As for now, I don¡¯t know who¡¯s in there.¡±


    ¡°Go inside,¡± Gu Shenwei ordered.


    After taking a deep breath, Shangguan Hong took two steps forward and gave the door a gentle push. The door squeaked and then opened soundlessly, as if it had verified the visitor¡¯s identity.


    Like most of the houses in City View Alley, there was a room behind the door, and there wasn¡¯t a courtyard. It was totally dark inside, like a giant toothless mouth waiting for prey to enter.


    Gu Shenwei whipped out his saber and walked inside without hesitation.


    Standing at the doorway, Shangguan Hong was amazed by the Dragon King¡¯s boldness and recklessness.

 Chapter 886 - Severing a Finger

    Chapter 886: Severing a Finger


    Trantor: Henyee Trantions Editor: Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Hong backed off one step after another, but no matter how careful he was, the snow beneath his feet still squeaked. His eyes remained fixed on the Dragon King¡¯s back until it became a gray patch in the air and finally merged into the darkness in the room.


    Shangguan Hong eventually began to suspect that the Dragon King had been gone for long, and that gray patch was merely a residual image.


    He was wrong. That gray patch sudden flickered. It vanished and reappeared, and this process repeated itself three time. Each time it did so, it seemed to be apanied by a vibrating sound of weapons ripping through the air.


    He knew that the Dragon King¡¯s sabersmanship was superb, but he couldn¡¯t conceptualize how it was superb. This was the first time that he had not only faintly seen the Dragon King¡¯s saber attacks but also slightlyprehended its secret. But unexpectedly, he only ended up more confused.


    There had been assassins hiding in the room and they had almost merged with the environment. Before the fight started, Shangguan Hong hadn¡¯t sensed the existence of those assassins at all. To his surprise, it was the Dragon King who had made the first move.


    There was moonlight outside the room. The Dragon King had walked from outside into the dark room. Logically, it should have taken some time for his eyes to adjust to the dark, but he was the one who had made the first move, and all of his attacks were very urate, as if the room was brightly lit with sunlight.


    Three assassin were downed, but they were still alive. Shangguan Hong could hear their breathing.


    Gu Shenwei walked out of the darkness, his right hand still holding the unsheathed Five Peaks Saber. His figure gradually emerged and suddenly became intact, as if the moonlight had just cast a devil-summoning spell.


    Reverence, awe, and confusion surging in him, Shangguan Hong seemed as if he had just been hit by another palm strike with frosty Qi. His body started shivering relentlessly, his legs slowly buckling.


    Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t performed the pure Death Scripture swordsmanship. Although he had switched his weapon from swords to sabers and hisprehension of the scriptures had be more profound, his moves were still a little rusty. When he had been trying to locate the enemies¡¯ ¡°living energy,¡± he had nearly miscalcted.


    ¡®I have to keep practicing the Death Scripture uninterruptedly,¡± he reminded himself secretly.


    Eventually, Shangguan Hong managed to not kneel down. A voice stopped him ¨C


    ¡°No confidence, no swordsmanship.¡±


    Gu Shenwei raised his eyes and saw a woman standing on the rooftop opposite. He could only discern a vague figure. Judging by the voice, that woman was neither Lotus nor Han Fen.


    ¡°Dragon King, pleasee with me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned his head around. The three assassins walked out of the room, clutching their wounds. All of them were teenagers, and one was even younger than Tie Linglong. There was a miserable and disappointed look on her childish face.


    The reason why Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t killed them was because he didn¡¯t want to offend Lotus before meeting her. And the most important thing was that he was now able to control his saber, so he no longer had to kill his opponent with one blow like before.


    The youngest teenager murderously asked, ¡°How did you find us?¡±


    Gu Shenwei ignored her. He put the Five Peaks Saber away, turned around, and leaped onto the rooftop to follow the woman who had started walking.


    Shangguan Hong and the three young assassins hesitated briefly before following along with suppressed pain. The had just witnessed the true Death Scripture swordsmanship, and they couldn¡¯t wait to see it again.


    Although none of the three kids had managed to make aplete move, Gu Shenwei had still distinctly sensed that what they had practiced was also the Death Scripture swordsmanship.


    Lotus seemed to be handing out this unique swordsmanship as if it were just some kind of cheap gift.


    So this was why there were so many assassinations in Jade City. Lotus had been repeating the story of her and Servant Huan, helping beginners improve their swordsmanship by killing.


    The Essence Pavilion had been burnt down. An ugly, shapeless and twisted house had been built on its site. The woman leading the way walked past it and entered the Gui Garden behind it.


    There were peach trees everywhere in the Gui Garden. Two years ago, they had also suffered from that fire, and now they were recovering. Patches of small trees were weighed down with thete-winter snow, looking somewhat pitiful.


    The female stopped under an old tree, turned around, and said, ¡°I¡¯m Han Yu. You probably doesn¡¯t remember me, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°I do. Two years ago in Jade City, you were my bodyguard. I didn¡¯t see you at Xiaoyao Lake. I suppose that you¡¯ve been staying here all along.¡±


    Han Yu kept silent for a while. ¡°You have a good memory, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Can I meet the Master Commander now?¡±


    ¡°Not yet. The Master Commander hopes that Dragon King can do us a favor first.¡±


    ¡°As you wish.¡±


    Han Yu raised her hands and pped twice. With that, a dozen people walked out from behind the trees around them. There were both males and females, and the oldest one was merely twenty or so. Each of them was holding an unsheathed sword. They formed a loose encirclement ring, surrounding the Dragon King.


    The three injured teenagers subconsciously took several steps backwards, filling the gap of the encirclement ring.


    Shangguan Hong was perplexed. He looked around and found that there was no ce for him on the encirclement ring. What confused him the most was that there had been no signs of the Dragon King nning this trip, and he himself hadn¡¯t had enough time to disclose this trip to anybody. So why had there been ambush in that room as well as here in the Gui Garden?


    ¡°You want a kung fupetition?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    ¡°Sort of. We have eighteen people here. They¡¯re all disciples of the Essence Pavilion. And the Dragon King is the only one in this world who has mastered both the unique skills of the Essence Pavilion and the Waning Moon Swordsmanship. Thus, they want to see it with their own eyes.¡±


    ¡°Waning Moon Swordsmanship?¡±


    ¡°The swordsmanship that is original to the Master Commander. The Dragon King should be very familiar with it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t argue with her. Lotus had been imparting the Death Scripture swordsmanship to others all around, and she had even renamed it to ¡°Waning Moon Swordsmanship¡± and imed that it was ¡°original to her.¡± None of these deeds seemed to be things that the Lotus who he remembered would do.


    ¡°Will the Master Commander show herself after you see my swordsmanship?¡±


    ¡°The Master Commander is perfectly willing to meet you, Dragon King. But this is just the first step. You have to finish three tasks to prove that your swordsmanship didn¡¯t go rusty and that you¡¯re worthy of the Master Commander¡¯s presence.¡±


    Pride surging in him, Gu Shenwei gently pulled out the Five Peaks Saber as he said, ¡°Fine.¡±


    Han Yu briefly nodded and said loudly, ¡°The living suffers in grief, and the dead settle in peace. Either the sword survives with the swordsman, or the swordsman perishes with the sword. Begin.¡±


    Two swordsmen stepped forward, both of whom were fifteen or sixteen years old. One of them had a round face, and the other a square one. They faced the Dragon King and nodded to pay their respects. Suddenly, they simultaneously turned around and stabbed their swords at each other.


    Gu Shenwei was greatly surprised. He didn¡¯t expect that he would be merely a spectator during this first task.


    Both of the two teenagers were performing the Death Scripture Swordsmanship, but after two moves, Gu Shenwei realized that Lotus had made some adjustments to the swordsmanship. No wonder Han Yu had used the word ¡°original¡± while also calling the Death Scripture Swordsmanship the ¡°Waning Moon Swordsmanship¡±.


    Gu Shenwei had once made some adjustments to the Death Scripture too. Chu Nanping, the Big Snow Mountain swordsmen, and the killers trained by Hu Shining; a lot of people had benefited from those adjustments, but they all also had their original kung fu skills that they were good at and they had just borrowed part of the essence of the Death Scripture Swordsmanship, not those specific moves.


    But the Waning Moon Swordsmanship was a different story. Both its moves and core were the same as that of the Death Scripture Swordsmanship, but Lotus had imbued it with a lot of her ownprehension, which imparted more imcable ferocity to this swordsmanship. The two teenagers had been risking life and limb to attack each other from the very beginning, but neither of them was capable of killing their opponent with one blow.


    Those pluralistic annotations in the Death Scripture had been ignored. There was only one way to practice the Waning Moon Swordsmanship, and it was the only path: a path of endless killing.


    When they exchanged the thirteenth move, the round-faced teenager won. The square-faced one was hit in the heart, and he kneeled down silently. With his sword still in his hands and his eyes gradually going dim, he went into the peaceful world of the dead.


    The round-faced teenager faced the Dragon King again. This time, he didn¡¯t nod. He wanted to challenge him.


    This teenager used killing as his cultivation method. He had just gotten over an obstacle, and now he wanted to climb a higher mountain.


    They were a group of swordsmen who lived for swordsmanship, and they were very simr to Chu Nanping on this point. They were truly disciples of the Essence Pavilion.


    Tightly holding the hilt of his saber, Gu Shenwei chose to make the first move. He was a killer. He wouldn¡¯t be polite to juniors and neither would he show any mercy to them.


    The round-faced teenager raised his arms. If it weren¡¯t for that his movement had been stopped halfway, he would have finished his move like greased lightning and nobody would have been able to see it. However, his only finished half of his movement. His arm was still in the air, and his sword had dropped to the ground.


    ¡°Don¡¯t use a sword again,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    The teenager¡¯s arm was still in a horizontal position. Like a rivulet carved out of flesh, blood dripped out of the wound where the severed finger used to be, and soon, a small red hollow appeared on the snowy ground.


    He was left in the miserable world of the living.


    ¡°Leave,¡± Han Yu ordered tly. The teenager immediately turned around, picked up the body of the square-faced teenager, and strode towards the depths of the peach tree forest.


    Those teenagers continued fighting in pairs. Every fight ended with someone downed by a sword strike. Gu Shenwei refused to kill them, severing a finger during each fight. Nobody managed tost a single round with him. These teenagers¡¯ swordsmanship varied in proficiency, but they were all at an elementary level. Gu Shenwei was confused about Lotus¡¯ purpose of sacrificing these innocent teenagers.


    Nine of the eighteen people had died, and the other nine left, leaving nine thumbs and nine bloody hollows on the ground.


    Shangguan Hong had been spectating in horror, but he suppressed it and watched all the fights from beginning to end. The Dragon King had struck out nine times in total. The first three saber strikes were just rapid blurs to him. From the fourth strike on, he saw part of the secret, and during the fifth saber strike, he managed to see the route of the Five Peaks Saber. After the nine saber strike, he realized a mistake that he had been making again and again previously ¨C substituting defense for attacks wasn¡¯t synonymous with risking life and limb. He had wasted too much strength on pointless ferocity, which had slowed his striking speed.


    Han Yu alsoprehended a lot, ¡°Your saber is your sword, Dragon King. Your swordsmanship is very different than that of the Master Commander. I am honored to have seen it, and I learned a lot.¡±


    ¡°Is the first task finished?¡± Gu Shenwei knew very well what he had been doing. The enemies wanted to learn from his swordsmanship, but he didn¡¯t care. He had made every move with his full strength. He had shown mercy to those young swordsmen and hadn¡¯t killed them, but his saber had been ruthless. Even if the target was only a piece of paper, he would still strike with his full strength. It was just that he could control his strikes better now, which meant that he could prate a piece of paper or a rock without deliberately limiting his strength.


    ¡°The second task is a fight between you and me,¡± Han Yu said to Shangguan Hong, pulling out the sword that had stuck vertically in the ground. It was a sword about three feet in length.


    Shangguan Hong was startled. Nobody had told him about this fight tonight. He reached out with his hand to pull out the soft sword, his heart fluttering. He had just been defeated by the Dragon King not long ago, and he didn¡¯t have the confidence to fight with someone else at all.


    The Dragon King was a certain distance away from him. Shangguan Hong had to defeat Han Yu first. Only the winner was qualified to challenge the Dragon King.


    ¡°The living suffers in grief, and the dead settle in peace,¡± Han Yu said, as if these words had be some kind of incantation of hers.


    ¡°The living suffers in grief¡­ ¡± Shangguan Hong repeated, but he couldn¡¯t utter the rest of the words. He wanted to live, since he hadn¡¯t achieved his revenge yet. Shangguan Fei was still alive, and he hadn¡¯t even experienced the threat of Shangguan Hong yet.


    But Gu Shenwei felt that the odds were stacked against him, as a state of preupation was by no means the best state to perform the Death Scripture Swordsmanship in.

 Chapter 887 - Fighting for Survival

    Chapter 887: Fighting for Survival


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Han Yu walked out of the shadow of that old tree. Actually, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t have any deep impressions of her. He just felt that she seemed somewhat familiar.


    It was hard to tell just how old this woman was. Both her voice and her manner gave off the impression of someone sophisticated and mature, but her face was that of someone in their twenties and thirties. The moonlight partly obscured any defining characteristic of her age, and hermon features obscured it even further.


    She straightened her right arm and looked at the sword in her hand like how amon woman looked at her nails. She slowly raised her head, obsessively staring at the tip of the de as she briefly sighed, ¡°If I lose, please cut my head off with this sword.¡±


    Shangguan Hong held his soft sword that was shorter than two feet in length. The de was waving to and fro like a snake fleeing in the grass. Clearly, his internal Qi hadn¡¯t stabilized yet. He felt that he should say something, even the typical crazy words said by disciples of the Waning Moon Hall would be good. ¡°If I die¡­ If I die¡­ ¡±


    But he didn¡¯t want to die. He hadn¡¯t killed his mortal enemy yet, and there was so much pleasure in life that he had only tasted but hadn¡¯t fully enjoyed yet, though he was no longer able to enjoy a certain part of them. ¡°The Master Commander herself imparted this kung fu to me,¡± he yelled, as if the words he uttered were a defensive charm. ¡°She has more ns for me, and she doesn¡¯t want us to kill each other. Han Yu, you must¡¯ve made a mistake. Or¡­ Or¡­ I want to meet the Master Commander. I won¡¯t fight you unless I hear her order it with my own ears.¡±


    Shangguan Hong couldn¡¯t stop himself from being afraid. All disciples of the Waning Moon Hall were half crazy. His efforts into swordsmanship could be deemed ¡°desperate¡± at most, but those women would truly risk their necks to improve their kung fu. He had once witnessed a female disciple drinking the opponent¡¯s blood after killing him, and she had even invited him to join her and ¡°devour the enemy¡¯s power¡± together.


    Han Yu¡¯s gaze moved from the tip of her sword to Shangguan Hong¡¯s face. The obsession on her face turned to scorn. ¡°Killingpanions is how we disciples of Waning Moon Hall survive. Every disciple has killed at least three or four fellow disciples. If we don¡¯t do this, then how can we know who is better? You¡¯re in no ce to specte about the Master Commander¡¯s intentions. Tonight, only one of us will survive, who will then challenge the Dragon King.¡±


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s heart lurched every time Han Yu made a remark, but herst remark reminded him of something. ¡°Dragon King, I¡¯m working for you¡­ I ¨C I can tell you all the secrets¡­ ¡±


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s previous performance showed that he didn¡¯t know many secrets, so Gu Shenwei said, ¡°In Golden Roc Castle, people never spoke so much nonsense before a kung fupetition.¡±


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s face abruptly went deathly pale. Han Yu bowed to the Dragon King as a gesture of apology. Her lips mped tightly, she walked towards her opponent step by step.


    Shangguan Hong tried hard to concentrate, but the scene of Han Yu drinking his blood kept appearing in his mind, and he couldn¡¯t steady the soft sword no matter how hard he tried.


    ¡°You all want to kill me!¡± he yelled, his voice full of grief and indignation. ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything, and I didn¡¯t hurt anybody. However, you all still want to kill me!¡±


    He had forgotten about all the innocent people that he had killed to practice and refine the Waning Moon Swordsmanship, and he had also forgotten that the reason why he had epted Lotus¡¯ favorable offer at the very beginning was because he wanted to be powerful enough to ¡°hurt anybody¡± whenever he wanted to.


    Shangguan Hong seemed to have broken down. He didn¡¯t walk towards Han Yu and instead backed off, his eyes blinking restlessly. Like a cornered ferocious beast, he was panic-stricken, but he still possessed enough strength tounch a final desperate attack.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly recalled a warning given by Zhong Heng a long time ago: every member of the Shangguan family was a wolf.


    Apparently, Han Yu didn¡¯t think much of that statement. Her sword seemed to have be part of her. Even if the opponent was just an infant, she would still attack without hesitation.


    But the one who made the first move was Shangguan Hong. He roared in a deep voice like a drunk brawling in the streets. Even when he pounced on the enemy, the soft sword in his hand was still shaking unsteadily.


    Han Yu made her moveter than the opponent, but she first approached him with a standard sword strike. She concentrated all of her internal energy into the de andunched an attack from a tricky direction. The opponent was in front of her, but she had stabbed with her sword towards the back of his neck.


    Byparison, Shangguan Hong¡¯s swordsmanship was an amateur¡¯s show. All of his strikes were direct and simple, as if he were someone who knew nothing of kung fu.


    In fact, both his bodily movements and striking speed were quick enough. But whenpared to those of Han Yu, they seemed full of ws.


    Han Yu¡¯s swordsmanship was almost the same as Lotus¡¯ when she had been young. Gu Shenwei had stood in the dark and observed Lotus practicing her swordsmanship numerous times. Afterwards, he would always give Lotus his advice. This used to be their main method of improving their kung fu, until one day their opinions of the Death Scripture diverged so greatly that they had no choice but to go their separate ways.


    Upon seeing this familiar swordsmanship, Gu Shenwei agreed with the statement in the scriptures which said that there were nearly thirty unique ways to cultivate the Death Scripture. There was no right or wrong one, and neither were there better or worse ones. Lotus¡¯ understanding of the Death Scripture, which was ¡°killing others,¡± and his own understanding of the Death Scripture, which was ¡°killing one¡¯s self,¡± were merely two different paths that led to the peak of the same mountain.


    Han Yu hit her target. Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart lurched, his eyes immediately darting in the direction of Shangguan Hong. He had also hit his enemy. He had made the first move, but failed to gain the initiative, and he was a little slower than his opponent. But despite all that, he had still hit her.


    Han Yu had been strictly following the path that the Master Commander had pointed out to her, but Shangguan Hong had taken a different, third path.


    He wanted to live. When he was in Golden Roc Castle where he was constantly under the malicious supervision of Madam Meng, he had tried his best and managed to survive. When he had been abandoned by his biological father and his instructor, he had struggled even harder and managed to survive yet again. After his penis was cut off by Shangguan Fei, he had still chosen to swallow the humiliation and live on, and he had never ever thought ofmitting suicide.


    It was a short road to travel from killing people to fighting for survival. Lotus had set strict rules when imparting swordsmanship, but Shangguan Hong had broken through those restrictions. He couldn¡¯tpare with Han Yu in various aspects, but he did have one advantage over her ¨C his will to live was so strong that it enabled him to endure unbearable pain.


    He didn¡¯t pounce on Han Yu but instead pounced on her sword. He took that unavoidable stab head-on and then thrust his own sword at the opponent.


    Han Yu¡¯s sword sank about five inches into her target¡¯s body, which was a standard depth. Her aim hadn¡¯t been that good due to the opponent¡¯s dodging. She had failed to hit the heart. She should have whipped out her sword immediately, but the enemy¡¯s lethal blow had already caught her by then.


    Shangguan Hong stabbed his soft sword through Han Yu¡¯s body, to the point where arge part of it was protruding from her back, which though not exactly in ord with the substance of the Death Scripture was still very effective.


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s face was hideous, as if he had just killed not a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall but rather Shangguan Fei, Zhang Ji, or someone else that he hated with this sword strike.


    He slowly took two steps backwards and pulled out his sword in the same motion. Blood gushed from the wound in his chest and quickly dyed his clothes red.


    As a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall, Han Yu had always been prepared to die. Even in thest moment of her life, there was no regret on her face.


    Suddenly, Shangguan Hong rushed forward, steadying the body that was about to fall and ferociously bit into her neck. He could be cruel and crazy as well. No matter how much blood his enemy made him lose, he would drink the same amount of blood from his enemy.


    After a while, he stood up and turned to face the Dragon King. He raised his hand and wiped off part of the blood around his lips. His voice was hoarse but his tone was joyful. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of bleeding, Dragon King. Do you still remember? I said that I have too much blood and that I have to frequently let out blood. Ha-ha, this stupid woman was just doing me a favor.¡±


    Shangguan Hong had just found a new way of overpowering enemies, but it was a dangerous one. True kung fu experts would hit the vital part with one sword strike, something he wouldn¡¯t be able to survive no matter how much blood he had.


    Shangguan Hong was on the verge of going crazy. If anybody pushed him mentally at this moment, he would never be able to return to normal. He had forgotten that the Dragon King was his next opponent. He mumbled excitedly, ¡°Yes. I understand. I understand¡­ I¡¯ll kill Shangguan Fei first, and then Zhang Ji will be second¡­ No, Madam Meng will be second. I¡¯ll make them die face-to-face. That¡¯s right, face-to-face¡­ And then Zhang Ji, and then Shangguan Ru, the Unique King, all members of the Shangguan family, all those who onceughed at me or disdained me. And the Dragon King¡­ ¡±


    The Dragon King was walking towards him. Shangguan Hong woke up from his sweet dream. He backed off several steps, arching his back like a cat. In his eyes, there was no respect, only hostility, the soft sword still quivering in his hand.


    But Gu Shenwei ignored him. He walked up to Han Yu, picked up the sword on the ground and nced at it under the moonlight. ¡°This is indeed a good sword.¡± After saying this, he swung the sword at the body and separated Han Yu¡¯s head from her body. ¡°You have to honor thest wish of the deceased.¡±


    Han Yu¡¯s wish had been fulfilled.


    The Dragon King¡¯s cruelty pulled Shangguan Hong back from the brink of insanity.


    ¡°It was her who wanted a kung fupetition,¡± Shangguan Hong¡¯s voice was quivering like his sword.


    ¡°Nobody mes you.¡± Usually, Gu Shenwei¡¯s voice was t, but at this moment, it cooled down Shanguan Hong¡¯s frenzy like a bucket of cold water.


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s arms drooped, his soft sword feebly falling into the thick snow on the ground. ¡°I still have to have a kung fupetition with Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. This is the second task.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Shangguan Hong shrilly yelled. ¡°This is not the Master Commander¡¯s intention. Han Yu made a unteral decision. It was all because of her¡­ ¡±


    ¡°She died. And this is the second task.¡±


    ¡°Then there must be someone else here. I¡¯m sure.¡± Shangguan Hong was even pleading with his eyes. His will to live told him that he should not have a kung fupetition with the Dragon King, ¡°It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s him!¡±


    Shangguan Hong did a twirl, as if that ¡°him¡± was hiding somewhere nearby. ¡°Wild Horse, show yourself. I know it¡¯s you.¡±


    Nobody answered. Gu Shenwei said, ¡°Wild Horse, you renamed yourself Immortal Peng, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    Shangguan Hong didn¡¯t quite understand. He knew who Immortal Peng was, but he didn¡¯t know why Wild Horse would change his name.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s remarks worked. Someone came out from behind a tree not far away from Shangguan Hong.


    Shangguan Hong immediately backed off next to the Dragon King¡¯s side. If he had to choose between a monster and a foe, he would rather stay away from the monster.


    That was indeed Wild Horse. His eyes, which were far apart, were his ever distinctive features. He didn¡¯t open his mouth, but a voice could be heard, ¡°Why is your Death Scripture Swordsmanship so different?¡±


    Shangguan Ru had once told Gu Shenwei that thest disciple of the Essence Pavilion was Wild Horse¡¯spanion. He offered the Wild Horse advice and also spoke for him.


    ¡°The Essence Pavilion should know this very well,¡± Gu Shenwei replied. The manual of the Essence of Perceiving Passion said that there were sixty-four methods of practicing this kung fu. Although that was a lie, the disciples of the Essence Pavilion always took it seriously.


    ¡°The Master Commander didn¡¯t hand over all of the scriptures. Immortal Peng is very unhappy.¡±


    Shangguan Hong was astounded. Lotus had his antidote, and he couldn¡¯t afford to let it fall into someone else¡¯s hands. ¡°Where¡¯s the Master Commander? Did you lock her away?¡±


    Wild Horse took another two steps forward, his eyes fixed on the Dragon King. His lips didn¡¯t move but a voice spoke up again. ¡°You haven¡¯t finished the second task.¡±


    Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Hong had the same thought: something must have happened to Lotus.

 Chapter 888 - A Voice

    Chapter 888: A Voice


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei had to constantly remind himself that there were two people standing in front of him. Apart from Wild Horse, there was also a disciple of the Essence Pavilion hiding somewhere. This was supposed to be a very simple thing to discover, but it was not that simple when he was actually doing it.


    Besides the fact that he never opened his mouth, both Wild Horse¡¯s movements and expressions were perfectly synchronized with the words being said. Like a legendary ventriloquist, he didn¡¯t need anybody else¡¯s help at all. After seeing Wild Horse ¡°talk,¡±


    most people would be involuntarily affected and believe that there was only one person even if they knew very well that Wild Horse was mute.


    Shangguan Hong, for one, lost hisposure, and stared fixedly at Wild Horse as if he were trying to find out whether he had been stealthily opening his mouth.


    ¡°Defeat him. Then you can get start the third task and have a kung fupetition with me,¡± that voice said.


    Gu Shenwei snorted and put the Five Peaks Saber away. ¡°Sorry. I thought that the third task would be something more challenging. I didn¡¯t expect that my opponent would be someone I have already defeated ¨C more than once at that too.¡±


    Wild Horse was no longer the killer with excellent leadership skills that Gu Shenwei remembered. Now, he looked more like a disciple of the Essence Pavilion. His face was stiff and he didn¡¯t react to Gu Shenwei¡¯s sneer or provocation at all, ¡°The one you defeated was Wild Horse, but I¡¯m Immortal Peng.¡±


    ¡°Yet another Immortal Peng. I¡¯ve never heard of a ghost¡¯s tongue and body being separated after the ghost reincarnates,¡± Gu Shenwei said in a more contemptuous tone. ¡°To be honest, I really feel a little bored with the fact that I have to kill an Immortal Peng every few years. Why don¡¯t you two choose another name?¡±


    Shangguan Hong nodded more excitedly and moved closer to the Dragon King. He didn¡¯t like Wild Horse or Immortal Peng. The disciples of the Waning Moon Hall were just a little crazy, and their mind was, at its core, not too different from that of normal people. But the disciples of the Essence Pavilion were like devils who lived deep in the mountains. Their presence along was blood-curdling, and it had nothing to do with their behavior or words.


    ¡°You should rename yourself ¡®Bastard.¡¯¡± Shangguan Hong was as mean as an ignorant teenager who dared to behave boldly under his parents¡¯ tacit approval. He didn¡¯t noticed that he was greatly enjoying the Dragon King¡¯s protection. ¡± Golden Roc Castle, Old Man Mu, the Waning Moon Hall, the Essence Pavilion ¨C how many masters have you served? You don¡¯t even remember your surname, do you? Oh, you¡¯ve never known what your surname is. And you don¡¯t even know what your parents look like.¡±


    ¡°My name is Immortal Peng,¡± that voice repeated dully. Shangguan Hong¡¯s sarcastic words also failed to work.


    Gu Shenwei still shook his head. His hands weren¡¯t even holding his sword hilt anymore. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what your name is. Regardless of if it¡¯s Wild Horse or Immortal Peng, you¡¯re not qualified to be the third task. If you want to have a kung fupetition with me, then you¡¯ll also have to prove your strength.¡±


    That voice fell silent, as if that person felt that the Dragon King¡¯s words were very reasonable.


    But Shangguan Hong became uneasy. He would rather have a kung fupetition with the Dragon King than fight Wild Horse, who was like a zombie. But he was seldom struck by a sh of inspiration, so he had no choice but to pray that that misfortune wouldn¡¯t happen to him once again.


    ¡°You want to see my swordsmanship?¡± Still in sync with the voice, Wild Horse raised the sword in his hand.


    ¡°You¡¯ve even changed your weapon,¡± remarked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t. This has always been Immortal Peng¡¯s weapon.¡±


    Telling the most obvious lie in a hypnotic way had indeed always been the ¡°weapon¡± of all Immortal Pengs. Gu Shenwei had once gotten lost in a confusing maze that Immortal Peng had woven, but now, he just felt that this lie was ridiculous. ¡°If this has always been your weapon, then you wouldn¡¯t have asked me whether I want to see your swordsmanship. You forget that when we fought before, back then it was your head that was separated from its body.¡±


    The voice fell silent again. A flicker of confusion shed across Wild Horse¡¯s face. And for the first time, his expressions were not in sync with the speaker¡¯s words. He hadn¡¯t seen the scene of the Dragon King killing the dwarf Immortal Peng, so he couldn¡¯tmunicate with the hidden disciple of the Essence Pavilion telepathically.


    ¡°Come out,¡± that voice said. Wild Horse¡¯s expression also returned to normal.


    Another person came out from behind a tree. She walked in a stealthy manner, as if she were afraid that she might wake up people who were asleep. But like a child who had just misbehaved and had no choice but to walk to her parents, she had an embarrassed look on her face. ¡°Dragon King, how are you?¡±


    Han Fen was also holding a sword in her hand. She had not been used to wielding a saber or a sword merely two months ago.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s tone immediately became easy-going. ¡°Did you deliver the message to the Master Commander for me?¡±


    ¡°Of course I did,¡± Han Fen said quickly, hurriedly trying to shift the responsibility. ¡°But¡­ But¡­ ¡±


    ¡°But what?¡±


    ¡°But the Master Commander is very busy¡­ This¡­ Immortal Peng can¡­ represent her. If you have anything to say, then just talk to Immortal Peng, Dragon King.¡±


    For Han Fen, telling lies was a very difficult and annoying task. From that glum look on her face, even a three-year-old kid could tell that she was lying. But the voice was very pleased. ¡°The Master Commander and Immortal Peng have the same thoughts. You have to finish the three tasks, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei also stayed silent for a while. Standing on the other side, Han Fen was surreptitiously winking and lifting her eyebrows at him as if trying to express something. Compared to her clumsy lies, her expressions were unduly rich, which was why Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t understand her at all. In the end, he said, ¡°Han Xuan lives in my army camp. She likes Han Wuxian.¡±


    Upon hearing the whereabouts of her closest friend, Han Fen didn¡¯t show any expected excitement. ¡°Eek? Hall Leader still hasn¡¯t killed her yet? I thought¡­ s, she¡¯s useless now anyway. Even the Master Commander is uninterested in her¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Immortal Peng asked you toe out not because he wanted you to chat,¡± that voice said.


    Han Fen shut up immediately. She made a few extra expressions and then lowered her head, scribbling on the ground with her sword as if it were amon tree branch.


    ¡°Finish the second task. Then Immortal Peng will have a kung fupetition with her to prove his strength,¡± that voice continued.


    Han Fen hung her head even lower without saying anything.


    Gu Shenwei fell silent again.


    Shangguan Hong was growing more and more sure of his spection. He moved another step closer to the Dragon King and loudly said, ¡°Han Fen, Wild Horse betrayed the Master Commander, right? Just tell us. The Dragon King¡­ the Dragon King will save you.¡±


    ¡°Answer him,¡± that voice ordered. Han Fen hurriedly raised her head and said, ¡°No, no. Wild¡­ Immortal Peng didn¡¯t betray the Master Commander. The Master Commander is really¡­ very busy.¡± Han Fen drawled as she spoke, trying her best to convey the information that she didn¡¯t dare express directly.


    But Gu Shenwei only became even more confused. It seemed that Lotus wasn¡¯t in danger. Otherwise, Han Fen would have risked her neck to ask him for help in public. But the hidden information that she was trying to tell him was too obscure, and he couldn¡¯t pinpoint any of the clues at all.


    Besides, Lotus liked Han Fen very much. Why would she order her to have a kung fupetition with Wild Horse? It was basically a suicide mission for her.


    ¡°Hah. Right there, Wild Horse. Han Fen is clearly under your-¡± Shangguan Hong was in the middle of the sentence when the Dragon King made his move.


    Gu Shenwei had been contemting previously and Shangguan Hong was caught off guard. Even if he was vignt the whole time, he couldn¡¯t have anticipated the Dragon King¡¯s move either.


    With a cry, Shangguan Hong was thrown away, and hended on an old tree and then fell onto thick snow. Then some snow on the tree fell onto his head and almost buried him.


    ¡°I won. The second task is finished,¡± Gu Shenwei put an end to the argument in this way.


    Somehow Han Fen felt that the scene of Shangguan Hong being buried in snow was extremely funny, so she burst intoughter. The longer sheughed, the harder it was for her to stop. She clutched her belly and said, ¡°Ha-ha, Dragon King¡­ You¡¯re¡­ so naughty. Ha-ha, is he dead?¡±


    Shangguan Hong jumped out of the snow with a thud with the soft sword in his hand, ring at the Dragon King.


    Han Fen was out of breath due toughing too hard. ¡°You still refuse to admit defeat? Dragon King, make him into an even bigger snowman.¡±


    This remark of Han Fen¡¯s didn¡¯t have any redundant connotation, but light suddenly dawned on Shangguan Hong. He lowered his sword right away and said, ¡°I lost. I admit defeat. There¡¯s no need to have a kung fupetition. The Dragon King has finished the second task.¡±


    This time the voice behind Wild Horse fell silent. He wanted to see the Dragon King¡¯s Death Scripture Swordsmanship but his n of his hadn¡¯t worked out.


    Gu Shenwei sighed secretly. If the one who was abducted had been Lotus, or even Nie Zeng or Tie Linglong, they would have understood his signal andunched an attack on Wild Horse the moment he made his move. Gu Shenwei had prepared himself for a fight only to find that Han Fen had merelyughed the whole time. She had already forgotten that she was the one who was going to have a kung fupetition with ¡°Immortal Peng¡± next.


    Wild Horse raised the sword in his hand. He had been using a saber for many years, but the way he held the sword made him seem like an experienced swordsman who had been using a sword for many years.


    Han Fen turned around and looked at the sword in her hand, ¡°Can I give up as well?¡±


    That voice didn¡¯t answer. Knowing this was a refusal, Han Fen regretfully said, ¡°If only I were the one who made the first move.¡±


    Wild Horse was indeed waiting for her to make the first move. He had given up on his killer¡¯s habit of striking first.


    Han Fen wielded her sword pretentiously. ¡°Just so you know, if I die, you must deliver my body to the Master Commander as soon as possible. She knows how to handle it. You don¡¯t.¡±


    That voice still didn¡¯t reply.


    ¡°Or you can give my body to the Dragon King if you have to. He won¡¯t be able to deal with it as well as the Master Commander, but it¡¯s better than my body being kept intact.¡±


    Since he no longer had to fight the Dragon King, Shangguan Hong had be much more rxed, thinking, ¡®The disciples of the Waning Moon Hall are indeed all lunatics. She actually thinks that keeping her body intact is a bad thing.¡±


    ¡°Make your move,¡± that voice ordered. Clearly, he was bored with Han Fen¡¯s nagging.


    Holding her sword, Han Fen was dithering about. Having noticed that she was hiding her left hand in the sleeve, Gu Shenwei knew she had decided to fight the opponent with the secret arts of the Waning Moon Hall, which she was best at.


    There had been a moment when Gu Shenwei had almost stepped forward and directly started a swordsmanshippetition with Wild Horse. But he had soon given up on this thought, since he was not a hero, and neither was he Han Fen¡¯s master. It was not his ce to save her, and there was also no need for him to do so. The only eptable way for him of offer her help was tounch a sneak attack, but Han Fen had already wasted the opportunity that he had created for her.


    ¡®I mustn¡¯t be merciful,¡¯ Gu Shenwei reminded himself.


    Some snow fell onto the ground from a tree. The Dragon King and Wild Horse turned around at the same time and nced in the same direction.


    Shangguan Hong was bewildered, but Han Fen felt that this was her only opportunity, so she dashed forward and thrust her sword at Wild Horse while she waved her left hand.


    The tip of the de was still two to three feet away from Wild Horse when Han Fen stopped attacking and retreated. She leaped over ten consecutive steps back, pointed at Wild Horse, and smugly said, ¡°Just fall down!¡±


    But Wild Horse didn¡¯t fall down, still staring into the depths of the darkness.


    Some light footsteps were heard. A teenager slowly walked closer to them. He was one of the swordsmen who had just had a swordsmanshippetition with the Dragon King during which his thumb had been cut off. At this moment, he was covered in blood, staggering with nk eyes.


    Facing the four people in front of him, he seemed to have seen nothing. He just kept shuffling forward aimlessly before falling to the ground with a thud.


    His back was covered in blood as well.


    Han Fen shrieked. She wasn¡¯t afraid of the dead body, and neither was she afraid of blood. However, she did fear the one who had killed this teenager.

 Chapter 889 - Allies

    Chapter 889: Allies


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Multiple figures flickered through the forest of peach trees. There seemed to be arge number of them, but only one person stepped out of the darkness.


    Han Wuxian loosened her hair and leaped over to them, giving off the aura of a fairy from a mural. The smile on her face was so tender that it seemed like it could melt all of the snow around them. ¡°Dragon King, I¡¯vee to help. Which one should we kill first? The dumb guy or the traitor?¡±


    Upon seeing the Hall Leader, Han Fen was nearly scared to death. She involuntarily took a step closer to the Dragon King, but soon reluctantly turned around, walked back to Wild Horse, stopped at a position about seven or eight steps away from him, and started ying with the sword in her hand with her head down.


    The mysterious voice was not afraid at all, and tly said, ¡°Han Wuxian, you¡¯re in the wrong ce. This is the Essence Pavilion¡¯s turf.¡±


    Han Wuxian looked around. ¡°This ce is not too bad. The Essence Pavilion has sharp eyes. From now on, this ce belongs to the Barren Sect.¡±


    That voice leered. Wild Horse slightly raised his head with a twisted look on his face, which was still in perfect synchronization with that voice. Only, there was no smile on his face at all. ¡°You¡¯vee just in time. You may rece Han Fen and demonstrate Immortal Peng¡¯s swordsmanship to the Dragon King.¡±


    Han Fen didn¡¯t seem to have heard this great news. She still restlessly stood where she was. If she had had the choice, then she would have run as far away as she could have.


    Han Wuxian looked at the Dragon King, ¡°This man is useless, isn¡¯t he? I don¡¯t dare disobey your rules and take any unruly actions, Dragon King.¡±


    Han Wuxian had left the army camp ande here to besiege the Gui Garden without prior consent, which was obvious disobedience. However, Gu Shenwei pretended to not know about it. ¡°Please show us your excellent skills, Hall Leader Han.¡±


    After knowing that Lotus had absorbed the internal energy that had been stored in Han Xuan¡¯s body for many years, Han Wuxian had been horrified for some time. But surprisingly, she had suddenly be audacious tonight, which deepened Gu Shenwei¡¯s suspicion that something had happened to Lotus.


    Wild Horse had prepared himself, but Han Wuxian didn¡¯t start the fight immediately. She called out in a tender voice, ¡°Come out, baby. Watch mommy kick viin¡¯s ass.¡±


    Han Xuan walked over to them from among the flickering figures in the distance. Her eyes were somewhat zed over, but they were fixed upon Han Wuxian, as if she was afraid that Han Wuxian would suddenly disappear. ¡°Mommy, baby¡¯sing.¡±


    When this came from the mouth of a woman nearly thirty years old, and with an infantile tone at that, these intimate and cheesy words became extremely eerie, but Han Wuxian seemed to enjoy them very much. With an even more tender smile, she held Han Xuan¡¯s hand and pecked at her cheek.


    Han Fen couldn¡¯t help but say in a quivering voice, ¡°Han Xuan, wake up. Do you still remember me?¡±


    Han Xuan nced at her, and then moved her eyes back to the face of Han Wuxian. ¡°You¡¯re Han Fen. We¡¯re close friends. Of course I remember you. You see, this is my mommy. Isn¡¯t she beautiful? I¡¯m so happy.¡±


    ¡°The Hall Leader¡¯s your mother? This¡­ This¡­ ¡± Han Fen cast a look in the Dragon King¡¯s direction.


    ¡°Han Xuan.¡± Gu Shenwei took a step forward as he asked, ¡°When you were young, did this woman visit you often in Gulping Wind Gorge?¡±


    Han Xuan had once said that a mysterious woman used to visit her often and teach her kung fu when she was young.


    Han Fen hurried nodded. ¡°Yes, yes. Han Xuan, it can¡¯t have been Hall Leader who used to go there to see you.¡±


    ¡°Mommy gave birth to me secretly, and she didn¡¯t dare to let others know about it, so she sent someone else to see me. But her smell¡­ Ah, I can tell that she¡¯s my mommy just by taking one sniff of her. I can¡¯t be wrong.¡±


    Han Wuxian pecked Han Xuan¡¯s cheek again. ¡°Sweetie, every time I sent someone to see you, I had her take one of my clothes with them, and it had my odor on it.¡±


    Han Xuan had a unique nose which enabled her to detect disciples of the Waning Moon Hall hiding in the dark. Gu Shenwei had thought that she had been born with it, but it turned out that the reason why she could do this was because Han Wuxian had trained her to do so.


    Han Fen became anxious. ¡°Han Xuan, you moron. Come back to me at once. Hall Leader is not your mommy. Look at you. You two are not alike at all. Hall Leader is so beautiful, but you¡¯re so ugly. How could you possibly be her daughter?¡±


    Calling people ¡°morons¡± and telling them that they were ¡°ugly¡± was not a smart way to persuade them to change their minds. Han Xuan¡¯s face darkened. As if acting cute, she said, ¡°Mommy, I don¡¯t want to be Han Fen¡¯s friend any more. Chase her away.¡±


    Han Xuan¡¯s behavior was clearly abnormal. But Gu Shenwei just stood to the side. Apart from that remark that he had made previously, there was nothing else he could do.


    Han Wuxian stroked Han Xuan¡¯s head. ¡°I¡¯ll chase her awayter, but she¡¯s still useful to us right now. Mommy¡¯s going to strike a viin down first. Look at this ugly guy. Isn¡¯t he a viin?¡±


    Han Xuan turned her head aside and nced at Wild Horse, nodding. ¡°He is a viin. He was very mean to me. And he wouldn¡¯t let me go out of the house.¡±


    That mysterious voice sounded a little impatient. ¡°Start fighting, Han Wuxian. Don¡¯t keep the Dragon King waiting too long.¡±


    Han Wuxian held her ¡°daughter¡¯s¡± hand, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s a very patient man, and he never bes anxious. But you, Immortal¡­ what¡¯s your name again? Call the Master Commander out. It¡¯s been a long time. I really miss her.¡±


    ¡°The Master Commander¡¯s a good person.¡± Han Xuan still had some of her senses left. ¡°She¡¯s good to me. She trusts me and let me serve Lady Shaomin.¡±


    ¡°No, no.¡± Han Wuxian¡¯s smile became slightly less bright. ¡°You¡¯re Han Wuxian¡¯s daughter. From now on you won¡¯t have to serve anybody. I¡¯ll have a lot of people serve you.¡±


    ¡°But I like serving thedy,¡± Han Xuan regained part of her original stubborn tone. ¡°Both Lady Shaomin and Lady Mingzhen are adorable people. s, without me around, they might not be able to eat.¡±


    The smile on Han Wuxian¡¯s face slightly froze, ¡°Since you like them so much, then I¡¯ll invite them over to y with you.¡±


    Han Xuan nodded happily, her face full of extreme happiness. Standing not far away from them, Han Fen felt a chill creep down her spine.


    Wild Horse had been closing in on her. He couldn¡¯t wait any longer and had decided to make the first move.


    Han Wuxian and Han Xuan were staring at each other, disying the love between a mother and a daughter, as if there were nobody else around.


    This trick didn¡¯t work on Wild Horse. He struck out with the first sword blow.


    What he was performing was the typical Lotus-style swordsmanship. His killing aura was heavy and his attacks ferocious. In the blink of an eye, Wild Horse turned into a faint, rapid blur, and anybody could feel the daunting power of his moves.


    Han Wuxian leaped upwards and Han Xuan supported her ¡°mother¡± with one hand from below. Clearly, this was a move that they had practiced many times before.


    Han Xuan probably felt this looked fun, but Gu Shenwei could clearly see that Han Wuxian was using her ¡°daughter¡± as a shield, letting her ¡°daughter¡± take this sword strike for her.


    Surprisingly, Wild Horse backed off, and that unstoppable sword strike was abruptly stopped.


    This was by no means what the Wild Horse that Gu Shenwei remembered would have done. No matter how much Wild Horse had changed, he would always be a ruthless killer. Even if the person standing in front of him were the one he cared about and liked the most, he would never have stopped.


    What had surprised Gu Shenwei even more was that Wild Horse was actually able to stop his strike.


    ¡°Never take back a given strike.¡± This was one of the most basic principles of the Death Scripture. Gu Shenwei and Lotus had nearly died once from the bacsh from missing the target. Currently, although Gu Shenwei was able to control the saber in his hand, he could only choose between killing the target or injuring the target; he couldn¡¯t withdraw the strike whenever he wanted.


    Although some of the swordsmen that had caught him also hadn¡¯t received any bacsh from missing their strikes, Gu Shenwei believed that it was because they hadn¡¯t been practicing this swordsmanship for long. However, when Wild Horse made his first move, that swordsmanship disyed by him was clearly very mature. He must have practiced it for at least half a year, which meant that he shouldn¡¯t have been able to stop his strikes.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t believe that Wild Horse¡¯s Death Scripture Swordsmanship was better than his, so the only usible spection was that Lotus had made some adjustments to the swordsmanship.


    When he put all of these pieces together ¨C Lotus absorbing Han Xuan¡¯s internal energy, her extremely unexpectedly imparting of the swordsmanship to a lot of people while secretly keeping a part of it to herself, Wild Horse¡¯s control of disciples of both the Essence Pavilion and the Waning Moon Hall, and Han Wuxian¡¯s behavior switching from being scared to striking first ¨C Gu Shenwei suddenly realized the truth.


    Han Wuxian had predicted that Wild Horse wouldn¡¯t dare attack Han Xuan. In the air, she kicked outterally, made a twirl, and then used her hair as a weapon and shrouded Wild Horse in it.


    This was a strange fighting tactic. Like a whip held by Han Xuan, Han Wuxian let Han Xuan wave her around, spinning with her movements. Her feet, knees, hands, and hair were all weapons, which, together with numerous hidden weapons and knockout powder, formed an extensive barrage of strikes.


    Wild Horse backed off step by step. Every time he gave out a sword strike, Han Wuxian would move to the other side of Han Xuan right in time and let her ¡°daughter¡± be her protective shield.


    Now even Shangguan Hong knew what was happening. He had cleared the snow off him and returned to the Dragon King by now, and he was even closer to the Dragon King than before. ¡°What happened to Wild Horse? Since when did he be so merciful?¡±


    The disciple of the Essence Pavilion hiding in the dark also got anxious and he finally spoke for himself, ordering Wild Horse, ¡°Don¡¯t let that woman get in your way. Kill her!¡±


    Han Fen was just as anxious as the disciple of the Essence Pavilion was and she hadn¡¯t noticed that Wild Horse had been deliberately avoiding striking Han Xuan. She just felt that her close friend was in grave danger. After hearing that order, she overcame her obedience towards Immortal Peng as well as her fear of the Hall Leader and rushed forward. ¡°Han Xuan! Run!¡±


    Han Xuan didn¡¯t run. She was obsessed with the motherly love. Even if she knew that Han Wuxian was using her as a shield, she would still take the strike for her without any hesitation.


    Wild Horse no longer tried to avoid hurting Han Xuan. With the antidote provided by the Waning Moon Hall, he didn¡¯t have to be afraid of Han Wuxian¡¯s secret arts. And he also believed that his kung fu skills were much better than that of Han Wuxian¡¯s.


    A saber and a sword shed. It was the Dragon King who defended her against this sword strike. Even Shangguan Hong, who had been standing by his side, hadn¡¯t clearly seen how the Dragon King had joined the fight.


    Unlike the hesitant and cautious strikes that he had made previously, this blow had been imbued with Wild Horse¡¯s full strength. Under the potent counterforce of the violent impact, Wild Horse instantly lost his bnce.


    Han Wuxian refused to let this opportunity slip away. She freed herself from Han Xuan¡¯s grip, leaped behind Wild Horse, and struck out several times with her fingers, wrapping a strand of hair around his neck.


    And then Han Fen arrived. Unaware of what had just happened, she grabbed Han Xuan¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Come with me.¡±


    Han Xuan didn¡¯t move.


    ¡°Lady Shaomin caught an incurable disease, and her only wish is to see you again.¡±


    Gu Shenwei blurted out a lie. Han Xuan fell for it and her face changed drastically. ¡°Where¡¯s Lady Shaomin?¡±


    ¡°Han Fen will take you there.¡±


    Han Fen was a little slow and it wasn¡¯t until after she was stunned for a while that she suddenly understood. She carried Han Xuan in her arms and started running, yelling, ¡°I¡¯ll take you to thedy.¡±


    Han Wuxian didn¡¯t try to pursue them. Her subordinates were all around them, so she wasn¡¯t worried that Han Xuan would manage to make it out of this ce. She was enjoying the process of slowly killing her target.


    Gu Shenwei took two steps backwards, seemingly having no intention of interfering in what Han Wuxian was doing. All of a sudden, he thrust his saber at a pile of snow under a nearby tree.


    That was just a slightly humped pile of snow, and it didn¡¯t seem man-made at all. However, surprisingly, someone jumped out of it before the saber could reach the snow.


    A skinny, old disciple of the Essence Pavilion leaped aside, ring at the Dragon King and Han Wuxian.


    ¡°You¡¯re very skilled, Dragon King,¡± Han Wuxian gave apliment, her hair tightening. ¡°It turns out this so-called Immortal Peng is just a rat¡­ ¡±


    Gu Shenwei gave another saber strike. The disciple of the Essence Pavilion drew a dagger and was ready to fight back, but the expected fight didn¡¯t take ce.


    Han Wuxian¡¯s hair loosened and Wild Horse freed himself from the restriction. He immediately leaped several steps away and panted for breath, mobilizing his internal energy to fight against the Qi injected into him by the opponent.


    Holding her shortened hair, Han Wuxian said, ¡°The Dragon King always makes unexpected moves. Even if you want to cooperate with Lotus, you don¡¯t have to protect this dumb guy.¡±


    ¡°I need him to take me to Lotus,¡± Gu Shenwei said unapologetically. Then he turned and faced Wild Horse, who still hadn¡¯t stabilized his Qi yet, and the horrified disciple of the Essence Pavilion. ¡°The Master Commander lost all of her internal energy, but I have no intention of taking her life. You better take me to her right now.¡±

 Chapter 890 - The Truth

    Chapter 890: The Truth


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Han Wuxian burst intoughter. ¡°So the Dragon King knows about Lotus¡¯ secrets too. I was hoping that I could make a contribution. It seems that that¡¯s not going to happen.¡±


    ¡°You will have plenty of opportunities to make a contribution,¡± said Gu Shenwei, giving two nces at Wild Horse and the disciple of the Essence Pavilion. ¡°Which one am I supposed to talk to?¡±


    The disciple of the Essence Pavilion walked up to Wild Horse and stood behind him, saying while helping him heal his wound, ¡°Whenever you gain something, you also lose something else at the same time. The Master Commander is someone above this mortal world, someone you guys will never be able to understand.¡±


    Wild Horse was trying very hard to repress the pain, but there was still a faint pained look on his face, which made his cooperation with the bluff of the disciple of the Essence Pavilion less effective.


    ¡°So that¡¯s why the Master Commander put you two in charge of this mortal world?¡± In Gu Shenwei¡¯s opinion, these two people were far more terrible of a liar than the dwarf Immortal Peng.


    Han Wuxian¡¯s confidence suddenly surged. ¡°There¡¯s no need to talk to them. Let me use some other methods. I promise that they¡¯ll tell us everything.¡±


    Wild Horse suddenly knelt down, revealing the perplexed, astonished disciple of the Essence Pavilion.


    Han Wuxian eyes brightened meaningfully. ¡°Ha-ha. Do you really think that the injury caused by my Jueyin Finger Energy is that easy to heal? Sorry. I forgot to remind you that my finger energy is not in the Purple Pce Acupoint, but rather in the Grim Valley Acupoint. Kneeling is only the beginning. He¡¯s going to have a lot of ¡®fun¡¯. Speaking of which, I remember that I once poked you too. You seem to have recovered perfectly.¡±


    That had been many years ago. In order to tempt the Unique King into imparting the Daoless Divine Power to his daughter, Han Wuxian had imbued Shangguan Ru, Wild Horse, as well as a couple of other teenagers with evil Qi. But back then, it was the Tenth Young Master that she cared about, and Wild Horse hadn¡¯t concerned her at all. It was not until she performed the Jueyin Finger Energy again and hit him that she discovered the traces of that evil Qi that she had left in him.


    The Purple Pce Acupoint was located on the Ren Meridian in the chest. The Grim Valley Acupoint was an affiliate acupoint of the Feet Shaoying Kidney Meridian, and it was at the back side of the knee. Han Wuxian¡¯s Jueyin Finger Energy hadunched a two-pronged attack, half of it upying a frontal acupoint and the other half a hidden one. While Wild Horse and the disciple of the Essence Pavilion had been trying to expel the finger energy in the Purple Pce Acupoint with their full strength, the other energy in the Grim Valley Acupoint had taken this opportunity to invade his body.


    Wild Horse clenched his teeth, the muscles on his face quivering, but he could barely stayposed, not to mention standing up.


    The disciple of the Essence Pavilion didn¡¯t dare to continue helping him recover from the injury. He finally understood the ¡°secret¡± part of the secret arts of the Waning Moon Hall.


    ¡°How did Hall Leader Han learn that Lotus lost all her strength?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°I sat there and had nothing to do, so I did a little thinking. And then, I knew.¡± Smiling with an amused look in her eyes, Han Wuxian watched Wild Horse struggle. Clearly, she didn¡¯t n to tell the truth. ¡°Eek, where¡¯s my precious baby girl? Why hasn¡¯t shee back?¡±


    ¡°Heal Wild Horse,¡± Gu Shenwei said tly.


    Han Wuxian looked surprised, ¡°Why should I heal this freak? Only when he is in unbearable pain will he be willing to take us to that goblin Lotus.¡±


    ¡°This is an order.¡±


    Holding the strand of hair cut off by the Dragon King, Han Wuxian said pensively, ¡°Dragon King, at least show me some respect. Outside of the city, you¡¯re the suprememander of hundreds of thousands of troops. But here, the disciples of the Barren Sect are everywhere. Thus, maybe I should be the one giving orders. Do you think so?¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought for a while, ¡°I can show you more respect, but I¡¯m still the one who gives the orders. Please heal Wild Horse of his wound, Hall Leader Han.¡±


    He emphasized the word ¡°please,¡± which made it sound more sarcastic than respectful.


    Shangguan Hong felt that the Dragon King was too haughty and that it was no big deal to asionally act humbly. However, he didn¡¯t want to be a busybody. All he wanted to do was find an escape route and flee.


    Han Wuxian raised her head and startedughing in an unrestrained manner, but the Dragon King was tooposed, which made her suspicious. Theughter gradually stopped. She turned her head aside and nced in the direction of the depths of the forest of peach trees. It shouldn¡¯t take long to intercept Han Xuan and Han Fen, but her ¡°precious baby girl¡± was still nowhere to be seen.


    It waspletely quiet in the woods. They all stayed silent. Faint sounds of fighting came from the distance. The two girls should have been able to stir up such a ruckus.


    Han Wuxian¡¯s face slightly blushed, but the smile on her face became more charming, as if it were tinged with the timidity of a teenage girl, ¡°The Dragon King is the Dragon King after all. Who dares disobey your order? Fine. I¡¯ll heal him of the Jueyin Finger Energy, but he must promise that he won¡¯t take this opportunity to kill me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. ¡°Both of you have seen Hall Leader Han¡¯s secret arts. She will heal Wild Horse, but I can¡¯t guarantee that she will heal him thoroughly. Maybe she will leave something else in him, so-¡±


    ¡°Immortal Peng won¡¯t fight back,¡± the disciple of the Essence Pavilion said. ¡°At least not tonight.¡±


    Han Wuxian giggled. She walked forward, poked her fingers in Wild Horse¡¯s chest several times, and then backed off.


    Wild Horse grabbed his sword and stood up abruptly, his face full of anger, but he didn¡¯t move.


    Han Wuxian ignored him. Pricking up her eyes, she affected an air of surprise. ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s subordinates are not fighting with the disciples of the Barren Sect, are they? That would be like a flood dashing against the Temple of the Dragon King. Oh, I¡¯m not saying that I¡¯m the ¡®flood¡¯. Don¡¯t be mad, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei raised his head and let out a whistling sound which sounded like a whistle. Han Wuxian raise her right hand, curved a finger and flipped her hand. A green fire shot up into the sky, leaving a trail about five or six feet in length. The straight trail over forty meters highsted quite a while in the air before dispersing.


    The sounds of fighting in the distance died away.


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s face also flushed red, but it was not because he was excited. He knew that the Dragon King would never trust anybody easily. The Dragon King had dared to take him to northern Jade City and then to City View Alley, so he must have made some preparations in advance.


    A rejoicing voice came from the distance. ¡°Darling, apologize to the Dragon King. Your subordinates actually said that they didn¡¯t know who the Dragon King was, so I punished them for you.¡±


    Han Wuxian slightly bent her knees and said to the Dragon King, ¡°Please forgive me, Dragon King. The disciples of the Barren Sect are not well-educated, and Han Wuxian failed to teach them how to behave. They actually dared to say such disrespectful words.¡±


    ¡°Um. Ignorance can be forgiven. Now, can you tell me how you knew that Lotus lost her strength?¡±


    ¡°Humph. I was nearly tricked by her.¡±


    Han Wuxian disclosed some more details. Her tone was angry, but the smile on her face was just as bright as usual.


    ¡°I had thought that Lotus had be invincible after absorbing the internal energy, but my precious daughter told me that Lotus hadn¡¯t found the right way to extract the Gu, and that she could only take a small amount of it at a time. After several months, she had only managed to absorb half of the internal energy. But for Lotus, even that was too much, and it caused her Daoless Divine Power to enter the period of dispersing internal energy ahead of schedule. She¡¯s like a cunning pixie. I spent so much time sounding her out, but I didn¡¯t expect that she would have dispersed her internal energy long ago. She was smart, though. She made an unexpected move and returned Han Xuan, who had less than half of the original internal energy left in her, to me. It turns out that there was no need for me to feel so afraid of her at all.¡±


    This exnation was more reasonable, and Gu Shenwei epted it. He turned and faced Shangguan Hong. ¡°What about your truth? I¡¯d like to hear it as well.¡±


    Shangguan Hong didn¡¯t expected that the Dragon King would suddenly switch targets and ask him a question. He felt a shiver of fear and involuntarily raised the soft sword, but he soon lowered it. After thinking for a while with his head down, he said, ¡°That night, I did kill the assassin, but I¡¯m not the one who killed the envoy of the Central ins. And¡­ I was ambushed and I took a sword strike in the waist.¡±


    For Shangguan Hong, that had been an unforgettable night. He had confirmed the strength of his swordsmanship. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that he had encountered a sneak attacker whose kung fu was better, and that his confidence had been shattered, he would have rebelled against the Dragon King in public.


    He had thought that he was on the top of the mountain, but it turned out that there were even higher mountains right in front of him.


    ¡°I really didn¡¯t kill the envoy of the Central ins. I had no idea who was in that carriage. I chose the target randomly. Please believe me, Dragon King,¡± Shangguan Hong added. Suddenly, a wave of shame flooded him. He despised himself for being so cowardly, but he was powerless to resist his instincts.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t say whether he believed him or not. He just asked questions, and he wouldn¡¯t tell others his thoughts. He then asked the other two people on the other side, ¡°Was the assassin a disciple of the Essence Pavilion?¡±


    Both the Essence Pavilion and Shangguan Hong were under themand of Lotus, but the behavior of thetter was clearly beyond Wild Horse¡¯s control, and he might have killed people on his own side.


    Wild Horse fixed his eyes on Han Wuxian, ignoring his cooperation with the disciple of the Essence Pavilion. The skinny, old man had no choice but to say, ¡°The Master Commander is the only one who knows everything.¡±


    ¡°Bring me to her.¡±


    ¡°A monthter-¡±


    Gu Shenwei whipped out his saber, leaped forward, and exchanged a move with each of the two people in the twinkling of an eye.


    Wild Horse and the disciple of the Essence Pavilion both stroked their faces respectively at the same time. When they saw the blood on their fingertips, they showed different expressions. The look on Wild Horse¡¯s face became even more gloomier, but his anger gradually subsided. A flicker of enthusiasm shed across the eyes of the skinny old man, but he still stubbornly believed that the Dragon King had learned his kung fu from the first Immortal Peng.


    Han Wuxian tried to persuade them. ¡°Neither of you are a match for the Dragon King. Just give up. Even I, Han Wuxian, have to submit to him, so it¡¯s not shameful for you to follow his orders. Even Lotus can¡¯t me you.¡±


    As if he hadn¡¯t heard her words, the disciple of the Essence Pavilion enunciated each word slowly and carefully said, ¡°Only a monthter can you meet the Master Commander.¡±


    Some people just couldn¡¯t be reasoned with. Gu Shenwei peered at the two people for a while and then decided to kill the skinny old man. Wild Horse held a deeper hatred against him, but he could understand a threat and be threatened while the disciple of the Essence Pavilion was impervious to reason, which meant that his existence would only cloud Wild Horse¡¯s judgement.


    Wild Horse sensed the Dragon King¡¯s killing intent. Holding his sword, he prepared himself for a fight. A while ago, most of his attention had been paid to Han Wuxian, so he was very unconvinced of that saber strike of the Dragon King¡¯s.


    Confidence was another basic principle of the Death Scripture, and sometimes, this kind of confidence would enable people to outdo themselves.


    ¡°Dragon King,¡± a breathless voice was heard. Before long, Han Fen hurriedly showed up, taking arge detour around Han Wuxian. ¡°Great. You¡¯re still here.¡±


    Han Wuxian asked in a tender voice, ¡°Han Fen, where did you take Han Xuan? You didn¡¯t hand her over to that Lady Shaomin, did you?¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha.¡± Han Fen hid herself behind the Dragon King, craned her neck, and answered, ¡°How do I know where Lady Shaomin is? I had no choice but to ask the Master Commander for help. You don¡¯t have to worry, Hall Leader. You¡¯ve heard Han Xuan yourself. The Master Commander is good to her.¡±


    Han Wuxian painfully regretted her misjudgment, but she just smiled and said nothing, waiting to see how the Dragon King would react.


    ¡°The Master Commander sent you here?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Han Fen walked out. ¡°The Master Commander said, ¡®the Dragon King wants to cooperate with me. We can discuss this. As a goodwill gesture, please show some mercy to the disciples of the Essence Pavilion. In particr, don¡¯t hurt Immortal Peng¡¯.¡±


    Han Fen repeated Lotus¡¯ words, but her tone was listless. She didn¡¯t like the weird ¡°Immortal Peng¡± and she had deliberately slowed down on her way here. But to her disappointment, he was still alive.


    ¡°Lotus is not far from here,¡± Han Wuxian suddenly interjected. ¡°We don¡¯t need Han Fen or Immortal Peng. I can find her myself.¡±


    Han Fen moved closer to the Dragon King, lowered her voice, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t trust the Hall Leader. She can¡¯t find the Master Commander. Um. Aren¡¯t you looking for the assassin who killed the envoy of the Central ins? Neither Waning Moon Hall nor the Essence Pavilion has anything to do with that event. In all of Jade City, the Kun Society is the only organization that has enough young killers skilled at narrow sabers.¡±


    Han Fen made some very coherent remarks, which was rare. She seemed to have forgotten to add the four words ¡°the Master Commander said.¡±


    Lotus was Gu Shenwei¡¯s enemy. But somehow, he still immediately believed these words.

 Chapter 891 - Restraint

    Chapter 891: Restraint


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Ru took a sip of her tea and carefully savored it with her head slightly raised. Feeling a bit embarrassed and confused, she asked the monk opposite her, ¡°I¡¯m drinking tea but I feel like I¡¯m drinking wine. Am I keeping or breaking the precept?¡±


    ¡°Breaking the precept.¡± The monk¡¯s answer was quite straightforward.


    ¡°It¡¯s really hard to be a monk. Fortunately, I¡¯m not going to be a nun.¡± Shangguan Ru smiled. Then, she said to another nearby monk, ¡°It¡¯s hard to imagine you standing this.¡±


    The rough-looking Lianqing blushed and put his palms together as he said, ¡°Actually ¡­ I¡¯m not a real monk.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? Aren¡¯t you Master Fayan¡¯s disciple?¡± Shangguan Ru asked in surprise.


    ¡°That¡¯s true. But I¡¯m no better than young benefactress. I keep the precepts on the surface, but deep in my mind, I break them. When I practice kung fu, I tell myself I¡¯m building my body. However, in my mind, I¡¯m actually thinking about how to kill my enemy. I am a vegetarian, but I prefer savory food like mushrooms because they taste like meat. My Master used to say that I was a one-legged monk with one of my feet on the ground and the other resting in the air. In other words, I can¡¯t stand stable. I can only be considered as a real monk when both feetnd on the ground.¡±


    ¡°One-legged monk.¡± Shangguan Ru felt like this description was funny and turned to ask the other monk, ¡°Master, didn¡¯t the Buddha say that he would introduce a convenient method to enlighten people with? Then why is it so hard to cross the threshold? I heard that one could be enlightened by simply chanting Amitabha.¡±


    The monk looked serious like a bald pedant and his answer to her questions was quick and simple, as if they were frequently asked questions that he had long memorized the answers to. ¡°The most convenient method varies from person to person. Some people may shrink back from difficulties but others may rise to the challenge. Thus, the ways they be enlightened are naturally different.¡±


    A little proud, Shangguan Ru said to Lianqing, ¡°Did you hear that? The master said we are people who rise to the challenge.¡±


    Lianqing nodded approvingly but then became frustrated again. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t be so happy about it. There is no difference in the Dharma, so there should also be no difference between the people learning it. If we don¡¯t stop thinking about the ¡®difference¡¯, then it merely means we haven¡¯t even crossed the threshold of Buddhism.¡±


    ¡°Then just stay at the threshold and be a receptionist or something. We can even sit down for a while if we are tired,¡± Shangguan Ru joked as she found the two monks more and more interesting.


    Lianqing repeatedly shook his head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to sit on the threshold. I want to enter the hall.¡±


    ¡°If there¡¯s no difference to anything, then what¡¯s the difference between sitting on the threshold and sitting in the hall?¡±


    Lianqing was speechless. After thinking for a long while, he had no choice but to turn to the other monk for help. ¡°Please help me, master.¡±


    ¡°Young benefactress should be aware of falling into nothingness. One has to understand that everything is distinct before knowing that there¡¯s no difference. All phenomena, near and far, have their own nature. Although each is distinctly different, they originate from the same pure essence. The threshold is the threshold; the hall is the hall; you are you, and I am myself. Thus all categories of phenomena have their own individual distinctions, but the true essence has no differences. You must bear this in mind before you can understand everything is one.¡±


    Nobody knew how much Lianqing had really understood from his words. ¡°Right!¡± He pped his thigh and eximed before sping his hands and bowed respectfully to the master.


    Shangguan Ru also did not fully understand. ¡°All categories of phenomena have their individual distinctions, but perceiving their essence has no differences.¡± Shangguan Ru muttered the phrase and seemed to have grasped something but couldn¡¯t exactly put it into words.


    The room fell silent. The two female soldiers guarding at the door exchanged a nce and smiled, thinking that the instructor had been possessed.


    ¡°The Dragon King is here,¡± someone announced outside.


    Lianqing abruptly rose up from the futon, but then quickly sat down and chanted sutras with his head lowered after realizing that he had acted too rashly.


    This was a public visit. The request had been made in the morning, and Gu Shenwei soon received a response. After some arrangements, he arrived at the Kun Society in the afternoon.


    The courtyard of the Kun Society was crowded with young people with the oldest being no more than seventeen years old. The entire ce exuded the distinctive style of Shangguan Ru ¡ª informality. Some young boys practiced kung fu while others chatted. They all looked very happy. The female soldiers who hadn¡¯t brought their arms with them bossed the teenagers around like a group of stern nannies. Well, they were indeed quite qualified for this job considering their ages.


    But from a killer¡¯s point of view, this ce was almost undefended.


    Shangguan Ru had not been good at such things when she was a child. The Kun Society back then had been truly operated by killer disciples like Servant Huan, Lotus, and Wild Horse. Now she seemed to have simply let it all go.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s conviction was shaken before he even entered the room.


    Han Fen had brought a message for Lotus, iming that the assassin who killed the Central ins envoy was probably a teenager of the Kun Society. Gu Shenwei thought that this was a clue but what he saw here made him doubt whether the teenagers of the Kun Society still retained their killer¡¯s ability.


    Training as a killer was like sailing against the current; one either kept forging ahead or one kept falling behind. Once they started cking, they would soon lose the instinctive vignce and killing desire that was vital to a killer. However, this seemed to be Shangguan Ru¡¯s exact goal.


    There were actually two monks in the room. Gu Shenwei felt surprised but also not so. He had merely thought that the monk wouldn¡¯t intervene so early.


    Wild Horse and the disciple of the Essence Pavilion seemed hostile to the appearance of the monks. They stood at the door and refused to move further in.


    Shangguan Ru smilingly stood up to greet them with an easy grace as if she were merely amon friend of the Dragon King¡¯s. ¡°The Dragon King is really punctual. Hello, Wild Horse, and this ¡­ Senior of the Essence Pavilion. Allow me to introduce these two. They are Fachong and Lianqing, eminent monks of the Four Noble Truths Temple.¡±


    Fachong, the old monk, rose to silently greet the guests with his palms sped. Lianqing corrected her, saying, ¡°I¡¯m not an eminent monk. I¡¯m just a monk, a one-legged monk.¡±


    Gu Shenwei returned the salute. ¡®Immortal Peng¡¯ didn¡¯t bow to greet the other side. Wild Horse looked down slightly when he faced Shangguan Ru, showing hisst memory and respect to his former master.


    ¡°My purpose here is very simple.¡± Gu Shenwei went straight to the point. ¡°In fact, you could have replied to me in a letter.¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s better to answer you face to face. But before that, I hope that you can do me a favor.¡±


    Gu Shenwei paused. He was already doing the Kun Society a favor by clearing the suspicion so he reluctantly said, ¡°Please go ahead.¡±


    ¡°Master Fachong is Master Fayan¡¯s senior brother. He heard that the Dragon King has mastered both the Daoless Divine Power and the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power. He was very curious, so ¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei was quite annoyed because Shangguan Ru still had not abandoned her obsession of removing his killing desire. ¡°So what?¡±


    Shangguan Ru turned to look at Fachong.


    Fachong raised his head, showing no sign of curiosity at all. ¡°Buddhism and Daoism are two different religions. I¡¯m wondering how the Dragon King can cultivate the internal energy manuals of different two religions in harmony.¡±


    The disciple of the Essence Pavilion at the door suddenly opened his mouth. ¡°Buddhism originates from Daoism. The Dao of Nothingness includes every internal energy manuals in the world within it, including the internal energy manuals of Buddhism.


    Lianqing red at him and refuted, ¡°Don¡¯t get so cocky. Is the Essence Pavilion really a Daoist sect? I¡¯m afraid that even the Daoists won¡¯t ept it.


    ¡°The Dao is the Dao. The Daoists can cultivate Daoism, the mortals can also cultivate Daoism, and so can the Essence Pavilion. We are one big family. Outside the great Dao, everything is crooked.¡± The disciple of the Essence Pavilion seemed to dislike the monks very much.


    Shangguan Ru forced out a smile and said, ¡°Do not rush to argue about who¡¯s superior. Let the Dragon King speak first.¡±


    Gu Shenwei walked up to Fachong and asked, ¡°You want to know why the two different sets of martial arts manuals work in peace with each other?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Then take this.¡±


    As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Shenwei pped Fachong in the chest. Both Lianqing and Shangguan Ru were shocked. They didn¡¯t expect that the Dragon King would suddenly make a move, and it was already toote for them to stop him.


    ¡°Please show mercy,¡± Shangguan Ru cried out.


    ¡°My Uncle Master doesn¡¯t know any kung fu ¡­¡± Lianqing rushed to say.


    Wild Horse and the disciple of the Essence Pavilion looked excited, but their excitement quickly turned into surprise.


    Fachong took the blow without dodging, but he neither vomited blood nor did he tremble. Instead, he nodded. ¡°Good. The Dragon King does have those two sets of divine power.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pulled back his palms without saying anything as if he had expected this response. Shangguan Ru¡¯s heart, however, thumped as she clearly understood that this was a sign that the Dragon King¡¯s killing desire had been stirred.


    ¡°So Master Fachong also knows kung fu,¡± Shangguan Ru said with deceptive ease.


    Lianqing scratched his bald head while puzzledly asking, ¡°Uncle Master, when did you ¡­ Have you been always a kung fu practitioner? I don¡¯t remember hearing that from my Master.¡±


    ¡°Kung fu is what the Central ins and the Western Regions calls it. In Buddhism, it¡¯s just another form of meditation.¡± Fachong then turned to the Dragon King, his serious face changing slightly before he said in a respectful yet sympathetic tone. ¡°Does the Dragon King feel he was deceived by junior brother Fayan?¡±


    ¡°He was a liar, wasn¡¯t he?¡±


    Lianqing roared, ¡°Do not insult my Master. He kindly passed the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power to you¡­¡±


    ¡°So that one day I wouldn¡¯t be a threat to the Four Noble Truths Temple.¡± Gu Shenwei interrupted Lianqing, his strong killing intent indeed aroused. ¡°He passed me the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power but didn¡¯t tell me the Four Noble Truths Temple had a special method for restraining it.¡±


    Lianqing became more and more confused. ¡°A method to restrain the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power? Why haven¡¯t I heard of it?¡±


    Gu Shenwei ignored him. Lianqing had be a monkte in life and there were too many things that he had never heard of.


    Fachong shook his head and said, ¡°Why has the wise Dragon King also be confused? You have thousands of men under yourmand and can easily destroy the Four Noble Truths Temple. What¡¯s the use of worrying about your Sumeru Mustard Divine Power being restrained?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was stunned again. His trust and dependence on his martial arts skills had always been greater than the importance he attached to his army; only now had he be keenly aware of this.


    Fachong continued. ¡°The Sumeru Mustard Divine Power is also a method for meditation. What I¡¯ve learned is no different from that of the Dragon King. As for the restraining method, the Dragon King¡¯s internal energy isn¡¯t pure. There¡¯s devil Qi mingling with your internal Qi. However, not only has the Dragon King not exorcised it, but you even regard it as an offensive weapon and use it by transferring it into other people¡¯s bodies. The result can only be you being bogged down deeper and deeper in the wrong way.¡±


    Eyes lit up, Shangguan Ru couldn¡¯t help but take a step forward and look at the Dragon King. ¡°The master is right.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s internal energy was veryplicated as it contained two different types of internal Qi: the Daoless Divine Power and the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power. He had used his family-inherited internal energy manual, the Bnced Power, to divide the two into yin and yang energy so that they would not conflict. Then, he had been able to use the yin and yang energy to drive the frosty Qi to attack the enemy.


    Fachong said he was bing bogged down deeper and deeper in the wrong way, but Gu Shenwei did not think so. Ever since he created this unique martial arts skill, his Qi deviation had greatly decreased, and had not broken out for more than half a year. This was a much better signpared to before.


    But he understood why he couldn¡¯t injure the old monk. The martial arts of the Buddhists were created to subdue the demon. The frosty Qi was devilish so it was no wonder that it had been restrained.


    ¡°Please take my second blow, master.¡± Gu Shenwei said with even more respect andunched a second blow. This time he didn¡¯t use any techniques, not even the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power which was considered to be yang energy. Instead, his blow was infused purely with the Daoless Divine Power. He wanted to know how powerful this old monk¡¯s internal energy was.


    His palms hit Fachong¡¯s chest. The elderly monk spat out a mouthful of blood while the Dragon King himself fell straight to the ground. The onlookers were all shocked.

 Chapter 892 - Benefits

    Chapter 892: Benefits


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s Qi deviation always broke out without any outward symptoms, so no observer could tell, including strangers and enemies, which made him feel very ashamed. But his fainting had resolved a possible dispute. Although Fachong had vomited blood and Lianqing¡¯s face was aze with anger, neither of them took the chance to make a move.


    Shangguan Ru immediately grabbed the Dragon King out of instinct and didn¡¯t rx her grip until he regained consciousness. Feeling bashful, she smiled to hide her embarrassment.


    Wild Horse and the disciple of the Essence Pavilion at the door simultaneously leaned slightly to the left. The two female soldiers barely noticed the slight movement. Even if they saw it, they wouldn¡¯t understand what threat their movement insinuated.


    Both the Dragon King and the monk had been injured. Such a Heaven-sent chance couldn¡¯t be nned in advance. But it hade so unexpectedly that even the bined Immortal Peng,¡¯ who had a tacit understanding with each other couldn¡¯t help but hesitate for a while.


    ¡°Do not rush to get up.¡±


    Fachong opened his mouth, his voice loud and full of momentum as if he weren¡¯t badly injured at all. Wild Horse had a momentary disagreement with the disciple of the Essence Pavilion. He was leaning towards making a move, but he still followed the skinny old man¡¯s direction and gave up on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.


    Upon hearing this, Gu Shenwei, however, became even more determined to stand up. He took a deep breath and forcefully suppressed the restless frosty Qi, saying, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that you would have such a strong internal energy.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had felt the might of the eminent monk of the Four Noble Truths Temple through thest blow. Fachong¡¯s internal Qi was like a mighty ocean. Although he had injured the other side, he wasn¡¯t able to reach the core of the deep internal Qi. It was like a turbulent river rushing into the sea; no matter how much momentum it had, it would appear small and weak in front of the boundless ocean.


    ¡°What a powerful Daoless Divine Power. The Dragon King has forged a new path. That¡¯s really impressive.¡±


    Lianqing was quite unconvinced about his Uncle Master¡¯s praise for the Dragon King. Although he had given up his hatred, he still couldn¡¯t help but dislike the Dragon King in his heart. He angrily said, ¡°It¡¯s nothing but an unorthodox way. Uncle Master didn¡¯t even move his hand but still defeated you. If I were you ¡­¡±


    Lianqing hurriedly shut up. He had unwittingly thought like a bandit. If it were the former him, he would have killed the Dragon King when he had passed out. Spitting blood was just a small injury, but Qi deviation was a deadly w.


    Fachong shook his head, neither refuting nor criticizing his Martial Nephew¡¯s loss ofposure. He looked at the Dragon King and said, ¡°I think that I can stand it. Please strike again, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°No!¡±


    Shangguan Ru and Lianqing cried out in unison, but what they thought waspletely different.


    ¡°Uncle Master, the Dragon King is ¡­ wicked and merciless. He won¡¯t show mercy again. Uncle Master¡­ Uncle Master doesn¡¯t owe him anything. Why take three palm strikes for no reason?¡±


    ¡°You two hold no grudges against each other and this is the first time you have met. Why get into a fight? Right now, the master is not acting like a master and the Dragon King is not acting like the Dragon King. Can¡¯t you just talk it out? This is the Kun Society, and you all have to listen to me.¡±


    Shangguan Ru spoke aggressively and behaved quite like a leader of a society. She had invited the monk to cure the Dragon King. She didn¡¯t want to see him undergo Qi deviation again.


    A strange smile appeared on Fachong¡¯s serious face. He looked a bit awkward and also a little conniving as if he were a strict teacher who had made an obvious mistake that had been pointed out by his students. ¡°Benefactress is right. You are in charge here.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took one look at Shangguan Ru but immediately looked away when meeting her eyes. ¡°The monk¡¯s internal energy is unfathomable. He can easily take my palm strike.¡±


    ¡°What about you?¡± Shangguan Ru asked in a low voice, appearing a bit angry because the Dragon King had forced her to show her stance.


    ¡°I just want to solve a difficult problem ¡­¡±


    ¡°My Uncle Master has unhindered eloquence and is number one in debating Buddhist doctrines in the Western Regions. The Dragon King can just open his mouth if he¡¯s puzzled. There¡¯s no need to fight.¡± Lianqing didn¡¯t believe in the Dragon King at all. His Master Fayan had passed away right before him. He didn¡¯t want to see the temple lose another eminent monk.


    Fachong motioned for his Martial Nephew not to speak. Then he looked at Shangguan Ru, waiting for this Kun Society Leader to open her mouth.


    Shangguan Ru found herself in an awkward situation now. She vaguely felt that the Dragon King and the monk held no grudges against each other but she wasn¡¯t sure. ¡°I don¡¯t want to see anyone vomit blood or¡­ fall to the ground. Anyway, I don¡¯t want to see anyone get hurt. Can you promise that?¡±


    ¡°This old monk¡¯s body is still strong. I¡¯m not afraid of minor injuries.¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t want to see anyone get hurt, not even a minor injury.¡± Shangguan Ru immediately shook her head.


    ¡°No one will get hurt,¡± said Gu Shenwei. He was anxious to try again, even though he had an idea of the oue.


    ¡°Then no one will get hurt.¡± Fachong lowered his arms, ready to take another blow.


    Shangguan Ru silently took two steps back, seemingly acquiescing towards the two¡¯s thoughtless move. Seeing that she had retreated, Lianqing appeared quite disappointed. The ¡®Immortal Peng¡¯ at the door was still expressionless. The two had just wasted a good chance and this time, they decided to firmly seize it.


    Gu Shenwei casually struck out with another palm blow.


    Both Wild Horse and the disciple of the Essence Pavilion were disappointed because this blow wasn¡¯t swift and fierce at all and caused no puff of wind. It turned out that the Dragon King hadunched a perfunctory blow after spending so much time striving for it.


    Even Shangguan Ru and Lianqing were a bit surprised and speechless for the time being.


    ¡°Does the Dragon King understand?¡± asked Fachong.


    Gu Shenwei nodded and then shook his head again. ¡°No, this won¡¯t work.¡±


    None of the people nearby understood the meaning behind his words. Impatient and disregarding his Uncle Master¡¯s prohibition, Lianqing indignantly asked, ¡°Understand what? What won¡¯t work?¡±


    Fachong sat back on the futon with his hands closed and his eyes drooped. He didn¡¯t say anything else, obviously thinking that that was the end of it and that there was no need to fight anymore.


    Shangguan Ru looked into the eyes of the Dragon King, her dark eyes full of stubbornness. Gu Shenwei knew that he had to give her an exnation. ¡°My Qi deviation came from my inverse practice of the Daoless Divine Power. The devil Qi will exist forever if I don¡¯t remove the divine power. The only solution is to use the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power to disperse the Daoless Divine Power, but I don¡¯t want to do that.¡±


    In fact, Gu Shenwei had spected about this long ago, but it had been just a guess and the previous tests had provided some factual basis.


    During his third blow, he had used pure Sumeru Mustard Divine Power. Like a pebble being dropped into the sea, his internal Qi had hit the internal Qi of Fachong¡¯s which was of the same type and more powerful, but it had caused no harm at all. But the moment the two internal Qi met each other, Fachong¡¯s internal Qi had also entered the Dragon King¡¯s body. It had quickly circted through his meridian once, actually removing the remaining frosty Qi caused by the Qi deviationpletely.


    The source of the frosty Qi, however, was still entangled with the internal Qi of the Daoless Divine Power. To exorcise it, Gu Shenwei still had to use the method he had just said: abolish the Daoless Divine Power that he had built up with hard practice.


    Gu Shenwei would take this route.


    Lianqing didn¡¯t care about the Dragon King¡¯s life or death, but he knew that ¡®defeating¡¯ the Daoless Divine Power through the Dragon King was the long-cherished wish of several eminent monks, including his Master Fayan. So he said, ¡°Is the Dragon King afraid of losing his internal strength? I can¡¯t guarantee that the Sumeru Mustard is the best internal energy manual in the world and that it¡¯s not inferior to the Daoless Divine Power. Why not forsake heresy and return to the right way? Besides, you are already a king of the Western Regions. With a powerful army under yourmand, what does it matter even if you are a bit weaker in martial arts? After all, you don¡¯t rely on that to fight for hegemony.¡±


    Although Lianqing was a reckless monk, what he had just said was quite reasonable. He had actually spoken what was on Shangguan Ru¡¯s mind. Shangguan Ru threw a grateful nce at the monk before looking expectantly at the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know how to exin it, but kung fu was a part of him, a very important part of him. Without the Death Sutra, he wouldn¡¯t have be the current Dragon King. Revenge, fighting for hegemony, and everything else was affected by his kung fu. The Daoless Divine Power and the Death Sutraplemented each other. He and Lotus hadn¡¯t realized it when they had first started practicing the swordsmanship. But ever since they obtained the seven chapters of the Daoless Scroll, he had be increasingly convinced that the power of the Death Sutra Swordsmanship would be greatly diminished without this internal energy manual as its foundation.


    Gu Shenwei breathed out gently, which sounded like a restrained sigh. Then he looked at Wild Horse and the disciple of the Essence Pavilion at the door, but said to Shangguan Ru, ¡°I wonder whether the assassin who killed the envoy of the Central ins was from the Kun Society or not.¡±


    Seeing that the Dragon King refused to answer his question, Monk Lianqing no longer said anything and instead retreated to the futon besides Fachong, silently chanting sutras with his eyes closed.


    Full of disappointment, Shangguan Ru remained silent for a while without further trying to persuade him. When she opened her mouth again, she said, ¡°I don¡¯t know who the assassin was, but I can guarantee that none of the members of the Kun Society has left thepound these past days. They all live well.¡±


    Thinking of the undisciplined disciples he had seen outside, Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help but doubt her ¡®guarantee.¡¯ ¡°The assassin seems to be a killer disciple of Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    ¡°Is there any mark on his body? Like ¡­¡±


    Like a brand on the arm, a half tongue, or scars all over the body. Gu Shenwei understood what she was saying, but he shook his head. ¡°No. I just feel that feeling from him.¡±


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t ask what he could feel from a corpse. She didn¡¯t know that Gu Shenwei had inspected countless corpses of killer disciples and had developed a unique sense for it.


    Shangguan Ru smiled. ¡°Right, I did take most of the killer disciples, but how could you suspect the Kun Society? I hold no grudges against the Central ins envoy.¡±


    ¡°First, the people of the Kun Society may not follow your order. Second, hatred may not be the only reason to kill.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Then I¡¯d like to ask the Dragon King why a mysterious person or myself would assassinate the envoy of the Central ins? What benefits could I possibly gain from it?¡± Shangguan Ru¡¯s tone also became tough.


    Gu Shenwei usually would not voice his guesses in advance, but to Shangguan Ru, he decided to make an exception. ¡°If it was really someone mysterious, his purpose would be to remove his suspicion. If it was you¡­ assassinating the envoy of the Central ins has benefited the Kun Society and the Four Noble Truths Temple.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was too surprised to speak. Fachong remained unmoved, but Lianqing could no longer maintain hisposure. He red at the Dragon King and questioned, ¡°Is the Dragon King saying that the Four Noble Truths Temple killed the envoy of the Central ins?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying that the Four Noble Truths Temple will gain some benefits from it.¡±


    ¡°Benefits? What benefits?¡± asked Lianqing aggressively.


    ¡°Create a disaster for Jade City and then save Jade City from it. That could be what the Four Noble Truths Temple is doing.¡±


    It was because of all the lobbying of an eminent monk from the Four Noble Truths Temple that Wei Song had coordinated the various parties to announce a temporary truce. But the Dragon King had surprisingly called this act of kindness a conspiracy. Lianqing was also choking with anger at this point.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t care whether it was an eminent monk or not. He only knew one thing. Every time Jade City was in crisis, people would turn to the Four Noble Truths Temple for help. Even the armistice between Golden Roc Castle and Waning Moon Hall had been made under the mediation of the monks. Therefore, he had the impression that the stronger the crisis, the higher the status of the monks.


    Lianqing was just an ordinary monk and didn¡¯t know much insider information. But Fachong was different. Gu Shenwei remembered that this monk was one of the seven eminent monks chanting nearby when he met the Unique King at the Four Noble Truths Temple.


    When faced with such a serious usation, this senior monk didn¡¯t even open his eyes as if he had not heard any of it.

 Chapter 893 - Answer

    Chapter 893: Answer


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Like a chained lion, Lianqing growled, showing two rows of huge teeth as his sharp ws rubbed gently against the ground as if he would break free at any time.


    He had never liked the Dragon King. Upon hearing his usation, he became even angrier. ¡°Take back what you just said,¡± he said as he clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking.


    Gu Shenwei continued staring at Monk Fachong instead of responding to Lianqing¡¯s request or taking Shangguan Ru¡¯s hints. He believed that interests were the only mutually epted principle in the world, and that even the monks couldn¡¯t remain aloof from it. The monks had ¡®helped¡¯ him several times by healing him and passing him the kung fu manual. However, there must be a purpose behind all their deeds.


    Fachong, who seemed to feel the Dragon King¡¯s eyes boring into him, slowly opened his eyes and said to Lianqing beside him, ¡°The Dragon King has nothing to take back. Why is Martial Nephew is so irritable?¡±


    ¡°What? The Dragon King said¡­ he ndered the Four Noble Truths Temple¡­¡±


    ¡°I heard it. It was merely a guess and it is notpletely untrue.¡±


    ¡°Uncle Master¡­¡± Lianqing widened his eyes in surprise, not understanding what Fachong was saying.


    Shangguan Ru also couldn¡¯t understand. ¡°Notpletely untrue? Master¡­ That¡¯s impossible. The death of the Central ins envoy has nothing to do with the Four Noble Truths Temple.¡±


    Fachong held out a string of Buddhist prayer beads in his hand and asked, ¡°What is this?¡±


    His question had no specificity to it and it was too simple, so Lianqing honestly replied, ¡°Prayer beads.¡±


    ¡°What else?¡±


    Lianqing paused, scratched his head, and smiled in embarrassment. ¡°Uncle Master knows that I¡¯m not good at witty questions.¡±


    ¡°A bunch of wood,¡± Shangguan Ru answered.


    ¡°What else?¡± Fachong continued asking the same question.


    ¡°A string of cash,¡± answered Gu Shenwei. He wanted to see what the monk¡¯s purpose was.


    Lianqing couldn¡¯t help but resort to his bandit¡¯s mindset again. Looking at the prayer beads wrapping around his Uncle Master¡¯s wrist, he thought that these beads were made of sandalwood, equal in size and uniform in color. They might not be worth too much money, but they were not cheap either. In short, they were not trash. Thinking of this, he anxiously corrected his mindset and med himself for his random thoughts. Meanwhile, he secretlyined about the Dragon King. Ever since the other side showed up, he had unconsciously broken the precepts several times.


    ¡°It¡¯s also a sharp weapon for killing,¡± said the disciple of the Essence Pavilion in a stiff and disdainful voice. ¡°The 108 beads are enough to kill 108 people with a flick of the finger. The monk has that power.¡±


    ¡°Master won¡¯t kill people,¡± Shangguan Ru refuted before Lianqing could open his mouth.


    ¡°To killing or to not kill is all in his hand. No one can stop him.¡± The disciple of the Essence Pavilion didn¡¯t believe in the sayings of Buddhism at all.


    Gu Shenwei stopped the argument and turned to Fachong, ¡°What do you want to say?¡±


    ¡°The same thing is different in the eyes of different people, and so is what the Dragon King said. You said the Four Noble Truths Temple could benefit from the death of the Central ins envoy, and it¡¯s true. But power and influence in the Dragon King¡¯s eyes is exactly the so-calledpassion in the eyes of me and many other monks. Delivering all living creatures from torment cannot be achieved solely through the persuasions of several monks. Even Buddha had to rely on the power of emperors to influence the world, let alone us, themon monks.¡±


    ¡°Mystifying things again,¡± the disciple of the Essence Pavilionmented. It sounded quite ironic and self-mocking when he said the words ¡®mystifying things.¡¯ ¡°Did the monks hire someone to kill the envoy? Or did the monks know in advance? That¡¯s all. Why make things look unnecessarily mysterious?¡±


    The disciple of the Essence Pavilion seemed to be unable to keep hisposure in front of the monk, and spoke so bluntly that it wasn¡¯t in the Immortal Peng¡¯s style at all. Wild Horse, on the other hand, looked a bit dazed. Gu Shenwei admired the skinny old man even more now.


    ¡°There¡¯s only one statement, but the viewpoint depends on the Dragon King.¡± Inparison, Fachong appeared much calmer.


    The monk still hadn¡¯t answered directly, so Gu Shenwei also refused to rify his ¡®view.¡¯


    Shangguan Ru suddenly opened her mouth. ¡°Is the Dragon King sure that the assassin is a killer disciple?¡±


    ¡°It seems so.¡±


    ¡°Well, you should know that not all the killer disciples of Golden Roc Castle are in the Kun Society.¡±


    ¡°Where else?¡±


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t answer.


    Gu Shenwei suddenly understood. The information she provided was so simple that she could have said it in the very beginning, but hadn¡¯t until thest moment. There was only one person who could make her so hesitant.


    Gu Shenwei nodded slightly to Fachong and then said to Shangguan Ru, ¡°Sorry to disturb you. Goodbye.¡±


    ¡°Walk yourself out.¡± The tension in the air was palpable. Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t even see the Dragon King off.


    Lianqing was puzzled by the result. ¡°The Dragon King is leaving just like that? He hasn¡¯t even asked anything yet. What a strange fellow, Uncle Master¡­¡±


    Lianqing became more confused as he saw that the eminent monk Fachong, who was always serious and calm, had actually be a bit disheartened.


    Outside the Kun Society, over a hundred guards were waiting for the Dragon King in the streets and alleys. A little further away from them were crowds of enthusiastic residents. The appearance of the Dragon King immediately caused a big stir in the crowd.


    Gu Shenwei knew that this would be the norm in the future and that he would never be able to hide in the crowd unless he disguised himself or did so at night. This was a great sess for a king but a shameful failure for a killer.


    Fachong¡¯s metaphor made sense in this asion as well.


    The guards nervously cleared the way while Gu Shenwei calmly greeted the cheering crowd. Wild Horse and the disciple of the Essence Pavilion obviously didn¡¯t like the noisy scene. They pulled up the hoods of their cloaks and consciously kept their distance from the Dragon King.


    Back in the stronghold in southern Jade City, the disciple of the Essence Pavilion jumped off of the horse, grabbed the Dragon King¡¯s reins, and asked, ¡°Do you believe the monk¡¯s nonsense?¡±


    The skinny old man¡¯s rude tone and manner aroused the dissatisfaction of many guards around. Gu Shenwei looked down at him and said, ¡°You know very well what my attitude towards nonsense is.¡±


    There was a sh of anger in the eyes of the Essence Pavilion disciple. Of course he remembered how the Dragon King had killed the dwarf Immortal Peng.


    Chu Nanping walked over with one hand holding a sword and the other stretched out in front of his chest, making a gesture of stopping the skinny old man.


    The Essence Pavilion disciple let go of his reins and retreated two steps, his angry eyes turning to Chu Nanping, who was the biggest traitor of the Essence Pavilion. In his eyes, he was even more detestable than the Dragon King.


    Chu Nanping stared back at him. There seemed to be a trace of coldness in his pretty eyes.


    As soon as he went back to his room, Gu Shenwei summoned Xu Xiaoyi and ordered him to start collecting information about the Four Noble Truths Temple from now on. He really didn¡¯t believe the ¡®nonsense¡¯ no matter who said it.


    Very surprised by the order, Xu Xiaoyi couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Those monks? What should I look into?¡±


    ¡°Things like who they regrly visit and their identities before they became a monk.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi nodded and quickly made a rough n in his mind. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s easy. I already know of one. Golden Roc Castle often invites the monks to dispel misfortune or evil spirits. As for the monks¡¯ identities, I¡¯ve heard since childhood that the Four Noble Truths Temple is also known as the Temple of Kings. Many monks used to be a king, prince, and so on.¡±


    ¡°I need more detailed information.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Xu Xiaoyi took the order and left, trying to find a reason to follow the Dragon King¡¯s train of thought.


    Sitting in the room alone, Gu Shenwei was directing his internal Qi to inspect his body. After several cycles, he found that his mind was wavering. The method of eradicating Qi deviation was inside him. He just couldn¡¯t turn a blind eye to it. The pain of the icy needles was indescribable. Even just thinking about it made his body shake. It was extremely tempting to remove it forever.


    His Sumeru Mustard energy was still a little weak and not enough to resist the yin energy that he had cultivated for many years, but Fachong was certainly willing to help. That old monk had made it very clear that to deliver all living creatures from torment, the monks needed the help of kings. The emperors pursued secr power while the monks pursued faith. But unlike mortals, they returned the favor in advance, not afterward.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s reasons for refusing were not particrly clear. It did not seem to affect his contest for hegemony if he handed over his faith. Rather, he was actually wary of himself. He was afraid that his momentary weakness would lead him from the established path of revenge. He was more afraid that once his Qi deviation was cured, his hatred, as well as his kung fu skills, would also weaken.


    As night fell, Gu Shenwei severed his thoughts and asked the guards to call in several people.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be guarding the ce tonight, not on shifts but together.¡±


    Han Wuxian elegantly bowed and received the order. Shangguan Hong also said ¡°yes¡± with his head lowered. The two were fine with it as their reverence toward the Dragon King had reached its peak.


    The ¡®Immortal Peng¡¯ duo,posed of Wild Horse and the disciple of the Essence Pavilion, wasn¡¯t that easy to talk to. They stayed with the Dragon King as a guarantee that the Master Commander would meet the Dragon King, a guarantee that Waning Moon Hall and Essence Pavilion had nothing to do with the death of the Central ins envoy. ¡°Immortal Peng is not your underling.¡±


    ¡°My orders are not limited to my subordinates.¡±


    The four eyes of ¡®Immortal Peng¡¯ were cold and arrogant, but they made no further objections and turned to Han Wuxian instead. The dispute between them had not yet been resolved.


    Before the four-man team started their duty, Gu Shenwei had already left the stronghold with only one person at his side.


    Shangguan Fei was very surprised that he had been chosen and dared not ask about the purpose of the trip. But he still reminded the Dragon King, ¡°I¡¯m not a good killer like Lotus, and I¡¯m not even as good as Chu Nanping. If the Dragon King wants to guard his nk and rear, it¡¯d be better to call another person toe with us. Tie Linglong will do. I think that the two of us will probably be enough.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need tonight.¡±


    Shangguan Fei felt more at ease. ¡°No risk? That¡¯s great¡­ I mean, the Dragon King really shouldn¡¯t take any chances. You are not what you used to be.¡±


    Before long, the two began to move stealthily across the roofs of southern Jade City, so Shangguan Fei also kept his mouth shut.


    It was almost the third night watch period when they entered northern Jade City. Shangguan Fei became agitated not only because this was the territory of Golden Roc Castle, but also because they were getting closer and closer to the old mansion of the Meng family.


    On a roof opposite the Meng family mansion, Gu Shenwei said in a low voice, ¡°Take me to Lady Meng.¡±


    Although Shangguan Fei had expected this, he was still taken aback by the order. ¡°Well¡­ Well¡­ My mother and I usually meet in southern Jade City. I don¡¯t know where she lives. The Meng family mansion is so big ¡­¡±


    ¡°Think carefully and answer with caution,¡± Gu Shenwei said, increasing his strength slightly.


    Shangguan Fei immediately yielded. ¡°Oh, I remember now. My mother told me once that she lived in a small courtyard in the east of the garden. It shouldn¡¯t be hard to find, but this is northern Jade City. She should be sleeping now¡­ But that¡¯s no problem. I¡¯m her son. My mother won¡¯t care. And she also keeps saying that she wants to see the Dragon King.¡±


    The three-day deadline set by Wei Song would soone. Golden Roc Castle was searching for the assassin everywhere in Jade City, and Zhong Heng was inquiring about the leaker around the envoy of the Central ins, while Gu Shenwei had found Lady Meng.


    The killer disciples who hadn¡¯t joined the Kun Society must have been gathered up by Lady Meng, which was why Shangguan Ru had hesitated.

 Chapter 894 - The Young Lady of the Meng Family

    Chapter 894: The Young Lady of the Meng Family


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Lady Meng of Golden Roc Castle had a little-known maiden name ¡ª Shengxiao <sup>1</sup> . There seemed to be an omen about her unwillingness to be outdone from birth. She had let out a cry so loud that her father, who was waiting outside, had thought he had received a son. In that moment, that name had shed across his mind, and he hadn¡¯t changed it even after finding out that the baby was a girl.


    Her prescient father had died young and her mother, who was weak and easy to bully, had lost her protection and lived in fear for less than two years before passing away. From then on, the nine year old Meng Shengxiao had lived under another¡¯s roof.


    Sometimes, she thought that her personality and attitude towards life was more likely to have been formed through her eight-year struggle for survival than from that manly name.


    She called her experience of living under the roof of the Meng family as a ¡®struggle¡¯ because it wasn¡¯t a good memory at all. She and the Meng family were not close rtives. The reason why she could even live in foster care in the Meng family was because of the generous legacy that her father had left her. And she had never forgotten about it. So, after entering the door of the Meng family, she had regarded herself as a realdy and had fought back bravely against all those who dared to challenge it, thus winning the title of ¡°Miss Wild.¡±


    Some still remembered the anecdotes of this Miss Wild to this day. She had smashed an aunt¡¯s dowry simply because the other side snorted softly as she passed by; she had forced her cousins, aunts, and uncles to obey her orders and those who were disobedient had all been isted; all the servants in the inner chamber had cleverly epted her as the real master after the first month of her entering the mansion.


    At that time, Meng Yuzun had just taken over the family business and be the head of the family. No one knew whether it was because he wanted to establish a reputation of benevolence or it was because he believed that his distant niece had a promising future, but he had always quietly supported her deeds and hadn¡¯t punished her even when the olddy was angry about her mischief.


    This support was perceived as indulgence in others¡¯ eyes, but Meng Shengxiao could not feel it. From top to bottom, all she felt was hostility, either overt or covert. What she often said was, ¡°I came to the Meng family with my fortune, and I am not a beggar begging for food and shelter. Why should I swallow my pride and endure in silence?¡±


    The Meng family had been making arrangements for Miss Wild¡¯s marriage since she was twelve, but anyone who inquired a little bit about her dared not to marry such a girl no matter how many dowries the Meng family was willing to offer. Even Meng Yuzun became a bit anxious when she was sixteen years old and swore that if her marriage couldn¡¯t be decided in another year, then she would casually marry a rich man in southern Jade City, where people dared to kill each other for money and where even the most hard-hearted woman had to lower her head.


    Just then, the Unique King¡¯s wife died and he decided to marry someone else. As was customary, his new wife had to be a woman surnamed Meng.


    Meng Yuzun had several cousins of the right age who were as beautiful as flowers. The Unique King could choose at will. However, he would not listen to the matchmakers¡¯ extravagantly colorful description, and neither would he inquire about any rumors through the maids. He wanted to see his new wife in person.


    It was an unusual request. Even the kings of the kingdoms in the Western Regions dared not to be so rude to the Meng family at that time. But for some reason, Meng Yuzun agreed to it and regarded it as an honor.


    There were eight candidates in total, who were all gorgeously dressed, awaiting the Assassin King¡¯s selection. But before the Unique King came, they had already turned pale because rumors said that the former Lady Meng of Golden Roc Castle had died not of illness but had actually been killed. As for the means, there were at least five different versions, all of which were went like the horrible stories of man-devouring demons.


    But Meng Shengxiao wasn¡¯t afraid. She even made herself the first woman the Unique King saw when he walked into the garden.


    As Meng Yuzun¡¯s niece, Meng Shengxiao was actually not one of the candidates. But she decided for herself that instead of being married into southern Jade City, which was full of sabers and swords, it was better to choose Golden Roc Castle which was full of killers.


    On that day, she had dressed up carefully, looking neither too shabby nor showy. With a light green dress, she appeared much taller and slimmer. All the people in the garden had followed her order to hide in the room. Only she, along with two maids, had gone to the garden, pretending to pick flowers and ¡®identally¡¯ running into the Unique King who hade to choose a wife.


    Meng Shengxiao then gracefully greeted Meng Yuzun, who was apanying the Unique King before continuing to head for the garden under the gape of her uncle. During the whole process, she hadn¡¯t nced at the Unique King even once, as if she didn¡¯t know him at all.


    The Unique King knew that theposure of the woman dressed in green was all an act. Everyone in the city knew that he wasing to the Meng family to choose his wife. A youngdy of the Meng family could not avoid learning of it.


    The selection hastily ended. The eight cousins of Meng Yuzun were too frightened. Upon seeing the Unique King walking into the garden, they were like a flock of sheep watching the butcher stepping into the sheepfold, all of them trembling with tears.


    Among a flock of timidmbs, Meng Shengxiao was as conspicuous as a fearless sheepdog. She was chosen even before the Unique King left the Meng family mansion.


    Meng Yuzun was worn out by his cousins¡¯ performance and was very delighted that the Unique King chose someone, especially when this person was one of the girls that he was anxious to marry out. The only thing that he worried about was that Meng Shengxiao was his niece, which meant that the Unique King would technically be his nephew ording to the family hierarchy. He dared not take advantage of it and assume that he was superior to the Unique King.


    The Unique King easily solved the problem. ¡°She¡¯s also surnamed Meng. She¡¯s a recement for my former wife so her seniority will naturally be that of my former wife.¡±


    Thest Lady Meng had been Meng Yuzun¡¯s younger sister. And with that, the marriage was settled and everyone was happy. Many people even gloated over it and wanted to see how many days Miss Wild could survive at Golden Roc Castle.


    At the age of seventeen, Meng Shengxiao became the new Lady Meng.


    Miss Wild survived. Lady Meng had inherited her father¡¯s business-oriented mind. From the first moment she had walked in front of the Unique King in her green dress, she had never dreamed that their marriage would be a model of a devoted couple.


    She had heard enough about the Assassin King on the mountain peak. After discarding the obvious nonsense, the rest was enough for her to outline her future husband and develop strategies to deal with him: Be haughty and gorgeous in the Hall and curry favor with him on the bed.


    The Unique King was in his prime at that time, and was like an inexperienced teenager in the bed. He was silent and savage and showed no tenderness toward his new wife.


    Lady Meng endured it, and she actually enjoyed it with such pleasure that, after a very brief period of agony, she had begun to enjoy her husband¡¯s rough manners in the bed with all her heart. Eventually, she even started loving her husband who was much older than her.


    That love soon disappeared. After finding out that she alone couldn¡¯t satisfy her husband¡¯s lust, she became frustrated and jealous. Then, she made a bold decision to ask Meng Yuzun, who was at the mountain foot, for help.


    Meng Yuzun was always worried that this disobedient niece of his would bring big trouble to the Meng family. He couldn¡¯t help but be overjoyed when receiving her message for help and he immediately started purchasing beautiful women everywhere.


    Lady Meng found out her husband¡¯s preference and made many rules for Meng Yuzun, the most important of which was not to send any prostitute. The Unique King scorned prostitutes. Even Xiao Fengchai at her peak couldn¡¯t arouse his interest. He liked women who had a clean personal record ¨C the nobler, the better.


    There weren¡¯t that many disced noblewomen in the Western Regions, but it wasn¡¯t difficult to find them either. Each woman sent to the Unique King¡¯s room with the instruction of Lady Meng would have a detailed record, including her real name, date of birth, ce of origin, parents, and siblings, etc. Even the person with the worst family background was the daughter of a businessman orndowner.


    It was not until muchter that Lady Meng realized that the entricity of the Unique King came from his insatiable desire to conquer.


    Lady Meng gradually took over a considerable part of the power of Golden Roc Castle. After giving birth to the twins, her position only became more and more stable. She defeated several young masters one after another and paved the way for her son until an illegitimate son of the Unique King suddenly ruined everything.


    Lady Meng loathed Shangguan Hong and his mother, not because he might be a rival to her son but rather because he was born after she married into the castle. Thus, he was living proof that her control of the Unique King was wed. Her hatred towards him grew into teasing, and that teasing finally evolved into incest.


    It was the biggest mistake that Lady Meng had ever made, and she couldn¡¯t understand how she could have lost her mind to the point that she actually epted the touch of Shangguan Hong. It was quite enjoyable though. The role was reversed. She became the one who gave orders in the bed, and the one currying favor with her was the illegitimate son of the Unique King.


    Revenge gave her body double the pleasure. If the old Khan had heard this story, he would understand this woman very well. Perhaps the only thing that would puzzle him was how this feeling could appear in a woman.


    Lady Meng¡¯s business acumen deviated. She was surprised to find that she had always held both a deep love and hatred towards her husband, both of which fed off each other and were all vented on Shangguan Hong.


    The affair was finally exposed. It turned out that the teacher Zhang Ji and the third young master who was still in prison were behind Shangguan Hong. Lady Meng lost everything besides for her life.


    She suddenly felt a strong sense of predestination and even began to believe in karma. It was exactly under her very own design that Chen Yingwu, the daughter of a businessman in the southern Jade City had been offered to the Unique King. As a result, the third young master, Shangguan Yun, who was in limelight had broken with his father and had been locked up in the dungeons. He had been defeated by his stepmother before thepetition had even begun.


    Then, the power that Lady Meng had worked so hard to build was destroyed by the hands of Shangguan Yun¡¯s teacher.


    But luck did notpletely abandon her. The twins, especially her son Shangguan Fei, had surprisingly survived in the hands of an unexpected enemy. Although he had suffered a lot, he was even closer to her heart than ever before.


    Most importantly, the Unique King surprisingly didn¡¯t kill her.


    Lady Meng hadn¡¯t seen her husband for a long time so she didn¡¯t know his current thoughts. She had thought she would die for sure and didn¡¯t expect to actually survive. She even thought of many reasons for the Unique King¡¯s actions, but none of them made sense.


    But Lady Meng firmly believed that she owed her husband nothing after all she had done. And for simr reasons, she didn¡¯t think that she owed the Dragon King anything. She had entertained the idea of getting rid of Servant Huan many times, but had given up for various reasons. In her view, that was a gift and price that was enough to exchange for the Dragon King¡¯s mercy on the twins.


    Lady Meng couldn¡¯t stand being outdone. As the cloud of death over her head gradually dissipated, fate and retribution had lost their influence on her too. She would not concede defeat even if her husband was ruthless, even if her son was cowardly, even if her daughter was not the daughter she remembered anymore. Even if she was alone.


    ¡°The Dragon King wille for me for sure,¡± she said, firmly implementing the first important n to rise from the ashes. ¡°This is the only opportunity. I hope that you can seize it.¡±


    The Governor Wei Song nodded, admiring this Lady Meng very much. ¡°Rest assured. He has never missed any chance and his sword has never missed a target either.¡±


    The man who was praised by Wei Song was standing silently nearby, having an air of haughty aloofness.

 Chapter 895 - Mother and Son

    Chapter 895: Mother and Son


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei had been watching for more than an hour now. Shangguan Fei became a bit anxious. He really wanted to tell the Dragon King that there was nothing to worry about as the old house of the Meng family wasn¡¯t the same as Golden Roc Castle and that there weren¡¯t many killers who acted as guards for his mother.


    Lady Meng lived in a small, detached courtyard in one corner of the garden, and all of her guards, including the sabermen of the Meng family and several killers of Golden Roc Castle, patrolled the periphery. Everything looked normal. It didn¡¯t seem like a trap at all.


    Out of sheer force of habit, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t go in at once. After another group of guards passed by, he nodded, atst ready to move.


    Shangguan Fei was just about to stand up before the Dragon King grabbed him by the arm. He immediately understood that the Dragon King was going to go with him. Shangguan Fei had his doubts about the situation. It didn¡¯t matter if him broke in at midnight to meet Lady Meng because she was his mother, but the Dragon King was neither a rtive nor a friend. The lesson of Shangguan Hong was still fresh in his memory.


    But Shangguan Fei only hesitated for a moment before he became relieved. This was the Dragon King. Although the rtionship between he and his sister was iprehensible, it was unlikely for him to have any evil intentions.


    There were only three rooms in the small courtyard. Two of them were vacant and Lady Meng lived in the middle one. For various reasons, this ce was much less extravagant than the one that Lady Meng lived in back at the castle.


    Shangguan Fei suddenly felt a bit sad. He went up to the door and rhythmically knocked on it several times, which was actually a signal that he had used to meet with his mother in southern Jade City. This might remind her to prepare herself.


    The Dragon King was within three steps of him. Shangguan Fei was a little surprised because it didn¡¯t conform to the Dragon King¡¯s usual practice, and neither did itply with the killer¡¯s rules of cooperation.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± A momentter, a woman¡¯s voice was heard from the room.


    ¡°Aunt Tong, it¡¯s me,¡± Shangguan Fei said in a low voice.


    Aunt Tong, who used to be Lady Meng¡¯s close maidservant and had served her for many years, had been sold as a prostitute in southern Jade City by her hostess because of the whimsical favor of the Unique King. When Shangguan Fei returned to Jade City, he had secretly contacted his mother through her. Because of this meritorious service, she had been able to return to Lady Meng.


    The door opened a crack, but Shangguan Fei wasn¡¯t let through at once. ¡°Who¡¯s this man?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King¡­ A messenger sent by the Dragon King to see my mother.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s monkey business!¡± Aunt Tong appeared very dissatisfied. ¡°It¡¯s already dangerous toe to northern Jade City at midnight, and you even brought a strange man with you. What if others find out?¡±


    ¡°No. As long as we keep our mouths shut, no one will find it out.¡± Shangguan Fei was a bit anxious because the longer they waited outside, the more likely it was that they would be exposed.


    ¡°Youe in first and have him wait outside for a while. Thedy is getting dressed and can¡¯t meet any outsiders at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Shangguan Fei was about to move when he nced back at the Dragon King and stopped. The Dragon King looked very resolute and would not allow him to stray three steps away from him. ¡°Uh, I¡¯ll wait together with the Dragon King¡­ the Dragon King¡¯s messenger.¡±


    Through the door crack, Gu Shenwei saw a pair of eyes that looked old even in the night. This woman was hesitating.


    There was a slight cough in the room and Aunt Tong closed the door.


    Shangguan Fei smiled awkwardly at the Dragon King.


    The two retreated into the shadows. The Dragon King once again made an exception by staying together with his partner instead of keeping a distance and staying on guard.


    The Dragon King didn¡¯t believe Lady Meng. Shangguan Fei was a bit nervous and also angry. He had been with the Dragon King for so long, and his mother had also clearly expressed her support, but they still couldn¡¯t gain the Dragon King¡¯s trust.


    ¡®The Dragon King is paranoid in nature. It will probably be the same even if my sister was leading the way,¡¯ Shangguan Fei thought tofort himself.


    The door was opened again. Aunt Tong walked out and nced at ¡®the Dragon King¡¯s messenger¡¯ before going to another room.


    There was a dim light in the room. The window was covered with a thick nket to prevent the light from leaking out. Lady Meng was sitting at a table with one of her arms on the table. ¡°So it really is the Dragon King. Sorry for being unable to personally go out and wee you in.¡±


    To Gu Shenwei¡¯s amazement, after all these years, Madam Meng¡¯s appearance and character had barely changedpared to several years ago. Even in the face of the protector of her beloved son, she refused to make a humble gesture.


    It was actually Shangguan Fei who became bashful and awkward. Both the Dragon King and his mother were people that he revered yet also feared. He didn¡¯t know which side to stand on. ¡°The situation is quite chaotic at the moment. The Dragon King had no choice but to be careful and pay a visit at night. Mom, I hope that you can understand.¡±


    Shangguan Fei finally decided to stand on the Dragon King¡¯s side as it was always easier to beg for his mother¡¯s forgiveness afterward.


    ¡°As it should be. We are all from the castle and are always prepared for this kind of thing.¡± Lady Meng revealed a smile and nodded slightly to the Dragon King. ¡°I¡¯m d that I can express my thanks in person for the Dragon King¡¯s great kindness of protecting my son and daughter.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King was kind to me and even taught me kung fu¡­¡± Shangguan Fei felt that his mother wasn¡¯t enthusiastic enough, but he regretted what he said as soon as he had blurted it out. The martial arts skills that the Dragon King had taught him wasn¡¯t pleasant at all and the Dragon King wasn¡¯t here to have a casual chat with his mother. So he shut his mouth and quietly retreated to the side, not far from the Dragon King.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a great kindness. I protected Shangguan Fei because he was useful to me.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s answer broke the set pattern. Shangguan Fei became even more embarrassed. He understood that the Dragon King had always been straightforward, but in front of his mother, he always hoped the atmosphere could be a little more harmonious.


    Lady Meng¡¯s reaction, however, was different from her son¡¯s. She rose to her feet and said, ¡°Well said, Dragon King. This is what a man of Golden Roc Castle should be like. We won¡¯t follow the hypocrisy of the Central ins or the fake forthrightness of the Nond. I¡¯ve wanted to meet with the Dragon King since long ago, hoping to ask you a question in person. How is the Dragon King going to deal with the people of the Shangguan family?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had been asked this question many times, and he had longe up with a standardized answer. ¡°Those whoply with me will thrive and those who resist will perish. I¡¯ll forgive them as long as they are not followers of Shangguan Fa or enemies of the Dragon Army.¡±


    ¡°And what about those who help the Dragon King defeat the Unique King and Golden Roc Castle?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll award them ording to their contributions like how I treat all the officers and soldiers of the Dragon Army.¡±


    ¡°Good. What kind of contribution does my son need to make to inherit the Unique King¡¯s title?¡±


    Shangguan Fei blushed. The Unique King was a title he wanted yet simultaneously feared. ¡°Mom, the Dragon King has agreed¡­¡±


    ¡°No, I want to hear him say it with my own ears.¡±


    Gu Shenwei paused for a moment before saying, ¡°The client who entrusted Golden Roc Castle to assassinate the Gu family. I want his name and any relevant records. With this, you can get the title of Unique King. But as I told Shangguan Fei before, you won¡¯t get Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not interested in the castle.¡± Lady Meng looked very satisfied. ¡°The Dragon King can take the castle. The new Unique King will continue to receive your protection from the mountain peak and assume the corresponding responsibilities.¡±


    ¡°Very good.¡±


    Although it was just a confirmation of the existing agreement, Shangguan Fei was very excited as if an additional assurance had been made. ¡°Mom, you can get the records, right?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s ongoing.¡± Lady Meng would not make it sound too easy. ¡°The Unique King is very concerned with protecting the information of his clients. He values it more than the Daoless Scroll. My people have to act ording to the circumstances. I hope that the Dragon King is not in a hurry.¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I beg your pardon for a woman¡¯s wordiness, but you came to me for something else that¡¯s equally important, right?¡±


    Shangguan Fei listened attentively because even he did not know the purpose of the Dragon King¡¯s visit.


    ¡°Is the assassin who killed the Central ins envoy one of your men, I wonder?¡±


    Astonished, Shangguan Fei was just about to refute before shutting his mouth under the stern gaze of his mother.


    ¡°Did Shangguan Ru tell the Dragon King this?¡± Lady Meng didn¡¯t directly answer the Dragon King¡¯s question. ¡°I heard that the Dragon King had just visited the Kun Society during the day.¡±


    ¡°No, she didn¡¯t know anything about it.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, my dear daughter is very smart. She must have told the Dragon King that I¡¯ve taken in some killer disciples, right?¡±


    Lady Meng was also very smart. She had guessed the truth at once. Gu Shenwei could only nod his head.


    ¡°It took me a lot of effort to recruit these dozens of disciples.¡± Lady Meng still did not answer the question directly and instead sighed. ¡°And my onlypetitor was my own daughter. The Unique King didn¡¯t forgive me and my son, but he did forgive his youngest daughter and doted her more than ever.¡±


    Looking at her son¡¯s face vaciting between red and purple, Lady Meng continued, her voice full of unrestrainable bitterness and sarcasm, ¡°Shangguan Ru doesn¡¯t need to return to the castle. In the face of the Unique King, she even used the castle¡¯s crimes of being too numerous to record and that it should be burnt to ashes. Then she allied with the monks, rebuilt the Kun Society, and made a clean break with the castle. Even so, the Unique King still loves her and gives her whatever she wants. There were several hundred killer disciples, most of whom didn¡¯t even finish the training at Carving Wood Yard. Even over this group of servants who isn¡¯t much better than waste, my daughter had fought with me. She seeded. In the end, most of the disciples went to her, and I only got thirty or so people.¡±


    This was an usation from a mother. Gu Shenwei automatically thought of a rebuttal for Shangguan Ru: she was saving these killer disciples¡¯ lives by helping them off of the killer¡¯s path while Lady Meng would force them to move on until they were killed.


    But he didn¡¯t say it. He had a clear purpose here and did not want to meddle in someone else¡¯s business.


    Shangguan Fei felt that his sister wasn¡¯t that kind of person, but he would never offend his mother for his sister so he merely bowed his head without a word.


    When Lady Meng finishedining, she sighed and said, ¡°The assassin was one of my killer disciples.¡±


    Shangguan Fei looked up in amazement. ¡°How can that be? Mom¡­ Dragon King, I knew nothing about it.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t tell you because you are not tight-lipped at all,¡± said Lady Meng sternly. Then she turned to the Dragon King. ¡°The Western Regions is in chaos right now. There are so many powerful forcespeting for hegemony. For the sake of safety, I¡¯ve been in touch with some other powerful forces besides the Dragon Army. The Dragon King doesn¡¯t mind, right? Of course, what I¡¯ve done will never affect the interests of the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s normal. Who hired the assassin?¡±


    ¡°Governor Wei Song.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was frightened by his mother¡¯s words. ¡°Wei¡­ Wei Song? He¡¯s a man of the Central ins. Why would he kill the envoy of the Central ins? Mom, how could you¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly why he wanted to kill the Central ins envoy. In this way, Wei Song will be in charge of everything in the Western Regions. He can ask the Imperial Court of the Central ins to send an army into the Western Regions. He came to me because he didn¡¯t trust Golden Roc Castle, so he had to turn to the Meng family for help.¡±


    ¡°But you didn¡¯t keep his secret.¡± Gu Shenwei was skeptical about the easily obtained answer.


    ¡°As I said, my cooperation with other forces will not affect the Dragon King¡¯s interests. Whether it¡¯s the Central ins people or the Nond people, they will alwayse and go but the Dragon King will stay in the Western Regions forever. This is my view.¡±


    No matter if the Dragon King believed it or not, she had instilled this idea in his mind, and she believed that the Dragon King would use it and step into her trap sooner orter.


    The Dragon King had taken Shangguan Fei hostage, so the best time to kill him had already passed. It was time for the second n toe into y.

 Chapter 896 - Culpability

    Chapter 896: Culpability


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Fei returned to southern Jade City in the early morning and happened to see a big fire in the distance.


    ¡°City View Alley!¡± Shangguan Fei eximed, looking at the Dragon King and thinking that it had been his order.


    The Dragon Army¡¯s base in southern Jade City was in its southeast, which was not far away from City View Alley. Hu Shining had awakened everyone to strengthen their security while the kung fu experts he couldn¡¯tmand were sitting on the roof, watching the fire for fun.


    Old Man Mu saw the Dragon King and Shangguan Fei, who had just entered the courtyard, and cried out excitedly, ¡°Look, it¡¯s a fire that happens only once every hundred years.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi immediately sent back the information from the frontlines. ¡°Two hundred people of the Heavenly Mountain Sect encircled and suppressed City View Alley. It¡¯s said that they found the den of the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    The Unique King had taken practical action while Gu Shenwei had been persisting in looking for clues.


    Shangguan Hong jumped down from the roof, his face pale and his eyes elusive and drifting, hardly noticed the existence of Shangguan Fei. ¡°Everyone says that the Master Commander is dead. Is it true?¡±


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t answer because he knew even less than the people in the stronghold. After taking a nce at the roof, he asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Wild Horse?¡±


    ¡°Gone,¡± Shangguan Hong nervously replied. ¡°He ran away with that weird old man as soon as the City View Alley was set on fire.¡±


    Old Man Mu also jumped onto the ground, asking, ¡°Which weird old man?¡±


    ¡°No, no, I mean the disciple of the Essence Pavilion.¡± Although Shangguan Hong thought that his kung fu was now no weaker than Old Man Mu¡¯s, he was still a little afraid of him.


    Thest one toe down was Han Wuxian, who was smiling and sighing. ¡°I hope that the corpses won¡¯t be burnt too badly. I want to identify those traitors¡¯ faces afterwards.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi added, ¡°Little Chu also went along with them, but my people didn¡¯t see him anywhere in City View Alley.¡±


    Tie Linglong was patrolling outside. Upon seeing the Dragon Kinge back, she followed him into the courtyard to act as his guard. She had seen Chu Nanping leave with her own eyes. ¡°He left with those two weirdos, as he probably hasn¡¯t forgotten about the Essence Pavilion.¡±


    More and more news came. The siegeunched by the Heavenly Mountain Sect seemed to have been very sessful. Many people were killed and some of them were captured alive. Not long after dawn, the Heavenly Mountain Sect put up a notice in their sphere of influence, iming that the Waning Moon Hall had been the sole culprit of the series of assassinations in the past several months and that they had now been wiped out, leaving only a few evildoers fleeing who could no longer threaten Jade City, and other simr pieces of propaganda.


    The notice didn¡¯t mention anything about Lotus or the death of the Central ins envoy.


    Chu Nanping finally showed up when it was almost noon. Wild Horse and the disciple of the Essence Pavilion didn¡¯te back with him.


    ¡°City View Alley ispletely ruined.¡± Chu Nanping had witnessed the tragedy first-hand. ¡°At least a thousand people, most of whom did not know kung fu, died in the fire.¡±


    ¡°What about Waning Moon Hall? What about Lotus? Was it true that she was killed?¡± Han Wuxian was only interested in the fate of the traitors.


    There were many people in the Dragon King¡¯s room. Chu Nanping burst into anger openly for the first time since he had been born. With his right hand gripping his long sword, there was unrestrained anger flickering through his beautiful eyes. ¡°It was you. You informed the Unique King and led the Heavenly Mountain Sect to City View Alley.¡±


    In the face of this rare anger, Han Wuxian smiled even more tenderly in return. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to have feelings for City View Alley. Did you grow up there?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s none of your business.¡±


    Han Wuxian turned to the Dragon King. ¡°I wonder if the Dragon King suspects me, too?¡±


    ¡°I believe that if Hall Leader Han joined the Unique King, you would not risk staying with me any longer.¡±


    Han Wuxianughed and said to Chu Nanping, ¡°But I will still give you an exnation because you are pretty and I don¡¯t want you to hate me.¡±


    Chu Nanping seemed to not have heard the Dragon King¡¯s words or Han Wuxian¡¯s praise, and was still poised to draw his sword.


    ¡°If I informed the Unique King, then I should have united the Heavenly Mountain Sect to surround the Dragon King and the Essence Pavilion. Why wait until now? Jade City is the Golden Roc Castle¡¯sir. The Unique King has managed it for many years and is better informed than me. Why would he need my help?¡±


    Han Wuxian had actually offered a reasonable exnation. Old Man Mu rushed to show his approval. ¡°I can guarantee that mydy could not have done such a thing because she has never left my sight, even when taking a bath or sleeping.¡±


    Holding her long hair, Han Wuxian muttered, ¡°If I ever hear you talking such nonsense again, I¡¯ll dig out your eyes so that you¡¯ll never be able to peek at me again.¡±


    Old Man Mu smilingly said, ¡°Don¡¯t you think that it is intimate for me to call you ¡®mydy¡¯? Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t believe that we are a couple.¡±


    Looking at Old Man Mu who was half as tall as her, Han Wuxian said in a coaxing tone, ¡°We are not a couple. You are merely a toy who escaped from Waning Moon Hall. I have had a lot both before and after you. Now, I¡¯d rather have him than you.¡±


    Chu Nanping blushed a bit but his face was still contorted with anger. Tie Linglong, who was behind the Dragon King, however, blushed red up to her ears, thinking that Han Wuxian was too outspoken.


    Old Man Mu stared at Chu Nanping for a long while before saying, ¡°He¡¯s just a dull kid. How could he be better than me? He¡¯s barely touched Tie Linglong¡¯s hand and knows nothing about women. What¡¯s the use of a good appearance? You know¡­¡±


    A serious usation was quickly turning into a storm of jealousy. Gu Shenwei had to stop it there. ¡°Everyone, go back to your room and await further orders. From now on, no one is allowed to leave the house without express permission.¡±


    Old Man Mu walked out bitterly, his eyes still fixed on Han Wuxian and Chu Nanping.


    Chu Nanping had not drawn his sword after all.


    Full of exasperation and shame, Tie Linglong stayed on as a guard, but Gu Shenwei simply ignored her. He had to hand over the real murderer to the Central ins people tomorrow morning. All of the clues pointed towards Wei Song, but the only evidence he had was Lady Meng. He really had no more energy to deal with other matters.


    But it was exactly this Lady Meng who clearly refused to stand out to testify against Wei Song. ¡°I can¡¯t let anyone know that I had anything to do with the death of the Central ins envoy. I hope that the Dragon King can understand and look for a w in Wei Song from other ces.¡±


    The strategy of Golden Roc Castle was simple and clear which was to put all the mes of the assassination on the Waning Moon Hall. The most conservative approach Gu Shenwei could adopt was to remain silent and let Lotus be the scapegoat.


    In the afternoon, Xu Xiaoyi received some more urate information, saying that at least twenty disciples of Waning Moon Hall had been killed and that at least three of them were captured alive. But Master Commander Lotus, as well as Han Xuan, who had just been recaptured by Lotus, wasn¡¯t on the list. ¡°There¡¯s one thing that I think the Dragon King should pay attention to,¡± Xu Xiaoyi said.


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    Upon hearing that Lotus was neither dead nor captured, Han Wuxian appeared a little nervous, and she hid in her room and oftenughed for no reason.


    Xu Xiaoyi still considered Chu Nanping to be his best friend and used every opportunity to help him disparage Han Wuxian.


    ¡°Do your own thing.¡± Gu Shenwei expressed his discontent, saying, ¡°I want urate information, not your personal guesses. If you can¡¯t be scrupulous and separate public from private interests, you should give up your position.¡±


    After being scolded, Xu Xiaoyi embarrassedly apologized and dared not mention Han Wuxian again. ¡°Uh, the Dragon King should know that Little Chu also brought a child back with him.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t ask any more questions.


    In the evening, two important figures hurried in from the east camp.


    The first was Zhong Heng. As soon as he met the Dragon King, he started talking about the fight at City View Alley. ¡°Actually, it¡¯s a good thing. Waning Moon Hall has suffered a heavy loss, Lotus will have no choice but to cooperate with the Dragon King now.¡±


    ¡°I hope so.¡± Deep down, Gu Shenwei knew that that was impossible. Lotus was too proud. If Waning Moon Hall was in control, then the possibility of joining hands might actually be higher. But she would never bow to the Dragon King while she was in a corner.


    There were always a few people in the world who Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t exin with his utility-based thinking.


    ¡°I found the leaker of the envoy of the Central ins.¡± Zhong Heng quickly turned to the key topic. ¡°It¡¯s Zhang You, one of Ma Lian¡¯s attendants. To be honest, I almost neglected him and didn¡¯t put him on my watch list because no one told me that he was a eunuch.¡±


    Zhang You was very inconspicuous among the envoy team, and he hadn¡¯t even joined the wee banquet. Zhong Heng had gotten permission from Wei Song to go to the camp of the envoy team in the name of offering condolences. There, he soon found a man who he had never met before. After a quick inquiry, he immediately confirmed that this man was the leaker he was looking for.


    Unlike the powerful eunuchs in the imperial pce, Zhang You was just an ordinary eunuch and had no power of supervision over the envoy. He was just an attendant sent to Ma Lian by the Emperor and didn¡¯t bear any great responsibility. To Ma Lian, this was supposed to be a great honor. However, those obsequious attendants around him had never mentioned it.


    ¡°When he was in the Central ins, Ma Lian ordered his entourage to not tell anyone in the Western Regions that there was a eunuch in the procession. If he had not died, then those attendants would not have dared to speak.¡±


    Zhong Heng had spent lots of money but thought that it was well worth it. ¡°It wasn¡¯t easy to uncover this Zhang You¡¯s origins. Very few people know of him and he himself was also tight-mouthed and never talked much about things in the pce. But one of the attendants spected that he might actually be an attendant of the Empress Dowager. I tried to sound him out, and sure enough, when I deliberately mentioned the Emperor and Empress Dowager of the Central ins, Zhang You was obviously more respectful towards the Empress Dowager.¡±


    From this, Zhong Heng had made a bold guess. ¡°Wei Song and the General-in-chief, Pang Ning, are both on the Empress Dowager¡¯s side, who advocates for war against the Nond and Western Regions. Assassinating the Central ins envoy while framing the Western Regions is the best excuse to send troops. As an attendant, Zhang You was well aware of the whereabouts of Ma Lian, and it is entirely possible for him to collude with Wei Song to assassinate the envoy.¡±


    ¡°If so, even if Golden Roc Castle puts all the me on Waning Moon Hall, it won¡¯t change the decision of the Central ins to send troops.¡± This was the first thought that came to Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind.


    Zhong Heng agreed. ¡°No, it won¡¯t change. To the far away Central ins, there¡¯s no big difference between Waning Moon Hall and Golden Roc Castle, or the Dragon King and the Unique King. All of you are people of the Western Regions and will be implicated no matter who made the mistake.¡±


    Gu Shenwei told Zhong Heng about the information that he had received from Lady Meng and also took out the bribery document that Meng Mingshu had found. Zhong Heng quickly flipped through it and paused for a long while before saying, ¡°This is indeed a good chance to bring Wei Song down. Only by putting all the me on him will Jade City not be implicated. But there¡¯s a big problem. Without Prince Xiao here, Wei Song is the highest officer of the Central ins in the Western Regions. Even if Dragon King has evidence, who can you give it to?¡±


    Then Zhong Heng answered the question himself. ¡°There¡¯s a deputy envoy under Ma Lian. I¡¯ll go sound him out whether he has the status and courage to do so.¡±


    Not long after Zhong Heng left, Dog Butcher came. He had been in contact with his elder sister and was looking for evidence that Wei Song intended to harm the Dragon King. After a few days, Tu Pianpian finally reluctantly admitted that Wei Song did have such an intention.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but Lord Wei doesn¡¯t seem to like the Dragon King. Senior sister said that he was very anxious to get rid of the Dragon King as soon as possible.¡± Dog Butcher didn¡¯t know about the tangled history between the Dragon King and Wei Song so he was very puzzled.


    Everything wasing together. Gu Shenwei felt that he had no choice but to make a move tomorrow.

 Chapter 897 - Traveling at Night

    Chapter 897: Traveling at Night


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Standing in the corner, the teenager was trembling with fear. This world was too different from what he had imagined it would be like. He was told that life was not important, and that the sword was everything. However, death still mercilessly threatened him andpletely ignored the apathy that he had carefully developed.


    ¡°I found him in the peach grove,¡± Chu Nanping said. He had already calmed down.


    The teenager was only thirteen or fourteen years old. Upon seeing that the Dragon King was looking at him, he began trembling even more violently.


    Gu Shenwei noticed the boy had lost a thumb in his right palm, and recognized him as one of the new disciples of the Essence Pavilion who hadpeted with him two nights ago. At that time, there had been a total of eighteen people, half of whom had died after killing each other, while the rest were killed by Han Wuxian and her men. He didn¡¯t expect that there would be a survivor.


    ¡°You visited your brother¡¯s tomb?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    Chu Nanping quickly nodded. He had gone to City View Alley but was a little toote. Over two hundred skillful sabermen of the Heavenly Mountain Sect had finished the task of killing and setting fire in a very short time. All he could do was to watch the big fire devour the shabby alleyways he was familiar with.


    Then he had gone to the peach grove where his brother Chu Yangjun and another man were buried under a tree.


    The tomb was still there and it had magically avoided the scuffles that had taken ce there. The owner of the garden had never ttened the tomb, and someone had even set up a tombstone in front of it, inscribed with the names ¡®Chuyang Jun¡¯ and ¡®Ye Sng.¡¯ The signatures of the sponsor showed that it was built by the residents of City View Alley.


    The teenager with a severed finger had been squatting behind the tombstone like an abandoned little beast. He was too afraid to leave the ce. With his feet in the snow, he had stayed here for a day and night.


    ¡°Are you from the Essence Pavilion?¡± Chu Nanping asked.


    The teenager nodded. Although the swordsman in front of him was a stranger, he didn¡¯t feel that the other side was malicious at all. Instead, the swordsman looked as pretty as the figures on the mural. He stood up and followed Chu Nanping back to the stronghold of the Dragon Army, uninvited.


    ¡°His name is Qin Yeming.¡±


    As Chu Nanping introduced him, Qin Yeming suddenly knelt and kept kowtowing to the Dragon King both begging for forgiveness and pleading.


    ¡°You need to speak up.¡± Gu Shenwei was still observing. He had been cheated by little kids before, so he would not trust anyone easily.


    Qin Yeming kowtowed several more times before saying in a hoarse voice, ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t want to be a disciple of the Essence Pavilion anymore.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s easy.¡± Gu Shenwei turned to Chu Nanping and asked, ¡°How¡¯s your Emotionless Swordsmanship going?¡±


    ¡°Not bad. I don¡¯t need dual swords anymore¡­ Oh.¡± Chu Nanping suddenly came to understand. The Dragon King actually meant that his actions of saving someone had contradicted his sword intent. ¡°What should I do then?¡±


    ¡°Come with me.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t answer the question because it wasn¡¯t something that he could solve. ¡°And take him with you.¡±


    Chu Nanping actually already had the answer in his heart, but he knew that the Dragon King must have had the same idea. He had to sever the sympathy that had just emerged in his mind, and the best way to do it was to kill this teenager.


    What was strange was that once he got to know the other side¡¯s name, most of the indifference and alienation that existed between strangers immediately disappeared. Qin Yeming seemed to be someone who he had known for a long time, and it was difficult to kill him.


    Qin Yeming couldn¡¯t understand what they were saying. He was afraid of the Dragon King, so he followed Chu Nanping closely as if he had reced the tombstone that had sheltered him previously. He still didn¡¯t know what the rtionship between the dead in the tomb and the swordsman in front of him was.


    With such a nervous teenager by them, it seemed impossible to travel at night. The three of them put their cloaks on and rode forward at a regr pace. They were not recognized. In fact, due to the days¡¯ scuffles and the big fire in the early morning, pedestrians were rare in the streets and alleys of southern Jade City, and many shops had closed early.


    Chu Nanping knew that he could kill Qin Yeming at any time, but he tried to dy it. When they reached a quiet road, he asked, ¡°Does the Dragon King know that Han Wuxian has betrayed you?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    ¡°It must be her who led the Heavenly Mountain Sect to City View Alley.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded again. That was for sure. Han Wuxian believed that Lotus was hiding near City View Alley, and it had been too great a temptation for her to resist. If she couldn¡¯t do it herself, then she would definitely turn to any possible force for help.


    ¡°But the Dragon King doesn¡¯t care?¡± Chu Nanping was puzzled because this didn¡¯t seem to be the Dragon King he knew.


    ¡°I saved Han Wuxian. I can¡¯t just waste her life like that.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s still useful?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Chu Nanping no longer spoke. He had never understood the plots of the Dragon King and didn¡¯t want to think about it. He was relieved as long as the Dragon King did not fully believe Han Wuxian.


    The three of them had entered the territory of the Heavenly Mountain Sect and were in one of their core areas now. Chu Nanping dismissed all his distracting thoughts and focused on guarding the Dragon King. He would not persuade the Dragon King to turn back, and neither would he let the Dragon King get hurt under his protection.


    No one could have imagined that the Dragon King would enter the enemy¡¯s territory so casually. Several groups of sabersmen of the Heavenly Mountain Sect passed by, but no one noticed the three of them. To them, the dark corners, as well as the high roofs, were the ces the Dragon King would appear from and their focus of attention was there.


    Someone finally began to feel that something was wrong when they approached the broken wall on the west.


    There used to be many taverns both inside and outside the city wall. But ever since the Heavenly Mountain Sect had taken over the Southwall Tavern as their headquarters, the business here plummeted and almost no guests came at night.


    More than half of the sabersmen of the Heavenly Mountain Sect used to be golden roc killers, but the ones patrolling the street were ordinary sabersmen with three or five people in each group.


    The first to notice the weird strangers were five sabersmen who rushed over and rudely blocked the way. They went around once before releasing them. They didn¡¯t see the faces of the other side clearly, but they had no reason to drive the three away either.


    When they turned into the small alley where the Southwall Tavern was located, a dozen or so well-prepared sabersmen immediately surrounded the three and questioned them. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± asked one of them harshly. Very few people dared to swagger into the Heavenly Mountain Sect, so he had to make full use of this opportunity to show his authority.


    ¡°We¡¯re here to see someone,¡± Gu Shenwei replied.


    ¡°See who?¡± Perhaps the voice of the visitor was too t, but the sabersman became more pompous and his questioning was full of threats and disdain.


    ¡°Zhang Ji.¡±


    The dozen or so sabersmen drew their sabers at once. Nominally, Zhang Ji was a military counsellor, but his real status was even higher than their sect leader. They would respectfully call him ¡®Mr. Zhang,¡¯ even in private. This man, however, had addressed him disrespectfully by his full name. He was really daring.


    ¡°Who the hell are you?¡±


    Gu Shenwei took off his hood. Chu Nanping and Qin Yeming did the same.


    The silent sabersmen all retreated several steps at once. They remained silent, but someone started running quickly to Southwall Tavern.


    Gu Shenwei urged his horse forward. The sabersmen made way for him and followed behind at a distance neither too long nor too close, like a flock of wolves following a lion that had trespassed upon their territory.


    Qin Yeming finally stopped trembling and watched in wonder as more and more sabersmen walked out of the houses on either side of the street with sabers in their hands. There were also people on the roof, but none of them dared to approach within ten paces of the Dragon King, and neither did they dare to question him again.


    He would never forget this scene.


    The sect leader, Du Jian, stood at the entrance of the tavern. Behind him stood over a dozen sabersmen side by side whose gloomy faces spoke for themselves that they were real golden roc killers.


    ¡°The Dragon King is here. What a rare visitor. Du Jian, the sect leader of the Heavenly Mountain Sect, is here to wee the Dragon King¡¯s visit on a snowy night,¡± Du Jian said loudly with a smile.


    The hundred or so sabersmen in the alley were all worried, thinking that a great scuffle was about to begin. Many people were looking around for the Dragon King¡¯s hidden helpers.


    There was no ambush. It was just the Dragon King and his two attendants.


    ¡°I know you,¡± Gu Shenwei replied. This was the first time that he had ever met the sect leader of the Heavenly Mountain Sect, but it was not the first time that he had dealt with him.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the Dragon King to still remember me. The Dragon King was already very impressive back at cksmith Vige. Please forgive me for my rudeness.¡±


    For a long time, Du Jian had been called ¡®Du Qi.¡¯ He had been a semi-retired killer of Golden Roc Castle and also the big protector of the cksmith Vige. He had met the teenage Dragon King once before.


    His master in the castle used to be Shangguan Chui. The big young master had been defeated by Lady Meng and thenter also lost his position. He had finally had a chance to make aeback when Zhang Ji came to power.


    ¡°I¡¯ll never forget Your Excellency¡¯sst visit on a snowy night.¡± Gu Shenwei had a very good memory, especially for those who had threatened him.


    Du Jian¡¯s face immediately changed, and he barely maintained his smile. ¡°The Dragon King was very lucky. I always regretted that I was a coward that day. If I had stabbed you then, maybe today wouldn¡¯t be so troublesome.¡±


    The sect leader Du Jian had actually attempted to assassinate the Dragon King once. All of the sabersmen in the alley were surprised at what they heard and their respect towards the sect leader greatly increased. Although he had failed in the assassination, he had been able to survive, which was also a great achievement.


    None of them knew the real situation. The Dragon King had happened to trigger his Qi deviation at that time. He was trying his best to direct his internal energy to heal himself and was almost paralyzed. Du Jian, however, had be hesitant and dared not to make a move directly. Instead, he had instigated Nie Zeng, who was still an ignorant kid, to make a move and had lost the chance of a lifetime.


    Although Du Jian¡¯s face had been covered at that time, Gu Shenwei still recognized him now.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to see Zhang Ji,¡± said Gu Shenwei. After three years, he had finally confirmed that the person who wanted to assassinate him was Zhang Ji.


    ¡°Pleasee in.¡± Du Jian got out of the way, full of fear towards the Dragon King. This was another good opportunity to kill the Dragon King, but the truce was still valid and the only person who had the right to break the rules was not him but rather the military counselor sitting inside.


    Du Jian wondered what Zhang Ji was thinking.


    With a long robe and a serious face, Zhang Ji sat alone in the empty tavern as if he were the most powerful kung fu master in the world.


    Gu Shenwei told Chu Nanping and Qin Yeming to stay at the door while he himself walked to the table and said, ¡°It has changed a lot in here.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, it always tempted me with good wine so I shut it down. There isn¡¯t a drop of wine left in Southwall Tavern now. Have a seat.¡±


    Gu Shenwei sat down opposite Zhang Ji. Looking at the tea prepared on the table, he said, ¡°I thought that Mr. Zhang resumed his drinking habits after the trip to the Nond.¡±


    ¡°Only the winner is entitled to drink. I lost, defeated by you, so I can no longer touch wine. The battle-seasoned Luoluo actually fled in front of a young boy under my assistance. I¡¯ve really lost all my face.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see Mr. Zhang on the battlefield.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because I ran away even faster.¡± Zhang Ji sighed. ¡°Man proposes, but God disposes.¡±


    ¡°But a good n is still useful. That¡¯s why I¡¯vee to Mr. Zhang for advice.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Zhang Ji still talked like a teacher, as if he still had a teacher-student rtionship with the Dragon King.


    ¡°I have a piece of evidence in my hand that¡¯s enough to defeat an enemy, but I feel that something seems wrong with it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thought that only Zhang Ji could help him see through Lady Meng and Wei Song¡¯s conspiracy.

 Chapter 898 - The Tenth Son

    Chapter 898: The Tenth Son


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Zhang Ji, who had been in charge of imparting the knowledge recorded in ancient books in this ancient castle, had had plenty of time to formte a specific career n for himself. The Unique King, the owner of the Golden Roc Castle, was his superior who delegated power to him. The Nond and the Central ins were his pawns who eliminated his enemies and paved the way forward for him. And Shangguan Yun, his favorite student, was hispanion walking side by side with him on this journey. He had never cared about the mediocre or failed ones behind him.


    On this path, Servant Huan had merely been a passer-by who was of even less importance than Shangguan Hong, a person who he had once used during a certain period.


    As a result, when faced with the Dragon King, Zhang Ji couldn¡¯t help himself from feeling mixed emotions. Surprisingly, instead of dying, that Servant Huan had be someone whose status was far higher than his, which he found so humiliating that he even felt a touch uneasy about it.


    But he wouldn¡¯t show any of this on his face. Zhang Ji was Zhang Ji after all. Even if he were overwhelmed by emotion, he could always push it all down. His career n had been thoroughly ruined, but he hadn¡¯t failed yet. He still had a chance to defeat the Dragon King.


    ¡°You¡¯re my enemy,¡± said Zhang Ji simply.


    Only those who knew this teacher very well could detect a hint ofpliment in this remark, and Gu Shenwei was one of them. So he briefly nodded and saluted him. ¡°I¡¯m honored to be in this position.¡±


    ¡°If you want my advice, then you¡¯ll have to answer my question first. And you must bepletely honest. Don¡¯t keep anything back.¡±


    Zhang Ji still couldn¡¯t get rid himself of his habit of being a teacher. In his eyes, the Dragon King would always be that student who had brought him good wine on a regr basis and who would asionally consult him in a modest manner.


    ¡°I tell lies more often than I tell the truth. But in this conversation with Mr. Zhang, I¡¯ll make an exception.¡±


    ¡°Um. Rest assured. I won¡¯t ask you anything about the future. I just want to know how you managed to maneuver to the rear of Luoluo¡¯s army in the battle of Thousand Horsemen Pass and then make it to the center of the Middle Regiment¡¯s camp. That movement required an extremelyplex and meticulous n as well as a leader who had a panoramic view of the battleground. I don¡¯t believe ¨C no offence ¨C that anyone in the Dragon Army is capable of this.¡±


    The most simple and direct answer would be that, ¡°It was a miracle.¡±


    The battle of Thousand Horsemen Pass had been full of idents from start to finish. Gu Shenwei had once spent a lot of time researching all of these mysteries and conflicts that had taken ce in various areas of the battleground back then. However, he hadn¡¯t found anything except for who had obviously betrayed him. With regards to what kind of impact these traitors had had on the battle, he had never figured it out either.


    Zhang Ji had raised a question that was very difficult to answer. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to lie, and neither did he want to give him a simple, seemingly perfunctory answer. After mulling it over for a while, he said, ¡°My generals and I formted a n, but we failed to carry out every single part of it. Originally, I merely wanted to defend against Luoluo¡¯s attack and prove that he was not invincible so as to boost the morale of my troops, and then wait for winter toe. Maneuvering to the rear of Luoluo¡¯s army and charging into the Middle Regiment¡¯s camp was not in the original n. The truth was that I was lost.¡±


    Upon hearing this unbelievable answer, Zhang Ji grabbed the teacup on the table and gulped down the tea as if it were wine. And then he let out a fewughs, a relieved look on his face. ¡°I see. I see¡­ ¡±


    Zhang Ji had finally freed himself from that burden. ¡°I thought that¡­ never mind. Thank you for being honest with me, Dragon King. I¡¯ll repay the favor. Tell me about your confusion. Try to be specific and don¡¯t hide any details, because that would only make me more perplexed and in that case, I might not be able to offer you the advice you want.¡±


    What Zhang Ji was most proud of was his wisdom and discernment. When he heard that the crushing defeat that he suffered in the battle of Thousand Horsemen Pass had nothing to do with his tactics, he regained his confidence.


    Gu Shenwei believed that he was telling the truth, but he didn¡¯t talk about what decisions he had made during that battle. Saying that he had gotten lost was an answer just as overly simple as saying that it was a miracle. Without the Dragon Army troops who were willing to risk life and limb to follow him, or Dugu Xian and the others¡¯ unshakable determination to keep attacking, or even Liman and the Second Consort who hadmanded the left wing troops to hold the ground, by no means could Shulitu¡¯s army have possibly won.


    If Gu Shenwei had tried to tell him all this, it would have been tooplicated, so he had ultimately chosen to skip these details. Instead, he told Zhan Ji about the intelligence that he had gotten from Madam Meng. ¡°I don¡¯t trust her, but I¡¯ve been wondering how and why Madam would frame me. She has already lost all favor with the Unique King, and she also betrayed the Central ins by supporting me. And now she¡¯s trying to yed me off of Wei Song ¨C she has offended almost every potential backer she could have. Exactly what kind of benefit can she get?¡±


    ¡°Do you think that I¡¯ll help you just because Madam Meng and I are enemies?¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± There was no need for Gu Shenwei to exin. Everybody in the castle knew about Madam Meng¡¯s means of dealing with enemies. Nominally, she had lost favor with her husband because of the exposure of the adulterous rtionship. But actually, Zhang Ji was the true mastermind behind this. This teacher had by no means not taken any precautions.


    ¡°I once tried to persuade the King Lord to kill this woman and put an end to the trouble once and for all, but he disagreed. Originally, I thought that my words would matter more if I managed to use Luoluo¡¯s army to take back the Western Regions, and that it would naturally be easier to eliminate Madam Meng then. I didn¡¯t expect that¡­ you would be the one to save her.¡±


    ¡°Um. I did that by ident, so she won¡¯t be grateful to me.¡±


    ¡°Wei Song wants to kill you?¡± asked Zhang Ji next. He had already started thinking about potential plots. Even if it was his enemy that he was offering help to, he still wanted to do it wholeheartedly, which was his preference.


    ¡°This is a personal matter.¡±


    ¡°You suspect that he was the one who hired killers to kill the Gu family?¡±


    ¡°He might have been the one, but Wei Song doesn¡¯t seem to be very close to the Unique King, so I suspect that he¡¯s merely an insider. No matter what, I killed his son. Thus, he wants to take revenge.¡±


    ¡°Vengeance yet again,¡± Zhang Ji said scornfully. His view of vengeance was the same as that of Fang Wenshi. They both believed that vengeance was a burden for those who vied for supremacy. ¡°Madam Meng admitted that her subordinate assassinated the envoy of the Central ins, but then she shifted the responsibility onto Wei Song?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Actually, it would be a good thing for both Jade City and the entire Western Regions if Wei Song was proved to be the mastermind.¡±


    ¡°I suspect that Wei Song already thought of this when he asked Madam Meng for help. He has surely has taken precautions.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a trap,¡± Zhang Ji said in a sure tone. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about Wei Song, but I do know that Madam Meng is not as weak as you think she is. The King Lord forgave the Tenth Young Master, and he will also forgive his wife sooner orter. Thus, you were not definitively right to say that Madam Meng has lost favor her husband, because it¡¯s only temporary. I believe that she has a n to get back into favor with the King Lord. At the very least, she will help Shangguan Fei return to the stone castle.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t be easy. It¡¯s easier for the Unique King to ept Madam Meng than it is for him to ept Shangguan Fei.¡±


    Both Shangguan Fei¡¯s personality and his sexual orientation were huge obstacles to his returning to the stone castle, and by no means would the Unique King ignore these.


    ¡°Unless¡­ ¡± Zhang Ji contemted for a while. ¡°Unless the King Lord only has one son left at that point.¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Yun.¡± Gu Shenwei immediately thought of the Third Young Master that he had assigned to the Xiaowan Kingdom.


    Zhang Ji sighed deeply. ¡°The Third Young Master has let the King Lord down, and to be honest, I¡¯m a little disappointed as well. He has lost his will to fight. He¡¯d rather surrender to the Dragon King than rise up and fight back. Madam Meng will eliminate him sooner orter, but he¡¯s not her most important target at the moment.¡±


    All of the Unique King¡¯s sons were either dead or injured, unless he had another bastard son somewhere. There was only one other person that Gu Shenwei could think of. ¡°Luo Ningcha¡¯s son?¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Cheng. His name is Shangguan Cheng, since about¡­ four or five years ago. I¡¯ve never met him, but it¡¯s said that he¡¯s a clever boy. There¡¯s a prophecy known to people in the castle that ¡®the man with ten words will be a king¡¯, or is it that ¡®the man with ten sons will be a king¡¯? Anyway, it¡¯s all about the number ¡®ten,¡¯ and the King Lord seems to believe it wholeheartedly. The Tenth Young Master is a tomboy so she doesn¡¯t count. With regards to Shangguan Hong, the King Lord has never considered acknowledging his identity, so he doesn¡¯t count either. All in all, this makes Luo Ningcha¡¯s son the tenth son. The King Lord picked his name himself. The character ¡®Cheng''(In Chinese, the character Cheng means sess.) has made his attitude very clear.¡±


    ¡°But he¡¯s only¡­ he¡¯s only a baby,¡± Gu Shenwei felt that this was somewhat too incredible.


    ¡°Anybody who stays in the highest position for too long will feel lonely and will inevitably start believing in such things as destiny. If the Dragon King wins a few more battles by ¡®getting lost¡¯, you¡¯ll believe in it as well. The King Lord does. I can understand, but I can¡¯t persuade him. He just believes that this kid will seed the throne.¡±


    Someone who was at rock bottom and had nobody to rely on would also believe in destiny. Gu Shenwei recalled how persistent he used to be in trying to find ¡°God¡¯s will¡± when his family members had been killed.


    Surprisingly, there was an uncanny simrity between someone who was at rock bottom and someone who was at the peak. Gu Shenwei secretly sighed at this thought and with that, shifted his attention to the current crisis. ¡°So Shangguan Cheng is the biggest obstacle to Shangguan Fei¡¯s returning to the Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    ¡°At least it is so in Madam Meng¡¯s opinion.¡± Zhang Ji dipped his finger in water and started scribbling something on the table, but his thinking wasn¡¯t interrupted. ¡°But she doesn¡¯t dare take action. First of all, the King Lord likes his youngest son very much. Second ¨C s ¨C I didn¡¯t expect that I, Zhang Ji, would have to say something like this someday. Luo Ningcha¡¯s beauty is of enormous value, and even the King Lord wants to take advantage of it, which is also Shangguan Cheng¡¯s protective amulet.¡±


    Gu Shenwei could imagine that once Golden Roc Castle regained its former glory, Luo Ningcha would go back to the Unique King and give him everything she had taken.


    ¡°So Madam Meng intends to have a third party kill Luo Ningcha, but there¡¯s still nothing that she can do to Shangguan Cheng.¡±


    Zhang Ji shook his head. ¡°There are actually eleven strokes in the words ¡®The Tenth Son, Cheng.¡¯ But¡­ nominally, Shangguan Cheng is the tenth son. Actually he is the eleventh. Is he really going be a king? s, I shouldn¡¯t have started thinking about these things, as the longer I think about it, the more confused I be. I myself am on the verge of believing this nonsense.¡±


    After making these inexplicable remarks, Zhang Ji wiped the water off the table, raised his head and looked at the Dragon King, his eyes suddenly bing icy and stern. ¡°There¡¯s a rumor. Though not widely-spread, it is known to a lot of people. It says that, back when the Dragon King was still in the stone castle, the rtionship between the Dragon King and the Seventh Young Mistress once went beyond the mistress-servant level, and that you did something you were not supposed to do.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re in Jade City, where all kinds of rumors exist no matter how ridiculous they are. Hardly anybody truly believes this.¡± Gu Shenwei had never promised that he would be honest with him on this issue.


    ¡°Madam Meng doesn¡¯t need many people to believe this rumor. As long as the King Lord believes it ¨C even if he merely suspects it ¨C her aim will have been achieved, which is clearing the hurdles to Shangguan Fei¡¯s returning to the stone castle. If by any chance she manages to eliminate the Dragon King in passing, then that would be a big contribution of hers ¨C hundreds, even thousands of times bigger than my contributions, a counselor who just lost a battle.¡±


    Zhang Ji picked up his teacup, suggesting that the visitor should leave now.


    Gu Shenwei stood up and took his leave, his mind much clearer than it was before he came here.


    Zhang Ji was a mortal enemy of Madam Meng, but his analysis was absolutely unbiased. Gu Shenwei had identified his own misjudgment. Luo Ningcha, who was totally unaware of the actual situation, was actually the core of the whole conspiracy.


    Watching the Dragon King leaving the tavern, Zhang Ji also came to understand an issue of his own: the reason why the Dragon King had won was because he knew how to take advantage of his enemies¡¯ strength, which was exactly what he had taught Servant Huan.

 Chapter 899 - Enemies’ Tactics

    Chapter 899: Enemies¡¯ Tactics


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Upon hearing that the Dragon King had met with the military counselor of the Heavenly Mountain Sect with only two attendants, Zhong Heng was taken aback. ¡°No offence, Dragon King, but this was¡­ rather reckless. Though the ceasefire is still in effect, it¡¯s still possible that Golden Roc Castle would breach the agreement,unch an attack, and then find an excuse to shift the responsibility away. In that case, Wei Song will only thank the Unique King instead of holding a grudge against him.¡±


    ¡°Zhang Ji wouldn¡¯t dare kill me at the headquarters of the Heavenly Mountain Sect because he clearly understands that the truce was only reached under the supervision of the Central ins. No matter how ¡®grateful¡¯ Wei Song is to the Unique King, he won¡¯t kill someone to keep someone else¡¯s mouth shut. Besides, Zhang Ji is also counting on me to defeat Madam Meng.¡±


    ¡°But won¡¯t the Unique King punish him? After all he wasted such a good opportunity.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. ¡°The Unique King needs Zhang Ji, and Zhang Ji will also find an excuse for his mistake.¡±


    Zhong Heng still believed that the Dragon King had a bad habit of making especially risky moves. Though he had spent several years in Jade City, he knew little about the rtionships between people in Golden Roc Castle, so he couldn¡¯t help himself from shaking his head repeatedly. ¡°Is this Zhang Ji¡¯s hatred towards Madam Meng really so deep that he would rather ally with enemies than her? The Unique King¡­ It¡¯s really difficult for me to believe that something like this would happen to somebody like him. But I can also understand. Golden Roc Castle has been a powerful organization for decades, so there must be a lot of pent up hatred among those people inside it. s, neither the Central ins, the Nond, countries in the Western Regions, not this small Golden Roc Castle can escape from the fetters of internecine struggles. This is one of the main reasons why I¡¯ve taken the Dragon King¡¯s side.¡±


    Grabbing onto this opportunity, Zhong Heng briefly ttered the Dragon King, but Gu Shenwei knew very clearly that there were also people around him who held grudges against each other. The reason why this was not very obvious was because it had only been a few years since he had be a force to be reckoned with. Zhang Ji had already told him, as if he were making a prediction, that the Dragon King would also believe in destiny after a few more victories.


    And not only would the Dragon King believe in destiny, but he would also organize an imperial court and appoint officials. More and more people would gather around him, which would require him to bnce their powers by using one side to counterbnce another. The old Khan had done this, and so too did the Central ins. Back when Gu Shenwei had been helping Zhang Ji arrange books and scrolls in White Clothes Yard, he had found that all the previous Unique Kings had adopted the same tactics as well.


    Gu Shenwei took a calm, dispassionate view towards this issue, and he made no judgement about the other powers. In fact, he had already been experimenting with counterbncing the powers of his subordinates. After he took Golden Roc Castle and Jade City, he would set about creating a bnce of power at a more precise level.


    Currently, he only wanted to defeat his opponent in a close battle.


    ¡°No matter what, Zhang Ji provided valuable advice. He knows the Unique King well, and he knows the situation inside Golden Roc Castle even better, which is an advantage that nobody else has.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t praise the wisdom of the counselor on the opposing side in front of Zhong Heng.


    Indeed, the Dragon King had returned safely and unharmed. It was almost daybreak, and Zhong Heng had nothing else to say about this, so he gave out two short coughs and began to report his recent aplishments. ¡°I had an audience with the deputy envoy of the Central ins and disclosed part of the situation to him. He was very interested in it. Since the envoy was assassinated, then this visit of his to the Western Regions has been in vain. As the deputy envoy, not only has he made no contribution, but he also might have to ept part of the responsibility. Thus, he¡¯s very willing to catch some corrupt officials to make a contribution.¡±


    Wei Song¡¯s guilt of epting huge amounts of bribes was not useful for the moment, so Gu Shenwei said, ¡°Tell me more about that Zhang You.¡±


    ¡°Zhang You is no mediocre official. The deputy envoy told me that Zhang You was nominally a mere eunuch servant who was appointed by the Emperor himself, and who didn¡¯t have much power in the royal pce. But in reality, he acted very haughtily in the envoy¡¯s team. Ma Lian was very polite to him when he was alive, and he never treated him like an attendant. If my guess is right, then Ma Lian had already switched from his previously neutral stance to being a minion of the Empress Dowager. It was just that he didn¡¯t expect to still be sacrificed.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded, his view of the situation clearing up.


    ¡°With regards to Wei Song¡¯s n, I also have a spection,¡± Zhong Heng continued. He knew that he needed to state all the various possibilities one by one, and then the Dragon King would correct him. ¡°Under normal circumstances, the Dragon King would use the Governor of the Western Regions of hiring killers from southern Jade City, but this usation requires evidence, and if necessity arises, you¡¯ll have to give Madam Meng¡¯s name. In that case, the Unique King will be nervous and naturally take Wei Song¡¯s side.¡±


    ¡°After that, there will be another confrontation. In order to clear his name of suspicion, Wei Song will invite someone more righteous to be the witness, like an eminent monk of the Four Noble Truths Temple. He might also invite Madam Meng. Anyway, Madam Meng will stoutly deny ever saying those words to the Dragon King. The Dragon King will have to judge for yourself which side Shangguan Fei will take in that case.¡±


    ¡°And then Madam Meng, the Unique King, and Wei Song will join hands and try to pin the killer to¡­ Madam Luo and Dragon King. The Unique King will be indignant. He might even publiclyunch an attack out of anger, and everybody will forgive him afterwards because, after all, the Dragon King hasmitted the crime of framing others as well as raping the Mother Lord before that. In that case, the Unique King will get to kill Dragon King, Madam Meng gets to eliminate Madam Luo and her son, and Wei Song gets to have his revenge. Everybody gets what they want.¡±


    Zhong Heng¡¯s deduction was reasonable, and though he was unable to guess some of the details, such as how they would convince the people that the murderer was Luo Ningcha¡¯s subordinate and how they would involve the Dragon King in it and thus expose the ¡°adulterous¡± rtionship between the two, the outline was clear.


    Even Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t have had a more detailed spection. ¡°What if I don¡¯t mention the assassin and instead shift the me onto Zhang You? In that case, Madam Meng won¡¯t be involved.¡±


    ¡°The evidence is key. From Zhang You¡¯s identity and status, I¡¯ve spected that he was the one who divulged the secret, but I can¡¯t say this in public because we have no direct evidence at all.¡±


    Zhong Heng was right. There was nothing that Gu Shenwei could do. ¡°Then we have only one option remaining.¡±


    Zhong Heng lowered his head and thought for a while. Actually, he had already made his decision, but the experience that he had umted through so many years told him that while he should scramble to make suggestions when the asion was right, there were still some key words that could only be uttered by the Dragon King himself. ¡°The Dragon King didn¡¯t break any promises or breach any agreements.¡±


    ¡°Yes. All I have to do is stand by and let the Unique King frame the Waning Moon Hall. Then, the Dragon Army and Golden Roc Castle will join hands to hunt Lotus down.¡±


    When the Dragon King was saying the words ¡°hunt Lotus down,¡± his tone was so nd that Zhong Heng became greatly relieved. ¡°There¡¯s only one unpredictable w of this n. No matter how many plots those women in the Waning Moon Hall have secretly set up, they¡¯re still a bunch of nobodies in the eyes of the Central ins. It¡¯s possible that even if we manage to frame them for the assassination, it still won¡¯t be enough to quell the Central ins¡¯ anger, and they might still dispatch armies to the Western Regions.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to count on Prince Xiao then. But after this issue is addressed, I need you to return to Xiaoyao Lake and muster the army immediately. Then, you need to send some scouts to the Lon Kingdom, which is in the easternmost area, to collect intelligence. If the army of the Central ins is reallying, then the Dragon Army will make the first move and take Jade City.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhong Heng answered as he bowed. The Dragon King had made the right decision. He should have taken Jade City several months ago, and now all this time had been wasted. However, there was nothing that they could do about it. They had to make an effort when they had a better choice.


    There were 10,000 Golden Roc troops outside of Jade City and another 10,000 to 20,000 outside of Thousand Horsemen Pass. The army of the Central ins was 20,000 strong, but half of them were at Dugu Xian¡¯smand, so there was a chance that the Central-ins army would stay neutral. The Dragon King¡¯s army was 20,000 strong, and Xiaoyao Lake could provide about 30,000 to 40,000 more soldiers, and there might be moreing from the Shule Kingdom¡­ Zhong Heng had begun calcting the troop numbers of the two opposing sides, believing that it was viable for them to take the city first.


    Then dawn broke. There was about four hours before the deadline that had been imposed three days ago. Wei Song had someone deliver a message to the Dragon King, requesting an audience with him in the Four Noble Truths Temple at noon. Gu Shenwei agreed.


    After working day and night while seeking clues, he had merely managed to find out about the enemy¡¯s trap which he had to avoid. Gu Shenwei was rather disappointed. With regards to the Waning Moon Hall and Lotus, both of which were about to be sacrificed, he didn¡¯t think much about them, since their crazy ns were a threat to everybody. They had to be eliminated sooner orter.


    Lotus¡¯ strength would increase drastically after she finished dispersing her internal energy. She might not necessarily be invincible like Han Wuxian had said she would be, but she would definitely be powerful enough to preserve her line in any circumstance, and nobody would be able to stop her.


    Her imparting the Death Sutra Swordsmanship to others still rankled Gu Shenwei. Though the swordsmanship had been altered, and most people had learned it from Wild Horse, Lotus was the source, and at least two people, Wild Horse and Shangguan Hong, had directly it learned from her.


    A sense of jealousy, like that of a child¡¯s, rose within Gu Shenwei. He had thought that the saber-sword cooperation between him and Lotus was irreceable, but all the signs indicated that Lotus was trying to cultivate a partnership with someone else, who was more in favor with her.


    As usual, he stopped himself from thinking too much and started circting his Qi to rid himself of any sleepiness.


    An hourter, Tie Linglong, who had received an order to meet Luo Ningcha, came back with a lot of messages.


    ¡°That woman,¡± Tie Linglong eximed angrily. She couldn¡¯t understand how a woman so hateful would exist in this world while so many men scrambled for her. ¡°She said that the armor that the Dragon King gave her was too old, not uniform, and even worse than the previous armor that the Iron Mountain Army had, and that she was too embarrassed to meet her subordinates. She asked you to ¡®figure something out,¡¯ and also said that Prince Xiao would surely have handled this in a better way if he were here. She was so annoying.¡±


    ¡°Ignore her,¡± Gu Shenwei had kept his promise and sent some armor to the Iron Mountain Army, but both Xiaoyao Lake and the Shule Kingdom were expanding their armies, and the troop numbers had been steadily increasing. This meant that there was now a shortage of armaments, so he was unable to provide Luo Ningcha with the ¡°shiny, uniform, and awe-inspiring¡± armor that she had imagined she would get.


    Tie Linglong also wanted to ignore her, but the anger in her refused to subside. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that the Dragon King had forbidden her from fighting, she would have taught that woman a lesson on the spot. ¡°And then I asked her whether anybody was missing in the Iron Mountain camp. She actually knew nothing about it and just kept saying ¡®my 3,000 cavalrymen.¡¯¡±


    The Iron Mountain Army only had around 2,000 troops or so, and they didn¡¯t even have enough warhorses. But in Luo Ningcha¡¯s imagination, they were still ¡°3,000 cavalrymen.¡±


    Tie Linglongined for a while and then realized that she was bing long-winded, so she hurriedly got to the point, ¡°The ¡®General¡¯ of the Iron Mountain Army seemed to be familiar with his men. He said that over a thousand Iron Mountain troops joined the army because of Golden Roc Castle. Ever since Madam Luo tookmand of the army, there have been desertions almost every day. He said that he couldn¡¯t stop them, and that neither did he want to stop them. Then I asked him about the young soldiers. He said that about two months ago ¨C which is not long after the battle for Thousand Horsemen Pass ended ¨C when Prince Xiao required the Unique King to return the Iron Mountain army, a batch of teenagers suddenly enlisted. There were about twenty of them in all. He remembered this very clearly, because those teenagers were very different. He said that they were umunicative, but their kung fu skills were very good, though they weren¡¯t very good at riding or battling. Currently, they¡¯re acting as Madam Luo¡¯s bodyguards, and they seem very loyal. But about seven or eight days ago, five of them suddenly deserted at once.¡±


    ¡°Five of them?¡± Gu Shenwei was a little surprised.


    ¡°Um. Madam Luo is still unaware of this. Nobody dares to tell her.¡±


    Shangguan Hong had killed one of them during the assassination of the envoy of the Central ins, so there were only four of them left biw. Gu Shenwei spected that these four teenagers were probably going to be the witnesses to use Luo Ningcha and the Dragon King.


    A question suddenly rose in Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind. Could he really steer clear of the trap by sacrificing Lotus?

 Chapter 900 - Kung Fu Experts

    Chapter 900: Kung Fu Experts


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Dog Butcher believed that Jianghu was a ce where people took revenge ruthlessly and repaid favors gratefully, and that it was not a ce for merciful people. He knew that he could never be a typical wanderer of Jianghu, but he still yearned for that kind of life. As a result, he had risked being expelled from his sect and even losing his reputation to follow the Dragon King to the Western Regions so as to spread his wings.


    But after reviewing what he had done during the past few months, Dog Butcher felt somewhat disappointed. He had switched his weapon from a crutch to a single saber, participated in several operations and killed a couple of unidentified sabermen, but he hadn¡¯t found that unrestrained pleasure he was searching for. After those Central insmen came to Jade City one batch after another, he felt increasingly restricted.


    He had reported to his sister what he had done during the past few months ¨C everything, both the big and small things. But his elder sister had responded with a frown and discontent, and then she had started nagging. ¡°How could you do this? The Kongtong Sect is a prestigious sect. You never told the enemy where you¡¯re from, did you? Good, good. Aren¡¯t Western Regioners good at disguising themselves? You might as well disguise yourself. At least dye your hair red, so that nobody will be able to recognize you. It will also make you look younger.¡±


    Dog Butcher¡¯s enthusiasm for adventuring in Jianghu waned bit by bit. Finally, he made the remark that Tu Pianpian had been expecting for a long time. ¡°Senior Sister, after the Dragon King takes Jade City, I¡¯ll go back to Kongtong Mountain with you.¡±


    ¡°What about your Jianghu dream?¡± Tu Pianpian affected an air of haughtyposure.


    ¡°s, after the Dragon King bes the Lord of Jade City and the Central ins acknowledges his title of king, there won¡¯t be any Jianghu left for me to roam.¡±


    Tu Pianpian was very pleased that her younger brother was able to see things this way, but she still felt that was a little toote. ¡°Actually, the Dragon King has already lost most of his Jianghu aura, and most of the things rted to him are plots. Younger brother, both of us are old. We can¡¯tpete with those young people no matter how hard we try. I think that you¡¯ve already had enough fun. Why don¡¯t you just say goodbye to the Dragon King and go back with me right now?¡±


    Dog Butcher had joined the Kongtong Sect from childhood, and things had gone very smoothly since then. Besides the crushing defeat that he had suffered during his fight with Old Man Mu, he had barely encountered any major setbacks. As a result, just like an unsophisticated teenager, he felt very guilty about ¡°resigning,¡± as if he would owe the Dragon King something if he did this. ¡°Go back now? I¡¯m not sure. The kung fupetition of Jade City hasn¡¯t started yet. Lord Wei¡­ has deep conspiracies. The Dragon King needs me. How can I leave him right now?¡±


    ¡°Lord Wei is the very reason why you should leave right now.¡± Tu Pianpian knew that her younger brother was a naive person, but she also knew that he was a little stubborn, so she tried to speak in a gentler tone, hoping to convince him with reason. ¡°You once told the Dragon King that you would ¡®work for him as long as it doesn¡¯t conflict with the interests of the Central ins,¡¯ and he agreed, right?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the cooperation between the Dragon King and Prince Xiao in ord with the interests of the Central ins? Lord Wei wants to kill the Dragon King, and this is definitely not the right thing to do.¡±


    Tu Pianpian sighed. ¡°Younger brother, like I said, there are plots all around the Dragon King. We can¡¯t see through them, and neither can we intervene in them. With regards to who, between Prince Xiao and Lord Wei, represents the interests of the Central ins, we¡¯re definitely in no ce to judge. So let¡¯s just stand by.¡±


    Dog Butcher wasn¡¯t a fool. He immediately realized that there was a subtle hint to his elder sister¡¯s remarks, so he asked vigntly, ¡°Senior Sister, what else did you hear? The Dragon King saved both of our lives. We can¡¯t repay the favor with dishonesty.¡±


    Tu Pianpian¡¯s face slightly blushed, and she grasped the crutch tightly with her right hand. ¡°It¡¯s not repaying favor with dishonesty. We don¡¯t have to do it ourselves.¡±


    Dog Butcher was more positive that his sister must be hiding something. ¡°Senior Sister, you have to tell me the truth. What kind of conspiracy does Lord Wei have in mind this time? Even if we can¡¯t protect the Dragon King, we should at least warn him.¡±


    Tu Pianpian finally went crazy. ¡°Idiot! Warning the Dragon King means betraying the Central ins! Don¡¯t you understand? Lord Wei trusts the Kongtong Sect very much. He doesn¡¯t know that you¡¯ve joined the Dragon Army. Fan Yongda will also keep it a secret. Go back to the Kongtong Sect with me, and don¡¯t ever mention what or what will happen in the Western Regions ever again.¡±


    For all these years, Dog Butcher had always been obedient to his elder sister. Even his diligent practice of kung fu in order to take revenge on Old Man Mu was mostly Tu Pianpian¡¯s advice instead of his own wish. But this time, he shook his head. ¡°The Dragon King saved my life. I can¡¯t ignore such a big favor. Senior Sister, even if you don¡¯t tell me the truth, I¡¯ll still go back and warn the Dragon King. I¡¯ll stay by his side and keep him safe.¡±


    Tu Pianpian frowned tightly in anger. ¡°You haven¡¯t achieved anything in Jianghu, but your heart has gone wild. You even dare to disobey my words? No way!¡±


    Upon saying these words, Tu Pianpian thrust the crutch in her hand at him. She had sparred with her younger brother very often and they knew each other¡¯s fighting style very well. So Tu Pianpian aimed at his most vulnerable part with her first move, nning to poke him in one of his acupoints and forcibly take him back to the Kongtong Mountain.


    If it were in the past, then Dog Butcher would have fought back with the moves that he had been practicing since childhood ¨C taking a firm stance, parrying strikes, fighting back ¨C this had almost been his habit for decades. But after spending the past few months in Jade City, he had radically changed his habits.


    Without even thinking, Dog Butcher whipped out his saber and fought back, but what he used was not the Kongtong Sect¡¯s sabersmanship that Tu Pianpian couldn¡¯t be more familiar with. Actually, he didn¡¯t use any specific moves at all. This saber strike went straight towards her vital part, and it was as quick as a sh of lightning, as if the opponent didn¡¯t care about his own life at all.


    Tu Pianpian was astounded.


    She had much more Jianghu experience than her younger brother. If her opponent had been a strange saberman, then she would never have been so flurried. But she had already formed an image of her brother¡¯s kung fu in her mind, and she didn¡¯t expect that this elder of the Kongtong Sect would use such a dishonorable and fast saber strike.


    There wasn¡¯t enough time for Tu Pianpian to change her move, so she had no choice but to toss her crutch aside and abruptly leap several steps backwards. She almost broke through the tent. Face blushing scarlet, she said angrily, ¡°Are you out of your mind?¡±


    Dog Butcher was even more startled than his elder sister. Raising the saber, he stood transfixed with shock. After quite a while, he said, ¡°It¡¯s all because of Old Man Mu. He¡¯s been nagging around me everyday and I can barely remember how to fight in a kung fupetition.¡±


    ¡°Do you still remember what Master Shifu said back then?¡±


    ¡°Master Shifu said that¡­¡± Recalling the scene, Dog Butcher broke out in a cold sweat. ¡°Kung fu skills used by those in Jianghu focus on aggression and ferocity, and although they look powerful and were easy to learn, the people who practiced them had actually gone astray and would never be able to master advanced kung fu. If they encountered a real kung fu master, they would surely be killed.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t count as a kung fu master, but if I¡¯m prepared, then you will definitely die a miserable death.¡± Tu Pianpian was very unconvinced of her defeat.


    ¡°Going astray,¡± Dog Butcher repeated these two words. ¡°Have I really gone astray? But Master Shifu also said that we should repay even the smallest favor with the greatest kindness, and that ungrateful disciples of prestigious sects couldn¡¯t evenpare to grateful vendors and soldiers.¡±


    Dog Butcher was caught in a dilemma and looked extremely frustrated. Tu Pianpian sighed again. He was her only rtive, and she couldn¡¯t afford to push him into a dead end. Without even picking up her crutch on the ground, she consoled him. ¡°This is just a habit. After you return to the Kongtong Sect, you¡¯ll return to normal quickly.¡±


    ¡°But back then, I lost to Old Man Mu. If he still had his original strength, then I probably wouldn¡¯t be a match for him still. The Dragon King is much younger than me, and my kung fu is probably better than his, but I can¡¯t defeat him either. Both Old Man Mu and the Dragon King¡­ practice Jianghu¡¯s kung fu, but why¡­ ¡±


    If he kept thinking about it, Dog Butcher would start doubting the indisputable truth that their Master Shifu imparted to them, so Tu Pianpian hastily said, ¡°Every kung fu has its own forte. Besides, what Old Man Mu practices is the Jade Pure Sect¡¯s kung fu. The Dragon King used to be from Golden Roc Castle, and he learned many kung fu routines at first, too. Anyway, don¡¯t think about it too much. How about this? We¡¯ll help the Dragon King onest time to repay the precious favors he¡¯s done to us. After that, you and he will be even. What do you say?¡±


    Dog Butcher nodded, still pondering over the advantages and disadvantages of the two types of kung fu skills.


    Tu Pianpian looked at her younger brother and then said, ¡°The Luo family sent someone here.¡±


    Dog Butcher was slightly startled. ¡°The Luo family? Who came here? Why didn¡¯t I hear about this?¡±


    ¡°The best swordsman of the Luo family. He came here secretly, but it is already public knowledge in the martial arts world of the Central ins. People just don¡¯t talk about it.¡±


    Dog Butcher¡¯s mind was no longer troubled by confusion. ¡°Luo Qikang? He hasn¡¯t appeared for years, has he? And he actually came such a long way to Jade City?¡±


    ¡°Luo Qibai died to the Dragon King¡¯s saber. He came here to avenge his younger brother¡¯s death. Originally, there was no friendship between the Luo family and Lord Wei, but they decided to cooperate with each other in order to deal with the Dragon King. Tell this to the Dragon King, and then you two will be even.¡±


    ¡°I have to protect-¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t! You can¡¯t defeat the Dragon King or Luo Qikang. Don¡¯t you want to know which one¡¯s better ¨C the kung fu of prestigious sects or Jianghu techniques? They will give you the answer. You only need to know the result, understand?¡±


    The Dragon King departed from his camp, and on his way to the Four Noble Truths Temple, he encountered Dog Butcher, who was hurriedlying back.


    ¡°Lord Wei invited a kung fu expert here from the Central ins. You have to be careful, Dragon King.¡± Deeply concerned, Dog Butcher told the Dragon King the message disclosed by his sister.


    ¡°Luo Qikang?¡± Gu Shenwei recalled that swordsman in white clothes whose swordsmanship was superb. If it weren¡¯t for Lotus and him cooperating with each other at a critical moment, they might have been defeated. ¡°How¡¯s his kung fupared to Luo Qibai¡¯s?¡±


    The Dragon King didn¡¯t seem to have realized where the dangery. Dog Butcher scratched his head anxiously. ¡°Here¡¯s the thing. There are nine major sects in the Central ins, and their martial arts have their own respective strengths and weaknesses. None of the nine sects are convinced that the kung fu of any of those other sects is better. But in the martial arts world of the Central ins, there are a couple of people who are widely acknowledged by all sects as top kung fu experts. Luo Qikang is one of them. Luo Qibai cannotpare to him.¡±


    ¡°Got it. I¡¯ll be cautious.¡±


    ¡°Try not to give Luo Qikang any opportunities to make his move¡­ Let me go with you, Dragon King. At the very least, I can recognize him.¡±


    ¡°No. You¡¯re a Central insmen. which means you should stay out of this. You¡¯ve already done enough by telling me this.¡±


    The Dragon King and his guards continued to progress. On horseback, Dog Butcher looked in the Dragon King¡¯s direction. He was worried that the Dragon King was so proud that he would actually mount a serious challenge to Luo Qikang, but he also eagerly wanted to know which one of them was better. He had already forgotten that he was going to leave the Western Regions.


    The news brought by Dog Butcher was like thest piece of the puzzle, which clearly revealed the conspiracies of Wei Song to the Dragon King. Zhong Heng had originally predicted that Shangguan Fa would be the one to kill the Dragon King, but the Unique King was obviously not that easy to manipte. Thus, Wei Song still had to rely on the Central ins.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t have any special feeling about the title ¡°One of the top kung fu experts who is acknowledged by all the major sects of the Central ins.¡± He had been away from the Central ins for too long, and he was no longer able to to feel the pressure brought on by his mothernguage.


    When they arrived at the entrance to the Four Noble Truths Temple, the procession of guards stopped. A monk reminded the Dragon King that he could bring two attendants into the temple this time.


    The Dragon King became suspicious of the possibility that his avoiding the trap by waiting for the Unique King was to lure the real culprit to Lotus and the Waning Moon Hall.


    ¡°Chu Nanping, Shangguan Hong.¡± Gu Shenwei quickly picked out two attendants.


    Everybody was surprised by the second person that the Dragon King choose. Zhong Heng was amazed. He remembered vividly that the Dragon King had originally nned on selecting Shangguan Fei and himself.


    Zhong Heng felt uneasy.

 Chapter 901 - Discernment

    Chapter 901: Discernment


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Dog Butcher couldn¡¯t go to the Four Noble Truths Temple, but he didn¡¯t want to return to the army camp of the Dragon King either. He sat on his horse and watched the snowy wilderness as well as the distant mountains for quite a while. It suddenly struck him that this trip of his had not been in vain.


    It was destined that only a very small number of people would be legends in Jianghu. Ignoring the exaggerated ones, true legends were even fewer.


    ¡®The Dragon King counts as one of them,¡¯ Dog Butcher thought. But the Dragon King was under huge pressure because of it, and he had to pay an unimaginable high price. After thinking of this, Dog Butcher felt that everything was very fair.


    The tter of horse¡¯s hooves was heard. Dog Butcher thought that it would be a soldier of a certain army on patrol, but when he turned his head around, he saw a riderless horse back. He looked more carefully and then realized that Old Man Mu was the rider.


    Old Man Mu could also count as a legend. Back then, he had been notorious in the Nond and the Western Regions for killing innocent people indiscriminately, which made him someone Dog Butcher was even less willing to imitate.


    ¡°Hey, Old Dog, what are you standing around here for?¡±


    ¡°No¨CNothing,¡± Dog Butcher answered perfunctory. If he told Old Man Mu the truth, then he would surelyugh at him for the next few days.


    Old Man Mu reined the horse back and then moved his right leg to the left side of the horse to sit on itterally. ¡°Good. Actually, I¡¯vee back specially for you.¡±


    ¡°Does the Dragon King need my help?¡± Dog Butcher was somewhat excited.


    ¡°Ha-ha, of course not. The Dragon King was born to be a loner. Even if he wants your help, he will make it seem like it¡¯s your own business. But the reason why I¡¯vee back does have something to do with the Dragon King. I heard that a camel came here from the Central ins. I¡¯m a little curious about it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a camel, but the Hedong Luo Vige, which is very famous in both Jianghu and the Imperial Court. Do you still remember that swordsman in white clothes whose name was Luo Qibai? Luo Qikang is his elder brother. People call him the First Sword of the Luo Family. There are also some others who call him ¡®The Sword of the Emperor.¡¯¡±


    ¡°The kung fu skills of you Central-ins guys are just average, but your nicknames are so fancy. Let me ask you something. Why is he called ¡®The Sword of the Emperor?¡¯ Don¡¯t think that I¡¯ve never read the book, <em>Zhuang Zi </em>. ¡®The Sword of the Emperor,¡¯ with¡­ what¡¯s-its-name as its de and¡­ something as its edge. Well, he swings it at a cloud in the sky and then shes it at a rock on the ground¡­ Er, the author Zhuangzi was from the Central ins, and he was really good at bragging.¡±


    Old Man Mu was deviating further and further from the point. Dog Butcher smiled and shook his head. ¡°It has nothing to do with that. There are too many kung fu celebrities in the martial arts world of the Central ins ¨C hundreds of thousands of them actually. And Luo Qikang is the only one who once disyed his swordsmanship in front of the Emperor and acquired hispliments. That¡¯s why he is called ¡®The Sword of the Emperor.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the Emperor of the Central ins only a teenager? What does he know about swordsmanship?¡±


    ¡°Not the incumbent Emperor. The former one. The former Emperor liked sabers and swords a lot and he was a master himself, which was why he had great discernment.¡±


    Old Man Mu curled his lip, ¡°So Central insmen not only like to brag, but they also like to fawn. This is the Western Regions, and it¡¯s hundreds of thousands of miles away from your former Emperor. No matter how loudly you fawn on him, he can¡¯t hear it in the underworld.¡±


    Dog Butcher had gotten used to Old Man Mu¡¯s sarcastic ridicule. Speaking of bragging and fawning, among all the people he had met, none of them were better at these two things than Old Man Mu was. So, he smiled. ¡°It¡¯s just a Jianghu nickname. There¡¯s no need to take it seriously.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t take it seriously. I just want to ask you something else. Both of us once saw the Dragon King and Lotus cooperate with each other and beat the shit out of that ¡®white camel.¡¯ Do you think this ¡®Kang camel¡¯ stands a chance?¡±


    This was the very question that Dog Butcher had been pondering. The Dragon King¡¯s sabersmanship was incredible and he had defeated opponents more powerful than him many times. But his strength had its own limit, and he couldn¡¯t radically change hisbat style. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Dog Butcher answered honestly. ¡°but if he fights him today without Lotus by his side¡­ then I¡¯m afraid he¡¯s no match for Luo Qikang.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense. The Dragon King will never have a fair kung fupetition with him. He will surely walk up to him and say with a big smile, ¡®so you¡¯re the renowned ¡®The Sword of the Emperor.¡¯ I¡¯m honored to meet you. s, look at your sword. I can tell that it¡¯s nomon sword just from its sight. And look at your face. Wow, you¡¯re a genius among genius. I heard that your mother gave birth to a second son who looked very much like me.¡¯ And then with a ¡®Puh,¡¯ the Dragon King will kill him with a single saber strike.¡±


    This was a despicable method that only Old Man Mu would stoop to, but Dog Butcher understood the connotation of his words, and it was also what he had been wondering about ¨C were those profound martial arts moves of prestigious sects really better than the pragmatic Jianghu techniques?


    ¡°Luo Qikang is not that easy to deal with. He once disyed swordsmanship in front of the Emperor, and he has also been traveled through Jianghu for many years. He once broke into a bandit fortress alone and defeated a dozen people consecutively when he was only fifteen.¡±


    ¡°So he once defeated a bunch of bandits. What¡¯s the big deal?¡±


    ¡°He used to be very staunch with great moral integrity when he was young, and he offended a lot of people. Rumor says that he survived dozens of assassinations without getting a single scar.¡±


    Old Man Mu made a slightly more favorablement, ¡°Having no scar doesn¡¯t necessarily mean that his kung fu skills are good. It could also mean that he doesn¡¯t dare fight to the death.¡±


    Dog Butcher could still name a lot of other legendary deeds of Luo Qikang, but all of them had the same w ¨C those who had been defeated by the Sword of the Emperor were all famous in the Central ins, but hardly anybody from the Western Regions would know about them, which meant that using them as examples was pointless to Old Man Mu. After pondering it over for a while more, he suddenly jumped off of his horse and disyed an extremelyplicated kung fu move. And then he said, ¡°How would you handle this move?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say. If my internal energy is still more potent than yours, then I will surely make the first move, which means that you would be the one who needs to handle my move.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just assume that our internal energy is evenly matched and that I¡¯m the one who makes the first move.¡±


    Old Man Mu also thought for a decent while, ¡°This move of yours is tricky. It¡¯s a three-pronged attack at the upper, middle and lower part of the opponent. They¡¯re all feints, but they can also turn into real attacks at any time. If we were evenly matched, then I would have two options. The first is to take evasive actions. Your move is tooplicated, which makes it difficult for you to pursue me. I¡¯ll fight back the moment your move loses its momentum. The second one is tounch sham attacks that can turn into real attacks just like you do. Chances are that you will expose your vulnerability if you¡¯re not decisive enough.¡±


    Dog Butcher put away his saber and nodded in admiration, ¡°You do know your kung fu, Old Man Mu. This move is called the ¡®Three Nods of the Phoenix.¡¯ My Master Shifu once warned me again and again that this move was very powerful, but I shouldn¡¯t use it if my will was not strong enough. He was afraid that I would misjudge the situation during a fight, which might result in me leaving an opening before I could hit the target.¡±


    Upon hearing thepliments, Old Man Mu curved his lips into a smile. He also gave Dog Butcher apliment in return, which he didn¡¯t do very often. ¡°Some of the Kongtong Sect¡¯s kung fu skills are pretty good as well. Your Majesty Shifu¡¯s warning is very reasonable, but there¡¯s no need for you to worry too much about it. Your will is not strong enough, but neither is your enemy¡¯s. Experienced people like me who have been through hundreds of fights are rare.¡±


    ¡°Back then my Master Shifu was defeated by Luo Qikang when he was performing this very move.¡±


    ¡°Which option did Luo Qikang take? Um. If he is really as good as you have described, then he surely would have taken the second option, which isunching sham attacks that can turn into real ones. It turns out that your Master Shifu¡¯s will was not strong enough either.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not true. My Master Shifu was a decisive man. Luo Qikang defeated him by taking a third option.¡±


    Old Man Mu widened his eyes. He had only thought of two options, but this ¡®Sword of the Emperor¡¯ had actuallye up with a third one. ¡°He either attacked or defended. What else could he have done?¡±


    ¡°I saw it with my own eyes. Luo Qikang is much younger than me. Back then, he was about the age of my Master Shifu¡¯s great-grandson, but his swordsmanship was sophisticated and consummate. When my Master Shifu performed the ¡®Three Nods of the Phoenix,¡¯ I was fascinated, thinking that his victory was certain. But it turned out that the winner was the young man. He neither evaded my Master Shifu¡¯s move when it had the greatest momentum norunched any fancy sham attacks. Instead, he made only one move, which was to thrust his sword squarely at my Master Shifu¡¯s chest. But he showed mercy to my Master Shifu. Shifu wasn¡¯t hurt, but he had no choice but to admit defeat. From then on, Master Shifu became depressed, constantly saying that Kongtong Sect couldn¡¯tpare with the Luo Vige. After a couple years, he passed away.¡±


    Old Man Mu didn¡¯t care how Dog Butcher¡¯s Master Shifu died. He was confused about a lot of details. Frowning tightly, he said, ¡°Wait. You said that Luo Qikang only gave out one sword blow.¡±


    ¡°Um. Only one sword blow. He thrust it straight forward and then drew it straight backwards without a single superfluous motion. Back then, the other disciples and I were transfixed with shock.¡±


    ¡°Was his sword blow even faster than that of the Dragon King?¡±


    Dog Butcher shook his head. ¡°It wasn¡¯t very fast. At least, I saw it distinctly at that time, and I don¡¯t think that that sword blow was faster than my Master Shifu¡¯s saber blow.¡±


    ¡°Did your Master Shifu misjudge it and offer him a opportunity?¡±


    ¡°Master Shifu didn¡¯t misjudge it at all, which is the very reason why he became depressed afterwards.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯m confused. If Luo Qikang¡¯s sword blow was not fast enough, and he didn¡¯t perform any amazing moves, then how exactly did he manage to defeat your Master Shifu?¡±


    ¡°Exactly. Back then, the other disciples and I had the same thought as you. We thought that it was impossible. It didn¡¯t seem like Luo Qikang had defeated my Master Shifu, but rather that Master Shifu had willingly stepped towards the opponent¡¯s sword to be humiliated. After subduing our urge to ask him about the reason for days, we finally went to Master Shifu, but his mind had already be¡­ unclear. He only kept saying the word ¡®impossible.¡¯ After a couple of days, he summoned us and said that it was not the Luo family¡¯s swordsmanship but Luo Qikang that was invincible.¡±


    Old Man Mu became anxious. ¡°s, you¡¯re too verbose. Just directly tell me the reason. I don¡¯t care whether your Master Shifu is dead or not.¡±


    ¡°The thing is, Master Shifu said that it was neither moves nor speed, but rather discernment.¡±


    ¡°Discernment? He can defeat his opponent with mere discernment?¡±


    ¡°There are three movements in ¡®Three Nods of the Phoenix.¡¯ No matter how skilled you are in performing this move, there will always be a transition interval between these movements.¡±


    Old Man Mu raised his head and looked into the sky. ¡°Show me the move once again.¡±


    Dog Butcher whipped out his saber and performed the move in the blink of an eye. Although the move was veryplex, every one of his movements was quick and clean. His reputation as an Elder of the Kongtong Sect was well-earned.


    Old Man Mu actually admired his motions, but he was unwilling to admit it. ¡°Indeed, there are intervals, but¡­ I don¡¯t believe that anyone could actually take advantage of these fleeting intervals unless both their reflexes and moves are very fast. However, you said that Luo Qikang¡¯s sword blows were not very fast.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe that this is possible either, still less my Master Shifu. But Luo Qikang did manage to do it. He established his reputation many years ago and has never been hurt. It¡¯s definitely not because he doesn¡¯t dare fight to the death. No matter if it¡¯s a kung fupetition or a duel, he always prefers risky moves. On most asions, the spectators were unaware of the real situation. Master Shifu counted as one of those who knew the truth, since he said that Luo Qikang has excellent discernment.¡±


    If it weren¡¯t for the fact that Old Man Mu knew that Dog Butcher was an honest man, he would never have believed this incredible story. ¡°If this Luo Qikang¡¯s kung fu is half as good as you¡¯re describing it to be, then the Dragon King probably won¡¯t be his match.¡±


    ¡°So I advised the Dragon King not to give Luo Qikang any chances to make his move.¡±


    Face full of expectations, Old Man Mu had an opinion different than that of Dog Butcher¡¯s. ¡°The Death Scripture versus ¡®The Sword of the Emperor.¡¯ It will surely be a fantastic fight. Old Dog, are youing with me? We might bete if we don¡¯t move right now.¡±


    In the Four Noble Truths Temple, Gu Shenwei recognized his biggest enemy the moment he walked into the room.


    Seemingly in his thirties or forties, Luo Qikang had a well-proportioned build and was not as strong and tough as a warrior. His features slightly resembled his younger brother¡¯s, but his skin color was a little darker. And he wasn¡¯t wearing his signature neat, white clothes but rather amon Central-ins soldier¡¯s robe. The robe seemed fairly worn and somewhat dirty. There was a sword fastened to his belt.


    He looked like a temporary guard that Wei Song had selected from the troops, but when he raised his head and nced at the Dragon King, Gu Shenwei immediately felt a ripple of coldness pass through him, as if his entrails had been exposed under this man¡¯s gaze. Gu Shenwei immediately realized that this man was the kung fu expert of the Luo family that Dog Butcher had mentioned.

 Chapter 902 - Confession

    Chapter 902: Confession


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Many people participated in this meeting. The Dragon King, the Unique King, the Prince Regent of the Shule Kingdom, and Wei Song represented four armies. Each of them had brought two attendants. The team of the Central ins envoy had also sent two people here ¨C a deputy envoy and an attendant.


    The deputy envoy¡¯s name was Sun Chengqi. He was an amiable official, but on this asion, there was a look of anger tinged with grief upon his face. He was a representative of the deceased Ma Lian and he was here to demand an exnation.


    Sun Chengqi and Zhong Heng had secretly reached a preliminary agreement, but he pretended to not know the Dragon King. He slightly nodded at the Dragon King just like he had done to the other Western Regioners.


    Nobody had introduced the attendant of the deputy envoy. His face was strange to Gu Shenwei, so Gu Shenwei knew he was Zhang You, the eunuch Zhang You that had once been mentioned to him.


    Zhang You looked feeble, and his face was pale, as if he could be blown away by a gust of wind. Sending him here to the Western Regions had been a cruel decision, but he had an obedient face. When he stood behind Sun Chengqi, he looked as humble as an invisible man. Byparison, Shangguan Hong seemed like a sabersman who had only learned some below average kung fu, but had still managed to enter Jade City, where one¡¯s kung fu was the most important quality.


    The Four Noble Truths Temple didn¡¯t send any eminent monks to this room. There was only the head monk and a couple of receptionists.


    Sun Chengqi made an impassioned speech. ording to his description, the envoy Ma Lian had been a highly dedicated official who had devoted his heart and blood to the Imperial Court. But unfortunately, he had been assassinated, which was a misfortune of the Central ins as well as the Western Regions.


    The name of the prostitute that Ma Lian had once favored would never appear in the Central ins¡¯ official records.


    And then it was Wei Song¡¯s turn to speak. As the supreme official of the Western Regions assigned here by the Central ins, he first med himself for failing to protect the envoy of the Central ins, and then he swore vengeance upon the killer. ¡°The Central ins will go to the ends of the earth to hunt this person down. We¡¯ll move all the mountains that block our way and destroy all the countries that dare stop us. By no means will we allow this person to get away unpunished.¡±


    The young head monk also gave his condolences.


    It took a very long time to go through those ceremonial procedures. After about two hours, the meeting moved to the core session ¨C the Western Regioners had to hand over the culprit.


    The Prince Regent of the Shule Kingdom was the first one to speak. He spent a lot of time defending the Shule Kingdom, iming that there was no need for his country to assassinate the envoy of the Central ins, and that they didn¡¯t have the strength to do it either. He didn¡¯t hand over anything.


    The Dragon King seldom made eye contact with the Unique King. In fact, they were facing the same crisis. The could have cooperated with each other to handle it. Three days ago, when they were performing the autopsy, Shangguan Fa had given him an extremely ambiguous clue. However, Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t show any signs of approval, so the cooperation had ended before it could even take shape.


    They politely offered to let each other be the first one to speak. Gu Shenwei was more insistent, so the Unique King became the second one to speak. He didn¡¯t try to defend Golden Roc Castle and instead went straight to the point. ¡°That deceased assassin was a disciple of Waning Moon Hall. Guests from the Central ins may not know much about the Waning Moon Hall. Would you please provide some information for them, head monk Fa Feng?¡±


    Fa Feng was the head monk of the Four Noble Truths Temple. He was under thirty years old, but was a peer of a lot of old eminent monks. The big smile on his face was a mixture of about seventy percent of mercy and thirty percent sophistication. ¡°Amitabha. Actually, I also know little about this Waning Moon Hall. But I have consulted some seniors of our temple and also found some records among some old paperwork, which has enabled me to have a superficial impression of this organization. It¡¯s only for reference, though. Uh, about a couple of decades ago, the Waning Moon Hall was a part of Golden Roc Castle. Then,ter, it rebelled and became independent.¡±


    Upon hearing the four words ¡°rebelled and became independent,¡± several people looked in the Dragon King¡¯s direction. Having realized that he had made some inappropriate remarks, Fa Feng loudly uttered ¡°Amitabha¡± several times and then started talking faster. ¡°The Waning Moon Hall only recruits female disciples. They are skilled at using knockout powder and evil kung fu, which is why all of the sects in the Western Regions despise them. Out of indignation and hatred, many sects once decided to besiege the Waning Moon Hall. Eventually, all sides reached an agreement right here in Four Noble Truths Temple: the other sects gave up on besieging the Waning Moon Hall, and the Waning Moon Hall retreated into the northeastern desert to never step out of it again. However, six years ago, the Waning Moon Hall openly breached the agreement. Not only did they reappear in Jianghu, but they also started killing people everywhere in the Western Regions. s. It¡¯s a pity that only a few people in the Western Regions still remember the Waning Moon Hall, and that people didn¡¯t unite to stop the Waning Moon Hall in time. This is why Ma Lian, Lord Ma, was tragically killed.¡±


    ¡°Wait.¡± The deputy envoy of the Central ins, Sun Chengqi, interjected. ¡°I don¡¯t care about what kind of organization the Waning Moon Hall is, but we need proof to confirm that it is responsible for the assassination of the envoy. First of all, you said that the Waning Moon Hall only recruits female disciples, but that dead assassin was a man.¡±


    ¡°That was my mistake,¡± Fa Feng admitted frankly. ¡°I should have only introduced the Waning Moon Hall. I shouldn¡¯t have made any spections. By convention, the Waning Moon Hall only recruits female disciples. With regards as to how they¡¯re rted to that assassination, I think that we should let the Unique King tell us about it.¡±


    The Unique King moved his eyes to Gu Shenwei. ¡°Originally, the Waning Moon Hall only recruited female disciples, but in the past two years, they¡¯ve changed their rules. The Dragon King is very familiar with the Waning Moon Hall. Do you have any extra information to offer?¡±


    This was an ambiguous provocation. The Unique King wanted to tie the Dragon King to the Waning Moon Hall. Though Gu Shenwei could just contradict him in a tit-for-tat way, he only said two words. ¡°I don¡¯t.¡±


    The Unique King took three steps forward and said, ¡°The Waning Moon Hall takes ying one side off another as its sect goal, which is also why they would assassinate the envoy of the Central ins. My words can not be taken as evidence. Fortunately, Golden Roc Castle has captured a couple of disciples of the Waning Moon Hall, and they can prove my point.¡±


    Wei Song whispered to Sun Chengqi for a little while and then loudly said, ¡°Please have the prisoners brought here, Unique King.¡±


    The Unique King briefly nodded at an attendant behind him who then immediately walked out of the room. Before long, he and six other guards escorted three prisoners into the room.


    The Waning Moon Hall had always acted covertly, which was why many people present had be interested. The deputy envoy watched curiously, and even the head monk, Fa Feng, couldn¡¯t help but raise his eyes, intending topare the three prisoners with the rumors that he had heard.


    All of the three prisoners were female, and surprisingly, one of them was even someone that Gu Shenwei knew.


    Unaware that this was not the right asion, Han Fen smiled brightly and said, ¡°Dragon King, I was caught again. It seems that I¡¯ve had a run of bad luck recently.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi had been trying his best to collect intelligence, but surprisingly, he had failed to get any information about Han Fen, which had been a terrible negligence on his part.


    ¡°Um. You¡¯re rather suitable to be a prisoner.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha, I prefer to be the Dragon King¡¯s prisoner. The people in Golden Roc Castle kept giving me cold faces, and they wouldn¡¯t let me go anywhere.¡±


    One of the prisoners of Golden Roc Castle was actually an acquaintance of the Dragon King¡¯s, which made the deputy envoy more confused. ¡°Does the Dragon King and Waning Moon Hall know each other very well?¡±


    ¡°Yes. The Dragon Army once allied with the Waning Moon Hall. This one behind me counts as half a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    Shangguan Hong quivered. Ever since he had followed the Dragon King into this room, he had never raised his head for fear of making eye contact with his biological father.


    Sun Chengqi gave an ambiguous ¡°Um¡± sound. Before confirming that the Waning Moon Hall was the mastermind responsible for the assassination, he didn¡¯t want to talk about them too much.


    But Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t like breaking off in mid-sentence. Now that the Unique King had implied that he was a co-conspirator of Waning Moon Hall, he had to fight back. So, he continued. ¡°I think that deputy envoy already knows that the Dragon Army and Golden Roc Castle used to be allies too. The Dragon Army has a lot of allies, and it has even more former allies. In addition, the name of this attendant of mine here is Shangguan Hong, who is the Unique King¡¯s beloved son.¡±


    ¡°Who used to be,¡± Shangguan Fa corrected coldly.


    Shangguan Hong broke out into a cold sweat and finally understood why the Dragon King had asked him toe. He deeply regretteding and also badly wanted toin, thinking that this tricky task should have been assigned to Shangguan Fei.


    ¡°Used to be¡­ Exactly. I used to be an ally of Waning Moon Hall,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    Theplex rtionship between the Unique King and Dragon King bewildered Sun Chengqi, who then shook his head and said, ¡°Let¡¯s talk about thister. Did these three prisoners admit that Waning Moon Hall is responsible for the assassination?¡±


    The other two disciples of the Waning Moon Hall kept silent, and once again Han Fen was the one who talked. ¡°All right. I¡¯ll talk. The envoy of the Central ins was indeed killed by the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    The prisoner had admitted it so readily, which greatly surprised everybody present, Gu Shenwei in particr. He knew that Han Fen had never been a good liar, but now, she appeared frank and honest. However, back then, in the forest of peach trees of Gui Garden, when she had imed that the assassin might be a member of the Kun Society, she had also looked veryposed.


    It had been only two months. ¡®Did she learn how to be a good liar in that timeframe?¡¯ Gu Shenwei was confused.


    However, the others held the opposite opinion. Han Fen had admitted it too willingly, and there was a disapproving smile on her face, as if she believed that the assassination of the envoy of the Central ins was not a big deal. Thus, most of the people here suspected that she had lied.


    ¡°Why did the Waning Moon Hall assassinate the envoy of the Central ins?¡± Sun Chengqi felt that this woman was a little entric, so he asked his questions in a mild voice. ¡°Just tell us the truth. Don¡¯t be afraid.¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m not afraid. You¡¯re a pretty nice old man, unlike the Unique King. His face is even more sepulchral than the Dragon King¡¯s face, but he¡¯s not as handsome as the Dragon King. He¡¯s less good-looking than you.¡±


    Embarrassed, Sun Chengqi gave out two short coughs. ¡°You still haven¡¯t answered my question.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Why did the Waning Moon Hall assassinate the envoy of the Central ins ¨C it¡¯s because of you, of course.¡±


    Stunned, Sun Chengqi snapped, ¡°Do you know who I am? You dare openly nder me?¡±


    ¡°I know who you are. You are the one who argued about a prostitute with the envoy of the Central ins in the Retention Alley. You lost, so you hired Waning Moon Hall to kill the envoy.¡±


    Han Fen¡¯s remarks were bing increasingly unbelievable. Annoyed and embarrassed, Sun Chengqi finally became furious. He turned and faced the Unique King, ¡°Did Golden Roc Castle make this arrangement to mock me?¡±


    Shangguan Fa answered in an expressionless voice, ¡°No.¡± And then he said to Han Fen, ¡°It seems that you are not going to tell the truth.¡±


    Han Fen widened her eyes. ¡°Why do you think that I didn¡¯t tell the truth? This is the truth. There are so many people here ¨C the Dragon King, monks, and high-rank officials of the Central ins. We are no longer in Golden Roc Castle, Unique King. You can¡¯t just force me to say whatever you want me to say. I know that you don¡¯t want me to tell the truth, but I¡¯m no longer under your control.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was bing more and more startled. Talking meaningless nonsense was Han Fen¡¯s style, and the words ¡°ying it by ear¡± and ¡°an iron hand in a velvet glove¡± had never applied to her. However, these remarks that she had just made insinuated that the Unique King had been colluding with the deputy envoy of the Central ins. Although these words sounded absurd, they were also coherent. Thus, it was very unlikely that she was the one who hade up with these words.


    Face livid, Shangguan Fa disdained arguing with Han Fen. He asked the other two prisoners, ¡°What about you? Do you want to change your confession as well?¡±


    The two exchanged eye contact and said in unison, ¡°Han Fen¡¯s words are our words.¡±


    Han Fen was very smug. ¡°Good girls. This is what disciples of the Waning Moon Hall should be like.¡±


    Shangguan Fa waved his hand and the six guards escorted the prisoners out of the room. Before leaving, Han Fen winked at the Dragon King, as if asking him whether this game had been fun or not.


    ¡°The prisoners refused to tell the truth. But it doesn¡¯t matter. Golden Roc Castle has other proof. But I¡¯d like to hear the Dragon King¡¯s opinions first.¡± The Unique King¡¯s first move had ended up bing a farce, and he had also deeply offended the deputy envoy of the Central ins. However, the Unique King was unwilling to apologize to him in public, so he to make a concession and had decided to let the Dragon King make his move.


    Gu Shenwei stood up. He had several ns in his mind, but none of them were wless. After shooting a quick nce at Luo Qikang, who was behind Wei Song, he made the final choice.


    ¡°Ma Lian was killed by his own guard,¡± he said.

 Chapter 903 - Saber Cuts

    Chapter 903: Saber Cuts


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The Dragon King¡¯s public levying of murder against the guard of the envoy of the Central ins was more shocking, more surprising, and also more confusing than Han Fen¡¯s nonsense.


    Those present looked at each other in confusion. Eventually, Wei Song said, ¡°I believe that the Dragon King is not a fraud. Surely you have some proof to back up your words, right?¡±


    ¡°I do,¡± Gu Shenwei said. The originally vague picture of how the assassination had happened suddenly became clear and distinct.


    The deputy envoy, Sun Chengqi, appeared rather anxious. Apparently, he felt that all Western Regioners were somewhat unreasonable. ¡°I have to remind you, Dragon King. Lord Ma¡¯s guard is dead, and he died right beside Lord Ma. Did hemit suicide for fear of punishment? And what about that assassin that dropped from the top of the city wall?¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes swept through all the people in the room, ¡°Please hear my spection ¨C yes, it¡¯s only my spection ¨C and then I¡¯ll prove that my spection is true.¡± He paused briefly and then continued. ¡°This guard ¨C I don¡¯t know his name yet ¨C killed the envoy in the carriage for some kind of reason. His n was probably like this: he pretended that an assassin hadunched an sneak attack on the bridge, and that he pursued the assassin and then came back only to ¡®discover¡¯ that Lord Ma had been killed. The guards at the city gate would conveniently be his witnesses. What he didn¡¯t expect was that an assassin really did show up and kill him ruthlessly. The assassin could have fled smoothly, but it turned out that he had also identally been killed by a hidden killer.¡±


    ¡°There are so many ¡®idents,¡¯¡± Sun Chengqi said sarcastically. If this was all that the Dragon King was capable of, he no longer wanted to cooperate with him to bring down the Governor of the Western Regions.


    ¡°For those deceased ones, these were idents, but in reality, they were all premeditated. Now, I¡¯ll prove my spection to you. Shangguan Hong.¡±


    Shangguan Hong had been feeling an ominous premonition this entire meeting. Upon hearing the Dragon King call his name, he buckled at the knees and nearly fell. What scared him the most was not just the prospect of being questioned, but also his father, the Unique King, who was sitting not far away from him.


    Although his identity of the Unique King¡¯s son had been acknowledged six years ago, Shangguan Hong had never been close to his father. Like before, he had always been in the crowd, looking at the King Lord from a distance. Actually, this was the first time that the distance between him and his father was shorter than ten steps and this was his first opportunity to speak in front of the Unique King.


    ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± Shangguan Hong¡¯s voice was so hoarse that he sounded as if he had just walked out of a desert.


    ¡°Was it you who killed that assassin on the top of the city wall?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Their conversation immediately caused a minormotion. Shangguan Hong was both the Dragon King¡¯s subordinate and the Unique King¡¯s son. For the Central insmen who didn¡¯t know much inside information, the Dragon King had literally just admitted that the Dragon King and Golden Roc Castle were the masterminds behind the assassination.


    Everybody had a lot of questions, and a couple of them had even opened their mouths, but eventually, they shut up, because the Dragon King appeared extremelyposed, which indicated that he still had something to say.


    The room went quiet. Gu Shenwei asked another question. ¡°How long did you lie in ambush on the top of the wall?¡±


    ¡°About¡­ four to six hours,¡± Shangguan Hong¡¯s head was very low, he was sweating buckets, and he felt as if his entire body had been squeezed empty. He didn¡¯t know why the Dragon King had suddenly asked him to step out. To frame him? Or to drag the Unique King into the mire?


    ¡°So you clearly saw what happened on that bridge?¡±


    ¡°Very clearly.¡± Before he could figure out the Dragon King¡¯s true intentions, Shangguan Hong decided to speak as honestly as possible.


    ¡°Wait,¡± the deputy envoy Sun Chengqi interjected. ¡°Back then, it was midnight. Could you see clearly?¡±


    ¡°There werenterns on the bridge and the city gate. It was very bright.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Sun Chengqi said no more.


    ¡°Did you see the assassin?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°I did.¡±


    ¡°Tell us what you saw.¡±


    ¡°Uh. Originally, the assassin was hiding under the bridge. When the carriage passed by the bridge, he leaped onto the bridge, entered the carriage, and then exited. It all took ce very quickly, almost in the blink of an eye.¡±


    ¡°How quick, specifically?¡±


    Shangguan Hong became even more confused. He had told the Dragon King everything that had happened that night in detail, and back then, the Dragon King didn¡¯t care about this issue very much. ¡°Well¡­ It seemed as if he didn¡¯t pause in the carriage at all. He went in and out of it in an instant.¡±


    ¡°Show us.¡±


    It seemed that the Dragon King¡¯s request was pointless and merely a waste of time. Wei Song said, ¡°I think we all know what the Dragon King is trying to say. The assassin went in and out of the carriage so quickly that he didn¡¯t have enough time to kill two people, right?¡±


    ¡°This is exactly what I want to prove.¡±


    A suggestion of a sympathetic look appeared on Wei Song¡¯s face. ¡°I believe you, Dragon King. And I also believe that this¡­ Young Master Shanguan is telling the truth. But in the end, he was hiding on the top of the wall, and he didn¡¯t see what happened in the carriage. He thought that there was too little time, but maybe that was only his interpretation. After all, he was hiding there for four to six hours. It would be very normal for him to be a little anxious.¡±


    A killer would never be anxious from waiting for four to six hours. Both Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Fa knew this, but neither of them intended to exin this to these Central insmen.


    Sun Chengqi said, ¡°Governor Wei¡¯s words are very reasonable. You can¡¯t use somebody else¡¯s spections to prove your own spections, Dragon King. You have to offer more concrete evidence. After all, it is Lord Ma¡¯s personal guard that you¡¯re using. I know this man well. He was devoted to his duty and protected Lord Ma the whole way here.¡±


    Gu Shenwei briefly nodded. ¡°I have evidence. And it¡¯s the wound on the Lord Envoy. The assassin¡¯s weapon was a Western-Region narrow saber. The guard was from the Central ins. So, I assume his weapon was either amon saber, sword, or dagger. Wounds caused by these weapons are very different from those caused by a narrow saber.¡±


    ¡°Different how?¡± Sun Chengqi asked confusedly. He knew nothing about kung fu and couldn¡¯t understand what ¡°very different¡± meant.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes were not on the deputy envoy, but rather on Wei Song. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of Central-ins kung fu experts around Lord Wei. They can attest that there are indeed distinctive differences.¡±


    Wei Song failed to retain hisposure. He involuntarily turned his head and nced at Luo Qikang, who was standing beside him. The most famous swordsman of the Luo family blinked.


    ¡°Uh. Well¡­ The remains of Lord Ma have already been ced into a coffin. I don¡¯t think that it¡¯s appropriate to disturb the dead.¡± Wei Song made an excuse.


    Sun Chengqi had also brought a guard, so he directly asked, ¡°Can you tell the difference?¡±


    The guard appeared a little awkward. He could already sense the a hick smell of conspiracy, and he had no intention of getting involved, so he said, ¡°There should be some differences, but I¡¯m afraid that I¡¯m not good enough to tell.¡±


    Sun Chengqi snorted discontentedly. ¡°There are plenty of kung fu practitioners at Governor Wei¡¯smand here. I think that their discernment is decent enough. We may trust them. Though it¡¯s not appropriate to disturb the deceased, this issue is special. You, me, and all the others present have a heavy responsibility. Now that the Dragon King has such spections, we must verify them.¡±


    Wei Song looked hesitant and reluctant, but he soon changed his mind. ¡°Since the deputy envoy has such intentions, then let¡¯s open the coffin and perform an autopsy. But there¡¯s not enough time to do it today. At the earliest, we can do it tomorrow and get the results then.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s continue tomorrow.¡± Sun Chengqi¡¯s position was even lower than that of Wei Song, but he was the deputy envoy. After Ma Lian¡¯s death, he had be the representative of the Imperial Court of the Central ins, so his words mattered greatly. ¡°But before we get the results, I still want to ask you a couple of questions, Dragon King.¡±


    Wei Song said nothing. Gu Shenwei said, ¡°Please ask.¡±


    ¡°I consent to the autopsy. But if it¡¯s indeed a wound caused by a narrow saber, then all of your spections will be proven wrong. Can you ept the responsibility for that?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Gu Shenwei believed that there was a seventy to eighty-percent chance that his spections were correct, but he appeared to be absolutely certain of it. ¡°If my spections are wrong, then I¡¯m willing to ept the responsibility for lodging a false usation. I will apologize to all of you, as well as all the guards of the Central ins, and take the me for the crimemitted against the envoy.¡±


    ¡°s. Take the me for the crime? That¡¯s a little dramatic, Dragon King.¡± There seemed to be a tacit consensus among all participants that Sun Chengqi was the moderator of this meeting. Fa Feng, who was sitting on the head of the table, and Wei Song, who was sitting on the left-hand seat, both stayed silent out of prudence. ¡°Since the Dragon King has already made a spection, then please make a further one ¨C why would Lord Ma¡¯s guard kill his master?¡±


    ¡°It might have been because of a personal grudge, or maybe he was bribed. I believe that we can find the truth with just a little investigation.¡±


    ¡°If the wound on Lord Ma¡¯s body is really not a narrow saber wound, then Governor Wei and I will surely conduct an investigation into it. Here¡¯s another question of mine: why was this Young Master Shangguan beside Dragon King so coincidentally on top of the wall that night? How did he happened to see the assassin and even manage to kill him?¡±


    ¡°Let he himself answer.¡±


    Stunned again, Shangguan Hong couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Should I tell the truth?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re only allowed to tell the truth.¡±


    Shangguan Hong steeled himself and ventured to look at the Central insmen on the opposite side. ¡°I¡¯ve been practicing a new swordsmanship, and I needed to¡­ kill a couple of people.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re the assassin in Jade City!¡± Sun Chengqi yelled in amazement.


    ¡°No, no.¡± Shangguan Hong hurriedly denied it. ¡°Only a couple of those victims were killed by me. Most of the deaths have nothing to do with me. There¡¯re many assassins prowling around in Jade City. I¡¯m only one of them.¡±


    Sun Chengqi shook his head, and his feeling that Western Regioners were entric increased. ¡°Keep talking.¡±


    ¡°I felt like I had made some progress in my swordsmanship, and I wanted to confirm it by killing another assassin, so I went to Retention Alley andy there in wait. For two consecutive nights, I saw someone staking out that area. Back then, I didn¡¯t know that the envoy of the Central ins was the one being spied on. I spected that this assassin would choose to take action on the bridge, so I went to the top of the wall and continued to wait there¡­ He arrived as expected. Then he entered the carriage and soon exited. After that, he leaped onto the wall. Then we exchanged a few moves and I killed him. That¡¯s it. It was not until the next day that I realized the identity of the passenger.¡±


    For Sun Chengqi, this was an incredible story, and the only thing that it had proved was that Jade City waspletely chaotic and that this city was in urgent need of the Central ins¡¯wful governance. He stayed silent for quite a while. Suddenly, ignoring Shangguan Hong and the Dragon King, he asked Shangguan Fa, ¡°You just said that you had other proof. Isn¡¯t it high time that you took them out?¡±


    ¡°Um. The Dragon King¡¯s spection is very interesting. I don¡¯t want to judge whether it¡¯s correct or not. We should wait until we get the results of the autopsy tomorrow. With regards to that assassin killed by Shangguan Hong¡­ ¡±


    Upon Hearing his father say his name, Shangguan Hong was so scared that he started trembling. The only thing that he could do was remind himself again and again, ¡®I¡¯ve mastered advanced swordsmanship. I don¡¯t have to be afraid.¡¯


    Shangguan Fa paused for a while and then continued speaking. ¡°I know him. His name was Yang Hao. He used to be an apprentice of Golden Roc Castle. A year ago, he left of his own ount and his whereabouts were unknown since then. It was not until yesterday that I confirmed the identity of his new master.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± Sun Chengqi asked urgently.


    ¡°Madam Luo of the Iron Mountain.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had deliberately avoided disclosing the assassin¡¯s identity in order to avoid the trap set by Wei Song and the others. But unexpectedly, the Unique King had brought it up of his own ord. In the beginning, he had nned to shift all responsibility to the Waning Moon Hall and Lotus. But now, he had to sacrifice Luo Ningcha.


    Madam Meng, who was absent, had won. She had seeded in making her husband abandon a former lover.


    Luo Ningcha, who was also absent, had no idea she was already in grave danger.

 Chapter 904 - Temper

    Chapter 904: Temper


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Sun Chengqi was very angry. In his opinion, the rtionships between Western Regioners were tangled andplicated, and almost everybody was a potential suspect in the case of the Central in¡¯s envoy¡¯s assassination. ¡°Will somebody please tell me who this Madam Luo of the Iron Mountain is?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was unwilling to answer. Even the Unique King, who was the one who had brought Luo Ningcha up, remained silent ¨C his eyes were fixed on the Dragon King¡¯s face, as if he was observing the opponent¡¯s subtle movements during a duel.


    Wei Song coughed twice. He had no choice but to answer the question. ¡°The Iron Mountain is one of the forces in the Western Regions, and its leader¡¯s respectful form of address is Madam Luo. Its members are stationed between the two Central-ins armies. You might have a vague recollection of them, Lord Sun.¡±


    It suddenly dawned on Sun Chengqi that this so-called ¡°Madam Luo¡± was actually the rumored beauty found by Prince Xiao in the Western Regions. He didn¡¯t dare ask any further questions, and he even regretted having made those previous remarks. So he nodded, picked up his cup, and sipped at his tea. The aggressiveness on his face was suddenly reced by indifference, as if this meeting had nothing to do with him at all.


    The Unique King also seemed to have changed his mind instantly. ¡°I also confirmed that the assassin named Yang Hao left the Iron Mountain a long time ago and be a frence mercenary sabersman. He worked for anyone who paid him.¡±


    ¡°Then this clue is another dead end,¡± Wei Song said. ¡°How about this? The Dragon King has put forward¡­ a spection, and I¡¯ll find the most suitable person to conduct the autopsy. Then, at the same time, I¡¯ll also investigate the guard of Lord Ma. We¡¯ll have another consultation tomorrow at noon. What do you all think?¡±


    Nobody raised any dissenting opinions. This meeting full of hints of schemes had ended in a somewhat rash manner. Gu Shenwei thought that his spection would have been met with a lot of doubts, but unexpectedly, it turned out to be the only remaining direction of the investigation.


    This made him feel a little uneasy.


    Though he had been scared many times during the meeting, Shangguan Hong was d to walk out of the Four Noble Truths Temple alive. He was very happy and he even believed that he had made a contribution. So, on his way back to the camp, he intentionally got close to the Dragon King and loudly said, ¡°Your foresight is really amazing, Dragon King. The results of the autopsy tomorrow will surely prove that your spections are right.¡±


    The seemingly new closeness between Shangguan Hong and the Dragon King immediately attracted Shangguan Fei¡¯s attention, who was behind them and not far away at all. He pricked his ears up, trying to hear the Dragon King¡¯s response.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to wait until tomorrow to see that,¡± Gu Shenwei said perfunctorily. He still felt that something was not right. Back during the meeting, Shangguan Fa had made his move, but at thest moment, he had backed off and Wei Song had also cooperated with him, not trying to link the Dragon King to Luo Ningcha. Luo Qikang, who was beside Wei Song, also acted like a pure shadow. All of these behaviors were abnormal.


    Shangguan Hong nodded with a grave look, as if he was the only one who could understand the Dragon King¡¯s words. Shangguan Fei, who was behind them, was relieved, and believed that the Dragon King did not truly appreciate Shangguan Hong.


    When the procession was halfway to the camp, Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher caught up from behind. The intense fight that they had been expecting to happen didn¡¯t take ce, and they were very disappointed.


    Zhong Heng didn¡¯t follow the Dragon King back to camp. After being informed of the general situation, he also felt that there was some kind of hidden scheme underfoot, so he immediately brought some men with him and went to the army camp of the Central ins, nning to inquire about Wei Song¡¯s movements.


    Xu Xiaoyi had been waiting in the Dragon King¡¯s tent. He had already heard that Han Fen had been taken prisoner, so upon seeing the Dragon King, he admitted his negligence and requested to be punished for it. ¡°It was my fault. I failed to acquire the intelligence on such an important issue.¡±


    ¡°Um.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t deny it. This was indeed Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s negligence. ¡°Golden Roc Castle will probably take action soon. I want you to mobilize all your men to collect intelligence. Report to me immediately if you find anything unusual.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Xu Xiaoyi felt waves of stress constrict his chest. He hurriedly left and galloped towards Jade City. Under the cover of the night, he entered southern Jade City to collect the intelligence that the Dragon King needed.


    Sitting in his tent, Gu Shenwei relived the meeting that had taken ce at noon again and again. He had a lingering feeling that he had overlooked some vital detail that had led to the situation changing in a way of which he was unaware.


    Luo Ningcha stormed into the tent. Even the several guards with strong builds failed to stop her.


    ¡°Dragon King, we need to talk.¡± Luo Ningcha¡¯s dted eyes took up nearly half of her face. Though her face was angry, she looked even more charming, which was a unique skill that even she herself was unaware of. The reason why all of those men she had met, including her father, the Big Head God, had put up with her temper until they became bored, was because she had this beautiful countenance.


    This time, she chose to visit the Dragon King at the most inopportune asion once again,pletely unaware of the danger that she might put the Dragon King, as well as herself, in.


    Gu Shenwei nodded at the guards and signaled for them to leave.


    ¡°Did the Unique King say that the assassin was my subordinate in the Four Noble Truths Temple today?¡±


    ¡°He said that the assassin used to be Golden Roc Castle¡¯s apprentice, and that he once worked for the Iron Mountain. Finally, he said that he left you to be a frence mercenary sabersman.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t take this opportunity to y her off against the Unique King, but Luo Ningcha still became furious. ¡°That damn old man Shangguan Fa. When the situation is favorable, he never thinks of me, and he detained my three thousand cavalrymen for years. Now that he is involved in a murder, he finally remembers who I am. Don¡¯t think that I don¡¯t understand. Why did he mention me? It was all because of Prince Xiao. Shangguan Fa wants to fawn on Wei Song, so he framed me, hoping to incriminate Prince Xiao by doing this.


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s analysis was surprisingly coherent. Gu Shenwei nodded in praise. ¡°Madam Luo¡¯s concern is very reasonable-¡±


    ¡°What did you call me?¡±


    ¡°Madam Luo. I think that this is your title now.¡±


    A look of anger tinged with sorrow appeared on Luo Ningcha¡¯s face. ¡°There¡¯s no man more iron-hearted than you under the sun.¡±


    Gu Shenwei said nothing. He preferred to keep a moderate distance from this woman.


    ¡°You know what? You¡¯re the only man who has ever slept with me, hit me, and humiliated me. However, you¡¯re also the only one who I¡¯ve never hated.¡± The more Luo Ningcha thought about this, the more aggrieved she felt. All kinds of emotions flooded into her heart and she started whimpering, and her body started shaking. But, the Dragon King didn¡¯te over to support her, so she had to lean on the table.


    This was yet another trick that Xu Yanwei had taught her. Usually, it worked like a charm on other men, but here, in front of the Dragon King, she received no sympathy.


    After a while, Gu Shenwei said, ¡°Prince Xiao is powerful enough to radically change the entirendscape of the Western Regions. He didn¡¯t forget you and he¡¯lle back sooner orter. You should do your best to not give anyone the chance to nder you.¡±


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s stubborn temper began to fray. She raised her hand to wipe away the tears on her face, turned around, and willfully said, ¡°I don¡¯t care. All men are the same. Even if Prince Xiao returns, he will go back to the Central ins after just a few days. I¡¯ve seen through him. He won¡¯t take me with him. Even if he wants to, I won¡¯t let him. I want to have my own army, my own killers, my own everything. Just like¡­ the Tenth Young Master. You have to give me a country, too. You owe me this.¡±


    The influence of handing the Land of Fragrance over to Shangguan Ru had gone far beyond Gu Shenwei¡¯s original expectation, so he shook his head. ¡°Remember ¨C I don¡¯t owe you anything. You can throw your temper tantrums, but you are not to interfere with the Dragon Army¡¯s affairs. Do you hear me?¡±


    The severe voice of the Dragon King made Luo Ningcha feel more aggrieved, but she was no longer angry. She pensively said, ¡°Actually you¡¯re still my favorite man. How about I marry you after I get everything I want from Prince Xiao? I¡¯ll be your decent, faithful queen. I don¡¯t have any great ambition, and I find these disputes tiresome.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had always beenposed, but after hearing her words, he frowned. ¡°I already have a queen, and I won¡¯t take a second one.¡±


    ¡°Of course. How can there be two queens? So just disown her.¡± Luo Ningcha waspletely insensitive towards the impatience in the Dragon King¡¯s words, which was to some extent one of her other capabilities. ¡°What can she give you? Just a pathetic Stone Kingdom, which has a tiny territory. I am different. After I trick Prince Xiao out of everything he has, the Iron Mountain Army will be a powerful armed force of at least 100,000 men. With this dowry alone ¨C actually, it¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t marry me, but all those kings of the Western Regions will¡­ No, they¡¯re not worthy. The new Khan of the Nond ¨C that Shulitu¡­ whatever his name is ¨C I¡¯ll marry him and send troops to Jade City every year. I¡¯d like to see what you will do then.¡±


    Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯tughed in years, but at this moment, he nearly burst intoughter. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you before that happens,¡± he said ndly.


    Luo Ningcha was stunned. If this remark were made by another man, she wouldn¡¯t take it seriously, and she wouldn¡¯t feel afraid even if this threat was from the Unique King. However, this Dragon King made her feel like he really meant it. She had always had rather slow reflexes, so she stood transfixed, several thoughts fighting with each other in her mind. Eventually, after quite a while, she said, ¡°I have another dowry that nobody else has ¨C my son, who is also your son.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve said this several times.¡±


    As if she hadn¡¯t heard the Dragon King¡¯s words, Luo Ningcha mumbled, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen Cheng¡¯er for a long time and I miss him very much. No, I have to take him out of that ce. Since that old bastard Unique King dares to have me killed, then he surely also dares to kill Cheng¡¯er. I can¡¯t wait any longer anyway.¡±


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s mind was working very fast, and she requested something else from the Dragon King. ¡°You have to get our son out of there.¡±


    ¡°I told you¡­ ¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t think that way when youy eyes on him.¡±


    Gu Shenwei exhaled deeply. He had run out of patience and decided to have Luo Ningcha leave.


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s eyes were glistening. ¡°Cheng¡¯er doesn¡¯t resemble anyone of the Shangguan family. Even the Tenth Young Master said so. I don¡¯t know why she didn¡¯te to you and confirm this, but you will know whether or not Cheng¡¯er is Shangguan Fa¡¯s son once you see him.¡±


    ¡°He might not be mine either.¡±


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s face went cold. ¡°Servant Huan, what kind of woman I am in your eyes? Only three¡­ four men have ever touched me. Shangguan Nu wasn¡¯t in the castle back then, and I only met Prince Xiao recently. Cheng¡¯er doesn¡¯t resemble the Unique King, so he has to be your son. If you don¡¯t acknowledge this, then fine. I¡¯ll go and get Cheng¡¯er out of there myself. If I fail, I¡¯ll just die with my son in Golden Roc Castle and you can live in contrition for the rest of your life.¡±


    ¡°I will get your son out of Golden Roc Castle.¡± Gu Shenwei was resigned. This was a sensitive period of time, and he couldn¡¯t afford to let Luo Ningcha do anything stupid. She was an impulsive woman, and she never considered the consequences before doing anything. ¡°But you can¡¯t ever say that he is rted to me again.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll talk about it after you get him out.¡± Luo Ningcha thought that she had grabbed the Dragon King¡¯s lifeline. ¡°If you think that he is not a member of the Yang family when you see him, then I won¡¯t feel anything even if you throw him to the wilderness and feed him to wolves. However, if he does resemble you, humph, you must acknowledge his identity in public¡­ No, no. After Prince Xiaoes back and then leaves again, you have to acknowledge it in public.¡±


    Finally, Luo Ningcha left in satisfaction. Before leaving, she said, ¡°Give that old man Shangguan Fa a harsh lesson and avenge the suffering that he put Cheng¡¯er and I through.¡±


    The disturbance caused by Luo Ningcha interrupted Gu Shenwei¡¯s thinking. After quite a while, he managed to start thinking again, but he was constantly distracted ¨C he was actually thinking about how he would rescue a child from the depths of Golden Roc Castle.


    ¡®That woman is so troublesome,¡¯ Gu Shenwei thought. Suddenly, a sh of inspiration struck him: people always tried to flee when they sensed danger. Even Luo Ningcha had thought of getting her son out of danger. Wouldn¡¯t others do the exact same?


    Gu Shenwei walked out of the tent in just a couple of steps and discovered that it was already night, the time he liked best.

 Chapter 905 - Everything

    Chapter 905: Everything


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei hade up with this n on a whim. Fang Wenshi, Zhong Heng, and the others would never have agreed to it, but none of them were around the Dragon King right now. The loyal guards bowed to pay their respects to the Dragon King. They would never ask the Dragon King where he was going.


    Chu Nanping, Tie Linglong, and the others were standing by. After thinking for a brief moment, Gu Shenwei decided to act alone tonight, since even he himself hadn¡¯t formted aplete n. He just felt pressed for time and that he had to do it.


    After reliving the scene of the daytime meeting again and again, Gu Shenwei had finally realized what he had overlooked. He had paid too much attention to the Unique King, Wei Song and Luo Qikang. He had actually regarded Sun Chengqi, who had talked the most, as an insignificant bystander, which had resulted in his overlooking the most important person behind the deputy envoy.


    Eunuch Zhang You had been standing behind Sun Chengqi humbly, asionally serving him tea. Every movement of his had been subtle. He was indeed a servant who used to work in the royal pce. After searching through his memory carefully, Gu Shenwei recalled that Zhang You had been serving Wei Song as well, though that was not his duty at all.


    Wei Song and Sun Chengqi had been sitting on the right side of the head monk, Fa Feng, and there had only been a small table between them. Zhang You had naturally been serving two lords at the same time. Gu Shenwei had seen this but ignored it.


    Now, he felt that this behavior was unusual. Zhang You had been assigned to the envoy, Ma Lian, by the Emperor and had nothing to do with the Governor of the Western Regions. Wei Song had brought his own attendant, who had stood side by side with Luo Qikang, but who hadn¡¯t had the chance to do anything for Wei Song from beginning to end.


    Refilling one¡¯s tea cup was a verymon thing, which had been done only three or four times during the meeting, and the details were beyond Gu Shenwei¡¯s recall. However, he had an instinctive feel that Zhang You had been cueing Wei Song, who then had informed the Unique King opposite him. This was why the two people had decided to withdraw the trap that had already beenid.


    Zhang You was just amon eunuch who used to work in the royal pce. Why was his power so great? And why had he ¡°helped¡± the Dragon King at such a critical moment?


    Gu Shenwei felt that this issue was extremely important, and he had to figure it out right away.


    It was not easy to sneak into the envoy of the Central ins¡¯ camp. It was located in the army camp of Wei Song and deeper in severalyers of protection of Central-ins soldiers. It was also possible for there to be additional killers secretly sent there by the Unique King, hiding nearby.


    Gu Shenwei spent nearly four hours observing the situation, and eventually, he confirmed that there were no Golden Roc killers in the army camp. Though the security here was very tight, it had not been specially arranged to keep killers away.


    He had forgotten that this was a Central-ins army, not the Dragon Army or the Golden Roc Army, both of which were always on guard against potential assassinations.


    Although Zhang You was able to secretly givemands to the supreme official of the Western Regions, nominally he was still just an attendant, so he wouldn¡¯t be living in the main tent. Though the envoy¡¯s team wasn¡¯trge, there were still over ten tents, and Gu Shenwei had to search through them one by one.


    He skipped the tents that were clearly shared by several people. There were only three tents that were upied by only one person. The first one was the main tent, which the deputy envoy, Sun Chengqi, lived in. The second one seemed to be upied by a military attach¨¦, who was snoring loudly. The third one was very quiet, and the one sleeping in it had light breathing, which sounded not like the breathing of a kung fu expert, but rather like that of someone feeble.


    This tent lookedmon and the same as the other tents, but the moment Gu Shenwei went inside, he felt that this tent was different:mon attendants could only rely on felt nkets and clothes to keep warm, but in this tent, there was a brazier with glowing charcoal in it.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t make any rash moves. He hid himself in a corner for a while. By the faint light given off by the charcoal in the brazier, he identified the sleeper as Zhang You, whom he had met during the daytime.


    He kept waiting. As expected, a servant with sleepy eyes came in after a quarter of an hour. He slowly stirred the charcoal in the brazier to keep it burning and then quietly left to return to his own icy cold tent.


    Zhang You was probably slightly disturbed by those movements. He turned over lightly.


    Gu Shenwei walked over. The first thing he did was cover the sleeper¡¯s mouth.


    Zhang You was in a very light sleep. He hadn¡¯t had any sound sleep ever since he had arrived in the Western Regions, far away from the houses and foods of the Central ins. But he still didn¡¯t hear the sound of the Dragon King approaching him. It was not until his mouth was covered that he abruptly woke up and opened his eyes in horror. He struggled briefly, but soon gave up, since he recognized the intruder.


    Gu Shenwei raised his right forefinger beside his mouth. Zhang You struggled to nod and blink, signaling that he would be obedient and wouldn¡¯t yell.


    Gu Shenwei slowly moved his palm aside. Zhang You inhaled deeply, but he did it not to catch a breath but to ease his nervousness. In the royal pce, there had been several asions when people were caught at midnight. However, an urrence like this, where someone of a high station had infiltrated somewhere like a killerte at night, had never happened in the Central ins.


    ¡®Didn¡¯t the Dragon King use to be a killer?¡¯ It was not until this moment that Zhang You recalled this. ¡°You¡­ You¡­ Dragon King¡­ What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°I think you know,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Zhang You forced a smile onto his face. ¡°You overestimated me, Dragon King. I¡¯m just amon attendant¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned his head aside and glimpsed at the brazier in which the charcoal was zing. Zhang You¡¯s face changed. This was a luxurious item. Even the deputy envoy, Sun Chengqi, and those generals in the camp didn¡¯t have one, which meant that this attendant was notmon at all.


    Zhang You sat up and wrapped himself up with a thick nket. ¡°No matter what, the Dragon King is an overlord of the Western Regions. What you are doing right now¡­ is not in ord with an overlord¡¯s demeanor.¡±


    ¡°My ¡®demeanor¡¯ is different from that of Central insmen.¡± To make someone tell him the truth, Gu Shenwei always had to first go through a battle of wits. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t like it, but he couldn¡¯t skip it.


    Zhang You frowned and seemingly became less flustered, ¡°Fine. Since we¡¯re in the Western Regions, then we¡¯ll follow the rules of the Western Regions. Why are you here? If you¡¯re here for this brazier, then just take it.¡±


    This was both sarcasm and a provocation. If he didn¡¯t do anything, then Zhang You would never tell the truth. Gu Shenwei threw a palm strike and hit Zhang You, who was wrapped in a nket.


    Under the control of its owner, a small stream of frosty Qi was injected into his vacant meridians. Zhang You had no internal energy, so he also had no resistance against the frosty Qi. He felt a cold shiver and then in the blink of an eye, his teeth started chattering. The warm tent instantly became as cold as an ice cave.


    Zhang You found this kind of torture unbearable, and he finally understood what the Dragon King¡¯s ¡®demeanor¡¯ was. It waspletely different from that of those nobles in the Central ins.


    He was unable to even plead for mercy. All he could do was nod while shedding tears.


    Gu Shenwei imbued him with a stream of pure Sumeru Mustard internal Qi to expel the coldness from Zhang You¡¯s body.


    Zhang You grabbed a corner of the nket and wiped away the nasal mucus and tears that had leaked out, looking like a drenched rat. When he started talking, his voice was still a little unnatural. ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s reputation is¡­ well-earned. Just give your order. What do you want me to do?¡±


    ¡°Answer a couple of questions.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you everything I know.¡±


    But Gu Shenwei kept silent. Zhang You waited for a while, looking confused. ¡°What do you want to know, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Everything.¡±


    ¡°Everything? Ha-ha, the Dragon King has overestimated¡­ ¡± Zhang You hurriedly stopped. He still remembered the lesson that he had been given just now. ¡°I don¡¯t quite understand the word ¡®everything¡¯ that Dragon King just said.¡±


    ¡°Then think about it carefully. But I can¡¯t wait too long.¡±


    Zhang You¡¯s face changed again, regretting that he hadn¡¯t learned more about the rules of the Western Regions, ¡°Actually¡­ I did the Dragon King a big favor in the Four Noble Truths Temple during daytime.¡±


    ¡°Mm. Keep talking.¡±


    ¡°Governor Wei feels that you¡¯re a very dangerous man, so he and the Unique King formted a n. They intended to frame Dragon King and Madam Luo for the assassination of the envoy, and then eliminate Dragon King in an above board manner. Because of that woman, even Prince Xiao, who is far away from here in the Central ins, wouldn¡¯t dare to look into it. But I think that the Dragon King is of no threat to the Central ins. On the contrary, I think that you¡¯re a very good ally, so I advised Governor Wei to abort the n.¡±


    ¡°Your advice worked.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just a cheap servant in the royal pce. Governor Wei respects me, so he took my advice for my sake.¡±


    ¡°Um. So you knew of Wei Song and Shangguan Fa¡¯s n before the meeting?¡±


    ¡°I did¡­ ¡± Zhang You answered in an unnatural manner.


    ¡°Why did Wei Song tell you the n?¡±


    ¡°He¡­ He was afraid that the deputy envoy would be suspicious, so he hoped that I could keep Lord Sun under control.¡±


    ¡°But you changed your mind during the meeting and no longer wanted to support Wei Song.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I felt¡­ felt that it would be a pity if the Dragon King was tricked like this. And letting Golden Roc Castle be the only strong force goes against the interests of the Central ins. It was not until I saw the Dragon King with my own eyes that I realized this.¡±


    ¡°I want the truth,¡± said Gu Shenwei. He hit Zhang You¡¯s chest with another palm strike. Then he turned around, walked up to the brazier and toasted his hands, thinking about something.


    After less than half a quarter, Zhang You couldn¡¯t bear any more. Trembling, he rolled off the bed, kowtowed to the Dragon King, and pleaded for mercy.


    Gu Shenwei waited for a while and then expelled the coldness from him.


    His face deathly pale, Zhang You was lying on the ground, panting heavily. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll tell¡­ tell the truth. But¡­ But would Dragon King please¡­ give me a hint? What do you want to know exactly?¡±


    ¡°Everything.¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t understand¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Here¡¯s your hint ¨C the Gu family in the Central ins, Conquering General Gu Lun.¡±


    The look on Zhang You¡¯s face suggested that he did know some inside information,.¡±Dragon King¡­ the Gu family¡­ This¡­ I really can¡¯t¡­ ¡±


    Gu Shenwei raised his palm. Zhang You immediately changed the word from ¡°can¡¯t¡± to ¡°can.¡± ¡°Wait. I¡¯ll tell you. Let me get the nket first.¡±


    Kneeling on the ground, Zhang You grabbed the nket, wrapped it around himself, and leaned against the edge of the bed. After quite a while, he said, ¡°Can you keep it a secret, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s promise sounded totally insincere, but Zhang You had no choice but to believe it. ¡°The truth is that I have orders toe here and investigate the Dragon King¡¯s true identity.¡±


    ¡°Orders from whom?¡±


    ¡°Middle Assistant Minister Yan Qin.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had never heard of this name before. ¡°Whose orders did Yan Qin take?¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t know. Please have mercy on me, Dragon King. Don¡¯t torture me again. I really really don¡¯t know. Disclosing Assistant Minister Yan¡¯s order is already punishable by death.¡±


    ¡°Keep talking.¡±


    ¡°Wei Song told me with absolute certainty that the Dragon King¡¯s surname was Yang, and that you are the son of the Gu family¡¯s servant. I believed him, but today, when I saw you with my own eyes¡­ you and old general Gu look like two peas in a pod. I immediately understood what was going on, so¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that old general Gu and I look very much alike?¡±


    ¡°Not exactly the same, but I can still tell that the Dragon King is a descendant of the Gu family.¡±


    Zhang You didn¡¯t seem to be lying. Gu Shenwei suddenly felt relieved. The Second Consort had always hinted that the Dragon King was not Gu Lun¡¯s son, and Gu Shenwei had almost believed her. Now that he knew for sure that he and his father looked alike, a knot had been undone in his mind.


    But he couldn¡¯t remember what his father looked like. When Gu Lun was killed, he was already fourteen. And since then, he had stoked the mes of hatred in his heart all this time, but he couldn¡¯t remember what his family members looked like anymore. Even the image of his elder sister, who had favored him the most, was just a vague shadow in his memory.


    ¡°Why did you help a descendant of the Gu family?¡±


    Zhang You swallowed and glimpsed over the Dragon King¡¯s shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s a long story, but I have to warn you, Dragon King. Governor Wei is very afraid of you, and he has probably already left the army camp and fled to the Lon Kingdom¡­ ¡±


    Gu Shenwei moved to Zhang You in a single step, pinched his mouth open and threw a pill into it. ¡°This is a poison pill. And it will take effect in three days. If you want to live, thene to me with the truth.¡±


    After saying this, Gu Shenwei turned around and left the tent. He couldn¡¯t afford to let Wei Song escape from him again.


    In the tent, Zhang You exhaled deeply. He had finally managed to buy himself some time to perfect the ¡°story.¡± Even if this would cost the life of the Governor of the Western Regions, it was well worth it.

 Chapter 906 - Correspondence

    Chapter 906: Correspondence


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    This was the second time that Wei Song had ever fled from Jade City. His heart was full of anger and confusion. He hadid a perfect trap, and no matter how the Dragon King tried to maneuver, he could not have avoided offending the Central ins, losing Prince Xiao¡¯s protection, and directly facing off against the best swordsman of the Luo family. But a cheap eunuch servant had ruined everything.


    Thest time had been six years ago. When he ended his term of Governor of Jade City, he had identified that so-called Servant Huan as the son of Gu Lun as well as the culprit who had killed his son. He promised Servant Huan that he would help him leave Jade City, but he had stealthily fled to the Central ins.


    This time, he performed the same trick. He had imed that he would summon a second consultation the next day, but he would actually flee again, though in a different mood. Six years ago, when he was in Jade City, he had nothing, and the sessful escape in and of itself was a victory. But this time, he had a strong army at hismand, and he also had the best swordsman as his bodyguard, but he still had to flee from that fiend.


    As a member of a family the members of which had been officials for generations, Wei Song had always been in a position of advantage during those disputes in the Imperial Court. This was the first time that he had ever hated those dignitaries far away in the capital so much. They had no idea at all what kind of person the Dragon King was. They took it for granted that they could manipte and use him, but Wei Song knew that the Dragon King was a lunatic who only wanted revenge.


    Thinking of the misfortune that his beloved son Wei Lingmiao had suffered through, Wei Song felt both heartbroken and fearful.


    The darkness was thinning. Wei Song turned his head back around and saw that there were only thirty or so attendants and guards left, which made a scene somewhat more decent than thest time that he had fled. But it couldn¡¯t conceal the crushing defeat that the Governor of the Western Regions had suffered and the pathetic situation that he was in. They could vaguely see that the peak on which Golden Roc Castle was located was further away, and even Jade City at the foot of the mountain seemed to be behind a thinyer of mist.


    Wei Song¡¯s heart lurched. He angrily asked the attendant beside him, ¡°Why are we moving so slowly? We departed before the third night-watch.¡±


    The attendant¡¯s face was covered with frost, and even his smile was stiff. ¡°My lord, we are moving quite quickly already. It¡¯s winter, and the road is in bad condition. Besides, the horses will be exhausted if we go any faster.¡±


    ¡°You bastard. I have urgent business to deal with, but you¡¯re worrying about the livestock? Progress at full speed. We must reach Thousand Horsemen Pass by tonight.¡±


    The attendant stood there, transfixed with shock. Even if it were autumn when the road was in its best condition, it would take a fast horse three days to go from Jade City to Thousand Horsemen Pass. And it would still take two full days if the horse ran non-stop. But Wei Song wanted to travel there in one day. This was impossible.


    He didn¡¯t dare contradict him, so he had to inform all the others to speed up.


    Wei Song was just a civil official and he had hugely overestimated his tolerance. Before noon, he felt like his whole body had be still and cold. If he didn¡¯t stop and take a rest, he would probably die in the snow before the Dragon King could evene and kill him.


    Fortunately, the peak was no longer within sight, which made Wei Song feel slightly more relieved. He took a break by the roadside. At this moment, the Dragon King should have just realized that he was no longer at the Four Noble Truths Temple. If Sun Chengqi managed to make a good excuse, then the Dragon King would stay unaware of the truth for a longer period of time. This was Wei Song¡¯s first line of defense.


    Thousand Horsemen Pass was the second one, and it was also a harder and more effective line of defense. Both the armies of the Central ins and the Golden Roc Army were stationed there. Though there were not many troops there, they should be more than enough to defend against the Dragon Army¡¯s attack and buy him some more time. And then he would go straight east towards the Lon Kingdom which was at the eastmost part of the Western Regions. There, he could write some letters to a couple of powerful backers of his in the Imperial Court to persuade them into changing their minds.


    The Dragon King must be killed. Wei Song hade up with a lot of reasons, and he believed that he would surely seed.


    They didn¡¯t reach Thousand Horsemen Pass that night. There was a heavy blizzard, and the team had to stop and rest again. This time, they pitched some tents for protection from the increasingly stronger northerly wind.


    Wei Song couldn¡¯t sleep. He had someone prepare ink and paper for him and then started writing letters. The letters were for different people, and both the wording of and the reasons that he gave in them werepletely different, but they shared onemon main point: the Dragon King was an extremely dangerous man who couldn¡¯t be bribed withmon methods, and who must be killed to eliminate all possibilities of future troubles once and for all.


    The letters were not easy to write, especially the one for the Middle Assistant Minister, Yan Qin. Yan Qin was a member of the core group of the powermunity, and he was also the one who had formted the strategy of co-opting the Dragon King. Wei Song had hoped that he could be informed of the real reason, but no matter how hard he tried to tempt Zhang You with wealth, Zhang You still wouldn¡¯t offer him any real information. Maybe this low-rank eunuch servant really didn¡¯t know that much.


    The first two letters were almost finished, and he only needed to make a few minor adjustments now. The one for Yan Qin was only half done. Wei Song was not very satisfied with it. After pondering over it for quite a while, he decided to put it aside and started writing the fourth letter instead.


    A gust of cold wind blew into the tent and the me of the candle flickered, which nearly stilled Wei Song¡¯s blood. He stopped writing and looked in the direction of the doorway, but there was nothing there. Four loyal guards were standing there, holding their sabers, which made him feel slightly relieved.


    The attendant beside Wei Song could feel that his Lord was in panic, but he didn¡¯t dare console him. The only thing he could do was carefully grind the ink-stick, secretly praying that he wouldn¡¯t annoy the Lord.


    Wei Song didn¡¯t move his eyes for quite a while. It was not because he was worried that an assassin would suddenly appear, but rather because he didn¡¯t know where to start writing. He knew too little about the fourth person that he was writing to, and he was uncertain about his status. Thus, it was difficult for him to decide what kind of wording he should use.


    Suddenly, he had an idea. He was just about to write when another gust of wind blew in. Amid the sounds of the howling gale outside, a neigh was heard.


    Wei Song¡¯s heart lurched and the brush in his hand fell onto the paper. The ink on the head of the brush stained arge part of the paper. The attendant hastily tried to tidy things up, only to make the paper even more disorderly.


    ¡°Leave! You useless moron,¡± Wei Song still got angry, and reprimanded him aloud.


    Admitting his guilt repeatedly along with a deep bow, the attendant retreated step by step and eventually left the tent of his Lord. Relieved, he thought about how he wouldn¡¯t be able to get any credit no matter how well he behaved during the next few days. Thus, he might as welly low and stay away from the Lord.


    Wei Song grabbed the fourth letter which had been ruined, crumbled it into a ball, and tossed it to the ground. But when he meant to pick up the brush again, he was no longer in the mood for writing anymore, so he had no choice but to give up. Then he said to the guards at the doorway, ¡°You guys stay here tonight. It¡¯s going to be a tough night, but your service will be handsomely rewarded after we reach the Lon Kingdom.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s our duty to protect Your Lordship,¡± the four guards said in unison. They had been working for Wei Song for a long time and they knew the right words to say in this asion.


    Wei Song pulled his clothes tighter about him andy down on the narrow bed. He covered himself with several nkets, but still felt cold. He missed the Central ins. He missed the warm weather, the luxuries, and most importantly, the orderly and safe environment there. Only in the Central ins would noble people and humble people be in their right ces. Jade City was an unruly ce where status was meaningless, and even worse, he was not good at using a saber or a sword at all.


    Wei Song had a lot of sentimental thoughts on his mind, and he thought that this would be a sleepless night for him, but he unconsciously started dreaming. In his dream, his beloved son Lingmiao was still alive and was talking to him animatedly while surrounded by a group of beautiful girls¡­


    Wei Song abruptly sat up and realized that dawn had broken. Startled, he reprimanded the four guards at the doorway. ¡°What time is it? Why didn¡¯t you wake me up?¡±


    The four guards looked indifferent, the sabers in their arms folded against their chests. They seemed to have been frozen still, ignoring the Lord¡¯s voice.


    Wei Song¡¯s heart sank. He got out of bed, put on his boot,s and slowly walked to the doorway. With a gentle push, one of the guards fell straight to the ground like a statue, knocking down the other three guards.


    They were all dead. Wei Song was surprised that he didn¡¯t feel scared at all. He opened the thick tent ps and walked into the shining white world of snow.


    Both the sky and the ground seemed whiter than his dream. The knee-deep snow on the ground was as smooth as a mirror, and there was not a single mark on it. All of the seven tents were intact, and nobody walked out of any of them. On the leeward side, dozens of horses were chewing on the hay quietly, asionally moving their strong long necks to shake the snow off of themselves.


    ¡°Who is it? Show yourself!¡± Wei Song yelled. His voice rippled far away, but soon disappeared into the quiet snowy wilderness. Even he himself wasn¡¯t sure whether he had made any sound.


    Wei Song stood in the snow for a while. And then he suddenly had an impulse to run to the horses, get on one of them, and keep fleeing. But thest bit of his remaining senses told him that he should get back to the tent to destroy those letters.


    But it was toote.


    The letters were already in the Dragon King¡¯s hands. Even the ball of paper thrown to the ground by Wei Song had been smoothed t on the small table beside the bed.


    Gu Shenwei had just finished reading the letters and understood something vital. If these letters were not a trap, then Wei Song didn¡¯t have much extra information to offer him.


    The first letter was for Wei Song¡¯s cousin. In it, he expressed how much he missed Wei Lingmiao and how much he hated the Dragon King. At the end of the letter, he concluded that the Wei family would never be safe as long as the Dragon King was alive, and he had requested his cousin to do whatever he could to persuade those dignitaries in the Imperial Court to not support the Dragon King.


    The second letter was for the General-in-chief, Pang Ning. In it, he imed that the Dragon King had been colluding with the Nond for a long time, and that if they handed over Jade City to the Dragon King, that the city would eventually fall into the Nonders¡¯ hands. He said that the grasnd was in dire chaos, which was a perfect opportunity offered by God, and that both the Dragon King and the Nond must be eradicated. Otherwise, they would eventually subject the Wei family to disaster.


    Both of the first two letters mentioned the Middle Assistant Minister Yan Qin, ambiguously implying that this high-rank official had misjudged the situation and that the Dragon King could never be subjected to theirmand.


    The third unfinished letter was for Yan Qin. ¡°Beloved father,¡± ¡°Sincerely, your son¡± ¨C Wei Song¡¯s wording was very humble. The first half of the letter merely provided information on the Dragon King¡¯s family background and personality, and he hadn¡¯t yet written down the reasons why the Dragon King had to be killed.


    In the fourth letter, only the first line was distinguishable ¨C Dear Guansheng. All of the other words had been obscured by stray ink.


    ¡°A ruthless and ferocious man.¡± Gu Shenwei read out from a letter. These words were from the third letter where Wei Song had been hoping to depict the true image of the Dragon King to Yan Qin.


    Wei Song¡¯s mind was working as fast as it could all along, but he still couldn¡¯t find a way to save himself. In the end, he burst intoughter, and the longer heughed, the more difficult it was for him to stop.


    Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t surprised. He had seen people do various crazy things before they died, and uncontrobleughter was a rather typical reaction. It was merely an abnormal form of extreme fear.


    This time, he could skip those tired forms before questioning him.


    ¡°Are these people the ones behind the assassination of the Gu family? Who¡¯s ¡®Guansheng?¡¯¡±


    ¡°The adopted son of Assistant Minister Yan, Yan Di,¡± Wei Song replied. He had given up all thought of resisting.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand. The Gu family moved to the Western Regions. Why did you still refuse to spare my father?¡±


    Wei Song shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t answer this question. Six years ago, I was just a loser sent to the Western Regions. The only thing I know is that Assistant Minister Yan gave me an order to kill all the members of the Gu family. I introduced Golden Roc Castle to Assistant Minister Yan and then gained his forgiveness and trust. Dragon King¡­ nephew Shenwei¡­ You may kill me, but for the record, I held no grudges against General Gu. This was a partisan fight, and there¡¯s nothing I could have done, even if I had my current status. Given that you¡¯ve been an overlord for many years, I think that you¡¯ll understand this very well.¡±


    ¡°I do,¡± said Gu Shenwei. He understood a lot of things, and one of them was that a debt of blood could only be repaid by blood.

 Chapter 907 - Treacherous Eunuchs

    Chapter 907: Treacherous Eunuchs


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Wei Song and Gu Lun used to be close friends. Although one of them was a civil official and the other a military officer, they were both faithful men who were appreciated by the former Emperor.


    ¡°Back then, General Gu and I had seven or eight colleagues that we socialized with on a regr basis. Our usual gathering spot was either my home or the Gu family. The Dragon King might not remember it, but I used to be a regr visitor of the Gu mansion.


    As he recalled the past, Wei Song seemedposed and calm, as if this hasty escape attempt had just been a coincidence. He was not afraid of the Dragon King, but he still couldn¡¯t help but put a slightly subservient look on, intending to influence this cold young man before him.


    Gu Shenwei indeed didn¡¯t remember it at all. His father and elder brothers had always treated him as a child up until the day they had been killed. And they had never allowed him to participate in those adult social activities. But he didn¡¯t care back then, and the only thing he paid attention to was whether the guests had brought any kids of his age.


    ¡°General Gu was the former Emperor¡¯s most trusted man. He was allowed to enter the pce with a saber and take part in confidential consultations. General Gu was the only one who enjoyed this privilege. He was a man of integrity and honesty, and he quarreled with the former Emperor very often. Surprisingly, he won most of those arguments. To be honest, the other colleagues and I were fairly jealous.¡±


    In Gu Shenwei¡¯s memory, his father was a man of few words. He didn¡¯t expect that his father would disy apletely different personality in the Imperial Court. He started picturing a scene: his father was arguing with the former Emperor, and Wei Song and the others were adding fuel to the argument in tones of admiration and excitement. The atmosphere was animated and harmonious, and they seemed like a group of friends instead of an emperor and his subordinate officials.


    He suddenly recalled Duodun. This Nond prince also used to have a group ofpanions around him. Though thesepanions¡¯ military ranks were not very high, their statuses were different from the others around him. The former Emperor had once been held hostage in the Nond for a decade along with Gu Shenwei¡¯s father and had probably developed some of the prairie men¡¯s habits.


    Wei Song found that the look on the Dragon King¡¯s face had miraculously softened, so he continued. ¡°Not only did General Gu have excellent kung fu skills, but he also had great insight-¡±


    Gu Shenwei raised his hand and stopped Wei Song from talking any further. He was not in the mood for Wei Song¡¯s nostalgic stories, and he wouldn¡¯t be sympathetic to him because of them either. ¡°I just want to know why my father was killed.¡±


    ¡°s. It was all because of Yan Qin. He¡¯s worked in the pce for a very long time and has served three Emperors. For some reason, he managed to find favor with all three Emperors. The former Emperor hated treacherous officials, but he still failed to see through all of his actions. Gradually, Yan Qin became more and more favored. General Gu believed that he had a responsibility to advise the former Emperor to stay away from eunuchs, and because of this, he publicly reprimanded Yan Qin many times. As his friends, we tried to persuade him to make a concession and let His Majesty deal with those issues himself, but General Gu only resorted to more radical approaches. He gathered a group of schrs and had thempile a book which documented the evil deeds of all the previous treacherous eunuchs. And then he gave the book to the former Emperor as a gift. The former Emperor didn¡¯t get angry. Instead, he had that book copied and sent a duplicate to everyone in the pce. He ordered that all the eunuchs had to read through it. Even those who couldn¡¯t read must have someone else read it to them.¡±


    This was yet another side of his father that Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t familiar with, but it was not necessary for Wei Song to lie about this.


    Ever since he had built his army, Gu Shenwei had made concessions with different forces many times, even with Golden Roc Castle. He hated to admit it, but his father¡¯s methods were too direct, even though his intentions were good. He had offended his enemies without eradicating them, which was a taboo in all forms of strife. ¡°And Yan Qin didn¡¯t lose favor with the Emperor?¡±


    Wei Song sighed. ¡°Yan Qin is a smart person. He knew that he couldn¡¯t fight back against General Gu head-on, so during that period, he acted humbly. Not only did he memorize the entire book detailing the treachery of eunuchs, but he even often quoted examples from it in front of the former Emperor and General Gu. And he also read the book and exined it to the young eunuchs in the pce. Thus, the former Emperor appreciated him more, and even General Gu thought that he had changed.¡±


    Although these things happened in the past, they still made Gu Shenwei shiver when he heard them. Yan Qin¡¯s tactics sounded very simr to his own methods of seeking revenge. If he were Yan Qin, he would also have learned the whole book by heart. To cheat the Emperor was part of the reason, but the most important part was to make sure that the fire of hatred in his heart wouldn¡¯t go out.


    There were many cases of this around him: Shangguan Fei, Shangguan Hong, and Old Man Mu. Every time any one of these three people humbled themselves and fawned on him, Gu Shenwei would be a bit more vignt and remind himself that these people were not trustworthy.


    Servants regarded ttering others and enduring humiliations as investments, and they kept a count of them, waiting for equivalent rewards. If there was no reward or if the reward failed to satisfy them, then the seed of betrayal would take root and sprout in their hearts. Gu Shenwei still vividly remembered what Zhang Ji had taught him. He had been calcting the reward that he was able to offer his subordinates this entire time so as to prevent potential major misjudgement.


    Apparently, at that time, Gu Lun didn¡¯t know this. He trusted his enemy and thought that they didn¡¯t owe each other anything and that they could happily live in peace ever after.


    ¡°Then the former Emperor died all of a sudden,¡± Wei Song continued. ¡°And he didn¡¯t have enough time to designate a Minister-regent, otherwise¡­ s. In a word, the situation in the Imperial Court changed radically overnight. The Empress, who is the current Empress Dowager, cooperated with Yan Qin. They soon took control of the pce, took the royal seal, and then designated a couple of old officials to assist the young Emperor. General Gu was not among them.¡±


    But Gu Lun didn¡¯t yield immediately. Instead, he consulted with some of his close friends and decided to mount a coup in order to force the Empress and Yan Qin out of power. Wei Song shook his head and sighed, ¡°It was toote. By the time they came up with this idea, it was already five days after the former Emperor¡¯s death, and there were several ministers wavering, too. Before the n could even take shape, the Empress¡¯ uncle, Pang Ning, had led his army into the capital and been named the General of Hussars and put in charge of the security of the capital as well as of the royal pce. Since then, the overall situation was set, and there was nothing anybody could do anymore.¡±


    The clique once favored by the former Emperor had fallen apart. Wei Song didn¡¯t try to avoid talking about this. ¡°This is how the Imperial Court operates. The Dragon King has been to the Royal Court, so I guess that you¡¯re familiar with this kind of thing. General Gu and a couple of his retired colleagues, as well as me and the others, were all banished from the capital.¡±


    Yan Qin didn¡¯t take revenge on them immediately. Those retired officials all received decent treatment, and those who were assigned to provincial cities were promoted instead of being demoted. In a word, it seemed as if he wanted to scramble for power in a peaceful way.


    ¡°General Gu was still worried, so he decided to take all of his family members to the Western Regions. I once tried to persuade him otherwise. I said that, maybe, the young Emperor would need us, but General Gu had already made up his mind. Because of this, he even disowned some of his rtives. Both of your sister-inws decided to return to their own families and neither followed your father to the Western Regions.¡±


    Gu Shenwei still had a vague memory of this event. He didn¡¯t remember his sister-inws¡¯ looks. He only remembered that there seemed to have been an intense quarrel between his eldest brother and his father.


    A year after the Gu family moved to the Western Regions, the political situation in the Imperial Court had stabilized and the Middle Assistant Minister Yan Qin had started taking revenge upon his enemies. He had never forgotten the humiliation that he had suffered.


    Both the retired officials and those assigned to provincial cities were framed for all kinds of crimes. They were imprisoned and tortured. It was at that time that Wei Song yielded to the eunuch. ¡°The Wei family is arge family. I could think of over a hundred family members. Besides, I always held the thought of swallowing the humiliation so as to avenge our sufferings some day. I know that this sounds ridiculous, and that Dragon King won¡¯t believe it, but I did think so at that time.¡±


    Yan Qin didn¡¯t forgive Wei Song immediately, but he did assign him to be the Governor of Jade City, which was synonymous with exile for a Central insman.


    Wei Song had lived in horror since then. Though he was thousands of miles away from the capital, he still didn¡¯t dare meet any of his old friends, and he even decided to break off his son¡¯s engagement.


    Wei Lingmiao had followed his father to the Western Regions. He volunteered to exin to the Meng family. But unexpectedly, with the help of the Meng family, he got in touch with Golden Roc Castle and found that it was totally unnecessary to break off the engagement as the Gu family would soon be eliminated.


    ¡°I really didn¡¯t expect that Lingmiao would do that kind of thing¡­ ¡± Wei Song appeared aggrieved. Back then, when they were in Xiaoyao Lake, Wei Song had had the same look as now when he was talking about his son. But in the letter to his cousin, he didn¡¯t mention his son¡¯s evil deeds at all. It was only full of hatred towards the Dragon King.


    Wei Song had known that the Gu family was in dire danger of being massacred, but he hadn¡¯t warned them. Instead, he had taken advantage of this opportunity to get closer to the envoy sent by Yan Qin. ¡°Yan Di, also named Yan Guansheng, is Yan Qin¡¯s adopted son. He knew all of the members of the Gu family, and so he was assigned to hire the Golden Roc killers. I offered him some help. As a reward, Yan Qin no longer regarded me as an enemy.¡±


    ¡°Did Yan Qin kill all of the family members of all his previous political enemies?¡±


    ¡°No. Just the Gu family. He hated General Gu the most. Rumors say that even today, he still quotes the words from the book about treacherous eunuchs very often, iming that that was the biggest humiliation that he has ever suffered.¡±


    ¡°Zhang You was sent here by Yan Qin. He knows that I¡¯m General Gu¡¯s son, but he still tried to ¡®save¡¯ me. I don¡¯t know why.¡±


    ¡°Neither do I.¡± Wei Song contemted it for a while, as if he were the Dragon King¡¯s advisor. ¡°Yan Qin always seeks revenge for even the smallest grievance. By no means would he suddenly be merciful. There must be something behind this, but I can¡¯t think of what at the moment. I think that Zhang You is also not an insider. He received an order and deliberately called off the n at a crucial moment so that Dragon King would owe him a favor. Both the Unique King and I were used.¡±


    Gu Shenwei believed he had gotten all the relevant information that he needed. If he kept asking, all he would get would merely be some pointless details, so he pulled out the Five Peaks Saber.


    Wei Song felt that he should have looked at the Dragon King, but he couldn¡¯t move his eyes away from that sharp, long saber. ¡°The Dragon King has every reason to kill me, but please think about this ¨C I¡¯m still useful to you. The Dragon King¡¯s biggest enemy is not me, but rather Yan Qin. He¡¯s hiding in the Imperial Court, outside of which are several hundred thousand troops, and inside of which are hundreds, even thousands if kung fu experts. The Dragon King can¡¯t just charge into the capital. You need someone to assist you from the inside. Although I took Yan Qin¡¯s side, I still hate him. I just didn¡¯t know of the right way to take revenge on him, but now that the Dragon King is here¡­ Of course, Prince Xiao¡¯s status is higher than mine, but he knows that you¡¯re just seeking revenge, so he probably won¡¯t help you. Think about it, Dragon King. Think about it carefully. If you kill me, you will get nothing, and your enemy might even be vignt because of this. Yan Qin wants to use you, which is a golden opportunity to get your revenge. Don¡¯t alert him¡­ ¡±


    Wei Song¡¯s words were very reasonable. More importantly, Wei Song still had some rtions with others, which meant that it was not safe to kill him right now.


    Gu Shenwei grabbed Wei Song¡¯s forearm and dragged him outside of the tent. The snow outside had be even more crystal clear. The shimmering glints could almost make someone forget about the cold weather.


    Wei Song looked at the Dragon King in perplexity, hoping to find a hint in the cold look on his face. ¡°I¡¯m still useful¡­ ¡±


    ¡°I, the son of the Gu family, Chief of the Dragons, King of the Five Peaks,¡± Gu Shenwei said solemnly, ¡°hereby exculpate you of your sins. You shall suffer no further.¡±


    Wei Song felt greatly relieved. He was just about to open his mouth and say something when his head fell to the ground, his body still standing there. Blood gushed out, sshing onto the Dragon King as well as the clean snowy ground.


    There was a red patch amid the boundless white. This was Gu Shenwei¡¯s hatred. Chu Nanping walked out from behind a tent. He was the only witness.

 Chapter 908 - Lobbyists

    Chapter 908: Lobbyists


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Zhang You was panicking. It had been less than an hour since the Dragon King left, but his chest already felt like it was being constricted, and even a light press against his chest gave him pain. Fine beads of sweat kept seeping out from his palms, which were always wet no matter how often he tried to wipe the sweat away. His two temples were fluttering violently, his head buzzing painfully.


    He knew that these were symptoms of the poison taking effect.


    If he were more familiar with the organizations in Jade City, he would have gone to Golden Roc Castle for help. But in his eyes, the whole Western Regions was a mess, not to mention this small Jade City, so he waited in patience. The moment dawn broke, he sent someone to inquire as to the Dragon King¡¯s whereabouts.


    During thest two days, he had inquired more than ten times. Thest day, Zhang You felt that the symptoms were growing more and more obvious. He kept pacing up and down in his tent anxiously. In the afternoon he was informed that the Dragon King hade back and invited him to have an audience with him. He was so delighted that he almost wept for joy.


    This was the third time that he had ever met the Dragon King. The stereotype of the Dragon King with a cold, murderous look had long been engraved in his mind. Upon seeing that fairly pale face, Zhang You involuntarily felt a cold shiver ovee him.


    The Dragon King¡¯s tent was not small, but there were barely any furnishings in it. There was plenty of room, which was more than enough for a fight. As a result, the tent looked just as cold as its owner, partly because Zhang You had gotten to know the Dragon King better.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for the Dragon King for a long time.¡±


    ¡°Um.¡± Sitting on a short couch, Gu Shenwei watched the obsequious eunuch and started sizing him up. Never underestimate anybody ¨C this was a lesson that he had learned after all these years. ¡°Take it,¡± he said, tossing a pill to him.


    Zhang You cupped his hands in front of his chest. The pill fell right into his hands. He hurriedly swallowed it and exhaled deeply, ¡°Thank you, Dragon King, for your kindness. I feel much better now. It¡¯s just that I still have chest pain. Is that normal?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Get some sleep and it will be gone.¡± Gu Shenwei wouldn¡¯t point out that the so-called chest pain was just an illusion.


    ¡°Did the Dragon King¡­ seed?¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t answer his question. ¡°I heard that you¡¯ve done a lot of things during the past two days.¡±


    Zhang You involuntarily bowed and put on a servile smile. The more haughty the Dragon King appeared, the more at ease he felt. ¡°Actually, I didn¡¯t do anything important. I just offered some advice to those lords. I did it without the Dragon King¡¯s prior consent and I hope that you won¡¯t mind.¡±


    Zhang You had done him a big favor. Both the Dragon King and the Governor of the Western Regions had gone missing. The next day, the consultation was held as usual in the Four Noble Truths Temple. The Unique King probably had discovered something amiss. He didn¡¯t attend the meeting himself, and instead sent a sect leader there.


    In the meeting, two kung fu experts from the Central ins had confirmed that the wound on Ma Lian was indeed not caused by a narrow saber. Instead, it was more likely to be caused by the single saber that Lord Ma¡¯s bodyguard carried.


    The identity of the assassin had suddenly changed. The next step was to find out who had been the closest to that bodyguard during his stay in the Western Regions. More and more clues were found, and eventually, they all pointed to Wei Song, who had left Jade City hastily.


    The supreme officer of the Western Regions designated by the Central ins had murdered the envoy sent by the Emperor. This was incredible, and nobody dared to draw such a conclusion. Zhang You exerted his talent and suggested to the deputy envoy, Sun Chengqi, to investigate the acting Governor of the Western Regions, which made things much easier. Sun Chengqi reluctantly agreed. He sent out his men and found more proof which all indicated that Wei Song was indeed the mastermind behind the assassination.


    With regards to his motives, the nonsense that Han Fen, who was a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall, had said that day proved helpful. The prostitute in the Pleasure Alley confirmed that a couple of years ago, when Wei Song was still the Governor, he had been one of her regr customers, and that this time, he had meant to revive their prior rtionship only to find that the envoy of the Central ins had already anticipated him.


    As a result, that teenage assassin named Yang Hao had be insignificant. His appearance was just a coincidence.


    Gu Shenwei was not very satisfied with this w-ridden story, but it was toote to make up a new one. This also indicated that Yan Qin was eager to co-opt the Dragon King, which was an opportunity that he could use.


    ¡°Here are a couple of letters that were written by Wei Song. Maybe they can be useful.¡±


    Zhang You took those pieces of paper and quickly browsed through them, and then he raised his head in excitement. ¡°Great. It turns out that this treacherous bastard Wei Song secretly held grudges against Assistant Minister Yan. When these letters are delivered to the capital, Assistant Minister Yan will surely say that Dragon King did a good job by killing him¡­ ¡±


    Zhang You hurriedly clutched his mouth. The Dragon King hade back rather soon, and news of Wei Song¡¯s death hadn¡¯t been delivered here yet, which meant that nominally, he shouldn¡¯t know about it.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t mind. News that Wei Song and his attendants had died in a fire would spread across all of Jade City by tomorrow afternoon at thetest. He also knew that Zhang You had exaggerated. In the first two letters, Wei Song had just expressed his doubts about Assistant Minister Yan¡¯s decision in an extremely ambiguous manner. He hadn¡¯t expressed any discontent at all.


    Zhang You took out the fourth letter soaked by ink and said thoughtfully, ¡°No matter who this ¡®Guansheng¡¯ was, he might be a co-conspirator of Wei Song¡¯s in the Imperial Court. He¡¯s worth some investigation.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was startled. Zhang You was clearly Yan Qin¡¯s henchman. Why was he unaware that ¡°Yan Di,¡± or ¡°Yan Guansheng¡± was his master¡¯s adopted son? But he concealed his surprise. ¡°Maybe he¡¯s a minister whose surname is Guan.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. I know all of the officials above third-rank and more than half of those above fifth-rank. There¡¯s nobody whose surname is Guan. ¡®Guansheng¡¯ should be someone¡¯s middle name. Didn¡¯t Wei Song confess to it in front of Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°I found these letters after he died,¡± Gu Shenwei lied casually, lodging these two characters firmly in his mind.


    ¡°Wei Song¡­ talked about a lot of things, right?¡±


    ¡°A lot. And all of them were things that Assistant Minister Yan wouldn¡¯t be too happy to hear.¡±


    Zhang You¡¯s face briefly changed. He gave two coughs and said, ¡°Then I¡¯ll be honest with you. Assistant Minister Yan harbors some resentment towards the Dragon King¡¯s father, General Gu. It was him who ordered the assassination of all of the members of the Gu family. What¡¯s done is done. Nobody can defend him. If the Dragon King is determined to get your revenge, then I¡¯m standing right here. You can start with me.¡±


    Zhang You said these words in a heroic manner, but before the Dragon King could state his stance, Zhang You said in a different tone, ¡°But, if the Dragon King can see things in a more visionary and open-minded manner, then the reward that you¡¯ll receive will be much more handsome than Jade City.¡±


    ¡°For the record, I killed Wei Song because he tried to kill me first.¡±


    ¡°I know. I know. I¡¯ll write a letter to Assistant Minister Yan and exin the whole thing in detail. Wei Song ignored the big picture and took action without prior consent. His crime deserves more than his death. He will by no means be an obstacle between the Dragon King and Assistant Minister Yan.¡±


    ¡°Um. He was a mortal enemy of mine who murdered my father, which is not easy for me to forget.¡±


    ¡°Of course. But there¡¯s an old saying: ¡®Seeking revenge is an endless path.¡¯ If the Dragon King thinks that revenge is more important than supremacy, then I have no more words to say, and I¡¯m willing to die in the line of duty for Jade City.¡±


    ¡°Keep talking. What kind of reward can I get?¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s voice was a little reluctant, as if he were having an intense struggle in his mind.


    Zhang You saw this as a sign of his sess. ¡°The Dragon King is in the Western Regions, but do you know that your every action matters very much to the Imperial Court of the Central ins?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Ha. After the battle in Thousand Horsemen Pass, the Dragon King has be a legend. Prince Xiao imed that he made a great contribution, but anybody with any sense knows what the truth is.¡±


    As Gu Shenwei had expected, the biggest reason why Yan Qin wanted to ingratiate himself with the Dragon King was that he wanted to bring down Prince Xiao. Once the Dragon King went to the envoy of the Central ins and exposed Prince Xiao¡¯s fraudulent ims of military exploits, he would be able to change the situation in the Imperial Court of the Central ins.


    Gaining the support of dignitaries of the Central ins at a tiny cost seemed like a valuable deal, but Gu Shenwei was very cautious about it. Even if it didn¡¯t involve his seeking revenge, he wouldn¡¯t easily take the offer either. The low cost meant that the Dragon King would be useless to them after Prince Xiao was brought down, and he wouldn¡¯t have anything to counterbnce Yan Qin¡¯s power with.


    ¡°Prince Xiao and I won the battle together. This is the truth,¡± Gu Shenwei said tly.


    Zhang You smiled. He couldn¡¯t handle things like intruders into his tent at night or torture, but he had made preparations for situations like these. ¡°Certainly. So far, Prince Xiao is still a big hero in the Central ins, which is also the exact reason why Assistant Minister Yan needs the Dragon King, and why the Dragon King has a chance to expand his territory.¡±


    ¡°Expand my territory?¡±


    Zhang You nodded slowly and meaningfully. He knew that these words were irresistible to any overlord. ¡°If I may be so bold as to ask ¨C where does the Dragon King want to settle down after you get what you want?¡±


    ¡°Jade City.¡±


    ¡°Just Jade City?¡±


    ¡°I also want to subject Xiaoyao Lake and the Shule Kingdom to my rule. And then I¡¯ll ally with the Nond as well as the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°In that case, besides the fact that Jade City will no longer be under the rotational rule of three countries, everything will actually stay the same.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty much the case. This is how big the Western Regions are.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha. ¡®This is how big the Western Regions are.¡¯ I can tell that the Dragon King is a man with great ambition just from hearing these words. The Western Regions is not big enough, but isn¡¯t there still the boundless grasnds to the north?¡±


    ¡°A snake can never swallow an elephant. That¡¯s beyond my capability.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha. With just a little assistance, the Dragon King will be a true dragon, and not just a snake. And Assistant Minister Yan can offer you this ¡®assistance.¡¯ Prince Xiao¡¯s promise is loud enough, but as pleasant as it sounds, it¡¯s not actually practical. All he can give you is merely the identity of the Lord of Jade City, together with the official title of the Dragon King. But do you know that the kung fu expert that Prince Xiao invited here from the Central ins is Luo Qikang of the Hedong Luo Vige? Luo Qikang has a reputation for being invincible. He colluded with Wei Song the moment he arrived in the Western Regions. That day in the Four Noble Truths Temple, the guard standing right behind Wei Song was Luo Qikang, who was originally nning to attack the Dragon King. Can you still believe Prince Xiao,¡¯s words Dragon King?¡±


    Zhang You had been preparing these remarks for days. He talked unceasingly, as if he had turned from a cowardly eunuch servant into a skilled lobbyist in the blink of an eye. The quality of thetter was why Yan Qin had made him his henchman.


    ¡°Please think about this, Dragon King. The several hundred thousand troops of the Central ins will progress straight into the Nond and ughter the Khan¡¯s bloodline. Those survivors will have no choice but to flee thousands of miles away. The grasnds will be a nation with no leader, but the Central ins won¡¯t be able to station their armies there for long, and will thus need an ally to upy the grasnds. This ally will not be easy to pick. If they pick a random person, then the people of the grasnds won¡¯t support him. If they pick a descendant of the Khan, then he will rebel sooner orter. There are so many heroes under the sun, but Assistant Minister Yan thinks that the Dragon King is the ideal one. The Dragon King was born in the Central ins, grew up in the Western Regions, and hasin a foundation in the Nond, which makes you the perfect candidate to be the new lord of the grasnds.¡±


    ¡°The people of the grasnds won¡¯t support me either. They have gotten used to the rule of the Khan¡¯s bloodline. The ¡®foundation¡¯ that I haveid is far from enough to make me the Khan.¡±


    ¡°Assistant Minister Yan has thought of this issue a long time ago, so he hase up with an extremely simple solution.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°Dragon King must have known that General Gu and the former Emperor were once taken hostage in the Nond for a decade.¡±


    ¡®You finally mentioned this,¡¯ Gu Shenwei thought as he nodded.


    ¡°The Dragon King happened to be born during the period of General Gu¡¯s hostage period. Of course, General Gu had a chance to go back to the Central ins every year, but if Dragon King doesn¡¯t mind, it would be totally fine to¡­ ¡±


    Zhang You didn¡¯t continue.


    ¡°To im that my natural mother was a member of the Khan¡¯s family.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Originally, this would not be easy to prove. But by sheer coincidence, the Second Consort has surrendered to the Central ins. Though I won¡¯t have enough time to consult with Assistant Minister Yan, I think that I can persuade the Second Consort to testify so. As long as she ims that the Dragon King is the old Khan¡¯s grandson, I¡¯m sure a considerable number of people of the grasnds will believe her. Dragon King-¡±


    Gu Shenwei had heard enough. He abruptly stood up, grabbed the hilt of the saber and snapped, ¡°So you, a cheap servant, still refuses to tell the truth?¡±


    Zhang You knelt down in panic, wondering how he had given himself away.

 Chapter 909 - Plans

    Chapter 909: ns


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Zhang You believed that he was an excellent lobbyist. In the Imperial Court, although his position was low and he appeared to be amon servant, he was one of Yan Qin¡¯s most trusted henchman. He had frequently lobbied different power factions in the royal pce on behalf of his master, and he had a ny-percent sess rate. He didn¡¯t know which remark of his had irritated the Dragon King and made him change his attitude.


    ¡°Dragon King¡­ I¡­ ¡± Zhang You knelt down out of force of habit, but soon realized that this was not something a lobbyist should do. Even then, he didn¡¯t dare stand up immediately. ¡°Everything that I said is true. Why do you think that I was lying?¡±


    Gu Shenwei raised his right hand slightly, and Zhang You couldn¡¯t stand up even if he wanted to. The piercing pain caused by the coldness had been engraved in his mind, and he found it unbearable to even think about it. ¡°Please have mercy on me. Please have mercy on me, Dragon King. Let me think about it¡­ ¡±


    Under this huge pressure, Zhang You¡¯s mind was working at an extreme pace. He finally realized where the loophole of his speech was: the future that he had depicted was unduly perfect.


    The Dragon King only had to make a few remarks to verify Prince Xiao¡¯s fraudulent im of military exploits and help Yan Qin win the partisan struggle in the Imperial Court, and then he would turn from Yan Qin¡¯s enemy into his favored henchman. Not only would he gain half of the Western Regions, but he would even have a chance to be the Lord of the Prairie, gaining huge profit at a low risk. Things like this were most people¡¯s dreams. Those that Zhang You had once lobbied in the royal pce were mostly this kind of people.


    But he had overlooked one thing. When Yan Qin¡¯s power was in its prime, the so-called persuasion had merely been a formality. No matter how unbelievable his listeners found his words to be, they had to ept under the circumstances. But Assistant Minister Yan¡¯s authority was far from enough to influence Jade City, which meant that the more tempting his words sounded, the more they sounded like lies.


    ¡°The Dragon King might not know much about the situation in the Imperial Court. Assistant Minister Yan is nomon person. Although he doesn¡¯t have a king¡¯s title, his station is far higher than that of the other ministers. The Dragon King only has to do a little inquiry¡­ ¡±


    Zhang You hoped that he could quickly reestablish his master¡¯s profile in the Dragon King¡¯s mind, so that his persuasion would get twice the results with half the effort.


    Gu Shenwei threw a palm strike and hit the top of his head. Then he turned around to read a pile of paperwork on the table.


    Unconsciously, he had adopted Golden Roc Castle¡¯s interrogating methods: inflicting torture. They would keep torturing prisoners while asking very few questions until the prisoner broke down and disclosed all of the secrets that they had kept hidden.


    This kind of means was not very efficient, but there was a good chance that it would bring some pleasant surprises to the interrogators.


    Zhang You kept letting out weird sounds of ¡°ho, ho.¡± People hit by frosty Qi usually didn¡¯t have enough strength to scream.


    Gu Shenwei had finished reading half of the paperwork on the table by now. What he was reading now were the intelligence reports sent by Xu Xiaoyi.


    A few days ago, he had requested Xu Xiaoyi to collect information on the background of those monks in the Four Noble Truths Temple as well as the people that they kept in touch with. These reports were what he had found.


    Xu Xiaoyi had performed his duties conscientiously, but the contents of his intelligence reports were not veryprehensive, and most of it was about those monks¡¯ social contacts. The majority of the forces in northern Jade City, including both those who believed in the Buddha and those who didn¡¯t, stayed in close contact with the Four Noble Truths Temple, especially the nobles and rich merchants in northern Jade City. As a result, there was too much intelligence about them, which made it meaningless.


    Byparison, the background of those monks was a much trickier issue. Most of the monks in the Four Noble Truths Temple seemed to have no family background. They had been sent to the temple from birth. Only a few of them had a confirmed parentage, and almost all of them were from noble families in some country of the Western Regions.


    Even so, Gu Shenwei still read through all of those reports very carefully. He had gotten an impression that the Four Noble Truths Temple was a very influential organization in the Western Regions, and that it even had some influence on far countries like the Central ins and the Nond. This kind of influence was not easily observed, and those monks¡¯ keeping a low profile had imparted a thick mysterious aura to it.


    The sounds of teeth chattering behind him stopped. Gu Shenwei waited a little while and then turned around, checked the unconscious Zhang You, and injected a stream of Sumeru Mustard Qi into his body to expel the coldness from him.


    Zhang You slowly opened his eyes and madly crawled backwards upon seeing the Dragon King¡¯s figure. As Assistant Minister Yan¡¯s henchman, he could order the Governor of the Western Regions to do whatever he wanted, and he could also change the situation in the Western Regions with a wave of his hand. He didn¡¯t deserve to be treated this way, but the Dragon King regarded him as the cheapest servant, torturing him regardless of whether he would be able to survive.


    All of the intelligence that he had been offered was wrong. Who had told Assistant Minister Yan that the Dragon King was a sedate, steadfast man who was willing topromise? Zhang You hated that person. In his opinion, those rumors, which he had originally thought to be absurd, were true and reliable: the Dragon King was a devil.


    ¡°Dragon King¡­ ¡± Zhang You¡¯s voice was so hoarse that even he himself felt that it sounded strange. ¡°I¡­ I admit my guilt. Stop¡­ Stop torturing me. I¡¯ll tell you the truth.¡±


    ¡°I like the truth,¡± said Gu Shenwei. Maybe it was because he had killed Wei Song with his bare hands, but his hatred had been burning like a fire in him for the past few days. Cruelty brought him a deep satisfaction.


    Zhang You thought for a while. ¡°Assistant Minister Yan trusts me, but he doesn¡¯t tell me everything. All I can tell the Dragon King is just my spection. It might be right, but it also might be¡­ wrong.¡±


    ¡°Um,¡± Gu Shenwei also liked specting, but with regards to other people¡¯s spection, he had to discriminate.


    Zhang You paused for a brief moment. Once again, he felt that the scene in front of him was unreal. What the Dragon King was doing seemed desperate, which was very different from the stereotypical behavior of an overlord, but that courage to make audacious decisions irrespective of life or death was impressive. ¡°The thing is, His Majesty is gradually growing up, and he¡¯s bing a little¡­ a little disobedient. He even dares disobey the Empress Dowager¡¯s orders now. However, he and his uncle, Prince Xiao, are bing closer. Assistant Minister Yan is worried that His Majesty will kill him once he has enough power.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good spection,¡± Gu Shenwei encouraged. Finally he felt that Zhang You might be telling the truth. ¡°Stand up.¡±


    Zhang You forced a smile onto his face as if he were honored. He struggled to his feet, but his legs were still quivering. ¡°Assistant Minister Yan never told me this, but he has been gravely concerned for thest two years. I can tell from his behavior.¡±


    ¡°Keep talking. How does this concern me?¡±


    ¡°I think that¡­ Assistant Minister Yan has a n for Dragon King, and that I¡¯m just a small part of this n. My task is to persuade the Dragon King to betray Prince Xiao. If I can¡¯t, then I must try to drive a wedge between you two. Really. This is all that Assistant Minister Yan ordered me to do.¡±


    Zhang You¡¯s ¡°small¡± n had merely been carried out halfway when it had suffered a miserable failure, which had made him lose faith in his master¡¯s ¡°big¡± n. ¡°Assistant Minister Yan thinks that ¨C this is just my baseless spection ¨C that he can make Dragon King the biggest enemy of the Emperor. Then, he will mediate between you two and profit from both sides. With regards to the means he will adopt, I¡¯m guessing it will be relevant to old General Gu¡¯s previous experience of being a hostage in Nond. But¡­ but for the Central ins, it doesn¡¯t matter who the Dragon King¡¯s mother was. Your father¡¯s identity is the key. If I were Assistant Minister Yan, then after sessfully co-opting the Dragon King to my side, I would spread the rumor that the Dragon King is actually a¡­ bastard son of the former Emperor and the princess of the Nond, and that not only do you have noble parentage, but that you also are the eldest son¡­ ¡±


    In that case, the Dragon King would then have a im to the throne in the Central ins, which would make him a mortal enemy of the incumbent Emperor. Thus, the power of the General-in-chief, Pang Ning, and the Empress Dowager would be strengthened, and Yan Qin¡¯s status would also be secured.


    There were still a lot of loopholes in Zhang You¡¯s spections. If Yan Qin brought another prince to power, then while he might be able to profit, it was more likely that he would get himself killed. With regards to how he would deal with this danger, Zhang You didn¡¯t know, and neither could he deduce it.


    Gu Shenwei believed that this was all Zhang You could confess. ¡°You¡¯ll have to stay in the Western Regions for a bit longer.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes. I¡¯ll stay here however much longer the Dragon King wants me to.¡± Actually, Zhang You secretly wished that he had wings so that he could fly back to the Central ins right away.


    No matter what Yan Qin¡¯s final n was, all it brought Gu Shenwei in its early stage was benefits. He had killed Wei Song. Dugu Xian had takenmand of the 20,000 Central-ins troops stationed outside Jade City. Zhang You had be obedient to the Dragon King, which had enabled him to take control of the deputy envoy, Sun Chengqi.


    Nobody knew how much longer this favorable situation wouldst for, so Gu Shenwei decided to make full use of this period.


    News of the death of the Governor of the Western Regions reached Jade City that very night. The next morning, it rippled throughout the whole city.


    Two high-ranking officials sent by the Central ins had died in the jurisdiction of Jade City in a row. Even the most retarded person would regard this as an ominous sign. Although the deaths of these two people were said to be rted to each other and that it didn¡¯t concern outsiders, Jade City still fell into panic.


    Noon had just passed when Hu Shining, who had been staying in southern Jade City, came to the army camp to report on the new circumstances. The Heavenly Mountain Sect¡¯s territory had significantly shrunk. Currently, only a small area between northern and southern Jade City, which was the area around Southwall Tavern, was still under their control.


    While the Heavenly Mountain Sect was retreating,rge numbers of sabersmen were pouring into the city, requesting admission to the Dragon Army, which flustered Hu Shining.


    Compared to those sabermen of Jade City who constantly switched sides, Gu Shenwei preferred the kung fu practitioners from the martial arts world of the Central ins. Most of them came from famous sects and would make excellent subordinates like Dog Butcher as long as he gave them some time to adapt to the situation of the Western Regions.


    That night, Gu Shenwei summoned all the kung fu experts of the Central ins, who numbered over fifty, which included Tu Pianpian and several disciples of the Kongtong Sect. Clearly, they were deeply shocked by the death of Wei Song, which was why they held mixed feelings towards the Dragon King.


    Surprisingly, Tu Pianpian was moreposed than those disciples. After the meeting, she had her younger brother send the Dragon King a message. ¡°If this was a revenge killing, then the Kongtong Sect will have to avenge Lord Wei¡¯s murder ording to the rules of Jianghu. But it involves the Imperial Court of the Central ins, so the Kongtong Sect will stay out of it.¡±


    In this way, Tu Pianpian had made her stance clear: she knew who had killed Lord Wei, but she wouldn¡¯t avenge his death for the moment.


    Luo Qikang was the indisputable leader of the martial arts world of the Central ins, and he indicated his stance in another way.


    Luo Qikang had also been summoned, and he had been introduced to the Dragon King by several martial arts celebrities, Tu Pianpian included.


    They two had met each other once before, but it was only at this second meeting that they officially met each other.


    Led by Luo Qikang, all the kung fu practitioners from the Central ins nodded at the Dragon King and paid their respects. Then he said, ¡°We¡¯re Central insmen, and we only answer to Central ins officials. We¡¯d appreciate it if Dragon King could have Lord Sun pass your orders to us from now on.¡±


    Luo Qikang retained the dignity of the martial arts world of the Central ins. Meanwhile, he also made it clear to the Dragon King that he hade here to avenge his younger brother¡¯s death, and that it was merely the Central ins¡¯s official support that hecked.


    Zhong Heng also attended this meeting. Afterwards, he said to the Dragon King, ¡°We have to guard against the Central ins taking Golden Roc Castle¡¯s side. The Unique King has suffered one defeat after another during his rivalry with the Dragon King for supremacy. If pushed too hard, he might revert to the old methods sooner orter.¡±


    Golden Roc Castle¡¯s old methods were assassination and bribery. In order to have the Nond and the Central ins trust him as well as to prove to all the people under the sun that Golden Roc Castle was qualified to fight for supremacy, the Unique King had been decreasing his killers, but when he was backed into a corner, he could still resort to using them.


    ¡°Do you want to find out how hard the Unique King has been pushed?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°The Dragon King has a n?¡± Zhong Heng asked somewhat uneasily.


    ¡°Um. Send someone to inform them that I¡¯ll go to Golden Roc Castle myself and ask the Unique King for a couple of people.¡±

 Chapter 910 - Shaking Snow

    Chapter 910: Shaking Snow


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Killers always tried to do things soundlessly. Even during the time when the stone castle was full of killers, they had to hide themselves in the dark for most of the time. Besides the training ground in the eastern part of the castle, killers were rarely seen anywhere else.


    But after those killers had left, the people living in the stone castle could distinctly feel the emptiness. These tall stone walls, which used to seem very mysterious due to the existence of killers, were now merely stacks of stone bricks. Walking in those quiet alleys, people no longer had to worry that someone dressed in ck with a narrow saber would abruptly show up. Instead, they were afraid of the vengeful spirits of the numerous victims that had been in over so many years.


    Killers killed people, so they were the only ones who were able to keep those spirits in the stone castle under control.


    Zhang Ji naturally didn¡¯t believe in this kind of nonsense. He just felt that it was quiet. It was so quiet that it almost felt like he was on the prairie. On the prairie, he sometimes saw the same view for several days when riding, as if there was no end. Every tent he caught sight of seemed like an intimate old friend.


    He was old, and he was not used to nor did he like riding a horse. Thus, he decided to walk to White Clothes Yard, which was next to the inner chamber, and which made this journey seem even longer.


    He used to be a teacher in the West Castle, someone who would leisurely walk to White Clothes Yard if he had no tasks. He would read the records and books there, which outsiders usually found boring, but which he himself found very interesting.


    Zhang Ji unconsciously reached back into the past, recalling another two teenagers who had shared thatmon interest with him.


    Shangguan Yun had been different from his peers when he had been a teenager. He had liked seeking adventures in the castle, which had made him and the Tenth Young Master very simr. However, he hadn¡¯t needed any friends and always preferred to be alone. In his eyes, there had always been an arrogant, apathetic look which was symbolic of the members of the Shangguan family. He had had a temperament of prematurity that normally shouldn¡¯t have appeared on a teenager, but when he had smiled, he would be joyous and unbridled, as if that mature temperament had been merely a facade.


    ¡°What¡¯re you reading? Read it to me.¡± Shangguan Yun, who had barely been over ten years old, had ordered his teacher around, enunciating every word as if he were punishing a domestic ferocious dog. Zhang Ji had forgotten about many things, but for some reason, that teenager¡¯s look and tone at that time was one of those things that he still remembered vividly.


    Zhang Ji had been pondering over the former Unique King¡¯s schemes and remarkable achievements at that time. He then raised his head in perplexity and looked at Shangguan Yun, whose figure was flickering in the sunlight from the window. He had a dim feeling that the future Unique King was standing right before him.


    Before that, Shangguan Yun had been merely a naughty but smart student of his. Ever since he had be interested in the old paperwork in Zhang Ji¡¯s hands, he had been regarded as the future Unique King.


    Zhang Ji had spent a lot of time teaching Shangguan Yun, imparting all the knowledge that he had umted through his life to Shangguan Yun.


    Shangguan Yun, who had never been an attentive student in ss, had be fascinated by the private reading session in a corner of the White Clothes Yard. Soon, he had turned from a student to a debater.


    The arguments between the old man and the teenager hadsted for nearly three years, during the process of which Zhang Ji had gradually be more ambitious. He wanted to prove one thing: that advisors were stronger than killers.


    Shangguan Yun had be the Third Young Master. Unlike his two elder brothers who went to southern Jade City to fight for their own territory, he had taken a couple of killers and apprentice killers to travel around. He had wandered further and further. He had even visited the Central ins and made friends there. His noteworthy conduct and independent character, to arge extent, could actually be attributed to the influence of his teacher. He had one other thing to prove: killers were not the most powerful strength of Golden Roc Castle.


    But when the Third Young Master came back, people had found that he hadpletely turned into someone else. Not only did the Unique King find him strange, but even Zhang Ji had discovered that he had lost a good student.


    Shangguan Yun had originally scarcely had any friends in the stone castle, but when he was outside the castle, he had always regarded friendship as the most important thing. Eventually, he had been sent to the dungeon and locked up after he challenged his father before being ready.


    Zhang Ji had always been waiting for his student toe to his senses, but then he had met the second teenager who he found special.


    Zhang Ji had been thinking about the two names ¨C ¡°Servant Huan¡± and ¡°Dragon King,¡± quite often recently, but he had never been able to ept the fact that these two names belonged to the same person. Surprisingly, though Servant Huan was more diligent and also more premature than Shangguan Yun, Zhang Ji had never seen any kingly potential in him.


    But now, things had turned out to be quite the opposite. Servant Huan had be the Dragon King, who was a renowned overlord in the Western Regions, and who was an unprecedentedly dire threat to Golden Roc Castle. Meanwhile, Shangguan Yun had be a nobody like a sh in the pan, a coward living in the royal pce of the Xiaowan Kingdom with no fight in him at all.


    After pondering it over for several days, Zhang Ji had finally drawn the conclusion that he had gotten used to the Unique King¡¯s style, like all the others who had lived in the stone castle for many years. The young Shangguan Yun had always held a condescending attitude towards the teacher, while Servant Huan had always acted in a modest manner. The former¡¯s manner had been more like that of the Unique King.


    Zhang Ji was ashamed of his misjudgement. His underestimation of Servant Huan had directly shifted the bnce of power between Golden Roc Castle and the Dragon Army, for which he was mostly responsible.


    The White Clothes Yard had also be far quieter than before. There used to be a lot of busy servants here, but this day, Zhang Ji hadn¡¯t seen a single one yet.


    Standing on a tree in the middle of the courtyard, the Unique King was looking up at the snow on the branches. Upon hearing the approaching footsteps, he said, ¡°Golden Roc Castle is like the snow on this tree. It only takes a slight shake to cause it to fall.¡±


    ¡°As long as the tree stands, none of the snow will not fall,¡± said Zhang Ji. No matter who he was standing in front of, he would always be a teacher, and he would never admit his mistakes even if it was a terrible one.


    The Unique King threw out a palm attack. He didn¡¯t need to use his full strength to shake off all the snow without hurting the tree.


    Snowkes fell down in all directions. The Unique King stood still, but not a single snowke fell on him.


    This was a kung fu skill that Zhang Ji couldn¡¯t understand, and which he wasn¡¯t interested in either.


    This time, the teacher was right. There was still some residual snow on the tree.


    ¡°Who¡¯s the big tree of Golden Roc Castle?¡± asked the Unique King. There was a suggestion of anger in his tone.


    The Nond and the Central ins were supposed to be two big trees that counterbnced each other. They should have provided shelter for Golden Roc Castle. This had been the n formted by Zhang Ji. The Unique King had made huge sacrifices for this n. He had even given up the killer force that the Shangguan family had spent nearly a hundred years umting. But in the end, he had gotten nothing.


    Zhang Ji had suffered a crushing defeat in the Nond, and the Central ins had suddenly changed its stance. Even if the big tree that Golden Roc Castle wanted to rely on hadn¡¯t fallen, it had already decayed irrevocably.


    ¡°The big tree hasn¡¯t changed. It¡¯s the King Lord and Golden Roc Castle that have to change,¡± answered Zhang Ji. He knew nothing about kung fu, so he didn¡¯t know that he should be afraid of kung fu.


    Squinting, the Unique King stared at the military counselor who was tall yet appeared to be senile. ¡°Are you saying that I haven¡¯t made enough changes?¡±


    Zhang Ji shook his head. ¡°The King Lord has been in power for too long, which makes you think that making changes is an awe-inspiring thing to do. The King Lord has forgotten that you¡¯re entering a brand-new field. The contest for supremacy requires its contestants to y it by ear, and there are no rules.¡±


    ¡°But you ask me to not use the method that I¡¯m best at using. What kind of rule is this?¡±


    ¡°This is an only-advance-and-no-retreat rule.¡± Zhang Ji¡¯s tone became fairly severe. He was unconsciously regarding the Unique King as his student. ¡°We can adopt any means when we¡¯re advancing, but we can¡¯t do the same when we¡¯re retreating. Golden Roc Castle hasn¡¯t lost yet. Even if it does, killers can only help you vent your hatred. They can¡¯t change the facts.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon Army only belongs to that servant. Once he is dead, his army will naturally fall apart.¡±


    ¡°Please respect your opponent, King Lord.¡±


    The Unique King smile wryly, but he took the advisor¡¯s advice. ¡°The Dragon King. Once the Dragon King is killed, the army outside the city will naturally retreat. The Central ins will have no choice but to support Golden Roc Castle once again.¡±


    ¡°As long as Golden Roc Castle remains a killer organization, neither the Central ins nor the Nond will ever support us wholeheartedly. I have exined this many times, and the King Lord should understand it.¡±


    Of course the Unique King understood. The strong liked weapons, but nobody liked weapons that could take action of their own will. The killers of Golden Roc Castle could cut off the heads of their enemies, but they might also cut off the heads of their allies. And this was the biggest obstacle that the Unique King had to ovee to be a true king.


    ¡°Tell me. How¡¯s the n going?¡± asked the Unique King. He had summoned the counselor not to listen to his clich¨¦d speech.


    ¡°Luoluo is mustering his army. In the east, there are still many tribes that are willing to support him, and he has more than enough troops to have another final showdown against Shulitu. We have two main problems. The first one is the Central ins. If the Central ins attacks the grasnds too early, then Luoluo will have no choice but to flee even further away, which will cost him his qualification for the throne. The second one is that the new Khan is the one that the Dragon King has brought to power. He has already taken the title, which means that the longer we wait, the more support he will gain.¡±


    ¡°Um,¡± the Unique King was eager to tell Zhang Ji that it only took a couple of killers to solve this second problem, but he already knew what the counselor¡¯s response to this would be, and he also knew that the counselor was right.


    ¡°So the King Lord will have to continue being forbearing. The Dragon King is trying his best to prevent the Central ins from dispatching troops here. If he seeds, then it will do Golden Roc Castle a lot of good. With regards to the new Khan, when the asion arises, I¡¯ll promulgate the old Khan¡¯s posthumous edict about designating Luoluo as the new Khan, and then the Naihang Tribe will eliminate Shulitu.¡±


    Substituting instigation and bribery for assassination, which was simpler and more direct, had always been Zhang Ji¡¯s principle, but Shangguan Fa felt uneasy about it. It was like having a man who was used to using sabers switch to using bows and arrows.


    ¡°Fine.¡± The Unique King knew that he and the stone castle would eventually have to change, and before they sessfully made that change, he still needed this teacher who was unable to wield a saber or a sword. ¡°I can only wait till the time when the spring meets the summer. I¡¯m afraid the Dragon King will not choose to wait any longer at that point either.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King,¡± Zhang Ji mumbled. It was hard to tell whether he found this name familiar or strange. ¡°Exactly what was the reason behind the Central ins changing its stance?¡±


    The Unique King shared in the counselor¡¯s confusion. ¡°What did you tell the Dragon King?¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s meeting with Zhang Ji was not a secret. In fact, the Unique King had been informed of it that very day. And after that, he had waited several days before he asked the counselor about it, which could be counted as a showing of his great trust in the counselor.


    ¡°I told him about Madam Meng¡¯s n, so that it would be a knot between the Dragon King and Wei Song, while having nothing to do with Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    The Unique King didn¡¯t want to talk about Madam Meng. ¡°But Wei Song got cold feet.¡±


    ¡°If I were in the Four Noble Truths Temple, I never would have approved of the King Lord¡¯s behavior. I had already disengaged Madam Meng from this issue, but I didn¡¯t expected that the King Lord would want to engage her of your own ord.¡±


    The Unique King snorted. He had thought that Madam Meng¡¯s n had been good. Besides, he had lost his interest in Luo Ningcha and had been willing to sacrifice her. But the trap had only been set halfway when they had been forced to give up. ¡°I¡¯ve talked with that person. He promised me that the Central ins was only temporarily on the Dragon King¡¯s side.¡±


    ¡°Is this person trustworthy?¡±


    ¡°He was the one who came to the stone castle to identify the bodies of the Gu family. When he saw the head for the first time, he said that we had killed the wrong person. But when he came the second time, he said that it was indeed the kid of the Gu family. Do you think that he¡¯s trustworthy?¡±


    Zhang Ji asked no further questions. He could feel that the King Lord was running out of patience. ¡°The Dragon King wille to the stone castle tomorrow. The King Lord doesn¡¯t have to meet him. I¡¯ll handle it.¡±


    ¡°Why? Are you worried that I¡¯ll make a mistake?¡± The anger in the Unique King was indeed rapidly reaching its bursting point. ¡°Maybe the Dragon King will no longer be a threat after tomorrow. I can¡¯t let go of this opportunity that hase to me of its own will.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t assassinate him.¡± Zhang Ji was fairly angry as well. The Unique King was like a slow, stubborn student.


    ¡°No assassinations.¡± The Unique King calmed down, looking at the counselor seriously. He decided to exclude the counselor from the n, repeating, ¡°No assassinations.¡±

 Chapter 911 - Sons

    Chapter 911: Sons


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Hong pushed the window in front of him slightly open and the icy wind immediately blew in, but he didn¡¯t care at all. Through the narrow crack of the window, he peeped sideways at the house opposite of him, in which amp was still aze. He held the hilt of the soft sword wrapped around his waist with his right hand, picturing himself thrusting the soft sword into his target.


    This was the night before the Dragon King was to go to the top of the mountain and visit the Golden Roc Castle. The Dragon King had taken four bodyguards and arge number of guards to southern Jade City to spend the night there, and Shangguan Hong was one of them.


    After being away from home for so long, he was finally about toe back to the stone castle, but his identity had changed. Now, he was an enemy of Golden Roc Castle. Shangguan Hong was in utmost horror. The few glimpses that the Unique King had given at him in the Four Noble Truths Temple would be forever engraved into his heart. His father¡¯s eyes could scare him halfway to death just like how an experienced executioner could do the same to a criminal with his instruments of torture.


    Shangguan Hong felt like he was like a criminal who had escaped from the stone castle. Even if he was going to return as an attendant of the winner, he still couldn¡¯t suppress the horror in him.


    The short soft sword wrapped around his waist was the only thing that could offer him some semnce offort and confidence.


    Staring at the Dragon King¡¯s room, he pictured the man in that room, who never slept at night, as an opponent who was standing right in front of him. He was also afraid of the Dragon King, though to a lesser extent, which made the Dragon King a perfect target for him with which to improve his will and courage.


    There was an entire courtyard between them, and the Dragon King wouldn¡¯t discover that he was peeping on him. In this self-deceiving and absolutely safe way, Shangguan Hong gradually felt the heavy pressure of a life-or-death situation, and he also found some kind of confidence as well as gained a deeper understanding of the Waning Moon Swordsmanship imparted to him by Lotus: the desire for survival was the most potent source of power. Wasn¡¯t the purpose of this so-called killing just to survive?


    Shangguan Hong was eager to survive. Even if his body was badly damaged and covered in wounds, he still cherished what he had left.


    The pressure from the Dragon King was moderate and it was not as heavy and direct as the Unique King¡¯s. Shangguan Hong believed that he could gradually limate to it. The grip of his right hand on the sword hilt was tightening. The impulse to whip out his sword was just as intense as when he had been in an affair with Madam Meng back then. He knew very well that there was humiliation and danger ahead of him, but he still couldn¡¯t help himself from rushing forward.


    He was no longer able to experience sexual pleasure, so he wanted to find a substitute for it on the sharp de.


    He wanted to whip out the sword. He urgently wanted to do it, as if an intangible weapon would sink into his body if he hesitated even a moment more. He had to make the first move if he wanted to keep himself safe.


    Another pair of eyes suddenly appeared outside the window, coldly staring back at Shangguan Hong, who was about to make a move.


    Shangguan Hong couldn¡¯t have been more scared even if a ghost had just passed by the window. For an instant, he felt like all of his blood had been frozen, and that something had exploded in his brain. His mind instantly became empty, but his internal Qi started circting madly like a waterfall.


    Shangguan Hong finally whipped his sword out and thrust it forward.


    The owner of that pair of eyes seemed to sense the inherent danger and dodged aside while Shangguan Hong was stunned. ¡°Eek, your kung fu has really improved.¡±


    At thest moment, Shangguan Hong changed his mind. He didn¡¯t use his full strength in this sword strike. He felt as if he had been hammered hard in the chest. A stream of Qi which had previously been blocked rushed upwards from his abdomen, and then something sweet welled up to his throat and he nearly spat out blood.


    Shangguan Hong was startled. When Lotus had been imparting the Waning Moon Swordsmanship to him, although she had told him that the more strength he gathered, the better, she had never said that there would be fatal consequences if he didn¡¯t use his full strength. Previously, he had performed this swordsmanship with varying levels of strength and this kind of thing had never happened. Why had he hurt himself this time?


    Shangguan Hong couldn¡¯t think of an answer no matter how hard he tried, but he also dimly felt that if he had gone through with the full power sword strike just now, it would have been far more damaging than the current oue.


    ¡°It¡¯s you.¡± Shangguan Hong uttered these two words through gritted teeth, regretting that he hadn¡¯t used his full strength just now.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s me.¡± Shangguan Fei¡¯s eyes reappeared outside of the window. He was also among the four guards that the Dragon King had selected. ¡°Why are you staring at the Dragon King¡¯s room with a murderous look instead of sleeping at this time?¡±


    Shangguan Hong shut the window, refusing to answer Shangguan Fei¡¯s question. Unless the Dragon King himself asked him, he didn¡¯t have to exin his actions to anybody.


    Shangguan Fei pushed the door open and entered the room, leaving himself an escape route. ¡°I know what you¡¯ve been thinking about. You¡¯re afraid of going back to the stone castle, and you hope that the Dragon King will cancel this visit. However, you don¡¯t dare tell him this, right?¡±


    Shangguan Hong stared at this foe of his that he hated the most. ¡°What I¡¯m thinking about is none of your business. Golden Roc Castle is nothing to be afraid of. For the Dragon King, it¡¯s like an ant.¡±


    Actually Shangguan Fei was even more scared of this trip than Shangguan Hong was. He had privately implored the Dragon King to not go, but had been tly rejected. He had then asked his mother for help, but unexpectedly, she supported the Dragon King and had demanded that her son walk into the stone castle like the future Unique King.


    Why couldn¡¯t his mother understand that he wouldn¡¯t need the Dragon King¡¯s protection if he were able to face his father without fear? Shangguan Fei really hoped that he would fall seriously sick, so that he could evade this disaster. He had tried to circte his Qi in a risky way, hoping to agitate himself and form some symptoms of Qi deviation, but he had given up the moment the frosty Qi in him had been activated. He would rather venture to face his father than try to endure the unbearable pain.


    He had decided to find another way to alleviate his fear, so he hade here to visit his half-brother.


    ¡°s.¡± Shangguan Fei sighed deeply, turned around, closed the door, and sat down in a chair. ¡°Actually I¡¯m very scared. It¡¯s not just the stone castle. it¡¯s a nice ce, but¡­ but the thought of the King Lord makes my legs buckle.¡±


    Shangguan Hong didn¡¯t light themp. He just stood there while Shangguan Fei sat down in a chair. Shangguan Hong was still vignt. He didn¡¯t understand why Shangguan Fei hade here to spill his troubles to him. ¡°Everybody is afraid of him,¡± he replied perfunctorily. If it were another person that Shangguan Fei was afraid of, then he surely would have mocked him. However, the Unique King was an exception.


    Both of them were the Unique King¡¯s sons, and both of them were not favored by their father. Almost all of their elder brothers were dead, which made them the only people who could understand each other¡¯s fear of their father.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been afraid of him since childhood,¡± Shangguan Fei continued. ¡°Every time he appears in my dreams, there is always a killing scene as well as limbs flying around and blood sttering everywhere. I don¡¯t care if youugh at me about this, but I was a bedwetter until I was ten years old because of those nightmares.¡±


    Shangguan Hong was surprised that Shangguan Fei was spontaneously talking about these shameful things that he used to do in his childhood. Meanwhile, he had also be a lot less vignt. He hesitated for a while before saying, ¡°Me, too. In the past, I would ask my mother whether we could move out of the stone castle. I felt that, even if we had to sell vegetables on the street for a living, that it would be better than living in the stone castle. Back then, I was unaware that the King Lord was¡­ my father.¡±


    ¡°Um. Everybody is afraid of the King Lord, but nobody knows that we, his children, are the most afraid.¡±


    Shangguan Fei had actually used the word ¡°we,¡± acknowledging their brotherhood. Shangguan Hong became more amazed, and the hatred in him slightly abated. He even felt a glimmer of sympathy towards him. ¡°Our elder brothers tried to kill each other not because they hate each other, but because they¡¯re afraid that the King Lord will regard them as cowards.¡±


    Shangguan Fei nodded approvingly. ¡°But there are exceptions. Our younger sister doesn¡¯t fear the King Lord. She has dared to act cute in front of him ever since childhood. Even now, when she is already an adult, she still gets to do whatever she wants, and she will always be forgiven as long as she shed one or two teardrops ¨C that little bitch.¡±


    Shangguan Fei cursed his twin sister. Shangguan Hong nearly started liking him. ¡°That¡¯s because she is just as cruel as the King Lord. Do you remember? She dared to kill people when she was still in school, and she beat up the other kids on a regr basis. She bullied us both. Isn¡¯t she just pretending to be merciful because she wants to gain the support of the Four Noble Truths Temple? I suspect that this is actually a conspiracy that she and the King Lord hase up with.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Shangguan Fei pped his leg. ¡°I share your opinion. It¡¯s a pity that the Dragon King has been bewitched by that little bitch and that he can¡¯t see the truth.¡±


    The two brothers were getting more and more intimate as their conversation went on. Shangguan Hong still hated his brother, but the impulse to immediately kill him was gone.


    ¡°The King Lord hates his sons,¡± Shangguan Fei said in a sad voice. ¡°Especially me. He thinks that I¡¯ve brought shame on him and the stone castle, but actually, he himself is just another lecher. He is only¡­ slightly different. It¡¯s not like I can¡¯t have sons. I¡¯ll have a hundred sons if I have to.¡±


    ¡°Heh. You think that the King Lord hates you more than he hates me? Madam Meng and I once¡­ ¡± Shangguan Hong shut up in time. He had gotten carried away and had almost forgotten that Madam Meng was Shangguan Fei¡¯s natural mother.


    Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t get angry over this sensitive issue, which was very rare. ¡°Living in the stone castle with a father like him, we can be forgiven for anything.¡±


    Shangguan Hong said nothing. He had just grown fond for Shangguan Fei and he didn¡¯t want to ruin this precious kinship because of Madam Meng.


    ¡°In all seriousness, I was very, very surprised that the King Lord didn¡¯t kill my mother. That was definitely not like him.¡±


    ¡°I think that I might know part of the reason.¡± Shangguan Hong had barely had anymunication with his father, and neither was there any mutual trust between him and Madam Meng. However, when they had been in bed, they had still disclosed some secrets that others would never know about. ¡°The King Lord still loves your mother, and your mother also loves the King Lord. Their proof of love is them torturing each other, which is hard to understand for outsiders. Your mother wants to bear the King Lord another son because the King Lord believes in the prophecy that says that ¡®the man with ten sons will be a king.¡¯ I don¡¯t count, and Shangguan Ru will never be a son no matter how much the King Lord favors her.¡±


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s tone was pained and sad. He was the Unique King¡¯s son, but he was unable to attain his father¡¯s acknowledgement.


    Shangguan Fei also felt pained and sad. He believed that he was the only one that his mother could rely on, but unexpectedly, she wanted to bear him a younger brother. ¡°Judging from what you said, the King Lord definitely hates you more.¡±


    ¡°Tell me about it. Actually¡­ I kind of implicated you too.¡±


    Both of them were unwilling to make any explicitly apologetic remarks.


    ¡°You saw the King Lord in the Four Noble Truths Temple that day?¡±


    ¡°I did.¡±


    ¡°How did it go?¡±


    ¡°He hated me. I could feel it. He wanted to cut me to pieces.¡±


    ¡°Did you hear that the King Lord killed your mother a few days ago?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Shangguan Hong had barely had any contact with the stone castle, and his mother was not an important person, so he had not heard nothing about her death.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to tell you this, but you would find out sooner orter. Maybe it¡¯s better if you prepare yourself earlier.¡±


    Shangguan Hong stayed silent. He had little affection for his mother. It was just that he felt a hatred towards his father when he heard about his mother¡¯s death.


    ¡°It is said that the King Lord tortured your mother for three days and three nights before he killed her himself. And after that, he said that you would be tortured even more cruelly someday.¡±


    Shangguan Fei¡¯s voice was gentle, as if he was afraid that his brother would be scared. But Shangguan Hong was even more frightened. He took two steps backwards, fell onto the bed, and buried his head in his hands. ¡°I don¡¯t want to go back to the stone castle. I¡¯ll ask the Dragon King to let me go back to the stone kingdom ¨C or to the Land of Fragrance. That¡¯d be for the best. Shangguan Fei, you¡¯re closer to the Dragon King than I am. Can you-¡±


    Shangguan Hong raised his head. To his surprise, Shangguan Fei had stood up. It was dark in the room, but from the moonlight falling through the window, he could still dimly see the smug smile on his face.


    ¡°Shangguan Hong, I came here to tell you one thing. The King Lord does hate you. He hates you even more than he hates the Dragon King. He¡¯ll torture you until you yearn for death. All those torture devices are waiting for you in the stone castle. Tomorrow, the Dragon King will ask the King Lord for someone. Maybe he¡¯ll trade you for that person.¡±


    With augh, Shangguan Fei left. He had finally managed to shift part of his fear to Shangguan Hong.

 Chapter 912 - The Main Hall

    Chapter 912: The Main Hall


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Zhong Heng was strongly against the Dragon King¡¯s decision. ¡°It¡¯s not worth the risk, Dragon King. Even if Golden Roc Castle dismissed all of their killers, it¡¯ll always be a lion¡¯s den as long as the Unique King still lives there. The best way to deal with it is to destroy it with hundreds of thousands troops and then burn it all to the ground. There is no need to sound it out. Please think twice, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stuck with his decision, and he had made adequate preparations. Zhong Heng was inmand of the army of the Shule Kingdom in the west. Dugu Xian was the Commander-in-chief of the 20,000-men Central ins army. And finally, Wu Zongheng stayed in the encampment of the Dragon Army. All troops were prepared for war.


    The Golden Roc troops, who were stationed not far away, had gotten scared. They had closed the gates of their encampment and even withdrawn their scouts.


    Gu Shenwei had invited the deputy envoy of the Central ins, Sun Chengqi, to go to Golden Roc Castle with him. Sun Chengqi brought along a dozen kung fu practitioners from the Central ins with him, including Luo Qikang. Only four of Gu Shenwei¡¯s own subordinates hade: Shangguan Fei, Shangguan Hong, Chu Nanping, and Dog Butcher.


    On the first day of the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar, the Dragon King and those Central insmen entered Jade City through the east gate and headed to Golden Roc Castle for a visit.


    This time, the pomp of the procession was not as great as when the envoy of the Central ins had arrived at the city. The guards only numbered a hundred or so, but they also drew arger audience.


    Along the way, the crowds remained solemnly quiet. They all bowed to the Dragon King to pay their respects, as if he had already be the Lord of Jade City.


    After they passed through the north city gate and stepped onto the twisting mountain road, the roadside immediately became quiet. Most of the residents on the mountainside were servants of Golden Roc Castle and retired killers. All of the doors were closed, as if there was nobody living in those houses.


    They could see the high stone castle and the totally defenseless stone bridges. Sun Chengqi eximed in amazement, ¡°It¡¯s really hard to tell how big Golden Roc Castle is from the foot of the mountain. There is a saying that goes, ¡®if one man guards the pass, ten thousand are unable to get through.¡¯ If Golden Roc Castle dispatches a couple of killers at the other end of the bridge, then who would be able to get through?¡±


    There was indeed only ¡°one man guarding the pass¡± on the opposite end of the stone bridge.


    Dressed in a long robe with wide sleeves, Zhang Ji believed that he was more powerful than hundreds of killers. He stood there, dozens of steps in front of the main gate, waiting for the guests toe. There were no other attendants around him.


    ¡°I¡¯m Zhang Ji, the counselor of Golden Roc Castle as well as of the Heavenly Mountain Sect. Wee, my honored guests.¡±


    All the people here dismounted from their horses. The others didn¡¯t feel disrespected, but this was not the warm wee that he had expected, so he just nodded ndly and didn¡¯t take this counselor too seriously.


    Gu Shenwei was rather familiar with Golden Roc Castle. Back then, he had visited almost every corner of this castle with Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi. The main hall was the only ce that he had never entered.


    The main hall was in the middle of Golden Roc Castle. It was a huge building made purely of stone bricks. After so many years, many of the stone steps had been worn down and broken. Sun Chengqi made another remark. ¡°From the foot of the mountain, it seems high. From the outside, it seems big. But from the inside ¨C ha, it seems a little gaunt.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had be familiar with the dpidated state of the stone castle a long time ago. Even when the castle had had thergest number of people living in it, there were still weeds growing in the cracks of the stones.


    But Shangguan Fei and Shangguan Hong were both so surprised that they seemed somewhat flustered and restless. Since they had been born in and grown up in the stone castle, they had always ignored the cracks and worn stones out of sheer habit. In their memories, the stone castle had always been towering and mighty, as if it had been carved out of a single piece of stone. They didn¡¯t expect that, upon returning, they would see such a dpidated and bleak scene two years after they left this ce. But in fact, this ce had been like this for many years.


    The two people exchanged a nce, and the fleeting empathy between them was instantly reced with a deep hatred.


    The servants of Golden Roc Castle began to show up. There were no killers, justmon servants. They stood on either side with their heads down, weing the person who was a former apprentice as well as a current enemy. Everybody¡¯s neck seemed a little abnormal. Most of the visitors felt that this was the first time that they had ever seen someone being forced to lower their heads.


    There was no sign of dpidation in the main hall. The floor was just as smooth as usual and there was not even a single dent in the surfaces of those perfectly circr tiles. The only downside was the dimness.


    There were no window in the walls of this spacious hall. And torches had to be lit to illuminate this ce, even during the daytime.


    After so many years, the walls had be ck from the smoke given off by those torches. Even so, the torches still couldn¡¯t dispel the darkness that hadsted almost a century. Everybody walking inside felt like they had been devoured by a giant beast.


    When they were halfway to the meeting destination, Sun Chengqi stopped and gave two coughs to conceal his fear. ¡°Counselor Zhang, where¡¯s the Unique King?¡±


    As a guest from the Central ins, Sun Chengqi had been walking in the middle, with the Dragon King on his left and Zhang Ji on his right. Behind him were a dozen guards. This small group of people couldn¡¯t even take up a corner of this main hall. No wonder the deputy envoy felt nervous.


    Zhang Ji pointed into the depths. ¡°The King Lord is there.¡±


    The instant his words ended, more torches were lit. Two rows of people, each one of whom was holding a torch, walked out and lit the torches fixed on the columns along the way.


    All of these people were carrying narrow sabers. Clearly, they were the small,st group of remaining killers of Golden Roc Castle.


    Sun Chengqi was startled again, and his impression of Golden Roc Castle worsened.


    Gu Shenwei had recently seen the Unique King, who was sitting on the throne, and he had also seen something that had aroused rage within him. Two giant birds, taller than humans, were erected on either side of the throne with their heads propped up, their chests puffed out, and their wings wide open, as if they were protecting the throne. The golden feathers on their heads were still.


    Although it had been many years since then, Gu Shenwei still couldn¡¯t forget the scene of the golden-crowned rocs getting killed. It had happened right in front of him, but he had been powerless to save them, and he had even had to kowtow to the murderer to plead for his life.


    Humans appeared small and humble against the giant birds. On his first sight, Sun Chengqi had also noticed the giant bird first instead of the Unique King sitting in the middle. He blurted out, ¡°My God. Are tho ¨C those real?¡±


    ¡°They used to be, but now they¡¯re just two ornaments,¡± Zhang Ji answered in a habitual tone.


    But the others were all shocked, and even Shangguan Hong and his brother were no exception. This was also the first time that they had ever seen the giant rocs of their family.


    After a while, their shock abated, and awe spontaneously rose in them. Naturally, they were also awed by the Unique King. As they continued to walk towards the depths of the main hall, Sun Chengqi was no longer as discontent as he was before. By now, he couldn¡¯t even remember the look of that cold, old man in the Four Noble Truths Temple, as if that had been just an inferior counterfeit. And the one who was sitting on the top of the seven-step staircase with his figure cloaked in the shadows was the true Unique King.


    Zhang Ji stopped twenty steps away from the bottom step of the staircase, turned his head back, and signaled the guards of the Dragon King and Sun Chengqi to stop. Nobody objected. Only Chu Nanping and Luo Qikang consulted with their masters and only stopped after seeing their masters nod.


    At the bottom of the staircase, Zhang Ji walked to the side silently.


    The Unique King stood up, walked down three steps, and said, ¡°Wee.¡±


    Sun Chengqi buckled at the knees. From this short distance, the two golden-crowned giant rocs looked stronger and more lifelike, as if they could peck at them and take their lives at any moment.


    ¡°Cough. The Dragon King and I¡­¡± Sun Chengqi raised his head, looked at the Unique King, and paused. He had actually forgotten why he hade here.


    Gu Shenwei took two steps back and said, ¡°Unique King, please hand over the three disciples of the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    Light suddenly dawned on Sun Chengqi. He also took two steps back. ¡°Yes, yes. Please hand over the prisoners, Unique King. I¡¯ll take them back to the Central ins.¡±


    In order to have the Unique King release Han Fen and the others, Gu Shenwei had made up an excuse: the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall were very sly, and they had killed a couple of Central insmen while they were practicing their swordsmanship. Thus, they had to be escorted to the Central ins where they would be put on trial.


    This was a poor excuse, and the tens of thousands of troops outside the city were a more potent one.


    The Unique King descended another stairstep. ¡°Golden Roc Castle hands over no prisoners, only heads. I can have their heads sent here right away if you¡¯d like.¡±


    A wave of nausea swept over Sun Chengqi. ¡°We don¡¯t want heads. The Unique King will have to make an exception this time and hand over living prisoners. The Waning Moon Hall has myriad plots, and the Central ins needs a detailed testimony.¡±


    After staying silent for a while, the Unique King waved his hand. Before long, a couple of guards escorted three prisoners out of a side room.


    Compared with how they looked a couple of days ago, Han Fen and the others appeared rather listless, but there were no obvious signs of torture.


    ¡°Hey, Dragon King. What took you so long?¡± Han Fen said weakly.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to hand you over to Central insmen,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Han Fen shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not going to the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not your decision to make,¡± Sun Chengqi snapped. The sense of mystery and awe brought by the darkness and the golden-crowned giant rocks was waning, and he had recalled that he was the superior dignitary. ¡°What are the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s conspiracies? Have any other members infiltrated the Central ins? You must honestly confess when you¡¯re in the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°I have to confess again?¡± Han Fen said resignedly. ¡°I¡¯ve talked about these things over and over again. The Unique King has more conspiracies than the Waning Moon Hall possibly could. Why don¡¯t you ask him to confess?¡±


    ¡°The Unique King¡¯s conspiracies have nothing to do with you. Just keep your mouth shut from now on.¡± To prevent Han Fen from talking nonsense again, Gu Shenwei interjected, turned around, and faced Shangguan Fa. ¡°Please release them.¡±


    ¡°What a domineering ¡®please.¡¯¡± The Unique King descended another two steps to stand on the bottom step. ¡°Then ¡®please¡¯ tell me who exactly am I supposed to hand over these three prisoners to? The Lord Deputy Envoy or the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°To me.¡± Sun Chengqi gained more confidence from the four words ¡°The Lord Deputy Envoy.¡± The Nond was in chaos, so the Western Regions was under the Central ins¡¯ sole control. ¡°The Dragon King knows the Waning Moon Hall well. He will only help the Central ins analyze the testimony.¡±


    ¡°Golden Roc Castle respects Lord Deputy Envoy and also the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°The Central ins will remember the Unique King¡¯s kindness.¡± Gradually, Sun Chengqi felt that things were going in a more familiar way. ¡°Now please hand over the prisoners to me.¡±


    The Unique King walked down thest, bottom step. ¡°Lord Deputy Envoy may take the three prisoners, but I have a request.¡±


    ¡°Go on, please. I¡¯ll do whatever I can.¡±


    ¡°Not only are there numerous troops and generals, but there are also many kung fu experts in the Central ins. I¡¯ve always been meaning to see the Central in¡¯s kung fu. How about we have a couple rounds ofpetitions today? The three prisoners will be the stakes.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ ¡± Sun Chengqi found that this was a situation that he was unfamiliar with. ¡°You¡¯re the Unique King, and I¡¯m the envoy of the Central ins. The rules of Jianghu are not really suitable for our business, are they?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine if you¡¯re not willing to have a kung fupetition. Golden Roc Castle will still hand over a prisoner. The information that the different disciples of the Waning Moon Hall can offer is more of less the same. I think that one prisoner should be enough for you. I¡¯ll kill the other two. What do you think, Lord Deputy Envoy?¡±


    Sun Chengqi turned his head back and looked at the Dragon King. He was under Zhang You¡¯s direct instructions to follow the Dragon King¡¯s orders. He himself had no intentions to push the Unique King too hard.


    ¡°Are those who are not Central insmen allowed to participate in the Kung fupetition?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Sure. We¡¯re all allies of the Central ins. Just regard the kung fupetition as a game.,¡± The Unique King knew that the Dragon King would surely agree. Getting the prisoners was just a secondary reason. The Dragon King had once been defeated by him, so there was no doubt that he urgently wanted another chance to prove himself.


    Neither the deputy envoy nor the counselor Zhang Ji could understand thispetitive mentality of kung fu practitioners, and thetter even predicted that the Dragon King would definitely decline.


    ¡°Since it¡¯s just a game, then we might as well make the stakes higher.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What does Dragon King have in mind?¡± The Unique King didn¡¯t care about stakes.


    Gu Shenwei turned around and pointed at his bodyguards who were not far away. ¡°I have two of your sons in my hands. I¡¯ll stake them. If I win, give me your youngest son.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was startled. Last night, when he had talked about the exchange of hostages with Shangguan Hong, he was just trying to frighten him. He didn¡¯t actually expect the Dragon King to do this. And the Dragon King had even staked them both on the kung fupetition.

 Chapter 913 - Hidden Weapons

    Chapter 913: Hidden Weapons


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The Unique King had a very powerful intelligencework, and he had heard of the rumors about the intimacy between the Dragon King and Luo Ningcha a long time ago. However, he had never taken it seriously. He had lost his interest in that woman, just like all the other women that he had ever dallied with.


    What was different about Luo Ningcha was that she had born him a son. Though he was also a bastard son, he had been acknowledged by the Unique King on the day that he had been born, which was a treatment that Shangguan Hong could only long for.


    As a result, when it had been rumored that his youngest son¡¯s natural father was also the Dragon King, the Unique King had be furious and killed the first one who had implied this in a message to him. He hadn¡¯t believed this malicious rumor at all. The most important reason had been that a woman like Luo Ningcha would have never fallen for Servant Huan, who had merely been amon servant and killer back then.


    And Luo Ningcha¡¯s deeds during the past few years were further proof of this. All of the men that she had seduced were royal members of either the Nond or the Central ins, which had asionally proved beneficial for the Golden Roc Castle. But if she had no interest in the current Dragon King, then how Servant Huan have possibly managed to get into the bed of the then Mother Lord?


    asionally, the Unique King would gaze at his youngest son, hoping to find some clues, but he didn¡¯t remember what his other sons looked like when they were young, and he certainly didn¡¯t remember what he himself looked like as a child either. Since he was the King of Killers, how could he find the time to care about these petty things?


    But the seed of suspicion had nheless been sowed in his mind, waiting for a chance to root and then sprout. It was only when the Dragon King offered to stake the Unique King¡¯s youngest son that the seedling broke through the soil.


    The Unique King¡¯s facial expression remained unchanged. He took merely one step forward, but the people around him felt as if his body had grown several timesrger, and as if he had grown wings on his back just like a giant roc; his entire demeanor now gave off an intense killing aura.


    Even Sun Chengqi, who had no kung fu skills at all, sensed danger and involuntarily backed off several steps in a row. ¡°We can talk about this. The Dragon King was merely suggesting.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t back off. He peered back into the Unique King¡¯s hollow eyes. No matter whose son that kid was, as long as he could give the Unique King a heavy blow, Gu Shenwei would not hesitate to use him.


    The Unique King stared at the Dragon King and said, ¡°Bring Cheng¡¯er here.¡±


    He had provoked the Dragon King by offering to have a kung fupetition, but he himself had also been provoked.


    The Unique King¡¯s killing aura gradually subsided, until only very few people could feel the killing intent still bubbling inside of him. Sun Chengqi was greatly relieved. He secretly thought, ¡®You¡¯re a court official, not a Jianghu hero. It¡¯s normal that you can¡¯t handle this kind of pressure.¡¯


    ¡°Then let¡¯s have a kung fupetition. Is it going to be only one round or¡­¡±


    ¡°The game shouldn¡¯t end that quickly. One round, one stake.¡± The Unique King suddenly turned around, walked up the seven-step staircase to the throne, and casually pointed at a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall, who was then pushed forward by two guards.


    She was a female in her twenties. With a gloomy look on her face, she neither turned her head back to look at the Unique King who was the enemy, nor did she stare at the Dragon King who was going to save her. Head slightly down, she was mumbling something in a low voice with her eyes closed.


    Han Fen said loudly from behind, ¡°Sister, don¡¯t be afraid. If we die, the Dragon King will help us cut our bodies to pieces. Even the God of the Underworld won¡¯t take us in if we don¡¯t have intact souls.¡±


    Sun Chengqi¡¯s heart lurched, unable to figure out if this weird woman was more horrifying than the Unique King.


    The Unique King waved his hand again. A killer among the ranks handed his torch to thepanion beside him, walked to the front of the staircase, knelt down on his knees, and bent over with his forehead against the ground.


    Gu Shenwei turned around, walked up to his bodyguards, and said, ¡°Dog Butcher.¡±


    Sun Chengqi followed the Dragon King closely. Though he was not a Jianghu kung fu practitioner, he had heard of some rules of Jianghu before. So, he asked in surprise, ¡°Thepetition starts just like this? No rules? How are we going to decide who the winner is?¡±


    ¡°The one who gets killed or surrenders loses, and the one who is standing in the ring in the end wins,¡± said Gu Shenwei simply. This was Golden Roc Castle¡¯s rule. In both his and the Unique King¡¯s eyes, there was no need to exin this.


    Zhang Ji stood at the side silently. He knew that what happened today didn¡¯t concern him. In front of the Unique King, he could behave arrogantly, lecture him, and be stubborn. However, there was a line he was not supposed to cross.


    Dog Butcher was a little nervous. Before they came here, the Dragon King hadn¡¯t mentioned the fact that there might be a kung fupetition. He was also a little excited. Having a spur-of-the-moment kung fupetition in a grim spacious hall with not only some strange disciple of the Waning Moon Hall but also his own life as the stakes ¨C this was somewhat simr to the Jianghu that he had imagined.


    He walked out of the group, stopped ten steps away from his opponent, pulled out his single saber, and waited for that man to stand up.


    Prostrate in front of the staircase, that killer stayed still silently, like a pious believer prostrating himself before a statue of god.


    ¡°I¡¯m Dog Butcher.¡± Dog Butcher identified himself, but restrained himself from saying which sect he was from, thinking of this as apromise between the rules of the Central ins and that of the Western Regions. He hoped that his opponent would also stand up and say this. Standing in wait, he began to feel embarrassed.


    The Unique King was standing on top of the tform like a statue with more than half of his body in the shadows. He was as still as the two golden-crowned giant rocs behind him.


    As if having received a signal from his master through some mysterious means, the killer abruptly stood up and unsheathed his narrow saber. He leaped backwards, and when he was halfway to Dog Butcher, he turned around and shed at his head.


    Killers didn¡¯t have a habit of identifying themselves.


    All of the Central insmen were startled. They had heard of the unscrupulousness of killers before, but they had still believed that this killer would more or less show some respect to his opponent in front of the Unique King and so many guests of the Central ins. They didn¡¯t expect that he would still choose to start the fight byunching a sneak attack.


    But the Western Regioners knew that killers had no rules, and that they had nothing to follow even if they wanted to be polite.


    Dog Butcher was startled, but he didn¡¯t panic and he fought back instinctively.


    After the two exchanged the first move, Gu Shenwei drew a conclusion that this man was not amon killer but a Green-faced assassin.


    He had met a couple of Green-faced assassins before and fought them, so he knew that their kung fu was different from that of normal Golden Roc killers. Their kung fu was more diversified, and narrow sabers were only one of the weapons they were skilled in. Most of them had other skills.


    Dog Butcher¡¯s opponent was best at leg techniques.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s swept around, and it suddenly dawned on him that all of the Unique King¡¯s subordinates in this main hall, over thirty of them, including the guards escorting the prisoners, were Green-faced assassins.


    The Unique King had made all his killers join the Heavenly Mountain Sect, and these Green-faced assassins had reced those killers. They now made their presence known in public and no longer hid in the dark.


    Gu Shenwei was pondering why the Unique King had done this. The fight between the two had entered a life-or-death phase.


    The kung fu of the Green-faced assassin was far better than that ofmon killers, but their biggest advantage was their ability to hide themselves, which enabled them to sneak up on their enemies and blindside them. They could perform assassinations without any team. But in a kung fupetition ring, the advantage of this Green-faced assassin had turned into a disadvantage. Besides the first move, he never got another chance tounch a surprise attack.


    Dog Butcher had collected himself, and his saber strikes were growing quicker and quicker.


    Behind him, those guards of the Central ins were even more amazed. They knew that Dog Butcher was an elder of the Kongtong Sect, but his sabersmanship didn¡¯t seem like that of the Kongtong Sect. He constantly switched moves halfway, not even finishing his current move sometimes. Because of this, his striking speed was much faster than normal, but it didn¡¯t fit with the fighting style of a member of a prestigious sect.


    Someone briefly shook his head, thinking that Dog Butcher¡¯s Master Shifu would surely be furious if he were here to see Dog Butcher¡¯s sabersmanship.


    Dog Butcher was also uneasy. Recalling his elder sister Tu Pianpian¡¯s rebuke, he was not sure whether he was really going further and further down the wrong path.


    Which one was better ¨C theplex, profound martial arts of prestigious sects, or the Jianghu techniques which were best for a dogfight? This question urred to Dog Butcher and he couldn¡¯t stop thinking about it. Finally, he made up his mind ¨C he wanted to give it a try.


    Dog Butcher switched to another fighting style. His saber strikes slowed down, and his feet movements became steadier. His sabersmanship was both defensive and offensive; a typical and perfectly standard example of the Mountain-cleaving Sabersmanship of the Kongtong Sect.


    Besides Sun Chengqi who couldn¡¯t tell the difference, all the other Central insmen nodded, thinking that this was how a kung fu expert of the Kongtong Sect should fight. ¡®Just fight in a steady and calm manner. It¡¯s only a kung fupetition. Is it really necessary to fight madly like a Jianghu bandit?¡¯


    Gu Shenwei noticed the change of Dog Butcher¡¯s fighting style, but he didn¡¯t intervene. Kung fu was a personal issue. He could impart techniques and theories to other people, but he would never aske them whether they were willing to ept it, or how much they were willing to ept.


    There was a kung fu that suitable for each person. Gu Shenwei would never have this kind of confusion that Dog Butcher was having.


    Dog Butcher became more confident. After he switched to the Mountain-cleaving Sabersmanship, he hadn¡¯t be disadvantaged. Instead, he was fighting more unhurriedly. Previously, when he had been trying to strike as fast as he could, they had exchanged every move in an instant, and even when he had held the upper hand, he still might have been hit by a saber strike at any moment. But now, things were different. He was fighting in a safe and steady way through the Mountain-cleaving Sabersmanship. He was slowly gathering his strength, waiting for the right asion to arise. And when it did, he would defeat the opponent with a single strike.


    The Green-faced assassin didn¡¯t change his fighting style. His saber strikes were fast, and his footwork was even faster. He leaped up and down and swished here and there, shing at Dog Butcher constantly from various directions. And his opponent only fought back once every three or four of his moves.


    But he was unable to breach Dog Butcher¡¯s defense. Every time Dog Butcher fought back, he always aimed at his vital parts and forced him into giving up his offense.


    This Green-faced assassin was a top killer, and it was not merely sabersmanship and leg techniques that he was good at. He was also waiting for an opportunity. When Dog Butcher fought back again, he didn¡¯t dodge. Instead, he advanced head-on.


    Dog Butcher briefly hesitated. Not only had he switched to a more prudent sabersmanship, but his mentality had also be more prudent. He was wavering between killing his opponent and teaching him a lesson.


    There was a gleam of cold light. Dog Butcher knew that he was in danger and that it had not been his opponent but rather himself that his previous hesitation had saved. Before his saber strike lost its momentum, he abruptly leaped backwards, wielding his saber to parry the blow.


    ¡°Hidden weapons! He used hidden weapons!¡± A couple of Central insmen indignantly yelled in unison. It was supposed to be a tacit rule that dirty tricks were not allowed in a kung fupetition.


    With a pained scream, Dog Butcher fell into the crowd and two Central insmen caught him. He had still been hit, with three wounds in his shoulder, chest, and thigh, respectively. Blood was gushing out from his wounds.


    Gu Shenwei immediately took out a small wooden box and put an antidote into Dog Butcher¡¯s mouth. He reminded the Central insman who was about to strike Dog Butcher¡¯s acupoints to stop the bleeding, ¡°Let him bleed. He¡¯ll be fine in a while.¡±


    The Central insmen became more indignant. A subordinate of the renowned Unique King had used not only hidden weapons but also applied poison on the hidden weapons. This deed was even more shameless than that of the lowest Jianghu sects in the Central ins.


    But they were in the Western Regions, so they didn¡¯t say anything, instead waiting to see how the Dragon King would react.


    But the Dragon King¡¯s response greatly surprised them. At the same time, they also realized how different the rules of the Western Regions were from the rules of the Central ins.


    ¡°The Central ins has lost the first round. The Unique King won,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    The Unique King was still standing there like a statue, as if he was totally indifferent to this result.


    Beside the bottom step of the staircase, a Green-faced assassin whipped out his saber and cut off the head of the disciple of the Waning Moon Hall.


    Gu Shenwei leaped forward, unsheathed the Five Peaks Saber, and cut the body of that disciple into pieces before the head touched the ground. Every piece of the body flew to a different position, forming a circle around the field of the kung fupetition.


    The Green-faced guard just watched and didn¡¯t attack the Dragon King.


    Han Fen and the other disciple of the Waning Moon Hall said in unison, ¡°The living suffer in grief, and the dead settle in peace.¡±


    As if infected by the words, those Green-faced assassins also said, ¡°The living suffers in grief, and the dead settle in peace.¡±


    Those Central insmen were all transfixed with shock. In their eyes, from the Dragon King to the Unique King and their subordinates, none of these Western Regioners were sane.


    Staring at the ground covered in blood, Gu Shenwei felt a wave of nausea ovee him. His body always reacted in this way in simr situations since his childhood. It had never disappeared. He had just gotten used to it.


    A childish voice came from the side. ¡°Father, you were killing again.¡±


    Gu Shenwei and the Unique King turned their head to the side at the same time and saw Luo Ningcha¡¯s son.

 Chapter 914 - A Beloved Son

    Chapter 914: A Beloved Son


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    In two months, Shangguan Cheng would be five years old. On Chinese New Year¡¯s Day, he had received his present in advance ¨C a real narrow saber. He had asked his father, ¡°Has it killed a lot of people?¡±


    The Unique King had then unsheathed the narrow saber, put it in the hands of his son, and held his small pair small hands tightly. ¡°This is a brand-new saber. In the future, you will use it to make thousands bleed.¡±


    The Unique King had had a happy new year because of this aspiration of his son¡¯s, in spite of the existence of the Dragon King¡¯s army camping outside the city.


    In fact, Shangguan Cheng had no idea what ¡°killing¡± meant. In his childish mind, it was just a word that his father liked. Thus, he uttered this word frequently, just like the smart kids who frequently called out ¡°father¡± and ¡°mother.¡±


    It was a tradition of the Shangguan family that their children started learning kung fu and reading at the age of five. There was still two months before Shangguan Cheng turned five, so the first time that he had seen someone be killed was when he saw that pale-faced man hacking a body into pieces.


    ¡®Is this killing people?¡¯ thought Shangguan Cheng. He regarded everyone in the stone castle as his father¡¯s subordinates, so he asked the Unique King, ¡°Father, did you kill someone again?¡±


    A Green-faced killer carried the King Lord¡¯s youngest son forward, knelt down on the ground, and moved up the seven-step staircase on his knees. He lifted Shangguan Cheng up, handed him to the King Lord, and then descended the staircase on his knees.


    As he held his son, the Unique King looked into those bright, sparkling eyes, and dimly felt that he looked somewhat like what Shangguan Ru had looked like when she had been a child. He was rather pleased, since his son wasn¡¯t scared at all after seeing such a gory scene for the first time. He believed that this son would surely make for an excellent heir to Golden Roc Castle.


    After glimpsing at the Dragon King, who was standing at the bottom of the staircase, again, he felt even more certain that those rumors were ridiculous.


    ¡°Look, some people havee here to challenge Golden Roc Castle,¡± the Unique King said.


    Shangguan Cheng curiously craned his head out of his father¡¯s arms. He knew what ¡°challenge¡± meant. He just wanted to see who was so audacious. He felt that the pale-faced man was very impolite, since he dared to look him in the eyes with a cold gaze.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like him,¡± Shangguan Cheng said, burying his face in his father¡¯s arms.


    The Unique King put his son on the throne behind him and said, ¡°Father will chase him away.¡±


    The Unique King was still asmanding as usual, but his tone had involuntarily be milder, making him seem uncannily simr to amon father. Even his movement of putting his son down appeared slow and gentle, as if he was afraid that he might hurt him by ident.


    Looking on from the distance, Shangguan Fei was both sad and heart-broken. In all his memory, his father had never treated him like that. This privilege used to be solely owned by his younger sister, Shangguan Ru, and now it had been given to a child.


    Under the influence of his mother, Shangguan Fei had always believed that he was the heir to the Unique King. Though this belief had wavered during his exile, he had never felt any distinct threat to his session. But upon seeing that child stand on the ck throne, he, for the first time, understood why his elder brothers had tried to kill each other, sparing no efforts.


    Shangguan Hong was indifferent. He had never felt his father¡¯s love for him, so he naturally wouldn¡¯t be jealous. But when he saw the other side of the Unique King, the fear in him was greatly alleviated. ¡®It turns out that the Unique King is also only human, and he also has emotions that normal people must have. Then naturally, he must also have a chink in his armor.¡¯


    Shangguan Hong reached out with his hand to touch the hilt of the soft sword wrapped around his waist.


    The deputy envoy, Sun Chengqi, just felt embarrassed. They had lost the first round, which was not a good sign. Using hidden weapons was a very despicable deed, but the Dragon King hadn¡¯t raised any objections, so it must be a tacit rule of the Western Regions. He looked in the direction of the Dragon King, trying to find a hint.


    Two Green-faced killers escorted the second disciple of the Waning Moon Hall to the field of thepetition. She was a middle-aged woman about thirty years old. Standing amid the blood with her head up, she said to the Dragon King, ¡°You¡¯re a mortal enemy of the Waning Moon Hall. I¡¯m not going to thank you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nced at her and then turned around to return to his own group without saying anything. He had his own thoughts and didn¡¯t have to exin anything to her.


    ¡°Miao Chengxin.¡±


    A Central ins guard walked out of the team, bowed to the Dragon King and Sun Chengqi, respectively, and then strode into the kung fupetition field, unsheathing his sword casually as he did so.


    Gu Shenwei had conducted some inquiries into the backgrounds of these Central ins guards. Miao Chengxin was a disciple of the Taishan Sect, and he was one of the best kung fu experts among everyone here. Nobody had any objection to him fighting the second round.


    Golden Roc Castle also sent another Green-faced killer, a female this time.


    Gu Shenwei knew her. The female Green-faced killer¡¯s name was Qian Ying, and she had once been responsible for protecting Shangguan Ru in the army camp. She also used to be a symbol of reconciliation between the Unique King and his daughter. Now, it seemed that she was finished with that job and thus no longer had to stay around the young master.


    Qian Ying¡¯s weapon was not a narrow saber but rather two short sabers slightly longer than a dagger. Just like the first Green-faced killer, she also said nothing andunched an attack on Miao Chengxin the moment he walked onto the kung fupetition field.


    Miao Chengxin felt that his kung fu was surely better than that of an obscure female killer, but the lesson that Dog Butcher had been taught was still vivid, so he didn¡¯t dare be careless. He wielded his sword and cautiously defended himself against the potential dirty moves of the opponent.


    Tai Mountain was the head of the Five Mountains, and a key feature of the Taishan Sect¡¯s kung fu was its steadiness and mountainous might. Although Miao Chengxin¡¯s weapon was a sword, his moves were even more steady than Dog Butcher¡¯s Mountain-cleaving Sabersmanship. Like a giant, round boulder, his moves were slow but very damaging and fierce. Anybody who was hit would be killed right away.


    Like a swift small stone flying around a giant boulder, Qian Ying maneuvered around her opponent as she nimbly attacked him, not daring to fight him head-on.


    The disadvantages of Golden Roc Castle¡¯s kung fu skills were fully revealed.


    Though the weapons and moves of the two killers were different, after seeing their kung fu, the Central insmen found that there wasn¡¯t anything special about the Golden Roc Castle¡¯s kung fu. They felt that these killers¡¯ kung fu merely focused on fast speed, and that they always tried to circle around and attack their enemies from behind. If their first surprise attack was a sess, then their subsequent moves would indeed be very difficult to defend against. However, in a face-to-face kung fupetition, their biggest advantage was meaningless.


    Gu Shenwei had once had a kung fupetition with Qian Ying before, so he knew that this was her actual skill, and that she wasn¡¯t hiding part of her power. Maybe the kung fu of all the other Green-faced killers were also at this level.


    Gu Shenwei warned himself not to underestimate the Green-faced killers. This kung fupetition was apulsory task. When the Unique King really wanted to use this force, then by no means would he make this mistake. In another asion, these Central ins kung fu experts probably wouldn¡¯t even be able to see these Green-faced killers before getting killed.


    After they had exchanged a dozen moves, everybody could tell that Miao Chengxin absolutely held the upper hand. However, they also believed that this killer of the Golden Roc Castle would sooner orter make a dirty move.


    ¡°Defeat him!¡± A childish voice came out from behind the Unique King. It was an imperative tone, ¡°Defeat him now!¡±


    The Unique King coughed.


    Qian Ying pounced on the opponent whose momentum was as strong as that of a giant rolling boulder. This time, she didn¡¯t dodge and instead attacked head-on. Instantly, she was devoured by sword-light.


    Blood sttered in all directions. The Central insmen were shocked by this suicidal fighting style.


    Miao Chengxin was also astounded, but he didn¡¯t show mercy to his opponent. Since the Western Regioners had stooped to using poisonous hidden weapons, then there was no need for him to go easy on them.


    Qian Ying was hit by several consecutive saber strikes, and a length of her right arm flew away alongside a short saber. However, in response, she finally managed to charge into the center of those sword-lights and target the most vulnerable part of the giant boulder.


    Miao Chengxin let out several howls of anger. He had thought that this woman of Golden Roc Castle would fall to the ground due to the sharp pain, but unexpectedly, like a lifeless puppet, she let the opponent dismantle her while the remaining parts of her body kept moving forward.


    Qian Ying stabbed the short saber into Miao Chengxin¡¯s chest with her left hand. The first saber strike hit the target, and the subsequent moves immediately followed. After stabbing out seven or eight times in a row, Qian Ying leaped backwards andnded at the bottom of the staircase, her body covered in blood. Part of it was hers, and the rest of which was the enemy¡¯s. The blood was still dripping to the ground as she stared at her opponent, as if she was still capable ofunching another attack.


    Miao Chengxin was holding his sword as blood gushed out of his chest. Almost all of Qian Ying¡¯s saber stabs had hit the same part of his body, digging out a bloody hole in him.


    The swordsman from the Central ins fell to the ground with a thud.


    No one uttered a sound.


    The Western Regioners were quite used to this kind of scene, while the Central insmen were too amazed to say anything.


    A Green-faced guard whipped out his saber and cut off the head of the second prisoner from the Waning Moon Hall. Gu Shenwei strode up to the body and dismembered her in the same fashion as before.


    Qian Ying also fell down, covered in blood. Two Green-faced killers picked her up and hurriedly left.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let her die,¡± Shangguan Cheng yelled, as if his order alone was able to stop her perilous bleeding.


    Gu Shenwei walked back to his original position. Miao Chengxin¡¯s body had been taken back by those Central insmen. His face as pale as that of the Dragon King, Sun Chengqi still hadn¡¯t be ustomed to this kind of gory scene. He buckled at the knees and felt nauseous. ¡°Is thi¨Cthis really a kung fupetition?¡±


    ¡°It is,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    A Green-faced guard escorted the third prisoner to the side of thepetition field.


    Looking at those scattered body parts and the bloody ground, Han Fen smiled in satisfaction. ¡°Thank you, Dragon King. Please chop me into smaller pieces after I die. It would be better if you take my heart away. In that case, the God of the Underworld definitely won¡¯t be able to recognize me.¡±


    ¡°I will,¡± Gu Shenwei promised.


    Chu Nanping saw the Dragon King¡¯s signal and walked onto the field. He pulled out his saber and slightly lowered his head, as if he were transfixed with fear and didn¡¯t dare to look at the bloody scene around him. However, his footing was very steady.


    The third Green-faced killer went onto the field. He was a middle-aged man. His features were somon that nobody would be able to find anything special about him even if they put a torch right in front of his face. His weapon was a narrow saber.


    ¡°Wait a moment,¡± Han Fen said and then took a deep breath. ¡°Little Chu, I know that your swordsmanship is pretty good, but if you lose, I¡¯ll die. So, you must do you best and outdo yourself. Just¡­ just imagine that I am the green-eyed little girl.¡±


    ¡°Um,¡± Chu Nanping answered in a dull voice.


    ¡°And, Golden Roc Castle stole some pills from the Waning Moon Hall. You have seen that they were not afraid of pain. That¡¯s because they have taken the Baimu pills. They won¡¯t be able to feel any pain for two to four hours, so be careful.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    ¡°And, if I¡¯m going to die soon, then I want to say this first ¨C the Master Commander is the most beautiful, toughest, and smartest person in the world. Is there anyone who disagrees?¡±


    The blood and body parts had made the atmosphere in the grim main hall even more oppressive, so nobody was in the mood to contradict the subjectivepliments of a crazy woman, except for an ignorant child.


    ¡°That¡¯s not true. The toughest and smartest person in the world is the Unique King.¡± Standing on the throne, Shangguan Cheng yelled at the woman down below.


    Han Fen turned her upper body back, her face full of smiles. ¡°After I die, and after the God of the Underworld refuses to take me in, I¡¯ll be a wandering ghost. I¡¯ll spare some time toe to you every day and then we can discuss who is the toughest and smartest.¡±


    Shangguan Cheng drew a step back and leaned against the back of the throne, his face full of horror. ¡°I won¡¯t allow you toe.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha, you have no power over me. I¡¯ll spend half a day with the Master Commander, a small half with the Dragon King, and the rest of it ying with you. After the Dragon King marries the Master Commander, I¡¯ll¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Start fighting!¡± the Unique King yelled, stopping the crazy woman from scaring his youngest son any further.


    The Green-faced killer brandished his saber. His kung fu was better than that of the former two, and he also had more tactics. Having alreadye up with a n to finish the opponent, he was waiting for him to approach.


    Chu Nanping¡¯s sword and the Green-faced killer¡¯s narrow saber were thrust forward at almost the exact same time, but Chu Nanping¡¯s strike was a little faster ¨C just a little. When his sword sank into the Green-faced killer¡¯s heart, the tip of the narrow saber was less than an inch away from his.


    The Green-faced killer had made a fatal mistake. The first two contestants were both Central insmen, and he had inevitably been influenced by the former fights, believing that this was going to be yet another protracted fight.


    Chu Nanping¡¯s kung fu was no better than those of the kung fu experts from the Central ins. It was just that his fighting style was different. Just like the Dragon King¡¯s ultimate goal, what he pursued was a striking speed that was always slightly faster than that of his opponent.


    This fight had ended so abruptly that nobody made any sounds. Blinking, Han Fen had no idea whether she had been saved or not at all.


    ¡°The fourth round,¡± said Gu Shenwei, turning around to point at Shangguan Fei and Shangguan Hong. They felt a cold shiver of fear crawl up them at the same time as they leaned against each other to maintain their bnce.


    The Unique King squinted and took a step forward. He didn¡¯t care about the results of the former three rounds. This final fight was what he was waiting for.

 Chapter 915 - Three Moves

    Chapter 915: Three Moves


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    During his two previous meetings with the Dragon King in the Four Noble Truths Temple, the Unique King could tell that there had been an obviously vignt and unconvinced look in the Dragon King¡¯s eyes. He had thought, ¡®Clearly, this guy still vividly remembers the palm strike I gave him in Heaven¡¯s Pass.¡¯


    But back then, the Dragon King had received that palm strike before he could whip out his saber. Like all killers with quick reflexes, he had fled as soon as he had sensed danger. The Unique King thus believed that the Dragon King had been subduing an urge to prove his sabersmanship skill all along.


    This was the core of his entire n. A kung fupetition with the consent of both sides would solve all of the problems in advance. With the Central insmen as witnesses, nobody would be able to use him of using assassination as a means to his end. The Unique King descended another step, internal Qi surging through his meridians, as though it were powerful enough to destroy the entire stone hall. ¡°Dragon King. Please.¡±


    Watching the Unique King, Gu Shenweiid his right hand on the hilt of the saber. Indeed, he wanted to have another fight with the Unique King, and he wanted to use the true Death Sutra Swordsmanship against his enemy who was also his mortal foe. However, he was the Dragon King, which was why he was still thinking about the warning of his counselor, Fang Wenshi, even at this moment when his desire for revenge had peaked. ¡®When you¡¯re fighting for supremacy, the number of your supporters will growrger andrger because everybody wants to take their share of the loot; when you¡¯re seeking revenge, the number of your supporters will dwindle smaller and smaller because they can get nothing by helping you.¡¯


    ¡°Luo Qikang,¡± said Gu Shenwei. It was time for this Central-in kung fu expert with a godlike reputation to disy his true strength.


    Luo Qikang didn¡¯t move. He had once said that he only answered to officials of the Central ins. The Dragon King seemed to have forgotten about this, but as luck would have it, the deputy envoy, Sun Chengqi, turned to face him at this moment and said, ¡°Don¡¯t let the Central ins be humiliated.¡±


    A flicker of anger shed across Luo Qikang¡¯s mind. The Luo family was arge family, and many of his family members were high-ranking officials of the Imperial Court. This petty deputy envoy actually dared to speak to him in this kind of tone, as if he were just amon kung fu practitioner in the martial arts world.


    He walked forwards, quickly calming himself down. He decided to make a response to all the doubts facing him with his sword. He had done this in the Central ins before he was twenty, and he was now going to do it again in the Western Regions.


    The Dragon King had chosen to avoid fighting with him! Annoyed and embarrassed, the Unique King finally became furious. He stood still on the fifth step of the staircase, an impulse to massacre everyone in front of him bubbling up inside. This pale-faced guy, who used to be his servant, who had betrayed the stone castle and fled¡­ Not only had he failed to live up to his expectation, ruined his n, but he also made him lose face in front of his counselor, Zhang Ji.


    Zhang Ji had tried to persuade the Unique King earlier. ¡°The Dragon King has chosen the right time toe here with the right allies. Golden Roc Castle only has its advantageous terrain. The Dragon King is not going to fight the King Lord. He used to be a killer. It was Golden Roc Castle that trained him to beposed and steady.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is a killer, but he¡¯s also a sabersman.¡± The Unique King had had a slight disagreement with his counselor. ¡°That was why he agreed to elect the Lord of Jade City via a kung fupetition. He¡¯s unconvinced that I defeated him with that palm strike.¡±


    But it turned out that Zhang Ji had been right. The Dragon King hade and epted the challenge, behaving exactly like a Jianghu kung fu practitioner who regarded his sabersmanship as his life. However, at thest moment, things had diverged from the Unique King¡¯s n.


    This fact proved that the Unique King was still that immature killer.


    Zhang Ji secretly sighed. He had found a chink in Golden Roc Castle¡¯s armor a long time ago. This organization adopted the harshest methods to train teenagers that had been taken here by force or bought. It turned them into bloodthirsty and obedient killers, but it adopted another set of less harsh methods to educate the master¡¯s descendants. It also imparted more skills to those descendants, in the hopes that they would be sensible masters of these killers.


    As a result, very few members of the Shangguan family were qualified killers. Most of them were merely owners andmanders. And the Unique King was no exception.


    Light dawned on Zhang Ji, and he finally realized what was special about the Dragon King. He was a freak. Servant Huan had learned to be as bloodthirsty and restrained as a killer, but he had kept his independent will alive inside him, and he had never be obedient. Zhang Ji med himself. He should have seen through him earlier. Servant Huan appeared different from his peers even as a teenager. While the othermon apprentice killers had been desperately trying to survive, Servant Huan had been the only one who had been interested in history.


    The Unique King slightly raised his foot and was about to descend the stairs to disy the genuine Golden Roc unique skills to these guests when he turned his head aside to see the look in Zhang Ji¡¯s eyes.


    The look in his eyes was suggesting him to not do this. Though it was unpleasant, the Unique King¡¯s heart lurched. He knew what the counselor was trying to imply. If he walked into the kung fupetition field, he would appear inferior to the Dragon King even if he managed to kill this so-called kung fu expert of the Central ins. The residents of Jade City didn¡¯t care about who the coward was. They would only hear that the Unique King had fought with the Dragon King¡¯s attendant, so his victory would be dishonorable.


    The kung fupetition had be insignificant. The Unique King could only get two sons that he didn¡¯t want if he won. Maybe the Dragon King had intended to get rid of them for a long time. If he lost ¨C the Unique King looked over his shoulder at his youngest son. Unaware that he was a part of thepetition¡¯s stakes, Shangguan Cheng was looking at his father with his sparkling eyes which were full of pride and worship. Apparently, he believed that his father was going to fight this round himself.


    For the first time in his life, the Unique King hesitated.


    Shangguan Fei and Shangguan Hong had also been blindsided by the Dragon King¡¯s decision. They only believed in the Dragon King¡¯s sabersmanship, believing that Central insmen were unable to defend against the dirty, weird moves of killers, and that this Luo Qikang should be no exception.


    Shangguan Fei stealthily walked up to the Dragon King¡¯s side and said in an extremely low voice, ¡°If the opponent is not the King Lord, then I think¡­ that we can let Shangguan Hong fight this round. His kung fu is different from before, and he knows the killers¡¯ fighting style very well.¡±


    At first, Shangguan Hong got angry, but soon, he felt that this was actually a good idea. Thispetition concerned his own life. What was more reliable than the soft sword wrapped around his waist besides the Dragon King?


    ¡°Let me fight,¡± Shangguan Hong said loudly as he took a step forward. He had stared at his father for a long time and gained some impulsive courage. Even if his opponent was the Unique King, he still dared to fight.


    Zhang Ji, who was not far away, briefly snorted as he thought, ¡®Shangguan Hong¡¯s always so stupid. He¡¯ll never learn how to be a decent man.¡¯


    Gu Shenwei gave a severe nce at the two brothers, which made his intention very clear. The two immediately drew back and didn¡¯t dare say anything else.


    The Unique King, who was standing on the fifth step of the staircase, suddenly burst intoughter. His two sons were following the Dragon King¡¯s orders like servants. With these two living humiliations in front of him, what couldn¡¯t he endure?


    ¡°Eleven.¡± The Unique King uttered a number, turned around, and walked back to the throne. He picked up his youngest son, put him down on the ground, and then sat on the throne himself, deliberately ignoring the disappointment in Shangguan Cheng¡¯s eyes.


    Zhang Ji was pleased. Since the Unique King was sensible enough to rein himself back from the brink of the precipice, he was still a king worthy of his assistance.


    Gu Shenwei was slightly disappointed. He had predicted that Shangguan Fa wouldn¡¯t fight, but if he did, then his two most powerful enemies, Luo Qikang and the Unique King, would reveal their true strength at the same time.


    No n was perfect. Gu Shenwei had nothing toin about.


    ¡°Eleven¡± might be someone¡¯s name or just a number. A Green-faced killer in his twenties walked out. First, he kowtowed to the Unique King at the bottom of the staircase, and then he stood up and faced his opponent with his bare hands.


    ¡°I¡¯m Luo Qikang from the Hedong Luo Vige.¡± Luo Qikang didn¡¯t pull out his sword and instead first identified himself ording to the rules of the Central ins.


    Eleven didn¡¯t say anything, as if he hadn¡¯t heard his opponent at all.


    ¡°His kung fu is only second to my father¡¯s in this world.¡± Shangguan Cheng stood before the Unique King¡¯s knees, his small face full of excitement. Clearly, he knew this Green-faced killer named Eleven. ¡°In order to practice kung fu, he had to cut off his tongue. Show him, Eleven.¡±


    With a feeling that this kid¡¯s temper was somewhat like that of Luo Ningcha, Gu Shenwei became slightly displeased with him.


    Eleven followed the young master¡¯s order. He stuck out the remaining half of his tongue and then quickly withdrew it.


    As Wild Horse¡¯s senior, he was not much older than Wild Horse, but Gu Shenwei had never heard of him. Outstanding apprentice killers would be selected to receive the training of a Green-faced killer at a very early stage, so they wouldn¡¯t appear in East Castle at all.


    ¡°Eleven, how many moves do you need to make to defeat him?¡± asked Shangguan Cheng.


    Eleven raised his right hand and held up three fingers.


    ¡°Three,¡± Shangguan Cheng yelled happily.


    Han Fen craned her neck from behind the Dragon King. She had been hiding here all along ever since she had been saved. ¡°Kid, you made a mistake. He¡¯s not saying that he will win in three moves. He wants you to substitute him with someone else.¡±


    ¡°With whom?¡± Shangguan Cheng asked in confusion. He was too young to tell that Han Fen was an entric woman.


    ¡°Three fingers of course refer to someone named ¡®Three.¡¯ Surely, Three is better than Eleven, right?¡±


    Shangguan Cheng turned his head back and looked at his father. Suddenly, he understood that he had been fooled, so he angrily said, ¡°Eleven, kill that woman afterwards.¡±


    Eleven nodded and then made his move. His speed was so fast that even Gu Shenwei was surprised.


    Eleven¡¯s moves were different from the former two Green-faced killers. He didn¡¯t try to find any loopholes in the enemy¡¯s defense from the enemy¡¯s sides or back. Instead, he aimed straight at Luo Qikang¡¯s vital parts. When he was a couple of feet away, he shot out a hidden weapon.


    His weapon of choice was throwing knives.


    He hadn¡¯t raised his hand, and neither had he swayed his body. It seemed as if the throwing knife had been shot by a second person upying the same space as his body. His hands were still unupied, which were a threat to the enemy.


    It was as if he had a third hand attacking the enemy.


    Luo Qikang didn¡¯t unsheathe his sword, and instead chose to draw back. Slightly leaning sideways, he dodged the throwing knife, letting the de brush past him, but a strip of his sleeve was torn off by Eleven.


    Eleven made his second move before his first move was even over. Two throwing knives darted towards the target from the left and right sides at the same time. Eleven leaped upwards and blocked off Luo Qikang¡¯s route of retreat, curling his body into a ball. Nobody knew whether he was going to make the next move with his hands or his feet.


    Luo Qikang tumbled onto the ground and closely dodged the opponent¡¯s second move, which was not something that a top-notch kung fu expert of the Central ins was supposed to do.


    Those Central insmen who were spectating the fight all sighed in unison, while Shangguan Cheng jumped up happily. ¡°Two.¡± The first move had been too fast and he hadn¡¯t been fast enough to count it in time.


    Eleven, who was in mid-air, conveniently made the third move then. He descended from mid-air, abruptly drew two daggers, and shot out a shower of concentrated steel needles.


    This was the third move that he had promised his young master. He wanted to finished the fight with this move. Though the enemy was agile, there was nothing special about him. He believed that the enemy definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge this move.


    But Luo Qikang dodged it. And not only did he dodge it, but he also whipped out his weapon. His sword was at least three feet and five inches long, which was difficult to pull it out even when the owner was standing with nobody else around. But surprisingly, Luo Qikang managed to quietly unsheathed the sword while rolling on the ground and then vertically throw it upwards. Meanwhile, he changed his direction, leaped upwards, and dodged all of the steel needles.


    Eleven ran into the tip of the sword. He was good at using hidden weapons, but he didn¡¯t expect his enemy to use a sword as a hidden weapon.


    The long sword went straight into his throat. Eleven crumpled heavily onto the ground. Those steel needles that he had just thrown at the ground supported his body with the whole de of the sword revealed upright behind his neck.


    ¡°Three moves,¡± said Luo Qikang, holding up three fingers at the kid who was transfixed with shock.


    This was the first time that the swordsman of the Luo Vige had fought a Green-faced killer of Golden Roc Castle, but it seemed as if he had anticipated the opponent¡¯s every move. His moves were thrilling, but not too risky. Both the Unique King and the Dragon King felt that his kung fu was incredible.


    ¡°Come with me,¡± Gu Shenwei said to the kid on top of the staircase, but it was Luo Qikang that he was thinking about. Luo Qikang was indeed a formidable enemy, which required him to think of a way to deal with him.


    Shangguan Cheng hugged his father¡¯s leg in panic, confused about the meaning of that strange man¡¯s calling.

 Chapter 916 - Short Swords

    Chapter 916: Short Swords


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    It took Luo Qikang quite some time to pull his long sword out of Green-faced killer Eleven¡¯s neck. He then turned the body over with the tip of his foot, produced a handkerchief, bent over at the waist, and carefully wrapped it around the sword hilt which was soaked in blood. He pinched the hilt with two fingers and slowly pulled the sword across the cloth.


    The hiss was distinctly heard in the spacious main hall, which made everyone¡¯s blood freeze. Even those Green-faced killers, who saw corpses on a regr basis, appeared to be slightly horrified.


    Luo Qikang straightened his arm, shook off some more drops of blood from his long sword, and knitted his eyebrows tightly together, seemingly having no idea what to do with it.


    Five or six kung fu practitioners from the Central ins looked at the swordsman of the Luo family in awe. Suddenly, they ran up to him and produced their handkerchiefs and other simr items. Someone even directly tore off part of his own clothes and raced to wipe Luo Qikang¡¯s sword.


    Luo Qikang conveniently handed his sword to the first person who touched it. His apathetic eyes swept across the faces of the Unique King and the Dragon King. Then he returned to his original position and said no more.


    Sun Chengqi seemed to have just found out that this swordsman with a slightly ck face was notmon. He nodded at Luo Qikang to congratte him when Luo Qikang walked past him but received no response.


    Byparison, it would be more troublesome to take the youngest son of the Unique King out of Golden Roc Castle.


    At first, everybody¡¯s attention was on that Central insmen. Shangguan Cheng¡¯s eyes were also fixed on that homely challenger whose swordsmanship was superb. For the first time ever, he began to doubt his father¡¯s kung fu skills.


    Luo Qikang had fulfilled his task. Shangguan Fei and Shangguan Hong saw the Dragon King¡¯s signal to them and walked to the foot of the staircase in fear. They were only a couple of steps away from their father now. Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t dare say a single word. With his head down, Shangguan Hong said, ¡°Come, we¡¯ll take you to your mother.¡±


    Shangguan Cheng dimly realized what was going on. He raised his head and looked at his father¡¯s grim face. ¡°Is father going with me?¡±


    The Unique King¡¯s expression remained stoic. He patted the two small hands on his knees, held them, and gently moved them aside as he said, ¡°I¡¯m not. But I¡¯ll get you back.¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t know them, and I don¡¯t like them either,¡± Shangguan Cheng said in amazement. ¡°Why don¡¯t you kill them all, father?¡±


    Shangguan Hong steeled himself and raised his head, saying, ¡°We¡¯re your elder brothers, not outsiders.¡± When his eyes met the Unique King¡¯s, he immediately lowered his head.


    Even when Shangguan Hong and Shangguan Fei lived in the stone castle two years ago, Shangguan Cheng had never seen them, much less remembered that he had two elder brothers. When he raised his head to look at his father, his small heart was full of panic and confusion, but he didn¡¯t even know what to ask.


    The Unique King looked over these visitors into the distance, the look on his face growing calmer. Slightly mobilizing his internal power, he threw his youngest son forward, whonded smack into Shangguan Hong¡¯s arms. Then he loudly said, ¡°See our guests off.¡±


    Zhang Ji walked forward and stretched out his arm, suggesting that they should leave.


    The Dragon King and the others turned around to walk towards the gate, the Central insmen carrying the body of Miao Chengxin from the Taishan Sect as well as the seriously wounded Dog Butcher. Sun Chengqi cupped his hands before his chest, paid his respects to the Unique King, and took his leave. After a few steps, Shangguan Cheng burst into tears. Han Fen stealthily picked up two pieces of her fellow disciples¡¯ bodies, nning on taking them out of Golden Roc Castle. This was the kind of death that she wanted to die.


    At the gateway of the main hall, Shangguan Fei recalled his mother¡¯s words. Gritting his teeth, he turned around and yelled at his father, whom he couldn¡¯t see due to the darkness, in a quivering voice. ¡°I¡¯ll be back!¡±


    Shangguan Cheng cried all the way to the front gate, constantly hammering at Shangguan Hong with his small fists. Two servants were waiting there. They put three packages down to the ground, bowed deeply to their young master, and then hurriedly went back into the castle.


    Zhang Ji briefly cupped his hands before his chest and said loudly, ¡°Please pardon me for not being able to walk you any further.¡±


    This was the first time that Shangguan Cheng had seen the world outside the stone castle. He suddenly stopped crying and stared at the over hundred guards in shiny armor on the opposite end of the stone bridge, intense curiosity glinting in his eyes.


    News that the Dragon King had taken the Unique King¡¯sst son away from him had already spread to the city at the foot of the mountain. More and more people flocked to northern Jade City to take a look, but they were all deeply disappointed. Shangguan Cheng was in a well-covered carriage, and nobody managed to catch a glimpse of the Unique King¡¯s favored youngest son.


    It was not until the Dragon King went through the east city gate that the three armies outside the city lifted their state of alert. Zhong Heng immediately went to the camp of the Dragon Army to have an audience with the Dragon King. The moment he saw the Dragon King, he asked, ¡°Is the Unique King going to retaliate?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had won an impressive victory. On his way out of Jade City, some people even knelt down and kowtowed to him, but there was no delight on his face. ¡°No.¡±


    Zhong Heng appeared very disappointed. ¡°The Unique King¡¯s really a tough guy. This is the only son that he has left, but he actually¡­ The Central ins will send someone here to takemand of the army soon. And by no means will this person be as obedient as Zhang You or Sun Chengqi. If we could force the Unique King to make his move at this time¡­ s, we¡¯ll never have another opportunity as good as this one.¡±


    For an instant, the Unique King had seemed to be about to lose control of himself, but when he had thrown his youngest son towards Shangguan Hong, Gu Shenwei had realized that he would not be tricked that easily.


    ¡°Then we shall give him another push.¡± Though Gu Shenwei had agree to elect the Lord of Jade City via a kung fupetition, he wouldn¡¯t stand by and do nothing while the n was carried out.


    ¡°What else can we do?¡± Zhong Heng was at his wits¡¯ end. ¡°Yun, Hong, Fei, Cheng ¨C all four sons of the Unique King are now in the Dragon King¡¯s hands. Unless you kill them all, I really don¡¯t know how else we can provoke him.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. He wouldn¡¯t adopt this method. ¡°I¡¯ll figure something out. You just have to focus on dealing with this new guy from the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhong Heng bowed and answered, but he didn¡¯t take his leave right away. ¡°There¡¯s an issue that I hope the Dragon King can pay attention to.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°People in Jade City are having second thoughts. Many of them are trying to fawn on Dragon King. Arge number of rich families have offered to fund the Dragon Army.¡±


    ¡°Which is good.¡±


    ¡°Um. But the people they went to were not generals of the army but rather Xiao Fengchai and L¨¹ Qiying, who imed that they had orders to ept those people¡¯s offer on behalf of the Dragon King. Were they telling the truth?¡±


    This was the first time that Gu Shenwei had heard about this. ¡°I¡¯ll have a talk with them.¡±


    Zhong Heng knew that a more prudent move would be a moderate one, but he believed that the Dragon King would take another step forward. ¡°Maybe I¡¯m being a busybody, but I want to remind the Dragon King that you¡¯re in a different position now. From an outsiders¡¯ perspective, the Dragon Army is about to win. And many officers and soldiers think so, too. L¨¹ and Xiao merely made the next move in advance. There will be other simr asions when people fight for their personal interests under your banner. You have to make preparations early.¡±


    Gu Shenwei thanked Zhong Heng for reminding him. After seeing the Prime Minister off, he pondered it over for a while and realized that he still had a long way to go on the path of vying for supremacy. Addressing internal disputes was no easier, if not moreplex, than fighting battles.


    This night, Gu Shenwei¡¯s thoughts alternated between how best to provoke the Unique King and the intricacies of Luo Qikang¡¯s swordsmanship. He tried to temporarily leave the issue concerning Xiao Fengchai and L¨¹ Qiying aside and deal with itter, but eventually, he failed to figure any of these three issues out. The next morning, he became the one who was provoked first.


    Not long after daybreak, Luo Ningcha turned up uninvited again. She looked even angrier than thest time she hade, as she was followed by a handmaid who had scratches on her face. With a resigned look, the handmaid was carrying Shangguan Cheng who was crying. Another handmaid was carrying the packages that the Dragon King had brought back from Golden Roc Castle.


    ¡°Figure something out. He¡¯s driving me crazy,¡± Luo Ningcha said angrily, not mentioning her son¡¯s parentage, which was fairly surprising.


    Gu Shenwei was even more bored than she was. He disliked both this woman and the child, so he tly replied, ¡°You¡¯re his mother. You should be able to figure something out yourself.¡±


    Crying, Shangguan Cheng said, ¡°I want father. I don¡¯t want mother. I want to go back to the stone castle.¡±


    Luo Ningcha got mad. ¡°You ungrateful kid! The Golden Roc Castle is toast. I went through so much trouble to get you out of there, and you want to return? You want to die with Shangguan Fa?¡±


    Shangguan Cheng was stunned. He didn¡¯t know who Shangguan Fa was. ¡°There are golden rocs in the stone castle, so the castle will never fall. The enemies are toast. He ¨C He¡¯s the enemy.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s your¡­ ¡°Luo Ningcha forbore herself from telling the truth in time. ¡°Put him down. Let the Dragon King teach him how to behave.¡±


    The handmaid followed the order immediately. The other handmaid also put the packages down and then left with the mistress.


    Gu Shenwei always had quick reflexes under normal circumstances, but in this asion, he failed to react in time. Before he could speak, he and the child who was less than five years old were the only two people left in the tent, standing there gazing at each other


    Clenching his fists, Shangguan Cheng stopped crying, raised his head, and stared at the Dragon King. Then he raised his hand to wipe off his tears and said, ¡°You¡¯re a coward. You didn¡¯t dare to have a kung fupetition with my father.¡±


    ¡°What do you know about being a coward?¡± Not knowing what to say, Gu Shenwei asked a rhetorical question.


    ¡°A coward is¡­ a poltroon, who¡¯s afraid of death, and who doesn¡¯t dare to fight with someone whose kung fu is better.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not afraid of death?¡± Gu Shenwei asked another rhetorical question.


    Shangguan Cheng responded by taking practical action. He hurried to the package beside him, dug around in it, and then took out a sheathed narrow saber. But this weapon was too long and also too heavy for him. He couldn¡¯t even unsheathe it. After trying for a while, he tossed it to the ground and dug some more. This time, he produced a short sword.


    ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of death,¡± Shangguan Cheng said loudly as he held the short sword.


    Gu Shenwei looked at that flurried little kid and snorted. ¡°Then you¡¯re very stupid.¡±


    Shangguan Cheng didn¡¯t understand the meaning of this remark. ¡°I¡¯m not stupid. Father said that I¡¯m the smartest.¡± Then he held the sword with both hands and rushed at Gu Shenwei, yelling.


    Gu Shenwei was certain about one thing ¨C this was definitely Luo Ningcha¡¯s son. He conveniently snatched the short sword from him and sidestepped the kid.


    Shangguan Cheng, who had inexplicably lost his weapon, fell to the carpet with a thud.


    With a narrow de, the sword was less than two feet in length. It was still too long for Shangguan Cheng, but in Gu Shenwei¡¯s hands, it looked like a toy. Looking at this sword, Gu Shenwei felt a sudden surge of sadness.


    This was his sword. His father, Gu Lun, had specially forged this short sword for him. Then, Shangguan Nu had given it to his younger sister as a gift. A few years ago, when Gu Shenwei decided to escape from the Golden Roc Castle, Shangguan Ru gave it back to him.


    Gu Shenwei had failed to take the short sword with him. It had been lost in the arrow tower near the Reincarnation Cliff.


    ¡°Who gave this to you?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    Shangguan Cheng picked himself up. He still didn¡¯t understand how his sword had ended up in Gu Shenwei¡¯s hands. ¡°I want it back.¡±


    ¡°Answer my question first.¡±


    They stared at each other for a while, and then Shangguan Cheng yielded. ¡°My sister gave it to me. She¡¯s the kindest.¡±


    It had also been two years since Shangguan Ru had left the stone castle. It was surprising that Shangguan Cheng still remembered her.


    Maybe some killer had found this sword and handed it to thedy, or maybe Shangguan Ru herself had gone to the Reincarnation Cliff and found this lost sword. Gu Shenwei was somewhat confused as to why Shangguan Ru had given his sword to such a young kid.


    He pinched the tip of the sword with the hilt pointed at Shangguan Cheng. He had thought of someone who would be suitable to keep an eye on this little kid, and he had also thought of a new n to provoke the Unique King.

 Chapter 917 - Once Upon a Time

    Chapter 917: Once Upon a Time


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    A lot of torture had been inflicted upon Han Fen when she was in Golden Roc Castle. Though she was capable of turning physical pain into the sexual pleasure that she desired, the torture had still caused her body a lot of physical damage. When the pleasures wore off, the pains still remained.


    She was lying on her side with a nket covering her in bed, looking extremely listless. She didn¡¯t use a pillow and instead stretched her head over the edge of the bed and left it dangling there. With her head upside down, she faced the little kid not far from her.


    This was a very weird posture. Her body was in a twisted shape like that of a half-dead snake, which made Shangguan Cheng feel scared. It hadn¡¯t even been three days since he had left the stone castle, but everybody he had met was different from those back home, especially this girl in front of him. His small mind couldn¡¯t handle so many changes.


    He drew back, straightening the thin rope fastened to his wrist. The rope was about seven to eight feet long, and the other end of it was fastened to Han Fen¡¯s left wrist. She didn¡¯t resist and just let Shangguan Cheng pull her arm past the edge of the bed.


    She had been in this posture, not blinking, for nearly a quarter of an hour. An idea suddenly urred to Shangguan Cheng. ¡°Are you dead?¡±


    The weird woman didn¡¯t react. Shangguan Cheng became scared. Without his father or any other adult around him, he became much more timid. After standing there, transfixed, for a while, he took action. He tried to undo the knot on his wrist with one hand but failed due to the incorrect method he used. Then he tried to bite the knot with his teeth, which were not yet fully grown and thus proved totally unhelpful, but he did manage to wet the knot with saliva.


    He thought for a while and found that he only had two options ¨C yell and call someone outside the tent to help, or walk up to that body and trying to undo the knot at the other end with both of his hands.


    If he were in Golden Roc Castle, he would without a doubt choose the first option. However, this was apletely foreign ce to him. Except for his mother who had kissed him like crazy when she had first seen him, nobody else had ever shown any kindness to him. So, he had only one choice left.


    ¡°I¡¯m not afraid.¡± Shangguan Cheng tried to embolden himself, but his feet refused to move forward.


    ¡°I¡¯m not afraid,¡± he repeated and then tiptoed over, as if he was trying not to disturb the dead.


    Half of Han Fen¡¯s arm was exposed to the air, and there were many scars of different depths on it, which sent chills down Shangguan Cheng¡¯s spine. He hurriedly closed his eyes, fumbled around, and found the knot. Then, with all his strength, he started trying to undo it.


    The knot was too tight, and Shangguan Cheng¡¯s strength was not enough to undo it. Frustrated, he opened his eyes and saw that the two eyes, which were upside down, were looking at him and blinking curiously.


    Afterwards, Shangguan Cheng felt like he had had a hundred choices, but in the end he choose the most shameful one, which he wouldn¡¯t be able to forget, even many yearster: he cried and wet himself.


    Three streams of liquid flowed from three different parts of his body. Shangguan Cheng¡¯s wail was no different from that of anymon children. If the Unique King were here to see him crying this way, he would have been deeply disappointed.


    Han Fen abruptly turned around, knelt down on the bed like an animal, stuck out her tongue to make a grimace, and then smiled. ¡°Why are you crying?¡±


    ¡°I¨CI hate you. You y¨Cyed dead to scare me¡­ ¡± Shangguan Cheng sobbed.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t ying dead. I was sleeping.¡±


    ¡°But your¡­ eyes were open.¡±


    ¡°Why is that strange? People can sleep with their eyes open.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Shangguan Cheng stopped crying, seemingly somewhat suspicious.


    ¡°Of course. I can also sleep with one of my eyes closed and the other one open. It¡¯s just a petty trick. I can do a lot of things.¡±


    ¡°Then why did you get caught by my father?¡±


    ¡°Because I was unlucky, and your father¡­ Who¡¯s your father?¡±


    ¡°The Unique King,¡± Shangguan Cheng said proudly.


    ¡°Oh, I remember. You called the Unique King father.¡±


    ¡°My father is the toughest man alive. You can¡¯t defeat him with your petty tricks.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha, of course I can¡¯t defeat the Unique King, but he¡¯s not the toughest person alive. The Master Commander is.¡±


    ¡°My father is not afraid of elephants, and he is not even afraid of lions.¡±


    ¡°The Master Commander is not even afraid of the God of the Underworld and she dares to leave corpses intact. She¡¯s definitely not afraid of the Unique King.¡±


    These two people, one standing on the ground and the other kneeling on the bed, tried their best to widen their eyes and stare at each other. Neither of them was willing to yield.


    Shangguan Cheng blinked first.


    ¡°You lost,¡± Han Fen said happily andid down on her back. Then she mumbled with a frown, ¡°It hurts so much. It hurts so much.¡±


    Shangguan Cheng drew back step by step until the thin rope straightened. ¡°Only cowards yell because of pain. And yet you have the nerve to say that my father is not the toughest?¡±


    ¡°Then what you call the kind of person who wets his pants? A ¡®peeing-ghost¡¯?¡± Han Fen asked with a smile.


    Shangguan Cheng blushed. ¡°That was because you scared me¡­ ¡±


    Han Fen pulled heavily on the rope and forced Shangguan Cheng to the bedside. In amusement, she sat on the bed and swiftly stripped Shangguan Cheng naked in spite of his objections and struggles. She then tosses his clothes to the ground, looked around, and then grabbed her nket and carefully wrapped it around Shangguan Cheng.


    ¡°You are a little big for a kid, but you¡¯re pretty fun. Stop kicking. I¡¯m good at wrapping kids up.¡±


    Shangguan Cheng finally yielded. Like an infant who had just been born not long ago, he was wrapped up in severalyers of nket. As annoyed as he was, he had to admit that he felt prettyfortable.


    Han Fen looked up and down at her masterpiece. Suddenly, something urred to her. ¡°No. You said that your father caught me, but the Dragon King rescued me, and he also took you here. So, the Dragon King is tougher.¡±


    Shangguan Cheng had almost forgotten about the argument that they had just had. He thought for a while and then understood her words. ¡°The Dragon King is a coward. He didn¡¯t dare have a kung fupetition with my father, so he had someone else take his ce¡­ ¡±


    ¡°But your father didn¡¯t fight either.¡±


    ¡°Father¡­ Father is not a coward. He said that he would get me back.¡±


    ¡°Nobody has ever taken back anything that the Dragon King snatched. Um. The Dragon King is not the toughest person, but he¡¯s tougher than your father.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is not tough at all,¡± Shangguan Cheng yelled in defiance.


    In surprise, Han Fen lowered her head and looked at the little kid on the bed. ¡°The Dragon King is not tough? He¡¯s done so many things-¡±


    ¡°What did he do? Did he kill a lot of people? Are there many people at hismand?¡±


    Han Fen was even more surprised. ¡°You don¡¯t even know who the Dragon King is, do you?¡±


    ¡°Of course I know. He¡¯s that pale-faced coward. My mother handed me over to him, but then he gave me to you. I hate you.¡±


    ¡°And then? Have you heard about the Dragon King¡¯s story?¡±


    No one had ever mentioned the Dragon King¡¯s name in the inner chamber of Golden Roc Castle, but Shangguan Cheng refused to admit it. ¡°He¡¯s a guy who always has others battle for him, and he refuses to do it himself.¡±


    ¡°Little kid, you are lying. Let me tell you his story.¡± Sitting on the edge of the bed, Han Fen gently patted Shangguan Cheng. ¡°Once upon a time, the Dragon King had a very happy family. He had a father, a mother, an elder brother, a younger brother, an elder sister, and a younger sister. Your guess was right. Their names were Daddy Dragon, Mummy Dragon, Elder Brother Dragon, Younger Brother Dragon, Elder Sister Dragon, and Younger Sister Dragon, respectively. One day, a viin showed up and killed all of these dragons except for the Dragon King.¡±


    Han Fen stopped talking. The story had stirred Shangguan Cheng¡¯s curiosity, so he blurted, ¡°What happened next?¡±


    Han Fen nodded happily, feeling that this kid had be even cuter. ¡°You¡¯ll never guess.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King killed the viin, of course. All the heroes in the stories do that.¡±


    ¡°No. The viin was very powerful, and the Dragon King couldn¡¯t defeat him in the past.¡±


    ¡°Then the Dragon King either asked someone else for help or found a ce to hide himself and practiced kung fu.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not true either. The Dragon King¡­ heh-heh, infiltrated into the viin¡¯s home and became his servant.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Shangguan Cheng asked with widened eyes.


    ¡°Because he wanted to get close to his foe and learn kung fu from his foe so as to avenge the murder of his dragon family.¡±


    As surprised as Shangguan Cheng was, he couldn¡¯t understand the Dragon King¡¯s deeds. ¡°He should¡¯ve asked my father for help. My father can finish the viin off in just one move.¡±


    ¡°Heh, your father is the viin. He killed all of the Dragon King¡¯s family members. The Dragon King hid in Golden Roc Castle for several years.¡±


    Shangguan Cheng was transfixed with shock. ¡°Nobody ever told me that¡­ My father is not a viin.¡±


    Han Fen didn¡¯t argue with him but continued to tell the story. ¡°Together in Golden Roc Castle, the Dragon King and the Master Commander grew up, learned kung fu, and killed people. I don¡¯t know if they also slept together. Then one day, the viin ¨C who¡¯s also your father ¨C discovered that the Dragon King was an infiltrator who intended to kill him, so the Dragon King and the Master Commander fled the castle.¡±


    ¡°Nobody can flee from the stone castle.¡± Shangguan Cheng began to doubt the authenticity of this weird woman¡¯s story.


    ¡°Others can¡¯t, but the Dragon King and the Master Commander did. They fled, and the viin sent people to hunt them down. But when one person caught up with them, they killed one person. When two people caught up, they killed two people. For some reason, the Dragon King and the Master Commander were separated, which was a pity. The Dragon King killed more and more people, and there were more and more people supporting him¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Everyone in the stone castle is under my father¡¯smand.¡±


    ¡°There can¡¯t be that many people in there, can there?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­ My father said that there were more outside and that it was an army with hundreds of thousands of troops.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha, you saw those tents out there, right? They¡¯re countless.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    ¡°All the people in those tents are the Dragon King¡¯s subordinates, and they¡¯re only a small part of the Dragon King¡¯s men. On the grasnds, there are more armies at the Dragon King¡¯smand. There are several hundred thousand troops there, which is a number ten times, even a hundred times,rger than the number of troops here.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re lying.¡± Shangguan Cheng had no concept of big numbers. He was just unwilling to admit that the Dragon King had more men than his father.


    ¡°Why would I lie? I was in the military camp myself. There was one asion where the Dragon King and his soldiers were fighting enemies, and I got lost in the battlefield. It took me a full day to find the Dragon King again. Can you imagine how vast the battleground was and how many soldiers there were?¡±


    Shangguan Cheng couldn¡¯t answer. ¡°My father has two golden rocs. You saw it yourself.¡±


    ¡°You ignorant little kid. The birds in your home are dead. The Dragon King keeps a living one.¡±


    ¡°A living one?¡±


    ¡°Um. A living one. All of its feathers are ck. Only the eyeballs are red. Nobody except the Dragon King can get close to it, because it ¨C likes to peck people¡¯s eyes out and swallow them like you swallow grapes.¡±


    Shangguan Cheng was startled. ¡°Is it asrge as the birds in my home?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s muchrger. I saw it with my own eyes. When the red-crowned giant roc descended from the sky, we couldn¡¯t even see the sun. The gusts generated by its wings are powerful enough to down arge group of people. Everybody calls it the Devil Bird or Divine Bird, and they kneel upon seeing it. Oh, I remember. Do you know how the Dragon King and the Master Commander managed to escape from the Golden Roc Castle?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Shangguan Cheng mumbled, thinking about the ck-feathered and red-crowned giant roc.


    ¡°They flew away on the back of the Devil Bird. The viin, who¡¯s your father, and your family¡¯s killers, just stupidly stood on the ground and watched the giant roc fly away. Their mouths were full of dirt blew up by its wingbeats and they couldn¡¯t get their mouths clean for days.¡±


    Han Fen only knew the general situation and had added much of her imagination to the story. While telling the story, she herself became fascinated by it. Head askew, she looked hugely expectant. ¡°A giant bird was flying in the sky like a gigantic dark cloud while the Unique King and those Golden Roc killers were running around like ants. Hand in hand, the Dragon King and the Master Commander leaned against each other¡­ s, why did they break up?¡±


    Fascinated as well, Shangguan Cheng added more fantastical elements to the story in his head and kept silent for quite a while. The pale-faced image of the Dragon King in his mind had instantly been reced by a brand-new one.


    While the two were chatting, Gu Shenwei and a group of his men were nning to visit Golden Roc Castle again. This time they would sneak into it uninvited. He couldn¡¯t let the golden-crowned rocs stay around that murderer any longer.

 Chapter 918 - Climbing

    Chapter 918: Climbing


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    In knee-deep snow, Shangguan Hong raised his head and looked at the entrance of the dark cave, waves of horror flooding through him. ¡°I think that this is it. Maybe it has frozen over.¡±


    A couple of years ago, Shangguan Hong identally learned a secret from Madam Meng. There was a secret passage from the stone castle that connected vertically to a river at the bottom of the cliff. It served the purpose of providing ess to water in an emergency.


    During the past two days, Shangguan Hong had searched more than half of the river valley until he finally found it. The entrance was about ten to twelve meters above the frozen surface of the river. It didn¡¯t seemrge, but it was actuallyrger than a regr water tank. The perfectly round shape seemed to be suggesting that it was a man-made cave.


    In order to find it, Shangguan Hong had raised his head so frequently that he felt like his neck was about to break off.


    Looking in the direction of the mountaintop from the bottom of the cliff, he couldn¡¯t see the top of the cliff. He suspected that this cliff was more than three thousand meters high. When the thought of climbing up this cliff along such a narrow passage struck him, Shangguan Hong felt chills run down his spine, and he secretly prayed that the Dragon King wouldn¡¯t pick him to do this task.


    Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t brought many people here. There were only eight people in total. Apart from him, there were Shangguan Hong, Old Man Mu, and five killers trained by Hu Shining.


    Old Man Mu was also looking up, thinking that there must be a reason why the Dragon King had brought him here, given his petite figure. So he took the initiative and said, ¡°Judging from the size of the opening, I think that I¡¯ll fit in the passage quite easily. But just for the record, it seems like this passage hasn¡¯t been used for years, so there might be plenty of snakes, mice, and bugs in there. If I identally scream, that doesn¡¯t mean that I¡¯m a coward, and it certainly doesn¡¯t mean that I¡¯m trying to alert anybody at the top of the mountain.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took a few steps backwards to get a better view of the cliff. ¡°Not every part of this passage was dug out.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Part of it was built from earth on the side of the cliff. I guessed this long ago. The Unique King is not an immortal. How else could he have dug such a long tunnel? But it¡¯s been so many years that I think that the earth has turned into rock.¡± Old Man Mu had quick reflexes.


    ¡°There¡¯s only one way to find out.¡±


    Old Man Mu nodded. Suddenly he understood. ¡°Are you asking me to go up there and check?¡±


    ¡°You have good lightness skills.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Dragon King,¡± Old Man Mu said, putting on a wry face. ¡°But I¡¯ve never practiced any hole-digging skills. And it¡¯s a hole so deep that even its bottom can¡¯t be seen.¡±


    ¡°Most of this passage should be built with earth. There¡¯s no need to dig. You can also climb up along its outside.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s also very dangerous. If I fall, my body won¡¯t be able to stay intact.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had no intention of trying to persuade him withforting words. He produced a coil of ropes and two long, thick iron nails before putting them in Old Man Mu¡¯s hands. ¡°Are you ready?¡±


    Old Man Mu was very resigned. ¡°Dragon King, let me get this straight. If anything happens to me, you can¡¯t forget about me when you¡¯re rewarding your subordinates in the future. You must appoint me to a certain position, even if it¡¯s just a posthumous one. With regards to the bonus¡­ s, since I¡¯ve barely done any good deeds in my life, you can just hand out the money to the poor. However, you must make sure that they¡¯re informed about whose money that they¡¯re-¡±


    Knowing that Old Man Mu was not going to finish his nagging anytime soon, Gu Shenwei grabbed him with both hands and abruptly threw him up.


    Old Man Mu was still yelling even in mid-air, but he easily leaped above the entrance to the passage and thrust the iron nails in his hands into the side of the cliff with great force. ¡°Eek, it¡¯s really not stone.¡±


    Old Man Mu hung onto the side of the cliff. Several small stones fell down from the entrance to the passage. Shangguan Hong picked up one of them, ground it into power with his fingers, and excitedly said, ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s guess was right. Look, it¡¯s already hardened.¡±


    Old Man Mu obliquely slung the rope across his shoulders and started climbing upwards with an iron nail in each hand. asionally, when the terrain allowed for leaping, he used his lightness skills to leap upwards. From the bottom, he soon became a small ck spot.


    Before long, the ck spot gradually grew bigger. Old Man Mu hade down. He didn¡¯t jumped down to the ground immediately ¨C which was a very wise choice ¨C but talked as he hung above them. ¡°I found something, but I have to tell the Dragon King first.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°The hole is very clean, and there¡¯s an iron chain in it. I can use it to climb up-¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch it,¡± Gu Shenwei ordered. He was afraid that people up there might be alerted.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Old Man Mu started climbing upwards again.


    When Old Man Mu was about to disappear from view, Gu Shenwei said to Shangguan Hong and the five killers, ¡°You guys stay here. Don¡¯t move, and don¡¯t let anyone approach either.¡±


    After hearing that he didn¡¯t have to take any risks tonight, Shangguan Hong was greatly relieved. He hurriedly said, ¡°Yes, Dragon King. We won¡¯t move a single step.¡±


    Gu Shenwei could also use lightness skills to leap up directly, but he still chose to climb upwards on his hands and feet, taking advantage of those cracks in the side of the cliff. It was an old habit of his.


    Old Man Mu had left a lot of dents on the inside surface of the passage, which spared Gu Shenwei a lot of work.


    If the Barren Sect had known the existence of this passage back then, they wouldn¡¯t have had to prepare such arge amount of iron nails.


    After climbing up about a hundred meters or so, Gu Shenwei saw arge dent. Apparently, it had existed for a very long time. There was the length of iron chain that Old Man Mu had mentioned could be seen. Gu Shenwei stretched out his hand, gently stroked it, and found that there was no rust on it, which suggested that Golden Roc Castle had been maintaining this passage all along.


    As he climbed higher and higher, the wind became stronger and stronger. Gu Shenwei became cautious, and made sure that Old Man Mu at a distance from which he could vaguely see him. And he tried not to leap.


    After about four hours, Gu Shenwei raised his head and saw something sticking out of the edge of the cliff. He spected that Golden Roc Castle was right up there.


    Crouching in a shallow dent, Old Man Mu said in a muted voice to the Dragon King who was beneath his feet, ¡°This is the end. The rest of the passage really was dug through the rocks. What does the Dragon King n to do next?¡± He had known that the Dragon King had been following him for a long time now.


    ¡°We wait until dark and then circle around it,¡± said Gu Shenwei. Using Old Man Mu as the vanguard was the riskiest part of this operation. He had always considered this former devil somewhat untrustworthy, but he didn¡¯t have many choices.


    Having already fastened one end of the rope to his waist, Old Man Mu tossed the other end of it to the Dragon King. ¡°Heh-heh, we¡¯re two¡­ heroes tied to the same rope.¡±


    Gu Shenwei fastened the rope around him and then found a where he could lodge his feet. Standing with his back against the surface of the passage, he pricked up his ears and listened carefully, but all he could hear was the howl of the wind.


    Old Man Mu fixed the Dragon King with a stare and a half smile on his face. ¡°Was it in Golden Roc Castle where the Dragon King got the Death Sutra?¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    ¡°Even the most wellid ns of mice and men often go awry. God has his own ns. The Dragon King easily found the secret that the Shangguan family failed to find despite the fact that they have been in Golden Roc Castle for almost a hundred years. s, what else can I say?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re unconvinced?¡±


    ¡°How dare I?¡± Old Man Mu widened his eyes with a hurt expression. ¡°The point I¡¯ve been trying to make is that the Dragon King is very lucky. You¡¯ve cheated death so many times, which mostly should be attributed to the Death Sutra Swordsmanship.¡±


    Gu Shenwei did not reply.


    But Old Man Mu was unwilling to take the hint and shut up. He turned his head aside and looked at the sun, half of which had set. ¡°We are in the northeastern part of the Golden Roc Castle. Is the Dragon King familiar with this area?¡±


    The northeastern part was within the inner chamber. Gu Shenwei had barely been here. ¡°Kind of,¡± he said.


    ¡°And what we will do after getting up there, the Dragon King has it all nned out, right?¡± After a while, Old Man Mu asked a question before answering it himself. ¡°Of course. The Dragon King never fights a battle without making preparations in advance.¡±


    After staying silent for a while, Old Man Mu seemed to have suddenly thought of something. ¡°There¡¯s a very small question that I¡¯ve always been meaning to ask the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    ¡°You told me that there were several ways to practice the Death Sutra. Indeed, the Dragon King and Lotus learned the same swordsmanship, but when you two perform it, your swordsmanship is entirely different from hers. Under normal circumstances, your two¡¯s swordsmanship is opposite in nature, like fire and water. However, when you¡¯re fighting with amon enemy, you two can cooperate with each other in a ¡®saber-sword-cooperation¡¯ like way ¨C it¡¯s really very strange. Is there any secret to it?¡±


    ¡°Are you very interested in the Death Sutra?¡±


    ¡°Heh-heh. I¡¯m just curious. The Dragon King knows that I like researching into martial arts. How could I be uninterested in a kung fu as advanced and profound as the Death Sutra?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no secret,¡± said Gu Shenwei. Even he himself hadn¡¯t figured out why he could perform the ¡°saber-sword cooperation¡± with Lotus. ¡°I just trust this swordsmanship.¡±


    Old Man Mu was very satisfied with this somewhat perfunctory reply and nodded repeatedly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that trusting the swordsmanship is the most difficult part of cultivating the Death Sutra. Er, has the Dragon King ever thought about¡­ adopting two cultivation methods concurrently and performing ¡®saber-sword cooperation¡¯ on your own? Just like Little Chu. Wouldn¡¯t that make you more powerful?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was stunned. He had never thought about this before. ¡°While we might be able to multitask, we can only ever hold one belief at a time. Adopting two cultivation methods is synonymous with having faith in neither of them.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense.¡± As it gradually grew dark. Old Man Mu hadpletely merged into the side of the cliff, and his existence could only be confirmed by the rope and his voice. ¡°But now that there are many ways to practice the Death Sutra, maybe two of them can really be adopted concurrently.¡±


    Gu Shenwei kept silent and then said coldly, ¡°Forget about it.¡±


    ¡°About what?¡± Old Man Mu asked in surprise. ¡°About adopting two cultivation methods concurrently? That was just a random thought of mine¡­ ¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll never get the Death Sutra.¡±


    ¡°Heh-heh, the Dragon King always thinks of me as a greedy person, but I was just curious. Really. But¡­ both Shangguan Hong and Wild Horse are very despicable people. Why do they get to learn the Death Sutra?¡±


    ¡°You want to take Lotus¡¯ side?¡±


    ¡°That vicious woman?¡± Having learned his lessons, Old Man Mu became indignant at hearing Lotus¡¯ name. ¡°I won¡¯t take the Death Sutra from her even if she kneels down, begging me to.¡±


    ¡°The Death Sutra that Wild Horse and the others have learned is iplete and probably dangerous to themselves.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s so very like something that Lotus would do. Like I said, we should never touch anything that she offers. She¡¯s a very shrewd and secretive woman who will never make a deal where she loses out.¡±


    Gu Shenwei agreed with Old Man Mu on this, but he had never figured out why Lotus had ¡°sent¡± Han Fen to him.


    It waspletely dark and the moon was very bright. Gu Shenwei pulled on the rope and signaled Old Man Mu to follow him. He had chosen a safe route which would enable them to detour around the obstacle above them, and then they would be able to climb up to the mountaintop from the other side.


    Gu Shenwei had returned to Golden Roc Castle once again. By moonlight, he saw a wilderness. There was only an isted stone house on the brink of the precipice, and the towering stone wall was more than a hundred steps away.


    He had no impression of this ce.


    The two untied the knots of the rope and sneaked forward along a path covered bypact snow. Old Man Mu finally became quiet.


    There was a closed door in the wall. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t try to open it, but instead crawled along the foot of the stone wall. Old Man Mu wasn¡¯t as cautious as Gu Shenwei. He leaped out two times and reached the top of the wall.


    On the other side of the wall, there was a narrow alley, on both sides of which were some small separate dwellings with courtyards, which were very simr to the dwellings of those killer mentors living in the East Castle.


    There were nomps, but Gu Shenwei could feel that many of those dwellings were upied.


    It suddenly dawned on Gu Shenwei that this was the area where the Green-faced killers lived.

 Chapter 919 - A Thick Saber

    Chapter 919: A Thick Saber


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The courtyard was narrow and small, but the walls were very tall, which made the whole courtyard look like the lower half of a giant chimney.


    He was a Green-faced killer, and he just stood in the courtyard with his head slightly down and a sword, one the likes of which not many people in Golden Roc Castle would use, in his hand. asionally, he would jab out with it, but not once did he seem satisfied.


    It had been three full days, but his memories of the swordsmanship of that Central insman didn¡¯t blur a single bit. Instead, it became clearer and clearer as he recalled it over and over again.


    That Central insman¡¯s sword strikes were fast, but not too fast for the Green-faced killer to parry or dodge.


    That Central insman¡¯s sword strikes were steady, but most Green-faced killers could reach this level if they kept practicing their swordsmanship for over ten years.


    That Central insman¡¯s sword strikes were very urate. Thatst sword strike had gone right through his target¡¯s throat. But this was just an elementary level skill for a Green-faced killer.


    There was only one thing that this Green-faced killer had seen but was unable to replicate: taking control of the flow of battle after letting the opponent make the first move.


    As the best killers, the Green-faced killers were the best at seizing the initiative. Killers were not at an advantage in face-to-face kung fupetitions, and they were usually desperate to take the initiative, and by no means would they let their opponents make the first move. However, the swordsmanship of that Central insman was different from that of any other person ¨C he had actually managed to gain the upper hand after giving his opponent the first move.


    The Central ins was thousands of miles away, so the Green-faced killer had never fought with a Central insman before, but it turned out that that Central insman¡¯s swordsmanship could effectively restrain the unique skills of killers of the Western Regions.


    ¡°He must have a unique method of anticipating the situation. That¡¯s why he can instantly see through his opponent¡¯s move,¡± the Green-faced killer said loudly. His voice reflected off the walls repeatedly before entering his ear, as if there were a second person talking to him.


    The courtyard next door was unupied. And in the one further away stood another Green-faced killer.


    Holding a narrow saber, he suddenly leaped forward and jabbed it at the wooden target seven steps away. After hitting the target, he immediately drew back, seeming also fairly dissatisfied.


    This Green-faced killer had an audience, who was almost touching and moving with him simultaneously. She looked feeble, pale due to injury, and her right hand was gone, but she didn¡¯t try to conceal it.


    Qian Ying shook her head. ¡°We still don¡¯t have it. The Dragon King¡¯s saber strike was not just fast. It was incredibly fast. When I was fighting against him, almost every one of his moves made me feel like I wasn¡¯t going to be fast enough to parry.¡±


    These chimney-like courtyards were built one by the other, and more than half of them were unupied. About thirty or so were upied. Dozens of Green-faced killers were practicing kung fu in their respective courtyards, with thirteen of them imitating Luo Qikang, seven of them imitating the Dragon King, five Lotus, and three Chu Nanping, Dog Butcher, and the Nonder Mo, Lin respectively. There were also four people standing transfixed doing nothing. Nobody knew why.


    The look on Old Man Mu¡¯s face gradually switched from surprise to indignation. Finally, after they left the area where those Green-faced killers lived, he said in a low voice, ¡°The Unique King actually doesn¡¯t think that I¡¯m threatening enough! Even a guy like that Old Dog of the Kongtong Sect is worth learning from? What the¡­ this is so annoying.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t let his guard down. He signaled Old Man Mu to keep quiet.


    These killers were imitating their enemies not to learn from them but to find their ws which would be helpful to them in both a kung fupetition and an assassination operation, which was one of the Unique King¡¯s ns.


    In the dark, Gu Shenwei thought for a while before waving at Old Man Mu, indicating that he wanted to go back.


    This time, he sneaked into an unupied courtyard. Old Man Mu acted as a lookout outside.


    The courtyard was dark, and moonlight could barely enter inside. After staying in a half squat posture for quite a while, Gu Shenwei cautiously moved forward and quietly walked into the only room in the courtyard.


    The door was half open and it was totally dark in the room. In a room like this, even a killer who was used to moving in the dark would be like a blind man.


    But Gu Shenwei was certain that there was nobody in the room. Evenpared to that of killers, his hearing could be deemed as extremely acute.


    Upon entering the room, Gu Shenwei turned left, moving forward along the foot of the wall.


    He walked around the room and figured out the area of the room. To his surprise, the room was semicircr and purely made of stone bricks. The space inside was much smaller than what he had imagined it to be when he was observing it from the outside, which indicated that the walls were very thick.


    Then he walked around again, at a slower pace this time, and carefully stroking these stone walls. Finally, he confirmed that the roughness of the surface was not natural. Someone had carved many patterns on the wall, all of which were a person holding a saber. He deduced from the proportions that the saber was much broader and thicker than a narrow saber.


    Gu Shenwei recalled a Green-faced killer that he had known before ¨C the mole that the Waning Moon Hall had taken great trouble to nt in Golden Roc Castle, Guan Shang. Her allegiance belonged solely to Han Wuxian, so there was no need for her to keep any secrets for the Unique King. However, she had never mentioned these patterns¡­


    The sound of the external gate being opened was heard. It seemed as if Old Man Mu had failed to alert him. Gu Shenwei had no choice but to quickly climb up the stone wall.


    Compared to the small area of the room, these walls were very tall. Gu Shenwei climbed about seven meters up before reaching the ceiling, on the surface of which there were no etchings of human figures. Gu Shenwei abruptly turned around with his back against the stone wall, parted his legs wide with the tips of his feet in the cracks that he had found when climbing up, stretched his arms into a line with his left hand pressing the sheath against the wall and the right hand clutching on to the edge of another crack, and narrowly managed to bnce himself.


    Gu Shenwei had just steadied himself when two people walked inside. One of them closed the door, and the other lit an oilmp in the exact middle of a small stone table.


    Gu Shenwei finally got a clear view of the shape of this room. It was indeed semicircr. He was on the t side, directly facing the patterns on the opposite wall.


    These patterns had been drawn with simple and unconstrained lines, presenting a sabersmanship that he had never seen. The style of this sabersmanship was very different from that of Golden Roc Castle, which was usually performed with narrow sabers. These moves were bold and unbridled, which was rather simr to the style of Central-ins sabersmanship.


    Both of the two were Green-faced killers. Gu Shenwei was holding his breath, hoping that they wouldn¡¯t stay here for too long.


    One of them raised the oilmp, and then they stood side by side, looking directly at the leftmost patterns, which clearly indicated that this was not the first time that they hade here. Both of them were silent, trying to fathom those moves.


    After a full quarter of an hour, they finally finished reading thest four or five moves and then put the oilmp back onto the one-legged stone table. Then each of them pulled out a saber from under the table, both of which were very simr to the sabers in those patterns, and started fighting without saying anything.


    It was a typical Golden-Roc-Castle sparring style ¨C every move was ruthless and callous. It looked like they were trying to kill each other rather than sparring. Two sabers shed constantly, generating showers of sparks as well as gusts of wind, which made the me of the oilmp flicker.


    After a few moves, the two stopped fighting, put the sabers down and started discussing, with the stone table between them.


    ¡°This sabersmanship is somewhat different from the ones we¡¯ve learned.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity that we didn¡¯t find it earlier. We¡¯ve only been practicing it for a few months and haven¡¯t learned its essence yet. Otherwise, those Central insmen wouldn¡¯t have acted so arrogant in Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    ¡°That Central insman¡¯s swordsmanship is very good.¡±


    ¡°Um. But after we master this sabersmanship, we¡¯ll be better than that Central insman.¡±


    The two Green-faced killers started contemting those patterns on the wall again.


    It turned out that this ce had never been open tomon killers. No wonder Guan Shang had never mentioned this room. Gu Shenwei deduced that the so-called ¡°a few months ago¡± probably referred to shortly before or shortly after the battle of Thousand Horsemen Pass. At that time, Prince Xiao had juste up with the idea of selecting the Lord of Jade City via a kung fupetition.


    Why had the Unique King asked the Green-faced killers to give up their assassination skills and start learning apletely different kung fu? Had he by any chance known in advance that there would be a face-to-face kung fupetition? Or had he made up his mind to make a radical change and turn the castle into a ce the profile of which had nothing to do with killers?


    Gu Shenwei was confused.


    But what concerned him the most was the current situation. It was not easy to hide above two Green-faced killers. When the two were sparring, he had taken a few breaths, but now he had to hold his breath again.


    The two Green-faced killers returned to the stone table.


    ¡°This is it,¡± one of them said. ¡°Learning is an endless process. We can only make slow progress even if we keep practicing. I think that it¡¯s time we test it.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Standing there silently, the two seemed to bemunicating with each other in a mysterious way. Before long, one of them picked up a thick saber, and the other fished out two daggers.


    The new sabersmanship versus the old techniques was the test that they had just talked about.


    Strikes made with the thick saber were so ferocious that it seemed as if the stone walls were about to fall apart, which offered Gu Shenwei a chance to take a breath.


    The Green-faced killer using daggers swished around the room like a giant insect. Though his strikes were different from those made by someone using a narrow saber, Gu Shenwei could still distinctly tell that his moves were of the Golden-Roc-Castle style.


    This was a face-to-face kung fupetition, so the one fighting in the Golden-Roc-Castle style was not at an advantage, which offered Gu Shenwei an opportunity to see theplete sabersmanship of the thick saber. That Green-faced killer was performing this sabersmanship with decent proficiency, but he still couldn¡¯tpletely rid himself of his previous habits. asionally, he would speed up his moves, which, instead of strengthening his attacks, had a detrimental effect on the steadiness of his sabersmanship and thus exposed his ws.


    ¡®The Green-faced killer using a thick saber is going to lose in a few moves,¡¯ thought Gu Shenwei, but then he was abruptly startled. The Green-faced killer using daggers rolled on the ground and attacked his opponent from down below, which meant that he might see the intruder near the ceiling at any time.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know how to get the better of the opponent after letting the opponent make the first move, so he prepared himself. If the necessity arose, he would make the first move and then immediately run downhill with Old Man Mu. In that case, the n to steal the golden-crowned rocs would have to be postponed.


    All the assassination skills of the Golden Roc Castle focused on swiftness and lightness. When performing these skills, the killers barely touched the ground, which was why their footwork was rtively unsteady. This was an noticeable disadvantage when performing this thick-saber sabersmanship. The Green-faced killer using daggers had discovered this, which was why he chose to attack from below his opponent.


    His victory was certain.


    During the past few months, these two people had practiced this new sabersmanship almost every day, but they had never seen each other as partners, and they didn¡¯t even know each other¡¯s names, so they definitely wouldn¡¯t show mercy during this test.


    When he rolled over on the ground for the seventh time, the Green-faced killer using daggers, who was about to give a lethal strike to finish his opponent, finally discovered that there was a third person hiding near the ceiling. He was surprised but not flustered. Immediately, he switched targets.


    Gu Shenwei braced his legs and was about to leap down. He was nning on killing the one using the thick saber first, since this one was still unaware of his existence and thus defenseless against his attack. Then, he would deal with the Green-faced killer using daggers, who had already seen him.


    As the only one in this room who was unaware of the situation, the Green-faced killer wielding the thick saber was still performing the immature new sabersmanship, ruthlessly shing at hispanion.


    Though the two Green-faced killers were having a life-or-death fight, they were not really enemies. Because of this tiny difference, the Green-faced killer using daggers had overlooked the dangering from hispanion. He had just thought of switching targets when hispanion bisected him.


    Gu Shenwei hurriedly controlled himself and nearly fell off the stone wall. He tightened the grip of his right hand along the edge of the crack and managed to regain his bnce.


    The Green-faced killer with a thick saber watched the body on the ground for a while and then looked at the patterns on the wall again. ¡°It¡¯s a little strange,¡± he said. After putting the thick saber under the stone table, he grabbed the two parts of the body and walked out of the room without putting out the oilmp.


    He would probablye back to clean the blood on the ground.


    This was his chance to leave. Pressing his right hand against the wall, Gu Shenwei let go three times before finallynding on the ground lightly. He didn¡¯t leave the room immediately, and instead leaped to the rightmost part of the semicircr wall. There were two lines of words there, which he hadn¡¯t been able to read earlier.


    Big Snow Mountain Luoshen Peak


    Tiangang Sabersmanship


    Gu Shenwei quickly left the room and he had barely climbed to the top of the wall when that Green-faced killer returned.


    There was kung fu from the Big Snow Mountain in the depths of the Golden Roc Castle, and it was a sabersmanship that Gu Shenwei had neither heard of nor seen before. This was too weird. It was even weirder than arge group of Green-faced killers were imitating him and Luo Qikang.


    There were only swordsmen in the Big Snow Mountain¡­

 Chapter 920 - Comprehension of Swordsmanship

    Chapter 920: Comprehension of Swordsmanship


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Seeing the Dragon King jump down from the top of the wall, Old Man Mu was relieved. After they transferred to a quiet ce, he whispered, ¡°I was nearly scared to death. I thought that those two body parts¡­ Fortunately, I didn¡¯t fail the good girl¡¯s trust in me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei briefly snorted. ¡°Wait here. I¡¯ll be back in a while.¡±


    ¡°Ah? The Dragon King still¡­ ¡±


    Before Old Man Mu could finish his sentence, the Dragon King disappeared.


    Gu Shenwei was confused about what he had just discovered. All men from the Big Snow Mountain were swordsmen. Only a few women had some average sabersmanship. How could such a kung fu as the ¡°Tiangang Sabersmanship¡± been created and hidden in Golden Roc Castle?


    If he was to find out the truth, he would have to check more stone chambers.


    There were plenty of unupied courtyards. With the experience that he had just gained, he headed directly for the rightmost corner after sneaking into the residential area, groping around for carved words.


    Small Sword Peak of the Big Snow Mountain.


    Thirteen Saber Attacks to Down Wild Geese.


    After feeling out several patterns, Gu Shenwei realized this was yet another sabersmanship.


    All of the next few stone chambers that Gu Shenwei went to had kung fu of the Big Snow Mountain inscribed on the walls. The Luoshen Peak, the Danduo Feng, the Huagai Peak, the Big Sword Peak and the Small Sword Peak¡¯s names were all there. Sabersmanship, swordsmanship, staff techniques, spearsmanship, fist techniques, palm techniques, leg techniques, and finger techniques were all included, but most of those kung fu were sabersmanship. Gu Shenwei could dimly feel that these kung fu forms were the origin of the swordsmanship of the Big Snow Mountain that used a heavy sword. It was just that the total number of moves of these kung fu was ten times, maybe even a hundred times bigger.


    There were approximately fifty to sixty unique skills on the walls of these stone chambers on the south side of that narrow alley, which was more than enough to establish a first-rate prestigious sect even in the Central ins. But surprisingly, all these kung fus were under the name of the Big Snow Mountain.


    Gu Shenwei was bing more and more curious, and he had almost forgotten about the most important task that he was supposed to fulfill this night. He went to the courtyards on the north side. There were considerably less Green-faced killers on this side, with only four or five of the courtyards being upied.


    The floors of these chambers on the north side were all rectangr. Gu Shenwei also started searching from the rightmost one, but it turned out that there were only patterns. There were no words. Only in the leftmost room did he find the name of the kung fu on the walls.


    The first line of words were in a weirdnguage that he didn¡¯t know. He spected that it was some kind of Western Regionsnguage. The second line was in Central-insnguage, ¡°The Short de Technique of Reincarnation Castle on Xuandu Peak.¡±


    ¡®The Reincarnation Castle on Xuandu Peak,¡¯ Gu Shenwei pondered over this phrase for a while and then recalled where he had heard this name befpre.


    There was a High Priest of Flower Soul in the Land of Fragrance who imed to be the sessor of the Holy King. She had once told Shangguan Ru and Lotus some absurd tales, in which she mentioned that Golden Roc Castle¡¯s former name was Reincarnation Castle, and that the mountaintop where the castle was located used to be called Xuandu Peak. And the lord of the castle¡¯s surname had been Feng.


    It was Shangguan Ru who had told Gu Shenwei this tale. Because it had nothing to do with him, he hadn¡¯t paid any attention to it back then. He didn¡¯t expect that one day, he would find these words on the walls of a secret room within Golden Roc Castle.


    Gu Shenwei then sneaked into several other stone chambers, and there were kung fu skills of the Reincarnation Castle on all of their walls as well, running the gamut from fighting techniques to kung fu skills with various strange weapons. In the eighteenth room, he found the ¡°Single Saber Technique,¡± which was the Golden Roc Castle¡¯s narrow saber sabersmanship.


    It was gettingte. Gu Shenwei reminded himself again and again that this was a dangerous ce, and that he was no match for a group of Green-faced killers. However, he was still reluctant to leave right away, and was eager to find out what kind of kung fu there was on the walls of the next stone chamber.


    He stayed in the stone chamber where he found the Single Saber Technique for a rtively longer period of time. There were many moves in this sabersmanship, some of which were not in the Golden Roc sabersmanship, and some of which were very different from the moves in the Golden Roc sabersmanship.


    Apparently, the current Golden Roc sabersmanship had undergone some radical adjustments, which made it simpler and also more practical. However, it had also been deprived of the maneuverability and uniqueness of the original sabersmanship.


    All of the next three stone chambers¡¯ walls were kung fu skills about a single saber.


    Those Green-faced killers who hade here to practice kung fu gradually left. Some of them chose to sleep in their stone chambers. Gu Shenwei did something even bolder ¨C lighting an oilmp in a stone chamber.


    The ¡°Long de Technique¡± had been carved onto this wall. It was a swordsmanship which Gu Shenwei had never seen any killer perform.


    The moves on the wall totaled fourteen, and it was not theplete set of the swordsmanship. The rest must be in other stone chambers.


    This was a kung fu that had been abandoned by the Golden Roc Castle, since none of its moves were in the narrow saber sabersmanship. Soon, Gu Shenwei knew the reason for this. Most of the moves on the wall were too weird and too radical. Some of them even went against the basic principles of martial arts. For instance, there was a move which required the user to stab backwards with their back to the opponent, which was almost synonymous withmitting suicide.


    It was understandable that the former Lord of the Golden Roc Castle had been defeated by his subordinates. The kung fu of the Holy King, whose surname was Feng, was more fancy than practical. The kung fu skills of the Big Snow Mountain, which were recorded in the chambers on the other side, were far better.


    It was a pity that there were only patterns and the name of the kung fu on the wall. There were also one or two annotations, but there was no records of the Big Snow Mountain or of Reincarnation Castle.


    Unexpectedly, the Long de Technique, which had been abandoned by the Shangguan family, took up the most walls. There were seven stone chambers upon whose walls this technique had been carved, with its moves numbering over a hundred. Each move was weirder than thest. In the eyes of a normal kung fu practitioner, more than half of these moves were asking people to voluntarily expose their ws and invite their enemies to kill them. Apart from that, many of those movescked coherence, and it almost seemed as if they were not from the same set of kung fu.


    It was in the third stone chamber recording the Long de Technique that light suddenly dawned on Gu Shenwei. Not only were the moves carved on the wall entric, but some of them even required the user to blindfold themselves, as if to prevent them from seeing the enemy.


    What kind of swordsmanship could be performed without vision?


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s heart lurched.


    When he was practicing the Death Sutra, he would sometimes close his eyes. And it was in that condition that he executed some of his best moves!


    All of a sudden, a thought urred to Gu Shenwei and he was transfixed with shock. Raising the oilmp, he fixed his eyes on the moves on the wall, astounded and delighted. He had totally forgotten that he was in a dangerous ce.


    In the Death Sutra that Gu Shenwei had read, there were mostly words and only twenty-nine illustrations, implying twenty-nine cultivation methods. Completely by themselves, Gu Shenwei and Lotus had eachprehended one cultivation method and then improved themselves through fights.


    Actually, the Death Sutra did have kung fu routines and moves. It was just that they were not in the book but rather carved onto the walls of these stone chambers.


    These weird, seemingly suicidal moves could be perfectly exined by the theory of the Death Sutra. They were not only not suicidal, but also excessive.


    The reason why these movescked coherence was because they were not one swordsmanship but rather twenty-nine different swordsmanship corresponding to the twenty-nine illustrations in the Death Sutra. Though each of these swordsmanship had only a couple of moves, they could substantially extend the range of the practical techniques of the Death Sutra Swordsmanship.


    Gu Shenwei had too many questions, the answers to which he could only specte on.


    The founder of Reincarnation Castle on Xuandu Peak, who was probably the author of the Death Sutra, was a martial arts genius. For some reason, his sessor surnamed Feng had lost the most important sutra and only recorded down these iprehensible patterns, which was why his kung fu didn¡¯t have the strength that it was supposed to have. And atst, he had been outshined by his subordinates and the Holy King had been forced to flee to the Land of Fragrance in the south.


    There must have been a close affinity between the ancestors of the Shangguan family and the Big Snow Mountain. The kung fu skills that they brought here were richer, but not suitable for assassination. Thus, they had adopted the strong points of the kung fu skills of Reincarnation Castle as well as the kung fu of the Big Snow Mountain, forming the sabersmanship that these killers were currently using.


    A few Green-faced killers had had the luck to ess more kung fu, but the original moves were unavable, and they could only learn the ones that the Shangguan family had made adjustments to. The Unique King wanted to change the public profile of his organization, so he had made an exception and granted the Green-faced killers ess to the kung fu of the Big Snow Mountain.


    Some of the kung fu skills recorded in the stone chambers on the north side still had referential value, so a couple of Green-faced killers had been drawn there. As for the ¡°Long de Technique,¡± it had been consigned to oblivion. Though there were spare oilmps in all the seven stone chambers, barely anyone had lit them before Gu Shenwei hade here.


    But as to why the diverse kung fu of the Big Snow Mountain had degenerated to just the heavy sword swordsmanship, which was somewhat clumsy, as the only kung fu, Gu Shenwei was unable to find any clue no matter how hard he tried.


    Gu Shenwei hadpletely forgotten about Old Man Mu and his original n. After scrutinizing all the patterns in the seven stone chambers, he returned to the third one. The person in five of the pictures here were blindfolded, which meant these five moves were expanded moves of the cultivation method that he had chosen.


    There were only five moves, but Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t move his eyes away from the wall. Subconsciously, he pulled out the Five Peaks Saber and started practicing. At first, he found it very ufortable to make these moves, which reminded him of those unfathomable annotations in the Death Sutra. Gradually, heprehended part of them and also discovered that his former moves were unduly constrained, and that he had only realized fifty to sixty percent of this kung fu¡¯s potential.


    ¡°It¡¯s such a shame,¡± Gu Shenwei mumbled. He and Lotus had thought that they had mastered the Death Sutra and that they were real kung fu experts when they were actually merely at the entry level, and there was still a long way to go.


    ¡°Puh,¡± the oil gave out and themp went out.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t register it and continued staring at the wall. After quite a while, he suddenly discovered that the dawn had broken.


    Light had also dawned on him.


    Due to theirck of experience and nearsightedness, Gu Shenwei and Lotus had failed to understand the Death Sutra¡¯s rich connotations. Byparison, Old Man Mu was a martial arts master. Back on the cliff, he said that it might be possible for one person to adopt two cultivation methods of the Death Sutra concurrently, but Gu Shenwei had scorned his view. Now, it turned out that Old Man Mu was right.


    Actually, one person could adopt far more than two cultivation methods at the same time, since all the twenty-nine cultivation methods were meant for the same swordsmanship. If one person could only adopt one of them, then how could the first Holy King of the Reincarnatation Castle have managed to create this kung fu?


    Gu Shenwei risked exposure to return to the first stone chamber recording the Long de Technique. He started scrutinizing those moves from the beginning, verifying the connection between these moves and the words in the Death Sutra. The more he thought about it, the more profound he found this kung fu. A lot of ambiguous understandings were rified, but at the same time, a lot of new ones arose, confining his thoughts to those simple patterns on the stone wall.


    Gu Shenwei spent a full day in that stone chamber.


    There were fourteen patterns presenting fourteen moves, corresponding to four cultivation methods. All of them were moves that Gu Shenwei had never thought of before.


    Lotus hadprehended ¡°killing enemies,¡± while Gu Shenwei hadprehended ¡°killing one¡¯s self,¡± and Shangguan Hong was on the verge ofprehending ¡°killing for survival.¡± No names were given to these four cultivation methods on the wall. ording to his recollection of the contents of the sutra, Gu Shenwei named them ¡°Self-Oblivion,¡± ¡°Self-Protection,¡± ¡°Spiritual Sword,¡± and ¡°Materialization.¡±


    It was not until this moment that he admitted to himself that ¡°Grand Enlightenment Sword Sutra¡± was the most urate name for this technique. ¡°Death Sutra¡± could only summarize a couple of those cultivation methods. The Self-Protection cultivation method, for instance, had three moves, each one of which was aimed at the opponent¡¯s vital parts, but always gave the opponent a chance to flee at thest moment, as the user and his opponent would end up killing each other if the user kept attacking.


    These twenty-nine cultivation methods must have amon primary principle, which Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯tprehended yet.


    That very night, he went to the second stone chamber and found that four of the moves on the wall were in ordance with Lotus¡¯ cultivation method of ¡°Killing Enemies.¡± Lotus was now able to kill an enemy with each of her sword blows. If she managed to master these four moves, she would be able to fight many enemies at the same time withoutplex tactics.


    Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help imagining Lotus an enemy in front of him, pondering over how he would defeat her.


    A whole night passed. Gu Shenwei had neither slept nor rested, and he also hadn¡¯t drunk any water or eaten any food. Though he still didn¡¯t know how to ensure his victory during a fight with Lotus, his understanding of the Death Sutra was growing ever deeper.


    The next morning, Gu Shenwei nned to go to the third stone chamber but encountered some trouble.


    A servant who came to clean the courtyard said in surprise, ¡°It¡¯s so weird. Someone used all the oil in themp.¡±

 Chapter 921 - A Forceful Intrusion

    Chapter 921: A Forceful Intrusion


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Amp¡¯s oil running out was just a normal urrence, but it became the cause for a lot of suspicion as well as a lot of arguments between a couple of servants.


    ¡°Someone living in another courtyard must have needed more oil so they took the oil here away.¡±


    ¡°Why would they take just the oil? Wouldn¡¯t it be easier to just take themp?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re all weird people and their thoughts are¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Shh¡­ Do you want to die?¡±


    ¡°Look, do you see this? There are traces of smoke on the wall. Someone must have lit themp in this room to read the patterns.¡±


    ¡°Impossible. I don¡¯t know anything about kung fu, but I still know these patterns are defective. If I were in charge, I would have had all of them removed.¡±


    ¡°Should we report this then?¡±


    ¡°I think so.¡±


    ¡°Even a dead body is not a big deal, not to mention the oil in amp running out. Go ahead and report it if you want to make a contribution. I¡¯d like to see how you¡¯ll reply when the steward asks you questions.¡±


    After discussing it for quite a while, those servants reached an agreement: they would refuel themp, resume their work, and never mention this again. And they certainly wouldn¡¯t report this to their superior, as nobody had ever required them to report everything.


    Then, those servants scattered. It was at this moment that Gu Shenwei realized how huge of a mistake he had made. He had left many traces in more than a couple of stone chambers, all of which was more than enough for an experienced Green-faced killer to use to track him down.


    Fortunately¡­


    He had to rid of his obsession; besides, it had been a long time since he hadst taken a break or eaten food. His strength was declining. Even if he managed to instantly master all the moves on the wall, he still wouldn¡¯t be able to break through a siege of Green-faced killers.


    Gu Shenwei moved to a stone chamber that those servants had just cleaned. He forced himself to ignore the patterns on the wall, and instead sat down in a corner and concentrated on circting his Qi to regain his strength.


    <em>I¡¯ll have plenty of time to do this in the future</em>, he thought. <em>I¡¯ll eventually take Golden Roc Castle and by then, I¡¯ll be able to research these kung fu moves whenever I want</em>. Besides, he had already memorized dozens of sword moves from at least ten cultivation methods. If he kept reading and memorizing more moves, he might end up failing to absorb any of them.


    But the moves on the wall tempted him like how a table full of delicious food with tantalizing aroma tempted a starving person. There were several asions where Gu Shenwei stood up, nning on continuing to read those patterns, but every time, he eventually managed to stop himself from doing so.


    More and more Green-faced killers came to practice kung fu, and they came in groups of three or five. In different courtyards, they imitated the kung fu of the Dragon King and that of the Central-ins swordsman, discussing solutions to both forms. If they encountered any difficulties, then they would go read the patterns on the wall, trying to find an answer.


    They were also obsessed and failed to discover the eavesdropper next door.


    After eavesdropping in on a couple conversations, Gu Shenwei drew a conclusion: these Green-faced killers had already formted a certain number of ns to defeat powerful opponents. Though all of these ns involved assassination, they were trying to minimize the importance of assassination skills in these ns. They were not there yet, but they were close.


    Night fell. The Green-faced killers¡¯ discussions became more and more intense. Two of them were even killed, indicating the failure of two of their solutions.


    Gu Shenwei sneaked to the ce where he and Old Man Mu had parted ways two days ago, but Old Man Mu was no longer there.


    Old Man Mu was not a killer, and he was certainly not an obedient subordinate, which was why he had obviously run out of patience and gone somewhere else. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t try to find him and instead continued walking along the foot of the walls of the inner chamber, nning to steal the birds in the main hall by himself.


    In the middle of his walk over, his calm broke, as he felt uneasy. It was as if he had made a huge mistake in leaving those stone chambers, as if the patterns inside were about to be destroyed at any moment.


    He had to remind himself again and again that leaving the stone castle unharmed was the most important thing, and that he was the Dragon King, the suprememander of hundreds of thousands of troops.


    He had already been gone from the camp for two days and three nights. This absence may have already caused dire consequences¡­


    After thinking about this, he even felt that it was unnecessary to steal the birds, and that immediately leaving was the top priority.


    There was also another issue on his mind. The original manuscript of the Death Sutra was in a random outcrop near Reincarnation Cliff, and it had been several years since he had been there, so it was a secret that only he knew about. Originally he had nned on going there and retrieving the sutra, but now, after he thought about it again, he believed that it would be better to keep it under the enemy¡¯s nose. Particrly because he couldn¡¯t find a better ce to store it at the moment anyway.


    This night, Gu Shenwei was destined to not be in a killer¡¯s mindset. While climbing up a stone wall, he even identally knocked a small stone fall to the ground, causing a distinct sound to be heard. Fortunately, he was in a remote corner and there were nomon killers or Green-faced killers hiding nearby.


    Atst, Gu Shenwei decided to abort the mission. Golden Roc Castle¡¯sck of killers was merely a semnce. They had to be guarding their important areas even more heavily than before, and the main hall was probably one of those areas. Given the current state he was in, he would be walking into a trap if he tried to steal the birds.


    Gu Shenwei secretly pleaded for the golden-crowned rocs¡¯ forgiveness, as they would have to stay around their foe for a few more days.


    Not long after he started retracing his steps, Gu Shenwei found that something was wrong. The route he had chosen was far away from the important areas of Golden Roc Castle, and there had been no guards nearby at all. But now, not even an hour after his journey, he found traces of a hidden sentry ¨C a pile of snow that originally hadn¡¯t been there.


    He observed for a while and saw the pile of snow move. As expected, there was a guard.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t think that this was a coincidence. Golden Roc Castle was not the kind of organization that would react dramatically. Even if they found intruders, they would only react quietly.


    Gu Shenwei left the patterns in the stone chambers behind, the Death Sutra at Reincarnation Cliff, as well as the giant rocs in the main hall. He regained the absoluteposure that killers should always have, gave up his former route, and tried to find another way downhill.


    The third night-watch had passed, but Gu Shenwei was still stuck in the inner chamber in the northern part of the castle.


    A lot of hidden sentries suddenly showed up, guarding almost all of the important ces. Gu Shenwei constantly had to stay hidden in a position for a long time before he could find a chance to progress a dozen steps forwards.


    Finally, he approached the southernmost wall near the inner chamber only to find that this was the most heavily guarded area, to the point where there was no way he could leave the castle from here. Thus, he had no choice but to hide behind a tree, merging into the rock besides him. Breathing gently and slowly, he waited patiently.


    It would be even more dangerous after daybreak, so Gu Shenwei decided to rush out of the unfamiliar inner chamber when dawn broke. Then, he would make some noise in the west side of the castle where many members of the Shangguan family as well as a lot ofmon servants lived, and where it would be easier for him to create chaos.


    The more chaotic the situation was, the better the chance of him getting out of here were.


    By no means would Fang Wenshi be happy about his n. Gu Shenwei inexplicably thought of the military counselor, but tossed this thought out right away.


    He felt waves of coldness rise from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head. Though he was a killer with powerful internal energy, his cold tolerance had plummeted since he had neither drunk any water nor eaten any food for almost three days. His momentary obsession had brought him a lot of trouble.


    Golden Roc Castle did ¡°move.¡± Though most of the killers had joined the Heavenly Mountain Sect in the city, those who stayed were all elite members. They had a wider range of detection and were also more sensitive to small changes in their surroundings. Those who thought that the stone castle had let down its guard would find that they were terribly wrong.


    Gu Shenwei knew Golden Roc Castle well, and he wouldn¡¯t make this kind of amateurish mistake, so the one who created chaos with dauntless courage was also not him.


    Suddenly, a big fire broke out somewhere in the west side of the castle, and soon, someone screamed in panic.


    The situation had be chaotic, but Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t yet found the chance to flee. The hidden sentries in the inner chamber stayed still. They had received rigorous training and wouldn¡¯t move an inch even if the fire spread to their sides.


    If Old Man Mu was the one who had created the chaos, then he was really audacious. The fire in the west side of the castle hadn¡¯t abated yet when another fire broke out on the east side as well.


    Before long, a third and fourth fire was also set. Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t gauge the distance, but he clearly knew that Old Man Mu couldn¡¯t have set these fires this quickly even if he still had his former strength.


    Golden Roc Castle was indeed under attack.


    A piercing whistle was heard. Those in charge of different areas of the castle finally realized that these fires were not just an enemy¡¯s tactic to divert their attention, and that there were more than one or two enemies. So, they issued an order to fight back.


    There were more hidden sentries in the inner chamber than the ones that Gu Shenwei had discovered. Under the light of the fire, he saw at least twenty figures rush out of nearby ces. They leaped onto the top of the walls and split up, heading for different areas to fight their enemies.


    This was his best and maybe also his only chance. Gu Shenwei was just about to take action when he suddenly paused ¨C several figures leaped into the inner chamber from the south side, each with a saber or a sword in one hand and something that looked like a head in the other.


    It seemed like they no longer had any intention of staying out of other people¡¯s sight, since they unceremoniously dumped those heads and started striding forward.


    More hidden sentries showed themselves. The eight intruders hadn¡¯t walked far when a dozen people surrounded them. A fight immediately started. Nobody asked any questions.


    The first moves of the hidden sentries were, without exception, sneak attacks. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t even seen the reaction of those intruders when he abruptly realized that someone had alsounched a sneak attack on him.


    He didn¡¯t know when, but two hidden sentries had discovered him and even managed to sneak up on him, arriving at a position less than ten steps away from him. Theyunched an attack from his two sides at the same time.


    By the time Gu Shenwei became vignt, two narrow sabers had were already approaching him. The only thing he could do was perform the new move he had learned not long ago. Prostrate, he pushed against the ground with his right hand, horizontally moving three feet backwards. Then, he pushed heavily on the ground again, somersaulting into the air like a giant round stone roller thrown upwards.


    At the same time, he whipped out the Five Peaks Saber with his left hand, tightly holding it with a reverse grip. The back of the saber was pressed against his forearm with a length of the de more than a feet long stretching out past that. He thenunched an attack in all directions as he somersaulted in mid-air.


    The attacker on his left side instantly received several saber blows, blood gushing out of his wounds. The attacker on his right side was also stabbed in the heart before he could see how his opponent had made this weird move.


    ¡°Unique King, show yourself and die!¡± a sonorous voice called out.


    It was no longer necessary to hide. Gu Shenwei stood up and saw that more intruders were still leaping into the inner chamber. The total number had increased from eight to almost thirty. The first batch of hidden sentries of Golden Roc Castle, who had been trying to intercept the intruders, had been wiped out.


    Those intruders also discovered the Dragon King at this point. Two of them immediately ran up to him.


    Gu Shenwei masked himself. He had already noticed that these people were not his subordinates.


    The two intruders were also masked. Upon seeing the bodies on the ground, they were involuntarily stunned and didn¡¯tunch an attack right away. One of them said in a whisper, ¡°Reincarnation Cliff.¡±


    This was clearly a secret signal, and Gu Shenwei had to give an urate answer.


    ¡°Groaning Ghost Cliff,¡± he replied.


    Reincarnation Cliff was in the east while Groaning Ghost Cliff was in the west. They were opposite each other with a long distance in between.


    The two intruders quickly retreated to their original position. Unexpectedly, Gu Shenwei had guessed correctly. He knew that only one person could think of this secret signal.


    ¡°The Waning Moon Hall is here. Show yourself, Unique King!¡± a female voice yelled and with that, another batch of people leaped into the inner chamber.


    The total number of intruders had reached fifty, even sixty now. There were both men and women. After separating into several groups, they started advancing towards the depths of the inner chamber, each watching each other¡¯s back.


    A figure that Gu Shenwei was familiar with appeared.


    Standing on the top of a wall, Lotus was the only one who wasn¡¯t masked. The moon shed a soft glow on her icy face.

 Chapter 922 - Pick the Fruit

    Chapter 922: Pick the Fruit


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Upon hearing the noises outside, Doctor Sun unhappily got dressed and walked out of the tent before looking in the direction of the mountaintop in the northwest alongside the rest of the Dragon Army troops. In the first rays of the morning sun, Golden Roc Castle was ame, looking like a shining star, with the only difference being that it was slightly bigger.


    ¡°The Dragon King. It must be the Dragon King who started the fire,¡± Tie Linglong yelled excitedly. The Dragon King had been away for several days now. Her heart had been torn with anxiety just like the others.


    Doctor Sun covered his mouth with his hand and yawned. ¡°Why would he burn down Golden Roc Castle? Isn¡¯t it better to keep it as the Dragon King¡¯s pce?¡±


    ¡®It¡¯s neither Golden Roc Castle nor the pce that matters. What matters is that the Dragon King is still alive.¡¯ Tie Linglong put her palms together devoutly and started praying silently.


    Doctor Sun nced at Chu Nanping, who was not far away, and found that there was a trace of uneasiness in his handsome face. With a smile, he shook his head, instantly dispelling his sleepiness. ¡°Is the Dragon King trying to take the Golden Roc Castle in advance? Because that would be great. I¡¯ve been meaning to return to northern Jade City for a long time. These old bones of mine are about to break apart after staying in this camp for so long. s.¡±


    Doctor Sun sighed in the same way that Luo Ningcha always did. He was only half a day¡¯s journey from his warm,fortable home, but he couldn¡¯t move a single step closer to it, which made him feel pensive.


    As long as Golden Roc Castle or Waning Moon Hall still existed, then by no means did Doctor Sun dare move an inch out of the Dragon Army¡¯s encampment.


    Han Wuxian, who was also taking shelter in this camp like him, looked in the direction of the distant fire and smiled somewhat stiffly. ¡°That fire was set by Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that? Is there anything special about a fire set by Waning Moon Hall?¡± Tie Linglong remained unconvinced.


    ¡°All fire is the same. But if the Dragon King¡¯s victory is certain, then what¡¯s the point of setting fire?¡± Han Wuxian turned and faced Doctor Sun. ¡°This is your contribution.¡±


    Doctor Sun was startled. ¡°How does this have anything to do with me?¡±


    ¡°It was with your help that Lotus figured out the secret of the Female Gu and why she then absorbed Han Xuan¡¯s internal energy, which led her to believe that she was powerful enough to defeat the Unique King. That is why she decided to set fire to Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    Doctor Sun shook his head and waved his hands. ¡°Hall Leader Han overestimates me. How could I be that tough? Back in Waning Moon Hall, they merely forced me into making a few batches of pills, and the two Female Gu had scarcely been delivered when I fled. And I didn¡¯t even have any time to research them. The Tenth Young Master¡­ Shangguan Ru can prove this.¡±


    Doctor Sun was uneasy. The reason why he had fled was indeed because he didn¡¯t want to help Waning Moon Hall produce Female Gu. But before that, he had already made some progress, which could have possibly proved very helpful to Waning Moon Hall.


    Han Wuxian¡¯s smile grew even more tender and sweet. ¡°Lotus wille to you and thank you herself. There¡¯s still a lot you can do for her.¡±


    Doctor Sun was transfixed with shock. After quite a while, he mumbled, ¡°What have I done¡­ ¡±


    Lotus knew what Doctor Sun had done.


    Just as Han Wuxian expected, Doctor Sun had been more helpful than he had imagined. Before he fled, he had gathered enough data for Waning Moon Hall. With some effort from Lotus as well as some other disciples, they finally managed to uncover the fundamentals principles of making Female Gu. To do so, they had to keep poisoning the subject, and at the same time, they had to use specially-designed drugs to prevent the poison from taking effect, just like how a dam allowed ake to store more water.


    With regards to what kind of water it would store, there were many choices. Shangguan Shaomin¡¯s body had been turned into a lethal weapon, while Han Xuan¡¯s body was used to store an enormous amount of internal energy. Thetter was more difficult to do and also took a longer amount of time.


    The cultivation of internal energy was an arduous and winding journey for everybody. There were numerous twists and turns, and even retrogression at times. Just like the cultivation of the Gu family¡¯s Bnced Power, there was often more retrogression in the process, since people were always worried that their bodies might fail to contain the power, which would result in Qi deviation.


    But this was not a problem for someone who used another person¡¯s body to cultivate the internal energy. Han Xuan had worked hard for many years, but she had never been a kung fu expert because most of her meridians had been blocked. Her internal Qi had increased uncontrobly, but she herself could barely use it.


    The method of producing Female Gu was one of Han Wuxian¡¯s cutting edge undertakings, which she was very invested in. She had spent a lot of time seeking suitable infants. She had failed dozens of times before she finally found Han Xuan. In order to not arouse suspicion among her disciples, she had specifically sent the young Female Gu to a far-off area in the Western Regions and assigned her most trusted subordinate to impart kung fu to her every year.


    Unaware of the truth, Han Xuan had continued to practice internal energy, making progress all the time without any setbacks, and the rate of her internal energy increase was ten times that of amon person.


    Han Wuxian had also been constantly ingesting drugs in order to strengthen her meridians. She had hoped that one day, she would enjoy the fruits of her hard work towards the Female Gu and drastically boost her internal energy overnight.


    Doctor Sun had found out the general truth. It was just that he hadn¡¯t figured out the specific process as well as a way to extract the internal energy.


    Lotus had perused many secret manuals of the Waning Moon Hall and finally found the method to extract internal energy from a Female Gu. However, she didn¡¯t have enough time to strengthen her meridians like Han Wuxian, so she had found another way. She decided to absorb only a small part of the internal energy in Han Xuan at a time, and to do it multiple times until she absorbed all of it.


    This was very dangerous and the process of absorbing internal energy was torturous. And after that, Lotus had to spend even more time integrating the foreign Qi with her own.


    But Han Xuan found that her physical condition was improving, so she was very grateful to Lotus, believing that Lotus was ¡°very good¡± to her.


    Lotus¡¯ method of extracting the internal Qi step by step did save Han Xuan. If Han Xuan had fallen into Han Wuxian¡¯s hands, then all of her internal energy would have been taken away in less than two hours. This would inevitably result in the copse of her entire meridianwork and eventually, her inevitable death.


    The internal energy of the Waning Moon Hall and that of Golden Roc Castle had the same origin, which was why there had been no intense conflict between the former and Lotus¡¯ Daoless Divine Power. She absorbed the internal energy of the Female Gu every six or seven days, allowing her power to swell rapidly. Finally, she had entered the phase of dispersing her internal energy.


    The Daoless Divine Power was very effective, but just like the internal energy of any other sect, people who practiced this kung fu faced the threat of Qi deviation. Lotus didn¡¯t choose to deal with the threat regrly, which was a safer method, and instead chose to umte all of the hidden dangers of the cultivation process and then eliminate them all at once when her internal energy reached a certain level.


    After Lotus extracted sixty to seventy percent of Han Xuan¡¯s internal energy, her Daoless Divine Power had umted too much impure Qi and was in grave danger of deviation, so she had to disperse her internal energy right away.


    During the period of dispersing internal energy, Lotus was no different from amon person, and any sabersman could kill her easily. The Master Commander of the Waning Moon Hall didn¡¯t trust anybody, so she had adopted an extreme means of protection. She had ¡°sent¡± her trusted subordinate Han Fen to the Dragon King and had let Han Wuxian take back Han Xuan, who only had a small part of her internal energy left. By doing this, she had managed to create a semnce of an adequate defense against sneak attacks.


    Apart from her enemies, Lotus had also been keeping an eye on those who were on her side, especially Wild Horse, who had allied himself with the Waning Moon Hall.


    She had to make sure that this one-armed killer with sharp eyes would be busy doing something important, so she had imparted ¡°theplete Death Sutra¡± to him.


    Shangguan Hong had also benefited from this. Every certain number of days, he woulde to Lotus and receive a couple of pills, but he never knew that the ¡°Lotus¡± giving him pills was just an average disciple of the Waning Moon Hall in disguise.


    All disciples of the Waning Moon Hall as well as those of the Essence Pavilion concentrated on practicing the amazing swordsmanship that the Master Commander had selflessly offered to them. In order to improve their kung fu, they had ruthlessly assassinated a lot of people in Jade City, naturally ignoring Lotus¡¯ actions.


    Lotus wasn¡¯t worried that some of her disciples might be more powerful than her. She only imparted the Death Sutra that she believed was right, refraining from showing them a small part of the most important annotations. She believed that when the period of dispersing internal energy was over, she, who possessed a brand-new Daoless Divine Power as well as theplete Death Sutra Swordsmanship, would still be the most powerful practitioner, even more powerful than that haughty Dragon King.


    It was him who was determined to find Lotus, which had resulted in Han Wuxian discovering the truth about her dispersing her internal energy in advance.


    Lotus had adopted a tactic that the Unique King had once used. Via Han Fen, she imed that she was not going to meet the Dragon King until a monthter, when actually, there was only ten days before her period of dispersing internal energy was over.


    These ten days were the most difficult for Lotus. She had to change locations almost two or three times a day in order to hide from the scouts of Golden Roc Castle as well as Wild Horse and the others. Han Xuan, who had been taken back by Han Fen, was her only protector.


    Han Xuan knew nothing about the Female Gu. The only thing she knew was that Lotus was a kind person who had relieved her pain as well as the master whom her close friend, Han Fen, served wholeheartedly.


    Lotus had thus had a second experience of living asmon person. Jade City, which used to be like a courtyard of her house, was now like a jungle full of thistles and thorns. Those short courtyard walls and houses became insurmountable obstacles. When she walked through those winding small alleys, she found, for the first time, that she was not familiar with southern Jade City at all.


    And her sword, which used to be like part of her, and which she could once wield as freely as her fingers, suddenly revealed its true self ¨C its weight, which was merely one kilogram, felt so heavy that Lotus had to have Han Xuan carry it around for her.


    She finally understood the so-called meaning of ¡°freedom¡± that Old Man Mu had once mentioned. The reason why that old devil had practiced kung fu so hard was because he wanted a life free of restrictions. And once he lost his power, he had to yield to the Dragon King and ept harsh conditions in exchange for protection, plunging from a boundless world into a small, narrow ¡°prison.¡±


    She also came to understand the meaning of the words carved into that stone tablet in front of the shrine of Golden Roc Castle: ¡°Cyclic reincarnations and endless killing.¡± The people who had ordered these words be carved had been sighing at the thought that life was limited while the pursuit of martial arts was endless.


    Lotus, who had temporarily lost all her internal energy, gradually began to philosophize. Reviewing her previous life, she calmly realized the profound impact that kung fu had made on her. That pointy-faced teenager called Servant Yao had be a vague, ridiculous memory by now.


    She found it surprising that a person as strange and selfish as him had be an inseparable obstacle between her and the Dragon King. As distinctly as she knew that, it was still because of the Death Sutra. She, who was now amon person, still felt that it was incredible.


    There had been several asions where she wanted to find the Dragon King and tell him, ¡°You¡¯re the only one I trust. Protect me.¡±


    But she couldn¡¯t. Servant Yao was no longer someone between her and the Dragon King, but instead, there were groups of killers and sabersmen. These people sniffed around like hounds. Even a tiny trace of Waning Moon Hall would bring her death.


    On thest night of her period of dispersing internal energy, as she sat in an icy cold room, Lotus sadly discovered that she was about to regain her ¡°freedom.¡± But at the same time, Servant Yao had alsoe back into her heart. In the form of a little devil, he continued to incite her to hate the Dragon King.


    Before the pointy-faced teenager died, he had once said to Servant Huan, ¡°You¡¯re not getting away with this. I¡¯ll be waiting for you in hell.¡±


    If Lotus knew about this curse, she might have had an even stronger sense of destiny.


    Han Xuan was sitting beside a primitive stove, warming herself. asionally, she walked to the doorway and looked out. In disguise, her features were even more unattractive.


    As Lotus looked at her, the first stream of her Qi abruptly started circting.


    Lotus felt like she had been reborn. She still remembered every thought that she had had in these past days, but like what a stern teacher would do to a students¡¯ poor assignments, she ruthlessly tossed those thoughts of hers into the stove.


    In honor of this ¡°rebirth,¡± she decided to do something that wentpletely against the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s usual policy: take revenge on Golden Roc Castle in public and directly challenge the Unique King.

 Chapter 923 - Alliance

    Chapter 923: Alliance


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Old Man Mu craned his head out of a pile of snow and looked at Lotus in surprise, who was standing on the top of the wall. ¡°Lunatic,¡± he mouthed. Then he reminded the Dragon King in a muted voice, ¡°Should we sit this one out and reap the spoilster on? Or should we join the fight and steal their thunder? Your choice.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s original n had been to steal the two golden-crowned rocs and provoke the Unique King. But now, it seemed unnecessary to carry out that n, as his n was nothingpared to what the Waning Moon Hall was currently doing. With regards to stealing their thunder, if Gu Shenwei wanted to attack the Golden Roc Castle directly, then he would have done it several months ago.


    Before Gu Shenwei left, he finally had a chance to personally witness how powerful Lotus had be after dispersing her internal energy.


    Two killers joined hands andunched an sneak attack on Lotus. They had been hiding at the foot of the wall and hadn¡¯t engaged the intruders. At this moment, they suddenly climbed up along the wall like two venomous snakes revealing their lethal fangs right when they reached the feet of their target.


    Lotus didn¡¯t even pull out her sword, which went against the killermandment to spare no strength even if the target was only a beggar who knew nothing about kung fu. After her internal energy had been boosted, her personality seemed to have also changed. She now acted more like a sect leader. Lotus¡¯ fingers stiffened into two ws, and she raised them at a horizontal position before her chest. The two stealthy attackers uncontrobly rose upwards like two leaves caught by a whirlwind.


    Their narrow sabers were still under their control, and they thrust them right at the target, aiming at her chest and abdomen, which were vital parts, instead of her feet and legs. However, they were unable to control their own bodies.


    Lotus¡¯ fingers sank into their heads. The two narrow sabers were merely three or four inches away from her vital parts, but they were unable to move another inch forward.


    With just a little force, Lotus threw the two bodies over ten steps away, where they crashed into deep drifts of snow.


    ¡°Bone-piercing w.¡± Old Man Mu stopped moving. He could barely believe what he had just seen. ¡°This¡­ This is just an entry-level kung fu of the Barren Sect. How can it be so this powerful? It¡¯s almost as powerful as my Five Hole Punch. Lotus¡¯ kung fu is now good enough to¡­ God! This is so unfair!¡±


    The Bone-piercing w didn¡¯t technically count as an entry-level kung fu in the Barren Sect, but it was by no means an advanced kung fu either. Many years ago, Lotus had learned a few moves from Madame Xue. Now, with the Daoless Divine Power, these moves had instantly be unstoppable.


    Gu Shenwei was at a loss. Lotus, who had just disyed her divine kung fu, reminded him of the Unique King. The Unique King had already gone through the process of dispersing his internal energy several years ago. And after that, he seldom used any weapons. Even when his opponent had been the Dragon King, he had still fought with his palms.


    Gu Shenwei leaped on top of a wall. Though he was masked and over ten steps away from her, he knew that Lotus must have instantly recognized him.


    He watched her silently for a while before saying, ¡°Let¡¯s leave together.¡±


    He had a spection that he would never ask her about, and he would probably never be able to verify it either ¨C apart from taking revenge, there might be another reason why Lotus had chosen tounch a decisive attack on Golden Roc Castle on this very night, such as trying to save a certain someone.


    And now, both of Lotus¡¯ purposes had been achieved. Though she hadn¡¯t seen the Unique King himself, the Golden Roc Castle¡¯s indestructible reputation had suffered a disastrous blow. But she didn¡¯t feel satisfied at all. Just like a whirlwind, she wanted to wipe everything in this ce away.


    More people leaped onto the walls from the East and West Castle. Bodyguards were standing on both sides of the Master Commander. Facing the Dragon King, Wild Horse held an unsheathed sword and raised it above his head. It seemed as if he was unting his power, but it was actually more like he was warning him ¨C yes, this was his circle, and it would never open up to Servant Huan.


    This was a childish retaliation. Back when they had been receiving training in the East Castle, as a member of the core group of the Tattooed Arm Gang, Lotus used to be very helpful to Servant Huan. But now, she had ¡°taken another side.¡±


    Gu Shenwei jumped off the wall and quickly disappeared into the darkness with Old Man Mu. It was not a single person¡¯s heart but rather hundreds of thousands of people¡¯s support that he cared about.


    The fire in the castle was not as big as what the spectators from afar thought it was. There were four ces on fire, and they were far away from one another. Because of the stone walls, the fire didn¡¯t cause much damage. But under the flickering light of the fire, the servants that knew nothing about kung fu were running around in a panic. They became targets of their enemies and, one by one, fell to the snowy ground before they could figure out what had happened to the stone castle.


    The Heavenly Mountain Sect had once set fire to the City View Alley and killed a lot of disciples of the Waning Moon Hall as well as those of the Essence Pavilion. Lotus wanted to prove that she was far more powerful than her enemies thought she was.


    The main hall was among the four ces on fire, and the fire there was the biggest. Clearly, there were many mmable things in it.


    Watching the fierce fire, Old Man Mu resignedly said, ¡°This is it. The giant rocs are destined to be cremated.¡±


    But they were just two hollow shells that the Unique King regarded as the symbol of Golden Roc Castle. So, Gu Shenwei felt that them being burnt to ashes was also a pretty good ending for the two birds; he continued rushing towards the front gate.


    The two sides were fiercely fighting and scrambling for the control of the stone bridge. Each side had about a hundred people, and everyone was trying to charge forward, but only two or three people at the front could engage the enemies. After exchanging a few moves, they all either slipped or were stabbed, inevitably falling off the bridge and into the abyss.


    These people¡¯s kung fu was clearly not as good as that of those in the inner chamber.


    Kung fu experts who yearned for attention would choose to run to the front by stepping on theirpanions¡¯ heads, but Gu Shenwei was not interested in that. Taking advantage of the chaotic situation, he leaped beneath the stone bridge and crawled across from the bottom side of the bridge by using the cracks in the bridge as handholds.


    Following behind the Dragon King, Old Man Mu reminded himself that he had only fifty to sixty percent of his previous power left, and that he must be careful. If he fell off, even a ¡°Hundred Rotations Skill¡± wouldn¡¯t be able to save him.


    More and more people came out of the houses on the sides of the mountain road and rushed towards the mountaintop. Most of them were retired killers of Golden Roc Castle, and they were obligated to help when the castle was in danger. Though they could no long wield narrow sabers the way they used to, they were still more helpful thanmon sabersmen.


    The situation of the battle in the inner chamber was unknown, but the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s men near the stone bridge would probably be wiped out soon.


    Gu Shenwei and Old Man Mu made it to the foot of the mountain without any trouble. Their downhill running speed was already very fast, but the rumor traveled even faster.


    Dawn broke. Northern Jade City was right below the mountaintop, but the residents here were unable to see the fire. The unconfirmed rumors caused a wild sensation to spread through the whole city. People got up much earlier than usual and went to the doorways of their houses, sharing whatever they had heard with neighbors.


    ¡°The Dragon King made his move?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King made his move.¡±


    ¡°Ahh, crap. I thought that the Dragon King would do this a few monthster¡­ The stone castle still owes me a debt. Do you think that, by any chance, the Dragon King would pay the debts of the Unique King?¡±


    ¡°You should go and ask him for us. By the way, prepare a spare head.¡±


    At first, most of the news were merely people¡¯s spections, and naturally, they were all about the Dragon King. But before Gu Shenwei and Old Man Mu crossed through northern Jade City, more reliable news came.


    ¡°Waning Moon Hall? What¡¯s Waning Moon Hall?¡±


    ¡°You forgot? A few days ago, didn¡¯t Golden Roc Castle and the Heavenly Mountain Sect stick a bulletin on the wall saying that they had wiped out the Waning Moon Hall?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. What¡¯s going on? The Waning Moon Hall must have the Dragon King¡¯s support.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Sh! Stop mentioning the Dragon King. It¡¯s said that the Waning Moon Hall is also the Dragon King¡¯s enemy. This is bad. Jade City is going to be more chaotic. We¡¯d better go back and sleep some more. I don¡¯t know when I¡¯ll have another chance to do so.¡±


    Most of the residents in southern Jade City had only had two to four hours of sleep, but they were even more energetic than the northern Jade City residents. Almost all of the streets and alleys were crowded with people. This area was half a city further away from the mountain, so the rumors here were more specific and exaggerated. It was as if someone who was standing in mid-air above Golden Roc Castle had told them what was happening.


    ¡°The Waning Moon Hall is tightly besieged. The female devil challenged the Unique King to a duel and they started fighting! She won¡¯tst three moves.¡±


    ¡°Half of the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s men are downed. The female lunatic was hit by the Unique King¡¯s palm attack and is spitting out blood constantly.¡±


    ¡°The Waning Moon Hall is not wiped out yet. The fight between that¡­ woman and the Unique King seems to still be going on.¡±


    ¡°The two sides are fighting tooth and nail. Lotus is capable of using witchcraft, and the Unique King is a little dizzy.¡±


    ¡°Shangguan Fa was hit by a sword strike! Shangguan Fa was hit by a sword strike! The Master Commander¡¯s swordsmanship is matchless!¡±


    In a stronghold in the southern Jade City, Xu Xiaoyi knelt down upon seeing the Dragon King. She said in a tearful voice, ¡°Dragon King, you finally came back. If you hade back even a little whileter, then I¡¯d have fought my way to Golden Roc Castle as well. Please return to the camp immediately. The prime minister is so anxious that he¡¯s about to start killing people.¡±


    With regards to the situation on the mountaintop, Xu Xiaoyi made only one remark. ¡°None of the news I¡¯ve received so far is reliable, but once I get some reliable intelligence, I¡¯ll report it to Dragon King immediately.¡±


    Escorted by over a hundred sabersmen, Gu Shenwei mounted a fast horse and galloped back to the eastern camp.


    Zhong Heng was indeed terribly anxious, but he hadn¡¯t forgotten himself like Xu Xiaoyi had. He respectfully led the Dragon King into the main tent and summoned all the generals who wouldter tell the hundreds of thousands of troops that they had seen the Dragon King with their own eyes, so that troops¡¯ morale and confidence would be stabilized.


    Dugu Xian came to the tent from the camp of the Central ins and then returned after seeing the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei knew that he had made a big mistake. For a couple of swordsmanship moves, he had nearly lost the army that he had worked so hard to build.


    But this was also a test. Without his presence, some of his allies had indeed had second thoughts. Though Zhong Heng didn¡¯tin, every message that he reported was a warning to the Dragon King. The prince of the Shule Kingdom had been exceptionally active during the past few days, frequently summoning his generals. The deputy envoy of the Central ins, Sun Chengqi, as well as eunuch Zhang You, had also been very interested in the Dragon King¡¯s whereabouts, and they even put out a bounty on reliable intelligence almost in public.


    The good news was that the Dragon Army was very stable. Long Fanyun and the swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain didn¡¯t worry about the Dragon King at all. Their confidence had a huge impact on the troops. Xiaoyao Lake¡¯s troops were also significantly moreposed than those from the Shule Kingdom.


    ¡°What happened in Golden Roc Castle?¡± It was not until they had talked about the most pressing military affairs that Zhong Heng finally showed his curiosity and concern about the big fire on the mountaintop. And almost at the same time, the first reliable intelligence report from Xu Xiaoyi was delivered to them.


    ¡°The fire in the Golden Roc Castle was put out. The battle has ended.¡±


    There were no other words. Xu Xiaoyi knew the Dragon King well, so he had sifted out all the unconfirmed rumors.


    In the afternoon, more news came in. Waning Moon Hall had retreated from Golden Roc Castle, seemingly with a victory. But this message was soon corrected with a news update: unexpectedly, Waning Moon Hall and Golden Roc Castle had reached an agreement and stopped fighting at daybreak. The price that the Golden Roc Castle had paid was abrogating the truce agreement signed in the Four Noble Truths Temple.


    There were not many people who still remembered that event, but for the people of the Waning Moon Hall, they finally regained their public identity.


    As to whether Lotus had fought the Unique King, everyone¡¯s opinions differed. And as to which one of them was tougher was an even more controversial topic. One thing that everybody knew was that a third party had just joined the fight for the control of Jade City.


    ¡°The Lord of Jade City will be selected via a kung fupetition.¡± This news, which originally was only known by a small group of people, spread through the whole city on that day, continuously rippling towards further areas.


    All residents of Jade City were shocked with the exception of very few people.


    Standing in knee-deep snow at the bottom of the cliff, Shangguan Hong and the five killers were all shivering with cold. They raised their heads and looked at that passage, unaware of the event that had taken ce on the mountaintop.

 Chapter 924 - Eyewitness

    Chapter 924: Eyewitness


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Servant Fu was a middle-aged man. His name was weird, but he hadn¡¯t had a choice. Back when he had been sold to Golden Roc Castle, the steward had named the servants with characters from the Thousand Character ssic(1. Thousand Character ssic is a Chinese poem used as a primer for teaching Chinese characters to children from the sixth century onward) in the order that those characters appeared in in the book. When it was his turn, the character that was supposed to assigned to him was ¡°Fu¡±(2. Fu in Chinese means women). Servant Fu, who hadn¡¯t been able to speak the Central ins Chinese yet at that time, had dociley epted his new name, mistaking theughs of those around him as a nice gesture.


    After he learned Central ins Chinese and realized what kind of ce Golden Roc Castle was, he had even less courage to request a new name.


    Like most of the other servants, Servant Fu advanced very slowly in his professional career. And it was not until he was in his forties that he finally managed to get a slightly decent position: purchasing outdated cosmetics.


    He could barely collect any profit in this job, and the only perk was a monthly opportunity to go downhill into southern Jade City where he could spend his petty sry finding somefort in inferior wine.


    As a result, when five shiny silver ingots were offered to him, he immediately decided to betray the castle. Apart from the temptation of money, the things that he had to provide were not confidential at all in his opinion. ¡°How¡­ How much is this?¡±


    ¡°Each ingot weighs ten taels. There are fifty taels in total,¡± Xu Xiaoyi said with a smile. Now, he was a rich merchant who had a strong curiosity for information and who was willing to buy some inside information at the cost of some small amount of money.


    Servant Fu swallowed hard, trying hard to imagine how much of his favorite wine he could buy with thisrge sum of money. After quite a while, he collected himself, lowered his head, and moved his eyes away from those silver ingots before saying in a somewhat timid tone, ¡°I saw the Waning Moon Hall break into the inner chamber with my own eyes, and they killed everybody in sight. My legs still quiver every time I think of that scene. That Master Commander ¨C I can barely mention her name. I need a moment to collect myself.¡±


    After taking another quick nce at the silver ingots on the table, Servant Fu regained some of his courage. ¡°She walked towards me, and I thought that I was about to be killed. But she didn¡¯t even give a nce at me. Someone suddenly sprang out of the ground, but she was not afraid at all. With a single palm strike¡­ No, with a single finger, that guy was killed. And then the King Lord walked over¡­ ¡±


    ¡°You saw the King Lord?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t. How dare I look at him? Besides, the King Lord was behind me, and I knelt down on the snowy ground the moment the King Lord spoke.¡±


    ¡°What did the King Lord say?¡±


    ¡°Give me a moment¡­ Let me imitate his tone for you.¡± In order to provide something worthy of those five silver ingots, Servant Fu spared no effort in his retelling. ¡°¡®This is the first time that I¡¯ve ever seen someone who¡¯s not a member of the Shangguan Family manage to reach the level of dispersing internal energy in the cultivation of the Daoless Divine Power.¡¯ Then she said, ¡®I¡¯m not as good as the King Lord. I missed¡­ a couple of chapters.¡¯ He responded, ¡®You want to use¡­ the Dead Body Swordsmanship to narrow the gap?¡¯ Then she said, ¡®I want to fight with you to prove it.¡¯¡±


    Servant Fu was trying very hard, but he still added some of his own interpretations into the dialogue, which made it sound less and less like the original conversation between the Unique King and Lotus.


    Xu Xiaoyi knew the limits of money. It could bring him information, but it could also bring him lies. A man like Servant Fu wasn¡¯t inclined to lie, but in order to please his employer, he would say anything. To make it worse, he didn¡¯t know the difference between the truth and lies at all.


    Xu Xiaoyi didn¡¯t want to encourage this kind of inclination, so he interrupted Servant Fu¡¯s imitations and bluntly asked, ¡°Did the Master Commander fight with the Unique King?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Weren¡¯t you there?¡±


    ¡°But my head was buried in snow, and I didn¡¯t see anything. The Master Commander and the King Lord didn¡¯t talk much afterwards. Uh, I heard some sounds. It sounded as if they were fighting. They must have been fighting. Yes, they fought each other. The fight was really intense. I even thought that the stone castle was going to copse at some points. That was a really rare scene¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Who won?¡±


    ¡°The King Lord, of course. The Master Commander is just a woman. I don¡¯t mean to degrade her, but how could shepare with the King Lord? She lost, so she pleaded for mercy and then requested a truce.¡±


    ¡°You heard them talking about a truce?¡±


    ¡°Somebody else told me this. When I raised my head, the Master Commander and the King Lord had already left. But I¡¯m not making this up. Everyone in the castle says that the Master Commander admired the King Lord¡¯s matchless kung fu skills, and that the King Lord also admitted that it was not easy for a woman to be this proficient in kung fu, so he decided to spare her. Did you know that the Waning Moon Hall actually used to be affiliated with Golden Roc Castle?¡±


    Servant Fu intended to talk more about this rumor, but the rich employer became uninterested at this point. ¡°That¡¯s enough. Take the silver and go have some fun. I¡¯m a little tired and I want to rest.¡±


    Servant Fu answered ¡°Yes¡± repeatedly and stared at those silver ingots for quite a while, as if he couldn¡¯t believe that they now belonged to him. He suddenly stretched out his arms, wrapped them around the silver ingots, and then held them like he would a newborn baby as he ran out.


    Xu Xiaoyi shook his head, mumbling, ¡°I hope that he has enough self-control to not spend the money too fast. If the killers found out¡­ Never mind. It doesn¡¯t concern me anymore. Somebody get me the next guest!¡±


    Zeng Jian was in his sixties but still very robust. Upon entering the room, he vigntly looked around and seemed to be very concerned about the inner room, the doorway of which was covered by a curtain formed of beads.


    He was a killer who had retired from Golden Roc Castle many years ago, but he had never let go of his former habits.


    Pointing at the five big silver ingots on the table, Xu Xiaoyi said with a smile, ¡°These are yours. Those in there are mine.¡±


    Zeng Jian was an experienced man who had seen much of the world when he was young, so he barely paid any attention to the five hundred taels of silver. ¡°I know that you work for the Dragon King. Please tell him that I¡¯m not here for the money.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi widened his eyes, as if he were humiliated, with one hand still on the silver ingots. ¡°If you¡¯re not here for money, then please leave here the same way you came. There¡¯s only money here, no Dragon King. I don¡¯t have time to send messages for you.¡±


    Zeng Jian stared at the stout rich merchant coldly. He knew that this merchant was in disguise. Suddenly, he said, ¡°A few old fellow killers and I were the first batch of people to rush into the inner chamber to help out. Those young killers were running around like headless chickens trying to stop those insignificant minions. A Sabrelord ordered us to stand by where we were.¡±


    ¡°So you didn¡¯t see the kung fupetition between the Master Commander and the Unique King?¡±


    ¡°I did, but it doesn¡¯t count as a kung fupetition. Lotus threw a palm strike. The King Lord exchanged a move with her. And then they both stopped moving. That¡¯s it.¡±


    ¡°And what happened next?¡±


    ¡°Lotus and the King Lord each brought three men and went to a nearby separate courtyard. We were still outside confronting the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s men, so we didn¡¯t see what happened in there.¡±


    ¡°Surely you heard something about it afterwards, right? Didn¡¯t three people go inside?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only telling you what I saw with my own eyes. With regards to those rumors, you can buy as many as you want with a lot less money.¡±


    Zeng Jian believed that he had offered enough information, so he fished out a piece of ck cloth, wrapped it around the five silver ingots, and put it inside the waist of his clothes while also drooping his arms to make the bump less obtrusive.


    ¡°Hu Shining knows my name. The Dragon King may ask him about what kind of man I am.¡±


    ¡°I told you¡­¡± before Xu Xiaoyi could finish speaking, the old killer had already turned around and started walking towards the doorway. ¡°Wait.¡±


    ¡°What else do you want to know? I¡¯ve already told you everything that I saw.¡±


    ¡°You said that you saw the Master Commander and the Unique King exchange a palm strike.¡±


    ¡°Um. Many people saw it.¡±


    ¡°You put it too simply. What kind of palm strike? Which one of them seemed to have the upper hand? You¡¯re a killer. You should have noticed some of the details, which is what I am paying for.¡±


    Zeng Jian hesitated for a while. ¡°Lotus surprised me,¡± he said, but there was no surprise in his face. ¡°Neither she nor the King Lord made any fancy moves. They attacked each other head-on, and they werepeting in terms of internal energy. I have to admit that Lotus¡¯ internal energy is far more powerful than that of any killer in the castle given that she managed to stay unharmed after exchanging a palm strike with the King Lord. However, it was still very wise of her to agree to a truce. The King Lord has practiced kung fu for decades. No matter how weird her secret arts are, by no means can she surpass him in such a short time.¡±


    ¡°How good do you think Lotus ispared to the Green-faced killers?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t judge people I¡¯ve neither seen nor dealt with.¡±


    Zeng Jian pushed the door open and left without even saying goodbye. He was old enough, and though he retained some of his killer habits, he had lost his killer mindset, which was why he wasn¡¯t willing to pledge his heart and blood to anybody anymore. He had rushed into the inner chamber to offer help, but after he didn¡¯t receive the reward that he deserved, he had chosen to get the reward by himself in another way.


    The old killer regarded these five hundred taels of silver as what the stone castle owed him.


    Xu Xiaoyi turned his head back, nced at the inner room, fished another five silver ingots out of a chest beside his feet, and then shouted out, ¡°Next!¡±


    His surname was Shangguan and his given name was Yinghao. He was in his thirties, the prime of his life. Since he was neither distantly nor closely rted to the Unique King, he had been given a position in the White Clothes Yard. From an outsiders¡¯ eyes, he was one of the Unique King¡¯s henchmen.


    A high price had been paid to bribe a man like him. If it were before the battle of Thousand Horsemen Pass, Xu Xiaoyi wouldn¡¯t even have tried. Even now, with thousands of troops stationed outside the city, he still had to ce five wless gold ingots on the table.


    ¡°The Dragon King said that he wouldn¡¯t necessarily kill all the members of the Shangguan family, so as long as you don¡¯t make an enemy of the Dragon King, there¡¯s no need for you to be afraid of him. And if you¡¯re willing to offer the Dragon Army some help, then you can even be our friend.¡± It was unnecessary for Xu Xiaoyi to deny that he was the Dragon King¡¯s subordinate. No merchant, however rich they were, would be able to bribe Shangguan Yinghao.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a traitor.¡± Shangguan Yinghao was sitting opposite Xu Xiaoyi. He was the only one of the three guests who had sat down on this chair, ¡°I heard that the Dragon King is still the Dragon King, and that he is uninterested in the Unique King¡¯s title.¡±


    ¡°Um. The Dragon King is indeed uninterested, but there are a lot of other people who are.¡± Xu Xiaoyi dropped a faint hint.


    But Shangguan Yinghao didn¡¯t disclose his ambition. ¡°I¡¯ll be okay with it as long as the title of the Unique King still belongs to a member of the Shangguan Family. The King Lord¡­ is old. His kung fu is improving, but his judgement is getting worse. A pedantic teacher that the King Lord trusts has dedicated himself to chasing illusory fame, convincing the King Lord to breach themandment that has been followed by the people of the stone castle for over a hundred years: abandon the tradition of assassination, downsize the killer army, and change the stone castle drastically. The White Clothes Yard used to be one of the most important areas of the stone castle, but now it has been sidelined, and we have all becamemonckeys. I¡¯m trying to stop the destruction of the castle, so I¡¯m not a traitor. It is the King Lord and Zhang Ji who have betrayed the stone castle.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi was in frequent contact with the people of Golden Roc Castle. Among all the excuses that people had given when they sold intelligence to him, this was the most righteous one he had ever heard. Admiration spontaneously rose within him, and he took another five gold ingots out of the chest besides his feet. ¡°You followed the Unique King into the courtyard and saw everything?¡±


    Shangguan Yinghao¡¯s eyes were not on those gold ingots. ¡°Mm. Lotus had another kung fupetition with the King Lord in the courtyard. This time, they exchanged three palm strikes. Then the King Lord said, ¡®Both of us will suffer if thispetition continues, and the Dragon King will be the only one benefiting.¡¯ Lotus said, ¡®That¡¯s true. What¡¯s the point of causing destruction to both our sides? Waning Moon Hall just wants an acknowledged identity.¡¯¡±


    ¡°And then what?¡±


    ¡°The negotiator was Zhang Ji, not me,¡± Shangguan Yinghao said in a jealous tone. In most cases, jealousy was more effective than greed in motivating people to take risks.


    ¡°If you had to make a judgement, then which one¡¯s kung fu do you think is better ¨C the Master Commander¡¯s or the Unique King¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°One of them is the Unique King whose name is known to everybody in the Western Regions. The other one is a killer who betrayed and fled from the stone castle to be the Master Commander of the Waning Moon Hall which has been decaying for many years. You tell me which one of them is better. But the King Lord was unable to kill Lotus on the spot. Instead, he let an enemy, the first one to intrude into the castle for decades, leave unharmed. Judging from this fact alone, he suffered an overwhelming defeat.¡±


    Shangguan Yinghao had no qualms about taking all ten gold ingots. He believed that he deserved them.


    Gu Shenwei walked out of the inner room. There was no need for Xu Xiaoyi to retell the stories, as Gu Shenwei had heard all the conversations. ¡°It seems that they were both seriously wounded.¡±


    ¡°Really? So Shangguan Yinghao deliberately hid the truth? Then I wasted five hundred taels of gold.¡±


    ¡°What he said was probably true from his viewpoint. It was Lotus and the Unique King who hid the truth.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was now certain that under only one circumstance would two people, both of whom always tried to kill each and every one of their enemies during a battle, stop fighting.


    He believed that the wounded Lotus was probably close to finding apelling reason for cooperating with the Dragon King.

 Chapter 925 - Opening Ceremony

    Chapter 925: Opening Ceremony


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Standing in the snow, Shangguan Hong felt so cold that his face had turned a ghastly pale, but this was not the main problem concerning him. A possibly fatal issue he was facing was that he had run out of antidotes.


    There was a price for rapidly improving his Daoless Divine Power with the help of the Seven Rotation Skill. The quantity of Shangguan Hong¡¯s Qi and blood was far more than that of amon person. For a man who had lost his genitalia, this was very ironic, but he would rather endure pains that others couldn¡¯t see than be a dwarf like Old Man Mu.


    There were two methods of subduing his Qi that went into a violent cirction at irregr intervals. The first one was to bleed himself, but this method could only alleviate the symptoms, and should only be used when he had no other choice. And after he bled himself, Shangguan Hong would always feel horrified and worry that the scars on his body would be more than those on the Dragon King.


    The other method was more effective and also milder. Lotus had made some special pills for him, which could helped restrain the uncontroble Qi in him. The only downside was that all of these pills were in Lotus¡¯ hands, Shangguan Hong had no idea what ingredients they were made of, and neither did he have an easy way of essing them.


    He had taken thest pill two days ago. By no means could Shangguan Hong have expected that he would have to stay at the uninhabited bottom of this cliff for three full days. He didn¡¯t dare leave, but he was so anxious that he felt like he was about to go crazy.


    ¡®Nobody cares about me,¡¯ Shangguan Hong secretlyined in his head with his back to the five killers, cautiously controlling the anger in him. He was not yet eligible to vent his mood.


    ¡®I¡¯ll have to wait until I master the swordsmanship.¡¯ Shangguan Hong constantly fantasized about that day. On the top of the border wall between southern and northern Jade City, he had killed that assassin, believing that he had be a top killer. But then soon after, he had been hit by that mysterious sword blow in a small alley in southern Jade City, which had cruelly shattered his illusions.


    ¡®That guy¡¯s swordsmanship was so good.¡¯ Shangguan Hong still felt horrified at the thought of that sword strike. If weren¡¯t for the fact that he had ran away quickly enough, he probably would have died in southern Jade City without even knowing who had killed him. That sword strike was somewhat simr to the moves in the Death Sutra, but it also felt different from what he had learned.


    What Shangguan Hong had adopted was the cultivation method of ¡°Killing Enemies,¡± which was callous and ruthless. In order to kill one person, he had to have the determination to massacre hundreds and even thousands of people all at once. But that mysterious person¡¯s killing aura was barely detectable. It was more like¡­


    Preupied with his own thoughts, Shangguan Hong suddenly discovered that the killers behind him had pulled out their sabers, so he raised his head and saw a small figure walking towards them in the light of the setting sun.


    ¡°Is it Old Man Mu?¡± Shangguan Hong asked loudly. The figure was too far away for him to gauge his actual height.


    ¡°Ha-ha. Take a guess.¡±


    It was definitely his voice.


    ¡°Why are you¡­ Where¡¯s the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s at the camp. He sent me here to tell you that everything¡¯s fine. You may leave.¡±


    Shangguan Hong was relieved, but soon, a wave of uncontroble anger swept over him. ¡°Okay,¡± he said, trying hard to remain calm.


    ¡°You feel that you were yed, so you¡¯re very unhappy, right?¡± Though he was far away, Old Man Mu could still easily tell that there was anger in Shangguan Hong¡¯s tone.


    ¡°We¡¯re all following orders. There¡¯s no point in being happy or unhappy.¡± Shangguan Hong walked towards Old Man Mu with the five killers, his voice moreposed now.


    ¡°Heh-heh. We¡¯re all following orders, but orders have different contents. Handmaids have orders to clean the floor, make beds, and fold quilts. Soldiers have orders to fight enemies. Scouts collect intelligence. Generalsmand armies from their tents. The ones who followed the Dragon King into the castle are his henchmen. And who were the ones who stayed down here as lookouts? Oh, you guys. Ha. I guess that if I left a dog here, it also would have fulfilled the task just as well.¡±


    Old Man Mu was in a good mood, so his words were meaner than usual. Even the five killers who had been rigorously trained by Hu Shining red at him. Shangguan Hong was even angrier than them. Blood was surging upwards into his head, veins were protruding on his forehead, and his eyes were aze with fury.


    Old Man Mu specifically ran a few steps closer to him to get a clearer view,ughing in satisfaction. ¡°If I had known that your anger would be so intense, then I would have brought you to the mountaintop. You could have burnt Golden Roc Castle with your fire of anger, so there would have been no need to set a fire.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Shangguan Hong was taken aback. ¡°The Dragon King burnt down Golden Roc Castle?¡±


    Including the five killers, all six people turned their heads back and looked up, but besides the steep cliff, they saw nothing.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯tpletely burnt down. There¡¯s still a part of it left standing. s, you guys must be thest batch of people of Jade City to hear about this, right?¡±


    Surprisingly, Shangguan Hong was no longer angry. He didn¡¯t dare to get angry again. He could feel that there was something wrong with the surge of blood that had just flooded into his head. He didn¡¯t want to suffer through Qi deviation in front of Old Man Mu in the wilderness.


    Old Man Mu would never easily pass up the opportunity to derive pleasure from humiliating others, so he kept nagging and unting his experience. It was pointless tough at Shangguan Hong and the others. The longer the listeners stayed silent, the more excited he got. He never stopped talking on the way back, but continued to give a full ount of what happenedst night.


    As Old Man Mu talked, Shangguan Hong became more and more startled. When they walked out of the river valley, it was totally dark. Looking in the direction of southern Jade City, which was over ten miles away and aze withntern light, he couldn¡¯t help himself from asking, ¡°The Master Commander and her subordinates invaded Golden Roc Castle, and the fight between her and the Unique Kingsted for over a hundred rounds, and then the two sides called a truce. How¡­ How is this possible?¡±


    ¡°I saw it with my own eyes. How could it be false?¡± Old Man Mu greatly exaggerated this fact, but he had no intention of correcting it.


    Shangguan Hong stopped. He didn¡¯t expect that the situation of Jade City would change drastically again in just a few days, so he had to think carefully about what he should do next.


    The five killers went into the woods to fetch the horses. With a big smile on his face, Old Man Mu looked at Shangguan Hong. ¡°We are the only two people who have ever practiced the Seven Rotation Skill. Isn¡¯t this some kind of destiny? We should get to know each other better.¡±


    ¡°Humph.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha. I knew it. Kung fu changes people¡¯s temper. Now, even Shangguan Hong has be somewhat proud. Be careful, though. Don¡¯t forget how to be humble too soon, since you still have several masters to serve ¨C the Dragon King, Lotus, the Queen, the Unique King, Madam Meng¡­ ¡±


    Shangguan Hong snatched the reins on a horse and galloped west towards Jade City. The five killers watched his receding figure with a surprised expression, perplexed.


    Curling his lips, Old Man Mu shook his head. ¡°Decayed wood cannot be carved. He can¡¯t even handle such petty teasing. Shangguan Fei is way better than him. This is so boring¡­ How long have you guys been killers for? And your surnames and given names? Let¡¯s chat as we ride.¡±


    The five killers stared at one another speechlessly and then leaped onto their horses at the same time, galloping towards the army camp in the east. As the only one left, Old Man Mu scratched his head and mumbled, ¡°It turns out that Wild Horse was the most obedient. Dumb people also have their own strengths.¡±


    Ever since City View Alley had been burnt down, Shangguan Hong had lost contact with Waning Moon Hall. Upon entering southern Jade City, he became perplexed. People on the streets and those in taverns were all heatedly discussing the Waning Moon Hall and the Master Commander. Some of the messages were even more dramatic than Old Man Mu¡¯s ount, but nobody knew the whereabouts of Lotus.


    Waning Moon Hall had obtained a public identity, but those weird women had no intention of appearing in public at all and still acted in a mysterious manner. After walking out of the stone castle, they had disappeared like usual before reaching Northern Jade City.


    The only clue was the Essence Pavilion. City View Alley had been burnt to ashes, but a que with the Essence Pavilion¡¯s name on had just been hung up at the busiest street in southern Jade City this afternoon.


    Shangguan Hong didn¡¯t like Wild Horse. Like two birds born in the same nest, they held a natural hatred towards each other, but Shangguan Hong had no other choice. He could only get in touch with Lotus through the Essence Pavilion, which doubled his jealousy.


    ¡®The Master Commander chose me herself,¡¯ he thought. ¡®She imparted a top-notch kung fu to me and also gave me the antidote. She must have a big n for me. By no means will she have forgotten about me like this.¡¯


    The busiest street in southern Jade City was Retention Alley. And the best building in the Retention Alley used to belong to Xiao Fengchai. Now, it had be the Essence Pavilion.


    A group of entric men who had moved out of City View Alley had chosen to relocate their businesses to Retention Alley. Many people felt surprised, but some also found it understandable. ¡°City View Alley and Retention Alley have always been on good terms. It¡¯s just that one of them relied on women to prosper, and the other depended on pansies for its survival. Now they¡¯ve be family. The business of Retention Alley is sure to boom.¡±


    Retention Alley wasn¡¯t strange to Shangguan Hong, but he had never spent the night here. In the past, it was because he didn¡¯t have enough money. Now, the issue of money aside, the loss of an important part of his body was a second reason, so he was very embarrassed at seeing those excited whoremasters and prostitutes hanging around.


    The Essence Pavilion, which had just hung a new que above their gate, attracted a lot of people¡¯s attention. More than a hundred people crowded the part of the street in front of the gate, most of whom were rich whoremasters apanied by their favorite prostitutes, and they were then followed by their attendants carrying wine for them. All of them were having heated discussion about what kind of business the Essence Pavilion was going to offer.


    ¡°Fortune-telling? It is said that Immortal Peng reincarnated again. I wonder if he still has his fortune-telling skills.¡±


    ¡°Is it possible to cover the rent for a building in the Retention Alley by merely relying on fortelling? I think they¡¯ll go back into their previous profession.¡±


    ¡°What kind of previous profession?¡±


    ¡°The one they were in when they were in City View Alley. Don¡¯t y dumb. A month ago, I saw you stealthily go there with my own eyes.¡±


    Those prostitutes unhappilyined. ¡°s, they can¡¯t just show up and vie with us for business like this. We¡¯ve waited so long for Xiao Fengchai to leave. And now, these guys have turned up. Men should have men¡¯s ces, and women should have women¡¯s. Now that City View Alley is gone, they should find somewhere else to rebuild their business. Why did they have toe here to steal business from a bunch of poor women?¡±


    The onlookers continued to argue and gossip, but the gate of the Essence Pavilion was closed, and nobody walked out. It seemed as if the people in there had no intention of doing any business at all.


    Shangguan Hong was too embarrassed to knock on the gate in front of so many people, so he stayed among the crowds, hoping that these onlookers would clear away soon due to the cold weather.


    Those whoremasters ran out of wine, and their prostitutes began toin about the cold. The whoremasters also felt that it was too boring to stare at the gate, so some of them gradually walked away. But at this time, someone walked out of the building, seemingly with something to say. People immediately gathered in front of the gate again.


    This man was clearly a sabersman. He was in his early twenties and very handsome, and he instantly caught a couple of whoremasters¡¯ fancy. It seemed that the Essence Pavilion¡¯s business today wouldn¡¯t be too bad.


    But the young sabersman¡¯s words disappointed them ¡°If you have any grudges against or hold hatred towards someone and want to get your revenge, thene to us. The best killers under the sun are all in the Essence Pavilion, and we are at your service.¡±


    After saying this, the sabersman turned around and walked back into the building.


    It turned out that the Essence Pavilion was actually going to vie with Golden Roc Castle for business, which astounded the onlookers. Surprisingly, nobody started to talk about this new topic which was clearly well worth discussing. As luck would have it, a gust of cold wind blew over, and with that, all the people around cleared off immediately. The prostitutes who worked in the brothels near the Essence Pavilion were panicking, all thinking that they might have to move to another ce.


    But Shangguan Hong¡¯s heart was lit with excitement. Taking advantage of the feeble state that the Golden Roc Castle was in, the Master Commander wanted to vie with the castle for business in the assassination profession which the castle had been established in for so many years. Shangguan Hong believed that this was the perfect field for him to disy his prowess.


    But soon, the churning blood and Qi in his body began to bother him. Shangguan Hong stroked the dagger in his front inside pocket, thinking that he might have to stab himself to ease the symptoms.


    A window of an upstairs room was suddenly opened, revealing Wild Horse¡¯s peculiar face. The look on that face was even more arrogant than the Dragon King¡¯s, as if he was a true king, and the one standing outside the building was merely one of his subjects who had crawled his way here to request an audience with the king.


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s right hand slowly slid to the hilt of the soft sword wrapped around his waist. He had nned to return to the Master Commander through the Essence Pavilion, but now, it suddenly dawned on him that Wild Horse was the biggest obstacle in his path.

 Chapter 926 - Underground

    Chapter 926: Underground


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Hong ced his right hand on the hilt of the sword, raised his head, and said, ¡°I¡¯m here to request an audience with the Master Commander.¡±


    Some passersby had already noticed him, and they were now pointing at him, but nobody approached the building.


    A ripple of pride passed through Shangguan Hong. Unexpectedly, he was neither unduly nervous nor afraid. Though he was slightly flustered, it had nothing to do with either Wild Horse or those onlookers.


    The so-called kingly aura was actually just him bullying the weak. This was the simple conclusion that he had arrived at. The reason why the Unique King was able to scare a person to death with a mere gaze was because his kung fu was the best in the stone castle, and because he had arge group of killers working for him. The reason why the Dragon King was so young yet had hundreds of thousands of troops at hismand was also because of his excellent sabersmanship. And Old Man Mu was an even more drastic example ¨C after he lost a considerable amount of his internal energy, he seemed to have transformed into apletely different person.


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s aplishing nothing in the stone castle had nothing to do with his talent at all. Zhang Ji¡¯s had given up on him merely because he had found Shangguan Yun, who possessed better kung fu as well as a better more background. But eventually, Zhang Ji had shifted the responsibility onto him, iming that he was born with various kinds of weaknesses.


    ¡®Hypocrite!¡¯ Shangguan Hong thought angrily. And he conveniently switched the target of the anger he was about to vent onto Wild Horse. He even began to yearn for a public duel against this one-armed freak.


    But seeing Wild Horse had disillusioned him. The face with eyes far apart disappeared, and he even closed the window.


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s confidence that he had found in his sword quickly dissolved. He didn¡¯t know how to deal with this embarrassing situation. ¡®The Unique King and the Dragon King must know how to handle this kind of thing.¡¯


    Shangguan Hong felt that Zhang Ji was making a scornful ¡°Tsk, tsk¡± sound besides his ears, so he strode up to the gate and hammered at it.


    The gate of the Essence Pavilion opened. The previous young sabersman, who had previously dered that they were open to business, walked out. He sized Shangguan Hong up and apathetically said, ¡°Go to Old Li¡¯s Tavern and wait.¡±


    Shangguan Hong was stunned. ¡°I¡¯m not here to hire a killer. Wild Horse knows-¡±


    But before he could finish talking, the gate was shut with a seemingly bored and impolite bang. Shangguan Hong raised his hand and was about to knock again, but forbore himself from doing so. ¡®That man didn¡¯t say anything about killers, so maybe he really was asking me to wait for the disciples of Waning Moon Hall in that tavern.¡¯ The Master Commander always acted mysteriously, but he was still indignant about Wild Horse¡¯s scornful manner.


    ¡®I have to find a way to let the Master Commander know about how good my swordsmanship has be,¡¯ Shangguan Hong thought, believing this was the key to changing his destiny.


    There were several back streets in southern Jade City, and there were hundreds of people called Old Li, but when these two clues were taken in conjunction, he could only think of one ce that fit the description.


    Soon, Shangguan Hong found the right ce. He fastened the horse to a post outside and went into the gateway, looking in.


    The tavern was dirty and disorderly. Groups of sabersmen were drinking and bragging inside. Judging from their conversation, all of them were here because they had be bored with the beauties and good wine of Retention Alley. Thus, they hade here to have a taste of the ¡°sabersmen¡¯s wine.¡±


    Even in the past, Shangguan Hong had never gone to this kind of ce to drink. He preferred quieter taverns where wines were cheap, and where guests spoke little words and were inclined to sit alone. In Old Li¡¯s Tavern, any simple movement could bring one a friend or an enemy.


    Shangguan Hong, who was standing at the gateway looking around, immediately made an enemy.


    A drunken, middle-aged sabersman walked to the gateway. He ignored the wide gap and fixed his eyes on Shangguan Hong. ¡°I know you.¡±


    Shangguan Hong stepped aside, remaining silent.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you replying? Are you ying dumb?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know you.¡± Shangguan Hongid his hand on the hilt of the sword again.


    ¡°You slept with a whore but didn¡¯t pay, and you also cheated when gambling. Do you want to deny it? Today, I¡¯m going to teach you a lesson for your father.¡± After saying these words, the sabersman pounced on him.


    Shangguan Hong hesitated briefly. He believed that there was no need for him to use his sword to handle a drunk, so he merely raised his arm to parry the attack.


    He was wrong. One of the Golden Roc Castle¡¯s traditional teachings was that one should make every move with ferocity, and that under no circumstances should one underestimate their opponent. However, the drunkenness of this red-eyed sabersman had clouded Shangguan Hong¡¯s judgement.


    The sabersman drew a dagger when he was less than half a foot away from Shangguan Hong. Meanwhile, three other sabersmen rushed over and surrounded the target at the narrow gateway.


    Shangguan Hong was taken aback, but it was toote to whip out his sword. He abruptly leaped rightward, hoping to find a chance to fight back.


    The first dagger was stabbed into his waist, and the second into his right shoulder. There was only a gap several feet wide left for him to maneuver in, and by no means could Shangguan Hong have dodged the attack.


    Pain, blood, confusion, and fear made Shangguan Hong feel like he was trembling all over, but he didn¡¯t want to be killed, and especially not by a bunch of nobodies in a cheap tavern.


    The four enemies pounced on him again, blocking all of his escape routes.


    Shangguan Hong fell to the ground, desperately reaching his hand out to pull the sword wrapped around his waist.


    The guests inside looked on excitedly. Here in Old Li¡¯s Tavern, this kind of fight was usually the best dish to pair with wine. They didn¡¯t care about who won or who lost, and they certainly didn¡¯t care about whose kung fu was more advanced. They only wanted to see blood sttering everywhere.


    As a result, when the strange man covered in blood struggled to his feet and red at the enemies, a great cheer arose from those guests.


    Shangguan Hong finally whipped out his sword and started attacking at a speed so fast that even he himself didn¡¯t expect it. The first sh, the second sh¡­ Though the opponents had already fallen down to the ground like he had earlier, he still didn¡¯t stop.


    Two sabersmen who had provoked him were down, soaked in blood. Seeing that the odds were heavily against them, the other two fled immediately.


    Shangguan Hong swelled with anger. Wielding the blood-stained soft sword, he yelled at the cheering crowd, ¡°Wild Horse! Show yourself, you mute, you coward! Come here and duel me! I¡¯m not afraid of you! I¡¯m not afraid of you!¡±


    The cheers grew louder.


    Shangguan Hong suddenly became unprecedentedly vignt. He abruptly turned around and saw that young sabersman who had asked him toe to Old Li¡¯s Tavern.


    ¡°You-¡±


    For the second time that day, that man didn¡¯t let him to finish talking. He directly turned around and left.


    ¡°Stop! I¡¯m telling you to stop!¡± Shangguan Hong ignored the cheering crowd behind him. With his right hand holding onto the sword and his left hand clutching the wound in his abdomen, he followed that man as he suppressed the pain. Compared to the humiliation that had been inflicted on him earlier, the pain was nothing.


    Surprisingly, the young sabersman¡¯s kung fu was pretty good. Though he seemed to be running at a moderate pace, Shangguan Hong couldn¡¯t close the distance no matter how much of his internal energy he used.


    The alley was getting narrower and the lights on the two sides were getting sparse, but Shangguan Hong didn¡¯t slow down. The young sabersman running in front of him had merely shown a rather apathetic attitude towards him, but at this moment, in Shangguan Hong¡¯s eyes, this man was the incarnation of all the humiliation and scorn that this world held against him, and Shangguan Hong was determined to kill him.


    The young sabersman abruptly stopped, turned around, and faced his pursuer.


    Shangguan Hong let out a growl and stabbed his sword at him.


    The young sabersman spoke. His voice waspletely different from the previous one. It was a female voice. ¡°Do you want to meet the Master Commander?¡±


    Shangguan Hong stopped in time. ¡°You¡­ You¡¯re a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall? Why did you have those men ambush me?¡±


    ¡°Answer my question.¡±


    ¡°Yes. I want to meet with the Master Commander. We had an agreement to meet every ten to fifteen days.¡± The moment he found out that this person was a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall, Shangguan Hong¡¯s anger had greatly abated.


    ¡°Here you are,¡± said the saberswoman, tossing him something.


    Shangguan Hong caught it. It was a small wooden box. ¡°Thanks for the antidote, but I want to meet the Master Commander. There¡¯s something¡­ that I want to tell her face-to-face.¡±


    The saberswoman was silent for a while. ¡°You¡¯re bleeding.¡±


    ¡°I am.¡± Shangguan Hong knew that blood was still gushing out of his wounds. Though it hurt a little and he was still buckling at the knees, overall, he felt veryfortable. It was as if he had a piece of ice in his mouth in a scorching summer.


    But if he didn¡¯t do anything, then he would still bleed to death. Shangguan Hong hurriedly opened the medicine box only to find that it was empty. He was transfixed with shock. ¡°There¡¯s no antidote in it,¡± he said in a perplexed tone as well as a perplexed mind.


    There was no antidote in the box, but the box was giving off a unique faint fragrance. Knowing that he had been tricked, Shangguan Hong dashed forward furiously, but he only managed to take one step when he fell to the snowy ground.


    The saberswoman watched him and said in a low voice, ¡°I really don¡¯t understand. What use could this guy possibly be of?¡±


    Wild Horse walked out of the dark, peered at Shangguan Hong for a while, and then lifted him with one hand. That old disciple of the Essence Pavilion wasn¡¯t around, so Wild Horse couldn¡¯t speak.


    Shangguan Hong gradually came around with a sharp headache. After quite a while, he recalled what had happened to him before he passed out. He hastily reached out with his hand to grab the soft sword wrapped around his waist, but didn¡¯t find it. After abruptly sitting up, he saw that his weapon was ced right beside him.


    He was in a small room with a door but no windows. On the table was a candle that was glowing dully.


    ¡°Anybody here?¡± Shangguan Hong yelled but there was no response. He got out of the bed, put on the shoes, took his soft sword, and slowly walked towards the doorway while holding his breath.


    There was no lock on the door. Outside the room was a very long corridor with many torches as well as some rooms of simr size on either side. He walked out of the room and turned right. After walking a short distance, Shangguan Hong abruptly realized that he was underground.


    As he walked through the seemingly endless corridor, Shangguan Hong felt a little scared. He was just about to turn around and retrace his steps back when a beam of light suddenly came out of the room beside him and startled him.


    The door was half open. After standing outside and thinking for quite a while, Shangguan Hong pushed the door open and walked in.


    It was a room the same size as that of the one before. There was no bed, only a table, a chair, amp, and a person.


    ¡°Master Commander.¡± Shangguan Hong was relieved, and he knelt down involuntarily.


    Sitting on the chair, Lotus was contemting something before themp. As if she hadn¡¯t heard his voice, she only slightly turned her head aside after quite a while. The look in her eyes was apathetic but not threatening. Shangguan Hong felt this was the most tender gaze in the world.


    ¡°What can I do for you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve mastered the Death Sutra Swordsmanship.¡± Kneeling on the ground, Shangguan Hong talked urgently. ¡°Really. I can do something big for you, Master Commander. There¡¯s no need for me to stay around the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Something big?¡±


    Lotus¡¯ voice was very apathetic, but Shangguan Hong didn¡¯t feel it at all. ¡°Trust me. I¡¯veprehended the essence of the Death Sutra, and it¡¯s¡­¡± Noticing that the Master Commander¡¯s eyes seemed to have swept across the wounds on him, Shangguan Hong blushed. ¡°This injury is nothing. In fact, it¡¯s beneficial to me. I¡¯m not afraid of pain or bleeding, which is one of my unique traits.¡±


    ¡°But you failed to defend yourself against the mostmon knockout powder.¡±


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s face became even redder. ¡°I was momentarily careless¡­ Yes. I¡¯m not the best killer. I wasn¡¯t, and I probably never will be. However, the situation is different now. The Central insmen are here. Both the Dragon King and the Unique King have to participate in a face-to-face kung fupetition. And the Master Commander also needs someone who can take part in the kung fupetition, right? The disciples of the Essence Pavilion may bepetent killers, but they know nothing about kung fupetitions.¡±


    Shangguan Hong watched Lotus expectantly, hoping for her encouragement. Even just a little bit would have been enough for him.


    ¡°I still haven¡¯t figured out what kind of task I should assign to you.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Of course, the Master Commander is the one to make all the decisions. I¡¯ll also try to be a killer if necessary.¡±


    ¡°But since you¡¯re already here, there is indeed something you can do for me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m at your service, Master Commander.¡±


    ¡°Go and invite the Dragon King here.¡±


    Shangguan Hong was stunned. He had thought that the Master Commander no longer needed the Dragon King¡¯s help. ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll do it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not easy to get out of here. You¡¯ll have to kill someone.¡±


    Shangguan Hong was more amazed, staring fixedly at the Master Commander. Suddenly, it dawned on him that both he and the Master Commander were prisoners.

 Chapter 927 - Vanguard

    Chapter 927: Vanguard


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Fei screamed upon seeing the sight of the person covered in dark red blood, but soon deeply regretted doing that. ¡°Wha¨CWhat happened to you?¡±


    Shangguan Hong suddenly gathered his strength and sat up with a jump, thinking that even if he was to die, his foe must die with him. However, before he could speak, Old Man Mu casually pressed him down onto the bed.


    ¡°You still dare to return? Did youe here to admit your guilt? Or did youe here to plead for mercy? For your information, the Dragon King is no pushover. If you want to talk to him, then you¡¯ll have to go through me first.¡±


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s lips were mped tightly together. He recalled that he had an upleted task.


    Old Man Mu was still nagging him. Meanwhile, Shangguan Fei¡¯s face was ghastly pale and he felt terribly nauseous.


    Doctor Sun hurried inside, nced at the injured, and thundered, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you inform me first?! What good can these two guys possibly do?¡± After saying this, he tore Shangguan Hong¡¯s clothes open, wiped the blood off his body, and started applying coagting drugs to the wounds.


    ¡°What good can we do?!¡± Old Man Mu jumped up. ¡°I can do a lot of good. If I want him to live, then he¡¯ll live, and if I want him to die, then he¡¯ll die-¡±


    ¡°Get out.¡± Doctor Sun was always in a bad mood and unafraid of anybody when he was treating patients.


    Old Man Mu was just about to start a verbal battle with him when the Dragon King came in. The guards nodded respectfully at him. Old Man Mu immediately forgot about Doctor Sun, and he bowed lower than anybody else. Shangguan Fei was probably the only one who couldpare with him in this aspect.


    ¡°Today, Shangguan Fei and I are going to inspect of the camp.¡± Smugly watching Doctor Sun who was busy saving people, Old Man Mu made a remark to indicate that he was useful, but Doctor Sun didn¡¯t even glimpse at him. ¡°The soldiers on patrol outside of the camp found him and brought him to me. I decisively took him to this tent and then sent someone to inform the Dragon King and¡­ this guy. I think that Shangguan Hong is at the end of his ropes. I mean, look at him. Lotus probably used him for some kind of evil kung fu test of the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    Shangguan Hong abruptly sat up, which startled Doctor Sun, who was treating him. ¡°Dragon King, hur- hurry¡­ I- have something to tell you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei signaled for the others to leave. Before taking his leave, Old Man Mu warned the Dragon King in a low voice against the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s plots. Doctor Sun was very displeased. ¡°The treatment is only half-finished, so don¡¯t me me if he dies.¡±


    Nobody would me him. At the very least, Shangguan Hong didn¡¯t request him to continue treating him. Instead, he desperately wanted to talk to the Dragon King alone. ¡°The Master Commander¡­ is requesting an audience with the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Watching Shangguan Hong, who was still covered in blood, Gu Shenwei responded in a nd voice.


    ¡°The¨CThe thing is, the Master Commander imparted the Waning Moon Swordsmanship to the disciples of her sect, and now that most of them have made some progress, she hopes that the Dragon King can offer some advice to them.¡±


    ¡°What about you? Who offered you advice and wounded you so badly?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m all right,¡± Shangguan Hong said as he tried to straighten himself. ¡°I also learned the Waning Moon Swordsmanship, so I had a kung fupetition with the others. I defeated several of my opponents but was also hurt. I¡¯m not afraid of bleeding, which I¡¯ve already told the Dragon King. As long as¡­ I don¡¯t lose too much blood.¡±


    ¡°Um. You should stop the bleeding first.¡±


    ¡°No, no. Pleasee with me to the Master Commander¡¯s ce. Let¡¯s depart right now.¡± Shangguan Hong urgently tried to get out of bed, but the look on his face suggested that he was in agony. Clearly, his injury was not ¡°all right.¡± No matter how much blood he had in his body, he would surely bleed out if he didn¡¯t treat his wounds.


    ¡°Treat your wounds first. We¡¯ll talk tomorrow.¡±


    Gu Shenwei turned around and left the tent. Doctor Sun, who had been waiting impatiently, immediately rushed inside. Before Shangguan Hong could even raise an objection, he stuffed a handful of pills into his mouth.


    Upon entering the Dragon King¡¯s tent, Old Man Mu said, ¡°This is clearly a trap. They want to lure the Dragon King into it. Shangguan Hong is disloyal to the Dragon King.¡±


    Following along, Shangguan Fei nodded in absolute approval. The two had impolitely eavesdropped on the conversation between Shangguan Hong and the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei thought for a while. ¡°Several things are very strange. Lotus and the Waning Moon Hallunched an attack on Golden Roc Castle, but the battle ended inexplicably. Wild Horse turned the Essence Pavilion into a killer organization and then publicly tried to solicit customers in southern Jade City. All these things don¡¯t seem like things they would do under normal circumstances.¡±


    ¡°Wild Horse¡¯s dream is to be a killer. I can tell what he¡¯s thinking without even asking him,¡± said Old Man Mu.


    Gu Shenwei knew what Wild Horse¡¯s dream was, but he knew even better what kind of man Wild Horse was. He was a strong-willed, proud killer who would dedicatedly perform his duties if his master was powerful. But once his master became weak, he would regard his master as an obstacle.


    ¡°Do you want to learn the Death Sutra?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Of course, but I haven¡¯t made any big contributions, so I¡¯m afraid that I don¡¯t deserve it, but-¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°Pardon?¡±


    ¡°Currently, you don¡¯t deserve it.¡±


    Old Man Mu became depressed. ¡°s, it seems that I was daydreaming, but as long as the Dragon King is happy, I¡¯m okay with it. Seriously.¡±


    Shangguan Fei secretly admired Old Man Mu, thinking that there were still many things that he could learn from this shameless old guy.


    ¡°But there¡¯s an opportunity in front of you. You might be able to learn a part of the Death Sutra if you manage to grab it.¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s eyes lit up again, but along with the happy grin was a vignt look. ¡°I get it. The Dragon King wants me to meet Lotus and learn the Waning Moon Swordsmanship from her. But Lotus is no pushover. Um¡­ should I pretend that I want to defect to the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s side? Everybody knows that I¡¯m loyal to the Dragon King, so nobody would believe me no matter how hard I tried to pretend otherwise.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a much simpler way. Lotus has imparted the swordsmanship to many disciples, and they¡¯re now looking for ¡®sparring¡¯ partners. With your talent, you should be able to learn a lot from their moves.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King thinks very highly of me.¡± Old Man Mu smiled unnaturally. The wounds on Shangguan Hong¡¯s body indicated that the so-called ¡°sparring¡± was actually fellow disciples trying to kill each other. He would be risking life and limb if he went there to spectate these battles. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll go. Leaving all other reasons aside, I¡¯ll do this because the Dragon King asked me to. Shangguan Fei,e with me.¡±


    Shangguan Fei had been thinking that his job was to keep nodding and express his heartfeltpliment, so he failed to stop in time. It was not until he nodded twice that he suddenly realized what he had just agreed to. ¡°Ah, me? Why would I go there?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll learn their kung fu, and you¡¯ll watch. You¡¯ll get to know how the Waning Moon Hall fights people.¡±


    Shangguan Fei shook his head repeatedly. ¡°I¡¯m not going. I have to stay here and inspect the camp. The Dragon King is already badly short on hands.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. You two go together. This is a pretty good chance.¡± Gu Shenwei left Shangguan Fei no choice.


    Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t dare raise an objection in front of the Dragon King. After they left the tent, he couldn¡¯t help start ming Old Man Mu. ¡°Why did you drag me into this? I¡¯m not interested in the swordsmanship at all.¡±


    ¡°Idiot.¡± Old Man Mu scornfully curled his lips. ¡°I only brought you with me because you¡¯ve been acting like a dutiful kid. Stop being ungrateful.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that you¡¯re doing this for my benefit?¡± Shangguan Fei was slow when he was afraid. After Old Man Mu reminded him, he began to ponder the situation over. ¡°Oh! The point that you¡¯ve been trying to make is that the Dragon King wants us to be the vanguard, and that he himself will stealthily follow us. Thus, we¡¯ll make a great contribution?¡±


    ¡°My goodness. It took you so long to understand the point.¡±


    ¡°Heh-heh. Not everybody is as smart as you, old man. But I¡¯m still a little confused. Why didn¡¯t the Dragon King tell us about the n directly? Is it because he doesn¡¯t trust us?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not us. The Dragon King doesn¡¯t want the others to think that Lotus is bossing him around. I promise you that the Dragon King is still hesitating right now, but as soon as we depart, he¡¯ll immediately follow us. This is how people think about things. Apart from an experienced old man like me, how many others do you think could predict this?¡±


    ¡°This is not what the Dragon King would do.¡± Shangguan Fei indeed didn¡¯t quite understand. In his opinion, the Dragon King had always been a decisive man who never hesitated about anything.


    Old Man Mu raised his eyes and nced at him. ¡°I forgot that you like men, and that you¡¯re an idiot who knows nothing about women.¡±


    The two went into Shangguan Hong¡¯s tent together. Doctor Sun had already left. Shangguan Hong was heavily bandaged up, and only his eyes and nostrils could be seen.


    Shangguan Fei couldn¡¯t help himself from letting out augh. ¡°This outfit fits you quite well.¡±


    Shangguan Hong red at him. Old Man Mu walked forward and asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Lotus? The Dragon King wants us to go there to help.¡±


    ¡°The Master Commander doesn¡¯t need any help. And even if she does, there¡¯s nothing¡­ that <em>you </em>can do.¡±


    Shangguan Fei was not keen on making a contribution, so he was immediately relieved. ¡°He doesn¡¯t think that we can be helpful, Old Man Mu. Let¡¯s stop ttering ourselves¡­ ¡±


    He said this in such an unduly rxed manner that his words had the opposite effect. Watching them, Shangguan Hong instantly changed his mind. ¡°I¡¯ll take you there.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t even walk.¡± Shangguan Fei made an unnatural smile. Judging from the baleful look in Shangguan Hong¡¯s eyes, this trip had to be extremely dangerous. ¡°But if you insist on taking us there yourself, then you should at least wait until you¡¯re in a better condition.¡± Shangguan Fei decided to make up an excuse so that he could go to his mother¡¯s and stay there for a few days.


    Shangguan Hong jumped off of the bed and tore the gauze off. ¡°I¡¯m fine. That blood was not mine. Let¡¯s move right away. Grab your weapons. Are you the only ones? The Dragon King¡­ didn¡¯t assign more men?¡±


    ¡°I can handle a hundred enemies at a time, and Little Feifei can also handle a dozen or so. Do you still think that we¡¯re not powerful enough? Didn¡¯t Lotus be invincible after she mastered the Daoless Divine Power? So how was she trapped by her own men?¡±


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s face changed drastically. ¡°Who told you that the Master Commander is trapped?¡±


    ¡°Easy. You¡¯re pretty good at keeping secrets, but even a fool can tell what¡¯s going on. If Lotus was doing fine, why would she have youe here to meet the Dragon King with blood all over you? Wouldn¡¯t that be a humiliation for her?¡±


    Shangguan Hong was stunned. It turned out that the truth had been that obvious. There had no need for him to try to conceal it from the very beginning. ¡°So the Dragon King already clearly knew that the Master Commander is trapped, but he has no intention of¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu jumped up and pped Shangguan Hong on top of his head. ¡°Do you think that I¡¯m a ve of the Shangguan family? Stop asking questions. Start moving if you can and tell us the address if you can¡¯t. What¡¯s the point of talking so much nonsense? My time is precious, and you can¡¯t afford to waste it, understand?¡±


    Old Man Mu kept nagging and Shangguan Hong was unable to stop him, so he hurriedly got dressed. When they left the tent, it was already dawn.


    The three rode out of the camp and galloped towards Jade City. Shangguan Fei turned his head back repeatedly, but he couldn¡¯t see any signs of the Dragon King following them. Eventually, he gave up trying, thinking that he wouldn¡¯t be able to find the Dragon King even if he had actually followed them.


    Old Man Mu was more interested in Shangguan Hong. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that the old guy surnamed ¡°Sun¡± would be this good. He actually managed to help you cheat death. Look at you. You¡¯re alive and kicking, almost as good as new.¡±


    ¡°Um,¡± Shangguan Hong replied perfunctorily. He himself was the only one who knew what kind of condition he was really in. He had to save the Master Commander and get the antidote as soon as possible. Otherwise, his body would explode from the uncontrobly rising blood pressure.


    Shangguan Hong led the two to the eastern city gate. Shangguan Fei asked in surprise, ¡°Lotus is in northern Jade City? It¡¯s still daytime. Are we directly going in just like this?¡±


    ¡°Seriously? You still care about whether we¡¯re doing this during the day or during the night under these circumstances?¡± asked Shangguan Hong. He didn¡¯t want to waste any time.


    All three of them had security passes, so they all went through the checkpoint without any trouble. Shangguan Fei had kept his head down the wjp;e time, regretting the fact that he hadn¡¯t disguised himself.


    After they progressed a short distance through northern Jade City, Shangguan Fei suddenly realized where they were heading. ¡°The Bodhi Garden. Lotus is hiding in the Bodhi Garden?¡±


    Shangguan Hong shot a displeased nce at him, as if ming him for his loud voice.


    After returning to Jade City, this was the first time that Shangguan Fei had walked into northern Jade City during the daytime. Additionally, he wasn¡¯t disguised and there was nobodying to his aid, which made him feel extremely nervous. He felt as if everybody on the street would recognize him and then go to Golden Roc Castle to tell on him.


    He started frequently turning his head around again, hoping to spot the Dragon King¡¯s figure.

 Chapter 928 - Breakthrough

    Chapter 928: Breakthrough


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Watching the familiar face of the body beneath his feet, Wild Horse was carried back to his memories of six years ago. Back then, he had had two arms and the rear half of his tongue, but he didn¡¯t mind the disfigurement at all. Words became redundant when he was able to express everything through a saber or a sword.


    He believed that he was born to be a killer. Unlike the many other people who had been taken away from their family when they were still young, he retained some of his childhood memories. He remembered the boundless snowy ground, his grim-faced parents, and his joyous ymates. And even more vividly, he remembered the scenes of them being killed.


    Back then, he had only been five or six years old, but even then he had felt nothing when he had seen his parents be killed. He had merely been surprised that it was so easy to kill people. It had taken those people in ck just a single saber sh to kill someone. Their movements had been neat and clean, and it seemed like killing was even easier for them than collecting spring wild vegetables was for a viger.


    A killer walked up to him, looking at him with expressionless eyes. ¡°Are you a fool?¡±


    Because his eyes were unnaturally far apart, many people had simr suppositions about Wild Horse since his childhood. He remembered that he immediately shook his head at that time, but he didn¡¯t remember whether he had spoken or not. Speech had disappeared in his memories a long time ago.


    He never found out the identity of that killer who had stared at him back then, and neither had he ever tried to find out.


    He had then been sent to a ce outside the mountainous area, where he lived with three other children of his age. The house was shabby, but the food there was far better than what he had had in his own home.


    One day, the adult responsible for bringing them meals came to them. Besides food, he also brought out four strange sabers and said, ¡°I will only bring enough food for one from now on. You¡¯ll have to decide who shall have it.¡±


    While the other three children had been looking at each other in confusion, Wild Horse was already rushing to the first narrow saber that he had seen and grabbed it. He tried to imitate the killers he had seen before. Clumsily butposedly, he soon killed his threepanions. Nobody even touched the other three narrow sabers.


    ¡°Not bad. You¡¯ll make a good killer,¡± the adult said ndly. Clearly he was very used to this kind of scene.


    Then, Wild Horse had been sent to another strange ce. There were a lot more children, and their age varied from four to thirteen years old. Every day, they practiced sabersmanship from dawn until dark, and they also worshiped Golden Roc Castle and the Unique King, both of whom they only had a vague concept of.


    On the seventh day after his arrival at the new ce, Wild Horse followed the examples of the strongest children and cut off his own tongue, but he wasn¡¯t acknowledged right away. Two yearster, he had be epted by the strong after he proved that he was one of the best among his peers. He was also given the name ¡°Wild Horse.¡±


    As a matter of fact, the so-called ¡°strong¡± was a title that was constantly given to different children. Before the elementary-level training was over, several seemingly invincible children had been defeated by obscure challengers, usually because of a momentary carelessness.


    It was from that time on that Wild Horse realized that, a;though kung fu was important, it was not the only quality that a killer should have. A strong will, calmness, patience, a quick and urate judgement, and a good sense of timing for counterattacks were all helpful at crucial moments.


    On Wild Horse¡¯s first day in Golden Roc Castle, an experienced killer instructor had started to instill a simr killer philosophy the into young neers, which made Wild Horse very excited. He wholeheartedly believed that the stone castle was a holy shrine for killers, and that it was well worth his many years of worship.


    The training in Carving Wood Yard was uneventful. Wild Horse was neither outstanding nor weak. He was now a senior member of the ¡°Snow Mountain Gang,¡± the members of which had all cut off their tongues, and he had also secured his status within it, so nobody dared to bully him.


    And then he had gone to the Furnace Yard where Wild Horse had remained a mediocre trainee. It was also where he and his enemy, Servant Huan, had met but still been unaware of each other¡¯s existence.


    After that, the apprentices started killing each other. Just like how a storm always blew down the tallest trees to allow the shorter ones, which had been overshadowed before, to enjoy more sunlight and rainwater, the rtively stronger apprentices were killed first, and Wild Horse was one of the biggest beneficiaries.


    Unlike the Servant Huan who was at a loss for what to do, Wild Horse had long since prepared himself for this situation. He had a wide range of contacts. He knew how to make full use of his leadership. And he certainly knew how to survive during a chaotic battle.


    As a result, he looked down upon Servant Huan and the Tattooed Arm Gang, believing that Lotus was the only true killer in that small group.


    For a very long time, Wild Horse had regarded Lotus as his only opponent. He had tried to co-opt her, and he also tried to assassinate her. But all of his attempts had failed.


    Eventually, it was Servant Huan, whom Wild Horse despised, who changed his destiny.


    After Wild Horse left those killers behind and started socializing with his masters, his advantages instantly became disadvantages. He was unable to make friends with the Tenth Young Master Shangguan Ru. Shangguan Yushi appreciated him, but only regarded him as a tool that she could use to deal with Servant Huan.


    Wild Horse still scorned Servant Huan, but was frequently outdone, and his contempt for him soon turned into hatred.


    Servant Huan broke numerous killer rules, but instead of being punished, he had been promoted again and again. His very existence was a threat to all killers as well as a potential w of Golden Roc Castle.


    The premonitions of Wild Horse had then been verified one after another, and it was through this very process that the lofty image of Golden Roc Castle in his mind had finally copsed. Wild Horse started to seek his own path. Old Man Mu, the Essence Pavilion, the lords of the Nond, the Waning Moon Hall ¨C like he had when he was a child, he yielded to many powerful forces. However, he always refused to take orders from that mortal enemy of his, no matter if he was called Servant Huan or the Dragon King.


    Likewise, when the strong became weak, Wild Horse regarded his inevitable betrayal as a natural thing, and he didn¡¯t even bother trying to justify it. Just like the sheep and cattle, no matter how abundant the grass initially was, they always had to transfer to another ce before they ate up all of the grass.


    Wild Horse¡¯s kung fu became better and better, but surprisingly, the gap between him and the Dragon King was growing wider and wider, which greatly confused him. Eventually, he attributed it to the Death Sutra.


    The Death Sutra was no longer a secret. There were more and more rumors about it circting around. Wild Horse finally understood why Servant Huan, who didn¡¯t act like a killer at all, had stood out amongst all otherpetitors. Like the other servants who had achieved sess and won recognition, it was neither hard work nor wisdom but rather luck that Servant Huan had relied on.


    He wanted to take this luck away from Servant Huan.


    Lotus was not easy to deal with. Not only did she consider the Death Sutra as a lifesaving unique skill, but she also regarded it as an absolute secret between herself and Servant Huan. No matter how humbly Wild Horse behaved, he still couldn¡¯t attain her absolute trust, and neither could he obtain the Death Sutra.


    But the Goddess of Luck had finally smiled upon him. When Lotus was about to carry out her ambitious n, her kung fu had reached the level of dispersing internal energy. Without any trust in the disciples of her sect, she had to temporarily hand over her power to Wild Horse.


    Wild Horse seized this opportunity and soon discovered that not all the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall were loyal to Lotus. A small group of powerful members, most of whom had witnessed and couldpare the times of the two hall leaders, Han Wuxian and Lotus, believed that neither of these two people were the master that they wanted to serve. In addition, inspired by Lotus¡¯ deeds, every one of them coveted the position of Hall Leader, as long as they were powerful enough to take the position.


    Wild Horse immediately regrouped these disciples and meanwhile, also recruited more members into the Essence Pavilion. Since Golden Roc Castle no longer trained any killers, the children who possessed the potential to be killers were abundantly avable, like jewels waiting to be picked up. Shangguan Ru and Madam Meng took in most of the killers dismissed by the stone castle, but Wild Horse had kept those outside the stone castle in mind.


    With his memories, Wild Horse had found a batch of children. Following this clue, he had then managed to find more. Eventually, there were so many of them that he had to sift out the inferiors inrge numbers.


    Wild Horse had delegated this job to his subordinates. He himself instead concentrated all of his efforts into pressuring Lotus by telling her the current situation. The Waning Moon Hall could hide in the dark, but no matter what, the Master Commander needed a public organization to exert direct influence on the other sides, and this organization also had to be a powerful force in a short time. He told her that the Dragon King was imparting the Death Sutra to his most trusted and excellent subordinates, and so she must do the same.


    Wild Horse couldn¡¯t speak, but this was no hindrance to his strategy. More and more people came to his support. Even some of the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall who were loyal to the Master Commander believed that, since the Daoless Divine Power could be widely imparted to disciples, the Death Sutra was no exception.


    Lotus had just dispersed her internal energy, so not only was her kung fu temporarily gone, but her will had also greatly weakened. She had then handed over the Death Sutra. Though it was only a part of it, it was far more powerful than what the Dragon King had imparted to his subordinates.


    To whom the Death Sutra should be imparted to was solely at Wild Horse¡¯s discretion. Lotus wanted this group to be as small as possible, but Wild Horse had his own ns. Diverging from Lotus¡¯ intentions, he had imparted the swordsmanship to almost all of the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall as well as most of the newly-recruited disciples of the Essence Pavilion. Then, he had sent them to Jade City to improve their kung fu by killing people.


    He had a n, one that had taken shape a long time ago. Looking back on how it had developed as the years went by, he realized that the most effective method of improving one¡¯s kung fu was to kill one¡¯s fellow disciples. The ughtering period of the killer disciples of Golden Roc Castle had given him a deep impression. Never had he been more satisfied than he was during that period. He wanted to rigidly duplicate the entire training system of Golden Roc Castle.


    Like almost everyone else who practiced the Death Sutra, Wild Horse had also, at one time, be conceited due to his overestimation of his swordsmanship, believing that he was the best. Thus, he had wanted to challenge the Dragon King to prove it.


    In the peach forest of Gui Garden, Wild Horse had missed the chance to fight with the Dragon King, but afterwards, he knew he would have surely been defeated if he had fought with him. The Dragon King was not the only person who had disillusioned him. Shangguan Hong had also done so.


    Apart from Wild Horse, Shangguan Hong was the only other person to whom Lotus had personally imparted the Death Sutra. Likewise, Shangguan Hong had learned only part of one cultivation method, the essence of which was ¡°Killing Enemies.¡±


    Wild Horse had been paying close attention to thispetitor of his. He discovered that Lotus was not partial to anyone. Shangguan Hong¡¯s internal energy was somewhat more powerful because he had the Seven Rotation Skill, but his swordsmanship was no different from that of the other practitioners.


    However, in the peach forest, Shangguan Hong, with his strong desire for survival, had broken through the restrictions that Lotus had imposed on him at the very beginning and managed to develop his own, more powerful swordsmanship.


    Nominally, the Dragon King¡¯s act of switching his weapon from a sword to a saber was also not in ordance with the Death Sutra¡¯s principles.


    It was at that moment that light had suddenly dawned on Wild Horse. He realized that hisprehension of the Death Sutra was still superficial, but he couldn¡¯t think of a way to obtain true mastery of it.


    The fundamental solution to this issue was in Lotus¡¯ hands.


    When an spy confirmed that the Dragon King might be trapped in Golden Roc Castle, Wild Horse had taken advantage of this opportunity by inciting Lotus, who had just regained her internal energy, into publiclyunching an attack on Golden Roc Castle and dering to the whole world that the Waning Moon Hall was back.


    Wild Horse didn¡¯t care about the Waning Moon Hall at a;;. He merely wanted to see how Lotus, who had been reborn, would perform the Death Sutra.


    Lotus had probably seen through his intention, so she hadn¡¯t even pulled out her sword, instead fighting the Unique King with only palm techniques.


    But for Wild Horse, that was already enough. The Death Sutra hadpletely sunk into Lotus a long time ago. Just like how the Dragon King had learned to perform the swordsmanship with a saber, Lotus¡¯ every move now bore the brand of the Death Sutra.


    After seeing Lotus perform the Death Sutra, Wild Horse had also broken through the restrictions of the singr principle of ¡°Killing Enemies.¡± He wanted to make another breakthrough and finish his cultivation of the Death Sutra along with the unrestricted cultivation method of ¡°Ceasing and Arising.¡±


    As a result, he had created this underground ughter chamber. Every disciple who practiced the Death Sutra, no matter if they were from the Essence Pavilion or the Waning Moon Hall, had to prove themselves with their swordsmanship. Thest survivor would be deemed the strongest one and be eligible to challenge the Master Commander.


    Shangguan Hong had survived the early stages of this fight. When he, covered in blood, had tried to escape, Wild Horse didn¡¯t stop him. He wanted more people to join this fight. He hoped that everyone who had ever practiced the Death Sutra would gather together, turning this fight into an unprecedented feast.


    Wild Horse didn¡¯t keep count of his kills like he had used to when he was an inexperienced killer disciple. He felt it was now pointless, since he could distinctly feel his swordsmanship bing more and more powerful, and that he was making progress with each body that he left behind.


    Beneath Wild Horse¡¯s feet, thest disciple of the Essence Pavilion lost his life. He thought that he had been helping the young man who would kill him be a part of Immortal Peng, but it turned out that he had instead be a sacrifice for the Death Sutra.


    Smelling the strong odor of blood, Wild Horse was looking forward to thest phase of this ruthless ughter. This time, he was going to challenge Servant Huan to a duel, and only one of them would leave alive.

 Chapter 929 - The Entrance

    Chapter 929: The Entrance


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Standing at the gateway of the small courtyard, Han Fen seriously said, ¡°I think that it¡¯s here.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took a step backwards and looked in the direction of the Bodhi Garden, which was separated from the small courtyard by a high wall.


    The Bodhi Garden was thergest courtyard in all of northern Jade City. There was aplex underground maze in it. After passing through a variety of owners, it had ultimately fallen into the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s hands and be a prison in which Lotus was locked.


    As expected, Gu Shenwei had indeede after sending Old Man Mu and Shangguan Fei out. But he hadn¡¯t stealthily followed them alone. Instead, he had publicly entered Jade City while bringing hundreds of guards with him.


    Old Man Mu had obvious characteristics and Shangguan Fei was a fairly famous man, so Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s subordinates had easily recognized them and then reported their path to the Dragon King, who was behind them.


    Gu Shenwei had learned his lesson in Golden Roc Castle and had no intention of taking the risk of taking action alone. So, he had left some of the guards outside the city and then taken the rest of them with him into northern Jade City. Through the bugle and specially made fireworks, he could immediatelymunicate with those outside the city, who could then send signals to the army. Thus, nobody in the city would dare publiclyunch an attack on the Dragon King.


    Most of the residents of Jade City had already seen the Dragon King and knew what he looked like, but they were still very curious. Large numbers of people crowded the streets to look at him, excitedly looking over those guards, who were standing on either side of the road, preventing onlookers from getting in the way in the direction of the Dragon King.


    Han Fen also excitedly looked back at the crowds, thinking that these residents were more interested in the Dragon King than the location of the Waning Moon Hall. ¡°Ha, there are so many people here. Dragon King, turn around. All of them want to see you.¡±


    Gu Shenwei ignored her rambling.


    Chu Nanping walked out of the small courtyard. ¡°There¡¯s nobody in there. Old Man Mu and Shangguan Fei went into a secret passage that leads underground.¡±


    In the distance, Tie Linglong yelled, ¡°Dragon King, Meng Mingshu and Du Jian from the Heavenly Mountain Sect are requesting an audience with you.¡±


    Meng Mingshu was very embarrassed, as if he had been caughtmitting adultery. He had already secretly taken the Dragon King¡¯s side on behalf of the Meng family. For the sake of the Meng family¡¯s huge fortune, he had to fawn upon the Dragon King. But when he was faced with someone from Golden Roc Castle, he had to pretend that he barely knew the Dragon King. So, he was caught in a dilemma.


    ¡°Dragon King, to what do I owe the honor? Pleasee in and be our guest,¡± Meng Mingshu said politely. The moment his eyes met the Dragon King¡¯s, he nervously lowered his head.


    Gu Shenwei nodded without responding to Meng Mingshu¡¯s greeting, his eyes focused on Du Jian.


    Du Jian had nned to stand up to the Dragon King as an equal, but because of the raucous onlookers behind him, he was under huge pressure. All of the residents seemed to be demanding that he abide by the regr tradition of meeting with a king, so Du Jian slightly bowed and put on an unnatural smile. ¡°May I ask what the purpose of the Dragon King¡¯s visit is?¡±


    Chu Nanping was the leader of guards. With his hand on the sword hilt, he said, ¡°Watch your mouth. You¡¯re not allowed to ask the Dragon King any questions.¡±


    He said this to Du Jian, but Meng Mingshu became even more nervous because he had also made a remark in an interrogative tone a short while ago.


    Du Jian wanted to sneer, but all he uttered was a string of weird, hoarse sounds. He hurriedly stopped and coughed several times. ¡°A straightforward person does not resort to insinuations. The Dragon King must havee here for the underground maze in the Bodhi Garden, right? The Heavenly Mountain Sect has already sent some men down there. Soon, they will bring everyone in there up here. If the Dragon King is interested in any one of them, then maybe I can hand them to Dragon King.¡±


    Meng Mingshu hung his head even lower. There was a huge maze under his dwelling, and it was not until today that he had been informed of this by an outsider. He was very ashamed, but he was also worried that the Dragon King might misunderstand him and think that the Second Young Master Meng of the Meng family had deliberately concealed this from him. Heedless of Du Jian¡¯s presence, he immediately said, ¡°If it weren¡¯t for the fact that Sect Leader Du had mentioned it, I never would have known that there was a maze under the Bodhi Garden. When this is over, I¡¯ll send some men to fill the hole with water right away.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no hurry,¡± Gu Shenwei said to console Meng Mingshu. Then, he asked Du Jian, ¡°How many people did the Heavenly Mountain Sect send down there?¡±


    Du Jianughed, implying that the Dragon King was being a busybody, but his voice was still somewhat different from his usual voice, which made him feel very embarrassed.


    Chu Nanping coldly ordered, ¡°Answer the question.¡±


    Du Jian gave an angry nce at Chu Nanping, believing that Chu Nanping was like a fox assuming the majesty of a tiger. However, he had to admit that he was indeed a little afraid of the ¡°tiger¡± behind this handsome swordsman. ¡°At least fifty,¡± he said reluctantly.


    ¡°That¡¯s far from enough.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha. How many men does the Dragon King n on sending? Ten thousand soldiers?¡± Du Jian believed that he finally managed to say something that matched his identity, and a wave of unbridled delight swept over him.


    ¡°Four. Me, her, you, and an attendant of yours. You may choose one.¡±


    When Du Jian heard that he had to enter the underground maze along with the Dragon King, his instinctive reaction was to vigntly take a step backwards. ¡°I¡¯m not going, and the Dragon King doesn¡¯t need to either. The sabersmen of the Heavenly Mountain Sect will figure out what is happening down there.¡±


    ¡°Let me tell you what¡¯s happening down there ¨C the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall and the disciples of the Essence Pavilion are killing each other. I¡¯ll go in and take a look. You can do whatever you want.¡±


    Han Fen, who had been waiting impatiently, rushed into the small courtyard the moment the Dragon King turned around.


    Stunned, Du Jian looked at Meng Mingshu with a displeased look. Originally, this new patriarch of the Meng family had supposed to help him prevent the Dragon King from entering the maze. But so far, he had beenpletely unhelpful. After hesitating for a short while, he waved at the four guards behind him, nning to follow the Dragon King into the maze. If by any chance there was indeed some kind of secret in it and the Dragon King got to it first, then the Unique King would surely hold him ountable for it.


    Like a hateful rock, Chu Nanping always got in his way. ¡°You can only bring one of them.¡±


    Du Jian sorely wanted to tell him that he didn¡¯t have to follow the Dragon King¡¯s order, but the Dragon King¡¯s guards outnumbered his men. So, he signaled three of the guards to stay, bringing the one whose kung fu was the best with him.


    The moment he entered the underground maze, Du Jian regretted entering. They were in a dark, long corridor, and the distance between the torches was very long. Nobody knew whether there was anyone lying in ambush on the two sides.


    Du Jian and his guard ran a few steps forward to catch up with the Dragon King, who had already walked a certain distance forward.


    Han Fen was not afraid at all. ¡°Dragon King, isn¡¯t this ce simr to that big grave?¡±


    She was referring to the mausoleum of the old Khan. Du Jian¡¯s heart lurched, and secretly reprimanded her in his mind. ¡®Shut up, stupid woman.¡¯


    ¡°Kind of,¡± Gu Shenwei replied. Though his tone was nd, Du Jian felt like he was colluding with her in speaking inauspicious words.


    ¡°But there aren¡¯t any shiny things here. Actually there¡¯s also a simr ce in the Waning Moon Hall, and I used to y there a lot. It¡¯s very interesting. Do you know what we yed there, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha, we each brought one type of knockout powder and a dagger. The one who made it to the other end alive won. I always won. Once, I even walked out with four kinds of knockout powder and six daggers. Hall Leader Han even praised me. s, I was carried away and let out a fewughs before the Hall Leader then took a dislike to me.¡±


    ¡°Han Wuxian didn¡¯t allow you tough?¡±


    ¡°Um,¡± Han Fen replied in an aggrieved tone. ¡°She said thatughing was an advanced secret art that we shouldn¡¯t use arbitrarily, and that myugh was silly and a humiliation for the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    Han Fen suddenly burst intoughter, as if she was purposefully protesting against the absent Han Wuxian. But herugh just startled Du Jian and his guard, who then whipped out their sabers at the same time.


    At this moment, when they were next to a torch, Han Fen stoppedughing, turned around, and looked at them in confusion before nervously asking in a muted voice, ¡°What did you find?¡±


    Du Jian was embarrassed and annoyed. He was the one who should be asking this question. He answered, ¡°Nothing.¡± And then, he and the guard awkwardly sheathed their sabers.


    But Han Fen became interested in him, so she let the Dragon King pull ahead of her as she fell back to walk side by side with Du Jian, staring at him. Even when they entered the dark, Du Jian could feel her eyes still staring at him, so he asked in an unfriendly tone, ¡°What¡¯re you doing?¡±


    ¡°Are you guys also killers?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t seem like killers.¡±


    ¡°What makes you say that?¡±


    ¡°Uh. I don¡¯t know the specific reason, but I just feel that you two don¡¯t seem like killers.¡±


    Du Jian became more annoyed. He knew why he didn¡¯t look like a killer. Compared to the Dragon King who was quietly walking in front of them, he didn¡¯t have a single trait that was simr to a killer. Even the guard beside him, who had been a Golden Roc killer several months ago, was imagining things like him.


    It¡¯s not my fault,¡¯ Du Jian thought. The Unique King wanted the Heavenly Mountain Sect to be a normal sect, so all of their assassination methods had been abandoned. It had been less than a year, but all of the killers¡¯ skills had be rusty. Du Jian suspected that Golden Roc Castle would even have to hire outside killers if they wanted to assassinate someone.


    But under no circumstances would he ever tell anybody these thoughts, especially the Dragon King. All of hisints were expressed with an inexplicable snort.


    Han Fen ran up to the Dragon King. ¡°If I had known that we wereing to this maze, I would have brought the kid with me. He likes ying the most.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had handed Shangguan Cheng over to Han Fen on a whim, but it turned out that that had been a good decision. The two had quickly be ymates. Shangguan Cheng would rather stay with this ¡°weird elder sister¡± than return to his mother¡¯s camp.


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s enthusiasm for her son had already disappeared, and it was very likely that she wouldn¡¯t think of him until the fight for the title of the Unique King started.


    Gu Shenwei casually replied with an ¡°Um¡± sound, and then he suddenly stopped. Han Fen automatically shut up. She could tell when she could speak, and when she should be on her guard.


    Even Du Jian and his guard sensed some kind of danger. Their vestigial killer instincts revived in this familiar life-and-death situation.


    Standing in the dark, the four people breathed in an extremely slow and gentle manner, trying to sort through the various faint odors in the air.


    The Dragon King¡¯s figure suddenly appeared behind them. He had brought back a torch. Both Du Jian and the guard were startled and horrified, since neither of them knew when the Dragon King had moved behind them.


    Not far away in front of them, the corridor branched off to the right, and the strange smell wasing from there as well.


    Han Fen¡¯s voice came from the depths of the branching corridor. Nobody knew when she had run forward. ¡°Come here. There are so many bodies.¡±


    The branching road led them to a spacious hall. The torch in Gu Shenwei¡¯s hand was the only source of light.


    Seven or eight corpses were on the ground, giving off the smell of blood that killers were familiar with.


    Han Fen took the Dragon King¡¯s torch and lit the torches fixed on the walls.


    Even more bodies were seen, numbering at least twenty. Du Jian involuntarily gave out an exmation of fear. He was not afraid of corpses, but half of the dead people were the Heavenly Mountain Sect¡¯s sabersmen who had been sent here by him.


    Both Gu Shenwei and Han Fen¡¯s attention were drawn by another scene in the hall.


    Two giant birds were standing in the innermost part of the hall. Their wings were drooping and their faces seemed to be tired, which made them look senile. Only the golden feathers on the tops of their heads had remained unchanged.


    Unexpectedly, the giant rocs which were supposed to have been burnt in that fire had been moved to the underground maze in the Bodhi Garden.


    Han Fen looked at them in awe. ¡°I can tell that they were the Devil Bird¡¯s parents at first sight. The Master Commander must have wanted to give them to the Dragon King as gifts.¡±

 Chapter 930 - Practicing the Swordsmanship

    Chapter 930: Practicing the Swordsmanship


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Du Jian¡¯s eyes finally saw the two big birds. He was initially confused, but soon became pleasantly surprised. ¡°Aren¡¯t these the golden rocs? So it turns out that they haven¡¯t been burnt down. The King Lord will be happy to hear it for sure.¡±


    Han Fen turned around and said, ¡°I¡¯m even happier.¡±


    Du Jian snorted but refrained from answering. It was a rare case that Han Fen could see through another person¡¯s thoughts. ¡°I hereby dere that these two birds are mine. I will give them to whoever I want, and I will certainly not give them to the Unique King,¡± Han Fen said.


    ¡°Yours?¡± Du Jian asked, his voice full of disdain. ¡°How dare you say that?¡±


    Han Fen¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Because I saw them first. Firste, first served. Don¡¯t you know the rules?¡±


    ¡°The golden rocs have been in the castle for more than ten years and was stolen by the Waning Moon Hall. What¡¯s this so-called ¡®firste, first served¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Seven years,¡± Gu Shenwei corrected.


    ¡°Seven years of what?¡± Du Jian¡¯s heart thumped because he suddenly remembered the rumors about the Dragon King owning a great roc.


    ¡°These two birds were killed seven years ago in Golden Roc Castle. They are free. They don¡¯t belong to anyone, including the Unique King.¡±


    Han Fen was a bit disappointed. ¡°Not even me? I¡¯ll treat them as my treasures. The little kid always brags about his stuff, I can¡­¡±


    Du Jian responded with a sneer. ¡°Heh heh, I can¡¯t decide who the golden rocs belong to either. Everything is up to the King Lord¡­¡± The underground maze was full of danger, and he had had enough. Now that he knew the whereabouts of the golden rocs, it was enough for him to report to the Unique King, and he didn¡¯t have to take any more risks. After signaling the bodyguard to guard his rear, he turned to walk towards the corridor outside the hall.


    Han Fen crouched a little bit and hissed like an irritated wildcat. ¡°No, everything is up to the Master Commander.¡±


    Having no intention of arguing, Du Jian quickened his pace. The bodyguard drew his saber and stood where he was, looking warily at the Dragon King. His duty did not allow him to turn around and run away no matter if he was the Dragon King¡¯s match or not.


    The Dragon King didn¡¯t move. Actually, it was the entric disciple of the Waning Moon Hall who was eager to make a move. The bodyguard calcted the speed of the sect leader Du Jian and felt that it was about time, and he also began to retreat from the hall.


    ¡°Ahh¡­¡± A scream suddenly came from the corridor.


    The bodyguard turned abruptly and stared into the dark corridor.


    Du Jian walked back with his arms before him, groping along. His eyes were bleeding and his face was covered in blood.


    ¡°Help me,¡± he said as if he were giving orders to the bodyguard.


    ¡°Please help me,¡± he said again. It seemed like he was begging the Dragon King.


    The bodyguard¡¯s killer¡¯s instinct kicked in. He remained unmoved by both the order and the begging of his sect leader and quietly get out of the way to let Du Jian pass while his eyes remained fixed on the dark corridor.


    A young woman walked into the torch-lit hall with silent footsteps and a long sword in her hand. She turned a blind eye to the others, and followed Du Jian intently, observing his every move.


    ¡°Help me¡­¡± Du Jian was still groping his way along, getting closer and closer to the Dragon King and Han Fen.


    The bodyguard took two steps back. Du Jian was just a nominal sect leader of the Heavenly Mountain Sect and couldn¡¯t obtain his subordinate¡¯s full allegiance.


    ¡°Han Ling?¡± Han Fen called out in a low voice as she retreated behind the Dragon King, looking a bit timid.


    The young woman named Han Ling turned a deaf ear to the call and drew nearer and nearer to Du Jian.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± Du Jian finally felt the danger behind him. He abruptly turned and drew his narrow saber, his bright red eyes looking fiercer than ever.


    Han Ling stabbed at the bleeding eyes again, her moves as gentle as falling leaves and as swift as a cat.


    Du Jian had once been a good killer. Hisst assassination mission had been two years ago. In the face of the Dragon King who was concentrating on healing himself, he had still failed miserably. Since then, he had struggled to shed his killer¡¯s identity in the hopes of gaining more security with a higher status. But in the end, it turned out that he had even lost his alertness and self-protection ability as a killer.


    The two shots were the same, but Du Jian still could not resist. He could not even counterattack. The only difference was that these two blows were deadly.


    The moment Du Jian fell, the bodyguard in the corner moved slightly. This was the best time for him to make a move, but he quickly stabilized himself. The Dragon King didn¡¯t move, so he also didn¡¯t want to move.


    ¡°You¡¯re Han Ling?¡± Gu Shenwei asked. Han Fen kept nodding behind him, but she dared not to utter a sound. She used to know this Waning Moon Hall disciple, but she now felt that the other side was acting very strangely.


    Han Ling stooped to check the corpse for a while before looking up and saying, ¡°Too much blood. It means that I have not yet mastered the killing intent in my heart. The sword moves are purely offensive, but the practitioner has to be both defensive and offensive at heart. It is too difficult. The Waning Moon Swordsmanship is too difficult.¡±


    Han Fen mustered up some courage, stuck out her head, and said, ¡°Do not practice it if it¡¯s too difficult then. What¡¯s the rush?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve always been undisciplined.¡± Han Ling hadn¡¯t lost her mind. She still remembered Han Fen. ¡°You¡¯d have died long ago if the Master Commander didn¡¯t protect you.¡±


    Han Fen revealed a silly smile. ¡°I am the Master Commander¡¯s ¡®sycophant¡¯.¡± This was a new word that she learned in the Nond and had always regarded it as a positive description.


    Han Ling shook her head. ¡°No, I¡¯m so close. I have to practice harder.¡± She looked at the Dragon King and said, ¡°I heard that you also know the Waning Moon Swordsmanship and that you are only a little weaker than the Master Commander?¡±


    ¡°The Death Sutra Swordsmanship,¡± Gu Shenwei corrected. ¡°Your Master Commander learned it from me.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter who learned it from whom. Comprehension is more important in practicing one¡¯s swordsmanship. Junior practitioners might not be any poorer than senior practitioners. As long as I kill enough people, I can be invincible.¡±


    The Death Sutra Swordsmanship had to be improved through actual fights, especially at the initial stage of the practice. Each kill would be a great help, but Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t understand why Wild Horse had let his own men kill each other. He also didn¡¯t understand why Lotus had indulged them.


    ¡°You¡¯re practicing it in the wrong way,¡± he said, feeling like he was lecturing a little child. ¡°The swordsmanship will backfire if you kill too many people in a short time. It¡¯s no difference from suicide.¡±


    ¡°So what?¡± Han Ling¡¯s eyes gleamed with madness. ¡°The living suffer in grief, the dead settle in peace. To be invincible for an instant, to be destroyed in an instant. Isn¡¯t it the best way to die¡­¡±


    Han Ling seemed like she was possessed. Staring nkly at the sword in her hand, she suddenly dashed forward and struck at the bodyguard who was standing against the wall.


    The bodyguard had been on alert, but the attack hade so suddenly and so unexpectedly that he still felt unprepared. But he did not flinch from it. Instead, he swung his narrow saber to take the offensive, using the same desperate move.


    The sword techniques of the Death Sutra were purely offensive. The sword wielder had to believe that their sword was faster than the enemy. Without this almost fanatical faith, the practitioner wouldn¡¯t ever cross the threshold of the Death Sutra Swordsmanship.


    Han Ling had crossed the threshold. For the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall, it was always easier to ignore their own life and death than for ordinary people.


    The narrow saber and the sword were about to hit their targets when a third weapon joined in.


    In Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes, Han Ling¡¯s swordsmanship was at the entry-level. After watching the figures on the stone chamber wall at Golden Roc Castle, Gu Shenwei had a much more urate judgment about the moves of the Death Sutra Swordsmanship. He had already acted when Han Ling first showed signs ofunching an attack.


    The narrow saber and the long sword broke at the same time, leaving only the Five Peaks Saber in the air.


    The bodyguard immediately retreated to one side, staying more than ten steps away from everyone.


    This, however, was a big blow for Han Ling. She had advanced far in her swordsmanship, but still had no experience and skill in reducing the effects of a backfire.


    As she held the broken sword, she took another step forward as if she wanted to turn the offensive to the Dragon King. However, as soon as her right footnded on the ground, she spat out a mouthful of blood and could no longer hold her sword. Leaning against the wall, her body was shaking uncontrobly as if she was about to fall.


    Han Fen rushed over to hold her. ¡°Take it easy. Do not spit out blood. The Dragon King is very formidable. It¡¯s not humiliating to be defeated by him.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew what the problem was. He put his hand on Han Ling¡¯s back and transferred a strand of pure Sumeru Mustard internal Qi into her body.


    Momentster, Han Ling became able to stand up and stopped spitting blood. Her face was as pale as paper, but her eyes seemed more normal. ¡°I¡­ I lost. I can never master the Waning Moon Swordsmanship.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, you will never master it.¡± Gu Shenwei knew that he would never give her any illusory hope. ¡°The swordsmanship manual that you learned is iplete and the way you practice it is also wed. You¡¯ve gone astray. How could you master it like this?¡±


    ¡°But the Master Commander ¡­¡±


    ¡°Did she teach you the sword techniques herself?¡±


    ¡°No, it was Wild Horse.¡±


    ¡°Wild Horse is a bad guy.¡± Han Fen snorted as she said, ¡°He gave out a fake order under the Master Commander¡¯s name.¡±


    ¡°But the Master Commander has never denied it.¡± Han Ling¡¯s mind was growing clearer.


    ¡°Perhaps she¡¯s caught in a dilemma. Tell me, what is everyone doing? Where¡¯s the Master Commander?¡±


    Han Ling looked at the Dragon King but did not open her mouth. Han Fen urged, ¡°Come on, the Dragon King is here to help the Master Commander. Let¡¯s go and destroy Wild Horse together.¡±


    ¡°Everyone is practicing the swordsmanship. I don¡¯t know where the Master Commander is. Only thest person who survives can see her.¡±


    ¡°Practicing the swordsmanship? Practicing the swordsmanship that you just disyed?¡± Han Fen asked in surprise.


    ¡°Hmm, it was an order of the Master Commander¡­ No, it was Wild Horse¡¯s order. He said that we had made some initial aplishments in our swordsmanship and that it was no use to kill the sabersmen of Jade City anymore, and that we could only verify and improve by killing each other. Since yesterday, or was it the day before yesterday, we have been fighting each other. I¡¯ve killed eleven people. Ah¡­ What have I done? Three of those eleven were disciples of the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    ¡°And you guys obeyed his order?¡± Han Fen was not only surprised but even angry.


    ¡°Everyone thought that it was an order from the Master Commander, and¡­ and once I started practicing the Waning Moon Swordsmanship, it became hard to stop. The thought of improving my swordsmanship through each kill, I ¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei could understand Han Ling¡¯s feelings because he and Lotus had had simr experiences. It was their fear and vignce of Qi deviation that had prevented them from sinking deeper and deeper into this erroneous quagmire. ¡°No one told you the consequences of rapidly improving this the sword techniques?¡±


    ¡°No. Wild Horse seemed to have mentioned that it may backfire, but he didn¡¯t exin it in detail. I always thought that it was a beautiful way to die.¡±


    ¡°Is it more beautiful than being cut into pieces?¡± Han Fen defiantly asked.


    The Waning Moon Hall disciples¡¯ attitudes towards death were different from normal people¡¯s. Gu Shenwei had no intentions of dwelling on this. ¡°What about Wild Horse? Where is he?¡±


    ¡°Thest time I saw him was in Midke Hall. He killed the most and killed almost everyone he met. Everyone was avoiding him.¡±


    ¡°Bring me there.¡±


    Han Ling nodded. Upon seeing that Han Fen was about to grab the torch on the wall, she anxiously said, ¡°No light. That will attract countless sneak attacks.¡±


    With Han Ling leading the way, the three of them walked towards the dark corridor. The surviving guard threw his broken narrow saber away and followed along, still keeping a proper distance from the three. No one asked him why or drove him away.


    After merging back into the darkness, he quickened his pace and shortened the distance between him and the people in the front. With his years of training and instinct, he could feel their presence ahead.


    Han Ling obviously knew the underground pce well and walked very fast. She made many turns but never hesitated. She also knew where the swordsmanship practitioners might hide and tried her best to avoid them in advance.


    It was a surprisingly smooth journey, and it was not until they saw the solitarymp that they understood why.


    Thismplight was like a delicious bait, luring the swordsmen from all sides to bite at the hook.

 Chapter 931 - Corpse Fire

    Chapter 931: Corpse Fire


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Wild Horse was already tired of killing, but he didn¡¯t want to stop. He could no longer find a suitable opponent. Repeatedly swinging his sword had be a way to kill time. This made him have the desire to speak.


    His ¡®tongue,¡¯ however, was in someone else¡¯s mouth.


    She was standing beside Wild Horse with a smallmp in her hand. In the dim light, corpses were scattered everywhere like the scene of destruction after a tornado. With her head held high, she looked quite excited and a bit proud. ¡°Dragon King, I know that you are here. Why not show up and have a fight to end the duel that you had with Wild Horse several years ago? This time, the two of you don¡¯t have to circle around¡­¡±


    A swordsman appeared quietly andunched an attack from behind Wild Horse. He was fully confident in his swordsmanship, to the point that it almost reached the level of worship. With this strong belief, he had killed many people in the dark underground pce, so many that he thought that he could challenge Wild Horse.


    Everyone who had died under Wild Horse¡¯s sword had thought the same way.


    Wild Horse turned slightly, causing the sword in his hand to pierce his attacker¡¯s body. It was so simple and effortless that it was like an executioner killing a prisoner who had been tied up.


    Wild Horse finally recalled this feeling. His childhood memory of his family being ughtered came back to life, but he didn¡¯t feel sad at all, because he had be those golden roc killers. They had brandished their sabers skilfully and coldly,pletely indifferent towards the fresh lives as if they were deities in heaven who could manipte all living beings at will.


    This was the Ceasing and Arising Swordsmanship, a sword technique that Wild Horse hadprehended. In the Waning Moon Sword Manual that Lotus had passed to him, he had noticed the words ¡®Ceasing and Arising.¡¯ The two words had appeared randomly throughout the obscure exnatory notes and were quite inconspicuous, but they impressed him a lot.


    There was another corpse at her feet. ¡°There¡¯s only one true training method of the Death Sutra. Both you and Lotus are wrong.¡±


    ¡°Shameless Han Yuan, how dare you say the Master Commander¡¯s name.¡± In the darkness came Han Fen¡¯s angry voice.


    Han Yuanughed. ¡°Han Fen, the Dragon King hase with you, right? Everyone can call out everyone¡¯s name. That¡¯s what names are for. Lotus taught us the wrong swordsmanship, so she no longer deserves to be the Master Commander. Wild Horse is the only hope of Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    ¡°Wild Horse is a maniac. He wants to kill all the disciples of Waning Moon Hall.¡± Han Fen became even angrier.


    Bursts ofughter rang out in the seemingly empty darkness. It was really funny to hear a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall call another one a ¡®maniac,¡¯ as they were usually the maniacs from an outsider¡¯s point of view.


    ¡°You misunderstand Wild Horse.¡± Han Yuan was happy to be Wild Horse¡¯s mouthpiece and exined in his stead, ¡°Wild Horse is eliminating the impure and retaining the pure. There are too many wastrels in Waning Moon Hall. For example, you are one such wastrel. Apart from being used as a stepping stone, what is the use of keeping you? Ten or fewer top swordsmen are more powerful than hundreds of ordinary disciples.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense.¡± In the face of someone even more unreasonable than herself, Han Fen appeared to fumble, unable to think of a proper reason with which to refute the other side.


    ¡°This is the rule of Waning Moon Hall. Han Fen, have you forgotten that you yourself have killed many fellow disciples to survive until now? Wild Horse didn¡¯t do this on a whim. He¡¯s the one who really understands the essence of Waning Moon Hall. As for Lotus, huh, she actually wants Waning Moon Hall to join in the struggle for hegemony. Does she think that she can gain the Dragon King¡¯s favor by doing so? What a ridiculous idea! She sees Waning Moon Hall as a tool to do whatever she wants, but she¡¯s wrong and Wild Horse¡¯s right.¡±


    The more Han Yuan said, the more she became excited. As she nced at the blurred figure in the dark, tears of happiness filled her eyes. She really adored this one-armed man.


    Han Fen was rendered speechless. Han Yuan continued monologuing, but changed subjects. ¡°Dragon King, don¡¯t you want to see the real Death Sutra Swordsmanship? ¡®Death Sutra.¡¯ That¡¯s what you and Lotus call it, right? From now on, it will be called the ¡®Ceasing and Arising Swordsmanship.¡¯ Only Wild Horse has understood the essence of the Ceasing and Arising Swordsmanship. Since he has mastered it, what¡¯s the use of keeping those disciples around? Dragon King, show yourself. You¡¯ll see the truth when you die.¡±


    The Dragon King didn¡¯t show up. Instead, a round of apuse rang out in the darkness. ¡°Well said, well said. You really are Wild Horse¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s hard to describe. By the way, what kind of ¡®sword¡¯ did Wild Horse use to teach you the so-called truth?¡±


    Han Yuan¡¯s expression immediately changed. ¡°Old Man Mu? You haven¡¯t practiced the Ceasing and Arising Swordsmanship. You don¡¯t deserve to be here.¡±


    ¡°s, it¡¯s really a pity that I never had an opportunity to learn such a formidable technique. There¡¯s no greater pain in life than this. I¡¯m really unfortunate. When I see these corpses on the ground, I feel even more unfortunate. They died so young and so fast, even faster than me. It¡¯s really unfair!¡±


    ¡°Attention, disciples of the Waning Moon Hall and the Essence Pavilion. Kill Old Man Mu and Han Fen right now. She also doesn¡¯t know the swordsmanship and doesn¡¯t deserve to die under Wild Horse¡¯s sword,¡± Han Yuan ordered coldly.


    The disciples, who had been used as tools to improve Wild Horse¡¯s swordsmanship, still treated the order as if it were god¡¯s decree. As soon as Han Yuan¡¯s voice fell, a series of faint sounds came from the dark corner that was reminiscent of someone sighing.


    Someone fell, but Old Man Mu¡¯s voice came from another direction. ¡°Wow, amazing. There¡¯s no need to see it. I know that the Ceasing and Arising Swordsmanship is amazing simply by hearing its name. Brother Wild Horse, you finally created a set of martial arts skills. The two years that you spent with me weren¡¯t a waste of time. Heh heh, you¡¯ve finally gone through all sorts of ordeals. Now, you have both the swordsmanship and women. If you can share them with me, I can teach¡­¡±


    Han Yuan acted, but as soon as she moved, she fell headfirst towards the ground. Themp also fell to the ground and lit her clothes.


    Wild Horse had killed her. Han Yuan understood Wild Horse¡¯s thoughts but couldn¡¯t understand his aversion to voices. He had had enough of the endless nagging. Everything could be expressed with the saber in his hand. What was the use of talking so much?


    A more annoying voice, however, was still incessantly sounding out. ¡°Brother Wild Horse, there¡¯s no need to be so heartless. I was just joking. In fact, your woman and I were innocent. Honestly, if I remember clearly, then when I enjoyed myself at Waning Moon Hall, she hadn¡¯t been born yet. Ehh, could she be one of my daughters? Brother Wild Horse, you killed my daughter. Uh-huh ¡­ Good son-inw, call me father-inw and I¡¯ll forgive you¡­¡±


    After the clothes were burnt away, the fire became a bit weak. When it ate through the skin and came into contact with the fat, it grew bigger and bigger, igniting the surrounding corpses.


    Wild Horse was clearly visible now. With a sword in hand, his head was lowered as if he were mourning for his mistake. When he looked up, however, there was no emotion in his eyes at all ¨C they were even emptier than those of a dead man.


    Other figures were starting to show up, too.


    Midke Hall was very spacious. Over a hundred people were scattered everywhere about ten steps away from each other, but it didn¡¯t look crowded at all. Everyone was motionless as the ughter was not over yet. All of them were ready to draw their swords at any moment.


    Wild Horse moved like a giant crocodile crawling in the shallow water; all the small fish around it automatically preemptively got out of the way.


    Old Man Mu couldn¡¯t hide himself any longer. Squatting on the torch holder, he had almost merged into the wall. ¡°Heh heh, Brother Wild Horse is as cool as ever. I¡¯m very satisfied to be your father-inw. I may still have some daughters left at Waning Moon Hall. I¡¯ll pick another one and send her to you.¡±


    Wild Horse approached step by step. The sword in his hand was like a fast-writhing snake in the light of the corpse fire. He hated this voice. This hatred had taken root from the first day that he had met Old Man Mu, and he had endured it for two years. After that, he was often woken up by the familiar nagging in his dreams. Finally, it would end today.


    Old Man Mu gulped heavily. He wanted to run away, but he couldn¡¯t move. Wild Horse was indeed different from before. Without any excess movements, he had blocked off all the routes of retreat. Old Man Mu couldn¡¯t find a safe way out.


    ¡°Dragon King, it¡¯d be a good time to show up now. It¡¯s more beneficial to you if I¡¯m alive,¡± Old Man Mu said as his eyes swept across Wild Horse.


    Wild Horse didn¡¯t fall for it. He knew about Old Man Mu¡¯s tricks and he trusted his alertness more.


    The fire of the corpse suddenly died out. Meanwhile, the torches on the wall were lit one by one, making the Midke Hall brighter.


    Old Man Mu smilingly looked at Wild Horse and asked, ¡°The smell of the burnt corpse isn¡¯t very good, is it?¡±


    Wild Horse turned around and saw the man who he had been waiting for.


    The corpse fire hadn¡¯t spread very far. Gu Shenwei waved his hand and blew it out. Han Fen, Han Ling, and the brothers of the Shangguan family lit the torches on the wall and carefully kept their distance from the disciples in the hall, especially Wild Horse. So, only the torches near Old Man Mu hadn¡¯t been lit.


    The smell was really awful, but Wild Horse didn¡¯t seem to care. He started walking back. Suddenly, he dashed forward and killed a disciple of the Essence Pavilion a dozen or so steps away with incredible speed before jumping back to his original ce, continuing to move forward.


    There was a distance of a hundred or so steps between them. Wild Horse killed five people along his way, both far and near without any fixed rules. It seemed like he had chosen his targets randomly.


    Everyone watched silently. No one was surprised, and no one retreated, like a flock of pigs and sheep to be ughtered.


    Gu Shenwei also watched this without saying a word. Standing in the center of the hall, the charred body was beside his feet, but he didn¡¯t care about the smell at all.


    A disciple of the Essence Pavilion suddenly made a move. He wasn¡¯t close to the Dragon King. There were several people between them. But this made his surprise attack even stealthier.


    Gu Shenwei swapped the Five Peaks Saber to his left hand and stabbed backward with a reverse grip.


    The sneaky attacker became ambushed himself instead. It was not until the sharp saber pierced his belly that he realized that he had been hit. He reached out with his hand. Considering the length of his arm and the long sword, there was still some distance between him and the Dragon King. He didn¡¯t understand how the Dragon King had hit him with a backhanded stab.


    Gu Shenwei pulled back the saber and swapped it back to his right hand.


    Wild Horse paused, and his empty eyes finally showed signs of life.


    The Dragon King had just shown him the Death Sutra Swordsmanship. Compared to thest time in the Gui Garden, there were more subtle changes that went beyond his imagination. All of a sudden, Wild Horse found himself retreating from the ¡®threshold¡¯ and that he hadn¡¯t even entered the ¡®hall¡¯ yet.


    Not only did he feel confused, but he also felt angry.


    Gu Shenwei did not open his mouth because he also believed that the saber in his hand was more suitable to express his real thoughts. So he took a deep breath and made three moves on the spot. Each move was very strange, seemingly meaningless yet also profound.


    The onlookers all felt that the three moves were simr to those of the Waning Moon Swordsmanship. Only Wild Horse seemed to have received a heavy blow, and he retreated two steps back, his saber-wielding arm shaking slightly.


    Wild Horse¡¯s understanding of the Death Sutra Swordsmanship was still within the scope of the twenty-nine training methods. The three figures that Gu Shenwei had seen on the wall of the second chamber were theplementary forms to the Ceasing and Arising Swordsmanship. When Wild Horse suddenly saw it, how could he not be shocked?

 Chapter 932 - Discussion

    Chapter 932: Discussion


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Old Man Mu jumped down from the wall, hurtled to Wild Horse with several quick steps, and then patted him on his leg, which startled all the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall and Essence Pavilion who were present.


    Like a frightened cat, Wild Horse arched his back and jumped up, but he did not draw his sword uponnding.


    He couldn¡¯t unsheathe his sword. The Dragon King had just shown him a new realm of the Ceasing and Arising Swordsmanship, and his confidence had plummeted to the bottom of the valley.


    Old Man Mu pulled out his long sword and looked at it contemptuously. Then he suddenly threw it on the ground and loudly said, ¡°I¡¯m merely a frog living at the bottom of a well. What qualifications do I have to wear a sword?¡± Everyone here is better at sword techniques than I am.¡±


    Shangguan Fei vaguely realized Old Man Mu¡¯s intentions and chimed in to say, ¡°I¡¯m not good at¡­ I don¡¯t know how to use a sword at all.¡±


    ¡°Me too,¡± Han Fen added as if she were very proud of it.


    As a talkative man, Old Man Mu hated it the most when others interrupted him, so he cast a stern nce at Shangguan Fei and snapped, ¡°That¡¯s because you are too stupid.¡±


    Old Man Mu had more to say so he let go of Shangguan Fei. Standing between the Dragon King and Wild Horse, he said in a slow cadence, ¡°I have a suggestion. Since everyone has learned the same martial arts skill, then why not call a ceasefire for the time being and peacefully discuss the profundity and subtleties of the swordsmanship? Heh heh, I don¡¯t know any sword techniques, but I¡¯m knowledgeable and I¡¯ve seen a lot. I¡¯ve found at least five different styles of swordsmanship ever since I¡¯vee to this underground pce, but the people of the same style have been fighting on their own and know nothing about their fellow practitioners¡¯ progress. A real fight can help improve one¡¯s swordsmanship butmunication can often have the same effect. What do you all think?¡±


    Everyone was silent. They had been fascinated by the swordsmanship so it was easy for them to follow Wild Horse¡¯s suggestion and kill each other. Meanwhile, they thought that Old Man Mu¡¯s suggestion was very reasonable but none of them immediately spoke out. They were waiting for Wild Horse to respond first.


    Wild Horse looked past Old Man Mu and fixed his fierce eyes on the Dragon King.


    ¡°Since it¡¯s a discussion, then is the Dragon King willing to show all of your skills and enlighten us?¡± Old Man Mu asked, speaking what was on Wild Horse¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Of course.¡± Gu Shenwei put away his Five Peaks Saber, walked around the dirty corpses and blood on the ground, and moved towards Wild Horse. Everywhere he went, the crowd backed away, but they were not as afraid of him as they were of Wild Horse.


    ¡°I¡¯ve figured out a few sword moves recently that might be helpful to all of you.¡± Gu Shenwei stopped about ten steps away from Wild Horse.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t want to kill more people unless he was explicitly threatened. These practitioners were just beginners in the swordsmanship and were of no value to him. Wild Horse was worthy of being killed, but Gu Shenwei had found something that he could learn from this rapidly advancingter.


    So he showed the three sword moves, knowing that they would definitely help Wild Horse break free from the cycle of pure killing.


    Old Man Mu was a wise man. Although he hadn¡¯t practiced the Death Sutra Swordsmanship, he had learned a lot of relevant information about it when he had helped the Dragon King integrate his martial arts skills in the prairie. So, he had immediately realized the Dragon King¡¯s intention and proposed a cessation of hostilities.


    Old Man Mu cast a tacit nce at the Dragon King before turning to Wild Horse. ¡°How about it? Little Wild Horse, you need this discussion the most. I think that you¡¯ve travelled too far down the wrong road.¡±


    No one knew Wild Horse better than Old Man Mu. The others were still in awe of Wild Horse, but his tone was as casual as if the other side was still his little footman.


    But this trick actually worked well. Wild Horse stuck his sword into the corpse at his feet and made a few gestures.


    ¡°No problem.¡± Old Man Mu could understand him. ¡°Everything is for the purpose of improving swordsmanship and we can start fighting again after the discussion. But I have to make it clear. You guys can help each other improve your sword techniques, but do not get those who haven¡¯t learned the swordsmanship involved. We three will look on and do nothing. Do not practice your swordsmanship on us.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll look on with folded arms,¡± Shangguan Fei repeated loudly, indicating that he belonged to those who haven¡¯t learned the swordsmanship.


    The guard of the Heavenly Mountain Sect standing at the entrance of the corridor was the fourth irrelevant person. Due to his pride, he didn¡¯t stand out and dere that he also didn¡¯t learn the swordsmanship. Instead, he just took another step closer to the wall and watched everyone vigntly.


    Old Man Mu nced at the Dragon King again and said, ¡°Wild Horse, call Lotus out. She taught you the swordsmanship and is the source of all your sword techniques. She must be present for this discussion.¡±


    Old Man Mu thought that his request would be tly refused and even thought of other reasons to persuade the other side, but none of them needed to be used. Wild Horse didn¡¯t answer, acting as if Old Man Mu¡¯s request had nothing to do with him. Another voice rang out from the dark corridor. ¡°I¡¯ve been here the whole time.¡±


    Lotus slowly walked into Midke Hall from the corridor with a long sword hanging by her waist. She moved lightly and gracefully, as if she were floating in the air and not injured at all.


    The guard of the Heavenly Mountain Sect was shocked. He had been standing at the entrance of the corridor with full attention, but still hadn¡¯t noticed that someone else had been standing nearby.


    The disciples of the Waning Moon Hall and Essence Pavilion all bowed to show their respect, as they still regarded Lotus as the Master Commander.


    Han Fen cheered with joy and rushed from the corner to the entrance. Without caring about the dirty blood on the ground, she flopped onto her knees and cried out, ¡°Master Commander¡­¡± With tears welling up in her eyes, she choked with sobs.


    By contrast, Lotus appeared much colder. Although she was several years younger than Han Fen, she looked much more mature. Out of the corner of her eye, she nced at Han Fen and then slightly raised her finger to motion her to stand up. Without saying a word to Han Fen, she looked at the Dragon King and said, ¡°Look, the core part of the Waning Moon Hall is here in these people. What does the Dragon King think of them?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was a little surprised. Lotus didn¡¯t seem to have been imprisoned, so why had she sent Shangguan Hong to look for him?


    Standing beside Shangguan Fei, Shangguan Hong held the soft sword in his hand with his head lowered, not daring to look at the Dragon King.


    ¡°Not bad. Hopefully, they can survive to the end.¡±


    ¡°Since they are the elite, there¡¯s no need to worry about whether they¡¯ll live or die. Even if they are ¡®wrapped¡¯ inyers of ¡®leather bags,¡¯ they¡¯ll still stand out.¡±


    Listening to Lotus¡¯s tone, it seemed like the ughter was her idea.


    Before Gu Shenwei could speak, Han Fen, who had risen to her feet, excitedly asked, ¡°Master Commander, it was all Wild Horse¡¯s bad idea, wasn¡¯t it? Did you hear what Han Yuan said? She called you by your name and said that it was all your fault. Now that the Dragon King is here¡­¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is an honored guest of Waning Moon Hall. It¡¯s a good thing if he can join in our discussion of the swordsmanship. But if he has any ulterior motives, then he¡¯ll be the Waning Moon Hall¡¯s archenemy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not interested in the affairs of Waning Moon Hall.¡± Gu Shenwei¡¯s voice also grew cold. ¡°I just want to see what the Death Sutra Swordsmanship can evolve into.¡±


    Han Fen was blinking rapidly because she was puzzled by the Master Commander¡¯s words. But she was always submissive to the Master Commander. So, after answering ¡®yes¡¯ in a muffled voice, she retreated to one side while her eyes continued to sweep over the Dragon King and the Master Commander, feeling that she had missed something.


    Old Man Mu was very afraid of Lotus. He chuckled and said, ¡°That¡¯s the attitude that everybody wants to see. Do not kill if we can solve it through discussion. As for how we should discuss it, does the Master Commander have an idea?¡±


    ¡°You just said that you saw at least five styles?¡±


    ¡°At least five different forms. No matter how simr the initial training method is, as long as a divergence of opinion appears during the course of practice, the training method will grow more and more different.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense. The Dragon King is the forerunner of the swordsmanship and the moves that you just showed are quite novel. It seems that you¡¯ve gained some new insights these days. I¡¯m really impressed. It would be best if the Dragon King could point out everyone¡¯s style and ssify the various forms of the swordsmanship.¡±


    The three moves of Gu Shenwei had not only shocked Wild Horse but also impressed Lotus.


    Shangguan Fei, who was standing by the wall, opened his mouth. His most urgent wish was to leave the grave-like underground hall as soon as possible. The smell of charred bodies and burnt blood made him want to throw up. But Old Man Mu had already set an example and he also wanted to show that he was useful in front of the Dragon King. So, he ventured to ask, ¡°Lotus¡­ Master Commander, you learned the Death Sutra together with the Dragon King so you are also a forerunner. Why don¡¯t you stand out and also determine the style of everyone¡¯s swordsmanship?¡±


    Even Shangguan Fei, who knew very little about the Death Sutra, knew that the so-called method to determine a style would be to fight everyone here, which was obviously a tactic to tire the Dragon King out.


    ¡°That¡¯s one way to do it.¡± Lotus was still looking at the Dragon King. ¡°The Dragon King is the guest, so I¡¯ll leave it to you to decide.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡±


    The Dragon King had actually agreed. As confused as Han Fen, Shangguan Fei cowered in a corner, not daring to speak again.


    Old Man Mu pped his hands and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need for everyone to show their swordsmanship. The Dragon King can introduce the distinct features of each style, and those who fit the descriptions can separate into the corresponding groups on their own. It will save a lot of time.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to another ce.¡± As she looked at the ground full of corpses, Lotus frowned slightly and made a suggestion. ¡°The Waning Moon Hall can¡¯t receive our guests in such a ce.¡±


    Lotus took the lead and walked around the corridor, followed by Han Fen, who wanted to ask about the whereabouts of her good friend, but knew that it was not the time to open her mouth.


    And a dozen or so paces further behind was Wild Horse. Like a weakening me, he was no longer aggressive but no less dangerous than before either.


    Behind him were Gu Shenwei, Old Man Mu, and the others. The guard of the Heavenly Mountain Sect also joined them.


    The hundred or so disciples of the Waning Moon Hall and Essence Pavilion filed into the corridor, maintaining a steady distance from one another. Although the ughter had been temporarily paused, their alertness hadn¡¯t disappeared. Maybe it would never disappear.


    They shortly arrived at another hall that was rtively small but stillrge enough to hold hundreds of people. It was furnished with tables, chairs, and arms racks. Since all of its torches were lit, the hall was as bright as an open field in daytime.


    Lotus sat in the seat of honor and rested her right arm on the table. With nk eyes, she revealed a look of weariness for the first time and seemed to have no interest in theing discussion.


    Han Fen stood beside the seat of honor with her lips sealed and her eyes bright and shining. She didn¡¯t know about the Master Commander¡¯s real intentions, but her instincts told her that the danger was right there and that it had never disappeared.


    Standing in the front and slightly to the left of Lotus was Wild Horse, whose eyes swept across the crowd in a host¡¯s manner.


    More disciples emerged from their hidden ces. A hundred and fifty or so people soon gathered in the hall. It was impossible to keep a safe distance at this point, so everyone lowered their swords as well as their eyes. The surging killing aura in the air was on the verge of breaking out.


    Shangguan Fei wished that he could dig a hole and crawl into it. Everybody around him seemed to be harboring evil intentions towards him. Only the guard of the Heavenly Mountain Sect who had a familiar look seemed to be a normal person, so he cast a look of goodwill, trying to win the other side over.


    Gripping onto his saber, the guard also took a step closer to Shangguan Fei.


    Gu Shenwei stood in the middle of the hall and unsheathed his Five Peaks Saber again.


    Old Man Mu was the only excited one in the room. He twirled on the spot and said, ¡°This is a great event of the martial arts world in the Western Regions. Everyone who can step out of here¡ªof course excluding the few of us who haven¡¯t learned the swordsmanship¡ª will be a one in a thousand practitioner. Of course, some people, like the Dragon King who is already one in a thousand, will be able to fly higher into the sky. Haha,e on, you mortal creatures, reveal the true essence of the Death Sutra together.¡±

 Chapter 933 - Seven Types of Sword Techniques

    Chapter 933: Seven Types of Sword Techniques


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    ¡°The Sword of Death is filled with a killing aura. When the sword stabs into the enemy¡¯s body, the sword wielder will feel a supreme contentment. If you are unaware of it during ordinary times and only have a strong killing desire when an enemy appears, you are practicing the Sword of Death. Stand on this side¡±


    Gu Shenwei pointed to the right side of Lotus. Everyone in the hall was lost in thought. After a while, some people moved from the right to the left while some others went from the left to the right.


    The sword techniques of these people all originated from Lotus, who had taught only what she believed to be true, that was, the cultivation method of the Sword of Death that she personally practiced. So, most people had stayed within this scope. The people on both sides became extremely uneven with more than 120 people on the right side and less than 30 people on the opposite side.


    There were people on both sides who were still unsure of their cultivation method, and were waiting for the Dragon King to continue.


    ¡°The Sword of Harmonization is also filled with killing aura. Its practitioners often fantasize that they are the sword in their hands. When they move, they usually bend their arms rather than straighten their arms like how regr practitioners do. They want their bodies to be closer to the sword so that they can exert more strength. If you think that you meet these characteristics, then please stand on this side.¡±


    Old Man Mu stood by the Dragon King. Although he didn¡¯t know this swordsmanship, he was listening more attentively than anyone else. ¡°This training method is also ¡®full of killing aura¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Every cultivation method I¡¯m about to say is based on killing aura.¡±


    This was just a conjecture of Gu Shenwei¡¯s. Lotus had only taught the cultivation method of the Sword of Death so it was impossible for the practitioners to figure out apletely different type of sword technique no matter how hard they tried. He had browsed through all seven stone chambers in Golden Roc Castle and carefully observed three of them. The distinctions between the various cultivation methods had be clearer and clearer in his eyes, and there were exactly seven types of sword techniques.


    Four swordsmen on the left and one on the right stepped forward and stood by the side of the wall at the entrance, looking at each other with sympathy yet also irreconcble hatred.


    ¡°The practitioner of this sword technique is not only filled with killing aura but also with hatred. When they attack someone, they will always treat the target as their enemy even if the other side is a stranger. And their sword moves will be ferocious and they will always pierce through the target¡¯s body. I call this sword technique the Sword of Hatred.¡±


    Surprisingly, quite a few people hadprehended this technique. Eleven people on the left and six people on the right stood out with neither of them looking at each other. Although they had all bowed their heads, everyone could suddenly feel the hatred dwelling within their hearts.


    These seventeen people, without exception, were all disciples of the Waning Moon Hall. The seeds of hatred that had nted in their mind when they were little had finally blossomed and yielded fruit.


    ¡°Simr to the Sword of Hatred, the practitioners of the Sword of Fury always hold a lot of pent-up anger with them to release even when no one is around. Every time the anger res up, they feel like they are the most powerful person in the world and can perform the swordsmanship without a hitch. The strength of the Sword of Hatred depends on the enemy while the power of the Sword of Fury depends on oneself. Practitioners of the Sword of Fury, stand on this side.¡±


    Seven men and a woman walked out, whose eyes swept through the crowd. They didn¡¯t flinch even when they passed by the Dragon King.


    ¡°To kill for pleasure and to kill with full strength even when the other party doesn¡¯t know kung fu. And the practitioner of this technique will feel distressed if he doesn¡¯t kill at least once a day. I call it Sword of Mania.¡±


    No one stood out. After a long while, someone said, ¡°He¡¯s dead.¡±


    One of them hadprehended this technique, but had been attacked by several swordsmen as soon as the ughter began. He was killed before he could progress much along his sword techniques.


    Gu Shenwei nodded and continued. ¡°The practitioner of the Sword of Survival has no intention to kill, but when they are in a life-and-death situation, their potential will be stimted and they will be able to perform a sword technique that they can¡¯t at normal times. Their killing aura will surge in an instant.¡±


    Old Man Mu frowned. ¡°This doesn¡¯t sound like a good cultivation method, does it? Why wait for someone to kill you before you ¡®struggle to survive?¡¯ Isn¡¯t it tantamount to giving up the first-move advantage? It may work for once or twice, but if one always fights like this, the practitioner will be doomed for sure. Who would be so stupid as to practice this type of swordsmanship?¡±


    Shangguan Hong, who was standing in the crowd on the right, had just taken a few steps forward. Upon hearing Old Man Mu¡¯s words, he couldn¡¯t help but blush, but it was toote to retreat. To his slight relief, two other people also walked out from the other side, who also looked uneasy as if their cultivation method was inferior to others.


    ¡°There¡¯s no rtive superiority or inferiority between the various cultivation methods of the Death Sutra,¡± Gu Shenwei said. ¡°Struggling for survival is just the mentality that one has when performing the swordsmanship. The practitioner doesn¡¯t have to wait for the other side to make a move. As long as he senses danger, his desire for survival will be stimted. And the stronger the desire, the fiercer the swordsmanship. He will do whatever it takes to survive even at the expense of being injured.¡±


    ¡°I see. It seems that the practitioners of this style are either a coward or too suspicious,¡± Old Man Mu concluded.


    The faces of Shangguan Hong and the other two practitioners became less red. The Dragon King¡¯s affirmation of their training method had a greater impact on them than Old Man Mu¡¯s doubts.


    ¡°There¡¯s one more swordsmanship based on killing aura. Wild Horse calls it the Ceasing and Arising Swordsmanship. The practitioner of this swordsmanship will regard all living beings as stray dogs and killing as a normal thing. He won¡¯t be pleased, saddened, or angered when killing others, and neither will he treat his opponents differently ording to their rtionships.¡±


    Wild Horse held his head up high. What the Dragon King said was right, but he thoroughly disdained it. He believed that he was unique and that the swordsmanship he hadprehended was also unprecedented. Even if it was one of the sword techniques delineated by the predecessor, it should be more extraordinary than the other styles.


    Gu Shenwei looked at Wild Horse.


    Most people¡¯s eyes fell on the two of them so no one noticed the person on the left until she took several steps forward.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s eyes lit up. Heughed out loud and said, ¡°Little Wild Horse, you¡¯ve got apanion. And it¡¯s a beauty too.¡±


    The person who walked out was a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall. It was a bit exaggerated to call her a beauty, but she was not ugly by any stretch. In her thirties, she was cold and determined, and had a somewhat simr demeanor as Wild Horse¡¯s.


    ¡°The Ceasing and Arising Swordsmanship is the most powerful training method.¡± The woman came to the Dragon King and coolly said this, her tone as firm as her expression, without any doubt at all.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    The woman did not answer. Instead, she stared at the Dragon King and waited for him to make a point.


    ¡°Han Qin, her name is Han Qin,¡± Han Fen cried out from the side of Lotus.


    ¡°There¡¯s no such thing as a weak or strong training method, just weak or strong practitioners,¡± Gu Shenwei said to the crowd. He was also speaking to himself. His many understandings and conjectures hadn¡¯t be clear until then. ¡°There are still some of you left, and your training method¡­¡±


    There were still eight people on the left who were unsure about their swordsmanship style. Although there were twenty-nine different training methods in the Death Sutra, these seven different types were the only ones based on killing aura. Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t think that people would be able to break through the scope set by Lotus.


    Han Qin interrupted before Gu Shenwei could finish his words. ¡°Wait. The Ceasing and Arising Swordsmanship has the least number of practitioners. Isn¡¯t it the most profound?¡±


    Old Man Mu rushed to answer. ¡°No. Those whoprehended the Sword of Madness have the least number of practitioners. There was only one and he was killed. So you and little Wild Horse¡¯s swordsmanship isn¡¯t special at all. It¡¯s just one of the many.¡±


    Han Qin¡¯s eyes slightly narrowed. She had heard enough and wanted to prove the power of the Ceasing and Arising Swordsmanship with her long sword.


    Gu Shenwei was ready to make a move. Once one had the killing desire, it was hard to sever it. He didn¡¯t want to kill more people, but that didn¡¯t mean that he couldn¡¯t.


    The hall fell silent again. Old Man Mu took several steps back and excitedly waited for the Dragon King to show his swordsmanship, only to find that the Dragon King had retreated just as he did.


    Wild Horse walked out and gazed at Han Qin, his sword still unsheathed.


    Han Qin turned around, slightly surprised. But she soon understood that Wild Horse would not allow someone who hadprehended the same style of swordsmanship as he had to live in this world.


    And neither would she.


    All mortal beings could be killed and Wild Horse was no exception. Han Fen drew her sword. Her expression was so firm that she looked a bit stubborn. But deep in her heart, she felt a bit nervous. Her opponent was Wild Horse, who hadprehended the swordsmanship earlier than she had and had killed more than she had . If the Dragon King was right, then Wild Horse was obviously the stronger one.


    Fear was lighter than a sigh. Before the fear could brew, Han Qin acted.


    For most people, Wild Horse and Han Qin¡¯s sword moves seemed disappointing. The two behaved like thugs who bullied obedient people and they both stabbed straight at each other¡¯s belly as if what they held were daggers instead of long swords, which were neither fast nor flexible as if the other side were too obedient to escape.


    Neither of the two dodged, but Wild Horse¡¯s sword was a bit faster.


    One, two¡­ Wild Horse stabbed Han Qin¡¯s stomach twice,pletely ignoring the swording at him.


    As Han Qin fell, Wild Horse turned to nce around the crowd.


    Everyone felt the pressure and involuntarily bowed and retreated. Wild Horse¡¯s swordsmanship might not be impressive, but his momentum was indeed unparalleled.


    Gu Shenwei, who was standing the nearest to him, however, remained calm and collected and didn¡¯t seem to think Wild Horse¡¯s victory was a big deal.


    Old Man Mu also didn¡¯t move. Although his kung fu was currently a bit weaker than most of the people here, his insight was still first-ss. ¡°I saw it and understand it. The seven different training methods are all based on killing aura. They might be different in their form, but their essence is the same. Why? It¡¯s because the enemy will be frightened by the killing aura, and their speed and strength will be weakened correspondingly. So, making the enemy slower is another way to make oneself faster. Han Qin had already lost before she even made a move. It¡¯s just that she didn¡¯t realize it. Little Wild Horse¡¯s killing aura is denser than anyone else¡¯s so he¡¯s the most formidable, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty much what I meant.¡± Old Man Mu and Gu Shenwei asked and answered each other as if the killing that had just taken ce had been a simple demonstration.


    Unconvinced, Han Fen said, ¡°Master Commander was the first to learn the swordsmanship and her killing aura is also the strongest. She¡¯s more powerful than Wild Horse.¡±


    ¡°Heh heh, maybe you are right. Hey, have you guys figured out what kind of training methods you are using? Or have you guys found something different?¡± Old Man Mu didn¡¯t want to argue with Han Fen. He was asking thest eight people.


    The eight had already decided. Seven of them went to the right and joined the ranks of the Sword of Death while the remaining one stood with the practitioners of the Sword of Hatred.


    Old Man Mu smiled at Wild Horse and said, ¡°All right, Little Wild Horse. You¡¯ve proven that you are the strongest practitioner of the Ceasing and Arising Swordsmanship. You may withdraw now.¡±


    But Wild Horse didn¡¯t move. Old Man Mu widened his eyes and scolded, ¡°The Dragon King has new sword moves to exin. Do you want to see them or not? Back off!¡±


    Wild Horse retreated to Lotus¡¯ side. Everyone in the hall admired Old Man Mu¡¯s courage but also felt that he would probably not walk out of the underground chamber alive.


    ¡°The strongest killing aura can even frighten and petrify the opponent, resulting in many new moves,¡± Gu Shenwei said as he drew his saber and held it high in the air. With the saber nting down, he slowly stabbed at the ground as if he were piercing an enemy who had already been stupefied in front of him.


    The move was too simple and full of ws. Even Old Man Mu couldn¡¯t find any mysteriousness in it. ¡°Heh heh. Even the fiercest killing aura can¡¯t be that formidable. Little Wild Horse can at most slow his opponent down a bit, but the Dragon King¡¯s move is tantamount to asking the enemy to give up all resistance. I can¡¯t believe it!¡±


    Old Man Mu said what was on everyone¡¯s mind.


    ¡°It¡¯s not exaggerated,¡± Lotus suddenly said. She had been sitting in the chair, looking on coldly as if she didn¡¯t care at all about what was going on in the hall.


    ¡°You can do that?¡± Old Man Mu didn¡¯t believe it at all.


    Lotus got up, walked slowly to Old Man Mu, and nodded. ¡°I can.¡±

 Chapter 934 - Backfire

    Chapter 934: Backfire


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Old Man Mu believed that his fear had all been uprooted decades ago and that it had rotted away underground with his Master¡¯s mutted corpse. Thus, heughed it away when Lotus said, ¡°I can.¡±


    Although he was wary of Lotus, the Dragon King, and the Unique King, he had never really feared them. Even when he had been driven into a corner and had a slim chance of surviving, he had never been afraid of anything, not to mention an intangible killing aura.


    He nced at the Dragon King but received no special hint so he chuckled. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to show off but I used to kill people like flies, and I don¡¯t think anyone in this hall has killed as many people as I have. As for killing aura, I think that I also have a little and I did use it to scare the opponent into freezing on the spot several times. It was quite satisfying, but not something that I could reliably execute. You want to try it on me? Hehe¡­¡±


    All of a sudden, an exmation of surprise sounded out around him. Old Man Mu looked around and wondered what had happened. Then he looked up, and for the first time in years, he was really shocked. His wrinkled face immediately changed because Lotus¡¯s sword was hanging an inch or two above his head, and it seemed to have been there for some time.


    Old Man Mu immediately jumped more than ten paces away and exasperatedly eximed, ¡°That¡¯s impossible. You¡­ I¡­ What tricks did you y?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s introduction of the seven different training methods, as well as his demonstration, has inspired me,¡± Lotus said as she put away her sword, her voice slow and weak, unlike her usual self. ¡°Killing aura is power. It can be applied to the swordsmanship and can naturally be applied to other martial arts skills as well.¡±


    ¡°Seven Magical Tones. Did you just use the Seven Magical Tones on me?¡± Old Man Mu almost couldn¡¯t believe it, but he was sure of his judgment.


    The Seven Magical Tones was one of the unique skills in Waning Moon Hall¡¯s Manual of Seven Secret Techniques. It could be used to disturb an enemy¡¯s mind. Old Man Mu also knew this move and he had used it on the Dragon King and others before, so he was sure that Lotus had used the magical tone when she had said, ¡°I can.¡±


    But the effect of the Seven Magical Tones was limited. Although it could distract the enemy and scare the enemy into fleeing at best, it didn¡¯t have the magical effect of mesmerizing the enemy intopletely neglecting the threat, especially when the threat was imminent.


    ¡°Just a little.¡± Lotus appeared to weaken and struggled back into her seat. A move that seemed extremely easy to others had actually cost her a great deal of internal energy.


    ¡°The secret arts of Waning Moon Hall can be used on the Death Sutra Swordsmanship and be much more powerful?¡± Old Man Mu, who was shocked, immediately became overjoyed as if he were the one who had mastered the divine kung fu.


    ¡°It¡¯s not just the secret arts of Waning Moon Hall.¡± Gu Shenwei began to exin the profundities. ¡°Any martial arts skills can be integrated into the swordsmanship as long as your internal energy is powerful enough and your faith in the swordsmanship is firm enough.¡±


    Lotus fulfilled both criteria. Her Daoless Divine Power had passed the stage of dispersing internal energy. As far as internal energy was concerned, she was on par with the Unique King and much stronger than the Dragon King. As for her belief in the swordsmanship, she was the first to be confident in it and it was also her who had suggested that Servant Huan practice the swordsmanship in the first ce.


    ¡°Ah, my understanding of killing aura is too narrow.¡± Old Man Mu seemed to have suddenly understood something. ¡°Lotus¡¯s killing aura wasn¡¯t used to scare people but rather to activate the Seven Magical Tones. I didn¡¯t feel any of it and couldn¡¯t even see the swording at me. Incredible, that¡¯s incredible¡­ But not many people in this hall know the Seven Magical Tones. How can they apply this technique?¡±


    ¡°The Seven Magical Tones is not the most important aspect. Any martial arts skill can be blended with it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why the Dragon King can use the saber in ce of the sword?¡±


    ¡°Right. I can use the saber to perform the swordsmanship, and the Master Commander can use her killing aura to activate the Seven Magical Tones, but no one else can do it.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Their understanding of the swordsmanship, as well as their internal energy, is not enough.¡±


    Actually, Old Man Mu already knew the answer, but he still pretended that he had just realized it. He twirled on the spot and nced over the crowd before shaking his head. ¡°No, no, no¡­ The Dragon King is right, you guys can¡¯t do it. You¡¯ve already reached the highest level that you can in the swordsmanship. It¡¯s almost impossible for you to improve any further.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s introduction of the seven cultivation methods, though simple, had benefited everyone present. When the Master Commander showed her amazing skill and subdued the enemy, the crowd revered it and became even more confident in the swordsmanship. They didn¡¯t expect that the Dragon King would conclude with the fact that no one else could do it, and they all became confused.


    Shangguan Hong had originally been weak in kung fu, so he was more addicted to the swordsmanship. But he had still learned the Seven Rotation Skill and the Daoless Divine Power and thought that he still had some hope, so he boldly asked, ¡°We can still make it as long as we improve our understanding of the swordsmanship and our internal energy, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good question, Shangguan Hong. What¡¯s your reply, Dragon King?¡± Old Man Mu was like a teacher presiding over an argument, firmly controlling the direction of the debate.


    ¡°It¡¯s toote.¡± Gu Shenwei said as he turned to face Wild Horse, ¡°All of you have made a big mistake. You¡¯ve killed too many people and your swordsmanship has improved too fast. It¡¯s already gone far beyond your ability to bear it. If you continue practicing, then you¡¯re doomed to die. Even if you can improve your internal energy quick enough, it¡¯s like how distant water cannot quench your current thirst.¡±


    Wild Horse¡¯s face was like a stone carving. When the Dragon King said ¡®no one else can do it,¡¯ he no longer believed a single wording from this man. He knew very well that Servant Huan had always been good at double-talk, confusing people, and poisoning their mind.


    Wild Horse could not speak, but a lot of other people had the same idea as he did. One male disciple of the Essence Pavilion loudly asked, ¡°Is the Dragon King saying that we should give up on the Waning Moon Swordsmanship?¡±


    ¡°It may not be toote,¡± Gu Shenwei said, still looking at Wild Horse.


    ¡°Hah, ridiculous. I knew that the Dragon King wouldn¡¯t be so kind. After all is said and done, the Dragon King actually wants us to give up the unique skill that we¡¯ve spent so much effort cultivating. You might as well advise us tomit suicide.¡±


    ¡°If you are still obsessed with it, then you won¡¯t be far frommitting suicide yourself.¡±


    ¡°Haha.¡±


    ¡°Heh heh.¡±


    ¡­


    Laughter rang out from all sides. Apparently, even the ordinary disciples didn¡¯t believe the Dragon King¡¯s words anymore.


    Gu Shenwei neither responded to the sneers nor did he continue to exin.


    Old Man Mu pped his arms, motioned the crowd to stay quiet, and then said, ¡°The words of the Dragon King are indeed a little profound. Just ask if you have any questions, but do not make any strange noises. After all, the Dragon King knows more than you.¡±


    Shangguan Hong opened his mouth, looking a bit excited. ¡°The Dragon King and Master Commander started practicing the Waning Moon Swordsmanship several years ago. At that time, you were not as powerful as now. How have you remained unscathed so far?¡±


    Many people nodded, indicating that they also had the same question.


    ¡°But the Master Commander and I didn¡¯t kill as many people in as short a time. When we saw the danger, we immediately slowed down. I started to use the saber andter learned other techniques to reduce the effects of the backfire. As for the Master Commander¡­¡±


    Gu Shenwei was telling the truth. He and Lotus had discovered the side effects of Death Sutra long ago. The exnatory note of the abstract scripture clearly said that killing a target that had a simr strength and skills could improve the swordsmanship very quickly. However, when the practitioner reached a certain level, killing would be a must. If the practitioner didn¡¯t kill within a set period, the swordsmanship would backfire. But there would always be an end. When the practitioner could no longer find a suitable opponent, the only one they could kill would be themselves.


    For years, Gu Shenwei had carefully controlled his progress in the Death Sutra Swordsmanship and had only used it a few times a year. Most of the time, he had transferred his sword intent to his sabersmanship. Although the power had been reduced, it couldst for longer. As his power grew and his understanding deepened, he was able to activate more of the swordsmanship.


    Lotus naturally knew this, but she had continued to use the sword all this time. She had never said what kind of methods she had used to suppress the backfire, so Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know them.


    Lotus sat still. As more and more eyes fell on her, she said, ¡°Psychotic Divine Drain. When the backfiring gets worse and worse, I¡¯ll use the Psychotic Divine Drain to transfer it to someone else. I can only transfer a part of it.¡±


    The disciples of the Waning Moon Hall believed her because they all knew that the Psychotic Divine Drain was one of the most profound secret arts of the Waning Moon Hall. It was said that it could even bring the dying back to life. Lotus had been awarded this martial arts skill for stealing the Daoless Scroll. No one else in the Waning Moon Hall had learned it besides her and Han Wuxian.


    Even when Old Man Mu was seriously wounded, Han Wuxian had only taught him the Seven Rotation Skill which had unpredictable consequences.


    ¡°The swordsmanship will backfire? I don¡¯t believe it. I¡¯ve killed a total of fifty or sixty people so far and I¡¯m still fine.¡± A male disciple of the Essence Pavilion was suspicious of the Master Commander.


    They were in high spirits and could not be persuaded to give up by a few words.


    Han Ling came out from the right and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know if the Dragon King is telling the truth or not, but the swordsmanship does indeed backfire on the practitioner. I have experienced it myself.¡±


    ¡°But you didn¡¯t die.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King saved me. Believe me, it¡¯s not obvious yet and it¡¯ll only happen when the attack is blocked. If no one saves us, then we¡¯ll die on the spot, which is why none of us knows about it.¡±


    Han Ling was an ordinary disciple of the Waning Moon Hall but her words won more of the crowd¡¯s trust. Someone immediately cried out, ¡°Do you mean that the Master Commander taught us the swordsmanship to kill us?¡±


    Han Fen was the first to respond to such an usation. ¡°Who said that? Stand out and let me have a look,¡± she snapped.


    No one came out. Han Fen didn¡¯t know what to say next. It was still Han Ling who continued. ¡°No. Just think about it, it was actually Wild Horse who taught us the swordsmanship and that old man of the Essence Pavilion. They did mention that the swordsmanship might backfire on the practitioner, but they deliberately didn¡¯t mention it in detail, as if it were just a strange thing that would happen by ident.¡±


    Han Ling¡¯s reminder produced an immediate effect. The crowd immediately turned their attention to Wild Horse, but many people still had doubts in their hearts. ¡°But Wild Horse is fine. He kills the most and his sword technique has improved the fastest too. By all odds, it should have backfired a long time ago.¡±


    Wild Horse couldn¡¯t speak. And even if he could, he disdained doing so. Standing upright and unafraid, he saw the people in the hall as nothing but ants.


    ¡°Wild Horse has suffered a backfire once before,¡± Lotus said softly, letting out a light sigh. ¡°He killed himself, but the one who died was ¡®Immortal Peng.¡¯¡±


    Wild Horse and the old man of the Essence Pavilion were closely rted and the two had almost the same mindset, as if they were one person. And they even called themselves ¡®Immortal Peng¡¯. Lotus hadn¡¯t seen it with her own eyes, but she could guess what had happened. Wild Horse had mitted suicide,¡¯ but hadn¡¯t been able to kill himself. Instead, he hade back to himself andpletely rid himself of the bondage of ¡®Immortal Peng.¡¯


    Wild Horse¡¯s wide apart eyes became empty again. He had heard enough. Although not all of Servant Huan¡¯s words were true, they had still helped him a lot. He had ¡®died¡¯ once, so who could be better than him at the swordsmanship?


    It was time to end the duel of seven years ago.

 Chapter 935 - Suicide

    Chapter 935: Suicide


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    When Wild Horse had agreed to be a part of ¡®Immortal Peng,¡¯ he had never expected that he would one day have to kill his dual cultivator.


    In fact, he had every reason to thank the disciples of the Essence Pavilion. If it were not for their reception and help in the Nond, Wild Horse could have only practiced his one-armed sabersmanship quietly and would never have had ess to advanced martial arts skills.


    Before he joined the Essence Pavilion, Wild Horse¡¯s ¡®Masters¡¯ solely consisted of the golden roc killer and Old Man Mu. The former wasn¡¯t much of a kung fu master himself while thetter was too clever and had sharp eyes. Old Man Mu didn¡¯t care at all for how much Wild Horse wanted to be a kung fu expert. During their two years together, although Old Man Mu had made all sorts of promises, he had never taught Wild Horse any real unique skills. He would rather pass the Five Hole Punch to Shangguan Fei than teach Wild Horse a single move.


    The disciples of the Essence Pavilion, however, liked Wild Horse. This young man¡¯s unique appearance and physical disability were like a voucher to enter this new group. He was not at all weird among a group of weirdos. Besides, his perseverance, his desire, and his unconditional eptance for advanced martial arts skills were highly appreciated by his new Masters.


    As soon as Wild Horse received the Essence of Perceiving Passion, he was fascinated by the various techniques in it and volunteered to be that old man¡¯s training partner. When he realized that he couldn¡¯t surpass the Dragon King alone no matter how hard he practiced, he decided to give up his own mind and be the ¡®Immortal Peng¡¯ who had two bodies and one mind. His only requirement was that the Immortal Peng had to inherit his hatred for the Dragon King.


    This wasn¡¯t a problem because the disciple of the Essence Pavilion hated the Dragon King no less than him.


    The hardest thing was to give up his own thoughts, not it wasn¡¯t as hard as it was to empty them. Wild Horse had to keep his mind away from things while also trying to grasp the intentions of the old man of the Essence Pavilion with all his heart. Any dy would interrupt the connection between them.


    Wild Horse gradually lost himself. asionally, he would recall his original name and feel that the name ¡®Immortal Peng¡¯ was very strange. But on the whole, he seldom resisted. The old man of the Essence Pavilion was very satisfied with him.


    Their mysterious connection wasn¡¯t interrupted even when he began practicing the Waning Moon Swordsmanship taught by Lotus. And he even benefited a lot from the many insights of the old man of the Essence Pavilion in the process.


    In the peach grove of the Gui Garden, Wild Horse had frustratedly found that he was still no match for the Dragon King even with the Waning Moon Swordsmanship. His chagrin also affected the old man of the Essence Pavilion who had re-examined the swordsmanship taught by Lotus alone and finally concluded that the swordsmanship was iplete. Lotus had hidden something, but he could break through the limitation.


    It was the old man of the Essence Pavilion who had thought up a new training method and named it ¡®Ceasing and Arising.¡¯ Then, he had instilled it into ¡®Immortal Peng¡±s mind. Wild Horse had sessfully epted it and thought that it was his own idea.


    Wild Horse started killing people. As time went by, it became harder and too time-consuming to find a close rival. So, he had gathered all the disciples of the Waning Moon Swordsmanship as well as the Essence Pavilion in the underground chamber of Bodhi Garden and improved his swordsmanship through their lives.


    And he had seeded. Wild Horse could feel the changes in his swordsmanship. Killing became easier and easier for him, and he had finally be bored with it. When he found that he had no rival around him and that the only person he could kill was ¡®himself,¡¯ he had acted without hesitation.


    The one who fell was the old man of the Essence Pavilion and it was only then that Wild Horse felt the foul Qi that had umted in his body for years be released, and that killing had be as easy as cutting the grass.


    But it was the Dragon King. It was the Dragon King again who had just shown three incredible moves and proved to Wild Horse that he hadn¡¯t reached the peak of the swordsmanship.


    Lotus didn¡¯t know this much, but she had indeed pointed out the truth: Wild Horse had also suffered the backfire of the swordsmanship. But after killing the old man of the Essence Pavilion, he had be the closest to perfecting the swordsmanship in the hall, even closer than the Dragon King and Lotus.


    Old Man Mu seemed enlightened. ¡°See? Now do you understand? Wild Horse has fooled all of you. He taught you the Death Sutra Swordsmanship and asked you to improve it quickly so that you could be a stepping stone for him. He has led you to a dead-end while he himself has already figured a way out.¡±


    Old Man Mu¡¯s usation wasn¡¯t entirely correct. Of course Wild Horse didn¡¯t care about the disciples¡¯ lives. But when he had decided to improve his swordsmanship at all costs, he had no premeditated intent to kill his partner. The idea had naturally urred to him. He had neither nned it out beforehand nor had he felt guilty after doing it.


    Wild Horse couldn¡¯t argue, and he didn¡¯t want to argue for himself either. Even if he were facing with enemies numbering ten times more than the current situation, he would only wish that there were more of them. As his eyes swept across the crowd, he was looking for an opponent who could help improve his swordsmanship.


    There were very few people left. Wild Horse suddenly felt the same boredom that he had when he had ¡®killed himself¡¯ for the first time.


    The people in the hall gradually woke up. Some people threw away their swords while more hesitated to do so. They had spent too much effort on the swordsmanship and it was really difficult for them to give up on it.


    Han Ling was the first to experience the power of the bacsh, so her mind was also the clearest. Old Man Mu¡¯s usation was wless, but she still had more doubts. ¡°Master Commander, you knew about this long ago, but instead of stopping it, you watched the disciples fall into the trap?¡±


    Her question led the crowd¡¯s resentment to focus on Lotus and it also angered Han Fen.


    ¡°Hey, Han Ling, and all of you,e on and be reasonable. You betrayed the Master Commander and obediently let yourselves be deluded by Wild Horse. Now that you find that you were fooled, you me everything on the Master Commander? Don¡¯t forget the vows that you made.¡±


    A female disciple in the crowd sneered. ¡°Everything that Wild Horse has done was done under the banner of the Master Commander. We all thought that the swordsmanship was taught by Master Commander. You call this a betrayal?¡±


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s a betrayal. It¡¯s so obvious,¡± Han Fen said with certainty, but she couldn¡¯te up with more evidence, which only caused more sneers to emerge.


    Compared to Han Fen, Old Man Mu was more skillful at verbal fights. Although he didn¡¯t like Lotus, he still stepped out and argued for her. ¡°Do not sneer. You think that you are loyal, but when that girl said Lotus¡¯ training method was wrong and that Wild Horse was right, I didn¡¯t see any of you stand out and speak for Lotus.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Han Fen was happy. ¡°What else do you have to say? Old Man Mu, I love you.¡±


    Old Man Mu proudly nodded. ¡°I love you too, but do not let mydy know that. She likes to be jealous.¡±


    Han Fen beamed with joy. ¡°Of course. I won¡¯t tell Hall Leader Han.¡±


    Han Ling coughed and said, ¡°We are at fault, but the Master Commander did nothing to save us from ruin in the first ce. More than half of the disciples of Waning Moon Hall are dead. Those people thought that the swordsmanship was taught by the Master Commander and that the order of ughter was also given by the Master Commander till the moment they died.¡±


    Han Fen had nothing to say in reply so she could only seek foreign help. In an authoritative tone, she said, ¡°Old Man Mu, say a few words. Do not let her speak such nonsense.¡±


    Han Fen¡¯s ¡®love¡¯ had a price. Old Man Mu could no longer find an excuse to refute the other side with so he chuckled and said, ¡°I¡¯ll usurp the host¡¯s role if I go on. Look, the Master Commander is going to exin herself. ¡±


    Han Fen thought about what ¡®usurping the host¡¯s role¡¯ meant as she turned to look at the Master Commander near her.


    Lotus seemed to have been lost in her thoughts and paid no heed to the usation of the crowd and Old Man Mu¡¯s words.


    ¡°Master Commander,¡± Han Fen whispered.


    Lotus slowly raised her head, her eyes nk. ¡°Han Ling was right. I asked Wild Horse to teach you all the swordsmanship. As for the bacsh, I didn¡¯t make it clear to Wild Horse. He gave the order to kill each other, but I didn¡¯t object. In fact, with so many people practicing the swordsmanship at the same time, killing each other is only a matter of time.


    Han Fen scratched her forehead in confusion, wondering what the Master Commander was trying to say.


    The disciples all puzzledly looked at each other. It was Han Ling again who asked, Why did the Master Commander do this? Are you unsatisfied with us? Have we done something wrong, or have we not expressed enough loyalty?


    Lotus actually revealed a smile which that spread like a ripple from the corner of her eye to the corner of her mouth. ¡°I have a question for you all. Why did Han Wuxian try to seize the Daoless Scroll by any means in the first ce?¡±


    Han Ling was slightly stunned, and slowly said, ¡°Hall Leader¡­ Han Wuxian said that secret arts and pills were low-level techniques. That the better we were at them, the more others would be on guard against us, and the harder it would be for us to gain a foothold in Jianghu. To return to Golden Roc Castle, we had to learn advanced martial arts skills.¡±


    ¡°I retrieved the Daoless Scroll and taught many of you. It¡¯s been several years now. Do any of you think that you have be a kung fu expert as a result?¡±


    Han Ling no longer said anything in response. The others also kept silent. The disciples of the Essence Pavilion had joined the Waning Moon Hall not long ago but all of the original disciples of the Waning Moon Hall knew that although their internal energy had greatly increased with the Daoless Divine Power, no one had be a real kung fu master besides the Master Commander.


    ¡°It¡¯s not easy to give up the skills that you¡¯ve gotten used to since you were little.¡± Lotus continued exining. ¡°Even learning the Daoless Divine Power hasn¡¯t made you give up the secret arts and pills; instead, you¡¯ve started relying on them even more.¡±


    Han Ling bowed her head in shame. ¡°So the Master Commander taught us the Waning Moon Swordsmanship but didn¡¯t point out the side effects in order to have us be obsessed with it and change our inherent habit.¡±


    Lotus had achieved her goal. The Death Sutra required the practitioner to have a strong belief in the sword manual which meant the practitioner would toss aside all other kung fus, including the use of secret arts and pills.


    Hundreds of people had lost their lives for this, but Lotus didn¡¯t need to exin much because this was a perfectly normal way for the Waning Moon Hall to achieve their goals.


    Lotus nodded slightly. There were many reasons for her to choose this moment to teach the swordsmanship, such as diverting the disciples¡¯ attention during her period of dispersing internal energy and dealing with Wild Horse¡¯s overt coercion. However, she didn¡¯t have to bring attention to every one of them.


    ¡°But the Dragon King said that we have to give up the Waning Moon Swordsmanship. If we continue practicing it, we¡¯ll¡­ kill ourselves. Master Commander, should we listen to the Dragon King or not?¡± one disciple of the Waning Moon Hall asked from the crowd, her tone clearly turning respectful.


    ¡°The Dragon King is right.¡± Lotus looked down and then said, ¡°You should give up on using the sword, but the sword intent that you¡¯veprehended won¡¯t affect your secret arts and pills. You can apply it to any martial arts skill. That¡¯s what the Dragon King did.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. That was indeed what he had done.


    ¡°You are indeed the Master Commander, always so organized in doing things,¡± Old Man Mu said while staring warily at Wild Horse who was standing besides Lotus. ¡°Did you invite the Dragon King here just to tell everyone this? You are really a good guesser. You actually knew in advance that the Dragon King was fond of teaching others.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t invite the Dragon King here to reason with anyone, but rather to kill Wild Horse.¡± Lotus looked up, and her eyes suddenly became firm. ¡°In this world, there¡¯s only one practitioner of the Death Sutra Swordsmanship who has ¡®killed himself.¡¯ I think that the Dragon King must be very interested.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was indeed very interested, and it was also why he hadn¡¯t made a move yet so far.

 Chapter 936 - Life-saving

    Chapter 936: Life-saving


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Wild Horse took seven steps forward, and the disciples around him retreated seven steps at the same time. Even those who were already against the wall nervously shuffled their feet, trying to move backwards.


    The less seriously Wild Horse treated the lives of the people around him, the more the crowd revered him.


    The discussion had ended and the killing had resumed, and Wild Horse had pointed his sword at his first target.


    Old Man Mu¡¯s expression immediately changed. After moving a few steps closer to the Dragon King, he chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ve never practiced the so-called Waning Moon Swordsmanship or the Death Sutra Swordsmanship, so you¡¯d better find someone else to practice your sword technique on.¡±


    Wild Horse¡¯s sword moved along with his target. Waves of warmth rushed up to his head from his feet. Today, he would finally shut up that annoying big mouth forever.


    ¡°Dragon King, you haven¡¯t spoken for a long time. The Master Commander already said that she invited you here to kill Wild Horse. It¡¯s gettingte. Why not make a move now?¡± Old Man Mu simply hid behind the Dragon King. He wasn¡¯t the kind of person who would calmly ept death when he knew that he would definitely be defeated.


    ¡°No.¡± Gu Shenwei refused Old Man Mu¡¯s request for help. ¡°Wild Horse¡¯s swordsmanship isn¡¯t powerful enough. You have to help him to improve it further.¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Old Man Mu believed that he was smarter than most of the people in the hall but even he couldn¡¯t understand the Dragon King right now. ¡°Improve it further? So that he can kill everyone here? Besides¡­ Besides, I¡¯m too weak to help him.¡±


    ¡°You are the most obvious choice.¡± Gu Shenwei grabbed Old Man Mu from behind him and put him in front of Wild Horse.


    In the face of danger, Old Man Mu¡¯s mind spun even faster. ¡°The Dragon King wants Wild Horse to improve his swordsmanship further. Does the Dragon King want him to kill himself again?¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t been idle when Old Man Mu had been speaking with Lotus. The various experiences that he had had when practicing the Death Sutra Swordsmanship had rushed through his mind one by one.


    The two golden-crowned rocs had first brought Servant Huan that magic ancient book. Frightened by the horrible figures and esoteric words in the book, he hadn¡¯t taken it too seriously at that time, but neither had he begrudgingly thrown it away either.


    In contrast, Lotus had urged Servant Huan to practice it as soon as she read the Death Sutra. At that time, she probably wanted to use this odd kung fu to harm people. For this purpose, she had even put herself at risk by learning the swordsmanship together with Servant Huan.


    It was with this sword technique of unknown origin that the two hadpleted the training of a killer disciple and sessfully survived Golden Roc Castle. In order to not be noticed by the killers, they had carefully controlled how quickly they improved at the swordsmanship and therefore, hadn¡¯t die unwittingly to a bacsh.


    After the monks of the Four Noble Truths Temple had deciphered the outline, which was written in a weirdnguage, Gu Shenwei and Lotus had both realized that they were on a road of no return. The more they killed, the stronger the swordsmanship. And the stronger the swordsmanship, the more they had to kill strong rivals. There was no end. In the end, the one they would be able to kill would only be themselves.


    The only solution was to dy the progress of the practice as much as possible.


    This was a strange and cruel martial art in every way, but it was called the ¡°Grand Enlightenment Sword Sutra.¡± Both Gu Shenwei and Lotus thought that it was more appropriate to call it the ¡°Death Sutra.¡± For a long time, Gu Shenwei had felt that he had neglected something. The outline of the Daoless Scroll had then filled one of the most important loopholes.


    Gu Shenwei had identally found the outline in the Underground Pce of the Khan and had read it many times since then. What impressed him the most was the story of ¡°sacrificing the body to achieve enlightenment.¡± A monk who studied and cultivated hard couldn¡¯t free himself from his mortal shackles. To prove his sincerity to Buddha, he hadmitted suicide, but in that same moment of death, also been enlightened.


    Both the Daoless Divine Power and the Death Sutra Swordsmanship were martial arts skills passed down from Golden Roc Castle. The two were probably created by the same person, so naturally, there were many simrities between the two. And it was exactly from this story that Gu Shenwei hadprehended the true meaning of the ¡°Grand Enlightenment Sword Sutra.¡±


    Practicing one¡¯s swordsmanship was like cultivating oneself ording to a religious doctrine. The first step was to have infinite faith in the swordsmanship as believing in something made it happen. The following path was also simr. The ascetic had to strengthen his belief in the endless cultivation. For a swordsmanship practitioner, it was to kill over and over again. The practitioner would be amazed by his swordsmanship over and over again and his swordsmanship would improve to corresponding higher levels.


    In the end, like the ascetic, when the belief of the practitioner grew to the utmost, they needed a more direct and powerful proof of his conviction, which was to ¡°sacrifice the body to achieve enlightenment.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s conviction was far from that strong, but as soon as he saw Wild Horse, he knew his theories could be tested on this man.


    Old Man Mu was dumbfounded. cing his hopes of defeating the enemy on the other side¡¯smitting suicide was like using another person¡¯s saber to kill them. It didn¡¯t seem to be a feasible tactic at all. ¡°Dragon King, Wild Horse has already ¡®killed himself¡¯ once before. Will he do it again?¡±


    ¡°To sacrifice the body to achieve enlightenment,¡± Gu Shenwei casually said. ¡°Wild Horse has only killed the body but didn¡¯t receive enlightenment. Thus, he will do it again for the second and a third time until he dies.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s confidence didn¡¯t have an encouraging effect on Old Man Mu. Instead, it made him even more frightened. ¡°A third time? So it means that I may not live to see it? Ehh, look, Wild Horse is smiling, and it¡¯s really ugly. He¡¯s being disdainful of the Dragon King. I don¡¯t think that he wants tomit suicide at all. I¡¯d guess that he doesn¡¯t even know what ¡°enlightenment¡± means.¡±


    Wild Horse was indeed smiling. This was exactly the Servant Huan that he remembered, a man of great eloquence, apleteckey who was good at ttering his master. Now, even though Servant Huan was in power, he was more eloquent than ever. Unlike Old Man Mu¡¯s meaningless nagging, Servant Huan¡¯s words usually hid some truth in them and the listeners would be deluded if they didn¡¯t pay any attention to it.


    Unlike the ordinary disciples, Wild Horse had long since known of the consequences of the bacsh from the very beginning. But instead of shrinking back, he had risen to the challenge. At that time, he had not even considered sacrificing his partner, the old man of the Essence Pavilion.


    Wild Horse thought that he had grasped the true meaning of the Death Sutra. As a ground-breaking swordsmanship, each and every one of its training methods went to extremes from the very beginning. Ordinary people would be frightened. Servant Huan and Lotus had carefully maintained a bnce. But he would bravely stride forward, break through the ultimate extremes, and enter a whole new world that he had utmost faith existed.


    This new world would definitely not begin with suicide.


    As for the death of the old man of the Essence Pavilion, it was just a small detour which he would never take again.


    Wild Horse took a step forward. Old Man Mu saw the murderous swording at him, but he couldn¡¯t even move an inch. It were as if his feet had been rooted to the ground.


    The three moves shown by Servant Huan were quite useful. Wild Horse wouldn¡¯t refuse them. Instead, he decided to use them on Old Man Mu.


    Old Man Mu looked back at the Dragon King and said, ¡°Is the Dragon King really not going to help?¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m sure you have a way.¡±


    Old Man Mu smiled wryly as he turned to Lotus. ¡°What about you, Master Commander? You want to kill Wild Horse, and this is your best chance.¡±


    ¡°If I could kill him, then I wouldn¡¯t have invited the Dragon King here.¡± Lotus was even more determined than the Dragon King. ¡°And I also want to see what the end of the Death Sutra Swordsmanship is like.¡±


    Old Man Mu sighed and said, ¡°If I had known this, then I would have kept my mouth shut.¡±


    Han Fenforted him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll take care of your funeral affairs.¡±


    ¡°Heh heh¡­¡± As soon as Old Man Mu¡¯sughter rang out, Wild Horse¡¯s sword had already lunged at him.


    The sword wasn¡¯t too fast. Old Man Mu felt like his feet could move again, but he didn¡¯t. Wild Horse¡¯s sword move changed again. Not only did it have a heavy killing aura, but it also became more flexible. Such a simple move had actually hidden countless subsequent changes.


    Old Man Mu had nowhere to hide. Wild Horse¡¯s sword seemed to being from all directions, so he could only hide in ¡®himself.¡¯


    Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Old Man Mu suddenly crouched into a ball ¨C not squatting on the ground, but rather ¡®floating¡¯ in the air like a spineless hedgehog, ready to take Wild Horse¡¯s blow with his body.


    Wild Horse hit his target. Old Man Mu fell to the ground, still curled up in the shape of a ball. No one knew whether he was dead or alive.


    Wild Horse didn¡¯t make another move. He had used the pure form of the Death Sutra Swordsmanship and he would only attack once. There was no bacsh which meant that the stroke had been a sess, but he didn¡¯t smell the shroud of death.


    Old Man Mu suddenly rolled back several paces and rose up near the Dragon King. He touched his chest and said, ¡°What a formidable swordsmanship. I¡¯m not even bleeding.¡±


    In the eyes of others, it had seemed like a very ordinary sword move, but when the sword stabbed into the target, it had been extremely fast. Little to no bleeding indicated that Wild Horse¡¯s swordsmanship had improved yet again. But Old Man Mu somehow hadn¡¯t died, which seemed to indicate that the swordsmanship has failed.


    The disciples around were all puzzled.


    Wild Horse knew why. His eyes narrowed slightly. He had forgotten about Old Man Mu¡¯s life-saving skill.


    ¡°Heh heh, Dragon King, you are awful. You¡¯ve heard about the Amber Power of my sect so you wanted to see it for yourself, right? To satisfy you, I¡¯ve lost some of my power again. s, if I do it one or two more times, I¡¯ll be aplete wreck.¡±


    The Amber Power was one of the unique skills of the Jade Pure Sect left in the Nond. It did not help improve one¡¯s internal energy, but it could save the practitioner¡¯s life in times of crisis. Old Man Mu had used the Amber Power to survive several sticky situations. The only drawback was that using it consumed a lot of internal energy, and part of it would disappear forever.


    When they had been in the Nond, Old Man Mu had introduced this martial arts skill in detail, so Gu Shenwei knew that he would not die easily. ¡°You don¡¯t need too much internal energy. The weaker your kung fu is, the more trustworthy you are,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    ¡°The Dragon King sounds like the Good Girl¡­¡± Old Man Mu shut up hastily. He¡¯d be better off not mentioning Shangguan Ru in front of Lotus. ¡°My job is done, isn¡¯t it? Do not make me do it again. I¡¯m not sure if I can perform the Amber Power again with how much internal energy I have left.¡±


    ¡°You may step down now,¡± Gu Shenwei said, ¡°Wild Horse, let me pick another opponent for you. I guarantee that you will still not be able to kill him.¡±


    Obviously, Gu Shenwei was goading Wild Horse into action, but Wild Horse epted it. He would let Servant Huan y all his tricks to his heart¡¯s content before killing him with one blow.


    ¡°Shangguan Hong.¡±


    When Shangguan Hong heard his name be called out, he was staggered for a moment and almost fell to the ground, but he still walked out with his soft sword and stood opposite Wild Horse. He forced himself to look the other side straight in the eye, but he only managed to hold on for a moment before he looked down.


    Wild Horse smiled again. Shangguan Hong had a vigorous Qi and blood, so the Dragon King was probably thinking that he couldn¡¯t kill him. But his swordsmanship had surpassed the stage of bloodletting. He would hit the opponent¡¯s vital point in one blow, and the other side would not even feel pain when they died.


    Gu Shenwei asked, ¡°Do you want to live?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Shangguan Hong with a trembling voice.


    ¡°I¡¯ll teach you one move. Master it now and you¡¯ll live. One mistake and you¡¯ll die.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll try.¡±


    Gu Shenwei performed a veryplicated move in front of everyone which involved dozens of subsequent changes. It was so dazzling that most of the people there even found it difficult to see it clearly, not to mention imitate it.


    Shangguan Hong looked at it with his full attention, but he only remembered twenty or thirty percent of it. ¡°Can you show it again?¡±


    ¡°No. One time is enough. If you don¡¯t understand it, then you won¡¯t understand it no matter how many times you watch.¡± Gu Shenwei said. Then he looked at Lotus and saw that she had already understood.

 Chapter 937 - Half a Move

    Chapter 937: Half a Move


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Hong had never been a clever man who could easily understand other people¡¯s hints. When the Dragon King refused to demonstrate the sword move again, his first reaction was that he had been fooled again; he couldn¡¯t even help give the Dragon King a resentful look.


    ¡®But Master Commander¡­¡¯ Shangguan Hong was confused. Had he been abandoned again? Zhang Ji had at least bled him dry. But the Master Commander hadn¡¯t assigned him any important tasks so far. All he had done was merely pass a message to the Dragon King, which could have been done by anyone.


    ¡®I will not die.¡¯ Shangguan Hong suddenly became confident. He did not believe in the Dragon King; he didn¡¯t even believe in himself, but he did believe in Lotus. The Daoless Divine Power, the Seven Rotation Skill, the Waning Moon Swordsmanship, and those specially made pills. The Master Commander had paid too much for him and would definitely not let him die casually.


    But he still didn¡¯t understand the Dragon King¡¯s move.


    Shangguan Hong closed his eyes, trying to recall every motion of the Dragon King¡¯s.


    Wild Horse didn¡¯t move. He wanted to see what new tricks Servant Huan would y.


    Old Man Mu had almost died under Wild Horse¡¯s sword, but he still couldn¡¯t help but open his mouth, though he kept his voice down this time. ¡°You are such a fool. There are only twenty-one changes. Is it really that difficult to remember? And you don¡¯t have to use all of them when fighting the enemy either. You just have to be flexible. Block the left when the attackes at your left. Block the right when the attackes at your right. This move is used to save your life. s, Shangguan Hong, just forget about it. You might as well kill yourself. Your training method, the so-called Sword of Survival, doesn¡¯t sound reliable at all.¡±


    When he was interrupted by Old Man Mu, Shangguan Hong forgot some more of it. He opened his eyes, looking a bit excited. He seemed to understand something, but also seemed frightened. ¡°Just one move. You won¡¯t make a second move?¡±


    In the eyes of Wild Horse, Shangguan Hong was no different from the rest of the disciples in the hall and was perhaps even weaker. Like Old Man Mu, he also believed that the so-called Sword of Survival was a helpless invention by cowards and was wholly inferior to the Sword of Death, not to mention his Ceasing and Arising Swordsmanship.


    Wild Horse raised his head proudly. He would never make a promise to a worm.


    The sword came, as slow as before, but still leaving the target no room to dodge. Shangguan Hong didn¡¯t have any advanced lightness skills like Old Man Mu¡¯s, not to mention the magical Amber Power. He was not afraid of bleeding, but Wild Horse didn¡¯t rely on bloodletting to kill. So he only had one choice left, and that might be what the Dragon King was trying to say.


    Shangguan Hong really wished that the Dragon King could have said it more clearly.


    The soft sword bent into a semicircle. Shangguan Hong stabbed himself.


    Old Man Mu had been right. ¡°Block the left when the attackes at his left and block the right when the attackes at his right.¡± Wild Horse had thrust his sword at Shangguan Hong¡¯s heart, so Shangguan Hong had stabbed at the same spot but with a much faster speed. It was like a hungry baby wolf fighting with its siblings for food from its mother¡¯s mouth.


    One should never underestimate a survival maniac¡¯s will to live in a desperate situation.


    This move waspletely out of Wild Horse¡¯s expectations. He had thought too highly of his own training method and hadn¡¯t carefully considered the characteristics of the other training methods, so he didn¡¯t expect that Shangguan Hong would make such a dangerous move.


    Wild Horse¡¯s sword still hit the targeted spot urately but what should have been flesh had instead turned into cold steel. His sword pushed a bit deeper under the resistance, but it stopped an inch or two shallower than the depth it was supposed to reach, and that was the difference between life and death.


    Wild Horse felt the bacsh effect for the first time. It was just a small force, but he had poured all of his internal Qi into the sword and his Dantian had be empty as a result; even this small force jolted him and made him involuntarily retreat by half a step.


    Shangguan Hong stumbled back, all the while gnashing his teeth and moaning in pain. Then he steeled his heart and pulled the soft sword out of his chest. He was afraid of the wound, but he was more afraid of death. Thus, he would rather stab himself and seize the space that the enemy sword wanted to inhabit. The only change was that the soft sword had curved such that the tip had remained half an inch away from his heart.


    Shangguan Hong covered his chest with his left hand and spat out a bloody patch of phlegm. After shooting a nce at the opposite Wild Horse, he turned to the nearby Dragon King, his eyes full of hatred and madness.


    The Dragon King had pushed him to the brink of death and then saved him, but at the cost of injuring his own body. It was very hard for him to feel grateful. Even if his swordsmanship had improved as a result, he still felt angry. It was as if a miser had been forced to throw away a few pieces of gold and silver to keep most of his wealth. Even though he knew that it was necessary, he would still be annoyed at the person who had made the suggestion.


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s move shocked the audience. Shangguan Fei was the one who felt the most surprised. He had been standing in the corner and holding his breath along with the guard of the Heavenly Mountain Sect for fear that the Dragon King would remember that he was there. But the perseverance and determination of his half-brother frightened him even more.


    Shangguan Fei had castrated Shangguan Hong, but he had never considered him as an enemy. The most important reason was because there was a huge gap between the two¡¯s martial arts skills. He didn¡¯t feel the need to be afraid. Shangguan Hong was said to have killed the assassin who had killed the envoy of the Central ins, but Shangguan Fei didn¡¯t put that in his mind. He thought that it had either been a coincidence or the assassin had been too careless. But after seeing Shangguan Hong¡¯s unusual sword techniques, he suddenly realized that the gap between the two didn¡¯t exist at all.


    It was Shangguan Hong who had been stabbed, but Shangguan Fei seemed to have also felt the pain, and a voice echoed through his mind, saying, ¡®You have to be careful.¡¯


    No one in this hall cared about Shangguan Fei¡¯s reaction. All of their eyes were still focused on Wild Horse.


    As the Dragon King had predicated, Wild Horse wasn¡¯t able to kill his target yet again. The disciples¡¯ reverence toward Wild Horse was, therefore, greatly reduced and ced onto the Dragon King instead.


    The practitioner¡¯s belief in the Death Sutra Swordsmanship might sometimes turn into arrogance, which was what was happening to Shangguan Hong. He suddenly felt like he was omnipotent and that he was fully capable of killing Wild Horse and then challenging the Dragon King. Driven by this arrogance, he took a step forward but that was it. It was already a great achievement to put on an attitude of defiance in front of Wild Horse. The arrogance had fulfilled its task and then quickly disappeared. Shangguan Hong immediately changed directions and retreated to Old Man Mu¡¯s side.


    Wild Horse adjusted his internal Qi. The bacsh didn¡¯t have a huge impact on him. He could still move normally.


    The Dragon King had taught him another lesson, but Wild Horse wasn¡¯t discouraged. Both Old Man Mu and Shangguan Hong¡¯s moves could be only used once. Although he had failed, his understanding of his swordsmanship had deepened. If they fought again, he was sure that he would kill the two of them in one attack shot regardless of how many weird moves they made.


    He had failed to kill his targets but his swordsmanship had still improved. Wild Horse was even a bit grateful to the Dragon King.


    Gasping, Old Man Mu looked up at Shangguan Hong and pped him hard on the leg. ¡°Good boy, how did you figure it out? You actually dared to stab yourself.¡±


    Shangguan Hong¡¯s legs softened and he almost fell onto his knees, ¡°Every move that the Dragon King demonstrated was targeted towards a specific training method. So, I thought that this move must have something to do with the Sword of Survival. And then he told me not to remember the move, so¡­¡±


    ¡°So what?¡± Old Man Mu eagerly asked. As clever as he was, he wasn¡¯t able to figure it out himself. But the stupid Shangguan Hong had seen through it, which really annoyed him.


    ¡°Actually, the Dragon King only disyed half a move¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu pped his thigh and cried out, ¡°I got it. The Dragon King¡¯s move was both offensive and defensive, which was what confused me. It wasn¡¯t like the style of the Death Sutra Swordsmanship. It turned out that he only showed half of it. Theplete move is to cooperate with the enemy¡¯s weapon to stab oneself at full strength. Haha, the Dragon King didn¡¯t want to stab himself and also didn¡¯t want Wild Horse to be prepared in advance, so he talked in riddles so that only those skilled in the training methods of the Sword of Survival could understand.¡±


    At this point, Old Man Mu was talking to himself. It solved the doubts of the crowd, but he himself seemed to be even more confused. ¡°Dragon King, please do not me me for talking too much. I really want to know one thing. What¡¯s your training method? Could it be that you¡¯ve mastered all of the training methods?¡±


    The crowd¡¯s reverence for the Dragon King suddenly doubled. By contrast, Wild Horse seemed much more ordinary now.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s training method was indeed different from everyone here. Long before he had practiced the Death Sutra Swordsmanship, he had made up his mind to take revenge at any price, even at the expense of perishing with the enemy. Thus, he had adopted the way of ¡®Killing Oneself.¡¯ The better his swordsmanship was, the weaker his killing aura. The only person who knew this was Lotus.


    On the wall of the stone chambers of Golden Roc Castle, Gu Shenwei had found six other training methods simr to ¡®Killing Oneself.¡¯ He had tried each of them, but had been unable to integrate them into his swordsmanship. Although they were based on the same idea, each training method was extreme in its own way and forcefullybining them would be counterproductive. Only the Dragon King himself knew about this.


    So instead of answering Old Man Mu¡¯s question, he turned to Wild Horse and shook his head as he said, ¡°No, your swordsmanship is not strong enough. It¡¯s still far away from ¡°sacrificing the body to achieve enlightenment.¡± Do you still have doubts about your sword technique?¡±


    The Dragon King sounded like he was lecturing a novice disciple. Wild Horse couldn¡¯t stop himself from bing furious. The person in front of him was the only person who he couldn¡¯t maintain the mentality of ¡®Ceasing and Arising¡¯ towards. Perhaps this was the only doubt he had about the swordsmanship. When he thought of this, he became even angrier because the Dragon King was actually right.


    Sacrificing the body to achieve enlightenment? Wild Horse took a step forward. Did the Dragon King really think that he was a god and that he could persuade a person tomit suicide with just his fancy words?


    A fierce killing aura filled the hall. Many of the disciples were tormented as they were stuck between awe and fear. No one dared to escape. They all stood against the wall, huddling together. Their killing desire had long since dissipated.


    ¡°¡®Impermanent are all material things. They arise and cease; that is their nature.¡¯ I remember that that¡¯s how the scripture describes the Ceasing and Arising Swordsmanship. Old Man Mu, what does it mean?¡±


    Wild Horse¡¯s killing intent was stirred up while the Dragon King was still dwelling on the scripture. Stunned, Old Man Mu mechanically replied, ¡°That¡¯s the nonsense of Buddhism. Whatever has the nature of arising also has the nature of ceasing, which is the so-called ¡®impermanence.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Then what does the opposite¡ª¡¯Ceasing and Arising¡¯ mean?¡±


    ¡°Well, the opposite. If everything you see, hear, feel, and so on and so forth ceases, then your pure, true self will arise. Then it will transcend impermanence. That¡¯s probably what it means, but little Wild Horse doesn¡¯t read much and may not be able to understand it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei asked Wild Horse, ¡°Now you understand?¡±


    Wild Horse was enraged. Of course he understood, but what he understood was the Dragon King¡¯s tactics. This cunningckey of his was infuriating him and forcing him out of his current state of mind of Ceasing and Arising so that he was unable to perform his most powerful swordsmanship.


    What he practiced wasn¡¯t the Sword of Fury so anger wouldn¡¯t provide him any strength and it would only disturb his mental state.


    Wild Horse tilted his head and nced at his broken arm, and put out the anger in his heart. It was all because of Servant Huan that he had lost his arm. Servant Huan was, after all, a life. Even if he was ten times smarter, he was still just a life like everyone else.


    Wild Horse regained the familiar old feeling.


    Old Man Mu chuckled. ¡°Dragon King, it¡¯s not looking good. Little Wild Horse doesn¡¯t seem to have been fooled. Do you have a backup n?¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t have any backup ns. All his efforts had been made in the hopes that Wild Horse could improve his swordsmanship faster. This was an ¡®open stratagem.¡¯


    He turned to Lotus, who was sitting in the chair, and asked, ¡°Does the Master Commander have any more strength to fight?¡±


    Lotus nodded and stood up, her body swaying slightly. Obviously, she hadn¡¯t fully recovered from the injury yet as a trace of red could be seen flushing across her face.

 Chapter 938 - Antidote

    Chapter 938: Antidote


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Lotus stabilized herself and then motioned Han Fen to not panic. Instead of directly walking to Wild Horse, she instead first turned to the Waning Moon Hall disciples on the right side, looking calmly at each of them before saying in a rare, gentle voice, ¡°I¡¯ve already found the form for the antidote to the Blood Coagtion Pill.¡±


    For the dozens of surviving disciples of the Essence Pavilion, the Blood Coagtion Pill was a strange and meaningless drug name. But for the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall, who ounted for more than half of the people here, her words were a source of endless joy. Even Wild Horse temporarily restrained his killing aura and turned around to listen to Lotus.


    The Waning Moon Hall was famous for its secret arts and pills. They even used them to strengthen their disciples¡¯ loyalty. And the Blood Coagtion Pill was one of their most important tools. It was made from dozens of exotic flowers and rare herbs that were mixed together with a piece of living human flesh. And then the taker had to eat the antidote regrly. With this as a threat, the Hall Leader could control the hall¡¯s disciples for a long time without having to worry about their betrayal.


    So when the only betrayal in decades had taken ce, Han Wuxian had been caughtpletely unprepared.


    Lotus had imprisoned the Hall Leader and then found the antidote form in a very short time. Then, she had made a batch of pills with Han Wuxian¡¯s flesh and sessfully taken control of most of the disciples.


    The control was naturally even more tenuous than during Han Wuxian¡¯s rule. To prevent unnecessary trouble and suspicion, Lotus had even refused to inherit the position of Hall Leader and promised all the disciples that she would eventually find a permanent antidote so that no one would have to worry about the threat of the Blood Coagtion Pill anymore.


    Lotus herself had also taken the Blood Coagtion Pill, which was why so many people believed her promise. When she had said that she already had the antidote form, the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall all understood that what she meant was taking about was not the regr antidote but rather a permanent one.


    Nobody liked the feeling of being manipted; even the half-mad disciples of the Waning Moon Hall who had no fear of death longed for freedom.


    But would the Master Commander give them the permanent antidote?


    Lotus and the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall had never established a strong rtionship of mutual trust. Every time she encountered a crisis, her first reaction had been to avoid her fellow disciples. And it was reasonable to do so because it was exactly her who had set a precedent of imprisoning the Hall Leader, and there was no guarantee that others would not do the same to her.


    Before this, the disciples who had been trained at Waning Moon Hall since childhood had never dared to disobey the Hall Leader¡¯s order, let alone rebel against her.


    As she looked at the group of people who she depended on but also distrusted, Lotus slowly spoke out a few names. ¡°Han Zhi, Han Luo, Han Mang, Han Tong.¡±


    Nobody answered. The disciples looked at each other. After a while, someone said, ¡°All four of them are dead.¡±


    ¡°I guess so. They preferred to make pills than practice their kung fu and they probably all died due to your sword in the very beginning. But the antidote form was found by them.


    Upon hearing that the ones who knew the form had actually been killed, the disciples all looked at each other in speechless despair. Some of them regretted their actions, and some thought the Master Commander was retaliating against them in this ironic manner. There were also a few wise disciples who immediately walked out of the crowd and knelt before Lotus without saying a word. These people¡¯s actions reminded the rest of the disciples, and all the Waning Moon Hall disciples followed them in kneeling.


    Some of them had joined the Waning Moon Hall after Han Wuxian was imprisoned. To show that everyone was treated the same, they had also been asked to take the Blood Coagtion Pill.


    The disciples of the Essence Pavilion didn¡¯t understand, but also soon followed the Waning Moon Halls in kneeling.


    No one spoke. The disciples of the Waning Moon Hall didn¡¯t have the habit of begging.


    Han Fen was thest to kneel, but she ostensibly didn¡¯t understand why. The others all bowed their heads while only she looked up at the Master Commander, her eyes full of joy and reverence.


    Shangguan Hong knelt to show that he was Lotus¡¯s subordinate.


    Only the Dragon King, Old Man Mu, Shangguan Fei, and that guard of the Heavenly Mountain Sect refrained from moving.


    With his eyes squinted, Wild Horse didn¡¯t kneel. He had also taken the Blood Coagtion Pill and knelt in front of Lotus before, but he refused to kneel again now.


    The dozen or so Essence Pavilion disciples all rose to their feet and retreated behind Wild Horse.


    Lotus turned a blind eye to this obvious disrespect and division in the ranks and said to the people kneeling on the ground, ¡°There¡¯s another person who knows the form besides me and she¡¯s among you. So if you want the antidote, it¡¯d be best if you all stopped killing for now.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± the disciples echoed in unison.


    ¡°Once Han Wuxian is captured alive, this person wille forward and disclose the form to everyone.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Lotus finally turned around and said to Wild Horse, ¡°You¡¯ll get the antidote even if you kill me.¡±


    Then she stopped speaking, as everyone understood what she meant. If Wild Horse continued ughtering through the Waning Moon Hall, he might kill someone who could save his life.


    Wild Horse appeared impassive, as if he were the only one who did not understand Lotus¡¯ words. He shed the air with his long sword, indicating that the Dragon King and Lotus should make a move together.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. ¡°No, your swordsmanship isn¡¯t that good. You have to defeat the Master Commander first before defeating me. Then you might be able to challenge both of us at the same time.¡±


    Wild Horse made another sh in the air. He was full of confidence in his own swordsmanship.


    Old Man Mu knew that it was his turn to speak again. ¡°Dragon King, I think that you should cooperate with Lotus. You two¡¯s sword techniques counteract yet alsoplement and reinforce each other. When you join hands, it is more than twice as powerfulpared to you performing it alone. Lotus doesn¡¯t seem to haven¡¯t recovered from her injury yet, so I¡¯m afraid that she wouldn¡¯t be able to take the blow alone.¡±


    ¡°This small injury won¡¯t deter me from making a move,¡± Lotus said as she drew her sword. Then she gazed intently at the sword and flicked it gently with her left hand. ¡°How can I master the Death Sutra Swordsmanship If I don¡¯t have even this much confidence?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Gu Shenwei was still unwilling to join the fight.


    Wild Horse turned around and casually killed an Essence Pavilion disciple. The remaining dozens of people werepletely stunned, watching theirpanion fall with no one running away.


    Wild Horse shed in the air for a third time, inviting the Dragon King to fight.


    Gu Shenwei thought for a while before asking Lotus, ¡°What does the Master Commander think?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, it will make it a little easier if we join hands, but I¡¯ve always wanted to see what reaching the highest level of the Death Sutra Swordsmanship looks like. If Wild Horse dies just like this, then I¡¯m afraid that I won¡¯t be able to fulfill my wish.¡±


    ¡°If we can pull our punches, then Wild Horse may still have a chance to improve.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ Let¡¯s join hands then, but both you and I should not use our full strength.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the best n.¡±


    The two talked casually, as if Wild Horse were sure to lose. Old Man Mu didn¡¯t forget his duty, and immediately asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t the Death Sutra Swordsmanship a purely offensive technique where you have to exert all your strength when making a move? How can you limit your strength?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a wish and it depends on Wild Horse¡¯s actual ability. If his swordsmanship is really as strong as I think it is, then we¡¯ll actually be showing mercy even if we don¡¯t pull our punches,¡± Lotus exined as she looked at Wild Horse with an expression that seemed like she still had some doubts about his swordsmanship.


    Old Man Mu clearly knew that this was nothing but a tactic to incite Wild Horse, so heughed and said, ¡°Little Wild Horse, you have to work hard. They are looking down upon you. You failed to kill your opponents twice, so do not make a mistake this time.¡±


    Wild Horse wasn¡¯t enraged. He had been tricked once, but he would not be tricked again now. The Dragon King and Lotus were the greatest rivals that he had ever met. Killing them would probably make him transcend the realm of Ceasing and Arising and truly enter the new realm that he firmly believed existed.


    All living beings would cease. The Dragon King and Lotus were merely two ordinary lives and there was nothing special about them. Wild Horse¡¯s faith only grew stronger.


    Gu Shenwei drew his Five Peaks Saber and stood with Lotus, one on the left and the other on the right. ¡®Killing Others¡¯ and ¡®Killing Oneself¡¯; two different training methods that counteracted yetplemented and reinforced each other.


    The Dragon King was full of confidence, but he emitted no killing aura as if he wasn¡¯t taking Wild Horse seriously at all.


    Lotus looked down at her sword and became lost in a deep trance as if she hadpletely forgotten about the uing duel.


    Wild Horse was different. The other side¡¯s contempt hadn¡¯t aroused his anger and had instead made his killing aura even more intense.


    Even Old Man Mu began to doubt the Dragon King¡¯s tactic¡¯s viability. A man wouldmit suicide when his kung fu was strong enough? If it were someone else who had said this nonsense, then he would scoff at him. Even the Dragon King could be overconfident sometimes.


    The Death Sutra required its practitioners to have so much faith in it that it almost reached fanaticism. Perhaps the most arrogant man wasn¡¯t Wild Horse but rather the Dragon King.


    Old Man Mu took two steps back just in case things didn¡¯t go the way he thought they would. This way, he would still have enough time to rush into the crowd and knock the torches off the wall. No one was better at running away in a chaotic situation than him.


    More than one person felt as uneasy as Old Man Mu. Han Ling even ventured to say, ¡°Wild Horse, do not forget about the antidote¡­¡±


    Han Ling dared not speak too bluntly in front of Lotus. She wanted to remind Wild Horse that the Master Commander¡¯s words might not be all true. The form for the permanent antidote might really exist, but Lotus¡¯ words about how one of the remaining disciples knew it might be a lie, and the truth might not be revealed until they captured Han Wuxian alive. Lotus probably wanted to instigate the disciples into continuing to be enemies with the former Hall Leader even after her death.


    The trust between Lotus and most of the Waning Moon Hall disciples was already very tenuous, and it had be even more so when she showed signs of having a serious injury.


    Without giving a response, Wild Horse suddenly made a move.


    There were 157 onlookers in this hall. Besides Han Fen, who knew nothing about the Death Sutra and had poor kung fu skills, everyone else saw Wild Horse¡¯s move clearly and therefore, knew that they definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge this sword attack.


    Old Man Mu and Shangguan Hong were particrly shocked. They had just escaped from Wild Horse¡¯s sword, but both of them felt that they would not be able to take the current blow no matter what.


    After learning from his two previous failures, Wild Horse¡¯s swordsmanship had be even stronger and more rigorous. He wanted to make sure he could break all of the Dragon King¡¯s strange tricks.


    He faintly felt a strange and pleasant sensation arise within him, as if he had finally reached the peak of the Ceasing and Arising Swordsmanship, as if he could enter a higher realm with just one more step, and as if he was bound to hit and kill his target without a doubt.


    With a fierce light shing in his eyes, the Dragon King held his saber with both hands to meet the startling sword.


    Old Man Mu cried out in surprise because he recognized right away that the Dragon King was not using the Death Sutra Swordsmanship.


    Then he cried out again because Lotus had actually not made a move.


    With her sword in hand, Lotus merely stood on the spot as if she had no more strength to make a move or as if she was unwilling to join the fight and just wanted to be an onlooker.


    Wild Horse did not stab at her either. He could change his move at any time, but he would not attack Lotus if she didn¡¯t move.


    Even without Han Ling¡¯s reminder, Wild Horse knew that it would be unwise to kill Lotus before he got the form of the permanent antidote.


    Thus, he had concentrated his sword, which was supposed to be aimed at both the Dragon King and Lotus, and ced all his strength and faith into attacking one person, the Dragon King.

 Chapter 939 - Making Use of External Force

    Chapter 939: Making Use of External Force


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The sword and the saber were clinging together in a stand-off. Neither could move forward; it was as if the two had melded together.


    ¡°Attack!¡± Old Man Mu shouted. The Dragon King and Wild Horse werepeting in terms of internal energy. This was the best, and might even be the only opportunity to kill the enemy. Of course, he would notunch an attack because he had neither the ability nor the courage to do so.


    With a sword in her hand, Lotus stared at the two who were standing motionless next to her and turned a deaf ear to Old Man Mu¡¯s reminder.


    Han Fen didn¡¯t realize the danger and wanted to step forward to make a move, but she paused under the Master Commander¡¯s re.


    ¡°Lotus, you¡­¡± Old Man Mu cried out in surprise, feeling that something was wrong.


    The saber and sword resumed their movements. To be specific, Wild Horse¡¯s sword was moving forward and pressing against the Dragon King¡¯s saber. It was a bit slow at first, but soon sped up with indomitable momentum. The collision of the sword and saber made a harsh, grinding sound.


    Gu Shenwei cried out in a muffled voice, dropped the saber, jumped back, and spat out a mouthful of blood afternding. He had been stabbed in the chest but wasn¡¯t bleeding much.


    The Five Peaks Saber had fallen from its master¡¯s hand for the first time since its creation.


    Old Man Mu was dumbfounded. Wild Horse¡¯s sword move wasn¡¯t lethal, but the Dragon King was obviously internally injured. But the Dragon King had both the Daoless Divine Power and the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power, so his internal energy should be stronger than Wild Horse¡¯s. How could he have been utterly defeated? Could it be possible that the Death Sutra was not just a sword manual but an internal energy one?


    A lot of doubts shed through the crowd¡¯s mind. Old Man Mu was the first to wake up from the shock, as he cried out and disappeared behind dozens of legs.


    Astonished, Shangguan Fei grabbed the guard of the Heavenly Mountain Sect and desperatelymanded, ¡°You¡­ You have to protect me. My mother will give you¡­¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is not dead yet,¡± said the guard coldly.


    Shangguan Fei looked carefully at the Dragon King again. Sure enough, although the Dragon King had vomited blood, his face was a bit redder and looked much better than usual. And now, he was standing very steadily. At the same time, he started walking towards Wild Horse.


    Wild Horse had won this round, but his condition looked very bad. He seemed to have been fooled and showed none of the Ceasing and Arising Swordmanship¡¯s demeanor at all.


    Old Man Mu stuck out his head from behind Han Fen, nced at the field, and suddenlyughed out loud. Then he walked out and loudly said, ¡°The Dragon King has really made a smart move. Little Wild Horse, this time you have to admit your failure.¡±


    Han Fen scratched her head and asked, ¡°What was the Dragon King¡¯s move? His saber was knocked way and he vomited out blood.¡±


    Old Man Mu nced the Dragon King and knew that he could exin. ¡°What the Dragon King spat out was blood stasis. He had a foul Qi in his body that always threatened to make him undergo Qi deviation. He has tried to rid himself of it through many means, but they all failed. He wanted to use an external force, but not too many people have a powerful enough internal energy. Unexpectedly, Wild Horse has done him a great favor today. Haha, Dragon King, am I right?¡±


    ¡°Almost,¡± Gu Shenwei said as he stood bare-handed, opposite Wild Horse, his sabernding at Wild Horse¡¯s feet. ¡°I feel much better now.¡±


    The Death Sutra had a hidden effect. If it couldn¡¯t kill the enemy, then it might cause the enemy to temporarily lose their internal energy. Wild Horse had suffered from it before when he had had no choice but ept Shangguan Ru¡¯s pardon and flee into the prairie like a drowned rat.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t realize what had happened until a long timeter. But he had rarely used the pure Death Sutra Swordsmanship in recent years, and naturally, he hadn¡¯te across it again. But today, he tried it on himself.


    After all, the Death Sutra was a set of sword techniques. It couldn¡¯t improve the practitioner¡¯s internal energy, but it could be used to control one¡¯s internal energy and stimte one¡¯stent talent. With ordinary martial arts skills, one could exert 70% or 80% of one¡¯s full internal energy. The so-called ¡®full strength¡¯ was nothing but an exaggeration. But the Death Sutra Swordsmanship could force its user to exert their real full strength or even more.


    As a result, although Wild Horse¡¯s internal energy wasn¡¯t as strong as the Dragon King¡¯s, he was stronger in a real fight when he used the pure Death Sutra Swordsmanship. Gu Shenwei had kept stimting Wild Horse and ¡®helped¡¯ him improve his swordsmanship faster so that his sword move would carry much more internal energy.


    And Wild Horse had done it. He had found the way and entered a whole new realm. The internal Qi that he had instilled into his sword had instantly unleashed a power that was severalfold his own, and it had crushed and crashed through all the resistance along the way andunched a mighty blow. The only thing he didn¡¯t expect was that the Dragon King would use that frosty Qi of his to take the blow.


    If the frosty Qi could think, it would also be surprised that its master, who usually used it as a means of attack, would suddenly use it as a futile means of defense.


    Just as Old Man Mu had guessed, Wild Horse had defeated the frosty Qi in its entirety. Gu Shenwei had finally rid himself of the foul Qi that he had umted through the years. This was a risky treatment method. He wasn¡¯t even sure if the hidden danger of Qi deviation would bepletely eradicated or not, but he felt great at the moment.


    Gu Shenwei had lost his Five Peaks Saber, spat out a mouthful of blood, and was internally injured, but he still felt relieved. For many years, the frosty Qi had been like a vicious wolf sleeping next to amb and tricked its food from time to time when it woke up. asionally, it would help themb fight off some other beasts, but it would eventually swallow themb whole when it grew up.


    Gu Shenwei had gotten used to the existence of this evil wolf, but his stress had dissipated until today, when the wolf was driven out by an even more violent power.


    The only thing he was worried about was that the effect might be temporary and that the frosty Qi would make aeback.


    Gu Shenwei directed his yin and yang internal Qi to circte in his meridians. After a full cycle, he found that it was very smooth. The frosty Qi hadpletely disappeared, leaving absolutely no trace.


    Wild Horse wasn¡¯t injured at all. The frosty Qi had been unable to make any counterattack in the face of a much stronger power and had dispersed before it could even enter the enemy¡¯s body.


    He had been exploited. Servant Huan had said one thing but done another behind his back just like before. Wild Horse could no longer contain his anger.


    He had mastered the Death Sutra which had brought Servant Huan good luck, understood it more thoroughly, and improved upon it more quickly than anyone else. There was no power in this world that could stop him from killing his enemy anymore.


    Servant Huan¡¯s life was, after all, different from that of an ordinary person . He was his enemy and killing him would always bring him a great pleasure that no one else¡¯s death, including Lotus¡¯, could bring.


    Wild Horse could kill Lotus without hesitation, but he didn¡¯t hate her. He only hated Servant Huan and the Death Sutra had raised this hatred to the extreme.


    He made another sword stroke.


    Between him and the Dragon King stood Lotus.


    No one knew what the Dragon King thought better than her. Old Man Mu could guess some of the truth afterwards, but she had understood the Dragon King¡¯s intentions from the very beginning. After all, she was the one who had ¡®nted¡¯ the frosty Qi within the Dragon King¡¯s body in the first ce.


    Wild Horse hesitated for a moment. Lotus had the permanent antidote form of the Blood Coagtion Pill. Killing her was tantamount to burning all the bridges behind him, but the influence of the Death Sutra had seeped into his marrow. Wild Horse, though he hesitated, didn¡¯t pause at all.


    Just do it and bear the consequences. Wild Horse believed that if he didn¡¯t vent the killing aura that had umted in his heart, he would be the one who died.


    The two¡¯s killing auras were well-matched. No one could intimidate the other, so they could only rely on their real sword techniques.


    Old Man Mu had already taken action before Wild Horse had made his move. He jumped up, flew over Han Fen¡¯s head, and knocked off a torch on the wall, creating a dark area around him.


    The Dragon King had been using surprising ways to deal with Wild Horse, but it had only made the mute¡¯s swordsmanship grow more and more powerful. This couldn¡¯t go on for too long after all. Old Man Mu had to arrange a path of retreat for himself.


    As soon as the two swords collided, the torches in the hall went out one after another.


    Shangguan Fei was a follower and imitator of Old Man Mu. As soon as Old Man Mu jumped up, Shangguan Fei turned around and also knocked the torch over his head off and snuffed it out. He actually did it a bit faster than Old Man Mu.


    In that moment, the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall and Essence Pavilion were in a state of bewilderment, and any stimtion could cause heavy repercussions. Many people standing next to the wall followed suit without even understanding why they had extinguished the torch.


    ¡°Eh, what are you doing? Do not put out the torch¡­ Leave one on¡­ I can¡¯t see anything now¡­ Master Commander¡­¡± Even as Han Fen eximed, the entire hall plunged into darkness.


    Seeing was believing, but what one saw might be a delusion. As soon as Wild Horse and Lotus disappeared from sight, their killing aura seemed to greatly weaken and the invisible line that bound the disciples suddenly broke. It was not until then that they finally understood the intention behind extinguishing the torches ¡ª they could run away now.


    No matter what their initial training method was, they only had one idea in mind, which was ¡°survival.¡± Unlike Shangguan Hong, who could convert his will to survive into strength, they simply wanted to live and use all their strength to escape.


    Although the Dragon King told them that the ultimate end of the Waning Moon Swordsmanship was death, Wild Horse was the real contributor who shattered their sweet dreams. Wild Horse¡¯s killing aura as well as his increasingly powerful swordsmanship hadn¡¯t aroused the disciples¡¯ enthusiasm but instead discouraged them. Wild Horse represented a realm that they could never reach.


    The hall was now inplete chaos as everyone tried to rush towards the narrow exit, huddling together. When there was no way forward, many people started swinging the sword in their hands.


    ¡°Be careful! Do not kill,¡± someone shouted. They still remembered Lotus¡¯s words and feared identally killing the person who knew the antidote form.


    This reminder, however, was only effective for a very short period of time before it was dispelled with a few more screams of pain. Compared to the immediate threat, the antidote was far out from hand.


    Screams were soon heard everywhere but a few people did manage to run out of the hall.


    ¡°Stop running about, idiots. All of you, stand against the wall and leave one by one.¡± Old Man Mu¡¯s voice overwhelmed the screams. Although he had good lightness skills and was very flexible, he was unable to push his way out when over a hundred people were blocking the passage. The main point was that he also wanted to know the result of the duel and was thus reluctant to run away.


    ¡°Stand against the wall, stand against the wall!¡± More and more people shouted this, thinking that it was a good idea. The screams finally abated. asionally, one would still ring out, but they were due to a fight for a foothold.


    It was strangely quiet and only the sound of breathing could be heard. Han Fen was the first to speak out. ¡°Master Commander, are you alive? Dragon King, are you alive?¡±


    The duel seemed to have either ended, or the two parties were couldn¡¯t find their targets and were holding their breath and waiting for the other side to reveal themselves first.


    ¡°Stupid Han Fen. Do you want Lotus and the Dragon King to expose themselves?¡± Old Man Mu scolded as he pricked up his ears and listened more attentively than anyone else.


    ¡°Right, well¡­ Wild Horse, are you alive? You can¡¯t talk but you can stamp your feet.¡±


    Old Man Mu was just about to say ¡®stupid¡¯ again when he heard a familiar voice.


    ¡°Light the torch,¡± Gu Shenwei ordered.


    Old Man Mu was overjoyed but he didn¡¯t have any matches on him so he shouted, ¡°Quick, light the torch. The Dragon King won, so Wild Horse must be dead.¡±


    Finally, it was an Essence Pavilion disciple who lit the torch that shed briefly before being immediately extinguished by him.


    Within that moment of light, everyone clearly saw that Wild Horse wasn¡¯t dead. He was still standing in the center of the hall and five steps away from him was the Dragon King and Lotus.

 Chapter 940 - Coagulation

    Chapter 940: Coagtion


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The hall returned to darkness. This time, the situation didn¡¯t be chaotic. Everybody just silently stood where they were, as if they would be attacked as soon as they spoke out.


    ¡°Puh.¡± Someone else lit a torch and audaciously walked towards the center of the hall.


    Han Fen walked around Wild Horse and loudly dered, ¡°He¡¯s dead!¡±


    The people picked up the torches on the ground and slowly lit them again. The hall became bright once more. Panic-stricken, the crowd slowly gathered around in severalyers of circles, checking the end result of the duel.


    Wild Horse was standing with his left foot in front of his right foot, and the sword in his hand was pointing towards the front. His head was slightly tilted up and his eyes, which were far apart, were as nk as usual. However, his face was red, imparting a dignified might to him.


    But he had indeed died. Nobody saw any wound or blood on him, but nobody could sense his potent killing aura either.


    Gradually, more and more people moved their eyes off of Wild Horse and looked at the Dragon King and Lotus.


    The Dragon King had retrieved his Five Peaks Saber. There was another wound in his chest, around which some blood could be distinctly seen. Clearly, Wild Horse¡¯s move had already lost its momentum when he had hit his target.


    Gu Shenwei then said, ¡°The Master Commander killed Wild Horse.¡±


    Carrying her sword, Lotus looked around. The injury didn¡¯t seem to have weakened her by even a bit.


    The crowd knelt down. Both the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall and the disciples of the Essence Pavilion prostrated themselves. They were in awe of and obedient towards people stronger than them. The Master Commander had just proven that she was the strongest of them all.


    Compared to the prostrating crowd, Old Man Mu felt as if he instantly grew taller, and he nodded in satisfaction. ¡°That cunning guy, Shangguan Fei ran away so quickly. Dragon King, I¡¯ve been watching your back this whole time.¡±


    Shangguan Fei and the guard from the Heavenly Mountain Sect were originally at the passageway¡¯s exit, so they had naturally managed to escape first. Meanwhile, Old Man Mu had been at the innermost part of the hall, so there had not been enough time for him to flee even if he had wanted to.


    ¡°Clear the bodies,¡± Lotus ordered. And with that, the disciples carried those bodies and left the hall in an orderly manner. There were still more bodies in the underground maze, which would probably take them quite some time to deal with. A dozen senior disciples stayed behind.


    Han Fen circled Wild Horse twice and confusedly asked, ¡°How did the Master Commander kill him? I can¡¯t find any wounds.¡±


    Lotus showed her tiredness again as she said in a low voice, ¡°Ask the Dragon King.¡± Then she headed for the only chair in the hall. Han Fen hurriedly walked over to support her and then turned her head around and said, ¡°Tell meter, Dragon King.¡±


    Old Man Mu walked forward, gently poked Wild Horse in the leg, and with that, the body immediately fell to the ground. Old Man Mu suddenly fished out a dagger from his front inside pocket, bent over, slit the chest of the body open, and said in surprise, ¡°No blood?¡±


    The dagger was not stained with blood, and neither was there any blood flowing from the wound. Old Man Mu immediately realized that he made a mistake and corrected himself. ¡°This is amazing. Wild Horse¡¯s blood coagted.¡±


    ¡°The Blood Coagtion Pill!¡± Those disciples of the Waning Moon Hall who had stayed behind all eximed amazedly in unison. Then, they nced at Lotus at the same time, showing even more of a terrified expression.


    Han Fen rushed over, knelt down, stretched out her finger, poked it into Wild Horse¡¯s wound, and thenughed. ¡°Dragon King, tell me how the Master Commander cooked him.¡±


    ¡°It was not because of the Blood Coagtion Pill.¡± Gu Shenwei first corrected her mistake. ¡°Wild Horse knew that the Master Commander¡¯s internal energy was very powerful, so he kept improving his swordsmanship. When heunched an attack on the Master Commander, the internal energy that he injected into his sword was more than ten times the amount of his actual strength.¡±


    ¡°Ten times?¡± Old Man Mu couldn¡¯t help interject at this moment. With a wide knowledge of cultivation methods, he knew that it was already very difficult for most kung fu practitioners to activate even their full strength, not to mention double their strength or tenfold. ¡°Is the Death Sutra really that powerful? Wild Horse increased his internal energy by tenfold¡­ My God. Just like what Dragon King said, that was suicide!¡±


    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for the fact that his opponent was the Master Commander, Wild Horse wouldn¡¯t havemitted suicide,¡± Han Fen said immediately, attributing the victory to Lotus.


    ¡°Sure, sure,¡± Old Man Mu agreed repeatedly, but his eyes were fixated on Wild Horse¡¯s body the whole time. Currently, he had less than half of his former strength left, so he naturally envied those who were capable of increasing their internal energy by tenfold.


    The Death Sutra itself wouldn¡¯t increase anybody¡¯s internal energy permanently, as it merely multiplied people¡¯s internal energy at the moment that they mobilized it. Old Man Mu knew this. However, this was enough for him, and it would be enough for any kung fu practitioner.


    The disciples of the Waning Moon Hall didn¡¯t fully understand, but they had deduced two things so far. First, the Master Commander¡¯s injury was not as serious as they had imagined, and her internal energy was indeed far more powerful than her disciples¡¯. Second, the Dragon King¡¯s warning was reasonable. Anybody who practiced the Waning Moon Swordsmanship would undoubtedly end up dead. Who could resist the temptation of multiplying their internal energy?


    ¡°Master Commander¡¯s kung fu is matchless. We¡¯repletely convinced.¡± Those disciples knelt down again. One of them made this remark and then the others repeated it in unison. For them, these two remarks were the most explicit forms of ttery and admiration.


    Lotus¡¯ sword was ced on a table. Watching the torches on the wall, she said, ¡°Deliver this order to every disciple. From now on, anybody who practices the Waning Moon Swordsmanship without prior consent will be put to the sword.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± those disciples answered in horror.


    ¡°The Waning Moon Hall is to be rebuilt. Those who make contributions will be rewarded. I¡¯ll impart the detoxification method to the one who contributes the most, which will enable them to bypass the risk of suffering a bacsh. Then, they can start practicing the swordsmanship again.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± This time, there was excitement in the voices of those disciples. They had already tasted the power of the swordsmanship. It was indeed very difficult to give up.


    ¡°With regards to the true antidote to the Blood Coagtion Pill, everybody will get it after Han Wuxian is captured.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll never forget Master Commander¡¯s great kindness.¡± The look on those disciples¡¯ faces was that of extreme gratefulness when they took their leave. Someone even took a stealthy glimpse at the Dragon King. Han Wuxian was in the Dragon King¡¯s army right now, protected by him.


    There were only four people left. Gu Shenwei said to Old Man Mu, ¡°Go outside and tell them what happened here.¡±


    ¡°Um,¡± Old Man Mu answered but didn¡¯t move. His eyes remained fixed on Wild Horse¡¯s body. After quite a while, he reluctantly walked away. After a few steps, he turned around and said, ¡°I think that Lotus¡¯ idea of imparting the swordsmanship to those who make contributions is pretty good.¡± Before the Dragon King could reply, Old Man Mu ran out of the hall, clearly knowing that the Dragon King wouldn¡¯t choose him even if one day he did decide to impart the Death Sutra to others.


    There were only three people left. Lotus said to Han Fen, ¡°I¡¯ve sent Han Xuan somewhere safe and far away from this troublesome ce. You don¡¯t have to worry about her.¡±


    The smile on Han Fen¡¯s face was so big that her eyes seemed like they were about to disappear. ¡°That¡¯s great.¡±


    ¡°Han Fen, you¡¯re the only disciple of the Waning Moon Hall who didn¡¯t learn the Waning Moon Swordsmanship. Do you want to learn it? I can make an exception and teach you right now.¡±


    Anybody else would have felt that the Master Commander was being partial, but Han Fen had never thought this way. She briefly scratched the corner of her forehead and then said with a fearful look, ¡°Learning a new swordsmanship¡­ must be tiring, right? Uh. The Dragon King said that that swordsmanship was potentially dangerous. I think that I should pass.¡±


    Lotus sighed. Han Fen was the only innocent disciple in Waning Moon Hall now. She believed that back then, she had made a very wise decision in saving Han Fen from Han Wuxian¡¯s elimination order. ¡°Do you like staying around the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°I do. The Dragon King is a nice guy. He sent a kid to y with me, who¡¯s much more interesting than a doll.¡±


    Lotus glimpsed at the Dragon King and then said to Han Fen, ¡°Ask the Dragon King whether he is willing to let you stay with him forever.¡±


    Stunned, Han Fen took two steps back and eximed, ¡°Master Commander¡­ wants to evict me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not evicting you. It¡¯s just that you¡¯re not safe here in Waning Moon Hall. You can alwayse back. Besides¡­ ¡± Lotus said weakly.


    ¡°Besides, the Master Commander needs a trustworthy liaison. More importantly, she needs someone to monitor the Dragon Army¡¯s movements.¡± Gu Shenwei finished Lotus¡¯ sentence for her. ¡°Come with me. I¡¯m willing to take you in.¡±


    Han Fen smiled more happily at these words. ¡°Oh, I see. Of course I¡¯m the only one who¡¯s suitable for this job. Rest assured, Master Commander. I¡¯ll be an excellent spy. Dragon King, tell your subordinates to keep their secrets somewhere safe.¡±


    ¡°Go outside and guard the entrance. Don¡¯t let anybodye in without my permission,¡± Lotus ordered.


    Han Fen twirled her way out of the hall as she hummed a weird tune.


    There were now only two people and a corpse left.


    After a long silence, Lotus said, ¡°Everybody must be thinking that Han Fen knows the form for the production of the antidote. Thus, you¡¯re the only one I can entrust her to.¡±


    Han Fen was the Master Commander¡¯s henchwoman, so the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall would naturally suspect that she was an insider.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t ask about the antidote because Han Wuxian was also involved in this issue. The situation would only be moreplicated if he brought this up. ¡°She¡¯ll be very safe with me.¡±


    ¡°And, thank you.¡± Finally, Lotus said these words.


    ¡°Wild Horse is also my enemy. He wanted to kill me all along.¡±


    ¡°Ha. I was never a shrewd judge of character. I didn¡¯t expect that Wild Horse would¡­ I thanked you because you kept my injury a secret from those disciples. We both know that you were the one who killed Wild Horse, not me.¡±


    ¡°It was us who killed him. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that Wild Horse thought that we would join hands, he wouldn¡¯t have multiplied his internal energy to such a dangerously high level.¡±


    Lotus kept silent for a while. No matter what, the Dragon King hadn¡¯t exposed the fact that she was too feeble to wield a sword, which had ensured her status and safety in Waning Moon Hall. In order to overawe Old Man Mu, she had to use up the small amount of internal energy she had had left. So, she had actually been bluffing when she had been facing Wild Horse. And of course, she had been totally powerless to defend herself against the revolt of those disciples.


    ¡°This is the ending of the Death Sutra.¡± Watching the body on the ground, Lotus said, ¡°An internal energy ten times more powerful. If I had known this earlier, then I would have used my sword when I was in Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    This was the first step towards the abyss. If Lotus had used her sword to fight the Unique King, then it would have been nearly impossible for her to find another opponent after defeating him, which meant that she would have suffered a bacsh sooner orter.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t say anything. Lotus of course understood this, so there was no need for him to remind her.


    ¡°The Unique King¡¯s internal energy is slightly more powerful than mine,¡± Lotus continued exining. ¡°Though he was also injured, he didn¡¯t exert his full strength. By the way, those moves of yours are amazing. They can make the swordsmanship more powerful without mobilizing too much internal energy. This is a very good way to avoid a bacsh.¡±


    ¡°Um. But it¡¯s still very difficult to defeat the Unique King if these moves are all we have. A kung fu expert from the Central ins came here earlier. I think that he¡¯s as powerful as the Unique King, if not more powerful than him.¡± Gu Shenwei knew that Lotus was suspicious of the origin of these moves, but he didn¡¯t want to tell her about the patterns in Golden Roc Castle.


    ¡°Luo Qikang.¡± Lotus uttered this name. Clearly, she had already heard about his deeds. ¡°I can help. After I regain my internal energy, neither of them will be a match for us once we join hands.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had made this suggestion through Han Fen. After several months, he had finally received a positive answer.


    ¡°But I have one request,¡± Lotus said.


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll only help you defeat one of them ¨C either the Unique King or Luo Qikang. You can choose one. Think of it as me repaying the favor that you did for me today. After that, we¡¯ll go our separate ways. I know that the Dragon King wants to be the Lord of Jade City, but I¡¯m sorry to tell you that I want that position as well.¡±


    ¡°I thought that the Waning Moon Hall just wanted to secretly create chaos.¡±


    ¡°Both covert and overt operations have their own strengths. The Waning Moon Hall has other strengths that you have not seen yet. Anyways, I¡¯m going topete for the position of the Lord of the City.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll make a choice after you recover.¡±


    Gu Shenwei then took his leave. He had achieved his aim ¨C to forge a temporary alliance with Lotus, and get rid of the threat that he had been facing for so many years.


    There was only one person left in the hall, staring vacantly at the body, the blood in which had already coagted.

 Chapter 941 - Shutting Up

    Chapter 941: Shutting Up


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Both the ughter that had taken ce in the underground maze of the Bodhi Garden and the death of Wild Horse had barely had any effects on Jade City. Not many people knew that a top kung fu expert had be a mere sh in the pan, someone who died due to ¡°unduly powerful internal energy.¡±


    Byparison, Meng Mingshu¡¯s brief audience with the Dragon King outside the Bodhi Garden was much more of an interesting topic for the residents. Once again, with great enjoyment, many people started specting about where the Dragon King was hiding the money of the Meng family. The death of the sect leader of the Heavenly Mountain Sect, Du Jian, was also one of the hot topics circting around. Many residents suspected that there was going to be another battle between Golden Roc Castle and the Waning Moon Hall.


    There had been too many killings in Jade City, so the residents had already be desensitized. Currently, they were adjusting their mentality quickly, preparing themselves for the next bout of chaos that might start at any moment. A small number of residents of northern Jade City had already transferred to somewhere else, but southern Jade City was busier and more crowded than ever, withrge numbers of neers flooding into it, most of whom were from the Central ins.


    Central insmen were very popr here. Though they were usually experienced, there were still some rules of Jade City that they were fairly unfamiliar with, which meant that they were more prone to being duped than the locals.


    The only shoring of the Central insmen was that they were not as rich as the locals as people had imagined. Most of them were constantly surprised by the price of things and services in southern Jade City. On this kind of asion, a cunning merchant would always say, ¡°The Central ins is now amon governor of all countries. Even the Nond was defeated by you. Why do you care about this petty amount of money?¡±


    Once merchants brought up the status of the Central ins, these Central ins guests would always blush and ept the price before enjoining the merchants in a low voice to not mention their looks and names to anybody, though they were already using pseudonyms.


    Because of these ideal guests, the residents of Jade City even grew fonder of the Central ins armies stationed outside the city, hoping that more troops would be dispatched here.


    The army of the Shule Kingdom and the Golden Roc Army were also sources of guests, but they were all experienced soldiers who knew how to bargain. Under the identity of being service men, they bought things on credit from time to time and some of them even refused to pay. Only the merchants who had backers could get their money back.


    As for the Dragon Army, the merchants of southern Jade City shook their heads repeatedly. ¡°I hung a sign outside my shop offering a fifty percent discount to troops of the Dragon Army, but none of them came, and then soldiers of the Golden Roc Army broke the sign. s, it¡¯s bad luck. I¡¯m only telling you this in private ¨C the Dragon King is somewhat ungrateful. Back then, he kept a whore in Retention Alley. Now that his status is different, he should have helped our business¡­¡±


    Some Central insmen liked the stories about the Dragon King¡¯s previous life, so some merchants catered especially to their pleasure. People living in Retention Alley had a huge advantage in this aspect, especially a prostitute named Yoyo whose house had an extra edge over those of the others. Every time she had a guest who was interested in the Dragon King¡¯s past, she would push open the small window, point at the building diagonally opposite her own, and say, ¡°Look. The Essence Pavilion opened for business merely two days ago, but it closed down without a single customer evering to hire those killers. Fortunately, I was smart enough to decide to stay. Xiao Fengchai used to live there. With the support of a couple of guests that she once served when she was young, she has upied the best position of Retention Alley for a very long time, and she didn¡¯t move until she¡¯s old. Um. That¡¯s right. The Dragon King was one of her guests. It is said that Xiao Fengchai is now managing money for the Dragon King. I¡¯m still young, so I didn¡¯t see many of these things with my own eyes. This is just what I heard ¨C back then, the Dragon King preferred old women.¡±


    After she was done talking about Xiao Fengchai, Yoyo would point at building directly opposite it, saying, ¡°You see? That ce used to be run by the Dragon King. What was the name of that bitch? Xu¡­ Xu Yanwei. She was even worse than Xiao Fengchai. Her business was very poor. Very few customers came for her. But she didn¡¯t care about that. As long as the Dragon King liked her, her life was pretty good. It is said that the Dragon King forced a prince into marrying Xu Yanwei. s, I think that this is what people call destiny.¡±


    If the guest was still interested and Yoyo had run out of exclusive anecdotes about the Dragon King, she would shut the window and size up the guest with a seductive look in her eyes. ¡°I like kung fu practitioners from the Central ins in particr. Your bodies are so strong. Those sabersmen of Jade City who like drinking and bragging always finish in two or three moves. Isn¡¯t there a Luo vige or something in the Central ins? There used to be a guy named Luo Qibai. I was his favorite. It¡¯s a petty that he died. Otherwise I would have introduced him to you.¡±


    Most Central insmen were also interested in Luo Qibai. And their excitement usually doubled when they knew that the woman they were about to sleep with used to serve a famous swordsman of the Luo family. They also paid more for the service, and they always asked, ¡°I was not worse than Luo Qibai, right?¡±


    Panting for breath on the bed, Yoyo would say in a feeble and shy voice, ¡°You¡­ You were so good. Your kung fu¡­ must be even better than that¡­ white camel¡­ ¡°


    The moment the guest left, Yoyo would quickly jump off of the bed and start counting the money he left. Under normal circumstances, she would give a big smile at the end.


    Gradually, her stories about the Dragon King and Luo Qibai became more and more detailed. Since the Dragon King was still alive, she didn¡¯t dare fabricate anything too dramatic, and in most cases, she just despised her former colleagues. But since Luo Qibai was already dead, she felt that she had nothing to worry about. As long as the guest was interested, she could offer details that were more than enough to convince her listener.


    One night, Yoyo, who was dressed up, had an entric customer who was in in clothes ¨C short jacket, long pants and leather boots. His face was slightly dark with a seemingly miserable look on it, which made him look like amon soldier dressed in civilian clothes. In most cases, Yoyo refused to serve this kind of customer, but this one was different. He had a sword fastened to his belt.


    ording to Yoyo¡¯s previous experience, there were only two kinds of people who carried a sword. The first kind was true kung fu experts, and the other kind was those who thought they were true kung fu experts. But both kinds of them were rich and vain, so after a brief moment of hesitation, she led the customer upstairs with hospitality.


    The dark-faced swordsman refused to say his name, and he didn¡¯t even use a pseudonym like the other customers did. Of course, Yoyo didn¡¯t care. She just beat around the bush, implying that this was not a cheap brothel.


    The customer fished out four gold ingots. Yoyo immediately rejoiced, realizing that she had to outdo herself tonight. ¡°Wow, I can see that you¡¯re no ordinary customer. There are indeed many rich people in Jade City, but not many of them can fish out gold ingots. You¡¯re one of them, and the Dragon King is another one¡­ ¡±


    The customer showed no reaction on his face. Yoyo switched topics immediately. ¡°But you Central insmen are different. My guest, you¡¯re from the Central ins, right? Stories of the Central ins are my favorite. In those stories, there are the Emperor, imperial concubines, and several famous sects. There¡¯s even a spot named the Luo Vige which I hear is very famous in the Central ins. Is it true?¡±


    ¡°The Hedong Luo Vige is the head of the nine major sects in the Central ins.¡± The customer finally responded.


    Seeing that her unique skill had worked, Yoyo became relieved, and pretended that light had suddenly dawned on her. ¡°Oh, I see. One of my previous guest imed that he was from the Luo Vige. His name was Luo Qibai or something, and he said a lot of things about the Luo Vige. I thought that he had merely been bragging.¡±


    ¡°Luo Qibai came here?¡±


    ¡°Sure. He used to be one of my regrs. He walked around Retention Alley and finally chose me. Little Bai was a good man. He was sympathetic to poor people like me and always gave me a lot of money after enjoying my service. His kung fu was also top-notch. Heh-heh, you know what I mean¡­ ¡±


    Yoyo leaned towards the customer but was pushed aside. For the sake of the four gold ingots, she didn¡¯t take offence at all. ¡°Do you know Little Bai, my guest? I heard that he was very famous in the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°I do. We were close. I¡¯m his elder brother.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Yoyo didn¡¯t sense any danger at all. Instead, she became extremely excited. After peering at him for a while, she said, ¡°To be honest, you two are not quite alike.¡±


    ¡°We were half-brothers.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see. People keep saying how famous the Luo Vige is. I never expected that I would have the honor to serve two guests from the Luo family. It must be my good karma from myst incarnation. s, what a shame it is that Little Bai died at such a young age. Otherwise, the three of us would have been able to have a very good time.¡±


    ¡°Members of the Luo family set great store by our reputation.¡±


    All Yoyo was thinking about now was the four shiny gold ingots. She blurted out, ¡°Then you¡¯ll have to thank me. I¡¯m the one who¡¯s been spreading the reputation of the Luo family in Jade City.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard about it.¡±


    Yoyo suddenly understood. She pointed at the gold and said, ¡°No wonder you¡¯re so generous, my guest. Ha-ha. There¡¯s no need for you to be so polite. No matter what, I count as half a member of the Luo family.¡±


    The customer shook his head with a serious look. ¡°You don¡¯t.¡±


    Yoyo was stunned. She hadn¡¯t made that remark seriously. Even if the Luo family was willing to acknowledge her as a member, she might not ept the offer. Butpared to those gold ingots, this petty humiliation was nothing. In order to survive in Jade City, she had been through all kinds of grievances.


    ¡°You miss your younger brother, right? It¡¯s called the ties of brotherhood. I understand. I wish that there¡¯s something I could do for you. I really do.¡±


    ¡°Shut your mouth.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Yoyo was a little confused and also a little annoyed. She didn¡¯t mind being humiliated, but this customer had been cold to her this whole time no matter how hard she tried to please him. He didn¡¯t seem like a whoremaster but rather more like a troublemaker. ¡°Do you want me to take my clothes pff right now?¡± Yoyo was still trying to figure out what this customer was thinking about.


    ¡°No. I want you to stop lying about Luo Qibai having been your customer.¡±


    If the customer hadn¡¯t mentioned the word ¡°lying¡± and there was more gold on the table, Yoyo would have maintained her hospitality. However, this dark-faced swordsman had clearly underestimated the charges for services provided by prostitutes in Retention Alley. Yoyo felt like she had neem scorned. ¡°Wow, what you said was not true, my guest. The army of the Central ins is right outside the city, and the Luo family is so famous. How dare I lie about that? Every word that I said was true. I even know how many moles he has on his butt, and I also know many other things about him that even you, his elder brother, might not know.¡±


    ¡°So you won¡¯t shut your mouth?¡±


    ¡°How am I supposed to eat and do business if I shut it? I need my mouth to do some other things besides just talking. How about you give it a try? Your younger brother loved this¡­ ¡±


    In most cases, those who were good at pleasing others were also good at satirizing people. Yoyo didn¡¯t like this customer, so she had made up her mind to take the money and ask him to leave.


    Luo Qikang stood up. This was a downside of Jade City. Nobody here knew about the true status and strength of the Luo Vige, so hardly anybody here respected it. But Jade City also had its own merits. In the Central ins, people had to think twice before pulling out their weapons. But here, people had nothing to worry about. At least, that was the case ording to those rumors.


    Luo Qikang unsheathed his long sword, nning to find out whether those rumors were true.


    Yoyo stared vacantly at the sword, wondering which remark of hers had offended this customer. In Jade City, it was a honor to be able to afford the service of prostitutes in Retention Alley. It was a symbol of status. Even the Dragon King had used to run a brothel. What could this Central insmanin about? So she put on a seductive smile. ¡°There¡¯s no need for this. I don¡¯t know anything about kung fu¡­ ¡±


    The sword stabbed forward right into her opened mouth. It was so quick that Yoyo didn¡¯t even feel anything. The smile on her face froze. In thest moments of her life, she still thought that this customer was just kidding.


    Luo Qikang fished out a handkerchief, wiped the sword clean, sheathed it, and went downstairs.


    A couple of handmaids and a procuress seemed to have realized what had just happened upstairs. They neither yelled for help nor fled but instead automatically stepped aside, silent. Luo Qikang thought that those rumors were probably true.


    He walked onto the icy cold street, terribly disgusted by this ugly, dirty city. But he had already made a resolution. Now that he hade to the Western Regions, he would make the Luo family known to everybody in this exotic region.


    That prostitute Yoyo had just been the insignificant beginning.

 Chapter 942 - A Protest

    Chapter 942: A Protest


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Ten days went by without a sign of the frosty Qi reactivating again, so Gu Shenwei gradually rxed. For the first time in many years, he felt that he finally no longer had to worry about Qi deviation. Standing at the doorway of the tent, he leisurely looked out and saw that Dog Butcher was wandering outside, so he asked him toe in. ¡°Have you recovered from your injury?¡±


    Doctor Sun pped himself twice on the chest and said, ¡°Thank you for your concern, Dragon King. I have fully recovered. Doctor Sun is so good. If he were in the Central ins, then he would surely have been hired by the imperial court.¡±


    ¡°Um. You want to talk to me about something, right?¡±


    Dog Butcher smiled in embarrassment. He was a tall, white-haired old man, but he was as timid as a teenager. ¡°Actually¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ Senior Sister said that¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Luo Qikang came to you?¡±


    Dog Butcher looked at the Dragon King in surprise and then sighed. ¡°So the Dragon King already knew. Then there¡¯s no need for me to keep this a secret. Luo Qikang didn¡¯te to me directly, but he¡¯s spreading the word that he¡¯ll avenge his younger brother¡¯s murder. I heard that he¡¯s already killed a couple people. Senior Sister said that she got this, so I think the Luo Vige might have been pressuring the Kongtong Sect.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pointed at therge pile of paperwork on the desk, ¡°Seventeen major shields of Jade City have been petitioning me every day. They want me to intervene and stop Luo Qikang. Since yesterday, he has already killed a prostitute, eleven sabersmen, the owner of an inn, and five waiters.


    ¡°Did Luo Qibai¡¯s death have anything to do with all these people?¡± Dog Butcher asked in amazement.


    ¡°The prostitute imed that she¡¯d once served Luo Qibai, which ruined the reputation of the Luo family. Those sabersmen were members of the Heavenly Mountain Sect. They participated in the fight with Central insmen. That inn is the one where you and Old Man Mu held that kung fupetition.¡±


    Dog Butcher vividly remembered that back then, he and Old Man Mu had orders to find some kung fu practitioners from the Central ins. So, they had rented a random inn to hold a kung fupetition in, but the Heavenly Mountain Sect and Luo Qibai had been drawn there instead. One thing had led to another, and Luo Qibai had eventually been killed after the Dragon King and Lotus joined hands.


    ¡°This is¡­ weren¡¯t the owner and those waiters innocent?¡± Dog Butcher had been in rehabilitation, so he didn¡¯t know much about it. After the Dragon King told him what had happened, he could barely believe what he heard. But soon, he suddenly understood. No wonder his Senior Sister was so nervous. The situation was actually a lot more dire than he had imagined. ¡°Luo Qikang wants to kill everybody even remotely rted to his younger brother¡¯s death?¡±


    ¡°I think that taking revenge is merely an excuse. He just became addicted to killing.¡±


    ¡°That can¡¯t be true. Luo Qikang has always been a hero in the Central ins. He should¡­ ¡± Dog Butcher couldn¡¯t continue speaking. The Luo Vige had a very high status in the martial arts world of the Central ins. All members of the Luo family were regarded as heroes as long as they didn¡¯t do bad things. ¡°s. It¡¯s actually a normal thing. I¡¯ve been in the Western Regions for only a couple of months, but the number of people that I¡¯ve killed here is more than the number that I¡¯ve killed in the past few decades before I came here. This is a ce full of killing. It seems as if people can do anything here without being punished.¡±


    ¡°Actually, it¡¯s that as long as you¡¯re strong, you won¡¯t be punished,¡± Gu Shenwei corrected Dog Butcher, since those who got killed were ¡°punished.¡±


    ¡°Luo Qikang is among the strong,¡± said Dog Butcher. Surprisingly, he calmed down. ¡°He started off by killing those insignificant ones to disy his strength to the others. Ha-ha. I may be senile, but I¡¯m not afraid of swordsmen of the Luo Vige.¡±


    ¡°You should go back to the Central ins. There¡¯s nothing that you can do here. No matter who obtains the position of Lord of Jade City, the current rules will change, and this city will no longer be full of killing.¡±


    ¡°Senior Sister gave me the same advice. I know that Luo Qikang has to follow the rules of the Central ins once he goes back there, but¡­ Dragon King, just like what you always say, anyone who kills someone has to prepare to be killed, which is the current rule in Jade City. I can¡¯t be a fence-sitter who kills people in the Western Regions and then go back to the Central ins to seek shelter.¡± Dog Butcher took a deep breath, looking somewhat excited as he disyed his conviction., ¡°I¡¯m staying. If Luo Qikang wants to kill me, then let him try it.¡±


    ¡°You have nothing to do with Luo Qibai¡¯s death.¡±


    ¡°Even the waiters of that inn were killed. Who else dares to say that I have nothing to do with it? I saw Luo Qibai be killed with my own eyes. I didn¡¯t help him and I didn¡¯t even say a word to stop him. If Luo Qikang knows this, then he will definitely deem this punishable by death.¡±


    Gu Shenwei pondered over it for a while and then finally said, ¡°From now on, you and Old Man Mu will be my personal bodyguards.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Dog Butcher answered. He knew that the Dragon King wanted to protect them. ¡°In the Western Regions, I¡¯m Dragon King¡¯s subordinate, and the Dragon King is the only one I support. Now that Luo Qikang has made public provocations, shouldn¡¯t we strike first?¡±


    ¡°Not now.¡± Gu Shenwei had noticed the hostility in Luo Qikang¡¯s eyes a long time ago, but he was in no hurry. Maybe this Central insman¡¯s killing had an upside. When he started to make new rules after winning the position of Lord of Jade City, there would be less objections.


    Gu Shenwei had been receiving petitions for different issues almost every day. The forces in Jade City were bing more and more inclined to regard him as the future ruler of the city, but the intelligence that he received indicated that the Central insmen and Golden Roc Castle also received a lot of petitions, the numbers of which were still relevant. In the end, it seemed that he was merely one of the candidates.


    In Jade City¡¯s different forces¡¯ shrewd leaders¡¯ eyes City, so far, nobody had gained an absolute advantage in thepetition for the position of Lord of Jade City.


    Gu Shenwei chose to temporarily stand by, but Luo Qikang was insatiable. This time, he chose the moles among the Central insmen as his targets.


    Sun Chengqi, the deputy envoy of the Central ins, had always been worried about his position. Before he came to the Western Regions, he hadn¡¯t expected that the envoy and the Governor of the Western Regions would die respectively, which was a huge chance for a promotion. On one hand, he felt that this was a golden opportunity. On the other, he felt that the responsibility was too heavy, and that a single wrong move might result in his death.


    So, he had chosen to govern by doing nothing that went against nature. He had let eunuch Zhang You make the decision in almost everything. Meanwhile, he had kept a lot of written proofs so that he would be able to shift the responsibility onto Zhang You if anything happened.


    Zhang You had the Middle Assistant Minister Yan Qin as his backer, which meant that he was more able to protect himself.


    Sun Chengqi never expected that Luo Qikang would be a threat to him.


    The Hedong Luo Vige was far-famed in the Central ins. Some of its members were dignitaries in the Imperial Court, and some of its other members were famous swordsmen in the martial arts world. Naturally, Sun Chengqi had heard of then, but he was a typical civil official who was only sensitive to people¡¯s official positions. Thus, he naturally differentiated between reputation in Jianghu and status in the Imperial Court.


    If Luo Qikang had had an official position, no matter how low it was, then with the Luo family¡¯s influence, he would have gained the deputy envoy¡¯s respect. But he was only amon swordsman dressed as amon soldier among a group of guards.


    After that fight in Golden Roc Castle, Luo Qikang had shot to fame in Jade City. Sun Chengqi had finally realized that he was not an ordinary person. Regarding himself as a superior, he had tried to co-opt Luo Qikang with an appreciative attitude, unaware of the fact that he had merely greatly offended this swordsman.


    As a result, when Sun Chengqi was sitting in the tent, he was very surprised to see Luo Qikang walk inside uninvited when he raised his head. With a displeased look, he said, ¡°Guard Luo, you arrived just in time. I wanted to talk to you about something. Many firms in Jade City have sent petitions here, saying that you killed a lot of innocent people in the city. Is it true?¡±


    ¡°I killed a couple of people, but they were not innocent,¡± Luo Qikang said apathetically. He didn¡¯t even bow to pay his respects, not to mention call him ¡°Lord.¡±


    Sun Chengqi was very sensitive to this kind of issue. He immediately stood up and said angrily, ¡°Luo Qikang, how dare you! Guards!¡±


    Sun Chengqi called for the guards outside the tent, but nobody came in. Those guards had been devotedly fulfilling their duties all along, but at this moment, they were not where they were supposed to be. ¡°Get out. I¡¯m busy today. We¡¯ll talk about your issue tomorrow.¡±


    Luo Qikang fished out an official document from his chest and handed it to Sun Chengqi. ¡°Take a look.¡±


    Noticing that this guard¡¯s tone was bing more and more impolite, Sun Chengqi became vignt. There were rigid procedures in the delivery of official documents. This document wasn¡¯t supposed to be delivered to a guard first. He took it and pulled out the letter in the envelope. His face changed drastically after he read just two lines, and then he skipped past the contents and directly looked at the seal at the bottom of the letter.


    ¡°Thi¨CThis¡­ This is vicious libel and vilification! Who sent this letter here? I¡¯ll go back to the Central ins tomorrow and exin to His Majesty¡­ ¡±


    Luo Qikang whipped out his sword and squinted slightly. As if the target was a kung fu expert whose kung fu was as good as his own, he carefully stabbed the de into the chest of the deputy envoy but didn¡¯t kill him right away.


    In surprise, Sun Chengqi looked at the bleeding wound in his chest and then moved his eyes back to the guard whose face was slightly dark, having no idea at all why he would be stabbed. He took two steps forward and then fell to the ground with a thud, knocking down the table beside him as he did so.


    Luo Qikang walked to the doorway of the tent but then turned around and walked back. He lowered his head and looked at the body lying prone on the ground. Suddenly, he whipped out his sword again and cut off the head.


    He had be somewhat fond of the rules of Jade City.


    Gu Shenwei was consulting with Zhong Heng on some affairs when a guard suddenly came inside and reported that a small team of cavalrymen had run out of the camp of the Central ins and were approaching the front gate of the Dragon Army¡¯s camp.


    After a quarter of an hour, Zhang You desperately ran into the tent, stumbled, and then knelt down to the ground yelling ¡°Help! Dragon King!¡± repeatedly.


    Zhong Heng walked forward and tried to console him. After quite a while, Zhang You calmed down and said, ¡°The guards have revolted. They killed Lord Sun, the deputy envoy. Fortunately General Dugu had quick reflexes. He had some men escort me to the Dragon King¡¯s camp.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was amazed. No matter how audacious Luo Qikang was, he shouldn¡¯t have dared to kill an official of the Central ins in public. He was nomon Jianghu swordsman. His recklessness might even get his whole family into trouble. ¡°What about General Dugu? Why didn¡¯t hee here with you?¡±


    ¡°I don¨Cdon¡¯t know.¡± The only thing on Zhang You¡¯s mind was a way to flee. He had never considered the safety of Dugu Xian.


    The information that Zhang You offered was extremely limited, but soon, more urate news came. The guards hadn¡¯t revolted. Luo Qikang had received the Emperor¡¯s order to kill Sun Chengqi.


    Sun Chengqi had been convicted of colludomg with enemies as well as negligence that resulted in damage to the Imperial Court¡¯s reputation.


    Zhang You¡¯s face was ashen-faced. Sun Chengqi had been following his instructions all along. If Sun Chengqi was guilty, then there was no doubt that he would also be held responsible. ¡°All of that was Assistant Minister Yan¡¯s orders!¡±


    Soon, Dugu Xian had someone deliver another secret letter, saying that he could only be the Commander-in-chief for three more days because in three days, another Governor of the Western Regions and Commander-in-chief appointed by the Imperial Court would arrive.


    Gu Shenwei was startled yet again. It had been less than a month since Wei Song¡¯s death. The message shouldn¡¯t have even reached the Central ins yet. Why would a new official arrive so soon? And this person had also managed to convict Sun Chengqi of a series of crimes before his arrival.


    After Zhang You regained hisposure, Gu Shenwei and Zhong Heng immediately started consulting with each other for a way to deal with this issue. The name of the sessor wasn¡¯t mentioned in the letter. Zhong Heng spected, ¡°Clearly, this appointment was issued a long time ago and Wei Song didn¡¯t know that his position had already been taken away by someone else before he died. So, this person is probably not on the Empress Dowager¡¯s side but rather on her opponent¡¯s side.¡±


    The biggest opponent of the Empress Dowager was Prince Xiao. Gu Shenwei had no idea why Prince Xiao would make this move. He was pondering whether he should seize thisst chance to take Jade City by force.

 Chapter 943 - Moles

    Chapter 943: Moles


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The army of the Central ins had two encampments. Between these two encampments were the Iron Mountain Military Camp, which was much smaller, and a second, rather special camp.


    Nominally, this camp belonged to the An Kingdom of the Xiaoyao Lake. Surrounded by the camps of the Central ins army, the Dragon Army, and the Golden Roc Army, this camp was tiny, like a rat that had identally rushed into a herd of elephants. Even the nearby Iron Mountain Military Camp was huge inparison.


    Even since the old King An had been ¡°rescued¡± from northern Jade City, he had been living in this camp since. Every time he heard footsteps outside, his heart would lurch. And every time somebody walked into his tent, his face immediately changed. Because of this, the Central insmen living in the camp didn¡¯t even have the heart to disturb him.


    There were more than a hundred kung fu experts who King An had ¡°hired,¡± and whose tents surrounded King An¡¯s, which made them seem more like prison guards.


    Luo Qikang was among these Central insmen, but he seldom came here. Most of the time, he was either busy dealing with his own business or staying in the big army camp. So, Tu Pianpian had be the one effectively in charge of this small camp.


    Tu Pianpian knew very well that the reason why the disciples of so many major sects were willing to follow her orders was not only because of her kung fu skills, but also because of her credentials. As an elder of the Kongtong Sect, even the oldest Central insmen would have to call her Aunt Master or Martial Aunt. Sometimes, this was her most potent weapon.


    Luo Qikang arrived at the camp single-handed and found that all the Central insmen were standing in rows at the entrance of the camp waiting for him. He dismounted and greeted Tu Pianpian who was standing at the head. ¡°Greetings, Martial Aunt Tu.¡± He didn¡¯t cup his hands, and neither did he bow to pay his respect to her. Luo Qikang¡¯s tone was so casual that it sounded like he was talking to an acquaintance who he just encountered on a street.


    ¡°Um. I¡¯m old but still alive. Nephew Qikang, I heard that you killed the deputy envoy in the camp. Is that true?¡±


    ¡°I have secret orders from the General-in-chief and the Court of State Ceremonials. They allow me to take action when it¡¯s necessary, which includes killing moles who have colluded with the enemy.¡±


    ¡°Lord Sun colluded with the enemy? Which enemies?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s confidential. I¡¯m not allowed to tell you.¡±


    Tu Pianpian¡¯s face went livid. She hadn¡¯t been rejected by a Central insman like this for many years, ¡°Fine. I¡¯m merely following orders as well, so I¡¯ll mind my own business. What brought you back here today?¡±


    Looking at the Central insmen behind Tu Pianpian, Luo Qikang slowly said, ¡°Sun Chengqi was not the only one who colluded with foreign enemies. There are more moles, and they are right here among you.¡±


    The over a hundred Central insmen were shocked, but nobody talked. Only Tu Pianpian impatiently said, ¡°Luo Qikang, if you think that any of us looks like a mole, then please point him out right now and then show us the proof. We¡¯ll kill him together.¡±


    Luo Qikang stared Tu Pianpian. Totally unafraid, the elder of the Kongtong Sect looked back at him before eventually bursting intoughter. ¡°Is the Luo Vige challenging the Kongtong Sect? Fine. If you think that I¡¯m a mole, then please show us the proof right now. Don¡¯t think that it¡¯s that easy to nder me. I may not be a match for you, but in the Luo family there must be someone whom you have to answer to. I don¡¯t believe that the Luo Vige has be so unruly!¡±


    Tu Pianpian had always been short-tempered. The more she talked, the angrier she became. The people by her even saw the crutch in her hand gradually shorten, sinking deeper into the frozen ground inch by inch.


    Luo Qikang remained calm. ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to be angry, Martial Aunt Tu. I didn¡¯t say that you¡¯re a mole.¡±


    ¡°Then why were you staring at me?¡± Tu Pianpian¡¯s anger wouldn¡¯t subside easily once it surged. ¡°Did you fall for me? Even your dad didn¡¯t dare to be so impolite back then. He only dared to think about it.¡±


    When they heard these wordsing from a short, old woman carrying a long crutch, those Central insmen behind her involuntarily wanted tough, but none of them dared do so. Some of them lowered their heads, others gave out unnatural coughs, and all of them tried hard to suppress the urge tough.


    Luo Qikang immediately moved his eyes from Tu Pianpian to another Central insman.


    Emboldened by the presence of his Aunt Master, another member of the Kongtong Sect, Fan Yongda, said, ¡°Senior Brother Luo, I¡¯m a man.¡±


    Finally, someone couldn¡¯t help himself fromughing, but he soon choked it back.


    Luo Qikang pointed at Fan Yongda and said, ¡°You¡¯re a mole.¡±


    Before Fan Yongda could even make a response, Tu Pianpian loudly said, ¡°Show us the proof. Yongda is a disciple of the Kongtong Sect. If hemitted treason, then I¡¯ll smash his head in with my own crutch.¡±


    Surprisingly, the louder Tu Pianpian spoke, the calmer Luo Qikang became. ¡°Fan Yongda, three months ago you went to the Nond.¡±


    ¡°Humph, the Luo Vige is not the only organization that has to follow the Imperial Court¡¯s orders. A batch of members of the Kongtong Sect received orders to go to the Royal Court and pretended to ask those kings in the grasnds for shelter. That was not treason.¡± Tu Pianpian defended her Sect Nephew again.


    Luo Qikang didn¡¯t mind, but his eyes continued to be fixed on Fan Yongda¡¯s face. ¡°The Nonders besieged the kung fu practitioners of the Central ins. Many members of the Kongtong Sect died. Only you survived.¡±


    Tu Pianpian pulled out her crutch and then heavily poked it onto the ground again. ¡°Luo Qikang, what proof do you have exactly? You¡¯ve asked so many questions. Do you think that the members of the Kongtong Sect are your prisoners?¡±


    Luo Qikang looked at Tu Pianpian¡¯s crutch. ¡°Call Dog Butcher here. He¡¯s the proof.¡±


    Tu Pianpian burst intoughter. ¡°Finally, you tell the truth. Catching moles? Luo Qikang, you¡¯re just trying to use to power of the Imperial Court for the sake of your own personal revenge, aren¡¯t you? I¡¯ll tell you this right now. Dog Butcher is a member of the Kongtong Sect. Not to mention that he never touched your younger brother ¨C even if he had stabbed him, it would be an issue between the Luo Vige and the Kongtong Sect, which would be solved by the elders. It¡¯s not your ce to judge.¡±


    Luo Qikang slightly squinted and then suddenly raised his voice. ¡°You all heard her. This is between the Luo Vige and the Kongtong Sect, and it¡¯s nobody else¡¯s business. Please be witnesses and don¡¯t interfere.¡±


    Tu Pianpian was stunned, realizing that she had been tricked.


    Both Luo Qikang¡¯s kung fu and the Luo Vige¡¯s reputation put a huge pressure on these Central insmen. Someone immediately walked out of the ranks and stood to the side, indicating that he was not a supporter of the Kongtong Sect.


    At first, only very few people left the ranks, but soon, under Luo Qikang¡¯s aggressive gaze, there were only a dozen disciples of the Kongdong Sect left remaining behind Tu Pianpian.


    ¡°The Kongtong Sect versus the Luo Vige. Let¡¯s do this! Luo Qikang, what are you waiting for? Pull out your sword!¡± Tu Pianpian didn¡¯t try to persuade the others to stay. She raised her crutch and held itterally, preparing to fight.


    But Luo Qikang didn¡¯t pull out his sword. In the Jade City, he could kill people arbitrarily. However, in this small camp, he had to follow certain rules. Though he was far away from the Central ins, those rules still retained most of their authority here.


    ¡°Please ask Dog Butcher toe out, Martial Aunt. Then we can determine whether he is a mole or not. This is an important issue that cannot be solved through a kung fupetition.¡±


    ¡°Dog Butcher is in the Dragon King¡¯s military camp. Why are you yelling at us instead of going there?¡±


    ¡°Dog Butcher has been with the Dragon King this whole time? No wonder¡­¡± Luo Qikang said and then nodded at those Central insmen standing on the side.


    Tu Pianpian knew that she had been tricked again because anger had clouded her judgement. She had never expected that this seemingly wooden Luo Qikang would not only have superb swordsmanship but also good skills at squeeze information out of people.


    Fan Yongda walked forward. First, he bowed to his Martial Aunt and then he faced Luo Qikang as he said, ¡°Luo Qikang, what kind of point are you trying to make? The Dragon King is not our enemy. Not only is Martial Uncle Dog Butcher and us, but even you are under the Dragon King¡¯smand. That was an order that Prince Xiao issued before he left. You know this.¡±


    The look on Luo Qikang¡¯s face, which had been nd all this time, suddenly became severe. He narrowed his eyes into slits from which a piercing look emerged. ¡°Fan Yongda, you finally decided to talk in a decent manner?¡±


    Upon saying those words, he whipped out his sword and thrust it at Fan Yongda¡¯s chest. Unexpectedly, Tu Pianpian had been vignt this whole time, but still failed to stop him. And Fan Yongda wasn¡¯t even quick enough to grab the hilt of his saber.


    A whooshing sound was heard. But it was not made by Luo Qikang¡¯s sword.


    Luo Qikang¡¯s attack was fast, and so was his followup. He abruptly twisted his body and parried the hidden weapon with his sword. He was just about to speak when his face suddenly changed.


    The hidden weapon that he had parried was merely a small ingot of gold, which had been halved. There was another, bigger hidden weapon that had shot past him from above his head andnded smack on the ground between him and Fan Yongda, sticking several inches into the ground. The de waspletely still afternding. It was the Dragon King¡¯s Five Peaks Saber.


    Luo Qikang knew that he had been fooled. The narrow saber and the gold ingot had been shot at him at the same time. The former was soundless, but it was not aimed at the enemy. Thetter had been shot right at his vital part, generating a loud swish. Naturally, he had parried the gold ingot and let the narrow saber passed. But from an outsiders¡¯ eyes, it seemed as if he had made a mistake and was unable to parry that saber.


    Three cavalrymen galloped towards the camp. Surprisingly, nobody had noticed them earlier.


    Old Man Mu was the first one to jump off the horse. He yelled, ¡°The Dragon King is here. Those who should pay your respect to him, pay your respects. Those who should make way for him, make way. Those who should evade him, leave now.¡± He quickly rushed past Luo Qikang, pulled out the Five Peaks Saber, carried it with both hands, and returned it to the Dragon King.


    Dog Butcher was the second one to dismount. Hands on the saber hilt, he nodded at his Senior Sister and the other members of the Kongtong Sect and then silently stood besides the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t jump off of his horse. He took the Five Peaks Saber from Old Man Mu and then said, ¡°I¡¯m here.¡±


    Most of the Central insmen bowed to the Dragon King. Some of them appeared very respectful because some of these people had once been to the Royal Court, and the others had rtives who did; all of whom had once been rescued by the Dragon King from the siege of the Nond cavalry forces.


    There were also people who refused to salute, and Luo Qikang was one of them. He didn¡¯t even sheath his sword and instead coldly said, ¡°This is the Central ins business. The Dragon King¡¯s presence won¡¯t make any difference. But you did bring Dog Butcher and Old Man Mu here. Good.¡±


    The Dragon King hadn¡¯t brought arge number of guards with him. Luo Qikang was both very surprised and very d.


    Gu Shenwei still didn¡¯t dismount. ¡°Central ins¡¯ business should be dealt with in the Central ins. This is Jade City, not the Central ins.¡±


    Luo Qikang squinted again. ¡°I remember that I once said that the Central ins and the Dragon King were allies, but we, kung fu practitioners, were not the Dragon King¡¯s subordinates. If you want anything from us, then please inform the officials of the Central ins first.¡±


    The deputy envoy had been killed, and the new official hadn¡¯t arrived. And the other officials didn¡¯t dare intervene in this kind of dangerous issue.


    Gu Shenwei directly said to those disciples of the Kongtong Sect, ¡°Go and invite King An here.¡±


    King An thought that the internecine strife among the Central insmen didn¡¯t concern him. When the disciples of the Kongtong Sect went to invite him, he was very unwilling to go, saying repeatedly, ¡°What do you think I can do? I have nothing to do with these things at all. Really.¡±


    The moment he walked out of the tent and saw the Dragon King riding a horse in the distance, King An¡¯s attitude changed. With a respectful look on his face, he ran towards the gate even faster than the disciples of the Kongtong Sect.


    ¡°I was unaware of the Dragon King¡¯s presence so I failed to wee you. Please absolve me of my guilt¡­ ¡± King An spilled out a lot of pleasantries.


    ¡°Kneel.¡±


    The Dragon King gave an order that King An immediatelyplied with. As cold as the weather was, beads of sweat seeped out of his forehead.


    ¡°I¡¯m the Dragon King. I have the right to kill, to spare, to give, and to deprive. I can strip you of your title, and I can also give it back to you. From now on, you are King An again.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your kindness, Dragon King¡­ ¡± King An kowtowed heavily and repeatedly, unaware of whether he was overjoyed or horrified.


    Old Man Mu said loudly to all Central insmen, ¡°No matter who you used to be, where youe from, and whom you used to be loyal to, you are all King An¡¯s subjects now. Your king is kneeling on the ground and showing his gratitude. Are you going to just stand there and watch?¡±


    Most of the Central ins kung fu practitioners had forgotten that their nominal homnd was the An Kingdom. It was not until after Old Man Mu reminded them that they recalled this. Those who had a favorable impression of the Dragon King knelt down first, but most people just watched Luo Qikang and Tu Pianpian.


    These two people remained standing stock still.

 Chapter 944 - : God of Valley

    Chapter 944: God of Valley


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The troops of the Dragon Army had never had to kowtow before the Dragon King. Even when a soldier wanted to kneel to show his respect, he merely knelt on one knee. This was a rule that had been brought to the Dragon Army by the swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain. In most cases, even these most loyal of soldiers merely nodded at the Dragon King to pay their respects when they saw him.


    As a result, what the Dragon King was requesting the Central insmen to do seemed unusual.


    Most of the Central insmen were unfamiliar with the Dragon King¡¯s rules. They didn¡¯t kneel and just stood there because they had no idea who their superior was. Though all of them were merely following the orders of the Imperial Court of the Central ins, there was nobody suitable for representing the Central ins both in and outside of Jade City.


    With a big smile on his face, Old Man Mu said to Tu Pianpian, ¡°Younger sister Pianpian, don¡¯t the Central insmen set great store by right titles and proper words? King An is now your king. He is kneeling but you¡¯re standing, which seems a little¡­ Heh-heh.¡±


    Of course Tu Pianpian knew that the others would follow her lead, and that only after the Dragon King managed to subject these Central insmen to hismand would he be in a more favorable position to fight back against Luo Qikang and protect her younger brother. However, she was a proud woman, and it was too difficult for her to kowtow to a member of a savage nation in front of so many people. No matter how hard Fan Yongda tried to signal her, she still refused to bend her knees. Instead, she strode up to King An and dragged him to his feet.


    King An was perplexed. Supported by the hand of the old woman, he was unable to kneel even if his body became as limp as dough.


    ¡°When a king is in trouble, his subjects should offer help. Both of you are kings of the Western Regions. Why should King An kneel in front of the Dragon King? He¡¯s discontent¨C¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m content, very content,¡± King An hurriedly interjected.


    Tu Pianpian ignored him and continued to say, ¡°Under these circumstance, we¡¯re supposed to help him deal with the troubles. Dragon King, if you want us to yield to you alongside King An, then you¡¯ll have to show your real strength to convince us first.¡±


    Dog Butcher wanted to speak but Old Man Mu beat him to it. ¡°What kind of real strength do you want to see? The Dragon King has hundreds of thousands of troops,rge groups of kung fu experts, gold and silver as heavy as a mountain, precious horses¨C¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re just a bunch of Jianghu kung fu practitioners. Naturally, we don¡¯t care about those things. I know the Dragon King has always been proud of his kung fu. Just show us a couple of moves.¡±


    Luo Qikang had always wanted to force the Dragon King to have a kung fupetition with him. But he had never expected that Tu Pianpian, who was diametrically opposed to him, would do this for him. And he hadn¡¯t even spoke up yet; he stepped aside and watched on with a cold look in his eyes.


    Old Man Mu burst intoughter. ¡°You want to have a kung fupetition with the Dragon King? Fine. But you¡¯ll have to go through me first. Who¡¯s my first opponent?¡±


    Tu Pianpian didn¡¯t even look at Old Man Mu. She directly said to the Dragon King, ¡°The Dragon King has fought many battles in various countries, from the Western Regions to the Nond, defeated hundreds of thousands of enemies on the battleground, and never encountered anyone whose kung fu is better than your own. As foreigners, we¡¯ve heard of these deeds but never witnessed any of them with our own eyes. Are you willing to have a kung fupetition with us?¡±


    Tu Pianpian was speaking on behalf of over a hundred Central insmen, so she didn¡¯t mention that she had once had a kung fupetition with the Dragon King. But her tone did be much more respectful.


    Gu Shenwei also didn¡¯t mention that the Kongtong Sect was one of his defeated enemies, uttering only one word. ¡°Okay.¡±


    Tu Pianpian¡¯s eyes swept around. First, she handed the trembling King An to one of the disciples of her sect, and then loudly said, ¡°If I may be so bold, I volunteer to fight the first round. Any objections?¡±


    Tu Pianpian had a high status and had always been the leader of the camp, so naturally, nobody raised any objections. However, hardly anybody believed that she was a match for the Dragon King. So, someone who wanted to fawn on the Luo Vige stepped forward and said, ¡°The Kongtong Sect¡¯s Aunt Master Tu fighting the first round is the best, but I think that one round won¡¯t be enough. Thus, I rmend that ¡®The Swordsman of Anticipation,¡¯ Swordmaster Luo, be the second contestant.¡±


    A lot of Central insmen expressed their support towards this suggestion. Tu Pianpian also didn¡¯t oppose it.


    Old Man Mu snorted and asked that person, ¡°Are you going to be the third one?¡±


    That man drew back to his original position. ¡°A third round will not necessary. Two rounds will be enough. Aunt Master Tu and Swordmaster Luo are the Central ins¡¯¡­ are the best kung fu practitioners at King An¡¯smand. If they lose, then we others will naturally be convinced and kneel down to pledge allegiance together with King An.¡±


    Old Man Mu raised his head and looked at the Dragon King, not knowing what else to say. As far as he knew, the Dragon King was not ready to fight Luo Qikang yet; however, he would lose face if he refused to fight.


    ¡®The Dragon King should have brought more men here,¡¯ Old Man Mu thought. He and Dog Butcher might be able to handle Tu Pianpian, but they were no match for the ¡°White Camel¡± even if they joined hands, not to mention this ¡°ck Camel¡± in front of them.


    Gu Shenwei dismounted from his horse, put his hands on the saber hilt, and said to Tu Pianpian, ¡°Please.¡±


    Dog Butcher was just about to remind her senior sister that she was by no means a match for the Dragon King when Tu Pianpian spoke up. She had seen the Dragon King¡¯s sabersmanship and palm techniques back when they were in the grasnds. Why would she make the same mistake here? ¡°Wait a moment. This time, we¡¯re having a kung fupetition that doesn¡¯t involve any sect reputation or hatred between countries. Thus, there¡¯s no need for us to fight to the death. Do you agree, Dragon King?¡±


    Old Man Mu secretly nodded, thinking that this old woman was not stupid after all, and that although she looked irascible and impulsive, she was actually rather devious. He felt that he had underestimated her.


    ¡°Sure.¡± Gu Shenwei also found Tu Pianpian fairly admirable. She was unwilling to yield to the Dragon King in front of so many Central insmen, but she also didn¡¯t want to offend him. Thus, she had volunteered to be the first one to fight but imposed many restrictions on this kung fupetition. Herst remark about ¡°hatred between countries¡± was actually a restraint on Luo Qikang who was going to fight in the next round.


    The Central insmen present had no idea what this elder was thinking. They merely expressed their approval in unison. Supported by a disciple of the Kongtong Sect, King An did the same thing with the others, but his eyes darted back and forth. He was sizing up his ¡°subordinates,¡± thinking that if only the An Kingdom had had a group of kung fu experts like these people at itsmand, and that these people were more powerful than an army. If that were the case, then he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about his safety day and night.


    Tu Pianpian¡¯s crutch sank into the frozen ground. ¡°Well then. Let¡¯s put our weapons aside andpete in terms of internal energy. If any of us feel that the opponent is stronger, just say ¡®I admit defeat¡¯ or nod. The other side must withdraw their internal energy immediately.¡±


    Old Man Mu and the Dragon King felt that Tu Pianpian had just made a gesture of goodwill when she proposed this method ofpetition. The Dragon King¡¯s forte was sabersmanship, and his fist technique and footwork were just average. With regards to his internal energy, though he had both the Daoless Divine Power and the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power, he had only practiced them for a short time. Thus, his internal energy was definitely not as powerful as Tu Pianpian¡¯s since she had been practicing for decades.


    This time, even Luo Qikang felt that this old woman was admirable, so he naturally didn¡¯t raise any objections.


    Old Man Mu looked at the Dragon King again. As long as the Dragon King gave him a wink, he would immediately make up a bunch of excuses to help the Dragon King out of this unfavorable situation. However, what the Dragon King gave him was the Five Peaks Saber.


    ¡°Okay. We willpete only in terms of internal energy,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Dog Butcher walked forward and was just about to remind the Dragon King when he saw that his Senior Sister was severely eyeing him, so he drew back.


    Not all of the Central insmen thought that it was a good idea topete with the Dragon King on internal energy. A sabersman hurriedly walked up behind Tu Pianpian, bent over, and reminded her in a low voice, ¡°Be careful, Aunt Master Tu. Don¡¯t underestimate the Dragon King¡¯s internal energy. Not only does he have an evil Qi that can damage people¡¯s heart meridians, but he also has Ying and Yang Qi that can take turns to attack his opponent.¡±


    Tu Pianpian gave a nce at him and recognized that person. He was a disciple of the Jade Pure Sect of the Central ins. She recalled the rumors that said that the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect had suffered a lot during the fight with the Dragon King, so she nodded. ¡°I know.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t know that person, but upon hearing his words, he realized that that man must be very close to the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect. That person didn¡¯t know that currently, the Dragon King had only his Ying and Yang Qi, and that the frosty Qi had been expelled for good. The Dragon King had freed himself from the risk of Qi deviation but also lost a potent weapon.


    Tu Pianpian took five steps forward and cupped her hands before her chest. Though she was a woman of high status, she didn¡¯t capitalize on being advanced in age, which could be counted as a change in her attitude after several meetings with the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei also cupped his hands before his chest as a gesture of politeness, and then opened his right arm, allowing his opponent to make the first move.


    ¡°The God of the Valley is immortal, who is the Creator of all. The way the Creator forms creation is the foundation of the sky and the earth. The Creator is an ethereal existence who has inexhaustible energy.¡± As an elder of a famous sect of the Central ins, Tu Pianpian¡¯s reputation was well-earned. Before the fight began, she recited a short passage of the <em>Tao Te Ching</em>, and then said in a normal tone, ¡°Ready yourself for my Valley God Palm Technique, Dragon King.¡±


    Old Man Mu was just about to sneer and remind her that this was an internal energy contest, not a palm technique contest when Tu Pianpian suddenly threw a palm strike. Her arm was positioned slightly above a horizontal position. Clearly, she wanted topete with the opponent in terms of internal energy. Old Man Mu choked his words back.


    Tu Pianpian was short, so her palm strike was aimed at the Dragon King¡¯s lower abdomen. Gu Shenwei moved his left leg backwards and bent his right knee, lowering his body into a bow stance before stretching his right palm out to fight back.


    Internal energypetitions were usually boring, since nobody was able to see the covert changes of Qi in people¡¯s bodies, but this one between the Dragon King and Tu Pianpian was slightly different. Their palms didn¡¯t stay still the entire time. Every four or five breaths, they would both withdraw their palms, draw back, make a few diagonal steps, and then throw the next palm strike. The Dragon King¡¯s attacks were aggressive while Tu Pianpian¡¯s moves were slow and gentle, as if she were afraid that she might hurt the opponent.


    On the snowy ground at the entrance of the camp, over a hundred people were patiently waiting for the result. What Old Man Mu knew about the situation of thispetition was no more than what King An knew, but he didn¡¯t have much patience. Carrying the Dragon King¡¯s Five Peaks Saber, he said to Dog Butcher who was beside him, ¡°I think that the secret of this Valley God Palm Technique lies in the words ¡®ethereal existence,¡¯ right?¡±


    Among all the spectators, Dog Butcher was the only one who was watching with a solemn look. Without blinking, he casually answered, ¡°You¡¯re right, but also not right.¡±


    ¡°Ha. Cut the shit. It¡¯s from the <em>Tao Te Ching</em>. Who hasn¡¯t read it? With regards to prowess in this aspect, the members of the Kongtong Sect are no match for the members of the Jade Pure Sect.¡±


    There were several disciples of the Jade Pure Sect among those Central insmen. Upon hearing this, they hurriedly shook their heads and waved their hands, indicating that the short, old man on the opposite side was by no means a member of their sect.


    Dog Butcher perfunctorily gave an ¡°Um¡± sound. After watching for a while, he said, ¡°Valley means vacancy. This kung fu absorbs energy before using it. Therefore, this palm technique appears vulnerable as it uses defensive moves as offensive ones. No matter how powerful the opponent¡¯s internal energy is, it will be dissolved like a rock falling into a deep valley. The more internal energy the opponent mobilizes, the quicker his strength will be depleted. ¡®Ethereal existence¡¯ means that the valley can hold a lot of internal energy, so sooner orter, the opponent will be exhausted. The Dragon King is using his aggressive internal energy to hit her soft Qi. I¡¯m afraid that this is not the best solution.¡±


    Dog Butcher¡¯s exnation was more interesting than this kung fupetition. Those disciples of the Jade Pure Sect all secretly admired him, believing that the Kongtong Sect¡¯s Valley God Palm Technique was an unbeatable rival to the Dragon King¡¯s evil kung fu.


    In total, Gu Shenwei and Tu Pianpian had now moved in seven circles and exchanged thirty-five palm strikes. His face was bing paler and paler, and was now almost as white as the snow on the ground while Tu Pianpian¡¯s face had remained unchanged. It was just that her palm strikes had be even slower than before.


    Dog Butcher shook his head, thinking that it had been overconfident of the Dragon King to agree topete with her in terms of internal energy. His Senior Sister had been practicing internal energy for decades without taking a single day off. On no condition could any young man obtain an internal energy as powerful as hers with merely a couple of miraculous encounters with advanced kung fu skills.


    But Old Man Mu nodded, feeling that the Dragon King was amazingly audacious. He had actually dared to apply the Death Sutra, which focused on swordsmanship, to internal energy. With Wild Horse¡¯s miserable failure still fresh in mind, this was absolutely a risky move.


    He couldn¡¯t help but think, ¡®Has the Dragon King by any chance found a way to protect himself from the inevitable bacsh?¡¯


    He had just begun to think about this when thepetition ended. One person nodded to admit defeat, standing steadily and straight. The other person won but was slightly unsteady, as if they were too feeble to stand.

 Chapter 945 - Baihui Acupuncture Point

    Chapter 945: Baihui Acupuncture Point


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Tu Pianpian admitted defeat. She had seen the Dragon King¡¯s kung fu before so she wasn¡¯t determined to defeat him. But she was still greatly surprised by the fact that the Dragon King had such a powerful internal energy at an age this young.


    ¡°What an aggressive internal energy. I honestly admit defeat.¡± Watching the Dragon King whose face was abnormally pale, Tu Pianpian added, ¡°I don¡¯t mean to be presumptuous, but the Dragon King¡¯s internal energy is a little unstable, though very powerful. You should be careful.¡±


    Tu Pianpian had put it in a euphemistic way. The Dragon King¡¯s internal energy was not just unstable. It was actually roiling and fluctuating inside his body like furious waves. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that she had felt it herself, Tu Pianpian wouldn¡¯t have even believed this kind of internal energy could belong to a single person.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be cautious,¡± Gu Shenwei said as he steadied himself. Under the gaze of everyone around him, the color of his face returned to normal in the blink of an eye.


    Everybody was amazed. Clearly, the Dragon King had been about to lose. Why did Tu Pianpian admit defeat at this moment? It was also surprising that the Dragon King had recovered so quickly. What kind of weird internal energy was this?


    Only Old Man Mu could vaguely guess at what had happened. With a smile, he said, ¡°Old Dog, there¡¯s an internal energy that even the Valley God Palm Technique of the Kongtong Sect can¡¯t hold. Are you convinced?¡±


    ¡°Even my Senior Sister admitted defeat. Why would I be unconvinced?¡±


    Dog Butcher was not apetitive man, which deprived Old Man Mu of a lot of fun.


    Tu Pianpian turned around and said to Luo Qikang loudly, ¡°The Kongtong Sect has admitted defeat. Now it¡¯s the Luo Vige¡¯s turn. There are over a hundred people of us here. Whether we kneel or not is up to you.¡±


    Luo Qikang didn¡¯t say anything. He unfastened the sword from his belt and thrust it into the frozen ground. The sheath sank about seven to eight inches deep, sticking there solidly. Upon seeing this, a lot of people cheered. Those who were powerful enough should offer help, and those who weren¡¯t should offer verbal support. This was a Jianghu rule that transcended geographical boundaries. Since Luo Qikang was a member of the Luo Vige, then these onlookers were even more generous with theirpliments.


    Even King An nodded in a dignified manner so as to express his appreciation. He finally realized that he was just a prop in this show, so he was no longer afraid. If the Dragon King won, then all he had to do was kowtow. If the Dragon King lost, then someone else was to me and it didn¡¯t concern him. With this thought, King An became much moreposed, which imparted him a faint air of kingliness.


    Luo Qikang walked up to the Dragon King. ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to have a kung fupetition with the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Likewise.¡± All Gu Shenwei was thinking about was improving his internal energy. He wanted his internal energy to be at least as powerful as that of the Unique King. In the Western Regions, there were not many kung fu experts who were good at internal energy, so fighting with opponents from the Central ins was the best option.


    ¡°My younger brother died to the Dragon King¡¯s saber-¡± Luo Qikang had just started talking when Tu Pianpian interrupted. ¡°Luo Qikang, we have a deal. This is an internal energypetition. No hatred between countries or private grudges should be involved.¡±


    Luo Qikang ignored her and continued talking. ¡°That was because his kung fu was not good enough, not because the Luo family¡¯s kung fu is poor. Today, I¡¯m going to retrieve the Luo family¡¯s honor.¡±


    Old Man Mu knew very well that his internal energy was not nearly as good as Luo Qikang¡¯s, but he still refused to let go of this opportunity to mock him. ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. Everybody knows about the honor of the Luo family. Both white camels and ck camels can carry goods three times the weight of a horse can carry. How could your internal energy be poor?¡±


    A couple of unintelligent peopleughed, but they were soon hushed by theirpanions. They had only managed to let out half augh.


    In the Central ins, Luo Qikang had always been an unforgiving man. After he arrived in Jade City, he had be even more so, and he sought revenge for the smallest grievance. No Central insmen dared to offend him in public.


    Ignoring Old Man Mu¡¯s sarcastic words, Luo Qikang took a deep breath and then slightly bent his knees, performing a substandard horse stance. ¡°Ready yourself for my move, Dragon King.¡± Upon finishing thest word, he threw a palm strike.


    Gu Shenwei fought back. The moment his palm met his opponent¡¯s, he felt a surge of powerful Qi sweep over him like a mountain, far more potent than that of Tu Pianpian¡¯s. It seemed to be as powerful as the Unique King.


    Gu Shenwei had prepared himself in advance, but his body still uncontrobly shook. When he tried to withdraw his palm to regather his internal energy and make the next move, he found that not only was the opponent¡¯s Qi aggressive, but also sticky, which prevented him from withdrawing his hand.


    Luo Qikang refused to let this opportunity slip away. He wanted to kill the Dragon King in an aboveboardpetition so as to avenge his younger brother¡¯s murder, even if this ignited a war.


    Gu Shenwei knew that he had to resort to a more radical method.


    After Wild Horse had fallen to the Death Sutra¡¯s bacsh, Gu Shenwei had been trying to figure out a way to capitalize on Wild Horse¡¯s cultivation method. He had learned a lot of moves, which was an advantage over the other cultivators, but the gap between his internal energy and that of the Unique King and Lotus was only growing wider and wider. This was one of his weaknesses which had to be fixed.


    The Death Sutra couldn¡¯t increase one¡¯s internal energy permanently, but it could temporarily multiply someone¡¯s internal energy when the energy was mobilized. It was just that there was no way back. If someone doubled his or her internal energy, then the next time he or she performed this kung fu, he or she must triple or quadruple the internal energy. The user wasn¡¯t able to retreat to a safer level or stay at the same level. He or she could only activate more and more powerful internal energy until he or she received a bacsh that lead to death.


    Wild Horse had imposed a limit on this method. He had died when he managed to increase his internal energy by tenfold. Gu Shenwei must not cross this line. He shouldn¡¯t even approach it.


    During hispetition with Tu Pianpian, they had exchanged thirty-five palm strikes in total. Neither of them had fought with full strength from the beginning, so Gu Shenwei had a chance to gradually increase his internal energy by a hundred percent. Tu Pianpian was still able to handle it, but she found that the Dragon King¡¯s internal energy was still growing more and more powerful, and that the growth seemed limitless. So, she had nodded and admitted her defeat.


    Gu Shenwei had reached the level of substituting a saber for a sword, and the next level was turning his palm into a sword. Though they were stillpeting on internal energy and they were using palms as weapons, he was actually performing his swordsmanship. After making a move, he withdrew his Qi immediately, and then made the next move, which gave Tu Pianpian a feeling that the Dragon King¡¯s internal energy was wildly fluctuating and unstable, but it was actually getting stronger with each move.


    Tu Pianpian had identally done the Dragon King a big favor, enabling Gu Shenwei to double his internal energy at the beginning of his fight with Luo Qikang, but he could still barely defend himself against his opponent¡¯s fierce attack.


    The biggest w in the application of the Death Sutra to internal energy was its low sustainability. He had to withdraw all of his internal energy to make it stronger during the next move.


    Luo Qikang mobilized all of his strength in the first move, but Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t afford to confront him for a long time. He had to first withdraw his internal energy so that the opponent¡¯s Qi would instantly flood into Gu Shenwei¡¯s meridians. It entered his body through the Shangyang Acupoint, rampantly rushed past those acupoints along the Hand Yangming Dachang Meridian, and then entered the Governing vessel through the Dazhui Acupoint. It would only take this Qi half a cycle¡¯s time to destroy his Dantian.


    Though the processes of all internal energypetitions seemed very simr, the moves that people used were actually very diverse. During thepetition between Tu Pianpian and the Dragon King, both sides had used loose internal energy, which meant that their internal energy hadn¡¯t enter the opponents¡¯ meridians and had instead merely attacking their organs. If the weaker side refused to admit defeat, then their organs would end up being injured, but their meridians would be mostly fine and would be able to recover after a few days. But what Luo Qikang performed was a lethal blow. He hadpressed his Qi into a potent stream which directly rushed towards his opponent¡¯s Dantian. If it hit the target, then the opponent would lose all of his internal energy for good.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s Qi retreated three times and fought back three times. After each engagement, Luo Qikang¡¯s Qi advanced several acupoints along Gu Shenwei¡¯s meridians. Finally, Gu Shenwei managed to intercept the opposing Qi at his Baihui Acupoint at the top of his head and stopped it from entering his Ren Vessel. But it was now impossible for him to withdraw his palm.


    Their palms were stuck against each other. Luo Qikang was standing steadily, the look on his face unchanging. Only his eyes were gradually narrowing into slits. The Dragon King was in a different condition. His body were shaking constantly, and his face was gradually turning redder instead of paler. Before long, wisps of steam began to appear from the top of his head.


    Even the spectators who knew little about internal energy could tell that the two participants of this kung fupetition had started a life-or-death fight from the very beginning, and that it was extremely dangerous, so nobody talked. Everyone was holding their breath. Only the sound of the wind and the snowkes falling to the ground could be heard.


    King An knew nothing about kung fu, but judging from the look on those people¡¯s faces, he could guess at the severity of the situation. He had no idea who was in a worse spot, so he involuntarily felt nervous but soon realized that the result of thispetition actually didn¡¯t concern him. So he felt that he was being ridiculous. He had only sighed halfway when his ¡°subordinate¡± besides him shot an angry nce at him. He then choked back thetter half of his sigh.


    Old Man Mu was the most attentive spectator. Not in the mood to sneer at anybody anymore, he said to Dog Butcher in a low voice, ¡°This is bad. The Qi of the Dragon King¡¯s opponent has reached the top of the Dragon King¡¯s head. It looks like the Qi is umting in his Baihui Acupoint. If this Qi runs downwards along the Ren Vessel, then it will approach the Dantian. What kind of kung fu is this ¡®ck camel¡¯ using?¡±


    Dog Butcher could also tell that the Dragon King was at a disadvantage, but he didn¡¯t know much about the kung fu skills of the Luo Vige, so he replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know. The Luo family has many unique skills. The ck ca¡­ Luo Qikang is a kung fu expert of the Luo family, so he definitely learned a lot of them.¡±


    Upon hearing her younger brother¡¯s words, Tu Pianpian, who was standing on the opposite side, said loudly and somewhat angrily, ¡°I can¡¯t believe that you don¡¯t even know this. And you call yourself as an elder of the Kongtong Sect? No matter how many unique skills the Luo family has, the Blue Wave Palm Technique and Absolute Blockade Palm Technique are the only ones that he can use. Luo Qikang is standing still, making no moves, so you should¡¯ve answered that he is performing either of the two. The only difference is the exertion of internal energy.¡±


    Light dawned on Dog Butcher. ¡°I remember now. Master Shifu once said that the Blue Wave Palm Technique¡¯s power was like ripples. It pushes forwardyer byyer and without pause, while the Absolute Blockade Palm Technique is like a spear. It is aggressive and never moves backwards.¡±


    ¡°Did your Master Shifu tell you any ways to fight back against them?¡± asked Old Man Mu, hoping to help the Dragon King.


    Dog Butcher looked at his sister and then shook his head in disappointment. ¡°Since these are unique skills, they¡¯re naturally not easily cracked. Besides, this is not a palm techniquepetition. They¡¯repeting on internal energy, so the one whose Qi is more powerful will win-¡±


    ¡°Stop, stop. Keep quiet if you don¡¯t have a solution,¡± Old Man Mu interrupted angrily.


    Gu Shenwei heard the words of the three people, but they were not helpful to him at all. He had nearly tripled his internal energy, but he could still barely hold the opponent¡¯s Qi back. If he continue to increase his internal energy, then he would also be multiplying the risk of suffering a bacsh.


    Old Man Mu was thinking just as fast as the Dragon King. In the underground maze of the Bodhi Garden, he had learned a lot about the Death Sutra. Abruptly, a tactic urred to him. He turned his head aside and asked Dog Butcher, ¡°Old Dog, what about Shangguan Hong¡¯s life-saving move?¡±


    Dog Butcher was stunned. ¡°I don¡¯t know, and neither have I ever seen it. What kind of move is that?¡±


    Old Man Mu didn¡¯t answer him. He had actually said this to the Dragon King.


    In the underground maze, Shangguan Hong had learned a move from the Dragon King during a fight. When facing the attack of a formidable enemy, he didn¡¯t try to parry but instead shed backwards to defend his vital parts, which had dissolved most of the enemy¡¯s momentum. Though he had still been hurt, it had allowed him to survive.


    What Shangguan Hong adopted was the ¡°Fighting for Survival¡± cultivation method. Gu Shenwei knew the moves but couldn¡¯t perform them. Old Man Mu had indeed reminded him something. Since those patterns in those stone chambers in Golden Roc Castle could expand swordsmanship, then maybe they could also be applied to internal energy.


    Five bizarre sword moves shed across Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind, all of which seemed to have nothing to do with internal energy.


    Right on cue, Luo Qikang¡¯s Qi increased by thirty percent. The instant the Dragon King withdrew his internal energy, Luo Qikang¡¯s Qi advanced several acupoints from the Baihui Acupoint to the Shanzhong Acupoint. Gu Shenwei had to either figure out an immediate solution or drastically increase his internal energy, multiplying the risks of suffering a bacsh.

 Chapter 946 - Issuing An Order

    Chapter 946: Issuing An Order


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Luo Qikang was not steady and poised in all aspects, but in terms of kung fu, he had never pursued quick results.


    He knew that he was about to win and that the Dragon King would be seriously injured. Even if the Dragon King managed to survive, his internal energy would still be crippled for good. He preferred thetter result: would those troops still stay loyal to a Dragon King who could no longer use his saber to kill people?


    The Dragon King¡¯s defense broke down earlier than Luo Qikang had anticipated. Without hesitation, thetterunched thest attack. The battleground was a meridianwork, so there couldn¡¯t be any traps.


    But as a disciple of a famous sect of the Central ins, what he cultivated was orthodox internal energy. Thus, he always reserved thirty percent of his internal energy as a contingency n.


    ¡®Seventy percent of my internal energy will be more than enough,¡¯ he thought.


    The Dragon King was thrown away. All the spectators let out an exmation of amazement in unison. Though they were all Central insmen, they had heard a lot of rumors about the Dragon King in the Jade City, so they had thought that he was the more powerful one. ¡®It¡¯s a shame that he¡¯s still no match for this member of the Luo family.¡±


    Tu Pianpian shook her head and let out a sigh. She had always wanted to see the Dragon King fall down. Today, her wish had been fulfilled, but the cost was her younger brother Dog Butcher losing a powerful protector for good. She then made up her mind to take Dog Butcher back to the Kongtong Mountain irrespective of his own will.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Old Man Mu let out a yell louder than that of anybody else. His reflexes were also the quickest. ¡°Gotcha!¡±


    The Dragon Kingnded after flying over twenty steps away, shaking and unsteady on his feet. His face was horrifyingly red, as if blood was going to ooze out of it. People had to look carefully to distinguish it from the blood flowing out of the corner of his lips. He didn¡¯t fall but was still breathing quickly as the color of his face gradually returned to normal with the heaving of his chest.


    Luo Qikang stood still. The hue of his slightly dark face went a little darker, as if he was somewhat disappointed.


    Tu Pianpian gave two coughs, nning to end this kung fupetition with the conventional formalities. ¡°The Dragon King has lost to-¡±


    Old Man Mu jumped several feet into the air. ¡°Wait a moment. Who said that the Dragon King ¡®lost¡¯? Clearly, the ¡®ck Camel¡¯ is the loser. Ha-ha. What¡¯s his title again? ¡®The Best Swordsman of the Luo Family?¡¯ ¡®The Swordsman of Divine Anticipation?¡¯ It seems that you failed to anticipate your opponent¡¯s move this time, didn¡¯t you? What are you waiting for? Nod and admit defeat.¡±


    Even Dog Butcher was surprised by Old Man Mu¡¯s nonsense. Indignant, the Central insmen standing on the opposite side started yelling. Raising her crutch high, Tu Pianpian signaled the spectators to quiet down and then coldly said, ¡°It¡¯s not your ce to decide who the winner is. This is not a scrap between hooligans. Dragon King, Swordmaster Luo, please clearly tell us who the winner is?¡±


    Believing that Luo Qikang had defeated the Dragon King, Tu Pianpian even addressed him differently. Previously, she had called him by his full name, but now, she used ¡°Swordmaster Luo¡± as the form of address.


    But the two participants didn¡¯t answer her immediately, as if even they themselves didn¡¯t know the result, which confused Tu Pianpian and the others. The result was so obvious, but Luo Qikang wasn¡¯t iming his victory. It was really weird.


    After his face returned to normal, the Dragon King took a step forward. He was no longer shaking.


    ¡°I lost,¡± Luo Qikang said. His voice was calm, but those who heard him knew how hard it was for him to utter these two words.


    In all of the Central insmen¡¯s memories, this was the first time that Luo Qikang had ever been defeated.


    Everybody was silent. With an expectant look in his eyes, Old Man Mu was restlessly moving his lips, as if were secretly counting something. ¡°Stop acting tough. It¡¯s time.¡±


    As if he were waiting for this remark, Luo Qikang spat out a mouthful of blood whichnded seven steps before the Dragon King¡¯s feet.


    Now the result was indisputable.


    Old Man Mu jumped up again. Starting with Luo Qikang, he then pointed at those people one by one. ¡°Kneel. Now you know who¡¯s the real king in Jade City.¡±


    Tu Pianpian knelt down to the ground with the crutch in her hand and with that, all the disciples of the Kongtong Sect followed her lead.


    King An was still in horror. Realizing that he wasn¡¯t kneel with the others, he hurriedly prostrated to the ground. Though he did itter than others, his posture was even humbler than theirs.


    More Central insmen knelt down. Eventually there were only a dozen people standing, watching Luo Qikang.


    Luo Qikang was at a loss for what to do. At that time, he had really believed that the Dragon King would show signs of defeat before him, but that forward step that the opponent tookpletely disillusioned him. He was actually defeated, and he didn¡¯t even know how. His Qi had already broken into the opponent¡¯s Dantian, but instead of destroying it, his Qi had activated a more powerful opposing internal energy in the Dragon King¡¯s body.


    At the moment when the Dragon King was thrown away, he had simultaneously thrown a palm strike and hurled this surge of powerful Qi at Luo Qikang, snatching victory from defeat.


    Luo Qikang racked his brains but still couldn¡¯t understand what had happened. Watching the blood several steps away on the ground, he slowly knelt down and said, ¡°King An¡¯s subject is honored to kneel before the Dragon King.¡±


    Even in this circumstance, he still refused to kneel before the Dragon King under the identity of a Central insman and a member of the Luo Vige.


    All the Central insmen knelt down. Delighted, Old Man Mu crossed his hands behind him and threw his chest out with his head up, as if he was the one who had won this victory. Dog Butcher was a little embarrassed. As a fellow Central insman as well as the Dragon King¡¯s subordinate, he felt that neither kneeling nor standing seemed like right thing to do. Eventually, he decided to do the same thing that Old Man Mu was doing, but he stood sideways.


    Gu Shenwei calmly epted these people¡¯s respect. After taking his saber from Old Man Mu, he said, ¡°I hereby establish this rule. In the territory of Jade City, from the desert in the south to the Heavenly Mountain in the north, with Heaven¡¯s Pass as the west boundary and Thousand Horsemen Pass as the east, all those under mymand must kill no more.¡±


    Upon hearing this, those Central insmen had no particr feelings, since they all knew this order was directed at Luo Qikang.


    Luo Qikang didn¡¯t raise any objections. It was Old Man Mu who spoke up. ¡°Ah? No more killing? In that case, would Jade City still be Ja¨C Ur, whatever you say, Dragon King. But what if somebody tries to kill me? Am I allowed to fight back?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re allowed to defend yourself, but you¡¯re not allowed to kill. I¡¯ll help you get your revenge.¡±


    Old Man Mu had a lot of other questions, but he didn¡¯t dare to ask them.


    Tu Pianpian was in absolute favor with the Dragon King¡¯s ban on killing, saying aloud, ¡°No more killing within the territory of Jade City. We¡¯ll abide by the Dragon King¡¯s orders.¡±


    Other Central insmen also promised that they would obey this rule. Luo Qikang was one of those few people who didn¡¯t echo the others¡¯ promise.


    Gu Shenwei and his two personal bodyguards mounted their horses and rode towards the military camp. All the others had already stood up, but King An didn¡¯t pick himself up until the Dragon King¡¯s figure was out of his sight, repeatedly saying, ¡°This ban on killing is good. This ban on killing is good¡­ ¡±


    On their way back, Dog Butcher appeared depressed. When they were close to the military camp, he asked, ¡°Did the Dragon King imposed this ban on killing because of me? Actually there¡¯s no need for you to go through all this trouble. As long as the Kongtong Sect still exists, Luo Qikang won¡¯t dare to do anything to me in public no matter how daring he is.¡±


    Gu Shenwei reined his horse to a stop. ¡°Trying to protect you was one reason, but there were other, more important ones. You¡¯ll understand someday.¡±


    Dog Butcher still felt that the Dragon King was too good to him, and that he might not be able to repay the favors for the rest of his life. He sighed and was just about to speak when Old Man Mu beat him to it. ¡°Old Dog, you¡¯re so ungrateful. The Dragon King saved your life but you just keep sighing.¡±


    ¡°No, no. I just feel that the Dragon King¡¯s imposing a ban on killing is synonymous with tying up his own hands and feet. I mean, are we actually going to let the troops of the Dragon Army wait for the members of Golden Roc Castle and Waning Moon Hall to kill them? Thi¨CThis is¡­ The Dragon King made too big of apromise for me.¡±


    Old Man Mu burst intoughter. ¡°Old Dog, stop ttering yourself. Of course the Dragon King wants to protect you even though you are a terrible subordinate, but isn¡¯t killing Luo Qikang an even simpler solution? There was a more profound reason on why he imposed a ban on killing.¡±


    ¡°What kind of profound reason?¡± Dog Butcher couldn¡¯t understand.


    In fact, Old Man Mu also had just started thinking about this issue, but once he started, he kept thinking of more reasons. ¡°Because the newmander-in-chief appointed by the Central ins ising. The Dragon King set this rule down first, so the newmander-in-chief will be too embarrassed to abolish it, which means that his 20,000 troops and over a hundred kung fu experts will be of no use. And then Golden Roc Castle, Waning Moon Hall, even those paupers in sabersmen viges will have to abide by the ban on killing. The Dragon King made the first move, so he will surely find favor with a lot of residents of Jade City. Am I right, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°More or less.¡± Gu Shenwei spurred his horse on and started progressing again.


    Dog Butcher was still a little confused. ¡°The newmander-in-chief will also impose a ban on killing? Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t ask me. I am just specting.¡± This was all Old Man Mu could think of. No matter what, he knew that the Dragon King would never let the opponent get the upper hand in this aspect.


    Dog Butcher looked at the Dragon King with an expectant look, but thetter didn¡¯t respond. Knowing that this might involve some confidential information, he asked no further questions. Greatly relieved in the knowledge that he was not the only reason why the ban on killing had been imposed, he spurred his horse and rode forward as he asked Old Man Mu, ¡°How exactly did the Dragon King win? Do you know?¡±


    Old Man Mu only knew the process in general terms, but he said in a very confident tone, ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? The Dragon King lured the enemy in. First he let that ¡®ck Camel¡¯ hit his Dantian, and then he mobilized his Ying and Yang Qi to entangle the opposing Qi, threw out a palm strike with his left hand, blindsiding the ¡®ck Camel,¡¯ and then won.¡±


    Old Man Mu hadn¡¯t taken part in the battle, but the process that he described was basically what had happened. Dog Butcher admired both him and the Dragon King very much. ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s Dantian took a hit, but he remained unscathed. This kung fu is really rare. I¡¯ve never heard of anything like this in the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a big world. Nothing is too strange. There are many kung fu skills that you never heard of before, such as my Five Hole Punch¡­¡±


    Old Man Mu started chattering away about how good his kung fu used to be. Dog Butcher merely grinned but didn¡¯t take his words seriously. He still felt that the Dragon King¡¯s internal energy was amazing. The Dantian was the ce where people stored their Qi, the most vital part of an internal energy practitioner. One shouldn¡¯t even let the Qi of the most trusted person to enter it, not to mention that of an enemy. But surprisingly, the Dragon King had deliberately let the opponent¡¯s Qi hit his Dantian. Though his face had turned red and his body shaking, he had returned to normal after just a short while, which was incredible.


    Dog Butcher fixed his eyes on the Dragon King, but when they reached the main tent in the camp, he still hadn¡¯t found any signs of injury on the Dragon King. So, he involuntarily admired the Dragon King even more, thinking, ¡®With this kung fu, isn¡¯t he invincible?¡¯


    Gu Shenwei seldom talked, but it was not because he was trying to keep something secret, and it certainly was not because he held an apathetic attitude towards Dog Butcher. In fact, he was not as powerful as Dog Butcher imagined. His Dantian had indeed been wounded, and the wound was somewhat serious. Among all those people present, Luo Qikang was the only one who had guessed the truth. The reason why he had stood there refusing to answer Tu Pianpian¡¯s question was because he was waiting for the Dragon King to fall down.


    The forward step that the Dragon King had taken had made Luo Qikang uncertain about his judgement, so he had admitted defeat in front of everyone. He never would have anticipated that the Dragon King could conceal his injury so well.


    After returning to his tent, Gu Shenwei asked Dog Butcher to go and rest, and then he said to Old Man Mu, ¡°Go to Jade City and invite Lotus and Shangguan Ru here.¡±


    Old Man Mu had always believed that he could guess the Dragon King¡¯s thoughts urately, but he was greatly surprised by this order. ¡°Invite them both?¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡±


    Old Man Mu epted the order and left the camp, thinking that it would be a hundred times more difficult for the Dragon King to conquer these two women than to cultivate the Death Sutra. ¡®Did the Dragon King by any chance suffer any brain damage when his Dantian was hit?¡¯


    Gu Shenwei also didn¡¯t expect that he would have to meet these two people at the same time, but he didn¡¯t have any other choice, since both his internal injury and the ban on killing were closely rted to Lotus and Shangguan Ru.

 Chapter 947 - Benefits

    Chapter 947: Benefits


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Shangguan Ru arrived first. After dismounting from the me Foal, she immediately knelt down with a dozen female soldiers and sabersmen of the Kun Society before saying with a big smile, ¡°All residents of Jade City are grateful that the Dragon King has imposed a ban on killing. The Kun Society is a small and weak organization, and we can¡¯t offer much help. However, we¡¯re willing to be the first group of supporters of this order.¡±


    ¡°Wee.¡± Standing at the gate of the military camp, Gu Shenwei responded with an equivalent courtesy. The two acted very politely.


    Standing besides the Dragon King, Red Bat was very excited. Though she went into the city to meet with the Instructor every few days, she still couldn¡¯t help herself from shedding tears at this moment. Shangguan Ru walked up to her, took her hand, and entered the camp with her.


    Lotus came to the camp alone. She was riding a small donkey and was dressed in in clothes. The Dragon Army soldiers on patrol stopped her, and then one of the soldiers recognized her. Knowing that she was really the Master Commander of the Waning Moon Hall, they respectfully escorted her to the entrance of the military camp.


    Gu Shenwei also went outside to wee her.


    Lotus didn¡¯t even dismount. She nodded at the crowd and rode the donkey into the camp.


    To prevent the others from misunderstanding the Master Commander as a poor leader with little supporters, Han Fen imitated Red Bat and started sobbing. She took the reins of the donkey and led the way for the Master Commander. Seeing this, the soldiers standing in rank on the sides of the road couldn¡¯t help but suspect that these two women were actually daughters of some peasant that the Dragon King had bought by force.


    This was an official meeting. Shangguan Ru, Red Bat, Lotus, and Han Fen were all visitors. Gu Shenwei also had Zhong Heng, Chu Nanping, and a guard as hispanions.


    Zhong Heng was the one moderating this meeting for the Dragon King. The first issue was the ban on killing. The Dragon King had spread his order through the military camp of the Dragon Army in the east as well as the military camp of the Shule Kingdom in the west. In the city, Hu Shining had also publicly dered that he would constrain his sabersmen and killers from killing people. Within the Dragon King¡¯s jurisdiction, anybody who had a dispute had to report to the Department of Guards to seek settlement.


    The Department of Guards was an agency that Gu Shenwei had set up not long ago. The department shared a courtyard with Hu Shining¡¯s stronghold. Zhong Heng was appointed as the first Commandant of Guards. Compared to the jurisdiction of the position ¡°Patrol Commandant¡± that he used to have under the identity of a Central insman, his current jurisdiction was smaller, only less than half of southern Jade City and less than a quarter of northern Jade City. However, his power was real and solid.


    ¡°Whether or not to ept the protection and mediation of the Department of Guards is totally at the residents¡¯ own discretion,¡± Zhong Heng exined. The Dragon King was not the Lord of Jade City yet, so he had no way to force the people to follow the ban on killing. ¡°But judging from the feedback that I¡¯ve received so far, most people are in support of this ban. At least four sabersmen viges have unanimously reached an agreement and decided to stop resorting to violence to settle disputes. Tomorrow, they will publicly announce this decision.¡±


    Shangguan Ru was very happy. ¡°Though the Kun Society is small, we have territory in both southern Jade City and northern Jade City. We will volunteer to subject ourselves to the jurisdiction of the Department of Guards. From now on, Prime Minister Zhong is Commandant Zhong. You¡¯re probably the first official in charge of setting rules in Jade City, right?¡±


    Zhong Heng gave out two coughs. ¡°I merely have a little power within the Dragon Army. In Jade City, I will still have to rely on your assistance, which is why the Dragon King has invited you two to this meeting.¡±


    Just as Shangguan Ru had said, the Kun Society was indeed a very small organization. Though it had several hundred sabersmen and some female soldiers, they had never fought with other forces to expand their territory. Only residents living in a small area in the northeastern corner of southern Jade City wanted its protection. Most of these residents were small business owners and poor people. They had chosen the Kun Society mostly because its protection was free of charge.


    The main organization able to exert strong influence on the ban on killing was the Waning Moon Hall.


    The Waning Moon Hall had no public territory within Jade City. The underground maze of the Bodhi Garden had been abandoned. Lotus and some of her disciples now lived in the new Essence Pavilion in Retention Alley. They hadn¡¯t made any moves for quite some time, indicating that they were just a group of temporary tenants living in southern Jade City. But everybody knew that the people living in that building, both men and women, were extremely dangerous, and that it was not a wise choice to mess with them.


    Lotus had once said to the Dragon King that the Waning Moon Hall had some hidden forces that might have an inestimable influence on Jade City.


    Sitting there, Lotus listened for a while and then said, ¡°The Dragon King has the right to forbid your subordinates from killing people, but I can¡¯t see how the Waning Moon Hall would benefit from supporting this ban.¡±


    Han Fen added, ¡°That¡¯s true. If we all stop killing, then how would people die? Isn¡¯t there going to be more and more people?¡±


    Zhong Heng smiled. ¡°Of course there are benefits. I think that the Master Commander also knows that the Central ins is exerting influence on Jade City. The new Governor of the Western Regions will take office tomorrow. It¡¯s very likely that this governor will make an excuse to take over Jade City. One of the merits of the ban on killing is that the governor won¡¯t be able to use thewlessness of the city as an excuse.¡±


    Lotus still appeared uninterested. ¡°If I may be so bold, I would say that the Dragon King is being a busybody. Jade City is not his, and neither is it mine. Does it matter who takes it over? Besides, the Dragon King imposed the ban on killing without prior consultation with the Waning Moon Hall. He is taking all the credit, and the Waning Moon Hall will gain nothing but a reputation for humbly fawning upon the Dragon King.¡±


    Realizing that there was a certain undertone contained in Lotus¡¯ words, Shangguan Ru slightly blushed. Han Fen watched Red Bat and repeated, ¡°Humbly fawning on the Dragon King.¡± Red Bat responded by ring at her.


    Hearing Lotus¡¯ explicit and aggressive words, even the experienced and wily Zhong Heng could barely handle this situation. ¡°Well¡­ which part do you think is humble?¡±


    Gu Shenwei replied, ¡°I¡¯m not the one who thought of those moves. I¡¯ll tell you where you can find them. In exchange, the Waning Moon Hall has to abide by the ban on killing.¡±


    Lotus thought for a while. ¡°Now we¡¯re talking. The Dragon King should have made this offer at the very beginning.¡±


    Zhong Heng smiled in embarrassment, thinking, ¡®These two people are not like a suprememander of an army and a leader of a sect at all. Their negotiation is even more direct than the bargaining between a vendor and a customer.¡±


    ¡°The Master Commander should ask for more favorable terms. I think that the Dragon King will agree to anything.¡± Lifting her eyebrows and winking, Han Fen said this in a low voice. Lotus darted a cold nce at her and she stayed silent for quite a while.


    ¡°So the Waning Moon Hall is also willing to constrain subordinates from killing people?¡± asked Zhong Heng. He wanted to hear a specific response from Lotus to bepletely sure.


    ¡°I will forbid disciples of the Waning Moon Hall from killing outsiders, but I won¡¯t forbid them from killing each other.¡±


    Stunned, Zhong Heng watched the Dragon King for quite a while and then said, ¡°Of course. Nobody has the right to interfere in the internal affairs of the Waning Moon Hall. A family has family rules, and a sect has sect regtions. The Master Commander has the right to punish her disciples in whatever way she wants.¡±


    This was the greatest extent to which Zhong Heng could understand the words ¡°killing each other.¡±


    Red Bat couldn¡¯t help but say in a muted voice, ¡°Instructor, you don¡¯t have any conditions?¡±


    Shangguan Ru appeared a little amazed. ¡°The ban on killing is the biggest benefit. What other conditions should I ask for?¡±


    Embarrassed, Red Bat answered ¡°Yes.¡± Turning her head aside, she saw that Han Fen was making faces at her. She contemptuously snorted but suddenly realized that the Instructor might misunderstand her due to this snort. She blushed and wanted to exin, but found that it was not the right time to talk. Thus, she couldn¡¯t help feel very annoyed.


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t have any terms to dictate, but Zhong Heng did. He gave two coughs again and said, ¡°With the support of the Kun Society and the Waning Moon Hall, I think that it¡¯s safe to say that the ban on killing will probably be a sess, but we¡¯re still facing one big obstacle, or two¡­ ¡±


    Zhong Heng was good at beating around the bush, but Shangguan Ru saved him some time. ¡°Commandant Zhong is worried about Golden Roc Castle and the Heavenly Mountain Sect, right? I¡¯ll handle it. I can¡¯t guarantee that I¡¯ll seed, but I think that I have at least a seventy to eighty-percent chance.¡±


    Red Bat repeatedly pulled on the tail of the Instructor¡¯s clothes, implying that she shouldn¡¯t get involved in this so recklessly, but there was no response. So, she could do nothing but secretly feel sorry for her.


    As if it was some kind ofpetition, Han Fen also started pointing behind Lotus. Even she herself didn¡¯t know why she was doing this.


    ¡°That¡¯s great. Tomorrow, Jade City will wee the new Governor of the Western Regions with the ban on killing already in ce.¡± Zhong Heng never expected that things would go so smoothly, so he was very delighted. Since his mission had been aplished, he made an excuse and left the main tent with Chu Nanping and the guard, trying not to think too hard about how the Dragon King would deal with these two women.


    Red Bat took the hint and also left, while it was not until Lotus gave an order that Han Fen reluctantly took her leave.


    There were three people left in the tent, and the atmosphere suddenly became awkward. All three people were looking in different directions, trying to avoid eye contact with the others. Gu Shenwei felt that he was obliged to offer an explicit exnation of this issue, so he said, ¡°I think that it¡¯s better we make things clear. All of us want to be the Lord of Jade City, right?¡±


    Lotus turned her head aside and nced at Shangguan Ru who then let out augh. ¡°Yes. I want topete for the position of Lord of Jade City as well.¡±


    There were many issues that needed to be exined, but it also seemed as if exnations were redundant, so Shangguan Ru might as well let it go.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t ask her any further questions. ¡°Taking Golden Roc Castle and the Central ins into ount, there are now five sidespeting for the position of Lord of Jade City. The Central ins will be in support of Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t the Central insmen allied with the Dragon King?¡± Shangguan Ru asked in surprise.


    ¡°It was Prince Xiao who allied with me. There is another group of Central insmen who prefer the Unique King. I¡¯m guessing that the new Governor of the Western Regions will be on the side of thetter. For Central insmen, they have bets on two sides, which means they¡¯ll be on the winning side no matter which one of the two wins.¡±


    Lotus snorted as the Waning Moon Hall wasn¡¯t backed by either of the Central ins sides. ¡°The Dragon King hopes that the three of us will forge an alliance topete against Golden Roc Castle and the Central ins, right?¡± She nced at Shangguan Ru again, totally confused.


    Shangguan Ru knew what she meant. ¡°My father has allowed me to return to this city, but it doesn¡¯t mean that I¡¯m a member of Golden Roc Castle again. Let me get this straight. My ¡®backer¡¯ is the Four Noble Truths Temple. The monks there hope that Jade City will be a ce where Buddhism prevails. I think that this is also a good thing. The Dragon King¡¯s ban on killing can be counted as a start, so I don¡¯t want to see the position of Lord of Jade City to fall into the hands of Golden Roc Castle. My father has abandoned his killers, but that is merely an expedient measure. After he gets what he wants, the castle will return to normal.¡±


    Lotus slightly raised her head. When facing her former master, she was no long timid. ¡°I only have one question. What is it that makes you think that you¡¯re qualified topete for the position of Lord of Jade City?¡±


    As far as Lotus could remember, Shangguan Ru had never been a kung fu expert.


    Shangguan Ru smiled. ¡°An eminent monk transferred all of his internal energy to me before he died. Knowing this, the Four Noble Truths Temple taught me a few moves, so I think that I might stand a chance.¡±


    Lotus peered at Shangguan Ru, warning herself to not underestimate this opponent. Since both the Four Noble Truths Temple and the Unique King thought highly of her, there must be something special about her. ¡°Was this also the reason why the Unique King granted you the permission to return?¡±


    The look on Shangguan Ru¡¯s face went slightly glum, since what Lotus said was right. The bond of kinship was actually an inappreciable part of the rtionship between her and her father.


    The three then forged an alliance. After that, the atmosphere fell into awkwardness again. This time, Shangguan Ru was the one to break the silence. There was a question that she had been meaning to ask for a long time. ¡°You were hurt?¡±


    Lotus¡¯ heart slightly lurched. She had perceived the Dragon King¡¯s injury quite some time ago, but this was not the key. Judging from Shangguan Ru¡¯s tone and the look in her eyes, she finally confirmed one thing: Han Fen was right. These two people had indeed had sexual rtions. She was destined to be an outsider.


    ¡®So what?¡¯ Lotus found that she wasn¡¯t jealous. Instead, she was relieved. From now on, a certain thought would no longer appear in her mind, which meant that the only previous obstacle in her path of cultivating the Death Sutra no longer existed.

 Chapter 948 - Dreams

    Chapter 948: Dreams


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    An idea suddenly urred to Gu Shenwei. Maybe this idea had been hiding in a corner of his mind all along, and it had just popped out when the best asion arose.


    He could just marry both of the two women in front of him. Yes, he already had a queen in Xiaoyao Lake, but he was the Dragon King, so he could have as many wives as he wanted. In the Western Regions, though it was not verymon for a king to have multiple queens, it was not unprecedented. When several countries formed an alliance, they sometimes volunteered or were forced to have two or three queens of equal status, and most subjects found it understandable.


    The three queens didn¡¯t even have to live in the same city, and they certainly didn¡¯t have to meet each other. Queen Ju would stay in the Stone Kingdom. Shangguan Ru could be in charge of in Jade City. And with regards to Lotus, she could live in any of the countries to the west of Thousand Horsemen Pass, in which she would be treated as the only queen.


    Gu Shenwei believed there was a seventy to eighty-percent chance that they would agree. Shangguan Ru had already slept with him. Didn¡¯t she want a formal identity as his wife?


    Lotus¡¯ thoughts were difficult to deduce, but Gu Shenwei had an inexplicable confidence that as long as he made the first move and acted modestly, Lotus would do anything for him. She might even abandon the Death Sutra that had always been a hurdle between them.


    The imaginary scene of a king with three queens shed across Gu Shenwei¡¯s mind briefly, but it left an extremely distinct impression, which made his heart flutter.


    ¡°Just a minor injury,¡± he said, absent-minded and slightly flustered, as if his secret thoughts had identally been exposed.


    Shangguan Ru nced at Lotus from the corner of her eye. She wanted to say something but forbore herself from doing so. The third time she opened her mouth, she said, ¡°Do you still remember the monk named Fachong from the Four Noble Truths Temple?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded. He had once met Fachong in the Kun Society.


    ¡°Master Fachong¡¯s ideals have remained unchanged. As long as the Dragon King is willing to get rid of the Daoless Divine Power, he will help you. No strings attached,¡± Shangguan Ru said with a sincere look on her face. She had almost forgotten about the presence of Lotus.


    ¡°Getting rid of the Daoless Divine Power doesn¡¯t require a monk¡¯s help,¡± Lotus interjected ndly. ¡°The method of dispersing internal energy is readily avable. The Dragon King has already tried it.¡±


    Many years ago, when Gu Shenwei had first started practicing the Daoless Divine Power, he had already had an internal energy foundation. However, the two conflicted, so he had no choice but to use the method described in the manual to disperse his original internal energy. For a time, he had no internal energy at all. During those days, he hadn¡¯t dared to offend anybody, and he had even nearly been killed by amon servant.


    This was exactly what Lotus was trying to remind him of. Dispersing one¡¯s internal energy on one¡¯s own ount was totally different from the natural process of dispersing internal energy where one¡¯s internal energy would increase to a certain amount. The powerlessness caused by thetter was only temporary, but the one caused by the former was permanent, and one had to start all over again.


    Shangguan Ru smiled. ¡°Dispersing one¡¯s internal energy by adopting the method in the book would disperse all internal energy, including the Sumeru Mustard Energy that he worked so hard to cultivate. Master Fachong¡¯s internal energy is powerful enough to help you eliminate the Daoless Divine Power without dispersing the Sumeru Mustard Energy.¡±


    Lotus gave up arguing about this, and a nd and unconcerned look returned to her face.


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s dream was instantly shattered. He had forgotten that not only was Shangguan Ru a daughter of his foe, but that she also had a wish that could almost be seem as bigoted, which was to eliminate all the kung fu that he had learned in Golden Roc Castle, starting with the Daoless Divine Power, and finishing with the Death Sutra. These two kung fu skills were the origin of all evils in her eyes.


    The Death Sutra and that Servant Yao who they could barely remember anymore were also not the only things that stood between him and Lotus. There was also her pride. Regardless of how humble she used to be and whether she practiced the Death Sutra or not, under no circumstances would she ever agree to share the Dragon King with another woman.


    Gu Shenwei discovered how ridiculous his dream was. Its owner¡¯s feelings was the only thing that the dream would consider, and the dream gave it a supreme status but ignored, and sometimes even twisted, others¡¯ thoughts.


    Having a dream was the most simple thing, but in front of the brutality of reality, it happened to be the most fragile thing. It could be shattered with a gentle touch.


    ¡®This is a transaction,¡¯ Gu Shenwei told himself. The mutual trust and fondness between him and these two women was merely the bedrock of this transaction.


    ¡°I¡¯m willing to ept Fachong¡¯s help,¡± he said.


    ¡°Really?¡± Shangguan Ru was overjoyed. She could hardly believe what she had just heard.


    Lotus¡¯ lips mped tighter.


    ¡°But I have some conditions.¡±


    ¡°What kind of¡­ conditions?¡± Shangguan Ru was slightly confused. Fachong had unconditionally offered to help, but the Dragon King had ¡°conditions,¡± which seemed to go against the rule.


    ¡°I¡¯ll ept it after the kung fupetition, when I be the Lord of Jade City-¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is not necessarily going to be the Lord of Jade City after the kung fupetition,¡± Lotus corrected. For her, this was a transaction to an even greater extent. ¡°The Dragon King once did the Waning Moon Hall a huge favor, and I want to return it by helping the Dragon King defeat Golden Roc Castle and Central insmen, but I never said that I would forfeit thepetition for the position of Lord of Jade City. You, I, and she will all still have to fight. The winner will be the Lord of this city.¡±


    ¡°Then after the kung fupetition, no matter who bes the Lord of the city, I¡¯ll ept Fachong¡¯s assistance and eliminate the Daoless Divine Power,¡± Gu Shenwei put it in another way.


    ¡°Of course that¡¯s okay. This doesn¡¯t count as a condition,¡± Shangguan Ru was relieved. ¡°Fachong will surely agree, but why did you¡­ ¡±


    After over ten days, the Dragon King had changed his mind just because he had been ¡°slightly wounded.¡± Back then, he had rejected her offer tly, but now, he had spontaneously asked for help, so it was very natural that this change of attitude would greatly surprise Shangguan Ru.


    Shangguan Ru could barely conceal her concern for the Dragon King, but Gu Shenwei felt that there was an gap growing deeper and deeper between them. She couldn¡¯t understand how important his kung fu was to him, and she knew nothing about the Death Sutra, in particr.


    Surprisingly, Lotus, who had been sitting there silently all along, immediately understood the Dragon King¡¯s intentions. He wanted to take a risk and increase his internal energy with the Death Sutra and then destroy the Daoless Divine Power before his internal energy reached a lethal level.


    Gu Shenwei had two advanced kung fus. The Death Sutra and the Daoless Divine Power had the same origin and were the mostpatible. It was possible to use one of them to destroy the other without a bacsh.


    The Dragon King always preferred to adopt unconventional methods, which Lotus had already be used to.


    Gu Shenwei was still thinking about how to respond when Shangguan Ru said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to answer if it¡¯s inconvenient. The monk won¡¯t ask about it anyway. The Dragon King imposed a ban on killing, so the Four Noble Truths Temple will no doubt strongly support you. Fachong will be more willing to help the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Gu Shenwei said. His tone became polite again.


    Believing that the two people probably had finished talking, Lotus said, ¡°The Dragon King still hasn¡¯t told me where you found those sword moves.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re in Golden Roc Castle. I saw them by ident. There are more than a hundred moves suitable for twenty-nine cultivation methods in total.¡±


    Upon hearing the Dragon King¡¯s words, Shangguan Ru became even more surprised than Lotus, but she knew that it was her turn to put on an indifferent look.


    ¡°These sword moves are totally meaningless to the people in Golden Roc Castle,¡± said Lotus.


    ¡°Um. These moves are only powerful when they are applied to the Death Sutra Swordsmanship.¡±


    ¡°Heh-Heh. This is so ironic,¡± Lotus said with a sneer. ¡°Is this all the Dragon King ns to tell me?¡±


    ¡°I want us to reach an agreement.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°No matter which one of us takes Golden Roc Castle in the future, that person should invite the other to go to the castle to learn those sword moves for as long as the other person wants.¡±


    ¡°So it turns out that even the Dragon King hasn¡¯t learned all of them.¡±


    ¡°There are some of them that I haven¡¯t learned.¡±


    Lotus pondered over it for a while. ¡°Okay. This agreement is beneficial to both of us. I hope that we can live long enough to see that happen.¡±


    Shangguan Ru stood up. ¡°I think that maybe I should give you two some privacy. You shouldn¡¯t let me know any secrets about Golden Roc Castle. I can¡¯t guarantee that I won¡¯t tell anybody else.¡±


    Lotus also stood up. ¡°Actually this doesn¡¯t count as a secret. If the Unique King knows that those sword moves in the castle could be of great use, then he will definitely preserve them more carefully instead of destroying them. In his eyes, the Shangguan family will always be the owner of Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    Lotus¡¯ words were very direct, which waspletely different from her formerly prudent manner. She turned around and then said, ¡°I guess that there¡¯s nothing else that Dragon King wants to talk about, so I¡¯ll be taking my leave. There¡¯s no need for you to see me off.¡±


    As if it were some kind ofpetition, the two women raced to leave the tent. Lotus walked out first, mounted the donkey at the doorway, and then rode away. Han Fen rushed behind the donkey, trying to catch up with Lotus. At the outer gate of the camp, she gave up. Watching the Master Commander¡¯s receding figure, she literally cried this time.


    It was gettingte, but Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t return to Jade City immediately. Instead, she led her attendants northwards, heading for the Four Noble Truths Temple.


    Zhong Heng walked into the main tent, full of admiration for the Dragon King.


    ¡°The new Governor has been identified.¡±


    ¡°Um.¡±


    ¡°His surname is Pang and his first name is Jing. He¡¯s the General-in-chief, Pang Ning¡¯s, younger half-brother.¡±


    ¡°So he¡¯s on the Empress Dowager¡¯s side?¡±


    ¡°This is the strange part. Zhang You said that Pang Jing has always been on bad terms with his elder half-brother. Though he¡¯s close to Prince Xiao, he doesn¡¯t count as a member of Prince Xiao¡¯s faction. He¡¯s always been a nonconformist in the Imperial Court with no stable stance. Because of his powerful family, nobody can keep him in order.¡±


    ¡°He got the appointment before Wei Song even died. Who¡¯s his backer?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that this is another one of the Imperial Court¡¯s methods of adjusting the bnce of power. When the wrangle between two factions gets too intense, someone who¡¯s on neither side will be promoted to an important position. This is verymon,¡± Zhong Heng spected on the situation ording to his previous experience.


    Xu Xiaoyi had someone deliver a lot of intelligence to the tent. Gu Shenwei left aside the issue of the new Governor of the Western Regions, nning to make a decision after observing tomorrow.


    The ban on killing that was first imposed by the Dragon King was surprisingly popr. Large numbers of wandering sabermen were the first batch of people to express their support of this ban. Most of them hade to Jade City to kill people, but now, they found that they were facing a dire threat from several powerful forces and that it was more likely for them to be killed before they could kill anybody else. Thus, they readily changed their attitudes.


    More than ten sabersmen viges along with forty to fifty sabersmen organizations of different scales all spoke out in support of the ban on killing. They also volunteered to subject themselves to the jurisdiction of the Department of Guards. In fact, soon after the news was spread, a lot of sabersmen flooded into the Department of Guards to seek justice.


    Zhong Heng didn¡¯t start working right away. He nned to take office the next morning.


    It was not dark yet. Under the pressure, the Heavenly Mountain Sect also imposed a ban on killing. As for Golden Roc Castle, they imposed the ban after midnight, posting bulletins everywhere in southern and northern Jade City. They imed that Golden Roc Castle had imposed a ban on killing over two years ago, and that this was merely a reiteration.


    Both the Heavenly Mountain Sect and Golden Roc Castle ignored the Department of Guards.


    Almost at the exact same time, Prince Xiao¡¯s messenger arrived at the Dragon King¡¯s military camp. Because of the hustle and bustle, he was not received with due courtesy. After two hours, he met with the Dragon King. With both hands, he submitted the letter written by Prince Xiao himself.


    The messenger had traveled as fast as he could, but he had still arrived merely half a day earlier than the new Governor of the Western Regions.


    Gu Shenwei opened the envelop and read the letter. Prince Xiao had written this letter in haste because he had encountered the new Governor on his way back to the Central ins. The general meaning of the letter was more or less the same as what Zhong Heng had told Gu Shenwei. Prince Xiao also specially reminded the Dragon King to not regard Pang Jing as a member of the Empress Dowager¡¯s faction. He said that this young general was different from his elder half-brother Pang Ning, and that Pang Jing was in support of the idea of pacifying the Western Regions at the lowest cost.


    But at the end of the letter, Pang Jing optimistically told the Dragon King that Pang Jing loved kung fu and was close to the Luo Vige. Together with the swordsman dispatched by the Luo family, he would surely help the Dragon King obtain the position of Lord of Jade City.


    Since Prince Xiao was unconcerned with the affairs of Jianghu, he never knew that the first swordsman sent by the Luo family had already died to the Dragon King¡¯s saber.

 Chapter 949 - The New Commander-In-Chief

    <strong>Chapter 949: The New Commander-In-Chief</strong>


    Trantor: Henyee Trantions Editor: Henyee Trantions


    Before he departed from the capital city, Pang Jing and his close friends, each contributing one sentence at a time, hadposed dozens of poems about the Western Regions. The main theme was half about the strong wind and heavy snow, and that other half about the desert. At the end of the winter, when he finally arrived in Jade City, he forgot all about those beautiful verses. All he could think about was staying in arge house and isting himself from the snowy world outside forever.


    ¡®The capital is a paradise.¡¯ He secretly let out a heartfelt sigh.


    Before leaving the capital city, Pang Jing had once made a bet with an official that though it was winter, with all the courier stations that the Central ins had built in the Western Regions, he would be able to reach Jade City in a month, which was about the same amount of time that this journey would take in the summer or autumn. Because of this bet, Pang Jing had refused to progress at a moderate pace. Bringing only a small group of attendants, he had galloped non-stop in icy cold wind, as if he were a messenger carrying an important dispatch.


    And Pang Jing had made it. Even though his cheeks had peeled and his lips were dry and cracked, revealing red flesh, even though he exhausted many horses and camels to the point of death, the number of which he lost count, and even though he had to abandon three fallen attendants what had be exhausted, leaving them in the snow, he had made it in the end. He had managed to finish the journey from the capital to Jade City in merely twenty-nine days.


    In order to attain positive proof of his winning the bet, Pang Jing didn¡¯t settle himself in the military camp outside the city. Instead, he rode straight to northern Jade City. Without consulting with anybody, he directly upied the mansion prepared for the Governor, had someone get him the seal of Governor, and stamped his travel document. With the date stamps of all those checkpoints and courier stations, Pang Jing now had indisputable evidence to show that he had won the bet.


    After he returned to the capital, the official whom Pang Jing had bet with would carry three goblets of wine to Pang Jing with his own hands. The stake was of no ount. He just wanted to prove that he had been right.


    The incumbent Governor was a Nonder, Mo Chu, who had been missing for a long time. There were a dozen servants living in the mansion, who were all from Golden Roc Castle. When faced with a group of strange Central-ins intruders, they didn¡¯t dare stop them. Instead, the handed the seal of the Governor over and hurriedly reported it to their superior.


    As a result, after the news was ryed several times, the Central insmen who were standing in formation in the camp outside the city waiting to wee the newmander-in-chief finally heard of it. It turned out those refugee-like guys whom the scouts had encountered previously were actually the general and his attendantsing from the capital.


    Pang Jing liked fighting with his inertia to toughen his will. As a result, less than four hours after he settled into the mansion, when the numbness and pain in his toes were just beginning to ease, he walked out of thefortable bedroom and summoned his subordinates.


    Nearly a hundred generals were crowded into the hall. They knelt in unison to pay respect to the newmander-in-chief, thinking in confusion, ¡®Is this beggar-like young man whose face is full of frostbite really the younger brother of the General-in-chief, Pang Ning?¡¯


    Pang Jing was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, tall, well-proportioned, and with a rugged, square face. Though his frame was not overly big, his eyes were bright and piercing. Even when he was exhausted, there seemed to be an inexhaustible vigor in those eyes, as if he could squander it in whatever way he liked.


    During his first meeting with his subordinates, Pang Jing showed himself to be a man who didn¡¯t do everything by the rules. Without having his subordinates make a self-introduction, he directly walked up to the only outsider in the hall.


    ¡°You must be General Dugu.¡± Before Dugu Xian could formally introduce himself, Pang Jing smiled. The smile pulled his frostbitten face, causing him to involuntarily grimace and gasp.


    Dugu Xian slightly lowered his head, holding the seal of themander-in-chief. He was here on behalf of the Dragon King, so he could be neither humble nor pushy. ¡°I¡¯m Dugu Xian, the General of the Left of the Dragon Army. I was entrusted with the seal of themander-in-chief. Now, I shall return the seal to its rightful owner¡­ ¡±


    An attendant, whose face was also covered with frostbite, took the seal of themander-in-chief. Without ncing at the seal of themander-in-chief, Pang Jing took the only arm of Dugu Xian and sized him up. ¡°General Dugu has defeated many numerically superior armies, including the Golden Roc Army and the Nond forces. You¡¯re world-famous. If the Central ins had a general like you, we wouldn¡¯t have spent so many years preparing ourselves before daring to fight with the Nond.¡±


    ¡°How about you switch sides to the Central ins? I¡¯ll give the position of themander-in-chief to you. You can also do some drinking and eating for a few days. After I return to the capital, I¡¯ll report your meritorious deeds to the Imperial Court. I think that it¡¯s safe to say that you¡¯ll be bestowed the title of a duke.¡±


    All of the generals were startled. It was against the rule to publicly co-opt the most important general of the Dragon King during the first meeting.


    Also stunned, Dugu Xian forgot all of the words that he had prepared in advance. After stalling for a while, he said, ¡°I¡¯m ttered, General Pang. I won a couple battles, but the Dragon King was the one who formted the battle n, and I merely followed orders. The only thing that I¡¯m capable of is leading troops. I¡¯m sure that there are a lot of Central ins generals who can do the same.¡±


    ¡°What a pity. What a pity,¡± Pang Jing burst intoughter and then said, ¡°If the Dragon King doesn¡¯t mind degrading himself, I can bestow the title of duke to him right now.¡±


    Upon hearing these faux pas gush from the lips of the newmander-in-chief, all of those generals lowered their heads. None of them dared to speak. Dugu Xian made a few perfunctory remarks and then hurriedly took his leave, heading for the camp of the Dragon Army to report this to the Dragon King. He really didn¡¯t know how to describe Pang Jing¡¯s behavior.


    After dark, Pang Jing was still highly energetically receiving visitors, checking troops registers as well as the numbers of weapons, armor, and provisions. Those generals had prepared a wee banquet, but nobody dared to invite the new superior. Everybody was worried that when the superior asked them questions, they might not be able to answer correctly and thus lose the potential opportunity of being promoted.


    Eventually, a general tactfully sent a message to Pang Jing via an attendant: the mansion of the Governor didn¡¯t belong to the Central ins for the moment, so the newmander-in-chief might as well spend the night in the military camp. Everything was readily avable there. The living condition was just as good as that of the mansion.


    Pang Jing refused to move. The reason was very simple. ¡°The Central ins is themon ruler of all countries. Not to mention the fact that this mansion is unupied, even if the Nonders were living here, I¡¯d chase them away.¡±


    That night, Pang Jing had a restful sleep. The next morning, he awoke feeling rested and refreshed. Walking out of the bedroom, he suddenly felt that the snow-coveredndscape in the Western Regions was actually very beautiful. It was a pity that winter was about to end. Snow was melting and seemed to have lost its piercing coldness.


    It was going to be another hectic day. Golden Roc Castle sent a renowned doctor who specialized in treating frostbite to the mansion. He brought some ointment. Pang Jing applied it to his face and found that it was very effective. Though his face looked somewhat ugly with white patches on it, he didn¡¯t mind at all and just kept receiving visitors.


    To many people¡¯s surprise, the first resident of Jade City that Pang Jing received was Meng Mingshu. It seemed as if Golden Roc Castle¡¯s gesture of friendliness was nothing in his eyes.


    Meng Mingshu was also amazed. He had merely sent a visitor card to this new Central ins official by convention. Unexpectedly, he was the first one to be received.


    Fortunately, the Bodhi Garden was not far away from the mansion, so Meng Mingshu arrived soon. He was panting heavily, but mostly due to nervousness.


    Pointing at his face, Pang Jingughed. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. Originally, I was too embarrassed to meet people, but given the fact that the Meng family¡¯s rtionship with the Central ins, especially with the Pang family, is special, I think that there¡¯s no need to regard you as an outsider.¡±


    Organizing the small countries in the Western Regions and paying tributes to the Central ins on a regr basis had been one of the core businesses of the Meng family. The value of the reward that the Meng family received from the Central ins was always far higher than that of the tributes, so it was a very lucrative business. To keep this business, the Meng family had spent a lot of money broadening their contacts, which was why they were on good terms with a lot of officials. As the most powerful family rted to the Empress Dowager, the Pang family had naturally benefited a lot from this.


    Meng Mingshu never expected that the Pang family would value their rtionship so much. Though he was overwhelmed by this unexpected favor, he was still vignt. After incoherently thanking Pang Jing, he started talking about the decline of the Meng family as well as the poverty he was in, bemoaning it repeatedly.


    Pang Jing indeed didn¡¯t regard him as an outsider. Like an old friend, he tried to console Meng Mingshu and was especially interested in the robbery that the Meng family had suffered. ¡°It is theoretically impossible to keep an operation of that scale secret. How haven¡¯t you identified the culprit yet?¡±


    Meng Mingshu was unwilling to talk about this issue, so he answered perfunctorily, ¡°As the saying goes, ¡®When the tree falls, the monkeys will scatter.¡¯ The Meng family has declined and all of its servants have left. I can¡¯t even defend myself, so how am I supposed to investigate this? Besides, Jade City is different from the Central ins, and it¡¯s even more different from the other countries of the Western Regions. It could literally be deemed as unruly. Strength is everything here. Given the current situation the Meng family is in, I¡¯d rather not know who those robbers are.¡±


    Pang Jingid his right hand on Meng Mingshu¡¯s shoulder in a cordial manner. ¡°Things are different now. I came here with the most important task of selecting the Lord of Jade City and bringing order and rules to this city. I¡¯ll find out who robbed the Meng family and then bring them to justice. You have my word.¡±


    Meng Mingshu awkwardly thanked him for his kindness, feeling that this new official was too young and inexperienced.


    Pang Jing walked Meng Mingshu to the gateway of the mansion and then whispered into his ears, ¡°Please remember my words, Young Master Meng. The Meng family is very important to the Central ins. I won¡¯t let the one who bullied the Meng family get away. As long as you give me a clue, then no matter how powerful that person is, and no matter where he¡¯s hiding the Meng family¡¯s wealth, I¡¯ll muster all of the Central ins troops stationed in the different areas of the Western Regions to get it back for you.¡±


    Meng Mingshu nearly knelt down in public, his eyes brimming with tears when Pang Jing expressed his support for him.


    After returning home with a mixed expression on his face, he immediately wrote a letter and had one of his henchmen deliver it to Xiao Fengchai, who was living in southern Jade City, asking her to report it to the Dragon King. He had entrusted the Dragon King with the future of the Meng family, so he didn¡¯t want that white-faced young man with a suspicious mind to misunderstand him.


    However, sitting in his room alone, Meng Mingshu was slightly regretful. If he had known that the Central ins valued the Meng family so much, he wouldn¡¯t have cooperated with the Dragon King¡­


    The second person that Pang Jing received surprised Jade City even more. He didn¡¯t even wait in the mansion of the Governor for the guest toe. Instead, he directly went to the Essence Pavilion in Retention Alley himself to meet the Master Commander of the Waning Moon Hall.


    It had been only less than a month since the Waning Moon Hall had made its existence known to the public. Nobody knew why Pang Jing put so much store by this organization.


    This meetingsted for almost two hours. Nobody knew the details of it. The disciples of the Waning Moon Hall all kept it a secret, and all Pang Jing¡¯s attendants were ordered to stay outside the building. None of them went inside with the general.


    After the meeting, Pang Jing didn¡¯t stay in southern Jade City. He went back to northern Jade City and received a few more visitors. It was not until night fell that the mansion of the Governor quieted down.


    Large numbers of rted intelligence reports were delivered to the camp of the Dragon Army, waiting for the Dragon King and Zhong Heng to analyze them. But one of those visits was covert and no inside information had been disclosed, so the Dragon King naturally had no idea what it was about.


    Having been waiting in the bedroom for a long time, Luo Qikang respectfully bowed to the newmander-in-chief.


    Pang Jing was very excited. The smile pulled on his frostbitten face again and he grimaced, which made his face look a little weird, but the pain was nothingpared to his heartfelt enthusiasm. He strode to the swordsman of the Luo family in two steps and gave him a big hug.


    It was them who truly were old friends.


    ¡°It¡¯s time we made some achievements,¡± said Pang Jing with an ardent look in his eyes.


    Byparison, Luo Qikang was much moreposed. ¡°I just want to know whether we¡¯re to let loose now. I¡¯ve been waiting here for too long. My sheathed sword is growing rusty.¡±


    Pang Jing walked to the doorway, looked around, turned around, and then said in a low voice, ¡°To our enemies, we can do whatever we want. To our friends, we must offer our full support.¡±


    ¡°Who are our enemies? And who are our friends?¡±


    ¡°You will find out tomorrow.¡±

 Chapter 950 - Blackmail

    Chapter 950: ckmail


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gu Shenwei requested a specific assessment of Pang Jing from the Prime Minister. Zhong Heng took three steps forward, turned around, and retraced his three steps back before saying, ¡°He¡¯s a smart guy.¡±


    ¡°Smart how?¡±


    ¡°The first thing that he did after his inauguration was muddy the water in the pool instead of establishing a good rtionship with the ¡®big fish.¡¯ In my opinion, this suggests that he is both very discontented with the current situation and very confident. The Governor of the Western Regions wanted to adjust the bnce of power in Jade City, which I figure might be counted as a good thing for the Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei agreed with the Prime Minister¡¯s analysis, but he made noments on his conclusion. When he walked into the military camp of the Central ins, followed by a couple of his attendants, he still regarded Pang Jing as someone whose stance was still indeterminate.


    The ce for the meeting between Pang Jing and the Dragon King was outside the city, which was the result of a private consultation between the two sides. No matter what, it was impossible for the Dragon King to visit him in his Governor¡¯s Mansion like Meng Mingshu had, so he could only meet him in the military camp by convention.


    Upon seeing the Dragon King, Pang Jing showed that he was no punctilious man. He walked down to the host¡¯s seat, hurried to the Dragon King¡¯s wee, and cupped his hands before his chest like a Jianghu kung fu practitioner. ¡± I¡¯ve finally met the Dragon King in the flesh. I have traveled thousands of miles in snow to get to Jade City, and it was not in vain. It¡¯s a pity that I didn¡¯t have the time. Otherwise, I would¡¯ve galloped to the camp of the Dragon Army and applied to be a soldier of yours, and we wouldn¡¯t have had to wait until today to meet each other.¡±


    When someone met Pang Jing for the first time, it was very likely that they would be bewildered by his hospitality. Gu Shenwei had learned this from the intelligence reports, so he had prepared himself for this. ¡°General Pang is my honored guest from the Central ins. I¡¯ve heard of your name before you arrived here. Every paper sent to my desk during the past few days have born the words ¡®General Pang¡¯ on it, so you¡¯re not a stranger to me at all.¡±


    Pang Jing burst intoughter, led the Dragon King into the tent arm in arm, and walked him to the guest seat himself. But instead of returning to the host¡¯s seat, he stood in front of the Dragon King with a face full of curiosity endemic to young men. If it weren¡¯t for the lingering frostbite on his face, he would have looked even younger than the Dragon King.


    A couple of generals also performed their duties, inviting the Dragon King¡¯s attendants inside.


    ¡°It has been only two days that Dragon King has heard my name. When I heard about the Dragon King¡¯s legendary deeds over a year ago, I¡¯ve admired you ever since. So the moment I heard that there was a chance toe to the Western Regions, I volunteered. I don¡¯t mean to be presumptuous, but there¡¯s a question that I¡¯ve been meaning to ask you for a long time. Do you really own a living giant roc? Rumor says that it¡¯s over dozens of feet tall with a beak as long as a saber, that it¡¯s able to blow people a dozen mile away with a single p of its wings, that it feeds on fresh eyeballs, and that it eats at least a hundred people¡¯s eyes during a meal¡­¡±


    There was an expectant look in Pang Jing¡¯s eyes. If the answer was negative, then he would probably would be very disappointed.


    Gu Shenwei nodded. ¡°I do have a giant roc, but it¡¯s not over dozens of feet tall. It¡¯s just a little taller than a normal human. And it doesn¡¯t feed on living people. If it could blow people away with its wings, then it probably wouldn¡¯t be able to get any living people to eat.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha. That¡¯s true. Where is it? Can I see it? A glimpse from far away would be enough for me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not here, and it¡¯s probably not in the Western Regions at all. Ites to me, and I can never call it onmand.¡±


    As expected, Pang Jing was very disappointed. He let out a deep sigh. ¡°I don¡¯t have the luck then. If only I could stay with Dragon King, so that sooner orter I would get a chance to see the giant roc.¡±


    Shangguan Fei, who was among the attendants brought here by the Dragon King, emboldened himself into standing up and venturing to interpose with a smile. ¡°General Pang is interested in the giant roc? A lot of people here once saw it¡­ ¡±


    ¡°You saw it yourself?¡± Pang Jing twisted his upper body around and asked, as if the Dragon King¡¯s description hadn¡¯t satisfied his curiosity.


    ¡°We all saw it,¡± Shangguan Fei said as he pointed to Chu Nanping and the other three bodyguards. ¡°Every time the Dragon King is in danger, that giant roc showed up. It was as if it couldmunicate with the Dragon King from thousands of mile away via some sort of telepathy.¡±


    ¡°This is not good. With the Dragon King¡¯s current strength, who could put him in danger? Won¡¯t the giant roc never show up again?¡±


    Shangguan Fei hurriedly corrected himself. ¡°Not necessarily. The giant roc likes ying too. And ites to the Dragon King quite often when it has nothing else to do. Right, Little Chu?¡±


    Pang Jing turned to Chu Nanping, sizing up this swordsman who was as pretty as a girl. ¡°You see the giant roc very often?¡±


    ¡°I used to,¡± answered Chu Nanping.


    ¡°Tell me. What color is it? What does it like? What does its hoot sound like-¡±


    Chu Nanping ndly interrupted Pang Jing. ¡°The Dragon King is sitting there. I think that he has something more important than the giant roc to say.¡±


    Seeming to have suddenly realized this, Pang Jing bowed to the Dragon King. ¡°Please pardon me, Dragon King. I was being impertinent.¡±


    ¡°Everybody has their curiosities. The giant roc is divine creature. A lot of people are interested in it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. That¡¯s true. Life is short. I mean, how many divine things can we meet in our life? Most people probably won¡¯t even hear of any before they die.¡± Pang Jing still had no intention of going back to the host¡¯s seat, as if he was determined to not get down to business. ¡°Rumor says that the Dragon King has a saber and a sword of divine craftsmanship, and that they shine spontaneously during the night, buzz when enemies approach, and sharpen themselves upon meeting blood. May I ask if I can have the honor of seeing them?¡±


    After hesitating for a brief moment, Gu Shenwei unfastened the Five Peaks Saber and passed it to Pang Jing with both hands. ¡°This saber was forged by a renowned craftsman in the Western Regions. It¡¯s merely sharper than normal sabers. There¡¯s nothing special about it.¡±


    But Pang Jing received the Five Peaks Saber with great care, as if it was a rare treasure. Holding the sheath with his left hand, he slowly pulled out the saber with his right hand, moved his eyes close to the de to carefully appreciate it, and then wielded it. His movement was not bad. Rumors say that he once practiced kung fu. It seemed that that was true.


    ¡°It¡¯s a good saber.¡± After quite a while, Pang Jing sheathed the saber andplimented it. Then he returned the weapon to the Dragon King. ¡°A good saber requires the right owner. This saber is still as sharp as ever. There¡¯s not a single sign of it being burnished. Clearly, the Dragon King¡¯s been using it in the right way.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ttered,¡± Gu Shenwei responded in a perfunctory manner. This new Governor of the Western Regions admired the Dragon King more than the soldiers did. The better his acting was, the more vignt the Dragon King became.


    ¡°It¡¯s said that Dragon King always carries your saber and sword. Where¡¯s the sword?¡±


    ¡°I gave it to someone who¡¯s better at using a sword than I am.¡±


    Pang Jing followed the Dragon King¡¯s gaze, eventuallynding on Chu Nanping. After a brief hesitation, he said with a smile, ¡°Rumor says that the Dragon King has many kung fu experts at hismand, that the one who has served the Dragon King the longest has an extraordinarily handsome appearance as well as superb swordsmanship. Are you Chu Nanping?¡±


    Chu Nanping slightly furrowed his forehead. ¡°I am.¡± And with that, he lowered his eyes, showing him neither the Dragon Head Sword nor any intention of chatting.


    Shangguan Fei gave two coughs, trying to draw Pang Jing¡¯s attention to him, but there was no response.


    Pang Jing was thrust the cold shoulder, but he didn¡¯t mind. Finally, he returned to the host seat and said with a solemn face, ¡°In fact, I came to Jade City to do one single thing ¨C organize the kung fupetition to select the Lord of Jade City. I believe that Prince Xiao has already told Dragon King all of the relevant information in detail.¡±


    ¡°Prince Xiao left in haste, so he didn¡¯t have time to exin everything in detail.¡±


    Pang Jing winked at the generals who then all stood up and took their leave. Shangguan Fei, Chu Nanping, and the others also left with them. When there were only two people left, Pang Jing¡¯s face became more serious. ¡°The Dragon King might have some suspicions. Please rest assured. His Highness and I are best friends. I know everything about his n and I intend to follow his every instruction. I know that there are some private grudges between the Dragon King and the Luo family, but national affairs should be put above personal interests. By no means will Luo Qikang be an obstacle in the Dragon King¡¯s way.¡±


    ¡°General Pang¡¯s words greatly reassure me.¡±


    ¡°Let me put this straight. Luo Qikang will defeat the Unique King and then lose to the Dragon King. The Dragon King knows about the martial arts world of the Western Regions better than I do. Do you think that this n is viable?¡±


    ¡°Prince Xiao chose this swordsman, so I think that he must be really good.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t answer his question directly.


    ¡°Ha-ha. Actually, I believe that this n of Prince Xiao¡¯s is unnecessary. I¡¯m sure that the Dragon King¡¯s kung fu is better than anyone else¡¯s in the Western Regions. There¡¯s no need to ask a Central ins swordsman for help at all, right?¡±


    ¡°We can never take too many precautions.¡±


    After talking about this for only a short while, Pang Jing urgently ended this topic and steered the conversation to another issue. ¡°In the Dragon King¡¯s eyes, this must seem like a joke. The Central ins have sent an envoy here, but he was killed during an internecine struggle. The deputy envoy colluded with the enemy and did a lot of shameful things instead of making contributions. s.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m also confused. It is said that the deputy envoy colluded with an enemy. May I ask who this enemy was?¡±


    ¡°The Nond, of course. It¡¯s a big world, but the Central ins has only one enemy.¡±


    ¡°Then this Lord Sun¡¯s discernment was too poor. The Nond has already disintegrated and is currently at its weakest. It was surprising that he chose to collude with this country.¡±


    ¡°It is all about money.¡± Pang Jing slightly lowered his voice, as if he were talking about a highly confidential issue. ¡°The Meng family in northern Jade City was robbed. The Dragon King has heard about it, right?¡±


    ¡°Um. I did.¡±


    ¡°The Nonders did this. They promised Sun Chengqi half of the spoils and he failed to resist the temptation.¡±


    Nobody knew about the inauthenticity of this usation better than Gu Shenwei, but he still pretended that he suddenly understood. ¡°I see. So Sun Chengqi was blinded by money.¡±


    ¡°Tell me about it. This has to stay between you and me ¨C I can understand him. That was a huge amount of money. Who could possibly have stayed indifferent to it? Even I, someone who would rather die than collude with the Nond, wish to find that money without doing anything. Ha-ha. It is said that they didn¡¯t have enough time to transfer the Meng family¡¯s money, and that it¡¯s still somewhere in the Jade City. I wonder if the Dragon King is interested in finding it with me. We can split it fifty-fifty.¡±


    Pang Jing didn¡¯t seem like a rtive of a Central ins dignitary at all, and neither did he look like a noble Governor. He was listless when talking about serious issues, but once someone mentioned the giant roc, sabers and swords, or treasures, he immediately became like somebody else.


    ¡°Not all rumors are true. General Pang is sure that the money is still in the Jade City?¡±


    Pang Jing gave a mysterious smile, as if he knew some inside information, ¡°The Central ins has arge poption, so our intelligencework is not too bad. Besides, I also know who helped the Nonders rob the Meng family.¡±


    ¡°You do?¡±


    ¡°When the Meng family was robbed, the Nond army closest to the site was several days¡¯ journey away. In addition, climbing over walls and roofs is not really their forte. Thus, they needed a helper. There was a time when the rumors said that this helper was the Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei snorted but neither contradicted nor admitted to it.


    ¡°But ording to the intelligence I received, the culprit is actually Golden Roc Castle. The Unique King had always wanted to eliminate the Meng family, so he took this opportunity and snatched the Meng family¡¯s assets to give it to Prince Luoluo as a gift. But unexpectedly, the Dragon King and Prince Xiao defeated their numerically superior enemy, forced Luoluo into fleeing to the northmost area, and so this gift wasn¡¯t sent out. It¡¯s still in Jade City.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible. So I do have to conduct an intensive investigation into it, and General Pang only wants half of it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a greedy man. The Meng family is the richest family in the Western Regions. I¡¯ll be more than satisfied to receive half of their wealth.¡± Pang Jing¡¯s smile didn¡¯t seem to fit his rugged squared face at all.


    Gu Shenwei went back to camp and said to Zhong Heng, ¡°This General Pang¡¯s eyes are bigger than his stomach. He¡¯s ckmailing me.¡±


    Zhong Heng was startled. After hearing the Dragon King¡¯s ount of the meeting, he came to the same conclusion. Pang Jing clearly knew that the Dragon King had the money. He had merely beat around the bush because he wanted a share of the pie.


    In the military camp of the Central ins¡¯ army, Pang Jing was also assessing the Dragon King with Luo Qikang. ¡°Well, it¡¯s now safe to say that the Dragon King¡¯s not a friend. The news is false, but the money is real. The Meng family¡¯s money is definitely in his hands.¡±

 Chapter 951 - Gold Ingots

    Chapter 951: Gold Ingots


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    News of selecting the Lord of Jade City through a kung fupetition finally went public. Though it hadn¡¯t been a secret for a long time, it still aroused animated discussions among the residents of Jade City. They argued about the pros and cons again and again. The wise ones made one prophecy after another, which became the cause of a series of bets.


    As the news spread, the name of the Central insman, Pang Jing, became known to a lot of people. Given all that he had done during the past few days, Jade City gave him a nickname that could be interpreted in multiple ways ¨C Commander-In-Chief of Wind. Interpreted in a favorable light, this nickname suggested that he always did things quickly, and that he was energetic. The other meaning was that the Central ins had sent a lunatic here to pacify the Western Regions.


    Pang Jing indeed disliked doing things by the book. He might receive an important person in a haughty manner, and he also might go to the most remote alley to meet with a nobody who nobody had ever heard of. He might even go to the Four Noble Truths Temple on a whim at night, wait outside the outer gate until daybreak, and then return to the city before the amazed monks could arrive at the gate to wee him.


    Unexpectedly, after hearing that his nickname was ¡°the Commander-In-Chief of Wind,¡± Pang Jing liked it very much and offered a brand-new interpretation. ¡°I¡¯m a wind, a strong wind, a wild wind, and I¡¯ll change every ce I arrive at.¡±


    Upon hearing this remark, the experienced merchants immediately became vignt and started hiding their wealth, transferring it to their family. But overall, the residents of Jade City, who were fond of enjoying their life to the fullest, still liked this enthusiastic Central insman. It was a pity that Pang Jing was not very interested in women, good wine, or gambling, which made a lot of people who wanted to fawn on him feel like there was nothing that they could do.


    More and more intelligence reports piled onto Gu Shenwei¡¯s desk, and gradually, they all lost their meaning. The kind of person that the Commander-In-Chief of Wind really was was bing vague due to his bizarre, contradictory deeds.


    Zhong Heng, who had just been appointed to the position of Commandant of the Department of Guards, was also a liaison. He had thought that this would be an easy task, but unexpectedly, Pang Jing valued him very much and summoned him on an almost daily basis. He even jokingly suggested that Zhong Heng should stay in the Governor¡¯s mansion to do office work.


    Zhong Heng had no choice but to resign from the post of the Commandant of the Department of Guards so that he could concentrate on dealing with the Commander-In-Chief of Wind lest anything go wrong during the preparations for the kung fupetition.


    Gu Shenwei decided to have Long Fanyun be the new Commandant of the Department of Guards.


    Both surprised and nervous about this, Long Fanyun came to the Dragon King and expressed his own opinions. Though he was now paralyzed, he still retained all of the qualities of a Big Snow Mountain swordsman, so he didn¡¯t say any grateful words and instead directly stated his concerns. ¡°I¡¯ve never tried any cases before, and I have no idea about how one should mediate disputes. There are even a lot of words that I don¡¯t know the meanings of. How am I supposed to convince the residents?¡±


    ¡°Red Bat will help you with the reading. As for trying the cases, just do whatever you think is right and just. There¡¯s no need to satisfy everybody. You¡¯re the chieftain of Canopy Peak, so just regard southern Jade City as another Canopy Peak with a slightlyrger poption.¡±


    Southern Jade City was not the Big Snow Mountain. The personalities of the residents here were entirely different from that of the residents living in mountainous areas. Though they all preferred to settle disputes with violence, things were different in a trial. Everybody would indignantly express their own arguments, and then even immortals would have difficulties deciding which side was telling the truth.


    Long Fanyun epted the appointment and took office. On the first day, he was totally confused and disoriented by a couple of cases. He didn¡¯t even manage to figure out the most basic of facts. None of those cases were decided. Taking the undecided cases left by Zhong Heng into ount, there were over thirty cases waiting for a decision in total.


    After pondering it over for a full night, Long Fanyun thought of an idea.


    The residents of Jade City were snobbish. In this city, because of mutual mistrust, there were very few disputes that concerned money. In most cases, the people who came to the Department of Guards to seek mediation were fights, usually because one side had taken one more saber blow than the other side, and thus they demanded that thetter pay the price.


    The next morning, Long Fanyun summoned all of his swordsmen and Hu Shining¡¯s sabersmen, and then said to those litigants, ¡°Come here. Fight with my men. I¡¯ll decide in the winner¡¯s favor. The other side must apologize and pay the indemnity.¡±


    This was a new and simple method of deciding cases. Parties of a couple of cases looked at each other and would immediately feel that it was unnecessary to do this. As the saying went, ¡°Out of blows, friendship grows.¡± They would rather find a ce to drink than fight with the Dragon King¡¯s men, so they all turned around and left. The topic of their argument switched from their original disagreement to which tavern might still be open at this moment.


    There were also some who remained unconvinced and were willing to have their cases decided via a fight. There were only four kung fupetitions, and then the rest of those people left. Afterwards, the four sabersmen who lost sat in a tavern like friends, hands on their bruised eyes, telling their curious listeners, ¡°Actually it was not that we couldn¡¯t defeat them. At that time, I thought carefully and realized that ¨C what can I get even if I win? It¡¯s not worth it to win the case at the cost of offending the Dragon King. Thus, I might as well let this go for the sake of the Dragon King. It¡¯s not like there¡¯s really any deep hatred between us.¡±


    As a result, the number of cases epted by the Department of Guards in southern Jade City decreased quickly while the business of the taverns became much better than before.


    But it was impossible to turn Jade City into a ce free of murder overnight. Impulsive sabersmen still whipped out their weapons to settle disputes out of force of habit. Though Golden Roc Castle no longer provided killers for hire, and the Essence Pavilion had also closed shop, a lot of people were still eager to join this profession. And there had even been several open fights between factions that stemmed from people trying to prove that they were more suitable to be killers.


    Hu Shining never expected that the killers he had worked so hard to train would one day bear the title ¡°Warriors of the Department of Guards,¡± and that their duties would switch from killing to stopping killing. But he didn¡¯t take a dislike to this kind of change. Instead, he tacitly cooperated with Long Fanyun. The former was responsible for patrolling streets while thetter did office work in the Department of Guards.


    Gu Shenwei had Xu Xiaoyi join them and provide them with intelligence, which enabled Hu Shining to nip a couple of murders in the bud before they happened.


    The killer training that those warriors of the Department of Guards received was not in vain at all. To implement the Dragon King¡¯s ban on killing, they killed people almost everyday, sending a clear message to the sabersmen both in and outside of the city: the Dragon King¡¯s ban on killing was not just empty talk, and the Dragon King was by no means a merciful local magistrate.


    At the same time, Long Fanyun recruited a lot of sabersmen and assigned them to the Warriors Battalion, making them a part of the patrol.


    After about half a month, the killings in southern Jade City had significantly decreased. Those warriors under Hu Shining¡¯smand even became idle some days. The jurisdiction of the Department of Guards was expanding every day. More and more alleys and businesses became willing to ept the Dragon King¡¯s protection.


    At first, only a few people tentatively offered to pay protection money. When Long Fanyun reported this issue to the Dragon King, he got the permission to ept the money. When people flooded into the department, he set a fixed amount of money that people should pay, which was neither too much nor too little ¨C it was just enough to cover the expenses of the Warriors Battalion.


    The Kun Society¡¯s territory was notrge, so it naturally subjected itself to the jurisdiction of the Department of Guards. The Heavenly Mountain Sect adopted a tolerant attitude towards this and ended up only having a small area of territory at the southwestern part of southern Jade City, but it was a tough patch that attracted a lot of desperadoes.


    The Heavenly Mountain Sect also imposed a ban on killing, but they never tried to implement it. In the area under Zhang Ji¡¯s control, though people no longer killed in public, hardly any real restrictions were imposed on killings, which was a big trouble for the Department of Guards. Many sabersmen would flee to that area after killing people. The Warriors had no power to punish them, and neither did they have any methods to do so.


    The only thing that Long Fanyun could tell the rtives and friends of the victims was, ¡°Once the murderer enters the jurisdiction of the Department of Guards, I¡¯ll avenge the victim¡¯s death.¡±


    However, this was not a satisfactory response, and so a new upation emerged ¨C bounty hunters.


    Bounty hunters were all sabersmen, and their kung fu skills were good. They despised the meager payment offered by the Department of Guards, but they didn¡¯t dare be killers upon pain of offending the Dragon King. So, they built a business that allowed customers to hire them to sneak into the Heavenly Mountain Sect¡¯s territory and catch their foes. As long as the customers paid the money, they were willing to catch anybody. After catching the targets, they would leave them at the gateway of the Department of Guards and let those warriors punish them in public.


    Winter ended and then spring came. Long Fanyun had been devotedly performing his duties as the Commandant of the Department of Guards, but the preparation for the important kung fupetition, the one that would elect the Lord of Jade City, barely progressed. There were still a lot of remaining details that required further discussion ¨C when and where the kung fupetition was to be held, who would be allowed to participate in it, rules of thepetition, and more. Every one of these questions would arouse endless controversies and arguments.


    Zhong Heng was doing his best and didn¡¯t let this issue concern the Dragon King. Dugu Xian had returned to the Dragon Army, and Wu Zongheng was inmand of the army of the Shule Kingdom. So Gu Shenwei, unexpectedly, found a lot of leisure time and began to intensively research the Death Sutra, integrating his previous findings into it. Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher offered him a lot of help. Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong were the ones who sparred with him to test the moves.


    If it weren¡¯t for the idental death of a bounty hunter, this easy life of Gu Shenwei¡¯s might havested until the beginning of the kung fupetition.


    The name of the deceased bounty hunter was Wu Xuan. He was something of a celebrity in this new profession. In less than a month, he managed to snatch at least eleven targets from the Heavenly Mountain Sect¡¯s territory. Nobody knew how much money he had been paid, but many people discovered that he¡¯d been spending a lot of nights in Retention Alley, which was something that he couldn¡¯t afford to do in the past.


    Naturally, offending people was a part of a bounty hunter¡¯s work, but Wu Xuan¡¯s death had nothing to do with private grudges.


    He had died in an unupied dwelling located in southern Jade City. His body was discovered three dayster by a house-serf who had gone there to do some cleaning work. When he was having difficulties trying to figure out how he should deal with the body, he suddenly noticed that there was an iplete gold ingot in the victim¡¯s left hand.


    News quickly spread. The house-serf hadn¡¯t even melted the gold ingot yet whenrge numbers of sabersmen from various forces flooded into his house. Terribly scared, the house-serf exined repeatedly, ¡°This small block of gold was all that I found. There was nothing else.¡±


    Wu Xuan¡¯s body had slightly dposed, but people could still distinctly tell that the fatal wound was in his back. His kung fu had been pretty good, but he hadn¡¯t even found a chance to whip out his saber. It was very obvious that somebody had already searched his body. The house-serf gave an absolute assurance that he didn¡¯t do it, and that if it weren¡¯t for the gleam of gold, that he would never have approached the corpse since it was very smelly.


    Experienced observers could tell at first sight that Wu Xuan had been killed by a partner.


    Nobody cared about the body. Rather, it was that gold ingot that everybody was interested in. After fighting for a short period, most forces became aware of the overwhelming odds against them and quit the rivalry, leaving the Department of Guards and the Heavenly Mountain Sect as the only two sides still confronting each other. Holding that gold ingot, for the first time, the house-serf found that it was actually so precious.


    This dwelling, the owner of which had moved onto another city long ago, happened to be located on the border between the Department of Guards and the Heavenly Mountain Sect, which made it difficult to decide whose turf this dwelling belonged to.


    Both sides wanted this gold ingot, not because of its value. Rather, it was because of the iplete mark on it. There was a distinct right half of the Chinese character ¡°Meng¡± inscribed on it. On the lower right corner of the ingot was a small Chinese character ¡°Nei,¡± meaning ¡°inside,¡± suggesting that the original owner of this gold ingot was the Meng family.


    The Meng family was arge merchant family. It was normal for their gold ingots to circte outside their mansion, but this gold ingot was different. The ¡°inside¡± character indicated that it was specific to the Meng family, and that it had to be melted first to remove the mark before it was allowed to be used outside of the Meng family.


    Thus, this gold ingot was apparently from the stolen money of the Meng family. The enthusiasm it aroused among the people of Jade City was even more intense than what the kung fupetition that would elect the Lord of Jade City aroused.


    Gu Shenwei was involuntarily amazed when he heard the news. He was the only one who knew where the Meng family¡¯s money was, and the fact that money had never been spent. How did this gold ingot slip through the?


    News soon came that the Governor of the Western Regions, Pang Jing, had gone to southern Jade City himself and snatched the gold ingot himself.

 Chapter 952 - The Palm

    Chapter 952: The Palm


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Pang Jing lightly tossed and catched the gold ingot in his hand again and again. Every two or three times, he would stop, hold it before his eyes, scrutinize it, and then start tossing it again. He didn¡¯t seem to be trying to find any clues, and it was more like he was gauging the purity of it, like a scrupulous merchant.


    Meng Mingshu was sitting diagonally opposite him, his eyes moving up and down alongside the gold ingot. As if hypnotized, he looked wooden and had totally forgotten about the question that Pang Jing had asked him.


    The two had met each other several times before. In Pang Jing¡¯s eyes, this was probably the process of two strangers bing close friends, so he cared about his manner even less as he put one foot on the chair and the other on the ground, leaning his body against the back of the chair. Suddenly, he grabbed the gold ingot, twisted his head aside, and smiled. ¡°Old Meng, you still haven¡¯t told me yet whether this gold ingot belongs to your family or not.


    This form of address, ¡°Old Meng,¡± reminded Meng Mingshu of his father. He hurriedly answered. ¡°Please pardon me. I was being absent-minded. Er¡­ It seems that¡­ this ingot does belong to the Meng family, but¡­ ¡±


    ¡°But what?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean to hide anything from Your Lordship¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Wow, why are you being so polite? There are no outsiders here. Just call me ¡°Little Pang¡± or ¡°Younger Brother Pang.¡± Both are okay.


    Overwhelmed by the unexpected favor, Meng Mingshu smiled but then called him ¡°Elder Brother Pang,¡± which was a moremon form of address. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to hide anything from you, Elder Brother Pang, but during these past two years, the Meng family has been haunted by a lot of troublesome issues, both internal ones and external ones. It is possible that one or two thieves from within my family stole this ingot. It does belong to my family, but I¡¯m not entirely certain about whether it was stolen or snatched.¡±


    Pang Jing didn¡¯t get angry after hearing this perfunctory answer. Instead, he walked up to Meng Mingshu and patted his shoulder. ¡°No matter what, this is an important clue. I¡¯ve already sent some men to investigate. You have to know that it was not easy for me to get this gold ingot. Both the Heavenly Mountain Sect and the Department of Guards were staring at it with covetous eyes. Fortunately, I got there quickly and snatched it. The leaders of both sides weren¡¯t there, so nobody stopped me. Ha-ha.¡±


    ¡°Elder Brother Pang took decisive action. I admire you.¡±


    ¡°Actually I admire you more than you admire me. Old Meng, you¡¯ve lost almost all of your wealth, and yet you¡¯re not anxious at all. Even I, an outsider, am more anxious than you. Yourposure has really shamed me.¡±


    Meng Mingshu¡¯s heart lurched. Realizing that he had overacted, he abruptly stood up and smacked his right fist into his left palm. ¡°s, Elder Brother Pang, there¡¯s something that you don¡¯t know about. I¡¯m not calm. Actually I even want tomit suicide. But if I do that, then I wouldn¡¯t have the nerve to face my father and elder brothers in the underworld. I¡¯ve been forcing a smiling face upon myself all along. There¡¯s no posure¡¯ in me at all.¡±


    Pang Jing put on a slightly surprised face. ¡°Elder Brother Meng was a victim during the robbery. Even if you don¡¯t try to search for the money, there¡¯s certainly no need for you to force a smiling face upon yourself. What¡¯s going on? Are you afraid of offending anyone?¡±


    ¡°This¡­ it felt like we were old friends upon first meeting, and Elder Brother Pang is a Central ins dignitary, so I¡¯ll be honest with you. The situation in Jade City is veryplicated. Big fish swallowing little fish has always been the rule here. The Meng family is a middle-sized fish at most. The one who dared to rob the Meng family was naturally a big fish. I could only swallow the bitter pill in silence. If I don¡¯t keep quiet, then I¡¯m afraid I might offend the big fish and be swallowed.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha. What a school of fish. Tell me, who¡¯s the big fish in Jade City?¡±


    ¡°I think that there¡¯s no need for me to tell Elder Brother Pang the answer.¡±


    ¡°The Unique King and the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡±


    ¡°Which one of them does Elder Brother Meng suspect?¡±


    Meng Mingshu had predicted that this day woulde sooner orter, so he was surprisinglyposed. With a perfectly affected look of despair, he answered in a low voice, ¡°The Unique King.¡±


    ¡°Golden Roc Castle and the Meng family have been allies for so many years, and you are also inws. How could you suspect the Unique King?¡±


    ¡°In the past, Golden Roc Castle was a killer organization, and there were some affairs that were inconvenient for them to deal with in public, so the Meng family would offer help in that aspect. The cooperation between us went fairly smoothly with no disagreements. But afterwards, the Unique King wanted to be a true king, so he considerably downsized his killer army. After that, there was no need for him to do everything covertly. Therefore, he naturally felt that the Meng family had be redundant. My father¡­ was actually killed by a killer over a year ago. Golden Roc Castle even sent someone here to pose as my father in order to cover up their deed. Nominally, the Meng family had been robbed of all money overnight. But in fact, I suspect that Golden Roc Castle had already transferred most of my family¡¯s wealth away long before the robbery, which was why they would kill the impostor and fake the robbery.¡±


    Meng Mingshu made these remarks in a measured tone. There was both a reasonable spection and a deep indignation in his words. Even he himself partially believed his lies.


    Pang Jing obviously appeared to believe him, nodding repeatedly. ¡°This makes sense. I was thinking that the Unique King should have helped the Meng family get revenge even if Elder Brother Meng didn¡¯t request them to, given the rtionship between the Meng family and Golden Roc Castle. But unexpectedly, they did nothing, as if they don¡¯t know about the robbery at all.¡±


    Meng Mingshu sighed repeatedly. ¡°I¡¯m only telling Elder Brother Meng this in private ¨C I don¡¯t dare ask them to return the money. I only hope that they¡¯ll let me live.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha.¡± Pang Jing let out twoughs, pressed his right hand to Meng Mingshu¡¯s shoulder, and thought for a while before saying, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you ask the Dragon King for help? He¡¯s a mortal enemy of the Unique King¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°How dare I!?¡± Meng Mingshu was taken aback, as if he had just heard extremely shocking news. ¡°I live in northern Jade City.. It¡¯s as if I live in the palm of the Unique King. Golden Roc Castle has been watching my every move.¡±


    ¡°Um. I can understand why you¡¯re concerned. If ¨C and I mean if ¨C I can convince the Dragon King to intervene and help you get the money back through negotiation or by force, what would you say?¡±


    ¡°Golden Roc Castle-¡±


    ¡°What are you afraid of? If the Dragon King bes the Lord of Jade City, then northern Jade City will no longer be in the hands of the Unique King.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure that the Dragon King will be the Lord of Jade City?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I said ¡®if.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Tha¨CThat would be for the best.¡±


    ¡°But I think that the Lord of Jade City, regardless of if he is the Dragon King or someone else, won¡¯t offer help for nothing. The Central ins may put some pressure on that person. Is Elder Brother Meng willing to pay a price?¡±


    It suddenly dawned on Meng Mingshu that Pang Jing had been paving the way for proposing his own conditions all along. He clenched his teeth and said, ¡°It would be like a divine providence if I got my lost money back. What kind of price wouldn¡¯t I pay? I¡¯m willing to donate half of the money to the helper.¡±


    After leaving the office of the Governor, Meng Mingshu broke out into a cold sweat and galloped back to the Bodhi Garden. The more he thought about it, the more scared he felt. Pang Jing was a secretive man. He had been acting dumb from start to finish. It was very likely that he knew some inside information.


    He urgently wanted to have an audience with the Dragon King, but he didn¡¯t dare to do anything reckless, so he instead wrote a letter to Xiao Fengchai and implied his intentions in an ambiguous manner.


    Before he could finish the letter, a servant came inside and reported that L¨¹ Qiying was requesting his presence.


    Meng Mingshu thought for a while and then recalled this person named L¨¹ Qiying was a merchant who worked for the Dragon King. Both surprised and delighted, he hurriedly had the servant invite him into the study.


    L¨¹ Qiying¡¯s status was now far higher than before. He used to be the tavernkeeper of the Southwall Tavern, someone who wasn¡¯t even eligible to enter the front gate of the Meng family, much less have an audience with the patriarch of the Meng family in the study in the Bodhi Garden. Now, with the Dragon King as his backer, he was the owner of the biggest caravan in Jade City and earning dozens of gold ingots daily while the Meng family was in a disastrous state.


    L¨¹ Qiying stood in the middle of the study with his hands crossed behind him. He was looking around, all sorts of feelings welling up in his mind. The first remark he made when he saw Meng Mingshu was, ¡°This Bodhi Garden is not in its previous good condition. You need to revamp it.¡±


    Stunned, Meng Mingshu had no idea what he meant. ¡°To what do I owe the honor, Tavernkeeper L¨¹?¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying slightly furrowed his brows. Hardly anybody called him ¡°tavernkeeper¡± anymore. Usually, people respectfully called him ¡°Elder L¨¹.¡± ¡°It¡¯s said that there is a big hole under the Bodhi Garden. How did the Meng family deal with it?¡±


    Upon seeing that L¨¹ Qiying was so arrogant, Meng Mingshu was stunned again. ¡°I blocked all the passages on four sides and excavated a couple of holes in the middle. After the ice in the river melts, I¡¯ll fill it with water. Er. Why are you here exactly?¡±


    ¡°To buy the Bodhi Garden.¡±


    Meng Mingshu was confused for a while. After connecting a few facts, he suddenly understood and became furious. ¡°Who sent you here? You¡¯re not eligible to live in the Bodhi Garden. Get out! Now!¡±


    This was the first time that Meng Mingshu had gotten angry after he had be the patriarch. His anger surged up like flood breaking through the dam. He forgot all about the fear that he had suffered from during the past few months.


    Standing there listening to his curses, L¨¹ Qiying stayedposed. Eventually, he smiled. ¡°All right. I think that those servants out there have heard enough. Second Young Master Meng, let¡¯s get down to business.¡±


    Meng Mingshu¡¯s anger suddenly subsided, ¡°You¨CYou were¡­ sent here by the Dragon King?¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying shook his head. ¡°Lady Xiao sent me here.¡±


    ¡°Fengchai?¡± Meng Mingshu vaguely remembered that Xiao Fengchai had been on bad terms with L¨¹ Qiying. Why would she ask him toe here? So he softened his tone. ¡°I broke up with that woman¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha. Second Young Master Meng is indeed a cautious man. Fortunately, I brought a token.¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying fished out a jade pendant which Meng Mingshu identified as a gift that he given Xiao Fengchai at their first meeting. ¡°You¡¯re really¡­ What did Fengchai send you here for?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s something we need to talk about. Something big.¡±


    Meng Mingshu was still a little angry, with an embarrassed look on his face. He walked to the doorway and peeped out through the crack in the door for a while. When he turned around, his face had returned to normal. ¡°Go a head.¡±


    ¡°Did the Second Young Master Meng see the gold ingot in the office of the Governor?¡±


    ¡°I did.¡±


    ¡°Is it really from the Meng family?¡±


    ¡°It is.¡±


    ¡°Has the Second Young Master Meng ever thought about how that gold ingot ended up in an outsider¡¯s hands?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It should¡­ What¡¯s the Dragon King¡¯s opinion?¡±


    ¡°Like I said, I was not sent here by the Dragon King.¡±


    Meng Mingshu sensed that there were suspicious overtones in his words, so he immediately became vignt, regretting having mentioned the Dragon King of his own ount. ¡°Don¡¯t just ask me. Tell me what you think.¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying smiled, ¡°I think¡­ Lady Xiao thinks that the case of the original robbery is no longer an issue. The appearance of that gold ingot was not an ident. Somebody nned it out to draw people¡¯s attention to this case. There must be an ulterior reason.¡±


    ¡°What kind of ulterior reason?¡± Meng Mingshu had always trusted Xiao Fengchai¡¯s judgement, but he didn¡¯t like L¨¹ Qiying, so his voice was very apathetic.


    It seemed as if L¨¹ Qiying had no intention of pleasing the Second Young Master Meng at all. Instead, he became reserved, pacing up and down in the study. After a while, he suddenly stopped and said, ¡°We both know that the robbery was faked. It was just a show. But I¡¯m afraid that someone wants to make it real.¡±


    Feeling as if all his wisdom had been consumed in the office of the Governor, Meng Mingshu was perplexed by L¨¹ Qiying¡¯s hint. After quite a while, he suddenly understood and was taken aback, and he broke out into a cold sweat again, ¡°You¨CYou¡­ Fengchai¡­ Who do you work for exactly?¡±


    ¡°Money. I work for money. Lady Xiao works for you. She regards you as her future and doesn¡¯t want you to be plotted against without knowing what.¡±


    Meng Mingshu dejectedly sat down on the chair and mumbled, ¡°The Dragon King wants to make the robbery real. Is it because he wants to eliminate me?¡±


    ¡°Not just you. I¡¯m afraid that all of us who know the truth are his targets. Second Young Master Meng, you should take precautions as soon as possible. Lady Xiao is counting on you.¡±


    ¡°What am I supposed to do? Ask the Unique King for help? He won¡¯t let me get away with that.¡±


    ¡°s. Second Young Master Meng has always been a smart person. How have you still not understood? Lady Xiao wanted me to tell you that there are going to be upheavals in Jade City very soon. It doesn¡¯t matter who bes the Lord of Jade City, because there¡¯s only one person who will be in de facto control of the city.¡±


    ¡°The Central insman, Pang Jing.¡± It was not until this moment that Meng Mingshu realized whose palm he had been running around in this day.

 Chapter 953 - A Saber as a Gift

    Chapter 953: A Saber as a Gift


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    It had been quite a few days since Zhong Heng hadst wielded a saber. Though he was not a kung fu expert, he used to carry his saber with him wherever he went. But now, when he looked at these weapons that filled this room, he felt somewhat horrified.


    ¡°This is a little tricky,¡± he said.


    This ce was the arsenal of the Department of Guards, in which numerous sabers and swords of various styles were stored, including a small number of long-hilted weapons. The Dragon King was drawn to a spear. He took it down and appreciated it for a long time.


    ¡°Did you hear anything?¡± Gu Shenwei had juste to southern Jade City from the military camp outside the city. Though there was merely twenty to thirty miles between the two, the delivery of intelligence reports was still not efficient enough, so he had decided to stay in southern Jade City himself in case of an emergency.


    The first one to report the situation to him was neither Xu Xiaoyi, Long Fanyun, nor Hu Shining; instead, it was Zhong Heng who was supposed to currently be in a negotiation carried out in northern Jade City. The Prime Minister always knew the Dragon King¡¯s agenda like the palm of his hand.


    ¡°Many people say that it was Dragon King who robbed the Meng family of its wealth and has been hiding it, that you¡¯re spending it now since you¡¯re in urgent need of money, and that the gold ingot found in the hand of that captor named Wu Xuan was what Dragon King paid him for his service.¡±


    ¡°They think that I am in such an urgent need of money that I didn¡¯t even remove the mark of the Meng family on the gold ingot?¡±


    ¡°Details are never important in a rumor. Everybody in the city has been talking about this, especially those merchants. They n to ask Dragon King to repay the debt.¡±


    During the past few months, especiallyst autumn, the Dragon Army had purchased provisions inrge quantities. Many merchants had sold on credit, the most important reason for which was that they believed that the Meng family¡¯s wealth had fallen into the Dragon King¡¯s hands. So the moment they heard that somebody had been paid by the Dragon King, they became restless. Nobody wanted to be thest person to collect their debt. After all, even the Meng family¡¯s wealth was limited.


    ¡°Let them go to Xiao Fengchai and L¨¹ Qiying.¡± Money had never been much of a distraction to Gu Shenwei¡¯s thoughts ever since he had found these two helpers.


    Zhong Heng remained silent. After a while, when he motioned for the Dragon King¡¯s attention, he said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that these two people are the biggest source of trouble.¡±


    ¡°They are?¡± Gu Shenwei recalled that Prime Minister had always believed that Xiao and L¨¹ were rather untrustworthy. He had once reminded the Dragon King that they had secretly epted bribes from the residents of northern Jade City, promising them that the Dragon King would provide them with protection after assuming control of the city.


    ¡°I heard some news ¨C I didn¡¯t make any inquiries. A couple of friends told me¡­ ¡± Zhong Heng added on an exnation lest the Dragon King think that he was a busybody who hadn¡¯t been performing his duties. ¡°L¨¹ Qiying secretly told some important merchants that Dragon King was short of money, and that they had to take action as soon as possible if they still wanted their money back. Xiao Fengchai is very tight with money. A lot of payments are due but she still hasn¡¯t made them, which aroused manyints.¡±


    Gu Shenwei put the spear down and said, ¡°I understand. But the Dragon Army is indeed short on money. If it weren¡¯t for that those merchants who are willing to give credit, we would have broken apart a long time ago. Do you have any solutions, Prime Minister?¡±


    The Dragon King didn¡¯t seem very anxious, which slightly surprised Zhong Heng. ¡°If worsees to worst, then we can just use the Meng family¡¯s money. After those gold ingots are melted and re-cast, nobody will be able to tell where they originally came from. Let them guess. If suspicions arise, we can always say they are treasures of the Nonders, like those from the mausoleum of the old Khan.¡±


    In the Western Regions, the old Khan¡¯s mausoleum was not seen as a sacred ce but rather merely as a big grave stuffed with gold, silver, and jewels. Instead of feeling indignant, they would only admire tomb raiders who had a chance to rob it.


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. ¡°Meng Mingshu won¡¯t be happy about it if we squander the Meng family¡¯s money.¡±


    Back when the Dragon King had been formting the n for the robbery, Zhong Heng hadn¡¯t been in Jade City, so this was the first time that he had heard reliable inside information about it. He thought for a while and then said, ¡°Meng Mingshu has been spending a lot of time around Pang Jing. I¡¯m afraid that he has already disclosed all our secrets to him.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible. Meng Mingshu is not someone who can endure living a hard life. But there¡¯s another issue that concerns me much more. Don¡¯t you think that Pang Jing is close to a lot of people in Jade City?¡±


    Zhong Heng¡¯s heart lurched. His first instinct was to defend himself. ¡°Pang Jing has been acting as if everybody is his old acquaintance. Even I¡­¡± Zhong Heng shut up. This was the Dragon King, in front of whom it was both pointless and useless to y word games. ¡°I think that Pang Jing has probably been doing this on purpose to give the Dragon King this kind of impression.¡±


    ¡°I share your opinion. The appearance of that gold ingot of the Meng family is a contributing factor to more distrust between me and Jade City.¡±


    Zhong Heng understood what the Dragon King meant. He bowed and saluted. ¡°I was being a busybody. I shouldn¡¯t have been tricked into talking about our allies¡¯ mistakes on this kind of asion.¡±


    Gu Shenwei selected a couple of sabers from the shelf. ¡°Prime Minister wasn¡¯t being a busybody. Xiao Fengchai and L¨¹ Qiying are not like you. They¡¯re merchants. It is in their interests and not their partnerships that they care about. I do need someone to watch them for me. But don¡¯t alert them.¡±


    Zhong Heng clearly knew that the Dragon King was only saying this to co-opt his subordination, but he still couldn¡¯t help but feel rather touched. The Dragon King didn¡¯t regard him as a merchant, which was a great recognition of him. So he bowed deeply and said, ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll go back to northern Jade City right now. By the way, the preparation for the kung fupetition concerning the selection of the Lord of Jade City is almost done. Only the venue remains undecided. Does the Dragon King have any instructions?¡±


    ¡°I trust your judgement,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Zhong Heng left the Department of Guards, secretly analyzing the personality of his young master the whole time. He was aware that there were many things that he wasn¡¯t allowed to be a part of. With regards to this huge amount of money of the Meng family, the Dragon King had absolutely formted a n for counterattack, which he didn¡¯t have a chance to participate in.


    Thinking of the Meng family, Zhong Heng involuntarily started picturing dramaticallyrge piles of gold and silver ingots in his mind. He also faintly felt tempted, so he understood why that small gold ingot had attracted so much attention in Jade City.


    Carrying a couple of sabers, Gu Shenwei walked out of the arsenal and handed them to Hu Shining, who had been waiting outside. Then the two went into a small nearby side-yard.


    Five teenagers, who were waiting there with their arms drooping, immediately knelt down on one knee upon seeing the Dragon King. All of them had been through Hu Shining¡¯s training sessions, so there were still some inevitable lingering effects of Golden Roc Castle¡¯s influence in them. Kneeling down on one knee was apromise for them. Hu Shining, who was a man of little words, had indicated that he was uninterested in the Big Snow Mountain swordsmen¡¯s principle of never kneeling before their master.


    ¡°These five warriors have done a very good job recently. They deserve to be rewarded,¡± said Hu Shining. He was still not used to the form of address ¡°warrior.¡±


    Gu Shenwei ordered the five teenagers to stand up, took the sabers from Hu Shining one by one, and then gave them to the five Warriors as awards.


    The Dragon King did this because Hu Shining strongly rmended him to. A killers¡¯ loyalty was deeply hidden, which was why they yearned for their master¡¯s attention more thanmon subordinates. If they weren¡¯t given the attention that they deserved, their disloyalty would be just as difficult to detect.


    Hu Shining stated the five teenagers¡¯ names one by one, all of which Gu Shenwei felt familiar with. He paid a simplepliment to each of them, weighing his every word. When it was thest one¡¯s turn, he simply said, ¡°You¡¯re a neer.¡±


    ¡°Qin Yeming,¡± Hu Shining gave the teenager¡¯s name. ¡°It¡¯s been less than two months since he first joined the Warriors Battalion.¡±


    Gu Shenwei knew this teenager. He was the disciple of the Essence Pavilion that Chu Nanping had rescued. ¡°Very good,¡± he said.


    And like that, the awarding ceremony was over. Though other Warriors were not present, they would soon hear the news and regard these five people aspetitors.


    Those teenagers took their leave all at once, except for Qin Yeming, who was standing still, still holding the saber in his hands.


    ¡°Leave,¡± Hu Shining ordered severely.


    But Qin Yeming knelt down again, on both knees this time. ¡°I¡¯ve always meant-¡±


    Hu Shining¡¯s good impression of this teenager disappeared instantly. He stretched out his hand to grab his neck, nning to throw him out of this courtyard.


    Gu Shenwei stopped Hu Shining. ¡°You wanted to see me?¡±


    ¡°I do,¡± Qin Yeming steeled himself for the worst, but his voice was quivering noticeably. ¡°Please let me be Dragon King¡¯s servant. Serving tea, making your bed, folding your quilt, cleaning the floor ¨C I can do all these things.¡±


    Hu Shining was stunned. After quite a while, he couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°You¡¯re a killer¡­ You¡¯re a Warrior. How can a man think of doing stuff only women do?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a Warrior,¡± Qin Yeming said in a low voice, too afraid to raise his head.


    ¡°Then why did you join the Warrior Battalion? You came here of your own ord.¡±


    Qin Yeming kowtowed several times to Hu Shining. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I wanted to see the Dragon King again, but I couldn¡¯t find the opportunity, so I-¡±


    ¡°So you nned to make a contribution through the Warrior Battalion,¡± Hu Shining said coldly in annoyance. He never expected that he would be used by a teenager.


    Qin Yeming kowtowed to him several times again. He had no other way of having an audience with the Dragon King. Chu Nanping had saved him but merely regarded him as amon person. So, it had been impossible for him to ask Chu Nanping to introduce him to the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei looked at this humble teenager. He didn¡¯t like him very much and naturally became suspicious. Qin Yeming used to be a killer apprentice in a branch of Golden Roc Castle who had been recruited to the Essence Pavilion by Wild Horse before being epted into the castle, and who had been frightened out of his wits by the sight of Han Wuxian killing people. His background was extremelyplicated. Judging from his deeds, he was either up to some plot or his will was not strong enough.


    Gu Shenwei had never had a personal servant around him, and neither did he feel it necessary to have one, so he said, ¡°There are a lot of other careers you can devote yourself to. You may quit the Warrior Battalion.¡±


    Gu Shenwei walked towards the outside. He had a lot of other things to do and didn¡¯t want to waste any time on a teenager.


    Hu Shining had already figured out how he should punish this teenager. Qin Yeming must leave the Warrior Battalion, but before that, he had to pay a heavy price, which would serve as a warning to hispanions.


    Qin Yeming probably knew that he was about to lose everything he could rely on, so he stood up and said aloud in a desperate manner, ¡°Dragon King, you were the first one to impose a ban on killing in Jade City. Now I want to stop killing, but you¡¯re telling me no?¡±


    Gu Shenwei stopped, turned around, looked at the teenager, and made a response that took Hu Shining aback. ¡°Follow me.¡±


    This teenager was an apprentice killer who refused to touch a saber. Gu Shenwei suddenly felt that he might be useful for something.


    Qin Yeming was even more surprised. It was not until the Dragon King was about to step out of the gate of the courtyard that he suddenly realized what was going on. He put both his own saber and the one awarded to him by the Dragon King down on the ground, bowed deeply to Hu Shining, and then quickly followed the Dragon King, maintaining a distance of three steps behind him.


    Xu Xiaoyi and Long Fanyun had long been waiting for the Dragon King. They had brought a lot of messages. Seeing the strange teenager behind the Dragon King, both of them were greatly surprised, but neither of them asked any questions.


    ¡°The murderer who killed Wu Xuan was caught. He¡¯s in custody of the Department of Guards. The Dragon King may interrogate him at any time.¡± Xu Xiaoyi appeared fairly smug and excited. The murderer had been caught by the Department of Guards, but he was the one who had provided the clues that contributed to the quick location of the murderer.


    ¡°The murderer was caught. The Central insman is alsoing soon. Let¡¯s get ready to wee our honored guest.¡±


    The Dragon King¡¯s words confused Xu Xiaoyi. ¡°Honored guest? The Commander-In-Chief of Wind? He shouldn¡¯t have found out about this already¡­¡±


    He had hardly finished speaking when a sabersman hurriedly ran into the hall. ¡°Pang Jing, the Governor of the Western Regions, has already entered southern Jade City and will soon arrive at the Department of Guards.¡±

 Chapter 954 - A Big Man

    Chapter 954: A Big Man


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    A tall, strong sabersman was standing in the courtyard,pletely immobilized by a heavy cord, and with a ferocious look on his face. Like an untamed, caged wolf, he was grimacing and letting out threatening growls at all those who dared to approach him.


    Pang Jing walked around him and said, ¡°Ha-ha. He¡¯s really something. He reminds me of the ¡®Ten Valiant Generals¡¯ of my family back in the Central ins.¡±


    Clearly, the sabersman didn¡¯t quite understand the words ¡°Ten Valiant Generals.¡± Confusion gleamed in his eyes, but the look on his face only became even more ferocious. He revealed his yellowish teeth, spitting out bits of spittle from between them.


    Old Man Mu jumped up high and gave the sabersman a kick at the back of his head. ¡°You stupid big guy! He was saying that you were a dog. And you¡¯re really acting like one?¡±


    Pang Jing smiled even more happily, giving no indication whether it was the clumsy sabersman or the short old man that interested him more.


    ¡°The Dragon King has arrived,¡± a guard in the courtyard reported.


    Pang Jing turned around and walked towards the Dragon King, stretching out his hand to point at him. ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s reputation is well-earned. You took action so quick. I¡¯ve just been informed of who the murderer is, but you¡¯ve already caught him. This is not how it was supposed to be. You must tell me how you did it, and then I¡¯ll teach those subordinates of mine a lesson after I return.¡±


    Indeed, no matter who he was talking to, Pang Jing always acted as if he was very familiar with them and as if there was no need to be punctilious.


    Gu Shenwei shrugged and casually replied, ¡°I was just lucky.¡±


    The distance between the two was already very close, but Tie Linglong suddenly popped out and stood between them. After a brief moment of hesitation, Pang Jing found that he couldn¡¯t walk around her, so he gave up his attempt to approach the Dragon King, fished out that shiny, yellow gold ingot, and tossed it to the Dragon King. ¡°Take a look. It¡¯s the cause of all these troubles.¡±


    Gu Shenwei took it, scrutinized it for a while against the sunlight, and then strode towards the captured sabersman.


    ¡°Kneel,¡± Old Man Mu ordered.


    ¡°You¡¯re all standing. Why do I have to kneel?¡± The sabersman replied in a very aggressive tone, as if he was a guest who hadn¡¯t been received with his due courtesies. His voice was hoarse, loud, and sonorous like that of a broken bell.


    ¡°Because you¡¯re more special than us.¡± Old Man Mu was just about to give the sabersman a kick in the back of his knee when the Dragon King stopped him.


    ¡°Your name?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    The sabersman ignored the question, boldly sized the Dragon King up, and a very unconvinced look surfaced on his face.


    ¡°Gao Yang. You look like a wolf but you named yourself mb.¡¯ Clearly, you have some evil intentions,¡± said Old Man Mu.


    Pang Jing burst intoughter again, as if he was here to amuse himself by watching a show, which was why Old Man Mu and Xu Xiaoyi didn¡¯t feel like his presence was redundant. Only Tie Linglong continued to stare at him with a serious look. She kept adjusting her position, staying between him and the Dragon King to prevent this Central insman from getting too close to the Dragon King.


    ¡°You killed Wu Xuan?¡± Gu Shenwei asked another question.


    The sabersman named Gao Yang still refused to answer. He spat hard at the ground and raised his head even higher, veins rippling beneath the skin of his neck.


    ¡°This kid is so rude. Dragon King, shall I smash his knees apart?¡± Old Man Mu had been eager to break the man¡¯s knees for a long time. Recalling his former methods of torturing people, he was itching to re-experience that thrill.


    ¡°One moment.¡± Gao Yang finally spoke. ¡°You¡¯re the Dragon King?¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded.


    ¡°Impossible.¡± Surprisingly, a faint smile appeared on Gao Yang¡¯s face, as if he had just seen through an obvious lie. ¡°How is it possible that the Dragon King is someone like you? He is at least a foot taller than me, and he leaves deep footprints behind when he walks. He also carries a five-foot long saber, not the toy-like, small piece of iron that you¡¯re holding.¡±


    Gu Shenwei had appeared in public many times, and every time, there were a lot of onlookers. But surprisingly, the residents¡¯ description of his looks had be even more dramatic. Most of them had merely glimpsed his figure from a distance, and they had mixed his image with those of his guards. With those swordsmen from the Big Snow Mountain as a foil, the Dragon King had be a very tall man in most of the residents¡¯ minds.


    ¡°You mean like this?¡± Gu Shenwei moved his foot aside, leaving a distinct footprint in the bluestone ground.


    Startled, Gao Yang swallowed hard. ¡°You¡¯re really the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°You big blockhead. This is the Department of Guards. Everybody is acting so respectfully towards him. If he were not the Dragon King, then who else could he possibly be?¡± Old Man Mu couldn¡¯t understand how a man with so little discernment could exist in this world.


    Gao Yang seemed to believe it. He abruptly exerted his full strength, his muscles rippling. With a couple of snaps, several ropes were broken. He let out a cry and pounced on the Dragon King.


    Old Man Mu and the others saw the Dragon King¡¯s hint and didn¡¯t try to stop the sabersman. Over ten steps away, Pang Jing watched this scene with an amused look on his face, but his eyes were not on the Dragon King. Instead, they darted between the other people in the courtyard, constantly shifting back and forth.


    Compared to Gao Yang, the Dragon King was somewhat thin and short, and his fist appeared even weaker. Gao Yang straightened his arm and squarely hit his enemy¡¯s lower abdomen.


    Gao Yang suddenly felt like he had be a lot shorter. Originally he was looking down at the Dragon King, but now, he was looking up at him. And soon, fierce abdominal pains gripped him. He didn¡¯t know why, but his knees had descended to the ground. With an unyielding spirit, he clenched his teeth; his cheeks bulged like rocks, his nostrils dted, and his face flushed scarlet. But he was just trying hard to subdue his urge to let out a pained yell, which made his face even more hideous.


    Pang Jingughed again. He pointed at Gao Yang and looked around trying to find others who shared his sense of humor. His attendants, who were all standing at the gateway, cooperatively let out a moderateugh, but they were not the ones who Pang Jing was looking for.


    Finally, his eyes fell on Qin Yeming. Among all those subordinates of the Dragon King, this teenager was the only one who was sophisticated enough to politely gave a smile when an honored guest¡¯s eyes swept across him.


    After quite a while, Gao Yang¡¯s breathing became steady again, but when he spoke, his voice was even more hoarse than before. ¡°You¡¯re indeed the Dragon King. Good. I was looking for you. Pay me.¡±


    ¡°Ha!¡± Old Man Muughed first, but soon discovered that the Dragon King had no intention of letting him talk, so he had to choke down all the sarcastic words he was about to blurt out.


    ¡°I owe you money?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    Gao Yang continued to kneel. ¡°Of course. You have to pay for the killing I¡¯ve done for you. It¡¯s been a couple of days. I don¡¯t even have enough money to buy wine because you didn¡¯t pay.¡±


    ¡°Who did you kill?¡±


    ¡°Wu Xuan, of course. He stole the Dragon King¡¯s money, and so the Dragon King wanted him dead. It¡¯s a very normal thing. Though he has been very generous recently and even often invited me to go drinking with him, he never brought me with him when he went whoring. That was not cool, so I also wanted to kill him. The Dragon King promised me a thousand taels of silver, but I haven¡¯t gotten a single tael yet. You should have told me that there was gold on Wu Xuan. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have had such a tough time. I¡¯ve been meaning to contact you for a long time, but those guys outside the military camp didn¡¯t let me-¡±


    Gao Yang was garrulous and somewhat incoherent, but everyone present in the courtyard basically understood his meaning.


    Pang Jing, who had been listening very carefully the whole time, suddenly walked sideways, intending to make his way around Tie Linglong while she wasn¡¯t paying attention to him. However, after three steps, he found that the green-eyed little girl was still in front of him, so he had to give up and loudly say to the saberman, ¡°Nonsense. All your words just now were nonsense. Earlier, you didn¡¯t even know who the Dragon King was. But now, you¡¯re trying to say that the Dragon King hired you to kill people. The Dragon King¡¯s sabersmanship is divine, and he has numerous kung fu experts at hismand. Why would he hire you?¡±


    Gao Yang tilted his body and nced at Pang Jing, feeling that this guy who wasughing a lot was both hateful and confusing. ¡°Don¡¯t the Dragon King¡¯s men do things on behalf of the Dragon King? Do you have to do everything yourself?¡±


    Pang Jing became speechless and didn¡¯t know how to rebut this stupid big man¡¯s rhetorical question.


    Old Man Mu briefly nodded behind Gao Yang, thinking that this man wasn¡¯t incurably foolish afterall.


    ¡°My men hired you to be a killer?¡± Gu Shenwei ignored that small argument and asked a further question.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s his name?¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t tell me.¡±


    ¡°Look around. Is he in this courtyard?¡±


    First, Gao Yang¡¯s eyes swept across all those people he could see, and then he stood up, turned around, and checked the others. Atst, he stared down at Old Man Mu for quite a while.


    ¡°Why are you looking at me? Do you want to frame me? If I hired you, then I would have killed you a long time ago.¡±


    ¡°I want to stamp this locust to death.¡± Gao Yang was caught by Old Man Mu, who had made him suffer a lot along the way. So, he had temporarily forgotten about the other things when he saw him.


    ¡°Then have a try. Let¡¯s find out whether the little locust will be stamped to death or whether your big foot will be bones.¡±


    The two red at each other. Eventually, Gao Yang didn¡¯t dare raise his foot. He suddenly turned around and said to the Dragon King, ¡°No. The man who hired me is not in this courtyard. The Dragon King has hundreds of thousands of subordinates. You can hide him wherever you want. Besides, that man came to me masked, and he carried a small knife just like yours. He said that he was your henchman. I didn¡¯t see his face.¡±


    Old Man Mu was so angry that he kicked him. ¡°Why were you looking around if you didn¡¯t see his face?¡±


    Pang Jing loudly said, ¡°Dragon King, there¡¯s no need for you to continue this interrogation. Clearly, this stupid big guy was fooled. Somebody wanted to kill people in the name of the Dragon King. Heh-heh, this kind of petty trick could only trick someone like Gao Yang. Why waste time on this? You might as well kill him by way ofw.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t kill him,¡± Gu Shenwei said as he turned around. Tie Linglong stepped aside. Pang Jing was finally allowed to approach the Dragon King, but he wisely stopped five steps away from him.


    ¡°The Dragon King also shows mercy? This guy vited the ban on killing. You still want to spare him?¡±


    ¡°The ban on killing is only applicable to the troops of the Dragon Army and those who volunteered to abide by it. Wu Xuan and Gao Yang are not among them.¡±


    Within the jurisdiction of the Department of Guards, most of the sabersman had expressed their eptance of the Dragon King¡¯s ban on killing via various means, but a small number of people refused to abide by it for their own special reasons. Wu Xuan was a bounty hunter, so he was unwilling to be restricted while Gao Yang had no idea what the ban on killing meant at all. He was also not a member of any organization of any kind, so he was like a fish that had escaped through the. Gu Shenwei had made some inquiries and known about this before he walked into this courtyard.


    Pang Jing tentatively took two steps forward and get closer to the Dragon King, saying in a low voice, ¡°The Dragon King still remembers our deal, right? We¡¯ll split the money, fifty-fifty. I wasn¡¯t joking.¡±


    ¡°Neither was I,¡± answered Gu Shenwei. ¡°There are a lot of people eyeing this money. We can¡¯t let anybody else beat us to it. Maybe this sabersman can be useful.¡±


    Pang Jing nodded approvingly. ¡°What do you have in mind, Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°I have a half-baked idea, but I need Governor Pang¡¯s help.¡±


    ¡°Whatever you say, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Um.¡± Gu Shenwei returned the gold ingot to Pang Jing. ¡°It¡¯s not appropriate to let this guy named Gao Yang stay here in my ce. Please take him away.¡±


    Pang Jing¡¯s face was full of amazement. ¡°What good will it do for me to take him away? He doesn¡¯t even know what his employer looks like.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t he say that my man hired him? Then I¡¯ll send someone to him. Maybe I can lure that person out that way.¡±


    Pang Jing was stunned. Clearly, he didn¡¯t expect that the Dragon King would make this move. Before he could react, Gu Shenwei waved at Qin Yeming. When the confused teenager walked up to him, he said, ¡°You hired Gao Yang to kill Wu Xuan. The Governor wants to interrogate you. I can¡¯t cover for you. Go with the Governor.¡±


    Qin Yeming knelt down with a thud. He just wanted to be amon servant and had no idea why the Dragon King wanted to send him into the jaws of death.

 Chapter 955 - Conjecture

    Chapter 955: Conjecture


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Pang Jingnguidly sprawled in a chair with his right arm resting on the table, randomly scribbling on the surface with his fingers. ¡°Who hired that stupid big guy?¡±


    There were only two people in the room. Luo Qikang was standing behind Pang Jing to his side. ¡°Why? Did he let the cat out of the bag?¡±


    ¡°Heh. He didn¡¯t even know where the cat is. How could he let it out? But¡­ the Dragon King¡¯s reaction was somewhat different from what I expected. I had thought of several ns to ¡®snatch¡¯ that guy up, but he actually offered to give him to me, and he also sacrificed a servant. What is he up to exactly?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is very sinister and likes to make weird moves. But deep down, he¡¯s still a killer who trusts the saber in his hand more than anything else.¡±


    ¡°s. My good brother, forget about the Dragon King¡¯s personality, will you? Just tell me what he is going to do next.¡±


    ¡°I can only make spections.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve dealt with the Dragon King several times before, so your spections should be more urate than mine.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King insisted on giving that sabersman to you, saying that he wanted to lure the enemy out. So, he himself will surelye here to observe, and he wille by stealthily. If by any chance he is spotted, then he¡¯ll just say that he came here to give you a hint.¡±


    Pang Jing suddenly straightened himself up and looked around nervously. ¡°Do you think that he¡¯s hiding somewhere nearby now?¡±


    ¡°As long as I¡¯m here, he wouldn¡¯t daree near this ce.¡± Luo Qikang¡¯s nd tone was full of pride.


    Pang Jing burst intoughter. He liked making small jokes, especially at people like Luo Qikang, as jokes usually worked better when told to serious people. Like a sugarcane coated in sugar, he piled himself into the chair again. ¡°The Dragon King is very smart. Even if he is a killer, he is a smart killer. This show¡¯s audience is the residents of Jade City. He wants to prove to everybody that he was not the mastermind responsible for that robbery.¡±


    ¡°Humph. Even the children in Jade City know that the Meng family¡¯s wealth fell into the Dragon King¡¯s hands. Do you really think that he can deny it?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate the Dragon King. I keep having this feeling that he¡¯s ying some kind of trick.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because the look on his face is always cold, which makes you feel like he¡¯s anticipated everything.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha. You really do hate the Dragon King deeply.¡±


    ¡°He killed my younger brother and ruined the reputation of the Luo family,¡± Luo Qikang said resentfully. Of course he hated the Dragon King, as he had more than one reason to do so.


    ¡°He also made you admit defeat in public.¡± Pang Jing blinked with a teasing smile. ¡°Rest assured. I¡¯ll help you get a small part of your revenge by making him swallow the bitter pill in silence in front of all residents. Have you invited all our guests?¡±


    ¡°I have. What about the Dragon King¡¯s servant?¡±


    ¡°Have him brought here.¡± Pang Jing had a well-thought-out n, believing that he would surely see through the Dragon King¡¯s true intention.


    Pang Jing was very confident, but Qin Yeming had no idea what he should do at all.


    He couldn¡¯t understand why the Dragon King had ¡°sent¡± him to this Central insman. Was this his punishment for quitting the Warrior Battalion? It seemed too lenient. Part of it was because the Governor of the Western Regions didn¡¯t even treat him as a prisoner. Gao Yang had been jailed, but he on the other hand, was living in a guest room, and there were even servants waiting on him.


    Was the Dragon King testing him? Qin Yeming believed that it was possible. But he had only met the Dragon King twice, and everything that he knew about the Dragon King was from rumors. How could he urately guess the Dragon King¡¯s thoughts?


    ¡®Even a small hint would be nice.¡¯ Qin Yeming was deeply concerned, and his palms were covered in sweat. After hearing that the Governor of the Western Regions had summoned him, he became even more nervous.


    Watching this flustered teenager, Pang Jing thought that the Dragon King really did have a lot of talented subordinates, which included this teenager that was so good at acting.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Pang Jing asked amiably.


    ¡°Qin Yeming,¡± the teenager answered respectfully, his hands drooping.


    ¡°Which two characters?¡±


    ¡°¡®Ye¡¯ is the word ¡®night¡¯. ¡®Ming¡¯ is from the word ¡®tomorrow.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Um. That¡¯s a good name. Who gave it to you? Your parents or your teacher?¡±


    The conversation seemed natural and casual, which greatly alleviated Qin Yeming¡¯s nervousness. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I was very young when I was brought to a training camp. I don¡¯t even know who gave me my surname.¡±


    ¡°Oh, poor kid. You don¡¯t look like a servant. How did you be the Dragon King¡¯s servant?¡±


    ¡°I volunteered.¡± Qin Yeming naturally followed the principle of killers. He didn¡¯t disclose the fact that he had used to be a Warrior whose job was to kill people.


    Pang Jing walked up to the teenager, grabbed his hands, and scrutinized his palms for a while before saying, ¡°These are a sabersman¡¯s hands.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ve quit using weapons. I¡¯ll never touch them again.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Pang Jing asked in astonishment, before turning around and walking towards his seat.


    After the Central insman sat down, Qin Yeming answered, ¡°I¡¯m a coward who can¡¯t stand the sight of blood and corpses. I¡¯ve never liked sabers or swords.¡±


    ¡°Heh-heh. You¡¯re willing to admit that you¡¯re a coward, which is truly a brave deed. Why did the Dragon King let you be his servant? Because you¡¯re a coward? You¡¯ll have to deal with a lot of blood and corpses if you follow him.¡±


    Qin Yeming couldn¡¯t exin. He had followed the Dragon King for less than an hour, and the first order that he had been given was to go with the Central insmen. ¡°The Dragon King¡­ The Dragon King¡­¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to answer if it¡¯s not convenient. You should keep the information about your master secret.¡±


    The Central insman¡¯s easy-going attitude made the teenager feel relieved, and he involuntarily startedparing him to the Dragon King, feeling that this person in front of him was more like a good master in all aspects.


    Qin Yeming didn¡¯t ask Pang Jing for his permission, and it didn¡¯t seem presumptuous either. For the rest of this day, Qin Yeming stayed close to the Governor of the Western Regions for almost the entire time, as if he were his personal servant.


    Pang Jing was a person who liked to be busy. He received guests, dealt with military affairs, and inspected the mansion. It was not until the third night-watch that he finally went to bed.


    Qin Yeming returned to his own room andy down on a strange bed. He started reviewing the past few hours, feeling even more uncertain about his situation. Though the Governor of the Western Regions had just chatted with him without asking him any sensitive questions, he clearly knew that the Governor was trying to co-opt him. He had to either keep acting dumb, wait for an opportunity to return to the Dragon King some day, or make an appropriate response and find himself a new master.


    The teenager kept weighing the pros and cons of the two choices, tossing and turning on the bed. It was not until dawn was about to break that he finally fell asleep.


    Luo Qikang also didn¡¯t sleep that night. He still believed in his judgement, feeling that the Dragon King had probably already sneaked into northern Jade City, and that he might even be hiding in the mansion of the Governor right now. The Dragon King didn¡¯t dare go near him, but he dared to go near the Dragon King.


    But he was disappointed. He didn¡¯t know whether he had misjudged him or if the Dragon King had hid himself too well. Luo Qikang didn¡¯t find anything unusual. Though the arrest of the murderer Gao Yang had aroused a lot of discussion, nobody hade here to save or kill him, and there were no intruders either.


    In the morning, Luo Qikang saw his failure reflected in the teasing look on Pang Jing¡¯s face. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind, and he asked, ¡°Is it possible that the Dragon King has guessed your n?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible, but even if he did, what can he do? Does he have any other choice besides to jump into the trap? Unless he¡¯s willing to make a clean break with the Central ins, which would mean abandoning all the effort that he has made during the past few months, it won¡¯t happen. Um. We should take precautions. Today, you must stay by my side.¡±


    Luo Qikang nodded. ¡°Actually, I hope that the Dragon King dares to take a risk.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha. You will risk my life to get your revenge?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is no match for me.¡± Luo Qikang¡¯s face turned sepulchral, which was how he showed his anger. ¡°He thinks that his vulnerability will stay hidden as long as he doesn¡¯t pull out his saber, but I know where his vulnerable part is. One sword strike ¨C I just need one sword strike. After that, the Dragon King will never trouble anyone again.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be anxious,¡± Pang Jing yawned with a slightly sleepy face. ¡°Enemies are the best pawns. The Dragon King will be of great use. Today, let¡¯s just make him swallow a bitter pill in silence. I bet that he won¡¯t risking here.¡±


    Pang Jing washed his face with cold water and got rid of most of his sleepiness. He took a towel from Luo Qikang¡¯s hands, but didn¡¯t wipe his face right away. ¡°Let me do some extra careful thinking. The Dragon King¡­ The Dragon King¡­ What other choices does he have?¡±


    That noon, almost all of the bigwigs in Jade City congregated in the Governor¡¯s mansion. The Unique King was the only one who didn¡¯te. Zhang Ji was his plenipotentiary representative in his stead.


    Taking advantage of this opportunity, leaders of tradingpanies cautiously fawned on the potential Lord of Jade City. They tried to express their support for one side without offending the other.


    The kung fupetition concerning the selection of the Lord of Jade City was about to be held, which was a golden opportunity for them to develop rtionships, because the most powerful sides were also trying to co-opt them.


    Gu Shenwei came to the mansion by way of invitation. He was given a warm wee and a lot of meaningful gazes, and he also saw many acquaintances.


    Shangguan Ru was present, mingling like a fish in water on this asion. Including Pang Jing, almost everybody was willing to make friends with her, as if she would no doubt be the Lord of Jade City. In fact, everybody knew that the leader of the Kun Society would be very helpful for them to develop a good rtionship with the Lord of Jade City regardless of whether the Unique King or the Dragon King won the kung fupetition.


    Lotus also entered. She was dressed in in clothes and wore an apathetic look on her face. Besides her servant, Shangguan Hong, nobody else dared to get close to her. Hardly anybody thought that the Waning Moon Hall stood a chance in thispetition for the position of the Lord of Jade City. The rumors about the female lunatics also deterred most people.


    Shangguan Ru greeted the Dragon King in a natural manner but never approached him again after that. Lotus, on the other hand, departed from her normal behavior and directly walked up to Gu Shenwei and apathetically asked, ¡°Where did you send Han Fen? She¡¯s a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall.¡±


    ¡°She can¡¯t keep freeloading at my ce. I sent her to do something for me. She¡¯ll tell you the details when shees back.¡±


    Without asking any further questions, Lotus walked to the other side of the hall with an icy look on her face.


    Many people heard their conversation, but nobody cared about it much.


    In Jade City, there were several industries in which most of the workers were women. Therefore, apart from Shangguan Ru and Lotus, seven or eight female industry leaders had also been invited. They all gathered around Shangguan Ru, trying their best to fawn on her.


    What everybody cared the most was the subject of this conference. It was said that the whereabouts of the Meng family¡¯s wealth had been pinpointed. Even if the money had nothing to do with them, they still wanted to see it with their own eyes.


    The Dragon King didn¡¯t know when, but Zhang Ji appeared beside him then, saying, ¡°I think that a marypetition is the best way to select the Lord of Jade City rather than a kung fupetition. The residents of Jade City prefer the former.¡±


    Zhang Ji then looked at Shangguan Hong, who was standing besides Lotus. He had an unconcerned look on his face. Nobody knew by who he wanted his words to be heard by.


    Gu Shenwei twisted his head aside and said to the dignified teacher, ¡°The thing that everybody likes the most is their money, which is why they need someone to protect it for them.¡±


    Zhang Ji shook his head and said no more.


    All in all, more than thirty bigwigs had arrived. Though every one of them had their own respective designated seat, none of them sat down. Pang Jing walked among the crowd, greeting each and every one of them, as if he was an old friend of everybody¡¯s. He even enthusiastically conversed with the chilly Master Commander of the Waning Moon Hall, and audaciouslyplimented her in front of all those people, saying that she was like a female celestialing from heaven.


    Lotus didn¡¯t seem to dislike it.


    The time for exchanging usual pleasantries was now over. Standing in front of the conference table, Pang Jing loudly said, ¡°Behold, the Second Young Master Meng. Today, he is going to demand the return of his family assets.¡±


    As if unconsciously, Pang Jing¡¯s eyes swept across the Dragon King, and with that, he became even more confident. ¡®The Dragon King doesn¡¯t have a choice,¡¯ he thought.

 Chapter 956 - : A Bet

    Chapter 956: A Bet


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Meng Mingshu still hadn¡¯t decided what kind of face he should put on even when he was already in the hall of the Governor¡¯s mansion. ¡®Should I act like a helpless victim or a sessor of the Meng family who still has some pride left?¡¯ He thought that this was all L¨¹ Qiying¡¯s fault. That man had listed a series of reasons of why they should side with the Central insmen but he hadn¡¯t told the Second Young Master Meng how he could make this show wless.


    Meng Mingshu knew almost everybody in this hall. When the Meng family had been in its prime, these people had been the circle of friends of his family. They were also the small group of elites of Jade City. Now, they were a group of curious onlookers with rich feelings, who were nning on siding with the one who eventually got therge amount of wealth.


    Meng Mingshu moved his eyes aside and saw the Dragon King. He involuntarily felt a cold shiver run through him. The corner of his lips twitched briefly. Now, he had to act like a victim, one that everybody, weak or strong, could bully. And he also had to put on a slightly indignant and sad face. So, he cupped his hands before his chest to pay his respects to these people. When he faced Pang Jing, he gave a special bow.


    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen.¡± When Meng Mingshu uttered the first three words, he found that his voice was just asposed as before, so he was very pleased. Even the panic in him greatly reduced. ¡°With the help of the noble Governor of the Western Regions, I invited you all here because there¡¯s one thing that I need your support with ¨C seeking justice for the Meng family.¡±


    Everybody pretended that they were listening carefully, but they all slightly moved their heads to get a better view of the Dragon King with the corners of their eyes, wondering how this person who had robbed the Meng family of their wealth would react. Pang Jing was the only one who boldly stared squarely at the Dragon King, a smile on the corner of his lips. Luo Qikang was standing beside him with his head down, not looking at anybody.


    The Dragon King¡¯s face remained calm. Pang Jing felt a great admiration for this young man who was a couple of years younger than him. He was slightly surprised that this man could still keep hisposure even when facing this sudden assault from the sessor of the Meng family. But the Dragon King¡¯s body slightly tilted to the left, he exhibited a trace of surprise and vignce.


    Pang Jing took a step backwards, getting closer to Luo Qikang. He believed that the Dragon King was too sensible to do anything reckless, but he still chose to be cautious, just in case.


    Meng Mingshu felt fear creep up his spine again. Nobody in the hall gave a responses. Even the Governor of the Western Regions stayed silent. This was not the trap that L¨¹ Qiying had described. Wasn¡¯t the Central insman supposed to step forward now and back him up at this moment? Meng Mingshu gave out two coughs, emboldened himself, and then continued. ¡°As you all know, about a year ago, the Meng family suffered a disastrous loss. My father was murdered. Then the vault of our old mansion as well as our tradingpanies and banks in various areas of the Western Regions were all robbed.¡±


    Finally, somebody spoke out in Meng Mingshu¡¯s support. As if he could never change his lecturing tone, there was a hint of usation in Zhang Ji¡¯s voice. ¡°There¡¯s a lord from the Central ins here. The Meng family has finally found someone who can help the Meng family obtain justice.¡±


    This remark sounded fairly strange, but Meng Mingshu didn¡¯t mind it, and replied, ¡°That¡¯s true. If it weren¡¯t for the Governor of the Western Regions, I wouldn¡¯t have had the courage toe here to seek justice.¡±


    Pang Jing moved his eyes off of the Dragon King. ¡°The Second Young Master Meng is overestimating me. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that the Jade City is leaderless for the moment, the Central insmen wouldn¡¯t have traveled thousands of miles toe here. To be honest, I¡¯ve always been worried that the residents here feel that the Central ins are being a busybody by trying to take control of this city by force.¡±


    The truth had been revealed in such an explicit way. Over thirty bigwigs in Jade City contradicted him, saying that the Central ins was the savior as well as the source of stability of Jade City, and that by no means should the Central ins be deemed a busybody.


    Only a couple of them had remained silent out of prudence.


    Pledging his allegiance to the Central ins took Meng Mingshu a short amount of time. After that, he stood there awkwardly, too afraid to look at the Dragon King.


    Pang Jing believed that it was time for him to speak. He raised his hand, signaled the crowd to quiet down, and said amiably, ¡°But I¡¯m a little confused. I¡¯ve been in Jade City for over a month. Why didn¡¯t the Meng family ask me to help you seek justice earlier?¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯ve been trying to find clues and evidence.¡± Meng Mingshu was relieved. It was not until this moment that he felt that this conference was an actual a trap that had been promised by L¨¹ Qiying instead of a one-man show.


    ¡°Did the Second Young Master Meng find the whereabouts of the stolen money?¡± someone asked. That person had a premonition that this was going to be quite a good show, so he had decided to snatch a role for himself in advance, believing that he might be rewarded afterwards.


    ¡°The whereabouts of the money is still unknown, but I finally figured out who robbed my family.¡± Meng Mingshu had been preparing to make this remark for a long time, so he was able to say this in a firm and positive tone, fully expressing the indignation and sense of justice that a victim should possess.


    Nobody dared to ask who that person was. Even those who wanted to most fawn on the Meng family and the high-ranking Central ins official kept silent at this moment, darting their eyes back and forth. They also tried to get as far away from the Dragon King as possible, preparing the surprised look that they would put on in a short while.


    ¡°Who was it?¡± Unexpectedly, a voice came from the corner. Everyone¡¯s eyes flicked over, wondering who this reckless person was.


    Lotus stared back at the crowd. The look in her eyes was so apathetic that it seemed as if they contained the coldness of the winter in Jade City, as if all the trees and grass that her eyes swept across would wither.


    ¡®A maniac.¡¯ This impression of her, which everybody already had, became even deeper. Nobody dared to look her in the eye.


    Meng Mingshu¡¯s heart also lurched when he saw her eyes. Horrified, he paused for a quite a while before re-gathering his courage and turning around. First, he told himself to stand steadily, and then he looked the Dragon King in the eyes and said, ¡°Dragon King, please return the money to the Meng family.¡±


    Now, everybody could move their eyes to the Dragon King without any concern. There was a perfectly affected look of surprise on everybody¡¯s face. Someone even dropped their teacup.


    Shangguan Ru couldn¡¯t help but let out augh, and then she hurriedly turned her head aside and pretended to be coughing.


    As if he had either not heard Meng Mingshu¡¯s words or not have any ideas as to how he should react, the Dragon King just stood there with an expressionless face.


    Pang Jing, the Governor of the Western Regions, was the first one to question him, and his tone was stern and formal. ¡°Meng Mingshu, I can understand that you want justice, but I never expected you to make this move. You used the Dragon King of robbing your family of your money. Are you courting death?¡±


    Surprisingly, the sterner Pang Jing was, the calmer Meng Mingshu became. He gradually became even more concentrated on his performance. Pointing at the Dragon King, he said in a dramatic voice, ¡°The Meng family has been ruined anyway. My life doesn¡¯t matter anymore. Today, I must reveal the truth. Dragon King, do you dare-¡±


    Chu Nanping, the attendant that Gu Shenwei had brought here, took a step forward past the Dragon King, his hand on the hilt of his sword. Taken aback, Meng Mingshu hurriedly put his hand down, and with that, his voice also lowered. ¡°Do you dare to say that the Meng family¡¯s money is not in your hands?¡±


    Gu Shenwei gently waved his hand and signaled Chu Nanping to draw back. ¡°The Meng family¡¯s money is not in my hands.¡±


    Meng Mingshu was stunned. He had predicted that the Dragon King would deny it, but he still felt a little strange that the Dragon King had denied it in such a simple and straightforward way. Soon, he understood that it was because there had been a w in his question. ¡°Yes. You don¡¯t have the money because you gave it to someone else to hide. Wasn¡¯t it you who ordered your subordinates to snatch the Meng family¡¯s money in various ces?¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just show us the evidence? That will save us a lot of time,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    The Dragon King¡¯sposure made the onlookers feel even more uneasy. A lot of people began to regret their decision. All they had thought about was looking on, and they hadpletely forgotten that the Dragon King was a devil who could kill people without blinking. Certainly, that ban on killing that he had imposed meant nothing to himself.


    ¡°Evidence. Yes. Show us the evidence,¡± somebody yelled before seriously nodding at the Dragon King, trying to indicate that he was on the Dragon King¡¯s side.


    ¡°Wait.¡± Pang Jing walked up to Meng Mingshu, closely followed by Luo Qikang. ¡°Leaving the evidence aside, Meng Mingshu, do you know who the Dragon King is?¡±


    Things were bing more and more like what L¨¹ Qiying had described. Meng Mingshu even felt a ghost of excitement pass through him. All of the fear and guilt brought on by his betrayal of the Dragon King dissolved. ¡°Of course I do. The Dragon King has the 10,000-strong Dragon Army and the 10,000-strong Shule Kingdom Army outside the city at hismand. He¡¯s powerful. Besides the Central ins, nobody else is his match. But I think that he became a different man after he imposed a ban on killing. The justice that the Meng family wants is very simple ¨C the Dragon King must give us our money back. That¡¯s all. We don¡¯t want him to ept any responsibility for the robbery.¡±


    Pang Jing sneered. ¡°Nobody in all of the whole Western Regions dares to hold the Dragon King responsible for anything, not to mention the Meng family.¡±


    Meng Mingshu raised his head and threw his chest out, his face full of determination and courage to burn his bridge. ¡°From most people¡¯s eyes, I wouldn¡¯t dare to resist even if the Dragon King wanted to kill me. But the Meng family¡¯s money doesn¡¯t belong to me alone. It¡¯s the fruit of generations of hard work of my family members. I can¡¯t just let it disappear under my watch like this.¡±


    ¡°I can understand your pain, but I can¡¯t ept your wild usation against the Dragon King. This is not how the Central ins upholds justice.¡±


    Surprisingly, Pang Jing tried to stop Meng Mingshu from presenting evidence. Gu Shenwei knew this was the part where he should step forward and demand the presentation of the evidence so as to prove his innocence, but he instead just stood still in silence, as if the usation had nothing to do with him at all.


    Meng Mingshu waited for a while but there was no response, so he had to stick to the n. HE said, ¡°Of course using the Dragon King is a very risky thing to do. However, today, I¡¯m ready to risk everything. How about this? If I fail to prove that the Dragon King robbed my family of our money, then I¡¯ll give up the im for it, and the Dragon King can have the money if he manages to find it in the future.¡±


    In front of him was not a closed off alleyway. Gu Shenwei had proof that the robbery had been nned by him and Meng Mingshu collectively, that technically, it was not a robbery at all. That it was actually just a covert transfer of money. But he had no intention ofplicating the situation, so he said, ¡°That¡¯s good. You may present the evidence now.¡±


    Things went very smoothly. Meng Mingshu was relieved. L¨¹ Qiying¡¯s prophecy came true. The Dragon King didn¡¯t dare disclose the truth because he wanted to pocket all of the money. Once he stated the context of the robbery, he would have to keep the false promise and return the money. Meng Mingshu believed that the Dragon King still wanted to turn the tide at thest moment.


    Pang Jing began to feel uneasy, but he still decided to continue. He withdrew his serious look and burst intoughter. ¡°This is very interesting. An usation has turned into a bet. Meng Mingshu, listen carefully. If your evidence is problematic, then the Meng family¡¯s money, wherever it is at this moment, will be the Dragon King¡¯s from now on.¡±


    Among all of the details of the whole n, this was the only one that Meng Mingshu was uncertain of. He had once asked L¨¹ Qiying why he had to make a bet about this, and the answer he had been given was, ¡°It¡¯s impossible for the Central insmen to side with you in public. They have to act impartially.¡±


    That was it. It was toote to regret. He had already offended the Dragon King thoroughly, and there was no more room for maneuvering. ¡°Governor, please have that murderer named Gao Yang brought here.¡±


    ¡°Eek. You¡¯re the one who is supposed to present the evidence. Why are you asking me to do it?¡± Pang Jing asked in surprise.


    ¡°Gao Yang is only one of the witnesses. I have another more important witness to confront him with, which will prove my every word.¡±


    ¡°You may summon your witness here first.¡±


    Meng Mingshu watched the Dragon King, believing that he could endure the look in those frigid eyes, but he overestimated himself. After only a short while, he turned his head aside and loudly said, ¡°Duan Zihua,e in!¡±


    A skinny old man walked into the hall and knelt down before Meng Mingshu with a thud, his face ashen.


    A lot of people recognized him. This old steward of the Meng family had been missing for a very long time. Rumor said that it was him who had colluded with the Dragon King and stolen the Meng family¡¯s money.


    In fact, Gu Shenwei was slightly surprised. He had thought that the ce where he had hidden Duan Zihua was covert enough. Unexpectedly, the opponent had still found Duan Zihua, and he had even totally unaware of it until this moment.

 Chapter 957 - Dissolution of Confusion

    Chapter 957: Dissolution of Confusion


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The night before Meng Mingshu went to the mansion of the Governor, he was still wavering. He asked L¨¹ Qiying, ¡°Will the Dragon King give me my family¡¯s money back even if everything goes smoothly? I mean, he¡¯s now the de facto lord of Jade City. If he resorts to violence, then who can possibly stop him? No matter how powerful the Central ins is, their armies are too far away, aren¡¯t they?¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying let out a heartyugh to contrast against the Second Young Master Meng¡¯s momentary stupidity. ¡°Sure. If the Dragon King resorts to violence, then the 20,000 troops of the Central ins certainly won¡¯t be enough to stop him. As a result, we shall never give the Dragon King the chance to do so.¡±


    Meng Mingshu wanted his family¡¯s money back even in his dreams. In his mind, to get thisrge sum of money, it was worth waging a war over, not to mention bing an enemy of the Dragon King. Therefore, he watched L¨¹ Qiying in confusion, waiting for him to give a reason.


    ¡°You know what it means to make a small sacrifice in order to get a greater profit, right?¡± L¨¹ Qiying appeared faintly impatient, wondering how he had failed to tell that this Second Young Master Meng was a fool when the Meng family had been in its prime.


    ¡°Of course I do.¡± Meng Mingshu also frowned. ¡°Are you saying that my family¡¯s wealth is the small sacrifice? Do you how much-¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying briefly snorted. ¡°No matter how much the Meng family¡¯s wealth is worth, can it possibly rival the value of Jade City in its entirety, or half of the Western Regions? The Dragon King is a very greedy man. His ambition is far greater than your family¡¯s money. He wants Jade City, half of the Western Regions, and most importantly, he wants the Central ins¡¯ official recognition so that he can own all of these ces rightfully.¡±


    Meng Mingshu understood Tavernkeeper L¨¹¡¯s words, but even more questions arose within his mind. ¡°Wait. I¡¯m confused. In order to take Jade City, the Dragon King is willing to give up the Meng family¡¯s assets. I understand this, but if that¡¯s the case, then won¡¯t the Meng family be doomed? I mean, if I offend the Dragon King, then won¡¯t he retaliate against me? So, I think that I might as well wait. Maybe the Dragon King will keep his promise and give me my money back some day.¡±


    ¡°Ha. First, the Dragon King will never be satiated no matter how much money he takes. Give you your money back? Stop daydreaming. He will suck Jade City dry and pocket thest copper coin in it. Secondly, both Jade City and the Western Regions is just bait dangling in front of the Dragon King, tricking him into thinking that there are greater profits ahead. All so that he will give up the Meng family¡¯s money willingly. The Central ins has been nning to take over the Western Regions for years. Do you really think they will hand it over to the Dragon King just like that? What kind of woman do you think Lady Xiao is? If she wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure, then why would she send me here? We¡¯re just making the first move. Soon, you¡¯ll see more and more people start to betray the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Light suddenly dawned on Meng Mingshu. ¡°When the Dragon King realizes that he is not capable of taking Jade City, he will be more unwilling to give me my money back.¡±


    ¡°Tell me about it.¡± L¨¹ Qiying admired Xiao Fengchai. That woman could read this man like a book and had anticipated his every reaction.


    Meng Mingshu became even more confident that he knew how things would turn out. As a result, in the mansion of the Governor, he urgently suggested they put a bet on it, trying to send the Dragon King a message. ¡°All I want is my money. I won¡¯t get in your way to supremacy.¡±


    But when he recalled that the Dragon King had once promised to return all of the money, but now that the Central insmen would take half of it, Meng Mingshu still felt a painful loss. He could only try tofort himself with this fact: there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. The Dragon King¡¯s promise was tempting, but it was just further proof that he didn¡¯t mean it. That Central insman demanded an exorbitant price, but he was more trustworthy. This was how transactions worked.


    On that very night, Luo Qikang was also uncertain about the n that was to be carried out the next day. He was worried that the Dragon King might be agitated into taking impulsive action in front of everyone. He was the only one who dared to ask Pang Jing directly, ¡°Do you think that the Dragon King will admit to the robbery? I feel that in no circumstances will he ever do that because that¡¯s not who he is. I have you remind you that if he gets angry and decides to make a risky move, then I can only promise to keep you safe, but I won¡¯t be able to stop him. The 20,000 Central ins troops stationed outside the city are absolutely loyal to that Dugu Xian as if they are under some kind of magic spell, and they also admire the Dragon King from the bottom of their hearts and have no intention of fighting a war against him at all.¡±


    Pang Jing pointed at his own head. ¡°I¡¯m not stupid either. I certainly won¡¯t challenge the Dragon King with merely 20,000 men. You haven¡¯t seen the core of the whole n yet.¡±


    Luo Qikang¡¯s face slightly darkened. He didn¡¯t like being belittled, even if the one belittling him was his close friend. He couldn¡¯t see through the n because Pang Jing was keeping something back, not because hecked wisdom.


    However, the annoyed look of a serious person was Pang Jing¡¯s favorite expression. Knowing where the limit was, he let out augh and said, ¡°You forgot that half of the money will be mine tomorrow, no matter if the winner is the Dragon King or Meng Mingshu. So, does it matter whether the Dragon King will prove his innocence and make mincemeat of Second Young Master Meng or not?¡±


    ¡°Humph. You¡¯re the only one who could think of this n,¡± Luo Qikang praised in a cold voice. ¡°Didn¡¯t the Dragon King transfer all of the money away and hide it? So it won¡¯t be easy for you to get your half, I suppose?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no. The Meng family¡¯s money is still in Jade City.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Nobody is surer of this than me.¡± Pang Jing deliberately made this remark in a mysterious tone, indicating that there were more secrets he hadn¡¯t disclosed yet.


    Luo Qikang snorted again but asked no further questions. All he needed to know was that everything was under Pang Jing¡¯s control, and that the Dragon King would definitely suffer a loss. This was only a minor retaliatory action, not the final showdown.


    The Dragon King always did things in a covert way. All of his subordinates were used to it. Xu Xiaoyi, however, knew a lot of inside information, so he was also the most worried one. That very night, he frequently visited the Dragon King¡¯s room to deliver intelligence reports himself. The eleventh time he entered the Dragon King¡¯s room, Gu Shenwei finally allowed him to ask questions. ¡°If you want to say something, then say it. Stop sneaking around.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi chuckled, regarding the Dragon King¡¯s ¡°rebuke¡± as a sign of favor. ¡°Then I¡¯ll be honest with you. This is clearly a trap set by the Central insmen, but the Dragon King doesn¡¯t seem anxious at all ¨C no, it¡¯s as if you can¡¯t wait to jump into it and refuse to be stopped.¡±


    ¡°A trap? Tell me what kind of trap you think it is.¡±


    Stroking his mustache, Xu Xiaoyi thought for a while before saying, ¡°I received a message that said that Second Young Master Meng is going to betray the Dragon King, but I believe that Pang Jing has no intention of getting the money back for the Meng family at all. Instead, he¡¯s going to do publicly ckmail him. He wants to take the money from the Dragon King¡¯s hands and put it into his own pockets. With regards to Meng Mingshu, he was born a hapless guy who is doomed to lose everything.¡±


    Gu Shenwei nodded approvingly. ¡°Your guess is right. How do you think I should handle it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s very easy. Just don¡¯t go to the Governor¡¯s mansion tomorrow. Meng Mingshu can yell all day if he wants. We just have to deny all of his evidence. Everybody in Jade City already knows that the Dragon King has the Meng family¡¯s money anyway, but nobody dares to mess with you, not even the Central insmen.¡±


    ¡°What if I don¡¯t have the Meng family¡¯s money?¡±


    Stunned, Xu Xiaoyi grabbed his mustache with his fingers and paused for quite a while, and then asked again, ¡°Wha¨CWhat do you mean? The Dragon King doesn¡¯t have the money?¡±


    Gu Shenwei had always kept this a secret, but soon, it would go public. Xu Xiaoyi was in charge of collecting intelligence, which meant that he deserved to know it earlier than anybody else. So, he said, ¡°I took action toote. There were only piles of rocks and iron ingots left in the Meng family¡¯s vault. No gold or silver.¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Xu Xiaoyi widened his mouth in astonishment and identally pulled a small strand of his mustache off his lip. He grimaced in pain, but he was too anxious to groan. ¡°The Dragon King isn¡¯t kidding, right? Then where is the Meng family¡¯s money? Did Old Meng hide it or¡­ Oh, the Unique King! That old bastard beat us to it. s, s¡­ ¡±


    Golden Roc Castle had kept the Meng family under itsplete control for a long time. Even the old patriarch had merely been an impostor. So, they had more than enough time to rece those gold and silver ingots with stones and iron ingots.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t the Dragon King tell the truth back then? You didn¡¯t take anything besides a reputation as a robber?¡± Covering his mouth, Xu Xiaoyi spoke in a muffled voice. But it was his heart that was in a greater pain. Though he hadn¡¯t been responsible for managing money for a long time, he still regarded the Dragon King¡¯s loss as his own loss out of sheer force of habit.


    ¡°Back then, the Dragon Army was short of money. I needed others to think that I did the robbery,¡± Gu Shenwei exined. The move had worked. It was because of this somewhat shameful reputation that the Dragon Army had managed to purchaserge amounts of provisions and armaments on credit. ¡°Besides, I did get something. There was still some money left in the Meng family¡¯s tradingpanies and various banks. Not much, but I did get it.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi still felt that it was a painful loss. It felt like he thought that he had been leaning against a mountain of gold ingots, but when he woke up, there was only one gold ingot in his hand. It was just too huge a psychological gap. ¡°So the gold ingot in Wu Xuan¡¯s hand was actually from Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    ¡°They were sending me a message.¡±


    ¡°What kind of message? Disying their strength?¡±


    ¡°The Unique King wanted me to know that he has the money, that he was going to give it to the Central insmen. Pang Jing wanted to tell me that he had already received the money, and that I had to either cooperate with him during this show or lose everything and be haunted by creditors all over the city.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi abruptly jumped, which was merely three feet. It was not as high as Old Man Mu¡¯s jump, but it was the best that he could do. Afternding, he indignately said, ¡°That Shangguan old bastard and that Central ins guy are this sinister? Now that they are colluding with each other, why does the Dragon King still want topete for the position of Lord of Jade City? Let¡¯s just fight them. Block off the pass and call the Nonders back. I don¡¯t believe that those Central insmen can stretch their hands thousands of miles longer to fight against us. They have some mere tens of thousands of troops here. The Dragon King can defeat them with a single finger.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. ¡°It is not yet the right time. If we¡¯re to wage a war against the Central ins, them it has to be a final showdown the victory of which will ensure ten years of peace at least. The civil strife of the Nond isn¡¯t over yet, and they need time to regain their strength. We won¡¯t be at an advantage if we start a war right now. Besides, Pang Jing will split the money with me. I won¡¯t suffer any losses.¡±


    ¡°Pang Jing will split the money? Wha¨CWhat does he mean exactly?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s trying to build a bnce of power. It¡¯s a clich¨¦d trick of the Central insmen.¡±


    ¡°So Pang Jing is not in full support of the Unique King?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to wait to find out.¡± Gu Shenwei believed that the Central ins didn¡¯t want the Western Regions to be under the sole control of any side. They wanted the Unique King and the Dragon King to keeppeting against each other and for the Central ins¡¯ favor.


    Xu Xiaoyi sighed, feeling that the loss of money was less painful now. ¡°s. From all the money to none of it, and then from nothing to half of the money. I don¡¯t know whether we profited or suffered losses. Is the Dragon King okay with this?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± Many years ago, Gu Shenwei had made up his mind to be someone who ruled, not someone who was ruled. No matter how reasonable Pang Jing¡¯s n was, he was unwilling to just be a petty part of it. ¡°I have my own n.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s eyes lit up, as if he could see the whole mountain of gold and silver ingots again.


    That night, during which a lot of confusion arose and a lot of exnations were given, passed like that. Duan Zihua, who was a member of the old mansion of the Meng family, was kneeling on the ground. His face was ashen because there were too many people that he was going to betray ¨C his old master, his young master, the Dragon King, the Unique King, Xiao Fengchai¡­ He didn¡¯t see how he could survive past this day.


    Gao Yang was also escorted to the hall, shackles around his hands and feet. Standing with his head up, he faced the people crowding the hall. His eyes swept through the crowd and then rested on the Dragon King. ¡°I figured it out. You were the one who hired me to kill that guy. You¡¯re denying it because you don¡¯t want to pay me.¡±


    Duan Zihua raised his head and said, ¡°Gao Yang, do you still remember me?¡±


    Gao Yang didn¡¯t know this skinny old man, but he remembered his voice.

 Chapter 958 - The Vault

    Chapter 958: The Vault


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Gao Yang danced about in excitement, the chains around him jingling. ¡°Yes. You were the one who hired me to kill that guy. Now I have evidence. You¡¯re the Dragon King¡¯s man, right?¡±


    Duan Zihua shook his head apathetically. ¡°No.¡±


    Having not detected the bad omen in this simple answer, Meng Mingshu exined aloud in lieu of his old servant. ¡°He¡¯s a servant of my family. The Dragon King coerced him into assisting him from inside to steal the Meng family¡¯s money. From then on, he¡¯s been working for the Dragon King all along. Duan Zihua, tell them the truth.¡±


    Duan Zihua turned around and kowtowed to his young master respectfully.


    Meng Mingshu was confused. ¡°Duan Zihua, stand up and talk. Didn¡¯t you say that you had a terrible conscience and wanted toe back to serve me again? Aren¡¯t you worried that the Dragon King might kill you to keep that thing a secret forever? Well, the Governor of the Western Regions is here. Nobody will dare to hurt you.¡±


    Pang Jing looked around with a confused look, as if Meng Mingshu had just told a big joke. All those present were prudent and observant people, and they all had a premonition that misfortune was going to strike this very person.


    Meng Mingshu didn¡¯t notice the look on the Governor¡¯s face, so he continued urging the old man with absolute confidence. ¡°Duan Zihua, I¡¯m counting on you to help me rejuvenate the Meng family.¡±


    With a natural look on his face, Duan Zihua stood up, took two steps backwards, and said in a sonorous voice, as if he had fulfilled all his responsibilities towards the Meng family with the former two kowtows. ¡°Master, I have old parents to serve as well as young children to raise in my family, so I can¡¯t help you cheat other people any longer. The Dragon King didn¡¯t rob the Meng family. Nobody robbed the Meng family. You¡¯ve been hiding all of the gold and silver ingots in the old mansion of the Meng family this whole time. Nobody has ever touched it.¡±


    It was totally quiet in the hall. Everybody knew that a single casual remark of theirs, that even a nce from them might bring unpredictably dire consequences upon their heads at this moment. They all knew that, before the situation became clear, their best choice was to act dumb.


    ¡°Ha-ha.¡± Gao Yang dissolved intoughter, finding it very interesting that everybody in the hall looked like statues. ¡°Nonsense. Everybody knows that the Meng family¡¯s money is in the Dragon King¡¯s hands. Didn¡¯t Wu Xuan get a gold ingot from the Dragon King?¡±


    Duan Zihua deliberately avoided his master¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°I put that gold ingot in Wu Xuan¡¯s hand to attract everyone¡¯s attention, and then I framed the Dragon King. This was Meng Mingshu¡¯s n. I-¡±


    Upon hearing his namee out from his servant¡¯s lips, Meng Mingshu appeared as if somebody had just punched him in the face. Finally, he realized what was going on. He had fallen into a huge trap but had no idea who had set it. He had bet all he had on this but lost everything. Desperate, he abruptly pounced onto Duan Zihua. ¡°Cheap servant! You stabbed me in the back! The Dragon King. You and the Dragon King¡­¡±


    Duan Zihua had prepared himself. Drawing back step by step, he quickly said, ¡°Back then, the old master had just died, and you were afraid that your status was at stake, and that you would have to share the family assets with other family members. Thus, you faked the robbery. Everybody says that the Dragon King did that. The Dragon King didn¡¯t deny it, and you were also d that someone else had epted the responsibility for it. But you couldn¡¯t stand living a hard life, and the family property had already been divided anyways. You were eager to use the money, so you framed the Dragon King again in order to rightfully¡­¡±


    For those who had sharp eyes, the situation was clear enough, so four or five people walked up to Meng Mingshu. They seemed to be trying to persuade him, but they were actually restraining him. They didn¡¯t even let him speak, while on the other hand, Duan Zihua was under no such restraints.


    The old servant of the Meng family had disclosed ¡°the truth about the subterfuge,¡± but the others felt that his remarks had been intended to exculpate the Dragon King.


    The more Meng Mingshu heard, the angrier he became. Abruptly, he gathered all his strength and freed himself from the several people¡¯s arms. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you-¡± Somebody suddenly hit him hard on the back of his waist. Meng Mingshu fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth, unable to speak anymore.


    The entire hall descended into chaos. Pang Jing stepped forward and loudly said, ¡°Quiet. Quiet. Listen to me. That things went this way¡­ is really surprising. I believe the Dragon King from the very beginning, but this Duan Zihua¡¯s words were too incredible. It was very difficult for me to believe him.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t he say that the Meng family¡¯s money is still out there? Let¡¯s go and find out whether he was telling the truth,¡± somebody yelled, believing that nobody would oppose his suggestion.


    Pang Jing flicked an unnatural nce at the Dragon King and then asked Duan Zihua, ¡°The Meng family¡¯s money is still there?¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡±


    ¡°That can¡¯t be true. I came herete, but I also heard that all the Second Young Master Meng got was the Bodhi Garden when they divided the family property. Both the old mansion and the vault should have been assigned to his grandmother. Wasn¡¯t that true?¡±


    ¡°That was a cover-up. Meng Mingshu has already purchased the old mansion in someone else¡¯s name.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the Meng family!¡±


    ¡°Go to the old mansion!¡±


    ¡­


    Everybody was excited, generating empathy with their respective roles. But the Dragon King, who was the most important person involved in this situation, remained indifferent. His role was the simplest one. All he needed to do was quietly ept everything that had happened in this hall. As long as he didn¡¯t deny anything, then he would be deemed to have cooperated with Pang Jing.


    So far, Pang Jing had been acting like an ethical merchant. He had taken advantage of the Dragon King¡¯s reputation, but had also given him thepensation that he deserved.


    There would surely be rumors that the Dragon King had incited Duan Zihua to frame his master, which was a price that the Dragon King would have to pay. He had already gained the reputation of a robber anyways, so this kind of rumor wouldn¡¯t do much harm.


    But Meng Mingshu had lost the bet and all his ¡°family assets¡± now belonged to the Dragon King, which could be counted as a gift given to the Dragon King by the Governor.


    Gu Shenwei knew that he would eventually have to give half of the money to Pang Jing ording to the agreement.


    Somebody took the lead and dozens followed. Even Meng Mingshu, who was lying unconscious on the ground, was dragged away by a couple other people.


    When passing by Gu Shenwei, Zhang Ji said, ¡°It¡¯s a good deal, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Shangguan Ru didn¡¯t move. Her eyes were full of surprise, and there seemed to be a hint of usation, too. Lotus also didn¡¯t move, the look on her face as apathetic as always.


    Gu Shenwei followed the crowd through the gate of the mansion. Chu Nanping mounted his horse and hurriedly galloped away. Xu Xiaoyi walked over and acted as the Dragon King¡¯s attendant. This small change didn¡¯t attract anybody¡¯s attention.


    Joining therge numbers of attendants and guards waiting outside, the crowd immediately expanded to hundreds of people. After making some arrangements in a flustered manner, they decided to have the guards lead the way. Pang Jing and the Dragon King walked behind the guards. The long procession made its way towards the old mansion of the Meng family.


    The procession only progressed two blocks when news quickly spread out, withrge groups of residents flooding over to take a look. But the soldiers stopped the crowds from getting too close, so they could only see the tail of the procession. But just this provided them with enough topics of conversation. The excited residents even abandoned their principles of prudence and started animatedly discussing with acquaintances or even strangers as if they had seen everything with their own eyes.


    This was a time when rumors arose and spread very quickly, and it was also a time when public opinion was prone to maniption. Over fifty ¡°insiders¡± evenly spread throughout Jade City, and they soon dominated most of the rumors.


    This thing didn¡¯t attract anybody¡¯s attention either.


    The old mansion of the Meng family had indeed been sold. The buyer was a mysterious foreigner, who had purchased the house at a reasonably low price. The old grandmother of the Meng family had felt that she still had a lot of years ahead, so she was eager to get away from this troubled ce. At this moment, all of her family members were busy packing.


    The rumor hade to them earlier than the procession looking for proof had arrived. After hearing the message, the old woman, who had barely walked for many years, had miraculously stood up and broken into a trot. Her handmaids could barely catch up with her, panting for breath.


    The vault was in the backyard¡¯s garden. The steward hurriedly fumbled for the key, totally confused. ¡°Venerable Mistress, it¡¯s empty¡­ ¡±


    The olddy spat in the steward¡¯s face and said, ¡°You also want to cheat me like how the undutiful Meng Mingshu did?¡±


    The three gates were opened one by one. The vault built with giant rocks was empty. The light of the noon sun didn¡¯t make it any less grim.


    The olddy was the first one to rush inside, stamping her foot everywhere and knocking on the wall. Realizing that she couldn¡¯t do this alone, she urgently yelled, ¡°Hurry! Find the hidden door. We cannot let the Meng family¡¯s money be taken by outsiders! You and you, go to the gate and stop those people. Hold them back for as long as you can.¡±


    But the procession formed of ¡°outsiders¡± was unstoppable. Meng Mingshu, who had regained his consciousness, took on a new role. Over a hundred soldiers carried him as they broke through the line of defense consisting of unconfident servants at the gate of the old mansion and then intruded into the back yard garden.


    Instead of anxiously rushing to the front, Pang Jing instead took the Dragon King¡¯s hand and stood outside, enjoying the farce that he had caused. The olddy¡¯s cries and Meng Mingshu¡¯s nonsense were drowned out by the rebuke of the bigwigs of Jade City.


    ¡°This is kind of interesting, isn¡¯t it, Dragon King?¡± Pang Jing asked in a low voice. He felt that it was safe now, so he didn¡¯t need Luo Qikang to stay beside him anymore.


    ¡°It is, but I prefer to have been informed earlier.¡±


    ¡°Heh-heh. It¡¯s just a joke. And it does Dragon King no harm anyways. The Meng family¡¯s money will soon belong to you¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Half of it belongs to the Governor.¡±


    ¡°Ah. I¡¯m really beginning to like it here. I¡¯m totally free here and there¡¯s no need for me to worry about letting something slip anything when I talk. By the way, that Xiao Fengchai is a pretty good woman. The Dragon King won¡¯t punish her because of me, will you?¡± Pang Jing blinked. This look of his would only put Xiao Fengchai in even more dire danger.


    ¡°Let me keep you in suspense for once,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Pang Jing let out augh and didn¡¯t intercede on Xiao Fengchai¡¯s behalf any longer. He didn¡¯t care about the life of a prostitute.


    ¡°It¡¯s here! It¡¯s here!¡± A chain of cheers came from inside the vault. The owner of a tradingpany ran out, face full of excitement, hurriedly reporting the good news. ¡°It turns out that the money is buried right underground. Those gold ingots can make a mountain. Nobody¡¯s ever moved them. Meng Mingshu was indeed trying to frame the Dragon King. This guy is so bold. Dragon King, all of this belongs to you. You should put them under protection. The olddy of the Meng family is trying to snatch the money like crazy.¡±


    The Central ins soldiers were guarding the vaulted. Adopting every means possible, both soft and tough, they managed to get those without fixed duties out of the vault. Unreconciled, the olddy of the Meng familyy on the ground crying out loudly. She had already tried several times to ran towards Pang Jing, the Governor of the Western Regions, but the soldiers had stopped her every time. Meng Mingshu was standing to the side, battered out of his senses. Those around him guarded against him getting furious, but he had already lost all his fight, his lips quivering and silent.


    Gu Shenwei felt that the asion hade, and nodded at Xu Xiaoyi.


    Xu Xiaoyi loudly yelled, ¡°Please be quiet. The Dragon King has something to say.¡±


    ¡°The truth has been brought into daylight,¡± said Gu Shenwei, thinking about Zhong Heng¡¯s well-known saying that ¡°Resolving an issue is different from uncovering the truth.¡± It was true. The corrtion between the two was even weaker than the ties of kinship between the members of the Meng family. ¡°This is the end of this issue. I have no intention of holding anybody responsible for it. Now that the money in the vault belongs to me, I have made a decision. I¡¯ll give half of it to the Governor of the Western Regions because he upheld the justice in an impartial manner.¡±


    Pang Jing¡¯s face changed. He didn¡¯t expect that the Dragon King would give the money to him in public. Before he could react and before the people present could pay him theirpliment, the Dragon King continued. ¡°With regards to the other half, I¡¯ll return it to the Meng family. Though he tried to frame me due to a moment of thoughtlessness, I forgive him. I just want to tell him that I have no interest in the Meng family¡¯s money.¡±


    Gu Shenwei walked towards the outside. It was not until his figure was about to disappear that amazed exmation of the crowds broke forth. Pang Jing was transfixed with shock, an ominous premonition growing more and more strong within him.


    A Central ins military officer rode into the garden, and upon seeing the Governor, yelled, ¡°That Nonder¡­ Governor¡­ Mo Chu came back!¡±


    Besides Pang Jing, nobody else here knew the true meaning of this message.

 Chapter 959 - Wresting Control of the Mansion

    Chapter 959: Wresting Control of the Mansion


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Mo Chu never expected that he would one day have another chance to return to Jade City. When he had been under house arrest in Heaven¡¯s Pass, he had forgotten about another identity of his ¨C Governor of Jade City. There was less than three months left before the end of his term.


    A few months ago, when he was in Thousand Horsemen Pass, Han Fen had been the one who was responsible for spying on him, and she was the one who had captured him at the end of the war. So, she counted as one of his acquaintances. She directly pushed the door open, entered the room, and happily said, ¡°Old man, the Dragon King misses you. So do I. Come with me. Let¡¯s go have some fun.¡±


    House arrest was not too miserable for Mo Chu. He was even offered wine. He opened his mouth, but lost the opportunity to drink what was left in the goblet. On his way to Jade City, there was panic written in his face the whole time.


    Surprised, Han Fen couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°You must be in your eighties, right? Even if nobody tries to kill you, you¡¯ll be dead really soon. So why are you still so afraid?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not even in my seventies yet,¡± Mo Chu answered reluctantly. He didn¡¯t tell Han Fen he had been nning on buying a handmaid recently.


    Two years ago, Mo Chu had arrived in the Western Regions with honor and power. He had groups of servants at his service and plenty of women around him. In his eyes, the entire Western Regions had been like a toy that he could y around with. But now, there were only a petty team of seven or eight people still following him, and the only woman besides him was a lunatic. Surprisingly, she was quite interested in him, wondering how much fresh blood there was in his skinny body.


    Mo Chu was very afraid that one day, when he woke up, he would see this crazy woman bleeding him dry. Therefore, when he caught sight of Jade City in the distance, he actually felt a sense of relief, as if he was finally about to return to his hometown after being away for years. This meant that soon, he would be able to get rid of this terrifying woman in front of him. And as for what the Dragon King intended to do to him, he had given up specting on it.


    ¡®Outsiders¡¯ thoughts are difficult to understand, especially the Dragon King¡¯s,¡¯ Mo Chu thought to himself.


    The group didn¡¯t enter the city right away. Instead, they rented a couple of rooms outside of the city for temporary amodations. The next afternoon, a handsome swordsman came to pick Mo Chu up. Han Fen¡¯s task had been fulfilled. Before his departure, Han Fen sighed. ¡°s, I don¡¯t know what the Dragon King is thinking. He either assigns me to look after kids or orders me to keep watch over old men. To be honest, you¡¯re not as active as you used to be. I think that this is a sign of your death, so I hold no grudges against you. See you around ¨C maybe I¡¯ll never see you again. s.¡±


    Taking it as a threat, Mo Chu was horrified and his face turned ashen. He entered the city as if he were a walking corpse. After arriving at the mansion that had previously belonged to him, he summoned his courage several times and finally managed to speak up. ¡°I¡¯m the Governor, Mo Chu. Who¡¯re you? How dare you upy this ce?¡±


    At this moment, there were at least a hundred people gathering in front of the gateway of the Governor¡¯s mansion, animatedly discussing the unprecedented incident that had just happened. Seven or eight janitors, because of their special identity, were surrounded by the crowd, and they were audibly spreading all kinds of messages. At first, they would begin all their sentences with words like ¡°I heard that¡± or ¡°I guess.¡± But before long, there were only unarguable ¡°facts¡± in their remarks.


    Nobody heard Mo Chu¡¯s deration and question. Resigned, he twisted his head back around to look for help, only to find that the handsome swordsman had walked to the side. Another sabersman walked up to him and nodded at him.


    This man was the wing guard, Silver Condor. Surprisingly, he had met a true Nonder in Jade City. Regardless of this man¡¯s stance, Mo Chu felt that he was familiar and friendly, and from that, he instantly regained his courage, He believed that even though the Nond had temporarily declined, it was still a powerful countrypared to Jade City, and that it would still be as such even if it split apart several more times.


    ¡°Step aside! All of you step aside!¡± Mo Chu¡¯s voice was as booming as that of an old deaf man, only that there was more confidence in it.


    Mo Lin waved his hand. Twelve Nonders, who had been standing by all along, whipped out their sabers at the same time, formed up into lines, and cleared the way for the Governor.


    In northern Jade City, sabers were notmonly seen. The onlookers had never expected that these silent listeners had been hiding weapons beneath their capes. The crowd let out an exmation of amazement and scattered to the sides. Finally, somebody recognized the Governor. First, that person was horrified, but they soon became extremely excited ¨C the Governor appointed by the Nond was going to challenge the Governor designated by the Central ins. This would truly make for the show of the day.


    Nobody went to the old mansion of the Meng family. The onlookers felt that they were really lucky this day, and that they had to go to southern Jade City and throw the dice no matter what.


    None of the janitors, all of whom were attendants who had been brought here by Pang Jing from the Central ins, knew who this skinny old man was and none of them had heard of him either. They had always been under the impression that this mansion was their Lord¡¯s exclusive dwelling. But these onlookers, who had been enthusiastic just now, suddenly became silent, which seemed to indicate that this old man was nomon person.


    What flustered them the most was that almost all of the guards in the mansion had followed the Governor to the old mansion of the Meng family. This meant that there were only some servants who had no kung fu skills at all left at the mansion. Though they numbered in the dozens, they were no match for those Nond sabersmen.


    Twelve rough sabersmen cleared the way. Mo Lin himself escorted Mo Chu. Fourteen Nonders, under the gaze of over a hundred people, directly entered the mansion and upied it in less than two quarters of an hour. They evicted people with no fixed duties from the mansion but didn¡¯t close the gate. Mo Lin stood at the gateway with a saber in his hand. He ignored all questions, silently waiting for the Central insmen toe.


    More and more people heard the news and congregated in front of the mansion to spectate. Pang Jing¡¯s servants made some inquiries and finally managed to find out the background of these aggressive people, eximing in indignation that they had been tricked. They had thought that these people were members of some powerful force, but it turned out that they were just a bunch of Nonders who were more like homeless dogs. ¡®How dare theypete with a Central ins lord for the mansion?¡¯


    Realizing that they had made a terrible mistake, those servants consulted with each other for a while. Then, at the instigation of the onlookers, they trooped towards the gate andunched an attack, nning to take the mansion back themselves.


    Their awe-inspiring attack soon copsed in an embarrassing manner. The three people at the front of the team were grabbed by Mo Lin and thrown dozens of steps away, yelling in horror when they realized that they were in mid-air. After that, nobody dared to get close to the gate. They all began to think about how they could take advantage of this scene to ask for their master¡¯s forgiveness, and maybe even im some credit.


    As news constantly came from the old mansion of the Meng family, those servants became more and more confident. Though they didn¡¯t dare approach the gate, they kept yelling at the opponent. During the next hour, the small group of Nonders in the Governor¡¯s Mansion ¡°suffered¡± dozens of tortures, each of which would eventually make them die a miserable death.


    ¡°The moment the Governor arrives¡­¡± Every torture began with these words, but the Governor never showed up.


    The onlookers were even more disappointed than the servants. This fight between the Governor appointed by the Central ins and the Governor designated by the Nond was an unprecedented incident whose like had never been seen since the founding of Jade City. It was historic enough to be remembered by generations of citizens. Pang Jing¡¯s public image was that of a reckless, enthusiastic, and highly energetic man. If he didn¡¯t show up, then this show would be at least fifty to sixty-percent less wonderful.


    Unexpectedly, Pang Jing really did choose to make a concession. A military officer rode over and whispered something into the steward¡¯s ears. Dozens of Central insmen awkwardly elbowed their way through the crowd and never came back.


    There was a time when rumor said that Pang Jing had left the city and went straight to the military camp of the Central ins, which startled a lot of people. They thought that a battle was about to start, but reliable news soon came. It said that the Governor hadn¡¯t leave but rather had been invited into the Bodhi Garden by Meng Mingshu.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on exactly? Do the Central insmen cower just like this? This doesn¡¯t seem like what they would do, does it?¡± The onlookers had too many questions. One of them couldn¡¯t help but start yelling, asking all the people around him for an answer.


    ¡°What else can they do?¡± somebody answered, as expected. ¡°Nominally, this mansion indeed belongs to the Nonders. There¡¯s still three months before the end of Mo Chu¡¯s term.¡±


    ¡°The entire Nond was defeated. Do you think that the Central insmen are afraid of these dozens of Nonders?¡±


    ¡°They have no righteous cause. The Central insmen are not afraid of Nonders, but they are afraid of giving their enemies excuses, and they¡¯re even more afraid of¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Afraid of what?¡±


    ¡°Heh-heh. I¡¯m not telling you. Take a guess.¡±


    It seemed as if these arguments were not going anywhere, so the onlookers steered the discussion to the wealth of the Meng family. ¡°How much is it exactly?¡±


    ¡°It is said that there¡¯s a roomful of gold ingots which is enough to cover all the streets of northern Jade City.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re bragging. If there were really so many gold ingots, then why would the Dragon King give them up? And why did he snatch them in the first ce?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the point. You guys probably wronged the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°We? Yesterday you were saying that the Dragon King hid the gold somewhere, as if you had seen it with your own eyes.¡±


    Another round of endless debate started. Mo Lin, who was guarding the gate, remained silent. The onlookers finally became bored. Seeing that it was getting dark, they believed that the Central insmen probably wouldn¡¯te, so the crowd gradually scattered.


    Mo Lin still stood on the spot and didn¡¯t close the gate until it waspletely dark.


    The Governor¡¯s Mansion consisted of three areas. A dozen Nond sabersmen was not enough to guard all of them, but Mo Lin didn¡¯t mind. He directly went to the backyard and happened to see a familiar figure jump off of a roof.


    ¡°The Dragon King hase early,¡± said Mo Lin.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a tough day for you,¡± repliedGu Shenwei. Technically, Mo Lin was not his subordinate, so he had to be polite.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I hope that I can repay the Dragon King¡¯s favor as soon as possible. You know, I have to avenge the old Khan¡¯s murder.¡±


    Avenging the old Khan¡¯s death meant that he had to kill Lotus. Gu Shenwei believed that this wing guard of the old Khan was no longer a match for Lotus. ¡°After the Lord of Jade City is selected, you and I will be even. Don¡¯t take action before that.¡±


    Mo Lin took a deep breath. He was a man who always repaid every favor and retaliated against every attack; someone who hated owing others anything. In this world, he only owed two people a debt of favor, one of whom was the old Khan, so he must avenge his death. The other one was the Dragon King. What he owed the Dragon King was not much, but it had to be repaid with patience. ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°Did that Central insman really give up this mansion just like that?¡± Mo Lin steered their conversation to another topic.


    ¡°He didn¡¯t, but he won¡¯t resort to violence. The bigwigs of Jade City are now consulting with each other about how they can help him get this mansion back in a reasonable manner. They will probably take action tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Is this mansion really that important? Or is the Dragon King merely trying to humiliate that Central insman?¡± Mo Lin hoped to learn some more inside information, so that he would be able to gauge to what extent he had returned the favor.


    ¡°It¡¯s very important.¡± Gu Shenwei decided not to keep it a secret from Mo Lin anymore. ¡°This is the ce where the Meng family¡¯s money is actually hidden.¡±


    An amazed look appeared on Mo Lin¡¯s face, which was very rare. ¡°What? The vault of the old mansion is empty?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯re plenty of things stored in it, but only a small portion of them are gold bricks. The rest of them are stone. Pang Jing wanted me to take those useless things. The Meng family¡¯s money was transferred here a long time ago. It was a gift given to him by Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    ¡°This¡­ Didn¡¯t Pang Jing worry that Dragon King might find the truth?¡±


    ¡°Heh. If I epted the stones in the old mansion of the Meng family in public today, them what would I be able to do even if I found out the truth afterwards? Would anybody believe me? The people will only say that I¡¯m greedy, and that I want to get the other half of the money as well.¡± There was a hint of scorn in Gu Shenwei¡¯s tone, which was also rare. He knew that Golden Roc Castle had taken the Meng family¡¯s money, and he had been thinking about how he could snatch it all back. But eventually, it was that Central insman¡¯s crafty plot that had given him an opportunity.


    Pang Jing wanted to make the Dragon King swallow a bitter pill in silence, but Gu Shenwei had made Pang Jing swallow an even bigger bitter pill. The two had tacitly dered war against each other. It was just that neither of them was willing to be the first one to make it public.


    Gu Shenwei walked into the east wing, followed by Mo Lin.


    Qin Yeming was waiting inside. The Nonders had made him stay here. Pang Jing¡¯s servants didn¡¯t even remember his existence.


    Gu Shenwei looked at this teenager, hoping that he could tell him the specific whereabouts of the Meng family¡¯s hidden money.

 Chapter 960 - Capsizing

    Chapter 960: Capsizing


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    L¨¹ Qiying had packed his luggage, and he was nning on fleeing. But when he thought about everything that he currently owned and his dim future career prospects, he was filled with remorse. He wondered why he had been so gullible and had participated in the conspiracy against the Dragon King.


    Things were not supposed to have gone in this direction. ording to the n, the Dragon King should have been pressured into handing the Meng family¡¯s money over, and he and Xiao Fengchai should have been well on their way to the Lon Kingdom with numerous gold ingots under the escort of an army. Then, they would stay in the eastern part of the Western Regions and wait for the situation in Jade City to stabilize.


    However, it turned out they had been digging a trap beneath their own feet all along.


    Given the transportation capacity of L¨¹ Qiying¡¯s caravan, ten chests were nothing. But for a refugee, they were still too many. It was a difficult decision for him to make as it was, but he still downsized them to four, each of which would be carried by a camel. This way, he would be able to travel faster.


    L¨¹ Qiying had prepared three horses for himself. He would probably have to spend quite a few days on horseback. Even so, he could still use some luck.


    The only trustworthy servant he had quietly walked inside and nodded at his master, indicating that they were ready to depart.


    A small team consisting of seven animals and two people entered a pitch-dark street through the back door. The owner of the biggest caravan in Jade City was leading the camels himself. If anybody saw this scene, they would surely exim in amazement.


    L¨¹ Qiying looked over his shoulder at the city and sighed secretly. This was northern Jade City, a ce that he had dreamed about entering for years. He spent quite a fortune on this dwelling and had barely enjoyed spending any days in it when he had been forced to abandon it.


    Northern Jade City was different from southern Jade City. There were hardly any pedestrians on the streets after night fell. After passing through three streets, L¨¹ Qiying felt slightly relieved. Nobody had shown up to stop him. Maybe the Dragon King hadn¡¯t discovered his betrayal yet, which gave him an opportunity to survive.


    The chief of the guards at the east city gate silently took out a small leather bag that the servant passed to him, weighed it in his hand, and gauged it to be two hundred taels. This number suggested that this guy was an old hand who was very familiar with the rules. He waved his hand and ordered his subordinates to open the gate and let this small team through.


    Traveling the distance between this gate and the rendezvous point was probably the most dangerous part of the journey. On his horse, L¨¹ Qiying constantly urged his servant and the camels to move faster. He even felt the desire to drop another two chests, but he couldn¡¯t go to the Lon Kingdom empty-handed. Money was a necessity no matter where he went.


    As horrified as L¨¹ Qiying was, he couldn¡¯t help but fantasize about owning the mountain of gold of the Meng family. Unlike themon residents, he had enough reason to suspect that the money hidden in the old mansion of the Meng family was still fake. The Dragon King was a smart man. By no means would he give up on any possible interests for no good reason.


    The moment L¨¹ Qiying thought of that icy-faced young man, his heart lurched. He quickly looked around again, paranoid that the Dragon King¡¯s killers could be hiding in any of the nearby houses.


    As he traveled forward, the houses gradually became sparse and the clouds in the sky scattered, revealing the moon and stars. L¨¹ Qiying was surprised to find that the night could be so bright. When he had still been a tavernkeeper, his tavern had stayed open all night almost every night, but he scarcely left the city after dark.


    The servant leading the way turned his head around and said in a low voice, ¡°This is the ce. Right ahead of us.¡±


    The Rouge Forest in front of them was like a giant beast lying prostrate on the ground with an evil intent. A pang of fear and suspicion stabbed into L¨¹ Qiying¡¯s heart. He would rather walk in the wilderness than enter a pitch-dark forest. ¡°Go and check whether they¡¯ve arrived or not.¡±


    ¡°They¡± referred to the people from the Central ins and Xiao Fengchai. Though Pang Jing hadn¡¯t stuck to the n, L¨¹ Qiying had no other choice but to depend on him for protection.


    The servant spurred the horse on and rode towards the Rouge Forest. The urgent ttering of horse hooves made L¨¹ Qiying extremely nervous. The camels were rtively calm, quietly chewing their cud, as if very d to have a chance to rest.


    After a quarter of an hour, the servant rode back. ¡°They¡¯ve all arrived and are waiting for you.¡±


    Having run out of trust in others, L¨¹ Qiying said, ¡°There was no need to wait. Ask them toe out and set off with us right now. The Lon Kingdom is in the east, not in the woods.¡±


    ¡°Er. Lady Xiao required your presence in the woods. She said that she wanted to consult with you before departing.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s done is done. There¡¯s nothing worth further discussion.¡± L¨¹ Qiying looked at his servant. It was a young face. He could still remember what this face had originally looked like ¨C confused and humble. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that he had taken this person in as his servant, he would have been rotting in a ditch somewhere in southern Jade City a long time ago.


    ¡°This was what Lady Xiao said. Please go there, master. I¡¯ll handle these animals.¡± The servant¡¯s voice was just asposed as usual, as if he didn¡¯t sense his master¡¯s suspicion at all.


    ¡°s. I¡¯ve been good to you,¡± said L¨¹ Qiying. He suddenly felt that even the moon and stars had turned dim.


    The servant was in a stunned silence for quite a while. ¡°The Dragon King¡¯s been good to you as well.¡± After saying this, he urged the horse and rode towards the woods again, yelling, ¡°L¨¹ Qiying is on the run! L¨¹ Qiying is on the run!¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying let out another sigh. He did indeed want to flee, but where he could flee to? The people of the Central ins had merely used him to persuade Meng Mingshu to surrender. Now, he was totally worthless.


    This fact was too obvious. L¨¹ Qiying wondered in confusion why he hadn¡¯t thought of this earlier.


    The ttering of horses¡¯ hooves came from behind him. L¨¹ Qiying turned around and saw a team stop in the distance. It seemed as if they were observing the situation on this side.


    L¨¹ Qiying¡¯s heart lurched. These people were soldiers of the Central ins. Pang Jing hadn¡¯t abandoned himpletely. ¡°I¡¯m-¡± he yelled but was soon interrupted.


    A deep sound of a bugle rang out. It was a very short one. Even if the sleeping residents in the distance heard it, they would think that it was a case of tinnitus. For the soldiers of the Central ins, however, this bugle sound had a specific meaning. They immediately turned their horses around and doubled back.


    L¨¹ Qiying had an impulse to spur his horse on and follow them, but he couldn¡¯t move his limbs, as if he were under some kind of spell. When those soldiers disappeared from his sight, he finally resigned himself to his fate.


    Another small team went out of the Rouge Forest towards him, the leader of which was a young swordsman.


    L¨¹ Qiying recognized Chu Nanping. ¡°Did Xiao Fengchai betray me?¡±


    Chu Nanping remained silent.


    L¨¹ Qiying gave a nce at his four chests and had a sudden feeling that he was ridiculously stupid. ¡°Little Chu, tell the Dragon King that Xiao Fengchai is the chief plotter, and that I¡­ I failed him.¡±


    ¡°Tell him yourself.¡± Chu Nanping¡¯s answer gave L¨¹ Qiying a faint glimmer of hope.


    Xiao Fengchai, who was supposed to show up in the Rouge Forest, was still in her house in northern Jade City. Upon hearing that Duan Zihua, an old servant of the Meng family, had turned on her and used his own master, she knew that she had been tricked and had immediately given up her escape n, obediently waiting for the Dragon King toe.


    She was the most popr prostitute in all of Retention Alley. Men regarded her as a rare ything while she regarded men as her careerdder, which she would keep moving up on and never look back. Unexpectedly, she had still been tricked by men in the end.


    While Pang Jing was frequently visiting all kinds of people in Jade City, he hadn¡¯t ignored Xiao Fengchai, and had gone to her house himself. He was not cheap with hispliments. In fact, hispliments were even more explicit than the words that came from the bandits of the Western Regions, who came to her due to her reputation; it was just that his words were more refined.


    Xiao Fengchai was used topliments from men, so she certainly wouldn¡¯t get carried away merely because he was a noble from the Central ins. She received the visitor politely and then reported every detail to the Dragon King afterwards.


    Then, a lobbyist hade to her home, and he had beat around the bush trying to persuade the Dragon King¡¯s financial executive into buying herself an extra route of retreat with the Governor¡¯s favor and the powerful strength of the Central ins. Xiao Fengchai had maintained her politeness but her loyalty never wavered.


    The lobbyist had probably sensed this, so he had then yed his trump card ¨C a gold ingot of the Meng family¡¯s. ¡°The Dragon King has been fooling you and all the others. He doesn¡¯t have the Meng family¡¯s money. The people of the Central ins have all of it. Think about it. Once this news spreads, creditors will flood into his house. The Dragon King can just renege on the agreement, but your reputation will be ruined. More importantly, Meng Mingshu will lose everything. And so will you.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai had always abided by a simple principle ¨C whoever had the money should have her loyalty, so her mind had been perturbed by this information. She had reported this meeting with the lobbyist to the Dragon King, but hadn¡¯t mentioned that gold ingot.


    Pang Jing had then paid her another visit. He acted like most other men who couldn¡¯t resist the charm of the most famous woman of Retention Alley and acted as if he was trying to establish a closer rtionship with her. And this was exactly what Xiao Fengchai had reported to the Dragon King. But in reality, that meeting had nothing to do with romance. It was a negotiation of the most explicit kind.


    Xiao Fengchai wanted twenty percent of the Meng family¡¯s money, which were the same terms that she had once dictated to the Dragon King. Pang Jing had immediately agreed and assigned her a task ¨C persuading Meng Mingshu to use the Dragon King.


    Xiao Fengchai had delegated this tricky task to L¨¹ Qiying but didn¡¯t tell him who actually had the money. Instead, she had fabricated another story, which was easy for her.


    L¨¹ Qiying had been obsessed with Xiao Fengchai this whole time and it had always been a painful regret for him that the most famous prostitute of Jade City had quit her job when he had be rich. In front of the temptation that was her, he had knelt down as quickly as a young man.


    ¡°That¡¯s all,¡± she said, her face calm, hiding nothing behind it. ¡°I was too confident. I thought that there was no man that I couldn¡¯t manipte in the world, but in the end, I lost to this Central ins guy.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi swallowed hard. Xiao Fengchai had built up her reputation when he was still a child. Unexpectedly, after so many years, she was still so charming. ¡°The Dragon King¡­ The Dragon King also didn¡¯t fall for you,¡± he said, trying to conceal his sexual arousal.


    ¡°The Dragon King doesn¡¯t count as a man,¡± said Xiao Fengchai, her face slightly perplexed, as if she was lost in thought.


    Xu Xiaoyi believed that he was an expert on romantic rtionships. It suddenly dawned on him that it was not Xiao Fengchai¡¯s beauty nor her reputation, but rather her capability of keeping a moderate distance from men that made her so attractive. She made men feel like she was superior but within reach. He had this feeling right at this moment: he could have this woman, who was seemingly impossible for him to get, at a tiny cost.


    But he managed to retain his senses. He knew that that ¡°tiny cost¡± was actually not tiny at all. It meant betraying the Dragon King.


    Thinking that Xiao Fengchai was regarding him as a man and trying to seduce him, Xu Xiaoyi couldn¡¯t help but feel somewhat proud. His eyes zed over, unaware of what he should say.


    Shangguan Fei felt that this was the very reason why he had been assigned here. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that he was present, supervising this meeting, then the Dragon King¡¯s intelligence executive probably have been on his knees, begging to have sex with this woman by now.


    ¡®Women are trouble indeed.¡¯ For the first time, Shangguan Fei felt smug about his sexual orientation that gave him an immunity to this kind of trouble.


    ¡°The Dragon King doesn¡¯t count as a man?¡± There was a hint of sarcasm in Shangguan Fei¡¯s tone. There were some facts that he could see distinctly, while those so-called smart people were blind to. ¡°Lady Xiao, you¡¯re a terrible judge of character. Pang Jing is the one who doesn¡¯t count as a man ¨C no, he is a man, a real man. But just like me, he also likes men. The Dragon King, however, ha-ha. He¡¯s a picky man who doesn¡¯t think that you¡¯re good enough for him.¡±


    With a fierce struggle in his mind, Xu Xiaoyi didn¡¯t hear Shangguan Fei¡¯s words at all, but Xiao Fengchai felt a shiver go through her from head to toe and suddenly understood. It turned out that not only had she been tricked, but she had also failed in the game that she was best at. ¡°I want an audience with the Dragon King. There¡¯s something that I¡¯ll tell only to him.¡± She wanted to grab onto a life-saving straw.

 Chapter 961 - A Roomful of Gold

    Chapter 961: A Roomful of Gold


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    ¡°A book holds a house of gold.¡± Qin Yeming had heard of this remark at least three times when he was staying with Pang Jing. After some careful thinking, he believed that this was what the Governor of the Western Regions was trying to convey to the Dragon King. This sentence, which had originally been meant as sarcasm, had now be a clue.


    ¡°A book? Does it mean a study?¡± Mo Lin was the first one to think of a possible location where the gold could be stored.


    ¡°It¡¯s worth a visit.¡±


    There were two studies in the mansion: one in front and the other in the rear. It was stillte at night. Twelve sabersmen from the Nond were in the backyard, protecting Mo Chu. So, the courtyard appeared empty and there was a faint air of eeriness about it. Qin Yeming followed the Dragon King closely, feeling both ashamed of his cowardliness and relieved that the Dragon King was present.


    The study in the front of the mansion was very clean. There were not many books in it, and most of them were documents that had been left behind by former Governors. Qin Yeming quickly lit the oilmp on the table to light the room for the Dragon King.


    Everything in the room was apparent to the eye. Nothing could stay hidden within this room. Gu Shenwei lowered his head and moved his eyes to the ground. Qin Yeming carried the oilmp and stamped all around. After a full circle, all three people confirmed that there was no secret space hidden underground.


    ¡°Do you have something to say?¡± asked Gu Shenwei. Though the teenager was serving the Dragon King wholeheartedly, there was still confusion gleaming in his eyes.


    Qin Yeming immediately knelt down. He was still uncertain about his identity, so he didn¡¯t know what he should say and what he shouldn¡¯t say. ¡°I¡¯m a servant of the Dragon King, and I should have served Dragon King with undivided loyalty, but uncertainty rose within me. I beg the Dragon King for his pardon.¡±


    ¡°If you want to be my servant, then you¡¯ll have to stand up before talking.¡±


    Qin Yeming hurriedly rose to his feet, his head still down.


    ¡°You also have to be honest, which is one of your duties.¡±


    Qin Yeming briefly blushed. ¡°Yes. I wonder¡­ I wonder if Pang Jing would send his men here to assassinate the Governor. Once the Governor is dead, then he¡¯ll be able toe back here rightfully.¡±


    ¡°This is a game, and Pang Jing was the one who made the rules. I think that he¡¯ll abide by it.¡± Gu Shenwei walked towards the doorway, not worried about Mo Chu¡¯s safety at all. After arriving at the courtyard, he looked at the roof of the east wing and added, ¡°Even if he doesn¡¯t want to abide by it, someone will force him to.¡±


    A crisp sound came from the dark. It sounded like the snapping of a twig. It suddenly dawned on Qin Yeming that though the security inside this mansion seemed loose, there were actually many kung fu experts on the periphery, guarding it.


    Then the three went to the inner study near the backyard, which was not far from Mo Chu¡¯s bedroom. He hadn¡¯t gone to bed yet, and he didn¡¯t dare. After glimpsing the Dragon King through the crack in the door, he hurriedly ran out of his room and knelt down in a very natural manner. His face was full of fear as he said, ¡°Dragon King, I¡¯m honored to have this chance to serve you again, but I¡¯m too old. My eyesight is poor and my mind is also not as clear as it used to be. I¡¯m really worried that I might ruin the Dragon King¡¯s overall n¡­¡±


    Mo Chu was uncertain about his status, so he was trying to ask the Dragon King what his intentions were in a roundabout way. Gu Shenwei said to him, ¡°Do what a Governor is supposed to do for the next three months. After that, I¡¯ll send you to the grasnds where you¡¯ll settle down next to the new Khan.¡±


    Greatly relieved, Mo Chu kowtowed and expressed his gratitude. He knew how to be a good Governor: not make a single remark that he shouldn¡¯t make, and not ask a single question that he shouldn¡¯t ask.


    Qin Yeming noticed that the Governor had been kneeling while talking, and the Dragon King had epted this in a natural manner without any intention of letting him rise at all. He started to realize that the Dragon King treated the people who he trusted and those he didn¡¯t trust differently, and with that, he became more certain about what he should do.


    Mo Lin was also observing this interaction, which was an old habit that he had developed when he had been serving the old Khan. In his mind, the Dragon King was still too young, and his methods were fairly immature, but better than most princes¡¯. His ways of punishing and rewarding subordinates bore a faint simrity to that of the old Khan, but the differences between them were more striking. The Dragon King had a very suspicious and cautious mind. Though this teenager was merely an insignificant servant, he had still put a lot of effort and taken him seriously. The old Khan would have handled this issue in a much more sophisticated and easy way.


    Mo Chu returned to his bedroom. Now, he could finally close his eyes and sleep.


    There were rtively more books in the inner study, but this room was much smaller, so the chance that someone hid something here was even slimmer.


    ¡°Maybe the money¡¯s already been transferred away.¡± Mo Lin made a guess. ¡°I mean, Pang Jing has been here for nearly a month, which is more than enough to transport the gold to the Central ins or to the military camp outside the city. It¡¯s much safer there.¡±


    Gu Shenwei shook his head. ¡°Pang Jing doesn¡¯t trust the army outside the city, and it¡¯s impossible to transport the Meng family¡¯s money out of Jade City without anybody noticing it.¡± His men had been staking out this mansion this whole time. Even a basket of meat and vegetables that had been sent out of or into this ce would have been reported to the Dragon King.


    Gu Shenwei slowly walked around the room, his fingers brushing past the bookshelf, the table, and the wall, respectively. ¡°More importantly, the Unique King hasn¡¯t gotten what he wants yet. Why would he let the bribe be transferred somewhere else?¡± He knocked on the wall and found that it was solid. ¡°The gold must have been transported here before Pang Jing came. He moved in hastily, and then tried to conceal it with a series of dramatic deeds¡­ ¡±


    In these words, Mo Lin found a closer resemnce to the old Khan in the Dragon King, and he blurted out, ¡°Things in this mortal world are like floating clouds. People¡¯s minds are like the surface of ake that¡¯s as smooth as a mirror.¡± When he saw the confused look in the Dragon King and Qin Yeming¡¯s eyes, Mo Lin smiled and exined. ¡°The old Khan used to say this phrase a lot. An enemy¡¯s plots are like the reflection of the clouds on the surface of theke. They seem unpredictable and vtile, but the surface of theke actually remains unchanged. To find the ws, one merely has to observe the still surface of theke instead of staring at the ever-changing floating clouds.¡±


    Qin Yeming didn¡¯t fully understand, but Gu Shenwei nodded repeatedly. But there were no such things as a perfect method in this world. The old Khan had seen through many conspiracies, but had failed to realize his madness. There were always signs of the former that could be detected, but thetter usually went againstmon sense. Gu Shenwei was never sure of what Lotus would do next. He couldn¡¯t deduce her moves from either her interests or her private grudges.


    He fished out a dagger from his front inside pocket and gently made three cuts in the wall, causing a triangr section of the wall to drop off. Qin Yeming walked over, raised the oilmp and took a look. Shiny gold reflected in themplight, shedding a soft glow on their faces.


    ¡°It¡¯s really a house of gold.¡± Qin Yeming didn¡¯t know much about money, but his voice still became hoarse and started quivering, as if there were a gold ingot stuck in his throat. ¡°How much gold is there in this room?¡±


    ¡°Not just in this room, but in the whole governor¡¯s mansion,¡± Mo Lin replied. When he found that his voice was normal, he felt much better. If he were still young, then he definitely wouldn¡¯t have been able to resist the temptation of so much gold. Though he still couldn¡¯t regard money as dirt at his current age, his self-control was more than enough to restrain his greed. ¡°Golden Roc Castle added an extrayer to the walls. This must have been a huge project.¡±


    Golden Roc Castle had had plenty of time. Mo Chu had left for Heaven¡¯s Pass to be the Commander-in-chief of the Nond¡¯s armies more than a year ago. After that, he had been put under house arrest, and the Governor¡¯s mansion had been lying idle since then. All the men guarding the mansion were from Golden Roc Castle, so they could leisurely thicken the walls with as few people knowing about it as possible.


    ¡°The Unique King¡­ Why didn¡¯t he transfer the gold to Golden Roc Castle?¡± Qin Yeming risked asking a question.


    ¡°Because he had no intention of keeping this money from the very beginning,¡± said Gu Shenwei. He and Meng Mingshu had actually done the Unique King a great favor by collectively faking that robbery, but the Dragon Army had also profited from it. The Meng family was the only side that suffered losses. ¡°If Prince Luoluo wins, then the mansion would be his. If the people of the Central inse, then the Unique King will send the money to them as well.¡±


    ¡°Heh. So the Unique King has been colluding with Pang Jing for quite some time.¡± Mo Lin had never been a talkative person, but he was from the Nond, so he was more than willing to see the Dragon King rupture his rtion with the Central ins.


    Mo Lin¡¯s guess was right. Perhaps waiting for Pang Jing¡¯s arrival was exactly the reason why the Unique King had been making concessions all along.


    ¡°Conceal the cut in the wall,¡± Gu Shenwei ordered.


    Qin Yeming asked in amazement, ¡°Leave the gold here? Pang Jing is surely trying to figure out a way to take this mansion back. And Golden Roc Castle also won¡¯t give up these gold ingots for no good reason, right?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no hurry,¡± said Gu Shenwei, giving no further exnation.


    Qin Yeming observantly shut up, picked up the wallpaper from the ground, carefully put it back to its original position, and then pushed the bookshelf over it to cover it. Nobody would notice it without paying close attention to that wall.


    Mo Lin said, ¡°Your secret is safe with me.¡± Though it was just a simple promise, Mo Lin believed that it was enough. If the person he was talking to was the old Khan, then he wouldn¡¯t have even bothered making this promise.


    Gu Shenwei respected Mo Lin¡¯s promise, so he left the mansion with Qin Yeming without saying another word.


    The two people returned to the Department of Guards in southern Jade City at daybreak. On their way back, after pondering over it for a long time, Qin Yeming believed there was only one way to gain the Dragon King¡¯s trust. So, he quickly made a bed for the Dragon King, took a few steps back, bowed deeply and said, ¡°Please allow me to cut off my tongue, Dragon King, so that I won¡¯t be able to divulge the secret.¡±


    Faintly amused, Gu Shenwei looked at the teenager and said, ¡°There are many ways to divulge a secret. Talking is only one of them.¡±


    Qin Yeming was briefly stunned and then seriously said, ¡°I understand. I won¡¯t let myself concern the Dragon King.¡± After saying this, he meant to take his leave.


    ¡°Committing suicide won¡¯t help either. I sent you to Pang Jing, so you¡¯re no longer a nobody. Your death itself would be an important message.¡±


    Qin Yeming was transfixed with amazement. He had never expected that things would be soplicated. All the ns that he had thought of were now useless. ¡°Dragon King, I¡­ I¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Actually, you don¡¯t have any secrets to divulge. Both Pang Jing and I know exactly what is going on. If someone tries to bribe you, then I suggest that you take as much money as you can get and then tell them the truth.¡±


    Qin Yeming¡¯s eyes were wide with shock.


    ¡°I¡¯m expecting Prime Minister Zhong Heng toe by. Wake me when he arrives.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Qin Yeming answered before walking out of the room and gently closing the door, trying hard to figure out what the Dragon King meant. Atst, he drew the conclusion that he should never try to specte on the Dragon King¡¯s true thoughts. All he needed to do was follow his orders.


    This was the wisest decision that Qin Yeming had ever made in his life.


    As expected, Zhong Heng came very early, having even more questions than Qin Yeming had, but the Dragon King didn¡¯t grant him permission to get involved in the Meng family¡¯s issue. Thus, he tried not to ask any questions about it.


    ¡°Preparations for the kung fupetition are almost done. Only the venue and date remain undecided. It has to be a ce that all sides deem safe.¡±


    ¡°I have a suggestion. You can propose it at today¡¯s meeting. Golden Roc Castle will probably agree.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m all ears, Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°The Governor¡¯s mansion.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s in northern Jade City, which is Golden Roc Castle¡¯s territory¡­ Is this the reason why the Dragon King brought Mo Chu back?¡±


    ¡°It is. Apart from this, I¡¯ll also station more people in northern Jade City. This is a coteral condition and Golden Roc Castle must ept it. Otherwise, we¡¯ll pick another venue for the kung fupetition.¡±


    Zhong Heng smiled. He didn¡¯t know the truth, but he knew that the negotiation was going to be very easy since the Dragon King obviously had something on Golden Roc Castle. ¡°This sounds pretty good. If everything goes smoothly, then the Governor¡¯s mansion will soon be the mansion of the Lord of Jade City. What about the date? Does the Dragon King have any suggestions?¡±


    ¡°The sooner the better.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhong Heng nned to take his leave, but before leaving, he still decided to make one more remark. ¡°Soon, creditors wille here. The Dragon King has to make preparations. Besides¡­ this is a critical period. If the Dragon King shows mercy to traitors again, then even more base persons might be emboldened.¡±


    ¡°I just want to solve problems,¡± replied Gu Shenwei. This was what Zhong Heng had taught him many years ago. ¡°Rest assured. Traitors will get their just deserts.¡±


    Both Xiao Fengchai and L¨¹ Qiying were waiting for the Dragon King.

 Chapter 962 - A Traitorous Thought

    Chapter 962: A Traitorous Thought


    L¨¹ Qiying had fabricated many excuses to defend himself with, but upon seeing the Dragon King, he didn¡¯t dare state any of them. Once again, he felt the anguish that he had suffered when he lost his finger many years ago, and it was even more intense this time.


    Back then, the Dragon King had merely been a killer of Golden Roc Castle, someone who had just killed his mentor and be an independent killer. He hade to Tavernkeeper L¨¹¡¯s house to im Tie Hanfeng¡¯s savings. The moment a minor disagreement arose, he had whipped out his saber and cut off one of Tavernkeeper L¨¹¡¯s fingers.


    Because of this memory, L¨¹ Qiying had given up all thought of kneeling down to plead for his life. He remained sitting on the chair, and he put on a stiff expression to dissemble the fear inside of him.


    Byparison, Xiao Fengchai was the realposed one, as she had been sipping at her tea quietly from the very beginning. asionally, she would even stretch out her hands to tidy her headwear and clothes.


    ¡®This cheap woman is still trying to seduce me,¡¯ L¨¹ Qiying thought angrily. Pointing at Xiao Fengchai, who was sitting on the opposite side of the table, he loudly said, ¡°It was her. This was all her idea. Dragon King, I¡­ I was fooled.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai smiled, ¡°It was indeed my n. I plotted the whole thing. L¨¹ Qiying was merely a minion. Just kill me, Dragon King.¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying was stunned. He had never expected that Xiao Fengchai would plead for him, and he actually was somewhat touched. The day before, wasn¡¯t he still dreaming of living with this woman in the Lon Kingdom? He sighed but didn¡¯t say anything. His gratitude to her was overpowered by fear. He had no intention of iming responsibility.


    Gu Shenwei also gently sighed. L¨¹ Qiying was still not as smart as Xiao Fengchai. An attempt to shift the me was unhelpful in mollifying the penalty. Instead, it was synonymous with giving the right to negotiate to her. Gu Shenwei had no choice but to talk directly to Xiao Fengchai.


    Both of these two people had been personally chosen by he himself. But now, they had both betrayed him. He couldn¡¯t just idly stand by. ¡°We need to talk.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai looked back at the Dragon King and fixed her eyes on his. In a life-or-death moment, she wouldn¡¯t count on anybody else to save her. ¡°Money. It was all because of money. I will only serve the one who has the Meng family¡¯s money. I¡¯m sorry, but I think that the Dragon King understand this.¡±


    ¡°Um. I do,¡± replied Gu Shenwei. He had to admit that socializing with people like Xiao Fengchai made things easier.


    L¨¹ Qiying widened his mouth and then looked at him in amazement. He felt confused about the Dragon King¡¯s mild attitude. After having lived in Jade City for so many years, he was not at all stupid. It was just that fear had clouded his judgement. When he recollected himself, he immediately realized Xiao Fengchai¡¯s intention as well as his miscalction. ¡°That¡¯s true. The Dragon King lied to us¡­ No, no. I mean, we helped the Dragon King purchase a lot of things on credit¡­ Er, the Dragon King got the Meng family¡¯s money back, right? Naturally, we¡¯ll continue to serve the Dragon King¡­ ¡±


    The more L¨¹ Qiying talked, the more unsure he became. Xiao Fengchai took advantage of this opportunity and drew the Dragon King¡¯s attention back to her. ¡°No matter where the Meng family¡¯s money is, everybody in the city is saying that the Dragon King is broke. I¡¯m afraid that soon, creditors will all throng to your house all at once and that even the gate will be broken.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve alreadye.¡± Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t try to conceal the difficult situation that he was facing. ¡°But fortunately, the gate will stay intact.¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying gave an unnatural smile and took the Dragon King¡¯s joke as a gesture of goodwill, but Xiao Fengchai withdrew her smile. ¡°I can solve your financial problem.¡±


    ¡°You can?¡±


    ¡°I have some money of my own. Not much, but it should be enough to repay part of the debt, which willfort the other creditors. As for the rest of the debt, I have a n. The Meng family has declined, but someone has to take over the businesses in the Western Regions. The Dragon King already has half of the Western Regions under your control. So, you can just franchise all of the industries in different areas. I can guarantee that all the merchants in the Western Regions will be willing to pay a very high price to obtain this right. Not only will the Dragon King be able to repay all the debt, but he will also make some money on the side.¡±


    It was not until this moment that light dawned on L¨¹ Qiying. What was the point of confessing and begging for mercy? Proving his value was the only way to survive. ¡°I¡¯ll donate my money as well¡­ I¡¯ll donate all of it. And I can contact merchants in different areas of the Western Regions and establish a tradingpany evenrger than that of the Meng family¡­ ¡±


    Xiao Fengchai knew that she had made her point, so she stopped talking and let the Dragon King consider it himself, scorning L¨¹ Qiying¡¯s clumsy acting.


    As if feeling that her suggestion was constructive, the Dragon King paced the floor for a short while and then said, ¡°Tell me, why don¡¯t you believe that I can take Jade City?¡±


    Finally, the most crucial problem had been raised, but L¨¹ Qiying didn¡¯t know how to answer it. Again, he had to give the initiative to a woman. Xiao Fengchai was ready to answer the question. ¡°Originally, I did. But the Dragon King sent the massive army of the Nond away, gave up his sharp victorious momentum, agreed to have a kung fupetition to select the Lord of Jade City, and also maintained an intimate rtionship with the Central ins. How was I supposed to believe it after all that? I had no choice but to believe that the Central ins was the more powerful side, that Pang Jing would seed in co-opting anybody he wanted to co-opt by way of his identity as an official assigned here by the Central ins, that I was merely the first, and there would be more in the future.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that you betrayed me because I made you think that the Central ins was more powerful?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Out of prudence, L¨¹ Qiying didn¡¯t interpose for fear of crossing the line and enraging the Dragon King. He believed that Xiao Fengchai was taking a gamble.


    But surprisingly, her gamble paid off. Instead of getting angry, the Dragon King nodded. ¡°That makes sense.¡±


    Xiao Fengchai had made these explicit remarks not just to stimte the Dragon King, so she immediately exined. ¡°Of course, the Dragon King must have his own thoughts and ns. You know, and your most trusted men know, but I don¡¯t. I can only specte that this operation of Dragon King¡¯s will be a great sess. You taught Pang Jing a lesson and also made me understand that the Dragon King¡¯s luring of the Central ins here is just an expedient measure.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Now we know that the Dragon King is the most powerful one in Jade City.¡± Now, L¨¹ Qiying dared to interject.


    Gu Shenwei gently snorted. ¡°You have to be punished.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m willing to take any punishment,¡± L¨¹ Qiying said immediately. Hope arose within him for the first time since he had been caught.


    ¡°I want all of the merchants in Jade City ¨C no, all of the merchants in the entire Western Regions to have faith in the Dragon Army in three days, so that nobody will ever mention my debt ever again.¡±


    Three days was a very short time. Most of the areas in the Western Regions wouldn¡¯t even be able to hear the rumor. But Xiao Fengchai understood that once she handled the merchants in Jade City, then those in other areas would no longer be a problem. Again, L¨¹ Qiying epted the offer before she did. ¡°No problem. Three days. All I need is three days. If any creditores here again, I¡¯ll repay the debt with my head.¡±


    ¡°The reason why I¡¯m sparing you is not because you¡¯re useful. There are other people who can handle the debt problem for me.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes.¡± L¨¹ Qiying was uneasy. He knew that this wasn¡¯t over yet.


    Having said all she should, Xiao Fengchai listened quietly.


    ¡°It is because news of your betrayal didn¡¯t spread very far.¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying was relieved. It turned out that the Dragon King didn¡¯t want outsiders tough at him.


    ¡°But there is one person who has betrayed me in public, and almost everybody knows it. I have to eliminate him.¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying¡¯s heart lurched. He thought for a moment that the Dragon King was referring to him, and he nearly fell off the chair, but his stupidity was not incurable. So he soon realized who the person the Dragon King had mentioned was. ¡°Meng Mingshu! Meng Mingshu publicly framed the Dragon King. By no means will he be able to get away with it.¡± L¨¹ Qiying had forgotten that it was because of him that the new patriarch of the Meng family had chosen to betray the Dragon King.


    Xiao Fengchai remained silent. She was merely a merchant, and the Dragon King was the killer, but now they had reversed their roles. She was wondering whether the Dragon King was testing her or making her the instrument of murder. ¡°The Dragon King has the Meng family¡¯s money, right?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s so right that I no longer need the people of the Meng family,¡± Gu Shenwei said.


    Xiao Fengchai and L¨¹ Qiying then returned to northern Jade City. Xu Xiaoyi walked into the room and shook his head, his face full of disbelief as he stroked his mustache. ¡°The Dragon King just spared them like that? L¨¹ Qiying is a fool. Xiao Fengchai¡­ To be honest, Dragon King, she¡¯s too cunning and also too seductive. Sooner orter, she will cause you trouble again.¡±


    ¡°Killing people is usually the simplest move.¡±


    Stunned, Xu Xiaoyi didn¡¯t understand the meaning of this inexplicable remark of the Dragon King¡¯s. ¡°That¡¯s true. If someone is tied up and brought in front of me, then even I can take a saber and kill them. All I have to do is stab them.¡±


    ¡°Um. How to tie the target and bring them in front of you is usually the most difficult part.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi partially understood and his eyes lit up. ¡°So it turns out that the Dragon King will still punish them. Now I feel much better. One of them was a whore, and the other was a tavernkeeper. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that the Dragon King promoted them, they would probably still be in southern Jade City. However, they chose to be traitors the moment they got some power. The very thought makes me angry.¡±


    As he observed this intelligence executive that had been serving him for the longest time, Gu Shenwei suddenly asked, ¡°The Dragon Army still needs a financial executive. Do you have any rmendations?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi immediately blurted out, ¡°How about me?¡± But soon, he blushed scarlet. ¡°s, forget about it. I¡¯m not sure whether I¡¯ll be able to resist the temptation when there¡¯s too much money in front of me.¡±


    ¡°Your current position is very important. I can¡¯t find someone else to rece you.¡± Gu Shenwei made this remark to remind Xu Xiaoyi to stop thinking about money.


    ¡°The Dragon King values me too much,¡± Xu Xiaoyi said gloomily. He was disillusioned. But it was still a good thing to have the Dragon King¡¯s trust. ¡°Let me think. Managing money¡­ I have a rmendation, but I¡¯m afraid that the Dragon King might not agree.¡±


    ¡°Try me.¡±


    ¡°Actually, I think that Queen Ju is a suitable candidate. She might be a little young and not as experienced as Xiao Fengchai, but she will never betray Dragon King. If the money is in her hands, then the Dragon King can rest assured.¡±


    Gu Shenwei immediately realized what Xu Xiaoyi was thinking of. His elder sister was the most important handmaid of Queen Ju¡¯s, which meant that Queen Ju being in charge of money was naturally synonymous with Xu Yanwei being in charge of money. ¡°How much do you know about her?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi briefly blushed red again and decided to be honest. ¡°The Dragon King can ask my elder sister about it. She always speaks highly of Queen Ju. You can also ask the counselor or the Prime Minister. They will share my opinion.¡±


    Fang Wenshi and Zhong Heng did have a very good opinion of Queen Ju, but Gu Shenwei barely remembered what she looked like. ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡±


    Gu Shenwei stayed alone for a while after that. Xiao Fengchai¡¯s words had stirred up some of his feelings. No matter what the truth was, when he nominally owned the Meng family¡¯s money, he would gain the trust of a lot of merchants. Likewise, when the Dragon King seemed to be fawning on the Central ins, it would trigger a series of betrayals.


    Back when he had decided to ally with Prince Xiao in Thousand Horsemen Pass, he had already had such concerns. He had just never expected that the betrayals would happen so soon.


    Killing was the simplest solution and Gu Shenwei had no hesitation or mercy. Instead, he became more vignt. Somebody had once warned him that everybody was willing to make sacrifices during the period when they were striving for sess, that they would keep count of the contributions they made in mind and wait for future rewards. People were the most betrayal-prone when sess was close at hand. At that time, the rewards were so close that many people wouldpare the rewards with the sacrifices that they had previously made. Once they felt underpaid, they would feel angry.


    Every traitor believed that they were the ones who had been betrayed first. The Dragon King pretended that he had robbed the Meng family of its money, which was a betrayal in Xiao Fengchai¡¯s eyes.


    Calmly analyzing the things that had happened around him, Gu Shenwei became even more decisive and merciless, and even that faint wisp of anger in him dissolved. He couldn¡¯t satisfy everybody, so betrayal was an inevitable problem that needed to be solved step by step.


    As he went along this train of thought, Gu Shenwei reached a new perception regarding the position of the Lord of Jade City. So, he decided to reformte his n.

 Chapter 963 - Poison

    Chapter 963: Poison


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Looking over his socialwork, Meng Mingshu found that he had lost all of his friends. Everyone had betrayed him, and he had betrayed everybody. Like a half-starved stray dog, hey prostrate before the first one who beckoned to him, even if this man had just teased him, and even if there was an evil intent hiding behind his smile.


    Pang Jing, who was from the Central ins, was the initiator of the conspiracy. Meng Mingshu was eager to grab his cor and question him. ¡°There¡¯s no animosity between us. Why did you frame me?¡±


    But he didn¡¯t dare. When news came that Mo Chu had returned to the city and taken over the Governor¡¯s mansion, he had found a spark of inspiration and publicly invited his foe over to live with him. When Pang Jing agreed, he even had to obsequiously express his gratitude.


    The Central ins was so powerful that it was like the Heavenly Mountain in the north. No matter how many evil deeds it perpetrated, nobody was able to retaliate against it. Meng Mingshu didn¡¯t dare retaliate against Pang Jing, and he also didn¡¯t have the heart to punish himself, so he instead shifted all of his anger onto Xiao Fengchai.


    The more he thought about it, the more justifiable he found it. Pang Jing was the one who had originally formted the n, and L¨¹ Qiying was the one who had originally came to him to persuade him. But the ultimate reason why he had fallen for it was because he trusted Xiao Fengchai. He loved that woman, and the money that he had spent on her during all these years was enough to convince a princess of a small country to marry him. However, she had repaid his love with exploitation and betrayal.


    ¡®Shameless!¡¯ Meng Mingshu quivered from head to toe with indignation. He put down the letter and said to the visitor, ¡°Okay. Tell your master that I¡¯ll be there on time.¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying had written him a letter, politely inviting him to a consultation. He implied that there would be another participant. Naturally, that person would be Xiao Fengchai.


    Meng Mingshu had just suffered a heavy loss, so he had regained a part of his senses. He took the letter to Pang Jing and asked him for advice. Meanwhile, he beat around the bush during the conversation, trying to figure out the rtionship between this Central ins man and Xiao Fengchai.


    Pang Jing let out twoughs. Currently, his focus was not on these insignificant people, so he answered casually. ¡°She works for the Dragon King. I have nothing to do with any of her businesses.¡±


    Meng Mingshu regarded this remark as a tacit permission. That night, he went to Retention Alley to rendezvous, only bringing two attendants with him. Surprisingly, after he made up his mind, he didn¡¯t feel afraid at all when he entered the jurisdiction of the Department of Guards.


    Butterfly counted as a famous prostitute in Retention Alley. In her prime, she had a naive and natural appearance when acting cute before whoremasters, which was why she had had a very high sess rate in seducing them.


    Second Young Master Meng was one of her regrs. When he came to her ce, Butterfly was both delighted and annoyed. Pulling at his sleeve, she first put on an air of anger and pinched him repeatedly, but she barely used any force. Though she kept saying, ¡°Get out of here,¡± her grip on him was very tight.


    Meng Mingshu was surprised to see how much Butterfly had changed. Last year, she had still been slightly inexperienced, spoiled, and cute; the longer she had affectionately tried to resist him, the more sexually excited he had be. But now, she began to show her greedy, hateful side. Her skills remained the same. Actually, she was even more skillful now. It was just her appearance that had changed. Butterfly was maturing quickly, and if she didn¡¯t change her style soon, then it was very likely that she wouldn¡¯t be able to stay in Retention Alley any longer.


    ¡®Most women¡¯s beauty is as transient as that of a flower. It blossoms,sts a short time, and then fades away.¡¯ Meng Mingshu sighed secretly and then immediately recalled Xiao Fengchai. This woman was the only one whose beauty had endured the test of time, truly a miracle.


    The thought caused Meng Mingshu sharp pain. He ndly pushed Butterfly aside. ¡°Where¡¯s L¨¹ Qiying? Has he arrived yet?¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying¡¯s voice came from upstairs. ¡°Oh. Second Young Master Meng has arrived. Pleasee up here.¡±


    In Butterfly¡¯s room, the air was filled with a suffocating cloying fragrance, and there was a huge fire zing in the firece. A tableful of food had been prepared beforehand, along with wine. Casually sitting in the host seat, L¨¹ Qiying smiled. ¡°Second Young Master Meng, let¡¯s have a few goblets of wine first. And then, you can tell me how you¡¯re going to thank me.¡±


    ¡°Thank you?¡± Meng Mingshu sneered. ¡°What don¡¯t you tell me on whose behalf you¡¯re talking for this time? That Central ins guy? The Dragon King? Golden Roc Castle? Or Xiao Fengchai? You must have a master. How else would a mutt like you dare toe here and bark?¡±


    Butterfly didn¡¯t have to be very smart to figure out that something was wrong, so she intimately leaned against Meng Mingshu and called out ¡°Second Brother¡± in a sharine voice. However, her dear ¡°Second Brother¡± waspletely indifferent to her efforts, and abruptly said, ¡°Get out.¡±


    Butterfly was stunned. Unused to a man giving her the cold shoulder, she didn¡¯t know how to react.


    The smile on L¨¹ Qiying¡¯s face remained unchanged. He raised his goblet and said to Butterfly, ¡°We¡¯ll call you if we need you. You may leave us.¡±


    Butterfly stamped her feet and then left the room angrily. ¡°He¡¯s already squandered all of his family¡¯s money, but he¡¯s still pretending¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Now that you¡¯vee, you might as well sit down, Second Young Master Meng.¡± L¨¹ pointed at the seat on his left side.


    ¡°What about Xiao Fengchai? Where is she?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Lady Xiao will be here soon. Let¡¯s talk first.¡±


    ¡°I have nothing to say to you,¡± Meng Mingshu said angrily as he walked up to the table, took the wine pot, inverted it, and poured all of the wine onto the table, ruining the food. ¡°Did the Dragon King send you here to kill me? I doubt that you have the balls to do it. Tell me. Did you poison the wine or the food?¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying didn¡¯t answer him directly. He raised the goblet to his lips, gulped down the remaining wine, picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks, and started chewing on it. ¡°Is the Second Young Master Meng very afraid that the Dragon King will kill you?¡±


    ¡°Heh. You should be more afraid than I am. The Dragon King is not going to let you and that bitch get away with what you¡¯ve done.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t I still alive? I¡¯m not even afraid of drinking poisoned wine and eating poisoned dishes.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because the Dragon King wants to use you two people onest time. I heard about it. During thest two days, you and Xiao Fengchai have been busy repaying the Dragon King¡¯s debt. That must have cost a fortune, right? How much longer can you keep doing it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that bad. I think that our money will be enough. The creditors do not number as much as we imagined. The kung fupetition will be held at the end of this month. Everybody believes that the Dragon King will soon be the Lord of Jade City, and they all want to fawn on him. Thus, the creditors didn¡¯t take much money from Fengchai and me.¡±


    The moment the name ¡°Fengchai¡± formed on L¨¹ Qiying¡¯s lips, rage surged inside Meng Mingshu, who then smacked his fists onto the surface of the table. ¡°You think that you¡¯re eligible to call her by her first name?¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying raised his palm that had only four fingers left, seemingly appreciating its ugly aesthetic. ¡°Not only my mouth, but even this hand of mine is worthy of her. She¡¯s just a prostitute, Second Young Master Meng¡­ ¡±


    Meng Mingshu instantly transferred his anger from Xiao Fengchai onto L¨¹ Qiying. He walked half a circle around the room, nning to teach this old guy a lesson.


    As he watched Meng Mingshu walk towards him, L¨¹ Qiying said, ¡°There are hundreds of thousands of people who have slept with Xiao Fengchai. Do you think that you can kill all of them?¡±


    Meng Mingshu had clenched his fists, but he didn¡¯tunch an attack. Instead, he murmured, ¡°A bitch is a bitch after all. She¡¯s heartless, ungrateful, and cares for nothing but money.¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying shared his opinion, empathetically sighing, ¡°But men never learn. They race to jump into the trap and won¡¯t realize how stupid they are until they¡¯re covered in cuts and bruises.¡±


    Meng Mingshu watched L¨¹ Qiying in confusion. He never expected that this old man in his fifties or sixties would have also suffered the same pain that he had. ¡°You also¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said L¨¹ Qiying, his face no less indignant than Meng Mingshu¡¯s. ¡°I was fooled by a bitch. Ibored and worked for her, but eventually, when I was trying to escape, she betrayed me.¡±


    Meng Mingshu sat down dejectedly, the look on his face alternating between anger and dejection. ¡°Yes. We were all fooled. Xiao Fengchai is the cause of all this. Why didn¡¯t that Central ins guy take her away?¡±


    Meng Mingshu had been asking himself this question all along, but didn¡¯t dare directly ask Pang Jing.


    ¡°Why? Because that Central ins guy likes men.¡±


    Meng Mingshu raised his head in amazement, thinking that L¨¹ Qiying must be joking. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. ¡°Are you saying that¡­ I should have noticed this earlier. This kind of person is not rare in Jade City either. I¡¯m so stupid¡­ So, Xiao Fengchai was fooled as well.¡±


    ¡°She was, but she deserves it.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha. She deserves it!¡± Meng Mingshu let out two loudughs and with that, his face darkened. ¡°Why exactly did you invite me here?¡±


    ¡°To take revenge.¡±


    ¡°Take revenge?¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying fished out a small packet from his front pocket and held it in his palm. ¡°This poison is from the Waning Moon Hall. It takes effect three hours after ingestion. Originally, I was nning on putting this in your goblet, but I¡¯m more willing to see it take effect on Xiao Fengchai.¡±


    This was indeed a trap. Thinking about the heartlessness of Xiao Fengchai, Meng Mingshu became furious, but he managed to control himself. ¡°Do you think that you can survive after killing Xiao Fengchai? The Dragon King is not going to spare you again.¡±


    ¡°You said it yourself. The Dragon King won¡¯t let me get away anyways. There¡¯s no doubt that he will kill me after the situation stabilizes. So, I came to you to seek shelter.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t even protect myself. How am I supposed to shelter you?¡±


    ¡°Jade City is not safe. Even if someone else obtains the position of Lord of Jade City, the Dragon King will still be able to kill us. We can only flee to the Central ins, where the Dragon King won¡¯t be able to find us. You still have half of the Meng family¡¯s money. The Central ins will surely wee you.¡±


    ¡®Half of the Meng family¡¯s money.¡¯ Meng Mingshu seldom thought about the things in the vault of the old mansion. He was uncertain about who those gold ingots belonged to exactly. ¡°When will shee?¡±


    ¡°Soon.¡±


    Meng Mingshu snatched the pack of poison away. ¡°Why not use a poison that takes effect instantly?¡±


    ¡°Xiao Fengchai wanted you to die on Butterfly¡¯s bed so as to shift the me onto her.¡±


    Meng Mingshu snorted. He deeply felt the authenticity of the saying: a woman¡¯s heart was the most wicked.


    L¨¹ Qiying walked to the doorway and summoned Butterfly to clean the table and bring more food and wine, but Butterfly sourly refused. She imed that she was not a handmaid and kept nagging them even as two handmaids quickly cleaned the table and then brought some dishes from outside.


    An hourter, Xiao Fengchai arrived. She was wearing men¡¯s clothes and a cape, and had only brought only one attendant with her. She was an old rival of Butterfly, but Butterfly failed to recognize her. Finding that more and more men were showing up at her ce, Butterfly couldn¡¯t help butin. It was not until L¨¹ Qiying paid her more silver ingots that she finally shut up and quietly stayed downstairs.


    After taking off her cape, Xiao Fengchai appeared delicate and attractive, though she was wearing men¡¯s clothes. Meng Mingshu¡¯s determination to kill her wavered for a time. After all, they were all pawns of other people who had no choice but to follow their orders. ¡®What¡¯s the point ofmitting cannibalism?¡¯ But this thought onlysted a very short time in his mind. When Xiao Fengchai called him ¡°Second Brother¡± with tearful eyes, Meng Mingshu reaffirmed his determination to take revenge. ¡®This bitch is trying to trick me into drinking poisoned wine. The more pitiful she acts, the more venomous her intentions actually are.¡±


    L¨¹ Qiying took the hint and walked to the doorway. ¡°I¡¯ll give you some privacy. Call me if you need me.¡±


    And with that, the door was closed. Xiao Fengchai said in a tender voice, ¡°Second Brother, I really didn¡¯t know about that Central ins guy¡¯s conspiracy. He fooled me too.¡±


    ¡°I understand¡­ ¡± Meng Mingshu desperately wanted to continue his acting, but with so many conflicting emotions churning inside him, he lost hisposure and put the little pack in his hands onto the table. ¡°Do you know what this is?¡±


    Xiao Fengchai¡¯s face changed. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°L¨¹ Qiying said that this was poison, that you were going to use it to kill me.¡±


    ¡°That was nonsense¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Yes. He was talking nonsense. This is not poison but rather an antidote. The wine itself is poisoned. The reason why he pretended to side with me to seek shelter was because he wanted to trick me into lowering my guard and drinking the poisoned wine, while giving you the antidote. This is your n, isn¡¯t it? Why did he go downstairs? To poison Butterfly and my attendant? Heh. You fooled me once. Now do you want to fool me again?¡±


    Staring at Meng Mingshu, Xiao Fengchai stayed silent. She had to confirm what this man was thinking about first before reacting.


    Meng Mingshu smiled, realizing that his guess was right. He strode behind Xiao Fengchai in a single step, tightly wrapped his left arm around her neck, drew a dagger with his right hand, and pointed it at her heart as he said, ¡°My n is very simple: kill you directly.¡±


    Surprisingly, Xiao Fengchai calmed down. ¡°This is the Dragon King¡¯s turf. You won¡¯t be able to make it out of Retention Alley alive if you kill me. You still have half of the Meng family¡¯s money. Do you have the heart to give that up?¡±


    Meng Mingshu gently moved his left hand upwards, mped it onto Xiao Fengchai¡¯s mouth and whispered into her ear, ¡°Do you think that I don¡¯t know? All of the gold ingots in the old mansion are counterfeits. The real ones are in the Governor¡¯s mansion, and I¡¯ll never be able to get them. I¡¯ve been meaning to kill myself for a long time, but I love you so much that I can¡¯t bear going to hell alone. I have to take you with me. Even death will not do us apart¡­ ¡±


    For the first time, fear arose inside Xiao Fengchai. She couldn¡¯t understand this man¡¯s thoughts, just like how normal people couldn¡¯t understand madness.


    She struggled and tried to yell, but the dagger ruthlessly sank into her heart.


    Meng Mingshu held her in his arms until the body went cold.


    ¡°L¨¹ Qiying,¡± he called out.

 Chapter 964 - Entering for the Competition

    Chapter 964: Entering for the Competition


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Everyone in the room was talking in whispers,menting Meng Mingshu¡¯s death.


    Thest patriarch of the Meng family hadmitted suicide by drinking poisoned wine after killing several people. Even the residents of Jade City, who had long ago gotten used to murder, were shocked by that scene.


    ¡°There were bodies both upstairs and downstairs. He stabbed each of the seven or eight victims several times. He himself was the only one whose body had no wounds.¡±


    ¡°Was Meng Mingshu really that good? He was able to kill seven or eight people all by himself?¡±


    ¡°Actually, most of the victims had already died after drinking poisoned wine. He just wanted to make sure that none of them would survive.¡±


    ¡°Tsk, tsk. I really didn¡¯t expect that Meng Mingshu¡­ He had numerous gold ingots. He really left them behind just like that? Without even designating an heir?¡±


    ¡°Heh. Numerous gold ingots? Don¡¯t mention them again. Meng Mingshu was either driven into a corner or hated Xiao Fengchai¡¯s guts to the extreme. Otherwise, he would have never done this.¡±


    ¡°Xiao Fengchai¡­ It¡¯s such a shame. I visited her three years ago. She was a pretty nice woman. It was just that she was too greedy. Her hunger for silver ingots could never be satiated. Fortunately I quit in time, or else¡­ ¡±


    The topic of people¡¯s discussion diverged. Some of them continued pretending to mourn Meng Mingshu¡¯s death. Others started sharing their memories of the most famous prostitute of Retention Alley. It turned out that most of them had at one point spent a lot of money on her services. Immediately, they felt some kind of closeness to each other, as if they used to be ssmates or from the same hometown.


    A receptionist monk standing at the doorway was silently reciting scriptures with his eyes closed, but asionally, he would hear one or two sentences. ¡°Her skin was even more delicate than that of a teenage girl. I heard that she bathed in women¡¯s breast milk every day¡­ ¡± ¡°I liked it the most when she whispered in my ear. Each one of her words was so considerate and tender that it made me as drunk as the best wine¡­ ¡±


    The receptionist monk, who was in his twenties, had been sent to a temple when he was still a young boy. Though he couldn¡¯t quite understand the meaning of these remarks, he was still affected. His heart started fluttering, and he felt a surge of heat rise from the bottom of his feet and settle between his chest and his abdomen.


    ¡°I think that Meng Mingshu did a good deed before he died. That bitch got her just deserts,¡± a woman in her early forties said loudly, staring at the crowd with a confrontational look on her face. As one of the few women in the room, she expressed her thoughts as the representative of more than half of all the prostitutes in southern Jade City.


    The men just smiled, but none of them argued with her. This woman owned dozens of brothels of different sizes in southern Jade City, and was in charge of nearly half of the human trafficking. She had never had a good opinion of Xiao Fengchai.


    The receptionist monk quickly raised his head and shot a brief nce at that woman, and with that, waves of anger welled up inside of him. However, soon, his anger was reced by self-repentance. When the head monk finally arrived with the honored guests, he hurriedly took his leave and started rushing into the temple. For the first time, he felt like these dignified buildings were restrictive.


    The head monk, Fa Feng, was a little surprised by the receptionist monk¡¯s gaffe, but he didn¡¯t have time to find out the reason behind it. With a mild smile like a merchant¡¯s on his face, he said, ¡°Please take your seats, benefactors. Governor Pang is going to exin matters concerning this kung fupetition through which the Lord of Jade City will be selected.¡±


    With a childlike smile, Pang Jing strode to the host¡¯s seat in the innermost position of the room and stood there, facing the crowd. There was no grief on his face at all, as if he hadn¡¯t even heard of Meng Mingshu¡¯s death.


    Everybody had heard that the other half of the Meng family¡¯s money had been taken by Pang Jing. So, the rumors said that Meng Mingshu¡¯s act of killing people was actually the Central ins people¡¯s conspiracy, but nobody could offer any specific details. Only a few smart ones had suspected that the gold ingots in the old mansion of the Meng family were actually counterfeits, and that Pang Jing had to take them all to cover up the truth.


    The public image of the official assigned here by the Central ins was no longer a rash man who was too hasty. The leaders of the various organizations and protectors in Jade City became more respectful and also more vignt of him.


    Pang Jing ignored this minor change in the people¡¯s attitude and said in an excited tone, ¡°The kung fupetition will be held in fifteen days. For the first time in almost a hundred years, Jade City will have a sole Lord.¡±


    Polite voices of approval were heard. These people would rather not have a Lord, but all of them were rational people who knew that the best choice was to wee the new Lord with hospitality.


    ¡°This is going to be a special kung fupetition,¡± Pang Jing continued. Watching the crowd, he felt faintly regretful as the Dragon King, the Unique King, and some other most important people were absent. They had each sent a henchman here to attend this meeting on their behalf. ¡°Its purpose is to select the Lord of Jade City, and not to entertain residents. Thus, this kung fupetition is not going to be open to the public.¡±


    The announcement sent a ripple of disappointment through the crowd. If they couldn¡¯t see the kung fupetition with their own eyes, then how were they supposed to know the oue before others did?


    Aware of what these people were thinking about, Pang Jing immediately exined, ¡°But all of the people present, including me, will, on behalf of all circles in Jade City, will be the eighty-seven witnesses of this kung fupetition.¡±


    Cheers rippled through the crowd. In the blink of an eye, everybody in the room forgot about the tragedy of the Meng family. They liked this rule. They would be able to not only get first-hand information, but also disy their status, which would provide them with a guarantee of their future gossip.


    ¡°The venue for the kung fupetition will be the Governor¡¯s mansion. There will be only one fight a day. After thepetition ends, that ce will be the Mansion of the Lord of Jade City. The Nonder is willing to end his term ahead of schedule and give that mansion up to the new Lord.¡±


    Many people pricked their ears up, trying to find some clues in his tone, but they were disappointed. The Central ins man¡¯s tone remained unchanged, as if he didn¡¯t care about the upation of his mansion at all.


    ¡°Today, the most important procedure before the kung fupetition will be carried out, which is the registration. Not everybody is qualified to enter thepetition. Apart from having superb kung fu skills, the Lord of Jade City must also have wisdom. I think that nobody wants an uneducated person to be in charge of Jade City. Therefore, you are the only ones who are qualified to enter thispetition. Of course, you don¡¯t have to fight in the ring yourselves. It¡¯s totally fine for you to find someone else to fight on your behalf.¡±


    Everybody had heard of this rule before, but hardly anyone of them wanted to participate. They didn¡¯t care whether they would be defeated or not. The key was they didn¡¯t want to offend the new Lord of Jade City, as the entire Jade City believed that the new Lord of Jade City would be either the Unique King or the Dragon King.


    The room was quiet for quite a while, and the atmosphere was somewhat awkward. Pang Jing let out augh. ¡°It seems that whoever bes the Lord will keep a low profile. Then I¡¯ll state my stance first: the Central ins will not participate in this kung fupetition. The Lord of Jade City must be a native of the Western Regions.¡±


    This was also a message that everybody had known in advance, but there were still a lot of people who felt a wave of relief wash over them after they heard it from the Governor of the Western Regions himself.


    ¡°The Waning Moon Hall will participate,¡± said a voice from the corner. It was a young female who spoke. As if she had no idea how to appropriatelymunicate with people, she kept looking back at people directly with a cold and abrupt look, never avoiding anybody¡¯s eyes. She had been in this room for a long time but this was the first time that she had spoken.


    Pang Jing signaled the clerk beside him to start writing down names, and then smiled. ¡°Great. Finally, we have our first participant. But, you have to give the name of the person who wants to be the Lord, and the one who will fight in the ring.¡±


    ¡°Lord of Jade City ¨C the Master Commander of the Waning Moon Hall, Lotus. Fighter ¨C the Master Commander of the Waning Moon Hall, Lotus.¡± The female said the names in a cold voice. Her answer was simple and direct. It sounded rather impolite, but she was setting an example which would be followed by all those who entered their names after her.


    ¡°Lord of Jade City ¨C the Unique King of Golden Roc Castle, Shangguan Fa. Fighter ¨C the same person.¡± A counselor in white entered the Unique King¡¯s name on behalf of Golden Roc Castle. Everybody was quiet, paying due respect to this participant.


    ¡°Lord of Jade City ¨C the King of the An Kingdom in Xiaoyao Lake, Tang Pingsen¡­ ¡± faintughs were heard in the room. All of them were familiar with King An and nobody believed that he could be the Lord of Jade City. ¡°Fighter ¨C swordsman Luo Qikang.¡± All theughs stopped instantly. This Central ins swordsman had long established his reputation as a top-notch, ruthless swordsman in Jade City. Nobody dared to sneer at him.


    Meanwhile, everybody came to understood that the Central ins wanted to interfere in this kung fupetition after all.


    ¡°Lord of Jade City, the Sect Leader of the Heavenly Mountain Sect. Fighter, sabersman Fang Shuyi.¡±


    Some people were surprised that the Heavenly Mountain Sect wanted topete with their own master, the Unique King, for the position of the Lord of Jade City. However, those beside them soon exined it to them. ¡°This is the Unique King¡¯s vanguard. You don¡¯t think that the Unique King will fight against some nobody, do you?¡±


    Fang Shuyi was a strange name that nobody had heard of before, which was very normal. Everyone expected him to be a former killer of Golden Roc Castle, who probably had done numerous great things and killed numerous people; as a killer, he had just probably never made his name known to anybody.


    Naturally, the clerk had also never heard of this name before. He had to ask how the name was spelled before recording it down.


    ¡°Lord of Jade City ¨C Shangguan Ru from the Kun Society. Fighter ¨C Shangguan Ru from the Kun Society.¡±


    This remark immediately caused animated discussion to spark. Shangguan Ru was the Unique King¡¯s daughter, but she spent a lot of time with the Dragon King, and she had even be the ¡°Queen¡± of the Land of Fragrance. After returning to Jade City, she had taken in the killer disciples of Golden Roc Castle under the name of the Kun Society. From the outsiders¡¯ eyes, all the twists and turns of her life were incredible, and the people also felt that her stance was unpredictable.


    Upon seeing that the people had started discussing, Pang Jing smiled. This was what he had expected to see. It would be very boring if the kung fupetition was merely between the Unique King and the Dragon King.


    ¡°Heh. If there¡¯s going to be a fight between the Kun Society and the Waning Moon Hall, then it will be very interesting.¡± Someone suddenly thought of this, but he regretted saying it openly the moment he finished hisst word. The female disciple of the Waning Moon Hall shot a cold nce at him. The faces of the representatives of the Kun Society, Golden Roc Castle, and the Heavenly Mountain Sect also darkened. The speaker hurriedly drew back and hid himself behind the crowd, no longer daring to say anything.


    ¡°Lord of Jade City ¨C Chu Nanping from the Essence Pavilion. Fighter ¨C Chu Nanping from the Essence Pavilion.¡±


    The sixth participant¡¯s voice sent a ripple of amazement through the crowd. ¡°The Essence Pavilion? Haven¡¯t all of their houses been burnt down and all their people killed? Who¡¯s Chu Nanping? Oh, that¡¯s him¡­ ¡±


    Chu Nanping had attended the meeting and entered his name on behalf of himself. In Jade City, he was more famous for his looks than his swordsmanship. Several men and women had been secretly peeping at him this whole time. At this moment, they all fixed their eyes on him. Someone even cheered him.


    ¡°Lord of Jade City, Shangguan Hong from the Barren Sect. Fighter, Shangguan Hong from the Barren Sect.¡±


    Everyone who had been invited to this meeting in the Four Noble Truths Temple were powerful and well-informed, but most of them didn¡¯t remember the Barren Sect that hadunched a sneak attack on Golden Roc Castle several years ago, and none of them had ever heard of Shangguan Hong¡¯s name before. They just instinctively felt that this man was nomon person since he bore the surname of ¡°Shangguan.¡±


    ¡°The Unique King¡¯s bastard son.¡± News soon spread out and nobody dared to ask any further questions.


    ¡°Lord of Jade City ¨C Governor Mo Chu. Fighter ¨C sabersman Mo Lin.¡±


    Someone immediately pointed out that this went against the rules. ¡°Neither of them are from the Western Regions.¡±


    Unexpectedly, Pang Jing behaved very tolerantly. ¡°Mo Chu has been the Governor of Jade City for three years, so he counts as a native of the Western Regions and is qualified topete for the position of the Lord of Jade City.¡±


    Since the Central ins didn¡¯t oppose it, nobody intended to be a busybody.


    So far, there had been eight participants. Others just wanted to look on, so they were very confused. ¡®Why hasn¡¯t the Dragon King entered his name?¡±


    Zhong Heng, the Dragon King¡¯s representative, had been listening passively the whole time, ignoring the curious gaze people were giving him.


    ¡°Does anybody else wanted to participate? Anybody else?¡± Pang Jing asked loudly. At first, his eyes swept through the crowd back and forth, but eventually, like everybody else, he fixed his eyes on Zhong Heng.


    As if having just realized what was going on, Zhong Heng stood up and said, ¡°The Lord of Jade City ¨C Long Fanyun from the Big Snow Mountain. Fighter ¨C the Dragon King of the Big Snow Mountain, Gu Shenwei.¡±


    The whole room quieted down. Pang Jing suddenly smacked his fist onto the table, knocking the inkstone over.

 Chapter 965 - Embrace

    Chapter 965: Embrace


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Panting for breath, those handmaids didn¡¯t know how many screens they had moved here, but their master was still discontent.


    With a frown on her face, Luo Ningcha peered at one of those screens. ¡°This one¡¯s not suitable. Who chose this one? Who do you think the guests will be looking at when theye? Me or the woman on this screen?¡±


    The painting on the screen was of a beautiful woman on a spring outing. Afraid of being ordered to carry another screen, a handmaid, who had been serving the master for many years, ventured to say, ¡°All the women in the world are overshadowed in front of you, My Lady, not to mention a painting-¡±


    Luo Ningcha casually threw a teacup at the handmaid, and due to her many years of practice, the teacup hit her full in the forehead and smashed into pieces, the blood mixing with hot water and tea leaves as it flowed down.


    ¡°Please have mercy on me, My Lady.¡± The handmaid hurriedly knelt down. She knew that she probably wouldn¡¯t be killed, but kneeling down was a standard procedure as well as the only way to appease her mistress.


    Luo Ningcha had already forgotten about the handmaid. Staring at the screen again, she said, ¡°Um¡­ Go and get another one immediately. It must be silken and translucent so that people on the other side can see my figure. However, the view they have can¡¯t be too clear. It has to be vague. And there mustn¡¯t be any women on the screen. Do you hear me?¡±


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s tone became severe. The handmaids hastily answered, ¡°Yes,¡± carried the screen out of the tent, handed it to the Iron-Mountain soldiers waiting outside, and then went to some nearby tents to pick out a suitable screen.


    Finally, thedy was satisfied with the new screen. There was only one defect: the screen was made of four segments. She was worried that too many frames might have an adverse effect on her beautiful figure, so she ordered a handmaid to stand behind the screen and walk step by step. Finally, she figured out which position was the best. ¡°Here it is. Do you have any idea how great a sacrifice I have to make because of you people?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll never forget your great kindness, My Lady,¡± all handmaids said in unison out of force of habit, hoping that this farce would end as soon as possible.


    Sitting on a couch with her body slightly tilted, Luo Ningcha pictured her guests¡¯ possible reactions and felt that everything was perfect. Suddenly, she sighed, which startled the handmaids standing at her sides. Fortunately, thedy had just been carried away by her mncholy, and had no intention of changing any of the screens. ¡°Why did he only decide to see me after such a long time? Was it because the Iron Mountain and I are not famous enough? Or is it because some base guy stopped him froming?¡±


    The handmaid, whose forehead was wounded, was the mistress¡¯ favorite servant. Herpanions kept signaling her, so she had no choice but to resignedly say, ¡°I guess-¡±


    ¡°Who allowed you to speak?¡± Luo Ningcha reprimanded and tried to grab something but failed to find anything suitable to throw, so she let it go. She contemted her situation for a while, but her mind kept wandering. She clenched her teeth and uttered two words in a low voice. ¡°Ungrateful guy.¡± Her handmaids hung their heads even lower. They all knew that this ¡°guy¡± was the Dragon King. Thedy med him every time she couldn¡¯t get her way.


    Luo Ningcha was not good at thinking, so she snappily said, ¡°Little Xin, if you want to say something, then say it. You holding your words back makes me ufortable.¡±


    The handmaid named Little Xin had been serving Luo Ningcha for many years. She had be Luo Ningcha¡¯s handmaid when Luo Ningcha had still been a teenager. The names of her four handmaids: ¡°Chen,¡± ¡°Xin,¡± ¡°Ru,¡± and ¡°Yi¡± had stayed unchanged, but the girls who bore these four names had been reced again and again. Little Xin was the only one who had never been reced. Throughout all these years, she had witnessed many of her fellow colleagues be killed or injured, and had developed an unperturbed and numb attitude, which was more than enough to handle her mistress¡¯ unpredictable and violent temper.


    ¡°I think¡­ it is said that Governor Pang is Prince Xiao¡¯s friend. There are many rules and courtesies in the Central ins. Governor Pang was probably too embarrassed toe here to meet you because of your rtionship with Prince Xiao.¡±


    Luo Ningcha felt that this exnation was very reasonable, so she involuntarily nodded along. ¡°Then why did he decide to meet me here today? And he¡¯sing here himself too.¡±


    This was all Little Xin could think of with her limited intelligence. The more opinions the people around thedy expressed to her, the more of a punishment they received. So, she was unwilling to try to figure this out. ¡°Maybe¡­ Maybe it is because you¡¯re too famous, so Governor Pang couldn¡¯t help himself froming here.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense.¡± Luo Ningcha¡¯s voice was severe, but she didn¡¯t search for anything to throw, which indicated that she wasn¡¯t really angry. After sitting there and pondering it over for a while, she said, ¡°Prince Xiao is also ungrateful. He left me here and didn¡¯te back. There wasn¡¯t even a letter from him. Who does he think I am? Does he really think that I¡¯m going to wait in Jade City for the rest of my life, waiting for him? Humph. You can¡¯t me me. You¡¯re all from the Central ins anyway. Everyone who has troops and power are the same to me. Pang Jing is younger than you and also more handsome than you¡­ ¡±


    Luo Ningcha was talking to Prince Xiao who was thousands of miles away. The more she talked, the angrier and more determined she became.


    A small figure ran into the tent, interrupting Luo Ningcha¡¯s angry and self-defensive soliloquy.


    ¡°Mother,¡± Shangguan Cheng called excitedly.


    ¡°Eek! Cheng¡¯er? Why did youe?¡± Luo Ningcha was rather surprised.


    Shangguan Cheng walked around the screens, raised his head, and looked at his mother before saying, ¡°Wasn¡¯t it you who requested that Ie to the Iron Mountain Camp and spend a day apanying you every ten days?¡±


    Luo Ningcha suddenly recalled it. She had left her son in the Dragon Army¡¯s camp, but after a few days, she found that she missed him very much. However, she had no interest in rearing a child. So, she had requested Shangguan Cheng toe to her every ten days, so that she could have some fun ying with him and then send him back to the Dragon King before she got bored.


    ¡°Oh, has it already been ten days? How time flies. How¡¯s your life in the Dragon King¡¯s ce?¡± Luo Ningcha asked in a tender voice.


    Every time he came to the Iron Mountain Camp, his mother would always ask him this question at the beginning of their conversation. Shangguan Cheng climbed onto the couch with the help of a handmaid, pouted, and said, ¡°I miss you. I also miss the stone castle.¡±


    Shangguan Cheng had evaded his mother¡¯s question. It was his childish opinion that the Dragon King was still an enemy. Besides, they seldom met. But every time he showed hatred towards the Dragon King, his mother would be angry, so he had already learned how to dissimte his thoughts.


    ¡°Soon,¡± Luo Ningcha said excitedly, regarding her young son as an adult. ¡°When the kung fupetition is over, we¡¯ll go back to the stone castle. That¡¯s your home. You¡¯ll be in charge of everything, but you¡¯ll have to follow my orders.¡±


    Things like being ¡°in charge of everything¡± didn¡¯t interest Shangguan Cheng. He was more concerned with the kung fupetition. ¡°Father is invincible. He will surely defeat all my enemies and take me back.¡±


    ¡°Sure¡­ Um? Which father were you talking about?¡±


    Kneeling on the couch, Shangguan Cheng watched his mother, eyes wide with confusion. He could vaguely feel that his mother¡¯s question was terrifying.


    Luo Ningchaughed. ¡°You little moron. Why do I feel that you kind of look like Shangguan Nu? That¡¯s impossible. Never mind. Anyways, I¡¯m telling you, the Unique King is not invincible. There are a lot of other people who are better than him. And it will not be him but the Dragon King who¡¯s going to send you back to the stone castle. Understand?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not true! The Unique King is the toughest!¡± Shangguan Cheng stood up and was even taller than his mother who was sitting. Due to his momentary excitement, he had also called his father the Unique King. ¡°He¡¯ll kill a lot of people. The Dragon King is no match for father even if he has the giant roc.¡±


    Luo Ningcha felt that her mood for ying with her son was gone. ¡°What do you know about it? He¡¯s not necessarily your¡­ ¡± Luo Ningcha shut up in time. Nobody could secure themselves against all risks and dangers. Currently, the Dragon King was at an advantage, but who knew whether the bnce of power would change or not in the future? It did her no harm to have an extra backup n. Luo Ningcha believed that she was very smart. ¡°Okay, okay. y here for a while and then leave. Mother has something to deal with today. You can¡¯t stay here.¡±


    ¡°What is it? Do you want me to help?¡± Shangguan Cheng asked happily. Still young, he always blurted out whatever was on his mind. He pounced on his mother, nning to jump into her arms.


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s face went pale. As if a dirty dog or cat was trying to pounce on her, she yelled in horror, ¡°Don¡¯t touch me! I just changed my clothes. They stain very easily.¡±


    Arms open, Shangguan Cheng slightly blushed in awkwardness.


    This was her natural son after all. Luo Ningcha did feel that his look was a little painful to watch. ¡°Little Xin,e here and hug Cheng¡¯er. Cheng¡¯er, don¡¯t look at her face. She¡¯s just like mother.¡±


    Shangguan Cheng enjoyed the embrace of a ¡°substitute mother,¡± and with that, he was sent out of the tent. Too young to experience depression, he just felt a little upset. Then he saw Han Fen in the distance. Surprisingly, he felt that this bizarre woman seemed very cordial.


    Han Fen was wrestling with a soldier of the Iron Mountain Army. The soldiers who were looking on watched with fixed eyes and yelled all at once, ¡°You lost. Get out. Next!¡±


    Han Fen, who had won again, said with a big smile, ¡°Do you know how to wrestle? You should hold your opponent¡¯s waist. Why were you aiming at my chest? Besides, your body was too limp.¡±


    ¡°I was so close¡­ ¡± The soldier was even more disappointed than Shangguan Cheng. The touch that he wanted so much had slipped away at thest moment.


    Upon seeing a handmaid carry Shangguan Cheng in the distance, Han Fen ignored those soldiers¡¯ trying to persuade her to stay, elbowed her way through the crowd, and took Shangguan Cheng into her arms. ¡°Kid, you came out so soon today.¡±


    ¡°Um.¡± Shangguan Cheng leaned tightly against Han Fen, finding that this was the mostfortable embrace.


    Han Fen mounted her horse, put Shangguan Cheng before her, rode out of the camp, and headed for the Dragon Army¡¯s camp under the escort of dozens of guards. Along the way, Shangguan Cheng remained silent. He just leaned against Han Fen¡¯s chest and let the horse toss him up and down as he listened to the weird tune that the entric woman was humming.


    ¡°Han Fen,¡± Shangguan Cheng called out in a low voice. He had once tried other forms of address, but the bizarre woman either ignored him or directly refused to be called by other names, as her name was purely Han Fen.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, kid?¡± Han Fen stopped humming. All of the soldiers around her were relieved. When other women sang songs about ¡°hearts¡± or something like that, they usually blushed and their hearts fluttered. But when Han Fen did it, they were horrified. This little kid was very lucky that he couldn¡¯t understand the lyrics that were full of cruelty.


    ¡°Is the Dragon King¡­ my father?¡±


    Han Fen was very surprised. ¡°Isn¡¯t your father the Unique King? Um. I can understand. If I were you, I would also want the Dragon King to be my father. He¡¯s young, handsome, and amiable. His kung fu is good, and he also knows how to tell jokes¡­ ¡±


    Shangguan Cheng¡¯s voice was low, but Han Fen was talking in a normal voice. The guards closest to her stared at her speechless one after another upon hearing her appraisal of the Dragon King.


    Shangguan Cheng hurriedly said, ¡°No. My mother¡­ I don¡¯t know either¡­ Actually I wanted to ask you why the Dragon King wants to fight for somebody else instead ofpeting for the position of the Lord of Jade City himself.¡±


    The Dragon King was going to participate in the kung fupetition under the name of the Big Snow Mountain, but the candidate for Lord of Jade City that he had designated was Long Fanyun. This news had caused a huge sensation in Jade City and aroused numerous spections and arguments. Even the young Shangguan Cheng had heard of it.


    ¡°Um¡­ ¡± Han Fen raised her head and thought for a while. ¡°I think that when one person likes another one a lot, he will send gifts to that person. The Dragon King likes Long Fanyun, so he is sending him the position of the Lord of Jade City. The Master Commander likes the Dragon King, so she has to send him something as well. This is the reason.¡±


    A guard couldn¡¯t help but say aloud, ¡°No, no. The Dragon King doesn¡¯t want topete for the position of Lord of Jade City because he is the king of the Big Snow Mountain. Of course he wouldn¡¯t degrade himself.¡±


    ¡°That might be true as well,¡± Han Fen said with a smile, having no intention of arguing with him at all.


    But Shangguan Cheng was a little confused. If that was the case, then didn¡¯t it mean that the Unique King¡¯s status was lower than that of the Dragon King?


    If he turned his head around, he would see that another team was entering the Iron Mountain Camp. The Centra ins man was even confused than he was, and was hoping to find a way to solve his questions in Luo Ningcha.


    Both Pang Jing and Luo Ningcha were full of confidence.

 Chapter 966 - A Figure

    Chapter 966: A Figure


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    General-in-chief Nage was ashamed to tell others his title. In the past, people had called him ¡°Chief¡± or his full name, which sounded casual and cordial, especially when he was drinking with his brethren. But because of an order from Luo Ningcha, he had to promote himself from the Chief of the Iron Mountain Army to the General-in-chief of the Iron Mountain Army, which was a position several ranks higher.


    Every time there was a visitor, Luo Ningcha would always im in acent tone, ¡°The Central ins has a General-in-chief. Well, so does the Iron Mountain. Look at him. Isn¡¯t he mighty and awe-inspiring?¡±


    On an asion like this, Nage had to take a couple of steps in front of the visitor with his head up and his chest thrown out. He seemed like a peacock that had been summoned by its mate as he disyed his dramatic, gilded armor that had an unduly long feather that hindered him from entering and exiting tents.


    His brethren joked about this, but they themselves also had titles like ¡°General,¡± ¡°Captain,¡± or something like that. So it was just the pot calling the kettle ck. What scared Nage the most was when he had to receive visitors from the Central ins, who would always burst intoughter and refrain frommenting; however, this kind of response only made his face blush even more.


    Pang Jing, the Governor of the Western Regions, was an exception. The moment he entered the military camp and saw Nage walking towards him head-on, he paused and let out a cheer. ¡°What a mighty General-in-chief of the Iron Mountain Army. Don¡¯t get too close to me. You make me ashamed of my unseemliness.¡±


    Nage was in histe forties. His most striking feature was his tall physique, which had not been very obvious when the Big Head God had been still alive. But now, he stood out like a crane in a flock of fowls wherever he went. In fact, he had been appointed as vice-leader by the Big Head God and Luo Ningcha sessively, and one of the most important reasons for which was his height, and it was rtively more so in Luo Ningcha¡¯s case.


    As tall as he was, Nage had a mild face. His eyes were always curved, which was getting more obvious as he grew older, making it seem like he was always smiling.


    He was indeed a pushover. During robberies, he always allowed the victims to keep some money so that they could get home. Sometimes, he would even sincerely remind them, ¡°Don¡¯t take this road again. It¡¯s not safe. Taking a detour would be a better choice. After all, getting home safe is the most important thing.¡±


    If someone tried to resist, then he would kill them quickly and cleanly as a matter of principle. He wouldn¡¯t taunt nor torture them.


    Nage¡¯s biggest hobby was drinking and roughhousing with his brethren and making fun of each other, regardless of their rank. As a result, he immediately had a favorable impression of Pang Jing. It wasn¡¯t just because of this Central insman¡¯spliments, though, but rather because of his casual, informal manner. It made him feel like this man was the kind of man that he could be friends with.


    He had met the Dragon King before, and he had felt uneasy during every one of his meetings with the Dragon King. After every meeting, he would always feel like it was very lucky of him to have not joined the Dragon Army. He couldn¡¯t bear to stand primly besides a master whose face was always cold. He had heard that the Dragon King barely drank, which was even more unbearable for him.


    Nage burst intoughter, the upright feather on his helmet tilting back. ¡°That¡¯s not true. You must be teasing me secretly.¡±


    Pang Jing walked over, stood beside Nage, raised his head, put his right hand to his eyebrow, and said in a dramatic tone, ¡°My joke has to be as light as a feather to be able to waft into your ears. Tsk, tsk, General-in-chief, do your brethren know what you look like?¡±


    Nageughed even more delightedly. As tall as he was, people didn¡¯t need to raise their heads to see his face, but he liked this kind of joke. He gave Pang Jing a casual p on the shoulder and found that this official from the Central ins had a very steady footing, so he held up his thumb and paid him apliment. ¡°Do you practice kung fu? Good for you.¡±


    Affected by their conversation, the soldiers of the Iron Mountain all rxed and cordially greeted Pang Jing¡¯s attendants . The orderly ranks instantly revealed their true colors. Nage had to open his arms and urge his guest to enter the main tent.


    Upon hearing themotion outside, Luo Ningcha was confused. When the General-in-chief and the visitor walked inside with their arms around each other¡¯s shoulders like two drunken drinking buddies, she became even unhappier, but she still wanted to give Pang Jing a good impression of herself. So, she straightened her clothes, sat properly with her upper body slightly tilting to one side, but refrained from speaking immediately.


    Upon seeing the figure of his Mistress on the other side of the screen, Nage immediately withdrew his smile, let go of Pang Jing, let out two coughs, and respectfully said, ¡°Madam, the Governor of the Western Regions, the Hu-Pacifying General, Lord Pang has arrived.¡±


    The troops of the Iron Mountain Army were supposed to call Luo Ningcha ¡®Lady¡¯ when there were no outsiders present, and ¡®Madam¡¯ when there were. Nage had only managed to get used to this after making several mistakes.


    ¡°General has traveled a long way to be here. Please pardon me for not being able to wee you myself.¡± A tender voice slowly wafted over from behind the screen, as if the speaker was a noble widow, but it was also tinged with the timidity of a teenage girl. Nage couldn¡¯t help praise her secretly, feeling that his Mistress was indeed nomon woman.


    Pang Jing also seemed to be fascinated by the graceful figure on the other side of the screen and the voice that had seeminglye from a fairy¡¯s mouth. He watched transfixed with amazement for a while before saying in a serious tone, ¡°Please pardon me, Madam Luo.¡±


    ¡°For what, General?¡± Luo Ningcha asked in dismay.


    ¡°I have traveled thousands of miles from the Central ins to Jade City and met many people, but I have forgotten to visit the most important one. It¡¯s as if I entered a treasure vault but fixed my eyes on merely gold and silver, ignoring the most precious treasure. I¡¯m as blind as a bat and too vulgar to be endured. This is my sin, and it¡¯s beyond atonement.¡±


    He dared to be so flippant during his first meeting with the Mistress. The handmaids felt that this Central ins man was too bold. Luo Ningcha was born with the ability to handlepliments of all kinds, so instead of responding right away, she instead remained silent for quite a while. It seemed as if she had be angry, but it also seemed as if she had epted thepliment.


    Like how all other men would have reacted, Pang Jing showed panic and uneasiness. He cupped his hands before his chest and said, ¡°Please pardon me for my momentary gaffe and nonsense. That was really¡­ s. I have lost.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, General?¡±


    ¡°I encountered Prince Xiao on my way to Jade City. He told me that there was a fairy-like woman in Jade City, and that anybody who saw her would immediately feel like they had entered the Immortal¡¯s World. I teased him and said ¡®Impossible¡¯ three times in a row. The reason why I didn¡¯t visit Madam earlier was actually because I didn¡¯t want Prince Xiao to be smug. I thought that a month¡¯s preparation would be enough. But unexpectedly, I still couldn¡¯t retain myposure.¡±


    ¡°General is ttering me. I¡¯m sure that I don¡¯t deserve thatpliment. Besides, you haven¡¯t even seen me yet.¡± Luo Ningcha¡¯s tone didn¡¯t change much, but her not being angry was synonymous with encouragement.


    Pang Jing cupped his hands before his chest and bowed deeply. ¡°The fragrance of famous flowers is impressive, and it leaves traces wherever it wafts. How could a mere screen conceal Madam¡¯s beauty? I have to beg Madam¡¯s pardon again. I wish that the screen could be removed so that I can get a glimpse of your face. This is all I ask.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t sound like Prince Xiao¡¯s friend, General.¡±


    ¡°Prince Xiao deliberately dared me on this. He ordered me to wait for at least a month before visiting Madam. I don¡¯t really need this kind of friend. Besides, his position in the Central ins is at stake¡­ ¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Luo Ningcha eximed in shock. This time she didn¡¯t try to pretend, but her voice was still pleasant.


    Pang Jing hurriedly shot his hand to his mouth. ¡°Oh. What is wrong with me today? Don¡¯t worry about it, Madam. That was me talking nonsense.¡±


    Luo Ningcha let out a cough and with that, those handmaids took the hint and immediately left. They had sore waists and legs and really didn¡¯t want to move another screendoor.


    Nage was a little hesitant. He felt unwanted but also didn¡¯t want his Mistress to be alone with this Central ins man during their first meeting. Luo Ningcha also seemed to have her own ns, saying, ¡°The General-in-chief will stay here. He¡¯s the core of the Iron Mountain Army as well as the man that I trust the most.¡±


    Nage immediately threw out his chest, thinking, ¡®If only Mistress always talked in this pleasant manner.¡¯


    Luo Ningcha rose from the couch, slowly walked out from behind the screen, but only revealed half of her body. Her eyes were looking down, like a small deer leaving its birthce for the first time.


    Pang Jing stared fixedly at the most famous beauty in Jade City, his face as pale as that of the Dragon King, remaining silent for quite a while.


    Highly satisfied with his reaction, Luo Ningcha retreated behind the screen again and said, ¡°I¡¯m only a weak woman who has inheritedmand of this Iron Mountain Army. It¡¯s really been difficult for me to live in these troubled times. If General knows some inside information, then please tell me, lest I be blindsided by misfortune.¡±


    Pang Jing clenched his teeth, as if making an extremely difficult choice. ¡°How can I say ¡®no¡¯ to Madam? Actually, there¡¯s no need for Madam to worry too much about Prince Xiao. His Highness is an uncle of the incumbent Emperor who trusts him very much. It¡¯s very likely that he will escape from the jaws of danger.¡±


    ¡°It does no harm for me to take precautions. Besides, I also want to know if there¡¯s anything that I can do for Prince Xiao.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ All right. Actually I¡¯m not supposed to disclose this¡­ ¡±


    ¡°General-in-chief, block your ears,¡± Luo Ningcha ordered.


    Nage was stunned. He had just thought that the Mistress was a sophisticated talker when she suddenly requested him to do such an embarrassing thing. He would rather leave the tent than block his ears and stand to the side like a servant.


    ¡°You misunderstood, Madam. I can tell that General-in-chief is a man of discretion at first sight.¡±


    But Luo Ningcha had already made up her mind. She repeated, ¡°Block your ears.¡±


    Nage had no choice but to follow the order. There was no handkerchief or something like that on him, so he tore a strip of cloth off of his coat armor, halved it, and stuffed the two pieces into his ears. Then he let out two coughs and found that the cloth did partially block the transmission of sound, so he nodded.


    ¡°Now you can talk, General Pang.¡± Luo Ningcha was too concerned to keep pretending, so her voice had returned to normal, which was somewhat like the voice of a spoiled, imperious woman.


    It seemed as if Pang Jing didn¡¯t notice the change. The look on his face was faintly solemn. ¡°It was still because of the battle in Thousand Horsemen Pass.¡±


    ¡°What about it?¡±


    ¡°Rumor says that Prince Xiao submitted a fraudulent im of military exploits, that the Central ins army under hismand actually suffered a crushing defeat, and that it was the Dragon King who defeated the Nonders and then gave all the credit to Prince Xiao.¡±


    ¡°The defeat of the Central ins army was a part of the n formted in advance by Prince Xiao and the Dragon King. There¡¯s no doubt about it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, Madam. But there are many rival factions with the Imperial Court of the Central ins. Prince Xiao¡¯s enemies have been trying to find his ws regardless of the cost to them.¡±


    ¡°The Emperor trusts Prince Xiao very much. What does he have to worry about?¡±


    ¡°The Dragon King is not necessarily going to keep this a secret forever. The Emperor¡¯s trust in Prince Xiao is the very reason why he will be extremely angry if he finds out that Prince Xiao submitted a fraudulent im of military exploits.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha. Nobody can make the Dragon King talk.¡± Luo Ningcha was very sure of this.


    ¡°Of course the secret is safe with the Dragon King. But what about his subordinates? Is every one of them trustworthy? The envoy and vice envoy sent here by the Central ins to investigate military exploits were killed consecutively, which surely has aroused suspicion of the Imperial Court. Besides, the Second Consort of the Nond has made an usation. It will only take a little bit of proof to put Prince Xiao in danger.¡±


    Luo Ningcha kept silent for a while, ¡°What about you? Are you a friend of an enemy of Prince Xiao¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°One should wholeheartedly serve the man who pays his wages. I¡¯m neither Prince Xiao¡¯s friend nor his enemy. I won¡¯t fabricate anything when there is no evidence, but neither will I cover anything up when there is. If Lady Luo wants to do something for Prince Xiao, then you should remind the Dragon King to keep an eye on his subordinates since Prince Xiao¡¯s enemies will make extremely tempting promises to them. I¡¯m sure that it won¡¯t be easy for them to say no.¡±


    Luo Ningcha didn¡¯t realize that she had already spilled the beans. She remained silent for an extra while and then asked, ¡°Like what?¡±


    ¡°The Central ins¡¯ strategies for dealing with the Western Regions will never change. They will support several Western-Regions forces at the same time. When Prince Xiao is in power, he will naturally support the man he likes. Prince Xiao¡¯s enemies will do the same.¡±


    Luo Ningcha was swayed. She knew everything, but unfortunately, she had no solid proof. Suddenly, she instinctively became suspicious. Pang Jing seemed to have been hypnotized by her before he even saw her face. So why had he instantly be soposed?

 Chapter 967 - Partition

    Chapter 967: Partition


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    The intelligence reports sent over had doubled during the past few days, and almost all of them were rted to the kung fupetition that would elect the Lord of Jade City. Zhong Heng, who had finished negotiating, was staying in the Dragon King¡¯s tent and helping him check and approve documents.


    ¡°They¡¯re worthless.¡± Zhong Heng stared at the stack of papers three or four feet high on the table and rubbed his temples, wondering how he had managed to read them all. ¡°All of these messages are merely spections. The Dragon King has really startled Jade City.¡±


    In fact, Zhong Heng had heard the news merely six hours earlier than others did, so he was just as startled and had been hoping to be given an exnation. But the Dragon King had remained silent during thest few days and just asked him to read through the stacks of intelligence reports.


    ¡°What do the residents think of Long Fanyun?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°They think highly of him.¡± Zhong Heng knew that the Dragon King was finally going to talk about his true intentions. ¡°Over the past month, his performance in the Department of Guards has been given a high appraisal. A lot of people actually think that he is the best man to be the Lord of Jade City.¡±


    ¡°How did Pang Jing react?¡±


    ¡°He was very angry, but he seemed to be even angrier about the Dragon King¡¯s disclosure of your real name. He tried to hide it, but it was still very obvious. Everybody was curious about the Dragon King¡¯s real name, but he pretended that he didn¡¯t care about it at all. Heh-heh. The day when the registration started, Pang Jing did make a mistake.¡±


    ¡°So he has long since known about my parentage.¡±


    Zhong Heng nodded. He would rather stay out of the Dragon King¡¯s n for revenge than raise specific objections to it like Fang Wenshi did, or encourage him like his killers did. ¡°I think so. Pang Jing used to be a fence-sitter for many years, but eventually, he still chose to side with his elder brother and ally with the faction led by the Empress Dowager.¡±


    ¡°This is the only strange thing. The General-in-chief, Pang Jing, and the Middle Assistant Minister, Yan Qin, are supposed to to be on the same side. However, Pang Jing¡¯s recent actions don¡¯t seem to be in ord with eunuch Zhang You¡¯s deeds.¡±


    ¡°Um. Nominally, Zhang You is merely an attendant of the envoy of the Central ins. Now, both the envoy and the vice envoy are dead, but he is still in the military camp of the Central ins. After Pang Jing was inaugurated, they have never met each other. It¡¯s as if they have been carrying out their own ns. Is Zhang You by any chance keeping anything back from the Dragon King?¡±


    Recalling that cowardly eunuch, Gu Shenwei said, ¡°I don¡¯t think so. He¡¯s merely waiting for further instructions.¡±


    The conversation seemed to drift further away from the topic of the Lord of Jade City, but Zhong Heng didn¡¯t get anxious. Instead, he liked conversations of this exploratory kind of style. ¡°Whatever the reason is, Zhang You, or Yan Qin, had intentions to co-opt the Dragon King, even if the cost was offending Golden Roc Castle. What is Pang Jing¡¯s purpose? Did his eptance of the Unique King¡¯s bribe mean that he had ultimately decided to be an enemy of the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Pang Jing is our enemy.¡± Gu Shenwei was absolutely certain about this. ¡°But he didn¡¯t decide to make an enemy of me after taking the bribe. Instead, he made that decision long ago. The Meng family¡¯s fortune was merely a symbol that would solidify the rtionship between them.¡±


    ¡°Since the Dragon King has never met him before that, there¡¯s no doubt that his grudges against you originated from some matters that are rted to thest generation.¡± Zhong Heng had naturallye to this conclusion. He began to worry about whether the Dragon King had gone too far.


    Gu Shenwei could tell what the Prime Minister was thinking about, so he said, ¡°The Imperial Court of the Central ins has assigned a task to Pang Jing, which restricts him and also imposes certain rules on Jade City. I¡¯ll follow these rules. At least these rules have been more favorable for the Dragon Army so far.¡±


    ¡°Is Pang Jing giving the position of the Lord of Jade City to the Unique King?¡± Somewhat urgently, Zhong Heng steered the conversation back to the topic of the Lord of Jade City.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. First, there is no sign that Prince Xiao is going to lose his power in the Central ins, which means there probably won¡¯t be any major changes to his Western-Regions strategy any time soon. Second, it seems unnecessary for the Unique King to pay such a high price for merely the position of Lord of Jade City. With the Meng family¡¯s fortune, he can definitely make much greater profits.¡±


    ¡°He wants the Central ins to confer a king¡¯s title onto him,¡± said Zhong Heng. This was a goal that the Unique King had always been pursuing, which had been temporarily ignored by many people due to the kung fupetition concerning the position of Lord of Jade City. He began to understand the Dragon King¡¯s intentions. ¡°The position of Lord of Jade City is merely a cover-up. While the Dragon King is trying your best topete for it, the Unique King and Pang Jing will be carrying out another n. What will it be? Dispatching their armies?¡±


    Gu Shenwei fished out a letter from his front inside pocket and handed it to Zhong Heng. ¡°This is from the counselor.¡±


    Fang Wenshi was in the Nond, so it had taken this letter over a month to be delivered to the Dragon King. He didn¡¯t know about Pang Jing¡¯s arrival when he was writing this letter, but it didn¡¯t make his judgement of the big picture any less urate.


    Zhong Heng read the letter. This letter was done in the typical Fang Wenshi style. The wording was rhetorical and difficult to read, impassioned and indisputable, but the core contents of the letter were explicit.


    Back then, Fang Wenshi had heard the news that the two envoy teams of the Central ins were heading to Shulitu¡¯s military camp and Luoluo¡¯s camp to deliver the Emperor¡¯s favorable offer: the Central ins was willing to call a truce and confer the titles of ¡®East Khan¡¯ and ¡®West Khan¡¯ upon them.


    Influenced by this news, Fang Wenshi had reminded the Dragon King that the Central ins¡¯ strategy was to support several forces at the same time and let them have their autonomous territories. This strategy would then be applied to bothrge countries like the Nond and city-states like Jade City. No matter if Prince Xiao won thepetition between the factions within the Imperial Court or not, there was no chance that the Central ins would solely support the Dragon King.


    Fang Wenshi deduced that in order to maintain the bnce of power, no matter which one of the Dragon King and the Unique King became the Lord of Jade City, the Central ins would offer more support to the losing side to prevent Jade City from being thrust under the winning side¡¯s sole control.


    Zhong Heng had had an average impression of Fang Wenshi, and felt that he was merely a schr who was all hot air. But after reading this letter, he couldn¡¯t help but have apletely new appraisal of him. As a Prime Minister, he was able to offer some suggestions to the Dragon King and help him deal with imminent crises and enemies. However, there were also some things that he could neither think about nor have a clear conception of. The military counselor might be overambitious, but he was indeed more far-sighted.


    ¡°The Central ins wants the Dragon King to be the Lord of Jade City and the Unique King to have a king¡¯s title. They want the two of you to partition Jade City, each of you ruling half of it or the two of you ruling it together. They want you to be wary of each other at all times, and if any one of you wants to gain an advantage over the other, then you will have to ask the Central ins for help. This is their n to build a bnce of power.¡± Zhong Heng put the letter down. ¡°But why doesn¡¯t the Central ins just confer two king¡¯s titles? Isn¡¯t that much simpler?¡±


    The letter of the military counselor proved to be very enlightening. Gu Shenwei had a clearer understanding of many things now. ¡°Because I have little connection to the Central ins. If my title of Dragon King had been acknowledgedst year, then I would have been more grateful to the Nond than to the Central ins. This is why the Central ins wants to give me the position of Lord of Jade City and make me pay a heavy price during the process of getting it. That way, I¡¯d set great store by this position.¡±


    ¡°One should give the opponent something to dissolve their vignce in order to take something from them.¡± Light suddenly dawned on Zhong Heng. ¡°Who formted this strategy? Pang Jing? Yan Qin? Or Prince Xiao?¡± Zhong Heng thought for a while and then figured out the answer by himself. He was from the Central ins. Though he had never been a high-rank official there, he was still very familiar with the rules of the bureaucracy. ¡°None of them did it. There is no need for anybody to keep the overall situation under control, as this has always been the strategy adopted by the Central ins. The factions within the Imperial Court will naturally extend to the Nond and the Western Regions. In that case, the Emperor will be able to influence areas thousands of miles away by merely controlling the people around him.¡±


    The Emperor himself didn¡¯t even have to know about this. For him, all of this had been formted by his ancestors. All he had to do was abide by it.


    Zhong Heng felt ashamed of himself. He was from the Central ins, but even a schr from the Western Regions had a clearer understanding of this than he did. ¡°So the Dragon King gave up on the position of Lord of Jade City to Long Fanyun because you wanted to tell the Central ins that the bnce of power hadn¡¯t been built yet, and that if they wanted to confer a king¡¯s title to the Unique King, that they would have to acknowledge Dragon King¡¯s status as well.¡±


    This was indeed within Gu Shenwei¡¯s n, but not all of it. ¡°Both the Central ins and the Western Regions have their own respective ns. If I am to share Jade City with another force, then by no means will I choose Golden Roc Castle.¡±


    The Dragon King was still an avenger. Zhong Heng cautiously steered the conversation away from this topic by saying, ¡°Then the Dragon King will have to support anotherpetitor. The Waning Moon Hall? I¡¯m afraid that they¡¯re not very trustworthy.¡±


    No matter how ambitious Lotus was, the Waning Moon Hall was currently a weak force. Besides, Gu Shenwei would never rule hand in hand with her. Lotus was no less threatening than the Unique King.


    ¡°What do you think of the Shule Kingdom?¡± asked Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Emm, territory-wise and poption-wise, the Shule Kingdom is strong enough. However, the prince of the Shule Kingdom¡­ I don¡¯t think that he¡¯s suitable for this.¡±


    ¡°Prime Minister misunderstood. I meant your personal opinion. What do you think of the Shule Kingdom?¡±


    Zhong Heng instantly understood, and his eyes went wide with shock. Suddenly, he knelt down on his knees. ¡°Dragon King¡­ I don¡¯t think that I¡¯mpetent enough to do it. It¡¯s been a long time since the establishment of the Shule Kingdom, and the royal family¡¯s foundation is very solid¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Compared to Jade City, the Shule Kingdom is toorge. Like the Central ins, I also want to partition this country and appoint another ruler for it. The royal family will have part of it. Do you think you can rule the rest of it, Prime Minister?¡±


    ording to his Central ins habits, Zhong Heng should have declined this offer several times. But currently, he was more like a native of the Western Regions, so he decided to show his ambition. ¡°I won¡¯t fail you, Dragon King.¡±


    Gu Shenwei signaled the Prime Minister to stand up. ¡°Go to the military camp of the Shule Kingdom in the west tomorrow, takemand of that army, and get to know the generals of the Shule Kingdom. Once you think the time is ripe, bring some men to the Shule Kingdom. The General of the Right, Shang Liao, should have recruited another batch of soldiers by now. Snatchmand of them and you¡¯ll be another King of the Shule Kingdom.


    Zhong Heng knew that he himself had earned this opportunity. In order to realize his ambition, he had worked hard, but it was worth it. The reward that the Dragon King had given him was beyond his expectation. ¡°But Jade City¡­ ¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about it. I have a n. I won¡¯t give up the position of Lord of Jade City. Even if Pang Jing changes his mind, I¡¯ll still snatch it up.¡±


    ¡°Be careful, Dragon King. Golden Roc Castle still has its strength. It¡¯ll have its death struggles if its cornered.¡±


    ¡°Forcing the Unique King to struggle is exactly what I¡¯m going to do,¡± said Gu Shenwei. A faint flush appeared on his pale face, which only made him look cruel instead of making him seem less ruthless. ¡°Only by making the Central ins feel that Golden Roc Castle is a hot potato will I be able to destroy it with a righteous cause.¡±


    Zhong Heng asked no further questions. When he left the Department of Guards, he felt as if he was over ten years younger. Walking at an easy pace, he wished that he could fly to the Shule Kingdom that was hundreds of miles away instantly to take a look at that strangend. The Dragon King hadn¡¯t told him how the country would be partitioned, but he had already formted an idea himself, sketchily creating a n.


    ¡®There are going to be some earth-shaking changes in Jade City,¡¯ Zhong Heng thought as he secretly sighed. He was actually relieved that he wouldn¡¯t have to y a part in these changes.


    Gu Shenwei was still in the room, browsing through the intelligence reports that Zhong Heng had read. It was actually a little risky to dispatch Zhong Heng outside, but in order to concentrate on the kung fupetition, he had to make sure that he was totally prepared for the fight after it.


    There were eleven days left before the kung fupetition started. Though he was not among the two who were going to fight on the first day, Gu Shenwei still felt his palms slightly burning in anticipation.


    An intelligence report attracted his attention. It seemed insignificant and Zhong Heng had every reason to ignore it, but Gu Shenwei found something interesting within it: a boastful sabersman and a monk were intending to resume their secr life.

 Chapter 968 - Little Baldy

    Chapter 968: Little Baldy


    Trantor: Henyee Trantions Editor: Henyee Trantions


    Sabersman Gao Yang had be a newly-emerged celebrity in Jade City. He had killed a bounty hunter and caused a series of sensations that had ultimately led to the decline of the Meng family. But surprisingly, he had survived, and he hadn¡¯t even been punished, which counted as a miracle, like an aftershock after a great earthquake.


    ¡°Both the Dragon King and the Unique King felt that I was somebody, so they interceded with the Governor of the Western Regions as well as the Governor of this city, which is how I was granted a pardon.¡± Standing beside a table, Gao Yang was once again talking about his experience of escaping from punishment. He was very d that people were willing to listen to him, and that other sabersmen regarded his words as dishes that went with wine.


    ¡°Yesterday, you said that nobody was watching you, and that you walked out of there yourself. And now you¡¯re telling us that you got a pardon?¡±


    ¡°Tomorrow maybe mighty sabersman Gao will tell us that he fought his way out of northern Jade City.¡±


    All the people burst intoughter.


    Surprised that somebody actually remembered what he had said yesterday, Gao Yang alsoughed. But soon, he detected an unfriendliness in thoseughs and hurled his bowl to the ground, a ferocious look on his face. ¡°Are you two kiddos courting death? Come here. Let me sh your necks. Then you¡¯ll know whether I was telling the truth or not.¡±


    A sabersman shut up and shook his head with a smile, indicating that he disdaied stooping to his level. Under the influence of alcohol, another sabersman staggered to his feet. ¡°Neither you nor Wu Xuan epted the ban on killing. That was why you got away with it unpunished. I epted it and I¡¯m under the protection of the Department of Guards. You¡¯re courting death if you try to kill me.¡±


    Gao Yang blushed scarlet, his muscles stiff. His eyes were like those of wolves, the sclera much bigger than the pupil. ¡°You deserve this.¡± After saying this, he whipped out his long saber. He knew that what that man said was true, but he just couldn¡¯t swallow this humiliation.


    Scared, the sabersman who provoked Gao Yang partially sobered up, sat down slowly, and murmured, ¡°I was just saying¡­ ¡± The other drinkers were very used to this kind of scene. It took them only a fleeting thought to decide whether they would try to persuade the interested parties to let it go or try to add fuel to the mes of their rage. On this night, they were not in the mood for bloodshed. So, somebody immediately stood up, gripped Gao Yang, and pressed him down to the chair, and said only one word to persuade him. ¡°Drink.¡±


    ¡°Drink!¡± Gao Yang grabbed a bowl of wine the owner of which was unknown and gulped it down. ¡°God damn it. Now that killing is banned, drinking is the only thing that we can do. If someday drinking is also banned, then there will be no reason for us to stay in Jade City.¡±


    The hot liquid warmed his body up and with that, a lot of sentimental thoughts flooded into Gao Yang¡¯s mind, but he was unable to express them in words. So instead, he just sank the saber into the surface of the table, which startled other people. Then he yelled, ¡°Guys, please get the word out for me. Now that the killers in Golden Roc Castle no longer take orders, I¡¯ll be their sessor. Whoever wants to kill people is wee to contact me. The price is fair, and I¡¯ll do it quick and clean. Whoever introduces a customer to me will get twenty percent of the payment.¡±


    ¡°The previous rate was fifty percent¡­ ¡°


    ¡°The previous rate was the previous rate. The current rate is the current rate. Besides, I¡¯m not the only one in this business. Can¡¯t you see that I¡¯ve got a helper here? He¡¯ll take a share as well.¡±


    The helper had been quietly sitting beside Gao Yang all along. He was wearing a short, sabersman-style jacket but also wearing a handkerchief usually seen on street vendors around his head, and there was no weapons fastened to his belt, which made him bear no resemnce to other drinkers. When drinking, he was very cautious, staring at the wine for quite a while before taking a sip of it, as if it contained lethal poison.


    Upon hearing Gao Yang mention his name, the helper shivered and hurriedly said, ¡°I don¡¯t kill people.¡±


    ¡°If you want to be my follower, then you¡¯ll have to kill.¡± Full of pride and enthusiasm, Gao Yang grabbed his helper¡¯s arm and dragged him to his feet from the seat. ¡°How are we supposed to make money if we don¡¯t kill? Who will give us wine if we don¡¯t have money? And why would we stay here if we don¡¯t have wine to drink?¡±


    Though arbitrary killing had been banned, Gao Yang¡¯s remarks still received a lot of approving responses. The helper felt that he should observe the customs of the ce, so he also let out a couple of yells. Unexpectedly, their first customer appeared soon after.


    An old man sitting near the doorway, who seemed to have been listening for a while, walked up to them and said, ¡°You¡¯re willing to kill for money?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Gao Yang smugly looked around.


    ¡°How much do you charge?¡±


    ¡°That depends on who you want me to kill, but a hundred taels of silver is my bottom line. There¡¯s no ceiling.¡±


    The old man nodded, as if feeling that this killer was pretty professional. ¡°Follow me.¡± After saying that, he turned around and walked towards the outside of the tavern.


    Gao Yang tightened his belt, put away his saber, fished out some money, and tossed it to the tavern-keeper. ¡°Nobody leave. Wait for me toe back. Tavern-keeper, prepare some wine. Tonight I¡¯ll treat everybody!¡±


    All the people in the tavern cheered. Gao Yang had just moved one foot past the threshold when the drinkers behind him started pointing andughing at him. The timid helper was dragged along by hispanion. Vaguely, someone¡¯s voice sounded out. ¡°Ha-ha, Old Gao is toast¡­ ¡°


    Gao Yang didn¡¯t hear anything. In his eyes, the old man walking in front of him was like a pile of silver ingots. Even if somebody held a saber up to his throat, he would still stride forward and catch up with the old man. His poor helper had no choice but to follow him with a stagger.


    Gao Yang suspected that he had drunk too much because he couldn¡¯t catch up with the old man no matter how hard he tried. The distance between them was not far. Sometimes it was seven or eight steps, and sometimes it was fifteen or sixteen steps. The old man was always within his sight. ¡°Hey, old man, slow down a little bit.¡±


    But the helper was worrying about another thing. ¡°It¡¯s getting darker and darker.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be afraid of. I got this.¡± Gao Yang released the grip on his helper and strode forward to catch up with the old man in front of him. At this moment, he was thinking about neither the darkness nor killing. The only thing on his mind was catching up with that old man.


    Clearly, the helper also had some kung fu skills. He didn¡¯tg behind, but he was feeling more and more uneasy. ¡°Do the others in the city also hire killers this way? Actually, we can also talk in the tavern.¡±


    Gao Yang became a little impatient. ¡°Little Baldy, do you still want to return to your secr life? To make a living in Jade City, you must be bold. When there is money and women all around you, you must scramble for them. I can tell that this old man is rich by the sight of him¡­ Eek, where¡¯s the old man?¡±


    They had reached the periphery of southern Jade City. It was totally dark in this narrow alley and there was only a faintmplight in the distance. The old man was nowhere to be seen.


    ¡°I feel¡­ ¡± The helper¡¯s voice was quivering. ¡°I feel like something is wrong. Just bring me to the Dragon King or the Unique King. We¡¯ll get money without killing anyone.¡±


    ¡°Bah. Wine bought with money earned by killing people is the most delicious. Follow me.¡± There was a trace of stateliness in Gao Yang¡¯s ferocious look, which seemed rather tempting for neers. After only a brief moment of hesitation, the helper obediently followed.


    The door of the courtyard in which there was a lighted oilmp was unlocked. Gao Yang pushed the door open and conveniently unsheathed his saber. He had the vignce that he should have. ¡°Old man, I don¡¯t have time to y hide-and-seek with you. Show yourself or else I¡¯ll burn your house down.¡±


    The oilmp went out. Gao Yangshed out with a couple of saber strikes, but didn¡¯t hit anything. Angry, he yelled, ¡°How dare you fool me? I¡¯ll tear down your doghouse! Little Baldy, move.¡±


    Nobody answered.


    ¡°Little Baldy?¡± Gao Yang called out again, stood on the spot, and pricked his ears. However, all that he heard was his own breathing.


    Little Baldy had been fully conscious this whole time. It was just that his acupoint had been struck, and he could neither move nor speak. He only knew that somebody was carrying him on their shoulder and rushing forward, and he lost his sense of direction after a short while.


    Then somebody came to that person¡¯s aid. Little Baldy was blindfolded. This time, he couldn¡¯t see anything.


    After a quiet journey of some length, it suddenly became noisy, as if they had returned to the center of southern Jade City. The sharine calls made his heart flutter.


    The noises subsided. Little Baldy was tossed onto the ground and with that, the strip of cloth was removed, and his acupoint restored. He regained his mobility but didn¡¯t dare to move. Lying on the ground, he watched the old man who took him here, flurried.


    The old man was in his fifties, gray-haired, and with a sepulchral face. However, he was very agile and his movement didn¡¯t seem like that of an old man at all. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°Shi¨CShi Qingjue. Who are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a chance to take a guess.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a subordinate of the Dragon King or the Unique King.¡±


    ¡°Humph. Of course I am. Guess again.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ You¡¯re the Dragon King¡¯s subordinate.¡± This was more Shi Qingjue¡¯s hope rather than his spection.


    The old man stared at him for a while. ¡°Just take me as the Dragon King¡¯s subordinate. I heard that you have something to sell. Take it out and name your price. I can make a deal with you.¡±


    Shi Qingjue¡¯s heart lurched. He knew that he had made the wrong guess. ¡°I don¡¯t have it on me. And first, we need to bargain. Then you¡¯ll give me the front money. And then I¡¯ll bring that thing here and collect the rest of the payment.¡±


    ¡°Verbose!¡± the old man reprimanded and drew a dagger. ¡°Then I¡¯ll name a price ¨C trade your petty life for that thing.¡±


    Shi Qingjue had prepared himself for threat, but he still felt a cold shiver of fear. He stretched out his right arm and said in a quivering voice, ¡°Then just kill me. There¡¯s no way that I¡¯m going to just give that thing to you.¡±


    The old man sneered. ¡°Little monk, it¡¯s not that easy to resume a secr life, and it¡¯s even more difficult for you to die.¡± The old man gently removed Shi Qingjue¡¯s handkerchief, revealing his bald head. Then, he pressed the dagger against his scalp and moved it back and forth. ¡°You have an hour to think about my offer. I¡¯ll draw something on the top of your head while you¡¯re thinking.¡±


    Shi Qingjue¡¯s eyeballs moved right and left with the dagger, his body remaining still. He had some kung fu, but it was useless under these circumstances. ¡°Wait.¡±


    ¡°Um. This is what an obedient donkey should do. It¡¯ll save both of us some time.¡± The old man straightened himself but didn¡¯t put the dagger away.


    Shi Qingjue adjusted his clothes, sat down cross-legged on the ground, put his palms together, and started reciting scriptures in a low voice. He had only one thing that could be traded for money, so he wouldn¡¯t hand it over for no good reason.


    The old man widened his eyes with anger and raised his dagger again. ¡®Jade City has never been short of braggarts. This monk is probably one of them. There¡¯s no need to waste an hour. I just have to cut off his monk¡¯s ears. I¡¯d like to see whether he will tell the truth or not after that.¡±


    Suddenly the old man sensed danger behind him, and with that, he went stiff.


    ¡°Behave yourself.¡± A voice came from behind him. ¡°It¡¯s prettyte. You should go to sleep now.¡±


    The old man obediently slumped to the ground and really fell asleep.


    Shi Qingjue stopped reciting scriptures and looked at the dwarfish old man who had suddenly shown up in surprise. ¡°I know you. You¡¯re the Dragon King¡¯s subordinate.¡±


    ¡°s. Am I really so obscure? Nobody knows who I am without mentioning the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Old Man Mu. You¡¯re Old Man Mu,¡± Shi Qingjue yelled. This was really a catchy name.


    Old Man Mu smiled. ¡°Now we¡¯re talking. Shi Qingjue ¨C your real name is Shi Jueqing, right?¡±


    Shi Qingjue blushed and nodded.


    ¡°Heh-heh. The Monks of the Four Noble Truths Temple never cease to surprise me. Now that you¡¯ve recognized me, tell me the truth.¡±


    ¡°How much will the Dragon King pay me?¡±


    A wickedly meaningful smile appeared on Old Man Mu¡¯s face. ¡°Enough for you to sleep with all the prostitutes from the south end of Retention Alley to the north end, as long as you can endure it.¡±


    His thoughts were instantly seen through. Shi Qingjue blushed scarlet, but he was indeed willing to make this deal. ¡°I have a roll with the names of all the living monks of the Four Noble Truths Temple in it. All of their names before they became monks as well as their parentage are also in it.¡±


    ¡°What uses does it have?¡± Old Man Mu frowned and said. ¡°I thought that you would have a kung fu manual or something.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s useless, then why would the Dragon King send his men everywhere to inquire about those eminent monk¡¯s background?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyi had been collecting information about the monks of the Four Noble Truths Temple under Gu Shenwei¡¯s order for a long time, but what he had gotten was very limited. Old Man Mu had heard about this, so he strode over the old man lying on the ground and stroked Shi Qingjue¡¯s head. ¡°Come on. Let me get you a woman first. We can talk about the details after that.¡±


    Shi Qingjue¡¯s face was as red as roast shrimp, but he was extremely excited. This was the way he wanted to talk about business.

 Chapter 969 - A Roll

    Chapter 969: A Roll


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Jueqing had be a Buddhist monk when he was eight. At the age of twenty-seven, swayed by a couple of his benefactors¡¯ words, he resolutely chose to secrize himself. But as an orphan, both parents of whom had died, he had no rtives that he could go to after leaving the Four Noble Truths Temple. Though his Master Shifu gave him several taels of silver, it was not even enough to pay for amodation in an inn.


    Having been a receptionist monk for many years, he had a decently wide knowledge about the ways of people, especially about the importance of money. So before he told his Master Shifu his decision, he had done some careful thinking about his future life.


    First, he needed a new name, and the three Chinese characters ¡°Shi Qingjue¡± had instantly popped into his mind.


    Then, he needed money or something that could be traded for money. He had pondered over this issue for a full day, and the steward monk had scolded him because of this, which had given him another reason to choose secrization. Eventually, he hade up with an idea.


    That was a month ago. He had heard that someone wanted to buy information about the family backgrounds of eminent monks of the Four Noble Truths Temple. The one who had told him had even joked, ¡°Even if that guy only offers ten taels of silver for one Buddhist monk, then since there are so many monks in the Four Noble Truths Temple, the total price would be huge, right?¡±


    And just like that, Shi Qingjue left the temple that he had been familiar with since childhood and walked to southern Jade City, thinking that things would be very simple. However, it turned out that he couldn¡¯t get in touch with the Dragon King or the Unique King, and that rumored mysterious buyer who was collecting intelligence on Buddhism monks was also nowhere to be found.


    Less than one day after he left the temple, Shi Qingjue began to feel afraid, but there was no way back for him now. It was impossible for him to return to the Four Noble Truths Temple. He had no professional skills, and he didn¡¯t dare kill people. Uproarious nights in southern Jade City was heavenly in other people¡¯s description, but after experiencing it himself, he found that it was nothing but a mixture of noises and chaos. The roads were muddy, and the pedestrians were callous. It was no ce for a secrized Buddhist monk at all.


    As luck would have it, he had encountered sabersman Gao Yang.


    Gao Yang was bragging about how he had obtained the respect of both the Dragon King and the Unique King. All of his listeners regarded it as a joke, but Shi Qingjue, who had happened to pass by and hear it by ident, had taken his words seriously. He had walked up to Gao Yang, respectfully cupped his hands before his chest, bowed, and then asked, ¡°You know those two people?¡±


    Gao Yang had nced at him briefly before deciding that he would take in this young Buddhist monk and have him serve as his helper and attendant.


    Shi Qingjue had imed that he had a treasure of the Four Noble Truths Temple to sell. In fact, Gao Yang hadn¡¯t really been listening to him and just continued describing how tough he was and what a good ce southern Jade City was. This was merely a petty urrence that happened in a tavern, but Xu Xiaoyi¡¯s informer had overheard their conversation, put it down in an intelligence report, and submitted it to his superior.


    If it weren¡¯t for Gao Yang¡¯s nonsense in the report, then Xu Xiaoyi wouldn¡¯t have even regarded it as an intelligence report worth reading. The task of collecting information about the Buddhist monks had been progressing so slowly that he had almost forgotten about it.


    Zhong Heng¡¯s attention was on the kung fupetition that concerned the election of the Lord of Jade City, so he had merely browsed through it and then ignored it.


    But Gu Shenwei¡¯s interest in the Four Noble Truths Temple had never diminished, so he had decided to meet this Shi Qingjue who imed to have a roll with all of the monks¡¯ names on it.


    Old Man Mu finished the job with ease. The old man whose acupoint had been struck by him was amon sabersman of the Heavenly Mountain Sect. Apparently, the secrized Buddhist monk hadn¡¯t caught the attention of Zhang Ji or the Unique King yet.


    Old Man Mu pointed at Shi Qingjue and then said to the Dragon King, ¡°This is a talent who just defeated two old prostitutes in southern Jade City. If we send him to the Waning Moon Hall, he will defeat them all without using a weapon in less than a month.¡±


    With a red face, Shi Qingjue nervously moved his feet but still felt indescribably satisfied.


    Gu Shenwei hadn¡¯t told Old Man Mu to take him to a brothel, but it seemed to have worked very well. Currently, Shi Qingjue gave him a feeling that he was excited and mild, which meant that he was in a very good mood to socialize with others.


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen you before,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    ¡°Yes. The Dragon King has a good memory. I used to be a receptionist monk in the Four Noble Truths Temple and I once received Dragon King with the head monk.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s the roll?¡±


    ¡°Er, I¡¯m willing to hand the roll over to the Dragon King, but there are some terms-¡±


    Old Man Mu interjected. ¡°Women. He just needs women. What a poor Buddhist monk. Suppressing his sexual needs for so many years must have been really tough for him.¡±


    Shi Qingjue hurriedly shook his head. ¡°No. I¡¯ve already¡­ I¡¯ve already experienced¡­ ¡±


    Old Man Mu watched him in surprise. ¡°You¡¯re indeed a Buddhist monk. Youprehended it pretty quick;y. But as an experienced hand, I have to remind you about something. Though you think that you don¡¯t care about women at all, after one night, you¡¯ll be eager to go there again. It¡¯s just like metempsychosis: cyclical and endless. Only people like me-¡±


    Gu Shenwei stopped Old Man Mu¡¯s endless nagging. ¡°Tell me your terms.¡±


    Shi Qingjue suddenly knelt down. ¡°I want to join the Dragon Army. This is all I ask. I don¡¯t want to be an official and I don¡¯t want money. Just let me be amon soldier. I¡¯ll try to make contributions all by myself. The Dragon King doesn¡¯t have to offer me any help.¡±


    Old Man Mu pouted and shook his head, thinking that by no means could this monk get any help from the Dragon King even if he handed over the whole Four Noble Truths Temple to him.


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t answer him immediately. He peered at him for a while. It was not until the look on the monk¡¯s face switched from expectation to panic that he said, ¡°Rise. You¡¯re now a member of the Dragon Army.¡±


    Rejoicing, Shi Qingjue stood up and said, ¡°Please give me a writing brush, an ink stick, an ink b, and some paper. I¡¯ll write down all the names from memory.¡±


    ¡°Write them? There are many monks in the Four Noble Truths Temple. You remember all of them?¡± Old Man Mu asked in amazement.


    A slightlycent look appeared on Shi Qingjue¡¯s face. His kung fu was just average, and he wasn¡¯t a brilliant talker either, but he had a very good memory. ¡°Our temple¡­ The Four Noble Truths Temple has 1,326 Buddhist monks. 126 of them are there for a short stay. There are more than 6,000 recorded eminent monks, but only 284 are still alive. Does the Dragon King want information on all of them or just the living ones?¡±


    It had been many years since the establishment of the Four Noble Truths Temple. There were many eminent monks whose identities were special. The session of teachings from masters to disciples were all recorded in the roll that started from the Buddha himself to monks currently living in the temple, spanning over a time period of thousand years. Of course Gu Shenwei wasn¡¯t interested in all of them. After being informed of this, he had requested Shi Qingjue to write down the information about those who were still alive.


    There were 284 monks. The numbers of words about their biographical sketches varied from a hundred to over a thousand. It would be an arduous task to write down all of them. Gu Shenwei went to handle some misceneous official business, but Old Man Mu stayed behind. It was not because he wanted to supervise the Buddhist monk, but rather because he wanted to find out whether this monk¡¯s memory was really as good as he imed it to be.


    Shi Qingjue wrote out one page after another, and Old Man Mu read every one of them. Suddenly, he pulled a page out of the roll and asked the monk what was on it. Shi Qingjue immediately recited the contents without a single mistake.


    Even if this roll was false, Old Man Mu would have still admired this monk for his good memory. If it were an advanced kung fu manual, then he could memorize it after some hard work as well. But it was just a roll, the contents of which were very boring. Many narratives were very simr to one another. Upon reading those words, he gradually became sleepy, but the Buddhist monk kept writing quickly and smoothly in high spirits.


    Gu Shenwei had scarcely walked out of the room when Red Bat walked towards him head-on, a faint concerned look on her face. ¡°Dragon King, someone has requested an audience with you.¡±


    Red Bat¡¯s duty was to take care of Long Fanyun and help him handle the official business in the Department of Guards. She seldom directly informed the Dragon King of the arrival of visitors. ¡°Who is it?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll find out when you see her. She asked me not to tell you.¡±


    There was a distinct hostility and scorn in Red Bat¡¯s voice, from which Gu Shenwei guessed the identity of the visitor.


    Luo Ningcha was walking around in the room and inspecting things as if the ce would soon be her new home. ¡°It¡¯s so difficult to have an audience with you. Your handmaid kept asking me all kinds of questions. You must be pampering her.¡±


    Red Bat¡¯s face went cold. Gu Shenwei said, ¡°She¡¯s not a handmaid.¡±


    ¡°Then she must be a ve girl that you brought here from the Nond. You always take in entric people. There¡¯s already a demonic, green-eyed little girl here. And now you have this-¡±


    Before Luo Ningcha could think of disparaging words to describe the ve girl with barbarian features, Red Bat coldly said, ¡°I¡¯ll give you some privacy.¡± Then she turned around and left.


    ¡°See? She¡¯s so impolite. Dragon King, you should teach her a lesson.¡±


    ¡°What can I do for you?¡± Gu Shenwei asked.


    Luo Ningcha frowned and cast a nce at the teenager behind the Dragon King. ¡°Get out. I want to talk with the Dragon King alone.¡±


    Qin Yeming already had a vague idea of the Dragon King¡¯s habits, so he didn¡¯t move, and instead waited for the Dragon King¡¯s order.


    ¡°Just ignore his existence,¡± Gu Shenwei said, as if he had no intentions of talking with Luo Ningcha alone.


    Luo Ningcha peered at the teenager, puzzled. ¡°Is he mute and deaf? I think that I used to have a handmaid who was also mute and deaf, and she did a pretty good job. I should get another one¡­ ¡± She nodded, thinking of some handmaid who was going to have a misfortune. ¡°There are several reasons why I came downtown this time. First, I¡¯m tired of living in a tent¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you lived in a tent since your childhood?¡± Gu Shenwei couldn¡¯t help remind this woman of this fact. As a daughter of the ringleader of some bandits, she had had no fixed abode and had lived in a tent before getting married.


    Luo Ningcha was stunned. After quite a while, she miraculously came up with a remark to contradict him. ¡°You used to be a ve. Are you still a ve after you became the Dragon King? I¡¯ve lived in a tent since childhood, so naturally, I took a dislike to tents after I lived in morefortable houses.¡±


    There were no loopholes in Luo Ningcha¡¯s words. Gu Shenwei could only say, ¡°Go on. Why did youe downtown?¡±


    A smug smile appeared on Luo Ningcha¡¯s face. ¡°Heh-heh. It turns out that sometimes, I can outargue you. First of all, I¡¯m tired of tents. I want to buy a house in southern Jade City and be your neighbor.¡±


    Given Luo Ningcha¡¯s character, Gu Shenwei believed she should have instead bought an expensiverge house in northern Jade City, but he didn¡¯t ask any further questions.


    ¡°Second, I came downtown to visit a couple of people. There¡¯s something that I want to figure out. Third, I came here to see you.¡±


    ¡°Keep talking.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already sent Cheng¡¯er to the camp of the Dragon Army. Why are you hiding here instead of spending more time with him?¡±


    Gu Shenwei kept silent. Luo Ningcha didn¡¯t push him. ¡°All right. It¡¯s up to you. Cheng¡¯er is growing up every day. Sooner orter, you¡¯ll know whose son he actually is. Actually, I came here to tell you that Pang Ning is not a good person. He¡¯s plotting against you.¡±


    ¡°Did he try to bribe you?¡± Gu Shenwei had already been informed of every detail of the meeting between Pang Jing and Luo Ningcha.


    ¡°He must have been blind to try and make mischief in front of me. I saw through him the moment he started speaking.¡±


    ¡°Pang Jing doesn¡¯t like women.¡±


    Luo Ningcha was transfixed with shock. After quite a while, she said, ¡°It turns out that you already knew it.¡± Suddenly she widened her eyes and said, ¡°Did any of my subordinates divulge the secret? Nage. It had to be Nage. But it also might be Little Xin¡­ ¡±


    ¡°I knew it the moment Pang Jing arrived in Jade City,¡± said Gu Shenwei. Shangguan Fei was more apt at distinguishing this kind of people from than anybody else. After the first meeting, he had promised the Dragon King that this Central ins man probably had the same sexual orientation as him.


    Luo Ningcha was deeply disappointed. She had intended to beat around the bush and then take the Dragon King aback. ¡°I don¡¯t care. Pang Jing tried to bribe me. He wanted to use me to prove Prince Xiao¡¯s fraudulent im of military exploits. I turned him down. This counts as a contribution, and it¡¯s a big one, so you must reward me. Either you take the position of Lord of Jade City or you give it to Cheng¡¯er. You can¡¯t give it to an outsider, right?¡±


    Gu Shenwei was just about to speak when Old Man Mu ran inside. ¡°Dragon King, the people of the Four Noble Truths Temple came here to grab the Buddhist monk.¡±

 Chapter 970 - A Favor

    Chapter 970: A Favor


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Old Man Mu had taken Shi Qingjue to a brothel, which had attracted some people¡¯s attention. It was with this clue that the monk named Lian Qing had managed to track them down to the Department of Guards.


    Lian Qing was willing to give up avenging his elder brother¡¯s murder, but his impression of the Dragon King was quite poor. A vignt look appeared on his face the moment he stepped into the Department of Guards.


    Long Fanyun recognized Lian Qing, and said, ¡°Hello, monk.¡±


    ¡°Um,¡± Lian Qing replied in a gruff voice. His eyes swept around the department and then rested on Long Fanyun. ¡°You still haven¡¯t recovered from the injury in your legs?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re incurable. Even Doctor Sun can¡¯t heal them.¡±


    Lian Qing didn¡¯t really care about Long Fanyun¡¯s injury. He moved his eyes onto Red Bat. ¡°Aren¡¯t you¡­ Instructor Shangguan¡¯s deputy? Why are you in the Dragon King¡¯s ce instead of the Kun Society?¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t concern you, monk. You¡¯re not here to pry into anyone¡¯s domestic business, are you?¡±


    Upon hearing the words ¡°domestic business,¡± Long Fanyun felt both warm and embarrassed, so he let out a light cough. Lian Qing scratched his bald head and suddenly understood. ¡°Oh, I see. You¡¯re right. That¡¯s not why I¡¯m here. Please ask the Dragon King toe out. I want an audience with him.¡±


    ¡°Long Fanyun is the one who calls the shots in the Department of Guards. Whatever it is you want to talk with the Dragon King about, you can talk to him about,¡± said Red Bat.


    Lian Qing pondered it over for a while and then said to Long Fanyun, ¡°Old Man Mu took away a monk from the Four Noble Truths Temple. Please hand him over.¡±


    Long Fanyun only knew that Old Man Mu brought a stranger back. Because that person had been directly sent to the Dragon King, he hadn¡¯t asked about the details. At this moment, he didn¡¯t know how to answer Lian Qing. Red Bat spoke again. ¡°That¡¯s weird. Old Man Mu never left Jade City. When did he go to the Four Noble Truths Temple?¡±


    ¡°Er, Old Man Mu didn¡¯t go there. Jueqing came to Jade City of his own ord. Last night, someone saw him and Old Man Mu go to¡­ Gold Nest Alley. They returned to the Department of Guards this morning.¡±


    Gold Nest Alley was a ce in southern Jade City where cheap brothels were densely located. Red Bat had never heard of this ce before, but judging from the amused look in the guards¡¯ eyes and their smile, she knew that it was not a good ce. So, she snorted lightly and said, ¡°So Jueqing went with Old Man Mu of his own will?¡±


    Too embarrassed to answer the question, Lian Qing became angry. ¡°Long Fanyun, who¡¯s the head of the Department of Guards? You or this woman?¡±


    ¡°What did you just say?¡± Red Bat asked in a severe voice.


    ¡°It was my fault. Amitabha. Please pardon me, female benefactor.¡± Lian Qing bowed and apologized sincerely. Red Bat couldn¡¯t take any further action.


    Having generally understood the situation, Long Fanyun said, ¡°That Jueqing is a secrized monk, right?¡±


    ¡°He is. It¡¯s been less than three day since he was secrized.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how many days it has been. The key is that he no longer has nothing to do with the Four Noble Truths Temple now, since he has been secrized. So why are you here, asking me to hand him over?¡±


    Lian Qing became somewhat anxious. ¡°Jueqing was indeed secrized, but he took something away from the Four Noble Truths Temple¡­ I¡¯m here to try to persuade him to turn back from his wrong path and becp,e a monk again.¡±


    ¡°He has even been to Gold Nest Alley. The Four Noble Truths Temple still wants him to be a monk again?¡± asked Long Fanyun. All of the ten-plus guardsughed, but upon seeing the serious look on Red Bat¡¯s face, they hurriedly stoppedughing.


    Lian Qing was running out of patience. ¡°No matter what, please ask Jueqing toe here. I want to have a word with him. Whether he goes with me or not will be left to his own discretion. The Department of Guards won¡¯t force him to stay, right?¡±


    Having no idea what the Dragon King¡¯s n was, Long Fanyun didn¡¯t dare give any reckless answers. He was wondering whether he should inform the Dragon King or not when Old Man Mu¡¯s voice came from outside. ¡°So it turns out that this matter is so simple. He¡¯s right here. You can ask him right now.¡±


    Shi Qingjue followed Old Man Mu into the department¡¯s main area, trying to avoid being seen, as if he were afraid of being punished for something bad he had done. When he saw Lian Qing, he put his palms together and said, ¡°Martial Uncle Lian Qing.¡±


    In fact, Lian Qing had be a Buddhist monk muchter than Shi Qingjue. It was just that he happened to be indentured to an eminent monk, so his status was higher than that of Shi Qingjue. When he saw Jueqing dressed in secr clothes, he involuntarily furrowed his forehead. ¡°Jueqing, why are you dressed like this?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ Martial Uncle, my new name is Shi Qingjue. I¡¯ve already been secrized, so this is the way that I¡¯m supposed to be dressed in.¡±


    Old Man Mu added, ¡°He¡¯ll be wearing a military uniform in a short while. From now on, he is a soldier of the Dragon Army. Ha-ha. Rest assured, monk. He won¡¯t suffer any losses. Last night-¡±


    Lian Qing hurriedly interrupted Old Man Mu and looked around. Knowing that these people were not going to let him talk with Jueqing in private, he had no choice but to lower his voice and say, ¡°Jueqing, nobody is trying to stop you from resuming a secr life, but the Four Noble Truths Temple has raised you since childhood and has always been good to you. You shouldn¡¯t have traded the confidential information of the temple for wealth and position the moment you were secrized. You forgot about all of its previous kindnesses, which is very ungrateful.¡±


    Shi Qingjue¡¯s face was full of shame. Old Man Mu walked up to him, raised his head, and looked at Lian Qing before saying, ¡°First, he didn¡¯t forget about the Four Noble Truths Temple. Last night, when he was having the best time of his life, he kept yelling out the name of Buddha. Can you imagine how deep his love for Buddha is? Second, you said that he traded confidential information for wealth and position, which is terribly wrong.¡±


    ¡°The roll with the names of all eminent monks is¡­ ¡± Exasperated, Lian Qing tried very hard and managed to subdue his anger.


    ¡°The roll with the names of all the eminent monks is a confidential document of the Four Noble Truths Temple?¡±


    ¡°Of course it is.¡±


    ¡°Shi Qingjue was merely amon receptionist. How could he ess a confidential document?¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t have the clearance, but his master shifu has. He must have seen it by ident and taken it.¡±


    ¡°Wait. You said ¡®take it¡¯. The roll in the Four Noble Truths Temple is gone? It¡¯s nowhere to be seen?¡±


    Lian Qing knew that they would only end up arguing over meaningless details if he contradicted him, so he ignored Old Man Mu and instead addressed Shi Qingjue who was behind him. ¡°Jueqing, you must think twice. A single slip can cause a longsting sorrow. Even if you hold no gratitude to the Four Noble Truths Temple for its kindnesses, do you not care about your master shifu¡¯s reputation either? If the information in that roll is divulged, then your master shifu will be held responsible.¡±


    Shi Qingjue¡¯s face fell ashen. Old Man Mu consoled him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll get your master shifu out of the temple as well, and he¡¯ll also be secrized. You¡¯ve just taken a glimpse of this pleasurably and material world and you haven¡¯t had your first taste of the real fun yet. The Dragon King and I will make sure that you and your master shifu will never want to be Buddhist monks again.¡±


    ¡°My master shifu won¡¯t resume a secr life¡­ Unlike me, he¡¯s an eminent monk¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Your master shifu holds no grudges against you.¡± Lian Qing decided to strike while the iron was hot. In a mild voice, he continued to try to persuade him. ¡°The Monks of the Four Noble Truths Templee from various countries. They left their homnd because they wanted to sever their connections with the secr world. If that roll falls into the wrong hands, then do you know how dire the consequences will be?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by ¡®the wrong hands¡¯?¡± Old Man Mu became angry. ¡°Do you by any chance think you¡¯ve converted yourself from a bandit to a ¡®good person¡¯ just because you shaved clearly? I swore an oath that I would never kill again. Do you think that this change is enough? I was reborn. Nobody managed to do something like this before, and nobody will ever be able to do it ever again. Do you think that I¡¯m still a ¡®viin¡¯? Monk¡­ ¡±


    Old Man Mu kept nagging self-indulgently. Lian Qing ignored him and just stared at Shi Qingjue, hoping that he would recover from the brink of the precipice.


    Shi Qingjue lowered his head and weighed his decisions, the color of his face alternating between normal and red. Suddenly, as if having made up his mind, he raised his head and said, ¡°Martial Uncle Lian Qing, please go back to the temple and tell my master shifu this: Jueqing is steeped in sin, and I¡¯m beyond redemption in this incarnation. However, I won¡¯t bring him any trouble. The roll is in my memory, and I¡¯ll try to forget it as soon as possible and never tell anybody anything about it.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Lian Qing was relieved.


    Old Man Mu watched Shi Qingjue in puzzlement, thinking, ¡®If he is lying, then this lie is perfect, which proves that this young monk is a man of great potential. But if he is telling the truth¡­¡¯


    But Shi Qingjue¡¯s face hadn¡¯t returned to normal yet. ¡°But I¡¯ve already written half of it down and given it to¡­ the Dragon King.¡±


    Taken aback, Lian Qing abruptly turned around and yelled aloud, ¡°Dra-¡±


    The Dragon King was standing right at the gate, as if he had been listening for quite a long time. Beside him stood a teenage servant. Lian Qing choked down the rest of his sentence, let out two coughs, and said, ¡°Dragon King, please give me the roll that was written by Jueqing. That thing is of no use to you. The Four Noble Truths Temple is not your enemy.¡±


    ¡°Does the Four Noble Truths Temple have any enemies?¡±


    ¡°No. Buddhist monks stand aloof from the secr world. How could we possibly have any enemies?¡±


    ¡°Then why are you afraid of the information in the roll being divulged?¡±


    ¡°In this world, there are always¡­¡± Lian Qing stopped himself in time. He knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to win this argument with the Dragon King. ¡°Dragon King, Instructor Shangguan has beenboring away for you, and Martial Uncle Fachong has already agreed to expel the evil internal energy in you¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Do I detect a note of threat?¡± asked Old Man Mu.


    Lian Qing put his palms together and bowed. ¡°No matter what, Martial Uncle Fachong will keep his promise, and there¡¯re no strings attached. As for the roll, the decision is at the Dragon King¡¯s discretion.¡±


    After saying this, surprisingly, Lian Qing closed his eyes and started reciting a sutra in a low voice in the hall of the Department of Guards. Involuntarily, Shi Qingjue followed suit. Old Man Mu punched Shi Qingjue¡¯s abdomen, who instantly let out a pained cry and recalled that he was no longer a Buddhist monk.


    After waiting for a while, Gu Shenwei said to Shi Qingjue, ¡°Go and bring the roll here.¡±


    Shi Qingjue gratefully nodded and hurriedly ran out of the hall. In a muted voice, Old Man Mu said, ¡°I went through a lot of trouble and finally managed to snatch him from Golden Roc Castle. It won¡¯t be wasted just like this, right?¡±


    Old Man Mu was exaggerating the difficulty of the task. Gu Shenwei ignored him.


    Shi Qingjue ran back into the hall with a stack of paper, dithering over to whom he should give it to.


    ¡°Take it. All the pages are here,¡± said Gu Shenwei.


    Lian Qing opened his eyes, showing a very surprised expression. He took the stack of paper, folded them twice without even reading a single page, stuffed it into his front inside pocket, and said, ¡°Dragon King, there¡¯s no doubt that the Four Noble Truths Temple owes you a favor. Even if nobody else cares about it, I, Lianxin, will never forget, and I¡¯ll return this favor sooner orter.¡±


    In this instant, Lian Qing seemed to have wholly converted away from the bandit he used to be.


    Then he said to Shi Qingjue, ¡°I hope that you conduct yourself well from now on. Your hair will grow, but make sure that your evil intentions don¡¯t grow with it. The Four Noble Truths Temple cannot ept you any more, but there are plenty of temples in the world. If you don¡¯t want to live in a temple, then you can also achieve enlightenment by cultivating at home.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your instruction, Martial Uncle. I¡¯ll never forget it.¡± Shi Qingjue was deeply abashed, droplets of cold sweat welling up on his forehead.


    Old Man Mu lightly sighed, thinking that a young promising sessor had been ruined just like that.


    Lian Qing left inrge strides. Old Man Mu shook his head and said, ¡°Dragon King, to be honest, you¡¯re bound to lose your capital in this business. I think that it¡¯s very likely that this monk won¡¯t keep his promise. ¡°Returning the favor¡± were just some fancy words. The moment he returned to the temple, he might tell those monks that Dragon King forced the little monk to write another copy of the roll.¡±


    Shi Qingjue bowed. ¡°I won¡¯t write those names again. And I believe that the Dragon King won¡¯t force me to. s. Farewell¡­ ¡±


    ¡°From now on, you¡¯re the registrar of the Department of Guards. You will answer to the head of the Department of Guards.¡±


    Shi Qingjue was briefly stunned and then hurriedly knelt down and expressed his gratitude.


    Gu Shenwei walked towards the outside. Suddenly, Red Bat, who was behind him, loudly said, ¡°Dragon King, I think that you did the right thing.¡±


    Gu Shenwei didn¡¯t pause, but Old Man Mu did turn around and giggled, ¡°I know that those words were meant for me. Come on. Let¡¯s have a debate and get this straight. Long Fanyun, you should listen carefully now: do not help your woman¡­ ¡±


    Gu Shenwei returned to his room. He had just reached his desk when Qin Yeming got the paper ready.


    Li Xiaozhu ¨C Gu Shenwei first wrote down this name, and then, stroke by stroke, he added two Chinese characters beside the name ¨C Guansheng.


    The words ¡°Dear Guansheng¡± were the opening of the unfinished letter written by Wei Song before his death. He had not made up a story. It was not until Gu Shenwei saw the name ¡°Li Xiaozhu¡± in the roll that he had finally figured out who this ¡°Guansheng¡± was.


    Zhu and Guansheng seemed like a first name and a middle name that matched. This connection alone was still too faint, but this Li Xiaozhu also used to be a subject of the Central ins, which gave Gu Shenwei every reason to be suspicious of him.

 Chapter 971 - Exploitation

    Chapter 971: Exploitation


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Henyee Trantions <i></i><strong>Editor: </strong>Henyee Trantions


    Luo Ningcha was still waiting for her ¡°reward,¡± and feeling very displeased that the Dragon King¡¯s had left midway through the meeting. Alone in the guest room, she lost her temper and broke everything that she could in the room. Admittedly, it wasn¡¯t much as the Department of Guards was a poor institution.


    The handmaid Little Xin (This Chinese name means carefulness), as her name suggested, was standing carefully at the doorway. She tried her best to contract her body and minimize it, praying that the mistress wouldn¡¯t notice her. From time to time, though, she had to kneel down and sweep the shattered pieces aside lest the mistress step on them and hurt herself.


    ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate me,¡± Luo Ningcha mumbled as she paced up and down. She didn¡¯t notice the handmaid who was busy cleaning the floor beneath her feet. ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate me,¡± she repeated. And with that, the Dragon King came inside again.


    ¡°I know what you and Prince Xiao did better than anyone. If this goes public, then everybody will suffer,¡± Luo Ningcha yelled upon seeing him, the anger continuing to well up inside her.


    ¡°What Prince Xiao and I did?¡± Inevitably, there was a trace of sarcasm in Gu Shenwei¡¯s tone.


    Luo Ningcha¡¯s face flushed red, which was a rare scene, but it soon returned to normal. ¡°We all resorted to unscrupulous tactics. If either of usugh at the other, then it would be like the pot calling the kettle ck. Didn¡¯t you ransack your brains trying to think of ways to fawn on the Tenth Young Master? If she had said ¡®Servant Huan, fuck me,¡¯ then would you have refused? That¡¯s your foe¡¯s daughter! No. You did sleep with someone ¡ª not with her but with¡­ Get out.¡±


    She had said thest two words to the handmaid. Little Xin, who had been waiting for this order this entire time, turned around and slipped through the narrow gap between the door and the doorframe as agilely as a rat being chased by a cat.


    The Dragon King had no attendants with him this time, so Luo Ningcha¡¯s anger slightly subsided. Her exhaustion setting in, she sat down into a chair and said in the sincerest tone she could put on, ¡°Everything I did, I did it for¡­ us and Cheng¡¯er. Why are you jealous? You have your tactics and I have mine. Only by cooperating can we be invincible. Aren¡¯t you the very reason why I ended up like this? If I gained Prince Xiao¡¯s favor, then it would only do you good. It won¡¯t do you any harm. Don¡¯t you think so? So you should thank me. This petty position of Lord of Jade City is nothing to you. Why not give it to Cheng¡¯er?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want him to inherit the title from the Unique King?¡± Gu Shenwei knew this woman well, so he didn¡¯t want to argue with her. It was impossible for her to understand the fact that there were still some sane men who didn¡¯t like her in this world, much less the fact that she was not the only one who cared about their personal interests.


    ¡°They¡¯re not contradictory desires. I¡¯ve done some thinking. In fact, ¡®the Unique King¡¯ is just a fancy title, the territory attached to which is merely Golden Roc Castle. ¡®The Lord of Jade City¡¯ sounds inferior, but the one who bears this title will own the entirety of Jade City. I want them both¡­ both to be given to Cheng¡¯er. He needs both a noble title and a vast territory.¡±


    The way the Dragon King was looking at her was a little strange. ¡®He hasn¡¯t given me this kind of gaze for a long time.¡¯ Luo Ningcha was both a little nervous and a little delighted, but she affected an air of annoyance out of force of habit. ¡°What kind of dirty thoughts are you having right now? Can men think of anything decent?¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s thoughts bore no resemnce to what Luo Ningcha believed he was thinking about. ¡°My real name is Gu Shenwei. Haven¡¯t you ever been surprised by this?¡±


    Luo Ningcha was stunned. ¡°Why should I? Maybe you¡¯ll find yourself a new name in a day or two. No matter what, in my eyes, you¡¯ll always be the Dragon King, the one who used to be called Servant Huan, the one who is my son¡¯s father.¡±


    Following his own train of thought, Gu Shenwei continued to speak. ¡°My father¡¯s name was Gu Lun. He used to be a general in the Central ins. After he retired, he took all of my family members to the Western Regions, but killers of Golden Roc Castle massacred them all. I alone survived through sheer luck. Then the Big Head God bought me, which was why I entered Golden Roc Castle with you.¡±


    Actually, these facts could have been deduced long ago, but Luo Ningcha had never bothered to think about it. After hearing his words, she seemed to have suddenly understood. ¡°Oh! It was Shangguan Nu who killed all your family members, right? And he lost a palm for that. So it turns out that you were the reason why I was married to a disabled man.¡± Anger surged through her as she recalled the past. She tried very hard and finally managed to subdue it. ¡°By the way, where¡¯s Shangguan Nu? I saw him once in the Nond. And after that, he never showed up again. You didn¡¯t let him get away, right?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s dead.¡±


    Shangguan Nu had died in the disturbance that had shaken the Royal Court that night. It was not a secret, but Luo Ningcha had never made any inquiries about it. She nodded and said, ¡°Good. This world doesn¡¯t need a good-for-nothing like him. Humph, he once tried to beat me. What an arrogant guy.¡±


    Gu Shenwei continued to monologue on his past. ¡°Golden Roc Castle only provides killing services. Somebody hired them. I¡¯ve been investigating it for a long time and I¡¯ve finally confirmed that the culprit is from the Central ins.¡±


    ¡°Your investigation was totally unnecessary. Isn¡¯t this obvious? Your father offended somebody in the Central ins, so that person killed his family. Why don¡¯t I tell Prince Xiao this and have him help you get your revenge? It¡¯s such a simple thing.¡±


    ¡°Not if you don¡¯t know who that person is.¡±


    ¡°Who is it?¡± Luo Ningcha was bing faintly impatient. She had no interest in the Dragon King¡¯s parentage, especially when this matter didn¡¯t concern her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know it for sure yet, but I found a name ¨C Guansheng.¡±


    ¡°Guansheng? What a weird name. Was he born in a tube? Or is he responsible for taking care of livestock?¡±


    ¡°Sheng means sound. This is his middle name. He has ast name and a first name as wekk.¡±


    ¡°Humph, Central ins people are so troublesome. So what¡¯s hisst name and first name? Prince Xiao will surely find out who he is after a short investigation.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. This person is not a high-ranking official of the Central ins, so Prince Xiao probably doesn¡¯t know him either. I only know that he¡¯s hiding in the Four Noble Truths Temple.¡± Gu Shenwei kept the name ¡°Li Xiaozhu¡± back from her.


    ¡°The Four Noble Truths Temple.¡± Luo Ningcha thought for a while, her mind nk. ¡°s. Just be honest with me ¨C why are you telling me this story? You can¡¯t trick me into forgetting about the important issue that is Cheng¡¯er.¡±


    ¡°Help me find out who this Guansheng is.¡±


    ¡°Even you yourself can¡¯t find out. How am I supposed to do it?¡±


    ¡°You can divulge this message.¡±


    Feeling that she had understood something, Luo Ningcha pondered over several possibilities, but couldn¡¯t narrow them down no matter how hard she tried. ¡°Can you please not break off in the middle of your remark?¡±


    ¡°Pang Jing wants to bribe you, so just sell some information to him.¡±


    Luo Ningcha thought for another while. ¡°So it is him that you¡¯re suspecting. Um. Let me think¡­ Let me think¡­ ¡± She red at him and said angrily. ¡°You¡¯re such a jerk. You¡¯ve tricked me again. Why are we talking about your business? What about Cheng¡¯er? Do you not care about him at all?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The registration of candidacy for the post of the Lord of Jade City is over, and nobody can change the list. But that Central ins guy still has the power to decide whether the Unique King¡¯s title is an officially-acknowledged king¡¯s title.¡±


    ¡°I know this. Prince Xiao promised me that¡­ Are you saying that we should also have Pang Jing make a promise? Um. This does sound unnecessary. The situation in the Central ins is tooplicated. We can never have too many allies. But isn¡¯t Pang Jing your foe?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just my spection. Besides, I can still take advantage of him even if he¡¯s indeed my foe.¡±


    A delighted smile appeared on Luo Ningcha¡¯s face. ¡°Dragon King, this is exactly what I like about you ¨C no matter what, you always take advantage of your enemies before you kill them. Um. I have a lot to learn from you. If you have some other tactics, you have to teach them to me.¡±


    It was very easy to take advantage of Luo Ningcha, but it was also very risky. Nobody could impose any restraints on her, since even if she epted them, she might not be able to abide by them.


    ¡°You can¡¯t keep anything back from him if you want him to trust you, so tell Pang Jing whatever he wants to know. Just regard this name, ¡®Guansheng,¡¯ as one of the messages you¡¯ll tell him.¡±


    ¡°Tell him everything? You know, I know a lot of secrets,¡± Luo Ningcha said smugly.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. But don¡¯t tell him voluntarily. Wait for him to ask you.¡±


    ¡°I understand this much. If I offer up the information voluntarily, then it will be worthless. Um¡­ ¡± Upon realizing that there were a lot of other interests that she could trade the information for, Luo Ningcha became somewhat excited. Now even if the Dragon King changed his mind, she wouldn¡¯t give up doing this task.


    ¡°But Cheng¡¯er will surely inherit the king¡¯s title, right? Don¡¯t trick me into doing all this for nothing.¡±


    ¡°He will. As long as you behave yourself.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll behave myself.¡± Luo Ningcha put on a timid expression. She had learned this from Xu Yanwei and had been practicing it very often. But this time, the tactic didn¡¯t work as well as she had expected it to.


    Gu Shenwei said ndly, ¡°From now on, don¡¯t try to contact me again. I¡¯ll have someone keep in contact with you. You can talk to him if you need anything.¡±


    Surprisingly, Luo Ningcha didn¡¯t raise any objections. In a mysterious tone, she said, ¡°I know why you¡¯re trusting me with this.¡±


    Gu Shenwei was faintly surprised. ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°Because Pang Jing doesn¡¯t count as a man, and so you have nothing to worry about.¡±


    After staring at her for a while, Gu Shenwei turned around and left. Luo Ningcha believed that her guess was right.


    ¡®Li Xiaozhu.¡¯ Gu Shenwei was still thinking about this name. This person had hid himself very well, so he had to find a way to force this person to show himself.


    Amotion came from the front yard. Gu Shenwei walked there and saw that three guards were fighting a man.


    That man was tall and strong. Though he was pinned to the ground by three swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain, he was still struggling, and there were even several asions where he nearly managed to free himself. Angry, a guard gave him two severe blows to the back of his head and finally quieted him down.


    Lying prostrate on the ground, Gao Yang struggled to raised his head and yelled upon seeing the Dragon King, ¡°Dragon King, fight a duel with me! There¡¯s no honor in winning by sheer weight of numbers!¡±


    Gu Shenwei signaled those guards to let go of him. Like a beast that had just been let loose, Gao Yang abruptly jumped to his feet and red at the Dragon King, growing ferocity gleaming in his eyes.


    A guard said, ¡°Dragon King, we caught him.¡±


    Unconvinced, Gao Yang yelled, ¡°I walked in here on my own ount!¡±


    ¡°For what did you walk in here on your own ount?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I came here to look for someone. Where¡¯s Little Baldy? You kidnapped him and brought him here. Hand him over. Now.¡±


    ¡°Who is him to you?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s my brother. We¡­ We¡¯re sworn brothers. Anyways, hand him over to me first. If you don¡¯t, then I¡¯lle here again tomorrow.¡± Gao Yang was not stupid. He uttered some bluster and then turned to leave.


    A dozen guards blocked his path at the gateway, their hands on the hilts of their swords.


    Gao Yang stretched out a little and loudly said, ¡°Let¡¯s do this by the rules. Take your turns. One at a time. Where¡¯s my saber? Give it back to me.¡±


    Gu Shenwei¡¯s eyes swept across those people beside him, and then he said, ¡°Tie Linglong, go and fight him. Don¡¯t use your saber.¡±


    Tie Linglong dutifully answered, ¡°Yes,¡± unfastened her narrow saber and handed it to a guard, deliberately ignoring Chu Nanping who was beside her. Then she walked up to Gao Yang and said, ¡°I¡¯ll be the first one to fight with you.¡±


    Looking at the green-eyed little girl, Gao Yangughed. ¡°I¡¯m just going to stand here and let you punch me three times. If I let out a single pained groan, then I¡¯m the loser¡­ Ouch!¡±


    The moment he finished thest word, Gao Yang let out a cry. It turned out that this seemingly petite little girl was fast and ruthless. Shended a punch on his lower abdomen and nearly broke his intestines.


    ¡°Two left,¡± said Tie Linglong.


    Holding his belly, Gao Yang hurriedly stretched out a hand and stopped her. ¡°Wait. Let me mobilize my Qi first. Ehh, for the Dragon King¡¯s sake, you win. Dragon King, you were the one who summoned me here. If you want to talk with me, let¡¯s just talk. There¡¯s no need to resort to violence.¡±


    Tie Linglong snorted contemptuously and returned to her original position.


    Gu Shenwei said, ¡°I¡¯d like to invite you to join the Dragon Army.¡±


    Gao Yang broadened his mouth, at a loss how to answer.


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